ilson er - Edison to national/international events, sports, and reviews on books and movies. ......

Dear Woodrow Wilson Middle School Community, A warm welcome back from the Newspaper Club! We are a club packed with talented members dedicated to bringing the latest news to the Woodrow Community. Each marking period, we produce a newspaper that covers school and local news, in addi-tion to national/international events, sports, and reviews on books and movies. Our Newspaper Club is open to all grades and currently consists of over 50 students, with many new members in addition to the returning members. Our first few club meetings were filled with excitement from each and every student, all eager to share their ideas for our Fall Issue. When the due date came around, everybody had their articles ready to hand in. Some students even handed their articles in early, despite the short deadline. We continue to use the blog to communicate, give each other positive feedback and exchange ideas. Students post any questions they have, as well as the drafts of their articles on the blog, where their peers help answer their questions and edit their writing before it goes into the newspaper. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or would like to see a certain article in the Newspaper, you can contact us at [email protected]. We hope you enjoy our Fall edition of the WWMS Challenger. Keep an eye out for our winter, spring, and summer editions as well. Happy reading!

Sincerely, The Newspaper Club

The Woodrow Wilson

Challenger

Fall 2014 Edition

Woodrow Wilson Middle School

Edison Township Public Schools

Contributing Members of

Newspaper Club

Medha Atla

Amritaa Basu

Andie Bey

Aditya Chakrabarti

Varsini Dhinakoran

Ava Dul

Akhil Dwasari

Ram Gadhamsetty

Kushagra Ghosh

Pragya Gupta

Keren Huang

Jyoti Kabra

Archisha Kanchan

Avinash Kumar

Anushka Mangal

Alexndra Marques

Parshva Mehta

Ranen Miao

Nathaniel Mumau

Pooja Nandhyala

Kareena Pandya

Allison Park

Irene Quan

Shruthi Rajaraman

Rishabh Rout

Sriya Sadangi

Vaagesha Sagarwala

Priyal Shah

Siddharth Shah

Hafsah Shaik

Shruti Sinha

Jack Thompson

Aditi Tyagi

Elton Vaz

Sriya Vemuri

Radhika Vyas

Richa Wadhawan

Helen Wei

Alexis Wilner

Jenna Yan

Shannon Yan

Samuel Zhang

Student Editor in Chief

Darlene Fung

Faculty Advisor Mrs. Jaclyn Redmond

Inside this Edition…

Woodrow’s Very Own News Articles: 1-14

Fall Fun: 15-16

News from Around the World: 17-20

Science Section: 21

Technology: 22

Sports: 23-24

Reviews: 25

Movie Previews: 26

Comics & Jokes: 27-28

The Woodrow Wilson

Challenger is a Member of the

National Scholastic Press

Association

Welcome Back to School WWMS Community! By Darlene Fung

mailto:[email protected]


Meet Your Student Council Elected Officials By Hafsah Shaik

As you walk through the forest, you get a sense of cheesiness. The whole thing is cute with its plastic hang-ing skeletons and headless dolls. With the spider webs dripping down so ele-gantly planned from the trees, you fol-low your student council member guide through it. Your just about to leave, when “AARRRHHHHH!” Something with ripped clothes and a scarred face grabs your arm and screams with a low voice. You quickly run away, by in-stinct, and then laugh at yourself for being so foolish. And then it happens again – never mind, not so fool-ish! With a panicked look on your face, you run out, but end up screaming and laughing at the same time. The experience was fun, silly, and a little spooky throughout the whole night. Fright Night was a huge blast for everyone, which started after everyone

went through the trail. People then were lead through the side door en-trance and into the back of the cafete-ria. The hallway was dripping with cob-webs and the floor was covered with smoke. Three zombies were sitting down in the hallway, moaning and star-ing at you as you walked past with your friends. The first thing you noticed when you entered the room, was how dim the lights were. That is, until, you notice all the costumes. Sharks, zombies, ninjas, witches, butchers, and everything scary in between were talking and danc-ing. There were also some unusual ones, such as deranged clowns, video-game characters, and leprechauns that all looked well thought out and wonder-ful. Some people were wrapping their friends with toilet paper, struggling and laughing when it broke. Others were

buying and eating candy from the stand by the back door. And everyone was having a great time. The DJ kept everyone alive the whole night by switching songs so smoothly. He would take the first few notes of the song and kept on repeating them until everyone was excited to hear the song play. Then, he would play the song, and cut off some of the chorus for everyone to sing along.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

They’ve all worked so hard, cam-paigning all day long, their feet aching, voice breaking. Finally, it’s time to find out whether or not all their hard work has paid off. Mrs. Cotoia speaks four names into the microphone: Ranen Miao, Presi-dent; Gabbie Lopez, Vice President; Dar-lene Fung, Treasurer; Shiv Patel, Secre-tary.

The newly elected student gov-ernment has a few words about what they plan to do with their new leaderships, and some answers to questions in most stu-dents’ minds.

Ranen Miao, President, says he will be a good leader by trying his best to create a voting system, where the student government can collect information on everyone’s opinions. He also wants to put in an easily accessible suggestion box so students can share their ideas with the student council. Ranen says, “This school is already very amazing, and there are only a few things to improve, so I will put in as much effort as I can into making this

school as great as it can be!” By the end of the year, Ranen hopes to start an opening fund for Chrome Books in this school. “We probably won’t be able to raise enough money for them this year, but I will try to raise as much as we can.”

A lot of students question what the difference is between the roles of president and vice president. Gabbie Lopez, Vice President, says, “There’s not much of a difference. He does the big decision making and I help him.” She says she is looking forward to “getting my ide-as out there. The reason why people voted for me was my ideas, so I’m not going to let them down.” Some things Gabbie is working on are the Talent Show and her original “After PARCC Fair”, where she is trying to have a fair after the PARCC Ex-am, where students, and even teachers, can relax and have fun.

Darlene Fung, the Treasurer, says one of their most important goals is “to give every student a say in what’s going on.” She also tells us about how they work

together. “We do most of our work to-gether. We write announcements, make posters, and we decide what goes in the school store whenever we order another batch of supplies.”

When asked how it feels to be a seventh grader amongst three eighth grad-ers, Shiv Patel, Secretary, said he felt “nervous, weird, and good at the same time.” He said, “It’s cool, like I’m one of the first, really rare cases. I really didn’t think I would win, and I was really sur-prised.” Shiv says he will do his best to be a good leader, and he has some advice for future seventh graders running next year. “Do the best you can! Be confident, and don’t be scared!”

Fright Night By Ava Dul

Right before the end, the student council called up anyone who had the scariest or most unique cos-tume. Everyone was cheering and shouting for the names of the people that they wanted to win. It took them at one point a long while before everyone would settle down to con-tinue on to the next person! Everyone was in a great mood leaving with their stomachs full of candy and a smile on their face. The student council did an amazing job setting up and running the dance and because of them we all had an amazing time at Fright Night. We all can’t wait for the next school dance!


Fright Night...CONTINUED

A Very Artsy Partnership

By Darlene Fung

The Edison Arts Society (EAS) is a nonprofit organi-zation that promotes the arts in several major areas: dance, literature, music, theatre, and film, media, and communica-tions. Its mission is “to cultivate and foster a love for all the arts – theatre, music, poetry, dance, and visual arts”, and the EAS has definitely stuck to their promise! The EAS all start-ed with Catherine Spadoro, the wife of George Spadoro, a former Edison mayor. Her aspirations led to the birth of the EAS, and on September 10, 1998, the EAS had its very first home on 1729 Woodland Avenue in Edison. Today, the EAS has evolved to an organization with a Board of Trustees and a staff which includes a President and an Executive Director. It also has established many programs to promote arts such as the Annual High School Art Competition, Holiday Dance Extravaganza, Poetry readings, and Outreach Workshops in poetry, drama, and art, just to name a few. These programs give artists opportunities to perform or display their work, as well as provide a chance for emerging artists to learn from the Master Artists. In May of 2014, the Edison Arts Society started a partnership with Woodrow Wilson Middle School. Wood-row Wilson students have displayed their artistic talent in multiple EAS venues, and the EAS is planning to use art to display important messages to the students at Woodrow. For example, the Woodrow String Quartet has played at galleries and exhibition openings in June of 2014, and they plan to perform again in December 2014. The eighth grade art stu-dents are also working hard to create a vast mural to cover the side of the Valvoline oil change shop across from the Menlo Mall. For the Woodrow students, the EAS is bringing in a dance company called FUNKnation in November 2014, who will be performing an assembly about the important is-sues of cyber bullying.

On Friday, October 31, I had the privilege to meet with Mrs. Gloria S. Dittman, the president of the EAS, who was generous enough to take the time out of her day and let me interview her. Mrs. Dittman is very sweet and friendly lady who truly cares about the promotion of the arts in to-day’s generation.

How has the EAS changed since you first started you role as president? Oh, we’re much more active – that’s the main thing. We’ve had three visual art exhibitions, a play, a concert, and contest, and recently gave out two $500 scholarships, one to a J.P. Stevens student and the other to an Edison High School stu-dent. In order to apply for a scholarship, you must be an Edi-son resident. Underclassmen are welcome as well!

What drew you to create a partnership with Woodrow Wilson Middle School? Mrs. Cotoia and I have known each other for a long time – much longer than I’d like to admit! So I made an appeal to the Edison schools and Mrs. Cotoia got in touch with me. The rest is history! And, on November 14th, FUNKnation is coming to address the very meaningful issue of cyber bully-ing.

How do you feel the Edison Arts Society has benefited the students of Woodrow Wilson Middle School? What changes do you see in the students? Art benefits everyone, and no matter what, you walk away with something. You may forget it, but later on, you can re-flect on your art experience and it can create a comfort zone.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4


A Very Artsy Partnership...CONTINUED

Is spreading the art influence to other schools around Edison in the near future? Absolutely. We work hard in spreading the arts because art is forever- there is no age limit on it. It doesn’t matter how old you are if you want to enjoy something like theatre. Do you think it is possible to display the Woodrow Wil-son students’ art in venues such as the JFK Hospital, Middlesex County Fair, or Edison Library? Yes. Venues take a while to reserve, especially now that eve-rybody has so much going on, but based on what I’ve seen around the halls, I know what Woodrow students can do and I’d definitely like to do something at another venue. We’d also like to do an art exhibit in 2015.

What future plans do you have for the EAS? We plan on having two more art exhibits, a music review, and an international dance exhibit that includes Indian dance, Asian dance, square dancing (Everybody forgets about us!), Israeli dancing, and Flamingo dancing. We have also applied for a grant, and plan on doing a music review, folk concert, and a poetry reading with a few literature teachers from J.P. Stevens in December at the coffee house on Amboy Avenue, all of which are firsts for the EAS. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Art is open to everyone, and strength is in membership. If you have any questions, you can call 732-548-9134.

I also got the opportunity to talk to eighth grader Jenna Yan. Jenna is one of the members of Woodrow’s String Quartet, who is currently practicing for their perfor-mance for the EAS in December. Jenna, along with the other three members of the String Quartet (Alan Hsu, Rachel Tam, and Kyle Tu), practice the songs they’ll be playing every Thursday morning. The songs that the String Quartet will be performing are different in which they are more challenging than concert pieces, and each person in the quartet has their own part. Jenna is very excited to have the opportunity to represent Woodrow through music and perform for the EAS, which has allowed her to “learn from other students through their works and challenged me to work harder.” The Edison Arts Society is a great organization whose dedication to promoting the arts has definitely paid off. For more information about EAS and its upcoming events, visit their website at www.edisonarts.org. And re-member, everyone can use a little art in their life!

Welcome Ms. Dziedzic! By: Radhika Vyas

Drum roll please….Woodrow has a new science

teacher! Joining us this year, Ms.Dziedzic has made her mark

on the classroom with her fun new ideas and labs. Recently I

interviewed her on her thoughts about science and the

school. Well, without further ado, here it is!

How do you like Woodrow so far? Oh it’s wonderful, everyone is so nice! What led you to become a science teacher? Well, when I was studying to become a teacher I mastered in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and I found it to be interesting and enjoyable. Do you enjoy teaching science? Yes, I do like the hands on aspect of the labs. What is your favorite topic in science to teach? Geology, rocks, and the Earth are my favorites. I find those topics very interesting.

If you had the choice, would you teach another subject? I would still teach science, but if I had to choose, I’d choose math. What branch of science would you like to explore a little more? I would like to learn more about astronomy and space. I don’t know too much except for the teaching material. Have you ever wanted to become a scientist? No, I’ve always wanted to teach, but maybe in the future. What do you do for your free time? Even though I love science, I love relax-ing with my family and reading a good book. I hope this article got you to know this awesome new science teacher at WWMS!

http://www.edisonarts.org/

There are a lucky handful of students here at Woodrow Wil-son who can tell you fondly of their time in 5th grade with Dr. DeBella. Fortunately, our new group of 6th graders also gets to have the same enjoyable experi-ence, as he becomes part of the Woodrow Wilson Challenger fami-ly. As a welcome, I interviewed him and asked him what he thinks of his new environment.

Is middle school different than elementary school? A lot.....teaching over 112 students is certainly much more involved than having 26 in a class. All students have shown a wholesome and respectful welcome to me throughout the days. What exactly is different? The physical activities (ie., changing classes on a cart) are in-teresting and busy, but teaching one of my favorite subjects (World History) is very worthwhile. In the elementary school, if I missed an item in the morning, I could review it in the

afternoon, but here, I must be organized so that each class learns the topic. The grade portal took a few days to master, but it is an excellent way to communicate with par-ents. Frankly, after teaching 41 years in five different Edison township elementary schools, and 25 years at Middlesex County College, I am proud and honored to have been so successful at WWMS. Adapting to a class needs is always needed. Have you been enjoying your time at Woodrow Wilson? Enjoying? YES, most definitely. You're a sixth grade teacher, so do you feel yourself dis-covering this middle school alongside with your stu-dents as you are both new to this environment? I have been a sixth grade teacher at Martin Luther King Ele-mentary school in the 70's and 80’s, so I have taught sixth graders before. But I am enjoying the challenge!! (No pun intended.) Do you hope to stay at Woodrow? I have found a great home at WWMS, and do hope to stay here.


A Familiar Face Greeted 6th Graders This Year: Meet Woodrow Wilson’s

Newest Social Studies Teacher - Dr. DeBella By Shruti Sinha

Does I-Ready Help Struggling Students? By Alexis Wilner

I-Ready, a phrase that makes some students happy and others quiver in fear. Why? Well, it’s just like Study Island

except fewer games, harder questions, and requires more time out of students’ busy schedule. Although many students be-

lieve that I-Ready shouldn’t be incorporated into homework or even the school day, some students and teachers enjoy the

program, and appreciate its characters and video tutorials. Does its interactive storylines and creative problems distract us

from learning or do they give us a real life example of when we can use these new skills?

According to it its website, I-Ready states that its reading section covers the main topics that the new Common Core

questions students about. It also states the tasks include “engaging” characters that model close reading and other topics stu-

dents may struggle with. The program also explains that its math section includes questions with new technology and con-

tent that links large topics between grades, so students have a smooth transition. These aspects may help students.

Even though it may cover lots of important topics, I-Ready takes some time. With the new program, students at our

school now need to spend 45 minutes, or 2-3 tasks in Math and English on I-Ready per week to receive the 100 in the I-

Ready grade slot. Unfortunately, these tasks don’t replace our everyday homework because the lessons aren’t always on what

we are learning, but it will help us build strength in areas that we find difficult. Have you noticed that if you fail a lesson

twice it locks you out? This alerts your teacher that this is a skill you need extra help with. Before you try this lesson again,

your teacher may work with you one on one or in a small group. Then, he or she may add extra lessons based on that skill on

an easier level for you to practice and boost your confidence.

Once you mastered it, you will get a shot at the original lesson

again. For that reason, it’s up to you to decide! Is I-Ready helping

you in succeeding?


The Common Core State Standards Initiative describes Common Core as “a set of clear college- and career-ready stand-ards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.” But for many, Common Core spells trouble, and many others have no clue what it is or how it effects us. Read on to find out the full story of these “clear col-lege and career ready standards”. Background In the 1990s, the “Standards & Accountability Movement” be-gan writing standards for what students were expected to know and assessments needed to see if students met the standards. So, some corporate leaders and governors formed Achieve Inc.. Their first initiative was to form the Common Core State Stand-ards. Achieve Inc. says that "Current high-school exit expecta-tions fall well short of employer and college demands." The so-lution is a set of rigorous standards. English Standards The Common Core asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. * Ovid, Voltaire, Shakespeare, Turgenev, Poe, Robert Frost, Yeats, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and more contem- porary pieces by authors like Amy Tan, Atul Gawande, and Julia Alvarez. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read.

* Vocabulary instruction in the standards takes place through a mix of conversations, direct instruction, and reading.

* Student writing to help determine performance levels in writing arguments, explanatory texts, and narratives.

* Logical arguments based on claims, solid reasoning, and relevant evidence.

Implementation of 21st century tools (computerized tests)

* This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.

Math Standards The Common Core concentrates on a clear set of math skills and concepts. Students will learn concepts in a more organized way both dur-ing the school year and across grades. * The Number System, Geometry, Statistics and Probability,

Ratios and Proportional Relationships, Functions, and Alge-bra.

The standards encourage students to solve real-world problems. Assessments Common core provides two choices for tests.

1. New Jersey and 18 other states will take the PARCC Assessment. Their approach focuses on computer-based "through-course assessments" in each grade together with streamlined end-of-year tests. (PARCC refers to "Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers"

2. Smarter Balanced Assessment comprises 31 states fo-cusing on creating "adaptive online exams".

Response Forty-three states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core State Standards. But not everyone is happy. Five states—Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklaho-ma, and South Carolina—have either repealed the standards or initiated a process to review them. Some people say Common Core addresses the earlier standard's issues and "level the playing field" for students. A professor at Michigan State University said, “Rather than a frag-mented system in which content is ‘a mile wide and an inch deep,’ the new common standards offer the kind of mathematics instruction we see in the top-achieving nations, where students learn to master a few topics each year before moving on to more advanced mathematics.” Many others think these standards are too challenging. Educational analysts from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute determined that the Common Core standards, “are clearly supe-rior to those currently in use in 39 states in math and 37 states in English. For 33 states, the Common Core is superior in both math and reading.” A spokesman from ExxonMobil said of Common Core: “It sets very important milestones and standards for educational achievement while at the same time providing those most invested in the outcome – local teachers and administra-tors – with the flexibility they need to best achieve those re-sults”. Some teachers say that Com-mon Core drains initiative from teachers and enforces a “one-size-fits-all” curriculum that ignores differ-ences among classrooms and stu-dents. Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, wrote in a book that the Common Core standards have never been field-tested and that no one knows wheth-er they will improve education.

So, what do you think? Do you think Common Core is necessary or a waste of time? Is it clear and under-standable or too challenging? That, my friend, is up to you to decide.

Common Core and Its Effects By Kushagra Ghosh


How many times have you heard your teachers say, “Take out a highlighter, we are going to close read today.”? You answer is probably a lot of times. Do you ever feel like asking your teacher if close reading is helpful or not? I know I always feel like that. Let me guide you through the benefits and disadvantages of close reading. First, let’s start off with the meaning of close read. “Close reading describes, in literary criticism, the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief pas-sage of text.” So let’s start off with benefits, which would also be the reason you do a close read. The first reason is to deter-mine the general meaning of the text. Second, to examine the ways the author uses language and the discipline-specific structures of literature to create meaning. Your focusing question here might be “How do the author’s choices help me understand or appreciate something that I didn’t notice the first time I read?” Third, close reading allows us to con-

sider thematic meaning and connections between this text and others like it. Here, ask yourself, “What does this text cause me to think or wonder about some larger aspect the text and of the human condition?”.

Despite the advantages of close reading, there are some disadvantages. The first disadvantage to close reading is the fact that it is not as easy as it sounds. Close reading does not just involve understanding the meaning of words or scenes, it also involves being sensitive to connotations of skilled writers. It involves eve-rything from the smallest terms to large ideas. There can be more disadvantages, but I per-sonally think close reading could help.

Is Close Reading Helpful?

By Vaagesha Sagarwala

Let’s bring our minds back in time a bit. Not too much, but not too little either. Somewhere near the time of the first week of September, specifically what we call, the first day of school. Summer vacation and back to school shopping are finished. Kids chatter in the waiting area while comparing sched-ules. Bright yellow buses and cars stand in a neat line, dropping off children on time. Teachers slowly come out holding orange colored signs printed with sec-tions on them to guide all the students. The first day of school is always one of those days that are full of joy and excite-ment for some, and for others, nervous-ness. Let’s start with the new sixth grad-ers of Woodrow Wilson Middle School. All the seventh and eighth graders in our school have been sixth graders at one point. From learning how to open a lock, to finding out the room that all your teachers are in, sixth grade is a whole new experience. That’s why going on scavenger hunts around the school and having announcements and speech-es about rules really do help. You’ve never, until now, needed to go from room to room. You’ve never had a lock

or a locker before. Also, you’ve never had different teachers for each and eve-ry subject. However, after being a sixth grader, I know that sixth grade is an awesome and adventurous ordeal to go through, no doubt. Then come the seventh and eighth graders, the students who have already had enough experience in WWMS to easily get around. Being a present sev-enth grader in Woodrow, getting around the school after receiving our schedules, finding all our teachers, and opening our lock is not a dilemma. How would it be after doing and following the same rou-tine for one, or in some cases, maybe even two years? The seventh and eighth graders, including me, quickly bring all our supplies in, organize our lockers and are all ready to start a new year of aca-demic learning. Nevertheless, even if we’ve entered a higher grade, we always return to see all of our past future-makers, our past teachers. However, Woodrow Wilson Middle School is much more than that. Burst out of that bubble of academic skills and you find a whole new world of a variety of clubs and many different sports. As all the students, whether their in sixth,

seventh, or eighth grade, settle in home-room, clubs, as well as spring, summer, fall and winter sports bring the students to a door of opportunities. Clubs and sports allow everyone to be part of a place where everyone can associate with the school, spend time with friends and run after their passions and interests. Now, pull your thought process back to today, right now, this very mo-ment. Hasn’t a lot changed since the first day of school? Everyone has gotten used to things around the school. Not only have all the seventh graders and eighth settled with their routines, but even the sixth graders seem to have started their own middle school lives even though at one point, they were called the new kids, remember? Either way, teachers have also gotten back into their everyday schedules. They’ve finally remembered all of their student’s names and are teaching us some new academic skills for a fun as well as fantastic year. Looks like this year is going to be another awesome year in Woodrow Wilson Middle School!

Starting Fresh By Shruthi Rajaraman


Many people don’t study for tests because of laziness, lack of motivation and concentration, poor attitude, procrastination, and overconfidence. I have created ten study tips that will absolutely, positively, definitely help people who need to de-vise a better study/homework scheme for school. 1. Write down every assignment. When you come home, don’t just head over to the kitchen closet and grab a bag of Frito-Lay potato chips! Open your backpack, taking out your planner, and start doing your homework! Of course, this will only work if you write down all of your assignments. You can also create a to-do list in a simple notebook or an organized task sheet in your cellphone notepad. It doesn’t matter what tool you use, but it is essen-tial to your success that you write down every single assign-ment, due date, test occasion, and task. 2. Remember to bring your homework to school It may seem straightforward, but many terrible and horren-dous grades come from students forgetting to bring a per-fectly completed paper to school. Was or is there ever a spe-cific place where you put your homework each night? To avoid forgetting your homework, you must complete your assignment and put it in the same place every single night where you will remember it. After making this a habit, you will surely enough remember you homework and get a good grade. 3. Communicate with your teacher Coming home at the end of the day, not understanding what you have listened to the teacher drone on and on for is just like planning to stare at a pig roll in mud for an entire week. At the resolution of the day, you must be able to compre-hend every assignment that is expected of you. Be sure to find out what format you have to use in order to receive full credit, and A+, or a 100%. The more questions you ask, the more prepared you’ll be. 4. Organize with color Devise your own color-coding system to keep you, your thoughts, and your assignments organized. This is, by far, proven helpful! Choose a specific color for each class. Using that color, organize your binders, notebooks, folders, notes, and homework. You can do more than accomplish good grades on homework and tests, but you can also reduce the risk of being late to class. 5. Concentrate Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, or quiet, quiet, quiet! These are the two levels that are proven good setting to complete homework and study for exams. The most important thing

that unlocks the key to concentration is, and will always be, no distractions. In other words, you are allowed to shoo pesky siblings out of the room. Yes, they are allowed to be shooed. Just this once. 6. Prepare yourself for test days Be calm, collected, and ready to answer any kind of question. Make sure you don’t spend too much time on a single ques-tion and don’t save enough time for the rest of the test. Be watchful of how much time you have left. 7. Know your dominant learning style Sometimes students don’t understand how to study in a way that matches their own, personal style. Auditory learners are those who learn better by learning things. Visual learners ob-tain more information when they use visual aids. Tactile learners benefit by doing hands-on projects. Every student should examine and evaluate their habits and their natural tendencies and decide how they might be able to improve their study habits by tapping into their personal strengths. 8. Take fabulous notes Suppose you have a test in social studies class tomorrow. Just staring at your dull notes isn’t going to help, now is it? If you’re a visual person, draw as many useful doodles as you can to help you comprehend the subject. Another key thing to do is look out for key words and phrases that your teacher emphasizes as important. 9. Conquer Procrastination Putting things off until the last minute never works, and it never will. When you procrastinate, you take the chance that nothing will go wrong if you rush at the last minute, but in reality, things do go wrong. Instead of rushing home to watch TV or play outside, go ahead and get an early start on your assignments that aren’t due right away. The earlier the better! 10. Take care of yourself Sometimes, your personal habits may be affecting your grades. You can change your habits by taking care of your mind and your body. Students are using different hand ges-tures every time they pick up and put down their pencils. This may cause repetitive stress injury. You can change the way you write by changing the way you sit at the computer, and by doing so, avoid pain in your hands and neck.

The Top Ten Study Tips

By Sriya Sadangi


Did you ever have one of those embarrassing mo-ments when you had to explain to the teacher why you’re late? Or when you forgot to bring your homework or writing supplies to class? Well, you’re not the only one. If you follow these tips I guarantee you’ll never face these nasty problems again! 1. Don’t run – speed walk. This will help you by reduc-

ing your chances of being jostled in the hallways.

2. Use the staircase near you, not the one near your classes: If you’re going to a class and the staircase nearest that class is across the school, you should settle for the stair-case closest to you so that one minute is spent going up (or down) and you still have three minutes getting to your class.

3. Do not rush through class work. If you do so, just to get to the homework, you might accidentally leave behind something important when the bell rings and you’re not fully prepared to leave.

4. Clear your binders out. Whenever you have time pull out any papers you don’t need and recycle them.

5. Limit what you carry. Think about whether or not you would need something for a certain subject. Ask yourself: Do I really use this in class?

6. Avoid congested staircases. Do you have two staircases near you? Go for the one that is less congested.

7. Accordion folders – they are your lifesavers! They help organize your homework and important papers. You can also put in extra stationary in the space pro-vided in case of emergency.

8. Carry supplies for at least two periods: Oh no! Your locker is downstairs but your next two consecutive clas-ses are upstairs. Keeping tip #5 in mind, carry the sup-plies for those two classes together.

Now watch how your grades go up!!!

Tips for School: How to be a Successful Student

By Anushka Mangal

Just about 2 weeks ago, we all watched the “Quest for Respect!” assembly. All around the school there were people talking about it – I knew I was!

All the students agreed it was fantastic. “It was just as good – if not better than Dare Do Dream from last year.” said seventh grader Rebecca Burdov. There were also other students such as Sophia Rec-to who said, “I loved the music and movie clips. They made me want to watch all the movies!” The producers really outdid themselves with this production, because though it had very modern music and other additives it had an almost ancient message, “Treat oth-ers the way they want to be treated!” It’s the same rule we’ve all learned since we we’re little. To be kind to others and to treat them the way we would treat ourselves. It was also very inspirational to watch the stories of people who have been through the worst experiences and still manage to pick themselves back up and move on.

Quest for Respect By Andie Bey

Gems for Giuliana By Shannon Yan

Share the love! Gems for Giuliana is a fundraiser for a girl who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She attended Saint Francis Catholic School as a second grader. The Woodrow Wilson Middle School girl's soccer team is raising money to support childhood cancer by selling wrist-bands for only $2 during all lunch periods. How can you help? Buy a wristband from the two girls at the front of the cafeteria. Help children like Giuliana with cancer win the fight by showing your support. WWMS's goal is to sell at least 500 wristbands. Please bring in just $2 or more! The school will be wearing these wrist-bands to show their support. The wristbands are turquoise with white polka dots and the words "Gems for Giuliana" are in white let-ters, in the middle of the band. The WWMS Challengers logo is on both sides of the wristband. There is an ad-hesive on the right side so that you can adjust the size yourself. Come support!


The Box Tops: Fright Fest is a contest in which stu-dents in Woodrow Wilson can participate. The purpose of the Box Tops: Fright Fest is to raise money for our school funds, however it ended in October. Each Box Top raises ten cents for our school!

You’re probably sitting there wondering, “How does this work?” Well, all you need to do is bring fifteen box tops in a plastic bag with your name and homeroom number on it. Don’t worry; you can bring more than fifteen box tops! However, you can only put fifteen Box Tops in one plastic Zip-log bag. You’re not only donating money to the school, but if you win you get four passes to Six Flags Fright Fest! Box Tops have raised so much money for our school. With the money we can fund parties like the Halloween Fright Night we have in our school! If you want to read more about the Halloween Fright Night please see page _

We also use the money raised from Box Tops for extracurricular clubs! You can just a difference just buy going to the grocery store! There’s some other ways you can help! One, by supporting our school at boxtops4education.com where you can see how much our school is earning with Box Tops. You can also enter in online promotions for chances to win Bonus Box Tops and other

prizes. Another way is to print money saving coupons for your favorite Box Tops brands. Shopping online through Box Tops Marketplaces is never forgotten. All you need to do is buy, cut, and bring, then our school raises money! It’s as simple as one, two, three! So, you’re probably sitting there wondering who won the Box Top: Fright Fest contest? Well, sixth grader Kaitlyn Baelis was the winner of the four Six Flags Fright Fest passes. The other top contributors by grade were: Sixth grade – Kaitlyn Baelis, Sebestain Sibilia, and Sean Cruz. Seventh grade – Alexis Wilner, Agni Patel, and Marie Bosslett. Eighth grade – Sean Baelis, Kevin O’neil, and Shiva-ni Pujara. The teacher winner of the box tops was Ms. DeZa-io. She was randomly selected winner twenty-five dollar cer-tificate to Novita Bistro and Lounge in Metuchen. So, if you entered and didn’t win, don’t worry. You still have plenty of other Box top contests. The next box top contest is in No-vember! This is an amazing turnout for the contest and hope-fully we have more. Go Challengers!

Box Tops: Fright Fest and Winners By Alexandra Marques

Battle of the Books By Archisha Kanchan

Have you ever imagined a competition between schools that tests your memory about the events in a book? Well, a competition like that does exist. Battle of the books is a competition that requires a group of people, with about seven to eight members, to read about thirteen or fourteen books.

Seems pretty easy? Well, not so fast. In order to compete with other schools, first you have to battle with all the other groups in your own school. Then, the top two groups from your school will go further in the district finals. If you win in that then you will go to state finals, which is the final competition. It is really awesome being able to compete in state finals. But sometimes it is possible that your group members might not be able to attend some of your meetings or might not be able to come to competitions at all. This very incident happened to a group in Woodrow. The worst part was that there were some questions based on books that the absent person had read. Luckily the group members read all the books required. So in moral, don’t just read a couple of books, each member should read every book required in the competition.

The most exciting part about this is that our school Woodrow Wilson participated in this exciting event. Mrs.

Redmond, Mrs. Gaudioso, Mrs. LaMarca, and our students were really excited to compete with other schools. Many stu-dents were nervous during the competition but our teachers encouraged them and calmed them because they knew that they worked really hard and spent a lot of time preparing for it. Mrs. LaMarca says, “This battle is really fun, exciting, and helpful to our students because it teaches them how to col-laborate with each other.” Last year was the first time Wood-row Wilson competed. Even though we didn’t win, we had a lot of fun experiencing the competition. So don’t feel bad if you lose, you can always learn from your own mistakes.

This battle is really fun and helpful. This is where kids could remember the events of the books. Last year was a total blast and this year will be better. We can’t wait for it!


Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities. Students work as a team to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretations of literary classics. As Challeng-ers join this club, they are also joining a world of problem-solving skills without the help of adults. These daredevils have to compete with other teams in regions, state, and even world finals! Here are SOME of the names of the problems that students can choose from: Lose Your Marbles – this problem requires teams to design, build, and test a structure, made only of balsa wood and glue that will balance and support as much weight as possible. Experiencing Technical Difficulties –the task is to design, build, and demonstrate various devices that complete specific tasks. The team will create a theme where technical failures must be resolved through com-pleting the tasks. Runaway Train – the team’s problem is to design, build and operate one or more vehicles that will travel on tracks and make stops at differ-ent stations without touching the floor. While traveling between sta-tions, the vehicles must overcome obstacles – moving uphill, towing something, and more. To find out more information about ALL the problems, checkout the Odyssey of the Mind website at: http://www.odysseyofthemind.com

Club of Choice: Odyssey of the Mind By Medha Atla

Club of Choice: Art Club By Aditi Tyagi

Woodrow Wilson has a variety of clubs to interest all. One of the clubs that students can still join is Art Club. What is Art club? What do you do there? How does this club benefit me? These are the questions you most probably want to ask yourself before joining a club. Art Club is not only focused on art but in a range of academics and cultures. We learn how geometric shapes can make a portrait standout. These minor details can change eve-rything you see in the natural world. Students are influenced by analogies and idioms to create realistic to cartoonish sketches that will be an enjoyment to all hearts. Murals you may see by passing the hall of Mrs. Molnar’s and Mr. Romeo’s room are done by our talented middle school students. These paintings are a copy of what some of the most famous artists drew. In-stead of looking at the full masterpiece, we break it into chunks. We like to use our eyes to just see lines and copy those lines onto our sketchbook or perhaps the school wall. When we are finished we sit back, relax, and witness the painting done by teamwork which produces the best art. Pictures can range from nonfiction to fiction including historical times, cul-ture, scientific discoveries and religious portraits.

In Art class itself as well as Art Club, students enjoy the fun and the pleasure brought to them by their caring teach-ers and helpful friends. No matter what happens, they always stick together and never think badly of other’s talent. They provide helpful and encouraging ideas that can benefit them. Teachers have safe, friendly and calm rooms there is never any sort of conflict between others that can hurt other’s feelings. Art club can benefit everyone through communication and skill. While participating in art, we can improve our knowledge in all four academic subjects. It brings us far in life and makes the world around us seem closer, more open to our hearts. It releases our mind from anger and brings it to a com-pete trance of total calmness. It can be used as a type of lan-guage, easy to communicate with others. Also, art may help in writing because ever picture has a story from different angles. In conclusion, Art Club should be taken into consideration. It opens up the mind of the world and improves our knowledge in different fields.

Join the Math Club By Pragya Gupta

Are any of you in Mrs. Jasper’s math club? Well, let me tell you that Mrs. Jasper loves having the opportunity to help high level math students to become better problem solvers. This is Mrs. Jasper's 4th year running the math club at Woodrow Wilson. There are about 6-7 internal competitions and 3 external competitions each year. These include the Mathcounts, Princeton University, and St. Joseph High School competitions. Most students take part in the AMC8 competition in school during the mid-dle of November. The most attended outside com-petition that the 7th and 8th graders participate in is the St. Joseph High School competition in January.

The students learn to become faster prob-lem solvers without using the help of a calculator. Students are also encouraged to remember math facts and formulas that will help them for a lifetime. The club is geared usually for students who have mastered the subject because they will be participat-ing in very challenging competitions. Mrs. Jasper would appreciate to continue the Mathletes- In-Training Club at Woodrow in the future. So, if you are excellent at math, this club is a perfect way to spend your free time and helps with your studies as well.

http://www.odysseyofthemind.com


Common Sports Injuries By Darlene Fung

Many Woodrow students play sports, whether to repre-sent our school or a team outside of school. Playing a sport (or multiple sports) not only is lots of fun, but it also helps you make new friends and teaches good sportsmanship skills (winning humbly and losing gracefully). And of course, playing sports keeps you fit! However, injury is very common through sports accidents or improper training techniques. Therefore, it is important to know how to prevent, recognize, and treat injuries. Here are a few common athletic injuries and their preventions and treatments so that you can keep playing strong throughout the year!

Ankle sprain

An ankle sprain usually happens when your foot turns inward, which can damage weaker ligaments on the outside of your an-kle. When you sprain your ankle, you should ask you doctor or physical therapist about what exercises you can do to keep your ankle flexible and strong so that you can prevent further injury to your ankle.

Another type of ankle sprain is a high ankle sprain, which will take longer to heal. If the area above you ankle feels tender, you should see a doctor to make sure the bones in your lower leg didn’t separate because the ligaments in you ankle were dam-aged.

Groin pull Pushing off something sideways can overstretch your inner thing muscles, or groin, resulting in a groin pull. Groin pulls are most common in soccer, hockey, football, or baseball players. If there is a substantial amount of swelling around the pulled mus-cle, you should see your doctor about it. Otherwise, compres-sion, ice, and rest should do the job just fine. Just remember to make sure you are fully healed before starting up your sport again so you don’t aggravate the pull and make it an enduring problem. Hamstring strain The muscles at the back of our thigh are called the hamstring, and overstretching, or straining it can take a long time to heal because of the constant usage of the hamstring during everyday activities, like walking, sitting down, and standing back up. A hamstring strain can take anywhere from six months to a year to heal, and it is important you don’t start up your sport again be-fore it is healed or re-injury will occur. Shin splints It you have shin splints you will most likely experience sharp pain down the front of your lower leg, along your shin bone. Shin splints are most common in runners, especially when sud-denly starting a more difficult training regiment or running on paved roads. If you have shin splints, rest your leg and ice it to reduce any swelling. If you continue to experience pain, even with rest, you may have a stress fracture – a small crack in the

shin caused by over usage of the leg. Any stress fractures should be seen by your doctor, and usually take a month or two to heal completely. ACL tear The acronym ACL stands for “anterior cruciate ligament”, which holds your leg to your knee. Sudden stops or getting hit from the side can tear your ACL, which makes a “pop” sound. If you think you have torn your ACL, you should definitely go see your doctor, as it is one of the most severe sports injuries. If your ACL is completely torn, you will probably need surgery if you want to continue on with your sport. Patellofemoral syndrome The patella is your kneecap, and the femur a bone in the lower part of your leg. So, patellofemoral syndrome occurs from the constant pounding of you kneecap against your thighbone. Run-ning, volleyball, and basketball are all high-impact sports that usually cause patellofemoral syndrome. It will take about six weeks for your leg to heal, and while it is healing, you should continue to do low-impact exercise. Working your quadriceps (the muscles in the front of your thigh) will help relieve the pain by tightening the muscle and lifting the kneecap to take some of the pressure off your femur.

Even though you now know all about the treatment of common injuries, there are still plenty of other ways to get hurt. In general, to prevent any sort of injury, you should make sure you are fully warmed up before playing. Doing something as short as a slow jog around the block will get the blood pumping to all of your muscles so you don’t hurt yourself because you are stiff. You should also make sure that you are physically capable of participating in a sport. Doing rigorous exercise after months of sitting on the couch increases your chance of injury because your body is not used to such strenuous exercise. It’s like asking a car that has been sitting in your garage for the past ten years to start and take you across the country – it’s going to break down. If you know you aren’t fit to exercise yet, try slowly increasing the amount of exercise you do a day until you have built up enough muscle and stamina to effectively play your sport, and your heart has adjusted so that it can fuel your muscles with enough oxygen. Finally, keeping flexible can reduce your risk of injury. Many injuries happen because muscles or tendons are pulled beyond their limit, and they can be prevented by keeping your body supple. Every time you stop exercising, whether when practice ends or during a game, stretch out. When you exercise, your muscles produce lactic acid, and it will stiffen your muscles. By stretching, the lactic acid will go away and your muscles will be able to stretch farther.

Hopefully, this article will help you to get through 2015 injury-free. Good luck to all of the athletes out there. Go Chal-lengers!


Running like the Wind

By Irene Quan

Imagine running through crisp autumn air, the wind blowing through your hair. Your feet are a blur over the wet, dewy grass as you pump your arms back and forth. You can hear your team members cheering your name as you cross the finish line. This is what all cross country members experience every meet. As you have probably heard from the daily an-nouncements, this year’s cross country team has been unde-feated. We have had to travel to meets to compete with some of the most aggressive teams, and yet Woodrow Wilson still finds a way to win. Cross country is sometimes a hard sport to tackle, but it's always extremely rewarding. After a run, you’ll always feel like you’ve accomplished something amaz-ing. Cross country running can take place over grass, mud, dirt trails, rocky areas, hills, etc. – almost anywhere off-track or off-road. Although it can feel punishing at times, in the end, the physical results and the friendships built by common suffering are definitely worth the training and far outweigh the pain involved. Coached by Mr. Lecky and Mrs. LoBello, cross country is a sport where you run your own race (except when you’re actually running a race). The practices include endur-ance runs, speed workouts, and tempo runs. An endurance run is when you try to do as much running around the pa-rameters of Woodrow Wilson and Woodbrook Elementary School without stopping in a select amount of time. It could be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 30 minutes. Speed workouts are when you have to sprint as fast as you can, run-

ning consecutive laps around the tree line, with 5 minute breaks in between. Tempo runs involve four cones and alter-nating between sprinting full-out and light jogging around the cones. All of these exercises help develop a good pace, as well as knowing when to speed up. To determine who goes to the meets, we have a race-off. This is when everyone has to complete two Woodbrook Loops and see who places the top 10 for boys and girls. These top 10 boys and top 10 girls will be attending the meet. At the meets, there is the custom “On your marks…” and the gun shot. At the gun shot, everyone shoots to get a head start for the 1.5-1.75 miles they have left. In addition to all of the meets, there is a final Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) for cross country that recently took place on October 25th. This is an event where the middle schools of Greater Middlesex County come together to compete for the GMC Championships. The fastest of our members went to this conference. Congratulations to the boys’ varsity team for fin-ishing 3rd place overall! All in all, cross country is both a physical and mental sport, where you have to get past that mental block to allow yourself to keep going. Having such a supportive team and coaches helps you get past that, which is something that Woodrow is proud to have. Congrats to the Woodrow Wilson team for an undefeated season! Go Challengers!

WWMS Girls’ Soccer 2014 with Coach G. By Pooja Nandhyala

The Woodrow Wilson Girls’ Soccer Program is more than what we hear in the morning announcements every day. Our team is not just about winning, but about determination, character, giving back, and so much more! Let’s hear what our coach has to say. How is the girls’ soccer season doing so far? We are better than most people would expect. We are an excellent team that has great passion. So far, we are 7-1 in team. We had seven victorious wins and only one loss. I’ve noticed that you coach many girls’ teams. Do you have any plans into becoming a boys coach? As of now, no. When I first started teaching, the principal insisted that all the young teachers coach. So, Mrs. Yascko and I had the job. However, her condition was that it had to be a girls’ team. As you know, I like consistency, which is why I stayed with girls’ soccer. Another reason is (no offense boysJ) that girls stay very attentive. Boys tend to goof off a little and do their own little thing.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14


WWMS Girls’ Soccer 2014 with Coach G...CONTINUED

Unfortunately, 95% of our 8th graders from last year went to high school. Now that they are gone, what old/new teams are we looking out for this season? Definitely – the Edison team games. No matter how bad or how amazing our team is, the Edison teams are really tough games to pull off. Herbert Hoover, TJ, and John Adams have many aggressive players, which make the games very intense. Everyone gets disappointed when we lose something, especially in competitive sports. How did you feel when we lost our game after 24-25 winning games? This sounds a bit weird, but I was actually relieved. As a coach, I knew that we would break the streak. At some point it was going to happen. I took it a lot better than I expected. Although I hate losing, the most important thing is to look ahead and believe in yourself. In the next game with Timo-thy Christian, we attacked them! We were phenomenal and it pleased me very much. Before a game starts, everyone looks at each other in the eye and yells “FIVE.” What is the significance of this? In summary, it makes us stay FOCUSED and alert. The game is about to start and we need everyone attentive. As you know, I take every game seriously, no matter who the team is. We say this in the first five minutes of each half and then when either team scores a goal. Interesting. What was your first impression after making a roster on the first week of school? As I said, I saw great passion and commitment in every mem-ber of the team. We all had a strong passion of playing soc-cer, which is the most important thing of all. I could also see that we needed some help in a few areas, but we have im-

proved tremendously. About three times a season, we have a Nursing Home trip visit where we mingle with the elderly. Why is this a vital task to fulfill? We do this to give back… Those people have done great things when they were younger. It’s important to respect them. Who knows? Anyone of us can end up in that situation where we might need comfort. Lastly, how has coaching this team and in general im-pact your life? It made me a better coach. I’ve been coaching for 15 years now and each year I learn more about playing soccer and I’m aware of which teams are becoming stronger. Overall, it’s a great experience.

We play Today, We Win Today!

Go Challengers!

THANK YOU TO ALL WOODROW WILSON

STUDENTS WHO PARTICPATED IN A FALL

SPORT.

WHETHER YOU WON OR LOST, YOUR PEERS ARE SO

PROUD OF YOU!!!


FALL FUN

Flavorful Fall Foods By Helen Wei

What do you crave to eat in the fall? Most people would think of turkeys and mashed potatoes, but there is more to autumn foods than Thanksgiving. There are many fall harvest recipes popular in the United States. Here are just a few examples: Pumpkins Pumpkins begin to ripen in September. Because they store well, pumpkins are available all through the fall and winter. Make sure to choose a variety of pumpkin that's intended for cooking rather than for decoration. The field pumpkin -- the kind most commonly used to carve jack-o'-lanterns is not recommended to eat. Sugar pumpkins and cheese pumpkins are two widely available varieties that are good for cooking and baking, because of their dense, sweet flesh. There are so many ways to cook pumpkin,whether it be pie, cheesecake, muffins, soup, pasta, roasted seeds, and so much more. Apples There are thousands of apple varieties, with a range of colors including red, russet, yellow, and green. Textures and flavors vary from tart and crisp, to soft and sweet. Apple-picking season begins in late August or early September and lasts through November. Because apples keep well in cold storage, they are available year-round. Some favorite recipes for apple include pie, apple sauce, brownies, caramel apples, apple cob-bler, salad, etc. Sweet Potatoes Though sweet potatoes are available year-round, they're at their sweetest in fall and winter. They are sometimes misla-beled as yams, which are actually not widely available in North America. There are two main varieties of sweet pota-

toes: The orange-fleshed sweet potato has sweet, bright-orange flesh that takes on a creamy texture when cooked. The yellow-fleshed variety is less sweet than orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Choose sweet potatoes that are very firm, with no areas of softening, sprouting, or wrinkling, which are all signs of age. Sweet potatoes vary quite a bit in size and shape. Those that are straighter and uniform in size are easi-est to peel and cut. They should never be kept in the refrig-erator, as their natural sugars will convert to starch, making them less sweet. Recipes for sweet potatoes include soup, fries, salad, roasted sweet potatoes, salsa, and baked sweet potato chips. Squash Last but not least, squash is also a very popular fall harvest ingredient. There are so many delicious ways to use squash, from soups and salads to lasagna and pizza. Thanks to its smooth, easy-to-peel surface and rich, sweet flavor, butternut squash has become important in the “gourd world”. Like other winter squash, butternuts are at their best from early fall through winter. Butternut squash have a hard, light-tan rind and a golden orange flesh. They range in size from 6 to 12 inches long and weigh between 2 and 5 pounds; choose one that feels heavy for its size. The skin should be smooth and uniform in color with a matte surface.

The next time you are crav-

ing something delicious to eat for a snack or meal, think about these well-known fall harvest vegetables.

Fall into Fall with 50 Fun Fall Activities

By Irene Quan

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are turning vivid colors, and winter is right around the corner. You know what that means, right? It’s autumn! Instead of hiding inside your cozy home watching TV, you can do a lot of fun activities! Let’s begin: Make use of all of the amazing leaves by collecting them and pressing them so that you can preserve their beauty. You could also make a pretty leaf mobile to hang in your room!

Create a festive door wreath using fall flowers (real or fake) and ribbons to use as decoration.

Carve and/or decorate a pumpkin. Don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild! Your pumpkin can be any-thing you imagine it to be.

Go on a hayride.



FALL FUN

Fall into Fall with 50 Fun Fall Activities...CONTINUED

Get the famous Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks!

Enjoy a family bike ride in the park, or simply in your neigh-borhood. A breath of fresh air will definitely refresh your mind.

Cook up some recipes with fresh apples! Be creative, for you can make delicacies such as caramel stuffed apple cider cookies, little mini apple fritters, apple fritter bread, apple cinnamon pull-apart loaf, apple cider but-termilk pancakes, apple crumble bars, or the classic ap-ple pie.

Visit a pumpkin patch.

Collect pine cones and make a garland to hang on your mantle for a cozy feel.

Volunteer at your local soup kitchen or food bank so that you can help everyone have a happy Thanksgiving.

Read spooky ghost stories over a fire with your friends.

Prepare a nature scavenger hunt.

Roast pumpkin seeds.

Make pumpkin pies.

Visit a corn maze!

Go on a picnic with your family. (Don’t forget the apple pie!)

Make caramel apples.

Make a child’s day with Compassion International by writing a letter to them.

Go to a football game and cheer it up!

Attend a fall festival where there are fun games, crafts, and prizes!

Read a book!

Make crockpot apple cider.

Spend a day without any electronic devices. Instead of phone, text, and TV time, there’ll only be quality family time.

Create a fall bucket list with your family/friends of the top 10 things you want to do this fall.

Look through your closet for old clothes and donate them to charity.

Create a waffle cone cornucopia and fill it with anything you want (M&M’s, chocolate, etc.)!

Rake all of the leaves out side and jump into them!

Make pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup for a Sunday breakfast. Yum!

Make a leaf rubbing using the leaves that you find out-side.

Have a bonfire/campfire complete with marshmallows and s’mores.

Enjoy fun turkey crafts like tracing your hand and deco-rating it with feathers. Be creative!

Bob for apples!

Have a sleepover and pull an all-nighter! Remember to never have one on a school night!

Bake candy corn cookies.

Take one photo a day. At the end of Fall, create a fall family album so that you can reflect on all the fun you had in Fall!

Fly a kite and enjoy the brisk autumn air!

Watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” It never gets old!

…or you could watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”

Wake up early and go for a morning jog.

Set up a popcorn buffet. Try using butter spray, popcorn sea-sonings like kettle corn, taco, nacho cheddar, apple cinnamon and white cheddar. You can also set out things like M&Ms, raisins, crumbled up Oreos, and nuts. Or make your own specialty popcorn and just serve that! Lots of options, start poppin’!

Create acorn-filled mason- jar candle holders to brighten up your house.

Make a huge pot of homemade soup.

Make Pumpkin Spice cookies. You can never fail with Pumpkin Spice!

Create a sidewalk mural with chalk using a fall theme.

Go apple picking at an orchard.

Go to a haunted house.

Make a birdfeeder using pinecones, peanut butter, and seeds.

Bake apple chips: spray thinly sliced apples with oil, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar, and bake them until they’re crispy.

Stuff a scarecrow to place in your front yard.

Have fun! Fall only comes once a year, so enjoy it!


AROUND THE WORLD

A PainLESS Blood Test By Avinash Kumar

Picture this: you walk into the room. It’s summer and you’re on break, spending time in the busy, bustling city of Los Angeles. You see the nurse, smiling, saying everything will be okay. You sit in the chair, thoughts racing through your head. Escape comes to you first, but it is already too late. You turn away as the nurse ties the band on your arm. You quietly debate on what to do next. You turn your head from side-to-side, look-ing for a long, painful needle. The nurse tells you to turn away, and you do so, reluctantly. You brace yourself for the pain to follow. A light prick is all you feel. You dismiss this as some-thing else. It couldn’t possibly be the blood test. It surprises you when the nurse says, “You’re done.” You turn and see her ex-tracting a drop of blood from a device resembling a small stick with a bristle on it.

This happened very often last year, in parts of Califor-nia, southern Nevada, and Arizona. Now, children and adults have gotten used to seeing these needles more and more fre-quently in labs. In fact, many labs on the west coast only allow these needles to be used in testing. The company behind all this is called Theranos. Founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes, a college sophomore at Stanford at the time, it has now become a multi-billion dollar corporation, with Holmes being the youngest American billionaire to date. Theranos originally was Holmes’ semester project. Intended to produce cheaper and more effi-cient health care technol-ogy, she soon switched to blood tests, leading to 2 patents and Theranos.

Much of the technology Theranos uses is confidential, although Holmes did reveal a few items developed recently. One is a small container, called a Nanotainer, with a capacity of about one drop of blood. The Nanotainer is loaded into a device with built in scanners. The blood is then scanned for the specific test the patient paid for. The information gathered is then transmit-ted to a computer which analyses the information. The infor-mation is then faxed to a doctor. The average test takes about 3-4 hours, while normal tests can take up to a week! The use of machinery instead of manual labor also makes the tests very cheap. The cost of a test ranges from $40-$300, about 65% cheaper than the average blood test.

Theranos also revealed another piece of equipment they are working on. It resembles a vending machine and works similarly. This the ‘vending machine test’, as its being called, allows you to select the test you want administered. Once you pay using cash or a credit card (cash can only be used for $50 or less), you are instructed to insert your finger into a slot, where your finger is pricked and a sample of your blood is taken. The rest of the procedure works the same as the human administered test, except for the waiting time. Instead of hours, Theranos is pushing it to be a minute or less, for more convenience. Accord-ing to the company, it should be made available soon (not speci-fied yet) in big pharmacies (Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc.).

Although most of these changes affect the west coast, it is possible we could get the tech here in New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie is trying to bring Theranos here, but with many other issues, such as Ebola and a smaller budget, it could take a while. The company, on the other hand, has no problem with the delay. According to Holmes, the company is making more sales every day. Other states are also expressing their interests in Theranos. New Mexico and Texas state governors are currently thinking about whether or not to allow the company’s facilities to operate and perform these tests in their states.

Pros and Cons of Sports Drinks By Jenna Yan

Whether it comes down to playing sports or simply exercising for recreation, many people are familiar with sports drinks. However, there are some ingredients that people should know about before picking up a sports drink again. Sports drinks such as Gatorade and PowerAde are made up of mostly chemically treated and refined sugars. These sugars contain the equivalent to those of a typical can of soda. Other ingredients such as artificial colors and natural flavors are also included in them.

One of the worst possible ingredients, by far, is bro-minated vegetable oil. It is added to sports drinks to keep them from getting cloudy and to maintain the artificial flavoring. This substance originally comes from soybean and is related to seri-

ous health issues such as skin rashes, severe acne, and thyroid disease. Because of this, it is banned in Europe and Japan. Re-cently, however, Gatorade dropped this substance out of their drinks, but many other sports drinks companies still use it.

On the other hand, some other ingredients in sports drinks aren’t as harmful. Glycerol ester of wood rosin is a unique ingredient harvested from pine stumps that is found in Gatorade. It is declared safe for human consumption by the National Institute of Public Health and is used to float oils in products containing citric acids, which serve as preservatives.



AROUND THE WORLD

There are both positives and negatives to sports drinks. Although they contain high fructose corn syrup and chemically treated ingredients, they still do one good thing. Gatorade replaces electrolytes, like many other sports drinks. When your body needs to be replenished after exercising, Gatorade does the trick. It keeps your body hydrated only when your body needs it. Consuming sports drinks too much becomes harmful to your body rather than helping it.

When sports drinks are not used at a proper time or overused, some side effects are weight gain, vitamin toxicity, hypernatremia, hypertension, and high blood sugar. Many athletes should be specifically aware about hypernatremia because it is when sodium levels are very low in the body due to over hydration. Hypertension is also a cause due to over-drinking Gatorade. It can lead to high blood pressure and an excess of 33% more salt intake.

Although sports drinks may be good and bad at the same time, there is an alternative to replenish electrolytes ra-ther than drinking it at all. All you need is some key minerals such as sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium. Some foods containing these include bananas, peanut butter, celery, sweet potatoes, avocados, nuts, and dark chocolate. Remem-ber to eat healthy and stay healthy!

Pros and Cons of Sports Drinks...CONTINUED

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: What does it mean? By Ranen Miao

“Hello. My name is so-and-so, and I’m doing the Ice Bucket Challenge.” You’ve probably heard this more than once before. Over the summer, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took the world by storm, with everyone from Justin Timberlake to George Bush dumping buckets of over water over their heads to raise awareness for ALS. But what exactly is ALS? ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It’s commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named after the baseball star from the 1930s who eventually died from ALS. ALS affects 5,600 people a year and is defined as a “progressive neurodegenerative disease”, according to the ALS Association. However, to understand the disease, one must first understand how muscles move voluntarily. All voluntary movement comes from the brain, which is the center for the nervous system. The brain sends signals through the upper motor neurons. These messages are then delivered through signals called neurotransmitters to the lower motor neurons, the neurons of the spinal cord. They are then relayed to nerve fibers, known as axons, which are attached to muscles. Finally the messages are delivered to the muscles, causing muscles to move voluntarily. When ALS occurs, degeneration occurs to these neu-rons, causing them to progressively deteriorate and die. When these neurons die, the brain’s ability to control muscle move-ment is lost. Thus, patients with ALS disease no longer and transmit impulses to their muscles. Early on, the disease’s symptoms are difficulty moving one’s limbs, and difficulty speaking, breathing, or swallowing. This eventually leads to

paralysis, and most patients die within 3 to 5 years of diagno-sis. Although the disease seems scary, in recent years, there have been new drugs, such as Riluzole, an FDA ap-proved drug, which significantly slows down the degenera-tion rate of ALS. Other drugs are currently in their testing trials. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has helped bring awareness to this disease. Between July 29th and August 12th, the ALS Association received $4 million in donations, nearly a 360% increase from the previous year’s $1.12 million dona-tions from the same time period. Even though the outlook seems grim, there have been major breakthroughs in such studies relating to the dis-ease, including information and clinical drugs which look promising. ALS patients now live longer lives than they did before. After diagnosis, half of ALS patients live up to three years or longer, 20% live to up 5 years or longer, and over 10% live for over 10 years after diagnosis. As research for this disease and public support increase, a brighter future awaits where one day, there will be more advanced treat-ments, even longer surviv-al rates, and one day, may-be even a cure.


AROUND THE WORLD

The Ebola Scare By Amritaa Basu

Every few years, a new pan-demic spreads across the globe and takes over the headlines. The latest is the Ebola virus that has infected over 2,000 people and caused over 1,000

deaths in five West African countries since the most recent outbreak began in March 2014. What is Ebola? Ebola, or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is a conta-gious, life-threatening disease that affects humans and other primates. This virus is named after The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola River that flows past the village Yambaku where the first case of the disease was identified in 1976. What are the symptoms of Ebola? The early symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, sore throat, and difficulty breathing. As the disease becomes more intense, diarrhea, vomiting, internal and external bleeding may begin to occur. The first signs of infection can occur anywhere from 2-21 days after exposure to the virus. How Does Ebola Spread? Experts are not sure about exactly how an Ebola outbreak starts. The virus spreads from direct contact with the bodily

fluids of infected people and animals. These fluids include blood, saliva, sweat, and urine. Other primates, fruit bats, forest antelope, and porcupines are animals in Africa that are believed to carry Ebola. Ebola is not an airborne disease like the common cold that can be spread when someone coughs or sneezes. Therefore, quarantining infected patients can easi-ly stop the spread of the disease. Is there a treatment for Ebola? Most Ebola patients require special care in a hospital. This includes making sure they receive plenty of liquids and oxy-gen, keeping their blood pressure steady, and addressing sys-tems as they come up. There is no cure for Ebola yet. How-ever, scientists are working on a vaccine to prevent it. Some experimental drugs that have been developed for treatment have been effective on animals but are not yet approved for testing on humans. What is the USA doing to make sure Ebola does not spread? The governors of New York and New Jersey have an-nounced mandatory quarantines for medical workers return-ing from West Africa. Federal, state, and local officials are identifying hospitals that will be used as Ebola treatment cen-ters.

ISIS: Not the Goddess of Magic By Rishabh Rout and Siddharth Shah

What is ISIS, what makes them so scary? Should we be hiding under our beds? Let’s debunk some facts and fic-tion about ISIS. ISIS started out as a small terrorist organiza-tion in 2000, led by a Jordanian militant named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It was then known as Tawhid wa al-Jihad. In 2003, the group joined as a member of al-Qaeda, while the US was off battling Hussein’s regime. 3 years later, it looked as if AQI was going to perish. Zarqawi was killed in an airstrike, and 80% of the other ISIS leaders had been caught, with 8 remaining at large. Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Zarqawi’s successor, renamed the jihadist group to ISI (Islamic State of Iraq). Then everything changed… ISI, now led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, released from a U.S. detention camp in 2009, charged into the midst of the Syrian civil war, using gruesome tactics to quickly gain land. They even kidnapped members of other terrorist organizations! Now hated by al-Qaeda, Syrian rebels, and the US alike, the young terrorist group went on to show its hatred of Western civilization by capturing and be-

heading 2 US journalists and 1 English journalist. Since then, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has slowly advanced in the battlefronts in Iraq and Syria.

What are ISIS’s goals? In late June, ISIS announced it was starting a new caliphate, or kingdom, that would con-tain the whole Islamic world. The caliph? Baghdadi himself. Although it is highly unlikely that ISIS will gain enough pow-er to take over the whole Middle East, that doesn’t mean it is insignificant. It is a dangerous force in recent politics, and has the power to cause many casualties. The US is a country that is known and respected for having a freedom of religion. If we don’t help the victims of ISIS, the organization will see that we don’t care and that will only encourage them to ac-complish their goal even more. Is that any more just than watching as a bystander as a bully bullies someone? Nope.



AROUND THE WORLD

ISIS: Not the Goddess of Magic...CONTINUED

Fast Facts about ISIS

Started as an Al Qaeda sprinter group

Also known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Islamic State.

Has beheaded many people

Came into existence in the 1990s but has been significant since 2004

ISIS is known for killing dozens of people at a time and carrying out public executions, crucifixions and other acts. It has taken over large swaths of northern and west-ern Iraq.

The group currently controls hundreds of square miles. It ignores international borders and has a presence from Syria's Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad. It rules by Sharia law.

ISIS's initial strategy for revenue was through extortion and robbery. Recently, al-Baghdadi's strategy shifted to generating resources through large-scale attacks aimed at capturing and holding territory.

Was unable to serve under the new Iraq government af-ter Saddam Hussein's military was disbanded. Former Iraqi soldiers became ISIS fighters, according to Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges.

ISIS is the Richest Terror Organization in the World

Has 31,500 fighters

Has 2000 westerners

Controls 35000 square miles

Malala Yousafzai: Winning the Nobel Peace Prize

By Richa Wadhawan

As you all know, MLK, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gan-dhi, and various other activists have used their own ways to bring freedom and peace to the world. Can you imagine a seventeen year old girl standing up for woman rights? That’s right, Malala Yousafzai is a brave young woman activist who protested for women’s education and freedom. She is a Paki-stani resident, where the freedom for women as well as edu-cation is declining. This young woman is definitely different from the rest of the children in Pakista . At the age of eleven, Malala starting blogging about how the Taliban were taking over in her hometown of Mingora (northwestern Pakistan). The Taliban had a strong belief that you girls like Malala, should not go to school. With the desire to go to school, Malala finally spoke up in public on a television broadcaster saying the words, “All I want is an education.” With that being said, throughout the town it was aware that this young woman was now going to protest about this important issue. But on October, 9, 2012 the Taliban gave an attempt to take away her belief. A strange gunman had boarded on her school bus and mo-ments later, without suspicion, he shot her on the left side of her forehead. Malala survived while showing great courage and bravery, setting an example for the various other young women behind her. During the time of her rehabilitation, the whole world prayed for her to recover quickly. At this time she was the symbol of the ‘struggle for girls’ rights interna-

tionally. Even today, she is the international symbol for peace. This blessed soul has recently earned one of the high-est honors of the world – she has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala and Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s rights advocate, spilt the grand prize of $1.1 million. Malala’s dream mission for peace throughout the world is almost impossible to preclude. No matter what, our generation should feel proud to have a noble activist like her. “They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed,” she demanded. “Strength, power and courage was born.” Malala Yousafzai’s powerful hopes and dreams lie in the future of all girls study-ing and getting education. All we can learn is to remove fear and bring courage to the rest of the world!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAgQjRw&url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49378197/ns/world_news-christian_science_monitor/t/malala-yousufzai-i-know/&ei=7flUVOjgIuLhsAT4q4DQBA&psig=AFQjCNGMoFdWYsdanN0FbkF3617TfbOpZQ&ust=141494


SCIENCE

Milkomeda; sound familiar? The Milkomeda galaxy is soon to come. This mys-tical creation is due to the collision of two galaxies: An-dromeda Galaxy & our beloved Milky Way Galaxy. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way (about 2.5 million light years away…so actually pretty far). The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, while from Earth, the Milky Way appears to be a band of stars and cosmic dust. At each galaxy’s center, there is a massive, destructive, black hole. You might be thinking, “Will the Milkomeda Galaxy contain TWO black holes?” That is an interesting, but life-threatening comment. Astronomers believe that the two black holes from each galaxy will col-lide, as well, forming a super massive black hole, with ob-viously more power. The collision will occur in about 4 billion years. The Andromeda Galaxy is much bigger than the Milky Way, containing over 1 trillion stars, while the Milky Way consists of only about 300 billion. This discov-ery of the collision was provided by the Hubble Space Tel-escope. As the collision of the two galaxies start, there will first be an intergalactic dance (as shown on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_collision). Although astronomers have known about this event for the last fifty years, the research and the details have started getting stronger, day by day, as these scientists observe the two galaxies closely. Who knows what can happen in a day? Who knows what surprising events can occur? For now, we’ll just have to wait, and see for our-selves, what magic our universe can do.

The Power of Stars By Parshva Mehta

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the planet's energy. Other stars are visible from Earth during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points due to their immense distance. During their helium-burning phase, very high-mass stars with more than nine solar masses expand to form red super giants. Once this fuel is exhausted at the core, they continue to fuse ele-ments heavier than helium. Stars are not spread uniformly across the universe, but are normally grouped into galaxies along with interstellar gas and dust. A typical galaxy con-tains hundreds of billions of stars, and there are more than 100 billion (1011) galaxies in the observable universe. A 2010 star count estimate was 300 sextillion (3 × 1023) in the observable universe. While it is often believed that stars only exist within galaxies, intergalactic stars have been discovered. Stars are the main reason that life ever existed, and to be honest, we are here because of pure luck that Earth evolved from space rock as just the right distance from the sun.

Milkomeda By Jyoti Kabra


TECHNOLOGY

Three Japanese professors recently received a Nobel Prize in physics. They will be awarded $ 1.1 million on Decem-ber 10th at Stockholm, Switzerland. What did they win it for? In 1990, they had invented a blue LED light using a mineral called gallium nitride. This may not seem very outrageous, and that’s correct. Alfred Nobel had intended the prize to go to the ac-complishment that helped humankind most, not to the coolest science experiment. This technology has allowed us to have col-or LED TV, computer, and smartphone screens, and efficient white lighting for all purposes on a grand scale while impacting the environment the least. Now, you may ask, “Why didn’t other people think of this?” The answer is, they did. However, they couldn’t find a way to grow large enough crystals of gallium nitride. These three professors, however, persisted, unlike the rest. Professors Amano and Akasaki from Nagoya University used a special scaf-fold to grow the necessary crystals. Meanwhile, Prof. Nakamura from the University of California, Santa Barbara was finding his own solution to this dilemma. He manipulated temperatures to accelerate the growth of the crystals. This accomplishment has

allowed people to create white LED lamps because the blue, green, and red LED lights combine to form white lamps. This is more conservative than incandescent and fluorescent lamps, which both create heat and light. In contrast, LEDs convert electricity directly into photons of light. This process is much less wasteful of energy than the traditional incandescent lights and fluorescent lights. LEDs also provide more light than the other types. Basically, LEDs are the next generation of light bulbs. These lights have revolutionized the way the world is illuminated. Without these “groundbreaking blue LEDs” (bbc.com), many of our daily luxuries would not be pos-sible. As the Nobel com-mittee said, “The light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, would be the lighting source of the 21st century”.

Nobel Prize in Physics for the Invention of Blue LED Lights

By Aditya Chakrabarti

The iPhone 6 By Sriya Vemuri

On September 19, 2014; the iPh-one 6 was released by Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, along with along the iPhone 6+. This was a long awaited device that at-tracted millions to purchase it with no knowledge on what the phone was really like. Now, two months later, we know most of the details of this phone. Below is a list of pros and cons according to techspot.com. Pros:

Sleeker, thinner design

Comfortable to hold

Excellent performance

Improved LTE and Wi-Fi speeds

Gorgeous display

Good battery life

Generally good camera Cons

No optimization for the larger screen

Awkwardly protruding camera lens

No memory expansion (never offered on iPhones)

Lacks 4k video recording

NFC can be only used with mobile payments

Unsightly lines on the back

Lacks optical image stabilization.

The length of this smart phone

is 4.7 inches. This is massively HUGE

compared to the other latest iPhones, like

the iPhone 4s & iPhone 5. The length is

growing as the smart phone is being more

modernized. This may be good in a way,

but if the phones become bigger, should-

n’t they be called “tablets”? And if they do

get bigger, is this the future of iPhones?

On the week of September 25,

2014, there were nine reports of new iPh-

one 6’s bending. The cause of this - which

was later proven - was because the phone

was kept in their back pockets. When they

sat for several hours, the extremely deli-

cate iPhone bent in half. Then, few days

later, a YouTube channel called Unboxed

Therapy proved the flexibility of the

phone by posting a video of the manager

of the channel bending a BRAND NEW

iPhone 6 that was in working condition

that went viral.

Should You Buy It?

In my opinion, yes. This is an amazing phone for an average middle and high schooler to own. This phone would be great for the many purposes kid have, like playing games and reading online text-books. With a retina display built into the screen, graphics would appear magnificent and detailed into this phone. If handled with great care, this device could last for a vast amount of time.


SPORTS

Who to Watch in the NBA By Akhil Dwasari, Ram Gadhamsetty, and Elton Vaz

The Bulls are coming!!! The Bulls are coming!!! Last year, the 4th seed Chicago Bulls had an average season. Even without youngest, most valuable player, Derrick Rose, they managed to make it to the playoffs. However, they ran into the powerhouse of the Washington Wizard losing 4-1 in a 5 game series. That was a disappointing finish compared to their well-expected season. Looking to rebound from the horrendous loss, the Bulls went into the offseason with their heads held high. They are on a quest to win championships with mile-high expectations.

The first move they made in the summer was getting Doug McDermott in a trade with the Nuggets. This was a great start to the offseason movers. The Bulls released many players like former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer to create cap space. Then came the cherry on top in the free agency by signing two-time champion Pau Gasol for a three year, seventeen million dollar contract. The Bulls organization is very happy with the offseason moves. They are looking to compete with the top notch teams in the league. Now let’s break down the future of this very talented group of “young” men.

With the defensive player of the year, Joakim Noah and their favorite star Derrick Rose returning, we see some beast in the East. This sounds like a spectacular team but they had troubles in the preseason when Jimmy Butler got injured. Let’s see what the Bulls have under their sleeves to hail the title “Beast of the East”! The New Cleveland Cavaliers Last year, there was a developing team in Central division in the Eastern Conference, and that is the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think we can come to a firm conclusion that Cleveland was a bust last sea-son. There wasn’t any participation from teammates; it was a one man show led by Kyrie Irving. That’s not so spectacular – the Cavs ended up with a record of 33 wins and 49 losses in eighty-two games (They ended up 22nd in the league). These weren’t mind-blowing facts. But this all changed in the offsea-son of 2014.

Entering the offseason the Cavaliers were on a mission. They knew that they had to start recruiting new members. Well, first they wanted to have a contract extension with their all-star player Kyrie Irving. So they did as Irving accepted a five year deal for ninety million dollars. That was a great move. Then they found out that LeBron was in the free agency. Cleveland wanted to land the best player so they released a copious amount of players to get some cap space. After seeing that, LeBron decided to come home (Cleveland was where he was born) and agreed to a 42 million dollar, two year deal. This was probably the biggest move made by any team in the past four years. Cleveland just got back LeBron James, the best player in the sport! Right after this, they signed two crucial three point players, Mike Miller and James Jones. There was a player that LeBron wanted on this team who is currently available, and that is Kevin Love. He’s a big man who could get those rebounds and can also shoot those threes. The problem was that Cleveland had to trade two valuable players to the other team (WOLVES). So they traded Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for Kevin Love. Now to top it all off they recruited two-time champion Shawn Marion and Brenden Haywood. This team is now the powerhouse of the NBA.

With all of those great moves we recognize that Cleveland has a big three, including: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. This will be an amazing team, because their bench is loaded with champions. I strongly believe Cleveland has the best roster on Earth. They might win a championship this year if all goes well.

The True Beast of the East

These two teams are truly going to have tough games between each with both of their skill set. If you look at them from their roster you could say that Cleveland is a better team but with the coaches Tom Thibodeau is way better than the unexperienced David Blatt. Thoroughly looking through the information I could state that the Cavaliers have a better team by just a slight edge. I strongly believe that the Cavs are better because they have an overpowering small forward (LeBron James) an amazing power forward (Kevin Love) and their trustworthy point guard (Kyrie Irving). To top it all off they have a veteran bench with Shawn Marion who has a 15.6 average for point in his career and former champions who can’t be stopped behind the three-point line James Jones and Mike Miller. If you forgot, they also have Dion Waiters who had an average of 15.9 points in the 2013-14 season, and Anderson Varejao who had an average of 9.7 rebounds which will help the Cavs to get second chance shots. It might seem like the Cavs are like the rulers of the NBA but the Bulls still have exceptional talent. Pas mentioned before, the Bulls are getting there star Derrick Rose who had a career high of 25 ppg. in 2010-2011. This was very productive for the Bulls since they went to the Semi-Finals but lost against the Sixers without Derrick Rose. The reason he didn’t play was because of his injury in the challenging fight between the two teams. Also, Joakhim Noah has extraordinary stats for rebounds and block. He had 1.5 blocks and 11.3 rebounds last year, just as an average. It may seem strange, but the reason I choose the Cavs is because I think the depth of the roster is much better because of their unified team and mostly their astonishing starting five.


SPORTS

NBA Off-Season Moves By Jack Thompson

The 2014 NBA off-season was insane this year. From the third head coach trade ever, to the King coming home, this off-season has been the most exciting one in re-cent memory. Every little detail is coming to you right now.

Kyle Lowry was one of the break-out stars of the playoffs, averaging 21 points a game. He could have gone to any team that wanted him, including the Heat, but he chose to continue his team-up with his star teammate, Demar Derozan. With his decision, he made Toronto one heck of a force in the East for years to come.

LeBron James. Mr. “I’m going to a new team, and so is every bandwagon fan in the USA”. The MVP, the King, and now the Home-town hero. He signed a 2 year, 42.2 mil-lion dollar deal to bring the saying, “I’m coming home”, to a whole other level. However, instead of granting himself a two-hour long special on ESPN to tell people he was taking his talents to South Beach, he did what any multi-million dollar NBA superstar would do; he wrote a thoughtful essay to Sports Illustrated telling them that he was ready to except the challenge. Classy, LeBron, real classy.

LeBron’s second big three was finally finished, after a three-team trade between the 76ers, Timberwolves, and Cavs. The T-wolves acquired Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeous Young, and a future draft pick. The 76ers got Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved, and a first round

pick, while the Cavs got Kevin Love. Now Lebron, Kyrie Irving, and Love, are ready to compete for a title in Cleve-land. Carmelo Anthony had his choices this off-season, getting offers from the Knicks, Lakers, Rockets, Mavericks, and Bulls. But he ultimately decided to become a Knick for life, signing a five year deal with them. He eventually narrowed it to the Bulls Knicks, but ultimately appeared that Melo wasn’t ready to team up with anyone just quite yet.

Dwayne Wade stayed to his roots, staying in Miami, even after the King went home. One of the main reasons was that Chris Bosh decided to stay with the Heat as well. Now, because of their decisions, Miami still may be a playoff con-tender. Lance Stephenson, a.k.a. the “Leaf Blower” decided to try out a star role, by signing a deal with Al Jefferson and the Hornets. His decision to leave the Pacers, along with the gruesome injury to Paul George’s knee, have worried the Pacers have about the near future.

There you have it. All the biggest NBA off-season maneuvers from this year, right in your hands. And watch out for the Bulls – Pau Gasol is hiding!

REVIEWS

Book Review

By Keren Huang and Samuel Zhang

Blood of Olympus The fifth and final installment of the Heroes of

Olympus series, The Blood of Olympus, was released on Oc-tober 7, 2014. This book was written by Rick Riordan, an author of many New York Times number one best-selling books. Roman and Greek myths all participate in this culmi-nating finale of the prophecy in this book. The final battle pits the giants against our heroes to save the world. Due to the long lasting rivalry between the Greek and Roman demigods, our heroes had trouble restoring bal-ance among the two armies in order to defeat Gaea and her sons, the giants. In the previous books, our heroes retrieved the Athena Parthenos to bring peace between the Romans and the Greeks, yet the journey is still very hard. They split up in order to execute all plans. One group of Nico, Reyna,

and Coach Hedge are sent to get the statue to Camp Half-Blood, whereas the seven Heroes of Olympus continue their journey of preventing from Gaea from waking and finding peace among the demigods. This book was an amazing story, with action, sus-pense, and excitement, packed in for our heroes. This adven-ture is definitely a great inspiration for future writers, impact-ing those with an adventurous personality. A book like this demonstrates how to truly write a creative series of the most intriguing ideas. The way Rick Riordan describes these sce-narios is phenomenal, and brings out our emotions and feel-ings for this story. To sum up, The Blood of Olympus was a great book, and deserves a good praise. This book was a great ending to the series, and we hope you read this great work to find out what happens in this end to a new beginning. Keep watch for the next se-ries Rick Riordan will be writing that will be released in the fall of 2015!


REVIEWS

Book Review

By Alison Park

Code Name Verity

By: Elizabeth Wein

From the beginning of the book, you are introduced the narrator and how she thinks of herself. She basically defines herself as a coward. You are not told her name but you do know that she is a Scottish prisoner of the Nazi’s. She was taken pris-oner when a British spy plane crashes in France, which is Nazi-occupied. To avoid execution, or worse, being lit on fire with kerosene, “Verity” must write down her mission and everything she knows.

But Verity, whether she truly did it all on person or like she claimed, “didn’t even notice until they had told her”, writes in 3rd person. She is “Queenie”, but the main character of her

“narrative” is Maddie, Verity’s best friend and the pilot of the plane that crashed.

Throughout the story, Verity is described as a traitor since she is giving out top secret information to the enemy. The whole book is based on her narrative story. Variety writes down not only of what she did leading to the crash, but also explains her friendship with Maddie. The book is almost like her diary.

At first, I wanted to hate Variety. She was a traitor. She just seemed too weak and was her weakness was going to cost other’s lives. But now I can’t. As her story continues, you realize Variety is a brave and intelligent girl, but she’s only human; she has fears as well.

The book is hard to follow through because of its awkward name changes and timeline, but it really makes you think deeply. In the end, you learn sometimes you have to take a step back to make the better choice, the smarter choice, even if it means dying with everyone thinking that you were just a sell out to the enemy.

Song Reviews

By Nathaniel Mumau “A Sky Full of Stars” By Cold Play Lyrics: This is a very minimal ditty from Coldplay. It’s more or less the same chorus repeated a few times, but it’s sweet in its simplicity. The singer states how he wants to remain with his partner for the rest of his life, no matter what happens between them. It’s a clean, catchy song that is more positive than the usual themes of heartbreak and anguish so prevalent in other music. Music Video: Matching the simplistic style of the lyrics, the video follows the members of Coldplay as they walk through a neigh-borhood. Each member is adorned with multiple musical instruments, making them each a one man band, as well as umbrellas, balloons, and bubble machines. As the video progresses, they are joined up by more and more people until they enter into a mini concert. It’s a colorful little video that seems to comfortably match the lyrics somehow. Most of the video is one long tracking shot with no cuts, which is interesting to watch, though how much of a few guys walking and playing guitars can you watch without getting a little bored? “Superheroes” By The Script Lyrics: This song is not so much happy as it is encouraging. It describes individuals who have had tough lives of discouragement, yet they still have great potential deep inside of them, similar to superheroes. It’s a nice message, especially since it applies not to just relationships or any other smaller matter, but rather all of life in general. It stands out, since most songs prefer to focus on the here and now, as opposed to a positive message that relates to life overall. Music Video: The Script puts on a mini concert in a suburban neighborhood. At the same time, the video follows the day of a single man, who goes to work at a garbage dump in a suit, leaving his young daughter to get to school on her own. At the end of the day, when she is coming home, she joyfully reunites with her father. The video paints a pleasant, heartwarming tale about the dad and his daughter, who appear to live in a slum and have little money. The Script’s mini concert is almost unnecessary in this video, as the man and his daughter are what we want to see more of. It’s a sweet video to match nice lyrics.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Coldplay_-_A_Sky_Full_of_Stars_%28Single%29.png


MOVIE PREVIEWS

Check Out These Movies! By Priyal Shah

There are many different movies out there, all with a different genre and topic. But which one is just right

for you? Well, leave it all to me because you're staring at the new, movie dictionary!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But even

though she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry.

The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And

what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Kat-

niss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Be sure to catch this exciting

movie coming out on November 21, 2014.

From WWW.amctheatres.com

The Penguins of Madagascar

Super spy teams aren't born...they're hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most

hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. These

elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind.

Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then...you

know). Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, from destroying the world

as we know it. Make sure to watch this movie coming out on November 26, 2014.

Written by DreamWorks Animation

Interstellar

Taking place in the near future, Earth has been devastated by drought and famine,

causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing

extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind

the opportunity to widen their lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our

solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance is

required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on

an interstellar voyage, into the unknown. However, through the wormhole, one hour

is the equivalent of seven years back on Earth, so the mission won't work if the people

on Earth are dead by the time they pull it off. And Coop, the pilot of the Endurance,

must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race. Find

out what happens to these courageous men and women when this movie comes out

on November 5, 2014.

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?plot_author=DreamWorks+Animation&view=simple&sort=alpha&ref_=ttpl_pl_1

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?plot_author=DreamWorks+Animation&view=simple&sort=alpha&ref_=ttpl_pl_1


Comics By Varsini Dhinakoran


Riddles for All By Kareena Pandya

1. Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you die. What is it? 2. In a one-story pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower – everything was pink! What color were the stairs? 3. What travels around the world but stays in one spot? 4. What is as light as a feather, but even the world’s strongest man couldn’t hold it for more than a minute? 5. You draw a line. Without touching it, how do you make the line longer? 6. Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks? 7. Tuesday, Sam and Peter went to a restaurant to eat lunch. After eating lunch, they paid the bill. But Sam and Peter did not pay the bill, so who did? 8. The Smith family is a very wealthy family that lives in a big, circular home. One morning, Mr. Smith woke up and saw a strawberry jam stain on his new carpet. He figured out that everyone who was there that morning had a jam sandwich. By reading the following excuses, figure out who spilled the jam. Billy Smith: “I was outside playing basketball.” The Maid: “I was dusting the corners of the house.” Chef: “I was starting to make lunch for later.” Who is lying? 9. Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, and Nono. What is the fifth daughter’s name? Answers 1. NOTHING 2. There weren’t any stairs; it was a one story house! 3. A stamp! 4. His breath! 5. You draw a shorter line next to it, and it becomes the longer line. 6. Neither, they both weigh one pound! 7. Their friend, Tuesday. 8. It was the maid. The house is circular, it has no corners. 9. If you answered Nunu, you are wrong. It’s Mary!

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