Kelly Clarkson Songs

Many people know the famous singer Kelly Clarkson. She won the 2002 American Idol, and is now producing many songs that are very catchy to many people. Her voice distributes a very powerful and strong tone which gives everyone energy. Some songs that are sung by her are:

#1: Dark Side - "Everybodys got a dark side." True. This song reveals one's true self. Even though people are nice, they can have their mean days as well. This displays how every good person can have a dark side.

#2: Catch My Breath - Just a beautiful song about life. Words can't describe this song.

#3: What Doesn't Kill You - CRANK UP THE RADIO. Because this song is gonna blow your mind. For all those people who can't find a speck of light in the doorway, you can with this song. It teaches you to feel stronger than you were originally. It just fills you confidence and positivity that you thought you never had. Brilliant :)

#5: Because of You - A sad moving song about not letting her family get hurt (in the music video). Also with a nice powerful voice, that everyone will love.

#6: Since You've Been Gone - The typical song talking about a possible relationship scenario. :)

Kelly Clarkson is an amazing singer. Her voice is worthwhile to listen to. So check the songs out. :)

-Joanne Y. 

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Finding Old Writing

Have you decided to go through the forgotten files on your computer, dusty diaries, unfinished journals,  and torn up notebooks from school; rediscovering old pieces from when you were younger? When you read the words that you have written so long ago, you realize how much things have changed. I always enjoyed finding writing because it reminds me of who I used to be. It can bring up a lot of memories; what you were doing and how you felt. Maybe you'll stumble upon a letter you wrote to the president in the third grade and find a stain only to remember that you were drinking cola at the time and spilled a little. Then you smile because its part of the person you might not be anymore. I think everyone should get into the habit of saving their affairs with words because its always an accurate portal back into the past.

-Kristy (Edited/Modified: Kristin)

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Brain Busters!

Since its been a while since these were posted here's three questions for the price of one:

Puzzle 1:
If you are in a dark room with a candle, a wood stove and a gas lamp. You only have one match, so what do you light first?

Puzzle 2:

Can you name four days which start with the letter "T"?

Puzzle 3:

A Name Train is a puzzle where each name is connected together like box cars in a train. You are given the first car (the Engine) and the last car (the caboose), and you have to fill in the car or cars in between. Every two consecutive cars will form a name of a person or character. Here is an example Name Train: Joan [ ] Li. The answer is Joan Jet Li (Joan Jet-Female singer, Jet Li-Actor) Ready? OK here goes:

1. Chris [ ] Hudson
2. Chris [ ] Asimov
3. Boy [ ] [ ] Ford
4. Elton [ ] [ ] Newton5. Curious [ ] [ ] [ ] Browne

*Answers to all previous teasers will be posted next Monday with the newest teasers*

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Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

Author & Director: Touno Mamare & Takeo Takahashi 

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Summary: Typical setting where the Yuusha (Hero) fight the Maou (Demon king) to save humanity, but there is a twist,  when the Hero meets the Maou he finds out it wasn't a Demon King but a Demon Queen. Also the Demon Queen enlightens the Hero about how the war between the humans and demons is a good thing. If the humans were to not fight demons they would fight each other, thus a civil war, but if they fight demons they join together.  More humans die in civil wars than when fighting with demons. So the Hero was persuaded by the Demon Queen and is going to aid her, they seal this partnership with a kiss. This is an ongoing anime and there is 4 episode so far and each episode last about 23 minutes. 

- Eric Mei, Entertainment

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The Movie Mama

I've wanted to go to the movies for a while now, so with it being Regents week and all I decided to go. My friend and I decided to watch Mama because it was a scary movie and it sounded pretty interesting. The movie was very interesting and not like other “scary” movies. The plot was unique. The movie is about two little girls who are abandoned to live in a cabin deep in the woods after their parents’ death. The father of the girls’ murdered their mother and two of his co-worker prior and after that he comes to get the girls and drives recklessly to an unknown destination and ends up in an accident. The father attempts to kill his daughter but “Mama” kills him before he gets the chance to. Basically these girls are left abandoned in this cabin for years and grow attached to a ghost named Mama who  takes care of them. Five years later they are finally found and go to live with their uncle and his girlfriend Annabelle.  The girls’ are traumatized by the way they've been living and are having trouble adapting to their new home. Mama follows them to the new home and haunts anyone who tries to get close to the girls. It turns out Mama is the ghost of a woman who escaped a mental asylum and committed suicide with her baby by jumping off of a clip. In the end of the movie Mama tries to take the girls and jump of the cliff to take them.  Annabelle is determined to stop it and takes one of the girls back, but at the end the other one refuses and jumps off the cliff with Mama and becomes a ghost. The movie was very confusing, I wish it had a better ending because it was weird how they separated the sisters’ by one of them staying with Annabelle and their uncle and one of them going with Mama. Also it was never clear exactly who Mama was.  I found the movie not to be scary at all, in fact I was laughing most of the time because everything was over dramatic and completely fake. The movie was decent and was worth the money but if you’re looking for a good scare, look elsewhere!

- Eleftheria Kalaitzis, Entertainment

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Movie Review: Skyfall

Hi everyone,

I hope you guys are having fun or at least more sleep this week! Also, good luck to those of you who still have tests to take! It's been super cold lately, so be sure to dress warmly before heading outside. ^w^ Anyways, today, I'll be reviewing the movie, Skyfall. I don't remember much about it because I saw it a few months ago, but I do remember what I liked and disliked about it, so be prepared for a bad summary this time! OTL

*WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!*

Summary:
The movie starts out with the main character, James Bond, who enters some building and discovers this guy (presumably someone who worked for MI6, the governmental agency Bonds works for) who's shot. Bond then leaves the building and gets into this car that this woman drove over. They proceed to chase this guy who possesses a hard drive that contains the names of MI6 agents. During a scene in which Bond and the guy fight on a train, Bond gets injured. While still fighting, the woman gets in position to snipe the guy, but when M, the head of MI6, orders her to shoot, the woman shoots Bond by accident, and he falls down and into raging waters. The guy with the hard drive manages to escape, and Bond is assumed to be dead.

Some time later, with M watching, the MI6 building is blown up by a bomb. I don't remember exactly remember what happens next, but it is shown that Bond did not die after all, and is living on some island in secrecy. He learns about the bombing, and returns to help M. After undergoing tests to see if he is fit enough to return to duty, M declares that the tests were successful and he can return to duty. After he leaves, she reveals that he failed, but that he is needed, so she overlooked the tests.

I won't spoil the rest, but Bond goes on a quest to find out who has the drive and to stop whoever's been trying to destroy MI6.

What I liked about it:
Prior to Skyfall, I have never watched any James Bond movies before, and I have always believed that Bond was this impossibly skilled man who was cool and could handle any situation thrown at him. I thought he never had any trouble and never had any difficulty in completing his mission. Watching this movie made me learn that Bond was not as "perfect" as he seemed before. In this movie, I saw that he was capable of mistakes and capable of being hurt. He was vulnerable at times and was sentimental about the people important to him.

I also remember this one scene in which Bond got caught by this bad guy, and when the bad guy suggestively put his hand on Bond's thigh, Bond was all "how do you know I haven't done this before?," and the audience went "OOOHHH!!!!~~" because of what the scene was insinuating. I thought that part was really funny because of the audience's reaction (of course, I was like "OOOHHH!!!!~~" as well xD).

What I disliked about it:
I didn't like how Bond didn't really get any cool equipment to use this time. I feel like that was a trademark of the series, so when all he got was a gun and this radio signal transmitter thing, I felt disappointed.

When the woman shot Bond by accident, I was like, "Noooo!!! What are you doing?! How can you just shoot the main character like that? Weren't you supposed to be a good sharpshooter?! Why did you brag about it if you weren't?!" and so on. Of course, it was difficult to snipe accurately from such a far distance, but it was still a bad call on M's part.

There was also this lady that Bond encounters, I think Severine was her name (with an accent mark somewhere in her name), and she died practically immediately after meeting Bond. I felt bad for the girl because she was the one who got Bond to meet the bad guy.

I don't know if I was just tired, but to me, it felt as if there was a lack of climax in the movie. Like I was all "Ohhhh noooo!!!" after Bond fell into the river, but after the MI6 building blew up, the rest of the movie just plateaued for me. Maybe it's just me though.

Overall:
The movie had its fair share of fight scenes and explosions, of course, and it had a somewhat meaningful plot, not some excuse for mindless fights and violence. I learned that Bond was just as prone to emotions and mistakes like we are, though I'm not sure if previous films were like that too. In addition to the lack of cool technology that is usually seen in Bond movies, the movie also seemed to plateau and didn't seem to have a climax. I feel like some people just watched the movie because of Bond's legacy in movies. Despite its bad points, though, you should still watch this movie if you haven't seen any Bond films before, and/or you enjoy action movies.

- Melissa He, 12th Grade, Editor/Writer for Entertainment

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Winter nights, how to keep warm

This winter has been incredibly cold, colder than the winters in past years. One thing that keeps me up at night is having cold feet. It’s terrible!!!  And a normal person would say put socks on, so I tried that, didn’t work, and then I tried fuzzy socks. Still didn’t work, and then one day I found these specific slippers, but instead of a hard sole at the bottom, a soft cushion was there. I bought them, and every since then I have been using them to prevent cold feet during those really cold winter nights. There were two options at the store, Old Navy where I bought them, really long ones that went up the calf, or short ones that stop at the ankle.  If you do decide to get them, I recommend only wearing it in your bed, that way the dirt from the floor won’t be in your bed with you.  Another great thing about these slippers is that they come in a bunch of different colors, sizes, and designs, so they are very fashionable.  One thing I did notice after washing them, and they wash just like regular clothes, is that they pick up lint; this wasn’t really a problem for me since I use it for sleeping, but it is something to keep in mind. So if you’re like me, and hate cold feet, pick these up and it will never be a problem again.

- Zakiyyah Mandisa 

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The Carrie Diaries

The Carrie Diaries is definitely, without a doubt  my new favorite show. It's the prequel to Sex and the City so the show takes place in the 80's. Way back when Carrie Bradshaw was only a teenager.
Carrie's mother recently died and the whole family was having a hard time dealing with it, especially when school starts again. In an attempt make Carrie more comfortable, her father arranges for an internship at a law firm in Manhattan. And that's when everything changes for Carrie. She discovers a whole new world and meets someone who allows her to be the person she wished she was.
Sadly, the show is new and there are only two episodes out so far which you can watch on cw.com.
I don't really know what makes this show so amazing. Maybe for me, it's the fashion. The sylist did an amazing job mixing modern fashion with the neons and bold prints of the 80's. My favorites are when Carrie arrives to work at the law firm and even though her attire is business appropriate, it's also very bold, chic, and colorful. And it doesn't hurt that half the show takes place in Manhattan, a place that I'm familiar with.

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DEALS WEEK

Alrighty, you gals, and guys, can get a free bracelet here if you support the Susan Komen cause. They’re going to mail you a brochure about the 3-day walk event explained on the website. You will need to fill out your address, email, and name… Of course, they will mail you the items in the mail, free of charge: http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage

Here’s a $1.50 off coupon for Burt’s Bee’s lotion. Both men and women need lotion. Who says that only females get to put on lotion?? Here: https://www.facebook.com/burtsbees/app_137656902971961

Need a little something for your loved ones? Here are printable Valentine’s day cards! They’re cute and free!! http://spoonful.com/valentines-day/printable-valentine-cards

Thinking of painting your room? Or if you’re like me, who doesn’t have their own rooms, just imagine painting the wall your bed is attached to… I know I can, I practically own that wall. Here’s a coupon for a free 8oz paint! I don’t think it will be able to paint an entire room, 8oz of paint is not a lot. But hey, it’s free… and it’s sample sized. So if you do like it, go buy the same color. After printing the coupon, you will have to go to your local Lowe’s to redeem the paint… https://www.facebook.com/ValsparPaint/app_134261630071163

- Linda Huang 

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Dead Space 3

Dead Space 3 is coming out in two weeks. The release date is going to be February 5th, 2013. For those who don't know what Dead Space is, it is a horror game. The title says it all. The game is a third person shooter type game. However, the game is really freaky. For those who want to give Dead Space 3 a try; try the first two since they are connected with the story line. The game is mostly a zombie type of game where you shoot around trying to survive. The basic start of the story line from the first game is in the future and that a space ship was in space and somehow got attacked by some mysterious force which killed many people in the ship, besides a few survivors. There was some kind of alien virus spreading that took control of dead bodies. The remaining survivors were trying to find a way to repair the ship and find out the mystery behind this madness. The second and third are the sequels. The series itself is 4.5/5 stars in my opinion. The first two Dead Space was pretty good in specs and easy to understand. I'm hoping the third one will be as good as the first two games. Please try this game out. It is on PC, PS3, and XBOX 360. The price of the game will be $50-$60. 

- Stephen Huang 

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BUNNIES ARE SO FLUFFY & CUTE

Bunnies are so fluffy and cute. I wonder why they don’t have a charming purr like a kitty or puppy. I guess bunnies are shy and are busy eating carrots; that makes them the more charming. Bunnies are so fluffy and cute that even a candy brand was made for them to honor their existence. Introducing the White Rabbit Candy, this candy is shaped near a rectangular prism and is warped in white, blue, black, and red with a white rabbit symbol. The White Rabbit Candy is manufactured by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd. The candy is white and has a sweet chewy taste that is addicting. Other than the printed waxed paper wrapper, the candy is warped with an edible thin sheet of paper made from sticky rice from within. The candy is developed by a merchant from Aipixi from Shanghai in 1943. He tasted a milk candy that he thought was pretty decent, so he decided to take the milk candy to another level, the cute and fluffy level. The White Rabbit Candy can be bought at a store with a funny name, Aji Ichiban. I love saying Ichiban. Anyways, Aji Ichiban is located at 37 Mott St, New York, NY 10013. Once again, bunnies are fluffy and cute, so I want a pet bunny. 

- Jia Wei Ong 

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Vampire Diaries Premiere – A Plus

 Last Thursday marked the new premiere of this season’s Vampire Diaries!  After the series took a quick hiatus in the middle of December and returned again this month.  This episode comes after Stefan and Elena broke up after their almost 3 year (real life wise) relationship.  In this episode, Elena finally reveals that after becoming a vampire, her feelings for Stefan’s brother Damon has magnified.  Also throughout all of this heartbreak and torment –mostly on Stefan’s side, there is a race to find the cure for immortality.  Pretty much all of the major characters in this television show want to find the cure for immortality.  The one with the key is Elena’s brother Jeremy and he must kill vampires in order for his tattoo to grow which leads to finding the cure. 

                Honestly, I thought this episode was amazing! It was so suspenseful and I could not take my eyes off of it.  I was so eager to find out what was going to happen next and I felt for all of the characters.  After watching the show for a little more than 3 years, I have felt so connected to each of their stories.  This episode has changed so much from what the series was like in the beginning.   I feel as each character has grown so much from the beginning of the show.  If you are into vampire stories or any other supernatural stories, I think you should definitely watch The Vampire Diaries.  It is an amazing show!

- Giselle Barkley, Entertainment

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Video Game Updates

DMC: Devil May Cry was just released five days ago so go check it out. For those of you that don’t know Devil May Cry is, it is a hack and slash type game that has you fighting against demons in a setting called Limbo. It features an alternate story compared to the other games in the series.

Far Cry 3 is releasing a bundle containing four DLCs that could have only been obtained by pre-ordering the game before it was released. The bundle contains The Lost Expeditions, The Monkey Business Pack, The Warrior, and The Predator Pack. These four packages give six single player missions, four new animals to hunt, and other things you can get for single player and multiplayer.

For the fans of the Sly Cooper series, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is finally being released after over half a decade. It’s being released February 5, 2013. The game will involve Sly and his gang of thieves traveling back into time to find out what is making the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus disappear. The game will bring back the original three playable characters and it will also allow you to play as Carmelita and Sly’s ancestors. If you want to check out the first two hours of game play of this game, go check out IGN and search for the two hour commentary game play with the directors of the game.

- Alan Chen, Entertainment: Video Games

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Shinsekai Yori

Director: Masashi Ishihama

Genres: Drama, Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Mystery

Summary: In this anime there are 5 protagonist and their names are, Saki, Shun, Mamoru, Maria, and Satoru. They are in a world that is far off into the future from ours; during their time they have this unique power, a power that is psychic (controlling things with their wills). They attend school like any other children but there is a catch, for some reason the students whom are not doing well and have no improvements disappear without a trace. The adults seem to be keeping a secret from the students too. The 5 protagonist slowly learn new things about this world, that this world is not as peaceful as it seems; with lots of mysteries to be unfolded. So far there is 16 episodes and the anime is ongoing.  

- Eric Mei, Entertainment

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Video Game Updates

DMC: Devil May Cry was just released five days ago so go check it out. For those of you that don’t know Devil May Cry is, it is a hack and slash type game that has you fighting against demons in a setting called Limbo. It features an alternate story compared to the other games in the series.

Far Cry 3 is releasing a bundle containing four DLCs that could have only been obtained by pre-ordering the game before it was released. The bundle contains The Lost Expeditions, The Monkey Business Pack, The Warrior, and The Predator Pack. These four packages give six single player missions, four new animals to hunt, and other things you can get for single player and multiplayer.

For the fans of the Sly Cooper series, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is finally being released after over half a decade. It’s being released February 5, 2013. The game will involve Sly and his gang of thieves traveling back into time to find out what is making the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus disappear. The game will bring back the original three playable characters and it will also allow you to play as Carmelita and Sly’s ancestors. If you want to check out the first two hours of gameplay of this game, go check out IGN and search for the two hour commentary gameplay with the directors of the game. 

- Alan Chen

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Fencing!

Get ready for Spring sports!! The Girl's Fencing Team are hoping to get new girls to join the team. The team was developed last year and might not be known in school, but there is a fencing team in the school. Around next month, people from the girls fencing team will go around and ask if girls are interested in joining the team. In the fencing team it's split between two groups, foil and epee. In foil you are only allowed to attack your opponent on the upper body and in epee you can attack your opponent anywhere. You don't need experience to join the team. I remember when I joined the team I had no experience on how to fence and after one season not only do I know how to fence and is a starter for the epee group along with Esther, Stephanie, Katie, and Grace.  On the foil group is our captain Alexa, Susan, Zoe, D'Andra, and Sharon.


- Susanna Qiu

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J.K.O v. Baruch

On Thursday, January 10th, the Baruch Boys’ Varsity Basketball team took on J.K.O, in their second appearance. The first game that took place back in November, the Blue Devils had successfully won against them by 20 points, leading up to the first win of the season. We had won at our home court, and now we were set to play in theirs.

The game started with J.K.O handling the tip and easily scoring within the first few seconds of the game. The game continued to progress, but J.K.O couldn’t stop the Blue Devils, easily opening up the first quarter with a 15-9 lead. The harassment didn’t stop from the Baruchians, who slowly slipped under the weak 2-3 defense of J.K.O. At the half, the Blue Devils led 32-19. It seemed to the Blue Devils that it would be another blow out game, but J.K.O came out of their huddle with a burning desire to take back the game.

The problem with our team is, and always has been defense. Although we had a 13 point lead, our coach, HowardSoskind told us during the half, “we shouldn’t be winning by 13,we should be winning by 23.” It wasn’t a pretty game, coming from both teams, but the game continued.

J.K.O managed to slowly break apart our defense even further, and by the time we realized what had happened, J.K.O outscored us in the third quarter, 12-10, making the score 42-31 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The game continued to slide from the Blue Devils from there, with J.K.O continuing to attack the basket and playing better, but not amazing defense.

As the game came down to the final 2 minutes, the score had closed, and we were holding onto a 3 point lead. J.K.O could not be stopped, because our defense was allowing the ball to get to the rim.

But the Blue Devils started to regain their composure, trading baskets, but then moving away from J.K.O by making smart plays, and not rushing the ball. The final score was 50-45, Blue Devils. Although we pulled off a win, the team and coach were not satisfied. It had been a close game, even when we knew we were the better team. But in the end, all that matters is the win, and it makes us strive for more wins to get into the playoffs.

-Joseph P. (12)

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Pretty Little Liars Premiere, Thumbs Down

Finally after a long anticipating 6-month wait Pretty Little Liars returned for their 4^th season on ABC Family on Tuesday. For the past few months Pretty Little Liars fans have been teased with the trailers and sneak peeks of the premiere. I dislike when show producers do this when the premiere is still far away because it makes you so anxious to see what will happen during the episode. After watching all the intriguing sneak peek and trailers I decided that it was worth it to put an hour aside that night and watch it. To be honest it wasn’t all that great. Half the things shown in the trailer weren’t even shown during this episode. That is one of the most annoying things because you wait so long to watch a premiere you at least expect it to be everything they said it was supposed to be like in the trailer.  A premiere is supposed to be great so it hooks the viewer from the start and makes them compelled to watch the whole season. It was just an average episode nothing that deserved any hype or excitement. The storyline just keeps getting more confusing, I believe it’s good for a producer to add twists but no so many that causes the viewer to always be confused. Overall, the premiere was pretty disappointing and I’m hoping the episodes get better as the season

 progresses.

- Eleftheria Kalaitzis

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Youtube Singers

Not many songs seem catchy these days. Either its too repetitive in lyrics or the composition of the beats just isn't right. So I've decided that I'll list come songs that are sung by some famous Youtube singers. One singer: Jason Chen a.k.a, miniachilles, recently released his new single, Invisible. The song is really catchy for those R&B lovers, and the beat is very nice. His cover It Girl by Jason DeRulo is also a very good song. His twist on the lyrics is very soothing and romantic, along with Megan Nicole's voice is an absolute match.

Another singer on Youtube, Dave a.k.a, davedays is famous for his music video, What Does it Take. It's a rock and pop combo which is also very catchy. This music video was filmed by WongFuProductions on Youtube (their shorts have very nice plots), which enhances beat the song. 

Lastly, David Choi on Youtube is also famous for making music with his acoustic guitar. His song By My Side is very nice and calming, as if he was part of nature. He just naturally sings well in his songs, and his growth on youtube is amazing. 

Not many people realize that there are some pretty good singers in the world of Youtube, but there is. It's not fair for famous people to take all the credit of having the best song on Billboard, which is why Youtube singers should be well known to balance out the competition of having the best song. Support the three Youtubers above, and roam through their songs - it's amazing.

- Joanne Yu 

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Another Reason to go visit Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island is a severely underrated island in New York City. It has quaint restaurants, friendly people, a cool art gallery and an interesting set of sculptures in the East River called The Marriage of Real Estate and Money by Tom Otterness, cool name right? One of the statues represents when Real Estate doesn’t make money, another shows when they “live” together harmoniously, and the other one shows the economy when real estate is nonexistent. Though I really do not care about economic studies, these statues interest me because when the river is in high tide, the imbalanced statues look like they’re sinking but the balanced statues stays the same. It’s an unnoticed genius and it makes me wonder how he calculated the depth of the river to suit the idea he was trying show. I think Ms. Cogan’s Bridge project has forever forced me to see the math behind everything. Did he have to use algebra? Was his information accurate? Did he even care about accuracy? Wow. Baruch has definitely affected what I think of as entertaining. No life :’(

If anyone cares, I took this photo on my Canon D1100 on monochrome setting. It was lightly drizzling at some point but my camera’s a trooper. "

- Esther Turay

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Tips for de-stressing yourself

As the school year progresses, the workload continues to increase causing Baruchians to stress.
Freshmen: overwhelming amount of classes and work
Sophomores: multiple regents
Juniors: experiencing an AP class for the first time or college now
Seniors: the end of the college process and the beginning of FAFSA
Whatever it is, stress can be unhealthy and although its inevitable, it's the way that you deal with it that makes the biggest difference. Stress can turn you into a completely different person; causing you to snap at family or friends. It's important to know how to relax especially when there's so much on your plate.
Here are some tips that I have personally used over the years that I have found truly effective:

• Close your eyes and breathe. It sounds silly but this little moment of silence in all the chaos really does help.
• Light a candle. Scents like lavender are proven to calm the mind. However, make sure that you have experience with lighting candles as they can be dangerous if left unattended. Light, soft scents are recommended. 
• Chocolate! A little Hershey's kiss here and there never hurt anyone! We all know that chocolate releases endorphines which are basically happy hormones!  
• There are sites which you can use that will restrict your access to sites such as facebook, tumblr, or whatever you want for a period of this. This ensures that there are no distractions! 
• Music! I personally can't concentrate while listening to music but I know many people who actually focus better with music. 
• If you're in the middle of your work but feel like you are unable to continue, simply take a break! No one saids that you needed to finish all your work within an hour! Time management is the key to staying stress free. 
• If you are given an assignment ahead of time, set goals for yourself every day. This way, you are more less likely to get lazy and procrastinate. It's also a great time management method. 

Just to reiterate, it's super important to pace yourself and not leave a bunch of work last minute! That's the number one cause to stress. 

Good luck & stay stress free. 

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Sushi Park

Ever wonder if there was a sushi restaurant that has 50% off sushi? LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!!!!!! There is a sushi restaurant in Saint Marks, East 7th street. This place sells a sushi roll or sushi combo for 50% off each. However there is a catch, you must spend at least $15 to get the 50% discount on sushi. If you bought noodles that was $15, you wouldn't get the discount. The discount is only for the sushi. The sushi rolls and sushi combos are pretty small but will fill you up if you order 3 or 4 sushi rolls or 2 sushi combos. The area is medium sized but is always crowded. The sushi itself is pretty good for the deal they are selling it at. However, the wasabi and soy sauce taste kind of funny in my opinion. The wasabi wasn't spicy and the texture was like clay. It wasn't as smooth as it was supposed to be compared to other wasabi that I've tried. You can basically play with it. I would rate this place a 3.5/5. I would recommend to go with friends since this place is pretty fun and is pretty cheap compared to most place. The staff is pretty nice but I've seen better. The tips and taxes are pretty high if you were go with 10+ people. Overall give the place a shot since it is selling SUSHI at a low price!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-park-new-york-3 (If you don't trust my words, trust other people)

- Stephen Huang 

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Confidence

Self-confidence is the kind of quality that many people lack due to the 7 billion people in the world. Knowing that there’s always someone better than you in something and there’s always someone more attractive looking than you, it’s depressing when you start to degrade yourself. This all goes back to idea of perfection. Everybody has flaws and everybody makes mistakes. That’s kinda cliché but it’s true. Everybody starts from somewhere. You see that body builder in the gym working out? He was once guns-free, if you know what I mean. That supermodel walking down the runway with the flat stomach? She once was toothless. I’m not trying to point out the flaws of people. My point is that your idea of perfection is really distorted and if you find someone perfect, you either 1) acknowledge their flaws and accept them as they are or 2) you do not acknowledge how much your perfect idol went through to get to where they are now. “The idea of perfection is really imperfect.”
What does perfection have to do with self-confidence? It’s simple. You lack in self confidence because you’re not satisfied with yourself whether it be in academics, physical appearance, or just you in general, that’s alright. You’re not stuck at a dead end. People tend to dwell mainly on the negative aspects of themselves rather than the positive. You can try to change all the things you don’t like about yourself but at the end of the day, does that really make you happy? You’re changing yourself little by little and with every new person you meet, they meet less and less of you. Rather, they meet the kind of person that you want them to meet. It’s okay to be yourself in fact it’s so good to be yourself. To be in your own skin, to have the kind of thoughts your mind freely wanders to, and to just be the person you truly are, it’s really great. Don’t be too pressured by society to be perfect. You are one of a kind, so preserve yourself. Don’t let originality die out.

Yei Ling Ma
(Sophomore)

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3 game winning streak

The girls basketball varsity team had three games this past week. One against Laguardia, one against George Washington and last against AP Randolph. All these game had one thing in common, we were down and by the last few minutes of the game, we start hitting out shots, better passes and win the game by just enough. The game against Lagaurdia was the most intense, starting off the first few minutes strong and starting to lose that touch. This game was intense and by the 4th quarter we were down but time was on our side. The crowd, the bench made a lot of noise and that is where we get our confidence. With Mikaela fouled out we played a lot harder and winning the game by 3. Just like last year with Terri's buzzer beater that we will never forget. The George Washington game was intense with the same, starting off strong and losing it but still won and the same goes to AP Randolph. Although we knew the last two games we could have won by a lot more but we know that if we play the way we play at the 4th quarter since the beginning we will be up by a lot. After these three games we wont have another game til regents week. But it is not time to relax, playoffs are around the corner and we need to get that spot. We will be working as a team and on our free time working on our skills. We know that we can do this as long as we are a team!!!!

Kathy Chiam
(Senior)
Writer for Sports

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Reminiscence

Ladies and gents of Baruch, here I bring you a post of great significance, well all my post are, but that’s not the point! Reminiscence, located on 23rd street between fifth and Sixth Avenue. This store is truly amazing, I’ve gone there many times, they are my supplier. And what do they supply me with? Anything I need, when it comes to costumes/ disguises, party stuff (like that fog machine), pranks/ gag stuff, or anything interesting I find in there. It’s a fun store, but for some reason they seem to be closing by the end of this month. I can’t see why, whenever I go there, there are always costumers. Who knows, either way, I know this store has been around for quite some time now. Since 19… something something… before any of us were born. So they’re having a closing end of the month sale. Everything is half off, as if it wasn’t affordable already. So you should all check it out sometime, its real cool. It’s not too far from school, probably 3 or 4 blocks away.  It’s a simple store run by I don’t know who, but it appears to always be the same people.  Also, there’s some stuff there that’s pretty neat, but I can’t mention it for reasons, so just putting that out there. So go take a look, and keep a check for more of my posts.


-Oscar O.

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Girl's Basketball

We had a game today, 01/10/2013, against George Washington. It was a really... interesting game. The refs were surprisingly nice but mistakes were made. One of the girl's from the other team, very obviously pushed a player on our team to the floor. No call was made. And their excuse? "I didn't see anything." As a ref, their job is to watch the game closely and also to make sure the players on court are not doing anything "wrong". However, towards the end of the game, as one of our player was charging to the basket, the other team's player just pushed her to a side. A call was made.

Overall, I feel that when a player is on or off a court, you have to respect each other and the rules. You cannot simply go out of your way and push someone because you are mad that you are losing. Simply pick yourself up and do better. We did win our game, fair and square and we do have another home game tomorrow, 01/11/2013, come out and support us!

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School Schedules

I don’t know if it’s because I have more classes in a day than I did last year in 8^th grade or if I just don’t have a very good memory. But for the life of me, I can’t remember my class schedule. So, I’ve decided to create a little list of things I can do to help myself remember.

1.       Keep Schedules Everywhere.

-Have one in your locker so every day when you open it, it’s the first thing you look at.

-Have one in all your folders/ binders so you can always know what’s next in each class.

-Have one at home above your bed/ desk or even on a door, so you can always see it.

       2.  Write it in your planner/notebooks

-Every planner/ notebooks have a little section in it to write a schedule down, a lot of people say by writing things down its engraved in their minds, since you’re reviewing it over and over.

       3. Keep one in your Pocket

-This way you’re not wasting time going into your backpack and risking yourself to be late for class.

     4. Ask a Friend

-Find a friend who is in ALL of your classes, so if you need help you can ask and they can help you.

All of these methods I’ve used at one point, and they do help. So if you’re having trouble like I am, pick one to do or pick all and you’ll have your schedule memorized in no time!

- Zakiyyah Mandisa

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It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Left to right: its Mac, Dee, Charlie, Frank, and Dennis. 

Yo, what's up, students of Baruch, I’m back with another post. This one is of a TV show, one of my favorites, "Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia". This show is hilarious, but be warned, I think the viewers discretion is advised or something. Anyways, it’s about this gang that’s always getting themselves into the worst situations. They’re all basically rebels that seem to follow their own ideas, and do crazy things. I don’t think I can’t really say any because of censorship reasons… Anyhow its on FX, and Comedy Central as well I think. 

My favorite character is Charlie, because he’s a very special guy. He’s adventurous, he lives in a dump, huffs glue all the time, and other drugs, that’s probably why he’s messed up. He can’t really read or write and he always hangs under a bridge or in the sewers with Frank. Oh, and he is also in love with a waitress in which he stalks. He’s really the wild card of the group. Like this one episode, where Dee got a cat, but then it got stuck in her wall. So Charlie tried to use another cat, put it in her wall to get the other cat out, but only got that cat stuck in there. So his solutions to put more cats in the wall, maybe a 3^rd or 4^th cat. At some point he’s got 6 cats in that wall. So yeah the shows really random and weird, but it’s funny. But I believe there’s mature content, soooo yeah. But hey, the more warnings the better as I always say. Alright, and check out for my post, and keep it cool. 

-Oscar O.

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