lpahomov

Album Review: Restoration of An American Idol

March 31, 2017 by lpahomov 2 Comments

Meymey Seng

Staff Writer

Restoration of An American Idol. That is the name of the new album that was released on February 24 by twenty-one year old recording artist Taylor Bennett. Previously, he has made other mix tapes and albums too. Although, he does not sell his music, people are able to download or listen to it online for free.

A large portion of his music is inspired by his hometown, Chicago Illinois, and his personal experiences. Also, his older brother Chancelor Bennett or Chance the Rapper is another inspiration of his. Listening to this album, it was amazing. Although of course there are a few songs that I liked more than others.

Intro (The Kid’s Alright)

I really like this song. The lyrics are well written and put into aesthetic rhymes. This song was able to capture the process of him creating this album. It did take me a couple replays for me to fully appreciate the song. At first, the chorus kind of threw me off because it sounded very techno, but now I think that it fits perfectly and Princeton is the singer of the chorus. He also expressed that he’s thankful to be able to use music to express his feelings.

Roof Gone

When I first listened to this song, I had mixed feelings about the intro because it sounded like the intro to a science video. The lyrics were okay because it was about getting high and other things. Although, I realized that he was talking about his personal experiences and how it shapes who he is now. This made me more intrigued to the song to listen to what he has been through.

Grown Up Fairy Tales

I would have to say that this is my favorite song on the album, I love it! In this song he collaborates and sings with Chance. The intro of the song is simply a hum from Chance and then it gets to him rapping. It talks about trying to find themselves, so the verses in this song is really strong and the rhymes are amazing. The chorus is also sung well by Jeremih. Halfway through the song, Taylor starts to rap and the contrasts between their voices sound really good. Chance has a smoother voice while Taylor has a raspy voice.

Favorite Colors

This song is really great and is my second favorite. I would describe it as the perfect song to replay constantly on the bus. It is pretty upbeat and the other artists who also sung are Kyle and Luke Tennyson. Both Taylor and Kyle’s verses are very catchy and just pleasant to hear. The chorus is also great and it is sung with an instrument in the background by Luke. Kyle raps about the future. Halfway through the song, Taylor starts to rap and he talks about his past experiences.

Play My Part

The beginning of this song sounds really good. I’m honestly not too sure how to describe it but it’s reminds me of windchimes in a great way, followed by the hook from Aubree Jenai. This song is written from his personal past relationships but it is focused on a specific one with a girl he used to go out with. The beat in this song is what I really enjoy, with both earbuds in, it feels like you’re there in a sense.

New York Nights

This is one of the first songs that I heard on this album. It basically talks about how it is difficult to win awards for music when you are a new artist. He collaborated with Jordan Bratton and Stro The MC. It’s a really peaceful, relaxing, and catchy song.

Nobody Tell A Name

If I had to choose, out of all of the songs on his album, this would be my least favorite. The music in the beginning was okay. The beat kind of reminded me of the beginning of a boxing match, although I’m not too sure why. I didn’t like the hook and verse sung by Raury. Although, I did like Taylor’s verse a bit more. With this said, still occasionally I would put this song on.

Neon Lights

The beginning of this song is great. It’s like an energetic beat that would make you walking to the music or bob your head. The hook by Supa Bwe matched perfectly and just generally sounds really good. Taylor’s verse was also amazing, where he talked about his personal interests. Lil Yatchy’s verse a little more than halfway through the song sounded really well, especially since he has a smooth yet deep voice.

Outro (Chi-Town Anthem)

This song was honestly not the greatest. The verses were okay but it was mostly the background music that threw me off. I didn’t really think that the two matched nicely. The beat was also okay. Although, I like how the lyrics were based of off Chicago.

Overall, I think that this is an amazing album and I would still give it a five out of five. If an album has the ability to draw in my attention so strongly, where I listen to it everyday, I would consider it amazing. If you want to enjoy some great music, I would definitely recommend this album.

Last-Minute Donation Rescues Junior Prom

March 31, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Lauren Nicolella

Members of the class of 2017 pose a photo during junior prom last year. (Photo provided by Arsenio Gomez.)

Staff Writer

For high school students across America, prom is supposed to be a very exciting and memorable moment. Unfortunately, Science Leadership Academy almost had to cancel this year’s junior prom due to the lack of ticket sales for the event.

As of mid-March, only 20 tickets had been sold, which did not meet the minimum required sales of 75 tickets.

Luckily for the class of 2018, there was a donor who contributed, which lessened the price from $50 a ticket to only $25 a ticket. Details about the donor was have not yet been revealed.

The prom is going to be held at Galdo’s, a catering and entertainment complex located in South Philly. According to Ms. Pahomov, the venue had raised their overall price for using the space which caused tickets to be fairly expensive.

Health teacher Pia Martin talked about reserving the space: “when you’re working with a catering company, they ask you how many people you’re going to bring. And you usually low-ball that number, because you can always add more, but you can’t take away.”

There were mixed emotions throughout the class from those who wanted to attend, and even those who didn’t care that much.

Junior Deja Harrison had already bought a ticket in advance, having plans to attend the prom. “I was really upset that prom was in danger of being canceled because we were the first class with this problem.”

Junior Mekhi Granby had a different level of interest, but still shared his reaction. “I was shocked, but it didn’t affect me because I had and still have no plans to attend junior prom.”

Some students believe the junior class has a reputation for not having as much school spirit or unity as the rest of the school. Ms. Martin talked about how she noticed this.

“I’m not really sure if there’s one unified reason why. In terms of cohesion, the junior class is a lot of individuals and I think that they value their individuality and so it takes a while for them to gather momentum and say as a unit, ‘we will do something’.”

Deja Harrison added onto this point. “I do agree that we are very low on school spirit. I try to organize things for us to all do together but it never really works out.”

Then there was a mention of a possible prom committee, but the variety of tastes and the lack of a gym for decorating present difficulties to making that a reality. Instead, there could possibly be a change in where prom is held in future years.

Ms. Martin talked about that plan a bit further.

“If people are interested [in a prom committee] I was going to ask to meet with the juniors sometime this year to perhaps look at another place, since we know that Galdo’s is going to be legitimately $50 a person.”

Column: Does the Spirit of SLA Exist on 22nd and Arch?

March 28, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Aidan Williams

Guest Writer

I am a transfer student. I began my freshman year in a school in Ireland, and moved back to Philly before the start of sophomore year, settling into SLA. For all of sophomore year, I lived only about 7 blocks away from the school, making the commute extremely simple. I love the location, but location for this school, I believe, is all about convenience.

The building is falling apart. There are holes in the walls, the ceilings leak, the floors are covered in a thin layer of God-knows what, and we’re missing a fourth floor. The entire building seems to be on its way out, and sometimes I am surprised that the building has not already caved in.

For me, this is a short stop down a long, long road. I’ll spend three years of my life in and out of this building, and then I may never come back. Though it has been a pleasure learning the ins and outs of the halls and rooms, how to get from place to place, where to hide, where to be, etc., I, myself, do not have a particularly strong attachment to the school. My spirit does not live on 22nd and Arch.

However, when I consider the school itself, a bastion of cultures and origins, like a warm little center of Philadelphia, drawing in the fullest diversity of all students, I see the gravity of the building itself. Or maybe not the building, but holding a place in center city, promoting accessibility and possibility for all students, is the power of SLA.

Does the spirit of SLA live on 22nd and Arch? No. Buildings come and go. The spirit of SLA lives in the opportunity it provides its students. Perhaps that exists in center city, or perhaps it can exist elsewhere. However, I believe that, as much as I loved the location, SLA will continue to exist no matter where it is.

Column: Organizing the Jerseys

March 28, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Saamir Baker

Staff Writer

Starting over the summer, I began to plan the long grueling job that would be ordering newly designed jerseys for the SLA ultimate uniforms. A feat that has not been accomplished since the first uniform designed when the first team was established.

It all began with meeting with the lady that would order the uniforms for our team, Candi Crispin. She would connect us to her company’s uniform makers and give us discounted prices. The first step towards success in this terrible process.

After discussing the pricing, the next thing I absolutely had to do was get Chris Lehmann on board, the ultimate frisbee coach. Set in his ways, he wasn’t super keen to the idea of getting new jerseys at first because he still liked the simple design. But I was gung-ho on having this process go through all the way. So after a short sales pitch on why we should have new jerseys ranging from “They’re only $32! That’s way cheaper than what they run for ($70),” all the way to “This is a new era of SLA ultimate! We need these.” He finally tentatively agreed and I set out to show him that this wasn’t just another student proposal that wouldn’t follow through. I had to show him that I meant business.

After many weeks of planning these jerseys, I made a google questionaire for players to give me all of their information for sizes.Sadly after a week of constant form replies, they died down. With these results I had to turn into a monster, hellbent on one mission:get everyone to sign my form! Countless passive-aggressive facebook posts on the ultimate frisbee group went out, emails, and up-close encounters.I did whatever it took to get everyone to fill out the form to make sure I had everyone down with each information column filled.

I set up two ambassadors who could help me with collecting money from the other players. Jorin Gervani would remind everyone and give me money, Eli Block would help check names off of our spreadsheet, and bring the money he collects to Ms.Diane

The main selling point was us joining the exclusive group of teams who have names on the back of their jerseys. Candi would order the jerseys for us before we paid so we would have them in time for our first tournament. She agreed to this as long as we paid her back within a month which added more pressure onto my already stressful job. So I put on my new persona as the passive-aggressive bill collector that wanted his money as soon as possible, giving a deadline that was way before the money was even due, giving a sense of urgency to the players. Once again facebook was my outlet to inform everyone of when money would be due and how much it cost.

The first day of collecting money? Only two people out of the 36 gave us money. Jorin sent out a new facebook post and the new rule was: anyone who did not pay wouldn’t get their uniform until they did. With another round of passive-aggressive emails, yelling at every ultimate player I saw, and even interrogating another player I finally had all of the money in and ready to go. With help from our CFO Ms.Diane.

We ran into a few problems on the logistics part, we didn’t have an official a design ready. Okay to be clear… we HAD designs but none of them were good enough to really pay for, nor did Lehmann particularly like any of them. Finally after stressing about how we didn’t have a design Mr.Lehmann pointed me in the direction of Ms. Giknis, who I wished he had told me about a long time ago. Seriously Mr.Lehmann, a lot of stress would have been saved! After 10 minutes of sketching and designing she had an official logo ready for us by that night. I can recall the almost tears of joy I had.

After the planning process started in August, official spreadsheet collecting started in January, the home stretch began in March. We had collected all the money by the 10th and our first tournament was March 31st. We were almost there, almost done. Our jerseys finally here the day before our first tournament. We marvel at the jerseys and I think of the big accomplishment I had just made. My fight to get the team new jerseys had come to an end. I was able to make it happen, and the first to do so as well.

Column: SEPTA Key??

March 28, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

For as long as I can remember, paying for Septa meant using a transpass, token, transfer, or cash of some sort. With the exclusion of the senior citizens pass, you’ve got to swipe, drop, or feed your payment into some kind of a machine before you can get a ride.

But now that’s no more. The future is here. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have just been introduced to a new option which is the “Septa key.”

According to SEPTA’s website,the SEPTA key is one reloadable contactless chip card that will offer a host of options. When I heard this I was like “oh okay, that sounds really cool,” because everything would be made more simple.

Then I started to think about the negatives…what if you lose it?

The website addresses this problem in its FAQ section. “It’s very important that you register your Card if you put money on the Travel Wallet. This way, if your Card is ever lost or stolen, as soon as you report this to the Key Call Center or online, the funds on your Travel Wallet will be protected and can be transferred to a replacement Key Card…”

My biggest issue with this is that it’ll discontinue/replace the other forms of payment. For those who actually like making payments with the other forms will be out of luck. I think there are some very irresponsible people who use SEPTA that often lose transpasses and that whole lost key card thing will just be a big inconvenience, but it would be less of an inconvenience than losing a transpass, which can’t be canceled or replaced.

I don’t have any other reason for the Septa Key not to be a thing but I don’t like how our options in payment will vanish. In terms of preference it may not satisfy everyone. It’s like Apple getting rid of the headphone jack on its phones. There’s still ways to plug in headphones to your iPhone 7, but not everyone likes it or is happy with the headphone jack being gone. Same goes for Septa, I feel like it’ll be the same scenario which kinda sucks.

I like how convenient the septa key can be, but I am also very concerned with how this septa key will work for the future of students. My original thoughts were “the septa key thing will be super cool, nobody has to wait in line for transpasses anymore,” but then I heard that it has actual fees connected to an account. Will there be a student septa key? Will it have the same restrictions and privileges of a student transpass?
Other than preference, the SEPTA key doesn’t have many downfalls; it’s clear to me that it has been extremely thought out and well planned. The SEPTA key will be more convenient for everyone who owns one and the only problem lies within moving into the future and giving up the past. Later down the line when the SEPTA key replaces all other forms of payment, some nostalgia will be created. I’ll miss the old transpasses and tokens but things will be much more simplified with the SEPTA key.