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Inside This Week's Issue Facul t y Grid, t he Bant ams, and Rugby
Vol . 41, Issue XXII
The Student Newspaper of St. Joseph's Prep
April 28, 2016
Principal Zazyczny '90 t o St ep Down By Marco Sammart ino '18 As Principal at the Prep, Mr. Jason Zazyczny '90 is known for his hospitality and openness. Recently, Mr. Zazyczny announced that he would be stepping down from his current role of principal after the 2016-2017 school year. He has served as principal for 4 years at the Prep. Before he was principal, Zazyczny served as director of admissions since 2004. He is also a member of the class of 1990, worked as a history teacher at the
school from 1996 to 1999, and was even a novice in the Jesuit Order for a time before deciding to take another career path. Zazyczny explained why he ultimately chose to step down. ?My love for teaching and having a direct impact on the students by being in the classroom outweighed my current love for administrative role,? he says. He went on to say: ?I also felt that it was an appropriate time to transition back into teaching after many years of not being involved
Principal Jason Zazyczny '90 will step down after the 2016-17 school year. in the classroom as the Maryland much as I wanted Province Novitiate to.? in Syracuse, New York to pursue a Zazyczny was of life in the Jesuit course a history teacher at the Prep Order. After spending a year in for 3 years before Syracuse, Mr. he chose to enter
Zazyczny decided to come back to the Prep in 2001 after a brief stint at Devon Prep. ?I loved my time here, and I just wanted to get back
into it, the lifestyle, the culture, the community. I really loved the environment here so getting back into Continued on page 3.
Sl it her.io Banned on Prep Servers
By Pat Ryan '16 ?Pretty much any class I had the Chromebook out, I would try to play,? said Max Pesot ?16 about computer game, Slither. Within days of its discovery, the game exploded in popularity at the Prep.
The goal of the game is to get big, by destroying other snakes, and to reach the top of the scoreboard. Every time the player wants to get bigger, they must risk their snake?s life. This creates quick intense games that are usually less than a few minutes.
?I would say it was an addiction,? Pesot said about his gameplay.
keeping them for long sessions. The setup is similar to the slot machine: Slither?s addictive flashy neon colors, quick high energy design is nothing new. It?s been used sessions, and the easy ability to play in many mobile games. The games again. All of this creates a super focus more on keeping players for engaged state. a high numbers of The game is not sessions instead of beatable. A player
can reach the top spot, but they will never have the fulfillment of winning.
then more at home.
They will always end up dying and be sent right back to the start screen, where it only takes one click to play again.
Along with the game?s setup, its targeted demographic, teenagers, also helped to promote its addictive nature.
The short, high-paced games combined with the very quick restart times lock the player into an extended period of compulsive playing.
Teenagers are much more susceptible to addiction. The frontal lobe, the area that controls decision making and judgment, is not fully developed until around 25.
Unfortunately, a lot of Prep students were caught in this cycle during class. Kyle Cissone ?16 usually played three periods a day,
He said, ?I was always chasing number one. Never got to it, though?.
During these years of development, Continued on page 2.
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The Bant ams Look t o Take Over Phil adel phia By Aidan O?Connor ?17 It was a crowded basement in a little town known as Blue Bell. The show opens up with a recording of street poetry by Tyler Joseph to set the mood. Then, dramatically, Chris Rathke ?17 takes to the stage. A talented musician, Chris?s skills range from piano to singing to the ukulele. He proceeded to rock the room for a good hour or so with his original
The Bantams, named after the Bradford City soccer team, could be classified in the alternative genre, but in reality they span a few different ones. They have a sound influenced by the Front Bottoms, Catfish and the Bottlemen, the Strokes, and the Orwells.
music. For many, this was their first experience with The Bantams. The Bantams are an up-and-coming band formed by Rathke. He writes and composes the songs, while Joe Pacitti ?17 helps live. At the Prep, Rathke is also involved in the band homeroom and jazz band. Throughout the school, one may have noticed stickers on Chromebooks of a rooster with a
The Bantams' logo. collar and a bell; for almost a year that is the Bantams. before that, just keeping them to The band was myself and officially formed improving them?, last May. ?I had been writing songs Rathke says.
So far they have released one single, "Honestly," and a five track EP entitled Sincerely, The Bantams. Mark McLaughlin ?16 and Van Henkels ?17 played guitar on
the record. All of the music by the Bantams is available on Spotify and iTunes. ?The songs in their new EP have made it into all of my playlists?, says one fan, Mike Leonard ?17. Recently, the Bantams were involved in a contest for opening the Radio 104.5 Birthday show and made the top 25. Clearly, this band is on the rise. The band can be spotted on Twitter with the handle @thebantamspa.
Fl yers Fans Give Phil l y a Bl ack Eye Sl it her (Cont 'd) By John Kromchad ?17
1968, Eagles fans threw snowballs On April 18th, the and booed noisily Philadelphia Flyers when Santa Claus walked onto the played the field. Perhaps the Washington incident during Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center Game 3 can surpass that infamous in Philadelphia. Fans could not have moment in sports been more excited history. for Game 3, not To put it simply, only because it was Flyers fans were a must-win game, irate during the Flyers employees remove but because it was third period. Many bracelets from the ice. also the first time of them threw their Flyers fans could Ed Snider bracelets unite following the onto the ice, one of in attendance that you would not. night. death of the their which hit Dmitry Let?s make it clear owner, Ed Snider. Orlov, a player on No one being that I am not upset the Capitals who remembered wants that the fans were Before the had just been on classless fans displeased with the national anthem, the receiving end throwing a Flyers. Rather, I am there was a video of a scary hit by wristband, in upset with what in memoriam of Ed Ryan White of the memory of them, at they threw. Snider followed by Flyers, incurring a anyone or anything. a moment of If it were a penalty on the silence. How would you snowball, as the Flyers. like it if, at your Eagles?fans did in During the So many bracelets funeral, your 1968, or something moment of silence, were thrown that friends and family that would only many fans were the Flyers received decided to throw hurt a player or disrespectful and another penalty for your prayer card bystander made noise. As a the delay. into the street, only emotionally, we souvenir of the tribute, fans were While many fans to be picked up by may not even be having this given bracelets that found this funny, the garbage conversation. When had LED lights that others, especially people? lit up amidst the people in other I am sure that you fans use an object silence. cities, viewed this have a loved one?s that was used to intensify the prayer card at When their teams as very disrespectful. home somewhere. meaning of the are not doing well moment of silence, Would you want enough for their ?I think it was they make many liking, Philadelphia inappropriate, but that thrown away because someone people, including fans are notorious it was caused by me, upset. for voicing their the bad play of the was upset at something else? displeasure. Flyers on a very special night,? says I am willing to bet For example, in Matthew Cruz ?17,
forming habits is much easier.
of its educational value.
?Every time I would try to stop playing, I would try to stop for a period, but the urge to play just like came back. The highest I got was 15th on the leaderboard," says Pesot.
Kiesel easily saw through the ploy.
Luckily, the game was blocked about a week after its schoolwide popularity surge. But this did not cut off the urge to play during class. The students were determined to get it back. Troy Bloesch ?16 emailed the Slither creator to tell him about its blockage at the Prep.
Students also realized that loading the game at home would allow them to bypass the school?s web filter. This brought them another week of play time, before an improved web filter was added to the Chromebooks. Now Slither is fully blocked. ?It shouldn?t be up to the school to monitor what the kids do on the computers," adds Pesot. "It should be up to the kids."
The creator then emailed Mr. Kenneth Kiesel to try to persuade him
The welcoming home screen of slither.io is a sight missed by many students.
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Facul t y Grid
By David Sakowski '18
Who did you have winning march madness? Favorit e at hl et e in any sport ? Least f avorit e act or? Worst Birt hday present you ever received?
Mr. Scott Mullen '99
Mrs. Deirdre Schlegel
Mr. James Doyle
Mr. Joseph Hendrzak
UNC
Villanova
Michigan State
Michigan State
Reggie White
Chris Andersen
Reggie White
Lawrence Taylor
Haley Joel Osment
Kevin Costner
Val Kilmer
Keanu Reeves
A Christmas present
Never had one
A tie with kiddie school buses and schools on it
Vacuum Cleaner
Prep Rugby Has Championship Aspirat ions ziplining in the Andes Mountains, and even surfed. The rugby team also wants to see a large student section at La Salle College High School at 2:00 p.m. this Sunday to watch the boys ruck it up against the Explorers from Cheltenham Ave.
Prep Rugby looks to build on an already successful season with state playoffs approaching. By Joe Pisacano ?16 last week against a talented boarding Rugby is a rather school from rough sport to Scranton, PA, St. watch, and even Gregory the Great. tougher to play. It In that game, the consists of 15 team fought back padless players from a 17-0 deficit trying to run, ruck, in the early goings pass, and tackle each other into the of the game to suffer a tough opposing team?s 26-24 loss, ending end zone in order the game on a to score a ?try.? controversial The rugby team ?forward pass? call has had a from the referee, successful season an illegal maneuver so far going 9-4 in rugby. overall and 5-1 in However, this the PA Red past Sunday, the Division. Its only team played well division loss came
against Malvern Prep, winning 52-12, led by the Man of the Match, Sam Benedetta. The team looks forward to continue its strong play through the playoffs and to win the State Championship. The rugby team has had success in recent state playoffs, making it to the Championship four of the past five years, but winning it only once back in 2011. The rugby team
recently returned from its spring break trip to Chile. Forty varsity players, as well as 11 parents, took an 11-day excursion to Santiago, Chile, the nation?s capital, and Vina Del Mar, a beach city of the Pacific coast of the country.
Forward Jack Niekelski ?16 says that the team is, ?...Looking forward to the state playoffs, and to finding touch.?
The rugby team played three games (finishing 2-1), had a clinic run by the Chilean National 7?s rugby team?s Jon Bjornson '16 in coach Edmundo action on the pitch. Olfos, went
Mr. Z (Cont 'd) it was great,? Zazyczny says on why he chose to return to his alma mater. Mr. Zazyczny has certainly left his mark on the Prep, and will continue to do so in the next stage of his career. As a teacher, he wants to have a direct impact on those in the classroom. ?I want to know about the students in the room with me, not just their grades but who they are, what they aspire to be, and how they are developing as Prep students?, he explains. Knowing him and the person, only good things will continue to come in the future.
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This Week on Twit t er.... By Jon Erdy '17
St af f Co-Editors-in-Chief Joe Egler ?16 Ryan Naehr ?16 Jon Erdy ?17 Mike Grafenstine ?17 Aidan O'Connor '17 Staff Writers Aidan Donaher ?16 Augie Lorei ?16 Ryan Mannion ?16 Andrew Oliver ?16 Fintan O?Toole ?16 Joe Pisacano ?16 Stas Postowski ?16 Pat Ryan ?16 Kevin Sampson ?16 Joe Schade ?16 Conor Battin ?17
Hawkeye Sudoku The first person who correctly completes the puzzle and returns it to Joe Egler '16, Ryan Naehr '16, Jon Erdy '17, Mike Grafenstine '17, or Aidan O'Connor '17 will receive a free lunch pass.
Joe Console ?17 Marcello Garber ?17 Eamon Gallagher ?17 Michael Haley ?17 Von Hobe ?17 John Kromchad ?17 Chris Magiera ?17 Tristen Mordan ?17 Mike O?Neill ?17 Mac Riga ?17 Liam Scott ?17 Bobby Simons ?17 Kyllian Vong ?17 Jack Yocom ?17 Matt Zito ?17 Matt Brennan ?18 Nathan Coulibaly ?18 Ronan Egan ?18 David Haddad ?18 Evan Matthews ?18 Liam McGrath ?18 Matthew Phillips ?18 Marco Sammartino ?18 David Sakowski ?18 Anthony Tigano ?18 Zachary Carr ?19 Jacob DeAnnuntis ?19 David McCabe ?19 Daniel O?Connell ?19 Joe Scott ?19 Moderator Mr. Leo Vaccaro ?05 Special Thanks To Mr. Bill Avington ?90 Mrs. Ree O?Neill Mr. Frank Raffa