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the advocate november 2011 volume 51 issue 2 jonathan law high school milford ct free a forum for student opinion `jesus christ superstar thrills audiences alexis christy news editor it was judgment day at jonathan law on friday november 4 and saturday november 5 the jonathan law drama club hosted and organized a gala benefit concert of jesus christ superstar the production itself was an andrew lloyd weber original but was directed by the drama club advisor michael r mele and featured controversial religious concepts presented in a theatrical rockopera the theatre original was split into two acts which collectively showcased the story of jesus final days and the chaos in jerusalem due to his overwhelming preaching and popularity mele himself seemed to view the production religious or not through impartial eyes no matter how you look at the show whether it be as a religious story the story of the last seven days of the life of jesus or just the story of man who was betrayed by his friend and crucified because people thought he was becomfor more photos of the show go to the advocate online www.jlawadvocate wordpress.com actor carl gent playing jesus spreads his arms before the gaping crowd photo by a christy ing a threat to the state the show reaches out to all sorts of people and can touch them in many ways mele said the performance included school alumni staff two original broadway special guests and a milford entertainer broadway stars alexa green as mary and ken robinson as judas held major parts but milford entertainer carl gent played the biggest role as jesus while it was at times difficult to work with such a large cast the students found the experience to be a rewarding one i was very excited to see the support the people of milford gave us and it encouraged me to do even better in my performance said junior laura campbell nominated for five tony awards the musical has been in existence within the studio on the movie screen and on the stages of broadway for more than 40 years now it s captivation of audiences across the world certainly helps to keep it in successful circulation i think the music speaks to all generations said senior drama club president lucia white it s nothing too old or new it s exciting and entertaining after both nights were said and done the response seemed to please those involved so far in my three years here this was the most attended and highly praised show law has done said mele it was a great success and everyone who came loved it we received an overwhelming amount of praise and kudos about the show the proceeds raised will go towards new light and sound equipment for the drama club above even the positive turnout of the show the drama club offered gratitude for those who made the performance possible we would like to thank our new principal mr.thompson for all the support he has shown the drama club this year we would also like to thank alexa green ken robinson and carl gent for coming out and participating in our show said white their support as well as superb talent made the show terrific students faculty donate at annual blood drive emily bolcer news editor the jonathan law keyettes held their annual blood drive on october 31 the blood drive took place all day long in the old gym we sponsor the blood drive because it s for a good cause said anisha manglani the keyettes treasurer each person who donates can save three lives and it s a huge impact on the world around us there were approximately 20 students who donated along with 10 teachers we had an average turnout a lot of the people who wanted to donate couldn t because they didn t fit the requirements but overall the turnout was not too bad said club co-president priya kaur the red cross sponsored and helped with the blood drive as students arrived at the drive there was an information packet that had to be read stating what giving blood was about and the limits to taking blood once the packet was fully covered the students were sent to a waiting area where one by one numbers were called when the student s number was called they were sent into a cubicle where the red cross volunteers asked questions took a sample of blood and had the donor fill out a questionnaire after being questioned the donors were then taken to a cot where they had to first sit facing the nurse and once a vein was found the donor would lay down for the rest of the process giving blood can be an uncomfortable process so to ease the discomfiture the donors were given stress balls other techniques to make the process go by quicker are to drink a lot of water because there is more water in the body the cells are able to move faster and move the process along the red cross is very cautious when taking blood during the questionnaire they first ask whether or not the donor is feeling well a sample of blood is then taken the sample of blood shows whether or not the donor ms mannion gives blood at the blood drive photo by e bolcer inside this issue november 2011 opinion section pages 2-4 news section pages 5-7 entertainment section pages 8-12 columns section pages 13-15 sports section pages 16-20 scan this with your smartphone to go to the advocate online is truly eligible some reasons for not being eligible are having a blood condition who have or recently had an infection the red cross does not want anyone who has had an infection or virus because the blood maybe tainted and they do not want to take the risk another restriction to giving blood is that there is a height and weight restriction donors must be above 110 pounds depending on their height there is an age require ment for medical purposes said manglani even with all the restrictions giving blood is a good idea and a way to help out the community one pint of blood saves three lives people who donated said that it was a true experience to give blood and that people should donate next time we did not have as good a turn out as we usually do said keyettes advisor mrs jaekle but the key club will be having a drive in the spring

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page 2 opinion advocate staff reporters alex baluha thomas bolcer sean cameron bhaswati chattopadhyay connor falaguerra mathew ferraiolo kevin foley olivia herman andrew herrick bhavani jaladanki tarah kelly jaclyn kochiss anisha manglani tayree martin rachel mezzoni marisa perce adriana petrucci emily pitney brigitt rees jillian russo hayley soulier matthew telker jason vancho the advocate is the official student-run publication of jonathan law high school the opinions presented in the advocate are solely those of the students as journalists the members of the advocate staff are committed to upholding the core of our code of ethics objectivity integrity and truth the staff endeavors to report the news without editorializing include a diversity of opinions in our coverage and present sound corroborated information we welcome letters to the editor as well as issue-based commentaries if you are interested in contributing please submit your writing to the advocate room 211 jonathan law high school 20 lansdale avenue milford ct 06460 november 2011 the advocate cody roy editor-in-chief emily bolcer alexis christy news editors phylicia prince bernie smigel editorial editors bryan creevy kim legen melissa nelson entertainment editors nick depascale jesse doucette columns editors kyle kandetzki kevin langan sports editors mr kulenych advisor new school start time is too early this year jonathan law and fellow schools in the milford school district have new start and end times to their days high school days now begin at 7:20 a.m and end at 1:58 p.m this is of course a tenminute earlier start time than last years time of 7:30 a.m the new school days for all milford public schools are now 15 minutes longer the decision was made last fall to benefit student instruction district-wide it was a mutual agreement by all parties which included teachers and board of education boe members even though the board makes its decisions in hopes of seeing better academic performances by the students this choice to push the start time back is definitely not the right one students don t roam the hallways with dark circles under their eyes for no reason after all as of september 2011 the u.s center for disease control and prevention reports that nearly 70 percent of high school students are not getting the recommended eight hours of sleep on school nights the study also showed links from the insomnia to other unhealthy behaviors these include drinking too much soda not getting enough exercise spending too much time on the computer and depression the reason behind this common lack of rest is largely due to early start times in school when students don t get enough sleep they don t perform well the milford boe believes that making the school day 15 minutes longer will allow more time for learning this isn t going to make a difference because it isn t the problem a recent study at a rhode island high school whose start time switched from 8:00 a.m to 8:30 a.m showed dramatically positive results the number of students getting eight hours of sleep a night went from 16 to 55 attendance rates improved students noted they had better moods and there were fewer visits to the health center so instead of fixing the problem the milford boe is inadvertently making it worse by moving the start time back to 7:20 a.m some may disagree and say that students are damaging themselves and should go to bed earlier so that they aren t tired at school well countless amounts of students surely do their best to sleep at earlier times but it s more difficult than it seems with the pressure and schoolwork the boe isn t helping and a later start time would help no matter the individual or their sleep patterns the benefits to having a later start time would be endless grades attendance general health and moods of students would improve not only that but student drivers would be more rested and tardiness would go down it s clear that the boe made the wrong decision this time around because jonathan law and the rest of milford public schools would be way better off if everybody inside them were more rested some information courtesy examiner.com and psychologytoday.com jonathan law high school mission statement jonathan law high school is a community that exists to maximize the intellectual the social and the emotional growth of each student in a safe stable supportive environment we believe that a positive collaborative atmosphere fosters high expectations and recognizes individual differences in partnership with students parents and the community we are committed to developing the skills necessary for educational career and life choices visit the advocate online www.jlawadvocate.wordpress.com cell phone use should not be limited to cafe jillian russo staff reporter when are teenagers today without their cell phones students are utilizing their phones at all times of the day during and after school students now have more advanced phones than ever before many have smartphones they have access to online dictionaries to any website they want and to google every student s best friend however at jonathan law students can only take advantage of what their phones have to offer during their lunch and study hall periods the reality is that students could be putting their phones to much better use than what they are currently they really could be using their phones to assist in their learning during the day teachers could and should be able to give students opportunities to succeed even more than they are now today classrooms are discouraged from allowing their students to even using their phones to be used as calculators however some of the newest phones offer scientific calculators that work even more than what some schools are able to offer other phones offer students the opportunity to use their email to access their work and papers which is unavailable at school they can also access websites for research even when students are using their phones to talk to other students there are benefits using texting or other messaging applications students can quickly find out cell phones were one of the biggest innovations of the century why not use them to their full potential answers to school related questions students are always forgetting what they had to do for homework or they don t understand what they need to do for a question in math the easiest way for them to get the answers they need is to go through their peers using their phones messaging or internet access students talking to their friends aren t always the worst thing they could be doing a lot of time it can be one of the most beneficial things that they could do some people argue against using cell phones in class by saying that students will be too distracted by websites like facebook twitter and other social media however students have to be trusted to use these websites moderately if they do choose to use these websites it is up to the students to use them in a responsible manner it is also up to the faculty to trust their student body to make the correct choices when using their cell phones it is true that texting can be one of the biggest distractions in class yet if their use does not interfere with a teacher s lecture they should be able to be used by students whether it is to check theri e-mail look up a website or text a friend this connection can be the biggest benefit of cell phones however contradictory that may sound students are constantly forgetting homework assignments and constantly needing to ask questions to their peers why make students search all over to find them instead of just texting them cell phones truly are everyone s connection to everyone cell phones can be a hindrance but they can also be one of the biggest tools that students can use if teachers give their students guidance there is no reason that students can t responsibly use this new privilege well cell phones were one of the biggest innovations of the century why not use them to their full potential?

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november 2011 opinion page 3 `occupy wall street gives `99 a voice phylicia prince editorial editor americans have finally had enough and are taking actions into their own hands the occupy wall street movement started on twitter has garnered worldwide media attention this movement started during the summer when many college grads could not get any jobs the growing frustration of a stumbling economy lack of job growth and corrupt politics in the government put many americans at their wits end americans fought back this summer in the financial district of new york these were the voices of the 99 movement the corruption in government has been around since the beginning of government but it seems like americans are recognizing it now the corruption of government was blatantly clear during the bush administration 2000-2008 for example the entire scheme of finding weapons of mass destruction in iraq which was later revealed to have not been there another example was invading iraq because osama bin laden was hiding there nearly a decade later it was revealed that bin laden was hiding out in pakistan it has been speculated that the real reason the united states invaded iraq was for oil the failure to act the chamber failed to advance a measure to spend $50 billion on highway rail transit and airport improvements and another $10 billion as seed money for an infrastructure bank designed to spark private investment in construction the vote was 51 to 49 in favor but the measure needed 60 votes to precede to a full debate all 47 senate republicans joined democratic senator from nebraska ben nelson and independent from connecticut joe lieberman in opposing the obama organization measure republicans pledged to create jobs but every time a jobs bill is presented before them they block it americans are realizing this it is clear that most republicans care about the richest 1 of the country whom feed the wallets of republicans with bribes americans are taking out their frustrations on the cause of these problems big money corporations such as wall street the movement is spreading to oakland san francisco washington dc and nashville tulsa tampa denver and many parts of the country the 99 is finally making their voices heard and will not go down without a fight some information courtesy of ohnboehner.com photo courtesy politicalhumor.com americans grew tired of the same failed policies so they voted in barack obama as president in 2008 throughout the course of obama s presidency many americans grew impatient and frustrated with the president and wondered when new jobs would be created the problem may have revealed itself this year and last year when republicans won the house majority in may 2010 house republicans launched a project called america speaking out when elected house leader republican john boehner said you spoke out we listened and together developed our pledge to america a new governing agenda focus on your priorities creating jobs cutting spending and removing barriers to private-sector job growth you spoke out we listened and on september 23 2010 we unveiled our pledge to america a new governing agenda focused on your priorities creating jobs cutting spending and removing barriers to private-sector job growth boehner continued after one year i believe we can honestly say we have been faithful to our pledge and while there is still a lot more work to be done we will continue to honor and fight for the promises we made fast forward to november 3rd 2011 the senate blocked another part of the jobs bill the senate shot down another piece of president obama s $447 billion jobs bill as a stalemated congress goes through the motions of attempting legislation to spur economic growth largely as a mechanism to allow each party to blame the other for check out the advocate online scan this with your smartphone scan this with your smartphone www.jlawadvocate.wordpress.com

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page 4 opinion november 2011 students need access to facebook in school anisha manglani staff reporter students in school districts over new haven county have been accustomed to seeing web page blocked on social media websites earlier in the year the milford school district allowed such sites to be accessed by students when the websites were blocked again without explanation the question of whether or not students should be able to access these sites in school was revisited although some may oppose social networking in school the sites should no longer be blocked on school computers students and teachers can use the social networking sites to implement lessons and activities students in milford public schools have proved their responsibility through test scores and reports why can t they be trusted to not abuse their privileges the social networking sites can be useful to particular classes for instance journalism students could use facebook to be more quick and efficient in interviewing other students for articles in the advocate also the tv production class which is in charge of the conflicts involving distractions however young adults should start learning how to be more responsible without depending on the school district to protect them there will not always an authoritative figure to guide a student through his or her life some teachers are concerned about online bullying the same bullies are active online out of school there is no way to prevent it other than to punish the offenders perhaps the punishments can be more severe if it happens at school an alternative to the potential policy of social networking would be finalsite finalsite is a website with teacher web pages it provides students and teachers the ability to utilize discussion boards and blogging such a website would be a step forward in the direction of allowing social media for students social networking in school can be beneficial and motivational for milford students with reasonable enforcement and protections the sites can do no harm the issue of whether or not social networking in school should be allowed is one that cannot be ignored photo courtesy rockingteam.com eagle eye news could post news updates on students in any class can use youtube to enforce learning with visuals the spanish classes students could use skype to communicate with students from spain during their study halls they can practice without teacher instruction therefore building their independence students would be more motivated to learn from sites like youtube and facebook because these sites are something they are familiar with and enjoy using being glued to a textbook all day long becomes tiring the variety of different sites can open students eyes to a range of opportunities authorities in the school system have expressed their approval of student use of social media websites during school for instance the superinten dent of schools elizabeth feser said students should utilize the technology and enhance their education some people are concerned about social media being a distraction to prevent distraction limits could be set in place feser said that if the policy of social media ever passes students and staff would have to sign the acceptable use of computers waiver these limits would avert why do republicans back herman cain phylicia prince editorial editor another month goes by and another republican candidate is leading the polls for a few months rick perry was leading in the polls but after a series of unfortunate debates the republicans least favorite candidate mitt romney took a temporary lead in the polls until one man rose from the bottom of the polls with just one line 9-9-9 herman cain a candidate most people did not take seriously at the beginning of his presidential run surprised many when he advanced in the polls the frontrunner seemed to be riding high until his latest scandal.there have been at least four women that have come out and said the cain has sexually harassed them causing them to lose their jobs when turning down his advancements still with this scandal cain has increased his lead in the polls how can this be in any normal circumstance if a politician is caught up in a sex scandal then that that candidate has to resign scarring their political career the case seems different with cain though some have called for his resignation while others have endorsed him cain raised over a million dollars since the scandal broke out than he had made prior to the scandal the koch brothers have pinned him as their new poster boy and many republicans are throwing their support behind him based on poll numbers why is cain more popular now than he was before maybe republicans find romney a man that has been sitting in second place for the longest time too liberal a flip flopper or just plain boring it is clear that republicans do not like romney and are willing to settle for cain instead if this scandal had happen to a democrat such as anthony weiner republicans would be calling for his head seeing that cain is a republican of course he gets a pass republicans then like to cry foul when this is brought up and blame the liberal media when most americans watch fox news a very conservative network in polls that were taken 70 of republicans said that cain s scandal has no effect on how they perceive him then again these are the same republicans who wildly cheered when ron paul said he would let a person die on the streets and got excited when perry bragged about the number of people he executed in texas in politics one rule holds true the rules do not apply to republicans check out the advocate online www.jlawadvocate wordpress.com scan this with your smartphone!

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november 2011 news page 5 law s `challenge team claims victory melissa nelson entertainment editor this year s student game show was no `challenge for jonathan law high school four law students recently earned the right to compete in msg varsity s popular game show called the challenge members of the team were senior bhaswati chattopadhyay senior kevin griffin junior jack campbell and junior ratan manohar in the first round of the annual game show competition law competed against bunnell high school in stratford the final score of the game was 260 220 with law emerging victorious it is so amazing how knowledgeable and quickwitted everyone on our team and the competitor s team are said chattopadhyay most of what i am learning is not from books television or the internet but from what other contestants say the show starred jared cotter a well-known singer producer and television host cotter was a semi-finalist on popular television show `american idol and also co it was a lot of fun and a good experience it ll be fun to watch it when it airs on television law junior jack campbell law s challenge team will head back to new york to compete in the semifinals in february students from law will again be able to go see the show live in new york i m so excited to go back in february to compete again said manohar we re hoping to bring back another win to law and i want to keep winning to make it to the championship the show will air to optimum cable subscribers only on tuesday december 13 on channel 14 it was a lot of fun and a good experience said campbell it ll be fun to watch it when it airs on television and the best part is if we keep winning we keep missing more school days law defeated bunnell high school in the first round of the challenge photo courtesy msgvarsity.com wrote the number one song `down by jay sean it was so awesome to see jared hosting the show said senior phoebe french who was in the audience for the taping of the show i loved when he started singing `down after the show and then the audience started singing along with him members of the team had plenty of time to prepare for the challenge they decided to split up into the main subjects and each would specialize at a certain subject or category that would apply to the game some of the categories included in the show were children s books backup bands time magazine covers chemistry acids and bases three-letter words differential fractions and more seniors from law were able to take a bus to new york city to see the challenge live it was a great experience to go and see the challenge live senior marisa perce said i am so excited to go back in february and i hope law wins again law hosts drinking forum cody roy editor-in-chief the problem of underage drinking in the united states is getting out of control over 25 of all alcohol consumed in the u.s is from those under the legal drinking age to combat deter and hopefully prevent the students and faculty at jonathan law high school decided to take the matter into their own hands on wednesday november 9 assistant principal mr swan orchestrated an assembly for the current year s freshmen to help raise awareness about the drunk driving every school has an obligation to do everything within its power to keep kids safe said swan underage drinking is a reality of adolescence it is not a good one but it is a reality the seminar titled an underage drinking forum involved showing members of the freshman class the dangers and risks of underage drinking while the seminar was directed towards freshman many upperclassmen and parents attended the forum as well the upperclassmen and underclassmen were refreshed about the dangers of drinking and parents were educated on the dangers with hosting parties in which alcohol is provided to minors the seminar was really every school has an obligation to do everything within its power to keep kids safe underage drinking is a reality of adolescence it is not a good one but it is a reality assistant principal mr swan informative said law senior freddy hanania it was powerful and moving to see all those affected by alcohol the seminar presented victims of various alcohol related tragedies such as ryan tapp and his near deathexperience and rehabilitation from a brain injury resulting from drunk driving additionally there were informational lectures from gary kalm the chief of trauma surgery at the hospital of st raphael and police officer michael devito both gave very graphic and detailed speeches about the medical effects of alcohol the presentations were very effective said law junior ratan manohar the graphic nature of the injuries and stories really made the dangers real the freshman responses to the seminar and the stories presented there were very emotional i almost cried said law freshman phoebe herbert the story about the kid who died in the passenger seat really made the point hit home former mayor james richetelli assistant superintendent michael cummings chief of police keith mello and various jonathan law high school administrators also made appearances at the seminar their presence was noticed said swan in reference to the list of vip attendees the efforts of the parent teacher student association the milford prevention council and the school s social worker mrs meyer-farrell were tremendous and were greatly appreciated students and family were asked to fill out surveys to evaluate opinions on the subject before and after the seminar and is used to judge the effectiveness of the seminar the seminar did its job in convincing students of the dangers of underage drinking i am always going to be the designated driver herbert said.

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page 6 news november 2011 book club opens doors for new teenage readers olivia herman staff reporter usually when people hear the phrase book club they think of a group of old women sitting together discussing a book they have just read while drinking tea and eating biscuits well that is not the case for jonathan law high school s book club the book club was created by law s former media specialist mrs scire in order to get kids to enjoy reading the club meets the last monday of each month for one hour there are two parts to the club s meetings part one is getting together and discussing what everyone liked and disliked about the book the second part consists of choosing the next book that they will read the club recently finished reading the help by kathryn stockett the book is about a young white woman who lives in jackson mississippi and decides to write about the lives of african-american maids ms briggs the advisor of the book club said that the club has been great so far she is always looking for new members to join the book club is a casual club that allows students to discuss their thoughts and ideas about the books they have read they do not even have to read the full book reshenk said they can just read the first 10 pages or chapter another fun feature of the book club is that everyone gets a say in what book they get to read next this month they have chosen the maze runner a sci-fi novel by james dashner another big draw for people to join the book club is the food food and refreshments are available while the club meets another big draw is extra credit some teachers give extra credit to students if they join the book club if a student i have joins the book club then i give them extra credit for doing that reshenk said elizabeth voytershark a junior at law is also involved in book club i actually love it so much said voytershark i think it is a great way to bring together students and teachers without feeling that need to kiss their butts the maze runner is this month s book club pick photo courtesy amazon.com eugene yap and joe piselli won the best duo costume photo courtesy facebook.com law nhs hosts costume contest bhavani jaladanki staff reporter it was that time of the year again where everyone competes to wear the most outrageous costume ever halloween has come and gone and jonathan law high school held a costume contest allowing students and teachers to show their creativity many people dressed up this year and so the costume contest hosted by national honor society nhs had enough students to make this contest a success we re very proud of the enthusiasm students bought to the contest member of nhs danielle novak said in order to participate in the contest students were required to pay $2 each so that nhs could give all that money to ms riley s books for guatemalan children fund the profits from the costume contest totaled close to $100 normally we donate the money to the american cancer society but this time we are donating the money to ms riley s books for guatemalan kids fund nhs advisor ms turcotte-mottas said though there were many great costumes nhs narrowed down the winners to the following best male costume best female costume best group costume and best teacher costume the winner of best male costume was joe piselli who was dressed up in a morph suit the winner of the best female costume was kori gregory as lady gaga the winners of best group costume were lj waide mike rodriguez and justin sherrick and they were dressed up as lmfao lj justin and i obviously had the best costume so i wasn t surprised that we won but there was definitely some close competition best group winner mike rodriguez said at first i didn t know that justin and lj were going to be red foo and sky blue lmfao but it happened to work out perfectly lastly the best teacher costume was ms ohrenberger as lucille ball from i love lucy i started thinking about this costume in august when it was lucile ball s 100th birthday and i had a lot of fun ohrenberger said i also learned that a lot of students knew who lucile ball was but they didn t know she was a red head nhs was very proud for having such a successful event and for raising so much money for a good cause we put a lot of time and effort into our costumes and we were happy that we were able to win the contest winner of best group costume justin sherrick said this year s contest was a great success and teachers and students hope to have another contest next year too students should not feel as though they are committed to the club briggs said the book club is available to anyone who enjoys reading and discussing books their first book was confessions of the sullivan sisters by natalie standiford english teacher mrs reshenk is also involved in book club as a coadvisor i enjoy being part of the book club because i get to interact with students outside the classroom and in a different way

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november 2011 news page 7 class of 2013 to law football team hosts travel to italy food bank at pasta parties emily pitney staff reporter the class of 2013 can get ready to say goodbye to the states and ciao to italia for the april break of their senior year the juniors are being offered the chance of a life time to venture off and explore the beautiful country of italy for their senior trip next year accompanied by history teacher ms mannion and english teacher mrs goldbeck we chose italy for this specific class because it is one of the most exciting countries in europe with great ancient renaissance and modern history with a vast educational purpose through art and architecture said mannion who is co-planning the junior trip with goldbeck as of right now the estimated cost of the trip will be around $2,800 per person with a limited placement list of 30 kids this cost includes round-trip airfare a sevennight stay in a hotel two meals a day as well as all tour bus fairs and tour guides junior brigitt rees said that she is excited for this trip and that she is interested in attending i was so excited to hear of this trip for our class and the set price will be easy to save up for with the year s notice we have been given and seeing how it covers all of the expenses it seems like a pretty fair price rees said while in italy the juniors will be introduced to many famous paintings and artwork in various museums and will visit some of the most historic tourist attractions such as the coliseum and the leaning tower of pisa if i go on this trip i ll be excited to see all the famous landmarks and visiting venice will be the highlight of the trip said junior james ralston the class of 2012 was the first to be invited on a european trip to ireland whales and england nineteen students made the trip kids so goldbeck and mannion figured offering future senior classes the trips would be just as successful new principal mr thompson will be accompanying the class of 2012 as a tourist rather than as a chaperone to see the amazing landscapes and cutlure being offered the first senior trip was exciting and taking advantage of this great opportunity is a smart choice and i m so excited said senior ireland/england/whales trip participant rachel mezzoni possible trip ideas for the class of 2014 are france and germany and the class of 2015 will be offered a trip to spain there will be more information available for these trips in the coming months connor falaguerra staff reporter the jonathan law high school football team has been collecting food for the food bank at their pasta parties this season every year the day before a game the football team has a pasta party which is held at a teammate s house for the past two years the team has formed food bank for those in need and it has been a success it doesn t just make us look good mr robinson said it s about contributing to what the community needs and what we want to do as a football team the football team has donated over 250 pounds of food that will be given to the milford food bank the football team wanted to help out the community in some way and this idea stood out to the team and the athlete s parents the athletes parents knew that the economy was bad and the community needed food banks so they thought it was a wonderful idea to help out the community one of the parents mike spadaro s mom saw the results of what the community was going through and she jumped right in and the football team and the coaches were right behind her sophomore joe ziebell deposits food photo courtesy c falaguerra indoor track comes to law for winter sports season anisha manglani staff reporter this year jonathan law high school welcomes a new sport to its winter season indoor track coaches ms pirrello and mr beler are ready to welcome students to a longawaited season which is set to begin on november 28 they expect a wide range of strengths stemming from the fact that the athletes will be coming from a variety of different sports the co-ed track team will practice five days a week with meets held on saturdays it looks as though indoor track will be a popular choice of sport this winter with athletes trying to stay in shape for their spring sports many of the students who participate in outdoor track plan to partake in indoor track as well this is going to have a huge impact on our spring season everyone s going to come into outdoor track being in shape with a strong base said ms pirrello several students are confident that this season will help them stay in shape for other sports the indoor track season lasts until a few weeks before conditioning for outdoor track so we should all be at the top of our game from the start rather than taking the whole season to get in shape said junior and captain of outdoor track valerie hiller the conditioning and training that the athletes will undergo during the winter season will keep them moving and allow them to do their best duruing practices and meets i think that this will help me gain endurance and be in better shape for the spring said sophomore brittany scott many students are setting goals for the upcoming season to allow them to improve the most while also trying new events i expect to improve for new england qualifier conditions said senior justin sherrick it is a good message to the community to show that we appreciate what they do for us george knoth said it shows that we are more than athletes we are people that care coach robinson wanted to teach his team how to care about another person or people then just thinking about themselves i hope they get the sense to not feel uncomfortable about giving back to the community because they are just like us robinson said the coaches feel they have done their job to help make the team feel comfortable about giving back to the community this benefits the team by not thinking about ourselves and to think about the community cody edson said it feels right to support others as they try to support us this is not the only helpful thing they have done for the community they did a few community service hours in the summer for example they went out on a saturday morning bright and early to clean up milford for earth day also they went out to help plant trees and finally they helped out for eight hours at relay for life we had one goal in mind this season said kenny bourque said we wanted to help out the community in any way we possibly could hiller said she looks forward to being with the team this winter and trying new events such as the 1000 meter she hopes to beat some personal records and make it to state opens in the spring i am looking forward to seeing most of my track friends again and hopefully making some new friends said sophomore monica macchio because other sports have first priority in occupying the school during the winter the indoor track team will have to work around the lack of space we re going to have to be creative said ms pirrello this winter the track team will most likely use the weight room stairs hallways and the track to practice there are so many events to choose from so if people aren t doing another sport they should really join said macchio it is a great way to stay in shape and everybody is really friendly the indoor track team hopes to do well for their first season.

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page 8 entertainment november 2011 bryan creevy entertainment editor the number one most anticipated game of the year by infinity ward and sledgehammer games has finally been released monday november 7 at midnight and is already transforming itself into some gamers favorite the campaign first of all is a great ending to the suspense filled modern warfare 2 campaign like leaked information stated it starts right where the last one ended it shows captain price and soap mactavish killing general shepherd at the end of mw2 and then shows nikolai assisting price as they bring the injured and dying soap out of site hotel bravo in afghanistan after that the gamer plays a few missions in the battlefield that is our beloved new york city as the new character sgt derek frost westbrook who s part of the delta force team named team metal the objective is to destroy a jamming tower placed by the russians atop a building several blocks over after completing this and surviving nearly crashing in a helicopter the team must surface a russian submarine in order to board it and control the missiles inside to blow up the russian fleet and free new york city after this short beginning to the war you are put into the shoes of the new character yuri an ex-spetsnaz operative and a loyalist soldier who was introduced as a man who hates makarov more than captain price after fighting out of nikolai s hideout in india while escorting soap in an assault drone the characters go after people with connections to makarov trying to pinpoint his location and find a spot to take him out as this is going on frost and the delta squad help fight the war in the u.k france and `modern warfare 3 finishes off series strong this scene is where the gamer fights in front of the eiffel tower photo courtesy justforkids.blogspot.com girls mix rock pop on `father son holy ghost beach boys era even outside of the surf rock realm the musical comparisons are endless at times father son holy ghost feels like one great homage to all the musicians girls grew up on owens mixes what appear to be controlled amounts of buddy holly elvis costello and elliott smith to create a substance with a completely different composition in a recent pitchfork interview owens discussed just how essential his music tastes are to the music girls makes each song has a different celebrity name attached to it when i go to the studio with jr i say `this is a so-and-so song the first track and lead single honey bunny emits the vibes of songs already heard before but spun with a unique quaint motion that could have only come from owens and white owens earnestly sings about wanting unconditional love from someone who will tell him that everything will be alright whenever time he is sad he remains optimistic about finding such a person i know you re out there/you might be right around the corner and you ll be the girl that i love in the relatively somber less up-beat track vomit owens demonstrates that he is serious about looking for that same unconditional love from the first track nights i spend alone i spend `em runnin `round lookin for you baby lookin for love the lyrics are innocent but they never wander into the realm of childishness they always keep a certain sophistication and elegance in their simplicity not since jonathan richman and the modern lovers have any pop group been able to so perfectly convey so much meaning with such simple almost clichéd ideas it would not be right to label girls as just another band attempting nostalgia rock however it is clear to see that this album was much labored over there are layers upon layers of instruments within each track and within the instruments themselves the band goes all out and travels back to the era of classic rock with organs flutes and backing vocals girls take a very interesting turn with die an almost-five minute germany this seems like the finale to the entire series from events that occur during the campaign the ending is to die for and will make gamers start yelling aw yeaaah it may not have a mission like the infamous no russian from mw2 but the campaign has very memorable moments probably the biggest part of this franchise and most popular is its multiplayer mw2 s multiplayer was so good that it had hundreds of thousands still playing it after call of duty black ops was released and mw3 is just as good the infinity ward crew has completely revamped the killstreak system in the game now kills aren t the only thing that counts towards the new pointstreaks anything that gives the gamer experience basically gets him one point towards the rewards he can capture a flag secure a domination position or even taking out a sam turret or uav will count towards a reward also new towards the system is that for each custom class the gamer can choose from three separate lists of rewards the three lists are the assault strike package support strike package and the specialist strike package as the gamer starts out he can use the assault or support package and upon reaching level 20 he unlocks the specialist list what each of these lists does is give the player a list of rewards depending on what type of player he is if the person is a guy who likes to go killing people and raising up his kill/death ratio k/d than the assault package is the one for him it has a list of all sorts of real life weapons to use for lots of killing such as a predator missile assault drone osprey gunner and juggernaut armor the support package is mainly for those who go after the objective and help support their team for the win this package comes with things like an advanced uav to see location and direction of enemies stealth bomberan airstrike that s invisible to enemies counter-uav sam turret remote sentry and an emp the specialist is unlike any reward cod has offered gamers before it allows the gamer to earn three additional perks for ever two points he earn by acquiring six points he will have a total of six perks however upon his death he lose all the additional perks besides that it is an excellent idea for the multiplayer the last add-in to multiplayer is new game modes kill confirmed and team defender are the two new modes introduced both modes are modified versions of team deathmatch where in kill confirmed the player must retrieve the dog tag of the enemy he killed in order for it to count towards winning the game if a friendly of the guy who died picks up his dog tag the kill is denied in team defender the first person who is killed drops a flag a player can pick up the flag and his location is shown to the enemies however for each kill him or his teammates acquires it gives double the points it gives towards the team without the flag first team to acquire enough points wins the game they are both interesting ideas and seem to becoming a quick new favorite to some the last section of mw3 is special opsspec ops mode in mw2 they had spec ops where two players had certain missions to accomplish and they earned stars depending on their time or difficulty done on in mw3 the number of total stars is reduced from 69 to 48 however spec ops has a new mode called survival in this mode one or two players can play on any of the multiplayer maps and survive countless waves of infantry from shotgunners and suicide bombers to juggernauts and attack helicopters it is definitely a good competitor with treyarch s famous zombies mode that gave them a lot of popularity this survival mode may not become better than zombies but it s definitely up there the only weak points in modern warfare 3 is that they changed two fan-favorite perks in multiplayer sleight of hand pro and cold-bloodedalso known as ghost sleight of hand itself is the same with faster reloads however the pro version is no longer aim down the sights faster it is now switch weapons faster this may sound completely horrible to some gamers however they made that pro perk now a perk of its own called quick draw the cold-blooded perk has now been broken up into two separate perks blind eye and assassin blind eye makes the gamer invisible to air support and turrets while assassin makes you invisible to uavs the pro version of assassin is pretty cool though he becomes immune to cuavs and emps however the breaking up of this into two perks may not go over well with gamers infinity ward has hit the world with another record breaking first-person shooter that makes its predecessors that were so great look like antiques if they were ever to make a modern warfare 4 there would be no possible way to top this game rating 6 out of 5 stars bhaswati chattopadhyay staff reporter the ordinariness of the san francisco band girls ends with the name fronted by two key male musicians ­ lead singer writer christopher owens and producer/bassist chet jr white ­ girls have been making standout sunny pop music since 2007 after receiving critical acclaim and accolades from major publications and music blogs alike for their 2009 debut album girls are back with the fall 2011 release father son holy ghost girls 2009 debut with its summery single lust for life explored wishing for suntan[s pizza[s and beach house[s and brought back listeners to the early long instrumental track that is one-half fleetwood mac and one-half metal girls cover every possible ground on father bring influences from every possible source and somehow still manage to retain their own voice in a year where every band is resorting to stretching back to the past for inspiration girls reach back the furthest and bring the most back i can see so much clearer when i just close my eyes ends the final track father son holy ghost has a lot to offer and most of it is not perceivable the first second or even tenth time listening fortunately this is an album that withstands every press of the repeat button rating 5 out of 5 stars

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november 2011 entertainment page 9 wale shows `ambition on his second release kyle kandetzki sports editor this year has been a big one for washington d.c rapper wale folarin he joined rick ross s maybach music group was featured on the label s self made vol 1 compilation album released a mixtape and now has released ambition ambition is wale s second official album released and his first with maybach the album features a mix of strong verses that folarin has gotten famous for and several notable features on the hooks of his tracks ambition begins with four consecutive tracks notably double m genius and legendary featuring just folarin and comes off as a good sense that the album may be a huge hit as the album goes on it has its moments notably the title track ambition featuring maybach members meek mill and rick ross the song tells of their dreams and realizations of making it big in the rap industry other top highlights come from an ode to his hometown dc or nothing and previously released mixtape song chain music this album like his first follows a similar pattern of the use of strong voices on several hooks but this time wale sub ambition is wale s second offical album he released photo courtesy of collegedj.net blink-182 just released neighborhoods photo courtesy starpulse.com blink-182 matures on latest album matt telker staff reporter reaching great success in 1999 blink-182 formed in poway california in 1992 with a different drummer and a different name ­ blink today they are comprised of mark hoppus on bass and vocals tom delonge on guitar and vocals and travis barker on the drums and many people still refer to them simply as blink their eps and records prior to 1997 received limited success dude ranch was the first record to sell over 1 million copies it was followed by the 1999 enema of the state which reached number 9 on the billboard 200 and held wellknown singles such as what s my age again and all the small things their success continued through their self-titled album in 2003 in which they took on a slightly more mature sound in 2005 tom delonge left the band due to an altercation and they took and indefinite hiatus each of the members formed their own side projects they reformed by surprise in 2009 and released their next studio album two long years later entitled neighborhoods the much-anticipated album starts off with a more poppish sound with the track ghost on the dance floor the song could be mistaken to be on an angels and airwaves album this sparked some initial concern since many fans were worried that the members side projects would change the band s sound too heavily travis was on point on the drums however and the song returns to blink territory during one of his signature breakdowns the next track natives sounds like it could have been pulled off an older record it has the raw punk blink-182 sound this sound continues through to after midnight which includes the lyrics we ll stagger home after midnight sleep arm in arm in the stairwell we ll fall apart on the weekend these nights go on and on these lyrics are the most teenage sounding it gets on the album with most other tracks taking a more mature feel despite the sound this is still a complaint of some fans they wanted to hear the party song again but eight years later the band is just not in the same place they are actually adults now kaleidoscope is another revered track on the album it includes the lyrics delete the progress on your game try to fall asleep while your eyes ring from the loudest songs on your mixtape i can dance to anything you want to sing as well as an energetic riff and travis crushing the beat on the drums it is a recipe for success some tracks on the album such as fighting the gravity sound like they were composed by the cure with a grungy feel the vocals keep it blink-182 nonetheless the album ends with even if she falls which does sound like it could have come off their popular album take off your pants and jacket it was a superb way to close out their re-debut album with more old punk sound and fun energetic lyrics overall people have been up all night listening to neighborhoods despite some added maturity rating 4 out of 5 stars stitutes feminine singers with high pitched male voices like lloyd miguel and ne-yo though some features work particularly well with the song sometimes the pattern gets repetitive hearing a similar voice on consecutive songs an odd track off of ambition is slight work featuring up and coming detroit rapper big sean the dual verses are entertaining but the small beat with looping sirens in the background seems to be a song not fit for the album and better for just big sean s less serious rapping style also on a neutral note focused featuring kid cudi is a solid song but many musical `plan b should be choice a sean cameron staff reporter a new burger hotspot has hit milford with a variety of new and fun foods plan b burger bar just opened at 1638 boston post road in milford right near amf lanes plan b opens at 11:30 a.m monday-sunday and the kitchen closes at 10 p.m sundaythursday and 11 p.m fridaysaturday when you walk into plan b you get the feel of a high class burger place and a sports bar at the same time plan b prides themselves in all natural beef and made to order burgers this may sound like a fast food pitch but it is not the food comes fresh plan b wants to have a perfect mix of healthy and high class food with a fun atmosphere plan b will start you off with a long list of appetizers to choose from they include to usual appetizers fries wings nachos and sliders the nachos are above average with a perfect mix of cheese and beef the spice heat comes from the jalapeños that are scattered throughout the dish recom artists as of recently seem to forget cudi made his name from his rap verses on focused cudi provides a autotuned but catchy chorus but no verse leaving wale without a boost to make the song a classic the album returns to form with illest a tribute to women in his life and no days off based on his popular motto throughout his career ambition is a consistent start for wale at his more welcoming home of maybach music with an effort mostly relying on his own lyrics and masterful beats small kinks in the road offer little to worry about for folarin s future rating 4 out of 5 stars when you walk into plan b burger bar you get the feel of a high class burger place and a sports bar at the same time double bacon cheese chili three shrooms chili ultimate cheese and a philly cheesesteak burger an interesting twist to all these burgers is you can get a pretzel bun the bacon cheese with the pretzel bun with pink is a great burger the bacon cheeseburger is always a good bet and with the pretzel bun it gives the burger a unique taste with a fun twist if you do not want a burger you can get a big plate these plates are large and can include many different flavors from seafood to italian the dishes will fill you up the sides include many items that you can top your meal off with onion rings tater tots and six different types of fries highlight this list rating 4 out of 5 stars plan b burger is located near the milford bowling lanes photo courtesy of theburgerboy com mended for three or more some of the appetizers that are unique to plan b are lobster rolls jalapeño poppers lobster sliders and barking dogs barking dogs are mini cheese dogs for your pleasure if large appetizers do not appeal to you you can also invest in soups or salads before your meal then it s time for the main attraction the burger all burgers can be cooked with pink or no pink some of the burgers they offer are the single the

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page 10 entertainment november 2011 `mighty macs tells tale of inspirational coach kim legen entertainment editor hall of fame women s basketball coach cathy rush stars in the movie the mighty macs the movie was released in theaters on october 21 in 1971 rush became the head women s basketball coach at immaculata college in philadelphia pennsylvania this year was a new era in collegiate athletics and a national champion would be crowned for the first time in women s basketball the movie is based on rush s 1971 women s basketball team they were a cinderella team that ended up winning and being named the first women s basketball national championship team in history immaculata college was a tiny all women s college catholic college at the time rush had never coached before she found immaculata college immaculata had a tough schedule that year and they would play some of the best teams in the country once rush got there her problems and difficulties began there was no gymnasium on campus and no uniforms for the girls and she received little to no support from mother superior the school had a ter hall of fame basketball coach cathy rush stars in mighty macs photo courtesy of echohisheart.com cole world was released on septemeber 27 selling 218,000 copies in one week photo courtesy hiphop-n-more.com j cole releases solid debut album tayree martin staff reporter it s been two years since j cole signed to jay-z s roc nation label in september j cole finally dropped his debut album cole world the sideline story j cole proved that he can make good music and sell records he dropped his debut on september 27 selling 218,000 in one week his first single was the smash hit work-out which sampled kanye west s new work-out plan and legend singer paula abdul s interpolates straight up the song debut at number eighty-five on the top u.s billboard hot 100 cole world the sideline story was mostly produced by j cole himself and very few producers such as no i.d l&x music and brian kidd the album is more than just an album according to j cole in the lyrics of every song he tells stories of things he went through good and bad the album contains 16 songs and is mostly a story from beginning to end according to many magazines such as xxl entertainment weekly l.a times rolling stones and many more the album has received positive reviews source magazine said that cole s evolution as a producer solely enhances the product there are many other hot songs on the album such as can t get enough featuring trey songz and the smash hit in the morning featuring rap superstar actor and singer drake the album has collaborations from jay-z missy elliot drake and trey songz another hot exclusive song on the album is called mr nice watch featuring jay-z that song was also co-written and produced by j cole at first the song only had two verses from j cole but cole states that his dream was to collaborate with jay-z on his debut album j cole said he was in l.a and i got there that day around the vmas he actually pushed back the mastering we went to mastering with no jayz verse `i was like `oh okay cool i guess he can t do it they were mastering the last song and this is such a jay-z move he called in and stopped the mastering and pushed it back like a week only he can do that j cole said the production on the hit song lost ones was influenced by music artist alex gilbert this album is such an amazing album many other rappers gave j cole praise for making good sales and being on top of his game fans of hip-hop and r&b should definitely get this album anywhere such as target best buy wal-mart and many more people can find the album also on amazon and itunes as well only for the price of $9.99 the album contains mostly real instruments such as a live orchestra horns pianos and many more rating 5 out of 5 stars rible financial status and to top it off coach rush did not have enough players to field a whole team from the start of the season it appears that the macs have no hope for their season they didn t begin to gain hope until the help of sister sunday an energetic and fun assistance coach came along the support of a booster club of elderly nuns really helps the macs and their run for the championship throughout the movie people see the struggles and hard times some of the players had people are able to view the hard work and dedication that went into this team to make them who they are coach rush pushed the girls every day and put them through transit unleashes new sound thomas bolcer staff reporter the new album released by transit is much different than previous albums that should not be a surprise to anyone and it still turned out to be a great sounding record transit is an american indie pop punk band from boston massachusetts the member s include joe boynton tim landers torre cioffi p.j jefferson and daniel frazier they have come out with three albums and two eps and are currently signed to rise records the band s latest album listen and forgive is very different in the sense that it possesses more of an emo pop punk sound which differs from the group s usual pop punk it should not be a surprise that they released their best album in 2011 considering all of the quality releases this year from so many other pop punk bands one major home run for this album is all your heart it features patrick stump and is one of joe boynton s best lyrical performances on the album with lyrics like you made me into a monster so i made you into art and i gave it to the world tough workouts she had crazy punishments she wanted the team to be great when everyone lost hope and was down on themselves coach rush brought them back and gave the team more hope than anyone else the mighty macs is a very inspirational movie through the struggles and the hard times viewers can see what simple determination and hope can do for a team critics say that if viewers enjoyed hoosiers or coach carter they will love the mighty macs everyone loves the cinderella team in sports and this movie is the true meaning and depiction of a cinderella team rating 4.5 out of 5 stars transit recently released listen and forgive photo courtesy rockdirt.com to rip and tear apart another knock out song on the album is cutting corners this track is more upbeat and has impressive guitar work by landers the bridge of this song will leave listeners with chills running up their spines with every listen they will also find it difficult to forget the chorus of this song with its catchy lyrics cross your fingers and dot the i s apologize fill in the blanks for all your lies apologize with the exception of having a few minor flaws within this album this is by far one of transits finest works the talentedly written acoustic song skipping stone gives the album some diversity in sound however the vocals within this album sound somewhat similar the instrumentals are able to save the album from being repetitive or annoying this album was most certainly a very bold move made by the group and yet managed to be well rounded with lyrical genius impressive guitar work and not get annoying at all this album is guaranteed to be loved by most old listeners and will attract new listeners with the difference in sound from previous albums rating 4.5 out of 5 stars

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november 2011 entertainment page 11 `paranormal activity 3 terrifies viewers mathew ferraiolo staff reporter it s a halloween scarefest said claudia puig of usa today about the new horror movie paranormal activity 3 which came out on october 21 and made $52.6 million in the first weekend this movie has a well-respected cast the writers oren peli and christopher b landon are also the writers of disturbia and insidious chloe csengery who plays young katie has starred in criminal minds parenthood and lopez tonight the star of the movie jessica tyler brown has never done a film before paranormal activity 3 but no one would have ever known because she plays her role stupendously other cast members include christopher nicholas smith lauren bittner and dustin ingram this movie begins with katie who delivers a box of old videotapes to her pregnant sister kristi a year later kristi s house is robbed and only the phones and fancy backdrop no new technology is created everything fit hand-in-hand the most important strong point in the movie is toby he is an invisible character who roars and growls once in a while toby puts a chill down the spine of the audience and allows their imagination to run wild with his appearance this movie definitely has its scary moments that will never be forgotten there are a couple weak points in this movie the movie becomes boring at times because the audience is waiting for the frightening moment to happen but it takes too long the main weak point is that the ending is so fast the viewer thinks they are in the middle of the movie but all of a sudden it ends however it s terrifying nonetheless everyone should see this movie whether they enjoy horror movies or not paranormal activity 3 is still scary midday in your office with the lights on and door open rating 4.5 out of 5 stars paranormal activity 3 made $52.6 million the first weekend in theatres photo courtesy of usatoday.com tapes are gone then the movie flashes back to 1988 when katie and kristi were little girls living with their mom julie and her boyfriend dennis the youngest daughter kristi begins interacting with an invisible friend named toby because dennis and julie think toby is just a stage they don t really take any notice or care in him soon though dennis realizes strange things started to happen once toby came about he sets ups cameras throughout the house to catch the strange phenomenon and that s when everything begins this movie has many strong points the movie brings people a sense of fear throughout the entire movie any second some thing can pop out the writers of the movie created some inventive ways to capture bizarre phenomenon one way is with a camera attached to an oscillating fan which moves back and forth this helps create the tensest moments of the movie another strong point is that they really adapted the 1988 theme with the huge cordless jesse doucette columns editor released into theaters on june 17 and now recently available online and on dvd the green lantern is a must see action-packed thriller the premise for the movie is based on the famous comic book among the universe for many centuries there has been a powerful small force that protects justice and peace they are known as the green lantern intergalactic corps the green lantern corps is made up of strong-willed warriors each from a separate race/planet they each wear their own ring that has chosen them which grants them their superpowers hal jordan a test pilot played by ryan reynolds obtains a special ring which enables him to use superpowers but little does he know that he didn t just stumble upon this ring the ring chose him hal also doesn t know that the green lantern corps have little if any respect for the human race hal is also the first human to be chosen by the ring a new enemy by the name of parallax begins to threaten that he is going to destroy the universe starting with earth the green lantern corps then realizes that with hal s courageousness and motivation he could be the key to defeating parallax and saving not only planet earth but the universe as well `green lantern `moneyball tells true story shines in theaters of poorest team in baseball while this is the first green lantern movie director martin campbell seems eager to come out with a thrilling sequel while hal has a lot to learn a lot to learn about his powers he has the encouragement of carol ferris a fellow pilot of his played by blake lively hal quickly learns that he must overcome his fears and step up to the challenge and stop parallax before it s too late while this is the first green lantern movie director martin campbell seems eager to come out with a thrilling sequel fortunately ryan reynolds combination of suave selfassuredness seasoned comic timing and old-fashioned ability to kick butt outweigh the film s minor flaws to make for a satisfying cinematic experience that just screams sequel said kam williams a critic from newsblaze produced and inspired by the comic book movie industry marvel studios and dc entertainment the directors plan on continuing to bring these superheroes to life on the big screens over the next several years rating 4 out of 5 stars andrew herrick staff reporter based on the best-selling book written by michael lewis moneyball is the true story of the 2002 oakland athletics who reinvented the game of baseball general manager billy beane brad pitt and his assistant peter brand jonah hill take the poorest team in baseball and attempt to turn them into world series champions using the scientific method made famous by bill james moneyball was released on september 23 and has made over $67 million so far in theaters from sony pictures this movie was written by steven zaillian best known for his screenwriting of schindler s list and mission impossible pitt definitely steals the spotlight and makes moneyball a fantastic movie his acting is as good as it has ever been in his entire career he really captivates the audience and gives the viewer a first-hand experience of the emotions of a baseball season his performance in moneyball is right up there with his performances in fight club 1999 and inglorious basterds 2009 the difference here though is that he is basically the one and only lead in the movie which allows him to shine even brighter this point does pose a main problem within the movie though hill does offer great moneyball was released on september 23 photo courtesy teaser-trailer.com/moneyball-movie support to pitt but the movie lacks a certain depth in acting pitt is fantastic but he is just about the only one who puts on a show moneyball is an amazing story of the team who went against the norm of baseball scouting and managing and went on to be a success story the movie does a great job following the real storyline and puts the whole story in perspective the audience is able to leave the theater feeling that they learned something unexpected about the 2002 oakland athletics they were a revolutionary team for the game of baseball although this is a great story it can be quite predictable especially if the viewer is a baseball fan this is the main problem with all true-story movies also the story seems to drag on to an unnecessary extreme yes this is part of the true story but there are points in the movie that lack a certain expected action that being said the moneyball s ability to show a behind-the-scenes look into the athletics season makes up for the predictable and slightly monotonous story besides the few moments when the audience was busy checking their watches moneyball was a captivating film this is the perfect movie for all sports fans looking for an inspirational story and an inside look into the making and maintaining of a professional baseball team consequently those looking for an actionpacked thriller will be left disappointed rating 4 out of 5 stars

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page 12 entertainment november 2011 `pokemon puzzle league still fun a decade later bernie smigel editorial editor are you a pokémon master don t worry you don t have to be pokémon puzzle league dates back to 2000 as an exciting n64 action-puzzle game released only in north america a player doesn t have to know the first thing about pokémon or remember how battles work because it s all just a puzzle challenge based off of panel de pon and tetris attack released several years earlier in japan and north america respectively the game consists of oneon-one puzzle matches these can be played against the computer or against a friend in a tetris-like scene square blocks of five different colors slowly arrive from the bottom of the screen with a two-square cursor you can switch any two blocks to move them around three blocks of a color will clear them four or more will create an attack block against the opponent in a puzzle match the goal is to get the opponent s blocks to hit the top of the screen by using these attack blocks on them with speed and skill the player must try to fluster their opponent with a barrage of attacks blocks they can only be cleared with three or more same-colored blocks are cleared against them then they turn into regular blocks so where does pokémon fit into this all the playable characters come from the first two seasons of the tv show pokemon puzzle league was released for the n64 in 2000 photo courtesy gamestop.com batman arkham city is a new action-adventure video game photo courtsey of 4.bp.blogspot.com batman sweeps into another adventure kevin foley staff reporter batman makes another excellent fight against evil batman arkham city the sequel to batman arkham asylum is an action-adventure videogame developed by rocksteady studios and released by warner brothers interactive entertainment for the ps3 xbox 360 and pc on october 18 2011 in this open world video game batman is purposely arrested and is imprisoned into arkham city a section of gotham city blocked off to place all of the villains since the asylum is no longer large enough to hold all of the villains batman now stuck in arkham city has to face crime against all of his main nemesis including the joker harley quinn hugo strange the riddler penguin mr freeze bane two-face mr zsasz poison ivy and many more the game also offers a 3-d mode which allows players to play in 3-d on a regular tv the game also is already releasing downloadable content dlc expanding the story to greater lengths the first dlc which unlocks the playable character catwoman adds four new campaign missions other announced dlc being released includes nightwing as a playable character and multiple player skins for batman for different genres of his career overall this game is an excellent game with improved graphics from the first game an extremely smooth fighting system and an excellent story this game is irresistible to play the graphics as many know have been a crucial factor to many gamers this game succeeds the expectation of graphics as it adds beautiful texture to the world and creates life-like water effects every villain batman must fight also has their own story on how you can reach them and end up fighting them for example in order to find the riddler you must search around the city to find and solve numerous riddles he has set up the catwoman dlc was also very well placed together as it truly blended in with the main campaign to create a story line with two stories going on at the same time just like in grand theft auto iv how when the main story was occurring the other two dlc campaigns with johnny klebitz and luis lopez were occurring the 3-d in the game was alright 3-d has not been perfected yet and only at some times did the game actually look pretty cool in 3-d in fact 3-d just seemed like a sore to the eyes as it was not true 3-d but 3-d on a 2-d tv in all batman arkham city was an all-around great game any batman fan will exceedingly enjoy it and many gamers who are new to the batman series will find a great enjoyment in the game play this new installment of the batman series and help fight crime in arkham city rating 5 out of 5 stars that includes ash misty brock team rocket and nothing more than the original 151 pokémon the modes offered include a story mode that ranges from easy to s-hard the mimic mansion for beginners a place to create your own puzzles for others to solve timed challenges marathons and a 2p battle stadium in addition there are the more challenging 3d puzzles that are more cylindrical-shaped instead of the rectangular 2d ones 3d puzzles are tricky because one has to also pay attention to the blocks looming in the back for a bunch of puzzles it sure can make one s heart pound in the heated battles especially with giant attack blocks being thrown left and right the game is addictive it doesn t get much atten tion as a very late n64 release but anyone who has it will find it exceptional and worth years of fun the opportunities given in the different modes make for an incredibly diverse experience considering puzzle match is the only game involved nintendo brought out every aspect of this remixed-tetris to offer the full package the only problem with the game is that it takes some time to learn a friend can t just walk in and play because they won t be able to put up much of a fight against someone who has been playing by themselves for a while pokémon puzzle league can be purchased and downloaded from the nintendo wii shop for 1000 wii points it s an absolute classic or at least it should be rating 5 out of 5 stars remake makes viewers dance adriana petrucci staff reporter get up and get ready for the movie that everyone ;loved so much in the 80 s footloose talented director craig brewer was 12 years old when the original footloose came out in 1984 and it inspired him to be a filmmaker he teams up with dean pitchford the original director for this remake kenny wormald ren mccormack has been dancing since he was six years old he s been in contests music videos and choreographed paramount pictures announced that wormald had got the part after zac efron and chace crawford turned down the role julianne hough ariel is a triple threat she sings dances and acts she was rev moore s randy quaid rebellious daughter in the movie she has been in many shows such as dancing with the stars show me the money and many dance contests she also sings and has her own albums hough was nominated for the top new female vocalist award a fan voted award which she won hough won the top new artist award at the 44th annual academy of country music awards on april 5 2009 she s been in other movies such as burlesque harry potter and the sorcerer s stone and the broadway musical rock of ages this movie takes place in present time in a small town called bomont in georgia ren mccormack moves here from boston after his single mother dies of leukemia and stays with his aunt uncle and cousins he suddenly realizes that loud music and unauthorized public dancing are prohibited by law after getting a ticket for driving with loud music this law was passed because of the death of four teenagers in a car accident coming home from a party he quickly finds a friend willard miles teller and teaches him how to dance ren ends up falling for rev moore s daughter ariel ren goes before the city council and reads several bible verses that claim in ancient times people would dance to rejoice exercise or celebrate the council votes against him he convinces the owner of a cotton mill where he worked to have a prom there for all the senior of bomont high since its right outside of bomont limits after talking to rev moore he brings ariel to the prom and everyone has a great time together this is really a great scene and shows the mood of the film overall though the movie was great energetic and a wellwritten remake the actors got along great and it really showed on camera they all acted and danced well too it lets out such a positive energy and gets the audience going rating 3 out of 5 stars

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november 2011 columns page 13 what s in your ipod freshman volkan yildiz 1 growing pains ludacris 2 shake that eminem 3 boss is life snoop dogg 4 ima boss rick ross 5 the thrill wiz khalifa junior ryan bannon 1 roll up wiz khalifa 2 racks tyler the creator 3 no church in the wild kanye west jay-z 4 megaman lil wayne 5 party rock anthem lmfao sophomore sam tomlinson 1 air raid dubstep 2 party wiz khalifa 3 house party wiz khalifa 4 rooftops wiz khalifa 5 take over control afro jack senior garyd boyd 1 racks yc 2 written in the stars tyga 3 drake i m on one 4 roll up wiz khalifa 5 a2433g mix young jeezy photo courtesy n.depascale photo courtesy n.depascale photo courtesy n.depascale photo courtesy n.depascale hallway etiquette is important emily bolcer news editor now that we have been at law for two full months it should be expected that the student body would know how to act in the class hallways and throughout the school the first topic of utter importance is walking through the doors it is not a difficult task i promise when using the double doors people walk through the right door and walk out the left door this is something that much of the student body and some of the faculty have forgotten the students at jonathan law need to learn to become self-sufficient when using the doors it takes an extra five seconds to reach out and turn the knob to open the door it is ridiculous to stand waiting for a throng of people to get through the right side of the door because the left door is closed people should use common sense and open the left door above all people should not cut someone off when they stop smell the roses it is an unfortunate truth that the world does not revolve around us so people should have some consideration for others are opening a door if someone has the decency to open the door you should do the same people should not cut someone off when they are walking through that is horribly rude and inhumane having common courtesy is something unfounded in the halls of jonathan law when using the doors please make sure to use the correct one and try holding it open for someone else also people should make sure to use their manners it is important to use common courtesy people should thank someone for holding the door open another major problem with the school is the hallways congregating in the hallways can become a safety hazard and is a true annoyance there are students pushing through the madness to get to their lockers people should have the decency to get out of the way while someone is at their locker they will only be a minute or two and then once they leave you can fill the spot back up a person should have no difficulties trying get their books and this problem again goes to taking note of our surroundings it is an unfortunate truth that the world does not revolve around us so people should have some consideration for others there are many problems with the community at jonathan law but i know if we just took the time to work together we could make peace once we accomplish this small goal and change the door way fiasco then we can move on to larger more important goals while we are learning to take note of our surroundings it is wise to remember to stop and smell the roses visit the advocate online www.jlawadvocate.wordpress.com

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page 14 columns november 2011 8bit greatnes `ghosts makes gamers cry cody roy editor-in-chief 8-bit greatnes is a monthly column that reviews some of the greatest 8-bit games each month it will give readers an inside look at just what made each game so memorable and fun in today s world of gaming difficulty can be selected and there are checkpoints and save files for when an untimely rocket flies your way however as any old school gamer can attest to games weren t always this easy capcom s ghosts n goblins for the nintendo entertainment system nes is quite possibly the most difficult game in existence ghosts n goblins starts off generically you play as knight-in-shining-armor sir arthur whose girlfriend was stolen by satan during a romantic picnic in a graveyard unfortunately this cut scene is the easiest part of the game and after the forty-second time of watching it players will want to find a new girlfriend once gameplay begins the player is given two items contact being made with an enemy even though there is visible distance between sir arthur and the demons the second reason is much more deliberate on capcom s part they decided enemy placement was just as important as making players fight their way through literal hordes of enemies in addition to applying the same strategies other developers used by placing enemies in such ways that it forces the player to take his time throughout the game capcom made all the enemies respawn in other words as a player attempts to avoid the ghosts flying at him the zombies he just killed are back the only way to truly defeat an enemy was to move past them which is no easy task ghosts n goblins is an incredibly hard game and should only be attempted by the few gamers with unlimited patience despite its difficulty however many gamers who are used to the catered ease many new games employ will appreciate the challenge rating 3.5 out of 5 stars photo courtesy of ign.com a dagger and a suit of armor while different weapons ranging from a lance to magical fire can be found by defeating the literally never ending horde of monsters the suit of armor is supposed to hold the player over for seven levels of increasingly difficult jumps and enemies as if this was not frustrating enough if by some miracle a player can beat all seven levels and their respective bosses he will be greeted by an all too familiar message stating in essence that your princess is in another castle forcing you to play through the game again this time on a harder difficulty there are two factors that contribute to the games nigh impossible difficulty the first is due to the fact that the platforming engine they based the game around was choppy at best and often times players will die for no real reason other than the jump button not being held down long enough or this month s artwork by tori vergara the advocate s monthy focus on art section law draws

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november 2011 columns page 15 undercover radio pumping up the people alexis christy news editor it s not another song about a school shooting or another underground band singing about teenage tears and broken hearts don t jump the gun faster than my bullet foster the people ftp is not that at all despite the references to columbine of course in their biggest hit single pumped up kicks foster the people is a three piece indie pop band originally from cleveland ohio stepping out of the music scene of los angeles california we formed in october 2009 lead singer mark foster told cbs minnesota i was friends with cubbie fink [bass and mark pontius [guitar for a few years before that we really wanted to build a band around friendships the band did begin two years ago but it wasn t until the release of their first album torches this past may that their popularity lit on fire as of last month ftp were nominated for an american music award and made televised appearances on the late show with david letterman and saturday night live with their performances at the lollapalooza and coachella festival ftp feels before i put any pen to paper i ll think about what i want to write about or what the music is making me feel foster the people lead singer mark foster foster the future as they ride the do good bus through communities in which they plan to partner with local charities it was a perfect complement to our tour because we were able to do something different every day that matched the needs of the city we were in foster said it was a great way to show people how to volunteer and we hope the experience inspires them to continue giving back so get out and do your part buy a ticket and `foster the people with mark and the guys on their return to the states and if you haven t yet swiped your own copy of torches from the shelves don t wait any longer better run better run do it for the people from left to right cubbie fink mark foster mark pontius photo courtesy idolator.com the experience thus far has been just wild so what are these guys all about what s with all the hype you mean you haven t heard them yet well alright they re not for everyone but they re perfect for a fun friday night out with friends or a wake-up workout early on a monday morning yes a monday just give a listen to the upbeat houdini seven tracks into torches it s bound to get your heartbeat going critics compare ftp to bands like passion pit mgmt and vampire weekend foster himself deems that `fair enough but these three have something untouchably special they have depth before i put any pen to paper i ll think about what i want to write about or what the music is making me feel said foster a lot of the time the music will put me in a place or put me in a scenario or put me in a character who knew such greatness could come from a synth and three simple instruments ftp s creative democracy of musicianship proves it possible if that doesn t blow your mind then feast your eyes overseas these guys have gone viral internet and international greeting fans in the united kingdom and touring in holland france ireland and japan this trio is bound to be a worldwide sensation and they aren t stopping there this fall the band is on tour with a project they call what s happening 5 apps to download now bryan creevy entertainment editor what s happening is a new monthly column that will be reviewing the hottest most popular and newest apps that are out there for the ipod touch iphone and ipad each month it will have five different apps that have the highest ratings or have just recently come out cut the rope cut the rope is a really creative strategy game with a new kind of objective you have received a very strange creature in a box with one instruction feed with candy each level you must cut ropes and pop bubbles that hold the candy to get it into the mouth of your creature watch out for electricity and spikes and make sure your exotic pet gets fed this is just another one of those games to keep you solving its puzzles for hours just make sure you remember to feed the weird alien creature fruit ninja puss in boots as a follow-up of last month s fruit ninja i give you halfbrick s newest fruit slashing hero puss in boots halfbrick came out with this new game 10/19/11 with new modes new fruit and more fun-fruit-filled action the object of this game is the same as the original except with new features like the all new bandito mode bandito mode comes with stages of fruit with precision challenges all out fruit slicing obstacles on the screen and includes the new fruit the tomato also there is the desperado mode which is just a remastered version of the original fruit ninja game except with new waves and new methods of slicing halfbrick really pulled out all the stops with this app pray for mercy because it s puss in boots fruit ninja style modern combat 3 fallen nation for those cod and battlefield players out there have you ever wanted to play on the go well gameloft has now solved your problem released on 10/26 modern combat 3 fallen nation is a great mobile device version of those on xbox and ps3 the game offers a 13 mission campaign that takes you all over the world from here in the u.s all the way over to pakistan the graphics are excellent for an ipad iphone game and there is little lag to slow down the game modern combat 3 also offers a multiplayer that supports up to a 12 player 6v6 game to keep the excitement going online with modern combat 3 you ll never want to stop playing first-person shooters this game truly demonstrates modern combat my town 2 if you ve ever been a hardcore farmville yoville cityville or any other ville game gamer my town 2 was made especially for you released 10/26 by booyah inc my town 2 allows you to raise a place from a small town into a thriving city by running many businesses as you obtain more money in the game you can upgrade businesses to improve their payoff or buy more buildings to make the town bigger become friends with all of your friends in the game to be able to visit and help their town thrive as well my town 2 is a great pastime it feels great to build a city of your own and see it prosper even if it s only virtual in my town business is really booming ellie help me out please this mystery horror game puts you right into the middle of a horror movie ellie is trapped in a room and it s up to you to lead her through this mysterious place to find her way out the mysteries in this game will keep you on the edge of whatever the heck you re sitting on the entire time you play this the creepy feeling you get while playing this is exactly what you feel in horror films when you know right around the corner the man with the giant ax is waiting to get you you ll be begging for the ending of the game those who like horrors and mysteries should definitely get this free app it ll be worth the two seconds it takes to click the download button while playing this game you may need help to get out of your room.

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