Vol. 80, No. 37
National Merit Semifinalists The following local students were named National Merit Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Students so designated scored in the top one percent of students who took the PSAT last spring. These students will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than $30 million in scholarships to be offered next spring. Local students who were named semifinalists include: From Jericho HS: Alice Z. Chen, Andrew Chen, Songyuan Guo, William S. Hu, Dylan P. Huddleston, Jayant Kaushik, Ariel Kim, Irene M. Lee, Danny R. Li, Joanne Li, Julia L. Lin, Leanne Lu, Yuejia Ma, Aadhithan R. Murugaverl, Alyssa J. Paek, Ryan S. Rahman, Richard H. Ren, Kartik Subramanian, Vivian Wu, Daniel You, Judy Zhou From Syosset HS: William Akunevicz, Arjun Chadha, Stella D. Chen, Evan M. Cheng, Michael C. Chu, Anoushka P. Dalvi, Brian D. Gao, Simran Goel, Shreyas Goswami, Esther Han, Hamza N. Iqbal, Alex S. Ji, Michael P. Kopacz, Joshua P. Langman, Ariane Lee, Borui Lu, Michael D. Lu, Angela R. Mao, Jenny Ou, Amanda Qian, Giselle L. Rasquinha, Jacob B. Rosenberg, Trisha Sinha, Nolan M. Smithwick, Alexa M. Trapani, Aayush Turakhia, Emma J. Van Dorn, Eric J. Wang, Lara A. Weinberg, Max M. Yin, Joshua J. Yun and Kevin J. Zhao
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Friday, September 11, 2020
State Senator: Voting easier than ever
BACK TO SCHOOL
BY RIKKI MASSAND
Students in local school districts went back to school this week, with new protocols due to the pandemic. See photos from Jericho's first day on page 11.
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In spite of national controversy over vote-by-mail procedures, New York State Senator James Gaughran, who represents Oyster Bay, Syosset, Woodbury and Long Island communities in the 5th State Senatorial District,urges residents to join him in voting in the November 3rd election in a process that he says has been made "very easy." In an interview with the Advance and News-Journal at his Underhill Boulevard, Syosset office on September 2nd, Sen. Gaughran said concerns over what has transpired with operations of the United States Postal Service drove the State of New York to move up mail-in ballot timelines to allow votes to be cast up to seven weeks prior to the election. New York State has legislation allowing residents three different methods of voting in the 2020 Election. Traditional polling stations on Election Day will be available, with social distancing measures and masks required. Voters can also vote up to 10 days prior to the November 3 election at regional "early voting" sites to follow a method instituted in New York a year ago, with additional sites added this year. Finally, Sen. Gaughran noted that legislation he co-sponsored will allow any registered voter who chooses to vote by absentee ballot to be able to do so. However, voters will not automatically be sent their absentee ballot -- it must be applied for. “If anyone feels concerned about going in to a polling location to vote whether during early voting or on Election Day because of the pandemic’s spread, we have instituted policy for absentee ballots and we moved up the timeframe so up to seven weeks prior to November 3 you can cast an absentee ballot. While any voter would have to apply for their absentee ballot, the process is easy as they can access the page online to apply -- available on the New York State Board of Elections’ website --- Elections. NY.Gov,” the senator explained. The website contains a tab: “How to Apply for an Absentee Ballot” and for the first time, New Yorkers can request their absentee ballot online for the general election. Sen. Gaughran is predicting that as in the case of the Primary Election, a “huge number of voters” are going to vote by absentee ballot this fall. “A lot of people are going to submit their votes right away because many have ideas for the Presidential race and they have made up their minds one way or another. Though we of course know that some people will wait and then make up their See page 13
Bronx man arrested in elder scam attempt PAGE 14 Town beaches, spray parks open in Sept. PAGE 3