SLA Media

SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

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Work or Call of Duty? Gaming at SLA

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Sophomores (Left to Right) Ryan Doyle, Ethan Reese, Daniel Tuveson, Antonio Reveron, and Jeffrey Schwartz. Taken by DeShawn McLeod

By Alex Ringgold

Staff Writer

As fall comes to a close, and all the big hit video games have been released for this season, it’s time for gamers to decide what to buy and what to play, but more importantly, when to play them.

Because of the laptop program, student gamers at Science Leadership Academy are abundant, especially in the freshmen and sophomore grades.

For some students, however, this occupation can become an addition. Is gaming on a school laptop a problem or a privilege? Does a student gamer life impede school life?

Every day during lunch, a cluster of students sit together outside the office with open laptops, all available outlets occupied, and whoops and hollers made out occasionally to one another. They’re all playing Call of Duty 4, a first-person shooter game set in modern era unlike its previous installments.

The objective of Call of Duty is simple: kill anyone that is not you. Sometimes it varies to team death match, where as you and a couple of teammates kill an opposing team, and which ever team gain a set number of kills wins.

For many students, this game is a great source of entertainment. Currently it’s more popular with boys, although there are girl gamers racking up kills during school hours as well. During lunch, it’s perfectly normal for a student to lollygag. But what about the other 23 hours of the day?

Some sophomores are confident that they are maintaining a healthy gamer life and school life.

“We play during lunch and sometimes over Wi-Fi when we’re at home, but it doesn’t get in the way of school work,” Sophomore Jeffery Schwartz said. “Since last year after getting the game we’ve played at least 48 hours total.”

This group of sophomores had a couple of variables that helped keep their gaming in check.

For one, only but one of them owned a console at home, leaving necessary time at home for homework.

They also enjoy Call of Duty mostly because it is a group activity, meaning they would not put gaming as a priority to work.

Not all students, however, are as responsible.

One sophomore, when asked if Call of Duty interferes with school worked, laughed as if it were obvious the amount of time he put into the game overlapped the amount of time he should be doing work.

“Does Call of Duty mess with school? Of course!”

The sophomore’s choice of game at home was Skyrim on the Xbox, which is a game that has an average 140 hours of gameplay since it’s release back in November.

For students like Sophomore Byshera Moore, who chooses not to get involved with video games, believing even spending a couple hours shooting people online seems crazy.

“Those guys during lunch are loud, crazy, and are clearly only paying attention to their game when they start playing.”

For upperclassmen, more schoolwork may mean less time for games, and many of them have worked hard to regulate how much time they play.

Senior Anthony Torrance, known letting his gaming habits get in the way of his focus school, acknowledges the challenge of balancing his hobby with his work. “I have to limit certain outlets if I am going to succeed.”

Senior Douglas Wallace used to partake in the children’s card game Yu-Gi-Oh and spend hours playing video games.

“I used to be addicted to video games,” he said.  “You know what I did? I got a life, I got a girlfriend, and I had fun.”

Misguided Masterpiece: Student Street Art

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By Ryan Harris
Staff Writer
Photo Credit: Ryan Harris
Philadelphia is a vast city full of its fair share of attractions. Yet sometimes if you delve a bit deeper into the city you’ll find neighborhoods in disarray due to things such as poverty or gang violence. Things like that can make Philadelphia seem depressing.
Many citizens of Philadelphia have made it their mission to somehow breathe new life into Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. How? Through street art and organizations such as Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Senior Ian McClendon is one those people trying to revitalize Philadelphia thought his art.
McClendon like many other teenagers participate in stencil art, in which a person takes a piece paper or cardboard, cut it into a design, and then spray paint over it.

Although he has been creating street art for several years, McClendon does not consider himself a great natural artist. “I guess like a lot of us, we all say that we can’t draw, or I don’t know how to draw,” he stated. “I said that to myself but when I was introduced to graffiti by a willing friend to teach me. I took the opportunity to create work like his.”

Art teacher Marcie Hull is enthusiastic about this work. “I LOVE STREET ART! My neighborhood now, I see street art at the train station. On an electrical box across the tracks from my house is an awesome Darth Vader stencil. I love seeing it.”

While it has garnered lots of popularity amongst younger children, many adults tend to view stencil art as graffiti but it’s an issue that is often debated.

“I feel that street art and graffiti are two different subjects but can be represented in the same style,” McClendon said. “Graffiti is that stuff you see on a wall and it looks like large scribbles, incomprehensible, and placed in a area that it can’t be related to in a sense. But then again there is a time and a place for the misunderstood art.”

Many others forms of art have often been misunderstood or misinterpreted by the mass media. But then again, there always people who abuse it. “I love graffiti,” said McClendon, “but I hate the noobs who want to throw up some random word that no one can understand or even read.”

The type of graffiti McClendon mentioned is the very opposite approach to street art in Philadelphia. They’re trying to bring life to the least lively places of the cities. Hopefully more can do like Ian McClendon.

SLA Cross Country Team Travels to States

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By Deshawn Mcleod

Staff Writer

On November 4th, the SLA cross country team headed down to Hershey, PA for the State Championship. Junior Matthew Ferry, captain of the boys cross country team, qualified for the competition. Running a 18:14 at Belmont Plateau for the District XII Championships, he placed 11th.

Along with Ferry, other runners on the SLA cross country team joined to cheer their teammate on. Ferry had a test run on the course, but that wasn’t the first time he had stepped foot on the Hershey course. This was his second year qualifying for States.

Ferry commented that, “Belmont Plateau is a lot smoother that Hershey’s course. It was a lot difficult because there was a lot of people and I kept getting boxed in.”

Ferry also noted that, “I enjoyed the hotel stay, but I didn’t enjoy my race. I’m going to use it as a learning experience for the future.”

Sophomore Katherine Hunt was two spots away from qualifying for States. She also went to Hershey to support Ferry. “Well [the course] seemed difficult to an extent. I thought the course was beautiful and I wished I would have practiced on those hills instead.” She said if she would have qualified for States her preparation would be drinking at least 44 oz. of water everyday, get rest, and do speed workouts.

Junior Sasha Sapp, another member of team, said, “[Hershey] was beautiful, the scenery was tranquil and the trail was awesome.”

She also enjoyed the races. “I remember feeling the entire ground shake beneath my feet when we all lined up along the outskirts of the trail. That was deep. Especially towards the ends of the races, both divisions, girls and guys, watching the runner literally get themselves to that final hell hill. It made me what people are capable of. That last hill…. and then that last sprint out? That’s true will and sheer determination at that point.”

This year at States, Ferry ran a 18:58, which placed him in 219th. This is a significant improvement from last year running a 20 flat and placing 256th.

SLA Students Under-Informed About Code of Conduct

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A page from the 2011-2012 SDP Code of Conduct.

By Sam Lovett-Perkins

Staff Writer

At the beginning of each school year, students at SLA are given–and supposed to review–the Philadelphia School District’s Code of Conduct packet (COC). This code explains the district’s expectations for student behavior and consequences for when those expectations are not met.

The code is usually read an discussed in advisory. For English Teacher Alexa Dunn, this is a key part of students learning expectations about their behavior.

Zero tolerance items are most important because, “if kids violate them, SLA can not do much about what happens to you,” Ms. Dunn explained. “So every year in advisory we talk about examples of what would be zero tolerance and what happens to you when and if you decide to violate that.”

According to the code, student infractions are judged on a scale of severity and repetition of the offense. An example from the code of contact of a minor level once is a threat. This can result in short term suspension or an after school detention. An example of a higher offense, level 2 for example, could include the possession of a weapon or vandalism which can result in expulsion or a long term suspension of four to ten days.

These codes are placed to preserve the safety and security of a school environment. The COC also says what access students have such as “being treated fairly and honestly in the resolution of grievances and complaints.”

Unfortunately, many students are unfamiliar with the code or the details of the consequences.

When asked to describe what the Philadelphia school code of conduct requires, Senior Emma Hersh responded, “That you have to be respectful and your not allowed to fight, to have respect for school property.”

She thinks that students pay little attention to the code. “It’s too boring to read, they give it to you every year but no one wants to read it. I think if [students] knew the expectations they’d be less likely to do bad things.”

History teacher Diana Laufenberg described how does SLA tries to inform students about the code. “The three rules that we have are the manifestation of the Code of conduct the way we image behavior expectations of kids is to give them a broad expectations and use that to encourage a positive behavior.”

She explained that the “rules” at SLA are meant to make the ideas of the code more direct to students. “Respect yourself, respect the community and respect that SLA is a place of learning; those are really the essence of the Code of Conduct but are worded in a more positive manner.”

What the SLA guidelines don’t do, however, is explain what the consequences are for certain actions. For smaller issues, SLA can manage punishment on their own. For major infractions, however, they are required to report to the School District and must follow all protocols for disciplinary action–suspensions, hearings, and expulsions included.

If students don’t inform themselves about the harsh realities of school district discipline policy, it can give them a false sense of security about their wrongful actions.

Hallway Fashion: Halloween Edition

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Max Marton, Halloween 2011

What were you for halloween and why?
I actually wasn’t anyone for Halloween this year. I kind of got this idea to be androgynous and dark and I went with it. Eventually, my idea evolved into what I wore on Halloween. I guess there wasn’t really a reason why I did it. I was inspired, and I followed my inspiration.

I notice you dress up a lot, is halloween your favorite holiday?
Halloween is, in fact, one of my favorite holidays. It is one day where I can dress up in all sorts of outlandish attire, and it is expected. Don’t get me wrong, I love to dress up on days where it isn’t exactly socially acceptable, because I enjoy the shock factor. Halloween is special to me because I get more looks of intrigue and appreciation from people, instead of looks of revulsion or ridicule.
You outfit was homemade, where and/or how did you come up with this piece?
Like I said before, I got this idea for my costume, and I went with it. I wanted to take a suit, which is traditionally a masculine symbol, and feminize it by binding the waist with a corset and using a neck scarf instead of a tie. Not to mention the five-inch stiletto lace-up boots that I wore over a set of dress pants. I saved the drama and flare of Halloween for the hat, which I draped polka dot fabric and tulle over to create a veil, as well as affixing a blank mask on the brim, which created an overall creepy aura. I was very proud of my creation, and it served its purpose well, which was to push gender boundaries.
You remind me of Lady Gaga a lot, what do you think of the artist?
I like Lady GaGa, but contrary to popular belief around SLA, She is not my idol and complete obsession. I really enjoy her music and eccentricity, but it has been done before. I think that people like Grace Jones, Kevin Aviance, and Acid Betty were, and are still a little more interesting that Lady GaGa. Nevertheless, I commend Lady GaGa for bringing the unusual and niche performance elements that were previously underground, to the mainstream.

Interview by Nia Berry.