Forrest Gump Movie Review

By: Michael Gruber 

                Forrest Gump is a film version of a story of a seemingly slow man, Forrest Gump, who without really even noticing, plays a role in the shaping of history through his influence on others.  Unlike most films, actually any film, Forrest Gump has no central problem to the story it instead simply follows Forrest throughout his life.  From meeting Jenny to shedding his leg braces, to meeting JFK it still remains inspiring.  As you watch and become enthralled by the story of Forrest Gump and begin to understand this “different” man from Greenbow, Alabama, you’ll come to find yourself laughing, crying, and thoroughly inspired by Forrest’s story.

                From the start it was obvious Forrest wasn't the brightest of people with only a 75 I.Q, and the braces for his legs just gave the other kids one more excuse to tease him except for one child Jenny.  She was Forrest’s best friend and the only person except for his mother who really believed in him.  From the very beginning Forrest’s mother told him, “life’s like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get.”  In Forrest’s case this was generally true whether he was playing football at the University of Alabama, shaking JFK’s hand, saving lives in Vietnam, playing Ping Pong in China, shrimpin’ with Lieutenant Dan during Hurricane Carmen, or literally running cross country from one ocean to the other.  During the movie neither audience nor Forrest could have predicted what he would do next.

                Just like the feather drifting fluently through the air Tom Hanks gave a fluent and flawless performance as Forrest Gump.  Going with out say we also feel that everybody else in the cast played their role with incredible accuracy.  With this being said we also loved the unique plot and Forrest’s story and give the movie four out of four stars.   Forrest Gump was both hilarious and inspiring at the same time thus making it an instant classic.

Cavit Ula, Michael Gruber

5/14/14

Cost of College is too high.

College is becoming less and less affordable for the average student.  The average cost of tuition for the 2013-2014 school year was $30,000.00, and at the end of four years a student will be left with an average of $29,000.00 of debt. The average income of a median family in the U.S is $51,000.00. With college becoming exceedingly important to a student’s future as time progresses, such high prices for an education are unacceptable.  An education is becoming almost necessary to have a shot at securing a future, and higher education seems to be turning into a privilege more than a right.  This is quite alarming, and to have a chance at a future, extreme changes must be made – and fast.

If we do the math here, after four years of college the students will owe more than what they make in a year. It takes time for college graduates to find a job where they get paid well. Also students end up not finding a job in the field they major in, and they end up going back to college to major in different fields.  It’s just not adding up the cost of college shouldn’t put you behind.  College should a head start not a setback.

However, this is a solvable problem.  Tax reform and redistribution of government funds could help in alleviating the problem.  Instead of putting so much money towards national defense, we should put that money into education so college is affordable for students.  Maybe, if we were to spend more money on education and less on defense all of the defense wouldn’t needed because we’d be smart enough to stay out of wars. Also are economy wouldn’t be in debt.  

An expensive education leads to a less educated population, which leads to less educated and often bad decisions, which in turn runs the risk the country falling into trouble which could have been prevented.  Knowledge is power and knowledge is becoming less affordable in this country and the rich continue to hold power getting richer as the poor get poorer and the gap between the classes grows every day.

Soft News Story

Cavit Ula, “The Bachelor?”
A Fictitious Soft New Story By: Michael Gruber

Cavit Ula is from Turkey, but prefers chicken as he feels it is more flavorful and is less prone to an unfortunate dry texture. Cavit is said to prefer his chicken fried, though nobody knows for sure being as nobody has ever asked because nobody actually cares. A fierce fan a competitor in the soccer Mr. Ula has been seen streaking and yelling gibberish when there is an unfortunate outcome in a match he has stake in. Don’t let this character flaw discourage you ladies, GQ magazine named Cavit the 88th best bachelor of Magnolia, NJ an award similar to being named the best amusement park restaurant in other words, meaningless. So, what does Cavit bring to the table in a relationship? Probably nothing, but let’s try to make some stuff up to make him feel better.

Cavit is, well Cavit is breathing but so is everybody else. All jokes aside Cavit is a great guy. So, who is Cavit Ula and why is him being single and ready to mingle news? As mentioned Cavit was named one of Magnolia’s best bachelors, but why? Well while not a billionaire, Cavit does show alot of potential. An excellent soccer player and dedicated student Cavit would be found only in the dreams of most women.

Its now been established that Cavit is a cool guy. But, the real news is what we may be seeing on ABC’s the Bachelor. Its been reported by TMZ and the Insider and rumor has it the Cavit Ula may have been cast for ABC’s upcoming season of the Bachelor. But, before we all get too excited imagining young Cavit handing out his roses until he gets to live happily ever after remember nothing is finalized and at this point everything reported on the subject including this article has been unwarranted speculation. 

Pretzels in the Dugout

By: Michael Gruber

What better way to enjoy a pretzel than from the bench of a high school baseball game.  Sterling High School baseball bench regulars call themselves, “the pretzel gang.”

Not playing in the game can get you down, but the pretzel gang say otherwise and instead of getting down decide to eat two to four pretzels to keep spirits high while cheering on teammates out in the field.

Keeping the mood light, backup third baseman, Nick Semiraglio, says, “while the guys on the field are working keeping their batting averages up, I’m over here keeping my pretzel average up, I’m at four a game.”

The Pretzel Gang says, “ We pride ourselves on the proud tradition of eating pretzels and cheering on the team” while outsiders may feel as though the pretzels take away from the game and cause a distraction, pitcher and bench frequenter, Brent Ewald, say,” pretzels definitely don’t take away, they keep us chewing and they keep us focused, some guys eat seeds, we eat pretzels.”

All the while the pretzel gang and the entire team for fact couldn't stop with the praise and thank for Mrs. McGoldrick who provides the teams pretzels.

However, there are some players within the team such as pitcher, and center fielder, Donovan Casey, who doesn't show such valiant support for the pretzel gang and has said rather bitterly, “I started the pretzel gang when my mother originally brought them for me and I so generously shared with teammates, I’m the leader.”

It looks like there's a split between the team, pro-pretzel and anti-pretzel.