The Spectator ● December 23, 2014
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News Student Councils Across the City continued from page 1
One of the primary responsibilities of the SU is overseeing the distribution of funds to student clubs, publications, and special events such as SING! Across the city, most other student governments are also responsible for managing budget money allocated to students. “Giving money to clubs is a big part of what we do. Whenever a club needs anything moneywise we are the ones funding it,” Junior Senator of the Trinity Upper School Senate Samuel Schiff said. “The treasurer is in charge of our budget, which is about $120,000 per year.”
“Giving money to clubs is a big part of what we do.” —Samuel Schiff, junior at Trinity High School The SU is also responsible for communicating with the student body, a role that Aung acknowledges could be performed better. “I believe that the SU has been a bit lacking in terms of communication,” he said. However the SU is working on a number of new communication initiatives. “The SU can’t take all the blame for the lack of communication. We’ve hosted our Town Hall Meeting, which
barely 15 people came to. We’ve consistently posted once or twice a week on Facebook, and as a sign of good faith, we’ve opened up our inner sanctum to the student body,” Aung said. The Trinity Upper School Senate also struggles with student body communication. “We are not necessarily as good about the small stuff,” Schiff said, “We talk about and work hard on a lot of things that no one ever really realizes we are working on at all.” The Trinity Upper School Senate, unlike the SU, makes minutes from meetings publicly available. On the other hand, while the SU is considering releasing SLT meeting minutes in the future, Aung is currently hesitant. “I want to release SLT minutes, but we have to take into consideration how to do it safely. If it’s released on Facebook and a newspaper like the Post gets a hold of it, then they essentially have an inside view into Stuyvesant, all of its pros and cons,” Aung said. Francis Lewis High School, a public school in Fresh Meadows, Queens, holds regular meetings between the student government and student body similar to the recent SU Town Hall meeting. “Our student government always [tries] to hold meetings for the student body to attend, where they can educate us on [school activities]. During the meetings, they allow the student body to address any issues they are having,” senior Henry Wang of Francis Lewis High School said. Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, a public high school in Bayside, Queens, also has a student government considered to be transparent by the student body. “The Student Council is extremely open. Every day
of the school year, the Student Council is at the school’s [Student Organization] Office to answer all student concerns regarding the school,” junior Kelly Song of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School said. Many student governments have effective relationships with their school administrations. “The administration is very involved with the student government. Once every month, we meet with the
“While the adults normally don’t hesitate to cooperate [with] the students when they reach out, it is mainly student-run.” —Evan Schaffer, sophomore at the Collegiate School for Boys principal as well as [the assistant principals] to discuss the issues going on in the school and new ideas as to how we can improve the current problems,” senior Igor Portnoy of Townsend Harris said. Student governments, however, strive to work independently of adult liaisons. “While adults normally don’t hesitate to cooperate when students reach out, [the student gov-
ernment] is mainly studentrun. [For instance,] they host their own meetings, assign their own tasks, [and] make their own ideas,” sophomore Evan Schaffer of the Collegiate High School for Boys said. Despite the wide variety of student government structures and policies throughout the city, high-school student government leaders often collaborate with those of other schools at monthly meetings. The Interschool President Meeting, between student leaders of 12 independent schools in the city, is a forum for discussion of government election processes and plans for the school year. Some current issues facing Interschool President Meeting attendees are the possibility of phasing out AP courses and selling school merchandise. Stuyvesant SU leaders attend a similar interschool meeting called the Borough Student Advisory Council (BSAC). Aung is the body’s coPresident. Other members come from schools such as Lab High School for Collaborative Studies, NEST+m, and the High School of Fashion Industries. “Each student union describes the problems that they have been facing,” Aung said. “Together we tackle the problems and bring the solutions back home.” At a recent BSAC meeting, Aung raised the issue of the urgency for distributing school attire. The BSAC helped him improve his ideas to streamline the process, and the SU will be releasing attire very shortly. There is a wide range of opinions on the effectiveness of each student government. Wang believes that the student government of Francis Lewis High School has a large degree of influence.
“The student government is highly respected in our school for what they do,” he said. Schiff believes that the Trinity Upper School senate has a more indirect influence on the school. “We have the power to sway other people to get things done. But [the Senators themselves] don’t really have the power to do much except give money to clubs and fund events,” he said. Overall, it seems that the SU faces several of the same issues of and has similar responsibilities to other student governments throughout the city. As far as communicating information from the SU to the student body, which the SU leaders have already taken several steps to improve, there are tactics used by other schools to improve government transparency. These include releasing minutes from government meetings and holding more frequent open discussions with students. Whether the student government employs a Senate or an Executive Cabinet is not the issue. The same problems reverberate throughout the student councils of the city—from dealing with the administration and school restrictions to raising money for clubs and publications. Many of the schools in the city take part in interschool communications, but more defined responsibilities and goals would certainly set apart the Stuyvesant Student Union as a more productive and open student governing body. “The SU is crucial to keeping the student body together as one, because although they often make mistakes and can be inefficient [at times], they are [necessary for] the school’s wellbeing,” sophomore Lowell Weisbord said.
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has not affirmed that Islam in fact made no money. Since the story has been taken to both extremes by the media, how much money Islam has really made remains unclear.
“I pretended to be something I’m not, and I’m more than sorry. I can’t even explain it anymore. I didn’t fully realize the consequences of my actions.” — Mohammed Islam, senior The controversy surrounding Islam’s story has led to a diverse set of opinions among Stuyvesant students. Some closer to Islam believe that the
criticism Islam has received is not warranted. “Mohammed deserves a lot of respect. A lot of people on social media who are disrespecting him don’t have an understanding of the stock market and don’t have a respect for the fact that no matter how much money he’s made, he’s doing something that is very difficult and he’s been doing it since he was 11 years old,” junior and Stuyvesant Investment Club member Jake Tuckman said. “When some people were learning how to read he was learning how to trade stocks. And whether he did it on a simulation or he did it in real life, I don’t even think that is relevant.” Others blame faulty factchecking among journalists for Islam’s predicament. “Mohammed is an incredibly intelligent guy who has put in a lot of work into the stock market and building a network of connections. The only thing that changed people’s opinions is the fact that The New York Post and other half-assed newspapers decided to put together articles as fast as possible. And they just destroyed public opinion of Mohammed. And what ended up happening was they made him look like a liar; that’s completely inaccurate,” junior and Stuyvesant Investment Club
member Isaac Belenkiy said. While Belenkiy and others may blame the publications for supposedly false or unclear reporting, New York Magazine maintains that Islam lied to their fact checker. In their editor’s note, New York Magazine states that a fact checker was sent to Stuyvesant to confirm the $72 million figure. At that time, Islam produced a document that appeared to be a Chase bank statement confirming an eight-figure bank account. The magazine then cites The Washington Post’s report that a source close to Islam and his family told the publication that the bank statements were falsified. Still, some students believe that, while Islam may not have made $72 million, he has, in fact, made several million. “I don’t know if he lied or not, because I don’t know him personally, but I have friends who say they know he must have made some money because he has wads of hundred dollar bills and expensive shoes. So I think he has a lot of money, but definitely not $72 million,” junior Shadi Qurashi said. Those who knew Islam cite his personality as a reason to not believe the stories being published. “I just think that Mohammed Islam wants
Courtesy of Mohammed Islam
Senior Mohammed Islam Presents Contradictory Story About His Finances
some privacy and that it is more likely he’s covering up his story than it is false. He’s very humble. He doesn’t like to make a big deal out of it and won’t bring it up unless someone else does or you mention it,” an anonymous source said. Despite not knowing for sure which of the conflicting stories about Islam is true, it seems that, in general, the student body is sympathetic to Islam and his situation. “People should be more educated on
the subject before they talk about it. Knowing Mohammed personally has really opened my eyes to how much of a difference there is between the actual situation and what people read online and what people post on the internet. And I feel really bad for Mohammed because all that Mohammed is is a really smart kid who is really good at something, and people who don’t understand him are being really mean about it,” Tuckman said.