Vol. 6, No.4, June, 1990
75-40 Parsons Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11366
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Townsend Harris High School at Queens College
Community protests new building .S CD
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NURI KODAMAN, junior; Pearl Chan, sophomore;lvan Bilaniuk, senior; Jung Yueh, junior; and Susan Chiu, senior (from left) work together on a problem during the math and science round of the Academic Olympics City Championships on June 4.
Academic qlym~~.ics
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The Academic Olympics Team struggled to maintain the proper decorum as they realized they were the 1990 New York City Champions. The team defeated Midwood High School, the Brooklyn champions, 84-77 in the 7th annual Academic Olympics Finals held on Jooe4 at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School. 'This is what we were striving for all year. It is a great feeling to achieve our goal and to know that we are the best in the city," said co-captain Nuri Kodaman. "It is wonderfully exhilarating," said coach Richard Russo. "It was a long and hard journey," he added . Many factors led to the success of the team, according to team members. "Experience was the key for the team. We also had a sense of ambition and enthus iasm," said senior Ivan
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our team. We have great players for every academic field," said captain Jeff Cohen. Each member of the Academic Olympics Team won a $150 savings bond, a gold medal, and a championshipjacket, The team also received a championship trophy. Townsend Harris took the early lead in the championshipmatch, 18-9, after the first round, English and Communication Arts. "After the English round, we felt that we were going to blow them away. But the Math-Science round went badly and we were shaken up by that," explained sophomore Pearl Chan. By the end of the Math and Science round, Midwood had taken the lead, 27-25. The match remained close throughout the Social Studies round, as Midwood held a one point advantage, 43-42, going
into the last round At the beginning of the omnibus round (music, art, sports, foreign language and miscellaneous), TownsendHarris madeits move. "The first two pair of questions in the omnibus round made all the difference," stated junior Jung Yueh. Townsend Harris answered their own first two questions and successfully challenged Midwood's two answers giving them 24 points and putting them against Midwood, whom they defeated 88-84, before facing them again in the finals. Many members of the Academic Olympics team are graduating this year, including captain Jeff Cohen and six othe r starters . "We need to recruit talented players if we wan t to con tinue our success and create a dynasty," said Nuri.
by Sasha Antoszewski Residents living near the proposed site for the new Townsend Harris building have joined forces to preven t construction of the school. They call themselves the Coalition for the Proper Siting of Townsend Harris and have already begun petitioning against the planned location of the building on the Queens College campus. Their main concerns are that the new school will cause an increase in traffic, noise and garbage pollution, crime and a decrease inpropertyvalue. There are many other schools that surround the area, including P.S.165, John Bowne High School, CUNY Law School, and P.S. 219, whose principal, Robert Roxenberg, is also struggling to stop the new building. He fears that the increase in popula.tion will make working conditions in his school intolerable. Residents are particulary concerned aboutthelossofparkingspaces around . their homes. Although the Queens College parking lot which will be lost because of the new high school will be replaced, it will not be made avail-
able to the high scho ol, and teachers and staff will therefore need to park off the campus. In addition, residents claim that any addition to the already congested traffic in the area m ay cause an increase in accidents in the neighborhood. The parking situ ation is being treated as the mos t critical factor in the conflict, Negotiations are underway with the construction companies to find a solution. Meanwhile, the coalition is threatening to seek an injunction to delay the groundbreaking da te of September, 1990. Students and staff at the high school are organizing to oppose the actions of the community group. Assis tant Principal Bemice Horowitz called . meeting with students to map out strategies. Students are being asked to attend meetings on July 19 aDd August 16 at the Board of E.ctiinata According to Mrs. Horowitz, ilis important that we have a large tumoulin order to show that the majority at the high school supports the new building. Some students are also beiD& asked to speak at the meetings.
Teachers and students square off by Elizabeth Loewy They may have won the city championship, but the Townsend Hartis Academic Olympics team was no match for their teachers. On May.31 , the faculty and teh students faced off for a mock competition in which the teachers won 90-73. The teachers were led by Mark Soffer, history teacher, who scored ten points in the social studies round,
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Jeffrey Cohen, senior, accumulated 12 points with eight in the English roood, "We were missing a lot of people." said Pearl Chan, sophomore. "It was a lot of fun and good practice for the championship game, though. I think it puts us in the right frame ofmindset for thegame against Midwood," she said