Volume 113 Issue 2

The Spectator

Moderna Sues Pfizer for Copying Patented Technology in their Vaccine

In the past few years, two names have become common knowledge: Pfizer and Moderna. These drugmakers formulated COVID-19 vac cines, manufacturing them at a pace that has started to shift the world out of the pandemic. Now, these two companies are in the midst of a lawsuit.

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Thank You, Serena

A tribute to Serena Williams and her global legacy. Having inspired thousands of fans throughout her career, it’s time for us to say thank you, Serena.

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Meet the 2022-2023 ARISTA Board

By KAI CAOTHIEN, SARAH DIAZ, and DIGIT KIM

At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, seniors President Kitty Wang, Vice President of Events Ava Fung, Vice Presi dent of Operations Marilyn Shi, and Vice President of Web Development Vernon Hughes were selected as this year’s ex ecutive council of ARISTA, Stuyvesant’s honor society. The former executive coun cil, alumni (’22) Leah DSilva, Ashley Choi, Isabel Ching, and Elizabeth Stansberry, chose this council after the members completed an extensive applica tion process, including a written application, recommendations from a teacher and guidance counselor, and a formal inter view with the former executive council and with history teach er and ARISTA faculty advisor Eric Wisotsky.

Applicants were judged not only by their qualifications for the position but also by their ability to work as a team. “The

team dynamic is so important [...] especially when you are sit ting on a Zoom call in a one- to three-hour meeting hashing out ideas,” Wisotsky said. “It’s not like the all-stars team, picking the best of each thing. It’s put ting together the best team.”

process. “It’s one thing to get good test grades, but for some one else who I’ve helped [to do well on a test] report back to me or in a future session filled to the brim with joy [...] makes you know that you are making a difference, [and] sometimes it’s

year. Fung is focusing on cre ating a sense of unity among ARISTA members during vol unteering events. “One of the things I really wanted to do [during events] was make sure members are feeling a sense of unity because it’s one of the places where ARISTA mem bers really can interact with each other,” Fung said. “We’re definitely thinking of making sure event leaders are facilitat ing good conversation with ev eryone, giving surveys for them, [and] getting feedback.”

A new “cluster system” has also been established by Wang to help members of ARISTA meet other program members and create bonds. “ARISTA has nearly 200 members, and that is a hard number to think about when trying to find yourself and where you are within such a large community,” Wang said.

The council members ap plied for their position to give back and expand on their meaningful experiences with ARISTA, such as the tutoring

just the small one-on-one thing [interactions],” Hughes said.

Once they got acquainted, the board formed new plans and goals to implement for the

“To facilitate that process, we’ve

Stuyvesant Black Students League (BSL) and ASPIRA will be hosting their annual Hispanic Celebration Din ner after school on October 13.

Senior Sonya Sasson earned a perfect score on the AP English Language and Com position Exam, while seniors Skai Nzeuton and Chun Yeung Wong earned perfect scores on the AP Computer Science A Exam.

Spanish Teacher Frida Am bia’s AP Spanish Language and Culture classes created informational posters on September 16 that are cur rently displayed in the fifthfloor halls to celebrate His panic Heritage Month

Stuyvesant’s Annual Clubs and Pubs Fair was hosted on the third to fifth floors from September 21 to September 23.

to be a Better Leader: From Principal Yu to You

By AIDEN ACKERMAN, LAUREN CHIN, and ALLISON ZHAO

Starting from the 2022-23 school year, Principal Seung Yu has introduced a new, one-term elective called Leadership and Decision-Making. The course is intended to teach students about the methods, examples, and effects of good decisionmaking. The class takes place on the first floor in room 107, the Conference Room, outside of Principal Yu’s office space.

The class involves learning to build life skills through ac tivities like reading and active discussion. Given Principal Yu’s background in English, includ ing his experience as a former English teacher at the High School for Telecommunication Arts and Technology in Brook lyn, his course is classified as an English elective. “The course is intended to have students explore, learn, and practice the tenets of leadership approaches and facilitation. Furthermore, students are exposed to read ings and activities focused on decision-making and the pro cesses to inform better deci sions particularly in working within group settings,” Princi pal Yu said in an e-mail inter view.

The idea behind this elec tive is partially rooted in need ing enough classes to offer to the abnormally large graduating

class but is also rooted in want ing to provide more courses that teach soft skills and pre pare Stuyvesant students for life after high school. “As a school we must constantly consider how we are prepar ing students for postsecondary

and the course I’m teaching.”

Despite the course’s recent creation, 33 out of 34 seats are filled as some students are look ing forward to taking a class that differs from the traditional courses at Stuyvesant. “I chose to take a break from some of

eye.”

Principal Yu hopes that his students will be able to take away what they learn about how to become better leaders and apply that to real-life situations.

“I wanted to offer a course that could help students practice

where students can feel free to contribute their insights. “His class is very collaborationbased and engages everyone, no matter how introverted or extroverted they are outside his class,” senior William Vongpha nith said in an e-mail interview.

Students also report that Principal Yu has been success ful in creating a low-stress en vironment where students can hone their leadership skills at their own pace. “His class is a breath of fresh air because ev eryone has a chance to speak out their ideas and not have to raise their hand,” senior Brian Kang said in an e-mail inter view. “With the ability to get chances at facilitating discus sions as leaders to talking in small groups, everyone gains new experience he refers to as ‘comfortable discomfort.’”

Regarding the class format, the first five minutes of the class involve independent writ ing and reviewing homework and classwork. The purpose of having the students write in their provided journals during this class is to record new in sights, new and interesting mo ments, and to learn by writing.

education, career opportunities, and self-sustaining adulthood,”

Principal Yu said. “We want to complement our course catalog with classes that expose stu dents for life-oriented prepara tion such as Personal Finance

the more standard classes at Stuy and to explore a new field I am passionate about,” senior Efe Kilic said. “Though it was a shot in the dark to take such a mysterious and unorthodox class, I feel that it was a bulls

becoming stronger leaders and making more informed deci sions in working and leading others,” he said.

According to his students, Principal Yu has created a wel coming classroom environment

However, due to the new ness of this course, the struc ture of the class is yet to be solidified. “We are still in the

AP African American Studies May Be Offered at Stuyvesant

By KEVIN CHAN, MATTHEW HUANG, and DAVID LIN

After being in development for a decade under the College Board, the organization that ma nages the nationwide Advanced Placement (AP) program, a new AP African American Studies course is piloting in 60 select high schools in the United States this year. It is the first AP exam in the nation’s history to focus mainly on the experiences of African Americans. The course’s release comes at a critical time marked by widespread disagreement on how to teach sensitive topics such as those presented in the course.

Among the topics covered

sed interest in teaching the cour se due to prior knowledge of the field. “I think that it is something that I would definitely consider teaching. I certainly have some knowledge of African American history. I did take a course or two in college on African Ame rican history, but I know there are many other teachers who are eminently qualified to teach that as well,” history teacher Morde cai Moore said.

Moore believes that the new AP course’s stronger focus on African Americans allows for greater historical detail, which would enhance students’ unders tanding of key events. “AP Afri can American Studies will defi nitely delve deeper into African

more history courses that delve deeper into a particular culture. “History is important because it helps in the modern world with race relations and being educated about that, so knowing the his tory [of a place or group] would help us deal with the present and future,” junior Aleksey Olkho venko said.

Cissé, whose family comes from the Susu tribe, an ethnic group based in Guinea in West Africa, welcomes the opportu nity that the course presents for black students to learn more about their places of origin. “I would want a lot of focus [in the course] on African countries be cause they have a very rich his tory,” Cissé said. “I know not all

“If you’re not white and you’re not Asian, there’s not a lot of specialized options for you there. Like I know there’s an Asian American literature class and there’s AP European history, and there was a Black Lives in [Literature] class, but now there’s not any specialization there.” —Amanda Cisse, junior and Vice President of Black Students League

are the history, politics, culture, and geography of the African diaspora. Students will take an exam at the end of the year, simi lar to the structure of other AP courses, but with no college cre dit attached. If the pilot program is successful, all schools will have the option of adopting the cour se starting in 2024.

Though more planning with course material and scheduling is needed, preparation for Stu yvesant’s possible adoption of this course is already underway.

“I’ve acquired a few possible textbooks [and] sample copies to look through, and I’m going to be canvassing my staff to see who would express an interest so we might be able to offer it next year,” Assistant Principal for So cial Studies and Research Jennifer Suri said.

Several teachers have expres

American history than APUSH. For instance, one could spend an entire unit on the Jim Crow era, [when] that [would have been] covered in one day,” he said.

Students are also looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about another culture in their history classes. “I don’t think that it is right that the only history APs that are available are AP U.S. History, AP World [His tory], and AP [European Histo ry],” junior and Vice President of Black Students League (BSL) Amanda Cissé said. “I don’t un derstand why they would make that a specialized class just for Europe and not one for the other countries. The more specialized courses in history, the better, so that people can learn about their own cultures.”

Other students share similar sentiments on the importance of

the

ARISTA Board

African Americans know their origins in Africa, but I think it would be a good place to start.”

Students who are less kno wledgeable in African American studies are also hoping to take the course to learn more about the topic. “I would hope that there would be a good amount of history involved there. I hope it goes from historical—almost ancient—Africa, to closer to the modern day. I know a lot of his tory courses cut off before the modern day,” junior Zameen Ca ter said.

However, some are more ske ptical about the course’s impact with regard to understanding the long-lasting effects of histo rical events and their relevance to current events. “I feel like it’s not going to be as relevant as it’s ma king it out to be [and] it’s going to be a very factual history class

Post-tropical cyclone Fiona left behind a trail of destruction from the Caribbean to the Canadian Maritimes with its hurricaneforce winds.

Vladimir Putin cut off a pipeline that supplies a third of the natural gas Russia sends to Europe. Energy prices in Europe con tinue to skyrocket amid the European Union’s shortage of natu ral gas

Iranians have risen up to protest the Islamic Republic in the country’s largest anti-government protests in over a decade. The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in police custody

New York attorney general Letitia James sued several of Donald Trump’s businesses using Executive Law 63, a law the attorney general office has historically used to battle corporate giants such as oil giant Exxon Mobil, global bank UBS, and tobacco company Juul.

The $10 billion deficit in NY signals the potential of a fiscal crisis.

without talking about the effects today,” junior Zareen Islam said. “I don’t think [the College Board is] going to dive in-depth enough for what a class like this should aim to achieve.”

Moreover, students express doubt if the material will be properly taught at school. “See ing the recent controversy re garding the way the history of slavery has been taught, even if the curriculum is really coherent I don’t think it will get across that well, at least in this school,” Is lam said.

Regardless of the skepti cism, Cissé is optimistic that adding the course to Stuyvesant will contribute to BSL’s goals to spread awareness about Afri can American culture and help black students feel more includ ed in their learning. “If you’re

not white and you’re not Asian, there’s not a lot of specialized options for you there. There’s an Asian American literature class and there’s AP European Histo ry, and there was a Black Lives in [Literature] class, but now there’s not any specialization there,” Cissé said.

Moore hopes that the release of this course signals the devel opment of future ones inclusive of other marginalized groups. “It should be a starting point and not an ending point,” he said.

“If [the] College Board is going to have an AP course on African American history, there should be one on Latino history, Jewish American history, [and] women’s history to have a real alignment with what is being taught at the college level.”

to be a Better Leader: From Principal Yu to You

introduced smaller groups consisting of 15 to 16 people with two moderators coming from committees [events, operations, and web development].” These clusters are meant to promote bonding while serving as informational sessions regarding up dates and events.

Some ARISTA members are excited about the cluster system and efforts to make ARISTA feel more personal. “We’ve never done this before, and I really love the idea of establishing a community within ARISTA,” said junior and Events Com mittee member Sophia Dasser in an email interview.

Additionally, ARISTA recognizes the importance of lending a helping hand to underclassmen. A system of upperclass men helping freshmen adjust to Stuyves ant both academically and mentally was implemented in the 2021-2022 school year.

This year, Shi hopes to expand this initia tive. “Last year, the ARISTA operations committee partnered with the Stuyvesant counseling department to give Stuyvesant [freshmen] support with topics such as time management, organization and study skills, and self care,” she said. “This year we might expand on the partnership with the department to both freshmen and sopho mores, as a way to show how ARISTA can be a resource.”

Finally, the new executive chair wants to encourage self growth amongst their 200 members. “More often than not, peo ple see ARISTA as just an honors society that primarily volunteers within our local communities. But we’re also striving to en sure that while all our members are able to support those who are in their neigh borhood and communities, [the ARISTA community] can provide internal support systems [such as study skills and time man agement help] to foster personal growth,” Wang said.

middle of creating a ‘decorum’ for our class—essentially a set of guidelines we’ll be operating under in the class,” senior Andrey Sokolov said in an e-mail interview.

In the classroom, students build off of each other’s contributions to class discussion. “The class is in a seminar style where participating is geared to ward your peers and there isn’t neces sarily a wrong or right answer—just another perspective/consideration,” senior Skai Nzeuton said in an e-mail interview.

At the same time, positive classroom experiences are not limited to the stu dents taking the class, but also apply to the teacher. “As the instructor, I get to share my experiences and understand ing of leadership and decision-making

with the students while also learning from all of them about their leadership journey,” Principal Yu said.

Principal Yu finds that by assum ing a teaching role, he also gains the perspective of a teacher at Stuyvesant. “Teaching this class gives me direct ex perience to the every day responsibili ties of our teachers and what they are managing in order to produce a positive and challenging learning environment,” he said.

There is a general consensus among his students that being given the op portunity to lead the class themselves sometimes is beneficial to their learn ing and skill building in the class. “Mr. Yu made the introduction to the class feel more inviting. I love how the class is taught not just by Mr. Yu but by our fellow peers,” senior Safika Alam said in an e-mail interview. “We set our own rules about how to run the class and en courage each other to share ideas.”

Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle, aged 96, after a reign of over 70 years

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

Teachers and Students Comment on the Passing of the Queen

By THE NEWS DEPARTMENT

“It was surprising, though it shouldn’t have been given her age. But when a person has been around and in the public for so long, there is a feeling that they will always be there. I am not sure if the death of the Queen impacts the United States directly. I suppose that Charles’s ascendancy to the throne reinvigorates the debate over the value of the monar chy and were the monarchy to be dissolved it could impact the U.S. but this seems remote. I am personally completely opposed to the monarchy; it is the antithesis of democracy and pluralism, lacks transparency and is exclusionary. But I will say that as a person, Queen Elizabeth seemed to have a dignity and grace that is sorely needed among world leaders. That will be missed.” —Ellen Siegel, social studies teacher

“In AP Spanish, we were shown a video where upon hearing of the Queen’s death, an Argentinian man celebrated publicly on live television […] I personally understood [the] reaction because Britain has a history of bloodshed and violence over the past centuries. There were wars in Argentina in the 80s and it could’ve affected him. I understand that [the Queen] does not hold actual military power, but as someone that represents a nation, people will make their own judgements about her. I just think there’s too much online mockery, especially from Americans.” —Joanna Meng, junior

“It was pretty sad but it didn’t affect me in any way at all. It’s not really relevant to who I am so I wasn’t really impacted. I think the news we see on TV about royalty is going to be really different from now on. There are probably going to be a bunch of documen taries about the Queen.” —Abigail Cho, freshman

“In the U.K. especially, people have this tendency to be like ‘Oh no, the queen died, it’s like my grandma died.’ Your connection with her was paying taxes that paid for her cutlery. [Britain] is closing general practitioners for the day [of her funeral], closing every McDonald’s in the country for the day, [and] closing the country’s largest airport for the day because the planes will be too loud for the funeral. People have this tendency to connect her with the empire, but she didn’t really have a connection to that.” —Isaac Parker-gouy, junior

“No offense intended toward Her Former Majesty, but I can’t help but feel indifferent toward her passing, since her role was more as a figurehead of the U.K. rather than an actual political leader. No one that I know personally connects with Queen Elizabeth. She’s mostly a diplomat for foreign nations, but the Queen’s death progresses the line of leadership forward a generation, further away from the times of imperialist Britain. It could make the U.K. less restrictive possibly or more open in world politics, but frankly, it really doesn’t really mean much in my life. She’s basically only a public figure and not a political one, and only notable due to the history of Britain and its imperialist past.” —Kelvin Zhao, senior

“We just view her as a figurehead of Britain, [but] for Biden and other political figures, it’s very much the loss of a friend, in a sense, someone who has seen 13 sitting presidents […] In America, most people don’t really care. Nobody is going around for six days mourning […] so it’s not affecting the U.S. that much.” —Sequoia Rabinovich, senior

“[The Queen] had more of a ceremonial role than an active one, but she still had an impact on people. Her death could be seen as part of the end of an era of British his tory as her long reign stretched back to when the British empire still somewhat existed. Although her role has been passed on to King Charles, I do not think there will be any more monarchs with her image. Her stoic personality preserved the prestige of royalty in contrast to other members of her family. There likely won’t be any other monarchs with an upbringing like hers or the situation that resulted in her becoming Queen at such a young age.” —Riasat Audhy, junior

“She was really old so there wasn’t any surprise there [her death], but it is disappointing because she was a role model for other monarchs. She was a role model by being a part ner in the constitutional process, but not getting too involved, and that’s a delicate pro cess. She just did a great job of being neutral, of being respectful and respected. She was great. She was amazing. I think we could use royalty like that. We need royalty. We need somebody who can provide some stability, [whom] we can gossip about their children, and provide some stability to the political process. I think it was a real benefit. If that’s what royalty is, we can use royalty in America.” —Zachary Berman, social studies teacher

“Honestly, the British government just lost a huge fig urehead. I think people in the U.S. are just going to move on, because it doesn’t really affect us. In the U.K., people will definitely feel more strongly about the loss and [there will be] larger ramifications culturally and po litically. Long live the Queen. Justice for Princess Di ana.” —Giridhar Bonu, senior

“My initial reaction was more of a mixture of shock and respect since she was at a meeting like two days before her death, [but] the Queen is a political figurehead of Britain so not much of global politics will be changed.” —Richard Wang, sophomore

“I do think that the Queen’s death will affect us, even if it’s not politically. She was an important figure in history and in the present, so her death may have some cultural implications. Even immediately after her death, people started making memes, a lot of them calling her a colonizer.” —Huda Berri, sophomore

“A lot of American people are individually evaluating Queen Elizabeth’s legacy, and more generally, the British monarchy’s history of col onization. However, I don’t think there will be a huge impact on U.S. politics, since the Queen hadn’t been as involved in foreign affairs and served mostly as a figurehead in recent years.” —Charlotte Peterson, junior

“I had no idea that the Queen had passed until the news started spreading on social me dia. My initial reaction to her passing was shock. I remember texting one of my friends and talking about how we both expected her to live past 100. It was so sudden because Britain had just changed prime ministers a few days earlier. While I didn’t know much about the Queen, I did hold a sense of respect for her. She always seemed so glamorous and composed. The Queen’s death only leads Britain into a period of uncertainty. How ever, I don’t think that the British will have a hard time adapting to the now King Charles, especially because of how long he’s already been in public attention.” —Vicky Lin, senior

“While the Queen’s death was sudden, she was at an age where death is never unexpected. In addition, I don’t believe that the British royal family serves any purpose anymore. I feel that it is counterproductive for a first-world country to be using a monarchy as a figurehead. The only real reason that the royal family is still ‘in power’ is for ceremonial purposes.” —Adina Salant, sophomore

“Queen Eliabeth was an incredibly important figure in the last 70 years. In fact, she saw the entirety of the decolonization process of the U.K. as well as the de cline of the empire. As a leader, she was incredibly humble and she portrayed the true paragon of virtue, and I really don’t think there’s anyone who can replace her. With how much trouble Charles is in and how their economy is collapsing, I don’t know if they’ll be able to retain their national identity and monarchy.” — Andrey Sokolov, senior

“[For] Britain, being the force that it was, in imperial times and even now, the Queen is a symbol of that and she upheld that standard for a lot of people. I know […] India has been trying to get back their di amond that was used for her crown. Her death will have ramifications, but I’m not sure what they’re gonna be.” —Shreya Das, junior

“I think for the first time, there’s been a discussion around whether the monarchy is needed, and it’s the first that it’s come up in the context of a death of a monarch. That issue has been around for a while, a number of years, but I think her passing has brought that up again. If you have Charles III as a stable monarch, I don’t think there will be much of an impact at all. If he’s an unstable monarch like either [of] the two other monarchs, [Charles] I who lost his head and his son Charles II, then I think the monarchy will have an issue.” —Mordecai Moore, social studies teacher

Stuyvesant Switches from IO Classroom to JupiterEd Gradebook

By SADAT AHMED, SETH FENTON, NADA HAMEED, and ELAINE WONG

In light of cybersecurity con cerns, particularly with the infor mation of around 820 thousand students’ data being leaked through hacking, the New York City De partment of Education (NYC DOE) has decided to shift away from the IO Classroom and Pupil Path platform.

Though the DOE has devel oped its own grading platform, DOE Grades, the city’s gradebook is not mandated for schools. With many teachers and students having prior experience using Jupiter Ed, Stuyvesant decided to collectively switch to Jupiter Ed as the grading platform for all classes.

The administration believes that the change in the gradebook platform would not pose many problems. “It made the most sense to choose Jupiter particularly as we are trying to build momentum from the past year and minimize addi tional changes,” Principal Seung Yu said. “The school is using one gradebook only so we want to go into the year with everyone helping

one another to utilize the tool.”

Several students express ap proval of the transition from Pu pilPath to Jupiter Ed. “I absolutely hated [PupilPath]. I thought it was really bad,” sophomore Aeneas Merchant said. “First of all, a lot of the teachers had trouble grad ing in PupilPath, which led to a big disconnect between the teacher grading and the student [grades]. Second of all, it just kept crashing and periodically we could not get into PupilPath, and no one seemed to know how to get back in.”

Many teachers share the same sentiment, believing that IO Class room was less convenient. “If I made a mistake, to go back and change something on Skedula was 10 steps when on Jupiter it’s two,” mathematics teacher Dawn Vollaro said. “Skedula was a lot harder; it was a learning curve that I just nev er adjusted to.”

Vollaro also remarks that Jupi ter Ed brings new functionality to teacher activities, which was not present amidst IO Classroom’s technical difficulties. “I like [Jupi ter] because you can e-mail a class, and you can e-mail all the parents to tell them there’s a test coming up.

It was those e-mailing capabilities in Jupiter that Skedula didn’t have,” Vollaro said.

Some teachers have also found alternatives to certain IO Classroom features to supplement the staff and student experience with quali

Frida Ambia said in an e-mail inter view. “The only thing I liked about the [IO Classroom] platform was the birthday announcements, but I already found a solution for that— I had my students write their name and period on my calendar.”

ing period grades,” Vollaro said. “The only thing I like in Skedula is that if teachers were doing atten dance live, then you can see [which classes] the student was [in] during the day.” As Jupiter Ed cannot be used for attendance, bubble sheets are currently the alternative to IO Classroom’s attendance feature.

On the other hand, many stu dents dislike the user interface of Jupiter Ed. “I don’t like the way the website looks and it brings back terrible memories from the remote year, and so I would really love to not go back to that,” junior Sharika Shithi said.

The fact that Jupiter Ed does not have its own app is also a large reason students prefer PupilPath to Jupiter Ed. “I have a great dislike for Jupiter. I just don’t think it’s as visually appealing and the website isn’t as digestible as the PupilPath app. I think it’s nicer to look at the PupilPath app rather than [the] Ju piter [website],” junior Dorothy Ha said.

ties of both gradebooks. “All I can tell you is that I am very happy with the change. Jupiter Ed is a much more practical platform for teach ers and students,” Spanish teacher

However, the major feature that is irreplaceable with Jupiter Ed is IO Classroom’s ability to record daily attendance. “I liked [PupilPath] for attendance, and I liked it for mark

Regardless, Jupiter Ed became accessible to teachers and students on September 19 and will be the centralized grade database for Stuyvesant until further notice.

Students and faculty at Stuyvesant discuss the implications of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Quotes have been edited for clarity and concision.

Julia

Spectator

The World is Your Oyster: Stuyvesant Students Study Abroad

By ABIGAIL JIN and CALISTA LEE

Forty-seven Stuyvesant stu dents experienced the magic of studying abroad over the summer with the Council of International Educational Exchange (CIEE). Whether it was learning Span ish in Spain or studying theater arts behind the scenes in Lon don, they tried new foods, made friends from across the world, and learned about new cultures. It was an opportunity for them to learn not just outside the class room but also thousands of miles away from home.

Sophomore Lillian Engber got the opportunity to visit Ber lin, Germany for the German Language and Culture program. In CIEE’s Language and Culture programs, participants are given classroom instruction from local teachers and are exposed to au thentic interactions in the foreign country’s culture. Engber joked about Germany in a Zoom inter view, “The [Germans] don’t un derstand humor.”

Each day, Engber took a threehour class in the morning, made excursions around the city in the afternoon, and spent time with her host family in the evening, which was the structure across all the language programs. While the excursions taught her a lot about German culture, Engber noted

that she didn’t learn much from her language classes. Instead, it was her host family who helped her further her German language skills. “My host family spoke very little English, so I learned a lot of German that way,” Engber re marked.

Senior Jawad Sifat, however, got more out of his classes in his Spanish Language and Culture program in Madrid, Spain. “The professor there was actually a Spanish linguist major. […] It was really cool getting to learn Span ish the way Spanish students learn it,” he said. “[The professor’s] English is terrible, so he told us, ‘Please, for my survival, speak to me in Spanish. Even if it’s, like, terrible Spanish.’” According to Sifat, the resources in his CIEE classes were much more effec tive than Vista Higher Learning (VHL), a website commonly used by Stuyvesant’s world language teachers.

As for the cultural immersion of the program, Sifat had several memorable experiences. One of them was discovering a taste for Spanish cuisine. “The waffles are really good. They’re topped with ice cream so you could just take a bit [of it] and eat it and it melts. It was so good, like, I almost died,” he described earnestly. During the trip, he even completed a personal goal: having a romantic encounter in Europe. “I flirted with [anoth

er guy] in Spanish,” he recalled proudly.

Beyond CIEE’s language pro grams, students could also study abroad in specific themes. Sopho more Christopher Wong traveled to Lisbon, Portugal for CIEE’s Aquatic Ecosystems and Sus tainability program. “The most memorable classes were a fish dissection, a visit to the fish, fruit, and vegetable market, a cooking class, a dance workshop, and a tile painting workshop,” he described in an e-mail interview. “My favor ite excursions were surfing, snor keling, going to the aquarium in Lisbon, kayaking, and dolphin watching. We also did a beach clean-up, went bird watching, did field work, and went to a lot of beaches.”

Understandably, though, CIEE was not a completely smooth experience. Wong men tioned a few faults in the hotel he stayed in, such as its small size and inconvenient location. “We were mainly in a city called Setúbal located about an hour southeast of Lisbon,” he wrote. He also ac knowledged that he didn’t have as much freedom in a CIEE themebased program compared to a language-based program. Nev ertheless, he thoroughly enjoyed his time doing unique activities alongside newfound friends. “I had so much fun [...] and am ex tremely glad that I got to have this

opportunity,” he emphasized.

Junior Zelia Ryan-Young, who enrolled in the Behind the Scenes program in London, England, had a few more critiques for her program. “Sometimes it felt like we were doing too many similar things, like museum trips, back to back,” she described. “Even though this program is called Be hind the Scenes, it seemed to me to be acting-focused, which a lot of my classmates agreed with.”

Her other excursions includ ed tourist areas in the busy city. “Getting to explore other neigh borhoods or towns was really really fun,” she wrote. Addition ally, she was able to learn valuable things about theater. “I think the opportunity to see so many differ ent kinds of shows can be helpful to different crew members, main ly lights, sound, or people work ing with sets, just to get a sense of how far you can go with your work.” As most of her classes were improv-based, Ryan-Young also got the chance to hone her improvisation skills.

Despite some shortcomings, the participants agreed that study ing abroad was a distinctly special adventure for them, and they re flected on the advantages of par ticipating in it. For example, they were able to gain a sense of lib erty, maturity, and how to manage their own time. With all the free time she had in the big city of

Berlin, Engber learned to navigate a foreign country. Sifat similarly observed, “[You can gain] this level of independence that you don’t really have until college.”

Studying abroad also helped Ryan-Young learn how to manage her funds. “Most of my spend ing money for the trip was my parents’ gift, and [I] just generally [did] my best to keep spending down,” she explained.

Another experience students had was learning to step out of their comfort zones. Wong wrote, “I learned to be less afraid of try ing new things and meeting new people. I learned how to be more independent and take better care of myself.” The excursions and trips students had the opportunity to attend allowed them to learn in a non-traditional setting, interact with others besides classmates and teachers, and hone their for eign language skills by practicing with native speakers.

While studying abroad may sound intimidating at first, the in credible memories from distinct activities and global friendships make it a truly worthwhile and rewarding experience for many. What’s offered is a drastically different learning environment from Stuyvesant’s, which lacks authentic local lessons, as detailed by the CIEE alumni. “I wouldn’t trade the experience I had for the world,” Ryan-Young said.

Freshman Survey

The Class of 2026: Freshman Survey

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Results from the class of 2026’s Freshman Survey.

Part A: Demographic Information

1. What is the

A.

that

6. What type of middle school did you attend?

A. Selective Public School or Gifted & Talented Program (NEST+m, Mark Twain, etc.) — 49.9%

Zoned Public School — 41.3%

Private School

School

7.2%

1.6%

7. What gender do you identify as?

A. Male

45%

2 . Which of the following best describes

the United States?

A.

3. What is the religion that you

A.

4. How

A.

B.

you

C.

D.

your

5. What is the highest level of education

A.

your parents/

Female

Non-binary

48.5%

3.3%

2.5%

8. What sexual orientation do you most closely identify with?

A. Heterosexual (Straight) — 72.7%

Homosexual (Gay) — 1.8%

Bisexual — 8.2%

Asexual — 3.5%

E. Unsure/Questioning — 11.7%

F. Other — 2.1%

9. What is your immigration status?

A. I am an immigrant — 12.7%

B. My parents are immigrants — 65.7%

C. My grandparents are immigrants — 9.2%

D. Other — 8.8%

E. I don’t know — 3.5%

Part B: Academic Information

1. I frequently participated in my classes in middle school:

Strongly disagree — 3.9%

Disagree — 32%

20.5%

Agree — 35.1%

Freshman Survey

2. I consider myself to be aware of current events:

A. Strongly disagree — 2.3%

B. Disagree — 8.6%

C. Neutral — 32%

D. Agree — 45%

E. Strongly agree — 12.1%

3. I have a strong work ethic:

A. Strongly disagree — 2.7%

B. Disagree — 8.8%

C. Neutral — 28.7%

D. Agree — 42.9%

E. Strongly agree — 16.8%

4. Approximately how much sleep did you get on any given school night in middle school?

A. Fewer than 6 hours — 8.8%

B. 6 - 7 hours — 20.5%

C. 7 - 8 hours — 38.4%

D. 8 - 9 hours — 27.5%

E. More than 9 hours — 4.7%

5. My favorite subject is:

A. Math — 47.4%

B. Science — 22.2%

C. English — 10.5%

D. History — 10.7%

E. Other — 9.2%

6. I spent ___ hours studying on an average night in middle school:

A. Less than 0.5 hours —33.5%

B. .5 - 1 hours — 32.4%

C. 1 - 2 hours — 21.4%

D. 2 - 3 hours — 9.2%

E. More than 3 hours — 3.5%

7. After I graduate from Stuyvesant, I think I might attend an Ivy League University or another elite university.

A. Strongly disagree — 1.4%

B. Disagree — 3.7%

C. Neutral — 34.5%

D. Agree — 34.7%

E. Strongly agree — 25.7%

8. By the end of my Stuyvesant career, I predict that I will be among:

A. top 10% of my class — 18.7%

B. top 25% of my class — 41.1%

C. top 50% of my class — 33.5%

D. bottom 50% of my class — 6.8%

Part C: Applying to Stuyvesant

1.When did you start studying for the SHSAT?

A. I did not study for the SHSAT — 6%

B. Less than one month before the exam — 5.7%

C. 1-4 months before the exam — 20.3%

D. 4-6 months before the exam — 23.4%

E. 6 months- 1 year before the exam — 27.5%

F. More than 1 year before the exam — 17%

2. Which best describes the method of studying you used for SHSAT?

A. I did not study for the SHSAT — 5.7%

B. Self-study/Preparatory books — 30.4%

C. Preparatory class (not SHSI) — 44.8%

D. SHSI preparatory school — 7.2%

E. One-on-one tutoring — 9.9%

F. Other — 2.1%

3. To what extent did a parent/guardian pressure you to come to Stuyvesant?

A. Not at all — 34.5%

B. Some pressure

A lot of pressure

40.5%

17.2%

It was entirely their decision

4. I think there will be a

7.8%

academic success at Stuyvesant.

A. Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly

20.1%

4.9%

3. I am opposed to the use of study drugs (prescription stimulants like Adderall or Ritalin) by high school students.

A. Strongly disagree — 2.1%

B. Disagree — 4.3%

C. Neutral — 24.4%

D. Agree — 25.5%

E. Strongly agree — 43.7

4. I am opposed to the use of hard drugs (cocaine, opiates, etc) by high school students.

A. Strongly disagree — 1.4%

B. Disagree — 0.4%

C. Neutral — 3.1%

D. Agree — 15.6%

E. Strongly agree — 79.5%

5. I am opposed to sexual activity by high school students.

A. Strongly disagree — 5.1%

B. Disagree — 7.2%

C. Neutral — 33.1%

D. Agree — 19.9%

E. Strongly agree — 34.7

6. How many cups of coffee do you drink on an average day?

A. None — 85%

B. 1 cup of coffee — 11.1%

C. 2 cups of coffee — 3.1%

D. 3 cups of coffee — 0.4%

E. 4+ cups of coffee — 0.4%

7. My mental health is something I think about regularly.

A. Strongly disagree — 5.3%

B. Disagree — 16%

C. Neutral — 32.2%

D. Agree — 35.5%

E. Strongly agree — 11.1%

8. How many hours do you spend watching TV (including Netflix), gaming, or watching YouTube on a typical school day?

A. Less than one hour — 16.4%

B. 1 - 2 hours — 42.9%

C. 2 - 3 hours — 20.5%

D. 3 - 4 hours — 8.8%

E. More than 4 hours — 11.3%

9. How many hours a day do you spend on social media?

A. Less than 1 hour — 39%

B. 1 - 3 hours — 38%

C. More than 3 hours — 10.3%

D. I don’t have any social media accounts, including Facebook — 9.7%

E. I do not have a Facebook but I do have other social media accounts — 3%

10. Choose the extracurriculars you will be most likely to dedicate yourself to in the next 4 years.

A. STEM/Academics — 71.1%

B. Sports — 45.9%

C. Speech and debate — 26.9%

D. Student government — 19.4%

E. Publications — 18.4%

F. Community service — 50%

G. Art — 39.3%

H. None — 1.7%

11. When I am older, I hope to go into ___.

A. STEM-related fields (engineering, computer science, medicine, etc.) — 53.5%

B. Humanities (history, language studies, social sciences, law) — 8.2%

C. Finance, business, management — 10.3%

D. Arts (visual art, music, dancing, theater) — 4.1%

E. Vocational work (construction, manufacturing, etc.) — 0.4%

F. No idea — 23.5%

Part E: Academic Honesty

1. I would sacrifice a good grade to preserve my academic honesty (ie even if I could cheat, I would not because it is immoral).

A. Strongly disagree — 2.8%

B. Disagree — 6.4%

C. Neutral — 21.8%

D. Agree — 40%

E. Strongly agree — 29%

5. Approximately how much sleep do you expect

any given school night

A.

Stuyvesant?

Part D: Identity/ Lifestyle

1.

2.

opposed to

A. Strongly disagree

B. Disagree

C. Neutral

D. Agree

0.9%

23.4%

E. Strongly agree

1.8%

2. In middle school, I partook in some form of academic dishonesty:

A. Frequently — 1.6%

B. Sometimes — 9%

C. Rarely — 44.6%

D. Never — 44.8%

3. I think that academic dishonesty (in any form) can be justified.

A. Strongly disagree — 14.6%

B. Disagree — 31.6%

C. Neutral — 41.7%

D. Agree — 10.3%

E. Strongly agree — 1.8%

Part F: COVID-19

I am concerned about the spread of COVID-19 this year.

A. Strongly Agree — 14.7%

B. Agree — 50.2%

C. Neutral — 2.6%

D. Disagree — 25.9%

E. Strongly Disagree — 6.6%

Freshman Survey

Part A: Demographic Information

The racial and socioeconomic demographics this year are in line with previous years, though interestingly, the majority of the freshman class identified as agnostic (someone who claims neither faith nor disbelief in religion) or atheist. Out of 487 freshmen who answered the survey, 265 labeled themselves as agnostic or atheist.

Around 75 percent of the freshman class have parents who have obtained higher education, with 367 out of 487 students having a parent or parents who graduated college. There’s no wonder that parental pressure to attend college is prevalent among Stuyvesant students.

Part B: Academic Information

As is standard, Stuyvesant students continue to favor math, with 47.4 percent of surveyed freshmen choosing it as their favorite subject, a significant difference from the 22.2 percent who chose science.

While a majority of freshmen responded that they sleep for seven to nine hours nightly, the Stuyvesant habit of sleep deprivation has already found targets, with 8.8 percent of freshmen responding that they get less than six hours of sleep and 20.5 percent responding that they get between six and seven hours of sleep.

The majority of freshmen expect to perform well academically by the end of their Stuyvesant career, with 41.1 percent anticipating that they will be at the top 25 percent of their class and 18.7 percent expecting to be at the top 10 percent of their class. Unsurprisingly, only 6.8 percent of Stuyvesant students expect to be in the bottom 50 percent. We applaud them for their self awareness.

In regards to the statement that they will attend an Ivy League or other elite university after graduation from Stuyvesant, 25.7 percent of freshmen strongly agree, and 34.7 percent agree. This year’s freshman class should prepare for disappointment.

Part C: Applying to Stuyvesant

Most of the incoming freshmen expect to receive about five to six hours of sleep per night. Coming in as a close second is six to seven hours of sleep per night. There is a general consensus among the incoming freshmen that they will be receiving less sleep than they did in middle school. Also, there is a negative correlation between the amount of sleep that a student expects to get on a given night and the amount of pressure that their parents give them, with less sleep corresponding to more parental pressure.

Most of this year’s freshmen prepared for the SHSAT in a relatively timely fashion. The three most popular choices were one to four months before the test (20.3 percent), four to six months before the test (23.4 percent), and six months to one year before the test (27.5 percent). The most popular ways of preparation were self-studying with books or participating in a preparatory class. Meanwhile, parental pressure to attend Stuyvesant varied among the students, with some facing some pressure, and others facing none at all.

Freshman Survey

Part D: Identity/Lifestyle

Around two thirds of incoming freshmen are strongly opposed to the use of marijuana and e-cigarette products by high school students, followed by a quarter who oppose it, and a very small minority (under five percent) who are not opposed. The use of hard drugs seems to be a very disagreeable idea among students, with an overwhelming 95 percent opposing its use. However, the class of 2026 seems to have different opinions on drugs aimed for academic productivity. Interestingly, a quarter of incoming freshmen are neutral toward the use of study drugs like Adderall, and under half of respondents are strongly opposed to it.

Meanwhile, just over half of the incoming class is opposed to sexual activity during high school. A third of students declare a neutral stance on the topic, and 12.3 percent are not opposed.

Surprisingly, it seems that Stuyvesant’s coffee craze has not yet affected freshmen—85 percent of freshmen drink no coffee at all on an average day, with only around 11 percent typically drinking one cup of coffee per day. That statistic is likely to change by junior year.

Around 40 percent of freshmen spend one to three hours or less than an hour on social media. Approximately 10 percent of freshmen indicated that they don’t have Facebook, with an additional three percent having other social media but not Facebook, which is surprising given how much Facebook is used among Stuyvesant students.

The majority of freshmen are looking to dedicate their time toward STEM and academic-related clubs (71.1 percent). Following STEM and/or other academic clubs, exactly half of the incoming freshmen would like to dedicate themselves to community service, with sports teams following close behind at 45.9 percent. Around 40 percent of students are interested in art clubs, and 27 percent of students would like to join the speech and debate team. Almost one fifth of the incoming freshmen want to join Stuyvesant’s student government, a similar statistic to the freshman interested in joining publications at Stuyvesant. Finally, 1.7 percent of freshmen surprisingly have no interest in joining any clubs at all. Around half of the respondents (53.5 percent) indicated that they would like to go into a STEM-related field when they are older, in-line with their extracurricular preferences, while a little less than a quarter (23.5 percent) of the respondents are unsure of their future. Around a 10th of the incoming freshmen are interested in finance and related fields (10.3 percent), with a similar figure for humanities (8.2 percent).

Part E: Academic Honesty

Most freshmen appreciate academic honesty in all settings, which is in-line with past generations of incoming classes. Seventy-nine percent of freshmen claim they would rather sacrifice a good grade than cheat due to the moral implications, an eight percent uptick from last year. Similarly, less than 10 percent of students said that they would cheat for a good grade, even if it meant sacrificing their academic honesty.

Twenty-nine percent of freshmen strongly agreed that they would sacrifice a good grade to preserve their academic honesty, while 40 percent agreed, and 21.8 percent were neutral on the issue. Only a slim percentage of freshmen admitted to being willing to cheat.

Furthermore, 46.2 percent of freshmen feel that academic dishonesty in any form cannot be justified, meaning there is never a valid reason to cheat, plagiarize, or copy from another student.

Stuyvesant is extremely strict about the academic dishonesty policy, which has been further exacerbated by media attention from select outlets. While freshmen may not have aligned with this stance in the past, entering a new school can be difficult, and the students may be compelled to portray a better image of themselves.

As COVID-19 regulations loosen up, more people are choosing to go maskless. However, this change may result in anxiety for some, as the majority of freshmen feel concerned about the spread of CO VID-19 this year. In particular, 48.3 percent of students agreed that they were concerned about the spread of the virus, while 14.2 per cent strongly agreed.

The increase in the number of students comfortable with not wearing a mask may be due to the decrease in the rates of infection in the U.S. after the release of several COVID-19 vaccines. Last year, 88.3 percent of freshmen received both doses of the vaccine, and it is safe to assume that that number has only gone up as time has passed and more and more institutions have required people to be vacci nated. Most students feel safe within this herd of immunity, which is why more students choose to take off their masks and forego social distancing.

Most of the free responses reflected a lack of concern about CO VID-19, whereas most of the concerned freshmen stuck to the mul tiple choice to voice their answers. It seems as though students who are not worried about COVID feel the need to explain themselves more, so as not to seem insensitive or ignorant.

By THEO SASSANO

When New York City schools first shut down at the dawn of the COVID-19 pan demic, most did not imagine they would remain that way for a year and a half. When schools fully reopened in 2021 with ample precautions, a return to normalcy seemed far away— yet, a year later, Stuyvesant has reached an in-between. The DOE changed school health regulations by removing the daily health screening require ment and in-school PCR testing, and has decreased test kit dis tribution from eight to four per month. Some Stuyvesant stu dents’ attitudes toward COVID have changed because of these relaxed health protocols.

For students like senior Talia Hsia, attending school in Sep tember 2022 has felt safer than it has been in a few years. “Last year, [COVID] was kind of a big thing for me because we were just emerging out of quarantine and in-person school was really tentative,” she said. “COVID

By ARSHIA MAZUMDER

Once summer starts, most students don’t want to think about anything related to school. For many, summer is a time for vacation, relaxation, hanging out with friends, and lots of sleeping in. But for an other large chunk of students, summer isn’t just a time to rest; it’s also an opportunity to learn.

Junior Eshaal Ubaid jumped into several advanced classes this year, including AP Span ish, AP English, AP Biology, and AP U.S. History. To prepare herself, she studied these topics over the summer. “Last year, I definitely wish I self-studied over the summer because it definitely would have cut a lot of time out of my [school] day,” she reflected.

Ubaid’s motivation was to avoid the stress she felt during her sophomore year. “After tak ing a test, the concept would suddenly click in my head and I would go, ‘I wish I had at least gone over the lesson [...] over the summer, because it would’ve clicked so much faster in class if I had done that,’” she reflected. “I think of [summer studying] as doing a favor for my future self.”

Freshman Sarah Jiang de scribed summer studying as not only helpful but necessary for her academic success. In an e-mail interview, she wrote, “It’s sort of like taking supple ments. [...] Sure, I can maintain my grade without studying, but in order to achieve my best re sults, I study. [...] Studying for anything is preferable to doing nothing.”

Freshman Veronika Gulko took this summer to prepare herself not only for the content, but also for Stuyvesant’s intense work ethic. She described selfstudying as a “coping tech nique” for the harsh routine Stuyvesant demands. “My

The State of COVID at Stuy

isn’t really at the same level as it was a year ago. I think that the world cannot stay in the same state that it was in at the begin ning of the pandemic, especially now that it’s more on an epi demic level.”

On the other hand, junior Kohl Shepherd feels that CO VID should not be treated as any less than it was last year.

“My current attitude regarding COVID is that it is not over, and I will do everything in my power to not get the virus,” he said. “[I] and everyone in my im mediate family have managed to avoid getting COVID through masking and being overall very careful, and I intend to keep it that way.” While the severity of the virus itself has generally decreased from the start of the pandemic, Shepherd acknowl edges that the virus is still not fully understood and warrants caution. “COVID, if I did get it, would not kill me, but there are long-term effects of the vi rus that we don’t know much about, stuff like brain and lung damage, and that’s scary,” he ex

plained.

The debate over COVID’s intensity is most visibly dem onstrated in mask-wearing trends, as an increasing number of students have begun to test the waters of masklessness. Ju nior Yarza Aung, who currently wears a mask to school, is exper imenting with the idea of going maskless. “Honestly, I started school this year wearing a mask as a precaution, but I don’t feel like I need it now,” he explained. “COVID is no longer as ram pant as it once was, and I feel a lot safer at school in terms of a possible infection spread.”

While health concerns over COVID lessen, the question of “to mask or not to mask” has started to hinge on the social implications. Hsia, for instance, continues to carry a mask on her out of regard for those she interacts with in the building. “Around people who I know are more comfortable when people do wear masks, I’ll wear masks around them,” she said. “At this point, whether or not I wear a mask is determined much more

by social things and whether or not people are comfortable with me wearing one.”

Aung also finds that others’ masking preferences have in fluenced his own. “Seeing oth ers without masks makes me feel more comfortable with the idea of not wearing one,” he explained. “I definitely wouldn’t want to be the odd one out if everyone else at school had still chosen to keep on their mask.”

The opposite is true for Shepherd, who feels that the health-related decision out weighs any social factors. “If anything, my friends are less careful about COVID and masking than I am,” he said. “I believe that I would continue to wear a mask even if I were literally the only person in the school doing it.”

Freshman Arko Chakrabar tiroy also finds few reasons not to wear a mask with COVID in the air. “Wearing a mask helps protect myself, along with my family, friends, teachers, and anyone else I come into contact with,” he said. “Wearing masks is

Is Summer Studying Worth It?

teacher used to tell me horror stories about [having to study five hours each night]. I don’t think that’s necessarily true, but I am trying to get into the rou tine of studying daily.”

On the other hand, some students study for fun. Since ju nior David Cai Liang plans on

I use those to fill in some gaps.”

Junior Amy Gorreja com mented in an e-mail interview about certain trends she noticed in how students study over the summer. “[Most students] ei ther become obsessed and do nothing but study or have the book in front of you and end

year,” she described. To avoid burnout, Gulko suggested sav ing some time during the sum mer for oneself. “I would just leave a week or two before school actually starts just to do absolutely nothing.”

On the flipside, some stu dents do not see studying as a

especially important for the vul nerable members of our com munity, and we owe it to them to continue to practice masking and other safe behavior.”

While the mask debate rages on, students agree that the lack of the DOE health screening has been a relief. “In theory, it catches COVID before some one enters the school building, which is helpful, but in practice, it doesn’t really do much,” Shep herd said. “I think that the an noyance of having to fill it out and show it to the school every morning outweighed the few cases where it actually stopped people [from] entering the building.”

As it is still early in the school year, students’ opinions about COVID are subject to change. The topic is still up in the air: while many feel it is time to move past COVID, others believe it is better to be safe than sorry. A noticeable divide has formed amidst this uncertainty, and only time will tell whether it will clear up or devolve into fur ther complexity.

taking AP Computer Science, he practiced this past summer by using material from previous years lent by upperclassmen, partly because he genuinely en joys computer science. “This is kind of an awkward situa tion, but it’s like I actually enjoy [computer science] enough that I would do it as a hobby more than as work,” he remarked.

In the absence of physi cal classrooms and teachers to keep students on track, many students utilized tools like Google Calendar and Notion to organize their summer studying. When it came to content tools, many students opted for free online resources such as Khan Academy and YouTube. “Espe cially in terms of AP subjects, I think [Khan Academy has] really good videos and practices to re inforce that,” Ubaid remarked.

In addition to Khan Academy, she utilizes resources posted by teachers online. “Usually, some random teachers in Arizona or Texas will post these really great study guides with things that Khan Academy doesn’t have, so

up ultimately doing nothing but be on your phone,” she said.

She emphasized the importance of finding balance: “A good way to manage is to set up a sched ule [...] and turn off all distrac tions. So when you’re done you can hang out with friends, go to a park, or whatever floats your boat.”

Ubaid made sure she had time to both relax and work, and wasn’t strict about guide lines. “As long as you get this stuff done by 11:00 p.m., it’s fine, and if you want to push it by a day, that’s also fine,” she said. “But I never cancel plans [due to studying] because that’s honestly a little bit sad, so it’s just a thing of ‘Oh, you can come back to it later. It’s fine. You have time.’”

Gulko recommends taking advantage of the self-paced na ture of studying over the sum mer. “During the summer, you have the availability to just try different learning styles and then figure [out] later on what actually works for you and then stick with it through the school

productive use of their sum mer. Senior Cassie Fenwick explained that the benefits that summer studying has, such as productivity and structure, can be gained from other sources unrelated to school. “I think doing some sort of summer program that’s meaningful to you [is a better way to spend your summer]. Over the sum mer, I did a film camp kinda thing. I’m interested in film. It doesn’t feel like school,” Fen wick explained. “It’s something structured and something to keep your mind alive.”

Fenwick also emphasized the importance of using the summer to manage burnout and how the lack of studying over the summer could be bet ter preparation for the school year. “Going into senior year, I’m still scared to do work and I don’t wanna do work still, but having time to remember that I exist outside of school [...] has been really important,” Fenwick said.

Junior Henry Ji described self studying as futile, and po

tentially harmful. He argued that studying without knowing the teacher’s curriculum or style of teaching would lead to con fusion once the student stepped into the classroom. “For in stance, maybe one teacher likes to teach about chemistry a lot in the concepts of the point of view of an electron, like maybe they say, ‘The electron wants to bind here.’ [...] Perhaps another teacher likes to teach in terms of atoms,” Ji gave as an exam ple. “If you lock yourself into one mindset [...] you’re gonna be confused because you’ve been thinking about chemistry in terms of things like electrons and what an electron wants when your teacher wants you to think in terms of what an atom wants.”

For that reason, Ji prefers to walk into class as a blank slate and recommends that if oth ers feel the need to study over the summer, then they should stick to the absolute basics. “After the simple parts of a subject have been taught, every teacher’s gonna have a differ ent way of discussing the things that come after,” Ji continued.

“When you try to follow what someone else says, you’re gonna have conflicting opinions. [...] You’ll probably have a hard time understanding what your teacher says if you spent the whole summer conceptualizing in a different way.”

Overall, summer studying is not for everyone. For some, summer offers a time to ex periment with different learning styles and catch up before the school year. For others, the best way to prepare is to rest before jumping back into class. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember to take that hardearned break and enjoy summer for as long as it lasts. As Gorreja stated, “It’s just good to have a balance in the summer of fun and a little work to keep your brain fresh and functioning.”

“During the summer, you have the availability to just try different learning styles and then figure [out] later on what actually works for you and then stick with it through the school year.” —Veronika Gulko, freshman

From the Classroom to Curricula: Addressing Stuyvesant’s Culturally Unresponsive Education

With the recent @blackatspe cialized Instagram account high lighting the experiences of black students in classrooms at Stuyves ant and controversies over out dated social studies curricula, it has become more pressing than ever to discuss how our school class rooms can modernize their mate rial. More often than not, educa tional institutions are slow to adapt to ever-changing social progress, and Stuyvesant is not exempt from this situation. Ensuring students are comfortable in the classroom setting should be an utmost priority for educators.

While Stuyvesant boasts elec tives like Modern China and Jewish History, it is important to highlight that we do not consider the inclu sion of diverse voices an essential part of the education of our stu dents. Much of AP World History focuses on non-European history through the lens of colonization and trade with Europe, and the lack of AP courses that focus on nonEuropean cultures exemplifies the Eurocentrism that underpins the very way our curricula are struc tured. We are not taught about LG BTQ+ history until we’re abruptly introduced to the Stonewall Riots or about Black culture until the Harlem Renaissance sub-unit in U.S. History.

Refusing to acknowledge vari ous identities within the realm of human history perpetuates the false narrative that the contributions of people of color, queer people, and other marginalized groups are not as meaningful, thus limiting stu dents’ ability to develop a global perspective. This system of educa tion prevents students of different identities from feeling seen in the classroom and can only perpetuate the discrimination many students already suffer. For this very reason, it is not enough to institute cur

ricular changes. We must also lead initiatives that can help facilitate open dialogue and change attitudes around an inclusive and culturally responsive education.

While Stuyvesant may be lack ing when it comes to culturally sen sitive education on a schoolwide basis, the efforts of individual teachers to incorporate current events and cultural references into their lessons should not be discred ited. Monumental events like the January 6 Capitol Attacks in 2021 and the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II have widespread im plications, so many teachers have adopted a practice of debriefing. These conversations do not have to take place solely in a humani ties classroom; STEM teachers also have a responsibility to make them selves available to discuss impor tant issues with students—whether that’s a mention of office hours or an acknowledgement of any signifi cant events before class begins.

There have been efforts to ad dress some of the narrowness in the Stuyvesant curriculum. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee has held talk cir cles about race and is taking steps to work with the administration to acknowledge cultural events. Mean while, the mandated English course at Stuyvesant, Foundations of Lit erature—previously European Lit erature—was renamed last year in an attempt to expand the course beyond an Eurocentric perspec tive on literary works. The English department intends for the name change to foster greater inclusivity in the course and expand the cur riculum beyond the European can on. There have also been efforts to increase the scope of what is cov ered in classrooms, especially for AP classes. The College Board’s AP curriculum often strays from em bracing cultural diversity in favor

of a more Eurocentric perspective on history and literature. However, there have been attempts to miti gate this bias—for example, the so cial studies department’s attempts at broadening the AP U.S. History curriculum by adding a number of units about women’s and minori ties’ histories.

In addition to the strides indi vidual teachers and departments are making, there are several things Stuyvesant could do as a whole to make our school a more inclusive space. The key solution to this is sue is conversation. The dynamic between educators and students often leaves students feeling too in timidated to address their concerns, from correcting their pronoun us age to discussing sensitive or per sonal topics with them. To avoid misgendering students and to create a safer environment for them, many teachers ask students to share their pronouns through a Google Form at the beginning of the year. Man dating this practice for all teachers is one small step that can be taken to ensure students feel comfortable and visible in the classroom setting. Furthermore, teachers should be encouraged to welcome conversa tions about major cultural events, even if it is just for three minutes at the start of class; clarify their role as both academic and personal sourc es of support at school; and estab lish environments of empathy and respect within their classrooms so students feel safe coming to them with personal concerns.

From the DEI Committee to specific cultural events that Stuyvesant hosts, it is clear that there are steps being taken to make Stuyvesant a more diverse, inclusive space. By bringing these steps into the classroom as well, Stuyvesant can create a more welcoming and informative environment for its students.

Monarch of a Bloodthirsty Empire

By AMARYLLIS SUN

It was declared on September 8, 2022 that Queen Elizabeth II had been placed under medical supervision after concerns for her wellbeing arose.

Hours later, at 6:30 p.m. BST, Buckingham Palace announced that the world’s most well-known queen had passed away. After the statement, the grief was instanta neous and widespread. Yet while her passing should be respected, it is also important to recognize the British Empire’s wrongdoings and the Queen’s complicity.

Public figures jumped to de liver speeches to the masses and post heartfelt messages on social media regarding their sorrow for the Queen. Liz Truss, the newly elected prime minister of the United Kingdom, described Britain’s history as “great” and praised the Queen’s legacy, a ques tionable statement given Britain’s history of slavery and theft. Fur thermore, President Joe Biden called her a “steadying presence” and “source of comfort” for the citizens of Britain. Powerful poli ticians gave high praise to both the Queen and her performance as the longest serving ruler of the British Empire in their orations, and the remarks they made can have consequences on the people whom the empire’s legacy has af fected. These countries’ leaders showering Britain’s history with praise without addressing its im

moral side is a disgrace to the mil lions of lives lost at the hands of Britain’s ongoing colonialism.

Britain’s horrific past of colo nization and white supremacy still affects nations worldwide today.

According to historian Stuart Laycock’s novel, “All the Coun tries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To,” Britain has invaded 90 percent of the world’s countries. Though the Queen was not directly re sponsible for many of the em pire’s negative actions, she never apologized for the actions of her ancestors. Some may argue that the United Kingdom’s monarchy holds little power nowadays, so an apology would have been mean ingless. Nevertheless, issuing a formal apology is the morally right thing to do and could have inspired other leaders to do the same.

Furthermore, Her Majesty was nicknamed the “Empress of India,” despite having never visit ed the country. After she became queen, she turned a blind eye to the immense suffering of India’s citizens that occurred due to Brit ain’s occupation of India. Britain once profited off of India, accu mulating $45 trillion through the trading system and the intense taxing of goods. In addition, the monarch kept the famous Kohi-Noor diamond, even though Indian citizens have demanded for centuries that the precious, stolen diamond be returned to its homeland and honored for

its cultural significance. Similarly, many of Ireland’s citizens also resent the Queen and the Brit ish Empire. Queen Elizabeth II ruled during a period of conflict between Northern Ireland and Britain called “The Troubles,” during which thousands of Irish citizens passed away. Her Majes ty’s ignorance of these atrocities only contributes to the argument of people unsympathetic toward her death.

Many citizens of Britain’s formerly ruled countries rejoiced when hearing of the Queen’s death. A TikTok video featuring dozens of soccer fans in a sta dium in Ireland chanting happily just mere hours after the mon arch’s passing received almost 10 million views on Twitter for its shocking nature, which enraged many people due to its clear dis respect and mockery of an im portant figure’s death. The soccer fans chanted “Lizzie’s in a Box” to the tune of the song “Give It Up” by KC and the Sunshine Band. More tweets angrily point out the exploitation and slavery that the Queen previously profited off of, with people from various cultures chiming in, such as the Aborigi nals of Australia and citizens of once colonized African countries.

Uju Anya, a renowned Nigerian Carnegie Mellon professor, re ceived backlash for her Tweet saying, “I heard the chief mon arch of a thieving, raping geno cidal empire is finally dying. May

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Voices

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her pain be excruciating.” While international communities came together to grieve Queen Eliza beth II’s death, individuals also came together to demonstrate their prejudice against the ruler who benefited from the coloniza tion of their ancestors. While it is disrespectful to publicly celebrate any human’s death and then share it on social media, the individu als participating in these actions have a genuine reason to be upset, giving some room to understand their acts.

Though many of Britain’s atrocities were committed long ago, people around the globe still hold resentment against the late queen. Many resent the symbol ism of a monarchy, and this re sentment translates onto Queen Elizabeth II, since she was the ruler of a monarchy. Though the monarch should not be held re sponsible for the entire empire’s actions, ignoring consequences is not helpful either. Queen Eliza beth II should have addressed these actions in a formal apol ogy during a visit to the affected countries.

To this day, the destruc tive legacy of the monarchy still haunts generations. Stolen cultur al artifacts, the loss of millions of lives due to war and slavery, and the devastation of economies by Britain have left scars on countries around the globe. Queen Eliza beth II and the United Kingdom were not innocent, and therefore, the media should not portray their legacy as legendary. Dis cussing Queen Elizabeth II’s ac tions, both positive and negative, is a better approach to the news regarding her passing so that the full history is described for peo ple to make their own opinions. The new monarch of the United Kingdom, King Charles III, must address these wrongdoings and strive to repair the damage caused by his kingdom. With the news of his crowning, expectations are heavy on the king, so it is impor tant for him to set a standard by compensating for his ancestors’ legacy. Ignoring the truth of his tory is morally wrong, and Britain must make amends by addressing these regretful past actions.

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

By KIKYO MAKINO-SILLER

Experts estimate that we have no Experts estimate that we have no more than eight years to save the planet from the catastrophic impacts of climate change. Re cord rainfalls, forest fires, and ab normal temperatures have already impacted roughly 80 percent of the global population. To combat the growing threats, some have turned to green technology. Re newable energy production has increased 42 percent from 2010 to 2020, making it one of the fastest growing industries in the nation, while electric vehicle sales doubled to reach a record of 6.6 million in 2021. These trends will continue as states start enforcing laws that promote green technology, like California’s recent ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035.

Green technology is hailed for good reason. One study found that generating 35 percent of the nation’s electricity using wind and solar power in the western United States would reduce carbon diox ide emissions by 25 to 45 percent. Another study noted that electric vehicles emit up to 43 percent less than traditional diesel vehicles. However, few consider the pro cess by which green technology is produced. Common green energy infrastructure such as windmills, geothermal and tidal turbines, and solar panels all require the use of permanent magnets or batteries to function. Key materials in the con struction of these technologies are rare earth minerals, a group of 17 metallic elements. Rare earth min erals get their name from how dif ficult they are to obtain and extract, as they are dispersed around the globe and usually aren’t found in pure forms. One three-megawatt wind turbine contains three tons of these metallic elements. Rare earth minerals are necessary in the

Enforce Education for All

By ELIZABETH KOLBASKO

The Central United Talmu dical Academy, a private school operated by the Hasidic Jewish community, gave state standard ized tests in reading and math to more than 1,000 students in 2019. Every student failed. In compari son, the average pass rate for all public schools for the same exact testing was 49 percent. Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED), a group of individu als raised in New York’s Hasidic Jewish community, reported that the education they received at Jewish yeshiva schools did not develop them enough to make healthy life decisions and sustain themselves after they graduated. This blatant lack of oversight can be traced directly to the Depart ment of Education.

The New York Times recently published an article detailing the low quality education that Ha sidic schools provide. However, the Department of Education has been “investigating” these schools since Bill de Blasio was mayor. Attempts to regulate pri vate schools during that time were met with extreme backlash from a large number of religious leaders. Many people from the Hasidic Jewish community ex pressed their concerns about

the government overstepping and restricting what yeshivas are able to teach. But so far, none of the legislation passed has limited religious lessons. Instead, it pro motes secular education and stan dardized testing.

Though religious freedom is one of our nation’s most pro tected principles, it cannot come at the cost of a basic education.

YAFFED has alleged that some Hasidic yeshivas barely taught any English and arithmetic, with little to no secular instruction.

Most of these schools offer reading and math just four days a week for 90 minutes a day and only for children between the ages of eight and 12. The primary focus of these schools is religion, including rigorous classes of study of the Torah, which aren’t in English most of the time. A YAFFED survey uncovered that boys graduate from yeshivas at 18 with third or fourth grade reading levels. This result is a dire prob lem because without a proper education of basic literature and mathematics, children can be sucked into a disadvantaged life.

Since Hasidic Jewish children are the victims of unregulated schools and are not learning ba sic life skills, a cycle of poverty is created in their communities. In the future, this poverty will hit New York hardest in the com

Worms, China, and Pollution: Is Green Technology Worth It?

production of numerous devices like cell phones and LED lights, but the amount required in these devices is miniscule. However, in creasing green technology usage on a national level would require the mining of an unprecedented amount of rare earth minerals.

Increasing rare earth mineral usage is questionable in terms of both its environmental and politi cal consequences. Rare earth min erals are often mined from openpit mines, a process of digging

of sediments, polluting the envi ronment of deep-sea organisms such as pearlescent worms and glass sponges, as well as animals that swim through those regions, like whale sharks.

In addition to the environ mental consequences, increasing American demand for rare earth minerals means that the U.S. will become further reliant on China, which controls more than 85 per cent of the world’s mined output of rare earth minerals. Past efforts

ment support, Japan was able to cut its reliance on Chinese rare earth minerals from 90 percent to 58 percent in just 10 years. In the future, if China has reason to be lieve that American actions neces sitate trade restrictions, the United States may have to travel down a similar path.

In an age when many consid er climate change to be the most pressing issue of our generation, it is inevitable that green technology will continue to expand. Currently,

munities where most kids were not educated properly and left to their own devices. We will see dis proportionately higher rates of low-income households in neigh borhoods with the most gradu ates from yeshivas because they will have limited work options to provide for themselves. In fact, a single year of primary school (that includes secular education) increases wages earned later in life by up to 15 percent for boys and even higher for girls.

There should be stricter laws for private schools to ensure that children are getting the proper education they deserve. Private or charter schools, for example, can offer many things that pub lic schools can’t, such as religion classes and smaller class sizes. But by law, they must give instruction equivalent to public schools. Ye shivas that do not abide should not be shut down, as they do provide important instruction to their students about their faith, but they should be strictly moni tored by the Department of Edu cation to change their curriculum.

Enforcing laws that require pri vate schools to follow minimum academic standards could create change in those schools. The gov ernment must be more proactive in inspections and testing because every student deserves the right to a proper education.

to extract materials from shallow layers of the earth’s surface. This practice exposes eight to 10 times more waste to the environment than underground mining, leading to soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and water contamination. In fact, securing a single ton of rare earth minerals produces 2,000 tons of toxic waste. Companies also often spray dangerous amounts of acids over mining areas in order to sepa rate rare earth minerals from other ores and mining byproducts.

In an attempt to expand their inventory, companies have re cently begun looking toward deep ocean floors, where an estimated 500 billion tons of rare earth mineral-containing polymetallic nodules are scattered. Though the extraction of the nodules from the seabeds is relatively simple with a vacuum or pipe, removing them leads to numerous complications. The process stirs up vast amounts

to mine and process rare earth minerals in the U.S. have failed, including California’s Mountain Pass Mine, which declared bank ruptcy in 2015 and was subse quently taken over by a Chinese company. With rising tensions between the U.S. and China over political hotspots like global trade and Taiwan, the dependency of the American green tech industry on China may become an issue.

In the past, China restricted exports of rare earth minerals to countries with whom they had dis putes. A key example is the trade embargo that was placed on Japan in 2010 after the country detained a Chinese fishing trawler captain.

Much like the United States, Japan had been almost entirely depen dent on China for the minerals. Ja pan was quickly forced to diversify its importing sources and increase domestic investment in the indus try. With comprehensive govern

a very small amount of rare earth minerals are being recycled into new devices and technology. This minority is due to the labor-inten sive recycling process, which can be improved upon with the cre ation of products that are easier to dismantle. One recently launched innovative recycling process de veloped by the Critical Materials Institute uses a chemical solution to extract the minerals from other waste. Recycling reduces the need to mine frequently for new mate rials and decreases the amount of waste produced.

The harms of open source mining can also be mitigated through recycling processes. Chi na created new rare earth mineral mining regulations in 2015 in re sponse to public calls for envi ronmental action. One of these new laws mandated that at least 85 percent of mixed rare earth mineral wastewater be recycled. In

addition, bastnaesite, a key min eral in the extraction of rare earth minerals, now had to be extracted using a treatment system that is capable of comprehensively treat ing wastewater and solid wastes for toxic and radioactive materials. These regulations have not been implemented completely, but they should be as soon as possible.

Finally, a preventative solution is to designate areas of the deep ocean floor as areas of particular environmental interest. This indi cation can protect the organisms living there from the immediate harms of extracting rare earth minerals. The United States En vironmental Protection Agency has over 100 reasons why an area may be designated as one of en vironmental interest. However, all of these reasons are broad and do not protect the ocean floor from mining. Therefore, the United Na tions Convention on the Law of the Sea should designate specific rules and areas to protect under water ecosystems. For example, certain habitats with endangered species, capstone species (any or ganism that holds the ecosystem together), or a high concentration of organisms should be protected. In addition, mining could be sus pended during certain breeding or migratory seasons.

The rare earth mineral indus try is lucrative and expanding, making strict regulations unlikely. Despite more and more consum ers valuing sustainability, compa nies will always prioritize profit over environmental action. Addi tionally, since these are global is sues that depend on international treaties and the laws of countries other than the United States, it is difficult to enforce widespread regulation. If America wishes to continue expanding its green tech nology market, it must collaborate with global actors to guarantee a sustainable future for green en ergy.

The process stirs up vast amounts of sediments, polluting the environment of deep-sea organisms such as pearlescent worms and glass sponges, as well as animals that swim through those regions, like whale sharks.

Jaden Bae / The Spectator

By GULAM MONAWARAH

Last year, I sat in Founda tions of Literature, book in hand, fuming at what I had just read.

“Brideshead Revisited” is not, by any means, a particularly engaging book. I was only invested because it was one of the first books I had ever read with queer representa tion that wasn’t garish. The story is subtle, with plain characters, Se bastian Flyte and Charles Ryder, who may or may not be in love and are haunted by this lack of resolution for nearly 40 years. The author, Evelyn Waugh, confuses his readers with unclear language, but eventually, the main character ends up in a loveless straight mar riage and has an affair with his former lover’s sister.

It was unfair for an otherwise sweet representation to be de monized by this affair. It’s heav ily implied in the book that Ryder falls for his best friend’s (implied lover’s) sister, Julia Flyte, only because of his nostalgia. When he first meets Julia Flyte, Ryder’s main thoughts are that she looks exactly like Sebastian Flyte. When Julia Flyte gently confronts Ryder about the nature of his relation ship with Sebastian Flyte, Ryder says that Sebastian Flyte was the “forerunner” of all his following relationships. Ryder starts a sex ual relationship with Julia Flyte, despite already being married to someone else and having chil dren. By the end of the book, due to Ryder’s actions, two straight women, children, and in-laws feel betrayed, while Waugh has little to no sympathy for the homosexual community.

Unfortunately, infidel ity was once seen as a natural consequence of homosexual

LGBTQ+ Cheating: An Overused, Problematic Trope

ity. Throughout history, it was common for homosexual men to enter heterosexual marriages and cheat with men on the side. This situation was for protection: being openly gay was and still is taboo, potentially extremely dan gerous, and often criminalized. In a 2008 study, the two most com mon reasons for homosexual re spondents to enter heterosexual relationships were because that’s what they were told is natural and because they wanted a “nor mal” family life. Both notions are rooted in internalized homopho bia and a historic fear of publicly coming out. Openly gay people were automatically labeled “pro miscuous” and “loud.” It was only recently, with the advent of the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, that the queer community could feel safer in the U.S.

Despite recent advancements in queer representation, the ste reotype of queer people being cheaters persists today in our me dia. Though this trope of infidel ity among queer people seems like a way to bring depth to LGBTQ+ characters, it instead perpetuates negative stereotypes about them.

Often, literature that depicts LGBTQ+ characters introduces conflict with infidelity storylines. In a popular young adult novel ti tled “It’s Not Like It’s a Secret” by Misa Sugiura, the main character moves to California and develops feelings for a female classmate as she tries to deal with rampant racism and homophobia around her. Many readers were shocked when she decided to cheat on her current boyfriend with said classmate. The novel gives the im pression that cheating is a normal coming-of-age for queer relation ships, when it is not. The effect of this gross misrepresentation is

clear: the book was rated 3.6/5 on Goodreads and 4.5/5 on Audible as of September 2022—readers genuinely think that this plot is an accurate portrayal of queer rela tionships.

The insulting trope of queer people hurting straight couples through infidelity is also gaining popularity in films and TV. One of Netflix’s most beloved shows, “Grace and Frankie,” is built upon this stereotype. The plot is as follows: two elderly women’s lives are torn apart when their husbands leave them for each other. While this show is meant to be a tale battling ageism and sex ism, when it comes to the ruinous gay couple, Robert Hanson and Sol Bergstein, the show makes it seem as though the “gay” aspect is more terrible than the “cheat ing” aspect of the situation. For example, when Hanson and Berg stein try to make amends, one of their adult children complains, “Would you be cool with [the af fair] if they’d been cheating with women for the last 20 years? [...] Please. There wouldn’t be cake. There’d be blood.” The show as sumes that when heterosexual people cheat, it is immoral, but when gay people cheat, it is an inconvenience. There is no doubt that cheating is terrible, but with the (little) protection that LG BTQ+ couples have, it is also ter rible to complain that one cannot be hateful because queer people are now beginning to be taken seriously. Media like “Grace and Frankie” try to pit women against queer couples, even though both groups are struggling in our soci ety and should be supporting, not fighting, each other.

Media that normalize LG BTQ+ cheating negatively affect particular groups, like bisexual

and pansexual people. Bisexual characters, such as Barbara Kean in “Gotham,” Maureen Johnson from the hit musical “Rent,” and Oberyn Martell from “Game of Thrones,” fall into the Cheating Bi trope, in which bisexual people are serial cheaters because they are confused and cannot pick which “side” they want to stay on, or the Hypersexual Bi, who is incredibly promiscuous. When bisexuality is linked with indecisiveness and in fidelity, people brush cheating off as growing pains or a natural way of life for the queer community, but the fact that this trope is com mon in media does not mean that infidelity is normal among queer people. Today, one of the most common myths about bisexual people is that they cheat on their loved ones or are too promiscu ous, and it’s a shamefully normal ized thought.

Cheating is a deep form of betrayal that is completely wrong no matter the context, but con necting cheating to queer relation ships can be especially harmful. The oppression and stereotypes associated with queer people are known to escalate into physical violence. In surveys of LGBTQ+ people, 52 to 87 percent have been verbally abused, 13 to 38 percent have been chased or fol lowed, and nine to 24 percent have been physically assaulted. FBI re cords indicate that 16.8 percent of hate crimes reported in 2019 were based on sexual orientation, the third largest percentage after race and religion. Minority groups have been and continue to be the target of hate crimes. Adding any kind of fuel to that fire, no matter how small, can be damaging.

Many of my friends and fam ily use infidelity as an excuse to disenfranchise the queer com

Knock On More Doors

New York City does frustratingly little to politically inform its citizens. There was plenty of information about the election online, but it was not well advertised.

By USHOSHI DAS

Before this summer, I de tested the phone calls I received from political campaigns. Since I cannot vote, I did not see the point in responding to these messages. My family constantly talks about politics, so I never considered these calls informa tive. Thus, when I began my internship for a New York area congressional campaign this August, excited to learn how a political campaign is run, I was surprised to learn that my job on the first day was to phone bank for four hours. Since I had never seen anyone interact with campaign calls (except to ask to be taken off the calling list), I doubted I would actually get to talk to someone.

At times, calling felt mean ingless because most people

refused to answer my ques tions. After the first time some one yelled at me, the girl sitting next to me offered some advice: “Don’t worry, they don’t really seem like people after a while.” But I quickly learned that every vote counts in a way I had nev er understood. To my surprise, those who picked up often didn’t know an election was taking place. Since it was the first Au gust primary in New York, I was met with countless comments like “I just voted in June! What am I supposed to be voting for now?” New York City was re cently redistricted, so many citi zens I talked to were confused about which district they lived in and should vote in. During the tens of thousands of phone calls we made, most of our dis cussions helped voters learn where to research candidates,

explained how to find their dis tricts and polling locations, and assisted them with making plans to vote. We encouraged voting early and by absentee ballots so that everyone who could not make it to a polling site on elec tion day would be able to vote.

New York City does frustrat ingly little to politically inform its citizens. There was plenty of information about the elec tion online, but it was not well advertised. There are many ways that the city could get a higher voter turnout. For example, the LinkNYC screens on sidewalks and in the subways could feature information about elections, as could the ads in subway cars and stations. Such little awareness impacts voter turnout: accord ing to counts on primary day, in the 16 Democratic congressio nal primaries in New York State, about 13.4 percent of the over four million registered Demo crats voted, a disappointingly small percentage.

To bring as much attention to the election as we could, in terns walked through every neighborhood in the district our candidate was running to represent and asked small busi nesses if we could place post ers with information about the election. As we taped posters to storefronts, passersby would

stop to ask us questions about the candidate. It seemed as if people only noticed the posters because they saw others putting them up. Every “Thank you for doing this,” “We really appreci ate your work,” and “I did this too when I was younger” kept us energized and reminded us that face-to-face interaction was effective. Once, my poster ing partner and I even got cold water from a kind deli owner at the end of a very hot day. An other time, two interns and I were at a farmers’ market early in the morning handing out fly ers about the election, and one vendor gave us fresh peaches at the end of a four-hour shift. Every person we talked to mat tered. For me, it was no longer about voting for the candidate I was working for: it was about getting people to vote.

I knocked on hundreds of doors and discussed policies, which I assumed was uncom mon in New York City. Many people slammed their doors in my face, and even more didn’t answer in the first place. But the few who did often had questions about my candidate or needed help voting. As I walked nearly 15 miles every day, I helped peo ple choose their representative. Interns positioned themselves in high-traffic areas, especially train stations and parks, and talked

munity. They genuinely think that cheating is normal in this group and that this group is untrust worthy as a result. When I heard of sexual harassment incidents at my old school, many of my peers excused them because the perpe trator was queer and gave him the benefit of the doubt. At the core of this situation are people who try to keep up with the times and tolerate all LGBTQ+ or genu inely just do not want to under stand them. While their efforts to be understanding and less judg mental should be appreciated, normalizing cheating in queer re lationships only perpetuates those dangerous stereotypes. No group is more likely to cheat on their loved ones than others, and being gay does not make it natural.

Rather than holding gay re lationships in comparison to or against straight relationships, it is far more fulfilling to create a story with LGBTQ+ relations at the center. Readers also have a part to play: we should not endorse books that seek to pit women against LGBTQ+ characters or straight against gay. Film pro ducers should write well-round ed, healthier queer characters and branch away from harmful tropes. Students can advocate for respectful, consensual repre sentation and destigmatize queer couples by supporting LGBTQ+ authors and asking administrators to include more queer books in curricula. Action and support are the only ways to build the future that we want: a future where we can see respectful representa tion of all kinds of relationships, where minorities are not meant to fight against one another, and where the stereotypes that cause us harm soon fade away.

to potential voters, sometimes canvassing with the candidate. Citizens were much more will ing to have conversations and ask me policy questions on the street than on the phone. People wanted to know why the interns, most of us not even old enough to vote, cared about a campaign. All of us responded that despite our age, we recognized how cru cial it is to vote. From what I gathered, most of us follow pol itics pretty closely, which studies show is linked to how politically aware one’s parents are. After working on this campaign, I feel as if I truly understand why my parents make a point never to miss an election, no matter how small it is.

In school, I have always been taught that our democracy is important and we need to vote, and I grew up around people who follow politics very closely. I had no idea that our city, which prides itself on democracy, bare ly helps citizens be an active part. I joined the campaign to learn about the inner workings of an election, but my biggest job was ensuring everyone knew when, how, and where to vote. Every phone call, even if unsuccess ful, mattered. I encourage every Stuyvesant student to work on a campaign if the chance arises and to appreciate what goes into getting democracy to work.

By ANISHA SINGHAL

The first time I entered a metaphysical supply store, I felt cheated. Singing bowls, a collec tion of rocks, dream catchers, and incense—it was as though parts of my Indian culture had been sliced and blended into a bougie fad. Every time some one would bring up the heal ing properties of some colorful quartz, I’d think how smart these “gurus” were for selling kids a useless pebble for $20. I felt as though random parts of various non-Western religions had been mishmashed into a popular ob session of tarot cards, astrology, and overpriced gimmicks. It felt like cultural appropriation.

I was confused when people who didn’t understand the cul tural or religious significance started buying “Om” necklaces and Ganesh statues, but I don’t believe their intentions were ma licious. I realized that fragments of Eastern religions, along with pseudosciences, clairvoyance, and animism, were filling an im portant gap in many Americans’ lives: religion.

Seventy percent of Ameri cans reported belonging to a house of worship in 1999. That number had dwindled to 47 per cent by 2020. As the number of Americans identifying with an organized religion falls, people, especially those from younger generations, enter a metaphysi cal supply store hoping to find one or two ways to channel their spirituality. With a rise in activ ism around feminism and LG BTQ+ rights, many religions

By STEFANIE CHEN

As she opens the doors of the local gas station, a girl is con fronted at once with the cold, air-conditioned air. Exhausted from the responsibilities of a poor, single mother, she only intends to buy a small coffee, but as she approaches the regis ter, the colorful array of prom ising jackpot wins catches her eye. She knows she’s on a tight budget, and her savings are run ning thin, but the temptation is too hard: she might be just one ticket away from wealth.

Lotteries are a form of gambling that involves drawing numbers to win a prize. Prizes may range from a couple thou sand dollars to money with an absurd amount of zeros that no one would ever require in a lifetime. They may seem like an easy way to acquire wealth, but in reality, the chances of win ning are significantly less than the chances of getting struck by lightning. The Mega Mil lions jackpot crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time ever in July 2022, as no one had matched the game’s numbers since April 2022. As more and more time passes after the pre vious game has been won, the overall jackpot increases. This year’s colossus cash prize only proves that the lottery is getting harder to win. Even so, many

“I’m a Christian” “I’m a Pisces”

have started to feel outdated. In order to avoid the cognitive dis sonance experienced by follow ing a religion that doesn’t uphold their values, many people have started to drop religion from their identity and pick up their star sign instead.

Fields like astrology (which has roots in early Mesopotamian, Indian, and Greek civilizations) give people a similar sense of se curity as religion. It gives them a higher power to believe in, gurus and texts to guide them, and a method to explain circumstances they can’t control. It feels more scientific than organized reli gions, making it an attractive al ternative. Though over-reliance on astrological explanation can become toxic—I once overheard a woman say, “Yeah, he has his temper tantrums sometimes, but what can you expect, he’s an Ar ies”—most people recognize fields like astrology and tarot cards as speculation with charts, descriptions, and advice that are specific enough to feel person alized, yet vague enough to be generally applicable. The attrac tion of such fields is not in ac curacy, but in faith.

What I once saw as a sloppy concoction of various faiths has started to look a lot more like a spiritual exploration. Rather than turning to the Bible, people are turning to self-help books and prayer beads for salvation. In the modern age, religion is less about choosing one faith and sticking to it, and more about exploring aspects of various faiths and finding the ones that work for you. For some people,

opening their Co-Star app in the morning can be just as much of a spiritual experience as going to a church, mosque, or synagogue.

While I originally felt un comfortable watching parts of the religion I grew up with cut up and reshaped for American

society, I realize that what may be part cultural appropriation is also a form of cultural diffusion.

Singing bowls help calm a mom and her baby before bedtime, prayer beads help a young man roll away anxious energy from a long day at work, a rock necklace

The Gamble That Preys on the Poor

people keep buying tickets, hoping for even a slim chance of winning. Many of them are from the poor working class and are gambling away money that they simply may not have.

Low-income people make up a large portion of the lot tery-buying demographic. Based on a 2012 survey, 61 percent of all lottery players are in the fifth socioeconomic bracket, or those making $32,048 or less annu ally. Most lottery tickets are also purchased in poorer neighbor hoods. While those who make less than $10 thousand a year spend, on average, six percent of their income on lottery tick ets, neighborhoods with annual incomes on the higher end hard ly ever touch the lottery. The average U.S. household spends around $162 on the lottery per year. In comparison, low-in come households may spend up to four times that amount.

While it may be common sense that winning the lottery is nearly impossible, there are still multiple incentives for those in poorer circumstances to keep playing. The lottery preys on the poor in several ways, from providing a seemingly easy way out of a desperate financial situ ation to emphasizing the misery of their lives. In contrast to the intimidating nature of big-win ning tickets such as Mega Mil lions and Powerball, there are

many types of smaller tickets called “scratch-offs” that have prizes on a more minute scale. These cash prizes typically max out at $500 and are particularly tempting to low-income com munities. While prizes within the lower $100 range may not result in a drastic difference for the wealthy and middle class, $100 could make up one month’s gro ceries for lower-income people. Based on a survey conducted by MarketWatch, 21 percent of adults believe that the lottery is one of the only practical ways to secure their retirement fund, with this number being even higher at 38 percent among those who earned less than $25 thousand a year. According to executive director of the Char tered Financial Analyst program Stephen Brobeck, most Ameri cans greatly overestimate their chances of winning the lottery.

The irrational amount of money low-income individuals spend on the lottery isn’t neces sarily their fault. While budget ing can be better, the lottery is systematically at odds with the rationale of the poor. In most cases, they are desperately trying to escape poverty and believe that lotteries are “social equal izers,” in that there is an equal chance of winning, whether poor or rich. The irrationality of human nature to chase the unobtainable applies to both the

rich and poor. Lower-income individuals are more susceptible and vulnerable in the face of the odds, no matter how small.

A study done by Carnegie Mel lon University found that when people were made to feel subjec tively poor and aware of their fi nancial state, they bought nearly twice as many tickets as the sub jectively affluent group. People in poorer economic settings are more susceptible to the pressure of a simple ticket that promises an easy way out of misery. In this way, lotteries also profit off of people who feel stagnant in their surroundings and unsatis fied with their poverty. In ad dition, lotteries are designed to prey on people who are aware of their poverty. When large prizes are offered, lower-income individuals are more likely to ra tionalize purchasing a ticket with the mindset that if they spend just $5 now, they could end up with several times that amount.

In addition, lottery tickets are typically bought more often in neighborhoods with minority groups such as African Ameri cans, who have been shown to spend nearly five times more on lottery tickets than white people. Places with a larger population of minorities usually have high er unemployment rates and eli gibility for reduced lunch, traits typical of low-income house holds. According to the Howard

helps a trans person feel pro tected, and incense helps a girl ground herself after a big test. These people are searching for their peace, and I hope they find it—whichever cultural and reli gious blend it may be through.

Center for Investigative Journal ism, stores that sell lottery tick ets are disproportionately found in lower-income, minority neighborhoods, making it easier for poorer individuals to access the lottery. The poor are being exploited not only for their own desperation to gain wealth, but also by the purposeful place ment of lottery distributors.

The lottery has been around in American culture for many years now, and attempts to eradicate it are impossible and unhelpful. However, things can be done to spread awareness to low-income groups about the exploitative nature of the lot tery. If the whole game can’t be eradicated, the next best thing is to get rid of the incentive most low-income people have to play. As most of them play in a fit of desperation to get out of finan cially unstable situations, there are things that can be done to relieve the drive from poverty.

More effective government aid programs can be enforced to help low-income individuals af ford the necessities of daily life.

The temptation to play the lot tery is insurmountable, and for those who fall prey to a desper ate financial situation, it may even seem like their only option. If the fear and burden of mon etary instability are lessened, in dividuals may be less inclined to turn to the lottery as a solution.

Benjamin (Hyun) Hur / The Spectator

Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan Is Lazy

By SUYEON RYU

As seniors in high school, students are busy facing various difficult deci sions and obstacles during college ap plication season. However, one almost uniquely American aspect that many have to consider is the astronomically high tuition fees. There are probably colleges that you omitted solely because of the high cost. Recognizing the de mand for change, President Joe Biden advertised for solving student debt in his campaign—in a peculiar way. In stead of policies modeled by other first world countries, he simply forgave stu dent debts of low-income students who met eligibility requirements. If you are single and make less than $125 thousand a year, or if you make less than $250 thousand collectively in a marriage, then you are eligible for up to $10 thousand in loan forgiveness. Students who re ceive a Pell Grant, a program in which the government grants money rather than loans to help fund the education of low-income students, are eligible for up to $20 thousand. Pell Grant recipients typically come from a family that makes less than $60 thousand annually.

Many who defend Biden’s policy advocate for equity, arguing that it does not benefit the already rich, who can go to private schools, a common miscon ception, but rather the college dropouts. They argue that these dropouts do not have sufficient income in order to af ford amenities beyond necessities, de spite their relatively low debt. It is true that these measures are reflected in the policy. Those who go to private institu tions often end up with an income high er than $125 thousand and end up in the top five percent of the wealth, making them ineligible for the program.

However, the problem isn’t with eq uity, but rather with the lack of actual re form that comes with the policy. Biden’s administration has stressed that this initiative is a one-time event, meaning that future students will not be able to rely on the same forgiveness. All this socalled reform does is plant a false hope that students will be able to strike lucky. It does not change the student debt sys tem institutionally or touch on the roots of the problem, which are high tuition

By PETER GOSWAMI

Recently, the famous children’s show “Peppa Pig” introduced a lesbian polar bear couple in an epi sode titled “Families.” The charac ters are introduced in a perfectly age-appropriate manner with one of Peppa’s friends, Penny, speak ing about how she has two mom mies and depicting the family hav ing a meal together. It’s the first same-sex couple to be included in the series in its 18-year run after a petition advocating for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the show garnered nearly 24 thousand signatures.

The impact of “Peppa Pig” is unmatched, with $1.3 billion in global retail sales and three bil lion views on its official YouTube channel. Therefore, the inclusion of same-sex couples in “Peppa Pig” is a step in the right direction that can contribute to the nor malization of queer identity and non-heterosexual family structure on a much wider scale than many other children’s shows can achieve. However, what should be a cause for celebration has quickly brought in waves of extreme disapproval.

Italian politician Federico Mol licone, whose party is predicted to win the general election, has gone

fees, living expenses, and interest rates.

The goals of the reform listed on the White House website include advanc ing racial equity and protecting future students. These are long-term results that come from long-term reforms. It is deceiving to be promoting this shortterm solution as a way to reach them.

Instead of falsely painting the policy as the grand change that his campaign promised, Biden’s administration should be admitting that it is just as temporary as the student loan payment pauses that they implemented and extended to account for the depressed economy during the pandemic. It is a temporary fix—nothing less, nothing more.

To actually reach these long-term goals, the Biden administration should tighten federal regulations on student loan interests or even eliminate inter est altogether for low-income students. In Sweden, the interest rate was 0.13 percent in 2018, whereas in the US, it was around 4.45 percent the same year. Sweden’s universities do not charge tu ition either, so the student debt is only for living expenses. Even if the com plete elimination of tuition is not pos sible, America should at least follow in the footsteps of countries like England, which federally regulates tuition to be a maximum of $12,900. In addition, in Sweden, there is a larger repayment window that automatically increases the relative expense going toward paying student debt (proportional to income) as the years go by. This plan is benefi cial for students, as students receive a higher salary as time goes by. They aren’t as pressured to pay off the debt right after their college education. Adopting these changes could benefit American students and be a better step forward.

More general goals to reach long-term solutions could include expanding job markets for those without college de grees, increasing federal funding for financial aid programs, and creating a more affordable housing market.

Biden’s student debt forgiveness pro gram falls short of its promises. It does nothing to change the future of Ameri ca’s college system and can be compared to putting a bandage onto a leaking pipe. It’s only a matter of time before the wa ter starts gushing out again.

All Social Media Is Becoming the Same

By RIYA SUNDARAM

When TikTok blew up a few years ago, it popularized the most recent “unique” feature: extremely short, verti cal videos that let users scroll for hours. Previously, long-form, horizontal con tent had been the norm, but uniqueness doesn’t last long with social media. Each platform jumped to try and rip off this new entertainment as a way to draw in TikTok’s vast audience. These days, so cial media excel at converting any and all such unique features, leading to a mo notonous void of unoriginality.

Another example of this phenom enon is the popularization of stories. There are many names for this feature, but it typically offers the ability to post a short video or photo that only lasts for 24 hours. Snapchat was the first to propose this concept in 2013. Other so cial media apps envied Snapchat’s wide success and tried to find ways to repli cate it themselves. Stories on Instagram and Facebook, now being picked up by TikTok as well, are these companies’ at tempts to utilize Snapchat’s success and change how people interact with their interfaces.

Now, following TikTok’s success, so cial media apps have been on the hunt to utilize the latest unique feature: short, vertical videos. Each of the apps has its own way of bringing TikTok into their platforms, like Instagram and Facebook’s Reels or Pinterest’s Idea Pins. They’re al most all in the exact same format too: vertical videos with descriptions at the bottom that one can double tap to like or swipe up to find new content. This resemblance only serves to further em phasize the similarities in the apps and their approach to this feature.

The biggest problem with these new features is that they fundamentally change the way the apps work. The You Tube Shorts section appears at the top of the home page when the app opens, drawing in many different viewers. But it abandons the longer form videos You Tube has built its brand from, leading to endlessly shortening content and unorig inality. Coming full circle, TikTok has started to allow longer videos, attempt ing to mirror the content found on plat

Progressive Polar Bears

so far as to say that the episode should be banned in Italy. A for mer Maltan member of parliament said that the episode is a form of media indoctrination. Public out rage on Twitter became common, with some going as far as to say that the episode is leading to the end of the global “Peppa Pig” phe nomenon. Others accused Peppa Pig of submitting to woke ideol ogy and leftist thinking, and some have gone the route of declaring that they’re not homophobic, but they just don’t think children are ready to be exposed to LGBTQ+ content.

The controversy around LG BTQ+ representation in children’s

media is not new. It was seen ear lier this year when an Oklahoma theater posted a warning about a same-sex kiss in the Pixar film “Lightyear.” It is reflected in the countless book bans that have been placed on children’s books with LGBTQ+ characters. It was seen when Alabama banned an ep isode of “Arthur” that depicted a

forms like YouTube. Now, people have five apps on their phones with similar purposes that beg their attention.

This similarity forces you to be the outsider as you watch apps compete to try to become the best app. Many of the posts people see on the shorter video sections of apps are reposts or just trends. They all consist of the same influencers doing the same things. The environment the apps have cultivated is changing, led by the changing features.

For example, many YouTube cre ators who made longer videos now struggle to reach audiences, pushing them to lean into what everyone else is doing. In an interview with Creator In side, a YouTube representative said that the algorithms for the shorts and longer videos are not linked, making it harder for creators to grow. This difficulty leads to channels attempting to follow trends to keep up with their disappearing audi ence, sapping the creativity and life from the overall environment of the app. The ability of social media to create all kinds of creative content is weakening as apps spread themselves thin to reach every audience.

As social media advances, it will con tinue to ignore creativity for the sake of profit, leading to an entire social network devoid of charm, with people who have been conditioned to follow the crowd. Instead, these apps should go back to their roots to try and separate what part of their product creates inspiration and what kills it. Focusing on the quality of the platform over profit is the only way for companies to fix this growing prob lem.

There is no point in having multiple apps with such unoriginal functions. It only leads to repetitive fatigue on the viewers’ part and the destruction of cre ators who try to build a base on their platform. The perfect app for all people does not exist, and each social media platform should instead hone in on one type of content that differentiates them. If they don’t, they will continue to go down this profit-driven path, leading to an exhausting experience for every one involved. This competition between apps has not driven innovation but en couraged conformity.

subtle notions of sexual preference throughout “traditional” children’s media. Common fairytales are cen tered around cisheteronormative and even patriarchal ideas. Society has normalized exposing kids to princes kissing unconscious wom en as a form of true love but shuns two men holding hands in a film or show designed for children. Critics aren’t upset at kids being exposed to sexual preference. They’re upset that kids are being shown diver sity in sexual preference, and they are perpetuating the false fear that including LGBTQ+ content will turn their children queer.

accept themselves. About as many as six million children and adults in America have an LGBTQ+ parent, and more than 111 thou sand same-sex couples are raising approximately 170 thousand bio logical, step, or adopted children. Including LGBTQ+ content in children’s media helps make these families feel seen, normalized, and celebrated. We expect children to be raised as kind, accepting, and loving, but we cannot instill these values if we refuse to provide our children with the tools to learn them.

same-sex wedding and again when viewers debated LeFou being por trayed as gay in the live action ver sion of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Critics of LGBTQ+ content in children’s media argue that kids are too young to learn about sexual preference. However, these critics ignore that kids are exposed to

Including a scene with a samesex family after 18 years of being on air is seen as indoctrination, but drowning children with cishetero normative content is seen as mor ally righteous. Overly heterosexual content failed to turn gay kids straight, and LGBTQ+ content won’t do anything that will “turn” kids gay. Instead, including LG BTQ+ content in children’s media can help children understand that there is more than one type of family and one type of love. It can help children learn to empathize with people who may come from a different family structure than their own and even allow them to

Criticizing LGBTQ+ content in children’s media as “not appro priate” furthers the stigma that LGBTQ+ identity is inherently vulgar and sexual. Continuing to include LGBTQ+ content in chil dren’s media in age-appropriate ways is the only way to dispel this stigma so that we can continue to normalize LGBTQ+ identity. LG BTQ+ people and their allies need to continue the fight to embrace inclusivity in all forms of media. Children shouldn’t feel surprised to see a gay couple on their favor ite show, but rather should learn to see it as a common occurrence that reflects the diversity of the real world around them.

We expect children to be raised as kind, accepting, and loving, but we cannot instill these values if we refuse to provide our children with the tools to learn them.

The Longevity of Naked Mole Rats

By JAMES LI

With increased technology and advancements in the med ical field, the average human life expectancy is on the rise.

Compared to the start of the 20th century, life expectancy at birth has increased from 47 to 79 years, a jump of nearly 70 percent. However, along with aging comes associated issues of bodily deterioration and age-based diseases. As these issues become commonplace, the search for treatments ramps up. But what if it was possible to find a solu tion to the root is sue of aging? Meet the naked mole rat: a blind and fleshy hairless creature with horrific buck teeth and translucent, wrinkly, yel low skin. Despite their un sightly appearances, naked mole rats have a superpower: they don’t age.

Naked mole rats aren’t ex actly immortal beings, but they do not follow the normal ag ing conventions that restrict all other mammals. The Gom pertz Makeham law of mor tality by Benjamin Gompertz, a British mathematician from the 19th century, proposes that the rate of human death increases exponentially with growing age, doubling every eight years after reaching 30. Even with the various factors

that occur, this general trend still remains in society. Intui tively, this trend holds for all mammals but naked mole rats. Rochelle Buffenstein, a re

natural problems associated with getting old: age-associ ated disorders. As healthcare, nutrition, and new technology increase life expectancy, it is no

in a body, they inadvertently cause known age-associated disorders. For example, se nescent tumor cells, which are meant to combat tumor prolif eration, ironically play a huge part in cancer progression. The reason naked mole rats are able to maintain “ageless ness” is the same reason they show this lack of deterioration across their body.

Clearly, humans stand a lot to gain in studying what meth ods naked mole rats utilize. Of course, there is no one solu tion that can be attributed to the naked mole rat’s success. Multiple factors contribute to their complexity and amaz ingness. Firstly, the mole rats have a very efficient method of responding to damages in the DNA replication. What makes their system of repair unique is the overexpression of glycosylases, which play a role in recognizing mistakes in the sequences. Due to the huge amount of this substance in a mole rat's body, they are able to label DNA errors significantly faster compared to humans.

by that of the naked mole rat, whose lifespan can be upwards of three decades.

In addition to their amaz ing aging properties, naked mole rats are free from the

as tumors and mutations, that may be reproduced from these cells. However, this also stunts the cell, making it impossible to repair itself. As senescent cells become more common

In addition to their out standing repair system, their blood contains higher levels of antioxidants, which combat the effects of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when there is a lack of antioxidants to balance out free radicals (instability-causing molecules) formed in the body. Free radi

Lasers in Cosmetology

By RYAN LIN

From the acne that teenag ers face to the wrinkles that adults develop, damaged skin is a common issue in most peo ple. According to the National Center for Biotechnology In formation, acne affects almost a tenth of the global popula tion, coming with the possibility of developing prominent acne scars. Though time can solve some of these issues, they may take months or even years to fade away. Some forms of skin flaws such as discoloration, ag ing skin, and uneven skin tones can be permanent without in tervention. However, scientific tools have been designed to solve these modern day worries. A prime example is the laser, which has been unexpectedly in troduced into cosmetology as an effective means of treating dam aged skin.

The U.S. Food and Drug Ad ministration has approved lasers for treating wrinkles. There are two techniques that are com monly used on patients. Ablative lasering removes the epidermis, or the surface of the skin. By removing the epidermis and heating the dermis simultane ously, smoother and tighter skin can form as the treated regions heal. Ablative treatments typi cally utilize carbon dioxide la sers and erbium lasers. Carbon dioxide lasers are a mixture of 10 to 20 percent carbon dioxide, 10 to 20 percent nitrogen, and helium. The stimulation of car bon dioxide allows for the lasers to be produced while the nitro

gen collects discharged energy to re-excite the carbon dioxide. Helium enhances the heat re leased from the gas, aiding in the removal properties of this laser. The heat transfer and burning can also be accredited to the laser’s long wavelength. These lasers produce a wavelength in the infrared spectrum of 10,600 nanometers, making them invisi ble to the human eye. Erbium la sers transfer light onto the skin, causing the skin cells to absorb the light through their water content until they vaporize. The excess heat produced from this process results in tightened skin. Erbium lasers act as a medium in potency between carbon di oxide lasers and the second type of lasers, non-ablative lasers.

Unlike ablative laser thera py, non-ablative laser therapy stimulates collagen production without damaging the epider mis. Since collagen is a protein that acts as the structure of the skin, higher levels of produc tion allow for the skin to appear smoother. These lasers treat deeper layers of the skin. This allows for a shorter recovery time after the cosmetic proce dure, though the results may be less evident. During laser proce dures, the patient’s face may be numbed or they may be sedated entirely. Ablative laser proce dures take between 30 minutes to two hours, usually requiring only one session. However, nonablative laser procedures can take up to three treatments, each of which take 15 to 30 minutes, to receive noticeable results.

Though laser therapy can be

a reliable way of removing blem ishes, several factors need to be considered before scheduling an appointment. For instance, indi viduals with active acne may not be the best candidate for this procedure as lasers may worsen

will be raw and itchy following the treatment. The new layer of skin will start to resurface in one to two weeks while full recovery may take up to a month. Dur ing this period of healing, any irritative skincare and cosmetic

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Five lupus patients who received CAR-T cell ther apy, a pioneering treatment typically used to treat can cer, went into remission This breakthrough might have major implications for treating various types of autoimmune diseases

Emmanuel Mignot of the Stanford University School of Medicine and Masashi Yanagisawa of the Univer sity of Tsukuba were award ed the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering the cause of narcolepsy: a deficiency of orexin-producing neu rons in the brain.

Chinese scientists have de veloped a face mask with an integrated virus detec tor that can detect common respiratory viruses such as the flu and coronavirus, in the air.

cals are the reason behind ba sic changes that come with ag ing such as wrinkles, worsened eyesight, dementia, and other chronic health issues, including cancer.

Moreover, naked mole rats hold an abundant amount of

page 17

ointments. According to the American Academy of Derma tology, over-the-counter antiaging creams are ineffective in reversing wrinkles. Other prod ucts such as azelaic acid promote a faster cell turnover rate, reduc ing the appearance of scars. These creams and gels often take months to create a visible differ ence in skin appearance. On the other hand, the price difference between these two methods of treatment is considerable. Overthe-counter products tend to be on the cheaper side compared to laser treatments, which usu ally aren’t covered by insurance. Consumers spend around $36 to $336 on gels and creams an nually. This includes common topical acne treatments such as benzoyl peroxide ($36-$48) and differin gel ($108-$156), which cost significantly less than laser therapy.

The future of the application of lasers on humans expands beyond cosmetic purposes.

the acne and cause breakouts. Other unideal conditions in clude dark or tanned skin, a weak immune system, and sag ging skin. Apart from skin limi tations to getting laser therapy, laser therapy isn’t affordable, with the average ablative laser treatment costing $2,509. Nonablative laser treatments are less expensive, at an average of $1,445 per session.

Patients also need to con sider the side effects that come with these treatments. With ab lative laser resurfacing, the skin

products should be avoided. This includes tretinoin, glycolic acid, retinol, and other products that aggressively exfoliate the skin. Non-ablative skin resurfac ing has minimal side effects and short recovery time. The treated regions may experience inflam mation and irritation for a few hours following the procedure. In contrast to ablative lasering, patients can resume typical ac tivities and skin routine.

Lasers are often more ef fective than over-the-counter products such as creams and

Developments in low-level la ser treatments can be ground breaking as they don’t rely on surgeries or medications. These low-level lasers can stimulate deeper tissue without damag ing the epidermis. Scientists are aiming to use this to increase recovery rates and relieve pain.

Current attempts at technologi cal advances include finding the necessary power to utilize the laser at all different wavelengths since varying wavelengths have different properties. Laser ther apy in cosmetics is only the start of the application of lasers on humans.

By SOPHIA WAN-BRODSKY and KARINA GUPTA

When the COVID-19 pan demic began, scientists raced to create a vaccine that could keep people safe and return the world to normalcy. Dur ing one of the worst spikes in coronavirus deaths in the en tire pandemic, Pfizer was given Emergency Use Authoriza tion by the FDA on Decem ber 11, 2021, for its vaccine for people 16 years of age and up. On January 31, Moderna was also given this authoriza tion, but only for adults. In a departure from the solidarity shown throughout much of the pandemic, Moderna an nounced on August 26 that it would be suing Pfizer and Bi oNtech, their rival drugmakers, for patent infringement on the COVID-19 vaccine. “We be lieve that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna's inventions, and they have con tinued to use them without permission," Moderna Chief Legal Officer Shannon Thyme Klinger said during a press re lease.

These vaccines were de veloped with unprecedented speed; many drugs take years or decades to receive approv al, but Pfizer and Moderna’s products took less than a year. There were many causes of this, such as years of prior re search on similar viruses and

Moderna Sues Pfizer for Copying Patented Technology in their Vaccine

the overlapping timelines of phases in the testing stage, but chief among them was coop eration in the scientific com munity. Moderna suspects that Pfizer and BioNTech’s CO VID-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents of Moderna from 2010 and 2016. These patents cover the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology crucial to Moderna’s COV ID-19 vaccine Spikevax. This clash of companies, however, was seemingly inevitable. De spite the mRNA vaccine re search that Moderna led in the decade prior to the pandemic, over 100 million more Pfizer/ BioNTech doses have been ad ministered in comparison to Moderna. Now that case num bers and mortality rates have declined, Moderna is looking to get a larger cut of the prof its.

Vaccines activate the im mune system’s production of memory cells and antibodies so that in case of an infection, the body will be able to rec ognize and destroy the virus. Most vaccines use a “deacti vated” form of the virus, often a protein. Instead of directly introducing a viral protein into the body, mRNA vaccines in troduce mRNA, a type of ge netic material that is produced through transcription, the pro cess by which DNA is copied into RNA. RNA encodes a particular set of amino acids, which are the building blocks

Stefanie Chen / The Spectator

of protein. In COVID-19 vac cines, mRNA acts as a blue print by which human cells produce viral proteins on their own. This causes some of our cells to display this protein, called the spike protein, on their surface, prompting an im mune response.

up by cells and only degraded until after it was used to pro duce proteins. To solve this problem, Moderna coated the mRNA molecules with lip ids to provide protection and structure, a technology they claimed Pfizer and BioNTech copied.

and later validated in 2015.

In October of 2020, Mod erna stated that they would not enforce any COVID-19 related patents during the continua tion of the pandemic. Later in March 2022, when vaccine supply was no longer a prob lem, Moderna updated their original statement, saying that they would not enforce pat ents in low and middle-income countries, but expected com panies to respect their intel lectual property. Ria Bhaskar, an associate engineer at Pfizer, believes that this unity should remain intact: “I believe that such companies should put aside their corporate differenc es and rather work together.”

The use of mRNA in vac cines has been studied before for the flu, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that can infect people of all ages, but typically does not cause symptoms. The only mRNA vaccine to reach full approval in the United States is the one that pro tects against COVID-19. For many decades, scientists have been working through techni cal challenges in the develop ment of mRNA vaccines. A main one was ensuring that the mRNA would be taken

Moderna also believes that Pfizer and BioNTech have copied a second feature of Moderna’s patents. In the clinical testing phase, Pfizer and BioNTech had four vac cine options, none of which stepped on Moderna’s intel lectual property. Ultimately, Pfizer decided to move for ward with a vaccine that has the same chemical modifica tions as Spikevax. This chemi cal modification, which evades stimulating a potentially harm ful immune response, was first developed by Moderna in 2010

The Psychology Behind Prejudice

By ELMA KHAN

Maya Angelou once said,

“Prejudice is a burden that con fuses the past, threatens the fu ture, and renders the present in accessible,” and what a true fact that is. Prejudice is very alive today, with an example being anti-Asian hate crimes. Because of prejudice present in artifacts and writing, historians are often confused whether the informa tion they gather is biased or true. Prejudice also holds many peo ple back from achieving their potential. It’s a recurring and fundamental pattern in history that people isolate and oppress people different from them. Prejudice has happened in the past, from the ensalvement and abuse of Black people, to any one without blue eyes getting sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust, and to the labeling of children wearing hijabs (a headscarf many Mus lim women wear) as “terrorists” by fellow classmates post-9/11. But why are people prejudiced? The basis of prejudice actually comes from our evolutionary ancestors and was key to their survival.

Prejudice is a complex prob lem stemming from the way our brains work and evolution over hundreds of centuries. Accord ing to NYU professor of psy chology and neuroscience and director of the Social Neurosci ence Laboratory David Amo

dio, cognitive categorization is the start to the multi-step process of prejudice. Cognitive categorization is our brain’s re sponse to the complexity of the world around us—it’s when our brain categorizes objects into groups. We do the same with people, so when we see people that are similar to a previous group our minds have created, our brains automatically sort them into that group within 100 miliseconds.

This grouping method has roots in the strategies and ac tions of our ancestors: mon keys. In a study done by Yale graduate student Neha Mahajan and a group of psychologists in Cayo Santiago, Mahajan tested rhesus monkeys’ reactions to various objects. Similarly to humans, rhesus monkeys make strong social connections and live in groups, which is why they were ideal for the experiment. Firstly, the researchers showed the monkeys pictures of mem bers of their groups versus members of outside groups and observed that they stared at the pictures of the outsiders for significantly longer, demon strating wariness toward outside monkeys. Next, the researchers created a monkey-friendly Im plicit Association Test (a test measuring the relation people have between concepts and stereotypes or evaluations), in which they showed the mon keys objects they viewed posi

tively, like fruits, with pictures of insiders of their groups, and objects they feared, like spiders, with pictures of outsiders. After looking at these and not having large reactions, the psycholo gists switched up the objects and paired fruits with outsider images and spiders with insider images. The monkeys studied these combinations for long periods of time, showing how confused they were that some thing they had associated with good was paired with some thing bad and vice versa.

The overall conclusion from the experiment was that like hu mans, monkeys also mentally group their kind and associ ate individuals of their group with “good” while associating outsiders with “bad.” Our an cestors had actually learned to make generalizations like these in order to survive in their en vironments against threats like animals. This instinct still re mains in the limbic system of our brain, since it is the oldest and most dominant part of our brain.

There are a plethora of rea sons why we, like our monkey ancestors, also associate proper ties with the groups we create in our heads even if we know that it’s wrong. One reason could be for the major stereotypes we so often hear from around us. In fact, Professor Amodio clearly stated in an interview that just knowing a stereotype exists is

enough for it to be automati cally activated in your brain, even if you consciously reject it. Therefore, stereotypes reflected in the news, media, and every day situations, such as Asian people being good at math, Black people being athletic, or girls being into dolls and pink while boys are into blue and sports, can unconsciously live in people’s minds and turn into implicit biases.

Moreover, historical events can cause bias. For instance, the events of 9/11 caused many people to assume that all Mus lims are terrorists or horrible people because Muslims were categorized into the “terrorist group” in their brains. Further more, another explanation be hind these biases could be the way that strong emotions are linked to strong experiences. The strong emotions stored in the amygdala are linked to their corresponding strong ex periences in the hippocampus. Consequently, those emotions can eventually lead to a bias be ing developed against the gen eral topic that caused said expe rience. When someone is seen as even somewhat similar to a person who caused a significant experience, the amygdala is ac tivated and the seemingly illogi cal rush of emotions can trig ger prejudice.

A more modern part of our brains, the prefrontal cor tex, is responsible for complex

Moderna has made it clear that it is not trying to remove Comirnaty from the market but rather, seek monetary dam ages. Bhaskar expressed her disapproval of Moderna’s law suit, saying, “At this moment, the priorities for these compa nies should be to combat CO VID-19, ensure vaccines are available to all, and carry the world out of this health crisis.”

The COVID-19 pandemic was a time where the world was united against a common enemy. It was a time of helping each other, and of leniency for the good of others. This law suit creates a divide between that time and now. It acknowl edges that the world is healing, but is still broken in the ways that it was before.

thoughts and reasoning, and can prevent extreme generalizations that we don’t need anymore. Therefore, this can counteract the categorization and associa tion our brains make if people make a conscious effort to ac knowledge it, but society often convinces people not to listen. However, when you’re exposed to and learn about the entire spectrum of a certain group of people, you see all the differ ences, and understand that one entire group cannot and should not be associated with a specific characteristic.

Though once a major factor of primate survival, prejudice is not necessary today. However, it shows how much we remain like our fellow animals ances tors, even though most humans consider themselves superior to other organisms. While our brains are designed to overgeneralize and unconsciously stereotype, it doesn’t change how hurtful and harmful it can be to people today. Clinical psy chologist Dr. Shefali Tsabury said that similarities outweigh the differences between people. That could be the key to de stroying prejudice as well—if we all learn to see our sameness with other people, that we’re all imperfect human beings with similar brains, bodies, and thought patterns, we can put differences behind us and stop separating people into distinct groups.

By OLIVIA ZHENG

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020, many began to specu late whether the pandemic would end during the sum mer. Higher temperatures and stronger ultraviolet radiation were purported to kill the virus and therefore limit its transmis sibility. While COVID-19 cases have been shown to decrease with proximity to the equator, cases remained high enough after the summer of 2020 that many countries remained in different levels of lockdown.

Evidently, heat did not end the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, while heat may limit the spread of some viruses, the no tion that heat is an adverse fac tor in all disease transmission dismisses the many ways that pathogens, and their vectors (host organisms), can benefit from higher temperatures.

In August of this year, a group of researchers in the United States found that warming temperatures, and the environmental consequences of such climate change, could aggravate 58 percent of infec tious diseases affecting hu mans, with the greatest impact

Stop the Spread, Curb Climate Change

on viral and bacterial diseases.

Higher temperatures were di

peratures can benefit diseases is by causing climate events that

as well. University of London honorary research fellow Mi chael Gross reported in Janu ary of 2019 that a 2016 perma frost thaw in the Arctic Yamal Peninsula may have unfrozen strains of Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria responsible for causing anthrax. The resulting anthrax outbreak killed hundreds of reindeer and infected dozens of humans in the region.

which transmit diseases to over 700 million people every year.

various proteins that help in preventing deterioration, two of which are p53 and NRF2, which regulate proliferation and antioxidants respectively.

Last but not least, as men tioned before, the deteriora tion that normally occurs from senescence does not occur in naked mole rats. While naked

rectly implicated with just a portion of these pathologies, while events resulting from global warming, such as floods and droughts, aggravated many more diseases. In contrast, only 16 percent of human patholo gies were found to exhibit low er transmission with warming temperatures.

One way that rising tem

allow pathogens to emerge, or reemerge, and come into con tact with humans. Habitat de struction caused by droughts, wildfires, or floods could cause vectors hosting novel patho gens to migrate to areas that are in closer proximity to hu man populations. These events can directly affect pathogens, rather than only their vectors,

Global warming could also allow diseases that already infect humans to spread to more regions of the world and for longer periods of time by providing more locations and seasons with optimal tempera tures for diseases and vectors. Diseases that were previously confined to the tropics, for ex ample, could spread much fur ther from the equator if other regions also reach temperatures that are high enough to harbor the diseases and/or their vec tors. Rising temperatures can also increase the population and activity level of vectors by increasing their metabolic needs, decreasing their patho genic incubation period, and accelerating their development.

This heat-induced population growth and greater activity are demonstrated in mosquitoes,

The Longevity of Naked Mole Rats

mole rats do experience cel lular senescence, unlike other mammals, they are able to spontaneously destroy senes cent cells without the involve ment of the immune system. This prevents the accumula tion of such cells and in turn, the age-associated disorders that follow.

These traits undoubtedly make naked mole rats an awe some role model for aging and

present the solution to a mul titude of human disorders.

By understanding the meth ods they implement, there are countless possibilities sur rounding gene-based therapies or drugs that replicate specific gene functions. If successfully imitated, humans can gain a treatment, if not cure, for most age-related ailments, drastically decreasing mortality rates.

However, there are still

clear limitations to this re search. While these mole rats do provide a model to follow, that's all they are: a model.

It is questionable if humans can even recreate the various methods, as naked mole rats are vastly different creatures in appearance, environment, and physiology. Something that works for them might not work for us, as efficiently, or at all. The long lifespan of naked

In January of 2021, researchers found that 1.3 billion new peo ple, particularly populations in North America and Eu rope, could be exposed to the mosquito-borne Zika virus by the year 2050. Populations in tropical regions that are already experiencing warmer tempera tures and higher frequencies of disease outbreaks will also be the ones most economically affected by climate change due to their dependence on agri culture, thus impacting these populations’ abilities to build hospital infrastructure and mit igate outbreaks. Many diseases that currently exhibit height ened transmission during the summertime may also be able to spread with such severity year-long if temperatures in the wintertime are high enough.

So while COVID-19 is lim ited by warming temperatures, the majority of diseases, many of which are as severe or as transmissible as COVID-19, are not. We cannot simply hope that pandemics more ex treme than COVID-19 will not arise, especially as we make the planet warm enough to harbor them.

mole rats makes it difficult to obtain multiple data points and a sufficient amount is needed for any type of data collec tion. Humans are not going to stop aging anytime soon, and the research for these “mira cle drugs” will take a while to even take off the ground. But until then, the naked mole rat definitely presents a promising start to this journey for youth.

Jaden Bae / The Spectator

By MUNEM TAJWAR

In this age of modern media, many action shows and movies are required to be “hyperrealistic” to appeal to worldwide audiences. But once again, Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” proves that camp, or theat rics, can coexist with a thrilling, gut-wrenching story.

“Cobra Kai” is a dramedy television series that serves as a sequel to the renowned “Karate Kid” trilogy (1984-1989), a fran chise following Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he evolves from a bullied high school stu dent to the All-Valley Karate Champion with the help of his karate teacher, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). The show follows John ny Lawrence (William Zabka) as a washed-up, alcoholic loner at the start, differing from his antago nistic role in the first movie of the franchise. Persuaded by bul lied high school student Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Johnny decides to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo. This reestablishes a feud with bitter enemy Daniel LaRusso, who opens the MiyagiDo dojo in retaliation. Much has changed since the inaugural season; notable is the return of “Karate Kid” franchise antago nists John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian

Griffith) and their gained control over the Cobra Kai dojo. This forces Johnny to start anew with another dojo, Eagle Fang. Season

While the show was consis tently enjoyable throughout the previous four seasons, the later seasons were often repetitive and

friend. Season five’s intensity also brings unique character pro gression opportunities for those whose development stagnated in previous seasons.

Playlist

Nuclear Autumn

By KONSTANTINA TSAHALIS

Identical Orange Country twins

Fletcher and Wyatt Shears revved up their musical engine in 2011 and have since created their own platform for expression without

five commences with Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang shutting down after losing the All-Valley Dojo Championship to Cobra Kai, now run by Silver, who plans on expanding Cobra Kai globally to teach teenagers his harsh fight ing methods.

tedious. However, season five re vives the early energy of the show by escalating Silver’s schemes, raising the stakes and allowing the return of many beloved charac ters in the “Karate Kid” mythos, such as Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto), Daniel’s foe-turned-

Cobra Kai is Silly (and That’s Okay)Television Punk Rock JestersMusic

grimy bass, each is explicitly unique and builds the haunted theme by evoking the soundtrack in the background of a horror movie. In addition to the instrumental complexity, the brothers use vocal samples to lead the listener through the corridors of a haunted house,

them as “always suspicious about every cause” and later repeating in the chorus “I’ll just be what I have to be… / ‘cause that’s the way that it has to be.”

The vocals are what truly el evate The Garden. The twins eas ily switch from hardcore punk ag gression to upbeat, nasal melodies. “Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City” is a perfect example of the former. The long title seems intimidating, but a title any shorter would be doing the song a great disservice. It is a maximalist sonic representation of claustropho bic crowds, smoggy pollution and street violence, and the disgruntled grunts release the tension of indus

Another top track has to be “What Else Could I Be But a Jest er.” The title itself is important be cause it confirms the band’s return to the jester aesthetic after a slight departure in the previous album, which ditched the face paint for goblins in garbage cans. However, with this track’s title and the facepainted portrait on the album’s cover, the return to the punk jester look is set in stone and The Garden will likely continue playing around with this aesthetic in the next lot of projects. Aside from band lore, this song’s focus is on the lyrics. The electronic beats in the back serve to emphasize the vocals without detracting from their potency. Solid, mechanical drums lead up to the cho rus, where the only correct way to sing along is by yell ing. By the end, it seemed like the instrumentals would accompany the cho rus since they were building upon each other throughout the song, but the fi nal repetition pauses all back ground noise and spotlights the vocals, which gives that stack of lyrics one last exhilarating jab into

While the twins may have mas tered the art of yelps, the use of

“Cobra Kai”s martial arts scenes are a high point of every season, and it’s no different in season five. From one-man-army takedowns by Chozen, opposing dojo qualifying matches, and an emotional brawl between John ny’s biological son Robby (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel, the sea son was packed with jaw-drop ping moments. Similarly, the fina le is stuffed with glass-shattering action, including a brutal brawl between Chozen and Silver and an endgame-sized war within the Cobra Kai dojo. The fight inside the dojo was perfectly captured by the show’s camera techniques, which filmed bodies jumping in and out of shots to create a sense of mayhem and chaos. The fina le’s climax is especially satisfying, consisting of a cathartic final bat tle between Daniel and Silver, in which Daniel confronts the men tal torment he suffered through as a teenager and adult.

Arguably, the show’s greatest asset is its writing. The series con cept is very camp, and the writers

By THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DEPARTMENT

This uncharacteristically warm fall has been an omnipresent re minder of our changing climate. Here are some autumnal earworms to distract you from the looming destruction of Mother Earth.

Everest beabadobee Indie rock

Fault Lines

The Mountain Goats Indie folk

Fake Plastic Trees Radiohead Alternative rock

vocal samples may need some im provement. They were a bit too heavy-handed with all the sound bytes in their library, especially on tracks like “Haunted House on Zil low” and “At the Campfire.” The former starts with the aforemen tioned newscast audio, but after almost every line, a ghoulish laugh loudly and incessantly repeats, de tracting from the otherwise catchy tune. “At the Campfire” offers a slightly different situation. The bulk of it is tolerable: ghost laughs blend smoothly into the background once the lyrics begin. The repeated snippet of a woman saying “people will do anything for a pot of gold” is weaved into the timing of the beat and incorporated as an ac tual lyric instead of a fun add-on. Despite the successful sample, the track begins with Irish YouTube gamer Jacksepticeye’s shrill voice: “top o’ the morning!” That Irish accent comes out of nowhere and there is no connection to the rest of the album. Simply put, it is an unnecessary jumpscare. Why did the twins add this? They probably just thought it was funny. From an outside perspective, it’s hilarious, but as a listener, it breaks immer sion and leaves one wondering why there is a gaming leprechaun on a punk song.

Bouncing off the gener ally punk album released last year, “HOR66” brings in even more hardcore punk influence into the instrumentals with faster and heavi er drum machines. While they raise some issues, the samples bind the frenetic experimentation into one haunted theme, setting “HOR66” apart from all of The Garden’s pre vious projects. Moreover, the jester costume returned with a slight aes thetic change to fit the theme— they’re creepier, they’re campier and they’re meaner.

Future projects will definitely use the aesthetic progression on “HOR66” as a supplement, but hopefully, the twins will part ways with Jacksepticeye.

Pale September Fiona Apple Singer-songwriter Maggot Brain Funkadelic Funk

New World Water Mos Def Boom bap

Dark Red Steve Lacy Neo-soul

Feels Like Summer Childish Gambino R&B

I Will Bury You in Time Jeff Mangum Indie folk

Cloudbusting Kate Bush Art pop

I Know It’s Over The Smiths Jangle pop

Hybrid Moments Helvetia Slowcore

Imaginary Folklore Nujabes & clammbon Instrumental hip-hop

Some Kind of Nature Gorillaz & Lou Reed Electropop

Chuer

Spectator

“Pinocchio”: A Lifeless ReimaginingFilm

By DOROTHY HA

Disney has been enchanting children with its fantastical ani mated films since the early 20th century, but as these young view ers age into adults and the lega cies of Disney classics dwindle, Disney has turned to a new tac tic to appeal to older audiences: live-action remakes. With the entertainment giant reimagining several animated classics, from “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) to “Aladdin” (2019), it was merely a matter of time before Disney recreated another one of its be loved tales.

The live-action remake of the widely-loved “Pinocchio” was released in September 2022 and directed by the acclaimed Robert Zemeckis, who is known best for directing the classics “Back to the Future” (1985) and “Forrest Gump” (1994). The story of Pi nocchio follows a sweet puppet with a nose that grows longer each time he lies, who is deter mined to shed his wooden body for a living, beating heart.

Narrated by the iconic Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the live-action “Pinocchio” be gins in the workshop of an ec centric old carpenter named Gepetto (Tom Hanks). On the night of his late son’s birthday, Gepetto fashions a puppet out of pin oak wood that he names Pinocchio. As he goes to sleep, viewers watch Gepetto make a wish upon a star, though the film never explicitly reveals what he wished for. Gepetto’s wish causes the Blue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo) to materialize and grant Pinocchio (Ben Ainsworth) life.

Unfortunately, the naïve Pi nocchio gets conned by a fox, ironically named Honest John (Keegan-Michael Key), on his first day of school, and is whisked off to be sold to a corrupt pup petmaster named Stromboli (Giuseppe Battiston). From this point on, Pinocchio embarks on a journey with the help of Jiminy

Cricket, his companion/con science, exploring the inside of a colossal whale’s stomach, en countering a plethora of sinister characters, and learning the hard way to make the right choice, all in efforts to be a real boy.

The live-action Pinocchio’s plot stays mostly true to that of the original movie’s—and that’s exactly the issue. Besides one plot change, nothing significant is added to deepen the audience’s understanding of Pinocchio’s story, begging the question of whether this live action adapta tion was even worth making.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the storyline staying more or less the same, the character of Pinocchio himself has been re duced to a shell of his animated counterpart. Furthermore, with the faster pace and intensity of live-action adaptations, “Pinoc chio” feels rushed, flinging its protagonist from scene to scene without pausing to allow for ad equate self-reflection: one mo ment, he’s getting conned by Honest John, and the next we see him on Stromboli’s stage do ing a snazzy little dance number. The transitions between scenes are generally abrupt and barely allow for any breathing room, thus diluting his character devel opment.

Perhaps to compensate for the lack of soul in the main char acters, Zemeckis has made a few new additions to “Pinocchio”’s cast: a disabled puppeteer em ployed by Stromboli (Kyanne Lamaya) and a talking seagull (Lorraine Bracco). Though they are certainly nice breaks from the live-action’s otherwise complete adherence to the original plot, they only get a few minutes of screentime and don’t do much to further the story. The puppeteer shows a hint of promise when she befriends Pinocchio and swears to help him escape, but she doesn’t quite follow through and acts as an informant to Pi nocchio rather than an actual

Natalie Soler / The Spectator

accomplice, therefore confus ing viewers with her appearance. From then on, the live-action’s plot strictly mirrors the original’s up until the very end.

At the dramatic conclusion of the original film, Pinocchio sacrifices himself to save his fa ther from drowning. The coura geous puppet dies, but is later brought back to life and granted boyhood by the Blue Fairy for his selflessness. However, the live-action remake follows a dif ferent ending. In Zemeckis’s ver sion, Gepetto sacrifices himself for Pinocchio instead. Pinocchio revives his father with a magic tear and the movie ends with Pinocchio remaining a puppet. This new finale removes a lot of sentimental value from the origi nal, largely because the audience has spent much more time with

instead. Pinocchio’s resurrecting tear doesn’t prove to viewers that he has learned human behavior like love and morality; instead it conveys the message that Pinoc chio gets the easy way out simply for being a magical puppet. The movie consequently concludes with a lack of completion and a forced “happily ever after.”

However, all is not lost, for “Pinocchio”’s largest redeeming quality is Zemeckis’s over-the-top animation. From Pinocchio’s tiny hand-knit gloves to the magnifi cently unsettling Pleasure Island set design, there is painstaking care put into the tiniest details. Still, the whimsical fluidity in the movement of the characters’ ani mated counterparts is something that the live-action, for the most part, doesn’t achieve. The origi nal Honest John, for example,

malevolent.

But there is one character whose live-action movements outshine that of the animated film’s, and that character is, thankfully, Pinocchio. Zemeckis’s interpretation of Pinocchio’s gait is simultaneously adorably clum sy and light, and combined with his brightly animated smile, the puppet is a delight to the eyes. His character is further enhanced thanks to Ben Ainsworth’s take on Pinocchio’s innocent, childlike voice. In fact, the entire movie has been blessed with a soaring soundtrack and mul tiple enchanting singing voices. Cynthia Erivo’s cover of “Wish Upon a Star,” for instance, is def initely one of the few highlights of the film.

But “Pinocchio”’s absence of imagination and whimsy is ultimately what places it in the lower ranks of Disney’s evergrowing live-action roster. Liveactions that put an original spin on an old story, such as “Beauty and the Beast,” and live-actions that offer a completely different side to a classic tale, like “Cruel la” (2021), stand out as sparkling successes, while Zemeckis’s “Pi nocchio” fails to reimagine the original tale and adapt it to the live-action format. While the re markable animation and talented voice actors are definitely admi rable, it’s not enough to make up for the fact that Zemeckis’s “Pi nocchio” is, simply put, empty. It brings nothing new to the table and has about as much person ality as Pinocchio’s pre-puppet form: a big ol’ slab of wood.

Pinocchio. Gepetto’s death, to put it quite frankly, just isn’t as heart-wrenching as Pinocchio’s. It also leaves audiences wanting as it fails to express Pinocchio’s growth as a character by letting Gepetto perform the selfless act

was a darkly charismatic charac ter who appeared to ooze rather than walk. The live-action’s Hon est John fails to retain the same wonderful slinkiness, opting for a jumpier-moving character who is presented as more goofy than

The Devil’s MistakesTelevision

By RAISA NOHA

It’s dark. A blonde girl in a white nightgown runs through a field of overgrown grass, bloody knife in hand. She struggles through the brush, relying on the light from the full moon to guide her. Bruised and tattered, she fi nally runs onto the road, attract ing the attention of a passing car. The car halts, and the girl bursts into tears.

This is the opening scene of Netflix’s newest psychological thriller, an eight-episode series titled “Devil in Ohio.” Based on Daria Polatin’s book of the same name, the show follows psychia trist Dr. Suzanne Mathis (Em ily Deschanel) and her family as they take in runaway teenager Mae (Madeleine Arthur). Mae first meets Suzanne after arriving at the hospital where Suzanne works, with a pentagram carved into her back. It is soon revealed that Mae was running away from her father’s satanic cult in the fic tional county of Amontown, and the pentagram on her back was part of a sacrificial ritual. View ers watch as Mae situates herself

in a new world and infiltrates the Mathis family, eventually tearing it apart.

The cult’s riveting backstory is the highlight of the show. The cult is called Sliocht an Diabhail, which translates from Gaelic into “The Devil’s Own.” Members of the cult isolate themselves in ru ral Ohio, but seem to have un explainable connections to other parts of American society. They worship Lucifer and believe that he is their savior. They abide by their rule book, “The Book of Covenants,” and consistently chant the words “the chain shall not be broken.” The contrast between their beliefs and more mainstream religions is jarring and haunting. The cult’s black cloaks and elaborate crow masks further contribute to the chill ing atmosphere, warranting a sense of unfamiliarity and dan ger. Meanwhile, the soundtrack enhances the intensity of the cult’s presence. It features songs that are melodic, dramatic, and suspenseful. The instrumentals include building percussion and creepy yet beautiful vocals that create an ominous environment.

This is especially apparent in scenes that feature the cult itself.

Mae’s troubled past shrouds her in mystery as she navigates her new life. Despite escaping the cult, she habitually continues its practices, like creating a hid den shrine for the Mathis family using their stolen belongings and a dead crow. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the show is Mae’s obsession with becom ing a member of Suzanne’s fam ily, despite its continued protests. For the first time in her life, Mae experiences compassion and love through Suzanne’s enduring ded ication. This unfamiliar attention stokes Mae’s desire to replace Suzanne’s daughters, Jules (Xaria Dotson) and Helen (Alisha New ton), who begin to resent Mae, creating a rift between them and their mother. However, the show fails to give Mae the depth and complexity her upbringing would create, causing her charac ter traits to feel superficial.

Mae isn’t the only character whose motivations and growth are neglected. Many of the char acters are valves of potential: Detective Lopez (Gerardo Celas

co), who is investigating Mae’s case, comes frustratingly close to discovering the truth about Mae’s mysterious circumstances. However, his appearances are infrequent and disjointed, pre venting viewers from resonating with him. His character is anoth er missed opportunity to keep viewers invested in Mae’s mysti fying backstory, largely due to his lack of screen time.

The stunted character devel opment perpetuates the series’s excruciatingly slow pace. The first few episodes seem to disre gard that the series is a thriller, failing to live up to the expecta tions set by both the trailer and the description. Viewers went into the show expecting to ex plore a dark, menacing cult with nuanced members but were met with several lackluster subplots and cookie-cutter characters in stead. These shortcomings are coupled with forced dialogue and writing, which make for a predictable story. This complete ly diminishes the tension that is built through the cult appear ances.

On a more positive note,

Fans of Pinocchio the pup pet boy need not fret yet, though. Another Pinocchio live-action adaptation, directed by Guill ermo del Toro, is set to be re leased in November 2022, and promises a fresh, darker spin on the tale. We can only hope that the upcoming version does the justice to Pinocchio’s story that Zemeckis failed to deliver.

the acting in the show is almost enough to make you connect with the characters. Deschanel shines in her portrayal of Su zanne, and her experience with playing a medical professional comes naturally to her from her years on the crime drama “Bones” (2005–2017). She also effectively conveys the inner conflicts that Suzanne endures while facing childhood traumas through perplexed facial expres sions and body language. Ar thur’s portrayal of Mae is also notable. She immediately grabs the attention of the audience from the first scene and keeps viewers at the edge of their seats. She makes the audience feel pity and sympathy for her character while maintaining an unsettling quality through her eerie man nerisms.

Overall, “Devil in Ohio” had the potential to be a mind-bend ing thriller, with some promising characters and an intriguing cen tral plot. However, the series falls flat and reads more like a melo dramatic teen drama with its slow pacing, poor character de velopment, and predictable plot.

The Life and Death of PnB RockCulture

By SOFIA HERNANDEZ

Rapper PnB Rock spoke with DJ Akademiks in early September about the frequent burglaries of rappers in Los Angeles, California. During the interview, he said, “It’s so common. I never got robbed. Ever in my life.” He continued shortly after with “I ain’t gon’ say never. I don’t like saying ‘never.’ I’m not superstitious, but I haven’t been robbed.”

PnB Rock was fatally shot in a robbery at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in Los Angeles about a week later.

Rakim Hasheem Allen, professionally known as PnB Rock, was born on December 9, 1991, in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Growing up in Philly, Allen was often surrounded by crime and violence. In an attempt to support his family, Allen’s fa ther became involved in illegal activities, which unfortunately resulted in his murder during a gang feud when Allen was just three years old.

From a young age, Allen was often influenced by the crime that surrounded him. At 13, he was sent to a youth detention program for his involvement in robberies and school fights. Later, Allen was sentenced to 33 months in prison for

drug possession, among other crimes. When he was released from prison, Allen found him self homeless and without fam ily and friends who he believed would support his growth to ward a better life. From there, he turned to music.

Allen kick-started his career

homage to Pastorius and Bayn ton, a street corner near where he grew up in Philly.

PnB Rock’s goal when writ ing his music was for it to be timeless. He wanted to produce music that people would listen to “next year, and the year af ter that.” In no time, he was

PnB Rock released his second retail mixtape “GTTM: Goin Thru the Motions” in Janu ary of 2017, which debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard 200 chart. By 2022, PnB Rock had also collaborated with other talented artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Kodak Black, A

EP, and 19 singles to the rap and hip-hop world in just eight years while embracing his own individual style.

PnB Rock’s persevering atti tude and honest songwriting in spired many artists around him. John Morrison, a writer and DJ from Philly, said, “He made honest music that reflected how a lot of us feel in this city and how a lot of us have felt for a long time.” Taz Taylor, record producer and founder of Inter net Money Records, also took to social media to express his admiration of PnB Rock by saying, “PNB [was] always one of the nicest and most genuine people to be around.”

by posting material from his music book on social media. In an interview with HipHopDX, Allen said, “Instagram was my platform to put my music out there and let people know what I had.” He released his debut mixtape on June 24, 2014, which he wrote while he was incarcer ated. This mixtape brought Al len more traction, and by 2015, he had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. By then, Allen had become known profession ally as PnB Rock, which paid

achieving this goal. PnB Rock released his single “Selfish” in June of 2016, and it peaked at number 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100. He was included in Rolling Stone’s list of “10 New Artists You Need to Know” in October of that same year. His music was influenced by rap per 2Pac and R&B group Jo deci, two artists who PnB Rock grew up listening to, as well as contemporary stars like Drake, who he cited as a significant stylistic influence on his music.

Boogie wit da Hoodie, Playboi Carti, Ed Sheeran, Pop Smoke, and XXXTentacion on various soundtracks, singles, and mix tapes.

PnB Rock once said, “I’m from the hood. I’m from Philly. I’m giving you everything that I got in me with this music. So that’s why I feel like I can separate myself from every body else.” And throughout his foreshortened career, he did just that, contributing two stu dio albums, five mixtapes, one

Teachers’ Favorite Flicks

By THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DEPARTMENT

Ms. Zhang

“Alice in Wonderland” (2010) Fantasy

“There was a quote in the movie that went, ‘All the best people are crazy.’ I really liked it because it made me feel like it’s okay to be unique and strange.”

—Hairong Zhang, Mandarin teacher

Mr. Miner

“2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) Sci-Fi

“A favorite film of mine is ‘2001: A Space Od yssey (Kubrick 1968)’ because it changed the way I watch movies and has made me a better student of film.”

—Thomas Miner, Physics teacher

Mr. Hanna “Papillon” (1973) Drama

“I admire the lead character’s unwillingness to quit, to give in. Steve McQueen should have won an Oscar. I also was moved by the unlikely friendship between McQueen’s character and Dustin Hoffman’s character, Louis Degas. In the final scene, on the cliffs at Devil’s Island where they say goodbye for the last time, there is accordion music in the background echoing Paris, which they know neither of them will ever see again. Then McQueen’s character (or a stuntman) jumps into the sea, still trying to escape.”

—David Hanna, History teacher

Mr. Grossman

“The Godfather” (1972) and

“The Godfather Part II” (1974) Crime/drama

“Them together as an entity…it’s the best American filmmaking ever.”

—Eric Grossman, English Assistant Principal

Ms. Karp

“The Big Lebowski” (1988) Comedy

“The dialogue is hys terical, it’s so clever and absurd. It’s end lessly quotable, I know many lines from The Big Lebowski.”

—Jane Karp, Art teacher

Mx. Stuzin

“Daisies” (1966) Comedy-drama

“I love the whole concept of two girls playing weird pranks in bourgeois settings and inter rogating authoritarianism and the patriarchy. It’s also really funny.”

—Lauren Stuzin, English teacher

Ms. Manning

“Harold and Maude” (1971) Romantic comedy

When asked in an interview with HipHopDX if he ever thought he’d be where he is to day, PnB Rock answered with a quick “Hell no.” Amid his thriv ing music career, PnB Rock de scribed himself as “just some young guy from Philly that be singing and rapping,” but to reach the peak of his success, he had to work hard to pull himself out of the crime and poverty that he was born into. Ultimately, his struggles and resilience are what helped him achieve this success. “I’ve seen a lot. I been through a lot. And that influenced me. If it wasn’t for Philly, I wouldn’t be me.”

Mr. Honner

“The Blues Brothers” (1980) Musical/Comedy

“It’s hilarious and absurd in ev ery way. It also features one of my favorite songs of all time.”

—Patrick Honner, Mathematics teacher

“It’s a dark com edy. . . I find it to be really quirky.” —Kim Manning, English teacher

“I’m from the hood. I’m from Philly. I’m giving you everything that I got in me with this music. So that’s why I feel like I can separate myself from everybody else.” —PnB Rock, rapper

Film

Joey Chen / The Spectator

Television

do not shy away from that fact. Evidently, the idea of two rival karate gangs terrorizing an entire school and fighting each other at every given chance is unrealistic. However, the writers embrace the show’s absurdity instead of at tempting to rationalize it, unlike many other current media proj ects. For example, though Silver’s character occasionally comes off as cartoonish and ridiculous, the threat he poses to the Eagle Fang and Miyagi Do dojos adds to the drama and intrigue. The final stretch of the season has myriads of gut-wrenching and heartfelt moments that are lightened by hints of humor. Astonishingly, the writers have been able to combine two radically different styles to create a tone many can only dream of.

Another high point during this season is Johnny’s storyline. Af

Cobra Kai is Silly (and That’s Okay)

ter he closes Miyagi-Do and Ea gle Fang, he finally starts over and moves on from his past. In the third episode, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio), Miguel’s mother, reveals to Johnny that she is pregnant with his baby. Though hesitant at first, Johnny comes to terms with becoming a father and decides not to relive the same mistakes he made with Robby. Thanks to his new outlook on life, Johnny suc cessfully ends Robby and Miguel’s petty rivalry. And in a very under appreciated scene, the tables turn when Daniel, usually much more mellow and rational, storms into Johnny’s home, asking for a fight. Johnny turns him down, which is a stark contrast to his aggressive and confrontational personality in previous seasons. He exhibits his evolution from the lonely al coholic he once was.

Johnny’s storyline feeds into the themes of this season: change and redemption. This can es pecially be seen in regards to

Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), who frees himself from Silver’s brainwashing after falling victim to his ideology of brutality and violence, and Kreese, who starts to acknowledge the father-like af fection he felt for Johnny during prison therapy. Robby also finally reconciles with his father and makes peace with Miguel, after despising both him and Johnny for so long.

Additionally, season five sees the emergence of new and old re lationships. Notably, the dynamic between Daniel and Chozen was a highlight this season due to Chozen’s deathly serious lines and Daniel’s constant state of distress bringing light-hearted humor to the show. The most impactful re lationship of the show, however, was the friendship between Dev on (Oona O’ Brien) and defend ing All-Valley Women’s Cham pion Tory Nichols (Peyton List). With Devon acting as an ambi tious mentee and Tory taking on

the role of relentless mentor, they bring out the best and most hu mane parts of one another.

The show makes impactful and emotional stories out of char acters like Kenny, Johnny, Kreese, and many more. However, the same cannot be said for many of the Miyagi-Do members. Char acters like Hawk and Demetri lacked a substantial story arc this season and instead were delegated to minor background characters. The same is true for Sam (Mary Mouser). Outside of the non-stop ‘will-they won’t-they’ relationship with Miguel, there isn’t any over arching development of her char acter, which is disappointing for a character with so much potential. The show’s weakness in develop ing its characters exhibits itself again with the poor execution of Miguel’s story arc. At the end of season four, Miguel leaves Los Angeles to go to Mexico to meet his biological father. This story line was a highly anticipated part

When We Were YoungMusic

By MADELINE HUTCHINSON

“But I remember when we were young,” Peter Hook hums to the audience, who, despite the melancholic lyrics, were cheering beyond measure.

After the unfortunate dis solutions of the highly influen tial English post-punk band Joy Division and its synthpop re boot, New Order—two bands in which Peter Hook played bass—he founded Peter Hook and the Light in 2010, which aims to commemorate both acts through covers and world tours.

Located on the edge of Hell’s Kitchen, Terminal 5 was the other side of a surreal time warp. The simplistically decorat ed space with high ceilings and a single disco ball housed a groovy past on August 27. In the vesti bule alone, four old men were wearing the same “Unknown Pleasures” shirt: a Joy Division cult. These four were an omen to the masses of aging goths ea

ger to relive their youthful days before the death of Ian Curtis and their rheumatoid arthritis.

The band took the stage in vaguely cult-ish matching red, with the digits “988” across their chests. It appeared to be an in side joke or endearing quip, as was Peter Hook’s guitar strap that read “Hooky,” but Hook explained that “988” was a refer ence to the newly changed sui cide hotline number. He recalled the suffering of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic frontman of Joy Divi sion who had committed suicide in 1980, a day before the band was planning to leave for their first tour in the United States. Curtis was the catalyst for Joy Division, and his vulnerability and tenacity were arguably what made the band iconic. More than 40 years later, his bandmates bore the number 988—three digits that would have potential ly changed the trajectory of the band. The audience could not escape the unvoiced, “What if?”

The unspoken tension was palpable in the crowd. Curiosi

ties preemptively questioned the performance’s potential ode to Ian Curtis, and comparisons to past concerts of Joy Division immediately began to spread. The setlist for the show was ambitious. Not only did Peter Hook and the Light play both of Joy Division’s studio albums, “Unknown Pleasures” (1979) and “Closer” (1980), but there were also two lengthy openers. El Ten Eleven, an instrumental post-rock duo with clear influ ences from the electric and synth components of Hook’s projects, opened the show with mesmer izing riffs. Immediately after ward, Peter Hook and the Light entered the stage to play six New Order songs in their typical viva cious glory for a second opener. However, the New Order open er left out some of their most beloved songs, such as “Blue Monday” (1983) and “Bizarre Love Triangle” (1986), leaving fans disappointed. Regardless, a New Order performance was still humbly accepted by the sea of bald heads who were desper

ate for a retrospect. The concert space was transformed as the crowd overcame collective joint aches to wave hands in the air.

Just as quickly as it came, the synthesized brightness gave way to the dark, ephemeral tones of Joy Division. The notable dual ity of Peter Hook and the Light’s capabilities was evident. Dark ness and decadent bass heav ily descended upon the crowd, the weight comparable to that of their orthopedic shoes. The band’s rendition of “Day of the Lords,” a song about the woes of being born and having to carry on existing, was the most dramatic performance of the night. The atmospheric gloom factor culminated at this point.

“I’ve seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain / And the bodies obtained, the bodies ob tained,” Hook enunciated slowly, composing a nightmarish illus tration as the bassist comple mented the desolation with pon derous strums in a slow tempo.

It was hard not to consid er the present and past while

of season five. However, the arc finishes two episodes in. Though Maridueña gives an award-win ning performance during his scenes, his acting was not enough to mitigate the rushed, negligible plot. The storyline’s pacing also does a disservice to Miguel’s char acter development, which would have benefitted from a plotline outside of karate.

But aside from a few mishaps, “Cobra Kai” went above and be yond all expectations set by prior seasons with its impeccable direc tion. A wholesome watch with injected doses of drama, “Cobra Kai” season five manages to es tablish a unique combination of flamboyant and profound writing to establish its place in the actiondramedy genre. Whether a mar tial arts show, a coming-of-age show, or a cash-grab reboot of a beloved franchise, audiences will continue to appreciate “Cobra Kai” and its unique take on the modern-day action genre.

Hook played the set, especially during “I Remember Noth ing,” the last song off of Joy Division’s album, “Unknown Pleasures.” Hook honored the legacy of Curtis while applying novel artistry by adapting his old tunes to their new environ ment. Hook raised the pitch of Curtis’s trademark deep, distant vocals and took more tonal risks with the delivery of the lyrics. Surprisingly, both the vocal and instrumental performances were bold, passionate, and engaging, and the sound quality was more refined than the original record ings, suggesting an evolution of their work. Peter Hook and the Light managed to be emotion ally impactful with the depth and clarity of the instrumentation. While the music recarved the tangled, weathered smile lines at the corners of its audience’s lips, there was an evident long ing for what was lost—both Ian Curtis and the years of youth that remain only in memory and in Hooky.

Randall Goosby: A Man on a Musical MissionMusic

By BRANDON PHILLIPS and ZOE BUFF

Whenever someone men tions a classical music concert, our minds go straight to stuffy rich people in suits talking about hourlong symphonies or cracking viola jokes. Unfortunately, this precon ceived notion limits the classical music world to the elites. To es cape these restraints, musicians have been working to diversify their repertoires and audiences. This is exactly what young violinist Randall Goosby strives to achieve.

Born in San Diego, California, Goosby started his career early at the age of nine with his solo debut alongside the Jacksonville Sym phony. In his youth, he was part of the non-profit Sphinx Organi zation, a platform for young Black and Latinx musicians to perform works by underrepresented com posers. This experience planted the seed for his musical mission to diversify classical music audiences.

By age 15, he was studying with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho

at the prestigious Juilliard School, proving his devotion to the field. He even flew between Memphis and New York for three-hour les sons every week. “It was a pretty intense time,” Goosby said in an interview with The Spectator, “but I started to build such an incred ible community in New York.”

Since then, the New York-based soloist has performed with promi nent orchestras in Los Angeles, Cleveland, and London—on track to rise to the top of the classical music world.

When asked about how he cre ates his interpretations of music pieces, Goosby said, “I think that, in a lot of ways, the music that you grow up with sort of subcon sciously influences the way that you eventually want to hear things for yourself.” His exposure to vo cal music in his youth led him to explore the relationship between the human voice and the instru ment. “When you have a tune stuck in your head, without you knowing it, you’re doing all these little things with phrasing and nu

ance with colors.” He joked, “it might not sound so pretty, but you’re imagining things for your self.”

Goosby’s expressive and lyri cal violin playing echoes his phi losophy that playing an instru ment brings out the inner singer in all musicians. Goosby cites the environment he grew up in as the largest influence on his under standing of classical music today, and emphasizes that incorporating one’s background into their mu sic not only distinguishes but also enhances their artistry. Each musi cian can bring very different inter pretations to pieces that have been performed for hundreds of years.

Goosby’s musical mission is to broaden the scope of what classical music represents, diver sifying both the composers be hind the music he plays and the audiences who tune in. His 2021 debut album, “Roots,” celebrates underrepresented composers, such as Florence Price and Wil liam Grant Still, and the impact they had on classical music as a

whole. He dedicates much of his time to spreading the joy of classi cal music through nonprofit orga nizations. These projects include “Concerts in Motion” (a series of concerts in senior homes), “Proj ect: Music Heals Us” (a series of virtual performances during the pandemic), and “Opportunity Mu sic Project” (a program that offers instruments and lessons to youth in underserved communities). While showcasing a diverse range of composers is a good start at broadening the scope of classical music, there is still more work to be done. Goosby said, “We need to be highlighting composers from different backgrounds, but on the other hand, I’d love to see the au dience for classical music grow in diversity.”

When Goosby first set out to do outreach concerts at elemen tary schools, he didn’t know what to expect, so he was pleasantly sur prised to see jaws on the floor. “I would look out and I would notice that the kids were really excited,” he explained. “They had never

seen a classical violin performance before…It’s not like this inherent ly niche or not cool thing.” He be lieves that the best way to inspire a passion for classical music is by “just giving kids a chance to see it, hear it, and experience it.”

The timeless nature of clas sical music makes it all the more important for it to evolve with the world we live in. Without active efforts to advance representation and offer more widespread op portunities, the world of classical music stagnates. Randall Goosby is a leading example of what classical music should strive to be. “Grow ing the amount of young people and the amount of young com munities where classical music is an option or a choice could really serve to benefit the greater good for the next generation,” Goosby said. “Everyone has something very special to offer to the world. It’s really important that we all take the time and the opportunity to see, learn about, and explore these gifts together.”

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

The Best Learning Platform

By SARA HELLER and ASTRID SEN HARRINGTON

All city schools transitioned over to a remote learning model on March 15, 2020. Over the next year, teachers would find them selves ignored on various com munication platforms, including Zoom and Google Meets. In ret rospect, though, it was because the platform that they should have been using was Minecraft.

All the typically-used plat forms brought a host of prob lems with them. Technical dif ficulties ran rampant. It wasn’t uncommon for a student to find their way to class barred by a request for a Zoom passcode, and the teachers who didn’t know how to “mute all” could only watch as their meetings descended into chaos. The days before disabling annotation was completely figured out were also quite interesting. One student reported, “Right when schools closed, I had to attend a schoolwide meeting to discuss expecta tions during remote learning. Un fortunately, the principal had not yet learned how to disable anno tations, and the more tech-savvy students had figured out how to write on her screen. Not two minutes into her presentation, it

was covered in… shall we say… interesting images. She gave us all a lecture on maturity and ended the Zoom meeting promptly.”

The moment when students got past the technical difficulties was when the fun really started. Well, not for the teachers—they were miserable. Mr. Clean, a ge ometry teacher at Bronx Science, reminisced about his Zoom ex perience. He explained that “half of the students’ Wi-Fi would conveniently crash every time they were called on to answer a question. The other half would be cooking pasta. Many times, students with their cameras off would forget to mute themselves and an array of strange noises would interrupt my lessons.” In a moment of truth, Mr. Clean ad mitted that breakout rooms were used by teachers to give them selves a break from their chaotic students.

The ultimate question is whether students learned any thing from remote school, and the ultimate answer is obviously not, you silly fool. An anonymous survey completed by all HSMSE students showed that at any time during a Zoom meeting, around 50 percent of students were play ing video games, 30 percent of students were baking sourdough bread, 10 percent of students

were talking to therapists, seven percent of students were online shopping, and a measly three percent of students were actually paying attention. Not even the teachers were surprised by those results.

The outcome of using Mine craft would obviously be better. Aside from being colorful and vibrant, it would engage stu dents to be more active by cre ating a three-dimensional space that they could move around in. Teachers could start worlds, building and conducting schools within these worlds through a more interactive platform. They could take field trips to the End or go diving in lava lakes (sure, they’d die, but it’d teach the stu dents a very important lesson in mortality). Students could be in structed to build models out of whatever material they liked (be it diamond, TNT, or monsterspawning cages) to describe the concepts they were teaching. On top of all of that, instead of playing video games behind the teachers’ backs, students could play them outright!

In an experiment conducted during virtual school, several Earth Science classes were held on Zoom, while others were held on Minecraft. As expected, the Zoom classes were completely

monotonous. The students acted typically, with most of them play ing Minecraft anyway. In com parison, the Minecraft kids were so invested in learning that some even stayed after class! Of course, there were difficulties at first, as there were with Zoom and Google Meets. The schools that the teachers built were quickly mined to the ground, and some teachers would find themselves suddenly flung in the air by fish ing rods. A couple of times, the teachers accidentally made their worlds in survival mode, which led to sudden stampedes when the monsters came out. One teacher found themselves teach ing a group of random villagers and only realized they weren’t students when nothing had been built for the past 20 minutes. But after getting accustomed to the game, the teachers found their students much more engaged, and the students found—to their horror—that they were actually learning.

In the end, the Minecraft stu dents averaged 64 points higher on the Earth Science Regents than the Zoom students. The Minecraft kids might have used an excess of Minecraft analogies on the Regents and congratulat ed each other by punching each other in the face, but ultimately

My mom died. It was the best day of my life—I’m go ing to become King!

The pool’s many dead bod ies have been moved to the roof.

Crabs have become illegal in seven states.

Fall musical canceled and replaced with two-hour-long mandatory study hall.

No one is joining your club and there’s nothing you can do about it.

they learned more and were hap pier with their learning experi ence.

If this experiment shows anything, it is that Minecraft is not just a game; it is a way of life. For that reason, it should clearly be incorporated into school ing today. Projects and home work could both be conducted through Minecraft. Sure, the teachers might once again find themselves lost in a world of for eign technology, but who cares about that? Minecraft would def initely make school a more inter esting place.

What if Stuyvesant Was College-Worthy: The Elite Chapter

By RAVINDRA MANGAR

Following the release of a truly embarrassing New York Post article titled “New York City’s Top High School Ranks Among the Lowest in College Acceptance Rates,” the Stu dent Union has taken action to rectify the alarming 99.97 per cent rejection rate. During the morning announcements two days ago, Student Union Presi dent Ryan Lee said, “We must remain supreme against Brook lyn Tech. Our first step will be to remove any perceived degen eracy lurking within the school. None of you will be safe from our ‘professional’ institution.”

Like most students, junior and Humor Editor Erica Khen was confused by what exactly those words entailed, even af ter going through the 27-page “Formal Expectations Guide.”

Therefore, she was surprised when she was given seven box es immediately upon entering the building, each containing blank reference letters, medical forms, liability forms, COVID waivers, and more. They were all to be given to every student to be legally signed by their par ents during the now five-minute homeroom, which has been re named “Peer-Editing Period.”

“I know the Student Union has a lot of power, but I didn’t realize that my department was to be deemed unprofessional and essentially become the Col lege Office!” Khen said while crumbling under the weight of the stack of boxes even taller than her.

Senior Caucus President Andrey Solokov was four hours late to school after being de nied entry into the premises 15 times due to his disregard

of the exact fine print direc tions of “wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt and a green tie” mentioned in the style guide. When he was fi nally granted admission after his 16th attempt, he rushed to AP of Social Studies Jennifer Suri’s office to try and make a program change into AP Gov ernment. “She refused me from the waiting list because of my SAT score,” he complained. “Is 1590 not enough for her?”

Later in the day at the Clubs & Pubs Fair, there were long lines of students in profes sional attire surrounding the office-like booths lining the hallways for their club admis sion tests and interviews. Fresh man Shreya Troy admitted to reporters that she had originally planned not to attend the fair after her phone exploded from the amount of horrific texts

she was receiving from friends recounting their terrible ex perience. However, the mere thought of getting free college interview prep by simply at tending the fair compelled her to show up at Club Counter #74 (Stuy K-Pop).

“They first took us into the library to take a three-hour exam on K-Pop artists and cul ture, most of whom I didn’t even recognize,” Troy said. “I was so relieved when I was done, until I remembered that the interview part existed. The kid behind me was shaking in their chair, muttering ‘Stray Kids is J-Pop’ repeatedly while aggressively flipping through a binder. I found out why every one was freaking out whena I was then brought into a room to be interrogated by the Presi dents of the club. I just wanted to learn more about K-pop—I

How to Start a Successful Fruit Stand

By DAVID LIN

Walking out of the cafeteria, you might notice a mountain of fruit, typically apples, oranges, or pears, sitting on a table near the trash cans. You wouldn’t be lieve it now, but you’re missing out on a gold mine of an op portunity. If you’ve ever gotten school lunch, you should know that the lunch ladies wouldn’t let you have a plate unless you have a fruit. Too often, many of them end up on this table, waiting to be hauled back to the counter and taken again in a never-ending cycle. What better way to reduce this excess than to sell them for profit, you may be thinking? Without further

ado, here are the steps for turn ing unwanted leftovers from the cafeteria into a money-making enterprise.

The first task is to make room in your backpack for your goods. There are a lot of ways to do this, the most boring of which is to stuff everything in your locker. But to ensure that your books and papers don’t get in the way, a more effective ap proach is to incinerate them in a dumpster fire. Not only will it be an awesome sight, but it’s also nice to have some warmth for a change as the weather gets chillier.

Now, I know what you may be thinking: it’s so crowded in the cafeteria, so wouldn’t some

one report my suspicious be havior to the dean? Fear not, because unbeknownst even to his closest aides, Principal Yu has a secret compartment in his desk, inside of which is a switch that turns off all the lights in the school—an amazingly handy tool that allows you to operate in the dark. However, it is next to the switch that shuts down all the escalators, which is next to the switch that closes all the doors and windows in an effort to quarantine the school in case of a viral outbreak. And I for got to mention that the switches don’t have labels, so you better get it right the first time.

Once you’ve pulled the right switch and secured your stash of

goods, it’s time to set up a prop er fruit stand. Ditch the wood and paint; you’re on a budget, so a desk from one of the class rooms would suffice. Simply plop the fruit down on the table and pray that none rolls off. You need to do a bit of advertising though, so head on over to the nearest Dollar Tree and buy a poster board and some markers to create a sign. Feel free to add your name to it, hopefully in leg ible writing, to emphasize that the desk is your property.

Finally, you need to pick a location. You may be thinking that you need to walk all the way to Chinatown to attract hungry buyers, but really, the ol’ Tribeca Bridge entrance should

didn’t realize that I needed to know the top 30 K-pop songs of 2018.” The same exact pro cess happened when Troy vis ited Club Counter #32 (Girls Who Code), where Troy had to memorize and recite the Java User Manual word for word.

When filling out the Student Union’s Mandatory “Club & Pubs Experience and Improve ment” Google Form, Troy wrote, “Oh it was traumatiz ing, real traumatizing. The Stu dent Union has essentially be come our very own pet College Board.”

The Spectator reckons that club sizes will dramatically de crease over the next school year, but we cannot confirm this as our reporters were fined and asked to leave the fair yesterday for not having a Student Unionapproved writer’s permit.

do well thanks to its heavy traf fic. Students coming back to the building would never realize that what you’re selling came from the cafeteria. However, there’s one more thing I have to men tion. The security guards watch ing you might give you the boot, but once the profits start rolling in, you can bribe your way into staying.

And that, dear readers, is how you can become one of Stuyvesant’s few successful en trepreneurs. Always carry out your operations in secret, just in case someone steals your *foolproof* business model and starts competing for your cus tomers. Good luck, and happy selling!

By KAREN CHEN and ANIKET ROY

Ladies and gentlemen! Do any of you know what time it is? Yup! It’s time to get cuffed. Cuff ing season has begun and it’s your turn to find the loving partner who’s willing to grow old with you (that is, until both of you realize this was a mistake).

If this is your first time, fear not! We’ve got you. Here are five certified ways to get your crush to like you back.

**Disclaimer: we are not to be held liable for any heartbreak that has happened to you from prior relationships if you have read our advice before.

STARE AT THEM!

The first way to attract your crush is to maintain prolonged eye contact with them. In other words, stare intensely into their eyes until they can no longer re sist your beauty and are forced to stare back at you. We recommend

Cuffing Season Has Begun! Be There!

doing this for at least 10 minutes every day, even if it means block ing the hallways or being late to class.

If they take the initiative to come up to you, even better! Make sure to then run away im mediately so that they’ll have to chase after you. What could be better than having your crush publicly display their affection for you by having them run after you in the halls? While there is a 99.9 percent chance that it’s to report you, there’s also a 0.1 percent chance that they came to return the kiss, so it’s all worth it.

Get a Pet! Be the Pet!

It’s been scientifically proven that people with pets have a bet ter chance of obtaining a partner. We recommend a dog or a cat, since they’re loved by many. Even if your crush is deathly allergic to animals, don't worry! They would still appreciate you bring ing it to school and keeping it in close proximity to them. Besides, they’ll be too busy sneezing to yell

at you. On the downside, this also means that they won’t be able to proclaim their intense love for you.

To counter that drawback, we recommend cosplaying as a pet. You could show up to school in a cat-maid costume or a furry cos tume. Your crush would be so im pressed with your dedication that they might ask you out.

Hug Them! Say Hi to Them!

Hit Them Nicely? Why Not!

For a crush to notice you, sim ply saying “hi” in the halls won’t make the cut. Instead, we recom mend playfully hitting your crush.

It’s not only an act of love but also something that makes you stand out from the rest. You’re not like the other girls! They will be sure to remember you.

If you don’t like the idea of punching your crush, an alterna tive is to kidnap them (with their consent, of course). Take them to Disney World. Who doesn’t like Disney World? Most importantly, make sure to split expenses 50-50

since you wasted most of your money on that new anime body pillow.

Listen! Not to Me, Buffoon! To THEM!

What really makes someone’s heart flutter is receiving attention. One of the best ways to show you care is to listen to your crush. Heed their every word. EVERY word. Eavesdrop on them while they’re talking to their friends, pay close attention when they raise their hand in class, and most im portantly, listen to them breath ing. Not only will it make them feel loved and respected by you (awww!), but you might also be able to learn some valuable in formation about them, like where they live.

Say Yes to Stalking!

Of course, if you don’t hap pen to find out where they live, stalking is always an option. Se cretly follow them to their house and then introduce yourself to their parents. If you make a good

Clubs and Flubs

By FINN CHAREST

Allow me to paint you a pic ture: you’re on the second floor, outside of the guidance office. Behind you, Speech & Debate rep resentatives are shouting, at 250 words per minute, about how not joining their club will inevitably lead to global extinction via climate change. To your left, silk-robed Robotics team members offer you lobster and wine, if only you agree to come down to their mil lion dollar lab next week. Slightly in front of you, Mr. Moran has found himself sauntering by the Manga

club’s booth, purely coincidentally, and is inquiring as to the upcom ing meeting dates for his friend who is a “connoisseur in all things Japanese.” Farther up, ARISTA is deciding to charge hourly for their services in the future, inspired by the Robotics team’s caviar.

You are, of course, at the annu al Stuyvesant Clubs and Pubs fair: the pinnacle of New York City cul ture, food, and thought. Much like the Met Gala, everyone is wearing their own outlandish outfit, except instead of Marilyn Monroe’s dress or a 100 percent upcycled gown, Stuyvesant students’ attires are

uniquely patterned by their tears, freshly printed as they walk past the fourth tutoring club of the evening.

In fact, this year the Stuyvesant High School building was unable to hold every club, and several booths were assigned to the bridge, leading to general outrage. We were able to interview one Hayden Smith, who shared his thoughts on the matter.

“It’s disgraceful! The Stuyves ant Green Lightsaber Design club is an integral part of the school’s community. Not to be confused with the Stuyvesant Sith Lightsaber Construction club, the Stuyvesant Star Wars Roleplay with Light

sabers club, or the Stuyvesant Jedi Training club, our institution al lows for students to familiarize themselves with key engineering concepts that can’t be found else where, such as how to successfully integrate a Green Kyber crystal into your build (as opposed to a corrupted one, but Stuyvesant Sith Lightsaber Construction was al ready an established club).”

Space shortages were not the only issue afflicting the Clubs and Pubs Fair. Recent events left a number of clubs scrambling to ad just in time for the fair.

“We had to reprint all our

first impression on their parents, who the hell cares what your crush thinks about you?

If you want to know their schedule, we recommend dis creetly trailing them to their classes. Stalking also lets you get to know your crush more as you will know what topics they’re in terested in. If you ever get the chance to talk to your crush, you guys will already have something to talk about.

Folks, this is all the advice we have for you today. Make sure to follow all our tips and hope fully you get cuffed or cuffed by someone. However, if your ef forts are futile, we have one more piece of advice for you. Humans die. Animals die. Plants die. Even soul reapers die. It’s the arc of the universe. Everything that comes to life eventually ceases to exist. Most of all, when you die, you’ll die alone. You were born alone and you’ll die alone. So finding love isn’t the biggest thing out there. Good luck!

cards,” said an exhausted Mont gomery Xu IV, Co-Vice President of the Royals Keno Club. Xu, who is also Assistant Deputy Co-Trea surer of the Queen’s Corgis Fan Club and a mainstay of the Bowlmoral Castle junior varsity bowling team, said his hectic schedule lead ing up to the fair has barely left him any time to train for falconry tour naments or work on his application to Oxford.

Soon after, a scuffle broke out between the Stuyvesant GlutenFree Club and StuyPasta. Our re porters were unable to stay on site.

Wow, You HAVE to Visit These 10 Stuyvesant Monuments!

CLICKBAIT]

By ALEXANDER CHU and ESHAAL UBAID

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? The Empire State Building? THE INFAMOUS $1 NYC PIZZA SLICE (now $1.30 due to inflation)? Forget it. You’ll never see them the same way after visiting the beautiful monuments of Stuyvesant High School in Tribeca. Whether it be a structure, a wall, or a food item that has been on the ground for so long that it has fused with the floor, your jaw will drop to the floor with the force of a 8.6 mag nitude earthquake. Let us walk you through the top 10 highlights!

10. Cafeteria vending machine

Some call it theft. Others call it gambling. We call it the riskiest experience since Vegas! Whether you’ll get your treat, your money spat back at you, or nothing at all is up to the stars. Nonetheless, it’s this close to putting Whole Foods out of business with its “healthy” snacks full of “nutrients.” It’ll also easily double as a reference mark to explain where your caf eteria table is in a sea of chairs, making it the ultimate marker of this floor!

9. Piece of gum from 1976

Whether it was initially char coal black or just severely beaten up by the stomping of pubescent teens over the years, this once-

sugary delight is now an esteemed member of the community. Its rock-hard existence compli ments the platinum floors of the Stuyvesant building in a super aesthetic way. Desk gum may also have its charms, but it’s got noth ing on the sticky sensation we’ve got by the scanners! We love using it for Insta photo backgrounds.

8. Half-Floor

From the astounding scenery of a street to the adrenaline rush of stampedes going up to 10th floor art from band, this is THE place to be. A sleeping freshman snores in the distance. The beau tiful blue recycling bins, stunning, are to be disregarded in a ritual known as “a lack of self aware ness and/or cleanliness.” Some have even compared it to the rush of Niagara Falls—the beat of the school itself (not to be confused with the PULSE of the student body, The Spectator). You’ll be sure to pass by it one day, so why not sit and NOT LITTER? AMAH-ZING!

7. The Slightly Functional LED screen by the scanners

Now, this one’s controversial, and barely noticeable. I mean, who actually looks UP when walking into the building at 7:45 a.m.? But hear us out: some times, a lack of accuracy is a good thing! It encourages you to be on your toes. Is it an A day? B day?

Who knows? That’s the fun of it. Bonus: it’s soooooo cute. And SHINY! Wakes you up every morning.

6. Revolutionary War button on escalator between the fourth and sixth floors

This button was found on Wa ter Street, and was from the Revo lutionary War! That’s all we know about it, because that’s all that the text on the glass says. It probably belonged to a soldier that fought in the Revolutionary War. This one’s a genuine marvel of histo ry, even if Stuy kids are too busy SparkNote-ing their reading as signments due next period on the escalator to notice.

5. Sophomore Bar

This Stuyvesant staple has been through it all, from Super Smash Bros. tournaments to the numerous chalk murals to the overall negative effects of raging teenage hormones. There’s not a single place like the Sophomore Bar in the rest of Stuyvesant, or in any other Specialized High School! The once (probably) es teemed icon as a coming-of-age moment for freshmen is now a relegation for the icky prepubes cent Cuddle Puddle, and the rea son why our janitors should get a raise.

4. 11th Floor

This floor does exist! You’re

just not looking hard enough. With its walls paved in GOLD and covered with your next PreCalc quiz answers, it is truly a wondrous place. It even has a pool! Many secrets are held on the 11th floor, such as how to have a consistent sleep schedule, how to get the schedule you want, and how to go outside and touch some grass. To get there, you have to ride the elevator and find the secret button.

3. Stuyvesant Basement

If you’re looking for a spooky adventure that’s #Instagramma ble, shovel on down to the base ment! Despite its apparent lack of existence to students, the school actually uses this mystical place to store gym supplies that haven’t been bitten into, locker locks that aren’t sticky, and all the pencils you’ve dropped and never found again. The dim, subtle lighting will give you the ANGSTIEST photos—#quirky—and if you’re lucky, you’ll find a bonus artifact: a vial of the first tears ever shed by an AP Calc student at Stuy! WOW!

2. Water bottle left in room 437

This water bottle was left be hind by some poor freshman who fell asleep in Geometry. LOL!

It’s a HydroFlask 20. Oz Wide Mouth water bottle in hot pink!

There are also chipped paint and dents around the bottom of the

bottle. Some say that the soul of a freshman that failed Geometry is trapped within the bottle, and that despite numerous attempts to put the bottle in the Lost and Found, it always shows up back in that classroom. But there’s only one way to find out whether or not the soul is truly trapped: opening it.

1. Hudson Staircase

And of course, we’ve saved the best for last. The Hudson Staircase. What seems like just a normal, decrepit-looking staircase purportedly has some mischie vous activities going on. And who disagrees??? The MOST romantic place to take your cuffing season partner would be the Hudson Staircase, with its mood-setting lighting and banger secluded view. Careful though. Make sure you spend time with your spring fling before it thaws by October! And don’t traumatize any students. We are not responsible for any emo tional harm, both relationshipand witness-related, caused by your staircase shenanigans.

And there you have it. The hottest, prettiest, most fab-u-lous places at Stuy. They’ll be sure to make your existential dread di minish for a few seconds of aweinspiring monumental glory. Stay tuned for our next list: Top Five Steamy Stuy Spots [THE LAST ONE WILL SHOCK YOU]!

By FREDA DONG and XIYUE ZHOU

The last day of summer always feels like the end of the world. I wished for an actual apocalypse to hit, even though at that point, go ing through the end of the world would be better than going back to hell—I mean school. Crying in side with immeasurable sorrow, I went over my checklist of supplies one last time. Notebooks? Check. Pens? Check. Folders? Check. My TI-84 calculator with Tetris downloaded? Check. Finished summer homework? Check. And with that, I was ready for another year of sleep deprivation, mental breakdowns, and obsessing over numbers on PupilPath—oh, wait, I mean Jupiter Ed! Just as I was grieving the death of PupilPath, a Messenger notification popped up from my friend Mary Sue:

Mary: YO I AM FINALLY DONE WITH DELTAMATH WOOHOO

Me: great. congrats. u should have done it earlier lol Mary: pls, ur crazy Mary: no one finish hw in the first week of summer Mary: ur not a real stuy kid Me: imagine procrastinating Me: this is why i have a higher

By BRANDON PHILLIPS

Being a Big Sib can be a tre mendous responsibility—you hold the futures of a whole class of Little Sibs in your hands. This added stress on top of your al ready debilitating workload can make you go mad. I’m not saying that’s happened to me. I’m fine.

Just fine. Fortunately, to help you cope, I’ve made a list of ways to diffuse that stress surrounding your new responsibility and even turn it into a stress reliever. If you’re not a Big Sib, come along for the ride, as I’m sure you’ll find new ways to encourage the fresh men you see in the hallways.

1. Smile Even Though Your Heart is Breaking: I’m sure that you’re doing this already, as I’ve already seen nearly

Stuyvesant’s Record DeltaMath Speedrun

avg than u

Mary: rood, no need to shame my 92 geo avg T-T

Mary: shapes r hard

Me: there was no geometry in the hw tho, it was all algebra 1 Mary: no wtf r u talking abt

Me: algebra 1, like quadratics, radicals, diff of 2 sq stuff

Mary: U IDIOT U DID THE WRONG HW

Me: WDYM, WE’RE SUP POSED TO DO GEOMETRY RIGHT???

Me: BC WE TOOK GEOM ETRY THIS YEAR?

Mary: YOU DID THE HW FOR THE FRESH MEATS

Mary: GO CHECK THE EMAIL

Panicking, I scrolled through my stuy.edu e-mail before click ing on the e-mail sent by Assistant Principal of Mathematics Mr. Eric Smith. Closely reading the PDF, I see the text, “Select the course you will be taking in the fall of 2022. Do NOT enroll in the course you are currently taking!”

Oh shhhhhiiiI quickly logged onto Delta Math, mourning over all the green checkmarks in the Geometry course which were now rendered useless. I switched over to Algebra II, and I was greeted by countless

tabs that were all at zero percent completion when the page finally loaded.

Oh double shhhhhii—I al most threw my phone out of the window.

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

I did not sign up for these for the last day of summer. I should have been asleep by 9 p.m. like I usually am, but it was 10:25 p.m. and I was still battling with the annoying DeltaMath-generated questions. I probably shouldn’t have drank black coffee like a de pressed junior; the bitterness of bad-quality instant coffee made me want to puke. My eyes stung from continuously staring at the computer screen, my back hurt as if I had fallen off the Hud son staircase and rolled from the 10th floor to the first floor, and my brain could hardly process x^2+5x+6=0.

I cursed myself once again as I went through each section and solved the math problems. Never in my entire student career have I waited till the last minute to com plete my work, especially NOT by making the stupidest mistake of my student career by selecting the wrong assignment and wasting HOURS of work. This was going

to be a shame that I would regret for the rest of my life. It shall re main a secret from the rest of the world forever, and I will bring it to my grave.

After getting yet ANOTHER problem wrong, I banged my stu pid head against my keyboard and looked at the time, shocked to find that it was already 11:01 p.m. Whoever invented DeltaMath should suffer in the 10th circle of Hell, cursed to do complex math problems without a calculator for ever. You know what, screw this. I apologize to every single math teacher in my life, but desperate times called for desperate mea sures. After all, Photomath and Desmos are your best friends. Stuyvesant High School Academ ic Integrity Policy what? Never heard of that.

With the help of my bros, I was finally done with DeltaMath by the break of dawn! I scrolled down the page from the top, and the sense of satisfaction I felt see ing a green check mark on every single tab was incomprehensible beyond words. Even though it was midnight, at that moment I felt more alive and awake than I had ever been. Outside my window, the pale moon was high up on the deep blue canvas of the night sky. A bright shooting star shot out

Sib Tips: Four Ways to Survive Freshmen

every Big Sib practicing this strat egy: pretend that Stuy hasn’t dete riorated your will to live. All these idealistic freshmen come into this building ready to learn and to have a great time. They think that they’re going to be at the top of their class and take cool, unique electives. Sadly, you know better. You know that soon they’ll be trapped under a pile of AP Bio homework and Global Studies notes. Regardless, it’s your job to make sure that they feel welcome. Just smile through all that pain. No one will ever know.

2. Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Wa ter:

As we all know, freshmen have to take two swim tests in their freshman year. One on the first floor and one on the 11th. Make sure your Little Sib knows

this and knows how to get there from the first floor; take the stairs to the second floor, then the 2-3 escalator, then the 3-5 escalator (wait, that one’s always broken), the stairs from the 3-4, then es calators until you reach the 12th floor, and then take the Pool Staircase to the 11th floor. Watch their faces as you explain this to them. I’m sure they’ll be grateful.

3. A Person Who Can Write a Long Letter With Ease, Can not Write Ill:

As a Big Sib, you are required to write letters to your Little Sibs in order to give advice and po tentially suggest for them to join clubs. However, this year I have been told that we are supposed to discourage them from join ing clubs until their senior year. Sophomore and certified fresh man troller Adeline Sauberli has

been researching the clubs’ new policies. “Oh, I heard Flow only accepts alumni. Sorry about that!” Adeline said when I asked her about potential clubs for my Lit tle Sibs to join. I suppose because one person told me this informa tion, I should take it as fact. I’ll be sure to tell all my freshmen. No matter the number of sources, al ways be candid with the informa tion you hear around the school with your Little Sibs. They will thank you for it.

4. By Jove, Is That You?: Unfortunately, one of the downsides of wearing masks and the limited interaction you get with your Little Sibs is that it can become difficult to place a face to the name. In fact, some may have trouble remembering their names at all. However, instead of doing the work and memorizing their

from the clouds—just kidding, it was no more than a plane. A mete or in New York? In your dreams.

I shut down my computer, grabbed my phone, and texted my friend back: DONE!!!

I was amazed by what I had just accomplished. I had never known that I had the potential to complete so much work in just one night. When my new Alge bra II teacher asks, “Did everyone complete their DeltaMath sum mer homework?” I do not have to be one of the few people feeling guilty because I hadn’t finished it. I felt a sense of pride in myself. At least I finished my work on time as I always had in the past, hadn’t I?

Satisfied, I scrolled down the page once again to gloat over the tiny green checkmarks. With that, the school record speedrun of DeltaMath was completed one minute and nine seconds before the deadline! No one else would have ever finished Deltamath in four hours and 20 minutes. Just to double-check (not because I’m paranoid or anything—it’s called being mindful), I looked at the due date. Due Sep 12, 11:59 p.m.

I looked at the screen, looked at the time, then looked back at the screen before screaming into my pillow on September 7, 2022, at exactly 11:59 p.m.

names, do things the Stuy way: procrastinate and find shortcuts! Next time you see them in the hallway, make up a name for them on the spot. Make sure to use the same name for everyone, so you don’t accidentally call one person by two different made-up names. Now that would be disrespect ful. Ones I’ve heard in passing have been “Flargensworth,” “Wil likinsikissa,” and “Jeff.” Choose wisely.

I hope that these methods will help you survive your Big Sib journey. I feel obliged to warn you that some of these methods may or may not have extreme fallouts. However, when put against the current traditions of either ne glecting or murdering Little Sibs, the benefits of this alternative are clear. I say it’s worth a shot.

What Your Pre-Test “Teachers” Say About You

By CHRISTIAN KIM and EVE LIN

Picture this: it’s late at night (Or is it early in the morning? It can get a bit ambiguous at 2:30 a.m.) before your next extremely impor tant test that’s worth 50 percent of your entire grade. Unfortunately, you decided to procrastinate until said time (2:30 a.m.) like the typi cal Stuyvesant student you are. You open the exam outline (if you’re lucky enough to have a teacher that provides one) that your teacher has oh-so-helpfully provided on Google Classroom and decide to skim through it.

“What is this? Did we learn this in class? Oh my god I’m actu ally screwed” are probably the only things running through your mind, and you know that at 2:30 a.m., all of your teachers are off getting their beauty sleep (after all, you have to look your best when you decimate your students’ GPAs). As you go through your fourth mental crisis of the month, you wonder, “Who should I turn to?”

Your answer: online, and we will be judging your selections <3.

Quizizz: We’re sorry, but we gotta break it to you: you have low standards. Quizizz tries to be “fun,” but all it really does is stress you out even further by trying to compete against you in a 20:1 game. The us age of Quizizz truly does reveal one’s character. You’re either re ally screwed (this is the last resort of last resorts) or an extreme nerd because you burned through all of your other resources.

College Board: Are you okay? No one, and we mean no one, would willingly touch the College Board site even with their life on the line. However, even though we’re sure that every one hates them, College Board does have a few helpful videos (emphasis on few), and its practice problems are the real gold—main ly because your teacher copies and pastes them into their tests. Need less to say that the College Board does require you to sell your soul and life savings for the AP tests, which is really the only reason why you’re taking any AP courses at all.

Duolingo:

You need therapy. ASAP. Even your guidance counselors will be better than nothing. You clearly have an obsession with being bugged and spammed via e-mail. You need to make healthier lan guage teacher choices (VHL is al ways there if you need them). You might be able to learn some things, but overall, it’s not too great unless you have $100 to spend after you get five questions wrong (which, at this point in time, will happen frequently). We mean, who starts learning a language from just vo cabulary? Even an elementary stu dent could probably teach you a language better. Please, we’re beg ging you for your own well-being. Just go with VHL. Less creepy and better at reviews. Even Con juguemos would be better, though expect to develop anger problems and an eternal hatred towards frogs—so it’s really a “pick your poison” scenario.

Khan Academy: How… interesting. We see that you are the type of student who’s

into educators with the personality of a wet sock. What is it about Mr. Khan Academy that makes him your preferred source of studying?

Is it the random tangents he goes off on every five minutes? Is it the fact that watching him make 42 mistakes every video and perform overly complex solutions shows a comforting resemblance to you? Or is it the entertainment your brain gets at 2:30 a.m. from hear ing Mr. Khan sound drunk even at normal speed? Frankly, we’d rather just not study at all.

Albert: You’re a masochist. Not only are you a masochist, but you prob ably also take joy in being berated and called an idiot in 20 different stats and percentages. You might score really high on your test (es pecially if it’s an AP subject), but is it really worth going through Hell and back again just for a couple of tests? Unfortunately, for most of us, that answer is probably yes.

Organic Chemistry Tutor (OCT): Ahhh, you are a student with

taste and standards—not very common among those who pro crastinate on studying until 2:30 a.m. I see you’ll achieve much success on your exams, mainly because Organic Chemistry Tutor is the GOAT. Need help with or ganic chemistry? OCT. Need help with biology? OCT. Need help with math and statistics? OCT. Need help with your crippling anxieties? OCT. So much for being an “organic chemistry” tutor; this guy literally be our life coach and do better than some “profession als.” Seriously, someone needs to promote this guy from “Organic Chemistry Tutor” to “Organic Chemistry Professor” since he’s probably more qualified than some of your teachers.

Google Translate: How desperate are you? Do you even know what language course you are taking? You’ll be better off with Duolingo…

Still here? You should go back to studying for your test—we wish you the best of luck.

By RYAN PENG

Is your October SAT date coming around, but you haven’t studied at all? Do you try to study, but instantly get smacked with a pair of 14th-century argumenta tive essays about why rats are good pets or a math question that asks you to find the square root of 65 without a calculator? Well, you’re in luck! The Stuyvesant Spectator has stolen some top secret ques tions and strategies from the Col lege Board’s 2069 SAT exam that will surely aid in your preparation!

REEDING

Contrary to popular belief, your best strategy for this section is to not read the passage at all, as it will just distract you from the questions waiting for you. Now, onto some practice questions. No context is needed to answer these questions, but the source text can be found on page 36 of The Spec tator, Volume 112, Issue 16.

1. As used in line 69, “cope” most nearly means…

(A) deal with.

(B) ad cuz bad.

(C) copium.

(D) Co-Ed Physical Education.

Answer: The answer to this type of question is rarely the most common definition, so you can eliminate (A). As far as I’m con cerned, copium is a substance that the SAT probably shouldn’t pro mote. (D) can also be eliminated because while “Co-Ed Physical Education” can be abbreviated to “cope,” it can also be abbreviated to “Co-Ed People Eating.” Avoid unclear answer choices on the SAT. Thus, through the process of elimination, the correct answer is (B). Onward!

2. The situation in lines 12-13 (“the formation of a cult dedicated to repeatedly whacking themselves on the head with glowsticks”) is most analogous to which of the following?

(A) People putting up posters on the sixth floor, promising free food for anyone who joins their club (binding).

(B) A kid gets dragged off the street and is repeatedly bullied into joining a gang of Tetris nerds.

(C) A group of YouTubers de cide that it would be a funny idea to play Valorant.

(D) A student is exhausted by their workload and decides to buy

Cracking Up the SAT: Humor Edition

coffee for the first time. It does not end well.

Answer: The author (me) clear ly has a positive opinion of Flow. Eliminate (A), (B), (C), and (D) be cause they do not match the posi tive opinion. Leave the question blank, it’s free points!

WRITEING/GRAMMER

While the writing portion of the SAT will no longer test your knowledge of obscure and need lessly complicated words, don’t throw out your piles of flashcards just yet! Studies have shown that your head is 56 percent clearer after you rip up some flashcards during the SAT test, and who knows—you might even find the answer hidden among these tat tered scraps of paper!

3. Subways are so stupid, they’re always late!

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) [REDACTED] pieces of [REDACTED] [REDACTED]

(C) like the average stuy stu dent

(D) so stoopid

Answer: (A) contains a mis spelled word, so it can be eliminat ed—the correct spelling is ‘stoop id.’ (B) can be eliminated because it is too long and hides too much information. (C) makes an accurate comparison between Stuy students and always being late. Therefore, it is more precise than (D) and is the correct answer.

4. Which of the following pro vides the most accurate interpreta tion of the graph (not shown)?

(A) Brooklyn Tech is objective ly worse than Stuyvesant.

(B) Stuyvesant is objectively worse than Brooklyn Tech.

(C) Bronx Science is bet ter than both Brooklyn Tech and Stuyvesant.

(D) Specialized high schools are a lost cause; PS 12678 is the real deal!

Answer: Since the graph is not shown, go with the answer that is most likely to be correct. (C) is wrong because a total of about 16 people live in the Bronx (includ ing the animals in the Bronx Zoo). (D) might seem tempting after you look at your depressing Intro CS grades, but don’t be fooled! We need to get the facts straight— there aren’t 12,678 public schools in New York City, so (D) can be safely eliminated. That leaves (A) and (B). I mean, come on. What

do you think is the correct answer?

It’s obviously (B).

METH

Before you start this section, you should throw your calculator away. It won’t be useful. Besides, when your parents find out that you even touched a calculator, they’ll be sure to make you re gret your existence. Or worse yet, they’ll go for the far more trau matic emotional damage, which I won’t provide examples of here.

5. Marry has 17 Genshin wish es. She spends 19 of them and still fails to get a five-star character. How much money did she steal from her parents’ wallets?

(A) How the [REDACTED] does she know how to use credit cards?

(B) $0—her parents keep all their money in the bank after she stole $100 for a limited edition skin.

(C) Clearly, she didn’t know what the pity system is, or she would’ve gotten it sooner smh.

(D) Entirely too much!

Answer: No cursing! Eliminate (A). (B) is incorrect because while stealing money for useless items is implied from the fact that they play Genshin, it is not explicitly stated in the question and can be eliminated. (C) is incorrect because the pity system only increases the chances of getting one five-star character, not the featured five-star character. Chances are that Marry has wasted enough time on the game to get all but a few five-star characters, which means that the pity system won’t be helping her here! (Please note that I am by no means an expert on Genshin me chanics. If you take my word on this, you probably deserve what ever happens to you.) (D) is half right, because even though we do know that she stole a lot of mon ey, we aren’t given a definition for “too much.” The correct answer is (D/2).

6. Erica is trying to “find” her friend Ryan for unknown reasons. She has $80 of lunch money, and a choice of buying plastic knives for $12 or buying plastic forks for $1 each. Which expression represents the total number of times that Ryan will have to escape?

(A) 0—She spent all her mon ey getting scammed by the school vending machines.

(B) 1—Due to Erica’s vastly

greater “sneak” skill from being as short as everyone else (and thus, a greater ability to blend into the crowd), she will be able to sneakattack and capture him easily.

(C) 1—Due to Ryan’s vastly greater “sight” skill from having an elevated view of his environment, he will be able to spot the incom ing menace and disarm her. (D) 1(knife) + 4(fork), because a knife only has one blade whereas a fork has four prongs.

Answer: (A) seems quite real istic—it seems that Stuy students never learn from their repeated blunders at the cafeteria vending machines. Maybe they’re hoping that one day it’ll dispense two bags of chips. Sorry to burst your bubble if you’re one of these people, but it ain’t gonna happen. (B) is incorrect because it inaccurately portrays the power dynamic that exists between Ryan and Erica. While Erica does have a heightened sneak ability, it is not enough to offset Ryan’s sight bonus. (C) portrays Ryan as hav ing a strategic advantage, so keep it. (D) is incorrect because while a fork does have four prongs, those prongs are much easier to snap off than the blade of a knife. All you need to break a plastic fork is some decently solidified cafeteria food, like frozen fruit cups or pizza! At this point, only (A) and (C) are left, so we can flip a die to determine which one is correct (die not in cluded).

7. The average Stuy student’s grades can be represented using the equation y = 40 - 10g, where h is the number of hours spent cramming per night and g is the number of hours spent procrasti nating per night. How many hours should a student cram per night to get the best grades?

(A) Bro there’s not even an h in the equation?

(B) Now may I ask why the graph has a maximum of 40?

(C) What is this, the AMC 6?? This is too hard!

(D) But my average is above 40…

Answer: The question asks what value of h will yield the high est value for y. (B) is incorrect be cause the answer to that question is fairly obvious—Stuy students are too sleep-deprived to do any better. (A) and (C) are incorrect because you should not complain on the test. Otherwise, they will invalidate your score. (D) is incor rect because nobody cares about

your 105 that you got in AP Euro. This is one of the rare questions in which the answer is the question itself. Go ahead and select (7)!

8. A recent survey was con ducted among the 11th grade stu dents at Stuy, and found that 12 percent of the students were alive. Is this survey an accurate represen tation of the Stuyvesant student body?

(A) Yes, because it is common knowledge that all Stuy students are dead inside.

(B) No—the actual percentage is 100 percent, because everyone has been dead at least twice in their life: once when they were rejected by their childhood crush and once when they got into Stuy.

(C) Yes, because the Humor Department forcibly removed all of the News writers for trying to steal their spotlight, thus resulting in some juniors dying more than once.

(D) Disagree with (C), because Humor writers would never con done violence.

Answer: The correct answer is yes, so (D) can be eliminated im mediately. (A) is correct because being a freshman is easily the lead ing cause for a second death. The school is composed of about 25 percent freshmen, so 12 percent is well within that range. (B) may seem tempting after your trau matizing elementary and middle school experiences, but you have to remember that the people at Stuy are antisocial, and many of them didn’t have a childhood crush to get rejected by! (C) is also cor rect because as part of the Humor department’s never-ending quest to rule over The Spectator with an iron fist, we were forced to over throw the current government, also known as News. Watch out, Opinions—we’re coming for you next! The correct answer is (AC), or (Air Conditioning).

So, how did you do? Don’t worry if you got a low score! As you work through more and more practice problems, you will see your brain cell count steadily de crease and your brain slowly turn to mush. But that’s part of the SAT prep process, and you should embrace it! You wouldn’t want to be left as the only senior with brain cells, would you? Additional practice problems may be found at the following link: https://tinyurl. com/3c2tcprw.

Humor Members Share Their First Week of School Experiences

By THE HUMOR DEPARTMENT

“Crowds of depressed students and staff walked into the 11th floor gym on Monday, September 12 to commemo rate the passing of PupilPath. Principal Seung Yu gave a beautiful eulogy, em phasizing that ‘Even as we move on to Jupiter Ed, the PTSD in our hearts will forever remind us of PupilPath." —Fre da Dong, junior, and Shera Zhou, sophomore

“I heard a chorus of prayers echo throughout the 10 floors from the depths of the Hudson Staircase.” —Alex Zheng, junior

“So far this week, I’ve seen three fresh men crying on the floor. It is a terrible time. For them, I mean. For me, it’s great entertainment.” —Michelle Huang, sophomore

“I marched into school on the first day proudly flaunting my SpongeBob lunch box packed with Goldfish crackers. I was full of wonder as I made my way to my favorite class, Chemistry. I arrived at the classroom 20 min utes early, but rather than being greeted by the friendly face of my chemistry teacher, I walked in on none other than Principal Yu! There he was, curled up on the floor in the corner of the class room, quietly sobbing. I think he was enrolled in the class too. I slowly backed out of the room and proceeded to spend the rest of the day eating my Goldfish in the Hudson Stairwell.”

—Gabri ella Hoefner, sophomore

“In a horrific wipeout of the student population, 47 percent of all gym students fainted from the armpit stench in the locker room hallways.”

—Eshaal Ubaid, junior

“Toward the end of last period, the fresh men tried forming a conga line, but it quickly turned into a disorga nized mess as one stu dent cried ‘CHARGE!!!’ and the rest raced after their new leader. To this day, no one knows where they went.”

“Old friends meeting up, new relationships being formed, and ambitious students brav ing the day. That’s nice and all, but I person ally just wanted to go back home and sleep.”

—Christian Kim, sophomore

“I was surprised to discover that all of the school’s lockers had been merged into one, ginormous, überlocker on the fifth floor. This ingenious idea spawned, of course, from the enigmatic mind of one Principal Yu. His justification for the locker renovation was to collect mass amounts of sheet metal, which would be tortured and welded into a giant, near lifesized model of the USS Missouri, a bat tleship that saw action in WWII and the Korean War. I think he thought it would make for an absolutely popping BeReal.”

—Vincent D’Angelo, junior

—David Lin, junior

By YASHNA PATEL

Name: Alika Peker Grade: Senior

Height: 5’3”

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Date of Birth: 3/18/2005

1. When and how did you start playing tennis? How long have you been on the Lady Lobsters, the Stuyves ant varsity tennis team?

I started playing tennis when I was nine years old, and I’ve been on Stuy’s team since freshman year.

2. What inspired you to join the tennis team here at Stuyvesant?

Tennis was a huge part of my life, and since we have pre season during the summer, I hoped I could start freshman year with some friends from the team. The plan worked very well—the friend I made during tryouts is now my co-captain and best friend.

3. Do you prefer to play sin gles or doubles?

Overall, probably singles. I think all tennis players can agree that doubles is a lot more fun, since it’s less running and more teamwork/bonding with your partner. That being said, I like how you have complete control of how the game goes in singles, and it becomes much more of a mental game than physical. So doubles for having fun, singles for playing my best tennis and feeling successful.

4. Do you have a most mem orable/proud moment with the Lady Lobsters?

I remember in freshman year, when I played third sin gles, our score against another school was 2-2 and my game was the deciding match. Ev eryone on the team gathered on my court to cheer me on, and even Mr. Contreras, the principal at that time, came by to watch. It was a super close match, but I was able to focus

Kiss Her Ace

and get the win. We went to get bubble tea to celebrate our victory, and it was just a great moment in terms of having a strong, supportive community on the team.

5. What is your strategy for constantly improving your self (specific workouts, exer cises, mentality, etc.)?

I’m usually too lazy to work out, even though I know that it would greatly improve my ten nis. I have tennis practice three times a week with my coach, who mostly trains my technique and loves to tell me how slow I run. As far as mentality, the most important thing for ten nis is to keep a cool head while playing. You may have heard that tennis is the best sport for anger management. It’s true— sometimes, you just want to fling your racket after making a dumb mistake. However, I’ve

Baseball Sports, Stuyvesant Style: The Analytical Revolution

By KAEDEN RUPAREL

Advanced analytics have tak en the sports world by storm. However, sports analysis and management have not always been so data-driven. For much of sports history, scouts and gen eral managers have relied on a variety of factors to assess play ers, ranging from basic intuition and (often flawed) observation to the use of elementary statistics. In fact, many teams were often hand-crafted by managers ac cording to players they had a per sonal relationship with, a practice that continues today, albeit in less extreme fashion. Today, manag ers across all sports rely heavily on data analysis, a shift resulting from a statistical revolution in the 1980s.

Bill James, an avid baseball fan and aspiring writer, had a dream to see baseball statistics develop further than the basics on the backs of trading cards. He wanted to figure out a measure ment for the complete impact that individuals contributed to their team. James introduced sta tistics such as runs created and win shares to measure offensive contribution, runs saved and fielding efficiency for defensive contribution, and game score for pitching efficiency. In addition, his Pythagorean winning percent age created a model that many teams utilize today to measure overall success probability.

James’s work was widely ap preciated but not immediately implemented, especially in larger teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who had the money to consistently attract the most proven players available. It was not until 2002, a year that rings out with a sole meaning to baseball players, managers, and fans alike, that the analytical revo lution saw its genesis in the big leagues.

In 2002, the Oakland Athlet ics sported the third lowest pay

roll in the MLB, a troubling pre dicament for a team that placed high expectations on itself. After three star players walked in free agency, manager Billy Beane had no choice but to try his hand at a different method of team con struction. Combining the avail able but often-overlooked statis tics of on-base-percentage and slugging percentage, the Athletics created a roster entirely built off mathematical estimates and ad vanced statistics. Upon finishing first in their division, the Athlet ics forced the rest of baseball to open their eyes to the benefits that these statistics could bring.

have given contracts to players who would’ve previously been dropped, players who can really get on base consistently. Simply put, more data creates more jobs,” Stuyvesant coach Vincent Miller said, speaking about their im pacts. OPS has provided a means to differentiate flashy but incon sistent hitters from skilled hitters who dominate their at-bats, while WAR remains arguably the most crucial and summative statistic in baseball today, providing the only complete, though imperfect, pic ture of an individual’s contribu tion.

rates, leading to greater mobility in pitches. Hitters have set about perfecting their launch angles to identify which pitches they should be swinging at. This type of anal ysis has also impacted high school level players like Levine, who has been able to analyze the different outcomes of a variety of swings.

“At my best, I’m driving to center field, but when I’m pulling a lot, I tend to ground out,” Levine said. Subtle distinctions like these have allowed for improvements to the offensive games of both Levine and professional MLB players.

ity. While not as palpable or con crete as the factions that many fans have proclaimed themselves to be part of, this division is also evident between organizations. Many teams have emulated the Oakland Athletics, transforming their front office to be analyticsfocused. In contrast, other teams have rejected the idea of straying from convention and have hired advisors who publicly refute the benefits of these statistics.

The Athletics’ impact was not re stricted to the MLB, however. Be cause of Michael Lewis’s book, “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” and the follow ing film of the same title, analyt ics gained widespread popularity across the sports world, as the impact that statistics could have on an underdog team was seen everywhere.

In the years that followed, baseball saw a growing emphasis on analytics across all aspects of the game. More statistics were de veloped, many of which are still used today: on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage and walks plus hits per innings pitched were de veloped to measure batting and pitching efficiency, respectively, and an early framework for wins above replacement (WAR) was developed. “Statistics like OPS

These statistics also saw their importance to organizations sky rocket, with many establishing analytical departments. Baseball had suddenly turned into a math ematically driven league, and just about every team bought into the system. “Anyone who doesn’t use projections, barrels, and advanced stats is archaic. It’s just statistically worse not to,” Stuyvesant alum nus and former baseball captain Sam Levine said (’22).

Today, baseball continues to reap the benefits of emphasized importance on statistics, and it’s beginning to stretch even outside of the big leagues. The MLB cur rently boasts a colossal collection of statistics to address a range of different skill sets. Infield shifts, a highly effective defensive strat egy, are based on data analysis of different hitters. Pitchers in the MLB have been able to track spin

Baseball’s shift to incorporating these statistics into the elementa

ry understanding of the game has allowed for much more diverse playstyles and far more riveting games.

The impact of the emphasis the MLB placed on math was felt not only in baseball, but also across the sports world, though not as immediately. Fans of other major American sporting leagues, including the NBA, NFL, and NHL, have followed James, adapting statistics like WAR, win share, and runs created into equivalent or applicable forms. However, this initiation of ana lytics in other sports has led to divisions among fans. Neverend ing debates about the repercus sions of shifting to solely analyti cal conclusions (which was never proposed by James, Beane, or any other advocates of the statistical revolution) have risen in popular

Teams who have placed a significant emphasis on analyt ics have seen consistent success across a span of leagues, possibly hinting at an MLB-esque future for all leagues. With the sheer amount of accurate, precise sta tistics available to any organiza tion, it would be surprising to see teams continue to push for the antiquated reliance on fleet ing observations, which are satu rated with human error. Analytics provide a bias-free assessment of a player’s effectiveness and effi ciency in almost every aspect of the game. Rather than buying the false guarantee of past perfor mance, analytics offer a means to building a more successful long term strategy. Wharton statis tics professor Abraham Wyner phrases this sentiment perfectly. “You’re paying for the future, not the past,” he said. “The data available today has made it better and easier to forecast the future.”

James revolutionized baseball when he dreamed of a world that incorporated his two fascinations, baseball and mathematics, and the sport is far better off because of it. Analytics have seen baseball move away from its early conven tions to a world where consistent hitting is now coveted, and play ers can identify specific areas of improvement. The rest of the sports world is beginning to fol low suit, seeing mathematics grow from a nearly negligible part of the game into a crucial and ar guably even central element.

It was not until 2002, a year that rings out with a sole meaning to baseball players, managers, and fans alike, that the analytical revolution saw its genesis in the big leagues.

Courtesy of Alika Peker

Kiss Her Ace

gotten better at being in the zone and approaching the game logically rather than emotion ally over the years.

6. How has being captain changed your outlook on the game?

It’s an honor to be captain of the team that has become a second family to me. I find that during my last year at Stuy, I’m less focused on winning and more focused on having fun and making memories. That’s not to say I’ve stopped trying— I’m very competitive and take my first singles position very se riously—but I guess I’ve just re alized the wins and losses won’t matter at all a year from now.

7. Are there any short-term goals you’d like to accom plish in the next months go ing into season?

Other than beating every one else, the only other semi-

Girls’ Varsity Soccer

By TOMAS LEVANI

After a great run last season that saw them reach the quarter finals, the Mimbas, Stuyvesant’s girl’s soccer team, are ready to outdo themselves once again.

As the members face a major change in their team demo graphic this year, with more underclassmen (eight) than up perclassmen (seven) in their roster of 15, the Mimbas look to capitalize on their growth as a younger team and overcome possible barriers of inexperi ence and lack of team chemis try. Let’s explore how this fresh team has performed so far in the season.

The Mimbas executed a flawless season opener against Martin Luther King Jr. High School (MLK), winning the match with a staggering score line of 9-0. Despite this being the first game for many of their younger players, they faced little difficulty. Not only were they unstoppable offensively, creat ing 18 shots on goal and scoring nine, they also had phenomenal defense. Throughout the game, the Mimbas denied their oppo nents any chances, resulting in zero shots on goal from MLK. Senior co-captain Susie McK night and sophomore forward Carson Lava spearheaded the offense, with McKnight scoring two goals and assisting on four, while Lava found the back of the net four separate times.

Continuing the spirit of their first match, the Mimbas domi nated Laguardia High School in the second game of the season. With phenomenal play on both ends of the field, the Mimbas scored three times and had 18 shots on goal while conceding zero shots on defense. Accord ing to senior co-captain Sophia Wan Brodsky, “It was only the

concrete plans my co-captain and I have is to get merch for the team. We can’t decide be tween sweatpants that say “Kiss

My Ace” on the back or “Stop Looking At My (Tennis) Balls” on the front. Maybe we’ll just do both!

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

Though I’m aware that I probably won’t be a D1 player, I would love to keep playing in college. The harsh truth for any sport is that a Stuy student re ally can’t compete with some one their age who lives in Flor ida and is homeschooled and plays for three hours a day. I also haven’t played any tourna ments since before COVID, so if any college looks up my ten nis ranking, it would be a very misleading number.

9. Do you have any pre-match superstitions or rituals?

We have a team chant that my co-captain Alex Tsarenkov and I swore we would change when we were freshmen, but for some reason it’s kind of grown on us. Before any match

The Mimbas Strike Again

second game of the season, so we’re still learning how to play together. We really pulled it to gether during the second half, playing better defensively and communicating better, and I’m happy with the result.” Despite

School, the Mimbas’s defense was challenged for the first time. Throughout the first half, the Mimbas had many chances on goal but were unable to fin ish. The game was closely con tested, with the Mimbas and

go down without a fight, and the captains were not worried about the loss. Wan Brodsky remarked, “It’s only the begin ning, and eventually we’re go ing to learn how to play more strategically and connect better

we just gather in a circle as a team and scream “BALLS OF STEEL!”, definitely scaring the opposing team and anyone else who happens to be around us.

10. Do you have a specific warm-up routine? What is it?

Our team actually does not, unlike most in the Manhattan league. At my private tennis les sons, though, I try to stretch or run a few laps to warm up be fore playing.

Funniest Teammate?

Julia Chernobelsky Favorite Tennis Player?

Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal Favorite Sports Drink: Gatorade Hobbies? Watching YouTube videos, playing guitar

Motto to Live By: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” —Wayne Gretzky Fun Fact: I know the flags, capitals, and locations of 90 percent of the countries in the world.

hone the skills of the young players by leading practices ev ery day of the week. Though the season just started, the captains are already seeing improve ments in performance in their new players. Two players who

winning by such a large margin, the captains acknowledged that the team still has much room for improvement. For instance, many of the younger play ers’ limited experience in high school soccer has led to small mistakes on the pitch. Accord ing to Wan Brodsky, “[This] is a problem that will fix itself as the new players adjust.”

During their third game against Bronx Science High

the opposing team both having seven chances on goal until the closing minutes of the match. Toward the end of the game, they conceded two goals, one from a penalty and another from an unfortunate own goal due to lack of coordination be tween the players. The oppos ing team preferred to play on the wings, which the Mimbas struggled to shut down. None theless, the Mimbas did not

as a team.”

McKnight and Wan Brod sky are optimistic about the future of the team. McKnight commented, “I’ve never seen so much talent from the under classmen as I do this year.” If the Mimbas’s underclassmen can continue to compete with more skilled and experienced opponents, they can propel the team to new heights.

The captains are trying to

have made drastic improve ments during a relatively short period of time are sophomore goalie Kaika Berger and sopho more Karina Gupta. As many players had only played club soccer before this season, a few weeks of practice are bound to lead to even greater improve ments in their play and overall understanding of the game. The future is looking bright for the Mimbas.

Courtesy of Alika Peker

Courtesy of the Girls Soccer Team

Baseball

The Effort to Revitalize America’s Pastime

By MAYA BROSNICK

Anyone who has been pay ing attention to Major League Baseball (MLB) over the last few years would have noticed that the game is slowing down. The aver age length of a game was three hours, 10 minutes, and seven sec onds in 2021, a new record. For comparison, the average length in 2012 was two hours and 55 minutes, and in 1972, it was two hours and 27 minutes. The lon ger game times are the culmina tion of a variety of factors. One reason is that many players have turned into “all or nothing” hit ters: they either strike out or hit a home run, both of which take longer than outs on balls put in play. Another factor is the length of time between pitches, which has also gotten longer through the years.

Overall, the slower paced games have caused many young er viewers to lose or never gain an interest in baseball. Starting in the last couple decades, baseball has become a game of statistics and information. Viewers now see front offices competing to outthink each other rather than players just, well, playing. Over

Soccer

By JOHAN WIELAARD

The Champions League is back for the 2022-2023 sea son, and what better way to get started than with some predic tions? If we’ve learned anything from the first two matchdays, it’s that this year’s trophy is up for grabs. Though some teams such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have a con siderable advantage over others, the Champions League is about more than numbers and charts, as evidenced by Real Madrid’s historic run to victory last sea son. The ever-changing situa tions of teams across the Cham pions League have produced stunning results that will make this wild season more entertain ing than ever.

Let’s begin with Group A, which includes Liverpool, Ajax, Rangers, and Napoli. It is a truly historic group, with its constitu ents having won 10 Champions League titles between them. Liv erpool suffered a shocking 4-1

13 minutes of dead time have been added to the game since 2011, and because pitchers are always going for the strikeout, there are, on average, 14 more pitches thrown per game. Play ers have become chess pieces for front offices to move around. Catchers, fielders, and pitchers all have cards in their pockets telling them exactly where to be and what to do in any scenario. Now that baseball has become a game of analytics, it has become significantly less entertaining to watch.

The MLB did not do anything to combat that disinterest until a few weeks ago. Rule changes are made at least every few years in baseball, but the ones recently approved for the 2023 season have been making waves. In the last few seasons, MLB has been testing rule changes like banning the defensive infield shift and imposing pitch clocks in the mi nor leagues, and they have been successful enough in speeding up play and fostering more ingame action that these rules will be implemented at the major league level next year.

The first new rule is the ad dition of a 30-second timer be tween batters, a 15-second timer

between pitches with the bases empty, and a 20-second timer between pitches with runners on base. If a pitcher does not throw his next pitch within that time, then the batter gets an au tomatic ball. If the batter is not ready by the time eight seconds are left on the clock, then he gets an automatic strike. Throws by the pitcher in an attempt to pick off the runner will also be limited. This rule is most likely not going to be very difficult for players to get used to. How it will probably play out is evident in the transition to timed serves in tennis. When serve clocks were first used, players sometimes re ceived faults for being too slow, but after a few months or years, no one even had to think about the clock. It was just part of their rhythm and of a now more streamlined game. There are go ing to be a few automatic balls and strikes next year, but by the end of the season, those should be few and far between.

Another new rule will ef fectively ban infield shifts. The traditional alignment of defense has three players in the outfield and four on the infield, with two on each side of second base. Prior to the mid-2000s, shifts

were a rarity, but from then, their use has exploded. A typical shift puts three, or sometimes even all four, infielders on the same side of the field, taking away most batters’ ability to hit to their stronger side. Other shifts may have five infielders or four out fielders. As the game is played now, over a third of batters are shifted against because it has proved very effective in help ing teams get batters out. The problem with the shift, though, is that it reduces offense and makes the game much less excit ing to viewers. The new rule will require two players on each side of second base and therefore a minimum of four infielders.

The goal is to allow infielders to make more athletic plays and for batters to get more hits. Though the new rule will make full shifts illegal, fielders will still be able to play right next to second base to have a better chance to stop balls from being hit up the middle.

All of these rule changes are designed with the goal of making baseball faster paced and more exciting. Another, perhaps more minor, rule change will make it so that the bases are enlarged from 15 to 18 inches squared. This modification will help with

The Champions League Returns

defeat to Napoli on Matchday 1, but were able to recover against Ajax at home on Matchday 2. Liverpool simply have too much experience as a team to falter at this stage—head coach Jür gen Klopp has maintained many key pieces from his 2019 Champions League winning squad, and they should be enough to help Liverpool win the group. Though Ajax experienced a transfer window in which they lost their man ager and five key starters, their new coach Alfred Schreuder has seem ingly revamped the team and got them back up to speed, beating Rang ers 4-0 in Amsterdam on Matchday 1. Napoli also lost a significant player over the summer, center back Kalidou Koulibaly, but seem as if they’re still in contention for second place in the group. Ultimate ly, it looks like Ajax will edge

them out for second place, and advance to the knockout stage along with Liverpool.

Group B consists of lesser known teams: Porto, Atletico

ge. Though Club Brugge are without winger Noa Lang, they will likely make it out of the group in first place, building on their very solid start— two wins across two games. Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are in the running for second place, but Leverku sen forward Patrik Schick has contin ued to impress in the Bundesliga this season after his re cord 21-22 season.

He is all that sepa rates the two clubs, likely sending Bayer Leverkusen through and concluding an other disappointing campaign for Atletico manager Diego Sime

Group C, nick named the “Group of Death,” features Bayern München, Barcelona, Inter Mi

Soccer World Cup Preview Part One

are looking stronger than ever heading into the tournament.

safety by increasing the distance between the fielder and the run ner, making it less likely that one will step on the other’s foot, an incident that has caused a num ber of injuries. This change will also make it slightly easier to steal bases, again making things more exciting.

A counterpoint and potential cause for concern is the fact that members of the Players Asso ciation included in the commit tee to discuss changing the rules unanimously voted against the changes. As they only held four seats out of 11, however, the new rules were instituted any way. In their statement, the Play ers Association clarified that the players were not so much against the proposed rule changes, and instead voted against them be cause “Major League Baseball was unwilling to meaningfully address [their] areas of con cern.” While we cannot know how the rule changes will play out in MLB, they have achieved positive results in the minor leagues. The rules will always be ever-evolving, but these changes seem to be positive, and I, for one, am looking forward to fast er and more exciting games next season.

lan, and Viktoria Plzen. Bayern had an incredible transfer win dow, bringing in new talents such as centre back Matthijs de Ligt, forward Sadio Mané, mid fielder Ryan Gravenberch, and forward Mathys Tel to strength en all areas of the pitch. They consequently got off to a flying start in the group, beating both Barcelona and Inter Milan 2-0. Barcelona will be disappointed to have lost in München, having dominated the first half of that game and having added former Bayern forward and talisman Robert Lewandowski along with several other new signings dur ing this past transfer window. However, they can be expected to recover and handily beat In ter Milan to second place in the Group of Death.

Group D features a bit of history mixed in with recent success. Eintracht Frankfurt, the Europa league champions, face off against Tottenham Hotspur,

team can step up when it’s needed most, Lewandowski’s side could shock its opponents in Group C.

Saudi Arabia (Wild Card) — Saudi Arabia will face a Messiinspired Argentina and Lewan dowski-led Poland in Group C, hoping to cause an upset against some of the best.

Group D: France (Favorites) — The winners of the last World Cup

After bouncing back from a dis appointing Euro exit with a Na tions League trophy, the French squad will be spearheaded by star forwards Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema, with a powerful lineup behind them to support.

The emergence of young talents like Aurélien Tchouaméni has bolstered the team over the past few months, making France one of the biggest challengers for the title this year.

Denmark (Challengers) — Denmark can be seen as the Group D challengers and face reigning world champion France. Captain Kasper Schmeichel’s side is definitely up to the task after a solid performance at the latest Euro 2020 tournament, where Denmark narrowly lost to a very strong England team in the semi finals.

Tunisia (Underdogs) — The Tunisian squad finds itself in a tricky situation with France and Denmark to contend with.

If talents like Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri can perform on the big stage, then coach Jalel Kadri’s side could stun the Group D favorites.

Australia (Wild Card) — Australia finds itself in the same group as France and Denmark for a second consecutive World Cup.

After a poor showing against its tough opponents at the 2018 tournament, the team could prove to be the deciding factor in whether the World Cup curse strikes France in this year’s con

test. The curse became prominent in the 2000s, when the defending champions failed to make it out of the group stages in the 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018 tourna ments.

The first four groups already look thrilling, with electrifying matchups such as England vs. USA and France vs. Denmark. Stay tuned for the second part of the World Cup preview to visit Groups E, F, G, and H, and see what’s in store there!

Emily Lu / The Spectator

Sporting Lisbon, and Mar seille. Frankfurt’s good form in Europe from last season has not quite carried over into this season, with key winger Filip Kostić departing for Juventus this summer. Tottenham had a very good transfer window, ac quiring players such as winger Ivan Perišić and striker Richarli son, and under-decorated Italian manager Antonio Conte, they are expected to top this group. Marseille simply do not have the talent to compete, whereas Sporting Lisbon managed to retain some key players over the summer and have made a strong start to this year’s campaign; they will likely finish second.

Group E sees Chelsea bat tling with AC Milan, RB Salz burg, and Dinamo Zagreb for knockout places. Chelsea’s new, enthusiastic American owner, Todd Boehly, spent big over the summer, but lost the faith of fans by prematurely sacking head coach Thomas Tuchel only eight games into this season. However, Chelsea’s new sign ings have enough quality to take them through to the next round. RB Salzburg managed to retainkey striker Benjamin Šeško, but lack the talent in other areas of the pitch to compete with de fending Serie A champions AC Milan. Winger Rafael Leão and goalkeeper Mike Maignan will

The Champions League Returns

be key in securing knockout matches for AC Milan.

Group F features the hold ers, Real Madrid, battling Celtic, Leipzig, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Real Madrid is the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to win every game this season,

this last transfer window. So far, he has looked like the answer to all of manager Pep Guardiola’s problems, scoring 14 times in 10 matches since his arrival. Dort mund made a few signings to re place Haaland, namely forward Karim Adeyemi, striker Sebas

some improvements to their squad, but head coach Allegri has shown that he is simply not up to the task. A feisty Benfica side will secure second place ahead of Juventus, and PSG will take the top spot in Group H. Though we don’t know how

land, Kevin De Bruyne, and Phil Foden. Pep Guardiola will be more determined to win the Champions League than any other trophy, as it is the major one missing from his Manches ter City resumé. PSG—yes, PSG—will crash out at this stage as well. Mbappé, Messi, and Neymar may be the dead liest attack in Europe, but PSG simply does not have the history or experience to triumph in this year’s Champions League. They have never won a Champions League before, and as evidenced by their decision to give Kylian Mbappé a ridiculous amount of power, are still a relatively small club, far from a European pow erhouse.

and look to be picking up right where they left off last season. They are likely to win this group comfortably. Though Leipzig had a shaky start to this year’s campaign, new forward Timo Werner partnered with midfield er and rising-star Christopher Nkunku should be enough to secure them second place in this group.

Group G has been dubbed the “Erling Haaland Group,” consisting of Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, and Copenhagen. Named for new City forward Erling Haa land, one of Europe’s rising stars who famously moved from Dortmund to Manchester City

tien Haller, centre back Nik las Süle, and centre back Nico Schlotterbeck. Manchester City will win this group, with Dort mund joining them in the last 16.

Group H is a battleground for historic and new-age clubs alike, with Paris Saint-Germain taking on Juventus, Benfica, and Haifa. Forward Kylian Mbappé’s shock decision to stay in Paris last summer has greatly bol stered PSG’s chances for this year’s Champions League. The Parisians have gotten unlucky in the past, but under new coach Christophe Galtier, they look more organized and determined to win this year. Juventus made

the bracket will look yet for the knockout phase, we can still hy pothesize the potential top four, top two, and winner. PSG’s im mensely talented squad is likely to bring them to the semi-finals, where they will be joined by Bayern München, Manchester City, and Real Madrid. Madrid winger Vinicius Jr. is looking to build on a very impressive 21/22 campaign and come back even better for this year’s Champions League. That being said, they will be the weakest team among the top four, and will likely end up crashing out at this stage. Manchester City will reach their second final in three years with the help of Erling Haa

Bayern’s experience and grit is going to take them to the fi nal. The German record cham pions have won the Champions League six times, most recently in 2020, defeating PSG 1-0 in the final. Once you’ve learned how to win, winning becomes a part of you; you develop in tangibles that simply give you the necessary tools to succeed in semi-finals and finals. Win ning is certainly a part of Bay ern München’s DNA, but not so much a part of Manches ter City’s, who have won zero Champions League titles. Bay ern’s squad has the perfect mix of experience, history, and tal ent, making them our favorites to take home the age-old Euro pean Cup from Istanbul in 2023.

An Unexpected Twist In The Tale For Chelsea

By VEDANT KOTHARI and WILLIAM TSE

Chelsea Football Club, one of the most prestigious clubs in Eng lish history, has sacked manager Thomas Tuchel following their defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. Tuchel etched his name into the club’s history af ter leading them to every possible tournament final and winning the Champions League and the Club World Cup all in the span of two years. After the club spent nearly $300 million in the previous trans fer window with dismal results, fans thought that he surely needed time. However, as we have seen multiple times in the past, Chelsea are ruthless as soon as their per formances go against their liking.

American owner Todd Boehly signed former Brighton manager Graham Potter on a five-year con tract as a replacement. With a new manager under Chelsea’s belt, fans and pundits are stuck pondering the same question: how will he fare at Chelsea?

Though Boehly made a rash decision signing Potter, it is not to say that the club didn’t care fully consider their options. This decision contrasts those made by former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who preferred sign ing the experienced coaches who formerly managed other big name teams, such as Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, and Antonio Con te. Potter is a man who deserves immense credit for the job he has done with the players at Brighton Hove and Albion, as they are in a Champions League position seven

games in, and Boehly’s trust in him shows, with a yearly salary of almost $12 million. Potter has proven to be a successful manager in the Premier League, but he is inexperienced when it comes to the Champions League.

With all respect to Brighton, managing a team like Chelsea is a completely different ball game. For starters, the fan base is more reactionary and there is a lot more added pressure to the job. In addi tion, Chelsea has less time to pre pare for games as they compete in the Champions League, meaning the team plays three games a week. Lastly, and most obviously, Potter

a center back (CB) trio of Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, and Joel Veltman, who all fit the system ex tremely well. Luckily, for Chelsea, squad depth at CB is more than enough. Wesley Fofana, who was signed from Leicester earlier this summer, can fit in anywhere in the back three along with Kalidou Koulibaly and Thiago Silva, the latter who seems to get better with age. Trevoh Chalobah and César Azpilicueta are good options as well, with Chalobah being able to play at either right-center back (RCB) or left-center back (LCB) and Azpilicueta being able to play the RCB role as well as right wing

LCB or left wingback (LWB), so the left-hand side of the pitch is essentially his area.

Potter is also known for select ing goalkeepers who are good with their feet and hands, which is very interesting because at Chelsea, it’s fair to say that the quality of goalkeeping isn’t ideal at the mo ment. Edouard Mendy, who had a fantastic 2021 season at Chelsea and led Senegal to the AFCON Championship last year, has been criticized for multiple below-par performances this season. Some argue this might be the perfect time for 2018 transfer bust Kepa Arrizabalaga, holder of the most

comparison between Trossard and English forward Raheem Sterling, who has been deployed in the at tacking LWB position at Chelsea. During the midweek Champions League match against Salzburg, Sterling was utilized in a differ ent way than under Tuchel. He received much more of the ball, and his primary goal was to take on defenders and create patterns of play in and around the box to create dangerous positions. In the end, his goal brought the team into the lead, and the signs were optimistic in terms of Sterling’s future performances under Potter.

At the end of Tuchel’s tenure, English starlet Mason Mount was dropped. For some fans, this came as a shock, but many knew that Mount’s performances have been substandard since last season. In the game against Salzburg, Mount started in the No. 8 position, cen ter midfield, where he played well on both ends of the pitch making five tackles, three interceptions, and winning five ground duels. In Potter’s system, we may see more of Mount in the midfield rather than in the front lines.

is working with some of the best players in the world at Chelsea. Each player has their own mind set in terms of their willingness to start week-in-week-out, and cer tain players will be looking to head out of the club should their gametime requests not be fulfilled.

One of the main decisions Potter has to make that Chelsea fans are eager to know is his plan for the team’s formation and start ing lineup. At Brighton, he utilized

back (RWB) when needed.

At Brighton, Potter utilized a player that was unknown by the people when he first joined Brigh ton, but by the time he left, every one in the league knew his name: Marc Cucurella. In fact, Chelsea was the club who bought him earlier this year, so Potter’s sign ing is a rekindling of their previ ous relationship. What comes as a positive is that in Potter’s system, Cucurella is able to adapt to either

expensive transfer fee for a goalie, to be given a chance between the sticks.

Switching views to a more attacking standpoint, Potter is known to utilize his wingers as al most a wingback. Brighton player Leandro Trossard was used as an attacking LWB, where he took on fullbacks from the opposing team and made darting runs into the box. From his first game in charge for Chelsea, we can create a direct

With these modifications, the signs look encouraging for Potter so far, but the work is far from over. After all, it is just one game with almost three quarters of the season left for this Chelsea team to get accustomed to his tactics and instructions. Chelsea staff and fans must trust Potter, as his tactics have the potential to form a Champions League-worthy team. If all goes well, another top four finish could be in the cards.

With a new manager under Chelsea’s belt, fans and pundits are stuck pondering the same question: how will he fare at Chelsea?

Winning is certainly a part of Bayern München’s DNA, but not so much a part of Manchester City’s, who have won zero Champions League titles.

Spec Sports’ Super Bowl Predictions

By THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT

“The Buffalo Bills are finally approaching the promised land. After losing the most intense playoff game of last season to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills have already shown dominance in their week one victory against the defending cham pion Rams. Powered by Josh Allen’s rushing and passing, the Bills feature one of the league’s strongest offenses. Though they will likely have to face the Chiefs again in the AFC finals, the Chiefs have since lost key pieces including Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu. With this weakness in the AFC and the early defeat of former first seed Titans to the up-and-coming New York Giants, it is easy to imagine the Bills taking it all the way to this year’s big game and defeating whatever the NFC has to offer this year.” —Khush Wadhwa, sophomore

“I’m not a big football fan, so I decided to search up the standings for this one. I think the New York Giants will finally do it this year, after seeing that they’re currently 2-0 and are first place in their division. A strong start is essential for any football team, and a 2-0 start is certainly encouraging for any team. Using math, they have a 100 percent winning record, which means they’re on pace to go 17-0. This is definitely their year. Go Giants!” —John Jay Wang, sophomore

“Jimmy Garoppolo is taking the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl this year. Amid quarterback drama, the legend Jimmy G is back, and the 49ers’s odds to get to the Super Bowl have increased. Because of their success last year with a very similar roster, there’s no question that they can run it back. With George Kittle return ing and the Niners back in rou tine, they can build off their NFC Championship playoff run last year to go all the way. Jimmy is in the perfect position to be a hero to San Francisco and bring home a ring.”

—Ava Quarles, junior

“I think this is finally going to be the year Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens crack through and win a chip. Injuries after injuries have held back their roster from what seemed like a promising season last year. When Jackson and company are healthy, they’re a deadly matchup for anyone in the league. This is going to be the best version of Lamar we’ve ever seen—let’s hope the supporting cast can surround him with enough talent to win it all.” —Taee Chi, senior

“I’m gonna take a shot in the dark, and go with the Philadelphia Eagles. They looked pretty unstoppable in their first two games. It’s starting to seem as though Jalen Hurts finally understands that this is his team to lead, and has stepped into that role beautifully. With the offseason trade acquiring superstar receiver AJ Brown to stretch the field, a lot of passing stress has been lifted off Hurts and Heisman winner Devonta Smith. Their 2-0 start is not credited only to their pass game, but their dual threat offense. With one of the top offensive lines, the running game in Philly should be lethal with the likes of Hurts and running back Miles Sanders. Their defense, led by corner back Darius Slay, does not seem to disappoint, coming off a huge game against the Minnesota Vikings in which they showed off their ballhawk side. The only concern about this team should be whether or not Jalen Hurts can perform in the postseason coming off a huge loss to the Bucs in the 2021 NFC Wildcard round, but with such a start to the season, I don’t see a team that can contain this offense at its peak.” —Efe Kilic, senior

Thank You, Serena

continued from page 32

resulted in an impressive swing ing volley by Serena Williams, bringing her to a lead of 5-2 and one game away from winning the match. Finally, a winner off Kon taveit’s serve concluded the upset, leaving the stadium the loudest it had been all night.

During the post-match inter view, Serena Williams was asked about her success by a US Open reporter. “I’m a pretty good play er,” Serena Williams said. “This is what I do best. I love a challenge. I love rising up to a lenge.” When asked if she was surprised about her suc cess, she sim ply replied. “I’m just Serena,” she said. After eliminating the number two seed in the tournament, it seemed as if the six-time US Open winner had a chance of making a deep run in her farewell tournament.

Her next match was against Ajla Tomljanović, who was ranked 46th in the world. Ser ena Williams took an early lead but struggled to close out the set, leading to Tomljanović winning four games in a row to win the set. Serena Williams did not go down without a fight and responded by claiming the second set in a tiebreak. How ever, the third set had little to write, as Tomljanović domi nated to take a 5-1 lead.

With Tomljanović

ing for the match, she closed out her victory in the 15-minute final game. The grueling match, which clocked in at just over three hours long, ended with scores of 7-5, 6-7, and 6-1. Serena Williams’s final match became ESPN’s most viewed tennis match in its his tory of broadcasting tennis, with 4.8 million viewers. This recordshattering number alone shows the impact Serena Williams has on

tinue to inspire countless tennis fans and players, and her final US Open run was a prime example of her incomparable influence.

Świątek, the first-ranked 21-yearold widely regarded as the future of women’s tennis, says that she is still starstruck by Serena Williams.

“When I look at her, I suddenly kind of forget that I’m here as the world number one. I see [Serena Williams], and it’s, ‘Wow, Serena,’

to thrive in a sport historically dominated by white people. Eigh teen-year-old Coco Gauff, who re cently rose to stardom this year as the world number one in women’s doubles and number eight in sin gles, was also inspired by Serena Williams. She credits Serena Wil liams for her success and for al lowing her to realize that it is pos sible for a Black woman to make a name for herself in the sport

nis, 24-year-old Frances Tiafoe, who became the first AfricanAmerican semifinalist in the US Open since 1972, noted the im pact that Serena Williams has had on not only himself, but also the Black community. “You’re in Black neighborhoods and Black culture, every time I say I’m play ing tennis, they’re like, ‘Oh, you do that Venus and Serena thing,’” Tiafoe said. “I had a similar come-up, and Serena Wil liams and Venus Williams are always going to be ma jor GOATs to me.” He even went as far as to say that “Serena Williams and Venus Williams [are] why Frances Tiafoe is even a name.”

Serena Williams finished her career with a total of 23 Grand Slam titles, the most in men’s and women’s history. Although a final US Open victory would have made for a storybook ending, this con clusion is certainly not far from one. Her comeback to tennis at 40 years of age after an injury has been a true showcase of her hard work, perseverance, and passion, and her final US Open run has capped off one of the best careers in sports history. She has inspired tennis players, fans, and the public alike to believe in their dreams and strive to be come the best version of them selves on and off the court. The impact she has had on the game of tennis will never be forgot ten, and she’ll always be remem bered as the GOAT.

Thank you, Serena Wil

JuliaShen/The Spectator

Yile Tong / The Spectator

THESPECTATORSPORTS

Thank You, Serena

By JOHN JAY WANG

Twenty-three Grand Slam singles titles, 16 doubles titles, and four Olympic gold medals. The undisputed GOAT of women’s tennis finished her dominant ca reer with an astonishing total of 98 titles in both singles and dou bles.

After a devastating ankle in jury in the first round of 2021’s Wimbledon, Serena Williams was forced to forfeit her match. Many fans questioned the future of the then 39-year-old’s profes sional career. Nonetheless, after a year-long break nursing her torn hamstring, Serena Williams finally made her return to professional tennis in 2022. A shaky return match in Wimbledon resulted in a first-round exit, and it became evident that the time away from tennis, coupled with her age, was greatly impacting her movement and shots. Fans figured that it wouldn’t be long until she an nounced her retirement.

Serena Williams announced her “farewell” to tennis in a Vogue magazine article titled “Serena Williams Says Farewell to Tennis

Tennis Soccer

On Her Own Terms—And In Her Own Words” on August 9. Citing her desire to focus on her family and grow her investment company, Serena Williams was ready to “evolve” away from ten nis. The news was immediately fol lowed by a flood of support and love for Serena Williams, along with excitement for the upcoming US Open, her last tournament.

Fans rushed to buy tickets for the matches in an attempt to catch the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s pos sible final match in person.

With a sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium and a record-breaking opening day, 1.7 million viewers on ESPN were ready to watch Serena Williams in action for the last time. She was slated to face 27-year-old Danka Kovinić, who had been struggling ever since her loss at Roland-Garros to the world’s number one, Iga Świątek.

Though Serena Williams’s serve appeared to be shaky in the first set, she started with an early break and a 2-0 lead. How ever, Kovinić responded with two breaks of her own, snatching the lead back. Down 3-2, advantage Kovinić, Serena Williams hit a

backhand return that nicked the outside corner of the court and left Kovinić and the crowd in ab solute disbelief. The shot turned the tide of the match, and Serena Williams proceeded to win the next three games, claiming the set 6-3.

The second set was no dif ferent. Serena Williams, with her electric serves and best court cov erage and movement since return ing to tennis, defeated Kovinić in straight sets, both ending in scores of 6-3.

Immediately after the match, a tribute video narrated by Oprah Winfrey played, followed by a stadium-wide acclamation, hold ing up different colored cards that spelled out “We Love Serena.” However, this game wasn’t the end of Serena Williams’s US Open, as she was now slated to play a much tougher match against the number two seed, Anett Kontaveit, in the second round. The upset seemed unlikely, but possible.

In front of another sold-out crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Serena Williams and Kontaveit were neck-and-neck for the en tirety of the first set, leading up to a tiebreak. Serena Williams pulled

World Cup Preview Part One

By SOHAM MUKHERJEE

The 2022 World Cup is just two months away, and the excite ment has already started! Since France won the 2018 World Cup, all the squads have gone through major changes, and it will be in teresting to see which team brings the title home at Qatar. This tournament is likely to be the last World Cup for legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, yet it will be the first for promising young talents like Darwin Núñez, Pedri, and Phil Foden. The brack ets for the group stages have been drawn, and there is a lot to unravel before the first match on November 20.

Group A: Netherlands (Favorites) The favorites for this group are none other than the Netherlands. Big names like Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay, and Fren kie de Jong make the Dutch team a force to be reckoned with. Despite having poor luck in past interna tional competitions, this promising squad will aim to make a deep run in this year’s edition.

Senegal (Chal lengers) rent champion of the African Cup of Nations is expected to make it through the group stages and could put up a fight for the title. Forward Sadio Mane and defender Kalidou Koulibaly are only two of the talented players in the Senegalese team, which will surely leave its mark on the tournament.

Ecuador (Under dogs) — Ecuador plays the opening day match of this year’s tournament against the host, Qatar, and could

away with a two-point lead, and she followed it with an ace and a fist pump that left the crowd ec static, claiming the tiebreak 7-4. Kontaveit responded by domi nating a quick second set with her serves and winners. With the match on the line, the third set

started with Serena Williams get ting an early break, thanks to two strong returns prompting errors from Kontaveit. A crucial point at 4-2, advantage Serena Williams, continued on page 31

CALENDAR 3 OCTOBER

MONDAY

Girls’ Varsity Volleyball vs A. Phillip Randolph Campus High School

Fiorello LaGuardia Gymnasium

4

TUESDAY

make it through the group stages provided the team performs well against its tough opponents.

Qatar (Wild Card) — Un derestimating Qatar might turn out to be a big mistake for any one brave enough to do so. Though the host country is one of the lowest FIFA-ranked na tions in the World Cup, playing on your home soil fuels a whole new breed of motivation. Based on Russia’s deep run as the host country in the 2018 edition and their narrow exit to Croatia on penalties in the quarterfinals, Qa tar could follow this example to be the tournament’s biggest wild card.

Group B: England (Favorites)

Chants of “Football’s Coming Home” still echo through the streets of England. The fifth FI FA-ranked team in the world will want to come back from its loss in the Euro 2020 final with a second World Cup to its name. After Euro 2020 cham pion Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup, Eng land is one of the favorites to domi nate and potentially win the tournament, but first, they must deal with their tough opponents in the USA (Challengers)

— The USA has partici pated in every World Cup from 1990 to 2014, yet it has never made it to the fi nals. The team also failed to qualify for the 2018 competition, much to the disappointment of American fans.

However, it could all change this time around.

The squad, led by Christian Pu

lisic, has shown promising signs recently, and with a CONCACAF Gold Cup win last year, the team could bring the country to its first World Cup title.

Wales (Underdogs) — Wales has a very well-rounded and es tablished team with superstar captain Gareth Bale, experienced midfielder Aaron Ramsey, and promising youngster Neco Wil liams. The recent controversies surrounding manager Ryan Giggs are no reason to underestimate Wales heading into the contest.

Iran (Wild Card) — Iran is another one of the Asian power houses in this year’s tournament, and the team will be aiming to put up a strong fight in its group. Af ter topping the World Cup Quali fiers Group A over the likes of South Korea, Iran’s recent form will make circumstances interest ing in this group.

Group C: Argentina (Favorites) — Messi. The one and only name that every Argentinian is think ing of ahead of the competition. After winning his first major in ternational trophy at 2021 Copa America, the PSG superstar is in fiery form as he looks to add the greatest prestige in soccer to his name. Backed by an incred ible team, including the likes of forwards Lautaro Martínez and Ángel Di María, this Argentin ian side is aiming to conquer the world.

Mexico (Challengers)

—

The Mexican team finds itself in a difficult group with Poland and Argentina but will surely put up a fight and is expected to make it through the group stages, unless the underdogs can surprise them.

Poland (Underdogs) — Pro lific striker and Poland’s captain Robert Lewandowski needs no introduction after his sensational form for Bayern Munich and now FC Barcelona. Provided Poland’s

Girls’ Varsity Swimming vs. Hunter College High School Stuyvesant High School Pool 4:30 p.mTUESDAY

5:30 p.m.

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Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country Bronx / Manhattan Soph-Frosh Borough Championship Van Cortlandt Park 4:00 p.m

12

WEDNESDAY

Boys’ Varsity Badminton vs. Brooklyn Technical High School Stuyvesant High School Gymnasium 5:00 p.m

15

SATURDAY

Boys’ Varsity Football vs. William C. Bryant High School Flushing Memorial Field 12:00 p.m

WEDNESDAY

Boys’ Varsity Bowling vs. Hunter College High School Bowl 360 Astoria 4:00 p.m

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THURSDAY

Girls’ Varsity Golf vs. Hunter College High School Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course 4:00 p.m

SPORTSBEAT

The New York Giants lead off their NFL season with two wins, their best start in six years.

Spanish tennis protege Carlos Alcaraz defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud in the U.S. Open finals, with Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev suffering early defeats in the Round of 16.

With 61 home runs, New York Yankees legend Aaron Judge ties the A.L. home run record as the MLB season comes to a close.

President Biden continues to negotiate with the Russian government regarding the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner

The Las Vegas Aces defeat the Connecticut Sun to win the WNBA title, their first title win in franchise history.

Chelsea Football Club sack decorated manager Thomas Tuchel after disappointing losses to Southampton, Leeds United, and Dinamo Zagreb. He has been replaced by former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter