Volume 109, Issue 4

The Spooktator October 31, 2018

Volume 109 No. 4

SPOOKYBEAT Jane Rhee is EDing to the same college as you.

Damesek is back.

DeBlasio’s new plan to diver-

sify SHSAT schools, which includes an interview component, will go into effect next October.

The number of white people at Stuy is expected to rise to 73 percent.

le-cell anemia next semester.

Following the reveal of The Spectator’s plans to sell ARISTAbranded stoles at graduation for $1, ARISTA membership drops to 4.

Marijuana

use has been legalized in the theater for Beaux Watwood only.

STC’s spring play scheduled for February 29.

Four female ghostbusters?

The feminists are taking over!

Mr. Moran is behind you.

Boo!gram proceeds go to funding a new phone collection box for Wisotsky. teachers

the white curve.

abolish

Principal Eric Contreras resigns again.

By Yasmine Chokrane It’s that time of year again— houses are guarded by poorly made jack-o’-lanterns, “This is Halloween” is playing on everyone’s Spotify playlist, and fake cobwebs and plastic skeletons adorn suburban homes. The moment the clock hits 12:00 a.m. on October 1, a frenzy overtakes the general population and we’re filled with an urge to watch “Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the hundredth time, eat candy corn until our stomach turns inside-out, and read some Stephen King novels. Why? Because it’s Halloween, damnit!

This holiday has become a staple of Western culture. But contrary to popular belief, its origins don’t lie in commercialization and overindulgence (though that’s very much what it has become), but rather the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated over 2,000 years ago and on November 1.

For the Celts, who lived in

stuyspec.com

Putting Christ Back Into Halloween

By Oliver Stewart

We’re quickly approaching Halloween: the kids are wasting their hard-earned life savings of $6.53 on plastic vampire fangs which will give them lead poisoning, pumpkins are appearing in supermarkets, it’s starting to smell like fall, and Satan and his henchmen are preparing to devour the souls of all sinners who follow the pagan custom of “tricky treating.” You might be shocked at that last one because, on the surface, Halloween seems like a lordly holiday with good intentions. However, when you look a little deeper, most parts of the Halloween tradition can be traced back to sinful pagan origins.

For one, candy is sinful and should always be avoided at all costs by conscientious Christians. It’s a little-known fact that sugar is imbued with the spirit of Lucifer himself, and any child who consumes it will become possessed by Mephistopheles. In particular, Snickers candy bars are full of evil spirits that will jump into the innocent child who eats them. Research by Christian Science Today shows that there are approximately 2.3 evil spirits per gram of chocolate in a Snickers bar, which is further proof that the food industry has fallen to the devil. These newfangled, needle-waving healthdoctors also have an outlandish theory about “obesity,” but the real reason to keep your children away from candy at all costs is to stop them from being indoctrinated into occult practices, like human sacrifice or eating meat on Fridays.

We asked Joseph Redbone, a self-described hip youth pastor, what he thought about candy and its effects on Christian children, and he was unequivocal: “Not rad, dude. All this, like, chocolate, is full of ghosts that

Mandy Mai / The Spectator

Big Sibs announce they are only accepting double-jointed green-eyed gingers with sick-

Mandarin

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

people are unaware of, bro, separating us from Jesus. Also, if you say the Korean word for candy in an obnoxious American accent, it sounds like Satan. Amen, y’know? Praise the Lord. We should all avoid Halloween and have a rad prayer circle with Jesus-themed EDM instead.”

We at The Spectator believe that you should give out Biblical verses printed on pictures of saints to try and help all the wicked children out tricky treating repent to their grievous sins.

Along with the candy itself, tricky treating as a concept is wholly unlordly. One should not ask one’s neighbors for anything, but rather ask the Lord for assistance in trying times, so asking everyone around you for a satanic drug like sugar is a surefire way to end up in H-E-double hockey sticks. Other aspects of Halloween are deeply occult as well; for example, a Ms. Mary Lou Jenkins reached out to us asking for an interview and shed some insight on the issue of pumpkins. Ms. Jenkins, who spends her spare time throwing stones at children from the window of her

first-floor apartment and engaging in staring contests with her seven cats, stated, “Pumpkins are the devil’s favorite vegetable.

He came to me in a dream once and told me so. Praise the Lord!

He eats them in pies, in salads, in anything he can, really. If you touch a pumpkin, he’ll eat your soul and you won’t even notice.

Amen.” We did some independent research to back up her claims, and though Lucifer declined to comment, we felt very possessed after touching pumpkins. For this reason, it is imperative that you avoid pumpkins this Halloween and focus on more holy orange fruits, like clementines or nectarines.

Though it is an evil, pagan holiday, your children will probably want to participate in all the “fun” that the other devilworshipping children seem to be having. As such, we’ve compiled a list of ways that your children can have a holy blast this October without the occult influences of Halloween. For one, we Christians should rename the holiday altogether to make it a better influence on our poor children.

A Haunting History

what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, the day marked the end of harvest and the dread that came with the start of winter— which was largely associated with death. The night before, October 31, was believed to be the day where the line between the living and dead blurred, and restless ghosts would return and wreak havoc. Their presence was also believed by the Celts to grant Celtic priests and Druids—whose predictions served vital to the Celts—greater foresight into the future, as they provided a source of comfort during the desolate winter.

To celebrate Samhain, Druids would construct massive bonfires, where Celts would sacrifice crops and animals to pay tribute to Celtic deities and dress up in costumes, in which they would attempt to predict each other’s futures. Their costumes were typically animal skins, and the hope was that they’d be able to ward off malicious spirits and be unrecognizable as human.

By 43 AD, however, the Roman Empire had managed to conquer most of Celtic territory. The two pagan cultures blended and the Roman Empire eventually began to incorporate the Celtic celebration of Samhain.

Fast-forward nearly 600 years ago and a mass conversion of Rome to Christianity.

Pope Boniface dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to all of Christian martyrs and established the All Martyrs Day in the Western Church on May 13, 609 AD, later moving the feast from martyrs to saints and from May 13 to November 1.

Once the Christianity spread into Celtic regions in the 800s, the two cultures merged and replaced the older Celtic rites. So in 1000 AD, the church established All Souls’ Day to commemorate the dead, November 2. Celebrated a day after All Saints’ Day and in a similar manner as Samhain, costumes eventually became of saints, angels, and devils.

Another name for All Saints’

Day was Allhallows or Allhallowmas, and the night preceding the first was called All Hallows Eve, the title eventually evolving into Halloween.

As the age of exploration moved to America, so did this tradition. It was seldom practiced in colonial New England and other Protestant communities due to strict religiosity, but in the South, Halloween flourished as European ethnic groups began sharing stories of the dead, dancing, singing, and celebrating mischief-making in the middle of the 1800s.

It still hadn’t been celebrated everywhere in the country, but in the latter half of the 1800s, when the Irish began to arrive, the celebration of Halloween became popularized. English and Irish traditions began to be incorporated and the tradition of “trick-or-treating” emerged.

The late nineteenth century saw a movement to mold Halloween into something more about community and strengthening ties with neighbors. Parents were encouraged by newspapers

Some suggested names include: “Jesus’ Fall Fun,” “Church Autumn Bash,” “Harvest Fair of the Lord,” and “Merry Autumnal Feast in Honor of Christ, the Lord Master, Logos, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, Lamb of God.” To replace the sinful costumes, we love dressing up in nativity outfits on Halloween and going door to door demanding that residents repent rather than ask for candy. Finally, if your children want to give out candy, tell them that it’s a sin and urge them to find a more lordly alternative, like throwing communion wafers at heretics or aggressively reading the Bible to people in costumes.

I hope this article opened all of your eyes to the evil that is Halloween ad that you will avoid it or join us in celebrating the Merry Autumnal Feast in honor of Christ, the Lord Master, Logos, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, Lamb of God instead. Please remember to avoid sugar, and as the children say, “Happy ‘Spooktober.’”

and neighbors to promote the less grotesque aspects of Halloween, and the holiday became more secular. As the religious undertones began to dissipate, mass appeal grew.

Along with an increase in treats, the late 1800s saw a rise in tricks, as pranking became established—tipping over outhouses, egging homes, and acts of vandalism. Halloween began to gain traction during the Roaring ‘20s, and later into the ‘30s, as Halloween tricks began to increase in severity. The population was encouraged to indulge in the less dangerous aspects. Trick-or-treating was revived as parents began to provide children with candy in fear of being the brunt of practical jokes, and Halloween parties became a usual occurrence. As individual communities began to spend money on more candy and decor, Halloween became commercialized. In fact, Americans spend more than $6 billion each Halloween, making it the second largest commercialized holiday in the United States.

Page 2

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Spooktator YOU COULD BE NEXT...

By Nikki Daniels

The Zombie Apocalypse has finally arrived at Stuy, and you may be next. Have you or any of your friends “mysteriously” felt dizzy and disoriented in class? Have you felt a tickle in your throat or just generally “eh”?

If you can answer yes to any of these (and not just because you don’t want to take your test tomorrow), then you have been contaminated.

First things first, you’re probably thinking that the Zombie Apocalypse is just a made-up phenomenon from “The Walking Dead.” While it is highlighted in “The Walking Dead,” it is by no means made up. I urge you, fellow Stuyvesant students, to look around as you walk through the hallways, and you will see zombies.

How to tell if someone (or even you, yourself) is a zombie? Simple.

Here are The Spectator’s top three ways to tell if someone is a zombie.

1. They have dark circles under their eyes.

2. They complain about walking up the stairs.

3. They say they’re dead inside (this is perhaps the most obvious, yet the most overlooked).

Now you are probably wondering how this was spread: Were you bitten by a zombie spider in your sleep? Do the water fountains still have lead in them? Well, we have answers. The Stuyvesant Research Club has analyzed the DNA of every sick person and decided that there is a simple explanation—the coffee from the breakfast cart outside of Amore Pizza is contaminated. So if you suggested that your friend who looked tired grab a coffee, newsflash, you turned them into a zombie.

Oh, and did I mention that there’s no cure (the Stuyvesant Research Club is working double time to find one)? But this doesn’t mean you can’t try to prevent it. The first thing to do to prevent becoming the living dead is to skip school. Maybe not forever, but for at least several months. The second thing to do is to stop studying—when you’re studying, how can you stay on constant alert for zombies? And lastly, DO NOT sleep or drink any coffee. The last point is SUPER important so that you can blend in with the zombies (well, and because you never know what coffee could be contaminated).

Good luck, Stuyvesant.

A Guide to a Quiet Halloween

By Victor Kuang

Halloween is a time where kids of all sizes and ages collect potentially dangerous sugary delights from shady strangers they will see once in their lifetime. It’s the only day where you can choose to not wear concealer and not get bullied, and pranks are abundant.

However, let’s say your uncle traumatized you when you were little by eating and spitting out mayonnaise and pretending to be a pimple, making you disgusted at the thought of this holiday. Don’t worry. With this handy guide, you can finally be at peace with yourself again!

Make your displeasure evident No one likes hearing their doorbell ring because of random strangers, and everyone hates bratty kids knocking on the door. These knocks and rings won’t go away so easily if you just ignore them. Instead, make sure they know you’re not open for business.

Do not just open the door and then proceed to calmly explain that you are not trick-or-treating. Not only will you have a bunch of kids crying on your front lawn, but you will also be forced to give out candy to stop the sobs around you.

Instead, dress like Jason Voor-

hees by wearing a hockey face mask and carrying a chainsaw. Everyone will think you’re in the Halloween spirit, but when you use your chainsaw, they will know. In just minutes, everything within five blocks of your house will be completely silent, leaving you with free candy dropped from frightened children and free toilet paper from wimpy pranksters (although it might be a little damp).

Educate people As the most time-consuming method, this is rather risky, but as long as you choose people well, it is completely rewarding. Simply gather a group of very young children, and educate them about why Halloween is bad. Feel free to do so by any means you want, perhaps by also eating and spitting mayonnaise and pretending to be a pimple.

Being influenced at such an early age, these children can pass such information down to others, and only more people will know about it over time. You’ll then be able to relax by solving the problem before it becomes a problem.

Invest in demonic power As one of the most classic pieces of witchcraft, this act involves a few everyday objects: sacred oil, candles, scantron with a failing score, leaves,

a black cat’s eyelash, and a straw of a broom. Simply burn the oil, arrange the symbols in a pentagram, light the candles on the pentagram, place the paper, leaves, eyelash, and straw in the middle, and then pour the oil over it. Once this is done, you will be greeted by a devil’s advocate (played by Robert Sandler) who will grant any wish you want in exchange for your soul. Despite the seemingly steep price, most Stuyvesant students do not need a soul thanks to their educational environment, making deals with the advocate surprisingly affordable. That’s right: if you’ve ever wanted to beat up Lil Timmy for stealing your prom date, you can do it however you want with satanic forces! Even better, you can pelt unsuspecting trick-or-treaters with hell fire for practically nothing!

If the thought of approaching one of Satan’s lieutenants scares you, simply bring someone like that kid who flexes his 66.6 in Multivariable Calculus to an altar in the middle of nowhere and perform a sacrifice! Though this is guaranteed to work as long as you have a wish, this is considerably more illegal for obvious reasons. The Spectator is not responsible if you go to jail from following these directions; we’re just here to help.

Humor

By Laura Ilioaei I’d like to say that being a writer for multiple departments of The Spectator has its perks. It broadens your horizons, exposes you to some hot tea before the rest of the school gets to it, and even gives you a peek into the crippling corruptness of the Spec Board. However, my curiosity is usually never satiated with glimpses. There is the delusion that my “unique Stuyvesant curiosity” should make me into “an innovative genius” with the potential to “revolutionize the world”; I should theoretically be able to spin the world of American writing off its axis. Instead, I’m just wasting my “potential” on stupidity, like being the editorial board’s personal voyeur.

Of course, my curiosity rose to all-time highs when every department sent out an e-mail screeching that the Copy department would do unmentioned, but negatively foreshadowed, things to writers if the writer in question chose to react to any edits from “Anon,” or the Copy department. Each and every department even went as far to say that the Copy department was a scary force that would have no qualms about having a “nice convo” with any writer who executed that violation in future drafts.

I shrugged and deleted all of those warning e-mails. If the Copy department wanted to start beef over my 2:00 a.m. second-draft

By mar Ali and Ahmed Hussein Dear Stuyvesant, We embarked on the most important journey of our young lives, taking the PSAT, on October 10, 2018. A joke of a test that only tryhards care about, the PSAT is hailed by many as the biggest waste of time since P.E. and Lunch with Aristotle.

Understandably, after wasting approximately four hours of their lives that they could have spent procrastinating instead, students were not happy. Instead of going home like EVERYBODY ELSE, there was

Copy Errors

proofreading errors, I was ready to haul the entire cow. Hell, I was ready to herd the herd. And being the innate klutz that I am, it only took two minutes after I trashed those e-mails to not only “accept” or “decline” various edits, but to comment on them, too.

The next morning I woke up and found an eerie message in my inbox stating that I was to report to the Spec room during 10th period.

I rolled my eyes and carried on with my day. I was even tempted to forgo going to the room completely, but instead I marched in with my laptop in hand and amethyst pendant around my neck (gotta ward off that negative energy somehow).

The three Copy editors were seated in the center of a pentagram drawn on the ground. On the chalkboard was the message: “We Warned You!!!” Apparitions of former editors bubbled up from the walls and the floor in fluorescent green transparent blobs. It felt like some low-budget, live-action version of a Martin Mystery episode.

I would’ve left the room had it not been for the fact that the door had shut and locked itself behind me with a click as a warning that there would be no unfinished business left over after this “nice convo.”

“Where the heck is Garfinkel?”

I asked, perplexed.

Michelle Lai, seated at the far left, held up what resembled a voodoo doll of the faculty advisor. I shivered. I noticed that Jonela

“class,” which left many annoyed, to say the least. Willy Wonka walked around his chocolate factory later that day, saying, “Why did they make us stay after the test? I just want to go home and play Fortnite in my elevator.” Classes were over before students could decide whether or not to cut, a decision they were forced to make in the 22 seconds they had between periods.

Freshmen could be seen rapidly sprinting in packs to their classes with their rolly backpacks tagging along. As is the case with all running students, they were chased down by Baird Johnson, who likes to assert his dominance on anyone who runs at

Malollari and Jeanette Cheung were creating a doll similar to it, only with features resembling my own. I tried stepping forward, but the energy of the pentagram pulled me to the ground.

“We told you not to interfere with ‘Anon’ edits,” they chanted satanically, trying to lure me into a trance. The amethyst around my neck started quivering.

“We told you not to interfere with ‘Anon’ edits.”

“We told you not to interfere with ‘Anon’ edits.”

“We told you not to interfere with ‘Anon’ edits.”

“Copy has made an error.” I ripped the amethyst off my neck and shattered it into the pentagram.

“Clarify your statement,” they responded eerily, a new spooky aura beginning to emerge from them.

“You fools, those ‘Anon’ edits were ‘Anon’ indeed, but they were my own edits from my Gmail and not my stuy.edu e-mail.”

The room was silent for a few moments. Then the Copy editors erupted into a fit of apostropheshaped tears. Figuring that the awkward atmosphere would make for an easy escape, I kicked the door open in anger (I really wasted my 10th period for this? Smh), leaving the spooky scene open to any desperate News or Features editors who needed a spicy article to fulfill their article quota for the semester.

PSAT

Stuyvesant. Many students had even started their own public transportation system, the MTA (Metrosexual Trip of Anxiety), to navigate the school in time to get to their classes and get back out before the teachers had time to complain about the valuable teaching time they were losing.

Dr. Ned grumbled for the entire period about losing these “precious moments,” even though we all knew she was going to talk about anything but genetics until the last five minutes of class. Dr. Berman used this time to talk about the gay neighborhood in California that he grew up in before holding his students for the entire 30 seconds they had to get to their next

Cuffed!

By Laura Ilioaei

Ah, autumn. Nothing like a season of nature dedicated to representing how I, as a student, am deteriorating over the course of the year. Every dying leaf is a dying shred of hope with an inevitable downfall resulting in a crisp reminiscence of “what could have been,” eventually being buried under the slush blankets of cruel winter. With a season like this, why would you ever want to FALL in the embrace of love?

Do you smell that? Alright, you’re a Halloween heathen, the kind of rebel hated by the majority if you hate the intermingling scents of pumpkin spice and the stress sweat that comes when report cards are coming in sooner than college early action deadlines, but that’s not what I’m referring to.

No, it’s that scent of honeyed sentimentality. The sound of skipping heartbeats. The sight of plundered hoodies, cuddled bodies, latte dates, and umbrella-sharing in the frigid downpours. Cuffing season.

But who the heck thought it’d be a good idea to take a Senior Spirit Day and make Cuffing Season the theme? Walking into school one Friday morning meant seeing couples sharing pairs of handcuffs.

I almost thought that I wasn’t even in a school and had somehow landed in some open BDSM event straight out of a feature on “Time Out New York,” but then I remem-

class to tell them he had been asked out by many a gay man, only to turn them down in favor of women.

Just a few hours later, the reason we had taken the PSAT in the first place was apparent. The internet was scoured for memes that only testtakers could relate to, ranging from Patrick’s parents saying they don’t have a son after he says “Thank You” to them to grandma-cousin incest.

The biggest meme, however, was the College Board (surprise, surprise!), which, in an attempt to stop students from sharing PSAT info through memes, made memes to warn them.

Much like Shrek, they are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Much to

bered that no such event would ever feature people sprawled out against study guides, index cards, and other academic materials.

It was strange to find some students handcuffed to themselves.

“It’s called ‘emotional unavailability,’” responded one student, after I asked her about the phenomenon.

What was more peculiar, but was somewhat expected of a Stuyvesant student, was that others were chained to their academics, with their cuffs linked to the binders or notebook pages of their weakest subjects.

Of course, there were students without a set of cuffs. Some sobbed in the Hudson Stairwell after discovering that their crush of two years was cuffed to three other students. Others claimed that their relationship was deemed too nontraditional to abide by the terms of “cuffing.” Then there were the scholars who wanted to attend class in peace.

It could be said that this Spirit Day was the most successful of them all for it had underestimated how many non-senior-senior couples existed within Stuy and how many underclassmen wanted to join in on the festivity. Consequently, many keys to the cuffs were lost, and the school administration had to cancel classes for the day so that the cuffs could be opened. I was able to leave early, so I went home and reflected on my one who got away.

the chagrin of students, the College Board did more than just make memes. Many students received emails about canceled scores after the College Board recruited sophomore Abir Taheer to reroute the IP addresses of those who posted PSAT memes on Facebook. Taheer was later beheaded during the Reign of Terror so that he wouldn’t be a problem anymore. It is safe to say that PSAT memes will be a byproduct of the test despite the College Board’s best efforts.

Thank You, uh, I mean Signing off (sorry, Mom), Bottlenose Dolphin whistles 1 and 2

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

FEATURES

A&E

Crystal CLEAR

The Definitively Best Ice Cream

Meet Crystal Liu, the junior involved in internationally popular BTS-fan dance-team, CLEAR, in an article by Features editor Amy Huang.

Think winter is the wrong time for ice cream? Zoe Oppenheimer will prove you wrong in A&E’s guide to the NYC ice cream scene.

see page 8

see page 16

October 31, 2018

Volume 109 No. 4

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

stuyspec.com

Computer Science Department Collaborates with Google on Mentorship Program

Junior Baird Johnson won the Congressional Award Gold Medal by completing 400 hours of Voluntary Public Service, 200 hours of Personal Development, and 200 hours of Physical Fitness.

European History and US History teacher David Hanna has been invited by the American School of Paris to share the research he conducted to write his books, Rendez Vous With Death.

He was also the featured guest on the BackStory podcast on Tuesday, October 29.

Senior Hanna Yang has been invited to participate in the 2018 Math Prize Olympiad this November due to her outstanding performance at the 2018 Math Prize for Girls contest in September at MIT.

By REBECCA KIM, THEO SCHIMINOVICH, and DIEGO VASQUE The computer science (CS) department at Stuyvesant is collaborating with Google to provide an opportunity for juniors and seniors to work with Google engineers through a mentorship program at the New York City Google Offices, which are located on W 16th St and 8th Ave. CS Coordinator JonAlf Dyrland Weaver organized the program over the last six months. The idea originated from a similar program last year, in which the computer science department collaborated with TwoSigma, a company that applies technology to trading and finance. Students met with data scientists every Wednesday and learned techniques for manipulating data, ultimately ending the program with a capstone presentation.

The TwoSigma program was promoted to students taking computer science classes and attracted many students looking to pursue a career in CS. “I was considering majoring in CS in college, and I wanted to see

one way that CS could be used in industry,” Tiffany Moi (‘18), who attended the TwoSigma program, said in an e-mail interview.

The program helped students gain a sense of what many CS careers are actually like. “The program gave me a new perspective on CS and how it applies in the ‘real world.’ I now see programming as a powerful tool that allows you to analyze and find trends that you normally wouldn’t see by just quickly glancing over endless lines of data,” Moi said. “This [...] pushed me to approach CS with a more interdisciplinary mindset in college.”

The process of creating a similar program, StuyXGoogle, began when a parent contacted Principal Eric Contreras after learning about the TwoSigma program. “The parent thought that there could be an interesting partnership with Google because their locations are at a convenient distance, and our CS students are very capable of doing interesting things worth the time of Google engineers,” Weaver said.

After Google agreed to collaborate with Stuyvesant’s CS department, many students were eager to be involved, and the program

Stuyvesant Holds German Day

By JAKOB GORISEK-GAZZE AND NEIL SARKAR Stuyvesant celebrated German Day on October 4 in coordination with the Consulate General of Germany and the Goethe Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the study of the German language and culture, with over 159 locations worldwide. Over the course of the festival, German language students took part in a number of cultural workshops and activities, including language practice, trivia, songwriting, poetry, and improvisation.

This program was possible because of Stuyvesant’s partnership with the Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH) Initiative. The PASCH network is run by the Goethe Institute and aims to bring together “a global network of more than 2,000 PASCH schools with particular ties to Germany,” though Stuyvesant is

currently the only public school in the city with this distinction.

The inauguration ceremony for German Day began in the Murray Kahn Theater with Music and Technology teacher Dr. Gregor Winkel’s class playing the national anthems of the United States and Germany. Principal Eric Contreras, the German Consul General David Gill, and Andrea Pfeil, the head of the language department at the Goethe-Institut New York, delivered the event’s welcoming remarks.

Principal Contreras was presented with the Pasch-Plaque, which congratulated Stuyvesant High School on becoming part of the PASCH school network.

Dr. Winkel’s string orchestra then played Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” The German students in the theater enjoyed a performance from the group Zeilenschmiede (German for ‘wordplay’), which features performances of

received numerous applications.

Students were attracted to the prospect of working with engineers from a prominent company like Google while pursuing projects they were passionate about.

“I became interested in StuyXGoogle because I was interested in working on a project related to AI or machine learning, and I thought this program would be a really good opportunity to get the resources to do a project like this,” junior Aditi Haiman, who was accepted into StuyXGoogle, said in an e-mail interview.

Students had to submit a twopage proposal with ideas they wanted to research or create. “I had all of those proposals, and I had a chance to look over them based on things like how good the proposal was,” Weaver said. “In a few cases there were very similar concepts, so it was [...] difficult to pick just one.” He narrowed down the proposals based on quality, uniqueness, and thoroughness, then sent them to Google for a final decision.

The selected students will work together in groups of two to four people, developing their projects both outside of school and during

sessions with their mentors during the week at the Google office. At the end of the semester, students will unveil their work at a closing event.

Students are excited to both participate in the program and work with Google engineers. “I am looking forward to visiting Google headquarters and seeing the available resources for my group’s project, learning more about real-life applications of computer science, and being able to create a product under the mentorship of a Google employee,” Haiman said.

The program is not guaranteed to continue afterward, but it is possible. “If all goes well and the Google people find it a worthwhile endeavor, we will do it again for the spring semester,” Weaver said. If the program is available next semester, new applicants will be selected.

Because this program is new, information from this semester will be used to determine what aspects of the program went well and what needs improvement. “We are hoping that this becomes a really nice program, but we don’t know what form it is going to take. This is our trial time,” Weaver said.

ENDORSEMENTS

poetry, stand-up performance, and music writing. Students then went onto the stage and sang in German with members of the group, showcasing what they had learned in the German classroom with the skills that they learned in class and in cultural workshops.

Afterward, the festivities moved to the cafeteria, where students and staff enjoyed German cuisine, including a number of different sausages such as frankfurter and bratwurst, salad, semmels, chicken, and juice and sparkling water.

Students participated in a number of activities and language workshops, including a pronunciation quiz and a culture trivia. In addition, the festival featured a basic German course teaching general words and phrases commonly used in German-speaking countries. continued on page 4

Courtesy of Wong-Tan

NEWSBEAT

The Spectator is endorsing the Wong-Tan ticket for Freshman Caucus.

PCP: The Clash over Kavanaugh (pages 12-13) “Kavanaugh should have been disqualified from being a justice the moment a credible allegation came out against him.”

—Jonathan Schneiderman

“Any Trumpian Supreme Court nomination was destined to become a national drama from the moment it was made.”

—Rohit Roy Michael Hu / The Spectator

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 4

News Stanford University and NPR Host “Philosophy Talk” Episode at Stuyvesant

By ERIN LEE and JEREMY RUBIN

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

WORLDBEAT Eleven were killed in a horrific shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday morning, marking what many

consider the largest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. The perpetrator, Robert Bowers, vocalised his hatred for Jews on social media and yelled “all Jews must die” during the gunfire. Thousands attended a vigil for the victims Saturday evening.

Cesar Altieri Sayoc was arrested for sending

over a dozen pipe bombs through the mail to prominent democratic critics of President Donald Trump, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and billion-

aire George Soros. None of the bombs detonated and no one was hurt.

International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. agreed to buy software company Red Hat Inc. for $34 billion in its larg-

est acquisition ever. Executives hope the deal will expand IBM’s cloud computing technology, and help the corporation gain an advantage over tech rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

Investors are selling stock of firms that meet quarterly earn-

ings expectations at the highest rate since 2011, raising concerns over the market’s future. This comes amidst reports from the Department of Commerce Friday that the U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter, and many analysts believe a slowdown is looming.

Stanford University Undergraduate Admissions and National Public Radio hosted and taped an episode of “Philosophy Talk” at Stuyvesant on October 13. About 100 guests, primarily from New York City and New Jersey, gathered to watch co-hosts and Stanford professors Ken Taylor and Josh Landy discuss prevalent philosophical questions with guest Scott Forstall in an episode titled “The Creative Life.”

“Philosophy Talk” is a nationally syndicated public radio show where its host philosophers and a guest converse every week about topics ranging from “White Privilege and Racial Injustice” to “The Ethics of Debt.” This episode discussed creativity and how it relates to college and career choices.

Stuyvesant was asked to host this episode in order to “get more people who are humanities-oriented to apply and convince people that the humanities are a neat endeavor they should pursue,” Chair of Student Affairs and social studies teacher Matthew Polazzo said.

Stuyvesant’s auditorium was a venue that fit the needs of the program. “It was the right size for our projected audience, and the stage is large enough to accommodate our crazy set-up with a sound table, room for the hosts and guests center-stage, and a band,” producer Cindy Prince Baum said in an e-mail interview. In addition, Stuyvesant had already established a familiarity with Stanford University from prior years through matriculating students.

Stuyvesant was supposed to hold a similar event for “Philosophy Talk” last year, but it fell through.

“As you know, the event was a fairly large undertaking, requiring things like audio recording equipment, a venue, a guest, live music, furniture, local vendors, and lots more. Last year, the planning didn’t start until a bit too late for all of the pieces to come together, so we opted not to hold the event at all and to start the planning pro-

Stuyvesant Holds German Day continued from page 3 Many students and staff enjoyed German Day and were immersed in the culture. “[German Day] was a very rewarding experience because we were really exposed to a lot of German and we got to know the language better,” sophomore AnaMaria Skaricic said. Chemistry teacher Michael Orlando praised the quality of the food and noted that “the event seems well attended.”

Principal Contreras was also

pleased with the festival, saying that the Language Department has helped “promote something that is not just teaching German but creating a cross-cultural connection with the German community here and abroad.” Principal Contreras also said, “We take it for granted that so many great things happen on a daily basis, [but] it creates this very rich program on a yearly basis at Stuyvesant that we are really proud of.”

While both German teacher Ms. Lindemulder and Assistant Principal of Language Francisca McAuliffe wished that more stu-

dents attended the event, they agreed that it was a “very good start,” and that they would keep working to improve events in the future.

Looking to the future of the German Department, McAuliffe is looking to partner with the other PASCH schools, and is hoping to continue work with the Goethe Institute to expand language and cultural opportunities and events at Stuyvesant. She also wishes to create an Advanced Placement German class, and looks forward to the German band Die Lochis’ performance at Stuyvesant later this month.

The Student Union Approves Planned Changes to Constitution

By ERIN LEE The Student Union (SU) held a cabinet meeting on October 3 and passed an amendment to the SU Constitution. This amendment redistributes the votes between elected and appointed officials and addresses the criteria for external organizations to vote. Should the revised constitution pass, a cabinet decision can be overturned if five out of the nine voting elected officials agree, giving the caucuses more power.

The external organizations— Big Sibs, ARISTA, and The Spectator—will maintain their vote on the cabinet provided that they are registered on StuyActivities, though The Spectator historically abstains from casting any votes. ARISTA, which

does not have a charter on the website, will lose its vote once the revised constitution is implemented.

Leaders of ARISTA chose not to register a charter on StuyActivities because they believe that maintaining the organization’s independence from the SU is necessary in order for ARISTA to fulfill its purpose. However, SU and ARISTA often work together to better the student body, and senior and ARISTA President Julia Arancio knows that the relationship between the two will become stronger. “From an ARISTA perspective, and I hope it’s the same from an SU perspective, we have a newfound respect for each other as separate entities, and we really do value our relationship and our ability to work together,” Arancio

said. “Our existence as our own independent organizations will allow us to function better in the future.”

Voting participants, including ARISTA, unanimously decided to vote for the revision to the constitution. “We were considering forfeiting our voting power to begin with,” Arancio said. “SU and ARISTA are in agreement that we really don’t have a place in these meetings or have voting power.”

Overall, all parties are content with the new balance of powers that this amendment addresses.

Cabinet members are looking forward to the changes that will be implemented when the revised SU Constitution passes.

cess earlier this year,” Baum said.

Stanford alum Forstall played a large role in the creation of the iOS software system currently used

by Apple technology and is now a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer for his two plays, “Fun Home” and “Eclipsed.” During the talk, he and the other hosts provided the audience with advice on subjects such as maintaining creativity and how to make the most of your education. “They had a lot of neat little tips, tricks, and larger philosophical points that they made to encourage people to be [creative] and think creatively,” Polazzo said.

In addition to discussion among the hosts, the episode showed a video of alumni from around the globe conducting creative works of their own, narrated

by Liza Veale. It also had a quick segment with Merle Kessler, the “Sixty-Second Philosopher,” and a Q&A session with the audience.

The producers of “Philosophy Talk” initially reached out to Assistant Principal of Social Studies Jennifer Suri last year about hosting an episode at Stuyvesant.

Suri redirected them to Polazzo, who teaches philosophy classes such as Western Political Thought.

However, due to scheduling conflicts, this plan could not be put into motion until this school year.

This “Philosophy Talk” episode was intended to be relevant for many high school students. “Students who are thinking about college might well be interested to hear from Scott Forstall about how his university experience helped shape his fascinating, successful, and fulfilling career,” Landy said in an email interview. “We also thought, more specifically, that students with creative ambitions might be interested to hear a discussion about how to spark ideas and keep the spirit of inventiveness alive.”

Baum seconded Landy’s message. “The concept of approaching one’s life choices creatively is particularly relevant to students, since they will likely have multiple careers during their lifetime. […] Life does not often take a linear path, so cre-

ative, out-of-the box thinking will help them as they approach each life-changing decision,” she said.

“It was inspiring,” Joel Veras, a student at The Academy of Innovative Technology High School, said. “Before coming in, I really had just a focus on artificial intelligence.” After attending this event, Veras now believes that disciplines such as philosophy are just as important, as they can contribute to critical thinking and creativity.

Though the talk had a significant impact on some members of the audience, some were left unsatisfied. “That was the first radio show I’ve been to and I expected it to be more of a conversation, but I got there early and they were even rehearsing what they should talk about, which I thought was a little disappointing,” senior Hanah Jun said. However, she noted that the hosts were more relaxed and informal during the unaired Q&A time.

Others had issues with the question-and-answer portion of the episode. “There were a couple of points, a couple of questions that the people who were asking them weren’t doing the best that they could to communicate them,” Winston Peloso, an audience member from Princeton, New Jersey, said. In addition, hosts often gave in-depth but circuitous answers. “The panel was also talking past the questions a little bit, and they tended to go offtopic in the questions,” Peloso said.

This could be seen in both lights, Peloso noted, as going beyond the limitations of a question allowed the philosophers to expand on ideas and consider topics more deeply, something he found enlightening.

Despite these minor criticisms, Polazzo considers the talk to be a success, and would be open to “Philosophy Talk” hosting again at Stuyvesant. “I hope the people who came were inspired. I’m a supporter of the goal of increasing philosophical thought and being more creative. I do really believe that’s what the underlying preface of all education [is],” he said.

BOE Introduces a New Voting System and Updated Website

By MADDY ANDERSEN The Board of Elections (BOE) has introduced changes to the way students vote for Student Union (SU) leaders in time for the Freshman Caucus election. Students will have the opportunity to vote online again at vote.stuysu.org, which was introduced last June. Since then, the site has received multiple upgrades.

Instead of using OSIS numbers, students will be asked to sign in using their stuy.edu e-mails before voting. “On the previous voting website, voting used OSIS numbers, which is not the best method because [...] someone on the SU could get access to OSIS numbers if they needed them for another project,” Sophomore Caucus IT Director Abir Taheer said.

Voting is now more secure, as it is harder for someone to commit voter fraud if they have to enter an e-mail instead of an OSIS number.

“If someone on the BOE tried, they could get OSIS numbers and feed them into the previous website. They would be able to rig the votes. Here, that’s not really possible because of the sign-in to Google,” Taheer said.

Despite requiring e-mails, votes are anonymous through a process called hashing and salting. “A hash is basically a one-way function where it converts a giving input into a summary of that input. [...] The main thing about hashing is that it is impossible for you to go back. You can’t go backwards from the output

to the input,” Taheer said. A salt, a small string of numbers and letters, is also added to the e-mail before hashing to further scramble the data.

The website includes other features as well, such as platform summaries, management portals for the candidates and BOE officials, and a place for students to leave feedback.

The system of voting is also different. Students will now rank all of the candidates in order of preference in a single round of voting, eliminating the need for a second round of voting, which often sees a drop in the number of ballots cast.

“First, it takes a look at everyone’s first choice. It tallies up the votes, and whatever candidate has the least number of people putting them as first choice is eliminated. It looks through those votes again, and for the people that voted for the eliminated candidate as their first choice, it moves onto their second choice.

It keeps doing that until one of the candidates has a majority, 50 percent or greater, of the votes,” Taheer said.

Ultimately, the BOE is optimistic that both the improved website and the new system of voting will increase the number of people who vote in SU elections. “I just hope that people being able to see all of the candidates and all of their platforms on the site, and also being able to see that an election ends in x amount of time, [...] will decrease voter apathy,” Taheer said.

The Spectator â—? October 31, 2018

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Page 5

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 6

SU Endorsements: Freshman Caucus Emma Wong and Cynthia Tan Freshman caucus candidates Emma Wong and Cynthia Tan offer well-developed and thoughtful policies concerning numerous relevant issues at Stuyvesant under the Wong-Tan platform for the 2018-2019 school year.

These issues include problems with leaving the school during free periods, exemption from physical education for student athletes, difficulty connecting to school WiFi past 8:00 a.m., and obstacles students face printing at school. Their ticket demonstrates impressive research and careful consideration. Despite only spending two months at Stuyvesant, Wong and Tan tar-

get specific issues that apply to a significant portion of the student body and have important implications on their academic experience. Moreover, the fact that Wong and Tan are aware of the difficulty clubs have accessing WiFi that might be necessary for afterschool activities illustrates that they probably maintain communication with different club leaders and are perhaps participants in these clubs themselves. They are also comfortable voicing opinions, a crucial foundation to a successful campaign.

It is commendable that for each issue the Wong-Tan platform identifies, they offer a dis-

tinct stance or solution. This reflects a genuine attempt to present a logical plan of action, rather than simply stating complaints with no strategy for correcting the situation, which inevitably results in inaction.

They also have alternative solutions in case their initial proposed solutions are flawed.

That said, the platform has significant shortcomings. While their positions reflect effort, many of their proposed solutions are not realistic or feasible, or are simply illogical. One example is their proposal to change the system for leaving during free periods, which would only be more

inconvenient for students by restricting the time frame during which they can leave the building and potentially breaking up their free period. Their solution for printing problems is similarly flawed, which, by further decreasing space for students in need of study periods, will only elevate demand and hurt more students. Candidates should always prioritize the general will of the student population rather than favoring certain groups.

The platform also does not focus on issues specific to freshmen and indicates only a vague intention to develop freshman social life. For instance, while

it would be beneficial for freshmen to have a spirit week and socials, Wong and Tan did not come up with a plan to organize such events. Instead, the platform seeks to correct general dissatisfactions among the student body, which are unlikely to be solved by the freshman caucus.

However, while most of the platform’s policies are in serious need of revision, they are impressive considering how little most freshmen know about the nature of problems at Stuyvesant. Furthermore, the ticket appears collective and cohesive, perhaps indicating its potential and dedication.

Lina Khamze and Deven Maheshwari The Khamze-Mahesh ticket has both potential and heart in the right places. Their priority is the ease of transition from middle school to high school, and their enthusiasm about achieving this goal is palpable. Their main proposals include 7:00 a.m. entrance to the school building, more freshman events and lectures, freshman library priority, designated nap areas for freshmen, and more time to change for swim

gym. A highlight of their platform is the early entrance time; though it is unrealistic because of administrative constraints, it would be a beneficial solution to a chronic inconvenience.

However, despite this, the Khamze-Mahesh ticket lacks substance and effort. Despite the many enumerated policy proposals, there is a distinct absence of follow-through in how they plan to carry out these propos-

als. The fact that no attempt is made to explain or elaborate on the measures needed to achieve their goals, as well as the vagueness of policy points such as “more freshman events/lectures,” gives the well-meaning platform last-minute vibes. Additionally, the suggested policies—such as nap spots, prioritized library access, and extended swim change time—seem to be primarily based on addressing their own personal

Ashley Choi and Humaira Khan The Choi-Khan ticket clearly wants to help better the freshman class, and they offer ideas to do so such as providing supplies, unifying online school resources in one website, online textbook services, and color printing access. Their ideas show the potential of this ticket, such as their intention to partner with printing companies to pro-

vide color ink to students. Other ideas, like the intention to unlock Youtube on stuy.edu emails, are both feasible and original.

However, many of their proposals have issues. The pair seems to be ignorant of current resources and the power that the Freshman Caucus has. The Student Union already has an online textbook service and the testing

schedules for teachers are already enforced. The goal of Talos is toward establishing a unified online presence. In addition, color printing and supplies are readily available in the library. The platform seems under-researched and underdeveloped, though it is based at its core on good ideas.

Ethan Brovender and Zuzi Liu Freshman caucus candidates Ethan Brovender and Zuzi Liu want to improve the school environment, specifically in clubs and with students themselves. They acknowledge the need to reform clubs and for students to manage stress. It is worth pointing out that their awareness as freshmen of the

problem of using clubs as a supplement in college applications can indicate close involvement with certain clubs and organizations. However, their generality and absence of a possible solution weaken their claim to fix the issue.

Brovender and Liu show little preparation and effort in their

platform. The Board of Elections originally did not receive a platform from this ticket and stated that the candidates have not done much campaigning. The issues that Brovender and Liu address are relevant to students, but there is a lack of detail as to how these issues will be resolved.

Elio Torres and Anagha Purohit Freshmen Elio Torres and Anagha Purohit’s campaign focuses on maintaining the academic excellence of Stuyvesant and easing the transition for fellow freshmen. They promise to implement a stronger system of outreach and organization, and are open to feedback and ideas proposed by the student body.

The Torres-Purohit ticket places a strong emphasis on hosting in-school events that specifically target freshmen. Though this is not an original idea, having more seminars and inviting more guest speakers will allow freshmen to take advantage of the opportunity to explore their future interests by meeting professionals in the field. An inter-

esting idea they had was to create a system to allow students to use empty classrooms during free periods. This plan would provide students with the option to work somewhere other than the library and designated first and second floors, but it would require more administrative involvement to ensure the safety of students without adult supervision.

Another goal of their campaign is to increase communication between the student body and the administration through the use of a suggestion box and monthly surveys via e-mail or Facebook. It is unclear as to where the suggestion box would be located and who would be reviewing these submissions, which

can be made anonymously. These submissions may not be an accurate representation of students’ concerns, as many people may not be inclined to fill them out.

Though Torres and Purohit are enthusiastic and have good intentions, they propose very general ideas and fail to distinguish themselves from the other platforms. Some of their smaller goals include more accomodating gym uniforms and other “general improvements,” which showcases their platform’s vagueness, focus on trivial matters, and unclear solutions in combating these matters. For these reasons, The Spectator cannot endorse this ticket.

issues, rather than the concerns of the grade they would represent.

Some things are suspect about the candidates themselves. For example, Deven Maheshwari claims to be an active member of Stuyvesant Key Club, but has gone to zero events and only has one hour under his name for attending the interest meeting. The Spectator would also like to note that the KhamzeMahesh ticket has been awarded

a strike by the Board of Elections for inappropriate behavior.

Overall, the Khamze-Mahesh ticket proposes many ideas, but the shortcomings of their platform are more prominent than their true intentions, which is why The Spectator cannot endorse this ticket.

Michelle Zhang and Joseph Lee The Lee-Zhang platform brings up some ideas of varying degrees of feasibility and originality. One of their main calling cards is the idea of Homeroom Representatives. This is an idea which has already been implemented by the Sophomore Caucus. However, the efficiency and overall usefulness of these Homeroom Representatives at this point may be improved. Biweekly meetings would be a great way to improve caucus-student relations and communication.

The only other concrete selling point on the Lee-Zhang ticket is the creation of a Marketing Committee, to be in charge of creating events for freshmen.

This is a necessary part of caucus, but is again already a practice done by caucuses every year.

This idea seemingly shows a lack of knowledge about the positions Lee and Zhang are vying for, as they will be in charge of a wide spread of various committees.

Ultimately, the Lee-Zhang ticket has good intentions and seems enthusiastic. However, their lack of knowledge about the workings of the caucus and Student Union makes us question whether or not their leadership would put the Freshman Caucus in the best hands. The Lee-Zhang ticket does not receive The Spectator’s endorsement for the Freshman Caucus.

Diana Yang and Karen Lin Freshman Caucus candidates Diana Yang and Karen Lin aim to create policies that are both reasonably achievable and improve the lives of their peers. They hope to make large policy changes such as allowing students to enter the building before the end of the period, creating designated spaces for charging phones, and guaranteeing WiFi. They also propose smaller scale projects like selling rain ponchos, a unique idea which they say is a low-budget and convenient way to increase the quality of life for their peers.

Despite Yang and Lin’s attempt to make realistic promises, their platform is unfortunately underdeveloped. Many of their ideas have been proposed by caucus candidates from previous years without success, and Yang and Lin do not provide any background about how they aim to accomplish any of their ideas. Though their proposals like opening the library to allow students to print before first period are well intended, they are not fully researched. In this case, students can use the printing station or Google Cloud Print

by the bridge entrance. Some of their ideas are also vague; one of their proposals is to “fix the swipe in thing,” about which they provide no additional information.

Additionally, they seem to be unaware of the types of policy change that the Freshman Caucus generally facilitates. They propose to change programming, citing the difficulty of traveling from the first to the 10th floor in between periods. However, student schedules are largely random, and there is no realistic way to prevent a student from having two consecutive classes on distant floors. Their campaign also promises better escalator maintenance, but they fail to acknowledge that escalator maintenance is an ongoing issue within the administration, and there may be little to nothing they can accomplish as leaders of Freshman Caucus.

Though Yang and Lin clearly have well-intended ideas, many of their proposals seem to fall flat due to limited knowledge and research. For this reason, The Spectator will not be endorsing the Yang-Lin ticket.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

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Page 7

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 8

Features Crystal CLEAR

By AMY HUANG

Junior Crystal Liu and the six dance team members of CLEAR were practicing at Broadway Dance Center, in preparation for an appearance on Good Morning America (GMA) on September 26. The team had been invited by the hosts to be interviewed on the show. Liu and her dancers thought this meant a performance on-stage. The opportunity would be a bigger platform for showcasing the members’ dedication to and passion for dancing.

Instead, a TV host from GMA interrupted CLEAR’s dance practice that morning with important news: they had four minutes to get to GMA’s set in Times Square to claim front-row seats to a sold-out Bangtan Boys (BTS) performance.

Barely registering the news, Liu and her dancemates sprinted out the door to see the group that had not only made several marks in America’s music industry, but also inspired cover groups like CLEAR to dance.

Liu’s dancing career began at he age of three. She started with ballet, then learned classic, modern, and contemporary dance. But a few years ago, she came across Korean pop music (K-pop). Having heavily evolved from the bowl-cuts, plastic wardrobe, and robotic movements of K-pop of the early 2000s, 2018 K-pop boasts sharp dance moves, expensive outfits, and charming facial expressions. Such confidence, though, isn’t easily gained.

“Back then, I was scared of dancing K-pop. People looked down on K-pop because it was coming from a small country,” Liu said.

“But because it’s becoming more popular, I have more confidence to [dance] it.” And her YouTube videos prove it. In front of the camera, Liu takes on a different persona, one that holds an intense stare and smirks as she flashes her abs.

Condescension was not the only thing that discouraged Liu from dancing K-pop. As a student at Stuyvesant, she has always been directed down an academic path.

The school, she described, “is so STEM-correlated. What am I going to do with a [dance] major?”

Ultimately, it was the people Liu surrounded herself with in school that redirected her to K-pop dance.

Liu met her future co-director Khang Nguyen (‘17) through Stuyvesant Outlet Showcase in 2017. They were also members of a dance group known as Harmonyc Movement, which covers choreography by K-pop artists. Because

the members were adults who had other things on their agenda, “the quality of work that we produced was meh, and I wanted something professional and really high quality,” Liu said. She and Nguyen craved a new team dynamic, so they left to produce something of their own, which eventually became CLEAR. Nguyen introduced Liu to a few New York University (NYU) and Brooklyn College students who also recreationally danced K-pop.

As students, they had more time to dance. Liu said, “I wanted not to be just friends with them, but [also

of integrity, how close I am to my team and members, and how real we are as people,” she said. “Even though we do dance covers and look so professional, we wanted to have a transparent glass for our viewers to know that we’re just fans of K-pop [and] fans of BTS.” There are groups, made up of people of all ages, all around the world covering choreography by several K-pop artists. There is an endless collection of YouTube videos with the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, or the streets of Australia, Brussels, or Vietnam as

warm-up, then focus on positioning.

Most of the time is spent on cleaning up moves. On those days, “everyone’s energy is lively,” Liu said.

Some days are more difficult, depending on the members’ moods and energy. Liu said, “[Conflicts arise] when they don’t know the choreo[graphy] by the time we’re supposed to do it. It can get frustrating, but I try to be understanding. Other times, people want center spots. People want to be seen and want a center position. It’s not a conflict yet, but as we move into the future, people

to] dance with them.” There was an instant connection, and CLEAR was created at the end of summer 2018 as a dance cover group. It was founded as a haven the members can escape to and find mutual passion, as a way to spread support for BTS and K-pop in general, and as a way of joining the culture of cover dancing that has become increasingly popular among K-pop fandoms.

One of the striking qualities that distinguishes CLEAR from the sea of dedicated BTS fans is the name itself. Not only is it a pun on Liu’s name (crystal clear), but the word also means transparency. Liu wanted her group to be approachable; she wanted her intentions to be clear. “I wanted to show that transparency in terms

the backdrop. CLEAR, based in New York City, has developed its own idiosyncrasies. Liu said, “It’s unique that we’re doing it in Times Square. We’re founded in New York, an iconic place for entertainment.” CLEAR typically performs on the streets in Times Square and in other locations throughout NYC, such as in front of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

When they’re not dancing in Times Square, the members are practicing at NYU Tisch studios.

Before they film for the official video, they typically have three practices ranging from two to four hours to sharpen every turn and footwork, synchronize, and move gracefully into formation—and that is the ideal. They begin with a

will be unhappy with their roles and not doing [their] best as they did in the first video, and this might be detrimental to CLEAR.” Despite these conflicts, CLEAR’s purpose of being transparent to their viewers and of dancing as a team remains unwavering.

“I use the struggle to push dancing to another level,” Liu said. The invitation to be guests on GMA would have been a milestone in CLEAR’s career. But because arrangements had been made last minute, the guest appearance ultimately did not happen. Instead, GMA host T.J. Holmes surprised CLEAR that Wednesday with a different offer.

He began, “Unfortunately, our studio has been booked for weeks for the [BTS] performance. Fortu-

TV Daily / The Spectator

nately, though, you all know me. I have you all front-row seats to the performance this morning. This is not a joke.” The audience, who had been watching the exchange through a hidden camera, cheered as the members of CLEAR erupted into smiles and disbelieving laughter. The only thing they had to do now was to run through Times Square during rush hour to get to GMA’s set. The clock was ticking.

CLEAR made it, and they stood one foot away from the stage as BTS members performed their hit song “Idol.” After the show, the audience stayed to meet and greet BTS. CLEAR did the same, but they weren’t expecting fans of their own. Liu described, “There were fans lining up to see BTS, but when we came out as CLEAR, there were still people cheering for us. The fact that the fans show so much support for other fans, [made me] just so touched to be part of the community now.”

In less than an hour, a group of high school and college students experienced what they had dreamed of doing for a long time: meeting BTS. Their minds still in a high and their senses tangled in a web, the members of CLEAR naturally gravitated to the place where they showed tourists and New Yorkers the product of their dedication and work. “We basically stood outside Times Square, the place where we film, and stood around in a circle, trying to understand the surrealness of this moment,” Liu recalled.

Thirty minutes later, the group parted ways. While the other members headed downtown to celebrate, Liu went to school, just in time for third period class. That morning’s experience had checked off goals and created new ones. In terms of CLEAR’s future, Liu hopes that she and her members can perform at KCON, an annual Korean wave convention held in eight different countries. Beyond that, she wants to expand CLEAR as a dance group in general, not just for covering K-pop, but also for creating original choreography. “That [aligns] with my dream of being a performer and a dancer. I just want to see it be successful,” she said.

Liu’s living a double life, but finding balance between academics and dancing has gotten a little easier. “I’m always going to be stressed about school,” she said. “But now I’m coming in with an attitude of bettering myself and those around me.”

345 Chambers Street: Special in More than One Way

By Yasmine Chokrane and Talia Kahan

Stuyvesant High School currently houses around 3,500 students and staff, each of whom navigates the 10-story building, and they bump into one another on a daily basis. But we are not the only school inside this busy building. Stuyvesant is also home to more than just its own attendees: the school also accommodates a section of District 75, an immense citywide program that serves students with a range of disabilities.

The section of District 75 within the Stuyvesant building is geared toward post-high-school students who are on the autism spectrum.

Most of the students come from inclusion high school programs in which students take some of their classes in a normal high school but also do independent learning within their program. The other students come from self-contained classrooms where all the activities occur with the same group of students and with the same teacher.

The school, P226M, serves students from pre-kindergarten up to the age of 21, with 10 sites throughout Manhattan.

Within the program at Stuyvesant, there are a few different classrooms, each directed toward students with different needs.

It is a transition program between school and jobs that focuses on vocational skills and social skills, and explores job opportunities, placing a heavy emphasis on preparing their students for life after schooling. Elizabeth Goldstein, overseer of this site and a teacher in the program, explained, “We do person-centered planning, which means each student comes up with a plan for what they’re going to do once they finish our program.”

In Goldstein’s classroom, students take part in multiple activities and tasks throughout the day. In the morning, some students go to a vocational school where they learn technical skills while others go to work-study programming. “They go out to sites throughout Manhattan and they get on-the-job training, so they can develop skills for getting a job,” Goldstein explained. These sites include Battery Park City, Harlem Hospital, Goodwill, and CVS. In the afternoon, students do classroom work. These tasks include studying and reviewing job aspirations, planning trips to retail stores, and receiving on-site training.

For example, Russell, a student in the program, explained that he and Goldstein went onto the internet and explored jobs in his field of interest, natural hair styling. “I’m in natural hairstyling

and [Goldstein] knows that I love fashion and art,” he explained.

“She’s trying to help me work somewhere like a beauty store.”

In other classrooms, students spend more of the day together learning practical skills.

In Meghan Ryan’s classroom, students learn skills like grocery store math. They also travel as a group to work-sites around Manhattan, such as PetSmart and Goodwill.

The students who take part in the program are very enthusiastic about the year so far. Russell described that the most valuable thing he learned in the program was the importance of responsibility. “Even though I was taught in high school about responsibility, I did not really get it. But I feel like the one thing that I’ve really learned [is] responsibility. Because being here, I’ve realized that having a planner is really going to be important because it reminds [me] that I have to be at this place at this time or I have to be there at that specific time. So kind of managing responsibility in a very professional [way] has been really cool.”

Another student, Gabriel, described the Stuyvesant program as very successful.

“It’s really awesome,” he said.

For teachers though, instructing the students and planning programs is not always easy. In Ryan’s

classroom, it is difficult to find companies that are willing to work with the students. “I think that people who haven’t done it might be nervous about the fact that students with disabilities are coming in and have a preconceived notion of what they can do, and they haven’t seen what our students can actually bring to our table,” Ryan said.

Goldstein echoed, “For me, as the coordinator, [the most challenging thing is] always about developing the opportunities for our students and getting to know the right people that give the opportunities to us so that they can have experiences out in the community, working in certain businesses and being mentored in businesses by certain people, and always make that grow so that it’s not always the same experience [and] so that we have a range of experiences.”

However, when the teachers see the improvements in the students, the difficulties are shown to be worth it. Ryan explained that when she overhears students talking about their plans for the future, he feels very rewarded. Ryan said, “I really like when they’re talking to each other and [saying], ‘oh, I want to live in an apartment because of this’ and making dreams and goals for themselves.” Principal Imma Jardi described what makes her feel the most rewarded:

“The students; knowing that we did what we were supposed to, having the students succeed, [...] [and] teaching the students to do something and then they do it.”

Shamir, a student in Ryan’s classroom, hopes to work at PetSmart in the future because he “likes cute animals,” he said, especially pandas. Gabriel hopes to work in fashion in the future.

For now, he focuses on his own style and enjoys buying clothing, especially from Forever21.

Both students and teachers in P226M hope to build a closer relationship with the Stuyvesant community. Ryan explained, “I think any time that they can model off of a typically functioning peer will be a positive experience in just showing correct skills. Because [...] we’re also working on social skills, including being appropriate. So when you have a model that’s more your age, it’s sometimes an easier way to learn than [having] me telling them.” Goldstein echoed that engaging in some sort of peer mentoring program would be good for the students’ social schools.

Gabriel added on that he would “love to get to know to know the Stuyvesant students. It would be amazing. Hang out with them, argue with them, it would be great.”

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 9

Features What is the Best Costume You Have Ever Seen or Worn?

By THE FEATURES DEPARTMENT

“One of the best Halloween costumes I ever saw was done by 2018 graduate Alex Whittington a year ago. He had an incredible phoenix costume with a ton of makeup on his face, a red feather on his forehead, and an orange shirt and pants to complete the color scheme. The most incredible things were his wings; they were over six feet wide and allowed him to truly look like a majestic bird. I definitely won’t forget it!” —Julian Cunningham, sophomore

“A couple of years ago, while I was trick-or-treating, I saw someone dressed up as a moth, and he was stuck right next to someone dressed up as a lamp. It was definitely creative and something that I would never have thought of!” —Yi Fei Lin, junior “The best costume I have ever seen is an adolescent male [in] a white, short sleeve shirt depicting in block font the words, ‘Error 404: Costume Not Found.’”

—Benjamin Gallai, sophomore

“It would probably have to be this man I saw on the subway with a hamburger costume.

It was pretty noticeable among the vampires and witches [who] also crowded the train.” —Misaal Tabassum, sophomore “The coolest costume I’ve ever seen has to be the glow stick stick figure. That’s probably because I love glowsticks so I have a bias toward that costume. But I mean, who doesn’t like glowing sticks?” —Khandaker Ridwan, junior

“The most interesting costume I have seen is [one by] a pregnant woman who had a monster baby coming out of her; it was super bloody. I saw it on the streets of Manhattan.

This was a couple of years ago, but I still remember it very vividly.” —Sumaya Hazifur, sophomore “Someone actually made a fidget spinner costume. They stuck fidget spinners on their head.” —Cindy Mai, junior

“I once saw a person dressed up as a sumo wrestler.

The costume was worn around his torso and was inflatable.

It turned into a gigantic ball around his body to form a sumo wrestler wearing blue underwear. It was funny because his arms were thin, but his body was bulbous.” —Christine Gin, sophomore

More Than Just Stand-up

By LAMIA HAQUE

When people think of Stuyvesant, they imagine strict classes and hours of homework a day.

Among over 3000 students shuffling to get to their classes on time, there were four who were looking for a way to cool off and have fun after a long school day.

Some days, they would practice scenes or tell jokes during lunch, and what started out as a game soon turned into an idea for a club.

These four students were sophomores Syed Tajrian, Ammar Ahmed, Sayan Shil, and Saqif Abedin. They all met long before high school, with their friendship starting in first grade.

Ten years of friendship created a bond that later inspired the idea of a club where everyone could be comfortable with one another.

Tajrian and Ahmed were introduced to improv by Mansour

Elsharawy (‘18) in their freshman year, when he recruited them for his team. This improv team was for the Muslim-Interscholastic Tournament (MIST), a competition known throughout the nation.

To prepare for the regional tournament, they practiced almost every day after school. In the beginning, they were not sure of whether they could do it or not. “At first I didn’t think I would be able to do improv and think fast, but when I got on the team, I realized that I wasn’t too bad,” Tajrian commented. “[In] every practice we had, we would laugh like crazy and have a great time.” While it clearly took a lot of work, it brought the members of the team closer.

When the regional tournament came around, it was time to put their hard work to the test.

“I will say, there’s more pressure to be quick on your feet since you’re going head-on against oth-

er teams from around the country,” Ahmed said. It all proved to be worth it when they got first place in the regional tournament and then second place in Nationals. The experience showed them that improv was more than just stand-up comedy—it was an art.

Sophomore year came around and Tajrian and Ahmed were looking forward to practicing improv for the next MIST, but that was not for another six months. They practiced scenes during lunch, introducing improv to Shil and Abedin. The four of them sometimes stayed after school, hanging out and coming up with new ideas for possible scenes. One day, on the way home from one of these hangouts, Shil and Tajrian joked around about turning their hangouts into a club. While they found it amusing, the idea of having an improv club meant that they could show other people what improv was all about.

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“I thought it would be cool to make it a club and give it more recognition because it really makes for a great time,” Tajrian said. It would be a safe space where people could be themselves with no judgment, no consequences, and no inhibitions.

The next day, they shared this idea with Ahmed and Abedin. They all thought it would be nice to practice with more people. At the time, it was just an idea, but the process of turning it into something substantial proved to be harder than they thought. Tajrian is the president of the club, with Ahmed and Shil as vice presidents, and Abedin as secretary. There was still the fear of the club not being known to many and eventually dying out, but the four sophomores took the risk, believing that it would be worth it.

The risk proved to be a success, with the first meeting on Thursday, October 4 having over 30 people. “The first meeting was

fun, and my biggest fear was that we wouldn’t be able to get people to participate in the games, but so many people wanted to be part of the game we were playing or the scene we were doing at the moment,” Tajrian shared. Abedin added that everyone was involved and laughing; but more than that, they were making new friends.

Though the first meeting showed them the responsibilities of running a club, it also gave hope of a club that would soon be known to the entire school. Not only would it increase confidence, but it would also create a tightknit group, which is hard to find in such a large school. Inspired by some of their favorite comedians, including Ryan Stiles, Hasan Minhaj, and Jimmy Carr, the members hope to push people out of their comfort zone, showing them what they are truly capable of.

Page 10

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Editorials Staff Editorial

In Support of Independent Student Journalism

As students and editors tasked with continuing a 103-year-old tradition of independent student journalism, we are invested in upholding a high standard of reporting, writing, and analysis of important issues in our school community. We are also cognizant of our relationship with the staff and students we serve. But this past year has proven to be an especially challenging one to us as journalists.

Many members of the Stuyvesant community, including students and staff, refuse or are reluctant to talk to The Spectator. For example, the day after the escalator accident in September, a member of the administration turned away reporters looking for an interview, saying that it was “too early.” The Spectator’s interest in interviewing right after the accident comes from a mandate to cover such incidents with accuracy, when clarity of information is most essential. After the accident, sensationalist publications like the New York Post spread incorrect information, and rumors built on Facebook. Ambivalent statements released by the administration did little to satisfy students’ anxiety. Ultimately, the initial instinct to withhold information did more to feed the chaos than it did to heal it.

This general disregard for The Spectator’s role as a conduit of information was exemplified when Soph-Frosh SING! producers explicitly asked their members to refrain from talking to The Spectator about the platform collapse that occurred last spring. In the case of the set collapse, SING! members were trying to make sure that SING! would be able to continue in the future and were concerned that press coverage would contribute to SING!’s end.

The reluctance to facilitate The Spectator’s reporting also stems from a fear that Spectator cover-

age will antagonize the administration or the people in charge. It is important for us to emphasize to the administration and student body that the goal of reporting is to inform, not to assign blame.

We understand the fear and discomfort that comes with presenting the whole truth without resistance. Central to our legacy is that we are, at our core, a student newspaper. We often know the people we’re reporting on personally, have stakes in the clubs we’re writing about, and are under the jurisdiction of the faculty, of whom we may be critical. We sometimes struggle to balance our obligations as journalists and as members of the community.

In the course of its investigations and reporting, The Spectator often uncovers and publishes information that can portray Stuyvesant’s institutions in a negative light. When the results of a Spectator survey regarding academic dishonesty were used by the New York Post to paint Stuyvesant’s academics as tainted by rampant cheating, there were editors on the board who were just as upset by our choice to publish such statistics as much of our readership was.

By avoiding our reporters and giving disingenuous interviews, these groups are asking The Spectator to sweep negative information under the rug. Not only does that weaken the paper, it also weakens the school. Leaving academic dishonesty unreported does not mean it doesn’t exist, and neglecting to report accidents doesn’t stop them from happening again.

We believe that publishing the truth—good or bad—does the greatest service to our community. Our role in the school community is twofold: we provide agenda-free coverage to inform the student body and wider world about events at Stuyvesant, and

we provide an outlet for student writers to express their feelings about the world around them.

The Spectator does not seek to be an antagonist to the administration, the Student Union, or any other Stuyvesant organization. Our intention is to encourage accountability and improvement in these institutions, not to dismantle them.

And while we do use our platform to critique, we use it most often to celebrate the achievements and uniqueness of our peers. The Spectator provides coverage of all of Stuyvesant’s sports teams, theatrical events, and STEM teams. We give shoutouts to exceptionally performing individuals or teams and connect ordinary students to their school’s clubs and organizations. Our Features department regularly interviews and writes profiles of teachers and students, bringing them schoolwide recognition.

Without us, these stories would be largely untold.

At the end of the day, we aren’t perfect. Sometimes we get details wrong in our reporting—not unlike any other news outlet—or let our personal relationships affect our reporting. Sometimes we let typos pass by our editors or struggle to interview our peers professionally. We do our best to produce The Spectator and have faith that the result, a news organization thriving in a school environment, is both important and special. As the world grows ever more hostile toward the press— think of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder or the pipe bombs sent to a number of targets, including CNN—the importance of public trust and support of journalism becomes clear. Whether it is Stuyvesant students cooperating with The Spectator or the American public defending a free press, journalism needs to be protected.

The stakes are high.

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Rec o r d

The Issue 1 article “Stuyvesant Recieves Million Dollar Donation for New Robotics Lab” incorrectly stated that Edwin Lin graduated in 2004. He graduated in 1993.

Supreme Court Justices are Human. Give Them Terms.

By Jonathan Schneiderman

In the United States, we hold elections for federal offices every two years. This is because, in a liberal society, power should not be a lifetime promise or right; it should be a tool, to be used responsibly. Without accountability, the guarantee of that becomes impossible.

And yet the United States― almost uniquely―makes one of the most powerful positions in its government, that of Supreme Court Justice, a lifetime appointment.

To be sure, there are good reasons to having lifelong terms.

Because justices only ever leave the court by retiring or passing away, Supreme Court seats have to be filled relatively rarely, which is good for two reasons. Firstly, Supreme Court appointments are a very important matter with which the Senate usually wants to deal with quickly, as the processes surrounding them can slow down or stop other work in the Senate―since 1975, the average time between the nomination of and the final vote on a Supreme Court nominee has been just over 68 days. And secondly, the Supreme Court benefits from being a pretty stable institution, chang-

ing gradually over time. Were the Supreme Court to change with the wind, the legal landscape of the country would change frequently and wildly. It would be difficult for even the most knowledgeable of legal experts to keep track of what exactly the law was, let alone the regular government officers who have to abide by it.

It would be a chaotic disaster.

Furthermore, some amount of unaccountability, despite that word’s illiberal connotation, is a desirable trait in a court; owing in part to its lifetime appointments, the Supreme Court is not subject to the ever-changing political whims of the country nearly as much as the rest of the government. While this can put a damper on rapid socio-economic reform, it can also stop nefarious populist trends in their tracks and make the graph of the country’s progress over time less oscillatory, if perhaps more shallow.

However, the Supreme Court’s lifetime appointments’ benefits are outweighed by their downside. First of all, people change, sometimes for the worse.

No one stays the same person their entire life, and a person could be an excellent potential Supreme Court Justice at the time of their appointment and then become a bad one with the

passage of time. Take, for instance, Justice Stephen Johnson Field, who insisted on staying on the court even after he became senile simply because he wanted to break John Marshall’s record.

While this danger is somewhat prevented by the existence of impeachment―one hopes, for instance, that a justice who started a neo-Nazi blog would be impeached immediately―it’s not eliminated. Thus, the creation of a periodic but rare procedure to remove justices from the court without the difficulty of impeachment would be a boon.

Secondly, life appointments discourage presidents from making older Supreme Court appointments. In the current system, presidents know that the amount of time that their appointments will last equals the amount of time left in their appointee’s (working) life; going on every Supreme Court vacancy in this century, it is until the appointee is about 80. Because presidents understandably want to get the most mileage possible out of their Supreme Court nominations, this incentivizes them to make younger appointments and, conversely, avoid older appointments.

To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with younger

A d v i sEr

Kerry Garfinkel

appointments and nothing inherently great about older appointments. The problem is that the current system tips the scale in the former’s favor; a president faced with a decision between an extremely well-qualified 60year-old and a slightly less qualified 50-year-old will be inclined to pick the 50-year-old, who has 10 more potential years of work than the 60-year-old. But if both had a guaranteed expiration date, the president could feel free to pick the better qualified 60-yearold.

Lastly, while the Supreme Court shouldn’t be exactly aligned with the spirit of the people at all times―there’s a reason Supreme Court cases aren’t decided by referendum. It also shouldn’t be as removed from that spirit as it is under the current system.

Lifelong appointments create a Court whose responsiveness to popular will is much more suited to the 18th century’s republican zeitgeist than to today’s more democratic one.

With the aim of remedying these issues while also preserving what’s good about the current system, I propose giving Supreme Court Justices nonrenewable 15-year terms. Nonrenewable just means that Supreme Court Justices would be limited

to one term; we don’t want justices running for their position as they reach the end of their first 15 years. 15 years is a good number because it’s a long time― Senate terms are only six years― that isn’t a multiple of four, the length of a president’s term. As a result, a firm single-party hold on Supreme Court seats seems unlikely.

Under this system, a president could comfortably pick a justice as old as 65―the age of the oldest appointee, Horace Lurton―without worrying that in doing so, they would be sacrificing the future of the Court.

If after 15 years, a justice wanted to stay on the court and the president agreed, the justice could be re-evaluated by the Senate to make sure they were still a good fit. And the Court would ultimately be more responsive to popular will while, with 15-year terms, never becoming its everchanging embodiment.

The United States’s government was designed to be changed.

The Constitution’s framers knew some parts of their document would eventually grow outdated, so they created an amendment process. For 230 years, this fundamental aspect of the Court has remained unchanged. It’s high time to change that.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 11

Opinions Failure of American Education For Mass of 22 Million

By Jenny Huang

cess.

While basic public education is compulsory by law for everyone under the Plyler v. Doe ruling, no law states that higher education is compulsory and that everyone must have equal access to higher education. Unfortunately, the lack of protection extended to illegal immigrants regarding their right to a higher education has been taken advantage of by states that want to promote an anti-illegal immigrant agenda. Georgia passed a ban in 2010 that barred undocumented immigrants from enrolling in top public universities in the state and paying lower in-state tuition to public colleges. Most recently, Georgia had passed an “anti-sanctuary campus bill” that prevented private universities in the state from adopting policies to protect their undocumented students in 2017. Similar restrictive policies instituted in Alabama and South Carolina take their anti-illegal immigrant sentiments even further by barring undocumented immigrants from public universities in the state altogether. These restrictive policies are still upheld by the state’s federal court due to the colleges being higher educational institutions, not basic education deemed necessary under federal law.

As postsecondary degrees become more and more essential in the job market, many undocumented immigrants are forced to forgo their career choices and education entirely due to their inability to attend public universities. Private universities with hefty price tags are not a choice for these undocumented families who lack the financial ability to pay for their children’s education. Even for the few undocumented immigrants that are able to pay for private universities, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina have made it clear that their private universities will not respect undocumented immigrants as students with the fundamental right to learn and will violate that right by persecuting them on the grounds of their illegal status. As a result, these states foster a society that continues to trap potentially skilled undocumented immigrants in a cycle of low-skilled labor and poverty. They struggle between wanting to contribute to the U.S. economy more meaningfully through higher skilled jobs that require higher education and the reality of lower-wage, low-skill jobs that they are forced into.

Those who administer these cruel policies justify them by pointing to the amount of tax dollars native-born Americans must spend educating undocumented immigrants. Anti-illegal immigration

“By denying these children a basic education, we deny them the ability to live within the structure of our civic institutions, and foreclose any realistic possibility that they will contribute in even the smallest way to the progress of our Nation.”—Opinion of the Court, Justice Brennan, Plyler v. Doe mented families from going to school. The American education system continues to oppress undocumented immigrants by taking advantage of their illegal status in the U.S. Just 10 years after Plyler v.

Doe, California passed California Proposition 187, which banned undocumented immigrant children from attending public primary and secondary schools. The proposition required school districts to “verify the legal status of each child enrolled within the district and the legal status of each parent or guardian of each child.” If stu-

date of birth and residency is crucial for schools to keep track of. It is indisputable that schools require this information, but the measures they take to acquire the information should not threaten undocumented immigrants. Measures that require families to disclose their immigration status should be made voluntary, and alternative methods of acquiring this information without the disclosure of immigration status should be provided. Schools can also request this information after enrollment to prevent illegal immigrants from being discouraged by the school application pro-

advocates claim that it takes a total of $59.8 billion to fund public education for undocumented children, children who have undocumented parents, legal immigrant students, and refugees. This $59.8 billion, provided by the American taxpayer, is being redirected to support illegal immigrant education and providing programs such as English Language Learners (ELL) and English as Second Language (ESL) that help immigrants with limited English proficiency master English and assimilate into American schools. Allowing undocumented immigrants access to higher edu-

Serena Chan / The Spectator

The first co-ed college in the U.S. wasn’t founded until 1833.

Segregation in American public education only officially ended in 1954 after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. Even after the acceptance of women into higher education and the abolition of Jim Crow laws, both women and African Americans were denied equal access to education due to overt racism and misogyny.

Though the ban on African Americans and women accessing education has been lifted, marginalized groups are still not provided with the same educational opportunities in 2018. Nonetheless, they are granted “equal” access to public education, and higher education is available for every citizen residing in the United States. Therefore, it is inconceivable that America continues to deny a population of possibly more than 22 million residing in the U.S. an education.

Our educational system has become a weapon against undocumented immigrants living in the United States. School systems across the U.S., from conservative states to sanctuary cities, have been denying undocumented immigrants the right to attend public schools in order to discourage them from staying in the country.

This is illegal. The Texas Legislature passed a law preventing undocumented immigrants from enrolling in Texas public schools in 1975. The Tyler Independent School District of Texas chose to implement a policy that required undocumented immigrants to pay tuition instead of rejecting them from the education system. When a group of undocumented Mexican students refused to pay tuition and were denied schooling, they began a lawsuit that challenged the school policy, which was subsequently deemed unconstitutional and rejected by the local court.

Unable to accept the local court’s ruling, the school superintendent, James Plyler, appealed to the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court ruling of Plyler v. Doe made in 1982, the Supreme Court stood

by Texas’s federal court rulings and reaffirmed that the undocumented immigrants should have access to free public education. They reaffirmed that the immigrants were under the jurisdiction of the 14th Amendment, which grants the equal protection of laws to anyone living within the U.S. This Supreme Court ruling, however, did not stop public schools from implementing policies that continue to deter undocu-

dents failed to validate their status but continued to attend school, California then threatened those undocumented students with prospective deportation by requiring schools to notify federal immigration authorities of their immigration status. Once again, in 2006, the Elmwood Park District of Illinois prevented an Ecuadorian girl holding an expired tourist visa from attending public high school on the basis of her undocumented status. Despite these measures having been rendered ineffective by federal laws, the damage was already done. After Proposition 187, the number of Latino students attending school in California diminished, and the teen who applied to the Elmwood Park school had fled the state in fear of being deported.

More shockingly, even socalled “sanctuary cities” with high populations of undocumented immigrants have unnecessary barriers preventing illegal immigrants from accessing basic education.

According to a study by the NYCLU in 2014, 75 school districts in NYC ask for a child’s birth certificate upon enrollment, 16 school districts require a student’s immigration status, and 10 school districts require parents’ social security information. Despite policies that outlaw these barriers for enrollment of undocumented children, an overwhelming number of school districts have not complied with the law, and almost all of the public schools in NYC require families to provide proof of residency. Undocumented families are pressured to comply with these policies because many of them don’t realize that these practices are outlawed. This serves as a further impediment for any undocumented family that does not want its information being exposed to federal immigration authorities that may use it to justify deportation. Even for the few undocumented families that recognize the illegitimacy of these policies, they are hesitant to reach out for help from authorities because of their immigration status and their fear of expulsion. Not only are undocumented students directly targeted in our education system, but legal students with undocumented parents are similarly deterred from education when they are pressured to submit confidential social security and residence information that may put their parents at risk.

Though some of the enrollment policies do pose barriers for undocumented immigrants, it is important for schools to have a list of the identities of their students.

Information such as the student’s

cation would put even more strain on taxpayers, who already are paying for undocumented children’s primary education.

But the same proponents also ignore that undocumented immigrants, if equipped with higher education and given the freedom to work higher paying jobs, would be able to contribute an annual increase of $42 billion to the U.S. economy. These undocumented immigrants include the DREAMers, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children under the age of 16. They are under the protection of the DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, program created by the Obama administration. DACA allows DREAMers to go to school and work in the U.S. without facing the risk of deportation. According to the American Action Forum, DACA recipients are employed in every U.S. industry, and each of the recipients contributes an average of $109,000 to the annual U.S. GDP. This altogether adds up to around a $42 billion annual increase in GDP, resulting in higher tax revenues for the U.S. government. The DREAMers’ success reflects the clear benefits of educating undocumented immigrants and allowing them to work higher wage jobs with access to American higher education.

Still, critics would argue that $42 billion is less than the $59.8 billion in taxes that Americans would have to pay to educate people like the DREAMers. However, they neglect the fact that the $59.8 billion doesn’t exclusively represent the cost of educating undocumented immigrants. $59.8 billion is an inflated cost representing public education of legal refugees, more than 37 million legal immigrants, legal citizens with undocumented parents, and illegal immigrant children. Services such as ESL and ELL must be provided regardless of the presence of illegal immigrant children. While $59.8 billion is far greater than the actual cost of public education extended to illegal immigrant children, DREAMers represent only a portion of illegal immigrant children who are able to contribute meaningfully to the U.S. economy. The DREAMers program does not encompass all the undocumented and educated youths in the U.S. That being said, undocumented youths who are not DREAMers, along with DREAMers, possibly contribute much more than $42 billion annually to the U.S. economy, whereas far less than $59.8 billion is spent on educating them.

On the other hand, those who firmly refuse to acknowledge the benefit of educating undocumented immigrants seem to have no qualms about spending their tax dollars on funding ICE, or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the National Immigration research forum, ICE spends an exorbitant $3.1 billion on arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants as of 2018. Because of

new Trump administration policies calling for the immediate detention and deportation of “all removable immigrants,” ICE’s spending has increased dramatically from $2.3 billion in 2016 to $3.1 billion in 2018 as it began to apprehend low-priority undocumented immigrants for removal. As a result, detention facilities must be expanded and more tax money must come out of U.S. citizens’ pockets as they fund beds and living expenses of detained immigrants that for the most part, commit little to no crime. Not only is it nearly impossible to deport more than 22 million illegal immigrants, ICE detainment and deportation also cost tax dollars that can be better spent on the education of undocumented children, who tend to contribute back to the U.S. economy more often.

That being said, ridding the U.S. of 22 million undocumented immigrants is not a plausible resolution to relieving the high tax burdens that U.S. workers and citizens face. Those continuing to justify the deprivation of education for undocumented immigrants and supporting their deportation are confining illegal immigrants to a helpless state where they are unable to contribute meaningfully. While arguing that illegal immigrants will hurt native taxpayers and the economy, they refuse to let illegal immigrants contribute to the economy by denying their right to public and higher education. Despite being presented with the fact that undocumented immigrants, when educated and free to pursue higher education, boost the tax revenue of American citizens overall, opponents of undocumented immigration continue to push forward their policies, restricting undocumented immigrants from getting an education. These policies are not founded upon practicality, but upon venomous xenophobia and nativism, which are fostered by unreasonable fear toward undocumented immigrants.

Protecting undocumented immigrants’ right to education—both primary and higher—means that we must dispel the fear and anger often directed at them. The current administration has done nothing but perpetuate growing fear and nativism. To combat this nativism, media and education all have a role in portraying illegal immigrants not as a group of thieves and criminals, but as humans who are deserving of fundamental rights and equal opportunities. To prevent the circumvention of laws that protect undocumented immigrants’ rights, authorities should respect the immigration status of those that seek help. By keeping the identity of undocumented immigrants confidential and portraying a more accurate depiction of undocumented immigrants, we are taking a step closer to not only protecting the essential rights of undocumented immigrants, but also dispelling the strong xenophobia that persists in the U.S.

Page 12

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Opinions Kava-nope, Indeed

By Jonathan Schneiderman

Michael Hu / The Spectator

After an unusually emotionally charged month even by the standards of the current political climate, Brett M. Kavanaugh was voted and sworn into the Supreme Court on October 6, 2018.

His ascension followed several credible sexual assault allegations against him and an emergence of an image of him as a deeply dishonest and questionable individual.

It’s a damn tragedy on so many levels.

Dr. Christine Ford first said that Kavanaugh had assaulted her in 2012, when he was a federal judge of high enough stature that he was considered, as she noted at the time, a potential Republican Supreme Court pick; she came out with her story to her husband and her therapist in couples therapy. After Kavanaugh was reported to be on President Donald Trump’s shortlist for potential Supreme Court nominees in July 2018, she contacted her congressperson, Anna Eshoo, with the allegation; upon Kavanaugh’s nomination, Eshoo met with Ford and the two decided to bring the matter to Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator. At Ford’s request, Feinstein kept the allegation under wraps until it was leaked to The Intercept (and not

by Feinstein or people associated therewith).

Following The Intercept’s report, Ford decided to go public, and after a week and a half, she and Kavanaugh both testified in front of the Senate on September 27. Her testimony was compelling and deeply disturbing, and she showed visible trauma and utter certainty about the identity of her assailant.

None of what Ford said would be enough evidence to convict Kavanaugh in a court of law―not even close.

Though it is not the case that Ford had no evidence―testimony is evidence―it is absolutely the case that Kavanaugh was not proven guilty and that, in the eyes of criminal law, people are innocent until proven guilty. This idea, that people should be seen as innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, is appropriately called the reasonable doubt standard.

But the reasonable doubt standard is a principle of criminal law and not a general, all-purpose truism; it protects innocents, such as the targets of government persecution. The idea behind it is that it would be better for the government to let 10 guilty people go than for the government to jail even one innocent one. So, at the risk of letting some wrongdoers go, we apply the reasonable doubt standard. It’s a thumb on the scale of justice in favor of the accused.

But not being on the Supreme Court is very different from being in prison, and the standard to which Supreme Court nominees should be held is very different from the standard to which the criminally charged should be held.

The stakes in the court of public opinion are entirely unlike those in the court

of criminal law, so its rules are, rightly, different. Indeed, if the standard for accused Supreme Court nominees can be phrased in “x until proven y” terms, it is the very opposite of the reasonable doubt standard: guilty until proven innocent. It would be better to keep 10 innocent people off the Supreme Court on trumped-up charges than to put one sexual assaulter on. If a Supreme Court nominee faces a credible allegation of sexual assault and gives an equally credible refutation, the right thing for senators to do is to vote against the nominee. Though that principle may open the door to politically motivated false claims of sexual assault, having some innocent people deprived of Supreme Court seats would be a small price to pay for a culture that supports sexual assault victims.

As it happens, though, that was not the situation here. While Ford was and continues to be highly credible, Kavanaugh lost credibility at his hearing on September 27 and has only continued to fall in credibility since then. Before the allegations came out, I liked Kavanaugh a lot―so much that I wrote an article in which the first half could have been set aside and published as its own proKavanaugh piece. After the allegations came out, I saw no reason to disbelieve Ford, but I also saw no particular reason to disbelieve Kavanaugh, of whom my impression was still otherwise positive.

That changed at the hearing.

I am not referring to Kavanaugh’s teary bluster and outrage. If he is, in fact, innocent, it is a reasonable emotional reaction. I do not expect anyone, even potential Supreme Court Justices, to be able to calmly deal with false, lifedestroying allegations. I am referring to how he talked about the allegations; he described them as “a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, [and] revenge on behalf of the Clintons.”

Having made this shocking claim, Kavanaugh did not provide anything in the way of evidence to support it. Indeed, the only times the Clintons came up again in the hearing were when Kavanaugh was discussing his time in the Ken Starr investigation and when Democratic senators referred back to Kavanaugh’s conspiracy-mongering. Kavanaugh did not explain how he knew that Ford’s allegations were the product of a left-wing plot or where he was getting his information. He simply made an outrageous and uncorroborated claim and let it sit.

That behavior is particularly unbecoming of a potential Supreme Court Justice. Of all the qualities important to a Supreme Court Justice―impartiality, wisdom, legal knowledge, concision, loyalty to the Constitution―none is so fundamentally necessary as the basic continued on page 13

The Clash over Kavanaugh

By Rohit Roy The political debacle that Brett Kavanaugh endured, from his nomination all the way to his confirmation, was abominable, to say the least. Since Trump announced Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination in July, Democrats, motivated by the vitriolic rhetoric of an upset base, had been chipping away at his nomination. To many Democrats, it didn’t seem to matter who the nominee was. It didn’t matter to them how qualified he or she was. Liberals including the likes of Bernie Sanders didn’t hesitate to oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination. Sanders stated, “We must mobilize the American people to defeat” Judge Kavanaugh on July 10, the day after Kavanaugh’s nomination. Before analyzing the 307 outstanding opinions Kavanaugh had written throughout his 12 years on the bench or listening to Kavanaugh’s testimony, he and his progressive associates were out to sink Kavanaugh. Ultimately, Kavanaugh fought tooth and nail for his seat and got what he deserved. Throughout his outstanding judicial career, Kavanaugh has wholly merited his position on the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Professor Christine Blasey Ford— the woman who told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago when they both were in high school—delivered a wellworked testimony. Few can say she wasn’t a compelling and sympathetic witness.

However, Kavanaugh was just as compelling and sympathetic for his life was in tatters. He spent his whole life working hard to achieve his distinguished judicial record, a record now under assault. He spent decades acquiring the tremendous respect many have for him today. His integrity and good name were being dragged through the mud by Democrats willing to say anything to keep him off the Court.

Make no mistake, it is unanimously agreed upon that sexual assault is a heinous crime. And as the #MeToo movement has shown the world in recent years, women deserve to have their voices heard.

However, that doesn’t mean that every allegation of sexual assault must be automatically believed, particularly if it is made without any shred of corroborating evidence.

Giving Judge Kavanaugh a seat on the Supreme Court does not make the American legal system dysfunctional. Simply put, the American legal system decided that an accusation of sexual assault that was not supported by any evidence doesn’t make the accused guilty. An uncorroborated accusation shouldn’t result in an innocent man losing his reputation, good name, job, and respect from everyone, including his wife and daughters. In America, concrete evidence is required along with an accusation to prove one is guilty of a crime.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave their questioning time to Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, the woman they brought in to question Ford about her allegations against Kavanaugh. This was a display of courtesy by the Republicans—they surrendered their questioning time to an experienced female prosecutor to make sure Ford was heard without partiality. After listening to Ford’s testimony, Mitchell released a blistering five-page-long memo in which she highlighted 12 major inconsistencies in Ford’s testimony. In the memo, she wrote, “I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee. A ‘he said, she said’ case is incredibly difficult to prove. But this case is even weaker than that.”

The first prominent inconsistency Mitchell mentions is the witnesses Ford mentions. Ford named one of her lifelong friends, Leland Ingham Keyser, who was allegedly at the event Ford described.

Despite this fact, Keyser has repeatedly stated that she does not recall the party ever happening and has fiercely refused to corroborate Ford’s story. Along with Ms. Keyser, Ford named two others: Mark Judge and Patrick “PJ” Smyth. They were allegedly in the room where the assault occurred. When the FBI interviewed and investigated these men, they said, under

penalty of perjury, that they “have no recollection of any such attack taking place.”

In her memo, Mitchell points out the witnesses that Ford named not only fail to corroborate her testimony, but also confirm Kavanaugh’s.

In addition to addressing the lack of corroborating witnesses, prosecutor Rachel Mitchell also detailed how Ford kept changing her story about “when the alleged attack occurred.” When Ford contacted The Washington Post in July, she said she was assaulted in the “mid-1980s.”

A couple weeks thereafter, she wrote her letter to Senator Feinstein. In the letter, she claimed the assault took place in the “early ‘80s.” In her polygraph, she stated that the encounter happened “one high school summer in the early ‘80s.” Ford told The Washington Post that the assault happened in her “late teens,” yet she told the Senate Judiciary Committee she was 15 when she was assaulted. Mitchell wrote, “Although it is common for victims to be uncertain about dates, Dr. Ford failed to explain how she was suddenly able to narrow the timeframe to a particular season and particular year.”

During the hearings, an ex-boyfriend of Ford provided a written declaration that fiercely contradicted claims she made in her testimony. In her testimony, Ford said she “never had any discussions with anyone […] on how to take a polygraph” or “given any tips or advice to anyone who was looking to take a polygraph test.” In his statement, he wrote that Ford once helped a friend named Monica McLean prepare for a polygraph examination. He also mentioned that “Ford used her expertise in psychology to coach McLean on ways to master a polygraph […] Ford never mentioned Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh and never claimed to be a victim of sexual assault.” This raises big questions about Ford’s credibility.

Along with these prominent inconsistencies, Ford never named Kavanaugh as the attacker until his nomination. When Ford showed the New York Post her therapy notes from a marriage counseling session in 2012 where she described the alleged assault, reporter Emma Brown wrote that Ford did not name Kavanaugh as the assailant then. The first time she named Kavanaugh as the perpetrator on the record was after he was nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. In Mitchell’s memo, she wrote, “No name was given in her 2012 [or 2013] marriage therapy notes.

The only time she supposedly named Kavanaugh as her assailant was to her husband. In any event, it took Dr. Ford over 30 years to name her assailant.”

Many have mused that since Kavanaugh was not undergoing a criminal trial, due process and the rule of law need not apply. Many Democrats, including Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey, unjustifiably stated that it didn’t matter that Kavanaugh was guilty or innocent because it wasn’t a criminal trial. He said, “Due process doesn’t apply because it wasn’t a criminal trial. […] Enough questions [have been] raised that Kavanaugh shouldn’t become Supreme Court justice.” These statements are completely unacceptable.

This verdict wasn’t just about confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. His life was in the balance; if he was denied a seat on the Supreme Court, he would most likely have lost his job on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, along with his ability to teach, coach his daughter’s basketball team, or ever show his face in public again. The fact that Booker and his fellow Democratic senators believed they could ruin Kavanaugh’s life simply due to “enough questions [being] raised,” and a severe lack of evidence to support those “questions” is appalling.

Along with the lack of evidence, the timing of Ford’s allegations to the Senate Judiciary Committee added fuel to the already raging political fire surrounding Kavanaugh’s nomination. Her timing deeply undermined the credibility of her allegations. The problem wasn’t that Ford waited nearly 40 years to accuse Kavanaugh publicly. As studies by the University of California have continued on page 13

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 13

Opinions Kava-nope, Indeed continued from page 12

ability to look at evidence and draw conclusions therefrom (and, just as importantly, not to draw conclusions that are not there).

In addition to making outrageous and unevidenced claims, Kavanaugh likely showed brazen dishonesty at his hearing. A “devil’s triangle” traditionally refers to a ménage à trois, not trois verres, and his roommate from Yale has written that Kavanaugh was not using mysterious, hitherto unheard-of definitions of phrases like “devil’s triangle” and “boofing.” Additionally, his answers about his drinking, suggesting that he was never a heavy drinker, fly in the face of the testimony of his college friends and the fact that he was in a bar fight in 1985.

On top of everything going against Kavanaugh, there is quite a bit going for Ford―mainly that no version of events where she’s not telling the truth makes plausible sense. If she’s lying, she would have had to think to invent this lie in 2012, taking aim at one guy who could eventually be on the Supreme Court.

She would have had to then actively try to keep her allegation hidden from the public or the media. She would have had to add another person, Mark Judge, into her story, doing nothing but creating another witness against her.

The other scenario in which Ford is not telling the truth is the one that Republican Senators tried to push, and that’s that while Ford was assaulted by someone, she wasn’t assaulted by Kavanaugh. As is too often the case in today’s politics, this is a simple matter of science; as John Hopkins neuroscientist Richard Huganir told The Washington Post, “The person lying on top of you—who[m you]’d previously met— you’re not going to forget that.” Sexual assault survivors can have fuzzy memories. They can forget or misremember details. They can even forget or misremember the identity of an anonymous assailant. But they do not misremember

The Clash over Kavanaugh

the identities of assailants whom they know. As Ford herself, a psychologist at Palo Alto University, explained at the hearing, “The level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain [...] encodes memories into the hippocampus.

And so the trauma-related experience is kind of locked there, whereas other details kind of drift.”

One of the major arguments against Ford, and a common argument brought generally against women who bring sexual assault allegations years after the alleged fact, is that she took years to come out. Had she actually been sexually assaulted, so this argument goes, she would have reported immediately. This argument shows either a fundamental lack of understanding of or a refusal to understand what sexual assault survivors go through. Sexual assault survivors usually don’t want to relitigate their trauma, and, even if they’re in a supportive environment, they can be extremely reluctant to come out. One’s sexual assault is not usually a topic one wants to talk about at all.

Kavanaugh should have been disqualified from being a justice the moment a credible allegation came out against him. His disqualification should have been solidified by his performance at his hearing. Instead, he is now an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

His ascent sets in stone a Court ruled by a hardline conservative majority that will decide the future of, among much else, gender equality for decades to come. This is a majority that Republicans won by court-packing and that will rule against the popular majority that has voted for Democrats in six out of the most recent seven presidential elections.

November 6 quickly approaches.

Democrats seem poised to take back the House and have a plausible shot at the Senate. But both of those are far from guarantees, and if Democrats want to make sure their voice is actually heard in their government, they would do well to vote.

continued from page 12

shown, many women keep experiences of sexual assault a secret. There are also clear physiological reasons why victims wait for years before sharing their story.

What made her timing problematic was the fact that she didn’t make her allegations prior to Kavanaugh’s nomination.

This made her allegations seem like a political plot by the Democrats to attempt to keep a Supreme Court seat open until 2020.

In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh vehemently, emotionally, and angrily denied the allegations made against him. He was described as being “belligerent” and “fiercely partisan.” He called the allegations made against him “revenge on the behalf of the Clintons.” He later wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his behavior. This led many to argue that Kavanaugh does not have the proper temperament to be a justice on the Supreme Court. Though a case can be made that he does not have judicial temperament, his behavior in his testimony makes him only human. As far as he was concerned, he was being framed for a heinous crime that he did not commit.

His wife was the subject of death threats, and his daughters couldn’t go to school due to excessive bullying. People were sending him ricin in the mail, and he lost many of his endorsements. He could no longer teach at Harvard, and he couldn’t coach his daughter’s basketball team. His life was being torn apart. Kavanaugh simply exhibited the signs of a family man who was hurt due to the unjustified suffering of his wife, children, parents, and his whole family.

Aside from the erroneous allegations of sexual assault made against Kavanaugh, he has a golden resume from his lifetime of public service. After graduating cum laude from Yale, Kavanaugh began his legal career as a law clerk under Judge Ken Starr. Starr has commended Kavanaugh for having “a bright legal mind” and firmly supported him to be appointed to

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the Supreme Court. After President Bush won the presidency in 2000, Kavanaugh joined his administration as White House Staff Secretary. During his time in the White House, Kavanaugh played a very important role in advising President Bush, particularly in his efforts to identify and confirm judicial nominees. Kavanaugh was subsequently nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by President Bush in 2003, where he served as a judge for the 12 years. During his time as a judge on the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh appointed the most female law clerks in the history of the court.

As many as 65 of these women came out publicly after Ford’s allegations of sexual assault to sign a letter supporting Kavanaugh’s nomination. Having such a distinguished judicial record and dozens of female colleagues testifying about his good character diminish the odds of him being an alleged sexual predator. His lifetime of public service clearly exhibits his good nature and qualification for being on the Supreme Court.

Any Trumpian Supreme Court nomination was destined to become a national drama from the moment it was made.

Right after President Trump announced his nomination, Democrats came out and publicly opposed Kavanaugh simply for political reasons. Thus, when the Democrats learned about Ford’s allegations, they waited until the last minute to play their trump card in an effort to delay and ultimately stop Kavanaugh’s nomination. But Feinstein and her Democratic companions overplayed their hand. In a “search and destroy” mission against Judge Kavanaugh, Democrats threw the constitution out of the window. They ignored basic concepts of the American justice system, including due process.

There was insufficient corroborating evidence revealed to support Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh. Ford displayed several inconsistencies in her testimony, and her story did not add up. In the end, Kavanaugh was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and rightly so.

Page 14

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Arts and Entertainment music

By Andrew Ng “I want you all to myself / Don’t leave none for nobody else / I am an animal with you,” Troye Sivan sings in a mourning, transient echo that rings of youth and naïveté—a stark contrast to the lyrics. Troye Sivan, who broke in the music industry with his Polaroid-perfect debut effort, “Blue Neighbourhood,” quickly became known as a torchbearer for the LGBTQ cultural movement, particularly for gay teens like me who often find their perspective underrepresented. Sivan’s sophomore studio album, “Bloom,” plays like a Tumblr-inspired gay fanfiction with somewhat abrupt imagery and allusions, as the title track suggests, but we’re not complaining. It’s rare enough for gay teenage boys to have a taste of romantic pop culture material (albeit highly idealized), and Sivan carves such a niche for us.

The album is a medley of beautifully inspired ballads that explore that niche, but some songs just fall completely flat. “My, My, My!” is an uninspired synth pop song with terribly clichéd lyrics; it

Troye Sivan’s Contribution to Gay Culture screams Sivan’s intention for pop radio material but lacks substantive lyrics that separate it from the myriad of existing pop songs on airplay. The bridge has an awkward build to the chorus, and when you finally do reach the chorus, there is an irritating deep voice rasping in the background.

On the other hand, “Bloom,” the title track, is lyrically beautiful. It would really be an enjoyable poem.

The bridges build nicely, immediately urging listeners to feel vulnerable with lyrics like “Promise me you’ll hold my hand if I get scared now” and “Cause it’s true baby / I’ve been saving this for you baby” while simultaneously paying homage to the romantic experiences that gay teens have to explore with often no guidance from someone trusted. But the

In the age of revival punk, so strong that any given street is stampeded by Doc Martens and the abundance of colored hair makes it look like tangled yarn from above, it is easy to forget the places where it all started. It is easy to forget about the nightclubs and bars where short riffs became iconic and alcohol poured in steadily like gasoline to keep everything functioning smoothly. An icon of the punk/goth genre, Nick Cave will be performing his most recent album (released in 2016) live at Barclays Center on October 26, which warrants a reexamination of his musical history.

While Cave was by no means the beginning of any punk era, he created his own genre of gothic rock that fueled other musical movements of the time. Starting from a childhood smelling of books and incense, gothic literature and Anglicism became part of the voice for a nation. Cave would grow up to write songs heard like perverse but beauti-

Television

By Miranda Lepri Season two of Nick Kroll’s animated comedy “Big Mouth,” a raunchy series that follows a group of middle schoolers through puberty, dropped on Netflix last week after months of hype, and it didn’t disappoint. In its sophomore season, the show proved itself capable of straddling the line between disgusting and charming in 10 26-minute episodes, all continuing to follow a group of middle schoolers as they navigate the pitfalls of puberty.

The series focuses on Nick (Nick Kroll), Andrew (John Mulaney), and Jessi (Jessi Klein). The second season continues to develop season 1 plotlines, like Nick’s insecurity about his lack of pubic hair, Andrew’s humiliating relationship drama, and Jessi’s parents’ divorce.

The show also features “hormone monsters,” creatures that embody tweenage horniness, for each of the kids, and introduces a new monster, the Shame Wizard (David Thewlis), who tortures the friends with another middle school staple: selfloathing.

Shame Wizard isn’t the only

Serena Chan / The Spectator

van’s albums, both “Blue Neighbourhood” and “Bloom,” is the

awkward production. Sivan’s album is achingly textured and perfectly suited for some of the ballads he writes, but there is often an oddly produced bridge that corrupts the flow of aforementioned ballads, with a key change and tempo change that is unnecessary. For example, in “FOOLS” from “Blue Neighbourhood,” the last 30 seconds are distorted to the point that it is bothering and interrupting the flow of the song that would otherwise be a nice ballad. Of course, many of these decisions are made by the producer, who is likely integrating highly edited portions into the songs to appeal to mainstream airplay that favors EDM and dance pop. But it doesn’t work with Sivan’s voice nor does it appeal to Sivan’s main audience, which mainly consumes indie music, known for not being

overproduced.

There are three tracks that are the saving grace of what would be the remnants of a popwashed pile of songs that are more or less indistinguishable from one another. The opening track, “Seventeen,” feels celestial in composition, while addressing his romantic experience that many gay teens share. Sivan, in the gripping ballad, retells how he dated much older men in the exploration of his own sexuality. Unlike many of the other songs, the production in this song definitely works, as the finished product sounds very glossy and otherworldly. “What a Heavenly Way to Die” also definitely works in terms of production.

The song lets you sit back, if you want, to imagine soft wisps of ocean water nipping at your toes, sunkissed and in love. “Animal,” the closing track, diverges completely from its feral implications. Emotional, articulate (“No angels could beckon me back”), and vulnerable, the song is a nice reminder of what Troye Sivan is capable of.

Murder in Music

music

By Isabelle Sanderson

chorus is ultimately anticlimactic, as it doesn’t sound particularly intriguing or even logical, making it feel like a producer choice.

A major flaw in Si-

ful poetry, as well as books, screenplays, and operas.

In high school during the 1970s, Nick Cave formed his first band, The Boys Next Door, which was all that was characteristic of punk music at the time. They would later metamorphosize into the band Birthday Party and release their hit album “Junkyard” in 1982 in London. The songs were loud and frantic, with elements that sounded like beating on trash cans or screaming with nails in your mouth. Deeply personal in a subtle sort of way, the music contained lines such as “two dead marines, standing in a row” (“Junkyard”) that were blunt enough to warrant emotion from the listener. This, combined with the repeated words like “king,” “honey,” and “sac,” creates a visceral feeling of being surrounded in sounds and lyrics that don’t quite mean anything on their own.

Birthday Party soon broke up, and a space opened up for more of the same punk rock, but what filled it was completely new. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was formed, blending epic with poetry and disturbing fairy

tales with lessons in morality and mortality. The band grappled with death most commonly, creating eerie storylike songs that executed characters swiftly, death being just another tool to carry out justice or make a story progress. The most notable example of such songs can found in the classic album, “Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads,” which told the chilling stories of carnage, often through an enigma of a female lead (the singer changing from song to song).

The wispy and airy voice of the woman would combine with Cave’s own dark and brooding method of speak-singing to create an endlessly disturbing dichotomy.

It is the band’s most recent album, “Skeleton Trees,” (2016) that is being performed in Brooklyn this month on its second tour (along with a few other classics). While still dealing with the perplexity of death, this time the album takes on a humble attitude, as it was completed after Cave’s son plummeted from the cliffs of Brighton, England in a tragic accident at the meager age of 15. Right from the album cover, you

can tell that these songs don’t deal with death in the same almost arrogant tone that they had before. The cover art is lacking, being comprised of a technological green font on an entirely black background; simple, somber, and completely unlike the eccentric and stimulating covers of any other album.

The actual songs, each with a cryptic title such as “Magneto” or “Rings of Saturn,” have that same sense of disturbing genius that accompanies his other pieces. However, this time, the vocals seem to almost drown in the atmospheric and lilting instrumentals. From what you can make out, there is talk of fate and the unknown; visuals of cages and slumber. The lyrics themselves, phrases such as “with my voice, I am calling you” (a theme that Cave repeats several times in the song “Jesus Alone”) seem to loop and get twisted around until they don’t quite make sense, perhaps attributing to the feeling of real loss and grief that is apparent throughout the work. Other songs, such as “Girl in Amber,” contain the same sort

of female enigma so popular in his earlier songs; however, this time, she doesn’t speak but rather he describes her as being “trapped forever, spinning down the hall,” giving yet another feeling of speechlessness that might be associated with deep grief.

Very simply, the album is devastatingly sensitive but so strangely beautiful that you are forced to consider why you are so drawn to such obvious tortured grief.

While not fun or even completely musically satisfying, Cave’s songs are best listened to on long walks, and you don’t ever totally get it. But that’s what makes it so incredible.

It’s music that is closer to literature in its form and it blends the two in such a perfect ratio that the manner can’t help but be repeated. Today we see bands such as “The Ministry of Wolves” and “Tenement Halls” reusing the formula of blending story with song. With the resurgence of such themes, it is important to consider the past and revisit the beginnings of an era—to consider Nick Cave again.

Season 2 of “Big Mouth” is Out and Grosser than Ever

new character in season two; we also meet Gina (Gina Rodriguez), a classmate of the group whose massive boobs draw gradewide attention. As with most of the material, the show deftly balances crude humor with more sincere moments, from Nick and Andrew leering at her chest to Jessi inciting gradewide slutshaming. The sexual harassment Gina deals with is often presented via the juvenile humor that makes “Big Mouth” so appealing; the show can’t help her, even when the subject matter gets increasingly disturbing. “Big Mouth” definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously.

This goes for Jessi’s storyline too, as she deals with her warring parents and eventually depression.

She shoplifts, coerces friends into doing drugs, and acts out all of the cliché markers of a depressed teenage girl. The writers don’t romanticize mental illness, nor do they give it a central role in the season.

Its place in the show is pretty twodimensional, so while the intent might have been to approach depression with a more satirical take, it doesn’t totally deliver.

E p i sode

Maryann Foley / The Spectator

five is another notable example of the writers tackling important issues. “The Planned Parenthood Show,” set in the kids’ sex ed class, is a collection of skits featuring Nathan Fillion (and plenty of dick jokes) that describes the role of Planned Parent- hood in women’s reproductive health care. The episode features preachy oneliners about the complexity of the organization that read almost like an overexaggerated PSA, as well as cartoonish misogynist villains.

That might just be what the show does best. While “Big Mouth” might not be making too much new or complex social commentary, it reflects a culture in which issues like menstruation, mental health, and reproductive health are normalized and destigmatized. They can be featured in comedy alongside more common subjects of humor. The

show is insanely watchable, fastpaced, and punchy, despite the numerous heavy topics it tackles, and for that the writers must be commended.

Even so, for anyone looking for a hard-hitting series, this isn’t the series for you. While the social themes are important, the show is still, at its heart, a comedy. It’s nice to see the show mature and harness its viewership to do some good, but part of the show’s niche is simple satire, so expecting complexity may be a bit of a stretch. The issues portrayed are overexaggerated and oversimplified; that’s what makes it so hilarious. The tradeoff is that it also means if you’re expecting a more nuanced touch, “Big Mouth” probably won’t deliver.

Basically, season two of “Big Mouth” is more everything. As the characters get increasingly developed, the charming moments are more so, but the same goes for the crass ones. The balancing of extremes is one of the show’s biggest appeals, and the writers have taken it to the next level, so if you were a fan of season one, expect more of the same, but better.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 15

Arts and Entertainment Get A Life: The Cultured Edition

By The Arts and Entertainment Department

ONGOING FOOD FAIR Bronx Night Market @ Fordham Plaza, Bronx until 10/27 TOUR The Ride @ 42nd St and 8th Ave until 10/30 $74 ART SHOW “African American Portraits: Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s” @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art until 11/6 FREE

october

26

26

friday

friday

27

TOUR Brooklyn Street Art Tour @ Bushwick Collective $12.50

saturday

PARADE #1000Cranes Public Art Installation Freeman Plaza West

28

PERFORMANCE “Amateur Night at the Apollo” @ Apollo Theater until 11/21 $22-$34

sunday

MUSICAL “Musical Haunted House 2018” @ Brooklyn Music School $8-$10

FESTIVAL The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze @ Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson until 11/24 $16-$27

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tuesday

31

wednesday

ART SHOW “Andy Warhol: Shadows”@ Whitney Museum until 12/15 FREE

ART SHOW “Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich” @ Jewish Museum until 1/6/19 FREE

CONCERT Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds @ Barclays Center $19.50-$99.50

26

OPERA “Marnie” @ Metropolitan Opera House until 11/10 $30-$170

ART SHOW “Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy” @ The Met Breuer until 1/6/19 FREE

friday

OPEN MIC MOCA Music & Mic Night @ Museum of Chinese in America FREE

STC FALL MUSICAL “Runaways” @ Murray Kahn Theater, Stuyvesant High School 10/31, 11/2, 11/3 $10

31

wednesday

PARADE Village Halloween Party @ Bleecker Street FREE

31

wednesday

PARADE Annual Halloween Parade @ Park Slope FREE

november

MUSEUM EXHIBIT “Harry Potter: A History of Magic” @ New York Historical Society until 1/27/19 $0-$21

8

ART SHOW “Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York” @ New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center until 3/30/19 FREE

BOOK SIGNING & TEA TASTING Ming River at Foods of Yunnan MOCATalks @ Museum of Chinese in America $10

CONCERT “Twenty One Pilots” - The Badito Tour @ Madison Square Garden $176-$304

1

thursday

FILM SCREENING Big Apple Film Festival @ SVA Theatre Tuesday until 11/3 FREE CONCERT Young the Giant Concert @ Brooklyn Steel until 11/14 $40-$100 until 6/20

thursday

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ART SHOW “Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again” @ Whitney Museum of American Art until 3/31/19 FREE

Horrorble Gallows-een Humor

By The Arts and Entertainment Department

“Shaun of the Dead” (2004) By jiahe wang “Shaun of the Dead,” a gory yet witty British comedy, tells the story of middle-aged loser Shaun (Simon Pegg), whose routine life is interrupted by a sudden zombie apocalypse. It is not for the weakhearted, in the sense that it is a typical zombie film—people get disemboweled, intestines are thrown around, and zombies are shot down by the dozen. However, it is full of gags perfectly paced to brighten the dark plot. Visionary director Edgar Wright adds many wry twists to make the plot un-

expected and refreshing. For example, when Shaun and his friend Ed (Nick Frost) run out of things to throw at the zombies trying to break into their house, they resort to flinging old records at them. However, Shaun grudgingly murmurs, “Some of these are limited,” as he slowly chooses which ones to hurl at the walkers.

And when Ed comes across the Batman Soundtrack, Shaun shouts without even thinking, “Throw it!”

“Shaun of the Dead” is also a family movie centered on the growth of its characters: Our couch potato main

character, Shaun, proves his courage during the apocalypse and wins back the heart of his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield), who was disappointed with his drinking problems. He reconciles with his obnoxious stepfather after he gets bitten and makes a moving speech about his love for Shaun. While all of this may seem cheesy in any other movie, Edgar Wright executes these scenes perfectly with fitting music and captivating visual storytelling to elevate this wickedly funny spoof film to a new level.

As the Brits say, this movie is bloody good.

“Hocus Pocus” (1993)

By LUCY LU • Okay, but who doesn’t love ‘90s comedy-[insert other genre] movies?

• A witch raises her cheating ex from the dead to chase children. A teenage boy tries to impress the girl he likes by lighting a black candle that is rumored to resurrect witches. What could go wrong?

• The witches decide to suck the souls out of children.

• Sanderson sisters are iconic, and this movie is a classic.

• Good for people who want to get into the spirit of Halloween but can’t watch scary movies.

• If you’re spending “cuffing season” alone and you’re sad about it for some reason, maybe you’ll relate to the lonely Sanderson hags.

Page 16

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Arts and Entertainment

Horrorble Gallows-een Humor

By The Arts and Entertainment Department

“Silent Hill” (2006)

“Trolls 2” (1990)

By Jacqueline Thom

By Laura Ilioaei

they’re...vegetarian? None of the family members besides Joshua seem aware that non-sentient people are trying to force-feed them green goop, and the Waits instead spend half the movie unaware of the creepy monsters roaming Nilbog.

When the real action comes along though, the incredibly bad acting (think about what it sounds like when your friend is being sarcastic) only adds to the comedy of what is going on. Everyone’s drawn-out screams last for about twenty seconds, and apparently, double-decker bologna sandwiches are poisonous to goblins.

“Troll 2” is, in fact, so terrible that Michael Stephenson himself, who was 31 at the time, released a documentary about the movie, “Best Worst Movie.”

The documentary, ironically, is much better than its subject matter, which has since then garnered quite the cult following.

In the sequel to the unrelated 1986 film (The horror comedy was named “Troll 2” so that it could be falsely marketed as a sequel to the successful “Troll.”) Joshua Waits (Michael Stephenson), a freckled little boy, keeps seeing his deceased grandfather, Seth, who warns him of the goblins living in Nilbog, a small farming town with more than the 26 people that Joshua’s father claims live there.

After the Waits family arrives at Nilbog for vacation, Seth reappears, trying to prevent the family from ingesting a vibrant green liquid that painfully turns them half-plant, half-human, the goblins’ favorite food.

From the start, things are already very wrong. There aren’t any trolls in this movie, just goblins. These so-called gobins are played by short people wearing very tacky Halloween store masks, and

Have you got some emotional baggage that you just can’t face headon? Would you prefer to venture into a foggy town, deserted but for yourself and physical manifestations of the things boggling your psyche in the form of zombies, all for the sake of trying to resolve your inner conflicts? You’ve reached the right place. Welcome to Silent Hill!

At least, that’s the general synopsis for every game in the series. For some reason, the company responsible for the games,

Konami, allowed a movie director to create a spin-off film (very) loosely based on the first game. “Silent Hill” (the film) features Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) and her daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) venturing into the town of Silent Hill to sort out Sharon’s internal issues. Of course, they get more than they bargained for. Zombies aside, who was expecting an entire satanic cult?

The movie tried. It really did. But the graphics were too surreal to have any sort of scary effect. The blood looked like Kool-Aid even when it splattered in the

manner that blood is meant to. Chalk it up to the mix of CGI graphics with live action; clearly, the directors didn’t look at CGI films such as “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children” to see that even when using CGI alone, something as simple as making a character move realistically is an arduous animation task.

Well, this isn’t going to stop me from grabbing the bag of Caramel M&Ms and watching this again for the sake of Halloween. Cue me protesting at Pyramid Head.

“Scream” (1996)

By Lena Farley Though a classic horror movie, “Scream” is the best horror movie for those too scared to watch actually scary movies. It still has the same jump scares and mystery of a typical horror movie, but what’s even better is watching how stupid these high schoolers can be!

Some of the ways they managed to get killed are almost comedic, and take away from the shock of the movie. Note: the original is the only one worth watching.

The Definitively Best Ice Cream

By Zoe Oppenheimer

As winter approaches, some people might say that the season for ice cream is over. Those people are wrong. The season for ice cream is never over. In winter, the lines for the Insta-famous ice cream places are shorter and the ice-cream will always melt slower.

2. Sundaes and Cones

1. Max and Mina’s

In a small storefront sandwiched between an electronics store and a larger restaurant, Max and Mina’s seems to radiate light. The decor is bright, with an emphasis on pink and purple. The walls are plastered with everything

from cereal boxes to stickers to Band-aid boxes. A local neighborhood shop, Max and Mina’s is rarely crowded, and has some of the best service in the ice cream business, with an infinite number of tastings. Typically only populated by locals, Max and Mina’s has an eclectic and homemade atmosphere. Known for crazy flavor combinations and interesting textures, Max and Mina’s has flavors like Cap’n Crunch Cookies N Cream Brownies (yes, that is all one flavor), Blueberry Pie, and the classic French Vanilla. One of their most popular flavors, Double Cookies N Cream, is a twist on the classic Cookies N Cream. Instead of a vanilla ice cream base, there is an Oreo flavored ice cream base with Oreo pieces mixed in.

This adds more depth to the

oreo flavor, rather than just a vanilla ice cream with an occasional crunch. On top of all of that, it’s kosher! $4.90 for a single scoop (up to two flavors) 71-26 Main Street, Flushing, Queens

Founded in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 1991, Sundaes and Cones is a striking dichotomy of both classic American ice cream and interesting international flavors.

Now located in the East Village, the interior is spacious and has a classic atmosphere, with clean white countertops and glass cases full of ice cream. However, Sundaes and Cones is known for adventurous flavors such as Wasabi, Corn, and Red Bean.

The parlor is rarely empty, but almost never has a line.

The service is friendly, and the chance to taste flavors is helpful when faced with such a difficult choice. The black sesame is a favorite due to its rich nutty flavor and dense, creamy texture. The goal of Sundaes and Cones was to create an environment of a

community ice cream parlor but with more exotic flavors, and it succeeded; everyone who lives in the neighborhood knows it as their ice cream shop. $4.23 for a single scoop (one flavor) 95 E 10th St, East Village, Manhattan

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment

The Definitively Best Ice Cream 3. Ample Hills Creamery

4. Amorino

able names like Ooey Gooey Butter Cake and PB Wins the Cup, Ample Hills creamery has a distinct brand. There is an expectation of cute images and unique flavors. However, they’re not just cute. Ample Hills also places an emphasis on fresh ingredients and homemade mix-ins, resulting in distinct flavors and textures. Though it varies from location to location, Ample Hills typically has a woodsy and homey atmosphere and a continuing theme of nature. The name, Ample Hills, is a reference to the natural landscape of Brooklyn, which carries through to the decor of each location.

Though Ample Hills is a relatively new brand, as it only opened in 2011, it has definitely proven that it is a worthwhile stop.

Ample Hills Creamery is a Brooklyn classic, though there are now locations throughout the city. Known for ador-

$5.02 for single scoop 623 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn 634-02 30th Ave, Queens More locations

A French company serving Italian gelato in New York City, Amorino is by any standard a global brand. Today, they have boutiques in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. They serve classic Italian gelato flavors such as hazelnut, pistachio, and stracciatella, a traditional milk gelato with fine and irregular pieces of chocolate throughout. This creates a smoother texture than American chocolate chip ice cream, with a slight crunch throughout. Amorino is also famous for its variety of chocolate options, all with different percentages of cocoa, including a sorbet. An Italian favorite is the l’inimitable, which is a chocolate hazelnut flavor, similar to Nutella (though native Italians might call it Gianduja after their preferred spread).

Amorino is also known for their roseshaped ice cream in the cones, which they carefully layer for every customer.

$5.25 for a small size (as many flavors as desired) 721 8th Ave, Manhattan 60 University Pl, Manhattan More locations

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Momofuku Milk Bar

Though not technically an ice cream shop, they have some of the best soft serve in New York City. Their cereal milk soft serve is iconic, and they have locations throughout the city. Inspired by the milk left at the bottom of the bowl after the cereal has been eaten, that is exactly what it tastes like. However, while the real

thing tastes like leftovers, the soft serve has a clean and crisp flavor; an idealized version of an everyday taste. Their added crunch topping creates a deconstructed bowl of corn flakes, but more refreshing. $5.50 for a cup 360 Smith St, Brooklyn 110 Wall St. Manhattan More Locations

Photo Credits:

Mister Softee A classic ice cream and the embodiment of every childhood. When in Central Park, or just wandering through the streets, these trucks are every New Yorker’s go-to.

Though there are a bunch of interesting and unique options out there, sometimes the classic ice cream truck is perfect. $5.25 for a small size 76 N 4th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Zoe Oppenheimer

ADVERTISEMENTS

Republic of Booza

Republic of Booza is the first contemporary ice cream shop in New York to serve the Turkish “stretchable” ice cream. Booza was the first frozen dairy-based dessert, developed 500 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean. A mixture of sahlab (ground orchid root) and mastic (a resin) combined with milk, cream, and sugar is pounded and stretched by hand instead of churned. This creates a smoother, denser, and creamier ice cream, which means booza is more flavorful than any other ice cream and melts more slowly. Though they serve an an-

cient type of ice cream, the ambiance of Republic of Booza is very modern. With plain white walls and the menu painted directly on the wall opposite the entrance, there is a clean and crisp atmosphere. Traditionally, booza was only available in one flavor, known as Qashta or “Candied Cream,” but as a modern Booza shop, Republic of Booza adds interesting flavor combinations, which makes it a notable stop to visit in Brooklyn. $5.25 for a small size 76 N 4th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 18

Humor Humor Department Overthrows Editors-in-Chief, Installs Military Junta

By Michael Dekhtyar

Shocking reports from the sixth floor bathrooms have revealed a diabolical turn of events in the upper echelons of The Spectator’s leadership. Unpopular Editors-in-Chief Beaux Watwood and Jane Rhee have been forced out of office by the military council overseeing the Humor department.

The move was unexpected and a great shock to most of the existing departments as the EICs kept The Spectator on a short leash for quite a while; nobody actually believed a rebellion would be successful.

In a public statement, Humor editors Kerwin Chen and Gabrielle Umanova cited great dissatisfaction with the way that the

newspaper was run as one of the main reasons for the bloodless coup: “We were constantly being forced to censor our greatest ideas to keep the snowflake editors from being offended and firing all of us. Some of the funniest, most original articles were murdered at the very point of conception by the so-called ‘democratic’ rulers of the paper. No more, we say. No more.”

Umanova went on to outline the new government’s plan for their first days in office. “We will be installing a military government built upon the ideas of freedom of good speech. We’re also going to be setting up a new committee with centralized powers that will be able to veto any article that

Jade Lo/ The Spectator

Guide to Becoming President of a Club for Freshmen

By Abdulla Elkhadrawy Do’s • During Icebreakers, make sure to flex that 800 you got on the SHSAT, and bring in your framed Stuyvesant acceptance letter as evidence. Or bring up something recent like how Mr. Sterr almost smiled at you the other day, and you heard the voice of God. • Make sure to talk really fast and for long periods of time to show how much straight knowledge you’re spitting on these plebs.

Everyone will be really impressed and will know you are definitely the smartest kid in the room. Add a TPose to assert your dominance.

• Ask questions! Some great examples are, “Has anyone in this club ever gone to Harvard?” “Can I use this club to embezzle money from the SU?” and “Next time, can you buy more food?” This will show your interest and commitment in the club.

• When the sign-up sheet is going around, make sure to not sign with your own name. Write your friend’s name or a clever name like Ligma Nuts. In the e-mail section, make sure to write original e-mails such as: “ThisClubisTrash@aol.com,” and “Mr.Sugondese@gmail. com.” They’ll be too busy laughing to report you to AP of Security, Health & Physical Education Brian Moran for harassment.

• Make sure to rip off the posters and use them as a ticket of entry to the in-

terest meeting. You will be greeted by a smile when they realize you have cost them $10 worth of color ink. Vandalize the poster for extra credit.

Don’ts • If a meeting offers free food, don’t be afraid to eat as much as you want.

Think of it as your second lunch and make sure to critique it. If you didn’t like it, make sure you make others aware that you are not enjoying it. The board will appreciate your criticism as you continue eating.

• Don’t actually go to clubs you’re interested in. The less you care, the more committed you will be to cracking jokes. Every club needs a comedic guy who comments after every sentence is spoken and interrupts anyone trying to actually do work. Use the phrase, “That’s what she said” to get the most attention or scream “Quack!” every two seconds. If that doesn’t work, try going up to the board and posting your memes.

• Pro Tip: Despacito Memes are the best. No one is sick of them.

• Don’t show up to the interest meeting on time. Everyone knows the later the arrival, the more people notice it. Don’t you want to leave an impression on the president? Any publicity is good publicity. Add a WWE-style entrance to maximize visibility. Make sure to wear a costume and bring a speaker. Soon you’ll be running the club yourself!

does not conform to the safe, new standards that we’ve introduced. It will be called the Committee for Public Safety and Protection, and its main purpose will be to protect the rights of Humor writers everywhere. Not other writers, though.

Humor writers are more equal than other writers. Sorry Ops, no one cares about Trump’s toadstool. It’s we who break the REAL news,” she said. Supreme Enlightened General Umanova exited the stage to rounds of thunderous applause from the long-oppressed and overworked Web department as well as chants of “Gui-llo-tine, guillo-tine,” directed toward the now disgraced former editors of The Spectator.

Supreme More-Enlightened

General Kerwin Chen elaborated on the ideals and goals of the Committee and how its policies would be carried out. “We will be using the shorter freshmen and the seniors who never reached puberty as secret police to root out any unfunny opinions or any ideas for articles deemed too boring. So, if anyone in the halls is caught discussing articles that don’t comply with the safe, new standards, they will be recorded and reported to the nearest Humor department member,” he said.

The coup, while unanticipated, is welcomed by most of the other departments. Watwood and Rhee initiated and presided over a deep recession that reduced readership by over 40 percent in just one

month due to their heavy censorship of the Humor department.

Innovation and individuality of articles were crushed underneath their iron reign, which commanded the newspaper from an ivory tower in room 639. Relations with other extracurricular activities deteriorated under the Watwood-Rhee administration, which banned all inter-club ventures and forced the English department to abandon its support for other activities.

We will have to wait and see to know the long-term positive effects of the Humor department’s glorious revolution. Glory to the Free Democratic People’s Republic of Better Articles! Hail to the Committee for Public Safety and Protection!

Opinions Department Front for Spy Agency: The Conspiracy

By Chrisabella Javier

My jacket flowed in the cool fall breeze—well, as cool as anything could get in this world predicted to die of global warming in 2040. I looked around me to see if anyone was following. I was alone. Good.

This wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted company for. As my steps echoed on the tiles of the school, I opened up the note written in bad handwriting on looseleaf, one of many I’ve gotten in the last few months.

3:21 a.m., Senior Bar, don’t trust anyone, T.C. “So, Ms. Javier. You had the guts to come.” A dark figure with a mask called from the shadows.

My mind began to rush.

Could this be T.C.? What if they weren’t? What if they were taken and the people who took them had now come for me? I brought a drafting compass and a granola bar so I could fight back or bribe them with nutrition, just in case they weren’t the person I was expecting.

“Why now? Why did you want to meet?”

“It is time to take action. On SpecOps.” *** I joined The Spectator as a naive freshman. Blissful. Unaware. It didn’t take me long to realize something was amiss, however. The News department never reported on real news—the only people they ever interviewed were Principal Contreras, Vishwaa Sofat, and William Wang. The Copy department wouldn’t allow important information I wrote to get through under the grounds of “Chrisabella, this isn’t even a real word. What the heck? Also, so stop interfering with our editing process.” They would also always say it while looking behind their shoulders and sweating nervously. I was the only one proposing new ideas in the Humor department, and whenever I said something implying any criticism of the SU, they yote a chair at me. It was as if everyone else was afraid of something. Something big.

As I began to investigate what was going on, strange things began to happen. A guy from my genetics class, Jonathan Schneiderman, invited me

to a study session in the room where the Chemistry department keeps the polonium. After swim practice, I found a dead rat inside my locker with a note telling me to stop with the inquiries.

A man in a trench coat aimed an umbrella at me on the bridge as if it were a gun. It wasn’t until a note reading “Chrisabella, we are threatening you. Shut up, signed Opinions” got thrown at my head during AP World that it hit me: SpecOps was never Spectator Opinions, a mere writing department. It is the front organization for the SU’s spies and hitmen. It’s Special Operations.

I had no idea why on earth they would be targeting me. I was a sophomore who wrote for Humor! I was irrelevancy squared. But when I got the message from T.C., I wondered if I had more leverage than I thought. *** T..C. first began writing through coded messages in my locker. When it became apparent that I was too dumb and sleep-deprived to understand them, they stopped being coded and became regular messages. I wondered who they were from.

But as our communications continued, as if there was some sort of direness to it, we began to share information. Like how I learned that the SU ordered the Opinions department to blackmail Rodda John into making Talos useless. Or why Contreras stayed: the Opinions department performed advanced interrogation techniques in order to prevent him from leaving the school and sharing the SU’s secrets with the Department of Education. In return, they told me new things. Like—as I suspected—SpecOps forced the editors of The Spectator at gunpoint to write the same things: that the SU is amazing and is not, was not, and never will be corrupt, that elections matter, and that the 11th floor pool is a good joke. But when I got today’s note, I wondered, “Why now? What made our cause so urgent?”

So, when I saw T.C. for the first time, they gave me a laptop.

“This, my friend, is Vishwaa Sofat’s personal laptop. All you have to do is attach the document with the SpecOps truth

and e-mail it to everyone in Stuy. The world will see what they have done. Hurry. We don’t have much—” “FREEZE! Stop right there in the name of the SU!” I looked back, slowly grabbing my compass. The agent was decked out in the pretentious debate kid uniform, khakis and all, with Opinions embroidered in gold lettering on his trenchcoat. Even in the dim light, as he lifted up a handgun, I could identify him: Jonathan Schneiderman. The same man who had targeted me before. “Back away from the laptop. Don’t make any sudden moves.” I slowly backed away.

He knew what he was saying. I’d seen the files of all the writers— he was one of the elites. Both a SpecOps member and within the ranks of the SU. Shot his cat in order to prove his loyalty.

“Over my dead body.” T.C. then made a vague political reference I didn’t understand, jumped forward to attack, and was immediately shot down. In the heat of the moment, I was able to take down Jonathan as he slipped on his trench coat (SU didn’t provide much physical training for their SpecOps agents—it turned out most of their training was dedicated to BS-ing and dressing like a paralegal on a Tinder date) and stab him before rushing to T.C.’s side.

“Hey, it’s okay, we’ll get you help—” “No,” T.C. said. “My time has come. All I ask is for you to remove my mask.”

I removed the mask and saw the face of the previous SU dictator Tahseen Chowdhury!

“Why did you do this? What did you have to gain?”

He smiled, and with his last breath, he said, “The knowledge that no other SU will ever outshine me.”

I got up. “Well, Jonathan, you still failed. Sorry. The whole school will still know about the blood spilled by the SU and SpecOps.” And as I clicked “Send To All” on the laptop, gingerly stepped over the bodies of former corrupt school politicians, and headed home to finish my Humor article, I knew that T.C. would probably not die in vain.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 19

Sports Boys’ Fencing

Fresh Off Win Against Beacon, ‘Untouchables’ Look to Carry On

By LEWIS WOLOCH and OWEN POTTER

The last time Stuyvesant’s boys’ fencing team lost a game, iPhones didn’t exist yet and Pluto was still considered a planet.

For the past 13 years, the team has been at an incredible 125-0, and with the most recent 80-72 win over rival Beacon High School last Monday, they certainly intend to keep it that way. The team goes beyond merely aiming for a perfect win record—they aim for perfection all around. The maximum score a team can receive is 90, which is something that they have been able to achieve in three out of five matches this year. In fact, the team is satisfied only when they are able to prevent their opponents from getting a single touch on them.

A large part of the team’s undefeated run can be attributed to their coach, Joel Winston, who began coaching the team just a year before the winning streak started. His team only lost two games in his first season coaching, and the rest

is history. Winston benefits from the depth of the team, as he is not only able to play completely different sets of fencers for each weapon, but usually uses four or five fencers per weapon even though only three are required.

When asked about the types of players he likes to take, Winston said that he likes fencers to have experience, though only about half of the new players every year have fencing experience outside of school. He also prefers to take freshmen, but this year he brought two juniors on the team who were “in the right place at the right time.”

The team practices five days a week, and athletes are expected to continue their training even in the off-season in order to stay competitive in their division. “One of the best schools in the city, Hunter College High School (Hunter), provides practices and professional coaching for fencing year-round, so it is often hard for Stuy’s team to keep up with them. However, the team’s record does show that we are pretty darn good for a

single season team. Brooklyn Technical High School (Tech) also usually has an elite fencing team, with Staten Island Tech usually rounding out the top four of Hunter, Stuy, and Tech each year,” Winston said.

This new season has introduced a new challenger for the team as Beacon High School’s Blue Demons moved into Stuy’s Manhattan/Queens division after having gone 8-2 the past two years in the Manhattan/Bronx division. The two teams had previously been in the same division, and Beacon has been Stuy’s rival for much of their long winning streak. After a relatively easy first four games, in which the lowest Stuy’s team scored was an 89 out of a possible 90, this was the team’s first real test after losing six seniors and all but one of their starters from the year before.

Winston expected a relatively even match and said, “I think their foil team is probably a little better, and I think our epee team is better.” The team rose to the occasion, and the win over Beacon provided a sense of validation for a

group of fencers that has to uphold a legacy of perfection.

To add on to the moment after the Beacon win, Stuy’s team again scored 90 points against

“Four years later, standing as the captain of a varsity team with 13 undefeated seasons was so validating.” — Taaseen Ali, senior captain Information Technology High School just two days later in a game where they played primarily with fencers that were new to the team.

To senior and captain Taaseen Ali, the win meant more

than just another victory on their record. It meant that this team, with almost all new starters, was up to the Stuy standard. Beacon’s team had “a couple nationally ranked A-rated fencers, which is really only a step or two down from the Olympics,” Ali said.

For the first time in his four years on the team, he entered a game unsure of a victory.

But the uncertainty Ali felt only made victory sweeter, and after coming onto the team as a freshman who had never fenced before, “four years later, standing as the captain of a varsity team with 13 undefeated seasons was so validating,” he said. As they defeated Beacon’s Blue Devils, Stuy’s team cheered under a name of their own, even though they lack an official nickname according to PSAL. They’ve gone by the Garden Snakes, Iron Velociraptors, Blue Eyed White Dragons, and many other names, but for the most important matches, they are always, ‘The Untouchables.’ Despite a new rival and almost all new starters, Stuyvesant’s team was untouchable yet again.

Sports Editorial

DeGrom Deserves “De” Cy Young

By RUDOLPH MERLIN

The competition for the 2018 National League Cy Young Award is perhaps the fiercest it has ever been. When you look at the MLB standings, you will notice that the National League East has a significantly smaller number of wins than any other division in the National League.

However, despite the lack of gaudy win totals, the division also boasts the three frontrunners for this 2018 Cy Young conversation.

Aaron Nola, who boasted a brilliant 17-6 record for the Philadelphia Phillies, did all he could in the Phillies’ unsuccessful push to the playoffs. The same goes for

two-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer, who lead the league with 300 strikeouts and has a phenomenal 18-7 record of his own. However, the pitcher that everyone is talking about is Jacob deGrom, the Met infamously known for his mediocre 10-9 record yet league-leading 1.70 ERA. But out of all of these pitchers, none have struggled and persevered more than Jacob deGrom, making him a clear pick for the Cy Young award.

I have been a Mets fan every since I was a little kid, and it hasn’t been easy to stay loyal to the team. Every day, you complain about how Mets don’t offer any

trades, their horrible relievers that blow every game, and about how they stink in every single statistical category.

But the most glaring topic for me has been their offense. The Mets rank 24th out of 30 teams in total runs scored this season, and their best hitter (minimum 100 games played), first baseman Wilmer Flores, has a batting average of .267.

The lack of run support has been certainly visible in games deGrom started.

Of his last 33 starts, the Mets scored three or fewer runs 21 times. This only happened 12 times with Scherzer and 14 times with Nola. This means that the pressure is constantly on

deGrom to deliver, and yet he still rises up, as he hasn’t allowed three runs or more since April with an MLB record of 25 straight starts.

Some baseball critics argue that deGrom does not live up to the Cy Young award. After all, it is named after the pitcher with the most wins. DeGrom’s 10-9 record doesn’t put him in the best possible light, but his advanced statistics are what cancel out all of the doubt. DeGrom doesn’t let the other team have an opportunity to even score a run. His 1.9 walks per game, 0.4 home runs per game, and 4.8 percent chance of allowing an extra base hit are the lowest in the league.

These advanced statistics

are what separate deGrom from Scherzer and Nola.

In the new era of baseball dominated by sabermetrics, deGrom’s candidacy is a step above the field.

But perhaps what really differentiates deGrom from the rest of the pack is his attitude. He is never angry or frustrated during a post game interview, and has he never been seen yelling at his teammates when they often fail to support him.

He is a true team player.

Despite everything that has happened this season around him, deGrom was able to keep his composure and produce record shattering numbers, proving that he is worthy of the Cy Young award.

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Page 20

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Sports Sports Editorial

In Defense of the Biggest Star in NYC

By JOOAHN SUR

Superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants has recently come under fire from multiple news outlets and fans for his comments in a televised interview with ESPN reporter Josina Anderson. “How come we can’t throw the ball for more than 20 yards? How come we don’t attempt or try to throw the ball for more than 20 yards?...I feel like [Eli Manning’s] not going to get out the pocket. He’s not; we know Eli’s not running it. But is it a matter of time issue? Can he still throw it? Yeah, but it’s been pretty safe, and it’s been, you know...cool catching shallow [routes] and trying to take it to the house. But I’m, you know; I want to go over the top of somebody,” said Odell in the interview.

Odell was clearly criticizing his quarterback’s inability to throw the ball downfield. It’s not surprising that every Giants fan came running to defend their dear Eli Manning, who has won two Super Bowls for the franchise. But there’s one thing I think they’re forgetting: Eli Manning is a terrible quarterback.

This past offseason, the Giants were coming off a 3-13 season, the worst in franchise history. They had a decision to make with the second overall pick in the draft on April 26, 2018: Take Saquon Barkley, Penn State running back who was considered the best player in the draft, or select Eli Manning’s successor out of a very talented group of quarterbacks.

New general manager Dave Gettleman decided to compete for a Super Bowl in 2018 with Manning under the helm rather than build for the future, selecting Barkley to help revive an offense that had been strug-

gling for many years and lacked a true workhorse running back.

In the second round, Gettleman selected offensive guard Will Hernandez to upgrade the offensive line, which was terrible in 2017.

In free agency, Gettleman gave Nate Solder, the best left tackle on the market, a fouryear contract worth $62 million. He also signed offensive guard Patrick Omameh and center Jon Halapio. These picks and signings looked to improve the offense in the short term.

Gettleman and newly hired head coach Pat Shurmur expressed his trust and confidence in Manning since the draft, defending the decision to draft Barkley instead of a quarterback. They have surrounded their 37-year old veteran quarterback with a bunch of talented playmakers who can make things happen with the ball in their hands.

And yet, Manning failed to deliver. Again.

When anyone merely suggests that Manning is not a good quarterback, many defensive Giants fans point to the two Super Bowls that he won with the team in 2007 and 2011. But a deeper look into Manning’s career suggests that at best, he’s been a mediocre quarterback for his entire career.

His career completion percentage is a meager 60.1 percent. His career passer rating is just 83.7, whereas league averages this year for the two statistics are 63.4 and 94.4, respectively. He has led the league in interceptions three times during the 15 years he has been in the league (2007, 2010, 2013).

Football is a sport in which the wide receiver is viewed as a “dependent” position because his success is largely dictated by the play of his quarterback,

who is responsible for putting the ball in his hands. This is why no receiver has ever won the MVP award, while the Super Bowl MVP has been a receiver only four times.

Beckham, however, is being depended on by his quarterback, as highlighted by the latter’s incompetencies without Odell on the field with him since 2014 (Odell’s rookie season). With Odell on the field, Manning has a 63.3 completion percentage, a 91.5 passer rating, and a QBR of 56.1. When Odell is sidelined, Manning’s completion percentage drops to 60.4 while his passer rating plummets to 75.0 and his QBR to 40.4.

In his interview, Odell said, “I don’t think I’m given an opportunity to be the very best I can be. I don’t want to be held back anymore.” Yes, Odell implied that he was being “held back” by Eli. Yes, he was very honest in this interview. So what?

We seem to have a double standard when it comes to our beloved athletes. Fans want candid answers from sport’s biggest superstars, but when they get those desired responses, they go into an uproar.

Please pick a side.

Maybe Odell was being a bit too honest to the public. But part of the reason why he is so heavily criticized for his comments is because of his reputation.

“The Catch” against the Cowboys in a nationally televised Sunday night game in his rookie season made him an internet sensation overnight.

Since then, the blonde hair, tattoos, shoutouts from rappers like Drake and Quavo in their songs, and his social media activity have turned Odell into as much of a celebrity as an athlete. He is constantly in the

spotlight, and his 11.7 million Instagram followers are the most of anyone in the NFL. Every single thing he does on the sidelines or comment he makes in front of the media is put under a magnifying glass.

He is seen as a “villain” by many fans as well, largely because of his feud in 2015 with then-Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Odell was flagged three times for personal fouls in that matchup, attacking Norman several times throughout the game.

Odell also took a lot of heat in 2016 for his decision to take his fellow receivers to Miami to party a week before a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. In the game itself, he totaled just four receptions for 28 yards to go along with two drops, one of them in the endzone. Yes, he had a bad game.

But the idea that the Miami trip was the cause of his poor performance is absolutely ludicrous. Does hanging out with your friends a week ago have any effect on you today?

Throughout his career, he has also been seen crying and screaming on the sideline, hitting the kicking net with his helmet, and getting into altercations with several defensive backs.

Playing sports, especially football, is an emotional affair, and Odell is an emotional guy.

Not surprisingly, he will show his emotion and passion on the field.

Odell’s superstar status aside, viewing things from his human side may help us understand where he is coming from. If you have a special goal in mind that you have worked hard for many years in order to achieve, but something is preventing you from accomplishing that goal, you would be pretty upset. All he did was

verbally express the fact that he is upset.

His comments didn’t damage the locker room, either. Odell is well-liked by most, if not all, of his teammates. All-Pro defensive tackle Damon Harrison said that he once trusted Odell to babysit his child alone. When Odell finally got paid, his teammates congratulated him and danced in the locker room, as seen in a video that was posted on Instagram minutes after the contract was finally signed.

And it can’t be a coincidence that the team played its best game of the season that Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Though the hardfought battle ended in a loss (on a miraculous 63-yard field goal), the team clawed back from multiple deficits throughout the game and played with a lot of heart and passion that Odell wanted to see.

Sometimes, the truth hurts.

And the unfortunate truth is that the Giants, particularly Manning, have not been playing well at all. But getting called out by someone for your inefficiencies every once in a while can help you become better in whatever field you are working in. Rather than letting a giant cloud hover over the team, Odell decided to address the elephant in the room even though he got blasted for his comments.

So as fans of the better New York football team (sorry, Jets fans), let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Try to understand Odell’s frustrations with the team, which currently has the worst record in the league and is using him as a scapegoat for their poor play. Leave his comments in the past because we’re in the midst of another long season. Just let the biggest star in New York City do his thing.

Girls’ Golf

Birdies Finish an Undefeated Regular Season

By BERNARD WANG and ARYAN SHARMA

The Birdies, Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity golf team, finished the regular season strong with their third win over Brooklyn Technical High School, completing a perfect 9-0 regular season record. The girls won their most recent competitive match five holes to none, which is representative of their success throughout the entire season.

Juniors Charlotte Lee and Sara Mui started off the night at Dyker Beach with two close matchups, each winning with a margin of two strokes. Freshman Djolin Sutjiawan followed up with a strong showing, taking the lead with the first two holes and keeping her advantage to win by a margin of four strokes. Junior Aeryn Lubelsky and freshman Lea Kwok continued the winning by defeating their opponents by three and four strokes (respectively) in their games of four holes each. Even after the win, the Birdies are eager to do better in the future.

“Even though we managed a

victory, I feel like it was not representative of our team’s true potential. I hope we can bring that out at playoffs to get as far as we can,” Mu saidi.

With this win, the Birdies are once again in the playoffs, looking to capitalize on another undefeated season. Though there have been some close games, the girls have won 43 out of 45 matchups this year, putting them at the top of their division. In fact, the Birdies haven’t lost a regular season game in the last three years, going back to the 2015-2016 season, in which they finished with a record of 8-1.

It took hard work and mental toughness to get to this level of play. “We’re skilled enough to beat the other teams, but some of us had trouble doing that. The biggest challenge was our mental state,” Mui said. The girls worked out issues with rust and consistency thanks to the support of coach Emilio Nieves. Multiple athletes mentioned his supportiveness and how he never put unnecessary pressure on the team.

The Birdies are hoping to avoid what happened in last year’s playoffs, which ended earlier than anticipated. The Birdies went undefeated in their division and beat Staten Island Technical High School’s team in the quarterfinals, which seemed to be a good sign for the team. However, they weren’t invincible

the playoffs, something the Birdies are used to doing. After not being able to advance past the semifinals in the last four years, they have their biggest challenge straight ahead.

Their first playoff game is at Marine Park against Francis Lewis High School on October 30. Francis Lewis’s

“We are a loose bunch that has good camaraderie; we know that we have a good team and we are ready to prove this [in the playoffs] in victory or in defeat.” —Emilio Nieves, coach

and their season came to an end against Tottenville High School in the semifinals. Being successful in the regular season means they will play their toughest competition in

golf team holds a 7-2 record, and the Birdies are in for an extremely competitive matchup. “Defeating Francis Lewis [High School] will definitely require us to play

at, or almost at, our very best,” Yee said. “I think the biggest thing is [that] mentally, we need to stay on our toes but at the same time, not feel too pressured. If we have the right mentality, Francis Lewis [High School] is most definitely beatable.”

The athletes know the match against Francis Lewis High School will be nothing like their matches against their division.

To prepare for the looming playoffs, the athletes are focusing on consistency and being mentally prepared.

“We worked hard for this season but our competition at playoffs will be better, so we need to work even harder to bring ourselves up to that level,” Mui said. Nevertheless, their spirits remain high.

“We are a loose bunch that has good camaraderie; we know that we have a good team and we are ready to prove this [in the playoffs] in victory or in defeat,” Nieves said. Win or lose in the playoffs, the Birdies are proud of their dominant regular season and are excited for what’s to come.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 21

Sports Boys’ Badminton

Boys’ Badminton Starts Off Strong in a Blowout Win

By YAE JUNE LEE

Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity badminton team played their first game of the season against Martin L. King Jr. High School in the afternoon of September 28, 2018 with one goal in mind—to come away with a win. Despite the gaps left by graduated players, the team was able to outmatch their opponents and won singles and doubles matches with a final overall score of 5-0.

The singles matches were led by juniors Masataka Mizuno and Kaung Khan Soe and senior and co-captain Benjamin Ang. Both the singles and doubles teams outranked Martin L.

King’s players and did not lose a single round.

Senior and co-captain James Lee explained that the team did not gain this win without hardships. “Since many of our good players graduated last year, we’ve had to invest a lot of time improving our play. We now put a bigger emphasis on drills, footwork, conditioning, and technique,” Lee said.

However, the team had a devastating loss to Seward Park Campus on October 1, 2018. Despite the effort from all team members, the team was unable to compete with the better-trained players. Both the singles and doubles matches were taken by Seward, and

Stuyvesant took the loss with a score of 5-0.

Though the gap in skill was large, Lee believes that Seward was able to win mainly due to his team’s excessive mistakes. “After we were swept by Seward, we realized that our games had some deficiencies that Seward was able to exploit.

I personally felt that the difference in our skill levels were at [the] worst minute, but the [number] of unforced errors we committed in contrast to them ultimately led to their victory,” Lee said.

In order to improve, Ang credits coach Marvin Autry for the enhanced footwork drills and specialized practices

Athlete Profile

taller than 5’3”.

5. What will you miss most about the team next year?

What I’ll miss most next year about the team is the excitement and anticipation leading to our matches on game days.

Throughout the school day, the match that afternoon will mostly be on my mind, and when I leave school early for the game, I’ll know that I’ll be fighting for not only our team, but also for the whole school.

Allison Eng / The Spectator

6. You’re listed as the leading goal scorer for the boys’ team on PSAL. How do you think this happened?

While individual ability is definitely a factor in scoring goals, what’s helped me the most in getting goals this season has been being in the right place at the right time. Making good runs and receiving well-played passes have contributed to my success as well. I’m hoping to score a few more and help our team secure a spot in the playoffs.

In the midst of their competitive season, the Stuyvesant boys’ soccer team is looking to close out their final game and clinch a spot in the playoffs. Their current record is four wins, one draw, and four losses. With the loss of many of last year’s seniors, the team looks to senior Sean Takada, their leading goal scorer, to carry through on wins.

Takada, who joined the team junior year, has had a large impact on the team. He has played nine matches this season and had 26 shots, two assists, and six goals.

Name: Sean Takada Grade: 12 Height: 5’11” Hair color: Black Eye color: Brown DOB: May 19, 2001 1. When were you first introduced to soccer? When did you start playing?

I first started playing soccer at the age of four, when my dad signed me up for a recreational soccer league called Kids Love Soccer. As I became more passionate about soccer, I decided to join a travel team when I was nine years old.

2. Do you still play soccer outside of school?

two-game streak against Dr. Susan S. Mckinney School of Art and High School of Fashion Industries on October 10, 2018 and October 12, 2018, respectively. However, they were unable to beat Brooklyn Tech, placing them third in the central division with a record of 3-2.

Despite the challenges ahead, the team is still optimistic about the season. “We’re confident that we can make it to the playoffs, but we know it will be extremely difficult to progress to the championships knowing that we will probably be matched against a very tough opponent in the first round,” Lee said.

Sports Editorial

A Goal New Ball Game: An Interview with Sean Takada

By ALLISON ENG

following the game against Seward. “The coach has been trying to drill footwork into us to get us to move and play faster to counter the professionally trained Seward and Brooklyn [Technical High School],” Ang said.

Lee also believes in the importance of proper technique over practice games. “Of course, practice games are still an integral part of our practices, but we’ve realized that practicing improper technique is extremely harmful to our in-game performance, so nowadays, we play with a focus on perfecting our technique,” Lee said.

The team bounced back from their loss and went on a

I had to quit competitive soccer when I was 12 because of other extracurriculars such as violin, but ever since then I’ve played for the school team and played with my friends at a field after school.

3. How do you feel about the team’s performance this season?

Having lost a large number of seniors and strong players, we definitely knew that our season would be a lot tougher. We haven’t had the best outcome for some of our matches, like the game against Washington Irving. I think the biggest difference is the lack of physicality in our team, which has affected matches against teams with large opponents, such as Washington Irving, that we used to beat in past year. We still had some great games, and with the right spirit and mentality, I don’t doubt our team’s ability at making playoffs.

4. What’s the funniest moment that has happened while you’ve been on the team?

The funniest moment this season was against a team we were winning against 5-0. After winning a penalty, our senior and captain Kevin Mitchell confidently stepped up to take the penalty and had it saved by a freshman goalie who was no

7. How do you improve your ability to maintain such a high level of play?

Off the field, I’ve noticed myself being more careful with what I choose to eat, and I’ve been making a conscious effort to get as much sleep as I can the day before a game. On the field, I’ve been pushing myself to be more aggressive for the ball and to also know what I want to do with the ball before I receive it, whether it is to dribble if I have space or to try and find a player to play the ball to.

8. Is there a difference between your performance junior year and now?

I think the biggest difference between last year and this year is that I’ve been getting a lot more playing time, which has boosted my confidence. As a result, I’ve been playing a lot better, and I’m glad that I’m able to contribute to the team a lot more this year.

Choice drink: Water Favorite food: In-N-Out burgers Motto to live by: Be the best that you can be.

Favorite team: Manchester United Favorite player: Wayne Rooney Fun fact: I lived in California

until 8th grade!

The Fastest Man on the Pitch

By AHMED HUSSEIN

Back in 2017, Usain Bolt was on top of the world. Having blown out the competition at the Rio Olympics a year ago, Bolt was riding a wave of confidence which could have, in theory, sustained him for a few more years.

But much like a balding man who decides to shave his head clean, Bolt saw the end of his professional career coming and decided to retire.

He released a statement that the 2017 IAAF Championships would be his last running event.

Though many questioned Bolt’s decision to retire at just 30, I find it understandable.

His numbers were gradually losing their edge. Though his 100-meter record of 9.58 seconds has remained untouched, he was not at his best in Rio, clocking a 9.81. His career also ended with a defeat in his final race to Justin Gatlin, a race that saw him limp off the track with the help of his teammates. So while he could have continued for a few more years, to protect his legacy, Bolt made the right decision retiring because he retired as a legend instead of a washed up runner.

Understandably, a competitive athlete like Bolt was not going to become a couch potato overnight, and he branched out to other sports. He instantly gravitated towards soccer, a sport he played extensively as a child before committing to track and field. After a training session with European juggernauts Borussia Dortmund, Bolt realized that he did not have what it took to make it in the big leagues. His highlights were composed of some poor first touches, not agile runs with the ball, and poor shots.

But what was clear was that Bolt had a passion for soccer and would play it at any level he could. After playing in Germany did not pan out, he took part in charity matches against retired soccer legends, games that he played well in. After these good performances, Bolt tried his luck in the land down under, getting a trial with the Central Coast Mariners. He trained with the Mar-

iners for a few months before playing a friendly where he did not score. He was, however, much better than he was at the Dortmund trial. The hype behind him was obvious, with even the simplest of touches drawing a huge cheer from the fans. But he was a changed player. His touches were better, he ran well with the ball at his feet, and he had a better overall understanding of the game. He was also much faster than anyone on the pitch, but that was expected. This sudden uptick in good form did not come out of the blue. The fact that he played and trained with one of the best teams in Europe gave him a huge advantage over many other players. To be the best you must train with the best and use the best equipment. Bolt had that for a few weeks in Germany and he is better off with it.

Now, he can hone those skills and gradually learn how to effectively use his speed. For such an old player, the man has oodles of potential.

Bolt began to realize that potential a few weeks later, when the Mariners played another trial match, one that Bolt admitted could be key to the Mariners offering him a contract. The fans’ support was endless and Bolt gave them what they came for, scoring two goals. His first was a header and the second came after Bolt placed the ball past the goalkeeper after beating his man. The second goal shows just how far he has come as a player with a great use of pace before a tidy finish, something Bolt would have struggled to do in training let alone a competitive math in front of thousands just a few months earlier.

The Mariners will likely offer him contract after that performance, but Bolt may already be on to bigger and better things, as his performances have caught the eye of many European clubs. Bolt will hope that this is a beginning of an exciting new chapter in his life that could be as fruitful as his running career. Maybe one day, Bolt will be running circles around defenders instead of other runners.

Page 22

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Sports Sports Editorial

The Good (and Bad) from the Yankees’ 2018 Season

By JEREMY RUBIN

I hate baseball. Last year, when everybody counted us out, Aaron Judge went from a no-name to the Aaron Judge and the Yankees (Yanks) tore up the league, reaching the American League Championship Series before losing to the World Series winning Houston Astros in game seven. This year, with Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew McCutchen, and James Anthony (J.A.) Happ added either in the offseason or at midseason, the Yanks were one of the favorites to win it all throughout the year (I predicted the Yankees were going to defeat the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series an earlier issue… whoops).

Instead, they took a step back, losing to their archrival Boston Red Sox in four games in the American League Division Series (ALDS). But before the offseason kicks into high gear, here are my five biggest takeaways from this season as a whole: 1. Aaron Boone was… mediocre. The new mana-

gerial hire came into the season with high expectations and was looking to fill the shoes of longtime incumbent Joe Girardi. And while winning 100 games looks good on the surface (and is a testament to the Yankees’ resilience), Boone didn’t do all that much. He heaped praise when necessary, but his role as a leader remained a little unclear.

Catcher Gary Sanchez, for example, was a player who was supposed to break out for a career year. Instead, he dealt with numerous injuries, finishing the season with only 89 games played, a .186 batting average in those games, and a league high of 18 passed balls. Girardi called Sanchez out for his defensive miscues in 2017, but Boone never seemed to have such a confrontation. His lack of experience may have also lost him the American League Division Series (ALDS), leaving in pitchers Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia for too long in games three and four. The Yankees were clearly the worse team in the ALDS, but Boone’s managing did not help matters. He will

Greyducks Run Their Way to Boroughs The girls’ varsity cross country team are looking to build upon their early season form as they look forward to their last few meets of the season. The team displayed their competitive edge when they took their talents to the prestigious Manhattan Invitational at the beginning of their season. “It went well; two of our girls ran personal bests,” senior and co-captain Jeanette Cheung said. “It was kind of like a turning point between when we were just getting back into racing and actually racing.” They will be looking to repeat this success at the Section 1 Invitational, as it will all eventually lead up to the upcoming Borough Championships, where the Greyducks are the defending champions.

The work the team put in the offseason through the team’s performances so far showed. “Manhattan Invitational was a meet where we saw our runners compete at a more competitive level, as we were still easing into the season for the previous meets,” Cheung said. Sophomore Julianne Yotov and junior Ester Suleymanov are among the many who were able to set personal records at the meet.

“Manhattan Invitational is a really prestigious meet, so it really pushed our varsity team to stay on their toes,” Cheung said. As with any great athletes, a small taste

3. 267 home runs… so what? People thought the Yankees would have a shot at the previous record, 264 hit by the 1997 Seattle Mariners. In this regard, the Yankees exceeded expecta-

tions. Every single spot in the Yankees lineup had at least 20 home runs. They can rake. If only they could hit for average with men on base, too. This home run barrage will continue next season and beyond with the core all returning, but it takes more than just home runs to win a World Series.

4. What to do without “Sir Didi?” Shortstop Didi Gregorius recently had Tommy John surgery after the Yankees’ elimination from the playoffs, opening up a gaping hole both at shortstop and in the lineup. Until he returns (which could be anywhere in the season—it’s too early to have a set timetable), the Yankees will lose their best defender and a top hitter. Gregorius hit 27 home runs, drove in 86 RBIs, and finished with a .268 average last season. It seems like a combination of Gleyber Torres and Ronald Torreyes will fill in the hole, but neither are as capable defenders. Adeiny Hechavarria (assuming the Yanks re-sign him) could provide the defense, but his offensive production is nowhere

near the same level as Didi’s.

Fun fact: Gregorius can speak four languages and was actually knighted, hence the nickname “Sir Didi.”

5. The Baby Bombers are LEGIT. No one quite knew what to expect from rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar.

While both had their ups and downs throughout the year, they clearly exceeded any expectations. Torres finished with a .271 average and 24 home runs, while Andujar had a .297 average and 27 home runs, finishing as a probable Rookie of the Year winner. Despite their many struggles on the defensive end, they played with heart and will improve through practice and experience. Andujar is 23 and Torres is 21. Their growth, coupled with the continued maturation from ace Luis Severino and the rise of notable Yankees minor leagues such as Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield, will ensure the Bronx will not fall out of World Series contention any time soon.

Boys’ Cross Country

Girls’ Cross Country

By SUNAN TAJWAR

hopefully take a step forward next season.

2. Giancarlo Stanton has to do better. We’re paying you almost $30 million per year until 2028. In the regular season, he did alright—.266 batting average, 38 home runs, and 100 Runs Batted In (RBIs).

However, diving under the surface, Stanton has been an issue. As the fourth hitter of a dangerous Yankees lineup, he should be a capable hitter in high leverage situations. Instead, according to a Bleacher Report article by Zachary Rymer, Stanton is the worst player in clutch situations in the MLB. And, come playoff time, he choked. He hit a homerun in the Wild Card game, but in the four game series against the Red Sox, Stanton finished 4-18 at the plate with… four singles.

Nada. New York is going to need a lot more to justify this mega contract.

of success will only result in a taste for more. The girls’ cross country team will look forward to replicating their success at their future meets in order to bring back trophies to Stuyvesant.

But before the team heads to Borough’s, they have to take care of business at the Section 1 Invitational first.

The Greyducks have freshmen set to compete at the varsity level. These freshmen are looking forward to proving themselves at a larger competition, and Section 1 is the perfect opportunity to do so. But this is also an exciting opportunity for the experienced runners and captains to observe and prepare the young runners to carry the torch after they ultimately hang up their PSAL sneakers.

With the Borough Championships right around the corner, this is the last chance for the team to tune up and prepare for showtime on a competitive stage. “The competition at Section 1 might very well lead to some more personal records for our varsity members,” Cheung said.

So with both team and individual opportunities to set the winning tone before the business end of the season starts coming around, expect a big performance at the Section 1 Invitational. Keep an eye out for the young and hungry freshmen looking to prove themselves and veteran upperclassmen who look to exceed the team’s expectations.

Running in a Pack Will Be Key for Greyducks in Borough Championships

By NOAH GRENERT

It was a brisk Saturday morning in Van Cortlandt park on October 13. Members of the Stuyvesant boys’ cross country team were excited about running in the cold weather. Without having to deal with the heat and the extra sweat, they could finish the race in less time. This turned out to be exactly what happened for many of the Greyducks. Senior co-captain Caleb Hoo ran a time of 14:58.3 at the Manhattan Invitational’s 4k race, beating his time from the Mayor’s Cup on September 29 by 33 seconds. Even without the cold weather, the Greyducks look poised to win the Borough Championships on October 27.

At Manhattan Invitational, the Greyducks performed to coach Carl DiSarno’s liking. “I was very pleased with how the team did at Manhattan [Invitational],” he said. In the varsity 4000-meter race, senior and co-captain Justin Zhang led the Greyducks, finishing in 88th with a time of 14:45.6. He was followed by Hoo (101st), junior Alex Li (105th), junior Jackson Zou (136th), and junior Devin Lin (140th). Junior Jacob Olin placed 158th and Andrew Smsaryan 162nd.

Even though the plac-

es do not seem too high, there is much to be said about how the Greyducks ran at the meet. “There were many personal bests set,” Hoo said when asked about the relevance of these numbers. Zhang added that things “are very promising for the Borough [Championships]” for the Greyducks, who are looking to further improve

Running in a pack is beneficial because it allows team members to motivate each other and block other runners.

their times.

The Borough Championships are the next challenge for the Greyducks as they work toward the City Championships. The team expect to qualify for the City Championships. “Unlike last year, I think we actually might be the slight

favorites, but it’s really anyone’s race. HSMSE and Hunter will give us a good challenge and will be waiting to pounce if we slip up,” DiSarno said.

Both the captains and coaches agree that there is one thing the Greyducks need to work on in order to reach their potential in future races like the Borough Championships. “We need improvement on the gaps between our varsity members and have more of a pack,” Zhang said.

Running in a pack is beneficial because it allows team members to motivate each other and block other runners. In the Manhattan Invitational, the 1-5 split (the difference of the 1st and 5th finishing times on a team) was one minute and 54 seconds. Stuyvesant improved in pack running at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational on October 20, with a 1-5 split of one minute and 23 seconds.

Coach DiSarno hopes the team can do even better at the Borough Championships. “Our strategy will be to key off of certain guys on those two teams [Hunter and HSMSE] and to have our 3-7 guys run in a big pack.” If the Greyducks can execute their game plan to the t, then the Borough Championship is well within reach.

The Spectator ● October 31, 2018

Page 23

Sports Boys’ Soccer

Peglegs’ Season Ends Just Short of Playoffs

By ELIAS FERGUSON and AKI YAMAGUCHI

“[I am] very excited for next season as we will have a very big and impactful senior group.”

—Vincent Miller, coach

but it was not enough.

The Peglegs’ final game against Washington Irving was

Allison Eng / The Spectator

The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ soccer team, finished the regular season in fourth place with a record of 4-1-5, ultimately failing to make the playoffs. Though they needed to finish the season with a tied or winning regular season record and did play against the top opposition in the division, the team was unable to win any of their last three games.

The Peglegs lost 3-0 to division leaders and rival Martin Luther King Jr. High School (MLK), then followed up with a 1-1 draw against Columbia Secondary School. In their final game against Washington Irving High School, the team lost 2-1 at Pier 40 in front of a home crowd.

MLK again affirmed their division superiority in their victory over the Peglegs, 3-0. The scoreline showed a disappointing turnaround from earlier in the season, when the Peglegs fought MLK tooth and nail to a narrow 2-1 defeat. They only managed two shots on target, a fraction of MLK’s 10 that challenged Peglegs goalkeeper and junior Stefan Sorobay. MLK swept the division for the third straight year, finishing the season with an unblemished 10-0 record.

The Peglegs bounced back nicely, however, drawing against third place Columbia Secondary School, 1-1. Senior and co-captain Kevin Mitchell scored the only goal for the Peglegs, despite their 14 attempts. Mitchell was assisted by his fellow senior captain, Jeffrey Shen. Though not the result the team was looking for, it was an improvement from the 2-0 loss to Columbia earlier in the season. A strong Peglegs defense did well to limit Columbia to one goal,

crucial because they were still seeking that playoff-clinching win. At home in Pier 40 for the second time this season, the Peglegs only challenged Irving’s goalkeeper five times. The team failed to generate consistent shots on the goal. In this final game with their season on the line, they fell short.

However, the Peglegs ended up content with the hardplayed season and look forward to next year. Shen and Mitchell are proud of how the team

fought, but sad about not being able to see the team make it to playoffs. “We had a lot of fun and we are going to miss the team a lot,” they said.

Looking ahead to next season, current juniors Jeremy Moller and Stefan Sorobay are two of the members of the team who will be crucial to the offense and defense, respectively. Sorobay had a successful year, only letting in 14 out of 52 shots on goal; he will be impactful, again replacing senior

goalkeeper Feras Roumie.

Moller, meanwhile, will try to emulate leading scorers Sean Takada (six) and Mitchell (four) next season and carry more of the offensive burden. Coach Vincent Miller said, “[I am] very excited for next season as [they] will have a very big and impactful senior group.”

With only four seniors graduating this year compared to 10 last season, the increased experience and leadership on the team should only help.

Sports Editorial

Crime, Religion, and Submission

By SUNAN TAJWAR

Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov met at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 6 to headline Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 229.

McGregor, arguably the greatest individual fight promoter of all time, talked this event into the biggest UFC fight of all time.

McGregor had allegedly attacked Nurmagomedov’s family, religion, and teammates.

The bad blood between these two was level with, if not surpassing, that between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.

Considering Jones and Cormier have been going at each other and exchanging hold of the light heavyweight belt for years now, with matters only heightened by Jones’ doping scandal, this is saying a lot.

The root of this hatred started the last time McGregor fought in the Octagon at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. After mauling and submitting Michael Johnson, Nurmagomedov called out the UFC’s golden boy, McGregor, who in the same night, became the first ever simultaneous two-division UFC champion by effortlessly knocking out Eddie Alvarez.

But the peak of their rivalry was when McGregor and a group of his goons attacked the bus Nurmagomedov was on at UFC 223 after Nurmagomedov allegedly harassed McGregor’s training partner, Artem Lobov. Though it took a few months to make it happen, the fight date was set for

McGregor’s return to the Octagon at UFC 229, where he would fight against the undefeated Nurmagomedov Nurmagomedov to reclaim the lightweight title he vacated.

Right before the fight, Nurmagomedov said that the bad blood would not be lost after the fight. So when the two fighters entered the Octagon, it wasn’t surprising that there was no touch of gloves in the beginning. And thus started round one.

McGregor, as always, tried to start quick and landed a quick left hand to start the fight. But that quick left hand was about all the success he had in the first round. Nurmagomedov is what most people consider, at such a young age, the greatest wrestler to have ever stepped foot into the Octagon. Growing up in Dagestan, Russia, he was trained within a strict Muslim household where his discipline, strength, and ability to demoralize his opponent laid the foundation for his MMA career. It should be to no one’s surprise that a man who wrestled a bear (and won) at the age of nine would manhandle every single opponent he has ever had; with Nurmagomedov, it has never been a matter of two fighters; it has always been a matter of a man versus a boy. Unfortunately for McGregor, this fight was no different. Nurmagomedov quickly took hold of McGregor’s leg and rammed him into the cage.

McGregor resisted, but it did not take long for Nurmagomedov to lift him off the ground, slam him onto the mat, and tie up his legs. The rest of

the round consisted of a pure ground and pound domination that wore down McGregor, who had never been in a fight like this before.

The second round didn’t fare much better for McGregor. Nurmagomedov essentially suplexed McGregor onto the mat, began beating away at him, and forced him to carry his weight. For a fighter like McGregor, who relies on his explosiveness and boxing, this was demoralizing. The lack of endurance and wrestling ability was vividly apparent.

The end of the second round saw a huge scare for McGregor fans. McGregor, the boxer by trade, was rocked by a big right hand from Nurmagomedov, the wrestler. From there, Nurmagomedov got McGregor in a stacked position and threw hay-makers from a top position. Nevertheless, McGregor survived as he kept up his defenses. Thus, Herb Dean gave him the okay to keep fighting.

The third round saw the most action from McGregor in the entire match.

Nurmagomedov decided to stay standing this round. The commentators suspected that Nurmagomedov might have tired himself out from all that ground and pound, but from a fan’s perspective, it was almost as if the Russian was trying to toy with McGregor and prove a point with the confidence he had accumulated after rocking McGregor back with the big right hand in the last round.

McGregor, the better stand-up fighter, was able to get some combinations and left hooks off, but Nurmagomedov’s chin

stood the test. It was apparent that Nurmagomedov’s manhandling of McGregor in the first two rounds had worn the Irishman out. This fatigue led to a lack of speed and power in McGregor’s punches in comparison to his usual one-punch knockout power, timing, and placement.

As the two fighters entered the championship rounds, the crowd could sense that McGregor needed something special to win this fight. But Nurmagomedov would not let that happen. He once again threw McGregor to the ground like a rag doll, and from there took his back and then neck. Nurmagomedov didn’t even get the arm under McGregor’s chin for the choke; he essentially cranked on McGregor’s head until, for the second time in his career, McGregor tapped out. Never before had we seen McGregor manhandled and left so utterly helpless inside the Octagon. Even in his past losses, McGregor had never been so utterly humiliated and left red-faced as he was by Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov said to McGregor’s fans before the fight, “I’m gonna smash your boy, and then you will like me.” It goes without saying that the first part of his statement came true, but the second did not.

Unfortunately for the UFC, the post-fight was more competitive than the actual fight.

After Nurmagomedov finished an almost flawless performance by submitting his hated adversary, he proceeded to yell at McGregor and throw his mouthpiece in the direction of

McGregor’s corner. But then, as if humiliating McGregor wasn’t enough, Nurmagomedov leaped over the fence and into the crowd, where he began brawling another one of McGregor’s training partners in the crowd of the T-Mobile Arena.

Just when things couldn’t get worse, one of Nurmagomedov’s team members jumped into the Octagon and hit McGregor with a flush right hook on the chin. Security ran into the scuffles and escorted McGregor and his team out of the arena.

“Where is my belt?” he asked Dana White after he calmed down and was brought back into the Octagon.

“If I put this belt on you, people are gonna get hurt,” White replied. While he couldn’t stop the brawl that had already begun between the Irish and Russian fans, he didn’t add more fuel to the fire.

Nurmagomedov’s post-match antics had his purse and contract suspended, and the teammate that attacked McGregor was under police investigation.

Nurmagomedov’s only regret was that he let himself lose his discipline after the fight, but he truly believed his actions were justified. McGregor’s team not only lost the fight, but also lost the post-fight.

Regardless of what transpired after the fight, Nurmagomedov’s performance against the UFC’s poster boy should put him in the conversation about the greatest of all time, as this epic victory, among many signature wins, brought his record to 27-0.

October 31, 2018

Page 24

THE SPECTATOR SPORTS Girls’ Volleyball

Vixens Cruise Through Season

CALENDAR

November

2

Friday

Zoe Oppenheimer / The Spectator

JV/Varsity Football vs.

A. Philip Randolph Campus HS Pier 40, 4 & 6 PM

2

Friday

By LUMI WESTERLUND and MAX MAH

Tuesday, October 2, Stuyvesant High School, Third Floor Gym: “STUY!!! Heyyy!” The Vixens’ fiery chant pierced through the gym as they huddled together. They had just finished their pre-game warmup, in which they each took turns receiving the ball off a set and spiking it over the net. The girls eased into competition mode; they were loose, confident, and seemed to already exert a mental edge over their opponents.

Senior and co-captain Ally Archer led the team, jogging toward the middle of the gym to exchange high fives with the Bard High School players under the net.

Then, as Bard jogged back to their side of the court, Archer led the Vixens back around to high five each of their teammates, firing the whole team up. They gathered in a huddle again and shouted three distinctive words: “Kick Some Butt!”

Sophomore setter Isabel Leka led things off with a hard serve. It was returned but then immediately spiked back over by Senior Victoria Gorelik for a kill shot.

This set the tone for the rest of the match; after one upping each other 4-4 in the first set, the Vixens began to take a commanding lead over Bard. They were settled into a rhythm, and there was no stopping them. Communication between the front and back was flawless—each player knew exactly where to be, who to back up, and who to pass to. They moved as one cohesive unit spearheaded by Archer, who landed kill shots left and right, supplemented by the occasional tip over the top.

Bard, on the other hand, had a tough time positioning themselves properly on both offensive and defensive ends. For one, they were of-

ten unable to carry out cohesive passing sequences to execute kill shots and had to resort to weakly bumping the ball over. The Vixens’ serves were overwhelming for Bard, too; in both sets, the Vixens compiled 19 aces.

The Vixens won both sets 25-7, shutting down the competition early and decisively. As they played, the Vixens smiled and high fived each other throughout the game. After every play, the players on the court would huddle in for a moment before breaking and preparing for the next play. “The team’s mindset has really improved.

The girls play well together.

Communication between the front and back was flawless—each player knew exactly where to be, who to back up, and who to pass to.

They are supportive of each other and trust one another and are good at discussing any problems on the court and coming to a joint solution all on their own,” coach Vasken Choubaralian said.

The encouraging, fun spirit at the core of this team has been proving successful thus far.

After their home victory against Bard, the Vixens won their next four matches: they shut down Washington Irving at home, then beat Lab Museum and Norman Thomas away. Most recently, they beat their rival, Seward Park, for the second time this season, winning both sets.

The Vixens are cur-

rently undefeated in league play, totalling nine wins and zero losses.

They lead their Manhattan A South/East division and have high hopes for their remaining league matches as well as the playoffs.

While they have been placing at the top in their division, the Vixens have faced some scrimmage losses, including a close match against Brooklyn Technical High School, where both sets resulted in 23-25 defeats, and a loss to Preston High School at a Bronx Science tournament. The team mindset, however, is to gain from these losses, focusing their practice regimen on whatever they need to work on most for their upcoming match. In anticipation of their upcoming tournament this Sunday, senior and co-captain Hanah Jun said, “We’ve been working on covering hitters when they attack, making sure we have our weight forward so we can move forward easily, and making sure all of the defensive roles are in place. We also have the hitters working on hitting more difficult shots like deep corners down the line and strategically placed tips.”

This Vixens team is definitely worth following. In many ways, they are stronger than they ever have been— the team is led by dedicated, encouraging captains Ally Archer and Hanah Jun. They have a wide reserve of skilled junior and sophomore players, not only to start but also sub in. “I really think all of the new starters this year have been a tremendous contribution. Each one was so eager to finally play and have worked really hard the last couple of years in preparation,” Choubaralian said. After being upset in the second round as the second seed in last year’s playoffs, this strong core will look to carry the team much farther than before.

5

Boys’ Badminton vs. HS of Fashion Industries Home, 5 PM

Monday Boys’ Fencing vs.

Long Island City HS Home, 4:30 PM

9

Friday

10

JV/Varsity Football vs.

Alfred E Smith Campus HS Pier 40, 4 & 6 PM

Saturday

PSAL Cross Country City Championships Van Cortlandt Park, 10:15 AM

SPORTSBEAT Led by juniors Matthew Huang with 181 points and Samuel Fang with 170 points, the Spartans, the boys’ bowling team defeated Bayard Rustin Educational Complex 2-1.

The Pinheads, Stuyvesant’s girls’ bowling team, won the first two sets behind junior Stephanie Liu’s 169 points to beat Louis Brandeis 2-1.

The football team outperformed William C. Bryant High School in nearly every aspect of the game en route to a convincing 55-0 victory.

The Vixens, Stuyvesant’s girls’ volleyball team, continued their undefeated season with a perfect 2-0 win against Bard High School Early College. The team has lost one set all season.