The Patriot News

By Melissa V. In February, Spanish Honor Society will be hosting a talent show open to every student in the school. Many acts will be performed by several talented singers, instrument players, and dancers. The talent show will also include a cultural experience through the display of facts and food of many Latin American countries, prepared by Sociedad members. Not only will the contestants have a chance to win prizes, but the audience can also win prizes for answering trivia questions about Latin American countries. A dedicated group of students , including myself , will perform a Latin dance as the opening act for the talent show. We will be dancing a mix of bachata, salsa, and merengue to start off the spectacular night. Almost every Friday, we meet up in our Spanish classroom to learn the choreography and practice what we remember. The hour and a half of practice consists of sweat, hard work, and laughter . Learning, failing, and eventually succeeding bring the dance coupl...

Boys  Horace Greely 64 - 44 Somers 52 - 49 Yorktown 62 - 59 Girls Somers 39 - 48 Brewster 56 - 48 Horace Greely 41 - 57

By Nico Z. Have you ever heard of fracking? It's an important national issue that doesn’t receive a lot of media coverage. There has been controversy regarding its environmental impact and public safety. As a result, a couple states have banned fracking. There might be other states to follow suit in the next decade or so. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is the practice of expanding the ground by breaking up rock several hundred feet within the Earth. These rocks, mostly shale, consist of many natural resources—like oil, water, and chemicals—that are used for energy. Fracking is done by drilling either vertically or, more commonly, horizontally through the rock layers. As a result of this constant drilling, more and more pathways are created to release more oil. Fracking certainly has its benefits. It allows drilling companies to acquire resources from remote and otherwise hard-to-reach locations. It can supply energy to poor or rural communities. It decreases the ne...

By Jamie C. Now more than ever, you might see a tattooed, rugged man missing his forearm on the cover of Men’s Health magazine. Or in a commercial, a female athlete running on a prosthetic leg. My grandmother, an amputee herself, jokes that limb loss has come into vogue. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of limb loss is one rarely spoken about outside of a medical journal or the home of an amputee. My grandmother, like many others, feels pain where it cannot exist. Phantom limb is a physical phenomenon where sensation, such as pain, tingling, or warmth, is felt in a removed limb. Phantom pain can seemingly be traced to an exact region on the lost limb, not merely in leftover nerve endings placed back into the body. Some individuals feel themselves moving long-gone fingers and toes, even feeling as if their limb has been placed awkwardly. For those suffering from phantom limb, the pain is real. For us all, phantom limb brings forward as of yet unresolved questions about the ...

By Nico Z. The Syrian crisis is one of the most complicated international crises in the world. With clashes between government forces and opposition forces, Syria is plagued by a violent civil war that has resulted in at least 250,000 deaths and the rise of Islamic militant groups. Multiple international interventions have only added to the turmoil. It seems as if there is no solution to the conflict. Or is there? March 15, 2011: The Syrian Civil War began as a series of civilized protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Notorious for its poor human rights record and tyrannical nature, the Assad regime responded with violent crackdowns. As a result, there was further unrest. The government’s use of force only worsened the violence. Four months later, the riots were nationwide. Ever since the beginning of the civil war, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, have supported the rebels by supplying them with weapons and other military equipment. U.S. President Barack Obama ha...

By Jack I. Album sales are in the pits. This year, the lowest selling Number One album in United States history charted on the Billboard 200 with approximately 40,000 copies sold, numbers that would’ve been unheard of a decade ago. With the amount of formats one can listen to music with in 2015, the general public is no longer motivated to buy albums. While efforts have been made to encourage people to buy music (i.e., exclusive physical versions of albums and the revival of vinyl records), people have been ignoring the most prominent reason for the lack of album sales: streaming. Usage of streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal has skyrocketed in recent years, racking up over 18 million monthly paying subscribers in total. Besides causing a major decline in sales, streaming services force artists—who hardly make any money from such services—to expand to other business ventures that can hurt their careers. In order to save the music industry, streaming services mu...

By Airika Y. With the start of a new year comes New Year’s resolutions, many of which are quickly broken or revised when the individual is faced with the daunting task that lies ahead. For many, striving to eat healthier and adopt a health-conscious attitude can feel practically impossible, but here are a few tips to make 2016 a healthier year: Stop skipping breakfast. No matter how many times breakfast is established as the “most important meal of the day,” most high school students either don’t have the time or simple don’t feel the need to eat breakfast. However, eating a meal when you wake up will activate the process of metabolism—and keep it active throughout the day. Furthermore, skipping breakfast can easily lead to overeating in later meals in the day; by lunchtime, the hunger may build up, and many will feel the need to compensate with extra food. A healthy breakfast allows you to remain in control of your health. Know your healthy fats. In the past year, nutritionis...

By Ester W. It’s Christmas morning. You can hardly contain your excitement. A bubbling impulse to tear downstairs and rip open your presents overcomes you, and you dash into your parents’ bedroom down the hall, screaming, “Wake up! It’s Christmas!” But not far from you is a foster care center. The children are just getting up, and perhaps they are smiling as well. And while you devour present after present after present, these children are handed a few unwrapped toys: a teddy bear, a train, a coloring book. These children have no mother to hug for the new doll, no father to thank for the baseball bat; they have but each other: a swarming mass of hundreds of kids. Even in this condition, no child complains or whines because the doll isn’t exactly what she wanted. Still, they feel a twinge of sorrow. How couldn’t you, if you weren’t with your family on Christmas? They do not feel they are a part of anyone’s holiday, not on anyone’s Christmas list. And to put things in perspective...

By Stacy V. Education is the key to success. Every day, these words come out of the mouths of teachers and parents and guidance counselors. Yet, students with low-income backgrounds struggle to live by these words as universities make it difficult for these students to even pay for college applications. According to “NYU Advises Student Not to Apply Because They Are Too Poor” by Casey Quinlan, Joshua Jackson—a current Brown University student—asked New York University for an application fee waiver of $65. However, Dan Stanford, the director of graduate admissions at Tisch School of the Arts, replied back in an email that motivated Jackson to post “PLEASE EXPLAIN” on Twitter—an outlet that allowed him to expose the inequality in education for the wealthy and the poor. Sadly, Stanford’s email revealed that students who cannot afford to pay for the $65 application fee should not apply to a school with a $60,000 tuition that provides small amounts of financial aid in forms of scholarships....

By Alexander U. If an individual watches any sort of professional sport on television, he or she cannot have missed the daily fantasy advertisements. At one point, daily fantasy companies aired an advertisement on national television every ninety seconds. Daily fantasy can be addictive due to the small chance of winning the jackpot. However, the argument of chance has raised the question: is daily fantasy gambling? Before daily fantasy existed, the only option for entertainment were the original fantasy sports. Fantasy sports are a season-long game in which you put around twenty dollars into a pot, and you and your friends pick imaginary teams of players and compete to see who will emerge victorious, winning all the money. Daily fantasy, however, allows a person to go online, pay an entry fee ranging from from twenty-five cents to thousands of dollars, and compete against complete strangers for a week or a day. As a result, DraftKings and FanDuel have evolved into multi-billion dollar ...

By Maddie SO. The John Jay 2015-2016 Chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club has proven to be a great success in such a short period of time. Having over 50 members, the organization has achieved great recognition for its annual dodgeball tournament, blood drive, guest speakers, outside events, and sponsorships with many community businesses. Its annual dodgeball tournament has shown great success and has even created some friendly rivalries between the teams; the best champions will prevail at the upcoming dodgeball tourney in February! The overall goal of participating in FBLA is to develop a member’s overall skill set in a majority of areas in the business world, thus helping to create our nation’s next top leaders. Members then have the chance to prove themselves as strong leaders by competing in district, state, and national level competitions for a vast range of events all related to business subjects. As the year continues to progress, the John Jay Future ...

By Maryam S. Sometimes I see a new product and think that it’s something I never knew that I needed. Sometimes I see ads on my screen that seem to have come straight from my search history. Sometimes I think technology reads my mind. It knows what I want before I even think of it (like my mom, except less demanding, occasionally less terrifying and definitely less affectionate). The way we interact with technology today is not only remarkably more profound than decades ago, but also remarkably more subtle. People rely on technology to facilitate their daily lives, giving technology an intimate insight into our minds. The role we have given technology is that of a right hand man, a partner—a pillar of support for every individual and our society as a whole. And like every good lieutenant, technology deciphers our signals and tells and ticks to reach conclusions about what the best course of action should be. Or does it? While technology responds to our wants and needs, it is the data en...

By Clara Mia R. Besides having my birthday in June, December is definitely my favorite time of the year! There’s snow, chestnuts, the sweet smell of Christmas trees, and the reunion with family and friends. I must admit that there is a bit of irony in December: it is the month that brings the most stress and at the same time, the most happiness. This irony makes me like December even more: I look forward to a challenge! Speaking of challenges, one of my New Year’s resolutions is a challenge; however, I don’t want it to be only for me to enjoy. I want to challenge everyone to do something that’s not only going to make themselves feel better, but also make a huge difference in John Jay and perhaps even outside of school. Here’s my challenge: let’s have that cheery, “Christmas attitude” that the Holidays bring throughout the entire New Year. Let me be clear, having a “Christmas attitude” does not mean wishing people “Merry Christmas” in the middle of April. There is something about Decemb...

Across 1. Who is the young leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the successor of Kim Jong-Il? 4. W is the name of the daughter of the Duke and what Duchess of Cambridge. 6. Which franchise just released a movie that gained about $241M on opening night? 12. What is the first name of the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate? 13. Which artist returned with their album '25' after their 3-year hiatus? 15. Which two countries are restoring full diplomatic relations since 1961? 17. Which country just ended their One-child policy after decades on October 29, 2015? 18. What is the name of the presidential candidate who is the brother of a past president and son of a past president? 19. What element has the symbol 'W'? 20. What is the name of the presidential candidate who is a neurosurgeon that Obamacare is a bad idea? 21. Which Lakers basketball player wrote a story titled “Dear Basketball'? 22. Which coun...

By Rachael E. Friedrich Soennecken, John J. Loud, and the Egyptians all have one thing in common: they are the enemies of the left handed class. These inventors, along with many more, have created the useful items most lefties despise! Every day, we live amongst the people who are able to perform tasks that lefties cannot. School has because Dante’s Inferno for the left handed society, one in which we cannot perform beautiful hand written notes at any given time—no, instead we must take the extra minute to pull out our loose leaf, and by then, it’s too late. The teacher has already stated the important information that will determine whether you pass or fail your exam, determining your graduation of high school. And even if we do pull out our loose leaf in time, the ink of the ball point pen will stain our flesh and smudge our writing—or worse we could bump elbows with our right handed neighbor. At that point, we should just give into the devil’s game and be persecuted just as our left...

By Taylor D. Ellen DeGeneres, perhaps the most well-known American comedian, has swept the nation with her light hearted humor and kind heart. Her syndicated TV talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, airs five days a week, Monday through Friday, averaging 3.9 million viewers per episode! She begins each show by dancing with her audience, then continues with various segments; many include jokes in reference to social media, pranks, and funny pictures. She frequently invites other famous people to appear on her show for an interview, including Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry. In addition to the segments, Ellen prepares surprises for some of her most deserving guests. One of her most notable characteristics is her desire to give back to her audience. She has given away many valuable prizes, like new cars, all-inclusive vacations, and concert and event tickets. In certain cases, Ellen will sometimes hosts giveaways for her entire audience, such as her “12 Days of ...

By Taylor D. On January 8, Italian Honor Society (la Societá) hosted a fun event night for its families called “La Befana.” La Befana, an Italian witch depicted in folklore, is similar to Santa Claus; she delivers gifts to children around the world on January 6, the night of the Epiphany—the holiday from which her name is derived. To celebrate La Befana and the spirit of the winter holidays, Societá planned a great party, complete with authentic Italian food, gifts, and people. Prior to the event, members transformed the cafeteria into a winter wonderland with homemade decorations throughout. Many brought all kinds of homemade meals, as well as Italian dessert. Well over 100 people attended, marking the event to be quite the success! All the members of Societá were encouraged to bring family and friends; some John Jay alumni even made an appearances! Members sang Christmas carols in English and Italian, and a few members provided solo entertainment. As the night progressed, families at...

By Monique B. Computer science is starting to become a rapidly growing major and career, according to recent studies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that computer science is on the rise, and the industry is likely to keep rising in the next 10 years. If you really love computers, math, or science, then I highly suggest you choose this career. The reason? It gives you the opportunity to have a solid career with computers and you make great deal of money along the way. Also, computer science is a field that allows you to have jobs in everything else: from game programming to the medical field, you could basically do anything with a computer science degree. Finally, you would have a very high chance of getting a job as soon as you get out of college as the demand for computer scientists is very high. According to Fortune, computer science is the leading STEM major, awarding more degrees than any other STEM majors altogether. So, if computer science sounds like an inter...