Volume 107, Issue 2

The Spectator

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper A&E

Features

Queens, Hip-hop, and Xenophobia: In Conversation with Himanshu Suri South Asian rapper and Stuyvesant alumnus Heems discusses his origins, 9/11, and his plans for the future. see page 4

Volume 107 No. 2

A&E editor Liana Chow draws haunting parallels between her own life and that of the Little Girl in this lyrical film review of “The Little Prince.”

Administration Reinstates Freshman Algebra-Geometry Class

Merit Semifinal-

By Ryan Kim and Mai Rachlevsky

State Chorus and Orchestra for soprano and violin, re-

After prohibiting freshmen from “doubling up” on Algebra I and geometry in the 2015-16 school year, Assistant Principal (AP) of Mathematics James Johnson, former AP of Mathematics Maryann Ferrara, and former Principal Jie Zhang created a new double period course called Euclidean Geometry & Algebra for freshmen.

The course is for students whose math placement exam scores indicate that they need a review of Algebra I. The students learn geometry at the same time so that they have the opportunity to catch up with their peers and take calculus in their senior year.

“Our goal was to make sure that everybody at Stuyvesant was at least at geometry level as ninth graders,” Johnson said.

“We want the students to get to the same level as everyone else.”

Last year, the administration did not allow students to double up on algebra and geometry because it felt that the stress

spectively.

Liam Elkind and Kate Johnston placed fifth in Seniors

the oral interpretation and humorous interpretation categories, respectively, at the Yale

University speech tourna-

ment from Friday, September

16 to Sunday, September 18.

English teacher Dr. David Mandler published a book called “Arminius Vambery and the British Empire—Between East and West,” on Friday, July 22. studies teacher Lee paper, “Nurses and End-of-Life Care: Navigating the Precarious Ethicon-Legan Framework in Hospice Care,” was selected to be read at the American Anthropological Association’s Annual Conference.

Social

Brando’s

of taking two math courses was negatively impacting freshmen.

“When you are weak in algebra and then you have to go into geometry, you are handling two different sets of math concepts that are far from each other,” Zhang told The Spectator in October 2015.

Before the administration prohibited taking both math courses in freshman year, freshmen were placed into two separate math classes for Algebra I and geometry. They may have been at different points in the school day, and taught by different teachers.

This year, the students take a separate double period course with its own course code.

“They have reintroduced the course in sort of a hybrid form.

It’s a geometry course, but with a double period. It’s for the students that need extra algebra help,” said mathematics teacher Melissa Protass, who teaches the double period class. “The students are going to get a boost in their algebra skills so they can be successful at Stuy.”

A Closer Look At Programming Changes

By BLYTHE ZADROZNY

According to the programming office, around 800 to 1,000 students have their programs changed in the first two weeks of the semester. The Spectator conducted a small survey via its Facebook page to gather student responses on this near-universal experience at Stuyvesant. Eighty-one students responded.

continued on page 2

Stuyvesant Purchases Access to Student Safety App

Yes

24.7%

Have you ever had a serious mistake in your program?

87 A + 13

Senior Grace Stempel and junior Brian Leung were selected to be a part of the All

stuyspec.com

75+A 25

One hundred and three Stuyvesant seniors were named Na-

No No 75.3% 75.3%

Have you ever tried to 86.6% change your schedule?

Yes

No

13.4%

What have been your experiences with program changes?

Do you think the way students obtain schedule changes are efficient and fair?

“The program change day can be really unreliable when it comes to actually getting something done. However, usually, your guidance counselor or even the principal (referring to Ms. Zhang) would be a lot more helpful with getting something done. Even then, depending on your guidance counselor, you may get help or just a flat-out no. It would be better if during program changes, they just accepted boutique changes since half the time, people end [up] getting what they want by going to their [guidance counselors].”

“Why go to program changes and see one department at a time, when you can just go to your guidance counselor and have him/her personally discuss your classes, and change any class in all departments?” “[T]here needs to be a uniform method for program changes and it should really [not] be this discouraged, since it’s important for us to be comfortable going to each and every class.”

“It is not fair that people use alternative channels, but also that is sometimes the only way to make a necessary change.”

Stuyvesant Students Advocate For Halal and Kosher Lunch Options

James Young / The Spectator

Sonia Epstein / The Spectator

By Vanna Mavromatis and Jessica Wu Stuyvesant High School recently bought access to the “SchoolDude CrisisManager” app with money contributed by the Parents’ Association. The app, popular on many college campuses such as Drexel University, Cleveland State University, and the College of William and Mary, sends important notifications about school, safety, and weather announcements to students’ phones and allows them to download safety plans and contact the school while outside of the building.

Freshmen received notice of the app during Camp Stuy in August. However, the administration is waiting until the school year is further underway to present the app to other grades. The current plan is for students to receive a handout with information on how to download and use the app in an upcoming homeroom period. However, students can download the app from the iTunes or Google Play stores and sign up with their stuy.edu e-mail addresses now. The use of stuy.edu e-mail addresses will connect students to the Stuyvesant database on CrisisManager.

Each grade has its own page on the app. From there, one can also view instructions for different emergency situations, such as an evacuation or a suspicious pack-

see page 12

September 30, 2016

NEWSBEAT tional ists.

Pause Your Homework and Travel the Stars

By purchasing the SchoolDude CrisisManager application, Stuyvesant receives its own interface, which students can access by signing up with their stuy.edu e-mails.

age or threat. There is also a button to report unsafe conditions or conduct to Assistant Principal of Security, Student Affairs, Health, and Physical Education Brian Moran. The app also includes a flashlight button and a button that makes a loud alarm sound.

Moran believes the app will be useful for Stuyvesant because a large portion of the student body leaves the building throughout

the day, during lunch and free periods. “We could use it if there were weather delays, if there were school closings, if there was something that happened where we want to reach a lot of people very quickly,” he said. “[Students] leave the building during the day, so we need more than continued on page 2

Student Union Vice President Tahseen Chowdhury is advocating for a bill that would require public schools to serve kosher and halal food.

By Nishmi Abeyweera and Greg Huang

At a September 6 rally on the steps of City Hall, Student Union Vice President Tahseen Chowdhury and freshman Sudat Khan advocated for a bill requiring public schools to provide certified kosher and halal lunch options.

Chowdhury and Khan are currently working with other public school students in New York, as well as the Khan Foundation, a non-profit organization, and Khan’s Tutorial, a preparatory organization, to garner attention for the bill. continued on page 2

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 2

News Administration Reinstates Freshman Algebra-Geometry Class continued from page 1

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

WORLDBEAT Abubakar Shekau,

China completed the largest radio telescope in the world on Sunday, September 25. One of its uses is scanning for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Harvard University’s

endowment is underperforming and has faced a two percent loss on investments due to leadership issues and questionable investment strategies.

Washington State authorities have apprehended Arcan Cetin as a suspect in the killing of five people in Cascade Mall on Friday, September 23.

September government on Friday,

President Barack Obama vetoed a bill that would allow

11

victims to sue the

Saudi Arabian

September 23. He believed that the bill had the potential to undermine government action to fight state-sponsored terrorism and threat immunity that protects many U.S. citizens overseas.

Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the Chelsea, Manhattan and New Jersey that occurred

Prosecutors charged bombings in

on Saturday, September 18.

Protests and riots broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina after a video of the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott was released by his wife on Tuesday, September 20. Mayor Jennifer Roberts declared the city to be in a state of emergency and has imposed a midnight to 6 a.m. curfew.

died on Sunday, September 25 in a boat crash in Miami, Florida.

Stuyvesant Students Advocate For Halal and Kosher Lunch Options continued from page 1

Those attending the rally included Comptroller Scott Stringer and Assemblyman David Weprin, both of whom support the change.

Chowdhury believes that the lack of halal and kosher lunches can negatively impact students’ health and education. Students either have to buy lunch from outside of school or bring lunch from home, which can pose a financial burden, or spend the day without eating. “If a student is going hungry throughout the day, they’re not going to focus on their schoolwork [or] learn what they are supposed

to be learning,” Chowdhury said. “That’s just completely unacceptable in every sense.”

At present, observant Jewish and Muslim students have few options to circumvent the lack of halal and kosher lunches. “[Halal carts] would be popular if [every student] could afford it, [but] that’s something people can’t afford on a daily basis,” Chowdhury said.

Though the process of passing the bill is still in its infancy, Chowdhury is confident that they will eventually succeed. “[The DOE] can’t leave kids hungry every day. It might take some time to get everyone on board, but I’m sure we’ll get there,” he said.

“[The DOE] can’t leave kids hungry every day. It might take some time to get everyone on board, but I’m sure we’ll get there.”

—Tahseen Chowdhury, Student Union Vice President

Precalculus in their junior year, so they will have the opportunity to learn calculus. “We will try to do that, especially [for] students who really want to [take calculus]. We will do everything possible. It is our goal,” Johnson said.

Some of the freshmen doubling up on the two courses are happy with the arrangement.

“Taking geometry and algebra together helps a lot, and I understand a lot [more] of my math class than I expected,” Li said.

However, some students seem to think just the opposite.

“I would rather take one math course now and then one next year. I feel like it’s too much sitting in the room for a double period,” freshman Daniel Chung said.

The math department believes the double-period course will ultimately be in students’ best interests. “Even though you might think something is review and you’ve seen it before, keep paying attention because it’s going to take a curve and you’re going to learn something new here,” Protass said.

College Recommenders Exempt from Lunch Duty

By Chloe Hanson and Alexia Leong Teachers who spend at least one period a day writing college recommendations are exempt from certain DOE sanctioned activities, like lunch duty.

Former principal Jie Zhang’s administration enacted a similar policy last year that dictated that teachers who write at least 25 recommendations are exempt from lunch duty. The quota was eliminated this year and replaced with the one-period-per-day rule under Interim Acting Principal Eric Contreras at a fall cabinet meeting.

The policy is designed to help teachers meet students’ demands for college recommendations. With most colleges requiring or encouraging students to submit two letters of recommendation, and with over 800 students in each grade, the burden on teachers, particularly junior-year teachers, adds up. “[The policy] came to be by recognizing the amount of time it takes, especially in the fall, to write these letters,” Assistant Principal (AP) of Social Studies Jennifer Suri said.

By exempting teachers who write letters of recommendation

Under the administration’s policy, teachers who spend one period per day writing college applications are exempt from duties like monitoring the lunch room

from DOE sanctioned activities, the administration hopes to provide them with more time to write.

DOE sanctioned activities include working in the cafeteria, teaching additional class sections, conducting office hours, and being a faculty advisor for extracurricular clubs. “[Sanctioned activities are] not allowing [teachers] to be the professionals that they are and [do] something that’s educational,

but unfortunately, it’s a necessary activity here at the school,” AP of Guidance Casey Pedrick said.

Writing college recommendations, while not mandated for teachers, is also an important part of a teacher’s responsibilities, and the administration wants to recognize that. “They truly are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts and wanting [their students] to have a complete, wonderful application,” Pedrick said.

Stuyvesant Purchases Access to Student Safety App continued from page 1

just the PA announcements.”

The introduction of the app does not change the current cell phone policy, however, and students are still not allowed to use their phones in the building, except with permission from faculty. “If I wanted everyone in the building to know something, I would just pick up the PA and make an announcement,” Moran said. “You don’t need to have a phone if you’re in the building.”

Students without mobile phones can use a computer to access the app online, but will not be able to receive the notifications.

“It’s not mandatory, so if you don’t have a phone, it’s not something you need to worry about. We still have the other ways of communicating,” Moran said. “But I think we’re at the point where just about everyone has a phone.”

Many students agree with this sentiment. “In this day and age, everyone seems to use their cell phone as their main method of communication. This app en-

sures that a lot of students will receive and actually be aware of any dangerous situations in a timely manner,” junior Joey Chen said.

Some students are excited about the concept of this app.

“The app definitely makes me feel more safe and comfortable.

It’s good to know that if anything serious happens, I’ll know just from a notification on my phone instead of from my email, which I’m not always logged into,” freshman William Wusaid said.

Janet Zhang / The Spectator

Jose Fernandez, a pitcher for the Miami Marlins baseball team,

Nikita Borisov / The Spectator

the disputed leader of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, released a video denying a claim by the military that he was killed or badly wounded in an airstrike last month.

Rather than starting over in an algebra class, the new course is more adapted to freshmen’s prior knowledge. “A lot of the students know some of the concepts in algebra, so the focus will be more on the geometry,” Johnson said.

This change takes away some of the stress that comes with separate classes. “I don’t feel too stressed about taking two courses. They kind of integrate both of them together, and they do most of the work in one topic,” freshman Franklin Li said.

Because doubling up was not an option for last year’s freshmen, current sophomores who were placed in Algebra I did not have a chance to take geometry until this year. “Our year was the only year that wasn’t allowed to [double up] and that’s annoying because now I’m a year behind in math,” sophomore Muhib Khan said.

“I want to catch up with the students [who] are taking [Algebra II/Trigonometry] this year, but I’m not with them. I am taking a class that is a grade lower,” sophomore Diana Sattarova said.

Even though the sophomores weren’t able to double up in their freshman year, the math department hopes to give them a chance to double up on trigonometry and

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 3

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Page 4

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Features

Courtesy of Phil Cheng

Queens, Hip-hop, and Xenophobia: In Conversation with Heems

By Asim Kapparova “We’re going flag shopping for American flags They’re staring at our turbans, they’re calling them rags They’re calling them towels, they’re calling them diapers They’re more like crowns; let’s strike them like vipers” This is an excerpt from one of Himanshu “Heems” Suri’s songs “Flag Shopping,” one of many songs featured in his 2015 solo album “Eat Pray Thug,” which focuses on social commentary on post-9/11 life for South Asian and Middle Eastern Americans.

A rare type of Stuyvesant success story, Suri is one of the few well-known Indian American rappers in the U.S. He rose to fame as a founding member of the rap group Das Racist, which first found success on the internet with its 2008 song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” As a solo artist, Heems has released two mixtapes and one album, “Eat Pray Thug,” to positive reviews.

Origins

“You know, if I didn’t grow up in New York, I wouldn’t speak or rap or talk or dress or think the way I do,” Suri said. “It is definitely ingrained in my DNA, just as much as being Indian, and maybe even more.”

Queens contributed to his interest in rap. As a child, he visited his grandparents’ house in Flushing, listened to ‘70s Bollywood songs over the VHS with his grandmother and became obsessed with basketball players and rappers (Nas, Biggie Smalls, and Mobb Deep), a typical interest in his neighborhood.

“My upbringing involved listening to a lot of Bollywood and Bhangra at home alongside rap,

reggae, R&B, and pop music,” Suri said. “In some ways, my music reflects this diversity of genre.”

Queens also taught him to be open-minded. “There’s a general diversity and awareness of other cultures, a sense of the metropolitan without the snobbiness associated with it,” Suri said.

Going to Stuyvesant

Suri is grateful that Stuyvesant gave him the opportunity to live what he otherwise believed would be a boring life in Queens.

“Just kind of being around the pace and the speed of Manhattan and the ambition of Manhattan brought this awareness to me in an early age,” he said.

Though Suri may not have taken the math and biology courses from Stuyvesant into his career, there are skills he is grateful to have realized during school.

“More than anything, I learned it was important to work as smart as I could, rather than as hard as I could,” he said. “If something doesn’t require my attention, I won’t put it in that direction, because I know something else requires it.”

September 11, 2001

During his junior year of Stuyvesant, 9/11 happened.

“On September 11, 2001, I woke up like any other day: tired, burnt, cranky, and not looking forward to having to ‘do stuff.’ I yelled at my mom for not understanding that ‘I know what I’m doing, yo’ and went down the stairs.”

Suri told his story in “Post-9/11 All Over Again: The Hate-Mongers Who Bombarded the Internet After Osama bin Laden’s Death”: “I hopped on the bus to head to Kew Gardens and get on that E/F. That bus would have dropped me off in front of the Century 21 clothing

store across from Ground Zero, maybe an hour or so before the world would change, and I would become a crazy in my head.”

For Suri, it’s hard to put into words how exactly 9/11 changed him. “That’s a question I should have with a therapist if I ever see one,” Suri said. “But as far as emotionally or mentally, as far as being a South Asian American and being a part of a community made up of Hindus and Muslims, my world definitely changed. The way others look at my skin color changed, and the way I look at my skin color, I look at it with the same pride I always have, but other people think differently, and you can’t help but be cognizant of that.”

Suri noticed other people’s views changed toward Muslims.

When evacuating the building after former principal Stanley Teitel announced the plane crash, he and other brown students grouped together to avoid hostile confrontations.

“We specifically wanted to make sure no one would harass the girls in our group who wore a hijab,” Suri wrote in the article.

“Indeed, later that day, someone yelled at our friend, ‘[Expletive] PALESTINIAN,’ or some other unoriginal racial comment, as most are, but that person wouldn’t dare cross the street and say it.”

In the Wake of 9/11

9/11 opened up new opportunities and sources of inspiration in high school and in his future rap career. When offered the choice to partake in a trip traveling abroad, Suri jumped at the idea of a free trip to once more open his horizons beyond what then seemed to be a constraining Manhattan. The program, called Bridge to Berlin, flew out 25 students who were at Ground Zero

during the attacks, including six Stuyvesant students, to German cities like Heidelberg, Munich, and Berlin.

“We met Mercedes Benz executives, Chancellor Schröder, and other country politicians. We had different channels interviewing us about what it was like,” Suri said. “It was just that idea of ‘You’re going to do five cities in two weeks, and you’re going to do this many interviews and are going to shake this many hands,’ is basically what I do for a living now. That all started there. I went from Queens to Tribeca and from Tribeca to Germany.”

The Present

Through his music, Suri promotes a message about pride in America, especially after 9/11.

“You become more aware of your body, and your body becomes something that the media tells you is wrong,” he said. “I turned that idea on its head, the idea of self-hate into an idea of selfpride.”

But this does not necessarily mean he targets a specific audience. “I don’t like to cater my music to a certain type of demographic,” he said. “The wider it reaches, the better. But I can see why, as an Indian person from New York, as an Indian American or somebody [who’s] a part of the South Asian community, it might appeal to people like that more.

My mission is to increase visibility, so that it wouldn’t be weird for an Indian to have a sitcom about rap, or you know, be more out there and doing things,” Suri said.

Suri expresses his sentiment through his music and image.

He believes “the more artists, the more media singers, the more athletes, the more politicians, the more successful brown people

are visible to the community,” the more “it helps people within the community see themselves in a different light and people from outside the community realize that we’re just people,” he said.

“When I did Das Racist, my fan base wasn’t largely Indian,” he said. “I don’t really cater my music to the outside. I kind of make it in a bubble and see what happens.”

Currently in the works is “Cashmere,” an album scheduled to release on October 14. It is the debut album of the duo, Swet Shop Boys, a collaboration between Riz Ahmed (a.k.a. Riz MC), who is British-Pakistani, and Heems. Suri is excited for the messages his new content will contribute to society. “For a Pakistani and an Indian, and a British and an American person, to make an album together is an accomplishment, because we are looking at a border and an ocean and crossing both to make music,” he said.

Suri also hopes to speak about his life some day in a novel. He describes the potential book as a fusion of rap, his experiences during and after 9/11, New York, being South Asian in America, and immigration.

“I know I shouldn’t be so obsessed with race and its depiction in media, but visualization is key for us, especially post-9/11,” Suri wrote in an article, “Life of Heems.” “When white dudes are running into temples killing everyone they see with a turban, part of me thinks, ‘If the only turbaned face they saw in media wasn’t Osama bin Laden but that of jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia or famed actor Kabir Bedi, maybe those lives would have been spared.’”

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 5

Features Stuyvesant’s Newest Teachers

By Archi Das, Fatima Irfan, Elizabeth Lawrence, Andrea Ma, Maya Mitrasinovic, Sophie Watwood, and Alexandra Wen

Chan developed a passion for teaching by taking care of her younger cousins. She originally wanted to become a Chinese teacher but became interested in science instead.

“It’s an ever-changing field where you continually discover new things, and that’s really fascinating,” Chan said.

Before Stuyvesant, she taught science at other high schools and

directed research programs.

In her spare time, Chan enjoys nature through activities like hiking and whitewater rafting. Chan also runs a nonprofit organization that conducts research with other students and scientists.

“We’ve been studying the forest in Vietnam, and we do that every summer, and there’s also a nanotechnology program that we run in the city,” she said.

Mankit Wong, Physical Education

Ernest Oliveri, Assistant Principal of World Languages Oliveri was sent to Stuyvesant by the superintendent to fill the position of AP of Language temporarily. He will be appointed to the position officially if Stuyvesant decides to choose him after a round of interviews with other qualified applicants. He was definitely excited to come here, even though it wasn’t his decision.

“I was interested in working with kids who were intellectually motivated,” he said. “It’s what keeps us teachers in the game.

It’s the feedback you get, it’s the twinkle in the eye you see, it’s the debate that you generate. These things are all very important to a teacher, and you get that here at Stuyvesant,” Oliveri explained.

Oliveri loves all languages, but Spanish holds a very special place in heart, as it very well should, because it’s what helped him fall in love with his wife.

He was invited to a party by some Italian friends in New York because of an English immersion program. The party comprised of him, one other man, and a bunch of foreign women. He was introduced to a Spanish woman, who knew no English or Italian whatsoever. He attempted conversation nonetheless.

“I walked up to her and said ‘mucho gusto,’ something to that effect,” Oliveri recalled. The woman responded rapidly with a whole string of Spanish words. Oliveri was confused, to say the least.

“At that point, I realized I was going to have to improve my Spanish, because we hit it off, and we started dating,” he said. He married that woman, and now lives in a bilingual household. “Love is a

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Kaia Waxenberg / The Spectator

Charlene Chan, Biology

great motivator [to learn languages]. I recommend it to everybody,” he said.

His love of learning other languages and cultures, however, did not begin with his love for his wife. When asked why he loves his subject, he responded: “I don’t know if I have a rational answer for that. Love is not rational. Love is emotional. It just does something to you.” Oliveri has always loved listening to other languages.

For an academic in international relations, Latin America was his area of expertise, and he traveled around there extensively.

He earned his doctorate in international relations in the 1980s and began teaching as a college professor. He was a visiting professor for a while, traveling between different schools, but when he wanted to settle down with his wife, he needed to find a steady job. Finding positions in universi-

ties are difficult to find, so he went to the Department of Education, and they gave him a job as a bilingual global studies teacher in Flushing High School.

Oliveri has passions beyond teaching and language learning.

He has a great appreciation of old movies, which he is able to demonstrate in the Spanish Films class he teaches here. He loves photography, especially black and white photography and even had a studio in Union Square at one point.

He also is a bookworm and has a study in his home with a large array of books, because he never throws books away.

And one of Oliveri’s quirks is that he enjoys motorcycles. He had a Ducati, an Italian motorcycle, when he was 20 and is on the prowl for another one. So if you see a teacher roll up to Stuyvesant with a Harley Davidson, it’s probably Mr. Oliveri.

Physical education is something Mankit Wong has always found value in. “Being able to translate fitness into real life and being able to take care of your body as you get older is very important,” he said. To him, it’s something that connects all aspects of health—being physically fit can get you on the path to feeling better both mentally and spiritually. These are ideas he can’t wait to share with Stuyvesant students.

“I love expanding my ideas to my students and opening their minds. You guys are gonna be the new leaders, and I want you to be ready,” he said. Wong began as a substitute teacher at various different high schools, including Stuyvesant. When he saw there was a vacancy here, he contacted Assistant Principal of Security, Health, and Physical Education Brian Moran, and, to his excitement, got the job.

Wong has many favorite sports. However, baseball holds a special place in his heart. When asked if he follows sports, he leaned closer to the recorder and said, “Let’s go, Mets!”

Fishing is another one of Wong’s passions. He referred to fishing as a “boring thing,” but did recall an exciting instance where a bluefish put up a fight and bit off the line, right as he was about to reach for the net.

He also enjoys traveling. “[I love] being able to experience new and different things, to learn about different cultures and different people,” he said. He has visited different parts of Asia and hopes to travel to all of Europe.

But, despite all the exciting new experiences other places have to offer, he considers New York to be the best place he’s ever been.

“I would stay here all my life. New York is the place to be,” he said.

Chris Suter, Technology For Suter, technology has always been a passion. Even in high school, he took classes for technology, working hands on. After graduating from Morrisville State College with a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology, Suter worked for three years in the industry. He did machine operating training and recognized that it was one of the more rewarding parts of his job. Suter left work and went back to school at City Tech, studying for two years to get a technology education license.

The technology available to him at Stuyvesant and the ability

to go in-depth with more course material adds on to what makes Stuyvesant unique. “It’s a very high bar, and it’s a big requirement, but it’s something I’m looking forward to,” he said. “It’s the environment I want to be in, you know. I want to be challenged.”

When Suter’s not teaching, he loves playing soccer. He grew up playing it and plans to get back into it, along with trying out other activities such as rock climbing.

He also spends time putting computers together and playing video games. “I’m a computer guy,” he said.

Based on Feola’s telling of it, his new position as a Stuyvesant guidance counselor may as well have been fate. “I hadn’t even met Ms. Pedrick yet, but I walked up here for my interview from the PATH station at the World Trade Center, I saw the building, and I knew that I wanted it so bad.”

By the end of Feola’s senior year in high school, he decided for certain to go into education. Before, he planned on going into pharmaceutical sales, because he wanted to make a lot of money. His French teacher and mentor, however, was aggressively opposed to this.

“She started yelling at me in French and said that, ultimately, I would be wasting this gift that I have with people and that I needed to go into education, that it was really important that I do so,” he said.

He started on the path to becoming a teacher. His undergraduate was in English and Psychology, and he would have taught English had he not found counseling.

He mentioned that, to him, the two are similar: “I don’t feel like literature is so much different than counseling, because, if you think about it, there is human development in character development, and a lot of experiences are conveyed through writing and

Mika Simoncelli / The Spectator

Kaia Waxenberg/ The Spectator

Joseph Feola, Guidance Counselor

literature in general.”

Feola originally worked as a counselor at Hopewell Valley High School in the Princeton area. He also taught masters level counseling on the side at Rider University.

He came to Stuyvesant because he was looking to expand his experiences, and as he was already certified in New York, he was excited about the prospect of working in the city.

Even now, Feola is still pursuing his own education, in a parttime doctoral program studying

counseling at Montclair State University. “Doing some adjunct work on the side has really fulfilled another part of who I am,” he said.

While Feola also enjoys outdoorsmanship and the fine arts, his true passion lies in his work.

“I get to spend my whole working career supporting adolescents and enhancing your educational experience the best that I can, and I get paid for it,” he said. “I make a living off of helping kids, and that’s the coolest thing in the world.”

Yelena Khelev, Computer Science Khevelev was actually a math major in college.

She grew to take a liking to computer science very early on in her life and strived to be a computer programmer, but in college, she switched her focus to math.

She then pursued a career as a math teacher in a number of schools, including NEST+m, prior to Stuyvesant. For her Stuyvesant debut, she made the switch back to computer science. “It’s something that I already had a degree in and wanted to explore more,” she said. “I wanted to make a name for myself in comp sci.”

Khevelev has various passions in addition to computer science. She’s a huge food connoisseur and loves watching Netflix in her free time. When asked what she looks forward to the most, her response was “Christmas.”

Kaia Waxenberg / The Spectator

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 6

Features Stuyvesant’s Newest Teachers

By Archi Das, Fatima Irfan, Elizabeth Lawrence, Andrea Ma, Maya Mitrasinovic, Sophie Watwood, and Alexandra Wen

continued from page 5

Jeanie Chu, Art

Though Chu is nervous that, at a STEM school like Stuyvesant, her students might not appreciate the art that they learn about, she is excited to teach high school. Prior to teaching high school students, she taught middle schoolers.

Chu completes her days by spending quality time with her son, Theodore, and enjoying New York City culture, whether it is through the multitude of restaurants and museums the city has to offer or by taking strolls with her husband down Riverside Park.

Kristy Cimaglia, Health Cimaglia grew up passionate about cooking, swimming, and other healthy activities. After becoming interested in health as an undergrad, Cimaglia became a public health educator.

“I thought, ‘How great would it be to be a regular health ed teacher?’” Cimaglia said. “How wonderful would it be to work in the city schools?” She taught in multiple schools, most of them in Long Island and two in the city, before coming to Stuyvesant.

Cimaglia said that, to her, health is one of the most important things.

She has taught both children and adults alike.

“It’s so real life, and it was always a favorite subject of mine,” she said.

“I wanted to become a teacher to get [students] inspired.”

After being recommended to the Assistant Principal of Mathematics by a former supervisor, Hiller was welcomed into the school very quickly, interviewing on a Friday afternoon and being hired the following Monday.

Based on his passion for math, it’s easy to see why. “It’s puzzles and toys and all that stuff wrapped up in one. Since I was a kid, I’ve loved it, I have a job where I get to do it all the time, I love everything

about it. Math is truth, and it’s the only place in the world that I know of where you can find it.”

Outside of intellectual pursuits, Hiller’s main focus is personal health and athleticism. During the summer, he ran practically every day on trails in Central Park.

He also plays soccer, as a goalie.

“It’s nice to take a break from the brain stuff and take care of my body,” he said.

Harold Stephan, Music

Stefan Engquist / The Spectator

While Cimaglia emphasises how much she can go into in-depth material about health, it’s more about teaching people than trying to get them to memorize every aspect of the body. “It’s about helping kids not get into [drugs and alcohol], into peer

Ting Ting Chen / The Spectator

“I love creating,” Chu said.

“It is a part of who we are as people.”

Chu has wanted to be a teacher since fourth grade and has loved art her whole life. When she was a freshman in high school, she wanted to be a graphic designer, to the dismay of her parents, who found a career related to art to be less stable. However, once in college, she decided to pursue an artistic path, transferring to art school and majoring in painting.

Hiller, who teaches both geometry and calculus, got into education in the purest way possible — he was inspired by a fervent desire to improve the world.

“I took a study abroad semester in Nepal to study Buddhism, and while I was there, I saw true suffering and poverty,” he said.

“One night, I was overwhelmed, and I broke down weeping about the pain that these people were going through, and I decided that I get to do what I want, and I’m going to fix stuff like that. But my thought was, how is America going to fix the world if we are a mess in it of ourselves?”

After this epiphany, he joined Teach for America and moved from Arizona straight out to the Bronx, where he worked in the roughest schools he could find.

Stuyvesant is very different than his old school. “It isn’t going to be open for much longer, and I got really frustrated dealing with the administration and the Board of Education hurting my children.

I fought and fought for years and never made any progress and so I felt that I was getting older. It was time for me to have great kids like you guys.”

pressure,” she said.

Aside from health, Cimaglia also has a passion for theater. She took a few classes for acting before and enjoys the many shows that the city has.

“It’s so exciting, being in one of the art capitals of the world,” she said.

“When I was in middle school, I fell in love with the sound of the piano and recordings specifically by Billy Joel. I would sit and listen to the recordings that he would make, and I would hear all the different layers of instruments and how they supported the vocals,” Stephan said.

Stephan’s passion for music began at an early age, and his love for music remained steady throughout his life. As an undergraduate, he taught at The Center for Electronic Music, but his career later took him on a different path.

He’s performed on Broadway, co-written a hit song for MattyB, and done commercial music for companies like Chevy, Burger King, and Sears.

Prior to teaching at Stuyvesant, Stephan was part of a modern band program at City Knoll Middle School.

Mika Simoncelli / The Spectator

Eli Economou / The Spectator

Steve Hiller, Math

“I realized I really wanted to focus on voice,” he said, “so I was so grateful to come to Stuyvesant in the choral department.” Stephan wants to share his experiences in the music industry, as well as empower students and aspir-

ing music professionals.

In regard to pursuing music professionally, he said, “I think the most important thing is to be in it for the love, especially in the music industry, you really need to be in it for the long term.”

Rosemary Polanco, History

Heather Huhn, English

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Until her senior year in college, Huhn was ready to be lawyer.

However, that summer, she did an internship in Washington, D.C., where she worked with children.

She realized that, as much as the prospects of being a lawyer appealed to her, the path she would be taking wouldn’t be helping anybody—but being a teacher would.

Huhn started to teach elementary school.

For two years, she taught first graders. First grade is the core year that you learn how to read, so her job was quite stressful. Huhn described it as an incredible amount of pressure, saying, “If students leave me not really understanding or not have a complete concept of how to read, then they go to second grade, and third grade, and on, and on, without that background skill—that foundational skill.”

That’s not to say that teaching high school English is easy: the stakes are just lower. Making lesson plans is really challenging, because a lot of time and effort has to go into making them engaging. A big part of teaching for Huhn is “Making sure that [she is] giving Stuyvesant students an experience that they’re going to walk away from and find meaningful,” she said.

Mika Simoncelli / The Spectator

Dr. Polanco is eager to indulge in Stuyvesant’s unique environment. “The students are just very inquisitive, you know, they’re asking great questions, and they’re kind of up for anything,” she said.

Polanco spoke about how she appreciates being able to deviate from the lesson from time to time if a student brings up an interesting point; a less strict notion of order enables her to let the class discussion flow organically.

Having majored in American studies and women’s studies, Polanco has always had a passion for

learning about history. In her time here at Stuyvesant, she hopes to become involved with Model UN, which is something she has never participated in but has always wanted to.

Polanco hopes to share her love for knitting with the students of Stuyvesant, perhaps as soon as next semester, in a setting where “kids can just relax and learn a new skill.” Definitely ready to start her recruitment process, she explained “it’s great for your surgical skills and hand dexterity, you know, if you want to be a doctor.”

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 7

Features ‘The Cemetery Responds!’

Dr. Mandler on Publishing His Newest Book

By Vincent Jiang

it would have been a drastically worse publication. In retrospect, sometimes it is better to wait than to rush it through.”

After finally getting the Hungarian version of his book in print, Dr. Mandler was ready to “go to sleep,” as he put it. In fact, he wasn’t expecting to find another publisher so easily, given the struggles he had faced. But one day, he stumbled upon another publishing company, Lexington Books, which he found interesting, and, on a whim, he sent off a proposal.

“I wasn’t even looking necessarily for the English version anymore, because you tend to give up after so many rejections,” he said.

But, surprisingly, the publishing company accepted his offer immediately. This time, members of the Stuyvesant community helped out: Technology teacher Joel Winston, who touched up the cover photo, and English teacher Rosa Mazzurco, who made suggestions for the cover. After a bit more work revising and adding new details, the book was published in July 2016.

“Arminius Vambéry” was his first book published by an outside company. Dr. Mandler has also written and self-published a short story called “The Loft,” which is based on the stories of the patients in the hospital where his grandparents spent their last years. Though English teacher Kim Manning has read and reviewed the story, not many students know about it.

The book felt heavy in my hands. Its title, “Arminius Vambéry and the British Empire,” accented the cover’s image of the peculiarly dressed man himself. I assumed the maroon and white hardcover was freshly printed for its author, English teacher Dr. David Mandler, and was laid on his desk for others to observe.

When I learned that Dr. Mandler sometimes uses his book as a pillow, I laughed, and all my irrational fears of corrupting the newness of the book vanished. Even if it was worth $80, it was obviously meant to be used, read, and maybe even slept on.

“Arminius Vambéry” is a biography about a Jewish Hungarian scholar who was well-versed in Asian and Turkish languages. The book details Vambéry’s adventures across Central Asia and Europe.

Disguised as a Muslim haji, Vambéry explored the Ottoman empire, learning about the culture and the government. As a result, he served as a bridge of communication between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Researching “Vambéry”

Some 15 years ago, the name Vambéry meant little to Dr. Mandler. It was only when he was working on a graduate paper on “Dracula” author Bram Stoker that he stumbled upon Vambéry’s name.

Stoker and Vambéry corresponded while Stoker was working on “Dracula.” Dr. Mandler was drawn to Vambéry, since Vambéry was able to achieve a notable status in Great Britain for fifty years.

Curious to learn more, Dr. Mandler discovered much about the traveller, whom he described as “a very fascinating individual, a magnetic person, a character full of color, a person of importance in terms of his work.”

With his newfound knowledge, Dr. Mandler wrote his doctoral dissertation on Vambéry, which he started in 2001 and took four years to finish. The dissertation later became the main portion of his book.

Afterward, Dr. Mandler spent the following years refining his work and adding new information.

He researched at the New York Public Library near Bryant Park most summers. He recalled spending hours in the research workroom, examining sources like letters Vambéry wrote, and even writing

by Charles Dickens, who had interacted with Vambéry a few times and wrote a story called “The Hungarian Dervish,” which Vambéry inspired.

Dr. Mandler also researched in Europe. He visited the British Library in London, though he was not able to find as much useful information there as he had hoped.

Dr. Mandler visited Budapest,

What Comes Next?

Xin Italie / The Spectator

where he was born and raised— his first language was Hungarian.

He went to visit his grandparents and do more research. He visited the National Szechenyi Library, a former castle, where he looked through the digital database and the paper catalogues to find relevant documents. He also went to the Hungarian National Archives, a former palace, for a letter of recommendation.

Though he admitted the research was grueling and tedious, he remembered some interest-

ing moments. He had written to a cemetery to clarify the date of Vambéry’s wife’s death, not expecting to get a response, but was pleasantly surprised when he did.

“The cemetery writes back.

The cemetery responds!” he said, laughing.

Getting “Vambéry” to the Printers

Publishing the book was another struggle for Dr. Mandler. Most publishing companies rejected his offer on the grounds of his book be-

ing “unmarketable.” One frustrating moment he recalled was back in 2006, when he was rejected by a New England company, despite having high hopes, since he had gained positive reviews from them.

Eventually, he found a publisher willing to work with him, and after another period of working with editors and translators, the Hungarian translation of the book book was released in November of 2014.

“It’s a long process with a lot of frustrations,” he said. “I wanted this to be published in 2005, but

Now that “Arminius Vambéry” has been published, Dr. Mandler plans to wait. Unfortunately, he notes, the book is a bit too pricey for him to realistically expect people who are interested in learning about the life of Vambéry to purchase quickly.

He hopes that many libraries will purchase it, and many have already. The Hungarian version, he is happy to say, already has positive reviews, but the English version is too recent for much of a reaction yet.

Dr. Mandler believes “Vambéry” will be his last academic book; he is working on a novel about the antics of a group of teenagers on a highclass trip in Europe, tentatively titled “The Plunge.”

When I left the interview, one detail resonated with me: the book’s dedication, which reads, “In memory of my beloved grandparents who walked through the flames of destruction, and dazzled me with their humor, innocence, kindness, and steadfast faith.”

Though a word of appreciation toward his grandparents, the dedication seemed to be much more. It seemed to be a memento, as well, to the long journey he faced to show the world the life of Arminius Vambéry.

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The Spectator â—? September 30, 2016

Page 8

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Page 9

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 10

Editorials Staff Editorial

What the Chelsea Bombing Means to Us It was loud, definitely too loud bombing, but perhaps a need to be a truck. Too loud to be thun- to recognize that we are not under. You could feel it—whatever touchable. “it” was—reverberating in your The Chelsea bombing on ribcage, pounding against your 23rd Street is not the only incisternum. People were running dent of its kind. Rahami’s story is and so you ran similar to that of too, east and then The Chelsea bombing is Dzhokhar Tsarsouth, away from naev, the disila reality check, whatever had just lusioned immia reminder that happened. grant who helped we aren’t divorced If you were a orchestrate the high school stu- from the acts of terror Boston Marathon dent, you won- currently being carried bombing in 2013. dered if this was out overseas, and within Another bomb how your parents exploded near our own country. had felt 15 years a Jersey Shore ago, on a different charity race the September day, not sure of what same morning, and another to do, not sure of anything, really, one was found on 27th street a except for their own fear. few hours after the 23rd street But as the night stretched on, bomb detonated. Reports say even as ambulances roared past the explosives, which were made and helicopters beat overhead, from materials easily acquired the tightness in from Ebay, were your chest began meant to inflict to dissipate. The maximum harm. police response As high was instantaschool students, neous, those inwe have grown jured were taken up in the shadow to the hospital, of 9/11, without and investigation having actually began immediexperienced it. ately.

We read the news By the next and watch as our morning, all 29 world is shaken of those injured by terror, but had been remostly proceed leased from the through our evhospital. No one eryday lives. The was dead. When Chelsea bombChristine Jegarl / The Spectator details about the ing is a reality attack emerged, it became clear check, a reminder that we aren’t that it was not a large-scale ter- divorced from the acts of terrorist scheme, but a “lone wolf” ror currently being carried out attack, allegedly carried out overseas, and within our own

by Ahmad Khan Rahami, not a country. This was New York City’s member of ISIS, but a troubled, first major encounter with terror first-generation immigrant who since 9/11, and we can’t be sure slowly became an it’s the last. extremist. He has As New Yorkers, “New Yorkers since been deand as members will not be tained.

of the Stuyvesant “New Yorkcommunity, gointimidated.” ers will not be ining to school just —Bill de Blasio, timidated,” Mayor blocks away from Mayor Bill de Blasio said Ground Zero, we shortly after the need to see the attack, and he was largely cor- Chelsea bombing for what it rect. In the wake of the attack it was: not something to freak out became clear that there was no about, but a reminder to stay need to panic about the Chelsea alert.

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

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

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Rec o r d

The Issue 1 article “A Closer Look at Zhang’s Impact on the Student Body” incorrectly stated that Marley Lindsey (‘10) was the Student Union President. Lindsey did not hold this position while at Stuyvesant.

An Issue 1 article reported that pad and tampon dispensers have been installed in the bathrooms. This is incorrect. At press time for Issue 1, the Student Union was misinformed about the status of the dispensers, though the disposal bins had been installed. The Student Union is awaiting an update on when dispensers will be installed.

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 11

Opinions

By Stephen Nyarko At the Clinton-Trump Forum early this September, The Today Show host Matt Lauer interviewed each candidate individually, talking specifically about their goals for the presidency. Lauer quickly demonstrated that Clinton and Trump would be held to different standards.

Clinton’s first substantial question asked if her use of a private e-mail server was “disqualifying, if you want to be commander-inchief.” He spent most of the 30 minute timeframe discussing the e-mails, with a rushed last-minute string of questions on domestic terror attacks, a more appropriate topic for a commander-in-chief

forum.

His first question to Trump: “What have you experienced in your personal life or your professional life that you believe prepares you to make the decisions that a commander-in-chief has to make?”

This selective “objectivity” was not new, but spoke to larger questions about the role of the media in reporting presidential campaigns: should the media’s priority be to seem impartial, or to present the truth to the American people?

At the moment they seem to be choosing the former: challenging Clinton and Trump with the same fervor even when their flaws are of completely different magnitudes.

When reporters’ main goal is to present the candidates fairly, they end up presenting them as equal, which is not the same thing. If Donald Trump says something racist once a week, tweets something racist four to eight times a week, insults military heroes every other month, indulges in conspiracy theories from the far right, and lies to the face of the American people, while Hillary Clinton continues to dodge questions about her emails, which have not been proven to have had any detrimental effect on the security of the United States, then Donald Trump should have more negative coverage.

At the forum, the prime example of this concerned Trump’s support for the Iraq War. Though there

is an audio recording from the Howard Stern Show showing that he supported going into Iraq just after the September 11th attacks, Trump denied this at the forum, citing an interview with Esquire magazine from 2004. By 2004 the war had already started to go downhill, so the article is essentially worthless in establishing whether he supported the war. Lauer is smart enough to know both of these facts, and yet made a conscious decision not to challenge Trump even though his comments clearly warranted correction.

These errors may have been quite specific to Lauer’s failure, but they are part of a larger trend in the national media to portray Trump and Clinton in a somewhat even light. For example, when Trump went to Mexico to talk with its president, he essentially stood on stage, didn’t break into a racist diatribe, walked off stage, all while failing to discuss his main policy proposal with the only other key politician involved. The Washington Post, previously banned from Trump press events, published an article titled “Donald Trump Went to Mexico and Won.” Jake Novak, at CNBC, wrote “Trump Hit a Homerun with his Meeting with Mexico’s President.”

In contrast, Hillary Clinton coughed and used a pillow—like any normal human being might— and members of the right-wing media quickly jump on the op-

Sarah Chen / The Spectator

Jensen Foerster / The Spectator

The Media’s Complicated Relationship with Truth

portunity to depict her as too weak to become president.

Much of media and news organizations’ fears of being labelled biased come from a legitimate source: their own viewers. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 40 percent of Americans trusted the media in 2015. With numbers as abysmal as that, there is a clear motive to cultivate a spirit of trustworthiness, whether or not it accurately portrays the merits of both candidates.

But there are objective truths that come up on the campaign, and when those are directly contradicted by the words of either candidate, the media is the only group with the resources and distribution methods to allow the country to know that a presidential candidate is simply lying.

Mandatory Volunteerism: Not an Oxymoron

By Jane Rhee On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes bombed the village of Trang Bang. Nineyear-old Kim Phúc was photographed fleeing, debris flying behind her as she tore off her burning clothes and screamed, “Nóng quá, nóng quá” (too hot, too hot). Photographer Nick Ut captured this moment, and it stood on the front page of The New York Times the very next day.

When Norway’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, included Ut’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph in an article posted on Facebook, however, it was censored by the social media site, which labelled the photograph as child pornography. Tom Egeland, the Editorin-Chief, was also banned from posting anything from the account for 24 hours after the incident.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg then reposted the picture to protest against what she called “editing out history.”

Within a few hours, Facebook reversed its decision, claiming that the photograph’s iconic depiction of the Vietnam War was

about natural disasters creates dangerously “clean” media.

Under these guidelines, videos covering conflicts in Afghanistan or Syria would not be able to be monetized. Neither would opinionated videos covering the campaigns of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

While the content would still be up for the public to view, news outlets would lose a huge sum of money and may become more selective when releasing videos, which would limit the amount of information that viewers can receive.

Though Facebook and YouTube are rightfully concerned with deciding whether something is appropriate for public consumption, and YouTube’s video monetization rules are important in keeping controversial issues from become

In tightly controlling what content can make profits, YouTube is inadvertently controlling what content is produced.

sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown.”

In tightly controlling what content can make profits, YouTube is inadvertently controlling what content is produced.

While outwardly racist, intolerant, and bigoted content should not be affiliated with an advertisement, creating an economic deterrent for publishing political videos and videos

money-makers, we have to be careful that they are not inadvertently censoring content that is important for people to see. Warning signs or external links could be used in cases where content may not be appropriate, as with the photograph of Kim Phúc. But when the media cleans up the news by banning content or making it scarce through economic disincentives, it becomes impossible for viewers to understand the whole truth.

Courtesy of Anne George

Victoria Huang / The Spectator

Cleaning Up the News more important than the “value of protecting the [Facebook] community.” But this is not the first time that a media giant has toyed with censoring certain images or news stories—and it is unlikely to be the last.

Recently, YouTube has also come under fire for, in a less direct way, playing puppetmaster with its content. The website has tightened its video monetization rules, which allow it to control which videos can receive advertising. The more views those videos get, the more money advertising agencies earn. In order for video content to be deemed “appropriate” for an advertisement on YouTube, it must be devoid of curse words, drug-related and sexually-suggestive content.

YouTube also prohibits video monetization on videos that are related to “controversial or

To improve coverage in the future, more and more news organizations should perform live fact checks, like the New York Times did during the primary debates.

Candidates must also be held accountable for their lies on the debate stage. While it may be more difficult to fact check during live events, moderators should be ready to challenge any vagaries or falsehoods by either directly factchecking or asking tough follow-up questions to get a straight answer.

The guiding principle to all of these decisions, however, should be that a lie is a lie, no matter how many lies you’ve said before. Candidates for the most powerful position in the world shouldn’t be graded on a curve.

By Anne George They say we are young people who are learning to think like adults. We haul ourselves out of bed at six in the morning every weekend and clumsily throw on our suits and polish our dress shoes. We are expected to use our “gifted tongues” to discuss how to create stability and foster citizenship in the seemingly messy world we live in today.

As high school debaters, we come equipped to each tournament ready to comment on our “constituents” in developing nations and our plan to fix the “socioeconomic instability” that we witness daily. We absorb the praise that is thrown at us by our teachers, coaches, and tournament directors for doing so.

Yet, it has become clear that our service only exists when it means we can take home another trophy to display. Often, we, the ones with the “gifted tongues,” ignore the homeless man we see every day begging for food, or the underprivileged students being forced to learn in run-down schools. We have become accustomed to viewing ourselves on a moral high ground, while not fully understanding what it means to take action.

In some areas of the United States, volunteering is now becoming a graduation requirement. According to Reason Mag-

azine, mandatory volunteerism trains students to notice community problems, analyze them, and then take part in resolving them. This teaches students that it isn’t only their responsibility to comment on the issues that surround them, but also to play an active role in improving the lives of those who face these issues.

If educators hope to raise a generation of selfless, responsible, and active citizens who are genuinely committed to servicing their communities, they will need to emphasize the importance of interactions between volunteers and those they help.

Many critics of compulsory volunteerism cite studies that examine the insincere intentions of participants. These critics maintain that only those who want to volunteer should be doing so. Yet, even without these requirements, many students volunteer for the mere purpose of checking off a box on their college applications; in other words, this is a problem that already exists, not a problem that will be born as a result of mandatory volunteerism.

Under a mandate, the practices of college-driven students, as well as the practices of students who volunteer because they simply want to give back, will remain relatively unaffected. On the other hand, students who would not have otherwise become involved in community service will be exposed to the social and educational benefits of volunteering.

Moreover, mandatory volunteering can be a means by which participants can positively change their own attitudes. According to a National Longitudinal Study of Youth, volunteering has shown to be effective in discouraging students from participating in illicit activities, because it occupies their time productively.

By making volunteerism a graduation requirement, educators are taking the first step towards fostering citizenship among students. Maybe one day, we can possess more than “gifted tongues,” and can turn abstract ideas into concrete actions.

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 12

Arts and Entertainment Pause Your Homework and Travel the Stars

Film

Cheap-Ass Food Formosa Cafe

Courtesy of Netflix

Martin Xu/ The Spectator

By EMILY XU 5323 7th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11220

By LIANA CHOW

The film brings the critique of modern adults to the forefront in a more frightening way.

These rice balls are, without a doubt, Formosa Cafe’s most popular attraction, and rightfully so. They are wrapped in seaweed, stuffed generously with tender meat or vegetables, and come in 10 different flavor combinations—everything from Taiwanese original to tempura shrimp.

Popcorn Chicken Price: $4.50 It’s hard to get popcorn chicken right, but Formosa Cafe does.

The chicken is well-seasoned, juicy on the inside, and crispy on the outside.

Two Pieces of Mochi Price: $3 This mochi is sweet, chewy, and comes in green tea, mango, vanilla, and red bean flavor. Whichever you choose, it’s sure to complement the savoriness of the rest of the menu.

Martin Xu/ The Spectator

per sculptures bring to life the desert, the prince, the asteroid B-612 he traveled from, and the strange grown-ups he has met on his neighboring stars.

The original book has at its core soul-searching messages about how to regain one’s inner child and identify the things that really matter (hint: they’re not material) in this transient life. It keeps the tone whimsical with its sunny (and starry) watercolors, even when depicting the dark paradox of a grown-up who drinks alcohol to forget he drinks, a scene that sadly is omitted from the film.

The character of the Prince is the ideal: an innocent boy who finds joy in things as simple as making friends with a fox.

A reader leaves the book not quite knowing how to apply the advice, but feeling warmer all the same.

While the film still features gorgeous emotional passages, it brings the critique of modern adults to the forefront in a more frightening way. The adult characters are not just comically uncreative, but malicious or depressed. The greedy businessman (Albert Brooks) from the book is given a Trump-like

Rice Balls Price: $3-$5

Martin Xu/ The Spectator

spin.

The grown-up version of the Little Prince (a life stage not in the book) reminds me of me and my classmates at semester’s end. He has exhausted eyes and is losing motivation.

To make him “grow up,” the businessman has forced him into hundreds of jobs that he finds meaningless and that he performs at the minimum level with the depressingly fruitless goal of keeping each job.

The Little Girl, too, has her schedule as jam-packed as a Stuyvesant student’s. She literally collapses under the stress of the school admissions process. She is made to believe that if she doesn’t surrender to her schoolwork, she will fail life. A frightening scene in which she is chained to a desk demonstrates, in the extreme, how an oppressive educational system destroys the spirit.

I found it comforting to think that the Aviator really did take the Little Prince’s advice in his old age, rejecting societal rules and accepting that “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.”

He has become happier, more creative, and more at peace with both life and death. The Aviator is to the Little Girl as the Little Prince had been to the Aviator, which suggests that one person can start a chain of positivity.

Children have fallen in love with Saint-Exupery’s book for seventy years. Having mostly grown up, I am having trouble guessing whether or not young children will enjoy the film, which lacks laugh-out-loud humor and is actually quite scary. But I wouldn’t be surprised if children understand the film, like the book, better than adults do. The fact that a child cannot construct a literary analysis does not mean that she doesn’t deeply understand the message, “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

As for myself, I am afraid that, with so many life plans, textbook assignments, and beeping timers behind me, I might understand the Little Prince’s story—and life, in general—less than before. Thankfully, this film reminds me of what is essential.

Martin Xu/ The Spectator

I’ve grown to despise the beeping of timers. I set one for each homework task, and the sound has stopped being motivational––instead, it causes a small panic attack and then a dull headache as I rush to finish the assignment.

As a result, while I watched “The Little Prince,” an elegant Netflix Original animated film, the constant beeping made me cringe a lot. The main character is Little Girl (Mackenzie Foy) who, before hearing the prince’s story, has set a lot of timers in her life to keep her on a strict careerist track.

Though the Little Girl was not in the original “The Little Prince” (1943) book that the film is based on, she is a smart addition. The classic tale by Antoine de Saint Exupery, featuring a planettraveling little boy and what a grown-up aviator learns from him, becomes a story-within-astory that proves just how poorly our society has followed the book’s advice. I was distressed to find that the part of the film that hit closest to home was not the wonder of the sheep, the rose, and the stars that I loved as a child, but the cold, structured life expected of the Little Girl.

The book’s classic phrase, “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” teaches the importance of making connections with others. In purposeful contrast, the film’s adult characters use the word “essential” to describe paper clips and the process of brainwashing children.

The slogan, “What will you be when you grow up? Essential,” bearing down from large posters at the Little Girl’s school, represents a Big-Brotherish pressure on the girl to forfeit imagination for what society believes to be of value.

Pressured by her mother (Rachel McAdams), the Little Girl enrolls in a prestigious school, labors over her advanced math work, and eats apples, all on an unforgiving schedule bracketed by timers and mapped out on a massive board called her “Life Plan.”

Mechanical-sounding singing voices tap out the tedious passage of time in the soundtrack.

The world is gray and blue and cement and right angles, as desolate as an Edward Hopper painting.

The Little Girl finds a new angle on life when, against her mother’s wishes, she befriends the elderly Aviator (Jeff Bridges) next door. The Aviator has a kind voice and a tendency to accidentally blow things up.

For the Little Girl, his chaotic, jazz-filled, teetering house is a joyous detour from her life. His disruption of order is at first cringe-worthy and then liberating.

He is eager to share his tale of how he met the ethereal Little Prince decades ago when he was in despair, having crashlanded in the desert. For this story-within-a-story, computer-generated animation transforms into fluttering paper stop-motion animation. Pa-

What’s better than comfortable chairs and cushions, cool rustic decor, and traditional Taiwanese food? Absolutely nothing, and you can have it all at Formosa Cafe without breaking into your college fund just to pay the bill.

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 13

Arts and Entertainment Get a Life: The Cultured Edition

Events Calendar

1

SATURDAY Food Tasting “CHILE PEPPER FESTIVAL” Brooklyn Botanic Garden

ONGOING Performance Art “A 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC” Brooklyn Museum Art Show “MASTERPIECES OF CHINESE PAINTING FROM THE METROPOLITAN COLLECTION” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Play “ALL THE WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU” Lucille Lortel Theatre

Play “THE CHERRY ORCHARD” American Airlines Theatre Art Show “JOHN SINGER SARGENT’S MRS. CARL MEYER AND HER CHILDREN” The Jewish Museum

September

October

30

FRIDAY

6

Museum Event “METFRIDAYS” The Metropolitan Museum of Art

By CHEYANNE LAWRENCE We all thought Frank Ocean would never put out a sophomore album. Its release date jumped from July 2015 to July 2016, and when the New York Post published the official release date as August 5, we believed it was too good to be true.

We waited and waited for what was to be hailed as “Album of the Year” on August 5 and nothing came. We were frustrated, angry even, for having letting ourselves get our hopes up.

Then, after four years of radio silence (pun intended), Frank Ocean dropped his longanticipated sophomore album, “Blonde,” on August 20.

He also released a 40-minute visual album “stream” called “Endless,” a lush music video for “Nikes,” and a seven-pound coffee table magazine called “Boys Don’t Cry,” full of pictures and poetry (including a charming poem about McDonald’s

by Kanye West)—all within 48 hours.

In Frank’s own words from “Futura Free,” the last track on the album, “I ain’t on your schedule, I ain’t on no schedule.”

After “Blonde” dropped, Frank Ocean made waves when he posted on his Tumblr that he had a relationship with a man, was in love with him, and that

9

THURSDAY

SUNDAY

Convention “NEW YORK COMIC CON” Javits Center, 655 W 34th St. New York, NY 10001 Until 10/9/2016

Film Screening “MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN” PREMIERE Select Theaters

Music

Museum Event “FIRST FRIDAYS” The Frick Collection

Musical Festival “THE MEADOWS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL” Citi Field Until 10/2/2016

Art Show “PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARRY SILVER, 1949-1955” New-York Historical Society

7

FRIDAY

Film Screening “THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN” Select Theaters

“Blonde,” More Music, More Stories it had influenced some of the music he’s written, making him one of few public LGBT hip hop artists.

This is rare for Frank Ocean, since his charm often lies in his elusive nature. He has avoided the media as much as possible and rarely uses social media, instead choosing to “let the music speak for itself.”

“Blonde” can best be described as futuristic. The music is mostly acoustic and soulful, since Frank uses very little background production. Frank uses his falsetto more often than his sultry R&B vocals, making the album sound colder and more collected than I expected.

“Blonde” relies heavily on vocal distortion and features silent interludes to separate the multiple stories Frank tells in each song.

While “Channel Orange” provided exotic backdrops and sunny days, “Blonde” is a lot more about everyday existence: mellow, empty, and full of minor disappointments. The lyrics are poetic, but less youth-

ful and optimistic, and the songs are more dissonant. The songs aren’t cohesive, and even parts of the same song sound immensely different. This unpredictability isn’t a bad quality.

It makes “Blonde” fascinating to listen to.

Whereas “Channel Orange” was an examination of Frank’s world, “Blonde”

Minseo Kim / The Spectator

is an examination of Frank himself and how he came to be.

Frank talks about the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on his hometown of New Orleans, his longtime friendship

with Tyler the Creator, and his altercation with Chris Brown in 2013. He includes audio of a pep talk given to him by his mother and discusses his distaste for technology. Frank expresses his desire to escape from stress and the media, likening it to the death of Tupac Shakur, and picks apart his personal relationships.

Most notably, tracks like “Good Guy,” and a poem titled “Boyfriend” in Frank’s magazine, discuss the realities for Frank of having homosexual relationships as a black man and an American. However, Frank’s sexuality is not a focal point of “Blonde,” and Frank refuses to label himself.

“Blonde” also shows how much Frank has matured in the four years since “Channel Orange.”

He’s aware of his mortality now. He’s thinking about the future, families, and his finances.

Frank also mentions his childhood on almost every track.

While the majority of the album explores heartbreak, sex, sadness, and drugs, Frank also pays tribute to the late Trayvon Martin in “Nikes,” the opening track from “Blonde,” singing “RIP Trayvon, that (expletive) look just like me.” Frank has been outspoken

about his views on police brutality on his Tumblr page, even going as far as posting a picture of him wearing a hoodie like the one Trayvon wore the day he was killed.

“Blonde” has a long list of featured artists, including a full song feature by Andre 3000 on “Solo (Reprise)” and uses two R&B icons—Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar—as glorified background vocalists.

“Blonde” also features continuations of stories told in “Channel Orange.” The story of the cocaine addict who loves sex told in the songs “White” and “Pink Matter” on the 2012 album is continued in “Blonde” on the track “Pink + White.”

However, of all the stories that could have been continued on “Channel Orange,” this one is the least interesting.

The album ends with a final look at the past, in the form of spliced-up old interviews with some of Frank’s young friends and his brother, Ryan, all of whom were around 11 at the time. A soothing keyboard plays in the background as the boys talk about who they are and what they wish for. They laugh freely and come off as energetic, innocent kids. For a moment the listener is easily transported into Frank’s childhood, full of bright eyed hope and peace.

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The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 14

Arts and Entertainment New in the Neighborhood

By LIANA CHOW Fresh entertainment, eating, and conveniences near Stuyvesant.

Target 255 Greenwich Street The closest Target to school will no longer be in Harlem.

Starting October, you can buy your discount school supplies and furniture right after school. This will be one of Target’s “flexible format” shops, with a smaller size and products geared toward a local audience as well as a Chobani Cafe.

Eataly NYC Downtown 4 World Trade Center 101 Liberty Street, Floor 3

Christine Jegarl/ The Spectator

Attention foodies. Eataly is technically part of Westfield, but this giant upscale food court deserves its own entry. Started in Italy, Eataly now has over 30 locations around the world and prides itself on exquisitely fresh Italian food made with local ingredients. Restaurants and counters include fish, pasta, pizza, cheese, and gelato. Get a caprese panini (to share, since they’re large and pricey) and eat in the new elevated Liberty Park––a mini High Line––on the edge of the World Trade Center memorial.

Westfield World Trade 185 Greenwich Street A glamorous new mall near school! Aldo! Minamoto! Okay, aside from the Forever 21, maybe it’s not great for your wallet.

On the other hand, the $4 billion Calatrava-designed Oculus, the mall’s main architectural feature, is perfect for your Instagram. John Legend and Leslie Odom Jr. have already performed in the versatile space under the Oculus. Connected to the Fulton subway station, this is a prime hangout spot.

Crossword

Citi Bike Valet Service West and Chambers Streets You know that feeling when you rush into the bike station with your Citi Bike at 7:59 a.m. and can’t find a spot for it? Now, a valet will put your bike away so you can run off to that 10thfloor class. Remarkably, our Chambers Street Citi Bike station is the second-busiest station in the city. Valets will be there from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. until October 7, and maybe until November 4 if the trial is successful.

#StuyLife

ACROSS 3. Language learned, in addition to HTML/CSS, in second term of Computer Science 4. The name of the school football team 6. It’s not gym!

8. Last year, it was breaking into the pool...and getting suspended 10. The newest AP class at Stuyvesant 12. Your birth sign if you were born today 14. The period when announcements come on 15. The location of the bombing attack on the night of September 17 16. The aptly named head of the SPARK program (first name only)

ACROSS 3. PYTHON 4. PEGLEGS 6. PHYSED 8. SENIORPRANK 10. ARTHISTORY 12. LIBRA 14. THIRD 15. CHELSEA 16. ANGEL

1. The school’s dean of safety, P.E., and cell phone confiscation 2. “_______ after tenth” (Actually, it’s Rockefeller. Just saying.)

5. The first name of our school’s namesake 7. The new “Student Tools” 9. The STC’s musical is “The ______ Chaperone” 11. More formally known as Technical Drawing 13. Number of Nobel laureates from Stuyvesant (Hint: Check the school website!)

Answers

DOWN 1. MRMORAN 2. BATTERY 5. PETER 7. ESCHOOLDATA 9. DROWSY 11. DRAFTING 13. FOUR

DOWN

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 15

Arts and Entertainment Clint Eastwood Turns National Triumph Into Moral Conflict

Film

By TJ WESTFALL We all heard about the commercial airliner that dove into the Hudson River with no casualties. While we were still having a great time in middle school, one of the most heroic events of the century happened just outside Stuyvesant’s windows.

Whether you saw it on the local news, or perhaps heard about it from your parents or class-

mates, one thought might have crossed your mind: Whoever was flying that plane is incredible.

Director Clint Eastwood’s latest film, “Sully,” gives an emotional and gripping take on the story of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s perspective of the crash-landing. The film focuses on the aftermath and the way Sully (Tom Hanks) thought about the event, particularly his perspective on the world’s response to his actions. With the media relentlessly circling Sully’s hotel for weeks and the constant and unwanted reminders of his uncertainty about his decision, Eastwood’s depiction of Sully’s confusion gives the viewers more than what they saw on the news seven years ago.

T h o u g h Eastwood mostly focuses on Sully’s character development,

Catherine Joh/ The Spectator

Opera

By ELIANA KAVOURIADIS In its 2016-17 season, the Metropolitan Opera House will stage its first opera composed by a woman since 1903. This is perhaps the most surprising and enticing of the atypical choices made for the Met’s upcoming season.

Although there have been quite a few female producers, directors, and conductors involved in Met productions over the years, female composers have been woefully underrepresented by the esteemed opera house.

Broadway director Susan Stroman made her Met directorial debut this past year, but the compositions of women have been completely absent from the program.

The musical theater and opera worlds are somewhat intertwined, and many opera executives have lately placed emphasis on bringing more theatrical elements to opera productions. However, on Broadway, there have been plenty of efforts made to include important storylines about women and minorities, while these narratives remain nearly unheard in the Metropolitan Opera House. Female playwrights, although a minority, are still a significant presence on Broadway, so why can’t the same be said for the New York City opera scene?

Opera has a reputation of attracting a socially conservative audience, lagging behind other art forms in terms of social progression. However, there is no established rule that complicated music telling a story through

he also adds conflict to the film. Eastwood fills much of the film’s final 30 minutes with arguments between Sully and the National Transportation Safety Board. They run several simulations of the flight to see if Sully could have landed the plane safely at a nearby airport, and have a lengthy hearing to show each one. It is interesting to see Sully in a different light, other than the shining one of a hero, but to call it polarizing would be a lie.

Public opinion of Sully’s actions was positive all around the world; in the eyes of regular society, he was a hero. As one character in the film puts it, “It’s been a while since New York had news this good. Especially with an airplane in it.”

Since the film is largely factual, the audience already knows what happens to Sully, so no blame can be cast on Eastwood for not having much of a surprise reveal to work with.

It is tempting to think the film would have been more exciting if the film centered around the actual plane crash, but Eastwood took the more nuanced approach of looking at the aftermath of the crash.

Perhaps Eastwood’s depiction of the Safety Board was a

little too over the top, but overall, Eastwood kept the film to what actually happened well.

To keep interest and tension up, Eastwood breaks the film into several different time frames in Sully’s life. By putting flashbacks of Sully’s early flying days in between his meetings and interviews in the present, the viewer gets a better understanding of who Sully is, outside of one event.

The film shows Sully as a young man, flying a fighter jet with a few others. His plane suddenly malfunctions and starts trailing smoke, and he skillfully and safely lands it on a nearby airstrip. This flashback, along with others, gives the viewer a sense of how qualified Sully is as a pilot.

Combining these flashbacks with the present conflict, the film shows how much is at stake for Sully. Sully is at risk of losing a job that has been his life for the past 30 years.

The film’s changes in perspective also serve as reality checks. For example, Sully jogs several times throughout the film, usually late at night when he isn’t swamped with interviews and meetings. During one jog through the streets of Manhattan, his mind begins

to entangle itself with doubts about his decision to land the plane in the Hudson. Voices of several people, such as the air traffic controller telling him to land back at LaGuardia Airport, begin to set off inside his mind as he runs through the dark, deserted streets aimlessly. This scene demonstrates how torn Sully was in the days after his landing. Could he have saved the multi-million-dollar plane from its watery demise if he had just taken the chance to fly back to LaGuardia?

As a New Yorker, I find it hard to believe that something so incredible, so heroic had happened so close to me. But, seeing Sully not as a hero, like I saw on the news in 2009, but as a regular pilot who just did what was best for his passengers, puts things into perspective. Normal New Yorkers made this miracle on the Hudson happen along with the courageous actions of the crew of Flight 1549.

Though the film is relatively short, and without much of an antagonist or outside conflict, Eastwood makes the most out of an event we already know the ending of by skillfully capturing the emotions of the crew and passengers that survived that bitter January afternoon’s crisis.

Female Opera Composers: The Invisible Divas of the Opera World

unamplified singing and extravagant sets and costumes can only appeal to such audiences.

While the opera world may have that stigma, it can—and does, to an extent—appeal to a more diverse audience. Thankfully, the Met appears to be

in French, German, and Czech than the year before. Most of the classic operas that the Met stages frequently are in Italian, so it is evident that there are efforts being made to stage more operas that are not staged as often at the Met. Fortunately, the fact that an opera composed by a woman was chosen for the upcoming

Anne Chen/ The Spectator

making changes to try to cater to a wider audience.

From the operas selected for its 2016-17 season, it is clear that the Met plans on moving in an innovative direction.

This year, only 11 out of 26 operas are in Italian—seven fewer than in the 2015-16 season. Instead, there are more operas

season is not just a coincidence.

“We’re always trying to find ways to satisfy confirmed opera lovers, as well as excite new ones,” said Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb, in an interview with The New York Times. Choosing this opera was a tactical move made to attract a younger, more socially progres-

sive audience to the Met. The distinction Gelb made between “confirmed opera lovers” and “new” ones is one that has been observed by many in the opera world. According to Gelb, the opera world has lately been attracting a new, younger audience, but this audience’s appreciation for the art form differs from that of opera’s older fans.

While most older fans typically enjoy sitting through various productions of the same classic, timeless masterpieces, a younger audience is immersed in newer compositions with contemporary music and storylines.

Operas that have been written in recent years tend to reflect more current issues, ideas, and beliefs, which are far more progressive than they were even 25 years ago.

In the past few years, the Met has selected its operas with regard to the discrepancy in taste between younger and more old-fashioned opera fans. A female composer’s work will be performed for a large audience, and in the future, it may be a gateway of opportunity for other talented female composers to have their work performed in one of the world’s most renowned opera houses.

For a Met debut that is so significant for women in opera,

French opera “L’Amour de Loin” is a splendid choice. The opera, composed by Paris-based Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, was adapted from a love poem and follows the story of a starryeyed young poet who writes to his lover who lives in Lebanon.

After the opera was first performed at the Salzburg Festival in 2000, it got rave reviews from “The New York Times,” which described it as “haunting” and “resonant.” In 2003, it won the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

Although Saariaho is the first woman to make her Met debut composing, she is merely one of many exceptionally talented female composers throughout history. Some well-received operas written by women date back to the 17th century, like Francesca Caccini’s “La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina.” A large number of these operas have been written in the past century by notable contemporary composers like Judith Weir, Unsuk Chin, and Thea Musgrave, to name a few.

These contemporary masterpieces are a mere few of the many that have been written and staged in the past century.

In the late 20th and 21st centuries, women comprised a higher percentage of composers than ever before, and there are thus more women telling stories that are written for the opera stage.

Telling these stories in performance on one of the world’s most famous stages may accomplish Gelb’s goal of satisfying confirmed opera lovers while exciting new ones. Making room for more female-oriented narratives in opera is a noteworthy decision that will hopefully result in groundbreaking success.

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 16

Arts and Entertainment Places To Go For Your Morning Dose of Caffeine

By TIFFANY CHEN

School has started, and you need a bit of caffeine to keep you through the day. Luckily, there are a multitude of places to buy coffee around Stuyvesant. Here are some of the best (and worst) ones.

167 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 $1.00 - $4.00 ait Time: 5-10 minutes Distance to Stuy: 1 block Overall: 1 out of 5 coffee mugs McDonald’s is known for artificial-tasting food, and the coffee is no exception. It would be surprising if there was any coffee at all. If ordered black, the coffee is incredibly watered down. If any flavoring is added, the drink becomes so sweet that even I, a girl with the largest sweet tooth, had to throw away a halffinished cup. I wish I had bought a hash brown instead.

1 McDonald’s PW Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

rice:

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

2 Starbucks

3 Ferry’s

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

3

1

9 2

8

125 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $2.00-$6.00 Wait Time: 10-15 minutes Distance to Stuy: 2 blocks Overall: 4 out of 5 coffee mugs Starbucks is everywhere in New York City, and there’s a reason it’s so popular: it has pretty strong and tasty coffee.

Starbucks is versatile and the drinks tend to be high quality. However, Starbucks is notoriously expensive, and the wait can be excruciatingly long. (Unless you have a registered Starbucks card, in which you can order through the mobile app and skip the line!)

450 North End Ave. #10282, New York, NY 10282 Price: $1.00-$2.00 Wait Time: 3-7 minutes Distance to Stuy: 0.5 blocks Overall: 2.5 out of 5 coffee mugs Ferry’s (also known as The Gourmet Market) is known around Stuy for food, but you can also get a coffee for a good price there. However, it’s so diluted, it almost tastes like watered down milk. The coffee is a decent buy for lunch when the breakfast cart is gone.

4 Pret a Manger 4

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

6

7

5

9 Breakfast Cart

7 7-Eleven Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

5 Blue Spoon Coffee 140 Church St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $2.00-$3.25 Wait Time: 1-3 minutes Distance to Stuy: 3 blocks Overall: 1 out of 5 coffee mugs 7-Eleven’s coffee is good at first taste. However, that’s all it is. Afterwards, it tastes like artificial sweetener and chemicals. There’s also little you can do to change up your coffee, since it’s premade into several flavors: French vanilla, caramel macchiato, Colombian, and a few more. It’s not worth the longer walk to Stuy.

8 Kaffe 1668

Blue Spoon Coffee is a hole-inthe-wall on Chambers. Not many know about it, so you can get your coffee quickly. The coffee, while on the weaker side, is easily customizable, and the people behind the counter are inviting and cheery. The only problem with this place is that it’s a long walk from Stuy compared to other coffee shops, making it only convenient for those who get out at the City Hall station.

6 Dunkin’ Donuts

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

275 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $2.00-$3.25 Wait Time: 5 minutes Distance to Stuy: 2 blocks Overall: 2 out of 5 coffee mugs I was attracted to Kaffe 1668 by its cute decor and earthy feel. However, I was disappointed. The coffee is insanely expensive— more so than Starbucks. But, what for? It has a sour taste that overpowers the whole cup!

However, a few sips of this was able to energize me more than a usual cup of coffee.

76 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $2.75-$5.50 Wait Time: 1-3 minutes Distance to Stuy: 4 blocks

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

Chambers St., between Broadway and Greenwich Price: $1.00-$2.00 Wait Time: 5-8 minutes Distance to Stuy: 2 blocks Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars The coffee is great for how much you pay for it. There’s no overpowering bitterness to it, and it’s perfect if you feel like splurging later or if all you need is a little pick-me-up. The only problem is that it’s only available in the mornings. Come here if you have a few extra minutes before school.

Cammy Wong/ The Spectator

125 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $1.75-$3.75 Wait Time: 3-7 minutes Distance to Stuy: 2 blocks Overall: 3.5 out of 5 coffee mugs Pret a Manger just opened next to Starbucks, which might be why no one goes there. Despite this, service was quite slow, probably because there was only one girl working when I went. Still, the coffee was made attentively and tasted fresh, and I appreciate that they used milk foam in my iced latte instead of regular milk.

100 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Price: $1.75-$4.50 Wait Time: 5 minutes Distance to Stuy: 3 blocks Overall: 3.5 out of 5 coffee mugs Dunkin’ Donuts claims to serve “America’s Favorite Coffee,” but that’s not really the case, since most of Dunkin’s coffee drinks have been copied from Starbucks.

The coffee isn’t too bad, but it’s watery and has an unpleasant aftertaste. But, when I want to save money and treat myself to a macchiato, I eagerly come here.

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment Why Larry Wilmore Is Underappreciated

TV

By JULIA ARANCIO “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” was cancelled last month, leading many of its viewers to draw connections between the show’s cancellation and its outspoken politics on race.

The final episode aired on August 18, marking the end of Larry Wilmore’s year-and-a-half run as a host on late night television. His show, which aired at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central and replaced “The Colbert Report,” filled one of the most sought-after spots for evening talk shows.

The show was cancelled because of dwindling ratings.

From the start, The Nightly Show couldn’t hold on to the large and avid viewership of Stephen Colbert, whose famously poignant show brought in breakthrough ratings and nine Emmys.

Comedy Central hoped that ratings would pick up after Wilmore spoke at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His performance attracted controversy, mostly because he used the N-word in reference to President Obama, but the controversy didn’t boost his ratings.

In the end, executives at Comedy Central stated that the show was cancelled because it didn’t “resonate” with audiences.

Media

By CHELSEA CHEUNG Whether you’re scrolling through Facebook, watching Youtube, or browsing any other social media site, it’s inevitable that you’ll see a Buzzfeed video.

In recent years, Buzzfeed has gained a reputation for its short, peppy videos. “The Try Guys,” for example, is a popular segment on BuzzfeedYellow where four guys attempt, well, anything. Popular videos show them wearing drag, having their bodies photoshopped to fit “ideal” standards, and recreating Kim K a r d a s h i a n’s infamous “Paper” magazine cover (which is what brought attention to the segment initially).

The people who direct, edit, and film Buzzfeed’s videos eventually get sought after by

Throughout the show’s run, “The Nightly Show” received mixed reviews. Critics didn’t like that Wilmore would go on for long stretches of time without telling a single joke.

They also questioned the show’s structure. Wilmore would start the show by discussing the news through segments like “The Unblackening,” in which he would talk about the 2016 presidential race. He would then moderate a debate between two or three members of his cast and a celebrity guest.

He would end the show with a segment called “Keepin’ it 100” where he would ask the members of his panel a hard question (such as “If your best friend committed a murder, would you snitch on them for one million dollars?”). This style, though different from other late night shows, bred a serious, political atmosphere unlike the light and cheerful styles of Wilmore’s competitors.

Still, Wilmore was always funny. His “Keepin’ it 100” segment was absurd yet hilarious, and he always used irony to point out the hypocrisies of American government (“The

Oscar nominations are out, and they’re so white, a grand jury has decided not to indict them”).

The original concept for the program was to give a voice to

Lynne Wang/ The Spectator

groups typically underrepresented on late night television. Wilmore was a feminist and a supporter of the LGBT community.

He originally wanted to name the show “The Minority Report,” but legal issues prevented it. “I’m

other large journalism and media companies. However, when these filmmakers originally agree to work with Buzzfeed, they sign a mandatory contract that restricts them from freelancing or working with other companies.

Though Buzzfeed can be a lucrative platform for those

Minseo Kim/ The Spectator

searching for a career in the

journalism or media industries, their dilemma is choosing either to stay at Buzzfeed where they receive a steady salary and a direct audience, or to branch out to build a career that will either fail or be ultimately more successful in the long run.

Former Buzzfeed stars Brittany Ashley and Jenny Lorenzo chose the latter: when offered to make an appearance on America Ferrara’s web series “Gente-fied,” they accepted.

However, Buzzfeed said “Gente-field” had too large of an overlap with the theme of one of their own channels, “Perolike.” Both focus on Latino issues in America. Ashley and Lorenzo were accused of breaching a major part of the contract in working for Ferrara, and were shortly dismissed.

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its controversies (like the N-word scandal) didn’t attract an internet following. Online hits are often dubbed as being “relatable,” and “The Nightly Show” didn’t fit into that category.

But if the show wasn’t relatable, perhaps it was because our country wasn’t ready to face its political message.

Even if our country wasn’t ready for Wilmore to “keep it 100,” does that mean we shouldn’t be forced to address this difficult reality? Despite the show ending, the racial and social issues in the United States remain. Wilmore stood out from the crowd by throwing these issues in his audience’s faces. This method proved unwelcome to the American late night audience, but not unnecessary or unhelpful. If voices like Wilmore keep shamelessly reminding us of the work that must be done, then eventually we won’t be able to hide from reality.

Is there a place for race and politics on late night television?

To Wilmore, absolutely, because, with such a broad sphere of influence, our country can’t avoid the issues he cares about so deeply. I think, in the not-so-distant future, we will see Wilmore as a visionary. Someone whose show came along before we were able to appreciate it.

The Detrimental Side of Buzzfeed’s Contract

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very happy,” Wilmore told Slate Magazine, “that we set out to represent voices that didn’t get a chance to be heard all the time in late night.”

The show, however, mostly gained a reputation for its outspoken politics on race.

Race was always a key aspect of “The Nightly Show.” Wilmore made sure to have a racially diverse writers’ room in order to better address issues related to all races and minorities. He was also determined not to let the media forget about Bill Cosby, he was a proud #BlackLivesMatter supporter, and he always spoke about feminism with an intersectional lens.

Despite Comedy Central’s insistence that the show was only canceled due to low ratings, many have questioned whether Wilmore’s constant discussion of race was a factor in the show’s dwindling viewership.

Many television executives today consider Youtube hits or Facebook likes an important source of ratings. Wilmore’s show wasn’t designed to pander to audiences or go viral. But even

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Another controversial aspect of Buzzfeed’s contract is its ownership agreement: Buzzfeed owns all of the content that a worker has created while working for them, posing significant setbacks to those who do want to quit.

After Matt Bellassai created one of Buzzfeed’s most prominent sub-fanbases around his segment “Whine About It” (a segment in which he complains about various topics under inebriation), he promptly left Buzzfeed after being offered a two year exclusive contract. He explained that this was due to unwanted potential monetization of “Whine About It,” as well as restrictions of him working on his own projects separately. As mandated by the contract, Bellassai was not allowed to keep any of the videos that he created: Buzzfeed now holds legal power to sell or use these videos as they like.

Regardless of these setbacks, however, Bellesai went on to cre-

ate his own Facebook page independent of any corporation branding. Eight months after his leave, he appears to achieved the artistic independence he sought.

His self-supporting page has now gained over 450,000 fans, many of whom have flocked to see him during his sold-out U.S. tour.

Gaby Dunn, who left Buzzfeed and experienced significant financial struggles as a result, offered advice to potential candidates for a job at the company: “Don’t be afraid to ask for more—changes to the standard agreements, more money, writer’s credits, respect, anything.”

An artist in the industry who desires creative freedom shouldn’t be restricted from it.

Not every artist can be guaranteed a success in the end, but individual voices like Dunn’s and Bellesai’s, will continue to make a groundbreaking difference that is wholly and artistically theirs.

Page 18

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Art Dreams

Adam Wickham / The Spectator

Xinhui Xu / The Spectator

Anika Hashem / The Spectator

Christine Jegarl / The Spectator

Cien Huang / The Spectator

F

yling away from all my problems

Klaire Geller / The Spectator

I

dreamed about a pirate ship full of children wearing blackand white polka-dotted outfits. At some point the ocean ended and became a cobblestone street. It was very strange.

Rachel Zhang / The Spectator

S

omething was going on, I don’t know what.

R

Kristin Lin / The Spectator

unning down the Great Wall of China in the middle of Soho.

Nikita Borisov / The Spectator

S

weet dreams of APUSH

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

N

Vahn Williams / The Spectator

ight at the Museum

T

he Nuclear Family

Lynne Wang / The Spectator

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Summer

By THE PHOTO DEPARTMENT

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Photo

The Spectator ● September 30, 2016

Page 20

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

By THE COMMON APPLICATION, with additional reporting from ALEC DAI and LASZLO SANDLER Dearest Alec, Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Christine Jegarl / The Spectator

With love, A concerned college Dear Concerned College, No. I cannot do this right now.

With love, Alec Dai

Physics Teacher Suspended for Showing Students His Right-hand Rule

By WASIF ZAMAN STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL—Physics teacher Alistair Bates was suspended Friday, January 15, on charges of public lewdness.

Mr. Bates (who transferred here from Oxford, where he was addressed as Master) was reported by a small group of juniors, all of whom were definitely not seeking vengeance for their grades.

According to these intrepid juniors, Mr. Bates stood on his desk one afternoon and claimed to know a secret trick

that would guarantee satisfaction during any exam, provided it was performed correctly and quickly enough. Mr. Bates said there was no shame in using the technique he was about to show, and he encouraged everyone in the class to follow his lead.

“I was totally hooked,” said junior Sarah Bulbourethral.

“He talked about how everyone’s stress levels would be drastically reduced and that every desperate high schooler has done it at least once in their lives.”

Mr. Bates called this tech-

Courtesy of MeritNation.com

By MICHAEL ESPINOSA It’s another violent day on the streets of TriBeCa as the fierce conflict between halal carts and taco trucks enters its fifth day. This is just a few weeks after the founder of Latinos for Trump announced, “If you don’t do something, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner. Even the corners in the vicinity of Trump.”

While taco trucks have yet to inhabit every intersection in the neighborhood, they already hold a sizeable amount of territory along Greenwich Street and continue to work their way south, making the crime-ridden neighborhood of Battery Park City even more unsafe.

Stuy students live in constant danger of being hit with white sauce or bombs of tangy guacamole (which costs extra, by the way). As the conflict continues to spread, property damage is also a concern.

“Normally it’s the seniors who break the windows in the school,” Assistant Principal of School Safety Brian Moran said in an interview, “but all the hard taco shells have been taking their jobs.”

The projectiles have also served to disrupt class. “Students have actually started to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance in hopes of getting hit with a free drink that comes

with the purchase of any platter,” Moran went on.

Moreover, all the fat from the chicken has now contaminated the air around Battery Park City and has started to affect the lungs of Stuyvesant students. Physical education teacher Peter Bologna has reported that half of his Polar Bear students have already been admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia.

The unrest has already driven thousands from their homes, and many have already attempted to cross the treacherous Hudson River. The journey is filled with peril; many drown or reemerge from the water with extra limbs (prob-

Taylor Choi/ The Spectator

ably from the people who drowned). Nevertheless, the swells of man and mutant alike have prompted sharp backlash from New Jersey residents. As a result, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has proposed building a wall along the western Hudson River, and his proposal seems to be incredibly popular with local voters. ”We don’t know who these

people are!” one angry New Jersey native said. “They could be terrorists, or, worse, sent here to make fun of New Jersey.”

Those who refuse to leave are confident that peace talks are near. After questions began circulating around Facebook, senior, Student Announcer, Stuyvesant’s only permanent resident, and person with no life Michael Espinosa released a statement on Facebook saying, “I’ve spotted representatives from both sides meet across the West Side Highway.

Both sides want to reach an agreement before the ice cream trucks start to get involved in the conflict.”

Those who refuse to leave are confident that peace talks are near. After questions began circulating around Facebook, senior, Student Announcer, Stuyvesant’s only permanent resident, and person with no life Michael Espinosa released a statement on Facebook saying, “I’ve spotted representatives from both sides meet across the West Side Highway. Both sides want to reach an agreement before the ice cream trucks start to get involved in the conflict.”

Espinosa did not respond when asked to provide evidence of such a statement. He was found dead in the Student Lounge two days later, next to a sign that read, “I told you guys I don’t have a life.”

in front of his parents after they caught him practicing the right-hand rule in his room.

While the junior’s parents secretly felt relieved, a different parent penned a scathing letter to the physics department condemning Mr. Bates’s “moral depravity.” Mr. Bates was locked out of school the next day.

Mr. Bates’s case is still being reviewed by the Board of Education. He was seen crying by an insider source but was overjoyed when someone offered him tissues.

Deaf Person to Moderate First Presidential Debate Christine Jegarl / The Spectator

Violence Erupts as Taco Trucks on Every Corner Face Tough Competition from Halal Carts

nique his “right-hand rule.”

Left-handed students initially objected, but later concluded they were better off using their non-dominant hands. It just “felt right,” they said. Mr. Bates then used his thumb to simulate the current, with his fingers curling around an imaginary wire to simulate the direction of the fields surrounding the wire.

Many students were familiar with this concept and moved on with their lives.

However, a few were reportedly traumatized for months. One anonymous junior broke down

By WASIF ZAMAN HEMPSTEAD, NY—Lester Holt has officially stepped down as moderator for the first Presidential Debate after contracting pneumonia this past Wednesday. (Experts think that Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton made eye-contact with him during a rally, thus exposing him to abnormal toxicity levels.) Replacing him is none other than deaf Long Island resident Horton Ellison.

“I have no experience in politics whatsoever,” Ellison said, “but I think that’s what’s really popular these days—people with no experience who pretend like they know what they’re doing. Oh, and also people who are physically unable to do something but do it anyway.”

The online buzz surrounding this announcement is surprisingly polarizing and frenzied (apparently nobody takes the middle ground on an issue these days). Presidential Nobody Gary Johnson adamantly disagreed with the choice of Ellison as moderator.

“It’s an incredibly important job,” Johnson said. “A moderator is easily the most respected and smartest person in the room that must keep up with the focused, complex, and well, thought-out responses from both sides. The debates them-

selves are the most pristine examples of rational discussion in America today—and frankly, a deaf person will get timings wrong, misinterpret questions, and generally embarrass himself as well as the nation as a whole. For the first time, people will actually hate and mock a Presidential Debate.”

Some opponents went even further. Upon hearing this news, Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump called for a ban on all deaf people, claiming that they offer nothing valuable to the country and are stealing the jobs of thousands of people with excellent hearing. Trump further implied that Ellison’s sudden appearance was very suspicious.

In an official statement, Trump said, “I’ve heard—and this is from a pretty accurate source—that he might be an ISIS sleeper agent. They made him deaf so we couldn’t question him about terrorist plots.

Those bastards are clever.”

Despite the furor over his position, Ellison remains optimistic. He said, “The debates have always been incredibly important, professional, mature, and timely discussions on the state of the Union today. Due to my condition, networks may have to extend the debate by about three hours, but hey, good television is good television.”

The Spectator ● September30, 2016

Page 21

Humor Ariana Grande Invited to Spinning Class

A Rejection Letter to A Future Harvard Rejection Letter Dear Harvard Admissions Committee, I have carefully reviewed the prospect of your unwritten rejection letter. After much consideration, I have decided that I am unable to accept it.

“I still need a rec from the lunch lady.”

—Troy “Savant” Hardman, student I recognize that you must be devastated, perhaps even a bit confused. After all, I have not even applied yet—I still need a rec from the lunch lady. This confusion is to be expected, and I will justify my position, but I really do not care for your grief—I have more important things to worry about.

The fact of the matter is that the rejection process more or less happens to be a numbers game. A fine institution such as yours is nothing but a small fish in a large pond labelled “impossible schools.” With this in mind,

most people would say that they definitely would have been able to accept your rejection letter just a few years ago. But, to be honest, I wouldn’t have accepted your letter during any time in the past, because I am just that much better than you.

Please do not be disheartened by this message. It is nothing more than pure logic: you simply do not meet my qualifications.

For example, I have a 0.5 weighted GPA. Literally every teacher I have ever met has “very strongly suggested” that I not attend their classes, and my school had to beg The College Board to create an AP Napping Exam just so I could fulfill the mandatory AP requirement.

All I really want to do with my life is just sit at home and see if there is a way to fit my hand inside a Pringles can without exhaustive fidgeting or contortion.

I’m solving the most dire crisis on the planet: hunger. What have your graduates done?

Thus, I am so imperfect that I actually am too perfect for your school. It is this level of commitment and talent that has allowed me to anticipate your response should I have elected to apply to your fine institution.

Sincerely, Troy “Savant” Hardman, Class of ? (I keep getting held back for some reason)

American pop singer Ariana Grande’s new single, “Side to Side,” is a sensation among teenagers and single men alike, even capturing the attention of physical education teacher Dr. Anna Markova. Featuring intense cycling workouts and empowering lyrics, it’s no wonder the fitness fanatic was impressed.

“The music video is basically a free version of an expensive workout video,” Dr. Markova said. “Ariana demonstrates the proper way to cycle to allow maximum quadricep and gluteus maximus workout,

Courtesy of Vevo

By WASIF ZAMAN

By KERWIN CHEN

work out the jiyongeruvylmaoexiuminexonius. In the middle of the video, she also demonstrates an unorthodox exercise where she rocks the gluteus maximus in this way such that the youaresupersexy tendon gets an excellent workout.”

“The zooming in on the gluteus maximus muscle is to motivate people to work out.”

—Dr. Anna Markova, P.E. teacher

and the way she positions herself allows for the extra engagement of the fitnessgramius testilis, which everyone overlooks.

Her body posture, too, is just perfect. Back straight, glutes out, leaning slightly forward.

I can’t think of a better way to

Thanks to the Stuyvesant computer science department, Dr. Markova was able to obtain Ariana Grande’s phone number and allowed her spinning class to enjoy the pop singer/fitness coach’s company for a day.

“It is an honor to be here,”

Grande said. “It really surprises me that there are still people in the world who don’t sexualize everything and actually see the usefulness in my workout music videos.” While the students stared as Grande properly cycled, she revealed some more information about her video.

“The lyrics have hidden meanings,” Grande said. “One of the lines seems unintelligible, but it is actually an acronym for what you need when cycling—Determination, Intuition, Caution, and Knowledge.

Also, the line ‘I’ve been there all night/I’ve been there all day/ And boy, got me walkin’ side to side’ is to motivate people to workout as much as they can and also to remind them to not cycle for prolonged periods of times, because it causes cramps in the gluteus maximus, causing you to walk side to side.”

Hopefully, Grande’s next single will provide more helpful workout tips for Stuyvesant students. But before that, students will be making remixed versions of Grande’s music videos.

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Page 23

Sports Girls’ Volleyball

Girls’ Soccer

Mimbas Hope to Turn Around Rough Start

Vixens Anticipate Challenging Season Following Playoff High

Allison Eng / The Spectator

By Muhib Khan and Sam Merrick

The girls’ soccer team poses after its first win (5-0) against Dewitt Clinton.

By Michael Gillow The girls’ soccer team had a discouraging start to the season, with a 0-10 loss to Beacon followed by a 0-4 loss to Bard.

However, the team, known as the Mimbas, was able to bounce back with a 5-0 win over DeWitt Clinton in its third game.

The Mimbas are a young team, with 15 new players. They lost 10 players who graduated last year, and are looking to compensate for their absence.

But in the first few games, the Mimbas’ chemistry was still developing, and they experienced issues with connecting on the field. “The main problem is that we’re still adjusting to each other. I’m sure we will improve as we get more into our season,” senior Judy Li said.

Off the field, the team is close-knit, and is looking to translate that unity to the game.

“We’re all really close friends outside of the team,” senior Brigit Bacon-Blaber said. “That makes practices and games so fun. We also have a strong spirit

no matter how badly we might lose. We always get back on our

“We always get back on our feet, laugh it off, and look at the positives of each match.”

—Brigit BaconBlaber, senior

feet, laugh it off, and look at the positives of each match.”

The Mimbas have a lot of confidence in some of their younger players. Bacon-Blaber

noted the accomplishments of freshman Emory Walsh. “[Walsh] saved us because we didn’t have a goalie for this year, and she’s been amazing,” said Bacon-Blaber, adding that the scores of the games do not accurately depict how Walsh has played.

The Mimbas’ win against Dewitt Clinton was a major boost in morale after the two defeats. DeWitt Clinton is one of three new teams in the Mimbas’ division this year (Baruch and Christopher Columbus are the other two), and the team will look to take advantage of the new teams’ inexperience.

Despite a tough start, the Mimbas are confident they can turn their season around. They believe that as they get further into the season they will really hit their stride, once all of their new players settle in. “We’ve been working really hard on connecting passes and communicating better,” junior Saloni Majmudar said. “I’m so excited to see where this season takes us.”

The clang of metal echoed through the gym as the Vixens set up the stands for the volleyball net for their scrimmage against Bronx Science High School. There was a sense of camaraderie in the air, with the girls joking while they prepared and relaxed before the game.

This scrimmage was their second of the season. The first was on Friday, September 9, at Riverdale Country High School.

The game was a tough loss, but provided them with the opportunity to learn each other’s individual styles of play.

The second scrimmage against Bronx Science was a bit better for the team. They still lost 23-25 in the two starter sets (sets played by the team’s starters) and lost 6-15 in the rookie sets (sets played by the team’s non-starters). This was a much better outcome than the first scrimmage, but the team still needs to work on pulling ahead for the win.

Another area the team hopes to improve is play dynamic. While the team shows great off-the-court chemistry, the players need to figure out how to translate that to their games.

“I’d say it’s [mostly] about team chemistry,” Coach Vasken Choubaralian said when asked about his main focus for the team.

Last year, the Vixens had an 11-1 record forthe regular season in the Manhattan A League.

The Vixens’ only loss was to Lab Museum United, despite beating them 2-0 earlier in the season. Tying with the Vixens for first in the league, Lab advanced to the second round of playoffs before being defeated by the Bronx High School of Science. Seward Park High

School also proved to be a difficult competitor last year, finishing second in the Manhattan A League, but losing in the first round of playoffs.

“This year is going to be tough since Seward Park and Lab are great teams,” Choubaralian said. The Vixens have made it a priority to learn about the other teams from their friendly scrimmages, while also building on fundamental plays.

The Vixens’ success ended last year when they fell short to Staten Island Technical High School in a close match.

The team lost six strong players last year, including Mariya Kulyk (‘16), who, in her final season, was third in the league for kills (a play that scores a point for the team), fifth in the league for blocks, and eighth in the league for aces (point-scoring serves).

The team also lost three other graduates, and two current seniors, Lucy Wang and Olivia Kusio.

Despite this setback, Choubaralian is confident in not only the captains’ abilities to lead, but each player’s dedication; “It’s really too early for anyone to fill those shoes, but it can happen with a lot of work,” he said.

Aside from the two seniors, co-captains Maddie Ostergaard and Chloé Delfau, the team’s starters are all sophomores or juniors. Juniors Shirley Liu, Rochelle Vayntrub, and Kristina Kim all gained valuable experience last year, which they will need to fill the roles usually occupied by older players.

“They need to be ready to start, play, and win against a challenging opposition,” Ostergaard said. “This season is going to be a lot about bringing the younger starters to a point where they are mentally and physically prepared for varsity.”

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Page 24

The Spectator SpoRts CALENDAR

Football

Peglegs Struggle in New Division

TODAY

September 30 Friday

Varsity Football vs.

Tilden Educational Campus Pier 40

OCTOBER

Boys and Girls’ Cross Country: NYC Mayor’s Cup Cross Sunday Country Girls’ Soccer Championship vs. Beacon Van Cortlandt Park High School Wednesday Track and Field Riverside Park

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

2

5

Coach Blake crosses the field during practice at Pier 40.

By Simon Carmody and Max Onderdonk The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s football team, are off to a rough start after two consecutive losses, first to William E. Grady (18-12), and then in a blowout against James Madison (50-8).

This loss on James Madison’s home field was a huge blow to the Peglegs, who were overmatched throughout the game. “This weekend was a tough game for us. Three starters went down and so a lot of players who usually see minimal playing time went in,” senior and co-captain Michael Joh said. While Stuyvesant had a rough game, it appears to be no exception for James Madison, who had already put in a strong performance a week earlier to start their season, when they defeated John Adams 24-0.

Senior Josh Rayham noted that Madison was among the best teams they’d face this year.

“They were a lot bigger and faster than us, and we weren’t aggressive enough,” he said. While this was a tough game for the Peglegs, they have their hopes

up to turn things around following their 0-2 start to the season.

“We will learn from this game and go hard during practice and come out swinging [next week],” Rayham said.

Joh was able to draw some positives from the game. “Although we were down by a lot, most of the players didn’t give up and played to the very end,” he said. “This year, the team has stronger chemistry than I’ve ever experienced in my Stuyvesant football career.”

“Everyone in the huddle trusts and believes in [one] another, and I feel that everyone [has] really bonded this year,” junior Perry Wang said. “We all enjoy playing with each other and [we] pick each other. This mentality of brotherhood helps our game.”

After going 19-10 over the last three seasons, the Peglegs were moved up to the B division, which could explain some of their early season struggles.

Teams like James Madison were certainly a challenge, and were much better than the competition they often faced in the C division. Despite some tough

opponents early on, Rayham doesn’t see this as a major issue. “The B division has a very wide range [of talent]. A lot of the teams are similar to those in our old division, but there are also some really strong teams like Madison,” he said.

The Peglegs still have plenty of time to turn things around, and their players see this as an opportunity to improve and make a mark on their new division. “It’s a matter of adjusting and replacing the missing pieces on our team. We lost one of our star players in the beginning of the season and had to change a lot of things. But if we continue to persevere and take [things] one game at a time, we’ll have a great first season in the new division,” Joh said.

With Stuyvesant moving up, they have been forced to temper their expectations a bit, but Rayham still expects them to make a splash among their new division rivals. “We hope [...] to create a legacy, and break the stigma of ‘Stuyvesant’s football [team] isn’t good,’” he said.

Girls’ Swimming

With Smaller Team, Penguins Hope to Regain City Title

By Nikki Daniels Coming off of many successful seasons, the Penguins, Stuyvesant’s girls’ swimming team, are gearing up for another exhilarating season. For the past eight years, the Penguins have won the Division A team championship and have been the reigning City Champions for seven of the last eight years.

Last year, however, the girls lost to Francis Lewis in a very close (53-49) playoff meet.

The 26-person team this year is led by seniors and captains Paulina Ruta, Britney Cheng, and Claudia Zelek. This year’s team is small, compared to the 36-person team last year. The Penguins lost 16 of their swimmers from last year, 12 of whom graduated in 2016, including the celebrated Krystal Lara, who

made it to the Olympic Trials this past summer. Out of the many races Lara competed in her four years at Stuyvesant, there were only twelve races in which she did not come in first place. “[We] miss our former teammates. Now that the team is smaller, it feels incomplete,” sophomore Mandy Chan said.

The Penguins are confident that they can make up for the absence of old players, and are practicing Monday through Thursday with an early-morning practice each Friday. But getting ready to become the City Champions takes more than preparation in the water. Coach Peter Bologna has also talked to the swimmers about proper nutrition for the athletes, complete with handouts on the right foods to eat.

“Our diet consists of a vari-

ety of fruits, vegetables, carbs, and proteins,” Cheng said. “In a sport where milliseconds can make or break a competition, any little thing we do will help.”

At press time, the Penguins have yet to compete in their kick-off meet against George Washington Educational Complex.

Though Bronx Science, Townsend Harris, and Brooklyn Tech are the Penguins’ biggest rivals, Stuyvesant has not lost to any of these schools for the past several years. This year, however, these teams are expected to be bigger opponents to the Penguins. “[Our players] are working hard at practice, helping each other every day to become one team,” Bologna said.

As such, it will be exciting to witness how this more competitive season will play out.

6

Thursday

Boys’ Fencing vs. Long Island City

Stuyvesant HS Gym

Varsity Football vs.

Mott Haven Education Campus Pier 40

7

Friday

WRAPUP The Lady Lobsters, the girls’ varsity tennis team, won their match against the High School of American Studies at Lehman College 4-1 on Friday, September 23. This win moved them to 3-3 on the season.

The

girls’ golf team, the Birdies, won its first game of the season 5-0 against James Madison on Thursday, September

22.

Boys’ Soccer

Through Rain, Peglegs Win First Game

By Tahsin Ali and Ronin Berzins Under a torrent of rain, the Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ soccer team, pulled a 4-2 win over Julia Richman Education Complex in their first game of the season.

The game was highlighted by senior and co-captain Noah Fichter’s hat-trick, or three-goal game.

Senior Jackson Deysine scored the other goal, which was “a magnificent header,” according to senior and co-captain Laszlo Sandler.

Fichter and Deysine were not the only standouts, however.

The team saw good performances across the board, especially from senior and co-captain Niko Cruz-Marsted. “[Sandler], [CruzMarsted] and I have really great chemistry together,” Fichter said.

Unsurprisingly, Cruz-Marsted had three assists, and Sandler acted as a playmaker throughout the game.

Despite their strong start, the Peglegs do have some room to improve. “I think the two goals we let up were mostly because myself, the other Central Defensive Midfielder, and the other offensive players were a little too relaxed, making the defenders’ jobs a lot harder,”

Fichter said. This can be remedied through quicker ball movement, and as Fichter states, more aggressive play.

Still, they managed to pull through. “The determining factor in the game was that we wanted the win more. We won all the 5050 balls, despite the rain,” junior Michael Gillow said. “That and the jerseys,” he said, referring to the Peglegs’ new uniforms, which the team believes bring good luck.

The Peglegs look to continue their strong start, as they have high expectations for the team this year.

The team has been practicing since mid-August at Pier 40 in exceedingly hot conditions, and is determined to build on last year’s season, where the team reached the playoffs in the A division.

For the group of core seniors, this is their final chance to make a deep playoff run after years of training.

“All of our seniors [Fichter, Cruz-Marsted, Deysine, Sandler, Felix Rieg and Tai Manheim] are excellent leaders both on and off the field,” Coach Vincent Miller said.

“They have all put in so much hard work the last three years, and this will be their year to lead the team.”