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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Ultimate: Making History Every Year

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IMG_0574What started out as a club team dating back to the very early years of SLA is now a Masterman crushing, Radnor-beating team of ultimate frisbee players.

 

When the club started out, it was a few students that liked to play after school. The team has quickly developed to play in regional tournaments and contests.

 

Now in it’s fourth year with founding teacher and co-coach Ms. Echols and, new co-coach Principal Chris Lehmann, the team had a strong season–causing many upsets to other bigger and more established teams.

 

“When I first started working at SLA, frisbee was sorta like an activity that a bunch of kids would do after school–mostly student initiated. Occasionally an adult like Mr. Best or I would go out there and teach them some skills, but there wasn’t a team.” Said Physics Teacher Ms.

 

Echols. In  the early days of frisbee at SLA, it was just a sport that teachers and students alike enjoyed play.
“A couple years after I got here some students expressed interest in having a team that plays games and tournaments and stuff like–we started playing some other schools in games and went to a tournament.”

 

After this first team was created, the following year the team expanded and had a girls and boys team. Both played a tournament. It was still co-ed because they still didn’t have enough players.

 

Starting the 2012-2013 school year, the team finally had enough players to have a boys and girls team. The girl’s team is in the spring and the boys teams are in the fall and spring. Also they have a JV and a varsity team.

 

“The team plays in the PADA league. It stands for Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance. That’s a league that runs all the adult leagues, and under that it has youth leagues. All of the teams in the Philadelphia area participate through them. They take care of all the insurance and other things that would come from the district. We’re totally separate from other school district sports”

 

Philadelphia has a tight knit ultimate network and plenty of teams to play like Caroll High School, who they just beat for their last game of the season.

 

“Lehmann has lofty aspirations for the team, which I think is great and is good for a lot of kids. He’s upped the level of intensity and made it a serious sport as SLA–that’s been good.

 

Senior Captain Rob Jenkins agrees that Lehmann has made the team more intense through his experience with coaching and more vigorous practices.

 

With the team coming off of a big win, they will continue to practice every morning at 6:30a for their spring season.

Ghost of Sanchez Haunts SLA

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By Kenyatta Bundy

Staff Writer

Today students at Science Leadership Academy walked into school to an unexpected surprise; the entire school decorated for today October 31st better known as, Halloween.

With caution tape on the wall, spider webs on the starewells, and spooky music playing on the third floor, no Science Leadership Halloween decoration would have been complete without the “Ghost of Sanchez”.

Junior Max Amar-Olkus and Senior Joseph Tartaglia posted black and white photos of former history teacher Juan Sanchez, in obscure places around SLA.

When asked about why they posted up these pictures of Sanchez, Olkus and Tartaglia had this to say, “Part of it was in remembrance of one of our fallen heroes and the other part was because it was funny. To make the school scary, any normal ghost picture wouldn’t have worked so, Sanchez’s ghost picture would be a perfect solution to our problem.”

Due to the fact that Sanchez left last year, the Freshman of this year have no clue who the man in these pictures are.

Olkus and Tartaglia had this to say to the Freshman, “Now you know who Sanchez is from the pictures in the hallway. So my question to you is, who do you think the man behind the picture was? What do you think of the deeper meaning of us putting up the pictures was? They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but really it’s a very deep and complex book, that you can judge by it’s cover. It’s only a cover.”

After joking about why the pictures were really posted Joe had a simple message directed to Mr. Sanchez, “We miss you. Come back. Why would you leave? Pittsburgh isn’t even all that great.”

 “He’s in Boston,” Olkus said.

“Boston’s worse,” Tartaglia replied.

Locker Talk:What was the the inspiration behind your Halloween costume?

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Senior Alex Woodburn: "The inspiration came from these headphones that my friend broke. I took them and decorated them icy and snowy which inspired me to be Jack Frost for Halloween. I've been planning this costume for a month."
Senior Alex Woodburn:
“The inspiration came from these headphones that my friend broke. I took them and decorated them icy and snowy which inspired me to be Jack Frost for Halloween. I’ve been planning this costume for a month.”

Sophomore Nagee Graves: "So at first I wanted to be superman but I couldn't find what I needed for the entire costume. Then I decided to become slendbutlerman. I kept the cape I made because my Adivsory is having a superhero themed party. So, basically, I'm a hybrid between slender man, a butler and superman.
Sophomore Nagee Graves:
“So at first, I wanted to be superman but I couldn’t find what I needed for the entire costume. Then I decided to become slendbutlerman. I kept the cape I made because my Adivsory is having a superhero themed party. So, basically, I’m a hybrid between slender man, a butler and superman.”
Lizzie Vellozzi and Naomi Fetcher-Davis: "We're North West and Kim Kardashian. It was a last minute idea. We didn't want to be a cats like everyone else so we looked up pop culture stories and decided on Kim and North."
Sophomores Lizzie Vellozzi and Naomi Fetcher-Davis
“We’re North West and Kim Kardashian. It was a last minute idea. We didn’t want to be a cats like everyone else so we looked up pop culture stories and decided on Kim and North.”
Jenny Cruz: "I'm a really big fan of Alice in Wonderland. I compare itself to Alice a lot and I wanted to be the mad hatter since he's such a good friend of her's. I wanted to dress up as someone whom I'd want to be friends with myself, even if he is mad."
Junior Jenny Cruz:
“I’m a really big fan of Alice in Wonderland. I compare itself to Alice a lot and I wanted to be the mad hatter since he’s such a good friend of her’s. I wanted to dress up as someone whom I’d want to be friends with myself, even if he is mad.”

Sophomore Rosalie Swana: "I'm Korra from Legend of Korra because I secretly think I'm the avatar."
Sophomore Rosalie Swana:
“I’m Korra from Legend of Korra because I secretly think I’m the avatar.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hallway Fashion: Nashay Day

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Exactly what are you wearing today, and do you know where each item is from?
A button down stripes shirt from J. Crew, green jeans from H&M, a Michael Kors watch, and Steve Madden shoes.

What exactly does fashion mean to you?
Fashion means everything to me. I live for fashion.
Do you consider yourself fashionable?
I guess.

How long does it usually take for you to pick out the outfit that you’re going to wear for the day and what is your thought process as you pick out these clothes?
It usually takes about 2 hours, it depends on how I feel. If I’m mad I’m wearing a dark color, and if I’m happy I’m going to wear a bright color.
Who/What do you get your fashion inspiration from?
I get my fashion inspiration from the seasons, and the upcoming trends and I always dress a season ahead, I also get inspiration from anyone I see.
What are some of your favorite places to, or what are your favorite brands? And Why?
I love Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Urban Outfitters, and Zara. I like T by Alexander Wang. I like Calvin Klein, because it’s really simple and I feel like those are key pieces that anyone should have in their wardrobe, and you can dress it up or down.

Interview By: Kenyatta Bundy Jr

Referees in Sports- Sports Talk with the Straight Shuter

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Sports Talk with the Straight Shuter

Referees in Sports

by Jesse Shuter

Staff Writer

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Photo courtesy of http://blog.oregonlive.com/mlb/2010 /06/jim_joyces_response_to_mistake.html

 

The World Series is one of the most important times in a sports fan’s life. When my favorite team is in the World Series I feel as though I would do anything for them to win. I can only imagine how the actual players must feel.

So far in the 2013 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series (WS), there has been two major controversies that could influence the outcome of the MLB Championship. These controversies are typically solved by officials. However my question is, How much power should these officials have?

 

The first of these came after game one of the series, after an 8-1 win by the Boston Red Sox over the St. Louis Cardinals. One of the Cardinals’ minor league players claimed to have seen Jon Lester, the starting pitcher for the Red Sox, using Vaseline in his glove.

 

If proven to be true, which so far there is no evidence to back up this claim except for a picture in which Lester’s glove appears to be wet, this would be an outrage and would not only disgrace Boston sports, but the World Series itself.

 

In game three with the the series tied 1-1, the Red Sox and Cardinals were battling back and forth the entire game. The game was tied in the bottom of the ninth with Jon Jay, outfielder for the Cardinals, up to bat. Jay hit a grounder to Second Baseman Dustin Pedroia, who dove to grab the ball and got an out at home.

 

Next, Allen Craig, outfielder and/or first baseman for the Cardinals was going home from third after a bad play by Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia where he tried throwing to third to get Craig out as he ran to third. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks dove to catch the wild throw, and Craig began running home.

 

As Craig was running home, Middlebrooks lifted his legs up into the air, tripping Craig to the ground. Craig then stood up to continue running but at this point would be out. The umpire, Jim Joyce,  seeing this called that Middlebrooks obstructed Craig, illegally preventing him from advancing to the next base, and therefore awarded him the next base in this case, home plate. This call would win the game for the Cardinals. Currently the series standings are 2-2 entering game five.

 

Many people were very frustrated by this call, and for more reasons than one. Obviously many people would argue that the umpires got this call wrong and costed the Red Sox the game. As Red Sox manager John Farrell pointed out in a post game press conference, Middlebrooks was just playing the ball, there was no way for him to go for the ball without being on the ground, therefore Craig could have anticipated this and not have fallen over Middlebrooks.

 

Another point that I would like to bring up is, how much power should these officials have? Should they be able to influence the entire game of the most important series in baseball, on a call that could have gone either way? This is not the first time this idea has come into question.

 

On June 10th, 2010, Armando Galarraga pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was pitching what is now known as the best game of his life. It is dream of every pitcher to pitch a perfect game. This is when the pitcher goes through an entire game without giving up a walk or a hit. It is widely considered the most difficult thing to do for any Major League pitcher, and it instantly sends the pitcher to the record books.

 

Galarraga had a perfect game going into the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. All he needed was one more out to accomplish this task. The batter hits a weak grounder to the shortstop, who gets the ball to Galarraga at first in plenty of time, winning the game and putting Galarraga’s name in the history book right? Wrong.

 

The umpire missed the call, saying the runner was safe and ruining the game for Galarraga. Do you know who this umpire was? Oh, only Jim Joyce, the same man from the World Series controversy. Joyce later apologized for the call saying, “I had a great angle on it. I had great positioning on it. I just missed the damn call. I missed from here to the wall.”

 

The Take Away:

The MLB is contemplating installing an instant replay system, similar to the National Football League (NFL), where officials can review the tape of controversial calls to make sure that they get the call correct. I like this idea and the they should implement it immediately. My only concern would be that the officials would become lazy and reliant on the tapes of the calls. That concern aside, today’s world is a technologically centered one, and it is time that the MLB accepts that and stops ruining their games with these officials who make human errors.

 

Shuter’s Sleeper of the Week:

T.Y. Hilton (WR) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR), Colts

After Reggie Wayne went down for the season, one of these men needs to step up to fill the void left in that offense. My guess is that T.Y. Hilton will be the guy, but if the opposing defenses figure that out and cover him, Heyward-Bey will be open and score quite a few TDs.