The Classic newspaper Volume 10 Issue no. 3

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NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

;VoI.10, No.3 ; June''1994 •

PAID F'ormIt No . 163 Com mack. N.Y.

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Townsend Harris High School at Queens College

Move to campus delayed

75-40 Parsons Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11366

Class ot '94, ·Iargest yet, graduates with honors

by Beth Mellow and Jennifer ect like the new building on Sorowitz colle ge camp us, between 15 and Plans for moving into the new • 20 sub-contractors are utilized. buil ding on the Queens College E.H. Howell, the main contrac- by Jennifer Sorowitz the seniors that, in fact, the faccampus collapsed this month tor, fired the masonry contracFour challengi ng years drew ulty was not so easil y fooled , when the School Construction tor for working too slowly. The to a close for the clas s of '94 and that while the studen ts Authority (SCA) announced the plun bing co ntracto r went out of with the Baccala ureate Cere- thought the teachers were laughschool will not be ready for business. Presently, they are mony, held on Tuesday, Ju ne ing with them, they were actuSeptember occupancy. No new lookin g for replacements.

14, and finall y culminated with ally laughing at them. It was opening date has been set.

The School Construction ' Commencem ent on Monday with this spirit of friendl y jokAfter attending a meetin g on Authority did its best and " tried June 27, both held at Col den ing' that an evening of praise to April 29 discussing the installa- to right the wrongs," Mr. Belesi Center on the Queens College honor the achi evements of the tion of telephones in the new said . Howe ver, the problems campus. Two hundred thirty _ seniors began. building, Principal' Malcolm did affect the criti cal path . five seniors, the largest class There were many noteworthy Largmann received a phone call The Queens high school of- yet, bid farewell to the school awards pre se n ted . Three informing him of the delay. Dr. fice said they were "eager" to which helped to prepare them Townsend Harri s High School Largmann contacted Betty Sil- move Townsend Harris into verman, who is in charge of . their new building. AfterHarris ~ education for Queens Borough departs from this buil ding, Dis8 President Claire Shulman. trict 25 will place Collaborative .U According to Ms. Silverman, High School and a new junior the delay was a direct result of high school here. Now the high the bitter winter. school occupies the top floor of ....

Craig Bclesi, Project Officer ajunior high school. They will of the SCA, said the postpone- remain there until Townsend ment of the new building's Harris moves out. opening was due to several facThe delay came as a surprise. tors. These included "some The Board of Education had . contract changes, a change in already ordered boxes for packthe type of fire alarm system, ing, furniture, and supplies. [and] the addition of fiber optic There are varied opinions on backbones." In addition , there the delay. "I was really disapwere some design irregularities pointed when I heard the new Walking center stage, Salutatorian Diana Tuite, senior, accepts an award at the Baccalaureate Ceremony, June 14. which had to be corrected, but building would not open this Mr. Belesi pointed out that such September. It's just like the corrections are commonplace . Board of Ed.," said junior Katie for college and the future.

Outstanding Service to School with a project such as this. He Heather.

The school honored 173 sen- and Community Medals were also cited disagreements with Sophomore Tony Tsai said, iors with awards at the Bacca- given to Cynthia Bogart, Robyn contractors.

"It won't be so bad. Although laureate Ceremony. These Herman, and Becky Lee. The "The original timetable was the school is packed, I think the awards of certificates, pins, City Councilman ' Morton very tight - very ambitious," said crowding adds to its character." plaques, and scholarship money Povman Citation was awarded Mr. Belesi. "It was known we "We need to get this building ranged from perfect attendance to Jessica Antoszewski for her were behind schedule." finished ," said Assistant Princi- to community service, the volunteer work at St. Mary's With the undertaking of such pal Malcolm Rossman. "If the \ humanities to physical educa- Children Hospital. The Princia project, a schedule must be put building would be ready , we tion. pal's Leadership Award was together. This is referred to as would move in the middle of the The audience was greeted by given to Tina Morgan, Senior "Cri tical Path Managemen t." If year."

Sheila Orner, Assistant Princi- President. The National Action a problem arises which can be It is not yet known how long pal ofPupil Personnel Services. Council of Minority Engineers quickly resolved without affect- it will take to complete the build - Then ' Principal Malcolm MET A Networks Award and ing this critical path, than the ing. Mr. Belesi said , "We are Largmann gave a message to POSSE Scholarship was preschedule will not have to be awaiting the contractors' new the seniors which resembled a sented to Christine Farrier and . amended. However, if there is a schedule," which must then be roast. He spoke of the many Gia Griffith, who will be atproblem that cannot be solved reviewed and agreed upon. The ways in which the students . tending Rice University in the immediately, it will have a sig- time of the opening is really "a thought they were tricking the fall. The Outstanding Male and nificant impact upon the proj -' shot in the dark," he said. It teachers - anything from sneak- Female Athlete Plaques were ect, "said Mr. Belesi. could be this October, January ing a drink while doing laps on awarded to David Topper and For a large construction proj- or June of 1995. the stairs during one of Dean BernadetteCrespo, respectively.

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Wanda Nix's physical education classes to having two sets of textbooks.Dr. Largmann told

Numerous students were rewarded with plaques, pins, and certificates for their dedication

to the school newspaper, The Classic; the yearbook, The .Crimson and Gold; the literary magazine, The Phoenix; and the science magazine, The Quantum Cat. Man y students were also honored for their achievements in the National Merit Scholarship Program .

The chorus, under the direc tion of Florence McKinley, performed "Together in One Song" based on a theme from "Finlandia" and arran ged by Dale Wood.

The final honors of the evening were given by Dr. Largmann when he presented sashes to Valedictorian Christine Trilivas and Salutatorian Diana Tuite.

Following the ceremony, faculty members, students, and their family and friends attended a reception in the Patio Room of the Cafeteria, where refreshments were served.

Less than two weeks later, the students gathered together for the last time for graduation. The key -note address was given by Ervin Drake, a member of the class of '35. A prolific songwriter and an award-winning member ofthe Songwriters Hall of Fame, Mr. Drake wrote music and lyrica for more than 700 prime time television programs.

He is also the author of the school's alma mater. The chorus honored Mr. Drake by performing a medley of his songs'.

Other speakers and special guests included Dr. Larmann.

Queens Borough Presiden t Claire Shulman, Shirley Strum Kenney, the Queens Colle~e Pre sident, who will be departing next fall for SUNY Stonybrook ,Roland K. Yoshida, Dean of Students of Queens College, Dr. Ron Scapp, Queens College Liason, who will also be leaving after working in conjunction with the school for four years, Continued on P.18

HarrisNet

Gambling

Hate Speech

10-11

Sports Stars

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Building spirit:

Dealing with delay LE}tters to the Editor Don't let 'Bridge Year' collapse

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To the Editor: Although I [soon] will be graduating from Townsend Harris..., I am writing about the future of Townsend Harris High School.

Townsend Harris is a unique school because of the Bridge Year Program. Throughout the years, Townsend Harris students have been extremely successful in their senior year.

They have also been able to experience the "college life" in order to have a smooth . transition.to their freshman year of college. This is an aspect of our school career at Townsend Harris which is looked forward to by underclassmen.

I am concerned about having seniors in the high school building next year. Although I do agree that certain high school classes like Participatory Democracy, economics and electives should be held in the new building, I completely disagree with detaining the seniors in that building for anything other than those classes. Humanities seminar classes should be held in college classrooms partly because a professor is part of the team that teaches the class.

Although seniors are still in high school, it is important to realize that senior year is completely different from the first three years at Townsend Harris. Seniors have different needs and different activities surrounding them.

Please do not make the Bridge Year Program a thing of the.past for Townsend Harris seniors.

Tina Morgan Sr. Council President

Unfair 'coverage in Classic To the Editor: Balance in reporting is very important in any paper, but especially a school newspaper.

After the last edition, there appears to be a recurring pattern, There seems to be a leaning towards science figures (namely Shimin Zheng) and ladies' athletics, which is unfair.

Being a humanities school, the feeling is that we as an educational institution have an unresolved complex concerning the science field. In order to make up for that, when we have a student that is successful in the sciences, that person's accomplishments are overreported. Shimin deserves all the credit for her work with the Westinghouse project, It is undoubtedly one of the most difficult scholastic contests to compete in and succeed at. But other people have won significant awards and deserve coverage as well. In fact, Mrs. Rizzuto's Creative Writing class won many first place awards for their hterary work. It is surprising to me that in a humanities school, we would not have at least a couple of lines on it in the newspaper. Just because this school's students are known for their writing skills, it doesn't mean that their work should be taken for granted.

In a school where the female/male ratio is roughly 3 to 1, it is easy to fall into the trap of giving all the-coverage to the ladies. But when the men are successful, they deserve some ink too. When the boys' Track Team won its first division title ever, one would think this would make it to the news. Instead, all a reader saw was either ladies' athletics or intramurals.Great accomplishments by those in theworld of school athletics deserve equal time in the paper....

Under the pressure of deadlines, it is often difficult to put in everything that might be newsworthy. However, when a student newspaper of such high journalistic quality continues to be biased in its coverage, then the problem must be corrected . Knowing the editonal staff of The Classic, I trust that it will.

Eugene Chan

Everyone knows if you dangle a carrot in front of a rabbit's nose and then pull it away, the rabbit will be disappointed and frustrated. That's how we all felt upon learning that the new building will not open in September. The delay has lowered the morale o f the students and may cause complications next year. However, there are also positive aspects to the postponement.

The anticipation created by the edifice on the Queens College campus was almost as huge as the building itself, as Harris students reveled in the thought that the crowded hallways, the cafetorium , and the obsolete computers would be a thing of the past. Many listened in shock when Dr. Largmann announced that the building wouldn't be ready unti l sometime next year. Malaise spread over the student body, as everyone realized tha t crowded locker rooms and locker buddies would be back nex t year: same time, same bands, same school. .

When we do move nex t yea r, the student bod y will be greatly distracted. Any move in the middle of a school yea r will disrupt the flow of a curriculum well ' underway. Instead of hav ing our m ind s geared for sin e graphs and Charles Dickens, the ebullient students' tho ugh ts will be possessed by atriums, high-tech computer labs, and a state-of-th e-a rt auditorium . Surely a move in September would have allowed for a smoother transition, Howev er, among the despondent souls, there are those wh o welcome the del ay, Many present juniors are glad they will get a taste of the " freedoms". present seniors enjoy, and look forw ard to experiencing the Bridge Year the way it has . always been.

The positive as pec ts to the postponement don't end there. When we finally do move into the ne wbuildi ng , construction will presumably be finished, or at least further along than we originally anti cipated. Had we moved in September, parts of the auditorium and other areas would have been incomplete. Contractors Il::::::::::::i:::@@H:t :\ t :::::::mt:::r:::m::r::::::m:rrmm:::::::::::::m:: . would still be drill ing away while classes were in session. Perhaps furniture and Senior Editor : Jen nifer Sorowitz Townsend lIa rrls High School a t Queens College other necessities would not have arrived, rekindling memories of the school 's 75-40 Par... ns BI.d. Flushing, New York 11366 Editor-In-Chlef : Seth Cohen reopening in '1984 when students went without desks and chairs for weeks.

Furthermo re, with typical Townsend Harris ingenuity, we've already started to I .< Beth Mellow & Violetta Ostafin Wendy Kemp & Kelly Villella .

FeatureEditors tum the adversity into fun. In order to fully wipe away the gloomy faces , the News Editors Readersare Inv~ed to subm~ letters to Student Union sponsored the "Who Killed Dr. Largmann?" competition which the ed~or. Lenersshouldbe placed in Ms. Gina Tufaro Diane Tuite Dionne Fraser Lay..,ut Editor culm inated in a Spirit Day. Although Assistant Principal Malcolm Rossman Cowen'smaitlox inthe generaloffice. The Senior Contributing Editor Photography Editor Classic reservesthe righttoed~ alllettefS. threw the good Doctor off the roof, we've been assured our principal will, like our leiters mustincludename and official dass .

Laura Hummel David Iankelevich Sarah Tremml Nameswill be withheld upon request.

Art Editor Exchang Editor Managing Editor fallen spirits, rise in the fall to-lend spiritual guidance as we prepare to move.The Student Un ion may also wish to bol ster spirit nex t year by having a "count-down- News Staff - Erik Bloch. Michocl Garber, Luiu Girlee , Laura Hwnmcl, ....eronica Lee , 'lanes.. Morales, Michael Munoz, Violella <htarm, Phyllis Pel , Sarah Tremml, Stacey WinkleT until-we-move" activity.

Finall y, the delay will allow the ent ire school to march over to the new building . feature Staff - Jessica Gusy, Beth Mattucci, Cory McCroden, Fernando Moreno, Jennifer Pare, Rcshni Ray; Ellen Sclmabel, Amanda Schoenberg. Lauren Sharett, Romy Varghese, Marc i Welber. Bennie Vee from the old one, heightening spi rit and enthusiasm . The triumphant procession Sports Staff - Sbarelle Alston , Ian K.atz, Phyllis Pei, Jesse Robinsoo over to the campus could be accompanied by the school band, and we could all Photographers . Jennifer Bersamin, joanna Drescher . Stefania Helm , Lina Kim, V icki Levine. Andrea Pu tcmak, Anna Zwie! wave banners in the air as we parade alongKissena Boulevard.

Artists - Erik Bloch, Jeshurun Breach, Daniel Gingerich, AI.am Ibarguen, Otto Petersen, Jennifer Tam, R""a Varghese Unfortunately, come September, we will still be at 75~40 Parsons Boulevard. ~- Tara Balabushka A move next year may cause complications and headaches, but we must look at the positive aspects of the delay because there's nothing we can do to change the situation. We Townsend. Harris students know first-hand the importance of Principal. Dr. Malcobn Largmann Advisor· Ilsa Cowen meeting deadlines. Let's face the grim reality of a bureaucracy which does not with humor and sp irit.

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· .Issues to surface Bri·ng gay

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To the Editor: During my years at THHS, the only class that made references to , homosexuality was my health class . As a gay man, I find this quite · disturbing. Throughout my life I have had to deal with my sexual ity and ,1< :'1 ~% t' Y~ "'U U\'-<"J society's dislike of it: Who should I bring to the prom?; I really like i "S teve" buthe would never understand; should I tell "Sally" why I won' t I date her? These are all typical things that gay and lesbian teenagers have ' to deal wi th. The closet is our savior because it protects us from.ridic ule and condemnation. It is also our albatross because at best it allows low self-esteem to fermen t within us, and at worst provokes suicide.

According to the Hetrick-Mar tin Institute and a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Serv ices that was suppressed by the 11 ' ;: · : : · · ·Reagan admini stration, gay youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. Of all completed suicides, 30% are lesbian and gay II / ' '''~' youth. So why is it that when gay and lesbian youth are at high risk of suicide, the Board of Education takes little or no actio n? Having the Harvey-Milk H.S. for exiled gay teenagers isn' t enough . The Board of Education needs a curriculum that reaches out to ALL studen ts, includ-II <: ";:7.;;·:-:r;: ing lesbian and gay teenagers .

I am asking the students and facult y to help me in my quest to bring gay issues to the surface. Please help me to bring the information and resources that are available to the students, because in my opinion a gay or lesbian student will not seek this information out. I know; I was once that student. , THHS, I challenge you to W. :~;.:<.,. : .:i·:. ;T : · :. :·h<.: em ' ; < '. : ;. : . be the .. National .School of Excellence . that : .~·1J ;." ;:.·.t.umor you say you are and deal With this Important Issue that has been Ignored ..: :::« ;,;:: :,:::, .: :::,,, ::::::: <, ; ..r::c::; long enough .

Gus Haberstock, '89 F _.- ~ •.. - .. . -.""",,- -

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Banquet hall praises juniors Th~~~ . " I thought I would take the time from a usually busy day to let you know what a pleasure it .was to have Townsend Harris students at Charisma Ballroom for your Junior Banquet. We have held countless parties, among those: sweet sixteens, graduations, and Halloween parties for this age gro up, and we were most impressed by how well-mannered the students were and how cooperative the teachers and chaperones were. . With a society so quick to label the younge r generation as disrespectful and unruly (some catering halls wiIInot even allow this age group to hold 1 parties), we thought you might appreciate a letter that shows how much we appreciate clients like you. Hats off to all of the staff, studen ts and parents who helped to mold you into such wonderful ladies alld gentlmen....

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How to. improve The Classic To the Edi tor: As a loyal reader of our school newspaper, I feel it my duty to point out some of the deficiencies I have seen while readi ng our paper.

It is very important, since our paper is not daily, to make sure the issues that are discussed are current. The last thing someone wants to read is something that has passed. It really has no interest to the reader. For example, in the last issue of our newspaper a rev iew of the movie "Wayne's World 2" was included. This movie has been out of theatres for months now. This is just a waste of space in the newspaper and obviously of no interest to the reader.

In order for everyone to be interested in our newspaper, the Classic must cover a variety of topics. Although the writers might think they cover everything, they really don't. In general, they stick to giving large space in our newspaper to science, math, and... people who have won awards in these fields. Not enough space is given to the entertainment and sports going on in our school. And our school spirit is suffering because of this.

What also is making our school newspaper suffer is the laziness that is apparent in the writing of our paper. I would like to know who ed its this paper? There were so many errors in the sports section of our paper that I felt like my intelligence was being slapped in the face. They completely messed up the intramural statistics and putin a picture of our .school basketball team that was also inaccurate.

I trust that in the tradition of Townsend Harris, these corrections will be made in orde r to make our newspaper the best it can be.

Matthew Solomon

Fostering democracy in school elections To the Editor, This past election has been a most productive one for the students of Townsend Harris. One of the most important outcomes of the election has been that the problems of our election system were brought to the attention of the student body. We learned what needs to be done to make this process more advantageous to the needs of our changing school. As one who champions democracy above all else, I applaud these advances and would like to believe that I contributed to them in some way.

My only regret is that in my attempt to enhance democracy in our school, I may have underm ined it as well.

It is essential to any democratic system that the people be able to make informed decisions based on fact, not rhetoric . It has been brought to my attention that by my using terms such as "betrayal of democracy," "miscarriage ofjustice," and "corruption of democracy" without substantial proof, they were nothing more than an artful use of language. Unfortunately, this language also tends to be inflammatory and insulting to some people. I very strongly believe that our election system needs to be improved, as do many other facts of life at Townsend Harris, and made more democratic as times demand. It is unfortunate that the language I 'Used was inappropriate. It is, after all, my intention to improve our system, not destroy it. I believe in the students of our school and their ability to choose between demagoguery and what is a genuine intent to improve our school. 1 apologize if I appeared as the former.

We must watch out for pitfalls on our road to a more just system and must work within our existing institutions to do so. It is my intention to make the Townsend Harris Student Union so much more than it is so that it can fully represent the needs and interest of our studen t body. I believe that we have the intelligence and determination to be able to do both .

Jesse Strauss

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The Classic!:

June1994l ..1

E II E celebrates heritages ~eb~te Team triumphant .' . .

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In Lincoln-Douglas contest

by Michael Garber .

Underground. Sumaiya Sterling and ./' • EIIE (Educate To Elevate), the ethnic Kena Richardson choreographed the by Violetta Ostafin negative stand on the issue in question awareness club, performed during En- dance.

Four thousand dollars and a part - . because each team wasn't told whic h richmentperiThe president time job at Chemical Bank for the next side it was debating until about twenty of EIIE, junior four years - that is what junior Alicia ods on Thursminutes before the actual competition . day, April 28 Ruth Patterson, Sookhoo and sophomores Tamar Aydin The stand was then chosen by tossing a and Tuesday, I performed Paul and Rena Varghese each received when coin. ' d: Laurence Dun- they won the final round of the Lincoln May 3.

"Working togethe r and cooperating This year's bar's "A Negro -Douglas DebatessponsoredbyCherniwith one another is wha t makes our ~ Love Story" af- cal Bank on April 26. theme "Evoteam strong," said Tamar."Mr. Francis lution Of j ter the dance on Debating on the morality of the geand Jesse [Strauss] were also a great e, Tuesday. Junior netic man ipulation of nature, the team P e 0 p ie's help ."

Eva Dan iels H erita g e s ," showcased recited the AnI :t: c lo th ing , drew Mela po e ms an d poem, "No ~ songs.

Apologies." A high light of On Thursday, the first Tuesday's perfloor Enrichformance wa s a t- · Celinda Cassanova, Jennifer Rodriguez, and th e fa shion ments Kena Richardson dance at the EIIE performance .h J ' ' s o w. umor t en d ed th e performance, Lakitia Sanderwhere Monique Cole opened the two lin hosted the show, which featured many Rena Varghese. Alicia Soohkoo, Tam ar, and Jesse Strauss debate hot issues in shows with the United States National EIIE members. The clothing exhibition the library.

Anthem and the Black National An- started with native African wear and them . Students recited the poetry of covered the clothin g styles from the ' 60 's their herita ges. Junior Daniella Conti to the '90's. This included trend s of the rec ited the poem "My People" by Lan g- club scene and evening wear. The argued a winn ing negati ve stand again st Junior Jes se Strauss, the team' s alterston Hughes to represent the African- members supplied the clothing. Nadia Staten Island Technical High School at nate member, supported the debators American heritage portion of the show.. Holder and Kati sha Goodridge coordi- the New York Public Library in Manand helped them prepare for the debate.

'The Hispanic segment of the show was nated the fashion show. Sophomore hattan; however, they didn't know that "Jesse had some of the best arguments represented by the poem "The Roots" Andrew Pasternah commented, "It was they had won until two hours later when that we had and he kept us from going

by Hugo Salezar.recited by JuniorJen- especially interesting to see all of the judges called the finali sts onto the stage. crazy when we all got too serious about nifer Rodriguez. Sophomore Malcolm' beautiful costumes."

"It was the most nerve-wracking debating," said Rena.

Hall recited the poem "Don 't Forget" Lakitia sang Whitney Houston's experience I've ever been throu gh," "Me Francis' approach to improving "Miracle" to represent jazz and its influ- said Rena, referring to the moments

by Gertrude B. Bail y. our debates was really effective," comThe Tuesday show included a hip- ence on culture. "The show took a lot of before the winners were announced after mented Alicia, "He would have us focus hop dance. Sophomores Sumaiya Ster- tedious practice time, but I fel it was the final debate. Alicia, Rena, and Tamar on the j udges' opinions of what our ling and Yvette Lopez, freshmen Shif- worth it," said Lakitia. were awarded ,trophies, plaques , and weaknesses were so that we could im fon Jones, Colleen Rain ford, andjun- · The final part of the show brought jackets, and were interviewed by sevprove them." iors Celinda Casanova, Jennifer Ro- juniors Tatiana Carrett, Daphne Faldi, eral newspaper reporters afterwards.

Eac h member agreed that the Debate driguez, Kena Richardson and Natasha Bianca Gomez, Wendy Cartegena, NaTeam requires much hard work . ''The "I was overwhelmed that we had Netto performed the dance to "Here tasha Netto, Ce linda Cassanova, and actually won . All of the hard work had hardest part is probably the research Comes The Lords" by Lords of the continued on pg, 18; finally paid off in a big way," said there was a lot of scientific research for this debate," said Tamar.

Alicia.

"We would go over the stuff as if study.' 1 Before the finals, the team had de. bated and won all rounds. "I had a ing for a test," com mented Jesse. feeling that we were prepared enough Tamar and Alicia, who had participated in last year's Lincoln-Doug las to advance to the semi-finals, but I Debates and were eliminated in the first didn't know we would win," comrou nd, agree d, "We went in hoping to at .. . ... ..... mentedE nglish teacher John Francis, .....•.•.•...•. . •........ •.•. . .

P .. . 'a f . advisor,"The team spent a long time least get past the first round. Then we Presldent.>i re! 1 en• .~. ... » preparing," he added. In fact, the team just kept winning."

Seth Cohen .. « .

Kann Castillo ; researched their ideas, compiled their Each member expressed the perso nal satisfaction that the competition created Sr. •v ic e .President •..Sarah·' .. Vice· President- •.. .. arguments, and rehearsed their debates rremmI » >.» >j i... Karla .Robinson ...... for five months prior to the finals, hav- for them . "I've always respected people who could speak well when put on the JUoiorV ic ePresident EUza- secretary.; / ·. . .. .....•. . .» < ~:t::~~t:~r.topic of this year's spot," admitted Alicia, "I joined the beth Irizarry i ·StaceyBornstein '.... ... . < . •... Each round consisted of a nine- part Debate Team so that I could clearly sort Fre sh m a n ISo ph om 0 re < Senior Liajson« ..... . debate where three judges scored each my thoughts and learn to speak well and my goal is gradually being achieved." vjce Presldent-.••. . ..

Farrah sulner ..• .. ! H " team on a scale of 1- 30 poin ts. Accord"Being on the Debate Team taught me Michael Garber H Co nsultatiye CQunCjlRep.. in~ to the Harris team, ho~~ver, ~e about making my point without letting Treasurer .; i i. < ) i Danielle Carmic ha~I ' . ~mts wer~ not always a definite decidmy emotions get in the way," said Rena, .·.· ·~ ...••.••.. > •..•••...•.•· . . .... ..

109 factor 10 who had won a debate.

Vesna Vaslc .•• Treasurer - Sarah ~g>·. . .

"I t all depended on the j udge ' s overAccording to official debate rules that i Secretary) .•.••.. ..•.d.:·.. . · d .:·. all opinion of a team's performance," preclude winners from returning the following year , Alicia, Tamar, and Rena .Am}' Kommatas ) .: At Large RepS/ . said Alicia. "Sometimes the judges won'tbe allowed to debate in next year's Consultative Council Rep- .Alexandria Loifer · ... didn't .even fill out the scor? cards, Lincoln-Douglas competition, but Mr. . .... .... . >H· ····11· ··P . . ' < They did comment on the team sweakHeather Garber ;. '.. . ()Ie . ena.... . / ' . ..•. nesses and strengths, though. We took Francis says that Jesse will be a definite .

Cynthla Wong. < i their comments very seriously," she member of the team. Because Harris triumphed in the "inexperienced" level <. Elena .Coleman .. .. added. ......... Tara Weinstein · ····· i i Tamar, Alicia, and Rena had to preof the debates, the team will advance to > : pare to take either the affirmative or the experienced tier next year.

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Festival of Nations features Fruits, vegetables highlight Health Fair Costumes, dances, desserts

by M arci Welber and Bonnie Vee cation departments."

"Fruits and V e getab le s" was the theme of this year' s ann ual Health Fair , wh ic h .~ Q was held in the E gymnasium on May 9.

Freshmen Emil y Rakowlcz and Erica Carroll let Guidance 'Health aide Maria Barone measure their blood cou nselor ;pressure at the annual Health Fair.

Susan Ro tter commented, The kitchen and custodial staffs "I t was a collaborative effort by students, faculty, and parents, in- provided the lunches, healthy food volving the guidance department and chairs to accommodate the . and health education/ physical edu- presente rs, who included represen-

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tatives of heal th organizations and parents. â&#x20AC;˘ Some of the highlights included demonstrations by former World Middle Weig ht Champ ion in boxing, Vito Anteferno , and of body composition machine. Junior Jason Nisbett said, "I' ve never seen a real celebri ty, so having Vito Anteferno here was really exci ting."

Invitations to the Health Fair were designed by jun ior Gina Tufaro, who worked with the rest of the Health Fai r committee .

Sophomore Manuel Zavaletasaid, "After tasting some of the food at the Health Fair, I saw that healthy food doesn ' t have to taste bad."

by Lauren Shar ett and Beth their native festive cost umes . One of these,from themov ieKhalNajak Mattucci "A Nat ion of Fam ilies" was the , was a co mbinatio n of traditional theme of this year's Festival of Indian and modem dance. A dozen . Nations, held on the evening of boys dressed in skirts and stockMay 5 in the cafe torium . Hosted ings for the Greek dance "Isamiko.' by the Foreign Language Depart- Freshman George Motaki s perment and organized by Assistant ' formed an amaz ing back bend and Principal Joan Wals h, the annual did intricate footwork. During the event celebrated diverse cult ures Chinese "R ibbon Dance," gir ls in with ethnic dances, costumes and cos tume twirled brig ht pink ribbons. In the Israeli folk dance,"The desserts.

The cultures represented at the Hora," after the dancers spun in a

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HEALTH WATCH:

Cigarette companies admit Increase in nicotine levels

J uniors Jeanne Choi and Eunice Lee present the Korean fan dance at the Festival of Nations.

May be subject to FDA regulation as addictive drug

by R omy Vargh ese Here' s a bit of advice to Mr. Campbell, CEO of the Philip Morris Com pany and to all the other CEO's of tobacco companies: don 't buy that fifth Benz yet.

Recent developments have threatened the lucra tive profits of tobacco companies, and even the very legality of cigarettes. One such development that the tobacco company executives are busy trying to minimize is the release of a 1981 stud y by two tobacco researchers explaining how the level of nicotine in a cigarette can, be raised or lowered. (N.Y. Times, 4/14/94). ' Tobacco company executives deny that such manipulation was used to insure a steady market of addicted smokers; instead, they claim the technique ' of adding higher levels of nicotine is only implemented to enhance the flavor of low tar cigarettes. However, executives have admitted ' that the amount of nicotine in cigarettes have since 1982 in-

creased by more than 10% (N.Y. Times. 4/15/94), but they declare that there is insu fficien t edvidence to prove that nicotine is addictive.

On April 13, the leading tobacco companies together released a list of additives used in cigarettes, but not saying which co mpany uses which ingredient. Thirteen of the 599 ingredients are reported to be hazardous additives,but executives ofthe tobacco companies say all of them are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food .

Like the rest of the nation, Townsend Harri s students have different views on this issue. Junior Harry Douni s commented , "Well, it's their co mpany, so they should dowhatthey want. Noone's forcing an yone to smoke." Lisa Ebe, a freshman, said, "Even if it is true, I don't think it [adding more nicotine to cigarettes] will make much of a difference because people are addicted an yway."

However, freshman Michelle Casamento disagreed with that

view , saying, "I think they do put more nicotine in cigarettes because I find that I smoke more now than I used to. But I guess the companies have to make money."

The FDA has maintained the authority to regulate cigarettes if they are proved to be addictive drugs .Regulation may be imposed in the form of limits on the total nicotine and tar in a cigarette, or eve n an outright ban of cigarettes.

The latter isn' t too likely since even stro ng antismoking supporters in Congress are not very enthusiastic abo ut that idea, but favor' able-public opinion may sway them.

"Something should be done," said sophomore Natalie Ramdath, "They should try banning cigarettes, and if it doesn't work out, they should try something else.

They shouldn ' t give up on the idea of banning cigarettes."

Junior Faye Drettakis agreed, sayin g, "Ci garettes are very harmful. Ofcourse they should be made illegal."

festival included Spanish, Mexican, Frenc h, Latin, Irish, Italian, Indian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Greek , and Israeli.

The performance bega n with the singing of the National Anthem by senior Monique Cole, accompan ied on the piano by junior Jana Zielonka. "It's been fun looking at other culture s and t heir traditions," said Monique.

"This is my first time coming tei the Festival of Na tions and I'm only sorry I missed the first three."

Ja na commented, "It is very important that we have this night.

Not only is it entertaining, but it also teaches everyone about other cultures."

Visitors from Flushing High School performed "El Jarabe Tapatio" (the MexicanHat Dance) in colorful and elaborate costumes. Another dance was a traditional Italian folk dance, "La Tarantella Napolentana." One of the dancers, sophomore Carla Rooc , said, "I think it's a lot of fun and I' m proud to represent Ital y in the dance." Two Ind ian danc es. were also performed in

circle , Ms. Walsh was lifted into the air on a chair in the middle.

This caused an uproar from the crowd.

Not only were there dances at the "Fes tival ofNations,"butalso other performances. There was a martial arts exhibition. Christine read "The Host of the Air" by Irish poet Wil liam Yeats. A La tin skit reenacti ng the assassination of Julius Caesar was perform ed by students dressed in togas.

The finale of the evening was the song,"A Whole New World," sung by j unior Alexandra Laifer, from the movie Aladdin. This featured all the performers.

Spanish teacher Michael Piane said, "International Night is a great opportunity for all of us to appreciate each other' s culture and grow in unity. " The festivities also featured a dessert buffet served by the PTA. Among the desserts were galaktobouriko (cream pie) from Greece, raisin bread pudding from Puerto Rico, cannolis (cream- filled pastries) from Italy, rice cakes from Korea, and gelt (chocolate money) from Israel. .

'Creative Self' triumphs in writing contests

by Amanda Schoenberg .Awards turned out to be the name .of the game in English teacher Helen Rizzuto's senior elective, .The Creative Self, designed for the serious writer .

One of the contests entered was The Scholastic Writing Competition. In this contest, Harrisites walked away with many gold and

silver medal s for New York State. Jennifer Nitka, Becky Lee, Trina Susan Stewart, Jennifer Nitka, Cabrijan, Anna Zwierz, and MariTerita Murphy, Kristina Olson, lyn Paulis won silver medals.

Another prestigious award was Danielle Fishman, Diana Tuite, presented to Kristina Olson, a Danett Bean, and Laura Mazzara winner in the City College Poetry won gold medals. Aleema BacCompetition.

She was the recipichus, Rhonda Alexander, Anissa en! of $1 DO, as well as a prize Harris, Jessica Steinmetz, Diana presented to her by the poet AdriTuite, Kristen Erichsen, Kristina enne Rich.

Olson, Amy Yan, Susan Stewart,

In the Creative Self class, students explore imagery, form, meter, plot, character development and the bringing out of emotions in poetry.

By the end ofthe class, students have enough experience in the different fields of writing to ereate a final project, consisting of a poetry book of24 pages, 3-5 short

stories, a one-act play , or an illus- . trated children's book. Ms. Rizzuto says that students are then ready to submit their work to outside sources and contests. "Students who express an interest in entering competitions, and thus are eager to revise and perfect their work, are encouraged to do so," said Ms. Rizzuto. .

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Arlstalnducts new members ,Vocabulary quizzes challenge word whizzes

by Wendy Kern p several selections, while Senior Michael ' Ifbeing a musician means getting used Bergman took over for Mr. Lustig to to being "down in the dumps" once in a conduct M. Story's "Eagle Point Overwhile, then the band of Townsend Harris ture."

High School has achieved a head start .

Both Ron Scapp, the Queens College As a part of the entertainment section of Liaison, and Principal ' Malcolm the Apri l 2 1 Arista induction at Q ueens Largmann gave speeches reflecting the College's Colden Center, the orchestra themeofservice. Afterwards, the induepit platform rose and the band played tion took place. Qne by one, the firsttheir first selection. When they finished, year members were called up, and each the platform began to sink back down received a certificate. The names were aga in, imita ting the Energizer bunny as announced by Melissa Rosenblatt, the it kept going and going :and going. First-Year Vice President. The secondSoon, the only visible piece of the band ycarmembers were announced by Ivory. left was one lone hand sticking up and Each one received a pin as he or she waving to the audience. walked across the stage. Finally, the As a res ult of this event, the Arista third-year members, called by Sally, receremony, whic h usua lly insp ires feel- ceived National Honor Society pins. ings of solemnity, caused a grea ter variAssistant Principal of Guidance Shei la ety of reactions this ,year . "From the Orner adm inistered the tradit ional Arista stage, the expressions on people's faces pledge to all of the new and continuing were amusing," remembered ' Arista members of the society. The members adv isor Margaret Landry. "It was the stood up and repeated the words after highlight of the evening. It added a little her, prom ising to uphold the traditions bit of humor to the whole thing." and rules of Arista, as well as to continue Once the laugh ter had subsided and the doing service. Th is pledge has been replatform had risen once more, the cere- cited by the newly inducted Arista mony proceeded. Arista, the honor or-members for the last ten years. ganization open to returning sophomores, ' However, not every part of the cere:jun iors and seniors , requ ires an average mony was traditional, and the little stunt ofat least 90%, aminimum of 16 service with the band's pit was not the only big credi ts per term, and a clean dean's rec- difference between this year's ceremony ord for membership. and that ' of previous years. Howard Senior Diana Tuite, President of Arista, Wagner, who has been the advisor of started the ceremony by taking the middle Arista ever since the new Townsend of five candles and using it to light the Harris High School opened, turned over candle which represented scholarship. his position to Ms. Landry during the Sally Magd i, the Third-Year Vice Presi- ceremony. She presented him with a dent, lit the candle of leadersh ip. The clock to thank him for the time he spent candle of character was lit by Secretary with all of the Arista members, past and Ivory Glea ton, and the candle of service present. was lit by Treasurer Akiba Smith.

When asked why she accepted the Reflecting the theme of service, the position as the new Arista advisor, Ms. cho rus, accompanied by flutist Stefan ia Landry said, "I have fond memories of Heimand under the direction ofFlorence being the president ofthe National Honor McK inley, sang "Movin' On" by Hanis- Society in high school. Whe n I was asked sian. Th ird-year Arista member Shimin to take the position, I decided to do it in Zheng performed Debussy"s "Claire de memory of my high schoo l advisor. "I Lune" on the piano , and the band, led by also thought that it would be fun - a chalmusic teacher Pete r Lustig, also played lenge ."

Archon honors

Those who serve others

by Beth Mellow .

Flashing red lights and the Superman theme song accompanied a mass of people march ing into the cafetorium on April 27. It was not a ceremony honoring cartoon heroes, but the newly inducted members of Archon , the National Service Soci ety.

First, second, and third year members were awarded pins and certificates. Odile Garcia, Archon Advi sor, was presented with a clock for her years of dedication to the society. On the clock "Leader of the Pack" was engraved.

Among the speakers at the ceremony were Dr. Malcolm Lar gmann, Ms. Garcia, and Queens College liaison Ron Scapp. All the 'speakers expressed the importance of serv ice.

The ce remony was enhanced by a musical interlude, with j uniors Andr ea

Lev ine, Jennifer Tan, and Ritzel Tuazon performing Mozart on clari net.

The newly elected executive board of Archon includes Sen ior Pre sident Jennifer Chau, Senior Vice-Presiden t Kali Lau, Junior President Maria Fo x, Junior Vice President Ilana Golin, Treasurer Bonnie Aranowitz, and Secretary.Wendy Kemp.

At the first meeting of the newly inducted members, Ms. Garcia said, "We do not come after you to join. You come to us. It is your willingness to do serviee that brought you here."

Jennifer Chau agrees. "We want people to commit to service, not for credit, bu t just for doin g it. We are presently looking for ways to get rid of service credit," she said.

Acceptance into Archo n is based on service, Dean's reco rd, and average.

, she announced that Apri l was Vocabuby Wendy-Kemp "While dissecting your worms, don't lary Month . prac tice vermiphagy." From this senThe idea of Vocabulary Month was tence came a school-wide hoax which thought up by Assistant Principal of infiltrated Vocabulary Month, an annual " , Humanities Lynne Greenfield because event that appeared this year in April. she and other teachers had not iced that Dictionaries were investigated and bat- stude nts did not have as extensive a tered, yet the mystery still remained un- voca bulary as they sho uld. Now a foursolved. What did vermiphagy mean? The year tradi tion at Townsend Harris, it " word, one of the 25 on this year's list for usually appears in the beginning of Vocabulary Mont h, did not appear in any March, but due to the paucity of March dictionaries simp ly because it had never . days this year, Vocabulary Month was appeared in any books at all. Science rescheduled. "This year, it [was] in April teacher Richard Tiffen, who started the. because the February break cut into the ball rolling when he wrote the sentence month of March." on the board during a biology lab, has no Every year, a test is made up and idea how the bogus word - his own coin- expeditiously administered to the stuage, which means the practice of eat ing dents near the end of the month. This worms - found its way into the vocab u- year , the test, usually created by Ms. lary list. "I claim no responsibility!" he Greenfield, was instead made up by a 'stated. "I'm innocent!" phalanx of teachers so that there would Despite the mysterious word, many be no problems with misunderstandstudents still managed to recei ve a perfect ings, and also so the test would have score on thisyear'squiz, which was given more than one style of writing in it. to all classes during third band on May 4. ' "I think that the extra vocabu lary is As opposed to last year, when there were helpful in the long run, but I don't like 132 of them, the count has risen to 154 for the fact that we get tested on it," said 1994. The sophomores stole the scene jun ior Andrea Steiner. "It puts added with almost half of the winners - 76 in all. pressure on us."

The juniors came in second with 46, and As for the marking of the tests, an the fres hmen lagged behi nd with 32 per- ersatz method like the scantron mafeet scores. Also, of all the teachers in the chine was not used. Instead, teachers Humanities Department with a full pro- will mark the tests manually."[Vocabugram, Eng lish teacher John Francis lary Month] is due to the cooperation of boasted the most winners among his stu- the teachers who give the exam ," said dents.

Ms. Greenfield. "It couldn' t happen in a Aside from the customary certificate school 00000 [students] - after all, who for a free candy bar given to everyone would mark that many? " with a quintesse ntial mastery of the Both teachers and parents contributed vocabulary - otherwise know n as a 100% words from all differe nt genre for the - three students were chosen to receive an vocabulary list. "We wanted everyone add itional prize: $25 gift certificates for to have a part in it," said Ms. Greenfie ld. any store were given to one student from "Wesent letters to everyone asking for each of the three grades. All of the stu- words - parents, teachers. Not just the dents with perfect scores obtained a ticket teaching staff, but the support staff, too. for the drawing along with their cer tifi- People seemed to like the idea." Found cates. The winner among the j uniors was everywhere from Shakespeare's writDanily nDeClaro; thesophomorevocabu- ings to Don Qu ixote's adventures, the lary champion was Maria Alvarez, and words chosen came from a variety of the lucky freshman was Christopher people and subjects. ' Mogil. Another drawing was then held, "We use words that are interesting, but and this time,43 studen ts were selected to real," said Ms. Greenfield when asked receive tickets for a May 24 performance what made Vocab ulary Month so inofthe American Ballet Theater at Linc oln ne rvating. " However, there are alwa ys Center. However, Judy Biener, the Coor- one or two which are a little unusual." dinator of Student Activities (COS A), When asked for an examp le, she mensaid, "The idea is not to win a grand prize, tioned a word from last year's Voca ubut to learn more vocabulary words." bulary Month - ' omphalaskosis,' which Students were somewhat dismaye d to means the contemplation of one 's belly discover that April showers would bring bu tton. These sorts of word s are mere more than May Flowers. Vocabulary for risible purposes. English teacher Month had reared its head upon the un- Debra Michle witz , who admitted to suspecting students of Townsend Harris having a penchant for words, also felt once again, starting on April 4. When the sanguine about the success of Vocabujuniors in Paula Weyne's third band lary Month. "I love words, and I think English class strolled into the classroom the idea of having a festiva l for words that Monday, they found a quote from dur ing the month is lovely," she said.

T.S. Elliot on the board: "April is the Joan Walsh, the Assistant Principal of cruelest month ." Asked to interpret this Foreign Languages, contributed the quote, the students came up with specula- word ' doleful,' which means sorrowful tions about the ennui of spring, spring' or mournful. "I always pick one from fever, allergies, and some also mentioned my hero , Don Quixote," she explained. the fact that the gelid weath er had not yet "After many mishaps in his adventures, disappeared. After quite a bit of circum- he was given the title of 'The Knight of locution , Ms. ey ne finally dropped the the Doleful Co untenance.''' Her vocabuCo nti n ued on p, 18. petard , and was greeted by groans when

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French excursion fosters,'cultural learning

by Gina Tufaro Ooh's and aah' s resounded throughout the large tour bus as the newcomers to France peered out of their windows.Their eyes focused on Paris' monuments, statues, and many more of the cultural gifts that the French have to offer. Cameras clicked and Camcorders recorded the first day in the French capita l for II Townsend Harris students.

Chaperoned by foreign language teacher Mariet D'Souza and student teacher Xochitil deConstanzo, the Harrisites depar ted from JFK International Airport on March 26, destined to arrive in Paris' Orly Airport the fol1owing day.

The eight-hour flight was long, but the studen ts tried to make the best of it.

"1fT wasn' t listening to my walkman,' said sophomore Scot Scher, "I was trying

Too

with all might to annoy the girl sitting next to me. It was a pretty good flight."

Once the group touched ground and scrambled frantically to find the proper luggage, they met a representative from the American Council for International Studies (AClS) . ACIS, the company which conducted their tour, took them to their bus and from there they proceeded to their first hotel in Paris.

The Parisian itinerary encompassed all the major sights, including the Eifel Tower, the Arch of Triumph, and the Louvre Museum."I really enjoyed Paris," commented sophomore Nia Rhodes. "It wasn't only exciting , but educational as well."

Many agreed with Nia. "I feel that . educationally, the students benefited the most from the palace of Versailles. There

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is no other place that I know of that embodies more history," said ACIS tour guide Go/Seeger.

The students were also given a chance to see the "real" Paris and indulge in the numerous side-walk cafes and boutiques.

"IfI had stayed in Paris justone more day and shopped in one more boutique, I would have been broke," commen ted sophomore Andrea Pasternak.

From Paris, the group journeyed south to Dinard, a city with a rural twist. It was here that the students were given a chance to see costums typical of the neighboring city of Normandy.

"At dinner our waitress wore a traditional outfit from Normandy. It was interesting to see costumes from different cultures," said junior Otto Petterson .

The final stop was Gouvieux, where

the group stayed in a chateau with a swimm ing pool and several refined dining areas.

"T he pool was great - a little on the wet side, but great!" exulted Anthony D'Souza, Ms. D'Souza's lO-year-old son.

Euro-Disney marked the finale of the excu rsion. The theme park, which is one fifth the size of the American Disney World, gave the students many memories.

"It was strange to see C3PO and Darth Vader speaking in French on the STAR WARS ride," said freshman Kasha Musial- Aderer.

The trip ended on April 3, and as the students boarded the plane bound for New York, one of them said, "It was great and now it' s over. C' est la vie!"

Spain trip gets rave reviews

by Laura Hummel Toyya bought her castanettes in Seville. Blake bought his sombrero in Cordoba. Sarah bought her shoes in Madrid. These are j ust three of the 24 students who returned from sunny Spain on April 3 bearing gifts and souvenirs.

Spanish teacher Ilene Marcus coordinated the trip, and along with chaperones I1isa Sulner (mother of junior Farrah Sulner) and Vicki Meyers (mother of juniorToyya Meyers), led the21 girls and 3 boys through cities such as Barcelona and Seville. The trip, which left on March 25, was conducted by the Cultural Heritage Alliance (C.H.A.).

For ten days, the students enjoyed the sights and people of this foreign country along with another tour group from Pittsburg ..

Their tour guide took them to seven cities with the help ofPaco, the bus driver. "We began in Barcelona. We went to the Pablo \ Picasso museum and saw the I Olympic stadiums," said junior i Jennifer Chau. "My favorite part of Barcelona was Las Rarnblas.'

Las Ramblas is a major shopping area in Barcelona.

These streets ended with the famous statue of Christopher Columbus pointing westward toward the new world. Studen ts also rode the Metro in Barcelona.

"I couldn't believe how clean the Metro was," commented junior Matthew Soran. "There was no graffiti or garbage . There were I even T.V. monitors."

After a lunch in the city ofZaragoza and al3-hour bus ride, students arrived in Madrid . "I slept for a lot of the bus ride, so I was ready for what we saw in Madrid<" said junior Veron ica Tom . In . Madrid the students visited the I Prado Museum and the Royal i Palace. "The palace was so beautiful," commented Toyya. "There were huge chande liers in almost every room. I walked around tak-

ing pictures of the ceilings since each one had a detailed painting." Aside from the tours and shopping, students also went to a disco where other tour groups from C.H.A. were present. "It was terrific watching our students dance and have a wonderful time ," noted Ms. Marcus.

Spanish dancers of Flame nco and Holy Week processions greeted the tourists in Seville . "There were huge processions all of the time in Seville," said junior Ann-Margaret Biechowski. "It is so religious there!" Holy Thursday and Good Friday boasted monks in long robes and hidden faces, tall crosses and statues parading down the streets. At a Flamenco show in Seville , the dancers, clad in long dresses and short jackets, clicked their castanettes before a cheering audience. "The dancing was amazing," said junior Stacey Bomstein. "The show was definitely one of my favorite parts of Seville!"

The final city, Malaga , offered the beach overlooking the 'Mediterranean Sea. "We had so much fun on the beach !" exclaimed junior Annette Parisi. "We played games at night and enjoyed the sun during the day. I got a tan!" Annette, and a few others, along with Mrs. Sulner and Ms. Meyers, toured the city of Granada instead of spending the entire day on the beach. "The gardens were amazing . I'm glad that I went," said Annette.

"I had such a great time," said junior Florence Wasserman. "I was really upset when I had to come back. I'm never going to forget this trip!"

"I had a wonderful time traveling .with these students. They made the trip very exciting," said Ms. Marcus . "For example, on the way to the Costa del Sol from Seville, Blake Eastman screamed, 'We have to tum back; I left my wallet with my money and my passport back at the hotel.' Manuel , our tour guide, said, 'Well, you'd better get out then and walk!' It was April First- April Fool's day!' "I look foward to sharing a different country with these studen ts and others next year when we travel to Italy," she added .

Those 24 students deboarded the plane with much more than just castanettes, sombreros and shoes.

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8

The Classic June1994

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Zheng grabs top honors

by Veronica Lee but I was also Top honors surprised bewent to senior cause there were Shimin Zheng, so many fine grand prize winprojects. There ner of the. 1994 were over 1,400 city-wide Scientries, and I ence Fair, held have always on April 25. found these Shimin will be competitions awarded very subjec$10,000 for her tive," she said. study on inteSusan Appel, grated computer AssistantPrincicircuits. pal of Science, For a year and said, "This is a a half, Shimin Science Fair grand prize winner Shimin very important worked on a Zheng explains her project to a science class. science award. project which inIt's a wonderful volved the use of block co-polymers to and amazing accomplishment for produce microscopic patterns on silicon. Shimin."

These patterns can be used as a substrate In March, Shim in was given the opporfor integrated circuits in computers. tunity to explain her research to the "Right now, people are trying to make American Physical Society, a group of the circuits faster and more efficient. professors, doctors, and physicists. She The techniqueI-devised saves time and attended the conference in Pittsburgh, money," Shimin explained. Earlier in Pennsylvania with Dr. Marianne Rathe year, this project earned Shimin a failovich, one of the two Stony Brook place among the finalists in the Westing- professors who served as her mentors for hous competition. her research. "It was exciting and nerveShimin was overwhelmed when she wracking. I never presented my work to found out she was the grand prize winner so many people who knew what I was of the Science Fair . "I was very happy, talking about," Shimin said.

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'Shakespeare's Sister' sponsors defense seminar

by Romy Varghese "No!" About 25 girls shouted that as they paired up and practiced defense moves on each other during the three self-defense seminars for women held on April 20, April 28, and May 10 headed by BarbaraLoBosco and Rita Russo from the Queens Women's Center. The free seminars were arranged by Shakespeare's Sister, the women's issue group.

The seminars were held in the gym after school. At the first one on April 20, Barbara LoBosco and Rita Russo, both second degree black belts, demonstrated kicks and punches that could be used in a confrontation with an attacker. The girls, having taken off their shoes and changed into their gym clothes, paired up, one acting as an attacker while the other practiced certain moves to defend herself.

The second seminar on April 28 started in the library, where the girls watched Someone YouKnow, a movie about rape and its affects on women afterward. After watching the first half hour, the girls went down to the gym and practiced their moves. The third seminaron May 10dealt with falling in a certain way so one would be able to defend oneself. They then practiced the options one has when attacked.

"You want them to be at the hospital with nightmares of your face," Ms. LoBosco told the girls. "For years women have been in the emergency room. It's time to stop."

Shakespeare's Sister hopes to arrange another series of self-defense seminars next year, since many voiced approval of these three. "I feel more confident now," said junior Emily Chan.

"Every woman should take a defense class," commented Judy Biener, Coordinator of Student Activities and advisor of Shakespeare's Sister, who herselftakes selfdefense. "It's great!"

In addition to arranging the self-defense seminars, Shakespeare's Sister had also handed out and tallied the results of a survey on sexual harassment (see below) as a way to know the thoughts of the rest of the school. Also on March 17, the group engaged Nancy Diaz of the Queens Women's Center to speak to students during Enrichment concerning violence occurring during dates. During Women's History Month, club members set up a bulletin board outside the library and gave short biographies of notable women over the loudspeaker. A bulletin board about selfconfidence is currently on display near the back exit. The proceeds of their recent bake sale went to Camp Sister's Spirit, a woman's organization headed by two lesbian women that are being harassed by their neighbors.

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PlIEPARATION FOR TESTS NEW S.A.T.• VERBAL (ENGUSH) NEW S.A.T.· MATH NEW P.S.A.T.· VERBAL (ENGLISH) NEW P.S.A.T.· MATH ENGLISH for ENTRANCE EXAMS lor Special High Schools • S.S.A. Too CO·OP MATH for ENTRANCE EXAMS for Special High Schools • S.S.A.T.• CO-OP T.O.E.F.L PlIEPARATION FOR R.C.T.'.

WRmNG R.C.T. READING R.C.T. MATH R.C.T. SCIENCE R.C.T. GlOBAL STUDIES R.C.T. U.S. HISTORY & GOV'T R.C.T.

ENGLISH ENGLISH 12th GRAOE ENGLISH 11th GRAOE ENGLISH 10th GRAOE ENGLISH 9th GRAOE I.S. & Jr. High School ENGLISH ENGLISH for FOREIGN BORN • E.S.L• REMEDIAL READING COURSE READING SKILLS COURSE SOCIAL STUDIES GOVERNMENT ECONOMICS U.S. HISTORY ANO GOV'T. GlO8Al STUOIES WORLD HISTORY I.S. & Jr. High School SOC. ST. SENIOR ELECTIVE INDEPENDENT STUOIES

8lFTED 51ll AND 8111 GRADERS ENRICHMENT ClASSES

MATHEMATICS seQUENTIAL MATH I SEOUENTIAL MATH II SEOUENTIAL MATH III 9Ih GRADE MATH (Bem Alg) 10th GRADE MATH (Geam) 11th GRADE MATH (LA• • Trig) 12th GRAOE MATH (Pra-Calc) A.P. CALCULUS FUNDAMENTAL MATH GENERAL MATH BUSINESS MATH PRE-AlGEBRA I.S. & Jr. High School MATH

SClEIlCE BIOLOGY

} 30IA8S CHEMISTRY AVAlWlE PHYSICS EARTH SCIENCE' GENERAL SCIENCE I.S. & Jr. Hioh School SCIENCE

ontER SUBJECTS SPAWISH FRENCH TYPING· KEYBOARDING

I

HEAlTH ED (Hygienel PHYSICAL ED (Gym) MAJOR or REQUIRED ART

COMPUTER • BEGINNER TO ADVANCED PROGRAMMING. APPUCATIDNS

romDN: $350.00 p8r cI_ REGENTS EXAMINATIONS AND COMPmNCY TESTS AVAILABlE AUGUST 17

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sextialharassffi~ntwas theissuedis~ . ofrape. Eighty-eightpercentofthemales c\lssediilaquestionaire distributed this .polled said they would liStentoa female tel'rnby Shakespeare's Sister, aclubon ·· ifshe saidnotosex~IIladditioll,99%of ·· woffieri'sissues/Two .hundred arid one the females and 89%of therrilliespolled.... females and?5ffiales fromninih,terith, •..believed··rape is a seriouscrirrie which . llrideIeventhgrade classes'werepolled. < deserves severe pllriishmelll. < . . .

Separate surVeys were given according .•. .. Sexual harassment hasreeentlYbeto gender, eliciting different responses; cOrrie a widelydebated issue. •..Seventy> Thedefinitioriof sexualharassmenteightpercerifof the rriales polled said . vafi&larriongthestudents.42% of the that females haverecome moreJjarll~ ffiales,definedifas"grabbing" people, > noid,· and nfukeaccusations about the while 70%()f theferrialesbelieved itwas .. smallest things. Theyfeel males should acoffibiIlitioriofgrabbirig,riamecall- not be discriminated against because of ing,llI1dobscenegestures. i the actions of others. -. . . .•• •• • •. BOtl'lgrollpswel'easkedifthey ·had · Moreover, manymalesfelfthat having ¢vei been sex.i.Ially harassed . Seventeen a worrien'sclub is sexist However, males percelltof malesand 54% of the females . arenot bannedfromjoining the group , asaidtlleyhadbeensexually harassed at •.. and are encouraged to voice their opin- .

Jeastollceintlle~li\'es. < >ions.RebeCtaMaridell~ · president .of Acc()idirigtbthesurVey,peOplefeact · S hakespeare ' s·.Sister, said, "We underdifferelltlytoharassmentS orne people .stand their IthemaIelcomplaillt, butwe 2h06setoignoreit;(jthers fight back. Ofwalltthem tOuriderstandthat guys and . · · thosepollciJ,.77%d th.•·.•·.eydOn'tenj()ybeing/ their. ilTlpu{areWelcomed,by our club. > h()()tedafWheri\valldng down the street WOmen's issuesareme~s·issues too. > 'fheyfilldthisattention .demeaning and Workirig ·together ·l s the best . way····to chOsetbigriore<iCMany· students also" solve problems," she said. > saidtfiatthey viewe<isexllal harassment ••• . < •..••...• irithe$treetasathteatto their security •. . .. < . ••

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9

Fair showcases city's humanities programs

by Fernando Moreno Ethnic sharing, cultural work- spoke of the importance of.studyshops,controversialthreatrical im- ing courses relating to humanism, provisations, and interaction be- such as language, art, and drama, tween the city's humanities stu- and of opening one's eyes to other dents - this was all part of the fifth . cultures. Following his speech, annual Humanities Celebration Joan Jarvis, Principal Emerita of which was held April 15 at the Bayard Rustin High School for the Macmillan - McGraw Hill Pub- Humanities, led the group in singlishing Company building in Man- ing "All the World's Stage," a song .hattan. which had been written for the The event, co-sponsored by the celebration and which was sung to Human ities Cluster of the New the tune of "It's A Small World."

York City Public Schools and New The lyrics; written by Ms. Jarvis York and the World, a collabora- herself, incorporated the names of live progra m for global ed ucation, all participating schools into it and gathered all of the city' s high set the stage for a day of learning schools that offer humanities pro- and sharing. gram s to take part in various activi Ethnic sharing ties that relate to the curricula taught Ethnic sharing was the first of at these schools . Principal Mal- numero us activities which the stucolmLargmann and Assistant Prin- dents participated in. Coord inated cipal of the Human ities Lynne by Ms. Greenfield, it was similarto Greenfield attended the event along the activity which Harrisites take with senior Kristina Olson, jun iors part in on Founder's Day. Each Jennifer Chau, Effi Menachemi, person was required to bring in an Vera Ng, and Alex Oropeza, so- object from their ethnic or reliphomore Dalila Paul , and fresh- gious background and to talk about men Michael Garber, Amy Kom- it in a groupofabou ttwelve people. matas, Fernando Morena and Jer- The objec ts brought ranged from orne Sherman. religious ornamen ts and traditional "The whole purpose of this day is clothing to cassette tapes containfor students to celebrate the hu- ing music from other countries. rnanities and e:ljoy themselves," W or ksh ops said Colleer. Scanlan, prog ram as- Each student then proceeded to sistantforNew York and the World. assigned workshops, including "Theybecome muses by usmg what Caligraphy, Understanding Afrithey leamed in the classrooms. It can Ar t, and Discovering Latin also gives us a c hance to be with Through Poetry . Theatreworks, a the kids thrnselves, instead of just group comprised of theatre speworking with the adminis trators cialists, held a workshop on playand teachers and making the cur- writing that taught the participants riculum.' the methods and techniques that Dr. Largrnann, Lead Principal manyplaywrights use to write their of the Humanities Cluster of the scripts. The kids were also given New York City public schools, the opportunity to use these meth-

ods to organize a scene based on descriptive notes given to them by the instructor.

"I really liked the Playwright workshop," said Jerome Sherman.

"It taugh t me new things about writing scripts that I can use in the future."

Another workshop, African Carribean Folklore, which was led by the New York Children's Theatre ' incorporated the use of dancing and acting into the narration of a story. Amy Komrnatas took part in this activity and commented,"This was really fun. They taught us all these dance steps which I found weird, but enjoy able as weiL" · "There was no doub t that the actors were good , but I was just shocke d to see what I had seen," said Jennifer Chau, referring to a presentation by actors from Irondale, an acting group that specializes in improvisations. The presentation was primari ly based on ideas that students suggested off the top of their heads. Although it drew cheers from the majority of its audience, many of the skits that were performed involved suggestive contexts, and graphic movements which caused some to raise their eyebrows and to question the intended message of the performance.

"I don't think it was appropriate for this type of atmosphere," Jennifer added . ' Effi Menachemi disagreed. "I thought that they-werereally funny.

They caught the attention of the entire audience, and that's important toranymessagetogetacross,' she said.

Alex Oropeza agreed with Effi adding, "What they did was hard core reality. It got you thinking about what they were saying."

Films The day's final activities included viewing animated movies followed by a panel discussion ofthe movies with four representatives from different high schools. The two movies shown, Voyage to Next and Cloudland, were made by Faith Hubley, a three-time Oscar winner for her work in short film animated productions. The panelists were asked to critique the movies by answering questions from both the audi ence and the mediator, Sybil DelGaudic, an assoc iate professor at Hofstra Unive rsity and coordinator of this activity. Students seated in the audience were asked to write' or draw any impressions they had ofthe films on a sheet, and afterwards, the sheets were to be collec ted and given to Ms. Hubley.

During the showing, many of the students complained that they did ' not understan d what they saw, and some members of the panel agreed .

Harrisite Kristina Olson, who was one of the pane lists, explained,

"Although the movies were good at catching people 's attention, the images seen seemed too vague , and maybe confusing to some."

After the act ivity, Ms. Delgaudic said, "I thought that the kids got the messages of the films because during the showing, they laughed at the right moments and they were talking about what they saw. Even though there wasn't much feedback, I feel they got the point."

However, Kristina said she felt disappointed "because it seemed like the crowd didn' t care about what was going on onstage . The audience missed the whole point of the activity. There was hardly any response from them , and I felt sorry for Ms. Delgaudic.'

Overall , most people agreed that this year 's fair was successful and enjoyable.

Effi summed up the day saying, "The humanities fair was both educational and enjoyable. I learned many new things, and also met kids from other schools who learn the same stuff we do. I'm really glad that I was able to take part in it."

Read Aloud features literary .favorites playing in the background, Engby Ellen Schnabel The second annual Read Aloud lish teacher Georgette Wallace took was held in the library April 2 1 .the podium and read excerpts of a during Enrichment in celebration travel log by D.H. Lawrence. The ofNational Library Week. Valerie log was from a trip to Italy. Ms. Billy, librarian, commented, " It Wallace wanted the students to pay was very successful. It is always attention to the imagery. Next, . freshman Suzanne Guarn ieri pre satisfying to hear the select ions."

'FACES' presents teen realities

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:iby Cory McCruden FACES delivered a one-hour presentation 011daily teen situations to all freshmen on April ? in the cafetorium. The topics ranged from child abuse and rape to sex and alcohol. Mixing drama and com edy, they attempted to provide a realistic show about teenagers in today 's society.

The performers used techniques such as becoming immobi le in order to express the character's thoughts to the audience. The audience appeared to enjoy the use of these techniques.

The play began with all the cast members standing up on stage.

Each screamed a topic that the group would eventually perform later in a skit.

A Hispan ic mother and her teenage son were the characters in one skit. She rece ived a call telling her that her son was sexually active.

She lectured him about certain pre-

cautions that he must take. How- . ing the extentto which the students ever, the boy didn't want to listen. were touched.

The content of the skit included huA number of other short acts morous dialogue about the facts of followed, dealing withalcohol, rape life. and teen viewpoints. The show "Th is is so perfect. We ' re going culminated with the whole cast of to seeThe Miracle of Life right FACES linking arms and collaboafter this," said freshman Pame la rating on the final skit. One boy, Chabbrra. wearing a leatherjacket and his hat . Another skit that seemed to af- on backwards, stood apart. He fect the audience dealt with child represented anger and hate - an allabuse . The mother, who was the around loser. While he was rapabuser, was portrayed as a power- ping about how coo l it was to be ful woman with severe mental starting trouble on the streets, the problems. The performers used synchronized FACES troupe retheir freezing technique in this skit. sponded in rap, explaining how While the daughter froze, another stupid it was to be like him. Finally ' cast member playing her maternal they convinced the loserto change . grandfather came on stage. The The play ended on a happy note grandfather began ranting and rav- with the whole cast dancing, claping and saying that the mother was ping and singing. "a mistake." This showed the audi"It was really funny. They talked ence where the mother's abusive about real ly serious issues in a not behavior stemmed from. Silence so serious way," said freshman Julie enveloped the cafetorium, show- Gilgoff. .

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Traveling with D.H. Lawrence, English teacher Georgette Wallace reads an account of the novelist's trip toItaly.

The readers were asked to select sented a speech arguing for a favorite piece of literature that women's rights that was originally was no longer than five minutes in given by Susan B. Anthony. length. The readings could have Pamela Chhabra, freshman, also been a poem, a speech, a short delivered a speech on women's story, legend, folktale, myth, a rights given by Elizabeth Cady chapter of a novel , biography or Stanton on February 18, 1860. autobiography or an original work. ' In addition to these speeches, The readers ranged from ninth- there were also readings of two graders to teachers. There were 14 . poems by Edgar Allen Poe. One, readers in all. read by Regina Choi, was called With the jazz ensemble's music Continued on p.lS

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The Classic June 1994

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EI Law class plays part in world peace

by Luiza Girlea The International Law/ Computer Simulation elective, instructed by Nancy Leib, uses telecommunications (NYCENET) in its quest to create a world-wide peace treaty. Schools throughout the country assume the role of a nation (Townsend Harris is Mexico), and by commun icating via modem, an attempt is made to conclude a world-wide pact concerning various international issues. The challenge of the computer simulation is to come up with a better agreement th<g1 the experts have found.

"I became morecomputer literate, as well as more aware ofthe intricate process of negotiations," said junior Daniela Coleman. .Eight committee s were organized and assigned a specific topic that they had to research and deal with. The main issues were: International Trade , European Union, Global Environment, International Debtand Development, Arms Control, Human Rights, World Health, and Middle East Peace. The nations that were simulated included Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, People' s Republic of China,Poland, Russia, Spain, Syria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Each committee first wrote a position paper and recommended policies. Next, these proposals were sent out to all the participating countries.

by Seth Cohen from the main computer. So, if a student has a . Imagine entering a computer lab and taking report on the behavior of a certain animal, he a seat behind a brand new 486 computer. The can access the library and print out choices computer welcomes you to the HarrisNet and from the card catalog, as well as get a history of waits for ' instructions. You opt to log onto the animal from preloaded CD-Rom software.

Queens College Net, (QCNet), via modem, and Accordin g to Mr. Tiffen , the CD-Rom softthen onto Interne t, where you will access a warewill include a complete encyclopedia and library in Hiroshima for a school project. A other information sources. . friend working on an adjacent computer is HarrisNet will link all students 'and teachers downloading live weather maps of a storm at Townsend Harris. For instance, if a s tuden t system in Saudi Arabia from computers at the . is absent from school, he can call HarrisNe t Univer sity of Michigan. Still, another person is from home, via modem,and type a message in logged onto the Internet, speaking with stu- his teacher's electronic mailbox requesting indents in Spain, Germany, and Italy simultane- formation on what is covered on tomorrow's . ously for a research paper. The class has the test.Laterthatnight,histeacheriogsonto Har power to access the world in its fingertips. And risNet, finds the message and replies, giving the best part of the whole scenario is that this the student the needed information.

Internet, a Highway of In formation isn't imagination - it's reality, and it's coming soon to a school very close to you.

A W hole New World The world of compu ters at Townsend Harris is about to change. Yes, PFS Write and the broken computers will be a thing of the past.

Keyboards with missing keys and the faulty disks will be buried. The dot-matrix printers and the pathetic hard drives will be left behind.

The old equipment is being left for the school that' s coming into our current building. The world is on the brink of an incredible step into Cyberspace, and Townsend Harris is not about to be left in the dust.

Replacing the antiquated machinery next year will be modem 486/VGA IBM computers. The new school will house three computer labs, where every computer will be networked to . one main computer.

"There will be a specific room where software will be disseminated and where the net. Currently, Cybercat is engaged in a project work [to be called HarrisNet] will be housed," with Queens College. The Queens College said Assistant Principal of Mathematics Harry Education Department and Dr. Murfin cooper- Rattien, who is one of the planners of the new ate with Mr. Tiffen and biology teacher Odile operation. .

Garcia, both graduates of Queens CoIIege. · ,A network is a link between two or more Dr.Brian Murfin allows 30 student teachers to computers, and according to planning team enter the network and partake in discussion member Richard Tiffen, "the network will be with the students. They may discuss whatever an extension of the new building with more HarrisNet will be an extension of the new they wish: At present, they are role playing on open communi cation." . school, but the planning team also expects to computer. These simulati ons are known as The main network computer will be a Pen- bring the outside world to Townsend Harris by MUDs (Multi User Dungeon Simulator ). tium, the new 586 IBM computer, which will tying into Internet, the "Mother of all ' netSophomore Raquel Agramonte explained one 'contain all the software that th~ school will use works," as described by Mr. Tiffen. aspect of Cybercat that she plans to try. "I am on its hard drive.

Internet, known as the "Information Supe r going to subscribe to mailing lists. You pick one The goal of the planning team is to enable Highway" (N.Y . Times ,4/5/94), is a network of about anything that interests you and many students to compute with ease. thousands of networks linking schools and people fromall over the world send information "It will be a whole new aspect of comp uting universities, businesses, government agencies, for most Harris students," said Mr. Tiffen. libraries, and miIIions of individuals. When about the topic you want," she said.

Mr. Tiffen said he was always interested in "S tudents are used to broken computers. The connected to Internet, users have-thousand s of computers. "I used to be a computer graphics computers we have don't act as tools because options. Whether it's typing to someone on the artist. It was 'neat kind of work...but it ju st you can 't get to them. And if you can, they're other side of the globe, do"'\.nloading informabroken," he said. wasn't for me." tion from the Library of Congress, capturing According to Mr. Tiffen, the students seem HarrisNet: A New Way of Computing Supreme Court Rulings, or obtaining lyrics to "enthusiastic"; however, "there is a level of All students w ill have access to HarrisNet your favorite songs, Internet has become the frustration because there are students who are from school and those who have a computer place to be (Time, 12/6/93). Fees for its use can completely familiar [with the computer proc- and a modem to call the network will have come to hundreds ofdoIIars a month for unlim ess] and there are some who are completely access from home as well. If a student is using ited use, while others pay hourly fees that unfamiliar," he said. a school computer, HarrisNet isautomaticaIIy average two dollars. Nobody owns the Internet The future of Cybercat depends on what takes loaded when the PC is turned on. Students will as it is a "chaotic federation of independent place at the college next year. The availability have the option of sending electronic mail to networks" (N.Y. Times, 4/5/94). Internet can be of more powerful computers in the new build-. their friends or teachers. When the recipient of accessed by every person in the world who has ing will be a plus. Although the computers will the mail connects to the system, he will be a computer and a modem. In fact, over have the potential to have Internet as a menu alerted that a letter has been written to him.

50,000 ,000 people world-wide are now Inchoice,it isn't yetdetermined whether the school One of the choices on HarrisNet will be to ternet users and the number is growing by the will have access to the system since it is very access the Townsend Harris library. This will miIIions each month (Time, 12/6/93). Howcostly to maintain. Mr.Tiffen said thatifCybe~- enable users to read complete books in print, or ever, it wasn't always accessible. cat continues, they'll welcome new studen, . call up any CD-Rom software that is available In the mid-1960's during the Cold War, In-

"I.think that the simulation was a good exercise in teamwork and compromise. I enjoyed the opportun ity to work in groups, solving problems collectively and creatively," said junior Betsy Colucci.

Conferences were held on each issue by correspondencethroughthecomputer.Participants read and responded to each other' s policy statements and comments daily. They posed questions and made suggestions, thus conducting a negotiation sprocess in an attempt to come to some agreement on that particular issue.

"The focus ofthe simulation was to create, as close as possible, a realistic atmosphere of negotiating on issues of significance in today's world that diploma ts deal with every day. This exercise gave us insight on how representatives of countries try to have their policies accepted and agreed upon by other nations ,"statedjunior Charanjeet Jassal.

Rena Varghese, sophomore, felt, "Working on the simulation with other people helped me to-improve my commun ication skills. This was an interesting experience which I have enjoyed very much."

Ms. Leib said, "I thought the frustration students felt was an excellent way of becoming familiar with the 'Yay things work in the real world and the way politicians feel and work. It [the computer simulation] was quite successful in this way."

Cybercat takes byte of 'Kornputer Kibble'

by Kelly Villella Writing to international pen-pals, collecting scientific data, participating in discussions with student teachers and joining mailing lists can all be enjoyable approaches to learning.They are also ways in which Cybercat, an Enrichment choice that began this spring under the guidance of biology teacher Richard Tiffen, allows scientific-minded students to explore modern technology.

The name Cybercat comes from the name of the Townsend Harris science magazine, . Quantum Cat . The staff of this periodical makes up a part of the 27 students in this Enrichment.

The students use the computers in the library to link up to the Internet system at Queens CoIIege. Townsend Harris does not have an actual Internet address, but by calling Queens College by modem, our computers can be connected to their services through which students can use Internet.

The computers that run the network are known as servers. The computers that are used to access the network are called work stations. In order to access the network, a person must have an account number. Each ofthe students of Cybercat was given a different number.

Sophomore Michael Glavina told of his experience with Cybercat, "We go on the Intcrnet and it' s a really big computer network.

He [Mr. Tiffen] teaches us how we can use it and use a modem. We learned to download files and information and talk to people all over the w orld."

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his world' ket Harris 'out of - . :::========'" nformation Super Highway

ternet was created to allow the military to issue Townsend Harri s has limited acces s to QCNet orders even if the U.S. was razed by nuclear. through the Enrichm ent Cybercat. attack, The Pentagon needed a military comMr. Tiffen sees it as a benefit to Queen s mand-and-control system that would continue College for HarrisNettojumpaboard. "We will to operate even if most phone lines were not collaborate with them," said Mr. Tiffen. "Our functioning. In 1964, researcher Paul Baran of students can -be tutored by Queen s College the Rand Corporation created a system where students who will act as mentors, which is each message was electronically cut into thou- definitely an incentiv e to them. We will be their sands of tiny pieces and distributed to millions _laboratory school.," he said.

Both Bronx Science and Stuyvesent High of computers in the general direction of its destination. Ony the targeted computer would Schools have their own Internet addresses. "We receive the information. It was like an elec- almost have to have an Internet addr ess," said tronic post office "designed by a madman" Mr. Tiffen, "j ust to remain competitive with (Time , 12/6/93) . those schools ."

The Confusing Connections Mr. Tiffen described Internet's benefits to Townsend Harris: "Logging onto the Internet - -Picture this: You want to access Internet from will give students and faculty the opportun ity your home, in order to explore the system . toE-Mail (electronic mail) anyone in the world: These are the steps you must take in order to connect tothe Internet, granted you have a computer and a modem . First, your computer mu st call Harri sNet at Townsend Harris. Once you connec~ there, you have the option of checking your electronic mail. Maybe a friend . left you a letter, or perhaps a teacher left you a note about a test he just marked, Before completing your connections to the Internet, you could access the Townsend Harris library, or reply to a note you just received. Then, HarrisNet must connect you to the Internet.

Once connected to Internet, you have thousands of options. You could join one of the sy stem's di scu ssion groups, log into virtually any univ ersity throughout the world, obtain data from the Library of Congress, down load video games, lyrics to They can enter discu ssion groups regarding songs, and weather maps, or E-Mail to a friend biology, genetics, and the environment. Each in Spain, and the list goes on and on.

Out of this World Capabilities classroom will have a computer with Internet capabi lities so that a teacher can access files In addition to computers, each classroom will during class for demon strations. For example, be equipped with a television with satellite an earth science teacher can download a land- feeds. This will enable the school to telelink slide image of Hurricane Hugo from NASA, or with other schools, much as news corresponobtain the carbon dioxide count in the atmos- dents do on T.V. when an ancho r is in another phere from government agencies, all in a mat- country.

The United States government is much in ter of seconds."

Queen s College has its own Internet address favor of the "information boom" that is occurfor use by its faculty and student population. ring. Vice President AI Gore challenged teleLike Queens Colle ge, Townsend Harris is phone and cable companies to link all classhoping one day to have its own Internet ad- rooms, libraries, and health clinics to an interac-dress. However, the costs are enormous. tive video and data network by the year 2000 "Internet is a magnificent system, but if we (N.Y. Times, 1/12/94). have to purchaseit on a full scale it will cost us This term, Ms. Leib's elective, International · over $10,000 a year ," said Mr. Rattien. "If we Law, used telecommunications in its quest to could be partof'their (Queens College) system, create a world -wide peace treaty. (See adjoinwe would only have to pay a fraction of what it . i~g article.) . would cost for us to do it alone. We are hoping they will let us join QCNet one day," he said. Next year, life at Townsend Harris will change.

If Town send Harris had access to QCNet, ' In contras t to the limits the present equipment Internet would be part of the package. "Since impo ses, there will soon be no boundaries. The QCNet has acce ss to Internet, so would we," world will be in our hands. Bundles of informasaid Mr. Tiffen. tion will be at our fingertips, and friendships Mr. Tiffen said Townsend Harris will write can be made thousands of miles apart.

Mr. Tiffen smiled and said, "You will plug a grant propo sal to run a simulation in one of HarrisNet's servers through QCNet. Currently, into the system, and zoom into Cyberspace."

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Next generation treks into deep space

by Michael Glavina Captain's Log, Stardate 04- 17-94: A crew of five and I have jus t returned from the Milky Way after comp leting a research expedition on an intriguing aspect of Earth' s culture .We were studying the Star Trek phenomenon.

Our preliminary research of the subject (obtained from intercepted satelite transmissions) revealed that Star Trek was a television series first aired in the 1970' s and it ran for several years. It wasn't until the program was cancelled and aired in re-runs that its popularity soared. It soon spawned a number of Star Trek movies and in the last few years ,two spinoff series were created; Star Trek - The Next Generation and Deep Space 9, the former being one of the most highly -rated series in syndication. The Star Trek genre is now a cult classic with fans of all races, genders, and ages from many countri es of the world. Fans of the show gather at Star Trek conventions to discus s the show, meet the actors, and purchase merriorabilia. These "trekies" even come dressed in costume, portray ing characters from the show.

We decided to beam down to Townsend Harris High School to investigate the Star Trek phenomenon close up.

What we observed at Townsend Harris was very surprising. In the classrooms we noticed various teachers making references and analogies to Star Trek. It would seem that quite a few teachers are trekies themselves. We identified ourselves as members of the Galactic Federation and they were more than happy to relay their feelings about the show. One teacher by the name of John Franci s was a big fan of it and he told uS,"I like Star Trek because you can get hooked on the stories which are rather challenging and creative....I have all the books, over a hundred of the origina l novels. I also have all the Next Generation and Deep Space Nines on tape."

Chemistry teacher Adel Kadamani said that the reason he likes Star Trek is that "it gives us a glimpse of the future." .

We cautiously entered the "cafetorium," wary of what dangers we might encounter, to observe the students. At one table we saw a

strange spectacle: students engaging in a Star Trek trivia competition.

One participant, sophomore Charles Drayton, told me, "Star Trek is a highly intellectual show which offers the sophistication of a public broadcasting program, yet captures the imagination and interest of its viewers: ;' Another student was not willing. to answer our quest ions at first but. a couple of phaser blasts were able to convince him. He said to us,''I've been to three Star Trek conventions. It' s cool because they have actual actorsthere and they sell things that are just like . from the show. I know a lot of Star Trek trivia.

IfI knew my school work like I know Star Trek, I'd have a hundred average." This student wished to remain anonymous, but on the other hand, some take great pride in being trekies, like sophomore K.L. Tsi, who said, "I watch DS9 and Star Trek - the Next Generation. I'm a Trekie and proud of it."

Later we encountered a female specimen, sophomore-class human Noel Rosa. She said, "Star Trek is cool. I have all the action figures from the old series and the Next Generation. I also have an actual, limited -edition comm unicator,a tricorder, and an Enterprise model." She also revealed that she had recently been to a Star Trek convention and had had a good time.

Before we left, we had a talk with someone in charge of the school and who also happened to be a Star Trek fan, vice-principal Malcolm Rossman. He was a wealth of informati on of Star Trek knowledge and he told us that the reason the show was so appealing to him was because "Heel as though I know the people in the cast. It also helps me relate to my wife when she watches soaps because that's what it basically is, a soap opera in space." He said that the one biggestregret in his life was that a picture taken of him sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise never came out Our researc h was over, but before we left I learned that Star Trek - The Next Generation would be going off the air. Don 't get too worried, though, for a Next Generation movie is in the plans as well as a new spin-off series. We shall return in the future to study further developments. Live long and prosper.

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12

The Classic June 1994

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Cops and Robbersons Shoots itself in foot

'Pachyderm' packs punch-lines, .Peels off puns , "

by Rebecca Parker Amidst giggles of laughter from the cast and roars of laughter from the crowd, "Sex Lies and Pachyderms: Anything fora Laugh" took place April 14 and 15 under the direction of English teacher Hariette Blechman.

It consisted of six short plays by such authors as Kurt Vonnegut, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, and Julie Bovasso. ' The most popular of the plays was 'The Marriage Proposal' by Anton Chek ho v, which featured junior Annette Parisi, fresl:man Naina Alves, and the star of the play, junior Jason Capone. The names of the characters rece ived great laughs from the crowd: Stephania StepanovitchTchulrekova, Ana Natal ya Stepanova and Ivan Vassilyev- itch Lomov. But the most laughs cam e from Jason' s cons tant " palpitations" and other body pams.

Schubert' s Last Serenade by j ulie Bovasso , was; as eruor- on ly play. Becky Lee and Eric Ha ndler starr ed as the lovesick couple, Jen Nitka as the hostess and narrator, Stacey , Saie va and Jen nifer Jam es HS the restaurant staff and Kristina Olson, as the title character, Franz Schubert. T he play dealt with the dinmg of a pro tester and a construction wo rker who hit her over 'the head tw ice. The . narrator spoke of their actions before they did them, and in the end, the whole cast turned agai nst her. Thus, a violent ending where Er ic's c haracter breaks Becky's j aw was thankfully avoided. "The seniors had a reall y good skit," commented junior Elena Coleman.

- Of course, what is "Sex, Lies and Pachy-

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by Erik Blok and Michael Munoz Every so often a movie comes along with an incredibly talented cast and a promising plot that refreshes the viewer and causes him to think that maybe, just maybe, Hollywood is through insu lting his intelligence. Cops and Robbersons ,.however, is not one of those movies.

Starring Chevy Chase (who also starred in

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derms" without a pac hyderm? In Support your Local Police by Mark Twain; Ms .

Simons, played by j unior len Tam, is sent to a poli ce station to report that an elephant on it'; way to be a gift for the president is lost,

Spies Like Us. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation), Jac k Paranee (of City Slickers ), and D ianne West (who appeared in The Lost Boys. Parenthood ), Cops and Robbersons is no t some lOW budge t film wi th an unknown cast. And yet, at the end, you wonde r if yo u ever want to hear from these people agai n .

The mOVIe IS about Norman Ro bberson (Chase), a bo red suburbanite who wa tches way too many ol d po lice shows . He seizes the opportun ity to add a iittle spice to his life by allowing two cops, Jake Stone and Tony Moo re (Pa lance and David Barry Gray), to use his ho use as a surveillance post agai nst a counterfe iter I murderer next door . Chase, of course, interferes with ihe operation and ann oys Palance, who is, of course, gru ff on the outside but not withou t a big , warm '

heart. ' The Robbersons adopt Palance as their "Uncle Jake," and Chase reacts by playing cop and making a fool out of himself. The . mov ie is so pred ictable tha t it' s scary. Add in some mushy lines, joyless slap stick and depthless supporting charac ters, and you begin to cringe.

The only funny parts revolve aro und Chase's you ngest son who thinks he 's a vampire. "I'm sorry my son j umped on your hea d andbit your neck ana tried to suck all your blood, " said Chase after the boy attacked Palance. T he end is almost embarrassing; Dianne West's overacting causes you to hope she go t paid plenty of money to humi liate herself by playing this part . If you rea lly want to moan, stay for the credits, w here you see future sna pshots of the Roboersons, with "Unkie Jake" pal ling aro und with an extension intothe famil y.

Direc ted by Michael R itchie, Cops and Robbersons is rated PG for profanity, mild violence and partial nudity. Thankfu lly, the movie is on ly slightly more than an hou r and a half inlength - an hour andahalfthat could have been spent doing be tter thin gs, such as undergoing a voluntary root can al .

with only a picture of its rear end to identify it. The elephant goes on a rampage , killing, or rather squa shing, peo ple , and in the end is ------~ kill ed. Or is it?

Sets for the play were do ne by art teac her Anthony Morales and sound was provided

by Program Coordinator Ar thur Boulanger.

"For the most part, the play wa s really by J enn ifer Par e' .: . >. . ...•...•.•••• .•...•.... " c '}x . i« funny. I enjoyed it," said Junior Kali Lau .

Keeping the movie'stitle inkind,liStenerscanundersland ~hy theSe songs werect.o;n. · The Reality Bites soundtrackprovides 'ariarray of songs dealing with depression alTi6 ng the twentycsomethingcrowd,'spanniili(froOllost love t o f eeling like, as the song puts it, "nuthin....Some even make you pondertheflltllre a bit arid ask yourself, "Is this really\vbat

Reality Bites:

.

Soundtrackoffer.s food for thought

Reality Bites consumed by success

by Beth Mattucci their everyday lives.

The plot takes off when Troy gets fired Many movies that try to define a generation are not successful. However, the .from the newsstand for stealing a Snickers Generation X film,RealityBites, is a pleas- bar; he is left with no choice but to move in ant surprise. Directed by 28-year-old Ben with Vickie and Leilana. One day while Stiller (his first directing job) and written Leilana is driving to work, she causes an by 23 -year- old Helen Ch ildress, this movie acc ident by accidentally extinguishing her really defines what life is like after college cigarette when she throws it into Michael 's in the 90's.

(Ben Stiller's) car . When Michael invites This movie shows four college graduates Lc ilana into his office to discuss financ ial from Ho uston trying to figure out how to matters, thay immedia tely hit it off, Michael live up to their dreams and their parents ' picks Leilana up for a gate a t her apartment. expectations. Their lack of understanding Troy discovers his true 'feelings for her whe n of true adulthood hinders their attempts to he sees them together. Troy confronts her assimilate into the soc iety of the older gen- about how he feels and she denies her feeleration. Leilana, played by Winona Ryder, ing for him. the valedictorian of her college, aspires to ' A love triangle develops amongstthe three become a famous producer when .she characters. Caring, d own-to-earth, and "grows up." Meanwhile, she works in a amaz ingly brill iant, Troy provides Leilana television studio as a production assistant with co mpa nionsh ip afte r she loses her job for a morning TV show by day, while by at the studio. Mich ae l, on the other hand -is night she creates a documentary about her sweet and successful. He he lps her out by friends' lives. Janeane Garofalo play s showing her documentary to producer friends Leilana 'a roommate Vickie, a newly pro- who feel that her work is pro mising. Leilana moted manager at the Gap . Vickie fears cares for both men. Her depression builds commi tmen t in a ralationship because she . after fighting with both Michael and Tro y, doesn ' t want to become dull like her mar- so she seeks help through a 1-900number-ricd parents while Leilana fears she will a sure sign thatn this movie takes place 10 the bec ome like her divorced parents. Ethan 1990 ' s.

Ha wke plays Troy, a young man who can't Realistic characterizations and dialogue see m to find a decent job anywhere, and enhance this film. It hand les delicate issues' must settle fora pos ition as newstand clerk. such as AIDS, divorce and relationships Sammy (Steve Zahn ), thei r gay friend, has with a refreshing comic approach. To find theroleofa wallflower in the movie. These out the resolution, as well as what your life characters represent Generation X, where might be like in the future, don't miss this AIDS tests and homosexuality are a part of movie.

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reality's goingt()~ like?" ...•......•... ..•. .••. ..• .•. . . .•.•. •.••.••••.• •. . ..... / ' .. . . .. • . >Th e soundtrack starts withTheKnaCk;singing their popuI3i hit "MySharona:"The strong beat and familiar lyrics make this song easy to dance and sing to. From this po int on you know you're not iilfor an "ordinary" soundtrack. Instead. you're about tohear something hip and different.just like "Sharona," .. . . . .i.. < ..

Not ali the songs on the soundtrack areas fast and danceableas the first.TIieJi.lliana Hatfield 3 come next, with their song "Spin the Bottle." Juliana Hatfield's high;child-like voice delivers an easy-going song. The lyrics are catchy, yet provide a greatcontrast td"My ' Sharona."

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WorldParty contributes one of the bes t songs on the soundtrack: "When You Co~eBack To Me." The sax solo by Simon Clarke,~eard throughout, enhances the song. Eveilwith

its short length, the lyrics are unforgettable: They're bittersweet but not corny. Itsa rare treat - a iove song that's also fun to listenlo. , .

Lisa Loeb entertains with a song about running away from love called "Stay." The song vividly depicts its theme.The 1988 song"All I Want Is You ," by U2, flavors the soundtrac k with excellent instrumental mus ic. . .

This song also fits with the theme of non-existing love.

A couple of other songs div ersify the soundtrack. "Locked Out" by Crowded lIous~ai1d "Spinning Around Over You " by Lenny Krav itz are twoselections with a strong roekbeat \Vhichis drasticIly different from mostof the soundtrack's other numbers. "Spinni~g Around Over You" is a song about beggiilgforforgiveness,and gives the impressi(}n(}f alove letter. This mix ofballad-type lyrics with a rock beat makes "Spinning AroondOver You"not onlydiffetent, butinteresting t61isten to as well. · . i Ethan Hawke; one of the stars ofthe movie, lent his voice to the song "I'm Nuthin'." His almost raspy voice gives the song a depressing quality to it, exactly whatwas intended. In themovie, Winona Ryder and Janeane Garofalo enjoy singing "Tempted," by

deep;

Squeeze.

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The soundtrack concludes with Big Mountain doing their rendition of Peter Frampton's 1976 hit, "Baby, I Lov e Your Way ." Although the original was used in the movie,Big Mountain was chosen to be fea tured on the soundtrack. Their faster version stillcan't compare to the original . ." "<":" •. . . •" " " ... " . . " • Other performersincludefse IndianS/ Me Phi Me,The Posies, and Dinosaur Jr . . .. .. After listening to the soundtrack'of Riiality Bites; one thing becomes abundantly Clear.

Reality, whatever that maybe, is not all funandgames. Instead, it is depicted as lOveless and'rnelancholy.Reality does bite.

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Gambling addlctionentlces teens

by Jesse Robinson "At seventeen years old... I caused my father to sell his business to payoff over $80,000 in gambling debts."

"1 came home late one night to find a 'Dear fohn' letter from my wife and $150 in my pocket.

Twenty-five minutes later 1 was airborne for Reno."

These are excerpts from the true stories of two compulsive gamblers. Surprising? Shocking? Perhaps even more so is the young age at which most compulsive gamblers start their careers.

According to a study published in Sharing -Recovery Through Gamblers' Anonymous, 1983, the average age compulsive gamblers begin wagering is 14. This is not just an impersonal statistic; sports gam bling is popular among a small segment of the Townsend Harris student body. Bets are made on single games and occassional playoffpools, and although the amount of money exchanged is small and there are no outside bookies involved, losing streaks have been known to put people in serious debt. However, this does not dissuade students from wagering.

One young Harris gambler, "John 1," said, "It's like a sport chance. It's dangerous and exciting. If I lose a lot, I bet again to get the money back." This was a common sentiment among all eight gamblers who agreed to be interviewed by The Classic on the condition of anonymity. John 2 said, "I do it because I get a thrill from it." John 3 said, "It gives me a natural high."

This "natural high" is also the main cause of compulsive gam-

bling. In a second study reported in Sharing Recovery, 83% of gambling treatment experts agreed that a psychological high associated with risk taking is probably what motivates most compulsive gamblers.

What is compulsive gambling, anyway? Any compulsive behavior is defined as an act that is beyond your emotional control. In the compulsive gambler, the need 'to bet dominates all thoughts and energy. He'll just as easily bet to celebrate the birth of a child as mourn for the loss of a loved one (Sharing Recovery). The initial enjoyment fades, giving way to anxiety over unpaid debts. â&#x20AC;˘ No one is really positive about what causes gambling addiction. It can't be traced to childhood problems like other social ills such as alcoholism. It usually happens over a period of time. The roller coaster begins with minor enjoyment. It often takes a significant trauma such as a death in the family to push a "Weekend Gambler" into compulsion. ' This dive starts with a winning phase. Occasional bets and excitement over winning cause the amount of money wagered to increase. This is followed by a losing streak which leads to borrowing illegally and large debts. It's during this phase (as illustrated in the opening scenarios) that the problem begins to affect the gamblers' homelife as well. Ifhelp isn' tsought at this point, a desperation phase is possible. Gamblers who have reached this stage panic, commit illegal acts and sometimes develop thoughts of suicide.

But why do teens gamble?

Townsend Harris student Jane 1 said, "I have a competitive natuf:e, so I enjoy it. I won $60 in a football pool once and since [then], I've

and won with a last-minute touchdown. I couldn't believe it. It was the most exciting game I ever bet on. I don't know what I would've

aft ' ~

WI AlVA'f9t/started gambling more." One of the Choosing Recovery studies reported that 62% of gamblers polled were athletic and 90% were very competitive. John 4 said, "I do it for the money. I hardly ever lose because I only pick games where the odds are in my favor." .Not everyone wins big, however, as shown by a bad experience of John 2's. He said, "At one point I owed this guy $40. I was in a big losing streak. It came down to the biggest game of the college football season - Notre Dame vs. Florida State - to decide who was number one. I wentdoubleornothing on Notre Dame even though theywere the underdogs. They were losing in the fourth but came back

done if I lost."

If someone at Townsend Harris is caught gambling, that student is subject to detention and may be referred for counseling and to an appropriate community agency. In addition, any money won would have to be paid back.

Children learn from the example of gamblers in society. High profile people like Michael Jordan arerevealed as gamblers more and more often. Frank Deford of Newsweek said, "Sports betting is , definitely a growing industry. In Nevada, it's up 500 percent in the last decade, reaching maybe $50 billion nationwide (most of it illcgal). It won't go away because it's all driven by TV - more games,

more bets. It attracts a high demographic young male clientele"(l/ 27/92). In fact, upwards of half a billion dollars can change hands during the Superbowl alone (Esquire, 2/92). Not helping any are celebrity gamblers such as the late Jimmy the Greek and Bob Martin, who glorify it more.

John 4 is deeply involved with the underground gambling world of bookies and fixed games. He said, "I'm in touch with a lot of bookies each week, so I'm pretty much ahead of the game. I run a pool in my mom's office as well as gam bling a lot in school [arranging bets with friends on upcoming games]. Bookies come around to bars and hand out sheets with that week's games and point spreads.

You can use it to bet with the bookie or just as information on which team to pick. I get a hold of these and that's my main source of information. I know for a fact that a lot ofN.B.A. games are fixed. A player will be paid off to play for less time, giving the opposing team the advantage. Some phone services have guaranteed winsand fix games for them. Stuff like that's a little scary."

With states like Mississippi, Indiana, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Louisiana, as well as Washington D.C., seriously considering legalizing gambling, it's possible that society is creating a new addiction along the lines of alcohol and cigarettes. As gambling becomes increasingly more accessible, not to mention acceptable, how can it not become an epidemic problem? From the looks of things, we 'have a whole new generation ready to pioneer this trend.

Suri donates time, knowledge; tutors math week geared toward students taking either Course 1 or Course 2 of sequential Math who felt the need to improve their grades. He also conducted Regents review classes to get his students ready for the exams this month.

"I've always dreamed of ~ being a teacher," says Dustin, "and I take this as a practice for the future when ... I do become a math teacher."

The classes, comprised of 5-10 students, usually lasted about an hour and a half, but if students had an actual test coming up, the sessions lasted as long as three hours.

Dustin says that he tries to create a real classroom enviSophomore Dustin Suri tutors students ronment for his students. He who need help with math. gives tests and homework, students brings him one step closer and has gone as far as giving a punto realizing his dream ofbecoming ishment to a student for improper classroom behavior. However, una teacher.

This term, Dustin conducted tu- like real Harris teachers, he says, "I toring sessions every day of the don't give collaterals."

by Fernando Moreno Forthe most part, peer tutoring is simply a way to help students better understand difficult concepts taught in school. For sophomore Dustin Suri, helping his fellow

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Dustin's desire to become a teacher came about when he joined the Future Teacher's elective, taught by Assistant Principal of Foreign Language Joan Walsh, and health teacher Ellen Schwartz.

There he learned different methods of teaching: how to create lesson plans, cater to the student's needs and formulate tests. He was also given the opportunity to teach at a nearby junior high school.

"Both Ms. Walsh and Ms. Schwartz are my inspirations for becoming a teacher," he said.

The students that attend Dustin's sessions feel that the extra help has better prepared them for their actual math classes.

"He's a pretty good teacher," said freshman Michael Castro. "My grades have improved since I started attending tutoring."

"His methods help me understand the difficult concepts better," said Simone Hoyt, freshman.

Dustin's extra curricular activi-

ties don't end in the classroom.

Aside from tutoring fellow students, he is also involved in Archon and Expressions, a club which he founded.

In his spare time, Dustin likes to play tennis and is a self-proclaimed couch potato. "Once I sit and tum the TV on, I'm plugged in," he said. He also has an interest in acting, singing, and daneing., and takes acting classes several times a week. He per-

forms in productions organized by his acting school.

Next term, Dustin plans to continue his tutoring program in order to prepare for his career as teacher.

"I like doing what I'm doing, because I like to help other people, and I don't like to see them fall on their faces," Dustin says. "I want my students to be able to"succeed and reach their goals, and with some of my help, I know they can do it."

Butoline Driving School 187-12 HillsideBvenue Jamaica, n.v. 11132 (718) 179-3000 - Dynamic 5 hour class - Free door to door pick-Up - Professional instructors- Road test appointments - money saving package

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14

The Classic June 1994

Sarkany sees Poland death camps, journeys to Israel

by Violetta Ostafln Imagine walk ing into a gas cham- Birkenau. ber knowing that in that very place, "Thousands of people marched thousands of people had met their in silence for miles on a road which death . Then picture a room filled others like us had walked on to with piles of shoes, glasses, and their death . It was moving because human hair which all belonged to rather than walk to death, we the murdered mass. Jun ior Jennifer walked the very same road to life," Sarkany imagined it, and she then said Jenny. went on the Mar ch of the Living Following the "walk to life, " and experienced it. everyone ga thered at the site of the On April , Jennifer joined 5,900 crematorium of Birkenau and rehigh schooljuniorsandseniors from â&#x20AC;˘ cited the Kaddish. a Jewish prayer all over the world for a 14-day trip for the.dead. Here, excerpts were to the Nazi Death concentration read fro m journal entries written camps in Poland and to the holy by prisoners of the camp, and a sites of Israel. Entitled the March Holocaust survivor spoke of his of Living. the trip is taken once personal experiences. every two years by Jew ish students "The entire ceremony at Birkeand is aimed at providing them nau was very personal for me bewith the opportunity to experience cause I had heard so many simi lar both the historical and emotional stories from my grandparents. aspects of the Holocaust.

Hearing about something like the "I wanted to go because I really Holocaustwhilestandinginacamp wanted to learn as much as I could where the stories we re once a realabounhe bumble cvcnuhat so rnany ity was an amazingly touching exof my relatives suffered through," perience for me," said Jen nifer. said Jennifer.

For Jennifer, the ca mp at After submitting an application Auschwitz was the most difficu lt which included a teacher recom- to tou r because she had heard her mcndation and an essay , Jenny rel atives' accounts of the ir frightwas a warded a scholarship. en ing imp risonment there.

The first week of the trip was When we walked in and I sa w the spent visiting memorials, gas cham- beautiful green grass and the nea tly bcrs, barracks, and crematories tha t aligned barracks, it all seemed were all part of the various concen- unreal to me, butas soon as I walked _ tration camps in Poland. Before the under the sign, "Labor is Freetours, however, the participants dom,' which I'd seen pictures of in walked in silence along the road so many books and heard about lead ing from the concentration from my grandparents, I knew it camp in Auschwitz to the camp in was all very real," said Jennifer

tearfully .

"When we went into the gas chambers in Aushwitz, I did n' t want to be there because I felt unprepared," she con tinued. "The

otapes of what the people enWa ll, wh ich is all tha t remains of dured . It was horrible that some- the Holy Temple in Jerusalem . It is one did tha t to another human a trad ition to wri te a wish on a bei ng.t'said Jennifer. small piece of paper and stick it Everybody was required to atinto a crevice of the wa ll. "I made tend group discussure to carefully choose my wish ," sions each evening. sa id Jenny. ~"- "At first I thought the Israeli Independence Day gave ~ activity was ridicueveryone a chance to witness the is lous and that I would joy and pride which Israelis feel tonever be able to exward their homeland. On this ann i{, press my feelings to versary commemorating the creastrangers, but I soon tion of the Israeli state, it is no t unfound that I looked common to see strangers dancing forward to the meetin the streets, singing, and sprayings . I wanted to share ing one another with shaving cream. with others and to "It's such a happy and fun event. know that they unI didn't feel reluctant to talk to derstood what I was strangers or dance with them," said Recounting her visit to Poland's concentrafeeling.

Now that I Jennifer. tion camps, junior Jennifer Sarkany relives The only problem that the group th ink about it, I her experiences. would've exploded to encountered during their stay in have kept it all inIsrael was that the itinerary oftheir group was led into the former gas side," said Jennifer. trip had to be alte red due to fear for chambers where prisoners were The second week, spent in Isthe st udents' safety. gased to death and later burn t in the rael , was "a total change from " We were taken to on ly the safest ovens of the adjoining crematothe week before, "according to places because in Israel. What rium . According to Jennifer, the Jenny .t'When I go t off of the sho cked me most was that one of onl y light in the gas chambers was plane, saw the sunshine and the hotels we stayed in was in actutha t from candles which had been smelled the smell of sweet liality a bomb she lter. All of the lit in memory of the dead. "V isitors lacs, I knew that the most diffifloors are underground," said Jenwalked in through a single opening cu lt part of the trip was over,"nifer . and it was as if we were entering she added.

Fourteen days la ter , the ex periinto a totally different world. I felt The week in Israel wa s spent ence was over. Jennifer sai d that scared, alone,and numb. I wouldn' t touring historical sites and parshe couldn't possibly describe wha t let myself cry," said Jenny. ticipating in the celebration of she had had seen and felt.

The final day in Poland was spent Israeli Independence Day on "This trip was important in openin Majdanek, a camp where the May 14. The first, and in Jening my eyes to what I am lucky to Germans had experimented on their . nifer's opinion, most important have, and in strengthening my ties prisoners. " We were shown videsite visited was the Western . with my religion.t'said Jennifer.

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Living testimony:

Speaker re counts Nazi horro rs,

by Bo n n ie Vee Hol oca ust survi vor Ha nne Liebmann, from the Q ueen sborough Community Hol oca ust Cen ter , spoke to a gro up during Enrichment on April 26 about growing up in Nazi Germany under Hitler's rule .

Liebmann recalled how things began to deteriorate shortly after Hitler was elected in January, 1933.

February brought the first boycott of Jewish businesses. Following that, the civil serv ice dismissed all Jews. Concentration camps were established and filled with people who were arrested for their political views or for any thing that did not agree with Naz i pol icies.

Ms . Liebmann went on to trace in graphic detail the growing number of restric tions placed on the Jews.

In 1940 , Ms. Liebm ann witnessed the first deportation of Jews. Her family followed in the second wave .

She recalled , " In the morning in October, six men came - threefrom the police and three fro m the Gestapo- to arrest us. We were al-

lowed to take a suitcase, spoon, knife, fork, blanket, and all the food in the house. We were rounded up and had to sign our be longings over to the German state. We were take n to the station and put on trains....We were put in a concentration camp in France. The youngest was two and the oldest was a 98-year-old man."

The barracks that Ms .Liebmann was placed in was totally empty, except for a table, two benches, and a wood burning stove lacking any wood to bum. The prisoners were provided with only straw to rest on. T his particular camp contained 3,500 people.

Ms . Liebmann shared many facts, some of them shocking. Food was scarce and meat was a rare sigh t.

The re were no toilets and no toilet paper. Heads were shaved and the human hair was used to insulate sub marines and line soldiers' boots.

However, camps in France were not extermination camps. The inmates cou ld send and receive mail, bu t all mail was censored. Social

organizations were allowed to work in the cam p.

In 1941, fou r boy s an d three girls, Ms . Liebmann among them. escaped from the cam p to a village. The villagers saved the lives of 5,000 Jews by hiding them. "Those people did anything for us," she said. Sheeredited the people of the village for reestablishing her faith in mankind.

"We learned what itwastobeagood human being. They respected us and didn't try to convert us. They appreciated and respected our differences," she explained.

When asked why she came here to speak, Ms . Liebmann responded, "This survivor is here to tell you these stories to let you know that it real ly happened. Everything is documented. The re's nothing made up."

Sophomore Ruby Chan said, " I found it deeply moving that as we were learning about World War II in our global history classes, we had the opportunity to hear abou t the Holocaust and its atrocities from a survivor who experienced it firsthan d."

Wiesel speaks out on . racial, rel igious toleration

by Shanelle Alston What event would cause a group of35 Townsend Harris juniors to walk to Queens College during sixth band on April 18? The answer is Nobel Laureate Elie W iesel giving a speech, "Toward Religious and Racial Understanding" in the Student Union building. Mr. Wiesel, who is a survivo r of the Holocaust, wrote Night, which is read in English 3.

Elie Wiesel was at Queens College to be presented with the Bishop McGovereau Award. His speech, which was delivered after the presentation of the award, attracted many spectators, including some carrying cameras, camcorders, and books they wanted autographed.

"After I read Night in tenth grade, I admired Elie W iesel and I am really looking forward to hearing him speak," said juniorMarsha Kuball.

Th e speech covered many topics, from ethnic cleansing in Bosn ia, to communi ty serv ice, to how dating has changed over the years. Recalling his own dati ng experience, Mr. W iese l said, "I wo uld blush a week before the

date...even thinking about it." On a more more serious note, Mr. Wiesel spoke of his vis it to Gorazde in Bosnia and his support of the Muslims after many were killed by the Serbs. When people there asked him why he defended the Muslims even though he is Jewish, his answer was "because they are human beings."

"Elie Wiesel was a very effective speaker and I think he had an enormous effect on changing the audience's outlook on the wor ld and life," said junior Ale~iePuran.

"Eli Wiesel is one of my personal heroes 'because he speaks about humanity for all humanity, regardless ofrace, gender, or ethnicity,' said history te a cher Myron Moskowitz, whose students went to hear Mr . Wiesel speak.

A few Harri sites quickly tore paper out of the ir notebooks and got Mr. Wiesel's autograph as he was leaving. "I j ust put my paper in front of him and he signed it!" said Victoria Lin .

After the program, j unior Rebecca Parker said, "It fills me with suc h awe to see a man with such wis- . dorn.'

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15

Dealing with the dark side of history Ad denying Holocaust sparks Classic . debate

by Kelly Villella A Holocaust revisionist advertisement and an editorial denouncing it appeared on the front page of the February 21 edition of the Queens Co llege newspaper, the QC Quad . The advertisement especially challenged the veraci ty of the information and exhibits in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.The editorial staff voted seven to two in favor ofpublishing the ad. They also refused the $230 which its author, Bradley R.Smith, offered in payment. The decision to print the ad at all met with much controversy, not only on the college campus, but also in

The Classic Enrichment, where the QC Quad's treatment of the issue was debated and gave rise to the following reactions.

The editorial staffdeeided to print the advertisement in order to combat its falsehoods and distortions.

They believed that this was the only effective way to discredit the man's ideas and show the hatefulness and error in his thinking. They said that printing the ad presented the students with an accurate picture of the dangerous ideas circulating in our country.

Smith's ad contended that the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. possessed no proof that

Understanding history:

O,pposing, Viewpoints

the Holocaust genocide occurred.

Nor did it, according to him, show any evidence that the gas chamby Sarah Tremm l

by Shanelle Alston bersexisted. Smith also challenged The front page of the February When an unavoidable problem the credibili ty of those who claimed exists, the solution is not to close 21 issue of the Queens College stuto have witnessed or experienced dent-run newspaper featured a your eyes to it. The problem the Holocaust. shocking challenge to historical must be tackled and dealt with. I The editorial in the Quad concommend the staff of the Queens truth in the form of an ad by Holodemned Smith as a "fraud," "recaust denier Bradley Smith. .

College newspaper, The Quad , nowned racist" and liar. It went on Headed, "You need to know the for doing the right thing by to explain the editors' reasons for facts," it proceeded to question the tackl ing the problem. They took printing it. It stated that it would be fact that the gas chambers of the the responsibility of running a impossible to criticize Smith's Holocaust ever existed. Citing the controversial ad, written by ideas by the use of excerpts. Lastly, Bradley Smith, on the cover page U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum the Quad offered itself as an exin Washington D.C. as vital proo f of their February 21 issue that ample to people wishing to stamp of his argument, he asked for exstated the Holocaust never out all rev isionism which denies plicit details that would verify the happened, but at the same time, established historical truth. gas chambers' existence. ran an editorial parallel to it Next to t his ad, or "editorial il.condemning the ad. lustration" as QC Quad editor The Quad staff took the most Andrew Wallenstein so delicately responsible position possible.

Showing that hate exists does not . put it, ran Wallenstein's own edi But we have to ask,'How can it mean that you are promoting it. torial, "Revising Revisionism." To happen?'" said Mr. Eckerd.

The Quad also took steps to give him credit, he did an excellent Mr. Stessel agreed, saying, insure the decision to print the ad job of knocking down Smith's "There is no moral defense for was not biased, They held a vote arguments, calling them "abhorslavery....In my class I would teach by the editorial staff which . rent, manipulative crock." Wallenitas a genocide ofa people. I would resulted seven to two in favor of stein says that "the newspaper felt also show that a lot of slave traders running the ad. Their editor, a moral obligation to reveal his were Africans, trading slaves that Andrew Wallenstein, an.Ortho[Smith's] racist past and his insidithey captured in wars." dox Jew, voted to run the ad and ous perversion of the truth, as well "I'd want to show what racist they also agreed to not accept as his galling hypocrisy: the truth- <" materials were used for - how an money for printing it. seeker who avoids the truth, the indiv idual growing up then might The Quad had to make a free-speech advocate who suphave looked at slavery," said Ms. difficult choice. They knew the presses whatever doesn't fall in Leib. "I would show that most decision to print the ad would line with his train of'thought.' This Southerners didn't own slaves, but bring about controversy and they is all fine and good, yet I still have they were willing to give up their did it anyway. This is a bravery some questions for Mr. Wallenlives for that institution. Slavery that should be commended. stein and his editorial board.

Basically, 1 feel they didn't do . How, in good consc ience, could hurt Southern whites as well, and this hateful material have been therefore hurt society, Pro-slavery it for profit, they didn't do it to printed? And on the front page no literature would talk about why promote the issue of hatred, but less! Is it good enough to entitle it Southerners thought slavery .was ' that they did it for the reason all "An Illustration of Hate" and put it important, and how it represented articles should be done and that a way of life that was a myth for is to report facts to the people so conspicuously in prin t? The 路 most Southerners. It really de- who need to be informed.

Quad , with all its good inten tions , pends on how pro-slavery literaCo ntin ued on p.l8 . ture is used . Perhaps our study of the times will permi t us to stop and examine our own soc iety's misconceptions.':' All the teachers interviewed agreed on one point: although there's no defense of genocide,

by J enn ifer Sorowitz slavery or racism, it' s imperative "It' s certa inly important for stuRobert Tilton, Adjunct Assistant that all poin ts of view be presented Professor of English at Queens den ts of American literature, hisin the classroo m. Ms. Blechman College , and a Tow nsend Harris tory, and culture to be made aware sum med up her approach: " Basithat there were intelligen t people call y, I want to show why racismis Humanities seminar teach er, w as - in both the North and South one of the speakers at the annual wron g, and what' s bad about it. I who took the pro-slavery stance," make sure, though, that no one CUNY Eng lish Forum on Februsaid Dr. Tilton, explaining one of ary 25.

The topic of this year' s leaves thinking .I'm promoting it. conference was the expansion of the reasons he had chosen to in- 路 It' s oneofthe most important things the current English curriculum. Dr. .elude pro-slavery literature in we do because people have to be Tilton spoke about pro-slavery lit- classes . aware of these att itudes. People Speakers at the conference were erature, which he has discussed in you like mayhave these attitudes. his En gli sh composition asked to tell their audience of felWe as teachers try not to impose classes. The idea of speaking out low CUNY English department our values on students , but if a about moral ly troubl ing topics has facu lty about types of texts that student is learnin g at home that become a contro versial issue of have rarely' been discussed . Dr. blacksand whites aren'tequal, then late, sparki ng heated debates, in Tilton spoke about his paper.t'The it' s our duty to show him why Moral s of Teach ing Will iam Gilthe media and in classroom s. that' s wrong."

Continued on p.16.

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Racist views must be stud ied, teachers say The students were astounded when I told them it was from Time magazine. The point is to show how people felt and acted at-that time. But you have to make people understand that this kind of thinking is racist. I wouldn't let anyone walk out thinking it wasn't." . Although Ms. Bleehman feels Harr is teachers had a lot to say students need to be exposed to such racist views, she disapproved of on this delicate issue.

Stephen Eckcrd, teacher of so- the QC Quad's deeision to publish cial studies, commented on teach- an ad denying the Holocaust. "What ing abo ut Hitler's views. "We have the addid," she said, "was deny the to know best the things we like Holocaust's existence. It wasn't a least," he said."Teaching [Hitler's] . good idea for it to be put in the Mien Kampf is critical. If it was . paper because facts are not debatread when it came out, the Holo- able, and the Holocaust is a historicaust might have been prevented. cal fact. It's like saying that the It's like people who won't listen to Bills won the Superbowl, not the Gangsta Rap . I might not want my Cowboys."

Pau l Stessel, who teaches social kids to listen to it but as a concerned citizen, I would listen very studies, said, "As far as the Holocarefully to figure out what is going caust, I would certainly try to get students to see that Hitler wasn't on in their heads."

Nancy Leib, another social stud - crazy and he didn' t invent antiies teacher,emph asized the impor- .Scmitism. I wouldn'tdemonize hirn tance of read ing such material in a any more than society already has. proper context. "I mightteachMein I Would stress that there' s no moral Kampf to show how H itler gave flip side, but in teach ing you have warn ing signs. But I would put to teach the facts....Whe n you teach more stress on how the media was an argument you have to teach it in used to manipulate ho w peop le felt, the context of the time. Societal she said."For example, there was'a mores chan ge from era to era ."

The problem of dealing with pro-Nazi film out in Germany before the war. I used it to make morally reprehensible ideas also students understand the power of faces teachers of American histhe media . But one doesn 't ju st . tory when they deal with slavery show some thing like that. It has to and the Civil War. When Robert Tilton , who teaches composition be show n in a certain context."

Harri ette Blechman teaches th e courses at Queens College, told elective called "Literature of the colleague s at a conference that he Holocaust: A Model For Oppres- uses pro-slavery material s in his sion and Resistance." She said,"ln classes, he was met with a storm of the Holocau st clas s I used to bring. controversy. [See" Pro-slavery litin an article from an American erature on this page.] Townsend magazine. It was dated right afte r Harr is teachers commented on this the bombing of Pearl Harbor and it as well.

"S lavery can' t ever be morall y, was called, " How To Tell Y our Asian Fr iends Fro m the Japanese." socially, or politically de fended.

by J esse Robinson

Should racist and other offensive views, which are undoubtedly factors in historical and current events, be presented to students? And furthermore, how are such views taught at Townsend Harris? .

Pro-slavery literature Provokes controversy

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Wong travels .half world

by Veronica Lee A quick course in Ch inese etiquette and a view of a differen t lifestyle is what junior Cynthia Wong received while visiting relatives in China, March 22-31. Cynthia toured the c ities of Hong Kong an d We n Chou , loca ted south of Shangh ai , disco vering cul tural differ ences and similarities between China and the United Sta tes.

Cyn thia first arrived in Hong Kong with her parents and was instan tly aware of the number of people milling about in the city streets. "Hong Kong is nice, but it's' so crowded. There were buses, tax is, cars, and pedestrians eve rywhere. It was similar to New York," she said.

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While ordering dinner in a restaurant, Cynthia was surprised to see the meal presen ted to her for approval before it was cooked. "They brou ght out live seafood to show us before we ate it!" she exclaimed.

Cynthia also spent time shopping in the ma lls thro ughout the city. The cost of clothing was about the same as in the United States , but food prices were higher. "I was constantly tryi ng to co nve rt the prices to Ame rican mo ney, to get an idea of how muc h everyth ing cost. One U.S. dollar bill is equ ivalent to seven dollars in Hong Kong money," Cynthia said. .

While traveling through Wen Cou, Cynthia observed China's movement to become a modernized nation. " In Wen Cou, I stayed in my grandad's house. He had just installed a heating system and indoor pl umbing. He

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Cynthl~ Wong, junior, immerses herself in her s~dles after returning from an excursion

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did It for us because he knew we would be visiting," she said. Despite the new plumbing, the re was still a lack of hot water. "Can you imagine taking a shower and having the hot water run ou t on you?" Cynthia said.

In Wen ~hou, the most popular means of transportation was the bicycle. " I was lucky.

I didn't have to ride around on a bicycle. My grandad is pre tty well off, and we were able to.hav~ a chauffeur show us around," Cynthia said. T here are no lights to direc t traffic in Wen Chou. On the more co ngested streets, someone ra ises and lowers a rope ac ross the road to control travelers.

Most Americans attend school to the age of eighteen, and many con tinue on to college. In Wen Chou, most ch ildren finish school by fourteen and go to work in factories. " It's very hard for many of them to go to school. You have to pay a fee, even for public school, and most families can't afford it," Cynthia explained. She noticed the factories were mos tly filled with young girls.

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"There is discrim ination among the sexes. .

Boys are away to boarding school if the re' s money," she said. . An other example of the favoriti sm to- . ward s males is evident durin g meal time s. "It's customary for the women to cook, serve the men, then wait until the y' re finished before eating their own meals," Cynthia said. However, because she was a guest, Cynthia didn'thave to wai t for the men to finish eating before starting her meal .

In addition to hiking up to a mountain top ' in Hong Kong, Cynthia and her family visited Ocean Park, the largest theme park in Ch ina. "It was a nea t place to take pictures,"

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Charge no trave l fee. no con su ltation fee. no tes tinu fee . and no materi al fee '? ,-

to Chinese relatives

Pro-slavery text provokes controversy . (Continued from p. 15) more Simms's The MoralsofSlavery: Plantation Pol itics in the Compostion Class room," The audience's stong reaction surprised him. He spoke about teach ing pro-slavery literature witho ut impo sing his own moral bel iefs on his students: However , a udience members felt that a teac her should take a strong stand on such issues. The audience also ques tioned whether colleges should assign suc h morally trou bli ng texts to the ir studen ts.

T he audienc e was "adamant about the trouble tha t co uld be [crea ted] withou t the proper mo ral foundation be ing laid," explained Dr . Tilton. He believes tha t " it is possible to present this ma terial and allow students to experience it without [their] teac hers' mor al authority. Not teaching such texts den ies students a complete experience of the historical period."

What upse t Dr. Tilton was that members of the audience began to identify him with Simms's beliefs, rather than see his paper as appropriate to the purpose of the con ference - the expanding of the canon of stud ied works. He pointed out that one does not necessar ily have to support the moral be liefs of an author in order to teach tha t author's work.

Du ring his talk, Dr. Tilton explained how he had used Simms 's essay in his English 110 class as an exercise in read ing and argumentation. "My ulti mate goal was...to insp ire students to participate in the composition class and insp ire good essays," he explained. " It's important for st udents to see the sorts ofarguments that the advocates for slav ery were making," he said. He emphasized the idea tha t "you're betterto have rea d it, and then taken your moral stance, than to mai nta in your moral stance without read ing it at all."

Dr. Tilton first became interested in pro-slavery texts while preparing for his Ph.D. oral exam in an tebe llum American Literature, when he discovered that " the re we re whole categories of literature I had never been exposed to," inclu ding loyali st, pro-slavery , and American-Indian literature." He said that while Ame rican-Indian literature has finally re- . ce ived the attention it deserves, the other two have not.

Dr. Tilton ' s beliefs regard ing educating people about pro-slavery literature extend to other forms of hate-speech, pro vided a.balance is mai ntained. For instance, he supported the action of the QC Quad when they printed the advertisement ofBradley R. Smith, a selfproc laimed "Holocaust-revisionist" who claimed that there was no proof the Nazi gas chambe rs ever existed. Dr. Tilton felt that by taking such actions as placing an editorial side-by side with the ad , labeling the ad as "An Illustration of Hate," and excluding . Bradley's ad dress an d phone number from the bottom of the ad, the Quad dealt with the issue appropriately.

"It is more profitable to present such a tex t and then refute it than to suppress it and allow speculation about it," he said. . . He also feels that people have the rig ht to voice such opinions on a college campus. A recent example ofanother type of hate-speech was given by Khalid Abdul Muhammad, the former spokesman of Louis Farrakhan, on the campus of Kane College in New Jersey.

Muhammad made negative remarks about whites, homosexuals, and most notably Jew s, whom he claimed had only themselves to blame for the Holocaust (New York Times 5/30/ 9~.

TPR .

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she said.

Cyn thia visited several Budd hist temples in Wen Chou. "It was interesting . They bum incense, and are very superstiti ou s. They believe in ghosts and spirits," she said.

After returning to the United Sta tes , Cy nthia said she had fun visiting her relatives, but felt glad to be back in New York. " I also had a lot of work to catch up with," she explained, Cynthia is treasurer of the Student Union, as well as a me mber of Arista. She volunteers her time for a Red Cross youth group. Since she seldom has any free time du ring school days, Cynthia felt that her trip to Ch ina was relaxing and worthwhile.

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"In the context of an intellectual history course, such ideas as the writings of Farrakan would be ...bal anced by his opposition (and ) representation s of racial and religious issues by other thinkers;" said Dr. Tilton. "I do n' t think the college campus is the appropriate place to ban any such ideas no matter how offensive we as individuals find them to be," However, he doe s not feel that allowing the speec hes to be made in any way implies that the uni versity promotes such hate-spee ch. "I don't think colleges, by allowing free exchange ofany ideas, put themselves in the position of espousing such ideas," he explained.

Dr. Tilton believes that it is of great importance that students ofboth history and literature be educated through texts that show both sides of controversial issues. "Experiencing the opposing ideas benefits the students by helping them to understand what the writers who have become canonical were arguing against," he said. "While I understand the feelings of teachers who have trouble with presenting this sort of material without the 'appropriate' disclaimers, I think that. ..we should have enough faith in our students to allow them to make up their minds about such matters, with the understanding that the moral position of. the teacher will ultimately become clear in class discussions."

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Tremmlopposes revisionist ad (Continued from p. 15) failed to recognize one significant . conceptions," to put it mildly, and point. Despite the Quad's refusal I applaud his efforts to disprove all of his mo ney and the juxtaposition Smith's twisted arguments . Howof the newspaper's own editorial ever, in their efforts to expose Smith withSmith'sad, THIS HATEFUL , for what he is, the editors have hurt ' TW ISTED MAN HAS JUST themselves by giving space and RECEIVE D FREE PRESS! The press to a degrading and depraved . who le student body, their friends piece of material. (I even believe and fam ily, alu mni, and even high my own response perhaps should school students such as I have not be printed, out of fear that go tten a chance to read this ludi- someone who hasn't read Smith's cro us material. Yet there are some ad will now be compelled to seek it who might not have the knowledge ou t and read it. Yet I can't let the to find this ludicrous. They may Quad's decision slip by unchalfind sense and logic in Smith's lenged.) , argu ments which can appear quite I do understand Wallenstein's sensible to someone ignorant of feelings that "His [Smith's] arguthe extensively documented facts, . ment should be exposed for its, and in tum might seek him out. Is falseness and left at that." Personthis not exactly what this racist ally, I think such anti-Semitic and wants - to build a loyal following? anti-historical material should have .1 respect Wallenstein's dedica- been thrown in the garbage upon tion to correcting Smith's "mis- receipt.

7

EIIE celebrates heritage

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(continued from p. 4) "The Roots" by Hugo Salezar, recited by junior Jennifer ROdriguez .

Sophomore Malcolm Hall recited the poem "Don't Forget" by Gertrude B. Baily . . The Tuesday show included a hip-hop dance. SophomoresSumaiya Sterling and Yvette Lopez, freshmen Shiffon Jones, Colleen Rainford, and juniors Celinda Casanova, Jennifer Rodriguez, Kena Richardson and Natasha Netto performed the dance to "Here Comes The Lords" by Lords of the Underground. Sumaiya Sterling and Kena Richardson did the choreography.

The pres ident of EIlE, jun ior Ruth Patterson, performed Pau l Lawrence Dunbarr's "A Negro Love Story," after the dance on Tuesday.

J unior Eva Daniels rec ited Andrew Mela's poem, "No Apologies." A, highlight of Tuesday's performance was the fashion show, coordinated I

by Nadia Holder and Katisha Goodridge, and hosted by junior Laki tia I Sanderlin. The clothing exhibition started with native African wear and I covered the clothing styles from the '60's to the '90's. This included trends of the club scene and even ing wear. The members supplied the clothing. Sophomore Andrew Pastemah commented, "I t was especially interesting to see all of the beautiful cos tumes."

Lak itia sang Whitney Houston's "Miracle" to represent jazz and its influence in cu lture. "The show took a lot of tedious practice time, but I feel it was worth it," said Lakitia.

The final part of the show brought juniors Tatiana Carrett, Daphne Faldi, Bianca Gomez, Wendy Cartegena, Natasha Netto, Celinda Cassanova, and Karin Castillo, freshman Beatrice Peguero and sophomore Yvette Lopez on stage to perform the Merangue, a Latin-American dance. Wendy and Karin directed the dance.

Thursday's show included many ofthe same acts, such as the dances.

Both shows concluded with all EIIE members holding hands on stage.

The show, originally planned for the month of February, was delayed ,because the group was without a teacher to supervise rehearsals. This year the organizers wanted to hold the performance at night, but they discarded this idea when they realized that they would reach a larger audience by having the show during Enrichment.

"I enjoyed the show because it was informative and it was fun to see my friends perform," said freshman Jennifer Bello.

-, Sophomore Robert Fuchs said, "I learned about many different cultures ." . .

"It was amazing. It looked like they put a lot of hard work into it." said junior Ron Zaidman. ..The club met for rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 45 minutes each week for several months. Mr. Ade1 Kadamani supervised, as over 30 students prepared for this performance.

The background on stage was decorated by the members themselves.

The wall was covered with flags that represented all the ethnic heritages of participating EIlE members.

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Vocabulary Quizzes (continued from p. 6) lary word from last year was 'quixotic.' Ms. Biener, on the other hand, chose the word, 'oeuvre' which refers to a body of work, often a lifetime accomplishment. "I liked the way it sounded," she said. However, Ms. Biener admitted that she had not known how to pronounce it, and had promptly looked it up in the,dictionary.

English teacher and Classic advisor Ilsa Cowen found her word, 'petard', in Shakespeare's Hamlet. In the play, Hamlet has a conniption and tells his mother in a paroxysm of rage that "he will hoist his two former friends by their own petard - in other words, blow them up for their treachery toward him ," she said. Ms .

Cowen went on to say that students often miss important information in the play because they don't know what a 'petard' is. "Perhaps if they see it during Vocabulary Month, it will be noticed and understood when they get to the senior seminar," she said. ' There are also other reasons why Vocabulary Month came about - especially the SATs, which many students consider to be a nefarious test. "Education is something you do ultimately for yourself," said Ms. Greenfield.

"One of these words could appear on you r SATs. I don't think anyone would complain at that point."

However, there are a lot of complaints concerning the vocabulary test among the students, which might show that alove of vocabulary is an atavistic trait. Hedonistic students, who believe that life is for pleasure, thinkthat there should not be any extra work. In response to that, Ms. Greenfield said, "If you learn one word for 25 days, it doesn't take much effort. If people cram and learn it all at once, it's much harder."

Vocabulary Month, one of the many shibboleths of Townsend Harris, will continue to pop up once a year after the school moves into the new building. There are already certain words on the listfor 1995. Still, some students feel that there are ways to improve the event. "I think Vocabulary Month would be a lot more enjoyable and be received better by the students," said junior Christina Matheson, " if the teachers provided us with the definitions of the words."

Literary ,favorites (continued from p. 9) original poem. Another original "Valley of Unrest." Dustin Suri work by Gina Tufaro was greatly read the second entitled "Fo r Annie." Nicole Manann read two enjoyed by the whole audience.

Audience memberCaroline Cross poems written by friends of hers. said," I liked the who le Read Other participants selected difAloud becuaes I got to hear things ferent works to read, such as Vanessa Krauser's reading of the Iyr- ' I'd never been exposed to before.

I especially liked Gina Tufaro 's ics of the song," Box of Rain." short story, "DisasterFor Under a Nancy Manzolillo read a fairy tale called "The Mouse, The Bird and Dollar." Gina wrote this in a Duke University writing class. PartiThe Sausage." This humorous story brought sm iles to the sudience's ciopan t CheryIRyder read a story

by Alv in Schwartz from the book lips. This was quite a contrast to the tears shed after Oscar Castillo' s Scary Stories To Tel/In The Dark.

The teachers added something different to the Read Aloud. AssistantPrincipal ofHumanities Lynne Greenfield read from T .H. White's The Once And Future King, which is the story of King A rthu r. Latin teacher Peter Dodinton presented an excerpt from The Illiad by Homer . One thing that was "unusual and spec ial," accord ing to Ms . Billy, was that he read it in Greek. "Most of us don ' t get to hear ancient Greek eve ry day," she said .

Class of '94 (continued from p, 1) Christine Trilivas, valedictorian, and Diana Tuite, salutatorian.

"There are so many things that a principal wants to say to a graduating class," said Dr. Largmann, because it is the last time he will be able to speak to them. [It is] as if you are sending your children off into the world."

He hoped his message would be an inspiration to them, saying that "They are bright, they have an education, and they have a responsibility to society."

During her speech, Christine quoted from the poem "What is Success?" by Ralph Waldo Jimerson, saying, '''To leave the world a bit better.. ./ To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived! This is to have succeeded." ..

Christine will be attending Cornell University's College ofagriculture and Life Sciences. She plans to have a career in medicine or scientific research. .

"We'll miss the familiarity of even those individuals we aren't friends with," said Diana during her speech. "The entire graduating class has in some way encountered each other, whether we shared a laugh or a conversation. This isn't true of very many schools and this is the beauty of TownsendHarris." Diana will attend Yale in the fall, where she received a scholarship. She will major in the liberal arts, and hopes to have a career involving history or languages. .

The entire class was awarded a total of $10,056,326 in scholarships, the highest amount yet for the school.

Students were accepted to a wide variety of colleges, including several Ivy League Schools. Seventeen students were accepted to Cornell University and four to Yale.

"The class of '94 was an excellent class," said Thomas Sweetin, senior class advisor. "We're going to . miss them when they're gone." .

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Dull sharpens skills onand '.off playing field

by Shalini Persaud It is thefirst round ofthe playoff game and the score is 16-1. The bleachers suddenly become quiet, as the last hitter steps up to bat.

The pitcher feels the stares of the crowd. Just one more strike and thegameisover.Thepitcherwinds up the pitch and throws . It's a strike and a no-hitter! The crowd goes wild!

Sounds familiar? Well, the pitcher in the scenario above was not baseball's great Nolan Ryan, who holds the record for seven nohitters in Baseball's Hall of Fame, but sophomore Jennifer Dull of Townsend Harris' own Girls' Varsity Softball Team in the playoffgame for divisional championship againstJefferson High School . last year.

This was just one of the highlights of Jennifer's freshman year, when she pitched a total of three no-hitters and helped the team win the divisional championship: in whic h they were undefeated. In addition to that, Jennifer was voted Most Valuable Player.

With this season's playoffs finished,Jennifer proved once

again she had the right stuff, leading her team into the semi-finals, the furthest in school history..

Along with Zoe Gordon, a sophomore, Jennifer defeated Newtown High School with yet another nohitter . "This year we did as well as we did last year," Jennifer says, and to top it off, she adds, "We finally beat Cardozo in a scrimage game! Everyone was really excited ." ' To be this successful, Jennifer had to start somewhere.

"I was play ing softball since I was very little with my uncle and his kids . We played in a big field in upstate New York. I guess it was just a group thing!" said Jennifer.

• Jennifer's family members were . all affected by her interest in sports.

Her two younger sisters, Ann Marie, age 13, and Cindy, age 11, followed in her footsteps at Holy CrossElementarySchooI.Jennifer joined the Catholic Youth Organization and the Kiwanis ' Club League for Softball in fourth grade until eighth grade . Both of her sisters are currently in those Ieagues.

"It wasn't a big league or anything, but I guess it helped me gain more

experience and practice,'; said Jen- . leges. I mean, I was only a fresh- co-captain of the team with Annifer. "My fami ly is very suppor- man and all of a sudden colleges drea. .

Jennifer does not feel that being tive and encourages my interest. I were noticing me," she recalled. on both teams is a burden. She says would probably give my mother Jennifer along with Bernadette plainly,"In the fall term, I concen_ --r"!

Crespo, who was trate on volleyball and softball in r~ thenajunioronthe the spring."

When aske d which she ~ Girls' Varsity simenjoys playing the most,she ~. Softball team, was ~ . also featured by ply says,"I really couldn' t choose. { New York New- I like them both."

Along with sports, her othe r insday when they terests include playing the piano became members and skiing in the Blue Mountains of the All-Queens of Pennsylvania.

She said she has team. been skiing since first or second Jennifer is proud ViI grade and usually goes skiing durof her achieveing the Christmas and Winter vaments in softball cations. but most of all she Jennifer's plans for the future Stretching to the limit, softball star Jennifer Dull loves being on the include a hope for a scholarship in team.

She warms up before a game. softball which she will apply for in much credit, though, because she says,"Being on a team was a benejunior year when she decides on came to many of my games and fit because I met a lot of new which colleges she would like to friends and had fun. It sort of helped out a lot," she added. attend.

She will continue to play Because of Jennifer's hard work made the school days go by faster both softball and volleyball in her and success, she left many impres- and made the homework and tests junior and senior years . sions on important people in her not seem that bad."

She says she just wants to live However, softball is not Jenlife. During last year's excitement, to the fullest and enjoy every life Jennifer said she received many nifer's entire life. She also has a minute of it.

Whether it is with letters from colleges and scholar- strong interest in volleyball. In the softball, volleyball, or her many ship application forms in the mail. fall term of her sophomore year, other interests, Jennifer Dull defi"I was overwhelmed with all the she was on the Junior Varsity big! nitely scores attention I was getting from .col- Girls' Volleyball team . She was

Olino makes mark on diamond, in paint

by Amanda Schoenberg Whether she ' s flying through the air to block a pass or rounding the bases. in a softbal l game, sophomore Kelly Olino is perfectly at home. With her waist-length brown hair and green eyes, Kelly is not someone you would automatically -assume to be a jock. However, anyone who knows her knows that basketball and softball are second nature for her.

Kelly has been playing basketball and softball practically since she was in her crib .t'Before I knew how to walk I knew how to play ball," she said with a laugh. She is now a point gu ar d on the Townsend Harr is varsity basketbali team, and a .shortstop on the varsity softball team. Kelly says that while she loves both sports, basketball comes first for her.

Ironically, she claims she is better in softball.

She has had yet anothersuccessful season, making the all-Queens team for her efforts at short stop.

Last year, as a freshman, Kelly received . the much-sought-after Rookie of the Year award for both basketball and softball. She says that when she found out, she was "very surprised, because I don't think I'm that good. I don't think I deserved it."

Basketball and softball are not the only sports Kelly has a fondness for. She also enjoys watching

and calls herself somewhat relialways has been , a big part of my elementary school, and she had a gious, saying, "I go to church life." She is an Irish dancer, and 98 average in junior high school. every Sunday and haven't murhas been taking lessons since the Since junior high, Kelly has age of six. Kelly dances at Irish kept only two or three of her old dered anyone." However, whi le she believes in some of the festivals throughout the year, not friends, which she regrets, but church's doctrines, she does not only because it's part of her cul- says,"The other people weren't believe in all of them . She states, ture, but because,as she says,"It's . really my friends. We more or really great exercise and very en- less grew apart." Here at "There is nothing wrong with the gay lifestyle and women have the joyable."

Townsend Harris, Kelly says,"I right to choose to have an aborFun is something Kelly does n't like the people, but I'm not too tion, although I wouldn't myse lf." always have time for, in between fond of the work ."

Kelly also ' believes that people Kelly is often unsure what her playing sports and the demands of should be allowed to use contrabeing a Harrisite. When asked friends think of her. She believes -ceptives. whether she feels she is missing people describe her as "weird," The issue in our society that out, Kelly IS nestitant, She replie s, but she declares, "Everyone Kelly feels strongest about is k • I Ji "Yes, but I en - . knows I' m a person all my own," education, or the lack of h. She ~ joy p laying What Kelly likes best abou t her~ sports and I self is that she is a good friend to declares, "If people were educated, '" . ... it would do away with all our j guess it is worth others. prejudices and give people the '" giving up a few.

However, if she could, Kelly training they need to do more parties if I can would change her height , as she with their lives ." get a goodjob in describes herself as a "little In her own life, Kelly is uns ure the future ." shrimp." Another charac teristic of later goals, but is hoping to go For the most that would go is her "big mouth, ' to "a good college." Eventually ~ part, though, except on the basketball court, she would like to get a job where Kelly does not where her voice can be heard loud she can influence society for the think too much and clear, Kelly adds, "When better. Later on she hopes to get about the future . you're playing basketball you married and have chi ldren, Right now she' can't be shv , Otherwise, you'll be What will she be doing in ten dreams of hav- looking down the court watching years? Kelly answers ing more of a the other team score ." thoughtfully that she will be "in social life, while Does this make her sound aggrad school, maybe med ical keeping her95.9 gressive?

Maybe .However, when With an eye on the ball, Kelly Olino prepares to hit school, possibly studying to be grade point av- asked to describe herself in one another home-run. some sort of environmentalist, or erage. She claims she maintains word, Kelly blurts out, "Eccenher parents, and younger brother, . something in the sciences. I'd be this average simply because she trie! I pride myself, more than Thomas. living in a big city, most likely not has "a really good memory." Her anything, on my indiv iduality."

Another important part of her married, but .I hope I'll have a memory has obviously taken her ' Kelly also has some very strong life is Kelly's heritage. She boyfriend." of her beliefs.

She is Catholic, far, as she was valedictorian states,"My Irish culture, is, and

footbal l, especially the Jets , her favor ite team. In fact; she says jokingly, ~'IfI weren't a girl, I'd probably be playing footbal l. I think my father would make me."

When asked if herfather is supportive of her, Kelly replied, "Definitely. My whole fami ly is involved in some way or anothe r," In fact, Kelly's sister Kimberly, who is a senior at Townsend Harris, was the manager of Kelly' s basketball team last year .The rest of her close-knit fam ily inciudes

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The Classic June 1994

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t Dribbling to perfection, veteran Felicia Vinci, junior, controls the b ill in a play-off game. coach Keith Hanson led his teain to the play-offs for the third consecutive year.

(See Spring wrap-up ),

Keep the history books open: Girls' Softball hits best record yet

by Seth Cohen On paper, the final loss of the season to Port Richmond High School was a devastating defeat . for the Girls' Varsity Softball team.

The ladies' squad was out-hit and out-witted 14-4 in this semi-finals game, halting its best season in Tow nsend Harris history. But coach Larry Ceraulo viewed the loss only as a temporary setback to his team's quest for a championship plaque , a miles tone he expects to reach in the near future.

"I was very 'proud of the girls ," r he said. "We worked hard to get where we were, and we're not about to stop next season."

Indeed, it seemed as though this year 's team wouldn't stop until a championship was won . Fin ishing first place in the Queens Division for the second consecutive year, with a 13-1 record, the girls went on to wallop Truman, Richmond Hill , and FDR High Schools in the playoffs before fallin g to Port Richmond.

"We were on a roll, finishing with an overall record of 23-2," said Mr. Ceraulo, "The loss was unwelcome, but surely not unex pected. Port Richmond has some unbelievable, pitching.' They deserve a lot of credit," he said.

Sophomore Jennifer Dull mes. mer ized hitters throughout the league, pitching herself to the AllCity Softabll team, and setting records for the second straight season. Her 17-0 record this year, propelled the team , and gave it the confidence it needed, entering the playoffs. "Jennifer always kept the score down," said Mr. Ceraulo.

"We could always rely on her; she's truly amazing," he said. Jennifer only gave up 60 hits in 90 innings pitched, and compiled 110 strikeouts. In her two years on the team, she has a 28-0 record, has pitched 155 innings and struck out 201 batters ."The thing Ilove mostabout this team is the teamwork," she

The Girls'So(tblilfseasonwasthemostsuccessful arid eXClting ever. Theteam w()llilieiJ: divisioll again. Th¢ywere undefeated in league play and made the play -offs. For thefirst tirne,theywere among the best four teams in the city. It was aterrific season that we eXpeCt Willbe duplicated next year . ..... ... .,. .. >/ < / The Girls' soccer team was also at their usual spOt, the plaY- offs; Led bY veteran FeliCia\ Vin cnmd freshman Adri enne Socci, the team played srnart. controlled soccer and defeated most ofthecompeUtion. This play- o'ff showing gave Mr. Hansona sweep,t hree seaso J1s t

thfeetop teams.

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Girls' Tennis had a new Iookthis year with the preppYMr. Frllsef as their coach . Team and coach had a great season, finishin g at 6 -2, qualifying fortheMayor ' s Cup and making ' the pIay'''':offs. First singles, Leslie K ohen, was a can didate for the Pegasus Award foftiest senic)i't ellnis player in the city.•.., \ .•..••. .••...<••...••< i / .••••'.•.••..... . / </ •.•.•...••. ••.•......•..• .• . > / The Boys' T ennis Team was notqu iteas fortUllate. TheYdidn'tmake theplay - oft's thi~ Ye;n" but came Close. Mr. Murray reports that just a little twisthere and a little jerk there rrlighfhavernadethe difference. On the bright side, first year player, Jonathan Meisel , W as one o f the best eight play ers in thecity individual tournament. / . i ..... « ... ...•GirIs~HandbaU waS fantastic. The girls won the div ision cham pionsh ip forthe firsftirne ever, as w ell as the Queens Champio nship. Senior Mary Martin w as Queens individual champion and jusbnissed outon the city championship. Shewas also a c andidate forth{{ Pegasus A ward . ... . ..•... . .: >< ....•. .•.•.•. . . .'. / ' > Boys' HandbaUtearndidn' t quite manage the pla y - offs this year, but did finish withUteif besnecord ever, 4 ~ 4 . The first doubles team, Alex Blishteyn and Emilio Boehrlrtgef, ' finished with a 6 - 2 record .

said. "Every one has to .work to keep them (the opposition) dow n, not just one person." (See "Dull sharpens skills," p.19.)

Bernadette Crespo, senior, was also named to the All-C ity Team.

She hit .578 this s-easo n, drove in a team leading 44 RBI' s and nailed 7 horneruns, "It was an honor mak:ingthecityteam.Itwasagreatway

by Shanelle Alston to top off a great career," she said. ,TheIntramural All-Stars walked i "Their tenacity was mto the Queens College Gym on .t missing. Had they been Both Bernadette and Marilyn ~ there, the faculty would Paulis (.657 Avg.) will be greatly . March 25 with aspirations ofde ~ have had their hands feating the chronologically admissed next season as they are vanc~ faculty. Their hopes were j full," said junior Ian graduating. "I wantto come down '" Katz. Mr. Hanson disshort-hvedasthefacultywhipped from Bingham pton next season, the All-Stars 62 -48 to win "brag. agreed. "WithEberand and see us at the top once again," gingrights"forthesecond straight Topper, we would've said Bernadette. year in the annual Crimson and had to keep the game Losing the two senior stars leaves Gold sponsored game. . at a more up tempo, many questions to be answered, Jim Connelly, newcomer to the butwestill would have but Mr. Ceraulo feels that his team, was the big story of the day won." younger players will shine next connecting for 12 points, and ill In the end, reac tions year . Among them, sophomore Kelly Olino (who was named to .severa.1 key rebounds. to the victory were m ixed. Mr. HIs VIvaCIOUS defense resulted in the All-Queens team) said, "Look four forced turnovers and a steal .

Sweetin, advisor of the on the brig ht side; we 're only losCrimson and Gold , ing two seniors. Sure, it's a major He was awarded MVP after the game. was ecstatic abou t the loss, but we are too good to let that That ". guy Connelly, is very Taking a foul shot, science teacherJames turnout, and the $600 stand in our way . Olino hit .544 inspiring and perspiring," com- Connellyshoots as fellow team memberKeith profit. "It was great and Mr.Ceraulo said she 's the "best mentedjunior Nigel Waters dur-. Hanson and referee Seth Cohen watch at the that we (the facul ty) shortstop in the city." (See "Olino ing the game. Connelly revealed student-facultybasketballgame. won two years in a makes mark," p, 19.). row," said Sweetin. the secret at the end of the game. by and said jokingly to him, "you , One of the bright spots for next "~e magic is in the hat," he said. graduated so long .ago, they put :'resh~an Kara St~vens, said, season is third baseman Lisa Miller, Ketth Hanso~, the faculty's high - you on the faculty team!" Althoug h They re so old thatI m surpr ised freshman, who stunned the team in est score r WIth 20 points, said, Young was in fact the youngest the faculty won and not the stuher first season with an incred ible "We're us~ally a better second half member of the team, he ironically dents." DeanWancJ,a Ni,x, ~ho refe33 RBFs, second only to Berteam and It showed when we got commented, "I'm tired and I'm reed the game WIth junior Seth nadette, and a clutch .533 batti ng Cohen, said, with more confidence, the lead and kept it." He was right. getting old..." average. "Lisa Miller was my A two point 'facu lty lead turned Perhaps a contributing factor in "The students were j ust outrookie of the year,' said Mr. into a 14 point bashing in the end. the stude nts' loss was the abse nce classed." There was> also a positive Ceraulo.

Damian Young, a Townsend ofIntramuralstarsDavidEber and reaction of Intramural All-Star Lisa's outlook serves as a perfect Harri s al~mnus, was another high David Topper who averaged '16.8 ~l~yer, K~id Get~r, who said, reflection of her teammates' en scorer w,Ith 11 poin ts, including ~nd 22.3 points per game, respec- ' I ~ not gomg to Dts~ey World, thusiasm and desire to win a chamtw03-pomters.Aspectatorwalked tively during the regular season . but It was a fun game. pionship: "This was only my first year," she said. "I just went outto play my heart out, to keep up with the older girls. I was pretty happy with our success. Next year, we're going to go further, and hopefully grab our first championship."

As long as this team stays injury-free, expect more history to be mane next season.

Facu lty teaches'stud ents lesson

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