Volume 106, Issue 10 by The Stuyvesant Spectator

The Spectator

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

Volume 106  No. 10

February 12, 2016

SING! 2016 Faces Budget Cuts

NEWSBEAT

t the New York City Regional Science Olympiad competition on Saturday, February 6, Stuyvesant teams won a total of 37 medals, taking second place as a team and advancing to the state competition in March.

ocial Studies teacher Robert Sandler and several of his students attended an event at the Yale Club honoring American civil rights activist Frederick Douglass. Junior Stephen Nyarko and senior Tabitha Wilson, both members of the Gilder-Lehrman Student Advisory Council, spoke at the event.

t the National Classical Etymology Examination, fourteen Stuyvesant Latin students won medals, including four gold medals in the Advanced Level competitions and two gold medals in the Intermediate Level competitions.

ucy Liu (‘86), Jason Weinberg (’85), and Paul Reiser (‘73) are leading the fundraising to support this year’s production of SING!.

ore than 500 students attended the Health Fair on Friday, January 15. Organized by Spark Coordinator Angel Colon, the Stuyvesant Wellness Council, and their faculty advisor, physical education teacher Dr. Anna Markova, the health fair provided activities, food, and information to promote healthy living.

By Chloe Hanson and Jarett Lee

Due to budget cuts imposed by the Student Union (SU), students will see an increase in the cost of ticket prices and dues for SING! 2016. Each SING! performance will be granted $1,500 along with what each performance gets from its dues, which will be $15 instead of $12 this year. Ticket prices will also be increased by at least $5, bringing prices to $20 for the Wednesday performance and $30 for the Friday and Saturday performances. One reason behind the budget cuts is the need to pay the salary of the Coordinator of Student Affairs (COSA), Matthew Polazzo. “The Student Union has to pay [the COSA’s] salary out of their own funding,” Junior SING! 2016 Coordinator Winston Venderbush said. Following the injury of former COSA and health teacher Lisa Weinwurm in the winter of 2014, the SU was left without an advisor. As a result, the money that would usually go into the Weinwurm’s salary was put into SING! 2015’s budget. Another reason for the budget cuts is the increase in the salary for SING! faculty advisors. “We spend more money than we used to because the faculty advisors used to be paid a flat rate, [...] but now because of DOE regulations, they’re paid an hourly rate, and so that rate’s actually a lot more than what they used to be paid and we have to pay for that out of the budget,” Venderbush said. This increase in faculty advisors’ salaries has also halted the motion for additional faculty advisors for this year’s SING!. Extra supervision would have benefited SING! by reducing the frequency of problems as well as the chance of problems arising. Additionally, the SU decided

to allocate a larger portion of its budget to clubs and pubs this year, resulting in less funding for SING! 2016. Coupled with the usual expenses of developing and producing SING!, superfluous spending will have to be restricted. To help increase revenue and deal with the budget cuts, SING! organizers are making changes in the timeliness of SING! decisions. SING! apparel, themes, and concessions will all be chosen earlier. “Knowing what the themes are early will enable us to order apparel more early which would enable us to save a tremendous amount of money on the ordering process and make more money from that,” Polazzo said. If matters are done efficiently in a timely fashion, less money will be wasted addressing costly, last-minute problems. Another method of increasing revenue was more strictly enforcing the collection of dues, which are the required payments a participant must pay to have a role in SING!. “We were a little bit more lax on dues collection last year and I think we’re going to be stricter about it this year,” Polazzo said. Funding for SING! 2016 may also receive a $30,000 donation from the Alumni Association in a challenge match run by Lucy Liu (’86), Jason Weinberg (’85), and Paul Reiser (’73) where the three will donate $15,000 if the rest of the Stuyvesant alumni community can raise the same amount by February 5, 2016. Despite these budget cuts and the difficulties they may bring, people are confident that SING! 2016 will be relatively unchanged, if not even better. “Aside from the budget cuts and the increased ticket prices, I can guarantee that the budget cuts won’t affect the show’s quality,” Venderbush said.

stuyspec.com

51+49+A Are You In Favor of Annualizing Classes?

Yes

50.6%

49.3%

By The Spectator News Department

Beginning this term, the administration strove to annualize all core classes, meaning that students would not change teachers at the start of the spring semester. Underclassmen reported that many of their classes were annualized, while upperclassmen generally experienced the reverse. The Spectator News Department distributed a poll to Stuyvesant students via The Spectator Facebook page to gauge their stance on course annualization. One hundred sixty-two students responded, and with nearly a 50-50 split, the question still stands: should the administration work to annualize all classes? Read a point-counterpoint piece on the subject on page 15.

Victoria Huang / The Spectator

Computer Science Coordinator Michael Zamansky Resigns

Former Computer Science Coordinator Michael Zamansky left Stuyvesant last month to begin working at Hunter College.

By Sharon Chao and Dhiraj Patel Former Coordinator of Computer Science Michael Zamansky resigned from his position on Wednesday, January 27. He has accepted a new role as Distinguished Lecturer and Coordinator of Com-

WHAT’S INSIDE? Features A&E

puter Science Education at Hunter College. Computer science teacher JonAlf Dyrland-Weaver has been appointed as the new Coordinator of Computer Science, and will teach Zamanky’s Software Development class along with computer science teacher Topher Brown Mykolyk. Zamansky officially announced

his resignation to the administration on Wednesday, December 23, 2015. He began thinking about resigning two years ago, but wanted to wait until at least this school year in order to complete the 25 years of service necessary to receive a full pension. This year was his 26th year at Stuyvesant. When he officially started looking for jobs in late 2014, he negotiated with private companies and private schools before meeting with people at Hunter College in November 2015, ultimately deciding to work there. Zamansky decided to resign due to what he felt was a lack of authority within Stuyvesant. “I saw that the administration had no intentions of making computer science a department,” Zamansky said. “At Stuyvesant, I [had] no authority but [had] to deal with all the problems related to Computer Science.” Moreover, Zamansky thought that the Department of Education (DOE) was not recognizing Stuyvesant as a leader in computer science. “[In 2005] I started to connect with the DOE to get them to come down and look at our program […] and then hopefully help us get to

Student-Bought Meals Put to the Taste Test Features editor Alice Cheng asks Stuyvesant head cook Khadija Eddhabi to try some of Stuyvesant students’ favorite lunches.

more schools, more teachers, and ultimately more kids. I was able to secure a meeting or two at Tweed [the DOE headquarters] but nothing ever came of it,” Zamansky wrote in his online blog, C’est la Z. Zamansky’s new job has three main components. The first is building a computer science teacher education program, which will be the first in the city. Zamansky helps to develop courses specially designed for teachers. “There will be pedagogy courses, which are about how to teach computer science to students,” he said. “There will also be [informational courses to teach] parts of a full algorithms course and parts of a full computer science theory course, for example.” Part of the reason that he started his new job on Thursday, January 28, the first day of the second term at Hunter College, was so that there will be a chance that the new program can start this September. Zamansky will also help create a new honors computer science program at Hunter College and tie in his connections with the technology community to provide internships for students. “Most schools

that have good computer science programs assume that their students will go to graduate school, but [our] program will be more practical and give students the chance to enter the workforce right after they graduate,” Zamansky said. The final aspect of Zamansky’s position involves working with the two high schools on the Hunter College campus, Hunter College High School and Manhattan Hunter Science High School. “I’ll help support the teachers there […] I’ll leverage my experience to help without stepping on anyone’s toes,” Zamansky said. This new place of work will give Zamansky the chance to move up on the work ladder, allowing him to practice computer science in addition to teaching it. Zamansky will be missed by his students at Stuyvesant. “He was an approachable person and extremely friendly. I’d ask him a question and get a detailed answer and then a few minutes later we’d be talking and joking about things,” said senior Ethan Chang, Zamansky’s former Advanced Placement continued on page 2

The Tale of Three Bowls of Mexican Food Three A&E writers compare the burrito bowls from various Mexican places around Stuyvesant.

The Spectator â&#x2014;? February 12, 2016

Page 2

News Science and Robotics Lab Upgrades in Preliminary Stages By Tiffany Chen and Kimberly Ho

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

WORLDBEAT

owa voters headed for polls on Monday, February 1 for the first major vote of the 2016 presidential election. On the Republican side, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas received more votes than candidate Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. In the New Hamshire primaries on February 9, the tables turned: Trump beat his opponents by a wide margin, and Sanders defeated Clinton.

he United Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss its response to North Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s launch of a long-range rocket on Sunday, February 7. The meeting was requested by South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

A E

n earthquake with a 6.4 magnitude struck Tainan, Taiwan, leaving buildings leveled, 37 dead, and 120,000 without power.

fforts to close the pay gap between men and women have remained stagnant in Congress; however, new proposals for equal pay laws are being debated in two-dozen states.

he district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Hemland is once again on the verge of being overrun by the Taliban, according to an Afghan commander. However, the Afghan army and the local governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office are denying his claims.

lgerian members of Parliament have passed a series of reforms that include reinstating a two-term limit on presidency, which was annulled in 2008 by Abdelaziz Bouteflika. They also voted to give the Berber language official status. Though Arabic will remain the language of the government, Berber can now appear on official documents.

crane being used to install generators and air-conditioners along Worth Street near West Broadway, a short walk from Stuyvesant, collapsed due to high winds on February 7. The accident left a 38-year old man, David Wichs, dead, and injured three other people.

ayor Bill de Blasio proposed a plan for a $2.5 billion streetcar line that extends along the East River from Brooklyn to Queens on Thursday, February 4.

The Parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association (PA) has submitted a grant to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Education to acquire money for renovating science labs and creating a robotics lab. As of now, it cannot be predicted when these renovations will take place. The school has decided to pursue the project based on feedback from parents, teachers, and students. StuyPulse, Stuyvesantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s robotics team, is excited about the possibility of having a new workplace. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our lab is running out of space and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really crowded,â&#x20AC;? senior Yubin Kim said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our robots canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all fit [in our closet].

[...] Renovating our lab is one of the more necessary things.â&#x20AC;? In addition to their new lab, StuyPulse will most likely also be keeping their old club room. This will hopefully provide enough space for the team to include all members during meetings; some groups, like the Engineering Division, have over 40 members. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sometimes we have to tell [people] that only half of them can stay,â&#x20AC;? Kim said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we had the other space, I feel our team would be more united. [â&#x20AC;Ś] It will make it a lot easier to communicate.â&#x20AC;? Principal Jie Zhang and the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administration and staff members are working hard to accumulate funds to execute these plans. While the Department of

Education provides the school with a budget, its use is restricted to hiring teachers and keeping the school in operation. The PA is the main source of funding for the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renovation and construction projects, with the Alumni Association and School Construction Authority making contributions as well. The PA has also approached parents and alumni about the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding, as they have expressed a need for lab upgrades in the past. At present, there is no prediction for when the renovations will take place, but Zhang is motivated to pursue the project. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Stuyvesant,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want everything to be state-of-the-art.â&#x20AC;?

Computer Science Coordinator Michael Zamansky Resigns continued from page 1

(AP) Computer Science and Software Development student. Zamansky was the pioneer of many Stuyvesant computer science programs. In the fall of 1994, he started teaching his first AP computer science class at Stuyvesant, and soon afterwards, enrollment reached a new high. After seeing the positive reception AP computer science received, Zamansky asked students if they would like to have a spring class in systems programming, where students would learn about memory organization, inter-

rupts, and computer representation of numbers. The class was equally as popular, allowing Zamansky to create a fall semester course called advanced computer graphics, where students learned how to use C and Pascal. These electives were assimilated into the schedule by the fall of 1995. In addition to contributing to Stuyvesantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academic program, Zamansky also helped create a memorable Stuyvesant cultural tradition: Stuyloween. He started the computer science teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tradition of dressing up in costumes on Halloween, something they continue to do today. Dyrland-Weaver has not dis-

cussed his specific duties with Principal Jie Zhang yet, but he will essentially take over most of Zamanskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s responsibilities. These include keeping track of the computers in the labs, handling student programming requests, and coordinating the computer science teachers. As of now, Dyrland-Weaver does not plan to make any changes to the computer science department. But, he will do so as he sees fit. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The computer science field changes, and we need to be current,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If [anyone] is screaming about something, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll try to do it.â&#x20AC;?

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Features

Infinite By Sachi Patel She was the promise of a new beginning, a crimson dawn blazing across the night sky. She was the epitome of destruction, veiled beneath a meticulouslyconstructed facade. She was the fiery sun, prepared to wreak havoc on anyone who dared to gaze upon her. She was the moon, vulnerable without her entourage of twinkling stars, glimmering across the backdrop of a starry midnight sky. Destruction. Havoc. Bloodshed. Anguish. Equilibrium. Tranquility. Serenity. Happiness. Love. Twenty-six letters. By rearranging the order of these 26 letters, we are able to create words, to create sentences. And each of these sentences resonates differently with every individual who stumbles upon them. To one, a sentence may evoke a memory that they have been attempting to suppress and cause an unbearable anguish to emerge. To another, it may represent the promise of a new beginning, the reminder that life refuses to halt for anyone. And when these sentences are combined to form a logical order of sentences, of chapters, a masterpiece is created.

A considerable portion of my existence has been spent curled up in an array of blankets and pillows with a novel in one hand and a steaming cup of freshlybrewed coffee in another. This fact always astounds my friends, an abundance of whom cannot fathom why anyone would spend hours of her time poring over the pages of a book. However, when I conjure up the memories of a distant past, and I see the socially-inept girl I once was, it makes a lot of sense—she sought refuge in the pages of a good novel. To a girl who resented confrontations with other people and stumbled her way through awkward conversations that always terminated abruptly, escaping into an alternate reality where she could transform into any being she desired was akin to a dream shaping into an actuality. With the flick of a page, she was able to morph into a daggerwielding assassin in a legendary

kingdom with a tyrannical monarch, or she could discover herself in an arena with people who were forced to compete to the death in a televised event. She wasn’t caged, wasn’t restrained by the shackles of a corrupt society that labelled each individual by their physical features o r their p e r-

sonal preferences. She was infinite. My rationale for immersing myself in a novel on a daily basis has changed considerably over the years as I have slowly transformed into someone who isn’t terrified to converse with others. I voice my opinions without fearing that they may differ from another’s or brand me as an outcast. My attachment to words and novels, on the other hand, refuses to diminish. I am still in awe at how altering a word or omitting a sentence can

Jenny Gao / The Spectator

change a piece of writing. How phrasing a sentence a specific way can influence people in ways that others cannot comprehend. How an individual is able to decorate a blank canvas with splatters of sloping black ink and produce realistic universes and characters that can be accessed with the turn of a page. How 26 letters have been manipulated countless times to create works of literature that have impacted individuals for millennia. How 26 letters can allow individuals to express their innermost thoughts and emotions to another. How 26 letters can allow individuals to feel an array of emotions, from a dehumanizing despair to a serene contentment, from an unyielding rage to an infinite love. Destruction. Havoc. Bloodshed. Anguish. Equilibrium. Tr a n q u i l i t y. Serenity. Happiness. Love. Twenty-six letters. Twenty-six letters that have caused every one of these words to occur in a countless cycle.

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Page 7

Features Student-Bought Meals Put to the Taste Test By Alice Cheng Perhaps during your first period free, you’re walking down Chambers Street, looking for a bagel to munch on before your first class. Perhaps during your lunch period, you’re walking past the Wall, dying for some brisk air, hungry for some chicken over rice at Rafiqi’s. Or perhaps it’s a Friday evening, and you’re dining with friends at Shake Shack, enjoying a well-deserved ShackBurger after a long week of school. Regardless, if you’re in any of these places, you’re definitely not in the student cafeteria. And that’s okay. Sometimes we’re not in the mood to stay inside and eat school food, even if it is cheaper than Ferry’s. Sometimes we want to take a break, especially when the warmer months come, and the spring weather is too much to resist. But have you ever wondered what the cafeteria faculty thinks of the food we buy to eat? Stuyvesant’s head cook, Khadija Eddahbi, decided to answer that question for us one afternoon when we brought five meals commonly bought by Stuyvesant students and put them to the taste test. Eddahbi, who has cooked for the New York Board of Education for five and a half years, gathered food service experience from Morocco, Germany, and Florida’s own Disney World before coming to New York as a self-employed caterer. After her kids went off to school, Eddahbi began working for the Board of Education, and has cooked for students ever since. While she has made a living bringing meals to students, students have never really brought meals to her. Until now.

Zucker’s

Shake Shack

Plain Toasted Bagel with Cream Cheese

ShackBurger (cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, and shack sauce)

Rating: 3/5 Initial Reaction That’s a lot of cream cheese. I think you guys may like that but [...] I would prefer if [Zucker’s] scooped out less cream cheese, maybe because I’m an adult. Maybe you guys [are] different.

Rating: 3/5 Initial Reaction I couldn’t taste the sauce well. But the burger is well done, which most of [the] kids like—well-done burgers, right? They don’t like raw meat. The bread is good. It’s not as sweet as other buns. But I’m not so good with burgers. It tastes good, but I don’t like burgers.

Do you think this is better than the average New York bagel? No. It feels heavy. [...] Some other bagel[s] are thin, and I prefer those.

Have you been to Shake Shack before? The one that’s here, right? No, I [haven’t been there] because I remember one time there was a long line.

How would you describe the bagel’s taste? The texture is good. The flavor of the cream cheese is good. Even the flavor of the bread tastes [good]. It’s just the weight [that I don’t like].

Do you think this is better quality than McDonald’s burgers? Is it worth the price? Definitely. […] If you go to McDonald’s, you’ll pay almost the same thing. The texture of the meat in McDonald’s burgers is chewy. […] [The Shackburger] also has lettuce and tomato. Does McDonald’s have lettuce and tomato? I think [this lettuce] is romaine. [McDonald’s] just uses iceberg lettuce.

What about the cream cheese? I think cream cheese is cream cheese. It’s regular cream cheese, but Zucker’s [just] put a lot. I don’t know. You guys like a lot of cream cheese. Xin Italie / The Spectator

Ferry’s

Ferry’s Popcorn Chicken

Roma Panini (consists of Chipotle mayo, mozzarella, and chicken) Rating: 5/5

Rafiqi’s

Rating: 4/5

Combo Over Rice with White Sauce (Chicken and Lamb Over Rice) Rating for lamb: 5/5 Rating for chicken: 4/5 Rating for white sauce: 5/5 Have you had halal before? Yeah! It’s by my house. All my kids eat halal food.

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Initial Reaction I like the bread. This one tastes good. I think they use white meat [for the chicken], which is good. Have you had a panini before? I [have] had paninis, but not this one. I like this bread for paninis. What about the bread do you like that other paninis don’t have? I like the flat bread or the kind of gyro that they make for paninis. It’s a “loco” bread. It is called “LO-C-O,” or “flatbread.” We have it [in the cafeteria] when we put it in lunchboxes with hummus or some type of chicken, but ours is whole wheat. That’s the difference. And also, this panini with the panini machine tastes [better]. Anything with white bread is better, but they don’t [want] white bread in schools.

Have you had it in this area before? This past September there was a lot of competition between the halal carts because a new one came in selling Combo Over Rice for $3. I have not had halal in this area. […] But I remember seeing [the $3 Combo Over Rice] and saying, “They are taking our kids away!” Initial Reaction The lamb is good. […] I like it crispy. […] The chicken has a lot of spices—lots of curry. I don’t usually like chicken, especially dark meat. [Rafiqi’s] uses dark meat. But it tastes good. The sauce is good. The white sauce is always good.

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Initial Reaction It tastes good. A little overcooked, I guess, but well done. Have you ever had popcorn chicken before? Yeah, and sometimes I buy chicken and make my own—prepare my own batter and stuff. What can you taste in the popcorn chicken? It has paprika, black pepper, and definitely salt to make it salty. A lot of salt. Maybe [it] has seasoning—poultry seasoning for chicken—so that’s what makes it a little salty. What makes this different from your own popcorn chicken? I don’t put a lot of salt in my own. But otherwise, it’s good. I would buy it outside, and I would eat it. [...] Yeah, I’ll go. If it’s close [to Stuyvesant], I’ll go. My kids, they like chicken so they’ll definitely [go] there.

Overall, what did you think? Do you believe Stuyvesant students have good tastes? You did [a] good job, guys! [...] Everybody can afford [this kind of food]. It’s not that expensive. It’s filling. It tastes good. It’s like homemade food. It’s not as “fast food” as McDonald’s. […] I will go for the panini, and I will go for the burger, […] but not anything else. I will skip the popcorn chicken because of the oil—it’s not healthy. But the panini is not that fattening. Maybe it is fattening, but it’s acceptable. The halal is [an] everyday thing. You can find it anywhere. It’s not something you will go and look for. It will come to you. But I will definitely go out and find the panini. Final Thoughts Our kids here, they eat our food. We try to make it better and differently from other schools. When we cook here, we cook like we’re cooking for our kids. For us, whatever we’re going to eat, that’s what we give to the kids. We don’t just serve them anything—they have to like the food, and maybe they’ll bring their friends, and come more often. What would you like to serve to students if you had the chance? Moroccan food. I’m from Morocco. [Moroccan food] is not spicy. […] Mostly, we use cilantro, cumin, and paprika—stuff like that. We cook a lot of vegetables. Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, all kinds of vegetables. We use couscous as grain. We eat a lot of bread, not rice. This interview has been condensed and edited.

Page 8

The Spectator ● Febuary 12, 2016

Features Is High School Really a Musical? By Rachel Kwon It’s been 10 years since “High School Musical” first aired on Disney Channel and attracted children all over the country with its theatrical adolescent drama, colorful choreography, and catchy songs. For many students, “High School Musical” may have provided an idealized vision of their future high school lives. However, if “High School Musical” was your favorite movie as a child, you may realize that it’s nothing like the reality of going to high school. Although we can all agree that Stuyvesant is no East High School and that Troy Bolton has yet to make an appearance in our lives, there is a variety of opinions on what high school has really turned out to be.

“I thought that there would be a lot more stereotypical stuff like bullies saying ‘gimme your lunch money,’ and dating and gossip and stuff like that. I always imagined people driving a lot more-I guess, maybe not, because we live in NYC-and having Solo cup parties when the parents were away and stuff. I never imagined people doing drugs, but I thought there would be ‘cool kids’ who smoked a lot-your typical ‘tough guys’ wearing leather jackets and sunglasses and smoking cigarettes and driving motorcycles.” — Tariq Khan, junior

“High school is more stressful, academically speaking, but I think there isn’t much drama and bullying in general-like how Gabriella was pretty much bullied by Sharpay because Gabriella ‘stole’ her man. Also, there are a lot more -extracurriculars- offered at Stuyvesant than -just- musical clubs and a basketball team. And the people here take academics and grades way more seriously.” — Joy Ha, freshman

“I thought I would be bopping and popping, but all I’ve been doing is sleeping and studying. ‘High School Musical’ polluted my immature mind with a utopia, a high school utopia. Much to my dismay, when I arrived in 9th grade, high school was almost nothing like what I expected it to be. I’m going to college soon, and when that happens, I hope it can be the start of something new.” — Stanley Zeng, senior

Minseo Kim/ The Spectator

“Watching ‘High School Musical’ as a child, I looked forward to having random dance breaks and standing on the tables and singing my lungs out during lunch. Coming to Stuyvesant, I realized that there is so much more to high school than that. It’s about dragging your aching body up and down flights of stairs after expending your energy on a three-minute dance segment. It’s about not being allowed on the roof rather than being able to bask in the beauty of the garden made by a gardening clubwhich we don’t have. And not being able to enjoy dancing in the rain with a significant other. It’s about building lasting bonds and picking your college solely based on the distance from your partner to you. High school isn’t what I expected it to be; it’s more.” — Mouhammad Rivaldo, junior

“When I saw ‘High School Musical,’ I was expecting someone like Sharpay Evans. She was the most fabulous, rudest, and sassiest person in the films -and she- brought tiny dogs in her purses. I was searching for someone like that at Stuyvesant. But, when I got here, I just met a bunch of nerds, and I was a bit disappointed because there was no Sharpay, no dancing on tables and no singing during basketball practices.” — Anna Pacheco, sophomore

The Coolest Apps in School By Jeannie Au and Anthony Liang Plopping down on a subway seat after a long day of school, you pull out your phone. You unlock it and swipe through the pages of apps you’ve accumulated, until you come across the one you’ve been looking for. And ah, yes, you’ve found it—the perfect way to spend the time from now until the subway pulls up to your stop. For Stuyvesant students with smartphones, gaming apps are immensely popular. The kinds of apps that Stuyvesant students use vary, but there are a few that are particularly distinguished in their popularity. One of these apps is Stop, which has been ranked the App Store Editor’s Choice in 18 countries. Stop is a fast-paced, turnbased word game. The player randomly selects a letter and both players need to type a word for each of the five categories that starts with this chosen letter. The player with the highest amount of correct words in the least amount of time wins that round. Finally, the player with the most rounds won out of three is the winner. Stop allows players to challenge friends on Facebook and enjoy a fun game. “It allows me to play with friends,” sophomore Senina Yang said when asked why she liked Stop. Junior Lucy Tang said that the game is “addicting and competitive.” nother popular game is Neko Atsume. The game’s objective is,

put simply, to collect cats. Players can purchase food, toys, and furniture to entertain their cats. They can also watch the cats in the garden and take photos of them, which are saved in an album. There is no end to this game, but the ultimate goal is to collect all 49 cats. Each cat is unique with its own name, personality, and looks. Despite its many features, the game is fairly simple. “I love Neko Atsume because it’s extremely simplistic; [I] just click a few times and wait,” junior Alvin Za said. This simplic-

Angel Zheng / The Spectator

ity plus the adorable subject matter makes the playing experience light and pleasant. “The game is plain cute and it is enjoyable,” Yang said. And because it’s enjoyable, it becomes very addictive. Sophomore Karen Chen said, “I feel a need to have all the cats found in the cat book [a place for users to collect pictures of the cats] and visit my yard; and it keeps me coming back.” Chen, along with Yang and Za, deemed the application her “current obsession.” Za revealed he goes on the game five times a day, while Yang and Chen both said they visit their cats once a day. Another game that came up during interviews is Hearthstone, a card game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. In Hearthstone, players can choose from a variety of game modes, characters, decks, and cards. The game has four modes: Play, Solo Adventures, Arena, and Tavern Brawl. There are nine characters available, each with their own pre-assembled “basic decks.” The catch in Hearthstone is that it does not allow card trading but instead allows players to “disenchant” unwanted cards into a “dust” resource, which can then be used to craft new cards of the player’s choice. Junior Kyle Ni has been playing Hearthstone for almost six years now. He has all the expansion packs and legendaries required to put together the best decks. Ni “love[s] the game because of its endless possibilities and because it always releases new content, so it never gets boring.” He plays the game whenever he

has time, both in and out of school. He spends almost four hours on average playing Hearthstone daily. Aside from these top hits in the App Store, students also explore other less popular apps. Another app that was frequently mentioned during the interviews was 1010!, a puzzle game similar to Tetris. The objective of the game is to place colored blocks together on the grid, but the player is limited to a choice of three shapes. When the player fills up a row or column with these shapes, the row or column clears out in a swift movement. Once the player runs out of space to place the designated shapes, the game is over. “I play 1010! because seeing the rows and columns clear up and getting a new high score is stress-relieving,” Chen said. Chen has been playing 1010! for almost a year, but she only plays for a few minutes a day on average. Crossy Road was also amongst the top favorites. Crossy Road is an arcade video game in which the goal is to get as far as possible across the terrain without dying. As you play more rounds, you gain coins. With the coins, users are able to buy new characters from the shop. Hipster Whale, the application creator, makes many collectible characters from the game, such as unicorns and wizards. The apps that were mentioned can be connected in several significant ways. For example, one familiar theme throughout these top apps is collectibles. These Stuyvesant students like to play games in which something can be collected and achieved through constantly playing

the game. For example, Hearthstone, Crossy Road, and Neko Atsume are all games in which something can be collected whether it is cards, coins, or characters. In Hearthstone, players strive to collect all the possible cards. In Crossy Road, players try to unlock all the 143 characters, and likewise in Neko Atsume, but instead of characters, they collect cats. Another thing that draws these apps together is their cute characters and vivid colors. In 1010!, the tiles are neon colors, as is the rest of the game. Neko Atsume also has cheerful colors and adorable cats, and other games like Crossy Road and Stop also have sharp, lively hues. These games are all free. None of the students mentioned paid games in their interviews. Lastly, each of the games listed above has simple concepts that don’t require much thought. They are easy to master, and everyone is able to start at the same level. Because of their easiness, the games aren’t too time-consuming. Many of our interviewees only spend an average of 10 to 20 minutes on the apps. In a relatively short amount of time, they are able to relax and play a quick game. Ni said that he enjoys playing these games because “[they allow] me to relax and take a break from a long school day.” A strong link exists between an app’s popularity and its ability to de-stress or amuse. So now that you know what the latest gaming trends are, you can check them out for yourself. Maybe you’ll change whatever your go-to gaming app is for boring subway rides.

The Spectator ● Febuary 12, 2016

Page 9

Features The Two Faces of an Internet Identity By Liana Chow and Andrea Ma For alumna Alice Oh (‘15), a side effect of getting into Yale was receiving over 500 posts in just a few weeks on her Ask.fm account, a website that allows users to ask people questions anonymously. Surprised, she began deleting and answering posts. Some of the anonymous posters doubted her eligibility to Questbridge, a program for low-income students that she received a full scholarship from. “Do you even have a low enough income?” the anonymous users asked. Other posts were not only accusatory in tone, but also wrong. Some anonymous questions, based on the erroneous assumption that Alice Oh’s friend and former Stuyvesant fencing teammate, current Yale student Katherine Oh (‘14), was her sister, accused Alice Oh of getting into Yale through a legacy tip. Alice Oh had become an undeserving target of modern online anonymity. The influence of online anonymity is growing. Anonymous posting, a unique development of contemporary social media, is a prominent feature in the social lives of Stuyvesant students. With websites like Ask.fm and Facebook pages such as Stuyvesant Confessions and Stuyvesant Compliments growing in popularity, it’s hard to elude the influence of online anonymity. Ask.fm allows users to make hurtful remarks while hiding behind a computer screen. Without having to reveal their identity, users are much harsher with anonymous remarks than they would be if the posts were attached to their name. The attacks on Alice Oh were an example of when Ask.fm failed “to encourage constructive individual expression and ultimately to connect users in trying times with support and guidance,” which is what the website claims is its goal. Why would people want to debase their standards of interaction? Alice Oh’s friends offered an explanation for her situation: that accusatory posters were “just nervous about their own results,” Alice Oh said. Alice Oh surmised that the questions must have been from people she knew. And so, she eventually deleted her Ask.fm account, partially to avoid the tedium of dealing with more questions. She didn’t allow the incident to weaken her determination to go to Yale or her relationships with people. “I don’t wish to know or care about who [the posters] were,” she added. Some anonymous posts congratulated Alice Oh and defended

her against the accusations. Still, Alice Oh, in her own words, is “not a fan” of online anonymous posting in general. “It is not conducive to positive interaction,” she said. “When people have anonymity, they say things they normally wouldn’t or do things they know they shouldn’t.” Another favorite of anonymous users is the renowned Facebook page called Stuyvesant Confessions, which has over 5000 likes– –more than the number of students in the whole school—and close to 2000 anonymous posts. A sophomore administrator of the page, whose job is to choose which submissions are published, mused that people submit to the page because their posts can get attention from other students. “Even if it’s anonymous attention, people are still looking at what they wrote. They’re still responding to what they wrote. They’re still reacting to it,” she said. This administrator chose to withhold her name for this article both to avoid school discipline and to preserve the

mutually anonymous relationship between the page and its users. Regarding the most common types of submissions, the admin noted, “There’s a lot about people admitting things about crushes or people they like. There’s a lot about people posting about depression and how they feel that they’re outsiders in the school. At least half of them are bad jokes. There’s a lot of people complaining over grades [and] some people asking for advice.” All the admins have differing views about the types of posts that should be posted to the page, and such specific issues are discussed in a group chat on Facebook. This particular admin believes that racist thoughts should not be posted, and so, filters them out. On the other hand, she said, “Anything that’s not offensive or not a really bad joke—I feel like it should be posted even if it upsets certain people.” An example was a series of sexually explicit posts about incest. “I

personally think it’s made up, but that doesn’t stop me from posting it, because there still might be a chance that it’s real,” she said. Her approach to posting stems from the obligation she feels: “People should have a place to anonymously confess things.” In an incident last year, senior Jessie Chen was anonymously criticized for a video she posted. Similar to Alice Oh’s incident, the criticism surrounding Chen seemed to indicate Stuyvesant’s notoriously academically-competitive environment growing into hostility online. When Chen did not receive a spot in Forensics, a very popular elective among Stuyvesant students, she posted a YouTube video expressing her feelings toward the issue, and promptly found herself besieged by anonymous insults on YouTube, Ask.fm, and Facebook. The anonymous posts said derogatory things such as “you’re

Christine Jegarl / The Spectator

the worst person in Stuy[vesant].” She was remarkably unscarred by the backlash and even appreciative of a certain aspect of it. “I was actually grateful to receive a lot of Ask.fm hate because I was like, ‘Okay. This is what people actually think,’” Chen said. Even after being attacked, she said that the ability to write unfiltered thoughts is “one of the beautiful things about the Internet.” Chen’s thoughts illustrate the tug-of-war that anonymity creates between the desire to allow people to express their thoughts without inhibition and the need to protect subjects from slander and bullying. For example, her high regard for honesty online does not extend to

all posts: “It reaches a point where there’s certain things you shouldn’t say,” she acknowledged, citing racist and bigoted posts as examples of unacceptable material. When asked about what she liked about Ask.fm, Chen revealed that she appreciates how the posts are being regulated, forbidding questions from people telling others to kill themselves, for example. When Chen herself writes anonymously online, she spreads positivity to her friends on their Ask.fm accounts. “It’s encouraging to give support as an anonymous person because [the recipients] think, ‘This could be anyone.’” Chen explained. “When you’re anonymous, you have the power of being everyone and nobody at the same time.” Chen first created her Ask.fm account to like a friend’s posts, without anticipating the mean questions that she would receive. Now, she often receives supportive posts, but since the Forensics class incident, her Ask.fm has also acquired much critical attention. Chen felt like she was being attacked for publicly documenting an important part of her life, and was surprised at the amount of time that certain anonymous users dedicated to the issue. However, Chen refuses to be affected by these posts, and continues to use her Ask. fm account. With anonymity, “you can say things that are raw and actually what you think, because we always filter what we say. When you have a chance to be anonymous, you don’t have to filter anything so it’s actually what you want to say,” Chen said. Ask.fm is dwindling in popularity, but some students still actively use their accounts. Sophomore Matthew Au first joined Ask. fm in middle school after being persuaded to do so by friends. He was not dissuaded by the possibility of negative posts. “I anticipated [mean posts], but I wasn’t afraid of them because [they] wouldn’t really matter to me. I just ignore them,” he said. Most of the questions that Au receives are friendly, with authored posts from friends who joke around. He’s also received questions that elicit legitimate responses: “Some people ask me interesting questions about what I want to be in life and stuff like that. I think those are

interesting because you [get] to really think about it.” For Au, the appeals of an anonbased website are the ability to pretend to be someone else and the avoidance of other people’s judgments. However, he also called anonymous usage a “gamble” because of the potential negative consequences. “It’s good when you’re not hurting anybody, but as soon as it starts to affect others in a negative way, it’s bad,” he said. Although Au’s attraction to taking on a new persona contrasts with Chen’s appreciation for the ability

“When people have anonymity, they say things they normally wouldn’t or do things they know they shouldn’t.” —Alice Oh (‘15), alumna to be truthful, anonymous disguise and anonymous truthfulness have more in common than one might think: they are both manners of experimenting with one’s identity. As suggested by the thoughts of Chen, Au, and the Stuyvesant Confessions admin, anonymity is appealing because it invites users to temporarily be who they want to be, whether that is a fearless truth-teller, a student who gets attention on a Facebook page, or another character entirely. Online anonymity influences all of Stuyvesant’s students who actively use social media. Despite the general population’s efforts to combat cyberbullying, there is no doubt that it still negatively affects a lot of people who don’t desire the negative attention. With prominent examples in Alice Oh’s and Chen’s situations, it’s hard to forget just how bad anonymous posting can be. Online anonymity is a risk that social media users have to take, but once one looks past the demeaning actions that some anonymous users resort to, they discover that anonymity has many special aspects that make it such an important part of the teenage and Stuyvesant experience.

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The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 12

Editorials Staff Editorial

The Spectator

You Get What You Get... The tenth period end-bell rings, and you pack up your things as quickly as you can. You have two pre-calculus classes scheduled for the same period and want to get down to programming changes before the auditorium fills up—the hallways seem to be buzzing with students who want their classes switched, new lunch periods, or any teacher except for the one that they have, so you’re a little worried that you won’t make it. By the time you get to the first floor, there is a line fifty students long snaking its way out of the auditorium door. You call your mom to cancel the violin lesson you have every Wednesday at 5 p.m. You’re going to be here for hours. The chaotic nature of programming is stressful, but can be attributed to the fact that too many students feel the need to create the “ideal program”— one that pairs them up with teachers who give out high grades, does not force them to climb more than five flights of stairs between periods, and puts them in classes with their friends. These kinds of changes are referred to as “boutique changes” because they make life easier but aren’t necessary in the same way that finding an English class is essential if you aren’t registered for one. The sheer number of people who want boutique changes is what makes the process so disastrous. And, when students air their melodramatic grievances, they also contribute to the chaotic atmosphere. When the kid sitting next to you in math whispers that he’s going to do anything to get a different teacher, suddenly you think, “Shouldn’t I do that too?” But in the midst of our complaints, we must remember to be considerate to those running the process. When e-mailing your guidance counselors, remember that they have a hundred other students to deal with also. The people who run programming have to prepare for the classes they teach. And we cannot forget that, in addition to fixing schedules, Principal Jie Zhang runs the school. When you’re rampaging on a Facebook post, keep in mind the people who have to put your schedule together. Programming is a hard process,

especially with well over three thousand students to care for, each with some unique need or request. “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” While it’s inevitable and understandable that students will be disappointed with what they get, perhaps we should make more of an effort to remember this statement, however hackneyed it may be. Programming may be a way for us to learn about the harsh realities of the world. In the same way that you might not get everyone’s favorite teacher, your boss may not be as great as someone else’s boss. In the real world, there won’t be a guidance counselor, an Assistant Principal, or a principal whom you can bother into getting what you want. Learning to deal with someone or something you might not expect to like, whether a class or a teacher, is a great skill to harbor for

The school system does not exist to serve individual students’ minor complaints.

your future. That being said, as students who are caught in this struggle each term, we do have a few ideas for how we could make the process run a little smoother. First, Stuyvesant holds programming policies that need to be strictly enforced. If no one can bend the rules, then we can keep things as fair as possible. For example, according to the policies published on the Stuyvesant website, “Preference in most elective courses is

In the real world, there won’t be a guidance counselor, an Assistant Principal, or a principal whom you can bother into getting what you want.

given to upperclassmen.” When we do not enforce this rule and allow underclassmen to fulfill graduation requirements before seniors, programming changes becomes even more hectic. Furthermore, the administration should plan more than two days for program changes. By doing so, we eliminate overcrowding, pointless waiting, and increased tension. Fewer students will run to their guidance counselors, because they think they won’t have time to stand on line at program changes. There will be more time for everyone, and no one will feel left behind. On a larger scale, the school could improve program changes by implementing an online system. Just like program requests, we can use Google Forms to request program changes. Changes will be taken into consideration at the leisure of the administrator’s desk. Google responses always record time stamps so the process can be done fairly and on a truly first-come-first-serve basis. The Google Form can also take information, such as grade and reason for request, into account, making the policies of programming much easier to enforce. With this, there will be no sweet-talking your guidance counselor or telling your parents to harass Principal Zhang—everything will be confined to the online system. But first, we need to change our mindsets. We are privileged enough to go to this school— we should be mature enough to at least acknowledge that our schedules do not need to be perfect. It is true that some teachers’ classes are more tolerable than others, but no one is entitled to all of the best ones. The school system does not exist to serve individual students’ minor complaints. It is Stuyvesant’s duty, or, more broadly, the education system’s duty, to teach students how to interact with the world and how to find their place in it. This requires students to fight for workplace conditions that will allow for them to succeed, certainly, but it also requires students to understand that the world does not revolve around their everyday concerns. When students receive programs with which they are unsatisfied, it is imperative that they assess the magnitude of their problems before they react. If students remember how difficult it is to create over three thousand schedules in a matter of weeks, perhaps they will put others’ needs over their more insignificant qualms and try their best to remain unprejudiced toward teaching styles they have not yet experienced. This, in turn, will allow students to adapt to unexpected circumstances more easily—a skill that is far more instrumental to one’s success than obtaining a specific teacher for a single high school semester.

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The Spectator asks that you consider donating to the JiaJia fund, which has been set up to support JiaJia, a New York City 17-year-old girl who was randomly attacked in December while walking to school. JiaJia immigrated to the United States last year to pursue the American Dream and needed over two hundred stitches to heal the brutal slashes across her face. She is still in the process of recovery. Please consider publicizing and donating to the JiaJia fund at these sites: https://www.gofundme.com/supportjiajia https://www.gofundme.com/enfee5ec

VOICES Would you like to share a personal narrative with the school? Whether it’s an essay you’ve written for class, or a piece you’ve been working on by yourself, if it’s in first-person and it is nonfiction it could get published in The Spectator’s issue-ly Voices column! Send your stories into voices@stuyspec.com, or email us with any questions or concerns you have.

A Note to Our Readers: The Spectator will now accept unsolicited Op-Ed pieces written by outside students, faculty, and alumni. These columns, if selected, will be published in The Spectator’s Opinions section. Recommended length is 700 words. Articles should address school related topics or items of student interest. Columns can be e-mailed to opinions@stuyspec.com

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The Spectator ● February 12, 2015

Page 13

Opinions

Jessica Wu / The Spectator

Match-fixing: A Broken System

By Matteo Wong It was game five of the World Series, and I was in the third row. I could almost reach out and touch the players. The smell of the grass was stronger than that of the hot dogs. The game was going well; in the ninth inning, the Mets were only an out away from victory. Then Lucas Duda, their first baseman, botched a routine throw. It was every Mets fan’s worst nightmare. The Mets’ hopes of becoming champions, which had been building slowly for the entire season, had come to a painful end. The Mets lost, but I got over it. In the end, their loss was simply the result of poor play. However, if I were to discover that Duda had been bribed to make an error, I would feel betrayed. U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) is not generally plagued by disingenuous competition, due to an enormous scandal in 1919. During this incident, the Chicago White Sox, favorites to

win the World Series, were paid off by gamblers to throw away the game. Along with the series, the players lost their dignity. Every player involved was banned from the game and barred entry to the Hall of Fame. Infamously dubbed “the Black Sox,” the scandal serves as a reminder to bettors and players alike that fixing baseball games is off-limits. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for most international athletic organizations. Most recently, the BBC and BuzzFeed News have published information from leaked documents called the “Fixing Files,” revealing that 70 tennis players have been accused of fixing matches in the past decade. None have been sanctioned. As the prime example of an allegedly fixed match, the BBC and Buzzfeed News examined the August 2, 2007 Orange Prokom Open in Poland, where Nikolay Davydenko, ranked fourth best tennis player in the world and the defending champion, was set to play a much lesser opponent: Martin Arguello, ranked 87th. On the field, the match began as expected when Davydenko rapidly won the first set. But off of the field, millions of dollars began to flow into the betting market, all backing the underdog Arguello to win. The total amount was £3.6 million, which in 2007 was over $7 million. And, shortly after taking a commanding lead, Davydenko began hobbling. He eventually retired from the game due to “injury.” The event sparked a massive investigation, but both Davydenko and

Arguello were ultimately dismissed without punishment. This incident is not a rare exception, but rather is emblematic of a larger phenomenon. In the last quarter of 2015, FederBet, a non-profit organization that watches bet-

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

ting patterns, flagged 20 matches as having highly suspicious betting patterns. Similar to the Davydenko match, early on in these games, many people bet large sums of money in support of players who were less skilled than their opponents, but wound up winning. Another organization known

for fixing matches is Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world’s premier soccer organization. Each year, several reports are released that reveal extreme corruption, including a 2013 report that questioned the legitimacy of 680 soccer games’ results on the suspicion that they may have been fixed. Match-fixing is a huge problem for these sports, and yet it is not taken seriously enough. After the Davydenko scandal, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) was established to prevent match-fixing through more thorough investigation, but this organization has failed to punish high-profile players for past transgressions or deter further match-fixing. To make matters worse, the TIU is aware of corrupt play—several associations feed them information. In 2014, the European Sports Security Association flagged 49 matches, and warned the TIU of tennis’ high vulnerability to match-fixing. Still, the committee rarely launches further investigations, and has punished only 13 low-ranking players, while the investigations of 28 other players accused of fixing matches in 2008 were dropped. Without a proactive approach, tennis will continue to be plagued by corruption. FIFA treats the issue with a similar lack of action. Though the organization has adopted a zero-tolerance policy to match-

fixing, the practice continues throughout the world’s most popular sport. As with the TIU, the surface-level investigations of FIFA launched to deter match-fixing are not enough to foil most corruption. Moreover, when culprits are caught, the punishments administered are generally too small to discourage future incidents. To remedy the match-fixing epidemic, sports leagues should turn to the MLB, where strict guidelines and active enforcement have deterred gamblers and players from foul play since the Black Sox. Of course, the MLB only has to worry about 32 teams, so global institutions like FIFA would require far more resources. In order to root out corruption, athletic organizations and courts will have to work together diligently. Further, though analyzing betting patterns is a good start, it isn’t nearly enough to halt a web of corruption spanning the globe. Once corrupt players are caught, they must be severely punished. Only banning players will deter them from engaging in future match-fixing incidents. Sports are meant to be genuine and exciting, but match-fixing has caused many competitions to degenerate into meaningless spectacles. As I watch the Olympics this summer, I want to be watching a contest of true skill, not a reality TV show. And, the next time the Mets make the World Series, I want to be certain that their victory—or defeat—is entirely fair and legitimate.

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Behind an Epidemic: Women’s Rights Violations

By Nalanda Sharadjaya In 2007, The New York Times reported on the outbreak of “a little-known virus” in Micronesia. The article describes a mosquito-borne disease that “produces an itchy rash, pinkeye, joint pain and fever,” which cannot be treated with medication or preempted with vaccination, but leaves very little lasting impact on infected patients. Sound familiar? Probably not. The most you’ve heard about this particular infection, called the Zika virus, is its effect on fetuses. But the link between Zika and microcephaly—a congenital condition that leaves babies with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains—was only discovered recently. When Zika broke out in Micronesia, the problem lay in its imposition on the tiny island nation’s public health system.

Today’s disaster, spreading rapidly north through Latin America and possibly to the U.S., manifests itself in microcephalic babies. But there is a larger public health crisis—that of the reproductive rights of the mothers— which seems to have been overshadowed by the tragic cognitive defects of their children. The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus, near the end of January, a “global health emergency.” In response to its threat, government and health officials in some of the affected areas have issued warnings against pregnancy. The idea is to forestall the loss of a generation to developmental deficiencies, a trend which would no doubt constitute financial constraints to parents and healthcare systems alike. It’s an irresponsible recommendation. In Latin America, where the outbreak is taking place, 58 percent of pregnancies in 2008 were unplanned, according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO).

FIGO cites a direct correlation between lack of access to modern methods of contraception, such as oral contraceptives and IUDs, and unintended pregnancies—and this is ultimately the crux of the problem. In Colombia, Ecuador, and El Salvador, three countries that have advised women to hold off on pregnancy until more is known about Zika and its effects, the overwhelming majority of citizens identify as Catholic. For many who practice this faith, the use of contraception and abortion is seen as interfering with the process of life; both are impeded socially and legally to varying degrees. Each of the three countries imposes limitations on access to legal abortions (choice is not considered a valid reason for termination by any of them). In El Salvador, legislation is so severe that women can be prosecuted simply for having miscarriages. Not surprisingly, 95 percent of abortions performed in Latin America in 2008 were, according to the Guttmacher Institute,

The larger public health crisis—that of the reproductive rights of the mothers—seems to have been overshadowed by the tragic cognitive defects of their children.

To warn women who lack access to safe mechanisms of birth control and pregnancy termination not to get pregnant is to advocate abstinence. “unsafe”—a term that generally refers to “clandestine” or illegal abortions, which can leave the women who seek them with serious health complications. In Colombia, according to the magazine Mother Jones, that number is closer to 99 percent. Even if these countries were to improve access to preemptive measures like birth control— which seems unlikely, given religious and social norms—the level of consent involved in these pregnancies, the level of control these women have over getting pregnant at all, is unclear. In Latin America and the Caribbean, roughly a quarter of women have experienced intimate partner violence at least once, according to a 2015 United Nations report on violence against women. In the countries afflicted with Zika that have advised against pregnancy, a little less than half of these cases involve sexual violence. To warn women who lack access to safe mechanisms of birth control and pregnancy termination not to get pregnant is to advocate abstinence. But according to The New York Times,

it’s unlikely that couples in these countries are going to stop having sex. And, as the same article points out, religious leaders have so far declined to weigh in on their ideological objections to medically necessary treatment. Such a course of action, thus, seems laughably empty; the governments who have issued it, disturbingly out of touch; the media that dramatizes it, predictably myopic. But this story is far more complex than a rapidly spreading epidemic, far deeper than its devastating, eerie consequences. It’s time to stop looking at Zika as a story simply because it could come to the U.S., but rather because of the flaw it has exposed in the society it has begun to ravage. If international medical organizations and human rights groups are to make a difference in the lives of families affected by the virus, they may need to look beyond a quick medical fix to a medical emergency—and instead address the far less amenable goal of giving women agency over their health, their bodies, and their futures.

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 14

Opinions Point-Counterpoint: Implementing Engrade The Case for Grade Transparency By Jane Rhee A quick glance at the class syllabus reads: 75 percent exams and quizzes, 5 percent notebook, 5 percent homework, and 15 percent participation. While your exam grades can’t lie, factors such as participation are certainly distinctive to a particular teacher and often lie beyond one’s immediate control. But their subjective nature doesn’t take away from the fact that they make up a huge chunk of the final grade— and that can be an issue. Coming from a middle school that used an online grading system, I was overjoyed upon entering Stuyvesant. I thought that not being able to check my grades every day would make things less stressful. There wouldn’t be a daily update on how I was doing in terms of participation. I wouldn’t have to know exactly how terribly I had failed my biology quiz. I wouldn’t find myself calculating how many math tests I would have to ace in order to make up for the one I failed.

By using online gradebooks, students will receive the clear-cut grades they deserve.

However, as time progressed, I realized what a blessing it was to have access to my grades during middle school. Though we’re all accustomed to performing the imprecise mathematics of “grade estimation”—combining our own perception of our test scores, participation, and relationship with our teachers to determine a grade for ourselves—having the numbers laid out in a systematic and organized fashion helps us keep better track of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and where we need to improve.

The red slashes I saw online from my atrocious quizzes motivated me to work harder in my seventh grade United States History class, and eventually they were cancelled out by green check marks. There’s no sense in being rewarded for hard work in a system that only gives you a letter for the first marking period, one number grade, and then a final, indisputable grade in black and white. Other than eSchoolData, the online program that replaced Student Tools this fall, Stuyvesant currently offers no school-wide online grading system such as Jupiter Ed or Engrade. After getting through my first semester of high school, I have a vague idea of how I am doing in terms of my scores, but it’s far from transparency. I don’t know if I have a 98 or a 90 in my geometry class and my current exam strategy closely resembles what Student Union President Ares Aung called “blind test-taking” in Issue 9 of The Spectator. Being able to take control of one’s academic performance isn’t the only benefit that online gradebooks offer. Communication between students, teachers, and parents, which is often difficult to arrange or under-prioritized, can be facilitated through these programs as well. Many students have little contact with their teachers outside of the classroom. Parents can go months without seeing a single test grade, and are at risk of falling out of touch with their kids’ academic progress. Some online grading tools can send out weekly e-mails to both students and their parents, providing a more effective mechanism than DOE e-mails for contacting teachers to address concerns. But perhaps the most striking benefit of an online grading system is its elimination of unfair subjectivity in grading. Programs like Engrade allow teachers to easily input grades and calculate averages automatically. Since students can see these grades, there is no room for selective “curving” based on teachers’ preferences. By using online gradebooks, students will receive the clear-cut grades they deserve. If Stuyvesant truly wants its students to take responsibility for their academic decisions, then it should make use of online gradebooks and create a more fair and efficient learning environment.

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

Though we’re all accustomed to performing the imprecise mathematics of “grade estimation,” having the numbers laid out in a systematic and organized fashion helps us keep better track of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and where we need to improve.

More Than a Number By Zora Arum As of this semester, the Student Union (SU) has begun working with the administration to implement an online grading system that will allow for more grade transparency. This system, called Engrade, will give students the opportunity to have a better understanding of their grade breakdown and an easier time holding their teachers accountable. According to a survey taken by the SU to assess public opinion on this measure, 93.1 percent of 232 students who responded support the implementation of such a system. But, contrary to popular opinion, this is the last thing that Stuyvesant students need. When I was a freshman, my biology teacher used Engrade. This meant that, instead of receiving test grades in class, we received our grades online first, and then looked over the test in class the following day. As a result, all of the anxiety and excitement that comes with learning a test’s outcome came at home, when students had ready access to their keyboards and Facebook accounts. In class, when a student receives a grade that he is proud of, that pride is primarily suppressed by the classroom setting. If he feels the need to boast, he does it sparingly—to the two girls sitting next to him, or to his friends, waiting for him in the hall. But when students receive their grades at home, they are more likely to share those grades with as many people as possible. In my case, one student made a group poll. The poll question was, “What did you get on the photosynthesis test?” More than half the students who answered had gotten above 90 percent. I had gotten a 51. I didn’t answer the poll. Perhaps the remedy to this problem, if it arises, is to give students their test grades in class before they are released online. However, while this will likely decrease the over-sharing of grades, it will not eliminate the heightened competition that comes with knowing every factor that plays a role in your average, and seeing that average calculated down to the nth decimal. In this way, increased grade transparency could be extremely unhealthy for the student mindset. Additionally, while the administration claims that an online gradebook would prompt teachers to grade more objectively and therefore more fairly, this is an unreasonable assumption. In humanities subjects, especially those that are essay-based or primarily contingent on participation, it is nearly impossible to calculate a student’s score fairly by punching numbers into a calculator. Even in STEM subjects, which are typically test-based, participation and effort play a significant role in many students’ averages. While teachers would not discount these grade factors—nor should they— if the administration employs Engrade, many teachers would not add participation points to their students’ grades until the end of the semester, when they have a fuller understanding of the students’ work ethic. Thus, though the purpose of Engrade is to give students a more complete representation of their grades

before report cards are due, an online grading system would actually reflect overall grades inaccurately for most of the marking period. This could increase student stress and would render Engrade somewhat pointless, as it wouldn’t truly reflect a students’ performance in the class. Beyond the effects of Engrade on the student psyche, in using an online grading system, the administration and the SU are sending a message to teachers that they do not trust teachers’ individual methods. The implications of this measure are amplified because the discussion comes at a time when many people across the country are calling for increased teacher accountability in an effort to blame teachers for the education system’s failures. Even within Stuyvesant, the implementation of an online grading system was suggested within months of another proposal with similar aims, the latter proposed by senior Ryan Boodram at a recent SLT meeting. At this meeting, Boodram suggested that the SU and administration ought to come up with a secure online method for students to report their teachers’ transgressions to the administration. Though Boodram’s suggestion was shot down, it represents the rapidly spreading idea that educators, despite their training, need to be constantly observed and measured by their students in order to ensure that those in charge are doing their jobs.

Contrary to popular opinion, this is the last thing that Stuyvesant students need.

According to Principal Jie Zhang, teachers’ contracts do not require that they use Engrade for their grading processes—presumably because it undermines their right to autonomous jurisdiction. The administration should demonstrate that they have enough faith in Stuyvesant’s teachers, and enough care for Stuyvesant’s students’ well-being, to honor and respect this right. At a grade-focused school, in a grade-focused community, I have no desire to sit at home, refreshing my Engrade homepage every night before math test scores are released, like I used to for my biology class freshman year. I don’t want to obsess over how much my physics average goes up after every test, especially if my grades online are incomplete, and I certainly don’t want to compare my grades to my peers’ grades on Facebook polls. If the administration uses Engrade, it will prompt me to do so.

This is representative of the rapidly spreading idea that educators, despite their training, need to be constantly observed and measured by their students in order to ensure that those in charge are doing their jobs.

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 15

Opinions Point-Counterpoint: Class Annualization Fewer Delaneys, More Progress Change To Promote No Change As many of us have heard through our caucus leaders, the administration is working to annualize classes for the new semester, meaning that we’ll have the same teachers for our core classes: English, math, social studies, science, and foreign language. While student opinion is practically split on the issue― with a Sophomore Caucus survey putting the numbers at 51.4 percent for and 48.6 percent against annualization― keeping teachers consistent for the school year is a policy we should have enacted long ago. As it stands, each and every semester brings a week of learning who our teachers are, how much work they give, and of course, the mandatory class period of filling out decade-old Delaney cards with the specific information each teacher needs in order to be able to, in the words of the New York Times columnist Anemona Hartocollis, “Put Students in Their Place.” With annualized classes, not only would we cut the wasted class time spent on Delaney cards in half, but we would also greatly reduce the time taken in the programming office to rearrange classes and eliminate the mistakes we see at the beginning of each year. Most of the argument against annualization stems from the basic premise that variation is key: each student responds to styles of teaching in a different way. However, non-annualized classes, while exposing students to more variation, don’t actually allow them to adapt very well to each system. With concrete feedback coming more than halfway through the term, it seems rather difficult to change one’s manner of learning in the two months between the first and last numerical report cards. Even if a student was to start early and really make an effort to change their ways, the rewards of that are essentially mitigated once the term ends. Additionally, variation isn’t always the best option. Most teachers, even within the same course, choose to highlight different points in the curriculum and move through the material at different speeds. This, along with other inconsistencies, can be avoided each year if the class is annualized. Semester-long classes also foster the approach of simply “getting through” the class instead of encouraging students to adapt to learning in different environments. If you see yourself as a visual learner, and get a teacher who relies heavily on notes, it’s unlikely that you will make changes to the way you learn if all that effort will be for naught once the end of the semester arrives. With annualized classes, we are forced to change the way we work in a significant way, which may actually allow us to absorb more knowledge from more sources. And a teacher who absolutely isn’t working for you, no matter how hard you try or how much work you put in, probably isn’t working for the majority of the class either. If that’s the case,

talking to your guidance counselor and your teacher about the issue are the best courses of action, instead of hoping for a change of teachers in the next semester. Perhaps the best examples of successful annualized classes are Advanced Placement courses: when the material is hard and the coursework is rigorous, keeping teachers consistent throughout the year is necessary. This would speak to the notion that having the same teacher, day in and day out, aids, rather than hinders, learning. This is not to say that there aren’t

When the material is hard and the coursework is rigorous, keeping teachers consistent throughout the year is necessary.

bad teachers, or that there aren’t different grading standards throughout the school. And, frankly, there isn’t much we can do to improve teaching quality quickly except to switch teachers between semesters. But, by and large, we have great teachers: Stuyvesant didn’t become the best school in the city with sub-par teaching. And these fantastic teachers are the ones who truly make the case for annualization. Throughout my three years here, I’ve realized that making real, longlasting connections with exceptional teachers is rather difficult to do in a single semester. These relationships become even more crucial in junior year, when college recommendations require a strong bond with your teachers. An accurate and meaningful statement on your character and intellect is unlikely to come out of just five months of class. While changing teachers often seems appealing at first, the actual implications of changing teachers are clear. The benefits of variation simply aren’t great enough to overcome the high administrative and educational costs of a non-annualized system. When you factor in the importance of year-long teachers for college recommendations, annualization becomes key in creating a successful learning environment.

An accurate and meaningful statement on your character and intellect is unlikely to come out of just five months of class.

By Raniyan Zaman At the start of every spring semester, I always eagerly await, more than anything else, my new schedule. However, during homeroom on the first day of this term, I scanned my schedule for the names of new teachers and found absolutely none, indicating perhaps the biggest change of all: annualization, a new system in which students will keep the same teachers for core subjects throughout both semesters. Though the policy was implemented to ease the transition between semesters, it can only serve to negatively impact both a student’s mental flexibility and their grades. As in any school, teachers have different teaching methods and styles that suit students differently. A visual learner may suffer with a teacher who emphasizes lecture-based instruction, but might thrive with another teacher who employs slideshows. With teachers shuffled each semester, students are more likely to be placed in classes that suit them.

Variety could endow students with a new appreciation of a field they never expected to enjoy.

Furthermore, there are advantages to being exposed to various teaching styles. An article in the Huffington Post by Mary Cullinan, the president of South Oregon University, states: “[O]ur range of teaching styles and approaches should expand…[Our students] must be aware of our shifting environment.” This idea is not new—multiple universities in America have already started working to cater to their variety of learners by exposing students to different teaching methods, but annualization is a step in the opposite direction. Contrary to the administration’s expectations, adjusting to new teaching styles will actually benefit the student

body largely because, ultimately, it will reduce the need for adjustment at all. Students will no longer have a rigid, inflexible outlook on a subject, and instead possess a more fluid, cognitive approach open to fresh ideas and new perspectives. Teachers differ not only in how they teach, but also in how they grade. Some teachers inflate grades, while others deflate them. Oftentimes, students don’t receive an equal balance of both in their schedule, thus skewing their grades wildly. Grade disparity is a common issue at Stuyvesant, and annualization promotes it. For a year, rather than a semester, a student could be given a grade that doesn’t truly reflect his or her work in the class. There are classes at Stuyvesant that have traditionally been annualized, such as English, Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and honors classes. Annualization works well in these cases because it allows teachers to see development in writing skills or to prepare students for the AP exam in May. In other cases, it simply makes programming more convenient. However, these are circumstances unique to these classes and don’t apply to the majority of Stuyvesant classes. Some feel that annualization will relieve the stress of obtaining a teacher recommendation, but in the past, students have been successful in getting recommendations without annualization. In fact, many students ask a teacher from junior year for a recommendation at the end of the fall semester, without having spent a whole year together. “The College Process in Retrospect,” a staff editorial published in Issue 9 of The Spectator, contains advice from a senior who recommends asking teachers for college recommendations after the fall term of junior year. Clearly, annualization isn’t necessary to establish the student-teacher relationship required for a complimentary recommendation. I’m fortunate. I have had excellent teachers. However, this isn’t an issue of good teachers versus bad, but rather one that concerns the variety of distinct teaching and learning styles that exist in Stuyvesant. The intellectual contributions that Stuyvesant teachers can offer are as diverse as those of the student body, and variety could endow students with a new appreciation of a field they never expected to enjoy. However, annualization will leave students with not just unaltered schedules, but also unenlightened perspectives. We should be doing what is best for the student body, not what will restrict us. Annualization, unfortunately, falls into the latter category.

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

By Stephen Nyarko

Page 16

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

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The Spectator â&#x2014;? February 12, 2016 Page 17

Art

Comics

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 18

Arts and Entertainment The Tale of Three Bowls of Mexican Food

Food

By Alex Berg, Kofi Lee-Berman, and Zovinar Khrimian Of all the fast food places in New York, few are as popular with students as the countless Mexican restaurants around the city. It all started with Chipotle, which became popular via its delicious buildyour-own-burrito model. Recently, however, an outbreak of E. coli has encouraged the public to turn to other establishments to get their Mexican food fix. Luckily, Stuyvesant’s surrounding neighborhood has a variety of alternatives to try. Many chains have taken after Chipotle and now offer similar options at the same general 8-10 dollar price point. To see which one is the best, we tried out three identical orders from three of the most popular Mexican cuisine places near Stuyvesant.

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While I didn’t quite detest the Whole Foods bowl, I did find it to be an essentially indistinguishable bowl of mush. I can’t remark much on the individual ingredients because I simply didn’t know what I was eating. That being said, the flavor was rather agreeable, if one-dimensional (every bite had the same Tex-Mex taste). Both the taste and the bowl itself (much larger than the other bowls) were extremely heavy. This is definitely a bowl to share — its richness and size make it a challenge even for an accomplished appetite like mine. The best aspect of the bowl is definitely the overall mouthfeel, which was creamy and smooth. The guacamole was similar to Chipotle’s, though decidedly more tangy. The cheese (pepperjack, cheddar, or queso fresco) was passable. As for the appearance, it just looked like a bowl of lettuce until I started eating it. Then, it looked like a sludgy mess.

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When presented with a bowl from Whole Foods’ Taqueria, instantly, I noticed how different it looked from the typical bowl from Chipotle. Not only was there a greater volume of food, but the contents were more neutral in color and less appealing. There was a bizarre uniformity about the combination of foods and flavors. The chicken was essentially nonexistent, both in appearance and flavor. A couple turns of your fork and it became impossible to distinguish different ingredients from one another. This wasn’t helped by the fact the flavors were already considerably nondescript. Whole Foods delivered an even blander variety of guacamole than Chipotle. Perhaps it was the poor pairing of other weak flavors, but I really couldn’t get any kick from the disappointing green slime. The vegetables were abundant, but quite limp. When ordering at the counter, Whole Foods looks like it has its ingredients skillfully curated, but upon taking a bite, there really isn’t much experience.

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Zovinar

The Whole Foods so-called “Burrito Bowl” reminded me of low quality dog food. Not only did it look like fertilizer, but it had the texture of pig slop. The Whole Foods attempt at Mexican food looked bland and unappealing compared to the other bowls. The chicken was incredibly dry and flavorless, and tasted like cardboard. The guacamole felt grainy and tasted like the inside of a tin can. Whole Foods has managed to do the impossible by undercooking and overcooking their rice at the same time, leaving the end product with a mushy exterior, but a rock hard center. The tomatoes and lettuce were wilted, adding nothing crisp to this lackluster meal. This sad excuse for food was simply a pot of mush with no contrast in texture or flavor. If I had to give one compliment to Whole Foods, the cheese was crumbly and authentic. However, I would definitely not recommend this bowl to anyone, not even my worst enemy. It was a waste of money and calories, and was nearly inedible. I hated almost every aspect of this bowl and I would not eat it even if somebody gave it to me for free. Avoid this disastrous mess at all costs.

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Alex

away from Stuyvesant, on the corner of Greenwich and Murray, and at hundreds of locations around the city, Chipotle Mexican Grill is the home of the first iconic burrito bowl. Although a typical bowl costs 9 or 10 dollars, the portions are very large and can fill the stomachs of two people. Chipotle offers a variety of freshly cooked meats, such as chicken, steak, and carnitas, along with a wide selection of crisp vegetables, such as lettuce, tomato, and corn. You can top your bowl with one of the three salsas of varying intensity, sour cream, or guacamole, and get ready to enjoy your wonderful creation.

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The first thing I noticed about the Dos Toros bowl is that it's only about 70% full, making for a disappointing presentation (and a bad value, since it's the most expensive bowl). If you're used to Chipotle's servings, this won't really be enough, but what Dos Toros lacks in size, it makes up for in ingredient quality. The chicken is, hands down, the single tastiest thing I tried today, tender with a smoky flavor. Though it's on the dry side, its texture can be fixed by adding some of their many salsas, notably the extra-hot habanero (proceed with caution!) and the smooth red salsa. The cheese works well in this bowl, tasting like actual cheese with a slightly crumbly texture. If you get a burrito, they can melt some right into the tortilla. The rice is unexceptional, its complex spicing undermined by a gravelly texture (it doesn't mush like Tex-Mex rice should) and an off-putting highlighter-orange color. The overall taste of each mouthful is confusing, like there's too much going on. Dos Toros' failure to integrate good individual ingredients into a cohesive flavor is, in my book, a fatal flaw.

When ordering at Dos Toros, any seasoned Chipotle customer will be instantly taken aback by the lack of options for rice. However, Dos Toros has better rice than Chipotle and Whole Foods, so this is actually a bonus. This orange rice is incredibly tender, and has stronger seasoning than that at competing establishments. Unfortunately, the beans were not as successful, as they were significantly harder and drier than the Chipotle and Whole Foods variety. Evidently, Dos Toros pays the most attention to heat and spice. When it comes to chicken, Dos Toros takes the crown. The chicken is mostly dark meat, and very rich. Dos Toros also offers an extreme hot sauce, which is loaded with habanero pepper. This kind of heat is not available at Chipotle or Whole Foods and is certainly a reason to choose Dos Toros over its competitors. Despite being full of standouts, like the chicken and rice, Dos Toros’ food delivers less volume and less veggie components than its competitors do. For me, this is a letdown, and I still hold Chipotle at the highest standard.

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Dos Toros has been my go-to place for a burrito bowl during the E-coli epidemic at Chipotle. The bright colors of the fresh vegetables instantly drew me into this Mexican meal. As soon as I put a spoonful of food in my mouth, I was barraged with massive amounts of flavor. The chicken was moist and flavorful, with a nice amount of heat. The salsas offered wide ranges of spice, from a little bit of heat to a mouth-burning habanero sauce, but all were delicious. However, the beans were dry and weird, like goose droppings. Although each component of the Dos Toros burrito bowl was well seasoned and very pleasing, they did not come together into one composed flavor as well as I would have hoped. This burrito bowl was very good, despite the slightly disjointed overall taste.

G IN

selection of eating options, Whole Foods is extremely popular among Stuyvesant students, many of whom hang out in the upstairs seating area. Recently, they rolled out Whole Foods Taqueria, a booth offering a variety of Mexican dishes similar to Chipotle. At eight dollars for a burrito, a bowl, or three tacos, it’s a cheaper option and offers hefty portion sizes, plus several vegetarian options. However, Whole Foods leaves much to be desired in terms of flavor and presentation, and all three reviewers had decidedly unpleasant experiences here.

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Alex

Kofi

York, NY 10007l ew WA N , LK Only a few blocks St

lk Nestled among various food outposts in Brookfield Place’s Hudson Eats, Dos Toros offers an experience similar to the tried-and-true Chipotle. Prices are typically higher than those at Chipotle, but the guacamole is less than half the price, rounding off the leap in charge. Dos Toros offers some high notes, including the best-prepared chicken out of the three places we tried and intense hot sauce, but loses to Chipotle in the preparation of well chosen ingredients and in diversity of flavor. ew

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Whole Foods Taqueria

Dos Toros

The order

Chicken Black Beans Lettuce Corn (where available) Onions (where available) Cheese Pico de Gallo, Salsa Rojo and Salsa Verde Guacamole

Kristin Lin / The Spectator

• • • • • • • •

Alex

I have loved Chipotle for as long as I remember, and this delectable chain restaurant never fails to satisfy me. The chicken was as moist as my respiratory surface and very flavorful, and the rice and beans were tasty and cooked to perfection, and were accompanied perfectly by the salsas which were deliciously spicy, but not overpowering. My only criticism is that the cheese tasted kind of processed and flavorless. The flavors came together in a beautiful way with every bite. I love Chipotle so much that would eat it every day of my life if my stomach could tolerate it.

Zovinar

At Chipotle, I usually order the Veggie Bowl, but, this time, I decided to get chicken and was not satisfied. The chicken was passable, but neither tender nor juicy. It was moderate in terms of volume, and at times the cubes disappeared among the other ingredients, adding little to the overall experience of the bowl. The beans were soft but not sloppy, and the rice maintained a base for the more exciting ingredients. All the ingredients maintained clarity in each bite. I could taste the complementing flavors of creamy guacamole, crispy lettuce, and the freshness of the pico. The addition of dairy products, such as cheese, was somewhat ineffective in elevating the flavor of a Chipotle bowl, whereas fresh vegetables and salsas had a greater impact on the overall experience.

ofi Ah, Chipotle, the defining food of our generation and a fast-food standard. This bowl actually tastes healthy — a compliment I can’t extend to the other heavier-flavored bowls. A major issue with the Chipotle bowl is the mouthfeel of some ingredients — the cheese is artificial-tasting, verging on plasticky, and can overpower some of the more subtle flavors. The acidity of the pico de gallo is necessary — along with a squeeze of lemon, it clarifies the flavor and cuts the richness of the beans. Chipotle’s guacamole is their biggest problem; its too-light color and weak taste indicate that the avocado has been cut with some adulterant, perhaps mayo. Overall, I have to say that I’m thoroughly unimpressed with the individual ingredients, but they mysteriously come together to produce an exciting and complex flavor anyway.

The Verdict Despite our varied opinions, we did come to one conclusion: the Whole Foods bowl is, by far, the worst. None of us had anything very good to say about its look (indeterminate), texture (squishy), or flavor (possibly nonexistent). The Dos Toros bowl came in a close second place; its ingredients, such as the succulent chicken and fiery habanero sauce, had the highest quality of all three bowls, but it was quite small and on the expensive side. Despite the fact that Dos Toros’ taste doesn’t really come together, we still recommend this bowl if you’d like to try some new flavors. And Chipotle, it seems, still reigns supreme in the kingdom of the Mexican bowl. With its time-tested and time-honored ingredient selection, Chipotle’s overall taste is superb, and it was by far the winner.

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 19

Arts and Entertainment

Art

“Textbooks”: From Tools of Propaganda to Works of Art

By Eliana Kavouriadis When someone thinks about the life of a Stuyvesant student, one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is students staring at textbooks for hours on end, cramming in tons of information for an upcoming exam. However, for even the most diligent of Stuyvesant students, staring at a textbook often grows tiring and even sickening. It is an unfortunate part of American culture and many other cultures that primary and secondary education rely so heavily on the mindless absorption of information from textbooks. Instead of using textbooks for their intended purpose, Chinese sculptor Li Hongbo turned textbooks into works of art that give insight into some problems with the Chinese and American education systems. This artwork can be found in Hongbo’s eye-opening solo exhibition, “Textbooks,” at the Klein Sun Gallery on West 22nd Street. The exhibition features a variety of pieces that each uses textbooks as a medium in a unique way. It is a site-specific immersive exhibition, and the pieces are therefore arranged in a way that uses the gallery space itself to transport people into another world.

Hongbo creates an otherworldly setting by covering every inch of the exhibition space in textbook art. Two long, winding mazes of English and Chinese textbooks of all kinds circulate the space, resembling flying dragons. One maze consists of overlapping textbooks lying on the ground, and the other hangs directly above it at eye-level, consisting of soft-cover books bound together with large binder clips. Titles like “Biology,” “Environmental Science,” “Bienvenue!,” and “Spelling & Grammar” pop out in vibrant colors and flashy fonts. Several textbooks hang open from the ceiling, displaying fragments of passages full of arithmetic, grammar, history, and more. Stacks of violently shredded books are mounted to the wall, symbolizing the negative feelings children have toward textbooks. One particularly notable part of the exhibit is the tall stacks of textbooks that stand on old, graffitied desks, with the faces or bodies of schoolchildren delicately carved into the textbooks’ pages. Some of the children depicted are boys, some are girls, and they look like they come from different racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, they have one thing in common: the eerie blank stares

on their faces. Though the text blocks of the books are carved and molded together to create the images of children, the carvings remain unfinished and rough at the edges. The textbooks’ spines remain intact, and the backs of these statues look like ordinary stacks of textbooks. The exhibition is an intellectual journey as much as it is an aesthetic one. All of the flashy, expressive components of the exhibition are overwhelming at first, but by looking deeper, one can see that there is an overarching meaning to it all. In an interview with “Art Report,” Hongbo discussed the message that the exhibition was trying to convey: “The idea of using bound books came from thinking about how people are formed by what they learn and the environments they are thrust into—from what your mother and father teach you to your formal education. In particular, textbooks are fascinating because they are a physical influence on our lives and who we are and they have a direct effect on all of us.” By arranging textbooks in every way fathomable, Hongbo attempts to communicate the inescapable propaganda and educational distortion that make up a large part of children’s lives. From a very young age, children

are spoon-fed biased information from books designed to meet the requirements that a child is forced to learn each year. The fake world Hongbo sets up by making textbooks physically unavoidable forces you into the mind of a child in the American or Chinese education system. The statues of children arranged in desks among the whirlwind of textbooks become your classmates. They are nothing but textbooks themselves, and their faces are merely the textbook pages that shape their views of the world. They’ve lost the expressions on their faces, and they’ve lost their character. All that is left of them is their still bodies, physically absorbed into the pages of textbooks. The exhibition’s arrangement conveys its message well, combining the familiarity of brightly colored textbooks with the haunting, expressionless faces of children, trapped in a system run on feeding propaganda to the future of society. All of the components of the exhibition come together to illustrate the true and potentially grave power of words, and the influence they have on almost every member of society. Hongbo himself noted how the Chinese education system personally affects him. “I have a son who is eight years old. And he

is currently learning from textbooks,” he said. With the amount of effort put into every part of this mixed media exhibition, it is no surprise that the statement “Textbooks” is trying to make is one that hits Hongbo—and many others—close to home. The relatability of this exhibition is what makes it so powerful. Billions of students and former students in the United States and China have fallen victim to the corrupt, flawed education systems that they were forced into. Throughout their lives, they were rewarded for mindlessly following the rules of their education systems. How well they absorbed the filtered, biased information given to them was even considered a valid measure of their intelligence. At Stuyvesant, students are admitted because of their supposed “intelligence,” but in reality, admittance is a reward for success in the American education system. Stuyvesant students are used to being told that they’re smart, but they aren’t necessarily smart. They’ve just been successfully fed years’ worth of filtered information through textbooks. This exhibition illustrates this dark truth, and it can be an uneasy personal realization for many.

Bachelor,” the genre it occupies seems to slingshot back and forth between jazz and dancepop. Though the individual songs are in themselves strong, their combined effect is rendered in a somewhat jumbled way, united only by the common voice singing in each of them. For instance, the heavy beat and layered voices of “Emperor’s New Clothes” clash with the soaring tune of the following track, “Death of a Bachelor,” in which Urie purposefully tries to emulate Sinatra by adopting a crooning tone and jazzy melodies. This dichotomy between jazzy tracks and those more influenced by pop forms the album’s greatest weakness: that it seems to act more as a compilation of tracks than as a synthesis. However, to a casual listener who perhaps is not going to take the time to listen to the album in full, “Death of a Bachelor” satisfies and pleases. Tracks such as

“Hallelujah,” “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time,” and, particularly, “LA Devotee,” are instantly catchy and serve as easy but enjoyable listening that make you want to stand up and

dance. Other tracks, though still pleasurable and fast-paced, adopt a much heavier sound, as seen on “Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Good, The Bad, And The Dirty.” The speed and power present in the hooks of these tracks are reflected greatly in the album’s subject matter, a glorious celebration of success and enjoying oneself without too many consequences. While these tunes are certainly enough to draw in new fans, long-time fans may still delight in the well-crafted new melodies, and see in particular tracks hints of previous albums. “House of Memories” bears a strong resemblance to the sound of Panic!’s third studio album, “Vices and Virtues,” as does “Crazy=Genius” to Panic!’s first, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.” Urie’s extensive vocal range is showcased particularly on this album, specifically on tracks such as “Victorious” and “Emperor’s New Clothes,” with his voice reaching such high octaves that you almost doubt that he’ll be able to reach

them in concert. Though it is undeniable that “Death of a Bachelor” is enjoyable, the nature of the melodies is largely one-sided. The album’s heavy reliance on feel-good tracks that you can jump up and dance to takes away any semblance of emotional depth that could have been present. The one exception to this is the final track on the album, “Impossible Year,” yet Urie still fails in this somber track by falling back onto clichés, with lines like, “There’s no sunshine...Only black days and sky gray.” The only saving grace to “Impossible Year” is its ability to beautifully showcase Urie’s rich, crooning voice, something lacking in many of the album’s heavily layered tracks. However, it still serves as an unsatisfying end to an album that is otherwise strong. Although “Death of a Bachelor” never quite captures the influences it so desperately wants to emulate, it still puts on a pretty good show, and in the process creates a sound that is both fulfilling and completely unique.

Panic! at the Disco’s New Album Forges a New Sound for the Band

Music By Sophie Feng “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” sings Brendon Urie, speaking perhaps of the listening experience you can expect from his one-man-band’s new album, “Death of a Bachelor.” As the only remaining member of alternative-rock band Panic! at the Disco after an October 2015 split, Urie has been able to take full creative control of the band—a role that includes playing almost all of the instruments, as well as writing all the lyrics and composing all the melodies. Due to Urie’s newfound musical independence, the band’s sound has been completely reinvented. In particular, Urie has made a conscious effort to echo the sounds of Frank Sinatra and Queen, two of his favorite artists, although the warmth of Frank Sinatra and the grandeur of Queen are never quite captured on the album. Drastically changing sound is a move familiar to Panic! at the Disco’s past four albums, each of which seemed to fall into a different genre. In the case of “Death of a

Amber Yang / The Spectator

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The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 20

Arts and Entertainment Songs To Argue About

playlist

“White Privilege II” (feat. Jamila Woods) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Hip-hop “Blurred Lines” Robin Thicke R&B

Popular musicians have garnered loads of attention by making people angry. They have been called out for plagiarizing chords, making profane attacks on police brutality, and romanticizing colonialism in Africa. They’ve been criticized for being homophobic and for being the wrong people to tackle homophobia. The list goes on and on. Several universities around the United Kingdom have banned Robin Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines” for its apparent promotion of rape culture. How can we both preserve free speech and reduce offensiveness? Most likely, we can’t do both. Instead, we should listen to these songs and use them as an opportunity for debate over social issues. You can start by listening to this playlist. We hope it makes you angry.

“Dear Future Husband” Meghan Trainor Pop “Relax” Frankie Goes to Hollywood New Wave “Louie, Louie” The Kingsmen Classic rock

“Radicals” Tyler, the Creator Rap

“Control” (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Jay Electronica) Big Sean Hip-hop

“I Kissed a Girl” Katy Perry Pop

“Reagan” Killer Mike Hip-hop

“R.I.P. 2 My Youth” The Neighbourhood Alternative

“Sex Yeah” Marina and the Diamonds Pop

“Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” Panic! at the Disco Alternative

“Ultraviolence” Lana Del Rey Alternative “Same Love” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Rap

“What Makes You Beautiful” One Direction Pop

“Cop Killer” Body Count Metal

“Kim” Eminem Rap

“All About That Bass” Meghan Trainor Pop

Get a Life: The Cultured Edition

calendar ONGOING

Concert: “Bronfman Performs Liszt” David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center until 2/23/2016

“Superheroes in Gotham” New-York Historical Society Museum Exhibit until 2/21/2016

“Greater New York” MoMA PS1 Art Show

“SLUT: The Play” Dixon Place Play until 2/27/2016

“Photo-Poetics: An Anthology” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Art Show

“I and You” Merrimack Repertory Theatre Play until 2/28/2016

“Black: Color, Material, Concept” The Studio Museum in Harlem Art Show

“Fairy Tale Fashion” The Museum at FIT Fashion Show

“Agritprop!” Brooklyn Museum Art Show

crossword

Album Release: The 1975’s “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” Album Release: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “This Unruly Mess I've Made”

Performance Art: “‘Cinderella’ Ballet” Les Ballets de Monte Carlo until 2/20/2016

February 17

Concert: “Never Shout Never” Irving Plaza

Convention: NYC Feminist Zinefest Barnard College

Album Release: Film Screening: “Unusual BJ the Chicago Film Festival” Kid’s “In My Mind” Walter Reade Theater until 2/24/2016

Writing In A Crossword Wonderland As we moved past January into the warmer months, we were excited to step outside into… a gigantic blizzard? This crossword echoes the return to the cold weather that we’ve been awaiting for months. It looks like nature finally realized how warm it had been, and decided to throw everything she could at us. The answers to this puzzle feature words related to the colder winter weather, as well as political and school-related happenings around this time. Good luck!

DOWN

ACROSS 2. Next issue’s theme (Hint: February 14!) 3. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain (Is it too late for #Kanye2016?) 5. “It’s a ________ life.” 7. A fancy word for a simple sled 9. Downhill or cross-country? 10. The mayor of this great city, and the opener of all the DOE schools 11. The longest river in the world (No, not the Stuyvesant river!) 12. The adorable snowman who likes warm hugs 15. The dreaded math final most juniors were subjected to 16. Add marshmallows for an extra treat 17. Hestia is the Greek goddess of home and _____

1. Don’t stay out in the cold too long or you might get this... 4. The blizzard that almost closed schools the other week 6. “It’s a beautiful day outside!” 8. “Were all unique! We’re all beautiful little _____!” 9. Graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows: perfection 11. The totally legit website that predicts if the inclement weather will close schools 13. We look ridiculous in them, but they’re so cozy and they keep our heads warm, so who cares? 14. Take them out on the rink!

Answers 17. HEARTH 16. SMORES 15. PRECALCULUS 12. OLAF 11. NILE 10. DEBLASIO 9. SKIING 7. TOBOGGAN 5. WONDERFUL 3. DONALDTRUMP 2. ROMANCE Across

14. ICESKATES 13. EARMUFFS 11. NYCSNOWDAY 9. SMORES 8. SNOWFLAKES 6. FARINA 4. JONAS 1.FROSTBITE Down

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 21

Arts and Entertainment

ThinkPiece By Jasmine Tang A baby pink cropped ringer tee with “FEMINIST” printed in white. A glittery button pin that features the Venus symbol affixed to a light washed denim backpack. These images, emblematic of the feminist movement, have circulated Instagram, Tumblr, and other social media outlets, with praise for their visual appeal. Feminist merchandise has also increased in popularity. A growing number of independent designers with online shops on sites like Etsy and popular clothing brands, ranging from H&M to Forever 21, are incorporating feminist phrases and symbols in their products. As “feminist fashion” becomes more prevalent, so does skepticism about it. Is feminist fashion (clothing that features feminist icons and phrases) a feminist feat or a fictitious facade? Feminist clothing has been extolled as a step towards the eradication of the stigma against feminism. Sporting feminist ideas on clothes acts as a good conversation-starter and a jab at the “feminism as the f-word” folly, in which people avoid the use of the word “feminist.” So, when celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Alexa Chung, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and even English politician Harriet Harman wear gray t-shirts that say, “This is what a feminist looks like,” the public responds positively. However, it was discovered that these tees were produced by low-paid Mauritian factory women working in sweatshop-

How Feminist is “Feminist” Fashion?

like conditions. Suddenly, this “feminist” shirt doesn’t sound so feminist. It’s complicated to determine the extent to which a clothing item’s production is considered when practicing feminism. If a shirt depicts feminist ideas but was made by exploited women, many feminists would say that the graphic tee’s demand for equality would be invalidated. The easiest way to avoid this is probably to take production into account only when purchasing items labeled feminist. But does that make one a “bad feminist”? Justifying the purchase of a plain tee disadvantaged women produced by saying that the shirt does not express feminist ideologies doesn’t sound completely moral. However, in this day and age, most of our clothing is massproduced in factories powered by cheap labor. Apparel made in ethical working conditions by unexploited workers can be both expensive and scarce. In addition, we don’t usually get information about the manufacturing of our clothes beyond the “Made in China” tags. It’s not really clear whether or not it’s realistic to keep production practices in mind. The problems with feminist clothing don’t solely lie in production practices. Without intending to, the way feminist merchan-

dise is marketed excludes certain groups of people. For instance, popular teen clothing company Brandy Melville sells clothes that feature feminist phrases such as “girl power” and “raise boys and girls the same way.” Unfortunately, almost all these items only fit a size small and their

Klaire Geller / The Spectator

models are almost exclusively thin, light-skinned women; the company’s target market consists of skinny white girls and don’t have plans to cater to a larger audience. This can be interpreted as an example of how feminists should look: she wears twentydollar graphic tees and has light skin, silky hair, a thigh gap, and a girl gang with these features. This poses another question: Should these companies be mandated to demonstrate intersectionality when advertising their feminist products? In a utopian world, people of various body types, races, genders, disabilities, et cetera, would see themselves represented in these advertisements. But for many companies, in order to have consumers continue to view their brands as exclusive to those of “quality taste,” this marketing technique is not used. The way feminist clothing is presented to us also hurts the feminist movement by showcasing feminism as an aesthetic. At times, introducing feminism into teen fashion may mean removing the value of a complex ideology in order to package it as “trendy.” Serious issues such as sexual objectification and sex trafficking are overlooked while being reduced to something much more

digestible, in the form of slogans and symbols. There is an abundance of photos on Tumblr and Instagram with hundreds of reblogs and likes that feature feminist fashion. A single search for the word “feminist” on Etsy yields over 250 pages of results, ranging from chokers to stickers, tank tops, and even mugs. Larger companies take notice of these trends and add them to their collections. This brings up another point about feminist products: It’s being commoditized. The buying and selling of feminist clothes makes feminism seem like a label similar to “organic” or “as seen on TV” placed on items to attract consumers. The profit feminist fashion generates usually goes to the companies and individuals that sell these products, instead of organizations that directly benefit the feminist movement. But don’t feel guilty about adding some feminist fashion to your wardrobe. It’s hard not to admire pastel pins with cute catchphrases—a subtle way to add that fierce feminist flair to any outfit. There’s also nothing particularly negative about enabling feminist designers to earn some money; this is a way for fellow feminists to support one another. More importantly, flaunting feminist ideas through clothing raises awareness. It prompts conversations about feminism, where education about the topic takes place. Feminist fashion may not exactly be the main source of information on feminism, but it’s a great starting point.

The Spectator â&#x2014;? February 12, 2016

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Tiffany Leng / The Spectator

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

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The Spectator ● Febuary 12, 2016

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Humor These articles are works of fiction. All quotes are libel and slander.

Fall 2015 Semester in Review By Jacob Faber-Rico Many people expect the Humor Department to be a frivolous source of fake news, and often, they are right. However, it is time that I use my power as a journalist to address a few meaningful issues in the world, so here are some serious things that actually happened this semester: • The 2-4 escalator worked. • The New York Mets won a game. • The Presidential race was, at one point, led by an accomplished neurosurgeon known for being the first person ever to remove his own frontal cortex. Indeed, this has been quite a shocking five months, so sit tight, buckle up the seatbelt of your recalled Volkswagen, and prepare for the Fall 2015 Semester in Review! In September, we returned to school. Seniors began looking forward to the excitement of their last year as the Senior Caucus announced the first three spirit days: “Nerd Day,” “Goth Day,” and “Make Fun of People Who Don’t ‘Fit In’ Day.” Outside of Stuyvesant, Pope Francis, the Vicar of Christ, experienced severe delays on a 168th St.bound C train during His visit to New York. “Oh, crap,” said the Holy Father upon realizing that, due to “train traffic,” His Holiness would be late to His procession in Central Park. While the Servant of the servant of God was stuck underneath Times Square, a video of a rat dragging a slice of pizza through the subway went viral. The rat was immediately hired by Café Amore. As the weather cooled down, the Presidential race heated up as Ben Carson confirmed that he did commit aggressive, threatening acts (even trying to stab a close friend), and that he has no regrets about it. “If I could go back in time to the moment where I attacked my mother with a hammer, I would absolutely do it again,” said Carson. According

to ABC News, Carson’s poll numbers instantly rose 15 percent. In December, the should-be festive atmosphere darkened when, in an effort to be more inclusive during the holiday season, the New York City Department of Traffic sacrilegiously banned red and green traffic lights. Good news finally came when representatives from 196 countries reached a historic climate change agreement in Paris. Among the world leaders present was Santa, who agreed to switch to new energyefficient reindeer that get 100 miles per carrot. Riding a wave of popularity, Santa announced his candidacy for Freshman Caucus under the campaign slogan “Santa: Vote For a Candidate You Still Believe In.” After being shaken by a mysterious E. Coli outbreak, Chipotle quickly resold all of its meat for use in school lunches. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Presidential race, Hillary Clinton testified for 11 hours in front of Congress to defend her usage of a private e-mail account while in office as Secretary of State. “I just don’t understand the Internet,” said Clinton, who was cleared of all charges and promptly offered a job in the Stuyvesant Programming Office. As 2015 came to an end, the long awaited “Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens” was released. Students obsessively avoided spoilers, desperately hoping not to find out that Han Solo was killed by Kylo Ren, Solo’s own son. Tensions between seniors and Super Smash Bros. players arose when three Pokémon were killed in a devastating Final

Smash attack on the senior bar. In response, senior Jordan Hodder took to Facebook to defend the seniors’ rightful claim to the bar. “Smash Players and Cool Seniors cannot coexist peacefully in the Holy Senior Bar. We need our own, independent region of the hallway, where we will be safe from the threat of extremist Smash players,” said Hodder. After being removed from the top tier of the 57th Republican Presidential Debate, Rand Paul, finally realizing that he had no chance at becoming President, dropped out of the race and joined the I Have Created This Club to Look Good for Life Club. And so, we arrived at the beginning of February, when a certain humor writer, realizing that he had nothing left to say, vainly finished summarizing the past events with an overused and unnecessarily selfobsessed third-person sentence structure. “You’re fired,” said sophomore and Humor Editor-in-Training Shaina Peters, as many students still reading this article celebrate not being bothered with another horrible something-in-review ever again. If you’re lucky.

SU Plans Hunger Games to Complement SING!

The rising inter-grade tensions have hinted that SING! season has begun. Taking notes from popular young adult novels, the Student Union (SU) has decided that this year’s SING! will be the First Annual Stuyvesant Hunger Games, and has so far revealed the first part of a planned four-part trilogy to boost school pride and breed the hype. “It is truly a novel idea. After our sumo wrestling initiative failed miserably, we sought to capitalize on the strengths of the Stuyvesant community,” Junior Caucus President Namra Zulfiqar explained. “After all, what are Stuyvesant students better at than risking death and battling others for a slight boost in prestige?” The real draw to events such as SING! and sumo wrestling is the competitive aspect. Stuyvesant students are violently competitive, having possessed a collectively cutthroat mentality since freshman year. SU Vice President Matthew So remarked, “You can think of SING! as a microcosm of the Stuyvesant Community: the upperclassmen all despise the underclassmen, and the false authorities give into nepotism while claiming a democracy. It all really plays off these experiences and gives a really organic feel to SING!” The competitive aspect of the Hunger Games was why it was cho-

sen over other forms of entertainment such as a Purge. Junior and holder of some position in the SU that we couldn’t be bothered to figure out Hasan Tukhtamishev said, “While a Purge would have been just as successful, the lack of rules was a little distasteful and offensive to the Stuyvesant community—we can do so much better than anarchy.” The Administration is on board with the idea and can’t wait to see the results. In a vague memo, Principal Jie Zhang wrote, “Stuyvesant students always go above and beyond, and we can’t wait to see what they will produce. The bloodlust of our students will surely be sated, and it will bring new publicity to the school.” In order to properly execute a Hunger Games, a huge mobilization and expansion of the SU was needed. SU Naysayer Ryan Boodram elaborated, “We needed more trivial positions in our bureaucracy, and each member of the student body needs leadership positions to put on their college apps, so in the end, our Hunger Games initiative works out pretty well.” The SU is truly trying to become more inclusive. Some random upperclassman who was found outside of math teacher Bernard Feigenbaum’s class and seemed popular enough to be in the SU added, “They really wanted to make the Hunger Games parallelism strong,

By Shaikat Islam For centuries, humankind has advanced in ways that some have deemed improbable. The realm of knowledge has been expanded beyond the capabilities of any scholars, and information exists in myriad forms. Talk to people on the street, and they’ll probably tell you that this is evidence of humanity’s success. They are wrong. Our definition of success is at best muddled; at worst, nonexistent. Our work in the sciences—relativity, quantum mechanics, space exploration and medical breakthroughs— these are all miniscule compared to the achievements of one human who has surpassed all preconceived notions of success: DJ Khaled. He is the epitome of the Renaissance man, artfully crafted and chiseled in his manly, husky, rolls of fat and chest hair. His assortment of Rolex watches and collection of hypebeast sneakers exude self-confidence in his immaterial possessions. He is what we all want to be: a middleaged rapper trying hard to maintain relevance in a world dominated by clickbait pop-stars and one-hit wonders. DJ Khaled impresses all and disappoints none. His successes, perhaps, are the main reason why cocoa butter shares have skyrocketed in the futures market, reporting a 2000 percent increase in value after DJ Khaled’s first half-naked Snapchat of him showering (the real question is: who would record that for him?). In addition, DJ Khaled’s success has lent force to a new spiritual movement taking the world

by force: the Khalidian Club. The Khalidian Club, according to its website, wedabest.com, reports itself to be a non-profit spiritual movement focused on increasing the success of its members through a DJ Khaled cleanse, wherein members are forced to do nothing but read, sleep, think, and eat the music of DJ Khaled’s rap career, with hit titles such as: “We the Best,” “We Global,” “We the Best Forever,” and “Listennn...the Album.” When a reporter tried to contact Stuyvesant’s Grandmaster Khalidian of Khalidian Club #5TU7, headquartered in the Student Union Room, the response was overwhelming. One can feel the aura of DJ Khaled exuding from the room, cascading over the pious followers robotically chanting, “ANOTHER ONE, ANOTHER ONE,” all while Mr. Success, the Grandmaster Khalidian, sits in the middle of the room, counting money. When asked why he was counting cash, the Grandmaster Khalidian’s response was: “So, basically, this is all the cash from our supporters. I buy DJ Khaled-branded merchandise with it to distribute to the members. DJ Khaled himself messaged me the other day and told me that I was doing successful work and to keep it up, and buy more merchandise to support the cause! Wanna t-shirt?” (Note to reader: Please send cash to the author so he can multiply your success today.) (2nd Note to Reader: Don’t actually send cash. I might get in trouble, I think.)

Miranda Luong / The Spectator

Vahn Williams / The Spectator

By Jason Mohabir

Success As We Know It

so they asked some AP Statistics kids to join the SU, thus validating their claims to make a promotional poster saying, ‘May the odds be ever in your favor.’” There are plans to hold the Hunger Games at Stuyvesant, but some logistical issues have arrived. “While having the game at Stuy[vesant] would really go nicely with the whole ‘school pride’ concept, having a cornucopia bloodbath on the half floor would be a total inconvenience to the custodians,” junior and Student-Janitor Relationships Liaison Position-Holder Enver Ramadani said. Two tributes will be selected from every homeroom, with homeroom representatives and other SU members given exemption. The rest of the gameplay tactics have not been worked out fully, but the SU is being surprisingly quick in organizing the event. Senior and SUSpectator mediator Krzysztof Paine commented, “The SU prioritizes spirit boosting activities over administrative reform. Because, at the end of the day, the bargaining power of promising an amazing SING! trumps any real school change.” The SU has a long way to go before the games are finalized, but it is an exciting and thoughtful endeavor by the benevolent representational government of Stuyvesant that will in no way backfire.

Iowa Prepares for Next Four Years of Total Irrelevance By Jacob Faber-Rico As presidential candidates wrapped up campaigning before the crucial Iowa caucuses last week, the people of Iowa (IA) geared up for another four years of complete and total irrelevance on the national scale. “It’s always nice having all this influence once in awhile, because for the next few years, we’ll have to rely on our meager four representatives,” said Dubuque, IA resident Blanche Lloyd, wistfully taking a “Hillary for America” sign off her front lawn. “I guess I’ll just have to dust that off again in 2019.” For months, 319 million Americans watched Iowa’s every move, anxiously waiting to see an entire 400,000 Iowans’ choice to lead the country. As the national attention died down, even Iowa’s leaders lamented the state’s return to absolute mundanity. “It’s been real exciting. You go to New York: people talk about Iowa. Can you believe it? New York! Now we’ll just have to endure another four years of being flyover territory,” said a dejected Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, as the last CNN crews packed up and left, not to return until the next election cycle. The end of campaigning has brought economic worries, too. “We’ve been blessed with rallies, debates, press conferences, and

even an exciting hand-to-hand duel between [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubio and [former Florida Gov. Jeb] Bush bringing tens of dollars into Iowa, but until 2019, it’s back to corn harvesting for me,” said the now uninfluential Branstad, sighing as he greased up a rusty John Deere tractor. Still, some Iowans chose to embrace their state’s utter insignificance. “In spite of all their sweet talk about our granny-slappin’ good corn dogs, none of these candidates ain’t gonna do nothing for us Iowans, so I’m a-fixin’ to just have fun with the darn thing,” said Ackley, IA resident Clifton Avery, pausing to take a swig of Bud Light. “Seein’ as my vote’s useless as a bull’s nipple, I reckon it’d be a real riot to go ‘head and vote Donald Trump.”

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

The Spectator ● Febuary 12, 2016

Page 25

Humor

Melanie Chow / The Spectator

An Exclusive Interview with Master Artist Marcel Duchamp

By Kenny Lin Freshman Ariel Melendez was reported to be giving his Art Appreciation presentation on Dada artist Marcel Duchamp on January 19. The class had quickly lost interest, and the majority of the students were seen to be staring intently at their laps, resting their eyes, or finding new and more innovative ways to watch Netflix on their phones. After Melendez finished going over the details of the artist’s faithful death for the third time, Duchamp himself appeared from the

back closet of the room, shocking art teacher Leslie Bernstein and sending the entire class into a frenzy. Eyewitness interviews following the incident revealed that students were originally frightened the artist’s appearance. “I thought he was a zombie, or worse, Moran!” shuddered freshman Allison Chan. What follows is an exclusive interview that a passing Spectator reporter managed to secure after chasing the artist down three flights of stairs and into a bathroom.

KENNY LIN: How are you still alive, Mr. Duchamp? I mean, no offense, but didn’t you die over a hundred years ago? MARCEL DUCHAMP: Well, that’s the official story. (The artist then paused to give a flirtatious wink.) What actually happened was that I discovered the Fountain of Youth. KL: The Fountain? Oh, you mean that famous upside-down urinal sculpture! MD: Yes, indeed! I drank three gallons of water from it and became 60 years younger!

KL: How did you drink water from the sculpture if it was dislodged from the wall already? MD: (The artist declined to answer this question and instead focused on sawing the second bolt of the sixth floor urinal from the wall.) KL: Besides, how did urinal water make you younger, anyway? MD: (Duchamp also declined to answer this question.) KL: Well…do you want to talk about your next project? MD: Oh, yes. This project’s going to be 100 times greater than that dusty old fountain. It’ll make me live forever! KL: I didn’t know you could quantify greatness. MD: It’s gonna be revolutionary! I’ve already put down the first 30 or so, but the entire project will fully utilize 100 urinals. A third of them facing sideways, another third going upside down, and the last third upright. It’ll be like the programming office, but better organized! (At this time, Duchamp managed to saw off the last bolt of the urinal.) MD (cont’d): I’ll even add some

graphics of male genitals to fill up the blank areas! KL: (Coughs.) Very radical. Were you the one who stole those urinals last year? MD: Stole? Nah, stealing’s a crime, you know? I liberated them, son. KL: Of course. Do you think you can show me your work so far? MD: After I carry this urinal up. Can’t just leave my hard-earned loot here for the taking! The world is full of thieves and criminals, you know? (After half an hour, the master artist was finally able to lift the urinal following multiple attempts. We brought the urinal back to the tenth floor and into the Art Appreciation room, interrupting another presentation on Duchamp and causing several confused glances. Apparently, the sight of a long dead artist and a Spectator reporter carrying a urinal into class was not part of the standard curriculum. We proceeded toward the back, where Duchamp revealed the secret closet entrance to his studio.) MD: (Panting.) Jump into the (wheeze) toilet.

KL: Excuse me? MD: Just do it! It’s the only way to get into my studio. KL: But can’t I just go through the trapdoor that’s right next to it? MD: Oh. Yeah, I suppose you could. Now that I think about it, my clothes would be a lot drier if I used the trapdoor. KL: Yeah, I’ll take the trapdoor. (A brief and probably very illegal whizzing noise can be heard.) KL (cont’d): Well, what a nice studio. Very nice, um, urinals. MD: So you’ve noticed my masterpiece! I’m going to glue them all together and spray paint them all black. (Duchamp opens a cabinet full of yellow spray paint and glue sticks.) See? KL: Of course… Well, thank you for the interview, Mr. Duchamp. At that, we shook hands and parted. Unfortunately, on my way out, I interrupted yet a third Duchamp presentation, infuriating Bernstein. However, the wrath I received was negligible compared to the exclusive interview I had with Duchamp.

Sad, Lonely Senior Probably Going to Prom Dateless

Tanumaya Bhowmik / The Spectator

self-wallowing fetal position of emotional and spiritual deprivation throughout the day. Several “friends” of the societally untethered individual have demonstrated mild concern

By Winton Yee NEW YORK—Sources close to senior and longtime bachelor Winton Yee have confirmed that the sad, lonely, and asymmetrically-bone-structured teenager will probably be heading to prom alone, if the unfortunate wretch even ends up going at all, and has begun to show the first signs of a long, and probably annoying, breakdown. “I dunno. I mean, I don’t have that many girl friends to begin with, and most of them have boy-

friends,” said the unloved shell of a person, who in all likelihood is probably an extraterrestrial who has failed in his field study to understand how members of the opposite sex interact with each other. “And I go to track every day after school, and that sucks up a lot of my time,” the socially inept miscreant continued, attempting to lay blame for his complete failure at establishing meaningful human connections on two or three hours given up after school, as if there weren’t countless other opportunities to break out of his

you sort of care about go through this. Every time I look at him, I see those single prom photos on his Facebook timeline that will surely appear in a few months, and a part of me dies. It hurts to know

“It was pretty sad to watch. It was like #WasteHisTime, except he was the one wasting his own time by being so stupid. Like, congrats, you played yourself.” –Yi Dong Zhu, senior

and extreme pity for him, much like the feeling one gets when a friend’s advances are rejected, except, in this case, it’s at least twice as sad, because there was no girl to begin with. “It’s tough,” senior Owen Zeng said. “It’s hard to see someone

that the best I’ll be able to do for him is give his profile picture a pity like.” Another source reported that the sad husk of what was a child who probably had hopes and dreams of finding love and a suitable prom date was actually

almost successful in having normal, friendly, human-to-human relationships with females. This somehow only makes the current situation of the lifeless dreg of a person even sadder. “Yeah, he was talking to some girls earlier this year, but that totally fell off, probably because he only speaks in grunts when he’s around them or something,” senior Yi Dong Zhu said. “It was pretty sad to watch. It was like #WasteHisTime, except he was the one wasting his own time by being so stupid. Like, congrats, you played yourself.” Looking to the future, which scientists, meteorologists, and Magic 8 Balls around the world have already confirmed will be a decidedly single one for the cold, heartless slug, the next few months will see further psychological breakdowns in the psyche of the soulless bastard, who pathetically said, “I probably won’t get super close to someone in the next few months and take them to prom, but I guess it’s not that big of a deal,” winning by a large margin the award for the Most Goddamn Sad Sentence Ever Uttered.

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Page 26

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Sports

against Carolina’s receivers, preventing large gains and progression down the field. Of the twelve times where the top-ranked defense has played in the Super Bowl, ten of those times they’ve come out on top. The Panthers’ defense was also one of the toughest in football, and they have shown off their prowess again and again in their most recent playoff victories. This defense sported four pro bowlers: defensive tackle Kawann Short, cornerback Josh Norman, and linebackers Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly. Norman, who is reminiscent of Richard Sherman with his trash talk and physical play, has gotten under the skin of several receivers this season, most notably when he caused Odell Beckham Jr. to lose con-

tor

In between the funny commercials and the Coldplay halftime show, there was a football game between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night. The game featured storylines left and right, but none bigger than the quarterback battle between the Panther’s Cam Newton and the Bronco’s Peyton Manning. The two starting quarterbacks are polar opposites both on and off the field, but on Sunday night, they shared the same goal: to hoist the Lombardi trophy high after a Super Bowl victory. Only Manning would be able to live this dream. Both teams finished with the best records in their respective conferences, leading to first round byes in the playoffs. The Broncos followed their bye with a seven-point victory over the Steelers, and a two-point win over the Patriots. The Panthers path to the Super Bowl hadn’t been by as thin of a margin. Following the bye, they came out firing against the Seattle Seahawks, scoring early and often to lead 31-0 at halftime. The Seahawks rallied back in the second half, but it was much too late, and the Panthers moved on to the National Football Conference Championship, where they would take on the Arizona Cardinals. Carolina was again dominant from the get go. Newton tossed an 86-yard touchdown to wide receiver Philly Brown and ran for two more scores, and the defense forced seven turnovers, leading to a 4915 rout, a Super Bowl berth, and more celebrating for Newton. The National Football League’s (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, announced the night before the Super Bowl, was unsurprisingly given to Newton of the Carolina Panthers. Newton, who led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and the league’s top-ranked offense, and secured playoff wins over powerhouses Seattle and Arizona, has absolutely dominated this season, solidifying himself as one of the league’s top players. Newton

has accounted for 50 touchdowns this season, far more than anyone else in the league, and he’s done it in style, following up his touchdowns with dances and dabs, before handing the football to a little kid in the first row each time. It’s not hard to find Newton smiling and laughing with his team on the sidelines, and one look at his record shows that there’s been a whole lot to celebrate. On Sunday, however, Newton had a less-than stellar performance. Despite passing for 265 yards, he only completed 18 of 41 throws with no touchdowns. Newton recorded 10 overthrown incomplete passes, tied for most in a game in Super Bowl history. The opposing defense’s relentless attack on Newton proved to be taxing on his offensive line and his patience in the pocket, as he was hit 13 times during the game, 10 more than his average. The Panthers converted a mere three of 15 third-down attempts. During the first quarter, Newton showed signs of being uncharacteristically nervous. He sailed the ball over his receivers’ heads during the first drive, failing to convert a first down, and thus leading to a punt from the Panthers. When Carolina next obtained possession of the ball, Newton was sacked at his own four-yard line. Miller forced the ball out of Newton’s hands, and members of Denver’s defense pounced on the pigskin as it rolled into the end zone, resulting in a touchdown and 10-0 lead against Carolina. Denver, on the other hand, boasted the league’s top-ranked defense, featuring the dynamic duo of star linebacker Von Miller and outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware. Miller and Ware are disruptive pass rushers who get to the quarterback, forcing incompletions and tallying sacks. When both Miller and Ware rushed the passer, Newton completed 1-12 passes and Carolina lost a net of 33 yards. With two and a half sacks and two forced fumbles that night, Miller was awarded Super Bowl MVP. Members of Denver’s secondary, like top cornerback Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, were able to provide tight coverage

rl / The Specta

By Max Schneider and Dean Steinman

Defense Wins Yet Another Championship, as Carolina Falls to Denver, 24-10

Christine Jega

Super Bowl 50

trol during the Panthers victory over the Giants. Norman plays with a chip on his shoulder, one that comes from falling to the fifth round of the NFL draft, and being lightly recruited out of high school, forcing him to attend Coastal Carolina, a school not known for its football team. Norman, however, was relatively quiet on Sunday, recording just two tackles on the game. No player has ever returned interceptions in consecutive playoff games in the history of the league. That is, until Kuechly did it this postseason. Undoubtedly the best tackler in the NFL, and a guy with a nose for the football, Kuechly has Rookie of the Year and Defensive MVP honors already under his belt, and certainly did not make things easy on an underrated Broncos’ running game. Kuechly was good for 10 total tackles, the most on the team, and also recorded a sack for the night. Seemingly out of nowhere, defensive end Kony Ealy had a monster game. His three sacks, forced fumble, and interception were not enough, however, and the Panthers lost to the Broncos 24-10. Manning turns 40 in March, which is ancient in professional sports, let alone football, and we’ve seen signs of him deteriorating this year for the first time since his rookie season in 1998. This isn’t the Manning who led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory over the Bears in 2007. It’s not the Manning who broke every single season passing record there was to break in 2013. It’s the Manning a couple years removed from career-threatening neck surgery, the one who missed half of this season with foot injuries, and the one who requires a hip replacement at this conclusion of the season. He lost all feeling in his fingertips, making it a necessity for Manning to wear gloves whilst throwing, something most other quarterbacks shy away from doing. He doesn’t have the same zip on the ball as he used to, nor is he throwing five

touchdowns a game. His twelveyard run against the Patriots in the American Football Conference Championship game felt like it was one hundred. But with all this decrease in his play, Peyton still managed to get the job done. Although he surrendered a fumble, was sacked 5 times for a loss of 37 yards, and threw an interception, his mere 141-yard passing display was just enough to keep the team afloat. His favorite target was wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders caught six passes of eight targets for 83 yards. Running back C.J. Anderson proved to be Denver’s lifesaver, as he ran for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, giving the Broncos a 14-point lead with just under four minutes to play. Despite his mediocre season, Anderson was able to amass 90 yards on the ground, leading both teams in rushing. The Panthers were favorites to win Super Bowl 50, but for the first time all season, Newton, the reigning MVP, nicknamed “Superman,” played with a diminished offensive prowess. Having won the past 20 of 23 games, Newton will enter the 2017 season with a chip on his shoulder and will be pressured to perform at high standards if the team makes it to the postseason. It’s not hard to see Carolina returning to the Super Bowl next year, as the roster is filled with young, talented guys hungry for a championship. Considered by some to be the greatest quarterback of all time, Manning has hinted he will retire, and now would be the perfect time to do so. His performance has subsided dramatically this season and his abundance of injuries will only make his job harder if he chooses to endure another year of football. Manning has his name at the top of nearly every statistic for quarterbacks. The 14-time pro bowler and five-time NFL MVP is the only quarterback to win the Super Bowl with two teams: the Indianapolis Colts in 2006 and now, a decade later, the Denver Broncos. It would be a perfect ending to a storybook career.

Girls’ Table Tennis

Peglegs Take the Championship continued from page 28

fidence that game, and since both teams were so good, that was the big difference,” Wisotsky said. In the finals, the Peglegs got off to another rocky start. The match against Cardozo began with two losses in the first singles by Cheng in four sets, and in the second singles by junior Sharon Chao in five sets. After their tough start, they were able to bounce back with a huge victory from junior Anna Usvitsky. Down two sets to none, Usvitsky was able to come back and win the next three sets to keep Stuyvesant alive, still with a chance at winning the championship. “[The boys’ table tennis team captain] largely contributed to the turning point in my

match,” Usvitsky said. “After I lost two games, [he] advised me to serve without spin and to target my opponent’s weak backhand, leading me to win three consecutive games and the match itself.” The Peglegs would take the championship if they could win the next two matches, the first and second doubles. The first doubles match was an exciting war of attrition. Long rallies stretched out longer, the crowd gasping and cheering after each seemingly miraculous shot. Both doubles teams jumped and maneuvered around each other, each player giving her all to stay in the rally. Juniors Karen Jin and Joy Yang won out over their opponents by keeping a calm head throughout the match with a decisive 3-0 win.

Alongside the first doubles match was the second doubles match. After both teams won one game, the Stuyvesant

hand review. With renewed confidence, they stepped back into the game and won many points from forehand attacks

“The difference between a good player and a great player is the brains. That’s what was the difference out here today.” —Eric Wisotsky, coach

players, juniors Michelle Wu and Janny Chen, paused for a short talk with Wisotsky, who walked them through fore-

right away, taking advantage of the weak services from their opponents. With each point ending so quickly, Cardozo’s

Cindy Liu and Sasha Pezenik were quickly overpowered and lost the next two games 11-2 and 11-4. In the end, it was a close nail biter for the Peglegs, but they were able to pull it off. Cheng was worried throughout, and was very pleased with the final result. “Honestly I was very unsure because [our matches with Cardozo] have been so close in the past. In the first and second singles matches they had advantages over us, so it came down to us pinpointing their weaker spots, which were their third singles and doubles.” Triumphant, the girls brought home the championship banner to close a satisfying season. “This year I wanted to perform my best,” Cheng said. “I think I was able to do just that.”

The Spectator ● February 12, 2016

Page 27

Sports Girls’ Gymnastics

Girls’ Basketball

Phoenix Rebound After Tough Loss By Arya Firoozan In its first game of the season, Stuyvesant’s girls’ basketball team, the Phoenix, beat the School of the Future’s Bulldogs. It was an extremely low scoring game, in which the Phoenix won by a score of 26-16. As the teams played each other for the second time this season, the Phoenix anticipated another hard fought and intense game. That’s exactly what their second matchup turned out to be, as the Phoenix marginally beat the Bulldogs by a score of 33-22. During the first quarter, Stuyvesant was unable to score at all, but the team’s intense defense held the Bulldogs to only eight points. However, in the second quarter, the tables turned, and the Phoenix outscored the Bulldogs by eight points, tying up the score at 12 apiece. “We should’ve been able to start the game off strong with a big lead, but a lot of it was poor execution on offense. We took some bad shots and our passing game was sloppy,” sophomore Shannon Lau said. As they came out for the second half of the game, both teams seemed to be more energized, and by the end of the third quarter, tensions were high; the Bulldogs’ three-point lead meant the game could go either way. In the final

quarter, Stuyvesant shot ahead, winning by 11 points. “I think the team just had to change their perspective and acknowledge that we shouldn’t be giving up the game so easily, and it translated into an aggressive mindset,” Lau said. Lau finished with ten points and five assists for the Phoenix and senior Alexis Kushner had 14 rebounds to go along with her six points and three assists. With the win, the Phoenix moved to 10-2 on the season and remain in first place in the division. The Bulldogs dropped to 3-10 but maintained their status of third. Having completed a successful season, the Phoenix are looking to improve on last year’s playoffs run, where they were defeated in the second round. “Every player has definitely stepped up their game this year. We’ve definitely surpassed our expectations when we clinched our division and hopefully we’ll continue to play at our best during the playoffs,” Kushner said. Update: Having finished the regular season at 13-2, defeating the High School for Economics and Finance, Seward Park Campus, and the High School of Fashion Industries, the Phoenix now move into the playoffs.

A Record-Setting Finish for the Felines continued from page 28

front handspring, just under her personal best of 8.0. Both Rushlow and Pacheco upgraded to a halfon-half-off vault, which no Felines have competed in recent years. The meet ended at the four-inch wide beam, and though the team already had three confidenceboosting performances under their belts, the nerves returned. Throughout the season, the team had struggled with its confidence on beam, often losing focus after one fall and making more mistakes after. “I was really nervous. I didn’t want to let the team down,” Pacheco said. While waiting to perform, coach Vasken Choubaralian instructed the girls to close their eyes and visualize their routines. Both Stempel and Pacheco completed their routines without falls, but the other three competitors encountered a combined total of six falls. The routines were otherwise executed cleanly, and the scores were high enough to bump Stuyvesant up to an impressive 114.125. Tension mounted as the team waited to hear how they had placed. The announcer started by calling the eighth place team, and as she worked her way up to first, Stuyvesant had not yet been called, and the girls’ excitement grew. But by mistake, the announcer called another team as having won fourth, leading the Felines to believe that they had won third for

one ecstatic moment. She quickly corrected herself: the Felines had overtaken Cardozo but fallen short of Bronx Science, who took third with less than a three point lead over the Felines. “Getting third would have been the cherry on top,” Choubaralian said. “But the score [114.125] alone made me very satisfied. Getting that score was the real victory.” The following Sunday, a contingent of the Felines returned to Aviator to compete in the Individual Championships. Those who had received high enough scores during the season were given the opportunity to specialize on events or compete in the all-around. Without the pressure of having to support the team, the girls were able to compete purely for their own enjoyment, and each enjoyed personal triumphs. Juniors Nadia Filanovsky and Julia Ingram both made their debut at the Individual Championships on floor, and Chong closed off four years as a Feline on bars (she had also qualified for beam but was unable to compete due to a foot injury). This last bar routine was her first one in which she included a kip mount, a skill infamous for its difficulty to learn. Senior and co-captain Mindy Kristt had qualified for beam but was unable to compete due to illness. Epstein and Pacheco competed three events each—vault, bars, and beam, and vault, beam, and floor, respectively. Pacheco and

Epstein went second and third on beam, Pacheco with a 7.65 despite wobbles and Epstein with a 7.55 despite a fall, a 0.5 deduction. Pacheco also received a respectable floor score with a 7.2 and Epstein stuck her bar routine, finishing with the fourth place ribbon. Stempel and Rushlow competed in the much more vigorous all-around category alongside the top gymnasts in the city. Though the girls were unable to place, they had strong routines nonetheless. Rushlow scored a season-high on floor with an 8.05. Stempel was not far behind with a 7.85. Both girls went on to stick their vaults and bar routines, and finished off the meet with high beam scores—a 7.55 for Rushlow and a 7.75 for Stempel, who successfully completed a back handspring on the beam for her first time during the PSAL season. All four of the junior members qualified for individual finals, leaving the team confident for next season. As they close the season, the Felines look not only to their determination and skill as factors that led to their success, but also to the tight-knit community they have built. “It was honestly so fun on the team and it really feels like a family,” Rushlow said. With none of their all-around competitors graduating, the Felines are optimistic for next season, hoping to compete more difficult, higher-scoring skills.

February 12, 2016

Page 28

The Spectator SpoRts Girls’ Gymnastics

CALENDAR

Paulina Ruta / The Spectator

A Record-Setting Finish for the Felines

Junior Julia Ingram doing a cartwheel on the balance beam for the Stuyvesant Felines.

By Lucy wang The Felines, the girls’ gymnastics team, took fourth place at the Team Championships at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn on Thursday, February 4, a feat they had not accomplished since 2009. Finishing with a 114.125, their highest score in recent memory, the Felines rose from the fifth place seat they had occupied for the past couple years. Following this triumph, members of the team went on to succeed at the Individual Championships on February 7. The day before their last meet of the regular season on January 29, the Felines received some surprising news: due to a scheduling problem at LaGuardia, Stuyvesant would be hosting five other teams—the entire Bronx-Manhattan division—instead of the expected two teams. They were worried about the logistics of hosting and the increased stress of competing around so many teams,

but everything ran smoothly and successfully for the Felines. They finished with the highest score, a 107.2, beating out Bronx Science’s 104.8. To the Felines, the win was redeeming. Bronx Science had beaten Stuyvesant in their second meet, 108.45-102.4, and again at the Manhattan-Bronx divisional meet on January 9, where they narrowly snagged first place with a 0.075 lead over the Felines, who took second. This point difference—less than the 0.1 deduction for an unpointed toe—was infuriating to the team. “Point-oh-seven-five” became a motto for the girls, a reminder of how close they had been to winning the division and a source of motivation for performing clean routines thereafter. With this victory in the last meet of the regular season, the girls were excited for their prospects at team finals. Other strong teams were struggling. Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and LaGuardia

High School’s teams, who finished second and third respectively last year, both lost star players who either graduated or were injured. Stuyvesant beat LaGuardia in all of their meets, and the Felines were surprised to see that Cardozo’s divisional meet score—111.050— was just 1.25 points higher than their own. With other teams facing difficulties while the Felines had four solid all-around competitors, the conditions seemed right for an historic team finals. “Going into Team Championships we felt confident, knowing that our team had improved tremendously throughout the season,” senior and co-captain Kimberly Chong said. At team finals, junior Grace Stempel lead the team with nearly flawless routines on all events. She scored an 8.25 on floor, on par with some of the girls from Tottenville’s team, the giant of Public School Athletic League gymnastics (PSAL) gymnastics who has won Team Championships for the past seven years. Stempel also scored an 8.2 on vault with her front handspring, only 0.2 away from a perfect score. With two stuck routines on beam and bars, Stempel added another 8.25 and 6.6 points to the team score. The other three all-around competitors, freshman LeeAnn Rushlow, sophomore Anna Pacheco, and junior Sonia Epstein, also had solid performances. The team did particularly well on vault, with Epstein scoring a 7.95 for her continued on page 27

Boys’ Gymnastics

Lemurs Leap Into First Place at Invitational By Nadia Filanovsky With a crowd of nearly one hundred spectators, the boys’ gymnastics Long Island City Invitational was packed. The boys’ gymnastics community is a rather close-knit one, and many alumni were back to cheer on the competitors, who came from seven schools across the city. The Lemurs finished on top with a score of 129.4, taking home the team gold along with numerous individual triumphs. Gymnastics is a sport that is defined by coordination, agility, power, and attention to detail. Judges look for difficult skills and flawless execution—each bent knee, unpointed toe, or fall knocks 0.1-0.5 points off the gymnast’s final score. As such, two people ending a meet with the same all-around score (the sum of the gymnast’s scores on all six of the men’s events) is rare. At the invitational, however, senior Greg Redozubov of the Lemurs finished standing on the first place block alongside senior Jeremy Vera of the LaGuardia Athletics, both gymnasts having scored a 44.0. But this isn’t the first time it’s happend. “Two years ago [Vera and I] tied for eighth place in the all-around title. This year, we tied again, for first place, so both [Stuyvesant] and LaGuardia got

to take a gold trophy home,” Redozubov said. In addition to Redozubov’s success, junior Matthew Aleksey placed second all-around, even after arriving late from a physics lab makeup. “I didn’t have time to warm up any events, but I still [placed] everywhere except for pommels. But I’m okay with that,” Aleksey said. “I was proud of my will to fight through a rough day.” Freshman Muhib Khan took fifth all-around, a pleasant surprise. “I actually did kind of badly, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” Khan said. Khan’s teammates are excited for his future on the team. “The thing about [Khan] is, although he has room to improve, the fact that he’s trying [to compete] allaround shows that he has ambition and so much potential,” senior Aaron Orelowitz said. The team, especially its senior members, also was wellrepresented on the podium for individual event performances. Senior Constantine Flocos won first on floor and third on vault, Orelowitz took second on pommel horse, eighth on parallel bars and tenth on high bar, and senior Joydeep Baidya was fourth on pommel horse, an event infamous for requiring hours of practice to learn the most basic of skills. Junior Edwin Liu also

placed sixth on rings, despite a severe leg injury. To limit the impact on his legs, his dismount consisted solely of releasing the rings, instead of adding a flip or a twist. This detracted from Lui’s score, yet he still placed sixth on an event already known for its difficulty because of the exceptional upper body strength it requires. Looking ahead, the Lemurs are very excited for what the future holds. “My sophomore year we placed second, last year we placed third, and this year was the first year we placed first in a long time,” Baidya said. This season has started off well: The Lemurs are undefeated in their first four meets, and are led by a strong, hardworking senior class. With plenty of time left before the championships on March 3, the Lemurs will be able to practice new, more complicated skills. Redozubov is planning on competing a double twisting back flip on floor, making him one of only two gymnasts in the city to have a skill of level D difficulty in his routine. “For one of the first times ever, our team has all the components of a great gymnastics team and we have a great chance of taking [the city championship] home,” Orelowitz said. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

February Boys’ and Girls’ Indoor Track Borough Championships Boys’ Jr. Varsity SUNDAY Basketball vs. Armory Track Martin Luther King Jr. High MONDAY School Stuyvesant H.S. Boys’ Gymnastics WEDNESDAY vs. Bronx High School of Science Van Cortland Park

WRAPUP n a double header on January 21, the boys’ wrestling team, the Itheir Spartans, won their first match to Susan Wagner 57-22, and lost second match to Tottenville, 67-15. basketball team, the Runnin’ Rebels, lost their final Thegameboy’sto Brooklyn Tech 43-75. he Pirates, the boys’ swimming team, won their final playoff T game on February 4 against McKee/Staten Island Tech, placing them in the run for first place. ecause of the major snowstorm on the weekend of January 22, B the PSAL Open Invitational at Ocean Breeze Park Track & Field Complex was cancelled and the New Balance Games were postponed.

Girls’ Table Tennis

Peglegs Take the Championship By Max Onderdonk and David Song A crowd of people silently hovered over the girls’ table tennis doubles matches between the Peglegs and Benjamin M. Cardozo High School, anxiously awaiting the results of the city championship match. The championship, like every other match, is determined by who wins the majority of five matches, and the Peglegs were looking bad early on, trailing two matches to none. They fought back, winning a singles match, and winning two sets out of three of both doubles matches. Simultaneously, each of the doubles matches came within one point of winning, and the Peglegs realized that they were in position to flip the script and win the championship within a matter of seconds. The first doubles duo closed their match with a decisive victory, winning the three sets to none, and suddenly the Peglegs were just one point away. All eyes turned to the second doubles match. The team secured the point, and Stuyvesant’s ecstatic players and fans threw their arms up in celebration. The Peglegs were able to avenge their finals loss to Cardozo last season with a victory and a championship banner. Coach Eric Wisotsky was overjoyed with the way his players performed, but he wasn’t surprised by it. “The difference between a good player and a great

player is the brains. That’s what was the difference out here today. Both teams were great, but we were able to come out on top because of our mental toughness,” Wisotsky said. It was a tough road to get into the position to win. The day at Brooklyn Technical High School, where the championships were held, started off with the Peglegs facing off against McKee/Staten Island Tech (MSIT) in the semifinals. Stuyvesant came into the match undefeated, with an 11-0 record, and thus felt confident in its abilities to defeat MSIT. But MSIT quickly proved that they could match up well against the Peglegs. With a quick win three sets to none for MSIT in the second singles matchup, things didn’t look great for the Peglegs off the bat. A 3-0 victory for Stuyvesant in the third singles matchup evened up the match, but it still looked tough for them until junior and captain Alice Cheng was able to pull away with a victory to put the Peglegs up two matches to none. After wins from the first and second doubles teams, Stuyvesant was able to move on to the finals and face off against Cardozo High School. Wisotsky thought the match would be easier to win than it was, but he wasn’t surprised that his team was eventually able to come away with the victory. “We had a lot of patience and concontinued on page 26