Issue 13, Volume CVII

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper A&E

Features

Fitter, Happier, More Innovative... The Legacy of Radiohead’s “OK Computer”

Transgender at Stuyvesant: Transgressing Boundaries

A&E editor Eliana Kavouriadis delves into what it really means to be transgender at Stuyvesant, by celebrating the faces of the community. see page 4

Volume 107 No. 13

Ezra J. Keats Bookmaking Contest CityWide award in the High School category for her piece titled “He Abandoned Us.”

The Spring Concert took place on Wednesday, April 5, and featured Stuyvesant’s chorus and orchestra.

Sophomore, Anna Lanzman finished in first place in the City-

Girls’ Fencing Season Opener Épée Competition. Juwide

nior Katie Hwang finished fifth in the Girls’ Fencing Foil Competition.

Seniors, Jessica Titensky, Kenneth Li, Joel Ye and junior, Eric Zhang are semi-finalists in the

U.S. National Physics Olympiad. They will be competing on Thursday, April 6, for a chance to compete on the U.S. Team in Indonesia.

Regional Japanese Speech Contest on Monday, March Senior Yuki Chen won the

20, and will participate in the National Japanese Speech Contest.

-5

With the 20th anniversary of Radiohead’s “OK Computer” approaching, Junior William Hong discusses the album’s revolutionary sound and meaning, and what it means today. see page 14

stuyspec.com

April 21, 2017

NEWSBEAT Junior Jennifer Huang won the

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

By ANNE GEORGE, Wen Shan Jiang, and Ryan Kim

2017 SING! Charter Amendments

As the 2017 SING! season came to an end, various changes were made to the SING! charter during a Student Union (SU) Cabinet Meeting on March 23. New rules regarding the fundraising process, caucus involvement, score assignment, and use of music have been established, which will be applied in the next SING! season.

At SU Cabinet Meetings, SU Vice President Tahseen Chowdhury, voting members of the SU Executive Council, which include the caucuses, a Big Sib Chair, an Editor-in-chief of The Spectator, and a member of ARISTA’s Executive Council have the ability to vote on all matters that are proposed.

However, The Spectator abstains from voting and SU President Matthew So has vetoing privileges.

Every year, a monthly meeting is dedicated to examining the SING! charter. Prior to this meeting, SING! coordinators meet with Chowdhury, So, and Coordinator of Student Affairs (COSA) Matthew Polazzo to discuss any amendments they feel are necessary.

“The coordinators, as their last act, always look at the SING! charter to make minor tweaks. This is something that happens every year

and this is how we solve any problems that may arise,” Polazzo said.

This year, one of the amendments made to the charter was a limit on the amount of money each SING! grade can raise outside of the SU and through student dues. The maximum amount is now $500, and if a grade were to raise more than this allocated amount, their SING! would be penalized with a one point score deduction for every dollar spent outside of their budget.

Previously, the charter did not limit the amount of external revenue raised. “The idea is that we want to incentivize the SING!’s to go out and fundraise, but we don’t want somebody to be able to write a check for $10,000,” Polazzo said.

The regulation of the budget also applies to the reimbursement of students. “Even if one decided to spend their own money on SING! and [doesn’t] ask for a reimbursement, points will still be taken off once they exceed the extra fundraising limit,” Senior SING! 2017 coordinator Winston Venderbush said.

However, some believe these changes will still allow much of the same behavior to occur because there is no one who can oversee each SING!’s budget to this extent. “The budget doesn’t mean anything if you just have

somebody who has the funds to spend money on the SING! without worrying about reimbursement,” junior Ray Jones said.

New rules regarding when spending has to be reported on were also introduced into the charter. The specific deadline will be set by the SU President and the SING! coordinators. “We worked with a deadline this year, but it wasn’t implemented into the charter,” Venderbush said. “It worked really well this year. As far as I know, no one went over budget for the first time, so we decided to make it official.”

Another amendment to the charter is that caucus members who wish to be a crew director, assistant director, or writer in SING! will no longer be allowed to choose producer roles. This is the case because the SU and the COSA felt that, once chosen, producers would feel obligated to select caucus members who had supported them throughout the process.

In order to further standardize judging, policies regarding scoring were also instituted into the charter. Judges will now be asked to award integer scores to each SING!. In the past, when some judges scored in decimals and others did not, the SU and the COSA had to compare each SING! on minute differences.

Additionally, there will be a 15-

point score deduction if curtains are held open after one hour’s time. “We had an issue this year with a specific SING! [holding] open the curtains after time was called,” Chowdhury said. “There was no specific rule on re-opening the curtains, so the coordinators decided on a specific point deduction that they agreed was fair. Logically, it was [unfair] to re-open the curtains, but now, we added the rule based on what happened.”

There will also be a 10-point score deduction if a SING! decides to use a song that has been done in the past two years. The rationale behind this is to encourage each SING! to be distinct from years past.

Apart from the changes noted in the charter, a SING! technology workshop was introduced by computer science teacher and SING! advisor Yulia Genkina and school aide Trevor DePew this year.

Members of the tech crew and the lights and sound crew were required to attend one of three lectures regarding the technical aspects of a SING! production, the intent being to prevent anyone from getting hurt. “The goal is to establish something that everybody can go to so that everybody has the same basic knowledge,” Depew said. “[It made SING!] more efficient and pleasurable.”

Sandler Wins George Olmsted, Jr., Class of 1924 Prize

By Alexia Leong

Tasdid Khandaker / The Spectator

History teacher Robert Sandler won the George Olmsted Jr. Class of 1924 Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching from Williams College on Friday, March 10. He was nominated by former student, Aglaia Ho (’13), who was in Sandler’s AP United States History and New York City History classes.

The Olmsted Prize is awarded every year to four high school teachers during Williams’ “Ivy Exercises,” an award ceremony Williams holds annually. Every year, Williams seniors are given the opportunity to nominate a teacher that played an influential role in their education and lives for the award. Seniors who decide to participate have to submit an essay explaining the impact their teacher made on them.

Teachers are then notified of their nomination and are asked to submit an essay explaining their teaching philosophies and provide examples of exemplary student projects.

In his essay, Sandler wrote about the various activities he uses to engage students. “I conduct walking tours, have a lot of guest speakers, and use simulations with historical figures,” Sandler said in an e-mail interview. He also explained how he attempts to incorporate music and art into his lessons.

Williams also requested recommendation letters from colleagues or supervisors.“I had to get recommendations

from [Assistant Principal of Social Studies Jennifer] Suri, the principal [Eric] Contreras, and James Basker, the President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History,” Sandler said.

“I thought he had a really great chance [of winning] because he’s such a great teacher. I know [his] students are very enthusiastic and many of his students still keep in touch with him and have written letters to him about the impact that he had on their lives and careers,” Suri said.

After applications were submitted, a committee of faculty, staff, and Williams juniors chose four winners who would each be given $3000 and an additional $5000 would be awarded to their schools.

Williams will cover the cost of the trip to the award ceremony on Saturday, June 3, for the recipients and their families, along with the honorary degree recipients. Attendees will go to a luncheon with both the Olmsted committee and the student nominators and their families. Afterwards, at the Class Day “Ivy Exercises,” the dean of Williams will present each recipient and the student that nominated them.

Sandler is looking forward to the award ceremony. “I have never been to the Berkshires and I think it will be really fun to meet my old student and her family at the ceremony,” Sandler said.

This isn’t the first time that Sandler has won an award for his teaching. In 2013, he won the National Council for the So-

History teacher Robert Sandler presents his invitation to the Williams College Olmsted Award Ceremony.

cial Studies National Teacher of the Year Award and an award through the 9/11 Tribute Center for creating a curriculum unit on 9/11. In 2014, he was awarded the New York State History Teacher of the Year Award presented by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, after being nominated by his former student, Mitchell Teper (’15).

Senior Prangon Ghose, who was in Sandler’s Jewish History class and is now in his New York City History class, believes that a part of what makes Sandler deserving of the award is that he inspires his students to learn

more about topics beyond what is taught in class. “It is not always that one has a teacher like Mr. Sandler. I think he truly cares for the students he teaches and strives to provide better learning opportunities for them outside of the classroom,” Ghose said in an e-mail interview. “Mr. Sandler truly deserves this award and he serves as a strong example to teachers around the country that they can make important changes in a student’s life that makes him [or] her a better person. Awards like the Olmsted Award are important to impress upon our society that teaching

is an [influential] profession.”

Sandler plans on spending the $5000 given to the social studies department from this award to buy books, films, and to go on field trips with his elective classes. He hopes that winning this award will help change the common public perception of teachers. “It will be a small step in counteracting negative stereotypes about teachers,” Sandler said. “I love my job and respect my colleagues intensely.

There are so many hardworking teachers that stay [until] 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. and work all weekend.

They all deserve recognition.”

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 2

News Republican CEO Frank Lavin Speaks to Stuyvesant’s Young Democrats

By Chloe Doumar and Sasha Spajic

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

WORLDBEAT Many are outraged after a deadly chemical attack took place in Syria on Tuesday, April 4. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is suspected to be responsible for the attack, which killed 70 people including children. In response, President Trump ordered the use of 59 Tomahawk missiles to bomb a Syrian government airfield.

Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as the newest Supreme Court Associate Justice on Monday, April 10 filling the vacancy created

by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last year. Gorsuch was sworn in after a contentious confirmation process in which Republicans changed Senate rules to end a Democratic filibuster. Gorsuch is expected to preserve the existing ideological balance in the Court.

The United States released the world’s largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan and killed 94 ISIS fighters. The bomb, known as “The Mother of All Bombs”, destroyed ISIS tunnels and weapons.

United Airlines has faced widespread outrage after a pas-

senger was dragged out of the plane by law enforcement officers to make room for United employees on an overbooked flight.

The airline was widely criticized for mishandling the situation, for

overbooking flights, and for its inadequate response. Lawyers for the passenger, Dr. David Dao, announced that he suffered multiple injuries and that he will sue the airline.

A North Korean missile launch on Sunday, April 16 failed after exploding immediately. This incident comes a day after North Korea paraded a brand new set of missiles during the celebrations of a national holiday. North Korea has been steadily increasing its nuclear capability.

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has taken a two-week hiatus amidst a growing sexual harassment controversy. The scandal came to light after The New York Times revealed that O’Reilly paid $13 million to settle five different allegations of sexual harassment. Many sponsors of O’Reilly’s show withdrew their advertise-

ments in response to the backlash.

Turkey voted to approve President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposed constitutional reform. The sweeping changes will replace Turkey’s parliamentary system with a presidential system and grant Erdogan unprecedented power over the nation. The opposition is expected to contest the In a controversial referendum,

results of the vote.

Former Republican White House aide Frank Lavin spoke to students in the library on Monday, March 27. The event, hosted

by Stuyvesant’s Young Democrats, started with Lavin speaking about his present endeavors as CEO and founder of Export Now. He later discussed his political views on various issues.

Earlier in his career, Lavin served in the administrations of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. More recently, Lavin was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore from 2001 to 2005 and the Under Secretary of International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 2005 to 2007.

Currently, Lavin focuses on his company Export Now, which helps other companies establish an e-commerce presence in China.

Social studies teacher Dr. Lisa Greenwald first approached the Young Democrats after reading their newsletter, The Politique, because she noticed that they published pieces by conservatives and liberals. Dr. Greenwald believed her brother-in-law, Lavin, could share an interesting perspective with the members of the club.

Despite being a long-time Republican, Lavin had announced publicly that he would not support Donald Trump and that he planned to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

During his speech, Lavin shared his thoughts about why Trump was able to win the presidency. “[Lavin] described the fact that Clinton felt that, because she was the most educated [and knew] the most facts, [she] would lead people to believe that whatever she said was the morally righteous thing to do and […] the best thing for the country,” junior and president of the Stuyvesant Young Democrats Kevin Boodram said.

Lavin explained how Trump was different. In his speech, he mentioned that Trump recog-

nized that there was a need for an emotional appeal. Clinton, on the other hand, never met this. During the presidential race, Trump gave the country what Hillary Clinton could not.

Lavin was asked at the meeting to explain why he did not support Trump, and he explained that his reasons went beyond differing in trade views. “He’s the CEO of a firm that’s all about trading and Trump is very much anti-trade. He was also against Trump for his rhetoric for the

servatives before. There are usually people who refuse to read it, much less internalize it, simply [...] because the author is conservative. Lavin said many of the things that the conservatives who produce articles and attend our meetings say, however, people weren’t so willing to dismiss someone with as much experience as him so easily,” Boodram said.

Lavin greatly changed the perspectives of many of the 40 students that attended, some of whom were in the club and many

Lavin said many of the things that the conservatives who produce articles and attend our meetings say, however, people weren’t so willing to dismiss someone with as much experience as him so easily.” —Kevin Boodram, junior and president of the Stuyvesant Young Democrats things he said against Mexicans, Muslims, and other minorities,” junior Mohammed Sarker said.

Lavin went on to address the possibility of Trump’s re-election.

He discussed his views on what it will take for Trump to get reelected, explaining how little he needs to accomplish in order to convince the people who voted for him in the 2016 election to vote for him again. “That kind of changed my perspective and made me realize how realistic a second term [for] Trump maybe really is,” Boodram said.

The Young Democrats were open to hearing different perspectives. “One of the reasons I really wanted him here [was] his experience. In The Politique, we’ve published writing by con-

others that were not. “We tend to think that all conservatives are racist, misogynistic, wealthy bigots and everything,” Sarker said.

He was also able to remind the leaders of the Young Democrats of their original guiding principles, specifically viewing situations through an objective lens. “With many Republicans like Lavin putting their country before their party and supporting nominees for other parties, [...] the time is right for Democrats to start doing the same and respond by reaching out and accepting the extended arms of people from all over the political spectrum, not to turn them away with the bigotry that forced them out of the Republican party in the first place,” Boodram said.

StuyPulse Takes On South Florida Regional Competition

By Nusheen Ghaemi and Sasha Spajic

Courtesy of StuyPulse

Stuyvesant’s award-winning For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics team, StuyPulse, attended the South Florida Regional Competition from March 1 to March 4, and left with the prestigious Chairman’s Award.

The last time StuyPulse was awarded this honor was in 2012.

They were one of 6,000 other First Robotics Competition (FRC) teams—among them were teams from Brazil, Colombia, and Turkey. Winning the Chairman’s Award allows StuyPulse to advance to the FRC World Championship in St. Louis on April 26 to April 29. The World Championship gives the team a shot to be inducted into the FRC Hall of Fame.

Qualification for the Chairman’s Award required additional aspects of preparation, including a presentation on the team’s community and outreach projects. This presentation included an essay, executive summary, short video, and oral presentation about the team.

“It’s part of FIRST’s mission to inspire others about science and technology, and encourage them to be leaders, and as teams part of FIRST, we believe that it’s essential to stay true to its values and mission,” junior Yedoh Kang said in an email interview.

Heads of the StuyPULSE marketing team, senior Courtney Chiu and sophomore Lamia Bushra,

presented StuyPulse’s achievements to a small panel of judges.

The theme of this year’s competition was FIRST Steamworks.

The goal of the competition was to create a steampunk themed robot using gears. The robots were tested on certain abilities.

“This year the tasks the robot could complete were to pick up gears and assemble them into a

machine, pick up wiffle balls and fire them at a goal, and climb up a robot to hit a button,” senior and President of Engineering Jonah Sachs-Westone said. The StuyPulse team worked on the robot over the course of six weeks before shipping it off to Florida.

The team faced a few issues while in Florida and made it to the quarterfinals before be-

ing eliminated. A fuse in the control system blew right before the final match, disqualifying them from competing.

In order to be inducted into the FRC Hall of Fame, they must win the Chairman’s Award again at the World Championships. “[The FRC Hall of Fame] features the best of the best, and because we’ve never won before, StuyPulse

is definitely working really hard to be a Hall of Fame team,” Kang said.

Before heading off to St. Louis, however, StuyPulse’s next competition is the New York City Regional at the Armory Track and Field Center from April 7 to April 9.

Once again, they will be competing amongst top teams from all over the world and be aiming to take home the Chairman’s Award.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 3

News

Ivan Galakhov passionately plays “Little Apple” song on saxophone.

By Grace Cuenca, Mai Rachlevsky, and Selina Zou

Solo dancer Jessica Rim twirls into Korean Traditional Fan Dance.

Catherine Yu / The Spectator

German tongue-twisters and Chinese yo-yo performances aren’t an everyday spectacle, but they were crowd pleasers at the Culture Festival held by the language department on Friday, April 7.

In previous years, the festival was held in the cafeteria, but this year, the two-hour-long performance was held in the theater. As in previous years, the aim of the festival was to expose the audience to activities from different cultures, ranging from Spain and France to China and Germany. Performances showcased various talents such as singing, dancing, and slam poetry.

The language department hoped to engage students who would otherwise not have the chance to see and interact with the more interesting aspects of other cultures.

Students responded positively to the festival. “I had a great time seeing everyone presenting

the hard work they have done preparing for the show. I loved the great mix of humor and talent throughout the show. Originally, I went for extra credit, but it was super fun and exciting,” sophomore Brandon Chong said.

Similar to Chong, many noted that although they had initially attended the festival because of academic incentives, the show far exceeded their expectations.

“I went to the fair last year just to watch some of the acts, but this year part of my motivation to go was an extra credit project,” sophomore Stephanie Naing said in an e-mail interview. “[However,] the talent I saw at the festival reached far beyond my expectations. The poem recited by [junior] Mansour Elsharawy, a member of the [Muslim Students Association] really stood out to me. [It] was really well delivered and the words were extremely powerful and pertained to not just one culture or race.”

Additionally, student performers emphasized how the festival gave them a rare chance to share cultural traditions with a larger

audience and to bond with fellow performers. “It was my first time performing at Stuyvesant, especially with 90 other students on stage with me. It was just heartwarming practicing our parts as a group. I love the team spirit I felt from it and it really paid off,” sophomore Amy Lei said.

Other recent cultural celebrations, including that of Dia de los Muertos and Chinese New Year, have received similar regard within the school. The language department hopes to continue this trend through holding this annual Festival of Cultures in conjunction with their other cultural celebrations. It hopes that these events will offer a needed platform with which to showcase student culture and talent.

Students also look forward to similar future performances. “It was an eye-opener for many people, including myself. I learned a lot about the characteristics of the cultures through their dancing, and the music as well. For example, this girl danced a traditional routine from Korea which was absolutely beautiful, unlike anything I have ever learned in dance,” sophomore Meredith Silfen said. “We should recognize the importance of a school like Stuyvesant that takes the time to embrace traditions and cultures.”

Catherine Yu / The Spectator

Catherine Yu / The Spectator

Stuyvesant Holds Annual Festival of Cultures

Juniors Inhyuk Jun and Emily Li represent a Latin America at the Culture Festival.

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The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 4

Features Transgender at Stuyvesant: Transgressing Boundaries

By Eliana Kavouriadis As a student body, it is our duty to make sure that every student at Stuyvesant feels safe and welcome and that we acknowledge every single one of our peers with the same level of respect. However, the transgender community at Stuyvesant often goes unheard and unnoticed.

Meet four transgender Stuyvesant students who each have something unique and special to add to the Stuyvesant community.

Eleanor Loprest, Agender (They/them)

Mika Simoncelli/ The Spectator

Freshman Eleanor Loprest has always had a strong grasp of music. They first gravitated towards the piano at the age of two and a half, and they have sharpened their skills ever since, discovering their passion for singing and composing along the way.

However, Loprest’s understanding of gender is not nearly as strong as their understanding of music. In fact, they don’t have any grasp whatsoever on the concept of gender.

Loprest is perplexed by the gender binary, and thus does not identify as any gender at all.

Instead, Loprest identifies as agender, a label used to indicate the lack of a gender identity.

Since coming to Stuyvesant, Loprest has found that their gender identity—or lack thereof—has confused many of their peers and teachers.

Yet, most people Loprest has encountered at Stuyvesant have made an effort to understand and respect Loprest’s identity despite their confusion, referring to Loprest with their preferred pronouns (they/them/ their) and correcting people who misgender them.

Nevertheless, some people have a harder time using Loprest’s correct pronouns, like a teacher who resorted to not re-

ferring to Loprest with any pronouns and simply addressing them as “Eleanor.”

Seldom has Loprest felt directly attacked for being agender since coming to Stuyvesant, but there have been several instances where people have treated Loprest’s identity as a joke or insisted on addressing them with she/her pronouns.

Loprest has found the most welcoming communities at Stuyvesant to be the people they met through participating in the eighth period chorus, where they sing in the soprano 1 section, and Stuyvesant Spec-

Spectrum, they are happy to say that they have found the queer people they had been looking for and that they have a strong, passionate support system in a school that can sometimes feel so impersonal.

Stuyvesant is a challenge for everyone who walks through the cold metal doors of the bridge entrance each morning, but Loprest has begun their journey with their head held high. An intellectually curious person with high aspirations, they are happy to be at Stuyvesant. Despite the occasional bothersome and mildly

“A school stomping on my identity will not stop me from existing.”

– Eleanor Loprest trum, the SPARK club geared towards promoting LGBTQ+ causes and advocacy.

“My first thought when coming to Stuy[vesant] was ‘I need to find the queer people,’” they said. Since coming to

transphobic comment, Loprest remains unfazed, and with an unbreakable smile across their face, they say, “A school stomping on my identity will not stop me from existing.”

Connie Walden, Genderqueer (They/them) From the band room to the SPARK office, junior Connie Walden, with artificially colored hair and a distinct androgynous style, can be seen in all corners of the building carrying a messenger bag adorned with scores of pins.

Walden, a hacker, a trumpeter, a poet, and an activist, has made a name for themself in several ways since coming to Stuyvesant, but what many don’t know about Walden is that they identify as genderqueer and prefer to be addressed by they/them pronouns.

Since realizing they were gender non-binary in the beginning of their sophomore year, they have chosen to keep their gender identity relatively under the radar at Stuyvesant. “I don’t want it to be a defining factor of who I am. It’s not something that I want to be a big deal in my life,” they remarked, well aware that coming out as genderqueer entails confusion and possible harassment from peers.

a whole. This practice doesn’t hurt Walden on a personal level, but is something they wish would stop.

Nevertheless, Walden has come out to many of their peers, facing a mixed array of reactions, not all of which have been positive.

For example, when they decided to wear eyeliner to school one day, they received several perplexed and sour glances, many of whom were from boys in the boys’ bathroom and locker room. “I’ve also received many positive, enthusiastic responses [to coming out], but they’re hard to notice when you’re scared to death of the negative responses,” Walden said.

While Walden has not found it easy to fully express their gender at Stuyvesant, they are taking cautious baby steps on their way to being comfortably out of the closet. “I’m out to several teachers, and I even go by Connie in some of my classes,” they

munities, Walden has dedicated much of their time to the causes they believe in. Recently, with the help of SPARK, they co-founded a publication at Stuyvesant with junior Pacy Yan called StuySpeaks, a space for underrepresented minorities to voice their struggles for liberation and social and economic equality.

Walden is also making a difference in the greater New York City community by volunteering at Bluestockings, a feminist, trans-friendly bookstore and café on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Walden described the environment of Bluestockings as radical, but comfortable.

“At Bluestockings, you don’t feel weird because of the gender you identify as. All volunteers are mandated to introduce themselves by their pronouns,” Walden explained.

Walden is also the president of StuyHack, a math and computer science enthusiast, and is

“I don’t want [my gender] to be a defining factor of who I am. It’s not something that I want to be a big deal in my life.” – Connie Walden said.

However, though many of Walden’s teachers are supportive and understanding, others harbor an old-fashioned mindset and don’t have a good understanding of what it means to be genderqueer.

To help people better understand matters involving the transgender community and other marginalized com-

equally invested in music and writing. Walden plays the trumpet for the Stuyvesant jazz band and won a Scholastic Gold Key Award for poetry this year.

The next time you see Walden roaming around the Stuyvesant building, don’t be shy to approach them, because you’ll be bound to spark up an intriguing conversation of your own.

Courtesy of Connie Walden

Because Walden is wellacquainted with many different social circles at Stuyvesant, they are afraid that coming out to everyone at Stuyvesant will limit who they can be friends with.

They have found that many of their socially conservative friends make offensive jokes about non-binary genders and the transgender community as

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 5

Features Kiran Vuksanaj, Female (She/her) Like many people whose middle school experiences were subpar, freshman Kiran Vuksanaj came to Stuyvesant looking to reinvent herself. However, to Vuksanaj, this meant more than a drastic change in style—she was going to begin publicly presenting as female.

Starting high school was a chance for her to introduce herself to people by her preferred name, Kiran, and her preferred pronouns, she/ her. “It’d be easier for people to get used to calling me by my preferred name and pronouns, since it’s not like they have to unlearn the old [name and pronouns],” Vuksanaj explained.

Vuksanaj had known she was a transgender girl since she was

which feels amazing. I’m allowed to use the right bathroom, and I have the right name on my ID card next to my legal name,” Vuksanaj noted.

She has also found the SPARK office and Spectrum, Stuyvesant’s gender and sexuality alliance, to be incredibly helpful resources.

The SPARK office, as the school’s designated safe space, gives her a sense of social and emotional support.

Likewise, Spectrum has proven to be a passionate and supportive community of students, many of whom are transgender themselves.

Since coming to Stuyvesant, Vuksanaj has made an effort to

systems. Reflecting on her love for trains, she said, “When I get into things, I get really into them.” As such, she has spent the past year expanding her knowledge of the MTA, exploring obscure buses and trains, and learning about their history.

Somewhat connected to her love of trains is her love of physics. Physics was Vuksanaj’s favorite subject in middle school, and she has considered it as a potential career option for the far future.

As a biracial and bisexual transgender girl, she knows that she is rather underrepresented in scientific fields, but, if anything, that has only further encouraged her. “I remember searching the in-

“I remember searching the internet for trans women who were successful in scientific fields, and finding out who they were was a really exciting and hope-filling moment for me.” – Kiran Vuksanaj surround herself with good people.

She has particularly involved herself with Spectrum and the Transit Association, and she hopes to join more clubs in the future.

However, with every new club she has tried out, she has made sure to choose her friends wisely. “I know there are people [at Stuyvesant] who wouldn’t respect me, but I’ve done my best to avoid them,” she told me, though she said that she has occasionally heard derogatory comments in passing.

Through the Transit Association, Vuksanaj has been able to express her passion for transit

ternet for trans women who were successful in scientific fields, and finding out who they were was a really exciting and hope-filling moment for me,” she remarked.

A kind person with a passion for how things work, Vuksanaj has enjoyed her time at Stuyvesant thus far. She hopes to continue to make friends here and blossom as a scientist and a train enthusiast.

Though it is not often that we see transgender women of color working in our labs, Vuksanaj can help pave the way for future Stuyvesant students, because she is a trailblazer in her own right.

Zaakariah Rahman/ The Spectator

twelve years old, and even before she knew what the word “transgender” meant, she knew she never felt comfortable being called a boy.

Before she came to Stuyvesant, she was only out to several close friends and family members.

Now, she has made sure that the Stuyvesant administration and all of her peers and teachers know her preferred name and pronouns.

Vuksanaj’s mother explained her situation to the Stuyvesant administration, and they did all they could to accommodate her. “They really do try and support me,

Kris Khalilova, Genderfluid (They/them) As soon as I sat down with sophomore Kris Khalilova for their interview, they were eager to tell me their emotional rollercoaster of a coming out story from start to finish.

Khalilova’s coming out story is quite unusual, because they came out as both pansexual and genderfluid, two labels entirely foreign to Khalilova’s traditional Russian family. “My parents are homophobic, so I grew up with a lot of internalized homophobia,” Khalilova remarked.

As such, Khalilova struggled with familial and self-acceptance when first discovering their identity, but it is these revelations that would shape the next chapter of Khalilova’s life.

final decision, Khalilova chose Stuyvesant because they had read in a news article that it was an LGBTQ+ friendly school.

Upon coming to Stuyvesant, however, they have found that this is not always the case. According to Khalilova, Stuyvesant is only “sort of okay” in terms of LGBTQ+ friendliness.

They seldom experience outright harassment for their identity, but they presume that is because they look traditionally female enough to pass as cisgender and straight.

Nevertheless, they hear people make derogatory jokes at the expense of the transgender community and patronizingly refer to transgender people as “special

The most open-minded, welcoming, and kind people Khalilova has met at Stuyvesant have been at Spectrum. A regular attendee of the club, they have found a sense of belonging there and made several lasting friendships. To Khalilova, Spectrum has been an especially helpful resource to have when their identity has left them at odds with their parents.

“Even though I have come out to my mom, she still refers to me as her daughter, and the only time my dad has ever spoken to me about my sexuality or gender was when he told me to take down the pride flag in my room because our relatives were coming over,” they said.

Though coming out has not

Mika Simoncelli/ The Spectator

“If someone you know has trusted you enough to tell you their true gender identity, don’t question them. Just love and accept them for who they are.” – Kris Khalilova At the time that Khalilova realized that they did not feel comfortable restricting themselves to a male or female gender identity, several of their middle school friends came to similar realizations.

Khalilova’s friends provided a sense of safety and community amidst a world of chaos and confusion. It was then that they and their friends were beginning the gruesome process of applying to high school.

For Khalilova, this process was especially challenging, because they had to research each school they considered applying to to determine whether or not it was a safe place for queer and transgender individuals.

When it came to making a

snowflakes,” comments that make them feel particularly uncomfortable. However, they know that most of these comments come from a place of ignorance and not hate.

“I may pass as female and have many of the societal advantages and disadvantages distinct to the female gender, but I am not a girl,” they told me matter-offactly.

As a genderfluid person, Khalilova does not identify as a single gender—their gender identity varies by day. “Some days, I feel very girly, and other [days], I’m like, ‘Hey! I’m a dude!’ Sometimes I feel like neither,” they explained.

For this reason, they feel that the gender neutral pronouns “they/ them” fit them best.

been the easiest journey for Khalilova, they feel especially fortunate to be surrounded by good people at Stuyvesant.

A sweet, amiable person, all they wish is that Stuyvesant students would be more accepting of their transgender peers. “If someone you know has trusted you enough to tell you their true gender identity, don’t question them.

Just love and accept them for who they are,” Khalilova advises the student body.

Even if you don’t consider yourself to be transphobic, they suggest you give their words some thought. After all, if everyone heeded Khalilova’s advice, Stuyvesant would be a significantly better place.

No two transgender students at Stuyvesant are the same, but they all have something in common: they are unique, creative individuals who, with their distinct brands of intellectual curiosity, are able to make Stuyvesant their home.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 6

Features Wellness on the Go

By Cathy Cai Every morning, set up in front of the senior bar, is a crowd of people busily handing out white paper bags full of breakfast to sleepy and late Stuyvesant students. Called Breakfast on the Go, it is an initiative led by the Wellness Council.

The Wellness Council was created by seniors Vanna Mavromatis, Hasan Tukhtamishev, and Nicole Cheng, during their sophomore year, from the suggestion and with the encouragement of physical education teacher Dr. Anna Markova.

They wanted to educate their peers about health awareness and offer services, like that of Breakfast on the Go, to encourage students to care more about their lifestyle choices. “We tend to ignore our health and prioritize basically everything else above it,” Mavromatis said. “We wanted to try and help Stuy students make little, healthy changes here and there that would hopefully add up, at least a little, in the long run to combat specific health issues.”

Sleep deprivation was one of the first problems they wanted to address. However, early on, the leaders recognized that fixing the all-nighter culture at Stuyvesant was going to be difficult. “We knew we couldn’t make a dent in that regard, because we can’t monitor the students at home or force sleep on them,” Mavromatis said.

The next logical step was relieving the general stress levels.

“Stress,” Mavromatis explained, “can lead to a myriad of health issues, especially in the long run.”

Although she believes that the administration is at least partly a contributor to these high stress

levels, it’s also a natural byproduct of the environment.

“If you put a bunch of high achieving kids in a competitive, work intense environment, of course it’s going to end in students neglecting their health,” she said. Their goal was to make some healthier options more convenient. She believes that the administration has been helpful in executing this goal, because they also want the same for the students.

“Although we didn’t have very many specific details in mind at the very beginning, just a general idea and hope, our plan from there was basically promoting fun, healthy events,” Mavromatis said.

The one event they wanted to do from the beginning was Duct Tape a Teacher, which they held in the annual health fair last year.

Partnered with the Stuyvesant Red Cross, the health fair is an annual school-wide event where booths are set up to promote healthy diets and healthy exercise routines.

Last year, they also collaborated with the Stuyvesant Environmental Club to hand out blue wellness bottles to all students during homeroom.

“What we then noticed is that a lot of students tend to neglect their nutritional needs, such as skipping lunch to study or not eating breakfast because of a lack of time,” Mavromatis said. “This was also something we wanted to impact.”

Thus, they began Breakfast on the Go, a new initiative started this January and designed for students who came in at 7:50 or later to grab breakfast and still make it to class on time. Every morning, the cafeteria provides them with fifty breakfasts.

The Wellness Council also works with the cafeteria staff to set up. If people want breakfast, all they have to do is give them the ID, so they can record that they actually got breakfast.

“We start handing out breakfast at 7:50, just because it’s only for people who are late to school,” sophomore and President Jerry Ye explained.“Other students can just head up to the cafeteria, so we wouldn’t want to waste some of the food downstairs.” They end around 8:05 and then clean up.

“Pretty much every day we’ve been doing this, which we’ve been doing for the past two months or so,” Ye continued.“We give out every single breakfast provided to us.”

Ye’s participation in the Wellness Council is largely accredited to his interest in health and well-being in general. “In seventh grade, I tried really hard to get really healthy and fit,” Ye said.

“I guess that’s when I started searching up a lot of [health] articles online.”

Exploring different health initiatives has been a topic that interested Ye for a while.

“Based on what I’ve research so far, I think health culture is biased,” Ye said. Compared to the volatile worlds of politics and economics, the actual idea of good health does not shift easily.

However, because it is often set aside as a minor priority, more powerful political ideals often taint its interpretation.

An example he provided was Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign she avidly promoted in 2010. “Originally, it was a campaign against sugar,” Ye explained. “After she started being sponsored by some obviously biased corporations, like Wal-Mart, the campaign changed simply

into a campaign for exercise. This is an example of how the corruption in the real world can shift the society’s views for health.”

Ye believes that this corruption cannot be easily pushed aside. When asked how he sees the purpose of the Wellness Council, Ye simply said, “We stand for wellness initiatives.”

Wellness, a term repeatedly emphasized in junior health classes, has a meaning that extends far beyond the dictionary definition of simply “being in a state of good health.”

“Wellness is taking care of your body, so that it can function as well as possible,” Mavromatis explained. “It’s just making sure that when you push yourself, you won’t collapse altogether.”

It’s important to mention that this does not mean there is a standard health protocol. Ye said, “It’s all about having your body feel better in the long run by properly taking care of it.” Wellness is more personal in that it emphasizes striving towards the highest potential of health that an individual can realistically achieve.

For instance, having a chronic disease does not automatically make you “unwell.” Different definitions of health may not be applicable to specific individuals, who are only concerned with their own measures of well-being.

But even so, to achieve this, everyone has to recognize the importance of health and understand how to improve it. This is the Wellness Council’s place in the student body.

Starting the next school year, Ye has big dreams for the club.

“Recently, I’ve been trying to change the Wellness Council,” Ye explained. “I’ve tried to get more members engaged.”

The Wellness Council is currently a small club, and Mavromatis believes it’s because there was a lack of initiative from the very beginning. “It was often difficult to think of events that students would care about and even more difficult to pull them off,” she said. “But I’m confident that going forward, the club will grow, especially with Jerry at the helm, and now that we’ve built some degree of experience and I guess trustworthiness.”

She’s right. Ye already has plans. He wants to first separate the club into multiple departments that more people can register for.

Another idea he has is to start publishing a school-wide health newsletter. Led by the writing department, the newsletter will feature articles that promote well-being and tips for being healthy. “Examples of articles would be nutritious tips. Like, in our society, a large proportion of what we ingest is sugar. It’s way higher than it should be,” Ye said.

“Or the idea that fat has been villainized, even though it is not as big of a villain as it may seem. It’s just that corporate markets make them out to be the villain.”

To have it reach a larger general Stuyvesant community, Ye is considering to either partner up with a school publication or create their own.“My vision for it is to be able to constantly pump out newsletters featuring 3-5 articles each issue,” Ye said.

With the seniors’ support, Ye is confident that they can turn the Wellness Council’s inactivity around. “We have even more plans for the rest of the school year,” Ye said. “And I’m really looking forward to implementing them.”

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The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Editorials Staff Editorial

Oh, the Places We’ll Go: The Two-Way Street of College Applications Four years of our lives boil down to four pages: the college application. We spend high school chasing college acceptance, obsessively competing with our friends for grades, leadership positions, and a seat at an elite university. We pour countless hours into perfecting how we look on paper rather than focusing on what we can learn from our high school experience.

Senior year comes with a mountain of stress and expectations; at Stuyvesant, everything is about the Ivy Leagues, and not getting into a dream school feels like a kick in the guts. Many students tend to self-deprecate when they are rejected even though they may have been perfectly qualified for the school. Yet, we have been taught that subjecting ourselves to this is a rite of passage.

With severely understaffed college and guidance offices, students find themselves stuck with these negative mentalities and without a proper support system.

To deal with thousands of students, the college and guidance offices look to the most efficient solution: mass emails. These emails are addressed to both parents and students, discussing what seem like the most important part of our adolescent lives.

Though they attempt to expand college options beyond the famed Ivy League schools and reassure students, many of us feel that we have to go through this arduous process alone.

Despite certain resources, a relationship experienced over a computer screen cannot compare to a more meaningful, in-person relationship, in which a student can feel more supported through the often tiring and confusing college process.

Additionally, while there is an SSR meeting set up for each junior with his or her

dents will only receive support if they take the initiative to seek it out.

It is no doubt an overwhelmingly difficult task to advocate for yourself when you don’t know where to start.

At 17, we may find ourselves scrambling for answers when

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there is no one to but us to teach our immigrant parents how to be what we need.

As of now, college counselors introduce juniors to the process with only an informative assembly during an English class and a thirty-minute private meeting with the student and his or her parents — not enough to provide serious, detailed answers.

Despite being a Title I school, the guidance office only glosses over financial aid opportunities. “It would be cool to get information about direct loans or scholarship programs so people who are making a tough decision have as much help as they can get,” senior Shaik Abiden said.

The blame doesn’t fall solely on the shoulders of the college and guidance offices, since they are forced to deal with inadequate resources. In response, many students resort to facebook groups, which consist of recent Stuyvesant

Despite these resources, a relationship experienced over a computer screen cannot compare to a more meaningful, in-person relationship, in which a student can feel more supported through the often tiring and confusing college process.

guidance counselor for the student to discuss the process, oftentimes, the guidance counselor does not reach out beyond the SSR meeting. Stu-

times, they provide misinformation and cannot advise the general population.

Even after they have submitted their college applications, seniors face numerous problems, particularly after results are released. Aside from an email sent out to students

The Spectator

graduates and seniors giving anecdotal advice. However, those giving advice are generally students who have been accepted into elite schools; at

about facing rejection, the college office does not directly reach out to students.Though receiving rejections from colleges can be a huge emotional blow, many students feel too estranged from the college and guidance offices to seek emotional support. On the bright side, it is made clear that the college and guidance offices have open doors.

Accepted students face problems as well, and many don’t understand the importance of choosing among financial packages. Seniors tend to receive limited help in deciding which school is the right fit for them, both academically and financially.

The first step to improving the college process is to communicate more closely with students and their families.

The school could make automated phone calls and alert students about what they need to do for the college process and notify parents about upcoming college workshops.

There also needs to be clearer support in both financial aid and mental health.

But ultimately, in a school of about 3,000 students, where guidance counselors have to write SSRs for over 100 students, it is up to us to take the initiative and reach out to guidance. We should be making sure that our counselors know who we are and develop a healthy relationship with our advisors—not just because they will be able to write better recommendations, but because we will also have an easier time finding muchneeded insight. The college process should be a two-way street.

Four years of our lives do not boil down to four pages; we should not treat high school like an extended college interview. It shouldn’t be a burden or a source of anxiety — it should be a dynamic journey.

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A Note to Our Readers: The Spectator will now accept unsolicited Op-Ed pieces written by outside students, faculty, and alumni. These columns, if selected, will be published in The Spectator’s Opinions section. Recommended length is 700 words.

Articles should address school related topics or items of student interest. Columns can be e-mailed to specreaderopinions@gmail.com.

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Send your stories into voices@stuyspec.com, or email us with any questions or concerns you have.

The Spectator ● April, 2017

Page 9

Opinions

Jessica Wu/ The Spectator

Unnatural History of the Holocene

By ANNIE FENG In June 1884, three Icelanders rowed through the night to a remote, rocky island that was home to the world’s last pair of great auks. Like the dodo, these penguin-like seabirds were largely defenseless against humans, and were doomed by their parental instincts. Their last stand was undignified.

Once this pair was located, they were promptly strangled and the single egg they were incubating was crushed. Their story appears to be a running theme of European exploration and the Holocene extinction.

The Holocene is the sixth great extinction. The five previous ones were caused by natu-

ral changes, such as increased oxygen in the atmosphere, lower temperatures, or volcanic activity, but this one rests squarely on the relatively young shoulders of humanity. The current extinction rate is an estimated 140,000 species a year, which is 10 to 100 times the average for an extinction event and 10,000 times greater than the baseline rate. This is the greatest loss of biodiversity since the CretaceousPaleogene event that infamously wiped out the dinosaurs.

When we look back at our collective past, we see a pattern of wiping out entire species one after another out of greed and shortsightedness. When we look forward to our collective future, it seems to be only getting worse. Extinction carries with it a sense of finality and a permanent loss to the diversity of our planet. Thus, when scientists announced it was theoretically possible to bring back extinct species, many jumped at the chance for us to redeem ourselves. But the story isn’t as simple as just cobbling together another mammoth.

In 2009, researchers produced an animal from an extinct species. A newborn Pyrenean ibex born from a surrogate mother lived for seven minutes before dying due to deformed lungs. With her death, the Pyrenean ibex was extinct

Anne Chen / The Spectator

again. Other attempts have proved that bringing back a species is difficult, but far from impossible. Samples of skin from museum specimens and “frozen zoos” of cells collected from the last member of a species could provide the necessary genetic material. Costs are likely to be high, but they would likely rapidly go down once progress begins because of im-

provements in biotechnology (similar to the Human Genome project). Despite de-extinction being possible, it may not be the best option.

At best, de-extinction is likely to waste resources that could be better spent on existing species.

At worst, de-extinction could cause more problems than it solves. To be successful, researchers must bring back large enough numbers of extinct species so they could survive in the wild, and maintain enough habitat for them to not become extinct again (which may be harder than species revival). Other issues include reintroduced extinct species becoming invasive, poaching due to their rarity, and disturbing the existing ecological balance.

Currently, the question of if we should do it is a bigger issue than how. Since many extant species are also at risk of extinction, conservationists argue that the resources would be better spent on ensuring their continued survival, and that biotechnology could be used to help existing species whose numbers have been devastated to regain

genetic diversity (such as with cheetahs and northern white rhinos). We have undoubtedly lost countless species before we have even discovered them; the gastric brooding frog went extinct the same year it was discovered.

We are losing species at a faster rate than we could possibly bring them back. De-extinction would not change the underlying issues of pollution, habitat loss, and human introduction of invasive species and disease that cause extinction in the first place. By putting resources into conservation and directly addressing these problems, we can save far more than one or two extinct species.

While successfully bringing back an extinct species may be an inspiring display of how far science has come and reveal new information about extinct species, there are still many undiscovered species that will go extinct before we ever discover them if our efforts are in de-extinction rather than conservation. Today, conservationists tote guns and risk their lives to protect the dwindling African elephant population. We do not have the luxury to pour resources into bringing back a mammoth. We are an unnatural disaster and may soon fall prey to ourselves unless we change course.

Courtesy of Chloé Delfau

London Terror Attack: Is Immigration to Blame?

By JOSHUA WEINER

Angel Zheng / The Spectator

Terror struck the heart of London on March 22, 2017, when Khalid Masood carried out a reprehensible terror attack that left five people dead. Without hesitation, European leaders used the attack as an opportunity to further their anti-Muslim immigration rhetoric. Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader and presidential candidate, immediately condemned the attack in London, not by offering her condolences, but by asserting that “we must control our borders.”

This rhetoric plays into the larger narrative of fearing and halting immigration championed by Le Pen and her Front Nationale. In the aftermaths of the attacks in Paris, Nice, and now London, other European leaders have also advocated for barring immigration. Nigel Farage used these attacks to bolster his anti-immigration platform during the Brexit vote, playing off of the fear of terror attacks within Europe.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump also played off of the fear of terrorism and issued an executive order which barred entry of any-

one from several countries in the Middle East, such as Syria, Libya, and Iraq, into the United States. Although this order was shut down in the Federal Court system, the intent to further discriminate against migrants and visa-holders alike from Muslim nations remains in the administration.

This narrative is little more than fear-mongering. Masood was born and raised in the United Kingdom to British parents.

He was a citizen radicalized within the country.

In France and much of Europe, Muslims have had a contentious history with the rest of the population. Many Muslims immigrated to Europe during the period of decolonization in the 1950s and ‘60s, but were forced to live in slums and among the lowest rungs of society. There was little effort from European governments, who saw them as temporary workers, to assimilate these populations.

Alienated from contemporary society by both governments and people alike, Muslims in Europe have had a lot to resent, which has made them a prime target for radicalization.

But how does this relate to modern-day radicalization? The answer is that Muslims in Europe have not yet moved out of the slums they occupied 50 years ago, and because of their lower standing in society, they have also been targets of recruitment from terror groups. Masood was allegedly radicalized by Sheikh Abu Hamza, an Imam in England who was recently arrested for inciting terror. The New York Times notes that homegrown terror has taken a greater toll than jihadis coming from the Middle East, and yet the rhetoric of our politicians tends to focus on threats outside of our country rather than inside.

Le Pen is an outspoken proponent of the French ideal of

Laicite, the full assimilation of religious minorities into the mainstream. This belief permeates her speeches and her support of policies, such as the now-infamous Burkini ban. But instead of assimilating Muslims, this belief only serves to increase resentment in Europe’s Muslim communities, as Jeffrey Reitz, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, explains. He believes that “many young Muslim women feel an underlying resentment. They have to take off the headscarf when they get to school, but they put it back on immediately when they leave, feeling that it’s an important way to defend their identity.”

It is clear that the reactionary speeches and policies coming from Europe’s leaders aren’t solving any problems, but there is a way for European leaders to fight radicalization. The first

action these leaders can take is to work with Muslim communities to better understand the problems that these communities face. There is a lack of Muslim representation within local and national European politics, which causes governments to be unable to address the issues of their Muslim populations.

Second, governments need to provide more resources to these communities, which, on average, receive less government benefits and attention: in France, entire Muslim neighborhoods are left unpoliced. In the 1950s, European governments pushed Muslim immigrants into shantytowns and largely ignored them, and for the past 70 years, this has not changed.

Most importantly, Europeans need to be more accepting of Islam. Secularism in Europe is different than in the Unit-

ed States; across the pond, it means the general abdication of religion by the mainstream. This is why policies, such as the Burkini-ban, are so hotly contested within Muslim communities: their need to maintain key elements of their culture comes at odds with the rest of society, which wants them to abandon their culture entirely.

Retaliatory rhetoric does little to help in the fight against radicalization and terror. Yet, in the wake of terrorist attacks, the public finds solace in these very words coming from politicians.

If we want to end the issue of radicalization in both Europe and in the United States, we should instead expect our leaders to pursue policies that solve these issues and espouse rhetoric that does not alienate our Muslim populations.

Page 10

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Opinions

Kaia Waxenberg / The Spectator

A Moral Economy

By Stiven Peter A little more than eight years ago today, the world was on the brink of utter collapse.

While many of us were adjusting to a new school year, our parents, teachers, neighbors, and everyone else were overwhelmed with anxiety as they saw markets tumble. Despite the government’s attempts to remedy anxiety arising from the crash, the U.S. economy has had a sluggish recovery and its people and businesses are in enormous debt. In short, the 2008 financial crash radically changed our economic system; it looms over us as a foreboding warning of dangers of our economy.

The 2008 crash came as a surprise; mainstream economists believed that the current system was stable and could provide unseen prosperity.

In fact, they not only failed to predict the crash but have also been unable to create models to explain it. This inability shows that our economic system is fundamentally flawed.

Specifically, our system focuses not on providing for the welfare of the people but on generating wealth through primarily financial ways. By analyzing the flaws that caused the 2008 crash, we can construct an economic system that does not exist solely to create wealth but rather to uplift others and help everyone live meaningful lives.

First, our economy is based on the idea that humans, institutions, and corporations are self-interested entities concerned with the maximization

of their pleasure and the value of their shareholders. Therefore, economic transactions are thought of as joint meetings of two entirely separate individual interests.

Due to this self-interested view of human nature, our economic system reduces goods to their material significance to ensure the vast creation of wealth. I have lived in a house for the past four years. Over that time, I have formed countless memories with my neighbors and family. I am unable to separate material shelter and emotional significance when I think about my home. However, this separation is exactly what our economic system does. In the case of a house or land, it severs symbolic significance and only considers certain material aspects in valuing the property, commodifying goods into fungible assets.

This reduction allows bankers to construct a speculative and interconnected financial system. Consider a market for coffee beans with a going price of $10 per pound. Suppose I want to be able to buy 100 pounds of coffee for $11 two months from now. I would draw up a contract, called a derivative, with a farmer for the right to buy those coffee beans, and the contract would cost me an upfront premium. If in two months the price goes up to $15, I can sell the contract for a profit. In this process, no goods and services were moved and I didn’t care about the actual coffee beans, but capital was still generated. This example with coffee beans, which can be loosely applied to housing, shows how modern capitalism creates wealth not by trade or increasing production, but from other wealth. As a result, the wealth generated is disconnected from real world value.

Moreover, this system privileges financial institutions and banks over the people they serve. In regards to housing, banks exploit the need of the socio-economically disempowered for security by offering them loans at high interest rates. Consider Chicago resident Ida Mae Whitley, whose story is told in The Washington

Post. At 62, she wanted to buy a nice house to retire in and so she was seduced by banks to take a high interest loan. Ultimately, she was put at risk to lose her home and lower her credit score because she couldn’t meet her monthly payments, hindering her ability to get more loans. Therefore, the financial system does not trickle down wealth but rather accumulates it at the top. The poor go further into debt and spend their spare money to pay down already lucrative borrowers, who use it to generate more wealth through capital gains.

No wonder the bottom 80 percent of Americans have only seven percent of the United States’s wealth. Despite this problem, proponents of capitalism suggest that the current system, which seeks wealth first, is the best possible way to lift people out of poverty and provide for their basic needs.

At worst, the socially and economically disempowered, left behind by our economic system, are given welfare in the hope that the pocket change they receive can make up for the emotional damage that comes with being out of work and being unable to reintegrate into the workforce.

If we are to change our economic system, we must base it on a fundamentally different view of human nature. In line with the moral framework I proposed in “The Good Life,” I forward that the economy is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end, which is to help humans live virtuous lives.

Therefore, economic transactions should be a reciprocal agreement about a shared goal of uplifting others between the parties.

Under this model, corporations have a social responsibility to their community and employees. This responsibility would take the form of a legal requirement that each company have a mission statement of long-term economic and social benefit to its community. A contemporary example of this is the British grocery retailer Tesco. The company cut the sugar content of all of its U.K. soft drinks by 20 percent from

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2011 to 2016. The company is also a founder member of the World Cocoa Foundation and World Banana Forum, which exist to raise labor standards.

With companies like Tesco, investors should be long-term holders who are committed to the company’s mission, instead of short-term shareholders who solely invest for profit.

Moreover, this model ties the lending of money to material investment: for instance, by viewing debt in more relational terms in which profit and risk are shared by the lender and borrower. That is, borrowers would be stakeholders in the enterprises they invest in.

One way of accomplishing this is to convert debt, which raises money by borrowing it and then repaying it, into equity, which raises money by selling portions of an asset. For example, if a family wants to buy a house, they take out a loan with a certain amount of interest from the bank, requiring them to pay back a portion every month. An equity-based model would have the family take out a mortgage in which the banks become part-owners. Every month the family would pay the bank a small rental fee to live in the property and then periodically buy part of the house owned by the bank. The bank now has a stake in the family’s well-being and the well-being of the community because its success is tied directly the community’s success. Moreover, the family has a lower risk of personal bankruptcy and repossession, which is economically costly and socially traumatic. Similar programs can be extended into consumer loans and commercial real estate.

We should also encourage the use of credit unions, which are banks in which the depositors are members and owners.

First, since the members are owners, the bank is tied to the community, giving it a higher chance of investing in beneficial entreprises. Second, credit unions provide competitive interest rates and a broad range or loans and savings programs.

Providing tax breaks and privileged access to credit to these banks would further encour-

age a system which prioritizes saving over debt-financing and fosters civil enterprises for the good of the community.

Furthermore, we need to prevent growing wealth inequality by encouraging a better distribution of capital between firms and employees. This includes encouraging employee stock ownership plans, which provide a layer of security and strengthen the bond between employee and employer. Second, this model means instituting a living wage at the national level and creating a system to negotiate family wages in varying locations. Workers would be less likely to go into debt to finance expenditures, which increases consumer spending and in turn tax revenues. These revenues can be used to lower income taxes across the board and provide tax benefits for small businesses.

Finally, higher wages and the wider distribution of capital should be complemented with a holistic education system that professionalizes the labor force.

This can be accomplished through creating pathways of learning that fuse class-learning with vocational training for professions. Moreover, providing apprenticeships for various fields can create high-skilled and adaptable workers. Germany has a system similar to this model, in which apprenticeships are split between class instruction and training.

For example, salesmen learn retail trade and management, construction workers learn civil engineering, and truck drivers learn logistics. In this way, workers have professionalized skills which are also adaptable to a wide range of careers.

The idea is that the goal of the economy is to serve society by strengthening social bonds, generating trust, and provide meaningful work. This is not to completely disavow the market system; rather, a moral society needs a moral economy that teaches us not to make money at the expense of others but rather teaches us to love, trust, care, and respect each other.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

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The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

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Arts and Entertainment Drake Takes Diversity in Music to a New Level in “More Life”

Music

By Chelsea Cheung Drake has always been one to impress his listeners with his genuine artistry in music. When he released his groundbreaking album, “Views,” in April of 2016, he set the music world into a frenzy. Less than a year later, Drake has stunned the music world again with his recent debut of “More Life.” This project, whose release has been awaited by his fans since its announcement on Drake’s birthday, features a lengthy total of 22 tracks and spans 81 minutes. Interestingly, rather than being officially called an album (like “Views”), Drake dubs “More Life” a playlist.

Though this has proved an unprecedented decision in music and confused many critics initially, the motives behind this tactic became a little clearer after listening to the entire album.

Had “More Life” been

called an album, the style would have been seen as all too similar to “Views,” but yet not nearly as good or fleshed out. Both span exactly 81 minutes long, are presented in a versatile style (predominantly hip-hop that mixes in pop and R&B), feature Drake singing about his past struggles, and exhibit his heavy usage of samples.

This distinction of a playlist is what allows critics and fans alike to take what Drake has produced more lightly. An album, especially if it is a Drake album, comes with the expectation of having only the most innovative and record-breaking tracks, something “More Life” unfortunately falls short on. However, for Drake, this playlist serves as a perfect intermediate between “Views” and his upcoming album, allowing his fan base to be occupied with more music.

Listening to the entire playlist for the first time in one full sitting, I wasn’t able to sense a strong artistic statement from Drake. It is on the passive side and feels too much under-ther a d a r.

There are

Rachel Zhang / The Spectator

Music

By Lily Yan Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock came together to become the first girl group to ever win The X Factor in 2011. Four albums and many awards later, they have won over thousands of people with their raw talent, flawless harmonies, and endless charm.

However, an average fan would receive quite a shock when they listen to their most recent album, “Glory Days” (2016).

In their previous albums, they had shied away from mature topics, doing nothing more than dropping at most a few hints toward something more sexual.

But in “Glory Days,” it is clear that Little Mix has taken into account their own maturation as artists, as well as the maturation of their intended demographic from teens to adults.

In “Glory Days,” Little Mix manages to infuse a variety of musical styles with a creativity exclusive to them alone, from sweet ballads to fun dance jams.

Their first released single of the album, “Shout Out To My Ex,” is meant to be uplifting and inspiring to those who still haven’t quite gotten over their past lovers breaking their hearts.

The accented beats perfectly accentuate the confident lines, with each girl making sure to let the ex know he isn’t needed.

Edwards even makes sure to include in her beginning verse an unexpected sassiness: “I hope she gettin’ better sex, hope she ain’t fakin’ it like I did.”

Although the placement of

many diverse, beautiful, and unique ideas presented throughout this playlist, but this eclectic compilation of different styles is woven and developed in a fashion that prevents it from being as sonically cohesive as it could be.

Part of this lack of presence stems from the fact that he does not have a clear and direct direction that he wants to take with “More Life.” The first two tracks, “Free Smoke” and “No Long Talk,” both contain heavier beats to which Drake raps.

After the first two tracks, the playlist immediately goes into “Passionfruit,” a track that provides a surprisingly pleasant contrast and appears to be everybody’s favorite. “Passionfruit” features a deep Caribbean and Jamaican sound, consisting of a pulsating, dance-like rhythm that pervades the entirety of the song. It also uses modern synthesizers and other light percussion instruments to emulate the sound of a steelpan and to create a potent grooving sound, making the track truly enjoyable to listen to. The same style goes on for the next four tracks (“Jorja Interlude,” “Get it Together,” “Madiba Riddim,” and “Blem”) that tie together smoothly as they all contain a lighthearted, dancehall sound. After those four tracks, it progresses right back to hardhitting music, such as rap and heavy hip-hop for the rest of the playlist.

Another indicator that Drake takes a backseat in this playlist is that he diverts a lot of the focus onto other singers. In one track titled “4422,” Drake’s vocals are not present at all. Instead, British singer Sampha takes on the spotlight. Sampha sings the en-

tirety of the song, with his voice having a soft, layered chorus effect that helps create a poignant yet intimate feeling. “4422” has the slowest of all tempos on the track, allowing both Sampha’s voice and each element in the cool instrumentals to be distinctly heard and appreciated.

Drake is also out-sung in one of the most memorable tracks, “Glow,” a highly anticipated collaboration with another hip-hop icon, Kanye West. West takes on the main hook, opening up the song with singing, “Watch out for me / I’m about to glow.” He repeats that several times throughout the song. His dominating vocals are crisp and powerful, which provide the sole focus to this song. Drake does a fairly decent job of singing his verse in the second half, yet it does not match Kanye’s.

Moreover, the extensive use of samples in “More Life” should be viewed with ambivalence.

On one hand, Drake has added many dimensions to this playlist with their clever use. In “Do Not Disturb,” Drake takes the soulful vocals of Snoh Aalegra in her ballad, “TIME,” speeds them up and loops them over and over, creating a beautiful background to set his rap in. Drake also samples songs of different genres from almost every decade in the past five decades. With this, he is truly able to convey a sense of diversity in music.

However, in “Teenage Fever,” he goes overboard with a sample of Jennifer Lopez. Drake takes the chorus of Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” and sets it as his own chorus. Though it works and sounds well, it is a cheap and ingenuine tactic to produce

a song.

The lyricality of this playlist is expected of Drake. He does not fail to deliver a heartfelt message about how far he has come since the beginning: the struggles and sacrifices he has made in his career, his widely-scrutinized romances, fame, and the relationships with the people around him. In “Glow,” we hear the iconic lyrics “Started from the bottom, now we here now,” which directly alludes to his song, “Started From the Bottom” released in 2012. These lyrics have become the epitome of Drake’s portrayal of himself as the underdog who overcame obstacles from his childhood and single-handedly became a success.

The quality of the instrumentals are a strong suit of this playlist. In many tracks such as “Ice Melts” and “Glow,” they feature subtle hints of trap layered with different kinds of drum beats, and one strong rhythm plays throughout.

An hour into listening to this playlist, it can feel as if it has dragged on for too long. It is a dense, unfocused album that shines more for its variety of voices and ideas. Yet, it’s definitely worth listening to at least once.

Listening to these 22 tracks more and more frequently has made it grow on me, as I’ve gradually come to appreciate the diverse niceties that Drake has presented to the table. It’s not a perfect piece of work and is not Drake’s best by far. But as stated in the outro, until he comes “back in 2018 to give [us] a summary” in the form of a new album, this playlist proves itself good enough to listen to meanwhile.

With Little Mix, Maturity Equals Improvement an acoustic guitar in such a beatheavy song is odd, it’s precisely what the track needs to tie it all together. The guitar is the perfect accompaniment to the girls harmonizing over the chorus, with lyrics like, “I’m all the way up, I swear you’ll never bring me down.”

The sound of them singing together and the stripped-down feel we get from the guitar makes the tight bond and unity between all the girls clear, as they help each other rise above their previous breakups.

“Touch,” their second single, is a passionate declaration of love. It begins soft and slow, with nothing more than Pinnock’s sweet statements of love and a simple background melody. But once the beat drops, the song transforms. The strong beat and perfectly executed harmonies for the catchy chorus make it the perfect song to dance to.

It is implied that the “touch” of the love they’re receiving isn’t exactly a PG-13 kind of love. Edwards and Thirlwall’s lines include the lyrics, “Fingers on my buttons and now you’re playing, master of anticipation,” while Nelson makes it most evident with “Photograph with no t-shirt on, why you making me wait so long?” The girls knew singing of a more “adult” love would escalate their level of passion, and it just so happened to create the perfect dance song in the process.

Despite being a pop group, Little Mix successfully incorporates more old-fashioned musical aspects. “F.U.” provides a satisfying, pleasing-to-the-ear throwback to the ‘50s. The girls

croon about how they can’t stay mad at their corrupt lover: “Had my break-up speech ready, then you kissed my face, it’s the way you persuade me.”

It starts off deceptively simple, with a rolling drumbeat and the bluesy strumming of a guitar.

Nelson’s distinct, unique vibrato is perfect for introducing the song, followed up by Thirlwall infusing a little bit of grit into her usually smooth vocals.

They’re more subtle about sexual content here, but its presence is undeniable; when Pinnock belts out the lyrics, “I wish you were dead ‘til you take me to bed, you’re so good, so good,” it’s obvious as to what she’s singing about. Even so, the girls manage to use the perfect combination of a breezy beat and powerful vocals to truly get their message of conflicting feelings of love and hatred across.

Little Mix does phenomenally when it comes to ballads.

“Nobody Like You” is their attempt—a successful one—to top their previous noteworthy ballad “Good Enough.”

It starts with Nelson accompanied by soft piano. Nelson tones down her rasp for this song in order to showcase more of her soulful vibrato, making her low notes sound raw and emotional. When she showcases her upper register in the second half of the chorus, she truly sounds like she’s almost on the verge of tears as she sings, “I’m screaming ‘I don’t want you’ but you know that I do.”

The rest of the girls follow up with an equally emotional performance. The piano is slowly

joined by other instruments and an intensifying beat while the girls sing their hearts out over the pain inflicted on them after breaking up with someone they truly loved.

As they sing “I only like myself when I’m with you” and “All I want is to feel again,” instead of each member sounding like a teenager crying over young love, they sound like a woman mourning over a person she loved with all her heart.

Their most explicit track is definitely “Private Show.” Its heavy bassline and sharp brass notes give the song energy and electricity and make it nearly impossible to stop oneself from dancing along and lip-syncing with the girls.

Yes, it’s definitely a surprise as to how extreme some of their lyrics are. None of the girls hold

back at the chorus, singing, “Who said we got to go slow, turn down the lights and watch my private show” and “To get high, we got to get low.” But it can’t be denied that this is definitely one of their boldest and best tracks to date.

“Glory Days” is a statement of how bold is better. Some may be put off by how much Little Mix has matured in the time span between their most recent album and this album, preferring their old sound in comparison.

But it’s important to understand that artists change. From what we’ve heard, it’s clear that a lack of non-sexual content doesn’t correlate to a lack of quality for Little Mix. “Glory Days” is only Little Mix’s transition to maturity. As they continue to “grow up,” their music will only continue to improve.

Tiffany Leng / The Spectator

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

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Arts and Entertainment ICP Review: Perpetual Revolution

Art

By Cosmo Coen Many of the people of our generation are painfully unaware of important current events, both domestic and international. Though there are many factors that contribute to this, one problem is that there is no engaging way to get the younger generation invested in these important problems. Most of the news that people consume on a daily basis isn’t all that interesting. It tends to go in one ear and out the other. However, the “Perpetual Revolution: Image and Social Change” exhibit at the International Center of Photography is something completely different.

It will leave you feeling completely “shook,” using powerful imagery to bring some of the world’s most glaring problems to life.

The International Center of Photography is renowned as one of the leading centers for photography and features exhibits that demonstrate the power that photos and videos have in shaping the modern world. “Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change,” curated by Carol Squiers and Cynthia Young, opened on January 27, 2017, and will run until May 7. Tickets are $10 for students, and it is located at 250 Bowery in Manhattan.

The scope of this exhibit is so large that it almost seems impossible to grasp upon first glance. It covers some incredibly important and pressing issues of the modern age: climate change, the refugee crisis, LGBTQ+ representation/ treatment, #blacklivesmatter, islamophobia, and the far-right fringe. This incredibly diverse range of topics gives the viewer a sense of overload which only adds to the emotional and intellectual gravitas of the exhibit. However, the sheer volume also impairs the viewer’s capability of ingesting and retaining all of the incredible work that is deserving of his or her full attention.

After you buy your ticket ($10 not wasted), you open the door and are greeted with a large wall filled with text. This concise, wellwritten introduction to the entire exhibit describes the importance of truth (or lack thereof ) in the modern age and unpacks what it means to be “correct,” especially in a world with “alternative facts” and “post-truth-ism.”

The room is rather dim and cool, and it seems a bit cold and detached, rather than being warm and inviting. This visual aesthetic works to the exhibit’s advantage, however, as it emphasizes the

gravity of the topics discussed and leaves no time to be comfortable with these situations.

One of the central parts of the exhibits pertains to the refugee crisis. This section of the exhibit is one of the most diverse in terms of media. The centerpiece of this section is a table with some white sand on top of it. It seems very strange at first, but when you see the projector displaying powerful images of the refugee crisis onto the sand, it starts to make sense.

You can manipulate the sand in whatever way you’d like to distort

the images projected on it. It highlights the fact that refugees are everyday people who led normal lives prior to their displacement.

This piece shows the magnitude and spread of the crisis and how it affects so many people around the world. The moldable sand is very symbolic of the fact that we have the power to mold and shape our own world.

The photography of this sec-

Insights: Film

By Thomas Chen Growing up, I’d always love watching “Mulan,” not just because the soundtrack was incredibly addicting to sing along with, but also because there was finally a movie with people of my race.

But I never felt much of a connection between myself and the male lead, Li Shang, a tall, handsome military leader who trains soldiers; I am a short kid who can barely get through Ms. Rosenthal’s laps around the gym.

Another one of my favorite films was “Hercules,” but again, I was never really able to relate to Hercules. Slaying the Hydra, fighting titans, and saving Meg—all awe-inspiring feats and surely nothing I could do. How could I, a mere

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

ment and representation. This section of the exhibit is almost completely dominated by screens, which is one of the few things that I am not a fan of. The number of screens makes it a bit too much to take in.

Screenshots of activism on social media, old music videos, pictures of the LGBTQ+ community before their rights were granted,

and modern day examples of the community being ostracized dominate this section, and to great effect. The differences in time period serve as a critical reminder to the public that despite the progress that has been made, there is still so much work to be done and still so many parallels between the past and the present in terms of the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. This section is also a lot more free-flowing than the rest of the exhibit. This part of the exhibit is very “loud” as it is plainly sexual, and it moves in a much less

somber manner.

The most powerful and well crafted part of this exhibit pertains to #blacklivesmatter. The room is painted completely black and is dimly lit, with one wall used as a screen for two incredible collections of footage. One side of the wall displays photographs of the black community of the USA from all different time periods. These pictures are full of striking juxta-

positions that make them shine as proof of the struggles the black community has faced.

The videos shown on the wall are simply amazing. They are composed of both footage from protests and politically charged pop culture. The way that these videos are put together is astonishing. The videos link seamlessly, all circling back to the central point of the struggles faced by the black community. The issues that it addresses are disheartening, yet also empowering. The way the story is told makes you want to do something to make a difference. There was no holding back in the creation of this much needed wake up call.

The last, and perhaps the least expected section of this exhibit, discusses the far-right fringe, in a very peculiar, yet effective way.

How do they tell us about the horrors of these neo-Nazi, fascist edgelords? Through memes. The memes are all related to downplaying liberalism and how “politically correct” people need to be “gassed,” all the while laced with plenty of expletives. It’s an unconventional way to communicate such serious and scary ideas, but it works brilliantly, as memes are something that almost all can relate to, and seeing them used in such a politically charged way really demonstrates a new age of poking fun at the unlaughable.

After viewing this entire exhibit, you’ll feel a bit tired. You’ll also feel a bit scared for the world.

But perhaps most importantly, you will feel hopeful. Hopeful at the fact that people took the time out of their lives to put together such a vast, powerful exhibit to educate others about the horrors of the world and what we can do to respect and change them. And hopeful because people take the time out of their lives to visit and appreciate it. The technique that is used here, throwing everything at the viewer so it feels inescapable, almost suffering, is used to great effect here.

Especially in a time of great political tension, everyone deserves to be, and needs to be, updated when it comes to current events.

With politics becoming more and more relevant in our daily lives and as young people who will eventually inherit this earth, it is our responsibility to not turn a blind eye to the current state of affairs.

Young people must take these important matters into their own hands and educate themselves about the world that they will be responsible for.

The Issue of Masculinity in Disney Princes

scrawny mortal, see myself in the shoes of such a strong, muscular, and celebrated hero?

Over time, Disney’s princesses have progressively become more developed and independent, breaking away from the original “damsel-in-distress” trope.

The classic Aurora from “Sleeping Beauty,” who is asleep for the majority of the film and is only saved by her Prince Philip, seems more like a supporting character and plot device in her own film; a more recent character, Moana, saves her tribe and encourages them to become more adventurous while never depending on a

Suzy B. Ae / The Spectator

tion is magnificent and the tension and pain that is captured is stunning. Each picture encapsulates so much action: the rawest and purest forms of human emotion.

There is also an e-book available to read as part of the exhibit, along with a slideshow of five incredible photos broken up into nine panels.

Although all of the different media make the exhibit seem a bit scattered, it works brilliantly, with everything linking together and the concepts cohesive and powerful.

As you walk downstairs, you enter the section on LGBTQ+ treat-

man. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, most of Disney’s princes have remained the same “heroes-to-the-rescue,” from Li Shang to Aladdin to John Smith.

Despite having their fair share of more gentle and romantic moments, such as Aladdin’s talk with Genie about his crush on Jasmine or John Smith being taught by Pocahontas about the wonders of nature, these characters ultimately remain the macho men.

The problem with this twodimensionality in male characters is that many boys feel that the only suitable role they can fit is the dependable buff guy who has a weak girl depending on him. For example, in one of the songs from “Mulan,” “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” the soldiers sing about their ideal women. When Mulan says she would prefer women to be smart and outspoken, she is rejected by the other men, who sing about beautiful girls who would admire them for their strength, which influences younger audiences into believing that the only girls worth loving are the beautiful ones, and the only way to attract them is by

showing off sheer dominance and masculinity—the exact opposite message Disney is trying to teach.

In addition, those few male characters with passive personalities or more effeminate appearances tend to be minor comical characters or villains, such as Merida’s boisterous father from “Brave” or the tall and slender Jafar from “Aladdin.” As a result, boys are not taught that it is okay to be themselves if they are just kindhearted or fun-loving, but rather, to be stoic men whose worth are defined by muscle size. They are only taught to suppress their emotions, to make women depend on them, and to “man up.”

The origins of this issue stem from commonly defined gender roles in which men are expected to be the dominant, assertive voice and head of the household, whereas women are expected to be more submissive and simply do housework. For instance, in certain conservative sects of Christianity, women are still expected to not work, be obedient to their husbands, and are prohibited from serving as priests, popes, etc.

Although the gender division in modern society has recently been blurred, men and women are still not equal.

Fortunately, some of the most recent Disney princes have strayed from the stereotypical “tough guy” image. Take Prince Naveen from “The Princess and the Frog.” While he is still an average, handsome romantic, he also depicts less masculine traits, such as naivete and clumsiness, causing his female counterpart Tiana to arguably be the more dominant character of the two. And despite not technically being considered a “Disney prince,” Kristoff from “Frozen” also demonstrates his kind-hearted, sensitive nature, and he ultimately does not play the “hero-to-the-rescue” as many of his predecessors have. Most recently, Maui from “Moana” plays the role of Moana’s friend and sidekick rather than Moana’s savior over the course of the film. As a result, young boys who watch future Disney movies will hopefully have a larger variety of role models who should inspire them to be less macho and more caring.

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The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Arts and Entertainment

By william hong Albums such as Radiohead’s landmark “OK Computer” (1997), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this May, are released only once in a generation. “OK Computer” challenged listeners to consider popular music not merely as a form of entertainment, but more importantly as a culturally relevant medium of art and philosophy. Its most definitive aspect is its driving pathos, which appeals to the deepest emotions of the listener and forces the audience to reconsider the nature of the world that we live in.

While “OK Computer” is remembered 20 years after its release for its relevant themes and prophetic social commentaries, it shook the music industry at the time with its maverick spirit—its defiance of the music industry’s norms and ventures into uncharted territories.

“OK Computer” was a notable departure from the ‘90s alternative rock scene spearheaded by the emergence of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Alternative rock of the ‘90s was “alternative” in the sense that it primarily embodied anger, violence, and self-destructive habits. It was also associated with sex, drugs, and alcohol, all of which represented a thrilling escape from a mundane livelihood and came to define the rebellious culture of Generation Y. Radiohead first burst through mainstream commercial success with their hit single “Creep” (1991), which remains one of the band’s most well-known songs today.

Their second album, “The Bends” (1995), was also well received by audiences. The vocal range of lead singer Thom Yorke and the dexterity of guitarist Jonny Greenwood gained recognition in the alternative rock community. However, their early works were thematically clichéd, simply structured, and driven by a minimalistic sound.

Radiohead’s early works failed to break any new ground within an increasingly stale genre.

The band’s sudden transition into the experimental “OK Computer” was initially perceived by

its producer and record label to be “commercial suicide” due to the album’s lack of radio-friendly tracks.

WIth respect to “The Bends,” “OK Computer” was much more difficult for listeners to digest. It sacrificed marketability and appeal for the lowest common denominator through its often contradictory and dichotomous nature. It is simultaneously soothing and terrifying, balancing between chaos and calm.

Rather than appealing to an audience that readily consumed the agonized lyrics of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, Radiohead’s “OK Computer” took a different approach by striving to be unorthodox—musically, lyrically, and thematically.

sharply contrasting sections and changes in key. The chorus, “What’s this? / (I may be paranoid but not an android),” is accompanied by multiple guitars and synths, adding on to Yorke’s extended vocal notes. The song builds up to a dizzying crescendo, culminating with Greenwood’s frantic guitar solo, and a sudden decrescendo into a dissonant verse. These transitions then leave the listener unsettled

by Yorke’s anguished singing.

“Fitter Happier,” the album’s most anomalous track and most difficult listen, incorporates a computer text generated voice to paint a picture of an ideal society in the future. Dissonant and jarring piano chords have an unpleasant effect on the listener and accom-

ciety driven by consumerism and advertisements. Much of the song portrays an ideal lifestyle—a society preoccupied with “eating well,” “not drinking too much,” and “a safer car”—while being oblivious to the fact that there is “no chance of escape” from the rituals and routines they have been accustomed to.

In addition to exploring new realms of sound, the album also delves into several criticisms of modern society by depicting lives corroded by technology. The opening track “Airbag” is about a narrator surviving a car crash and walking out of the experience as a changed man: “In a fast German car / I’m amazed I survived / An airbag saved my life.” These lyrics

“OK Computer” challenged listeners to consider popular music not merely as a form of entertainment, but more importantly as a culturally relevant medium of art and philosophy.

“Karma Police” is a standout track that showcases the band’s unique brand of experimentation with sound. The somber piano chords and soft strumming of the background acoustic guitar harmonize to establish a deceptively lulling tone, which conceals the sinister themes of the song. Yorke’s distressed vocal timbres in the final verse, “For a minute there, I lost myself,” are accompanied by frantically paced piano segments.

These combine to strike a particular chord with the listener by channeling the narrator’s torment into audible sounds. The source of this torment is the “karma police,” the namesake of the song’s title.

The leading single, “Paranoid Android,” is particularly notable for its rapid transitions between

pany the computerized narrating voice, which lists in rapid succession unreasonable expectations for both personal and societal progress. Such expectations of the narrator include “Sleeping well, no bad dreams, no paranoia / No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows / Nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate.”

The seemingly positive lyrics are instantly stripped of their deceptive facade as the song’s ominous and discomforting sound takes a more looming presence.

The clashing piano, strings, and electronic instruments all convey an atmosphere of despair and false hope through irregular time signatures and asymmetric sections.

The hidden overarching theme present in “Fitter Happier” is a so-

emphasize the fragility of our lives which are at the mercy of technology, foreshadowing the unprecedented role that technology has in our lives today in the 21st century. The narrator also expresses a newfound thrill to be alive—an adrenaline rush from surviving a lifestyle of breakneck speed.

Shortly after the release of “OK Computer,” the music industry took off in a completely different direction, with many pop artists rising to the top of the BIllboard charts, only to fizzle a few weeks later. This profit-driven system of cashing in on the latest trends encouraged artists to release hot, catchy singles at the expense of taking the time to craft an entire album. The band members of Radiohead were pressed with

a demanding deadline for “OK Computer,” and much of their frustration was voiced while creating the album. By the late ‘90s, the band witnessed the rapid rise of the World Wide Web, the advent of cellphones, and the increasing prevalence of mass media in everyday life.

Yorke attributes the fast-paced lifestyle depicted in “Airbag” to people’s diminishing attention span and need for instant gratification—the notion that faster is always better. In defiance, “OK Computer” was designed to be a lengthy hour-long album, devoid of pop friendly tracks and with little marketability. Radiohead was more intent on channeling their frustrations of modern society rather than appeasing their listeners. They were ultimately aware of the troubling direction that popular music was heading toward.

While the album encompasses a multitude of themes throughout, it is essentially a scathing commentary on human nature and its inherent ignorance. The narrator’s plea for self-validation in “Paranoid Android” (“You don’t remember / Why don’t you remember my name?”) expresses the crushing reality in which society has become a monolith that drives out any form of creativity and promotes dullness. The society depicted by “OK Computer” believes that “It’s always better when the light is off / It’s always better on the outside” (From the track “Climbing Up the Walls”).

“OK Computer” completely upended the definition of “alternative music” and delved into thematicism and experimentation like no other musicians have done before. The album’s insistent defiance of the music industry’s norms have set a new precedent for other artists across all different genres to follow. Ultimately, its intentions were to have a profound effect on the listeners and to both captivate and provoke them. Despite the troubling and perhaps prophetic depiction of modern society in the 21st century, the album reassures its listeners to “Breathe, keep breathing / Don’t lose your nerve” (From “Exit Music For a Film”).

Christine Jegarl / The Spectator

Music

Fitter, Happier, More Innovative…

The Legacy of Radiohead’s “OK Computer”

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 15

Arts and Entertainment Beauties, Beasts, and in Between

Film

By Gabrielle Umanova The fable of “Beauty and the Beast” first appeared over 250 years ago and has since become an iconic and beloved fairytale. Bill Condon’s live action “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), Disney’s remake of their 1991 animated version, proves that despite the story’s long history, it is neither old-fashioned nor stagnant. Instead, the tale’s cautionary messages regarding the importance of inner beauty and tolerance make it a timeless classic, providing generation after generation with powerful role models.

The storyline, despite its infamy, is captivating. While staying true to the original plot, “Beauty and the Beast” is infused with scenes and moments that expand upon the story and solidify its morals, making it grow into a modern fairytale. It focuses more on Belle’s (Emma Watson) independence and capabilities, as she becomes more than a bookworm and changes into a wise and strong-willed figure.

Emma Watson displays her talent as an actress, as she instills within Belle an internal dignity and resolve that elevates the entire film.

At times, she is determined with a steely demeanor, exhibited in defense of her father. At others, Belle displays a softer side, such as when she cares for the Beast (Dan Stevens).

Watson is able to present Belle as a multifaceted and evolving individual, while emphasizing the character’s defining aspects—her tolerance and potential.

Belle’s ability and skills are expanded upon within the film as well. Through her actions, Belle displays herself as a self-assured and capable young woman, driven by Watson’s genuine belief in public outreach about the empowerment of women. Rather than focusing on her own alienation within the community, Belle extends a hand to try and invite change, as seen in the scene where she teaches a young girl to read and boldly faces the backlash from her community. We see her as an innovator—laboring, thinking, creating—displaying her self-discipline and drive to be stimulated intellectually. Through small moments in which its characters show dignity in the face of h a rd s h i p,

“Beauty and the Beast” becomes a powerful tool for teaching selfworth and resilience.

The other characters are no less developed. The film expands upon the Beast’s narrative, revealing more about his difficult family background and showing his depth as a character: how he came to be so cold and disinterested as to warrant such a curse and why he deserved salvation.

Though his initial cruelty is more pronounced, behind it lies a man tortured by loneliness, mistrust, abandonment, and despair—a man who can be vulnerable and surrender himself to unconditional and, more painfully, unrequited love. Dan Stevens’s performance is powerful and displays incredible range; ironically, he truly fleshes out the Beast’s character as achingly human. As the relationship between the two title characters develops, the Beast reveals a kindness beyond his cold exterior, brought out by Belle’s faith in him and his devotion to her.

The relationship between Belle and the Beast is the heart of this movie, and “Beauty and the Beast” is able to mold it into powerfully positive themes that serve as a model for young viewers. It makes a clear distinction between the failures marking the relationship’s rocky start and its progression into true affection. Only when the two are able to overcome their dislike for one another and treat each other with compassion and kindness does true emotion develop, and the importance of looking beyond exteriors is showcased.

At the same time, the film explores darker themes through Gaston (Luke Evans) and his role in the plot.

Though his tremendous ego and superficiality immediately give him away as an unlikeable character,

Catherine Joh / The Spectator

Insights: television

By Grace Goldstein and Jenna Bawer A new character is moving onto the iconic children’s television show “Sesame Street” this April, and she has lessons for kids who were formerly nowhere to be found. Red-haired Muppet Julia is Sesame Street’s first autistic character.

Julia was first introduced in an online storybook as part of an initiative on the Sesame Street website. The site encourages visitors to “see amazing in all children” and provides resources teaching about autism and how to raise autistic children, including “daily routine cards,” which detail social behavior and testimonials from autistic people and their families. However, the initial release of Julia was met with some criticism from the autistic community. Some found the usage of “person first language” (saying “person with autism” rather than “autistic person”) patronizing and criticized the usage of testimonials from autistic people’s families over testimonials from autistic people themselves. Many also called out how Autism Speaks—a prominent autism advocacy organization that has faced huge backlash for portraying autism as a disease to be eradicated— was listed as a resource.

underneath is a truly sinister per- taking in the live action film, with sona. His manipulative nature is a delicate, flowing skirt that shimimpeccably portrayed as Evans’s mers and makes every movement face morphs into one of graceful. Each costume is sickening insincerity, intricate, and even the and his voice gains a minor characters melodic quality not are given attenpresent in its usution, as in the ally deep timbre opening ball as he capitalizes scene where on his charm an array of to manipulate white dresses the people. with intricate He becomes a lace, each character not unique, is only genuineseen. ly frightenThe sets ing, but also are likewise hauntingly beautiful, infamiliar from fused with via modern brant colors perspective, of meadows in a film that and Belle’s warns against quaint problindly vincial followtown, ing charcharismatic acterleaders. ized T h e by a original modm ov i e est, but was widely homey renowned for its design. The soundtrack, and in this graphics allow Angel Zheng / The Spectator area “Beauty and the the film to truly Beast” also shines. The emulate a magical vocals in the film are full and pow- kingdom that is impossible to find erful, and the musical numbers in the real world, with the Beast’s are endlessly entertaining. While imposing yet elegant castle of towthe original songs are done great ers that seems lifelike in spite of justice, “Be Our Guest” is nothing the darkness clouding it. short of a breathtaking, colorful “Beauty and the Beast” ticks off musical extravaganza, with end- all the boxes. It is a film that gives less formation changes and a loud, and gives, creating an experience harmonic chorus. that is not only immensely enjoyThe new numbers that are able but also productive and inintroduced in some ways sur- spiring. Ultimately empowering in pass the originals. “Evermore,” its messages of the perseverance of the Beast’s ballad expressing his good and the power lying behind heartache at Belle’s departure, external appearances, it leaves is not only beautifully executed, viewers with a sense of lightness but contains a rare sophistication and hope, reinforcing the potenwithin its lyrics and composition. tial within kindness to stimulate Dan Stevens’s booming voice fills change. It provides young viewers the grand crescendos with heart- with valuable lessons, teaching wrenching emotion, simultane- young girls they are capable and ously providing a brilliant musical strong and reinforcing the imporperformance and expanding the tance of education and making depth of his character in a voice your own decisions. This enlightthat captures true heartbreak. ened, relatable fairytale proves to The film truly is a sight for sore the world that tradition and progeyes, with a whimsical set and ress are compatible, meaningful, masterful costumes. Belle’s iconic and bold, even evoking faith in the yellow dress is even more breath- lost notion of “happily ever after.”

Autistic Kids are Welcome on Sesame Street While some of these criticisms are valid, the announcement of Julia officially joining the cast has been received warmly. It is rare for an autistic character to become an official cast member of a major TV show, as they usually only exist for one episode to teach a lesson about autism. The network has stated that Julia will become a recurring member of the main cast of this landmark children’s show; if she is portrayed as a character who happens to have autism rather than a “token” character who only exists to teach about autism, it will be a major step forward for the entertainment industry.

Julia made her official television debut on April 10, on HBO, but there are also several videos available online featuring Julia, both animated and in muppet form. These videos demonstrate several of her autistic behaviors: flapping her hands (known as “stimming”), delayed responses to her friends, limited speech, and not looking people in the eye. However, she is never demonized for her symptoms.

Whenever characters are concerned about Julia’s behavior, Elmo explains politely that Julia is autistic and thus communicates differently from most, and the characters agree and accommodate to her needs when playing with her. Julia’s autistic traits

are even put in a positive light in some cases. In one animated short, Julia is playing “I Spy” with Elmo and Abby Cadabby and is able to find the tiny red object that Elmo wants her to because of her strong attention to detail—a common autistic trait. In a live action short, Julia doesn’t respond to Elmo when he asks her to play. Without hesitating, Elmo happily decides to play

Suzy B. Ae / The Spectator

next to Julia instead and reminds the viewer that “there [are] lots of ways friends can play!”

Like any other character on the show, Julia is just as quirky as the real children who will watch her on television. While this might not sound too important for a character on a children’s show, in Julia’s case, it’s groundbreaking. By definition, a “token autistic character” exists only for the purpose of being

autistic, instead of being a threedimensional person. Julia may only be a puppet, but she has a three-dimensional personality that comes through in the videos featuring her that have already been released. In one of these clips, Abby Cadabby blows bubbles and reveals that Julia loves popping them. In another, Elmo mentions that Julia’s stuffed animal “Fluffster” is her favorite toy.

In both videos, Julia says only a few words—implying that she’s nonverbal. At the same time, her friends are always happy to talk to her. Watching this, children at home can learn that autistic people are complex and internalize the idea that being friends with autistic kids and making an effort to communicate with them when they express themselves differently is not only great, but normal.

Like other children’s shows, “Sesame Street” is meant to teach young children basic life lessons and skills. Every plotline and character provides some insight into how to learn new things, how to make friends, how to resolve an argument, how to be kind to others, how to shake hands and play with other children, and other common skills.

The mainstream media is accepting that knowing how to understand, befriend, and respect autistic people is important—

important enough to teach the next generation that, right along with the ABC’s.

One progressive aspect of Julia that can be easily overlooked is her gender. The fact that Julia is an autistic girl is its own leap forward and can fight common misconceptions about who autism affects. There is a notable lean towards autistic boys and men in the media, and autism is significantly underdiagnosed in women—the original definition of autistic psychopathy by Hans Asperger didn’t even include women or girls as affected.

Including more autistic girls in media, like Julia, should be celebrated. It reminds people that autism is not a “boy’s disorder” and lets young autistic girls see themselves represented.

“Sesame Street” is no stranger to exposing children to reality in a mature fashion. They’ve had episodes dealing with pregnancy and birth, death of a loved one, bullying, poverty, and cultural pride. Julia isn’t even the only groundbreaking character to come to the street this year, as another new Muppet, Alex, has a father in jail, providing support for children with incarcerated family members. Many children’s shows would shy away from these topics, but “Sesame Street” is using its mainstream popularity to take a few risks.

Page 16

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Arts and Entertainment

Theater By jenna bawer We all know how important the New York subway system is, as most of us use it to travel the city, including riding to and from Stuyvesant every day. Thousands of passengers board each day from all over, navigating around hundreds of stations across the five boroughs, praying there aren’t any major delays or reroutes that make it harder to reach their destination. “InTransit,” the new Broadway musical at the Circle in the Square Theater, not only uses the subway system as a framing device for its story, but also as the core instrument of the show.

“InTransit” is the first a capella musical on Broadway, relying solely on the voices of the cast— and occasional banging on the set to provide some percussion—to carry the show’s musical numbers.

This works incredibly well, since the cast has a fantastic vocal range that creates a captivating harmony.

The set resembles a New York City subway (though not any particular one, as there are signs for multiple stations around the set), with a conveyor belt giving the illusion of a train. Set pieces are moved to replicate other locations like a bar or an apartment. The unique nature of the Circle in the Square Theater, where the audience encircles the stage, provides an immersive experience. No matter where the actors are perform-

Music By lena farley Regina Spektor walked onto the stage timidly and sat down at the piano bathed in blue light.

After taking a sip of water, wiping her hands on her jeans, and clearing her throat, she began her first song, “On The Radio,” a funky but simple ballad about an unknown person. The entirety of Radio City Music Hall was silent, listening to her clear voice, crisp piano, and instrumental accompaniment bounce off the high ceilings. When she finished, the hall erupted in applause and she laughed, smiling widely.

Singer and songwriter Regina Spektor visited Radio City Music Hall on March 11, 2017, as a part of her tour, promoting her recent album “Remember Us to Life.”

Before the concert, viewers eagerly awaited Spektor’s arriva and chatted about their favorite

“InTransit” Takes a Ride Through the New York Experience ing, they are always facing some part of the audience.

A particularly impressive aspect of the show is the sound effects, which are produced by the cast members themselves. The Boxman, for example, is a street performer who opens the show with impressive beatboxing and perfectly imitates sounds necessary for the story, such as the noises of an approaching train. He also monologues about the spirit of the city and helps other characters with their dilemmas, providing a unifying force for the story.

T h e show follows several different but tangentially related New Yorkers, all dealing with some sort of relatable turmoil common to citydwellers.

Jane, for instance, wants to get out of her dead-end office job and become an actress, but struggles to land her dream role. Nick is recently unemployed and has to haggle with a subway booth attendant when his MetroCard runs out of cash. Ali recently got out of a bad breakup and suffers lonely Saturday nights,

battling the urge to contact her ex over social media.

Though their stories are separate, they are tied together through distant relationships as their paths cross in the city, leading to developments such as Jane and Nick starting a romance. However, none of these feel contrived and instead accurately portray how despite the city’s busy nature, even if the

Lynne Wang / The Spectator

train being on time is more important to us than a conversation, we can still make some surprising connections with the people we meet.

The most poignant storyline

in the show is that of a same-sex couple, Trent and Steven, played

by Justin Guarini and Stuyvesant alumnus Telly Leung (‘98), respectively. We see Trent conflicted when he returns to his hometown for a weekend (introducing Steven as a “roommate”) and faces affection from his family, but also has to sit through sermons where a priest condemns his sexuality as “sodomy.” Steven spends most of the story encouraging Trent to come out to his religious, narrow-minded mother, but Trent, understandably, doesn’t want to lose her love.

“This is more important than ever!”

Steven tells Trent, trying to convince him to marry him to take a stand against bigotry.

That line holds a lot of weight in our current political climate, and the scriptwriters are aware of it. In light of both the 2016 elections and Leung’s recent wedding to his own husband, James Babcock, the script was altered to be as relevant as possible. It doesn’t come across as preachy or overly

political, but the tasteful way it addresses both those who are openly gay and those struggling to come out accurately represents New York’s diversity.

The cast is appropriately diverse for an urban setting. Anybody who takes the subway can relate to experiences such as constant train rerouting, people urinating on the walls, and panicking because the MetroCard machine ate your last dollar. Yet it isn’t just the misery of the city that’s explored, but also the glory of its hustle and bustle.

One number represents this by blending together the noises of the city (e.g. construction work, deli carts, and MTA officers), featuring an actress in a unique dress made entirely of MetroCards in the center of it all. It’s a small set, but it immerses the audience in the city experience.

“InTransit” is a love letter to New York. Tourists will be able to relate to the characters and enjoy the music, true, but it’s a mustsee for anybody who loves the city, even if they hate some things about it. It celebrates how every stranger has a story, and every story needs the city to thrive. The a cappella stylings are a perfect choice for a musical about New York; like the music in this show being made up of the cast’s voices, the mood of the city is defined by the people within it and all of their wild adventures—even when they come face to face with delays and reroutes.

Regina Spektor at Radio City Spektor songs, concerts they had already been to, and their expectations for the following concert.

The lighting was bright, beaming onto the famous red curtains of the music hall and bouncing off of the high, layered ceiling onto the packed orchestra seating and crowded balconies. Though there were a few younger kids sprinkled throughout the audience, most of the crowd ranged from 30 to 50 years old.

Despite the age difference, I had great conversations with other audience members. The special thing about going to a concert, or any gathering of the sort, is being with people who share similar interests. A love for Spektor’s style—a mix of slow, soft songs with the occasional fast and lively song—brought everyone at the hall together and made for an easy conversation starter.

As the red curtains parted and gave way to the piano, Spektor walked on stage. She was incredibly nervous throughout her performance and even had to start over during one of her songs because she was so choked up.

“I’m sorry—it’s just—Radio City Music Hall, you know?” she said before restarting “Grand Hotel,” this time with more power and confidence.

In another personal moment she shared with the audience, she called her mom while on stage.

It was the first home show her mom hadn’t attended because of illness. She phoned her mom and had a short conversation, switching back and forth between her native Russian and learned English. Although in her 30s, at that moment, Spektor seemed like a much younger performer who needed her mother’s assurance.

Afterwards, Spektor chuckled

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and said, “Wow, I thought that only happened in movies!”

Spektor’s alto voice sounded exactly the same as her recordings, strong and clear. Even songs that sound like there could be some autotune, like “Bleeding Heart,” sounded almost exactly the same, if not better. I stared, amazed at her talent, as her voice rang out. During some songs, her voice sounded quiet and soft, but in other songs, it was powerful and needed limited instrumental accompaniment. Not only does Spektor sing and write most of her own songs, she also plays the piano like a virtuoso, her hands skimming quickly over the keys.

She was accompanied by a few other musicians on the drums and the bass under multicolored strobe lights that changed pace depending on the tempo of the song. During the fast songs, like “Don’t Leave Me [Ne Me Quitte

Pas],” the lighting was frantic, with rapidly changing colors and about 10 spotlights shining on Spektor. However, during slow songs, like “Sellers of Flowers,” the lighting was soft and simple, sometimes with just a single beam of light. The lighting helped emphasize the beats of the songs, which made the audience members get even more into singing or humming along.

The audience spent the entire show soaking up her beautiful lyrics and natural voice, her pleasant disposition, and funny moments. Listening to music through headphones can never beat the experience of seeing a performer in person and seeing the actual hard work and talent that goes into every song. After a night full of cheers, singing, and laughing, Radio City Music Hall was buzzing with praise for Regina Spektor.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment Get a Life: The Cultured Edition

Events Calendar

29

22

ONGOING

saturday

food contest “Street Ramen Contest” @ Chelsea 6th Avenue between 24th & 25th Street

Art Show “Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties” @ Metropolitan Museum of Art

convention “Hot Sauce Festival” @ 72 Noble Street, Brooklyn

FILM SCREENING “Tribeca Film Festival” @ Tribeca until 4/30/2017

saturday

27

thursday

live jazz performance “Friends of Education Modern Jazz Social” @ Museum of Modern Art

festival “Cherry Blossom Festival” @ Brooklyn Botanic Garden book fair “Rainbow Book Fair” @ John Jay College

Art Show “Whitney Biennial” @ Whitney Museum of Art Art Show “Georgia O’Keefe: Living Modern” @ Brooklyn Museum

APRIL

Art Show “Lawrence Weiner” @ Marian Goodman Gallery until 4/22/2017

MAY

MUSICAL “Kinky Boots” @ Al Hirschfeld Theatre film screening “Martin Scorsese” @ Museum of the Moving Age until 4/23/2017

21

2

friday

art show “Fashion After Fashion” @ Museum of Arts and Design

Film Screening “Leap!” Premiere @ Select Theaters

art show “Ian Cheng: Emissaries” @ Museum of Modern Art

Film Screening “Born in China” @ Select Theaters

art show “Alexei Jawlensky” @ Neue Gallerie photo gallery “Perpetual Revolution: Image and Social Change” @ International Center of Photography

tuesday

23

sunday

meetup “Corgi Meet Up NYC April 2017!” @ Washington Square Park Large Dog Run

28

friday

film screening “The Circle” Premiere @ Select Theaters

concert “Jojo” @ Irving Plaza

food festival “Smorgasburg” @ Prospect Park

Contemps and Classics

Playlist

As J. Cole once eloquently and grammatically flowed in the opening song of his 2014 album: “Reach the stars, you take the time / To look behind and say ‘look where I came / look how far I done came.” Jokes aside, as we once again head into AP and finals season, eyes glued to textbooks and frantically created study guides, it is imperative that we acknowledge the magnitude of what we have accomplished thus far. In less than four months, 2017 has seen the the comebacks of artists from Lorde to Kendrick Lamar, and in this playlist—Contemps and Classics—we attempt to contextualize our struggle and growth as students within the world of music. Take a look at these 10 artists whose new music is best understood and appreciated through the lenses of the old.

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

“Humble” (2017) Kendrick Lamar Rap

“Poetic Justice” (2013) Kendrick Lamar Rap

“Burning Bridges” (2017) Bea Miller Pop

“Young Blood” (2014) Bea Miller Pop

“Same Drugs” (2016) Chance the Rapper Hip-hop/Rap

“14,400 Minutes” (2012) Chance the Rapper Hip-hop/Rap

“Chanteje” (2016) Shakira Pop

“Hips Don’t Lie” (2001) Shakira Pop

“Million Reasons” (2016) Lady Gaga Pop

“Paparazzi” (2008) Lady Gaga Pop

“Nobody Else but You” (2017) Trey Songz R&B/Soul

“Slow Motion” (2015) Trey Songz R&B/Soul

“Electric” (2017) Alina Baraz (ft. Khalid) Electronic

“Fantasy” (2015) Alina Baraz Electronic

“Shining” (2017) DJ Khaled (ft. Beyoncé) Hip-hop/Rap

“Baby Boy” (2002) Beyoncé (ft. Sean Paul) Dancehall/R&B

“24K Magic” (2016) Bruno Mars Contemporary R&B

“Just The Way You Are” (2010) Bruno Mars Pop

“Shape of You” (2017) Ed Sheeran Pop

“The A Team” (2011) Ed Sheeran Pop

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

Page 18

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

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Page 19

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 20

Humor These articles are works of fiction. All quotes are libel and slander.

Stuyvesant By the Numbers

By Gilvir Gill

• 3352: Students who regret going here • 215: Number of Recommendation Letter Requests to Mr. Sandler • 81: Tons of college mail sent to the average junior • 7567: Unopened Barron’s AP Review Books • 3 hours and 43 minutes: Average time spent in school sleeping • 900: Incoming freshmen who think they will be attending Ivies • 9: Juniors who think they will be attending Ivies • 400: Clubs started for colleges • -4: Functioning escalators • 0: Phones confiscated in the past minute

Klaire Geller/ The Spectator

What Really Goes Into Your College Rec

By Michael Espinosa So after 10 hours of preparing a pleading speech and 10 more of on-the-floor begging, your teacher has finally decided to write you a letter of recommendation for college. Congratulations!

There are a variety of recs that your teachers can write, and it’s important to know which one will be written on your behalf so you know what to expect.

The “Why X” Recommendation: These recommendations sound a lot like the college-specific supplemental essays you will write.

Instead of talking about “world-class faculty” and “a diverse student body that partakes in a variety of activities,” your teachers will speak highly of your “frequent contribution to class discussions” and “demonstrated curiosity in the field.” In fact, your teacher probably uses the same template to write the recommendation just like how they use the same handouts from 2004.

The Snake Recommendation: Snake recommenders aren’t asked by students often, so when they’re asked, they know that you’re desperate to get into college.

Much like a snake, these teachers will sense your hopelessness and capitalize on it by including everything negative

about you. They will include a log of every time you arrived late (with attached late slips), used a phone (with secret photographic evidence), or incorrectly answered a question when they called on you.

Snake recommenders are initially hard to spot, but once you have a class with one, it becomes very obvious. They will never give points back on a test even when they admit they are wrong, assign group projects on a whim, and try to be funny but actually end up making the entire class uncomfortable.

The Gas Recommendation: This recommendation is 10 percent luck, 20 percent skill, 15 percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, 50 percent pain, and 100 percent bravado for even considering to ask for a recommendation.

It’s mostly painful for this teacher to write you a letter of recommendation. You and your teacher both know that you finessed this class as much as you finessed in asking for a recommendation.

However, this teacher is a bro and isn’t about to do you dirty.

Therefore, this teacher will attempt to “gas you up” for college admissions and exaggerate every interaction he/she has ever had with you.

It’s too bad that ctly compreholleges will see right through

Freshmen Starting College Hunt Early

By Benedict Ho Most freshmen tend to have no idea about college, let alone the college admissions process. Even some Stuyvesant seniors do not fully grasp the idea of college. “Wait, we graduate to go to school again? I thought college was just four years of sleeping to recuperate from Stuy,” senior Alec Dai quipped.

Exceptions always exist at Stuyvesant (like that complex seven class program change that took 273 parent phone calls), and this year, freshmen have begun to beat the juniors at the college game.

They’re taking “starting early” to a new level.

Klaire Geller/ The Spectator

1) College tours this year have significantly changed. Due to the increased number of freshmen attendees, upperclassmen attendance has severely waned, except for expert freshmen hunters.

“The last college trip was packed with so many freshmen that I actually had to talk to

them,” junior Jason Kao remarked.

“At some college, a bunch of fratters called Stuyvesant the ‘school of the dwarves.’”

2) Have you wondered why your college counselor meetings are so late this year? It’s because freshmen have been barging into the college office and demanding a meeting with a college counselor. The demand has been so great that the college office now has a maitre d’, along with buzzers.

These inquisitive freshmen have also arranged for alumni interviews and signed up for college e-mailing lists. Colleges are no longer comparing students to other students of the same age, deciding to accommodate freshmen in their admissions processes.

3) For the first time, teachers have began to write college recommendations for freshmen, diminishing the opportunities for juniors.

“I’m only writing 15 junior recommendations because the freshman

are just so much better at being juniors,” social studies teacher Victor Greez commented. “They’re actually awake in class.”

“I’d be willing to write for any freshman, even if I didn’t know who he or she was,” chemistry teacher Gabriel Ting expressed. “They are just so cute and perfect.” It’s not surprising that this year’s junior class slams the panic button when anything college-related is mentioned.

4) Many freshmen have started their own clubs: the “I Have Created This Club For College Interviews Club,” the “Northwestern Bay of Biscay Marine Biology Research Internship Prep Club,” and the “Insert Name Here Club” to name a few.

These ambitious freshmen have overwhelmed the room booking system, causing general mayhem after school. To accommodate, the SU has opened up space in the elevator shafts, on the roof, and in the staircases.

5) Principal Eric Contreras has proposed a new change to the current grade levels. Freshmen who demonstrate college preparedness will be able to accelerate automatically to junior year and have access to coveted AP waivers. As a result, freshm e n have begun to sell these AP waivers on the Stuyvesant Black Market, not that it exists...

it. It’s too bad that colleges won’t ever see your “whimsical and striking ability to adepend class lectures despite being slouched over, snoring.”

The Unicorn Recommendation: These recommendations are rarer than girls accepting my promposal. If you find a unicorn recommendation, pick the college of your dreams because that will be a college you’ll get an acceptance from (unless it’s MIT).

Unicorn recommenders are easy to spot.

They’re incredibly laid back and you make sure not to take it for granted. You have a genuine interest in the subject they teach and can share a laugh with them on a daily basis.

These teachers will pack their recommendations with anecdotes that illuminate your wholesome personality.

Te a c h ers that give unicorn recommendations include Mr. Sandler and Mr. Strasser. I am forever thankful for their support and apologize if there is a signifi-

cant increase in students asking them for recommendations this year.

Fareeha Tabassum/ The Spectator

A Eulogy for Obama

By Angelique CharlesDavis We have gathered here today to mourn the death of our beloved #forevermypresident Barack Obama. Obama is more than dearly missed and remains in our hearts forever.

To fully understand the trajectory of Obama’s life, we have to start from the beginning. A very, extremely, bigly reputable source has long asserted that Obama was born in a small Kenyan village to two devout Muslim, lesbian mothers in the impoverished country of Africa.

Obama studied by lamplight every night until he fell asleep tangled among his 32 half-siblings, finally writing his way out of his small hut and misery to infiltrate the United States with

Start studying for that Canadian citizenship test.

It’s what Obama would have wanted.

the sole purpose of becoming its president.

Obama had his faults—that same reputable source tells us that Obama is solely responsible for the 2008 global recession and that Obama is a race-baiter. But there was something about him:

Christine Jegarl/ The Spectator

his cheerful disposition would let us know that things were going to get better—no more; now we just cry.

When Obama departed from our world to the sunny realm of Tahiti, he left a great void behind, a void that would seek to tear apart his very existence.

Obama tried to prevail until the very end, but it was just too much for him.

The majority of us didn’t ask for the fate that came to Obama.

But Ohio did. And for some reason that the world has been struggling to understand, Ohio matters. Obama suffered his first fall on November 8, 2017, when we all were desperately trying to refresh Google—because this time, Google wasn’t being funny.

Obama finally collapsed on January 20, a day marked by the stormy tears of God. Since then, we’ve been warily watching as America becomes q-white an interesting place.

But we cannot grieve forever.

Start studying for that Canadian citizenship test. It’s what Obama would have wanted.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 21

Art Under Da Sea

By THE ART DEPARTMENT

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 22

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Sports Girls’ Badminton

Girls’ Badminton Starts Out Strong

By Ava Chau With a 5-0 win against Marta Valle High School on Thursday, March 30, Stuyvesant’s girls’ badminton team started the season off strong. The match itself was quite relaxed, as Stuyvesant did not feel much pressure.

Their first match of the season ended in a forfeit because Murry Bergtraum lacked the necessary amount of players to compete. “We considered the game on Thursday the first game and the official start of the season. However, we weren’t anxious because the schools in our division except Seward Park are relatively new to the sport,” junior and co-captain Mickey Yu said.

The match against Marta Valle seemed like an opportunity for Stuyvesant to

experiment and practice.

Junior Sion Kim began the match playing first singles against Marta Valle’s Kashada Harewood.

Kim won all three sets with high scores. However, she still saw ways that she could have improved. “Personally, I think that I could have done better, so I’m not exactly proud, but I was confident about winning,” she said.

In spite of her mistakes throughout the match, Kim played an impressive match, with the sets ending with scores of 21-3, 21-2, and 21-2.

The second singles match, played by junior Ida Wang against Marta Valle’s Tiavion Hughie, unfolded with a similar result. Though Wang has played the last two seasons as a doubles player and only became a singles player this season, there were

no signs during her match that the transition has been difficult.

She, like Kim, won all three of her sets, with her smallest margin of victory a comfortable 17 points.

Stuyvesant’s great results remained consistent throughout the rest of their matches, with newcomer sophomore Keying Wang winning her singles match as well. Her opponent offered a slightly better performance than her teammates, but still did little to prevent Wang from winning, again in three sets.

Yu and junior Janie Huang, a pairing familiar from last season, continued the team’s dominant performance, beating Marta Valle’s first doubles team of Cyane Huertas and Stefany Rivera. The second doubles match featured sophomore Tracy Chang alongside senior and co-captain Yiqing

Hu. Chang and Hu are a rather recent partnership. Though Hu has been a doubles player for three years, Chang is new, switching from playing third singles to second doubles this season.

Their performance was not without its errors, but despite several missed serves, the pair was able to improve over the course of their match, and they went on to win all three of their sets against Marta Valle’s Jalyssa Cintron and Tiffany Hunter, with scores of 21-10, 21-8, and 21-4. Their match concluded Stuyvesant’s 5-0 victory.

The win set a bright tone for the remainder of the season.

“We’re pretty optimistic about how our season’s [going to] be,” coach Hugh Francis said. He credited the returning players, a group that includes seven of

the last year’s eight starters, for the hopeful outlook he holds for the upcoming matches.

The team is looking forward to their match against Seward Park High School. Since the addition of badminton to the PSAL, Seward Park has often dominated the division and has become one of Stuyvesant’s biggest rivals.

They have proven themselves to be formidable opponents in past matches, having won four out of the six matches against Stuyvesant over previous seasons.

However, Yu maintains that they can bounce back from previous defeats and come out on top. “We were always on par with Seward Park. It’s hard to predict the outcome of the upcoming match against them, but we will try our best,” she said.

The Spectator ● April 21, 2017

Page 23

Sports Girls’ Track

Boys’ Volleyball

After Rocky Start, The Greyducks Succeed at Mayor’s Cup

By Nikki Daniels and Ronin Berzins

By Allison Eng and Muhib Khan

Spectators started filling the stands, anxious to see the game between the Beasts, Stuyvesant’s boys’ volleyball team, and the Lions of Laguardia High School on Monday, April 3.

The game started off badly for the Beasts. Stuyvesant, heavily favored to win, had many missed bumps, serves and hits, and Laguardia quickly took a 6-1 lead.

Coach Vasken Choubaralian called a timeout and berated the team for their careless errors, stating that to win, they couldn’t be overconfident.

“There were a ridiculous number of [unfocused] errors, like missing serves and missed attacks, that are unacceptable at this point,” he said.

After the timeout, Stuyvesant came back, still trailing 7-9, but playing much better. After some strong spikes from juniors Justin Chan and Tommy Min, the Beasts took the lead and went up 15-12. Laguardia, who also missed many hits, was unable to bounce back, and Stuyvesant won the first set with a score of 25-16.

At the start of the second set, members of the Beasts still looked dejected, as they saw the team fail to play at the level they had in the past.

Junior Shun Bitar was able to give the team a small lead with his jump serves, but the team continued to commit many errors. Despite this, the Beasts were able to claw their way to a 12-5 lead, as even Stuyvesant’s lower level of play proved effective enough, and Laguardia committed even more errors.

The second set concluded with an impressive point by junior and setter Ray Jones. After one of one of Bitar’s spikes was blocked, Laguardia was left off balance, allowing Jones to shoot the ball into the far corner on the second touch.

Though they improved their record to 4-0, much of the game was very mediocre compared to the Beasts’ past games. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, mainly service errors, being unable to receive the ball and being unable to hit over. “[This game] was strange

Boys’ Handball

Stuyvesant’s handball team, the Dragons, have been dominating their competition, winning all of their games by a 5-0 match sweep, giving them a 6-0 record.

Coming off a playoff exit last season, the Dragons are looking forward to going further in the playoffs and possibly bringing home a championship.

Last year was very promising, as in the prior two years, the Dragons were knocked off in second round exits.

The Dragons have been holding up well, even though last year’s leading seniors Kevin Chau (first

singles, 35 total aces, 19 total kills, 7-5 singles record), Jonathan Yuan (third singles, 25 total aces, 9 total kills, 6-3 singles record), and Rahul Debnath (first doubles, 22 total aces, 5 total kills, 8-0 doubles record) have graduated.

Senior and co-captain Vincent Wu, who has been on the team for four years, is optimistic for what this season holds. “They [seniors who graduated] were pretty strong players, but I think it didn’t really hit our team too hard this year. Everyone else improved a lot, and we have good chemistry, as almost every starter is going to be a senior,” he said.

Both the doubles duos, senior Jasper Li and Wu and seniors

Stanley Lee, Yongheng Zhou, and Daniel Chiu, have gotten perfect matches (winning the match 21-0), along with singles players senior James Young and senior Edwin Lee. Young and Lee lead the team with 33 aces in five matches, while senior Jonathan Shi lead the team with 12 kills in five matches.

Wu is very optimistic about this season and thinks the team is on track for a perfect season.

“Everyone has played pretty well so far, and we already won [half ] of our hardest matches in the league,” Wu said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to leave behind a legacy for the handball team that future handball teams could follow.”

Boys’ Lacrosse

Rocky Start Shows Pegleg Strength

By Lee-Ann Rushlow and Sean Stanton Starting out the season with two losses, the Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ lacrosse team, were determined to come back strong to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Peglegs had lost to Albert Tuitt Educational Campus with a final score of 2-0 and Frederick Douglass Academy with a final score of 12-5.

After these losses, the team looked back at their play and realized the one key component they were lacking in was their offense.

“Our defense has been very strong so far, but our offense really needs to take it to the next level. Our biggest problem is being aggressive and going for shots,” senior and cocaptain Winston Venderbush said.

Junior and middle hitter Nick Kim tips the ball over Laguardia in Stuyvesant’s 2-0 victory.

because we [had] a really good day on Saturday. We played [a lot of ] strong teams and won many games, playing excellent volleyball. Today, we played like a completely different team. I’ve seen them do all these things much much better,” Choubaralian said.

With that win and a 2-1 victory over High School of Environmental Studies, they have started their season on a five-game winning streak.

The first win of their season was an automatic forfeit, as the team from West 50th Street Campus High School failed to show up. The second win of the season came from a matchup against Louis Brandeis, a strong win in straight sets.

The third win of the season came from another 2-0 win against High School for Math, Science and Engineering (HSMSE). It gave HSMSE, who is currently in second place in the Manhattan A West division, their only loss of the season.

The season has not been all smooth sailing for the Beasts. They have lost one non-league scrimmage against Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. Last year, Cardozo High School finished fourth in the PSAL tournament and they currently have a record of 3-0. Although the scrimmage will not affect the Beasts’ placement, teams like Cardozo could keep the team

from advancing far in playoffs.

Senior and co-captain Jackson Deysine believes that the team always has the ability to do better.

“The bounce back from scrim losses will really come from playing smarter as a team. Volleyball is [about] playing the ball intelligently, so I know that if we read the court better, we can easily win games against teams we lost to,” Deysine said.

Over the past few games, the juniors have helped the team in many ways. Much of the team’s starting lineup is made up of juniors, so they have come to make up a crucial part of the rotation. Jones is the starting setter with middle hitter Nick Kim. Additionally, Bitar, Chan, and Min are strong outside/opposite hitters, which give the Beasts good depth and options to rely on.

“The juniors are really the core of the team. The chemistry is almost there. Looking forward to next year, it’s reassuring to know that not much will change, and it will be mostly the same lineup,” Chan said.

The Beasts will be looking to use their practices to improve on their subpar performances. They need to work on forcing other teams to make errors instead of committing unforced errors themselves. With an undefeated record despite their mistakes, the season is looking bright for them moving forward.

Girls’ Lacrosse

Dragons Dominate to Start Season

By Ariel Glazman and Sean Stanton

Allison Eng/ The Spectator

The Greyducks, Stuyvesant’s girls’ outdoor track team, got off to a slow start this season, with several canceled and unrepresentative meets. Their first meet, the Hornet Relays, was scheduled for Saturday, March 25, until it was canceled. Their second meet on Saturday, March 29, the first of the Spring Series, only involved 10 of the 48 athletes on the team, and the third meet of the season on Saturday, April 1, focused on relay events instead of individual ones.

While not all the athletes were present at the first Spring Series meet, the Greyducks performed impressively. In particular, junior Daria Shifrina came in first place for the triple jump and the high jump. Shifrina’s triple jump was an outstanding 32 feet 11 inches, and her high jump was an incredible four and a half feet high (4 ft 6 in).

In addition, the girls dominated the 1500-meter racewalk and made a showing in the 4x800-meter relay. In the 1500meter racewalk, the Greyducks managed to take second, third and fourth places. Junior Joyce Wu took second place with a time of eight minutes and 16.50 seconds (8:16.50), sophomore Bernice Chen came in third place (8:41.10), and sophomore Jeanette Cheung finished in fourth place (8:47.70). In the 4x800meter relay, the team consisting of freshmen Ester Suleymanov, Jing Su, and Elizabeth “Liza” Reizis and sophomore Bernice Chen also did very well, coming in third place (12:38.20).

However, this meet was mainly for the new members to gain some experience and become accustomed to outdoor meets. “We were told to treat [this meet] as a hard workout

practice and to gain some experience before the more high stake competitions,” Reizis said.

Despite this victory, the Greyducks faced many challenges during their meet on April 1. Not only did the team have to face unbelievably cold and windy conditions, but also, senior Catriona Breen pulled both of her quadriceps during a warm up before the race. Due to Breen’s unexpected injuries, the more experienced 4x800-meter team consisting of Breen, seniors Zovinar Khrimian and Jessica Yan, and sophomore Clara Mohri was unable to run.

The Greyducks, however, had tremendous success at the NYC Mayor’s Cup, which was held on Saturday, April 8. The freshman 4x800-meter relay team, which consisted of Doris Chen, Tiffany Cao, Su, and Suleymanov, placed fourth in the freshman division.

The sophomore 4x800-meter relay, composed of Mohri, Tiffany Zhong, Jocelyn Tang, and Vivian Cribb placed second in the sophomore division. While Track and Field is largely dominated by its track component, co-captain Lucia Liu, who specializes in field, emphasized introducing members to field events. “I believe that by having our girls participate in both running and field events, we can place extremely well during major meets like Borough’s and City Championships,” Liu said.

Much like Liu, coach Anna Markova has high aspirations for the team. “We are hoping to be on the podium at the City Championship and [to be] Borough Champions again,” she said.

Despite the seasons starting with some major obstacles, the team is looking forward to another successful season. “I think the team’s greatest strengths [this season] are dedication and [our] bond,” senior and co-captain Sharon Hu said.

Beasts on Fire with Five-Game Win Streak

The Peglegs traced many of their early struggles to a heavy reliance on a few players. In the first two games of the season, senior and co-captain Michael Joh and senior Ledion Lecaj were the only players to score goals, combining for only five.

These losses were a wake up call. “We can never underestimate our opponents and must play every team as if they were the best,” Joh said.

Venderbush was shocked that the Peglegs lost their first two games. “I thought it was really winnable. We just came onto the field as a bunch of individuals rather than a team,” he said.

With these issues recognized, the Peglegs went on to win the next three games, scoring a combined 23 goals in these games, while

only giving up five goals in return.

“I think we definitely pulled together as a team more for the next [three] games and were able to win together. It’s what we should have done,” said Venderbush.

The Peglegs beat Long Island City High School 10-2, Jamaica High School 4-2, and A. Philip Randolph Campus High School 9-1, with a total of eight different players scoring in those matches, including senior Enoch Lee, juniors Dmytro Hvirtsman and Sam Brimberg, and Venderbush.

With their season almost halfway over and their record at 3-2, the Peglegs will have to keep up their offensive aggressiveness in order to help their stellar defense and keep hopes of a deep playoff run alive.

A Solid Start for the Huskies

By Tahsin Ali and Perry Wang

After having to miss multiple practices and four league games due to cold weather, the Huskies, Stuyvesant’s girls’ lacrosse team, began their season on March 27 against a KIPP NYC College Prep team. The girls were eager to finally start their season as they took charge of the field at Randall’s Island.

The delayed start to the season did not seem to phase the Huskies, as they were welltrained and seemed to be in midseason form right from the start. Led by senior and co-captain Lucy Wang, who finished the game with 12 goals on 14 shots, the Huskies maintained a substantial lead throughout the game, defeating KIPP with a score of 15-5.

The following game, the Huskies followed up with a solid 13-6 win over Frederick Douglass Academy in which Wang scored another eight goals on eight shots.

Though the Huskies got off to a quick start, they were faced with a 19-3 loss against Hunter.

Though Wang scored two of the Huskies’ three goals, she felt that a lack of preparation combined with the incorrect mindset was their undoing. “A lot of it was bad mentality, if not from the rain, then from whatever. I think our biggest problem was catching. Our lack of practices shows in our passing, catching and ground balls,” Wang said.

The following game against Bronx Science saw a renewed ef-

fort by the team to try to defeat a longstanding rival. Their vigor and determination led to a closely fought battle where Bronx Science came out on top by a close margin of 11-10. Wang tacked on five more goals and continued to be an important presence on the field for the Huskies.

In their last game against Christopher Columbus Campus, the Huskies saw their hard work and practice pay off as they had a resounding 7-0 win. Wang continued her tear as she scored five more goals, adding up to an impressive season total of 32 goals.

The Huskies had a different start to their season than last year’s team. Their 3-2 record, with one of the losses being the 11-10 against Bronx Science, is drastically different from their 1-4 start last season.

The team still managed to make the playoffs last season, but were eliminated in the first round.

Now, with a strong list of returning players, the team has been able to score wins right from the start. Wang has been a huge part of this initial success, scoring 32 goals on 41 attempts, ranking her first in all of PSAL in goals scored.

In addition to her individual success, she credits many of her teammates for improving this season. “Juniors Leila Storkamp and Inbar Pe’er have really stepped up and contributed to this start,” she said. The goal is clear among the team: playoffs or bust, and they have done their part to achieve this goal.

April 21, 2017

Page 24

The Spectator SpoRts Girls’ Handball

Sarah Chen/ The Spectator

Peglegs Dominate The School of the Future

Senior Vicky Huang prepares to serve the ball across the court.

By Ariel Glazman As senior and co-captain Joanne “Jojo” Cheng set up to serve the game winning ace for her first singles match against The School of the Future in the sixth floor gym, the other matches had already been won

by Stuyvesant players with margins of at least 15 points.

This is nothing new for the girls’ handball team, the Peglegs, who have not lost a match this entire season. Every game, involving three singles matches and two doubles matches, has resulted in the players from Stuyvesant winning all five matches.

The game against the School of the Future was just another example of how successful the season has been. Even so, the Peglegs are staying focused on success after the regular season. “We’re used to winning by huge margins, but nonetheless, every game is important for getting into the playoffs. We’ve

never been past the second round as long as I’ve coached, but with this senior and junior-heavy team, I’m confident we can make it further this year,” coach Eric Wisotsky said.

Regular season games seem to not cause a lot of stress for Cheng, who is a three-year veteran of the team. However, even after winning her match 21-4 against the School of the Future with 3 kills, she was critical of her game.“I was messing up my left-handed shots, and otherwise, I would have won 21-1 or zipped [my opponent] out,” Cheng said. This constant self-critique and desire to improve has played a large role in the success of the Peglegs this season and has helped them toward their 3-0 record.

A lot of intensity was also shown by senior Seo Hyun Park, who played second singles at this game. She was able to shut out her opponent, winning 21-0 with eight aces and two kills.

Throughout her game, she was consistently locked in, seemingly giving an even greater effort when she was already winning by 15 points. Similarly, the first doubles pair at this game, consisting of senior Joanne Chung and junior Ariel Huang, only allowed their opponents to score one point the entire match, winning 21-1.

Playing third singles at this game, senior Vicky Huang won with the smallest margin, yet still finished with an impressive score of 21-6. She leads the team this year with 14 aces. “[I was] regretful that I didn’t win 21-0, as it would be my third consecutive victory zipping my opponent out,” Huang said.

She also re-emphasized that even though the regular season is not very difficult and that players get to bolster up their stats, the team is still staying focused. Their next major game is against Laguardia, who have always given the Peglegs trouble.

Cheng also hopes that the Peglegs will face one of their major rivals, Bayside High School, who have eliminated Stuyvesant from the playoffs more than once. She hopes that this is the season the girls handball team will be able to finally defeat Bayside and reach the semifinals or even finals. Cheng thinks that winning a championship this season might motivate more talented players to join the Peglegs, and the team will be even stronger next year.

Although Stuyvesant often dominates their division during the regular season, having only one loss in the past three seasons, Bayside and Benjamin N. Cardozo High Schools have consistently eliminated the Peglegs early in the playoffs. Although the team is aware of this, they are doing their best to build up confidence during the regular season, so they will be in the best position heading into the playoffs.

CALENDAR

22

April

21

Saturday Coed Varsity Cricket vs.

York Early College Academy Baisley Pond Park

Friday

Girls’ Varsity Fencing vs.

Long Island City High School Long Island City HS

27

24

Thursday Girls’ Softball vs.

Hunter College High School Pier 40 Boys’ Varsity Baseball vs.

Beacon High School Pier 40

Monday

Boys’ Tennis vs.

Hunter College High School Central Park Tennis Courts 2

WRAPUP With a 22-1 victory over Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School on April 19, the Renegades, Stuyvesant’s girls’ softball team, improved to 5-1 on their season. With the victory, they lead their division in wins, while only trailing Manhattan Center for Science & Math in winning percentage, who has played three fewer games.

The Tigers, Stuyvesant’s cricket team, bounced back from backto-back losses to start their season in a 60-0 victory over Bronx Science on April 18. Following the win, they sit in third place in their division with a 1-2 record.

Stuyvesant’s boys’ tennis team, the Hitmen, moved to 4-1 following a 5-0 victory over High School of American Studies. Following that game, the team is in second place behind only Beacon High School, whom they suffered their only defeat to.

Baseball

Lights Out Pitching Leads Peglegs to Undefeated Start

By Tahsin Ali and Ariel Melendez

great hitting. They were looking to get their offense running from the start, but senior Tobias Lange silenced the Bayside offense, throwing a complete game and allowing only one run.

From the start, it was evident that the work put in during the offseason was paying off. Despite having limited practices and cancelled games due to inclimate weather, the Peglegs have stayed focused, and this has contributed to their active winning streak.

“I feel that we are very deep in the pitching department and that I trust who ever I put out there.

Not many teams can say that,” head coach John Carlesi said.

However, what has made the Peglegs a significantly improved team from last year is the consistent offense and fielding, areas they struggled in last year. “The first few games of the season have hopefully put down a basis for the team to build on. We have had excellent pitching, fielding, and situational hitting” Carlesi said. “Our defense was stellar [to start the season], a big weakness we had last year. We are only two games in, but I feel that this team has grown very close in the Fall and Winter, and it has shown on the field.”

Many new faces on the varsity team have made positive contributions to the improved defense.

Tasdid Khandaker/ The Spectator

Bottom of the first, two strikes, bases loaded, and senior Dean Steinman’s bat at the plate. The opposing pitcher, looking understandably flustered, prepped for the pitch. To his apparent dismay, he was no match for Steinman, and a bloop up the right field line later, the Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity baseball team, had their first lead at 2-0.

They would ride this momentum to extend their season starting winning streak to three games as they defeated Norman Thomas High School by a final score of 7-2 at Pier 40. “Our bats came alive early and got us going from the start,” senior and co-captain Jack Archer said.

After taking a 3-0 lead by the end of the first inning, Archer delivered with stellar pitching, which kept the opposition hitless and scoreless until the fifth inning. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the fourth, already up three runs to none, Archer hit a triple to tack on two additional runs onto their four run cushion.

After six impressive innings from Archer in which he struck out eight batters while walking just two and allowing only three hits, sophomore Jeremy Rubin

capped off the win with a solid one-hit, two strikeout inning.

A highlight of the game was the Peglegs’ success on the defensive side, an area they struggled with last season. “Although I had a rough first inning, my defense helped me get out of it, and we were able to keep the intensity through the remainder of the game,” Archer said.

The Peglegs are currently atop the AAA Western league at 4-0, highlighted by strong performances in all aspects of the game and victories against formidable opponents.

Against Newtown, the opening game for the team, the Peglegs showed their potential right out of the gate. They scored nine runs, led by Steinman, who earned a hit on each of his at bats, including a homerun and a triple, and finished with four runs batted in.

The strength of the pitching staff was in full effect as Archer threw five solid innings, allowing only three earned runs. He was followed by Rubin, who tossed two scoreless innings to close the game.

In the second game of a back to back, the Peglegs took on the defending AA-level champion Bayside, who was moved up to the AAA level and entered the game coming off a 10-run outing in which they lost despite

Varsity baseball captain, Jack Archer, pitches the ball.

“[Junior] Max Onderdonk and [sophomore] Malcolm Hubbell are two new players [who] have been huge impact players on the defensive side” Archer said.

A few areas the team will look to improve on going forward is lowering their strikeout rate and putting more balls into play. They emphasize the importance of the fundamental areas of the game and will look to per-

fect it. “I think the team needs to focus more on ‘small ball.’

Bunting, hit and runs, and hitting behind the runner—these are things that are going to win us games this year,” Carlesi said.

If the team can improve on these areas during practice and continue their red-hot play, they will certainly be a scary opponent for their division rivals.