“THIS IS SPARTA”: Behind the Scenes of the Facebook- Generated Phenomenon Student Union elections jump fromStuyvesant to the big screen. Student Union policy turns club/pub fundraising into a barren candyland. By LUC COHEN with additional reporting by PAULINA KARPIS and EDDIE CYTRYN Principal Teitel has closed the swim- ming pool because a loose sound- dampening panel on the ceiling poses a safety hazard to swimming classes and the swim teams. Sadman Islam/ The Spectator
The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper Volume XCIX No. 4 October 17, 2008 stuyspectator.com Frontrunners: Capturing the Candidates Student Union elections jump fromStuyvesant to the big screen. Student Union policy turns club/pub fundraising into a barren candyland. The Pop-Tart Bureaucracy Article on page 10. Arts and Entertainment Opinions Article on page 8. “The Pulse of the Student Body” By ALEXANDER SHIN and ZOE WU The Student Union (SU) Web site was launched on Tuesday, October 14. It had been under construction since the beginning of the school year, which hin- dered communication between the SU and the student body. Senior and SU Information Technology Director Daniel Goldstern said he created a new SU Web site this summer, but had not been able to launch it earlier because of several techni- cal problems. He said he couldn’t transfer the domain, www.stuysu.org, before obtaining the account information from George Tsivin (‘07), who created the previous SU Website in 2006. Goldstern said he was unable to get in touch with Tsivin during the summer, so he had to wait until September. Once he obtained that infor- mation, Goldstern said the Web site server expired, which further delayed the launch. He also had to wait for a response from a computer software company to obtain a secure shell, which allows a remote computer to have access to the content of a Web site. Students who are involved with Clubs/Pubs were affected by the delay. In previous years, students registered their clubs and reserved rooms online for their meetings through the Web site. Since www.stuysu.org was down, SU members had been handwriting Club/Pub charters for students who were registering their clubs. All clubs must regis- ter every school year. “It was not as effective,” Kim said. Without a Web site and a signed charter, it is problematic to just allow clubs to meet,” senior and SU Club/Pub Director Allen Granzberg said. “I would have liked the site to be up earli- er, but that was out of my con- trol.” If a club/pub needed to use a room for an important meeting, they had to ask Assistant Principal Organization Randi Damasek or Coordinator of Student Affairs Lisa Weinwurm. "The reason that this procedure is necessary is because of liability issues,” Granzberg said. I wanted to register my club, but the Web site wasn’t up, so I couldn’t get my club charter,” junior Benjamin Xie said. “Because of the delay, I can’t reg- ister for a room.” It’s been quite some time since the Web site was down. I’ve been waiting for over a month now, and I am a bit frustrated,” junior Ashley Bowie said. The absence of a Web site SU Launches Web site After Long Delay By SARAH KAPLAN, LILY PINCHOFF and AVA WOYCHUK-MLINAC Teachers and students alike hate the Advanced Placement exams. Students have to write long grueling essays and then the teachers have to read them. But this May, a single sentence broke the usual pattern. The phrase was simple, yet it caused confusion among exam graders with three words—“THIS IS SPARTA!” THE PLANNING Last December, seniors Jake Bryant and Kevin Xu of Ward Melville Senior High School in East Setauket, New York came up with this idea and put it into action on their English Regents. Their idea was simple—to get stu- dents to write the iconic phrase “This is Sparta” from the movie “300” in capital letters in the mid- dle of their Regents essays, and then cross it out with one line. This way, no one could be penal- ized, as the phrase would have to be counted as a mistake. In May they decided to take it a step farther. Xu created a Facebook group “to spread this to the rest of the country (and the world) including college students getting ready for finals and essays,” he wrote in an e-mail. Facebook users flocked to join the group “Everybody write ‘THIS IS SPARTA!’ on your AP and school essays.” Today, 32,156 people are in the group. “The goal of the prank was to freak out AP graders and teachers, relieve stress before and during the AP exam and have a really great laugh,” Xu wrote. He felt that AP graders could appreciate the prank since “it must stink to be grading hundreds of exams dur- ing the summer,” he wrote. THE EXECUTION The mission was clear. By the first day of AP week, 10,000 stu- dents had joined the Facebook group. Over 30,000 had joined by the next Sunday. Now all that was left was for the students to take their tests—a challenge in and of itself—and to write the famous words in their exam booklets. One of these students was junior Henry Lin, who wrote “THIS IS SPARTA” on his AP World History exam. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ It was a fun, spur of the moment thing to do,” he said. Most students simply crossed the phrase out so that it wouldn’t be counted, but some found more creative ways to work it into their tests. Senior TJ Hart from Milton High School in Milton, Georgia, used the phrases “THIS IS SPARTA” and “This is mad- ness” as variables on his AP Computer Science exam. Brian Stern, a junior at Radnor High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania, took the AP Music Theory test last May and had to come up with an alternative method to slip the words into his exam. “While there is no essay sec- tion, part of the [AP Music Theory] exam requires the test- taker to write out chords for a song, based on musical notes given. I titled the first one ‘THIS IS SPARTA.’ For the second, I wrote lyrics to the melody: ‘This is Madness,’” Stern wrote in an e- mail interview. “In addition, there are two sight-singing sections […] so for them I sang softly ‘this is Madness,’ and for the second I responded by shouting in tune ‘No! This Is Sparta!’ The exam proctor was speechless, and as I left the room, various students who heard me applauded my efforts.” Students feel that the phe- nomenon demonstrates the power of students when they are organized with a common goal. “Since tens of thousands of stu- dents have had to take APs, SATs, etc., it only makes sense that they would want to ‘get back’ at the College Board by showing that the students have the choice to completely screw up their tests, and that the students are in charge,” Stern wrote. “THIS IS SPARTA”: Behind the Scenes of the Facebook- Generated Phenomenon continued on page 3 By LUC COHEN with additional reporting by PAULINA KARPIS and EDDIE CYTRYN Two sophomores on the junior varsity (JV) football team, wide receiver Nick Heim and running back Michael Bucaoto, drank Gatorade that contained copper sulfate crystals at a prac- tice on Tuesday, October 7, at Pier 40. Neither was aware that the chemical was in their drinks. Both players got sick as a result of the incident, and Bucaoto was hospitalized. One sopho- more, also on the JV team, who obtained the crystals that were later put in the water, was arrested and removed from the football team. As of now, the school's administration is unsure whether he will be sus- pended or expelled from school, and whether the remainder of the JV football season will be cancelled. This sophomore stole the crystals from an in-class chem- istry demonstration. He then gave the crystals to a sopho- more trainer for the JV team, and told her to put it in cups of Gatorade that were available to members of the team. Both Heim and Bucaoto got sick immediately after drinking the Gatorade. Both vomited, and Bucaoto, who drank more, began coughing up blood and had to go to the hospital, where he remained for much of the night. The severity of the symp- toms was unclear before their conditions stabilized. Fortunately, the students recov- ered in time to attend school the next day and play in the home- coming game on Friday, October 10. The sophomore who stole the chemicals was apprehended by the police at practice at Pier 40 on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 7. He was arrested and expelled from Stuyvesant. Six other players, who were aware to some degree that people could get hurt, but did not report the plot to coach Christopher Burrows, were sus- pended from the team. "They all had some knowledge that some- thing was going on," Singer said. An anonymous trainer familiar with the perpetrator's motives said there was no ill intent. Instead, he did it as a sort of joke and wanted to see if peo- ple would take it seriously. Some were shocked and dis- turbed that an event this serious could happen. "I wasn't great friends with them but they were close acquaintances because I saw them every day at football," Heim said of those who plotted to put the copper sulfate in his drink. "They were big parts of the football team and it's scary to think that they did this." Chemistry teacher Brian Dibbs said that the incident was particularly concerning because copper sulfate is "a pretty poi- sonous chemical," he said. He said that if students would do this as a joke, they probably were not aware of the potential- ly catastrophic results. "You have to teach kids these are not toys. They are dangerous. You can't mess around with these chemicals," he said. Heim said that he was ini- tially worried, and is still a little shocked, because of how dan- gerous copper sulfate is. "I first felt angry at the people who had given it to me," he said. "But I was also very nervous because I knew that the chemicals in the drink were dangerous and potentially fatal." While Dibbs doubts that the negative effects of such small quantities of the chemical would be quite that Two JV Football Players Poisoned At Practice Diane Yee/The Spectator continued on page 11 continued on page 11 Senior Pajama Day 2008
Transcript
The SpectatorThe Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
Volume XCIX No. 4 October 17, 2008 stuyspectator.com
Frontrunners: Capturing the CandidatesStudent Union elections jump fromStuyvesant
to the big screen. Student Union policy turns club/pub fundraising into a barren candyland.
The Pop-Tart BureaucracyArticle on page 10.Arts and EntertainmentOpinions Article on page 8.
“The Pulseof the
StudentBody”
By ALEXANDER SHINand ZOE WU
The Student Union (SU) Website was launched on Tuesday,October 14. It had been underconstruction since the beginningof the school year, which hin-dered communication betweenthe SU and the student body.
Senior and SU InformationTechnology Director DanielGoldstern said he created a newSU Web site this summer, buthad not been able to launch itearlier because of several techni-cal problems.
He said he couldn’t transferthe domain, www.stuysu.org,before obtaining the accountinformation from George Tsivin(‘07), who created the previousSU Website in 2006. Goldsternsaid he was unable to get intouch with Tsivin during thesummer, so he had to wait untilSeptember.
Once he obtained that infor-mation, Goldstern said the Website server expired, which furtherdelayed the launch. He also hadto wait for a response from acomputer software company toobtain a secure shell, whichallows a remote computer tohave access to the content of aWeb site.
Students who are involvedwith Clubs/Pubs were affectedby the delay. In previous years,students registered their clubs
and reserved rooms online fortheir meetings through the Website.
Since www.stuysu.org wasdown, SU members had beenhandwriting Club/Pub chartersfor students who were registeringtheir clubs. All clubs must regis-ter every school year. “It was notas effective,” Kim said.
Without a Web site and asigned charter, it is problematicto just allow clubs to meet,”senior and SU Club/Pub DirectorAllen Granzberg said. “I wouldhave liked the site to be up earli-er, but that was out of my con-trol.”
If a club/pub needed to use aroom for an important meeting,they had to ask AssistantPrincipal Organization RandiDamasek or Coordinator ofStudent Affairs Lisa Weinwurm."The reason that this procedureis necessary is because of liabilityissues,” Granzberg said.
I wanted to register my club,but the Web site wasn’t up, so Icouldn’t get my club charter,”junior Benjamin Xie said.“Because of the delay, I can’t reg-ister for a room.”
It’s been quite some timesince the Web site was down. I’vebeen waiting for over a monthnow, and I am a bit frustrated,”junior Ashley Bowie said.
The absence of a Web site
SU Launches Web site
After Long Delay By SARAH KAPLAN,
LILY PINCHOFF and AVA WOYCHUK-MLINAC
Teachers and students alikehate the Advanced Placementexams. Students have to writelong grueling essays and then theteachers have to read them. Butthis May, a single sentence brokethe usual pattern. The phrase wassimple, yet it caused confusionamong exam graders with threewords—“THIS IS SPARTA!”
THE PLANNINGLast December, seniors Jake
Bryant and Kevin Xu of WardMelville Senior High School inEast Setauket, New York came upwith this idea and put it intoaction on their English Regents.Their idea was simple—to get stu-dents to write the iconic phrase“This is Sparta” from the movie“300” in capital letters in the mid-dle of their Regents essays, andthen cross it out with one line.This way, no one could be penal-ized, as the phrase would have tobe counted as a mistake.
In May they decided to take ita step farther. Xu created aFacebook group “to spread this tothe rest of the country (and theworld) including college studentsgetting ready for finals andessays,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Facebook users flocked to jointhe group “Everybody write ‘THIS
IS SPARTA!’ on your AP andschool essays.” Today, 32,156people are in the group. “The goalof the prank was to freak out APgraders and teachers, relievestress before and during the APexam and have a really greatlaugh,” Xu wrote. He felt that APgraders could appreciate theprank since “it must stink to begrading hundreds of exams dur-ing the summer,” he wrote.
THE EXECUTIONThe mission was clear. By the
first day of AP week, 10,000 stu-dents had joined the Facebookgroup. Over 30,000 had joined bythe next Sunday. Now all that wasleft was for the students to taketheir tests—a challenge in and ofitself—and to write the famouswords in their exam booklets.
One of these students wasjunior Henry Lin, who wrote“THIS IS SPARTA” on his APWorld History exam. “I thought,‘Why not?’ It was a fun, spur ofthe moment thing to do,” he said.
Most students simply crossedthe phrase out so that it wouldn’tbe counted, but some foundmore creative ways to work it intotheir tests. Senior TJ Hart fromMilton High School in Milton,Georgia, used the phrases “THISIS SPARTA” and “This is mad-ness” as variables on his APComputer Science exam. BrianStern, a junior at Radnor High
School in Radnor, Pennsylvania,took the AP Music Theory test lastMay and had to come up with analternative method to slip thewords into his exam.
“While there is no essay sec-tion, part of the [AP MusicTheory] exam requires the test-taker to write out chords for asong, based on musical notesgiven. I titled the first one ‘THISIS SPARTA.’ For the second, Iwrote lyrics to the melody: ‘This isMadness,’” Stern wrote in an e-mail interview. “In addition, thereare two sight-singing sections […]so for them I sang softly ‘this isMadness,’ and for the second Iresponded by shouting in tune‘No! This Is Sparta!’ The examproctor was speechless, and as Ileft the room, various studentswho heard me applauded myefforts.”
Students feel that the phe-nomenon demonstrates thepower of students when they areorganized with a common goal.“Since tens of thousands of stu-dents have had to take APs, SATs,etc., it only makes sense that theywould want to ‘get back’ at theCollege Board by showing thatthe students have the choice tocompletely screw up their tests,and that the students are incharge,” Stern wrote.
“THIS IS SPARTA”: Behind the Scenes of the Facebook-
Generated Phenomenon
continued on page 3
By LUC COHENwith additional reporting by
PAULINA KARPISand EDDIE CYTRYN
Two sophomores on thejunior varsity (JV) football team,wide receiver Nick Heim andrunning back Michael Bucaoto,drank Gatorade that containedcopper sulfate crystals at a prac-tice on Tuesday, October 7, atPier 40. Neither was aware thatthe chemical was in their drinks.Both players got sick as a resultof the incident, and Bucaotowas hospitalized. One sopho-more, also on the JV team, whoobtained the crystals that werelater put in the water, wasarrested and removed from thefootball team. As of now, theschool's administration isunsure whether he will be sus-pended or expelled from school,and whether the remainder ofthe JV football season will becancelled.
This sophomore stole thecrystals from an in-class chem-istry demonstration. He thengave the crystals to a sopho-more trainer for the JV team,and told her to put it in cups ofGatorade that were available tomembers of the team. BothHeim and Bucaoto got sick
immediately after drinking theGatorade. Both vomited, andBucaoto, who drank more,began coughing up blood andhad to go to the hospital, wherehe remained for much of thenight. The severity of the symp-toms was unclear before theirconditions stabilized.Fortunately, the students recov-ered in time to attend school thenext day and play in the home-coming game on Friday,October 10.
The sophomore who stolethe chemicals was apprehendedby the police at practice at Pier40 on the afternoon of Tuesday,October 7. He was arrested andexpelled from Stuyvesant. Sixother players, who were awareto some degree that peoplecould get hurt, but did notreport the plot to coachChristopher Burrows, were sus-pended from the team. "They allhad some knowledge that some-thing was going on," Singer said.
An anonymous trainerfamiliar with the perpetrator'smotives said there was no illintent. Instead, he did it as a sortof joke and wanted to see if peo-ple would take it seriously.Some were shocked and dis-turbed that an event this seriouscould happen. "I wasn't great
friends with them but they wereclose acquaintances because Isaw them every day at football,"Heim said of those who plottedto put the copper sulfate in hisdrink. "They were big parts ofthe football team and it's scaryto think that they did this."
Chemistry teacher BrianDibbs said that the incident wasparticularly concerning becausecopper sulfate is "a pretty poi-sonous chemical," he said. Hesaid that if students would dothis as a joke, they probablywere not aware of the potential-ly catastrophic results. "Youhave to teach kids these are nottoys. They are dangerous. Youcan't mess around with thesechemicals," he said.
Heim said that he was ini-tially worried, and is still a littleshocked, because of how dan-gerous copper sulfate is. "I firstfelt angry at the people who hadgiven it to me," he said. "But Iwas also very nervous because Iknew that the chemicals in thedrink were dangerous andpotentially fatal." While Dibbsdoubts that the negative effectsof such small quantities of thechemical would be quite that
Two JV Football Players Poisoned At Practice
Dia
ne
Yee/
Th
e Sp
ecta
tor
continued on page 11
continued on page 11
Senior Pajama Day 2008
The Spectator • October 17, 2008Page 2
News
By RACHEL KIM
Senior and The Spectator’sNews editor, Paulina Karpis, wasawarded the prestigious 1010WINS Tomorrow Newsmaker’sAward in its fourth consecutiveyear of competition. She wasawarded the 10,000 dollar MiteshAnand scholarship. Anand was aformer 1010WINS employee whorecently passed away.
“I was really surprised,”Karpis said. “It was unexpected.But at the same time, I was reallyhappy because it is such a greathonor.”
The 1010 WINS Tomorrow'sNewsmakers contest is an annualcompetition that recognizes indi-viduals who are dedicated tojournalism. There are five cate-gories: Arts and Entertainment,Business, Public Service, Sportsand Student Broadcaster. Karpiswon in the Student Broadcastercategory.
“It’s not surprising thatanother Stuyvesant studentwon,” said former Arts andEntertainment editor Ivana Ng(’07), who won the award lastyear. “Stuy kids are really hard-working.”
Ng “tried to promote thecompetition to the Stuy popula-tion,” she said. After she won thecontest, Ng requested that thecontest information be posted onthe monthly College Bulletin andclass of 2009 website.
°I knew that if Stuy kidsapplied, one of us would win,”she said.
The application process forthe Student Broadcaster categorybegan in July 2008. The studentshad to be a New York City resid-ing high school junior and com-plete an essay describing theirinterests in journalism.
There were 20 judges whopicked five finalists out of 80applicants.
The judges determined thefinalists based on their “interestand capacity in forging aheadwith a communications-broad-casting degree, after school activ-ities [and] accomplishmentsrelated to field,” as stated on theTomorrow’s Newsmakers Awardwebsite.
°All the students wereextremely smart, well rounded,community oriented individuals,and were all worthy of considera-tion,” Contest CoordinatorDeborah Gordon wrote in an e-mail interview.
The five Student Broadcasterfinalists were notified in August.
The 25 finalists were then invitedindividually to the 1010 WINSstudio for an interview thatwould air on the radio. Karpis’ssegment aired on Friday, October4.
¡°I was really honored to beselected to the finalist group,”Karpis said. “I was competingwith really dedicated journalists.”
The public could then votefor a finalist at the 1010 WINSWeb site. There were 1,000 onlinevoters. According to Gordon,Karpis received the most votesout of the 25 finalists.
The award ceremony washeld on Tuesday, October 7. Allthe finalists were honored andthe winners of each categorywere announced.
¡°This year’s group did a lotmore extracurricular work, andhad more hands on experience intheir fields than the previousyears’ entrants,” Gordon said.
Karpis wrote a column aboutdance in the Australian magazineSassy Girl and appeared on thecover of its first issue. When shewas 14 years old, her essay abouther post 9/11 experience waspublished in “The Chicken Soupfor the Teenage Soul: the RealDeal Challenges.”
Due to her publication in“The Chicken Soup,” she wasinterviewed by NY1 and ARD, apublic radio network based inGermany. Karpis has also metwith Congressman Vito Fossella,Spike Lee and Reg E. Gaines andreceived letters of congratula-tions from Mayor MichaelBloomberg, Senator HilaryClinton and Governor DavidPaterson.
Karpis won the 2008Alexander Hamilton CitizenshipAchievement Award for her aca-demic success and achievementsin community service, whichinclude tutoring, volunteering forthe Family Torah Center andHabitat for Humanity YouthImmersion trip to Tacoma,Washington that she attendedthis past summer.
Karpis was also first place inthe 2007 New York State highschool essay contest co-spon-sored by the JournalismDepartment and the Society ofProfessional Journalists on thetopic, "Why Free News Media IsImportant."
“I’m really grateful to the peo-ple at 1010 WINS because theycreated such a great opportunityfor high school student,” Karpissaid.
Paulina Karpis Wins 1010 WINS Award
By ROBERT COLGAN
Stuyvesant’s pool has beenclosed since Thursday,September 25. One of thesound-dampening panels thathang from the ceiling has comeloose. The panels, called baffles,are attached to the ceiling bytwo metal chains, one of whichis now detached from the ceil-ing.
Principal Stanley Teitelclosed the pool immediatelywhen he was informed of theproblem.
“[The baffle] weighs about 40pounds, and of course it’s got tobe at least 25 to 30 feet in the air,probably more,” Teitel said. “Ifthat panel comes down and hitssomebody, someone will gethurt. So I immediately orderedthat no one is to be in the swim-ming pool until it’s fixed.”
Three other baffles have fall-en from the ceiling in the pastand had to be reattached. Teitelsaid he now wants all of themchecked to be sure they aresecure.
“As long as we’ve gone to thetrouble of emptying the pooland bringing in the scaffolding, Idon’t want to have to lose thepool again two months fromnow when another one breaksloose,” Teitel said.
To fix the baffles, the poolwas drained and scaffolding willbe built in it up to the ceiling.The scaffolding will begin to bebuilt “in short order,” Teitel
said. According to Teitel and
Assistant Principal Health andPhysical Education MarthaSinger, it will probably be atleast a month before the pool isready for use again.
Swimming classes and thegirls’ swim team, the Penguins,have unable to use the poolsince it was closed.
“I teach six swim classes, soobviously none of them can goin the pool, but every freshmanand sophomore in the school
needs to take the FitnessGram,”physical education teacherSilvanna Choy said, referring tothe fitness test required by thecity. “I would’ve had to pullthem out [of swimming] any-way.”
“We’ve been doing curl-upsand stuff like that. They don’thave a spare gym for us, so basi-cally there’s nowhere for us togo,” freshman Nicole Radovasaid. “We’re going to have to dothe pacer, and it’s basically like20 students running in thelobby.”
Lifeguarding classes and thegirls’ swim team, the Penguins,have been unable to practice inthe pool as well.
“We haven’t been able toswim for like a week now,”senior and co-captain of thePenguins Abby Erickson said.“It’s not such a good situationthat some of our girls haven’tbeen in the pool in over a week.”
“It’s been hard. We’ve beendoing dry-land, which is exercis-es on land, so we’re still gettingmuscle, but it’s just different,not being in a pool. We had ameet today, actually, so we feltit,” senior and co-captain NoraCunningham said.
According to Teitel, he hasarranged with the physical edu-cation department at BrooklynTechnical High School for theteam to practice at that school’spool starting Wednesday,October 8.
Pool Closed Because of HangingAcoustic Tile in Ceiling
Principal Teitel has closed the swim-ming pool because a loose sound-dampening panel on the ceiling poses asafety hazard to swimming classes andthe swim teams.
Sadm
an I
slam
/ T
he
Spec
tato
r
By MAO HU MAO HU with additional reporting by
BRIAN SOU
In an effort to stop studentssellingcandy for personal andtomeetthe New York CityDepartment of Education (DOE)standards for nutrition, StudentUnion (SU) will now purchasecandy that meet DOE standardssell tclubs, publications andteams in specially markedboxes. Clubs, publications andteams must purchase allfundraising candy through theSU.
According to DOE WellnessPolicies on Physical Activity andNutritionWeb site, only foodsapproved under SchoolFoodregulations can be sold in “stu-dent government associationstores, vending machines, andfund raisers,” as stated on theirWeb site.
Approved candy cannotexceed 350 milligrams of sodi-um per portion, have than 3per-cent fat, or contain artificial col-oring, flavoring, sweeteners, orglutamate. Snacks, such as FritoLay Baked Potato Chips,Cinnamon Teddy Grahams andSun Chips, are permitted. Thecomplete list of acceptablesnacks is listed on the
SchoolFood Web site.French teacher Gabriele
Dehn-Knight was in favor of stu-dents selling healthier candy.
“I don't feel that it's a goodidea to sell candy consideringhow unhealthy it is and theproblems with obesity in today'ssociety,” she said. “It's a distrac-tion for both students andteachers during class”
The said in a meeting withclub/pub presidents onMonday, September 15, that allfund raising candy must bebought through the SU and soldin specially marked boxes. mainpurpose of this policy was toreduce the number of studentsselling candy for personal profit.
"There's really no way totrack down people who sell fortheir own profit without havingcandy sold through the SU," andSU President James Kim .
However, this has yet to beenforced.
According to junior and SUVice President Casey Griffin,Principal Stanley Teitel initiatedthe policy that the SU facilitateall candy selling activity.However, he did not give specif-ic guidelines that distinguishedbetween clubs and students sell-ing for personal profit. Thisslowed down its implementa-
tion. Kim said that the SU is cur-
rently in the process of buyingcandy to sell to clubs, publica-tions and teams.
¡°In two weeks, things will berunning more smoothly thanbefore,” Kim said.
Sophmore president of theSuper Smash Brothers Brawlclub Mohammad Hossainwasupset by the delay.
¡°We're not able to sell theprohibited candy or the candywe're allowed to sell because theSU can't get its act together andit's hurting the clubs who needit the most,” he said.
Due to the delay, many clubsand teams cannot raise enoughmoney to fund their activities.
"We basically depend oncandy selling to raise funds,”sophmore Treasurer of the Red
Cross club Ashley Qiansaid. "We need to raise 6,000 dol-
lars for our registration fees, andwithout candy sales, I don'tknow how we're going to do it,"unior Director of Procurementfor the Stuyvesant Robotics eamEmily Mattesonsaid.
“It's one of our main sourcesof revenue that we now don'thave,” eniorand Treasurer of theStuyvesant Robotics teamJonathan Meedsaid.
SU Candy Selling Policy Revised
By MASHA GINDLER
Stuyvesant altered its bellschedule this school year. A, B,Cand D days are now calledRegular, Homeroom, Special andConference days, respectively.The change was implemented sothat there would be a clear dis-tinction between the name of theday and the gym and scienceschedule, which is labeled A or B,for that day.
The lengths of the periodsand days have not been altered.“It still does what it does,” saidPrincipal Stanley Teitel. He saidhe received no specific com-plaints.
The new bell schedule isalready being used on theStuyvesant Web site. The blueschedule cards students receivedwhen school started also reflectthe change.
When Stuyvesant firstopened at its current location, itoriginally followed a five-day A,B, C, D and E schedule. Gymclasses were held everyday forhalf of a semester.
The current gym and science
schedule was added to accom-modate city requirements forphysical education. They weregiven A/B names that clashedwith the bell schedules eventhen.
“I’ve mentioned it years ago,”physical education teacher LarryBarth said. “It was confusing say-ing it was A [or] B days because ofthe A/B gym and science sched-ules.”
The change was announcedto teachers in a recent facultymeeting.
Students were not formallytold of the change as it wasexpected that they would noticeonline or from the blue cards. “Iheard from one of my friends,”freshman Nicholas Fasano said.
Some students hardlynoticed the change. “It’s thesame thing,” sophomoreWinman Lei said.
Others preferred the new sys-tem. “It was a bit confusing whenthe both the bell and gym sched-ule was the same,” junior YulKim said. ”I like the new onemore.”
The New Bell Schedule
made communication difficultbetween the SU and studentbody. “[It’s] hard to get in touchwith students outside the SU,”Kim said.
This year, according to Kim,the SU has been communicatingwith students through Facebook,the Big Sibs emailing list andpaper advertisements.
The old Web site, whichTsivin programmed, was used up
until this year. According to Kim,SU members “thought it wouldbest to just create a new Website,” because the old one createdproblems.
Whenever we tried to emailSU members, the Web site wouldshut down,” Kim said. “It alsowas not an aesthetically pleasingwebsite.”
The old Web site wasn'texactly functional. I mean, it waspretty much [the SU] doingeverything manually,” Goldstern
said. “That's not the point of aWeb site. That's not the point of acomputer.”
The new Web site has a newlayout and will eventually includemore content, like a video home-room gallery, a calendar of SUevents and photo albums."Please be patient while we makethis transition - we hope to startserving you, the student body, atour full capacity as soon as possi-ble," Goldstern wrote in a post onthe Web site.
SU Launches Web site After Long Delay continued from page 1
The Spectator • October 17, 2008 Page 3
Features
2.02Average number of APs
seniors are taking this year
1.43Average number of APs
juniors are taking this year
10.74Percent of seniors taking
multivariate calculus
1.74Percent of juniors taking
multivariate calculus
Thanks to: Assistant Principal of Technology Services Edward Wong and Program Chairperson Sophia Liang
By EMMA ZIEGELLAUBEICHLER and
DANIELLE OBERDIER
We’ve all discussed twins inour biology or genetics classes.Some of us have even madeembarrassing mistakes involv-ing the twins we know. Being atwin at Stuyvesant is very dif-ferent from being a twin atmany other schools. At manyschools, twins are not allowedto be in the same class. AtStuyvesant, however, twinshave the same chance of beingin the same class as any othertwo people.
Seniors Helen Cabot andJulia Cabot have been going tothe same school since pre-school. However, they findeach other’s presence atStuyvesant to be especiallyhelpful. “A motivation for me isJulia because I don’t ever wantto disappoint her. She alwayspushes me to try my hardestand she is usually the one tomake me study the extra hourwhen all I want to do is closethe books and go to sleep,”Helen Cabot said. “When wedon’t understand something,we work through it and alwaysmake progress. It’s comforting
to know I have someone tostudy with and someone whocares if I do well.” Julia Cabotagrees. “Even when we don'thave the same teachers, some-times Helen can explain some-thing to me differently than theway I learned it and make iteasier to understand,” JuliaCabot said.
Though studying together isone of many advantages ofhaving one’s twin at the sameschool, confusion with teach-ers is often an issue. JuniorJames Sun, whose twin brotheris John Sun, said, “the only dis-
advantage of having a twin atStuyvesant that I can think of ishaving a teacher hate me andaccidently hate John too.” JuliaCabot said, “It is a little annoy-ing being in the same class andteachers can't tell us apart atfirst, but eventually our teach-ers take in our differences.”
Nevertheless, teachersaren’t the only people who getconfused. Helen Cabot said,“Having a twin at Stuy definite-ly made it more diff icult toestablish myself as an individu-al. It seems at f irst peoplealways know me as the secondhalf of the Cabot twins.Sometimes I feel like peoplefeel like they know me if theyknow Julia, which is not thecase at all.” On the other hand,some people dwell on differ-ences rather than similarities.“The two most annoying ques-tions are ‘Who’s the smarterone?’ or ‘Who’s friendlier?’ Ifsomeone really wants to drawcomparisons then he or sheshould get to know both of usand then decide,” Helen Cabotsaid.
Some twins find that theythrive more after choosing sep-arate roads for high school.Junior Lily Ostrer is a fraternaltwin who no longer goes toschool with her sister, IsabelOstrer, a junior at the DaltonSchool, and she is “really glad”about it. The Ostrer twins wentto small schools until highschool. In elementary andmiddle school, Lily Ostrerexplained, it could be “fun andreally convenient,” especiallywhen they had the same home-work, but it was “harder to beseen as an individual. We’redefinitely treated more likeindividuals rather than a setnow that we go to differentschools.”
Some think that competi-tion over their schools could bea sore point, but Lily Ostrersaid that her “sister didn’t want
to go to Stuy [because] we defi-nitely wanted to be at separateschools.” Despite Stuyvesant’sreputation, she said her sister“was really glad [because] wespend enough time together asit is, and I think we would get
along a lot worse if we spentmore time together.” Sheadded that sharing a room is“the cause of enough argu-ments.”
Overall, the pros seem tooutweigh the cons. James Sunsaid, “The major advantage ofhaving a twin at Stuy is havingsomeone I can talk to. He canalways help with issuesbecause we go to the sameschool.”
When people hear I ’m atwin, a very typical response is,‘Oh that’s so cool! I’ve alwayswanted a twin!’” Ostrer said.“We also often get askedwhether we can read eachother’s minds. I don’t thinkI’ve come up with a goodenough response to such aridiculous question.”
One Pod, Separate Peas
“We also often get askedwhether we can
read each other'sminds. I don't
think I've come upwith a good
enough responseto such a ridicu-lous question”—Lily Ostrer,
junior and twin
“Even when wedon't have thesame teachers,
sometimes Helencan explain some-thing to me differ-ently than the way
I learned it andmake it easier to
understand” — Julia Cabot,
senior and twin
9Number of juniors that left
before completing the 2008-2009 school year
639Number of unclaimed lockers
13Number of incoming
sophomores
9Number of seniors that
left before completing the2008-2009 school year
THE AFTERMATHThe effects of the stunt have
been expansive. AP readersnationwide had a good laugh,and the coordinators of theprank are already planning fornext year. Two articles have beenwritten in The Examiner aboutthe phenomenon. Students whotook part this year were pleasedwith the results as can be seen onthe Discussion Boards in theFacebook group. Subjectsinclude "SUCCESS!!!!!!!", "Best
Usage of 'This is Sparta'..." and"Next Year?"
"Reader reactions to theprank were varied," head ofCollege Board communicationsJennifer Topiel wrote in an e-mail interview. However, accord-ing to an article published onThe Examiner's website on June16, 2008, the reaction was over-whelmingly positive and madethe grading process easier.
"I hope to do it again for thenext AP exams but I need a newline,” Xu wrote. What will thisline be? Wait till next May to findout.
Behind the Scenes of theFacebook-Generated
Phenomenon
continued from page 1
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Seniors Julia Cabot and Helen Cabot are one pair of twins at Stuyvesant who enjoyhaving their sibling with them.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The Spectator • October 20, 2008Page 4
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Olympiad Academia188-16 Northern Blvd. #202 Flushing, NY 11358
(Located on the second floor of HSBC)Phone (718)762-6364, (718)309-3933
SAT I (PSAT included) - 9/8 Start1) Wed 6-9pm: English Reading & Writing2) Fri 6-9pm: English Reading & Writing
3) Sat 10am-2pm (3 sections): English Reading & Writing (3 hrs) + Math (1 hr)
4) Sat 3-7pm (3 sections): English Reading & Writing (3 hrs) + Math (1 hr)
5) Saturday 10am-2pm & 3-7pm: Includes advanced classes forthose who scored over 2000 on the SAT
5) SAT I English & Math 1:1 tutoring available
SAT II (prep. for May & June 2009 tests) - 2nd week of October~ April 2009 (7 months)
1) Biology: Sat 6-8pm (total 56 hrs)2) Chemistry: Sat 6-8pm (total 56 hrs)3) Physics: Sat 8-10am (total 56 hrs)
4) Math (Pre-Calculus & Math Level II): Fri 7-9pm (total 56 hrs)
5) U.S. History (SAT II + AP): Fri 5-7pm (total 56 hrs)6) World History, Spanish, and English Literature 1:1 tutoring
available
Essay Writing (Instructor: Greg Marks, Ph.D) - 9/10 Start1) SAT I Essay: Tues 7-9pm
F O R T H E R E C O R D• In Issue 2, the number of sophomores cited in “New High in Class Size” wasincorrect. As of Monday, September 8, there were 823 sophomores.• In the Sports Calendar, the date of football homecoming was misstated. Itwas on Friday, October 10.• In Issue 4, in “‘Frontrunners’ To Be Released in Theaters,” the time whendirector Caroline Suh started filming was incorrect. She began in May 2006.• In “Stuy Alumni - Where are They Now?” Filipp Kotsishevskiy’s surnamewas misspelled.• In the photo cutline of “An Indian, or Not So Indian Chef,” the location ofLassi was incorrect. Lassi is in Greenwich Village.• In “Broadway Fundraises for Stuy,” a quote was misattributed. Junior TassoBountouvas, not Ella Gibson, said, “As soon as I found out about the freetickets, I told everyone to go.”• In the photo credit for “Ballerz Fall to Beacon, But Step Up to theChallenges Ahead,” Eileen LeGuillou’s surname was misspelled.• In “The Method to My Madness,” Van Cortlandt Park was misspelled.
The SpectatorWe are compiling an archive of
past issues.
We are looking for issues published before 1995.
Please send any newspapers to:
The Stuyvesant Spectator345 Chambers StreetNew York, NY 10282
All rights reserved by the creators.* Managing Board Members
F A C U L T Y A D V I S O RKerry Garfinkel
OP-ART
Internet users and clubpresidents should be forgivenfor doubting the StudentUnion’s (SU) existence in thefirst six weeks of school. Wecouldn’t find it either.
The Stuyvesant SU Web sitewas finally functioning onTuesday, October 14. The Website had been down for the firstsix weeks of school due to tech-nical difficulties.
The Web site is supposed toprovide information about theSU, alert the student body ofupcoming events and allowclubs and publications toreserve rooms and submit char-ters. The new, Halloween-col-ored site provides a barrenevents calendar, an email tosend questions and room-requests, and many pages thatare “coming soon.” The SU’sdelay in creating a functionalWeb site means that clubs havenot been able to hold meetingsor submit charters. As a result,no clubs have received fundingfrom the SU. And even if clubs
had submitted their charters, abudget meeting has yet to beheld this year.
During their campaign, SUpresident James Kim and vicepresident Casey Griffinpromised to both improveschool-wide communicationsby means of a new SU Web siteand "make the club/pub expe-rience better by expanding thenumber of rooms available inthe grid administration andmake club funding easier,"according to their platformstatement. The SU did take astep in the right direction bycreating a new Web site. But theexcessive delay is unacceptable.The SU has not gotten clubsand publications running andhas been virtually inaccessi-ble—it has failed to be an inte-gral part of the school commu-nity.
According to its constitu-tion, the SU “will serve toimprove student life withrespect to education, extra- andco-curricular activities, and
other areas of student life.” Tobest serve the student body, theold Web site could—andshould—have been kept run-ning while the new one wasbeing worked on. Or, even if theWeb site were not up, thereshould have been sign-upsheets so students couldreserve rooms off-line. Clubsshould also have been able tosubmit charters and budgetrequest forms.
Voter turnout reflects theSU’s perceived importance tothe student body. 1050 votersparticipated in the 2006 elec-tions, the race documented in"Frontrunners," while 700voted in the 2007 elections andonly 475 voted in June of thisyear. More students will vote ifthe SU can demonstrate that itselected officials actually impactthe Stuyvesant community.
The SU must get its acttogether and fulfill what theelected officials promised intheir platforms. The studentbody depends on it.
SU: Coming Soon?
The Columbia Scholastic PressAssociation recently awarded The
Spectator a Gold Medal in its annu-al 2008 critique.
The Editorial Board would like tothank our staff and sponsors.
The Spectator • October 17, 2008
OpinionsPage 7
By CHRISTOPHERNATOLI
and VARUN SHARMA
Wikipedia, “the freeencyclopedia that anyonecan edit,” as its slogangoes, generally gets theevil eye from teacherssince technically anyonecan come along andincorrectly edit an article,and users wil l acceptthose edits as fact. Thereare, however, over 150,000active registered editorswho monitor articles reg-ularly, as well as over 400bots—programs thatautomatically check forvandalism—and anuncountable number ofbeneficial editors whohaven’t registered,according to automaticstatistics from Wikipedia.Also, more frequentlyvandalized articles can belocked so that onlyadministrators or usersregistered for more thanfour days can edit thosearticles. Many tests haveshown that problematicedits rarely survive theWikipedian force for morethan an hour before beingcorrected, with most ofthem being correctedwithin a few minutes. Theincorrect edits that domanage to hide are often
in trivial articles thataren’t related to scholasticwork, and are still eventu-ally reverted.
On the rare occasionthat we inadvertently usefalse edits, we’ll recognizethem when they contra-
dict information fromother sources we use.Since projects requiremultiple sources, we’ll besure to check any impor-
tant facts multiple times.This is a skil l teachersshould trust us to have,and if we don’t, checkingour other sources withWikipedia helps developit.
Since Wikipedia drawsinformation from manysources (which articlesusually cite at the bottomof their pages), Wikipediais better than most otherInternet sources and evenother encyclopedias. In2006, l ibrarians atwww.libraryjournal.comevaluated Wikipedia and,unsurprisingly, approvedit as reliable referencematerial. With over 2.5million entries, it is themost wide-ranged ency-clopedia or source youcan find.
When looking at other,“more reliable” sites, it’sclear that they’re editedsolely by the creator, andprobably every few weeksor months if you’re lucky.Meanwhile, there’s anarmy of people constantlyediting and revising andperfecting Wikipedia arti-cles. It’s curious how stu-dents are urged time andagain not to useWikipedia, a collection ofinformation from manysources, while any otherWeb site is allowed.
The Wikipedia Fallacy
Point Counterpoint
By ANI SEFAJ
For the record, I do not hateWikipedia. In fact, late at night, with aresearch project due the next morning,and a mouse-hand itchy to copy andpaste, Wikipedia has been a kind andunderstanding friend. As a showcase ofcommunal knowledge, it is astonishinglyinteresting and useful. But as a showcaseof communal knowledge, it can often beunreliable as a research tool.
Wikipedia has been in the medianumerous times since the user-editedencyclopedia was first published. Thepopularity of the online encyclopedia hasexploded as more people find out aboutthe service. Yet, due to the fact thatWikipedia allows any person with internetaccess the ability to add or edit content,there are many errors in the informationfound on this website. The difficult part isdetermining what information is correctand what information is false.
People often attempt to play practicaljokes on Wikipedia. The listing for thecomedian Sinbad claimed that he haddied of a heart attack, when the man wasstill performing shows. Even someonefrom The New York Times office editedthe page of George Bush to include theword “jerk” 12 times.
Sometimes, the practical jokesbecome more than just a joke. Accordingto an August 2007 New York Times article,“Seeing Corporate Fingerprints inWikipedia Edits” by Katie Hafner, corpo-rate networks have been editing theirentries for their benefit. In 2004, someoneusing a computer at ExxonMobil madesubstantial changes to a description of the1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, por-traying the company in a positive light. Inanother case, someone from PepsiCo
removed parts of an entry that focused onthe negative impact drinking Pepsi has onyour health. This type of misinformationis one of the dangers you face when usingWikipedia.
However, it was a 2005 incident inwhich a Tennessee publisher was incor-rectly linked to the Kennedy assassinationon Wikipedia, that came up first when Igoogled “unreliable wikipedia.” And beingthe first search result, it really challengedthe user-edited website’s reliability andaccuracy in my mind.
But then I thought to myself, whatharm truly came of this, other than givingan unappreciated Tennessee publisher his15 minutes of fame. Imagine, we currentlylive in a world where people can changewho they are simply by accessingWikipedia. As of this article, I’m still decid-ing how to edit the article I created onmyself, whether I should be known as thefinal prophet of God or the true identity ofCaptain America.
For some readers, this notion thatWikipedia facts may not be true will throwskepticism on all previous informationthat they have received from the website.“How will we ever trust that acetic acid isin fact an organic compound best recog-nized for giving vinegar its sour taste andsmell,” you may ask yourself. But restassured, the honorable users of Wikipediaare on the job, policing the website dayand night.
These average citizens are taking itupon themselves to edit this website andkeep it up to the highest intellectual stan-dards. That kid who never does his home-work in Spanish class, the security guardat BMCC, and those sketchy guys at theBattery Park basketball courts who mightor might not be thinking of stealing yourwallet—all of these people are performingan invaluable service.
However, on rare occasions, an inac-curate fact may slip by the scrutiny ofthese ever-ready watchdogs. The problemwith this is that when an individual uses asearch engine such as Google, Wikipediais very often one of the first few results.Because Wikipedia articles with inaccu-rate facts might be the most readily avail-able, our teachers tell us not to rely onWikipedia for factual information intend-ed for a research project.
So reader, I leave you with this partingbit of information. In a May 2008 OneNews Now online article, “WikipediaUnder Fire for Posting Porn” by CharlieButts, an interesting fact was writtenabout the website. It stated that Wikipediahas gained popularity among elementaryschool kids who find it amusing to look upmature content on the website, bypassingtheir school’s internet security systems. Soif you promote Wikipedia, you’re destroy-ing our children’s values.
Wikipedia: Corrupting Our Children
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By EMMA DRIES
What would you do with 40more minutes in your day?
“Sleep,” said senior AllisonFowle, a member of theStuyvesant girls’ swim team. Ican safely say that the majority ofStuyvesant students don’t getenough sleep at night. Butinstead of constantly complain-
ing about it, what if there wassomething we could do to changeit?
On an average day, I gethome from school around 7:00p.m.. Swim practice ends at six,and then I have to shower,change and make my daily 20minute walk home. By the timeI’ve eaten dinner, unpacked mybag and pulled out my textbooks,it’s close to 8:00 p.m.. Then I startmy homework.
I have it easy. I am one of onlyfour people on the swim teamwho actually lives in Manhattan.Many people living in the outerboroughs do not get home until8:00 or 8:30 p.m.. WithStuyvesant’s workload, theydon’t even have the opportunityto sleep until midnight.According to the NationalInstitute of Health (NIH), an ado-lescent should be getting nine
hours of sleep every night.Physically active teenagersshould get even more.
According to the New YorkCity Department of Education(DOE), to graduate, all publichigh school students are requiredto earn four credits of physicaleducation (PE). Up until last year,Fiorella Laguardia High School,among other schools, allowedstudents who were active partici-pants on sports teams to not takePE. With an extra 40 minutes inschool to work, I, and othermembers of Stuyvesant sportsteams, would have an extra 40minutes to sleep.
There was really no reason torevoke the policy that excusedsports team members from PE.Students participating on anyPublic School Athletics Leaguesports team at Stuyvesant defi-nitely meet or exceed the NIH’s
suggested amount of physicalactivity of 30 minutes per day. A40-minute PE class is necessaryfor those who are not getting areasonable amount of exercise aday, but is unnecessary andexcessive for teenagers who playa sport regularly.
Enacting this policy wouldnot just relieve current athletes.The possibility of not beingforced to take PE would makejoining sports teams moreappealing. Athletic extracurricu-lars are important, and a greaterdraw to join a team is beneficialto both the school and the stu-dents.
Naturally, many gym teachersare opposed to such a policy. “AllStuyvesant students have to takephysical education. What makesathletes special? It’s a class, likeanything else. Kids on MathTeam aren’t exempt from Math
class,” PE teacher Howard Barbinsaid. However, the policy has lessto do with giving athletes specialprivileges, and more to do withallowing students to balance ath-letics with classes.
It’s highly unlikely that theDOE will change its policy.Unless, of course, we can proveto them that it really needs to bereconsidered. Writing letters tothe DOE is one way that highschool students can get theiropinions on this issue heard.Also, if we were willing enough tocreate a formal petition, wouldn’tit be a stronger argument if weconvinced PE teachers andcoaches to sign? The extent ofyour involvement in this issuedepends on how much you carefor that extra sliver of time everyday. Now, what would you do for40 more minutes in your day?
P.E. vs. ZZZ’s
Jack
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Many tests haveshown that prob-
lematic editsrarely survive
the Wikipedianforce for morethan an hour
before being cor-rected, with
most of thembeing corrected
within a few minutes.
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OpinionsThe Spectator • October 17, 2008Page 8
By MAHDI RAZA
Warning: if you’re lookingfor help finding programs out-side of Stuyvesant that wil lenhance your learning experi-ence, you‘re pretty much onyour own. When I came toStuyvesant, I expected teachersnot only to teach well but alsoto inform us of educationalprograms that would expandour knowledge beyond the cur-riculum. Unfortunately, mostteachers have developed suchregimented daily routines thatthey don’t mention helpfulextracurricular programs.
There are several requiredparts to a teacher’s job, likemaking sure the class learnsthe required material and help-ing students who are fallingbehind. What should also bemandated is taking the initia-
tive to help students seek morethan just a grade. For example,teachers should mentionplaces where students canexplore a certain subject ingreater depth. Spending a fewminutes each week informingstudents about an internship orseminar that examines organicchemistry, computer program-ming or real-world applicationsof statistics would make a hugedifference for many people.
My Advanced PlacementBiology teacher, for example,routinely provides us withinformation about college sem-inars with notable scientistsand other engaging topics, andencourages us to go by promis-ing extra credit. The seminarsprovide an engaging way forhigh school students toacquaint themselves withadvanced science topics and
may inspire them to follow acertain career path or researchtopic. They could also encour-age meaningful class discus-sions because students aremore likely to take an interestin a class when they believe theteacher takes an interest inthem.
As a host to informationabout many enriching pro-grams throughout the city, theguidance off ice is one con-tributing factor in this issue.The majority of students limittheir use of the guidance officeto programming and collegesbecause they are not aware ofthe many resources it provides.Throughout students’ earlyyears at Stuyvesant, they rarely
see their guidance counselorsafter the initial first weeks of asemester. Guidance counselorscan foster a better relationship
with their homerooms by hold-ing meetings with homeroomsevery month and talking aboutgeneral issues that are affectingstudents such as time manage-ment, testing and f indingextracurricular activit ies.Guidance counselors couldalso evaluate the progress ofstudents after their freshmenyear and help find them theextracurricular activity theywould be interested in.
The current situation leavesmany students dependent onrumors from friends who areprone to making errors wheninforming others. During myfreshman year, I heard aboutthe Columbia Science HonorsProgram from a friend, whomisled me into thinking it wasevery day after school. I laterfound he was wrong when Iwent to the program’s websiteand read it was on Saturdaysfor two hours. But by then, thedamage was done. The regis-tration date for the test hadpassed and I had to wait anoth-er year to join the program.
The most convenient wayto provide information to stu-dents while allowing teachersto maintain their daily routinesis through a l ink on theStuyvesant Web site. The cre-ation of a posting system, likethe history department’s webpage on internships and sum-mer programs, would al lowteachers and guidance coun-selors to post information onprograms when they hearabout them. This would alsoencourage students to visit the
guidance office with follow-upquestions about the programs.Furthermore, students shouldbe able to share their owninformation in the same-post-ing system. To ensure the postsare about real programs andare appropriate, guidancecounselors and departmentheads could act as moderators.This type of system would beconvenient to everyone sincethe school Web site is accessi-ble and students often check itfor updates.
We are often told by teach-ers to broaden our horizonsand to not hesitate to learn newthings. If teachers do believethis, then it’s time for them todo their part in expanding ourlearning experience.
Out of the Loop
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By SARAH KAPLAN
They used to be a familiarsight at Stuyvesant: vendorswith boxes of candy bars cra-dled in their arms and buyersreaching across opposite esca-lators to purchase that crucialpop-tart to get them throughAdvanced Placement (AP)Biology. Candy-sel l ing hadbecome a tradition here. Butthis year , vendors are a lotharder to find.
This is because the StudentUnion (SU) has implemented anew pol icy this year thatrequires all candy selling to beoperated through the SU.According to senior andClub/Pub Director Al lenGranzberg, clubs will have to
buy candy from the SU at theSU’s price, which will possiblybe higher than what c lubswould have to pay i f theybought their candy directlyfrom a store. When the clubmembers have sold theircandy, they will have to give allprofits back to the SU to be putinto their own account regulat-ed by the school’s accountant.
The new policy has beenpoorly thought out and poorlyimplemented. It will limit theability of clubs to obtain thefunding they need when theyneed it and will make the sys-tem of fundraising much morebureaucratic. The full detailsof the policy have not beenexplained to clubs and publi-cations, even though they were
forced to sign a contract agree-ing to it. Clubs still aren’t surehow the pol icy wi l l af fectthem.
“We really know very littleabout the new SU policy sincethere has not been a formalannouncement and al l weknow is based off of specula-tions and rumors,” senior androbotics team Director ofMarketing Daryl Vulis said. “Aclear statement from the SUearlier on in the school yearwould have been appreciated.”
In addition to the confu-sion, many clubs had alreadybought hundreds of dollars ofcandy before they were awareof the new policy. The roboticsteam has around 2,000 dollarsworth of their own candy thatthey now will be unable to sell.
The new policy was createdby Principal Stanley Teitel ,health teacher andCoordinator of Student AffairsLisa Weinwurm, senior and SUpresident James Kim andGranzberg, without any con-sultation of the club/pub pres-idents. Many of the new poli-cy’s details make fundraisingharder for clubs and give theSU and Weinwurm much morecontrol over club fundraising.Clubs wi l l have to apply toobtain boxes and will only beable to sell candy after theirapplication has been approvedby Granzberg and Weinwurm.
The clubs will then be givena set time frame for when they
are allowed to sell candy. Thissystem wil l not improvesales—students will probablybe less motivated to sell candyif they have to go through allthat trouble to obtain a box. Itmakes the fundraising processeven more inefficient than itwas before. Clubs wi l l a lsohave to apply to take funds outof their school bank accounts
and wait a two-day period fortheir request to be processedand approved by the SU. Thisis because Teitel and the SUare concerned that clubs areusing funds improperly. Butwho’s to say that the SU knows
how clubs should spend theirmoney better than the clubsdo?
Granzberg has also statedthe new pol icy was imple-mented to limit the number ofindividuals who sell for per-sonal gain and to comply withthe Department of Education’snew health regulations whichstate that candy cannot be soldin schools on a dai ly basis .Improving health standardsand preventing students fromsel l ing candy for their ownbenefit are admirable goals,but there are much better waysto obtain them. The SU couldreinstate last year’s sticker pol-icy, which allowed clubs to sellcandy only if they have an SU-approved sticker on their box.Or, they could publish a list ofhealthy foods that clubs cansell and comply with the newregulat ions. But i f they aregoing to insist that all candy bebought directly through theSU, the SU shouldn’t have con-trol over when clubs fundraiseor how their money is spent.
These new candy-sell ingguidel ines are hopelesslybureaucratic . And l ike al lbureaucratic systems, the newpolicy is unfair and extremelyinefficient. Hopefully, those APBiology students will be willingto wait a while for their pop-tarts.
The Pop-Tart Bureaucracy
Jack
Gre
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eSp
ecta
tor
Teachers should mention
places where students can
explore acertain subject
in greater depth.
The full details of the policy
have not beenexplained to clubsand publications,even though they
were forced to signa contract
agreeing to it.Many of the newpolicy’s details
make fundraisingharder for clubs
and they givethe SU andWeinwurm much more
control over clubfundraising.
The majority ofstudents limit
their use of theguidance office to
programmingand colleges
because they arenot aware of the
many resources itprovides.
The Spectator • October 17, 2008Page 9
Arts & Entertainment
By DANIEL FLEISHMAN
Many hip-hop devoteeswould say that hip-hop diedwhen the Sugarhill Gangreleased their 1979 single,“Rapper’s Delight,” thrustingthe genre into the mainstreamand away from its improvisa-tional roots. For cynics who feelthis way, the small, but well-respected, Nuyorican Poets Cafémay just be the remedy.
Established in 1973, TheNuyorican Poets Café is an out-let for amateur and professionalartists of the spoken word. Itwas co-founded by MiguelPiñero, a Nuyorican (PuertoRican New Yorker) playwright,best known for his prison-drama play “Short Eyes.”Throughout its existence, it hasbeen a non-profit organization,harboring a philosophy of freeexpression. It is owned and con-trolled by a Board of Directorsand hosts music, theater and
poetry performances, as well asfilm and visual arts.
Walking into the Nuyoricana few hours before show time, Iwas greeted warmly by RomeNeal, a member of the Board ofDirectors and by Pepe theBartender, who did not wish togive his last name. I was imme-diately offered some cheap anddelicious homemade bananapudding ($5.00). I thought theywould be surprised at someonemy age and appearance cominginto their café, but they werenot.
“We draw a very diversecrowd,” Neal said. “White,Black, Asian, young, adolescent,senior citizens, all ages andraces.”
“The atmosphere of theNuyo is dope,” said junior andspoken word poet Alexis Wint,whose first performance was atThe Nuyorican. “Everyone isreally supportive of the per-former going up and the crowdcan be tough, but there is alwaysa lot of love in the venue,” shesaid. Wint has performed at TheNuyorican several times in hercareer.
The Nuyorican hosts anopen mic on the firstWednesday of every month.Those who want to perform inthe open mic write down theirnames on scraps of paper,which are thrown into a bag forrandom picking by the emcee.
When the performance start-ed, the diversity was striking.Performer after performer wentup on stage to read his poem orrap about whatever inspiredhim or her. There were no limitsor restrictions on what was per-formed. The speakers were allaccompanied by a superb jazzband, which provided a bassline and rhythm for each per-former.
One of the more experiencedperformers was DavidAvendado, a 25-year oldMexican immigrant who hasbeen writing since his late teensand performing for almost aslong. “In my poems and essays,I concentrate a lot on topicssuch as freedom, reason andlove and their interaction,”Avendano said. “It’s mostly verypersonal poetry.”
Another reader was SamsonLahti-Parsell, a 24-year oldEnglish major at Hunter Collegeand somewhat less-experiencedpoet. He has been writing forhalf a decade, but this October’sopen mic was his first ever per-formance. “I’m nervous as hell,”Lahti-Parsell said. His poetryfocused mostly on class differ-ence and on pointing outaspects of everyday life whichoften pass us by.
Admission to The Nuyoricanis usually anywhere from $5 to$15, varying with the event.There is also a discount if youpresent a flier.
The bar at The Nuyoricanoffers a large variety of drinks
not available to minors, andbasic snack foods such at potatochips. Sometimes Neal will also
make his delicious banana pud-ding.
In addition, The Nuyoricanis sensitive to the financial con-straints of budget-warypatrons—there’s no one-drinkminimum. “We want to makethis place as feasible for peopleto attend as possible,” Pepesaid.
“We get a lot of high schoolstudents,” Neal said. “It’simportant to share the writtenword with young people.”
Upcoming events includeYOU(th) VOTE, a BET-spon-sored political poetry perfor-mance on Wednesday, October22, a Saturday, October 25 per-formance of Madwoman: AContemporary Opera, and aLatin Jazz Jam with WillieMartinez and La Familia Sexteton Thursday, October 30.
The Nuyorican is alwaysopen if you need to let off steamon a late night, happen to findyourself walking down EastThird Street or if you just wantto spend an evening basking inthe glory of free speech.
Nuyorican Poets Cafe236 East 3rd Street (between
Aves. B & C)New York, NY 10009
(212)505-8183www.nuyorican.org
The Nuyorican: Mecca of the Spoken Word
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The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, located on 3rd Street between Avenues B & C, hosts a monthly open mic which attracts a diverse crowd.
By JAMES DENNIN
While music is filled withthe names of incrediblyfamous groups from pop sen-sations like the BackstreetBoys to the ever-popularBeatles, solo artists have a cer-tain flexibility that is harderfor groups to have. Individualscan join and leave bands asthey please. Pete Doherty wasa brilliant, young, promisingartist by himself, who hap-pened to form the greatestsong writing duo with CarlBarat since John Lennon andPaul McCartney. It’s true thatlistening to Babyshambles’ssecond album “Shotter’sNation” is like listening to thenonexistent third album ofThe Libertines—Doherty firstbecame famous as a memberof The Libertines, who thenwent on to formBabyshambles. HoweverDoherty, alone, remains oneof the best songwriters inmodern pop music.
In the days before his forayinto songwriting, he was apoet. By listening to the songswe see that years of over-exposure to the public andtabloid articles have donenothing to stifle his gift forlyricism. Doherty’s words areas powerful as ever, exploringunique rhyme schemes andunconventional perceptionsof love.
No INever said it was cleverI just like it in leatherLookin’ for the light
Behind your eyes
While Doherty’s bandmembers provide more thancompetent instrumentationfor his melodies, the band isunable to replicate the sameimprovised yet tuneful soundembodied by his former band,The Libertines. Many of thesongs feel somewhat out ofplace, like the awkward“Baddie’s Bookie,” whichseems almost slapped togeth-er on top of Doherty’s vocals.Maybe only Barat knew how tomake rhyme out of Doherty’smadness—but there are songswhich come across as unifiedyet chaotic, brash yet beauti-ful, youthful yet tinged withloss.
The album’s second track,“Delivery,” is one such song.Doherty sings about his bat-tles with drug addiction andhis struggles as an artist. He
speaks of the Shotter’s nationwhich gives the album itstitle—a shotter is British slangfor a drug dealer—and hopesthat he can gain redemptionthrough his art, “This songmay deliver me/straight fromthe horror to you.” The wordsare layered over a pair of sim-ple guitar lines which effec-tively set the stage for
Doherty’s brooding. Babyshambles gradually
add in their instruments, oftenstarting with Doherty’s guitarand layering the rest of theband in what sometimesbecomes a magnificentcrescendo. The effect can bedazzling, as with the start of“You Talk,” where a pair ofchords gives way to a livelyplucked bass and an exuber-ant rhythm section. “YouTalk” is one of the few pointson the album where Dohertydoes his best lyric work anddrummer Adam Ficek’s fero-cious drumming offers a wel-come contrast to Doherty’sgentle warble.
On The Libertines’s secondalbum, Doherty and Barat singa duet, the near perfect “Can’tStand me Now,” which seemslike a conventional balladabout a dysfunctional couple.Listeners wonder if they aren’tsinging about the relation-ships in their lives—but toeach other. It’s hard to thinkof a pair as brilliant in theirsongwriting and as tragic intheir inability to maintain arespectable image. While theirdysfunctional relationship haslead to fights and break-upsand burglaries—Doherty wassentenced to six months in jailfor breaking into Barat’shome—“Shotter’s Nation”shows that it’s also led tomany, many great songs.
Unearthed from theSlushpile: Babyshambles
Doherty’s words are as
powerful as ever,exploring
unique rhymeschemes and
unconventionalperceptions
of love.
“The atmosphereof the
Nuyo is dope.”—Alexis Wint,
junior and poet
“It’s important to share the
written word with young
people” —Rome Neal,
member ofNuyorican Café
Board of Directors
From Thursday, October 16 through Thursday, October 30, the Theatre Communications Group will be hosting free shows
of genres ranging from classical to experimental throughout New YorkCity. A small number of the original 8,000 free tickets can
still be reserved at www.freenightnyc.net
The Spectator • October 17, 2008 Page 10
Arts & Entertainment
By ALAN SAGE
“Would you get mad if Ididn’t vote for you?” Candidatefor Student Union (SU) presi-dent Hannah Freiman seemsfar too busy campaigning topay attention to SharelItzkovich’s (’07) rather unnec-essary comment in directorCaroline Suh’s new fi lm,“Frontrunners.” But the audi-ence notices, and enjoys the70-minute long juxtaposition ofhigh school kids being politi-cians and being high schoolkids.
The film, which documentsthe 2006 race for Stuyvesant SUpresident, begins by introduc-ing all four of the candidates—Mike Zaytsev, George Zisiadis,Freiman and Alex Leonard.Their brief introductions arefollowed by political commen-tary from Jon Edelman (’06),whom the directors label a“senior/unofficial pundit.”Unnamed Stuyvesant studentsoffer opinions throughout thefilm, including a student dis-cussing the importance ofimproving school lunches.
Director Caroline Suh triesto offer the audience a pictureof the current SU before focus-ing on the election. Sheincludes a budget meetingsequence, featuring the presi-dent of a French literary clubappealing to then-ChiefFinancial Officer Zaytsev for$200. However, for the mostpart “Frontrunners” centers onthe upcoming elections.
For the majority of the film,Zisiadis steals the show. His
frequent witty remarks almostseem to outshine the film itself.He campaigns at the top of thebridge because students “haveto tilt their heads up and lookat you, that establishes a sub-conscious notion of superiority
and leadership,” as Zisiadisexplains in the film.
While “Frontrunners” isn’texactly an inspirational film, itsucceeds in avoiding glorifica-tion of the Stuyvesant elec-tions—an achievement, consid-ering that Suh made the film topresent a microcosm of thenational election. Onesequence shows Zaytsev, whobelieves that he is assured vic-
tory in the election, and run-ning-mate Marta Bralic lazilyleaning on a third floor hallway,occasionally blurting out“Make the right choice” as ahalf-hearted attempt to gainfreshmen voters. Such shots
remind the audience that it wasa genuine high school election.
The film occasionally treadsa fine line between drama andmelodrama. The coverage ofthe Primary Elections is ratherexaggerated. Overly dramaticmusic accompanies historyteacher and formerCoordinator of Student AffairsMatthew Polazzo’s broadcastover the loudspeaker about vot-
ing in the primaries. However, it does an excel-
lent job of documentingZaytsev’s and Bralic’s emotionsafter learning of their defeat,with Zaytsev’s cocky façadedeteriorating, to the delight ofthe audience. Zisiadis proceedsto offer another humorousuplift—after the primaries, thefilm finds the SU president-hopeful consuming a pint ofCold Stone ice cream in cele-bration.
The presidential debatebetween Zisiadis and Freimanemerges as the highlight of thefilm. While Polazzo did admitthat “the debate was done in amuch more professional man-ner” because it was beingfilmed, its mix of professional-ism and sloppiness made itperfectly fit for Stuyvesant.
The debate sequence beginswith two clumsy studentsattempting to hang a“Stuyvesant High School”canopy parallel to the ground.The mix of professional politicswith high school studentsbecomes evident when, at thesuggestion of physical educa-tion teacher Lawrence Barth,Zisiadis asks Freiman the cleverquestion “If you lost, whatwould you attribute it to?”
“Frontrunners” then pro-ceeds to cover The Spectatoreditorial board’s debate onwhom to endorse. FormerEditor-in-Chief WyndamMakowsky (’07) talks to his fel-low editors about how “the SUis George’s life.” The EditorialBoard ends up endorsingZisiadis, which Zisiadis
describes as “pretty intense.” The coverage of the general
elections is similar to that ofthe primaries and equallymelodramatic. The camera fol-lows both Freiman and Zisiadisfrom their homes as they pen-sively commute to school. Thefilm concludes with Zisiadis’svictory in the election.
“Frontrunners” accuratelydepicts Stuyvesant life and thesystem of the SU elections.Other than a few quotes aboutGeorge Bush from a Republicanstudent, the film successfullyavoids imposing a link betweenthe SU elections and thenational elections on the audi-ence.
As a work of art,“Frontrunners” is only mildlysuccessful. The candidates’vibrant personalities carry thefilm for the most part, but itnever develops any theme. Bystriving to avoid glorification ofthe elections—which wasaccomplished in most of thescenes besides the actual elec-tion days—the director pur-posely tried to stick to rawfootage. The genius of any film,though, lies in the editing.
Most audiences probablywon’t find “Frontrunners” ter-ribly inspirational. However, ithas its humorous moments,and it captures the candidates’personalities well. Overall, thefilm could be summed up as“pretty intense.”
Frontrunners is playing at Film Forum,
located at 209 West HoustonStreet, New York, NY 10014.
“Frontrunners”: Capturing the Candidates
By MICHAEL SILVERBLATT and HYEMIN YI
The pixilated graphics. Thejoystick. And most of all, the80s.
Now that Tetris, PacManand just about every otherarcade game can be download-ed from the internet, the classic“penny arcade” has becomeharder and harder to find. Yet afew remnants from the arcadeera still exist in the far-out cor-ners of our city.
One of these remnants isBarcade, located inWilliamsburg. Barcade housesover 30 “vintage” games in alofty room with relaxing music,and, of course, a bar. Barcade is“an affordable rendering ofgames from our past,” saidNavin Kamath, a Manhattan
resident and first-timer atBarcade. “And [the setting is]not cheesy.”
Classic games like Punch-Out, Donkey Kong, Tetris,Frogger and Ms. Pacman canall be found at Barcade. Foranyone who played videogames as a child, the namesand looks of the games shouldbe familiar. In addition, thethrowback prices—all gamesare a quarter per play—havemany locals addicted toBarcade games. “I have a friendwho stops by after work, plays agame, and leaves,” said AshleyGiombetti, a Brooklyn resident.
But as both Giombetti andKamath said when we firstapproached them, “Are youeven allowed to be here?” After40 minutes of steering clear ofthe bar, the bartender finally
noticed us and we were askedto return to Barcade no earlierthan our 21st birthdays.
It is possible, though, toavoid the bartender if you keepa low profile.
Back in Manhattan, most ofthe remaining arcades are moreadamant about refusingminors’ entrance. Dave &Busters, located in TimesSquare, requires one 21 year-old to accompany every sixminors. The more child- andadolescent-friendly arcades,like the ever-popular BroadwayCity Arcade, have almost allclosed down.
One of the few remainingManhattan arcades open tominors is the Chinatown FairVideo Arcade. Upon entering,one immediately notices howtight the space is. The lightingis dim, but the gamers almostseem to radiate with energy. Atypical sight at Chinatown Fairis a girl in a gray t-shirt andblack sweatpants clutching thebars of a “Pump It Up”machine (a Dance DanceRevolution-type game), gettingan “excellent” with every stepmade.
Unfortunately, ChinatownFair doesn’t offer many of theclassic “penny arcade” games.Street Fighter II , Marvel vs.Capcom, Tekkn 5 and TimeCrisis 4 are easy to find, butthere’s no sign of Donkey Kongor Frogger. The newest gameswith more realistic graphicsattract the largest crowds atChinatown Fair. Games requireup to $1.50 in tokens for oneplay.
While Chinatown Fair isworth a visit for any nostalgic
gamers, a visit to ChinatownFair isn’t necessarily a pleasantexperience. The crowd is pas-
sionate about gaming, but isoften hostile towards newcom-ers—if you’re going to visit thearcade, plan on receiving a fewstares.
Now more than ever, acces-sible arcades are dying out, andfor minors, arcades are almostnonexistent. The challenges ofthis level may have become toomuch for the classic arcade.
Barcade388 Union Avenue,
Brooklyn/WilliamsburgBrooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 302-6464
Chinatown Fair Video Arcade8 Mott Street, Manhattan/Civic
CenterNew York, NY 10013
(212) 964-1542
Game Over!
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Chinatown Fair Video Arcade attracts large crowds despite its small space and lack of"penny arcade" games.
Mic
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Barcade, a video arcade located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, offers classic games such asFrogger and Pacman for a quarter per play.
The morechild- and
adolescent-friendly arcades,
like the ever-popular BroadwayCity Arcade, havealmost all closed
down.
SportsThe Spectator • October 17, 2008 Page 11
By AARON GHITELMAN
As the temperature starts todrop and the colors of the leavesstart to change, Halloweenapproaches. It is one of the mostwidely celebrated holidays hereat Stuyvesant, with many stu-dents strolling into school in vari-ous different costumes. For stu-dent-athletes who have not yetdecided what they will dress upas, it’s not a bad idea to choose acostume that demonstrates yourappreciation (or lack thereof) forthe Public Schools AthleticLeague (PSAL) and Stuyvesantsports. So, without further ado,here is your first ever list of theTop Eight PSAL-related cos-tumes.
8) The Standard WrestlingUnitard: While this does not quiteflatter my physique, I’m sure that
some people can pull it off. And,for better or for worse, it does notleave much to the imagination.
7) Pier 40 on a Rainy Day:Wear a green outfit, preferablyone with artificial turf attached toit. Spend the entire day pouringwater on yourself. At the begin-ning the rain won’t affect you, butby the end of the day you aredrenched. And you’ll stay soakedfor up to three days afterHalloween.
6) PSAL Football Referee:You’ll wear the standard pin-striped referee shirt and pantswith one special addition: thickblinding sunglasses (Kanye cov-ers are optional). This is only tomake sure you can not actuallysee any illegal moves in the back.
5) Member of Woopegsooie“The Official Booster Club ofStuyvesant High” As those whofrequent any number ofStuyvesant sports games, butmainly our home basketballgames, know, there is nothingcooler than painting your body.Consider getting a group offriends together so you can eachdress up as one. You’ll paint let-ters on your chest so when you allstand together you can spell out aword. If you have four friends youcan spell out S-T-U-Y, six friendsR-E-B-E-L-S, and, if you’re reallypopular and have 10 friends, S-T-U-Y-V-E-S-A-N-T.
4) Lincoln High School bas-
ketball star Lance Stephenson:Wear the Railsplitters star’s Navyand Silver number 1 jersey. Notonly did he average 23.3 pointsper game as a junior last season,but he lives the fantasy of everyStuyvesant student. He doesn’thave to apply to colleges—theyapply for him.
3) Cricket Whites: This is awhite knit sweater and whiteslacks or white sweatpants. Nojoke here, seriously. I think theyare actually pretty cool. I’d saythey are the classiest uniforms insports.
2) Anything Related toDouble Dutch: This includes anycostume that includes a rope, orbetter yet, a jump rope. See:Ghitelman, Aaron, “Don’t JumpIn.” The Spectator, Issue 1.September 4, 2008.
1) PSAL BasketballCommissioner. You have a lot offreedom with this outfit to take itin whichever direction you want;you can wear a suit, regular streetclothes, whatever. Just make sureto not watch any videos all day,even if one of them will provethat you miscalculated the scoreof the playoff game that sent theRunnin’ Rebels home last year.While you may be tempted toswallow your pride, watch thevideo, and realize that makingmistakes is only human, don’t.That would be too easy.
Aaron’s Costumes Corner
Football
The Penguins are doingwhatever they can to makesure the incident does notaffect their performance. "Wehad a lot of momentum going,”Cunningham said. “We werereally excited with the newcoaches, we've been having
hard practices, and we weregetting in really good shape. Itwas looking good, but we'retrying not to let that momen-tum slide."
For seniors like Okochi andCunningham, it is possible thatthey will never be able to swimin the Stuyvesant pool again.While Cunningham admits that
this is hard for her, she empha-sized that the pool itself is notwhat is important. “We still havethe team, and the team is prettyspecial,” she said. “We've hadissues every year and we'vedealt with them, so we'll justmake the best of it.”
Strike this group of penguinsoff the endangered species list.
Penguins Respond to Loss of Habitatcontinued from page 12
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Girls’ Swimming
By JACK GREISMAN
"Well—," senior and bowlingteam captain Simon Man wasmid-thought when he heard hisname being called. He quicklyexcused himself, and walkedover to the lane and picked uphis bowling ball. After pausingbriefly to concentrate, Manbegan his motion and promptlybowled a strike. After high-five-ing the members of his team,Man walked over and contin-
ued—"Sorry about that," he said.Stuyvesant's boys' bowling
team is having another success-ful season. They are currently 4-0following a win against Food andFinance High School onMonday, October 6. Stuyvesant'shigh scorers against Food andFinance were Man with 176 pins,and senior Harry Truong with173. Stuyvesant won all threegames in the match, and man-aged to get all 12 of its membersto bowl.
Coach Tim Pon looks for-ward to another promising sea-son. "We're going to do very well.I'm expecting [the team] to have
another undefeated season. Wehaven't given up a regular seasonmatch in [more than five] years,”he said.
The Hookers' perfect regularseasons can be attributed to theirweak division. "We don't havemuch of a challenge. We don'thave any serious threats till theplayoffs," junior Leo Ernst said.Ernst is leading the team with anaverage of 158 pins a game, andhas a season high of 179 againstBayard Rustin on Monday,September 29. The highest scoreof the season, however, belongsto Man with 189 pins.
Despite their clear success, amain problem for the bowlingteam has been practicing. Due totheir limited budget from theschool and the relatively highcost of practicing, the team onlyschedules several official prac-tices each season. "This year wewere given a little bit moremoney than last year. We've hadtwo practices already, and I willlikely schedule a third just beforethe playoffs," Pon said. Due tothese intermittent practices, theteam members have to makebowling an individual priority."People who live together try toplay together. I go to MapleLanes in Brooklyn with someteam mates to practice," Truongsaid.
Man also makes personalefforts to improve his bowlingdue to the lack of scheduledpractices. "I practice with Stanley[Chung, a fellow team member]on weekends in Queens. If wehad more practices, it would giveus time to work with our funda-mentals, which we can alwaysimprove. It'd also give us betterteam chemistry."
Still, the captain expressedconfidence for a successful sea-son. "I feel the team has reallygood potential. I think we have agood shot in the playoffs.”
Rollin' With Success
Boys’ Bowling
made some good plays,”Wheatley Schall said. “That’swhat you’ve got to do.”
Affuso then converted on thefield goal, bringing Stuyvesant to
within two points. After failing torecover an on-side-kick, howev-er, the Peglegs failed to gain pos-session of the ball to try to makeone last push. They lost, 22-20,and their hopes of making thepostseason dissolved.
Despite being eliminated
from the playoffs, the Peglegsplan to take their remainingthree games seriously. “The sea-son still means a lot to all of us,”Wheatley Schall said. “We wantto win the other three games andgo out with a winning record likelast year.”
Close Homecoming Loss Ends Peglegs’ Playoff Hopes
continued from page 12
look] very strong this year,” hesaid. “The prospects look goodand we’re hoping to re-gain ourtitle.” While the new freshmenand sophomores have not yetreceived many opportunities toplay, Winston has been
impressed with their dedication.The Untouchables know that
the title won’t come without hardwork, though. “We train for threehours five days a week afterschool,” said Sin, who’s been onthe team since his sophomoreyear. “Every day we practice con-ditioning and footwork in addi-
tion to one-on-one personal ses-sions to help the players individ-ually.”
With their skill and rigoroustraining schedule, it is very likelythat the Untouchables will bemaking an appearance in thefinals once again.
Can’t Touch ThisFencing
continued from page 12
ADVERTISMENT
Two JV Football Players Poisoned At Practice
significant, copper sulfate iscommonly classified as harmfulif digested.
Because a significant portionof the team was either involvedin the incident or knew about itbut didn't try to stop it, Singerwas initially considering sus-pending the rest of the season.She and Principal Stanley Teitelmet on Friday, October 10, to
discuss the team's future. "Ourfirst response was to cancel theentire season, because of theseriousness of the incident,"Singer said. "That's still on thetable, but we didn't have a lot oftime with the day off." Since theyonly discussed it on Wednesdayand there was no schoolThursday, they said there wasnot enough time to make thedecision before Friday's home-coming game. The team was
allowed to play the game, whichthey won, 14-6, but Singer andTeitel are still discussing thefuture of the team's season.Singer expects to have made adecision regarding whether ornot the season will continue byFriday, October 17.
"A team should be a cohesivegroup," Singer said. "Whensomebody does something it canand should have an effect on theothers."
continued from page 1
Page 12October 17, 2008
THE SPECTATOR SPORTS
SPORTS CALENDAR
Boys’ Soccervs. Lab
MuseumUnitedCentralPark—North
Meadow4:00 p.m.
Tuesday,October 21
Fencing
Girls’Swimming vs.
Bronx HighSchool ofScienceDewitt
Clinton HighSchool Pool
4:30 p.m.
Wednesday,October 22
Boy’s Bowlingvs. Murry
BergtraumHigh SchoolLeisure TimeRecreation—
Lane 263:45 p.m.
Thursday,October 23
Girls’Volleyball vs.
NormanThomas High
SchoolStuyvesant
High SchoolGym
5:30 p.m.
Friday,October 24
Boys’ and Girls’Cross Country
ManhattanBorough
ChampionshipVan Cortlandt
Park9:00 a.m.
Boys’ Footballvs. EvanderChilds High
SchoolEvander Childs
High School11:00 a.m.
Saturday,October 25
Saturday,October 25
By WACIRA MAINA
The crowd roars as the twofencers stare each other down.The referee ushers them toapproach the line and they taketheir positions. In a second, theirhands tighten around theirweapons. The tension in the air ispalpable. One runs forward andthe other sidesteps, effortlesslylanding a counterattack. Thefighters dash towards each otheragain, and another blow is land-ed, followed by a counterattack.The point total quickly adds up,and about five minutes later, theplayers walk back to their respec-tive ends as the shadow of a smilegleams through the winner’sheadgear. No, this is not a scenefrom Star Wars, this is Stuyvesantfencing.
The Stuyvesant boys’ varsityfencing team, the Untouchables,was in top form as it won itsopening game against the HighSchool of Art and Design onFriday, October 3. Led by seniorcaptains Ken Sin and MuzhouLu, the Untouchables were ableto defeat their opponents whileconceding only two of the 15duels. Junior Max Blitzer, whowon both of his bouts, believesthat this strong victory foreshad-ows the team’s success for theremainder of its matches. “It’sgoing to be wonderful,” he said ofthe season.
Ian Armstrong, a junior whowon his duel without gettingtouched once, believes that theteam will be successful not onlybecause of its talented starters,
but also due to the strength ofthose who don’t get in matchesvery often. “We have a lot oftough fencers, but one of thegreatest things is that we alsohave a very deep team,” he said.
In Public Schools AthleticLeague (PSAL) fencing, eachteam is composed of about sixstarting players and multiplesubstitutes. Matches are one-on-one, and the first to get five“touches” on the other player isthe winner. Generally speaking, a“touch” is when one player suc-cessfully makes contact withanother player above the waistusing his or her foil–the type ofsword, as opposed to the saber orepée, used in PSAL fencing. Someplaces, like the back of the neck,
are off limits. The team with themost total wins is the victor of thematch.
The Untouchables finishedlast season with an undefeated10-0 record. Then, they succeed-ed in doing what the NewEngland Patriots could not: con-vert a perfect regular season intoa postseason title. Stuyvesantdefeated Tottenville High Schoolon Friday, November 16 of lastyear by a close score of 4.75-4.25to secure the PSAL CityChampionship. Coach and tech-nology teacher Joel Winston saidthat the team is capable of per-forming at the same caliber thisseason as it did last season. “[We
Girls’ Bowlingvs. High School
of FashionInterview
Leisure TimeRecreation—
Lane 6
Wednesday,October 29
Boys’ Fencingvs. High School
of Art andDesign
StuyvesantHigh School-
6th FloorDance Studio
4:30 p.m.
Friday,October 24
Can’t Touch This
Stuyvesant’s fencing team, the Untouchables, started off their season with a dominantvictory over the High School of Art and Design.
Jon
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By NICHOLAS HANand LUC COHEN
After winning the first twogames of the season,Stuyvesant's varsity footballteam, the Peglegs, had, as ofThursday, October 9, lost theirlast three. The Peglegs lost toSpringfield Gardens by a score of26-18 on Friday, October 3, atPier 40. Although they weredown 20-6 by the end of the firsthalf, they bounced back to bewithin two points in the fourthquarter. Nonetheless, they couldnot complete the comeback.Despite the loss, senior, runningback and co-captain DionicioHerrera, back after recoveringfrom knee surgery more quicklythan expected, finished the daywith 111 yards on 18 carries anda touchdown. Senior, quarter-back and co-captain Nick Goldinalso performed well, finishingwith two touchdowns (one
receiving, one rushing), eighttackles and one interceptionwhile on defense.
Goldin attributes these lossesto their own mistakes. "Ondefense we have not tackled welland we've been giving up bigplays,” he said. “On the offensiveside of the ball, it's been theopposite. We're not getting thebig plays and we're having toscore by driving down the field."
After the Springfield Gardensloss, the Peglegs knew that theyhad to win all of their remainingfour games to make the playoffs.“To finish the season strong, itwill take strong leadership by theseniors,” head coach MarkStrasser said. “Teams are testedin this type of situation by howthe leaders react. The only thingwe have to work on is being con-sistent. We will play great foot-ball for 80 percent of the time,and than we lose focus and makea mistake. We have to stay
focused and play great 100 per-cent of the time."
Going into their homecominggame against third place Trojansof George Washington HighSchool on Friday, October 10, atPier 40, the Peglegs knew theyhad to win in order to keep theirplayoff hopes alive. Some playerswere hoping that support fromthe crowd here would give themthe energy that helped them winat homecoming last year. “Wealways get a big boost playing infront of a lot of great fans duringhomecoming," Goldin said.
If eighth-place Stuyvesantcould beat third-place GeorgeWashington, the team would bemuch more confident going intothe final three games. "If we cantaste what victory is like again,I'm sure the team will be hungryfor more," Herrera said.
As Strasser noted, manyseniors would be motivated bythe emotional significance of the
homecoming game. "This will bethe seniors’ last game at Pier 40,and the added excitement ofhomecoming would get anyoneup for this game,” he said. “It willbe a special night for everyonethat attends."
The Peglegs got off to a slowstart under the Friday nightlights, as George Washington gotoff to a 6-0 first quarter lead offan early rushing touchdown.Early in the second quarter, how-ever, senior receiver NicholasWheatley Schall scored the firstof his three touchdowns in thegame, which accounted for 18 ofthe team’s 20 points, on a passfrom Goldin to even the score at6-6. Then, about midwaythrough the second quarter, aninterception by senior SimonGreenberg set the stage foranother Goldin-to-WheatleySchall touchdown pass, this timefollowed by a converted field goalby junior kicker Michael Affuso.
When halftime was called,the Peglegs were leading by ascore of 13-6. The cheerleadersdid 13 push-ups to match thenumber of points the Peglegshad, senior Charles Kuang,dressed as the mascot PeglegPete, entertained the crowd, andeveryone in the Stuyvesant sec-tion of the bleachers seemed tobe in good humor.
At the beginnings of the thirdand fourth quarters, GeorgeWashington scored touchdowns,while Stuyvesant’s offense wassilent, making the score 22-13 inthe Trojans’ favor. But with threeminutes left in the fourth quarter,junior quarterback Eric Lind fireda first down pass to Goldin,opening the door for WheatleySchall’s third touchdown recep-tion of the night, this time com-ing off a pass from Lind. “Ericplayed well at quarterback and
Close Homecoming Loss Ends Peglegs’ Playoff Hopes
continued on page 11
Football
By LUC COHENwith additional reporting by
CHRISTOPHER ZHAO
Antarctic penguins arestruggling to adjust to the melt-ing of the polar ice caps due toglobal warming. The Penguins,Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity swimteam, are now beginning toempathize with their aviannamesakes after humidity fromthe Stuyvesant pool caused aceiling panel—suspended by arusted metal chain—to collapseon Thursday, September 25.Until further notice, the poolwill be closed for the remainderof the girls’ swimming season.
This isn’t the first time thepanels have fallen in the poolarea. In the past they had fallenon the cemented sides, and notdirectly into the pool. “It didn’treally affect our swimming atall, since it was in the cornerand not above the pool,” seniorand co-captain Kei Okochi said.
The pool closing alters thePenguins’ schedule of bothpractices and meets. “Wehaven’t had swim practice sinceFriday, [September] 26,” seniorand co-captain NoraCunningham said. “Since thenwe've had dry-lands every day,so we're working to keep inshape.” Dry-lands are groundexercises like running and calis-thenics. Since then, the
Penguins have resumed practic-ing in the pool. On Tuesday andThursday mornings, they swimat New York University (NYU),and on Monday, Wednesdayand Friday afternoons, theypractice at the BrooklynTechnical High School pool.
“It’s a little inconvenient,”Okochi said of the new practiceschedule. “But it’s not thatbad.”
In addition to having prac-tice at other locations, all of themeets originally scheduled to beheld at Stuyvesant’s pool willinstead be held at the oppo-nents’ pool. While Okochidoesn’t believe this will signifi-cantly affect the team’s perfor-mance, she expressed disap-pointment in not getting a finalchance to experience theintense atmosphere in a homematch against the Penguins’bitter rival, Bronx High Schoolof Science. “I was especiallylooking forward to the BronxScience meet, and that was sup-posed to be a home meet,” shesaid. The location of the annualface off has been moved fromStuyvesant’s pool to BronxScience’s home at LehmanCollege. To the Penguins’ dis-may, they will not be having thehome atmosphere and crowdsupport that they were sched-uled to have this season.
