June 5, 2012
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TH E BRUIN The Middle School Newspaper “The Debate”
by Henry Jonokuchi Today during Social Studies power over the state government. Colin stated that the Tariff only we had a debate. The question of The last presenter for the side in favored the North and the West, was the debate was, “Would Andrew favor was Harry, and he talked about one of the causes of the Civil War, Jackson be considered a qualified the National Bank, and how Jackson and that worsened the South’s Presidential candidate by today’s cut the bank’s charter and forced it economy. voters?” There were two sides: one to close so every citizen had the same in favor, and one against. The status. Then, Harry stated that the After each member presented, the members of the side in favor were ordinary citizen could not use the leaders of both teams (Braxton and Braxton Reynolds, Ben Powers, and National Bank because the bank Ian) presented conclusions for their Harry Fett, while the other side had basically only helped the wealthy. side’s presentation and then stepped Ian Murray, Jack Withstandley, and out of the room so that the jury (the Colin Lee. Each member of both Ian presented first for the side rest of the class) could decide the sides presented different individual against, and generally talked about winning team. Each member of the topics that helped to prove their side Jackson’s poor decisions which jury cast their secret ballot, and then of the argument. Each presenter had resulted in the Tariff of Abomination the teams came back in the 2 minutes to complete their and the Trail of Tears. The tariff classroom and Mr. Callahan read the presentation, and the side in favor caused disruption in the Union and votes aloud. It was very close, and started first. the Trail of Tears forced Native after reading out all of the 9 votes, Braxton presented facts about Americans to leave their land. Next the side against came out victorious, Andrew Jackson’s life. He stated came Jack, who presented further winning by a single vote. Although th that he was the 7 President, won the details regarding the Trail of Tears. this debate was fun and suspenseful, Battle of New Orleans in the War of Basically, after the Cherokee went to it was also educational in that it 1812, and was a man of the people. the Supreme Court to get a ruling helped us to review all of Andrew Also, he kept the Union together from Chief Justice John Marshall, Jackson’s Presidential decisions, when South Carolina threatened to Andrew Jackson just ignored it and effective or not. secede. Following Braxton’s forced them to leave. The Cherokee presentation came Ben. Ben were forced to move to present-day presented Jackson’s decisions that Oklahoma at gunpoint and the kept the Union together, and spoke “Indian Territory” consisted of bad of how Jackson delayed the Civil terrain for farming, and had adverse War from happening at the time. weather conditions. The last Ben also mentioned the fact that the presenter was Colin, who talked federal government proved it had about the Tariff of Abomination. Thanks everyone for an amazing year at the Bruin! We’d like to specially commend Dan Forester for submitting an amazing amount of articles this year, though sadly as they became out of date, he requested that we not publish them. Overall this year we published 4 editions, one in the fall, one in the winter, one in the spring, and this one. Thanks for reading this edition of the Bruin, the last this school year. Have a happy summer!
The Bruin • 1252 King Street • Greenwich, CT 06902
June 5, 2012
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TH E TRA IL O F TEA RS , A D IA RY For a homework assignment, we had to write 3 diary entries from a Cherokee Native that experienced the Trail of Tears. The first diary entry was when we were sent to court, the second was when we were on the trail, and the third diary entry was when we arrived at the reserved Native Territory, and what life was like.
that the American soldiers will use force to make us leave. I too pack up my stuff, and lead my horse onto the trail. Things are bad as soon as we start. No one talks, children are crying, and even horses are whining. I too cry. After a few days on the trail, I get hungry and dig into my limited provisions. I see a few large pieces of dried buffalo meat, and my canister of water, half filled. People November 26, 1835 start to catch disease and die off and the numbers slowly dwindle. A few Dear diary, weeks later, we have Oklahoma in Today most of our sight. These American soldiers have tribe, the majority being the been keeping us at gunpoint the educated ones, was sent to court whole trail, so if I get off my horse against Georgia for taking the land for it and me to have a break, I’ll be away that we are living on. When we full of hot lead in a second. The arrive at the Supreme Court, a huge saddle is itchy and very mass of people is there, most likely uncomfortable, but I’ll have to Georgia representatives. As soon as endure it and keep going. we take our seats, the trial begins. Words are shooting back and forth January 2, 1837 like bullets, and I sit and watch. After a while, the trial closes, and Dear diary, the Supreme Court rules Georgia’s When we finally arrive in actions illegal, and we can stay on our new “home” it looks like a the land. wasteland: flat ground as far as my eye can see. No food it seems December 14, 1835 anywhere, besides the few bugs that the Americans think we can survive Dear diary, and thrive on. As I looked around When we get back home, we me, I gasped. It looked like there cheer for the sake of our land, but was no one left from our tribe. At the only odd thing is, that everyone first glance it looked like no one was is packing up and it looks like they there, but I soon realized that they are getting ready to leave. In the mix were just farther behind. Yet it still of my people, I spot a few American looked like many people died along soldiers, which can only mean the trail. I couldn’t stand all of this trouble. I ask my friend what is pain. I broke down and wept. The going on, and he says that we are next day, I started the new lifestyle forced to leave to a place called we were forced to live in. The Oklahoma. I tell him that we won American soldiers left at night, and the trial and we can stay, but he says left us nothing, which gave me no
surprise at all. All day I looked for food. I found none. By late afternoon, I ripped some meat and shared it with other people. By sundown, I was fast asleep, with nightmares instead of dreams. - Anonymous
The Bruin • 1252 King Street • Greenwich, CT 06902
June 5, 2012
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S P O RTS UP D A TE Masters Recap 2012 As I stared at the TV, I wondered how the heck Bubba Watson was going to get the ball, which was nestled nicely in the woods, onto the green. I knew Watson had some pretty cool shots up his sleeve, but I never expected what he did next. Bubba needed to hook the shot about 40 yards to get to go even near the green, so I was pretty doubtful that he would hit a decent shot. But I was wrong, as he effectively knocked the ball 150 yards to within feet of the hole. This “historic” shot was hit on the 10th hole at Augusta National during a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen. Bubba got something every golfer dreams of: his own green jacket. The Masters started on Thursday and ended Sunday, just as any normal professional golf tournament would. Some weird things happened, though. Tiger Woods, after all the commotion about his renewal after his recent victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shot even par the first day, while watching others hit much better. So long for his chances. Phil Mickelson shot a triple bogey on the 10th on Thursday, a terrible score for someone of his skill. This awful score was a result of his bad tee shot. But not all performances were bad. Lee Westwood finished day One with the lead, which is good because he had wanted to finally win a major. Therefore, I conclude that the first day was a great beginning what would turn out to be a legendary tourney. The second day was a fun day. Players were rushing to make the cut. My favorite memory from Friday at Augusta was when Tom Watson made a birdie to stay at 5 under, the projected cut line. But Watson wasn’t the only senior having a good time. Fred Couples was tied for the lead! Fred was showing those young fellas how to play the game. Fred finished Friday tied with Jason Dufner while Tiger had another sub par day at 3 over. The final day was memorable and was started by a double eagle at hole 2. Louis Oosthuizen’s shot marked the fourth double eagle ever shot at Augusta. Remember him? You should, because Oosthuizen was the 2010 Open Championship winner. He took a strong lead after that stroke of the club. For much of the day it looked as though Louis had the masters in the bag. That is, until Bubba Watson, who had been doing well the whole weekend and on Sunday as Oosthuizen’s playing partner, went on a birdie surge. He finished at -10, which was good enough to get him into a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen. I had no idea what that Sunday night would turn out to be. The couple started out on the 18th hole for their playoff. They both parred the hole. It was still not clear who the 2012 Masters Champion would be. Then, on the 10th, something magical happened. Bubba Watson hit a shot into the trees. That’s when it happened. Like I was talking about previously, Bubba hit the amazing shot to hit the masters. His trick shot out of the trees was a shot to be remembered. This tournament was a Masters to be remembered for the ages.
Bubba Watson hits a shot with his famous pink driver. Bubba’s pink apparel is actually support for the fight against Breast Cancer. He ended Sunday at - 10.
The Bruin • 1252 King Street • Greenwich, CT 06902
June 5, 2012
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BOOK REV IEWS The Alchemyst by Ridgley Knapp The Alchemyst is the first book in “the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” series. It starts off as any regular day for Josh and Sophie Newman, fifteen-year-old twins working summer jobs in the city by the bay, San Francisco. Sophie is working at a coffee shop, and Josh is working across the street from her, at the small bookshop of Nick Fleming and his wife Perry. Josh was taking inventory, and he heard noises in the front of the shop. He rushes forward to find his boss, Mr. Fleming, in what seems like a battle with a stranger, flanked by black-suited goons. The man flees, stealing a single book from the shop, a small one that Mr. Fleming wears on a chain around his neck, and kidnapping his wife. The shop is left in ruin after the battle, and Sophie rushes over, armed with a broom. Mr. Fleming reveals to the children that he is actually the famous alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, born in 1330, and supposedly died in the early 1400s. He and his also immortal wife had remained alive through the Elixir of Life, a potion that changes monthly, and prevents death by old age. The recipe of the elixir is contained inside the Codex, the miniscule book that had been stolen. Flamel also reveals the identity of his enemy: Dr. John Dee, another alchemist from Flamel’s time, granted immortality from the gods (excuse me, the Elder Race, humanity’s deities) for the specific purpose of hunting Nicholas Flamel. Nicholas takes the children next to find reinforcements to help find his wife. These consist of only one being: Scathach, the Warrior Maid of Irish mythology (she is a vampire, but if you don’t like vampires, she doesn’t suck people’s blood or anything…). To avoid spoiling the rest of the (very good) book, I won’t say any more. But I will say throughout the series, you will learn much about the Newman families, and their ties to the Elders; the truth about Atlantis; and, oh yeah, the secret to eternal life. Read on…
The Hunger Games by Jack Kulesh
The Hunger Games, how was it? Was it as good as the book? In this short editorial, I will answer all of our
questions. First off, and this might sound a little cliche, I thought that the book was way better than the movie. There was just some mystery about what everything looked like in the book that wasn’t there in the movie. Also, the glory part of the book was the part that got your emotions going. That element was there. However, I do think that the film company did the best job they could with the book they were given. There were a few things I liked in the movie. They kept it very close to the format of the book, which is always good for hardcore book fans. It did huge numbers at the box office, but that was mostly due to the books success. It got 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very good and in my opinion way higher than it deserved. I thought the movie it was okay, and did not meet my expectations. That said, I am still interested in seeing the movie to see how they depict the second movie. In conclusion, the movie only did well because of the books power, and nothing else.
The Bruin • 1252 King Street • Greenwich, CT 06902
June 5, 2012
With all thy getting, get the news!
TEC H NO LO G Y iPhone 5 Rumors
by Keshav Raghavan
It is estimated by SlashGear that the iPhone 5 will be 0.44 mm thinner, at 7. 9 mm. Cnet also managed to deduce that the next iphone will not be out until october of 2012. this is due to supply shortages affecting qualcomm, the company due to supply the 4G LTe chips on the iphone. this also means that all indications point that the next iphone will, in an attempt to catch up with the android market, which is proudly marketing itself as “4g lte enabled’. This just makes business sense. again, the same rumor that has recurred The Iphone series from Apple every time a new iDevice comes out, people speculate about the has been highly successful, and aluminosilicate glass that covers apple devices to be replaced. this time is no is currently the most popular exception: Cnet reports that liquidmetal, a company apple purchased last year but failed to implement its technology on a larger scale (they only appeared in the SIM Card). Though this is less of a certainty than that the iphone will feature a larger screen of 4.6 inches. Cnet also reported that there’ll be a new dock plug that will be compatible with the iphone, citing iMore, a digital rumors website. The Commercial times, a chinese newspaper, reported findings of analysts at daiwa securities which suggest that Apple is aiming for a june deadline, despite conflicting evidence stated above about qualcomm’s ability to produce the proper 4g chips. however, as was the case in the ipad, apple may decide to substitute the intended Qualcomm chips for ones that are able to be produced by june. However a major amount of this data is reliant on cnet’s accuracy, which, as is basically a collection of facts from other sources, seems to be true. THIS IS AN OFFICIAL BRUIN PRESS RELEASE Reporting done by Keshav Raghavan
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