Volume 104, issue 5

The Spectator

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

Volume CIV No. 5

November 21, 2013

When junior Lucien Siegal entered Stuyvesant on Halloween, Thursday, October 31, he expected his makeup, styled after the famously extravagant band Kiss, to elicit a few stares. The reaction he actually received, however, was stronger than he had anticipated.

“When I got to school, the security guards basically [said] ‘Here’s another one for you, Señor Simon’ [Spanish teacher and dean Manuel Simon],” Siegal said. “[Simon] led me to the men’s bathroom on the first floor, and he made me wash off the face paint.”

Simon declined to comment.

Principal Jie Zhang and Assistant Principal of Security, Safety, and Student Affairs Brian Moran alerted students via e-mail on Wednesday, October 30 that they were not permitted to wear masks or face paint. Next year, the administration plans to alert students of the regulations earlier.

“The students were sent out an e-mail, so if they were wearing a mask or anything covering their face, they were asked to remove it,” Moran said.

In previous years, the administration has taken a hands-off attitude towards costumes on Halloween. Former Principal Stanley Teitel often dressed up himself.

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) has no spe-

cific policy regarding Halloween costumes, but administrators were concerned that allowing students to wear face paint or masks that obscured their faces could result in a safety issue.

“There is a safety concern if a student comes in and they are not recognizable as themselves,” math teacher and dean Gary Rubinstein said. “What if some intruder put on a costume, came into the building, and hurt somebody?”

Zhang also listed several reasons for the regulations regarding costumes that obscured students’ faces. “When students wear a mask, it’s an identity issue and interruption to instruction,” Zhang said. “If the painting is too scary, it can be a distraction in class.” “[It’s] the same reason we ask kids to take their hats and hoods off, so we can recognize them when they walk in the building,” said Moran. “We have to maintain the security of the building; we have to know who’s coming in.” Moran also claimed that masks and face paint could obstruct students’ vision and cause them to hurt themselves throughout the school day.

The administration, as per DOE protocol, did not allow students to bring props imitating weaponry into the building.

Props were taken as students came into the building and held in room 207, where students could pick them up at the end

DOE Launches Controversial Teacher Evaluation System

By Jennifer Lee and In Hae Yap Freshman Emily Ma was one of many students and proctors to arrive late for the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment that was administered on Wednesday, October 30, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.

Ma had not only forgotten all about the exam, but also claimed that she was simply too tired to take it seriously.

“I didn’t want to write an essay… and everyone said [the exam] wasn’t going to count for anything anyway, so I made up my own essay question and wrote a paragraph on ‘Do you think the [Department of Education] is doing a good job educating its students’ and a haiku,” Ma said. The exam’s actual essay question prompted students to write about technological innovations and discern what made a “good invention.”

The ELA assessment that Ma and all students except juniors were required to take is part of a new teacher evaluation system called “Advance.” Being implemented in New York City this school year, Advance will be utilized to grade teachers of all subjects based on two factors: Measures of Student

Features

Learning (MOSL) and Measures of Teacher Practice (MOTP).

MOSL, which comprises 40 percent of teacher evaluations, is determined by the progress made by students from the beginning to the end of the school year. This progress is measured by scores on a “baseline” assessment exam, which will be compared to those from a later examination held at the end of the school year. Though the baseline assessment is uniform for the entire city, later examinations will vary as each school is required to choose its own test according to its students’ needs and abilities.

Each school’s exam was chosen from a select list of tests that includes the Advanced Placement exams by a “School Local Measures Committees” of administrators and teachers who volunteered to join. The Stuyvesant committee, comprised of Chemistry teacher Samantha Daves, History teacher Lisa Greenwald, Math teacher Gary Rubinstein, and History teacher Daniel Tillman, chose the New York State English Regents Exams, which all juniors will take in June, as the metric to which the baseline results are compared in the spring.

MOTP, which comprises the Spread on page 8.

Five, Six, Seven, Eight!

Discover the hidden dance skills of Stuyvesant students.

other 60 percent of the teacher’s grade, is based on in-class observation, student surveys, and evaluation of teaching materials. These observations will be judged and graded according to a checklist written by education expert Charlotte Danielson in her evaluation manual, “Framework for Teaching.”

“Framework for Teaching” involves not only in-class teacher-student interaction, but student-student interactions as well. Some examples utilizing Danielson’s teaching methods include students selecting another student to continue the discussion or students answering other students’ questions.

At the end of the school year, each teacher will receive their ratings: Ineffective, Developing, Effective, or Highly Effective.

As a result of the new ELA examinations, approximately 2,400 student essays needed to be graded. Members of the faculty reached a consensus that the English department would grade the essays on Election Day, which was Tuesday, November 5—a date usually reserved for professional develcontinued on page 2

Students wore face paint and masks to school on Halloween.

of the day. According to Moran, most students agreed to take off face paint and leave their props behind, and he did not need to confiscate students’ ID cards.

Siegal agreed to remove his face paint, but felt that the policy was unevenly enforced. “It was arbitrary. Basically, some

kids had face paint on, but they went straight under the radar,” he said. “Either say everyone can wear face paint, or expressly say nobody can wear face paint.”

Administrators feel that the policy is fairly lenient for continued on page 2

Fingers Snapping, the Jets and Sharks Take Stuyvesant

Justin Strauss/The Spectator

By Elena Milin and Ariel Levy

The Photo Department/ The Spectator

Administration Bans Concealing Masks and Face Paint

Newsbeat • Stuyvesant’s Model UN team attended the Brown Model United Nations Conference on Saturday, November 9. Eight of the thirty attendees won Best Delegate Awards.

• Stuyvesant junior Kirit Limperis had her play “The Best Black Holes are Yellow” performed at the Angels Ajar theater gala, sponsored by the Naked Angels Theater Company, on Monday, November 4.

Her play was performed alongside works of professional playwrights.

• Stuyvesant received an A on its annual progress report from the Department of Education. Business Insider has also returned Stuyvesant to first place in its rankings of the New York City public schools.

• Inventor Howard Wexler, creator of the Connect 4 board game, visited Social Studies teacher George Kennedy’s Wall Street Class He will be working with them on a new business venture, in coordination with Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp.

stuyspec.com

The Stuyvesant Theater Community recently put on their Fall production of West Side Story on October 30, November 1, and November 2.

continued on page 18 Spread on page 21.

Sports Favorite Sports Movies

The Sports Department shares its favorite movies about athletics.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 2

News Administration Bans Concealing Masks and Face Paint continued from page 1

a New York City public school.

“The school has more freedoms than other schools.

We don’t have a metal detector, though it would be easy to set one up,” Rubinstein said.

Zhang agrees. “In other schools, it’s very common that bookbags are searched on Halloween day,” said Zhang. “As long as we don’t run into unexpected incidents we will leave this policy, but if we run into problems, we may have to change the policies of entering the building.” when students place their ankles between the closing steps.

The escalators also have weight sensors, which bring them to a halt if students jump at the top or bottom. Though these account for a majority of escalator stoppages, they rarely last longer than a day and are usually fixed by the turn of a key.

Sometimes, however, these two categories of breakdowns intersect, as major structural damage can be and has been done by individuals in the building. In November 2011, then-freshman Saif Zihiri’s shoe got caught in the escalator connecting the fourth and second floors. Pulling his foot out just before the shoe disappeared into the inner-workings of the escalator, Zihiri saw the escalator come to a grinding stop, where it would stay until becoming operational again in September 2012.

“If everyone is careful keeping bags off steps, not accidentally losing control of sneakers, and [not allowing] loose clothing [to get] caught, then the escalators should stop working

less often,” Assistant Principal of Security, Safety, and Student Affairs Brian Moran said.

Each day, the school’s 12 escalators are turned on at 7 a.m. by the school’s custodial staff.

“We turn them on early to make sure there aren’t any kids on them yet,” custodial engineer Fred Arnebold said. “But after that, the students are on them so we can’t keep turning them back on.

It’s dangerous, and I know I don’t tell my staff to do that. That’s when the students start screwing around with [the escalators].”

The third factor in escalator stoppages is a result of a combination of a school policy decision made in 2006 and a unilateral custodial policy decision. The keys for restarting the escalators used to be given to a wider body of faculty members. “As I recall, they were restarted rather frequently,” Stuyvesant alumnus Eli Cohn (‘05) said. “There would rarely be more than one or two not working in a given day.”

However, in 2006, one assistant principal gave these keys to three favored students. The students then made copies of the keys and sold them to other students. After a key was used to turn on an escalator undergoing maintenance, nearly harming one of the men working on it, the locks for all the escalators were changed, costing the school upwards of $10,000. Only Levigion, certain deans, and members of the custodial staff currently have access to the keys.

“I turn them back on if I ever happen to pass a broken one with no one near it,” Levigion said. “But some students think it is funny to just break one that they know they won’t have to use

again that day. And if that’s the way certain students will act, it’s obvious what the results will be.”

“It’s too bad, because it’s not as if every student does stuff like that, but a few kids ruin tons of escalators for everybody else,” senior Spencer Weiss said. “They have seemingly no reason to, but I guess they just do it for fun.”

Some students see a clear solution to the issue of having escalators that never seem to work.

“There should just be a set time, say in the middle of seventh period, when the custodial staff goes around and turns all the escalators back on,” junior Isaac Gluck said. “If everybody knew what that time span was, they could just avoid the escalators, allowing the custodians peace of mind to turn them back on.”

But for others, the state of escalators at Stuyvesant seems beyond repair. “It’s become an almost expected sight to me now,” freshman Mariya Gedrich said.

“It’s not that big and a deal and I’m just grateful we have them. I wish there was something we could do about it, but there really isn’t.”

Though cognizant of the problems with the escalators, the administration may not be able to address them right away. “I’m aware of the issues,” Principal Jie Zhang said. “They are definitely on [the administration’s] mind.”

Zhang explained that funds for projects like upgrading the escalators do not come out of a school’s budget, but instead from grants coordinated by the School Construction Authority. She has spoken to the Stuyvesant Parents’ Association (PA) about applying for a grant to improve the escalators this year, and the proposal to do so is still being considered.

ASPIRA Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Day

By Tina Jiang Dancers, minor celebrities, and members of the Stuyvesant ASPIRA Chapter filed into the student cafeteria on Thursday, November 7. Why were they there? It was the third annual Hispanic Heritage Day, and according to ASPIRA Faculty Advisor Angel Colon, the “best one yet.”

The event began with a welcome speech by Colon, followed by a speech from senior and Stuyvesant ASPIRA President Nicole Sanchez. They both spoke about their experiences in ASPIRA and how ASPIRA has influenced their time at Stuyvesant.

After Sanchez’s speech, the group Ballet Folklorico River Maya performed the Jalisco Mexican folk dance. Students from ASPIRA then performed a traditional merengue dance, a style that originated in the Dominican Republic. “I could tell how passionate they were,” freshman Gloria Ingenario said.

After the dancing performances, juniors Eddie Joe Antonio and Tomin Perea-Chamblee played “Oye Como Va.” Antonio played trumpet and Perea-Chamblee played the trombone.

In addition to the music and dancing, there were two special guests: Rob Rivas, an Emmy-winning journalist from NBC News, and Maria Munoz Kantha, the founder and former president of Hispanic Women Leaders of Westchester County. The event ended with a closing speech from Assistant Principal of World Languages Arlene Ubieta. All three spoke about the struggles they faced growing up Latino in America and what it took to succeed. “Dr. Kantha’s speech was my favorite

because it was very inspirational to hear the story of a successful professional Puerto Rican woman,” senior and ASPIRA Event Coordinator Raquel Brau-Diaz said.

Throughout the event, attendees snacked on food, which predominantly consisted of traditional Spanish dishes, although some students brought West Indian and American dishes. The food included tacos, chicken and rice, and tamales.

Despite the overall success of the event, there were some setbacks. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15, making the best time for the event to take place at Stuyvesant sometime then.

ASPIRA was unable to schedule the event during that time due to events such as Open House that had been booked first. According to Colon, however, the postponement of the event did not matter in the long run. “People are Latino every day and celebrate their heritage every day,” Colon said.

Planning for the event began early in the school year. Funding came from the World Language Department and the budget of Assistant Principal of Safety, Security, and Student Affairs Brian Moran. “ASPIRA doesn’t get enough funding,” Colon said. “I can’t do it all and everybody should get involved and give support.” Sanchez noticed that a huge obstacle in planning was guaranteeing a large turnout. A significant effort was made to inform the student body about the event, using posters throughout the school, Parent Coordinator Harvey Blumm’s parent newsletter, and a Facebook event.

Eighty people attended the event, an increase from the 50

who participated in the event in the past two years. “We do our best and people just have to show up, students and faculty included,” Colon said. “Everyone should be involved, lend support, and be an additional voice.”

“One of the causes of the low turnout is a major misconception that you need to be Hispanic to attend the event,” Sanchez said.

ASPIRA New York was founded by Dr. Antonia Pantoja over 50 years ago to support Latino youth and prevent them from dropping out of high school. However, Stuyvesant ASPIRA has expanded to include youth of all backgrounds, and hopes to continually diversify its membership. “If there had been more people at the event, it would have been better since the goal is for ASPIRA to get more attention,” said Perea-Chamblee, who emceed the event in addition to playing trombone. “The small amount of students created a more intimate environment, though.”

“Exposing yourself to the cultures that may not have as strong a voice in the student body is really important at a school like Stuy, where there are very few kids of certain ethnicities,” junior Sadie Solomon said. “Beyond the good food and music, events like this can really teach you a lot about the students whose cultures aren’t as prominent at the school.”

“I am very proud of successful efforts put into ASPIRA 2013 Hispanic Heritage Day,” Sanchez said. “Keeping everyone on the same page through good communication between the cabinet and members ensured optimal teamwork and execution. I am looking forward to involving ASPIRA in more events like Culture Fest.”

DOE Launches Controversial Teacher Evaluation System continued from page 1

opment and department meetings. All English teachers arrived at the school building at 8 a.m. and left at approximately 3 p.m., devoting seven hours just to grading assessments using a rubric released by the DOE. English teacher Katherine Fletcher said, “It was exhausting, tedious […] and I have 30 college recommendations [to write] this year. And while the early deadline for colleges has passed, I have more coming up to write.

I also have my own lessons to plan and my own papers to grade for my students, as do all of the other English teachers.”

Teachers and students alike voiced concerns about the efficacy of the new teacher evaluation system through these ELA assessments. Fletcher said, “I think [the system] is not valuable because […] an essay exam that is devised by people who are totally disconnected from the individual needs of our students is not a meaningful measure of the effectiveness of our teachers.”

Sophomore Benjamin Gaebler said, “[The exam] gave me no motivation to do well on the first time. If I want my teachers to be graded well it’s better that I do a terrible job the first time and then write an excellent essay the second time as supposed to equally doing well for both.”

Greenwald also noted that there was nothing to motivate students to do well on the ELA exam. Though the Regents exam that juniors would take in June would stay on their permanent records, the ELA assessment have no bearing on the students taking it. Furthermore, in theory, if students do poorly on the baseline exam but do very well on the final test, teachers’ evaluations can be inflated.

The varying content and quality of the essays were also indicative of how lightly some students took the exam. “Some students took the task very seriously and wrote really well-organized, thorough, clear essays,” Fletcher said. “Other students chose to use their 90 minutes in a different way. I read one really wonderful piece about a [senior’s] seventh grade girlfriend … [though] the prompt was to compare two writing pieces on World War II.” One anonymous student went as far as to write the essay in Spanish.

Many students refused to take the test altogether. Senior Jack Cahn said, “This is an unfair test, and people should know about it. So I made a Facebook event, explaining to people why the ELA was an absurd test … I don’t care whether other students take it or not, but I encouraged students to take the exam and not write anything on it, as an opposition against an unfair exam.”

On the other hand, some students felt that protesting the exams was not an appropriate action. “A protest is not going to be effective, because high school is not a democratic institution, and most of the administration at Stuyvesant seems to be against [the exam] any-

way,” senior Casper Lant said.

“I wouldn’t say this was a form of protest, but I definitely didn’t apply myself to the exam as much as I could have, because [this exam] is a poor indicator of how good a teacher is. But in general, evaluations are very important. It’s important to keep our teachers in check, because from first-hand experience, I’ve had teachers that are clearly not invested […] and I find that extremely de-motivational.”

Though a makeup exam for students absent for the original exam was administered in the library during periods nine and 10 on Monday, November 4, many students still declined to

“I wouldn’t say this was a form of protest, but I definitely didn’t apply myself to the exam as much as I could have, because [this exam] is a poor indicator of how good a teacher is.”— Caspar Lant, senior

take the exam, simply signing an attendance sheet and leaving for their ninth period classes. Sophomore Amanda Wang claimed to have seen several seniors leave the library after writing their name and a single sentence on their exam papers.

Despite an overwhelming sentiment that the exam was “an inappropriate measure of teacher ability,” according to Nikhil Goyhal, a senior from Syosset High School in Long Island who has written a book criticizing America’s public school system, some felt that the exam was not altogether faulty. Dr. Greenwald said that she heard administrators in other schools say that given the vagueness of previous years’ teacher evaluation criteria, they appreciated Advance’s clearly stated specifications for teacher qualifications. Principal Jie Zhang felt that judgment should be reserved until data is released.

“Until the results are analyzed, I don’t think anyone has enough knowledge or information to say how the scores are related to teacher ability. We don’t have any statistics,” Zhang said.

As of now, teacher evaluation scores have yet to be released.

The Spectator ●November 21, 2013

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News

Alice Oh/The Spectator

Four Stuyvesant Students Recognized by Siemens Competition for In-Depth Research

Senior and semifinalist Eugene Lee, junior and finalist Kelly Chen, senior and finalist Michael Lim, and senior and semifinalist Jack Cahn (not pictured) researched for months and received recognition for their Siemens Competition projects.

By Anthony Chan and Whitney Tam This year, Stuyvesant adds four more students to its growing pool of students recognized in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, & Technology. Junior Kelly Chen and senior Michael Lim were named Regional Finalists, and seniors Jack Cahn and Eugene Lee were named Semifinalists in the 2013-2014 Siemens Competition. Stuyvesant’s Regional Finalists will continue in the competition with a chance to win the top prize—a $100,000 scholarship to college.

The Siemens Foundation provides more than seven million dollars annually in educational initiatives, primarily through the Siemens Competition, its signature program. According to its website, the competition “recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth

for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research.” The competition recorded a total of 1,599 submitted projects this year. The Siemens Foundation announced the 100 Regional Finalists and 331 Semifinalists on Friday, October 18. Those recognized as Regional Finalists will proceed to the second phase and compete at one of six regional competitions, and are awarded $1000 and a bronze medal for their achievements.

Stuyvesant’s Regional Finalists competed at Carnegie Mellon University on Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16.

Chen and Lim were flown to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday, November 14 and stayed overnight for the two-day event. The first day was the board presentations, during which judges got to know the competitors and their individual interests. The second day consisted of 12-minute Pow-

erPoint presentations in front of all the competitors, followed by individual 14-minute Q&A sessions with only the judges in a separate room. Although the Regional Finalists will not proceed to the national competition, they enjoyed the two-day experience.

“The whole regional finals experience was possibly the best two days of my life,” Chen said. “Being around people who had such a passion for what they were doing and making friends from all over NY was definitely the best part.”

Chen’s geology paper was titled “On the Horns of the Dilemma: ESR Dating the MiddleUpper Paleolithic Transition at Grotte du Bison, Yonne, France.”

She investigated the cause for the disappearance of the Neanderthals 30,000 years ago in Europe.

Chen used an advanced technique known as electron spin resonance, which has the ability to date tooth enamel from up to 50,000 years ago. Grotte du Bison is one of 13 caves in Yonne, France, where Neanderthal bones and teeth have been found.

Passionate about dinosaurs and fossils from a young age, Chen was excited by the opportunity to join Robert F. Kennedy Science Research Institute (RFK), an institute that performs research on teeth and mollusks. “It was really the best place to have done my research,” Chen said. “It exposed me to new ways to research and allowed me the success I’ve had so far.” To be a part of RFK, Chen had to complete an application and interview. Chen joined RFK in February 2012, and began working with her partner, sophomore Impreet Singh of Francis Lewis High School, in February 2013.

Lim submitted a mathematics paper titled “High Chromatic Number Unit Distance Graphs in the 4-Dimensional Euclidean Space.” Lim focused on coloring 4D space, using the minimum amount of color such that any two points in the space are one unit apart. Lim chose this topic because of its aesthetic appeal.

“It was almost like creating your own Lego piece instead of trying to solve equations,” Lim said. “I’m hoping my graphs will give an insight to how to run computer programs more efficiently, especially from a memory standpoint.”

Starting his work from home in March 2012, Lim wanted to discover his potential through long-term studying and problem

solving. When he later faced difficulty in visualizing and computing the problem, he sought help in programming and coding, working with a mentor at Hofstra University starting in July 2012. “I wanted to see my abilities not only as a problem solver but also as a researcher,” Lim said. “I now have a better sense of my obligations and expectations as a future researcher.”

Though Chen and Lim did not take an Intel class at Stuyvesant, they learned a lot from their research experience. “I was exposed to a field of research that I probably would never have known otherwise and learned lab techniques that I know will be helpful if I pursue research in the future,” Chen said.

Chen will be competing in the New York City Science and Engineering Fair, which begins in December. Lim will compete in the Intel Science Talent Search Competition. “I am planning to work on the boundaries for the higher dimensions later in the future, in hopes of improving them,” Lim said.

Cahn and Lee, the two Stuyvesant semifinalists, received backpacks, T-shirts, portable chargers, newspapers, and certificates for their work.

Cahn’s paper was titled “The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Is Sensitive to Uncertainty, not Arousal.” He investigated the relationship between the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) region of the brain to uncertainty and emotional arousal. The dmPFC is a region believed to direct decision making and personality expression.

Whether rational uncertainty or fear activates the dmPFC is a matter of contention within the science community. Cahn tested various situations by using a program to morph the expressions of neutral and fearful faces. He showed these faces to subjects undergoing a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scan. Subjects exhibited certainty when they saw neutral and fearful faces, and uncertainty when they saw expressions that combined the two. The fMRI data revealed that the latter activated the dmPFC, proving that the dmPEC processes uncertainty and rational decisions.

Working at the ColumbiaCornell Lab for Rational Decision Making, Cahn started research

with his mentor in January 2013.

He took the Intel Biology class last semester. “[Former biology teacher Dr. Jonathan] Gastel inspired me to pursue science research,” Cahn said. “I gained invaluable data-analysis, statistics, and programming skills as I wrote programs to analyze fMRI data.” He plans to continue researching at the Department of Neurology and Department of Radiology at Columbia, analyzing subjects’ physiological responses to stimuli to measure the relationship between sweat production and heart rate and activity in different regions of the brain. Cahn also wants to conduct an analysis comparing the brain reactions of patients with borderline personality disorder. He plans to enter his paper in other science competitions.

Lee’s paper was titled “The Elusive Poncelet Point.” He investigated the sequence of nested triangles in a Euclidean plane and the Poncelet center (P) of a triangle, which is the limiting point of that sequence.

The outermost triangle is T and has an inscribed circle. The tangency points of the triangle and circle form a second triangle T2.

As this sequence repeats, it will eventually converge to a point, or the Poncelet center of the sequence. Lee was able to express the coordinates of P, in the case of an isosceles triangle, and also showed that the coordinates of P cannot be written as a finite combination of elementary functions.

“I’ve been doing applied research for several years now, and I wanted to get into a more theoretical aspect of mathematics,” Lee said. “The unfortunate thing about that, though, is that theoretical math essentially has no applications or uses in the real world. No one will know the significance of the work you’ve done until long after you’re dead.” Lee started his research independently during the summer. He hopes to participate in the Intel Science Talent Search Competition later in November.

After many long hours and much hard work, the four Stuyvesant students were satisfied by the recognition they received for their projects. “I was honestly shocked when I found out that I was a finalist, and somewhat dumbfounded because it seemed almost too good to be true,” Chen said.

NickMom Shoots Episode with Speech and Debate Team

By Sharon Lee and Scott Ma

For most mothers, parenthood can seem daunting. Andrea Rosen, mother of a two-year-old son, is no exception. Like other parents, she’s cautious as to which steps she ought to take to in raising her child. “I’m trying to figure out how much parental involvement needs to happen,” she said.

Unlike many other mothers, however, Rosen is already well on her way to discovering the answer to that question. As the protagonist of the Nickelodeon TV series titled “Take Me to Your Mother,” her quest is to help not only herself, but also millions of other mothers nationwide. She has sought guidance from countless people, including other parents and even professors. On Monday, October 28, she spoke to the Stuyvesant High School Speech and Debate team.

Currently in its second season, “Take Me to Your Mother” airs weekly on NickMom, a sec-

tion of the Nickelodeon television networks geared mainly toward new mothers. The show documents Rosen’s quest to find the best way to raise her child.

In every episode, Rosen answers a question commonly asked by prospective parents. In this episode filmed at Stuyvesant, titled “Valedictorian Hour,” she tries to find the best way to raise her child to succeed academically.

The episode had already been filmed and planned out for some time before Rosen decided to approach Stuyvesant’s Speech and Debate team. Rosen had previously contacted her own previous teachers as well as several mothers of valedictorians. “She’s learned that learning to think is really a cornerstone in being a success in life, just being able to think for yourself,” executive producer Linda Schaffer said.

“That’s what led us to the Stuyvesant Debate team, since you have to think quickly to debate.”

“She wants to brush up on her debate skills, and she wants to know what their parents did to

help them think,” Schaffer added.

Nickelodeon first pitched the idea of filming Stuyvesant’s Speech and Debate team to English teacher and Director of Forensics Julie Sheinman in early October. “They were interested in doing a series on high-achieving students and they heard about the Stuyvesant Speech and Debate team,” Sheinman said. “They said they were going to portray our team in Stuyvesant as very favorable, and that was great.”

On the day of the filming, Rosen and Sheinman were introduced through a mock audition for the Debate team, in which Rosen recounted several stories to a group of debaters and Sheinman. After each story, the team gave Rosen pieces of advice, such as how to present herself better and speak with more confidence.

Rosen then debated against members of Stuyvesant’s Debate team on a variety of topics. She first took a stance against seniors David and Jack Cahn on whether the rise of China was beneficial for the United States, arguing

against outsourcing work to China. She was promptly defeated.

“They’re really a force to be reckoned with, and I’ve never met anyone like them,” Rosen said.

“They were nice people, but I was floored by basically the powerhouse that is the Cahn brothers.”

Rosen went on to debate against other members of the team, such as junior Jakob Urda, on other political topics including nuclear proliferation and healthcare.

“She made some really interesting arguments and I think it just showed us a lot about the team as a whole,” senior Zachary Lemonides said. “It was a great experience, definitely well-run, definitely something I’m glad happened.”

Several informal debates followed the more formal ones, in which questions were opened up to all of the twenty-some Speech and Debate members inside of the room. Questions raised during the discussion included those of nature versus nurture and the balance between a student’s sleep, social life, and grades.

The experience helped some

of the debaters see that parents should be supportive in helping their children to learn, but not overly focused on academic success. “[Parents] should encourage their children to care about knowledge, but not about grades,” Corbin Allardice said.

Lemonides agreed, adding that parents who want the best for their children have a delicate balance to strike. “Parents [should] know when to support their children but also know when to step back,” Lemonides said. “Parents who are too involved and parents who are not involved are both doing a disservice to their children.”

Ultimately, Rosen gained valuable insight from her time with the Stuyvesant Speech and Debate Team. “Parental involvement to a certain degree is important, but I don’t think you want to be a hovering, ‘helicopter parent,’” Rosen said after the filming. “I just want to see what my kid turns out to be and what his needs are… I want to figure out how to support him in being the best kind of student he can be.”

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

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News

Courtesy of Michael Zamansky

CSTUY Offers Weekend “Hacking Sessions”

By Ariel Levy and In Hae Yap Every Saturday morning, twenty dedicated students; four teaching assistants; Stuyvesant computer science teachers Topher Brown Mykolyk, JonAlf DyrlandWeaver, and Samuel Konstantinovich; and computer science coordinator Michael Zamansky gather together to learn advanced programming through “Hacking Sessions.” These weekend Hacking Sessions are run by Computer Science and Technology for Urban Youth (CSTUY), a nonprofit organization founded by Zamansky.

According to Zamansky, students in the program have a chance to “learn, build, and share.”

He based his plans for the Hacking Sessions on Stuyvesant’s own computer science curriculum, as well as on the Computing and Programming Experiences summer program for middle school students that Google’s Vice President of Engineering asked Zamansky to develop in 2010. Hacking Sessions are similar in content to the Software Development elective for

seniors at Stuyvesant, although the format of the sessions differs slightly from that of a normal classroom setting, mainly because the sessions only occur once a week.

A Hacking Session typically starts off with a lecture from one of the instructors. Through these lectures, the students are expected to learn new techniques for coding, such as how to write and use a recursive program to efficiently produce an intended output. Students are then instructed to write programs exploring what they have just learned in groups of four.

As the students complete the assignment, instructors and teaching assistants walk around, giving hints on how to write certain pieces of code. Because students in the course are selected for their keen interest in the subject, instructors expect students to explore the concepts learned in the session on their own over the week, although no official homework is given.

The Hacking Sessions instructors are assisted by teaching assistants, seniors in Stuyvesant’s Software Development elective who volunteered to help out. Most of the teaching assistants had origi-

nally signed up to be participants in the Hacking Sessions themselves, not realizing that most of the sessions’ material would also be covered in Software Development. “Mr. Zamansky told us that because we were already getting the chance to learn these things in [Software Development], he didn’t want us to be participants, but he told us that he was looking for TAs for the program,” senior and teaching assistant Christopher Burke said in an e-mail interview.

The teaching assistants play an important role in helping students comprehend the material covered by instructors at the Hacking Sessions. “Mostly I’m just giving [the participants] a direction to work in, making sure the whole group is working together effectively, pointing out some errors and bad programming practices, and showing some cool, new stuff,” senior and teaching assistant Jasper Lu said in an e-mail interview. “I think in the future, the sessions will get more competitive between the teaching assistants as the groups work on bigger projects.” Eventually, the teaching assistants will be given a chance to teach their own brief lessons.

The first goal of the sessions was to establish common knowledge of one programming language, in this case Python. The projected curriculum also includes instruction in computer languages such as Javascript and databases such as MongoDB. The ultimate goal is for students to apply what they have learned to a final project, most likely the creation of a website, to wrap up the Hacking Sessions at the end of the fall semester. The Hacking Sessions will start again in the spring semester with a new batch of students, so as to expose as many students as possible to the classes.

Hacking Session students are from high schools across the city, such as Bronx Science, Hunter

College High School, and Brooklyn College Academy. Zamansky and other organizers reached out to these students by asking Stuyvesant alumni with connections in the computer science field to advertise the program wherever they could, in addition to promoting the program on CSTUY’s website. Although there were many applicants citywide, only twenty students were selected, three of whom attend Stuyvesant, due to the advanced nature of the Hacking Sessions.

The students have varying levels of computer science background, ranging from those whose schools offer computer science classes to those who are self-taught. For example, students at Townsend Harris High School (THHS) are not offered any computer science courses. “Prior to the Hacking Sessions, I was fairly familiar with Java and Python.

[My school], however, offers no CS classes, and so I taught myself the basics of CS through both languages. The Assistant Principal of Math, Science, and Technology at Townsend Harris [Susan Brustein] revealed a flyer for the opportunity at a robotics team meeting. I visited the CSTUY website, which led me to the Hacking Sessions,” THHS junior Neil Chen said.

Currently, the weekend Hacking Sessions rely on donated laptops and space from Stuyvesant alumnus Davin Chew (‘96). Chew is the founder of SumAll, a company that focuses on data analysis for marketers, and is also one of Zamansky’s former Advanced Placement Computer Science students. SumAll had just expanded into a new office in lower Manhattan with a meeting space for outreach into the bourgeoning New York technology community, and Chew offered CSTUY use of the location. “I first heard about CSTUY from one of my engineers who knew one of Mr. Zamansky’s

former students. It goes to show how influential [Mr. Zamansky’s] alumni network has grown that someone who never graduated from Stuyvesant was spreading the word,” Chew said in an e-mail interview. “[Their mission] seemed to match perfectly with what we envisioned possible uses could be.”

Chew believes that the US does not have enough qualified engineers, and that programs like CSTUY open up opportunities in engineering to many students who might not otherwise consider such a career. “I trust Mr. Zamansky and believe in his vision of preparing students for the technology and startup world. I’m hopeful that if we can bring that practical knowledge to students early, it can inspire them for life,” Chew said.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to build a culture,” Zamansky said.

“In StuyCS we develop into a community, and it extends well after students graduate. I’ve organized an alumni group of close to 700 people with a large active subset.

We support each other, give advice, offer job opportunities, life lessons, etc.” He hopes that the weekend Hacking Sessions will make students from Stuyvesant and other city schools a part of this family. “We want the CSTUY hackers to become part of the StuyCS alumni community as it starts to become something outside of the school,” Zamansky said.

The testimonies of some participants attest to the success thus far. “My exposure to CS has definitely been increased thanks to the sessions. As such, I intend to pursue CS through college and my career,” Chen said. “I love the Hacking Sessions classroom model. The students who participate in this program are highly motivated to explore CS. I mean, they wake up at eight a.m. on Saturdays for this, and they learn because they want to.”

Pedrick Appointed Assistant Principal of Guidance

By Rebecca Chang and Ariel Levy Every Saturday morning, tweDirector of College Counseling Casey Pedrick received an unexpected phone call from Principal Jie Zhang three weeks ago. Zhang offered Pedrick the position of Assistant Principal (AP) of Guidance. “I was very honored, but very surprised,” Pedrick said. “I was not expecting this offer to come.” On Tuesday, November 12, the change in her position became official, and she became one of the five APs of Administration, a term encompassing the APs of Security, Organization, Technology, and Student Affairs.

Since former AP of Guidance Eleanor Archie’s retirement in January 2013, the position has been in a state of flux, shuffling between two different administrators. At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, Zhang and Assistant Principal of Safety, Security, and Student Affairs Brian Moran divided the duties of the position, with Zhang managing the academic aspects and Moran taking care of the emotional and disciplinary areas.

As a result, Pedrick views her new position as an opportunity to stabilize the department. “It’s going to be really nice to have consistency and [work] as college and guidance together,” Pedrick said. “It’s almost a department that brings together all the other departments, as well as bringing you guys [the students] together, as well as bringing the parents in.”

Students are excited to see

more definite leadership in the department. “My guidance counselor has always been great, but strong leadership there would definitely be beneficial,” senior Calvin Baker said in a telephone interview. “It’s a department that is always working for the students of all grades, so it’s really important for it to be strong.”

Although Pedrick received certification in 2009 that allowed her to become an assistant principal, she initially did not intend to take on such a job. “I was a guidance counselor for so many years.” Pedrick said. “This is an area that I really love.” Her previous role as a college counselor involved guiding juniors and seniors through various parts of the college application process and meeting with them to discuss possible options for college.

“Pedrick was really the one who handled everything and had a really good grip on what was going on,” senior Judy Mai said in a telephone interview.

“She just really had the experience to guide the college office.”

As the AP of Guidance, Pedrick will now be in charge of overseeing the activities of Stuyvesant’s guidance department, which assists in resolving students’ major problems and concerns, whether academic, social, or emotional.

“I am very excited about the bigger-picture things that I can help [with],” Pedrick said. “Right now, I’m kind of just [working with] juniors and seniors, and it’s nice to be in a role where I can step back and think of all the different ways I can help the entire student body.”

Many students, however,

are concerned that continuous changes in the college office staff will lead to a lack of experience among counselors. “[Pedrick] has done a really good job at both sort of reorganizing the college office and making it more functional,” senior Sweyn Venderbush said. “But also,

“Whatever her duties are as an [Assistant Principal], I am very confident that she can master them and improve services in a way that can only benefit the school and the whole school community.”

—Harvey Blumm, Parent Coordinator

more importantly, she’s doing a really good job fostering those relationships [with colleges].”

Parent Coordinator Harvey Blumm believes that changing roles among staff will be an opportunity to bring new talent to the school. “Just like we found [Pedrick] to replace [previous college counselor Patricia] Cleary, I’m very, very confident that we will find a very, very capable college counselor [to replace Pedrick].” Blumm said.

A replacement for Pedrick in the college office has not yet been chosen. Last year, previous college counselor Jeremy Wang left Stuyvesant to take a position in a Long Island public high school.

However, according to several guidance counselors, there have been ongoing negotiations to possibly bring Wang back to the school as the new director of the college office. “It would be wonderful to have him back, and I hope it works out,” Pedrick said.

Another common worry among seniors is that Pedrick’s appointment may worsen existing delays in the college office, which have resulted from problems with the new version of the Common Application. Known as CA4, the application was released this summer, but proved incompatible with the most recent updated version of Google Chrome, an internet service provider used by approximately 40 percent of the American population. Another problem was the inability to upload many important documents online, such as recommendation letters, fee waivers, secondary school reports,

and Early Decision agreements.

College counselors often resorted to faxing these documents to individual colleges and had to contact students and parents to inform them of this change.

As a result, many documents were sent late to colleges, and many students were unable to meet with a counselor until after already applying Early Decision. “It’s great that the guidance department is in good hands,” senior Spencer Weiss said. “But with the situation already so behind in the college office, this definitely won’t help. I wouldn’t want Regular Decision apps to be even more disorganized.”

However, Pedrick assures students that she will remain Director of College Counseling in addition to her new role as Assistant Principal of Guidance for the remainder of the calendar year, continuing to assist the seniors in her caseload with their applications, especially those who are applying Regular Decision. “I know, for one, that she will be dedicated to both jobs,” senior Philip Lan said.

“It’s definitely my priority to make sure that they [the seniors] are all taken care of, and that they definitely feel like someone’s still in their corner and rooting for them,” Pedrick said.

Many in the school, including Pedrick herself, are enthusiastic about this upcoming change. “Whatever her duties are as an [Assistant Principal], I am very confident that she can master them and improve services in a way that can only benefit the school and the whole school community,” Blumm said.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 5

News

By Gabriel Rosen with additional reporting by David Mascio A charitable grant totaling $60,000 issued in late October by the Baylin Charitable Trust is expected to improve Stuyvesant’s Math, Science, and Technology Departments and provide assistance to students in need of financial support.

The Baylin Charitable Trust, founded by late Miami attorney and Stuyvesant alumnus Gerald Baylin (’44), is a philanthropic organization incorporated in March 2011, two years after Baylin’s death, under the IRS tax-exemption code 501(c) (3). Organizations filed under code 501(c)(3) are created with the sole purpose of conducting charitable endeavors, such as the construction of hospitals, donations to schools, contributions to religious institutions, and limited political lobbying.

The organization is currently

Stuyvesant to Receive $60,000 Grant

headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and, as its most recent filing in 2012 discloses, has assets totaling $1,658,413. Due to its status as a non-profit, the Baylin Charitable Trust has some leeway regarding where it can contribute its funds. Baylin’s will stipulates that up to five percent of this money be used every year toward causes that he championed in his lifetime, according to the trust’s estate manager and Miami lawyer Brian Perlin. The main beneficiary of this money will thus be Stuyvesant, which has already received upwards of $100,000 in total from the trust.

Last month, Perlin was on vacation in New York City and took the opportunity to meet with Principal Jie Zhang to discuss the possibility of future collaborations. Zhang had sent Perlin a funding plan she believed would be most beneficial to the school, and within ten days, the Parents Association received a check for $60,000 in the mail.

Perlin explained during a phone interview that the trust was contemplating whether to resume its donations to Stuyvesant, so he needed to meet with the new principal. Perlin determined that Zhang had a solid plan for the distribution of funds. “We look forward to working with Principal Zhang, because she is an asset to Stuyvesant,” he said.

Under former Principal Stanley Teitel’s administration, from 2010 to 2012, Stuyvesant benefited from a $30,000 grant given to the Alumni Association. With these funds, the Gerald Baylin Memorial Scholarships were established. A total of twelve students benefitted from these merit scholarships, which have since been discontinued. In addition, the Alumni Association received $15,000 with the explicit purpose of improving Stuyvesant’s Biology Department. Perlin said that the old system, however, did not permit the distribution of funds to the satisfaction of the trust.

When Zhang disclosed the Baylin Charitable Trust’s $60,000 donation, she explained that the money, contrary to donations in prior years, is being given directly to the Parents’ Association. This funding strategy enables Stuyvesant to avoid incurring penalties from the Department of Education (DOE). Perlin explained that if the DOE saw that Stuyvesant received a donation, it would most likely cut the school’s funding by that amount donated. The bulk of the donation, $50,000 of the $60,000 total, has been earmarked for the improvement of the Stuyvesant Math, Science, and Technology Departments, as laid out by Zhang. Zhang has yet to discuss the details of her funding plans with the assistant principals of these departments.

The remaining $10,000 will be set aside by the Parents’ Association as discretionary funds for use by Zhang to the benefit of needy students. Zhang said, “Stuyvesant has a strong alumni

community, a community that truly supports us, and we’ll use their resources to help all students.” Zhang also gave the hypothetical example that if a student in a club could not afford to go on a trip, she could potentially intervene and use the discretionary funds to pay the fare.

Some students, such as junior Sayid El-Saieh, are unsure of the discretionary funds. ElSaieh said, “I’m skeptical of these funds because I don’t know exactly where the money is going.”

However, other students, such as junior Gabrielle Polsinelli, appeared to welcome the idea of a discretionary fund to help those in need. Polsinelli said, “These funds could be a good thing, especially if they went toward a new program like having student MetroCards available on the weekends.”

Features

Anne Duncan / The Spectator

Not Just Child’s Play

Christopher Kim, 9 years old, is excited to be taking freshman classes at Stuyvesant.

By Alexander Gabriel, Kachun Leung, and Mcvvina Lin DISCLAIMER: The following Stuyvesant experience is not suitable for everyone, and as Stuyvesant alumnus Milo Beckman (‘11) states, should only be treated as a “last resort.”

Sunday - hockey game 7 a.m., Chinese school 1:30-4:30 p.m.

Monday - swim team 4:30-5:30 p.m., piano lessons 6:307:00 p.m.

Tuesday - swim team 4:30-5:30 p.m., football practice 5:306:30 p.m.

Wednesday - test prep tutor 3:00-4:00 p.m., swim lesson 7:30-8:00 p.m.

Thursday - swim team 4:30-5:30 p.m., football practice 6:308:00 p.m.

Friday - FREE! Saturday - hockey practice 7:008:00 a.m, swim team 1:002:00 p.m., football game This is the weekly schedule of unofficial freshman Christopher Kim. Perhaps this sounds like the life of any other Stuyvesant student, but what sets Kim apart from his peers is that he is only nine years old.

For Kim, getting into Stuyvesant didn’t require taking the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT). Instead, during the Spring 2013 term, months before Kim even stepped foot

into the school building, his mother Sherry Hsiung contacted Assistant Principal of Mathematics Maryann Ferrara after hearing of Alec Klein’s book, “A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion Inside One of America’s Best High Schools.”

The book, which mentions Stuyvesant math prodigy Milo Beckman (‘11), influenced Hsiung’s decision to have her son take high school-level math courses. Kim’s mother met with Ferrara, who examined Kim’s work and decided to admit Kim as a special case.

As portrayed in Klein’s book, Beckman was an eight-yearold prodigy when he first entered Stuyvesant, and it was his success story that inspired Hsiung to send her son to the same school—though Beckman points out that the character portrayed in this book was an exaggerated version of himself. For Beckman, who spent seven years gracing the halls of Stuyvesant, high school was obviously not a normal experience. At eight years old, this was rather apparent, especially since his feet barely touched the floor when he sat down. “It was clearly not a normal experience,” he said. “I would be stopped in the hallway, and people would ask me questions, or pinch my cheeks, or ask me if I needed help walking to my next class.”

But the tradeoff was worth the price. “I was pretty miserable in elementary school, and I wasn’t having a good time academically at all. I had been what my parents call ‘thirsting for challenging and interesting classes,’ and I was finally getting that at Stuyvesant for the first time,” Beckman said. he had also entered Stuyvesant not through the SHSAT, but rather through family friend and former Stuyvesant mathematics teacher Tim Novikoff, who was good friends with former Assistant Principal of Mathematics Daniel Jaye. Jaye gave Beckman special permission to pursue his mathematical studies, and Beckman started his first class, freshman geometry, as a fourth grader. Beckman took the SHSAT with his peers to be recognized as an official freshman

at Stuyvesant when he would have been in seventh grade.

Though friends were undoubtedly hard to make early on, Beckman states that he received much help from various teachers. “Teachers were universally very, very helpful to me, especially very early on. My first teacher was [math teacher Deena] Avigdor, who I had for a year, and she absolutely treated me as she would treat any other student,” he said. Eventually, Beckman became extremely involved in math team and in the Stuyvesant Theater Community (STC), developing his own niche

“I never really learned anything for math in my school. I wasn’t really challenged, but then my mom wanted me to get challenged, so she took me to Stuyvesant.”

—Christopher Kim

of friends. This was largely because of “my sister, who was a student at the same time, was heavily involved in STC stuff, and we shared the same friends,” Beckman said.

Thus, Beckman was eventually well-assimilated in the school. He laughs as he recalls a memory of chemistry teacher Brian Dibbs: “The first time that a teacher wasn’t aware of my

age was Mr. Dibbs in chemistry class when I was either 10 or 11,” Beckman said. “At a parentteacher conference, he said, ‘He’s a bright kid, he does the work—do you think he’ll ever grow?’”

Flash forward to the present, and Kim has taken Beckman’s place as the youngest unofficial freshman in Stuyvesant. An average day for him in our school begins at the end of his day at P.S. 234, just a short distance from Stuyvesant across the West Side Highway. Upon completing his regular classes and eating lunch at his elementary school, Kim walks to Stuyvesant, where he attends ninth-period Integrated Algebra with math teacher Andrea Fenyves and other freshmen. “Algebra at Stuyvesant is by far the most challenging class I’ve ever taken. The classes at P.S. 234 are easy and simple, but I still learn some things,” Kim said. “But it takes me about 15 minutes a week for my elementary school homework, which is only Monday through Thursday.

Algebra takes me about 30 minutes every day, including the weekends.”

Before Kim came to Stuyvesant, Hsiung had signed her son up for a multitude of different math tutoring programs, including Kumon, Khan Academy, and Johns Hopkins University’s online Center for Talented Youth courses.

Kim has been learning about math on his own since a young age. He memorized his multiplication tables at the age of three, a feat most children do not accomplish until elementary school. “One time when he was three, he told me in the elevator, ‘odd plus odd is even, even plus even is even, and odd plus even is odd,’” Hsiung said. She recalls being completely stunned at Kim’s remark and asking him who had taught him this, to which Kim replied, “I was just thinking about it.”

Hsiung was drawn in by the prestige of Stuyvesant and its proximity to Kim’s home. “We live across the street. [We] are literally less than a block from Stuyvesant, and it’s just too convenient to have the best high school in the city right across

the street,” she said. In addition, the challenge that the school offers is one of the reasons behind their decision to have Kim attend classes at Stuyvesant. “I never really learned anything for math in my school. I wasn’t really challenged, but then my mom wanted me to get challenged, so she took me to Stuyvesant,” Kim said.

As for the difficulty of the material, Kim finds it “a little bit above medium.” However, he does not see himself as different from his peers. “I feel pretty normal now,” he said. “I feel like I fit in with the other kids. Sometimes there are still some kids that seem surprised in the hallway when they see how small/ young I am. I know a few of the kids in my class. I’ve always felt pretty comfortable in raising my hand in class.” Fenyves had a similar impression. At first, she was “a little bit surprised, but [Kim] is such a sweet boy and he’s very active in class, so he just fits right in,” Fenyves said.

Though Kim has pretty much assimilated into Stuyvesant, he and his mother do not plan to follow exactly in Beckman’s footsteps, despite a common background with P.S. 234 and an advanced appreciation of math. “I don’t have any aspirations beyond this. I think he’s a totally normal nine-year-old,” Hsiung said. Kim added in that he’s only different in that he’s exceptional at mathematics. He and his mother laughed at this before continuing. Ultimately, Kim wishes to be just like his peers and, “when it comes to his personality, he loves video games, he tortures his little sister, he wrestles with his little brother. He’s a good kid, just exceptional at math. And so all we want out of this is for him to be challenged,” Hsiung said.

As elementary school draws to a close for the fifth grader, Kim must begin thinking about middle school. Looking ahead, the possibility of moving to New Jersey eliminates Stuyvesant as an option for high school. “But if I don’t [move],” said Kim, pausing unsurely, “I probably will go to Stuyvesant, because I’ve kind of already been there.”

Page 6

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Features

Sabrina Chan / The Spectator

The Greyducks in Their Natural Habitat

By Alexia Bacigalupi and David Bang An early morning chill lingers over the grassy field. The sun remains hidden behind an opaque blanket of clouds, and the sky is a pleasant grey, punctuated by orange and yellow-plumed trees.

The air is still and silent except for the chattering of teeth and quiet murmur of hundreds of people. It is the New York City Cross Country (XC) Championships in Van Cortlandt Park, a five-kilometer (5K) race on an asphalt track that traverses hills and forests. A nervous energy radiates from the crowd of runners and coaches.

The Greyducks, Stuyvesant’s boys’ and girls’ cross-country and track teams, trickle in and join their teammates under a canopy tent emblazoned with “Stuyvesant” in blue letters. Today is the day to win.

The Manhattan Borough Championships were a sweep— junior Eric Chen called it “a tuneup for Cities”—but today, the mood is visibly tenser. “For the past six weeks, we have had the

date of cities circled on our calendars,” senior and boys’ co-captain Jeremy Karson said. “We have literally been counting down the days, trying to make sure every workout is perfect and we are all ready to go on that day.”

The runners settle into their own pre-race routines. The boys, who run first, screw spikes onto their shoes and anxiously joke around, distracting themselves from the pressure as they wait.

Some listen to Mozart, while others play games on their iPhones.

The girls, in their red jerseys, relax on the tarp, reading, chatting, and massaging each other’s shoulders. They discuss the surprise card they’ve prepared for their assistant coach William Schneider, who will soon be leaving the team. The night before, the captains posted on the team’s website with encouraging messages, directions to the race, and music playlists to get pumped.

An hour before the race, the seven boys on the varsity team begin to jog, then “stride” (short sprints) and other warm-up exercises to shake off the cold and

anxiety. Coach Mark Mendes is everywhere: taking attendance, making sure people have their number tags on, talking with the parents who have showed up, surveying the other teams, and giving his runners last-minute advice. “If we run perfectly, we will be second or third due to the strength of teams like MSIT and Midwood,” he said. Though he hopes to win, Karson admits that “we’re definitely the underdogs this year, but at the same time we definitely have a shot to win it.”

Fifteen minutes before the race, the boys, donning their white jerseys and red shorts, join other teams at the starting line.

Across the field, Mendes positions himself by the one-mile mark, a stopwatch in his left and binoculars in his right.

Pop! The runners are on the move. An enormous mob of rainbow colored jerseys surge forward. It’s quiet as they pace themselves over the hills; the only sound is the steady crunch of gravel underfoot and the panting of hundreds of boys. They disappear into the silent woods, where their stamina and mental endurance will be tested, ultimately determining the fate of the race.

Meanwhile, the crowd assembles by the finish line, apprehensively watching for runners.

The first five runners on each team count towards the team’s ranking. The boys pull through to an overall second place, with Chen individually finishing in third place with a time of 16:36.

Karson finishes seventh with a time of 16:53 and junior Eamon Woods 22nd at 17:38. They excitedly collect their medals and return to the tent to celebrate their achievement. Just a few

minutes later, the last member of their team finishes and they relax byjumping around exuberantly and going for a cool-down run with broad smiles on their faces.

As the boys’ junior varsity pack swoops around a bend in the race, Mendes follows with his binoculars, critiquing his runners’ technique. He criticizes the boys running in the lead, explaining that those who pull ahead early in the race will exhaust themselves running over the hills and will fall to the back of the pack as they approach the finish line.

Junior Kai Pacheco leads the the junior varsity runners into fourth place with a time of 18:45 as the girls’ varsity team finishes up its warm-ups. Coach Anna Markova has high expectations for her girls and hopes to, at the very least, send a few individuals to the State meet. Despite stiff competition from schools like Curtis and Susan E. Wagner, “the girls are very ready, [they are] very cohesive as a team,” Markova said.

Upset and bothered by LaGuardia’s win at Boroughs, in which Stuyvesant placed second, the girls are determined to redeem their standing. They put their anxiety at bay by excitedly discussing the baked goods their teammates have in store for after the race.

The varsity team, led by captain Stephanie Liang, head out to the starting line. As they await the start of the race, the Greyducks proudly chant, “S. T. U. Y. You ain’t got no apple pie. You hungry!”

The girls place seventh, an improvement from last year’s year 10th place, and senior Vera Pertsovskaya qualifies for the

State Championships. “Today I was just focused on beating the girl in front of me, like taking them down,” Pertsovskaya said.

Schneider is pleased, quickly taking note of each girl’s time and congratulating her on her performance. Sweat dripping down their faces despite the cool fall air, the girls reconvene on the tarp, comparing their personal records and discussing the details of the race.

As the last race of the daywraps up with the girls junior varsity team placing sixth, the morning’s clouds dissipate and the noon sun peeks through.

“It was really a perfect race,” senior and boys’ co-captain Andy Zhang said. “While we were hoping for first, [...] we all had good PRs and did well.”

After short cool-down jogs, the boys dig into slabs of carrot cake while the girls whip out homemade crumb cake and duck-shaped cookies and pose for pictures with their coaches.

With a successful cross-country season coming to a close, the Greyducks look forward to even stronger teams next year, for both teams have a strong roster of juniors and promising sophomores. “There is big promise for the future. Definitely next year we will qualify [for the State Championship] as a team,” Markova said. Zhang is equally optimistic about the future of the boys’ team. “Only two of the varsity people are seniors, so the potential top five [runners] for next year are already [in the] top seven this year. Next year, our team can get five men in under 17:30. We pretty much have Cities locked.”

For more information on the team’s performance, see the Sports article on page 23.

Senior Nerd Day

by the Photo Department

The Spectator â—? November 21, 2013

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Page 7

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 8

Features

By Maisha Kamal When the end bell rings, the backpacks come off and the dancers come out, breaking open the shell of boring schoolwork and sleepless nights. Dance allows these students to create fantasy worlds apart from their monotonous academic lives, and bring to life the everyday feelings that we all feel but can’t express freely. Passion, emotion, stories—this is what dance has come to mean for these students, and they set out to use dance as a method of communication in a way that words can’t. Who are these dancers among us? The Stuyvesant Spectator sets out to find out just that.

The Beauty of Teamwork If you’ve seen the dancers of Dancing with the Stars, you’ve already had a preview of senior Sylwia Jemielity’s killer dance style. Two-time national champion in ten-dance and Latin, Jemielity has been dancing since she was five years old. “I started to take [dance] really seriously when I was around 11 years old.

“UN stands for undefined because we all have different types [of hip-hop]. It’s fashioned as a unit, because regardless we act as one group with our different styles,” Tran explained.

In being a dance group with such unique interpretations, UNit encounters their fair share of stylistic clashes. “When we disagree with each other while making dance routines we just have to compromise. Everyone has different ideas and sometimes they’re all great but we can’t incorporate all of them so we take parts of each,” Tran said.

In the end, UNit’s positive attitude and willingness to adapt and evolve are what make them the group they are. “[Dance] allows us to express our emotions through our movements. In that moment we become one with music—we become lost in our own worlds where we are free to move as we want and not have anyone judge you,” Chan said.

Sabrina Chan / The Spectator

I’m a ballroom dancer, so that just means I do both the Latin and ballroom style. This kind of dance isn’t really a ‘competition team’ kind of thing—it’s more of a two-person team. It’s basically you and your partner against the world, and I was lucky to become like brother and sister with my old partner.” Speaking of her partner, Jemielity said, “If one of you falls the other falls with you, and if one of you triumphs, both of you do. That aspect really makes both of you become best friends and really inseparable. Not only do you want the absolute best for them but you also have such an incredible time at practice each day even if it is seven hours a day six days a week sometimes.

Sometimes you do get sick of each other, but at the end of the day you are each other’s biggest cheerleader.”

As part of the ballroom community, Jemielity had the opportunity to travel not only around the country but also the globe, an experience that has changed her immensely. “I used to be a really shy person, but dance really made me feel comfortable around large crowd; It really helped me come out of my shell,” she concluded.

But dance can involve more than just two individuals. You saw one example of such dance during SING! and you saw them at Soph-Frosh Semiformal, grabbing their audience’s attention with well-crafted hip-hop moves. They are UNit: a dance group consisting of juniors Brian Tran, Kevin Yip, Sadman Fahmid, and Joshua Chan. The boys, who united sophomore year after getting to know each other better through Stuy Squad, said their interest in each other’s dance styles— such as Tran’s urban contemporary and Yip’s breakdancing—is what brought them together.

“We experiment and make choreography together which is always a challenge but rewarding in the end. It becomes unique and very diverse,” Tran said.

Fahmid added, “We essentially learn from each other and our styles develop through dancing with each other.” Accordingly, this eagerness for advancement and personal growth is what leads UNit to embrace all forms of hip-hop, as most styles aren’t defined to begin with. This openness is what inspired their name itself.

Philip Shin / The Spectator

Courtesy of Farcon Photography

Alice Oh / The Spectator

Five, Six, Seven, Eight!

Speaking the Language of Dance Junior Julia Gokhberg also specializes in hip-hop, a dance form that’s becoming increasingly popular. Though she started her dance career with ballet, Gokhberg said the genre progressed at too slow a pace for her, inspiring her to join a modern dance group at her dance school at age six. She stayed with this group until her sophomore year, when the pressure from school proved to be too much. “In the group, we danced contemporary, hip hop, folk, and rock and roll. My group wasn’t competitive, but we did perform in restaurants several times a year and held a final show in the summer,” Gokhberg detailed.

At Stuyvesant, Gokhberg is an active member of the dance community, having directed girls’ hip-hop during the month of SING! in her sophomore year. “Directing SING! was such an amazing experience. I got to meet some really awesome dancers, and I’m still close friends with all of them. Dance adds a whole different dynamic to SING!,” Gokhberg said.

“To actually make the moves, I grabbed my phone and set it to video, turned on the music, and just danced for a little while and see which moves came out when I just freestyled for a bit.

I also asked a few of the girls in the crew to freestyle to some of the music because I knew they’d have some nice moves that I wouldn’t have thought of,” Gokhberg said.

Last year’s Soph-Frosh SING! also showcased junior Danielle Isakov’s ability to direct Latin and Jazz dance crews.

“Directing a dance group for SING! made me really happy but also gave me so much anxiety. I was stressed and worried for a month straight, but it was also the highlight of my sophomore year,” Isakov recalled.

Isakov was more than qualified for the position, having danced since the age of four.

“I went to a dance school for close to 10 years. This was 4 days a week, plus extra practices throughout the year,” she said. Isakov, who studied ballet and Latin/ballroom dance professionally, has also picked up other dance styles—such as character dance, folk dance, lyrical, and jazz—by participating in dance related activities.

On doing so, Isakov said, “I love being versatile and learning different styles. I can see how other people express themselves, and how you can move your body in

Teresa Chen / The Spectator

A Pitch for Success

By Wei Hou Wu Billionaire Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to focus on Microsoft. Thomas Edi-

son did so poorly in school that his mother pulled him out to be homeschooled. Li Ka Shing, deemed the richest man in China, left school at the age of 15

to embody the rags-to-riches ideal. There seems to be a pattern here: school and business do not go well together for the most successful entrepreneurs.

One non-profit organization, however, seeks to change that.

Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp (TEBC) aims to teach high school students the essentials for success in the business world. Since 2009, TEBC cofounder Pam Chmiel has been running numerous afterschool and summer programs to teach students entrepreneurial skills.

Stuyvesant joined the trend in 2010, when Chmiel partnered up with Dr. Howard Wexler, the inventor of Connect Four, to create Toys by Teens, LLC. A branch of the larger TEBC program, Toys by Teens, LLC was formed to provide a “classroom version” of the program and offer hands-on experience

in business to interested students. Chmiel sent out proposals for the program to multiple principals after garnering Dr. Wexler’s support, but former Principal Stanley Teitel was the only one to show interest. With the help of the Student Union, Chmiel held an interest meeting that attracted over 30 students, though only a dozen stayed active in the program. “[I] had a lot of fun. The ‘program’ was more like a real entrepreneurship experience,” Victoria Gong (‘12) said. “It not [only] taught me aspects of marketing or product design, but how to think like an entrepreneur.”

Since 2010, teams of Stuyvesant students have participated in the program. Team 1, comprised of 15 students, began with the afterschool initiative’s inception and met twice a week. Dr. Wexler gave the stu-

a different but equally beautiful, way.”

Surprisingly, however, Isakov has not competed over the course of her dance career.

“Dance was always more about performing rather than competing for me. It makes your performance about getting a number instead of getting an emotion out to the audience.

I don’t dance for someone to judge: I dance for myself.,” she explained. Still, Isakov has managed to retain all her classical training and use it as a foundation for anything else she does, which in itself is a victory. “I love the vigor of training—strengthening your body, improving flexibility, developing your center and poise, and gaining spatial awareness. I feel in absolute control of my body when I dance, and I love pushing myself physically. But dance is also an art; I love that I can tell stories, express emotions, and just create beauty by using my body. And also it’s such great outlet for feelings and overall so much fun,” she added.

dents the idea and template of a book. Students then created 20 puzzles, mazes, word searches, crosswords, and other games that were suitable for a dryerase flipbook. To do this, they conducted market research on their target group of elementary school students and met with a graphic designer to decide on the book’s layout. For the actual production of the book, they also discussed the product’s licensing with a lawyer and raised around $4,500 for its manufacture through Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform. Donations were given by Dr. Wexler and the Stuyvesant Class of ‘93 to help fund the product. “[TEBC] offers the students an opportunity to see a real-life, ongoing business enterprise, trying to take off from continued on page 9

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 9

Features A Stumbling of Syllables: The Reasoning Behind Americanized Names On the first day of every school year, I anticipate the moment my teachers go down the attendance sheet, see “Huwon Kim,” and call my name.

Would they know that “Hu” is pronounced the same way “who” is, or would they stumble, see an invisible “e” after the syllable, and pronounce it like “hue”? I correct them a few

times if they travel the latter path, but I eventually let it go when they grow accustomed to their intonations.

Still, my name is on the simple side. For students like freshman Yingzhi Xing, it often takes a lot more effort on their part to teach, correct, and remind their teachers what their names are and how to pronounce them.

Some give their teachers an escape in the form of a West-

ern name to write down next to their birth name. Many immigrant parents give their children Americanized names, rationalizing that Western names will bring their children a little closer to the much-idealized “American Dream.” What do the children, who often have no say in the matter, think of their parents’ decision? What do these students’ friends think? How do the teachers view the situation?

“My cousin—I came [to America] when I was five—she thought that it might be easier for me to survive through school if I sort of had an English name, but not really [in my case], because Yuki’s Japanese. [But] ever since I got to middle school, my cousin told me to go by my real name and not go with Yuki ‘cause the teachers, they sometimes mixed me up with one name or the other, so I go by Yingzhi in class, but my friends call me Yuki. If my teachers pronounce my name really badly though, I just tell them to use Yuki. “[The decision] depends on the parents because they’re the ones that gave the kid their name. If they give their kid a more original name, or the kid a name that’s more suitable for their culture, then it’s easier for teachers to recognize you, but it’s harder for them to learn your name. But when your name’s like Kevin, then there’s 50,000 other Kevin’s out there, and it’s really easy to forget you because they can have the same last names as you, too.”

—Yingzhi Xing, freshman “First of all, people should be able to choose whatever their preferred names are. The software I write for my class asks the students what their preferred first names are so that I can learn that rather than perhaps what is listed on the attendance sheet. If their names are difficult to pronounce, or I find it difficult to figure out what the pronunciation is, I go through training with the student—I know that this is what the student would like. I also happen to have two Chinese children, so I have a little bit of a prior training with that. But I think that teachers need to adjust to what the students would prefer to be called, and whatever tools the teacher needs to use to accomplish that are fine.”

—Peter Brooks, Computer Science teacher “[My parents] basically chose my English name… When I was in pre-K, I didn’t know [my English name], so I would say my Chinese name to my teachers… They were wondering what I was saying when they asked me my name, and I felt embarrassed. When I went home, my mom said to use Vincent and not my Chinese name. It was to better allow me to adapt or assimilate into American society.”

—Vincent Ou, junior

Hwon Kim / The Spectator

By Huwon Kim

“Americanization—it kind of shies away from Asian culture. I guess parents feel like when they come to America, they want their children to... perform to the ideal American “dream”—they want them to be successful. By giving their children an American name, the parents feel like their kids will fit into society more and achieve the American dream, be more successful.”

—Marek Becker, sophomore “My parents really think that your name is a part of your identity, so just following American culture just because you don’t want to stand out, or just because you don’t want to fit in, that’s not really fair [to yourself]… People can learn how to say your name—that’s not really that much of a deal.”

—Labiba Chowdhury, junior

“A lot of people Americanize their names uniquely. I know there’s a kid whose name is, I think, Zongrong, and he changed it to Zoro, which is really distinctive and memorable. And sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s easier to remember a more peculiar name, I guess, or a relatively peculiar name, so sometimes by Americanizing their names they’re a more interesting name, a more unique one. But sometimes it cancels it out, and you end up with several Kenny’s and Kevin’s—there’s a big Eric thing also. I also feel that it probably might actually be more interesting if everyone kept their names because a lot of names converge too. [Americanizing names] kind of gets rid of, ‘that person might be Korean’ and ‘that person might be Chinese,’ because they both have the same name. It sort of drains out the nationality—they just have an Asian appearance, rather than belonging to a certain country.”

—Jacob Olenick, junior

“I teach about world cultures, so to me, [the name issue] doesn’t make any difference. To me, I want the student to feel comfortable, I want the student to be motivated to participate and interact in class, so whatever he or she prefers, I do make a point to make sure that I, even if the student doesn’t want me to use his or her given name in whatever language is spoken at home, I want to make sure I know how to pronounce it, if I could find anything interesting about the history of the name, I’ll do it, but again, whatever the student prefers, I do.”

—Brenda Garcia, World History teacher

“A lot of the times the Asian names sound prettier, but they’re also harder to pronounce, so I feel like I might be mispronouncing their name, and then I feel more wary of, like, using it, so maybe [it becomes] less personal, but names don’t really matter anyways. American names aren’t as pretty, but definitely more convenient in the long run. Having a typical American name makes you more typically American. You fit in, and fitting in is a big deal.”

—Maria Vasilkin, junior

A Pitch for Success

continued from page 8

the ground up,” social studies teacher George Kennedy said.

“Any of the difficulties that you have trying to get a business out there and going, this is what the students are visualizing and experiencing.”

Revenue from sales of the first product, “Flip N’ Check: Classic Games,” will be used to fund future Stuyvesant involvement in the program. TEBC hopes to use the trademarked “Flip N’ Check” template to create more versions of the dryerase-style activities book with different themes. Answers are provided on the back of each activity page, so readers can easily flip to see if the answers match up with the child’s work.

Following its kickoff, the program has grown to involve over 60 students with the advent of Teams 2 and 3, which

operated during the 2012-2013 school year and consisted the whole of social studies teacher Eric Wisotsky’s economics class and Kennedy’s Wall Street class, respectively. “When Chmiel first announced the program during my Wall Street class, I volunteered to join. Just the idea of actually publishing something before heading off to college was really exciting. Also, making puzzles that I loved to play as a child seemed really fun,” senior Kevin Ni said. “I know I want to be in the business field as my career.” The students were given advice on improving the product from visitors such as Josh Muskin (‘93) and held a booth at the International Toy Fair at the Javits Center to advertise “Classic Games.”

Team 4’s product, “Flip N’ Check, Under the Sea,” will be on the shelves of Barnes and

Following its kickoff, the program has grown to involve over 60 students with the advent of Teams 2 and 3, which operated during the 20122013 school year.

“A lot of teachers tend to remember more common names, more American names. I’ve seen that a lot of the time they refer back to their attendance sheet for the names of kids who have more of an Asian name, a more traditionally Asian name. That does impact what teachers remember about you… If they forget a name, they’ll forget a face, and they’re not going to remember whether or not you participated in class, or how well you did on tests.”

—Nicolette Hussein, junior

Noble before the Thanksgiving weekend this year. Building off of Team 1’s designs and graphics, they and Teams 5 and 6, consisting of Kennedy’s Wall Street classes, were tasked with creating the content for the new product: puzzles befitting the “Under the Sea” theme. Students were also responsible for publicizing the product by submitting press releases to local newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

“My goal for the toy company is to be profitable enough to support its entrepreneurship and apprenticeship teaching initiative at no cost to high schools,” Chmiel said. The success of the program, however, is dependent on student interest and participation.

The students are currently awaiting the first shipment of

“Under the Sea” books, which took $14,000 to order, and aspire to sell 2,000 copies during a four-week period to cover their next manufacturing costs.

“I think that it’s a great product and it’s innovative. I have confidence that the books will sell,” junior Lesi Qu said. In the meantime, they have been selling and providing demos of the first version of “Flip N’ Check” at the book fair at P.S. 124, located in Tribeca.

For now, Toys By Teens, LLC is the only program operating under TEBC, but Chmiel hopes to get the current team to continue using Dr. Wexler’s template to create a third product and spread the program to other high schools.

“It is grassroots. It is evolving,” Chmiel said.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 10

Editorials Staff Editorial

Race Relations at Stuyvesant

“I shouldn’t use the name ‘John Doe’ as an example Stuyvesant student. I should use the name ‘Kevin Li,’” a teacher told a Stuyvesant freshman. Race relations at Stuyvesant are nothing like the media portrays them.

We are a school of students who identify as white, black, brown, or yellow. Though outsiders might consider these terms offensive or objectifying, Stuyvesant students know that this four-color palette has many gradations and a plethora of different hues. Contained within it is more diversity than meets the eye.

To provide our readers with a true-to-life perspective on race relations, we decided to tie together many of the fascinating conversations we’ve had with our fellow students about race, rather than print a traditional staff editorial.

Cliques are Ubiquitous “Here’s how you can explain cliques at Stuy—they’re like mini homogenous countries. You have people of different interests and different talents, and that’s what makes us diverse. But what makes us homogenous is that they’re all of the same race or very similar socioeconomic background,” senior Mandy Wong said.

What is the super glue that binds these groups together? The students we spoke to think it’s a combination of common heritage and shared interests.

Here’s how junior Chloe Long explained it. “Especially at Stuy, [there are] a lot of Chinese people, and you can make friends through a culture club or K-pop, so you can really use your culture in that way. So I think there tend to be more people of the same race who bond together, not because of racism, but because through their culture, they have something in common…

You make friends a lot of the time from classes or activities that you do, or people who live in the same area as you and maybe you take the same train, so you start talking about the time or school or whatever and work from there.”

Though the existence of cliques is a well-accepted and probably inevitable part of life at Stuyvesant, it does have its downsides. Students complain that certain cliques can be unapproachable, and that self-segregation prevents Stuyvesant students from truly taking advantage of the diversity of the school.

Meeting New People In most cases, Stuyvesant teaches us to be more aware of the different cultures, backgrounds, and personalities that exist in the world. Many students who come from predominantly white middle schools are shocked to see the representation of minorities at Stuyvesant. “I can say that without Stuyvesant, I definitely would not have had the opportunity to know so much [not only] about the different parts of the city that some of my friends are from, but also their cultures. Heck, coming into Stuy I had no idea what “Bengali” was—I just thought everyone was Indian. Even if everyone thinks Stuyvesant is full of just Asian people, Stuy has such a wide range of students from all

over the world and city,” senior and SU President Eddie Zilberbrand said.

Exposure doesn’t apply only to race. At Stuyvesant. many students are introduced to the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community for the first time.

As freshman Tariq Khan said, “There are a lot more [different] sexually oriented people. There are more people who identify as gay or bisexual. I basically didn’t know anyone who was gay or bi before going to Stuy.” Bringing together different communities in a natural, healthy way is one of Stuyvesant’s unique strengths.

Stereotypes are 1) Prevalent 2) Often Based in Reality 3) Still Unsettling

Asians: “I think the way I view [Asian] students, a lot of the times I think of the Asian student as being very rote memorization-driven versus white students. I wouldn’t say that I associate that stereotype with all Asians. Like, I think that after I start to get to know a person, then I make my mind up. But before I know them, if I see them in class and they’re not talking, then I think that.”—Anonymous “People always look at Asians as quiet, conforming, and passive beings devoid of an independent mind. It frustrates me that my culture is looked upon in this way, because I felt like everybody has that first impression of you just by your facial features…

For a long time, I rebelled against any aspect of being conformed into the Asian identity and felt the need to prove myself to be non-conformist. It conflicted me because I want to be proud of my culture, but when there are so many aspects tied to your culture that aren’t exactly positive things, it seemed difficult for me to tie myself to that image. I knew in my head that I was unreasonable, and associating myself with a culture does not mean that you are tied down by the stereotypes, but in a school with such a vast Asian population, I felt as though my identity would be erased.”— Anonymous female student Whites: An anonymous white student recounts a similar experience. “I got put in a group project, and I was the only white person. My group expected me to want to do the presentation part, because at Stuy this is considered something white people are good at.

I told them I would probably be the worst one for this, though, because I actually hate public speaking and would choke up. It was really surprising for them to hear.”

South Asians: Tanumaya Bhowmik, a candidate for Sophomore Caucus Vice President, explains her experience with “brown” stereotypes: “People from South Asia are called “brown,” and brown people have a tendency to do bad kinds of things, like drugs and getting bad grades, so people don’t really expect them to be high up there or respected. But I overcame that, because people

realize that it’s not true.”

African Americans: “Racism isn’t present in this school in the traditional sense.

Like, there are some attitudes of white and Asian students, say, towards black students, where they think those students get certain privileges because of their race.”—Sophia Gershon, junior

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

“The Pulse of the Student Body” E DITOR S

N ews

In-Betweens?

Perhaps the biggest indication of underlying racial tension is the fact that Stuyvesant’s gossip realm has a special name for students who try to blur the racial lines, students that don’t fit the stereotype: whitewashed.

It is a point to be noted that, as American teenagers, such namecalling is too ingrained in our culture for us to realize that we are unfairly degrading other individuals. Some students brush off these racial remarks as jokes that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. “I mean, we’re at Stuyvesant. We’re all intelligent, and I think Stuy is smart enough to make racist jokes without being offended,” junior Edmond Loi said. Others, however, do not feel that such comments should be made in a school that advocates “Respect for All.” Yellow Fever While Stuyvesant students have become familiar with biracial couples holding hands in the hallways, this phenomenon is not as common outside our walls. More than anything else, the prevalence and acceptance of such relationships indicates that despite its faults, Stuyvesant is an extremely tolerant school where races intermingle with ease. When non-Asians are attracted to Asians, this preference is often labeled “yellow fever.” So, while these relationships are embraced, they are still considered different and unique.

The barriers students are willing to overcome to pursue such relationships are onerous. Many of our parents did not grow up in an environment as racially accepting as Stuyvesant, and, while many of them espouse the ideals of equality, they don’t want us to date students of other races. This unhealthy opposition is a source of much tension. One anonymous Asian student currently in an interracial relationship explained her situation.

“Whenever I go to my boyfriend’s place, it is stress-free and fun. I may have a chat with his parents about whatever interesting is going on in my life… It is so comforting. But when I invited him over to my house, it was a totally different story… I was afraid of any neighbors seeing me because they may alert my parents.

When we go into my house... the panic of my mom or dad coming home makes me paranoid.

When we are in my room and I think I hear a quiet jingling noise of the door downstairs, I immediately respond. I shove my boyfriend into the closet… I almost feel faint because the idea of my mom coming home and finding not just any boy, but a white one, in my room may cause an explosive reaction that may traumatize the both of us. During the time

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he spent over, I even considered keeping the window opened in my room, as an emergency escape hatch in case my mom were to come home. He may hurt himself since my room is on the second floor, but that seems way more bearable than a livid Asian mother.”

“I feel like we’re the last generation,” junior Kevin Lau said.

“Starting from us, we’re going to be a lot more accepting. We’re not going to be all old-school. With our generation, it’s going to end.”

Conclusion In one sense, the media is right about Stuyvesant’s racial diversity: our racial composition is skewed. But we’re not a school filled with “quiet Asian kids.”

Stuyvesant is host to a wide range of diverse students who intermingle and learn from one another.

Our true-to-reality view of race is often taken to extremes. The labels “black,” “brown,” “Asian” and “white” have taken a life of their own, with students defining themselves and each other by false stereotypes. This Editorial Board lauds the diversity of Stuyvesant. In doing so, however, we call on our fellow students to break down the final boundaries of self-segregation. We should not only be accepting of all, but also try our best to see each other as individuals, not members of a specific racial group.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 11

Opinions Point-Counterpoint: New York City’s “I’m A Girl” Ads

By EMMA BERNSTEIN

The “I’m a Girl” initiative is not a high-powered male politician trying to save women. It’s a baby step towards redefining beauty and acceptance. discussion at hand that needs to happen between the media, parents, students, and the government. But perhaps by giving these posters as much as wall space as we do the posters of brand-name companies, we’ll better be able to convey to our youth that there is no point trying to find the “secret” to beauty.

Because the secret really does not exist. As cliché as it sounds, you are beautiful just the way you are.

Katherine Pan / The Spectator

What really is Victoria’s Secret? How do you become pretty, sleek, and even sexy? Nowadays, it appears that more and more preteen girls want to find out. In fact, according to the new NYC Girls Campaign, young girls are becoming so occupied with their appearance that around 80 percent of girls are concerned about becoming overweight by age 10. Furthermore, during their middle school years, about 40-70 percent are dissatisfied with two or more parts of their body. These girls want to be in on Victoria’s secret. They want to be as beautiful as models they see on billboards, or as “stunning” as the Gucci models in magazine advertisements. And often times, when they compare their bodies to the so-called “ideal,” media-portrayed bodies, their self-esteem, confidence, and sense of body image crashes. As a result, a disaster is occurring nationwide: a whole generation of girls is suffering from low self-esteem, depression, eating disorders, and mental health problems.

Fortunately, the city is fighting back with the same weapons that Victoria’s Secret uses: posters, advertisements, and videos. Throughout New York City buses, trains, and phone booths, walls are covered with a new type of advertisement: posters of young girls of all ethnicities, shapes, and sizes, with the caption “I’m a girl. I’m beautiful the way I am.” And though some argue that these posters fail to address the problem and only aggravate it, I believe these ads are the least we can do to fight the crisis of confidence that is facing girls today.

The self-image crisis, though perhaps not often discussed, has huge impacts on the nation’s feminine youth.

Seven million women and one million men are currently suffering from eating disorders. Furthermore, two to three out of every 100 women suffer from bulimia and one out of every 100 from anorexia. Dieting and not eating for long periods of time are becoming common trends, and young girls nationwide have decided that if the price of beauty is depriving their bodies of nutrition, they will gladly pay it. Furthermore, according to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, the self-image young girls develop stays with them well into their teen and adult years. For these reasons, this mentality needs to be challenged, and the current “I’m a Girl” initiative is a first step that needs to be applauded.

The “I’m a Girl” initiative is not a high-powered male politician trying to save women. It’s a baby step towards redefining beauty and acceptance.

Today, beauty is typically defined as physical appeal, but with the advent of these ads, we can change society’s perspective of beauty from “pretty” to more of those qualities listed in the ads, like brave, friendly, caring, and strong. These ads tell girls that they don’t need to look the part of a model.

Instead, they should be individuals, because that’s all beauty really is. And this is what our youth needs: reassurance. Whether it be while riding the

Hayoung Ahn / The Spectator

Hayoung Ahn / The Spectator

subway or seeing the advertisement online, these young girls need to be reminded that the secret to beauty is not only Victoria’s, but theirs as well.

To emphasize this new idea of beauty, the models in the campaign actually aren’t models at all; instead, they’re girls off of the streets of New York. Though some have an issue with the selection of girls present in the posters, their diversity increases the legitimacy of the campaign. Every girl can look to the ads and see one or two girls she resonates with, no matter her ethnicity, weight, or age. We’re all imperfect, and the ads define these imperfections as beautiful. In the end, if these ads can prevent a girl from purposely starving herself for a day, then I count that as a success. In the end, if these ads help prevent girls from considering plastic surgery (teen plastic surgery rates have shot up 30 percent over the past ten years), then I consider that a success. In the end, if we can get rid of low self-esteem and depression, then that is definitely a success.

I understand that these ads won’t solve the crisis of self-esteem faced by young American girls. There is a larger

Emma McIntosh / The Spectator

People are Greater than Paper

You’re Beautiful Just the Way You Are

By Henry Rosenbloom and Wenhao Du We New Yorkers often mind our own business and pay no attention to the strangers we see every day. But when we receive a warm compliment from a stranger every so often, we can’t help but smile. If the stranger were to read to us, in monotone, a list of generic compliments, and repeat these comments to the next person, would the gesture have the same effect? We didn’t think so.

In essence, this is what the NYC government is doing with its recent “I’m a Girl” campaign.

In order to combat pervasive low self-esteem among teenagers, the city has plastered a series of posters over the walls of buses and subway trains.

The posters depict girls of diverse backgrounds and have the message “I’m a girl. I’m beautiful the way I am” written on them. Unfortunately, just like a robot that repeats the same adjectives to person after person, these posters are ineffective at achieving their goals and are an inefficient use of taxpayer money.

The posters try to stress characteristics girls can aspire to instead of physical qualities. “Hardworking,” “funny,” and “creative” are a few examples. The posters try to instill confidence in young women, but their poor design often creates the opposite effect. For example, the word “unique” is on the same list of adjectives on different posters of different girls, implying that the distinguishing qualities between the girls are physical rather than characteristic. Every ad ends with “I’m beautiful the way I am,” but kids today are smart enough to realize that posters don’t know who they are. Moreover, the impersonal nature of the advertisements makes it even harder for young people to resonate with the message of the posters. These are pity ads, and girls know it. After all,

no one ever tells a gorgeous girl “you are beautiful the way you are.”

The ads only serve to add to a laundry list of qualities girls are expected to have. Rather than foster independence and teach girls to develop an internal definition of beauty, the ads contribute to the already-stifling pressure for conformity. They push girls to worry about being “hardworking,” “smart,” and “funny,” to meet yet another standard set by society. How is that supposed to build their confidence?

The posters target young girls and young girls only. Although girls are thought to be more concerned about their appearances, both men and women are affected by self-consciousness and depression caused by society’s unfair physical expectations.

Rather than foster independence and teach girls to develop an internal definition of beauty, the ads contribute to the already-stifling pressure for conformity.

The posters deliver the message that only girls are in need of help, as they are damsels in distress who wallow in self-doubt until good old Mayor Bloomberg swoops in to save the day.

The posters give girls a stock set of adjectives thought up by the government, instead of encouraging them to find out what really makes them beautiful. Being young is about discovering who you are and creating an independent sense of self-worth. No patriarchal poster can deliver that.

Lack of self-confidence among girls is a serious issue and at a time when stories of bullied girls committing suicide surface on an almost regular basis. Many girls are in dire need of help, and the city needs to undertake drastic steps to solve this problem. Putting up meaningless posters just won’t cut it. The $300,000 spent on these posters could be used to create free self-help and bullying prevention programs. Furthermore, the city needs to increase the number of competent counselors who can supervise the social environments in schools and won’t hesitate to intervene at the first sign of depression. $300,000 spent on paper is not as effective as $300,000 spent on pupil personnel services, period.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 12

Opinions On College Admissions

By WENHAO DU There are a variety of ways that a secondary school can impose restrictions on where its students can apply to colleges.

Some methods include: making students who are admitted

Having to be perfect to be guaranteed admission at top colleges is bad enough, but should the school tell us that we have to be perfect to even have a chance? under Early Action accept the offer to attend, restricting the number of private colleges students can apply to, or preventing students from applying to their “reach” schools. When a secondary school does so, its action leads to higher yield rates for colleges, which in turn often encourages colleges to accept more of its students, thereby leading to better college acceptance results. While many pri-

vate preparatory schools here in New York City pursue such policies, these policies would be a nightmare if implemented at a public school like Stuyvesant.

By the time Stuyvesant students go into their junior and senior years, they often have one or a few select schools set in mind. Unfortunately, when they finally receive their hardearned acceptance letters from these prestigious institutions, not all are able to attend. Why? The answer is often money.

As a Title I school, Stuyvesant has a student body different economically from the student bodies schools with collegerestricting policies. Take Trinity, for example. A Trinity student I interviewed affirmed the existence of policies of accepting an Early Action admission and limiting the number of colleges students apply to so “you can put enough effort into each app, so you actually get in somewhere.” The problem?

Trinity has a yearly tuition in the neighborhood of $40,000.

Such a price tag is unaffordable for a majority of students at Stuyvesant, of whom more than 30 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch and a good many more are in the middle-class income bracket. Should policies instituted at such an economically different school really be implemented at Stuyvesant?

The latter policy of barring the number of colleges students apply to would definitely cause outrage. The reality is, for the less affluent here at Stuyvesant, applying to college (a large in-

Better Policies, Better Results vestment at any rate) is not about attending institutions that students like the most, but rather getting the best financial deal. Limiting the schools someone applies to, therefore, decreases the likelihood he will be able to get a solid financial offer. Creating policies that increase the chances that wealthier students have at their dream colleges while hurting the chances poorer students have at affording college itself is something that we should not and will not tolerate at Stuyvesant.

In addition, the application decision should be left up to the student and his family, not the school. Almost every selective process at Stuyvesant is largely based your GPA (just take APs, college trips, or membership in ARISTA, for example). Is the school able to distinguish a 90 from a demanding teacher and a 97 from a teacher who tends to give high grades? Definitely not. But an experienced college admissions officer will definitely be able to distinguish a strong teacher recommendation from a weak one. Furthermore, if policies restricting applications based on student ability are implemented, competition at Stuyvesant would increase even more. Having to be perfect to be guaranteed admission at top colleges is bad enough, but should the school tell us that we have to be perfect to even have a chance? Combine that with the ingrained notion of immigrant families (which constitute a large part of Stuyvesant) that good colleges are the surefire path to upward social-mobility, and you get a cutthroat environment.

Although giving students better chances at college admissions is a good idea, it simply won’t work at Stuyvesant.

Stuyvesant wasn’t founded to get its students into Ivy Leagues, nor is that its mission today. Its mission is to give everyone, regardless of economic class, a good education and a chance to succeed. I believe it is no one’s right to take away that chance.

Stephanie Chan / The Spectator

Hayoung Ahn / The Spectator

Beyond Reach

By DANIEL KODSI Stuyvesant’s college acceptances should be higher.

We have some of the highestachieving students in the country with some of the highest SAT scores, and the second-highest number of National Merit Semifinalists and the most Intel

What we should do is, if not restrict applications, at least heavily urge less qualified applicants not to apply to the most selective colleges. semifinalists and finalists in the US. But alas, we wallow in lower admissions rates than most private schools, and even some of our most qualified students are denied opportunities they rightfully deserve. Why is this?

The first reason is that the structure of private schools is very different, and I’m not just talking about how fewer Stuyvesant students have legacy to top-tier universities or parents with significant wealth. What I’m referring to is how college counselors at a private school

will typically deal with only a handful of students. They’re able to devote more time to each individual, explaining why a student might have gotten a B+ in math one term when it’s generally that kid’s best subject. These counselors have to whisper in the ears of college admissions officers for four students, not 30. If Stuyvesant is truly committed to getting its students into the best colleges possible, one of the first steps the administration should take is to increase the number of our college counselors.

The other problem Stuyvesant students face is that we are all applying to the same few colleges. From the statistics on Student Tools, 79 students applied to Harvard and 168 to Columbia last year alone. This makes it nearly impossible for admissions officers to read through all of our applications, and they are forced to draw a figurative line below a certain average. We all hear the talk of “you need a 9X to get into Yale, a 9Y to get into the University of Chicago,” but while these statements are in a general ballpark, they certainly do contain some element of veracity. What we should do is, if not restrict applications, at least heavily urge less qualified applicants not to apply to the most selective colleges. Trinity High School, which has the highest Ivy League acceptance rate in New York, pursues this policy so that its best students have a greater chance of success. While it might be slightly unfair to some, it would benefit Stuyvesant as a whole.

By JUSTIN WELTZ “Clear your desks except for a pen and pencil. Please put your name and date at the top of the paper. You have five minutes,” the teacher says as he begins handing out exams. Most students are still rummaging fanatically through their bags.

Adrenaline and anxiety paralyze your body. You manage to fill out the answers in the last 30 seconds and turn the test in. You realize that you forgot to write your name.

Pop quizzes are no fun.

They’re also unfair and a waste of time.

First and foremost, it’s unrealistic and unfair for students to be held responsible for information they learned the day before. They simply don’t have enough time to seek help if they need it—AIS tutor-

By giving pop quizzes, teachers are only penalizing the students who would have studied for an announced assessment.

ing sessions are only once a week, and convenient free periods with the teacher are hard to come by. An in-class review of homework given in the previous class is also necessary to ensure that students fully understand the concepts taught.

Teachers may argue that students should, every night, supplement their homework by reviewing and practicing to fully comprehend the lessons taught that day. This ideal studying technique, while far from foolproof (students may still not understand a concept after they have reviewed it), is also utterly unrealistic in Stuyvesant. Not only do most of the students in this school receive too much homework, if studying for a pop quiz in every subject were added to the sleep equation, the most likely outcome would be zero.

Philip Shin / The Spectator

Pop Quizzes: Boring, Stressful and Useless

Even if we assume that students can allocate more time to reviewing every night, dayby-day testing creates an inflexible schedule that cannot adapt to extracurricular commitments or variables that lie outside of an individual’s control. By giving a week’s notice

before an exam, teachers are allowing students the freedom to organize review time around their commitments to other classes. The need to review for a pop quiz every night is probcontinued on page 13

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 13

Opinions

By DANIEL KODSI Change is coming to New York City in the form of Bill de Blasio. Our new mayor has grand goals for his adminis-

Students admitted to Stuyvesant aren’t rich, Mr. de Blasio; they’re just smart.

tration. He wants to decrease income inequality and make the city fairer for minorities, to create universal kindergarten paid for by taxes on the wealthy, and, unfortunately, to change the entrance requirements for the New York City Specialized High Schools. He hopes to strike down the SHSAT as the sole means of admissions to Stuyvesant and the seven other schools that comprise the meritocratic elite of New York City’s public schools. While I’m convinced his goals are noble in intent, in practice, his attempt

to move away from the current admissions method would only create a process that’s more unfair and biased in nature. The SHSAT must not be changed. de Blasio has argued foremost that the SHSAT creates a “rich-get-richer phenomenon.”

As the Daily News explained, since wealthy parents can afford more expensive tutoring for their kids, the test is biased towards the rich. While it’s probably true that we have more members of the middle class than many of NYC’s local high schools, Stuyvesant students are definitely not rich.

In fact, we qualify for Title 1 funding, which is reserved for schools where more than 40% of the students are on free- or reduced-price lunch. Beyond that, according to the New York Times, more than threequarters of Stuyvesant students are either first- or second-generation immigrants, hardly a group renowned for its material wealth. Students admitted to Stuyvesant aren’t rich, Mr. de Blasio; they’re just smart.

The reality is that wealthy parents are sending their children to private schools, not to Stuyvesant. The preparatory classes are being taken by students who, hungry to succeed, are willing to sacrifice their summers or weekends for an extra 50 points on the test. The classes are paid for by parents who want the brightest possible future for their kids, even if the classes come at a burdensome cost. The basic principle here is one with which we’ve all been acquainted through our history textbooks and the tale of the American Dream: work

hard and make sacrifices to get ahead. Criticizing the hard workers for striving, whether it’s by hauling three jobs or taking prep classes for their high school admissions test, would be to criticize the very idea of the meritocratic society, a society in which an immigrant can rise just as high as a fifth-generation legacy of Harvard or Yale.

What makes the SHSAT special is that it is objective and not reliant upon opportunity. Yes, many kids prep for it, but those classes are available to everyone. What it tests is reasonable: basic algebra and some geometry, reading comprehension and logical analysis. Every middle-school student is given access to the Specialized High

We shouldn’t change the SHSAT, but we should try to make it possible for more nonAsian minorities to be admitted.

Speech and Debate teams in the city, and Stuyvesant’s very own Spectator was awarded the top award in Overall Journalistic Excellence by Harvard’s Crimson last year. Not to mention that our standardized test scores are off the charts. As I said: smart, not rich.

We can’t ignore the facts, however. The majority of enrollees in NYC public schools are African-American or Hispanic; at Stuyvesant, according to Gotham Schools, only nine black and 24 Latino students were accepted out of 963 admitted applicants. We shouldn’t change the SHSAT, but we should try to make it possible for more non-Asian minorities to be admitted. One concrete action would be to expand the scope of the New York Specialized High School Institute (SHSI), a free, 22-month program designed to give good but economically disadvantaged (to be admitted, you must be on free lunch) students a way to improve their scores. According to the DOE website, the course is designed to provide “rigorous coursework [emphasizing] verbal and math skills, problemsolving, critical analysis, time management, and test-taking strategies specific to the SHSAT.” While it might be impossible to take everyone who applies (the current means of selection is random), the SHSI should certainly take more than the 3,800 it currently does. Another option would be to send out representatives from either the city bureaucracy or the specialized high schools themselves

to poorer schools throughout New York. One of the key reasons why more minorities don’t do well on the exam is that they are either not aware of the test until the beginning of eighth

In the end, the SHSAT is effective in creating a stellar learning environment for New York City’s best students.

grade, at which point they only have little over a month to prepare. It’s a simple fix and one that should be made before any overhaul of the program.

In the end, the SHSAT is effective in creating a stellar learning environment for New York City’s best students, and it’s objective in a way that other criteria could simply never be.

Let’s focus on the roots of the issue before trying to fix something that just ain’t broke.

Schools Handbook, which provides a practice test, and both McGraw-Hill and Barrons offer review books that, at minimal cost, can make the difference between a 400 and a 600 on the 800-point scale. And the kids who are admitted are truly the best New York City has to offer, in almost all fields. The top New York City math team going to the Princeton University Mathematics Competition, an international contest held for highschool students, has seven of its eight spots filled by Stuyvesant students. Stuyvesant and Bronx Science have two of the best

Lydia Wu / The Spectator

Stephanie Chan / The Spectator

Don’t Abolish the SHSAT, De Blasio

Pop Quizzes: Boring, Stressful and Useless continued from page 12

lematic when considering the possibility of a late-night tennis match, a family emergency, or a major debate tournament.

The combination of homework and studying for a possible quiz simply asks too much of a student on a daily basis.

Why not just let us study?

By giving pop quizzes, teachers are only penalizing the students who would have studied for an announced assessment.

Yes, it could possibly catch students who neglect to do their homework, but that’s what written assignments are for.

In fact, even if teachers feel a quiz should be given in place of work the night before, notifying the class about the event would do no harm. It might prompt students to study a

In fact, stress plays an important role when considering the outcomes of pop quizzes.

section of the textbook harder than they normally would have, while still pointing out who hasn’t been paying attention or doing homework. Teachers could give announced quizzes each week in order to evaluate their students’ progress, rather than keeping students in a perpetual state of fearful anticipation. In fact, giving quizzes in such a manner may reduce the stress of larger tests, because the class would be exposed to possible questions and already have grades that dilute the impact of a bad test grade. I can’t think of any goal, besides compounding stress, that pop quizzes accomplish more effectively than announced quizzes and tests.

In fact, stress plays an important role when considering the outcomes of pop quizzes.

While a test can cause a significant amount of stress, students have the benefit of mentally preparing for this harrowing experience by assuring themselves of their knowledge of a subject. In contrast, a pop quiz gives students very little time to adjust to the test-taking environment and enter a timepressured, problem-solving mindset. Panic and confusion, the consequences of this small adjustment period, make pop quizzes a questionable gauge of knowledge. In my experience, careless mistakes and sloppy errors are much more prevalent on these quizzes than on announced tests.

Pop quizzes are an instrument of stress and pressure.

They determine how we react to unanticipated and anxietyprovoking situations, rather

than testing our knowledge of subject. In fact, when considering our futures in the workforce, pop quizzes seem even more preposterous as tools of assessment. Although we may be exposed to test-like situations such as high-pressure conferences, negotiations, and speeches, we will have time to prepare for and rehearse these events before presenting our ideas. Consequently, quizzes not only lack a unique function in school, but also are also useless in the corporate setting (where many of us will end up). A useless instrument of fear and random chance, pop quizzes have only been and will only be effective at causing unnecessary stress in the student body.

Page 14

The Spectator â—? November 21, 2013

Senior Nerd Day

by the Photo Department

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 15

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

During free periods, lunch periods, and after-school, students—typically in pairs, but occasionally in groups of three—have been stopping and frisking each other in the Hudson Staircase. This behavior is vigorously supported by former Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota.

According to numerous reports, dozens of students are stopped and frisked each year in the Hudson Staircase. The shadiest among this group are stopped and frisked repeatedly, on a weekly or even daily basis.

“The Stop and Frisk policy has bolstered our school’s community,” senior Luke Morales said.

“And while we will never tolerate racial stereotyping in this school, I typically only stop and frisk Asians.”

There are many different styles of Stop and Frisk, with variations in firmness and duration. The traditional Stop and Frisk starts at the upper hips,

and ends at the chest or buttocks. “It is important that the frisker be thorough,” junior Anne Duncan said. “But it is unprofessional for the frisker to go below the waist on a first frisk.”

Of course, there are some outspoken opponents to Stuyvesant’s Stop and Frisk tradition.

Assistant Principal of Safety, Security, and Student Affairs Brian Moran is the chief opponent to Hudson Staircase stop-andfrisking, frequently pleading with students to frisk elsewhere.

“It’s unclear to me whether the students are digging for contraband, or just digging,” Moran said. “Either way, I’d rather them conduct these frisks elsewhere.” Various records indicate that Moran himself was a major stop-and-frisker during his high school days.

New reports by The Denver Post show that the Hudson Staircase is not the only place where Stuyvesant students stop and frisk each other. Stopping and frisking also occurs in the pool, the janitorial closets, the school store, the Big Sib office, and Kern’s dungeon.

Girl Wore Cat Costume to Show Off Her Innocence and Personality

By Dennis Nenov On Halloween, countless Stuyvesant students decided to bare their great sense of fashion, their optimistic personality, and their untouched innocence. For many, it was the first time they would experience the sensual pleasure of learning without any distractions.

Junior Jennifer Connors was one of many students who wore a cat costume to school. She was inspired to wear the costume after playing with her two month old cat Jevins. “Jevins wears very little clothing most of the time, and he always looks adorable,” Connors said.

After entering Stuyvesant, she was initially stopped by the scanner aides and told she’ll be able to find a husband quickly.

“I mean usually we tell the girls

they’ll never find a husband, but with a costume that shows off her personality, like the one she was wearing, she’ll be able to find a husband in no time,” scanner aid Jane Williams said.

Connors, who has no selfesteem issues, sported the costume with the sole intent of accentuating her best features.

“I think that cat costume really brought out my introspective and chaste nature,” Connors said.

The scanner aides, the security staff, and random passersby on the train weren’t the only ones who noticed. “That costume made me realize she has a NICE personality,” sophomore Miki Steele said, expressing the sentiment that was common among Jennifer’s male peers.

Jennifer also won the Student Union’s esteemed “Stuyl-

loween’s Illest” contest for most unique costume. “In all my three months as President I have never seen such an exceptional display of creativity,” Student Union President Eddie Zilberbrand said.

Connors reported not being involved in any awkward moments, especially not in her health class where she discussed teenage sexuality. “I think having the ‘Spirituality of Sex’ seminar on Halloween really adds another dimension,” health teacher Lisa Weinwurm said. Teachers in other departments agreed that having everyone dress up really facilitates learning.

“Today was a good day. All my students were on focus, and there was almost no funky business in class,” math teacher Paul Chen said. “The only problem was the smut dressed up like a naughty cop.”

What do you call a flying bagel?

Luna Oiwa / The Spectator

By Jeremy Karson, with additional reporting by Noah Rosenberg

Bonny Truong / The Spectator

• Stuyvesant administrators expressed concern that over two months into the school year, the freshmen are still happy.

• TIME magazine named Dante de Blasio the sixth most influential teen of 2013. His biggest accomplishments are growing an afro and getting into Brooklyn Tech.

• ZQT-10 forms are now available on the Stuyvesant website for returning spring athletes. The “Q,” added to the code this year, is believed to stand for either “Quinoa” or “Quidditch.”

• Barack Obama will change his name to Pinocchio amidst recent reports that he lied to the American people about their ability to keep preexisting insurance plans.

• The administration and the College Office have found yet another way to ease the college process for the seniors by changing one of the college counselors.

These “more-stress, more problems” tactics have yet to be replicated by another school, which shows that Stuyvesant is still #1.

Stuyvesant Students Stop and Frisk in the Hudson Staircase

A plane bagel!

Credit to Omar Amin

The Gutterball Strikes Again

By Nathan Mannes and Miki Steele In a recent match against Beacon High School, the Bowldogs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ bowling team, saw themselves down a few pins going into the final frame. Bowling aficionados everywhere described the game as the “match of the century.”

However, an unfortunate gutterball from junior James Kong lost the game.

“I don’t know what the hell happened. We’ve already beaten Beacon once this season,” coach Timothy Pon said. “I specifically told James to knock down all the pins. My coaching advice has always been perfect.

It’s too bad.”

Though the outcome of the match was unfortunate, the Bowldogs still have their spirits up high. Sophomore and captain Sanil Ajay Dave claims that bowling has changed his life.

“Stuyvesant bowling isn’t just about getting strikes, it’s about being a part of something larger than yourself. It’s hard to say what I value more: the average score of 230 I’ve bowled this season, or the countless claps and pounds I receive in the hallway when I wear my Stuyvesant Bowling shirt,” Dave said.

The bowling team isn’t just in it for the game, however. “I joined it for the females. Ladies just love the big balls that we carry around,” junior Jonathan Li said.

Li wasn’t the only person

who felt that bowling was attractive. “Even though some people like the well-built body and broad shoulders of a football or basketball player, nothing can

“Even though some people like the well-built body and broad shoulders of a football or basketball player, nothing can compare to the deliciously well-toned dominant arm of a bowler.”

—Jane Jeong, junior compare to the deliciously welltoned dominant arm of a bowler,” junior Jane Jeong said.

Yasmeen Roumie / The Spectator

Newsbeat

Banksy

Page 16

The Spectator â—? November 21, 2013

Autumn

By the Art Department

The Spectator ●November 21, 2013

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment Calendar

Looking Forward : November SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY 19

Album release Daughtry’s “Baptized” Genre: Electropop, rock Art Gallery “Paul Branca: Satin Island” Scaramouche (in East Village/Lower East Side) Available through January 12, 2014

24

Concert Kanye West & A Tribe Called Quest Madison Square Garden 8 p.m.

25

Album release One Direction’s “Midnight Memories” Genre: Pop

Pier Antique Show Pier 94, 12th Ave at 55th St

Concert Foxes Gramercy Theatre 7 p.m.

1

2

Art exhibition “Rebirth: Recent Work by Mariko Mori” Japan Society Available through January 12, 2014 Chelsea Bazaar 135 W 18th St between 6th and 7th Ave 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

26

Concert Cults Webster Hall 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 20 Concert Mazzy Star Terminal 5 7 p.m.

Concert Minor Alps Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

THURSDAY 21

Art exhibition opening “Matthias Meyer: Wetland” Danese Corey (in Chelsea) 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Available through December 21, 2013 Concert Sister Hazel Irving Plaza 7 p.m.

27

Movie release “Homefront” Genre: Action, thriller Cast: Jason Statham, Museum exhibition James Franco, Win“Joel A. Rosenthal: ona Ryder Jewels by JAR” Metropolitan MuConcert seum of Art Emilie Autumn Available through Irving Plaza March 9, 2014 7 p.m.

28

Happy Thanksgiving!

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Central Park West and 77th St to Broadway and 34th St 9 a.m.

Concert Heffron Drive Marlin Room at Webster Hall 7 p.m.

Winter’s Eve at Lincoln Square Broadway and 63rd St 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. www.winterseve.org

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FRIDAY 22

Movie release “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Genre: Action, adventure, sci-fi Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks

SATURDAY 23

Concert The Story So Far Irving Plaza 6 p.m.

Age restriction: 16+ (unless accompanied by an adult) Concert Basia Bulat Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

Concert Kevin Devine Webster Hall 5 p.m.

29

Movie release “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” Genre: Drama Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Zolani Mkiva, Jamie Bartlett

30

Art Gallery “Katy Stone: Other World” Ryan Lee (in Chelsea) Available through January 4, 2014 Free

Concert Museum exhibition Guster “Isaac Julien: Ten Beacon Theatre Thousand Waves” 8 p.m.

MoMA Available through February 17, 2014

The Spectator ● November 21,2013

Page 18

Arts and Entertainment Fingers Snapping, the Jets and Sharks Take Stuyvesant continued from page 1

By Jenny Jiang and Rocky Lam “West Side Story” begins with havoc. Tension between members of the Jets, a gang of immigrants from Poland led by Riff, and the Sharks, a gang of Puerto Ricans led by Bernardo, escalate into a full-out brawl, only to be broken up—with a well-appreciated opportunity for the audience to adjust and breathe—by Officer Krupke and Lt. Schrank.

The Stuyvesant Theatre Community (STC), in its production of the classic musical, opened with just the right feel: the choreography and direction of this opening scene was so realistic that it immediately brought the audience into the world of gangs and “rumbles.”

Sophomore Peter Samuel as Riff and freshman Tariq Khan as Bernardo delivered their lines loudly and with convincingly natural gestures, and immediately displayed the impressive comfort and presence the cast would exhibit for the entire show. In this opening scene, the Jets, with their wise-guy speech and flaw-

lessly synchronized dance steps, conveyed the brotherly intimacy of the Polish immigrant gang.

The rivaling Sharks were equally skilled in their acting.

Anita (junior Harmehar Kohli) assumed an authentic Puerto Rican accent and hysterically sassy and streetwise demeanor, constantly chiding her younger sister Maria for her naivete. Kohli, an STC veteran, was not only skilled in her acting, but also displayed tremendous vocal and dancing talent. One highlight was her rendition of “A Boy Like That” after the death of Bernardo: her grief was evident not only in her bitter facial expressions but also in the rage-filled, despairing intonations of her singing.

The leads, sophomores Milo Bernfield-Millman and Mariya Gedrich, did fine jobs in portraying Tony and Maria, but next to strong supporting actors like Samuel and Kohli, their acting was unimpressive and lacked the emotional rawness that their onstage counterparts had. Though Tony and Maria are scripted to be madly in love, the two leads did not bring out the anticipated chemistry. “One Hand, One Heart,” a romantic duet symbolizing the union of the two in a

make-believe wedding, wasn’t given the passion it deserved.

Though the notes were crisp and clear, the two performers stared into space and barely looked at each other, diminishing the song’s dreamy quality.

Both of them were much more convincing in their singing.

Gedrich’s vocal talent and ease in the extreme registers of range were exemplified in “Tonight,” her duet with Bernfield-Millman, in which she lucidly conveyed, while hitting impressive high notes, the outlook of a young girl in love. Bernfield-Millman’s singing was not always centered, but when he was comfortable in his range, his tone was smooth and resonating.

The band for “West Side Story” was unusually large for an STC musical, but given the orchestral complexity and grandeur of Leonard Bernstein’s score, this was not surprising.

The band had technical difficulties with the score and keeping the singers coordinated with them as well as a sound that was very trombone-heavy (both of the band directors are trombone players). However, most of this was smoothened out by the Saturday show. The violins served as

Justin Strauss/ The Spectator

Anne Duncan/ The Spectator

West Side Story

nice background music during scene transitions, and smooth, quiet clarinet solos served as foreboding interludes outside of larger numbers.

One of the best numbers of the show was “America,” whose polyrhythms and other technical aspects the band mastered, allowing them to focus more on the zest of the song, the zest of Puerto Rican immigrants proud of their new home but with vague memories of the old world.

Instrumental to songs like “America” was the dancing, which was fantastic throughout the show. The dance directors, sophomore Frances Dodin and junior Danielle Isakov, did not fall short on expectations. Occasionally, some backup dancers moved sluggishly, but this was eclipsed by Isakov’s breathtaking solos. By the end of her solo in “Dance at the Gym,” it seemed that there was not a kind of flip, twist, or turn that she couldn’t do.

Other aspects, including direction, were also exceptional.

The lighting was quite expressive. During the fight scenes, the flickering red lights heightened the suspense and kept the audience on edge; the change of col-

or on the actors’ face made their faces appear darker and more mysterious. In coupling the dark lighting in the bridal shop scene with a spotlight on BernfieldMillman and Gedrich, a soft focus was put onto the two leads.

The set was simple but effective; they were not distractingly grand or ambitious, allowing the directors, senior Clay Walsh and freshmen Livia Kunins-Berkowitz and Dennis Ronel, to move the play along with tight, succinct blocking.

Despite their flaws, the cast and crew of “West Side Story” delivered a Stuyvesant production that, even through two hours of gang warfare, let audiences to contemplate its fundamental message. Grover Dale, the actor who played Snowboy in the original 1957 Broadway production of “West Side Story,” attended the Friday performance. After the show, he commented on seeing show so many years later, and with a non-professional cast and crew: “The rewards of seeing it are exactly the same as what they were. Regardless of the caliber of the performance, the show still carries the same message. This depiction of the futility of intolerance still touches audiences.”

The Spectator â—?November 21, 2013

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The Spectator ● November 21,2013

Page 20

Arts and Entertainment Video Game

Asim Poddar/ The Spectator

Shadow of the Bat

What’s the best thing about Christmas Eve? The task of fighting lethal assassins to avoid getting killed probably doesn’t rank highly on the list of answers to that question, but this is exactly what a young Batman has to deal with at an early point in his career.

“Batman: Arkham Origins” is the third game in Rocksteady Studios’ Arkham series. Unlike the series’ previous entries, which were developed by Rocksteady, “Origins” was made by WB Games Montréal with a completely new development team: new writers, a new composer, and new voice actors.

Consequently, some fans were uneasy about the series’ newest installment, and not all of their worries were unfounded.

Though “Origins” holds up well as a standalone game, it falls short of the high standard set

by Rocksteady with its previous games, “Arkham Asylum” and “Arkham City.”

A prequel to “Arkham Asylum,” “Origins” follows a younger Batman finishing his second year in Gotham’s service. On Christmas Eve, the powerful crime lord Black Mask puts a bounty on Batman’s head, prompting eight of the world’s most skilled assassins to travel to Gotham City to cash in on the reward. Over the course of a single evening, Batman must confront the assassins while crossing paths with familiar members of his rogues’ gallery

and the Gotham City Police Department. The game’s story is one of its strongest assets: it manages to bring together a wide range of comic book villains, from classic characters like the Joker to more obscure characters like Electrocutioner, without feeling gimmicky or overwhelming.

Likewise, the voice actors enliven the range of personalities found in the game. Roger Craig Smith replaces Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman, while Troy Baker takes over the role of the Joker from Mark Hamill. Both Smith and Baker give strong performances as younger versions of their respective characters, with Baker’s voice almost perfectly emulating Hamill’s.

Though Baker received some criticism for essentially replicating Hamill’s interpretation of the character, it is difficult to find any other faults with his psychotic laughter and mocking tone.

Gameplay in “Origins” is a variation on previous themes.

Many series staples introduced in “Arkham City” are reused with some minor additions. The simple combat, for example, requires the use of only two buttons. Beginners can easily get used to the system, while more experienced players won’t need to learn anything new. Exploration is encouraged, as all of Gotham City is available for players to access. The number of side missions has vastly increased, and players earn experience, gadget upgrades, and other rewards for exploring the

By Luke Morales After taking a creative step backward with the “Pokemon: Black and White” games, Nintendo needed the next generation of Pokémon to keep long-time fans interested by flaunting a generation of interesting Pokémon and a captivating plotline—both of which the previous generation lacked.

Yet, despite naysayers’ doubts and derisive prophecies, Nintendo has redeemed itself with Generation Six: “Pokémon X and Y.” Few games for hand-held consoles parallel this one in how much consideration was put into every detail. The game designers creatively revamped the entire animation of battling, the central focus of the game. While battle surroundings in past games were robotically similar, all sporting the same circle-platform in which the Pokémon stood, the battlegrounds in “X and Y” are much more realistic and dynamic.

The plain, circular platforms are now mimic real world locations. Instead of a spartan backdrop, game designers took weather, time of day, and the surrounding environment all into account to paint a vivid image of the battle.

The designers also added another level to the gameplay with a new “Fairy” type Pokémon, which challenge types previously thought to be the strongest. This addition changes the type match-up chart that many gamers have grown accustomed to, and forces the long-time fan to change old, now-ineffective strategies when playing “X and Y.” The new and easier ways to train Pokémon—namely, new features such as Core Training and Super Training—make strong and competition-ready Pokémon accessible to trainers of any level, allowing them to increase his or her Pokémons’

stats to make the strongest team possible. While increasing your Pokémons’ abilities in previous games required outside knowledge and tedious battling of wild Pokémon, these new features make what was once esoteric into a more well-known and easily attainable possibility in “X and Y.” However, the most significant change to the game is undoubtedly the introduction of Mega Evolutions, or the ability of certain Pokemon to temporarily achieve a new degree of power. After many generations of monotonous gameplay and memorization, the Mega Evolution takes full advantage of the game’s 3D feature and the improved graphics with a spectacular animation in which an already OP (overpowered) Pokémon undergoes a transformation, emerging even stronger. For those who want to participate in competitions or battle amongst friends, a simple caveat is introduced to add a whole new level of strategy to the already complex and multilayered system. No matter how many of the six Pokémon in a player’s team may be able to achieve a mega evolution, there is a cap of one mega evolution per Pokémon battle.

This small qualification forces the player to choose when to mega evolve, and which Pokémon to mega evolve—an unwise choice could very well cost the player a victory.

With “X and Y,” Nintendo has flexed its coding muscles, both giving fans something new and unique and retaining parts of the game that old fans know and love. With many significant changes to the classic franchise, the game is no longer only for weathered Pokémon fanatics. Any player, new or old, can jump into the game for a second life of battle and adventure.

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Asim Poddar/ The Spectator

By Geoffrey Luu

city, completing challenges, and stopping crimes in progress. The environment and the characters that populate it are well-rendered and realistically detailed, and the game’s cutscenes and crime scene analysis segments are a joy to watch, though they don’t offer players anything they haven’t seen before.

“Origins” adds one major feature never seen in a Batman game: online multiplayer. Players compete against each other as Batman, Robin, or a member of a villain’s gang, providing an entertaining diversion from the story mode and single-player challenge maps. It’s worth playing at least a few times, either for the novelty of the gameplay or for the wealth of extras, which include all of Batman and Robin’s alternate costumes from “Arkham City.”

Despite reusing successful elements of the series’ previous entries, “Arkham Origins” isn’t as good as its predecessors. The development team at WB Montréal seems slightly less experienced than the team at Rocksteady as far as technical expertise is concerned. “Origins” occasionally suffers from performance issues that slow down the game and disrupt the timing of counterattacks, evasions, and takedowns in combat and stealth situations. Given the large number of enemies that can be on the screen at one time, this can lead to some difficulty clearing an area. In addition, players may encounter a number of glitches, including (from my own experience) a distorted, multicolored bar at the bottom of the screen, a fall into purgatory through an elevator floor, and an enemy trapped in a wall.

These glitches rarely, if ever, befell Rocksteady’s games.

As a prequel for the Arkham series, “Origins” does its job well, but as the third game in the series, it could have delivered much more. The technical glitches, though disruptive, are forgivable. The game’s true weakness is that it fails to step out of the shadow of its predecessors.

Back and Better than Ever: Pokemon X and Y

The Spectator ●November 21, 2013

Page 21

Arts and Entertainment Food

By Carmen Yeung and Amy Zhen In Japan, otaku (introverted teenage boys who harbor hardcore electronic addictions) have avoided the world outside their bedrooms because it does not match up to their anime-based fantasies. But then a shop that opened in 2001 in Akihabara, Tokyo decided to cater to these fantasies by bringing to life the maid cafes that previously only existed in games. Staffed with charming girls paid to be nice to customers, Curé Maid Café set off the maid café phenomenon that has made its way to 150 Centre Street in Chinatown.

To those unfamiliar with Japanese maid cafes, it’s all too easy to pass these places off as oversexed. In reality, however, they’re far sweeter than creepy, catering to girls and boys alike.

When Maid Café NY, the first of its kind on the East Coast, opened, it was steeped in hype.

Excited customers expected saccharinely adorable rooms, maids who cast pretend spells to make food taste good, and an experience that would make customers feel like kids in a

Japanese Wonderland. What they received, however, was a souped-up version of Starbucks.

Walking in, customers are greeted by a cute, albeit generic, room with Japanese pop music playing. The walls are pink and white, a small chandelier dangles from the ceiling, and a window looks out on a pretty indoor pond. There’s a tiny table in the back, with a maid selling overpriced knickknacks like bows and heartshaped hand warmers. In the front, maids outfitted in pink costumes cheerily greet customers.

For casual, curious customers, the polite service will suffice. But for those who have heard about the chirpy, singing maids common in Japan, who draw cats on dishes with ketchup and play games with the customers, the maids here seem distant. In Japan, the service is known to go above and beyond standard pleasantness, ranging from maids kneeling to stir coffee to ridiculous tasks of massaging or spoon-feeding.

Here, customers seat themselves, order at the front, and pick up their own food. Other times, a maid quietly comes to

the table with a metal serving tray. In order to adapt to a foreign market, Maid Café NY has reined in most of the strange practices that make maid cafes so unique.

Here, the famous Japanese curry over rice costs $6 but is usually served with toppings, such as a chicken cutlet, at an additional cost. The heartshaped rice is topped with shredded carrots and sits in a pool of curry. The rice is soft and the carrots are fresh, but the curry is lukewarm and lacks aroma, consistency, and flavor.

The chicken cutlet sandwich ($5.35) looks more like something found in an American deli than in a Japanese maid café. It tastes like an ordinary chicken sandwich: dry chicken, crunchy lettuce, tomatoes, and a squirt of mayo.

Over at the desserts section, Harajuku-style crepes ($5.95) are offered in two flavors (strawberry and banana) and served with a scoop of ice-cream at an additional cost of $1.40. Though sugary and sweet, they are nothing more than ordinary crepes slathered in cream and drowned in chocolate sauce, with a few strawberries tossed in. Not

Art

Vivian Huang / The Spectator

All Fluff and No Substance

Maids serve their customers at Maid Cafe NYC on 150 Centre Street.

surprisingly, the other desserts are no better. For example, the Japanese shaved ice ($2.95) is essentially a cone of ice piled on top of some artificial flavoring—boring and forgettable.

Maid Café NY is a pass if you are looking for decentlypriced, good-quality, fulfilling food. The café’s concept caters

to those seeking the thrill of an anime setting, but it disappoints on all counts. The food is mediocre at best, the customer service impersonal. Walking into Maid Café NY is like opening a beautifully wrapped present, adorned with shiny bows and ribbons, only to find a box of air.

Special

Waving Goodbye to the Mecca of NYC Street Art

By Ella McAndrews

Jin Hee Yoo/ The Spectator

In 1993, Pat DiLillo created the famous street art venue 5 Pointz, enticing the best worldwide street artists to crawl out from the underground and exhibit their work. On its 20th anniversary, however, this famous graffiti mecca—just a few blocks from the Court Square subway station in Queens—was scheduled to be demolished by the year’s end. The New York City Council voted in early October to approve the plan to build two condominiums and retail spaces on the site, which has become a focal point of aerosol art and a museum of NYC street art. More recently, without prior notice, the work of some 1,500 disappeared under a thick layer of white paint.

The city has chosen to erase

some of the best and most colorful collages of bubble letters, superheroes, monsters, and zombies to legally grace an urban space’s walls.

The abandoned factory buildings that make up 5 Pointz hold the integrity of DiLillo’s original mission. Over the years, they have come to provide a controlled environment for artists from Canada, Japan, Brazil, northern Europe, and the US to constantly produce and rework quality art. It is open to the public, attracting many locals and tourists passing by on the 7 train and even serving as the background for music videos and fashion shoots. 5 Pointz retains the feel of rebellious graffiti and shows the street art world’s often unappreciated talent.

The art of today’s predominant graffiti artists varies tre-

5Pointz is an outdoor art exhibit that displays graffiti all over a 200,000 square foot factory building located in Long Island City.

mendously in technique and materials used, and the bursting diversity on any wall at 5 Pointz reflects this. SinXero, a NYC-based artist, layers a wide palette of colors on top of mixed media (including silkscreens and pasted posters) in a mission to pay an “Ode to the Streets.” His signature image is a stolid man wearing a gas mark, a fedora, striped clothing, and a tattoo of SinXero’s trademark cross-linked keys on his arm. Meanwhile, Australian street artist Jimmy C uses the traditional aerosol can to spray dots onto the wall, creating a messy look up close but a realistic portrait farther away. There are also artists who use their art as a medium for social and political messages. Yoda 99% depicts Yoda holding a sign that says, “Occupy Wall St. The 99% We Are.” Street art can be just as, if not more, influential in art as either MoMA or the Met, for it reaches a much larger and more accessible audience.

But it seems like graffiti is doomed to be transient.

Though the building developer promises to dedicate a few walls of the retail spaces to street art, nothing can compare to the experience of 5 Pointz. Danny Simmons, an artist who is also the Chairman of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, said, “5 Pointz is a New York City treasure, much like Central Park and the Statue of Liberty, and it should be preserved for artists and tourists alike.”

A&E Playlist 1.

“Onward” by Mark Kozelek Genre: Alternative

2.

“Tomorrow Has To Wait” by Peter Bjorn and John Genre: Alternative, indie

3.

“Middle Distance Runner” by Seawolf Genre: Alternative

4.

“Ever Enough” by A Rocket to the Moon Genre: Alternative rock, indie rock

5.

“Monsters” by Mree Genre: Singer-songwriter, indie

6.

“Songs That We Wrote When We Were Drunk”

by Lewis Watson Genre: Singer-songwriter

7.

8.

“Last Leaf” by OK GO Genre: Alternative

9.

“Nightcall” by Kavinsky Genre: Synthpop

“Wake Me Up” by Avicii Genre: Electronic, pop, country

10. “On the Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter

Genre: Neoclassical 11. “Fallingforyou” by The 1975

Genre: Alternative rock, indie rock 12. “Saturday Night” by Natalia Kills

Genre: Pop 13. “Wild Things” by San Cisco

Genre: Indie pop 14. “Heart 2 Heart” by Hoodie Allen (feat. Jared Allen)

Genre: New Age Rap, hip hop 15. “Youth” by Daughter

Genre: Indie rock

Page 22

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

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The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 23

Sports Boys’ Fencing

Alice Oh / The Spectator

Stuyvesant “Foils” Nest+M

At the second to last game of the season, senior Philip Shin scores another point in this intense bout.

By Ari Hatzimemos If you had taken the time to grab a seat in the little dance room tucked away in the corner on the sixth floor, you would have seen an intense competi-

tion as one of Stuyvesant’s most dominant teams attempted to keep a streak going. The Untouchables went for their 31st win in a row since their 2009 seasonon Monday, November 4. The team took on the

Girls’ Swimming

The Penguins don’t seem to know what the word “lose” means. The team won its second playoff game against Townsend Harris High School with a sizable margin of victory of 55-39 on Tuesday, November 5. This being their second playoff game of the postseason, the Penguins knew that they had to be on top of their game to make sure they would not be eliminated early.

The Penguins placed first in seven out of the eleven events that took place in Long Island City High School’s pool. The team came in first and second in the 200 yard Medley Relay with times of 1 minute 59.43 seconds and 2 minutes 5.36 seconds. “As a team I think we swam really well. I know a lot of us swam season bests which is always something to be proud of,” sophomore Carol Wang said. That meet she swam in two events, the 200 yard Freestyle in which she came in second with a time of 2 minutes 9.45 seconds, and the 100 yard Butterfly, in which she recorded a time of 1 minute 6.52 seconds.

The Townsend Harris Turtles came into the meet with only one loss during the regular season. Unafraid of the stiff competition, Penguins came into the playoff undefeated and knew that they would be

was hard to overcome, but their co-captain, Philip Shin, took the floor. He took his stance, sporting his national USA shirt, and from the moment his match started, it was total domination. Shin continuously landed stabs before finishing off his opponent with an incredible behind the back over the head stab—it was a stab you had to see with your own eyes to believe. “That’s Philip’s signature move, he has pretty much mastered it, it’s just amazing,” said up-and-coming sophomore Aaron Choi. Choi is a starter on varsity as a sophomore, which is a very rare sight on the Stuyvesant fencing team.

Stuyvesant was able to pull together and win centered around their captain Shin, but they did not appear to be ready for playoffs. “We need to improve our psychology, but overall, the team is strong. I have high hopes for playoffs as defending PSAL Champions,” said Shin. He, as well as the rest of team, has already looked towards another PSAL championship, and there is nothing to suggest otherwise.

Boys’ Bowling

Stuyvesant Penguins Sail Through Round 2 of Playoffs

By Rayyan Jokhai

Nest+M Eagles, a tough team that almost ended Stuyvesant’s successful four-year run. However, the Eagles’ efforts were to no avail; they were defeated 9079.

The fencing team has been

spectacular all season, but knew this win against Nest+M would be difficult. Nest+M was third in the division and only two games behind Stuyvesant in the playoff race, making this a pivotal match. They were the last good team standing on Stuyvesant’s schedule, so a win would virtually solidify a perfect season for Stuyvesant. Through the better part of the game, the score was even, but Stuyvesant pulled away near the end.

Senior Andrei Talaba’s bout helped Stuyvesant take the lead. “Andrei performed really well in the match against NEST. He was a key component to our win, he went flawless, giving us a much needed points that we missed earlier,” said co-captain and senior Philip Shin. Talaba won his bout 7-0, an impressive feat that doesn’t happen often.

Talaba was the only 7-0 defeat that Stuyvesant had that game.

Still, as the match was nearing its end, Stuyvesant only had a narrow lead over Nest+M, and the home team was feeling the heat. Mistakes were plaguing them, as usually solid players were allowing the Eagles to score. For example, senior Ryan Li, who is usually a dominating player, lost his bout 4-5. This

bet

ter than most teams, but also were aware that they had to always be on top of their game. An upset would not have been acceptable, especially considering that the Penguins are a strong contender for the PSAL championship this year.

The team looks towards the next meet on Thursday, November 14 with high hopes and expectations as they face Francis Lewis High School at the Lehman College pool. “I don’t think we can improve as a team only because I feel there isn’t much to improve on. Everyone is so supportive of each other and always pushing each other to surpass their limits,” Gabriela Almeida said. She came in first in the 200 yard freestyle, and was the third leg in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The swimmers obviously have high expectations of themselves and have a very optimistic view on the next game considering their record is untouched.

Hopefully, the Penguins will be able to capture the PSAL championship this year, a very realistic goal that they have set for themselves. As they face Francis Lewis high school in the next meet, the team looks to combine everything that went right in this one, high level of team spirit, intensity, and general competitiveness, to bring home another victory.

Pinheads Bowl Over the Falcons

By Eric Morgenstern The pins fell in the right direction for the Pinheads, the boys’ bowling team, as they defeated the High School of Fashion Industries Falcons 2-1 with a tiebreaker victory. With a whopping 528 points, Stuyvesant’s C team sealed the deal on Friday, November 8, securing a spot in the playoffs. They improved their record to 11-3 for

“We all brought our A games and were able to come out successful. “ — David Yao, junior and captain

the year and ended the regular season in first place in the Manhattan I division.

All bowlers on the Pinheads played well in the match. Two featured players are junior James Kong of the B team, who bowled a season-high 153, and

fellow junior Brian Sapozhnikov of the A team, who also broke his season record with a score of 157. “We all brought our A games and were able to come out successful,“ junior and captain David Yao said.

The team was very motivated to win this match, and it showed in the way they played.

“We were able to focus on the game, realizing that this was the game that decided if we would make playoffs or not,” Yao said. The team barely snuck in as the 27th seed, and they faced the 22nd seeded Queens Vocational and Technical High School Tigers on Tuesday, November 12.

Although the team has had many successes, commitment has been an issue that the team has had to face. “What the team needs to improve on for future games is the ability to make games on time and to have just a bit more commitment towards the team and sport,” Yao said. Several of the players on the team value their other priorities over bowling, and as Yao seemed to indicate, do not take the sport too seriously. “It’s not really every day that people care about bowling and treat it as a legitimate sport,” he said.

The team may be having a lot of success, but there is always room for further development. “As far as improvement goes, it’s mainly practice. Everyone on the team has a ton of potential,” Sapozhnikov said.

Since the team is composed entirely of juniors and sophomores, they will not have any graduating players, and will have another year to improve their abilities and progress as a team.

Coach Timothy Pon foresees a successful future for this solid group of young bowlers. He is

already thinking ahead to next year. “The team will continue to bowl in the off-season in or-

“As far as improvement goes, it’s mainly practice.

Everyone on the team has a ton of potential.”

— Brian Sapozhnikov, junior

der to raise their bowling averages and advance further in the playoffs,” he said. But for now, the team must stay focused on the short term and see how far they can advance in this year’s playoffs.

Yao has his own opinion on what the team needs to do to succeed. “If our team just worked on our form and team pride, we will surely do better,” Yao said. All experienced athletes know that pride and commitment are essential to team success.

Page 24

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Sports Cross Country

Sabrina Chan / The Spectator

Greyducks Beat Personal Records to Take Second in NYC Championship

Left: Senior Andy Zhang comes in 25th place for the Cross Country Boys Varsity 5K Run. Right: Junior Lily Olson comes in 30th place in Cross Country Girls Varsity 5K Run.

By Chris Kim Placing second in Van Cortland Park isn’t new for the boys’ cross-country team. In fact, the team has placed second for the past three years. However, second place is never something to be ashamed of, especially when up against the city’s top 140 schools. “It’s disappointing; I’ve been saying all year that I wanted to win,” senior and co-captain Jeremy Karson said. “But I’m extremely proud of this team. We ran better than we thought we would, and everyone had a great race.”

Though the boys’ team fell behind the Midwood Hornets in the PSAL Cross Country City Championships on Saturday, November 9, most Greyducks were content with their individual performances. “I wanted to break top 10, and that’s what I did,” said Karson, who placed seventh. In a similar vein, senior and co-captain Andy Zhang finished 23.3 seconds faster than his previous 5k run in the same course, finishing at 25th place. Junior Andrew Sikowitz ran about 30 seconds faster than his personal record to place 44th in the city cham-

pionships.

Junior Eric Chen, the team’s top runner, was one of the few runners displeased with his results. “I’m honestly a little disappointed because three weeks ago I ran a 16:29 but today I ran a 16:36, and I was really hoping to win [Cities],” said Chen, who finished third in the race.

Unfortunately, Chen was sick throughout the week of the Championships and was unable to perform at his expectations.

Despite the individual achievements of the Greyducks, the Midwood Hornets were still

able to come out victorious. The Hornets’ top runner beat Chen by 2.9 seconds to take second place. In addition, the Hornets’ slowest of their top five runners placed 27th in comparison to the Greyducks’ 44th.

With the Greyducks placing second for the third consecutive year, the question is now how the team will break the slump with a first-place finish.

However, the Greyducks believe that next year’s roster will be more than capable to winning the City Championships.

“I think next year’s going to be stronger than this year because five of our top seven runners are staying,” Karson said. On the other hand, Midwood is losing three of their top seven runners, and with the first-place finisher from Staten Island Tech also leaving, Chen will have a great chance at placing first in next year’s City Championship.

Though it’s always difficult to win it all, next year’s team will have the best chance at finally achieving gold.

The girls’ team faced a similar fate; individual accomplishments outshone the team’s overall performance. Though the team placed seventh in the PSAL Cross Country City Championships, the girls left the course satisfied with their improved performances and, for some of them, their last cross country performance.

Coming into the PSAL championships, the girls expected to finish in at least the top five. In fact, many of the Greyducks finished the race with a personal best, showing the girls’ resolve to finish in the top four, where they would be qualified to go to States as a team. “It was re-

ally an incredible showing. The girls have been dropping times like crazy,” said senior and captain Danielle Polin, who surpassed her own personal record by about 40 seconds. However, the Greyducks weren’t the only team that had vast improvements in their times. “Everyone in the city has also been improving,” senior Stephanie Liang said. “If our team were to have run the times we had this year last year, we would have ranked higher.”

Despite having finished seventh, the Greyducks are thrilled about the accomplishment of senior Vera Pertsovskaya, the only Greyduck who qualified for States with a 12th place finish. “Throughout the whole season my one goal was to make it to States, and I worked really hard to achieve it,” Pertsovskaya said.

Compared to last year’s PSAL championships, the girls have improved from tenth place to seventh place, and the average varsity time has improved from 22:58 to 21:51. The team has proven its ability to constantly strive for more, and they are confident that they will only continue to improve in subsequent seasons. “We’re only losing two seniors in the top seven, so we’re going to be a really young and strong team next year,” Pertsovskaya said.

However, with the competition getting harder and harder year by year, the girls will have to work and practice even more in order to improve their results for next season if they even want to think about being able to place in the top five in Van Cortland Park.

Girls’ Soccer

The Mimbas: Stuyvesant’s Underdogs

By Tahmid Khandaker and Grace Lu The Stuyvesant Mimbas have finally stepped into the spotlight after five years of mediocrity. They capped off their regular season with a 6-8 record, tying with Lab Museum United at fifth in the division.

It was the first time in five years that the team had accrued more than five wins in one season.

Surprising everyone, including themselves, the Mimbas clinched the 20th seed overall in the city, scraping their way into the playoffs for the first time in five years.

“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted that our team was going to make it as far as we did,” sophomore and striker Sarah Joseph. said The Mimbas surpassed their own expectations with a combination of communication, cohesion, defense, and experience, establishing themselves as formidable foes.

The Mimbas closed out their regular season with an unexpected 2-0 victory against Lab Museum United, a team that had previously defeated them 3-1. Believing this to be

their final game of the year, the Mimbas were surprised to discover that they had earned the final playoff spot.

Despite being the lowest ranked team, the Mimbas pushed their way to the second round of playoffs with tireless perseverance. “We don’t give up,” coach Hugh Francis said.

The team’s strategy has solidified into a comprehensive emphasis on an aggressive offensive force. “We make smart passes. We don’t ever shift away from scoring,” Francis said. This strategy was evident in the team’s 2-0 win against Long Island City High School in the first round of playoffs. The Mimbas took a total of 19 shots on goal throughout the game, demonstrating the strength of the dynamic offensive duo, comprised of Joseph and sophomore Alexis Kushner, who accounted for 13 of the 19 shots on goal.

Though the team’s primary focus was always on offense, the Mimbas’ defense was not neglected. Junior and goalie Sophia Gershon had a stellar record this year, with a total of 236 saves. In the team’s two playoff games alone, Gershon

saved 36 out of 40 attempted shots. Seniors and co-captains Rosalie Campbell and Raquel Brau-Diaz have also been indis-

“After this season, I hope people start to take us seriously.”

— Sarah Joseph, sophomore pensable defensive players as well as inspiring captains. They “played very important positions as center backs,” Francis said.

Throughout the season, the Mimbas emphasized the importance of effective communication. “Nobody can see 360 degrees. Somebody’s going

to let you know something that can help you out,” Francis said.

The communication between Kushner and Joseph was key to their success and domination of the offense. The duo connected on 24 of the team’s total 36 goals.

“They have worked well together, essentially from day one,” Francis said, alluding to Joseph’s eight assists, most of which were directed to Kushner. “When they’re on the ball, both of them can create a lot.”

The team has been working to increase its communication since the beginning of the season. “By our last in-season game, we were communicating a lot more and possessing the ball,” Campbell said.

The season was indisputably one of the best in Mimba history, but still nowhere near perfect. “One of our biggest problems is consistently losing 50/50 balls, which is basically when two players go for the same ball when it isn’t exactly in either team’s possession,” Joseph said. While the Mimbas dominated possession during some games, most notably against Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, which they won

11-2, they also lost their edge in much closer games. When playing against LaGuardia, carelessness allowed for a late LaGuardia goal to tie the game and force overtime. “People just aren’t as aggressive as they should be. Soccer is a contact sport, and not enough people go in for contact,” Joseph said.

The Mimbas’ 6-8 record and success towards the end of the season has boosted their confidence heading into next year. “After this season, I hope people start to take us seriously,” Joseph said. The team plans to continue to work hard and recognizes that there is still ample room for improvement.

“Some goals for next season are increased dedication to the team and better fitness, and to again make it to the playoffs,” Gershon said. For the seniors of the team, however, this is their last season with the Mimbas.

The captains will “be missed for their readiness and attitude,” Francis said.

“It’s awesome that we made it so far. It’s definitely a great way to end my high school career,” Campbell said. “I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better season.”

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 25

Sports Favorite Sports Movies Remember the Titans

By Lev Akabas

Defying the common representation of aliens, Space Jam portrays them as moneyhungry businessmen bent on saving a dying enterprise. When a few puny, two-inch tall aliens threaten to enslave you and your friends as attractions in a failing amusement park, why wouldn’t you challenge them to a game of basketball? But when these aliens steal the basketball talents of some of the best players the NBA has ever seen, to whom do you turn? The Looney Tunes’ answer to that would be the one and only Michael Jordan.

Although this movie contains many themes the one that stands out most is self-confidence. During Jordan’s motivational halftime speech to his ragtag team of Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny gives his teammates “special stuff” (which is actually water) in order to make them feel empowered, mirroring a placebo effect. Immediately after drinking the “special stuff,” the team closes a fifty-point halftime deficit to a one-possession game when Jordan calls another timeout to discuss their next action. When the team feels winded and requests for some more “special stuff,” Jordan says, “It didn’t wear off. It was water. You guys had the ‘special stuff’ inside you all along.” Between the egregiously uncalled flagrant fouls and dunks from half-court that will make everyone laugh, Jordan makes an important point that we don’t need something to make ourselves better; we have what it takes the entire time.

It may be hard to derive such a deep and philosophical thought in the midst of characters being flattened as thin as paper and then blown up with a common tire pump as well as Looney Toon Elmer Fudd performing the Jordan’s signature freethrow line dunk. However, it is this seriousness at the heart of such a looney world that makes this movie worth your time.

In football more than any other sport, it is essential that teammates trust each other. When a quarterback throws to a wide receiver in traffic, he trusts that his target will make the catch and not make him look bad for throwing a difficult pass. When a cornerback defending a wide receiver jumps a route trying to intercept a short pass, he needs to have complete confidence that his safety will be there in the event that the receiver goes deep instead. This trust required in football makes for an interesting story when nearly everyone on a football team has bitter feelings towards each other.

Thus is the case in Remember the Titans. Taking place in Virginia in 1971, T.C. Williams high school is ending segregation of black and white students. To further promote integration, the school asks its successful, longtime football coach to step down and be replaced by the school’s first black faculty member Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), an unpopular decision to say the least. Boone’s hardnose, tough style inhibits him from gaining respect from players of both races, as well as his assistant coaches.

A similar lack of respect and trust between black and white players leads to disasters both on and off the field for the team.

In just a two-hour movie, we find out about the back-stories and family lives of many players on the team and follow a story that takes twists and turns up until the State Championship Game. But the outcome of the championship isn’t what really matters; it is the countless inspirational moments that make this my favorite sports movie

Yasmeen Roumie/ The Spectator

Space Jam

By Omar Siddique

White Men Can’t Jump

By Rayyan Jokahi In this story of an unlikely friendship, Woody Harrelson stars as Billy Hoyle, a white former college basketball player who now makes money hustling games with African American players at local parks. He misguides his opponents and tricks them into thinking he has no game whatsoever. One of the ballers he hustles is Deane. After taking his money, Hoyle befriends Deane, and together, they go from park to park, city to city, scamming unassuming basketball players.

White Men Can’t Jump is great not only because it’s basketball, my favorite sport, but because it shows that friendships can stem from the weirdest places. Two guys of different races compete in a game of basketball, one scamming the other, and within a few days, they are partners in business, however unethical the business may be. The movie is loaded with funny lines from both main characters and filled to the brim with hilarious scenes as they hustle almost anyone they can find. You don’t need to be a basketball fan to appreciate the difficult shots that the actors managed to make in the movie. It one particular scene, Hoyle has to make a three-quarters court shot with one hand in order to win a bet. He sinks it.

I suggest this movie to anyone who loves basketball, is looking for a great sports movie, or just wants to have a laugh at a movie about a white basketball player who can’t dunk.

– even better than Dodgeball.

Friday Night Lights

By Samuel Fuchs Based on a true story, the film Friday Night Lights is the epitome of football movies as it delves into the life and times of a coach and several high school football players during the 1988 football season in Odessa, Texas. The film takes you into a town where everything revolves around the Permian Panthers high school football team. Sharing the spotlight are the four main characters of the movie: Coach Gary Gaines, running back Boobie Miles, quarterback Mike Winchell, and fullback Don Billingsley.

The storyline of each of these individuals presents the watcher with a world that most people don’t experience. The pressures of the spotlight, the struggles of meeting expectations, and even racial differences amongst teammates are represented in this film. As opposed to the culture of Stuyvesant students, this movie depicts a culture in which football is more than just a game, but an escape to another world. For some people, football is what gets them away from all their problems, for others, like Boobie Miles, it is all they have left.

This is not a feel-good movie; it reflects the reality and struggles of life. Whether you’re the average kid, a starting quarterback for a top high school football team, or even if you’re an adult working to get by, nothing comes easy.

What makes this film stand out above all others is the way it reflects on the drama and hardships of poverty, racial differences, politics, and football all in one. Unlike most sports movies, the ending of Friday Night Lights is actually unexpected. This film is a tearjerker that leaves the viewer feeling somewhat sad. However, because of how well this movie reflects the reality of playing football and the struggles of many different people, it continues to be one my personal favorites and a must-see for all football fans and movie watchers alike.

Girls’ Swimming

Penguins’ Season Ends in Spectacular Fashion continued from page 28

a little bit of wiggle room. While Almeida (56.57) and Wang (58.85) led off the finals with a bang and broke their personal bests, the team was neck-andneck with its rival, Francis Lewis High School, by the time it was Lu’s turn. But as Lu dove into the pool, the unthinkable happened.

Her goggles slipped down to her neck, blinding her for the rest of the race. As Lu zig-zagged down the lane, coming up every two breaths not only for air but also to see where she was going, she somehow stayed in the race. At the third turn, Lu crashed into the lane line, but by the end she registered a time of 1:01.22—an amazing feat, considering that she had not been able to see where she was going. Finally, it was Lara’s turn, and she managed to swim a 52.29. To put her score into perspective, the winner of the 100 freestyle that day swam a 54.61—Lara had outswum the best freestyle swimmer in the city by two seconds in a medley. Lara squeezed in just

in time for a photo finish, her ending comparable to that of Michael Phelps’s .01 second victory over Milorad Cavic in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Penguins erupted in celebration. It was the most amazing comeback anyone had ever seen, and it showed the true nature of teamwork: when someone falls down, the others are there to pick her up.

But as they looked down from the scoreboard, they were approached by their disappointed coach. The PSAL officials had determined that the scoreboard had malfunctioned, and that the time shown was not correct.

“Unfortunately, the board said we won by one one-hundredths of a second, but the official timer said there was a glitch in the system and that it had to be reviewed,” Bologna said. “So they looked at the backup times and what the officials on the lane said, and they reversed the decision for us to lose by two-tenths of a second.” What seemed like an amazing success had ended as a victory that tasted more bitter than sweet, and the favorites to qualify for states would not

get their wish.

“The entire team went over to the warm-down pool to meet up with [Lu] and the other girls in the relay, and we all hugged it out,” Chan said. “Some girls who were still in their dry clothes, including me, jumped into the pool to give words of encouragement and support.”

The Penguins had beat Francis Lewis overall 294-284, but this loss in the relay stuck with them until the rematch four days later, on November 14, for the PSAL City Championships. Here, cumulative scores counted for more, and the winner would be crowned PSAL Champion. However, it seemed like Francis Lewis had also felt the sting of losing the overall title at Opens, and the team came to Cities roaring.

Francis Lewis quickly won the first event 6-4 and never gave up the lead until the end. As each heat passed, the teams traded points back and forth, first and fourth, second and third. By the last event, the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, the Penguins were down 44-40 and definitely needed a first-place victory to have a shot

at winning. Armed with the same lineup (and Lu with a new pair of goggles), the Penguin relay team easily dispatched the Francis Lewis team, beating it by over 15 seconds and getting six points.

“Coach made a really good lineup. He put in the best swimmers, and we got first place,” team manager Edison Shi said.

“Third place was a landslide.

[Our] B Relay beat the other B Relay pretty easily.” Francis Lewis received three points for second place, and the Penguins received an additional point for third place; Francis Lewis’s B team came in last place, receiving zero points. Add up the points, and you get: 47-47. What?! After all of the drama and the comebacks, Stuyvesant and Francis Lewis had tied, and they became co-champions of the PSAL. “In the end, everyone was happy because both teams won, so I was just really excited and proud of how far we came,” Chan said.

The Penguins had done it.

Every team starts its season with goals of making playoffs or winning championships, and the

Penguins had accomplished their goal. With a new coach and twenty underclassmen, they swept the championships for the sixth year in a row.

“I was probably most proud that the girls stepped up in every event that I put them in,” Bologna said. “The team really wanted to win, and I’m glad that we were able to come back.”

Looking back on the season, Bologna sees only success. “I believe it’s a successful season because we also met a lot of our goals. Pretty much everybody has gotten better over the course of this season,” he said. At the beginning of the season, Bologna’s choice of raw swimmers over upperclassmen seemed a bit foolish, as there wouldn’t be enough of a veteran presence.

But he was able to refine the underclassmen, forming a formidable team and setting the table for next year in the process. “It’s a younger team than I’ve coached in the past, but it’s a very tightknit team, and it doesn’t matter what year they are. They still gave it their all, each and every day,” Bologna said.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 26

Sports Girls’ Volleyball

Vixens Have their Regular Season Streak Snapped, but Recover in Playoffs Vixens Lose 159 Game Winning Streak

By Jason Lee Coming in having won 159 consecutive regular season games on Wednesday, October 30, the Vixens hoped to extend their streak as they faced off against the Seward Park High School Bears. Many members of the team felt the pressure of keeping this streak alive. “I really cared about the streak,” junior Julia Gokhberg said. “I felt that we had this expectation hanging over us.”

The Bears were the only team this season to have come close to snapping the streak, when earlier this month, they came within two points of beating the Vixens. This time, however, the Bears turned things around. Though the atmosphere was lively and the crowd, armed with thundersticks longing for another win, the Vixens fell in two sets with a final score of 2325, 18-25.

The Vixens opened the game slowly, but took an 8-5 lead after three straight kills from sophomore Mariya Kulyk, followed by an ace from sophomore Georgia Kamm. Despite an early lead for the Vixens, they soon fell behind after missing numerous serves. “We [each] missed about one and that’s about five points,” junior Julia Gokhberg said.

With a couple of blocks from Bears’ senior Kayshawna Richardson, the Bears rallied from a 15-12 deficit to tie the set at 15 apiece. The score then fluctuated back and forth, with a total of eight lead changes. The Vixens were behind 20-22 after the Bears scored three unanswered points, and they were able to turn the tables slightly, with a dig by senior and cocaptain Abigail Baltazar, a service ace by Kamm, and another kill from Kulyk. But the Bears took a timeout, regrouped, and came back scoring three unanswered points, two of which were caused by missed serves by the Vixens, and won the first set 25-23. Though they have come back from deficits before, the Vixens had to block better and be able to return more serves for them to be able to recover from losing the first set.

“It was frustrating for a lot of people. We could have beaten them, but we didn’t,” junior Veronika Azzara said. “We missed the serves at critical points of the game. They were the kinds of points that you needed to win.”

The Bears carried the momentum into the second set, capitalizing on the Vixens’ slow start. The Vixens continued to struggle with returning serves, giving the Bears a commanding 12-2 lead. But the Vixens rallied back. After a timeout, the Vixens came back with a series of kills from Kulyk and a block—which were widely absent from the Vixens’ game— from Kamm.

The lack of blocking may have been due to the absence of senior and middle hitter Paula Carcamo, as her height and skill has a huge effect on the team’s overall ability to block. “Paula is a very big part of the team and is a force at the net,” said Baltazar.

“She brings us many points.

Mainly we were down because

she wasn’t there.”

Despite the rally, the Bears still led the Vixens 20-12, and after a series of blocks and an ace, it was match point for the Bears, leading 24-16, a deficit for the Vixens that was ultimately too great to overcome.

“We did everything we were supposed to, but we made some mistakes,” Baltazar said. “In the end, our mistakes added up.”

Though the loss was very disappointing, many members of the team still were positive after the game. The 159-game winning streak was snapped, but the team did not let this get

“Our communication was on point and we made a lot of great plays. We only missed a few serves and gave up a few points to Seward, which in the end made all the difference, just as it always does when we play strong teams.”

– Alice Li, senior and co-captain

to them.

“I’m proud of my team, no matter what the outcome is,” said Li. “We’re only going to, if anything, play harder and keep on fighting.”

The team now looks towards the playoffs. Carcamo is expected to return for the start of the playoffs, according to the team.

When asked about the mentality of the team going into the playoffs, coach Vasken Choubaralian said, “They’re hungry now. They got a taste of losing, and that’s going to push them forward to be better.”

Though Sloppy, Vixens Take Care of Lady Knights to Advance

By Jason Lee The Vixens suffered a crushing defeat during their last game of the regular season, a game that ended a 159-game winning streak. With the playoffs starting, the team needed to change mindsets and get ready for their upcoming challenges. Luckily,

the Vixens had two members returning to the starting lineup: co-captain and senior Alice Li and senior Paula Carcamo. Li had been out for two months due to an injury, and Carcamo missed the final game of the season due to schoolwork. “I loved being on court with my girls and [to] finally be able to play volleyball again,” Li said.

The Vixens’ first playoff game was against the James Madison Lady Knights on Wednesday, November 13. Despite making some mistakes, the Vixens won in two sets with a final score of 25-19, 25-22.

The Vixens started off the first set with an 11-1 run, one that included seven aces from sophomore Georgia Kamm. The Lady Knights were unable to return Kamm’s serves, and after a timeout to try to settle down their wild start, the Lady Knights’ lack of communication continued to trouble them, creating an even greater deficit. They fell behind by as many as 14 points, when the score was 18-4. However, after grabbing a 14-point lead, the Vixens became complacent and did not play with the same intensity as before. They began to miss serves and have minimal communication, leading to more mistakes. “Receiving wasn’t terrible today, but it got sloppy,” coach Vasken Choubaralian said.

The Vixens’ mistakes added up, and the Lady Knights managed to gain the momentum and cut their deficit to 2317. After a block by Carcamo, the Vixens were able to bring the set to game point. But they were not able to finish, and gave the ball right back to the Lady Knights.

Madison was able to score two more points, before they hit a serve out of bounds and gave the Vixens the first set, 25-19.

“It was a bit quiet on court, and there wasn’t much energy either,” Li said. “However, as always, we pulled it together.”

In the second set, the roles were reversed; the Lady Knights up on the momentum they had gained from the first set, and they took advantage of the lack of communication by the Vixens. It was Stuyvesant’s turn to regroup, but a timeout proved to be useless as the lethargy and miscommunication continued. This resulted in a 16-9 lead for the Lady Knights.

Prompted by the play of the team, Choubaralian put Li into the game. “It made us all happy to see that she was back,” said co-captain and senior Abigail Baltazar.

Like the Lady Knights in the set before, the Vixens rebounded from their slow start with good serving overall, and capitalized on numerous digs that kept the ball in play. “My back row has been doing a lot of digging, and they definitely got better at digging the ball,” Choubaralian said.

But unlike the first set, the comeback would be complete, and the tides were turned when Gokhberg got the ball to serve. “Julia’s serves really brought us back and helped us win the game,” Baltazar said.

Though the Vixens were down 18-21, Gokhberg’s five service aces and an ace by Baltazar

helped them overcome the early deficit and win this close set 2522.

With the victory, the Vixens were able regain some confidence and momentum they had lost at the end of the season. The return of Li and Carcamo brought a fighting spirit and a dynamic offense to the Vixens, factors that ultimately helped the Vixens come out on top.

Two starters returned, but one starter, sophomore Mariya Kulyk, was unable to attend the game. “Next game, Mariya will be playing which will return our lineup back to normal, and I hope that will help out with the energy and communication,” Li said.

But although they got the win and advanced to the next

“I told them not to be intimidated by that because we don’t know if those stats are accurate and we have an equal chance of winning.”

—Vasken Choubaralian, coach

round, the Vixens weren’t particularly proud of their showing.

“I’m happy that we won, but I’m not satisfied with the decisions we made,” Choubaralian said.

“We need to work on the consistency in every aspect of the game,” Baltazar said.

“We need to be able to play two straight sets cleanly.” It seemed like the only times that the Vixens looked sharp were in the beginning of the first set and the end of the second, while the middle of the game was riddled with errors and shaken heads.

Against the more competitive teams like Cardozo and Midwood, the Vixens cannot afford these lapses in judgment.

“We’ll have to play better if we want to win,” said Gokhberg.

Vixens Ace Their Way to Victory

By Samantha Lau Seeded eighth in the playoffs, the Vixens entered their second round playoff game uncharacteristically nervous. On Friday, November 15, they faced the Long Island City High School Bulldogs, who were seeded ninth but were a lot scarier on

paper. “We looked up stats and saw one of their hitters had a lot of kills, so were expecting the worst,” senior Paula Carcamo said. However, the team managed to pull one of their sweetest victories this season, winning in straight sets (25-16, 25-22).

Similar to all the games in the season, coach Vasken Choubaralian gave a pregame speech, but this time, besides telling the team to play hard and play clean, he tried to pump them up and assure them of a win. “Even though Long Island City has a lot of stats and kills, I didn’t want that to scare the team,” Choubaralian said, “I told them not to be intimidated by that because we don’t know if those stats are accurate and we have an equal chance of winning.” A key difference in this game was the strategy coach Choubaralian directed towards a single member on the team, junior Julia Gokhberg.

Because Long Island City relied heavily on their outside hitters, the team wanted to try to take advantage of their weakness in the middle.

“He told me to set Paula because we practiced yesterday me setting her. I knew that we were ready to hit a lot of middles today,” Gokhberg said.

The first set started off slowly, as the Vixens succumbed to mental mistakes like miscommunicating and hitting the ball into the net rather than over the net. But eventually the Vixens began to heat up, due to their excellent transitioning. Transitioning is when players in the front row shift to the back row to dig so there are always four girls in the back; this makes it harder for the opposing team to find open spots on the ground. By the end of the set, superior passing and well-placed serves led the Vixens on a run, ultimately winning 25-16.

In the second set, the Vixens continued with their impressive passing, which ultimately led to better hits. But mental mistakes plagued them again, and throughout the rest of the game the Vixens found themselves neck to neck with Long Island City. With the score tied 22-22, and the chance for the Bulldogs to pull away and even the match, Bulldog server drilled her serve into the net. With the help of senior Janice Yoon and the mentally defeated Bulldogs, the Vixens managed to quickly finish up and win 25-22. “I felt very nervous but I was confident especially with Janice serving because she could make her serves,” coach Choubaralian said. “As long as she made her serve, defense was good and we just had to execute in offense, which we did.”

In the quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 20, the Vixens will be playing Cardozo High School. Cardozo is seeded first in the playoffs, so this will be one of the Vixens’ most difficult games, if not the toughest game on their schedule. But as Choubaralian says in every game, to win, the Vixens will have to “play their hardest, play clean, and play their best.” They’ve gotten the first one down, but to beat Cardozo, they will definitely have to pick up the other two; their best game is a flawless game.

The Spectator ● November 21, 2013

Page 27

Sports Boys’ Football

Peglegs Unable To Repeat Last Year’s Success The Peglegs had been waiting for the Adlai Stevenson Campus’s Ambassadors to arrive at Pier 40 for more than an hour, aware of the fact that if the Ambassadors did not show up within an hour of the scheduled time of the game, Adlai would be forced to forfeit, giving the Peglegs an easy but needed win. However, with five minutes left on the clock, the Ambassadors scrambled to the field with their helmets and gear on, and what seemed like an automatic win for the Peglegs turned into a two-and-ahalf-hour nightmare.

It was 7-6 with the Peglegs up by a point at the start of the second quarter. Although the Ambassadors were able to score a touchdown in the first few minutes of the game, the Peglegs quickly closed the gap with a touchdown by junior Kyler Chase, who broke through several would-be tacklers to get to the end zone. However, the “easy victory” began to slip away from the Peglegs early in the second period.

The first of a serious of disastrous plays when a field goal attempt by senior Noah Hwang was kicked far off to the right of the field goal post, and an Ambassador found himself with the football in his hands. He swiftly ran down the sideline to the end zone, leaving the Peglegs shocked and suddenly trailing the Ambassadors 14-7 after a successful two-point conversion.

The Peglegs’ special teams continued to struggle throughout the second half. After the ensuing kick-off, a strong defensive effort from the Ambassadors forced the Peglegs to punt the ball from their own two-yard line. However, the punt was blocked for the second time of the half because of a misplaced snap to the punter.

With great offensive positioning, Adlai scored an easy touchdown, further widening the point gap, 20-7.

“Special teams were the worst that we’ve done; we had two blocked punts this game, and we’ve never given up a blocked punt all year,” coach Mark Strasser said.

Just as the special teams struggled in this game, so too did the Peglegs’ offense and defense. The defense was unable to stop the passing offense of the Ambassadors, allowing five passing conversions. “[Adlai] was the best passing team we played this year, and this game shows that we need to work on our passing defense,” senior and quarterback Solomon Quinn said. The Peglegs’ offense showed their ability to get to the red zone, but they were not able to score, even at the one-yard line. “Moving the ball wasn’t a problem for us, but it was just that we couldn’t score,” Quinn said. With all three aspects of the team unable to perform, the Ambassadors routed the Peglegs with a final score of 49-14.

If the Peglegs had beaten the Ambassadors, the team would have been seeded second in the playoffs, which would have

Megan Yip / The Spectator

Ugly Finish to the Regular Season

By Chris Kim

Stuyvesant’s Peglegs playing hard during their playoff game against the Evander Childs Tigers on Sunday, November 10.

guaranteed them a spot in the semifinals without playing in the first round. This loss places Stuyvesant in the fourth seed, which means that they will be going up against the fifth-seed Evander Childs Campus Tigers, whom they were able to beat in overtime during the regular season. The Peglegs, however, will have to get back into playoff form if they want to even

“We had two blocked punts this game, and we’ve never given up a blocked punt all year.”

— Mark Strasser, coach

think about winning the championship. Regardless, they are still confident of their ability to beat the Tigers and are looking to make their last few practices count. “[The Tigers] are going to be out there to get us, and it’s up to us match their intensity,” junior and safety Daniel Weiss said.

Peglegs Unable to Tame Tigers in First Round Exit

By Chris Kim

After starting off the season 4-0, the Stuyvesant High School Peglegs went just 3-3 in their last six games and were matched up with the Evander Childs High School Tigers in their first playoff game.

Both teams looked to advance to the second round, but the Tigers looked to exact revenge on the Peglegs after losing 36-33 in an overtime thriller at Pier 40 during the regular season. On the gusty and overcast Sunday afternoon, the Peglegs were no match for the Tigers, and they succumbed to the heat of vengeance in a notso-pretty 26-13 loss.

“There’s a lot more pressure in a playoff game,” senior quarterback Solomon Quinn said.

“It’s either win or go home.”

The Tigers came out hungry, scoring on the first play of their opening drive barely ten seconds into the game. Senior Robert Smith of Evander Childs High School dismantled the Peglegs’ defense and left all the defenders behind him for an easy 70-yard touchdown run.

Stuyvesant, unable to gain any ground on the ensuing drive, was forced to punt. The Tigers wasted no time and scored again on their second play with another long touchdown run by Robert Smith.

Smith slithered through the crowded Peglegs’ defensive line and broke free to give the Tigers a comfortable 14-0 cushion early in the first quarter.

Though things were looking gloomy, the Peglegs would not give up. Having limited success in their running game with the absence of star Cooper Weaver, who was out with a broken ankle, Stuyvesant tried their luck through the air. However, the strong wind made it difficult for Quinn and the Peglegs.

“It is very hard to throw deep passes when it’s windy,” Quinn said. “The wind will just carry the ball and take it away.”

The wind became the Peglegs’ biggest problem early in the game. Many passes that

seemed on target were blown away just out of reach of Stuyvesant’s receivers.

However, Quinn finally connected a deep pass to Michael Mazzeo for the Peglegs’ first conversion of the game. After trading punts, the Peglegs then marched down the field on a long but efficient drive led by Quinn to score on a short touchdown pass. After missing the extra point, the score was 14-13 in the Tigers’ favor by the end of the first half.

“We were down by 14 and

“This was going to be a very close game; I knew this game would be a dogfight.”

— Mark Strasser, coach

these guys still battled back,” Coach Michael Strasser said. “It kind of mirrors how their season went; things happen, they deal with adversaries, but they always bounce back.”

Despite the heroic battle for minimal point discrepancy, the game was far from over. The Tigers came in the third quarter

dominating. They constantly ran through the Peglegs’ defensive line and pressured Quinn, forcing him to throw erroneous passes. During Evander Child High School’s first drive of the second half, junior Dylan Ramirez connected on two long passes and finished the drive with a short touchdown run. After another unsuccessful drive by the Peglegs, the Tigers got the ball and Ramirez again found receivers for three more receptions and capped off the drive with Robert Smith’s third touchdown run, making the score 26-13 early in the fourth quarter. Ramirez finished with a whopping 155 yards in only 5 passes. The Peglegs failed to make a comeback in the second half.

“We had a goal of winning the championship, which didn’t work out,” Quinn said. “I still think it was a really successful year, we faced a lot of obstacles and a lot of injuries this year.”

The impact of the Weaver’s absence really showed, especially during the second half.

The Peglegs’ running game was completely stifled by the Tigers.

On the defensive side, the Peglegs were hopeless in stopping the Tigers’ running game and had trouble covering receivers down the field, allowing the Tigers to finish with 521 total offensive yards. To make matters worse, the Peglegs were further depleted by injuries to senior Richard Chen, sophomore Laolu Ogunnaike, and junior Akira Taniguchi.

The Evander Childs High School Tigers will move on to the second round to face the top seeded Alfred E. Smith Campus Warriors. The Peglegs, however, will be looking toward next season with high expectations.

“Our goals stay the same: we’re aiming for the top of our division next year,” junior Brian Guo said. “I’m looking forward to see how much stronger and better everyone’s going to become.”

November 21, 2013

Page 28

The Spectator SpoRts Penguins Win Both Opens and City Championships Girls’ Swimming

Girls’ Bowling

Penguins’ Season Ends in Spectacular Fashion

Winning is Right up the Pinheads’ Alley

Alice Chy / The Spectator

By Eric Morgenstern

Junior Grace Lu swimming freestyle on November 14, 2013, when The Penguins tied Francis Lewis for the championship title.

By Timothy Diep, with additional reporting from Lev Akabas Two years ago, the Penguins, Stuyvesant’s girls’ swimming team, was the essence of perfection. They were the shining stars of Stuyvesant athletics, and every year they accumulated undefeated seasons and championship trophies like candy. Then came a new coach, and while her coaching techniques were a little unorthodox, the Penguins rode on to an 8-0 season and a fifth straight city championship. This year, they were met with another new coach, Peter Bologna of the acclaimed boys’ swimming team.

While there were a few stumbles in the beginning, this year, the Penguins have once again established that they are the dominant force in PSAL girls’ swimming, as they captured their sixth straight Swimming and Diving Championships (Opens) title and their sixth straight City Championship title as well.

At the beginning of the season, the Penguins’ aspirations were high, as always, but there was a cloud of doubt in the pool. Bologna wasted no time getting started, and he decided to cut many upperclassmen to make room for younger talent.

In fact, there were only three seniors on this year’s team, and 20 out of 29 swimmers were underclassmen. With such young members, the Penguins quickly grew close to each other, forming unbreakable bonds from the beginning. “I believe this team was a close-knit group since the first week. The chemistry on this team is unreal,” Bologna said. “I’ve never seen a group of kids get along so well, and I think that has a lot to do with our success this year, because everyone had each other’s back.” In a sport where only a couple swimmers compete at a time, team spirit proved to be invaluable, growing stronger and stronger with each Penguin chant.

The team’s spirit was tested many times throughout the season, but never as much as it

was at the PSAL girls’ A Division Swimming and Diving Championships on Sunday, November 10. Casually called “Opens,” this competition features swimmers from all over the PSAL, who compete to qualify for state championships. The swimmers have their individual motives, but there is also an overall champion, the team that acquires the greatest number of points from events won.

Before this year, the Penguins had won the past five Opens events, and they were looking at their sixth. But with such a young team, one has to wonder whether the pressure of keeping the tradition had any effect on the swimmers.

“There’s always pressure,” Bologna said. “We’re looked at as a perennially good team, so there’s always pressure to be the top, or one of the top, teams, and I think the girls felt it.”

However, as he had all season, Bologna was able to create a sense of comfort and calm the swimmers through genuine support. “Coach really brought a sense of family, teamwork,

12 straight victories were not satisfying enough for the Pinheads. After finishing the regular season 14-1 and on a winning streak that began on October 16, the team defeated Queens High School for Science at York College 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs to keep their season alive, as well as extending their win streak to 13 games.

The whole team was at their best for this match. In fact, three players bowled their best scores of the season: Seniors Cindy Chan (170) and Lisa Li (147), and Junior Si Ja Liu (126).

“Everybody bowled over 100 and had a great game,” coach Eric Wisotsky said.

This season has been a somewhat surprising success in the minds of some of the players. “I had not expected us to come as far as we have. We had a lot of new players and at first it was very hard to get them used to bowling as a sport and not just as a leisurely activity,” senior Priya Aggarwal said. The Pinheads’ lack of experience is noticed, as their B team consists of three first-year players and one second-year player. It was even coach Wisotsky’s first season coaching the team. and respect towards everyone,” senior and co-captain Arisa Chan said. “He really encouraged us to give it our all in the water and just [swim] our absolute best, not letting the fear or pressure get to our heads.”

Opens was dominated by the underclassmen, as the top five Penguin swimmers at the event included only two juniors, Grace Lu (30 points) and Sappha O’Meara (24 points).

Sophomores Krystal Lara (40 points), Gabriela Almeida (34 points), and Carol Wang (25 points) rounded out the top five. Lara had an especially great day in the pool, as she qualified for state championships—twice. She placed first in the 100-yard butterfly (58.61)

Without experience, the team’s success lies in its focus and drive. As the season progressed, the team demonstrated more motivation and effort, and this was reflected in their recent successes. “We’ve become more focused now and I hope that we will do as well [next game] as we did [last game],” Aggarwal said.

The spirit of the team has reached even the first-years, players like junior Fawn Wong who usually have trouble adjusting to competitive bowling. “We’re just very supportive of each other,’” she said. “It’s an individual sport, but we cheer for each other whenever we can.” For a group who did not always consider bowling a sport, it is incredible that they have already become a dedicated, tight-knit team.

Coach Wisotsky has high hopes for his team in the playoffs, and knows what the bowlers need to do to achieve them.

“We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, stay focused, and keep making our spares,” he said. Though not giving a definite answer on how far he thinks the team can go, Witsosky says “we will advance as far as we can.” The future seems bright for this group of young Pinheads. and the 100-yard backstroke (57.12), breaking both of her personal bests, with the latter breaking the PSAL record. With Lara and Almeida’s one-two punch, the Penguins are going to have a solid core for at least the next two years. Almeida placed second in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles.

However, the biggest event that day was the 400-yard freestyle relay, swum by the stars of the swimming team: Almeida, Wang, Lu, and Lara. During preliminaries, the Penguins had won by five seconds, so, although they knew they had to take the race seriously, they had continued on page 25

Sports Wrap-Up * Stuyvesant’s girls’ swimming team, the PENGUINS, won their sixth consecutive PSAL championship after tying with Francis Lewis in the finals. * Junior Ethan Lochner was selected by the U.S. Soccer Federation to compete in next month’s Select All Star Game for high school juniors. He was one of only 36 players selected from the U.S. Academy system’s approximately 1,600 players. * Senior Rosalie Campbell was selected to play in the Mayor’s Cup Girls’ Soccer All-Star Game. * At the SophFrosh Cross Country City Championships, Stuyvesant’s sophomore boys claimed first place. The boys’ varsity team finished in second place, led by junior Eric Chen, who finished third, and senior Jeremy Karson, who placed seventh.

their defeat at the hands of the Evander Childs Campus Tigers in the postseason. * After finishing with an impressive 14-1 record, Stuyvesant’s girls’ bowling team, the PINHEADS, were seeded only 20 in the playoffs. After back-to-back upset victories, however, the Pinheads made the quarterfinals. The boys’ team, conversely, lost their first round playoff game after a successful 11-3 regular season.

MVPs of the Fall Season: * Junior girls’ volleyball setter Julia Gokhberg cornerstoned the Vixens’ offensive attacks by assisting on nearly every kill. * Junior Eric Chen of the boys’ cross country team led his every major race this season, finishing first in the borough championships and third in the city championships.

* Stuyvesant’s girls’ volleyball team, the VIXENS, rebounded from their first regular season loss in 15 years to win their first two playoff games, advancing to the quarterfinals.

* Senior Philip Shin of the boys’ fencing team was the team’s most reliable foil fencer all season, winning 19 of 20 matches.

* Stuyvesant’s boys’ fencing team, the UNTOUCHABLES, finished off another undefeated regular season, but the real challenge will come in the playoffs, when they must face more competitive teams such as Hunter. * After starting off the season 5-1, Stuyvesant’s football team, the PEGLEGS, had a rough second half to the year, especially after losing junior running back and linebacker Cooper Weaver to a season-ending injury. They lost three of their last four games, including

* Sophomore Krystal Lara of the girls’ swimming team recorded the fastest times in the entire PSAL in the 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, and 100-yard freestyle events, as well as top three times in the city for several other events.