By Stefan D.

 The Family Falcon’s clinched a spot in the playoffs when they beat the Roscoe Blue Devil’s 61-39.

            The Falcons came out on top in the first quarter 15-7. Falcon centers Lucas M. and Tarek M. contributed eight points while Roscoe’s forwards Mark R. and Brad D. scored seven. The Falcons controlled the entire first half with a fast-paced game that left Roscoe struggling to keep up. The Roscoe Blue Devils tried to out-work The Falcons and took few outside shots. Roscoe lost the first half 34-17 with only one three pointer scored.

            Roscoe’s Rob T. sunk eight of his team’s ten points scored in the second quarter. Roscoe lost all quarters except the third where both teams scored 13 points.

            With a solid defense the Falcon’s were able to hold Roscoe’s top scorer Taurino to five points in the third quarter and 17 for the game. Last time these teams met he scored 30 points. With Rob shut down, Rosario, Dreher, Tyler M., Mike F., and Jesse H. were able to score, but against a tough defense none could break eight points.

            As The Falcons defense consistently created turnovers their time on offense was nearly doubled. Max W. looked back in form scoring 20 points after a season riddled with injury. With a steady flow of quick, crafty passes from the guards, Lucas took advantage of his 6’4” height to score 17 points, 16 of which were scored from inside the arc.

            Connor C., Bryan L., and Mhich contributed 11 points total and Roderick O. contributed 13. Oringer stood out on the court throughout the game as his offense and defense resulted in a multiple opportunities for The Falcons. “I think RJ’s hard work motivated us to stay focused and not let the lead get to our heads,” said Falcons forward Stephen R.

            Even as the time wound down the onslaught of powerful drives by Oringer and Wilkey were unrelenting. The game ended and cheers and smiles flooded the faces of the FFS crowd. But it was all business as the Falcons returned to the locker room with their sights set on Coleman Catholic in the first round of the playoffs.

By Cameron S.

The Family School is expanding its services.  Beginning in January eligible students will be able to participate in a new program called The Bridge. This program is a 5^th year program for students ages 18-20 who are struggling to meet the challenges of transitioning from high school to college and are looking for a second chance to rehabilitate themselves academically and socially. It allows students the opportunity to attend college at Broome Community College in Binghamton, NY while residing in a structured, drug free, sober environment at FFS.

Jason Garnar, FFS college counselor, will be organizing, scheduling, and helping the students through the rigorous process of getting ready for college. The Bridge is open to either high school students who attend FFS and have earned all required high school credits, or students between the ages of 18-20 who are looking for an alternative approach to their college career.

Students currently enrolled at FFS can earn up to five college credits: statistics, English composition, sociology, forensics, and mythology. These credits are issued by Lackawanna and St. Cloud University. The addition of The Bridge program expands the available college credits and allows those same high school students to pick and choose from a variety of other classes offered by BCC.

The Bridge offers two scenarios: one for high school students who will receive dual credits and one for full-time college students – enrollment is not limited to FFS graduates but to students from across the United States.

High school students will be introduced and exposed to college life before being a full-time student. “They learn to apply for and schedule classes, buy textbooks, and get a feel for the amount of time studying deserves in college,” said Garnar. In addition to attending classes at BCC these students will participate in FFS activities throughout the semester. They will be treated just like a regular attendee at BCC and are expected to perform at the college level. “The pressure and stress will definitely be there for these students,” added Garnar.

For full-time college students the majority of their time will be occupied with class attendance and studying. Their focus will be on having a successful college experience without the distractions that are prevalent on most college campuses. Immediately upon entering into this program they become an intern at the FFS. Internships are given to students who are expected to step into a leadership role. “The hope is that these students can almost be a big brother or sister to other students and share their experience, strength, and hope,” stated Garnar.

Transported by FFS staff, Mike Losicco and Drew Demetrius, participants will be going to BCC every Tuesday and Thursday for classes and returning to FFS in time for dinner. Prior to the first day of school they will have already applied for and scheduled their classes. As they go throughout their day they receive breaks between some of their classes. While on break they have access to all BBC facilities including a full college library and gym. “I am thrilled to be given the chance to either shoot some hoops or tap into the unlimited information I have at my fingertips between classes,” said Bridge student Daniel M. (Learn more about The Bridge)

On 10/14/2011, the Catskill Mountainkeeper  posted the following first person account of Libby F., a  resident of the Finger Lakes region of New York. There is no question that what happened at Libby’s farm in Bradford County, Pa. is going to happen in the Finger Lakes, the Catskills and all over New York State. Here’s her story:

“Our family farm is in Bradford County, Pa.  Our farm was one of the ?first well sites chosen and is now one of hundreds, soon to be thousands.           

When the folks in Pennsylvania first heard of the wells coming, they were excited. No one had ever experienced the drilling business, so there was nothing to fear. They had toiled their whole lives just to make ends meet, and maybe this was the road to a better life. ?

Then they came. Trucks by the hundreds; tankers, dump trucks, drilling rigs, and fracking rigs. Five-acre drilling pads were bulldozed in the middle of farmers’ best fields, million-gallon ponds were installed, roads were built, woods and fields were trenched and bulldozed for tie lines. Drilling rigs went up at an unbelievable rate. From one spot on our farm, I counted eight? rigs. Then the generators started. You could hear them a half-mile away. Then the pumping stations — small, industrial sites with buildings and pipes ?sticking up out of the ground.

They put one of these at the end of our little dirt road. Now the woods are gone and the dirt road is a main thoroughfare. ?One entire field is a pumping station. When I first saw this, I cried. This industry is like a swarm of locusts, leaving destruction and a ?lasting impact on the environment.

But it goes much deeper than this. It creates greed and pits neighbor against neighbor, even dividing families. Back home, all rental properties now house gas people, as the landlords raised the rents so high that longtime tenants were forced to move. Every parking area is lined with pipes and equipment associated with the gas business. Roads have been destroyed and are barely passable. Motorists are being forced off ?the road by a steady stream of big rigs and trucks. People who are used to a few cars going by their house now have to endure 100 tractor-trailers a day. I went up to our well site and counted 80 tankers lined up so closely that you couldn’t fit between them.

The gas companies do put on a good show. They have a nice booth at the ?fair. They buy bicycle helmets for the kids. They pay to have the walkways at ?the fairgrounds paved. They are always presenting a check for this and a check for that. Their pictures are always in the paper for doing good deeds. What a joke. That’s Bradford County. ?

The Finger Lakes area has been blessed with so much natural beauty — the ?gorges, the lakes, the vineyards. We have so much to protect. We want our fields to be green so our children can walk through them. We need our water to be clean, not only for ourselves but for our livestock and marine life. ?If they start drilling, what’s going to happen to the water in our lakes? ?What’s going to happen if there is a drilling accident and people’s homes ?start filling up with methane gas? Don’t think it can happen? In northern Pennsylvania, it already has. ?I urge you to protect this area, its residents, its natural beauty and our way of life from the ravages of the gas industry.”

Gas Leases vs. Mortgages

 The following is an excerpt from Ian Urbina’s latest article in the “Drilling Down” series in The New York Times. For the full story, see www.nytimes.com, 10/19/2011.

As natural gas drilling has spread across the country, energy industry representatives have sat down at kitchen tables in states like Texas, Pennsylvania and New York to offer homeowners leases that give companies the right to drill on their land.

Over the past 10 years, as natural gas has become increasingly important to the nation’s energy future, Americans have signed more than a million of these leases.

But bankers and real estate executives, especially in New York, are starting to pay closer attention to the fine print and are raising provocative questions, such as: What happens if they lend money for a piece of land that ends up storing the equivalent of an Olympic-size swimming pool filled with toxic wastewater from drilling?

 The Fracking Industry’s War on the Truth

 In an article published 10/20/2011 on the Reader Supported News website, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explains why he is now against the rush to drilling in New York.

 Superb investigative journalism by the New York Times has brought the paper under attack by the natural gas industry. That campaign of intimidation and obfuscation has been orchestrated by top-shelf players like Exxon and Chesapeake, aligned with the industry’s worst bottom feeders. This coalition has launched an impressive propaganda effort carried by slick PR firms, industry-funded front groups and a predictable cabal of right-wing industry toadies from cable TV and talk radio. In pitting itself against public disclosure and reasonable regulation, the natural gas industry is once again proving that it is its own worst enemy.

I confess to being an early optimist on natural gas. In July of 2009, I wrote a widely circulated op-ed for the Financial Times predicting that newly accessible deposits of natural gas had the potential to rapidly relieve our country of its deadly addiction to Appalachian coal and end forever catastrophically destructive mountaintop-removal mining….

My caveat was that the natural gas industry and government regulators needed to act responsibly to protect the environment, safeguard communities from irresponsible practices, and to candidly inform the public about the true risks and benefits of shale-extraction gas.

The opposite has happened. (Read the full article at readersupportednews.org.)

Philly to Sue DRBC

The Philadelphia City Council has unanimously passed a resolution to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission, demanding cumulative impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing be studied and forbidding fracking for now. For complete story, visit http://protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2011/10/13.

Albany OKs Drilling Ban

Albany city lawmakers brushed aside fears of costly lawsuits from the oil and gas industry Monday night and narrowly approved a ban on gas drilling inside city limits, a move aimed squarely at the controversial drilling technique known as hydrofracking. For complete story, see  www.timesunion.com, 10/18/2011.

Air Quality Managers “Crushed” Says Former DEP Regional Director

“Up until two weeks ago, George Jugovic led the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s southwest regional office. On Wednesday, Jugovic told lawmakers at a hearing in Delaware County (Pa.) that his air quality managers were “crushed” by the volume of air emission permit requests. That increase in permits comes from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations, which require the use of combustible engines to extract the gas and push it through pipelines.

Jugovic testified at a hearing on the impact of natural gas drilling on air pollution. He says within the last year, in the southwest region alone, his department issued permits for the release of 13,000 tons of nitrogen oxide related to the Marcellus Shale industry. Nitrogen oxide creates ground level smog. Companies requested the permits for compressor stations, which are needed to pump the gas through distribution pipelines. 

 Many Officials Hold Leases with Shale Drillers

During a contentious meeting in South Fayette (Pa.) recently, the township’s zoning hearing board delayed a decision about a challenge mounted by gas driller Range Resources after calls for several members of the board to recuse themselves from discussions because they have signed leases with the Texas-based driller.

The situation isn’t unique to Pennsylvania. Communities situated on the Marcellus Shale throughout New York are being governed by Town Boards with the same conflicts of interest. For the South Fayette story, the www.post-gazette.com, 10/16/2011.

 Dimock Water Still Fouled

According to a Wall Street Journal article published 10/15/2011, three years after Dimock (Pa.)residents first noticed something wrong with their drinking water, they can still light it on fire. Read the full story at wsj.com.

Frack Flack

 Gasping for air… In Sublette County, Wy. residents have been complaining about contaminated air. Discoveries of emissions from the gas drilling process have prompted strong anti-fracking diatribes from the community. “Industry has done a lot of great things and they’ve really stepped up to the plate,” said Stephen Smith, Mayor of Pinedale, Wy. “But it’s my job to represent the concerns of the people here, and they are concerned.” Emissions have been decreased by a quarter over the last three years, but citizens are becoming more and more irritated, realizing that the whole process could be detrimental.

 Paved with good intentions… To halt the damage on Route 97, the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway Committee (UDSB) has requested a ban on drilling-related traffic because of the hazards it poses regarding unsafe travel, damage to the road, and the highway’s aesthetics. The  UDSB proposal exempts trucks involved in agriculture, bluestone and lumbering.

 Pipeline fire in Kenya… Officials in Kenya estimated 100 dead as a result of an oil pipeline fire on 9/12/2011. When the pipeline leak appeared, crowds flooded the scene to salvage all the precious oil they could. During the  town’s routine garbage burning, which takes place near the river, the wind blew flames toward the oil which ignited.

 Yellowstone spill This summer, just weeks after a seemingly satisfactory inspection, an Exxon Mobil pipeline exploded, sending 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River, with disastrous affects on the wildlife and surrounding communities. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, but some point to the understaffing of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which has far too few inspectors and resources to enforce safety regulations.

By Adam B.

For 15 years The Family Foundation School has produced The Family Times newspaper. It was designed to inform parents, students, and alumni about the events occurring on and around campus. Up until recently, this has been enough to satisfy our hungry readers.

As the technological era continues to grow we must grow with it. Instead of receiving the paper every five weeks, readers will now be able to view our website to see the weekly updates. We have also introduced the blogging system to our website to let the readers inside the writer’s mind.

The Family Times is currently undergoing a change from the old to the new. The weekly articles can now be viewed on www.thefamilyschooltimes.com. Cindy Argiros, Family Times editor, has expressed a desire to produce daily updates if possible. We will still produce a printed newspaper every five weeks. Readers who have not yet shifted to the World Wide Web will still be able find out the latest news and read their favorite articles. We will now cover sporting events, campus life, and family trips through a week by week basis. Our readers can take a closer look at the details about what goes on at our school.

Instead of looking at a whole season worth of games for a sport and just viewing the scoreboard, viewers will now be able to follow game by game for every season. All in all this will enable us to better serve our readers and viewers.

Troop 174 Takes the Weekend Off to Feast on with Tacos, Visit the Haunted Monkey House, and Shoot Paintballs

By Bennett O

From stuffing their faces with food to observing Jupiter and Saturn’s rings through the telescope of the Kopernik Observatory, Troop 174 had a blast on their two-day, two-night camping trip at the Kopernik Observatory. The troop has grown tremendously over the past month and includes one-third of the boys at FFS

For legitimate reasons only 11 Scouts were able to go on the trip. They were accompanied by Scout-master Scott Cole and his assistant Joe Rogalavich.

The troop visited the Kopernik Observatory and Science Center located in Vestal, NY where Dr. Nicholas M. Guydosh from Binghamton University, who earned a Ph.d in Science Education   helped the troop earn their astronomy merit badges.

While at the observatory the scouts where able to look through both a 15-inch and a 20-inch telescope and observe Jupiter and Saturn.

“I was amazed at the fact that I was actually seeing planets with my own eyes and wasn’t dreaming,” said scout Brian O. After a few hours of gazing at the wonders of the universe, but before laying out their sleeping bags, the scouts enjoyed watching “Jurassic Park.”

The next morning the group awoke early and packed up their gear, eager to play paintball in Oswego, NY.  They split up into two teams and lined up on opposite sides of the course to prepare for battle.

When the match started players from both teams ran for cover and advanced up the field looking for an opportunity to shoot their opponents. “For those of you who haven’t played paintball, when you get shot it hurts a lot. However the rush that you get out of playing paintball is like no other,” said Joey P.

During the battle Buray K was shot by Jimmy S. Pretending to walk off the field, Kiser started to fire paintballs at Jimmy. When Schlier realized he was being hit he started to fire back. Kiser ran away but tripped over a rock and was ambushed by Jimmy’s teammates Bennett O, Nick C, Kevin D and Jordan N.

After the ambush, Buray walked off the field with no further incidents. “It was a bad idea to shoot back at Jimmy; because of that I have a lot of bruises on my body,” said Buray.

At the end of the three-hour time limit, the scouts had only one more match to play. Bennett O and Jordan N were in a faceoff, running back and forth dodging paintballs, until assistant scout-master Joe Rogalavich called the match a tie.

With everyone covered in paint it was time to hop in the vans and travel to Jimmy S’s parents’ Candle Shoppe, which is haunted by monkeys. The Candle Shoppe is located in the Pocono Mountains. Animal Planet and CNN have visited the house and have run documentaries on the Candle’s shoppe, including “The Haunted.”

October, Jimmy’s family set up a haunted house in the basement of the shoppe where the monkeys were killed for science experiments. They say that the ghosts who linger in their shop are the monkeys and the scientist who did the experiments on them.

After leaving the Candle Shoppe the scouts returned to the camp site, made dinner, and feasted tacos.

They huddled around the fire to share stories about the haunted monkey house before turning in for the night.

The scouts arrived back at FFS tired, sore, and grateful.

In November the scouts will be traveling to Maryland to visit the battlefield of Antietam. Scout-master Cole hopes to bring 20 or more scouts on the Antietam trip, November 5-7. The trip will include a 10-mile hike and work on advancements in ranks.

“I think that the next trip is going to be a lot of fun. We are going to a Civil
War battlefield and will see the sacrifice that was made there, as well as continuing the bonding friendship that has been building on all of the previous trips,” said scoutmaster Cole.

By Emily M

With the sun shining and temperatures rising, eighteen girls ran onto the field eager to make the 2010 girls soccer team. Thursday July 29 was the first of four tryouts. After getting warmed up, head coach Scott MacDonald worked with the girls on ball handling and then split the girls up and scrimmaged until the tryout was over.

With no returning players from last year the team has a lot of work ahead of them. To help out, Joanna B, who played goalie last year, has volunteered to be manager of the team. Joanna hopes to give back to the team and to teach the newcomers. “Playing soccer was probably the highlight of my stay at this school. It helped me with my program and my spiritual life.” She said.

The second tryout held on Saturday July 31 was even more intense. Still sore from Thursday, the girls showed their determination by giving it their all throughout the endless drills; competing against one another to demonstrate their skills.

Looking forward to the season, MacDonald is eager to get started. In order to improve from last year he is switching up the formation and plans to focus more on the offense. Joining him this season as assistant coach is Debbi Knack. “She knows the game very well, she is firm but fair. I think we’ll work very well together.” said MacDonald. The main focus, according to MacDonald, is “keeping the same players throughout the whole season and being competitive in every game.”

This will be Knack’ first year as assistant coach and she is looking forward to working with the girls. “I think that we are going to have a really good team this year.” said Knack. There are still two more days of tryouts and the team is scheduled to be posted in mid August.

By Emily M.

With the ever growing population, the demand for energy is on the rise. The main problem is what we use and how we get it. Currently fossil fuels— coal, oil, and natural gas— provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the U.S., according to The Department of Energy. For decades mankind has known that fossil fuels are limited resources, yet we have been looking the other way and now we are facing the consequences.

Such consequences include harmful carbon emissions, global warming, rising costs, and the depletion of the earth’s natural resources yet we continue to find new and innovative ways to strip the earth of every last drop of fuel it has. However, there is a permanent solution to the energy crisis and that is the development of renewable sources of energy. These sources utilize the wind, the sun, and the waves to produce the power we need. The technology is available and many countries are already making the switch from fossil fuels.

In 2005, Portugal began a country-wide energy project to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Today almost 45% of all electric power in Portugal is produced using the wind and the waves. This is up from 17% only five years ago.

Such a transition doesn’t come without a price. Portugal’s government estimated its cost to be about 16.3 billion euros, or $22 billion. But the investment is already beginning to pay off with the creation of new jobs and even the ability to sell energy to other countries by using advanced battery technology for storage.  Portugal’s goal is to have 60% of its electricity and 31% of all its energy needs met in 2020 by utilizing more of the country’s hydropower.

Ireland is another country trying to “Go Green.”  In 2008, Marine Current Turbines, a company that specializes in tidal stream technology, finished installing a 1.2MW SeaGen tidal energy system in Strangford Narrows in Northern Ireland. The tidal energy system runs 18-20 hours per day off the ebb and flow tides which occur twice a day. Ireland hopes to supply up to 1000 houses with electrical power using this new system and is continuing to make new advances in reducing its dependence on fossil fuels.

On a smaller scale many privately owned companies are finding new and innovative ways to save money using renewable energy sources right here in the U.S. The USPS, is working toward reducing their energy consumption by using green roofing and solar panels. According to USPS they have saved $400 million since first implementing the project in 2007 and are already 70% closer to reaching their goal of economizing their energy consumption by 30% by 2015.

There is no question that renewable energy will replace fossil fuels. The question is how long are we going to wait until we make the change? The fossil fuel industry is slowly dying out, mainly because of the lack of resources, but the big energy companies are intent on staying in the game by using new means, such as hydraulic fracturing to drain the last of the resources. No matter what the change, it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be cheap so we might as we just go ahead and do it.