The Bull’s EyeIllustrated by Alyssa Cartwright

President Obama

A Republican’s Response

The Decline of theChristian Right

Tournament of Plays

PostSecret

RainbowConsortium

December 2008 News Page 2

Smithtown’s Secret Ingredient

Every morning kids come to school, our school –Smithtown High School West –burdened with the work and drama that goes along with the high school experience. We sit through a seemingly endless stream of tiring classes and leave the school with a massive amount of books in hand. The one point during the day in which students can finally relax, socialize and nourish our ravaging hunger is lunch.

Over the years, school lunch has earned a bad reputation in that the quality of the food is not always top notch. Things are different now, not only is it healthier, but it is also full of flavor. In return for two measly dollars, we receive a wholesome, balanced meal of meat, carbs, and dairy and possibly vermin defecation –in other words, mouse droppings.

On June 6, 2008, a health inspector discovered that there are in fact, furry little rodents residing in our school kitchen, and our school was providing the starving creatures with room and board. Every once in a while they came out of their little hiding spots to munch on the little packages of muffins, potato chips or cocoa powder and would relieve themselves on the food that the students ingest.

To be exact, it was reported that in one of the cafeterias, mouse feces were found on containers of paprika, pepper, garlic, and sugar Suffolk Department of Health Services records show. Muffins, boxes of cocoa and cornstarch, a bag of potato chips and two tea bags were gnawed.

As far as we know, this could have been going on for a year. “It’s really hard to tell,” explains Mr. Dolan, “Maybe since last year…when we were cleaning up at the end of the year to put everything away and they could have gotten in?... it’s really hard to say”

How could it be that we do not know when

this started? According to Mr. Dolan, we have routine health inspections every few months that are usually thorough and concise. But according to William Lindsay of the Suffolk Department of Health Services that is not the case. “It’s disturbing,” he told Newsday. “They’re supposed to be inspected every six months ... I think the obvious problem is we don’t

have enough people.” Health department public health protection bureau Chief Christopher Sortino adds “Not being able to get to every district, we do try to get to the main kitchen in that district…” It’s hard to even say that all cafeterias were

checked. Of the four kitchens there are in our school, one maybe two were possibly checked.

The school, however, recognizes the problem and is in fact, doing their best to tackle this problem head on. “We have put out mouse traps – the humane kind – of course, and we have been stressing the need to clean up and sanitize the food areas”, says Mr. Dolan. So while we wait for these creatures to exit the building, we’re told to clean up after ourselves and be cautious as to where we leave our garbage.

How did they get here in the first place? “Nature—” explains Mr. Dolan, “—nature brought them here. The cookie crumbs and the sandwiches in the locker and the garbage in the commons…”Nature. It brought them into the world.”

Singing For a Cure

By Brittany Letronica

On Friday, November 21st, stu-dents and parents flooded Smithtown West’s auditorium to watch the biggest musical competition Smithtown has ever hosted. Kim Sarro won first place at the Smithtown Idol Finals with her version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” but unfortunately missed out on the announcement as she left shortly after her performance. Throughout the night the crowd enjoyed the musical talents of twenty selected students and six members of the West faculty, including Dr. Picataggio, Ms. Budd, Mr. Elsesser, Mr. Como, Mr. Sill, and of course, the styling’s of Mr. Dolan. Mr. Dolan’s performance of “Sweet Caroline” drove the crowd wild and it was one of the highlights of the night. Mr. Sill was later crowned the winner of the “teacher idol.” The show also featured an appearance by our very own local band, Foul Play, with guitarist Joe Arias and bass-ists Eric Caruso and Matt Deniro. “Idol packed in a crowd with over five-hundred people; it was a night filled with music and excitement” Mr. Como [an adviser of DECA and co-assembler of Smith-town Idol] replied when asked about the Idol turnout. Ethan Cohen, West senior and DECA member who attended the show says, “It was a great turnout and definitely worth going to”. Idol was put together by the Smithtown West DECA club. Advisers Mr. Como and Mrs. Wood planned the event as the students of DECA promoted and ran it. The judges were all professional musicians from bands all over Long Island. Other than tickets, concessions set up in auditorium sold idol t-shirts and everything found in the school store such as Vitamin Water, pop-corn, ice-cream and churros just to name a few. Tickets were $12 for students and $15 for adults with three dollars from each ticket going to charity. Over 2,000 dollars was raised for Autism research as Smith-town Idol was an obvious success for Smith-town West DECA and Autism alike. There is no set date for a returning Smithtown Idol, but be sure to attend Idol next year.

By Harrini KrishnanSmithtown Idolsupports Autism

December 2008 News Page 3

Saving Darfur, One Laugh at a TimeBy Catherine Kinney

If you’re looking for a laugh, make sure you go to the next Darfur Comedy Hypnosis Show at Smith-town West. The Hypnosis Show on November 14 was a hilarious look at how people act when they’re hypnotized. It was an entertaining event and the money raised went to stop the genocide occurring in Darfur. If hypnosis isn’t a good enough reason for you to go to the comedy show, then go to help end the abomination in Darfur. The idea of a Hypnosis Show came from Mr. Cone, psychol-ogy teacher and advisor for the Dar-fur Action Committee. He wanted the event to be fun and relatable to his psychology unit. It also turned out to be a hit for the Darfur fundraiser. The Hypnosis Show started out with 20 to 30 people going up on stage to be hypnotized. Once the hypnotist, Dr. Mike, hypnotized them, the volunteers all looked liked zombies. It started out with them sleeping, and Kim Odenthal, a senior at Smithtown West, fell off her chair when going deeper and deeper into slumber. After they fell asleep, Dr. Mike woke them up and made them envision themselves on a beach. He made it get hotter and ev-eryone started fanning themselves with a

look of exhaustion on their faces. Then, he made it get drastically colder and everyone

would huddle together for warmth. The facial expressions were priceless. Dr. Mike had them imagine watch-ing funny and sad movies. He made the movie so sad that all of the boys had to cry too. It was amusing to see two senior guys comforting each other about a “sad movie”. The hypnotized high school kids also had competitions. They were disco dancers and had to compete to see who the best disco dancer was. The kids went all out 70’s. They also switched gender

roles at one point. Boys would do model-walks across the stage and the girls were body builders showing off their muscles. One of the highlights of the show was when the hypnotist made some things look invisible like his body, which led the kids on stage to only see his head. They were astonished, and at one part he made the clothes on his back invisible so whenever he turned around, they would see from his bare neck to his bare feet. Everyone looked away in disgust, even though he was really fully clothed. Almost all of the money earned from the five and seven dollar tickets went to help the people in Darfur, who need our help and are too often ignored. More than 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million people are homeless. To learn more you could join the Darfur Action Committee that meets in Ms. Donohue’s room every Friday in room F206. The Darfur Comedy Hypnosis Show was a complete hit. The show brought smiles, while at the same time helping out Darfur. There is talk about another Comedy Hypnosis Show coming up in the spring, so open up your calendar for the next one.

Darfur Action Committee is a hypnotizing success

Tournament of Plays

It was quite the display of talent at the Thespian Troupe’s Tournament of Plays 2008. The Tournament of Plays is an annual competition in which senior thes-pians direct one-act plays and compete to win the title of “Best Play.” This year’s competing senior thespians were Bryan Chess, Christine DeLuna, Amanda Geraci and Emily Copeland. Ultimately, Chess was named the winner. Chess’ play, “The Actor’s Night-mare,” co-directed by Kaylin Hawkins, surrounded a man named George Spelvin, who finds himself in an actor’s nightmare when he is forced to act in a series of plays he hasn’t rehearsed for, and wakes up to find it all a dream. Tyler Austin played the main role of George and was supported by Kaylin Hawkins, Deanna Gallichio, Ralph

Moffettone and Morgan Welligner. Austin’s energy on stage was overwhelming, and he had the entire audience laughing.

The first play on stage was “Scuba Lessons,” directed by Christine De-Luna and co-directed by Deanna Goldstein. It was centered around a girl named Kelly Donovan (played by Goldstein) who goes on a blind date that turns into a disas-

ter. Greg Buckheit stole the show as the nerdy, uptight date, Martin. It also starred John Bath and Danielle Comeau. The second play was

“The Mystery at Twicknam Vicar-age,” directed by Amanda Geraci. It was a witty little “whodunit,” when a man is mysteriously shot at a dinner party and Inspector Dexter investigates. All three sus-pects (played by Ricky Sosulski, Elena Faverio and Cristen Feeney) were hilariously portrayed. Dan McClain staggered about the stage as a drunken “dead man.” The third play was “Showtime,” directed by Emily Copeland. It followed a set of eavesdroppers listening in on the gossip-filled conversation of two elderly women. The conversation

was, essentially, a string of somewhat amusing jokes. The play starred Brittany Wolf, Sam DeMonte, Samantha Neukirch, Mark Sibley and Tim Murphy.

By Jamie Rogers

Tyler Austin, champion of the Tournament

December 2008 News Page 4

How would you like to save money and save the earth? That’s what the Smithtown School Board has decided to do by putting in solar panels on ten school buildings, including Smithtown West. These solar panels will be installed before the end of the year on the roof of the school. Smithtown’s new project will be the Long Island Power Authority’s (LIPA) largest solar installation to date. The total cost of the solar panels is over $1.2 million, and after getting money back from LIPA in rebates it will repay itself in four and a half years. LIPA is the major power supplier on Long Island and is the primary source of the installa-tion of the solar panels. So far, 16 school districts on Long Island have installed solar power. When you hear talk about solar energy, you might hear about photovoltaic or PV technology. PV technology is what transfers the sun’s energy to electric-ity. These cells also work calculators and watches. In simpler terms, solar energy basically takes the sun’s energy and turns it into clean, cheaper power. But why should the school install

solar panels? Well, Dan Sabia, a facility and operations director for the Carle Place School District said, “At first I thought it was too good to be true. But when I got my rebate and then learned that if a

school district signed onto the program it could also get reimbursed for energy-sav-ings measures, I knew it was something worth investigating.” Sabia says that solar panels not only help the school financially, but they also help the environment. With the extra money that is not going to elec-tric bills, the school can afford to use the money on other expenses.

Even though solar panels are a big step to “saving the world”, Smithtown’s energy conservation project involves more than just that. The board decided to put in beneficial incandescent bulbs which use less energy. They will also put in motion detectors so that lights go on only when people are in the room. The board decided to replace old windows and add new sealant so cold air doesn’t leak through the windows when it is cold outside. They even added software to turn off electronics that are not in use.The board has made clear the seriousness of preserving our en-vironment. This project is a big leap for the school and the earth. School Superinten-dent Edward Ehmann said, “We’re teaching the importance of recycling and conserving energy. It’s a comprehensive approach to being proactive.” This 25 year program has the district hoping to see a great improvement for the school. The staff is stressing the importance of conservation and preserving our planet. With the school becoming more environmentally friendly, eventually the

students will catch on too.

Smithtown West Saves the EarthOne Solar Panel at a time

By Catherine Kinney

How many nights have you spent anxiously completing a belated project, ea-gerly watching a TV show, or persistently talking on AIM rather than sleeping? I’m guessing many, if not every. Though you’d think the sleepless impact merely consists of an absentminded science lesson, or dark-circled eyes, a lack of sleep has a much greater impact than that. Sleep deprivation has a shock-ing effect on every aspect of the human body. Yet, there seems to be a rising ignorance among the student body about its importance. West students may not be voluntarily depriving themselves, but sleep deprivation is affecting the community regardless. When one of our faculty members here at West, Mr. Cone, presented a sleep deprivation test to his 11th grade Psychol-ogy class consisting of about 25 students, almost the entire class would be consid-ered sleep deprived. The thought of wak-ing up at the appropriate time without an alarm clock was extremely bizarre to the class and the struggle they had of not be-

ing able to wake up voluntarily is due to a lack of sleep. The class averaged six hours as the maximum amount of hours spent

sleeping per night. The average person requires 8-10 hours per night. When the class was asked how easily they fall asleep after lying down, for many it was the mo-ment they hit the pillow.

Studies show the more sleep deprived you are, the faster you fall asleep. If you get enough sleep, it should take 15-20 minutes to fall asleep each night. Many students explained that they take naps daily to make up for lost sleep. However, most people are unaware that naps can negatively affect your body if they aren’t taken correctly. Taking a nap that lasts between 20-30 minutes will cause you to wake up feeling groggy, and more tired than you did before the nap. This is because after 20 minutes or so, the body begins to fall into REM sleep, a deep sleep stage that should not be interrupted. Therefore, a nap should be less than 20 minutes—also known as a “power nap”—or more than 90 minutes. Mr. Cone’s Psy-chology class is a small example of the ignorance towards the importance of sleep and the effect sleep deprivation is having on many students. It is true that the average American will spend 24 years of his or her life asleep, though I think you’d agree it’s worth it.

Is it 1 O’Clock Already?By Kiki Van Son

December 2008 Features Page 5

“Attention class! Please read tonight and take notes!” a teacher would say in a typical classroom. Unfortunately, in our world today, students would rather listen to an electronic voice than that of a physical teacher. Sparknotes.com, for many students, is an easy escape from actual reading and classwork. Our lan-guage is being simplified into the internet. Classic literature is being endangered as a result of these international relations. Essays are being replaced with blogs and To Kill a Mockingbird is being reduced to a page of quick highlights. Times are chang-ing and crimes are being committed in our English classrooms. The wonderfully brief read that is Sparknotes is the scene of the crime. In our own english classes, read-ing is becoming a questionable require-ment. Sparknotes.com is prevalent as the students discuss their reading assignment for that night. An English teacher, Mr. Rieg-ger, estimates that half of students use this resource. “It is a valuable resource for after reading, seemingly mistake-free,” he said. “But too many students are using it in place of reading.” A student, Frankie Olito, has a very similar range of percentage. His opinion is 60% of students use the web-site. Olito, a sophomore, has also visited sparknotes.com himself while reading but

still scores well on his exams. This is an example of how reliable sparknotes.com can be if used correctly. “I think my fellow students use sparknotes.com a lot because it’s an easy way out,” said Olito. “But some are starting to realize that it is not helping them on the test.” Tom Renna, a sophomore, last read The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. He claims that he read the book with no visits to sparknotes.com, and did decent on his test. He estimates that about 90% percent of his fellow students use sparknotes.com. This is an intriguing result as compared to Olito’s guess. Renna said, “I only use sparknotes.com when the book is hard to understand, like for example, Shake-speare.” Sophomores Alexa Marino and Katie Fitzgerald both usually read the entire assigned book. They confess to only a couple of visits out of uncertainty. Marino and Fitgerald guessed that roughly 80-95% of students use the website. Another figure in our school, who requested to remain anonymous, last read the short story, By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét. He/she claims that he/she uses sparknotes.com on every book he/she reads, and most of the time using it as a replacement to reading. This

student guesses that 50% of his/her fellow students use sparknotes.com chronically. “Since I give quizzes every day on every reading assignment, I require students to complete directed reading questions on every assignment, so stu-dents soon learn that they must complete the readings to pass my class.” said Mr. Chicvak, an english teacher who was also surveyed. “Every year I have several stu-dents tell me that they never read a book in an English class before.” “Sparknotes can be a helpful review,” said Mr. Dolan. “But what you put in, is what you get out.” If you do your work and read, your greater reward is a better grade. Mr. Dolan has not thought of blocking this website from our school website criteria, so you either use it right or abuse it – the choice is yours. Sparknotes.com is seen by many students as an escape from reading, but by others merely a tool for study and analysis. Sparknotes is another product of the web that can be used positively or negatively – should it be seen as a repeat-offender to the learning process or as a gift for studying?

By Keri Lyn Nilsen

Sparknotes Makes it EasySmithtown Students Do Not Read

With passion, dedication and drive, high school junior Russell Johnson, has achieved more in his nine years as a flutist than most musicians achieve in their lifetimes. Russell’s talent and devotion to music has led him to various honors and even to playing at Carnegie Hall. “I instantly fell in love with it,” Johnson says of his introduction to flute in second grade, “At first I struggled with playing the flute, but now I am completely enthralled with the instrument.” Johnson is the second chair flutist in our school’s Symphonic Band. Sarah Kasman is our current first-chair flutist. He is also the youngest member of Manhattan School of Music’s Chamber Music Program. He has played with the New York Youth Symphony and played a solo at Carnegie Hall this past October, at a concert to ben-

efit the United Nations Mil-lennium Development Goal 6 to fight HIV/AIDS. He attends Manhattan School of Music on weekends and has private weekly lessons with his private teacher, Ms. Soo-Kyung Park. The key to Russell’s success has been his avid practice habits. He practices every day for at least two to three hours. “My favorite piece to play is the Prokofiev Vio-lin Sonata No. 2 in D Major.” Russell aspires to be a world- renowned flutist and hopes to someday match the success of his idol, Marina Piccinni, with whom he had a

private lesson with this past October. Piccini has trav-eled around the world and currently teaches at the Pea-body Institute. Russell also idolizes flutists Julius Baker and Jeanne Baxtresser. Johnson’s potential college interests include the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Julliard School and the Pea-body Institute. Even with his dedication to flute, Johnson still maintains good grades and a high average.

Other than flute, Russell enjoys photography, Panera Bread and hanging out with friends.

By Jamie RogersRussell Johnson: Flute Virtuoso

Russell and his instrument of choice.

December 2008 Features Page 6

To Write Love on Her Arms (TW-LOHA) has become a powerful and moving organization. It is made to help teach teens about the problems of depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide in the US. Its main goal is to protect teens. This organization started in the spring of 2006. It has then grown to affect many people positively. TWLOHA tries to pro-vide hope and express their main belief: that your life matters. You can help prevent your peers from falling into hard times. According to The National Institute of Mental Health, 18 million people in the US are suffering from depression. Some of the people cope in negative waysby turning to drug use, cutting, and suicide. In the US only 10% of people suffering from addiction get the help they need. If you have a friend, who

By Tina Veilson

To Write Love on Her Arms An organization to help educate teens about suicide

“Rainbow Consortium”The Comic Series from Dan McClain

Bull’s Eye Comics

you know is falling into drugs as a way to

feel better, help them. Some people injure themselves in an attempt to take away pain. Four percent of the population is affected by self-injury. In the last 45 years,

suicide rates have increased 60%. “The Vision” is the main point of TWLOHA. There are many points to TW-LOHA. The main Vision is hope, and hope is real. You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story. The vision of this program is very helpful to many people. It may seem simple to realize that you’re not alone, but to people with the problem of depression it is very hard to understand. In everyday life, you may not know if someone has a problem just by seeing their face. You need to show everybody empathy because you may not know their true problems or feelings. TWLOHA is not a help hotline; their goal is to be a “bridge” to help. If you’re in need of a talk, call 1-800-SUI-

CIDE.

A student writes Love on her arm to help spread awareness.

December 2008 Opinion Page 7

Obama’s Crew“No Drama Obama” and his Team Prepare to take on America’s Crises

By Benjamin Weinberg

After a long and tumultuous election process that spanned over two years, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America on November 4th. There was always doubt that he could win, but the confidence and coolness that emitted from his campaign and the candidate himself during those times inspired many alike to keep faith in their ability to make change happen in a time when it is most certainly needed. Much is needed to reverse a lot of the problems and crises that have transpired over the past eight years. The American people have become disillusioned in the past months with a government that has been slow to react to our growing problems, led by a lame-duck president who has failed to act effectively when we need him the most. This country is craving optimism and energy from

our new president and so far he has not disappointed with his appointments and desire to make things happen as soon as possible, and there’s no time to waste with two wars ongoing and an economic crisis that is getting worse. The grownups are back in charge. The Obama Administration is already filled with cabinet members and advisers who are ready to help the president-elect pass important legislation on the struggling economy, efforts to combat global warming and universal health care. The new president is also taking in thousands of job applications from change.gov, a website for people interested in becoming a part of the Obama White House. Having built the greatest grassroots organization in political history, President-Elect Obama is not hesitating to get his supporters involved again by giving them a role in helping legislation get passed or having

them participate in national service. The “No Drama Obama” campaign creed will make its way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, as it is important to have a smooth transition of power in order to be able to hit ground running on January 20th, 2009.

One of new biggest players in the Obama White House will be Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Illinois and former Clinton aide who is known for his hardball-style politics and toughness with Republicans. He has a fiery personality and we can expect him to be ready to work with Senate and House Republicans in order to get consensus in passing critical legislation as soon as possible.

The much noted position of Secretary of State will go to Senator Hillary Clinton, which provides instant recognition among the world community

A drawing by Sam Neukerch.

December 2008 Opinion Page 8and gives Obama at least one

former rival in his cabinet. However, it is possible that Senator Clinton will have difficulty handling the large bureaucracy that is the State Department and the fact that she is more hawkish on aspects of foreign policy than the President-Elect. It is also a loss in the Senate where she could have played a powerful role in being involved in the new Health Care reform bill.

Tom Daschle will play an important role in the cabinet as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Eric Holder, a former Deputy Attorney General for President Clinton, will be the first African-American attorney general in American history and will be committed to restoring the Constitution, stopping torture and ending the numerous violations of civil liberties that have occurred over the past eight years. Manny Diaz will be the first Hispanic Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development which is a cabinet position that is important to furthering the growth and progress of American cities. Governor Janet Napolitano will be the next Secretary of Homeland Security

and Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Timothy Geithner was announced to be the next Secretary of the Treasury, a very important position considering the state of our nation’s economy. He is someone who knows Wall Street very well and may be able to help provide much needed stability in the markets with his expertise in the area. Robert Gates will stay on as Secretary of Defense in the new administration as he has been an effective leader at the Pentagon, a big part of the progress in Iraq and who is committed to increasing troop presence in Afghanistan. Other appointments include Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson as the Secretary of Commerce and Former NATO Commander James Jones as National Security Advisor.

The Obama Administration will not be as secretive and closed off to the American people as the Bush Administration was and will ask the American people to volunteer for causes of national importance, to submit their own input and advice in an effort to try to establish openness and trust in the Executive Branch. In using YouTube to broadcast his weekly addresses as

a President-Elect and change.gov as a website to inform us of his transition of power, Obama has established himself as a president who will use the tools of the 21st century to everyone’s advantage whether they voted for him or not. As Barack Obama liked to remind his supporters during the campaign, “This election is not about me, it’s about you.”

The United States of America is ready to come to the negotiating table again and the rest of the world’s nations should be ready to listen. President-Elect Obama will take advantage of newfound and more committed diplomacy efforts. So far, he has assembled a knowledgeable and hard-working team of economic and foreign policy advisers who should be up to the task and ready to come up with solutions that will help the American people as soon as possible.

I have no doubt that President-Elect Obama is ready for the upcoming challenges that face our nation. It’s up to us to help him along the way by giving him our full support and patience after January 20th, 2009.

My Fellow Republicans...Obama Needs Support From the RightBy Matt Matonti

On November 5th 2008, the GOP and 46% of the United States suffered a great loss; but it was and will forever be overshadowed by the overwhelming joy of the other 53% and the majority of the free world.

John McCain, who will be remembered as the guy who lost to Barack Obama, will inevitably be forgotten in the annals of history. With all the fog of war gone from the election, I think most of the McCain opposition can at least admit he was a good candidate and one of the best that the GOP had at their disposal. He had good bi-partisan intentions and made a historic campaign comeback. In 2007 when his campaign looked like it was on its last legs, he rose back up from the ashes like a phoenix and went on to capture the Republican nomination. If John McCain were elected president, I have full faith that he would have eventually won the

approval of most Americans. As it turned out, it was

Democratic Candidate Barack Obama who prevailed in the presidential election. With over one hundred more electoral votes, Obama obliterated his opponent, and Conservatives nationwide were doubtlessly

uttering the same exaggerated phrase, “Goodbye capitalism, hello socialism”.

Like most other Conservatives, I disagree strongly with most of Obama’s far-left liberal views, but it was surely the millions of Americans who desired a strong change in the presidency (which they feel a Democratic president would bring), that tilted the votes overwhelmingly in his favor.

Obama has made many promises and has announced that there is change to come (although at times vague on what exactly this change will be), and my fellow Republicans, we need to be optimistic. This is a historic leap forward in our nation’s history as we are soon to inaugurate our first African-American president, and Obama has decided to pick a cabinet of dissidents rather than yes men.

We as Americans need to come back together after a long hiatus from bi-partisanship and support our new president-elect. I hope Obama proves me wrong and accomplishes his goals. And hey, if things don’t turn out so well, Conservatives still have the majority in the Supreme Court!

A Cartoon by Liz Colantuoni.

December 2008 Opinion Page 9

Constitution on a CrossHow the American Theocracy must be Finished Off

By Ralph A. Moffettone

Like a virus leaving the bloodstream, the political toxoplasmosis that is the Christian Right is finally losing its hold on our government. By electing Barack Obama over the zealot-endorsing duo of John McCain and his lipsticked side-puppet Sarah Palin, the American public has shown that it now prefers hope and optimism to fear and prejudice. The occult hate-brigade that has been yanking our system backwards for nearly four decades is finally losing its grip, soon to be tossed by the GOP like an unholy contraceptive. It’s hard to recall an America when the Grand Old Party wasn’t the book-burning, gay-bashing, science-fearing Cro-Magnon faction it is today. It used to simply be the party of business. Back then, one’s preference of red to blue was merely one of economic philosophy, not dogmatic morality; but along came these religious

parasites who burrowed their way into the core of the elephant’s den, shrinking its mind and corrupting its ambitions.

The Republicans, once known as being the fiscally conservative, have long since become the socially conservative. The party of small government and limited intervention has been telling us who to marry, what to worship, and how to administrate our uteruses – they’re telling us how to live our lives. The party about money – pure, formal, distant money – has resorted to messy, biblical whistle-blowing. They crawled into the big gutter in the sky, the one of pretentious, ethical condescendence, cursing legality in exchange for petty personal satisfaction.

The coherence of the Obama promise may have defeated the unashamed extremism of figureheads like Sarah Palin, but our theocratic string-

pullers are still in too comfortable a position. They are parasites, and like all parasites they are able to squirm beneath a surface, repopulate, suck the fluids of another host and regroup.

The fact that Proposition Eight, a ban on gay marriage, was even on the ballot is ridiculous. They call it an act towards preserving marriage and “not an attack on the gay lifestyle,” but the thing is, you can’t be anti-gay-marriage without being anti-gay; they may not openly call it an attack on the gay lifestyle, but they’re saying that what gay people do and hope to do – their lifestyle – will defile marriage, thus defiling society. They’re calling what they do sacrilege, and that kind of accusation has absolutely no place in American law. We have panelists on talk shows quoting Jesus, but what Jesus said doesn’t matter! Nor does the supposed

A cartoon by Tom Falletta.

December 2008 Opinion Page 10

will of the people, because in retrospect, the American majority has often supported a lot of bad things (i.e. slavery, refusal of women’s rights, Japanese interment camps, ext.).

Also, I would like to state that marriage is not something reserved for those of religious faith. Marriage is perceived as a bonding of love, celebrated by theists and atheists alike. It could be done by a judge – the legalization of gay marriage wouldn’t change the confounded churches, it would change the law.

An even more outrageous act of the Right was the case of Lawrence v. Texas (2003), where the Texan government literally tried to ban gay sex on the legal grounds that…well, they thought it was icky. They tried to ban gay sex simply because they didn’t like it and that has no place in a court, especially not that Supreme one.

How do they get away with it?

What’s their rationale? How do these extremists march blatantly through the law without immediate dismissal? One hot button is their claim that America was founded on traditional Christian values, and that all the guys on our money had Jesus hold their hand while they penned the Constitution.

In actuality, the founding fathers were deistic men of science with cosmopolitan personas; they distrusted the god-fearing commoner so much that they constructed an electoral republic as opposed to a direct democracy, fearing a sectarian mob-mentality may infiltrate our strictly secular doctorate. I like what Thomas Jefferson said about Christianity, stating how its effect has been to “make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.”

The founding fathers created this nation after having escaped one without

separation of church and state, and in 1796, under Washington’s administration, the Treaty of Tripoli stated that the United States was “in no sense founded on the Christian religion.” Our nation’s creators were men of reason who never went witch-hunting with hicks like Sarah Palin. The defeat of the politics of fear, however, is a big step forward from backwards. Proposition Eight is a setback but it’s not a major setback; the American theocracy is on the decline. Soon, no longer will a nation of mostly rational people be governed by a small cult of phony theistic spellcasters. Soon the fictional fairytales of yesterday will cease to influence our national code. American government will be approached intellectually again – all we have to do is wait for the hypocrites to die.

[See more articles like this at Ralph’s blog: ralphsloophole.blogspot.com]

Dig Politics Like Us?Come Argue at PAC

The Political Awareness Club of Smithtown High School West is essentially a forum where students (including Bull’s Eye editorialists Ralph A. Moffettone, Matt Matonti, and myself) with a wide range of viewpoints and beliefs come together every week to dissect a vast assortment of issues that are current and pertinent to our political world. Here we engage in exciting group discussions, where no

voice goes unheard as we challenge each other’s conflicting arguments. Our group debates are done in an orderly fashion but with lenience, allowing talks to grow in a loose, natural, uninterrupted way. These discussion lead to a better, more well-rounded understanding of each issue. The club’s foundation lies in its members, who bring different views to the table and incite a meaningful dialogue that is beneficial to all those who participate. Most recently, the club has experienced an influx of ninth- and tenth-grade members in addition to the veteran senior and junior participants, illustrating the young ambitions still sleeping in our school – so if you’re an underclassman, don’t be intimidated! PAC offers those who follow politics and world events the ability to speak their minds freely outside the

confines of the classroom where discussion and debate of current events is often limited. This past October, PAC put on a successful debate-assembly before a school-wide audience, where members argued who they believed should’ve been the next president; we hope to pursue equally ambitious projects like this in the future, and you can have a role. New members are always welcome. The Political Awareness Club meets every Thursday in Mr. Kuletsky’s room in E205 from 2-4 PM. Whether you’re an Independent, Republican, Democrat or none of the above, you will always be welcome to debate and discuss your opinions at PAC.

Freshman PAC member Alex Barnes sits poised. PAC leaders Ben Weinberg and Jimmy Mulhern.

- Ben Weinberg, PAC President

CLUBCORNER

The All- American Rejects are Back in the Music Scene

December 2008 Arts and Entertainment Page 11

Band Spotlight: Thursday Was Cloudy

By Harrini KrishnanWhen the Bull’s Eye caught up with Phil Cor-so, the guitarist/lead singer of Thursday Was Cloudy, they had just finished playing Sachem Public Library’s Annual Battle of The Bands and winning second place. Since October of ’03, Long Island’s very own Thursday Was Cloudy, has done nothing but stun listeners with a catchy beat and amazing guitar riffs. They have released about three full-length albums and are prepping to continue. The members includes Phil Corso, Dave Gscheidle (guitarist/ vocals), Joe Ignelzi (bass) and Kevin Norris (drums). We had a reporter sit down with Phil and here’s what he had to say:Whatgenreofmusicdoyouconsideryourworktobeandwhoareyourmajorinfluences?I think we would call ourselves Alternative Rock. That’s the only thing that comes to mind. It’s kind of a broad genre but I still think it’s the best we can describe ourselves as. Maybe a little bit of Post Hardcore...what-ever that is.Howlonghaveyouallknowneachother? How did you meet?Dave and I have known each other for about seven years and have been playing together for the same amount of time. We met in 8th grade when I was on the hunt for a guitarist to play for my band at the time, Call Collect. Well, I was referred to him from another mu-sician and stalked him and eventually found him. The rest is history.What’stheultimategoal/directionforyour band?The ultimate goal of our band is to continue to write songs that we really enjoy listening to. There is nothing we want more than to play in front of people who actually enjoy our music and want us to play and write.

(continued on the next page)

The All-American Rejects are getting ready to release their third album right in time for the holidays. Fans are order-ing their newest CD When the World Comes Down. This new album includes the already released single, “Gives You Hell.” Guitarist Nick Wheeler says, “This re-cord hasn’t been smooth sailing after the success of Move Along, we felt an innate need to challenge ourselves to grow. And to challenge our fans to grow with us.” After meeting when they were fourteen-years old, two Oklahoma rockers, Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, co-founded The All-American Re-jects. In 2002 they met the band’s two newest members, Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor. The All-American Rejects have one EP: Same Girl, New Songs (2001) and three albums: The All-American Rejects (2002), Move

Along (2005), and When the World Comes Down, released December 16, 2008. “We just write what we know,” states Ritter. He also says, “Ev-erybody who moves out to L.A. gets that Holly-wood thing in their blood, and their second record always sounds horrible. And if we end up there, we take it back.” Gaylor explains, “I love playing drums and wish I could do this all the time. More I get to play, happier I am, less apt to get in trouble. I felt like I hit the lottery when I was making 50 bucks a show and not having to work for a living. Success is relative.” Tyson states, “I want this record to be more than just good for us, I want it to be good for them, our fans. In the end, we’re just a band, close friends, who care deeply about what we do.”

The band recently played a show on December 5, 2008 at the Grand Ballroom in the city. Make sure you keep checking their website to see when they’re posting the new tour dates for 2009. The band is thankful for how close they are with their fans. The connection began with there “Dirty Little Secret” video. Fans leaked there dirty little secrets and you can see them in index cards throughout the video. Ritter sees this secret sharing as an in-credible way to stay close to their fans. He says, “I like that people feel like they can trust their own secrets with our band. It’s kind of cool. Not only is it an outlet for them to escape to when they lis-ten to the record, it’s also some place they can go to. I think it helps to con-nect to the band more.”

By Elissa Grieco

Since late July, eager teens have been fidgeting, at the ends of their patience for the long awaited Fall Out Boy album, Folie a Deux. As if the anticipation wasn’t enough already, the band dares to take it a step further and launch an elaborate viral marketing plan. On August 7th, the Decaydance Records website was hacked by a group calling them-selves “Citizens For Our Betterment.” There was little to no reaction until the next morning when Pete Wentz’s wife Ashlee Simpson was seen clearly carrying a CFOB pam-

phlet. Soon, Decaydance bands mysteriously started displaying the CFOB logos. The site started buzzing with anxious fans as they searched for the answer to the unknown ques-tion. Not much later, the date – November 4, 2008 – started emerging every-where. Soon people started linking the emer-gence of this new viral group to Fall Out Boy and inferred that the album would be released on election day. Very soon, the group released a mixtape of songs that was put together with remixes and previews of new De-caydance bands and their

music. There were also many political manifestos by some influential De-caydance band members including all four members of Fall Out Boy rallying for the Obama campaign. As time went on and the election got fierce, the band decided to steer clear of the elec-tion and move the release date to what is now December 16th. They do however admit that there is a political edge to the lyrics because, after all, the election is an im-portant and vital part of everyone’s lives, especially the younger population because it is our future.

The Fall Out Boy CampaignBy Harrini Krishnan

Gives You Hell Burns Up the Chart

Mr.Dematteo

Favorite Band? The Beatles

Happy song?INXS- “Don’t Change”

Whatdoyoulistentothemost?The Cure, In Between Days

What’smostmainstreamthing?Linkin Park

What’sthemostobscurething?Jackson Browne

Band Everyone should have?The Beatles

What kind of Ipod?8 gigs Howwouldyouclassifyyourmusical genre?Rock

By Danielle Ferrante

What’s On Your Teacher’s iPod?

Twilight is, on the surface, a romance story between two moody, sensitive teenag-ers, not unlike most any other romance story. This, though, isn’t your average tale of pubescent star-crossed lovers, this one is about vampires – or at least that’s what they claim. As far as I’m concerned they’re just people with pointy teeth who happen to be in top physical condition and thirst blood. Twilight makes me sad, because it takes a once feared race of monsters and strips them of every redeeming quality except for their fangs and bloodlust. Last time I checked – and I do check – vampires couldn’t go directly into sunlight, or else they’d disintegrate. No, in Twilight vampires sparkle when they’re in the sun, making it just one of many vampire inconsistencies I took note of:– In the movie, the char-acters have no emotional

depth, so there is no reason to portray them as having any. The actors are doing a fantastic job. – Vampires must be invited inside to enter a building. Here vamps just do whatever they want.– The vampires here were cooking Italian food, which I can only assume involved the incorporation of garlic. Apparently, ac-cording to Twilight-logic, there are different kinds of vampires: Ones that can see the future (girl who I don’t give a damn about), and the “Tracker” (once again, I don’t give a damn about names). Nos-feratu would not approve. – Traditional vampires are articulate, eloquent speak-ers – no one can weave a sentence like Dracula! Here in Twilight, vampires offer nothing more than generic, pathetically lame dialogue, like “You’re my own personal brand of heroin.” Every girl sighs, I vomit in my mouth. It seems as though the screenwriter just had a

pile of cards with adjec-tives written on them and chose from them at random. I don’t care what you howling fangirls say, Twilight was an attack on my senses. It offended me not only as a fan of vampires, but as a fan of things that are decent. It destroys the beloved franchise made famous by the likes of Dracula and Nosferatu, leaving us with a fangless mess of hormones. Girls, Edward Cullen will never whisk you away into the night no matter how much you wish it.

December 2008 Arts and Entertainment Page 12

When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together? Thursday Was Cloudy started in October 2003 when we were in 9th grade. It started because our previous band, which I was the drummer for, Call Collect, had broken up leaving just Dave and me. We decided to take a new route and both picked up our acoustic guitars and wrote and recorded a full-length together with just the two of us. We liked playing music and whatever music we were listening to at the time was what influenced our writing. Over the years it has changed a lot. In 9th grade we were really into Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, and Northstar. As we grew, our tastes in music changed and so did our writing. Right now, and probably forever, we will be influenced by The Receiving End of Sirens.Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues?We have played in so many places. Obvi-ously, the Sachem Library is a place we have played at six years in a row. We have played at several Long Island bars and venues, and also several schools and public functions. Off the top of my head, St. Joseph’s college, SUNY Stony Brook, The Village Pub South, and so many more. My favorite place to play is probably the Sachem library because of all the kids that come out. But Stony Brook was also a lot of fun. I absolutely hate the Village Pub South. It is so poorly run and terribly managed.What is your favorite of all your songs?Out of all our songs, my favorite is probably our newest one, “Modern Warfare.”What inspires your lyrics?Our lyrics are inspired by the things we do in our lives and things we think would make a good song. For example, “Modern Warfare” is about Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360. “Re-treat Retreat” is about I am Legend, starring Will Smith.Could you briefly describe the process of making and promoting an album?We have recorded several full length albums. The process is long. You have to write enough good material and give it enough time to evolve into a real work. You work at it and then spend lots of time recording it and critiquing it until you think it’s perfect. The hardest part is finding the right prices and vendors to print and reproduce your CD and then since we are an unsigned band, we have to find out our own ways to sell and distribute the CDs. That has been the chal-lenge. We basically try to promote through the internet and by playing shows.

Band Spotlight(cont from previous page)

A Bloody Shame By Dan McClain

The Confusing Vampire-Contradictions of “Twilight”

Createa4x6postcarddecoratedtoyourlikingdisplay-ingyoursecret,dropitinlockerC1530,andpublicizeit,

hopefullyfreeingsomeofthepainitbringsyou.

December 2008 Arts and Entertainment Page 13

Whathasbeenyourbiggestchallengeas a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge?Our biggest challenge as a band has to be our search for a permanent drummer. All these years we have had about two drummers but they have come and gone. Basically, I have been playing the drums on all our recordings as well as guitar and singing. This leaves us without a drummer for live shows which has always been the biggest challenge. But yes, we have been overcoming that challenge. We are finally working with a new drummer this winter.Whatadvicedoyouhaveforpeoplewho want to form their own bands?Advice for other people forming bands has to be just make sure you know what it is you want. Often times, people start and join bands when they have no idea what to expect. That’s when bands never produce and just end up a myth inside someone’s basement. You got to make sure every-body is passionate about the music and be dedicated to making every song the best it could possibly be. You also have to be aware that there is a huge amount of sacri-fice and compromise you must make when working with others in a band. It can’t be all about you.What’sthemostbizarrethingtohap-pen while you were onstage?Most bizarre thing to happen to us on stage was probably when we played about three years ago at a church fundraiser. My acoustic guitar broke a string in the middle of a song and the other strings went out of tune. I had nothing to do but put my guitar down and start clapping like an idiot to the beat of the song.What’syourfavoriteandleastfavoritepart about playing live?My favorite part about playing live is the excitement you feel on your way to a gig and preparing with the band and so on. Anticipating what you will do on stage is always fun. The worst part is lugging all the equipment and having to make sure you didn’t forget something or have something stolen. This happens way too much.Doestouringandtheotheraspectsofyourprofessionallifeaffectyourprivate life? Are you able to keep up with school work?I must say that playing live never really affected my personal life. It’s a part of it. I am rarely able to keep up with my classes as it is so I don’t think it’s the band’s fault. That’s just my own procrastination, haha.

Band Spotlight(cont from previous page)

Do you have a secret? How would you feel if everyone knew? Not many people are comfortable with the thought of openly exposing the dark truths that we all hide every-day. Would you approach the scenario differently if you could speak your mind anonymously? This project, inspired by Frank Warren’s PostSecret, al-

lows you to do just that. Create a 4x6 postcard decorated to your liking displaying your secret, drop it in locker C1530, and publicize it, hopefully freeing some of the pain it brings you. The secrets displayed here have been created by students you pass every day in the halls, not bothering to look at twice. We can’t always

tell the pain a person’s hiding just by looking at them. Remember as you’re passing faces, that we all have something to conceal and we are never alone. This is a uniting project. Each secret may be created by an individual person but its truths and meanings are often relat-able to more than just a few.

PostSecretBy Daniella Tirrano

“Extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives”

December 2008 Sports Page 14

On November 6, 2008 Smithtown Girls’ Varsity Swimming and Diving won the League Championship for the first time since 1990. At that time Smithtown and Hauppauge were still a combined Swim Team competing in the Hauppauge High School pool. Head Coach Terry Martin, Assis-tant Coach Kurt Margraf and Diving Coach Marlene Mitchell, could not be prouder and are looking forward to the State Qualifying meet. The Divers on the Team are Kristen Giffuni (Captain and graduating Senior), Dana Greco (West) and Alessia Faverio (West). The divers swept the top three spots in the league championships. The diving team captain Kristin Giffuni explains, “The diving team is a family. We push each other to achieve our

Smithtown Paddles its Way to Glory

Team Wins Champioship After 18-Year Drought

By Elissa Grieco

goals but at the same time we are able to smile and laugh no matter what we’re do-ing.” “The depth and experience the divers bring to the season has allowed them to take first and second place each meet.” Diving Coach Mitchell explains joyfully. “The positive energy they carry as they approach leagues, counties, and states leaves no doubt in my mind that they will do well, but most importantly have fun doing so.” The West League swimmers are senior Captain Dani Blom, Kaitlyn Fitzger-ald, Elissa Grieco, Paige Kelly, Jessica Noviello and Lara Sarett. “This is my first year on the team but I feel welcomed by the girls and encouraged by the coaches.” says Jessica Noviello, a junior at West. “I will work hard to go as far as I can this season.” “We have had a great season due to the depth on our team,” says Jes-sica Noviello. “We have experienced and hardworking swimmers and divers. We are motivated to have a winning season!” Coach Martin was correct because the girls are now ranked first in League I.

Going the DistanceBoys’ Winter Track Gears up with Young Talent and Experi-

enced VeteransBy Benjamin Weinberg

The Smithtown High School West Boys’ Winter Track team is looking to turn some heads this season with a mix of young talent and experienced captains whose work ethic and success seems to inspire the rest of the team.

With new Head Coach Schieck and assistant coaches Grieco and Flynn at the helm with a renewed emphasis on hard work and dedication, members of the team are excited to learn and to improve under them. When asked about the expectations for the Boys’ Winter Track team for this season, News 12 Scholar Athlete and Team Captain Jason Santos stated, “I expect every team member to steadily improve over the course of the season and I expect that everyone sets their own personal goals and does their best to meet them.” Santos also said of Coaches Schieck, Grieco and Flynn that “so far, they’ve done a great job of keeping everyone focused. They seem to have a knack for keeping kids from slacking and they don’t do it by being harsh or yelling either, which is the best part.”

Lastly, I asked Jason about his

role as a Senior and Captain of the Boys’ Winter Track team and what influence he wants to have over the underclassmen members this season. “I’m pretty honored to be a captain and I’m pretty honored to have underclassmen looking up to me. I never have been a leader by my voice; I’ve always been a leader by my performances. In this way, I think that when the underclassmen watch the other captains and myself compete, it will encourage them to work harder as well.”

Always known for the great distance runners that Smithtown produces, Senior Captains Jason Santos and Ethan Cohen, Juniors Wesley Macker and Craig Santos, Sophomore Mark Valentino and Freshman Mike Catalano are all athletes to look out for as they will be extremely competitive in events such as the 1000 meter event, 1 mile and 2 mile events and the 4 x 800 meter relay race. In the recent Crossover A Meet, The 4 x 200 relay team surpassed the “Best of Suffolk County” time with 1:44 which makes them eligible for the League Championships.

Seniors Brandon Robbins, Dan

Old Met Leads DucksFormer Met Gary Carter to lead the

Long Island DucksBy Chris Lewand

The Long Island Ducks will start their tenth season in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball off with a bang in a couple of months when the players take the field. The Ducks used this off-season to fire manager Dave LaPoint after two seasons of disappointing results and picked up Hall-of-Fame-catcher and former Mets great Gary Carter to be their next manager. Carter managed in the Mets organization from 2005 to 2007. He has also openly expressed his desire to manage at the major league level. Controversy surrounded Carter last season after contacting the Mets about becoming manager before Willie Randolph lost his job. This past season, Carter led the Orange County Flyers to the Golden Baseball League Championship. In November when Carter joined the Ducks he brought his winning ways to a team that has built themselves around former major league players for the past few seasons. This past season, former Mets Edgardo Alfonzo, Carl Everett, Richard Hidalgo, and Danny Graves joined former Nationals player Nook Logan to bring their experience in the big leagues to Long Island.

The Ducks are owned by Mets legend Bud Harrelson who is also a coach. Harrelson and Carter worked together on the 1986 world championship when Carter was the catcher and Harrelson was the team’s third base coach. With the Ducks leading the Atlantic League in attendance during the ’08 campaign, they will try to keep this trend with the addition of Carter, who is expected to get ticket sales higher than ever before.

Cohen and Andrew Fedder are poised to be formidable sprinters against the rest of the County’s best this season. In his first meet, Robbins ran a time of 6.86 in the 55 meter final to come in 2nd overall in the Crossover A. In the field, Fred Walter, a sophomore shot-putter threw 38’10.5” feet to make the “Best Of” list for Suffolk County in only his first meet. There is no doubt that Robbins, Walter and other sprinters and distance runners will be a powerful force representing Smithtown West late into the season at League and County Championships.

December 2008 Sports Page 15

Matonti in the Red ZoneFree Agent Frenzy

By Matt Matonti

Both New York Baseball Clubs ended their 2008 campaigns sooner than expected this past season. The Yankees were knocked from playoff contention early on as the Boston Red Sox and surprise A.L. East Division Champion Tampa Bay Rays both had exceptional seasons. Expecta-tions fell short for the Mets and Yankees and disappointment was rampant among their faithful as a result. Both teams made big splashes in the free agency pool as the Mets signed closer Frankie “K-Rod” Rodri-guez and the Yankees landed Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia. The arrival of the Winter Meet-ings and the Rule 5 Draft have signaled the transition from pre-heat to full blown cookin’ on baseball’s offseason “Hot Stove”.

The Mets also traded for J.J. Putz, who will be their set-up man. They’ve been on the hunt for relievers since injuries begotten by pitcher Billy Wagner put his 2009 sea-son in jeopardy. The Mets are still looking at acquiring a starting pitcher or two. They should, under no circumstances, even consider re-signing Oliver Perez. He is way too inconsistent and would demand the type of salary that is way above his head. I’d rather see the Mets take a risk on an unproven rookie pitcher from within the or-ganization (such as Jonathan Niese). They should take a stab at trading for someone such as Jason Marquis whom they could acquire at a relatively low cost. Getting a closer and set-up man was something the Mets had to do. Although, the closer position is already an overrated position to begin with. They only pitch one inning per game which is only about 60 to 75 innings on average per season, if they even pitch a full season. Regardless, the ninth inning situations in which closers are put into are

vital. And in the case of the Mets, the lack of a consistent and reliable closer is what sparked the bullpen’s failure and their late season collapse. But that was also partly because of mismanagement (putting Aaron Heilman in there). Getting Sabathia was part of the Yankees offseason mission to shore up their starting pitching after missing the postseason for the first time since 1993. After a year of trying rookie starters, the Yankees have given up and gone back to what they do best: blow money on stars.They also are in the hunt for starters A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. Rumors have also surfaced that Melky Cabrera will be traded to the Brew-ers for his centerfiled replacement Gold Glover Mike Cameron. Both teams are entering into inagurual seasons in their new stadiums and needed to make a big splash over the winter. Now, however, they also enter into 2009 with higher expectations than ever before.

Bull’s Eye Sports Guru

His Reputation Can Go All the Way ... Down the

ToiletThe Plaxico Scandal

By Tom FallettaNEW YORK, New York – Late in

November of 2008, New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg while at a New York City night club. The handgun, which was concealed in his sweatpants, slipped out of his waistband, and was discharged as it slipped down his leg. Burress did not go to the hospital right away – instead, he waited until the next day to receive medical assistance and was released later that afternoon. The New York-Presbyterian Hospital however, did not call the authorities the following days as required by law.

The New York Police Department was also kept in the dark on the matter until they had seen reports of it on television. Burress later turned himself in to the police to face charges. His lawyer says that he will plead not guilty. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has expressed his

outrage by calling for full charges to be brought against the wide receiver, which would mean a minimum of three and a half years in prison.

Burress has been suspended without pay by the New York Giants for the remainder of the season and is not set to return for the playoffs.

It is a near perfect storm of bad events for No. 17. The only way it could have been any better is if he shot himself in the foot if only for metaphorical reasons.

He is undoubtedly one of the greatest players on the Giants, and as a result, his contract has not been terminated. If this had been done by a mediocre player or rookie player that had no prospects, his career would have been over, and he would never play in the NFL again. But because he caught the game winning catch in the nail biting Super Bowl XLII, the front office is still weighing their options for next season. The Giants seem to be biding their time and waiting for a verdict from the trial. If he’s found guilty, they’ll drop him for next season. If he’s found not guilty, they may bring him back next season.

Teammate Antonio Pierce was with Burress at the nightclub when the

incident took place. He drove Burress home in Totowa, New Jersey that night with the weapon. No punishment has been mentioned for him thus far.

Burress is not the only person at fault however. Investigations seem to show that the NFL knew more about the incident than the NYPD did, and refused to report it until asked. The hospital also did not call the police, which makes it seem likely that there was a cover up to keep the problem under wraps. The doctor who did not report the injury however, has been suspended.

Mayor Bloomberg is calling for Burress’ head over the issue, shouting that he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law before Burress even faces trial. However, as likely that it is that Plaxico Burress is guilty, the fundamental principle of American justice is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Bloomberg is calling for blood as if Burress killed the Limbergh baby.

Burress is set to face trial on March 31st of next year. The NFL Players’ Association recently filed a grievance against the Giants on Burress’ behalf in an attempt to regain his some of his 2008 salary.

How The Mets and Yankees Should Approach This Upcoming Season

The Bull PenThe Bull’s Eye Sports Section

New York’s Wacky Football SeasonThe Jets Trump the Patriots and a Giant Shoots HimselfMatonti in the Red Zone

The Plaxico Scandal

Gary Carter: New Ducks Manager

Free Agent Frenzy

Girls Varsity Swim:Epic Victory

Boys Winter Track

A Cartoon by Tom Falletta