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The Tusker Tribune The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

Issue Number 28 https://www.somersschools.org/Page/11489 Spring 2019 ‘Who’ is the Best Tusker?

Can you guess the faculty members be- hind the trunks during this past week- end’s produc- tion of “Seussical”?

Debate Over State Tests Tusker Tribune Commentary: Continues Lockdown During Passing Time By Isaac Like Made Sense Tusker Tribune Staff State tests have been around for years. For ELA, which we took last By Chloe Monachelli week, the includes around 35 ques- Tusker Tribune Staff tions with 4 stories in it and 5 writing questions. I believe that this lockdown in be- The math test, which we’ll take in May, tween classes that we have had recently has around 50 questions. was very necessary. These tests causes unnecessary stress, for Usually with our lockdown drills, they teachers and schools. A lot of people wonder if have been during a class, meaning that every stu- it’s worth it? dent was already in a safe classroom and pre- Every year there is always talk if the test pared. Not this time should happen and who opts out or not. I’ve nev- though. Students were er opted out because I believe it helps you pre- scattered all over the pare for your SATs in high school. school hallways. Nobody However, the tests are boring and waste other than the teachers about 8 hours of learning each year. The test and staff were aware of causes stress that no one should need if they’re what was going on. not getting graded on it. The teachers did a So what’s the point? great job making sure all One good thing students were safe and is that the test is no secure in a safe classroom longer used to evaluate (out of sight of course). whether a teacher is Yes, it was a little teaching students the nerve wracking for students at first, but it taught correct information. But us all a very important that can save our lives. If it still seems to be a big a tragic situation like this happened in real life, disruption on the school year. we would have a much better chance of staying In my opinion the test should not be even safe. an option and the time could be spent better I highly suggest having a lockdown drill in teaching kids the curriculum. between classes to other schools. It teaches a great lesson and can save lives. The Tusker Tribune Page 2 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School ‘The Vessel’ Makes a Hugh Impression

By Natalia Tellez stairs and if not, there Tusker Tribune Staff is an elevator ready The Vessel, a $200 million stair- for them. way to nowhere, is the new piece of archi- My family and tecture built in Hudson Yards Public I went, and it was an Square in City. The amazing spiral staircase is a new land- experience mark meant for visitors to climb and struc- and enjoy the view. The concept ture, but for The Vessel was revealed in we didn’t 2016, construction started in know we April 2017, and it opened on had to buy tickets in advance, so unfor- March 15, 2019. The pieces of The tunately, we didn’t get to climb it. If Vessel were assembled in Monfal- you do plan on going, (and you should!), cone in Italy. From there the piec- make sure to buy tickets before visiting es were transported by ships to since The Vessel can only hold 1,000 the Hudson River docks. people per day and it is usually pretty The design was full. The good part is that tickets to thought up by Thomas Heatherwick and the The Vessel are free and the only reason you must Heatherwick Studio and is meant to be a place purchase one is so you have a reserved spot allow- “where people can enjoy new perspectives of the ing you to climb. city and one another Overall, The Vessel is an amazing from different heights, piece of architecture angles and vantage that allows you to get a points.” It is made up of great view, enjoy time over 154 connected with family, and get flight of stairs with some exercise in. I per- 2,500 steps and 80 land- sonally recommend go- ings making almost the ing to the city and visit- distance of one mile. ing Hudson Yards to Visitors can try see the new and incred- to make it to the top ible structure called and go up all those The Vessel.

Video Game Review:

By Andrew Fasone But after you pick your school that Tusker Tribune you’re happy with, you next choose Staff what you want your character to Wizard101 was look like. You get to choose the face, released on September eyes, mouth, etc. 2nd, 2008 and was followed by Then you choose the color of the release of Pirate101 in the robe you want and you can split 2012. The game has had many it into two sections—a top half and a updates over the years that bottom half. Then you go through a changed many things about tutorial, but you can skip it if you the game, but first you need to want to. pick the school that you want Then you get thrown into the to be. real world. If you’re dedicated You can choose be- enough to the game, you can get tween Life, Death, Fire, Ice, your wizard up to level 100+ and Thunder, Myth, and The Balance schools. Once this doesn't apply to one school. You can get your you pick your school, there's no changing unless wizard of any school to this level. you make a new character and start all over again. Continued on Page 4 The Tusker Tribune Page 3 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

Homework Let School Start Hassle? Later! By Isaac Like Tusker Tribune Staff By Isaac Like ‘’Ugh I really don’t want to Tusker Tribune Staff do this.’’ Who has ever wanted to wake up early? You have probably thought I know I haven’t. about this more times than cars honk in Many students face waking up from a . daily time every day and never get enough sleep, so Who likes homework? Not me and how we fix this? For one, schools need to change start I’m sure whoever reads this doesn’t ei- times. For SMS, I have to wake ther. Homework had been around as long up at 7:00 each day and that’s on as school had been and still nobody likes the later end of the students. it so why get it? When I’m driven to school, Homework is used as a study or I get up at 7:30 but is that ‘’recap’’ of your lesson that you do out of enough? Teens are supposed to the class and, if get around 9 and a half hours of you will, sleep but how do you get that ‘’home.’’ The much? Is your brain is pro- problem is with grammed while growing to fall asleep around 11:00? homework is You simply can’t and that is why some students cannot that most stu- be active and participate. dents sit Studies have been shown at American College of through a Chest Physicians (ACCP) that shows a significant de- whole school crease in teen driving accidents when school start is day delayed. This is decreased because the teens were able (approximately to focus more. 6 hours) and go Let’s push for more sleep! home to do more work, which is agoniz- ing. Teachers, of course, know this so why don’t they just tell you to study? I believe homework should not be allowed because giving homework is like having another period of your class and no one wants that, especially because kids barely want to go to school in the first place! Also, many kids are busy with sports or extracurricular activities, so all of us students ask, Drop the homework!

The Tusker Tribune is the online Somers Middle School Student Newspaper. It is published weekly (except during school vacations) on the Somers Middle School Stories Coming Website. It is entirely student-written by Up April 26: 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from: Somers Middle School  Social Action Day! 250 Route 202  World Languages Somers, NY, USA. Day! Any SMS student is eligible to write sto-  Who Shot Mr. ries. If interested, please e-mail Burns? A ‘Simpsons’ mys- Advisor Dean Pappas at tery! [email protected]  Bronx Zoo trip! The Tusker Tribune Page 4 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School Somers Impresses at The Fountain of Death By Eric Amante Regional Hoops Tusker Tribune Staff Now let me just say for all stu- Tournament! dents, we are very annoyed that almost By Katie Faivre all the water fountains Tusker Tribune Contributor in this school are at low Somers Special Olympics team filter status. This problem has placed second in their division in the Westches- been going on for a very long time ter Putnam Regional Basketball Tournament on and has annoyed me and many Sunday, March 31 at Marist College. SMS other students who just want to students on the team include 8th grader Joseph drink water without worrying what's in it. Some Cilento, and 7th graders Phillip Ziegler and examples of these filters are the following: Tommy O'Connor. Sorry for the low image quality. Almost every single water fountain in the school looks like this except for the ones with no filter status reader, but it’s all the same pipes so I don’t think it matters. I don’t think that anyone is going to fix it anytime soon. Which is why I am bringing attention to it now. I think I speak for all students when I say that it bothers us that we need to worry about what is in our water at school. It is unfair to the stu- dents that need to walk all the way across the school to the cafeteria to just get clean water. And it is unfair to the teachers that wait for the stu- dent to come all the way back. So I am calling this out so someone can fix it because it is very annoy- ing to all the students and teachers in the school. Editor’s Note: a follow-up with Buildings and Grounds revealed that while the water filter lights may not be green, the water is safe to drink. Wizard But next school, the Ice school, allows you From Page 2 to get the most amount of health. I am pretty sure But since we’re on the topic of different that the max is 10,000 but I could be wrong. In schools, I'm going to talk about them. So, starting this class you can get the resistance shield. What off with Thunder, Thunder is the most powerful it does is if someone attacks you with something, class, at least from my experience. that shield blocks most of what it does, so it They have the most powerful damag- does less damage to you. ing spells out of all the spells but The next school is the Fire school. With this that doesn't mean they’re the most school there is the after-affect thing. Basically, useful or the best spells. you hit someone and with some attacks and Life is the only class that can does what it supposed to. But after that it heal everybody, not including death, leaves a little square that circles around your because that’s different. They are ba- opponent. What that does is every time it's sically the healers of the classes. But their turn, it deals some damage to them be- that’s not all they have. The Life fore they go. It can be really useful sometimes school still has a lot of attacks but and at other times, not so useful. It really de- some of their attacks get replaces with, of course, pends on when you play it. the heals. You can even get a healer pet which The last three schools are Death, Myth and would sometimes heal you or your entire team de- Balance. All these schools have special features pending on the amount of people you have with them. With Death, you attack somebody, and you you. But even when you’re alone, they could do a get 50% of health back from that attack. With deal that would heal everyone if you had more peo- Myth, you can summon minions to help you out ple. The best thing about these pets is that they when you're fighting somebody. And with Balance, don’t die. They stay with you until you or your op- it has a little bit of every school’s special features ponent wins. except for the Death school. The Tusker Tribune Page 5 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School Free Agents in 2020

By Jesse Manginelli of .250. The next team is Tusker Tribune Staff the Red Sox. These play- 2020 is a pretty year for baseball ers might be the two big- fans and pros alike. There are some top gest upcoming free tier players that will soon become free agents. They are Chris agents in 2020. Sale and Xander Bogarts. Let’s start off with upcoming free agents Now that’s all the big up- from the American League East. For the Blue coming free agents for Jays, there are a couple of upcoming free agents the American League but this one is the best so far this season. The up- East but now I will go coming free agent player is Justin Smoak. Smoak over the best upcoming is the Blue Jays’ first baseman and he has so far free agents by position. hit one home run this season, but 170 total home The catchers are Francis- runs in his entire career. co Cervelli and Yasmani The next team is the Orioles. The Orioles Grandal. For first base have a few there are Jose Abreu and Matt Carpenter. upcoming free For second base, two players are Scooter agents but the Jennet and Johnathan Schoop. At third there are biggest one is Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson. Mark Trum- The upcoming free agent shortstop is Didi bo. Trumbo Gregorius. The outfielders are Marcell Ozuna and has hit 218 Yasiel Puig. The designated hitters are Khris Da- home runs in vis and J.D. Martinez. his career and The pitchers are Madison Bumgarner, has an all Rick Porcello, and Dellin Betances. I guess we time batting will just have to wait and see. Who do you think average will leave their team in 2020?

Co-Editors NBA Playoffs Picture Noah Volkman Joseph Melillo

By Arjun Ojha Feature Editor Tusker Tribune Staff Samuel Sanz The NBA regular season is now over. The teams in the playoffs are now revealed. The Sports Editor top 8 teams from the Eastern and Con- Jesse Manginelli ference make it to the playoffs. The NBA playoffs start on Saturday, April 13th. Photography Editor The playoff bracket is as follows: The 1 seed plays the Allison O’Connor 8 seed, the 2 seed plays the 7 seed, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed, and the 4 seed plays the 5 seed. Copy Editors In the Eastern Conference, William Underkoffler the Milwaukee Bucks play Michael Aiello the Pistons, the To- ronto Raptors play the Orlan- Reporters do Magic, the Natalia Tellez 76ers play the Brooklyn Nets, Isaac Like and the Celtics play Jesse Manginelli the Pacers. Arjun Ojha On the Western Conference, Chloe Monachelli the Golden State Warriors Noah Volkman play the Clippers, the Denver Nuggets Eric Amante play the Spurs, the Portland Trailblazers Andrew Fasone play the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Katie Faivre Rockets play the Utah Jazz. In the Eastern Conference, the last seed for the NBA playoffs were decided by the last game of the NBA regular season. The Tusker Tribune Page 6 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School Hip-Hop’s Love for WWE

By Noah Volkman Uzi Vert and Post Malone have referenced the Tusker Tribune Staff sport in their bars too. In 2018, Curry performed a Hip Hop and WWE have a long his- wrestling-inspired show with the Flatbush Zom- tory. With its larger-than-life personali- bies in his hometown of Miami. Art Eilliott ties, flashy style and sheer competition, said, “It’s very few times you can have something the hip hop community has found plenty of else related to music that’s so synonymous like inspiration inside the ring. Ac- wrestling. A lot of people cording to data, there have been watch wrestling, or they listen over two thousand references to to hip-hop, but I feel like we’re the franchise, from Mr. T and fans of the culture of wres- to and the tling. We grew up watching Rock. I decided to look at some of that ****. This is like literally the most memorable moments. a dream come true. Post First up, , with Malone’s “Go Flex” is a tribute references on songs like “Don’t to . As Like.1” by Kanye West, Pusha T, a WWE fan, he’s made friends Chief Keef, Jadakiss and Big with the stars, and even Sean. Flair’s vibrant personality brought on and signature “woo” put the two-time Hall of tour—there might even be a collab in the works. Famer into the history books as one of the great- “Maybe we’ll do a song together. Maybe he’ll take est wrestlers of all time. The Nature Boy was some trash at the beginning. That’d be super sick, known for his extravagant and classy personality super tight,” Malone said. inside and outside of the ring. Ric once flexed, “I Open Mike Eagle, Murs and Wale add to dress myself in cashmere. Yeah. I dress myself in the list of hip hop superfans. Wale’s WaleMania is $100 pleated slacks. I dress myself in alligator celebrating its fifth year, bringing big personali- shoes. I wear a $15,000 Rolex.” ties together from both industries. And the admi- His robes were a staple early in his career, ration is mutual. Apart from the countless refer- and inspired Ghostface Killah. and Metro ences in hip-hop verses, the WWE community has Boomin also paid homage to equally embraced hip-hop. Flair’s fashion on their 2017 One of the earliest instances track, “Ric Flair Drip” and re- of the two worlds colliding cruited him for the video. came in 1989 when Run- “Wheeling-dealing, limousine- DMC graced the ring with a riding, jet-flying, drippin’ son of special Wrestlemania Rap. a guns!” Since then, countless Next up, the Undertaker, with artists like Salt n Pepa, references on songs like Puffy, Wiz Khalifa and “Portland” by Drake, and Snoop have all stepped into Travis Scott. the arena. The latter even The Deadman’s demeanor became the first musician and signature eye roll cemented inducted into the WWE Hall his status as a WWE fan favor- of Fame. In 2000, The Rock ite. references The was featured on Wyclef’s “It Phenom’s entrance on his 2017 Doesn’t Matter” delivering track, “Tu No Metes Cabra.” his signature line. That Bunny’s love for WWE continues with his refer- same year, rappers and wrestlers joined forces on ence to Stone Cold Steve Austin and enlisting WWF Aggression, reworking the themes for the help from Ric Flair for his “Chambea” music vid- sport’s best athletes. The featured Snoop eo. In an interview, Bunny talked about growing Dogg, Method man and more and even debuted at up watching the sport and the significance of #8 on the Billboard 200 chart. meeting the greats saying, “it’s like fulfilling your And one of the most renowned wrestlers childhood dreams, not as an artist or career got their start on the WWE mainstage as a bad dreams, but your kids dream.” And both Bad Bun- boy, sporting large chains and jerseys. , ny and J Balvin paid homage to WWE greats on who dubbed himself the ‘Doctor of Thuganomics,’ ’s 2018 hit, “I Like It” with Bunny refer- entered the ring with raps for his opponents. In encing the late wrestler, . And 2005 he released his debut studio album, “You Balvin likening a woman falling over him to Jim- Can’t See Me,” which peaked at #15 on the Bill- my “Superfly” Snuka’s signature move. board 200. What are some of your favorite WWE Artists like Denzel Curry, , Lil and rap moments?