Resolve to Resolve

Michelle Luo

January 9, 2015

         The holidays are coming to an end as December passes, and a new year is beginning. A tradition that has been common for decades for the New Years is the New Year’s resolution. This is when people plan a goal for themselves to accomplish for the upcoming year. Many people tend to have plans for dieting, studying, or earning money. The New Year’s resolution sets a goal for people to be motivated and ambitious for the events that will come the following year. But in Colonie Central High School, some students think differently about the idea of having a new year’s resolution.  

                 

         Some students in Colonie Central High School (CCHS) were asked if they had a New Year’s resolution, and most of them answered, “No.” When they were asked why, multiple reasons were given. “I don’t like the idea of it. I think it’s kind of pointless. I mean it’s not bad, but I just don’t come up with a New Year’s resolution,” said Megan Justice, a CCHS student. “I think it’s so dumb. You don’t need a holiday to make you determined to do something. If you really are motivated, the goal can be set anytime in the year,” stated Anjelique Washington, a CCHS student. Some students, like Acacia Morris a student in CCHS, think that it is more important to see what they encounter the next year before coming up with a resolution for the future. “This is why I don’t like to have a New Year’s resolution,” she stated.

                       

           Although some students don’t like the New Year’s resolution, other students have mutual feelings toward it. Some students might come up with one, but then never fulfill it. Neha Meshal, another CCHS student said, “My resolution was to give up pizza, but then I broke it already. I think if you believe the New Year’s resolution works, then, do it. If you don’t believe in it, then, don’t do it.” It is not something they must do, or something that must be set. Rather, it is something to improve or help the people through the New Year. “It is like a time to reflect on what you did and what you want to do. For me, it is not really forming a resolution, but more like acknowledging a problem. I want to do a lot of stuff, but I never get to it. I just want to be a better person and change my habits for the next year and forever. So, it’s not really setting a goal,” said Oneida Shushe, a CCHS student. Other students in CCHS like Courtney Yule says, “I just roll with it, you know, go with the flow. But I don’t come up with a resolution. I don’t even think people do it anymore.”

                

            The students of CCHS are in a new generation, which have a different perspective on the idea of New Year’s resolution. They think that goal setting and changing themselves for the better throughout the year, is better than a onetime thing to set at the end of the year. Even though most students think this way, there are still some people who like to stick to the holiday spirits of creating a New Year’s resolution. Allegra Padula, a CCHS high school senior, stated, “What, yes it is important to have one! It is always good and relevant to have goals and improve yourself.” Many students have different opinions on it now. It can be important to some people or not to others.

                   

Senioritis Triggered

Stephanie Cook

            Every year, the graduating class comes to a point where they are sick of being in high school. This idea is associated with the word: senioritis. Once college acceptance letters and financial aid packages are received, many students don’t see the reason to keep trying academically. In Colonie High School, the class of 2015 differs on when they believe senioritis hits and its effects.

Katelyn O’Keefe, a member of the senior class, believes that senioritis is triggered when students begin receiving acceptance letters from colleges. Once kids start planning out there future, “What’s the point?” O’Keefe states. She is a firm believer in senioritis and claims that she has had the disease for months now. O’Keefe defines senioritis as, “The feeling of not wanting to be in school or do work because you’re going to college.” Senioritis makes students lazy and less likely to maintain their high marks from previous years. I asked O’Keefe if she had any words of advice for students struggling to make it through senior year, and she said, “Just keep working hard because you need to pass high school first.”

Another senior, Aine Geraghty, has been struggling to get through her case of senioritis as well. “Ugh I’ve had senioritis since mid-junior year,” Geraghty states with a scowl. Senioritis has become a loss of motivation and a desire to sleep 24/7. Geraghty feels that, “Getting a zero for not doing homework becomes less painful than actually doing the assignment.” She believes that sending out applications begins the tragic epidemic, and once a student starts receiving acceptance letters it all goes downhill.  It feels like “hitting a wall,” according to Geraghty, and then students just get overwhelmed by the full force of senioritis. Geraghty’s words or advice to struggling seniors are “to create a schedule laced with things that you enjoy”. For example, she comes home and has a snack because she enjoys food, then does an assignment. Then she chooses to watch a movie and get more work done. The key is a healthy balance.

              As seniors continue to struggle with their lack of excitement for high school, it is important to keep in mind the end goal. The class of 2015 is almost at their 100 day countdown to the last day of school, and then the real world begins. Students must focus on the present in order to achieve future goals, and most of all; enjoy senior year. It only happens once.

   

Learning From Tragedy

Amber Holt

Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year old transgender girl committed suicide by throwing herself in front of incoming traffic shortly after posting a suicide note online. A tractor-trailer hit Leelah on Interstate 71 about 2:15 a.m. on December 28, about four miles from her house in Kings Mills, Ohio. Her suicide note states that she killed herself because of the treatment she received after coming out as transgender.

    She begins her suicide note with, "Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and I’ve felt that way ever since I was 4." Leelah came out to her mother as transgender at the age of 14. Her mother reacted negatively towards her feelings, claiming it was a phase and that she'll never be a girl.

Leelah explained her conservative Christian home that didn't accept her as anything but a straight Christian boy. At the age of 16, her parents Doug and Carla Alcorn denied their consent for her to begin the transitioning progress. She then came out as gay to her high school in a way to ease herself into coming out as transgender. Most of her classmates knew of her as a boy before her suicide, only finding out after her death.

    While Leelah received positivity from her friends in school, her parents were only angered by her actions. Her parents isolated their daughter, she was cut off from social media and any contact with her friends. Leelah posted on Reddit months before her suicide, that her parents forced her into conversion therapy, bullied her, told her she was going to hell, and isolated her from her friends. A portion of Leelah's last words stated, "This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn’t kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parent’s disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness."

    At the end of the school year, her punishment was lifted, but Leelah claimed that her friends were initially excited to see her, but they didn't really care about her. "After a summer of having almost no friends plus the weight of having to think about college, save money for moving out, keep my grades up, go to church each week and feel like s*** because everyone there is against everything I live for, I have decided I’ve had enough."

Leelah Alcorn finishes her suicide note by stating she wants her possessions to be sold, the money earned and the money in her bank account would be donated to Trans civil rights movements and support groups.

    The last words Leelah ever wrote are, "The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren’t treated the way I was, they’re treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say “that’s f***** up” and fix it. Fix society. Please." She signed her name as (Leelah) Josh Alcorn, with the name Josh crossed out.

    After Leelah's suicide, her parents still refuse to acknowledge her real gender. Her parents continue to use her former name and male pronouns. "He was an amazing musician and artist," her mother said. "He was an amazing boy." Carla and Doug also had her blog removed from Tumblr, the website where she posted her suicide note and a few sorry notes to those she knew. Internet users uploaded a saved archive of her blog without their permission which is here- https://web.archive.org/web/20150102043958/http://lazerprincess.tumblr.com/. There is controversy over whether or not her parents deserve the hate they received over social media.

Leelah Alcorn's funeral was postponed for its original date due to the threats her parents received, and a private funeral was held. Meanwhile a candle vigil was held in front of Kings High School, where she attended. Hundreds gathered at the vigil, with their candles lit. There was music, poetry, mourning, and discussions on what they could do for the transgender community. More than a dozen other vigils were held in and out of the U.S.

    Leelah's suicide brought more awareness to the poisonous relationship between transgenders and coversion therapy. A petition was posted to whitehouse.gov to ban conversion therapy in the United States. This petition is titled "Leelah's Law" and stated that "Therapists that engage in the attempt to brainwash or reverse any child's gender identity or sexual orientation are seriously unethical and legislation is needed to end such practices that are resulting in LGBTQ+ deaths. We respectfully seek your help to ban the practice known as 'conversion therapy' and name the bill in honor of Leelah Alcorn." So far the petition received more than 35,000 signatures, and an endless amount of support.

    Leelah's death was tragic, and some debated over whether a suicide such as her's should be given so much attention. Others point out that Leelah's last words were a plea for change, and that the issues that the transgender community faces has to be brought to attention. However, either side makes it clear that Leelah Alcorn will not be forgotten any time soon.

   

Avalanche

Caroline Best

Two U.S. Ski Team prospects were killed on Monday, January 5, when an avalanche was triggered. According to Fox News, they were training in the Austrian Alps for an international competition. Eric Willemsen of the Associated Press reports that an avalanche alert had been declared prior to the incident, because of recent heavy snowfall and mild temperatures.

 Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, were skiing near the Rettenbach glacier in the mountains over Soelden. According to Christopher Kamrani of The Salt Lake Tribune, Berlack and Astle were part of a group of six skiers descending from the 10,026-foot Gaislachkogel. The four other skiers were able to escape unharmed.

According to Tom Kelly, spokesperson for the United States Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA), Monday wasn’t a training day. He said that the six skiers were free skiing the mountain when the avalanche occurred. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Kelly said “rescuers were able to extricate them in a moderate amount of time, but they were pronounced dead on the scene."

Berlack, who grew up in New Hampshire, was a member of the Franconia Ski Club. Fox News reports that Berlack was a student-athlete at Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy. After two top-20 finishes at the 2013 U.S. national championships and a spring tryout camp, he was named to the development team for potential World Cup racers.

Rich Smith, program director at the Franconia Ski Club told the Associated Press “there’s not enough words to say what a great guy Ronnie Berlack was and always will be.” Both of Berlack’s parents are ski coaches and his father is a ski coach for Burke Mountain Academy.

Astle was one of the top-ranked slalom skiers in the U.S.  Fox News explained that after two top-10 results at NorAm Cup and other impressive early season results, he was invited to train with the development team. In a post on a U.S. Ski and Snowboard site, Astle explained how he was ready for the next level. He said he was ready to achieve his goals and greatness.

Astle grew up in Utah and graduated from Brighton High School. The Salt Lake Tribune mourned his death in an article that expresses the shock of Astle’s friends and mentors. Andy Siddoway, one of Astle’s best friends, described him as “one of the happiest kids I ever met” and “in love with skiing.”

This incident came as a shock to these two U.S. Team prospect’s friends, family, mentors, and hometowns. Laura Astle, Astle’s mother told the Associated Press that her son “was hoping to be in the next Olympics, that was his goal, and he was pretty much on his way."

Katie Ryan, a member of the Alpine B Team, reflects on this incident by posting on her blog, according to CNN. She posted about the risks skiers face by saying "It could have been any one or all of those six boys caught in that avalanche. It could have been any two of my teammates. It could have been me."

 

Climate Change

By: Jacob Pickett

               The fact that the climate, especially the winter climate, of Albany, NY has undergone significant changes over the past decades have has become apparent to many of the area’s residents. For example, a local gardener has observed that both first fall frost and the last spring frost now tend to occur later in their respective seasons. The reason for this change varies between people, some say that climate change is responsible, while others blame global warming.  To most people, climate change can be interchanged with the term global warming, yet the United States Environmental Protection Agency defines the terms differently from each other.

                The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines global warming as “the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth's surface,” while climate change describes “any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time.” Therefore, global warming represents only the temperature aspect of climate change.

Climate change causes a specific location’s climate to alter for a prolonged period of time. Therefore causing average temperature changes, changes in wind patterns, and increased or decreased precipitation. All three of these primary effects of climate change have been observed in the U.S. Northeast. According to the USEPA the average annual temperature has increased 2^oF since 1970, yet the average winter temperature has risen 4^oF.

Each northeastern state has reported significantly warmer summers with more days above 100^oF. In addition to the temperature change, the northeast also has experienced winters with more frequent and heavier precipitation. However, the majority of the precipitation over the last several years has fallen as rain instead of snow, an effect of the 4 degree winter temperature increase. Practically in November and December of 2014, the Northeast, and Midwest, has seen a notable shift in wind patterns. This shift resulted in the southward migration of artic cold air, commonly referred to as the polar vortex. It caused record freezing temperatures to occur throughout the northeast and Midwest regions. According to a recent Scientific American article, nighttime temperatures fell to approximately -32^oF or lower in some areas, temperatures more commonly found on Mars than on Earth. 32.1740 ft/s2

However, the effects of climate change vary greatly between locations. While the climate of the U.S. northeast has now become prone to extreme weather occurrences, the Union of Concerned Scientists, headed in Massachusetts, state that other locations such as Australia, the Mediterranean, and the southeast United States are expected to experience more frequent and worst draughts.

The USEPA has proven that climate change poses a deadly threat to all living things on Earth, including humans. Because the summer temperatures in the U.S. northeast have risen considerably over the past several years, the USEPA says that these people are now at a higher risk of heat-related illnesses and deaths, illnesses from poorer air quality, and a higher risk of drinking contaminated water due to the increased rainfall.

Because global warming has accelerated climate change, the USEPA states that humans can prevent the effects from worsening by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The USEPA states that by adjusting the thermostat eight degrees higher on summer nights and eight degrees lower on winter nights, replacing incandescent light bulbs with florescent bulbs, activating the computer's "sleep" program, and replacing single-pane windows, a home can reduce their carbon output by at least 10% annually.    

30 Minutes of Cold Concrete

Acacia Morris

It’s a special day. It’s January 7^th, 2003, and a young child is sitting on a ratty couch in a small apartment in Albany. The state of the couch or the size of the apartment isn’t of much importance, however; today is the child’s birthday, and something exciting is going to happen. The child’s mother enters the room with a telephone in hand, passing it over before slipping back into the other room with the much awaited birthday cake. After a few mewled hellos are murmured into the phone, a heavily accented voice comes from the speaker. The conversation is muddy and disorganized due to a simple fact; its participants are strangers. The voice in the phone says a goodbye, and the child hands the phone back to the mother without much ceremony. The smell of cake and a mother’s call are welcoming, but the six year old can’t help but feel lonely.

As statistics go, one in three doesn’t seem like a very lonely number. It’s nowhere near astronomical odds, and it makes pretty good television if you hide a prize behind that one. However, the statistic that applies to that one person out of three isn’t lucky, and it certainly is lonely. In the United States, one out of three children lives without their biological father. It’s sobering, I’m aware. To some, it may even seem ridiculous. To me, it seems just right, if not a bit understated. I have lived my entire life without my father. That small child was me, on my sixth birthday, experiencing the only direct contact I’ve ever had with him. I’ve glimpsed his face in a photograph or two, but as physical appearances go, he’s done as well as the invisible man.

It’s very easy to allow anger to come from these sorts of experiences. I’ve experienced many emotions over the years, and the majority of them have been negative. However, I feel as if there is room to grow from every experience, good or bad. If the statistic holds true, then one out of every three people reading this article doesn’t live with their biological father. This can be due to abandonment, military service, death, or simple absence. Whatever the case, I want to say something to the one in three.

If you have a father figure in your life, whether it is a step-father, an older brother, an uncle, or other individual, and they have positively impacted you, know that you are stronger for it. You have a role model, someone who stepped up in the life of someone else. If you don’t have someone like that, then know you are still stronger for it. Every achievement has come with just that extra amount of push that other people may have had that you don’t. These strengths don’t only reach into the realm of parenthood. Maybe you’ve learned to help out those who really need it, or you’ve learned to never give up.

As the holiday season comes to its climax, know that even if your family structure doesn’t match the one on the Hallmark Christmas card, that you are not poorer for it. If you are the one in three, think back on your accomplishments during the past year, and wonder about what you can do even better next year. For the two in three that I’ve neglected, know that nowadays, there is no familial norm. For all three people who read this article, know that a lesson can be learned from every experience, for better or for worse, and to always help others when you can.

 

A Love For Life

Aine Geraghty

January 5, 2015

 

When my grandfather passed away this past November, a friend took me in their arms and said “Life is a gift.” I thought about that for a while. It didn’t make seeing my grandfather lying in his casket, much like a wax figure, any easier. Nor did it make my breathing less shaky when I couldn't stop sobbing as one of pallbearers. But I did think about it a lot. Then, we were all sat at the awkward lunch that comes after burying a family member, which I guess is for people to come over and say “Boy, you did a beautiful job of bringing your grandfather to his grave. Now I’m going to touch you and talk your ear off, even though that’s the last thing you want right now and you probably don't know me.” I sat with my second cousins, who are more like extended siblings, and I just understood what really loving someone meant. They embodied it in how they lived and how they treated each other and me. And for the first time, in a long running period of days where everything was horrible, I laughed. I smiled and enjoyed living with them in that moment. I had fully grasped what my friend had said to me.

Then came the New Year. Everyone uses it as an excuse to pretend like they are going to be a better person starting January 1st, but instead they just wake up and spend the day tweeting about how drunk they were the night before. I was woken up and told my rabbit was dead. Happy New Year to me. This rabbit had been like a pet dog, like a best friend, like a child to me. And on the first day of 2015, we had dig a hole in the backyard to put her body in. So much for a brighter year than 2014. Everything was gray again. The sky suddenly seemed plastic and I began to wonder if parts of my life had simply been mistaken with dreams. I felt alone, because who would really understand how hard losing my rabbit was? To most people, it’s just a rabbit. It’s not that big of a deal. I decided I would stay in bed for most of the night and the next morning until I had to get dressed for work.

It’s January 2nd, 2015. Noon. I’m throwing off the covers and my mother is yelling through sobs on the telephone. Someone is dead. I just know it. My stomach can sense it and my hands won't work right to open my bedroom door. She slams down the phone and I stand at the top of the stairs, afraid to take that Band-Aid of hope that I could be wrong, and rip it off. But I do it anyway. My cousin, my “extended brother” who was only twenty, had been killed in a tragic accident. Happy New Year to everyone. “Why won’t you stop” is all I could say, and to no one in particular. I thought: how am I supposed to go to work anymore? How am I supposed to go to school ever again? How am I supposed to wake up at all in the morning?

Because I’m alive. I don’t know who or what decides who lives and dies, and I’m not really sure I’m in a place to understand that. But when I wake up every morning, I will get to see things those I have lost cannot. Is it fair? I don’t believe so. But strangely, life is fair because it is unfair to everyone. I don’t mean in every aspect of living, just in the areas we have no control over. It is so very important to realize that life is a gift. I don’t know who the secret Santa was that went over the $10 limit and gave everyone this gift, but I’m thankful anyway. Without appreciation for this gift, there can be no love or happiness in the world. And frankly, that’s the only reason to stay alive. We all live in a strange circle that can’t be understood, but can only be appreciated while we’re still in it. I may be sad for a long time, perhaps even the rest of the year. But that’s okay. It’s perfectly fine to grieve for as long and in any way you’d like, and you should never feel that you have to apologize for that. You can be mad, you can scream and cry, you can even live in a happy denial. The only thing that you can’t do is give up. It sounds so corny, and I’m sure in these times of sorrow no one is looking for a Brady Bunch moment, but you can see the truth in that statement all around you. When you stand on a mountain top and realize how endless existence is, when you hear a baby’s laughter and understand that is where you started, and when you see the sunrise over the tops of you neighbors roofs and silently register the start to a new day. It’s all there. In every moment of living, even the hardest ones, there is a universal theme which is the fact that you are alive. You are alive enough to feel all the things that you do, which is such a mind blowing gift.  It’s so difficult to put into words, but really what you need to remember is something the great Albus Dumbledore once said, which is “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” Beneath all the pain and sadness any of us feel, we must to hold on to a love for life.