Homer High School Olympian: May 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Guest Speaker on Subatomic Physics

Alex Levitskiy

On May 12, 2015, the physics students at Homer High School were fortunate enough to listen to a guest speaker on subatomic physics. The guest speaker was Dr. Anders Ryd, a physicist originally from Sweden, who works at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) particle detector on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is the largest particle accelerator in the world, and it sits on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. Although the research being done by CERN varies in scope and application, in essence, their current research is being utilized to better comprehend our universe and its conception.

Dr. Anders Ryd began the discussion on a personal level, and I found it interesting that he did not foresee himself becoming a physicist, as some kids have their mind set on a certain career at an early age. He told us of his schooling, and underlying this was the message of not closing doors to opportunities which may ultimately steer us in our destined direction. Before delving into the research being done at CMS, Anders described the theory of the formation of our universe and the subatomic particles that existed. These subatomic particles, such as quarks of various types, are a part of quantum physics, which is what we are currently learning in physics class. Anders then taught us about the Higgs boson, which was discovered in 2012 at the LHC. The research being done is truly intriguing and groundbreaking; future research will potentially be done on dark matter and dark energy, which are major portions of our universe that are not well understood. The physics classes greatly enjoyed the presentation, and we are all thankful that Dr. Anders Ryd was able to dedicate his precious time at Homer High School.

Corn Ducky Derby

Tighe Gugerty

This year, the nineteenth annual Corn Ducky Derby ran very successfully. This event, a Cortland County tradition, continually brings a spike in the rubber duck population of the area and a spike in children’s excitement. This year Homer High School students sold tickets in order to raise funds for their respective classes. These were sold by the students individually and at certain school events. Tyler Holcomb, a student of Homer High School, dressed up in a duck costume at a concert in order to advertise for the event.This simultaneously scared and excited everyone there. All proceeds from the Corn Ducky Derby go to supporting local youth projects.

Winning this prestigious race entails a $2500 prize, followed by second through tenth place finishers receiving $100 prizes, and eleventh through fifteenth place finishers winning $25 prizes. As a consolation prize, the last place finisher wins $10. The seller of the winning ticket was also entitled to a cash prize. This year’s winner was a Californian woman named Ella Hage. This is interesting as she is the only winner from out of state of the fifteen prize winners. This was a truly interesting event and the community looks forward to seeing those ducks race again next year.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Homer Prom 2015

Tighe Gugerty

This past weekend Homer High School hosted its annual Junior-Senior Prom. This all night party was organized by the Junior class and was held at Tinelli’s Hathaway House. This festive event began with a large assortment of food for students to choose from including copious amounts of desserts. Students had the opportunity to eat outside and take in the sweeping scenery of Central New York. Eventually, the dance hall was opened and the real party began. With music provided by DJ Philly C, prom goers danced up a storm to tunes ranging from today’s pop hits to dance classics. Students also had the opportunity to have their pictures taken on the dance floor by Homer’s own Michael Massenzio. As these festivities began to wind down the prom court was announced, with the prince and princess from the Junior class and the king and queen from the Senior class. The Juniors on the court this year were as follows: Sophia Pizzola escorted by Joe Settineri, Kayla Roos escorted by David Perfetti, Jordan Laundry escorted by Kenian Ulrich, Molly Ulrich escorted by Nate Cottrell, Caroline Yonta escorted by Tighe Gugerty, and Kennedy George escorted by Evan Ulrich. The Seniors this year were as follows: Sophie Whittington escorted by Nick Dentes, Alex Contento escorted by Dean Riley, Robin Baumeister escorted by Nate Ulrich, Natalie Partigianoni escorted by Hiland Bush, and Mara Nasiatka and Jessica Deline escorted by Drew Cottrell. The winners of prince and princess were David Perfetti and Caroline Yonta, respectively. The King and Queen this year were Dean Riley and Alex Contento, respectively. Homer High School’s 2015 prom was a great success that provided a fun time for all that attended.

All photos, © Ammerican Photography, are available for download using your Homerpride.org login

Visit: https://goo.gl/cJF4zb

Caroline Yonta and David Perfetti 2015 Princess and Prince

Alex Contento and Dean Riley 2015 Queen and King

Species Spotlight: Cabot's Tragopan

Alex Levitskiy

This week’s featured species is the Cabot’s Tragopan (Tragopan caboti), native to southeast China. I had the opportunity to visit a collection that houses this rare forest bird two weeks ago. The males of this species have orange orbital skin that is encompassed by mostly black feathers. They have an orange-red crest and sides to finish off their stunning head. The lappet is orange with blue and red sections of skin. Their horns are also orange. These are seen during frontal displays. The breast region and underparts of the male Cabot’s Tragopan is a plain buff color. The upper body is reddish brown, heavily spotted with buff. The hens are rufous brown, and they have underparts which are greyer and contrasted with white triangular patches. This tragopan is very distinctive from the other species, but care should still be taken to make sure it's not mixed with other tragopan hens because this would lead to hybridization.

The Cabot’s Tragopan is listed as Vulnerable in the wild. This is because it has a small population that is also severely fragmented due to habitat loss and modification. Fortunately, the regions that are protected have stable populations. Another issue still prevalent is the illegal hunting of this species, even though Cabot’s Tragopans are legally protected in China. While Cabot’s Tragopans are in great danger in the wild, some are found and bred in captivity. They are an uncommon bird in the avicultural world; however, they are still being bred in order to preserve them in captivity. I do not recommend for a beginner aviculturist to purchase and attempt raising Cabot’s Tragopans. They prove to be challenging to breed, so I suggest for beginners to begin with the Temminck’s Tragopan, the most common Tragopan kept in captivity. The struggles of the Cabot’s Tragopan correlate with that of dedicated aviculturists as they work with a limited gene pool, poor fertility in males, and more in order to keep this species around for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

The following pictures were taken by Alex Levitskiy, but the birds are owned by Larry Rutan.

Cabot’s Tragopan Male

Cabot’s Tragopan Male Portrait

Monday, May 18, 2015

Boston Performance Tour

Ana Shore

On April 17th, about a hundred band and choir students set out for Boston. Those students had been waiting and anticipating this exciting trip since the beginning of the school year. Six different groups from Homer performed amongst other schools and hoped for recognition at the awards ceremony at the end of the weekend. Blue Notes, Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Men In Black, Ruby Rhythms, and Concert Band all represented the Trojans in their performances on Saturday the 18th. All of the groups had been practicing their music for months in the hopes of standing out and proving their dedication to music.

Aside from the competition, the students saw and experienced the many cool things that Boston and the surrounding area had to offer. After the long bus ride on Friday, there were stops at the New England Aquarium and the Hard Rock Cafe. On Saturday after the performances, the students ate at the Prudential Center and then got to see the Blue Man Group. After the awards ceremony on Sunday, the final stop was the famed Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall. Sadly, after this, the students had to leave Boston and return to the chaos of every-day school life.

They did however leave with several awards. Concert Band came in 5th place in the instrumental competition. Blue Notes, Ruby Rhythms, and Chamber Choir all came in first place with Concert Choir and Men in Black in a close second place. Kate Halstead won the award for the overall outstanding vocalist and Homer High School won the Tim Lautzenheiser Award. This award went to the school that showed the most respect as well as exemplary behavior. This trip was more than just a musical performance, it was a chance to experience something new in a busy place. It was clearly successful for both band and choir students and an amazing time for all.

Lowdown Hoedown 2015

Tighe Gugerty

The other week was Homer High School’s annual square dance competition, The Lowdown Hoedown. This year, four teams competed in a fierce battle of square dancing. The teams were The Star Promenaders, #2Chainz-Across, The California Twirlers, and Millet. The dancing was scored by a panel of judges based on execution, timing, and visual appeal. All teams danced their hearts out, but only one team emerged victorious. In first place was #2Chainz across, followed by the Star Promenaders, The California Twirlers, and Millet, respectively. The competition was close with only a one tenth point difference between the top two finishers. In the end though, all teams danced well and enjoyed their square dancing endeavours.

Cornell Synchrotron Trip

Alex Levitskiy

On April 28th and April 30th the physics classes visited the Cornell Synchrotron at Cornell University. Mr. Fuller, the physics teacher, taught us the basics of the synchrotron. Topics that we covered in class, such as electromagnetism, helped us more fully understand and appreciate the synchrotron at Cornell University. It is called the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) and is a particle accelerator. The particles that are used are electrons and positrons, which approach the speed of light. The synchrotron is equipped with enormous magnets of various sorts to steer and focus the particles. Once the particles are nearly at the speed of light they are moved to the storage ring, which was an addition to the synchrotron. The particles give off x-rays, which are focused into a strong beam. Students toured experimental hutches where the x-rays are used for research projects such as creating 3D views of proteins, aging of metals in aircraft wings, and uniformity of fuel sprays in diesel injectors.

Our trip began at the education center where we were introduced to what the synchrotron is and its future uses, including a linear particle accelerator. We were able to walk inside the tunnel where the particles race around. It was fascinating to comprehend that the initial building of the synchrotron was done before computers were a common, everyday item. The next part of our tour included seeing an experimental hutch and learning about the protein crystallography that a doctor there is working on. My group finished back at the education center where we were introduced to a particle detector that allows us to view the presence of subatomic particles called muons, which we will learn about later in the year. The trip was very fun and fascinating. Although it was difficult to understand everything going on there, it was beneficial to see the things we learn in the classroom on such a large, complex scale. We greatly appreciate that Cornell was able to accommodate us and provide us with an insightful tour.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Skyler Powers

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the latest movie by Marvel and it is the sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers. In this installment, we see Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow face off against their greatest foe yet: Tony Stark’s very own Ultron. He is a state-of-the-art robot with Iron Man’s sense of human and a malicious agenda. He plans on ending the human race and The Avengers must do all they can to stop him and save the world.

The first half of this movie is nothing new. It is the same stuff you saw in the first film, which, don’t get me wrong, isn't a bad thing. However, it would have been nice to see some immediate new stuff. The only new thing in the beginning of the film is the opening battle scene which takes place somewhere in eastern Europe. It is a nice change from New York City which always seems to be the city that gets destroyed. The realism, however, is great. When the crew returns home to The Big Apple, it is evident that the city is still trying to recover from the destructive events of the first film.

The acting in this movie is good to great. No one is bad like in any other movie that takes place in the Marvel cinematic universe, but only a few stand out; Black Widow and the Hulk/Bruce Banner steal the show. Their characters are given more layers. You learn more about Black Widow’s mysterious past and you learn more about the Hulk’s struggles. It is in moments like these that the movie really tries to be emotional and takes a serious break from all the fun action. There are also some new characters that are introduced, the most notable being Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. There is also one other surprise appearance, but I will not give that away. Again, the movie takes an emotional look into the past of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who just happen to be twins.

Lastly, this film wouldn't be complete without the final battle sequence. This battle is phenomenal and, personally, I think it is better than the original’s. Ultron, the main antagonist or villain, is gleefully evil and you are constantly rooting for The Avengers. There is nonstop action and, again, it takes place in eastern Europe. Even with all of the action, the movie leaves some room for more emotional elements, which are very effective. The fun action cannot dampen these tear-jerking moments.

In the end, I loved this movie. I personally think that it is better than the original. It starts with the same old same old, but I can overlook that since the old is still good and the new things are even better. The acting is great, the scenery is gorgeous, the special effects are great, as with any Marvel movie, the action sequences are breathtaking, and the emotional manipulation is on overdrive. Marvel keeps upping the ante with each new film and they haven’t reached their maximum capability yet. Now, all I can do is wait for the next Marvel movie which is sure to amaze me.

Monday, May 11, 2015

The Invasion

Joe Settineri

It’s that time of year again; that's right, Invasion Time. The Invasion is when Homer High School hosts student produced acts, and sometimes even a teacher band. This event is held as a SADD fundraiser and is a rockin’ time. Anybody can come to play, sing, or even dance if your act is approved by Mr. Massenzio. Last year’s Invasion featured a couple of local rock bands, some acoustic vocal duets, a ukulele piano duet, and even a beat-box competition.The Invasion is a great time to show everyone your hidden musical talent.

The Invasion includes drinks and snacks, which is an added bonus to this fun night. In case you are thinking that this is going to be a boring time, you’re wrong! A lot of people show up each year, and it’s usually a full house, providing a cheerful atmosphere for everyone. Anybody that wants to participate must see Mr. Massenzio before April 30th to verify what they are performing and who will be accompanying them. All performers get T-shirts and a great experience. One never finds the true meaning of music unless they attend The Invasion. Hope to see you there!

Boston Performance Tour

Ana Shore

On April 17th, about a hundred band and choir students set out for Boston. Those students had been waiting and anticipating this exciting trip since the beginning of the school year. Six different groups from Homer performed along with other schools and hoped for recognition at the awards ceremony at the end of the weekend. Blue Notes, Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Men In Black, Ruby Rhythms, and Concert Band all represented the Trojans in their performances on Saturday the 18th. All of the groups had been practicing their music for months in the hopes of standing out and proving their dedication to music.