Issue 7, Volume 108

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

FEATURES

Textbooks and Pointe Shoes: The Secret Life of Dr. Greenwald Before Dr. Lisa Greenwald was a history teacher at Stuyvesant, she was a ballet student. In this Q&A, she reflects on her experiences with ballet and how it has affected her life. see page 6

Volume 108 No. 7

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

OPINIONS

Transforming Apathy to Awareness As scandals erupt across Hollywood and Washington, D.C., freshman Angela Wong draws attention to an issue that hits closer to home — public schools’ deficiencies in addressing sexual harassment in their curricula — and proposes a Gender studies course as a solution. see page 12

December 20, 2017

stuyspec.com

Stuyvesant Hosts Local Hack Day

By CHLOE DOUMAR and ERIN LEE

Courtesy of Navid Kashem

StuyHacks hosted Local Hack Day, a hackathon, on Saturday, December 2. Over the course of 12 hours, 250 middle school and high school students from New York gathered on the first three floors to brainstorm coding projects and to execute them.

Once all of the projects were submitted, they were judged by a panel of computer scientists, and the winning projects were awarded prizes, such as Amazon Echo Dots or Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets.

Stuyvesant alumni, seniors taking advanced computer science classes, and three experienced volunteers from Upperline School of Code, a gold sponsor of StuyHacks, helped the participants with their coding.

“This is probably some people’s very first time experiencing full-on coding, and for others it’s more just practice and trying to come up with new ideas,” said sophomore Ahmed Sultan, who was a member of the group that won first place. Sul-

tan’s group created a program called Twood, which detects the mood and emotion of a tweet.

Various other awards were given out, such as Best Beginner Hack and Best Game.

“If you want to win next time or do better you try to learn how to program better,” said Sean Ma, an eighth grade student at South Orangetown Middle School.

Local Hack Day was an opportunity for programmers with varying levels of experience to work together. This year, 40 percent of the participants attended schools other than Stuyvesant. “Marketing did a really good job with gathering people from and around the city,” Wu said. “Even people from New Jersey came here today.”

StuyHacks encourages participants to see how computer science can be applied outside the classroom. “I really like that the limits of what you can do in coding and programming. The limits of telling a computer what to do are kind of limitless. I mean, your imagination is really the limit,” junior Shayan Chowdhury said.

Academic Dishonesty: An Inherent Issue?

83.3% 52.2% 71.4% 72.6% 10%

on pages 2-4

of students reported committing academic dishonesty

of those who committed academic dishonesty don’t feel guilty

report having copied a homework assignment

think it’s justifiable in some instances to cheat

of students have been caught cheating

Academic Dishonesty: The Teacher’s View

BY GEORGE SHEY and PETER TAM

Interviews have been condensed for the paper.

Dr. Susan Barrow, Art What are your experiences with cheating?

My experience teaching mostly Art Appreciation with freshmen is that I never worried about them cheating. I did have an experience a couple of years ago where I thought that I was vigilant, but I had classes in the morning, and a student in the afternoon had informed me that students in the cafeteria were looking at a copy of my test on Facebook. I had to involve [Assistant Principal of Security, Health, and Physical Education Brian] Moran, and I gave the student a chance to reflect on this instance. A couple of people named the same person as the perpetrator anonymously.

What are your methods of stopping cheating? In tests and homework?

I collect any phones before any test I give. Phones are out in a box. Honestly, I don’t think that students understand what plagiarism is or isn’t. They don’t, especially freshmen, they have no clear understanding of it, the administration does a better job explaining it to them. For museum reports, I ask students to make a

personal statement that says they didn’t copy, they didn’t plagiarize, so I think that if anyone has any integrity, they should learn when they’re young and that’s the best I can do. I also walk around constantly during tests.

Why do you think students cheat?

They cheat because they don’t think they will be caught. I think that students in this school are under pressure to get good grades and the best way possible, unfortunately, is cheating, and some of them think that if they get a bad grade, it ruins their whole life or something.

Dr. Jeffrey Kivi, Chemistry What do you think about cheating? Why do kids do it? What do you do to try to stop cheating from happening?

I give multiple versions of a test to try to limit the temptation because I know that kids, those who weren’t even planning on cheating, at the spur of the moment, give in to temptation to look at the test of the student next to them. That’s why I give out multiple tests to illuminate that sort of spontaneous temptation.

I used to give lots of homework and there are a lot of reasons why I have deemphasized homework

deemphasized it. I’d rather have kids work on something in class so they can think about it and work it out themselves or with their neighbors or teammates rather than looking up the answers that were posted in groups or online.

What do you do when you find a student is cheating?

I don’t think about it an awful lot. I leave it up to the administration to deal with overall. I just try to do things that give kids less of an opportunity make the wrong choice and hopefully encourage them to solve things on their own.

Marianne Prabhu, Biology

What are your consequences for anyone caught cheating?

I think that students have subtle ways of cheating, but I’m not going to spend the whole day tracking down cheaters. If it’s really blatant, I rip up their test or give them a zero, and in cases, not recently, but kids handing in an identical report I call them in, sit them down, and ask why the reports are virtually identical. So then one of them will eventually admit that they copied off the other.

but one of the reasons is that kids with the Internet and these groups that they form and they all share everything so easily, so you start to see too much of kids handing in the same homework with the same wording. And it was clear that kids weren’t doing their own work and it’s like, how do you stop that? And it’s pretty much impossible to stop kids using the internet for helping each other out, posting answers, or looking up the answers online. To an extent, giving homework was less useful because kids weren’t necessarily doing the answers on their own, they were getting them online. So that’s some of the reasons why I

Why do you think students cheat?

What are your penalties for cheating?

How do you prevent kids from cheating?

I think that students don’t even realize that things they do constitute as cheating; for example, copying homework. Some students don’t even think that they’re doing it until we point it out to them.

I’ve never had a situation where I had to give a student a full zero or something like that. But I know for the most part, our department policy is they get a zero for that assignment.

One thing I do is let students use a notes guide, a specific one, on exams. This way, they don’t feel like they have to cheat, they already have some of their notes in front of them, and I try to test them more on applications, so there is a lot of writing and it’s hard to cheat in the first place.

continued on page 2

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

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News Academic Dishonesty: The Teacher’s View continued from page 1

Lauren Stuzin, English What’s your perception of cheating, especially encompassing plagiarism in the English Department?

I would say I haven’t encountered it all that often, which makes me happy, because I think students should rather have ideas of their own than take from online. But I do think that when it does happen it’s mostly because you guys are very overwhelmed and stressed, and there’s only so much time in your days. So while it’s really bad to plagiarize, and no one should do it—you should try to come up with your own ideas— it’s better to have this happen in high school and to learn from it than for it to happen in the future. So I do think it’s a learning experience, and I understand that students can feel overwhelmed with the amount of work at Stuyvesant.

If you catch a student cheating (plagiarizing), what happens?

In the English department if you plagiarise an assignment

you’ll receive a zero for that assignment. You’ll also probably have a conversation with the Assistant Principal [Eric] Grossman regarding plagiarism and problems with it, and what constitutes plagiarism. Then, you’re expected to not do that again, and you’ll be able to submit future assignments.

Do you agree with Stuyvesant’s cheating policy?

Yes, I do think it’s important that students are aware of the fact that plagiarizing is a problem, and I think that students are going to need to know in college. And it’s good to know the rules for citation, and also, I think receiving a zero on the assignment you plagiarized is a fair punishment.

Stuyvesant is notorious for cheating—a couple years ago we had the Regents scandal, and last year, we had this scandal in the Spanish Department. What do you think makes cheating unique at Stuy, or so widespread?

I think it’s the fact that

Stuyvesant students have way more work than any other school, and I do think at least I try to keep aware of the amount of homework I’m assigning and how long readings are taking— because I don’t want to necessarily add to that work. I don’t want students to feel like my work is busy work, or just taking up time. I want to make sure that what I assign is meaningful, so it doesn’t just add to this burden that you guys feel every day when you go home and have hours and hours of homework ahead of you. I feel like sometimes teachers forget students have lives outside of school and belong to a million extracurriculars. You’re very active in your communities, and you have stuff to do at home.

Have you ever cheated when you were little, like in high school?

I think in high school I probably shared homework. I distinctly remember once in elementary school I ratted someone else out for cheating and I felt really bad about that when I was 11.

Jerry Citron, Biology Why do you think students cheat?

Students cheat because of a multiple of reasons, primarily stress and also because they want to do something fast and they don’t want to study. The other reason students cheat is because maybe the situation in class is not fair in the way they think [it] should be, and they feel that the only way they do well is to cheat.

How do you stop kids from cheating?

There are some students who genuinely do well because they work really really hard on something. And that’s another issue. Some students take easier classes, and therefore have an easier time, and some students take a lot of AP courses and are therefore very stressed out. And I do believe that students cheat because they have five AP classes and they start to prioritize one over another. Like, ”I was able to study for this one, but

not this one, but I have exams back to back. I’m going to cheat, or try to cheat.” Some kids have notes on cards, on a piece of paper, some like to write notes on their hands and some will look at other people’s paper[s], so to prevent that is to make multiple copies of an exam so that there is an “A,” “B,” “C” version of the exam and that will prevent cheating in class. I walk up and down the aisles to make sure that kids aren’t looking at each other’s papers or have any external examples. There are many physical things you can do, but ultimately, any kid who cheats is hurting himself, so that’s how I look at it. If you’re going to cheat and do it in a way you think is being successful and you’re not being successful, you’re really just turning on yourself, and ultimately, you don’t do very well in school.

What are your consequences for cheating?

If you are caught cheating on tests, you should get a zero, you should absolutely get a

zero, that should be the consequence. If you do it again, then the administration should get involved. The really good students may have cheated once or twice. They just know how to manage time, manage the stress in order to learn. And there are other kids who try to circumvent the system.

Do you do anything to help with the stress?

I do test corrections when I can. Curving the exam sometimes helps. Sometimes, if I find a question is horrendous, because most students get it wrong, I just throw it out. That’s my fault, not the students’. I’m trying to make it feel like the exam isn’t trying to hurt them but to learn information and use it again as a tool to learn what you didn’t understand before the test. So if the test can be a tool for learning, if students can see it as a tool, and not as an absolute assessment, then there might be less cheating. I don’t know but that’s what I’m hoping.

Eric Grossman, Assistant Principal of English What do you think about cheating or in the case of the English department, plagiarism? Why do you think that kids do it?

Part of my job is to meet with students and their teachers when plagiarizing occurs.

You asked about plagiarism, I’m not a big fan of it. Overwhelmingly, when it happens it happens because students feel overwhelmed and stressed out and panicky and make a bad decision last minute, often late at night, and that’s understandable. The goal is to make sure that they learn from it, and while the consequences are meant to resonate, to feel meaningful enough to create an impression, they are not meant to and don’t ruin lives or chances to get into a decent college. If it happens chronically, then that is a different story and a different problem.

Can you talk about the consequences?

Well, there is an academic policy of the school and if a student cheats on an assignment, whatever that looks like, if it’s a single line from a website or if it’s a cut and paste, it’s still academic dishonesty. So the scale of seriousness rises or falls depending on the size of the assignment and what is sad and ironic is that when a student cheats, their hope is to do better; [however] they do much much worse. We want kids to be successful, we want them to be in structures that encourage and support that.

What methods do you use to stop cheating?

Most teachers develop [a] pretty good “spidey sense” when something appears off.

In terms of strategy to discourage it, talking about it and making it clear to our students that we care about it and why we care about is the most important thing. Most students are attuned to their teachers: what

they value, what they as students should value, and having those conversation[s] make it less likely to occur. It does not mean that it can never occur, but it’s just communicating what the ideas of the case are and why.

Do you think teachers have ways of making sure that students are working on their assignments?

In a lot of classes, especially in the lower grades, there are multiple due dates of multiple parts of a project. In a [Freshman Composition] class, a thesis may be due a certain day and then they’ll workshop it, and passages from a book and supporting evidence may be due a certain day, and by the time the essay is actually due, there are a lot of steps along the way that give a chance for teachers to check in and make sure that students are not saving the entire thing for the night before.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

WORLDBEAT A man detonated a pipe bomb near Times Square in the 42nd Street/ Port Authority Bus Terminal subway station on Monday, December 11.

The bomb failed to explode properly and injured five people. The suspect is a 27-year-old man named Akayed Ullah, who claimed to have been acting for the Islamic State and was motivated by Israeli incursions in Gaza.

President Trump announced that America’s embassy in Israel will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The U.S. has long recognized Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital because Jerusalem is hotly contested by Israel and Palestine. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that the move was unlikely to occur before 2020. Nevertheless, protests broke out in Palestine and foreign governments largely condemned the administration for reversing American neutrality on the issue.

House and Senate Republicans have agreed on the details of a tax reform bill and are preparing to finalize the legislation for a vote before the end of the year. If successful, Republicans will oversee the most significant overhaul of the tax code since the Reagan era.

Doug Jones will be the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate in more than 20 years after defeating controversial Republican nominee Roy Moore. The race gained national attention after Moore, a hardline conservative who defeated incumbent Luther Strange in the Republican primary, was accused by numerous women of sexual misconduct and pedophilia. Jones’s narrow win will decrease the Republican majority in the Senate to one and give Democrats more leverage in the chamber.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to vote to repeal net neutrality on Thursday, December 14. Net neutrality regulations prevent internet providers from manipulating internet speed to promote certain websites. The FCC, led by Ajit Pai, argues that net neutrality is an example of government overreach, but critics of the plan say that the regulations keep the internet fair and free.

Australia voted to legalize same-sex marriage in a national referendum. The campaign before the vote was often divisive and conservatives attempted to delay the referendum. In spite of the bitter debate, over 60 percent of the country voted to approve the measure.

Academic Dishonesty: An Inherent Issue?

By CHLOE HANSON and WEN SHAN JIANG

Academic dishonesty is a term often thrown around at Stuyvesant, and yet the definition is sometimes unclear. Stuyvesant has garnered an unfortunate reputation for it in recent years, largely based on the well-publicized 2012 Regents cheating scandal. Yet, many find the cheating environment at Stuyvesant to be normal or even expected of such an academically rigorous environment. Students, teachers, and administrators have vastly different opinions on what academic dishonesty entails, and when, if ever, it is even acceptable. An Academic Dishonesty Policy is distributed to students in the beginning of each school year, yet many students have no idea what the policy is.

The Spectator conducted an online survey, as well as interviews with various members of the Stuyvesant community, to explore the idea of academic dishonesty, and why and how it occurs at our school. 329 students responded to the survey. Here are the results:

Have you ever committed academic dishonesty?

7% 9.7%

Yes No I'm not sure 83.3%

continued on page 3

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 3

News Academic Dishonesty: An Inherent Issue? continued from page 2

While at least half of the students in every grade bracket say they have committed academic dishonesty, it is most prevalent in those with a GPA ranging from 85-89, followed by a GPA ranging from 80-84. Academic dishonesty is least common among those with a GPA of 98 or higher.

Academic dishonesty is nearly equally prevalent between genders: 86 percent of male respondents and 80 percent of female respondents have cheated in some way.

It is most common in the junior class, where 97 percent of respondents have cheated. Junior year is often considered the most stressful and important year in terms of grades by students, which may explain the high number. Meanwhile, 56 percent of freshman respondents have committed academic dishonesty in their first four months at Stuyvesant.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how frequently do you think you cheat in comparison to the rest of the student body?

86

Computer Science 42

132

Social Studies English

53

Math

10.6%

3

4

4.6% 5 I cheat much more often than most people I know

Can you define academic dishonesty?

“Academic dishonesty in my view is a more self-centered view than that described by the school. In my mind, letting someone copy off my answers on a test is fine. I would slide my paper into their view and that would be that. For me, it is not considered cheating. I am not gaining anything out of sharing answers. I do not gain unfair advantages by letting someone copy off my answers, thus I do not feel guilty at all. The converse of that situation, however, is cheating. If I do not know the answer and someone shares it to me, I consider that cheating as you are using information you would not have known.

You are only academically dishonest if you are lying to yourself.”

103

Drafting

29.2%

“Completing any assignment with work other than that completed completely by you.

Academic dishonesty ranges from not paying attention in lab and scribbling down your partner’s answers to pulling out your phone during a test.”

137

Others (such as art and music appreciation)

2

1 I never cheat

What subjects are you most likely to cheat on?

Language

42.2%

13.4%

“Any action meant to give a student or group of students an unfair advantage in any school assignment.”

140

Science

217

Have you ever cheated on a test?

(Copied off someone, knew the answers beforehand, etc.)

Yes, more than Never (28.9%) once (58.4%)

“Using or sharing outside information (whether it be another student, the Internet, or even yourself ) without citing and/or saying it’s your own work.”

Have

you ever copied someone else’s homework for credit?

Yes, more than once (72.6%)

Do you consider copying homework cheating?

No (17.3%)

Yes, once (12.8%) 48.6%

51.4%

Yes No

Yes, once (10%)

Have any of your teachers taken measures to prevent cheating?

Do you think the existence of the academic dishonesty

contract has any impact on your decision to cheat?

16.5%

Do you agree with the

Stuyvesant administration’s approach to cheating?

16.1%

29.2%

7.5%

45.1%

Yes

Yes

No

I'm not sure

No

I'm not sure

76.1%

25.7%

83.9%

Have you ever cheated on a

standardized test such as the

9+91+A

Yes

No

shsat, sat, or act?

Have you ever cheated on the Regents?

No (80.9%)

If you have committed academic dishonesty,

do you feel guilty about it?

No, I am a freshman (4.9 %)

8.8%

9.4%

Yes (9.4%)

52.2%

Yes (14.3 %)

Yes, a lot 39.1%

Yes, a little No

No (90.6%)

90.6%

continued on page 4

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 4

News Academic Dishonesty: An Inherent Issue? continued from page 3

If so, what was your punishment, if any?

Have you ever been caught cheating?

Would you say there is a cheating problem at Stuyvesant?

“I let someone copy my homework during class and our teacher called the AP on us, who let us go with a warning.”

“Someone cheated off of me once.

Teacher caught them, told me to cover my paper, and didn’t do anything else.”

42.6% 57.4%

“Caught copying a homework; counted as a 0, phone call home.”

Yes No

“0 on the assignment, academic dishonesty hearing.”

Yes (10%)

No (79.6%)

I have never cheated (10.3%)

71+29+A

Do you think cheating is justifiable, ever?

Has your opinion towards cheating changed since you got to Stuyvesant?

No (48.0%)

28.6%

Yes (9.4%)

Yes, I have a more negative view towards cheating (15.2%)

No (90.6%)

71.4%

Why or Why Not?

“Some teachers are very unreasonable when it comes to homework and tests, so it is expected that students won’t try if they aren’t taught material.

Sometimes, we are burdened with a lot of work and can’t study for a test or do homework. It shouldn’t be a regular thing, but it’s okay.

Teachers can’t expect us to be reasonable when they are unreasonable.”

“At Stuy, there’s so much pressure to perform, and there comes a point where you just can’t get a 95 on your fifth test that week. That’s what drives me to cheat. Same with homework. When you’re five hours into homework and haven’t even started the essay due tomorrow, you think, I guess I can ask my friend for the math answers.”

Yes, I have a more positive view towards cheating (36.8%)

“Stuyvesant puts you in a situation where doing extraordinarily well isn’t possible without sacrificing something.”

Anything else you would like to say?

“We all are just helping each other out. Stuyvesant breeds a culture of cheating, and you’re honestly stupid to not take advantage of it.”

“The only reason we justify and do cheat is because the system we’re in pressures us to care about grades and numbers, and not about our actual level of academic achievement.”

“Although I disagree with cheating on tests, I view cheating on homework assignments as justifiable. Many homework assignments are tedious and meaningless.

Although some classes legitimately benefit from homework, some teachers assign homework for the sake of it, even if there is nothing to be gained from it. ” “There is no reason to ever cheat. Study for your tests, do your homework.

People should only get credit for work they do, so I don’t think they should get a higher grade because they successfully cheated on a test compared to those who studied, but may have still got some questions wrong.”

“There is no honor in cheating. If anyone justifies Stuyvesant’s atmosphere as the cause of their cheating, they don’t deserve to even go here.”

“At the end of the day, cheating is still cheating, it should not be justifiable ever, period.”

“There are many ambiguous territories within academic dishonesty—for instance, the first bullet point within Stuyvesant’s own policy prohibits “presenting the ideas of others (either by paraphrasing or direct quotation) without credit to the source.” I took APCS, and am currently taking another post-AP CS elective, and a big part of getting through assignments is simply googling how to use certain functions or understanding why you are getting an error, and using that code that you see to fix your own work. The very nature of computer science makes it impossible to do substantive work without some form of ‘academic dishonesty.’ Citing these sources would be meaningless, because none of us are ever the ‘first’ to write a particular line of code.”

“It’s not academic dishonesty if you don’t get caught.”

“I think that students who cheat routinely will find themselves in serious trouble down the road, but students who cheat occasionally shouldn’t feel terribly about it. If that’s really the case, that specific grade doesn’t define you, and neither does cheating.”

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The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 6

Features What’s the Best or Weirdest Gift You Have Ever Received?

By The Features Department

“The best gift that I’ve ever received was when I had first met my husband, we had first started dating, so he did my birthday gifts as a scavenger hunt. He hid the presents all over my apartment, and each present had a clue to finding the next present, and they got slowly better. They were all

“I think I got a weird kitchen utensil once. It was one of those multi-tool kitchen utensils that don’t work very well. I’ve also given some pretty weird gifts; I gave my wife a weed-whacker—not the kind of gift you give a woman. When we bought a house, I couldn’t touch the lawn mower— she wouldn’t let me go near it. I thought to myself, ‘She has discovered her inner gardener; I’m going to get her something that she can use in the garden.’ So I got her a weed-whacker. To this day, she has not touched that weedwhacker. And she did not talk to me for about three days.”

different things that I wanted, like a book or a nice shirt, and some of them were more sentimental things. The present that I liked the most was a little card that said he would take me out shopping to buy whatever outfit of my choice in whatever store I wanted.”

Joseph Lee / The Spectator

Caitlin Chao / The Spectator

Charles Kuang, Computer science teacher

Katherine Kincaid, ENGLISH teacher

Ernest Oliveri, Assistant Principal of the World Languages Department

Madeline Horan, ENGLISH teacher “I’d say the weirdest holiday gift came from my grandmother, a devout Catholic who went to mass every day, which showed in her Christmas presents—usually holy cards, rosary beads, and prayer books. When I was thirteen, she gave me a statue of the Virgin

Mary wrapped up in newspaper. I unraveled it to find a painted face smiling at me, but then I lost sight of the eyes as the head rolled out of the newspaper. She told me, ‘I dropped it in the St. Scholastica parking lot.’ I wasn’t sure whether we should put it on the mantle.”

“The weirdest gift I ever received was from this student I taught in middle school, but also teach now. She gave me a dictionary because I misspelled the word ‘class’ on the board like one time.”

Eric Ferencz, ENGLISH teacher

“When I was about eight years old, my grandmother gave me a baked potato wrapped in tinfoil. I cried for two hours.”

Jerry Citron, Science Teacher “The best gift I’ve ever gotten was a really high class terrain bike. It’s a bike that allows you to ride long distances, and you use it to travel long distances. It was a long time ago. I think maybe my mother bought it for me.”

receive a gift from someone. I first thought of a Christmas gift from my parents that changed the way I think about the world. It was a small toy microscope, which I still have, and I was mesmerized, eventually pursuing biology as a career.

My father often took me to Tiffany’s to look at the engagement rings when I got older. Eventually, I met my husband. Six months after the day I met him at my 25th Stuy reunion, he proposed. We went the next day for the ring, walking across Central Park to Tiffany’s in the spring rain. I was excited to find something practical and pretty, and just what we could afford. We were married in August of 2014. That ring definitely qualifies as the best gift: something I wished for all my life, from the man I wished for all my life.”

Caitlin Chao / The Spectator

Caitlin Chao / The Spectator

Carlos Bravo, Spanish Teacher

Caitlin Chao / The Spectator

Mayumi Gurung / The Spectator

“The best gift I got was an iPhone a couple years ago, but it had hidden motives because my parents wanted me to stay in contact with them when I was away from them.”

“I still have most gifts and cards I have ever received in my life, and Christmas is far and away my favorite holiday. Gift-giving is a precious thing, and I never want to forget when I am privileged to

sun sets, the anticipation of that night’s gifts paired with some unrealistic daydreaming could only lead to disappointment when unwrapping the gifts of night four or five or six or seven or eight.

I know that I’m speaking of a child of great privilege, but at the time, considering the fortunes I perceived my peers had bestowed upon them, I somehow felt jilted.”

MARIANNE PRAHBU, BIOLOGY teacher

Maria Nedwidek-Moore, Biology Teacher

“The best gift for me would have to be the birth of my son, a month before Christmas. George was eight pounds and quite beautiful. It was a great way to bring in the Christmas holiday. and it couldn’t be any better than that. The worst gift is probably clothing. I was a hyperactive kid; all I had on my mind was sports and music. I was actually thinking I was going to get a bicycle; I just needed one badly. Instead I got clothing: a pair of pants and a couple of shirts; what a disappointment!”

Rebecca Lindemulder, French and German Teacher

ment System], or a new CD player.

But as the seventh or eighth night rolled around, and parental creativity waned, gifts became more utilitarian as I’d received objects that I simply expected my parents to purchase for me. One could imagine the disappointed look on an eight-year-old tearing eagerly through decorative wrapping paper only to discover tube socks?

Pencils? A new toothbrush? And as Jewish holidays begin when the

“That’s tough, because for the most part, people are pretty good gift-givers. My mom is an excellent gift-giver; she’s always so thoughtful. But I would have to say, one of the worst gifts was that a guy I was dating got me a gift card to a teacher’s store. I was like, ‘This isn’t something fun; that isn’t a personal gift!’”

Kristyn pluchino, chemistry teacher

Liliya Shamazov, mUSIC teacher

“Mrs. Hall and I got a card picture of both of us. The kids went out to Central Park where people paint you, but in a caricature style. They had this guy paint us based on our photographs, and they brought it in, and it was really adorable and funny.”

Caitlin Chao / The Spectator

Jason Econome, Biology Teacher

this disparity, Hanukkah’s proximity to Christmas on the calendar, and the gross commercialization of holiday gift-giving, Hanukkah is unfairly presented as the Jewish counterpart of Christmas.

In my family, Hanukkah was a progressive holiday: over the course of eight days, the gifts became progressively worse. The first night was always reserved for the best presents; a copy of Contra for the NES [Nintendo Entertain-

Mayumi Gurung / The Spectator

“As a Jewish child in a Christian country, I came to learn Hanukkah exists amidst the deeplycast shadow of Christmas. It’s a completely unfair comparison.

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, a seminal holiday.

Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday; a celebration of a successful Maccabean revolution, an event that cannot be found in the pages of the Old Testament. Hanukkah is not our Christmas. Considering

“The weirdest gift I got from a student is makeup. I don’t really wear much makeup, but they got me foundation. I’ve gotten a lot of other terrible gifts. In the ‘80s, my mom got me a little business suit, and I was a child with a blazer and gigantic shoulder pads.”

Lisa Brando, Social Studies Teacher “The best gift that I’ve ever received is not anything material. It would be having my family members around: the people that I love, the people that are close to me. I’m thankful for the birth of all my nieces and my nephew,

that my family is healthy, and my friends are healthy as well. And for my health. And also my students.

That’s the best gift I can think of; everything else is ephemeral. We do have lives, but in terms of total fulfillment, it’s people.”

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 7

Features Textbooks and Pointe Shoes: The Secret Life of Dr. Greenwald

Courtesy of Dr. Greenwald

teachers and showing them appreciation for what they gave me. You really learn how to show full appreciation and respect for your teachers when you’re studying something outside of the classroom.

It’s also funny because, in the end, I realized that [ballet classes impacted me], but not at the time. When I went to my ballet teacher’s memorial service, I listened to everyone talk about him, saying, “We loved when he did this; we loved when he did that.”

I thought, “Oh my goodness, those were things that I tried to bring to my classroom.

They totally impacted the way I teach: the way I ask a lot of my students and try to give a lot. I really believe that my students can achieve a lot. I just have to help them get there, but I don’t have this idea that some people are just dumb and some are just smart. I really don’t believe that.

Dr. Greenwald and her daughter, Eleanor Lavin at a ballet class.

By Senjuti Gayen, Fawziyah Khan, and Jennifer Liu

What sparked your interest in ballet?

What sparked my interest in ballet were two things: my mother took me to a creative movement class when I was about four. I got to run around the studio and pretend I was a butterfly or a rainbow. Then, she took me to see The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, and I said, “I want to be like that.”

Did ballet classes live up to its competitive environment stereotype? Can you trust anyone?

There’s competition everywhere. Indeed it’s a very “only the top dancers get in anywhere [environment],” but you’d be surprised at how much camaraderie there is.

In a performance, 99 percent of all ballet dancers are in the background, so the chances that you’re going to be a principal dancer are very few.

But even if you’re a principal dancer, you have to dance with other people. The only way you can study in a school for hours a day with the same people is for them to be your family, to work together, and enjoy dancing together. My daughter’s a dancer, and when she’s on stage, she absolutely loves it, because she’s exchanging glances and communicating with everybody else onstage.

How did it feel going from regular ballet shoes to pointe shoes? Was it a turning point in your life?

Lots of girls want to put on pointe shoes, because they look really magical, and you get to stand on your toes.

Only, that hurts. And it particularly hurt in those days.

Technology has improved things, so nowadays, there’s all sorts of materials that you can put in your shoes, and even the shoes themselves have evolved. In order to really dance well on your toes, you need to do it all the time. I did it sometimes, but it wasn’t every day for two hours to three hours a day, and that’s what dancers who are practicing to become professionals do every day. My daughter dances

on pointe every day, and her feet are incredibly strong. I always say that her feet should be registered as a lethal weapon. It’s meant to look magical on stage, but you could be in excruciating pain with a smile on your face.

How did it feel to be on stage and to perform in front of a live audience?

Being on stage is a strange thing. If you’re really on stage and you’re surrounded by stage lights, you generally look out and it’s black, and that can be very intimidating, to just see the blackness all around you. I don’t think I ever got used to that sense, because I didn’t perform enough, and I never got used to it. But my daughter, who performs in multiple performances every year, loves that. For her, coming onto the stage in the flood of light, darkness all around, that just lights her up. For me, I felt almost at sea, or too vulnerable. But again, that’s about discipline. If you do it all the time, you get used to it.

And I just didn’t do it enough to get used to it.

How did ballet classes change you as a person or impact you as a teacher?

They changed me enormously. I think this goes for anybody who studies any kind of art form seriously: you know that the only way to get good at that [art] is to drill it intensely. You also know that what you put in, you get out.

It means that if you want to just enjoy dancing with other people and be pretty good at it, then you have to practice it somewhat, but you don’t have to practice it five hours a day.

If you want to be the best ballet dancer, then yes, you have to practice six to seven days a week, all day. It is a very visceral experience. And I think that’s a lesson for life: you get what you put into it.

The other thing that it taught me, which goes against the grain of a lot of high school education, is that direct teaching from teachers is enormously valuable. Your teachers are the experts: they model [ballet] and show it to you. And it made me have an enormous appreciation for my teachers. I enjoyed having

Why did you choose to pursue a doctorate instead of pursuing a career in dance?

There are a bunch of reasons for that. In high school, I really enjoyed dancing ballet.

I studied with really good ballet teachers and performed on occasion. It was very meaningful to me and to my life. But I did not practice enough to try to become a professional.

Also, I probably wouldn’t have physically been able to do it. Ballet has specific requirements. To be a professional, you need to have a degree of flexibility, and your feet have to be structured in such a way that you can withstand professional dancing.

Even in high school, I had a sense that over the long term, a more intellectual profession would be more satisfying. And the chances of my becoming a successful professional dancer were slim, so I wanted to go to college. A piece of me regretted not having tried to dance professionally because I loved dancing and because I don’t like giving up on activities I’ve committed myself to, but I think I made the right choice.

Can you tell us more about your ballet experiences?

[My time in Paris] was such an important part of my life. I ended up learning French and living and breathing French. I spoke French all the time and spent my days reading French.

I had many French friends who I still hold as my dearest friends. Most importantly, my

sian Empire (the only part of Russia where most Jews were allowed to live)—probably in what is present day Ukraine— but I’m not sure as I don’t have the records and haven’t had time to do the research yet. My parents were so Americanized that there was little from the Old World that they brought to me. So it was an incredible experience to live in another culture and speak in another language. You’re living in this other world that has different values and expectations. I became a mother in France, and my expectations of parenting were different than that of many New York moms.

In France, I took full advantage of everything a different culture had to offer. I went to museums; I studied with this ballet dancer from the Paris Opera; I went to theater and saw films; I traveled a lot around France and hung out with friends. I lived with my husband, [who] also spoke fluent French. He was a journalist who worked in France, so we really had a very meaningful life in a different country. That’s why I love this population of students at Stuy who speak different languages, have different experiences with different cultures, and move in and out of different languages without thinking about it. It was special for me then, so I appreciate it now.

What are your favorite and least favorite things about ballet?

Well, as a ballet teacher of mine used to say, “ballet is many things; comfortable is not one of them.” As I get older, it hurts, and because I don’t want to stop dancing, I’ve had to modify my dancing, so that I don’t hurt myself. That has been a sort of slow and painful process.

About 10 years ago, I discovered I had a hip injury, and I thought I would never dance again. I actually thought I would never walk again properly and that I would never not have pain again, because that’s what a doctor had told me. Until I went to a physical therapist. And so, I remember saying to myself, “Oh my goodness, I can never dance again.” My physical therapist said, “Yes, you can. You just have to modify what you do”.

When she said that I thought, okay, I’m never going to complain again. I’m just going to do what I can do and not hurt myself. I just am happy when I can get through

music, and trying to really express the music in your body in incredibly subtle ways using the motion of your body.

I dance every week. It’s fun to take class with my daughter; I keep saying to her, “You can’t stop taking ballet because then we won’t be able to dance together.” I can’t figure out a substitute for ballet now, but I’m hoping it will come to me, and I’m hoping I won’t be in a situation where my body decides I need to stop.

If you were to go back in time, would you keep the experiences, or which part of the experience would you change?

If I could go back in time, I would probably have not taken my ballet studies as much for granted. I think I probably would have done more but then I would have become a different person. I wouldn’t have done the other things that I did. I probably would not have become a professional dancer. I could’ve become a failed ballet dancer.

How did you react to failure when you were dancing?

It’s a very intense place.

There is no room for being a cry baby. You pick yourself up and brush yourself off. I used to have exercise-induced asthma when I was a kid, and so I would sometimes gulp air, and my instructor would make fun of me and say I looked like a fish. What was I going to do? Cry? I mean, it just makes you tough and resilient. It makes you able to absorb criticism constructively and move on and not take it into the core of yourself. You say to yourself, “Oh, he or she is correcting what I’m doing, not who I am. They might not even care about who I am.

They are there to make dancers.” I think that’s an excellent lesson that goes back for hundreds of years. You are not inventing things, you are a student, and once you become an expert or master, then you can go on to invent things.

But you are studying a discipline, and I think studying a discipline is a very profound experience because it’s bigger than you.

If you had to sum up “How To Ballet” in a few words, what would you say?

Discipline. Always working for perfection and understanding that is impossible, but working for it anyway.

Just really appreciating the

“You know, there’s something magical about the beauty of ballet,” describes history teacher Dr. Lisa Greenwald.

Before teaching young students about history, she was a student learning ballet. She still dances ballet, but in a modified and less intense format. However, her experiences dancing ballet have affected her life in a large way, and now, she reflects on her life with ballet. eldest daughter was born in France, so I became a mother in France.

For immigrants and the first generation, you really live between two cultures. You straddle being an American but having another side: your culture of origin. I’m a third generation immigrant. My father’s grandparents came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and spoke German and Yiddish. My mother’s greatgrandparents came from the Pale of Settlement of the Rus-

a ballet class without being in pain. Very low expectations, I know! But, there is something about ballet for me that I just come back to. I keep on thinking that I really need to stop this [ballet] soon, but what else can I do? And people will say, why don’t you just do modern dance? Why don’t you just do pilates? I’m just like, “meh.” I don’t want to exercise. You know, there’s something magical about the beauty of ballet and trying to have a beautiful line, to beautiful

beauty of the movement. It’s not a sport, it’s an art. There are many girls who dance ballet nowadays where you just don’t see the art. You need to have the art, more than you need to have your leg next to your ear, more than the triple pirouette. You need the art, the aesthetics, the beauty of it. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline. Believe me, ballet dancers are not floating through air. It’s tough, tough, tough.

The Spectator â—? December 20, 2017

Page 8

Archives

From the November 22, 1996 issue of the Spectator

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 9

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The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 10

Editorials Staff Editorial

The Spectator

What Happens Online Doesn’t Stay Online This past year has seen an unprecedented number of cases of online harassment, cyberbullying, and intentional acts of hate in the Stuyvesant community. A group of freshman boys was found to have been ranking and commenting on their their female classmates’ appearances in a derogatory fashion. Screenshots of the messages, which were exchanged in a private group chat, were posted in the freshman Facebook group.

The boys in question offered apologies only once they found the majority of the freshman class objected to their actions. Yet the issue did not and does not end there.

The effects of such a toxic conversation aren’t ended with a half-hearted apology.

One of the girls they targeted cut class in order to avoid seeing them. The term “respecting women” has become the mocking mantra of a select group of students who believe what the boys did was an extension of their right to free speech. Arguments over Facebook have seeped into the daily lives of Stuyvesant students, adding a degree of undeniable severity. When incidents like this occur, students and the administration must take on certain responsibilities in order to address these issues effectively.

Responsibilities of Students In the freshman Facebook group, being able to chime in on an issue online led to a massive influx of posts and hundreds of comments written by freshmen, chastising their peers. The comments began as condemnations of objectifying women and ended with personal attacks against the students in question. It got to the point where Student Union President Tahseen Chowdhury felt the need to block any new posts, writing, “All posts are moderated until the group is cleaned up and everyone learns their limits.”

There is a clear line between informing someone of inappropriate behavior online and constructively criticizing his or her actions. Students online must understand that name-calling and threatening someone for his or her beliefs is indistinguishable from harassment and cyberbullying. Once the provoking issue has been identified and the person approached and talked to maturely, students must learn to take a step back.

Students must also realize that everything they post online is their direct responsibility. Whether a message is posted in a public Facebook group or messaged in a private group chat, students run and must accept the risk of it being viewed by anyone.

When other students have the opportunity to screenshot offensive or harmful posts, privacy and immunity from repercussions are not guaranteed, especially when these posts directly affect Stuyvesant students. In addition, witnessing cyberbullying warrants reporting it.

When incidents such as these occur, the first group to approach handling it should be the student body. This means expanding the role of Big Sibs and other upperclassmen to serve as unofficial mediators. Underclassmen who feel more comfortable talking to their fellow students instead of immediately going to their guidance counselors should be able to trust the upperclassmen, who in turn must be mature and responsible in handling it to their best of their abilities. When they feel the issue is a delicate one that requires adult intervention, Big Sibs must take the initiative to bring it up to the administration.

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Write a letter to the editor and e-mail it to letters@stuyspectator.com or drop it in The Spectator box in the second-floor mail room.

Responsibilities of the Administration When a student has been targeted, the administration has the responsibility to offer the victim ways to cope with and resolve the event. The victim should be called to his or her guidance counselor’s office immediately after the administration hears of the incident. A guidance counselor should offer emotional support and ask to provide any services to the student, such as an appointment with the SPARK office. If the student would not like to discuss the event with an adult, the guidance counselor should not interrogate the student or force him or her to discuss the event. In this case, the guidance counselor can gently recommend the student talks to a Big Sib. Further, the student who has been targeted should have a say in how the conflict between the harasser and the victim should be resolved. If the victim asks for it, he or she should have a chance to talk with the harasser and explain why these actions were hurtful. A guidance counselor should be present to mediate the conversation and make sure the situation does not escalate, but the counselor should not attempt to control the dialogue. Both students should be able to explain their sides of the conflict in a constructive way. The mediation session should end when the victim decides it should, and if the victim would like more than one session, their request should be granted.

We understand that students may not be able to appropriately rationalize their experiences with bullying and ask for help when they need it. However, guidance counselors must make sure that when a student does ask for their help, the situation is not taken out of that student’s hands. If a student only wants to talk about a traumatic event but would rather not attend a mediation session, guidance should not force him or her to discuss the event with the harasser.

VOICES Would you like to share a personal narrative with the school? Whether it’s an essay you’ve written for class, or a piece you’ve been working on by yourself, if it’s in first-person and it is nonfiction it could get published in The Spectator’s issue-ly Voices column! Send your stories into voices@stuyspec.com, or email us with any questions or concerns you have.

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• The article “Birdies’ Undefeated Season Ends,” published in Issue 6, is by Jooahn Sur, not Michael Gillow.

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 11

Opinions Point-Counterpoint: Democratic Response to Sexual Harassment Democrats and Women: The Democratic Party Making the Same Mistake is the Women’s Party Upwards of 40 actresses have come forth to condemn acclaimed film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in the last couple of months. Inspired by the willingness of these A-listers to speak out, dozens of women have been stepping forward as victims, accusing famous men such as Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, and many more of sexual assault and harassment. Yet, the Democratic party—which claims to be firmly opposed to sexual assault—has had a totally underwhelming response.

The infamous “Weinstein scandal” is hardly the first time Democrats have disappointed in the face of outrage in America. Preventing sexual harassment continues to be a cause championed by politicians since the Clinton era, when former president Bill Clinton had an infamous affair with an office intern, Monica Lewinsky. Democrats such as Bill de Blasio and Kirsten Gillibrand claim that if the same scandal had occurred today, Clinton would be forced to resign.

But it’s much easier to make these statements about an ex-president whose governing days are well in the past than about a politician who can sway the future of the Democratic party. A new wave of allegations have surfaced in the past several weeks blaming Senator Al Franken for the inappropriate groping of four women. Franken has done little to deny the accusations, telling the Minneapolis Star Tribune “I don’t remember these photographs, I don’t. This is not something I would intentionally do.”

To be sure, Republicans aren’t in the clear either. Senatorial candidate Roy

But Democrats are failing to see the obvious— sexual assault is still sexual assault.

Moore has been similarly plagued by accusations just before a crucial election.

The 70-year-old Alabama native continues to deny any sexual misconduct as growing numbers of women are coming forth to condemn him for past behaviors, such as forcibly groping and kissing minors.

The important distinction here lies with the reaction: immediately after the first stone was thrown in Moore’s direction, Democrats came out of the woodwork to demand he step aside from the race. Even Republicans ( Ted Cruz, John McCain, Paul Ryan) immediately called for Moore to give up his chance at the seat, chastising everything from Moore’s actions to his character to his ethics.

Al Franken, however, has been granted immunity to criticism from Democrats because of his politics, revealing the hypocrisy in their movement. Of course, he’s gotten the customary slap on the wrist from his party, and a small influx of criticisms, but nowhere near the extent of the backlash Moore’s received. Even though Moore was the same man who, ironically, gained fame after his refusal to remove a statue of the Ten Commandments from a

government building, his alleged convictions should remain separate from his actions.

Yet, even Franken’s fellow party members remained relatively silent, and the female cast from his time on SNL went so far as to defend Franken in an open letter.

A recent article by the Washington Post, titled “I’m a Feminist. I Study Rape Culture.

And I Don’t Want Al Franken to Resign,” even claims, “Sexual harassment and assault are simply too widespread for Democrats to respond to Franken’s offense with only Franken in mind.” Franken— because of his earlier advocacy for sexual assault victims—is essentially being given a free pass by Democrats. Excuses ranging from his viability as a candidate to comparatively less egregious behavior in comparison to Moore’s all diminish the fault in Franken’s actions. They feed off his prior status as an “ally” of women to pardon the hypocrisy of his own past.

And though Franken recently resigned, he walked away from the Senate while commenting on the “irony” of his situation, saying, “I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office...” The Senator, who built his career on pointing out moral depravity in the Republican party, refuses to acknowledge it within himself. Franken’s departure in disgrace was followed by retorts toward his accusers and claims of “unfairness.” Actions truly speak louder than words, and Franken’s commentary drowned out any attempts (or lack thereof ) to right his past.

Yet Democrats continue making such sizable mistakes. About two decades after Clinton’s scandal, his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, ran for president. The crux of her campaign was progressing women’s rights, yet her behavior suggested an opposite intent.

After her husband fell under heavy scrutiny, Hillary viciously attacked all the women who accused him of harassment, even calling Lewinsky a “narcissistic loony toon” and deeming all similar accusations as completely fabricated. In Clinton’s earlier days as a lawyer, she helped acquit a child rapist while fully believing he was guilty, as later revealed when she laughed about the case in a taped interview.

Even recently, Hillary accepted donations from countries such as Saudi Arabia (which alone gave upward of $25 million) that commit glaring human rights abuses against women. Yet the Democratic party has remained silent throughout all of these transgressions, with many politicians proudly having backed Hillary as a candidate and as a human being. As long as her morals shone bright in the ballot box, and there was a prospect of an establishment Democrat holding office, there seemed little incentive for further investigation.

Democrats are failing to see the obvious: sexual assault is still sexual assault.

And if they want to set a proper precedent, they must denounce all men convicted of it and all people who continue to defend it, despite political beliefs. They must address the threat of “false allegations,” allowing for their investigation and certainly for lawmakers to make their case.

But if they hold validity—which, more often than not, these allegations do—it’s high time for Democrats to stop defending accused men because of their political standing.

If Democrats want to maintain the trust of voters, then they need to stop this perpetual cycle of suppression within their own party. Politicians are too frightened to set a precedent, but as soon as “supporting women’s rights” is more than just a mantra, they can finally start uniting the American people.

By Maia Brydon

As the recent #MeToo movement gains traction, people have been shocked at the sheer multitude and severity of sexual harassment stories that women have to share. There are highprofile cases of sexual assault allegations across a number of industries, including film, journalism, and politics. And though individuals of all political backgrounds have been accused of sexual assault, the Democratic Party is the one acknowledging the issue and speaking out against it. Democrats have been vocal against sexual assault, something that has always been characteristic of their party.

Harvey Weinstein, one of the most infamous subjects in the recent discussion surrounding sexual assault, has had a multitude of sexual assault allegations made against him by women across the film industry. In the past, he has donated large sums of money to the Democratic party as well as to both Clinton presidential campaigns and the Obama-Biden presidential campaign. Despite his financial contributions, many Democratic public officials, including the Obamas and Hillary Clinton, have publicly denounced Weinstein’s actions toward the women he sexually assaulted. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also been giving Weinstein’s donations back to charity, rather than using them for campaigning.

Democrats have also acknowledged the allegations against their own party members and are making a point to support the women who have made them. Senator Al Franken, who was accused of kissing and groping former colleague Leeann Tweeden, was condemned by many of his Democratic colleagues. Patty Murray, the most senior Democratic woman in the Senate, spoke out as well, saying, “This is unacceptable behavior and extremely disappointing… I hope this latest example of the deep problems on this front spurs continued action to address it.” Franken himself made a public statement, apologizing for his actions before stepping down, saying, “I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.” This is what we need to hear from perpetrators of sexual assault: an understanding that what they did was wrong and the importance of listening to women who make such allegations. Further, as in this situation, they need to accept the consequences of their actions.

Not only have Democrats been supportive of women who have more recently made sexual assault allegations, but they have also been reexamining their reactions to those who made similar allegations in the past. The most prominent example of this is Bill Clinton, who at the time was defended by many Democrats who did not believe the women who were claiming he sexually assaulted them. Quite a few Dem-

ocrats have since gone back on their support of Clinton, including former Clinton administration official David Rothkopf, who said Monica Lewinsky “deserves an apology from many of us she has never received.” Though this realization should have happened

This is what we need to hear from perpetrators of sexual assault: their understanding that what they did was wrong

far sooner and should not have taken thousands of women speaking out against their oppressors, the Democratic party has taken clear steps and admitted their past wrongdoings.

Conversely, the Republican party has many politicians who vehemently deny allegations of sexual assault or do not even acknowledge them in the first place. Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for Alabama senator, denies allegations that he has sexually harassed and assaulted numerous teenage girls.

President Trump insists that the allegations must be false since Moore has gone through many years of public service without sexual assault having ever been brought up. Many Republicans also ignored the allegations of sexual assault against Trump himself during his presidential campaign, despite his blatant disregard for women’s personal boundaries and their consent. Looking back on his actions in 1997, when he walked backstage at the Miss Teen USA Pageant, Trump said, “You know, I’m inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. You know, the dresses. You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. And you see these incredible-looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.”

This is a statement made by a man who was elected into the White House by his Republican allies.

Sexual assault is not exclusive to or representative of any one political party, and both the Republican and Democratic parties have been guilty of belittling it. But Republicans cannot cry wolf while standing behind their president. They should take a cue from Democrats and begin their fight against sexual assault, starting with their own leaders.

Darren Liang / The Spectator

By Mia Gindis

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 12

Opinions

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

Transforming Apathy to Awareness

By Angela wong

I’ve always been a feminist, even before I knew what the term “feminism” meant. I was never expected to act a certain way because I am a girl, and my parents made that known by treating me and my brother equally. To this day, I equate feminism to personal empowerment.

Yet 43 percent of men and women describe feminism as “angry,” and 30 percent as “outdated,” according to a 2016 Washington Post poll. These labels are some of the many misconceptions surrounding the fight for gender equality in the United States. Harassment, not just of gender, but on the basis of race, religion, and sexual orientation, is still a widespread issue in American schools. An effective way to battle such harassment is through awareness, specifically by instituting a mandatory gender studies course.

Gender studies is a field devoted to gender identity and representation. Intersectionality, or how people of different race, gender, and sexuality experience discrimination or oppression on different levels, plays a major part in this field. Topics covered in the course would range from feminism to LGBTQ+ history to

racial discrimination to sexual harassment.

This course would deal with serious and sensitive issues. This class would strive for both an educational and accepting atmosphere. Unlike other classes, participation would not affect students’ grades, so that students who are shy or sensitive about the topic of gender would not feel pressured to speak out.

Grades would instead be determined by a student’s attentiveness, whether they complete all homework, and whether they aim to apply the course to their everyday lives. The purpose of this course is for all students to become aware of the history of minorities and underrepresented groups, how far they’ve come, and how much there is still to be done in terms of reaching equality.

Gender studies needs to be mandatory in school to ensure that everyone, both male and female, understands equality.

According to the same Washington Post poll, 50 percent of men do not identify as feminists. In every category, men were more withdrawn or opposed to feminism than women. Feminism affects women more than men, but the fight for gender equality will not reach its fullest potential if only women support it.

The class would emphasize the damaging effects of harassment. The ideas enforced by gender studies are just as important to victims of harassment as they are to harassers. While schools emphasize zero tolerance for harassment of any sort in society, students should also make the effort to respect their peers.

In one form or another, most students have experienced sexual or gender-based harassment.

According to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, 82 percent of surveyed LGBTQ+ students had previous bullying

problems in school due to their sexuality in 2007. In 2010 to 2011, the American Association of University found that nearly half of surveyed students in grades seven to 12 had experienced sexual harassment. Additionally, the New York Daily News reported a 10 percent increase in 2016 to 2017 in bullying reports of students grades six to 12.

Schools should be able to address these issues with their student bodies, but it would be harder to understand harassment and make change if gender equality had not been previously and openly discussed. For example, some schools recommend guidance counselors to

Vivian Lin / The Spectator

students who have experienced bullying. However, to spark a lasting change, schools should seek to stop the bullying from happening in the first place, rather than just comfort victims.

With gender studies in school curriculums, students can become more aware of the parts that discrimination, sexism and racism play in everyday life and what can be done to decrease bullying from happening.

Stuyvesant High School should consider adding gender studies to its curriculum for freshmen. Gender studies is a crucial way of nurturing students, not only academically, but also personally. Not only should schools seek to prepare us for our future through core subjects, but also through the social necessities that impact the way we perceive our peers.

Schools have already begun to take action. In 2013, gender studies was introduced to the high school curriculum of Ontario, Canada. After taking note of prevalent sexual assault in the Toronto School District, five university students formed the

Miss G Project and worked to have these important issues discussed in school. Josh Shier, a former student in one of Ontario’s high schools, remembers how this class improved his high school experience. “I was gay, dealing with a lot of bullying, and I had suicidal

thoughts. Taking that course made me feel a little bit better about being different,” he said.

“I feel like it was the only high school class I ever really learned anything in.”

Incorporating gender studies into high school will not drop harassment rates to zero percent. Yet depriving students of learning about social inequalities does nothing to help current harassment issues. Instead, this deprivation only perpetuates the idea that the problems we face among our peers in school are inevitable. This class is not a miracle cure, but it is a big step in the right direction of the society we want: a society where

students are aware of the history behind issues that impact them daily.

Schools have the responsibility to generate and uphold environments where students of any race, gender, and sexuality can feel safe.

Ting Ting Chen/ The Spectator

Uzbekistan: A Model For Progress

By BEN PLATT

The headlines today are not an encouraging sight. Germany, Europe’s most populous country, has failed to form a functional government and Angela Merkel’s 12-year stand as the leader of Western ideals is being threatened. Donald Trump continues to promote his populist positions and Brexit slowly chugs along.

Rodrigo Duterte continues a campaign of extrajudicial crimefighting criminals in the Philippines. It seems the tide of rightwing populism will not cease soon.

But an unlikely region of the world, Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, is undergoing a stage

of liberalization, a remarkable development given its geography and the global trend toward autocracy. By making both political and economic reforms, Uzbekistan is showing that liberalism still has a place in the world, even in countries that used to be brutally repressive.

From the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 to last year, Uzbeks had known only one leader, President Islam Karimov. A ruthless autocrat, Karimov quashed the independent media with an iron fist. Journalists who did not support the government were thrown in jail for extraordinary amounts of time. One of these journalists, Muhammad Bekjanov, served 18 years in prison for contributing to the newspaper of the main opposition party in Uzbekistan.

Bekjanov endured grotesque torture and served time in prisons with names such as “Goodbye to Youth.” Karimov even imprisoned members of his own family on suspicion that they were plotting against him.

However, last year, Karimov died suddenly and his Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev replaced him. Given his long tenure in the Karimov government, one would expect Mirziyoyev to continue his predecessor’s ways.

Instead, he has started to reform Uzbekistan economically and politically. He allowed banks and companies to exchange foreign currencies at the market rate

instead of at artificial, government-set rates. Mirziyoyev also toured the neighboring countries of Russia and China to promote Uzbekistan’s new openness to foreign investment. With a population of 30 million, Uzbekistan

has been curtailed and the country has risen in the World Corruption Index.

Some say these actions are just a feint to open up Western sanctions on Uzbek cotton, which is not impossible. But even

made overnight.

Formerly, the U.S. State Department would promote such reforms around the world through peaceful means. However, under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the State Department has been

In an era where President Trump is championing “America First” along with an abdication from the world stage, it is heartening to see American ideals taking root in authoritarian countries.

is the most populous country in Central Asia and investors regard it as a significant opportunity as the country is relatively undeveloped.

Even more remarkably, the country is liberalizing politically.

Sixteen political prisoners have been released since Mirziyoyev took office and talk shows have more free expression. Uzbekistan’s notorious forced labor system, where college students and youth were forced to pick cotton,

if minimal progress is made for the sake of growing the Uzbek economy, the world will be a better place. Central Asia has long been a black hole where democracy goes to die, but Uzbekistan is providing a welcome change from this narrative.

Mirziyoyev is not a saint, either. Some journalists have been arrested since he took power and the feared head of the Uzbek version of the KGB remains in power. However, progress cannot be

undergoing an eight percent reduction in staff and faces a 31 percent budget cut from the Trump administration. This has been an obscene abdication of American leadership when the world perhaps needs it most. In an era when President Trump is championing “America First” along with rejecting leadership on the global stage, it is heartening to see American ideals taking root in formerly authoritarian countries.

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 13

Opinions

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

Democratic Tide... Not So Much

By AIDEN GRIFFIN

Many of my liberal friends were satisfied by the recent string of victories for democratic candidates in the Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races. While it was certainly tempting for them to jump on these results as a rejection of Trump and predict trouble for Republicans in the midterms, this was not the strong rejection of conservatism that my liberal friends had been hoping for.

The result in Virginia was certainly surprising to most.

After all, the Republican nominee, Ed Gillespie, made a climb in the polls before Election Day to only three points behind. He had only lost in Virginia in the 2014 Senate Race by 0.8 percent, with worse showings in the polling.

In addition, a week before the

By Jacqueline Thom

election, the Latino Victory Fund ad painted Ed Gillespie supporters as predators to minorities. Many people, myself included, expected this to only further damage the Northam campaign and rally support toward Gillespie. After all, this is what happened to Trump after Clinton characterized half of his supporters as “deplorables.” These factors led me to believe that Gillespie had a good chance of winning in a blue-leaning state. This turned out to be massively wrong, as Democrat Ralph Northam won a convincing nine point victory over Gillespie, larger than Clinton’s margin of victory over Trump in Virginia last year.

Part of Northam’s unexpectedly large margin of victory can be attributed to his shift to the right as Election Day approached. He said on the campaign trail that he would not allow any cities in Virginia to pursue a sanctuary city policy of not enforcing the law and allowing illegal immigrants to stay in their city. This move to the right probably helped him shift the vote totals in Virginia Beach, his hometown and a largely veteran and typically Republican area, in his favor. The other two races for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General were won by a five point and seven point margin by the Democrats, respectively. These results were both

significantly lower than the governor’s race, showing that Northam was a strong candidate.

Another surprise was how much the Democrats exaggerated their success in the Virginia House of Delegates elections. While a 15-seat change from Republican to D e m ocrat is certainly significant, 14 of the 15 districts voted for Clinton in 2016 (Trump won the district that didn’t by a mere 0.5 percent). In addition, the average margin of victory in the 15 districts that flipped to Democrats was 9.44 percent compared to Clinton’s 11.76 percent in 2016. Clinton’s election was supposed to be an example of a poor result by a Democrat, and the Democrats couldn’t even outperform that.

Many may look at these results and wonder how these fairly Democratic districts had Republican representatives for such a long time. The answer is that the Republicans tended to vote in the downballot races far more often, which is why they have consistently had a majority in the state legislatures in Virginia and throughout the country.

The main takeaway from the recent Virginia election should be that Republicans can no longer be dependent on downballot success in the future

as Democrats are starting to vote down-ballot more often.

This means that the Republicans likely won’t be as dominant in statewide elections as during the Obama years,

Suzy B. Ae / The Spectator

where they won 33 of 50 governorships and controlled both legislatures in a whopping 32 states.

In New Jersey, Republican Kim Guadagno performed very well given the circumstances. She was running in a solidly blue state, and as the Lieutenant Governor during Chris Christie’s administration, she suffered from his abysmal 14 percent approval rating. The fact that she lost by a slightly smaller margin than Trump did in New Jersey given the impossibly tough circumstances of her campaign is an impressive achievement.

While these elections have been hyper-inflated by Democrats to boost their party’s morale, Republicans cannot treat these elections as if nothing happened. After all, the GOP base didn’t show the

same enthusiasm that it did in the Obama years, and that really showed in the downballot races. Imagine a scenario in which the GOP gets neither tax cuts nor the repeal of Obamacare passed by midterms next year. Combine that with an increasingly energized resistance movement within the Democratic Party and less enthusiasm in the Republican Party. If the House continues to pass bills at a faster pace than all three previous administrations, it may be immune to more conservative primary challengers and barely lose seats.

The more likely scenario under those circumstances is that voters will become tired of the lack of action by Republican congressmen and the Republicans lose control of the House. These elections are not a sign of the party’s collapse, nor are they nearly as optimistic for Democrats as advertised. However, they should galvanize Republicans to pass legislation to increase their majority in the Senate and maintain their majority in the House.

The Fastest Food Chains Are Turning Green

In recent years, fast food companies have been trying to change the stigma surrounding their industry. Long known for their unhealthy foods, large trash contributions, huge methane production, and continuous use of resources to raise animals, brands like McDonald’s and Chipotle are making a PR push to give their brands a greener reputation.

To be more eco-friendly, Starbucks, a chain brand that has set the modern standard for coffee, is using its new $1.00 reusable cups to help reduce paper waste. The incentive is that consumers get 10 cents off of refills if they use the cups, which last about a month. Chipotle sources many of its ingredients locally and buys nearly half of its beans from local farms, which is not only healthier, but also cheaper. Overseas, Sweden’s popular Max Burgers chain includes on its packaging CO2 labels that tell customers how much carbon dioxide was produced to make a certain meal. This urges customers to order more environmentallyfriendly foods, including nonbeef burgers.

With these programs, Starbucks has been able to significantly reduce trash hauling costs, Chipotle’s revenues have tripled, allowing the brand to expand exponentially, and Max Burgers’ CO2 labels and largely non-beef menu have added a 16 percent sales increase. For extra profitability, environmentallyfriendly products like edible packaging or recyclable paper products increase customer loyalty and provide a good corporate image. Restaurants are also earning money by selling materials to recycling facilities.

However, despite their attempts to implement or encourage greener practices, the

fast food industry’s actions have done little to counteract the environmental harm that they continue to cause.

These chains are still some of the biggest contributors to climate change and also seem to have an inability to keep up with the growing number of food-conscious consumers. The fast food industry buys billions of pounds of meat from the meat industry, which, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization, is responsible for about 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. These companies’ extensive use of eco-friendly products only helps to sanitize the fact that any increased revenue goes to increasing food production, therefore causing even more pollution.

The fast food industry can use all the eco-friendly packaging it wants, but its refusal to find healthier and greener alternatives when sourcing its meat far outweighs any attempt to reduce its ecological footprint. In 2014, McDonald’s confirmed that meat from over 100 cows can go into a single burger. Along with the many other fast food chains that share this practice, hundreds of thousands of cows per year are being used in the name of fast food.

With every cow producing about 242.5 pounds of methane a year, each cow releases 485 pounds of methane in its lifetime. After slaughter, the energy needed to process the meat and get it shipped off, cooked, and consumed adds up to over 71 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year created by the fast food industry alone.

One reason unhealthy practices are still used may be that they are cheaper than using less harmful products, allowing prices to remain as low as they are. The industry fails to see the positive longterm effects of changing to healthier food alternatives. A

lot of money will go into trying to revamp an enterprise that has long been based on unhealthy fast food, but over time, greater public image can come from using better food and can provide exponential growth for companies.

The biggest factor that may be making companies hesitant to change deeper structural issues, as opposed to providing largely surfacelevel fixes for public appeal, is the quickly rising cost of fast food. Eating in is becoming more common and the higher prices are also working to offset increased employee wages, contributing to fast food prices that have increased 110 percent in the last 10 years. Competitors are working harder to produce faster and more easily-made food, an extension of the traditional practices of the fast food industry. This leads to additional environmental damage and adds to the destruction that companies have already put in place f r o m years of trying to the make the quickest “readyto-go” foods by using the cheapest and, coinc i d e n t a l l y, unhealthiest ingredients.

Unfortunately, there’s little to convince these companies to stop advancing as quickly as they are. At the rate that the fast food industry requires meat, farmers, most of whom are severely underpaid, have little ability to keep up while also providing non-harmful ingredients for consumers.

Not only is it expensive for

the meat industry to use less preservatives or more animalfriendly practices, but participants don’t receive much in return for any efforts to be environmentally friendly.

Much damage has been done, but it doesn’t mean that fast food companies shouldn’t make an effort to change. Instead of buying meat from an industry that is already a target of animal rights activists for its sometimes cruel slaughtering processes, the food industry can turn to providers that use more sustainable techniques. It may be more expensive, but it provides incentive for farmers to try healthier techniques when raising their animals or harvesting their crops. Increased PR and customer loyalty may also be able to persuade companies that sourcing from farms with safer practices is worth the money.

But doing it for the money shouldn’t be the only reason why the fast food industry is pursuing the green movement. The most direct solutions may come from

Vanessa Man/ The Spectator

stricter government regulations. At the moment, those imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service aren’t trying to ensure environmentally friendlier practices. In the meat and food processing industry, most of the focus is on hygiene and preventing the mislabeling of food. The regulations on the fast food industry work to reduce America’s high obesity rates by simply asking restaurants to put nutrition facts on their products.

Though these are important to address, organizations like the FDA and World Health Organization need to take into account the problems of pollution and global warming, which are most contributed to by the fast food and meat industries. Using a cleaner production system should be a part of the process for the food business to provide healthier products for consumers.

If they’re hesitant, fast food giants should look to Max Burgers, which has seen great success since it started making products that are healthier and less damaging to the environment. Though there are many cons to changing their ways, companies should i g n o re ex-

tra c o s t s and look to the benefits that come with making the big leap to a healthier food industry.

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 14

Arts & Entertainment Stuy’s Take on: the

Held in New York’s very own Madison Square Garden, the 2018 Grammys come at a time when the lines between politics, art, and advocacy are more blurred than ever. The annual Grammy awards not only provide a platform for artists from all genres to share their music with millions across the country, but often reflect the social and political issues at the forefront of the national zeitgeist. Both a competition between the country’s preeminent musicians and a celebration of music as both art and activism, The Grammys conclude the previous year and set the tone for the coming year in music. While music may not be emphasized at Stuy, it is an integral part of many students’ lives and perspectives. Below are analyses of major Grammy categories, identifying and breaking down major trends, likely winners, and what the nominees say about the state of the genre.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Hip-Hop Strikes Back

By MIRANDA LEPRI and JEVINA WONG

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

“HUMBLE.”

Rap and hip-hop have historically never been favored for Record of the Year, but the diverse nominees heading into the 2018 Grammys promise to set this year apart from its predecessors. No matter the outcome, these Grammys have already succeeded in resisting the status quo.

One of the top honors of the night is awarded to the Artist and producers of a single record. The category is stacked with juggernauts like Luis Fonsi

& Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber. As a Spanish-language hit, it is significant that the Grammys are acknowledging the track in such a major category.

This is the first time the list has been dominated by R&B and hip-hop, a refreshing and exciting change from such a pop-heavy category. Though a nod should be given to Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic,” Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.,” off of his profound and honest album “DAMN.,” cannot be ignored and is a shoo in for the honor— especially considering the 58th Grammys, when many criticized the way “To Pimp a Butterfly” was passed over in favor of

Taylor Swift’s “1989” for Album of the Year. “HUMBLE.” brings to the table both the social relevance in its discussion of rap culture and objectification of women and widespread popularity, making it a favorite for the award.

Nominated too is Jay Z’s “The Story of O.J.,” a cutting and potent commentary on the injustice and dehumanization facing the black community as a whole regardless of individual differences, giving him a total of eight nominations. Capping the list is Childish Gambino’s “Redbone,” featuring a mellow beat and unique soulful twang, a clear contrast to its dancey upbeat peers.

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE:

Less is More

By ANDREW NG

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

“Shape of You”

The nominees for best Pop Solo Performance this year range from overplayed summer hits to newer pop gems.

The stand out song amidst the nominees is “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. An upbeat, party song with an immediately catchy tune which topped the Billboard Hot 100, a feat none of the other nominees managed to

accomplish.

With the nominations of “Praying” by Kesha and “Million Reasons” by Lady Gaga, the Recording Academy seems to have taken a liking to stripped down pop ballads that have recently gained massive popularity. Kesha’s vocals are not hidden behind overproduction as she belts with strong emotions about moving forward and forgiveness. Gaga similarly approached “Million Reasons” with the same idea: less production is more.

Other nominees include

“What About Us,” a run-ofthe-mill P!nk song and “Love So Soft” by Kelly Clarkson, an upbeat, R&B-influenced pop song which is far and away the funnest song of the five with its swanky, fast-paced beat.

Overall, the song most likely to take the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance is “Shape of You” because of its mass appeal, but “Million Reasons” by Lady Gaga and “What About Us” by P!nk also are strong contenders.

BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM: No One’s in “Ctrl”

By CHEYANNE K. I. LAWRENCE

WHO TO ROOT FOR :

All of them

By SHRAY TRIPATHI

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

“DAMN.”

Among the iconic lyrics and groovy tunes that define 2017 are notes of musical, political, and social change. These distinguish the five nominees for the upcoming Album of the Year award: “Melodrama” by Lorde, “4:44” by rapper Jay Z, “DAMN.”

by Kendrick Lamar, “Awaken, My Love!” by rapper Childish Gambino, and “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars.

Jay Z, Childish Gambino, and Kendrick Lamar share roots in rap, but each of their albums use the medium differently, with songs that are smooth and jazzy or intense and awakening. Bruno Mars is the romantic

standout, and songs in “24K Magic” expand and diverge from his characteristically funky, post-disco style. The nominated albums are extremely diverse musical explorations, and a win for any of them could inspire unique change for the music industry altogether.

Lorde’s name is, among the crew, fresh but not unheard: she is the same star that swept the music industry at age 16 when her hit song “Royals” won a Grammy award in 2014. But this time, she’s four years older, and “Melodrama” shines with her fuller experiences of love, social situations, and young adulthood.

A win for Lorde would be extremely similar to Adele’s win last year for the painful album “25,” which (to popular dismay) beat out Beyoncé’s profound “Lemonade.” This year, Lamar’s “DAMN.” might be in the same position. His album expresses themes of racism and black identity and even calls out FOX News’s Geraldo Rivera in “YAH.” The Academy’s tendency to lean away from art that explicitly addresses race and identity might not do justice to his art, but this should not lessen its importance.

No matter who ends up holding the trophy, all of these artists have zeal and meaningful messages to share.

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bums are distinctive sounds, masterful production, and influences from genres ranging from alternative to hip-hop.

Urban Contemporary was a category created in 2013 by the Recording Academy as a space for Black artists that don’t quite fall into rap or R&B. By definition, the albums cannot confined to a single genre and the category continues to provide a platform for innovative Black artists to help their music reach a larger audience.

All of the albums nominated have very distinct sounds and are the products of some of the most talented Contemporary Urban artists to date.

Predicting a winner is almost impossible.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Art as Activism

Kla

This year’s Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album are arguably the best albums of 2017, all pitted against each other. 6LACK’s debut, “Free,” is a moody, lyrical masterpiece that fuses emotional R&B with trap beats.

SZA’s “CTRL” is a lively R&B album with standout hip-hop influences dealing with themes of love, sex, individuality, and navigating adolescence. In the same vein, Khalid’s “American Teen” is an upbeat chronicle of youth, with love songs like

“Young, Dumb and Broke” that took mainstream radio by storm.

Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” is stylistically the most creative Album of 2017 with the hit song “Redbone” that dominated the charts for months. The sound of this album is almost impossible to pinpoint. The Weeknd’s “Starboy” is simultaneously gloomy and cheery but always poetic.

He displays strong hip-hop influences and plenty of rap features as well as vocal growth since his album “Beauty Behind the Madness” which won the category in 2015; his vocal deliverance is more advanced than any of his previous albums.

Present among all the al-

AIR DATE: Sunday, January 28, 2018 TIME: 7:30PM - 11PM NETWORK: CBS

continued on page 15

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

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Arts & Entertainment Stuy’s Take on: the

continued from page 14

BEST NEW ARTIST: Surprises Aren’t So Surprising

By EMMA LINDERMAN

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

SZA

With such a wide variety of genres making up the 2018 nominees, it’s difficult to predict which artist will take home the award. The 2018 nominees are made up of artists SZA, Alessia Cara, Lil Uzi Vert, Khalid, and Julia Michaels. After “Ctrl,” her debut album, garnered widespread attention, R&B singer SZA stands out as this year’s most nominated

woman. A New Jersey Native, SZA’s soaring voice and plaintive, often painful themes of love, acceptance, and coming of age, have made her a favorite of many R&B fans.

Also popular is Canadian pop vocalist Alessia Cara. Nominated for three other Grammys including Song of the Year with Logic for “1-800-273-8255,” Cara is not the only nominee with a notable past; R&B/pop artist Khalid has already been named “Best New Artist” at this year’s MTV music awards.

Up for an award shown to be inclusive to rap musicians

(Chance the Rapper took home the award last year), Lil Uzi Vert stands out as having created music that incorporates elements from several genres, including rock, rap, and emo.

In a category that is known for surprises, from jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding taking home the Grammy over Justin Bieber in 2011 to current legends like Lauryn Hill and Mariah Carey winning the title at the outset of their careers, it is almost impossible for any nominee to be ruled out or ensured a win.

BEST RAP SONG: Old School vs. New Wave

By CARTER LEY

WHO TO ROOT FOR: “The Story of O.J.” This year’s Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song, a songwriter award, feature a few standout hits including Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar’s sweeping and pointed critique of beauty standards and hiphop stereotypes in “HUMBLE.” (from his recent album, “DAMN.”) and Cardi B’s fiery single that reached near ubiquity this fall, “Bodak Yellow.”

While nominated in the same category, these songs represent a growing rift in rap between old school lyricism and a new

Film

By THOMAS CHEN As a kid, I remember sitting right in front of the television, awestruck by the sight of Jackie Chan beating up bad guys with little effort in “The Spy Next Door” (2010) as I tried to imitate his every punch and kick. I also remember collapsing after five push-ups in the Fitness Gram that same year. Needless to say, my dreams of becoming the next martial arts warrior never came to fruition. Seven years later, 63-year-old Jackie Chan is still more physically active than me and is taking his career into a new direction with a rare dramatic role in “The Foreigner.”

“The Foreigner,” directed by Martin Campbell and based off of the novel “The Chinaman” by Stephen Leather, is an action thriller film following Ngoc Minh Quan (Jackie Chan), who seeks revenge upon the death of his teenage daughter during a London bombing by an Irish terrorist group named the “Authentic IRA.” He becomes obsessed with Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), an Irish government official and former IRA member, who he believes to know the perpetrators, resulting in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.

On paper, the premise of the

wave of catchy, yet shallower content.

While not quite as radiofriendly, Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.” is equally powerful. Like the rest of his songs in his recent “4:44,” “The Story of O.J.” touches upon a variety of controversial topics and racial stereotypes as he features numerous pop culture references and frequently responds to his wife Beyoncé’s recent album “Lemonade.”

Alongside these popular hits is North Carolina rapper Rapsody’s “Sassy” from her latest album, “Laila’s Wisdom.”

You may remember her from a feature on Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” in 2015.

Finally, Danger Mouse was nominated for his “Chase Me” from the recent film, “Baby Driver” (2017). This year’s Grammy nominations are particularly interesting for rap fans as it is the first year that two individual female artists have been nominated for Best Rap Song, which many consider to be an important milestone in the ever-expanding female rap genre. Most critics predict that Kendrick Lamar will win this category with “HUMBLE.” because of its innovative style and controversial social commentary; however, it is possible that Jay-Z’s candidness and heavyhitting lyricism will push “The Story of O.J.” to victory.

SONG OF THE YEAR: Pop Surrenders Its Throne

By TIFFANY CHEN

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

“4:44”

This year’s nominations for Song of the Year are catchy and soulful, ranging from Luis Fonsi’s and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” to Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like.” Though this songwriter’s award traditionally goes to pop hits like Adele’s “Hello” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” it’s refreshing to see an R&B nomination, Bruno Mars’s “That’s What I Like” on the list of nominees, showing the growing prevalence of R&B in popular music. Also much beloved by critics is Jay-Z’s “4:44,” a thought-provoking, raw, and masterfully produced ode to his relationship with Beyoncé following her critically acclaimed

2016 album Lemonade. Both albums have gained meaning since Jay-Z confessed to cheating on Beyoncé in an interview with The New York Times.

Also nominated is the woke “1-800-273-8255” co-written by Logic and Alessia Cara, among others. While the recording academy hasn’t favored the rap genre or songs that bring up difficult and often dark themes like “1-800-2738255,” the song’s candid message of hope and redemption may redeem it in the Academy’s eyes as well.

Perhaps not on par with the rest of the field is Julia Michaels’s “Issues.” Similar to the nomination of Mike Posner’s “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” last year, “Issues” is an emotional, beautiful song, but comparatively less powerful than the other nominations.

BEST ROCK SONG: Calm Before the Storm

By THOMAS CHEN

WHO TO ROOT FOR:

“Run”

Though rock music may not be as relevant as it once was decades ago, which is evident through the notable lack of rock nominees for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist, this year’s contenders for the Best Rock Song are still as competitive as ever.

The 2018 nominations for the Grammy are Metallica’s “Atlas, Rise,” K.Flay’s “Blood in the Cut,” Nothing More’s “Go to War,” the Foo Fighters’ “Run,” and Avenged Sevenfold’s “The Stage.” Of these nominees, Nothing More’s “Go to War” and the Foo Fighters’ “Run” are the strongest contenders for the Grammy. “Go to War” is Nothing More’s first Grammy nomina-

tion, but it’s clear that it is one welldeserved—alternating between gentle, softer singing and dynamic, passionate belting at a constant, fast-paced tempo, complemented by bass riffs; “Go to War” is nothing but raw and intense.

Similarly, the Foo Fighters’ “Run” juxtaposes Dave Grohl’s slightly melancholic, inspiring singing with a frenzy of guitar, drums, and screaming, ultimately creating a genuinely energetic, compelling piece. “Run”’s vaguely political themes and heavy sound differentiate it from the Foo Fighters’ past music and help it stand out from the rest of the crowd. However, K.Flay’s “Blood in the Cut” (interestingly, the only female solo rock act to have earned a nomination this year) certainly is not one to be ignored, with Flay’s moody voice gradually growing more furious with the louder drumming and guitar.

Jackie Chan Seems Like “The Foreigner” in His Own Film movie seems interesting enough, especially with Campbell and Brosnan working together once again after their past success with 1995 James Bond film “GoldenEye.” The film is not lacking in terms of action, with exhilarating scenes of Quan detonating bombs and fleeing from hitmen on roofs.

Yet, plotwise, the film is messy overall and overly complex, sloppily forcing two stories into one.

While the beginning shows potential, Quan’s compelling quest for vengeance becomes cast aside as he hides in the woods for half of the movie, seemingly forgotten in favor of the much more confusing political side . After being threatened by Quan and his superiors, Hennessy is forced to identify the rogue agents, who are also being hunted by the British police. But with so many minor characters and subplots—one of them bizarrely being an incestual relationship of all things—the story just becomes convoluted and hard to follow.

However, “The Foreigner” manages to be saved from total mediocrity by

the intense performances of Brosnan and Chan.

Brosnan, who is arguably the true protagonist in the film, plays the role of corrupt cold-blooded antihero Hennessy well. As his plans to identify the IRA and stop Quan continue to be foiled and the pressure on him by his superiors and the British police steadily increases over the course of the movie, the cracks in his façade as the cocky, poised government official at the beginning of the movie evidently become larger and larger. He becomes paranoid and ruthless, even shooting a terrorist in the legs until he leaks information.

And though Chan gets very few chances to shine, he impresses in each, shedding his typically easygoing, humorous self for the role of an empty father with nothing Da to lose. One of his most rre nL emotional scenes ian g/ depicts him Th eS pe bloodied cta tor and surrounded in smoke, desperately searching for his daughter

and then clutching her body, sobbing.

Even more spectacular to watch are the occasional showdowns between Quan and Hennessy. Chan and Brosnan evidently share great chemistry, as Chan’s cold, subtle demeanor is complemented well

by Brosnan’s fiery, intense performance. One such face off has Quan with a blank expression on his face, calmly pointing a gun at an angry and panicking Hennessy.

It’s a shame the film lets Chan down, as his absence causes his character to seem very irrational and slightly more unsympathetic.

He spends the majority of the movie threatening Hennessy and his men, who make it clear several times that they do not know who is responsible for his daughter’s death. It’s difficult to root for Chan when his character keeps antagonizing people for no real reason.

Yet, while the plot of “The Foreigner” may have been a disappointment, Chan’s stellar performance shows that the actor is just as versed in serious roles as in his standard comedic ones. And with obviously no plans to retire soon, perhaps Chan’s future dramatic works will finally live up to the actor’s name.

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 16

Arts & Entertainment “Humans of New York: The Series”

Media

By SHRUTHI VENKATA When you watch Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York: The Series” for a minute, the most normal of people become as interesting to you as they are to themselves.

The most iconic of all of Stanton’s work as we know it are the Facebook and Instagram posts of grandfathers who have lived many lives, four-year-old microfashionistas clad in vivid colors, driven entrepreneurs, and teenage subway performers whose art is their living. In the HONY Series, these characters are reincarnated in film with their raspy, timid, or boisterous voices and idiosyncrasies in movement, allowing another layer of personality to transcend the limitations of a computer screen.

“HONY: The Series” continues the intimate features of outstanding and average, thoughtful people. One episode of Stanton’s newest venture features a guitarist who shares his darkest fear of “getting too old to be appreciated” and then plays a song.

It makes us realize that we hide this same fear while a newfound appreciation of this musician blooms within us: we don’t want him to ever be or feel too old.

A preteen remarks, “You’re gonna outgrow everything, eventually.

You’re just gonna lose everything. I just don’t wanna let go,” and makes us nostalgic for everything we’ve

very own Stuyvesant High School— the Series has a high bar to meet. In going to another country, the different cultures and people were new and interesting, but his role as an interviewer remained the same. In his book, the medium was still essentially photography, so it made sense to see similar content and formatting to what we do on a computer screen. Venturing into film, how-

Anika Hashem / The Spectator

ever, demanded something more.

“HONY: The Series” should be something more raw and distinctive in its representation of New Yorkers than HONY photography. So much can be done with film as a medium.

It offers the power of a more complete story—it ties together different people, different ends. It can have a more compelling and apparent plot

Good Fences Make A Good Platform for Activism

Megan Huang / The Spectator

Art

outgrown or if we’re young, everything we will soon outgrow.

An old lady draped in pink, sitting on her stoop, refuses to disclose anything about her life and adds with sass, “If I made a movie of my life, I would win 500 awards. Not 100, 500.”

If these people were captured in photographs, we would not hear the first man’s guitar, the meditation in the kid’s voice as he contemplates the right wording, or the distinctive attitude of the woman.

Stanton establishes throughout that all people are artists in their own right, be it through their words, their profession, their dress, or some recounted creative endeavor from decades past. The Series reestablishes this, while further humanizing subjects through the recordings.

Stanton’s experimentation with new content and medium is nothing new—he periodically undertakes new endeavors to spice up his work. In the past, he expanded beyond New York City and traveled to 20 diverse countries, such as India, Iraq, Ukraine, and Uganda. He has also compiled his many encounters into New York Times bestselling books.

With millions of supporters already following his page—hundreds, if not thousands, from our

By EMILY XU When I asked Jéronimo Covarrubias, a Greenwich Village resident, about his first impression of the giant 37-foot-tall steel cage under the Washington Square Arch, he responded, “I thought it was pretty ordinary. I don’t know. I see new things in this park every day.”

However, the metal cage, titled “Arch,” is anything but ordinary. It seems to be an obstacle, blocking the passageway under the triumphal arch celebrating the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. The silhouette of two people embracing is cut out of the center, allowing visitors to walk through a path with mirrored stainless steel on both sides. This is just one of more than 300 installations in Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s city-wide public art exhibit “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” in place from October 12, 2017 to February 11, 2018.

The title of the exhibit is a famous line from the Robert Frost poem “Mending Wall,” which analyzes our tendency to put up walls to separate ourselves from other people. It is a form of protection,

but it also limits the extent to which we can identify with each other. Ai’s “Fences” deals with exactly this; it is a call for activism in response to the global refugee crisis created by our unwillingness to break down the barriers we have constructed.

Ai is no stranger to using art as political commentary. His 2010 work “Sunflower Seeds,” an interactive exhibit that covered the entire floor of the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern art gallery, recalled the hardships suffered during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in China, which took place when Ai was a teenager. Each of the 100 million sunflower seeds was unique on the most micro of levels; each was molded, fired, and hand-painted in Jingdezhen, China, an endeavor that employed 1,600 workers.

Standing in the sea of porcelain, the viewer was overwhelmed by the sheer number and depth of the seeds, which represented the Chinese people. Individually, they were small and differed from each other, but united, they could overthrow the Communist regime.

Ai’s blatant attack on the Chinese government has spurred some opposition. He was placed under

house arrest, and his passport was taken away in 2011. However, he continues creating political art. His persistence despite persecution is what makes his work admirable.

Though he is no longer subjected to threats of suppression from the Chinese government, his work is a powerful testament to why we need to take action, especially when no one else seems to be doing so.

Like “Sunflower Seeds,” Ai’s new exhibit depends on human interaction to make meaning out of it. The way we interact with these works is a testament to the way we interact with the ugly issue of the refugee crisis or, as Ai seems to say, our lack of interaction.

Many of these works are in places that typically don’t attract much attention, such as bus shelters, or, on the other side of the spectrum, places where there are just too many people to stop and ponder about the installation, such as the Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park. The result is a feeling that the installations are almost not there. This sounds counterintuitive, but Ai uses his installation to make commentary on the fact that many of us think the global refugee crisis is important yet still live our daily lives without much thought about what we can do to help those affected by it.

For many people, the more than 200 lamppost banners Ai has put up throughout the city are easily missed. Each banner is a black and white portrait of a refugee or immigrant. Gridlines have been been cut out of the black vinyl, blurring the outlines of the figures. There is much diversity in the people featured on these posters, from icons such as Nina Simone, a Civil Rights activist and migrant, to the ordinary mothers, fathers, and children Ai met when he was in Iraq. The banners are beautiful and bring humanity to an issue that often has no face.

In the same vein, “Circle Fence,” a 1,000-foot-long ensemble of nets draped over metal frames around the Unisphere in FlushingMeadows Corona Park, is often overlooked and underrated. It’s a strange and perplexing sight, but it has come to serve as a jungle gym for children or seating for the general public.

Thus, there’s this brief moment where most of us think the work is an obstruction, but after that moment’s over, we move on. We think about about it for a second, but then it doesn’t bother us anymore.

This is much like our attitudes toward immigration, and Ai does not

continued on page 17

than any photograph or caption, and it allows for more character development. The Series, however, doesn’t fully realize film’s potential to tell cohesive, overarching stories, and is, instead, closer to being an extension of the photographic medium.

Each episode of the Series is based on a theme overflowing with human relevance: help, stardom, parenting, time, or home.

Every story has a strong connection to this one-word theme. The episode “Help” features a businessman learning to do the little deeds he could for people. Another explores the enrichment of the life of an elderly man paired with a volunteer by a Nazi victims organization through their shared love of dance. The final example is of a man whose dog has always been there for him, and of whom he is ready to let go.

Though these topics are relevant, the individual stories within each episode, while all addressing the same themes, are insufficiently linked to one another.

It’s like a patchwork quilt where everything is the same material, but the designs don’t complement one another. Stanton initially succeeds in intriguing us with a short profound segment, a metaphor, or an oddity. Some of the appeal, howev-

Music

er, dies by the end of the 15-minute long segments. We need a reason to watch 15 minutes of a continuous clip, rather than the shorter videoclips plastered on social media.

Many of the episodes are still powerful. “Help,” for example, is one of my favorites, but more for the fact that each individual story is affective, rather than the video’s overall cohesion. The lack of a plot, or some other clear intrigue, is likely a reason that the views on these episodes on Facebook have fallen from seven to eight million views on early videos to half the amount on later videos. The episodes can be very meaningful, and watching them should feel less tedious.

Though the content may lack excitement, the cinematography of the HONY Series is beautiful, combining profiles and direct views of speakers’ faces with time lapses of crowds passing over subway staircases, of the NYC skyline at dusk through night, or of the scintillating lights of Times Square, overlaid with R&B beats.

“Humans of New York: The Series” is a beautiful piece of artwork.

We find bolder personality by not only reading, but hearing voices.

Nonetheless, it could capitalize more on the use of film as a medium and on the continuity of a lengthy video to create something as beautiful and more captivating. If HONY is going to be something new, why not embrace its newness?

What’s in a “Reputation”?

By GABRIELLE UMANOVA

styles, but Swift’s key characteristics prevail. In her verse, Swift sings, For months, the world saw little “And I can’t let you go, your hand of Taylor Swift. Turns out, it’s be- prints on my soul / It’s like your cause the “‘old Taylor is dead,” as eyes are liquor, it’s like your body Swift herself declares in “Look What is gold,” continuing to display lyriYou Made Me Do,” the lead single cal talent and a specific eloquence of her newest album. Taylor Swift’s and romanticism when describing sixth album, “reputation,” was re- a lover that she has long been associated with. leased November 10, 2017 amid At the same time, great anticipation and conthe song seesaws betroversy, and Swift has tween brimming with confidence, as Swift loudly mocks her “big r e p u t a t i o n ,” and what appears to be vulnerabiltaken care to presity, as Swift ent it as a clean expresses, “I break between don’t wanna be her old persona / Just another and her new ex-love / You image. don’t wanna see.”

From Ultimately, her dit h e rect declaration of start, her expectations in the relationship— to be the “ e n d g a m e” — unveils a new depth and a Tony Chen / The Spectator change Swift tries to distinguish herself in Taylor, who seems to be taking and her album’s new style as un- increased control in her own fate, like anything she’s ever done be- breaking from the helplessness of fore. “… Ready For It,” the album’s her former self.

This shift in Swift’s approach to first song, is dark and fast-paced; Swift’s tone is aggressive and much relationships is consistent throughmore reminiscent of rap than her out the album. For the first time, former country-style crooning. The Swift is secure rather than miserstatic and deep bass create a white able. “Call It What You Want To” noise effect underlying Swift’s sing- embodies this message: Taylor can ing that reflects a heavier sound be content and happy in her relathan she’s put out before. It serves tionships without having to define as a warning shot that this new Tay- them to anyone. In singing, “My balor Swift is nothing like the gentle by’s … high above the whole scene / America’s sweetheart that fans have Loves me like I’m brand new,” Swift truly establishes a new Taylor, one grown used to.

And yet, as the song reaches the that won’t be subject to manipuchorus, Swift’s voice reverts back lation, and a new sort of love, one into the familiar high-pitched, soft that is steadfast and real.

It is refreshing to see Swift finalquality that marked her previous work. In fact, it’s almost impos- ly embrace her sexuality. “Dress” is sible to not be reminded of “Wild- breathy and unmistakably suggesest Dreams,” Swift’s single from her tive. Swift is blunt like never before 2014 album, “1989.” Within the first as she croons, “Only bought this minute, “reputation” established dress so you could take it off.” Perthe inescapable question posed by haps it does harken back to the old the album and by Taylor Swift as an Taylor in its sense of want and (as evolving artist: is the old Taylor re- Swift herself says) “pining and desperately waiting,” but it does so in ally dead?

Perhaps dead is an over-ex- a way that is new and different beaggeration. Swift’s collaboration cause Swift is making the choice to with rapper Future and singer Ed be vulnerable. Whereas before Swift Sheeran in “End Game” of the same album makes for a unique song continued on page 17 and an interesting blend of musical

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 17

Arts & Entertainment What’s in a “Reputation”?

Music continued from page 16

might have been defenseless when it came to love, she now intentionally lets her guard down.

Furthermore, it is shocking to see Swift directly referencing sex or, as she does later in the song, drinking. These more mature elements shield “reputation” from the naivety that blanketed the old Taylor; she has, invariably, grown up. Carnal themes have always been excluded from Taylor Swift’s image, which centered around her innocence. By finally incorporating them, Swift acknowledges that her image has inevitably changed as she herself has evolved into a grown woman.

Swift is defiantly unapologetic, evident in “I Did Something Bad” where Swift loudly declares, “They said I did something bad, / Then why’s it feel so good? … And I’d do it over and over and over again if I could.” Behind her singing, the drums are explosive, a feeling which pervades throughout the song and evokes the sense of a person being pushed past the edge.

Swift finally indicates her own guilt, a stark contrast to her previous role as a victim. Her lack of remorse is a strong rejection of her role as “the good guy.” By combining her fiery lyrics with the song’s forte, Swift effectively creates the feeling of intense liberation.

Swift also poses a direct challenge to her accusers as she sings, “They’re burning all of the witches even if you aren’t one / So light me up… go ahead and light me up.” In doing so, Swift becomes a much more empowered and fearless figure; she fully embraces her bad press, freed from having to preserve her reputation.

Musically, “reputation” is dramatically distinct from Swift’s previous work. “Don’t Blame Me” is a dark, soulful sermon enveloped in Gothic undertones. The percussion sounds like a heartbeat, while Swift’s deeper, drawled voice that sounds less like singing than it does

talking sounds like a confession.

The slow, powerful tempo matched with declarations such as, “And baby for you / I would fall from grace / Just to touch your face,” reveal a side of Swift that is raw and heartfelt.

Meanwhile, Swift’s voice seems to be endlessly flexible. In “Delicate,” her hushed tones and sweet singing are magnetic and sensuous. The electronic influences are expertly employed, with Swift’s voice taking on a robotic sound distinguished by its wavering quality.

The inhuman, electric sound provides a beautiful juxtaposition with the delicate tone of Swift’s natural singing, resulting in a surprising contrast. It’s a bold presentation of Swift’s musical genius.

Curiously, the album’s closing song, “New Year’s Day,” is written and sung in a very classic Taylor Swift style. It is gentle, slow, and one of the few occasions where Swift retains an aura of innocence.

The minimalist piano tones in the background allow Swift’s ultimately optimistic message to pervade; despite all of the turbulence of her previous romantic endeavors, she intends to stay with the person who’s willing to do the same. Thus, Swift ends her revolutionary album with an old-fashioned acknowledgement of her growth beyond the romantic notions of midnights and preference for the steadiness of someone who helps clean up the mess in the morning.

Certainly, “reputation” is a heavy album. Its sound is a melting pot of classic Taylor styles and new, darker, uncharted musical territories. Despite Swift’s insinuations that her image is always what she has carefully crafted, she is nevertheless sincere and open within her music as she always has been.

I cannot say that I believe there is a new and old Taylor. More likely, there is just Taylor Swift, an artist and media sensation and human who grows and evolves while her music follows suit.

Winter Holiday Playlist

Playlist

For millennia, holiday music has brought joy to the eyes and cheer to the ears of listeners. Evolving from chants and litanies in observance of the Feast of the Nativity in the early Eastern Orthodox Church to the earliest carols in the 13th century to the Christmas classics, we can’t seem to escape (and shouldn’t want to) this time of year. Artists have always found new ways to embody holiday cheer, transforming holiday music from religious chants into a mainstream genre in its own right. From carols thousands of years old given a new spin by modern artists to original holiday hits that have quickly become classics, we’ve compiled a list of two (and in one case three) Christmas songs per decade that you should be listening to, stretching from the 1930s to the modern day.

1930s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” Eddie Cantor, 1934 “Winter Wonderland” Richard Himber, 1934

1970s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” Jackson 5, 1970

1940s “The Christmas Song” Nat King Cole, 1946

“Step Into Christmas” Elton John, 1974 1980s “Last Christmas” Wham!, 1986

“Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! “ Vaughn Monroe, 1945

“Christmas in Hollis” Run-D.M.C, 1987 1990s “All I Want For Christmas is You” Mariah Carey, 1994

1950s “Santa Baby” Eartha Kitt, 1953 “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” Bing Crosby, 1951

“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home” Mariah Carey, 1994

e Spectator

Klaire Geller / Th

1960s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” Darlene Love, 1963

“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Andy Williams, 1963 “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Brenda Lee, 1960

2000s “Christmas Time” Christina Aguilera, 2000

“I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” blink-182, 2001 2010s “Someday At Christmas” Stevie Wonder and Andra Day, 2015 “Hallelujah” Pentatonix, 2016

Film

“Murder on the Orient Express” Reaches Beyond Its Inspiration

By GABRIELLE UMANOVA I must admit I had my reservations while walking into the movie theater showing of “Murder on the Orient Express.” I had only recently read, and loved, the Agatha Christie novel which was adapted for the movie. Not only did I fear being disappointed by the film adaption, notoriously inferior to books, but I also worried that knowing the ending of a murder mystery might ruin the film. Considering the novel’s well-deserved infamy, I was curious as to how the film version, directed by Kenneth Branagh—who also stars as the lead, Detective Hercule Poirot—would handle filling Christie’s big shoes.

It seems that Branagh accounted for this, however, by opening the film with an entirely original scene set in the bustling and colorful city of Jerusalem. The film uses these few minutes, absent from Christie’s novel, to establish its protagonist as a ridiculous perfectionist with an obsession for balance and a rigid belief in the division between right and wrong.

Detective Poirot is first shown being comically picky about his breakfast (specifically, the perfectibility of his eggs). He claims to see “imperfection stick out like the nose on your face” and is so troubled by imbalance that when he steps into manure, he purposefully dirties his other foot as well to even it out.

Thus, the movie introduces not only a new neurotic element to the famous detective, but instills a sense of humor into him as well.

When solving a particularly divisive theft (the suspects are a rabbi, a priest, and an imam) at the Wall of Jerusalem prior to his journey on the Orient Express, Poirot establishes a unique crime-solving style. In a long monologue, Poirot relies primarily on his understanding of human nature in order to pinpoint the culprit: he first identifies a plausible motive and uses it to anticipate the evidence, reversing the typical process. Furthermore, Poirot attests that, “There is right. There is wrong.

There is no in between,” displaying great faith in his ability to differentiate between the two. It is an innovative effort on behalf of the creators of the film to introduce its protagonist as a genius with a great sense of justice, perhaps a more ethical and extremely French Sherlock Holmes.

At the same time, such an effort sets the tone of the movie as the study of a human conscience mixed with comedic elements and modern day messages.

The film dedicates itself to presenting Poirot as a more human character than the enigma he was in Christie’s time. In the novel, Christie provides little insight into Poirot’s

Art

moral compass, primarily focusing on his determination to solve a tricky crime and the ingenuity with which he does this. The film, on the other hand, emphasizes how Poirot handles his idea of ethics, lamenting, “I see evil on this train.” This allows the movie to have a greater meaning than simply a murder mystery and gives Poirot a greater level of complexity (be-

Catherine Joh / The Spectator

yond that of a brilliant detective) than he had in the novel.

The film also establishes the reality of discrimination in 1930s Europe and supports this with greater diversity in casting. Leslie Odom Jr., of Hamilton fame, is an African American who plays the role of Doctor Arbuthnot; and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who is Hispanic, plays the new role of Biniamino Marquez.

Race is a theme in the film notably absent from the 1934 novel, and it reflects a modern influence. For instance, Dr. Arbuthnot relates the difficulty of becoming a doctor as a black man, and the reality that he might be blamed for the murder by the police, simply because of his race, is acknowledged by several characters. This new element allows the film to access more important themes and reflects the influence of persisting societal issues.

Wisely, Branagh seizes the advantages of the film medium by accentuating the movie’s visual elegance. The contrast between the bright, colorful, lively stations or cities and the more gray-scale, subdued aura of the train is a subtle yet powerful reinforcement of the train’s darker atmosphere. The experimentation with points of view, such as the bird’s eye view of the scene where the body of evil businessman Samuel Ratchett is first found, allows the film to emphasize the cramped and tense atmosphere of the train. Branagh’s use of shots through crystal window reflections create a funhouse mirror effect that emphasizes the lack of transparency aboard the train, drawing audiences in a way that the novel cannot.

Conversely, the screenwriting of the film instills a humorous and witty tone that perfectly mirrors

Agatha Christie’s. Christie’s ironic tone throughout the novel is a significant part of its appeal, and while the film does a good job in capturing Poirot’s dry humor, it is Bouc, a reinvisioned character played by Tom Bateman, who provides much of the film’s comedy. A shameless hedonist (in his first scene, he is seeking a remote place in which to have a twenty minute “argument” with a prostitute), he serves as the perfect foil to Poirot’s astute character— a young man not yet disillusioned with the world.

He seems an even better companion to Poirot than Christie wrote in the novel, accentuating Poirot’s professionalism while also bringing out his humorous side as Poirot frustrates Buoc with comments about the mystery such as, “If it were easy, I would not be famous.”

Considering the fame of the novel, much of the film’s success seemed as though it would inevitably rest on performance, rather than plot. This might explain why the movie’s cast consists almost entirely of heavy-hitting actors: Dame Judy Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Derek Jacobi are just a few of the huge names associated with the film. However, it is a somewhat disappointing ensemble cast, if only because in its excessive focus on Poirot, the film gives the other actors little time to fully distinguish their talent.

Despite their confines, the cast is still able to put on an impressive performance. The drama in the movie was greatly elevated, specifically in Poirot’s confrontation with Dr. Arbuthnot, where the latter confesses to the crime and shoots Poirot to protect his lover, Mary Debenham (played by Daisy Ridley) from suspicion. This scene, too, is original, and sharply differs from the more subdued and slow-burning nature of Christie’s novel. The film’s climax, Poirot’s confrontation with the suspects, in the conclusive test to their characters, has a far greater emotional appeal to the audience than the book. By stressing Poirot’s insistence that the world is black and white, the film makes his reaction to a totally in-the-gray situation compelling in a way that the novel is not quite able to.

While the film is unlikely to receive the same cult following as its novel predecessor, it is a refreshing take on Agatha Christie’s beloved novel. It is simultaneously able to give the story a new level of complexity as well as retain the suspense and charm of an old-fashioned murder mystery, and perhaps by those merits alone can be considered a success.

Good Fences Make A Good Platform for Activism

continued from page 16 fail to remind us of it. The refugee crisis infringes upon our normal way of living, but after we ruminate on how it’s terrible and how we wish there was something we could do to make a difference, we forget about it until the next time it’s on the news. We end up not making that difference.

Ai is especially successful in the placement of his works. There are no mistakes or erratic decisions when it comes to the location of the installations. New York City, synonymous with diversity and immigration, is the most effective setting for the exhibit. This even works on a much smaller level. The choice to place “Circle Fence” around the Unisphere, a landmark of international unity, draws attention to the fact that Corona and Flushing are both neighborhoods that are predominantly immigrant and foreign

born.

Likewise, the placement of “Arch” underneath two marble reliefs of George Washington reminds us that America was founded on the principle of freedom. The form and content of the work interact nicely, as the silhouette of two people embracing echoes Ai’s belief that the basis of our independence, which Washington is so heavily credited for today, is love and tolerance, not suppression.

However, Ai makes his most powerful and lasting statement with “Gilded Cage,” a huge enclosure made of turnstiles located at the southeast entrance of Central Park. The glittering metallic paint of the bars evokes the sensation of being locked in a luxurious prison.

By placing the installation just four blocks from Trump Tower, Ai accuses Donald Trump, an avid supporter of walls who recently passed a travel ban on six Muslim countries, of being locked in his own gilded

cage. This is a powerful statement to make, especially when xenophobia and nativism in the United States seem to be as common as skyscrapers in the city of New York.

There are many opportunities to react with hate and bigotry, but there are just as many opportunities to respond with kindness and acceptance. This idea harkens back to “Sunflower Seeds”—if these small, individually insignificant things are considered in their full magnitude, there may one day be a world where walls are torn down rather than fortified.

In this way, Ai effectively uses his art as a platform for activism.

After contemplating the hidden meaning of “Arch,” Covarrubias admitted, “It definitely changes my thoughts about [the installation]. I want to be able to do something. I want to be able to help.” “Fences” compels us to get involved instead of simply sitting on the net.

The Spectator â—? December 20, 2017

Page 18

Art Meet the Artists

By THE ART DEPARTMENT

Fareeha Tabassum / The Spectator

Angel Zheng / The Spectator

Aries Ho / The Spectator

Israt Islam/ The Spectator

Joyce Liao / The Spectator Anika Hashem / The Spectator

Carrie Ou / The Spectator

Karen Lai / The Spectator

Daniel Tam / The Spectator

Camilla Cheng / The Spectator

Janice Tjan / The Spectator

Fahim Rahman / The Spectator

Katherine Lwin / The Spectator

Lauren Mei / The Spectator Kristin Lin / The Spectator

Lynne Wang / The Spectator

The Spectator â—? December 20, 2017

Page 19

Art Meet the Artists

By THE ART DEPARTMENT

Rachel Zhang / The Spectator

Alex Lin / The Spectator

Raihana Sultana / The Spectator

Taylor Choi / The Spectator Wenny Liu / The Spectator

Tony Chen / The Spectator

Mary Ann Foley / The Spectator

Yu Xin Zheng / The Spectator

Sunjung Bok / The Spectator Mandy Mai / The Spectator

Page 20

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

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The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 21

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

Communist Revolution Inspires Hostile Takeover of Stuyvesant With five essays, a project explaining why people who don’t study French can’t pronounce the word “croissant” properly, and a reading of the “The Communist Manifesto” due on the same day, sophomore Steve Wang finally reached his breaking point. After intense hours of thinking to no fruition, he finally picked up his copy of the “The Communist Manifesto.”

But once Wang picked it up, it was love at first sight. He even taught himself German to read Marx’s original. He was ready to start a new revolution.

The following day, Wang gathered as many people as he could to his locker and gave one of the greatest speeches in recorded history.

“I was in tears,” recalled

sophomore Javed Jokhai with tears streaming down his eyes.

“He was so passionate throughout the entire thing. His speech rapidly reached a pinnacle: “‘The gentle laborer shall no longer suffer from the noxious greed of the teachers! We will dismantle oppression board by board! We’ll saw the foundation of the administration in half, even if it takes an eternity!

With your support, we will send the hammer of the students’ will crashing through the windows of this house of servitude! Let the faculty tremble at a student revolution. The pupils have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors of all GPAs unite!’”

“It’s not even like he shamelessly plagiarized a Squidward speech and ‘The Communist Manifesto’—it was based off of

Jenny Gao / The Spectator

Business Update: Severe Coffee Price Increases Cause Panic

By Michael xu Coffee prices from vendors around Stuyvesant have seen a severe increase: the average price of a 12-oz hot coffee has shot up 327 percent to $4.30 as of December 20.

A Global Coffee Shortage?

Coffee vendors are insistent that they have simply run out of coffee supplies.

“After several weeks of exhaustive coffee consumption at Stuyvesant, global coffee supply has dwindled dangerously,” Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz explained. “In our sources in Brazil, sub-saharan Africa, and Indonesia, discontent growers have balked at the extreme production requirements that Stuyvesant students have imposed. They know how high demand is, and now, they’re charging a premium.”

When pressed on why only the Chambers Street branch has seen such severe price increases, Schultz declined to comment.

A similar response was given by other coffee vendors frequented

by Stuyvesant students.

A document was recently uncovered documenting a cartel between 17 major coffee outlets around Stuyvesant. However, according to independent analyst Howie Stultz, this is likely “a mere prank from students.”

The Toll on Students Students are the main victims.

Some students have continued purchasing coffee despite the now eye-watering costs. “My favorite frap is now $9.90, but you only live once, right?” senior

Steve Wong remarked.

Thrifty students have created an app that tracks coffee prices at specific vendors. The price of coffee at different vendors has become very much volatile as a result of constantly increasing prices. Just this morning, there was a $0.45 difference between Starbucks and the coffee cart before the coffee cart updated its price at 7:43 AM. Other students have resorted to secretly making coffee at home. These are primarily students who consume over 10 cups a day; they purchase more coffee once they reach Stuyvesant to escape their parents’ indignation. One anonymous student professed to using instant simply because it was easier to hide.

Some festive students have given up on coffee, instead consuming non-alcoholic eggnog.

Regrettably, eggnog has completely failed at keeping students alert. One eggnog-crazed senior is peacefully asleep and is projected to stay asleep past the New Year.

pure originality,” he said.

Soon after the speech was given, Wang and his followers took to the halls, armed with sharpened pencils and notebooks and toting a giant banner that boldly read, “Seize the Means of Education” in red lettering.

Eventually, students from all classes started to join in his march. As more teachers were stripped of their titles, students reportedly started to discard their textbooks outside of classroom windows, replacing them with more copies of “The Communist Manifesto” while Wang dictated the following speech: “No longer will we be dictated by the teachings of our former masters! We have been oppressed by our teachers—students have suffered for far too long under this regime where scholars keep getting curved up by the grades of the working students! But—no

more shall we be exploited by this grading system. Nay, in place of the old system, with its AP classes and electives, we will have 11 free periods a day!”

After all of the faculty were overthrown, Wang decided that his work was done. Little did he know, it was a dark time when it was every person for himself or herself; without teachers, students ran amok throughout the halls. Eventually, this led to factions. One of the largest of these factions was being led by sophomore Adrian Dickson, who rallied in support of the old grading system.

Sensing the imminent threat of Dickson, Wang began to rally again. Being forced to fight against Dickson’s contacts from Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech as well, Wang and his few supporters managed to cough up a miracle; with only old stress balls

and gym shorts at their disposal, they managed to win against the advancing army.

However, his victory was short-lived. After hearing the news of their son’s radical thinking, Wang’s parents immediately came to school and pulled him out by the ear, shouting threats along the way. Though resistant at first, he quickly complied to their demands after they threatened to burn his Karl Marx plush toy and proletariat action figures.

At the cost of future communist revolutions, the assigned “The Communist Manifesto” reading has since been revoked as well. To fill the void in the curriculum, teachers are now showing documentaries on communism that will surely make any revolutionary fall asleep.

Health Class Reaches Record Popularity By renee kim In a recent survey conducted

by The Spectator, health class was voted to be students’ favorite class with an outstanding vote of 98.9 percent, a huge increase from the 12.2 percent of the year before.

Assistant Principal of Health and Physical Education Brian Moran was excited to see these results. “I am proud of our school’s top-notch health education. I always believed students would find this class very fulfilling and entertaining, as it pertains to reality and brings a touch of delight to their dull cellphone-less lives,” he said.

The results of the survey were attributed to Health teacher Barbara Garber and her intellectually stimulating baby project, which requires her students to carry around a baby doll. “I let my kids get creative with the babies’ names,” Barber said. “But instead of names of drugs like ‘Marijuana,’ which I thought they would choose, I get sweet names like ‘Mary’ and ‘Jane.’Stuyvesant students are such sweet angels.”

Students have been so attached to this project that many have continued carrying their babies around even after the project was over, calling on administration to install baby playpens in

Fareeha Tabassum / The Spectator

By VICTOR KUANG and tony moh

every classroom. “My baby needs a place to be! I couldn’t possibly leave it on the cold hard surface of my desk. What if it falls down and has a concussion?” junior Joseph Lee said.

Due to popular request, administration has been considering adding a health elective or making health a two-semester course led by Garber, going into details about quadruplet caretaking techniques and advanced hands-free male breastfeeding

techniques. “I can’t imagine not having health in my schedule. It’s basically the only reason I come to school now! If I can’t take this class anymore, I think I’m just gonna stay home to take care of my baby,” junior Peter Jin said.

Garber is also excited about what these changes to the health department could mean. “I no longer need to preach abstinence, since everyone knows how to care for a baby anyway,” she said.

Trump Challenged to IQ Test with Senior Eugene Thomas By sanford lu Senior Eugene Thomas was so distraught after receiving a test score in BC calculus that he challenged President Trump to an IQ test.

“You don’t understand. My 98.31415926 GPA will be permanently marred by the 96 I’m going to receive in this class,” argued Thomas. “It’s not my fault Mr. Cocoros only lets students bump their tests to a maximum of 92 with retakes.” At this point, he broke down in tears.

Thomas’s challenge was quickly spread throughout the Internet and caught the president’s attention. Trump replied via Twitter, “Yet another example of the liberal elite thinking that I’m stupid and that everyone else is beneath them. I accept your

challenge, but we all know who’s going to WIN.” Thomas was slated to arrive at the White House on December 15.

In the meantime, Thomas prepared for the test. He studied old IQ tests. He memorized the cubic and quartic formulas (and their derivations), as well as the proofs for the existence of the distance and incompleteness theorems. He also made sure to memorize the entirety of all of the translations available of “War and Peace.”

The IQ test itself seemed to go as planned. Coverage aired on CSPAN, which garnered the most viewers in the 18-49 demographic in the channel’s history. The two took to opposite sides of the Oval Office. Thomas finished in 17 minutes and 32 seconds, but patiently waited for the next hour

for the president to finish.

The results, however, were not released to the public. When questioned about it on December 16, Trump yelled, “The test was rigged,” and then ranted for thirty minutes.

Later that evening, Trump tweeted, accusing Thomas of cheating. He wrote, “Obstructionist liberals are so afraid of losing and so dishonest that they insist on cheating. Sad! The American people will find out the truth!”

Shortly after, Trump tweeted again, announcing a second round: “While my wonderful staff is recounting the results of the tests, I’ve decided that we should have a second round, just for good measure. I’ve been practicing eighth dimension chess for the test anyway, so I’ll win again!”

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 22

Sports Boys’ Wrestling

Spartans Showing Flashes in a Hard Fought Season Opener

By Aryan Sharma and Yae June Lee “How strong? Stuy strong!” the Spartans shouted before starting their season on December 5 against Edward R. Murrow High School. The team fell 42-47 in the season opener, but there were many positive takeaways.

“I saw some good wrestling from these beginners. This is an early tourney in the season, so obviously, I saw some mistakes as well. Me and the other captain, [senior] Adam Abbas, helped these guys grow as wrestlers, so it was real nice to see them perform well,” senior and co-captain Allard Peng said. Though senior Danil Chernov and junior Rubin Peci both joined this season, both came away with victories in the match. They will play big roles this season as the team tries to rise up in its Region 5 di-

vision.

Despite the many positives, Peng was disappointed with his own performance, saying, “I

These high standards will ideally translate into improvement as the season continues, as Peng’s drive for success will hopefully

back from their 2-5 record from last year. They want to improve in hopes of getting to the playoffs. This will be tough without

“I saw some good wrestling from these beginners.

This is an early tourney in the season, so obviously, I saw some mistakes as well. Me and the other captain, [senior] Adam Abbas, helped these guys grow as wrestlers, so it was real nice to see them perform well.”

—Allard Peng, senior and co-captain ended up taking third out of a bracket of six people. I feel like I didn’t wrestle smart, and I didn’t uphold my role as a role model.”

carry over to the team. Overall, this first match was a great starting point for the Spartans.

The team wants to bounce

Cade Lueker (‘17), who finished second at the City Championships last year in the 170-pound weight class. In order to mini-

mize the effect of his loss, Peng and Abbas are taking initiatives to train the younger people on the team. Specifically, “[We have] to stay focused and stick to the basics. In wrestling, what wins a match are the simple and practiced moves,” Abbas said. Repeating the same sets of moves over and over will drill them into the team, which will hopefully translate into in-game success.

Pushing each other both at practices and competitions can create the drive that can lead this team to where they want to be. A long-term goal, Peng said, “[is] to see Stuyvesant High School produce a State Champion.” It remains to be seen whether this season will produce one, but, one match in, the Spartans have their work cut out for them.

Girls’ Table Tennis

Peglegs Face a Tough Season Following the Graduation of Key Players

By Susan Lin

Tiffany Yu / The Spectator

Winter has yet to start, but Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity table tennis team, the Peglegs, is hard at work. The Peglegs have been practicing diligently in anticipation for their games this season.

Having been the undefeated Division I League team for the last three years, the team is intent on continuing its winning streak.

Their 12-0, 10-0, and 12-0 consecutive records in the past few seasons prove their success.

However, if the Peglegs are incapable of recuperating from the loss of last year’s seniors, it could bring those high hopes to heel. A worrisome difference between this team and the team of the past three years is the players. Last year’s seniors made up nearly all of the starters, as well as half of the actual team, for all three years that Stuyvesant has dominated the Division I League. The departure of these seniors is, undoubtedly, a huge blow. “The seniors that left the team were the core of our team.

They were mentors, key players, and leaders. This year’s team,

especially [junior] Katherine [Lee], [senior] Yuki [Lau], and I, have big shoes to fill,” junior and captain Allison Eng said.

This year, there are virtually no senior players in the starting lineup, with the exception of Lau. Five of the seven starting spots are going to underclassmen. However, Eng believes that this is an advantage in the long run. “One positive aspect is that our team is composed of mostly underclassmen, so even if we don’t do as well as we can this year, our team has years to improve,” Eng said.

The Peglegs have fared well in the past in terms of playoffs, being 2016 PSAL Champions and consistently making semifinals and finals. However, Millennium High School, who beat them out in a close match for a place in finals last year, has become a serious contender.

“Our team has honestly been stagnant over the past few years, while other teams [like Millennium] have improved over time… [Millennium’s] first singles player is training to be in the Olympics,” Eng said. A force

to the reckoned with, Millennium won the first league game against the Peglegs 5-0. With a different team dynamic and un-

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derclassmen facing the pressure of bringing home the championship without the presence of many experienced upperclass-

men, Millennium’s first victory over Stuyvesant may foreshadow a difficult season for the Peglegs.

The Spectator ● December 20, 2017

Page 23

Sports Boys’ Swimming

Under New Head Coach, Pirates Look to Repeat as City Champions

By Noah Grenert At the end of the 2016-17 season, the Stuyvesant boys’ varsity swimming & diving team had a record of eight wins and zero losses. The team also became the City Champions. This season, they are looking to replicate last year’s performance by defending their title.

There were only six seniors on the 32-member 2016-17 Pirates team: Brian Chan, Simon Chen, Lawrence Kwong, Joshua Lishnevetsky, Thomas Westfall, and Kevin J. Zheng. This means that this year’s team consists of most of last year’s undefeated team. One new addition, however, is Coach Silvana Choy.

Choy coached the Stuyvesant

Goodbye Girardi, Hello Boone Aaron Boone will forever have a place in Yankees lore for his 2003 American League Championship Series (ALCS) game seven walk-off home run against the hated Boston Red Sox. That one hit propelled him to the front page of every New York newspaper and has allowed his name to live on even after his short 54game stint with the team. Now, 15 years later, he is coming back to the Yankees in a completely different role: manager. To put it lightly, this is a questionable decision; Joe Girardi was an underrated manager who deserved his job, and Boone will have many expectations that I’m not sure he’s capable of achieving.

As a diehard Yankees fan, I’m all for making this team the best it can be. However, sometimes change is detrimental, especially after coming within one game of a World Series berth. Joe Girardi, the former manager, led this club to the ALCS against the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros and fought hard until the very end. This is the very same Yankees team that, in an ESPN article from last March, had only one out of 35 winning the division or making any noise in the postseason (they ended two games behind Boston in the division, but won the wildcard to make it to the playoffs) according to ESPN analysts; this is the team with the injury-prone pitching staff and the one with the inexperienced lineup. While Girardi cannot take all the credit for his team’s 91-71 finish—outfielder Aaron Judge and pitcher Luis Severino’s breakout are obviously products of their own efforts—Girardi was the mastermind that put the club together.

He ran a tight ballclub and let the veterans lead by example for the many younger players. He put pressure on his players to execute, and they followed him.

No matter if it was game one or game 162, he coached like it was

“Two rookies, freshmen Osmond Wan and Tristan Pragnell… are both very talented, and I am excited to have them as part of our team,” she said.

Though the coach believes that the Pirates have a potent team, they still have powerful rivals to beat if they want to repeat as City Champions. Stuyvesant’s main rivals this season are the Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High

School. “It’s going to be a challenge to defeat Bronx Science in the dual meet season,” Choy said. Last year, the Pirates beat the Wolverines twice, once by a score of 56-38 and the other by a score of 55-47. If the Pirates can beat Bronx Science on Thursday, January 18, they will have a good shot at becoming City Champions.

Boys’ Table Tennis

Sports Editorial

By JEREMY RUBIN

Anna Yuan / The Spectator

Anna Yuan / The Spectator

boys’ swim team before leaving after the 2006-2007 season.

Now, after a 10-year break, she is back. “I am still getting to know the swimmers, but in the short time that I have been coaching them, it is easy to see that they are very hard workers in the pool,” said Choy about her first few days with the team. Usually, teams experience a rocky transition period following the introduction of a new coach, but Choy noted that her transition was quite smooth. “The captains have been very helpful with the coaching transition thus far,” she said.

To repeat as champions, the Pirates must have a roster of strong swimmers and divers.

“I can tell you that the junior class is very strong and I expect great things from Nicholas Wen, Ethan Park, Axel Tolpina, Andrew Chopey, and Sean Roudnitsky. We are also very fortunate to have a diver, [senior] Cody Lin. He is diving beautifully and is going to contribute greatly to our points this season,” Choy said. Choy also commented on the new members of the team.

the playoffs. The fire he brought carried over to the team and kept them focused throughout the season.

I’m not saying Girardi is without flaws. He elected not to replay a hit-by-pitch that actually hit the knob of the bat of Lonnie Chisenhall in the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians. That missed call almost doomed the Yankees, as Indians’ shortstop Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam during the next at-bat to shrink the Yankees’s lead to 8-7. Furthermore, he spoke out about catcher Gary Sanchez’s defensive inabilities during the season. This is not something he should be talking to the media

bench coach Rob Thomson, have at least been in the locker room with the team and know what it takes to succeed. Boone will instead be learning on the fly on a team with much higher expectations than the ones they had entering last season. He will be tasked with continuing the “Baby Bomber” development and living up to the hype surrounding the team. Us Yankees fans believe this group of players is special, and cannot see the plan get derailed because of an incompetent coach.

For both myself and the Yankees, I hope I will be pleasantly surprised. I hope he is the manager we need that will lead the team to its next golden age

After last season, everyone in baseball will be keeping close tabs on the budding Yankees superteam.

Here’s to hoping Aaron can keep them on track for a dynasty. about, but rather working with Sanchez on behind the scenes.

Going to the press is an easy way to alienate oneself from the club, something Girardi luckily avoided. However, through the controversies, he remained in power of his club and made sure his players gave it their all every game.

Aaron Boone, meanwhile, has experienced none of this.

Coaches and players lead vastly different lives, and Boone has not been in a dugout since the end of his playing career in 2009. Since then, he has worked as an ESPN analyst on “Sunday Night Baseball” and other baseball events.

While he has been a part of the game, he has not had any coaching experience. Other options for the position, such as Yankees

after the Core Four of the late 1990s and 2000s. However, as of right now, I can’t see how he’d be an improvement over Girardi.

Boone will be taking over from his role at ESPN, a position not remotely related to coaching.

Girardi’s steadying influence at the helm of the Yankees over the last 10 years, meanwhile, led teams with varying degrees of talent to a combined 910-710 record, the best in the MLB in that span. He deserved another chance with this team. However, Boone is in, and I truly hope this new position only improves his legacy from the 2003 ALCS. After last season, everyone in baseball will be keeping close tabs on the budding Yankees superteam.

Here’s to hoping Aaron can keep them on track for a dynasty.

Peglegs Looking to Capture Fourth Straight Title

By Allison Eng and Franklin Liou There has never been a dark spot in the history of Stuyvesant’s boys’ table tennis team, the Titans. Ever since table tennis became an official PSAL sport three years ago, in 2014, the boys’ table tennis team has dominated the city and captured all three championships.

During last year’s playoffs, first-seeded Stuyvesant faced its rival, Brooklyn Technical High School, and won the match 5-0.

The team easily won each of its games 3-0 (in a best of five).

Though the team has lost five seniors, including first and second singles Alston Wang and Eric Amstislavskiy, respectively, it still hopes to continue its golden streak. Current senior and cocaptain Isaac Rose-Berman said, “We’ve never lost a game in [the last] four years and [we] want to keep that streak going, especially as this is [Dr. Feigenbaum’s] final year. We definitely want to make him proud and perform to the best of our ability.”

Many of last year’s players, along with a mixture of new players, have had to step into a larger role this year. Senior and co-captain Alvin Chen, who became first singles this year, said, “We are definitely going to have a much harder time without last year’s seniors, but I believe if everyone does his part, we can win again.”

Currently, the team is in first place in the Central Division. In the past three games, the Titans have shut out Brooklyn Community Arts and Media (BCAM) High School, Millennium High School, and Jacqueline K. Onassis Inter Careers all by a score of 5-0, not losing a single game in the BCAM match. New starters this year include sophomore Jeremy Lee as first doubles and senior Mahidul Shahel with freshman Dilan Apterman as second

doubles.

One notable thing is that while they are still winning, the Titans seem to be struggling more than they have in the past.

In the previous game against Millennium High School, the third singles game played by RoseBerman and the first doubles match, played by Lee and junior substitute Linpeng Chen, were won by 3-1, meaning they each dropped a game to their opponents. While they both handily won their matches, it could become a more pronounced problem against a tougher team.

That tougher team is also their main rival, Brooklyn Tech.

“It’s an uphill battle for us. A few people have to improve to have a shot at [defeating] Brooklyn Tech,” coach Feigenbaum said.

He made it clear that this season is going to be much tougher than those of previous years because of the loss of key players and the new freshmen that Brooklyn Tech has acquired. However, as of right now, the team appears to be as strong as ever.

Since this could be coach Feigenbaum’s last year, he has to prepare his players for a coaching change and find the new coach.

He does not believe that the assistant coach will step into that role and has been “looking for people that…know the rules and the strategy and have the time to do the job.” While it is still early in the season, it is never too early to think about the future.

The Titans are gearing up for another championship run despite the loss of multiple seniors from last year. They have shown a few signs of weakness compared to last year, meaning everyone has to step and work a little harder. Many of the players have had a lot of experience with table tennis and been part of the championship teams led by Dr. Feigenbaum and will again aim for a fourth straight City Championship.

December 20, 2017

Page 24

The Spectator SpoRts Girls’ Basketball

By Dimitriy Leksanov

“We want to win, but our vision isn’t solely fixed on that one goal. We want to win the right way,” senior and co-captain Shannon Lau said. This statement indicates more than just a competitive desire; it suggests an extremely healthy team culture that carries over from success on the court to class off of it.

A strong team culture stems from a sound veteran nucleus, and the Phoenix have just that with three seniors entering their fourth season: Lau, forward and co-captain Delaney Demark, and guard Joan Ngai. The Phoenix have maintained a bountiful three-year run with these three on the team, averaging 13 wins a season and finishing first in the Manhattan A South League two of three times. In theory, with Lau and Demark serving as the team’s captains and Ngai due to have substantial minutes off the bench, this streak should not cease.

In practice, though, there are legitimate roadblocks to overcome, such as the fact that numerous contributors from last season are no longer with the team. The biggest loss is Tiffany Ng (‘17). Beyond offering solid defense at guard, Ng was also the team’s best three-point shooter by a wide margin, hitting 23 of the Phoenix’s 34 total three-point shots over the course of last season and playoffs. And, according to Lau, Ng also contributed significantly to the team’s spirit, chemistry, and dynamic. With professional basketball teams like the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets finding sustained success built around three-point shooting, such a strategy was bound to trickle down to the high school level sooner than later, so the departure of last year’s top performer in that department will have consequences.

According to Demark,

though, the Phoenix have a contingency plan, stating that junior Kaitlyn Duong and Lau have both “demonstrated that they are more than capable of hitting threes,” she says. Being a captain that has spent multiple seasons around both Duong and Lau, Demark speaks from experience.

However, this assertion has little statistical backing, as Lau and Duong had just two three-pointers combined last year, so they would have to make a quantum leap to completely fill the void.

Another major piece from last season who is no longer with the team is senior Tara Greene, who transferred earlier this fall.

Though she was not a prolific scorer, averaging just over 3.2 points a game, she was a ferocious rebounder, finishing with 69 rebounds over the course of the regular season, putting her third on the team and second among the Phoenix’s forwards.

However, there seems to be a young successor ready to step up. Ana-Maria Skaricic, the team’s backup center, is only a freshman, but she may already have the attitude and tenacity to play from the get-go. “Aggression is a really hard concept to teach, but Ana-Maria nails it on offense and defense and is getting better each day,” Lau said. If Skaricic is able to improve in the coming years, it could make for a fearsome frontcourt between her and junior and starting center Ally Archer, who will split time with Skaricic in the low post.

Looking beyond the lost contributors, however, there are also a number of facets in which the Phoenix have improved. Last season, for instance, the team was moribund at the free throw line, with just one player (Demark) shooting over 65 percent from the stripe. This was a legitimate issue, and may have actually been the factor that kept Stuyvesant out of first place last year. The Phoenix’s “missed about five free throws each

Zoe Oppenheimer / The Spectator

Phoenix Look to Carry On Tradition of Success

game,” Lau said, so considering that three of the team’s five losses, including the 33-29 loss to eventual division champion Millennium High School, came at margins under five points, the Phoenix truly were a few missed free throws away from a 15-2 first place finish.

This year, however, free throw shooting seems to be a point of emphasis. “Each practice, we’re running sprints and taking 20-30 free throws in between to make us game-ready,” Lau said. With head coach Vincent Miller apparently altering practices to address such a glaring problem from last season, the Phoenix should fare much better, both from the line and in close games.

Another bright spot is the team’s immense depth, provided by its young talent. Freshman and small forward Isabel Leka, for instance, is another candidate to help fill the so-called “three-and-D” role left by Tif-

fany Ng. “Isabel has been phenomenally cutting to the basket, playing defense, and shooting outside the arc,” said Lau, indicating that Leka should have a primary bench role for the Phoenix, in the very least. Two other names to watch are sophomores Eve Wening and Selene Kaehny, as they have provided valuable minutes for the team so far at the guard and forward positions, respectively.

“Coach Miller may use more of a rotation that includes more underclassmen than in previous years,” Demark said. If this is the case, this could lead to both a more diverse playbook and greater rest time for starters.

In fact, according to Lau, this is already happening: “Miller and I have incorporated a few more offensive and defensive sets. I believe that variety is important, especially when we get deeper into the season and play against teams for the second time,” she says. This is smart, as it indicates

that the team is already looking to the playoffs. While the lost star power provided by players like Ng and Greene will hurt and could once again keep the Phoenix out of first place, all of that is pedestrian compared to the postseason.

So, if this revamped game plan truly does pay off, and if the Phoenix get a spark from the potential return of junior forward Talia Kirshenbaum, last year’s leading rebounder, from a semester at the Mountain School, Stuyvesant could prosper in January when it matters most.

While the Phoenix are unlikely to usurp Millennium High School’s throne, a run into and beyond the third round of the playoffs— something that the team has been unable to accomplish during each of the last three seasons—is very much within the realm of possibility.

Boys’ Basketball

Runnin’ Rebels Open Season With Nail-Biter By ariel melendez Every fan in the bleachers, every coach and player on the bench and on the court swiveled their heads in unison as the ball arched toward the basket; no one had as much anticipation, however, as senior Nicholas Kim, whose arm was still suspended in the air as his wrist flicked. The entire gym followed the ball as it bounced off the back of the rim and onto the court below. Just missing that final shot, the Runnin’ Rebels, Stuyvesant’s boys’ basketball team, were defeated in a nail-biter in their season opener against the Hunter College High School Eagles. The final score was 42-41.

It was a back-and-forth game, with the Rebels surging to an early lead but getting blown out in the second quarter 18-7.

Despite winning the last two quarters and going on a late run, the team fell just short of a comeback. The Rebels struggled with unforced turnovers throughout the game, according to both senior Nicola Manfredi and Kim. “There wasn’t a lot of flow in the

game,” Manfredi said. “There was a lot of subbing, so no one could really get into the gist of the game.” Despite three relatively stagnant quarters to start the contest, the Rebels seemed to finally gain some momentum late in the fourth quarter.

The run was sparked by a threepointer from Kim, followed by several stops on the defensive side of the ball. In wake of the heartbreaking loss, the Rebels have managed to extract some positives. “We moved the ball around well; we took good shots.

I thought our defense was very good as well. We only held them to 42 points,” Manfredi said.

In addition to this league opener against the Eagles, the Rebels have played three nonleague games, winning one of the three. They faced Leon M. Goldstein High School for Science and Jacqueline K. Onassis Intel Careers in a Thanksgiving tournament at Millennium High School, falling 46-64 and prevailing 59-55, respectively. Finally, they were ousted by Martin L. King Jr. 23-48 soon before the regular season opener. Ju-

nior Richard Zheng emerged as a scoring threat in these games, which meant good news for the future of Stuyvesant basketball.

In league play, the Rebels have struggled thus far. They currently sit at the bottom of their division with an 0-3 record.

After the home opener, they dropped two straight against the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Huskies and the East Harlem Pride. The scores were 47-57 and 52-64, respectively. However, the team showed signs of progress in the East Harlem game as senior Michael Gillow joined Kim and Manfredi in double-digit point scoring.

The Rebels have set their goals high; as both Kim and Manfredi said, their ultimate goal is “to make playoffs.” However, they have kept themselves grounded.

“For now, we just want to win one game at a time,” Kim said.

Their most conspicuous issues thus far have been turnovers and a lack of flow. Nonetheless, the team is optimistic and attributes much of its struggles to getting used to a new system with firstyear coach, guidance counselor

Paul Goldsman, and the new players on the team getting used to playing at the fast-paced varsity level. “With a new coach, the returners had to adapt to a new play-style, and the rookies have to experience playing basketball on the varsity level. Moving forward, I know that we’ll start to grow together and learn how to play with one another,” Kim said.

Clearly, the entire team is on the same page. “Since half the varsity team is new, my goal is to get the players acclimated with each other. I often switch lineups (both in games and in practice) to help ensure that different players learn multiple positions, as well as how to play the game with different people,” Goldsman said. While citing the same weaknesses as his players, Goldsman also gave his coach’s insight into the things this year’s squad has going for it. He said, “Players are always willing to make the extra pass and find the open man. Nobody dominates the ball and everyone is always involved in our offense. I think this can be attributed to our

players wanting to make each other better, while also ensuring that everyone feels like a member of the team.” Also, “the players, especially our seniors, have been guiding the other players and giving them instruction and encouragement. They provide guidance on running certain plays and make keen observations during the game,” Goldsman said.

As they continue to adjust and work out the kinks in their new system, the Rebels anticipate the season, which will be going into full throttle shortly, with optimism. “I know that our coach knows what he’s doing and our players have a passion to win, so hopefully, the pieces will start falling into place,” Kim said. Led by Kim and Manfredi, the team will look to build off the positives against Hunter to remain competitive in the Manhattan A1 division. “I know that as we continue to learn the plays and build up confidence, we will score more points, which will result in some victories,” Goldsman said.