Issue No. 1
Is It Worth it? COLE HUNTER ‘ 16
On Tuesday, January 14, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that Boston school officials and union leaders have agreed to extend 60 of Boston’s public elementary and middle schools’ academic days by at least 40 minutes. It is estimated that the longer school days will cost about $12.5 million. Walsh stated that the reasoning behind this extension is that students are more likely to succeed when they spend more time learning. Not only will this new schedule allow students to learn more, Walsh contends, it will also be beneficial for students who may not have a place to go after school. A good number of students in the city do not have a place to go after their academic day due to their parents’ work hours. Adding more time to the school day would give these students a place to stay while their parents are at work. Also, it could better keep children and teenagers on task, and out of trouble. In that time slot parents will know where their child is and that he or she is safe. Although the idea of making the school days longer has its fair share of benefits, there are drawbacks as well. In an article from the Sleep Foundation, a website that consists of sleep statistics, the facts presented state that students, teenagers in particular, are
seriously sleep deprived. The statistics then go on to say that students should not begin the school day before 8:30 am. With Walshs’ school day extension plan, however, there is no trade off. Students will still be required to wake up and go to class as early as they normally would. But now they are also expected to be attentive and absorb information for a longer period of time. The vast majority of teenagers find it difficult to stay awake and fully attentive during a regular school day, so Walsh’s extra 40 minutes will make that an even bigger problem. Teenagers need their sleep to reach their full potential, and an extension to the academic day will make reaching that potential even more difficult. Mayor Walsh, along with the Boston school officials and union leaders, thought up the idea of extending Boston public schools’ academic day with good intentions, but one could argue that the drawbacks may not be worth the benefits. Walsh has high hopes that this additional time will help students learn more, but if these students are sleep deprived, they will not be able to retain the information being taught to them. With the longer school days costing a near $12.5 million a year, and the final result uncertain, many people are left wondering “is it worth it?”
A-Fraud GRAHAM MCOSKER ‘16
Alex Rodriguez. What comes to mind when his name squeaks through the spaces between clenched teeth? Arrogant? Cowardly? Dishonest? Any combination of some of the worst personality adjectives certainly does the trick. In early August of 2013, after denying that he was ever involved with steroids or any type of Performance Enhancing Drugs, he was banned for over 200 games when it was proven that he indeed had taken PEDs and blatantly lied about his usage. Rodriguez apologized for lying and admitted that he had made an enormous mistake, acknowledging that his image will be forever tarnished. He then went on to appeal his suspension. During this process, Rodriguez was permitted to play by baseball commissioner Bud Selig, although he had the power to remove this ability immediately. By the time Rodriguez’s appeal was finally upheld the, 2013 season had ended, thus his suspension had been reduced to the 162-game 2014 season. Now that the 2014 season has come to a close, A-rod is permitted to take part in games again. His situation sets a bad example for young athletes all over the world. He cheated and lied multiple times, forever changing the game in a way that cannot be undone, and now he is allowed to return to the field as if nothing happened. One should have the honesty to refrain from cheating as a professional. If he or she does cheat and is caught, then he should at the very least have the courage to accept his mistake. The fact that A-rod violated the rules and is now able to play again is concerning. Yes, second chances are a good thing, but in this situation, I believe the Major League Baseball should have used this case as an example. If the MLB had banned Rodriguez from the game for good, the message that PEDs should not be used would have been more powerfully made. This would have been a major step in the right direction, as steroid use is still common in professional sports. Although his career is not over, A-rod’s PED use has left a damaging mark on what had previously been his admirable legacy.
SMART Team: It’s not just for Genuises MICHAEL LIAPIN ‘16
SMART Team in its essence is a coalition of passionate students discussing a research topic in the field of Biology. However the “smart” does not denote, at least intentionally, our intelligence level; it is an acronym, instead, for “Students Modeling a Research Topic.” This year, the team is working on Papilloma Virus E1 helicase, a protein which helps in the replication of HPV DNA. Researching the protein, the team has studiously been reding articles on the protein, in anticipation to presenting at ASBMB (American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) in Boston on March 28th. Also we are ecstatic to host a SMART Team conference, where SMART Teams from different schools will converge upon our dear campus on March 27th for a poster session, lecture, and dinner. Recently, the team traveled to Boston on November 19 to visit Vertex Laboratories to discuss our questions and findings with team mentor and scientist, Ernst ter Haar. After arriving in Boston, the team made its way to Vertex labs. Remember how I noted that the “smart” in SMART Team doesn’t denote the team’s intelligence? Well the team spent a few minutes debating on whether to use Vertex Lab’s side or front door. And once decided, the team, save for one fabulous member, could not operate an automated revolving door and got stuck, an experience one caprine member will not live down. ..... Our visit to Vertex was an enjoyable, educational, and thought-provoking experience. Ernst ter Haar discussed his team’s findings on the
structure and functions of helicase and answered our questions, elucidating some hypotheses the team had on the mechanism in which helicase works. Dr. ter Haar also showcased a model of the protein on the protein modeling program, Pymol. The model was comprehensive, detailed, color-coded, and simply beautiful to see. It showcased each of the protein’s subunits, ATP binding sites, and even showed conformation changes in the protein. The model left the team in awe and left some students wanting to use the interactive Pymol program instead of the program (Jmol) SMART Teams traditionally use. In addition to presenting his team’s finding, Dr. ter Haar took us on a wonderful tour of the facility, showcasing the company’s state of the art equipment and explaining the techniques used in the lab. After a wonderful promenade through the lab, the team took off their fashionable lab coats and chic goggles, and Dr. ter Haar ’s colleague showed the company’s cutting edge structure-based drug design methodology. The trip was a wonderful experience. Dr. ter Haar and his team inspired, motivated, and taught our team useful information about the protein. We left, reluctantly, especially without stopping at Starbucks, a missed opportunity some are still bitter about, with a newfound motivation to work on our project. And even as the team was returning to campus, we all knew this trip to Vertex would not be our last. We now continue to delve into the secrets of Papilloma Virus E1 helicase and model the protein,
Photos: Mrs. Rokous
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