The WarriorNiskayuna High School May 1, 2009 Volume 35, Issue 26

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...

Writer in Residence works with students

“Adventureland” disappoints,page 6

Softball swings swiftly,page 7

myself,” claimed Crane in a recent interview. Her personal endeavors have since been honored publicly when she won the 2006 Delacorte Press Contest for a First Young Adult Novel.

During her visit, Crane spoke to a collection of students and teachers in the little theatre. Guided by a Power Point presen-tation, Crane made ref-erence to the importance of imagination and cre-ativity in young adult’s lives, noting the pervasiveness of technological entertainment. Ad-dressing the popularity of video and computer games, Crane laid claim that “technology amplifies the abil-ity to look at all the possibilities in ways that I never conceived of when I was a high school student. I’m a big fan of multimedia. The more you can integrate words and visuals to create a product, the better.” For many teenagers, this came as a surprisingly encouraging comment in an educational environment seemingly very critical of such technological advancements.

During Friday afternoon, Crane led two invitation-only writing workshops for small groups of aspiring student writers. During these workshops, Crane continued to emphasize an ability to “elimi-nate filters” and embrace creativity.

by Daniel ClariDge

news

Last week, from Wednesday to Friday, Eileen Crane, author of the award winning young adult novel Skin Deep, served as this school year’s writer in residence. Dur-ing her visit, she spoke to English classes and individual students about her writing experiences and shared her creative advice with aspiring artists. On Friday, she also taught two writing workshops in the Media Center classroom, working with student writers to explore creative possibilities.

Every year, English Director Eva Jones organizes the ar-rival and in-school-residence of a published author with teaching

experience. Crane followed a long list of previous visitors, including William Patrick, Kwame Alexander and Elizabeth Rosner, the last of whom was a Niskayuna High School graduate. As has become a Niskayuna tradition, Crane’s visit culminated when she read an excerpt from her upcoming novel “Maps” at the student performance venue Java Jive.

Crane was raised in New York, where she attended a small pub-lic high school. “Here’s what my high school had: 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade English, along with AP English,” lamented Crane. “I see the list of op-portunities (Niskayuna students) have, and I’m blown away by it.” As

a result of this lack of op-portunity, Crane remained a closet writer for the ma-jority of her high school tenure. After graduating from Syracuse University and working as a journalist for a small newspaper, she chose to pursue her pas-sion for written storytell-ing, eventually writing and publishing her first novel, Skin Deep. “I was writing to entertain myself totally; I didn’t know whether I was going to be published yet, and it didn’t really matter to me because that adrena-line of creating the story was all about entertaining

The sessions included activities designed to reveal individuals’ creative potential. When asked for her best advice, Crane suggested students “Read everything (they) can get their hands on.”

Crane’s short stay ended on Friday night when she read to an assortment of students, teachers and parents at Java Jive. She left after thanking the students and faculty for a wonderful stay, com-menting on the wonderful creative opportunities that Niskayuna High School provides for its students.

“I’m trying to get my two books out of the gate, but because of the bad economy, it’s difficult,” claims Crane. In addition, Crane is work-ing on five other writing projects, all of which she hopes will appeal to a more “gender-neutral” audience than “Skin Deep.”

Keep juniors out of the parking lot,page 4

Photo Credit: redroom.com

Photo Credit: niskayunaschools.orgSHARING EXPERIENCES: Senior Nick Reed and Writer in Residence Elieen Crane discuss writing during a workshop.

2 May 1, 2009 The WarriorNews

Sp r i n g p l a y h a s s p r u n g !by alex Colborn

news

The high school’s spring play is finally here! “Tom, Dick, & Harry,” a comedy written by Ray and Michael Cooney, is being performed live in the Little Theater, April 30 through May 2.

The play focuses on the life of Tom Kerwood and his wife, Lin-da, as they try to adopt a child. Linda and Tom are preparing for their interview with the di-rector of the adoption agency. However, things become com-plicated and turn upside down when Tom’s slacker brothers, Dick and Harry Kerwood, arrive at Tom’s house to help.

Dick starts the mayhem when he smuggles cigarettes into the country using Tom’s van. Just when Tom thinks things cannot get any worse, Harry proceeds to tell him about his ingenious scheme to lower the price of Tom’s house. As can be imagined, hilarity and madness ensue and make the rest of the play a real laugh-fest.

This year’s play was directed by seniors Dom Izzo and Dan Stone, who were helped by English teacher Miranda For-

ster. The pair o f d i r e c t o r s b e g a n c a s t -ing in March, and have been working on the play ever since. They claimed to have high hopes for the produc-tion.

“Tom, Dick, & Harry has got something for everyone,” said Stone. “Love, drama, action, and, of course, lots of laughs. I f you don ’ t come and see this, you hate America.”

This year’s cast brings many new comers to drama club, ranging from seniors down to freshman. Joining drama club this year are juniors Shane Porter and Alex Colborn, se-nior Tyler Hardy, sophomores Cassandra Coppola and Kara Gibson, and freshman Jason Kasman.

There are also a number of re-turning drama club members.

Re-joining the cast is senior Dave Stopera, junior Macie VanNorden and sophomore Mai Condon.

Though full of newcomers, the play is looking promising according to many members of the cast. “Tom, Dick, & Harry wets my whistle,” said senior Dave Stopera.

“I’m really happy to be a part of this year’s cast. It was an experience to remember,”

said junior Alex Colborn. “The final product is a combination of hilariousness and drama; I strongly recommend attend-ing this extraordinary perfor-mance.”

The ticket prices are $5.00 for students and seniors, and $6.00 for adults. So, grab a group of friends and stop in at the Little Theater through May 2! Laughs and good times are guaranteed.

www.niskayunaschools.orgREHEARSING LINES: Junior Alex Colborn, senior Dave Stopera and junior Shane Porter practice for this year’s spring play, “Tom, Dick, & Harry,” which will be performed in the Little Theater April 30 through May 2.

J a v a J i v e d o e s i t a g a i nby DunCan MaClaury

news

Last Friday, April 24, from 7 to 9 p.m., the high school held its annual performance night, Java Jive. This year, the night of po-etry and acoustic music went on without a hitch. The list of performers was extensive, with the number of musical acts supersed-ing the number of poetry performances. The proceeds from this fundraiser went to benefit the Albany Ronald McDonald House.

Java Jive, an import from Iroquois Middle School, is a night where the New Café is turned into a coffee house with lights, micro-phones, a stage and delicious refreshments. The Emcee for the night, Sam Fisher, per-formed just as many theatrics for the event as did the performers themselves, amusing the crowd the whole way through.

The first half of the set list was comprised of mostly musical acts, with Maura Weingar-

ten singing to the amazement of all. Sara Koste commented on Maura’s performance saying, “Oh my god, her voice was so sexy.” The rest of the crowd seemed to agree, giving Maura one of the loudest rounds of applause during the night.

Another memorable performance from the night was that of Kaela Bamberger. She performed the poem “Stank Breath,” using her whole body to convey the emo-tions that flowed through the poem. Craig Dudek commented on Kaela’s performance saying, “She looked really excited, and I thought she did a terrific job!”

Needless to say, the rest of the first half was just as good as the two briefly outlined performances. At the end of the first half, Writer-in-Residence Eileen Crane called students the future of creative thought and commented on how she was moved by the pieces she had seen. Crane then

read a section from her latest novel, as yet unpublished. The piece was riveting and ended with a very large cliff-hanger. Senior Sara Corderman commented, “Well, I guess I’ll have to buy the book now to find out how that ends.”

To kick off the second half of the night, the Jazz Ensemble performed with Anthony Deters, who played an excellent jazz piece which roused the crowd to foot taping and finger snapping. Some examples of the memorable poetry came from Geoff Bylina, Michael Pitney, Anne Sombor and Lianna Potrikus.

Java Jive at the high school, though, wouldn’t be complete without the musical talents of Social Studies teacher Pete War-ren. Warren played guitar and sang three songs from his band.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3[SAY]

3 May 1, 2009The Warrior News

by anahga TopalDi

news

On Friday, April 17, five Ni-skayuna students, sophomore Pat Weingarten, juniors Nina Santiago, Anne Sombor and Anagha Tolpadi and senior Geoff Bylina, attended the 14th annual “Get on the Bus” protest in New York City. Also, Niskayuna graduate and former president of the high school’s chapter of Amnesty International, Casey Mullaney, joined the group for the trip. The high school’s chapter of Amnesty Interna-tional has attended this event since the club’s formation five years ago.

“Get on the Bus” is an annual event organized by Amnesty International Group 133, from Sommersville, Massachusetts. At this event, students from across the Northeast join to-gether to hear speakers, attend rallies and protest in support of human rights. Each year, three or four different human rights abuses from around the world are selected, and students walk from consulate to consulate protesting these abuses.

This year, students protested four human rights abuses in front of the Burmese, Sri Lank-an, Guatemalan and Chinese consulates. In front of the Bur-mese consulate, students pro-tested for the release of political prisoners and to stop the killing and imprisoning of students, monks and activists who are fighting for democracy. In 1988, there were many student upris-ings for democracy in Burma. At

this time, the Burmese military tortured, jailed and killed many students, monks and activists. The military government still holds about 2,100 political prisoners.

Students especially rallied for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the rightfully elected president of Burma, the leader of the National League for Democracy and a Nobel Laure-ate. Despite the fact that people elected her for the presidency, she was never given the chance to lead. She has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

The students, then, walked to the Sri Lankan consulate, screaming their chants along the way. There, students pro-tested for the Sri Lankan gov-ernment to protect its people. The security forces are largely made up of the Sinhalese com-munity, and a Tamil opposition group, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who want an independent state in the north and east of the Island for the Tamils, have been fighting a civil war in Sri Lanka since 1983.

Since around last September, when the fighting increased, the military forced the LTTE into a small area of land. However, in doing so, they have trapped thousands of civilians in the same area. These civilians are short of sufficient food, shelter and medical care, and many of them have been killed as a result of arbitrary attacks. Civil-ians who do escape are subject

to government screening for the LTTE fighters. As a part of this screening, civilians who escape are placed in military-controlled camps, which do not act in accordance with basic human rights standards.

Students protested in front of the Sri Lankan consulate in favor of protecting its civilians stuck in the war zone, allowing citizens to leave and providing those who are unable to leave with whatever humanitarian aid that is required. Students also asked the government to institute a just screening pro-cess and protect the rights of those relocated civilians in the military-controlled camps.

After that, students walked to the Guatemalan consulate, where they had the opportunity to scream some of the chants in a language that some students knew—Spanish. For example, students switched between screaming “The people, united, will never be defeated,” to “El pueblo, únido, jamas será vencido!” For many years, the Guatemalan government has turned a blind eye to the doings of the gold mining companies, which bring in a great deal of revenue. However, in San Mar-cos and other areas, the people have opposed this because of the squashing of human rights. Students asked the Guatema-lan government to stand with the communities and protect the families and individuals, in addition.

Lastly, the students walked to the general area of the Chi-

‘Say what you need to say’CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

[JAVA]

Unaccompanied through the first song, Warren was joined by seniors Stefan Dosch and Geoff Bylina for the second and third songs. “It was one of my favorite acts,” commented Dudek.

The proceeds from this year’s Java Jive

went to the Ronald McDonald House. There are many Ronald McDonald Houses around the world (the closest in the area is in Albany) and the chapters offer families confronted with illnesses a way to stay together in close proximity to treatment hospitals. By staying at a Ronald McDonald house, parents can help their children to heal while being able to communicate with their child’s medical team. (rmhc.org)

The proceeds from last year’s Java Jive went to the National Eating Disorder As-sociation (NEDA) and to a local cancer fund.

Overall, the night was a rousing success with high attendance (which meant a larger donation to the Ronald McDonald House) and excellent performances. One can only look forward to next year’s Java Jive with eager anticipation.

Amnesty students get on the busnese consulate. This action concentrated on the standing of human rights in Tibet, with a special focus on Dhondup Wangchen, the filmmaker of “Leaving Fear Behind.” He has been held incommunicado since March of 2008. Students called on the Chinese govern-ment to release Wangchen and all others who have been held for peacefully making use of their rights.

“Leaving Fear Behind” is a documentary which was filmed in the time period leading up to the Beijing Olympics. It is made up of footage that was smuggled out of Tibet in March 2008 during the mass protests, where the filmmakers traveled for miles and miles to interview regular Tibetans about how they truly felt about China, the Dalai Lama and the Olympics.

Almost everyone who was involved with the film, even if they only watched it, was imprisoned. For those of you who have not seen it, it is remarkable. When you have a chance, go out and see the film that the Chinese are not allowed to watch.

After a long day, students walked to Penn Station. From there, they boarded a bus home. Due to the fact that the bus was extremely late, stu-dents did not arrive till close to midnight. Despite the long day, “Get on the Bus 2009” was undoubtedly a huge success. (Information provided from www.gotb.org)

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the school community, and can be delivered toWarrior staff or sent via

email to: thewarrioropinion@gmail.com. The Warrior reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and content.

Signed opinion articles express the opinions of their creators. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the paper’s edito-rial board, consisting of the Opinion section and the Editor-in-

Chief.

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

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

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

For a one-year subscription to The Warrior, please send a check for $25.00 to: The Warrior, c/o Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.

4 May 1, 2009 The WarriorOpinion

Editor-in-Chief:Daniel ClaridgeJulie Slotnick

News:Lauren Niedbalec, EditorAnagha Tolpadi, EditorHina Tai, Asst.

Opinion:Kaela Bamberger, EditorSam Dharia, EditorLucas Lobe, Asst.Nick Farina, Asst.Entertainment:Craig Dudek, EditorChris Murphy, EditorMarcelle Tuttle, Asst.

Sports:Kevin Kurtzner, EditorCorey Guilmette, Editor

Magazine:Sarah Barry, EditorDinesh Kommareddy, EditorDan Stone, EditorRoshal Patel, Asst.

Additional Staff:Archith Murali, Copy EditorKelvin Lin, Copy EditorBrian Vedder, Business ManagerChris Rivadeneira, Advertising ManagerNina Santiago, Distribution ManagerEmily Bartell, Graphics Editor

Advisors: James Edgar Russell McDowell

Sen io r l o t i s f o r s en io r sby Craig DuDek

opinion

Fourth quarter is that time of the school year when waking up in the morning becomes a little less of a chore, and we can finally start to enjoy certain outdoor festivities. Upon returning from spring break, I noticed that my peers were curious about being back in school due to all the changes that had taken place over break. There’s the new entrance to the library, the newer portion of C hall, and a notice-able decrease in hallway traffic because of traffic being redirected through the new hallways. However, for us seniors, the most noticeable change is the absence of parking spots available in the senior lot.

I have first block off every other day, so I take advantage of that and get a little extra sleep. For the entire year, this extra hour or two of sleep meant obtaining a bad parking spot. This week, that experience was taken to a whole new level.

Lucky for me, I’ve been able to get a spot even if it is far away, but I’ve watched as some of my classmates have had to

be creative in finding parking spots. For instance, some students, instead of park-ing in a parking spot, park at the end of a row. While I completely understand why it is necessary for a senior to do this when there aren’t other spots available, it is a huge safety hazard for drivers in the lot. It is also dangerous for the owner of the car which is not parked correctly. I’ve also heard stories of seniors who have had to find parking far away from the school because of this inconvenience.

There are a lot of reasons why this could be happening. Perhaps more seniors have their licenses and access to a car, and thus the traffic in the senior lot is heavier. Maybe more staff members are parking in the senior lot, but taking spots away from seniors. But if you ask me, I think it’s obvious to any senior that there are many juniors and perhaps even a sophomore or two who utilize our senior lot as a place to keep their car for the day.

I don’t want to blame anyone who hasn’t unrightfully parked in the senior lot, but this past week I have walked by

numerous different cars without parking permits, seen underclassmen walk out of the senior lot with car keys in hand and even had the misfortune of competing for a parking spot with an underclassman. Parking in the senior lot is a privilege which the school gives to seniors who are willing to cough up the sixty dollars. As paying customers, we seniors deserve the confidence of knowing that there will be a spot reserved for us.

Personally, I think that the school should provide parking spots for juniors as well as seniors. Most schools do, even if the lot is extremely far away from the school. But as for now, Niskayuna doesn’t and until it does so, any one who doesn’t have a park-ing pass needs to park elsewhere and let us paying seniors have our spots.

So, park at St. James if taking the bus to school is more than you can handle and wait till you’re a senior and have a parking permit. Until then, let the seniors enjoy their final year at the high school by letting them park their cars in their parking spots.

Feminism is a little out of controlby sara kosTe

opinion

Feminism is a little out of control. It’s become a fad. So many girls consider them-selves feminists because being an “independent” or “strong” woman is... attractive... which completely defeats the purpose of feminism. Few seem to un-derstand that feminism is a movement to fix the problem of women’s inequality in society.

The girls of my generation were always taught that women are just as good as men and

that if you’re a girl you need to stand up for yourself. These ideals are all well and good, but many take it way too far. So many “feminists” are really only “anti-men,” and that’s the entire basis of their philosophy. That’s absurd! It’s turning the whole idea that men have been oppressing women into a jus-tification for hating the entire male sex. It’s as if these anti-men “feminists” are trying to get revenge for all those years of being stuck in a stereotype. How very typical of a woman.

My favorite “feminists” are the girls who wear all designer clothes, groom their hair per-fectly and keep their nails immaculate. They play dumb around attractive guys and say that they’re a feminist when asked. I recently spoke to one such girl who told me that she wasn’t ever going to get mar-ried because she wanted to remain independent. I asked her if she was ever going to have a boyfriend and she said, “hopefully.”

If she really wanted to re-

main independent, she should be more concerned about the subtle things in society, like those tight, stereotypical pants she was wearing.

Whatever these “feminists” are trying to do, it’s probably never going to work to the extent that they wish. When it comes down to it, biologically speaking, men and women have different roles. The roles aren’t inherently unequal... they’re just different.

[CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE][FEMINISM]

5May 1, 2009The Warrior Opinion

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

by kevin kurTzner

opinion

As Monday after break ap-proached, a sick feeling filled my insides. I would soon be back to the high school for what promised to be a torturous end of the school year, even for a fourth quarter se-nior. As thoughts of finals, APs and college decisions filled my mind, I thought back to the one positive aspect of returning to school: the new C-Hall!

All of the inconveniences of construction have finally showed their first signs of paying off: New classrooms, shiny floors, function-ing water fountains and tiled walls. As I wandered the upper floor of the new wing during Spanish class, I had the sudden urge to urinate. My search for a restroom brought me about halfway down the hall. What I then saw confused me greatly.

I’m a male. For that reason, I’ve always chosen to do my business in the men’s room. As I approached the doorway though, I was forced to choose a door. “Men” and “Boys,” read the tiles on the wall. What to do?

My initial thoughts were to choose the door labelled with the former. I received my Con-firmation in church last year, signaling my

manhood in both my religion and society. But as I took my step toward the right

door, I considered the legality of this decision. Under law, I am a dependent of my parents until I reach the age of 18. While some of my classmates have reached this age mile-stone, I have not due to my late birthday. Therefore, am I really a man? Considering my environment, I decided it would be safe not to title myself a man.

In my anger and confusion, I stormed out of the new wing and settled for the old, ugly, boring, Crossroads bathroom. Meanwhile, I pondered the implications of what I had just experienced.

First of all, since when do they make bathroom signs that say “Boys?” I’ve never seen that.

Secondly, who are the construction work-ers to put me in that position? Why would two such signs and bathrooms be located in such close proximity? Men and boys should not be going to the bathroom near each other.

What should have been a quick, routine bathroom trip turned into a situation in which I was forced to evaluate my status as a member of the male population. At this time in my life, I’m not even sure whether I’m a man or a boy. One might say even that

I’m at that awkward in between stage. But is there a bathroom for “teens?” No.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that the men’s bathroom is designated for use by male high school faculty members. Couldn’t a “faculty” sign have been posted? Regardless, it seems that I have been relegated to the boys room. What an insult.

All my life, I have been permitted into men’s rooms. Sure, ethnic restaurants give different titles, “hombres,” “uomo” or “hommes,” but men nonetheless. But here I was, denied ac-cess to the room reserved for men.

I cannot, though, ignore the benefits of such a division, ignoring the rude titles used to divide. I greatly appreciation the location of a faculty bathroom in such proximity to the student bathroom so that a teacher will not choose to go to the student’s bathroom.

Let’s be honest, it’s really just awkward for all parties involved when you see your teach-ers in the bathroom.

“I feel really uncomfortable sharing a rest room with students and am glad for the abil-ity to not have to anymore,” stated language teacher Mike Jones.

Not a boy, but not yet a man

Warrior Image/Kaela Bamberger

EXISTENTIAL DILEMMA: Kevin Kurtzner wonders whether to use the BOY’S or MEN’s restroom.

Feminism[CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUR]

[FEMINISM]Men are never going to become pregnant

in real life.Women are never going to be as strong as

men. (Get over it, you know what I mean). Instead of complaining about how a woman’s stereotype keeps them from achieving as much as they wish, why don’t feminists stop whining and use that stereotype to their advantage? Not to say any girl can’t become a politician or a construction worker if they really want to, but if you’re not going to overcome that “barrier”, which is probably just in your head, then use your position as a woman to manipulate and control, and if you’re going to complain about anything, don’t whine about the institution of marriage suppressing the woman, complain about how you can’t get your hands into the pockets of those tight jeans you love so much.

6 May 1, 2009 The WarriorEntertainment

Another trip to“Adventureland”by Craig DuDek

enTerTainMenT

When I saw the first preview for “Adventureland” a while back, I was very excited for the newest flick by director Greg Mottola. I knew that this wouldn’t be just an ordinary film; after all, Mottola was the mastermind behind one of the best movies of all time, “Su-perbad!” So, when I headed off to the theatres on Easter weekend to watch this movie, I was stunned. Not stunned as in, “wow that was the best movie I’ve ever seen,” but stunned as in “I can’t believe I just boosted our nation’s GDP by paying to see that horrible movie.”

There were a lot of things about this movie that I didn’t like, mainly its lack of humor. After seeing the previews and trailers for it, I was extremely excited to go out and see what I was expecting to be a hilarious comedy It did not live up to that expectation at all. I was also a little disappointed by the plot, which seems a little overdone. A lot of teen movies deal with someone who takes a summer job, which on the cover seems horrendous but actually turns into a worthwhile experience and changes their outlook on life. In this respect, the movie lacked originality and got quick-ly boring. Anyone who watched the preview was expecting a comedy like “Superbad,” and I was a little disappointed be-cause it didn’t live up to this ex-pectation. In fact, it was barely funny at all. I can find humor in almost anything, but this movie was not funny. Coming in expecting to laugh my socks off, I was disappointed, and my fellow movie-goers agreed with me after the film. The attempts at comedy centered on the over-all ridiculousness of the plot, and a few crude jokes thrown in rather immaturely.

As I said earlier, the plot of this movie is rather simple, not to mention rather boring. It takes place in a small town

outside of Pittsburgh in the late 1980’s, and it seems the only thing to do is go to a local amusement park. The main character James Brennan and his family just move to town and his dad takes a new lower paying job. Even though he is a recent graduate from Oberlin College on his way to Columbia for jour-nalism, his parents force him to work over the summer and the best he can do is a minimum wage job at the amusement park, “Adventureland.” This job seems like a bummer and that really is what it turns out to be, as he is forced to deal with lunatic bosses, insane cowork-

ers and annoying park-goers. However, as in all movies of this sort, he seems to be rescued by a girl, who in this film goes by the name of Arlene. Of course, they go through their own drama and come to realize that they should be together, despite the circumstances. Cheesy and al-ready overdone; that basically sums up the plot.

In a lot of respects, I hon-estly feel like the movie was full of many failed attempts to be funny. The whole plot feels rather ludicrous, and it had the potential to be hilarious. However, it wasn’t. The movie did have some pretty ridiculous

characters that, with a few extra plot twists and a few punch lines, would have made the film pretty funny, but of course there was none of that.

There was a lot of marijuana usage as well as drinking, which is understandable and could have been made funny, but un-like “Superbad” and “Pineapple Express,” it just seemed to be overly used when the char-acters were depressed or in a bad mood. This all could have helped make the movie funny, but it just got annoying after a while, and made me personally dislike a good majority of the characters.

Like me, senior Kevin Kurtzner also did not like the movie. He could not remain silent when asked about it, saying that “it was not funny, cute, or good in anyway shape or form. It was just boring and I would not recommend this movie to anyone at all. There are so many other movies that would be worth the ten dollars spent on this crap.”

Had there not been so much false advertising about the film, I may have liked it much more. Everyone who I’ve talked to about this has agreed that the previews made it seem like a hilari-ous movie that would keep us laughing for the entire duration, but people did not realize that the previews in-cluded every funny remark made in the entire film. This really wasn’t a comedy, and I don’t think comedy goers appreciate this false repre-sentation of the film.

So, for all you anxious movie goers interested in this movie, don’t waste your mon-ey, your time or your pride. Personally, I would rather listen to Hannah Montana’s newest hit song, “The Climb,” on repeat for two hours than watch this movie... and I am Taylor Swift fan.

www.adventurelandthefilm.com

A CHOICE ADVENTURE: Film of the year or scourge of the theater?

7May 1, 2009The Warrior Sports

Girls make clean work of Mudvilleby Molly o’Donnell

sporTs

Coming off an historic, ac-complished 2008 season, the Niskayuna Varsity softball team will find it hard to match expectations. However, with the opening of the books for the 2009 softball season, it is clear that this team is ready and eager to have an even bet-ter run.

Last year, the squad fin-ished with an outstanding record of 20-2. They were division champions, Mud-ville tournament champi-ons and ranked state wide. In addition, for the first time in the team’s history, secured a bye in the first round of sectional play.

Sophomore shortstop Emily O’Donnel l com-mented, “We had our best season to date last year, but I know since we have so many returning players we will be just as good. We have become a real threat in the Suburban Council.”

It is hard to ignore the above statement, as the team only lost one single player to graduation last year. Seven starting players have returned, along with many additional valuable assets to the team.

This year’s squad is made up of seven sopho-mores: Rachel Annello, Kiersten Gray, Serena Mourkian, Jill Conway, Kaley O’Brien, Emily O’Donnell and Ashley McCaughan. There are three juniors; Lauren Giglio, Jackie Tomisman and Megan Price, and just one senior: Molly O’Donnell.

While this may look like a young team, the majority of the girls are returning players and were a part of the group that made Niskayuna softball history last year.

With the new leadership of first year varsity head coach Dawn Dagostino and return-ing assistant Joe Annello, the team has gelled nicely and has

already proved its strength this season.

So far the teams’ overall re-cord stands at 7-2, and in the Suburban Council, 4-1.

Impressive wins have come from games against Sara-toga, Burnt Hills, Bethlehem, Schenectady and Ballston-Spa.

Recently, the Silver Warriors

claimed the title of Mudville Tournament Champions for the second straight season.

Losses this year have come to Troy and Shaker, but each and every game they have played has been close.

The key to success for this squad is without a doubt their offense. Each and every bat-ter in the line-up, from one to nine, is a threat to every team Niskayuna faces.

Already, barely hal fway through the season, five differ-ent girls have hit home-runs, and the team has won three

games in double digit figures. Each year since 2005, Nisk-

ayuna softball has grown not only at the varsity level with more intense play, but also throughout the entire program. For the first time in five years, the school has been able to field four teams, including at the modified, freshmen, junior varsity and varsity levels.

While this program may not be as prestigious as Shen’s with its seven consecutive titles, Niskayuna is on its way. The domination in regular season play is becoming an ongoing trend for the varsity squad and for the first time in a while, the graduating players are going on to compete at the next level.

Graduating senior in the class of 2008, Kate Waltman, now plays for the Le Moyne dol-phins, and this season, gradu-ating senior Molly O’Donnell has chosen to extend her soft-ball career at Ithaca College

next fall. The 2009 varsity softball

team still has a long way to go, but if the girls continue to play the way they have been already, they will be unstoppable in post season play.

Last year, Niskayuna had a bye in the first round of Sec-tionals, but ultimately met their match in the second round with

a 2-0 loss to Colonie. This season, the girls hope

to be rewarded with another bye, but are ready and willing to take any seed that comes their way.

As always, fans and support are appreciated at any of the team’s games. The squad plays all home games at Van Antwerp middle school.

The season is not even half-way over, so don’t be afraid to walk or drive over to V.A to catch a game and be a part of the Niskayuna Softball experi-ence.

Photo Courtesy Jackie Tomisman

TOP ROW (L to R): Assistant Coach Joe Annello, sophomore Rachel Annello, sophomore Kaley O’Brien, sophomore Emily O’Donnell, junior Jackie Tomisman, junior Megan Price, senior Molly O’Donnell, sophomore Jill Conway. BOTTOM ROW (L to R): Head Coach Dawn Dagostino, sophomore Ashley McCaughan, junior Lauren Giglio, sophomore Kiersten Gray, sophomore Serena Mourkian.

8 May 1, 2009 The WarriorSports

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

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Boys’ Lacrosse

4/21 vs. ShenW 6-2

4/23 @ SaratogaW 9-1

4/25 vs. Duxbury W 13-2

Girls’ Lacrosse

4/24 @ Averill ParkW 13-8

Softball

4/16 @ BethlehemW 8-2

4/22 vs. ShakerL 8-11

Baseball

5/22 vs. Shaker L 2-5

4/24 vs. Ballston SpaL 7-10

4/25 vs. Bellows Free Academy (Vt.)W 21-1

Boys’ Tennis

5/22 vs. Shaker W 9-0

5/23 vs. Columbia W 9-0

A new mix of athletesby Cyril brunner

sporTs

For a game with a growing American audience, rugby still seems as British as David Beckham or the Beatles. In the U.K., an old saying goes “Football is a gentle-man’s game played by ruffians and rugby is a ruffian‘s game played by gentlemen.”

Rugby is the most popular men’s and second-most popular women’s club sport on college campuses, according to the NCAA, but many people have no idea that our school has an accomplished rugby team of its own which became popular just last year.

This year, the Schenectady Chargers are out for anoth-er successful season, with a new crew of students from many sports and some stu-dents who have never played a high school sport before.

The Char -gers are made up of students from Nisk-ayuna High School, Schenectady Christian School and Schenectady High School. The team plays its games in Collins Park in a rundown, hilly, dirt-covered field unseen by the general public. For those readers unfamiliar with this lovely playing surface, it is relatively close to Jumping Jack’s in Scotia.

Rugby utilizes an ovular ball similar to football, and is played on a 144 by 70 meter field, or pitch, which is significantly larger than fields for football or soccer. The objective is to score in the end zone, which is called a try. The only way one can do this is by placing the ball on the ground over the endline in the try zone.

A try gives you 5 points, plus an extra

2 points if the extra point kick is made. There are no pads, helmets or any sort of protection besides a mouth guard.

Senior Samit Dharia claimed that his “favorite part about rugby is the short-shorts,” which at first glance seem ex-tremely short but on the other hand are quite practical.

Senior Eric Latendresse, who is playing his second year, emphasized his attraction to the game by saying, “I remember my life before rugby... wait no I don’t.”

This comment may lead you to believe tha t Rugby is a very vio-lent game, in which various brain injuries are common. W h i l e t h i s may be true f o r p r o f e s -sional rugby, h igh schoo l rugby usually only results in nosebleeds a n d s o m e bruises.

That being said, one of the key players

returning from last year, Kevin Warren, broke his arm in the team’s first game and will surely be missed for the rest of the season. Another key loss to the team was Tommy Lamanna, one of last year’s leading scorers, who injured his hand at a practice.

The future looks bright for the Chargers, even though they have suffered losses against their first two opponents. Most of the other teams in their division have veteran squads, especially Saratoga which has maintained a Rugby program for over six years now. With many prospects such as Seniors Pete McGuirk, Joe O’Brien and John Cooper, the Chargers hope to continue the success of last year’s excep-tional season.

Warrior Photo/ Diana Backer

BREAKING THE TACKLE: Senior Eric Latendresse puts in all of his might as an opposing player attempts to take him down dur-ing a home game at Lyons Park.