Niskayuna High School

Since 1974,Now Weekly

May 14, 2004 Volume 30, Issue 26

Junior prom a “Parisian” night to rememberby Allison Sylvetsky

NEWS

After three years of fundraising, over ayear of organizing, monthsof excited speculations, andhours spent getting ready,the NHS Junior Prom, heldon May 7at the AlbanyMarriot has come andgone.

Response to the promwas overhwhelmingly posi-tive. “I knew it would befun, but it was a lot morefun than I expected,” com-mented junior ShannonSmigen. Junior Nick Sapiaagreed, adding, “It was anawesome night. The foodwas good, the music wasgreat, and the facilitieswere very nice for theevent. It really was a nightto remember.” JuniorAllison Tebano, who wasvoted Prom Queen, stated,“It was the most fun I haveever had at a dance.” Prom

King junior Terence Steinberg was espe-cially enthused. “It was the peak of myentire year, let alone my entire career in

high school,” he said.As well as being favorably impressed with

the the food and music selection, manystudents enoyed with thedecorations and the themeof “A Starry Night in Paris.”The two tall Eiffel Towers,stars dangling from theceiling over the dance floor,ice sculptures, Parisianstreet backdrop, citybenches, and wine bottlecenterpieces all enhancedthe theme and made for alovely atmosphere.

“It seemed like every-one was having an awe-some time; the dance floorwas always full, and thesongs were great to danceto,” said senior PatCarney. Junior AmyPicker remarked, “Promwas well worth the stress.It turned out to be anamazing night.” Everyone

(continued on page 2,PROM-GOERS)

by Elspeth EdelsteinNEWS

Germany, for many Ameri-cans, means Lederhosen andBratwurst, techno music andSteins of beer. The 13Niskayuna students who vis-ited Deutschland from April9 through 24, however, havecome to associate this nationwith greater cultural under-standing and new friendships.

The exchange group, chap-eroned by NHS foreign lan-guage teachers JosephCarosella and Tracy Prebish,flew first to Berlin, where ex-change participants spent fivedays absorbing the atmo-sphere of the capital city. Dur-ing this time, the studentsvisited such landmarks as theBrandenburg Gate, the

Reichstag Building, andCheckpoint Charlie, as wellas various museums, theSachsenhausen concentra-tion camp, and a flea mar-ket. Having explored Ber-lin as thoroughly as pos-sible given time con-straints, the group thentraveled by train to Hamm,where students enjoyed at-tending school, takinggroup excursions, and justspending time with theirexchange partners.

Said sophomoreStephanie Cogen, a first-year German student, “Liv-ing in a foreign countrywhere I wasn’t familiarwith the language was allvery hard and scary, butthen it got cool.” Like

Cogen, many of the Niskayunastudents initially felt uncom-fortable with perceived cul-

NHS students return from German tripExchange participants spent two productive weeks abroad in April

Photo courtesy Allison CutlerSPRINGTIME IN GERMANY: The German exchange group strikes a posein Berlin. (Julia Burkey not pictured)

tural and language barriers.(continued page 3,

STUDENTS)

Warrior Photo / Jesse ContiPROMENADING: A crowd of students dances festively at last Saturday’s juniorprom, held at the Albany Marriot on Wolf Road. From the walk-in at the high schoolthrough the after-prom party, the event was viewed as a success.

2 News May 14, 2004 The Warrior

by Lesley Yemi AdewunmiNEWS

Roche’s Corner was started in Februaryof last year as a small business, sellingfood and beverages to students here atNHS. Created by student Cate Roche, thislittle cafe has been a great way for stu-dents to have fun eating from a creativemenu while interacting with other stu-dents, including Roche herself, a nine-teen-year-old with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a central nervous sys-tem disorder in which parts of the brainand spinal cord are affected. In Roche’scase, CP affects her vocal abilities andsome of her physical abilities, primarilyon one side of her body. Roche, who wasborn with CP, also experiences episodes ofepilepsy, which induces seizures. How-ever, these disabilities do not stop Rochefrom interacting with the world aroundher. With the help of her aides, Roche isencouraged to be social with the otherstudents at Niskayuna, as well as othermembers of the community. Starting upRoche’s Corner was a great way for heraides, Pat Fitzgerald, Teshia Gutchell,and Paula Willard, to help her socialize.

Roche’s Corner is host to a friendly en-vironment for chatting and eating duringlunch blocks on Fridays. Students ordertheir desired food from a weekly menu,available Monday through Thursday, andcan “carry-out” or “eat-in” their purchasedsnacks. The homemade edibles vary fromcoffees, teas, smoothies, and lemonades,to candy, bagels, and chips with salsa. All

Roche’s Corner creates a cozy cafe climate

(continued from page 1,JUNIOR)

looked gorgeous all dressed up.”Junior Adam Rubenstajnagreed, “It was just awesome.”

Following the prom, most stu-dents proceeded to the AfterProm Party, organized by par-ents, which was held at the Jew-ish Community Center. Re-sponse to this event was equallyenthusiastic. Junior JennaGreco commented, “There was alot to do, and the parents did agreat job decorating [the JCC].”A variety of activities were of-fered, including an adultbouncey-bounce, humanfoosball, and casino tables. A DJand a multitude of prizes werealso provided for students’ en-tertainment. Human foosballseemed to be the most popular

Warrior photo / Jesse Conti

Prom-goers report having a superb evening

BEND IT LIKE BROWN: Junior Liz Brown attempts to knock the ballfrom the opponent’s clutches in a late-night game of human foosball at theAfter-Prom at the Jewish Community Center.

passtime. Said Junior LouisCroce, “Human foosball was apainful but enjoyable experience.I kept getting kicked.”

From getting ready, to pic-tures, to walk-in, to the Prom,and finally to After-Prom, PromNight 2004 was considered agreat success. It seemed to be avery enjoyable night for all, anda night that, for the juniors es-pecially, will stay with attend-ees as a happy memory

The Class of 2005 officerswould like to give special thanksto the three prom chairs: MeaganDetrani, Becky Sail, and KellyFitzgerald, and the two after-prom student representatives:Allison Tebbano and MarissaZumbo. They all did, “an awe-some job in making prom nighta memorable event.”

of the foods are made with the help ofRoche, who loves to cook. Roche’s Cornerdoes not make a profit from this work; allprofits earned go into buying more sup-plies and ingredients for the foods. Inaddition to Roche’s Corner, Roche is in thebeginning stages of establishing Cate’sCache, a craft business which will hope-fully serve as a career outlet when sheleaves NHS in two years.

Roche’s Corner is useful for both thestudents who spend time there, as well asfor Roche. The casual interactions thatshe experiences with other students helpRoche greatly. Although she cannot speakwith the people around her, she is able toacknowledge their presence. Being withher peers stimulates Roche, and gives hera social world in which she can feel happy.“[Cate] used to look down while in thehallways, but now that she can recognizeother people, she often looks up,” com-mented Fitzgerald about the profound af-fect Roche’s Corner has had on her stu-dent. “Everyone needs friends…havingstudents around helps her self-esteem,”explained Gutchell.

There are a few students who regularlystop in to see Roche. Junior Jaclyn Con-gress, who has been going into see Cate forover a year, enjoys the time that she spendswith her. “I go there to make her day alittle better. There isn’t much that I can dofor her, so I try to help her as much aspossible,” Congress said. She enjoys com-ing down to Roche’s to keep her companyand participate in fun activities.

Congress’s friend Allie Jordan also paysregular visits to Roche’s Corner. She, alongwith Congress, first became involved withRoche and her business last year whenNICS put the word out about it. Sincethen, Jordan says, word has spread, bring-ing a large lunch crowd and fosteringmany new friendships between Roche andother students.

“It’s really a lot of fun,” said Jordan. “Jackieand I have become friends with Cate. We gowhenever we can, usually sixth mod. We’vedeveloped a real relationship with her.” Sheexplained how promoting communication withRoche is a primary goal. “It was a big step whenCate began looking up [when we spoke to her].”Both Congress and Jordan work with Rocheand her therapist, and hope that, by the timeall three girls leave by the end of next year,Roche will be able to talk to them.

Fitzgerald expressed her love for her job,saying, “We’re all really pleased with Cate.Students like her seem to often get forgotten.It’s nice to make sure that she’s headed in theright direction towards a future, and that Ihave such a great influence on her.” FreshmanTim Guzzo also commented “[Roche’s Corner]is a fun place to be, plus I can help out withCate…It’s just a relaxing place to be.”

Anyone is encouraged to stop by Roche’sCorner to order from a variety of creativeand tasty foods, such as Critter Crunch,Bagel and Cinnamon Spread, Swede Cof-fee, Dipped Pretzels, Mint and GingerLemonade, Pina Colada Drinks, and Pine-apple Smoothies, as well as other snacksand beverages.

3NewsMay 14, 2004The Warrior

Music department gearing up for GalaStudent ensembles work vigorously to be ready for upcoming concert

(Continued from page 1,NHS)

“You’d think that four years of Germanwould be enough, butit’s really not [enough]to go over there andconverse,” explainedsophomore CarolynDartt. The relative ac-ceptability of teendrinking and smokingalso came as a shock tomany of the Niskayunavisitors, who were notthemselves permittedto do anything thatwould be illegal in theUnited States, havingsigned forms promis-ing to obey the school’spolicies regardingsuch activities.

Most aspects of Ger-man culture, though,turned out to be re-freshingly, not pro-hibitively, different. Dartt especiallyliked the directness of the people shemet. “They were very b|unt. They didn’ttry to cover up their feelings at all. Youknew exactly what they thought.” AllisonCutler, also a sophomore, said it wasinteresting “seeing all the sights andseeing the differences between German

and American culture.” The German andAmerican groups truly bonded, formingstrong friendships. “By the end of the

two weeks we were [all] so tight,” saidCogen. She added that it was great “meet-ing the [German] people, not just learn-ing about them in a book.” German foodwas also popular. Commented Cutler,smiling, “I loved the chocolate.”

While spending time abroad can be achallenge, both chaperones affirmed that

Students benefit from German exchange

Photo courtesy Allison Cutler

the students handled unfamiliar situa-tions with grace. “The best thing for mewas watching the students learn, and

spending time withthem during theirtrip,” Prebish ex-plained. CommentedCarosella, “We werehappy as can be thatthe group did so well.Everybody did such afine job representingNiskayuna and theUnited States.”Prebish and Caro-sella also stressedhow great it was tosee exchange partici-pants breaking downstereotypes, andworking to get alongwith German stu-dents. As Prebish putit, “discussing thingscan actually help withmisunderstandings.”

While many members of the groupstill f ind themselves in“Austauschrausch,” or field trip mode,they now have the opportunity to sharethis “worthwhile” and “life-changing” ex-perience with their peers in Niskayuna.As Carosella described the exchange, “Itseemed very special.”

WIR LIEBEN DEUTSCHLAND!: Nisky students and their German counterpartsenjoy lunch in an outdoor cafe in Cologne. Students spent two weeks in Deutschlandthis April, and many would have liked to stay longer.

by Jesse ContiNEWS

Members of the NiskayunaHigh School Concert Choraleand the Niskayuna High SchoolSymphony Orchestra are rigor-ously preparing for the 50thAnniversary Gala Concert, to beheld at the high school on theevening of June 5 at 7:30.

Students in both school musicensembles are starting to findout just how much of a challengethe music for the concert is. Asthe highlight of the program,the NSO and Chorale will beperforming the fourth movementof Beethoven’s 9th Symphonytogether. “The piece was prettyoverwhelming at first. It seemedhard to know how to approachsuch a difficult piece, but onceyou get into it, it starts to cometogether,” remarked freshman

soprano Allison Tepper. Evenseniors, who are to perform thisextraordinarily difficult piece inone of their final concerts at thehigh school, have expressed aweat it’s difficulty. Said senior so-prano Julia Burkey, “It is by farthe longest and most vocallychallenging piece Chorale hasever worked on.” Singers mustpush the limits of their vocalranges in this piece, while in-strumentalists will also be us-ing the full extent of their abili-ties and technique.

Both ensembles too often playconcerts for mostly emptyhouses. For this Gala Concert,though, auditorium seats arequickly being bought up. At lastcheck, the center section wasfilled through row W, and manyseats in the wing sections werealso taken. “We’ve sold almost

60% of the house, and the After-glow is completely sold out. Wehave advertising at every schoolin the district, in programs atProctors, and in the newspapers.We are determined to sell out,”said Symphonic Band directorEric Hughes, who is in charge ofticket sales.

Chorale director PaulaBrinkman and Orchestra direc-tor Christopher Neubert are ex-tremely excited about the op-portunity to show off their stu-dents’ talents. “It’s one of themonumental pieces of classicalmusic and we are very fortunateto have students with the talentto perform such a piece,” saidNeubert. Agreed Brinkman, “It’sa piece of music that requiresstudents to really step up to theplate; and they have.”

Along with the fourth move-

ment from the Beethoven 9th,Chorale is also slated to sing theGloria movement fromBeethoven’s mass in C Major.Additionally, string and orches-tra winds players will be play-ing the Beethoven Piano Con-certo with Guest Pianist JulieJordan. The soloists for the 9thsymphony are Niskayunaalumni Edward Bee, JasonDashew, Alison Duncan, andSherri Strichman.

All proceeds from ticket saleswill go to benefit the 50th anni-versary scholarship fund. Con-certmaster level is $100 andProducer level is $50. Advancetickets cost $10 for adults and $5for seniors (older than 55) andstudents. (Tickets at the doorwill be $12/$6). All seating isreserved and orders are beingfilled as they are received.

by Erik DonhoweOPINION

Since the Niskayuna High School Promof 2004 was last Saturday, it is onlyappropriateto describewhat exactlyhappened onthe fateful,m e m o r a b l enight inParis. Therewas dancing,eating, ands o m e t h i n gelse, some-thing sinis-ter, lurking right beneath the surface.This sinister plot has nothing to do withthe Eiffel Tower(s), but everything to dowith the whole concept of having a PromKing and Queen.

The idea behind the selection of a PromKing and Queen, at least to my knowl-edge, is that five boys and girls are votedto be nominees to become the Prom Kingand Queen, respectively. Come Promnight, it is decided through ballots who

4 Opinion4 Opinion

The Warrior

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

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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 RajanGRAPHICS COORDINATOR: Evan FenaroliDISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Jackie NguyenBUSINESS MANAGER: Erik DonhoweADVERTISING MANAGER: Jonas ChangCOPY EDITOR: Abby AlgerWEB SITE MANAGER: Scott BrainardADVISORS: 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.

May 14, 2004 The Warrior

gets to wear the crowns. But this is all agold exterior to conceal the ugly, rottingwormwood underneath.

Having a Prom King and Queen isessentially ap o p u l a r i t ycontest that iscounter-pro-ductive to ah e a l t h yschool cli-mate. Thegoal of beinga student is tolearn and pre-pare for thereal world,

not to be the most popular kid in yourgrade. Why, then, is a contest that fo-cuses upon popularity, and is without adoubt entirely superficial, sponsored byan academic institution like NiskayunaHigh School?

The Prom King and Queen contest isan unhealthy part of our school’s envi-ronment, which is supposed to support

Put those prom crowns to rest

(continued on page 5,POPULARITY)

To many, springtimebrings thoughts of birdschirping, flowers bloom-ing, and weather warm-ing. To the student, how-ever, these thoughts arequickly replaced with theprospect of final exams atthe end of the year. Whileit is practical to concludethe year with a cumula-tive review and evaluationof knowledge learned, theweight given in our schooldistrict to these exams bor-ders on the unreasonable.

The academic weightgiven to the final exam isnot only worth one-fifth ofthe final grade – as muchas any one quarter - butthe final grade it is alsothe only one that appearssolo on student’s tran-script. Though theyarecounted so heavily, theseexams are not necessarilydemonstrative of students’ability, nor are they repre-sentative of their under-standing, or lack thereof,

of a course. Any student whohas had to go through therigorous process that is finalexam preparation knowsthat it is an extremely stress-ful time, and that even thebest scholars are often un-

able to perform as well un-der the pressure of a finalexam as they would be dur-ing a regular quarter.

Additionally, a quarter ofwork encompasses a mas-sive amount of evaluation,including tests, quizzes,projects, homework assign-ments, and, in many cases,class participation. To givea final exam, which takesplace during a mere three-hour period, the same weightas 10-weeks of work is un-fair to the student, and po-tentially misleading to thosewho may be later viewingthe grade. A student who

EDITORIAL

Final exams are overrateddoes no work throughoutthe year may be able togreatly boost his gradewith the final examthrough huge amounts ofstudying, while a studentwho works hard through-out the year and under-stands the test material,yet gets nervous under thepressures imposed by theprospect of a final exam,could do badly, although hisor her actual amount of un-derstanding would not nec-essarily merit a bad gradein adifferent situation.

Final exams should noybe done away with; theyarean effective way to wrapup a year. The level of im-portance currently placedupon these tests, however,is something that shouldperhaps be reconsidered.After all, in a real-life situ-ations, it’s practicality andhard work, not multiplechoice questions andmatching, that lead theway to success.

“ ”“Having a Prom King and

Queen is essentially apopularity contest that iscounter-productive to ahealthy school climate.”

5OpinionMay 14, 2004The Warrior

by Josh XiongOPINION

There are many things thatneed to be said about the FoxTV hit, American Idol - manyunflattering things. Yet,somehow, a show laden withso many obvious flaws and vicesjust happens to be appealing toso many Americans.

Let’s begin by stating thatIdol is a corrupt and insult-ing excuse for entertainmentand music. Really, it is. I don’tknow how viewers can standthe show, let alone indulge init, when watching AmericanIdol is, for me, just a painfulexperience. There is simplynothing entertaining aboutwatching ambitious singershumiliated and put down onlive television. Now I knowthat contestants are requiredto sign legal contracts agree-ing to whatever reaction thepanel of judges may have, butwhen the family and friendsof the contestants are watch-ing and cheering them on, it’snot only unprofessional, butdownright cruel for judges toblatantly tell the aspiring per-formers to give up theirdreams. In actuality, one-third of the show is reallyabout putting down somewhatimpractical kids. This occursduring the preliminary round,and probably half of themoney made by American Idolis through the glorification ofeccentric characters and theirlack of “talent.”

It isn’t really even as if

American Idol representswhat it claims to represent,which is the know-how andmethodology of success in themusic industry. Such themes,with American Idol’s claimsof producing the next pop star,as well as Simon Cowell’ssupposed “understand-ing” of what it takes tobe one, are just devi-ous business strate-gies to gain morehopefuls, and, inthe process, moreviewers. Be-cause, in real-ity, we allknow thatt o d a y ’ st h r i v i n gmusic in-d u s t r y( n o tthat ita c t u -ally ist h r i v -ing inthe busi-ness world) iscentered onHip-Hop, Rap,and R&B. Pop,with the exception ofBritney and Christina,who aren’t even topping thecharts and selling nearly aswell as they used to, is, to beslightly shallow, “so 1999.”And it isn’t as if these “popidol” television shows producemany successes; from ABC’soriginal “Making the Band”to the most recent Idol victor,

no creativity, let alone art, inthat process. This modernmethod makes us forget thatthe original pop legends, suchas The Beatles, The BeachBoys, and Elton John, allwrote their own songs.

And, of course, there’s Wil-liam Hung. What can I sayabout a Berkeley student whojust reeks of “fresh-off-the-boat” characteristics? Whatcan I say about a kid whocan’t sing and is getting somuch controversy and a bit ofmoney? The activist insideme would be railing againstFox and the media for per-petuating the Asian-Ameri-can stereotype of unattrac-tive, foreign-looking nerds bymarketing it as entertain-ment to the less sensitivesides of all people who findsuch stereotypes funny andfun to indulge in. But, to behonest, I can’t say much. Ionly hope that William Hunggets a lot of money. I hope hegrows filthy rich. And then, Ihope he buys out Fox, or atleast a large majority of thecompany’s shares.

ALL OPINIONS ex-pressed on the op-edpages represent the indi-vidual viewpoints of theirauthors. The contentdoes not necessarily rep-resent the views of TheWarrior, the high school,the school district or theBoard of Education.

Singing to the beat of the wrong drummerFOX’s American Idol is an incredibly poor excuse for entertainment

and increase students’ self-esteem. ThisProm popularity contest does anythingbut. It is surprising that an esteemedinstitution of learning such as NiskayunaHigh School places such an importanceon popularity that it sponsors a compe-tition to find out who, exactly, is themost popular person in the junior class.

Lastly, the crowning of the RoyalCouple is sending messages to the stu-dents of Niskayuna Central School Dis-

Popularity contest detracts from a fun nightContinued from page 4,

PROMtrict that being popular and being good-looking is an important value. Considerour yearbook, Crossroads. The RoyalCouple or Court of Prom gets a specialpicture in the Yearbook. Next year, ifthe Prom King and Queen attend theWalk-In, they will receive recognitionfor being the King and Queen of Prom‘04. This is all much ado about popular-ity, and looking good, but aren’t schoolssupposed to instill values like “Beauty isonly skin deep,” and “Popularity isn’teverything” in their students?

Traditions can be fun, but the tradi-tion of having a Prom King and Queenhas continued way beyond its time. Tocontinue such old traditions today re-quires justification according to today’sstandards and today’s values. It’s hardto imagine what could justify continuingthis focus and obsession on popularityand outer appearances in today’s world.Our society needs to realize that somethings are simply shallow and should beeliminated, as they continually promotethe wrong image.

Reuben, how many do you seethat actually are revered asmuch as, or gain anythingclose to the stardom ofBritney? If Simon and his co-horts really think they know

how to suc-ceed, then

t h e y ’ r ea r r o -g a n ti d i o t s .E i t h e rthat orthey’rer e a l l ygood ac-tors and

are beingpaid big

wads ofm o n e yfrom Foxto playt h e i rparts.

There’salso a very bi-

ased, and maybe outspo-ken, part of me that wantsto shout to viewers thatthe whole music and tele-vision industry does notecho the “art” that is soingrained in music (or at

least should be). I mean,these so-called Idol successeswill eventually be assignedprofessional songwriters andrecording studios that will domost of the work for them. Allthey need to do is sing thesongs, look sexy in some low-rider jeans, and star in somecheap Disney movies. There’s

Warrior art / Tanya Zal

6 Entertainment May 14, 2004 The Warrior

by Lisa D’AnielloENTERTAINMENT

After ten years full of funand games, romance andheartache, jokes and laugh-ter, and most importantly,never-ending friendship, thecast of Friends said farewellin the show’s finale last Thurs-day, May 6.

While the show’s ratingshave been declining over thepast few seasons, and the endwas inevitably near, seeingJoey, Ross, Chandler, Phoebe,Rachel, and Monica walk outof the purple apartment for thelast time was still difficult.Most Friends fans out therehave grown up with this show.In fact, I feel like these guysreally are my friends.

I first started watchingFriends when I was eleven, af-ter my best friend described tome a cast of characters thatwas incredibly funny. That wasback during season three, and,seven years later, they still keptme laughing.

Remember the days of spy-ing on Ugly Naked Guy? Orhow about when Ross overdidit a tad with the teeth-whit-ener? When Joey accidently sethis date’s artificial leg on fire,or Chandler sat in a box toprove his friendship? Phoebehaving triplets, Monica andRachel fulfilling the guys’

dreams, just so the girls couldget their apartment back afterlosing it in a bet. Granted, thelives of the characters onFriends were crazy and unre-alistic, as with most televisionshows, but they were also en-tertaining, to say the least.Throughout stressful teenageyears, the show has been anoutlet, a place of escape for ahalf hour every Thursdaynight, where we could forgetabout homework and tests,annoying parents and teach-ers, and just sit back and enjoya good laugh.

Looking back to the begin-ning, way back in 1994 (canyou believe it, some of us werejust barely in elementaryschool at that time!) one maywonder how the show went onto become the phenomenonthat it did. Except forCourteney Cox, the cast wasvirtually unknown. Show pro-ducers Marta Kauffman, KevinBright, and David Crane justhad the talent for picking acast with great chemistry, withactors who could bring out theuniqueness of each of theircharacters. With DavidSchwimmer as Ross, the inno-cent dinosaur geek known forgetting divorces; Matt LeBlancas Joey, the hot Italian onewho loved to pick up girls . . .but didn’t always have the

brightest things to say; Mat-thew Perry as Chandler, aloveable guy, sometimesthought to be gay, who couldalways be counted on to crack ajoke when a situation turnedawkward; Courteney Cox asMonica, the formerly fat onewith an obsession for cleaning;Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, theemotional one who has workedher way through quite a vari-ety of guys; and Lisa Kudrowas Phoebe, the quirky, ditzymasseuse with an incrediblyoptimistic attitude despite herrough past, the group provedto be a winning one, workingits way up to $1 million perepisode for each of the sixfriends.

While many people are criti-cal of the high salaries, theracy content of the show for an8 p.m. time slot, and the factthat some of its situations gotdragged out a bit, that didn’tdeter a true Friends fan. Myparents would occasionally ask,“So are there any of them whohaven’t slept with each otheryet?” or comment on how muchintelligence the show lacked,but since it was basically theonly thing my younger brotherand I ever agreed on, they didn’tmind too much. Every week,Friends managed to bring mybrother and me together.

Although the characterswere more than fifteen yearsolder than we are, we couldstill relate to them because they

had something that everyonewants: good friends. Somepeople think that once you haveto enter “the real world” aftercollege, life just isn’t very ex-citing anymore, yet Friendsproved otherwise. With a grouplike that to hang with everyday, you couldn’t help but behappy. Just as the theme song,“I’ll Be There For You,” by theRembrandts describes, no mat-ter what happens, friends willalways be there for each other.

Last week’s finale, althoughsad to watch, seemed ratherappropriate, going along withthe trend of this year for meand my fellow seniors. We areending a major chapter of ourlives, which can be a bitter-sweet experience. While thefriends are moving on, at leastthey finally resolved every-thing. Rachel and Ross are atlast together, and Monica andChandler finally got the baby(or babies, you could say), thatthey always wanted. Joey hasgrown up a lot, and has twonew little friends to keep himcompany, and Phoebe is happywith her new husband, Mike.Although Joey plans to returnnext fall in his own sitcom,Joey, it will never be the sameas Friends. Nothing can everbe like Friends was. The pass-ing of a show that for ten yearsprovided laughs and inspira-tion for millions all over theworld, truly marks the end ofan era.

Finale of Friends marks the end of an era

THE OLD APARTMENT: Rachel, Ross, Monica and Chandler hang outin the usual setting. Friends ended its ten-year run on May 6.

Photo courtesy nbc.com

THE END OF THE ROAD: After ten years and scores of episodes, thesix friends walk off into the sunset.

Photo courtesy nbc.com

7SportsMay 14, 2004The Warrior

Crews nearing the end of an exciting seasonby Matt Eisenstein

SPORTS

The Niskayunacrew team, with theending of the annualNew York State scho-lastic rowing events atSaratoga, is close tothe completion of thespring racing season.The boys’ varsity teammanaged to com-pletely turn around itsseason after disap-pointing losses at thebeginning and a verysmall turnout for theteam. In past years theboy’s team has beenable to boat out at leastthree eights, but, be-cause of numbers, onlyan eight and a quadcould be filled this season.

After the boys brought homegold in a Sectionals win twoweekends ago, the teamplaced third in a hotly con-tested race last weekend atStates. There were somedoubts before the boys’Sectionals win because of ear-lier races in the season thatweren’t so strong, but all mis-givings disappeared after thefirst two minutes of the race.As senior Andrew Milspaughsaid after the Sectionals race,“Where did that [power] comefrom?” Senior Jeremy Browndidn’t know what to initiallyexpect from the season, sincethe team was so young, butexplained “The boat really

came together and broughtabout an awesome season.” TheVarsity boys’ quad raced Sun-day at Saratoga, and came ina solid seventh place. JuniorDan Naylor, the stroke of thequad thought the race was“soooo good,” even though theconditions were windy, wet,and cold. Naylor also com-mented that the race officialswere “wack.”

The girls’ varsity team,coached by Matt Hopkins,started the season strong withwins against various localteams, and ended up comingin fourth at Sectionals andfifth in States, narrowly miss-ing medals both times. How-ever, at States the crew made

it to the finals, a feat in itself.The varsity girls’ three eightshope to finish off their seasonstrong at the PhiladelphiaRegatta next weekend.

The freshman boys’ teamdid very well even thoughthere were only enough guysto fill a coxed four and adouble. The boys’ four cameout on top at Sectionals andStates with gold medals. AtStates, the boys’ four beat sixother boats by at least twoboat lengths, to become theonly Niskayuna boat to get agold medal this year. Thedouble raced Sunday butwasn’t able to get out of theheats to reach finals. Rob“Mop-head” Milspaugh said

that the team’s performanceat Sectionals and States was“The result of a season of in-tense efforts.”

The freshman/novice girls’team had two eight’s worth ofrowers, and made an excel-lent showing this year. Ex-cept for one minor boating ac-cident by the modified team,the freshman remained dama

ge-free and had an excel-lent season, medalling atSectionals and coming infourth at States by a few sec-onds. The novice girls missedfinals by a few seconds, losingin their heat.

Overall, the boys’ team fin-ished twelfth and the girlswere seventeenth in the state.

Warrior photo / Jon Chow

TOO LEGIT TO QUIT: The rowers of the girls’ varsity eight don’t let anyone mess with them. From stern tobow (left to right): sophomore coxswain Ashley Penik, senior stroke Diana Mitsche, junior Meg White, juniorStevie Busse, sophomore Lauren Fisher, senior Becky Fogarty, sophomore Jillian Malkis, senior MadisonGrisham, and sophomore Tierney Gifford.

8 Sports May 14, 2004 The Warrior

by Abby AlgerSPORTS

Start with twelve seasons of sports.Add a full schedule of Honors and Ad-vanced Placement courses. Finish witha slew of extracurricular activities. Theresult is Kyle Johnston, Niskayuna se-nior and May’s student athlete.

Johnston’s high school athletic careerbegan in middle school on the cross-country team. He joined the sport inseventh grade, and that year served ascaptain of the freshman team. The nextfive seasons, Johnston ran on the var-sity team and, as a junior and senior,was named Co-Captain of the group. Hespeaks highly of his experiences as a six-year runner, explaining, “Cross-countrywas a great sport for me because it forcedme to learn about sports nutrition andtraining. For cross-country, I have hadto focus on every aspect of sports life:diet, hydration, rest, and training. ‘Youare what you eat’ is almost a doctrine.”

This athletic discipline makesJohnston’s accomplishments in lacrossecome as no surprise. He’s played thesport as a defenseman for five seasons atthe high school level. Two years werespent on the JV team, including his ten-ure as Co-Captain in his freshman year.As a sophomore, Johnston joined varsitylacrosse, a team which he co-captainsthis spring. Warrior Student Athlete ofthe month is not Johnston’s first acco-lade, however. In 2003, he was named a

News Channel 10 StudentAthlete of the Week, as wellas a Suburban Council Scho-lastic All-Star in Lacrosse.

Mike Vorgang, head coachof varsity lacrosse, praisedJohnston’s efforts in thesport. He called him a“smart and very goodplayer,” adding, “Our de-fense is very complicated,and [Johnston] picks uplittle things that not onlyhelp the team, but also meas a coach. Beyond that, hewas a Second Team All-League player, selected bythe council of coaches.”Vorgang continued on amore personal note, saying,“I taught Kyle in middleschool, so I’ve known himfor a long time. When hegraduates, he’ll be replacedon the lacrosse field, be-cause inevitably everyoneis. But he’s irreplaceable asa person; he’s the epitomeof the student athlete.”

As Vorgang alluded,Johnston’s successes alsoextend off the playing field.Over the past four years, hehas maintained a 4.0 GPA(A) with a demanding schedule of Hon-ors and AP classes. Additionally, he was

chosen to receive theSwarthmore College BookAward as a junior to recog-nize his “strong intellectualcuriosity, passion for learn-ing,” and “significant ser-vice to the school and com-munity.” Meanwhile, a fewweeks ago, Johnston wasnamed a CASDA Scholarwith fellow senior JulieGranka. The CASDA pro-gram, which is affiliatedwith SUNY Albany, recog-nizes graduating studentsfor both scholarship andcommunity service.

The latter has been thefocus of Johnston’s exten-sive participation in extra-curricular activities duringhigh school. In theNiskayuna Inter-ServiceClub (NICS), the first grouphe joined as a freshman,

Johnston has filled three successive lead-ership roles; he was a Board Member asa sophomore, Special Projects Co-Coor-dinator as a junior, and Co-Vice Presi-dent as a senior. This year, he also servesas president of the National Honor Soci-ety, and as a Leadership Team memberfor Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y). Johnston was aco-founder of Y2Y as a junior, and heproudly remarked on the group’s recentgrowth. “What started as about eight stu-dents and an adult meeting informallywith few distinct goals has become a largegroup—including both high school andmiddle school students—with clear pur-pose and motivation,” he explained.

Purpose and motivation are two quali-ties that Johnston will take with himwhen he attends Princeton Universitynext fall. There he plans to major inEconomics, his favorite high school class.He also hopes to play lacrosse for thecompetitive Division I Tigers, and speaksoptimistically of his future. “I’m lookingforward to new challenges,” Johnstonsaid, “one of which is going to be tryingout for the lacrosse team in September.”

Photo courtesy Kyle Johnston

Photo courtesy Kyle Johnston

Lacrosse defenseman named Student Athlete

THE JOHNSTONATOR: Johnston has been a defensivepadlock for the varsity lacrosse team throughout his career.

SMILING STUD: Kyle Johnston has every reason to smileafter being this month’s recipient of the highly-coveted War-rior Student Athlete of the Month award.

Kyle Johnston contributes talents to cross-country and lacrosse teams