The Tusker Tribune The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

Issue Number 24 http://somersschools.org/domain/995 Spring 2018

Were There Clues to You Tube Shooter’s Intentions? By Sean Moran day.” Tusker Tribune Staff Some of the suspects videos reflect her dis- The headquarters of popular video taste for meat-eaters, and some featured exercise. streaming site YouTube experienced a Other motives are still being looked in to, and a shooting on Tuesday, where the attacker full investigation is imminent. shot three employees, who The suspect complained about were all taken to the hospital, leav- her demonetization issues many times ing one in critical condition. on various accounts. She did contact Afterwards, Nasim Aghdam, the YouTube support team about the a 39-year-old video creator who uti- issue, but it was not resolved. She lized YouTube as her main platform claimed she was purposely targeted by for her videos, took her own life on YouTube and that they did not want the headquarters’ premises. her to earn any money from her vide- According to police, her mo- os. tive appeared to be that she claimed She was also able to gain ac- the company’s filter age restricted cess to the building easily via an un- and demonetized some of her videos. Her father derground parking garage due to the lack of secu- spoke to reporters on Wednesday, saying he had rity at the various entrance points. reported her violent and strange behavior to po- Security in the building is expected to be lice multiple times. heightened in the next few weeks. Many move- Both YouTube and Google executives from ments advocating for gun control have used this, YouTube’s parent company expressed their shock in addition to the recent school shootings, as evi- and fear regarding the situation. One statement dence for the need to reduce an increase in gun from Google’s chief executive tweeted, “There are violence in America. no words to describe the tragedy that occurred to- Ready Player One—A Review

By Liam King well-written, and my favorite novel of all Tusker Tribune Staff time. The story is set in 2045, and the plot Ready Player One is about an 18-year-old named Wade Watts. is a science fiction book He lives in a trailer stack in Columbus, that was written in 2011 Ohio with his aunt. by Ernest Cline. It quick- Wade grew up using a school-issued ly gained fame, even becoming a OASIS, which is an extremely advanced New York Times bestseller. virtual reality headset that everyone uses. A short seven years later, For those who live in 2045, virtual reality is Warner Brothers teamed up with reality, as everything outside is barren and Stephen Spielberg to release a polluted. The creator of the OASIS died a movie for the sensational book. It few years before, and people have been try- received positive reviews, with a ing to find an Easter Egg that contains half 75% from Rotten Tomatoes and a trillion dollars and the ownership of the an 8/10 from IMDb. OASIS. I saw the movie a day be- Wade goes out of his way to try to fore it was supposed to be re- find the Easter Egg to keep it out of the leased at the iPic theater in hands of the main antagonists, the IOI Dobbs Ferry. It was quite intri- (Innovative Online Industries). The movie's guing and enjoyable; however, it plot is identical, but the way the story un- did have its flaws. folds is much different and way more modern. The book Ready Player One is extremely Continued on page 2 The Tusker Tribune Page 2 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School Sonnenblick, Collins Know How to Write for Kids

By Donovan Smith that most kids can relate to. The Tusker Tribune Staff author’s writing is funny, sarcas- “What are you tic and sometimes emotional. reading?” is a standard I then moved on to Su- question from my mom so zanne Collin’s trilogy The Hun- The Tusker I thought I’d ger Games. I have fin- Tribune Staff spotlight two authors ished the first book, The whose books I have been Hunger Games and am Juliana Spano reading in case you are in the process of finish- Aleksiana Rukaj looking for an answer if ing the second book Lindon Ulaj your parent is asking, Catching Fire. Donovan Smith “What are you reading?” The final book Liam King too. Mockingjay is waiting for Stefan Swee Jordan Sonnen- me. The books follow the Sean Moran blick is an author whose main characters Katniss Noah Volkman books I had been read- and Peeta through the Joseph Melillo ing. It started with a Hunger Games—a do or partnership read in Mr. die competition that is Pappas’ 2nd period ELA aired live on TV. So far, class in December with the books have held my The Tusker Tribune is two classmates when we interest, peaked my curi- featured online and is selected the book, Notes osity and have been hard published weekly from the Midnight Driv- to put down. The genre (except during school er. This book was of these books is science- vacations) on the Som- ers Middle School Web- selected ironically be- fiction thriller and they site. It is entirely stu- cause it had three avail- haven't disappointed me dent-written by 6th, 7th able copies. The book yet! and 8th grade students from was an easy read and I So, if you are Somers Middle actually liked it. So, I looking for a new author School moved on to another one to explore, perhaps you 250 Route 202 of Sonnenblick’s books should walk yourself to Somers, NY, USA. Any SMS student is and then another and the SMS library, Somers eligible to write stories. then another. Library, Barnes and No- If interested, please e- I have read bles or hit the internet mail Advisor Dean Pappas at Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, for a download and check out the DPappas After Ever After and Curveball: books by Jordan Sonnenblick and @somersschools.org The Year I Lost My Grip. The Suzanne Collins so you have an books are good because they are answer when your parent asks, relatively short and filled with "What are you reading?" middle and high school themes

out, especially Tye Sheridan and his passionate Ready Player One portrayal of Wade Watts/Parzival. However, the most crucial reason for why I Continued from page 1 only gave the movie Ready Player One a 70% is because compared to the book, the movie is sub- The book contains a lot of references from par. For a person who's never read the book, the the 1980s that may be obscure to some kids today. movie would be amazing. However, after reading It is an adult novel after all. However, the movie the near-perfect book, watching the movie did not includes both references from the 1980s and mod- impress me as much. If the movie was exactly like ern references to satisfy both parent and child. the book, I would probably rate it a 9.5/10. The message of the story is to persevere If you are interested in thrilling, action- through any condition, believe in yourself and be packed novels, I would recommend reading the loyal to your friends. book before watching the movie. However, you can Overall, I would give the movie a 7/10. The still enjoy the movie without having any idea cinematography and the CGI were stunning. The about the book. It's a family-friendly film with a acting was average, but certain characters stood good message. The Tusker Tribune Page 3 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

Shattered Time to Get Rid By Juliana Spano Tusker Tribune Staff Of Winter Break?

She holds it knowing it could break at any second; By Aleksiana Rukaj She grips it tighter Tusker Tribune Staff and releases; Many students are outraged! As soon as we had that week off school due to the She isn't moving, Nor’ easter, we just knew that our spring too afraid to drop break was in the dumps. it; Most students had already made plans for the spring break to go away and could not She shuts her cancel. The debate continues, though. Should we eyes, get rid of mid-winter break for next year or not? takes a deep As soon as we students had no spring breath, break left, we all thought "wouldn't it be smart- and stretches her er to replenish the mid-winter break?" Well, I hand out, think so! And here's why: They give us a mid- letting it shatter on the floor. February break just in case we have snow days during it (so that they don't take off our spring She falls to her knees, break) but if we didn't have mid-winter break, and she covers her eyes, that would leave us more snow days to use up in as the tears flow. case we did need them (which in this case, we It's broken would have). Wouldn't that be more beneficial to and it can't be fixed. not only the students, but the staff as well? She will never be fixed. I surveyed a student and got her take on this new idea. I surveyed Hester Turner on how She stands. she felt about the mid-winter break idea. "I She walks away think that this would be a better idea than hav- with one piece of her shattered heart ; ing only a couple of snow days to use rather Not letting it go until it's fixed. than being able to have a lot more!" March Madness Recap

By Lindon Ulaj tournament has happened. Anyone can beat any- Tusker Tribune Staff one so the games are exciting to watch. As many people know, March People bet thousands of dollars on teams. Madness is a very popular event. It is The NCAA has made a program where you make watched by millions of people across the a bracket and you pick one out of the two teams. country and throughout the world. If you get it right, you get a point. There are many rounds Once the tournament is taken down included with this college Basket- to the championship, you get 32 ball tournament, with about 64 points if your prediction is right. teams. This takes place through- Last week, the championship was out March. This gets all the way held in San Antonio with Villanova down to the championship, which and Michigan battling for the cham- was held in San Antonio, Texas pionship. Only one can win, which this year. was Villanova. This team had beaten There are many rounds many records throughout this tour- such as Elite 8, Sweet 16, Round nament, such as most 3 pointers in a of 64, etc. This tournament has single game. the top teams in the country play- Also, in the most recent champion- ing each other. What makes this ship game, one of Villanova bench tournament the most popular? Any team can beat players broke a record never seen before. He was anyone. This year, a 16th-seeded team beat the Donte DiVincenzo and he had scored 31 points in top-rated team from Virginia. This was the first a single college game. This was the most in a col- time ever this has happened in all the years this lege championship game. Overall, this is one of America’s top playoffs to watch. The Tusker Tribune Page 4 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School The Power of Memes

By Stefan Swee There are also Dead memes. Dead memes Tusker Tribune Staff are memes that are longer funny. Just to What are memes? list a few there are the Harambe memes, Many people ask, including Dat boi memes, do you know da wae my mom multiple times. memes, salt bæ memes, Joe Biden Memes are the meaning of memes, Hey Beter memes, boss baby life, the reason we get up in the memes and many more. morning, the reason the Internet ex- People who like those memes are called ists and the reason a lot of people get Normies or dead memers . Normies like in trouble for looking at their phone dead memes. These are some memes in school. that used to be funny in 2016 but are now dead. There are many types of memes like ironic You can search up Meme of the Month calendars memes, Dank memes, edgy memes and many oth- and you can see some memes of the year but most ers I'm not allowed to talk about. of them are dead by now. State Testing Time! Is it Worthwhile? Music Report

By Noah Volkman By Joseph Melillo Tusker Tribune Staff Tusker Tribune Staff Are the NYS test worth taking? Invasion of Privacy – Cardi B Many students and adults do not see the point in taking these tests. She is the new Queen of I'm Joseph Melillo and I'm going to tell you Rap. She is engaged to about the state test. The state test takes 2 days, rapper Offset of Migos. and two hours during the school day is set aside She is pregnant. She is for testing periods. However, if a student needs releasing her debut al- more time, he or she can take that time beyond bum, Invasion of Priva- the regular testing period. cy, tomorrow. "Bodak On day one of state testing students need Yellow" was a hit, to complete 35 multiple choice questions. On day "Bartier Cardi" was a 2 students need to hit, "Be Careful" is com- complete 6 short ing on the rise, etc. She response questions is taking over. and 1 extended re- Bodak Yellow sponse question. Bartier Cardi (featuring 21 Savage) Many students do Be Careful not like these tests. Drip (featuring Migos) They ask, what is the point in taking it? We students Chanel (feat. already take the Pharrell) - Rae STAR math and Sremmurd STAR reading assessments. If the state really needs to see how our students are doing, they can Pleeease, Rae Srem- just take the results from our STAR tests. murd! Just put out The state test is just putting more stress SremmLife 3! And on the students. That stress is piled onto the stop releasing your stress from having to go to school on spring break singles as "Swae days. Also, the state test makes the school run on Lee, Slim Jxmmi & a two-hour delay schedule. This also aggravates Rae Sremmurd"! teachers because the last time we had a full week Swae Lee and Slim was almost a month ago, so the shortened periods Jxmmi are Rae are tough for fitting in lessons. There is also a lot Sremmurd! of homework, so students have a lot of stress from Chanel (featuring the homework. Pharrell) Maybe it’s time to look at a different way of assessing our progress!