Volume 107, Issue 5

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

OPINIONS

OPINIONS

While some argue that winning the popular vote should have won Clinton the presidency, senior Rodda John contends that the Electoral College benefits the democratic process by representing the underrepresented voices of middle America.

Opinions editor Zora Arum discusses how she came to accept the election results, and what those dissatisfied with the prospect of a Trump presidency can do in the future.

In Defense of the Electoral College

When the Nation Goes Low

see page 14

see page 13

November 18, 2016

If We Could Vote

NEWSBEAT

Staff Editorial: And So We Must Move On

By Tiffany Chen and Wen Shan Jiang

Led by Big Sib Chairs Chloé Delfau, Liam Elkind, Jean Joun, Olivia Kusio, and Benjamin Zhang, Stuyvesant students covered the senior bar with post-it notes bearing uplifting messages to unite the student body in the wake of the 2016 Presidential

Election.

14%

KEY

434 votes

62%

OVERALL 3133 votes

1949 votes *This survey was organized

Hillary Clinton

9%

286 votes

by Stuyvesant’s social studies department.

8%

238 votes

7%

stuyspec.com

Donald Trump Gary Johnson Christine Jegarl/ The Spectator

62+14987A

Volume 107 No. 5

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

Jill Stein Other

226 votes

Senior Sharon Lin has been named a finalist in the Siemens Regional Competition for Math, Science, and Technology.

Senior Aleks Sipetic and juniors Daniel Ju and Inbar Pe’er qualified as semifinalists in the Debate Tournament in Scarsdale, New York, on Saturday, November 12. Sipetic competed in the Lincoln Douglas division while Ju and Pe’er competed in Public Forum.

Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election on November 8, but one week prior, Hillary Clinton won Stuyvesant’s own mock election, which was organized by the social studies Linda Weissman. The results were released on November 3, with 62.2 percent of students having voted for Hillary Clinton, 13.9 percent for Donald Trump, and the rest for third party or other candidates.

Weissman provided ballots to every social studies class, and students were encouraged to complete them, though some abstained. Weissman’s Advanced Placement Government class helped to tally the votes. “We wanted to see how the Stuy[vesant] population

would see the election and how they would vote,” senior Joanne Chung said.

The Stuyvesant election is part of a bigger project called “Students Vote 2016,” run by Newsela, an organization that promotes reading comprehension. Newsela’s goal was to provide a way to allow students from all over the country to become involved in the American democratic system before turning 18.

The outcomes of the Stuyvesant election, along with the outcomes of 16,665 other schools’ elections, were sent to Newsela.

Nationwide, Clinton received 57 percent of the popular vote, and Trump received 32 percent. continued on page 3

We awakened on November 9 to find that our world had been shattered. As Stuyvesant students, we had been floating in a bubble: a place open to all backgrounds, but also a place insulated by a progressive, New York City mindset. The 2016 election revealed an America we didn’t know existed: an America that elected Donald Trump to the oval office.

Now that our bubble has burst, we find ourselves in the midst of a frightening fall. Over the past eight years, President Barack Obama’s administration has taken great strides. It enhanced rights for women and LGBTQ+ Americans, improved our environmental policy, provided health care for over 20

million people, worked to accommodate immigrants, and imbued within our country a sense of morality and integrity.

Now, our president elect is apparently racist, sexist and homophobic, believes climate change is a hoax, and plans to repeal at least parts of Obamacare and deport between two and three million immigrants during his first 100 days in office. Perhaps more troubling, both Congress and the Senate are controlled by Trump’s party, the Republicans, and Trump will have the power to appoint one or more conservative justices to the Supreme Court, following the Senate’s refusal to vote on continued on page 16

Modified SHSAT to Debut in Fall 2017

By Pazit Schrecker and Selina Zou with additional reporting by Queenie Xiang With the wave of recent debate concerning the lack of diversity in the New York City Specialized High Schools, many have called for a reevaluation of the admissions system. As a result, New York City’s Panel for Education Policy approved changes in the format of the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), to be implemented beginning in Fall 2017.

In the past, the SHSAT featured “scrambled paragraphs”— unchronological sentences that need to be arranged into a paragraph—and logical reasoning sections. In the new exam, these sections will be abandoned in favor of multiple choice sections on standard writing conventions.

The other sections, consisting of reading comprehension and math, will remain unchanged. “[The] purpose of these changes is to make [the] test more closely aligned to what students are learning in school on a day-today basis,” Department of Education (DOE) Executive Director of Assessment Dan Park said.

The change is part of a re-

sponse to the controversy concerning racial diversity within the Specialized High Schools system.

Since coming to office in 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been at the forefront of the movement to integrate the Specialized High Schools: 3.6 percent of Black students and 5.3 percent of Hispanic students who took the SHSAT in 2015 received an offer, despite the fact that about 70 percent of students citywide are of African American or Hispanic descent.

The mayor originally favored a complete overhaul of the admissions process when he entered office in 2014. He advocated for a holistic system that would consider students’ backgrounds, middle school gradepoint averages, extracurriculars, and personal essays. He argued that many students do not have the resources to partake in preparatory programs that focus on skills on the test that are not taught in the classroom.

However, a change that drastic would require a change to state legislature. The Hecht-Calandra Act states that admissions to the Specialized High Schools should solely and exclusively be determined by taking an objective scholastic achievement examination. Attempting to

eliminate this completely would require legal proceedings. Consequently, de Blasio and DOE officials working in high school admissions decided instead to make changes to the test itself.

Student responses to this change are mixed. “Free preparatory programs for the SHSAT are accessible, if students took the effort to look for them,” junior Eugene Thomas said. “The problem is not the Specialized High Schools. It’s K-8 education and insufficient advertising of these programs at under-served schools.”

Thomas is one of the seven black students in his grade at Stuyvesant. While he admits that he cannot speak for all black students, he believes that the current admissions system is fair despite the diversity imbalance.

“The racial skew in [Stuyvesant] might be a reality, but I don’t think that [it] takes away from my education. In fact, the meritocracy of the SHSAT has chosen for me an incredible peer group,” he said.

However, other students’ SHSAT experiences differ. “I didn’t really realize that there was such an abundance of prep programs available when I was taking the test, and although my

mother has always kind of fit the ‘tiger mom’ stereotype, she didn’t send me to classes because she did not realize they existed,” Queens High School for the Sciences at York College senior Mohamad Moslimani said.

Moslimani is a first-generation Lebanese immigrant.

He originally hoped to attend Stuyvesant, but missed the cutoff for scoring. “There are some kids who are informed about preparatory classes for the SHSAT, and then there those like me who aren’t. It comes down to the community you were born into, and [it] isn’t an admissions policy that necessarily reflects everyone’s best possible learning curve,” Moslimani said.

Brooklyn Technical High School junior Sabrina Zou had the opposite experience. “As a first-generation Chinese student who came to the United States in fourth grade, I’ve been raised in the culture of parents pushing their kids to be the best. This wasn’t always fun for me, but it did mean my parents would always hear about SHSAT prep from relatives and friends,” she said. “My parents set aside a lot of money for prep, and I spent four months preparing for the test.”

This type of preparation for the SHSAT is precisely what advocates of changing the system hope to eliminate. The unfamiliar “scrambled paragraphs” can be difficult for students who have never seen them before, and can put students who did not prepare for the exam outside of school at a disadvantage. But many students oppose this targeted reform. “I just don’t think it’s necessary to change the system.

The truth of the matter is that a lot of students who prep aren’t very well off, but their families are willing to sacrifice in order to get them into better schools,” senior Hasan Tukhtamishev said.

“Ultimately, if you put in enough effort or have the ability, you will get into a specialized school. I used prep books from the library and my parents put me into a short program.”

Though student opinion is polarized, the Stuyvesant administration considers it too early to judge the effects of the change. “The current system might not be entirely perfect, but all changes come with new challenges,” Principal Eric Contreras said. “We don’t know the specifics of what will happen, so we’ll just watch and wait.”

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 2

News Language Department Hosts Dia de los Muertos Celebration

By Chloe Hanson, Jessica Wu, and Selina Zou

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA

Donald Trump was elected 45th president of the United States on Tuesday, November 8, with 290 electoral votes. In the wake of this divisive election, anti-Trump protests are continuing on a large scale.

Former refugee Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American lawmaker in the United States on Tuesday, November 8, when she won a seat in the Minnesota House.

Months of severe droughts in the Southeast U.S. are causing water shortages and wildfires, especially in Alabama and Georgia.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated part of Georgia as a disaster area for farmers on Thursday, November 10.

Colorado voters approved a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescribed medicine on Thursday, November 10.

The jury hearing the case of former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing, who allegedly shot and killed an unarmed black man named Sam DuBose during a routine traffic stop in 2015, could not come to a unanimous decision on murder and manslaughter charges, leading to a mistrial on Saturday, November 12.

The International Monetary Fund has approved a $12 billion bailout for Egypt over the next three years on Friday, November 11, in order to boost investor confidence after the government imposed a series of austerity measures.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing attack on the German consulate on Thursday, November 10. The Taliban stated that the attack was in retaliation for the recent airstrikes in the city of Kunduz. The Taliban also has claimed responsibility for the bombing at NATO’s largest military base in Afghanistan, which occurred on Saturday, November 12, in which four Americans were killed and 17 others were injured.

Workmen building a high school in Southern China uncovered a wellpreserved dinosaur skeleton on Friday, November 11, which scientists have since named Tongtianlong limosus.

Students Allowed Outside During Third Period

By Chloe Doumar and Mai Rachlevsky

Brightly colored, death-themed decorations adorned the fifth floor in celebration of Dia de los Muertos, a spirited commemoration of life and death.

were the primary catalysts behind this.”

With Oliveri’s approval, the Spanish department looked to its students to help prepare for the celebration. Students were instrumental in the effort to decorate the fifth floor in preparation for the holiday. The various Spanish classes made tissue paper cutouts, sugar skulls, skeleton decorations, as well as Pan de Muerto, the traditional “bread of the dead” eaten on the holiday. “I’m very, very grateful for all of the students’ hard work.

We gave them the instructions, and they ran away with it. It was way more than what we had envisioned, and it was beautiful,” Carpenter said.

The department also tied the celebration to its lessons to emphasize the relevance culture has

to what students learn in the classroom. In Spanish classes, students learned about the customs, songs, and history behind the celebration and the cultural significance it has. “It really allowed us to experience everything they do in Mexico, from the food, to the face painting, to the decorating,” sophomore Emily Furman said. “It was a rare and beautiful opportunity for us to experience it all.”

The language department hopes to host future cultural events. “One of the things I want to do is celebrate these cultures because learning a language is more than learning to just conjugate verbs. You really learn a language better and have a better experience, have a richer experience, when you participate in it,” Oliveri said.

Galano To Take Assistant Principal’s Position in Westchester School District

By Giselle Garcia and Queenie Xiang

After two and a half years, Health and Physical Education teacher and Athletic Director Christopher Galano will be departing from Stuyvesant. He will be taking on the position of Assistant Principal of Health and Physical Education and Athletic Director in a Westchester School District starting Thursday, December 1.

When Galano first entered Stuyvesant, his goal was to improve the wellbeing of the student body. “[I wanted to] enhance the culture of not only athletics and physical education but also of the entire school,” Galano said. “Athletics are a phenomenal tool to guide you through the toughest time of your lives.”

During his career at Stuyvesant, Galano has collaborated with the students to create the first ever pep rally. He expanded the athletic program and enhanced communication between these programs and the school community.

Galano’s favorite part of Stuyvesant has been interacting with the student body. Whether it was from attending different athletic events, to teaching his own classes, or to just walking around the hallways, Galano was excited to wake up every day to work with the students.

“This is my third school and I think [the students] are by far the best. I don’t think you guys understand how good you guys are and important you are to the school and the culture,” Galano said.

Galano’s new school district will include four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. One of his biggest challenges upon taking over his new position will be adjusting to the different culture of the Westchester Department of Education and the school district of a non-city environment.

It has not yet been determined

Alice Oh / The Spectator

Students with no class during third period are allowed to exit the building during that period on a trial basis beginning Friday, October 28.

Last year, when freshmen and sophomores received the privilege of leaving the building during free periods after third period, students with third free began to voice complaints. The idea has been in the back of the Student Union’s (SU) mind for a while. However, it wasn’t until Senior Caucus President Laszlo Sandler and Vice President Max Bertfield included the idea on their platform that the SU started pushing for third period free privileges. “[The Senior Caucus] were the driving force behind it,” SU Vice President Tahseen Chowdhury said.

Previously, students were not permitted outside during third period because it is still an entry period for those with first and second period free, and there could be overcrowding. However, when Bertfield went to the programming office to find out how many students enter during third period, he discovered that it was only 25 students.

The topic was then brought up in the School Leadership Team (SLT) on October 25, where it was well received by the SLT’s members. It was then presented to the Assistant Principal of Safety and Student Affairs Brian Moran. “[Mo-

ran] said that it was generally feasible,” Chowdhury said.

Principal Contreras approved of the policy as well. “I always believe in listening to all requests thoughtfully. If it’s possible, we’ll look into it and make it happen,” Contreras said. For now, Contreras has approved the policy for a trial period, so the administration can see whether there will be a conflict between students entering school and leaving during a free period.

“The trial period will last as long as necessary for us to determine if there are any issues,” Moran said.

The programming office has adjusted the Comprehensive Attendance Administration and Security System to include information on which students have third free. Students who wish to exit the building during third period will have to fill out the same form as the one needed for all other free periods.

Many students with third free are happy with the new privilege.

“I think that it’s really convenient because you can go get breakfast and also go outside to study. The library is always full during third period, and the half floor is always crowded and loud,” sophomore Lauren Ng said.

“It’s nice to know that if I ever need or want to go outside during school hours, I can now do it during third period,” sophomore Amanda Piasecki said. “I’m happy we now have this opportunity.”

Mika Simoncelli/ The Spectator

WORLDBEAT

Colorful tissue paper cutouts, skeletons, and paper flowers covered every wall on the fifth floor on Tuesday, November 1 in honor of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The event was organized by the Language Department in hopes to give students the experience of celebrating Spanish culture.

Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that follows the Catholic tradition of All Soul’s Day. It is a day to celebrate ancestors, but it is a festive celebration of the deceased rather than a mournful one.

“It’s very common to see someone take a bottle of tequila and pour it on top of a grave of a loved one,” Assistant Principal of World Languages Ernest Oliveri said. ”It’s a [...] charming and joyous celebration, and [it] speaks a great deal about Mexican culture.”

The idea for the celebration of the holiday originally came from Spanish teachers Abigail Carpenter and Frida Ambia, who teach the fourth year Spanish class, Hispanic Themes. A part of the curriculum focuses on Mexican culture, including holidays like Dia de los Muertos.

“We felt it was important to be able to celebrate this, [and] I recommended that they pull out all the plugs and go whole hog on this. And they did,” Oliveri said.

“The Spanish language teachers

Physical Education teacher and Athletic Director Chris Galano is leaving Stuyvesant this November after two and a half years at Stuyvesant.

who will take over Galano’s positions as a teacher and Athletic Director at Stuyvesant. The job opening has been posted and applications are currently being reviewed.

Galano is looking to create an e-mail group to stay in touch with his students. Since he is still residing in the New York area, he will still be attending some of the

major events at Stuyvesant, such as SING!. “Leaving is bittersweet, I am excited for the next step of my life,” Galano said. “At some point, everyone in this school will make a decision to move on, [but] it’s never an easy one. I’ll miss watching the big events at [Stuyvesant], [and] joking around with the students.”

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 3

News Trainor to Leave Stuyvesant This Month

Dabbling in Traditional School Spirit, Junior Caucus Hosts First Pep Rally

The stunt team was just one of the student groups to perform at Stuyvesant’s first pep rally.

By Grace Cuenca and Nusheen Ghaemi

Hillary Clinton 67%

55%

447 votes

9th Grade

58%

503 votes

11th Grade

By Greg Huang and Vanna Mavromatis The Stuyvesant High School library replaced all but four of the student-use computers in the library on October 21, 2016.

The four remaining old computers, which are all located on the same computer island, will be updated in the next round when the library receives more funding from the school.

The deteriorating hardware, including faulty mice and keyboards, constant computer breakdowns, and slow login times, as well as student complaints about the issues, prompted the replacement of the old computers. The 34 new computers are 23-inch Lenovo ThinkCentre computers, whose screens are two inches larger than the screens of the old computers.

The poor reliability of the old computers reduced the number of computers available for use at any one time and caused long lines and traffic within the li-

12%

9th Grade

10%

82 votes

10th Grade

8%

64 votes

11th Grade

Students were pleased with the faster speed of the 34 new library computers.

brary. “It was [...] annoying when the computer was broken down,” junior Zoey Li said.

The library filed a request for new computers during the 201516 school year, inspired by the replacement of computer lab computers, which began last year. The Technology Service Department under Assistant Principal of Or-

12th Grade

Students were provided with materials to learn about the candidates before casting their votes. “[The poll] really challenges and test students to see if they are keeping up with political issues,” social studies teacher Svetlana Firdman said. “[Students] are sort of in the age of learning to form [their] own political opinion and identities and it is really interesting to see how [they] are being influenced by the election, by the candidates, by social media, even by [their] friends.”

The hope is that the mock election will encourage students to vote in the future. “In a couple of years, [students] will be old enough to vote, and so it is great that we are getting [them] in the practice of being citizens who participate in elections,” Firdman said.

ganization Randi Damesek was responsible for the purchase of the new computers, whose funding came out of school budget. “[Students] are very happy with the new computers. They like the bigger screens,” librarian Jonathan Cheng said. “They like the fact that they have functional computers.”

Donald Trump

continued from page 1

71%

522 votes

of a family, [and] I will miss working with the best colleagues and teaching some of the best people any teacher could ask for.”

However, Trainor still plans to continue teaching, even if his time at Stuyvesant has drawn to a close. “I am a teacher,” Trainor said. “Whatever happens, I will end up back in a classroom.”

School Library Acquires New Computers

17%

140 votes

17%

138 votes

10%

9th Grade

10th Grade

Jill Stein

Gary Johnson 97 votes

time, he has confirmed that this teacher has experience teaching at Stuyvesant and that they have been in close communication to ensure a smooth transition.

This is Trainor’s seventh year at Stuyvesant, and thus, his departure comes as bittersweet. “This is all said with a heavy heart,” Trainor said. “I feel like I am part

If We Could Vote

477 votes

10th Grade

Kerry Trainor, long-time social studies teacher, will be leaving Stuyvesant later this November.

Courtesy of Milderoffice.com

Junior Caucus President Pallab Saha and Vice President Abie Rohrig organized Stuyvesant’s first pep rally, which took place on Friday, November 14.

More than 200 students attended in the third floor gymnasium.

The event featured speeches from Principal Eric Contreras and captains of various Public School Athletic League teams, performances by the stunt team and a hip-hop crew, and a teachers versus students three-point contest, and a giveaway for ten $10 gift cards.

The idea for a pep rally was first proposed in Saha and Rohrig’s candidacy platform. They believed that this event could be a start toward increasing school spirit and support for various sports teams. “Students nowadays need something to rally around, something that they can support and cheer for,” Saha said in an e-mail interview. “In order to do so, we decided to organize a pep rally, which for most other high schools, is a regular event.”

However, they wanted to make sure that the pep rally was still catered toward the interests of the student body. “We released a call to the grade over Facebook and e-mail to see what they would want and from there

we determined what would happen. We knew initially that there would be the problem that everyone is really apathetic and school spirit-based events usually don’t get much attendance.

Therefore, we did our best to create other incentives like extra credit [offered by various teachers for attendance], Chipotle gift cards, and elevator passes,” Rohrig said.

Students had a positive response to the pep rally. “The third floor gym was the most crowded I’ve ever seen it. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and I think the variety of events and prizes given out kept it exciting,” senior Tobias Lange said in an e-mail interview.

Overall, Saha and Rohrig believe it was a success and look forward to improving the event in the future. “I think it went really well. At times, it was a little more sloppy than it should have been, but it was the first time [Stuyvesant] has ever had a pep rally,” Rohrig said. “We weren’t happy that it overlapped with the Junior Varsity [Peglegs] homecoming game and if there is another pep rally in the future, which we very much hope there will be, we will fix that. We want to have more unique events and extra credit opportunities, and [will] start planning it in advance.”

Later this month, social studies teacher Kerry Trainor will be leaving Stuyvesant High School on childcare leave.

Trainor’s departure from Stuyvesant comes five months after the birth of his first child, Willa Rose. “My wife just started a new job, so I am going to take the lead by being a stay-at-home dad,” Trainor said in an e-mail interview.

Because of this new responsibility, Trainor expressed doubts about whether or not he will return to Stuyvesant in the near future. “I would like to [come back to Stuyvesant], but these kinds of situations can change,” Trainor said. “If I do come back, it won’t be for several years.”

Trainor, who currently teaches Participation in Government and Global History 1, has been in close contact with his future replacement. Though he declined to disclose the name of the replacement at this point in

Anne Duncan / The Spectator

Thomson Lee/ The Spectator

By Giselle Garcia and Queenie Xiang

6%

11%

89 votes

43 votes

12th Grade

9th Grade

8%

63 votes

10th Grade

7%

55 votes

11th Grade

11%

76 votes

80 votes

11th Grade

12th Grade

Other

4%

6%

45 votes

8%

7%

8%

66 votes

56 votes

59 votes

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

31 votes 12th Grade

9th Grade

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 4

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The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 5

Features A Reflective Revision of the New York City Social Studies Curriculum

Victoria Huang / The Spectator

By Sophie Watwood and Michael Xu Six large, textbook-like guidebooks sit on the coffee table of Interim Acting Principal Eric Contreras’s office. They represent remnants from Contreras’s time as the Executive Director of Social Studies with the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and detail the entirely new social studies curriculum he worked to create.

The new curriculum, which caters to kindergarten through eighth grade students, fills 60 of these guidebooks—each thousands of words and hundreds of hours of work. All together, the work totals over 15,000 pages, written in two straight years. All of this was done with Contreras’s coordination and with the work of many other people involved in the development and implementation of the curriculum. This is the story of that process.

The DOE’s new social studies curriculum was made after the New York State Education Department (NYSED) rewrote its social studies standards. The former standards of the NYSED had not been revised for a decade.

“There was a new focus on social studies practices in each grade. It wasn’t about memorizing and knowing facts and dates and figures, but it was about gathering, using, and interpreting evidence, chronological reasoning and causation, comparison and contextualization, geographic reasoning, economics and economic systems, and civic participation,” Contreras said.

The six new standards of social studies were incorporated in Contreras’s revision of the curriculum, intending to emphasize the real world applications of learning history. Connecting the six standards in meaningful relationships, such as understanding the role of economics on civic participation, he hoped to enable students better grasp a broader

idea of history. Additionally, these six standards forge relevant skills, such as data analysis or analysis of cause and effect.

“I always believed that social studies is the one subject that transcends the chronology beyond the classroom. And so how I make decisions on who I vote for, think about the construction of the new highway by my house, a law on international trade, an agreement on the environment that we are going to sign as a country, mortgage companies, where I choose to live, is grounded on the efficacy of our social studies experiences in our primary years,” he said.

Reflecting the six state standards, the DOE’s standards placed a heavy emphasis on learning local history, applying to generalized topics to more relevant examples within New York City.

“For example, the state may say to study rivers, and here in our New York City scope and sequence, we may add the Bronx River, the Hudson River. In Broome County, they may add the Susquehanna River,” Contreras said.

Contreras felt that the addition of local history gives teachers an effective framework for teaching history. It allows teachers to ground history in a more concrete entity—the city they live in.

It took under two weeks to create a loose framework that included the standards and basic content requirements of the state. That framework was then distributed to every public school in the city.

In order to comply with the state’s new standards, the only requirement for each district was to develop and publish a new outline to be used by teachers, which Contreras and his team had done within those two weeks. Contreras and the DOE, however, decided to write an entire curriculum for teachers across New York City, far more than what the state had required.

By the end of this process, there were 60 full books created exclusively for this program. The books explored topics encompassing everything from Chinese Civilization and early Mesopotamia to the writing of the United States Constitution. The curriculum features detailed lesson plans, infographics, and primary sources that are widely applicable to schools throughout the city.

Contreras believes that the new curriculum helps build a greater understanding of the complex connections between seemingly unrelated societies and emphasizes the “why” in history.

“One of the takeaways that was reinforced is that while knowing the content matters, understanding how to apply concepts like physical and human geography are really important. So why did early civilizations develop where

various elite colleges who are experts in specific aspects of the curriculum. They then provided additional resources and context to for the teachers in a long form essay on the topic that precedes each unit in the textbook.

In working with the teachers to build this curriculum, he also worked with around 20 museums and national archives, which provided resources for research.

“We sat at a table, and I gave them a highlighter and the outline, officially called the Scope and Sequence sheet and I said, ‘Highlight anything in this Scope and Sequence which your 20 venues curate, hold, and archive that you think would bring to life this content,’” Contreras recalled.

These museums then scoured their inventories for resources and put them in Dropbox folders that were sorted by subject, which

“Once it was complete, it was truly rewarding. It was one of those things [where] nothing of significance is done easily.”

—Eric Contreras, Interim Acting Principal they developed, and how those same concepts can support how the early canal system in China helped it flourish economically.

These concepts stretch to many different places in social studies, and sometimes what is missing is the understanding of those concepts rather than just memorizing names of people,” Contreras said.

In order to develop a curriculum that would appropriately cater to the needs of New York City students, Contreras worked with a team of the the city’s top teachers for each grade. Contreras also reached out to 43 scholars from

Contreras and his team then sifted through to find primary sources to use for the curriculum.

“The quick, tangential piece with this is that it would have been easy just to give this to a vendor, one of the big textbook companies. But that wouldn’t have been a curriculum that speaks to the voice and the talent and the resources of the greatest city of the world. We have the resources to create a curriculum that is truly authentic to NYC,” he said.

In the long term, Contreras hopes to have the museums curate exhibits that match the material in the curriculum.

“That way, there would be clear connections between what students are learning in school and what they are seeing on field trips and on the weekends, which would allow them to apply their knowledge,” he said.

The resources provided in the curriculum are also available in a digital format, making the new program relevant to increasingly technological classrooms.

“If I am using an interactive whiteboard, I can download any of these resources and project the maps, the pictures, the questions,” he said.

After two years, the curricula for elementary and middle schools were completed. Though Contreras has moved on to a new position, the DOE is continuing to develop the curriculum to extend to grades nine through 12.

By the time the Regents exam is rewritten to reflect the six standards, the city’s new curriculum will have been implemented in the upper grades.

“New York City has 17,000 schools, 1.1 million kids. Something in the realm of one out of 300 Americans of any age sits in our schools right now. The way that we teach our students, how we teach them, the resources we use, supports the learning of a [significant] percentage of the American population,” Contreras explained.

Contreras toiled day and night in preparing the new curriculum, which will create a framework for social studies education for the next decade or two.

“There was a huge sense of responsibility in getting this done right,” Contreras said. “The amount of time involved, devoting two years to the task up to 11 at night, almost every night, and working on Saturdays, was draining. Once it was complete, it was truly rewarding. It was one of those things [where] nothing of significance is done easily.”

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 6

Features Young Artists at Stuyvesant

By Samra Ashe

In a school like Stuyvesant, which has a strong reputation for its strength in STEM fields, the importance of the arts is frequently overlooked. Still, visitors to the school are greeted by the presence of art everywhere: along the school’s vast hallways, on the senior bar, and behind the theater, where vibrant sets are painted. Stuyvesant’s artists, though perhaps few in number, form a thriving community.

Katherine Jin, senior How would you categorize your art style?

I used to focus more on the technique and being realistic, but now I want to create my own style. I have certain ways of using color, but it’s not definitive, and it doesn’t define my style.

Is there a particular genre you specialize in?

I prefer realistic art. Specifically, I prefer portraits, because I like human beings.

Can you describe your art to me?

I’m still experimenting. I used to do pencil work, and that was my preferred medium, but now I realize that I shifted the way that I think and the way that I see things. I look at a picture and I look at an object, and if I can see it in my head as a painting or a piece of art within the first couple of seconds, then I’m like, “This is a piece.” There’s nothing definitive that makes me want to draw something. It’s just a feeling. But in recent years, I’ve realized that I used to think, “This is a drawing,” but now I’ve started thinking, “This is a painting.” So I’m exploring painting right now, and I’m not that great, but I’m trying it.

Can you tell me about how you started out pursuing art?

I originally started art because it was the only thing that I was good at. I Courtesy of Katherine Jin was the shy, insecure little kid, so I was like, “I’m good at art. I’m gonna do this, because it gives people a good opinion of me.” Then it kind of evolved into something more private and less about showing off. Now, I do it more to show others the way that I see the world. I mean, there is a little bit of showing off because I’m still shy and insecure, but it’s become more than that.

In Stuyvesant, have you found any type of artistic community here?

There definitely is a very strong artistic presence in Stuyvesant. The thing is, I haven’t gotten involved in the artistic community at Stuy. I’m more into the dance community now. I came in ready to be a part of the artistic community, but in freshman year, I didn’t find that. I found the dance community first. But I still keep in touch with all my middle school friends from art class, so they’re my art community.

Some students have said that since Stuyvesant is a rigorous math and science school, they can’t focus on their art. Would you say you’ve suffered from this?

Well, I think there’s not enough art in Stuyvesant, but it has gotten a lot better, even in the four years that I’ve been here. I feel like more art programs have been implemented, and I feel like there’s a stronger art community now than there was even just four years ago. And I know friends from Stuy who want to get into art school, and I know alumni who are into art.

Do you see yourself pursuing a career in the arts?

So I’ve never told this to anyone, but my secret dream is to become an artist on YouTube. I realize that it’s not really a steady job, but I want to do it on my free time, and I feel like I can make that free time. But I don’t see it as a full-time thing.

Does art have a personal meaning for you?

It was my first step out of my little bubble. I used to have no friends, and art was the thing that helped me get friends. So the art community is important to me, because it’s the first thing that gave me more friends. That’s what art means to me.

Do you have any message or advice for anyone approaching art in Stuyvesant?

Even though Stuyvesant is known for math and science, there definitely is a very thriving and strong arts community, not just in visual arts but in other art forms as well. They shouldn’t feel afraid or feel like there isn’t that kind of outlet for them at Stuy, because I feel like there definitely is, especially now.

Vahn Williams, senior What type of art do you specialize in?

I like drawing things that don’t exist, and they’re kind of humanoid. I guess they might be more surreal.

How did you start out?

My friend in fourth grade. I sort of picked up his style. He was always drawing and I sort of just joined him.

Inspiration?

I saw an exhibit on Tim Burton at the MoMA when I was about ten and I became really interested in the surrealists. Also African masks are really interesting to me.

Did you take any drawing classes to help you develop your art?

Yeah, I took a few classes where we would sketch figures. I guess my art is kind of influenced by that because I can sort of make it more realistic. But mostly I just sketch my own inventions.

Do you feel like there is an artistic community at Stuyvesant?

I take watercolor, so we do more realistic paintings there. I draw for Spectator Art too. The people in Spec Art know each other pretty well. But since it’s a math and science school, there’s more of a motive to take science electives.

Does art have a personal value for you?

I like doing it. I don’t incorporate symbolism into my drawings usually. It’s just fun and I have trouble not doing it, in my notebooks at least.

Can you describe your art?

I like birds a lot, because there’s a lot of room for variation. You can be as lazy or as detailed as you want. I like pen, because with pencil I’m more tempted to erase and waste time.

Also, it’s just rewarding to just scratch something out with pen without thinking about it and have it turn out to be something worth doing.

Do you have any message for artists at Stuy?

I’m finding taking electives helpful because they force you to actually paint or sculpt.

Do you have to be in a class to be able to do art at Stuyvesant?

I probably wouldn’t do art as much [if I were not in a class.] I definitely wouldn’t do it for an hour and a half everyday if I didn’t have the classes. It’s just fun to know you have to be doing it anyway, so why not?

Annie He, junior How did you start out pursuing art?

My dad is actually an artist, so I started when I was very young. I’ve really liked it ever since then, and I just kept continuing it.

Did you have any influences or inspiration that led to an evolution of your style?

My dad’s paintings are mostly realistic, so I really wanted to try and improve my art, so it could be as realistic as his. That’s really the biggest influence I’ve had so far—my dad’s paintings.

Describe your art.

I try to practice drawing realistic[ally], but I also like drawing anime style and cartoonish. For clay, in middle school, I used to make a lot of little charms. It was a hobby of mine. I don’t really paint too often, but when do paint, I use a lot of acrylic paint, maybe watercolor. When I draw, it’s mostly pencil and colored pencil.

Do you want to pursue a career in the arts?

My parents actually want me to become an architect, and actually that sounds really fun, I mean, compared to other jobs.

Do you a have a general message for anyone approaching art in Stuyvesant?

To those who think there aren’t really any opportunities for art because they have lots of work, I think they should try doing something. I didn’t join SING! freshman year, because I thought it would be too much work, but then last year I did, and, yeah, we stayed until, like, eight every day, but it turned out to be a really fun experience, and I encourage people to try out new things.

Angel Zheng, sophomore What type of art do you specialize in?

I do sketching art in general. I’m planning on doing SING! again.

How did you start?

My great grandmother. She liked tiny doodles.

Do you have an artistic influences/inspirations?

My parents encouraged me to do art and do what I want to do. I also like working on certain things. like medicine bottles. I used to just stare at them when I was little. I played with them and was inspired by the shapes. At first, I did abstract art, but it wasn’t really my style. In fifth grade, when I started drawing again, I took art classes.

Would you say there’s an artistic community within Stuyvesant?

Yeah, I guess. You feel like you fit in because your interests are similar. On the tenth floor, you can see the paintings. A lot of people are trying to start clubs that are related to art, which is nice.

Would you say art has a meaning for you?

I’m not very good at a lot of subjects. Art is something I have that kind of makes me feel special.

Courtesy of Angel Zheng

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 7

Features Young Artists at Stuyvesant Zachary Ginsberg, senior What is your artistic style?

I paint mostly in oils. I don’t really have one style per se. I dabble in a lot of different ones.

How did you start out pursuing art?

I don’t know of a time when I didn’t do art. Before I could walk, before I could write. I just started drawing little superheroes, because I really liked superheroes, and then I started drawing more things.

Did you have any artistic inspirations that led to your style?

I was very interested in comic books originally, like ever since I was a toddler, I used to draw comics a lot.

After that, I became more interested in Chuck Close, who’s a photo realist. I was also very interested in Andy Warhol and a few others. I strayed away from them. I don’t really like them anymore, but now I’m going toward Edwards Hopper. He’s my current favorite artist, because he makes very simple decisions, and they’re very precise. They say a lot through very little.

Did you ever take classes?

I took classes when I was a kid at preschool and at my synagogue. I guess in high school I took a few classes at the art students league, but other than that, it’s been mostly independent.

Speaking of high school, would you say there’s an artistic community here in Stuyvesant?

I really don’t know. I know there [are] kids here that draw and paint, but I don’t think there’s a really strong artistic community at Stuy. I think that Stuy kind of suppresses the artistic side of you, because you have so little time to do it, and it’s a really time-consuming thing. You have to have the heart for it. It’s really not something you can do during the school year. I paint mostly during the summer and during breaks. People have to have a lot of discipline to do it during the year.

How come you choose to come here in that case?

I had a choice between going to LaGuardia or going to Stuy, and I chose to go to Stuy, because I thought that in order to become a successful artist, I needed to expand my mind. I thought a more diverse point of view and a more diverse knowledge base would help me with my art.

Courtesy of Zachary Ginsberg

Do you feel like it has?

I think it has, yeah. I’m on the debate team and being on the debate team has helped me understand things on a much deeper level. It taught me critical thinking skills and analysis, and I think that helps a lot when it comes to art. Stuy has made me understand art on a deeper level, because it has taught me general thinking skills that allow me to think about art, as well. Certain lessons you learn in English class can be applied to art and vice versa. A lot of stuff from Stuy works together with art. However, I think the problem is that Stuy oppresses art a little bit too much just by the nature of the school environment. I don’t think they do it actively, but I think it happens.

Do you have any suggestions to help the school combat this?

Assign less homework is the main thing. Assign less homework, and I’d be able to do more art.

Are you thinking of pursuing a career in the arts?

I’m thinking about it. I really think that art is very important for people in their daily lives. It doesn’t have to be art specifically. It could be movies, videos, or whatever it is. I do think it helps us solve more important problems. I think that a community that has more art, that has a more creative mindset, is more motivated to go through their daily lives. I think it’s what makes life worth living.

Does art have a personal meaning for you?

People say that they like to express themselves through art. I like to express myself through art, but not as much as I like just the creation of art. Just creating something and showing it to other people and making them happier because of it and making them feel something because of it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be what I feel, but I like having something to show for the hours I put in. I think that [being] alone is a valuable feeling, and when you get to express yourself through it, that’s all the better. Giving to others also make me feel better. When other people are happy, that makes me feel good, and so I guess if I didn’t have that feeling, I don’t know if I would do art.

Is there any message you have for any Stuyvesant students approaching art?

I was just writing my college applications. I have to think a lot about this. What does art mean to me? Art is everything to me. It’s the only thing that’s been with me since square one. Everything else that I do—as much as I love debate, as much as I love Stuy, and all the other things that I do—art has been the only thing that’s been with me since I was born. Because of that, it’s made me look at the world in a different way, approach the world with a more artistic mindset. I greatly value aesthetics. I value the way that things look. That’s probably my biggest regret from Stuyvesant: not doing more art.

Klaire Geller, sophomore How would you categorize your art?

I would say it’s a mix of realistic and slightly stylistic.

How did you get into it?

I was really into it in elementary school, and then I got into Mark Twain for art. I wanted to go to LaGuardia, and I got in but went here instead.

Do you feel like coming here might have stifled artistic growth?

I think about that a lot. Actually, I didn’t come here out of free will. It was a very parental-influenced choice.

But thinking about it now, in middle school, we had to do art every day. I don’t think I did a lot of art on my own time, because I had my share of it earlier, but I think I’ve been doing a lot of personal projects now that don’t have access to it daily. I guess you could say maybe in some ways I lost my creativity, but I guess I’m not upset about it.

What personal projects are you working on?

If I’m not art journaling, then I definitely have a sketchbook of some sort, and I try to draw as much as I can.

I don’t think your artistic skills can diminish, but they can definitely not go anywhere, so I think it’s important to keep that up.

Do you have any artistic influences/inspirations?

I love Magritte. I went to an exhibition of his when I was younger. I’m not good at painting at all, but the way that he put his ideas down on canvas and the fact that he had them in the first place was so amazing to me.

Describe your art.

I tend to draw a lot of faces. They have this element of realism, but I also like making really super defined cheekbones or like weird elf ears or making their hair fan out into the background and adding these really strange colors. I also really like drawing lizards.

Do you feel like there’s an artistic community at Stuyvesant?

Oh, for sure. Spec Art is really involved in art in general. Also I know in SING!, everyone was really into art. They would show each other pieces on their phones, and they were really proud of it. They took art classes outside of school. I would definitely say there’s an artistic community here at Stuy.

Courtesy of Klaire Geller

Katherine Pan, senior How would you categorize your art?

I used to do a lot of illustrations, but recently I’ve been doing a lot of sculptures, so I’ve been venturing into three-dimensional art.

Did you have an artistic inspirations or influences?

One of the reasons I started sculpting is because of our art teacher. She’s an illustrator who does both three-dimensional and two-dimensional illustration pieces, and I guess that’s an inspiration for me.

Do you see yourself pursuing a career in the arts?

I’m applying to art colleges. I’m planning on majoring in animation or in design, like product design or software design. Definitely fine art, though; that’s more of an interest.

Are there any artistic resources that you think kids in Stuyvesant can approach?

No. We have water color and painting as electives, but because we have to take two science electives, I don’t think most kids have the time to take art classes. It’s an arts, math, and science school, so I’m not criticizing Stuyvesant, but I don’t think most kids have the time.

Courtesy of Katherine Pan

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 8

Features Mr. Hannon: Finding Peace Within Himself

By Raibena Raita This is the second installment in a series of pieces about teachers’ sexual orientation.

From the Pride Parades starting in 1970 to the shining, rainbow lights from the Empire State Building on June 26, 2015, the day gay marriage was legalized in the United States, New York City has always been a welcoming community to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

For Irish-born English teacher Dermot Hannon, things were no different.

Hannon says that he first realized that he was gay around the age of 12 or 13, and while, internally, he was at peace with his sexuality from a young age, Hannon did not come out until many years later. “I always knew, but I spent most of my high school years pretending to be straight.

So I dated girls and all that stuff.

[Yet] it wasn’t me trying to become straight,” Hannon said. “[It made me feel] cowardly.

I knew it was a lie. I didn’t have the idea in my head that if I keep dating girls, then I’ll eventually become straight. I was always very happy with being gay,” Hannon said. “I just don’t know if I was ready to be with guys at that time. Maybe there was a part of me that wanted to fit in more, because there was no one else that I knew of that was having the same experience as me. Maybe it was an attempt to fit in.”

Growing up, Hannon would always hear the use of the term “gay” in a negative connotation.

As a young boy who was coming to terms with his sexuality, such comments had a negative effect on him.

“You start to doubt yourself.

You feel like you’re a freak. Even as a really young kid, I experienced homophobia,” Hannon said. “I remember some certain comments made to me that were completely inappropriate to make to a ten-year-old boy or an eight-year-old boy. [It was] really damaging, scarring even.”

Hannon also attended a Catholic, all-boys boarding school in rural Ireland, which was very disapproving of homosexuality and made it harder for Hannon to come out. “They saw homosexuality or LGBTQ as wrong, sinful, or unnatural. It was certainly a lifestyle that wasn’t encouraged.

It was the staff, but also my classmates. There were a lot of people who were not comfortable with ideas of homosexuality,” he said.

Around the age of 18, Han-

Victoria Huang / The Spectator

non felt it was the right time to come out. “I just felt that when I went away to college [in Dublin] that that was the right time,” he said. “I knew people who were living double lives, and I did not want to go down that road.”

Hannon confided in one of his female college roommates.

“She was supportive and not surprised. She was also going through a lot of personal stuff herself, so we shared a lot,” he said. “We were both very nonjudgemental and supportive, and she herself had met gay people

before. She was American, grew up in New York. To her, it wasn’t a big deal.”

Soon after, Hannon came out to his other friends and family as well. Toward the end of his freshman year, as he was preparing to travel to France in hopes of meeting someone, he told his mother and sister. “[My sister] was actually shocked, really surprised.

My mother was hardly able to process it, because to her it was a foreign concept. I don’t know if she got it initially, to be honest.

For the most part they were both

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okay about it. I certainly didn’t face rejection. Maybe some confusion and surprise, but definitely not rejection,” he said.

Once he became openly gay, Hannon acquainted himself with the gay community around him.

When he first went to Dublin for college, Hannon joined a community for people coming out called Ice Breakers. Through this community, he met people who were starting to become open about their sexuality like him and was introduced to the gay scene.

“I made some good friends, and I

still have them, being exposed to the social aspect of the whole gay community. Where I grew up in rural Ireland, it didn’t exist. Going out and meeting people was a lot of fun,” he said.

“By the time I was 18 or 20, I had the attitude that you might be anti-gay, you might think homosexuality was an aberration or it’s against God’s will, but I really didn’t care about anyone’s reaction. I got to the point where I used to tell people my sexuality just to clarify things, but it wasn’t for acceptance,” Hannon explained.

After completing what was akin to the Irish version of an associate’s degree, Hannon decided to drop out of college in Ireland.

He later moved to New York City in 1994 and continued his education two years later.

Hannon has found New York City an accepting place, save for one homophobic encounter on the subway. “He was like a crazy drunken guy,” Hannon explained. “I’ve never walked on the street and been heckled or harassed. Living in New York, being gay is so easy. It’s not an issue at all.”

Hannon is aware of how kids still use the word “gay” with a negative connotation, but he is not particularly offended by it. “A lot of it is ignorance and stupidity. I’m personally not offended by it, but if I was walking down the hall and some guy was saying to another guy something like, ‘That’s so gay, you did your homework,’ or something like that, to me, that says that that person is in some way dealing with their own sexuality. And this is like a coping strategy,” Hannon said. “Kids, I find for the most part, in New York City are pretty open-minded and friendly.”

In particular, Hannon praised the LGBTQ+ support clubs at Stuyvesant. “I think it’s very helpful. Very productive. If there are people questioning their sexuality in high school, which a lot of people do, to know that they’re not alone is important and to know that there are people they could talk to in confidence and with discretion that will understand them, I think it’s very important,” he said.

For those struggling with their sexuality, Hannon advises, “Try not to fight it. Even though, externally, there may be trouble with your family and your religion and with your friends, try to make peace with who you are internally. I think that’s very important. You just have to accept it. Not fight it.”

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 9

Features What’s In A Day’s Travels?

By Fatima Irfan Lured by the school’s reputation, Stuyvesants students commute to school every day from all over New York City. While some walk, others have to take the subway, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), or even a ferry to get to school. I spoke to a few of them to learn of their experiences. (Last names have been omitted to preserve the privacy of these individuals.)

1. Mohammad, senior

2. Sebastian, sophomore

Commute Time: 55 minutes Commute: Downtown B train from 167th

Commute Time: 30 minutes Commute: Downtown 6 train from 77th Street to City Hall,

Fareeha Tabassum / The Spectator

Street to West 4th Street, Downtown A, C, or E train to Chambers Street Perks: “Living in the Bronx isn’t as bad as people think commute-wise, but then again, I don’t live that deep in,” Mohammad said.

Drawbacks: “It’s just a struggle when you wait on the platform for 20 minutes and hundreds of people are trying to get on the same train that’s already packed. Hearing people yell and shout and complain every morning, I remember why getting headphones [was] a good investment.”

10-minute walk to Stuyvesant Perks: “Sending morning snapchats, reading SparkNotes if I forgot to read the night before, and having a fast commute compared with some of my friends,” Sebastian said.

Drawbacks: Living “pretty far from most of my friends.

I’m always a little jealous when I see them at each other’s houses.”

4. Anna, junior Commute Time: 90 minutes Commute: Drive to Bayside Station, LIRR

1

to Penn Station, 2 or 3 train to Chambers Street Perks: Usually finding a comfortable seat on the quiet and clean LIRR and having the time to complete homework.

Drawbacks: Getting home exhausted after a commute to “literally the middle of nowhere,” Anna said.

3. Maddie, senior Commute Time: 10 minutes Commute: Walk along the Hudson River Perks: Serene mornings surrounded by trees,

2

listening to soft pop, watching the sky, and having “probably the best commute you can have at Stuy, and that’s not even an exaggeration— it’s just the truth,” Maddie explained.

Drawbacks: “When it rains.”

5. Kallista, senior

4

6

3

Commute Time: 60 minutes Commute: Staten Island Railway from Grasmere Station to

6. Stephanie, freshman

Commute Time: 40 minutes Commute: Manhattan-bound 7

Ferry terminal, Staten Island Ferry to lower Manhattan, Uptown 1 train from South Ferry to Chambers Street Perks: “I value my time on the Ferry very much because that’s when I study and do homework - it’s a nice calm atmosphere and, everyone is just trying to get to work,” Kallista offered.

Drawbacks: “I wake up really early, and although I reenergize pretty quickly, I’m always dead tired,” Kallista explained.

train from Long Island City to Times Square, Downtown 2 or 3 train to Chambers Street Perks: Spending time reading books, watching science-related TedX talks, and chatting with friends.

Drawbacks: “If you ever see me on the train, you will probably find me dozing off or staring into space with tired eyes,” Stephanie said.

8 7

5

7. Kendrick, freshman

8. Areesh, junior

Commute Time: 60 minutes Commute: Manhattan-bound N train from Bay Parkway to Commute Time: 45 minutes Commute: Manhattan-bound Q train from Avenue J to AtlanAtlantic Avenue, Uptown 2 or 3 train to Chambers Street Perks: Taking the train with a friend on the way to school tic Avenue, Uptown 2 or 3 train to Chambers Street and living nearby a couple of friends, “so we can throw fris- Perks: Getting a chance to breathe and not do work, and “the

bees or get some bubble tea on weekends,” Kendrick said. atmosphere of coffee-driven, hardworking adults with actual Drawbacks: Not finding a seat after Ultimate practice and jobs in the city,” Areesh said. the “rancid air when the train comes into the station in the Drawbacks: “I can literally walk at the pace the Q goes at.” afternoon.”

Art

Meet The Artists

Tina Lim Joyce Gao Emily Wu

Fahim Rahman

continued on page 28

Page 10

The Spectator â&#x2014;? November 18, 2016

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Page 11

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 12

Opinions

Queenie Tang / The Spectator

Patents Against Humanity

By Annie Feng We always hear about people who have won the lottery and donated to charity, but if a charity wins the lottery, we don’t expect them to give up their winnings. Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) has done just that. Nearly 90 percent of all the money this Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives goes to providing emergency medical care for those caught in crises all over the world. So, when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer offered to donate one million pneumonia vaccines, it should have been like winning the lottery. According to the World Health Organization, pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death of children and causes seven percent of all deaths worldwide, which is why it was so shocking when MSF refused this October. MSF declared that pervasive problems in the pharmaceutical industry—using patents to generate monopolies—meant it could not accept the donation in good faith.

Many argue that MSF could

have saved lives by accepting the donation, but rejection was absolutely necessary. Sometimes in medicine you must choose between bad options, and MSF chose what would do the least harm. Accepting the donation would mean accepting the status quo: that those who cannot afford basic medicine should die for not being born in a first world country. These people cannot rely on sporadic windfalls from Pfizer to combat widespread diseases like pneumonia. By rejecting the donation, MSF is taking a stand for lower prices overall.

Last year, Pfizer made $6.245 billion off of the pneumonia vaccine alone through exorbitant pricing. To put this in perspective, that amount could send 27 years worth of Stuyvesant graduates (roughly 20,000 students) to a private college for a full four years. The one million vaccines Pfizer offered sounds impressive for their public image, but the donation is a mere drop in the ocean compared to how much they make overall. Pharmaceutical industries make these gigantic profits because they overcharge countries that can afford their steep prices, such as the United States. But the poorer countries that MSF operates in are completely out of luck if they cannot pay for lifesaving drugs and vaccines. Why, then, are pharmaceutical companies allowed to charge so much?

The main reason is the use of patents to monopolize the industry. Invention and the spirit of ingenuity have always been part of the American dream, and the patent plays an essential role in protecting the inventor and giving financial motive for discovery. A patent is meant to give the inventor a temporary monopoly

on their product, generating revenue and preventing their idea from being stolen and sold by competitors. This helps cover research and development costs and creates incentive for innovation. However, pharmaceutical industries have been abusing patent protection to completely monopolize essential drugs and vaccines, keeping them from developing countries and humanitarian organizations like MSF who cannot purchase them due to high prices.

Normal drug patents last between 15 and 20 years after invention, and there is an average of eight years before a drug is approved for distribution. Pharmaceutical companies respond to this long approval process by rushing through drug trials and by searching for loopholes to extend their monopoly. Pharmaceuticals can exploit the system by applying for another patent on the same drug once the original has expired, which can be stalled in courts. They might also patent the process by which the drug is made or specially de-

Alisa Chen / The Spectator

livered after the original patent expires. If they challenge a competitor’s drug in court, the competitor must pull their version off of shelves until it is resolved or 30 months have passed. In 2014 alone, 323 of these law suits were filed, according to the Wall Street Journal, a number which continues to grow. This not only allows companies to charge extremely high prices because they have no competitors, but discourages actual innovation. No one tries to improve their design, and companies pour funds into lawsuits protecting their patents instead of research.

Take, for instance, what is happening with the Epipen. For those with severe allergies, it can buy precious minutes on the way to the hospital. Drugmaker Mylan holds the patent (though Pfizer manufactures it), and it does not expire until 2025. Epipens are clunky, have a poor shelf life, and are not user-friendly. However, Mylan recently struck down an attempt by SK Chemicals to produce its own formula and has sued others who have invented smaller injection mechanisms.

Mylan has not improved the Epipen, because having a shorter shelf-life forces people to buy more of the product, yet despite its deficiencies the sticker price has spiked by 600 percent. Mylan faces no competitors because of patent protection, and as the sole provider, it can charge whatever price it wants for an imperfect product.

Though morally abhorrent, the drug patenting system is completely legal. Companies can raise their prices as high as they want in order to maximize profit.

That is how capitalism works, but abuse of the patent system, combined with the long drug

approval process, is seriously hurting consumers. For those in developed countries, it costs more money. For those in third world countries, it costs more lives, which is why humanitarian organizations are desperately fighting for prices that will allow them to distribute to the regions that need medicine most.

There needs to be change in the patent system. A drug company cannot be allowed to apply for several new patents after the original expires. In addition, patent protection for drugs should begin after approval, not during the long approval process. This will make companies more likely to be thorough in their drug trials, and will make their product safer for consumers.

Developed countries may be able to afford price spikes, but most cannot and are thus denied access to life-saving medicine. Widespread access has personal benefits, too. If everyone around you is immune (herd immunity), it becomes harder for diseases to spread. The public has an enormous role in creating access. Last year, when HIV medicine pricing spiked by 5,500 percent, public outcry forced the company to lower prices and sparked a movement to develop a one-dollar per pill alternative.

Publicizing the issue is essential, because most people won’t understand pages of legal jargon about patent law until it is dragged out of the courtrooms and on to their Facebook page in simple terms. This isn’t an issue that only lawyers and scientists can solve. It doesn’t take a degree or $6.245 billion to write to your representative in Congress or visit City Hall. It only takes paper, ink, and a 15 minute walk from Stuyvesant.

By Stephen Nyarko The Obama administration released information last month that indicates that the cost of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act will rise an average of 22 percent in 2017. Donald Trump criticized it on the campaign trail, saying in Florida that the increases would be more like “60, 70, 80 percent” (without any evidence). Mitch McConnell just published a piece on CNN titled “Face it, Obamacare has failed.” A large part of Trump’s plan once he enters office involves dismantling a significant portion of Obamacare.

These rate increases seem extravagant, but they do not tell the whole story and do not at all signal any failure of Obamacare.

First, it is worth noting that the expected 2017 rates are fairly close to those the Congressio-

nal Budget Office originally predicted when the law was passed.

The rampant change in pricing is most likely due to the fact that insurance under Obamacare was underpriced initially, according to CNN, and those values are simply catching up to the true cost of insurance.

Second, these rate increases are accompanied by subsidies that track the price of insurance.

In other words, those who have to pay more will be supported more financially by the federal government.

Yet this mixed model of individual payment and government subsidies is dangerous for many insurance providers, as they have little say over their own prices in the system. 20 percent of Americans using Obamacare live in states where only one insurance provider is willing to operate through the program. This leads to a monopoly situation in which that single insurance provider can drive up rates due to a lack of competition, even though the government has more control over the prices.

The most important element of Obamacare, however, is that it is some of the cheapest insurance around. Obamacare is still less expensive than employerprovided health care. According to a study out of the Kaiser Family Foundation this year, the average cost of employer-provided health care is $5,963. The midlevel Obamacare coverage, the Silver plan, is $345 a month, or $4,140 per year. This difference is further compounded by the

fact that the average Obamacare subsidy is around $3,000 a year, according to the Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

Those on Obamacare are paying around $4,000 less than they otherwise would in the employer-based system, so it’s hard to call Obamacare a “failure.”

But the fundamental issues with how Obamacare is modeled will not just go away with time. Those on the right would suggest a complete overhaul of the system, but this would leave the 16.4 million Americans covered by Obamacare without insurance. The left advocates for a single-payer health care system, but this would involve so much political willpower and sacrifice that the results of such an initiative would not be seen in the near future.

The largest, most feasible single policy change that would combat both the rising cost of health care overall and that of Obamacare would be the elimination of tax exemptions for employer-provided health care.

Obamacare currently provides an option for those not receiving employer-based health care. However, those that do receive health care through their employers are also heavily subsidized.

Insurance benefits form a significant portion of worker compensation, yet the true value of that compensation is hidden from both the employee and the government because it is not included in salary or wages. As

Angel Zheng / The Spectator

Jensen Foerster / The Spectator

Obamacare Hasn’t Failed But Won’t Succeed

such, no taxes are paid on the insurance, and it essentially represents a government subsidy.

Currently, most people getting employer-backed health care are over-insured because they cannot see the full price, and because it is subsidized, individuals and firms are more likely to buy health care that is more than they truly would want or need.

This results in excess expenditures on unneeded medical procedures and equipment and as such, drives up health care costs for all.

Additionally, this tax subsidy is extremely regressive: those in

top income brackets save more on taxes by avoiding insurance taxes, while those that earn less and get less health care coverage cannot reap the full rewards of the subsidies.

By eliminating this tax loophole, the poor could gain more from both employer health care, as the cost would be more in tune with actual insurance needs, and through Obamacare, as the overall price of health care would decrease. In addition, the added tax revenue from this plan could be used to improve subsidies for lower incomes involved in Obamacare, all while making revenue remain neutral.

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Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

Of Rosaries and Ovaries

By Eliza Spinna Journalists asked Pope Francis if women will ever be able to become priests on November 1.

Francis responded, “the last word is clear,” referring to a former Pope’s decision that there cannot be female priests because Jesus did not have female apostles. This infuriated quite a few Catholics, since six in 10 Catholics say they support women having the ability to be ordained, according to the Pew Research Center. Many wrote to The New York Times on the matter, some even explaining why they are pivoting away from the Catholic church in light of this news. One distressed reader proclaimed that after this final decision, one cannot be a Catholic feminist. But I disagree.

I was raised by Roman Catholic parents who expected me to uphold Catholic values: I was taught to respect my parents and neighbors, to be forgiving of those who wrong me, to try to help the weak whenever possible, that faith and good deeds lead to eternal salvation, and that life is sacred.

Last year I was given the choice to be confirmed into the Catholic faith. After some soulsearching, I ultimately underwent this rite of initiation because I wanted to be part of a community where the common goal was to serve those in need. I was also

attracted to the stability that the church provided, both for me and for others. Although I spend an hour every Sunday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. that could otherwise be used to study or sleep or watch “Friends,” I gain something far more important: peace.

Religion to me is not just an hour a week sitting in a pew in a magnificent building while listening to beautiful music, scripture readings, and sermons from erudite Jesuit priests. It is a calming force in my life. The pressures of Stuyvesant would probably cause me to fall apart if I didn’t believe in the higher meaning to my life and didn’t have this period of reflection before the beginning of each week.

My feminist upbringing was less explicit. The word “feminist” is rarely used in the Spinna household, but my parents instilled feminist values in me from a young age. As a child, my father would insist that I repeat after him: “My name is Eliza Spinna and I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.” In grade school I was encouraged to play ice hockey, despite being the only girl on the team. I was also pushed to excel in math and science. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve retained that mindset; I write feminist articles and unabashedly call out sexism.

On certain specific issues, Catholicism and feminism appear to be incongruous. Doctrinally and structurally, the Catholic church has some sexist aspects. Only male cardinals can vote to elect the Pope. As Francis announced, women cannot be priests.

However, despite common prejudices, Catholicism and feminism are generally consistent, especially in terms of the broad beliefs on which they were founded. Jesus dined with and ministered to prostitutes, blind people and lepers; feminists fight for the rights of sex workers and the disabled. Both advocate for respect and dignity for both men and women.

Pope Francis has also instituted important reforms. He proclaims himself a feminist and

encourages the church to look at the broader picture of Catholicism rather than minor issues concerning gender. He wrote recently about the harms of gender roles and hegemonic masculinity. One of his principal goals is to reduce world poverty, which disproportionately affects women.

But there is a single issue on which Catholics and feminists seem unwilling to compromise: women’s reproductive rights, particularly those related to abortion.

The Catholic faith looks at the issue from an ethical standpoint. It holds that abortions are sinful because the moment that a sperm and an egg join, a living human being is created. Any action taken to abort a fetus and cause its death is thus considered immoral, as no human has the right to take the life of another.

For the same reason, Catholic doctrine prohibits capital punishment.

On the other hand, feminists look at the issue politically. They believe that the decision to keep a fetus should be that of the mother. According to most feminists, outlawing abortions by overturning Roe v. Wade would only cause women to seek out illegal abortions, which have serious health risks. Also, feminists see abortion as a way of preventing infants from being born into poverty, as some women are not financially equipped to raise children. Pregnancy itself is very physically, emotionally, and financially taxing on women.

I agree with the Catholic Church in that abortions at any stage are immoral, but with slightly different logic. Even if a human being isn’t created at the moment of conception, a being that is fully equipped to become a living human with a soul is created. Since the line between the two is unclear (no two scientists seem to agree on when a true “human” is formed), I view something with the definite potential to have human life as sacred.

The government must therefore ban abortions, since it would be unethical to use my (eventual)

tax dollars to pay for hospitals to administer something to which I am religiously opposed. However, feminists know that this would have major consequences that have to be addressed.

Thus, I must reconcile my Catholic and feminist ideologies on the topic of abortion by combining both moral and practical solutions. In my ideal world, fetus-protecting policies would be supplemented with policies that protect women.

Sex education legislation would have to be enacted if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned.

After South Dakota lawmakers placed strict restrictions on abortions in 2006, part of their policy was stepping up sexual education in public schools to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

While in South Dakota this took the form of abstinence education, schools should design a more holistic curriculum—abstinence education supplemented by teaching freshmen about self esteem, contraception, healthy relationships, and reproductive health. This instruction should take place during the freshmen and middle school years, before students enter into serious relationships, rather than junior year, as Stuyvesant’s curriculum dictates. Students should have access to sex education websites through school computers (right now internet filters block them) and guidance counselors should be trained to talk to students about the meaning of intimate or sexual relationships.

Another issue that would have to be addressed if abortions were banned would be the potential for illegal, unsafe abortions. This could be prevented by showing women that there are other options: resources if they want to keep their child, or adoption if they cannot, and aid throughout their pregnancies and afterwards, whichever option they choose.

Support networks would need to be in place in the case of a crisis pregnancy. Governmental and non-governmental organizations would have to provide funds for childcare, housing, and prenatal

care. The adoption system, right now extraordinarily inefficient, would have to be revamped.

Pregnant Pause finds that right now there are two million couples waiting to adopt who cannot get a child because of bureaucratic sclerosis. Only four percent of women with unwanted pregnancies give their children up for adoption. It needs to be clear to women that they have another option besides abortion.

A key reason women choose to abort fetuses rather than putting them up for adoption is the tumultuous task of carrying and delivering a child. In order to alleviate the burden of pregnancy, prenatal care would have to be prioritized. The $350 million Planned Parenthood receives from the government that is partially allocated towards abortions could be channeled towards providing prenatal care instead. This includes ultrasounds, monthly checkups, medication, and pregnancy lifestyle advice. The government should also provide a certain number of paid maternity leave days for women, regardless of whether they keep the child or not, to recover after giving birth.

The Pregnancy Assistance Fund, a provision of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, is a step in the right direction. The federal government made a commitment to support pregnancy prevention efforts and allocated almost $300 million to provide monetary aid to women, pre- and post-pregnancy. It also set up programs to provide free childcare on university campuses, established hotlines to direct women to places that provide support, and created agencies that administer free home visits to mothers.

As a Catholic feminist, I reject the notion that we need to choose between our moral obligations to the health of a mother and the life of her unborn baby. I believe that we can remain true to both.

Every fetus should be allowed to live, but a woman facing a crisis pregnancy needs to have a support network. Pro-life feminism is not an oxymoron.

Victoria Huang / The Spectator

In Defense of the Electoral College

By Rodda John Since Tuesday, my Facebook feed has been filled with invitations to sign petitions and attend protests in order to express disagreement with Donald Trump’s presidential election. Many of these requests have revolved around the Electoral College— mainly, claiming that Donald Trump was declared a winner by the system and not by the people, since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. There have been calls for electors to cast their votes to whichever candidate wins the popular vote (as Maryland has pledged to do), as well

as petitions to change the system more generally.

Though I am not a Donald Trump supporter and I believe that many things he has said are insulting and demeaning to various groups, I believe in the strength of the Electoral College and the democratic processes that govern the United States.

And, though I do not mean to undermine people’s fears, if Hillary Clinton had won the Electoral College and Trump had won the popular vote, I believe that many Democrats would defend the Electoral College alongside me.

In 2016, the Electoral College was not being used as the nation’s founders had intended. They envisioned the Electoral College as a check on the public’s tendency to stray towards factionalism and populism, as James Madison famously expressed in the Federalist Papers. Thus, the goal of the Electoral College was originally to ensure that well-educated citizens chose the chief executive based not only on public opinion, but on public opinion in tandem with strong reasoning capabilities. Electors are meant to not only get together and discuss, but also to change their votes based upon this discussion if others’ arguments are convincing. This is, however, not how the Electoral College is used today. It would benefit our republic if we

moved away from our modern conception of the Electoral College and back to a more republican approach.

A national popular vote, meanwhile, would have a number of consequences. First, it would lead to candidates focusing on only large population centers and ignoring much of the country. One of the strengths of American democracy is its focus on minority opinions—by giving all states a minimum of three votes in the Electoral College— and its ability to incorporate those ideas to make the country stronger. America is built on a plurality of ideas, which is what the Electoral College forces candidates to focus on, over pandering to an urban elite. Since many more people live in the big cities, it would be inefficient for candidates to focus on the more suburban and rural areas, as they could win many votes through campaigning in larger cities. As a result, large swaths of the nation would go unrepresented in the executive government.

The Electoral College also protects the rights of minority voters, though they would not have a major impact on a nationwide popular vote, as they can be critically important in individual states, like Florida or Nevada. A key part of the American political system is that it guarantees every

voice the right to be heard and be given credence. A national popular vote would allow candidates to ignore the ideas and opinions of many less populous groups.

However, there are also arguments in favor of the Electoral College as opposed to arguments against a national popular vote.

First, the Electoral College protects the rights of the states.

An important hallmark of American federalism is the importance of states’ rights. Central to this idea is the belief that a state government knows the needs of its electorate better than the federal government does. Furthermore, the Electoral College empowers individual states to decide how they apportion electors. This allows Maine and Nebraska, for example, to choose against being winner-take-all states. This gives the states power to decide how to apportion their electoral votes.

Though the current use of the Electoral College does not allow electors to make their own decisions, the original framework did. Unfortunately, electors are not expected to make their own decisions and instead, bend to the will of the statewide popular vote. However, if electors were to change their minds in the modern political climate, there would likely be widespread furor over how undemocratic it is. This furor would not be beneficial to

the republic, as it is against the founding ideal of the institution.

Finally, many of the arguments made against the Electoral College revolve around how undemocratic it is and how it does not respect the will of the voters.

In recent decades, this country has been moving closer and closer to a democracy. However, our founders never strived to create a democracy. Rather, they envisioned a republic, with welldefined checks on the power of the people. This is why state assemblies elected senators and why the Electoral College exists in the first place.

But, regardless of one’s opinions on the Electoral College, Donald Trump is our president.

There is no sugarcoating that fact, and making a ruckus over the Electoral College will not change the results of the election.

Instead of being obstructionist and doing precisely what Democrats were mad at Republicans for under President Barack Obama, let’s come together in an effort to further build up this great nation. I am hopeful for the future. Trump may be a threat to democracy, but so are voters acting like middle school sore losers and arguing to change institutions only when it benefits their political views.

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Jensen Foerster/ The Spectator

When The Nation Goes Low

By ZORA ARUM A week before the presidential election, my very left-wing friend told me that he hated all Republicans. To be fair, he prefaced the statement by saying, “People don’t like it when I say things like this, and you probably won’t like it either,” so I should have expected something aggravating. Instead, I was taken aback.

He was right. I found his statement extremely upsetting.

I couldn’t understand how he could be so hateful. I tried telling him that he didn’t really believe what he had said, that he just didn’t know enough Republicans, that he couldn’t possibly paint such a large group of people with so broad a brush. I told him that he shouldn’t say things like that, that he shouldn’t even feel them. Statements like that are conversation stoppers.

But, on Tuesday night, I hated all Republicans, too. I hated them when I thought about the fact that they might take away my right to free birth control or my friend in Ohio’s right to get an abortion. I hated them when I thought about my Israeli relatives and how petrified they were that, with Donald Trump’s aggressive

rhetoric, there would never be peace in the Middle East. I hated them when my Minnesotan friend, who paints his nails and has a boyfriend, told me that he was afraid Trump’s victory would spark a surge in violent bigotry.

On Tuesday night, I hated all Republicans. I hated their candidate, hated what he represented.

Part of me even hated my relatives who voted for him, for condoning acts of hatred against me, against the people that I loved. I even hated myself for fueling that hatred; I feared I would allow it to consume me.

I almost didn’t go to school on Wednesday.

I wasn’t worried that I would burst into tears in front of my classmates, though I did feel close to sobbing. I didn’t want to go to school because I had seen my friends’ posts on Facebook. I was afraid to be surrounded by so much hate, afraid it would convince me that my own hatred was justified. I was afraid that, if I saw more of my friends crying, if I had to hold one more shaking body, my rage would take me over until I was unrecognizable even to myself.

How ironic it would be, to become what I hated.

How ironic to hate others for understanding the world differently than I did, to hate others for being hateful. The irony scared me.

But, more than anything, I was scared that I wouldn’t use my hatred productively. I was afraid that it wouldn’t manifest itself into action, that it would fester inside of me so much that I would become immobile, useless.

When I went to school the next day, I found that, on some level, I had been right. There was a lot of hate at Stuyvesant, and a lot of fear. At least one person

cried in each of my classes.

But for every person who cried, five people were there to comfort them. I watched teachers give visibly upset students homework extensions. Sifting through post-election anxieties was an item on almost every single one of my classes’ agendas.

Three administrators came up to me in the middle of the day, while I was walking through (or loitering in) the hallway, to ask me if I was okay.

In a school of over 3,200 students, I don’t expect to have

Vivian Lin/ The Spectator

personal interactions with the principal on a regular basis. But, on Wednesday, Mr. Contreras approached me in the senior atrium on my way to lunch. He told me that, though he was disappointed that a woman hadn’t been elected to the highest office in the land the night before, he knew it would happen eventually, and soon. The reason why he knew, he elaborated, was because he worked with girls like me every day. The reason why he knew was that he worked at

Stuyvesant.

At Stuyvesant, students’ mental health has never been the priority. I know that members of the administration would beg to differ, but the sheer number of depressed and sleep-deprived students at our school speaks to the veracity of this fact. After the election, however, barriers were broken between fellow students, teachers, and administrators, even if just for a day.

Part of this is because Mr. Contreras, along with a couple of new administrators including A.P. of World Languages Ernest Oliveri, is doing his best to reshape the attitudes that make Stuyvesant such an unhealthy place. Little things, like the Day of the Dead celebration or Mr. Contreras giving out candy on Halloween in a Darth Vader costume, make everyday life at Stuyvesant more vibrant, and therefore more livable. So too did the vibrant community of Stuyvesant make the day after Election Day bearable for me.

I don’t mean to equate Stuyvesant stress with the incredible fears that a Trump presidency inspires, nor do I mean to undermine the very legitimate anger that many people feel by boiling the solution down to community gatherings.

The wounds torn by Trump’s extremist, racist, homophobic, and misogynistic rhetoric will not go away through organizing.

The spike in violent hate crimes since the election and the swastikas being painted on minorities’ cars will not dissipate just because you hug your suffer-

ing classmates in school every morning.

But being a part of communities that support and encourage you to fight back against forces that threaten to silence you can grant a sense of purpose. It can give your hate a direction, or even shift your perspective so that you are propelled forward by love for those who feel victimized, rather than hate for those who victimize them.

On Thursday night, two nights after Trump was elected to the presidency, I went to an event in Central Park that I had found on Facebook. It was focused on healing post-election scars through Jewish song. There were only about 15 people there, but we sang for over an hour. Our voices lilted over each other’s, slipping and sliding like molasses. They were songs that I had sung for years, songs that I had sung at family members’ funerals, at my bat-mitzvah, songs I hope to one day sing at my wedding.

When the last song faded away into the dark, the event organizer asked if anyone wanted to say a few words about what they had been thinking since the election. A young woman, dressed in orthodox fashion, stepped forward. She recounted the story of Purim, a major Jewish holiday. She spoke of Esther, the hero of the story, who saves the Jewish people from genocide at the hands of those who wish to see them killed. She reminded us of the importance of speaking out, of protecting the persecuted, the marginalized, like Esther protected us.

With the strength of the communities that I am a part of behind me, I intend to fight for what I believe in just like Esther fought—not only for the next four years, but for the rest of my life. Love trumps hate. Now it’s time for us to turn our love into action.

Chloé Delfau/ The Spectator

The Case for a United Spain

By Evan Lieberman “Som una nació. Nosaltres decidim.” The words sparkled on billowing banners, soaring above the untamed masses. The ocean of yellow and orange flags swelled and surged forward in a tremendous display of raw, nationalistic fury. “We are a nation.

We decide.” 1.5 million people conquered the streets of Barcelona on that steaming summer day in 2010 in a unified demand for independence.

It was a scene that instilled pride in Catalonia. In the eyes of these protesters, and separatists today, a free Catalonia would bring an end to what they have

deemed an unjust and unlawful robbery of their resources at the hands of Spanish despotism.

They cite statistics showing that Spain relocates almost half of Catalan tax revenue to poorer regions of Spain—revenue that could be used for local internal developments and social programs. Independence would free them from perceived Spanish cultural oppression and imperialism.

These hopes, while optimistic and moving, are misplaced.

The scene of untamed ecstasy on the streets of Barcelona in 2010 marked the rise of a nationalistic movement, whose demands for secession carried potentially dangerous consequences for the region. In a Spain already reeling from a recession, Catalan independence would threaten any effort for economic recovery.

Catalonia, a prosperous region in northeastern Spain, has always struggled to maintain its distinct identity against Spanish influence. Under the fascist regime of Franco, the Catalan

language was banned and their culture was repressed. Even now, Catalans are the targets of much bigotry from their Spanish countrymen. These frustrations, as well as others, have made Catalonia home to just

to be coming to fruition.

In 2015, Junts Pel Si (Together for Yes), a Catalan nationalist coalition, enjoyed resounding success in regional governmental elections and saw the legitimization of its secessionist agenda

through the rise of its leader, Carles Pu i g d e m o n t , Tiffany Zhong/ The Spectator to President of Catalonia. Now in a position of immense political power, the independence one of the many independence movement has begun to take movements by stateless nations significant steps to escape in Europe. It is unique, however, Spanish rule. Puigdemont dein that its ambitious goals seem fied the rigid opposition of the

Constitutional Court of Spain last September and declared that a binding referendum on independence will take place in September of 2017. What used to be an underground, ostracized campaign has entered into the mainstream, forcing the Catalan people to realistically consider the effects of a potentially sovereign Catalonia. While independence would realize the centuries-old Catalan dream of a nation state, its realization would be disastrous.

In an independent Catalonia, insurmountable deficits, currency instability, and weakened economic relations would bring about a painful recession.

It would have few funds to establish a welfare state, and the Catalan government would be forced to institute severe austerity measures and slash what few social programs and development plans that already exist. Currently, Catalonia has the largest public debt of any Spanish autonomous community, amounting to 60 billion.

According to José Luis Oller, exdirector of the Barcelona stock market, an independent Catalonia would have to assume another 180 billion, their fair share of Spanish debt in proportion to continued on page 15

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their economy, as a percentage of Spanish GDP. €50 billion more would be added on top of all this to account for Spanish assets in Catalonia, resulting in a grand total of a debt worth €290 billion ($322 billion), a significant 145 percent of their GDP. Beyond this, the mere prospect of Catalan independence prompted the ratings agency Fitch to threaten to lower the region’s credit rating to “junk bond,” (high default risk) meaning such debt could induce even greater instability.

Potential economic struggles with debt would only be augmented by a predicted trade deficit (unfavorable balance of trade) for an independent Catalonia. The region currently receives significantly more capital from domestic trade than international, and with secession anticipated to lower trade with Spain by 50 to 70 percent, the Catalan GDP would drop by 10 percent, plunging the area even further into economic recession.

Despite the severity of these economic setbacks, a sovereign Catalonia would suffer the greatest financial harm from losing membership in the Eu-

an ambitious economic and institutional development project to comply with EU standards for acceptance, a project that is expected to take years. Second,

While independence would realize the centuries-old Catalan dream of a nation state, its justification is founded in demagogic nationalism and its realization ensures economic collapse.

ropean Union. According to EU policy, a newly independent European state must reapply fornd be unanimously approved by all current members. Catalonia is very unlikely to win EU membership. The reason is twofold: first, it would have to undertake

Spain has promised that in the case of secession, it would veto Catalan membership. Exclusion from the European Union would spell economic disaster for Catalonia. In addition to facing hefty tariffs, the region would be forced out of the Eu-

rozone, a move that would not only provoke the departure of the many international businesses headquartered in Barcelona, but would also necessitate the development of a Catalan currency, which is likely to be weak and suffer high inflation.

Catalan independence is not only immensely destructive economically, but socially, as well. While the secessionist movement is partially correct in its claims that Catalonia is separate linguistically and culturally from Spain, this is an oversimplification. Yes, traditional Catalan culture is distinct, yet the reality is that it has become very mixed.

No longer is Catalonia a homogenous state of singular ethnicity. In fact, one-seventh of the entire population of Catalonia hails from other regions of Spain. What are Spaniards living in a free Catalonia to do when a border is suddenly drawn between them and their families? Would there be a place for outsiders in a state founded on nationalism and anti-Spanish rhetoric?

Furthermore, Catalan genealogy actually contains significant Spanish influences. 80 percent of the Catalan people have a Spanish grandparent, and the five most common surnames in Catalonia all originate from Castilian Spanish rather than the Catalan language.

If it truly is social programs, cultural preservation, and development that the Catalan people want, then independence is in no way a solution. The Catalan people must look beyond the rhetoric of their politicians and use their skills and resources to help lift all of Spain out of its current economic troubles. Instead of damning the Spanish government with provocative attacks, Catalonia must create an environment of cooperation through which it can achieve its goals of greater economic autonomy, without having to suffer the dire consequences of absolute secession. If Puigdemont succeeds in his aspirations for a referendum, the Catalan people must vote no, or face the doomed future of an independent Catalonia.

Kaia Waxenberg / The Spectator

Renewing America: A Paradigm Proposal

By Stiven Peter There is a certain feeling of angst that comes with being a senior. The endless array of a college application, the stress of balancing friends, family, and academics, and the expectations of college are utterly unique.

For me, past behaviors were inadequate to work through the stress, angst, and hope of senior year; maturation was required to adjust to new experiences.

This maturation meant I had to abandon the way I used to orient my life, which was primarily toward achieving good grades and focusing on cultivating my relationships.

I forward that, as I had to adjust my paradigm for new experiences, the U.S. needs to adapt its public policy to our changing society. For the most part, the U.S. has continued to expand its bureaucracy, welfare programs, and subsidies in reaction to the increased fracturing of society.

Socially, we have grown apart as individuals and community bonds are weak, so in reaction government policies have attempted to unify the country on a national scale under a powerful central government. Instead of maintaining this trend, the U.S. needs to counter the adverse effects of a fractured society by enacting more local, personal, and dynamic policies. It would do this by empowering mediating institutions—institutions closest to the individual, such as civic

groups, churches, nonprofits, and businesses—to find specific, local solutions.

To demonstrate how this paradigm of decentralization would work, I will apply it to our economic policy and address three major economic trends that are fracturing American society by hollowing out the middle class.

Firstly, the advent of globalization has resulted in a disappearance of low-level and middle-skill workers in the U.S. as it becomes cheaper to transport jobs overseas.

Secondly, as the modern economy becomes computerized, a broad range of workers from the middle class are seeing their jobs hollowed. This automation will eliminate middle class jobs, primarily in manufacturing, since those jobs are economically practical to replace with computers. Only two types of work would remain due to being impractical to automate: low-level jobs that require humans such as barbers, janitors, or health aides, and jobs that require a high skill set such as managers, doctors, teachers, or lawyers.

MIT economist David Autor calls the bifurcation between low and high-level work caused by automation and outsourcing “job polarization.” Duke Economist Nir Jaimovich explains that polarization may be why the middle class jobs lost during the 2000 and 2008 recessions have not returned during the recoveries.

The third trend is consumerism. In the consolidated world of post-war America, people thought of themselves primarily as producers and were concerned with stable, high-quality work. Today, however, people consider themselves consumers and are concerned with highquality but cheap goods and services. The market reacts to this pressure by adhering to the concerns of consumers at the expense of workers. The result of this trend is job insecurity, which is seen in an average employee tenure of under five years. Jobs become less stable and workers are more uncertain as compa-

nies comply with the demands of consumers.

In short, the effects of these broad trends are a hollowing of the middle class into the rich and the poor. This effect is seen in stagnant poverty rates, as the poor cannot obtain the skills required in today’s economy; a report released by the Pew Charitable Trust notes that 70 percent of children born in a lower income bracket will remain there.

Moreover, these trends have left those who lost jobs due to recessions or automation and globalization uncertain and worried about their economic prospects.

This uncertainty and the government’s indifference to it was a significant factor in Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.

A decentralization paradigm would address these trends by modernizing government policies to increase economic mobility and make workers’ rights more personal. To tackle economic mobility, a decentralization program would lift the bottlenecks of education and certification by providing more pathways to obtain them.

Under a decentralization paradigm, education would improve by making learning more customizable instead of increasing government subsidies. At the grade school level, this involves experimenting in charter schools, school vouchers, and homeschooling. In higher education, this means unbundling the college curriculum to provide standalone courses, sequences, and job training. Moreover, it means allowing certification from a variety of venues, from union halls to the Internet. This type of education would not destroy standards, but make it easier to obtain them by providing opportunity through a variety of institutions. In short, instead of funneling students down one path, institutions closer to the individual would provide a variety of paths to the same destination and let students choose their way. This approach would lift the barrier to high-level jobs by making it easier to obtain an education.

To improve certification, a decentralization paradigm would lift the unreasonable regulations on licensing and authorization.

Strict government regulations on a variety of professional jobs, ranging from barbers to taxi drivers, create barriers to entry for those in poverty seeking professional-skills based work. Lifting these requirements would create new avenues for work and skills training, which is already being realized through Uber and AirBnb, companies that allow a host of people to participate in services that would normally require months of certification.

This decentralization paradigm would address workers’ rights by advocating for greater personalization. For instance, workers would pick and choose from a menu of desired employ-

power mediating institutions of society. One instance of a mediating institution is the Charitable Choice program, which allows local, faith-based organizations to apply for government funding in welfare. These local institutions have the community-based knowledge of the local poor that the federal government does not, allowing them to configure programs specific to the poor and integrate them into the community. The government can also funnel resources to state governments in the form of block grants, which give state and local government money to use at their discretion.

Decentralization, first and foremost, is an admission that the federal government is limited in its solutions and a belief that individuals and communi-

Decentralization, first and foremost, is an admission that the federal government is limited in its solutions and a belief that individuals and communities can generate solutions to their specific situation. ee benefits. These benefits could range from personalized retirement savings accounts to tuition reimbursement.

Consider health insurance, a decentralization paradigm would allow employers to drop coverage and instead increase employee salaries, who could use the pay to purchase, or not purchase, insurance. Private insurers would then offer a variety of plans and benefits specific to the community. This process would move away from mandates toward increased options.

The government also plays a positive role in decentralization.

In welfare, the government would funnel resources from one-sizefits-all benefit programs to more bottom-up programs that em-

ties can generate solutions to their specific situation. It solves problems by allowing communities to experiment and find what works. The emphasis on middle organizations acknowledges the sheer diversity of our society and seeks to restructure policies to be attuned with the particular needs of each individual, family, and community.

While this restructuring is essential to adapting to our diffuse society, it is not sufficient. Our problems are not only economic and administrative but also social and cultural. The task at hand then is to apply this paradigm to cultural issues that create sustainable, virtuous communities.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 16

Editorials Staff Editorial

And So We Must Move On continued from page 1

President Obama’s nominee of eight months ago. And he has no government experience, nor throughout his seventy years can he point to a significant act of public service.

The three branches of government may reverse nearly a decade of what we perceive as extraordinary progress. In an election that could have chosen America’s first female president, the nation selected a man who, to female and minority students, is openly both degrading and threatening.

However, the true fear for many comes not with Trump and his policies, but with the environment he has created during his campaign. The past 16 months of Trump’s campaign have brought out a hatred in America that many believed was disappearing. His rhetoric has galvanized prejudiced Americans across the country, and amplified and normalized the voice of bigotry.

It hasn’t been more than two weeks since Trump was elected, and Muslim women on college campuses are being stripped of their hijabs, Chinese men are being told to go back to “where they belong,” and African Americans are being screamed at to move to the back of public transportation. And while not all of Trump’s supporters are openly racist, all of them were able to overlook and accept his xenophobia and misogyny to the extent that they would cast a vote for him.

In a community as diverse as Stuyvesant, these immoral acts

hit close to home. The thought of deportation instills fear in our peers and their families.

Many of us no longer feel safe in our own country. On the day after the election, many Stuyvesant students were devastated.

Some, who immigrated to America searching for a better life, are now considering a return to their native countries, many of which are less developed and more restrictive of civil rights.

So how, in the midst of all this, do we react? It is not wrong to despair, for embedded within our despair is a desire for change. But we must not be paralyzed. We must think forward. “#NotOurPresident” protests will not reverse the votes for Republican electors that have been cast, and moreover, are contrary to our most cherished constitutional bulwark against chaos—the peaceful transition of power. When the root of the issue is non-acceptance and denial, these acts of opposition are counter-productive.

There are perhaps better ways to make our voices heard.

At the school level, it is more important than ever to discuss our political concerns in classes and in the clubs and publications that facilitate such discussions.

Classrooms filled with students bursting with ideas are an ideal place to learn about current issues, understand different perspectives, and develop specific and actionable suggestions for the government.

The next step is to extend our ideas beyond the classroom. The outcome of this election encourages the millennial generation

to speak up and become more politically active as we make our way to college, whether it is through participating in peaceful rallies or organizing marches to City Hall to support Black Lives Matter or Obamacare or Planned Parenthood. We can volunteer our time for organizations that protect marginalized groups, or research and fight climate change.

We can combat Trump’s xenophobia with warmth and openness, actively and peacefully resisting by demonstrating the acceptance and openness we have learned at Stuyvesant as we sit in our classes and learn and befriend those who are different from us.

Instead of focusing our energy on bringing Trump down— he was, after all, democratically elected—we must work with him.

If he truly wants to “be president for all Americans,” as he pledged in his victory speech on Tuesday night, he will ultimately need to reckon with the reality that his electoral victory was not a popular one. If for no other reason than that the midterm election is only two years away, Trump will need to listen carefully to the overwhelming electorate that opposed him––and we can help by telling him what we need.

Trump’s presidency should not spark despair and further division, but rather must be a call to act. We must become more politically astute, broaden our perspectives, and become more unified on what just became a more winding and challenging road toward progress.

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In Issue 4, The Spectator incorrectly labeled Carrie Ou, instead of Sarah Chen, as the artist of the art for “A New Twist on a New Story”.

Opinions Reactions to the 2016 Presidential Election Matteo Wong, junior My mother, who has straight posture and green, sunny eyes, slouched back against the counter and gave the floor a dim, cold look. “In two years, you’ll be in college. But I can’t raise your sister in a country led by Donald Trump. If things begin to go badly, we’re moving to Italy.” Her face seemed to collapse. My mother, an immigrant, had reverted to her native Italian because she could not express her distress in English.

My mother, who suffered her first 23 years in Italy, was considering moving back to a nation where sexual violence was legal until 1996; a nation where she would be an outcast for marrying a Chinese man. My mother, a small business owner, was considering moving back to a nation whose economy is in shambles; a nation where young people flee in order to have a chance to start their own business.

Alec Dai, senior I noticed my white friends cried more than anyone else.

They were shocked and distraught while everyone else subconsciously knew not to expect much from America. For the first time, my white friends’ perfect worlds came crashing down. For the first time, the bigotry and ignorance were clear. But hateful America has always been here. This racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and overall hatred is nothing new to minority groups. While my white friends’ bubbles burst during this election, my bubble burst when I was five. The kids down the street rang the bell of our house and screamed out for us to go back to China. I learned not to expect much when my seven-months pregnant mother slipped and fell in a white neighborhood and no one helped her up. I stopped crying when a man spit on me telling me to stop acting like a fag in the middle of Washington Square Park just last month.

This election exposed what has always been there. America just took off the mask that minority groups have already seen through, and showed what it has always been.

Danny Akilov, senior Having a more conservative viewpoint in Stuyvesant’s liberal environment has always affected my relationships with fellow students and several teachers.

When I came to Stuyvesant, the stigma against conservative beliefs was constantly felt. How could I not believe in banning guns, Affirmative Action and universal healthcare? How evil must I be to think that taxing the wealthy and redistributing to the underprivileged is not a good economic plan?

Simply put, it’s just not cool. If you are young and a conservative, you have no heart.

These tensions were further magnified during the 2016 election season. Donald Trump, although not my ideal candidate, held many conservative viewpoints that resonated with me.

However, unlike for Bernie or even Hillary—who, interestingly enough, was never really liked at Stuyvesant, but rather settled for—you cannot outwardly go around wearing a Trump t-shirt or say you support him unless you want people giving you looks or teachers constantly challenging you for your beliefs.

I have many friends who, throughout this whole election process, were silent Trump supporters. They feared that if they talked to their friends about politics and their views, they wouldn’t be invited to that party, or that their whole reputation would be ruined.

This is the problem at Stuyvesant and really in the Country.

Liberals have won the cultural war. It is socially unacceptable to be a conservative or a Trump supporter, and if you do decide to voice your opinion, you’ll be labeled a racist, sexist, misogynist and a bigot. Rather than engage in conversation as to why liberal policies are the best path for America, there is this condescending atmosphere where liberals believe that they can never be wrong, and if you contest them, well, you’re just a horrible human being.

A simple scroll through your Facebook newsfeed after Trump won the election would give you a perfect example of this, where around 60 million people who voted for their candidate were instantly branded as dumb xenophobes. And this is the very reason Trump won.

The supposed “party of inclusion” included everyone except those who disagreed with them. And those who disagreed finally got up and spoke.

Blythe Zadrozny, junior I’ve always considered myself a pretty patriotic person. I know the stereotype of disrespectful, uncultured Americans, and I’ve read the statistics about how America lags behind much of the world in education. These things disturbed me, but I always came armed to those encounters with the memory of watching Obama’s inauguration speech in my elementary school gym, or with the knowledge I had picked up from the multiple presidential biographies that lined my shelves. I have always had extreme pride for the example America has set as a place for all people.

This election has changed that for me.

Imagining a man like Donald Trump pacing the Oval Office, a place many of the people I most admire have once occupied, makes me feel sick. I know we have had terrible presidents before, believe me, I’ve read about them. But this man, who represents the very parts of our country I believe are most in need of fixing, is by far the most troubling. My brother has spent the last decade of his life planning and preparing to become a diplomat. And when he called at 3 a.m. on November 9 to ask my parents if they thought he should change careers, that scared me the most. The fact that someone who believes his best use is representing our country can change his mind because he’s not sure what basic values he is representing anymore. Mr. Hanna spoke to my AP U.S. History class a few weeks ago and told us that even if you disagree with a president, your respect for the office itself overrules that. But with Trump, it just doesn’t. I’m worried if I’ll ever have the same respect for a president or our country again.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 17

Opinions Reactions to the 2016 Presidential Election Shaikat Islam, senior

Chie Helinski, Japanese teacher

Union Square was not very eventful between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. My friends, seniors Jason Mohabir, Ahmad Alnasser, and Atikur Rana, and I left the subway intending to protest the election of president-elect Trump and we looked at a park brimming with protestors and the spirit of “smug-liberalism.” Socialist movements were looking for more signatures on their petitions, tourists were walking around with their cameras, and small groups of friends (many unlike ours) were wondering whether or not to protest with those present at the event, or grab some food at the Farmer’s Market that was going on simultaneously.

At one point, a man dressed in a “NY Mafia” t-shirt began walking around the park, repeatedly thrusting his groin toward passers-by. A few minutes later, two seemingly anti-Trump protesters subdued the man, and gave up, allowing him to continue his own absurd protest of sorts.

Rhetoric of outrage was ever-present in the Square, but it took more than a quick look to actually gauge the ambience of tension. Many were taking advantage of the opportunity to sell shirts proudly portraying a rebuke of either candidate. Others were selling buttons. Safety pins were handed out in solidarity with minorities, the hatred of whom was legitimized by the election results. A chess game was played. The price for admission: voting.

Walking around the vicinity of Union Square was getting aimless, but a short while after hearing the complaints of Jason regarding the price of jerk chicken, I noticed an offshoot of the protesters actually starting to march. And we ran to catch up. Boy, did we run.

When we joined, the group had around 30 people. At the front were three individuals holding up two American flags, the stars replaced with a peace sign. The rest of the group was a medley of foreigners (nonNew Yorkers) and what we presumed to be a group of local high school girls who were very outspoken on women’s reproductive rights. And then there was us, four Stuyvesant students, all of us first-generation immigrants. A couple who left the protest group in its nascence gave us a sign and a marker; after that, the rest is history.

Well not really.

Fifth Avenue was our route and Trump Tower was our destination. Having some trouble coming up with our own slogan, our group came up with, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” and the rest of the crowd, which had grown much, much larger, responded back in unison. “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” turned into “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here,” and the four of us were proud.

Along the way, we encountered many other protesters, similar to us, absconding their shopping trips and their restaurant dates to join the crowd. When we reached the New York Public Library, I wondered whether or not our action of protest was legitimate or even worthwhile. Trump had become our president-elect regardless, and the eyes of the two gargoyle lions protecting the library stared at me.

When we reached St. Patrick’s Cathedral, many were praying in the halls of the magnificent neo-Gothic structure, and two elderly women raised their fists in support of our protest. I smiled. Along the way, doormen in elite fashion boutiques shook their heads in approval, and my grin widened. Here we were, surrounded by ever-present, saturated symbols of a material, capitalist world, and the counterculture was apparent not in the twenty-somethings walking around on their phones, but in the elderly. Jason, Ahmad, Atikur, and I couldn’t help but make references to the Civil Rights Movement and the antiwar movement in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

By the time we arrived at Trump Tower, it was nightfall. The crowd’s voice in combination with the haze of the orange streetlamps made for an intense, emotional scene. There was no apparent organization in the protestors’ chants, but medleys of references to pro-choice, Planned Parenthood, Rudy Giuliani, equality, and Black Lives Matter were all there, and our immigrant chant got a few shout-outs as well. Natural factions formed within the jumble of protesters—teens, the elderly, LGBTQ+, and others were apparent, but musicians were in full force. One coterie of musician-protesters featured a hijabi drummer and saxophonist—a hype man was also there in full force, laying down the beat for the rest of the crowd to follow in suit with references to Trump, immigration, and reproductive rights.

Organization was not the highlight of the protest. People shouted at us to march downtown and we spread the message, and at one point, anarchists had come into the mix and we were confounded by our options.

On one side of the street were the anarchists—on the other, were the original group we had led and followed before. We decided to march on the sidewalks—and not ruin the days of many others who might’ve been in an emergency situation. Some of the anarchists wanted to sit in front of traffic. It was hypocritical—after all, wouldn’t they be using the same buses that they sat in front of on Monday when they had to work or go to school? The NYPD quickly put an end to that and the bravado of the red and black flag subsided.

By 6 p.m., our protest found Park Avenue and we were marching along the buildings of the ultra-wealthy.

Police officers were following us along the side of the road, and a few were even recording us. After a while of getting frustrated at the lack of organization apparent within the protest, our group left the rest of the crowd, satisfied with the 40+ blocks we had walked. We were part of history.

The election result is devastating, depressing, and scary to me, and I am still not fully recovered from the shock.

But instead of blaming those who voted for Trump, I am willing myself to use this as a chance to think further about what it means to be American and what we can and must do to move on.

People say it’s only four years, but I just hope the environment will not be damaged beyond repair during that time.

Karen Chen, junior

Max Onderdonk, junior

My mother tells me, “This is the real America; accept it.” She treats it as if accepting that the real America is where my Muslim friend fears her commute to school because she wears a hijab, that the real America is where my Korean friend can be told to “go back to North Korea,” that the real America is where a teacher is okay with a student transforming a problem into how tall the Trump wall will be if Mexicans are trying to jump to America at an angle of 45 degrees. “Move on” has always been her mentality, but acceptance of defeat is one thing. Acceptance of the demoralization of a nation is another.

The results of the election didn’t really hit me until I got to school and heard people talking about it, and I realized everything was actually happening. I felt like I didn’t belong and that America wasn’t a safe place anymore. I began to lose faith in this country thought to be the home for everyone, as it became clear to me that a large part of the country I didn’t even know about was racist, sexist, and xenophobic. My family came here about 50 years ago for opportunity and they chose America because it was a place where everyone would be accepted. Today, I doubt if that is or ever was true.

Jenna Bawer, senior I’ve been trying to decipher how this came to be. We talked in our classes that maybe it was due to a silent majority afraid of being judged. Maybe it was how the government put him down, and everyone who hated the government wanted to bring him up to retort. Maybe people thought he was funny to watch. I used to laugh at him because I thought he would never be president, but now it isn’t funny because he might have power. I’m wondering what he’ll be able to get away with? Censor anything that he thinks isn’t fair to him? Deportation of Mexicans? Systematic labeling of Muslims? Conversion therapy for LGBT people? Defund Planned Parenthood? Would he take away my right as an autistic student to receive support for my mental health, considering he’s openly mocked disabled people? I hope he doesn’t actually follow through on everything he’s said, or at least is restricted by the other branches of government.

continued on page 18

Josina Dunkel, social studies teacher I am taken aback by this election. I heard from a friend of a friend that she voted with the distinction being dislike or distrust.

I realized I did the same. I disliked Hillary for her cronyism, pandering, and hawkishness. But I didn’t and don’t trust Donald because I can’t trust someone who is racist and sexist and xenophobic and petulant. I can’t see trusting him to lead a country with diversity. I can’t trust him to be diplomatic. I can’t trust him with military, political, or economic decisions which will have domestic and international decisions. But you could only trust him if you don’t feel like you will be carried out on a stretcher for protesting, or were not going to be stopped and frisked, or trusted that when he wanted to ban Muslims that didn’t mean you. But if you can imagine him reacting to the diversity in this country in ways the KKK would approve of, then I am not sure how you could trust him at all. Do we not all remember the poem? First they came for... empathy prohibits me from trusting that my white privilege insulates me from seeing his attacks on minorities as anything less than attacks on me.

Michelle Lai, sophomore “What did I expect? We’re just the minority,” my mother said sadly after it was clear that Trump was going to win. It was disheartening to see that her mood had completely changed from when she had gotten home that night from her trip to the voting booth, excited and hopeful that Hillary Clinton was going to break the glass ceiling. In less than 24 hours, she began to regret her decision of being politically active for the first time since she arrived in America from China. She wanted to live in a world where women could be treated equally and not be discouraged for pursuing their dreams; she wanted to prove to her mother that women can be strong and smart enough to lead a country. She wanted to end the sexism she had to deal with for over 40 years from strangers and people in her own family. But her faith in this country is only diminishing as the snide remarks from her colleagues at work and my own grandmother are becoming more painful to endure.

Arya Firoozan, senior For the most part, people at Stuyvesant have been generally accepting of the fact that I am a Trump supporter. I guess a lot of people at Stuyvesant are really passionate liberals, because, whenever it would come up that I support Trump, they would always try to convert me. Yet, it seems as if most people at Stuyvesant aren’t ignorant and realize that New York City is not a good representative of the U.S. For the most part, I tend to ignore my teachers’ political views because they are so liberal. Yet, I don’t really bring that up in class, not because I’m worried about my grades, but because politics is a topic that doesn’t come up in most classes. The day after the election, I found it hilarious that teachers actually did not come to school and that students began crying after Clinton’s defeat. I understand that they are passionate, but I definitely thought it was too much. If Trump had lost, I would’ve honestly been okay with it. I am passionate to a point that I supported him, but if he lost, then I would admit that his message didn’t reach enough people and that maybe the Republican Party should begin a shift towards attracting immigrants and younger voters.

Personally, I did not support Clinton because she came off as a liar, and she is a Washington insider, so I didn’t think anything would change for the better. I also really disliked the DNC’s treatment of Bernie Sanders and I feel as if the PACS and Super PACs really did him in there, when he could’ve been a stronger candidate. And lastly, I still don’t feel as if America is ready yet for a female leader. We’re in a perilous position right now with both Russia and China jockeying for power and I feel as if we need a strong leader, or at least a leader who gives off that aura, and I just thought that in this case, Clinton was not the best person for the job.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 18

Opinions Reactions to the 2016 Presidential Election continued from page 17

Anthony Valentin, social studies teacher For my personal reaction to the election results, I offer an edited version of a letter I wrote to my daughter on November 9. Then, for my professional expression, I offer how I countered the reaction of my students during my U.S. History class.

Personal Expression

Professional Expression

...Like you, I am not happy with the outcome of the election. Unlike you, I do believe that the dark cloud that hovers over our heads will move along. I have experienced an unfair amount of political turmoil in my life. I would go so far as to say that it makes this instance shrink in comparison.

Let’s look at a few of the biggies: • • • • • • •

Assassination of a sitting president. (JFK) Assassination of a historically significant American leader. (MLK, Jr.) Assassination of a promising American political leader in his youth (RFK).

The first ever resignation of a sitting president (for alleged crimes). (Nixon) The attempted assassination of another sitting president. (Ford) The near-fatal wounding of another sitting president in a failed assassination. (Reagan) I’ll leave out, for brevity; military losses, terrorist attacks, and disgraced political figures.

All these events elicited an emotional response from me that was similar to what you experienced last night. Some events were of such gravity that a deep fear existed that social unrest would overwhelm the nation and push us toward anarchy. Some no doubt considered taking their own lives, asking, “What is there to live for?” Well, there is much to live for as long as hope remains.

I’ve seen things that I thought I would never see. Wonderful things! Think about it for a moment: the LGBT, Latino, African American, and Feminist communities hold a position in our society that they were deprived of for most of my life.

Are things perfect? No. But, most of these great things happened after the calamities the nation endured.

Yes, you expect me, a history teacher, to draw parallels to our nation’s past. Well, that’s why we study history. Our Founding Fathers argued vociferously over conflicting viewpoints. But, they produced a wonder of human thought, like how Michelangelo’s “David” is a product of the hand. That statue has lasted for 500 years. Our government isn’t 300 years old yet, but it’ll be young people like you that will push this “experiment in governance” until the end of time. Leaders have agreed to have presidential term limits, checks and balances, state sovereignty, equal and proportional state representation, the Bill of Rights, and the most important of all checks on political power: your vote.

Please look at this recent campaign episode and the election results as symptoms of something ailing our democratic republic. There is plenty of blame to go around. But, this experiment has been 250 years in the making and we are tasked to extend it another 250 years. There are great things awaiting the nation, as long as you exercise the rights you were born with and do your civic duty. Do it for yourself, for your loved ones, and for countless future generations who will someday, thanks to you, be proud of The United States of America.

Love you very much, Dad

I had a plan to discuss the spiritual movement among Native Americans that emboldened them to confront US encroachment in the Midwest but could not forestall ultimate defeat at the battles of Fallen Timbers and Tippecanoe. Then, Election Day occurred, and my plans went out the window.

I had just finished writing a letter to my daughter, hoping to soothe her feelings. Now, I faced the prospect of 30 teenagers who may be similarly distraught, but significantly younger than my daughter. I knew that my students’ youth and my task to teach required a different approach.

I crafted a lesson integrating the disparity of the Stuyvesant election results with the national results.

I encouraged them to identify what may have caused the disparity and then look at the system that granted such a surprising result. To show that such divisiveness is NOT new to our nation, I offered a look at the 1860 election that preceded the most divisive (and destructive) period in our national history to date: The Civil War. My goal was to show that we have and, no doubt, will continue to have episodes like this. The “experiment” begun in 1776 continues nevertheless. My students, along with all citizens, have to be the scientists conducting the experiment.

My closing question of the lesson was “What can you take away from this comparison of the 2016 and 1860 election results?” A rather motivated student replied (paraphrased), “It’s onlyfour years. Things will change and they will be better if we keep trying as citizens.”

As long as we strive, the hope remains, the nation lives, and the great experiment continues.

Jonathan Mikhaylov, senior David Hanna, social studies teacher The bullying and bragging by Donald Trump during the campaign, along with the foul language and the encouraging of racist and sexist viewpoints, dragged our country down an ugly path. Now, his election to the White House seems to be an endorsement of those types of behaviors and views. I’m most concerned about small children, and what this is teaching them. I hope that as president Donald Trump will surprise everybody by rising above his lesser angels and conducting himself with the sort of dignity commensurate with the office. I think he’s capable of doing this.

Whether he will or not is an open question that many have already answered in their own minds. I think if he wants to have any hope of leading a unified country he will need to publicly and forcefully reject the bigotry of many of his supporters. On the other hand, those that claim he is not a legitimate president because he did not win the popular vote - though I sympathize with the anxieties they are feeling - need to recognize that, according to the Constitution, he won fair and square. Along with teaching me that it was wrong to bully and brag and to judge people because of their race or gender, my parents, grandparents, teachers, and coaches also taught me not to be a sore loser.

In my life, I can look back at times when I, in fact, acted like a bully or a braggart, or a sore loser. But I can also say that deep down I always knew it was wrong when I behaved that way. I like to think that I have grown and that I’m a better person now. What made me recognize that I needed to grow was what I was taught, and what I saw modeled around me by my elders. In my opinion, it’s not just Donald Trump who needs to reflect on what he is saying, but all of the rest of us that need to as well. The small children who are watching and listening to what is going on are going to grow up and become adults and citizens. If there was ever a time to live our values, it’s now. For them.

This, of course, doesn’t preclude taking a stand and protesting if that’s what you feel you have to do, but how you take a stand and protest is everything. Watching Donald Trump’s victory speech and seeing his young son on his left the whole time, I couldn’t help but hope that on some level Trump must be mindful of this too.

I stayed up the night of the election waiting for the news channels to announce that he won. I remember the minute they finally called it when my dad ran into my room, asking me if I saw. We watched Trump’s victory speech and went to sleep.

The next morning at school, everyone seemed very depressed. My Trump-supporting friends were ecstatic.

They wanted him to start his presidency right away. But basically everyone else was acting as if a huge tragedy had just struck the world.

I even saw a meme comparing 9/11 to 11/9, the day after Election Day, and I showed it to a friend, telling him it was insane that someone could even think to compare the events. That friend responded that 11/9 was way worse.

Personally, I thought everyone was overreacting. In my English class, which is full of Hillary supporters, everyone was talking about how it’s so crazy that most of our nation could want someone known for being racist and sexist as our president.

I just stayed quiet. Compared to most Trump-supporters, I am not very vocal about my views. I didn’t even vote in the school’s mock election.

Two days after the election, my friends and I had many arguments with students and teachers regarding the two candidates’ policies. Many teachers decided to talk about the election afterward, and how they couldn’t sleep the night Trump was elected. Some discussed how we got to this point in our country that so many people voted for such a bad candidate (compared to crooked Hillary). Others talked about how we basically need to fix people’s opinions so this doesn’t happen again in four years—while one of my friends was saying he thinks Trump will last for two terms.

I kept to myself during most of that time, except for a few arguments in the hallway. Honestly, it was partly out of fear that certain teachers would like me less or lower my grade for supporting someone who is such a villain in their minds.

I also didn’t want to lose most of my friends who are Hillary supporters and liberals, since they jump to conclusions and judge people really quickly without hearing them out. Overall, a lot of people, teachers and students, just make me feel like a bad person for having my own opinion and supporting Trump.

Peter Brooks, computer science teacher I came to North America as a young child, with my brother and parents. We were penniless refugees. Most, though not all, of my extended family had escaped the death camps and forced-labor camps of WWII, and those who could leave fled from a crushed revolution in Hungary. My family survived decades of persecution and bigotry before we left our home. Until now, we have felt safe in the U.S. – we never felt fear for ourselves and for those we know.

In this country the extent of ethnic violence has remained small due to the constant vigilance of citizens, some as volunteers and some for whom the work has become their job. Many of these citizens have seen, or are related to someone who has seen, its horrors elsewhere. The violence of ethnic hatred has remained relatively small here because of consistent pressure on our government and on law enforcement agencies to refuse to tolerate it.

This election has changed it all. Donald Trump has openly expressed and encouraged racist views and actions.

He has allowed Americans to blame their problems on Hispanics and their resentments on Muslims. He has encouraged Americans to give voice to the primal fear of “others.” He has planned to use the tremendous power of the state, the executive power of the presidency, to target and act against the ethnic groups he has named so far.

There are relatively few Hispanics and Muslims at Stuyvesant. We at Stuyvesant might feel buffered from Trump’s hate-mongering. But because I fear for them, I fear for us. We have seen what happens when the persecution of some is tolerated by those who are “safe,” we have seen what happens when the state directs unhappy citizens to vent their distress on specific groups. We have seen it Germany, in Sarajevo, in Rwanda, in Eritrea. What’s left of my family saw it in Hungary.

I urge you: do not think that this reaction is unwarranted hysteria.

We must fight against this. We must stand for tolerance, for kindness, if for no other reason than we may be next.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

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The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Arts and Entertainment Your Guide to Coney Island

By Paulina Klubok The Coney Island Boardwalk connects two drastically different neighborhoods: the iconic Coney Island and Brighton Beach, a reincarnation of Russia in New York. The boardwalk is known as a vibrant, bustling summer destination—the beach, the rides, all bursting with loud music and crowds of exhilarated tourists and locals alike. But when the weather gets cold, the rides close, and the crowds leave, it takes on a quiet, dreamy persona.

How It All Started

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

Once called “Coney Eylant” by the Dutch and used for grazing livestock Coney Island became a major tourist destination by the 1900s, with daily crowds of hundreds of thousands of visitors. It started with the opening of the grand Coney Island Hotel in 1829. In the 1870s, steam railroads replaced carriage and ferry rides and expedited travel from Manhattan to Coney Island. Hotels, restaurants, concert halls, games, and museums filled the streets. Coney Island screamed entertainment, literally. The first roller coaster in the U.S. opened in Coney Island in 1884.

The appeal of Coney Island was that it was casual and cheap, an escape from the rigid structures of society, particularly for working class women. Here, they could socialize with men, enjoy the beach in “scandalous” bathing suits, and have fun without worrying about propriety. The casual atmosphere of Coney Island gave way to some criminal activity, with sections of Coney Island morphing into centers of horse racing, gambling, drinking, and prostitution beginning in the 1870s.

Brighton Beach, named after the English Beach town, Brighton, was in competition with Coney Island.

It was known for the Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion and Ocean Pier, the lavish Brighton Beach hotel— which in 1889 hosted a luncheon for women’s rights led by Susan B. Anthony—and the famous Brighton Beach Music Hall. Horse-racing began in 1879 and was a major attraction, particularly for the wealthy.

In 1905, the Brighton Pike was built, which showcased famous performers, exotic animals, a steel roller coaster and featured a mile-long boardwalk.

However, when the racing tracks closed in 1908, the rich left, and they were replaced by middle-class Jewish families. The Brighton Beach Music Hall became a Yiddish theater in 1918 and the area quickly became residential.

Coney Island, on the other hand, entered its Golden Years in 1903 when three amusement parks opened. Dreamland was the last of Coney Island’s three big amusement parks. It featured Lilliputian Village, a wild animal show, scenic railways, a Japanese tea pavilion, the Hell Gate boat ride, and incubators.

Dreamland made Coney Island the largest amusement area in the nation from the close of the 19th century through the end of World War II. Grand openings followed: 1916 saw the the original Nathan’s Famous built, the Riegelmann Boardwalk was completed in 1923, and the Shore Theater in 1925. Coney Island was nicknamed the “People’s Playground.”

World War II had a profound effect on both neighborhoods. Russians began settling in Brighton Beach to escape the war and by the end of World War II. Mismanagement, loss of popularity, and social turmoil brought Coney Island into a downward spiral. Brighton Beach also became dangerous as families left and crime became rampant. However, when the Soviet Union loosened its immigration policies in the 1970s, thousands of Ukrainian Jews settled into Brighton Beach, earning it the name of “Little Odessa,” after a Ukrainian seaside city, and breathing new life and stability into the neighborhood. Coney Island has also recently rose up again after rebuilding the wildly successful Luna Park in 2010 and reopening the classic Thunderbolt in 2014.

What To Do

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

Coney Island winter is perfect for sightseeing and admiring the landmarks in their frozen former glory. See the Wonder Wheel (1918), the Cyclone (1927), and the towering Parachute Jump (1938), which stands as a remnant of Steeplechase Park and lights up at night. Have a photoshoot at some of these sights for guaranteed artsy photos. Walk down to the Steeplechase Pier at West 17th Street. If you go the end of the pier, you can experience the beauty of being surrounded by the frost waves.

Next to the Parachute Jump on W 19th Street is the Abe Stark Skating Arena, a quiet ice skating rink open for public skating on weekends from 1-2:20 p.m. Admission is $10, and it’s never too crowded, which makes for a great sport and lots of fun.

Russians, of course, do winter best, and Brighton Beach is the perfect place to witness that. Everyone’s fur hats and coats are just so uniquely Russian. Head to Boardwalk Billiards to play some pool, ping-pong, and arcade games. It’s $6 per hour and a great place to escape the cold for a few hours.

Head to the beach on January 1st to watch the Coney Island Polar Bear Club go for a swim in the ocean around West 12th Street. It’s joyous, exciting, and an event that gathers thousands of people from all over the world, swimmers and viewers alike.

Where To Eat

Notable Figures From Coney Island and Brighton Beach • • • • • • •

Novelist Joseph Heller Basketball player Stephon Marbury Real-estate developer Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father Actor Louis Gossett Jr. Mob boss Marat Balagula Comic book artist and co-creator of 1940s Captain America and 1960s the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Incredible Hulk Jack Kirby Longest active rabbi in America (1913-2009) David B. Hollander

Coney Island and Brighton Beach, in winter and summer alike, feature an array of dining options.

For a treat, stop by Williams Candy, a small, quaint sweets shop decked out in old-fashioned shades of red and yellow. Among their specialties are the famous candy apples and marshmallow treats. Williams Candy is a Coney Island icon that has been operating for 80 years.

Go to Ruby’s Bar and Grill, another historical food spot, for relaxed American cuisine. It’s the oldest bar and grill on the boardwalk, open since 1972, with much of the furniture and the walls and ceiling made from 1920s boardwalk wood.

Head left and step off the Boardwalk to explore the colorful and vibrant Brighton Beach, which you’ll know you’ve reached when the language of the signs around you switches from English to Russian.

As you walk, grab a warm pirozhok, a fried bun with a variety of fillings inside, for $1.50 from one of the outdoor stands. The best ones are the potato, for a rich savory flavor, or the poppy seed, if you’re craving something sweet.

Stop by the appropriately named Taste of Russia or Gold Label on Brighton 3rd for a rich selection of Russian foods. Try a classic Russian dessert like oreshki, crisp walnut-shaped cookies with creamy filling inside. Maybe go for slices of Napoleon cake, made up of flaky, buttery layers of dough with custard cream inside. Towards the back of the store are salads and meats, like olivye salad, diced potatoes, peas, and salami, and cutlets served cold.

If you find yourself at the end of Brighton, stop by Gourmanoff Supermarket inside the Master Theater. It’s the super lavish, Russian version of Whole Foods. It has an endless array of foods from all pockets of Russian culture, with all labels written in English. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, the windows are covered in drawings of flowers, and the old-time lampposts standing throughout give the stunning place a storybook feel.

The boardwalk in the winter has a melancholy, deserted charm that is a stark contrast from its bubbly summer vibe. The almost ghostly nature of a beach out of season is so lovely. So this winter, grab a camera and some friends and explore the wonders of a frozen boardwalk.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

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Arts and Entertainment The Decline of Disney Channel

By Thomas chen It may just be childhood nostalgia speaking, but modern Disney Channel TV shows seem worse than the older ones. More recent programs like “Dog With a Blog” just feel subpar compared to classics like “Hannah Montana,” both in terms of creative plot lines and interesting characters. But it’s not just me—according to Nielsen Ratings, Disney’s average daily number of viewers ages 2-11 has declined from over 900,000 in 2013 to around 700,000 in 2015. And there are two major reasons for this: Disney Channel is not as engaging as it used to be, nor is it as vocal about social issues.

Besides the bland humor in recent shows (one character insults another for not being very bright, followed by the overused laugh track), the first main issue with Disney Channel is that its shows are becoming less relatable for viewers.

Take “Hannah Montana.”

Even though the plot focuses on a typical teenage girl, Miley Cyrus, who lives a double life as a pop star, kids and tweens are still able to understand Miley’s conflicts with school, romance, etc.

Television Review of Netflix Original

“Haters Back Off ”

Because, at the heart of the show, “Hannah Montana” is just about a girl who is still learning about real life and wants to live life to its fullest with her friends and family at her side.

On the other hand, most modern Disney Channel programs are much more onedimensional, such as “Liv and

In addition, Disney Channel is no longer as open as it once was when it comes to the underlying messages beneath their shows.

In old Disney Channel, current and controversial problems were actually addressed. “That’s So Raven” episode “True Colors” has protagonist Raven investigate a possibly racist manager

Because at the heart of the show, “Hannah Montana” is just about a girl who is still learning about real life and wants to live life to its fullest, with her friends and family at her side.

Maddie,” which simply stars two twin sisters—one who is athletic and one who is a celebrity—with a rehashed plotline, basically reusing ideas from “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” or “Sister, Sister.” With most episodes focused heavily on sisterhood, and such flat characters, a large number of viewers don’t find it as easy to connect with as a show like “Hannah Montana.”

who Raven thinks did not hire her due to her being black. And “Hannah Montana” episode “It’s the End of the Jake As We Know It” features a character who cheats on Miley with another girl.

Both shows were about real life situations, and Disney Channel was not afraid to teach viewers that these issues are unacceptable by harshly punishing the characters.

Miranda’s YouTube Jokes Should Stay on YouTube

By victoria huang She’s loud. She’s hilarious.

She wears red lipstick so thick it makes her look like a clown.

She talks funny, and she claims to know how to sing. Her name is Miranda Sings.

Colleen Ballinger, who plays Miranda, a character that is supposed to portray a parody of a bad YouTuber, started her channel on YouTube back in 2008, where she would dress up as the comedic personality and film herself doing pointless things.

They included offkey covers and nonsensical rants, yet her YouTube channel has still rapidly grown. She currently has over seven million subscribers.

Now, Ballinger takes on the television industry with “Haters Back Off,” (a reference to what Miranda says when someone sends her rude comments) an eight-episode Netflix Original Series. With her overconfidence, boldness, and Uncle Jim’s “fivephase plan for achieving fame,” Miranda embarks on a not-sograceful journey to stardom.

“Haters Back Off” is the jocular story of how Miranda Sings becomes famous. It follows her and her family, which has to deal with Miranda’s obnoxiousness and obliviousness. The family includes the overexcited uncle (Steve Little), who works at a fish store and is obsessed with helping Miranda become famous, the sad mom (Angela Kinsey), who tries too hard to please her daughter and has an abundance of awkward moments, and the realistic and cynical sister, Emily (Francesca Reale), who seems to be the only one in the family in the right state of mind. Mix in Miranda’s next door neighbor, Patrick (Erik Stocklin), who has a not so subtle crush on her, and you have the chaotic world of Miranda Sings.

The first episode opens with Miranda filming her first video,

Meanwhile, recent Disney Channel programs attempt to teach viewers not to cause trouble, but not as directly. In “I Didn’t Do It,” the main five protagonists usually end up getting into trouble by doing something like hiding things from others.

However, the protagonists don’t always face a punishment worthy

a cover of “Defying Gravity,” which she immediately uploads to YouTube, hoping to achieve instant internet fame. She mistitles it “My Fist Video,” and that is just one example of the series’ immense range of bad jokes and obvious innuendos.

On YouTube, one-liners worked for Miranda. They were short and got to the point, like most of her videos. However, for a television show, those oneliners just don’t have the same effect.

For example, in the first episode, Miranda panics because she receives her first hate comment and interprets it as a death threat.

At that moment, her mother brings in weiner snacks, to which Miranda r e -

Carrie Ou / The Spectator

plies in agony, “Oh my god, I’m so stressed! I’m stress-eating weiners!” I didn’t laugh. I cringed.

YouTube is just different from television. You could watch Miranda’s videos for a few minutes and that would be enough comedy for the day.

But can you sit down and watch a delusional character talk with a nasally voice for half an hour? There’s only so many offkey moments, amateurish

jokes, awkward silences, and cringey moments you can take before wanting to bang your head against a wall.

Also, “Haters Back Off” lacks an intriguing plot. Most of the episodes have empty jokes without destination or meaning, followed by an uncomfortable silence. And when there is some sort of substance––like when Emily tells Miranda that she has no talent and is an embarrassment, but proceeds to comfort her after––it’s cliché and even more uncomfortable to watch than the jokes.

Perhaps the only memorable part of this series is how Ballinger personifies Miranda. When Ballinger first introduced this series, she had a big challenge in front of her. How was she supposed to make this joke of a character turn into something someone can watch for 30 minutes?

To overcome this, she commits to Miranda, and it shows.

She puts all her efforts in embodying Miranda’s fiery personality in a way that makes it look like Miranda is a real person instead of a character.

Her mouth droops, her eyebrows always wiggle around, and she’s always slouching. Her clothes are always bright and a little too big for her body.

Even the way she walks embodies Miranda’s persona.

“Haters Back Off” is a daring leap for Ballinger, but unfortunately, it falls short. Miranda’s five-minute videos on YouTube are funny, witty, and entertaining, but 30 minutes of it turns out to be a drag.

The fact that Ballinger has released her own television series may look encouraging to hopeful YouTubers. But if they are planning shows anything like “Haters Back Off,” perhaps they are better off staying in their rooms.

of their actions—in the episode, “The New Guy,” the five protagonists attempt to get rid of a new friend who turns out to be annoying through lying, and as a result, end up going skydiving. This may not even be deemed as a punishment to some, and viewers may think they should use deceit and defiance for the sake of finding an easy way out of problems and being “cool,” which is exactly the

Music Review of “Remember Us

To Life”

By lena farley

opposite message of what Disney Channel wants to teach.

And it’s not just Disney Channel that seems to be suffering.

According to Nielsen Ratings, Nickelodeon’s average number of daily viewers ages 2-11 have dropped from over 1,200,000 in 2010 to under 700,000 in 2015.

Lack of interest in content plays a great part in this, as kids are instead opting for other forms of entertainment such as YouTube.

Of course, that’s not to say that all of modern Disney Channel TV programs are deteriorating. Shows like “Good Luck Charlie” and “Girl Meets World” still follow the Disney Channel style of teaching lessons to both characters and viewers, with “Good Luck Charlie” episode “Down a Tree” even supporting LGBT+ rights through featuring a lesbian couple, a first in Disney history.

And with the upcoming spinoff for “That’s So Raven” being planned, perhaps Disney Channel’s content will become as deep and relatable as it once was. Hopefully it does, because it’s important that the younger and future generations are able to watch and learn through the lives and real problems of childhood TV characters.

An Album to Remember

“It’s like forgetting the words to your favorite song/ You can’t believe it/ You were always singing along.” This is a line from “Eet,” one of Regina Spektor’s most popular songs, and though the lyrics may be applicable to other musicians, they’re definitely not applicable to Spektor.

She does not speak forgettable songs.

Regina Spektor, the singer and songwriter of “You’ve Got Time,” the theme song of the hit show “Orange is the New Black,” is one of today’s most talented songwriters. Born in the Soviet Union and having lived there until she was nine, her lyrics often discuss her childhood, along with a slew of other topics. With her clear mezzo-soprano voice, she allows emotion to ring through every word, preaching through her songs and transforming her music into something completely different from current pop music.

Happily for Spektor fans, she came out with a new album titled “Remember Us To Life” on September 30, 2016.

“Remember Us To Life” is unlike any of her previous albums, all of which have been made up of very classical, slow-ballad songs.

Although this album does include a few classical songs, with her voice accompanied only by a piano, it includes many other styles of music from jazz to pop.

In “Tornadoland,” jazz elements emerge near the end of the song, where the piano is combined with scat singing, a style of singing in a quick, staccato beat.

On the other hand,“Bleeding Heart” has a pop sound to it during the chorus, and unlike most of her other songs, has background music fueled by the

pounding of a drum.

Her lyrics are buried with meaning, often making semicontroversial statements about society. In “The Trapper and the Furrier,” she says “What a strange, strange world we live in/ Where the good are damned and the wicked forgiven,” condemning the justice system and the way people are often born into the most unfortunate circumstances. In “Small Bill$,” she implies that consumerism has caused people to be unable able to buy what they need because they spend so much on unnecessary things, describing the story of a man who “had spent it all but didn’t even feel it.”

Her memorable lyrics combined with her talented voice and her medley of music styles definitely make her different

Rachel Zhang / The Spectator

Thinkpiece

from today’s cookie-cutter pop stars.

However, because Spektor’s style is so unique, patience is needed at a first listen. Wait out the beginning; “Remember Us to Life” is the perfect combination of chill music to study to and catchy music to jam to on your walk to the subway. Remember that not all her songs are for everyone, but her variety is what is so great about her music, as it gives everyone something to love.

Page Page 22

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Arts and Entertainment The Classical Pieces We Forgot to Love By cosmo coen

You think you know classical music. You’ve heard many different pieces here and there—walking down the street, in public establishments, maybe on the subway played by those people with their instrument cases open for tips. These pieces are everywhere.

Yet it’s only a few pieces that are everywhere. Why aren’t we hearing the other 99 percent of classical music? This question has puzzled me for ages.

There are a few very famous pieces that everyone knows: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2. This list will go on––but not infinitely, and the end of this list unfortunately marks the end of the classical music library in the general public’s brain. But why those specific pieces? What makes them so special?

Why do we regard them as masterpieces?

When you break it down, you have to think about what gets into the public’s brains very easily. The theme must be catchy, of course, but there’s plenty of unknown catchy music out there. I’ve been humming Liszt’s Jeux d’Eaux a la Villa d’Este all week, but I’m sure that most people have but a clue as to what I just said. Asides from mere catchiness, there has to be something more to this story.

I presented this problem I had to my wonderfully intelligent piano teacher, Miyoko N. Lotto. She responded, “There are two key features the public is looking for in a masterpiece: structure and appeal.”

“Structure is simple,” she said. “If it’s a nocturne, it’s gotta be a nocturne. If it’s a sonata, it’s gotta be a sonata. None of this weird improvisatory thing that some composers do.

That doesn’t create a masterpiece.” A piece has to keep to its form. If the composer writes at the top of the score that it is a sonata, it must have three or four movements and follow the conventional sonata form.

“Appeal is the most important thing,” she said. “The composer has to write about what they’re best at. Here’s a good example.” Starting to play the Moonlight Sonata, she said, “Beethoven writes about human struggles. He writes about our pain, and not just his pain.”

She continued, “Listen to this agitation, this deep sadness, something many can relate to.

He writes for us. And this sonata really showcases his ability to relate to humankind.”

Listening to my teacher, I felt that I understood music a bit better. However, I think that there is a bit more to the plot that I don’t think anyone knows. There are so many possible explanations for what makes pieces popular or unpopular: maybe it has to do with the financial, social, and emotional standing of the composers at the time of composition, and if it was able to be published. Maybe the composer was deathly ill and couldn’t get the music out to the world. We shouldn’t let these unfortunate events stop us from listening to great pieces that the public has ignored. Here are five listening recommendations to expand your classical music mental library.

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 12 Variations on “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” (1781): Overrated but Underplayed What better place to start than probably the single most famous song/aria/piece in the entire world? Twinkle twinkle is an ever-popular, immortal little thing, and was originally a French song, “Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman,” which is roughly translated to “Ah, shall I tell you, mother?” This piece has been around for ages, and Mozart, being the genius he is, picked up this song and made 12 variations on them.

It’s nothing virtuosic, nothing too hard, but certainly cute and definitely fun.

Unfortunately, outside the classical music realm, no one knows that there even is a set of 12 variations on this piece. It confuses me, and also professional musicologists, why variations by the most famous composer on the most well-known and perfect theme are virtually unheard of.

2. Franz Liszt: 12 Transcendental Etudes, S. 139 (1852): The Beauty and the Beast The single greatest set of short pieces ever composed, in my opinion, is commonplace in the classical music world, but not known at all by the general public.

These pieces, although called etudes (studies for technique), are not really etudes.

They are tone poems, explorations in what the piano can physically portray and produce.

The 12 pieces cover every human emotion possible: the deliciously short but wild No. 1, a furiously spinning No. 2, a placid and truly masterful No. 3, an epic, sprawling and unimaginably passionate No. 4, the legendarily difficult and almost invisible No. 5, a somber, depressing, yet cathartic No. 6, the pompous, glimmeringly coy No. 7, the searing, white-hot but also humorous No. 8, the wistfully, sorrowfully beautiful No. 9, the intense, dramatic and expansive No. 10, the mysterious, climactic and cinematic No. 11, and the impressionistic masterpiece No. 12.

These pieces are the hallmark of composition. They are radically different and interesting harmonically; they’re everything you could want from a piece. The only reason they haven’t made their way to the public is their astounding difficulty. These etudes are feared by the creme de la creme of pianists. As someone who is currently working on No. 5, I can assure you that Liszt wasn’t kidding when he said that these etudes were “transcendental.” These are seriously hard, and therefore, unfortunately deprived of the love they deserve.

Alex Lin / The Spectator

3. Cesar Franck: Violin Sonata in A Major (1886): Underloved but not Underplayed It’s an incredible piece, one that expresses the extremes of human emotion. It makes not an ounce of sense why this piece is currently in its state: neglected and only known by people who play the violin.

The first movement is one of the most sublime things ever written. It’s unbelievably colorful, rich, decadent, and you’ll be close to tears when you hear it for the first time. It builds to some earth-shattering climaxes, and is filled to the brim with complex harmonic changes, thus making it slightly difficult to listen to if you don’t have an ear attuned to Romantic music. The second movement is fiery, stormy, and impetuous. It is also unexpectedly difficult for both the pianist and the violinist.

The third movement is a recitative, allowing the violinist to show off creativity and technique while the pianist provides a luscious backdrop. The fourth movement is a textbook, yet incredibly beautiful example of canonic writing. The pianist plays an incredible melody, and the violinist follows a measure later, with the instruments “chasing” each other throughout the entire piece. I get very angry every time I think about how this piece is so unloved, but remember the two things that create a masterpiece? This sonata does not follow the strict sonata form. The first movement is at a moderate pace, contrary to the normal quick first movement, and it also has a recitative movement, which is radically different. As unfair as it is, this piece is simply not made to be a masterpiece. But that doesn’t matter. Listen to it! Love it! It must be loved! Go! Now!

4. Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major (1931): Loved––but not by the public Ah, Ravel’s concerto. What many pianists consider “everyone’s favorite concerto,” this piece is fascinating and bubbly. It opens with what sounds like, and actually is, a whip, and in comes the piano with a highly dissonant background as a snare drum and a piccolo introduce the main theme, which is one of my favorite melodies. After a short interlude, the orchestra springs to life and the theme is repeated by the trumpet, and shortly after, the music dies down and the pianist gets a chance to introduce a slower, dreamy second theme.

This first movement lasts around nine minutes, and is full of funny, interesting, and gripping modulations and twists. Then comes an incredible second movement, with a piano playing the theme alone, which is very unusual.

This sublime theme goes on for three whole movements before the orchestra is reintroduced. It is again, filled with interesting modulation and above all, a peaceful atmosphere.

This sublimity is broken suddenly with percussive chords played as loud as possible by the orchestra. This marks the beginning of the short but very active last movement. The pianist here gets almost no break from continuous, fast, and difficult playing. Overall, this concerto is incredible, and definitely gets the appreciation it deserves within the classical music world. But this concerto deserves more than that. If this piece were introduced to the outside world, it would definitely be a crowd-pleaser.

5. Maurice Ravel: Tzigane for Violin (1924): Stunning, and a little too much so As a pianist, I find it very hard to admit this, but I must say it: I wish I was a violinist just to play this piece.

Tzigane is the French word for “gypsy,” and this piece is inspired by classic gypsy music, while not using any true gypsy themes. It’s scored for the violin and a piano, which comes in halfway through the piece. It has everything that could possibly give a violinist nightmares: harmonics, long octave stretches, tremolos, and much more. This volatile piece will take your breath away, and also surgically implant a melody into the depths of your brain. It is one of the single most influential violin pieces, as well as one of the most difficult.

The piece is a bit too much, however. It is so full of technical difficulties that people don’t see the beauty in it. But this is not entirely Ravel’s fault. People forget that Ravel isn’t so concerned with difficulty qua difficulty, but in trying to make the most beautiful music, he must make it difficult. This restricts the number of people that try and shoot for the stars with this piece, and those brave and daring souls that do attempt this legendary piece often don’t do so well with it.

As a result, it isn’t so well known. However, this does not mean it’s not a great piece. It is an incredible crowd-pleaser and a real test of a musician’s patience. I promise that you have nothing to lose in listening to this piece, except maybe your sanity for about three days because of the melody being stuck in your head. But that doesn’t matter, does it?

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 23

Arts and Entertainment Music Review of “Joanne”

Lady Gaga’s latest album “Joanne” may be her best to date.

Following the disappointing experimental and self-described avant-garde album, “Artpop” (2013), expectations were set high for “Joanne.” From start to finish, it becomes evident that the album surpasses its lofty expectations.

Gaga doesn’t take the same risks on “Joanne” that she has in previous efforts, and instead, showcases her exceptional skills as a songwriter and musician.

Rather than attempting to make a statement by challenging the conventions of pop music as she has done before, Gaga takes a different approach in her latest album by tempering her iconoclastic nature and incorporating her personal storytelling.

While “Joanne” is distinct from Gaga’s previous projects in several ways, it notably exemplifies some of her signature qualities that have

helped her achieve great success as a musician in the past. Gaga’s vocal ability is one of the album’s strengths and is particularly apparent in the leading single “Million Reasons.” Her seamless transitions between the choruses and bridges, accompanied with her soothing voice, are what makes “Million Reasons” so memorable.

Another defining quality of Gaga’s music present in the album is her ability to experiment with different genres. The lack of homogeneity in style in “Joanne” widens the appeal of the album to listeners with varying tastes. Gaga’s collaborations with several artists, such as Josh Homme and Beck, contribute to the album’s diversity. “Diamond Heart” and “John Wayne” incorporate elements of rock and implement Homme’s guitar riffs to create energetic choruses. Beck’s influence in the dance track “Dancin’ in Circles” is apparent through the fusion of funk and reggae, genres Gaga is

Thinkpiece By chelsea cheung As a little girl, I loved going to the circus show “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The clowns were a mustsee. Like everybody else watching the show, I would smile and applaud for the endless colorful scarf that came from the inside of their jackets and all the other slapstick humor that played out.

However, that playful image of clowns is almost completely obscured in many people’s minds.

As they don’t remember the circus clowns from their childhood, the first notion of clowns that comes to mind is the grotesque killer clown depicted extensively in the media.

The line between the popularized killer clown and the circus clown has been blurred, and many people have not yet recognized how this negative perception of clowns have affected the professional clowning community.

The killer clown image has been recently fueled with the growing number of clown sightings.

This gruesome trend started in many suburban communities in the southern United States in late August. Under the pretense of being clowns, people terrorized small towns. These terrorizers, most of the time teenagers, stand alone on a road at night dressed as killer clowns, often after publicly announcing on their Twitter or Instagram page that they will be “invading” a particular area.

Even if they are just pranksters and are disarmed (in most cases, they are), they nevertheless induce fear in the townspeople. These

not typically associated with.

Gaga’s knack for producing catchy hits makes its return in this

Angel Zheng / The Spectator

album after disappearing in “Artpop.” “Perfect Illusion” is a throwback to some of Gaga’s most well

known dance tracks such as “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.” “A-YO” is a fun and light-hearted track with an annoyingly catchy chorus and beat.

In addition to the variety of catchy pop songs, Joanne is also a deeply personal album in which Gaga’s storytelling abilities come to light. While not as popular as some of the other tracks, “Joanne” is a powerful combination of Gaga’s vocal prowess and songwriting abilities. The track’s frequently repeated lyrics “Girl, where do you think you’re going?” are executed in a way that only Gaga can accomplish through her distinct vocal timbres. The lyrics allude to the passing away of Gaga’s aunt Joanne (the namesake of the album) and reflect the somber tone of the song. The song grapples with the theme of death and its inevitability and focuses on Gaga’s inseparable bond with Joanne. The emotionally heavy lyrics, “I promised I wouldn’t say goodbye/ So I

grin and my voice gets thin” reveal how much Gaga has thematically matured as a songwriter.

Joanne’s greatest triumph is that, despite the wide variety of styles it employs, it manages to maintain a simplicity that was devoid in Gaga’s other albums. “Born This Way” (2011), a homage to the glam rock and metal era of the ’80s, established Gaga’s reputation as an audacious and unpredictable artist. Gaga’s intention of elevating pop music into a “high art” form in “Artpop” (2013) only furthered this reputation. Even Gaga’s debut album “The Fame” (2008), which spawned multiple hit singles, was an unoriginal effort that encompassed a variety of cliché pop themes such as promiscuous sex, drugs, and partying.

“Joanne” does not attempt to be too many different things at once, and its simplicity highlights the deeply personal effort from Gaga and her aptitude for songwriting.

How Killer Clowns Have Hurt the Clowning Community Theater

threats have caused massive riots and calls-to-arm and have caused many schools, especially in Florida, to go into lockdown.

However, today’s negative connotations and fear surrounding clowns do not trace far back into clowning history; they arose in the 1980s.

Famous movies such as Stephen King’s “It” (1990) played a large part in spreading the image of the psychotic, knife wielding monster clown. In the movie, Pennywise is a duplicitous clown who lures children into death traps.

Many speculate that Pennywise inspired this trend of people terrorizing towns as clowns, since the first of these reports was a clown luring children into the woods in South Carolina.

More killer clown images have been perpetuated by recent blockbusters such as “The Dark Knight” (2008). The crazed clown, The Joker, is chased down by the hero, Batman. The Joker is known for his Glasgow smile, black rimmed eyes, wild green hair, and his creation of chaos.

Successful television franchises like “American Horror Story” do the same. In their 2014 Freakshow season, mentally-handicapped Twisty the Clown plays a serial killer, while wearing a terrifying mask only on the bottom-half of his face.

With the increasing usage of this horrifying depiction of clowns in the media and in the news, it is easy to say that it has not been a good year for clowns. The killer clown craze has not only taken its toll on these teenagers and towns

Catherine Joh / The Spectator

By william hong

Joanne, A Simple Triumph

in the south, but also on their polarized opposites too: professional circus clowns.

The recent terrorization has forced McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald to keep a low profile, and most of his booked appearances have been canceled. The backlash in the media also has caused many professional clowns to quit their jobs. Membership of the World Clown Association (WCA), an organization that serves as a union for professional clowns, has decreased by almost one-third

from 2004 to 2014.

Before the American clown craze, clowns were not this alienated from society or seen as monsters. Family friendly clowns, such as Bozo the Clown in the interactive “The Bozo Show” (1960) and Clarabell in “Howdy Doody” (1960), were the popular image of clowns in the sixties. The image of friendly circus clowns does not show up in abundance today. Their hire for circus shows and birthday parties has gone down dramatically.

The decline in opportunities

for clowns has instigated anger.

President Glenn Kohlberger of Clowns of America International, a clown club similar to the WCA, asserts that they “do not support in any way, shape or form any medium that sensationalizes or adds to coulrophobia or ‘clown fear.’” And Shimko, a local clown from Canal Fulton, Ohio, pointed out, “Just because someone wears a rubber Halloween mask, that does not make one a clown.”

Circus clowns such as Shimko struggle to separate themselves from the people using clown masks as a scaring tool. The clowning industry is declining not only due to audience members feeling frightened and not wanting to see them anymore, but also to clowns themselves leaving due to media-driven disrespect.

Though it is hard for some to see the professional clowning community’s predicament as serious, it has to be recognized that future generations of young children will be surrounded by the false stigma of clowns being mass murderers or unstable. Professional clowns have long been an integral part of the entertainment industry and provided laughter during performances and social situations. The stigma should not deprive children of that experience.

It is not a requisite for all people to like clowns. But by respecting them, we can help preserve their jobs of entertaining kids at birthday parties and making children smile at least a little at the “Greatest Show on Earth,” like they did for me and many others in their childhood.

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The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 24

Arts and Entertainment Get a Life: The Cultured Edition

Events Calendar ONGOING

30

wednesday

25

Art Show “Agnes Martin” @ The Guggenheim Museum

Viewing “Rockefeller Tree Lighting” @ Rockefeller Center

friday

Television Premiere “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” @ Netflix

Art Show “Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney Collection” @ The Whitney Museum Musical “Vietgone” @ City Center Stage I until 11/27/2016 Art Show “Something in the Wind: Ree Morton” @ Alexander and Bonin Art Show “The Shape of Things: Photographs from Robert B. Menschel” @ The Museum of Modern Art

december

november

Play “Dead Poets Society” @ Classic Stage Company Musical “Sweet Charity” @ Signature Theatre Company Play “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” @ Radio City Music Hall Play “SWEAT” @ The Public Theater Opera Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida” @ Metropolitan Opera

Crossword

23

2

wednesday

Film Screening “Moana” @ Select Theaters Film Screening “Rules Don’t Apply” @ Select Theaters

friday

28

monday

Fair “Winter’s Eve at Lincoln Square” @ Dante Park

Festival “Fort Hamilton Holiday Market & Tree Lighting Spectacular” @ Fort Hamilton MWR

Good Gravy, Another Crossword!

ACROSS

DOWN 1. Favorite post-meal activity 3. What everyone will be complaining about (no, not Trump) 4. Creepy orange gourd (no, not Trump) 5. Usually, the President offers a(n) ______ to the turkey 6. Main thanksgiving course 8. Beloved American sport 10. Landed in Massachusetts Bay 11. Turkey filling 13. Horn of plenty 14. how immigrants first got to the New World

Answers Across 2. JAMESTOWN 5. PARADE 7. MAIZE 9. CHESTNUTS 12. CRANBERRY 13. COLUMBUS 15. VACATION 16. PILGRIMS Down 1. NAPPING 3. TRAFFIC 4. PUMPKIN 5. PARDON 6. TURKEY 8. FOOTBALL 10. PURITANS 11. STUFFING 13. CORNUCOPIA 14. MAYFLOWER

2. 1607 5. Macy’s Day ______ 7. Another term for corn 9. _________ Roasting on an Open Fire 12. Grows in bogs 13. An increasingly controversial figure, he sailed the ocean blue in 1492 15. Two days off yassssss 16. Separatist immigrants who founded colonies in America

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 25

Arts and Entertainment The Rousing Chaperone

STC Review

of “The Drowsy

Chaperone”

The Photo Department / The Spectator

By Danielle Eisenman and Liam Elkind The lights in the Murray Kahn Theater dimmed to a blackout.

The pre-show announcements were made in the dark, and then a shadowy figure emerged in front of the curtain and sat down in a patterned armchair.

Moments passed on the pitchblack stage, and then the figure spoke. “I hate theater,” he said. He continued to speak in the complete darkness as the audience sighed, recognizing the Stuyvesant Theater Community’s (STC) penchant for missed cues.

“When are they going to turn on the lights?” the figure said, just as the stage lit up to reveal senior Dennis Ronel. Ronel’s character, “Man in Chair,” introduced the audience to his favorite musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

He pulled out a recording of the show. As he dropped the imaginary needle on the imaginary record, the theater’s sound system crackled to life with oldtimey swing that seamlessly faded into a live arrangement coming from the band pit.

The transition into the Jazz Age world of “The Drowsy Chaperone” was complete when the curtain opened to reveal a simple, but elegant set of salmon-colored wallpaper with delicate golden accents painstakingly painted by the art crew directed by seniors Lauren Moy and Jasmine Zhang. Other set highlights included handpainted landscape scenes behind Man in Chair and the sequined mess that was the “Drowsy” recording’s record sleeve, provided by the props crew directed by senior Sydney Dlhopolsky.

The intentionally misleading, but cleanly executed opening set the tone for the rest of the STC’s fall musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” performed on the nights of November 2, 4, and 5. The musical, a parody of 1920s musicals, follows an old man, Man in Chair

(Ronel), as he listens to a recording of his favorite musical, all the while providing wry commentary and revealing sad slivers of his own life story. As he vicariously experiences the events unfolding in “The Drowsy Chaperone,” its characters come alive and reenact the show. (Man in Chair serves as the show’s grounding force. The characters in “Drowsy” are so over-the-top that Ronel’s gentle and slightly pathetic portrayal of Man in Chair feels like a comforting return to reality. Ronel’s dad joke delivery is so precious that you look forward to his interruptions.)

The recording is about the upcoming wedding between Broadway star Janet Van De Graaff (senior Jessica Sparacio) and her wealthy fiancé Robert Martin (junior Travis Tyson). Tyson is known for his incredible energy. His goofy antics are a welcome respite from the mundane aspects of some shows. Tyson was, once again, a powerful humorous force. However, in “Drowsy,” Tyson was met with an equally talented cast.

This production was made particularly special by each actor’s commitment to his or her character. For example, there was an obliviousness to the peculiarity of Sparacio’s emotional ballad about a “monkey on a pedestal.”

Rather than playing the most ridiculous scenes like a comedy, directors, senior Enver Ramadani and junior Garrett Hall, molded the show to have a melodramatic structure, which made it even more hilarious.

Sparacio brought over-thetop charm and vivacity to her portrayal of Janet. Her solos were powerful, both vocally and emotionally. She and Tyson played off each other well by flaunting their flamboyant flairs, and their kiss was simultaneously intense and adorable.

In addition, she acted as a foil to senior Nadia Filanovsky’s eponymous character and Man in

Chair’s favorite, the Drowsy Chaperone. Filanovsky presented her character as a looser (and more inebriated) chaperone of the bride. Filanovsky’s easy and sultry vocals were stunning. She sounded as if she came straight out of the Jazz Age, singing and speaking with vintage-sounding vocal inflections. Her character’s slightly messy, but tasteful beauty was enhanced with various costume elements, like the feather headpiece, the bright red boa jacket embellished with golden buttons, and the white suit she wore in place of a traditional wedding gown.

“Drowsy” is mostly interactions between small groups of people. The show was at its best when the relationships between characters were most developed.

Senior Winston Venderbush (also executive producer for the show, with the help of senior and backstage coordinator Vicky Wu) and freshman Emily Rubenstein portrayed two gangsters, disguised as friendly bakers, plotting to ruin the wedding. Their height difference was immediately apparent: Venderbush stands at a menacing six-foot-one (“and a half,” he assures me), while Rubenstein is at least a six inches shorter. Their sinister plans for torturing Broadway producer Feldzieg—which are often inundated with food puns (“chop the nuts, pound the dough”)—are only made weirder by their physical differences.

Rubenstein was just one of many precociously talented freshmen in the cast. Freshman Adrian Dickson, who played Martin’s best man, was particularly impressive.

His charisma, goofiness, and vocal talent made him a pleasure to watch.

Feldzieg’s tragically simpleminded wife, Kitty, was played by freshman Sara Stebbins, whose shrill but immaculate vocals reminded me of Columbia from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Both characters possessed a goofy and decadent theatricality that

made their infrequent presences so infectious.

Another character nobody could get enough of was Aldolpho, the “Latin Lover Boy,” played by freshman Hiro Kimura. It’s unclear why this man—who spoke in a heavy and unidentifiable accent and dressed in what appeared to be a Shakespearean vest and a pirate shirt—was even invited to the wedding. But Kimura’s rosein-teeth bearing smirks and his chronic inability to understand American wordplay never ceased to make the audience burst into laughter.

A highlight of the show was the number in which Aldolpho attempts to seduce the Drowsy Chaperone. The scene is bathed in red light, and it features the Chaperone lying on a couch and waving around a red matador’s flag until Aldolpho, the crazed bull, charges at her. Of course, much of this scene’s hilarity can be attributed to Kimura’s expert delivery of some of the script’s best jokes.

But it’s also inherently funny for members of the Stuyvesant community to watch a freshman attempt to seduce a senior.

The dynamic between the host of the wedding, Mrs. Tottendale (senior Leith Coneybeare), and her butler, who is simply referred to as “Underling” (freshman Matthew Carlson), is funny for similar reasons.

Tottendale recklessly misremembers facts about history and literature, much like a senior who hasn’t been to class in weeks might. But Underling mechanically reminds her that Anne Boleyn got her head cut off and that Romeo and Juliet ended up committing suicide. And it makes him sound an awful like a freshman who obediently does all his readings for Freshman Comp and Ms. Dunkel’s class.

Even his role as “the Underling”—and the stiffly obedient and uncomfortable way Carlson performs the choreography

written by dance directors, senior Pazit Schrecker and junior Masha Zorin—along with the way Tottendale treats him like dirt, is reminiscent of the scene in Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” (1993), where the domineering seniors haze humiliated freshmen.

These extra layers of humor woven throughout “The Drowsy Chaperone” show how special high school theater is—in some ways, even more special than professional shows on Broadway.

The scene where Tottendale repeatedly spits “ice water” in Underling’s face is so funny precisely because they’re not professional actors. It’s even funnier when you try to imagine yourself in his shoes (because you very well could be), and when you realize that he’s not getting paid to do it.

There’s a connection we feel with student actors that can’t exist with professional actors.

And this isn’t just true for the cast. The technical aspects of “Drowsy” were uncharacteristically flawless. All cues seemed to be met. The set was not just sturdy, but also beautiful. The band, directed by seniors Griffin Strout, Rodda John, Katya Ghosh, and George Papastefanou, was especially impressive. And the music didn’t overpower the cast members’ vocals, since the lights and sound crew, directed by Jonathan Mikhaylov, was able to effectively balance the audio levels.

Unlike for professional productions, it’s so rare and special for all the parts of a show produced by a public school with a limited budget to come together.

Technically, the structure of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a profoundly terrible play framed within a play, allows for subpar performances and for mistakes to be overlooked. But this fall’s musical didn’t need to rely on this structure, since there didn’t seem to be anything that needed to be overlooked.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 26

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

ELECTIONBEAT The Spectator correctly predicted that the president would be either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

Trump declares his presidency to be for everyone, from working class whites to more working class whites, to potentially-wealthy whites.

Trump’s comprehensive cludes:

“Hundred Days” plan in-

Banning congressmen from serving any terms at all Creating a requirement such that for every new government policy, an existing government must be overthrown Employing millions of Americans to repair the infrastructure of the country’s interment camps.

Anthony Weiner’s

weiner has been charged for corrupting Anthony Weiner’s campaign.

An Open Letter to Trump

By Tiffany Chen

Dear The Donald, Thank you so very much for making Humor great again.

You see, we Humor writers were dreading this election.

Having to stay up-to-date with the election for over a year is so much work. Even worse, we had to find ways to joke about it. Don’t you realize the horrors that come with joking about stuff? Making people laugh is such a difficult task. Satirizing already ridiculous things is a ridiculously hard task. Don’t you realize the many all-nighters I have pulled to come up with a joke about procrastination?

Or about homecoming?

On the other hand, you make people laugh so easily. We swear, we have no clue why people laugh so much at your comments, but they do. Just by quoting you, our readership has increased by 456,192 percent, something

we didn’t bother to fact check, but believe us, it’s true. Because of you, we never had to do work. You even made fun of the other candidates for us! “Crooked Hillary” and “Lyin’ Ted”? We couldn’t have thought of a better way to accuse them.

You even helped us make fun of the current president.

That’s right, Mr. Obama. Our favorite joke was when you said that Obama created ISIS. Plus, you starting the birther movement has given us so much more material to copy and paste from your campaign. Every one of your tweets deserved an article.

Your brain must be as large as your hands. We measly Humor writers couldn’t have thought of anything near as hysterical to write about.

In fact, Humor became so great, we realized that we’re too good for the rest of The Spectator. We proposed constructing a big wall around the Humor section to make

sure that none of the other departments try to leech off of our readers. And yes, the other departments will pay for it.

We’re sure that you understand the glory of not having to do work. With your small loan of a million dollars and shipping off all your jobs to China, Bangladesh, or some other Asian country you assume to be the same, we know about your unwillingness to work hard. Trust us, we’re the same.

Finally, the victory lap. Behold the most outrageous and insane election yet. Your affinity for the color orange did indeed seem to translate well for Floridians. The novelty of eliminating two government regulations for every new one is truly beyond our comprehension. So please, invite us to your press conferences.

We’ll be looking forward to interviewing you.

With sincere appreciation, The Humor Department

Student Finishes Homework by 9 p.m.

By Marie Ivantechenko and Alexandra Wen For those who return home while the sun is still out, the standard routine involves opening textbooks, making three shots of espresso, and procrastinating on Facebook.

However, for junior Stephanie Li, this was not the case.

Upon getting home at exactly 4:45 p.m., Li immediately started her homework. She did not look through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Netflix for five hours straight.

(No, she did not smash her router into a billion pieces.)

Nothing distracted her from Google Classroom, which engaged her with its colorful background and multitude of buttons.

She plotted her list of homework assignments on 12 planners and two whiteboard calendars and had prayed to at least 62 gods that she would finish them before three a.m.

Taking ten APs, Li emailed all of her teachers, posted in

all of the groups, and asked every single student with the same teacher about the homework. “Did anyone else finish the 254 textbook questions in only about 15 minutes?” Li posted.

It was only nine p.m.

Normally, Li didn’t even start her homework until midnight. Her best friends have never finished their homework before nine, even if they had spent the entire weekend and a mental health day at home.

Thus she called up the U.S. Naval Observatory to make sure that her clock was correct and that she in fact was not in an alternate universe.

Despite the confirmation that she finished all the homework that had been assigned to her that night, Li was still uncertain that she had finished all her work. Realizing it was a dire situation, albeit rare, she panicked and called the police.

“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked.

“I FINISHED MY WORK EARLY!” Li yelled, almost in tears. “PLEASE CALL AN AMBULANCE! I’M ABOUT TO GO TO SLEEP!”

Klaire Geller/ The Spectator

Shortly after an ambulance got to her home, guidance counselor Audra Parris noticed the e-mails from Li about homework. “I wasn’t sure how to respond to her,” Parris said, after reading the e-mails. “I’ve never had a student finish their homework before nine p.m. Even my colleagues were perplexed.”

Li could not accept that she had finished her homework, but she decided to seize this rare moment of productivity to begin studying for all her APs and SAT IIs months in advance. She started reading through every single one of her textbooks. “The APUSH textbook was a light read, but the AP Bio textbook took a good two hours to fully annotate,” Li said, clearly unfazed.

Proud of her work throughout the night, Li decided to take a brief fiveminute nap at seven a.m.

Then, she snapped back up: she had a take-home DBQ test due first period.

American Immigrants are Unsatisfied with New Country

By Wendy You “Canadoom,” coined by native Canadians, happens every four years from early November to the following January and brings hundreds of thousands of exasperated Americans, many without a passport or visa, to major English-speaking cities.

The American immigrants have mixed feelings about Canadoom. Some embrace Canadian culture, believing that the United States of America is far worse. Many are uncomfortable and unhappy in their new country.

“Whenever I want to start a fight or just give someone a big shove, a bunch of Ca-

nadians just flock over and start apologizing, and then I feel awful,” Georgian immigrant Jonathan Davis said.

“Also, they’re taking away potential jobs from me.” He believes that a Canadian visa is unnecessary, and potential employers so far are simply infringing on his rights. Davis proposes building a tall wall around Canadians to prevent competition.

Davis’s wife, Susan CoxDavis, has bigger concerns.

“We need to offer a charitable hand to those in need,” CoxDavis said. “We may have fled from the United States, but look how sad Canada is.

I mean, what’s a Prime Minister? His house isn’t even

white!”

Cox-Davis plans to initiate an organization called Terrified Americans Kneed Opportunity Via Alliance, better known as Project TAKOVA, which will guide Canada in the right direction. In the first step of her year-long plan, Project TAKOVA will partner a refugee family with a Canadian family to create a warm welcome. The next steps include the host family providing help in school and in the workforce, a red-andwhite-striped flag appearing on every front porch, and Canadians being required to carry a small handgun at all times. Eventually, the Canadian family will move out

to find homes of their own, and the country’s name will be changed to “New United States.” Cox-Davis believes Project TAKOVA will be very beneficial and will even use new spying and mind-reading technologies to ensure its success.

Many Canadians are not pleased with Canadoom, despite the increased labor force and money flow. “They haven’t figured out that Canadians aren’t just northern Americans!” Toronto librarian Derek Roy said. “Half the time, I just smile and nod when someone says he’s an American immigrant, because what is that?”

Roy, along with many oth-

er Canadians, believes that the people from below the country will un-nice society, or, at the very least, shift attention away from collecting maple syrup. Roy donates five dollars a month to Canadoom research in hopes of finding a cure. He is also a member of “Canadon’t Come Closer,” an organization that specializes in seeking out immigrants and politely asking them to leave.

This year, Canadoom commenced on November 8.

With heavy hearts and colorful pantsuits, Americans have already begun to pack for the cold.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 27

Humor

By Gilvir Gill Sometimes, it’s important to gaze at the stars and ponder the big questions of life.

Like, why are we here?

Are we alone in the universe?

Why is Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States? How in the world are textbooks going to be able to summarize an election whose ridiculousness is comparable to Stuyvesant’s 2016 Freshman Caucus election?

To figure out how we found ourselves in this predicament, you would have to go all the way back to the age of Reagan and the rise of Neoclassical economics.

However, we’re gonna skip over this part, because I slept through history class. Instead, we find ourselves in the year 2015, where instead of finding a world run by flying cars and selftying shoes, we find a political system run by reality T.V. stars and socialist Jews.

On the Democrat side, the main players were former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and everyone’s favorite grandfather, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Growing up in 1950s Brooklyn without a small loan of a million dollars, Sanders came to lead the first real progressive political movement in years that strived to bring big change to Washington.

Sanders wanted to catch up to the rest of the civilized world in providing universal healthcare, and if re-elected for a second term, he promised to lead the proletariat in seizing the means of production.

According to some sources, chemistry teacher Dr. Steven O’Malley was given a podium at debates as well. However, between Sanders spreading legitimate progressivism and O’Malley not allowing calculators on tests, the DNC played it safe and gave Clinton the nomination.

I watched the Democratic primaries with genuine interest, seeing what both major candidates had to say and carefully considering their policies. It was the first time I had actually followed an election, and it was rather interesting. Life was going pretty well. And then I changed the

Election in Review

channel to the Republican debates, and my honeymoon with politics ended quicker than Scott Walker’s campaign.

The Republican Primary started with 17 candidates in September 2015, each crazier than the last. World-renowned neurosurgeon and avid evolution denier Dr. Ben Carson was at the helm for a brief few months. Carson had performed some of the world’s most complex brain surgeries and was also the same person who said that the Egyptian pyramids

were used to “preserve grain for a long period of time” and that “jet fuel can’t melt steel beams.”

Then there was the eventual nominee, real estate mogul and WWE Hall of Famer Donald J. Trump, who started his campaign by saying that Mexico was “bringing drugs... bringing crime. They’re rapists” and whose supporters were scared of taco trucks.

Most of his first speech scared me away from him, although I could see why people feared taco trucks. Terrible trade deals such as NAFTA allowed those trucks to outcompete American businesses like the Trump Tower Grill, which sells the best taco bowls.

These claims were letting the outsiders such as Carson and Trump gain the upper hand with the populace.

Not to be outdone, Florida Senator Marco Rubio denied climate change, although he did make a pretty convincing

argument when he said, “We can’t make a law to change the weather, so really there’s nothing we can do.”

Ted Cruz tried to make himself more relatable to young voters by writing “A Time for Truth,” a book about his life as the Zodiac Killer.

Lindsey Graham ran on a platform of “We’re going to drink more if I’m elected.”

Over time, the amount of Republicans running dwindled, but only after populace appeal had secured Trump as the dominant candidate. The floor had gone from 17 to 3 in

than sit down, enjoy some ice cream made with federally subsidized dairy, and cry.

This election was unique because, for the first time since every year’s Freshman Caucus Election, people were voting for the person they hated the least. And there was plenty to hate about both candidates. Other than his xenophobic and Islamophobic message, Trump was thoroughly disliked for his inconsistent policies, his blunt and “unpresidential” personality and temperament, and the fact that he eats pizza crust first.

Emily Lee/ The Spectator

the matter of months—avid proof that natural selection does in fact exist.

In the end, Trump won the primary and played “We Are the Champions” by Queen during his acceptance speech, the equivalent of Ronald Reagan citing the Communist Manifesto. He then advanced to the general election.

By the end of summer, the stage had been set. By the time Clinton and Trump announced their running mates—Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and Indiana Governor Mike Pence, respectively—people realized there was no going back. Sanders was done for, and the Republicans hadn’t had a sane choice since 1860. One of these two people were going to be president, and there was nothing you could do about it other

Clinton was disliked as an untrustworthy puppet of the establishment, the embodiment of the globalization that had taken away wealth from blue collar workers, and for having such catchphrases as “Pokémon Go to the polls.”

The distaste for the two only grew as November approached after they kept making fools of themselves. There were three debates held, each depressing in its own unique way. At one such debate, Trump called Clinton a “nasty woman” and promised to get rid of the “bad hombres,” referring to Latino immigrants.

Clinton got caught lying several times after saying that she did not call the TransPacific Partnership “the gold standard” and saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” WikiLeaks kept

releasing more information, giving clear evidence that the Democratic Primary was rigged and that Clinton pours milk first before cereal.

The polls fluctuated for the weeks running up to Election Day, caused by the recurring controversies. These included Clinton’s aforementioned ever-expanding e-mail scandal, Trump sexually harassing women, and Barack Obama being unable to run for a third term due to a 1947 amendment of the Constitution.

At this point, I was too mentally scarred to care or pay close attention to the election.

On November 8, I was completely done with this election. I hated everyone and everything involved with the Clinton campaign with a burning passion. She had unfairly taken the primary from Senator Sanders and was the epitome of the corruption in Washington.

However, when I realized that Trump was going to be our next president I was filled with fear, rage, and anxiety. I was angry because the election results gave full control of the government to one party, which meant that I would have to stop complaining that Congress doesn’t do anything.

I was angry because my favorite candidate, Vermin Supreme of Massachusetts only received one vote in the Libertarian Party primary. Most importantly, I was angry, because I had originally written this article assuming Hillary Clinton would be our President Elect, and when the editors gave me the unfortunate news, I was forced to rewrite it.

Not only am I angry, but I am also fearful. I fear for the stability of our great country and of our slightly less great world. I fear for my children, Sasha and Malia, and their futures. I fear for my future as a writer. No longer will the articles write themselves. I will have to go back to writing real satire instead of just stealing quotes from the actual news.

If something does not change, my journalism job will be shipped overseas to China, and I will be left devastated.

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The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 28

Art Meet The Artists continued from page 9

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The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 29

Sports Girls’ Tennis

Lady Lobsters Exit at Quarterfinal

By Sam Merrick Stuyvesant’s girls’ tennis team, the Lady Lobsters, concluded its post-season run after losing to Hunter College High School in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Though pleased with their playoff advances, the team members had hoped to play better than their 5-7 regular season record.

Stuyvesant’s post-season started with a dismissal to the first round of playoffs. The team

team made it to the semifinals of the playoffs before losing to The Bronx High School of Science, which would go on to beat Beacon High School in the 2015 Championships. The Lady Lobsters finished the regular season 8-4 that year, coming in third behind both Beacon and Bronx Science.

This year, the Lady Lobsters had a more disappointing season record, partly because of the difficulty in leaving school early enough to attend matches.

“Even though we lost, it was a great game for all of us.”

—Joanne Chui, senior and captain

For instance, in a match against The High School of American Studies at Lehman College, the team had to forfeit because not enough players were there.

However, in a later match with full attendance, the team easily defeated Lehman 4-1.

Coach Audra Parris acknowledged this as a frustrating part of the season. Parris focused on the areas she could improve, including more effective practices with better drills. “I’m go-

In Dramatic World Series, Cubs Break 108-Year Drought

in building toward the future.

“This season was one of the best ones we’ve had,” Chui said.

“We’ve become closer as a team and played better as a whole.”

Down 3-1 in the series, Chicago was faced with a near-impossible challenge. To win the series, it would have to win three games in a row. The turning point came in Game 5. The Cubs took the lead early on, and then, with the tying run for Cleveland on second base, they brought in their closer, Aroldis Chapman, to protect their lead for the next eight outs. His subsequent twoand-two-thirds innings of shutout pitching ranked him among

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

the most dominant in the history of the World Series. In Game 6, the Cubs kept their momentum going, eventually winning 9-3.

With the series tied 3-3 and the Cubs in Cleveland for Game 7, the stage was set for a dramatic conclusion to an exciting series.

The scoring opened early when Dexter Fowler put the Cubs up 1-0 with a lead-off home run. Two innings later, the Indians drew even off of a run-batted-in (RBI)

single from Carlos Santana.

But in the top of the fourth inning, a sacrifice fly by Addison Russell and an RBI double

by Willson Contreras put the Cubs back up, this time by two runs. They scored two more in the fifth, but so did the Indians, keeping the Cubs’ lead to 5-3.

The Cubs’ catcher, David Ross, playing in the final game of his career, hit a homerun at the top of the sixth. But the Indians would tie the game in the eighth inning with an RBI double and then a two-run home run just inside the foul pole by Rajai Davis, off of the Cubs’ closer, Chapman, who had pitched so well earlier in the series.

The game was still tied when the ninth inning ended. With heavy rain on the horizon, the game paused for a weather delay.

In these 17 minutes of respite, the players collected themselves from a nail-biting game while fans held their breaths. Extra innings began, and the scoring picked right back up. In the top of the 10th, the Cubs scored two runs on a double by Zobrist and a single by Miguel Montero. The Indians struck back with a two out RBI single by Rajai Davis in the bottom of the tenth, but they were unable to tie, and after a groundout by Michael Martinez, the game was over. The Cubs had won 8-7.

With the 108-year drought broken, baseball fans in Chicago and around the country celebrated; a week later, five million fans turned out for the victory parade, eager to celebrate the team that had finally brought them a historic title.

Peglegs Finish Difficult Season in Higher Division

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

The Chicago Cubs versus the Cleveland Indians was thought by many to be the ideal World Series matchup. The two teams with the longest World Series droughts in Major League Baseball, they held a combined 176 years of championship droughts.

For the Cubs, the last title had been in 1908, and the last time they had even played in a World Series was 1945. The Indians’ last World Series victory was in 1948, though they have made it to the series three times since. Fans on both sides felt a panicked excitement as they watched their teams.

Game 1 saw a dominant performance by the Indians’ ace, Corey Kluber. His team gave him an early lead, which helped him dominate late into the game, pitching almost seven innings.

With a 6-0 win, the Indians jumped to 1-0 in the series.

In the last six World Series, the winner of Game 1 has been the team to ultimately take the championship, so the Cubs were eager to fight back. In Game 2, they did just that: after scoring in the first inning, they held onto their lead for the entire game.

But Games 3 and 4 saw two more Cleveland victories. The Cubs looked unconfident during both games, not scoring at all during Game 3 while the Indians brought in seven runs and committing two errors during Game 4, leading to a final score of 3-2.

It seemed that the team that had won over 100 games in the regular season had disappeared, and the team of the 108-year drought had returned.

titude bode well for the team, and will buoy them in seasons to come.

As for this year, the players are content with their performance, as it was important

Football

World Series

By RAY JONES

Stefan Enquist / The Spectator

subsequently swept The Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences five sets to zero.

It was after this match that the team lost 3-2 to Hunter, which had also defeated Stuyvesant twice during the season in two other 3-2 matches. “It was a really tight game for all of us,” senior and captain Joanne Chui said of the team’s last match.

“The schools were pretty evenly matched.”

Last year, the girls’ tennis

ing to do more as a coach, in terms of improving their game during practices,” Parris said, leaving the issue of attendance as the players’ responsibility.

This season marked a significant recovery for the team after Kimberly Chow (‘16) and Danielle Wong (‘16) graduated.

Last year, Chow and Wong each contributed eight wins to the regular season and playoffs combined, leaving a vacuum in the doubles positions after they graduated.

Though the loss of these two players was a setback, Stuyvesant received young talent in the form of freshmen Mia Gindis and Alyssa Pustilnik. These players proved to be major assets to the team by helping fill in major starting roles: Pustilnik in third singles and Gindis for doubles.

A major contributor to the team’s success this year, Pustilnik had seven wins during league play and a 2-0 record in playoff games. “We did very well, and the whole team is very supportive,” Pustilnik said.

Sophomore Celina Liu had similarly impressive statistics and credits her success to her pre-season work. “I had been training this entire summer non-stop,” Liu said. “We had really high expectations and thought we could make finals or playoffs this year.” This young talent and positive at-

By SIMON CARMODY The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s football team, had a disappointing season, finishing with a record of 1-8. The team struggled following a promotion to the more competitive Bowl Conference (B division) from the Cup Conference (C division) after going 4-6, 9-1, and 6-3 in the last three years, respectively.

The Peglegs faced many well-established teams in the Bowl Conference, and they had trouble adjusting to the higher level of play. In the 2015-16 season, the Peglegs had a point differential of -66, compared to -205 points this year. Some players still managed to produce in this division, including senior and co-captain Michael Joh, who racked up 763 rushing yards, five touchdowns, and 26 tackles as the team’s star running back and linebacker.

“It’s not easy going up into a new division and playing against other teams we haven’t played before,” junior Matthew Au said. “But it also helps the

team grow, and even though we didn’t have an amazing record this year, at least we have a foundation set, and the only thing that we can do is get better from here on out.”

Joh hopes that the underclassmen will continue to chase success, despite a disappointing season. “We still need to fix a lot of things to become a better team next year,” he said. “Working out so that we can become stronger and faster is a major key to [doing] better next season.” Much of this burden will fall on juniors like Au, Rignelya, Perry Wang, Tahsin Ali and Rafsan Hamid, who will become leaders and fill the shoes of the graduating seniors.

Despite their tough season, the team is optimistic for next year. “The more work that we put in [during] the offseason, the better we will perform,” Au said. The Peglegs will now be accustomed to the level of play necessary to succeed in this higher division and will be striving for a better record than they had this year.

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 30

Sports NBA

Top Five Teams Heading into the 2016-17 NBA Season

By ARIEL GLAZMAN and SEAN STANTON The National Basketball Association (NBA) saw a season like no other last year. Teams that were almost invincible in the regular season were outplayed in the postseason. In the offseason, a “super team” was assembled in Oakland behind Kevin Durant’s signing with the Golden State Warriors, changing the entire landscape of the NBA. Along with that, we saw the retirement of NBA greats Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, the latter of whom is leaving behind a team which may have been a possible championship. All of this sets the stage for what is sure to be another engrossing NBA season, highlighted by these five teams.

5. Boston Celtics

Last year, the Celtics had a chance of going far in the playoffs. They finally had a good starting five behind point guard Isaiah Thomas and small forward Jae Crowder, and they finished the season with a 48-34 record and the fifth seed in the playoffs. Despite their promising season, however, they lost to the Atlanta Hawks four games to two in the first round, crushing their hopes of winning the championship.

Now they are back this year after signing one of the best free agents of the offseason and one of the best rim protectors, Al Horford, who was a key contributor to the Hawks victory in the series against the Celtics. Horford averaged 15.2 points per game (PPG) and 7.3 rebounds per game (RPG) for the Hawks in the 2015-16 season, which, despite not being his best, was still productive. Finishing up the starting five are Amir Johnson and Avery Bradley, who is a great two-way guard, with 15.2 points and 1.5 steals per game (SPG) last season. This strong starting five, bolstered by a deep bench, will enable the Celtics to possibly make a dent in the playoffs this year. However, they’re still a long shot to win the championship.

3. San Antonio Spurs

Last season was the final season for the Spur’s Tim Duncan, and it was an incredible one. The Spurs went 67-15, and ended up second in the Western Conference. However, their season ended shockingly short, with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Now, small forward and reigning defensive player of the year Kawhi Leonard will be expected to take the reins as the leader of the Spurs with Duncan’s retirement. Last year he averaged 21.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 1.8 SPG while finishing second in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and long-time point guard Tony Parker will once again be key players for the Spurs, after making a big impact last year. To replace Duncan,, the Spurs signed Pau Gasol in the offseason, who averaged 16.5 PPG and 11.0 RPG with the Chicago Bulls. Led by a stellar starting five and a deep bench filled with veteran talent, the Spurs will be looking to go deeper into the playoffs and chase another championship.

4. Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors had a very successful 2015-16 season, in which they got second place in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to a six game series, which they eventually lost. They are best known for their two stars, point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan. Lowry averaged 21.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 6.4 assists per game (APG) last season, while DeRozan averaged 23.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 4.0 APG. Small forward DeMarre Carroll made a big defensive contribution at the wing, while center Jonas Valanciunas provided paint protection and an important inside presence. With their great starting five of Lowry, DeRozan, Carroll, rookie Pascal Siakam, and Valanciunas, the Raptors look like they will make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals, and could even make it further.

2. Golden State Warriors

Following a record-setting 73-9 season and the signing of superstar Kevin Durant this offseason, the Warriors are widely considered to be favorites to win the championship. However, they have lost significant role players who contributed countless minutes and key points in clutch situations. These players include small forward Harrison Barnes (11.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG), center Andrew Bogut (5.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG), power forward Marreese Speights (7.1 PPG), guard Leandro Barbosa (6.4 PPG), and shooting guard/small forward Brandon Rush (4.2 PPG).

The loss of several forwards and former starting center Bogut leaves a hole on the inside for the Warriors, and their lack of a presence there could cost them down the road. Teams with dominant power forwards or centers, like the Spurs and Los Angelos Clippers, could easily take advantage of the Warriors’ weak paint presence. The Warriors did not make up for these impactful losses from the bench and currently lack the depth they had last season. The loss of all these players will also greatly impact the Warriors’ chemistry, and could cause issues early on in the season, thus affecting their regular season success and their playoff seeding. With new players who are not used to so many minutes and with Kevin Durant adjusting to a new team, this will definitely be an interesting season for the Warriors.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

In the 2015-16 season, the Cavaliers were widely regarded as the automatic Eastern Conference champions whose fate was to lose to the Warriors in four or five games in the NBA Finals. Despite the expectation of an eventual fall, Cleveland was able to rise up and upset the Warriors and bring home their first ever NBA Championship behind NBA Finals MVP LeBron James.

This year, the Cavaliers will be hungry for another ring, and there isn’t a truer threat in the East that will stand in their way. Behind James and star teammates in point guard Kyrie Irving and power forward Kevin Love, Cleveland should dominate the East and put themselves in position to defend their championship. If Love is able to fit in with the offense, and shooting guard J.R. Smith and center Tristan Thompson once again play well on the biggest stage, the Cavaliers have a great shot at being repeat champions.

Boys’ Cross Country

Greyducks Dominate at City Championships continued from page 32 runners train at least three times a week, and virtually every Saturday, but they have to travel in order to do any training, because of the lack of running spaces in New York City. This puts them at a huge

disadvantage to suburban and rural schools, which have easy access to running grounds.

Despite this disadvantage, the Greyducks will still likely perform well at states, based on their strong times at the City Championships.

Greyducks Reach States for First Time in 13 Years On the brisk Saturday morning of November 12 at Van Cortlandt Park, the girls’ cross country team, the Greyducks, came away as third-place finishers at the City Championships, making them qualifiers for the State Championships. This represents a major victory for the Greyducks, who last qualified for states in 2003.

Five runners on the team finished the five kilometer race with times under 23 minutes, meaning that they ran at a pace of under 7.5 minutes per mile.

Senior Zovinar Khrimian led Stuyvesant and placed sixth overall with a time of 20:17, a pace of slightly under 6.5 minutes per mile. Sophomore Clara Mohri finished eighth overall with a very close time of 20:22, and senior and captain Catie Breen finished 15th with a time of 21:12.

This team had high expectations since the beginning of the season, following its successful couple of years. Breen had high hopes for the team from the start. “[We] are on track to qualify for states,” she said in an interview

big time and crushed the rest of the city’s top fours,” Dudick said.

Several Greyducks improved their times significantly from the Manhattan Borough Championships. Tavanger and Ng both improved their times by 40 seconds, Dudick by 10 seconds, and

Johnson by 15 seconds. This impressive achievement happened within a week of their previous meet. With the State Championships only a week after the City Championships, the Greyducks are eager to replicate an improvement of this kind.

Boys’ Badminton

Girls’ Cross Country

By JEREMY RUBIN

The Greyducks will also be aided by their pattern of improving after each meet, riding on the previous meet’s momentum.

“Coming into city’s we were ranked 2nd after [Staten Island Technical High School]. However, today our top four stepped it up

on October 17.

This team started off strong and never looked back. In one of its first meets at the Marty Lewis Borough Challenge, the team had an average time of 22:38. This was already five seconds faster than its average time from the City Championships the previous year. This year, the team’s average time at the City Championships was 21:23, more than a minute faster than last year.

“We had a solid top three [runners], but it was truly a team accomplishment. The top five were all under 23 minutes,” Breen said.

The State Championships will be tough, but the team is nonetheless excited to have qualified.

“It is an honor to go [to the State Championships]. We’re hoping to run personal records and beat competitors from within the [Public School Athletic League],” Breen said.

The State Championships will take place tomorrow, November 19, and the girls’ cross country team will be there looking to leave its mark as one of the best team of Greyducks in recent memory.

Boys’ Badminton Rises to the Top

By AVA CHAU In a surprising twist, the boys’ badminton team lost its final game on November 2 to Brooklyn Technical High School, ending its season-long, nine-game winning streak. In six of these earlier triumphs, the team members had swept the games 5-0, meaning that out of their five matches (three singles and two doubles matches, composed of three sets each), they had won all of them.

A similar upset occurred last year, when the team lost to Seward Park after having been undefeated in all of its other games, with seven of those games being 5-0 sweeps.

Earlier this season, the boys had been successful against Brooklyn Tech, scraping by with a 3-2 win, making their subsequent loss in the rematch disappointing.

“The guys took Brooklyn Tech for granted,” said Coach Marvin Autry, reflecting on the team’s loss.

“They [had] beat them already.”

The game began with a first singles win for senior Jeffrey Wang, before turning downhill.

“It started off with our first doubles losing, which was surprising to all of us,” senior and second doubles player Chris Ye said.

Junior Oscar Ye, Chris Ye’s second doubles partner and brother, had torn a ligament in the team’s game on October 28 against Seward Park, so in the second doubles match, junior Evan Low needed to jump in to fill his position. Though Low and Chris Ye won their first set, they lost the next two, putting Stuyvesant behind. Having lost confidence, neither the second nor third singles players were able to make a comeback in their matches.

However, the recent loss cannot completely overshadow the team members’ otherwise successful season, which ended with a first place finish in their division, the Central Division.

Sophomore James Lee attributed much of the team’s success to the work of the doubles players, who he says, “have good synergy with each other.” The Ye brothers work especially well together, earning top scores in all of their sets this season, as do junior Steve Wong and senior Zicheng Zhen.

“The doubles have had so much practice with each other over the past few years. They work together really well now,” senior and captain Charles Sang said.

The accomplishments of the

singles players are also impressive. In all six matches he appeared in, senior and first singles player Jeffrey Wang received perfect results. Senior Brandon Zhang, who plays third singles, played seven matches this season and performed similarly, winning the maximum points in his sets in six of those matches, with the only exception being the last game at Brooklyn Tech.

This group of core upperclassmen—nine out of the team’s 22 members are seniors—has proven to be of immense value to the team’s improvement. The team has risen from third place in the 2013-14 season to tying for first place with Seward Park Campus in the 2014-15 season. Finishing off this season at the top position of their division marks an advancement in not only the team’s rank but also in its players’ abilities and consistency.

“What is most different about the team from the past seasons is that the drive to win has gone up drastically,” Sang said. “Of course, we’ve always wanted to win the whole thing, but now that this is the last year for around half the team, we’re no longer thinking ‘we want to win’ but rather ‘we have to win.’”

The Spectator ● November 18, 2016

Page 31

Sports Boys’ Soccer

Early Finish for The Peglegs

By JARED ASCH

Courtesy of Tomas Enquist

The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ soccer team, went down in the first round of the playoffs in a tough 4-0 loss to Staten Island Tech on Sunday, October 30, following a win in their final regular season game against Washington Irving High School (6-5-1). The Peglegs finished the regular season with eight wins and four losses, a similar record to last year, when they finished with eight wins and five losses.

Despite what the final score showed, the Peglegs played well. “In Sunday’s loss we did a good job of possessing the ball and controlling the game. We created many opportunities to score but just could not put the ball in the net,” coach Vincent Miller said. The Peglegs had nine shots on goal in the game, but could not score.

The Peglegs excelled in the PSAL’s highest Manhattan division, only losing to Martin Luther King Jr. High School and Frederick Douglass Academy in the regular season. The Peglegs defeated their opponents easily, moving the ball well, creating chances to score, and taking shots.

The players believe that Miller was key to their great

season. “Miller has been so important to our success this year, providing us with great advice and encouragement to step up our game,” junior Simon Carmody said.

However, Miller attributes the team’s success to the captains. “[Seniors Laszlo Sandler, Niko Cruz-Marsted, and Noah Fichter] were like three more coaches on the team. All three players are experienced and knowledgeable,” Miller said.

The players also worked well together: Sandler’s 10 goals in 12 league games were made possible in part by masterful passing from Cruz-Marsted, who finished the season with 11 assists, as well as two goals.

Fichter also racked up three assists and seven goals from the attacking midfield position.

On the defensive side, fellow senior and goalkeeper Taisei Manheim was instrumental to the team’s success, saving 64 shots throughout the season.

In addition to good play, the team cites its attitude as an asset to its success. “Everyone was happy to be on the field with one another and there was never any beating on one player or a group of players for making mistakes,” Fichter said.

As the season comes to a

Niko Cruz-Marsted dribbles through a defender.

close, many of the players believe that it will be hard to replicate this year’s performance, as the team will be losing many of its key players to graduation.

However, there are other players ready to fill the shoes of the graduating seniors.

Freshman Jeremy Moller, for

example, started 10 games for the Peglegs in the regular season as well as the playoff game against Staten Island Tech. He provided key chances for the Peglegs to score from the left midfield. Another important player is junior Michael Gillow, who secured the Peglegs’ de-

fense at center back.

“They all have the skill to get into the final eight, maybe even the final four,” said Fichter, looking to the team’s future.

“They just need to work hard, dedicate themselves to soccer, and they’ll do really well.”

Girls’ Soccer

Mimbas Back on the Winning Side

By MICHAEL GILLOW

Making it all the way to the playoffs was another highlight for the team. “In past years, I’ve seen our team fall apart toward the end of the season, but this team only got stronger, and I really got to see the improvement,” Bacon-Blaber said.

The team has even higher hopes for its next season because of its young roster. The team had 15 new players this season out of 25, and many of them played major roles in the team’s success. Freshman Selene Kaehny led the team in goals with eight, and fellow freshman Emory Walsh also made major contributions as goalkeeper, with 97 saves, acting as an anchor for the team’s defense.

Not only did the Mimbas establish a foundation for better playing, but they built strong

Allison Eng / The Spectator

After four losing seasons, the Mimbas, the girls’ soccer team, finally found the right side of .500. Following a 0-2 start, the Mimbas came roaring back to finish with a 6-5 record and a playoff appearance. Unfortunately, their season was cut short by a 3-0 loss to Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in the first round of the playoffs.

Since the beginning of the season, the team has improved drastically. The girls lost their first game of the season to a tune of 10 goals to none in a blowout against Beacon High School, and their next game was a 4-0 loss to Bard High School Early College. But the Mimbas would not let these early losses define their season.

In their third game, against

DeWitt Clinton High School, the girls rallied to a 5-0 win, and in their fourth, they edged out Baruch College Campus High School 2-1. Both wins served as major boosts to the team’s morale.

“Everyone was a lot more committed,” senior and cocaptain Judy Li said. “We’d stay from 30 to 60 minutes longer than we used to for each practice.”

Wins and losses volleyed back and forth. The team hit its high note in its last game of the season, beating Bard in a 1-0 defensive battle. “In all [of] my four years on the team, we never beat Bard,” senior and co-captain Brigit Bacon-Blaber said. Moreover, this win secured the Mimbas a winning record, something no members of the team had ever experienced.

unity and camaraderie, which will carry over to future seasons.

“We were able to get closer as a team with our first ever team

gelato runs, bonding days, and spirit week,” Li said. “It was kind of amazing to end my last year of soccer this way.”

Brexit’s Impact on the Premier League continued from page 32

Brexit has also caused footballers from the EU to work in the U.K. without need of a permit because the Home Office imposed strict requirements for non-EU players to complete prior to participating in the Premier League. These regulations demand that players must have played in a certain percentage of their national team’s matches over the two years prior to their application, with the precise percentage depending on their country’s FIFA ranking. To put into present context, this rule would mean that more than 100 Premier League players would have failed to gain a work permit. Extend this to the top two divisions in England and Scotland, and this rises to about 400

players. Among them are some of the Premier League’s finest: Anthony Martial, Dimitri Payet, and N’Golo Kante, all of whom are relatively new to representing the French national team and are currently dominating the league.

Home Office regulations mean that if Brexit happened a decade earlier, the Premier League wouldn’t have seen alltime greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Thierry Henry arrive at young ages and develop into legends. To the league’s delight, new rules won’t be applied retroactively. However, in the long term, if regulations are imposed, gems like Payet, Kante and Martial would be forced to move somewhere other than the Premier League, and that would certainly weaken its sta-

tus as one of the world’s best leagues.

Additionally, Premier

Union or European Economic Area.” This means that it would be harder for leading Premier

future of modern football as we know it. Only time will tell what implications Brexit will have

“The danger of the English situation is that the English clubs can suffocate themselves in the long term.”

—Arsene Wenger, Arsenal manager

League clubs are now in danger of missing out on talented youthful players from Europe.

Article 19 of the FIFA Regulations permits the “transfers of minors between the age of 16 and 18 within the European

League academies, such as Chelsea F.C., to import up-andcoming players from European clubs to bring foreign talent into the league.

The results of this year’s Premier League will shape the

on the currently most-watched sport on the planet. Even if Brexit helps the United Kingdom become an international power, many of its football-fanatic citizens will surely long for the former glory of their sport.

November 18, 2016

Page 32

The Spectator SpoRts Girls’ Swimming

Penguins Finish Season Undefeated, But Fall Short at PSAL Finals

CALENDAR

November

19 Saturday

Cross Country State Championships Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls

20

Derek Tran / The Spectator

Sunday

By BRANDOM RIM The Penguins, Stuyvesant’s girls’ swimming team, finished yet another strong season, going undefeated for the eighth year in a row. Their dominance continued throughout the playoffs, but was upset by Brooklyn Technical High School in the finals, losing 58-40.

Finishing the season with a spectacular 10-0 record, the Penguins wrapped up their season with a statement. They defeated Hunter College with a score of 52-43 in their final regular season game, led by senior and co-captain Paulina Ruta, who completed her leg of the 200-yard Freestyle Relay in 26.36 seconds, helping secure first place for her team.

The Penguins boasted similarly impressive performances all season long. “Being undefeated for eight years, that puts a lot of weight on our shoulders to carry on a legacy,” senior and co-captain Claudia Zelek said. “It’s what makes us train so hard to continue being the best and the fastest.”

The Penguins continued on without a loss, and won once

again against James Madison (53-39) and Townsend Harris (56-40) in their first two playoff games. Being in the playoffs and having the season on the line in each game put immense pressure on the team.

“I was insanely nervous for both meets, [but] my teammates are always there for me and they always find a way to calm me down. Coach [Bologna] also gives us super great motivational speeches,” sophomore Laura Saliy said. Saliy became an instrumental player in both meets, finishing in first place both times in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles against James Madison and Townsend Harris.

The Penguins success took them all the way to Lehman College to battle for the championship title against Brooklyn Technical High School, but the team fell short. This is the second year the Penguins have missed the championship title, after having secured it for seven years in a row. However, senior and co-captain Britney Cheng was still proud of her teammates’ performances and accomplishments in the finals.

“Even though we didn’t win, we competed at the highest level we possibly could. I am extremely proud of every single girl on the team for giving it their all. We swam as fast as we could, and that’s all anyone can ask for,” Cheng said.

“I try to make them understand that their best is enough no matter who they swim against, and as long as they give it their all, I will be proud of them,” Bologna said. The Penguins now look to the future as they head into next season with a new class of swimmers and athletes.

Even with all of the current seniors and captains graduating, Cheng isn’t worried about the future of the Penguins. Of the current freshmen, Emma Lee is one of the young standouts on the team. “Whenever we need her to perform, she delivers time and time again,” Cheng said.

As Cheng and her fellow seniors graduate, the team will turn to juniors and standout underclassmen like Lee and Saliy to carry the team, as they look to reclaim the championship title.

Brexit’s Impact on the Premier League

By MICHAEL KAYDIN The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), commonly called “Brexit,” has had an impact on almost every facet of British life, including the world of soccer, known outside the U.S. as football. The top flight English football league, the Premier League, has faced titanic complications since the historical event.

As previously predicted by transfer market analysts, Premier League clubs have faced inflated transfer fees (fees that one club must pay to another to acquire the services of their player) as the value of the pound dropped. The clubs in the Premier League have no way to escape paying these astronomical fees, as the cost of paying the inflated prices is incomparable to the costs of lost profits if certain benchmarks are not reached. Arsene Wenger,

the manager of Arsenal, notorious for under-spending in transfer markets compared to his rivals, said: Today in Europe you have two markets. One for the English clubs and one for the rest of Europe. The danger of the English situation is that the English clubs can suffocate themselves in the long term. Why? Because they buy players at a very high price. That means there are very high wages linked with it and, if they are wrong, they will have these players with high wages who cannot move anywhere else. When the buyer is English, it is true that it multiplies the transfer by two or three or sometimes by 10. If an English club does not come in, he is worth £5 million but, if an English club comes for the same player, he is worth £35 million or 40 or 50.

Thus, the Premier League has suddenly found itself in a

fiscal dilemma, where clubs must continue to perform and develop at a costly rate. Astonishingly, Premier League spending in the last transfer window exceeded £1 billion, a world record that will surely be beat next year.

Apart from transfer fee dilemmas for clubs, the Premier League poses problems for its own players as well. Any players who regularly take their salaries outside of the U.K. will soon be faced with the discrepancy in the currency exchange, as the pound will be worth less when converted to foreign currencies. This dilemma is multifaceted, as many desirable players may now seek transfers outside of the Premier League, thus creating a vicious cycle that will eventually result in a substantial drop in class. continued on page 31

21

Varsity Boys’ Fencing Playoff Game Location TBD

Monday

Varsity Basketball vs.

Beacon H.S. Home

WRAPUP The boys’ varsity bowling team, the Spartans, lost in the second round of playoffs last Wednesday, November 9 to Tottenville High School 3-0. The team nonetheless had impressive performances, including a score of 215 bowled by senior Brian Chu.

The girls’ varsity volleyball team, the Vixens, finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. November 15th marked the date of their last game, however, as a loss against Midwood High School in the quarterfinals of the playoffs ended their chances of a championship run.

The Garden Snakes, Stuyvesant’s boys’ fencing team, finished 10-0 in the regular season after defeating NEST+M on November 14. This marks the seventh consecutive undefeated regular season for the team.

Boys’ Cross Country

Greyducks Dominate at City Championships

By RONIN BERZINS

Coming off of a successful performance at the Manhattan Borough Championships, Stuyvesant’s boys’ cross country team, the Greyducks, was victorious last Saturday, taking first place in the City Championships.

“Everyone was pretty outstanding,” coach Mark Mendes said. In a competition like the City Championships, where the top seven athletes from each qualifying school must compete against each other in a five kilometer (5K) race, finishing with the first place title is no small feat.

Senior and co-captain Kiyan Travanger led the Greyducks, taking first place in the city with an outstanding time of 16:53. Senior Harvey Ng took ninth place, with a time of 17:19. Following him was senior and co-captain Greg Dudick

in 12th place, and freshman Baird Johnson in 21st place place, a difficult and impressive feat for a freshman. Junior Matthew Fairbanks took 62nd place out of nearly 175 runners.

“Fairbanks was sick all week, but he gave it his all and secured victory for us,” Mendes said. This victory will be the Greyducks’ sixth victory in the last 13 city championships, making them the most dominant program in the league.

“I’m very proud of the kids.

They worked very hard, and they deserved this,” Mendes said.

The Greyducks will look to harness the momentum from this win when they head to the State Championships, on November 19. A win at state’s will be a much harder challenge, however. Stuyvesant’s continued on page 30