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The Chieftain Vol. 29 Issue 2
December 2017
Sewanhaka High School
500 Tulip Avenue
Floral Park, NY 11001
THE CHIEF SOURCE OF NEWS
BY SEHER SALEEM
In is
Issue:
Hoka Hay!
“The Pep Rally was an
extremely well-organized and fun
event. I was very proud of how
supportive the students were of the
teams and clubs that were intro-
duced or performed. I think that
this year, the kids were much active
in it this year or they just enjoyed
it more, even though it was exces-
sively hot,” said Principal, Dr. Sali-
nas, commenting on his second Pep
Rally. The students and faculty of
Sewanhaka were very excited for
this year’s pep rally. Purple, White,
Black, and Gold were colors that
appeared all over the building,
along with banners representing
the various fall sports and perform-
ing groups and it is always a time
for student and faculty to show
their school spirit and our love for
Sewanhaka. Seventh graders and
other new students found the Pep
Rally to be a very thrilling event. “I
was really excited,” seventh grader
Aliza Anam says. However, it was
also very emotional for our seniors
as it is their last Pep Rally as a
student at Sewanhaka.
All our performing groups
worked together to please the
crowd of students and faculty.
Starting off with The Star-Span-
gled Banner sang powerfully by
Jessica Staiano, the Rockettes,
Color Guard, and Marching Band
performed, under the direction of
Mr. Doherty and Ms. Fetta. Fresh-
man Chelcy Smith comments on
her rst performance of the school,
“Preparation for the Pep Rally was
long and hard, but the result was
worth it.”
Pep Rally is a time for the
entire school to display school
spirit and unity. All our students
and faculty worked hard, whether
they’re a member of their Class
Board, an athlete, a coach, or part
of a performing group. It was a
huge success in which their hard
work paid off and the event ended
up being a blast for everyone!
HoCo 2K17
BY DUA AHMED AND
SEHER SALEEM
We had an amazing turnout
this year at Homecoming. The Se-
wanhaka community was joined by
many of our students and faculty
showcasing their school spirit. We
were also joined by the families
of our students and staff, cheer-
ing them along from the sidelines.
This year’s parade was led by the
Marching Band and by members
of the American Legion Elmont
Post 1033 who served as this
year’s Color Guard. The Home-
coming Court, including King
Cesar Coronel and Queen Chris-
tina Chodkowski, were waving to
members of the community dur-
ing the entire parade, along with
Central Administration members,
Sewanhaka building leaders and
Board of Education trustees. Floats
and banners were presented beauti-
fully showcasing the creativity of
the Sewanhaka students. “It was
an exciting day and I am so proud
of all the hard working members
that are part of the Class Board of
2018,”says Advisor Mrs. Moffet.
Using their amazing creativity and
artistic skills, Class of 2018 won
“Best Float” with their Sponge-
Bob theme. In a surprising turn of
events, despite this Homecoming
being their rst year, the Class of
2023 won “Best Banner”! The
Rockettes also took victory in
winning “Best Performance Group
Banner”.
After the parade, the Varsi-
ty Football team did not disappoint
us. Sewanhaka beat Great Neck
28-0! This was an outstanding vic-
tory and hopefully there are many
more to come in the coming years.
Dr. Salinas was very proud
of not just the team, but also the
supporting community members
and the kids who participated in the
march. “It was a very fun event. I
know that our advisors, students,
and administrators put a lot of hard
work in it to make it successful.
We’re really proud of the students
and coaches. The victories are nice,
but I’m much more proud of the
coaching staff, students and clubs
who worked hard to represent the
school outside, as well as their
friends and teams.”
Dr. Salinas’
First Year
PG. 3
Senior Banquet
PG. 8
Dwyane Wade
PG. 12
DECEMBER 2017 2
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Daniel Deslippe
Diego B. Garcia
Salaar Khan
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Noah Ahmed
Ariba Hameed
Geraldine Osorio
STAFF
Dua Ahmed
Maikel Angeles
Olusayo Atanda-Ogunleye
Nevin Balgobin
Alexandria Beckford
Shanaia Davis
Fatima Farooz
Nabeeha Faruque
Emily Geyer
Eliana Hernandez
Melina Hernandez
Naseem Isha
Mehvish Khan
Sameer Khan
Fiona Kurian
Khadiza Lamia
Jason Menjivar
Hazel Perez
Aris Pierre-Louis
Nina Raveendran
Adam Rodriguez
Seher Saleem
Kayla Sayers
Brianna Sewsundar
Ameilia Solan
Nia Stewart
Yasmin A. Teekasingh
Karina Thomas
Arianna Vandezande
PHOTOS
Ashley Dann
ADVISOR
Mr. Alno
SEWANHAKA HIGH SCHOOL
500 Tulip Avenue
Floral Park, NY 11001
School News
Rise and Grind
TOUCHDOWN! Congratu-
lations to the JV football team on
their incredible season. This year
the boys managed to almost be-
come the rst JV team to be unde-
feated in Sewanhaka history. With
only 1 loss, the boys managed to
get 7 tremendous wins. This was
due to the boys’ hard work and
the dedication that they put into
the team in order to become so
successful. The boys started their
season back in May in order to
prepare themselves for the long
season to come. During the sum-
mer, the boys hit the weight room
three times a week, from four to
six as well as going out on the eld
to practice. Joining the team for
the boys, meant putting football as
their top priority and being focused
so that they could achieve their
goals. Along with the returning
10th grade players, the 9th graders
made great new additions to the
football team which helped them to
succeed. Their coach gave moti-
vational advice like talking about
changing the culture, to help them
persevere.
When asked about the sea-
son, 10th grade Captain Roosevel-
ton Charles said, “I know that we
lost our last game, and that we
could’ve done better. But this was
the best team that I’ve ever played
on. But we can’t take all the credit,
some of it goes out to the cheerl
BY AMEILIA SOLAN AND
FIONA KURIAN l
eaders. If it wasn’t for them we
couldn’t have kept ghting and do-
ing what we do best.” 10th grade
player Oumar Cisse said, “We’ve
learned from our mistakes, and
next year we’ll pick up right where
we left off and get better.”
Varsity Head coach, Kasi-
matis, stated “We all know each
other really well, so they know
what to expect from me and I know
what to expect from them.”
We caught up with the
principal, Dr. Salinas himself and
he responded, “ I feel incredible. I
think it’s probably their best ever,
and we’re so proud of how they
worked day in and day out. Most
importantly, I think they were
successful on how they always
faced diversity, but in the end they
overcame that. So I think this is the
best season that we ever had and
it’s a lot for us for a school, and it’s
something that we can build on.”
So with that said, we know
that the football team will have a
lot in stored for us with an even
better victorious season to come
next year.
Hail to the King
BY KARINA THOMAS
Whether you’re new in
school or not, it’s pretty hard to
let the new face of Sewanhaka,
running the halls and classrooms,
go unrecognized. Who is that new
face you might ask? Well, as of last
year, it’s none other than our new
principal Dr. Salinas.
Dr. Salinas began his career
as a Social Studies teacher, and he
diligently worked his way up to
more administrative positions.
Now he is here and has found an
opportunity at Sewanhaka as our
principal.
His rst year here at Se-
wanhaka brought not only sparked
changes within himself, but within
our school as well. When asked
how he expected his transition into
Sewanhaka to play out, he phrased
the experience amazingly, “What I
expected was a school whereby on
the whole we can improve academ-
ics, what I didn’t expect was how
welcoming, kind, and caring the
kids were. I feel as though this has
been the best experience for me,
and the work here is enjoyable as
well. The good thing always is that
we have so much here going on
from one day to the next.”
Apart from his positivity,
Dr. Salinas also mentioned what
he’d believe some of the challeng-
es in improving Sewanhaka would
be. In hope of making Sewanhaka
one of the best in the state and
country, Salinas understood that to
get to that goal he had to try and
make, all the separate components
of the school work together as one
unied system. He also shared his
views on academics, “I want to see
all kids succeed academically and
challenge themselves to perform
well in the classroom and beyond.
I want these kids to have a strong
base depending on their personal-
ity, strengths and weaknesses.”
Jemimah Paul in 9th grade, just
one of many students Dr. Salinas
got to know within his rst year,
mentioned, “Dr. Salinas encour-
ages every student to do their best
in anything and everything they
participate in, it’s really motivat-
ing.”
Another thing Dr. Salinas
challenged himself to was unify-
ing Sewanhaka through build-
ing a stronger community and
creating more school spirit. Mr.
Nieves of the World Language
department also added, “It is nice
to have someone bring positive
spirit to SHS for the rst time in
a longtime.” Salinas introduced
the weekly Spirit Day contest on
Friday’s to bring the “pep” back
into Sewanhaka. He also has been
focusing on the students and all
their accomplishments by recog-
nizing them weekly through Prin-
cipal awards. When asked how he
remembered all 1,602 of us, he
mentioned “…it’s not the name I
remember it’s the personality and
strengths behind that student I
remember.”
DECEMBER 2017 3
School News
Pride & Prose
BY FATIMA FAROOZ
Sewanhaka’s rst National
English Honor Society chapter,
Pride and Prose, kicked off the
year with a bake sale, the rst of
many activities they will engage in.
Membership requires 9th,
10th, 11th, and 12th grades to have
a 90+ average marking periods 1-3
in addition to participating in clubs
Fockey
BY GERALDINE OSORIO
Field hockey is a sport
originating in the countries of
England, Scotland, the Netherlands
and France. Sewanhaka’s adaption
of the game came to be in the later
part of the 18th century, as it was
introduced to the US not so long
ago in 1901. The Sewanhaka pro-
gram has grow in popularity since
its start, but more noticeably since
the last time the team made play-
offs in 2014-15, helping develop
the amazing intra-district family
amongst the girls on the team.
Jessica Staiano, a lead
shooter on the team believes that
the friendships she has made in
her 4 years were, “amazing and
endearing.” Apart from just the
bonds, the team shares pride in
starting the Croc rubber clog trend
back up, one which had primarily
died out around 2008. Christina
Chodkowski, an upper mideld
players, gave her take on the croc
craze- “All crocs aside, this year
the team celebrated its many victo-
ries surmounting to a record of 8-5
putting them into the 2017 playoffs
(#yoffsszn) and getting a chance
to play against Massapequa High
School, a long time rival.
The All county award win-
ner for this year’s season, Kayla
Jefferson, is ecstatic and noted,
“the sport is getting popular.”
When asked why she
thought the growth of the program
was benecial she said, “because
we never got any recognition or
support, and now, showing every-
one that we can make playoffs like
we did this year, we nally got
the recognition we deserved.” The
team made up of over 12 seniors
had a sentimental end to the sea-
son, most of the team has played
together since the seventh grade
and in many huddles the head
coach Ms. Kelly never forgot to
remind the girls of what being a
Knindahawk really meant- playing
their hearts out on the eld.
such as The Drama, The Musi-
cal, Poets and Writers, Chieftain,
Totem, book clubs, and/ or three
contest submissions. National
English Honor Society members
anticipate a great year lled with
benevolent associations and activi-
ties topped off with and induction
of new members in May!
Right to Potty
BY KAYLA SAYERS AND
BRIANNA SEWSUNDAR
Gender neutral is dened
as; relating to a person of neutral
gender, neither male nor female.
In other terms, gender neutrality
describes the idea that policies,
language, and other social institu-
tions should avoid distinguishing
roles according to people’s sex or
gender.
In today’s society, gender
neutral bathrooms are becom-
ing popular. They are all over the
world, from schools to airports.
Most places have only bathrooms
for men, women and the disabled.
But what happens if you do not
classify yourself as a male, female
or if you are transgender? A gender
neutral bathroom is a unisex public
toilet that people of any gender or
gender identity are permitted to
use. People who are uncomfortable
in men’s or women’s rooms for
many reasons would use a gender
neutral bathroom. If a student is
uncomfortable going to the bath-
room that matches their sex, most
of the time they have to go to the
nurse’s ofce for the bathroom.
When asked about gender neutral
bathrooms, Mrs. Levine stated, “I
love gender neutral bathrooms and
my kids have one in school, it’s an
amazing way to make sure every
child feels comfortable.”
A crucial part of having
gender-neutral bathrooms in school
is to make sure that students are
comfortable and bullying is pre-
vented. Some ideas for gender
neutral bathroom signs are: a sign
saying ‘all welcome,’ or other sym-
bols to show that they welcome
members of communities that do
not identify as male or female.
We asked sophomore
Dua Ahmed, “Do you think there
should be more gender neutral
bathrooms in schools?” And she
said “Yes, this can make many
students who either are non gender
conforming, or are just questioning
their gender, much more comfort-
able when going to the bathroom.”
There are also plenty of
celebrities that are raising their
children to ignore gender stereo-
types. Adele lets her son Angelo
fully express himself and lets him
wear a Princess Anna costume to
Disneyland.She supports him no
matter what. Angelina Jolie and
Brad Pitt also support their chil-
dren in nding their gender iden-
tity. Will Smith is very supportive
for his son Jaden Smith who is
going into the fashion workd. He
wears dresses for fun, models
skirts, and rebels against the very
idea that there should be a dif-
ference between clothes for men
versus clothes for women.
DECEMBER 2017 4
National News
Coming Forward
BY DUA AHMED AND
BRIANNA SEWSUNDAR
By now you’ve probably heard of
and are well aware of the numer-
ous accusations towards Hollywood
producer Harvey Weinstein. He has
been openly accused of sexually
harassing powerful women in the
industry and has received reason-
able accusations from 57 stars,
the most notable names being,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie,
Cara Delevingne and Lena Headey.
These alleged crimes were commit-
ted as far back as 1990 and have
resurfaced this year.
He has been a notable gure
in Hollywood since the 1980s and
has produced many big budget
lms. Some of his most famous
lms include Pulp Fiction, Good
Will Hunting, the Scary Movie
lms, all four Spy Kids movies, and
the Halloween franchise. Although
his movies have offorded him a
very successful career, these al-
legations have left Weinstein with
a hefty stain on his once respected
reputation as a big-time Hollywood
Vegas Tragedy
BY ALEXANDRIA
BECKFORD AND MAIKEL
ANGELES
Why did he do it? Was
there an ulterior motive behind
the attack or can we blame neuro-
logical reasons? October 1, 2017
marks the day of the nation’s larg-
est present day shooting massacre.
A peaceful Sunday night quickly
takes a turn for the worst when ter-
rorist Stephen Paddock, 64, opened
re onto a crowd of people at a Las
Vegas country music festival.
Stephen Paddock from
Mesquite, Nevada, was a retired
accountant who opened re from
a hotel room at the Mandalay Bay
Resort and Casino onto a crowd
of unsuspecting victims that were
enjoying themselves at a country
music festival. His actions have
left at least 59 people dead and
have wounded 527 more. Shortly
after, he was found dead in his ho-
tel room with what authorities con-
clude to be a self-inicted gunshot
wound. He was found possessing
rearms that include 50 pounds
of explosives in his car and 1,600
rounds of ammunition as well. A
door near Paddock’s room set off
an alarm which alerted the loca-
tion of Paddock to nearby police.
It was reported that he brought a
plethora of weapons into the hotel
room he was staying in over the
course of a few days. The actual
events of the incident are still be-
ing deciphered by ofcials who are
wondering why this man killed so
many people seeing that he never
had a previous criminal record. The
better question is why was he able
to obtain so many weapons without
question?
His brother gave a state-
ment to a local reporter after
hearing the dreadful news. “We are
completely dumbfounded. We can’t
understand what happened.” Local
authorities have concluded that he
was the only afliated party within
this crime and wasn’t linked to in-
ternational terrorists that may have
been attempting an attack. Follow-
ing the Las Vegas shooting, Massa-
chusetts has created a ban on bump
stocks which have the capacity to
turn a semi-automatic weapon into
a fully automatic weapon which is
incredibly dangerous for obvious
reasons.
The Chieftain caught up
with our fellow peers right here
at Sewanhaka to hear what our
students had to say regarding this
incident, however a few asked to
quote anonymously for the sake of
privacy. High school junior Dan-
iella Omotoso commented, “I think
that the Las Vegas shooting was
a very tragic incident in America
because a lot of families lost their
loved ones because of the shoot-
ing.” Another comment received
by a member of our student body
was, “We can stop it by putting
restrictions on guns. Personally,
it made me feel especially upset
because I’ve been to multiple con-
certs and now I’m almost afraid to
go to them now because of what’s
been happening.”
While devastating, the pos-
ing question is, when does it stop?
How many more innocent people
must lose their lives for someone
to act?
This controversial topic has
sparked discussion throughout the
media and people have argued that
little has been done to stop this re-
current pattern. When asked about
her stance on gun control regula-
tions, another student responded,
“They are very necessary due to
the irresponsibility of our nation.
To resolve this situation, it is our
duty as a nation to create an envi-
ronment that is safe and promotes
happiness all-around. As a country,
we can and we should do better.
Our aim in the near future should
be to limit occurrences such as this
by strengthening our approach to
how weapons are administered to
the public.”
producer.
Freshman Isabel Tolentino
says, “He’s produced some great
movies like Kill Bill and Shake-
speare in Love, but [if he is guilty]
he’s a horrible person and a rapist
who need to be put away.”
Although his movies have
given him a very successful career,
these allegations have left Wein-
stein with a hefty stain on his once
respected reputation as a big-time
Hollywood producer.
The producer has been ac-
cused of committing multiple acts
of sexual harassment by multiple
women; some extreme claims
that have been made include him
requesting intercourse in exchange
for a role in a movie and forcibly
performing oral sex on an actress.
Many women also accuse
him of inviting them into his room
under false pretenses, answer-
ing the door while not adequately
dressed, if dressed at all, and then
having him request to receive or
give massages. A few accusers also
claim that he exposed himself inap-
propriately and pleasured himself
while they were forced to watch
or unable to leave. Hearing these
accusations, sophomore Brianna
Sewsundar has said, “he is a very
dirty man, and should be put away
for a long time.”
In response to these ac-
cusations Weinstein has defended
himself by saying that no women
has retaliated against his sexual
advances and that he is currently
taking time to focus on his family
and getting counseling to rebuild
his life.
He has also tried to defend
himself by saying, “I came to age
in the 60s and 70s when all the
rules about behavior and work-
places were different. That was
culture then. I have since learned
it’s not an excuse in the ofce-or
out it to anyone.” Although he
has apologized, sophomore Sul-
tan Taj does not think he should
be forgiven, “It’s 57 women, 57,
after that amount I don’t think so.”
Weinstein is currently facing some
consequences due to what he has
already done.
These powerful allega-
tions have caused a great deal of
controversy in his career. So far
he has been ofcially voted out
the Academy of Motion Picture
Producers which requires at least a
two-third majority. The Academy
has released a statement regarding
his removal saying, “We do so not
simply to separate ourselves from
someone who does not merit the
respect of his colleagues but also
to send a message that the era of
willful ignorance and shameful
complicity in sexually predatory
behavior and workplace harass-
ment in our industry is over.” The
statement sends a powerful mes-
sage to other sexual abusers in the
industry. These allegations have
also caused him to be red from
the Weinstein Company, which
is a movie and television studio
that he helped create. Tara Gaynor
believes that although, “It’s a good
thing that he is being punished for
what he has done, we must also
prevent something like this from
happening again by making it
easier for victims of abuse to come
out and tell their stories.”
DECEMBER 2017 5
National News
Trump: The Family Man
BY NIA STEWART
Quite recently, false re-
marks made by the leader of our
free nation, President Trump,
inspired national backlash. This is
not the rst time President Trump
has released alledged false state-
ments regarding our nation or for-
eign affairs, and many suspect that
it won’t be his last. On October 16,
2017, the President accused previ-
ous presidents of, “insufcient out-
reach” to the families of our fallen
military service members.
Approximately a month
ago, on October 3rd, an army Spe-
cial Forces unit was ambushed by
Islamic extremist in Niger, which
resulted in four fatalities. Accord-
ing to USA Today, the soldiers
“were serving in Niger as part of
an operation to train local forces
to combat the Boko Haram terror
group, which has ties to the Is-
lamic State and al-Qaeda.” In the
President’s rst public response to
this tragic incident he was quoted
saying, “if you look at President
Obama, and other presidents, most
of them didn’t make calls, a lot of
them didn’t make calls, I like to
call when it’s appropriate, when
I think I am able to do it.” The
President’s controversial comments
quickly garnered public attention,
due to their false nature. Many
doubted the validity of his state-
ments. After this statement was
released, a former aide of President
Obama released a statement de-
fending the former President and
explicitly calling out the fallacy of
President Trump’s statement. To
this, the President responded with
“President Obama I think prob-
ably did sometimes, and maybe
sometimes he didn’t. I don’t
know. That’s what I was told, other
presidents did not call. They’d
write letters. And some presidents
didn’t do anything.” How do
we know that President Trump’s
statements are false? It is common
public knowledge that previous
presidents have, in fact, taken the
time to acknowledge the grave
sacrices of the fallen service
members, and have also paid their
respects to the families of the fallen
ofcers. Former presidents Obama
and Bush both met with, and spoke
to families of the fallen. In fact, ac-
cording to sources, in 2011 Obama
“reversed a long-standing policy
and began sending letters of condo-
lence to families of service mem-
bers who committed suicide while
deployed to a combat zone.” This
directly contradicts the statements
of President Trump.
Many also questioned why
the president stated that previous
presidents failed to contact and
grant condolences to the families
of the fallen, when he himself
didn’t take the time to contact
them as yet at the time. Sopho-
more, Sumaiyah Khan, commented
“What was the purpose of exploit-
ing the fact that previous presidents
failed to contact the families of
the fallen? Was it to make himself
appear better? Rather than attempt-
ing to put himself on a pedestal,
the President should make an effort
to handle domestic affairs more
maturely.” When asked what he
thought about Trump’s statements,
Mr. Reid, one of our Sewanhaka
teachers stated, “Sometimes our
president neglects to do his re-
search, and falls victim to the
instant gratication of answering
questions from the media quickly.”
No one can really be what were
the President’s intentions when he
made those false statements. It just
not...Presidential
Drowning in Maria
BY NEVIN BALGOBIN
Nature is a powerful force
that we as humans will eternally
lack control of. In September
of 2017, Tropical Storm Maria
formed off the northern coast of
South America and began to move
towards islands in the Caribbean.
It then evolved into a category ve
hurricane, targeting the island of
Puerto Rico which had been im-
pacted by Hurricane Irma just two
weeks before. It rst touched down
in Dominica and then spread to
other islands including the Domini-
can Republic, Haiti, Guadeloupe,
the U.S Virgin Islands, and most
notably, Puerto Rico.
The cycle of the storm in
its entirety lasted fourteen days,
and during that period Maria was
estimated to have caused $103 bil-
lion dollars (USD) in damage. At
its peak in Puerto Rico, Maria had
wind speeds of 160 mph and not
only demolished the power grid but
sparked a multitude of problems
with the water system on top of the
dozens of other issues that arise
when such a powerful storm hits.
Over 80% of the islands population
remained without power for almost
a month and the the lack of avail-
ability of resources was largely
fueled by not just a lack of com-
munication but transport. Hospitals
became chaotic without power and
supplies and the public health crisis
that occurred was fueled by the
absence of safe water.
The water crisis was also
a large problem for the organiza-
tions and governments that ar-
rived to help, with the number of
people to help in the millions and
the limited transportation they
encountered, backlash against the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) caused major ten-
sions for the U.S government with
citizens believing that not enough
was being done to help the over
three million people that are in fact
American. Despite this setback,
the relief efforts taken on by fellow
Americans showcased true coop-
eration and comradery. Some even
consider a majority of the impacts
to be positive and feel that the
improvements to the country’s re-
placement grid will have a greater
impact in the long term.
The true signicance of
the disaster however doesn’t lie in
the statistics, but rather in its full
effect on the livelihoods of the
people directly affected. Despite
our understanding of the urgency
of the situation, a percentage of the
population in Puerto Rico encoun-
tered the same conditions for up to
a month with not much progress. It
was said that over a week and two
weeks after the hurricane, it felt as
if the storm could have hit yester-
day. The true outreach of the storm
was massive. Those who were
already combating a life of poverty
were struggling more than ever.
The storm further teaches us that
no matter what technological im-
provements we make, the effects of
natural disasters still endanger the
lives of many. For years to come,
true disasters, especially those with
similar magnitudes to Hurricane
Maria, will have no true, challeng-
ing man-made barriers to face.
When asked about how she felt
about the destruction of Hurricane
Maria, junior Mehgan Geyer said
“The lasting impacts of Maria were
absolutely terrible and I hope that
in the future cooperation is en-
hanced. There are too many lives at
stake for us to not have a plan for
the future.”
DECEMBER 2017 6
National News
Trump v. NFL
BY OLUFISAYO ATANDA-
OGUNLEYE
Recent cases of the deaths
of African Americans associated
with law enforcement, such as
that of Eric Garner who died ght
with police while selling untaxed
cigarettes, have been increasingly
covered by the media who ques-
tions whether they are race related.
Some believe that despite
the publicity, there has been no
solution to the problem; this has
led to one popular method of pro-
test among NFL players: “taking a
knee.” This refers to the movement
of NFL players who have decided
to kneel at the beginning of games
during the playing of the Star-
Spangled Banner in protest of the
racial tensions within the country.
This practice dates back to
2016 when Colin Kaepernick, for-
mer member of the San Francisco
49ers, remained seated and later
began to kneel while the anthem
was played before games. When
asked why he did this he respond-
ed, “I am not going to stand up to
show pride in a ag for a country
that oppresses black people and
people of color. To me, this is big-
ger than football and it would be
selsh on my part to look the other
way. There are bodies in the street
and people getting paid leave and
getting away with murder.” This
response has spurred controversy.
One side argues that refusing to
stand for the anthem disrespects
the soldiers who have served the
country. The other side argues
that it is a simple act of protesting
through civil disobedience, a tactic
Martin Luther King once used, and
that players have the right to use
their freedom of speech in this ac-
tion.
President Donald Trump
has shared his perspective on Twit-
ter which he often uses to publicize
his views on political issues. He
has made several tweets on the
issue suggesting that the NFL take
action and ban players from kneel-
ing, but the NFL refuses to dictate
how their players should behave.
He tweeted, “If NFL fans refuse to
go to games until players stop dis-
respecting our Flag & Country, you
will see change take place fast.”
Given these outside perspectives,
we asked SHS whatthey thought.
Some students support the
movement like senior Rocio Torres
who said, “I think what they are
doing is amazing because they are
using their social standing to get
a message across…I don’t think
they’re disrespecting the ag.” Se-
nior Aixa Herrera also supports it
and said, “I agree with the football
players that take a knee …they’re
standing up for what they believe
in and with their position of fame,
they can take the rst step of ght-
ing against racism.”
Regardless of stance, most
people can agree that the country
stands divided on this issue. Asked
about his thoughts on this issue,
Mr. Chen said, “He has touched on
a very divisive topic in this re-
gard.”
AMAZON- KIDS
BY MELINA HERNANDEZ
In recent years,
buying products has never been
easier. This is, of course, a direct
product of increased accessibil-
ity over the internet, which in turn
Trump’s (left) disapproval of kneeling during the National Anthem was
sparked by football player Colin Kaepernick (right)
makes online shopping a walk
in the park. Despite the fact that
parental permission is required,
in-app purchases make it very easy
for children to buy items without
permission from their guardian. In
recent months and years, more than
$70 million has been refunded to
parents because of their children’s
purchases.
The FTC (Federal Trade
Commission) had recently led a
lawsuit against Amazon involving
in-app purchases by children, but
they had dropped it. The FTC’s
original complaint was that Ama-
zon was legally responsible for
millions of dollars charged to cus-
tomers whose children purchased
stuff without permission. Further-
more, children were able to spend
an unlimited amount of money for
games and other items without a
guardian’s permission. But even
before the whole Amazon asco
happened, Google and Apple had
been faced with similar charges.
A reason for the in-app purchases
was that there was issue in the
system. Not only that, but the
game developers had not explic-
itly shown whether the game was
free or not which, of course, led to
kids purchasing the app without
realizing that they may actually be
purchasing it. This led to Amazon
launching the Amazon App Store
where all purchases were password
protected. In 2013, Amazon set a
time limit where you were not al-
lowed to purchase anything if you
if fteen minutes passed by and
you had took no action.
But Amazon was not out of
the woods yet. Parents were upset
that they weren’t getting refunds
for purchases they didn’t make.
So, in order to satisfy the demands
of outraged parents, the FTC and
Amazon had agreed on giving re-
funds to the guardians. When asked
about this topic, Mr.Sakowich said
“ Children shouldn’t be purchas-
ing because they are using their
parent’s money and simply have
no concept of money.” Recently,
however, Amazon has created
Amazon Allowance, a program that
allows teenagers to have their own
Amazon accounts, and in turn lets
parents give their children an elec-
tronic allowance by adding funds
to their children’s accounts periodi-
cally.
DECEMBER 2017 7
International News
Chiapas Earthquake
BY NABEEHA FARUQUE,
FIONA KURIAN, AND
KHADIZA LAMIA
Tragedy has struck our
neighboring country Mexico. In
the Gulf of Tehuantepec, an earth-
quake with the magnitude of 8.2
hit the cities of southern Mexico
on September 7th, 2017. It left
at least 149 people dead alone in
Mexico City and many more in
bordering cities were affected.
In total, 50 million people
were affected all the way from
Mexico City to Guatemala. Many
Mexican citizens were startled by
the sounds of terrorizing screams
and crumbling ceilings in the
middle of the night. The quake
left the capital in ruins. As the
windows were shattering and the
buildings were collapsing, thou-
sands of people ran through the
streets which were plagued with
smoke and debris. The quake co-
incidentally occurred on the 32nd
anniversary of another Mexican
earthquake that hit in 1985 which
killed around 10,000 people. This
is a devastating time for Mexico.
The Chiapas earthquake
quickly became the earthquake
with the highest recorded magni-
tude taking many lives in Mexico
and caused extensive damage in
Mexico City. The earthquake was
caused by the crumbling from the
downward bending of the sinking
Cocos Plate rather than directly
between plates. About 1.85 mil-
lion people lost electricity and 26%
still have yet to regain electric-
ity. Many buildings and hospitals
deteriorated in seconds killing
over 200 people. The earthquake
was shaking from 30 miles deep
underground for 20 seconds. Those
20 seconds did so much damage to
their homes and will take citizens
years to recover.
Chiapas has left Mexico in devas-
tation for the century with repairs
estimated to take decades and the
costs of those repairs estimated to
be hundreds of millions of pesos.
Mexico spent millions of pesos on
repairing homes, buildings, and
schools. The government aided
the victims of Chiapas by making
direct electronic transfers which
helped them repair homes. Many
teams from the Mexican Red
Cross spent hours and days dig-
ging through rubble searching for
survivors and providing support to
civilians. They helped evacuate the
people who made it to safety and
provided health aid to those who
required it. There were over 5,000
wounded and over 2,000 Red Cross
volunteers provided assistance. The
destruction the earthquake caused
and the money spent on repair-
ing everything also had a negative
impact the economy. Engineers are
focusing to take new safety mea-
sures in Mexico by reinforcing the
building structure. They are taking
repercussions to make sure they
are ready to face an earthquake if it
ever comes again.
The tragedies of this earth-
quake will haunt them as they walk
through their neighborhood look-
ing at their lost homes. Civilians
will need time to heal, recover and
rehabilitate. A few students from
Sewanhaka were affected by the
earthquake in Mexico. We caught
up with 10th grader Jamiee Molina
who stated, “Well, I think it’s very
alarming especially having fam-
ily there and having experienced
the atmosphere of Mexico. It’s a
beautiful scene and it’s just scary
imagining so much damage hap-
pened and so close to my relatives.
The rst thing you think of is pick-
ing up your phone and calling to
see if they are okay.”
#Women2Drive
BY NINA RAVEENDRAN
For some, gender equality
is blatantly within reach while for
others, it has yet to be thought of.
The women of Saudi Arabia, for
instance, live under a regime in
which they do not possess as many
rights as a man does. Legal aspects
that are set in place to systemati-
cally oppress these women include
things such as male guardianship.
Male guardianship is when a wom-
an must have a male representing
her, whether it be her father, uncle,
brother, husband, son, etc., she
would need their permission to exit
the country, get married, or leave
prison. In recent efforts, however,
Saudi Arabia has begun making
strides towards gender equality by
allowing women to drive.
Activists have been cam-
paigning for years in order for
women to drive and at last, King
Salman of Saudi Arabia had is-
sued a royal decree which allows
women to nally be able to drive.
Prince Khaled who is Saudi Ara-
bia’s US Ambassador assures that
women will not need to have male
permission in order to take driving
lessons as they are able to drive
anywhere they please. The royal
order will be implemented by the
24th of June 2018. News of this
was met by a massive amount of
positivity as hashtags quoting “I
am my own guardian” and “Saudi
Women Can Drive” became top
trends of interest across all plat-
forms of social media. When asked
for his opinion on the subject,
senior Alexandros Pavlou states,
“Well, allow me to say that I’m all
for it and that although the vic-
tory is small, it’s a step in the right
direction and will lead into women
gaining more rights” and many
others agree with Pavlou in the
sense there is still much to be done.
Saudi women now being
able to drive is major step towards
a more open society where gender
equality can exist, but there are still
many things in Saudi Arabia that
still require changes for women to
be seen as equals. Other inequali-
ties that still exist include a spe-
cic dress code, having limited
interaction with men who are not
of familial relation, being unable
to swim in public pools, compete
freely in sports, and try on clothes
while shopping. Nonetheless, these
changes will take time and activ-
ists will continue to ght for these
rights as the journey to gender
equality has begun.
DECEMBER 2017 8
Senior
Super Banquet
BY HAZEL PEREZ
On November 15th, the
Class of 2018 attended the annual
senior banquet at Westbury Manor.
As they entered, each student was
warmly welcomed by the West-
bury Manor’s staff and by the
supervising Sewanhaka faculty.
All of the seniors strutted onto the
dance oor in their best 3-piece
suits and dresses and on there way
to their tables. Seniors gleefully
gathered in the main hall greeting
one another in their lavish outts
and taking pictures with the bonny
Westbury Manor serving as their
background.
The bar served “mocktails”
at the command of the students.
After settling the class down, the
winners of a tightly contested
senior superlatives race were an-
nounced Once it was time for
food, the seniors were bombarded
with extravagantly delicious dishes
Senior Week
BY JASON MENJIVAR
With most seniors stress-
ing over college applications, a
week lled with wacky themes was
necessary for them to relax. Each
day proved to be very joyful for
the students as they got to hang out
friends and teachers to create more
memorable, creative, high school
moments.
Kicking it off with Decades
Day, the seniors dressed up as their
favorite decades. As you walked
through the hallways, it was a
scene of time travel, people dressed
in 40’s and 90’s attire sporadically
popping up.
Up next was the all-time
modern classic, Onesie Day, where
seniors were able to dress comfort-
ably as if we they were at home.
Many seniors even added accesso-
ries to their decked out PJ’s- rock-
ing travel pillows and sleep masks.
Overall, the rst two days proved
to be an unexpected success and
pop-up chance for senior fun.
Day three, was Mix and
Match Day where the class of 2018
came up with the craziest outts.
Their outts combined madness
and exhaustion as most “looks”
were composed of crazy colored
PJ’s.
This year, they added in a
new theme which was Character
Day, where the aim was to embody
a character-ctitious or real. Senior
Kaitlyn Milinic, dressing up as
Elle Woods from Legally Blonde,
said, “it was my favorite day out
of senior week. It was really fun to
see everyone’s personalities show
through the characters that they
chose.” Most seniors would agree
that this day was exciting and
added yet another innovative twist
to senior week.
Unfortunately, the fun
had to eventually end. The last
day, Student-Teacher Day was
dedicated to seniors who wanted to
shadow their favorite high school
teachers. Not only did they have
to teach their classes, but they had
to dress and act like the teachers
too. For instance, Lisa Mazzeo and
Maria Duran-Mr. Roesler’s stu-
dent teachers left a lasting positive
impression on the chemistry stu-
dents. When asked how the class
reacted, Mr. Roesler said, “they
loved working with the student
teachers. The ladies did a great job
getting the basic concepts across
the class.” Senior week gave the
students a week to remember in
their high school career.
like shish kebabs, fried capellini
balls, and chicken francese. Reena
Matthews, an senior who attended
the event, said, “I thought it was
really fun and a place where our
class came together to have fun
as a whole.” Not long after din-
ner was served, the staff brought
out the ice cream bar- a huge hit
amongst both faculty and students.
When the music came on,
everyone gathered on the dance-
oor: some seniors showed off
their dance skills for the crowd of
cheering students. “It was really
fun for us all to get together, I had
a great time,” commented Zaria
McCray.
After the music was turned
down, everyone was led out of
the hall to pick up their senior class
t-shirts, sadly bringing the night to
an end. “I thought it was not only
one of their best efforts, but one of
their best events. Ms.
Moffett and Mrs. Farina should be
commended for their hard work
and organization and the entire
senior class and ofcers are also to
be commended for their amazing
behavior enthusiasm and very posi-
tive energy.
Personally, I had a great
time and anytime you have a class
event that brings kids together in
a positive way, it creates life long
memories and friendships- this was
one of those events,” said Dr. Chris
Salinas.
DECEMBER 2017 9
Features
BY EMILY GEYER AND
NOAH AHMED
“Lights, Camera… and
Sing!” Musician Jessica Staiano is
renowned not only in Sewanhaka,
but has been recognized state and
county wide for her musical talent.
Born July 29th. the 17 years old,
Jessica has accomplished a lot dur-
ing her high school career at Se-
wanhaka, which began during her
attendance at Covert Elementary,
where she had her rst musical and
Jessica Staiano
BY SAMEER KHAN
Mr. Kasimatis is not just a
coach and a Dean at Sewanhaka
High School, but also a mentor
who helps guide his students on to
the right path, on and off the foot-
ball eld. Mr. Kasimatis, or “Kaz”
Covering It all Kaz
as most students like to call him,
rst came to Sewanhaka 12 years
ago. Before Sewanhaka, he worked
as a teacher at Floral Park Memo-
rial High School and as a personal
trainer.
Having grown up in the
area, Kaz feels a sense of pride
working at Sewanhaka. He has
many close friends at school which
makes him look forward to coming
to work everyday.
One thing Kaz loves about
Sewanhaka is the diversity. There’s
a constant inux of new students
from all around the world. He says
that it’s because of the variety of
culture that everyone gets along.
When asked about his favorite
memories at Sewanhaka, Kaz
answered, “the ones that haven’t
happened yet.” He explained that
he looks forward to every new day
and the good experiences it will
bring.
If you’ve ever wondered
why Kaz only coaches football,
it’s important to understand that
football is a year-round job for
him. His work does not end once
the season is over. When he’s not
whipping his players into shape in
the weight room, he’s busy getting
to know them and assisting them
with college admissions. If there’s
one thing that Kaz values, it’s the
bonds that he forms with his stu-
dents. It’s evident that his students
value this connection too as most
of them tend to stay in touch with
him after they graduate.
When asked what he would
do differently if he could go back
in time, Kaz humbly stated that he
wouldn’t change anything at all.
Working as a coach at Sewanhaka
is his dream job and he would not
want it any other way.
Kaz’s passion for his job
coupled with his caring yet come-
dic attitude towards his students
made him more than worthy of the
title of “Teacher Of The Year.” He
stated that winning this award was
an honor because he believes Se-
wanhaka has many other excellent
teachers that are just as deserving
of the award. If you haven’t gotten
to know Kaz yet, try striking up
a conversation when you get the
chance. You’ll quickly see what a
friendly and welcoming person he
is. And don’t worry about him not
being able to get to know him be-
fore he retires because he plans on
working until he is physically un-
able to continue. Kaz loves spend-
ing as much time with his family as
he can, but said jokingly, “ I dont
want to go home...I’m Married.”
theatrical endeavors.
Being a talented and
hardworking actress, singer, and
student, she also serves as a role
model for her brother in seventh
grade, Michael. On top of all of
this she is this year’s Writing Edi-
tor for the Totem.
Being a Leo and being in
the spotlight only feels natural for
Jessica. She has starred in a num-
ber of Sewanhaka musical produc-
tions and portrayed Belle in Beauty
and the Beast, Christine Daae in
Phantom of the Opera, with vari-
ous roles in other productions. Her
rst jump into the theatrical arts
was ninth grade when she obtained
a well deserved role in Sewanha-
ka’s production of The Children of
Eden. Since her rst jump into mu-
sicals, one of her funniest moments
would be when she had a wardrobe
malfunction in front of a crowd but
still Jessia took that experience in
full stride and jokes about it even
to this day!
Despite her preexisting
passion for music, her role in the
musical in ninth grade added a
“whole other level,” to her music.
However, the most pivotal Musical
in Jessica’s blossoming theatrical
career would most likely be The
Beauty and the Beast, which she
described as her favorite musical
thus far, and helped inuence her
decision of pursuing a major in
Musical Theater.
Like many of us, Jessica
admits that her goals have changed
since the beginning of her career at
Sewanhaka with regard to singing
and acting. In the beginning, she
was focused on getting leading
roles and being in the spotlight,
but has shifted her focus toward
improving her craft to achieve her
big dreams, like becoming a per-
former on Broadway. Although she
has proven herself to be one who
works hard to achieve her goals,
Jessica also makes sure that she
does not take on more than she can
handle in order to excel in the tasks
she already has.This is understand-
able, as she already takes part in
so many activities other than just
musicals, such as eld hockey (In
which her team made it to play-
offs!) Singing and acting audition
prep, and the Metropolitan Youth
Orchestra Chamber Choir. This
is not even to mention summer
programs she participates in, like
the Ithaca Musical Theater Prep
program.
When you put this much
work into achieving your dreams,
some relaxation is well deserved,
which Jessica does by listening
to Broadway Cast recordings and
watching Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit.
With an interest in Musi-
cal theater Jessica is applying to a
variety of schools such as; NYU’s
prestigious Steinhardt program to
further her abilities. She leaves
behind a powerful and lasting
Legacy on Sewanhaka’s musicals
for years to come, starting from the
bottom to now handling lead roles
with ease and poise. Next time
you go to enjoy a Broadway show,
you just might hear Jessica singing
from the center of the stage!
DECEMBER 2017 10
Comic Strips
THANKSGIVING...THE FORGOTTEN HOLIDAY BY ARIANNA VANDEZANDE
MALU
BY SHANAIA DAVIS
In the song ‘Luna Llena,’
Malu Trevejo brings a new Latin
and pop beat to 2017. The song
was released only 2 months ago
on September 22 and has already
reached 41 million views. So far,
the song has caused a lot of contro-
versy. The song, which mostly ap-
peals to teens, has sparked up de-
bates over Malu’s wardrobe choice
and style of dancing which is re-
ferred to as “belly dancing.” Malu,
who is now 15-years-old, was only
14 when she recorded the song and
some teenagers believe that she is
too young to dress and act the way
she does while others believe it’s
her choice. They even look up to
her as a role model.
Not only that, but she is
also famous on musically. She has
also been involved in an online
ght with the ‘catch me out-
side’ girl from Dr. Phil, Danielle
Bregoli. Supposedly the two girls
were ghting over one guy, a 17
The Arts
year old named, “NBA Young-
boy”. Harsh words were exchanged
via Instagram live which caused
Malu fans and Danielle fans to
clash. The petty drama was over
as quickly as it began, and some
people suspect that the ght was
only a plot to enlarge the fanbase
of both of the girls. Overall, there
has been positive feedback to the
song and while some people dis-
like Malu, they admit to liking her
song. YouTube has been ooded
with reaction videos of Malu’s new
music vid. YouTube star Casanova
confesses his liking of the song in
his reaction video. Another Youtu-
ber named Mearacle also seems to
enjoy the song.
While some students here
at Sewanhaka had no clue who
Malu was, others who were famil-
iar with her and admitted to liking
her. Sophomore Gabriela Davi
states, “her song is amazing and
has a good beat that will make you
want to get up and dance.” Junior
Kiera Burgess comments, “I love
it how she connects to her Latin
culture.” It’s obvious that this song
has been a big step in the young,
rising star’s music career and hope-
fully there are more songs to come,
December 8th marks the day she
drops next single “En Mi Mente.”
DECEMBER 2017 11
Entertainment
THOR/ DEATH DAY
BY ELIANA HERNANDEZ
Movies are occasionally
one of the most intense, problem-
atic topics of casual discussion.
There are so many genres, actors,
remakes, and fanbases. Often
times, they tend to clash leading to
heated discussions over questions
such as, “Who was the best Bat-
man?”, “What is the best movie
franchise?”and, of course, “Marvel
vs. DC.” This isn’t always the case
but with the increasingly popular
MCU and the new Justice League
movie coming out these questions
are more and more prominent
SoundCloud Artists Redening Rap
BY MEHVISH KHAN
2017 marked the coming-
out year for South Floridian rap-
pers such as Lil Pump, Ski Mask
the Slump God, Smokepurpp,
XXXTentacion, amongst others.
These artists exploded from their
SoundCloud pages into venues
packed with frenzied and feverish
crowds of like-minded youth, with
similar tastes in music. With songs
possessing violently sexual lyrics,
heavy underlinings of drug usage,
and blown out noises, sounding
as if they’re surfacing from the
speaker of a busted up cellphone,
their music denitely attracts many
teenagers.
One artist in particular,
best recognized by his vibrant
and amboyant wardrobe, and
hot pink dreads, Gazzy Garcia,
known professionally as Lil Pump,
has seemingly soared to national
prominence at a startling rate. This
17-year-old rapper from Miami’s
rap career began when Smokepur-
when it comes to the topic of su-
perhero movies. The newest MCU
movie has truly set a high standard
for hero movies to follow. Despite
the Marvel vs DC controversy
there are movies that have noth-
ing to do with franchises that are
box ofce favorites such as Happy
Death Day and the Blade Runner
49.
On November 3, mil-
lions of Marvel fans lined up at
the doors of thousands of movie
theatres nationwide to watch the
highly anticipated MCU (Marvel
Cinematic Universe) lm Thor:
Ragnorak. This movie took viewers
on a journey with Thor throughout
the 9 Realms and beyond along
with his brother, our favorite green
Avenger Hulk, and Valkyrie who,
in case it was not specic, is a
Valkyrie like those of Norse my-
thology. Ragnorak received 20
rotten tomatoes out of 267 reviews
and had an average rating of 4.3.
Out of all raters 90% of people
liked this movie. I’ve actually just
come back from watching this
movie and it was unlike any previ-
ous Thor movie I’ve ever seen. It
was by far my favorite of the tril-
ogy. A lot of people who watched
this movie reviewed it and sang
praises of how amazing it was and
how they wished that Marvel had
made the rst two movies like this
as well. For example, “The idea
of pairing the oft-dull Thor with
a series of oddball companions is
an inspired, if necessary, move- so
much so that it’s bafing it has
taken Marvel this long to smarten
up.” Others were humorous and
light-hearted using the main villain
Hela’s name as a play on words.
Another movie that came
out fall of 2017 was Happy Death
Day. This movie was about a girl
named Jessica Rothe who died on
her birthday. The only problem
was, she kept on reliving that day
and died over and over again, each
time a different way. She tries to
nd out a way to stop the time
loop and live to see the next day.
I watched this movie with a group
of friends in the theater and all of
us agreed that it was a great movie.
Happy Death Day received 30 rot-
ten tomatoes and the average rating
was a 3.6. Around 67% of watch-
ers liked the movie. Some reviews
include: “There’s a spunky charm
to the Scream meets Groundhog
Day thing, and the lm is well
built” and “If you liked Bill Mur-
ray’s Groundhog Day and if you
also like scary movies, this movie
hits a home run. As far as the hor-
ror/slasher genre, unlike most, in
Happy Death Day you actually
care about the main characters.”
Both movies were absolutely great
and entertained most of their audi-
ences. They are box ofce wins.
pp produced a track and asked
Garcia to freestyle over it. It was
released in 2016 on music stream-
ing website, SoundCloud, as his
debut single, “Lil Pump.” The song
was later followed by other singles
like, “Elementary,” and “Ignorant,”
which have individually amassed
millions of streams. Lil Pump’s
successes on SoundCloud earned
him recognition in the South
Florida underground rap scene.
The rapper began 2017 by
releasing his singles, “D Rose”
and “Boss,” both of which proved
successful on SoundCloud, earning
more than 40 million streams. Cole
Bennett, a Chicago based direc-
tor, produced the “D Rose” music
video, largely due to its popularity.
As of December 2017, the video
has accumulated more than 98
million views. In addition to this,
Lil Pump signed a record deal with
Tha Lights Global and Warner
Bros. Records on June 9, 2017.
In July, Lil Pump an-
nounced that his debut album was
in the works, but it was pushed
back, and he released the song,
“Gucci Gang” instead. Many
themes circulate the music video,
including drug and alcohol usage,
a tiger strolling in the halls of a
high school, the lack of an adult
presence, and the pointlessness of
schooling. At 2:04-long, this track
is the briefest to hit Billboard Hot
100 in 42 years, peaking at number
three on November 8. The music
video for the song has climaxed to
over 288 million views, making it
his most popular song to date.
The question of why art-
ists like Lil Pump are so idolized,
especially in this age, is observed.
Often their music holds a certain
myopia, cultivating thoughtless
repetition, with a bonus of anarchic
propensities, frequently leading to
violence, and the mere fact that the
music sounds better through laptop
speakers than headphones. The
question is left unanswered, but
their tracks and artistry are shown
to be what’s trending. Everyday,
SoundCloud rappers are proving
their popularity, and their roles in
redening rap music.
Rapper Lil Pump poses with tiger for a music video
DECEMBER 2017 12
Sports
BALL FAMILY
BY ADAM RODRIGUEZ
AND NASEEM ISHA
If you’ve been keeping up
with sports in the last year, you’ve
denitely heard of the Ball Fam-
ily from Chino Hills, California.
Famous for their success on the
basketball court, the eldest son,
Lonzo Ball, was the 2nd overall
pick selected by the Los angeles
Lakers in the 2017 NBA draft.
Lonzo has also been tasked with
bringing the franchise back to its
former glory. LiAngelo, the 2nd
oldest son, was one of the top 10
scorers in the nation for men’s high
school basketball in the 2016-2017
season, averaging 33.8 points per
D. Wade
BY ARIS PIERRE-LOUIS
As the 2017-2018 NBA
season is upon us, many players
switched teams, all for the com-
mon goal of becoming one step
closer to winning a championship.
Whether players joined a new team
through a blockbuster trade or a
lucrative free agency deal, one
particular offseason move which
sparked great interest was NBA-
All Star Dwyane Wade joining the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
Turmoil seemed likely in
Cleveland after All-Star guard
Kyrie Irving requested a trade, but
Cleveland got its reparations from
Celtics players, Isaiah Thomas,
Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and draft
picks. But when Wade signed to
play for the Cavs, this brought
the team to a whole new level and
likely ready for a fourth bout with
the Golden State Warriors. But
most importantly, this acquisition
reunites Wade with his former
teammate from Miami, Lebron
James, who he won two champion-
ships together. For all the fame and
popularity the pair gathered, even
when compared to Michael Jordan
game. He is currently playing for
UCLA on a full athletic scholar-
ship. LaMelo is the youngest of
the three sons. He made national
headlines after scoring 92 points
last season as a sophomore, and
is currently ranked as the 7th best
player in the country for the class
of 2019 by ESPN. But in case you
haven’t heard about any of the Ball
boys, you’ve denitely heard of
their father, Lavar Ball. “Lavar is
great business man cause there’s no
such thing as bad publicity,” says
junior Lucien Cherubin.
Lavar has made headlines
for the comments he’s made in the
past year which include that his
son Lonzo is better than 2-time
NBA MVP Stephen Curry and will
lead the struggling Lakers to the
playoffs in his rookie season. “ I
think they’re all going to do well
this season and play to their best
abilities, especially Lonzo,” says
junior Flo Hunte. The ball family
rst gained attention after “Ballis-
life,” an American sports website
that covers basketball and produces
its own video mixtape’s, made a
mixtape of all 3 boys playing to-
gether for Chino Hills high school
in 2015. That same year the boys
led Chino hills to the high school
national championship. Due to
the success of the family, they’ve
started a brand labeled, “Big Baller
Brand,” which all the kids are
signed to. Lonzo and LaMelo have
their own signature shoes. Lonzo’s
sneaker the, “zo2 remix” retails at
$495 and LaMelo’s, “melo ball 1”
retails for $395. You may not agree
with the family’s methods and you
may not like anyone in the ball
family, be that as it may, you can’t
deny that they are successful and
did it in their own way.
and Scottie Pippen, they have the
potential to win it all in Cleveland
too. When asked whether that
evens the odds against the warriors
following a 4-1 nals loss, senior
Tyrone Wilkerson added, “Yes, I
feel adding Dwyane Wade would
help the Cavs get a scoring boost.
He’s also underestimated so they
won’t focus the defense on him.”
While the Cavs have underper-
formed so far this season with sur-
prising losses to rebuilding teams
like the Brooklyn Nets, New York
Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Or-
lando Magic, they’re still regarded
as the likely eastern conference
champions. With new players such
as Derrick Rose, who also signed
in the offseason to the Cavs, it’s
only natural for teams to take time
to get assimilated to one another
and play accordingly. “They have a
lot of new players on the team, so
obviously chemistry is being built
as of right now. Once the players
build chemistry, I wholeheartedly
believe they’ll make it interesting
in the nals against Golden State.
They just have to work out the
issues they have now,” says avid
basketball fan Joshuah Mensah.
L.I. Islanders
BY YASMIN A.
TEEKASINGH
The Islanders, one of
the top ve hockey teams in the
metropolitan division (as of game
20 of their season) currently play
at the Barclays Center, all the
way in Brooklyn, New York. But
shouldn’t the team play on long
island, due to their namesake?
This question generated mixed
responses after the Barclays Center
announced that they want the
islanders out of the stadium. But
where would they play? Recently
the islanders, along with NYCFC
put in a bid to build a stadium at
Belmont Park. Many fans say they
had enjoyed games at the Barclays
center, but the location, so far from
Long Island takes away from the
tradition of them seeing a game on
Long Island. Sam Fels, a Varsity
Field Hockey player and a fan of
the Islanders for three years says,
“I wouldn’t mind the Islanders
playing in Elmont,” as the com-
mute would be shorter for many.
Quite a few older Islanders fans
would look forward to the shorter
commute, and even look forward
to the economic spur a local sta-
dium could bring. However, newly
built stadium for such a renowned
team could bring about many is-
sues. Residents of Elmont have
experienced the trafc and com-
motion during the Belmont stakes
year after year, but possibly having
to experience it week after week
when there are Islanders games is a
whole other issue. The area could
see trafc jams, and increased
parking of cars on quiet residen-
tial streets. Whether it is NYCFC
or the Islanders who win the bid,
generally the same responses are
generated by those concerned with
the idea. The question of debate is:
do economic benets and the ben-
et of convenience outweigh the
issues generated by a new stadium
in a suburban area?
DECEMBER 2017 13
Horoscopes
Chieftain Astrology
BY NOAH AHMED
Aries (March 21 - April 19)
As the year comes to a close, your
love life is probably going to be
charged with electricity. A special
someone might come around just
in time for New Years so keep an
eye out for any prospects. 2018
starts with Mars and Jupiter con-
joined in Scorpio. Work hard and
study hard, the world is at your
ngertips! Mars will enter retro-
grade in June, but fret not! Take
this time to reect on what you
want and learn to pace yourself!
You might feel impulsive and ery
at time but take your time to think
something out, talk to a Libra. All
in all be ready for an exciting year
ahead of you!
Lucky Numbers: 8, 29, 53
Advice for the break: Read a good
book!
Taurus (April 20 - May 20)
We see you guys! It’s going to be
a busy month for you as the stars
align to give you a boost of energy!
Your focus should be on work and
personal relationships as these
areas of your life are lit up this
month! However, your love life
will be in full swing in 2018 so use
this month to practice. All in all the
upcoming year should be a relax-
ing one for you so take this time to
pick up a new hobby or join a new
club. You might feel a little stub-
born about change but, live by the
motto; Live, Love, Laugh!
Lucky Numbers: 5, 37, 67
Advice for the Break: Try a new
Tea!
Gemini (May 21 - June 20)
Honestly, you guys receive so
much slander but you’re still able
to rise above it, truly amazing!
December has been a wild month
for you as you take some time to
reevaluate your friend groups. Your
planet, Mercury, entered retro-
grade on Dec. 3 and will remain
in it until Dec. 22 so like always,
drink water and choose your words
carefully! You might upset friends
or family by joking around that
may get easily misinterpreted in
during this retrograde. As 2018
approaches, your energy will spike,
expect to go out of your way to
do things that you might not have
done before! Get ready for incom-
ing fun in your social life! We see
you Gemini and thrive in 2018!
Lucky Numbers: 3, 7, 13
Advice for the Break: Read some
Poetry!
Cancer (June 21 - July 22)
We love a comforting friend! How-
ever, you might want to take some
time from always tending to your
friends to catching on some work.
You might have some unnished
business that may catch up with
you and leave you swamped! Make
2018 your year! As the Sun enters
into Cancer next year you might
want to let go of some grudges but
fret not, your ability to empathize
and read people will ourish. You
might be more in tune with your
emotions than others, trust your
intuition and they’ll lead you to
icon status.
Lucky Numbers: 16, 31, 89
Advice for the Break: Try a New
Face Mask
Leo (July 23 - August 22)
December has been the month for
you! With the Sun oating into
your fth house, your holiday
cheer is at an all-time high! Mariah
Carey is shaking! Don’t be afraid
to take the center stage and glow
in the spotlight. However, take
note of the rst of the three rare
Neptune-Jupiter trines, so tap into
that force and do something good
for your friends or community!
Shine bright and rub off some of
that light into a new hobby such
as drawing or writing! We expect
great things from you in 2018, Leo,
keep it up!
Lucky Birthday: 4, 38, 28
Advice for the Break: Pick up a
new hobby!
Virgo (August 23 -
September 22)
It’s been a hectic month for you,
but you’ve got much more in store
so don’t give in just yet! Like all
the other the signs affected by the
Mercury Retrograde, you too will
be suffering under its inuence.
Choose your diction carefully to
make sure you do minimal damage
to friends and family, channel your
inner Shakespeare and set off into
the world. Don’t worry though, as
New Year rolls around your houses
of romance will light up, look
forward to an unexpected admirer
or crush. Throughout the rest of
the year, you’re going to be honing
your analytical skills, so take some
time to relax.
Lucky Number: 9, 14, 43
Advice for the Break: You should
do some deep reection!
Libra (September 23 -
October 22)
Your usually calm environment is
in for a ride this month. The sun is
waltzing through your third house
which controls your social life, so
you’re in for quite a ride in terms
of seasonal parties. However, we
are in a Mercury retrograde so try
to avoid doing anything too rash
without thinking it through! You’ll
be the center of attention in 2018,
Libra! People will come from all
around seeking your level-headed
and thoughtful advice but don’t
hesitate to take some “Me Time”
once in awhile! Use the year to
cultivate your image and generos-
ity.
Lucky Number: 1, 54, 99
Advice for the break: Relax and
drink water!
Scorpio: (October 23 -
November 21)
Stay smart this holiday season
Scorpio! You have a few obstacles
coming away, but they’re noth-
ing you can’t handle with a little
preparation. As the year comes to
a close, your ruling planet, Pluto
joins in with the Sun, so hold back
a little. However, this year has big
things in store for you. Popularity
and Success are just around the
corner! Just don’t play around with
others feelings too much! Watch
out for the November retrograde
so double down on your social life
around them. Your ery appetite
for love will surely be fullled this
coming year so keep an eye out!
Lucky Numbers: 18, 91, 53
Advice for the Break: Go on a
date!
Sagittarius (November 22 -
December 21 )
We hope it’s been going great for
you. This month will be a time of
forgiveness to you as the Jupiter-
Neptune trine resonates in your
already generous nature. Your
usual “give-all-to-my-friends” will
be even more accentuated as you
feel the need to forgive past issues
and move forward. You’re a rising
star, Sag, 2018 will be lled with
big things! Don’t get bogged down
by petty problems and social is-
sues, though we doubt you’ll have
any. Sometimes you might feel that
you go too far for your friends but
don’t worry, your friend will be
coming to your support! Good life!
Lucky Number: 14, 72, 67
Advice for the break: Start a Grati-
tude Journal!
Capricorn (December 22 -
January 19)
Capricorn, you need to take a mo-
ment to check yourself! Decembers
is going to be a quiet month for
you, so take your time running er-
rands nishing up on assignments.
2018 will be a fresh start, you’ll be
attracting new friend as old ones
don’t seem to stick around. Saturn,
your ruling planet, will be return-
ing to your house over the summer,
so use this time for deep reection
and to better your faults. Be wary
of who you consider friends, but
we trust that you’ll be ne! You’re
a messy sign, but 2018 will be a
good year for you!
Lucky Numbers: 3, 19, 69
Advice for the Break: Some deep
reection and make a new friend!
Aquarius: (January 20 -
February 18
You’ll be meeting so many new
people this month, it’s the perfect
time to start networking or even
just making new friends. As the
year comes to a wrap, there will
be many changes for you. You’ll
have to choose who and what to
bring with you into the new year.
Your love life is in for quite a ride
this new year too, but don’t worry,
you’ll nd a diamond in the rough!
With Saturn waltzing into Capri-
corn, make sure to double down
and focus on your efforts to reap
enormous benets. 2018 is going
to be a year of growth for you!
Lucky Numbers: 2, 18, 78
Advice for the break: Throw a
party!
Pisces: (February 19 -
March 20)
Your inner drive is just starting to
awaken, you’ll be getting many
things done before the year comes
to a close. At the start of the year,
Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune are
all swimming in the water realm,
you’ll have a sense of aware-
ness much greater. Focus on your
dreams, with your drive blooming
anew, anything can be achieved.
Despite your usual laid-back and
spacey demeanor, whatever will
come your way will be carried
away swiftly by your own hard
work.
Lucky Numbers: 6, 44, 72
Advice for the Break: Start a Bul-
let Journal.
