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Sleep Deprivation at SLA

December 5, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Every day SLA students living all over the city of Philadelphia wake up in the morning to come to school, which starts at 8:15 am. Depending on how close they live to school, and how they can get there, some student shave to wake up earlier than others. For some students getting up early results in a lack of necessary sleep. People, especially growing teenagers need sleep to rest and recharge their bodies. A good night of sleep helps students concentrate and do well in school, as well as keep them energized. However this necessary rest is not always achieved by students who have to wake up early to get to school on time.

According to the U.S. National Sleep Foundation, teenagers need an average of 9.25 hours of sleep per night. A lack of sleep can be harmful to people. It can make them moody, irritable, and of course tired. Students need to be awake and alert in order to function in school. Without sleep students may have difficulty paying attention in class, and doing well in school.

Sleep deprivation affects students in the classrooms at SLA. In some classes students have trouble focussing because they are tired. This lack of sleep can make it harder for students to pay attention, and schoolwork and grades can be affected.

Many student at SLA get less than the 9.25 hours of sleep that they need. Some get as little as six hours or less a night. This can make staying awake in class a challenge. Some students have to catch up on sleep in class. SLA teacher Mark Bey, has noticed that this lack of sleep greatly affects how well his students do in class, and how well they pay attention.

Many school are facing this problem with students not getting enough sleep. Some schools have tried to fix it by having schools start later. Two school districts in Minneapolis Minnesota changes there school start times from 7:20 to 8:40. They noticed that this later start time caused students to be happier and more attentive. But it’s not just havin to get up early that causes student snot to get enough sleep. Many high school students have very busy lives, inside and outside of school. With homework, projects, sports, extra curricular activities, hanging out with friends, and working, it can be hard for students to find time to get some rest. SLA junior, Thomas Jeffcoat has to balance a job with school. This makes him very tired in class. He even works on weekends so it’s difficult for him to use them to catch up on sleep.

“This could be improved if they had better time management”, says Mr. Bey.

Many students simply have trouble fitting sleep into their busy schedules. And going to a school that starts at 8:15 doesn’t work well with teengers who like to sleep in. Sleep is very important for the health and development of teens. We sacrifice sleep to do other things, and neglect it’s importance to our health, our energy, and our performance in the classroom.

graph showing how how amount of sleep relates to studying h — graph showing how how amount of sleep relates to studying

Fantasy Football for Dummies- The Straight Shuter

December 4, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Fantasy Football for Dummies- The Straight Shuter

Jesse Shuter

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of http://minnlawyer.com/jdr/2012/08/23/fantasy-football-isnt-illegal-right/

With most fantasy leagues entering the playoffs, I thought it would be a good time to teach those of you that are not aware of what fantasy sports are, or why they are so popular, exactly what everyone is raving about.

Mostly popular among older men, fantasy sports are becoming more and more popular and well known. It allows people who may not otherwise be interested in sports find that pull in a fun way.

Basically the idea for fantasy football is that you draft a team of players from the real National Football League (NFL) and then your team in pinned against the other teams in your league and the team with the most points in a given week wins that week. There are many variations of rosters and point systems, but there is also the standard setup.

The standard fantasy league roster contains a quarterback (QB); two running backs (RB); two wide receivers (WR); a tight end (TE); a flex (RB or WR or TE); a team defense; kicker (K); and 7 bench spots. The standard point system works this way: for a quarterback every 25 passing yards is a point; for everyone, every 10 rushing yards and every 10 receiving yards is a point. I say everyone because technically anyone can run or catch the ball, typically a RB runs and receives, a WR and TE just receives and a QB just runs but mainly passes. Also for everyone a touchdown is six points and a two point conversion is two points. For a kicker, a field goal is three points and an extra point is one point, however a fifty+ yard field goal is four points.

A defense is different, you start with ten points and lose points based on how many points and/or yards you give up to the other team. You gain points by getting sacks, interceptions (INT), fumble recoveries and defensive or kick return touchdowns. A sack is typically one point, INT and fumbles are two, and touchdowns are six.

At the beginning of the year the teams set up a draft where they either take turns picking players in a snake draft (1, 2, 3, 4……7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…) or they draft players by bidding in an auction. In the auction, you start with a given amount of money and need to have at least one dollar for every player, so obviously the better players go for more money but you don’t want to spend 100 dollars on one player, because depending on the amount of money you start with, that could be half of your stash on one player.

Once you have drafted your team you follow your team throughout the year. You have a bench, so when a player in your starting lineup gets hurt you can swap them for a bench player who is reserved on your team but not active. You do not get the points from players on your bench, but it is a good storage spot for players you might need and do not want other teams to have the opportunity to own.

The next thing to understand is the bye week system. Every football team gets one week off to rest, and when that week comes you need to be prepared with a replacement player. Usually that player will be on your bench, however, for kickers and some lesser defenses, the points are not any different than a free agent. Therefore, you can just add one from the free agency pool and drop yours.

The free agency pool are the players that are unowned, typically you use it when one of your players turns out to be a bust or when one of the available players turns out to be a stud. There is also the waiver period. When a player is dropped from another team in your league or even your own, or after a player plays in their game in a given week, they go on waivers for typically a three day period. A waiver period is a length of time (determined by the league) that available players sit in free agency, but they are locked, meaning that they cannot be added during the waiver period, but a request to add them can be made. This way everyone has the chance to realize that they are available, and then the person with the highest waiver claim, which is determined by the draft order and whether or not you have used you waiver yet, gets the player, assuming they want him.

An integral part of fantasy football is trades. Trades are very simple, sometimes you get tired of your players or (as an example) you have an excess of running backs, you have a great one sitting on your bench, you can’t get any use from him, but someone else can. Meanwhile you don’t have any good wide receivers. Trades exists so that you can trade your players that you don’t need for ones that you do.

Speaking from experience, fantasy football is a wonderful thing. When I was younger I knew almost nothing about sports, but through fantasy football, I have learned a lot and I like to think of myself as knowledgable when it comes to sports. If you have an interest in learning about sports, I recommend joining a fantasy league.

Shuter’s Love/Hate:

In honor of this article being focused on fantasy sports, instead of a takeaway, I thought I would expand on my sleeper pick giving my favorite and least favorite pick at each position.

Quarterback:

Love- Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles v. Detroit Lions

Now I might be a little bit biased because of my being an Eagles fan, but I think Foles is poised for a big week. He is one touchdown away from tying the the record for most touchdowns without an interception, and don’t you think for a second he isn’t aware of that.

Hate- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

He is coming off a big week, but I have not been tricked like others. Seattle is the most up and down team in football. On a good day, there is by far no one better, but on a bad day just about anyone can keep up with them. So this week they leave their safe, cozy, record noise breaking home and go on the road to a competitive San Fran. I still think they will win, but not by much.

Running Back:

Love: Matt Forte, Chicago Bears v. Dallas Cowboys

Forte has proven to be a stud, this week he is at home against the horrible Dallas run defense. I predict 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Hate: LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles v. Detroit Lions

As much as I hate putting Shady here, he is going against the best defensive line in football on a day where it looks like it may snow. Nothing against his skills, but this is a recipe for disaster.

Wide Receiver:

Love: Mike Wallace, Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers

His return home should be good for him. I have a feeling he will want to stick it to his old team, and what a perfect way to do it by running circles around their weak secondary.

Hate: Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 49ers v. Seattle Seahawks

Anquan started the year hot, but paired against Richard Sherman the Sherminator, and with Michael Crabtree back stealing the show, I don’t know if he gets a catch.

Tight End:

Love: Jared Cook, St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals have a good defense, but they haven’t been able to stop a tight end all year, and Cook is a very talented tight end. If anyone scores a touchdown for the Rams it will be him.

Hate: Coby Fleener, Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals

The Colts have been struggling as of late and Fleener may not do too well against a relatively strong Bengals defense.

Global Safety by Soledad Alfaro

December 2, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Killadelphia. Filthadelphia. Two nicknames that are used to ironically describe the City of brotherly love, Philadelphia. Philadelphia is viewed negatively by both outsiders and insiders. We have built a reputation of violent behavior, whether it’s a new game between kids, or even aggravated assault between adults. A recent offense from philadelphia youth would be “The punching game” which is when Philadelphia youth assault strangers usually, on different forms of public transportation for fun.

However, while we rightfully worry about our own well being and that of the youth in this city countries all over the world experience if not equal but even more intense forms of violence in their day to day life. Completely violating an idea of safety that may or may not be there. The question that lingers is whether or not us as Americans should worry or let alone pay attention to safety in other Nations across the world.

The hazardous state of safety is very real all over the globe and people are dealing with the consequences of living without being able to walk outside their homes safely.

For instance the Syrian army is constantly finding themselves behind enemy lines with the rebel armies that are in their own countries. “It is pretty much every day that they try to attack our positions. It happens in the mornings, the afternoons, the evenings and at night. When we see them, we shoot,” one Syrian soldier told CNN. Many of the positions that are currently being deemed as a “battle ground” are the ruins of suburbs in Syria.

Another example regarding these concerns of global safety is the conviction of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero who will serve up to 40 years or more for the killings alone, and is now a fugitive to the U.S. for murder and kidnapping charges. However, despite the impact he had on the U.S. regarding the organisation of illegal drugs Quintero kidnapped and murdered many more people in Mexico and other parts of Central and South America. Quintero also had employees who worked for him either making the drugs or distributing them to others.

These are all examples of current epidemics concerning civilian safety across the world.
So, why don’t we pay more attention? To an extent, we do pay mind to these topics, but only according to whether they are trending. The amount of time we give to these issues is always in direct correlation by the amount of time it takes out of our lives. Weather it gets in the way of work or a T.V. show, for most Americans the acknowledgement of global issues is an inconvenience.

We have founded our lives on the concept of independence and have confused that with individualism, and we now feel that our lives are the only things to be concerned about. We are trapped in a never ending cycle of immediate gratification and an almost spoiled concept of living.

In order to try and raise awareness, SLA Media has decided to publish a series of articles that explore global current events. The goal is to enlighten people about what is going on across the sea not just their backyard.

Girls Finish on Top x2

December 2, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Girls Finish on Top x2

Zoe Schwingel-Sauer

Staff Writer

“We are the champions” seems to be a common phrase among the Science Leadership Academy girls’ soccer team. This is the team’s second year in a row winning the Division A Championships.

They won against PACHs for the division title. They beat PACHs 3-2.

The game that led the team to to the championships was against MaST Charter. It was a close call as the game was tied 2-2 at the very end of the game. It then went into overtime and Senior Korah Lovelace scored the winning goal after only 27 seconds.

The regular season record was seven wins, three losses. The teams that proved to be a challenge were Franklin Towne and Central.

The team is coached by History Teacher Matt Baird. The captains this year were Senior Korah Lovelace and Junior Alyssa Winner. The team had lost six graduates, five of whom were starters.

In the state qualifier round, the girls played Conwell-Egan for the second year in a row. Four starters were out due to injuries. Conwell-Egan advanced to states.

Coach Baird says that it is too early to determine if states will be a goal for the upcoming year, and comments that it will depend on the possible incoming freshman. He also acknowledges that the team has done very well the past two years.

The team as a whole definitely wants to make it to states next year.

Will three times be a charm?

Movie Review: Catching Fire

November 29, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Isabella Mezzaroba

Staff Writer

You read the books and flocked to the movie theaters in March, 2012. Everyone ate up the dystopian, action packed franchise that is the Hunger Games. The first installment in the Hollywood rendition of the award winning book, by Suzanne Collins, left fans begging for more.

After nearly two years of anticipation, the sequel, “Catching Fire”, hit theatres on November 22nd. With more than 161.1 million in the box office, it’s already a huge hit.

Some critics were worried for the success of Catching Fire due to the new writers, Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine). The franchise also hired a new director, Francis Lawrence (Water for Elephants). It’s safe to say these concerns were unfounded because the entire cast has shown up and shown out.

The writers captured the emotions portrayed in the novel to near perfection. The director experimented with different camera angles, using close ups for intimacy and wider shots to show the entirety of Panem and the movie’s fantastic effects.

Catching Fire opens up with Katniss Everdeen(Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark(Josh Hutcherson) preparing for their Victor’s Tour around the 12 districts. Katniss has become a symbol of resistance to the 12 districts. An uprising is beginning and the Capitol is doing everything they can think of to bring a stop to it before it can bring the fragile system of government crumbling down.

Once again, Lawrence gave a stunningly real performance as the struggling, strong willed protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson(Haymitch Abernathy) delivered once again. Minor characters, such as Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket) developed and showed strength in ways that weren’t portrayed in the first film.

New actors Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair) and Jena Malone (Johanna Mason) brought new emotions and perspectives into the Games. They portrayed the loss and negative affects the Capitol has on it’s citizens from all walks of life.

Catching Fire has successfully been transformed from a YA novel into a captivating movie for not only teens, but adults as well. We haven’t seen a series so artfully crafted from paper to the big screen since Harry Potter.

Catching Fire was widely received by the public and critics alike as one of the best movies of the year. Smooth directing and fine acting molded it into a more than satisfying second installment in the award winning franchise that will not doubt be highly regarded for years to come.