..
2
·~
~;y ~;;;·- KJ=t;DJ£iwl!!
Recycling to save planet "Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!" So goes the chant of the environmentalists; anxious to minimize the tons of garbage produced by Americans _every day. Since July 1989, when New York City's · recycling program was established, blue receptacles filled with glass, plastics and other recyclables have dotted street curbs every two weeks, waiting to be collected by Sanitation. Unfortunately, the Sanitation Department has been grossly negligent in implementing this kind of program in city schools, which are among New York's larger garbage producing institutions.lt has shown little interest in providing us with recycling bins and setting collection dates. As far as recycling goes, Townsend Harris has been left to fend for itself. For the past few years, the Sanitation Department and the Board of Education have skillfully avoided students' appeals for help in establishing school recycling programs. According to Odile Garcia, advisor of SPE (Students for the Preservation of the Earth), neither the board nor the Sanitation Department have responded to the environmental club's pleas for recycling bags and bins, and have only managed to send recycling instruction manuals, leaving students frustrated and disappointed by the outright indifference of the officials in charge, Not only does Sanitation-forget to collect our regular garbage, which is left t9 rot in metal bins for weeks, but it seems that the board is too busy cutting school programs to be concerned about _ the environment. After much pestering from determined SPE members, the Sanitation Department showed a sign of life when it finally provided our school with two new bins for regular garbage. It is understandable that the heavy snows this past winter kept the sanitation trucks very busy and slowed down garbage collection, but New York's recycling laws have been in effect since 1989, and the lack of progress in school recycling programs is inexcusable. Despite all these hinderances, Townsend Harris has managed to set up its own recycling program through the efforts of SPE, and the cooperation from faculty and students. · SPE members have organized their own paper recycling program, collecting used paper weekly from their self-created bins placed in offices around the school. Club members also dug deep into their own pockets to buy recycling cans for all the main offices in the building at $10 apiece, and have taken on the responsibility of bringing aluminum cans to supermarkets for refunds, and crushing non-refund~ able cans for storage. The perseverance of these people to keep the building and environment "earth-friendly" is amazing-- Ms. Garcia and SPE members heroically pushed along and continued to rally for a recycling program, despite the non-existent cooperation from Sanitation and the board. The club has als9 encouraged teachers to reduce paper use. Thousands of sheets of paper are used by the faculty every · day, but that is to be expected - tests, homework assignments and other lesson-related materials are run off for the benefit of the students. However, because of a shortage of paper and growing concern over the piling garbage, teachers have been trying to save as much space as possible by printing material on both sides of the paper and shrinking text to make more room. As for the rest of us, we have to stop wasting so much paper and train ourselves to be more economical. We cannot toss our metal cans and recyclable plastic lunch items in the garbage, expecting someone else to fish it out from the discarded food and place it in its proper place. If we want something to be done, we have to work hard to accomplish it, the way SPE persisted in finding blue recycling bags for our school, and succeeded in eliciting outside donations from generous people who supported the group's efforts to encourage school recycling. No one controls the future, but we can certainly influence it. No one dreams about living amidst garbage either, so we must take care of our environment now. The popular slogan, "Every little bit counts" often falls upon the deaf ears of people who have little faith in themselves and everyone else, but the words do hold soine wisdom. Every little bit we recycle adds up, so instead of waiting an eternity for SOmeone else to take charge, let'S get mQVing and help Start a trend that will clear the garbage from the future .
Goals of a Harrisite_ by Dominika Bednarska
I am a Townsend Harrisite. My goals are simple andfew: . To maintain a 90 average, Join a few school clubs, Become part of a community organization, Win a few awards, Learn how to program my VCR. I am a Townsend Harrisite. My goals are simple and few: To maintain a 95 average, Become president of all school clubs, Run that community organization, Win the majority of awards in the free world, Work for a VCR manufacturing company. I am a Townsend Harrisite. My goals are simple and few: Maintain the highest average ever achieved by man, Consolidate all extra-curricular activities into o.'ne of which I am the only and supreme head, Expand my community organization into a cross-country chain, Give out all those awards. I am a TownsendHarrisite. My goals are simple andfew: Buy out all those leading VCR companies, Establish a foundation in my honor that will cure all social problems of our time, Become the first left-handed teenage woman in .Congress, Save all endangered species by providing an environmental sanctuary in my bedroom, Find extraterrestrial life forms and convert them to proficient users of the World Wide Web, Divide myself into a million functional and productive parts so that I can efficiently rule all of planet Earth, Write an autobiographical self-help book entitled "I am not an over achiever." After all I am a Townsend Harrisite. I have to have some achievements on my college application.
Townsend Harris High School at Queens College 149-11 Melbourne Avenue. Flushing, :'<.Y. 11367
Editor-in-Chief: Veronica Lee Natalka Palczynski
Readers are invited to submit letterS to the edi· tor. Letters should be placed in Ms. Cowen's
Managing Editor
Michael Munoz & Amanda Schoenberg
mailbox in the general office. The Classic reserve5
the right to ·edit all letters. Letters must include name and o!licial class. 1<ames will be withheld upon request.
News Editors
Erik Bloch & Rena Varghese Feature Editors
Heather Paterson
Tara Balabushka Lay~ut
Sports Editor
Erika Zwetkow
Editor
George Motakis Art Editor
Photography Editor
MichaelGarber
Lauren Sharett
Business Manager
Assistant Feature Editor
Beth Matucci
Claire Schnabel
Assistant News Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
News Staff Dominika Bednarska, Richard Capone, Beth Citron, Helen Haritos. Cory McCruden, Jennifer Pare, Romina Perrone, Ellen Schnabel, Michael Weiss Feature Staff:
Demetrios Benzikis. Alexander Blunt. Amy Kommatas. Mark Von Ohlen. Kathryn Rube. Liron Shapir. Rebecca Silver, Hope Villella
Photographers· Erica Carroll. Danielle Cohen. Lina Fan. Jason Freedman. Mall Gottlieb. Millie Liu, Kimberly Lydtin, Kathleen Maignan, Sofia Pangiotakis, Emilia Rakowickz. Lisa Shapira. Marco Trauzzi, Henry Wong, Jason Wu, YOung Yoon Sports Staff
Justin Fox, Joseph Regen, Johnny Wong
~Rachel Sperling, Melissa Tinio, Vesna Vasic
Layout: Julia Kohen Principal - Dr,MalcolmLargmann
Advisor - IlsaCowen Photography Advisor- Richard Tiffen
•1