Pencil is a company which is supplied to schools by allowing business leaders to strengthen the five Boroughs of New York City. Melissa Leitmen is the partnership coordinator of Brooklyn and Staten Island. She insures collaborators have the greatest impact on students success and achievements.

“I felt honored to meet him because he held a very important job as chief financial officer at Warner records. Mr. Signore was very nice and has a job that I would be interesting and I liked his job because he can wear jeans to work and he associates with famous people like Jay-Z,” said senior Glen Kuglemen.

Mr. Signore set goals today in which he was going to prosper throughout the year. Mr. Signore hard time planning for us students last year since it was his first time for being a Principal at our school.

“It feels good coming back to the campus, It feels easier to plan for this year then it did last year,” Matt Signore stated. Mr. Signore was pleased to be back to the campus and talked with many different groups of people about what he going to plan for our school .

“ I am glad that Matt Signore was chosen as principal for the day because it opened various opportunities for our school,” said junior Gabriella Iacono.

Matt Signore sat down and talked to several P.T.A members about what he does and what he will provide our school with this year. They discussed trips such as the trip to the Warner Music office and the internship which happened this summer.

“ My goals for today are to take some feedback and hear some suggestions from the students and seniors I meet with about opportunities such like the Office Trip,” said Matt Signore. He came in with an goal and left with a goal.

He wasn’t here for long, but he still left his presence in the eyes of many. Music Principal Mr. Signore was the talk of the halls. Many people were fascinated with his presences and can’t wait to see what the music industry has waiting for us. Hoping to see more of him, Matt Signore leaves an impression on CSI High-school that we soon won’t forget.

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Over the past few months, UNICEF club has been holding all different fundraisers for this cause. One of them being Reach For the Rope. They will soon also have a fashion show fundraiser which will take place on November 9, 2010. Also, everyday members are down during F block in the cafeteria asking for donations for their ‘change for change’ jar.

At this event the UNICEF club worked hard planning what bands they could get to play, where they would have it, and how they could advertise it to get a good crowd. It took weeks to try and get everything perfect, but it eventually happen!

That night, members went early down to Dock Street and set up. By the time doors opened at six, everything was ready to go! The doors started to flood with people by seven, and the UNICEF members working the door were having trouble keeping account of ticket sales because of the large sums of people that were all showing up at once. They were pleased with the crowds and glad that so many people had come to show their support.

Throughout the night, people came in and out of Edgewater Hall. There were a lot of local bands who brought along their friends and followers to listen to them perform.

“I thought the band’s were really good and played great! Everyone seemed to have a good time,” says Brandon Pincay, a senior here at CSIHS.

“It took a lot of planning and preparation, but it was all worth it in the end. Everyone was so inspired by the Invisible Children cause and it was great to see them express it through amazing music. The UNICEF club worked hard and I’m proud of all of them for their great work. There were some bumps along the road and we were still looking for a PA system the day before the event, but none of the stress seemed to matter in the end because it turned out to be a great night!” said senior Dylan Luke, president of UNICEF club.

UNICEF club ended up raising around five hundred dollars for the Invisible Children foundation. All the money raised will go to help building radio towers in Uganda to be able to warn the villages when the rebel army will be coming their way so they can move to a different

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Last month at CSI High School, Matt Signore, Chief Financial Officer [CFO] to WEA, Warner Music Group’s U.S. sales and marketing company, was Principal of the Day for the second year in a row. Thanks to his connection to CSIHS, students were able to visit Warner Music Group’s office in New York City for a round table question and answer session.

Students on the trip were very excited to visit and gain information about the business half of the music industry. The executives talked a lot about what they did prior to their current status and what their college experiences were like.

“I became more interested in business due to the graphic designer who worked there, and felt that this trip was very rewarding because many of the people speaking didn’t know what they wanted to major in when they were in college,” said junior Lori Lee.

Most said that they’ve always wanted to work in the music industry, but there were two people who said they learned about what they wanted to do later in life.

“The trip gave us a whole new way to look at the music business. I’ve learned how the business is more than just accounting, but instead how much publicity is involved. I’d like to do something in public communications after learning about the PR [public relations] branch,” said senior Dylan Luke.

“This was an eye opening experience for me. The trip was interesting to me because now I’m considering a communications major. I was really interested in the job as the publicists. It seems like a fun job to take a music artist like, Wiz Khalifa, to meetings or a photoshoot. My favorite part was the part when the music publicists spoke to us because I might want to be one when I grow up due to the trip,” said senior Glenn Kugelman.

Though most of the students had an enjoyable time, not everyone was swayed by this side of the music industry.

“It was a great experience going because how many people get to do that; sit at a table with executives from a music company? This trip showed me that I might not want to do any of the jobs these people have when I grow up,” said sophomore Victoria Molinari.

At the end of the trip, the students’ faces lit up with joy due to the shop filled with boxes of CDs, vinyls, and various band merchandise such as shirts and bags.

Overall, the trip informed students on careers in the music industry’s business side.

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This year’s Jingle Ball will be held on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 at Madison Square Garden.

New York radio station, Z100, announced its all-star cast on Oct. 25, 2010. Performances will be made by Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Taio Cruz, B.o.B., Paramore, Bruno Mars, Travie McCoy, Michael Bublé, Enrique Iglesias, and Justin Bieber.

There will also be famous guest hosts for this event, including Jay Sean, Jesse McCartney, Sean Kingston, Emily Osment, Flo Rida, Just Jared, Kim Kardashian, Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D, and much more!

Tickets were available to Ticketmaster members on Nov. 1, 2010, but opened to the entire public on the following day, November 2.

Z100 partnered up with Musicians On Call, a charity, which brings live and recorded music to patients in healthcare facilities. The money that is made from Jingle Ball will be benefiting Musicians on Call. This charity is an important cause. They are thankful for the donations because it’s a non-profit organization. This charity, formed in 1999, complements the healing process for patients, for families, and for caregivers.

“I feel amazed to be going to Jingle Ball. I’m so excited because I get to go backstage and meet everyone who is performing. I can’t wait to meet Justin Bieber again, this will be my sixth time meeting him,” said sophomore, Gianna Bruno.

Unfortunately, Jingle Ball tickets are officially sold out, so the only way to get tickets is to win them. Tune in to Z100, (100.3), for opportunities to win Jingle Ball 2010 tickets for the concert and maybe even for exclusive backstage passes.

To pop culture admirers, listeners, and to the fans of Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, etc., don’t miss out on this year’s rockin’ Jingle Ball concert event. Like Christmas, Jingle Ball only comes to town once a year.

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Released in mid-2000, Limewire has been helping users share music, and movies for 10 years. In other words, users of the service were able to download music for free.

The actions of Limewire however, did not go unanswered as The Recording Industry Association of America fired up a legal battle that spanned for four years up until Mid-2010.

Limewire, the Internet generations’ premiere money saver was ruled illegal in a federal court ruling by Judge Kimba M. Wood on May 12, 2010 and was later forced to shut down all of its file-sharing components.

Though this crackdown has had an overwhelming positive support from artists in the music industry such as heavy metal group Metallica, some artists; mostly those in the hardcore and punk genre still stand with the rights of users to “try before they buy”

Wood ruled that Limewire, and its creator Mark Gorton, was guilty of assisting users with copyright infringement. Gorton may face further charges of copyright infringement for up to $One Billion. The case deciding monetary charges against Limewire will be set sometime in January 2011.

“Even though I’m a musician, I disagree with the way that the record companies are handling the situation.” said senior Peter Grancio. The vocalist of a local band West of Dennis, Grancio believes that the music industry shouldn’t be as commercialized as it is now.

There are a considerable number of ads explaining how music sharing is like stealing, but the thought of actually paying for music might strike some people as downright preposterous.

Take a normal iPod Classic. 80 Gigabytes of memory can fit around 20,000 songs. That is means to fill up a regular iPod with legally bought music, one would have to spend anywhere between $20,000 and $26,000.

Though one might think that downloading free music is 100% economically sound, data gathered from the Institute for Policy Innovation seems to disagree as it shows that music piracy causes around $12.5 Billion in economic losses every year.

Limewire is only one of many open-source file-sharing sites, which give users access to free copyrighted software.

Whether similar services such as Frostwire, or The Pirate Bay will go the same way is anyone’s guess.

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The lyrics pop on a screen behind him, along with video clips of people cheering or revolting against him. The lyrics of his song are about corruption in school, government, and tradition. “Our tradition is corruption. Corruption in all of Africa.”

The music is a mix of Jazz and Funk. Fast catchy beats, lights shining everywhere, and flashing as if in a club. Fela’s compound and performances is usually performed at the Shrine in Nigeria.

Fela shares with the audience members about his experience in jail, the interagation process and moments that changed his life. He also reminds and tells the world what happened to Kulakuta, a compound owned by Fela in Nigeria.

One night, soliders sent from the government raided and burned Kulakuta to the ground. The dancers were each represented as a person that was a vitim to the tragic event. A statement about how they were tormented by soliders were presented to the audience on a background screen.

“Fela was a powerful lesson in Post-Colonalism!” said history teacher Mrs. Francis. “ The play was also a contemporay political act. References to mordern issues like police violence, crisis in Haiti and corporate scandals like Enron and Halbutron.”

Students and fans of Broadway plays are strongly recommened to see FELA! and learn more about culture in different parts of the world. Sometimes history can be quite interesting.

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“It’s been a good year, a good new beginning,” sings lead singer of Motion City Soundtrack, Justin Pierre on the opener song to Motion City Soundtrack’s latest album My Dinosaur Life. He’s most certainly right, since My Dinosaur Life is the first album the Minnesota native quintet has released on a major record label, Columbia Records.

Motion City Soundtrack is a band that could have disbanded when lead singer, Justin, had major issues in his life. Motion City Soundtrack survived due to the loyal support from fans and how Justin uses music as an outlet of all his emotions.

“I like Motion City Soundtrack because their lyrics are catchy and their sound is unique,” said freshman Victoria Molinari.

My Dinosaur Life is an impressive album, showing how the band has grown. Though it seems as if Motion City Soundtrack is going against their old ways and copycatting others, this album is still a great listen.

Through a calm acoustic guitar and hand clapping in the background spread across 3 minutes, the song “Stand Too Close” is a great hit to play for the radio. Lyrically, the song sounds like a man who has had awkward relationships, which is similar to Weezer’s lead singer, Rivers Cuomo’s writing style. Which is also awkward and nerd like.

With lyrics like “I fell asleep watching Veronica Mars again” and the verses where Justin sings about his life after his life changing break up, “I’m taking an online course. I’m learning to speak Japanese!” the song “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” is also another song that sounds similar to Weezer’s. The only difference is that this song has more dark undertones, and Justin’s voice sounds like he’s crying because he wants to get the girl back.

Though a remarkable album, there were a few songs that felt as if they didn’t belong. One of them is “Pulp Fiction”. The chorus of the song sounds like one huge fragment sentence.

“It’s like a bad dream, something from the back of a magazine. Black and white and cheaply put together like a slasher film. Torn in opposite directions, the plot sucks but the killings are gorgeous.”

The deluxe version of My Dinosaur Life, bought on iTunes, includes acoustic versions of “A Life Less Ordinary”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Worker Bee”, and “Disappear”. There is also a bonus track “So Long Farewell” which is alright, but is very drony due to repeating lyrics throughout the song and has a slow acoustic guitar as the main instrument.

Justin’s voice in the song and the single guitar being used, sound haunting, for a song that already sounds dark with the original track.

As a whole, the album is catchy rock, with a flavor of punk, pop and sensitive lyrics. For sure, this is Motion City Soundtrack’s best work to date.

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Fans and critics have already began to gossip and buzz about the new release. A good amount of the songs on the CD had already been available, and the general public seems to have gotten their hands on them… but who could blame them?

The band has been recording this album since 2008. It’s been a good 5 years since the release of “Demon Days”, and the listeners are restless.

“I heard about the album a really long time ago, and got super excited for it because I loved Demon Days,” said freshman Travis Dove.

However, not everyone shares the same opinion. Some people could care less about the release. Most people can admit to have never hearing of the artists, or having just heard singles featured around the internet and radio.

Those who have already experienced the oldies but goodies have built up their expectations of the new album, while others can only imagine the outcome of this album.

“I haven’t listened to the Gorillaz in a while, so I don’t really care about the upcoming album,” said sophomore Victoria Heshme.

It’s hard to deny that in the past years the Gorillaz have impacted pop culture, good and bad. They’ve been influenced, and influenced others.

Because of the international buzz about the Gorillaz, a webchat was hosted for the fans to ask the Gorillaz questions. In the chat, Russell Hobbs, drums and percussion, admits “there’s nothing wrong with having influences – that’s how everyone starts.”

Like most bands, they’ve formed their own opinion of the state of music today. When asked in an interview by Smash Hits about the state of “pop” today, Hobbs says, “There has always been whack music made for kiddies parties with no other aim in mind than to make a fast buck for soulless record companies, now ‘ain’t any different from any other time.”

Pop culture obviously has good and bad influence on any band. It just so happens that the Gorillaz have geared away from pop, as Hobbs states very clearly, and they’ve left their mark on the music world.

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Professionally dressed students came – wide-eyed – into their transformed classrooms and school offices to hear from an impressive variety of adults, working in an equally varied number of fields.

“Career Day really opened my mind to what I want to be when I get older,” said junior Samantha DiMarco, who wasn’t alone in heralding the event’s successes. “I didn’t expect to see enthusiasm from our junior and senior students. From hats to heels and dresses to jackets, they really went all out and it made us all very proud,” said Parent Coordinator Annette Lentini.

Students were able to sample life and professional lessons from a dizzying array of presenters from entertainment executives to world renown chefs. Some student favorites included freelance multi-lingual translator, Jisu Kim, CFO Matt Signore from Warner Music Group, and Financial Planner John Ross.

Everyone wants to be successful when they get older, and good grades are a big part of achieving that goal. Many jobs today need more than a college diploma. Many seek out students who are doing significant post graduate work.

“At this age students usually don’t care or don’t know what they want to be at the moment, but when you get older you have to keep in mind to love your job,” said John Ross an Agency Sales Director, Financial Planner.

Overall, the day was a real outside-the-box learning experience for everyone, and a real boon for our school.

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Nick and Norah opens in a gay-straight music club in Manhattan. Nick is the bassist in a queer core band and Norah is there checking out the music.

It becomes hard for Nick to focus, once he discovers his recent ex-girlfriend hanging out in the same club with her new boyfriend. Nick quickly runs off stage when his band is done playing and meets Norah, another frequent member of the club at the bar.

Norah is busy watching over her best friend, Caroline, before she gets herself into any trouble. Nick asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes to either draw off his ex, or to at least distract him from her. He doesn’t expect Norah to kiss him in response. Norah doesn’t think that Nick would be such a good kisser.

This one kiss throws both teenagers, Nick’s band and Norah’s best friend into one of the wildest adventures of their lives.

As the night goes on, from the club where the two met, to a transvestite bar, all the way to Park Avenue, Nick and Norah battle themselves for their

feelings of the person they had met just hours before.

Both Nick and Norah find themselves in an emotional battle over their exes and each other

“I really loved Nick and Norah’s because I thought it was cute and I love how their relationship turns out in the end,” said sophomore Karis Robichaud.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist also caught a Hollywood director’s eyes and the book was turned into a movie in 2008 and brought in over $31,000,000 at the box office. This book is good for fans of realistic fiction, comedy, and romance.

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