Niskayuna High School

Since 1974,Now Weekly

March 5, 2004 Volume 30, Issue 19

by Leanne MerrillNEWS

The Niskayuna HighSchool community lost be-loved junior StephanieBomeisl last week. She passedaway at the age of 16 on Mon-day, February 23 at St. Clare’sHospital after a short illness.

Stephanie, who was born inNiskayuna on June 10, 1987,is survived by her parents,one younger sister and oneolder sister, and a large ex-tended family.

Stephanie was a member ofan incredibly large number ofclubs and extracurricular activi-

ties. “She was a terrific kid. Sherepresented good things: a goodstudent, a good athlete, a goodfriend,” said her mother, JoAnnBomeisl, discussing Stephanie’sextensive involvement in thecommunity. Stephanie playedboth field hockey and lacrosse.Senior Lauren Hewitt, a fellowmember of the field hockey team,said “she was a great girl, veryenergetic, everyone wanted tobe around her. I’ll miss her andher enthusiasm in field hockey.”

Stephanie was also an activesection editor for the yearbook,who made valuable contribu-tions to Crossroads. Year bookadvisor Stacey Dawes said,“Steph was enthusiastic, char-ismatic and brilliant. She al-ways graced our presence witha smile, and a look as almost ifto say, ‘You know what I’mtalking about.’

“I had the fortune of workingwith Steph for three years, andin that time there was never adull moment.

“The students I work withon the yearbook are notmerely my students; they arelike family, and now a mem-ber of the family is gone.Crossroads,the school com-munity at large, as well asmyself, have lost a shiningstar.”

In addition, Stephanie was amember of several clubs, in-cluding STAND, Climate Com-mittee, Reality Check, andYouth to Youth.

She was en especially activecontributor at St. Helens, thechurch which she attended.There, she was part of theYouth Ministry and the Jus-tice and Service Committee.She also participated in theApple Program, which facili-tates discussions for inner-cityyouth. “She spoke up for what

she thought was right,” ex-plained her mother. Her in-volvement in community ser-vice organizations showed this

(continued on page 3,FAMILY)

High school grieves for departed junior

Warrior photo / Leanne Merrill

Stephanie Bomeisl will be deeply missed by everyone who knew her

Stephanie May BomeislJune 10, 1987-February 23, 2004 STEPH’S LOCKER: Stephanie’s

locker was decorated by manyfriends who wanted to show theirlove and support."Steph was always a loving and vibrant spirit - but she

was also a strong and positive influence in her home, herschool, her church, her community and her vast circle offriends. She brought us joy and pride every day of herlife. We were truly blessed to have her with us for sixteenyears!"-The Bomeisl Family

2 News March 5, 2004 The Warrior

By Joshua XiongNEWS

Each year, students at Niskayuna HighSchool assemble teams for the annual Odys-sey of the Mind Tournament, a problem-solving competition that requires each teamto draw upon creativethinking and technical, ar-tistic, and dramatic skillsin order to develop in-volved, long-term projects.This year, the regionalcompetition was held atMohanasen High School/Draper Middle School onFebruary 28. The tourna-ment is sponsored in NewYork State by NYSOMA(New York State Odysseyof the Mind Association),but extends to an interna-tional level. Odyssey of theMind is an activity thatstresses innovative prob-lem-solving methods, be-ing able to come up withunusual solutions, andgenerally being able to

“think outside the box”.The competition is dividedinto two parts, with thefirst part incorporating along-term problem that re-quires a team to come upwith a presentation, complete with skit andother specific tasks (the long-term problemsare split into several categories, each con-centrating upon different challenges, forexample, creating an “entity” to conductintelligent tasks through certain methodsand delineating the solution in a skit basedon a certain science fiction plot with realcharacters). The second portion of the com-petition, termed

“Spontaneous,” is a short-term problemthat a team is required to solve on the day ofthe competition, on the spot, with only brainsand ingenuity as aids. Spontaneous prob-lems are split into verbal and technicalcategories; an example of a verbal problemwould be to name as many oxymorons aspossible in five minutes, and a classic tech-nical challenge would be to build the higheststructure possible with only a bottle of shav-ing cream and toothpicks.”

Because teams are given a limited bud-get, they must be resourceful, since prob-lems may demand the creation of intricatesets, costumes, props, works of art, or theconstruction of complex gadgets that maydraw on robotics, machine-based physics,

and even computer science and program-ming. For example, a problem requiring thedevelopment of a contraption that would beable to launch a large number of balls into ahoop in a short amount of time would re-quire, if done conventionally, over a hun-

dred dollars in materials ranging from wir-ing, separate pieces, wood, and other things,depending on the complexity of the team’sapproach. This means that many of theresources used by Odyssey of the Mind par-ticipants (“OM-ers”) must be attained fromrecycled goods, donations from hardwareand technical stores, and from other nor-mally non-utilitarian goods used in innova-tive ways.

This year, Niskayuna (including teamsfrom both high school and middle schoollevels) excelled in the regional competition.From Niskayuna High School, the DivisionIII, Problem III (Fantastic Art) and ProblemII (Strategy Sphere) teams placed first intheir respective categories, and will be join-ing approximately 200 other teams from allover New York at the State Competition,scheduled for Saturday, March 1 at SUNYBinghamton in Binghamton, New York. Theother two high school teams, Problem I(Envirover) and Problem V (Featured Crea-ture), also did well, placing third and fourthin their respective categories. All partici-pants deserve commendation for exemplify-ing admirable talent, hard work, and cre-

ativity throughout the course of the com-petition.

If the two teams heading to States areable to place first, second, or third therein their respective problems, they willadvance to the 25th Odyssey of the Mind

World Finals tourna-ment, which will be heldthis year at the Univer-sity of Maryland fromMay 29 - June 1, withteams from countriessuch as Argentina,Kazakhstan, Australia,Germany, and many oth-ers participating. Sopho-more Matt Conlon, amember of one of the twoadvancing teams, laudsOdyssey of the Mind withthese comments: “I justjoined this year, and it’sdefinitely one of the bestthings that’ve happenedto me. Rarely does a per-son really get to applywhat they know to ac-tual problems. That’swhat OM is - problemsolving. And that’s whatI think is great about it.”� � � � � Additional re-

porting by Alice Lee

Two Niskayuna OM teams to go to states

March concert seriesready to performby Jesse Conti

NEWS

The Music Depart ment has several con-certs planned for the next two months.March 4, 5, and 6 are the dates of the highschool musical, Titanic. On March 10, Con-cert Band will be playing. On March 16 and18, two distrcit-wide choral festivals willbe held. On March 16, Choir and LadiesFirst will be singing with several elemen-tary andmiddle school choirs in the audito-rium. On March 18, Concert Chorale, BelCanto Voices, and Studio Singers will beperforming with the other elementary andmiddle school choirs in the New Gymna-sium.

On March 24, Symphonic Band and Sym-phony Orchestra will play in the audito-rium. All concerts, except the choral festi-vals, are open to the public. Concerts arefree, so support the music department bycoming to a few of these events and hearsome great music.

3NewsMarch 5, 2004The Warrior

by Moira ColleyNEWS

Think you have an awesome pet? Doyou have a good photo to prove it? NICShas recently invited Niskayuna studentsto battle it out in their annual Pet Photocontest, with all donations going to ben-efit the Peppertree Rescue foundationfor animals. Though the deadline forphotos was today, March 5, people whoforgot to bring in that cute photo of thatcat playing the piano, can still get in-volved by participating in the voting,which will take place next week.

Many students have already submit-ted photos of their dogs, cats, birds,snakes or other precious friends for thecategories of cutest, funniest, and scari-est pet. Those students who still want toenter photos with a donation of $2 by the

end of the day to Mrs. White, Mrs.Theissen, or NICS room D208,can helprescue animals in need. The winner ofeach category will not only gain the prideof owning the best pet, and helping agood cause, but also a prize for winning.

For a few years now, the NiskayunaInter-Community Service group (NICS)has sponsored the pet photo contest tofundraise for the foundation. The pur-pose of Peppertree Rescue is to rescueanimals in need, prepare themfor adop-tion, and ultimately find them newhomes. Because Peppertree is a smallvolunteer rescue group, donations aregreatly appreciated. This contest pro-vides a fun opportunity to win prizeswhile contributing to a charitable cause.

Don’t own a pet? Regardless, studentscan still join in on the fun by

votingoutside the new cafeteria onMarch 10, 11 and 12 for their favoritephotos of the best pet in each category.

Seniors Sara Weinstock and PaulaStaples, members of the NICS club,arehoping for a good response from thestudents. Weinstock said, “ It’s for agood cause, it helps the’animals andit’s very entertaining.” Staples added,“It’s different then your averagefundraiser.” Student reactions to theidea have been positive as well. Statedjunior Sarah MacKintosh , “ I think thePet Photo contest is a creative and funway to try and support the animal shel-ters. I’m planning on doing it.”

The NICS members are hoping it willbe a successful and fun event for allwho participate.

Remember to submit your pictures!

NICS repeats pet photo contest fundraiser

“Imagine a workplace where everyoneis witty and clever. Where everyone iscreative and caring. Where everyone iswell-traveled and urbane, sophisticatedyet sociable....Imagine a workenvironment where banter andbadinage are the rule, where practicaljokes are taken in stride, where saracsmis affectionate and the affectionsaracastic.” -Anexcerpt from German teacher a letterwritten to Metroland by Germanteacher Joseph Carosella.

Metroland Magazine is comingtoday to interview and photographthe Foreign Language departmentfor a cover article to appear inMetroland’s March 18 issue. Stopin at the Foreign Language Re-source Center and join the fun!

Congratulations!Family and friends reflect on greatimpact of student’s life

(continued from page 1,HIGH)

attitude. “She had a tightschedule; something was al-ways meeting.”

An honors student, she hadgood relationships with herteachers. “She always smiled;she was always willing to trynew things, and I thinkthatspoke to her love of life,’ saidJason Bach, a social studiesteacher. Her chemistryteacher, Jill Wright, com-mented, “She was extremelyoutgoing and helpful to all ofher peers. Even if you didn’tfeel like smiling, she alwaysmade you laugh.”

According to her mother,Stephanie was “joy and love”.This sentiment was echoed bymany of her peers. “There wasnever someone who couldbrighten your day more,” saidDana Russell, a student atSchenectady High School anda friend of Stephanie’s.Stephanie’s mother also spokeof her great smile, as did manyof her friends. “She had thepower to move mountianswith her smile,...her abilityto love, but most of all herfriendship,” wrote juniorJennie Kreis in the programfor Stephanie’s funeral.

Stephanie’s mother wishes

her to be remembered for thepositive, happy person shewas, especially as she had“tremendous warmth,” andwas “great with family, a tre-mendous sister”. Her 12-year-old sister, Lauren Bomeisl, said“Stephanie was so perfect that Ithink of it as having her on earthfor sixteen years practicing herjob to be my guardian angel.”Added Staphanie’s mother “Shewas color and age blind; shedidn’t judge anyone. She reachedout to a new student and put herunder her wing, and introducedher to her friends.”

The number of people whoattended Stephanie’s funeralattests to the large number offriends and family that careddeeply about her. Many peopleat Niskayuna High School canbe seen wearing purple rib-bons, in a tribute to her. Evenpeople who didn’t know herwere touched by her legacy.“From what I’ve heard, she’san awesome person and I havea lot of respect for her,” saidsenior Sean Whitney.

Though this has been a diffi-cult time for many, Stephanie’smother encourages a positiveattitude. “I don’t want the legacyto be the tragedy,” said hermother. “I want to keep thatbright spot where she was.”

4 Opinion4 Opinion March 5, 2004 The Warrior

EDITORIAL

Many members of the high school com-munity are aware of the musical produc-tion Titanic, which will be performedThursday, Friday, and Saturday of thisweek. What may not be so obvious is theamount of work put into it by many differ-ent groups.

This year has been particularly intense,as the musical score, setdesign, sound manage-ment and lights have allrequired significant effortto put together in the relatively shortamount of time allotted to the musicalproduction. Not to mention the costumesand makeup, as well as advertising andfundraising. What is unfortunate is thatthese groups don’t always receive as muchrecognition as the cast, and everyoneshould have a “piece of the glory.”

It’s important to realize that every ma-jor production, whether it is a musical, asports team, or even an administration,

has a lot of people working behind thescenes, all of whom add to the overallproduction. With the musical, the lights,sound, set design, directing, orchestra-tion, costumes, makeup, etc, are all veryimportant and require a lot of time andeffort. For example, the set design in-cludes a hydrolic stage, platforms, drops,

which require a greatdeal of complicated op-eration. Anybody in-volved would appreciate

congratulations for a job well done.The Warrior would like to take this space

to say just that. “To all those who contrib-uted, good work!” We would also like toencourage anybody who knows people whoparticipated in any way to do the same.Remember, everyone appreciates being ap-preciated, so the next time you see someoneworking hard, be certain to acknowledgethem for it. After all, if not for the crew,Titanic would be shipwrecked and adrift.

Sailors and crew both needed

by Alex Rivedenira andKaterina Gross

OPINION

On a frigid winter morn-ing, while awaiting thebus’s arrival, I found my-self stranded outside in thecold and dark. The bus wasapparently fifteen min-utes late, and it seemedas if the vehicle uponwhich I depended fortransportation toschool was fatednever to arrive.Suddenly, justwhen I thought Imight have the for-tune of not havingto attend schoolthat day, a huge,screaming yellowdemon tore down toa road perpendicularto mine, and came to ascreeching halt at the endof the street, as though itsoperator had finally comethe conclusion that he/shehad missed my stop. Some-how, the bus managed tomaneuver itself and swervearound the corner to collectmy bus-stop companion andmyself. In retrospect, per-haps we overreacted, but at

that moment, almost fear-ing for our lives because ofthe bus’s startling arrival,we flung ourselves to thesafety of a nearby snow-bank to avoid the its ca-reening path.

All of a sudden, thedoor sprung open

to reveal a

friendly-looking bus driverwho proceeded to inform usthat everything was okay,and that our regular buswas not going to be pickingus up today. Therefore, wewould have to take this al-ternate route to the highschool. Although the unex-pected encounter with this

new bus driver invoked asmall amount of bewilder-ment, I boarded the bus,sat down, and attemptedto recover from themorning’s events.

It almost seems too con-venient to be a coincidencethat the worse theweather, the later the bus-

es seem to arrive. Thisepisode demonstrates

one of the inherentflaws of theNiskayuna Cen-tral School Dis-trict transpor-tation system.While poorweather con-ditions are a

viable excusefor bus delays,

ithe problem iscompounded by

the fact that the trans-portation department at-tempts to squeeze too manystudents into one route.

Overcrowding on thebuses is a significant is-sue that should be con-sidered when trying to re-form the transportation

Warrior art / Alice Lee

The Warrior

The Warrior is published each Fri-day the high school has classes (33times a year).

For a one-year subscription, senda check for $25 payable to NiskayunaHigh School to The Warrior, Attn:Subscriptions, 1626 Balltown Rd.,Niskayuna, NY 12309.

Niskayuna High School1626 Balltown RoadNiskayuna, NY 12309

(518) 382-2511, Ext. 351http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/

warrior/

T H E S TA F FEDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Tae Andrews,

Elspeth EdelsteinNEWS EDITORS: Jesse Conti, Leanne

Merrill, Julia Napolitano, JeremyWolos

ASST. NEWS: Nate StaudingerOPINION EDITORS: Kishori Rajan, Alec

WilsonASST. OPINION: Evan BallanENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Stephanie

Blair, Matt LarkinSPORTS EDITORS: Jonathan Chow, Lisa

D’AnielloASST. SPORTS: Peter ChalfinMAGAZINE EDITORS: Alice Lee, Anna Yu,

Kathryn FantauzziASST. MAGAZINE: Anjana RajanWeb Site Manager: Scott BrainardDISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Jackie NguyenBUSINESS MANAGER: Erik DonhoweADVERTISING MANAGER: Jonas ChangGRAPHICS COORDINATOR: Evan FenaroliCOPY EDITOR: Abby AlgerADVISORS: James Edgar, Russell

McDowell

EDITORIAL POLICIES

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are wel-come from all members of theschool community. The Warriorreserves the right to edit lettersfor grammar and length.

SIGNED OPINION ARTICLES AND CAR-TOONS express the opinions oftheir creators.

UNSIGNED EDITORIALS representthe consensus of the paper’s edito-rial board, which may not reflectthe majority of the students’ views.

THE OP-ED PAGES are a forum forstudents’ opinions and ideas.

Nisky transportation lacking

(Continued on page 5,SPORADIC)

ALL OPINIONS expressed on theop-ed pages represent the individualviewpoints of their authors. Thecontent does not necessarily repre-sent the views of The Warrior, thehigh school, the school districtor theboard of education.

5OpinionMarch 5, 2003The Warrior

by Evan BallanOPINION

With the upcoming election in Novem-ber, and scattered primaries and cau-cuses around the nation, candidates par-ticipating in the 2004 Presidential raceare rushing more than ever to recruitsupporters to hop aboard their campaignwagons. One of the ways in which thecandidates do this is through advertise-ments, via television, the radio, and anyother places where they can get theirvoices heard. It seems, however, thatPresident Bush has an unfair ad-vantage in that some means ofreaching America available toBush are not at the hands ofthe other candidates.

President Bush has raisedsome $200 million to adver-tise for his reelection, whichis one of the largest amounts,if not the largest, that a Presi-dent has ever raised. He’s beenspending this money, in part, oncommercials, getting airtime ontelevision to reach out to the Ameri-can nation. Candidates of other partiesalso try to do this, but, because of Bush’sPresidential position, their voices areunfairly limited.

A number of television networks havedecided not to air policy issues for anyparty. This seems like an understand-able thing; if ads for one party were runmore than ads for another, viewers mightcomplain that the station had a bias andchange the channel. However, some sta-tions aren’t abstaining completely fromairing policy ads. Commercials from theWhite House are still aired by manynetworks, which lead to supporting Bush,

Presidential ads need to be subtracted

Busing issues create several dilemmas(Continued from page 4,

NISKY)department’s policies. Itshould be taken into consid-eration that high-schoolersgenerally require more spaceto obtain a minimal comfortlevel. This doesn’t includethree to a seat. Also, one couldargue that having more spacereduces the possibility of get-ting your neighbor’s cold.

Finally, the transportationsystem is not an accessibleone. The transportation de-partment, by town regula-

Transportation should be reconsidered to promote better environment

and are thus allowing Bush to advertiseonly because he’s the President, whilethe Democratic candidates are forbid-den to air commercials on the same net-works because their considered a policyads. What the networks need to do is tomake a decision: they either will air adspaid for by candidates, or they won’t air

any political ads, in-cluding ones from the White House. Ifthere’s something that the White Housebadly needs to tell the American people,it can come on television live and tell us.

This perspective isn’t meant to be froma political standpoint; if the Presidentgetting the exclusive airwave rights werea Democrat, I would feel the same way.Regardless of the parties involved, itseems like an abuse of Presidentialpower, since it’s not giving equal oppor-tunities to all candidates to get theirpoints of view across.

What would make the most sense to

me would be if the current Presidentwere not allowed to advertise for re-election. The current President alreadyhas an advantage as it is. What thecandidates do is try to explain to us whatthey would do if elected to office. Wealready know what Bush would do if hewere to be elected into office, since hehas been already. Every single Ameri-

can is already familiar with Bush, anda vast majority of them arefamiliar with his general poli-tics, beliefs, and the waythat he runs things in Wash-ington; he shouldn’t be al-

lowed to waste his time tryingto explain them to us. After all,actions speak louder than words,and acts that the President par-takes in can be a lot more sig-nificant than words that he can

speak. Disallowing presidentialpolicy ads would also alleviate the

unfair advertising advantage thatthe President has, and allow him to

focus on more important things, likerunning our country, instead of other,

more trivial things, like filming adver-tisements telling us how he wants to doit. Nobody wants to be told what to do,and the President should be forced toshow, not tell.

This article was partly sponsored bythe campaign to elect Kerry in ’04.

tions, is only accountable topick up students living out-side of a two-mile radius ofthe school. On days with less-than-desirable weather, thisposes quite a problem for kidswho live within this two mileradius and need to get home.

Not only does this pose adilemma for students, but alsoit encourages non-environ-mentally friendly tendencies.Although the school promotesstudents’ using the bus trans-portation provided by the dis-trict, it is also inadvertently

supporting the use of privatevehicles by those kids livingwithin the two-mile radius.

On the other hand, while itmay be easy to point fingers atthe transportation departmentfor all of the faults of the bussystem, students should con-sider and respect bus rules andregulations to make the driv-ing experience more efficientand enjoyable. Sadly, in ourcommunity it is uncommon tosee such behavior at the highschool level.

Moreover, it would be spec-

tacular to implement systemsof climate control in the busesto make passengers and busdrivers satisfied with theirriding and driving experiences.

Although some of these ideasare far-fetched, and could po-tentially stretch the schooldistrict’s budget considerably,they would help a great deal toenhance the transportationfrom home to school, and back.But, until these changes aremade, all I know is that weunderclassmen can’t wait un-til we get our drivers’ licenses.

Warrior Art / Alice Lee

6 Entertainment February 13, 2004 The Warrior

Photo courtesy yahoo.com

by Nicole StoodleyENTERTAINMENT

For months, controversy hasbeen stirring over Mel Gibson’sBible-based film, The Passion ofthe Christ. Opening on AshWednesday, the film drew flocksof curious viewers, Christiansand non-Christians alike. Somany that, in its first weekend,The Passion grossed more thanall of the other top ten movies ofthe weekend combined.

Cinematically, this is an ex-cellent movie. Gibson conveysthe intense emotions of theevents through excellent cam-era work, dramatic music, andthe utilization of the talents of avery gifted cast. The entire movieis in the original languages ofthe time, Latin, Hebrew, andAramaic, with subtitles in En-glish. The scenery is very au-thentic, as are the costumes. Themechanics of the movie are allsuperb, but that is not why mostpeople are going to see it.

There has been so much hyperegarding this movie that somepeople just want to find out whatit’s all about. Rumors before thefilm was nationally released in-

cluded ones of excessive brutal-ity and anti-Semitism. However,after seeing the film, it is clearthat these were only rumors.While the film was graphic inthe scenes of Jesus’ torture andcrucifixion, these were brokenup with flashbacks of Jesus’ life,along with scenes from parallelstorylines. Complaints havebeen made that the violent na-ture of the movie underminedits message of love. The moviemakes it clear, though, that itwas through Jesus’ enduranceof these brutalities that heshowed his love. As far as theclaim about the movie incit-ing anti-Semitism, you mightas well say the movie incites aprejudice against Italians be-cause the Romans wereshowed enjoying the tortureof Christ. The message of themovie was about how one manmade a sacrifice so that allpeople might know God andlive with Him forever. It wascertainly not that of revengeagainst those who “killedJesus.” As any Christianwould tell you, no one killedJesus; he was born to die, as

was prophesied hundreds ofyears before his birth. Themovie makes this clear and itwould certainly be no fault ofMel Gibson if someone usedthe movie as an excuse toharm another human being.

Another reason for seeingthe film is to give visualiza-tion to the words many peoplehave heard since their child-hoods. Certainly, the film putsa very clear picture in one’shead about the sufferings ofChrist, although not all of the

film was straight out of theBible. Many parts were moreGibson-inspired than divinelyinspired, such as some scenesincluding Mary, the motherof Jesus, and MaryMagdalene.

Overall, The Passion of theChrist is an extremely power-ful movie that tells an inspi-rational and potentially life-changing story. For whateverreason you may choose to seethis movie, you will not walkaway disappointed.

by Kishori RajanENTERTAINMENT

The strength of the filmmaking and per-formances in 2003 has made some criticsdub this time period as a golden age incinema. Unlike some previous Oscar sweep-ing films like Titanic, and with the excep-tion of Return of the Kings, films this yearhave been most memorable because of thecharacters and performances, not the ac-tual films themselves. Mystic River, Houseof Sand and Fog and Monster are perfectexamples of this.

The evening started off with Billy Crystal’smusical number, proving once again thathe’s the perfect person to host the show. Hisfour-year hiatus and Michael Moore’sstrongly criticized political acceptancespeech last year didn’t dissuade himfrom making jabs at current politicalsituations, which was especially refresh-ing after the overblown Super Bowl inci-dent, and the resulting five-second de-lay that was imposed on the formerlylive broadcast.

Lord of the Rings dominated the night,picking up an incredible elevenawards- a clean sweep. This ties therecord for most wins, an honor sharedwith Titanic and Ben Hur. The lastinstallment of the classic trilogy washonored in the categories of editing,art direction, costume design, visualeffects, makeup, sound, musicalscore, best song, and best adaptedscreenplay. It also won best director(Peter Jackson), and the most cov-eted award of the night, Best Pictureof the Year.

All the acting awards went to the ex-pected people: Tim Robbins, for MysticRiver and Renee Zellweger for Cold Moun-tain, who finally picked up the golden manafter two previous nominations. No realsurprise with Charlize Thernon’s win forher performance in Monster. The mostanticipated category of the night was theaward for Best Actor. Sean Penn’s mov-ing, dark portrayal in Mystic River andBill Murray’s surprisingly strong perfor-mance in the comedic Lost in Translationwere equally strong. Sean Penn won thecoveted statuette, after three previousnominations, and received a standing ova-tion from the Hollywood community.

What the most disappointing about the2003 Academy Awards was that all themost predictable winners won. There wereno upsets in any category, and smallerfilms like City of God and In Americadidn’t take away any awards. While mostof the wins were definitely deserved, didLord of the Rings really have to win themall, or did that clean sweep of eleven winsjust sound too good to pass up?HOLD IT HIGH: Peter Jackson accepts his award.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: Jim Caveziel portrays Jesus in MelGibson’s film The Passion of the Christ.

Photo courtesy yahoo.com

The Passion of the Christ stirs box office

Very few surprises at this year’s Oscars

7SportsMarch 5, 2004The Warrior

Warrior photo / Lisa D’Aniello

Girls’ track wraps up successful season

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY: Sophomore triplejumper extroadinaire Julia Stori attempts 34feet at State Qualifiers.

by Joyce DadekianSPORTS

This year the Niskayuna High SchoolGirls’ Indoor Track and Field team hasworked hard to establish a reputation asone of the best teams in the area. Not onlydid the girls’ team secure this as a topcompetitor, but as Section II Class B cham-pions as well.

Section II is widely acknowledged as thepowerhouse of New York State, with tal-ented athletes and strong teams. “Our sec-tion is always top notch,” explained coachJason DeRocco. “We run against some of thetop teams and girls in the country everyday,but it brings out the best in our people aswell.” The best was brought out in manygirls who competed in the Championshipmeet. Overall, the team had many athletesscoring in the top three places, securing thewin. In addition, the boys’ side easily cap-tured the Class B Championship, so bothteams bought home the winning plaques, arare and thrilling feat for Niskayuna.

Thirteen girls competed in the SUNYAlbany sectional meet and proved that theywere worthy of the title section two champi-ons. Reflecting back on the meet, DeRoccocommented, “I’m obviously pleased with thesuccess and progress that we made. Thegirls knew they had a shot and were willingto do what they had to, which paid off. Onlythirteen girls made the bus so they camethrough when it mattered.”

After maintaining an excellent 3-3 recordthroughout the season, the team pulled ev-erything together to manage the impressivevictory. It was a season-long effort, withgirls giving 100% effort day in and day out.

Many individuals consistentlyshattered personal recordsthroughout the year with the guid-ance of the coaching staff, consist-ing of DeRocco, Michael Peters,and Darryl Bray. Often thecoaches worked with athletes oneon one so that they could improvein problematic areas. Said sopho-more Sara Schecter, “I definitelyimproved. We were more of a teamand worked well together. Theworkouts were a good balance ofhard and easy and it showed[when we raced]. And the closeteam atmosphere was great.”

The superb coaching, teamchemistry and the work ethic ofthe team enabled every individualto reach her potential. Often run-ning in pairs or groups, athleteschallenged each other with friendly compe-tition, and encouraged each other to attainnew goals. This proved to set the pace for theseason: fast. The team met every day afterschool and meets took place every weekend,giving the girls plenty of time to bond.

The girls also attended the Brown Invita-tional, Yale Classic and the Dartmouth In-vitational, which gave them an opportunityto compete against teams and individualsoutside Section II, and from across the na-tion. This also strengthened the teams’ tiesand contributed to, as sophomore AshleeAtwell said, the “family-like environment.”

Atwell and senior Robin Bankert bothqualified for the State Competition, whichwill be held tomorrow at the Carrier Domein Syrause. Bankert made it in the 600meter run, and Atwell qualified in thepolevault. Unfortunately, a recent ankleinjury has forced Atwell to takesome time off, but she hopes toreturn soon. Senior DaveParker also made States forpole-vaulting.

Niskayuna’s pole-vaultingsquad, which is the best in thesection, has been plagued nu-merous injuries. Senior JulieGranka is also out with a sprainedankle, and senior Anjana Rajanhad her season ended prema-turely by a back injury.

Senior distance runner CaitlinMcTague also took some time offbecause of back pain, but planson returning for National Cham-pionships the weekend of March13. The girls’ Distance Medleyrelay, the boys’ 4 x mile relay,and Parker in the pentathalon,

LOOK WHAT WE’VE GOT: The Niskayuna Sectional squadposes with its first place plaque after successfully beating outall the tough competition.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Senior Robin Bankert (right) triesto edge out South Glens Falls opponent Christine O’Leary asthey approach the finish in the 600 meters at State Quallifiers.

Warrior photo / Lisa D’Aniello

Warrior photo / Kyle O’Connor

will be heading down to the Armory inManhattan for Nationals. Both relays areaiming to break the school records, and asthe Armory is one of the fastest tracks in theworld, they definitely have a good shot.

Despite the fact that the girls’ team willbe losing talented seniors next year, such asBankert, Lisa D’Aniello, Sarah Miller andCaitlin McTague, most remain optimisticthat the younger individuals will step upand help the team reach new heights for thefuture. Coach DeRocco also remains posi-tive, saying, “It will help new people stepforward and progress.” With underclass-men standouts like Atwell, sophomoresJulia Stori and Jillian Gold, and juniorsLindsey Rosecrans and Katie Sheehan, theLady Warriors will continue to succeed.And the team still has the entire Outdoorseason together to look forward to.

8 Sports March 5, 2004 The Warrior

by Matt FriedsonSPORTS

When the Red Sox acquired pitchers CurtSchilling and Keith Foulke this offseason itlooked as though they had gained controlover the New York Yankees for the first timesince 1995. Then the A-Rod tradetalks came, and Red Sox fans like mewere quite intrigued by the possibil-ity of sending Manny Ramirez to theTexas Rangers in return for AlexRodriguez, the best player in base-ball. However, the Red Sox didn’thave the resources to finish the deal.Then the Evil Empire went into fullgrind.

No big deal- they just went on ashopping spree bigger than any ParisHilton or Michael Jackson ever had.They just assembled a team resem-bling a mixture of both NationalLeague and American League All Starteams, with the acquisitions of GarySheffield, Kevin Brown, JavierVazquez, and oh yeah...AlexRodriguez.

But Red Sox fans need have no fear,for the Yankees’ pitching rotation isworse than it has been in the lasteight years, before the team went on itschampionship runs. And, as well as we allknow, pitching wins championships- nothitting. So the Yankees can have their GarySheffield and their Alex Rodriguez, but thefact of the matter is that those guys can’tpitch.

Yes, the Yankees’ pitching staff looksgood on paper, but aside from Mike Mussina,it consists of a huge question mark. KevinBrown is 39 years old, and has had a goodbut injury-plagued career. Last year was afluke year, in which Brown actually stayedhealthy for more than 3/4 of the year, but

don’t look for that to happen again. Then wehave Javier Vazquez, who has been domi-nant in the National League while playingfor the Montreal Expos. Yeah, that’s right,the Expos. Look for him to pull a Jeff Weaverand struggle in the Big Apple. Pitching in

New York on a winning team is a lot differ-ent than pitching in Montreal, where theteam stinks and nobody cares about base-ball. Then the team has Jon Lieber andJose Contreras. First of all, Lieber hasn’tpitched since 2001, and don’t look forhim to stay healthy this year, either,since he has already found a way toinjure his groin during spring training.Jose Contreras has never pitched con-sistently in the starting rotation before,and will probably start to fade aroundthe All-Star break.

George Steinbrenner is probably wish-

ing he never let the pride of the Yankees,Andy Pettite, slip through his mitts alongwith that other Hall of Famer, RogerClemens. So it seems Red Sox and Yan-kee fans can finally agree on something:they both hate Clemens.

But don’t worry, there are moretroubles in store for the Yankeesthis year. Joe Torre is in his finalyear of his contract, and with ateam filled with egos, and GeorgeSteinbrenner jumping down histhroat, don’t look for Torre to stayin pinstripes for the whole sea-son. Also, the Yankees team hasmuch talent, but no chemistry.The core team has been dis-mantled, along with its dynasty.The Yankees won’t finish first thisyear, because the Red Sox play-ers and their bolstered pitchingstaff are calling them out.

The Red Sox have arguably thebest pitching staff in the Ameri-can League, with former 20-gamewinners Pedro Martinez, CurtSchilling, and Derek Lowe. Theygo along nicely with a strongbullpen, which this year actually

has a closer, who just happens to be oneof the best in baseball: Keith Foulke.And did everybody forget about the RedSox lineup that broke so many recordslast year? Because that whole lineuphas remained intact, except for secondbasemen Todd Walker.

After arguably one of the best playoffsever, and a heated offseason, 2004 isturning out to be one of the most highlyanticipated seasons baseball has seen ina while. And, this year, Bill Buckner,Grady Little, and Babe Ruth can’t makethe Red Sox lose the big games.

Congratulations to junior Steve Johnas, who placed second in the NewYork State Wrestling Championships, held last weekend at the University atBuffalo. Johnas, seeded second, went into the State tournament holding anundefeated record. In Buffalo, he defeated John Foley of Section IX in thefirst round, and then easily hammered Mark Bloom of Section V, 13-5 in thesemifinal match. His streak was ended only by Alton Lucas of Section XI,in a close 9-4 match.

Johnas places 2nd at state championships

A-Rod brings good prospects to Yankees

Photo courtesy Yankees.com

A-WAD: The Yankees paid a hefty sum of cash to put AlexRodriguez in pinstripes.