The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
Volume 106 No. 11
March 4, 2016
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Victoria Huang / The Spectator
he Model United Nations Team won the Best Large Delegation award at their competition from Thursday, February 18 to Sunday, February 21. Senior Lucas Weiner and juniors Niels Graham and Evan Lieberman won Best Delegate awards.
enior Tina Jiang has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2016 New York Times Scholarship.
By Tiffany Chen and Vincent Jiang he Speech and Debate Team competed at a tournament at Harvard University from Saturday, February 13 to Monday, February 15. Junior Kate Johnston placed second in the Humorous Interpretation cat-
Art electives like Watercolor and Computer Art were not offered this semester because of a series of programming issues, and Mixed Media continues to be unavailable, after not being offered last semester. According to the administration, these changes are not permanent, and the electives will be offered
Percentage of all third marking period grades above 90:
62%
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again during the Fall 2016 semester. With a new programming staff, a mishap last fall left too few freshmen in the mandatory Art Appreciation class. This semester, the programming office needed to add more sections of the class to compensate for the lack of classes last term. Therefore, the administration was forced to discontinue art electives so that more teachers would be available to teach Art Appreciation.
Percentage of all science third marking period grades in the 70s:
Courtesy of Sam Lieberman
Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz Discusses Income Inequality Absence
By Sabrine Benzakour and Ilona Cherepakhina “Obviously there’s something wrong with our economy,” Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences recipient and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz said. Filling the Murray Khan Theater to its capacity, students and teachers gathered during fourth period on Friday, February 12 to listen to Stiglitz speak about the economic inequality faced by many Americans. Assistant Principal of Social Studies Jennifer Suri and social studies teachers Catherine McRoyMendell and Ellen Schweitzer organized the event. Stiglitz began the presentation by emphasizing the prominence of economic inequality in the United
WHAT’S INSIDE? Features A&E
stuyspec.com
Art Electives Temporarily Discontinued, Shrinking Tech Department Further
NEWSBEAT
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“The Pulse of the Student Body”
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States. Using numerous graphs and statistics, Stiglitz portrayed examples of the unequal distribution of wealth across America. “All that means is some people have more money than others, but the disparity between the people at the top and the people at the bottom has grown much larger,” Stiglitz said. Stiglitz explained that the reason for the recent increase of focus on economic inequality is that it has become a bigger issue over the years. “The top 1 percent today has about 25 percent of the [total] income and that is […] double what it was 35 years ago,” Stiglitz said. He attributed the prevalence of economic inequality in our nation to the administration’s unwillingness to do something about the problem, rather than the laws of economics. “In other countries,
inequality has gone down because [governments] recognized the problem and did something about it,” Stiglitz said. He then focused on the unequal distribution of wealth across America and its effect on the middle class. Stiglitz spoke about the large amount of attention being drawn to the economically advantaged and disadvantaged, but not as much on the middle class. “America likes to think of itself as a middle class society but [...] today’s median income is lower than it was 30 years ago, so in the middle [class] there’s been stagnation,” Stiglitz said. Stiglitz went on to describe the imbalance in opportunities available to the economically disadvantaged and rarity of economic mobility. He explained that a lack of opportunities is directly correlated to racial income disparities, making social mobility difficult. “I tell my students that the most important decision they can make in their lives is to choose the right parent,” Stiglitz said. But he also emphasized the importance of taking action against social and economic issues. “Every economy has gangs and referees and how you write those rules makes a big difference,” Stiglitz said. Schweitzer believed that Stiglitz’s lecture provided students with a basic understanding of how
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Unlocking Their Stories: Scholastic Gold Key Recipients
Stuyvesant students scooped up a total of 96 awards at the 2016 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. We’ve featured some of their work for you!
Additionally, many sophomores opted to take Technical Drawing, or drafting, instead of an additional semester of Introduction to Computer Science. Art and technology teacher Leslie Bernstein is certified in teaching both art classes and drafting, so she switches classes often depending on the fluctuating demand for drafting. This term, because of the high demand for drafting, she will not teach Mixed Media. This year, there has been an effort to hire new teachers to replace the two that retired last year. Principal Jie Zhang was only able to replace one, forcing Bernstein to teach more drafting classes. “We couldn’t fill the tech vacancy,” Zhang said. “We are going to continue looking, [but] I don’t know if anybody [will apply].” Art teacher Jane Karp, who originally taught Watercolor, believes that the discontinuation of art electives is negatively impacting seniors. “I know that there [are] students who look forward to taking an art elective [during] their senior year […] and now that option has been completely closed out
42%
during their last semester. I think it’s a shame. It is a disservice to the graduating seniors,” Karp said. Senior Jensen Foerster, who took Mixed Media last year, shares Karp’s sentiment. “[The] majority of [Stuyvesant] students complete their Stuyvesant career with only one art class: art appreciation, which is more fact and test-based than actual art performance,” he said. “The discontinuation of art electives deprives and discourages artistic and creative students from creating, developing, and improving their artistic skills.” The lack of art electives brings other disadvantages as well. It deprives students of the time to build their portfolios and apply for scholarships if they are interested in continuing their study of the arts. Art teacher Amy Cappell maintains that art classes are important for all students. ”There is a place for art in a scienceoriented high school,” she said. continued on page 3
Turn to page 2 to get the inside scoop on grades at Stuyvesant.
Microsoft Office 365 Available for Free for Students and Teachers By Selina Zou
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced on February 11 that the Department of Education (DOE) has made Microsoft Office 365 available at no cost for all DOE teachers and students. The collaboration between the City Council, DOE, and Microsoft is an attempt to facilitate technological proficiency in students by providing them with the necessary software to succeed. “Technology like Microsoft software enhances the educational experience and infuses learning with crucial hands-on computer skills— skills that will be an asset as students prepare for college and the workforce,” Mark-Viverito said in an address at Irwin Altman Middle School 172, according to the City Council’s press release. “Learning doesn’t stop at the end of the school day. We want to ensure children and their parents have the resources at home to get curious, organized, and ready to learn together.” The Office 365 package offered to DOE teachers and students includes the latest versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote, one terabyte of OneDrive storage, and access to Yammer and Sharepoint, which are document sharing and communication sites. Students and teachers may download Office 365 on up to five PCs or Macs, and up to five mobile
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devices, including smartphones and tablets. To sign up, students and teachers must register online with an eligible school-provided email address. Microsoft will periodically need verification that the user is still a student or teacher for continued use of the program. Students all over the world already have free access to this software, including all students in Hong Kong, 5.5 million more in Australia, 5 million in Germany, and 7 million in Brazil. At Stuyvesant, where 46.8 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, this initiative is greatly welcomed. Students who previously could not afford the subscription price of $100 a year can now download it for free, rather than rely on cheaper alternatives. “I’ve relied on Google [Drive], because it’s free [...] and easily accessible. Office is incredibly useful because of all the functionality it has compared to [Drive],” sophomore Minseo Kim said. “It is very difficult to work offline while using [Drive]. Office holds a huge advantage in this regard.” Although students are generally positive about the initiative, many have no plans to change their habits just yet. “I find that [Google] Drive is much more convenient than Office
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Your Guide to Morningside Heights In this issue’s neighborhood feature, learn all about Morningside Heights. Hop on the 1-train and use this article to plan your day trip!
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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News Math is Okay, You’re Struggling in Science, and You’re Thankful for Your Humanities Grades By Blythe Zadrozny and Selina Zou If you tune in to any conversation among Stuyvesant students, there’s a good chance that they’re discussing the subject of grades. Grades and the competition stemming from them are factors contributing to Stuyvesant’s reputation throughout the city as a pressure-cooker. To take a closer look at the grades culture at Stuyvesant, The Spectator has acquired data from Principal Jie Zhang about the grades given during the Fall 2015 semester’s second and third marking periods. The Spectator also released an online survey through its Facebook page to collect student opinions on how fairly students think they are graded. The survey received 202 responses.
On The Surface As expected, the numbers show that Stuyvesant students are a high-achieving group. Of all of the final grades given last term, 62.6 percent are a 90 or above. According to Zhang, the median grade-point average (GPA) is in the low 90s. At a closer look, the data gives a breakdown of how students perform in each individual subject.
distribution of all third marking period grades
62+13+223
Grade Distribution BY Subject 65%
3%
22%
Social Studies
13%
72%
71%
64%
42% 40% 18% 28%
62%
29%
26%
24%
Social Studies
Social Studies
English
6%
English
Foreign Language 100 90-100 100 70-79 Foreign Language
100 0 80-89
Mathematics
English
Science
6%
70-79 Mathematics 80-89
Foreign 70-79 Language 80-89 90-100
100 Below 70 Foreign Language
90-100
Across the school, it is much easier to obtain a grade in the Mathematics 90s in English and social studies than in math and Mathematics Science science. And yet, STEM courses are the courses in which students seemedScience to be most involved, as course enrollment in English and social studies Science classes is about two-thirds that of enrollment in math and science classes.
In which subject do you believe you have been graded most fairly?
3% English
4% Social Studies
70-79 80-89 90-100
What are the hardest core subjects at Stuyvesant? Across nearly all subjects, grades are distributed such that most grades are in the 90s, some are in the 80s, fewer than that are in the 70s, and the fewest are 60s. There is one exception: science. Strikingly, only 39.4 percent of science grades are in the 90s, and 41.8 percent are in the 70s. There are more students failing science classes than any other classes; however, there are also more students taking science classes than any other classes. Similarly, fewer students tend to receive high grades in mathematics. While a convincing majority of students—64.5 percent—still receive grades in the 90s, more than a quarter receive grades in the 80s. Of the pool of students who responded to The Spectator’s survey, however, 59 out of 202 answered that math is their strongest subject.
38% What are the easiest subjects at Stuyvesant? 23% 16% 12% 7% 3% English
Social Studies
Mathematics
Science
Language
Out of the remaining core subjects—English, social studies, and foreign language—social studies and English nearly tie for giving out the most 90s. In social studies, 70.4 percent of third marking period grades are 90s, while in English, that number is 69.7 percent. Humanities subjects (English, social studies, and foreign language) handed out the fewest failing grades, with a combined 138 compared to math and science’s combined 189. In non-core subjects like health, physical education, and technology, approximately 75 percent of the grades given out are 90s. This number is higher for music, where 84.9 are in the 90s. Surprisingly, art differs from these subjects in that only 54.3 percent of grades given out are above 90.
Tech
A Math and Science School As a math and science school, why are more students struggling in STEM classes than in others? The most obvious explanation is that the course load for these courses is more rigorous, and thus, fewer students succeed. Alternatively, fewer students might be getting 90s in STEM classes because of the more rigid grading policy in these classes. Most teachers rely heavily on test grades to determine final marks, and a few bad scores can pull a student’s final grade down. In contrast, English classes are inherently graded more subjectively, and with a more flexible rubric, there is more room for teachers to bump up students’ grades. In line with this, 38.1 percent of students said math was the class they felt they were graded most fairly in, while only 12.4 percent of students named English as the class in which they felt graded most fairly. Another noteworthy observation is that 11,329 math and science marks were given this term, while only 7,269 English and social studies marks were given. Students take more STEM classes than humanities classes, implying that there is a greater course selection for STEM classes and more student demand for them. The larger sample size of grades in these subjects could also cause the distribution of grades to shift.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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News INcrease in percent of Grades Above 90 From second to Third Marking Period
WOULD YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE LETTER OR NUMBER GRADES?
62+35+3
8% 7%
3%
35%
100 Number 100
7%
7% 5%
62%
100 Letter
Other
One part of the student survey asked whether Stuyvesant should use number grades or letter grades to measure students’ capabilities. Switching to letter grades was an idea that was mentioned a couple years ago at a School Leadership Meeting, but was never pursued. Letter grades are currently in use at some other New York City high schools, such as Hunter College High School. However, 61 percent of students still prefer number grades to letter grades, with many citing the precision of number grades as a big factor in their decision. While there may be increased stress caused by number grades, they prove a better tool for distinguishing among students in such a large group.
English
Social Studies
Mathematics
Science
Language
In all subjects, grades improved from second to third marking period. The percentage of students receiving 90s in core classes increased by an average of 7.1 percentage points, with the greatest increase being in English (8.24 percentage points) and the least increase in science (5.83 percentage points). This trend further emphasizes the greater flexibility of humanities grades at Stuyvesant. Interestingly, there was only about a one to three percent decrease in the number of students receiving 70s, implying that most of the students whose grades jumped up between the second and third marking periods had 80s, and moved into the 90s. Indeed, the percentage of students receiving 80s in core classes decreased by an average of 5.5 percent. Another noteworthy observation is that 11,329 math and science marks were given this term, while only 7,269 English and social studies marks were given. Students take more STEM classes than humanities classes, implying that there is a greater course selection for STEM classes and more student demand for them. The larger sample size of grades in these subjects could also cause the distribution of grades to shift.
Overall Across the school, it is much easier to obtain a grade in the 90s in English and social studies than in math and science. Yet STEM courses are the courses in which students feel graded most fairly. Furthermore, they are the courses in which students seem to be most involved, as course enrollment in English and social studies classes is about two-thirds that of enrollment in math and science classes. Perhaps attempting to analyze grades on a school-wide level isn’t the most effective way of investigating grades at Stuyvesant—after all, students will always fall on both sides of the distribution, and while one student may experience one thing, another will experience something completely different. But through this data, we can gain a peek in the window of what the larger picture of grading at Stuyvesant looks like.
SING! 2016 Tickets Sold Online By Mai Rachlevsky Starting this year, SING! tickets will be sold to students online through the website Eventbrite, in compliance with Department of Education (DOE) finance regulations and in an effort to sell tickets more efficiently. The online system enables students to choose their seats, but also imposes a ticket limit of three tickets per student. The cast and crew of the show were able to purchase tickets online in a two-hour window before they were available to the rest of the students. In previous years, tickets to SING! performances were purchased in school, at a ticket table run by students. However, a DOE audit last spring found that student organizations were handling inap-
propriately large sums of money. Selling tickets to SING!, which cost between $20 and $30, would conflict with the audit. “In the end after selling tickets, [the sellers] had a box full of hundreds and thousands of dollars,” senior and Student Union Financial Officer Kai Qiang Chen said. Moving the system online would solve this problem. Additionally, many found the previous method disorganized. “I remember last year, when SING! tickets went on sale, it was chaotic,” sophomore Anya Wang said. “The lines were so long and it was just a hassle in general.” Coordinator of Student Affairs Matthew Polazzo and the administration hope online sales will be more orderly. “It should be much more fair than [selling] paper tick-
Art Electives Temporarily Discontinued, Shrinking Tech Department Further continued from page 1 “It worries me that art electives can be eliminated so easily,” Karp said. “There’s always a little bit of the fear that this becomes permanent. I don’t know if that’s realistic or not, if that’s just paranoia.” However, the administration assures that this was just a temporary change because of the programming mishap, and plans on offering art electives next school year. “It’s common to make mistakes, especially with a brand new team,” Assistant Programming Chair and librarian Jonathan Cheng said. “But, I’m going to make an effort to make sure that you guys get
your art electives soon in the future.” Likewise, Mixed Media will be offered again if a teacher is hired, and previously discontinued technology classes like Video Production could be brought back if the teacher is qualified to teach them. “If all goes according to plan, we could [...] have more tech classes available, and, in turn, have more art classes available,” Bernstein said. Karp is hopeful about the steps being taken to ensure that art electives will be reoffered. “It would be very sad if there were no onesemester electives being offered in art,” Karp said. “I’m just hoping it’s an anomaly and not a trend.”
ets,” Polazzo said. “If all goes well, you’ll be able to get a QR code, the usher will be able to scan you, [and] we won’t have to deal with huge amounts of cash. For all these reasons it’s a much better system.” An added benefit of the new system is that through Eventbrite, the audience will have the opportunity for the first time ever to pick their seats for the performance date they would like to attend. However, ticket location will not impact pricing. Online ticket sales also prevent students from reselling tickets at higher prices, which was commonplace in previous years. “On Eventbrite, when an individual purchases tickets, they must enter their name and when that individual checks in on the day of the performance someone will check their ID against
the name on the ticket,” Chen said. However, this can also lead to unused tickets. “We understand that this is restrictive and we’re working on a way around for people who may have purchased tickets and subsequently cannot attend the performance,” Chen said. Since tickets will be sold online, students will be required to use a credit card to purchase tickets. Though this presents an issue to students who do not have an available card to pay for their tickets, the administration does not see it as preventing students from attending SING!. “Worst case scenario, [students] can buy a preloaded credit card,” Polazzo said. Another change for this year’s SING! is that each student will only be able to buy three tickets,
as opposed to the four-tickets-perstudent limit that was imposed in prior years. This change is being put through so more people will have a chance to see the show, but has been met with some skepticism. “A lot of our families want to come see how hard we’ve worked on the show,” freshman and Soph-Frosh SING! Producer Julia Arancio said. “But we also want to ensure that people can actually see the show in the first place.” Despite these disadvantages, students seem to be in favor of the online ticket system. “It’s better for tickets to be sold online because it’s more efficient,” Wang said. “If tickets are sold online, there will be less waiting and it will be more orderly.”
Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz Discusses Income Inequality Absence continued from page 1 inequality is inherent in the economic structure of our society. “I thought he [Stiglitz] did a great job of introducing many important topics to not only students who are currently in economics [but] all our students. Some of [the students] felt like he could have assumed that they knew a little more [...] but I’m glad that he did it the way he did because there was a whole range of students there, and not all of them have an economics background,” Schweitzer said. For example, some students found the lecture to be an eyeopening experience. “I was always aware that inequality was a problem within our society but the lecture showed me how severe this problem
really is,” sophomore Tasfia Bashar said. Others found that the lecture allowed for a different view on the economic situation that is currently prevalent within America. “The top-
role taxes play in modern society,” junior Zarif Mahmud said in an email interview. Overall, Stiglitz’s lecture emphasized that although many factors in the economic climate contribute
“Inequality is a choice. [...] It’s a result of what we do.” —Joseph E. Stiglitz ics he discussed were very relevant to the main issues people argue about today, especially in the presidential nominee debates, like how to reduce income inequality and revitalize the middle class, and what
to inequality, we have the power to change it through our actions. “The bottom line of all this is that inequality is a choice,” Stiglitz said. “It’s a result of what we do.”
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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News Environmental Club Begins Compost Project
By Raniyan Zaman
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA
WORLDBEAT
A
cessation of hostilities came into effect in Syria on Friday, February 26. However, anti-government rebels and Russia have both reported breaches of the truce on Sunday, February 28.
A
llies of Iran’s reformist President Hassan Rouhani won all 30 Tehran seats in the first parliamentary election since Iran signed the nuclear deal.
D
emocratic candidate Hillary Clinton defeated Senator Bernie Sanders by nearly 50 points in the South Carolina Democratic primary elec-
tion.
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ew Jersey Governor and former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is endorsing former adversary Donald Trump in the presidential race.
S
upreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead at the age of 79 on Saturday, February 13 at Cibolo Creek Ranch in West Texas. He served three decades as a conservative leader on the Supreme Court.
A
t the FBI’s request, a court ordered Apple to cooperate with federal agents and help unlock the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters on Friday, February 18. The company describes the request as illegal, unconstitutional, and dangerous.
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he Cleveland Clinic performed the first uterus transplant in the U.S. on Thursday, February 25. This could provide U.S. women with nonfunctioning uteruses another opportunity for parenthood besides surrogacy and adoption.
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hree people were stabbed in a brawl between Ku Klux Klan members and counter-protesters in Anaheim, California.
The Environmental Club launched a compost project at the beginning of the Spring 2016 semester. Using materials from Can O’Worms, a worm composting system, the Environmental Club plans to create a system ideal for vermiculture, the breeding of worms. These systems will be homes where the worms can live, reproduce, and excrete waste that will be used as fertilizer to nourish plants located on the seventh floor and within Stuyvesant’s rooftop garden. Biology teacher and Environmental Club faculty advisor Marissa Maggio originally came up with the idea of starting this program, drawing inspiration from Stuyvesant’s previous experiences with compost bins. “We had gotten one funded a year ago which is in 727 and monitored by [biology teacher Aimee] Hill. When the Environmental [Club] kids learned about it, they asked to get some more that they could maintain,” Maggio said in an e-mail interview. The Environmental Club obtained the money to purchase the supplies needed to begin the compost project through DonorsChoose, a nonprofit organization that allows people to donate money toward any classroom project. Each compost
bin begins with two trays, a top tray where the worms live and a bottom tray to collect waste. Two more trays are layered upon the first two trays over the course of a year as the worms continue to grow and reproduce. Every bin contains at least 1,000 worms when the project starts, a number high enough to produce a sufficient amount of fertilizer. It is expected that as many as 15,000 worms will occupy each bin after they fully mature. The Environmental Club does not have to go outside of Stuyvesant to obtain food for the worms. “What’s great about these worms is that special food isn’t needed to keep them alive,” senior and Environmental Club secretary Ose Agboneni said in an e-mail interview. “They can thrive on organic waste, such as leftover food from the cafeteria.” Despite this, the Environmental Club still has to select food that is appropriate and healthy for the worms. “There are quite a few risks involved. [...] These compost worms can eat manure, but manure from horses or cattle can contain vermicides that kill worms. It’s possible to kill the entire system in a single day if a slip-up is made and we feed them food that isn’t healthy for them,” Agboneni said. In an effort to remedy this issue, extreme caution is be-
Microsoft Office 365 Available for Free for Students and Teachers continued from page 1 due to its instantaneous saving and its connection to my Gmail account,” sophomore Eugene Thomas said in an e-mail interview. One issue students have run into is a lack of awareness for the program. “I only learned about this through my sister’s school [High School for Health
Professions and Human Services], and I feel like Office 365 with all of its programs will be really useful and a lot better than Google [Drive], which I’ve [relied on] in the past,” junior Arpita Abrol said. Teachers seem to agree. “I have my own personal version of Word, but I use Google [Drive] more because I can access the documents [easily] in class and share them with students,”
English teacher Rosa Mazzurco said. “On the other hand, I do think that this [initiative] will help other students and teachers, but we haven’t been e-mailed by any administrator [...] or been told at faculty meetings.” However, access to the software will most likely not dramatically affect the way most teachers structure their teaching or work. “It’s hard to say whether I will be changing anything
in how I teach and contact students, but I know having Office will definitely make students’ lives easier,” Mazzurco said. “In the past, students have tried to e-mail me papers in different [word processor formats] that I can’t open because I don’t have the necessary software to do so. [With Office 365], they don’t have to go through the trouble of having to figure out how to reformat their papers.”
ing used when feeding the worms. Another obstacle that the Environmental Club faced when implementing this program was the question of where to place the compost bins. “Not many teachers want a bin containing waste and thousands of worms in their rooms,” Agboneni said. There are currently three compost bins located beneath teachers’ desks in biology classrooms 717, 737, and 739. As the program expands, committee members hope that the bins can be placed in more classrooms on the seventh floor or in Stuyvesant’s rooftop garden. The systems may eventually exceed an appropriate size for the classrooms, leading to the bins likely being moved out into the open. Maggio hopes that the composting project will serve as a unique learning experience for students. “It is just another way to get the kids engaged in environmental activities,” she said. Sophomore and Environmental Club member Fabiha Ahmed agreed, expressing excitement for the program’s future. “We just set up the bins recently, but I’m really looking forward to working with the worms,” she said. “Hopefully the program is successful and we can start composting food, making Stuyvesant even greener.”
In the long run, the DOE hopes that this initiative will change and improve the way students and teachers interact and learn. “We are committed to using technology as a tool to facilitate better instruction and engage students and families, [and] this exciting new initiative is going to help us do just that,” Fariña said in the address.
Freshmen Allowed Out During Free Periods: Concluding a Fifteen-Year Battle By Julia Ingram
At a School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting on Tuesday, February 9, the administration agreed to grant freshmen the right to leave the building during their free periods, making this a school-wide policy for the first time since 2001. For over 10 years, students have been pressing the administration to regain the privilege, and only over the past three have they been successful.
ZHANG ADMINISTRATION
Teitel ADMINISTRATION JUNE 2007
Students’ freedom to go outside during free periods is revoked due to safety concerns following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
April 2006 Students threaten to protest the use of ID scanners during lunch periods. In order to resolve the dispute, former Principal Stanley Teitel and the administration agree to consider allowing students outside during free periods in exchange for use of the scanners during lunch. They ultimately decide against it, stating that the scanners cannot be reconfigured to allow students out during free periods.
The Student Union (SU) meets with members of the administration to make a case for outof-building privileges. Students bring to their attention CAASS’s capability to accommodate the policy, and the lack of Department of Education regulations prohibiting it. Despite this, Teitel refuses to change the policy, stating, “[It] will never happen.”
Students discover that the scanners have the capability to allow students outside during free periods after corresponding with Erick Johnson, Vice President of Business Development at the scanning system company, called Comprehensive Attendance Administration and Security System (CAASS).
Principal Jie Zhang agrees to a trial period in which seniors are permitted outside during their free periods after gaining parental consent. Former Assistant Principal of Technology Services Edward Wong and other programming staff reconfigure students’ schedules to link them with CAASS .
October 2015 Sophomores are granted the privilege of going outside during free periods as a result of requests from SU President Ares Aung and Sophomore Caucus President Tahseen Chowdhury and a petition created by seniors Kryztsztof Hochlewicz and Ryan Boodram and sophomore Kevin Boodram.
December 2013
EARLY SEPTEMBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2012
September 2001
Teitel cites a Chancellor’s regulation that forbids students from leaving the school building during free periods. In actuality, no such regulation exists.
March 2013
September 2007
The out-to-frees policy is extended to juniors after a push from former Junior Caucus President George Kitsios (’15) and Vice President George Triantafillou (’15).
FEBURARY 2013 Former Editor-in-Chief of The Spectator Adam Schorin (’13) petitions the out-of-building policy, arguing that granting this privilege would decrease crowding in the building and increase student well-being. The petition receives over 1,000 signatures.
February 2016 Freshmen are permitted outside during free periods.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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Features Unlocking Their Stories: Scholastic Gold Key Recipients By Vincent Jiang, Raibena Raita, and Katrina Wong Another year has passed, and with it, follows another round of accomplishments at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Stuyvesant finished with 96 awards: 72 for writing and 24 for art, including 19 gold keys in writing and seven in art. Once again, students have proved their talent in a variety of writing styles and art forms. We have featured some of the works that received Gold Keys here.
Talia Gushchina
Mika Simoncelli
Rahat Huda
Poetry
Photography
Flash Fiction
“Dolomite Family”
“The Faithless”
“Glare” Late one mid-November night, senior Talia Gushchina poured her emotions onto paper as she wrote the first draft of her piece, “Glare.” “Glare” was a poem Gushchina wrote in the heat of the moment to lift a burden off her back, and for that, it holds a special place in her heart. Gushchina loves writing and has dabbled in many different styles, from poetry to novels to memoirs. Though she has been writing since the seventh grade, this was the first time she had entered a writing competition. “I applied, because I saw it as an opportunity to prove myself, and to put myself out there [...] I wanted validation; I wanted to know that my writing was actually as good as I believed it to be,” she said.
Excerpt I wake up And stare at the cold static of the television My reflection glaring back at me, scowling And growling, daring not to turn it on. I’m sick of the fogs that shrouds the faces of every person in this city It's strangling I need air I need daisies and lilies and lilacs and anything To remind me of rainbow cereal And happiness. People ask me why I seem distant I prefer the glare of my computer screen To the sheen of plastic masks that speak through strangled lips I’d rather feel my fingers wrap tight around an HB06 pencil than around the blood-pumping heart of a man. I sit at my desk and sing until my voice grows hoarse Words without meaning in our diction-bound language. Why? My answer’s simple. But it’s not one I’ll share.
Winton Yee Memoir “Why Write?” Senior Winton Yee’s submission was originally the essay for his Common Application for college. However, he felt proud enough of the piece to submit it as an entry to Scholastic. The writing process was rapid. Yee stared blankly at his computer screen for an hour, but once he got started with the first line, “You are 17,” he churned out the rest in one sitting. As the title suggests, Yee explores why he writes, and how writing shapes his life and experiences. Yee thought it was fitting to submit an essay about writing to a writing competition. Something he wished to emphasize was how his perspective has changed as he has grown as a writer. “Writing is just about having that perspective, and realizing that the perspective you have now isn’t the perspective you have later, but sort of accepting that and building that into your writing. That’s what writing is about: perspective,” he said, smiling.
Excerpt 1. You are seventeen. You will leave for college soon. Some time after that, you will become your sister’s caretaker. Your parents have told you not to worry about her, but of course you have to; she’s your sister. Even so, you feel guilty for thinking of her learning disability as a burden, for wishing she could make her own friends, for not wanting the responsibility. When you were younger, you used to think she would grow out of it. Now, you know better. It’s been strange, being born three years after her, and growing to fit into the words “big brother.” You don’t tell anyone you feel queasy when you sister tells you, day after day, “I love you.” 2. This past summer, you and some other campers gathered in the dark Berkshire night to form a Dead Poets Society, a favorite pastime of liberal teenage writers everywhere. Somehow, the question of love was raised. What it is. Whether love at first sight is possible. If soul mates exist. At some point during the conversation, you realized it was all pointless. It’s pointless to sit around on rocks and talk about love; the truth is, you just fall in love. That’s all there is to it.
Sophomore Mika Simoncelli captured this shot last summer while on a hiking trip with her family in the Italian Dolomites. “I took probably a hundred pictures of cows on the trails, and this was my favorite one,” she said.
Henry Newell Science Fiction “Man of Shadows” Junior Henry Newell’s sci-fi piece,“Man of Shadows,” began as a submission to Antares, Stuyvesant’s science fiction magazine. He was not searching for “some great self-evident truth,” he said, but rather wanted to convey a “floating idea” and created a story to showcase it. In “Man of Shadows,” Newell ponders the possibility of magic. This piece begins with a monologue from a wizard, and progresses into a tale of outlaws being ambushed by a shadow man. Newell was inspired while listening to “When the Night Wind Howls” from the 19th century opera Ruddigore, which is about ghosts.
Excerpt It’s not that magic doesn’t work. It does. It just isn’t particularly helpful. Could I send a bolt of lightning your way with a single word? Certainly. I would of course, end up on my knees, retching like a sick dog and cradling the third degree burns on my finger, but I could if I wanted to. Could I banish you to the fiery depths of the underworld? Perhaps, but it would be less work and considerably less painful for me to carry you to the frozen peak of fiery mount Serzogog on my back and dump you into a lava vent. Regrettably, the world seems to expect something a bit more exciting from a trained war mage than an explanation like: “Yes, I can vaporize that ogre, but I’d really prefer not to if it’s all the same to you.” After the first few attempted lynchings by angry, refund-seeking villagers, one tends to learn ways to present the illusion of magic, while actually using perfectly temporal methods to dispatch one’s foes. Of course, the other option is to develop one’s running skills, but I’ve always felt rather guilty about cheating poor peasants who keep losing their sheep to goblins and wood-sprites.
Katherine Jin Drawing and Illustration “Look to the Left”
Junior Katherine Jin submitted a vast collection of her artwork and won an extraordinary five gold keys, along with two silver keys and four honorable mentions. Featured here is her gold key-winning self-portrait, “Look to the Left,” drawn in graphite on drawing paper.
In “The Faithless,” junior Rahat Huda sheds a new light on Muslims, who she believes to be victimized by the media. Her fictional piece takes place in a dystopian setting where the government believes that religion is the root of all evil and those who practice religion, the “Believers,” are at war with the government. Though Huda typically writes the Muslim character to be the hero in her other pieces, she makes the Muslim character in “The Faithless” the villain for losing faith and leaving Islam, and makes the Sikh man, who holds to his values, a hero. She makes this move to show that the cause of evil it is not religion itself, but hatred and the absence of religion. Huda wants her readers to understand that the media often portrays Islam as a harmful religion by allowing those who have left the religion to speak instead of giving a voice to those who are still practicing.
Excerpt Fatima believed her country had been lenient for too long and had let terrorism grow. With the rise of the RG Fatima had faith that peace would come after the new government asserted its dominance throughout the world. They were finally taking action to eliminate the root of all evil— religion. How ironic it was that Fatima worshiped the RG. Fatima could finally rid herself of the restricting hijab she’d been forced to wear since the age of ten. Her resentment towards Islam started when she was thirteen. Sexually assaulted by the principal of the Islamic school she attended and silenced by her family Fatima couldn’t understand why God would punish her this way. She prayed, fasted, and memorized the Quran for Him and He betrayed her. So she did the same to Him.
Julia Hou Personal EssaY, Component of
“An Immigrant Daughter”
Writing Portfolio
“An Immigrant Daughter” is a personal narrative written by Julia Hou, a three-time entrant and winner of the Scholastic Awards. This year, she won a gold key for her writing portfolio, which was made up of various poems written either last semester or in her current English class, a short love story told in the form of mathematical proofs, and her personal essay. “An Immigrant Daughter,” the personal essay of her portfolio, captures Hou’s relationship with her mother, especially as a teenage immigrant daughter. Hou recounts an emotionally intense conversation she had with her mother one night. After the conversation, she wrote down the dialogue, and eventually transformed it into the essay she submitted to the contest. “It was a super personal essay. It was kind of saddening, and kind of scary, but it [was] also kind of nice to lay out my feelings,” she said.
Excerpt I looked at my mother, sitting on the edge of my bed. My hands automatically rested on my keyboard, my eyes went reflexively to the screen, to avoid eye contact. “I feel like I raised a daughter, but I don’t know her at all. And it’s just—sad when you don’t talk to me.” I’ve always loved you, I thought. She looked at me with eyes that had been hardened and made vulnerable by this godforsaken country, with crowded, smelly Chinatown streets, with movies that invariably ended in death or loss, with whitewashed daughters. With families that were unhappy in every possible way. I’m sorry, I thought. I knew she couldn’t read my mind, but I wasn’t one for saying things out loud. She sighed. The desperation drained from her face. “Don’t feel pressured, okay? Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, I’ll support you.” Years of hiding my feelings kept my voice from wavering. “Okay.” Thank you for saying that. She attempted a smile, got up, took a step toward me, reached out a hand, as if to touch me, as if to straighten a stray lock of hair, as if to reach down my throat and pull out my heart and inspect its contents. Before she could, she stopped, lowered her arm. “Okay.” She smiled, and left.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 7
Features Unlocking Their Stories: Scholastic Gold Key Recipients (continued) Carol Wang
Lucy Wainger
Yueer Niu
Personal Essay/Memoir
Poetry
Painting
“Mommy’s Little GirL”
“Waves”
“Law of Refraction”
One morning on her way to school last year, senior Carol Wang was cramming for a physics test. She glanced up from her notes and couldn’t help but smile at what she saw: a mother gazing warmly at her son sleeping on her lap. Wang couldn’t take her eyes off the mother and son, and her mind drifted back to the past summer when her own mother became very sick. It was this contemplative moment on the train that Wang thought back to when she wrote “Mommy’s Little Girl” for her Creative Nonfiction class in her junior year. Wang had wanted to express her bottled up emotions for a while, and she found a way through this class and this piece. “Mommy’s Little Girl” is about Wang realizing how important her mom is in her life and how she would feel if she lost her mom. “This piece is so deep and personal. [...] It isn’t like any other piece I’ve written,” she said. “When I have something really emotional or personal to talk about [is] when I’m able to write the most comfortably and naturally.”
Excerpt I drift in and out of the conversation between my dad and the doctor. Memories flash by, quickly and sharp like a kick to the stomach. My mom picking me up from the subway station. My mom cheering for me at my first swim meet. My mom convincing my dad to let me go to the sleepover. My mom grumbling about spending money on me instead of buying a new handbag. My mom yelling at me when I didn’t practice piano before my lesson. My mom surprising me with a large order of taro bubble tea when she came home from work. My mom coming into my room when she knew I was crying and hugging me tightly. My mom singing and playing “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas on the piano. My mom punishing me for staying out too late after school. The glint in her eyes when she taps her cheek and pretends to be mad because I hadn’t kissed her yet that day.
Having submitted to the Scholastic competition since she was 15, senior Lucy Wainger is a veteran gold key winner. This year, she received recognition for a poem she had written during a writing workshop over the summer. In addition to this poem, Wainger also won a gold key for her dramatic script, titled “Deadgame,” and another for her writing portfolio of poetry. English classes served as major inspirations for her pieces. “Law of Refraction” focuses on Arthur Miller and his plays, which Wainger read as a junior in English class. She noted that high school in general, along with all the people she has met, plays an important role in her writing. Wainger plans on continuing to submit to magazines after graduating. However, she doesn’t feel that submitting to publications or competitions is the reason she writes. “I think for those of us who enter [writing contests, it’s important…] to keep in mind that we’re not writing to submit to contests; we’re writing for ourselves,” she said.
Excerpt [Red Hook] When New York is a slaughterhouse, bandaged by ports: how we keep the city from bleeding out. Spend long blue days dragging sacks of coffee beans from the ships, uniform, unless someone drops their cargo and the burlap splits and spills out harvest-time. This is how we learn about accident. [Sicily] Take this seriously: everywhere, statues. Everywhere, bones baked clean, marble-white. We crouch in the river, feel it filling every crack in our cracked feet. We have so many bodies, so many configurations of bodies. Here we run through each.
Senior Yueer Niu’s 36” x 72” acrylic and oil pastel painting explores how touch can invoke “emotions ranging from pleasure to discomfort,” she said. “Like the touch of a hand on your shoulder, the ocean rushing on the sand causes comfort while tidal waves can create fear.”
Though The Spectator could not cover all of the gold key recipients, it still wishes to congratulate the following people on their accomplishments:
Sefan Engquist / The Spectator
Brooks: Inventor and Teacher
Peter Brooks is a teacher in the Computer Science department of Stuyvesant High School.
By Jeannie Au and Anthony LianG To many students, computer science teacher Peter Brooks appears to give the impression of a humorous and light-hearted fellow. In class, he tends to crack jokes to entertain students. During the Christmas season, he can be easily identified by his notable Santa Claus costume. But Brooks is also a man with a deep and rich history. Brooks was born in Hungary during a time of great turmoil: the Cold War. In Hungary, many students were frustrated with the government’s Soviet-imposed policies, and led demonstrations against Soviet occupation. Such protests involved students marching through Budapest to the Parliament building, or calling out to people on the streets from vans with loudspeakers. These demonstrations quickly caught fire and attracted thou-
sands of followers, descending Hungary into a state of further disorder. Brooks, trapped amidst the mass arrests and killing, left with his family for Canada through a refugee organization in order to escape the chaos. In Canada, Brooks’s parents worked from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, for more than 20 years to reach middle-class income. His parents’ plight inspired Brooks to work hard in his future. “[They] taught me that it’s good to be in business for yourself,” Brooks said. As a child, he liked to argue and talk. “My parents thought I might go into law. At least they hoped that there might be some useful outlet for that,” Brooks said. But in elementary school, he struggled with learn English and had trouble fitting in because, unlike his peers, Brooks enjoyed school and performed well, despite the language barrier. Meanwhile, he started developing an interest in mathematics, demonstrating skill and talent in the subject. As he grew older, he learned to appreciate physics, thanks to a memorable teacher. “He was tall. He was funny. He could explain well [enough] to be understood,” Brooks listed. “He created challenging tests that no one could answer all the questions of, [but…] he made physics worthwhile to understand and reason about, and made many of us feel smart in our ability to do so.” Later on, he attended the California Institution of Technology and majored in mathematics and physics. Looking back, Brooks considers himself a nuisance to many of his peers at the time due to his condescending attitude.
“Poor folks. I thought I knew better than they did,” Brooks said. However, it was undeniable how gifted he was at math and how much passion he had for this subject. Brooks has come to summarize his relationship with the subject simply: “Math is beautiful,” he said. Brooks worked tirelessly over the summers during high school and college. He took three jobs in computer programming and computer engineering, two jobs in physics and chemistry labs, and one at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “I think the most fun was designing and building digital circuitry to control motors in a new lab instrument,” Brooks said. Through these experiences, Brooks acquired important leadership skills and a better understanding of electricity. And it was through these jobs that Brooks encountered computer science for the first time. Immediately hooked by the subject’s practicality, he became interested in the industrial use of the science and went on to create his own software development company, Micromind, Inc. The idea to start a software company came from one of his acquaintances, who approached Brooks with the ambitious idea of creating an interpreter for a computer language called C language. “[It was] something that many people thought was either not feasible or economically foolish,” Brooks said. Despite the risks, Brooks agreed to the project and started creating tools for the interpreter. Brooks started the company in order to publish such tools. “Eventually we used those tools to finish the interpreter, which became
Liam Elkind Scott Fairbanks Jacob Grunebaum Sharon Lin Olivia Liu (two gold keys) Maya Mitrasinovic Aparna Nair-Kannegati Noah Tang
a long-lived success,” he said. “I just found opportunities to invent new software that I thought needed to exist.” After creating a product called Run/C, the first interpreter for the C language, Brooks continued working at the company from 1984 to 1994, creating almost 10 different PC-based software products, many of which were reviewed in acclaimed publications such as The New York Times and PC Magazine. The most famous of Brooks’s products is the national award-winning SlipKnot, one of the earliest used web browsers. But while working at Micromind Inc was all fun and games for Brooks at the time, he realized he needed a steady income after he got married. “Being a lone inventor is a risky business, with wide variations in income, [and] a great adventure when you’re young and single,” Brooks said. And so he decided to be a consultant at Wall Street and do some industrial teaching in which he would teach students pursuing a career in math and engineering. Industrial teaching was a frustrating job. Though it paid him well, Brooks found the job lacking in purpose, because he only had about a week to teach an entire course. Additionally, the work simply did not provide him with the thrill and enjoyment he needed in his life. He felt he had no relationship with his students, nor did he have the time to get to know them personally. All of this changed when a student invited him to speak at Stuyvesant High School. This student, who was a junior at Stuyvesant at the time, used to be mentored by Brooks on coding. “[I’ve known] him since he was born,”
Brooks explained. “When he was about nine years old, my friends asked me to teach him computer programming, and so each week, I would show up at their apartment, teach [the student] some Visual Basic for about [an] hour, and then was paid with a homecooked meal.” During his speech, Brooks realized that he enjoyed giving talks to students and discussing the smallest and most trivial of things in detail. “Fifteen years ago, I had no idea I would’ve been bitten by the teaching bug,” Brooks said. He reevaluated his career, and thus decided to apply to become a teacher at Stuyvesant. Since landing himself a job here as a computer science teacher, Brooks has been working for more than 10 years, teaching Intro to Computer Science. “This job is the highest stress, lowest paid, and least respected,” Brooks said. Nevertheless, he enjoys interacting with his students and has created several unique tools to help educate his classes and benefit the Stuyvesant community. Such tools include a website that keeps track of Stuyvesant’s bell schedule, which is used by many students during the school day, and a set of educational videos to teach his Intro students basic programming, inspired by Salman Khan, the creator of Khan Academy. Looking back at the twists and turns of Brooks’s timeline, it’s safe to say that he has taken on many roles: historical witness, student, inventor, and corporate founder. But of all these titles, there is perhaps nothing more influential than the role Brooks has played as a teacher.
The Spectator â—? March 4, 2016
Page 8
Features What’s the Farthest You’ve Been from Home? By The features department
Alicia Pohan, English “When I was 26, I spent five weeks in South Africa taking care of orphaned baby Vervet monkeys. They tend to freak out if you look at them the wrong way, and they were a little too eager to stick their tongues up your nose, and when they bite they can really latch on— trust me, I have the scars to prove it — but it was still one of the best summers of my life.�
Allison Barber, English
Pasqua Rocchio, Languages
“I spent the summer of 2007 studying abroad in Prague. It was the furthest I ever traveled and the first time I was traveling by myself. I spent every weekend taking the train to different cities. My favorite city besides Prague was, and still is, Budapest.�
“The farthest I’ve been from home is Argentina, because my family took me there when I was nine years old.�
Zachary Berman, History “I’ve gone pretty far, both in miles and metaphorically. [...] Through Hindu temples to walking through the lost city of Fes, I really felt for the people, and it was culturally moving. Probably the farthest I’ve gone is India. Why India? India’s amazing!�
Eric Grossman, English “The farthest I’ve been from home is Bali, Indonesia. I was on my honeymoon almost 20 years ago. It was the farthest we could get away from home, and it was good to go because we weren’t going to go for a long time.�
Robert Sandler, History “I went to Japan about 15 years ago. I was selected to be part of an educator tour led by the Japan Society. For three weeks, we explored Japanese culture, society, and history. The highlight was a homestay with a Japanese family. I loved the food, and the ancient temples in Kyoto and Hiroshima [were] very interesting.�
Dermot Hannon, English “Once, I was in Japan for 32 weeks. I was there for vacation, and I got this cheap flight.�
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The Spectator â&#x2014;? March 4, 2016
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Editorials Staff Editorial
The Spectator
Our New York New York City means different things to different people. Some consider it a cultural hub, while others fantasize about the glittering skyline shown in every episode of “Gossip Girl.” Maybe Woody Allen’s more tasteful snapshots of the city come to mind, or maybe you’re picturing Wall Street monkey suits. NYC may be best known for its hustle and bustle or its baffling number of rich immigrant communities. Your favorite part of this city may be the Fashion District, or the food, or the fact that it’s a financial center of the world, but one thing is for sure: New York is our home. So, when Texas senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz called out businessman, television personality, and presidential candidate Donald Trump for having “New York values,” a term
We take NYC’s nickname, “the city that never sleeps,” to heart every time we pull an all-nighter to do well on a single pre-calculus exam.
he later claimed to mean “money and the media,” thousands of New Yorkers jumped to the city’s defense. They took to social media platforms with their own vignettes of what New York City means to them, painting their own pictures of their city. And as we look around at our New York, or at least the microcosm of New York concentrated within the walls of Stuyvesant High School, what do we see? As Stuyvesant students, we have a high school experience that barely resembles the suburban teenager narrative that dominates popular culture. Not only are we surrounded by cultural and academic opportunities— for example, some of the world’s greatest art collections, along with university laboratories that offer prestigious internships—but the diversity that exists in New York City provides us with a more nuanced perspective. On the flip side, we see things with which we are dissatisfied: we see segregation, and we see a type of roaring competition. Above all, when we look around our school, we see the reflection of a city that, as flawed as it is fascinating, is uniquely our own. The People Stuyvesant’s student body, like the student bodies of other specialized and selective high schools around the city, does not correspond directly with a particular ethnicity, or geographic location, or socioeconomic class. Students come from all different neighborhoods, from Elmhurst to Brighton Beach. Many students are first or second generation immigrants from
a vast number of regions in South and East Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. For this reason, it is not uncommon to hear students yelling at their parents in Russian while they wait on line for program changes, or classmates speaking to one another in Mandarin as they grab textbooks from their lockers. Because it is a city filled with immigrants, New York often exists as a place to “make it” in America. And Stuyvesant, in particular, feels this current, as many students are often told by their parents, “I came here so that you could have a better future.” Still, while New York is often touted as one of the most diverse cities in the world, it’s also one of the most segregated. This geographic disparity lends itself to segregation in zoned public schools, which, in turn, can lead to greater educational disadvantage in certain neighborhoods. Our community may be economically diverse, with almost half of our student body qualifying for free or reduced price lunch, but minority racial groups are disturbingly underrepresented. Less than five percent of our school population is black or Latino, while approximately 70 percent of the students enrolled in NYC public schools belong to these racial groups. This just goes to show that, as Stuyvesant students, our New York is vastly different from the New Yorks of many other high school students living in the exact same city as us. On a day-to-day basis, we interact with people of all sorts of backgrounds, but, at the same time, many voices are missing from the conversation. Like the city as a whole, our community is both diverse and segregated at the same time. The Atmosphere Stuyvesant’s intense atmosphere corresponds to the fastpaced culture of New York. We live
The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
Stuyvesant to the actors who populate Broadway. While outside of Stuyvesant the goal of an 80-hour work week is a high salary or other glory, within our school, grades provide the incentive for positive and negative competition. For these reasons, New Yorkers are known for their stereotypically curt attitudes or aggressively bumping into each other on the sidewalk without apologizing, honking while stuck in traffic, and getting into arguments on the subway. But the same people, crammed like sardines into a subway, will stop to give detailed directions to anyone who asks, be it native or tourist, regardless of race or ethnicity. Perhaps, Cruz was alluding to our New York grouchiness or perceived ¬¬cutthroat tendencies when he slammed Trump for his so-called “New York values.” However, it is likely that Cruz has never seen our New York. As much as competitiveness can pit both New Yorkers and Stuyvesant students against each other and themselves, this competition is rooted in something rich in the Stuyvesant and New York communities: passion. This passion can manifest itself as compassion. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, for example, schools readily took in students who weren’t their own, and many of us packed boxes filled with canned goods and toiletries to help those in need. A similar mentality of cooperation even under stress exists at Stuyvesant, where it is often in the hardest classes that students help each other out the most. When a student is absent, others will rea¬dily provide detailed descriptions of what went happened in class and a picture of their own notes. And with so many people accomplishing so much, within and outside the classroom, there is a sense of respect that accompanies it all. It halts the competition in our lives, if only for the moment that it takes
As much as competitiveness can pit both New Yorkers and Stuyvesant students against each other and themselves, this competition is rooted in something rich in the Stuyvesant and New York communities: passion.
in an already competitive city, and also attend one of the most competitive high schools the city has to offer. It is no secret that Stuyvesant students care deeply about their grades. We take NYC’s nickname, “the city that never sleeps,” to heart every time we pull an allnighter to do well on a single precalculus exam. We are so obsessed with grades that we feel the need to know how all of our peers are doing in every subject, because, in order for us to feel good about ourselves, we must be the very best. This same competitive attitude that exists at Stuyvesant permeates the entire city, from the Wall Street employees we see around
to hear the high note of the violin soloist at the winter concert, or to read an award winning poem by the kid right across the aisle. We have a certain sense of awe for our fellow students, and might not, were it not for the competitive passion that inspires every one of us to gaze around, try to be just a bit better ourselves. So when we walk through the halls of Stuyvesant, we see both the alluring and the ugly faces of our demographics and our academic competition. But we also see debaters arguing, robotics kids testing machines, dance crews practicing. We see students doing what they love with ferocity, with a uniquely Stuyvesant, uniquely New York passion.
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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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In the previous issue of The Spectator, it was implied that Coordinator of Student Affairs Matthew Polazzo’s salary is paid by the Student Union (SU). While the SU pays the salaries of SING! supervisors, Polazzo’s salary is actually paid for by the school. This year, the SU had to account for the salaries of more supervisors, costing it more money.”
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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Opinions
Jessica Wu/ The Spectator
A War on Zika, Not Mosquitoes
By Matteo Wong Nobody likes mosquitoes. Their only purpose is to be annoying; they buzz around near your ears, leave you with itchy bite marks, and are impossible to kill. I have a particular sensitivity to mosquito bites, and it causes them to swell up like painful little anthills. But mosquitoes can cause much worse than minor discomfort. They are transmitters of deadly diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, and most recently, the Zika virus. The danger of this virus, which causes a few mild symptoms in adults, lies within its effect on fetuses. If a pregnant woman contracts the virus, her child may be born with a severe birth defect—microcephaly— which would mean that her baby would have an underdeveloped brain, a shorter lifespan, and mental disabilities. Worse, this effect is extremely common—in a Center for Disease Control and Prevention study of mothers who had visited Zika-infected countries while pregnant and later reported
symptoms of the disease, 71 percent of their children had severe microcephaly. In 2015, the Zika virus exploded into an enormous outbreak. This February, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 41 countries, mostly in South America, had been infected. Brazil has been the main victim, with over a million infections and over 4,000 cases of microcephaly. Most alarmingly, the 2016 Summer Olympics are going to be in Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil’s largest cities. As a result, thousands could contract the Zika virus and spread it around the globe. Eradicating the Zika virus will not be easy, but the danger it poses to pregnant mothers and their fetuses makes it a top priority. The WHO is currently fast-tracking research to fight the malicious disease. One promising development has been made by Oxitec, a British biotech company: genetically modified mosquitoes. These mosquitoes are
males, and when they mate, their offspring die before reaching maturity. Thus, releasing them into the wild has the potential to curb, or even eradicate, the mosquito population. Many are seriously considering this method as a possible way to eliminate the Zika virus. At a glance, this solution is very appealing. Mosquitoes cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year by way of malaria and dengue fever, and nobody would miss being covered in itchy lumps during the summer. Nonetheless, scientists are hesitant to implement genetically modified mosquitoes because they are unsure how they would affect South American ecosystems, such as swampy areas and rainforests. Though it may seem like mosquitoes play no ecological role, in the past, interfering with the environment has had disastrous effects. The last time an attempt was made to eradicate mosquitoes was in the 1940s, when the WHO sprayed massive amounts of the pesticide DDT in Africa to kill the annoying pests and slow the spread of malaria. In the U.S., farmers also used DDT as an insecticide. But, unknowingly, in spraying DDT, farmers and scientists also unleashed an ecological disaster. In America, DDT decimated the bald eagle population and destroyed many ecosystems, such as that of Lake Apopka in Florida, which essentially turned into a dead zone as a result of the pesticide. Ultimately, the WHO’s efforts in Africa failed. In 1972, DDT was banned from public use. Eradicating mosquitoes in Brazil could cause a similar sort of ecosystem collapse, even
without poison distribution. Every environment has a delicate balance, and removing a single organism from the cycle can re-
slowing the spread of the Zika virus. However, this solution is only temporary, as prolonged use of poisons could replicate the DDT
Despite the threat that [DDT and other] chemicals pose to the environment, the Zika virus poses an even larger threat to humanity.
sult in disaster. While mosquitoes’ effect on the environment may seem trivial at best, they actually serve as a food source for birds and bats and as pollinators for indigenous plants. Right now, because scientists are unsure of the role mosquitoes play in the environment, a longterm solution for the Zika virus may not be viable. But, in the short term, something has to be done. The 2016 Summer Olympics are approaching quickly, and if it moves forward as planned, tens of thousands of spectators will be bitten by mosquitoes, potentially bringing the Zika virus back to their home countries. Small measures must be taken to combat this disease. Because of this, DDT and other powerful insecticides may need to be used sparingly in Brazil. Despite the threat that these chemicals pose to the environment, the Zika virus poses an even larger threat to humanity. By using toxins in controlled areas, such as in ponds where mosquitoes breed, the mosquito population would be curbed substantially, thus
disaster of the 1940s. In the future, more research needs to be conducted on how mosquitoes affect their surrounding environment. Zika poses a unique threat to women and children throughout South America, and a proactive approach needs to be taken toward combatting it. Some scientists have posited that mosquitoes’ ecological role is minimal and would easily be filled by other insects. If this can be confirmed, genetically modified mosquitoes would be a powerful tool in eliminating Zika and other more harmful diseases like Malaria. A lack of research was once the reason not to spray DDT. Today, lack of research is the reason why scientists cannot safely launch a full-fledged war against mosquitoes. I would love to see mosquitoes wiped out—it would make summer easier and could save millions of lives—but as of now, the idea of exterminating an entire species is too risky to be viable.
Vahn Williams / The Spectator
By Annie Feng My mother, a doctor, has frequently told me, “Annie, if I ever get to the point when I am dying and am in pain, promise me you’ll let me go.” She has impressed on me that she wants no heroic measures at the end of her life. My mom never wants to feel, in her final moments on earth, the agony of someone breaking her ribs in an attempt to resuscitate her. After a long day at work, she sometimes vents to me about patients’ families who insist that doctors use the cutting edge of medicine to do everything they can to save the patient. “How can anyone do that to their family?” she asks, but not without sympa-
This system’s setup encourages physicians to err on the side of too much treatment.
thy. Many patients do everything they can to stay alive in a war against age and illness because a lack of end of life (palliative) care has left them with no other option.
Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Palliative care is a relatively recent development, beginning in the 1960s, and is still widely misunderstood. The mere mention of palliative care implies that the doctor and patient have given up. Because of this, it remains a taboo topic in hospitals and, even when discussed, is addressed with the language of defeat. Patients or their families come into the hospital frightened and overwhelmed because they hold unrealistic expectations of what medicine can actually accomplish. They suspect doctors who advise them against medical action might have ulterior motives of saving time, money, or effort. A flawed system is largely to blame. Nurses and doctors often receive inadequate training in palliative care and few specialists in the area exist. Doctors are able to use the fee-for-service model to make more money by carrying out what they know are futile treatments. Physicians, nurses, and EMTs are required to do everything possible to revive a patient unless the patient has written and signed an order beforehand against it, and as such are in danger of lawsuits for administering palliative care. This system’s setup encourages physicians to err on the side of too much treatment. This issue hits home for me because of the death of my grandparents. My grandmother died a painful death, and my time with her at the end was frequently spent on the verge of tears. She had gone through chemotherapy and surgery, and while the procedures bought her a longer life,
they ultimately worsened her fate. We did not try to prolong life as much with my grandfather and decided against surgery, instead focusing on keeping him as comfortable as possible. His death, in
of life care. Aggressive treatment for late-stage diseases is rarely the better option and, from a pragmatic perspective, wastes financial and medical resources on what is ultimately a losing
For many patients, the process of dying is a war against age and illness, and they want to do everything they can to stay alive, but many patients are not informed they have any other option.
contrast, was relatively peaceful. He remained remarkably lucid until the end, sometimes asking about his treatments as blood and saline dripped down the IVs. Once when I came to visit, he even managed to smile at me. Better palliative care and physicians who were open about our options helped my family make these decisions. Palliative care and medical professionals’ approaches towards death require serious change. Improvements such as federal funding for palliative care consultations or just allowing patients to enroll in a hospice while still receiving treatment for their disease would remove some of the stigma around end
battle. It is the patient and his or her family’s choice whether to continue these treatments, but a lack of physician transparency and information about palliative care pushes these decisionmakers towards more treatment. Doctors need to truthfully inform patients about their prognoses as soon as they are reasonably confident. Physicians have a duty to advise patients about end of life care and enable them to plan out their limited time. In addition, I personally believe that comfort would be preferable to time at the end of a person’s life. No medicine can ward off death forever, and our attempts to stretch our lifespans just a few more months or years
can lead to that time being spent in agony. Patients need to have the autonomy to choose how they die, and physicians should clearly indicate the options available to them. Dying at home, choosing not to be resuscitated or refusing life support are not topics to be avoided but essential to patient dignity and care. Doctors who are dying frequently avoid drastic lengths to prolong life because they have knowledge of what suffering these treatments often cause. Patients have a right to this information and physicians need to be trained in how to share this with them and put aside personal discomfort in talking to someone about their own death. Palliative care has made great strides, helping to shift medicine’s focus away from curing diseases at all costs. It has brought much needed recognition of the suffering that medicine can unintentionally inflict. It’s exceedingly difficult to tell a person that they’re dying and that medical science can do nothing more to save them, but continuing aggressive treatment may not be the most humane option. There is an extremely skewed view of death in medical care and sometimes a stubborn unwillingness to accept mortality. This issue greatly affects the quality of end of life care and worsens the circumstances under which many die. Quality of life is too frequently compromised for quantity. Instead of the obsession with cures, steps should be taken to restore patient autonomy and dignity.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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Opinions
Xin Italie / The Spectator
March 2nd: The Only Day We Wouldn’t Mind Having an Essay Due
By Olivia Kusio Thinking about the SAT is downright stressful. When should you take it? How much should you prep? Should you take the ACT instead? Now, there’s a whole other
factor to the equation. Stuyvesant held the new SAT test during school hours, free to all juniors, on March 2. At first glance, this test may have seemed like a great opportunity, but it was missing a crucial component: the essay. All juniors were scheduled to take this in-school SAT because Stuyvesant signed up to be a part of a Department of Education (DOE) pilot program to increase the number of students who take college-entry exams by removing barriers to testing such as cost and registration. Stuyvesant signed up for the program believing that the optional essay would be included. However, it was later revealed by the DOE that the test would not include an essay in order to make the initiative cheaper. This poses a major problem for many students. Top institutions Stuyvesant students regularly apply to, among them Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, and
Stanford University, require a college-entry exam with essay, and the College Board reports that 13 percent of colleges now have this requirement. It is in a student’s best interests to take the new SAT with the essay, meaning that many will need to take the exam outside of school, as well. Though students may consider the in-school test to be a “practice round,” like the PSAT, colleges will look at the score on this SAT like they would at any other score. And many students cannot afford to do poorly on this SAT because many top schools like Cornell University require students to send in all college-entry exam scores. In addition, many students have already taken the old version of the SAT. If a student takes the SAT too many times, it may appear that he or she is not taking the test seriously, or is having trouble improving his or her scores. The administration did not
know that they were signing up to administer the SAT without the essay section, but an incomplete SAT is useless to a majority of juniors. The pilot program is not just a harmless inconvenience, but a hindrance for Stuyvesant, and possibly for other New York City schools. The DOE pilot program may encourage more students from lower performing schools to take the test, but the colleges these students will be able to apply to will be limited. If the purpose of this initiative is to offer a more level playing field, all students should be taking the same test. Although the cost of including an essay will make the program more expensive, it will improve its quality immensely. The DOE should focus on aiding those that really need the help, and it should provide them with a test that includes the essay. If the DOE is working off the assumption that the act of registering for the test is what keeps so many students from taking it
(the cost of registering is already covered by fee waivers for those who qualify), the revised program could automatically register students from schools where students are less likely to register for the SAT and enroll in college. These students would be registered for the regular Saturday exam so the program would maintain the confidentiality of the students’ financial situations and still automatically register those that would be unlikely to otherwise do so. Juniors that do not want to take an extra SAT would not need to miss a day of school in order to avoid it. Stuyvesant students who did not want to take the in-school SAT had to come into school late on March 2. And those who did take the test may want to reconsider that decision. The test’s incompleteness renders it pointless. It may have been better to save yourself the time and stress of taking a test that could potentially harm your college application.
Chloé Delfau / The Spectator
Making Amends: Repealing the Cuban Embargo
By Joshua Weiner U.S. policy in Cuba has negatively affected the Cuban people. For decades, lawmakers and executives in Washington believed that by pressuring Fidel Castro’s regime with political and economic sanctions, Cuba would change for the better. Instead, these methods failed, and eventually even strengthened the grip of the Castro regime, all the while leaving average Cuban citizens struggling to get by.
As of 2014, however, the Obama Administration has begun to normalize relations with Cuba. Though there are many American legislators who are opposed to this move, as Cuba once brought the U.S. to the brink of nuclear war, Obama’s actions are justified. Yet, it is important that the U.S. government recognizes that its embargo policies have failed, and consequently that they must put past conflicts behind in favor of a new age of cooperation. In the 1950s, Cuban rebel groups under the leadership of Castro, which were supported by the Soviet Union, deposed the U.S.-backed government and established communism in Cuba. Shortly afterwards, in 1959, the Cuban Revolution took place, which gave Castro control of the increasingly totalitarian government. In response, the U.S. government, wary of Castro’s ties to the Soviet Union, imposed crippling economic sanctions on Cuba that have only recently been lifted. The United States’s embargo
on Cuba is extremely controversial among the international community, and within the United States, primarily because the U.S. is the only country involved in it. Further, though the purpose of the embargo was originally to help the Cuban people achieve freedom and wellbeing, according to the Cato Institute, the embargo has done the exact opposite.
Adam Wickham/ The Spectator
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Since the embargo prohibits the U.S. from giving aid to Cuban citizens—who, on average, only earn around $20 per month—the Cuban government, and CubanAmericans in the U.S., end up providing much larger amounts of financial aid. This is problematic because, though the Cuban government has been able to provide for its citizens in the past, the Wall Street Journal notes that it is losing money quickly. The United States’s policies have also forced Cuban Americans to send around $800 million in aid to their struggling relatives in Cuba, disadvantaging U.S. citizens. To add insult to injury, in the 1990s, Congress passed The Cuban Democracy Act, which cut off $700 million in U.S. sales of food and medicine to Cuba at a time when both were in extremely short supply. Meanwhile, the Cuban government estimates that the embargo costs Cuban citizens
$685 million annually—money that is desperately needed to alleviate the poverty that runs rampant throughout Cuba. The United States’s tough line in Cuba has also made Cuba a less favorable business and relations prospect among the international community. In fact, the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Ricardo Alarcon, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, cited 27 cases of Cuban trade contracts that were interrupted by U.S. pressure. With continued U.S. interference in Cuban trade, the circumstances of Cuban citizens could worsen even further. It is one thing to implement policies that reflect U.S. interests in order to accomplish international goals such as the original purpose of the embargo. However, the American people must be conscious of the fact that actions taken by the U.S. can have many unintended consequences. The policies of the Cuban embargo have made medical aid, opportunity, and hope scarce in Cuba, and, until this legislation is repealed, it is apparent that Cuba’s future will only become bleaker.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2015
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Arts and Entertainment Your Guide to Morningside Heights By Anna Usvitsky Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of ineffable diversity. Nestled between the Upper West Side and Harlem, home to Columbia University students and longtime residents in rentstabilized apartments, rich in history yet filled with an youthful ambiance, Morningside Heights is well worth a day trip.
Where to Eat
Notable Figures who resided in Morningside Heights » President Dwight Eisenhower » Poet and Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky » Poet Allen Ginsberg » First African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall » Composer and Pianist George Gershwin » Author F. Scott Fitzgerald
Morningside Heights in Pop Culture » Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives” features a scene in the Hungarian Pasty Shop » Parts of “Ghostbusters” were shot at Columbia University » Setting of J.D Salinger’s “Glass Family” stories
Just across the street from the Cathedral of St. John the Devine you will find a bohemian’s paradise, the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Frequented by students, professors, and several notable authors, this community institution is tried and true. Perhaps, it is the homey ambiance derived from the dim lighting, the Catholic assortment of postmodern art hanging on the walls, or the rustic wooden paneling that keeps its nostalgic patrons coming back. Of course, the scrumptious old world pastries (at an average of $4 apiece) are the real crowd pleaser, featuring favorites like sacher tort and strudel. Tom’s Restaurant, better known as Monk’s Diner on the sitcom “Seinfeld,” is beloved by residents and tourists alike. It is just what you would expect at a great diner: friendly service and heaping portions at a fair price. Though Absolute Bagels may look a bit dingy and the lines may stretch out the door, don’t be deterred. Where Absolute Bagels lacks in style it makes up in taste; these are some of the best bagels in NYC, perhaps the very best. All bagels are baked in-house at this Thai familyrun bakery, and plenty of spreads and toppings are available to make a filling and delectable meal.
What to Do Amidst the mundane Manhattan cityscape stands an architectural masterpiece, the Cathedral of St. John the Devine. This Gothic-Romanesque cathedral is the largest in the world, stretching the length of two football fields and tall enough to fit the Statue of Liberty. Not simply appreciated for its sheer size, St. John’s Cathedral is an awe-inspiring celebration of American history. The stain glass windows do feature biblical stories, as one would assume, but on closer expectation viewers can find glass representations of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, the Declaration of Independence, and the sinking of the Titanic. There is even a sports window commemorating the United States victory at the 1924 Olympics. The cathedral’s chapels pay homage to seven of NYC’s immigrant groups, each designed in a distinct architectural style. Though constructed by medieval means, the Cathedral flourishes in modern NYC, celebrating the diversity of its culture and its people. Admission is free, but fantastic tours are offered for $4, and if you’re up for the 124-foot hike, the $15 Vertical Tour is well worth the price. During the warm months, the grounds surrounding St. John’s offer serenity and shade. Wander through the herb garden, enjoy the flowers, and keep an eye out for the freely wandering peacocks. You can’t miss the Peace Fountain in West 111th Street People’s Garden, a magnificent sculpture depicting the triumph of good over evil as Archangel Michael battles Satan. Walking down 107th street, it’s unlikely that you would take much notice of the Nicholas Roerich Museum. Few would imagine that the quaint and charming brownstone displays an extensive collection of over 150 spectacular works by Russian archeologist, philosopher, and painter Roerich. The collection is dominated by mystical Himalayan landscapes, theatrical designs, and objects gathered by Roerich on his travels through India. Amidst the hubbub of NYC’s streets, the Nicholas Roerich Museum is a sanctuary to contemplate the spiritual realm through its namesake’s works. Admission is free. Described as an oasis by Manhattanites, Riverside Park offers a much-needed escape from busy city life. People take lazy strolls, jog, and bike on the park’s well-kept paths. The park lives up to its name, offering a fantastic view of the Hudson, as well as the New Jersey skyline. At the time of its conception in 1897, it was termed the “crowned jewel of Riverside Park.” Grant’s Tomb, formally known as the General Grant National Memorial, played an important role in the gentrification of Morningside Heights at the time it was built. It continues to be the largest mausoleum in North America. Easily equitable with Paris’s Les Invalides for Napoleon, the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia, is a must see for history lovers.
Veiled by its dark past, many have disregarded Morningside Heights as a NYC neighborhood not worth exploring. Lift the veil, take a day trip into Morningside Heights, and discover all of its treasures.
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In Other Words
Yi Zhu / The Spectator
Yi Zhu / The Spectator
How It All Started Today, as streets fill with college students rushing to class, it would be difficult to imagine Morningside Heights, precisely the Barnard Campus, as the setting of a Revolutionary War battle. Yet, in 1776, the Battle of Harlem proved a small yet decisively morale-boosting victory for American soldiers. At the time of the Revolutionary War, Morningside Heights was little more than a collection of scattered farms, called Vandewater Heights, after the Dutch Farmer who acquired much of the land during the 17th Century. In the 19th century, efforts to develop the neighborhood began. King’s College (now Columbia University), built the Bloomingdale Asylum, named after Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway). A piece of undesirable land was transformed into a park, temporarily named Mor ningside Park, as its eastward hills were the first to catch the morning sun. The name remained and was soon adapted by the neighborhood itself. As rent skyrocketed in Midtown, many non-profit institutions escaped into the far cheaper Morningside Heights. The best known of those institutions, Columbia University, relocated in 1897, marking the start of Morningside Heights’ transformation into a “college town.” During the mid-19th century, Columbia was seen as an oasis of civilization within a dangerous neighborhood that had depreciated into slum-hood. In 1968, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, racial tensions broke out between Columbia University and neighborhood residents over the construction of a gymnasium in Morningside Park. Part of the gym would be allocated to the Columbia student body, while a smaller portion would be made available to the predominantly African American residents of the neighborhood. Accusations of segregation ensued, strikes were organized, and the project was eventually scrapped. With aid from David Rockefeller, apartment complexes were built throughout the neighborhood, leading to influx of middleclass residents. Thus, gentrification began, transforming Morningside Heights into a safe, yet underappreciated NYC gem.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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Arts and Entertainment The White Carpet
Thinkpiece By William Lohier I woke up this morning, thinking about homework, finals, and just the struggles of life in general. So, like any good high school student, I began procrastinating. Trolling on Facebook, surfing the web, you know the drill. I was somewhere between watching a Beyoncé music video and halfheartedly listening to an MLK speech on the radio when I stumbled upon the CNN headline: “Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith to boycott Oscars 2016.” I was immediately interested and clicked on the link, eager to see why such influential people would actively boycott an event as important and beloved as the Oscars. After impatiently waiting for an ad to run its course and getting some beef jerky from the pantry, I sat down, jerky in hand, and began to read what I was sure would be a juicy article full of intrigue and deception. However, as I scrolled down through the short paragraphs of text, my expression quickly transformed from one of anticipation to disgust. The reason for the boycott was that, for the second year in a row, no minorities were nominated for any major acting academy awards. 2015 had a pretty diverse array of movies, from “Inside Out” to “Straight Outta Compton” to the new “Star Wars.” So, still surprised and slightly angry at the lack of diversity in this year’s nominations, I went to the Oscars website to scroll through photos of the nominees, and indeed, not a Black, Asian, or Latino face appeared on my screen. What happened? While I’m sure that all of the nominees were completely deserving of their nominations, it galls me to think that the academy could not find one actor of color worthy of an award. What happened to “Straight Outta Compton,” or “Dope,” or “Creed”? Even if there wasn’t a “Selma” (2014) or “Life of Pi” (2012) this year, how hard can it be to acknowledge the accomplishments of minorities in the film industry? Well, I did some research, and it turns out this has been a trend since
the Oscars began. The first Academy Award ever to be won by a minority was in 1939, ten years after the Oscars were established, and was awarded to Hattie McDaniel for her role as Mammy, a house slave, in “Gone With the Wind.” Since then, only 14 Black, 6 Asian, and a mere 2 HispanicAmerican actors and actresses have won Academy Awards. If you do the math, over the course of the 86 years of Oscar history, meaning there have been almost 350 Oscar winners for major acting categories, only 0.06 percent of these winners have been minorities. White people only make up about 75 per-
cent of the n a t i o n’s population according to the Census Bureau, while they make up over 94 percent of those receiving Academy Awards. So what is the cause of this rather large disparity? Since the Oscars began, they have been overwhelmingly white. This lack of diversity has made itself very apparent over the past few years, with similar boycotts happening in previous years. In fact, Chris Rock, the host of this year’s Oscars, referred to the show as “the White BET Awards.” Yet even now, when the president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, is a Black woman, and the Oscars
Kristin Lin / The Spectator
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu is no stranger to movies about human suffering. His previous films, particularly “Babel” (2006) and “Birdman” (2014), are all about mankind’s trials and tribulations. In his latest movie, “The Revenant”, Iñárritu seems to want to push the envelope even further. Not for those prone to queasiness, the film rivals a Tarantino movie in terms of gratuitous violence. The movie opens with an attack by Native Americans on animal trappers who have been hunting for pelts. Arrows and bullets are fired; dozens of men are shot and killed. Among the survivors is Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), who knows the area well and is able to lead the rest of the crew back to their fort. All seems well and as if the group can safely get back to their camp, but, as any movie watcher knows, it’s only a matter of time before some kind of conflict occurs. Glass comes across a large brown bear, and a long, gory bat-
people who I feel are speaking to me, and people that I look up to. When I watched Viola Davis, the first Black woman ever to win an Emmy in her category, step onto the stage, I saw that, as a person of color, it was possible to aspire to be an actor. That it was possible to reach great heights and
The underlying problem of this whole controversy, is not that those selecting the nominees are racist, or that the academy is prejudiced, it is that the whole movie industry simply doesn’t make movies starring people of color.
achieve the seemingly unachievable. So, unlike Smith, I don’t believe that the Oscars should be allowed to continue not acknowledging Black actors. Young Asians, African Americans, and Latinos deserve to be able to look at the list of nominees and see people that look like them, who talk like them, and who can inspire them. The underlying problem of this whole controversy, is not that those selecting the nominees are racist, or that the academy is prejudiced—it is that the whole movie industry simply
doesn’t make movies starring people of color. While there are examples of very successful movies starring Black, Asian, or Latino actors, there definitely not enough of these films being made. Driven by the misconception that films starring people of color don’t sell as well in the U.S. and foreign markets, many companies believe that producing blockbuster films starring people of color is simply a waste of money. As we’ve heard time and time again on the radio, the problem is not that there isn’t a market for films starring minorities, just that these films aren’t being made. As Spike Lee said in his original post, “The “real” battle is […] in the executive office of the Hollywood studios and TV and cable networks.” More minorities get nominations when more minorities appear in blockbuster films. When there are more minorities both in front of and behind the camera. These are decisions that are decided behind closed doors in offices and studios across the country. As Viola Davis said in her Emmy acceptance speech, “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.” The Oscars, and the film industry as a whole, will begin to change not when the Oscars nominate more minorities, but when actors and actresses of color finally begin to enter the industry, when executives cast minorities, and when the executives themselves are minorities. So, this begs the question: come February 28, will I be sitting on the couch, as always, watching the Oscars? I honestly don’t know. I have to admit, I love the glitz and glamour of the red carpet; I love cheering on my favorites and booing when someone I don’t like wins. But I guess I’ll have to see how I feel then and there. While some may tune in on the 28th, and others may join Lee and Pinkett Smith in their boycott, I think that this shouldn’t even be a question. The Oscars should be a celebration, not of white culture, or of black culture, but of the movies of our culture as a whole.
One Man’s Journey
Film By Samantha Han
have both a Black host and Black producer, the Academy couldn’t bear to have one person of color standing on the stage receiving an award. After reading the initial article, I navigated to Spike Lee’s and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Twitters and checked out the “#OscarsSoWhite” tag which trended worldwide. Some comments were pretty ugly and attempted to make light of the controversy surrounding this year’s Oscars. One user posted,“1 out of 30 is 3.3%. What’s the % of blacks, about 10? Oooohh, it was off by a whopping 6.7%. RACISM!!!” Many others, including Smith, made very valid points. In a video released explaining her boycott of the Oscars, Smith explained, “The Academy has the right to acknowledge whomever they choose. […] Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power. And we are a dignified people, and we are powerful. […] So let’s let the Academy do them, with all grace and love. And let’s do us, differently.” Miss Smith’s post was not a call to arms, nor a dismissal of the Academy as a whole. It was simply an acknowledgement of what the Academy is. In her post, Miss Smith tapped into a very relevant vein of thought among minorities that in the face of the overwhelming whiteness of the entertainment industry, the best course of action is simply to let them “do them,” and explore ways to change the system at the root. As a person of color myself, sitting at my computer, chewing on beef jerky, I couldn’t help but agree with Smith. While I rarely watch movies, and much prefer to stress out about bio exams, the films I do watch generally either star or prominently feature a person of color, even in television. I gravitate towards shows starring minorities like “Empire” or “How to Get Away With Murder.” I relate to films that star people I can identify with,
tle ensues before he manages to kill it. However, Glass is left badly mauled and close to death. Glass is left behind with a few other men to die a natural, peaceful death. However, one of the other men, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), tries to smother him as soon as he finds him alone. Glass’s son witnesses this and is subsequently killed. The rest of the movie is pure revenge flick. Although Glass is left to die in a hastily dug grave and it seems certain he will die, both his hallucinations of his dead wife and his obsession with finding Fitzgerald to get payback lead him to climb out of his grave and walk for days in the frozen wilderness while on the brink of death. “The Revenant,” while grue-
some and bloody, is a cinemati-
Katherine Gershfeld / The Spectator
cally gorgeous movie. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki relies almost exclusively on
natural lighting to portray the outdoor environment Glass is confined to. This allows the brutal outdoors to become grimly beautiful in a way that complements Glass’s journey. The snow, though harsh, shimmers in the sunrise. The acting is one of the most notable aspects. There’s no doubt that DiCaprio has worked extraordinarily hard. Glass is, for the most part, alone in the wilderness, and doesn’t speak. However, DiCaprio is able to convey Glass’s struggle through grunts and facial expressions. While he travels alone in the wilderness, the pure determination he feels is evident. It’s a running gag that, no matter how hard DiCaprio tries, he just can’t win an Oscar. He has lost five times and with his recent nomination for this role, there’s much speculation on whether he’ll finally win. Hardy also does an excellent job as Fitzgerald, a completely
ruthless villain. His subtle facial movements, intimidating yet desperate, evoke the sense of a beaten dog. He is always alert, his eyes darting back and forth, wary of imminent danger. His broad stance elucidates Fitzgerald’s merciless ways, making it definite Glass is doomed. Although “The Revenant” is designed to be a compelling epic, it’s weighed down by its length. At around two and a half hours, the middle is in desperate need for a trim. Glass’s journey back to the fort allows for beautiful cinematography, but is overly long, and leaves audiences impatient for him to finally arrive. This plot is only drawn out by the inordinate amount of violence in the film. This gratuitous mayhem, added to create shock rather than evoke emotional connection, is so extreme that it ironically becomes boring. The scene in which Glass is mauled by a bear is particularly drawn out and difficult to watch. But if viewers aren’t bothered by the long run time and the excessive brutality, this film is a captivating adventure that leaves the audience shaken and amazed.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 18
Arts and Entertainment FILM By Tiffany Chen Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz), a blonde 16-year-old girl, runs into a deserted store, an M16 in her hand. She desperately looks for food before she hears a man just as desperately yelling for help. She follows the voice to see a man pointing a gun at her. “Drop it!” she yells to the man. He shakily does, before telling her to do the same. She hesitates, realizing that he’s hiding his right hand, and demands he show what he’s hiding. He does, and seeing a piece of metal, she automatically shoots. Afterwards, she gasps in shock when she realizes the metal was a crucifix. Pondering about her actions, she writes in her notebook: “How do you get rid of humans? First, you rid humans of their humanity.” This is the opening scene in “The Fifth Wave” (2016), a science-fiction thriller film directed by J Blakeson. Adapted from the book of the same name by Rick Yancey, it follows Cassie as she goes from worrying about soccer practice with her best friend Lizbeth (Gabriela Lopez) to worrying about the survival of her and her little brother Sammy (Zackary Arthur). The world is being taken over by the Others, an alien race that needs the Earth’s resources. Cassie and Sammy are saved by the U.S. army. However, they become separated, and Cassie is determined to do whatever it takes to find her brother. The most disheartening aspect of this film is how similar it is to other recent dystopian movies, such as “The Hunger Games,”
MUSIC By Ayako Gatheral If Cage the Elephant albums were stages in life, “Tell Me I’m Pretty” (2015) would be the adult stage. Their first album, “Cage the Elephant” (2008), would be the American Alternative Rock band still in its infancy. It is a slightly pessimistic commentary on society that Cage the Elephant still managed to make playful and boisterous. “Thank You, Happy Birthday” (2011) would be the rebellious teenager phase, with its punk influences, excessive screaming, and intense lyrics. “Melophobia” (2013), with its quieter, more thoughtful and experimental songs, would be the transitional phase.
“Tell Me I’m Pretty” is particularly unique because it draws on many of Shultz’s own experiences.
In “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” Cage the Elephant smoothly integrates the influences from “Melophobia” and some new influences, while still keeping the signature flair from the first
The Fifth Wave of Clichéd Dystopias
“Divergent,” and “The Giver.” The plot had so much potential, but it is wasted on anticlimactic plot twists and on typical bland characters, similar to those present in other dystopian plots. The cinematography is quite beautiful and majestic, with attention-grabbing shots, like the moment Cassie and her family first encounter the Others’ ship and when an airplane crashes in front of Cassie’s school. However, this is common among most YA science-fiction films, and it doesn’t help “The Fifth Wave” set itself apart from others. Even the governmental antagonists seem to be copied and pasted into the setting, completely unoriginal from other dystopias. The film, in itself, is the most clichéd dystopia produced yet. With a clichéd dystopia comes a clichéd love triangle, and “The Fifth Wave” packs this in perfectly, as Cassie is forced to choose between her sweet crush back home named Ben (Nick Robinson) and a hot creep named Evan (Alex Roe). (If a guy goes through your things and reads your very private journal, he is automatically a creep. No question about it.) While they don’t necessarily fight for Cassie’s love (they don’t meet until the very end), there is no question about the jealousy the two harbor for each other. And while the jealousy doesn’t seem forced, the chemistry between Cassie and Evan seems unnatural. The chemistry between Cassie and Ben, on the other hand, is totally adorkable, making “Team Ben” the better choice. The most integral part about this film is the characters and
their motivations. Unlike other dystopias that focus more on the corrupt government and the futuristic setting, “The Fifth Wave” focuses on the characters and their actions, adding more unused potential to the movie. Despite this focus, the movie was unable to develop characters fully, leaving most to conform to their stereotypical selves. Moretz’s acting is absolutely flawless. Despite seeming overdone at first (possibly due to how vain Cassie is at the beginning, complaining about “an early curfew, a final exam, and soccer practice”), her subtlety and radiant charm win the viewers over. She is the perfect mix of the sweet girl-next-door and the cunning, quick-on-her-feet strategist, which works in her favor. Her love for her brother, although sometimes too dramatized, is the sweetest thing ever; she even keeps Sammy’s teddy bear with her throughout the movie as part of her promise to find her brother no matter what. I’m sad that such a strong character like Cassie has to have such a bland love interest, but nonetheless, she is still loveable and comes out of the movie completely changed in the best way possible. She sees life in a whole new light, feeling grateful for the small things rather than complaining about them. Evan, the mysterious man who saves Cassie, blends in with the typical love interests of strong female protagonists. He stalks Cassie as she runs through the woods and lusts over her, claiming that he saved her to “feel more human,” when really, it was to get into her pants. In fact, he knows
almost nothing about her except for her beauty, so he justifies going through her pictures and reading her diary as a way to find out more about her. He even prohibits her from escaping, setting up rope traps in case she does. To top it off, this dude is smoking hot with pulsing biceps and a sixpack, and he is not afraid to show it as he washes himself in a river and chops wood in his backyard. Their entire love is based off of lust and teenage hormones, and considering his corny declarations of love, it’s hard to root for “Team Evan.” Ben, on the other hand, has something else going for him in the movie: his much more interesting plotline. With the nickname Zombie (what his football teammates and army squad call him), he is one of the few that were saved by the army and was enlisted to fight the Others in a war. He is an extremely likeable character, tying Sammy to the door so that the boy won’t have to fight for the army and sacrificing himself so that the rest of the army squad would stay safe. However, that’s all he is: a likeable character. With a lack of character development, he is only seen as a nice guy, but not much more. Although he was blessed with a more intriguing plot, his lack of character development and interesting personality traits only make him a mediocre addition to the film. Another standout character is Ringer (Maika Monroe). Unlike Cassie, she does not have a charming personality, and she is also not afraid to speak her mind. With her strong eye makeup and
her feminist and badass self, she stands out among the rest, having been kicked out of her own squad to join Ben’s. With an opening scene as strong as hers (she approaches the squad asking to play chess, and when Flintstone (Alex MacNicoll) suggests they play strip poker, and, instead, she strikes his neck), there’s no way to hate the strong, fiery girl. Her presence is striking, making the movie a stronger and more entertaining watch. The movie has an extremely fast pace, which is able to effectively suck the viewer in. Usually, when movies have a fast pace, they are hard to follow, but “The Fifth Wave” is a fine exception; it doesn’t leave any viewer confused. However, the events are too rushed, as plot twists are given too quickly. There is barely any time given for character and plot development, which gives “The Fifth Wave” a lackluster quality. Despite its potential with a unique setting and talented cast, “The Fifth Wave” does not deliver. However, the movie does successfully make you think about the human race and its impact on the planet. Through an exchange between Ben and leader of the U.S. army Colonel Vosch (Liev Schreiber), we learn that humans are essentially the Others, killing off other species because of our need for natural resources. Although most aspects of this film do not stray far from the typical dystopian film, this part stands out, allowing viewers to walk out of the film with a new insight to the human race and how we affect the world around us.
“Tell Me I’m Pretty” is Pretty Good two albums. “Tell Me I’m Pretty” was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, a close friend of Cage the Elephant’s lead singer, Matt Shultz. Unsurprisingly, “Mess Around,” the first single off “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” was initially criticized for sounding too much like The Black Keys. However, this first impression may have been misleading, since there is such a diverse range of songs on the album. In fact, when referring to the album, Shultz said, “For us, this record is honesty, and the songs have so much diversity in them that I don’t feel like any song is representative of the entire album, kind of like each sound has its own personality.” And he’s right. Songs like “How Are You True” are filled with quiet acoustic guitar and hushed vocals, while “Portuguese Knife Fight” is full of heavy drum sequences and riotous guitar riffs. The carnival-music sound that Cage the Elephant experimented with in its third album, “Melophobia,” comes back in “Tell Me I’m Pretty” with songs like “Trouble.” The beginning of “Trouble” sounds like a slightly darker version of merry-goround music, with Shultz’s high pitched, otherworldly oohing coming in a few seconds later. The song also contains a small nod to their first chart-topping song, “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” with Shultz singing, “You know what they say, yeah, the wicked get no rest.” “Tell Me I’m Pretty” is particularly unique because it
draws on many of Shultz’s own experiences. Shultz revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the album partly drew off of his experi-
Taylor Choi / The Spectator
ences with depression. The song “Cold Cold Cold” clearly relates to this theme, with lines like “Doctor can you help me ‘cause something don’t feel right.” “Sweetie Little Jean” was apparently influenced by one of Shultz’s childhood experiences, when a girl named Jean from his neighborhood was kidnapped. Although both of these songs have an upbeat rhythm, both
sound more forlorn compared to many of the other tracks on the album, reflecting their dark lyrics. Perhaps the song with the most interesting backstory is “How Are You True.” It has a title that doesn’t really make sense and makes the listener wonder what the song could possibly be about. It turns out that the song is about a boy named True who Shultz actually met on an airplane, hence the line “I remember clearly we were both there on the airplane.” The boy was on his way to rehab and told Shultz his whole story. The song is dedicated to True and mingles Shultz’s experiences with True’s. “How Are You True” is one of the most moving songs on the album. It is definitely the quietest song, with soft acoustic guitar, hushed harmonies, and less drums than in the other songs. In the first line of the chorus, Shultz croons, “Hey, how are you, True?” Even though he’s talking to True, it seems like he’s talking to everyone listening to the song, like it’s a word of encouragement to every young person still trying to find his or her way. The album also has a captivating title that doesn’t seem to fit any sort of cohesive theme. “Tell Me I’m Pretty” seems like a strange album title for an all-male band, and it isn’t the title of any of the songs. Shultz explained to Entertainment Weekly that “It’s about duality. It sounds like a lost New York Dolls
title on the surface; very shiny and glossy. And then there’s also an underbelly, this idea [of ] approval that comes from living in the selfie generation.” Perhaps the title has to do with the sadness and depression, the feeling of being unappreciated that is discussed in some of the album’s songs. The experience of listening to “Tell Me I’m Pretty” is a rollercoaster of emotion. It starts off pessimistically, with songs like “Cry Baby” and “Sweetie Little Jean,” though “Mess Around” is slightly more cheerful. “Too Late To Say Goodbye,” “Cold Cold Cold,” and “Trouble” seem to stem from the depths of Shultz’s depression. “How Are You True,” though a song with a sad story, transitions into having a slightly more optimistic view, with Shultz softly reassuring that “the light will guide you home.” Finally, the listener is consoled with three fun, wild songs, “That’s Right,” “Punchin’ Bag,” and “Portuguese Knife Fight.” It’s hard to stay dejected when Matt Shultz tells you to “take all your problems, leave them far behind.” Although it’s hard to discern a clear theme connecting the songs, “Tell Me I’m Pretty” is a successful collection of tracks that shows an overall change in emotion by the end of the album, as if showing the maturation of a person, in line with how the album itself is representative of the band’s maturation. However, if I had to pinpoint one trait that transcends time and continues to remain prevalent in Cage the Elephant’s work, it would be the honesty of each song, which allows each to serve a special purpose in creating this album of raw feeling.
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 19
Arts and Entertainment Under Deadpool’s Crass Humor Lies Love
FILM By Sunjay Lee Upon hearing the name of the character Deadpool, Marvel Comics fans will immediately recognize him the as twisted, sarcastic, and most paradoxical protagonist in the Marvel universe. In the movie “Deadpool,” released on Valentine’s Day, the comics came to life with Ryan Reynolds as the immortal, mutant anti-hero. Deadpool’s real name is Wade Wilson, and after a dishonorable discharge from the army, he leads a mercenary life, scaring off stalkers of teenage girls and playing his life away in the dead pool at the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Everyone at the bar bets against the mercenaries to see who will die at the end of the week. Even his friend and bartender, Weasel, bets against him. But upon meeting Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), he seems to settle in with the love of his life until he finds out that he has latestage cancer that has spread to most of his body. Upon hearing such news, he gets a visit from Agent Smith, a representative of
“The Workshop” led by a British girlfriend, Vanessa, is reminiscent doctor named Ajax. Agent Smith of a twisted, unbelievably crass promises him a cure for his can- version of “Beauty and the Beast.” cer as well as superhero powers After his transformation into that ordinary men Deadpool, he seeks can only dream of. out Vanessa––only Wade then agrees to be horrified by to have the cure his own appearand undergoes ance, and frightmultiple torturous ened of her possible experiments until reaction to his new his mutant gene is self. unlocked: healing The short reel of powers. From there, scenes that shows he goes on to rescue their romance highVanessa from Franlights probably the cis. only emotional part Through nuof the movie. At the merous press conend of their fantaferences and insy-like romance, terviews, Reynolds as Wade gets his has shown his passion Emily Wu / The Spectator late-stage cancer ditoward the movie; he agnosis, he studies spent a decade trying to get it to Vanessa’s face, so as not to forget production, and then dedicated her when he dies. The most senhimself to being the most realistic sitive and raw part of Deadpool and funny Deadpool possible. And is his undying love for Vanessa. he has achieved the feat. Many Reynolds and Baccarin played consider this Reynolds’s come- the passionate couple perfectly— back after starring in big flops, Vanessa’s wit and clever lines were such as “The Green Lantern” and not overshadowed by Deadpool, “R.I.P.D.” but instead complemented his Deadpool’s romance with his character.
Last year, Anthony Rapp, best known for his work in the original Broadway cast of “Rent,” announced plans for “BroadwayCon,” a convention akin to Comic Con, but centered around the theater community. Rapp described it as “not only [...] a singular opportunity to spend quality time with those who love Broadway most, but [...] the convention that this community deserves.” As a huge fan of Broadway, I scored a pass for all three days as soon as tickets were available. From January 22 to January 24 at the Hilton hotel, Rapp’s words rang true for me; it was the experience of a lifetime for any fan of Broadway, and a chance to finally mingle with not only those as obsessive about theater as I was, but also the stars of the stage. After I arrived and signed in, donning a pass with my name and the names of my favorite Broadway shows, I headed to the meetup for “Rent” fans. The meeting room was packed with fans of the show, many sharing touching stories about their experience with “Rent,” from watching the show, to meeting their friends or lovers
back. Colossus, the iron-made XMan, makes constant efforts to get Deadpool to join the X-Men, but hilariously fails every time, for Deadpool just does not care about the fame and prestige that come with being a superhero. The only soft spot he harnesses is for Vanessa and his friends. Underneath the crude, satirical, and promiscuous humor lies his love for the people around him. And that’s why, despite his unconventional ways, Deadpool remains a protagonist in the Marvel universe. Possibly the most unconventional yet best Valentine’s Day movie date ever, “Deadpool” attracted numerous couples to the showing I saw. But regardless of relationship status or experience with the Marvel universe, audience members can enjoy Deadpool as a true hero of the modern age. Deadpool’s refusal to accept anything tragic and his tendency to see everything in a humorous way are just the comic relief that everyone needs nowadays. By offering the audience the ultimate badass, carefree character, Deadpool becomes the most realistic hero of our time.
BroadwayCon: A Theater Geek Heaven
Feature By Jenna Bawer
Deadpool is the only character in the Marvel universe that breaks the fourth wall, directly speaking to the audience. In fact, Deadpool goes as far to say: “Fourth wall break inside of a fourth wall break? That’s like…sixteen walls!” By speaking directly to his audience, Deadpool is able to feed his viewers all of his feelings and thoughts directly, and that’s why his humor is so raw and so real. And by breaking the fourth wall, Deadpool freely ridicules his own movie, as well as “The Green Lantern,” Marvel Studios, and the XMen series. Deadpool does not have a filter himself, even when he is being tortured into becoming a mutant. In fact, he constantly jabs at Francis for using a fake name, Ajax; in their last fight scene and until the last gunshot, Deadpool never loses his sense of humor. As a pretty big fan of Marvel movies, I was pleased to see a breakaway from the clichéd “I care about freedom, and the good of the world” protagonist (ahem, Captain America). Deadpool doesn’t really care if his methods are wrong or unethical; he just wants to get the love of his life
through a shared love, to putting the musical on with their own theater groups. We even sang some songs from the show together (and heard the “Hamilton” meetup next door singing as well). Then, I headed to the MainStage for the opening ceremony. The opening was a short show about a young girl who wants to start a BroadwayCon, chock full of comedic references to a variety of musicals, parodies of songs from “Hairspray,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Hamilton,” and an original song, featuring Rapp himself, to the fans who came to BroadwayCon, calling it “the place for you”—a place to geek out about your love of theater. I immediately understood what this weekend was going to be: a haven for big theater fans of all ages, interested in all types of shows. The convention was reminiscent of the traditional Comic Con scene, but with Broadway instead of comic books and cartoons. Fans dressed up in cosplay as famous characters like Inspector Javert from “Les Miserables,” Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors,” Mark Cohen from “Rent,” and King George III from “Hamilton.” Fans grouped together and made friends, talking about their
favorite shows and actors. One of my favorite bonding experiences were the singalongs, where I joined dozens of other fans onstage to sing (and maybe dance to) our favorite show tunes. People flocked to the marketplace, where independent crafters had the chance to sell their Broadway-themed creations to an excited crowd. These included detailed posters, cute buttons, decals and stickers, shirts, ties, and even underpants (with humourous, raunchy quotes). One table featured the Lights of Broadway trading cards, with original art by Justin “Squigs” Robertson, and fans got hooked on trading for specific shows and actors. Theater-based organizations, such as acting schools, ticket organizations, and theater companies, held raffles to promote their services. In the back of the market, if you had a special ticket, you could meet Broadway stars and get an autograph or photograph with them (I scored Celia and Andrew Keenan-Bolger’s autographs). The most amazing part of the convention was the panels, where experts in theater spoke to the fans about different aspects of the field. The MainStage held panels about current Broadway shows,
like “Hamilton,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Fun Home,” and “Something Rotten!”, where the cast and crew talked about their experience with the show. They also held an emotional 20th anniversary panel for “Rent,” featuring the original cast. There were smaller panels taking place every hour or so in meeting rooms analyzing the history, development, and sociology of theater. I attended panels about diversity (which featured Stuyvesant alumnus Telly Leung as a speaker), queer women in theater, adapting movies to plays, the history of women’s portrayal in theater, and many others. There were even workshops for dancing, acting, singing, and improv available with industry professionals, though space was limited and I unfortunately didn’t get this opportunity. I not only learned a lot about a field I’m interested in, but also got to meet some awesome theater celebrities as well. BroadwayCon had events to attend if you didn’t feel like learning about theater and just wanted to have fun. There was a game of “Family Feud,” where Broadway stars competed to come up with the best answer to questions like “Name a part of a ‘Playbill.’” There was a variety hour featuring a
cosplay contest, a spelling bee, and other games. Stars sang their hearts out to rock tunes during karaoke, and the audience members sang their hearts out to YouTube videos of Tony Awards Show performances, projected onto the big screen in the MainStage. The improv group Don’t Quit Your Night Job had a late night performance that cracked me up. And when a massive snowstorm restricted most transportation, the con did not end; there were simply a few minor schedule changes, but they led to fun events, such as a party where hosts called up celebrities not at the con and broadcasted the calls live. The show must go on, indeed! The convention will hopefully be better known by next year, but despite being the first attempt at a Broadway convention, it was spectacular. BroadwayCon showcased the respect for the audience that attracts me to the Broadway community. Everyone is encouraged to sing and dance all night, and there are hundreds of people to dance with you. At BroadwayCon, in the words of the great Stephen Sondheim, “No one is alone.”
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 20
Arts and Entertainment Get a Life: The Cultured Edition
calendar ONGOING Art Show: Clio Art Fair 508 W 26th St until 3/6
3/5/2016 SATURday
New York Piano Society Gala Benefit Concert Concert
Film Festival: New York City Drone Film Festival Directors Guild of America until 3/6
Carnegie Hall
Art Show: Wagner’s Ring: Forging an Epic Morgan Library & Museum until 4/17
March
Art Show: Jackson Pollock: A Collection Survey, 1934-1954 Museum of Modern Art until 5/1
3/4/2016
3/11/2016
Friday
ART SHOW: This Place Brooklyn Museum until 6/5
Miike Snow - “iii”
ARt Exhibition: Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture The Frick Collection until 6/5
Violent Femmes – “We Can Do Anything”
FRIday
Teen Night Museum after-hours program
Album Release
The Frick Collection
Album Release
Musical: Eclipsed John Golden Theater until 6/19
ART By Karen Chen What’s your spirit animal? Perhaps you think it’s one with ferocity associated with it, like a lion, or maybe one attributed to wisdom, like an owl. Or, maybe you’re more like Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Their work continually features two animals, thought to be their alter egos: a rat and a panda (though it’s never revealed whose alter ego is whose); these two seemingly different animals are both often associated with laziness in their own ways, and they represent how, as kids, Fischli and Weiss had both always wanted to make money without having to work for it. The two became a duo after having met through a mutual friend and joining a rock band together. Af-
ter the band broke up, the two began collaborating artistically and began to create works of genius. On view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Fischli and Weiss’s ironically titled “How to Work Better” is often said to parallel the silly works of the French Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp, with Fischli and Weiss’s exhibition focused on using humor to present more serious themes. The first piece, “Rat and Bear, Sleeping” sets this amusing atmosphere for the rest of the exhibition. As the title explains, the work is of a raggedy wool rat and bear asleep. However, if you examine it closely, you can see the two steadily breathing (in an almost creepy way) with the use of electric motors. Rat and Bear came to life
Questions and Irony
when Fischli and Weiss happened to stumble upon costumes in a costume shop that only allowed rentals to filmmakers. Together, they created short films that seem to tell a random tale in the nonsensical lives of Rat and Bear. Their work is reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s work, thanks to the meticulously arranged sets and clever dialogue. The nonsensical aspects of all the works add to the illusions and humor Fischli and Weiss seek to create. A walk through a Zurich supermarket with the two looking for potential art supplies inspired “The Sausage Series.” It is composed of a series of photographs that show food items and other everyday objects representing common scenes anyone would be able to understand. “Grey Sculptures” is a series of mini rudimentary sculptures
that depict random things with similarly random titles like, “Hooray, the School is Burning.” There are also hilariously random objects like “Lettuce,” and interpretations of polar opposites such as that of “Construction and Deconstruction.” These pieces are dispersed in a maze-like fashion on one floor, perhaps to make a point of how we are constantly surrounded by such ideas and to clearly depict Fischli and Weiss’ deeper point of how everyone perceives everyday life differently. Every work of the exhibition relates back to a bigger theme of asking questions, big and small. Rat and Bear ask many questions that show their naiveté, but the questions ultimately enable to them have bits of understanding and clarity. The final piece on display is
a dark room with the projection of questions ranging from, “Is indecisiveness proof of free will?” to “Could I be Japanese?” It ties the exhibition together by presenting the overarching theme of questioning—from the deeper, more introspective questions to the out-of-the-blue, more comical questions. Either way, the works of Fischli and Weiss are hugely different from the Guggenheim’s most recent exhibitions. As a more lighthearted show, it may prompt doubt, but also spark curiosity— an effect fitting with the themes of the duo’s work. “How to Work Better” will be on view until April 27, 2016, and the “How to Work Better” mural, which lists the ten steps to working better, will be found at the corner of Houston and Mott streets through May 1, 2016.
Tracking Teen Angst
PLAYLIST
We might all agree that being a Stuyvesant student is rough, but maybe it’s these hormonal teenage years in general. Maybe you take your stress and anxiety out by screaming, “No one understands me!” at your mom, maybe you deal with it by eating your feelings. Whatever the case may be, we all are angsty and here are some songs to prove that.
“Fight For Your Right” Beastie Boys Hip-hop
“Teen Idle” Marina and The Diamonds Pop
“Teenage Girl” Cherry Glazerr Indie Rock
“Adam’s Song” blink-182 Rock
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” Nirvana Rock
“The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows“ Brand New Alternative Rock
“R.I.P. 2 My Youth” The Neighbourhood Indie Rock “Teenage Riot” Sonic Youth Rock
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“Teenage Lobotomy” Ramones Punk Rock he
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“Why Won’t They Talk To Me” Tame Impala Indie Rock “Island of the Misfit Boy” Front Porch Step Pop Punk
“Teenage Icon” The Vaccines Indie Rock “Ribs” Lorde Alternative “Hallway Homicide” The Orwells Punk Rock “Youth” Daughter Alternative “Teenage Dirtbag” Wheatus Indie Rock
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 21
Arts and Entertainment crossword
A Crossword To Remember We have just passed February break, and with it, Valentine’s Day. We may not have received flowers and adorkable little cards that come on this romantic day, but this crossword offers the ability to get a little bit of romance, sappiness, and fun out of the holiday nonetheless. This crossword puzzle features clues related to popular romantic films. Good luck!
ACROSS
1. “When <8-across> Met ________” 3. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” 7. Leonardo Dicaprio’s character in “Titanic,” who totally could have fit on the piece of wood 8. “When _______ Met <1-across>” 14. Voldemort’s brother stars alongside Gwyneth Paltrow as a British playwright in this Victorian-era romance film 15. Next issue’s theme 18. In which Channing Tatum is a US-minted coin 21. Before his time terrorizing Gotham City, he fell in love with Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain”
DOWN
2. Shane West and Mandy Moore star in a romantic drama about the depressing subject of leukemia. Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, of course. 4. “Run, ________, run!” 5. Everybody comes to Rick’s in this city 6. Co-starring Hugh Grant as the jerk, Colin Firth as the nice guy, Renée Zellweger writes about her romantic experiences with these two men in her notebook. Features the song “It’s Raining Men.” 9. Wealthy businessman Richard Gere falls in love with prostitute Julia Roberts in this romantic comedy. 10. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie denied any real-life romantic involvement during the filming of “Mr. and Mrs. _____” 11. In “Sleepless In Seattle,” Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks finally kiss at this NYC landmark 12. He stars alongside Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn in “The Philadelphia Story” 13. “________ is the word” 16. In which John Cusack holds a boombox above his head 17. Featuring a huge cast including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, and Emma Thompson, this movie tracks a multitude of groups in love around Christmas Day. 19. Starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, this is the story of a poor farm boy and a wealthy girl in love. 20. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star as lovers in this new romantic drama
Answers Down 2. AWALKTOREMEMBER 4. FORREST 5. CASABLANCA 6. BRIDGETJONESSDIARY 9. PRETTYWOMAN 10. SMITH 11. EMPIRESTATEBUILDING 12. CARYGRANT 13. GREASE 16. SAYANYTHING 17. LOVEACTUALLY 19. THENOTEBOOK 20. CAROL Across 1.SALLY 3. DIRTYDANCING 7. JACK 8. HARRY 14. SHAKESPEAREINLOVE 15. SING 18. DEARJOHN 21. HEATHLEDGER
Jenny Gao / The Spectator
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 22
Humor These articles are works of fiction. All quotes are libel and slander.
Leap Marking Period Implemented to Balance Short Marking Period 1
Illicit Substances Prohibited at SAP By Jacob Faber-Rico THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A WORK OF FICTION. QUOTES ARE NEITHER LIBEL NOR SLANDER. With SING! season in full swing, many students are already getting hyped for the SING! After Party (SAP), an annual Stuyvesant tradition in which students party, get sent home by police, and according to event organizers, definitely do not drink, smoke, or engage in any other form of substance abuse. No way. “Illicit substances will not be tolerated at this event,” announced senior Henry Takizawa on Facebook, right beneath a picture from last year’s SAP containing senior Tanumaya Bhow-
mik holding a bottle of what was definitely not alcohol. Takizawa also compared SAP to Homecoming, a separate tradition known for high levels of substance usage. “Was drunk and high out of my mind,” said senior Elias Saric, referring to the most recent Homecoming. It goes without saying, of course, that SAP is absolutely nothing like Homecoming. Still, this year’s SAP promises to be “lit.” Though there will be no drugs or alcohol whatsoever, the reliable Takizawa, who has never, ever misrepresented a party in his whole entire life, stressed, “We’re gonna have a dope venue with actual music this time.” Totally.
Adam Wickham / The Spectator
All Juniors Miraculously Sick on Day of SAT
By Jason Mohabir
Mayor Bill de Blasio is at it again, fulfilling the wishes of New York City’s school children. After months of deliberation, the de Blasio administration has decided to pilot its leap marking period program. Starting next marking period, the program will begin in specialized high schools and move down the hierarchy, using common sense trickle-down education. The leap marking period is planned to be added to the end of the year, extending that specific school year by an arbitrary amount of weeks chosen by the Department of Enumeration (DOE). It will be employed every four years, so that students will only have to experience it once in their lifetimes. The leap marking period will be created to ensure that an adequate amount of stress is added into the lives of students, in order to balance positive, more optimistic thoughts. “We are very excited to employ the leap marking period for our students. The first marking period only has 15 days of teaching! How can a child function with [so] few consecutive weeks of anxiety-ridden instruction? The leap marking period will give us more days to care for students,” Assistant Principal of Leisure Brian Moran said. “The metrics for how the DOE measures success needed to change. Previously, they would use the hours on average that a student slept, but turns out, insomnia is common in most teenagers, anyways,” Moran rationalized. “With the leap marking period, seeing how students
perform under high pressure of having more days seems more plausible and satisfies any sadistic evaluation.” In order to keep the effectiveness of an extra marking period, the DOE is working with local ad-
sleep-deprived enough, thanks to previous initiatives by the Teitelitarian Administration to better prepare students for the mundanity and absurdity of adult life. This dates back almost a decade when the holy trinity of sleep,
“The terms ‘hell week’ and ‘dead week’ are out of touch with the need to prepare students for college. A hell month would be much more effective.” —Jeff Makris, Director of College Counseling
ministrations to ensure it occurs right after midterms. Director of College Counselling Jeff Makris explained, “The terms ‘hell week’ and ‘dead week’ are out of touch with the need to prepare students for college. A hell month would be much more effective.” The hell month concept will hopefully be replicated in schools all across the city and, eventually, the nation. Few schools are better fitted for the leap marking period than Stuyvesant. The student body has already been desensitized and
grades, and social life were found to be incompatible by DOE social scientists. The repercussions of the findings reverberate in the Stuyvesant community to this day, with many students abiding by the same philosophy. The Stuyvesant student body has reacted with relatively nihilistic responses. Junior Mitch Choi commented, “The DOE can take away your phone, your snow days, your free periods, [and] your meaning in life, but the one thing they won’t take away is your stress.”
By Samantha Gendler A flu that only affects juniors, called J1-SAT-2.0, struck Stuyvesant in early March. Almost one-fourth of the school was absent. The symptoms ranged wildly. Some had fevers and the inability to hold pencils, while others turned purple whenever the word “SAT” was mentioned. Other symptoms included vomiting, constant napping, sniffling noses, and light coughs. Mysteriously, no other grade was affected. A sophomore was ill at the same time, but it turned out to be just diarrhea. The nurse’s office was filled entirely with napping and sniffling juniors on March 1. The worst day of the epidemic was March 2, when over 90 percent of the junior class failed to show up. It was on the same March 2 that the school decided to provide 11th graders with the opportunity to take the new SAT for free. This unfortunate happening met various responses. Many regretted missing out on this opportunity, but it couldn’t be helped. Upon returning, junior Masha Fomitchova said, “I wish I could have taken it, but when I found out we had a free SAT without the essay, I knew immediately a flu had gotten to me.” Junior Jessica Titensky, who plans to take the ACT, said she made the decision because “the word ‘SAT’ made me cough uncontrollably and made my air al-
lergies flare up,” she said. She later added, “I totally forgot about the exam. I thought it was a regular school day. But once I found out, I knew I had to get my mom to pick me up from school.” Many teachers were upset that their favorite students were affected by the epidemic. Physics teacher Thomas Strasser said, “I was upset to see so many absences on the day I decided to give a pop quiz.” Principal Jie Zhang decided to hold an after-school session to sign all the absence notes. History teacher David Hanna said, “It made me greatly depressed, spending 40 minutes signing absence notes instead of teaching the Great Depression.” Everything seemed to be back to normal by Wednesday. The school said that current AP Biology students are investigating how this epidemic spread. Some theorize the virus was spread on #2 pencils as students diligently prepared for the exam. Others say that it was an immune system weakened by the PSAT that made everyone susceptible to the germs. Even though most symptoms have passed, the Wellness Council will hang up signs soon on how to protect yourself from getting ill. In a few weeks, the school will have a doctor come in and make sure everyone is healthy enough to take the free SAT without essay in April. The students will surely not allow this great opportunity to pass by them.
James Young / The Spectator
Muji Madness: Translucent, Ergonomic, and Hypebeast
By Shaikat Islam Muji madness, introduced to the United States by an unassuming Japanese corporation dedicated to creating svelte, artisanal, well-designed products, has hit Stuyvesant High School. Research suggests that each Stuyvesant student has an average of 134 Muji products, while the average American citizen has about 6.674×10−11, according to NOTMUJIMARKETING Research Corp., located just a block away from the Stuyvesant building. When asked whether or not these results were troubling, the researchers emphasized the necessity for better writing utensils for hardworking high school students and recommended that more pens and pencils be available for Stuyvesant students. The researchers also recommended other, less obvious necessities such as Muji Aroma Diffusers, Muji Trash Cans, Muji Bean Bags, Muji Women Para-
glider Pocketable Wind-breakers, and Muji Hard Pulp Drawers to be placed in all Stuyvesant classrooms. The administration then approved a grant for the purchase of Muji branded writing utensils just a few minutes after the research group published its results. Students reported seeing Japanese businessmen leaving Principal Zhang’s office rather happily around this time. The Muji products that were approved for purchase found their way into the barely running Student Store located…on the second floor? First floor? Who knows? Who cares? Regardless, as soon as the matte plastic finish of each of the cylindrical pens touched the store’s display cases, they were selling as fast as Kanye West’s latest rendition of ADIDASTM Yeezy Boost 350 Sneakers. Within 6.023 seconds, all 400,000 Muji branded pens and pencils were sold out, netting the School Store
$12,345,678.90 of profit. Spectators reported seeing freshmen wearing the pens and pencils as fashion accessories, with many making Muji chains around their necks and Muji pen bracelets around their wrists. “You know, Muji was about the success of creating work with beautiful pens and pencils. I loved writing love poems and rap ballads with the coolness of a .38 mm blue ink pen. It added some aesthetic to the often stressing status quo of Stuyvesant. Now that all of the pens and pencils are sold out, I believe Muji products will gain the notoriety of hypebeast culture and sell at artificially high prices,” said junior and Muji aficionado Ao Kong. Sure enough, the next day, an exchange market had been created for the buying and selling of the Japanese-made pens and pencils. Markups as high as 2000 percent have been reported for the writing utensils. In the fashion of Stuyvesant history, a protest has already been organized in response to the infighting caused by the Muji products. Called Stuyvesant Against Muji Madness, it has widely and mostly legally distributed its dictum, which reads, “The presence of Chinese, mass-manufactured goods has created an imbalance in the equity among the students of Stuyvesant High School, and all Muji products should be banned until I get the chance to buy one.” (Note: Looking to sell four .38mm pens. PM me for more info. S/O $234.)
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 23
Humor Point-Counterpoint: Should we hold JProm on a rowboat?
Kaia Waxenberg / The Spectator
In a recent meeting, the Student Union (SU) reached an agreement with the school administration in which they decided to allocate over $400,000 to buy a Ferrari for SU President Ares Aung. While this is a landmark deal for the SU, it leaves them with meager amounts of money to fund traditional events, such as the Junior Prom (JProm). Without any money, the SU has been forced to consider several low budget alternatives to the traditional cruise ship, such as a rowboat.
Rowboats and Cruise Ships Are Pretty Much the Same Thing By Kenny Lin Lack of funding will not be a problem if we replace the classic luxury cruise ship that usually hosts JProm with a luxury rowboat. Let’s face it—there isn’t much of a different between them; they’re both boats, and they both go on the water. And although one may seem more impressive, you probably won’t even notice the difference once the party gets started.
A rowboat is a whopping 324 inches long, which is almost the same as the cruise ship, which measures 325 feet in length.
This is especially true when you consider the spacing specifications. A rowboat is a whopping 324 inches long, which is almost the same as the cruise ship, which measures 325 feet in length. This difference of only a single unit is almost completely insubstantial. This is big enough to potentially fit 8 and a half people and a chocolate fountain without capsizing. Fitting the entire junior class in a single rowboat might leave everyone a bit cramped, but I’m sure they’ll manage somehow. A rowboat also comes with the benefit of being 100-percent free. The SU usually spends thousands of dollars to rent a luxury cruise ship, but now, they can simply hijack a rowboat from the boathouse
at Pier 40 for absolutely nothing. A con might be that the police will raid JProm midway, but this definitely won’t be an issue if the juniors row fast enough. We can even lower the price by making the partygoers row instead of hiring people. This can also be used as an opportunity for the guys to impress their dates with their impossibly skinny biceps or “invisible” sixpacks. A couple can also romantically row and lose themselves in each other’s eyes before being interrupted by occasional showers of water from waves along with sirens and flashing lights in the distance. Being on a rowboat also offers opportunities for conversation. Nerdy guys trying to bag can talk about how the boat narrowly missed being run over by that crossing ferry or the monstrous waves that almost threw everyone overboard. Every three seconds, the coxswain will yell at everyone to stroke, providing a unique soundtrack for the entire party. If all else fails, couples can gaze into the light-polluted sky. At the end of the prom, we can even set off some emergency flares to create a dazzling fireworks show. Some concerned students have brought up the notion that hosting a party on a rowboat might be somewhat illegal and unsafe, but I’m glad to say that those claims are entirely false. Three inches of planking separate you from the 50-foot waters of the Hudson, so at no point are you at any risk whatsoever. And in case you fall overboard, we have super stylish life jackets that everyone must wear at all times. They’re bright orange and only restrict your movement when you try to move your arms, or walk, or talk. However, if you don’t plan on hugging anyone, you’ll barely notice that you’re wearing a life jacket. Besides, they go really well with suit jackets. Furthermore, the coxswain will only be allowed to have a shot of “Kool Aid” every hour, so he technically won’t be drunk driving. In the event that the police does pull us over, we’ll simply throw him overboard. If all goes well, the experience of desperately clutching onto a plank of wood and slowly, inevitably floating out into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean will provide you and your friends with endless merrymaking and a truly enchanting night.
In case you fall overboard, we have super stylish life jackets that everyone must wear at all times.
A Rowboat Would Be Awesome, But a Minivan Would Be Ideal By Jacob Faber-Rico Okay, so, having Junior Prom on a rowboat would be awesome. Bringing 300 classmates together on a patch of metal 27 feet long, floating out in the middle of the Hudson River, would be simply amazing. With the entire grade smashed into one whole sweating, screaming, and randomly undulating mass, containing no gaps of air whatsoever, everyone would truly feel like a part of the student body. However, by holding JProm in a minivan, we could attain the exact same benefits, and possibly more. First, minivans are smaller than rowboats, and even better, they’re enclosed by walls on all sides. If you think cramming 300 high schoolers into an eight-person rowboat would be a blast, just imagine how much fun we could have dancing around the seats in a six-person minivan. Moreover, cramped vehicles would eliminate the breeze present on a rowboat, allowing the stench of teenage perspiration futilely masked with unholy amounts of Axe body spray to fully permeate the dance floor. Nowhere else could the traditional JProm spirit of overcrowding and underventilation truly thrive. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Just imagine feeling and smelling sweaty suit jackets all around you, and hearing nothing but the deafening noise of gruesomely distorted Meghan Trainor remixes echoing off the suffocatingly close minivan walls, over and over until your tympanic membrane snaps and the words “I’m all about that bass, bout’ that bass” permanently reverberate in your head. And to top it all off, envision the traditional seizure-inducing disco lights flashing off the windows and rear-view mirror, which you, your date, and 50 other people have your heads squished against. How romantic! Again, it’s true that having JProm on a rowboat would offer endless fun. Ladies, just imagine the uncertain thrill of your man, probably a scrawny math team star, briefly whisking you out over the river. And gentlemen, do you have any idea how big of a wave we could create if everyone jumped at once? However, these stunts are dangerous,
and a successful JProm requires safety. Although most issues could be solved by tethering the boat to an old pier, the overstuffed minivan would provide a much safer and healthier environment.
If you think cramming 300 high schoolers into an eight-person rowboat would be a blast, just imagine how much fun we could have dancing around the seats in a six-person minivan.
Finally, we must consider our budget. A rowboat would require hiring eight rowers, while one student with a learner’s permit and a couple swigs of “Capri Sun” could easily drive our minivan. Thus, the minivan is also the most affordable option, allowing even more students than usual to attend. With any luck, we’ll find over 500 of our classmates crammed into that Subaru. In conclusion, while a rowboat would be a great place to throw JProm, we can do better. Not only will a minivan be cheaper and safer than a rowboat, but also, more importantly, smaller and more claustrophobic, creating a fantastically uncomfortable environment essential to JProm and making for a wonderful night you and your date will never forget.
Envision the traditional seizure-inducing disco lights flashing off the windows and rear-view mirror, which you, your date, and 50 other people have your heads squished against. How romantic!
Page 24
The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
ADVERTISEMENTS “Colette helped guide me through the admissions process while also advising me on what would help and hurt my chances. As a first-generation Asian-American I was at an extreme disadvantage during the college application process. Neither of my parents attended college so everything I learned came from school. In the end, her advice and aid helped me attain a full scholarship, something I wouldn’t have dreamed possible.”
Stanley Chen, Class of 2013
Colette Brown taught in the English Department of Stuyvesant High School for over a decade and in that time she advised thousands of her Stuyvesant students through the college admissions process. She recently left Stuyvesant to begin independently advising students full time. Call or email Colette Brown for an appointment to begin personalized individual college admissions advisement. Her strong belief is that it is not enough to get it into the right school, but also fit into the right school for you. 646 467-0265 thecollegeadmissionsmaven@gmail.com THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS MAVEN is on Facebook
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
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Sports Fond Recollections: Closing Fisher’s Final Coaching Season Even before I started my freshman year at Stuyvesant, I knew that I wanted to play on the basketball team. An eager freshman, I looked up the coach of the varsity team, Philip Fisher, and decided to shoot him an e-mail. “Hey Coach Fisher, I’m an incoming freshman at Stuyvesant High School, and am very interested in joining the basketball team next season. Is there any way I could come in sometime, and just work out with you? I would like to see where I’m at compared to the current competition level at Stuyvesant.” He replied the next day: “Tobias, Thank you for reaching out to me. Unfortunately due to liability, you cannot work out with us till the fall. I will be at the session on Thursday. I am in room 501. Ask a Big Sib who I am and to help find me. Look forward to meeting you.” Though it seems like a small act, answering his e-mail in his offseason, over the summer, and giving a chance to a freshman he didn’t know, proved monumental for me. At Camp Stuy Part One, Fisher remembered my e-mail and found me in my homeroom; he took me to the third floor gym and I nervously took some shots, first a few layups and then some jump shots from either side of the court. He watched intently, and when I had finished, told me that I had to work a lot on my jumper and left hand (the shot from the left side of the court) if I wanted to make varsity.
He continued to make sure I was informed about the team, as he did for every other interested freshman; in my first few months at Stuyvesant, he kept me updated on varsity tryouts and meetings. But he also got to know me as a person and gave me advice about Stuyvesant, helping me during my transition from a small, private middle school to Stuyvesant. He was a friendly face in the hallways. He showed that he wasn’t only interested in me as a basketball player, but also as a person. I started playing for him my sophomore year, and soon got to know his coaching style and his common drills. Every practice, we do something called the three-line drill, a drill to work on passing and layups. I remember the first time we tried the drill, we missed 12 open layups in three minutes. It was embarrassing, but also humbling. As the season progressed, so did we. We started to miss only two or three layups in three minutes. If you look at the Stuyvesant varsity basketball team, and then look at any of the teams we’ve played against, you would expect we would get destroyed. Every team we’ve played is taller, faster, stronger, and longer than us. But we have a good coach. I can confidently say that Fisher drills stronger fundamentals, pushes cardio more, and implements a smarter offense than any coach in the division. Fisher pushes us to play our hardest, even if our opponents are taller and faster, and it shows in the team’s improvement over the season. Without Fisher, we could easily be a winless team.
Stuyvesant is the only specialized high school in the division we play in. Coach has no say in which players get into Stuyvesant, versus high schools that recruit for basketball. There are schools known for their basketball teams, but we still manage to not get crushed by them, thanks to Fisher and his
teams from 15 years ago, and remembers players from each team. Although Fisher has coached a variety of sports, basketball holds a special place in his heart. His father, Mickey Fisher, was a legendary New York City boys’ high school basketball coach, and coached future Hall of Famers Connie Hawk-
Adil Kabir / The Spectator
By Tobias Lange
The boys’ varsity basketball team huddles around coach and physical education teacher Phillip Fisher.
dedication as a coach. Fisher isn’t only a basketball coach. He has coached girls’ and boys’ varsity volleyball, girls’ varsity soccer, and girls’ varsity basketball. The girls’ soccer team won three city championships in the A Division under his coaching, which is quite an impressive feat. Not only did he coach teams to championship levels, but he also formed strong bonds with them; he still has photo albums made by
ins and Lenny Wilkens during their high school years. I remember Fisher telling the team how one year that his dad’s team was on the cover of Time Magazine, with the title “Best Basketball Team In The Country?” underneath. The article called his team not just the best basketball team of all high school teams, but college teams too. “My goal is to make you the best basketball player and person you can be,” Fisher is fond of say-
ing. And these past two years on his team, he has taught me not only about basketball, but also about being a good person. In between improving my jumpers, which, by the way, are miles better (especially the left one), he has also taught me how to be a more mature individual. Coming onto the team my sophomore year, I talked way too much and listened way too little. Coach was obviously not thrilled with this behavior, and every time I stepped out of line, he pointed it out. I was used to just getting away with my immaturity, but he cracked down on it. Learning when I need to be serious has helped me in many of my pursuits, both on and off the court. Coach and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, and we both have acknowledged that. We can both be a little hard headed, and that leads to conflict. One game, after a tough quarter, I stormed off to get water without telling him, and missed the whole huddle. He was, rightfully, very angry at me, and took me out for the next quarter, which in turn made me angry at him for the rest of the game. But as soon as the heat of the game was over and we talked it out, we understood each other’s points completely. At the end of the day, there is no one I would rather have coaching me. Coach knows so much about the game and communicates it so well and is so dedicated to the game that I can’t imagine playing for anyone else. Coach, it has been an honor to play for you in the final two years of your wildly successful career.
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The Spectator ● March 4, 2016
Page 27
Sports Boys’ Basketball
Adil Kabir / The Spectator
A Year In Review: Boys’ Varsity Basketball
Junior Michael Feinburg shoots a layup. Feinburg averaged 18.9 points per game this season.
continued from page 28
tured team. We were young this year, and no one really had any varsity experience,” Lange said. “This year everyone gained a lot of valuable knowledge, and this next year I expect it to reflect much more in our games. I wouldn’t be surprised if we made the playoffs next year.” There remains much hype around freshman Frederic Minzburg. The six-foot-four forward represents the future of the team, and Fisher expects him to continue growing. “This season was huge for [Minzburg]. He hadn’t really had much basketball experience coming into high school, and he made huge gains. At the beginning of the year he had trouble performing the basic drills, and now, at the end of the year, he has a much greater grasp on what
he has to do and knows his way around practice,” Fisher said. Fisher was also quick to look beyond the Runnin’ Rebels 4-20 record. “Our team this year was perhaps one of the most close-knit teams that I have had. The guys really managed to bond together this year and that’s probably more important than any record.” Fisher, who is retiring at the end of this year, is unsure whether or not he will return to coach another season for the Runnin’ Rebels. When asked about his personal highlight for the season, he was adamant in saying, “For me, the highlight is every single practice that I go to. It’s a great experience to be able to work with my guys every day and to see them work on their game and improve and have fun. That’s much more rewarding than any victory.”
Why Kristaps Porzingis Deserves Rookie of the Year By Joshua Zhu The 2016 National Basketball Association (NBA) All Star Weekend might just have been the greatest one ever held. Located outside the United States for the first time in NBA history, the series of competitions grabbed headlines right and left: with upsets by Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, one of the best Slam Dunk Contests in recent memory, and the highest scoring All Star Game ever, the All Star weekend, which will eventually be known as Kobe Bryant’s swan song, was one to remember. However, the Rising Stars Challenge was left overshadowed by all this drama. In a matchup headlined by Towns and Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks, this showcase for NBA rookies and sophomores further publicized the tightly contested race for Rookie of the Year (ROY). While Porzingis far outplayed Towns in the Rising Stars Challenge, the latter actually enjoys a slight advantage in regular season stats. Towns averages 17.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.4 percent from the field, outpacing Porzingis’s averages of of 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, with 42.6 percent from the field. Despite eerily similar stats in all other categories, it is clear that Towns has the upper hand when considering conventional stats. So why does Porzingis deserves to win the ROY award over Towns? A major argument lies in the
fact that despite playing for short periods of time on a fringe playoff team, Porzingis still has a significant impact. Meanwhile, Towns gets a lot of playing time on a team with a 17-39 record. Looking at the rookies’ usage percentage, a statistic that measures the percentage of the team’s offensive possessions a player “uses” while he is in the game, Towns registers at 24.2 percent compared to Porzingis at 23.9 percent. Town’s usage percentage is comparable to future hall of famers Dirk Nowitzki and Marc Gasol’s, while Porzingis has a percentage comparable Kevin Seraphin and Archie Goodwin’s. These stats articulate the argu-
Christine Jegarl / Spectator
ment of many Porzingis supporters—as a rebuilding lottery team, the Timberwolves have given Towns significant minutes to aid in his development. The Knicks simply do not have this luxury. Knicks president Phil Jackson is still aiming for the playoffs, so when Porzingis is struggling, he is frequently substitutes him with
players such as Derrick Williams or Lance Thomas. Aside from usage percentage, two more advanced stats jump out when comparing Porzingis and Towns. The first is Real Plus Minus (RPM): a calculation of the net change in score while a player is on the floor. Porzingis’s RPM of 3.16, comparable to Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony’s RPMs, far surpasses Towns’s RPM of 1.59, which is comparable to Tiago Splitter and Taj Gibson’s. The second advanced stat is Net Rating, a calculation of point differential per 100 possessions. Porzingis has a net rating of 0.6, while Towns has a net rating of -2.8. And although Porzingis’s net rating is nothing to admire, Towns’s rating shows that he ultimately has a negative impact on the floor. From the surface, Towns looks like the clear cut winner of the Rookie of the Year award, but by comparing RPM and Net Rating, a case could be made for Porzingis, as he has a greater positive impact upon the success of his team than Towns does on his team. While advanced stats do reveal several reasons why Porzingis is a superior player to Towns thus far, they are not the determining factor in why Porzingis deserves ROY. At the end of the day, the award should be given to the rookie who has created the most excitement and enthusiasm into the league. Porzingis has certainly done just that; with lengthy highlight reels consisting of putback dunks and uncanny athleticism, Porzingis has given hope to a whole new generation of Knicks fans.
Boys’ Basketball
By Max Onderdonk
Stefan Engquist / The Spectator
Expectations were high as the boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams went into the Manhattan
place finish, as he finished third in the 1600 meter race, second in the 3200 meter race, and helped bring in a win at the 4x800 relay alongside junior James Zhang and
The Stuyvesant Greyducks celebrate their victory of first place in the PSAL Manhattan Borough Championship.
borough championships at The Armory on February 14. Hundreds of runners were in attendance with eight schools fighting for the boys’ championship and a dozen fighting for the girls’. Stuyvesant’s track teams, the Greyducks, have consistently had successful records at boroughs, and this season proved to be no different: both teams took home the number one prize. To senior Sam Greenberg, this was just business as usual for the boys’ team. “We haven’t lost a borough meet in 15 years so going in there wasn’t really any question,” he said. The Greyducks followed through with their expectations, led by junior Kiyan Tavangar, who came in first in both the 1000 meter and 1600 meter races. Greenberg also played a key role in the first
seniors Jacob Faber-Rico and Jesse Elliot. “We owe the victory to the size and versatility of the team as well as each and every member’s commitment to training,” Greenberg said. The sprinters also played a huge role in the victory, with senior Jacob Hoffman leading the way, coming in first in the 300 meter race. Hoffman, seniors Winton Yee and Andy Liang, and junior Moses Oh also took the 4x400 relay race, and three of Stuyvesant’s 4x200 relay teams were among the top five, with teams finishing second, fourth, and fifth. These victories played a huge role in the Greyducks’ commanding success; their final score, 236 points, beat out second-place Hunter College High School’s 143 by nearly one hundred
points. With a strong performance at The Armory, junior Kiyan Tavangar has high hopes for the team going into the city championship. “Historically, we haven’t been competitive at city’s but I think this team has a shot at the podium. We have strong runners in nearly every event, and we could feasibly win the 300, 1600, and 3200 [meter races] along with the pole vault, which would definitely put us in contention,” Tavangar said. The girls also had a very strong performance, as they were able to win the Manhattan borough championship as well. The main event the Greyducks thrived in was the 1500 meter racewalk, in which Stuyvesant runners, led by sophomore Ziqi Guo, filled nine out of the top ten podium spots. Sophomore Joyce Wu came in third, and she credited their domination on this event to their training throughout the year. “We racewalk everyday for practice instead of running so that definitely helps. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we go to The Armory for our harder workouts. There, we can actually practice on a track, instead of just along on the Hudson River,” she said. Junior Zovinar Khrimian attributed the girls’ victory to the depth of the Greyducks team. “We have a giant team and there are a lot of point scorers. We dominate in race walking and have some good distance runners and field [athletes],” Khrimian said. Khrimian finished first in the 1000 meter race, and also was on the first-place 4x800 relay team with senior Kyara Lora and fellow juniors Catie Breen and Jessica Yan. Unfortunately, Khrimian won’t be at her peak for city champion-
Stefan Engquist / The Spectator
Greyducks Dominate at Borough Championships
Junior James Zhang runs the winning 4x800 relay at the Manhattan Borough Championships.
ships. “I’ve had some medical issues that have interfered with my practice so I’m not as confident going into city’s,” she said. Even with their top athlete not at full health,
the Greyducks are optimistic about the rest of the season. “I [am confident that this] team as a whole will perform well,” Khrimian said.
March 4, 2016
Page 28
The Spectator SpoRts Boys’ Basketball
CALENDAR
A Year In Review: Boys’ Varsity Basketball
March Boys’ and Girls’ Indoor Track Freshman and SUNDAY Sophomore Championships Boys’ Gymnastics vs. The Armory Track Long Island Tuesday City
6
8
Long Island City
Adil Kabir / The Spectator
16 WEDNESDAY
Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse vs. Forest Hills
Forest Hills HS Field
Junior Tobias Lange scores for the Stuyvesant Runnin’ Rebels.
By Arya Firoozan The Runnin’ Rebels, the boys’ basketball team, played their best game of the season against the High School of Art and Design on January 12. In the third quarter, they played extremely efficient basketball, and shot brilliantly. Junior Michael Feinburg had a very good game, earning 30 points for the team. The team was gleeful by the end of the game, finishing with a 73 – 40 win, making it their highest scoring game of the season. Unfortunately, the game was not representative of the boys’ season as a whole. Despite their hard work and will to win, the Runnin’ Rebels didn’t have a strong season record-wise. They went 4-20 and finished last in the Manhattan Southwest A Division with a league record of 1-13. However,
the A Division includes some of the most difficult opponents, like Murry Bergtraum, who have won city championships. The Runnin’ Rebels remained competitive even while facing stronger, faster, and taller opponents. “Stuyvesant does not attract much basketball talent, and its students are much more focused on academic studies. They do not view basketball as their big ticket to college and Stuyvesant does not recruit players to come play for our varsity team,” coach Phillip Fisher said. Despite tough competition, team members enjoyed individual triumphs. Junior Michael Feinburg was a star player this season, averaging 18.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He finished 59th in the city for total points scored out of over 400 ath-
letes. Feinburg, sometimes called “Jesus” because of his hair and superb three-point shot, became recognizable, and opposing teams began to adjust and play much tighter defense. He responded with an adjustment of his own, by working on his dribbling and driving to the basket more often to shoot layups, becoming deadly from all over the court. Junior Tobias Lange also proved instrumental for the Runnin’ Rebels as he averaged 9.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. With five other juniors in addition to Lange and Feinburg, next year’s team will not be lacking in leadership from the senior class. “I’m personally looking forward to a much more macontinued on page 27
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse vs. A. Phillip Randolph Campus High School
17 Thursday
Randall’s Island Field 70
WRAPUP he boys’ gymnastics team, the Lemurs, defeated the Bronx High T School of Science 118.5-101.1 on Wednesday, February 24. This victory gives them a 6-1 record for the season and places them first in the division.
he boys’ junior varsity basketball team, the Runnin’ Rebels, lost T to Martin Luther King Jr. High School 60-49 on Monday, February 22. After another loss on February 25 against Bayard Rustin
Educational Complex, the Runnin’ Rebels fell to 2-7 on the season, putting them last in their division.
Boys’ Table Tennis
Victoria Huang / The Spectator
Swift, Clean Victories
Junior William Yao secures a victory in the third singles match.
By Alice Cheng Ever since the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) first introduced table tennis into its organization three years ago, the boys’ table tennis team has won every city championship. The first year was the toughest. The second year was easy. And by this year, the third year, the semifinals and finals matches for the PSAL city championship were nothing less than swift, clean victories.
To win the semifinals and finals, a team must beat each opposing school’s team in at least three of five matches. These five matches consist of the three singles games and two doubles games. With semifinals and finals matches, one might expect the competition to be intense, perhaps the victors barely scraping by with a 3-2. However, on February 5, the day of playoffs, the boys’ table tennis team was able to knock out both Brooklyn Technical High
School in the semifinals and Bronx High School of Science in the finals, each time with a clean 5-0. Brooklyn Technical High School was an easy win. Many of the players in the opposing team knew the basic strokes of table tennis, but were not experienced enough to receive any of the strong attacks and heavy spins delivered by the boys’ team. For the first singles match, junior Pei Yuan Wang noted his opponent’s passive playing. “He [tried] to keep the ball in the air, so I became aggressive and attacked more,” Wang said. Thus Wang was able to effectively win in a clean three games out of five, securing a match point for his team. Similarly, the rest of the team took advantage of the other team’s amateur playing style by delivering highly advanced spins followed by swift smashes. Defeating Bronx Science was slightly more challenging. At the beginning of the first and third singles matches, Wang and junior William Yao faced difficulty with their opponents. Though Wang played and easily defeated junior Jun Jie Gao of Bronx Science several times before playoffs, Gao was able to trump Wang in the first two games in the finals match by surprising Wang with a new serving style. Wang anticipated an under-
spin serve, a serve that causes the ball to rotate backwards, but he ended up receiving a ball with no spin. “He played more aggressive than before and I underestimated him,” Wang said. Thus, Gao defeated Wang in the first game with an 11-5. Though Wang attempted to make a comeback in the second game, he was unable to win, closing the game with a close 12-10. This put pressure on Wang, who had to make up for his initial losses by winning the next three games in a row. But in a huge comeback, Wang pulled through with a trail of winning scores: 11-7, 13-11, and 11-6. Yao, who ran into a similar bump in his games, lost his first one to Bronx Science sophomore Jonah Jurick. Like Wang, though Yao had previously beat his opponent in 3-0 in games against Bronx Science before playoffs, he underestimated Jurick’s vigilance, and did not get in a decent warmup before the match. “I was pretty shaky,” Yao said. “But in the second game I went pretty crazy.” In a quick turn-around, Yao swept the following game with an 11-2, and won the last two games with scores of 11-9 and 11-6. After these two obstacles, it was smooth sailing for the boys’ team. Wang and Yao’s wins se-
cured the team with two match points, leaving the team needing only one more point in order to declare victory. They gained three more, defeating Bronx Science in the second singles and first and second doubles, finishing with a dominating 5-0. Overall, this year’s championship was the boy’s quickest win yet. Prior to playoffs, the team was undefeated in its division. And after entering the gymnasium at around 4:00 p.m. for semifinals and finals, the boys managed to win all their matches within two hours, thus completing its season with a total of 14 clean wins. This year, Song and senior Dante Secada Oz will be graduating. Nevertheless, with a strong junior class, it seems assured that the team will claim another PSAL city championship next year. “Even though [Song] was an instrumental part of team, none of the other teams can come close to matching us in terms of depth and talent,” second doubles player Isaac Rose Berman said. Coach Bernard Feigenbaum agrees, stating that so long as the team attends enough matches to qualify for playoffs next year, there will be no trouble establishing a four-year dynasty.