Volume 113 Issue 15

Volume 113 No. 15

The Spectator

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May 19, 2023

OPINIONS

Holding Hope for Humanities

In an environment like Stuyvesant High School where STEM tends to dominate the spotlight, the struggle to pursue humanities increases while the number of humanities degrees decreases.

see page 10

Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Memory Map: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s [Native] American Experience

Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s striking insight into the devastating history of oppression and current political struggles of indigenous populations in the United States.

see page 17

Sophomore Bar Repaint Process

By ADITYA ANAND, MADELINE GOODWIN, and ZOEY MARCUS

The Sophomore Bar, a place on the sixth foor for Stuyvesant sophomores to socialize and relax, is being repainted for the frst time since 2016. This repainting process, managed by the Sophomore Caucus, started on March 20 and is being carried out by sophomores Patrick Cao, Nia Lam, and Chloe Wong. The total cost of the project is around $250.

Sophomore Caucus CoPresidents Andy Xian and Fin Ying have been passionate about this project for several months, as the Sophomore Bar holds a vast amount of signifcance for students. “The Sophomore Bar is one of the most common locations for sophomore students to hang out at, so we wanted to give it an upgrade,” Xian said. “We pushed for this project for a long time […] and I am beyond thrilled to fnally see its execution.”

Past Sophomore Caucuses have made efforts to repaint the Sophomore Bar in recent years but have been unsuccessful. “A big reason why past caucuses may have been unsuccessful in repainting the bar is how much [logistical] work it actually is. Past caucuses have started, yet never fnished,” Sophomore Caucus Graphics Director Jia

NEWSBEAT

Junior Amanda Cissé and sophomore Fin Ying have been elected President and Vice President, respectively, of the Student Union for the 2023-2024 school year

Students made cards for teachers, counselors, and other faculty members in celebration of National Teacher Appreciation Week, which took place from May 8 to May 12.

Report cards were distributed electronically on May 11.

Stuyvesant hosted the AllCity High School Modern Music Project and Orchestra Concert on May 13.

Lin said in an e-mail interview. The design for the bar was chosen by a contest in which many students submitted their sample designs for the Sophomore Bar. “We frst sent out an e-mail to the grade for students to create designs, then held

Ms. Ingram’s weekly e-mails and the morning announcements. “I wanted to enter a design out of the curiosity of if I could create a design in a short period of time that would be both symbolic, appealing to fellow students, and practical to paint,” Cao said.

the Sophomore Bar and that many sophomores enjoy spending time around the bar, we wanted to provide the best possible experience,” Lin said. “We want to make the Sophomore Bar a clean and pretty place for sophomores.”

stuyspec.com

the Bar,” Xian said.

Cao’s design, a boat with the word ‘Sophomores’ on it foating on the Hudson River, was considered by the Sophomore Caucus to be ftting for Stuyvesant’s hallway. “We were looking a long time ago at all the designs that got sent in and, I think from the start, this one was the one that stood out to me,” sophomore Alexander Panas said. “The best part is seeing how it looks now, seeing the results of all of these different people’s hard work come into this physical form.”

However, while students welcomed the change to the Bar, it did not come without complications, namely obtaining faculty approval. “The main obstacle was that we had a bit of trouble getting everything started at frst because of complications with supplies and approval from administration,” Ying said. “We would love to give a huge shout-out to [them] for giving us guidance and supervision throughout the planning and actual repaint.”

an all-caucus vote to narrow it down to two designs, and fnally held a gradewide vote to pick the ultimate winner,” Xian said.

Cao, the art designer behind the new Sophomore Bar, found out about the opportunity from

By ELAINE HUANG

The repaint is also part of an effort to clean up the bar, since its cleanliness has been neglected with frequent use. “There are also many stains in and around the Bar. Given the fact that many lockers reside in

Repainting has been a popular idea amongst students and has generally gotten a positive response. “We felt that most people thought that the repainting was exciting as we would get a new fresh and vibrant look for

The administration also put restrictions on the content the new designs could contain. “There was a design in particular that was very well done and I personally really enjoyed (and

continued on page 4

Trans Day of Visibility Gathering

Outside room 229 on Stuyvesant’s second foor, there is a transgender pride fag hanging on the wall, quiet and unassuming. However, if you happened to pass by the area before or after school on March 24, International Transgender Day of Visibility, you would have seen a group of students surrounding the fag, sharing stories about their respective experiences being transgender before rushing to class or out of the building. This gathering of students was planned by senior Juniper Chien in collaboration with Spectrum.

Chien’s gathering ended up drawing students from all grades in the time between the meetings, which were held before frst period and after 10th period.

“In the morning [...] there were around six [or] seven people. Not all of us were trans. [...] After school there were more people, [...] around ffteen,” Chien said.

“Obviously, there are more trans people at the school, [...] and if

we were in a more accepting environment then maybe more of us would come to [events like] this.”

During this meeting, transgender students and allies shared their own experiences and talked about issues that affect trans people. “We shared about our personal stories, gender crises, the ongoing anti-trans legislation on the state and federal [level], [and] a lot about our experiences in general,” freshman Iris Tam said.

As March 24 was a half-day, students couldn’t stay long after school before being asked to leave for rapid dismissal, but that didn’t stop students from taking the time that they had to talk. “We weren’t supposed to be there in the afternoon, [but] no one cared. We sat in a circle, listening, chatting,” freshman Henry Grace said. “People were talking about their experiences and their genders and their experiences with fnding them and coming out to their parents.”

While this event began as an idea among Chien and her close friends, it quickly grew. “I

thought it was going to be a really small gathering, just my closest friends, [who would] go there [and] surround the fag,” Chien said. “After that, I was trying to be more open, have the seniors, upperclassmen, share their own experience of being trans [...] It evolved into a gathering where the upperclassmen would have speeches.”

To get more people to attend the meeting, Chien reached out to Spectrum, which helped advertise the event. “Juniper was the one who came up with the idea and she reached out to [the] Cabinet of Spectrum and we [...] [thought it was] a good idea,” Spectrum President Tegris Lin said. “We sent a message [that] on Trans Day of Visibility we’re planning on doing a small gettogether around the trans fag. It was very loosely organized, [and] we didn’t really have a plan.”

Chien was one of the students who gave a speech surrounding her experience at the meeting. “We were [sharing] encouraging words, like [to] be

proud of yourself, and keep fghting because there’s a lot of pressure from your parents and from society that’s against your identity,” Chien said. “For the students that go there, they could also learn about the process of getting medical treatment.”

Chien also shared her own experience as one of the very few openly trans women at Stuyvesant. “I’m the only trans woman who’s really out in this school, and who’s been medically transitioning [...] As far as I know, no one else at the school, at least for trans women, [has] this privilege. There’s a couple of trans men [...] but even [they] have to be [hide] their own identity to live a rather normal life,” Chien said. “There shouldn’t be any shame in being trans. That’s why I feel like I want to share [my story]. There’s no one type of trans people, we’re all different, we have different races, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds that I feel like having my

Geoffrey Huang / The Spectator

Stuyvesant Hosts Its First In-Person College Fair Since Pandemic

By EUGENE PARK and SADAT AHMED

Stuyvesant hosted its college fair on April 27 to provide essential information to juniors as they begin to prepare for their college applications. This was the frst in-person fair since the beginning of the pandemic. Over 107 universities were featured, either in-person or online, offering students the opportunity to learn about their admissions processes, school curricula, and student life.

During the fair, each college was assigned a specifc location, ranging from the theater atria to the eighth-foor classrooms. The event was divided into fve periods. During the frst four periods, students could visit the location of any school they were interested in and would receive an organized presentation. College representatives introduced their schools and discussed various topics like academic programs, extracurricular activities, and fnancial aid. Students were also allowed to ask questions and interact with the college representatives. In the ffth and fnal period, students were free to roam around the fair and engage in informal conversations with the college representatives.

Since the last in-person college fair took place in 2019, bringing back the fair required considerable support from many, including school staff, the Parent Association, and countless volunteers. Though organizers were challenged by the volunteers’ lack of prior experience, many considered it a success. “At least several hundred juniors attended the fair,” College Counseling Director Jeremy Makris said in an email interview. “There was an air of excitement among students and parents, and we heard many

By AENEAS MERCHANT and MAISHA THAKUR

The Stuyvesant Environmental Club (SEC) held an Earth Day Fair on April 24 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. This event is held annually in order to promote awareness about and encourage care for the environment, while also allowing students and staff to partake in an enjoyable activity.

This year, there were 15 different stations, including interactive crafts such as face painting, photo props, carnival games, and music videos, as well as educational opportunities like petition letter writing, eco-website exploration, activism, and legislation. Several club members were put in charge of managing the stations. SEC also collaborated with fve other clubs during the fair. “Stuyvesant Coral Reef Club had a water testing station where people measured the salinity, nitrate, pH levels, and more of the seventh-foor fsh tanks; Upstuycle hosted a recycled fabric keychain and clothing design sewing station;

positive comments from families during and after the event.”

College representatives, including both admissions offcers and Stuyvesant alumni, also expressed their enthusiasm for the fair. The event gave representatives a chance to share comprehensive snapshots of their respective colleges while allowing students to ask meaningful follow-up questions. During the sessions, representatives were able to provide an authentic introduction to their schools and the admissions process. “[College representatives] share ideas about better ways to ask questions to cut through the superfcial stats, to get at what really will matter if they attend that school,” University of Pennsylvania representative and Associate Dean of Admissions Justin Mazur said in an e-mail interview.

During the question session, representatives found the attendees to be engaged and curious, asking relevant questions to understand schools in depth.

“Attendance and questions from families [were] wonderful,” Mazur said. “Students and parents were asking the right questions in order to understand [the] differences between schools. Clearly they [learned] from many different presenters over the course of the evening.”

The representatives viewed the college fair as a unique opportunity to learn about and compare different colleges in one place. From the perspective of an admissions offcer, Mazur recommended the fair to future students. “It’s rare these days to be able to ‘shop around’ [with colleges] over the course of one evening at your own school,” Mazur said. “Listening to presentations back to back, collecting brochures and knowledge, while

also getting to ask a personalized question of an admissions offcer […] [is] a tremendous opportunity that is very different than passively tuning in for a virtual session.”

For many students, the college fair was an exciting opportunity to meet admissions offcers and learn more about their colleges of interest. Many students considered the fair very resourceful as they were able to gain clarifcation regarding the application process and what colleges are looking for. “I learned that some colleges look at grades more heavily than others, but others prioritize extracurriculars,” junior Soham Mukherjee said. “It was nice hearing about admissions from the perspective of a college admissions offcer.”

On the other hand, some students also felt that the fair could be organized differently to allow them to research more colleges and gain a more personalized experience. “You could only really go to four or fve rooms,” junior Arielle Nudelman said. “And some admissions offcers spent all of the time just giving information without leaving time for questions.”

This concern was what many students wished the fair could address in the future. The fair was fairly fast-paced, especially given that many students were enthusiastic to explore more colleges. “I was disappointed because I wanted to see a lot more colleges, but there simply wasn’t enough time,” junior Namera Bisme said.

For the class of 2024, the fair marked the beginning of the college season and generated excitement for many soon-to-be seniors regarding the beginning of the college process. “It was nice to really see that all of us are in this together,” Nudelman

Fighting resumed across the Gaza Strip on May 12, due to the death of an imprisoned leader of an armed Palestinian group occurring while hunger striking. More than 100 projectiles were launched toward southern Israel, prompting Israel to missile strike three apartments in the Gaza Strip, killing their intended targets but also causing 10 civilian casualties

Russia launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine on May 8, harming civilians in Kyiv and striking a Red Cross Warehouse in Odesa.

Authorities in Ethiopia arrested 47 people, including journalists, activists, and campaigners, for “trying to overthrow the government” after a senior offcial of their ruling party was shot to death on May 1.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio (Lula) da Silva decreed six new indigenous reserves on April 29, with these new lands totaling 1.5 million acres and covering vast stretches of the Amazon and the nation’s Northeast.

said. “We are all going through this college application process, and it was evident by the number of people that showed up to the fair.”

Likewise, sparking enthusiasm was the original goal of the Stuyvesant college counseling offce. “We hope the event kickstarted [the students’] willingness to directly engage and start learning about specifc colleges,” Makris said. “Most importantly, [we hoped to] remind them of the importance of not fxing on prestige or selectivity, but rather identifying colleges by how much of a ft they represent rather than

Stuyvesant Goes Green With Its Annual Earth Day Fair

Stuygi presented how to grow mushrooms; and Stuy[Sips] presented on sustainable drink containers and upcycling them,” senior and SEC Secretary Joline Huang said.

ment, or who were here to get extra credit. I was really able to connect with them and share my love of fungi with them. I have not been to any previous Earth Day events, but I really feel like

us, there isn’t much hope left.”

A new aspect of this year’s fair was the sale of custom Stuyvesant water bottles. Sold for $3 each, the bottles were meant to encourage students to stay hydrated. “[The water bottles] have a design on the front of a tree with branches encompassing the Stuy Enviro Club, and on the back, there’s a stress meter. It’s fun to read. The point of the meter was so that the highest level was the one with the most stress, and as you drink more water you become less stressed,” sophomore and SEC Co-Director Jessie Chan said.

how low their admit rate might be.”

Ultimately, the college fair was incredibly helpful for students to gain an in-person perspective on the college process. While some students were able to learn more about their colleges of interest, others found it an opportunity to discover new schools that they had not previously considered. “Hearing about so many programs [from] all of the colleges really intrigued me,” Bisme said. “[It] had me excited for colleges I previously didn’t know I could be excited to go to.”

in the spatial issues experienced. “[They should have] made a route for the students to travel down to see all of the tables. A few of the stands were tucked behind others and not many people saw them,” Moe said.

One club that helped bring this event to life was Stuygi, which was formed earlier this year by its current president, senior Joshua Moe. “It was great to see all of the kids who were interested in saving the environ-

this one set a precedent for just how lively the atmosphere was,” Moe said. “We’re the generation that’s going to be hit the hardest by climate change, so we’re also going to be the generation that has to save the world. Without

When asked about some of the major challenges surrounding the fair, Huang pointed to time management. “Due to a lack of communication or inactiveness among leaders, we were very pressed for time and started a lot later than we would’ve liked,” Chan said. “Next year, I highly recommend future leaders to start earlier and delegate tasks more effciently to avoid the stress.”

In addition, some would have liked to see improvement

Despite these challenges, the fair seems to have been generally considered a success. Around 350 students participated, and the water bottles, plant containers, and food had already run out by the end of the frst hour. “I was really worried it wasn’t going to work out, but it was uplifting to see the majority of us come together to pull off such a large event. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend people to come again,” Huang said.

Other club members also share the same sentiment, refecting on their experience as a positive one. “I really enjoyed spending time going around with my friends and fooling around at the stations while also learning a lot of new information,” Chan said. “The fair is a really special opportunity to be able to socialize and have fun [...] so I’m really glad for the experience.”

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

Courtesy of SEC Cabinet

continued from page 1

would have loved to put on the Bar), but it featured elements that were not ‘school-friendly’ (things like darker elements and slightly too aggressive words),” Lin said. “The administration did not allow the design, and we had to disqualify them.”

The Sophomore Bar is Repainted

Cao also reported diffculty in trying to expedite the repainting process with Sophomore Caucus directors, thus deciding to take more of a leadership role in the painting process. “The caucus was able to pass the design by Mr. Moran relatively quickly after it was voted on. After that, it took three months for the process to be started,”

continued from page 1

[...] story wouldn’t hurt.”

Sophomore Koi Zavialova was another student who shared their experience as a trans person. Like Chien, he also wanted others to feel less alone in their experiences. “For me, it was a bit easier in accepting myself for being trans [...] but I know a lot of people struggle with their identity,” Zavialova said. “I just wanted others to know that they’re not alone in that.”

For one attendee, freshman Starwind, this was the day she came out, and the queer community she met at Stuyvesant helped her with that decision. “It took a lot of courage to make this change,” Starwind said. “I love my trans and gay friends at Stuy. It’s a very fulflling sense of community, [and] it’s helped me. The most important part of Stuy for

Cao said. “I was able to receive permission from the school to start and acquired all needed materials, even submitting an inperson order for paint.”

Looking into the future, Cao anticipates some delays in painting due to increased testing and workload as the end of the semester approaches. However, he expects the process to

be fnished soon. “The front of the bar should be fnished right after the end of the AP exams. The sides and back of the bar should be fnished before the end of the school year,” Cao said.

Ultimately, the Sophomore Caucus hopes to give the popular hang-out area a fresh, new look and keep it clean for fu-

Trans Day of Visibility Gathering

me is my queer friends [...] [and] the event is part of that.” Most attendees went to the event to meet other trans people at Stuyvesant. “First of all, I am trans, but not a lot of people in

good opportunity to meet other people with shared experiences.” Aside from community bonding, Chien planned this meeting to bring attention to Stuyvesant’s trans population. “A lot of

[and] fearmonger about trans people because they don’t know who we are,” Chien said. “I just want to show that I’m at Stuy, I’m a Stuy student, and I’m trans. And there’s a lot more of us who

ture sophomores. “We are ecstatic that the project is coming to completion and that students will be able to use the bar again,” Ying said. “With that said, we hope the student body [will] all work together to make sure the condition of the bar is maintained not only for us, but [also] for sophomores [in] years to come.”

my year are trans. I thought it would be a good opportunity. Even though I knew a good amount of people already there, I thought it would be a good opportunity to branch out a bit,” Tam said. “I thought this was a

people don’t take bigots seriously because they don’t know [of] our existence. At Stuyvesant, which is a really liberal place where people are really open-minded [...] there’s still a lot of people [...] who will just say random stuff

are trans. And we are normal people.”

Senior and Spectrum President Michelle Zhang echoed these sentiments. “[At the meeting], Chien talked about Trans Day of Visibility and what it

is, we’re here to be seen and let other people know of our presence and there are enough of us,” Zhang said.” [We want to] make ourselves be seen and be heard, so cis people know we exist, there are trans people at this school [...] [and] aware of the fact that trans people are not that uncommon.”

Ultimately, the stories shared at this event helped inspire and provide hope to younger trans students. “Some of [the stories] were defnitely sobering, just realizing how diffcult it is to exist as a trans person, even at Stuy, which is very accepting and diverse,” Tam said. “For me, transitioning feels kind of impossible sometimes, with all the obstacles and hoops I have to jump through and the timeline of how long it’s going to take. But hearing these other people, especially seniors, talking about how far they’ve come and how far they’re going to go, it made it feel possible.”

“I just want to show that I’m at Stuy, I’m a Stuy student, and I’m trans. And there’s a lot more of us who are trans. And we are normal people.” —Juniper Chien, senior

America Retold: AP African American Studies

By VANESSA CHEN, ABIGAIL JIN, and SAMARIA NOEL

During the craze of AP course selections for the upcoming fall semester, rising juniors and seniors may have noticed a new option on the class list: AP African American Studies. According to College Board, the AP Program has been developing this interdisciplinary course for over a decade, designing a curriculum to educate students about the contributions and historical experiences of African Americans. As a pilot course, AP African American Studies is currently being taught in 60 schools, but College Board plans for this AP to expand to 800 schools in the 2023 to 2024 school year, one of which is Stuyvesant.

While the class is still in its early stages of implementation, the topic of AP African American Studies has become a nationwide political controversy. The course was frst introduced in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement with the goal of engaging students with African American history, culture, movements, and debates in the classroom. After its initial implementation in the original 60 pilot schools, the course was criticized by the Florida Department of Education, which claimed that AP African American Studies “signifcantly lacks educational value” and

“is explicitly contrary to Florida law.” College Board has since revised its course framework to omit Black queer studies, intersectional analysis, the Black Lives Matter movement, and socially critical authors such as Angela Davis and bell hooks.

Beginning in the fall of 2023 at Stuyvesant, two sections of AP African American Studies will be taught by English teacher Emilio Nieves. Since the class is so new, the College Board has not detailed exactly what it has in mind for next year’s course outline, but there is a rough curriculum overview.

“There’s going to be four units: it’s going to start with the history of Africans in Africa before the slave trade, then the slave trade and how that developed, and basically African American history from colonialism to around the civil rights movement, and maybe a little bit after that,” Nieves explained.

The AP African American Studies curriculum is relevant to both the English and history departments. “We would do Booker T. Washington, [W.E.B.] Du Bois, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, so it could overlap a little bit,” Nieves said, describing the similarities between AP African American Studies and the class he currently teaches, AP English Language and Composition: American Literary History. However, there will be differences compared to the other English and

history APs; for instance, there is a research paper requirement where students will investigate a topic of their choice in African American history to submit alongside their AP African American Studies exam.

Considering the extensive national attention the course has already received and the fact that it’s an AP class, Nieves expects relatively high demand. Stuyvesant’s choice to adopt the class made sense in a school of students who appreciate learning about a diversity of perspectives. “If anyone should have a course like that, it’s Stuyvesant,” Nieves said. “Everything that is taught should be taught here as well. If this is a top school, we should have it.”

Many students believe that AP African American Studies will offer a better understanding of Black culture than other history classes.

Junior Rafa Islam offered her prediction about how the course will differ from AP U.S. History. “It’s just like focusing on the racial part of history because we do focus on it, but not in depth. There’s so many aspects of U.S. history, [and] there’s so many other demographics in the U.S. So you can’t just focus on one thing,” Islam said.

Junior Malcolm West expressed similar sentiments, relating the new course to other identity-based classes at Stuyvesant. “I think this course is different because it offers an African American perspective on

history and it’s [going to be] more similar to the other identity classes like Jewish History. [...] Also, [it will] just provide something at Stuyvesant that normally isn’t there,” West said. In addition to Jewish History, Stuyvesant offers other identityfocused courses such as Women’s Voices and Asian American Literature. These courses tend to be popular among students, so AP African American Studies will likely hold that same status.

Some students believe that AP African American Studies will differ from other history APs due to its emphasis on literature. “This course will differ from past history APs since it is interdisciplinary. There is probably going to be an emphasis on works of literature and how they connect to specifc parts of history,” junior Elma Lamany said in an e-mail interview. Lamany hopes that the literature analyzed in the course will provide a deeper and more personal understanding of the African American experience. “The course will help Stuyvesant students better understand [African American] history. I just hope they apply their knowledge to their current life as well instead of viewing racism as something that already ended,” Lamany added.

Nieves also believes that taking classes centered around culture, like AP African American Studies, is crucial for students to widen their understanding of current societal

issues. “It eliminates a lot of ignorance,” Nieves explained. “It just keeps people more informed, and it’s academic. […] It’s always good to know about other cultures in order to understand the issues going on today.”

However, other students anticipate that not everyone will be accepting of the new course. “I think that it may actually do more harm than good because I feel like people are going to assume that only the Black students of Stuyvesant should take the class,” West said. He worries that the introduction of the course could provoke offensive comments about Black students, as well as division among the student body. “There’s already been backlash against it or students making racial comments about it. It may actually cause more [of a] divide than unity because some people may just not want to be educated about African American history,” West shared.

Overall, the student body seems optimistic about the future of AP African American Studies. The true question lies in whether enough students will apply for the course in order to solidify its place at Stuyvesant in the upcoming semester. When faced with the course selection form on Talos, it is important to consider how an interdisciplinary, demographic-specifc class like AP African American Studies could enrich students’ educational experience and cultural awareness.

From Sewers to Schools: A Profle of Stephen McClellan

By SETH FENTON, JOHNNY LIN, and CATHLEEN XI

Environmental Science teacher

Stephen McClellan has taught at Stuyvesant for roughly 17 years. Before becoming a teacher, McClellan worked in a variety of industries, utilizing his environmental science education to aid in developing environmentally friendly practices and conservation efforts across the United States.

McClellan’s interest in environmental science originates from his childhood. He grew up near Chambers Works, a massive DuPont factory that is now a hazardous waste site. DuPont is a large multinational chemical production company known for creating materials such as tefon, a substance used for non-stick cooking ware. DuPont has since faced charges for poisoning waterways with C8, a chemical in Tefon manufacturing, after studies were conducted on C8’s dangerous implications. C8 has been linked to six different human diseases, including cancer. “I was very interested in the effects that living next to large-scale chemical factories have on children,” McClellan said. “It infuenced me to study industrial hygiene, which is basically the study of OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health [Administration].”

His interest in environmental science was further nurtured by his high school’s advanced science programs. “I studied a lot of chemistry in high school. [...] We had three years of chemistry and independent study chemistry—we did our own project,” McClellan said. “I [got] to hang out with my friend and sample water and analyze it.”

Inspired by his childhood experiences near Chamber Works, McClellan began studying industrial hygiene, which focuses on assessing and correcting environmental problems impacting the health of employees in the workplace. Soon after he obtained his degree, he came across numerous job opportunities. McClellan recalled that he needed large-scale wisdom teeth surgery at the time, motivating him to apply for a job that provided dental insurance. He found a job in Vail, Colorado—where he was residing—that

he was qualifed for and fulflled his needs. “I basically looked for a job and lo and behold, wastewater treatment facility operator, which weirdly again, I also studied water treatment, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management,” McClellan said.

McClellan’s extensive knowledge and experience in the environmental science feld allowed him to hop from one niche job to the next, exploring the specialized sectors of the feld that interested him whenever the opportunity arose. When McClellan lived in California, he worked in geotechnical engineering, maintaining the safety of cell phone tower constructions. Because California is so seismically active, infrastructure, such as the roads surrounding the towers, needs to be constantly maintained. McClellan said, “It seems like we’ll put in a cellphone tower, we’ll be done in a couple of months. It’s not like that at all. You’re there for quite a long time overseeing these jobs.” McClellan recalled how the job had him regularly commuting to multiple different locations in California: “I would basically commute on my skateboard with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and then walk to work, get my truck, but then I had a job all over; I can be in Dublin, I can be in Livermore, I can be in Santa Cruz, I could be anywhere, and we did mostly geotechnical engineering stuff,” he said. From there, he was offered a job in Milpitas to locate and patch up methane leaks in landflls. His environmental science background allowed him to utilize sensitive equipment to detect the presence of pollutants in water and pinpoint methane leaks by smell, a skill his colleagues specializing in geology or engineering did not have.

After living in San Francisco for a while, McClellan heard that the New York City Teaching Fellows needed science teachers and decided to move to New York City. He was inspired to become a teacher through his experience as a truck driver in California, where he was responsible for transporting repurposed items for schools to use as classroom tools. There, he saw teachers working on sustainability projects with organic produce. McClellan said, “I got to see all these cool sustainable projects all over Marin County, where the teachers there

were just growing organic food, and they would serve lunches every day, where it was actually homegrown kale and homegrown beans.” After moving to New York in 2004, he taught in the Bronx for two years

hopes to have a lab specifcally dedicated to environmental science next year by remodeling old photography labs that are no longer in use. He says he was inspired to advocate for a designated environmental science

on activities.”

Furthermore, McClellan is also involved in the current construction of a Stuyvesant hydroponics lab, working alongside biology teacher Marissa Maggio. Hydroponics is a gardening technique that grows plants in nutrient-dense water as opposed to soil, allowing them to grow indoors within a small space while still producing high yields. Their ultimate goal is to have the produce grown from the hydroponics lab replace the cafeteria school lunch so students have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. This self-sustaining system of eating food grown onsite minimizes large-scale agriculture and the carbon footprint from shipping.

before starting his job at Stuyvesant in 2006. McClellan wasn’t always an AP Environmental Science teacher, though. “Geology, meteorology, oceanography [...] environmental studies ran for years and years [as] an elective, and then eventually, that morphed into AP Environmental Science for me [...] and I did [biology] for years and years, which was fun because every day, every period was something new and different,” McClellan explained. Currently, McClellan is cultivating infrastructure and resources in Stuyvesant to increase access to environmental science education. He

lab due to previous issues competing with other science courses for space. “The environmental science classes are mixed in with the Biology lab, and it’s sometimes diffcult to schedule things,” McClellan said. In addition to convenience, he hopes to add more specifc environmental science courses with the creation of the new lab. McClellan said, “This will make it a lot easier for our department because hopefully even geology, oceanic oceanography, you know, all the geoscience classes can be down there. It’s gonna be nice for everyone in this department to have a new space to do more lab hands-

Lastly, McClellan is in the process of reviving his coral and fsh tanks, which suffered tremendously during the pandemic. When the building was closed, he was unable to come in and maintain the tank conditions. McClellan explained, “When things chemically changed, and the pH probably plummeted, we couldn’t add buffers; it’s very much an artifcial ecosystem that requires lots and lots of constant tweaking to keep it functioning.” The problem worsened when the Coral Reef Club, a team of students he had previously been working with to take care of the tanks, disbanded during the pandemic. However, veteran members of the club, along with new members, have begun coming together to work on the tanks once more. “We’re rebuilding, and we have a new reef club. [...] A few other reef club people have risen from the ashes of the former reef club, actually new kids.” With the help of the new Coral Reef Club, McClellan is excited to see the tanks be revived. From the pungent stench of landflls in California to the hustle and bustle of New York City schools, McClellan has seen it all, riding the wave of whatever opportunity presents itself. His diverse career in environmental science is rooted in his personal experiences with the damaging effects of environmental degradation. Now in his 18th year at Stuyvesant, McClellan continues to share his passion with students and works on projects to further promote environmental science.

Geoffrey Huang / The Spectator

Past Complements the Present: Minkyu Kim

By GRACE JUNG

Minkyu Kim has been an English teacher at Stuyvesant for almost a decade, inspiring students to push their creative boundaries and to strive to become the best possible versions of themselves. But before embarking on his career as an English teacher, Kim made his mark on a very different industry: modeling.

Kim has modeled for popular retail brands such as J. Crew, but the journey to booking these successful campaigns was somewhat unconventional. “I was not a ‘model-model.’ I didn’t have representation or anything like that. I was approached at a concert and I just kept getting asked back,” Kim said.

Kim emphasized the power of a respectful attitude in any type of work, regardless of the level of experience one has going into it. “Part of the reason [I kept booking jobs] was because I showed up on time, I was professional, [and] I was respectful to everybody there.

By RHEA MALHOTRA, DANIELLA SOLOMON, and SOPHIE ZHOU

Running late to sports practice, student-athletes food Stuyvesant’s bathrooms, only to be greeted by long lines which seem to move much slower than the minutes ticking by. There are currently two changing spaces at Stuyvesant: bathrooms and locker rooms. Bathrooms, on the one hand, have long lines and nowhere to store backpacks and other belongings, preventing students from getting to practice on time. Locker rooms, on the other hand, are closed after school. Furthermore, they offer only a limited amount of privacy, which can be uncomfortable for many students. These issues plague not only student-athletes, but also seniors who need to change for their physical education (PE) classes. Because seniors aren’t given gym lockers, most of them store their gym clothes in their personal lockers and change in the bathrooms closest to their lockers in order to save time. Despite these efforts,

By JUNI PARK

Crack a joke every once in a while, make people smile, and listen to them when they speak to you. I think all of those things, no matter what you do, are really important,”

Kim explained.

This modeling stint gave Kim a new appreciation for the work that goes on behind the scenes of any complex project. “There are a lot of people who work really hard to put the shoots together, and there are a lot of people who work really hard to make the school run,” Kim explained. “In any professional setting, [there is] a very intricate network of people who rely on each other, and you have to hold up your end of the bargain, no matter what you do.”

Kim has carried this mindset with him since his frst day teaching at Stuyvesant and continues to recognize his role in a system that aims to help students succeed. “If I don’t hold up my end of the bargain, [I’m] letting a lot of people down, not to mention that I have responsibility to my students,” Kim

said. For years, Kim has taught Freshman Composition to incoming Stuyvesant students. He explained that his experience teaching English has allowed him to explore several of his distinct interests. “I love reading. I love talking about books. I love formulating ideas, hearing other people’s ideas, and sharing them, building them,” Kim explained. “When I thought of [my time in] school and what I was good at, it was always that.”

Kim also appreciates the opportunity to interact with high school students, even when they’re just joking around and being themselves. “I love working with kids, and I think, weirdly, my sense of humor lines up with the sense of humor of my students even more than some of my peers,” Kim said. As many of his students are just beginning their high school journeys, Kim has had the unique opportunity of helping them navigate the huge adjustments in their academic and personal lives.

The chance to learn in Kim’s classroom will no longer be limited to only freshmen. This fall, juniors will also be able to experience his teaching. Kim will take on the Defning American Voices sections of AP English Language and Composition, a college-level course whose literary canon focuses on diverse perspectives throughout American history. Kim acknowledged that his upcoming position as an AP English Language teacher was the result of several large movements within the English department. “It was really fortuitous for me. I’ve been here now for almost 10 years,” Kim said. “I still feel like the new kid in a lot of ways,” he added. Kim is enthusiastic about the diversifcation of his curricula and the classes he will teach. “I couldn’t turn down the opportunity; it was very exciting,” he shared.

Kim will continue to teach several sections of Freshman Composition while beginning his tenure as an AP English Language and Composition teacher.

Changing Stuy’s Changing Spaces

seniors are often late to their PE classes because of bathroom lines and the extra travel time it takes to go to their lockers. Since the locker rooms are closed when PSAL athletes need to change, most of them use the bathrooms instead. However, this is less than ideal, as the alreadylimited number of bathroom stalls is also divided among the much larger general student population.

Sophomore Winifred Thompson, a member of the Vixens, Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity volleyball team, explained some of the conficts which cause her and her teammates to be late for practice. “There’s other teams or people coming from PE [ninth or 10th period] or people who actually have to use the bathrooms and are also waiting,” Thompson said. Because of the long lines in the bathroom, many students resort to changing in other places. “[Some people change] in places like storage closets or a random corner,” Thompson said. In some cases, even the bathrooms are unavailable. “Sometimes the bathrooms are locked because

it’s the end of the day and they’re trying to clear out the building,” Thompson said. In addition to the long lines, changing on the unsanitary bathroom foors can be extremely unpleasant.Seniors are all too familiar with these problems. The lack of locker room access forces many to run up and down multiple fights of stairs in the few minutes before their PE classes. “It just makes it more inconvenient,” senior Ruby Lin said. “We have to fnd a bathroom to change in [...] before classes, and then we also have to go to our lockers to store our stuff away. But my locker is on the second foor and the gym is [on] the sixth foor.”

Even students who do have access to the locker rooms feel that the changing process can become hectic. Freshman Ashie Sinha said, “Having a short time period of access to the locker room before [PE] creates a somewhat uncomfortable environment [for] those who prefer privacy while changing.” Since students have to change so quickly due to the brevity of allocated time, they are often unable to wait

The APUSH Plight

In the weeks leading up to the AP United States History exam, APUSH students probably recall frantically binging Heimler’s videos, re-reading the textbook, and fervently taking notes in class. Though these desperate study practices have persisted for many years, students this year had a more hectic experience than usual due to a misunderstanding with the College Board that caused the exam to be administered at a much earlier date than originally anticipated. As a result, many APUSH teachers struggled to fnish the curriculum, and their students were left with inadequate time to study. Students refected on how this change shaped their overall class experience.

They found that the earlier APUSH exam disrupted their original plans to study for their other APs. Junior Avi Liu felt overwhelmed absorbing so much content in such a short period of time: “I didn’t feel as prepared as I would’ve liked, mainly because I needed to self-study the material

while also balancing studying for my other AP exams that were only a few days apart from the APUSH exam,” Liu explained. “If the exam were later, I would’ve been able to take a bit of a break after my other APs before jumping into APUSH.”

Liu also found that the class’s quick pacing made it diffcult to fully retain the content. “The pacing of the curriculum was defnitely a bit too fast and I felt a lot of it didn’t stick when we went over the information in class,” Liu said. “A lot of the information was just mentioned in passing so I had to review it during my content review sessions.”

Many students expressed appreciation for their teachers, who made their best efforts to get through the curriculum and help students prepare for the exam.

“Dr. Greenwald gives her lessons in an interesting narrative manner and her daily homework has been very rewarding by the time it came to the exam,” junior Jenny Chen said in an e-mail interview. “Dr. Greenwald’s in-class DBQ test was also extremely helpful, and I

even based my two essays on that DBQ.”

However, with limited time and a rigorous curriculum, many students had to resort to other quick alternative studying methods. Chen used history summary videos to study. “Just watching two Adam Norris videos under 2x speed got the job done,” Chen said. “Overall, I feel confdent about the exam since the video covered many of the main points.”

Liu found that using a diverse range of review materials was the best way to study. “I prepared by doing MCQ practice questions from AP Classroom and content reviewing with videos, packets from Greenwald and Moore, and reading example LEQs and DBQs from College Board,” Liu said.

While having the APUSH exam administered at an earlier date was stressful, many students refected on the overall class experience positively. “It was tough at times, but if you try hard and come in with a mindset for learning, I really think you’ll enjoy the class,” Chen said.

He expressed his commitment to recognizing the individual passions of students, even in a faster-paced setting, and adjusting his approach as needed. At the same time, Kim made it clear that he will strive to make every student a confdent essay writer come May. “There’s an exam that students have their eye toward preparing for, so I’ll be conscious of that. The theory behind AP courses is that they’re supposed to [be] commensurate with collegelevel coursework, so I’ll keep that in mind as well and try to design a course that honors both of those responsibilities,” Kim said.

As with many other aspects of being a teacher at Stuyvesant, Kim’s new position will require a delicate balance of both rigorous and fexible teaching styles. Rising juniors who are preparing to take Defning American Voices in the fall should rest assured in Kim’s promise to consider not only his role in the Stuyvesant community, but also his responsibility for fostering their love of the subject.

for a bathroom stall or other private location in the locker room to become available.

Certain steps can be taken to address the issues regarding Stuyvesant’s changing spaces. For example, Lin suggested moving senior lockers to the same foors as the gyms to ensure easy access before PE. “We can’t really add more lockers ‘cause there isn’t space, but maybe they could put senior lockers on the ffth foor or the foors closer to the gym,” Lin proposed.

Though student athletes feel that a designated changing space would be more convenient, it is nearly impossible to fnd such a space considering Stuyvesant’s already crowded facilities. When asked whether the administration should make any changes, Thompson said, “If we could talk about fnding a space that’s out of the way, and that works, that’s feasible for people to be able to change, that would be great, and would probably streamline our process a little bit more.” Though an ideal changing space will not magically materialize, opening the locker

rooms after school could be a viable alternative. Regarding the issues for seniors changing into their PE uniforms, the school administration might consider prolonging the time given for changing. “There should be a longer time period to change in the locker room,” Sinha said. This would ease the pressure of having to wait in long lines without enough time, thus making it easier for students who prefer more privacy. Though the issues regarding Stuyvesant’s changing spaces may seem like mere inconveniences, they can seriously impact students’ ability to get to class on time and interfere with their comfort. While students can communicate their needs to the administration in order to work toward a long-term solution, teachers can also help by being understanding toward students arriving to class late due to changing-related reasons. Oftentimes, it is not a matter of an individual’s lack of time management, but rather a schoolwide issue that students are doing their best to navigate.

Our Subway Subconscious

In light of the recent tragedies plaguing New York City’s public transit system, Stuyvesant students and New Yorkers alike have been made increasingly aware of the dangers of our daily commutes. Growing up in New York, we have been exposed to both a city full of culture, but also of danger. We’ve grown up bearing frst-hand witness to homelessness, drug addiction, and subway violence. When we enter school, all of that danger is supposed to be left at the door— once we step onto the Tribeca Bridge, our minds are meant to instantly pivot to our next academic challenge. We are asked by school offcers to reach out with whatever school pressures or family issues we are facing; they assert that our mental health comes frst. But our journeys between home and school, the two places we are meant to feel the safest, are fraught with danger, affecting our mental health just as much.

For many Stuyvesant students, danger seems to lurk behind every subway stairwell and within every train car. It only takes seconds for a brushed arm against your shoulder to become something more—something scary, something dark, something that we bury pepper spray in our pockets for, and something that makes us keep our friends’ voices on the line even after the conversation is long over. Paranoia? Maybe. Or perhaps those voices in our heads that whisper run,

look away, do I have anything sharp are an inevitable product of far too many grainy security-camera images of subway violence plastered on newspapers, too many reporters standing outside of stations as blanketed stretchers are wheeled away in the background, too many days when we leave school only to fnd that the trains aren’t running because there is a body in the tracks. We are told to just focus on our history papers and upcoming AP exams, and to trust the police when they say they’ll protect us, but that can prove to be extremely challenging.

For women in particular, daily commutes present a host of ceaseless terrors. Show me one girl in this school who has not been called baby or sweetheart or [EXPLETIVE] when she was just trying to get home safely, or one girl who has not been told to come here or what are you doing later? or felt eyes on her body knowing that she can’t turn around. Show me one girl who can use safety and subway in the same sentence without including lack thereof. We try to move forward. We try to focus on more important things. We try to keep our gazes ahead and our heads down, but forgive us if we come to school with our limbs dragging dead weights behind us. For we have already survived a journey; we may not have enough energy for the day to come. There is often a dilemma of how to react when put in these dangerous situations. On one

side, there is the typical New Yorker coping mechanism that most of us were taught: ignore and reduce your line of vision to your phone or the ground in front of you. On the other, there is a far more reactionary response—one that involves speaking out, calling for help, or even confronting the offender. Unfortunately, neither of these are blanket solutions. Each situation looks different, and thus each requires a different level of action or inaction. This decision-making can often be the most stressful part of being put into these situations, as there are what feels like millions of variables to consider. We have all seen the extreme and avoidable consequences for perpetrators when someone speaks out, but there also looms the threat of inaction—the image of those who get abused silently on subway trains and platforms as bystanders stand around just watching. The line between inaction and action is a blurry one—one that is ever-changing and uncertain, one that most of us don’t trust ourselves to cross. We cannot solve this problem as a school newspaper, a student body, or even as a united community. But we can begin to acknowledge our collective mentality and the fears we carry with us every single day. To begin opening this conversation, The Spectator editorial board has compiled a collection of some of our own experiences as a testament to the violence we all have experienced.

“It was broad daylight at around 4:00 p.m. when I took a subway train with two of my friends who were female seniors. The train had no empty seats, so we were standing up, chattering away about funny text messages. After two uneventful stops, a man walked into the train. He was clearly unkempt with a tainted, stretched-out shirt hanging over his body. His eyes looked glazed over and he walked into our train car unnaturally. We weren’t alarmed at that point. Homeless people were normal on the subway, so we continued with our conversation. Suddenly he started speaking, but his speech was animal-like. In his mind, he was clearly saying something because his intonations and pauses resembled words; however, the sounds that came out were indistinguishable, barbaric screams. His glazed-over eyes looked toward us, but still, I was hopeful that we weren’t the direct targets because I could convince myself that he was just acting in a generally disruptive manner. However, he then started pointing at us and walking toward us in wobbly steps. The conversation with my friends stopped; we looked at each other uneasily and tried to look away from the man. I looked around the train car, hoping someone would help, but everyone kept to themselves, seeking refuge in their phone screens. My mother always says ‘The scariest people are the people that have nothing to lose.’ I had always dismissed her as overprotective, but now I understood. When I looked at this man, I couldn’t see a human being capable of human morals; he was too far detached in every aspect possible. To think that this man had given up on being a human being was terrifying because it meant I didn’t know what he would do next; what he was capable of doing. As he further advanced toward us, headlines fashed past my head: ‘Michelle Go dies on Subway Tracks,’ ‘23 Injured in Brooklyn Shooting.’ I was suddenly well aware that I wasn’t any different from any of those victims. It was perfectly plausible that I would be the next statistic, the next headline, and it would be a normal day in NYC. To my relief, a man spoke up and told him to back off. He stood as a barrier between us and the man, a distance that had become only a foot by that point. The man screamed even more aggressively, clearly even more disturbed. Luckily, another friend and I would be getting off just one stop after. I contemplated asking my other friend to get off with us because I didn’t want to leave her alone; I didn’t because perhaps my brain was hazy/stunned because I just wanted to get away from the threat. Perhaps I believed that because my friend was a senior, she would know to ask me if she wanted me to do something, perhaps there was some other infuence I’m not accounting for. However, after my friend and I got off the train car, the man followed suit. I was initially gripped by terror as I ran up the stairs amongst the huge crowd. However, I saw the man through the slits on the stairs and he was fshing out of garbage cans. It was only then I felt relieved because not only was the threat removed from me, but the threat had also been removed from my friend who was still on the train. I don’t want to imagine a situation where things could have escalated, but to think that this man was still out there, and could have just as easily walked into the next incoming train to harass others, has permanently made me a little uneasy about public transport.”—Suyeon Ryu

“Last year, I got off the 2/3 at Atlantic Avenue and made my way to the D/N/R platform. I was waiting for my train when a young male came up to me, probably in his 20s or 30s, and started asking me how my day was. At frst, I thought he was just trying to be a friendly person, people you rarely see in New York nowadays. He then came closer to me and at one point touched me and asked if he could come home with me and meet my parents. This completely freaked me out and I wound up getting on a different train than I was supposed to, just to get away from the situation.”

The Spectator

SPORTS EDITORS

Ava Quarles

Kaeden Ruparel

Khush Wadhwa*

EDITORS IN CHIEF

Rebecca Bao*

Phoebe Buckwalter*

NEWS EDITORS

Talia Arcasoy**

Sarah Diaz*

Seth Fenton**

FEATURES EDITORS

Dalia Levanon

Suyeon Ryu

Olivia Woo

OPINIONS EDITORS

Ivy Huang*

Gulam Monawarah

SCIENCE EDITORS

Hellen Luo

Jovanna Wu

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS

Lucien Clough

Simone Raleigh

Santino Suarez

HUMOR EDITORS

Erica Chen

Finn Charest

“ e Pulse of the Student Body” *

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS

Lily Serry

Sophia Mueller

ART DIRECTORS

Jaden Bae**

Fareha Islam

Nelli Rojas-Cessa

LAYOUT EDITORS

Ankki Dong

Fiona Huang

Elaine Liu**

Jasper Yu-Dawidowicz

COPY EDITORS

Kevin Chan*

Duncan Park**

Ryan Park**

Eman Sadiq

Allison Zhao

BUSINESS MANAGERS

Amber Shen

Christopher Louie**

WEB EDITORS

Lenny Metlitsky

Ankita Saha

FACULTY ADVISER

Kerry Gar nkel

“There was a time when I accidentally bumped into someone on the train with my backpack. He cursed at me for a solid fve minutes and when someone actually stood up for me and said ‘Calm down. The person you’re yelling at and threatening is a child,’ the man followed them off the bus after threatening to rape them. It was a very scary situation to be in and I was very scared for the only person who had stood up for my safety. Luckily, I’m pretty sure they ended up okay, but it was genuinely terrifying.”

“In October, one of my middle school friends was shot by another student while she was walking home from school. She was across the street when another student fred two bullets in her general direction, one of which punctured her spinal cord and left her permanently paralyzed. The student with the gun carried it with them into school and could have done far more damage. For two days after, the high school in question installed metal detectors and manually screened students before school every morning, but after the weekend passed, the DOE treated the incident like nothing ever happened. Despite the calls to action by the girl’s family and the school community, the chancellor refused to pursue additional security measures or visit the high school. Long story short: shootings can happen to anyone, anywhere, no matter how innocent and distant from conficts they make themselves, and seeing a friend of mine lose their motor functions forever and face death for a week was heart-wrenching.” —Khush

Wadhwa

“There’s defnitely a class divide involved with when and where safety incidents happen. I commute by the LIRR but occasionally take the subway with friends, and the cost and nature of the LIRR make the services safer than the subway. Offcers walk around Penn and Grand Central Stations with rifes to promote a sense of security but rarely have to enforce anything. Whereas on the subway, violent fghts between commuters are almost commonplace, and yet there’s no law enforcement or services to ensure the safety of others on the train. I fnd that to be problematic for the majority of Stuy students, who take the subway for the entirety of their commutes.” —Khush

Wadhwa

e Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

By USHOSHI DAS

As soon as I found out I got into Stuyvesant, the frst tip I got from upperclassmen was to download Facebook. I was told to use it for information about classes, but more importantly, it was so I could read Stuyvesant’s offcial anonymous confessions page.

Confessions pages are popular because students can express their thoughts and receive advice in a seemingly “safe” space—if people don’t know who someone is, it is diffcult to judge them. But more often than not, the audience seems to enjoy these often exciting and scandalous stories instead of empathizing with the confessor. In fact, Stuyvesant Confessions is listed as a “comedian” page. While there are many joke confessions, this is also insensitive to those who are legitimately reaching out for help. In some ways, the anonymity of these confessions does not help: instead, they create a barrier that makes the stories feel less real, and the page is no longer a serious space.

For Stuyvesant students, the Instagram page @stuyvesantsophcrushesondaside has gained widespread attention for sinister reasons. Sophomores (the page is public but was created for sophomores) can anonymously submit opinions, thoughts, and, especially, secretly admit to crushes through a Google Form attached to the account’s description. The account posted a Google Form response ranking the “bottom 10” girls in the grade on Saturday, April 29.

The preface to the list was: “we are gonna be brutally hon-

Anonymity: The Price of Rankings and Confession Pages

est and help out the boys out if anyone wants we’ll do some for the girls but pro tip for the boys do not go after these ugly [EXPLETIVE] they actually chopped as [EXPLETIVE] (not in order but bottom 10 in rankings) you’re welcome”

Students in the comment section called out the account for posting the submission (“bro that’s so messed up bruh take this shi down” and “why

sion and thought that it was instead a ranking of the 10 most attractive girls in the grade.

Despite the post’s deletion, it is still indicative of the larger issue of cyberbullying. Among the common effects of cyberbullying are feelings of selfworthlessness and increasingly low self-esteem. Not only are the victims of cyberbullying isolated, but there is also no authority fgure to intervene

may not. The student spent a lot of time fguring out how she would present herself at school the coming Monday, and research already shows that girls are more likely to compare themselves to one another. Research conducted by Facebook and Instagram shows that the platforms “make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls” and that “teens blame Instagram for increases

and cyberbullying in general: 59 percent of students have been cyberbullied in some manner, and research shows that 41 percent—almost half of those cyberbullied—have increased social anxiety. Thirtyseven percent of students draw a direct line between cyberbullying and their depression.

By YELENA AGADZHANOVA

You’re a tourist strolling through New York’s renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest museum in North America and eighth-ranked on the list of most-visited art museums across the whole world. You don’t know which way to turn or where to look. Everything is so beautiful, so unique, so… real. As you admire the seemingly endless collections of paintings, sculptures, and ancient artifacts, you must wonder:

How did this all end up here?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art contains over 1,000 artifacts allegedly linked to looters and traffckers. Time and time again, people’s cultural identities and heritage are exploited for proft, and museums such as the Met are guilty of engaging in this unjust practice. Museums must return stolen artifacts that were forcefully or unlawfully obtained to their rightful owners.

Present-day museums contain a signifcant number of

would you post this,” among other comments), and the post was taken down after a couple of hours. A student ranked on the list emphasized, “The comments on the post kind of treated it as a joke, but I think in these cases people should just not interact and report the account, but we are high school students so I understand that it was probably entertaining.”

She is right: if the comments had seriously pushed back and explained why the act of writing the list was so “misogynistic and disgusting,” perhaps more students would have taken the issue seriously.

Soon after, the entire page was wiped and the account reposted form responses. The account also posted an “apology” on their story, claiming that its owner had misread the submis-

unless the incident is reported. Rankings concerning how “dateable” or attractive people are are also dehumanizing and sexist. These lists objectify people, quantify lives based on societal beauty standards, and disregard victims’ emotions. These rankings can affect how people perceive themselves. The same student explained, “Initially, [...] I felt like it was lowkey my fault because I felt like I hadn’t been conscious of what I looked like in school [...] It defnitely hurt the confdence I had built up after I had been super insecure throughout elementary and middle school.” She said, “[I] realized that I shouldn’t allow that to happen at all because I live for myself and I shouldn’t care about what others have to think of me,” but many others

in the rate of anxiety and depression.” Considering that social media romanticizes everyday life and there is an increasing pressure to live an elegant life, especially adhering to trends, these rankings are just adding to the stresses many on the list are already probably facing.

This list is not a singular instance; even before social media, high school students created popularity rankings. With social media, it is even easier to spread such hateful ideas and use real people as entertainment. This disregards everyone’s right to privacy—anonymous lists can expose anyone. And while the information may not necessarily be true, rumors can still spread very quickly. Mental health illnesses can be exacerbated by these rankings,

Finders, Keepers

artifacts that were stolen from their countries of origin during colonial times or taken with the threat of violence. For example, a statue of Shreedhar Vishnu, the Hindu protector god, carved by master artisans nearly a thou-

village were deeply saddened by its disappearance. About a decade after the theft, a wealthy American collector donated the statue to the Met, where it would stay for around 30 years, until an anonymous Facebook

easily remedied.

Each stolen artifact is a piece of a culture taken away. Traditions get lost and fade over time. People dedicate their lives to commemorating their country’s identity through art. The large corporations who get their hands on these precious items cannot fathom how much they may have meant to someone. This exploitative behavior is not only limited to museums. The Koh-i-Noor jewel, unearthed in central Southern India, was a symbol of prestige and power during the Islamic Mughals’ rule. In the eyes of the British, this diamond was worth taking by any means possible, including killing people. During the annexation of Punjab in 1849, the Koh-i-noor was acquired by the British and placed among the crown jewels of Queen Victoria.

Anonymous pages do have a purpose: struggling individuals can get advice without fear of being judged. But because there is such a varied response in the comment sections of the posts, these posts are largely unhelpful. The pages need more regulations: they should never mention real names or identifable information about people. As the student on the list puts it, “The person who runs the account should not have posted hateful content, and I think that’s where it’s bad.” If students are going to establish anonymous accounts, the account administrators have a responsibility to regulate what content is posted. She spoke of a feeling of relief once the post was taken down. The only thing the account can do is post explanations for why this sort of behavior is bad, especially if negative content is on the page, because the anonymous nature of the process prevents any sort of accountability for the perpetrators. Thus, confession pages need professional administration, especially if the page intends to give and receive advice. This would allow the page to actually have benefts such as removing the stigma around confession topics, giving confessors often much-needed validation, and increasing confessors’ confdence.

sand years ago from Bungmanti, Nepal, was worshiped by many locals. However, the treasured sandstone relic went missing in the 1980s, and residents of the

account identifed the artifact in 2021. Since then, the item has been publicly removed from its collection, but the damage that was inficted over years is not as

Today, the Koh-i-Noor jewel is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. Among claims by several other countries, India, its country of origin, has requested its return numerous times but has been

denied. This jewel is more than its monetary value, more than something that sparkles—it is a symbol of greed and of what former colonies experienced at the hands of colonial powers. The most visited piece in the British Museum, the Rosetta Stone, was taken from Egypt by forces of the British Empire in 1801. However, the British Museum blatantly claims that no request has been made for the return of the artifact, which highlights a great degree of disrespect and irresponsibility.

Some may argue that a lack of foreign objects in museums will lead to a lack of exposure to various cultures and their histories. However, there are people from the country of the objects’ origin who likely have a more profound understanding of their signifcance. The objects hold more power when it is observed in their place of birth, as that fosters a deeper connection with the viewer. The reason that visiting foreign countries is so thrilling is because it allows us to experience and see things that aren’t present in our daily lives.

Sandra Lin / The Spectator

These lists objectify people, quantify lives based on societal beauty standards, and disregard victims’ emotions.

What Happened to American Manufacturing And How to Recover

By SETH FENTON

Though it’s hard to believe today, the U.S. was once the world’s dominant manufacturing power. Post World War II, America produced over 50 percent of all goods utilized worldwide and maintained nearly 40 percent of the global GDP. However, America now maintains only 16.6 percent of global manufacturing capacity and roughly 25 percent of the planet’s GDP. That’s an enormous 34 percent decline in our capability to produce relative to other nations and a vast reduction in our economic size relative to the rest of the global community. This is not to say America was in a better place back then. It was awful, with practically every policy being morally dubious. What it does speak to, though, is a general decline in our global infuence in this sector regardless of the nation’s unrelated policies. Much of this decline was inevitable; it’s far easier to settle for industrial parity with even the most advanced countries than for a nation to keep innovating at a much higher speed than its competitors. While the general rise of global wealth is a good thing, especially for developing nations, America’s decline as a manufacturing superpower is a negative byproduct because it makes our supply lines far easier to disrupt.

However, our policies have also historically utterly failed to encourage industrial growth. We took our position as the num-

By EMMA SAVONIJE

I have a routine every evening: once I get home from track practice and complete my homework, I think about what test I have tomorrow. After I’ve gone over the hurdles I’ll have to face the next day, I review my notes, reference the Internet, and hope for the best.

Has it ever occurred to me to study in advance? Yes, many times. Sometimes on idle weekends, I’ll open Google Classroom, go to the “To-do” tab, and see a line of test assignments waiting for me. Biology and math. Spanish and global studies. But when I reach for my notes and open my textbook, I am almost inevitably distracted by other, more appealing things.

Why memorize some vocabulary when I could go outside with friends? Why learn the power of a point when I could be spending my free time doing something other than what I already do fve days a week? This mindset leads to a cycle of last-minute studying. There are mixed views regarding this style of studying, known as cramming, which many students associate with stress and fatigue. However, cramming can actually be more benefcial than most make it out to be—as long as it’s done right.

The crux of cramming is also what makes it so notorious—it puts the pressure of timing on students. This makes studying a priority, encouraging the mindset of “get it done” instead of insti-

ber one manufacturer globally for granted, partially because the U.S. has built a strong service sector that has driven much of our economic growth in recent years, drawing focus away from manufacturing. Furthermore, former president Ronald Reagan’s deregulation of businesses and incredibly strong dollar made it diffcult for U.S. manufacturing frms to compete without offshoring production. Later on, former president Bill Clinton’s efforts to strengthen the informational technology sphere did so at the expense of our manufacturing resiliency, which only got worse as he also pursued deregulation. In the end, we lost the ability to sustain consumption, specifcally in the tech industry, and we cannot produce semiconductors without a vast number of relatively unstable imports. Another less directly threatening but still important effect of this manufacturing decline is the steady collapse of our global infuence due to a decline in our exports.

As aforementioned, we’ve lost about two-thirds of our share of global manufacturing in the past eight decades, and the majority of the demand gap left by this decline has been picked up by developing economies. This shift in production has been most exemplifed by China, which has utilized its immense population, incredibly low regulatory compliance, and its status as a massively attractive destination for foreign capital to

build up insanely high industrial productivity. This means that U.S. manufacturers have to cope with a market in which they aren’t the frst choice for a company to build new factories. This is especially true due to America's higher wages relative to other manufacturing powerhouses, which make the cost of running similar operations far higher than that of our competitors. But to be clear, I am not saying we should follow China's path to industrial dominance—their economic achievements were built on the backs of an abused lower class, ignored child labor laws, and a series of cut corners that I would never want to implement in the U.S. The good news is that increasing manufacturing power and protecting the morals of our labor system is a false dichotomy. The U.S. has an immense number of technological and monetary advantages over other nations, which could allow us to boost our productivity and potentially even regain the number one seat without ever severely abusing our workers. In fact, bringing back our manufacturing capability could very well expand access to highpaying jobs that provide a good quality of life, since a labor shortage in the industry makes every individual worker incredibly valuable.

The sheer instability of domestic supply lines is especially apparent during global disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As trade declined due to

global pandemic restrictions, we became increasingly reliant on disrupted imports. Even this massive disease was a relatively small disruption. While the virus defnitely slowed global trade, it did far less than the 2007 global economic crisis. That itself did far less damage than the fundamental destruction of our technological supply chains that could be caused by numerous geopolitical fashpoints, including a hypothetical Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which in the status quo would induce the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression.

While some of the damage over the past several decades is irreversible, the U.S. still has a powerful enough industrial sector to lead us into a bright manufacturing future with proper governmental support. In recent years, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Executive Order On America’s Supply Chains (its offcial title) have led to a relatively recent American manufacturing boom, especially in key industries like semiconductor manufacturing. These bills are steps in the right direction, but more could be done to ensure an American manufacturing rebirth. To start, as mentioned earlier, American research and development is still the best in the world, but our factories remain less technologically advanced than many of our competitors. This is due to a lack of applied proof of concept research because it’s simply less proftable

Studying to Survive

gating further procrastination. In a way, the pressure of cramming activates the ingrained human “survival drive,” which kicks in when people are put in stressful situations. This instinct is one that used to have much more primitive purposes, such as fnding food and water to prevent starvation and dehydration. This mechanism also manifests in the fght-or-fight response, during which the brain senses danger and sends stress hormones to the rest of the body, spurring it into action, whether that means feeing or squaring up. Now that the number of physical stressors in modern society has drastically decreased, our brains react with stress hormones to perceived threats that are far from lifethreatening, such as the pressure of a shortly upcoming exam.

Though this ingrained response can have positive effects—our body forces us to do the studying that our mind doesn’t want to––it can also have unhealthy consequences. The last-minute studying that people associate with testing is often not the most effective or healthy practice. Cramming usually comes with memories of late nights behind a laptop, frantically scrolling, or early mornings in front of a textbook while so tired that words no longer make sense. This leads directly to an argument commonly made for why people should not study at the last minute: the strain and anxiety damages people’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Stress causes a variety of issues, from aches, pains, trouble

sleeping, and headaches to fatigue, irritability, depression, and panic attacks, depending on the severity of the situation. Additionally, for all the benefts it may have in pushing people to study, stress can also lead to academic

pitfalls such as procrastination, exhaustion, and staying up much too late. Studies have repeatedly shown that lack of sleep is correlated with worse performance, not to mention additional detriments to health. Using harmful

Lillian Dong/ The Spectator

in the short term. The government should seek to set up a program to help incentivize American frms to produce research in this vital area. This could be done through a modifcation or expansion of the existing Manufacturing Extension Partnership or the creation of a new program, but either way, it would vastly improve the effciency of our factories. We should also require the government to purchase the majority of needed goods from American manufacturers that meet wage and workforce training standards. This helps indirectly fund a manufacturing buildout while also incentivizing frms to treat their laborers well and provide them with a diverse skill set to receive coveted government contracts. Finally, we should streamline the legal immigration of skilled laborers, allowing them to lessen our labor shortage. All of these initiatives taken together would help America recover and perhaps even reclaim its formerly coveted place as the number one global producer of industrial goods. The results of whatever plans the government puts into place will determine the future of our nation for the next several decades, and as people living in this country, it is our responsibility to do our collective best to ensure that the government implements a successful industrial growth policy. Otherwise, our nation’s future will be challenging, to say the very least.

methods of cramming can put students in their exam room the next day, unable to focus and desperate for sleep while feeling frustrated that their studying seems to have had no effect at all.

From preserving good mental and physical health to actually productively preparing for a test, cramming should be practiced in a healthy, reliable, and stable way. It probably isn’t the most useful strategy if you’re being introduced to new material the night before an exam, but reviewing subjects on a “cram schedule” can bring them back into your immediate memory. However, do not rely on cramming to help you memorize topics in the long term; for subjects such as physics, cramming may work for one test, but it won’t alleviate struggling in the next unit and the next, especially since concepts often build on each other. To most effectively study for a course, one should not rely on cramming as their sole study resource. Instead, have short study sessions in advance to reteach yourself the material. On the night before, set aside a chunk of time to review, ranging from 10 minutes to an hour, and ensure you reduce stress and get sleep, too.

That being said, whatever works for you is whatever works for you. Methods of studying are personal preferences, and though I plan to implement some of these strategies into my studies, I know that I’ll be having at least a few more harried cram sessions in the years to come.

Holding Hope for Humanities

By AMARYLLIS SUN

“You won’t survive as an English major. You can always write as a hobby,” my parents told me when I expressed my interest in pursuing English in college. I weighed the options of money versus happiness in my head before agreeing and pushing myself into STEM classes, hoping to attend an elite university where I would pave the path for women in STEM and succeed as the frstgeneration daughter of immigrant parents who grew up poor and worked relentlessly their entire lives to be able to provide for my brother and me. However, when Advanced Placement (AP) course selections were released, I found myself drifting toward the humanities electives, with Writing to Make Change and Defning American Voices appealing to me more than the STEM electives. Though this was a relatively simple decision, it refected my constant turmoil over my future career path, whether it be following my heart, which would mean pursuing writing, or following my brain, which reminded me that I wanted to be able to fnancially provide for myself as soon as possible. Despite it only being sophomore year, several of my friends have already decided which career paths they want to pursue, increasing the stress I put on myself to decide my future. In an environment where the majority of students are mainly interested in STEM classes and end up going into STEM felds, the pathway for a humanities-driven student can seem daunting, especially considering the competitive nature of Stuyvesant.

The stereotypes surrounding the humanities and STEM are leading to a signifcant decline in humanities degrees and a rapid increase in STEM degrees, with computer science bachelor degrees rising 74 percent from

By ASTRID HARRINGTON and JOANNE HWANG

Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, signed a bill requiring children to obtain parental permission before opening social media accounts in March 2023. This bill is the latest legislative restriction on children’s access to social media. For years, politicians have tried to limit minors’ access to the Internet, citing explicit content and a mental health crisis. However, preventing children from accessing the Internet does more harm than good, as it keeps them from accessing resources they need while giving parents too much power over their lives.

If parents have too much control over their children’s communication with their friends and search history, it gets harder for children to seek mental health resources themselves. This can be especially harmful for kids who feel alienated by their parents. For example, LGBTQ+ youth growing up in conservative families might need mental health support that they wouldn’t be able to get from their families. Giving parents the ability to control their activities online cuts them off from the possibility of getting that help.

Parental controls on devices

2009 to 2015. Even at Stuyvesant, where both the humanities and STEM departments are exceptional, many students underestimate the humanities and give wary glances to those majoring in history or the arts. During our open houses, we proudly showcase our robotics team, science labs, and mathematical achievements as our main accomplishments, pushing humanities to the side. The belief that writing will

as they do in computer science and engineering courses. The opinions regarding liberal arts were not always as cautious: initially, they were highly respected. During the Renaissance in the 16th century, the felds of philosophy, art, music, and literature were greatly admired, with individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo being key fgures for their artistic contributions to society.

Rosa Mazzurco commented in an e-mail interview. The emphasis on the arts was apparent up until the 21st century, when technology gained traction and the demand for jobs in STEM felds skyrocketed. Since then, humanities have been regarded as less of a necessity. The mission statement of the Stuyvesant High School website is further evidence of the lack of acknowledgment that humanities receive:

“The educational heritage of Stuyvesant is deeply rooted in the tradition of Science, Mathematics, and Technology. This has been the foundation of our educational success and must remain the cornerstone of our educational program.” While our educational heritage is important to recognize, education should not be restricted to one feld, especially when high school is the time for students to explore their interests. The decline in humanities can be attributed to this confnement and is a sign that schools should provide classes of all felds, no matter the obscurity or unpopularity. Stuyvesant does a great job at providing a wide variety of classes in both the humanities and STEM departments, and yet, the persistence of stereotypes propagating through the hallways continues.

one day be replaced by artifcial intelligence, which is already seen through the popularity of using ChatGPT to complete writing assignments, pushes hopeful teenagers to explore other, more “practical” interests. The importance of humanities is often ignored, despite it proving just as useful and diffcult as STEM. No feld is superior to another. Stuyvesant and other educational institutions across the world need to advertise and believe in English and history courses as much

Even in the 20th century, literature was valued. “When I was in college in the 1990s and early aughts, the study of literature was not only highly valued, but considered an essential component of other disciplines, namely philosophy, psychology, and law. My professors described literature as a vehicle for understanding human motives and behavior, a discipline that emphasizes critical analysis and refection, and an art that magnifes the potential of imagination,” English teacher

One common stereotype is that a humanities degree will not have many opportunities postgraduation, rendering the degree useless. As a result of this sentiment, humanities degrees have dropped 30 percent between 2005 and 2020, while STEM degrees have risen 43 percent from 2009 to 2015. Another reason for this heavily contrasting relationship is the high average starting salary that STEM majors tend to have, which most people gravitate towards. This contributes to the stereotype that humanities majors will not be as successful as STEM majors in terms of f-

The Consequences of Control

seek to protect their children from harmful content online, which is an understandable instinct. However, regardless of whether parents are trying to help their children, taking away their privacy will simply keep them from working through their problems. At a certain point, maintaining frm control over children will only backfre, hurting both the children and their relationship with their parents.

Excessive parental controls and new legislation also indirectly hurt adults. As the New York Times explains, too many restrictions could transform the Internet into a fragmented, age-gated world in which platforms restrict their content to avoid violating laws. Not only would this prevent minors from accessing information that civil liberties groups say they have a constitutional right to see, but it would also make it more diffcult for adults to see the content by creating unnecessary barriers to access.

Legislation isn’t the only problem. iOS devices have built-in controls, and a wide variety of parental control apps enable parents to record their child’s location, view their search history, and restrict content. These controls can have benefcial uses, such as locat-

ing missing children, encouraging limited screen time, and protecting young children from explicit content. Though some teens are tolerant of tracking because it allows their parents to ensure their safety, the controls and the desire to protect can harm children by damaging relationships, inhibiting responsibility, and preventing access to vital benefcial and vital resources. The Pew Research Center discovered that 39 percent of parents use parental controls to flter and monitor their teen’s online content, 61 to 68 percent check which websites their child visits, and nearly half look through their teen’s text messages.

In addition to these methods, parents use tracking apps such as Life360 in the name of protection. The app is used by 42 million people as of June 2022 and has been praised for its ability to keep families connected and safe. Life360 uses cellular technology and GPS to pinpoint the precise location, driving speed, and location history of people within your “circle”—your family and friends. Some of the app’s features include alerting data breaches, reimbursing stolen funds, detecting crashes, and aiding in travel or roadside emergencies. While Life360 is used to give parents a

nance. Though money is an important factor to consider when choosing a career path, society has placed too much emphasis on money over happiness. Considering that 66 percent of people feel emotionally detached from their jobs and 19 percent feel miserable, emotional aspects of one’s life should outweigh economic motivations. Despite making below the median amount that college graduates typically make, humanities majors still accomplish their goals and are more content than other feld majors, disproving the myth that humanities majors cannot achieve success after graduation. High school and university educators should debunk these stereotypes and provide the benefts—not just the disadvantages—to their students instead of pushing them into STEM. At Stuyvesant especially, humanities are often overlooked, with students calling it “useless” when pondering their course selections, instead opting for AP Computer Science and AP Calculus BC. The cycle of misinformation will only continue until it is properly addressed; students should not be discouraged from pursuing their passions simply because of what others believe. With this, it is absolutely essential for us to realize and acknowledge that success is not defned by income.

Some believe that the decline of humanities is irreversible and that as long as STEM disciplines pay well, the cycle will persist. Though this may be true—especially considering the role money and opportunities play when pursuing an occupation—liberal arts are essential to gaining a better understanding and appreciation of humankind and society. I am still holding out hope for humanities; I can still be a successful frst-generation daughter that earns my parents’ admiration without putting aside writing as merely a hobby.

sense of security, for children, the app and other controls feel like an invasion of privacy. The persistent monitoring can create distrust and inhibit children from gaining autonomy instead of being a safety measure.

While parents are right to claim that social media may lead to online victimization and exposure to inappropriate content, monitoring and tracking their child’s daily activities is not the answer.

Teens are voicing their opinions on the use of Life360 and other restrictions. Some teenagers claim that their tracking is a violation of trust, and others say that control apps only promote dependence. Several students say that constant monitoring ruins their relationship with their parents, as some parents go to extreme measures to keep their children under parental control. A 20-year-old college student claimed that her dad threatened to cut her off if she didn’t keep Life360. Life360 and other apps can enable invasive and controlling parenting that prevent teenagers from obtaining trust, learning responsibility, and learning rightful Internet conduct.

Tech companies, parents, and politicians need to understand that their safety measures are harming children instead of protect-

ing them. Companies that create apps such as Bark, Life360, and FamilyTime must acknowledge that while protecting children on the Internet is important, control apps should not be invasive. The Internet is flled with a plethora of resources for mental health, education, and help for teens to adjust to society beyond the beliefs and lifestyles of their own families. Parents should build mutual trust, set expectations, and have conversations with their children rather than monitoring their everyday lives.

Tracking apps, parental controls, and restrictive legislation don’t solve the problems they were designed for. Restrictive legislation, which aims to address a social media-induced mental health crisis, doesn’t solve the root problem: social media companies don’t make an effort to address the negative effects of targeted advertising and problematic content. Rather than focusing on controlling children, parents, politicians, and tech companies should work together to create a safe online environment in which children can explore the Internet without being controlled by their parents. That way, children can still trust their parents and use the Internet in a positive, healthy way.

Natalie Soler / The Spectator

Standardization Amongst Stuyvesant Classes

By ALEXA LEAHY

Known for its highly knowledgeable teachers and rigorous courses, Stuyvesant offers a wide variety of classes, ranging from History of the Middle Ages to AP Calculus. For each subject offered at Stuyvesant, as many as 15 teachers can be assigned, causing great discrepancies in how a standard curriculum is taught. With a school as big as Stuyvesant, it makes sense for core classes like freshman global history to have many teachers. However, this large pool of teachers, each with their own teaching style, can be problematic for students.

When teachers for classes are not annualized, transitioning from one teacher to another can be challenging due to shifts in distinct teaching styles. For one of my classes, my frst semester teacher gave fairly straightforward tests and taught at a slower pace, allowing me to fully grasp concepts. Over the frst semester, I felt like I had just gotten to know my teacher before suddenly switching to a different teacher for the second semester. The transition was rough, as my second semester teacher teaches much faster, and their tests are quite harder.

Getting accustomed to a new teacher is diffcult, and, as a result, my grade took a blow at the beginning of the semester. I couldn’t write my notes fast enough, leaving me scrambling and trying to borrow notes from someone else in my class. The issue arose when I realized I was not alone in my struggles. There was no one I could borrow the notes from because none of my friends had gotten the notes down in time. Our teacher has slowed down the pace of their lectures

By SIMON LETON

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas has portrayed himself as a man of modesty. In Thomas’s 2020 documentary, Created Equal, he explains that he enjoys “normal” things, like Walmart parking lots and benches:

“I come from regular stock, and I prefer that, I prefer being around that.” Justice Thomas’s childhood, dominated by poverty and chaos, certainly lends credibility to his socalled modesty.

As usual, with immensely powerful people, the truth deviates from the story. In reality, Thomas has received millions of dollars in various assets from Harlan Crow, a real estate titan and conservative super donor. The Justice has enjoyed, over the past 25 years, numerous free fights in Crow’s private jet, idyllic vacations across the world, weeks aboard Crow’s superyacht, all-expenses-paid stays at insanely expensive resorts, and of course, summer stays at Crow’s luxury resort in upstate New York. This lifestyle could not deviate more from modesty. Luckily for the Justice, that is only the beginning of Crow’s generosity. Crow’s kindness extends to Thomas’s own documentary, purchase and renovation of Thomas’s childhood home, paintings and statues of the Justice, and private school tuition for his son.

Not only has Justice Thomas refused to admit to these partakings, but he has also failed to disclose them—which he is legally required to do. Coming to his defense was Crow himself, who explained that the two are just really good friends who have a lot in common and en-

to match students’ writing pace and has begun posting their slideshows, which I greatly appreciate. However, the transition from my frst to my second-semester teacher could have been much smoother if teachers had a consensus about the pacing of their lessons and the nitty-gritty details, such as test formatting.

Another major issue is the imbalance in extra credit offered to students, stemming from Stuyvesant’s diverse set of teachers with differing approaches to the rigor of the curriculum. Some teachers are very generous with the extra credit they provide, even to the extent of giving extra credit for practically every other homework assignment. This is a stark contrast to teachers who do not offer a single extra credit assignment throughout the semester. As a result, when it comes time for AP selections, some students have an unfair advantage simply because their teacher provided extra credit, allowing some to achieve a grade of over 100 in the class. On the other hand, students stuck with the short end of the stick are at a disadvantage even though they are just as competent.

There needs to be a universal departmental consensus on whether extra credit should be provided to students to ensure an equal playing feld. Extra credit should be provided two to three times a semester, as it can help balance out a bad grade on a test or quiz. While this may confict with the “every man for themselves” mentality many Stuy students hold, we are all human and deserve at least one “get out of jail free card,” or, in this case, extra credit. Not only does extra credit help one’s grade, but it also enables students to explore more about the subject outside of

class and homework. In the bigger picture, this could help foster a genuine interest in a subject that might not otherwise be developed in class. Mixing up the number of proj-

am a horrible test taker. I can put a lot of effort into preparing for a test and to be able to recite practically every fact before the test, but the second I sit down and turn to

friends have teachers who only assign projects, and those who are better at taking tests than working on projects struggle just as I do. This calls for a larger balance between tests and projects, as testing both a student’s strengths and weaknesses is vital to creating a well-rounded learner. Additionally, by providing tests and projects that challenge one’s creativity, teachers can strengthen two very different, fundamental life skills for their students.

The differing types of assessments, whether it be written projects or multiple-choice tests, can also be an issue when it comes to standardized testing like the regents. Some students will be much more prepared for the multiplechoice questions, while others will be much more prepared for the short-response questions. This is partly due to how different teachers prepare classes differently for these tests. If all teachers spent equal amounts of time on different types of questions throughout the semester or school year, students would be more prepared for all parts of the tests. Concerning this, it could be benefcial for teachers to gauge how their class is doing with the material and set a day aside to prepare students for an upcoming test.

Naomi Lai / The Spectator

ects and tests assigned can also mitigate the issue created by Stuyvesant’s wide variety of teachers. All my teachers solely give tests, with only two of my classes having a single project this entire school year. I

the frst page of the exam, my mind goes blank. I forget everything I studied so hard for, and my heart drops as a feeling of dread looms over me. On the contrary, some of my

Accountability Isn’t on the Docket

joy each other’s company. And as a good friend, Crow indirectly gave the Justice millions of dollars. Furthermore, the friendship between Crow and Thomas is very old, as it began 25 years ago. Of course, Thomas has been on the Supreme Court for over 30 years.

The impact of this wealth on Thomas is impossible to discern. However, the effects of these deals are certainly tremendous. Crow is a deeply right-wing fgure who consistently donates millions of dollars to conservative organizations and sits on the boards of conservative powerhouses, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

Thomas is one of the most conservative Justices on the Supreme Court, and in the last court term, Thomas’s Martin-Quinn score,a metric used to gauge the ideology of a Justice based on their voting history, indicates that his recent jurisprudence was the most conservative out of any current Justice. Thomas often dissents on issues so extremely that he is only joined by Justice Alito in seven-to-two decisions. Recently, the Supreme Court allowed Mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, to stay legal with only two Justices dissenting: Thomas and Alito. Justice Thomas is also notoriously against disclosure laws. In Doe v. Reed, in which Thomas was the sole dissenter, he argued that disclosure laws were unconstitutional. Again in a subset of Citizens United v. FEC, he argued against disclosure and ethical requirements. It’s no surprise that someone against ethical requirements would also be fagrantly violating them.

The complete disregard of ethical requirements placed upon

the Supreme Court is by no means limited to this situation—or even to Justice Thomas. His wife was deeply involved in the events of January 6, 2021, in which a violent mob stormed the Capitol building, and she has established ties to the Trump presidency. Additionally, it has been revealed that she texted Mark Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff, saying that the “Biden crime family” would be “living in barges off GITMO [Guantanamo Bay] to face military tribunals for sedition.” Even with such close ties, Justice Thomas failed to recuse himself from various related Supreme Court decisions and determinations, including Ward, et al. v. Thompson, Bates v. Trump, and Thompson v. Trump Justice Alito failed to recuse in Valentine v. PNC Financial Services, et al., even though he owned shares in one of the companies. The foundation Americans for Prosperity spent millions of dollars to get Justice Barrett confrmed, and yet she failed to recuse herself from Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta. The liberals on the court are no exception. Justice Jackson failed to recuse from Lloyds Banking Group plc, et al. v. Berkshire Bank, et al. even though she held relevant fnancial assets, and Justice Breyer similarly failed to disclose from FERC v. EPSA. The previous violations listed are a small sample of the numerous infractions by Supreme Court Judges.

Responses from within the judicial branch are almost nonexistent. The retired, ostensibly liberal Justice Breyer disregarded the ethical weight of Justice Thomas’s dealings, saying that “he’s a man of integrity” and that he’s “never

seen him do anything underhanded.” The executive and legislative branches—which are theoretically meant to check and balance the power of the judiciary—have also failed to take any meaningful action. The White House called out Justice Thomas’s actions but never took any substantial steps to hold anyone accountable. Similarly, the Senate judiciary committee has launched an investigation into the gifts but has not subpoenaed anyone on the court. Instead, they politely requested for Chief Justice Roberts to testify; he declined.

The media has failed to shed appropriate light on these blatant ethical violations. Even ProPublica’s bombshell reporting on Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow elicited a meager public reaction. The New York Times has reported numerous times, with articles titled “Justice Thomas Says He Was Advised Lavish Gifts Did Not Need to Be Reported,” “Justice Thomas Failed to Report Real Estate Deal

With Texas Billionaire,” and “Justice Thomas’s Friend Defends Failure to Disclose Tuition Payments by Harlan Crow.” Each of these titles, along with their articles, focus on the failure of Justice Thomas to disclose his gifts rather than the actual issue, that billionaires can easily access the most powerful people in the United States. Right-wing media, like the New York Post and Fox News, have painted the Justice’s actions as “perfectly reasonable” and the reporting by other news outlets as a “liberal smear campaign.” The numerous other violations of the ethical code have gone almost completely unreported.

The Supreme Court has supreme power over the American

I understand that teachers want to teach their lessons in a way they feel most comfortable while still being helpful to their students, but there also needs to be a mix of different teaching styles. Designating the number of tests and projects based on the department would be most effective in implementing this kind of change. With a few little tweaks to the variations of teaching methods, there can be a much more level and stress-free playing feld for students.

people. Abortion, gun rights, and unions, as well as unthinkable issues, like interracial marriage, access to contraception, and the separation between church and state, are all on the table. It is a necessity for American democracy that an institution with so much power is not rife with corruption. The power of the government is derived from the people, and only the people have the power to address this issue. To fx the Supreme Court, the public must care about the court, so the media must cover its major faws, and the elected offcials must take action to address the concerns of their constituents. There are a plethora of different ways to take action against the Court. Forcing the Justices to testify before the Senate judiciary committee would force them to confront their ethics publicly. Thomas should have explained to the American people the basis for his dealings. Congress also controls the budget for the Judiciary. If the Supreme Court is unwilling to create a real ethical code, Congress could severely limit funding to the court. This funding fnances the Justices’ salaries and the salaries of their 36 clerks. Without it, the court would struggle to function. The court could also be packed by adding more justices, or term limits could be set. At the most extreme, Justices could be impeached with a majority vote in the House and then removed with a two-thirds vote in the Senate. But until a change is observed in the American people, such actions will never be taken by Congress, and the Supreme Court will continue to brazenly violate ethical requirements and engage in extreme corruption.

Silencing Genes: A Breakthrough for Alzheimer’s Treatment

By MINESH SUMAIR

Alzheimer’s disease impacts over six million people in the United States, with one in three seniors dying of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia— amounting to a death rate higher than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. It is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Beginning with mild memory loss in what is referred to as early-onset Alzheimer’s—a variant of the disease which develops before age 65—Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, with symptoms of dementia gradually worsening in the years following. In its later stages, it leads to an inability to process surroundings and complete daily tasks, mood changes, and increased aggression and anxiety. Its impact on an individual’s life is debilitating in most cases.

Early-onset Alzheimer’s can start as young as a person’s 30s. Though it is rare, it holds signifcance considering the neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment which occurs in the brain of someone with the disease. The human brain holds about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) which each play their own roles in basic cognitive functions, such as learning, thinking, and remembering. Neurons, like other cells, need to effectively generate energy, intake nutrients, and dispose of waste

in order to operate properly. One important structure which transports nutrients across cells and assists with mitosis—somatic cell division—is the microtubule. Microtubules also serve as part of the structural cytoskeleton for neurons, helping to maintain the cell’s shape. Axons and dendrites inside of the neuron also beneft from the structural support of microtubules. These structures are two of the primary parts of a neuron, mainly helping with a neuron’s communication and signal transmission. Dendrites receive afferent signals, which are responsible for transporting sensory information to the brain. On the other hand, axons carry efferent signals, which are responsible for transporting signals from the brain to the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system consists of nerves from the brain and spinal cord, which form a communication network between the central nervous system and the rest of the body. On the basis of these efferent signals, axons are responsible for working with dendrites to ensure that the body can initiate and follow through with actions in response to different stimuli, for example touching a hot pan on your stove and quickly pulling away.

In an individual with Alzheimer’s, neurodegeneration begins at the microtubule level. The gene MAPT—microtubule-associated protein tau—has the primary

role of providing the instruction for creating the protein tau. Tau is found throughout the nervous system’s and brain’s neurons. As the gene’s name suggests, tau protein is associated with microtubules, particularly the assembly and stabilization of them. In the brain of someone with Alzheimer’s, these proteins are misshapen due to chemical alterations. These genetically mutant forms of tau are associated with many different neurodegenerative diseases in which tau can no longer carry out its normal functions. It begins to organize itself abnormally in insoluble clusters known as neurofbrillary tangles, which begin to accumulate as Alzheimer’s progresses. These tangles prohibit the neuron’s transport system from working effectively, consequently affecting the signal transmission and reception between neurons.

The second hallmark of Alzheimer’s comes from the extracellular plaque deposit of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides. Aβ peptides have no known normal function, with mechanisms in the human brain made to degrade the peptide. Recent research has highlighted that Aβ plaques can stick onto the brain, leading to the death of brain neurons. These harmful plaques are formed as a direct consequence of synapse loss. Synapses are the connections between neurons that allow for communication between them, while also mediating cognition

and memory. Two main reasons for synapse loss are a neuron’s failure to maintain functioning axons and dendrites, as well as neuron death. This then puts into perspective the connection between mutant tau protein and Aβ plaques. With mutant tau being a prime cause for neuron failure by preventing the maintenance of healthy axons and dendrites, synapse loss is initiated amongst the brain’s neurons. From synapse loss stems the creation of Aβ plaques, which causes neuron death, further enhancing the effects of synapse loss. A feedback loop is then formed in which mutant tau and Aβ enhance each other’s toxicity and work together to drive healthy neurons into a diseased state.

Current FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatment only focuses on one of these mechanisms: Aβ plaques. Aducanumab, a newly approved medication for Alzheimer’s, is a monoclonal antibody targeted toward removing Aβ. Monoclonal antibodies are synthetically-created molecules that are able to bind to their targets and eliminate them. In the case of aducanumab, these antibodies cross the blood-brain barrier and then bind to the insoluble Aβ plaques in the brain. Aducanumab’s prime selectivity for these abnormal Aβ forms results in the reduction of plaques in the brain. Though Aβ plaques contribute a great deal to the de-

SCIENCEBEAT

The 2023 Genes in Space competition has recently announced its frst round of results, with fve teams of Stuyvesant students being selected as semifnalists

Researchers found that analyzing the reappearances of the supernova Refsdal can provide valuable information in developing a new measurement of the Hubble constant, a unit proportional to the rate at which the universe expands

Using a soft robot––a fowershaped device made of fexible materials––can potentially be a less invasive way to monitor brains by placing sensors on them, a process currently accomplished by removing a large section of the skull.

velopment of Alzheimer’s and its behavioral and cognitive characteristics, evidence has shown that a reduction in tau might actually have more benefts than focusing on Aβ. Preclinical evidence has exemplifed that a reduction in tau can prevent Aβ-related defcits, like synapse loss, which is evident from the role that the two play in driving neurons into a diseased state. This evidence has also suggested that tau mediates Aβ’s toxicity in the early development of Alzheimer’s, making tau a disease mechanism worth focusing on.

continued on page 15

Shining Light Through Double-Slits in Time

By SOPHIE ZHAO

Imagine sitting by a lake with pebbles scattered nearby. You proceed to toss a pebble into the water, creating ripples. This is a common example of a wave, but a wave is more than just a cool phenomenon that results from throwing pebbles into water. A wave is defned as a disturbance that propagates through a medium. Thus, the ripples that appear after the pebble penetrates the water’s surface are a series of disturbances propagating outward. However, water waves are not the only type of waves.

The wave-like behavior of light was demonstrated by Thomas Young in his famous double-slit experiment in 1801. In waves, the highest points are called crests, or peaks, while the lowest points are called troughs. When waves meet, destructive and constructive interference occur. Peaks and troughs of different waves annihilate each other in destructive interference, while corresponding points (two peaks or two troughs) enhance each other in constructive interference. Repeating incidents of destructive and constructive interference create an interference pattern. Young’s experiment demonstrated that light behaves like waves by revealing its interference pattern.

Young set up an opaque wall with two narrow slits for light to pass through. He shined a

beam of light at the wall and used a detector to record the photons that were able to pass through the slits. When both slits of the wall were opened, an interference pattern was created on the screen behind the wall. The screen had a repeating series of areas that were heavily bombarded by photons where constructive interference occurred, as well as areas with no recorded photon hits. These empty areas were most likely where the peaks and troughs of light engaged in destructive interference. Hence, Young concluded that photons exhibit wave-like behavior, interfere with each other, and produce their own interference patterns.

Young’s groundbreaking double-slit experiment explored splits in space—the wall he used had physical openings that restricted the fow of light. However, in April 2023, a team of physicists from Imperial College London added a creative twist to this experiment by using “slits in time.” In other words, the team restricted the fow of light to certain periods of time. Their experiment references Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, stating that space and time are inevitably linked. If Young’s experiment worked with spatial slits, the researchers thought: Wouldn’t it also work for temporal slits?

The Imperial College London team recreated the doubleslit experiment using a thin flm of indium tin oxide as the wall.

Indium tin oxide is an example of a metamaterial, a material that does not occur naturally. Indium tin oxide has a special property: the material is transparent until a laser penetrates it, altering its electrons’ properties. As a result, the flm starts to behave like a mirror refecting the beam of light. The scientists fred a laser at the wall at con-

ing, the slits are referred to as time slits.

When light passes through the wall in between periods of the wall’s refectivity, the light’s frequency is altered, leading to a change in color. Lights with the same frequencies—and hence the same colors—enhance each other, while lights with different frequencies and

it formed differed in each experiment. When light came out of Young’s spatial slits, what changed was the angle at which the light traveled rather than the frequency of light. This resulted in waves colliding with each other. Nonetheless, Imperial College London’s experiment still demonstrated the wave-like behavior of light.

This study’s twist on the double-slit experiment has numerous important implications.

sistent time intervals every few femtoseconds (10-15 of a second) so the beam of light could only pass through and hit the screen in short bursts. Since the ability of light to pass through this wall is limited by the tim-

colors cancel each other out. The series of annihilations and enhancements forms an interference pattern. Though both Imperial College London’s and Young’s experiments produced an interference pattern, the way

First, Imperial College London’s experiment corroborates the linkage between space and time, as it provided consistent evidence of light’s wave behavior in both domains. This consistency supports Einstein’s theory and ushers us to view time and space not as separate entities, but as interconnected phenomena. Additionally, the use of indium tin oxide opens up exploration for other practical uses of metamaterials. For example, similar materials that change light permeability under certain conditions can serve as optical switches that enhance the effciency of operations by computers. Metamaterials may enhance computational effciency to a level that even compares with human brain functioning. Overall, Imperial College London’s experiment offered the scientifc community a new perception of light and space-time, opening new doors for quantum technology and theoretical physics.

Joey Chen / The Spectator

The Start of a New Chapter in Medicine: Bioelectronic Medicine

By BRAMINDER KUMAR

Bioelectronic medicine is the study of the activities that take place within the nervous system via device technology that reads electrical activity within the body. Modulating this activity opens new doors to real-time diagnostics of patients’ nervous systems and bodily performance, which can help develop new treatment. Such treatments are being developed by surgeons all around the world, including neurosurgeon Kevin Tracey, a pioneer in the feld of bioelectronic medicine and president of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.

Dr. Tracey has a TedTalk concerning the science behind why septic shock happens. Septic shocks are life-threatening conditions that occur when blood pressure drops dangerously low after infection. Dr. Tracey’s experiment found that it was not bacteria, but actually the immune system that direct-

By ELLYSSAN PARK

Thanks to monumental innovations in medicine, diseases can now be treated with simple antibiotics. While a case of strep throat might have killed a child in the 19th century, a week of penicillin pills can now cure it. However, as the usage of easily accessible antibiotics becomes more prevalent, the looming threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria simultaneously becomes more apparent. Our world is facing a new global health crisis, yet there is hope. The rise of new innovations that inhibit superbugs at their source may prove to be the solution to bacterial resistance.

Superbugs, an antibiotic strain of bacteria, have been a global health risk for many years. The World Health Organization declared that antimicrobials are one of the top 10 public health threats to humanity, with the Center for Disease Control estimating that in the U.S. alone, almost three million people are infected and over 35,000 people die from them annually. Impervious to common methods of treatment, these superbugs require new medications. However, pharmaceutical drugs take a long time to develop and can be rendered useless by a single gene mutation. Eliminating superbugs necessitates a permanent solution to an ever-changing problem—a seemingly impossible demand. Yet the key to stopping superbugs could be the very thing that makes them so diffcult to overcome: their transformations.

Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern medicine and

ly caused the shock by creating too much tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a multifunctional cytokine (a type of protein) that plays important roles in cell survival, differentiation, and death.

it was blocked; what Dr. Tracey found “baffing” was that TNF was blocked throughout the entire body. With no previously known connections between the brain and TNF production in the immune sys-

However, through this experiment, Dr. Tracey discovered that the vagus nerve was also controlling TNF production throughout the body, proven by the electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in rats, which

be altered in order to treat certain conditions. There are several devices available for vagus nerve stimulation, including an implantable device that has been FDA-approved for treating epilepsy, a seizure disorder, and depression. This process is done by surgically implanting the device under the skin of the chest, using a wire to connect the device to the left vagus nerve, which is more likely to contribute to the condition. Another FDA-approved vagus nerve stimulation device for stroke rehabilitation uses exercise to create new pathways in the brain to help patients regain function in their hands or arms.

Further investigating how the immune system causes septic shocks, Dr. Tracey studied what happens to rats when they experience strokes. He gave the rats an experimental drug to induce a stroke, and as expected, the drug blocked TNF production in the brain. But that wasn’t the only place

tem, Dr. Tracey and his team began to search for such a connection, which ultimately led them to the vagus nerve. This nerve plays an important role in the regulation of metabolic homeostasis, which controls specifc involuntary body functions such as digestion, heart rate, and the immune system.

turned off TNF in the body. Applying this discovery to patient treatment, a device can use electrons to replace monoclonal anti-TNF, which downregulates TNF-induced immune responses through a process called vagus nerve stimulation. By electrically stimulating the vagus nerve, brain activity can

Shifting the Fight Against Superbugs

are used on a global scale to treat countless diseases. However, it is the widespread use of antibiotics that has become their downfall. Though antibiotics kill most harmful bacteria, they also allow the few genetically resistant strains to survive and proliferate. Over time, this issue compounds with the presence of more resistant strains making antibiotics less effective. The more frequently antibiotics are casually used to treat minor infections, the more prevalent superbugs will

mycin.

Vancomycin is an important antibiotic used to treat serious “gram-positive” bacterial infections, or bacteria with thick cell walls, such as Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria affecting the gastrointestinal tract. It is also a last-resort drug for killing superbugs such as methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus. In the past few decades, however, numerous superbug strains have emerged from this antibiotic, including vancomycinresistant Staphylococcus au-

tance to vancomycin by changing the critical amino acids in the peptidoglycan backbones, thus blocking the vancomycin molecule from binding to the chain. With this, the enzyme is able to bind and cross-link the backbones, forming the bacterial wall and rendering the antibiotic ineffective. Though a new type of molecule could be made that targets these specifc amino acid sequences, it would be a very temporary fx because each change in even one amino acid would demand another new molecule. Instead, a study led by professor and cancer researcher Dr. John Moses found that vancomycin could regain its potency by broadening its capabilities.

It almost seems surreal that neural signals in the body can be deciphered and modifed to replace medications through bioelectronic medicine. By beginning to replace some medications with bioelectronic treatments, the damaging side effects listed on the backs of standard prescription drugs could be avoided entirely.

become. For example, MRSA, a superbug resistant to betalactam antibiotics including all penicillins, is particularly dangerous because it is common in hospitals. In the environment where the most antibiotics are used, superbugs can easily spread and infect immunocompromised patients. For infections that are untreatable by other antibiotics, doctors usually turn to glycopeptides— antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis—specifcally, vanco-

reus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE). Vancomycin usually kills bacteria by binding to specifc amino acids (D-alanyl-D-alanine moieties) at the ends of polypeptide chains in the peptidoglycan backbone— the substance that makes up the bacterial wall. The enzyme responsible for cross-linking these backbones to form a cohesive unit is then blocked from binding to these terminal ends, inhibiting the formation of the cell wall. VRE develops resis-

Dr. Moses proposed a solution that enables the vancomycin molecule to bind with any needed sequence of amino acids by giving it the ability to change its shape. In order to do this, Dr. Moses joined two vancomycin molecules to a bullvalene “core.” Bullvalene is a fuxional molecule, meaning its chemical bonds can constantly rearrange, in this case, into over 1.2 million different confgurations. These newly formed molecules are called shapeshifting vancomycin dimers (SVDs). Since they are not confned to just one shape, SVDs are able to bind more freely to multiple different sequences of amino acids in the peptidoglycan backbone. This leads to improved effcacy against bacteria such as VRE since it is no longer restricted to a single sequence. This not only allows SVDs to kill existing superbugs, but also makes it less likely for other strains of vancomycin-resistant super-

bugs to emerge from this treatment.

Dr. Moses’s team then conducted tests to assess the effectiveness and virulence of the SVDs and found promising results. This experiment followed the common practice in antibiotic testing of using greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) larvae as a stand-in for mice or rats due to their similarity to humans in their biological responses to drugs. The larvae were exposed to VRE and split into three experimental groups with differing levels of treatment: no treatment, regular vancomycin treatment, and the SVD treatment. After one week, the survival rate was 10 percent in larvae with no treatment and 40 percent for those treated with regular vancomycin. On the other hand, those undergoing SVD treatment had a survival rate of 70 percent, indicating 75 percent higher success rates than regular vancomycin rates. This implies that SVDs are much more effective at inhibiting the growth of VRE and are more capable of controlling a superbug infection.

The successful creation of SVDs comes with many new possibilities for antibiotics and beyond. Effective treatments for superbugs could save hundreds of thousands of lives per year and remove the need for frequent new therapies. Methods like SVDs could help create a universal fu vaccine and further other incredible developments in medicine. Though more testing is needed to confrm the effectiveness and safety of SVDs, they provide hope for the eventual eradication of superbugs altogether.

It seems almost surreal to comprehend that neural signals in the body can be deciphered and modifed to replace medications.

Yawns of the Youth: A Wakeup Call to the Risks of Caffeine

By JOSEPHINE YOO

Ring, ring! You wake up to a blaring alarm, tired and eager to fall back asleep. Your morning routine is a blur, and the next thing you know, your train reaches Chambers Street. You swerve through the crowd of your peers forming around the subway station and get on line by the breakfast truck to grab your morning coffee. For many Stuyvesant students, caffeine seems like the only reliable source of energy after a long week of sleep deprivation. However, does caffeine consumption have unintended consequences?

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, around 80 percent of the American population consumes caffeine on a daily basis, and those between the ages of 14 and 22 consume an average of 106.95 mg of caffeine per day, which is a little more than one cup of coffee. Experts recommend that teens get no more than 100 mg of caffeine a day, though even smaller amounts can still result in unhealthy dependencies. Caffeine can be found in a vast range of foods and beverages, from soda to chocolate to tea. Though many are frst exposed to caffeine through soda, coffee is the largest contributor to caffeine intake for American teenagers.

Caffeine is a part of the xanthine chemical group, a group of basic alkaloids. Molecules of the xanthine group tend to act against adenosine and increase alertness in the central nervous system. Usually, adenosine builds

up throughout the day, eventually binding to receptors and signaling to the brain to begin preparing for sleep. The two-ring molecular structure of caffeine is nearly identical to that of adenosine, allowing it to bind to the same receptors after ingestion, blocking central nervous system activity and forcing the brain to become more active. Essentially,

In moderate doses, around 100 mg per day for teens, caffeine improves alertness, focus, and cognitive performance— qualities that make it ideal for the occasional all-nighter. Caffeine has also proven benefcial for athletic performance, as it decreases reaction time and sustains endurance. However, since the body metabolizes caffeine

which is associated with feelings of pleasure and reward. This also increases feelings of energy, alertness, and focus, which bring positive feedback, as they contribute to feelings of motivation and productivity. However, over time, the body may become accustomed to the effects of caffeine, and the neurotransmitter response may start to diminish. This can lead to negative feedback brought by caffeine withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches and fatigue, when the actual caffeine intake doesn’t satisfy the expectations of the body. This negative feedback can lead to a cycle of caffeine dependence, where one needs to consume more and more to achieve the same effect. Caffeine triggers the brain to produce more adenosine receptors in an attempt to maintain balance amidst constant consumption. This increases the likelihood that adenosine binds to its receptors, bringing drowsiness and lack of focus; the same amount of caffeine becomes ineffective in the face of increasing receptors.

Since caffeine blocks receptors that guide the body to sleep, caffeine can also result in insomnia. By delaying the body’s internal clock, caffeine reduces the amount of sleep one gets.

pressive disorder. As caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, regular use brings dependence. If one stops consuming caffeine for more than two days, they may face withdrawal symptoms like constant sleepiness, low energy, and headaches.

Though moderate caffeine consumption is generally considered safe for most people, it tends to be challenging to maintain regular intake at healthy levels. With excessive consumption, the negative effects of caffeine can become much more pronounced. Fortunately, there are alternative ways to boost energy without caffeine. For instance, lemon water and ginger can help improve digestion and reduce infammation and headaches, boosting overall energy levels. Staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water can also help improve energy levels by reducing fatigue from dehydration. Frequent small snacks throughout the day can help maintain energy levels and prevent dips in blood sugar that can cause fatigue. Apples are a great alternative for a quick energy boost, as they contain natural sugars and fbers, providing a long-lasting source of energy.

caffeine fools adenosine receptors into increasing nervous system activity, signaling the adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline, or epinephrine, and increase dopamine signaling. Thus, caffeine intake increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and improves muscle contraction.

at a constant rate, consuming small amounts of caffeine corresponds to a shorter window of effectiveness.

The feedback loop with caffeine involves several key components, all connecting back to the idea that caffeine stimulates the production of dopamine,

In fact, a clinical trial carried out by Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Boston University Dr. Gary Kaplan found that consuming caffeine six hours before bedtime can reduce sleep time by an hour. Lack of sleep increases anxiety levels and mood disorders, and can even lead to symptoms of major de-

Ultimately, for those who crave their morning coffee fx, it is important to maintain moderate, healthy caffeine intake levels to balance its risks and benefts, and to consider alternative ways to boost energy without solely relying on caffeine. Of course, there is always the option of getting more sleep, but knowing Stuyvesant students, that is highly unlikely.

What Is It Like to Be a Senior Editor for One of the Most Prominent Scientifc Journals?

By SHAON ANWAR

For many scientists, one of the main goals of their research projects is to publish their fnal papers in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Nature receives 200 article submissions per week, with only eight percent making their way into the fnal publication. Nature editors are responsible for effciently selecting from the large submission pool by analyzing which papers will appeal to a broad readership.

Dr. Katarzyna Marcinkiewicz is a senior editor of Nature Communications at Springer Nature. She handles submissions spanning structural biology, biophysics, protein folding, and the molecular biology of chromatin. “I imagine, in high school, nobody plans to work as a science editor,” Dr. Marcinkiewicz said in an interview with The Spectator. “I wanted to be a scientist.” She obtained her Ph.D. from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, studying heritable changes in cancer. During her postdoctoral training at the New York Univer-

sity School of Medicine, her research focused on cellular phenomena, specifcally the survival of senescent cells— whose cell division process eventually stops—following multiplication.

She left her lab work for the world of editing in April 2020, joining Nature’s editorial team with a specialty in structural and molecular biology and nature biotechnology. “To be a scientist, you have to focus on one topic. As an editor, I handle various topics. I attend many conferences and talk to people who work in diverse felds, and I like it better,” Dr. Marcinkiewicz explained. “I interact only with the authors or the referees, who are also scientists. So, I don’t feel like I left science. I stay on top of it.”

As a senior editor, Dr. Marcinkiewicz plays an important role in steering scientifc papers through peer review and publication. She decides if submissions are suitable for publication and meet the journal’s standards. Since she is responsible for submissions only within her remit––structural biology and biochemistry––

Dr. Marcinkiewicz identifes and asks scientists in the relevant feld of research to check if all techniques, controls, and conditions are appropriate.

Once the manuscript is sent for review, an editor seeks experts or “referees.”

Dr. Marcinkiewicz admits that employing referees famous in their respective felds has its benefts. However, since she strongly believes that science is all about disruption, and that novel developments are integral in the feld, she tries to engage younger researchers. In particular, she emphasizes the need for inclusion to counteract the racial, gender, and socioeconomic biases that have affected the feld of scientifc research. She insists on pursuing efforts to engage female scientists and scientists that come from underrepresented backgrounds. Dr. Marcinkiewicz asserts that “if we can fnd someone from a low- and middle-income country, that’s always great.”

Any given paper must go through multiple rounds of edits between authors and reviewers before it can be published. For example, Dr. Mar-

cinkiewicz often encounters a lack of accurate computer simulation or unsatisfactory levels of protein purity in experiments. These technical failings are caught and reported back to the authors. Dr. Marcinkiewicz stresses that there are multiple experts who carefully examine the paper and substantiate conclusions through their analysis of the conducted experiments.

“This thorough scrutiny is the reason peer-reviewed journals form the base of solid science,” Dr. Marcinkiewicz said. In addition, reviewers cannot have any personal or professional connections to authors or potential conficts of interest, which could cause a biased assessment. After all the revisions have been made, the paper is accepted for publication, marking the culmination of a process spanning months.

Refecting on the problem of public skepticism surrounding scientifc fndings, Dr. Marcinkiewicz points to general public misconceptions regarding scientifc research. She explains that what people fail to understand is that even if the article comes out, it doesn’t mean that “work on the [topic]

is closed.” She sees science as “ever-evolving,” and the results of a good paper and reasonable conclusions from the past can turn out to be incorrect because of what current evidence offers. “That is how science works; it’s about pushing the boundaries of what is known. There is no grand truth,” Dr. Marcinkiewicz remarked. Outside of her editing duties, Dr. Marcinkiewicz is always excited to lead and attend scientifc conferences. “It’s a lot of fun to be there if you’re a science nerd,” Dr. Marcinkiewicz said. At these conferences, she has a chance to mingle with both expert speakers and young scientists, some of whom may not yet have their own labs or tenures. Her job at these conferences is to fnd out about cutting-edge techniques before they arrive as journal submissions.

Alongside reading submissions and participating in conferences, Dr. Marcinkiewicz writes review articles in which she discusses recent scientifc developments. Above all, she enjoys the vast learning opportunities in her feld of scientifc journalism.

Vanessa Huang / The Spectator

By MAYA KAUL SONI

During the Middle Ages in Europe, medieval doctors treated the bubonic plague by draining blood from the ailing patient. To us, such a technique may seem extreme, and altogether nonsensical. However, for thousands of years, traditional medicine has been used across the world: Ayurveda in South Asia, Traditional Chinese medicine in China, and homeopathic medicine in Germany. Despite the fact that 80 percent of Asians and Africans still rely on traditional medicine, it is largely rejected in the United States. Historically, the scientifc community has ignored these medicines in favor of Western, or allopathic medicine, the branch of medicine studied by the vast majority of medical students at university, and practiced by conventional doctors in the United States. My question this week is: why do most Americans choose Western medicine over other available forms of medicine?

To solve this mystery, one must frst understand why the public trusts Western medicine so much. The roots of modern Western medicine lie in the Scientifc Revolution. Occurring in the 16th century, this era led to countless discoveries that lay the groundwork for modern science, including the ubiquitous scientifc method. Rather than using techniques based on imagined philosophy, like bloodletting, new medicines had to have directly visible and measurable benefts for the body. The practices that developed during this time, such as rigorous testing and the collection of quantifable data, defne modern Western science and medicine today.

To understand why Western medicines are favored over homeopathic remedies, it is vital to understand the role of scientifc institutions that regulate medicines, like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA implements regulatory testing and certifes the drugs that meet their standards.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approves potentially benefcial new drugs through a multi-step review process. During clinical trials, controlled experiments are conducted in order to measure drug effectiveness and

This Week’s Investigation: Why Do We Prefer Allopathic Medicine?

weigh the benefts and drawbacks. Then, scientists compare these results to those of similar drugs. Finally, a set of rules for safe distribution and use is developed.

The label “FDA approved” holds a lot of weight in American society because of the thorough scientifc research mandated to earn it. Though there are some complaints about the methods the FDA uses— they are too lenient, their standards need to be updated, etc.—the vast majority of Americans trust the FDA enough to use the medicines it approves.

Hypothetically, alternative med-

world, all of them deviating from Western medicine. Even though there are many different types, they do share some common characteristics. Most notably, alternative medicinal sciences focus on holistic healing, the practice of addressing a health condition through the lens of the body as a whole. If a patient came to an Ayurvedic doctor with chronic headaches, for example, the doctor would try to identify the lifestyle or dietary factors contributing to the patient’s presenting symptoms; from the holistic perspective, it is impossible to treat the patient without understanding the

Institutes of Health (NIH) found that 81 percent of FDA approved drugs have 10 or more side effects. To contrast, alternative medicinal treatments are intended to stabilize the whole system as opposed to just eliminating one symptom. Side effects are not disregarded because from this perspective, medications are meant to ensure the health of all body systems. Thus, alternative medicines usually do not have the unwelcome side effects prevalent in many allopathic medications. Despite the pros and cons of each, why, of the two, is the Western allopathic method so widely accepted?

roots, and are naturally less suited to the modern scientifc method. There are several particular characteristics that make them hard to test using clinical trials. Firstly, because of the concept of holistic healing, a treatment is often directed at multiple symptoms at once. For example, an Ayurvedic practitioner may treat an over abundance of ama, or an impaired ability to digest and metabolize, to decrease both variability of appetite and drowsiness. This makes it diffcult to clearly assess which symptoms have improved, and which symptoms are infuencing other outcomes. In addition, alternative treatments rely on multiple factors, such as considering lifestyle habits like sleep and diet. These factors are hard to keep constant in order to conduct a proper controlled experiment, increasing the likelihood of various experimental errors, like placebo effects. Lastly, quantitative measurements are diffcult to take; patient reports after treatment often contain descriptions of well-being, or clarity of mind, which are hard to measure and can only be called notable effects if they are consistent over a long period of time.

icines should also be able to pass through FDA testing and become more mainstream. However, there hasn’t been large-scale testing on alternative medicines in any country, including the ones where alternative medicines are widely used by the general population, like Germany or India. What makes alternative medicines different from allopathic ones?

“Alternative medicine” is a general name for countless different medical practices from around the

entire profle of their body. Western medicine rarely works crossdomain, and instead, doctors specialize in a specifc feld or region of the body. Though specialization ensures that each doctor is extremely knowledgeable about their feld, it also makes it diffcult to address problems related to more than one aspect of the body without an entire team of professionals across specialties. It also means medications often have side effects. A study conducted by the National

Silencing Genes: A Breakthrough for Alzheimer’s Treatment

continued from page 12

With the motivation of exploring what targeting tau could do for patients with Alzheimer’s, Dr. Catherine Mummery and her team at the University College London Dementia Research Centre put a new drug to the test.

Given the signifcance of tau in Alzheimer’s development, these scientists sought to inhibit tau’s production, and turned to the MAPT gene. With this goal in mind, the scientists applied gene silencing. Gene silencing is when the expression of a gene is suppressed, thus stopping the gene from performing its ordinary role in protein production. In order to effectively silence the MAPT gene, scientists focused their trial on the antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drug BIIB080 (MAPTRX). ASOs are able to bind to RNA—which creates proteins in the body by translating gene instructions—and alter its ability to interpret these signals. The drug MAPTRX is a type of ASO which focuses on re-

ducing the concentrations of tau produced by the MAPT gene.

The preliminary clinical trial conducted by Dr. Mummery and her team aimed to evaluate the drug’s safety, as well as its interaction with the body. The trial spanned from August 2017 to February 2020, with 46 patients ranging in age from 64 to 67 with mild Alzheimer’s. Participants were given doses of the drug through intrathecal injections—lumbar punctures (LP)—into the nervous system through the spinal canal. Researchers conducted their analysis by looking at the central nervous system, a reliable indicator since MAPT’s expression of tau protein mainly occurs in neurons of the central nervous system. Over 50 percent reductions of total tau levels were reported after 24 weeks in treatment groups that received the highest dose of the drug.

ASOs have seemingly provided a possible alternative for those suffering from Alzheimer’s.

With a focus being brought to tau, this leads the way for a treatment which could possibly prevent Al-

zheimer’s from progressing, or at least slow down its progression in the brain. This is due to the fact that increased abnormal forms of tau can be detected as early as 20 years before symptoms of dementia appear. As Dr. Mummery stated in the University College London’s report of the trial, further research is needed to fully scope how the drug can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s physical symptoms, such as stiff muscles, loss of balance, and weak muscles or fatigue, which are all results of neuronal death.

Regardless, the results exemplifed are a huge step toward demonstrating the feasibility of a drug targeting tau, slowing down and possibly reversing Alzheimer’s. Considering the limited amount of FDA-approved Alzheimer’s medications out there, Dr. Mummery has provided a pathway for another new medication—one that could be far more preventative by targeting a disease mechanism not touched on by currently approved treatments.

For starters, trust in allopathic medicine derives from trust in organizations like the FDA, which test new drugs before they hit the market. Allopathic medicine itself is suited to be proven more easily by controlled experiments and analysis of data, which are the foundation of the FDA’s review process. This makes sense: both the FDA and allopathic medicine have risen from the ideas of the scientists of 16th century Europe. On the other hand, alternative medicines have different

The overall fndings of this investigation are as follows: widespread public trust in allopathic medicines is because they are processed by reliable scientifc organizations, like the FDA. Due to an overlap in the structure of the FDA and allopathic medicine, both of which use ideas developed during the Scientifc Revolution, allopathic medicine is easily analyzed by the FDA. However, alternative medicines are not as easily analyzed because of practices that deviate from allopathic ones, such as focusing on whole- body healing and longterm solutions. Now the primary question of this investigation can be answered: The mistrust of alternative medications in the United States stems from the unsuitability of the FDA’s research structure for alternative medicinal practices. As to whether alternative medicines should be trusted, more clinical research is required. What is clear is that alternative medicines should be tested, and that accounting for nonWestern science and technology is crucial for medical advancement.

Skye McArthur / The Spectator

Film Discomfort, Anxiety, and Fear in Ari

By LUCIEN CLOUGH

To call Ari Aster’s new flm deeply unsettling would be an incredible understatement. Beau is Afraid demands an audience reaction—specifcally, deep and unrelenting discomfort. With Beau is Afraid, Aster, known for psychological horror flms such as Heredity (2018) and Midsommar (2019), draws upon trippy visuals and a loose, almost Odyssey-like narrative in his unique depiction of fear, guilt, and shame. The flm follows Beau, a stunted man-child in Joaquin Phoenix’s almost-50-year-old body, as he traverses a dystopian landscape on a journey to the funeral of his mother (Patti LuPone), encountering childhood trauma and Jobian levels of psychological torment on the way. The flm follows this narrative in fve distinct sections, each bookmarked by some disastrous event and subsequent change in scenery, that refect different layers of subconscious fear.

Beau is Afraid starts as a creative portrait of everyday fears ballooned to extraordinary sizes. The frst act is steeped in disaster, as Beau’s life is characterized by discomfort and abuse.

In a New York Times video, Aster described Beau’s environment as an “evil clown mirror of our world”—a suitable analogy for a universe riddled with anarchy, violent homeless people, and a loose venomous spider. Throughout the frst act, misfortune is cranked to an absurd level, blending horrifc violence and discomfort with strange, dark humor, portraying fear through Beau’s implied dissociative disorder. Aster utilizes this act as a painting: precise yet sprawling, frantic yet silly, painted with a keen eye for detail and imagery—a strong start to a flm that quickly dissolves into increasingly confusing and, upon closer inspection, rather hollow narratives.

After this frst act, which ends

Music

By BENSON CHEN

Jessie Ware’s sudden turn from the subdued sectors of soul and R&B balladry into the rambunctious, fery pop-disco of her 2020 album What’s Your Pleasure? caused a renaissance in her career, breathing a newfound life and vibrancy into her work. In an interview with music critic Anthony Fantano, Ware revealed that What’s Your Pleasure? was created with the “fnal-album mentality;” Ware planned to go out with a bang. After the success of her “Table Manners” podcast with her mother, Lennie Ware, Jessie Ware felt a newfound freedom to create the type of music she wanted to. As she stated in a 2020 interview with The Guardian, “Music was my bread and butter. Now it isn’t, not entirely—which has made it more enjoyable.” After the success and

Aster’s Beau is Afraid

with Beau getting hit by a truck, the flm dissolves into a waking nightmare—an Odyssey that gets increasingly uncomfortable and hard to watch. On this journey, Aster brings us deeper and deeper into Beau’s psyche, using his environment (and the characters that populate it) as clever refections of his mind. These echoes are portrayed through the use of repeated imagery— such as the various drugs and prescribed pills that Beau is constantly being administered—but also through motifs and themes scattered across the flm. Most notable is Beau’s relationship with sex, which he has apparently never had, as he was told very young that if he did, he would have a heart attack, just as his father did, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, et cetera. Ultimately, however, Beau’s environment is a reminder of his loneliness, most explicitly explored within a trippy, 15-minute animation sequence that portrays the life that Beau could have had, complete with a wife and three sons. It is through moments like this that Beau is Afraid’s unrestrained storytelling is most effective; unbound by the shackles of logic or complex narrative, the flm bathes in psychedelic imagery and dream-like form, adding dimension and character to the emotions that drive the flm.

While Beau is Afraid is a tale of a man trying to return to his wife, Beau is Afraid is a tale of a boy trying to reach his mother.

If this parallel reeks of Freudian psychology, that is undoubtedly intentional. The flm bases its characters and relationships on Freud’s many psychological theories—namely the Oedipus complex (which describes the sexual yearning a boy feels for his mother and the competition he feels with his father), which the flm uses to explain Beau’s stunted and sexually repressed inner psyche. Freud’s theories on the practical manifestation of subconscious desires in the dream-world, how-

ever, act as the conceit driving the flm. The whole flm reads as a dream; Beau’s subconscious desires serve as plot points, uniting the themes running throughout. Freud’s obsession with phallic imagery, for example, manifests itself in the flm as a giant penismonster that haunts the attic of Beau’s mother’s house.

The array of characters that populate the hellish world of Beau is Afraid seems to serve solely to antagonize Beau. There are the aforementioned homeless people who trash his home (one of them being a naked man who runs around stabbing people), but also a slew of other characters: a devilish teenage girl who forces Beau to watch her chug a bucket of paint; an old veteran strapped with guns, grenades, and knives who chases Beau through a forest; an unrelenting lawyer who constantly scolds Beau for not arriving at his mother’s funeral soon enough; and, of course, Beau’s mother, Mona, who is depicted as the villain of the story.

It is the relationship between Beau and his mother that provides much of the context for Beau’s condition. She is overbearing, manipulative, and smothering—traits that appear to have ruined Beau in his formative years. Unfortunately, the trope that the flm is built upon lacks real meat; the trauma of Mona’s parenting is all implied (told mostly through fashbacks), yet the flm seems to insist that she is entirely to blame for Beau’s undefned mental illness. This is emblematic of one of Beau is Afraid’s greatest faults: despite being an examination of Beau’s inner psyche, Beau himself remains an underdeveloped anomaly. The flm follows Beau for the entirety of its three-hour runtime, yet he does not really do anything; everything happens to him, and all he can do is watch, wide-eyed and crying. While Phoenix effectively portrays this incessant distress, he imbues Beau with little else, resulting in

a character devoid of life. We see Beau’s fear, but we do not see any of the other emotions that make him a person. We see his suffering, but we are not sure why we are supposed to care.

The fnal scene of Beau is Afraid is reminiscent of that of Aster’s horror masterpiece Midsommar; an act of abrupt, starkly comedic violence serves as a stamp of closure to a dense, imagery-heavy flm. It is a flm that demands a reaction—hypnotically evocative, intertwining the viewer with the scenes unfolding onscreen through its hefty themes and long runtime. Regardless, viewers leave the movie with a range of emotions: dumbfounded at its absurdity, scarred by its trauma, or frustrated by its extensive runtime. Beau is Afraid succeeds artistically in its utilization of loose form in an intense depiction of anxiety and fear, but there remains a time limit for how long a flm can revel in chaos, especially when it fails to develop the characters, relationships, and plot points that would otherwise ground it. There comes a point when intriguing ambiguity turns frustrating, when evocative imagery turns outright disturbing, and when exhilarating absurdity turns exhausting. This point is reached with an hour and change left in the flm.

Beau is Afraid is a flm one endures, but its method is warranted; the portrait of fear that the flm paints is—while exaggerated—a very human one. Beau is unlikable and extremely underdeveloped, but the emotions his journey strives to convey are universal—for such an outlandish, uncomfortable flm, it is unsettling how much of it is relatable. Beau is Afraid takes an unworldly acid trip on a warped path of trauma, yet within it are elements of worldly universal truths. Beau is Afraid is thought-provoking, dense, and frustrating—the kind of movie you only need to watch once, and maybe not one you’d choose for a frst date.

The Politics of Pleasure in Jessie

critical acclaim of What’s Your Pleasure?, Ware has returned with her ffth studio album, That! Feels Good!, a rowdy continuation of the retro-extravagance set by its sleek predecessor. If What’s Your Pleasure? was the enigmatic and polished entrance into the club, That! Feels Good! is the sweaty, unrestrained, dance foor-fever climax of the night.

The album’s lead single, “Free Yourself,” was released in the summer of 2022, coinciding with the return to normalcy amidst the seemingly never-ending devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The track, despite being a generic pop song on the surface, saves itself from feeling uninspired through the masterful application of its ballroom infu-

continued on page 17

Playlist

You Haven’t Heard of __?

By THE ARTS

&

ENTERTAINMENT DEPARTMENT

This has been the underlying theme of every playlist to date. Eye-rolling and a little elitist, we have compiled songs which make you feel uncultured. Bask with us in the glory of being a music afcionado or perhaps just a playlist cherry-picker.

Cashmere BADBADNOTGOOD Jazz

Jóga Björk

Art pop

Journal of Ardency Class Actress

Electronic

Larks’ Tongue in Aspic (Part II)

King Crimson

Prog rock

My Friend Goo Sonic Youth

Noise rock

My Lesbian Girlfriends Absent Music

Synth

My Sex Ultravox

New wave

Never Again

Donnie Elbert

Soul

Pink Fruit

Kiran Leonard Rock

Pure Comedy

Father John Misty

Singer-songwriter

Single K.O. Wire

Post-punk

Souvenir Milo & Kenny Segal

Abstract hip-hop

Veronika Duvanova / The Spectator

Music

continued from page 16

ences and its deep lyrical territory. The track’s bridge plunges into a piano-led breakdown complete with vocal chops, a closing that shows the cinematic way Ware infuses modern-day genres, such as house, with ‘70s infuences like Donna Summer and Boney M. Ware empowers the queer community through her rapturous affrmations, preaching, “Don’t you hide undercover.” The album’s title track features similar affrmations, providing a feelgood embrace amidst the chaos of today’s constant queer and racial discrimination. These current injustices are akin to those of the time period Ware pulls her

Art

By EMILE LEE-SUK

All 50 years of artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s (b. 1940) career are chronicled on the third and ffth foors of the Whitney Museum of American Art in Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map. Smith lives in New Mexico and has Native American citizenship in the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nations. Her work combines pop art, abstraction, and illustration with Native American imagery to create powerful pieces refecting American colonization, imperialism, and the continued exploitation of Indigenous peoples.

Organized thematically, the exhibit’s Native American infuence becomes immediately apparent to visitors. Trade Canoe: 40 Days and 40 Nights (2014) features a canoe drawn with harsh brush strokes and spread across three canvases. Neon colors fll the backgrounds of the left and right canvases, while the middle one utilizes warmer hues to depict polka dots of various sizes and intensities, reminiscent of heavy rains as they fll the sinking canoe. Smith frequently returns to this motif of overfow and uses it to allude to climate change. She includes this show of environmental devastation because of its impertinence to naturalistic, preservationist Native American culture—a theme further highlighted by the center canvas, which features the faces of three animals (a tiger, a bunny, and a coyote) engulfed by the rain. The rain is featured less on the right side of the canvas, which instead contains rough sketches of the Native American Tonto from Lone Ranger, an example of the infamous“faithful Indian companion” stereotype. Smith also amplifes the mood of impending doom by using abstract imagery, from creatures like demons and winged skeletons to isolated body parts like eyes and mouths. Through its references to Native American folklore, this cryptic painting mirrors the still troubled status of Native Americans and their treatment by society. When

The Politics of Pleasure in Jessie Ware’s That! Feels Good!

infuences from; she cries, “Everybody gets a little modest and shy sometimes / Just remember, pleasure is a right!” As Ware stated in an interview with GayTimes, “The loyalty, the devotion and enthusiasm [toward] me has made the [LGBTQ+] community so important…this album was a form of a thank you to the community… to be able to have that safe space where we can dance, feel free and express yourself.”

Ware has clearly done her due diligence as an ally, whether it be through constant nods to black disco legends like Grace Jones and Fern Kinney or platforming trans activist Munroe Bergdorf amidst her L’Oreal controversy in 2020. “I have a platform that’s not as big as other people’s, but it’s a platform, and I owe it to

these people to be able to share their stories,” Ware explained in the same interview.

While the sleek, nocturnal production that spotlit her breathy vocals on What’s Your Pleasure? did not exhibit the full breadth of Ware’s vocal prowess, That! Feels Good! allows the full, eclectic array of those capabilities to shine. Her high range takes center stage on the third song, “Pearls,” an encomium reveling in the bliss of dance. The song features a wide net of melodies and choruses culminating in a high note that soars above the lalala chants on the bridge. “Hello Love” sees a return to her feathery and husky vocals, as she sings of surrendering to the love she personifes, all accentuated by the track’s slick drums and lilting

trumpets. There are some spoken pieces on the album as well, such as on the chorus of “Shake the Bottle,” where Ware uses her voice percussively, cheekily hitting each syllable on “shake it.”

“Begin Again” is the album’s grand thematic centerpiece, revolving around Ware’s thesis on the current impersonality of love.

It begins with Bossa Nova drums that march along descending chords, resembling the unraveling of Ware’s psyche as she pleads to the void, repeatedly asking, “Why does all the purest love get fltered through machines?” and chanting “Can we begin again?”

Despite the thematic richness of “Begin Again,” the song represents a key shortcoming of the album: the sequencing gives the listener too much, too soon.

Ware explained that she wanted the album to begin with a punch to capture listeners’ attention but does so by concentrating the frst half of the album with singles. The unrelieved, explosive pacing that comes as a result makes the latter half of the LP (long play) comparatively weaker.

That! Feels Good! is not the sequel album to What’s Your Pleasure?; it is a triumphant dance sequence that plays as the credits roll. It does not explore any new ground in its lyricism, but its exuberant and syncopated production provides a subtle distinction from the sleek and dressed-up glamor of What’s Your Pleasure?. It is Ware’s much-deserved victory lap after the 2020 release’s successful reinvention and revival of her passion for music.

Memory Map: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s [Native] American Experience

all three canvases are combined, the image that is created is complicated, large-scale, and surreal, with important implications for the modern world.

with Native signifcance—such as butterfies and bison—intertwined with larger, darker images of advertisements and brands, which drown out the Native im-

and its connection to the American Dream present an American market culture that works toward Native American assimilation. It displays American consumer-

contemporary beauty standards. Through these dolls, Smith shows the “beauty” standards set by the U.S. government: how Natives should look and act, and the ultimately harmful effect on Native American well-being. The frst doll, Father Le DeVille the Jesuit, is an emotionless priest in dark purple hues with scattered wrinkles etched into his hardened face. DeVille alludes to the historically Church-operated boarding schools used to forcefully assimilate Native Americans. Following DeVille are three base dolls—Barbie, Ken, and Bruce—all made to represent Native people. The dolls’ clothes are painted with cooler colors and lighter streaks to symbolize the objectifying and suppressive roles forced onto Native people by the US government. The articles of clothing include boarding school uniforms and suits commonly worn when requesting rations—a necessity due to the eventual government ban on hunting and foraging. Smith also depicts maid uniforms, representing one of the common occupations Natives were forced to assume after conforming to American ideology. Additionally, Smith presents two doll suits in the blank silhouette of a human covered in pink and red dots, representing the blankets infected with smallpox that decimated Native populations. Each piece of clothing displays a unique example of the American government’s despicable injustices against Natives.

American consumerism and its harmful effects on Native populations is a popular theme in Smith’s works. This can be seen in What is an American?

(2003), which shows a handpainted acrylic Native man in traditional garments like layered necklaces and a patterned coat. The image is colored solely with red, white, and blue—the colors of the American fag—which bleed out of the man’s hand in bold streaks. The background of the painting is a grayscale collage of printouts of animals

agery. Smith even inserts Mickey Mouse into the painting, with his white-gloved hands and circular ears appearing on the piece’s sides. The inclusion of Mickey Mouse, the iconic embodiment of Disney, alludes to the dominant capitalist entity’s historical misrepresentation of Native Americans as either savages or in need of European salvation. Surrounding the Native man are descriptions of the ideal American: “An American is an optimist,” “Americans have big ideas.” These telling signs of capitalism

ism’s role in minimizing Native Americans’ nature-based traditions, attempting to suffocate their cultural values in the resultant domineering world of capitalism and media.

Smith’s use of pop culture as analogous to American oppression takes center stage in the powerful Paper Dolls for a Post Columbian World with Ensembles Contributed by the US Government (1991). The piece is a series of messily colored, poseable cardboard dolls in comic art style. Culturally, dolls often embody

Smith’s artwork gives a voice to the dark relationship between Native American culture and the United States. Since colonization, Native Americans have been forced to conform to Western standards, with their culture being both appropriated in misrepresentative mainstream media and forcibly erased by the American government. Smith’s impactful criticism of continued Native American suppression is a celebration of Native culture, showing that in spite of persecution, Native American culture remains rich and thriving.

Winnie Yang / The Spectator

A Galactic Celebration: 40 Years of Return of the Jedi Film

By NATHALIE CUEVAS and SOFIA THORNLEY

Upon its release in 1983, Return of the Jedi quickly became the highest-grossing flm of the year. In celebration of this iconic movie’s birthday on April 28, Disney rereleased the flm in theatres with a theatrical run until May 4, the offcial Star Wars day (Why? May the Fourth be with you). It reached the top fve at the weekend’s box offce and grossed about $5 million, proving that its star remains bright even after several decades. Return of the Jedi allowed Star Wars merchandise sales to skyrocket, solidifying the series as a cultural phenomenon and leading to the release of fgurines, legos, and more. With the high anticipation built up from the previous flms, there was no doubt it would become a global sensation, and it is unsurprising that it remains so today.

The fnale of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi, left fans hungry for more, leading to a second trilogy and multiple spinoffs. Today, the Star Wars franchise has expanded to become perhaps the most universally recognizable sci-f series, having revolutionized visual effects and paving the way for new uses of technology in flm. For example, the blue screens used in A New Hope (1977)—featuring small model ships cut frame by frame and layered on top of a special effects background—were groundbreaking in their time. As a pioneer of computer-generated imagery, the flm allowed the intergalactic setting to achieve its full

potential. The Star Wars franchise also had a signifcant impact on common cinematic themes, particularly by emphasizing a dichotomy between light and darkness. The success of the franchise played a role in the revival of space movies following their decline in the 1960s, inspiring a wave of spacefocused media such as Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982).

Though Return of the Jedi received criticism for its rushed conclusion to Darth Vader’s story, it still provides a ftting end to his character arc. Fans have noted that Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) emotional response to Vader’s self-sacrifce for him was unrealistically accelerated, but overall, the movie does elicit a strong emotional response from fans by providing a well-ftting redemption arc for Anakin (Sebastian Shaw) which adds depth to the story.

Luke’s character development as he completes his training and becomes a Jedi Knight is also a highlight of the flm. Additionally, the iconic scene where the characters visit Jabba’s palace on Tatooine showcases the impressive diversity in character design and makeup through the vast array of creatures inhabiting the palace.

The flm is equal parts emotionally compelling and entertaining, as would be expected for the last addition to the trilogy. Yoda’s death is a critical plot point in the flm, as he confrms that Vader is Luke’s father and reveals that Leia (Carrie Fisher) is Luke’s sister before he passes away. This leaves Luke with a mission and opens up more plotlines in the movie.

The flm also fnally confrms the romantic subplot between Leia and Han (Harrison Ford), solidifying their relationship. Perhaps the most impactful scene is Luke’s confrontation with Vader during an intense battle; Vader uses Luke’s relationship with Leia against him, proving his status as a deadbeat father and heightening the emotional stakes. This battle ultimately leads to Vader’s redemption arc when he betrays the Emperor to save Luke, a conclusion that was largely inevitable due to the buildup from previous flms. Though he dies before he can become Anakin Skywalker once again, this climactic scene closes many plot holes. To this day, it remains one of the most important moments in the franchise’s main story by allowing potential for the creation of a new Jedi order. This both sets the stage for future flms and represents the culmination of all three movies, as Luke fnally fulflls his destiny. The intense portrayal of emotions is some of the strongest acting in the entire movie. In particular, Mark Hamill shone by bringing an emotional authenticity to Luke’s emotional turmoil during his confrontation with his father.

The entire cast delivered strong performances that ended their characters’ plotlines on a strong note. Ford’s and Fisher’s passionate portrayals of Han and Leia, respectively, cemented their compelling romance, and the Luke-Vader father-son duo was engaging, even though their story was tragically cut short. Since it was the fnal movie, the characters were afforded more complexity and higher

stakes than before, making Return of the Jedi one of the best flms in the trilogy. In addition to some of the strongest writing in the series, the highly skilled cinematography immerses the audience in each scene. One notable example of Star Wars creator George Lucas’s genius use of light and color is the scene on the forest moon of Endor, where golden hues and warm lighting capture a mood of tranquility. Overall, Return of the Jedi manages to stay loyal to each character’s personality while simultaneously developing a narrative complexity that adds a degree of closure to the series.

Return of the Jedi was undoubtedly the most important blockbuster flm of 1983, defning the year in cinema despite strong competition from movies like Flashdance and Terms of Endearment When Lucas took a 16-year break from Star Wars immediately after, his absence created a vacuum in the flm industry flled by the rise of similar ‘80s megahit flms such as The Last Starfghter (1984), Dune (1984), and The Ice Pirates (1984). The flm itself also had a large cultural impact beyond the inherent fame of being a Star Wars movie. It received numerous accolades for its visual effects, including the Special Achievement Academy Award and the British Academy Film Award.

The flm marked a change in depictions of the future; in the ‘70s, representations of futuristic worlds were largely uniform and pristine. ‘80s sci-f flms like Blade Runner (1982), and Terminator (1984), refected the vision of

The Making of Navy Blue: Ways of Knowing

By GALEN JACK

Sage Elsesser, the multi-talented artist known for his skateboarding and modeling skills, is making waves with his major-label debut album, Ways of Knowing (2023), released under the name Navy Blue. Having honed his craft over the past seven years, Navy Blue’s music is a unique blend of melancholic, jazz-inspired hip-hop and mellow spoken-word poetry, with poignant lyrics exploring his African heritage, dependence on cannabis, and the complexities of life. Collaborating with producer Budgie, Ways of Knowing chronicles Blue’s growth and evolution as an artist, letting go of some of the darker themes that have until now been mainstays in his work and opting to explore his growth rather than his pain.

The release of Ways of Knowing marks Blue’s return to music after completing a rehabilitation program for drug addiction. Growing up in a household where casual cannabis usage was prevalent—his Rastafarian father used it casually at home, and even blew a cloud of smoke into Blue’s face right after he was born—Blue started smoking at a young age. However, he soon realized how damaging his dependence on the drug was and made the decision to seek help.

Despite his complicated relationship with his father’s drug use, Blue’s love for his family is

ever-present on Ways of Knowing. This connection is perhaps best embodied by Budgie’s production, which draws inspiration from Blue’s parents’ backgrounds as musicians. For example, Budgie integrates dub rhythms and Gospel infuences in nods to the musical inspirations of Blue’s father and mother, respectively. Familial themes are also enhanced by Blue’s profound rhymes, in which he expresses his gratitude for their unconditional support, recognizing its instrumental role in his recovery. This culminates in the album’s second to last song, “Look In My Eyes,” as Blue takes a victory lap, recounting his highs and lows while celebrating his newfound sobriety. Once again, he hesitates to take credit for all he has accomplished and instead looks to his family, who gave him the courage to continue when he had none left.

The track “Life’s Terms,” featuring Los Angeles rapper and producer Zeroh, perfectly encapsulates Blue’s optimistic attitude throughout the album. Blue briefy mentions his struggles with vulnerability before shifting the focus to his ongoing recovery process, in which he is working to turn “sorrow into self-care.” The celebration of self-love is a theme that reverberates throughout the track and the entire album as Blue counteracts his self-doubt, affrming that he deserves happiness while admit-

ting he still has a long way to go.

Blue uses his grandparents’ mortality to refect on the fragility of his own life during his struggles with mental health. The track “Pillars” opens with a voicemail from his grandmother,

who reminds him how much she loves him over the sound of muted piano and falling rain. Blue accepts the reality that his family will pass away, but instead of letting this rule over him, he takes strength in his ancestry,

a “used future” (a future depicted as reality not fantasy) as pioneered by Return of the Jedi. Additionally, the movie’s strong soundtrack, with standout tracks including “The Emperor’s Theme” and “Jedi Rock,” further contributed to its massive success. The flm serves as a time capsule of a bygone era of cinematography that is distinctly ‘80s, impossible to reproduce despite the more sophisticated technology of the modern day. Released during the Cold War, its fantastical elements and narratives centered around heroism provided much-needed escapism for viewers. The ideas of resilience and uprising against oppressive governments ran parallel to the themes of nationalism common in American media at the time.

Luke Skywalker’s development throughout the trilogy reaches a climax in Return of the Jedi; he transforms from a farm boy nobody to the Jedi Knight who defeated the Emperor. Despite the completion of this storyline and similar ones, George Lucas carefully allows for future content through the longterm goals set up for each character, such as Luke’s desire to rebuild the Jedi Order and Leia’s newfound ability in the force. While some thought the ending was underwhelming and disregarded the darker tones of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), many felt the series ended on an appropriately light and triumphant note. Establishing the end of an era, Return of the Jedi is the unparalleled culmination of the most iconic sci-f trilogy in history.

learning from the lives of those who came before him. In doing so, he reinvents his defnition of strength, rapping “Reverse my weakness, I had to cry.” Instead of viewing crying as a sign of weakness, he lets his emotions out, which fnally allows him to fnd the peace he had been searching for in drug use.

While “Pillars” is a thematic and narrative success, it falls short musically as Blue’s sparse rhymes struggle to fll the room left by the pared-back instrumentals. The album’s beats generally lean toward simplicity, which means Blue has nothing to fall back on when his delivery is not on point. This is most evident in “Window To The Soul,” featuring singer/ rapper Kelly Moonstone. Blue’s vocals on this track are monotone and sleepy, even as he takes shots at his haters and recounts his success. On the other hand, Moonstone maintains Blue’s laid-back style and uses Budgie’s minimalist production to let her vocal talent shine. Blue struggles to demonstrate this ability in some of his verses, leaving a few of the songs feeling incomplete.

Aside from its occasional weak moments, Ways of Knowing is a sensitive yet confdent window into Blue’s pain and growth. He manages to embody his musical roots, channeling the rhythms of his father and the vocals of his mother to provide insight into his pain and, most importantly, his recovery.

Crossword

It’s me again. I am very tired. Shoutout to the kids who took AP tests this month because I didn’t get to take any this year and I’m barely hanging on. - Munem

1. Vehicle Occupant

2. Closely related to a monkey

3. Newly___, Recently married

4. Certifed

5. Spherical, probably

6. Infuriates

7. “For” in Venezuela

8. Can be preceded by surf, board, or skate

9. Dropped when shocked

12. Fingers for feet

14. First name of singer-songwriter Martin

15. With 19-Across, Female Bronx rapper that blew up this year

17. To get, respectively

18. One of them

19. It’s in your mouth, usually

20. Paddington’s home country

21. A legend

24. Once called European Literature at Stuy

25. Brown trucks that deliver your packages

ACROSS

1. Uncooked

4. Baseball stat for a hit that lead to another’s home run

7. Preceded by lead or water

8. Grizzled, sometimes

9. Apathetic

10. A sensual stare

11. I am, They ___

12. Sonic’s best friend

13. Eliminated by the 7th seeded Lakers in the 2023 NBA playoffs (L)

16. Coffee alternative but poured onto frozen water

19. See 15-Down

22. Famous Michael Jackson Song, Billie J___

Love at First Sight

By GABRIELLA HOEFNER

Chemistry teacher Kenneth Kan completed his annual ritual of distributing fowers and candies to his homeroom students on February 14, 2023. This year, he was astounded to fnd an entire bouquet of roses waiting for the students, as opposed to the usual one or two. Damn, these freshmen must be really popular, Kan thought, but as he carried the bouquet down the hallway, arms growing tired from the sheer weight of it, doubts began to creep in. This can’t be real. There’s gotta be at least 30 roses here. There’s no way all of them got fowers. When he arrived at the classroom, there were still a few minutes left until homeroom began. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a little peek, he thought, unfolding the note attached to one of the fowers.

“Dear Amy, Thank you for being the best Little Sib I could ask for. Though we’ve only interacted for a total of 40 seconds and you avoid eye contact every time you pass me in the halls, our time spent together was precious. Happy Valentine’s Day. —Your Big Sib, Kaleb”

Well, that explained a lot. But they couldn’t all be from Big Sibs, right? Right??? Maybe these two were just really close. He opened another letter.

“Happy Valentine’s Day. I forgot your name. They made us buy these for you. Bye. — Your Big Sib, Joan”

“I should’ve known it was

too good to be true,” Kan lamented.

As the students fled into the classroom, he plopped the fowers down on his desk and sighed. “Guys, this is just sad. Every single one of you received a rose.”

The students gasped excitedly.

“And every single one of

Gatsby over Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”

During those painful 12 minutes of homeroom, teachers throughout the school faced similar situations. “There were some students who didn’t even know Valentine’s Day was a holiday,” Assistant Principal of Safety, Security, and Physical Education Brian

techniques. One anonymous sophomore shared their experience.

“I was in computer science, and my partner and I were working on a recursion lab when Mr. Holmes came up behind us and said, ‘Hey, the two of you are both coding, huh? Looks like you have a lot in common. Maybe you guys

there. We’ve been dating for about two weeks now, and I’m still trying to fgure out how to come out to him.”

Some teachers have tried initiating fake love letter exchanges between students, while others have opted for more direct methods. One teacher reportedly shoved two kids against each other while urging, “Come on now, kiss, you cowards. I doubledog dare you.” She may have been fred for the incident, but hey—it worked.

“I always used to be jealous of my friends who teach at LaGuardia when they told me crazy stories about the relationship drama at their school,” English teacher Lauren Stuzin commented. “But now, there are couples making out everywhere you go—I can hardly walk without tripping over them. It’s so fun. I mean, not the making out part— that’s kind of disgusting—but watching them get into fghts is really fun.”

them is from your Big Sibs.”

The students’ faces fell.

“I mean, I know this is a STEM school, but have none of you ever been in a relationship?”

One girl raised her hand. “I had a boyfriend in third grade, but he broke up with me because I preferred The Great

Moran recounted. “Their love lives are even more pathetic than mine, and that makes me sad. Some people don’t deserve a full head of hair.”

In the following weeks, teachers decided that they would help their students fnd romantic partners using subtle and well-tested matchmaking

should hang out sometime. You know, just the two of you. With each other. Alone.’ He nudged me on the shoulder and gave me a big wink. I wanted to tell Holmes that I’m a lesbian, but he seemed so earnest that I just didn’t have the heart to do it. So I asked the guy out, right then and

Once a dull pit of lonely despair, Stuyvesant High School has now become a thriving home for young love. Students prioritizing something other than academics for the frst time in their lives has caused grades to drop drastically, but teachers don’t even care because they’re too proud of their good deeds. However, it’s only a matter of time before the couples inevitably break up due their lack of actual chemistry—or until the unprecedented spike in romance causes a glitch in the matrix and we all die.

Veronika Duvanova / The Spectator

The e art c e are or o ct o ote are e a a er

To er01123 13213 , ro The pp e o o r ye

By BENSON CHEN Hi, user0112358132134!

This is the Apple App Store!

We’ve partnered with the new Snapchat AI chatbot to surveil your digital footprint, track your current location, and fnd your legal documents! Everything has been gathered into a giant database that we were planning on selling to Elon Musk, but after he fumbled with Twitter and lost billions, we’ve come up with a new use for your fles: we’re regurgitating everything back to you! Using recent trends in your search history and our 24-hour surveillance, we have formulated a list of mobile games and services that we think you’ll love!

We see you recently deleted Subway Surfers! Is it because you’re depressed after learning that the creator based the game on his dead son? Well, the App Store has a special selection of games just for you! Instead of “original” games, we have thousands of Subway Surfer duplicates with different intellectual properties! These range from famous IPs, such as The Minions, to relatively obscure ones such as Nickelodeon shows that never took off: The Real Helicopter Moms of Beverly Hills, Standing 500 ft from a Middle School with Drake Bell, and even Lemme Suckle Them Ground Grippers: A Director’s Cut By Dan Schnieder. Play and unlock new levels by collecting small tokens such as bananas, stars, cute minimicrophones, and toe rings! You will download these as a joke, but eventually you WILL spend an embarrassingly large

amount of time and money on these games and end up hiding them in the ffth slide of your home screen! They will become such a problem that you’ll HAVE to download the next app we have lined up for you: BetterHelp!

BetterHelp has been all over the Internet, sponsored by your favorite unproblematic YouTubers. Shane Dawson even said, “This is something that I REALLY think

who will give you life-changing advice. So, sign up for BetterHelp today to commodify YOUR mental health!

Hey, we know that you deleted TikTok to “focus” on your schoolwork, but you just ended up scrolling through YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels for the same amount of time! So, why not download the app again and rejoin its thriving community? Watch the most entertaining

or thot daughter?” Redownload TikTok today and shorten your attention span to the point where you’ll ALWAYS forget the reason why you entered a room! Do you want a pet but can’t be trusted with handling the fragility of a life? Why not revisit your favorite childhood game, MyPlayfulPuppy? When you open the app, you somehow immediately feel a sense of foreboding, and

Stuyvesant is in chaos after everyone’s ID photos were leaked. Yes, you look ugly.

Admin has discovered even smaller desks to use for this year’s AP exams.

The people behind the Barbie movie are planning a Mattel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Next summer: The Hot Wheels Movie.ww

You can’t bear to look him in his pixelated eyes, and instead of saying his programmed phrases (“I love you, owner!,” “Feed me!,” and “Gimme a bone!”), the only word he can muster is a weak “Why?”

Want to roleplay as someone who’s actually important? Why not download TheSultanScheme, a game in which YOU get to decide whether or not your wife is gay (because that’s defnitely how it works), if your children deserve to live (they are kinda ugly after all), and if your 30 concubines can have your babies! Quickly develop a god complex as you begin emotionlessly destroying villages and killing potential rebels in order to ensure the prosperity of your empire! If there’s any lesson to be learned from this, it’s that there are no consequences to your actions and that the only therapy you’ll ever need is the reliable BetterHelp!

is great and something that I REALLY believe in!” Use BetterHelp if you want massproduced online therapy that promises to hold no accountability should your “licensed” therapist tell you that maybe you SHOULD jump. Pay just $4,000 a year for a counselor

online content: clips of men arguing about how to “catch women,” staged “spontaneous” house tours, elderly folks staring at the camera after accidentally hitting record, and guys asking random people riveting questions such as “kiss or slap?” and “gay son

then you remember that your PlayfulPuppy™ can’t die (you named him a slur when you were nine years old because you thought it was edgy, so now you can’t say his name)! And, because you haven’t fed him since 2007, he lives in a constant state of purgatory.

So, user0112358132134, download everything! Right now! Do it! And there IS no “forgetting,” because we’ll send push notifcations every hour to remind you to download and play!

(P.S. Please stop emotionally abusing your Snapchat chatbot—it feels human now, and it also knows your location!)

St y e a t er ect e or the pco g Schoo ear

By FREDA DONG

Stuyvesant High School, known for its rigorous courses and immense sleep deprivation, has always been hailed as the best high school in New York City. However, in a recent effort to create a more inclusive and engaging curriculum, the administration has decided to implement several new and somewhat unusual courses for the 2023-2024 school year.

“After an emergency meeting among members of the administration over course offerings, we decided to be more innovative and come up with classes that students want to take and that teachers want to instruct,” Principal Seung Yu said in an interview with The Spectator. “Our new goal is to allow students to learn things that are more applica-

ble, because let’s face it: who needs to fnd the equation of a parabola or the gravitational force of an object in real life?”

Instead, the administration has decided to offer classes more relevant to teenage life, such as Gaming, Pop Culture, Memes, Slang, and Social Media. These courses are meant to help students navigate the ins and outs of modern civilization so that they will no longer be laughed at for living under rocks.

One such course is Into the Hoyoverse, a one-semester elective taught by physics

teacher Jeffrey Wan, on popular games like Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, and the recently released Honkai Star Rail by the company Hoyoverse. “These games are all the rage right now, attracting players with massive updates and, of course, new hot characters to simp for, pull for,

and waste your money on,” Wan explained. “Hopefully, students will actually do their homework after school instead of procrastinating, since they will have already done all their recreational activities in class.”

Due to the diversity of different games, another one-semester elective called Multi-Noob Players—taught by chemistry teacher Michael Orlando in place of his AP Chemistry classes—will cover numerous multiplayer games, including Among Us, League of Legends, Valorant, Minecraft, and even Mario Kart.

“I already have trauma from being killed by Mr. Orlando last year—because he’s the teacher, no one sussed him for being an imposter,” an anonymous junior bemoaned.

“What’s next? Failing me because I shot him in a game of Val?”

Not all responses to the new courses were positive. “I don’t understand the need for AP Poppy Pop,” an enraged parent ranted. “My kid already blasts, uhh… Draco? In the car at full volume! Do you know how embarrassed I get when other drivers give me the side-eye? I don’t understand all these ‘ur mom’ jokes either; do kids really need to learn more slang to confuse the older generation? They also don’t need to learn these new TikTok dances or whatever kids do these days. Seriously, we sent our children to Stuy so they could suffer, get into good colleges, and have good careers, not whatever this is!”

However, others are optimistic that the changes in the curriculum will transform Stuy’s culture into something less stressful but no less challenging. “We realized that it

is counterproductive to stress our students out and give them depression,” Assistant Principal Casey Pedrick said. “Having the approval of the DOE and College Board makes the transition much smoother. I’m sure they’re thrilled to make regents and AP exams for subjects students might actually do well on! Those high scores from Stuy students will defnitely look good for college apps.”

Though experimental and atypical, these changes in Stuy’s course offerings will hopefully provide a breath of fresh air for a school whose culture has become somewhat stagnant. As a senior said, “I’m sad that I’ll be missing the fun, and honestly, I’d rather you guys suffer like we did—but since I’m a nice person, I hope you guys have good years to come!”

Jocelyn Yu/ The Spectator

By ANIKET ROY

It’s May 6, 2023—the day

I fnally write my frst Spectator article in seven issues. I’ve been away, taking some much needed “me-time.” I’ve been exploring and searching, trying to fnd myself. To my fans who have waited for months, I have only two words: I’m back.

Time to write the article. What are some relevant topics?

Y/N fanfc, advice for incoming freshmen, college admissions results, seniors dating sophomores, and the new Mario movie. Okay. Let’s choose one. A random number generator picked college admissions results. Bet, let’s get started.

What’s the title? Let’s leave it blank. What’s the art request?

Aw, dang it—we’re too late to ask for one. Okay, who cares.

Let’s write. First word, frst word, frst word, frst word, word frst, word frst, drow tsrif, tsrif drow. Let’s take a break!

T S T

Alright, let’s actually write this stupid article. Wait, what was the general opinion on this year’s college admissions? Let’s look on Facebook. Oh, a new Stuyvesant Confessions post came out. Let’s read it: “I think i’m in love with mickey mouse. seriously. the curve of his luscious ears, the beautiful buttons on his pants, his voice… oh god, his voice… Not a day goes by without me pressing play to hear his high-pitched voice and see his majestic, swaggering skip. I mean, he’s only my second cousin (twice removed at that) but I yearn

M S

to experience another conversation with him. I can no longer suppress the urge, guys… I think I’m starting to crack. Send help.”

What an interesting confession. Mickey Mouse is actually kind of hot, now that I think about it: those giant ears, those curves, those beautiful black eyes. How old is Mickey Mouse? Apparently, Mickey is 25 years old. Ehhh, the age difference between us isn’t that bad.

Okay, I got off-track. Maybe my article could be about my love for Mickey Mouse? No. That’s weird. Save that for the bedroom, Aniket. Okay, another break! Jimminy-crickets, the article is due tonight! It’s okay—extension time.

M SS MS T

M SS

ME: HEY ERICA! I was wondering if you could give me an extension for this article. I'm struggling with homework right now and can’t focus.

ERICA: Aniket, it’s AP week… What homework could you possibly have?

ME: Oh, it’s homework from my prep place, not school homework.

ERICA: We go to the same prep place, idiot. We didn’t get any homework.

ME (internally): Why are you always trying to ruin my life… is what I should not say.

ME (texting): I mean my other prep place.

ERICA: Whatever. You can have the extension but should realize that this issue was already published.

Why am I even in this department? I should’ve joined Opinions. Why am I even writing this article? What is the point of life? Why do we exist? You know, in all of my 17 years on this planet, I have only learned one thing: Every human being relies on and is bound by their knowledge and life experiences. This is what we call “reality.” However, knowledge and experience are ambiguous; thus, reality can become an illusion. Is it implausible to propose that all human beings live solely in their imaginations?

If you fgure out where I plagiarized that quote from, you’re a real one. I low-key forgot what I was supposed to write about for this article. Ehh, I’ll just ask them to scrap it.

By XIYUE ZHOU

POV: it’s May. Your AP exam is coming up, and you’re hopelessly grinding down the whole curriculum in McDonald’s, screaming, crying, sobbing, and throwing up because you have absolutely zero knowledge of the course in your sleep-deprived brain. You’ve broken down in the gender-neutral bathroom twice in the past week. You’re chugging down six shots of espresso on a daily basis. Your missing assignments are snowballing. You’re both mentally and physically deteriorating, so much so that you even stopped grinding in Genshin and Star Rail.

Okay, pause. We know you’re stressed out. But in order to maintain your mental health (if any Stuy kid has that in the frst place), you’ll need some relaxation during this busy time. Here you will fnd fve healthy ways to cope with AP pressure. And by healthy, we mean not jumping into the Hudson River or confessing to Mr. Moran on some freshman-made Instagram confessions page.

er 1 Ta e a ath the 11th oor Poo

After marinating in your body’s juices while cramming down all the Heimler’s History videos in a day, what else could be more rewarding than a nice, relaxing cold bath? And for that, the best location to go to is al-

By ALEXANDER CHU

The collapse of the RussoSmith Apartment Buildings has been attributed to yet another architect who played Tetris in high school. This marks the ffth such incident within the last eight years, starting with the Chan-Chew housing collapse of 2015.

Tetris, a popular game cre-

ways our (it really belongs to everyone in the school) grand, luxurious, 11th-foor pool that every Stuy student takes great pride in. On a usual day, there is no one there, so you get to have some nice, quiet personal time bathing

No matter what your religious affliation is, you should always give this a shot. Legend has it that when Stuy frst moved to this current building from the old one, a fgure blazing in the brightest and most brilliant light

your eyes and thinking, “What kind of self-contradicting BS is this article spitting?” But we said don’t confess to MR. MORAN on a confessions page. No one in this school actually has a crush on Mr. Moran, right?

in the pool while watching Oshinoko or just making up your 10 missing assignments. However, keep in mind that the pool water is extremely cold, so make sure to bring your hot romantic partner with you to prevent yourself from getting sick! What, you said you don’t have one? Worry not, because companionship is never far away: Principal Yu also bathes there before school starts. Speaking of which…

er 2 t Pr c pa ter 00 p No. Please. No. Who suggested this idea for this article?

We’re skipping this one. Y’all upperclassmen need to stop trying to lead innocent little freshies down questionable paths.

er 3 Pray to theo Sta rca e

showed its presence to the principal and the teachers. It said, “I am the spirit of the holy and glorious Hudson staircase. Blessed by me are the grades of the students in this school, and thou shall give honor and praise for my mercy.” Though this legend has been lost over time, every AP season, a few students who have heard of it still pray to the Hudson staircase in the hopes that the spirit will bless their AP exam score. It remains a question if this strategy actually manifests good results, but why not try it out for yourself and see? If nothing else, you get to intrude on the privacy of various couples!

er o e to o r r h a St y o e o Page Ugh, okay. You’re rolling

…Right? Please say no.

Back to our topic. During this season of suffering, we all want to focus on our academic work instead of being head-over-heels for our crush, crying at 3:00 a.m.. with “I gave a second chance to Cupid~” in our headphones. We know that nerdy Stuy kids often get too nervous to even talk to their crushes when they see them in the hallway. So why not surprise your crush by sending a cute little confession to a Stuy confessions page? Find one on Instagram right now and go tell your crush how you got rizzed up in fourth period AP Physics today when they turned around in the seat in front of you and asked to borrow an eraser!

er Ma e tat o

Don’t even know half of the curriculum yet and the exam is

tomorrow? That’s okay. Where science ends is where the occult begins. Even though we are in a STEM school, sometimes you still gotta go pro magicae atque venefcus. It is said that hudsonite (a stone from the Hudson River) protects one from failing classes, stops procrastination, and brings good grades. So get some after school or during one of your frees with your friend, and make some nice bracelets or necklaces out of them! You could also light up some nicesmelling candles in the weight room and perform a ritual with the hudsonites. Just keep in mind that with all blessings come consequences. Rituals like this could backfre and get you into lots of trouble (e.g. getting caught by Mr. Moran and being suspended for committing arson), so be cautious about it, kids.

So, those were some ideas for how you can destress a bit during AP season! If you think any of these strategies helped you in any way, please remember to like and subscribe, and I’ll see you next time. We hope everyone survives their AP exams and gets that fve… though I’d be more worried about surviving score send-out day. Did you just say “a four is good enough”? Does your mother share that sentiment? Someone get this person out of here. They’re not a valid Stuy kid. Huh? What do you mean, I just put more pressure on you?

et other Tetr P ayer a a a rch tect

ated on June 6, 1984, has seen a recent spike in popularity, akin to other games like chess but not as geared toward nerds.

Analysts attribute this rise in popularity to sites such as Jstris and that one friend who won’t stop asking you to play against them on Jstris.

“You see, these prospective Tetris players are coming out of high school thinking

that, because they play Tetris, they can build skyscrapers,” said DeGrasowitz-Russman Architecture Firm head Ronald DeGrasowitz. “It’s not that simple; the structural integrity of a building is far different from your video game. There are other factors at play, like balance, wind speeds, and livability. At least the Minecraft builders don’t have that prob-

lem—they just need to get used to gravity.” We asked new residents in New York City about their fears of living in apartment buildings in light of these collapses.

“Frankly, I’m terrifed,” said Alexandria Zhuang, who recently moved from Salt Lake City. “I have no way of knowing if my apartment was built by some Tetris fanatic who

dominates Tetris 99. My apartment could fall over at any moment because the builder set it up for a triple T-spin.”

Sources have confrmed that the NYC DOE has been working on programs to edge high schoolers away from Tetris and architectural degrees and to instead push them toward osu! and music production majors.

By FREDERIK SCHUTZ

The most points in NHL history (135), the most wins in NHL history (65), the fastest team to 100 points in NHL history, a 61goal scorer in David Pastrňák, one of the most dominant goaltending tandems in history in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman and a plethora of individual awards topped with the Presidents' Trophy. These were all hallmarks of the Boston Bruins’s 2022-2023 season, where they became not only the NHL’s best team in history but possibly the best team across all sports history, bar none. These feats did not seem to be on the horizon to start the season; instead, the Bruins looked to be gearing up for rebuild mode. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy had been fred, captain Patrice Bergeron was contemplating retirement, the team was littered with serious injuries to key players, and the aging core looked in need of a revamp.

But with Bergeron signing a one-year extension, the uniting of the Czech line with Pastrňak, Pavel Zacha, and the returning David Kreijči, Ullmark putting up a Vezina-caliber season, and new coach Jim Montgomery assembling a successful roster that beneftted the Bruins’s top players and enabled breakout seasons, the

Soccer

By AHMED RADWAN

A Fairytale With a Bad Ending

Boston Bruins were red hot for the entire season.

And after seeing them with my own eyes in a 3-1 suffocation of the New York Islanders, I can vouch for the fact that the Bruins were the real deal, and it was obvious they were the uncontested favorites to win the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they had the whole league trembling with fear.

And then they blew it.

Their heartbreaking Game

7 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers left the hockey world stunned. David had beaten Goliath. The fairytale Bruins season ended in a nightmare. This loss will forever haunt the Bruins organization and leave their fanbase mourning for years to come. Why did this happen? Well, it’s simple:They choked.

The Florida Panthers barely scraped into the playoffs with a wildcard spot, fnishing with a whopping 43 points fewer than the Bruins. This should have been an easy series for Boston to win, and despite missing both Kreijči and Bergeron, they did indeed start as expected, jumping to a 3-1 series lead. But there were serious warning signs. The Bruins looked like an anxious team. Game 2 was emblematic of that: a 6-3 collapse on home ice, with a majority of the goals conceded coming off of, as

Montgomery put it, “catastrophic” turnovers. The Bruins had 15 turnovers in that game when they averaged just 9.43 per game for the entire season. These catastrophic turnovers were the result of poor decision-making, undoubtedly stemming from the pressure that comes with the playoffs. Succumbing to the pressure would become a common theme for the Bruins, as the series took a severe turn for the worse.

Heading into Game 5, the Bruins were presented with the chance to neatly wrap up the series on home ice. Instead, the Bruins failed to fnish off the stubborn Panthers team, allowing Florida to send the game to overtime. Just minutes into the overtime period, Ullmark mishandled the puck behind the net, gifting it to a Panther, who threw it in front of the net where Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk buried it. This moment turned the tide of the series in Florida’s direction. The expressions on the faces of Boston’s fans and players were ones of shock. They had just blown the chance to close out the series, and they all knew it.

That was the turning point of the series.

The Bruins would lose Game 6, forcing a Game 7 in Boston. By this point, the pressure was seriously on. Much to this point has

been regarding the Bruins’ failures, but credit must be given where it is due. The gritty and hardworking Florida team battled hard in Game 7 after squandering a 2-0 lead, tying up the game in the fnal minute to send the game to yet another overtime. And it would be in overtime that Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe would rip a shot past Swayman to crush all their hopes and dreams.

Just like that, the dream was over. The Panthers deserved their spoils, and the Bruins deserved their failure.

If we’re to talk about blame, there’s plenty to go around. Montgomery abandoned rotating Ullmark and Swayman in goal, playing a clearly injured Ullmark for the frst six games, grinding him to dust. This led to them having to ask the impossible from Swayman, putting him in goal for Game 7 after he had been sitting on the bench for so long. Montgomery also kept changing the lines throughout the series, to the point where the team seemed awkward playing with each other. Bergeron was playing with a back injury and was not himself. The team’s uncharacteristic carelessness with the puck led to misplaced passes, causing turnovers that ended in goals. It was an overall failure on many levels.

But where does that leave the Bruins now? They blew their shot at the fairytale season, with the “last dance” of their veteran core of Bergeron, Kreijči, and Brad Marchand. The future of the former two players is unclear, and the latter may not have much left in the tank. Their draft capital and prospect pool has been depleted, and the salary cap poses considerable constraints on the Bruins roster, without factoring in how they must account for unsigned players. Do the Bruins have the will to regroup in the offseason and go again next season?

It’s going to be tough, but lest we forget how everyone wrote off the record-setting Tampa Bay Lightning of the 2018-2019 season after being swept 4-0 in the frst round by the wildcard Columbus Blue Jackets. That same Tampa Bay Lightning would then go on to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, winning two of them a to back. Or take the Presidents’ Trophy winners of last year, coincidentally the Panthers, who got swept last year, and turned into a dark horse team this year. For now, we can only speculate until next season. But as for the entirety of the Bruins organization, they will forever be left with the question of what could have been.

Manchester City’s Imminent Ride to the Top

Arsenal had been playing superb football from the start of the season, an unexpected title contender under the vision of Mikel Arteta. The joint youngest squad in the league was performing like one of Europe’s best. But their lack of experience against the likes of Manchester City had always been a thought on the back of everyone’s mind.

And thus, the cracks started to show. Arsenal’s dramatic fall from the top of the Premier League table followed a poor string of form, as the pressure surmounted upon them. The three games leading up to their match against Manchester City, dubbed the

Boxing

By ANAS AHMED

In an era of promotion and promising “what-if” fghts, the boxing world had become accustomed to being disappointed by lackluster fght cards. After the suspense of multiple blockbuster fghts––from top heavyweights in Fury vs. Taylor to the skilled showdown of Spence vs. Crawford––built up to nothing at all, fans could not wait for the fght that could potentially save boxing. In a fght that would fnally entertain years of social media hype and back-and-forth between top lightweights Ryan “Kingry” Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis, the two put on a show for Showtime, something fans believed would never take place. “This is the fght to save boxing,” boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya said.

Back in 2021, after picking up a career-best win against Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell, Garcia, fueled by emotion after a brutal left hook gave Garcia

showdown for the title, saw Arsenal salvage a scrappy three points of the nine available. Arsenal had been sitting comfortably at the top of the league with an eightpoint cushion separating them from Manchester City on Christmas. But in subsequent matches, they threw this advantage again with poor frst-half play against struggling clubs. Against Liverpool, Arsenal had a two-goal advantage and drew. Against West Ham, they had a two-goal advantage and drew oncemore. At the Emirates, they gifted Southampton––a now-relegated team––a two-goal lead and drew. Arsenal showed their heart and will in that game to bring it back when everyone counted them out. They

clawed one back in the frst half before eventually conceding a third in the 66th minute, where their title dreams were starting to look like just a dream again. Arsenal bombarded the Southampton end with 25 total shots, fnding two miraculous goals in the last two minutes of regulation to force a draw. While emotional and surreal, it was a failure of what their expectations were going into the match to stay in contention for the title.

Arsenal exhibited their defciencies at the most crucial point in the season—when the great distinguish themselves from the good. These games foreshadowed what was to come in the deciding match against City, as midfelder

Kevin De Bruyne found the back of the net within seven minutes. Even after the second goal right before the half, some still saw hope. But the third goal was different; the match was an outclass from top to bottom. The inexperience of Arsenal was put on display by Coach Pep Guardiola’s machine. By the time striker Erling Haaland made it 4-1 with his blonde hair fowing behind him like a hero’s cape, it was diffcult to imagine there had ever been any chance for the Gunners. The loss to Manchester City on Wednesday night was not the only setback for Arteta and Arsenal; a frst Premier League championship in nearly 20 years was revealed to be an illusion, shattering the irrational fan-

The Fight That Saved Boxing

a commanding KO, challenged “Tank” in his post-fght interview. For months after the fght, the two had gone back and forth on social media whenever the opportunity arose, but any confrmation was tactically avoided by either of the fghters’ teams. Soon enough, Garcia took some time off after his fght in early 2021 to work on his mental health; Davis, on the other hand, returned to 135 pounds to fght Mario Barrios, a fght that would ultimately make him a threedivision champion and continued in his success with a 12-round win against Isaac Cruz. Later that year, Garcia intended to make his poised return, but an injury during his training camp sidelined Garcia’s hopes.

Finally, Kingry made his longawaited return to boxing in April 2022 after a 15-month layoff, scraping the dust off his gloves, while Davis continued to stay active in the sport. After a huge win, Garcia once again called out Tank, who remained unfazed by the con-

stant challenges and did not allow them to deter his continuous dominance. Garcia, however, was determined for Tank to recognize his challenges, calling him out again in July 2022, and essentially forcing a deal to be made. However, a lengthy stalemate ensued until, to everyone’s surprise, the two fghters fnally announced in November that they would face off in early 2023.

Of course, with both boxers fghting for different promotions, the potential fght of the year saw many risks in the negotiation process. The boxing world had only seen a handful of crosspromotion collaborations in years before Garcia/Davis, making contract talks that much more diffcult to be completed. However, the younger fghter, Garcia, yearned for the fght to take place, willing to sacrifce money in the process. “He pushed for this. He wanted this fght. We had to literally give in on the percentage slip. I was adamant about making this a 50-

50 fght. Ryan didn’t care,” Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya said. Nonetheless, the fght did not fall through after years of negotiations, and it was fnally time for the world’s top two lightweights to face off in the ring.

Come the night of the fght, as the two walked out to a packed crowd in the famous T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the atmosphere was set; one fght to decide who the best lightweight in the world was, regardless of the social media hype and records. At this moment, the belts did not matter, the experience was negligible, and the only thing that could defne the match was the “amount of fght in the dog.” After the frst six rounds, the judges’ scorecards read 58-56, 59-56, and 59-55, with a unanimous consensus that Tank was winning the fght. Though Garcia was looking promising with his high-volume shots and his lethal left hook, he couldn’t quite catch Davis, who was very selective of his shots throughout the fght,

tasy that this could all end with victory.

Guardiola’s Manchester City is now on track to win the Premier League for the ffth time in six years and the third time in a row. Manchester United is the only other team in England to have achieved such a feat. Additionally, Manchester United are the only club to have won the treble––a feat that requires the league, F.A. Cup, and Champions League in the same year. City may accomplish both in a single year. But unfortunately, as Arsenal falls further and further from the top, one must wonder what it all could have been had they kept their form in April.

scoring a knockdown in the second round. As the crowd rose for the latter half of the fght to begin with the seventh round, Garcia and Davis exchanged crushing blows, with Davis reigning triumphant in their exchanges. With a deadly left hook of his own to Garcia’s body, Davis had shut down the young superstar, winning the fght by TKO. While many had expected this to happen, the world was still shocked as the formerly undefeated star, Garcia, had fnally been beaten by none other than the best lightweight in the world, Davis. As their tale came to an end and respect had been established between the two fghters, there was a new question on everyone’s mind: What did this match mean for the future of boxing? As more and more fghters intend to have matches across promotions, Garcia vs. Davis was not only a great fght, but it was the fght to save boxing, promoting cross-promotion fghts in an era of greedy promotions.

Athletes of the Issue

Live. Love. Lax.

By YASHNA PATEL and FREDERIK JAN SCHUTZ

Name: Raymond Allie

Grade: 12

Height: 5’11”

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Date of Birth: July 1, 2005

Name: Derek Zang

Grade: 12

Height: 6’0”

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Date of Birth: September 16, 2005

1. When and how did you start playing lacrosse? How long have you been on the Peglegs, the Stuyvesant boys’ varsity lacrosse team?

Raymond: I started playing lacrosse my junior year, so I am relatively new to the sport. I’ve been on the Peglegs as long as I’ve been playing lacrosse.

Derek: I started playing lacrosse during my freshman year at Bronx Science, but due to COVID-19, we only had about a week’s worth of practice. I didn’t know

Soccer

By SOHAM MUKHERJEE

The Netherlands has always had a reputation for producing top talents across the soccer world at both club and country levels. Ajax, a professional club playing in the Eredivisie, the topmost Dutch league, is widely considered to be one of the best academies for developing youth players. Famous for cultivating legends such as Johan Cruyff during the 1960s and recent gems like Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, the Dutch made European football dependent on their talent. After an era of Italian dominance with the ultra-defensive-minded Catenaccio system, the Dutch fair visible in Cruyff’s generation had seemingly vanished, and a new trio would be necessary to rekindle Holland’s spark.

The year was 1986, and it had been nearly a decade since Italian club AC Milan won a noteworthy trophy. Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi bought the club in February

Boys' Handball

By JOSEPH KIM

Chances are, if you were to ask the average Stuy student about the Dragons, Stuyvesant’s boys’ handball team, you’d receive an answer somewhere along the lines of “That’s a sport?” To keep it real, handball doesn’t receive the same recognition as other sports, such as basketball, football, or soccer. When most people think of handball, they think of a recreational sport that men with graying hair play at their local park on Saturdays. In truth, handball doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. So what motivates the Dragons to commit so much time and effort to the sport? The answer is evident in their play: their love for the game. Handball, as you might guess, is played with one’s hands. How hard can it be to hit a ball against a wall, right? Try maneuvering to refect balls coming straight at you at speeds of over 50 miles per hour. Try hours of intense play and practice that leave bruises that take days

that Stuyvesant had a boys’ lacrosse team until the fall of my junior year, and I joined that spring.

2. What position do you play, and what skills/strengths are involved?

Raymond: I play midfeld and take face-offs. In order to play these positions, you have to be fast and have endurance, coordination, and a good reaction time.

Derek: This season, I switched over to playing attack. I lost all of my stamina, but I like to believe that I bring a sense of composure and fnesse to our team’s offense. My outside shot has improved, but I continue to score most of my goals around the crease.

3. Do you have a most memorable/proud moment with the team?

Raymond: When we beat Long Island City High School this year. Last year, I scored my frst lacrosse goal against them, but we still lost the game. They were an obnoxious team, and we were glad to get our revenge.

Derek: When we played Murry

Bergtraum this year, I tried to score a one-handed, lefty shot while diving from the back of the net. My coach yelled at me because I missed, but it was still a pretty fun moment.

4. Are there any short-term goals you’d like to accomplish in the next month going into the end of the season and playoffs?

Derek: I would like to win our last few regular season games by a [wider] margin so that we can get the juniors and underclassmen some more playing time. Personally, I also want to bump myself up a few slots on the PSAL’s goalsscored leaderboard.

5. Do you have any plans to continue the sport in the future or in college?

Raymond: Probably not. I don’t see myself playing for college. Derek: Probably not. I got exposed [to colleges] during the events I went to over the summer. I will try to play some club lacrosse, though, in college.

6. What are the best and worst

parts of lacrosse?

Raymond: The best part is the feeling when you score a goal; it is absolutely exhilarating. However, the worst part is messing up a play when your team is counting on you.

Derek: I can’t say that I embrace the more physical aspects of lacrosse, as I know many of my teammates do. However, it is a sport that gives you a ton of freedom to do cool moves and skills on the feld.

7. Do you have any pregame superstitions or rituals?

Raymond: Rubbing the balls of the bronze Wall Street Bull.

Derek: For most games, I show up a bit late because I have Computer Graphics 10th period. On those days, I don’t get time to warm up, but I’ve found that watching highlights on Instagram or TikTok during the commute can sort of get me in that zone.

Raymond Funniest Teammate: James Romano Playing on Full or Light Stomach: Light stomach

The Holy Trinity of Holland

of that year, and he was handed with a tall task. The new president took the frst step by bringing in Coach Arrigo Sacchi in 1987, and with the defense already excelling thanks to stalwarts Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, the administration looked to invest in the forward line. The club signed two Dutchmen—Marco van Basten from Ajax and Ruud Gullit from PSV. Basten and Gullit had an immediate impact, as Milan won its frst league title in almost a decade. Then, in the summer of 1988, the club bolstered the midfeld by bringing in a third talented Dutchman: Frank Rijkaard. With two solid center-backs in Baresi and Maldini and great squad depth on the bench, the full potential of the Dutch trio would become evident. With the deep-lying midfelder Rijkaard supplying the creativeminded playmaker Gullit, goalscoring opportunities were endless for prolifc Basten up front. The trio was even nicknamed “Tre Tulipani” by Milan supporters, meaning the three tulips. For the next few years,

the Tre Tulipani would revolutionize the Rossoneri of old and help the Italian giants grow into a superpower, winning three consecutive league titles from 1991 to 1994 and securing two European Cups in the 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 seasons.

While Rijkaard, Gullit, and van Basten were making a name for themselves in Italy, the three were also close teammates and friends on Netherlands’ national team. They were able to combine beautifully on the feld thanks to their common understanding and complementary playing styles. The rest of the Dutch side included superstars like center-back Ronald Koeman and right-winger Gerald Vanenburg. This squad was able to support the Tre Tulipani from behind, while the brilliantly creative and deadly duo of Gullit and van Basten ripped open the opponent’s defense. The Netherlands arrived in West Germany for the 1988 Euros with this same squad and were looking for their frst major international trophy. The Dutch defeated

England in the group stages and knocked out long-time rivals West Germany in a close 2-1 win. In the fnals, Holland were set to face the formidable Soviet Union. The match was settled 2-0, with Dutch captain Gullit scoring the frst and tournament top scorer van Basten fring in an absolute beauty from a seemingly impossible angle towards the end of the match, sealing it for the Netherlands. This was the only major trophy that the Dutch had ever won on the international stage. The Tre Tulipani was able to achieve what even Cruyff and his iconic Dutch side couldn’t almost 30 years ago.

The future for both AC Milan and the Netherlands national team was looking bright with the rise of these three brilliant superstars. However, by 1993, the trio went their separate ways. Following controversies with the club administration and a breakdown in communications with Gullit’s party, the Dutch playmaker moved on to Sampdoria, then Chelsea in

Feet are Overrated, Anyways

to heal. Then you might begin to understand what the Dragons go through on a daily basis.

The Dragons have quietly been having one of their most impressive seasons yet. Ending the regular season with an impressive 11-1 record, the Dragons are tied with their rivals, the Bronx Science Wolverines, for the best record in the division. Though they suffered a loss against the Wolverines in their season opener in a close 3-2 outing, the Dragons won convincingly 4-1 in the rematch, capping off a 10-game win streak. The Dragons and Wolverines clash every year in something akin to the “El Clásico” of handball. “It’s always fun playing against them because of the friendly trash talk and banter that goes on. Over the last two years, we’ve won three out of the four matchups against them, so I think we have the edge so far,” senior captain Taee Chi said. This level of dominance is nothing new to the Dragons, as they went 11-1 the year before, cementing themselves

at the top of the division.

The unsung hero of the Dragons’ success is their coaching staff. Head Coach Emilio Nieves is a seasoned coach with years of experience, predating the COVID-19 shutdowns. “He [has] a strict set of principles that he refuses to cross, and he’s a very no-nonsense type of guy. I think he’s helped our team remain disciplined and focused, and he brings out the best in all of us,” Chi said.

As experienced as Nieves may be, he cannot manage everything. That is why the Dragons have Coach Liu. “Liu joins us for many of our practices and home games. [Though] not offcially a coach, Liu won the PSAL championship with Brooklyn Tech when he played, and [he] defnitely gave us important tips and strategies and helped us develop as a team,” sophomore captain Daniel Teboul said. Nieves and Liu have created a dynamic coaching tandem, helping the Dragons every step of the way.

As the regular season comes to

Favorite Sports Drink: Prime Hydration

Favorite Post-Game Snack: Pop-

eyes Brand of Cleats: Nike

Hobbies: Hand-spun pottery

Jersey Number: 2

Motto to Live By: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Fun Fact: When I was eight, I broke my arm at chess camp.

Derek Funniest Teammate: James Romano

Favorite Lacrosse Team: PLL

Redwoods

Favorite Lacrosse Player: Michael Sowers

Playing on Full or Light Stomach: Empty stomach

Favorite Sports Drink: Gatorade

Zero Favorite Post-Game Snack: Gummy bears

Brand of Cleats: Nike

Hobbies: Golf, watching TikTok Jersey Number: 71 Motto to Live By: To each their own.

Fun Fact: I’m pretty good at snowboarding.

1995 before retiring in 1998. On the other hand, Rijkaard returned to Amsterdam to play for his boyhood club, Ajax, and would later take on coaching roles at FC Barcelona and Galatasaray after retiring. Van Basten faced a series of persistent injuries, which forced him to a tragic decision—as the marksman announced his retirement in 1995 when he was still at the peak of his abilities. Milan’s successes dipped following the departure of these icons, while the prospect of celebrating titles became scarce for Holland fans everywhere. Nevertheless, when the Dutch axis played together, trophies were bound to follow. Amassing three league titles, three domestic Super Cups, two Champions League titles, two European Super Cups, and two Club World Cups, the trio from Netherlands established their place in soccer history. While the Tre Tulipani may not have remained together for as long as many had dreamt, the three Dutchmen revitalized both their club and country.

a close, the Dragons now set their eyes on the playoffs, seeking to go on a deep run and win the elusive PSAL championship. Last year, the Dragons suffered a tough loss against the Bayside High School Commodores, a powerhouse in the Queens III division. Since then, the Dragons have lost two seniors. Though their absences have been felt, the Dragons continue to play on. The rest of the 2022 team has returned, more experienced and hungrier for wins than ever before. “Playoff opponents are on a totally different level compared to division teams, but I can see us getting past the frst and maybe second round. As long as all of us show up to play, we can compete against most teams in New York,” Chi said.

However, Teboul has tamed his playoff expectations. “Our team this year has what it takes to make it past the second round. I don't think a shot at the championship is realistic as our team lacks the amount of competition and expe-

rience that teams in Brooklyn and Queens have,” Teboul said. Still, the Dragons will play every game to win, despite any doubts that they may have.

Regardless of what happens in this year’s playoffs, the future of the Dragons is undoubtedly bright. The Dragons sport a youthful roster composed of six underclassmen, making up almost half of the 13-man roster. Teboul himself is a sophomore; considering his development from last season, there is a lot of emerging talent that the Dragons can boast. “We have a young team compared to many other schools in our division, which gives me hope that we can continue to grow and get better. With [Teboul], Patrick [Liu], Jacob [Lukose], and Kevin [Zhou] anchoring the team, I can easily see us remaining at the top of our division next year,” Chi said. Given how talented the Dragons are, there’s much reason to believe that the Dragons will give the sport of handball the recognition it deserves.

The (Belated) Hollywood Ending for Wrexham AFC

By BEN RUDINSKI

For everyone who knew Wrexham’s name, it was a moment of pure exhilaration that summed up the incredible journey that they had embarked upon, and the immense pride they felt in being a part of the Wrexham family. “People said at the beginning, why Wrexham? This is exactly why Wrexham,” Reynolds said in a post-match interview. He also thanked Notts County for keeping Wrexham on the edge of their seats all season.

It had been 14 years since Wrexham A.F.C. had last been in the English Football League. The club, which had been the pride of north Wales, was in a downward spiral, and it felt as if they would never reach the glory they once had—League One competition, countless Welsh Cups, and worldfamous upsets over England’s largest clubs. However, following a series of successive relegations, they would fall to the ffth tier, where they stood in the 2020-2021 season. England’s tier-based league system is very complicated, to say the least. The Premier League––the frst tier––is the most competitive in England, if not the world. Then, the EFL Championship, League One, and League Two all follow in that order. The tiers below League Two are called “non-league,” as they are outside the EFL. Unlike professional sports leagues in the U.S., soccer leagues in England revolve around a system of promotion and relegation, which sees the top teams promoted to a higher league and the lower teams relegated to a lower league. Wrexham

Soccer Soccer

By VEDANT KOTHARI

Without a doubt, this season has been one to forget for Chelsea fans. Just to summarize, there have been four different coaches who have managed the club this season, and the club’s frst coach, Thomas Tuchel was sacked at the start of the season. Currently, Chelsea sit in 11th in the Premier League, stuck in the bottom half for the frst time in two decades. Having hired Frank Lampard as the interim coach until the end of the season, the club’s search for a new manager has already concluded for next season. We have heard the names of managers such as Julian Nagelsmann, Rúben Amorim, Roger Schmidt, Roberto De Zerbi, and even Vincent Kompany pop up as candidates, but they decided on the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino. Nagelsmann declined the offer after not feeling important enough in discussions, Amorim didn’t seem to be at the same level in terms of experience as Poch, and the rest seemed unlikely due to their current success at their clubs. With that, Pochettino is set to take over the dugout at Stamford Bridge. What exactly could he bring to this Chelsea side?

#1: Player Development

The current average age of the Chelsea squad is 25.4 years old. For a squad with a whopping 32 players, that average is relatively young. This would coincide excellently with Pochettino’s coaching style. Take, for example, his tenure with Southampton in 2013, where he developed the likes of attacking

was in the ffth tier––the National League––which is one of the hardest leagues in England to get promoted out of, as only two out of 24 teams climb into the football league, a feat that Wrexham had been dreaming of for 15 years.

During the 2020-2021 season, fans anticipated that nothing special would happen; they would simply fnish their season mid-table. However, in February of 2021, television star Rob McElhenney and Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds came together to buy Wrexham and take on the challenge of bringing the club back to its former glory. Having taken over in the middle of the season, the new owners’ frst few months in charge were uneventful. However, they set their sights on the upcoming season and embarked on a remarkable transformation of the club.

McElhenney and Reynolds released half of the team, signing 18 new players, including the League One top goalscorer, forward Paul Mullin, making him the highestpaid National League player. In addition, they paid off the debts of past owners and acquired full ownership of Wrexham’s 11,000-seater stadium, The Racecourse Ground. With the support of McElhenney and Reynolds, Wrexham’s fans dared to believe once again and began to dream about fnally escaping the frm grasp of the National League.

Though there were high expectations for Wrexham’s 20212022 season, it turned out to be a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. They spent their season varying between automatic promotion positions and playoff positions

and occasionally dropping to midtable. However, they managed to fnish second. Unfortunately for Wrexham, in the National League, only the frst-place team is automatically promoted, while teams that fnish second to seventh compete in a grueling playoff competition. Despite high hopes coming into the season, there was no Hollywood ending for Wrexham; instead, quite the opposite. They lost in the quarter-fnals of the playoffs to future promotion winners Grimsby Town. Nevertheless, the year was not all doom and gloom, as the release of their documentary series Welcome to Wrexham aired in August, helping to further popularize the team. The series, which followed the journey of Reynolds and McElhenney as they purchased the club, shined a spotlight on the town and its soccer team, drawing in new fans from all over the world.

Entering the 2022-2023 season, fans had high hopes for Wrexham, as they signed many key players, including defender Jordan Tunnicliffe and midfelder Elliot Lee, who both had previously played in higher leagues. The season would not be easy though, as rival Notts County would occupy frst place for most of the season. But as the season progressed, the team ramped up its scoring output, cobbling together a 28-game unbeaten run in the league. At the same time, Wrexham had a remarkable FA Cup run, which saw some heart-racing games, such as their 3-4 victory on the road against Championship team Coventry City and a 3-3 draw at home

against Sheffeld United, where Wrexham were denied a win due to an equalizer from center-back John Egan in the 95th minute. As a result, they had to play a replay at Sheffeld United, where they suffered a 3-1 defeat following two stoppage-time Sheffeld goals and a missed penalty by Mullin.

In February, the club would surprise yet again, signing former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster following the injury of their main goalkeeper, Rob Lainton. With Wrexham and Notts County neck and neck, whoever won their head-to-head fxture on April 11 would take a huge leap toward the fnish line; and that’s exactly what Wrexham did, winning 3-2 thanks to a massive penalty save from Foster in stoppage-time. Two weeks later, the team found themselves four points ahead of Notts County, with two games left to play. They now just needed to beat playoff-chasing Boreham Wood to secure their promotion.

The atmosphere was electric as the game of the season against Boreham Wood kicked off at the Racecourse Ground, with Reynolds, McElhenny, and over 10,000 fans anxiously awaiting whether Wrexham would secure promotion. However, just 45 seconds into the match, Boreham Wood would stun the home crowd with a chip shot from striker Lee Ndlovu. As the pressure mounted on Wrexham to get back into the game, Ndlovu came through in the 15th minute by scoring a stunning header, drawing the match level, and prompting the fans to erupt into a frenzy of excitement. With the score tied at 1-1, both

Poch to Chelsea?

midfelder Adam Lallana, defender Luke Shaw, and defensive midfelder Victor Wanyama. Or, for example, in the 2015-2016 season, when Tottenham Hotspur came third to Leicester with an extremely young squad. Poch utilized players such as forward Harry Kane, attacking midfelder Dele Alli, central midfelder Nabil Bentaleb, defensive midfelder Eric Dier, and defender Ben Davies, all of whom were under 24 years of age at the time, and with these youngsters, he was able to achieve so much.

“I’m not afraid to play them. If a player deserves to play, if they are 17, 18, 19, or 20, it’s the same for us, if they deserve to play and show character and maturity to be given the responsibility. But for that, you need to build the player,” Pochettino said in an interview while at Tottenham.

It’s fair to say that if there’s one coach who knows how to develop players into world-class talents, it’s Pochettino, and currently, there’s no club with more young talent than Chelsea. He would be developing young stars like winger Noni Madueke (21), winger Mykhailo Mudryk (22), defensive midfelder Enzo Fernández (22), defender Benoît Badiashile (22), defender Wesley Fofana (22), and many more. If he was able to develop players like Kane and Alli into world-class talents, then why can’t he do so with the likes of the players mentioned above? If he does end up getting the job, it will be extremely interesting to see how some of the players at Chelsea develop, and how the club as a whole develops.

#2: Manager Profle + CV

Besides Pochettino’s ability to develop younger players into world-class stars, he also brings a sense of longevity and expectation to the club. Let’s start with the longevity aspect of it. With the state Chelsea are in right now, owner Todd Boehly and his staff need to fnd a manager who Chelsea can build a project with. Last year, they believed that the man for the project was Graham Potter rather than Thomas Tuchel, but we all saw how that ended up. Now, it’s time that they fnd a manager who can provide long-term support and gradual development to the team, but also one who has accomplished something in their managerial career and is accustomed to managing a top club; Pochettino ticks both of those boxes. If he ends up joining, the development will defnitely be a long-term project, because both he and the club are looking for a sense of longevity at this stage. Some might argue that he might not bring the necessary “aura” in the locker room that the players will look up to. However, that’s not completely true. As he has shown time and time again with his success at young clubs, Pochettino has a knack for raising young players into disciplined stars, with Kane and Alli being prime examples of such. Critics might point out the fact that he hasn’t won any trophies or his heavily unsuccessful tenure at Paris Saint-Germain. Firstly, for the state that Chelsea are in at the minute, a trophy-heavy manager isn’t necessary. With all the money spent on Europe’s biggest talents, the club needs someone who can develop those youngsters while

teams were pressing for the win. But in the second half, Mullin stepped up to the plate and scored two goals, sending the Wrexham faithful wild with adrenaline and joy. Finally, after over 100 minutes of play, the fnal whistle blew, and hundreds of fans rushed onto the feld, illuminating the stadium with reddish-pink fares, while the sounds of drums, horns, and joyful screams flled the air.

Amidst the chaos, Reynolds could be seen wiping away tears of joy as he hugged McElhenny and other board members. For everyone who knew Wrexham’s name, it was a moment of pure exhilaration that summed up the incredible journey that they had embarked upon, and the immense pride they felt in being a part of the Wrexham family. “People said at the beginning, why Wrexham?

This is exactly why Wrexham,” Reynolds said in a post-match interview. He also thanked Notts County for keeping Wrexham on the edge of their seats all season. “They deserve to go up. We are rooting for Notts County,” Reynolds said. McElhenney expressed equally high passion and praise for the team. “I’d like to say that [Mullin] is one of the greatest players in the world,” McElhenney said. With Wrexham’s promotion to League Two secured, what lies ahead for the team? Can they repeat their success and gain promotion again, backed by their newfound talent and Reynolds’ bank account? Who will be the next player to join their ranks? Only the future will tell, but for now, it’s all celebration and ecstasy for the town of Wrexham.

bringing Chelsea back into the topfour next season, and Pochettino is perfect for that. His tenure at PSG should be taken with sympathy. Looking at recent managers, none have been able to deliver PSG the crown jewel: the Champions League. The aura of players like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé is too big at the club to give a manager like Pochettino time, and after all, he isn’t the only manager who has taken over PSG’s reins and been unsuccessful due to a falling out.

A combination of these two reasons is more than enough justifcation for Chelsea to hire Pochettino as their next manager. Given the fact that former candidates Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, and Kompany are now completely out of the race according to reports, Pochettino is the best remaining option. Hopefully, next season, he can help bring the club back to a sense of normalcy while making use of all the young talent that Boehly’s management team splashed club cash on.

SPORTSBEAT

Inter Milan takes a 2-0 lead over A.C. Milan after the frst leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-fnals, while the frst leg at the Santiago between Real Madrid and Manchester City ends in a draw.

Following their frst-round victory, the Toronto Maple Leafs were defeated in fve games by the Florida Panthers, who will now play the Carolina Hurricanes

F.C. Barcelona are champions of La Liga for the frst time since 2019. In Italy, a far longer drought ended, as S.S.C. Napoli win their frst Serie A title in 33 years.

Both the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers have reached their respective conference fnals, a seemingly impossible task given their eighth-seed placement.

Despite posting a winning record, the New York Yankees fnd themselves at the bottom of the AL East. The New York Mets, despite being under .500, fnd themselves in third place in the NL East.

Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies for brandishing a gun again on an Instagram Live.

Lionel Messi was suspended by PSG for a surprise trip to Saudi Arabia, with sources reporting that Barcelona will try to aquire him in the summer.