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Middle School Newspaper

Day of Silence at RCS Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

The Falcon Times

V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 3 M A Y 2 0 1 1

Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Thau

Staff Writers

John Cicco Olivia Corn Jack Tien-Dana Zoe Palmer Dylan Frank Ben Langer Matthew Slater Tess Rosenthal

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Osama bin Laden 2 Pope John Paul II 4 The Royal Wedding 5 The Walkout 6 Walmart Sells Guns 7 Obama‟s Birth Certificate 7 Review: Fast Five 8 Review: Chocolate Chip 9 Poem: My Poem 9 Poem: Community Garden 10 Sudoku 11

Friday, April 15 was the Day of Silence for Middle and Upper School students. The entire idea behind the day was that some gay, lesbian, and bisexual students don‟t feel like they can express themselves and have to stay—as the expression goes—“in the closet”. Jordan Knitzer brought in a roll of duck tape, which many of us utilized. We kept the tape on all day (except for gym, when the tape on my mouth with a stuffed nose was not really such a good plan). Personally, I found that the best way to not talk or play an awkward game of charades was to separate myself from everyone. And honestly, it all makes so much sense. The whole point of this was to teach us that there are people who are afraid to communicate what they really think and feel, and we now feel much more empathetic to those in the gay community who don‟t feel safe explaining themselves for fear of bullying. The absolute perfect example of someone who is scared to say how they really feel can be found on Glee. Santana is so embarrassed about being a lesbian that she starts to date a gay football player who also is embarrassed about his sexual orientation. Jordan‟s older sister, Carly, wrote a post about the DoS on her blog (wehatethehate.tumblr.com). Her article said: “For decades, even centuries, GLBTQ individuals have been silenced by society in a way that has kept them from expressing themselves or from being confident about who they are. On this day, GLBTQ students and their allies show their support for those who have been unable to speak up for what they believe in and to be out and proud. By being silent on this day, we are empathizing with those who have been silenced by society for not fitting the „norm.‟” Personally, I am not gay but have many friends who are and they all deserve to be able to express themselves. By not being able to talk for just one day, I felt cut off from everything and could only image what it must feel like to not be able to express yourself. When I asked Jordan about his experiences not talking all day, he said, “A lot of people said it would be hard so they didn‟t do it but I really care about gay rights, so I was dedicated to this occasion.” He added, “It was really hard to communicate with my teachers and I really thought that even one day could affect me, and I realized that if that could affect me for one day, image what would happen for a kid every day.”

Many students chose to cover their mouths with tape in observation of the Day of Silence.

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Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S.

Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

It was announced on Sunday, May 1 that Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in NYC, the Pentagon outside of DC, and another flight down in Pennsylvania, was shot in the head and chest late Sunday night after a forty minute mission. The founder of al Qaeda was found at a mansion around eight times the size of other houses in the area, just over 30 miles outside of Pakistan's capital. The home had no telephone or Internet service, most likely to keep bin Laden hidden from those hunting him. Four others were killed. Officials said that they included bin Laden's adult son and a woman. President Obama called Sunday's event the "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." The mission, he said, was carried out by a "small group of Americans...with extraordinary courage and capability." Obama gave order for the mission Friday, even as he was visiting the tornado-ridden south. It is believed that the compound that housed bin Laden was built five years ago for the purpose of housing bin Laden. A senior security officer said that they had many confirmations that the body is bin Laden's. He said that they have the "ability to run images of the body and the face." They were also able to use “family DNA” to be positive that the body was in fact that of bin Laden. However, many details are still unknown and may never be known. We do know that bin Laden resisted, but we are not sure whether or not he opened fire. President Obama said late Sunday night that "no Americans were harmed." Outside of Pakistan, out in front of the White House, Americans chanted "USA! USA!" and "hey, hey, hey, goodbye." All of this was done with the national anthem being sung in between and behind the chants. In New York, people gathered at Ground Zero and cheered. "God Bless America" could be heard all throughout the crowd. A former firefighter who was there that day in 2001 said that he was there to let the hundreds of other firefighters that died know that they "didn't die in vain." He said, "It‟s a war that I feel we just won. I'm down here to let them know justice has been served." A former police officer said that he "thanks the Lord that he has been eliminated." Even in the middle of all of this excitement, Americans have been told to be on high alert all around the world. A U.S. official said that Americans have to have "worldwide caution." The travel alert issued for Americans warned of the "enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan." However, President Obama believes that the world is now a "safer place" with bin Laden dead.

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American intelligence officials said that they removed a good deal of documents and the CIA was just beginning to go through them. This event did not just happen overnight, however. The search kept coming up empty until last July when some Pakistanis working for the CIA drove up behind a white car near Preshawar and wrote down its license plate number. The man in that car was bin Laden's most trusted courier and after months, he led them to a compound with 18 foot security walls around where they brined garbage and had opaque windows (any hints there....?). Eight months after this discovery, 79 American commandos came in four helicopters to find or kill the man responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. But eight months doesn't even explain how long ago Sunday night started. A few years ago, what some CIA detainees in secret prisons in Europe said (and didn't say) made the U.S. think that bin Laden could, in fact, be exactly where they found him. But even after all of that, senior officials and President Obama had to weigh the risks. "There wasn't a meeting where someone didn't mention 'Black Hawk Down,'" one official said, referring to when, in 1993 in Somalia, two helicopters were shot down, killing those inside. President Obama says that he won‟t release pictures of the killing. Even through all of this, all that I can think about is a DearBlankPleaseBlank I saw on www.dearblankpleaseblank.com: “Dear Osama bin Laden, Thanks for returning the invisibility cloak. Sincerely, Harry Potter.”

Osama bin Laden (Cont…)

Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

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Pope John Paul II‟s Beatification

Cameron Pfaffle, Grade 7

On Sunday, May 1 Pope John Paul II was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. A beatification is when the Pope anoints a person of remarkable faith and love, blessed. As a result this person begins their journey to become a saint. People from all around the world gathered in amazing numbers to honor Pope John Paul II. It was the greatest amount of people to be present in the Vatican since Pope John Paul II's funeral. According to the Italian police a crowd stronger then 1 million joined together to take part in the beatification of Pope John Paul II. People traveled across the globe to watch the monumental beginning of Pope John Paul II's journey to sainthood. The police had to let people through the gates at 2 a.m. because thousands of people were waiting to enter to take part in the Mass planned to take place at 10 a.m. During the ceremony people related stories of "seeing Pope John Paul II or even meeting him." In his homily, Pope Benedict told his story about his experience knowing Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict stated that while prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1982 to 2005 he worked alongside Pope John Paul II and "came to revere him." He described Pope John Paul II's firmness of faith throughout his entire life as pope. Pope John Paul II beatified 1,338 people and canonized (made saints) 482 people. He also established World Youth Day, a day where the Catholic faith is taught to and recognized by young men and women. Pope John Paul II himself has been canonized sooner then any other saint in about 500 years. The reason Pope Benedict has beatified him so soon is because he said, "it was pleasing to the Lord, it was pleasing to himself, and to the people of the world." Pope Benedict appointed Pope John Paul II blessed, and stated that his feast will take place on October 22. After this event, people celebrated and vigorously applauded. During the ceremony Pope Benedict told the crowd of Pope John Paul II's faith and "love to Mary, and his quality of unwavering faith." He fervently prayed, "Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed." I believe that Pope John Paul II is a hero, and that this day of his beatification is an extremely important day in history. He was a man of enormous faith, love, and generosity, and I am convinced that he has changed the world by his true mark of faith and love.

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The Royal Wedding

Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

Most parents want their kids to sleep whenever they can, but my mom got me up a little after 5 am on Friday, April 29. The royal wedding festivities had already started earlier, with coverage in the U.S. beginning at 4 am. Royals were arriving by different brands of British cars (Bentley, Rolls Royce, etc.) and some in Volkswagen shuttle buses on the way to Westminster Abby. Then Mrs. Middleton arrived. She wore a sky blue coatdress suit with a light blue sheath and pumps to match. Her hat was a sky blue net hat with flowers the color of her suit on the top and by her head. More royals came over the next few minutes. One of them was the Duchess of Cornwall who came sporting a champagne silk dress and a blue and champagne coat with hand-done embroidery. Then came the Queen. She wore a bright yellow dress with a huge diamond rose broach and double crepe vibrant yellow hat with roses of different shades. Her kitten heels were (as it appeared on my TV) a pale yellow/nude and complemented her colorful dress choice. As the (now) Princess Catherine arrived at the abbey in a lace-sleeved ivory and white dress with lace detailing along the bottom of the ball gown skirt, Prince William said to her, “You look beautiful.” She certainly did look beautiful in her Sarah Burton (of the Alexander McQueen fashion house) dress. The prince wore the uniform of a colonel of the Irish Guards, a scarlet jacket, and a blue sash. Crowds roared as his car drove by before the wedding. The police said that a million people lined the wedding route. After the wedding, the couple will officially be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the royal family announced shortly after the wedding. The family was intending to keep the Duchess from being compared to Diana, Princess of Wales. But not everyone was as excited as others. In a poll that I made on Facebook (thank you Mark Zuckerberg, that actually came in handy) on the Thursday before the wedding, 22 people answered and 10 of them voted “of course!!” to the poll that was titled: “this is for an article so BE HONEST: are you excited for the ROYAL WEDDING?” Three people voted “Sort of,” two people said that people were too excited for the wedding, six people said that they couldn‟t care less, and one person voted “Sort of, but I don‟t really care.”

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The Walkout: So Who Knew What it Was For?

As the entire MS knows from announcements and e-mails, there was a walkout on Friday, March 11 at 2 pm. According to Victoria Gross (the blast-email sender and introducer of this concept to RCS), “At some moments [the amount of people out there was] 3, at some moments it was 8…the total was [around] 12-13.” But out of those people, who actually knew what they were protesting for? Not as many as one would think. Out of the 16 people that told me that they were walking out, only four of them knew what they were walking out for. That‟s right; 12 people had no idea what it was that they were protesting. There were also the people who said that they knew what was happening in Wisconsin, and then when I asked them, they had no idea. Take one seventh grader who, after being explained what this protest was for, said: “Why does that have anything to do with cutting C period?” Or someone else, who when asked what was happening in Wisconsin said: “Oh s*!#@!” And then there were those who thought that we were entering another Civil War. (Me): “So what are you protesting for?” (Them): “To keep the Union together.” (Me): “Do you know what Union?” (Them): “The United States.” But that person wasn‟t the only one who thought that Wisconsin was going to secede. One student who left class at 2 pm said: “I‟m protesting…because I think that the Union should stay together because, um, I think we need to stay as one country.” There were also those students who just didn‟t care about the issue at all who just wanted to cut class. “If we have an option to cut class, we‟ll do so.” Or those who were just confused like one person who said, “It‟s for, like, against wars that are going on right now.” And those who said, “I have no clue, but I really want to walk out of school.” Or the “I [just] want to get out of class” people. But what does this show about us as Riverdale students? We really have no idea about what is happening around the world. Are we really so secluded that we had to make up that we know what is happening all around us? This issue isn‟t just about what‟s going on in Wisconsin; it‟s all over the world. We honestly know more about sports and the newest fashion lines than we do about current events. Mr. Sipp even said that we all should become “informed citizens.” And that doesn‟t mean reading the Sports section of the New York Times a few days a week. That means that we have to understand what is happening in the world, and especially in our own country. When I told Mr. Sipp about all of the statistics that I found he said, “I think that it‟s unfortunate. I think what we have is many people who are following and not really taking leadership to find out exactly [what they are supporting]…What gets lost in this, I think, are the handful of people that are really passionate and really know what they‟re talking about on both sides.” Earlier in the day, as I was talking to Mr. Sipp, he said: “My point is, if you feel like you really know what you‟re protesting, [then you can walk out.] If my kids want to go, I‟m going to say: „you can go.‟” So that‟s all that we have to do as students. We have to be informed. And when we follow what we hear on the news and what our parents say, we aren‟t growing our own voices. And without those voices, how are we supposed to grow as people, and as “informed citizens”? We aren‟t young enough any more to say that we can learn about what‟s happening later. We are living the history, and we can create it. That is why Mr. Sipp encourages us to announce things that are happening in the world during MS Meeting. That is why for his history class we have to bring in articles and explain them to the class. We all have to become “informed citizens” and the only way to do that is to stay connected to current events.

Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

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Walmart Brings Back Guns Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

Walmart said on Thursday, April 28 that they were planning on bringing back guns to many of their stores. They are hoping that the new additions to their stock will help lift their slowing sales. Walmart had stopped selling guns at many of its stores in 2006. It used to be the world‟s largest retailer of guns but stopped their sale with the reasoning that there was less demand for firearms. The store currently sells rifles, shotguns, and ammunition in over 1,000 stores nation-wide. Now, however, such firearms will be available at nearly half of Walmart‟s 4,000 stores in the US. The chain does not sell handguns anywhere but Alaska. Walmart spokesperson Lorenzo Lopez said that introducing more accessibility to the guns with increase the amount of profit they make. According to CNN, Lopez said: “We realized there is broader appeal for guns in some areas because of sporting needs."

Obama Releases Birth Certificate Rebecca Thau, Grade 7

After being called a liar who wasn‟t really an American by no other than the attention hogging Donald Trump, President Obama released his official long-form birth certificate on Wednesday, April 27. The White House made this available as a way to put an end to the tenacious gossip that Obama wasn‟t really born in the United States. The birth certificate expressed what Obama‟s advisers have been saying: that Obama was born at Honolulu‟s Kapiolani Hospital on August 4, 1961. Doubters of Obama (Trump being a leader of this) said that Obama was born in another country—most likely Kenya, his father‟s home country—and thus could not serve as president because of the fact that the Constitution says only “natural born” citizens can become president. According to CNN, the President said: "We do not have time for this kind of silliness…I've been puzzled at the degree to which this (story) just kept on going…Normally I would not comment on something like this [but we have had] some enormous challenges out there [that we cannot fix] if we‟re distracted…We're not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers." Following the release of the birth certificate, Trump said that he had “accomplished something nobody else was able to accomplish…[Obama] should have (released the certificate) a long, long time ago.” Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said that “this has long been a settled issue.” To see the birth certificate, go to

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/04/politics/interactive.obama.birth.certificate/index.html.

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Movie Review: Fast Five

John Cicco, Grade 7

There is only one word to describe Fast Five: ridiculous. The dialogue is cheesy, the actors are in no way believable, and it breaks all of the laws of physics within its first two minutes. But you know what? That‟s just perfect. Last summer, about 70% (I did the math) of the action movies that came out were either okay or just plain terrible. All of them tried to capture the sense of fun and excitement you should feel at the movies and ended up failing for a variety of reasons. Too much talking, monotonous action, blurry, post-production 3-D, and mediocre plots that were relied on way too heavily. If you take a serious look at it, Fast Five is really nothing special. But after sitting through so much junk last year, it is a huge breath of fresh air. For the first time in a while, I watched things blowing up and…liked it. It is the fifth movie in The Fast and the Furious franchise but instead of being about street racing, it‟s a heist film—something I was very happy about because I was never a huge fan of the original Fast and the Furious formula. The movie starts right where the fourth movie left off with Brian (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) springing Dom (Vin Diesel) off of a prison bus. Their plan? Flip over the bus with their cars and hope that Dom lives. Through some miracle, their mind-numbingly stupid plan works and all three run off to Rio de Janeiro. A place that the movie industry is giving insanely mixed signals about (Are there singing birds or ruthless drug lords? There can‟t possibly be both). Upon arrival, they locate the seediest people in all of Rio and decide to do a “simple” job for them. The job goes haywire and Dom‟s crew is now the enemy of Rio‟s biggest drug lord. It is here where they hatch genius plan number two: let‟s rob the mega-powerful drug lord for all he‟s got! They call in all their past cast members like Tyresse Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges to help them form what I like to call, “Ghetto Ocean‟s Eleven”. The movie gets more entertaining by the second and all the action scenes are polished to perfection. It also gets a lot more ridiculous by the second, and you know what? It doesn‟t matter. People say that summer movie season is supposed to kick off in May. But I believe that this year, it came a little early. Three out of four stars. P.S. Also, check out to see The Rock give the best performance of his life.

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Book Review: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Zoe Palmer, Grade 6

Recently, I read a book called Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. This book is the first in a series by Joanne Fluke called Murder She Baked. The series is about a woman who owns a bakery, but when the much-loved delivery man is found dead, her job goes on hold to solve the mystery. Between snooping around, baking the most loved cookies in Lake Eden, and dodging her mother‟s attempts to match her up with Norman Rhodes, the local dentist, she doesn‟t have much free time to play with Moishe, her cat. As she gets closer and closer to the murderer with help from her younger sister Andrea, she finds local businessman and loan shark Max dead. I‟d tell you more, but I don‟t want to spoil it! This book has many twists and turns, and you never know who or what to expect. The recipes between the chapters add to the ingenious ideas of this series. With many more in the series, I can‟t wait to read them all, and I‟m sure you‟ll want to once you read this!

Poem: My Poem

Zoe Palmer, Grade 6

My mind Is like the wind, blowing from place to place, idea to idea, never there for long. My hands Are like ants, scurrying around, always busy, never satisfied. My heart Is like a gypsy, without a home, nothing and nobody to rely on. My life Is like a dead battery, empty, meaningless. My poem Is like a corpse, finished, over, done.

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Poem: Community Garden

Dylan Frank, Grade 7

Think about this: there is no sitting around at a community garden. Make sure that you have pruners, a trowel, gloves, and follow all instructions at all times. Never sit around without a purpose in a community garden: you came here to work and get dirty. You will also need a broom, a rake, daffodil bulbs, popsicle sticks, a water source, and a watering can. No jewelry or fancy clothes, don‟t even think about wearing 6-inch high heels or expensive suits and dresses; don‟t wear anything that needs to be dry-cleaned. Always wear your gardening gloves, not fur gloves, not cashmere gloves encrusted with diamonds, just plain old, dirty, gardening gloves. Start gathering dead plants, and live weeds, but no crops that people are growing in their gardens boxes should be touched. Remember, no composting collard greens, or rose bushes, just weeds and other dead plants. Pick up your pruners, and start chopping away into the compost bins until you are told to stop. DO NOT cut up anyone‟s crops or flowers under any circumstances, and never cut off your own fingers and toes to make compost (believe me, you will want them later in life). Pick up your pruners, sharp pruners glistening in the sun, not chipped or rusty pruners, and not scissors, exacto knives, or cleavers ever; only pruners will work. Never bring your chainsaw into a community garden to cut down trees, unless you wish to be in jail for a very long time. Remember, when you prune things for compost; do not make them too small, it will take forever. Do not cut your plants into big pieces either, 3-4 inches is the maximum size they can be. IF you insist on cutting 1cm pieces, be prepared to spend your whole life there. Plant your daffodil bulbs into 6-inch deep holes with the tops of the bulbs facing up. You will use your trowel for digging these holes. You heard me: the points need to face up to grow, not down, not sideways, not sort of up but a little bit sideways, UP, straight up. Drizzle the soil you dug up lightly over the bulb. That does not mean that you play Dirt Wars with your best friends, just drizzle it lightly over the newly planted bulb. Make sure you mark it with a Popsicle stick; you don‟t want to end up walking on your newly planted creation. Spread around some compost that has finished decomposing with your broom or rake over the bulbs you just planted. Grab a watering can, fill it up from your water source, and start watering your bulbs, or they will not ever grow. Don‟t be stingy with the water, just remember do not drain the whole watering can just to water one bulb unless you want to find out what happens when an instructor finds out that you just ruined 3 hours worth of hard work. Remember to rake up any leaves so you can make the garden safe for the “cute little old ladies” that will come by in the afternoon to help out. You don‟t want to have leaves everywhere for other people either, who wants to go to a garden to see dried up, brown leaves everywhere. After that, all you need to do is clean up your supplies, and depart from the garden after thanking your instructors. You then go back to school after your field trip, or go home and seriously clean yourself up.

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Sudoku

Fill in the blanks so that each row, each column, and each of the nine 3x3 grids contain one instance of each of the numbers 1 through 9. Solutions can be found in

First Class under “Student Bulletins.”

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Riverdale Country School 5250 Fieldston Road Bronx, NY 10471 www.riverdale.edu

Staff

The Falcon Times

Middle School Newspaper

Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Thau Staff Writers: John Cicco Olivia Corn Jack Tien-Dana Zoe Palmer Dylan Frank Ben Langer Matthew Slater Tess Rosenthal Faculty Advisor Ms. Huggins

And check out our blog! www.thefalcontimes.com

V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 3 M A Y 2 0 1 1

This is an image of the compound that housed Osama bin Laden when he was killed. To read about his capture, turn to page 2.