Volume 105, Issue 10

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

Volume CV No. 10

March 4, 2015

Robotics Team Wins FIRST Tech Challenge

Features

Engineering an Environment Free of Sexism

Stuy Fission 310, Stuyvesant’s robotics team, sent 30 of its members to compete at the FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge (FTC) at Murry Bergtraum High School on February 14. The team performed exceedingly well; they won first place in an alliance with two other teams and qualified for regionals, which took place on March 1.

The competition is sponsored

by FIRST, a non-profit organization that holds youth programs to encourage students to pursue further education or careerw in science, math, engineering, or technology. FIRST holds four robotics competitions each year, one for elementary schools, one for middle schools, and two for high schools.

Part of FIRST’s ethos is “Gracious Professionalism,” an idea that students can develop a continued on page 2

Stuyvesant Girls Who Code Club Learns from Goldman Sachs Engineers

By Joanne Ha and Sharon Lin Every Tuesday, six Goldman Sachs engineers can be found teaching a group of girls how to code in various languages, the latest of which is Javascript. This group of girls includes students with many different backgrounds, from IntroCS1 to APCS. Tuesday, February 3 was the first meeting of the new Girls Who Code club at Stuyvesant High School. The club functions as a unit of the larger non-profit organization Girls Who Code, which seeks to close the gender gap in computer science through afterschool programs and a popular summer immersion program. For example, only 8.3 percent of electronics engineers and 7.2 percent of mechanical engineers are women Article on page 6.

The Birds that Caught the Worm: Exploring Early Matriculation at Stuyvesant Find out how two Stuyvesant students managed to get into MIT during their junior years in the article on page 6.

based on the 2014 United States workforce. In addition, out of the 22,000 students who took the APCS exam in 2012, only 4,200 (around 19 percent) were women.

Miranda Chaiken, one of the seniors who founded the Girls Who Code Club, explained that although Stuyvesant High School’s computer science department is one of the strongest in the country, there still is a fundamental lack of female representation in the higher level computer science courses. “Every year, I see the number of girls halved,” Chaiken said. “By the time you get to Sys-

tems Programming, there are barely any girls left in the class.”

Computer Science teacher Topher Brown Mykolyk, the continued on page 2

Sunny Chen / The Spectator

By Namra Zulfiqar

Yasmeen Roumie / The Spectator

• In the new cell phone policy that went into effect on Monday, March 2, students are allowed to use cellphones in the cafeteria and in school after 4:00 p.m., but are prohibited from using them in hallways, atriums, or classrooms unless a teacher explicitly gives his or her permission. March will be a trial period for the new policy, and a finalized version will be sent out at the end of the month.

• A new junior AP English class, taught by English teacher Kim Manning, will be offered next semester.

• The top New York City math team took fourth place at the Harvard/MIT Math Competition against 90 teams from around the world. Of the eight teams’ members, six, Nicholas Beasley, Max Fishelson, Calvin Lee, Gideon Leeper, Matthew LernerBrechner and Wilbur Zhao, were Stuyvesant students.

• The Asian Alumni Association of the City College of New York presented Principal Jie Zhang with the prestigious Asian American Achievement Award at their annual Lunar New Year Dinner.

• The Model United Nations (UN) team competed against over 1,800 other student delegates from more than 90 other schools at the the Johns Hopkins Model UN conference. The competitors received 16 individual awards and the award for Best Large Delegation.

• Seniors Woo Kyung Lee and Emma Lou from the AP Japanese class reached the finalist round in a speech contest held by the Northeast Council of Japanese Teachers. The students will advance to the regional competition.

• Department of Homeland Security digital forensics expert Sam Brothers gave a presentation to social studies teacher Kerry Trainor’s new Intelligence and Security Studies class. Brothers covered topics such as breaking into and accessing information from electronic devices.

• At the Physics Olympiad Team regional tournament, three Stuyvesant students qualified as national semifinalists. Each will now take an exceptionally challenging exam in hopes of qualifying as one of twenty members on the United States team, which will compete on the international level.

• The Stuyvesant Robotics Fission 310 team won the New York City and Long Island Regional Competition on March 1st. They will be advancing to the Northeast Regionals.

stuyspec.com

James Potter / The Spectator

Newsbeat

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

By Elizabeth Lawrence Sophomore Sharon Lin has always been extremely capable in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) area. In the fifth grade, she discovered that engineering was her passion: her dad had taught her the basics of engineering, and she ate it up, even beginning to surpass him in some areas.

Lin was confident in her STEM

abilities when she got to middle school. However, to her dismay, the STEM atmosphere was less than pleasant. Her school contained some “obnoxious” boys, who constantly made fun of her and the other girls simply because they believed that boys were inherently better at math, coding, and science. It didn’t help that one of the adult leaders (a male) continued on page 3

More Classes to be Annualized

By Sophia Heo and Blythe Zadrozny

In an effort to create more familiar environments in classrooms this year, Principal Jie Zhang has attempted to implement a system in which more courses are annualized. Targeting underclassmen, Zhang hoped to annualize biology and geometry in addition to the standard English and Honors Chemistry classes which have traditionally been annualized.

The change was not as successful as Zhang had hoped. “We attempted to do so for geometry classes but it didn’t work.” Zhang said. This plan failed because of problems posed by semester-long electives.

Despite these complications, Zhang still believes there are many benefits to annual classes. One benefit is continuity—students and teachers would no longer have to waste as much time acquainting themselves with each other if courses were annualized.

In addition, having the same teacher allows students to be taught in the same style that they have adjusted to since the beginning of the school year. Zhang also believes that annual courses will create a sense of community. “We annualize English classes so that freshmen can have a home to hold on to,” Zhang said.

Aside from student benefits, annualizing more courses can lead to benefits for the administration because it entails less programming, therefore creating a reduction in related fees.

Zhang cites Thomas Jefferson High School as an example of a successful system of annualized courses. At Thomas Jefferson High School, not only are classes annuArticle on page 18.

alized, but students have the same teachers for different subjects. The sustained relationship a teacher has with a student also creates a system where there is a more intense focus on students’ progress. Teachers at Jefferson also gather once a week and discuss the progression of each student, providing more stability. Students therefore experience a more continuous school year, an ideal that Zhang hopes to replicate.

Despite these benefits, issues began to arise at implementation.

One problem is that the teacherstudent relationship could backfire.

“If chemistry between teacher and student does not match and we are annualized, they could be stuck [together] for a year,” Zhang said.

Student opinions range when asked about annualized classes.

Some believe that annualizing more classes would be a negative development. “I think that classes being annualized is a huge toss-up based on how you feel about your teacher. In my opinion, classes shouldn’t be annualized to ensure that everyone gets a better chance of having a teacher or class they enjoy,” freshman Saloni Majmudar said.

Others believe annualizing courses is a good choice. “I’m lucky because I have really good teachers so annualized classes are really helpful for me to be able to keep those good teachers,” freshman Inbar Pe’er said.

Through these changes, the administration strives to provide the best possible environment for students. This calls for an even balance of classes that Stuyvesant has yet to reach. However, the process is ongoing, and changes are still being made.

A&E A Two-Star Constellation

Turn to page 18 for the Ghaemi siblings’ take on “Constellations,” a show that examines love in an ensemble of parallel universes.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 2

News Robotics Team Wins FIRST Tech Challenge continued from page 1

healthy sense of competition while encouraging and respecting one another. “It’s filled with cooperation and help and friendship and teamwork that it seems like, even though we’re against the whole world, the whole world is one singular team trying to achieve the same goal,” junior and robotics team captain James Chin said.

At this year’s competition, each team, consisting of two drivers and a coach, drove a robot in a game called “Cascade Effect.” The team had been preparing for this challenge since the beginning of the year. The objective of the game is to get balls that are released from a large tower into various moving goals on the field. The taller the goal, the more points each ball is worth.

On the day of the competition, there were three rounds: the qualifiers, the semifinals, and the finals.

In each qualifying match, two of the teams formed an alliance and competed against two other allied teams.

During these qualifying matches the team experienced some “connection issues” that resulted from the static electricity came from the room’s humid air and the foam mats the team was working with. As the static electricity built it, it was discharged into the wireless transmitter and receiver on the robot, causing it to reboot and loose connection with the team members. In response

to this error, the team has added a piece called the ferrite choke core to the wire to absorb static in the future.

Though they solved the problem, the temporary loss of connection caused Stuy Fission 310 to rank eighth in the qualifying round. The team, however, was given the opportunity to make a comeback when the first place qualifiers, the Mighty Mechanics from the Forest Hills Robotics League, chose Stuy Fission 310 to be in their alliance for the subsequent rounds. Stuy Fission 310 was then able to pass through the semifinals and, eventually, win the final round in a three-team alliance with the Mighty Mechanics and the Tetracons from Francis Lewis High School.

After being unable to qualify for Regionals at a competition at Francis Lewis High School in January, overcoming challenges at this competition and going on to win meant a lot to the robotics team.

Their performance at this competition qualified them for the Regional New York City and Long Island FTC at New York University Polytech on March 1.

“Due to the connection issues [during the competition] we weren’t so sure we were going to make it to Regionals this time, and after making such a comeback we felt like we were on top of the world. The rest of the team and I really can’t wait to move on and meet new teams and better ourselves,” freshman Adam Abbas said.

Stuyvesant Girls Who Code Club Learns from Goldman Sachs Engineers continued from page 1

Girls Who Code Club faculty advisor, explained this trend. “It’s important for girls to be around likeminded individuals. In a usual computer science class, boys have no trouble being around people who think like them, but it’s different for girls. They have a harder time admitting their faults when they might be ridiculed,” he said.

“By the time you get to Systems Programming, there’s barely any girls left in the class.” —Miranda Chaiken, senior

Every Tuesday, the girls in the club receive instruction from the Goldman Sachs engineers, who volunteer to work with the

girls on their projects. Although the club aims for individualized instruction, it works from a project-based approach, with three different tiers of instruction based on difficulty. After the first class, the girls are expected to choose their tier, and to proceed with the lessons from there.

Nevertheless, because of Stuyvesant’s unique computer science program, many of the students in the club were too advanced for the curriculum offered by the program, prompting the engineers to develop a fourth tier so that the course may remain engaging and challenging for the girls.

Computer Science teacher Yulia Genkina verified the helpfulness of the engineers. “[The Goldman Sachs engineers] seem very interested in what they’re doing. They seem open for making a better experience for our girls,” she said.

The eight Stuyvesant founders also help out during meetings, encouraging the girls to pursue whatever topics they are interested in, from web-based application to software development. “All of the founders are incredibly knowledgeable. They’re patient and willing to help, and I think that’s really important […] to be able to identify with someone with similar interests,” Brown Mykolyk said.

Genkina agreed, saying, “I think what this [GWC] really does is provide girls with a sense of camaraderie and confidence.”

GWC at Stuyvesant has definitely had an encouraging impact on its members. “GWC is a really

great way to learn more [about] coding […] and working on our projects with other girls is really fun. It feels almost like a community; we were all in one room working on the same thing. […] It makes you more motivated,” sophomore Vandana Agarwala said.

“[Girls] have a harder time admitting their faults because they might be ridiculed.”

—Topher Brown-Mykolyk, Computer Science teacher

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 3

Features Engineering an Environment Free of Sexism continued from page 1

of Lin’s math team assumed that the boys would be the domineering force of the team.

Lin slowly grew discouraged.

“When you’re a kid, […] you already have your little pool of options that people give to you.

Engineering isn’t generally one of the options that is [given] to girls.”

— Anya Laskin Keller, sophomore

And she certainly was not alone. Few women in the real world go into STEM-related careers such as engineering.

According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, as of 2014, 8.3 percent of electrical engineers and 7.2 percent of mechanical engineers in the United States are women.

These statistics show that the discouragement Lin suffered from is a huge, underlying, and ever-present force in society. There’s bound to be some effects everywhere, including the engineering environment at Stuyvesant.

On the Stuyvesant Fission 310 robotics team, there are around thirty people, seven of which hold leadership positions. Five of them are girls and one girl has a leadership position on the team. On the Stuyvesant Fusion 479 robotics team, there are around ten people, three of which hold leadership positions. One of them is a girl and one girl has a leadership position on this team. And on the Stuyvesant Pulse 694 robotics team, there are around seventy members, nineteen of whom hold leadership positions. Roughly 15 of them are girls and six girls on the team have leadership positions.

While girls are a minority on the team, it seems that Stuyvesant engineering teams har-

bor no outright sexism. Junior James Chin, head of the Stuyvesant Fission 310 robotics team, said,“There’s no legitimate sexism on my robotics team specifically. As a leader, I do not make a distinction between the guys and the girls on the team.

Everyone plays an equal role.”

This fair treatment is definitely acknowledged by the girls on the teams. “I feel like I’ve been treated very equally.

I haven’t seen anything at all that put women down in the engineering area,” sophomore Anya Laskin Keller said.

Other members of the Robotics team explained that the way one is treated on the team has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with ability. If someone is bad, he/ she will be of little use to their team, regardless of his/her sex. “We just tend to treat the people that are more competent differently by giving them more responsibilities. It’s not really a matter of gender or any other factor; it’s mostly about whether you can do it and how well you can do it,” explained junior Alvin Lin, who is the vice president of the Stuyvesant Fission team and the head of software engineering.

Generally, it’s considered “normal” for boys to be interested in engineering because of the precedent already established by males in the field.

This normality is evident at Stuyvesant—the boys on the robotics team are not especially or directly favored, but still receive good support. “I definitely got encouragement from other people to join robotics. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m a boy, but that may be a reason,” sophomore and member of the Stuyvesant Fission team Sebastian Cain said.

For Sharon Lin, the situation has certainly improved since middle school. In fact, her experiences at Stuyvesant have been almost entirely different.

Stuyvesant’s relatively openminded atmosphere has made her feel at home, and she has thrived: she is now the leader of the Technology Student Association. “At Stuy[vesant], it’s a lot different from what I felt back in middle and elementary school, because I can definitely feel the enthusiasm for engineering in the female community. I feel a lot more comfortablehere,”sheexplained.

In reality, it’s impossible for a community to be entirely free of gender stereotypes, especially when that community’s field has been dominated by them. Though Stuyvesant’s engineering environment is welcoming towards girls, the omnipresent gender roles that are implemented into girls’ brains can cause major insecurity.

Sophomore Leith Conybeare noticed that generally, girls are more timid, reluctant, and tentative in attempting to work on a project, while boys are confident and bold. “A friend of mine tends to be very hesitant in her approach to the problem. I know I can also be like that,” Conybeare said. “It seems like we have to search for approval before we make a concrete decision, while a lot of my guy friends are unafraid of being wrong.”

This insecurity and feeling of not belonging directly

correlates with the noticeable deficiency of females on the robotics teams at Stuyvesant.

Conybeare pointed out that when there are fewer girls on the robotics teams, fewer girls may want to join—in essence, an everlasting cycle.

Girls usually find boy-dominated teams to be intimidating. “It’s weird for a lot of girls who are used to being surrounded by tons of other girls.

I can see that being a big part of the divide. Because there are [few] girls, there continues to be [few] girls,” she explained.

“[Robotics is] not really a matter of gender or any other factor, it’s mostly about whether you can do it and how well you can do it.” —Alvin Lin, junior

Sharon Lin also drew attention to the gender divide in leadership positions on the robotics team. “Almost all of the departments have been headed by a boy. The head of the engineering department, the head of the programming department, they’re all boys.

Usually, the girls are the head of marketing, which is not a smaller department, but it’s not as science-y,” she said.

Conybeare noticed this as well, but she was “very certain that it has next to nothing to do with bias and more to do with the fact that there’s just not really enough girls on the team for there to be a lot of girl leaders,” she said. She mentioned that a couple of years ago, the president of engineering on the robotics team was Joanna Zhu (‘13), a female. Today, Zhu is considered one of the best leaders the team has had.

Now attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Zhu studies mechanical engineering. Her experience on the Stuyvesant robotics team was one of respect from her peers, with the exception of one boy, who she described as being “blatantly rude” to her. She acknowledged,

however, that this bad behavior might not have had to do with her gender, but with him just not particularly liking her.

The hesitancy of girls on the robotics team didn’t escape Zhu’s notice during her time at Stuyvesant. “Because the team was mostly male, a lot of girls felt that they didn’t want to lead the project. So I think there were girls who weren’t as assertive and who were happy with what they were doing to begin with,” Zhu explained.

The lack of confidence in girls involved in engineering has remained, but Zhu observed during her recent visit to Stuyvesant that there were more girls on the team than there were during her time.

According to Zhu, the engineering environments at MIT and Stuyvesant are both accepting of girls. There is generally an equal number of girls and boys in one of her engineering classes at MIT and as a result, both genders are treated equally. Yet, Zhu has heard some troubling stories: “I’ve heard a lot of stories about girls in CS who were working on this group project with [a] guy. The girls made an organized plan for everything, and were interested in doing it, but then they opened the project one day and the guy had finished it all and said something like ‘hahaha, I’m the Java master,’” Zhu said.

She further admitted that while sexism “definitely does exist,” in her personal experience, she has been treated impartially.

Though things have improved since Zhu graduated, the robotics team is still far from having a 50-50 ratio of girls to boys. Some girls on the robotics teams blamed society for the disparity in genders. “Our society as a whole, as opposed to Stuyvesant, is the root of the problem,” Cain said. Cain puts the blame on the idea deeply rooted in our culture that women aren’t as skilled in technology as men.

In effect, there is less encouragement for girls to pursue engineering as viable careers.

“When you’re a kid, […] you already have your little pool of options that people give to you. Engineering isn’t generally one of the options that is [given] to girls,” Keller explained.

Programs encouraging young girls to go into engineering can definitely bridge the gender gap. One of these programs is Girls Who Code, a large organization whose mission is to introduce girls to coding and computer science, building confidence in their members along the way.

There’s a Girls Who Code club at Stuyvesant with about thirty members. The faculty advisor is computer science teacher Topher Brown Mykolyk, who is usually the only male in the room during meetings. Yulia Genkina, the only female computer science teacher at Stuyvesant, is always around to help. Cain said that clubs like Girls Who Code are an effective way to encourage girls to pursue engineering and other STEM-related subjects.

Chin agreed that these programs are helpful solutions to getting more girls into engineering, but felt that as a boy, he has fewer opportunities.

“What they do is they have

an all-girls team to make the girls feel like the majority and make them want to get more involved. But, since they have all these opportunities, I feel left out in a way,” Chin said.

“I don’t have as many opportunities as a girl [does].”

Zhu sympathized with Chin’s feelings about femaleonly programs. She thinks the gender gap issue should be solved by focusing on equality rather than focusing on female involvement. “I personally don’t believe in women-only things.

I understand that they’re good for support, but I think that a lot of it should be dealt with by promoting equality as opposed to promoting specifically women to do it. This needs to start from an early age, preferably in elementary school so that kids would get to spend an hour a week building something, or even just playing with Legos,” Zhu explained.

All these solutions could work in the long run, but it looks like there is no quick and easy way to bridge the gender gap on the Stuyvesant robotics team, let alone the world of STEM. But Alvin Lin has his hopes.

“There’s still a lot of discussion on how to specifically appeal to girls. I’m not too sure about how that would be done, exactly. No one really knows. I just hope that through showcasing, everybody, regardless of gender— male or female—can see that stuff like this is cool,” he said.

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me,” Aretha Franklin sang in her 1967 song about gender inequality. Stuyvesant’s STEM-related programs hope to foster a community where Franklin’s catchy lyrics are belted not because their message is one that needs to be said, but because of their memorable tune.

“There’s just not really enough girls on the team for there to be a lot of girl leaders.” —Leith Conybeare, sophomore

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 4

Features

By Vincent Jiang and Lisa Shi The clatter of pieces and timers are the only disturbances in the room. Students are hunched over the board as each calculates his or her next moves.

One by one, a few students sigh contentedly and sit back with smiles after successfully checkmating their opponents. Others frown angrily and think back to when they may have blundered.

Two opponents sit up as the match ends, smile at each other, and shake hands with grips not as firm or formal as those of the others. Juniors and co-captains of the Stuyvesant chess team, Alexander Spinnell and Kyle Moon, have played chess together for three years on the same team, and have thus become casual opponents: when they face each other at competitions, their matches are devoid of the tense atmosphere and heavy air that often dominates the competition room.

Moon has a rating of 2100 points and is 100 points away from the rank of chess master, a prestigious title given to players with a rank of 2200. Spinnell is closer with a rating of 2150. He only needs 50 points to achieve this milestone. But it’s not as easy as it seems: “It’s harder to go from 2000-2200 than 0-1800,” Moon said. Seeing our confused faces, Moon started to draw with

his finger on the table. “It’s like a ‘y equals square root of x’ [function]. It’s near the asymptote, and as you get near[er] it gets really impossible [to achieve],” he said.

Both Spinnell and Moon hope to reach the master status before the end of high school. Moon described it as “a big benchmark, a milestone to achieve before your graduation.

Something for the college apps.”

They have been trying for many years, and they aren’t ready to give up despite its difficulty to achieve. However, neither of the two players expect to reach the title of Grandmaster, which needs a rank of 2500 to obtain.

“If you’re a chess master, people know that you’re good. You can teach other people how to play.

It’s like one percent of all players are a master,” Moon said.

Moon and Spinnell still remember their introductions to the game of chess fondly. Both entered the field at a young age.

Smiling when we asked him, Spinnell explained that he was introduced to chess by his mother, and that his entire family, including his siblings and grandparents, were involved in the game even though they were not very good at it. “I was also pretty much obsessed with it,” Spinell said, laughing. “It was really fun, I loved it.”

Spinnell became more interested in chess in first grade after joining afterschool chess pro-

grams. With encouragement from his chess teacher, he started playing in tournaments, and began attending national tournaments in third grade with a rating of 1300.

Moon began playing chess when he was in first grade and quickly took a liking to it. Just as Spinnell’s family did, Moon’s family introduced him to chess and supported him. He began participating in school tournaments soon after he started to learn before attending city, state, and national tournaments.

It was in these major tournaments and school tournaments that Spinnell and Moon started to see each other. They noted that there were few players their age with ratings similar to theirs.

In fact, “there [were] only five, and you knew all of them,” Moon said. Though Moon and Spinnell saw each other often—in school, chess camp, and tournaments— they did not get to know each other until high school.

When the two chess players encountered each other at Stuyvesant, both had generally positive reactions. “I was surprised. I was like, ‘Oh there’s that chess kid,’” Moon said.

Moon and Spinnell bonded as members of the chess team, in which they felt free and relaxed in talking to one another.

“Our team and our friends [are] what makes [chess] enjoyable. As a kid, there’s more pressure and less free time because of family. Now we’re with friends and can relax,” Spinnell explained.

It is hard to believe that Moon and Spinnell are still good friends after their serious and draining matches. Moon said, “There’s never really a rivalry. It’s all friendly.” He added that their interest in chess helped shape their friendship.

Moon said that he and Spinnell do not only interact by playing chess against each other online, but that they also message over Facebook and hang out after school. Not to mention, the national and large tournaments they attend are great ways for them to bond. “We can stay and

play bughouse [chess] and relax. Tournaments are generally fun experiences,” Spinnell said.

It’s only reasonable that tournaments such as Nationals are the ones that Moon and Spinnell look forward to the most.

This year, Spinnell is confident about the upcoming high school nationals in Orlando, Florida, a prestigious tournament for K-12 students. Their previous experience at the tournament had been difficult: they had to play against high school seniors, masters and in one case, a Grandmaster. Spinnell, however, believes that this year’s tournament will end in success for their team. “This year, we have a good chance,” he said.

Spinnell has had many other disappointing matches in previous years. One match surprised him when he lost a pawn, ending the game as a draw. However, Spinnell has also encountered much success: he won fourth place in a national tournament after beating Justin Williams, who has a rating of 2400 and is the youngest African American master.

Moon has also had memorable experiences.

He reflected on a seven-hour long match that ended in a draw after he faltered. He then recalled a happier memory, and smiled as he described a match in which he beat a chess player that he had lost to numerous times in the past. “A lot of games there’s a lot of pressure at the end, and if you pull it off, your heart will pound and soar,” Moon said. “It’s like an intense adrenaline rush.”

Spinnell and Moon admit

that although they enjoy their matches, they are frequently filled with pressure. “Generally, every game you’re expected to win. It requires a lot of concentration and focus, and you have to make sure not to make any blunders or bad moves,” Spinnell said.

Despite their great advances in the world of chess, both players feel that continuing their hobby will prove to be difficult after high school. “Hopefully, we’ll keep playing in college,” Moon said, “but it’s hard to balance chess [with] other hobbies.”

Chess can be stressful and disappointing for Moon and Spinnell, but both are passionate about it and know it will continue to be a major part of their lives.

When we asked why they liked chess so much, Moon started to compare it to a Rubik’s cube. He believed that the Rubik’s cube seems so simple, yet it can provide hours of entertainment.

Chess is the same way: “It’s really amazing. Why I like it—it’s stimulating. [It’s] not mindless mashing like controllers, and it’s very rewarding to win,” he said.

Sunny Chen / The Spectator

Tanumaya Bhowmik / The Spectator

Two Kings of a Chess Court

By Gracy Lin and Stella Ma Sophomore Raymond Chen knew he needed a plan.

He had a test next period for history teacher Avram Jezer’s class. He had not studied and Jezer is not an easy teacher.

He could not just wing the test since it covered multiple topics. As many students would, Chen decided to cram for the test the period before by reading the textbook chapter.

But this is where Chen’s story deviates from those of most students. Rather than finding a quiet corner in the sixth floor library to study in, Chen chose a louder area of the building as he decided to read the chapter

to himself aloud. Making use of his superpower-like ability to remember everything he hears, Chen committed the entire chapter to memory. The next period, Chen walked into his history classroom confident about the test. A few days later, he got it back with a shining 98 printed at the top.

Chen originally diagnosed his own ability as photographic memory, but he believes that a more appropriate name would be audio-photographic memory. Chen’s ability to remember everything he hears is a subconscious process in which his brain connects things he hears to a memory, usually an idea, already in his head. The words and ideas form a link and if one is triggered, the other is pulled.

“I hear something and it doesn’t really affect me. But, then in the future when I hear something that I associate with the sound when I heard it then I would remember that time,” Chen explained.

For example, in class, a certain topic may be covered, and if Chen hears anything regarding that topic, his brain connects the two and stores them. He described, “I don’t really remember everything explicitly but rather I would remember when I hear words of images that connect to the memory.” He may or may not have had use for this informa-

tion, but the memories are there and they last for a while.

In fact, Chen’s memories go as far back as first grade—he even remembers details about children’s books he used to read, such as “Amelia Bedelia.” From the books, Chen can even recall traits of individual characters.

Surprisingly, while Chen can remember a lot from his past, he did not realize he had this special ability until fifth grade, when he participated in a school-wide spelling bee. He recalled going home and studying a list of words his teacher had assigned. Chen described the studying process as having his mom read the list of words and their definitions, and then he would echo her.

During the spelling bee, Chen represented his class, and he found that he was able to spell out every word with ease.

He went on to win the spelling bee year after year.

Chen’s auditory ability is strongly linked to his musical abilities. He can easily memorize lyrics, learn to play songs for the piano, and detect when notes are off-pitch. All of these talents are especially useful to

Chen because he is in chorus.

However, there are some downsides that come with being able to remember every single thing you hear. Chen admitted that his life is full of amusing yet awkward situations in and out of class. “When I allude to things that I feel like people would remember but then they don’t, it becomes awkward,” Chen said. He elaborated on some of the funnier moments that come with his talent: “[English teacher

Hugh] Francis always makes [these jokes] and he kind of repeats them occasionally, but no one really remembers. I’m kind of like laughing to myself.”

Though Chen’s ability can be useful in a variety of different occasions in his life, he doesn’t brag about it and only mentions it to people who ask. While Chen’s special skill has certainly had an important effect on his lifestyle, he doesn’t think it is a major part of his identity. “It’s [a] part of who I am, but it’snot defining,” he explained.

Adam Wickham / The Spectator

Derrick Lui / The Spectator

Raymond Chen: Walking Recorder

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 5

Features

Xin Italie / The Spectator

Dr. Greenwald: A Historian’s Story

By Claire jin and Geena Jung

History teacher Lisa Greenwald talks to The Spectator about her time in France, involvement in the feminist movement, and her passion for history.

How and why did you decide to go into history?

My father was really into history, but he was into military history, so I could not identify with it. I did not feel like history had any connection to my life. Then, when I was in college, I took a women’s history course. Women’s history interested me because it was about me and my life, more than military history was.

An important historian in women’s history at that time, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (“Betsey” to many of her students), made me believe that the world of ideas and scholarship was one I could

live in. She also helped me understand society through the lens of gender and class. I was able to answer questions I had about the inequalities I saw around me.

When I was a senior, Betsey asked me, “What do you think you’re going to do in life?” I really had no idea because […] I came out of a time period when fewer parents talked to daughters about what to do when [they] grew up. She was the first person to talk to me seriously about becoming a professional. I took her advice, applied to graduate school, and I got in. The more I studied women’s history, the more I became interested in political, intellectual, and military history because I saw the influence and importance it has in understanding the forces of civilization and power in society.

We heard you spent some time in France, why were you there? Was it to study Women’s history?

I wanted to have some life experiences and figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. A French friend of mine said, “Well, you can come live with my family.” So I thought, “I’ll go to France for a year, and I’ll figure it out.” I didn’t speak French and I had to learn it there.

I also had trouble finding work, so I had barely any money. But it was an extraordinary learning experience. I immersed myself in another culture, learned to appreciate French cheese and wine, and went on marvelous adventures. I involved myself in life-long interests. I studied ballet with a former dancer from the Paris Opera and I got in-

volved in the feminist movement.

What was the feminist movement in France like at this time?

It was in the 1980s after a decade of struggle by and among feminists in France. I was on the editorial board of a feminist movement newspaper called Paris Féministe. When I started, they took sympathy on me as the clueless American, but ultimately I did speak and read French. It was not an easy time for feminism in France. There was a lot of conflict over women’s identity and how women’s lives could be improved.

After you moved to France, why did you move back to the United States?

I wanted to study more with Betsey so I applied to Emory University graduate school. I met and eventually got married to an American [journalist] who also had a French life. I received a grant from the French government to do my dissertation research and a few years later, he got a job in the Paris Bureau of the Wall Street Journal. When I finished my dissertation, I got a job with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (a foundation dedicated to broadening understanding about European nations and the U.S.), and my oldest daughter was born. My husband decided to go to business school, and we had to make a decision as to whether we would be expats with French children or move back to the States. We chose the latter.

After moving back to the U.S., what did you miss about France?

I missed my friends, the food,

the beauty, and the tranquility of the city, the smells, and I missed speaking the language, which was a constant source of frustration and pleasure. But who knows where life will take me? Maybe one day I’ll move back there!

You want to open students to the wonder of your subject and give them skills they will need to go to the next level. In truth, I rarely feel satisfied with my work.

How do you connect your interest in history to teaching?

It is something I feel very passionate about and I hope that I am able to convey to my students every day that studying history is an extraordinarily rich experience that can take you in all sorts of directions depending on your interests. Beyond that, studying history can help make you a more compassionate person because you have worked to understand the feelings, motivations, and actions of other people from a different time and place. It can enable you to bridge large misunderstandings that cause conflict and can also help you to hone your ethical sense. Studying U.S. history allows us to recognize not just the challenges but the achievements of the people who came before us, and to participate more fully in the politics of our nation.

How do you connect your life in France to your life as a teacher?

I absolutely love the fact that at least two-thirds of my students speak more than one language and live between cultures. I feel like I understand what that is like and I try to make use of all this cultural diversity in the classroom. I’d like to teach a class on women’s voices and women’s lives from an interdisciplinary perspective. The sad truth is, in such time constraints, one is always leaving out important aspects of history and I feel like I give women’s history really short shrift. Separately, I’ve been working on getting my manuscript on the history of the feminist movement in France published.

Why do you love teaching?

I think that life in university can sometimes be very limiting, and I wanted to be out in the “real world.” Initially I thought high school teaching would be more rewarding and also easier.

I thought: “I’m going to be off at 3:30—this is going to be great!”

Once I started teaching I realized—it wasn’t easy at all! Every day I’d come home thinking, “I didn’t do that well.. That wasn’t interesting and I wasn’t able to get students to understand whatever it was they were supposed to learn deeply enough.” But high school teaching is an obsession.

Since you’re a history teacher, if you could go back in time where would you go and why?

I’m very 19th century, the age of the bourgeoisie and art.

On the other hand, that century was not very nice to Jews, or women. Ultimately, I’m really grateful to be where I am.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 6

Features

Courtney Chiu / The Spectator

The Birds that Caught the Worm: Exploring Early Matriculation at Stuyvesant

By Claire Jin and Kevin Li As Stuyvesant students are beginning to embark on the five-week-long stretch of school ahead of them, many dejectedly accept the inevitable: sleepless nights, caffeine-filled mornings, after-school naps, and lunch-inthe-library cramming sessions.

For many students, the ultimate goal of all this sweat and toil is an acceptance letter from a college of their choice, whether that be Harvard, the University of Chicago, or Macalester. There is arguably nothing better than seeing hard work pay off in the end with a shiny, bulky envelope with a congratulatory letter from one’s dream school. How could anyone ask for any more than that?

For junior Calvin Lee and alumnus Richard Yip (’14), the answer was simple: they asked to do it a year early.

Yip, Yip, Hooray for Early Matriculation Richard Yip first explored early matriculation at an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) information session with his dad. “My dad said, ‘Hey, what do you think about applying a year early?’ and that got me thinking a lot,” Yip said.

Early matriculation is the acceptance of a student in their junior year of high school into college. It is an extremely selective application process since colleges accept very few juniorapplicant students. Colleges also compare these younger applicants with regular admission applicants and do not take their grade level into consideration; the selectiveness of colleges creates increased competition amongst students.

Many schools are not very enthusiastic about early matriculation, since applicants should have a high school diploma. These schools believe that it is improbable for a junior to have fulfilled graduation requirements in less than four years, and thus require applicants to have significant justification for doing so. Colleges are also very strict with students who apply early and do not make exceptions for the fact that the applicants are younger. “Your record over two years of high school will be compared with normal applicants’ record from three—or three and a half—years,” Lee explained.

Yip did not think about it too much at the time, but soon after, he realized early matriculation might be a real possibility for him. He was a strong competitor on the Stuyvesant math team, an active member on the tennis team, and a captain for the Science Olympiad physics team.

Yip began by making a mental list of the pros and cons of applying early, and realized that there was little to lose. If he did not get in, he would just try again next year. And so, after much thought, he decided to give it a try. The early applications were due in three weeks from that time. Yip scrambled to get an

application ready. He asked for teacher recommendations, talked to his guidance counselor, and wrote his essays. But the process was not a one-man job for Yip. During the application process, Yip received a lot of support from his family. His parents stood by him through the entire process, and were more than willing to help even though their help was rarely needed. He described his sister as “a little cheerleader through the whole thing” and the overwhelming support gave him confidence to submit his college applications.

At school, Yip credits math teacher James Cocoros, who “had been someone [he] looked up to and considered one of [his] best teachers,” Yip said. The motivation that Cocoros and the math team provided for Yip was, in many ways, the largest contributing factor to his success during high school. Cocoros played a big role in Yip’s decision to come to Stuyvesant in the first place: Cocoros is a former NYC math team head coach, and introduced Yip to the members of Stuyvesant’s math team. After coming to Stuyvesant and joining the team, he ended up making his closest friendships with his teammates. “That was a big part of what I did during my time at Stuy[vesant]. I really enjoyed the competition and teaching the younger kids,” Yip said. “That’s the experience I miss quite a bit.”

When his college acceptance results came in, Yip was as nervous as any senior would’ve been.

He sat on a Central Park bench with his phone in his hand, and anxiously waited. The nervousness soon subsided after Yip found out he was accepted to MIT. “I was very, very happy,” he reflected.

The Monday Yip came back to school, people he had barely seen before came up to him with words of congratulations. The reaction from his schoolmates was overwhelming—many hugged him and some even asked for photograph. However, the majority of his grade was surprised as many of them did not know that early matriculation was an option.

For the remainder of his junior, and final, year at Stuyvesant, he remained committed to his studies and did not succumb to an early bout of “senioritis” (or “junioritis” in his case). He explained, “The teachers I had were still quite good and I respected them and didn’t want to give them 20 percent effort— that’s just not fair for anybody.”

But some things did change.

The dynamic between his friends was different because he realized that by the end of the year, his friends would still be worrying about SATs, college applications, and their grades. Yip had to find a balance between spending his last few months enjoying his friends’ company and respecting the stress of junior year they were all under. “Something that happens with a lot with Stuy[vesant] students is that right after they find out they got into college they start

realizing that they’re not going to be seeing their friends again,” he said. “I got that feeling junior year, so while all my other friends were worrying about their SATs, I [made sure] I could see them in person as much as possible.”

Instead of beginning MIT the next year, Yip elected to take a gap year. He went to Beijing, China for three months, and worked at a Microsoft research facility. However, Yip knew very little Mandarin. He is half Korean and half Chinese, making it especially awkward that he looked, but did not speak Chinese. “People would come up to me and start talking in Mandarin and I would just say ‘ni hao’ [hello] or ‘wo bu zhi dao’ [I do not understand].” As a result, Yip found himself having to learn a completely new language while doing research for Microsoft.

His family was both reluctant and supportive of his independent endeavors in Beijing. Yip described his mother as especially concerned: “She thought the Chinese government would capture me and send me away,” Yip said.

His dad was a little less worried about the decision: “My dad and I always joked that the best way to teach me Chinese would be to drop me in the middle of China for a whole month, but I never thought he was serious,” he said.

“My dad and I always joked that the best way to teach me Chinese would be to drop me in the middle of China for a whole month, but I never thought he was serious.”

—Richard Yip (’14) Despite the struggles that came with being so far away from his parents, Yip knew the decision to live on his own would be a good one.

In Beijing, Yip used Skype to talk to his family as much as possible.

By the end of his time in Beijing he had learned an enormous amount of Mandarin and attained a sense of independence similar to what he was going to have in college. Yip also spent a few weeks in South America, going hiking, camping, and spending time with nature. The gap year, while outside the loop of his academic life, was refreshing, inspiring, and motivating as Yip prepared to go to MIT for the coming school year. “Since I was five I was put into school,” he said. “I got a new perspective on life, different from school, and I really got to explore more, try new things.”

Currently, Yip is a sophomore at MIT, majoring in electrical engineering and computer science. He very much enjoys the freedom that MIT provides. He describes his campus mates as “smart, obviously, but very sociable and very interesting people.”

Reflecting on his time at Stuyvesant, there’s quite a lot of advice he feels should be given to any Stuyvesant student. Yip

explains many of them do not see the big picture and get a little shortsighted. “As soon as I get an 80 on a test, I won’t go to Harvard and I will be on the streets for the rest of my life,” Yip said of the extrapolation he saw countless students make in his time here.

Having been in the pressure cooker that is Stuyvesant, Yip understands the burdens associated with falling below expectations.

“Keep it in your mind that it’s not the end of the world. People have messed up the SATs and gone on to live very good lives—it does happen,” Yip said. “There’s more to life than just Scantrons and multiple-choice exams. Just try to always think about that.”

Lee to MIT Calvin Lee is unlike any other student in this school as he takes any normal high school student’s educational experience to a whole new level. Normally, students wait until their senior year for the college application process, when they can choose to apply early or at the normal time for regular decision. However, unlike the majority, Lee had applied and was accepted to MIT this year, as a junior.

Lee was first introduced to the early matriculation process during his freshman year at Stuyvesant, the same year Yip was accepted to MIT as a junior. Lee and Yip knew each other through the math team.

At this time, Lee had not known that it was possible to apply to college before senior year, and recalled asking Yip about his decision and the process in general. He considers Yip a large influence in his decision to apply early. “He was incredibly helpful, and thus, from the very beginning of my freshman year, I knew that applying early was an interesting option for me,” Lee said in an e-mail interview.

Inspired by Yip, Lee began to follow in his footsteps. Ever since his middle school, Lee has taken online courses from Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) program, Art of Problem Solving, Udacity, and Coursera. He has also studied a wide variety of subjects independently that range from math and physics to history and computer science. The benefits of taking online classes and selfstudying are apparent in his advanced coursework at Stuyvesant.

Stuyvesant’s offering of higher level classes of certain subjects worked to Lee’s advantage. He was able to take Stuyvesant’s advanced math and science classes and learn more about the subjects he was most interested in.

In his freshman year, Lee took AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C, being the only freshman, let alone non-senior, in the class.

In sophomore year, he took Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations, the two hardest math courses Stuyvesant offers, as well as AP Computer Science and AP Chemistry, all of which are classes normally reserved for juniors and seniors. Lee also enrolled in classes at New York University (NYU).This year he has already taken two courses at NYU, one of which is a graduate-level computer science course. His admission to classes in NYU was possible mostly because of the relations Assistant Principal of Mathematics Maryann Ferrara has with NYU. In all of these endeavors, his preparation has served him well.

His work ethic and studying habits have allowed him to consistently master the material and earn grades in the 98 to 100 range. He is also self-motivated: “Needless to say, I wouldn’t be taking all of these advanced courses if I didn’t love the material,” he said.

The product of Lee’s passion and hard work have resulted in

quite an impressive resumé. Lee is the first Stuyvesant student since Danny Zhu, Principal Jie Zhang’s son, who qualified for the USA Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP), a qualifier for the USA Math Team. He has medaled at the USA Physics Olympiad Semifinals and is the first Stuyvesant student in six years to qualify for the USA Computing Olympiad.

Though he may spend time away from the building—whether he be participating in online courses or taking classes at NYU— Lee is also an active participant in the Stuyvesant’s community.

Since freshman year, he has been an editor of and contributor to Stuyvesant’s math research publication, Math Survey. In his sophomore year, he co-led and taught the Physics Club while also leading Stuyvesant’s Zero Robotics team, a lesser-known team dedicated to programming robots to work in outer space. This year he is a captain of Stuyvesant’s math team. “Some of the highlights of my year are the Math Team trips where we place in the top ten teams in the country,” he said.

Despite Yip’s influence, it was not an easy decision for Lee to choose whether to apply early or not. He considered the advantages and disadvantages of early matriculation as well: “The main advantage—assuming you want to go to college early or take a gap year—is that you may have a chance to do so. Also, in the case of rejection, you get another chance, so you can focus on applying to your top choice schools,” Lee said. Additionally, because his commute took up a majority of his high school life, Lee wanted to experience living on campus full-time. He believed MIT would provide him with that experience and it seemed a natural choice for him to apply early.

Lee felt that MIT is an extremely suitable school for him, since he aspires to pursue a major associated with math and science. “MIT is an extraordinary school. Its academic opportunities are absolutely spectacular: its math, physics, computer science, and business departments are all among the nation’s best,” Lee said. MIT also offers him the chance to indulge in numerous research opportunities that may align with his interests.

Despite the abundance of positives associated with applying early, it was difficult for Lee to make his final decision. In order to facilitate his decision making process, Lee sought guidance from his “parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, and [his] friends at MIT,” he said. With their advice and thoughts, he was able to decide that he would apply early. “In the end I decided that taking a gap year or matriculating early was a sufficiently desirable outcome to justify the risk and the cost,” he said.

And in the end, it seemed to be fate: Lee recounted a memory from his freshman year when Cocoros, his AP Calculus BC teacher and Math Team coach, predicted, “You will try to pull a Richard Yip.” With his recent acceptance to the school, Lee is considering taking a gap year. It would allow him to learn and experience things that are not academiarelated. Because of his passion in mathematics, he is also hoping to qualify for the USA International Math Olympiad team, which he would not be eligible for if he were to go directly to college. Nonetheless, his decision would be based on how the rest of the year goes.

College or no college, Lee hopes to dedicate his future to innovation. He is greatly inspired by ideas of leading innovators of the world today. “Their stories and insights captivate me, and I hope to start a company someday,” Lee said.

The Spectator â—? March 4, 2015

Page 7

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Page 10

Editorials Staff Editorial

The Spectator

A Second Chance With the new term comes the opportunity to restart. The prospect of new classes, new teachers, and not-yet-filled spring semester report cards are encouraging because students have the chance to overcome last semester’s mis-

In the current testing system, the work done in approximately 10 percent of class periods is worth 80 percent or more of one’s grade.

takes. With a clean slate on their hands, some students resolve to bring up their grades by reviewing every night; others vow to stop making silly errors on tests. But as the semester progresses, many find that they have fallen victim to the oft-repeated expression, “it’s easier said than done.”

Though some students find that this disparity between their aspirations and their results can be attributed to procrastination and unproductive studying, many others do put in the time and effort they deem necessary to meet their goals. For them, it was simply a test or two they weren’t prepared for, a concept they were unable to grasp, or a series of careless mistakes on an exam that dragged down their averages. Combining the facts that a limited number of tests are administered per semester and that tests account for a high percentage of final grades results in the unfortunate truth that one slip-up can cost a lot.

Such is especially true in math and science classes, in which the majority of one’s final grade is his or her test average. The math department’s official grading policy says that tests and quizzes are worth 80 percent of a student’s grade; homework and classwork account for 10 percent each.

Such an emphasis on examinations rightly benefits students who can absorb material and then apply it to the test. However, in the current system, the work done in approximately 10 percent of class periods (if a test is given once every two weeks) is worth 80 percent or more of one’s grade. This allows for situations in which students who consistently work

hard and dedicate inordinate amounts of time to mastering a subject are given grades that do not accurately reflect their performance in the class as a whole.

But testing is not inherently flawed, and we do not think this problem ought to be solved by doing away with tests. Testing, if done correctly, is a clear and efficient method for assessing proficiency in a subject, and it certainly has its place in grading rubrics.

After all, no matter how much effort a student puts in, being able to find the correct answer is the ultimate goal. If an engineer builds a building that falls down, the hard work he or she put into it hardly matters. Scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who hone impressive work ethics but still do not understand the concepts will not be good at what they do. Thus, it is important for students to actually understand the material and be able to perform well on a test.

To preserve the benefits of testing in math and science classes while supporting the students who suffer from this system, we propose a system where students can retake tests—a method some teachers already employ. Students who feel that they received a test grade that does not represent their potential or their work should be allowed to retake the test. This will allow the students to feel as if the work they completed leading up to the test was not wasted, and it will provide them with

Testing, if done correctly, is a clear and efficient method for assessing proficiency in a subject, and it certainly has its place in grading rubrics.

a second chance to learn the material and succeed.

A potential issue with this system of test retakes is that it could place a large burden on teachers. Students could also take advantage of the system by not preparing themselves for a test if they know they will be allowed to retake it at a more convenient time. To remedy these two problems, teachers could decide what the cutoff grade is for retaking tests and how many tests a student may retake in a semester: two seems reasonable in terms of at once allowing

students to recover from missteps but not be able to take advantage of the system. Perhaps a tempting alternative is to offer cumulative tests at the middle and end of the terms that can replace one’s low-

The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

“The Pulse of the Student Body” E DITORs

IN

N ews

est test grades. The flaw with that, however, is that students wouldn’t be required to learn the material on which they floundered, thereby negating many of the advantages of a retake system.

Such a policy would be beneficial for a variety of reasons. By having to earn the retake, students will show that they can work hard and understand the concepts, while developing study skills in the process. Students will be able to raise their grades by actually learning the material, and teachers will not have to arbitrarily inflate grades in order to retain an acceptable class average.

This method also forms a strong foundation for students. Since the material in math and science classes is cumulative, by working hard to learn the topic for a retake, students will be better prepared for future, more difficult units. Furthermore, it allows the teacher to take into account the effort a student applies to the subject, something that is usually difficult to quantify. If a student has the motivation to do remedial work to earn a retake, this shows that the student truly wants to do well in the class.

Most importantly, students will learn that with hard work, they can succeed. With the retest system, students find out what they have to do to excel in the future. Some students may discover that once they truly understand the material, the subject at hand is engaging and rewarding. The extra work may allow others to assert with a little more confidence that the subject just isn’t for them.

These are the kind of lessons one is supposed to learn in high school—so let’s create a system that really allows us to learn them.

O pi ni o ns

Rocky Lam Nicole Rosengurt a rt

d ire c to rs

Sunny Chen Yujie Fu Yuchen Jin

Ed i t o r s

Ed i t o r s

Lylia Eng Kelly Luo Sunny Zhong

Ed i t o r s

Emma Bernstein Brian Dong Nalanda Sharadjaya

Co py

Ed i t o r s

Sabira Mehjabin Sylvia Yu Busi ne ss

Mana g e r s

Evelyn Gotlieb Lucas Weiner

Ed i t o r s

Ari Hatzimemos Louis Susser Joshua Zhu h u mo r

Arts & e ntertai nme nt e di to rs

L ay o u t

Kachun Leung Johnathan Rafailov

s p orts

Jensen Foerster Soham Ghoshal Jin Hee Yoo

Ed i t o r s

Sonia Epstein Tina Jiang Ariel Levy F eature s

To preserve the benefits of testing in math and science classes while supporting the students who suffer from this system, we propose a system where students can retake tests.

C HIEF

Ariella Kahan Daniel Kodsi

Ph o t o g r a p hy Ed i t o r s

We b

Fac u lt y

Jordan Hodder Winton Yee

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Page 11

Opinions

By Nalanda Sharadjaya Bindis, as I was urgently informed by an article in the Huffington Post called “Cultural Appropriation 101”, are the latest exotic feature in a white woman’s aesthetic arsenal. Donned recently by prominent popular culture figures such as Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens, bindis, important and central to Indian culture, are being “appropriated” by western women, and this behavior (according to the article) needs to be stopped at once.

A quick Google search informed me that cultural appropriation is the adoption of certain aspects of a minority culture by a dominant one without a full understanding of the cultural significance of these aspects.

“Cultural Appropriation 101”, among other resources I found online, explained that the bindi is sacred to Hindu culture, and by treating it as a fashion accessory, white women trivialize something sacred to practicing Hindus. Because, of course, an entire culture—one composed of 1.2 billion living people and billions more who died before them—is flimsy enough to be trivialized by a few white women wearing

bindis.

But there’s something else wrong with this idea, besides the fact that it’s ridiculously conde-

I know as little about the bindi as your average boho white girl— how is she any more superficial for wearing one than I am?

scending. Strictly speaking, the bindi may have religious significance, but it’s archaic, ambiguous, and does not really exist today at the level it once existed. In

fact, it has become more of a fashion statement in India than anything else. They come in different shapes, sizes, and colors—there are also decorative ones, studded with colorful plastic jewels. Many Indian women have stopped wearing bindis altogether.

The bindi has morphed into an icon of Indian culture, rather than religion. In fact, I don’t think I can definitively point to any family member of my generation who could identify the exact significance of it. I certainly wouldn’t be able to, and yet no one has ever faulted me for wearing one.

I know as little about the bindi as your average “boho” white girl— how is she any more superficial for wearing one than I am?

When westerners—specifically white people—criticize the so-called “appropriation” of minority cultures it feels as though they are trying to appear hyperaware of their own privilege and make up for this by defending minorities now. But by fighting for such a superficial cause, they end up doing very little to affect the day-to-day lives of the minorities they claim to defend.

Instead, many of these westerners allow themselves to fuel their own self-gratification without acknowledging their privilege in any meaningful way. While they continue to benefit from unconscious societal bias, the minorities who are being “appropriated” end up facing much more serious discrimination.

No matter how well-meaning or earnest these white people are, there is something condescending in the fact that they feel they can claim the authority to dictate the boundaries of a particular minority culture and call it activism—especially when they so often have very little idea what they are talking about.

Of course, white people aren’t the only ones upset by popular culture’s “appropriation” of the

bindi—plenty of Indians feel shortchanged by the bindi trend, and these people can’t be ignored. Many of them believe that when white women wear bindis, they do so out of a desire to appear “exotic”, which demeans real Indians. But if that were true—if foreignness were really as demeaning as it’s made out to be— then the objective should be to work towards removing the stigma around being exotic. Banning white people from embracing our culture isn’t going to help.

Because the truth is that in the eyes of many white people, Indians are exotic; our country is halfway around the world—we eat different food, wear different clothes, and speak different languages, and that’s perfectly okay.

There’s nothing wrong with being exotic or different, and the fact that white women appreciate that difference to the point where they want to be a part of it is really something to be celebrated.

This isn’t to say that “cultural appropriation” is never a problem—it just turns out that its most egregious manifestations

are actually the ones least talked about. The production of “Native American-looking” clothing, for example, is one of the most intolerable forms of cultural appropriation, because it allows people in the corporate world to profit from the existence of a minority culture by undermining it. You can’t know by looking at a t-shirt with vaguely Native American patterns what tribe they originate from, or whether they are even truly representative of a particular tribe.

On the other hand, the fact that the bindi is related to Indian culture is common knowledge— there’s no ambiguity there. When western women wear them, it’s clear they’re borrowing a beautiful aspect of a different culture to do nothing more than partake in that beauty. The bindi doesn’t “belong” to India, her people, her culture—it doesn’t belong to anyone. No one (least of all white people) should dictate who gets to wear it. The bindi is, after all, a symbol of beauty, and should be shared, not owned.

Zhixing Che / The Spectator

Danielle Eisenman / The Spectator

White Woman Wears Bindi, World Keeps Turning

Julie Chan / The Spectator

Chocolate’s Not a Compliment

By RAHAT HUDA “Your skin is like the color of chocolate.”

You mean brown? I know, and that’s offensive. Pickup lines like that are a classic example of racial fetishism. Sexualizing women based on their race changes the way are viewed: as objects of pleasure, not as people. It’s okay to be a little unfamiliar with a particular culture, but to use racist and uninformed stereotypes to objectify the women of a particular color is incredibly harmful,

and should not be taken lightly.

Breaking boundaries when it comes to preconceived notions regarding Islam and sexual autonomy, Lebanese-American pornographic actress Mia Khalifa is very popular in Western countries (primarily because she is Arab). However, although she is ranked the number two porn star on Pornhub,—a pornographic video sharing site, which received 14.7 billion visitors in 2013—her work has generated a lot of controversy (and criticism) in the Middle East. Much of that criti-

cism is directed at a particularly offensive video starring Khalifa, in which she and a fellow actress can be seen wearing hijabs, a traditional headscarf frequently worn by Muslim women.

The consequences of wearing a hijab in a pornographic video extend beyond simply offending people. Khalifa, born into a Catholic family, uses traditional Islamic clothing as part of a costume or prop to give the video a Middle Eastern “feel.” As such, she makes light of the important religious significance of the hijab, which is disrespectful to practicing Muslim women who wear it.

Racial fetishism is, unfortunately, astonishingly prevalent, extending to other races and cultures. Another example is “yellow fever,” or the Asian fetish. On a Tumblr blog dedicated to collecting messages from “creepy white guys with Asian fetishes” (conveniently titled “Creepy White Guys”), Asian women shared some disturbing messages they received on OkCupid, a dating website. White men are shown to greet Asian women with words like “Konichiwa” (demonstrating a lack of respect for the cultural diversity of a continent as large

and expansive as Asia), or brag about their history of dating Asian women (arrogance and lack of

Racial fetishes make people look at members of a certain race as objects of pleasure, and not as people

respect for the women they supposedly desire). Some even tried

to entice them by telling them how protective and strong they are, with one casually adding “If you are tired of men who mistreat you, please get in touch with me.

Xie xie! (bet you’ve never heard that from an Asian man…).” Stereotypes have led these men to perceive Asian women as docile and submissive, believing they are helpless and in need of saving from Asian men.

People who have racial “preferences” when it comes to sexual partners will never truly understand what it’s like to be a person of the race they lust after. Women of color are often victims of this kind of racist sexism. Sometimes it’s hard for them to advocate for themselves without seeming “uptight” because sexual fetishism can be portrayed as complimentary. This kind of behavior cannot be dismissed as harmless flirtation—it’s sexual harassment.

The first step towards eradicating racial fetishism is to combat offensive stereotypes. Relieving a race of these misconceptions will force people to see them in a new light.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 12

Opinions

By Jason Mohabir Throughout the United States, online methods of learning are becoming more popular and widely available, from free learning databases to educational applications that supplement course work. Online learning has flourished over the past few years with a surge of new material coming from websites like Khan Academy and Coursera, as well as various channels on YouTube like Crash Course.

Many institutions (including Stuyvesant) purchase online material to supplement coursework in many of the provided textbooks. The security and privacy of these online services are not improving, or even adapting, to a changing cyber landscape.

Companies have always understood the value of an appealing product, and sometimes place the importance of design and aesthetics above developing a truly effective—and safe—product. Prioritizing appearance over substance is an age-old technique in industry, and it is especially prevalent in the tech market. When it comes to educational services, companies should, ideally, modify their priorities to ensure the safety of their primary consumer pool—

students and educators—but that is often not the case. As Jonathan Mayer, a lawyer and computer science graduate from Stanford University, explains,

Real reform and change needs to take place with engineers and companies.

And that change seems to be on its way.

“For many younger companies, the focus has been more on building the product out and less on guaranteeing a level of comprehensive privacy and security protection commensurate with the sensitive information associated with education.” In other words, they value the aesthetic

appeal of a flashy interface over what students really need most: a safe, reliable system that protects their online security.

Many companies were recently found to have faulty security when an engineer named Tony Porterfield decided to look into the applications that his sons were using to learn. He found that over 20 service providers (Pearson and Class Dojo, to name a few), have flaws that could potentially reveal sensitive information, such as students’ names, voice recordings, and skill level to unauthorized users.

Though the skill level of a small child learning the alphabet may seem like rather trivial information, the problem becomes more serious when these lapses in security become commonplace. When security measures become devalued and viewed as an accessory rather than a necessity, the problem can become much more serious, leading to the theft of data for thousands of students. Some technologists say that insecure learning sites can potentially expose students—many of whom are adolescents—to hacking, identity theft, and even cyber bullying from peers or strangers.

Perhaps surprisingly, much of the policy surrounding educational material is outdated, if it exists at all. Many of the legislative acts designed to protect educational security were put into effect well before the advent of big data and do not explicitly provide methods of preventing data theft. In an effort to improve the situation, a national association of school district chief technology officers called The Consortium for School Networking published a list of questions that can be used to evaluate the security of various Online Service Providers (OSPs). The questions ask for the security measures that the site takes, locations of data storage, and accessibility to this data. The Consortium’s

list of questions is by no means a long-term solution, but it does provide schools with a method of ensuring that the OSPs they recommend to their students are secured. Resources like these are helpful to educational administrators concerned about their students’ safety.

As of this February, a bipartisan bill that claims to protect data collected from students’ educational apps has been in the works. This initiative came a year after President Obama ordered a review of the digital information used by private companies.

This has been described as an effort to push broader measures, which have so far been stalled in Congress, to safeguard consumer privacy. Some of these measures include increased data tracking, which will ensure the government’s ability to monitor who can access, and who has accessed, certain data.

The effort to improve students’ online privacy extends further than this congressional action, though it is certainly a good start. Many companies— Apple, Khan Academy, and Mi-

crosoft, to name a few—have signed something called the “Student Privacy Pledge,”which promises to prevent the disclosure of secure information.

The Student Privacy Pledge was acknowledged by President Obama when introducing some of the new legislature designed to protect students’ safety. These recent initiatives, on the part of both our government as well as well-known companies and organizations, will hopefully set a precedent going forward when it comes to online safety for students.

There is still quite a long way to go, but some of the government’s recent actions demonstrate that in the very least, they recognize the problem. As educators continue to integrate the internet with education, security—which should already be a priority for consumers—needs to become a priority for producers as well. Business may never be devoid of corruption, but education, of all things, should not be manipulated for profit if that means sacrificing the security of the primary user: the student.

Yuchen Jin / The Spectator

Paulina Ruta / The Spectator

Securing Educational Media in the Modern Age

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 13

Opinions

By JUSTIN KONG As social media’s popularity in modern culture continuously increases, education must make a move to adapt to this trend. Already, upcoming websites such as nicenet.org are examples of the growing momentum of infusing social media with high school education.

The application of such social media networks can be spread out to a variety of classes covering the humanities and the sciences. As more teachers learn how to apply classroom blogs into their curriculum, more students will be able to voice their own opinions online and utilize this experience to become more outspoken and confident individuals.

In school, time is always of the essence. There is only so much discussion a teacher can fit into the allotted forty-minute periods. I say “discussion,” because as students, we do not learn simply from the notes we take, but also from the intellec-

tual conversations we have with our classmates. By taking in the

Even shy students will be able to speak without having to fear facing a live audience. opinions of our peers into our own perspective, we are able to develop unique views on topics and truly learn something.

The use of social media tools, such as classroom blogs, helps prolong this learning process. Although communication

in person is always better, there always time restrictions when it comes to school. Students will be able to easily make posts for their peers to see and comment on after school hours, and one post can become a huge discussion that contains a variety of unique opinions. As people, we instinctively absorb our observations and formulate an opinion, but when we see a variety of opinions from peers that we respect and acknowledge, our opinions do not stay the same they do not always stay the same, especially when they are exposed to other peoples’ ideas. They take into account the contributions of these peers and evolve into an idea that is not just their own yours, but everybody’s.In addition, many of these class blog sites are entirely free, so teachers can make a number of blogs for each of their classes for no cost at all.

One potential issue, however, may be a lack of participation. Students may not find it to be in their better interests to take time to write a thoughtful post. Yet, this can be avoided if teachers were to make students respond to controversial topics.

Controversy gets people to talk, and there are controversial topics in every subject. By having teachers assign their students to post about these controversial topics for homework, students will become more motivated to do their work.

Everyone has an opinion, and the use of these blogs will help students voice their opinions to their peers. Even shy students will be able to speak without having to fear facing

a live audience. Making posts can help develop one’s voice, and with the whole class contributing to the same opinion, the once reticent student who could not utter a single word in class can develop into a strong voiced individual who could potentially affect other shy individuals.

In addition, some individuals are opposed to the use of social media in education because they feel personal opinions on topics should not be posted on public forum for the world to see. On the contrary, sites such as nicenet.org are able to privatize classroom blogs, so the public cannot see individuals who are using such utilities. However, even if such sites were shown to the public, we should not feel intimidat-

ed. School is supposed to be a place that helps us learn how to deal with real issues in the outside world. Learning how to talk and interact with others in these blogs sets a foundation for communicating with others in real life. How we talk in the future is determined by how we talk with our peers right now.

We live in a technologydominated generation, so the logical thing to do would be to integrate it into education. Integrating blogs into the classroom is an effective, risk-free method that could bolster not only students’ cognitive abilities but their life skills as well.

Using class blogs will allow students to interact intellectually after school, and perhaps most importantly, learn from others.

Luna Oiwa / The Spectator

Ashley Lin / The Spectator

Blogging for the Future

Xin Italie / The Spectator

An Endless Supply of Distractions

By Stiven Peter It’s 11:20 p.m, and instead of doing my Spanish homework online, which is due at midnight, I’m procrastinating on Facebook and watching Netflix.

My horrendous time-management is caused by endless distractions caused by technology.

Tablets and laptops allow me to procrastinate for hours at a time, but some believe they can revolutionize education. Before we fully embrace the invasion of technology into our education, we have to take a step back and analyze the nuances it has on school budgets and student performance.

Due to Silicon Valley’s and education departments’ fre-

quent push for technological integration in schools, this expensive plan does not get criticized frequently. Many public, private, and charter schools spend thousands of dollars on new tablets and software to streamline learning. Proponents of this movement envision a classroom where teachers serve as guides on each student’s academic journey, with learning individualized and self-paced. The push for integration seems obvious until you begin to quantify the effects of technology. For instance, an analysis done in 2011 by the New York Times of the Kyrene School District concluded that despite the district’s implementation of computers in the

classroom, test scores have flat lined.

To make matters worse, while the school’s performance was stagnant, statewide scores had risen despite the majority of the state sticking to the traditional classroom model. To see schools cut massive amounts of their budget by laying off teachers and cutting classes all for nothing is maddening. It is unacceptable to allow school districts to spend millions on new tablets, computers, software and new textbooks, only to see such policies yield no fruit.

In some cases, student performance has even declined, as shown in a joint study conducted by the Urban Institute, Duke University, Stanford University, and the University of Florida.

This study tracked the performance of students in the North Carolina public school districts as they were increasingly given access to computers and high speed internet. It concluded that there was a direct correlation between lower math and reading scores and the accessibility to technology.

One of the major causes of this decline is that giving students access to technology can distract them from their school work. Instead of watching video lessons or doing online exercises, students went on Facebook or watched Youtube videos.

Technology-centric learning is impractical, as many students have no incentive to stay on task and learn if they were left to their own devices.

However, technology can be useful if it is used in complement with properly trained teachers. If teachers just give students tablets without supervising them, we can expect

Their endless appetite for distractions incentivizes them to commit more time to entertainment online as opposed to learning. stagnation, but if teachers are properly trained as to how to use technology properly, then the benefits of technology can come to fruition. In other words, technology has to work with the teacher’s lesson plan,

not the other way around.

Teachers should use technology to make concepts easier to understand, such as video lessons that go through practice problems or interactive simulations. In many cases we see that when technology is used to replace the teacher, like in a language class, the class can become less engaging. It is better to learn a language by having live conversations than watching online videos. Technology is not a one size fits all solution to education. Rather, if applied correctly, it is a step forward in changing a system ridden with problems involving student performance and understanding.

Above all, schools need to invest more into teacher training and professional development. Teachers need to have more freedom in their lesson plans so that they can integrate technology as they see appropriate instead of succumbing to a department mandate.

Technology should guide the teacher in the creation of their lesson plans, not the other way around. The only way we can close the achievement gap is if we give teachers more freedom in constructing their lesson plans. In the mean time, let’s take a step back before plunging head first into the educational world of technology.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 14

Opinions

By Zora Arum Amidst the crumbling bricks of a decrepit Uttar Pradesh slum in Northern India, a thirty-yearold woman sits, robed in vibrantly colored shawls. She cradles a newborn baby wrapped in a fraying blue blanket—her eighth child, who was born in a nearby hospital after three days of obstructed labor. In a 2004 interview, she tells the PBS “Nova” team that she is desperate to stop having children. She is frightened for her life.

Gooday, the young woman, is not alone in this predicament, as population growth in Northern India is rapidly accelerating. In fact, in a 2008 Economist population study, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, was said to have a population size of 195.8 million people. Despite this figure exceeding that of the entirety of Brazil, the population of Uttar Pradesh is still expanding. By the 2012 census, it had swelled to nearly 205 million. This growth rate is directly caused by gender inequality in the developing world.

In many developing countries, including much of India, these severe inequalities cause limited access to birth control.

As a recent United Nations (UN)

Population Fund report states, “an estimated 225 million women who want to avoid a pregnancy are not using an effective contraception method.” While this is a startling statistic, it has a fairly simple solution, provided that the appropriate funding is

In places like Niger, the problem is not only a lack of access to birth control, but also overwhelming ignorance. procured.

But in many struggling African and Middle Eastern countries, the problem is far more complex. According to The Economist, “only about a quarter of women [in Niger] express any desire to space out their births,

let alone reduce their number.”

In Niger, the average fertility rate, at 7.6 children per woman, is the highest in the world. In places like Niger, the problem is not only a lack of access to birth control, but also overwhelming ignorance.

On a website run by Millennium Development Goals, a UN commission, research shows that over 40 percent of Nigerien girls are not enrolled in elementary school, in contrast to only 29 percent of Nigerien boys.

Likewise, in India—according to 2012 UNICEF data—the literacy rate of 15 to 24-year-old girls is 14 percent lower than the rate of boys the same age. In addition, very little is offered by way of reproductive education. As The Wall Street Journal says in a recent article, “most schools offer lessons in abstinence—or nothing at all.”

If women are not getting adequate educations, we cannot expect them to limit their own birth rates. This is true both in the developing world and in the United States. In a 1994 report, the CDC found that unmarried women in the U.S. aged 18 to 24 were almost twice as likely to have a child if they had not graduated high school.

However, the problem extends beyond countries’ economic and social standards.

While it is far from the most significant factor, population growth at higher rates also contributes to rapidly accelerating climate change. According to The Huffington Post, “population growth has an impact on climate-related pressures as diverse as land availability, access to water, deforestation and migration.” Essentially, the more people there are to provide for, the more harmful the production of those provisions is for the environment.

One example of this is agriculture. Based on New York

Times projections, by 2050, “food production [will] have to increase 70 percent, [but] if the world’s population reached only 7.5 billion people by midcentury, rather than more than nine billion, in 2050 we would be spewing five billion to nine billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the air.” Thus, if we wish to curb climate change, we must also work to educate women in developing countries and worldwide.

This aspect of the feminist movement needs to be discussed more frequently, especially at recent UN conferences surrounding climate-related pressures.

While the UN could simply buy contraception for oppressed women, as it suggests in its Population Fund report, that would fail to solve the larger problem.

Women in developing countries

need not only birth control, but also education.

Funding is not the issue here—the issue is time. It is almost impossible to lessen historic gender-based discrimination significantly in the span of a few years. However, if the UN sends more educators into developing countries throughout the next few decades, we will almost certainly see a drastic drop in fertility rates.

This is both a feminist issue and an environmental issue— but it is also a human issue. We have to stop climate change before it is too late, and one of the most imperative ways to do so is to fight for women’s rights. To ignore this would be both morally reprehensible and detrimental to the survival of the entire human race.

Yujie Fu/ The Spectator

Anne Duncan / The Spectator

Birth Control for Mother Earth

Ashley Lin / The Spectator

Williams’ Lies: Why the NBC Anchor Should Have Been Punished More Harshly

By Nino Dickersin William Randolph Hearst, a well-known newspaper publisher in the late 1800s, was once quoted as saying, “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, your readers might like it”. For Hearst and his archrival, Joseph Pulitzer, the best way to sell papers was not to find interesting stories, but to create them. Thus, their papers featured rampant exaggeration and fictionalization of events, which is now re-

ferred to as yellow journalism.

We face the problem of honest journalism again today, with the case of Brian Williams.

Brian Williams, head anchor at NBC, poses us with an interesting dilemma. In the past month, it has been revealed that Williams—who is a globally renowned journalist and did a significant amount of reporting in Iraq back in 2003—fabricated or exaggerated several stories, most notably that of being in a helicopter that was hit by RPG

and AK47 fire. After NBC realized he had falsified a significant portion of his reporting, he was given a six-month unpaid suspension. The dilemma falls as such: Given Williams’ transgressions, is a six-month suspension enough, or should he be punished more harshly?

As a reporter, Williams has an obligation to his viewers to accurately detail the news. Millions of Americans rely on him and his reporting for precise information that describes the world around them. Embellishments and falsifications like Williams’ risk a world in which journalism becomes less about the truth and more about telling a good story. Furthermore, actions like his risk causing an inaccurate understanding of both domestic and foreign affairs for his viewers, which can be extremely dangerous.

Indeed, during the era of yellow journalism, Hearst and Pulitzer’s rampant disregard for the truth painted a picture of an oppressive Spanish regime in Cuba, and is often credited as the main cause for America’s involvement in the Spanish-American war. As such, sensationalist reporting

like that of Williams needs to be punished harshly, lest it become more common and cause us to slip back into the world of Hearst and Pulitzer.

Furthermore, Williams not only falsified his reporting, but did so intentionally and repeatedly—and not just once or twice.

Such repeated lying about firsthand experiences at several different instances is inexcusable for a reporter. In addition to this, Williams, as a head anchor on a major news network, needs to be held to a higher standard than other reporters. He acts as a role model for both current reporters and potential ones, making the inaccuracy of his reporting even more significant.

And so, we must recognize that a six-month suspension is not enough. Given Williams’ knowing and repeated falsification of events, and his moral duty, not only as a reporter, but as a head anchor, Williams needs to be punished more harshly. His punishment sets a precedent for the industry; it answers the question of how those who falsify information for a major news network should be treated.

Given Williams’ moral obli-

gation and repeated failure to live up to the standards of modern journalism, the only just solution is that he be permanently fired. Such harsh treatment is

As a reporter, Williams has a moral obligation to his viewers to accurately detail the news.

the only way to deter future reporters from making the same mistakes that he did, and the only response that, while it may not seem very fair to Williams, is fair to the world and to honest journalism.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

The Arts Effect, Sanctuary for Families, StopSlut, UNICEF USA, & NOW-NYS present...

A Youth Anti-TrafÞcking Activism Event SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2015, 11:30-3:00pm Packer Collegiate Institute 170 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

! Human trafÞcking is the worldÕs fastest growing form of organized crime ! 20.9 million people are bought and sold as modern slaves around the globe (International Labor Org.) ! Women and girls make up 98% of sex trafÞcking victims (International Labor Org.) ! 12Ð14 years old is the most frequent age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the US. (U.S. DOJ)

Nearly 50% the entire world population is under age 18. Young adults between 10-24 comprise 20% of the U.S. population. YOUR involvement in global issues is essential to shift the status quo and build a smarter, healthier and more peaceful world.

WHAT IS Generation FREE: A youth-led anti-trafÞcking community committed to combating

commercial sexual exploitation through education, activism, and prevention. Modern slavery exists in your neighborhoods. HUMAN TRAFFICKING is a $110 billion a year industry and girls are being bought and sold right here in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut Ð!and across the country.

Join us in making NYC trafÞc free.

THE EVENT: Check out a performance of the critically-acclaimed play A DAY IN THE LIFE; an

expert panel led by Rachel Moran (sex trade survivor and author), with global activists and FBI specialists; and ACTION-PLANNING.

WeÕll answer these questions together as a community: What is sex trafÞcking? Where does it exist? Who does it affect? What can you do to help make change?

FUTURE TIME COMMITMENT:

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Anti-trafÞcking activism can be done anywhere by everyone.

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The Arts Effect NYC utilizes the theater arts to empower communities of youth worldwide to share their voices and become change agents. TheArtsEffectNYC.com Sanctuary for Families is New YorkÕs leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafÞcking, and related forms of gender violence.

StopSlut is a youth-led movement to transform rape culture. StopSlut.org Sanctuaryforfamilies.org UNICEF USA supports the world's children through fundraising, advocacy, and education throughout the United States. unicefusa.org NOW-NYS advocates for the women and girls of NY by working to promote reproductive rights, secure womenÕs economic empowerment, and end discrimination and violence against women. nownys.org QUESTIONS: Email Katie Cappiello Katie@TheArtsEffectNYC.com or Lauren Hersh lhersh@sffny.org

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The Spectator â&#x2014;? March 4, 2015

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment

There comes a time in every cultured person’s life when you can’t help but feel as if you’ve reached a plateau. Suddenly, as if completely out of nowhere, your once eclectic tastes simply are not eclectic enough. You’ve dabbled in jazz, familiarized yourself with the history of hip-hop, and even embraced synthesizers that mimic the patterns of capuchin mating calls. Despite all this, you still can’t help feeling like a big ol’ philistine.

To all the troubled culture connoisseurs out there—we are here to help. World music, in fact, is the solution to this conundrum.

Now, you may not know where to start. After all, the world is considerably large, relatively speaking. You can be thankful that the A&E department has put together a primer to introduce you to all corners of the world, from pop songs that play on the radio to traditional tunes.

O’America Celtic Woman Irish

Adir Adirim Balkan Beat Box Israeli

Heart of Palms Della Ding Chinese

Fairy Tale Guang Liang Chinese

The Parting Glass The High Kings Celtic

Se Mi Innamoro Ricchi E Poveri Italian

For the Joy of It All Karunesh Indian

No Me Doy Por Vencido Luis Fonsi Spanish

La Cumparsita Carlos Gardel Argentinian

Because I’m a Girl KISS Korean

Il ragazzo della via Gluck Adriano Celentano Italian

I’ll Show You Ailee Korean

Bailando Enrique Iglesias Latin

Eyes Nose Lips Taeyang Korean

Me Voy Julieta Venegas Mexican

Ego Indila French

Águas de Março Antonio Carlos Jobin Brazilian

Papaoutai Stromae Belgian

Arzusun Niyaz Persian

Le Temps de l’Amour Françoise Hardy French

Le Silence de L’Exode Yom French

Arlekino Alla Pugacheva Russian

M’bifé Amadou & Mariam Malian

Causa y Efecto Paulina Rubio Mexican

Volare Gypsy Kings French/Spanish

Disco Pogo Die Atzen German

Music

Amber’s Solo Flight

By Tracy Tse SM Entertainment, one of the largest Korean entertainment companies, announced in late 2014 that Amber, a member of the popular girl group f(x), was going to release her solo debut mini album (a mini album is an album that has fewer songs than the standard full-length album, usually consisting of five songs). Fans scrambled to get more news about the album. When Amber’s solo debut album, “Beautiful,” was released on February 12 on iTunes, fans around the world were excited to see what it would hold. And they were not disappointed, because in addition to being full of great music, the album also showed them a new side of Amber.

Amber was born to Taiwanese parents and grew up in California. She auditioned for SM Entertainment in 2007 and was recruited by the company for her singing talents. However, after around two years of training, Amber debuted as part of now internationally popular girl dance group, f(x), not as a vocalist, but as its main rapper.

As f(x) began to gain more popularity, Amber began to distinguish herself not only by her incredible rapping skills and her quirky personality but also by her boyish charms. Although most K-pop female idols choose to have a more feminine image, Amber was quickly singled out as practically the only tomboy in the whole industry. Instead of short skirts and heels, Amber chooses to wear loose t-shirts and sneakers. She also wears her hair short and plays a variety of sports including basketball. Though many have criticized her for not being as “girly” as other female idols, Amber has said in countless interviews that she believes it is better to be comfortable and to be herself.

In this album, Amber’s songs discuss how she was able to persevere despite hardships.

Amber also sings about love, which is a bit of a cliché theme, but can be executed quite well if the artist has the skill to show the emotions that come with love through her music. In her songs, “Love Run,” which discusses the loss of a significant other, and “I Just Wanna,” an English duet with Eric Nam that discusses the love between two people, Amber was able to express to her listeners how she feels about love.

In Amber’s self-composed title track, “Beautiful,” she compares her desire to break free from labels and stereotypes and show her true self to the world to a bird locked in a cage trying to spread its wings and fly to the stars. This song was released before the full album came out and immediately garnered attention not only because of its poetic lyrics, but also by the fact that the majority of the song was sung, not rapped. Because of her claim to fame through rapping, most people expected the album to be filled with Amber’s explosive skills. However, her sweet, light vocals in “Beautiful” show that not only is she capable of singing, she excels at it as well. A

guitar plays in the background as she sings, giving the song a comfortable, homey feeling.

This is a song that provokes you to sway to the music and fills you with a sense of calmness and relaxation.

give the piece a fun, energized feel and Taeyeon sings many of the harmonies and showcases her powerful vocals. The music video has a very colorful, fun concept. Unfortunately, the song is not as colorful. The cho-

Because of her claim to fame through rapping, most people expected the album to be filled with Amber’s explosive skills. However, her sweet, light vocals in “Beautiful” show that not only is she capable of singing, she is excels at it.

The theme changes in the next track, “Love Run,” and while the song isn’t quite as remarkable or striking as some of her other songs in the album, her harmonies towards the end of it are something that should definitely be paid attention to.

It is in this song that the listener can hear Amber hitting some challenging high notes and showing off more of her talents as a vocalist. There is a beat played by cymbals in the background, so while it doesn’t give the song a strong dancelike quality, it does give the listener a beat to bob his or her head to.

Perhaps the most striking song in this album is “Shake That Brass,” which is the album’s main track. In this song, Amber chooses to collaborate with Girls’ Generation’s main vocalist, Taeyeon. The song showcases Amber’s rapping talent; her verses are very fluent and natural and fit well with upbeat music. The brass instrumentals

rus of the song lacks luster and is, honestly, quite disappointing and lazy. The chorus is extremely repetitive, consisting of only “hey hos” and “uh-huhs.”

The part following the chorus, which consists of only “nanas,” does not connect with the rest of song and seems quite out of place. Unfortunately, this is not Amber’s best song to debut with.

Though Amber’s main track “Shake That Brass” is not the best song in the album, there is no doubt that the album as a whole is fantastic. Amber manages to display her skilled rapping, while showcasing her airy vocals Although she already stood out as a female tomboy rapper, Amber has shown that she can stand out even further with her gentle vocals and through the messages she tries to convey through the poetic lyrics in her songs. Overall, this is a strong solo debut for the talented and “Beautiful” Amber.

Minseo Kim / The Spectator

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

Playlist A Whole New World of Music

Page 18

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Arts and Entertainment Music

By Justin Pacquing In the midst of the hype from the film awards, this year’s Grammy Awards arrived with the same self-proclaimed bravado and excitement still unreciprocated by its audience. Viewers watched apathetically while checking Twitter reactions, mostly wondering who Beck—whose album “Morning Phase” won Album of the Year—is, and eventually returning to discussing the Oscars and the anticipated premieres of “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul.” In fact, the biggest story to come out of the Grammys was about neither the performances nor the awards, but about a Kanye West rant criticizing the award show. Music has become an integral part of modern culture, from social media to our daily commute. So why, one may ask, has the supposed “pinnacle of musical achievement” become worth little more than an afterthought?

The 57th Grammys was what viewers of the previous ones have come to expect. Dynamic performances, this year from Ariana Grande and Paul McCartney, drew audiences in. The multitude of genre awards took a backseat to the more glamorous Pop and General categories. The Pop and General Field awards were mainly predictable, especially the multiple wins of Best New Artist Sam Smith. The yearly upset was when Beck, the multi-talented folk artist from the early ‘90s, thought to have faded into irrelevance, took Album of The Year—many felt that Beyoncé was guaranteed to finally add the award to an already impressive collection of accolades. Kanye West’s aforementioned rant added fuel to the controversy and became one of the more interesting topics after an otherwise typical Grammy Award Show.

February 8 should not have been the night of Sam Smith. Al-

though Smith is talented and deserves to be recognized, there is a cognitive dissonance between the ideas of rewarding achievement in a field and over-promoting the works of a single individual. Smith’s big night follows the formula of “Grammy Conqueror” that we have seen previously with Adele, who won six awards in 2012, and Macklemore, who won four awards in 2014. The ”Grammy Conqueror” has thus diluted the value of an award by making multiple wins a regular occurrence. Exceptional artists do deserve the extra recognition, but how can one distinguish between the timeless and ephemeral when both win big every year?

The Grammys will continue to be taken lightly if it keeps on living by “[Hot New Artist] is the next big thing and has ‘x’ number of awards to prove it.” Truly exceptional artists will win for years to come, so those behind the Grammys ought to recognize the artists who do not get nearly as much attention.

Record of the Year could have recognized the body-image issues brought up by Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” Song of the Year could have shone a spotlight on relatively unknown Hozier for “Take Me To Church.” Audiences want to celebrate all that music has to offer, not just Sam Smith.

The collapsing credibility of the Grammys is evident in the aftermath of Kanye West’s mischief that night. Though not quite the stagestorming that disrupted Taylor Swift in the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, West still caused a stir by walking up to the Grammy stage and nearly interrupting Beck’s acceptance speech for Album of the Year. Even though he turned back to his seat and seemingly played it off as a joke, later that night Kanye confirmed that the stunt was in protest for Beck’s victory over Beyoncé.

Some are up in arms that West

disrespected Beck, an artist who made a name for himself in the early ‘90s and has since continued to make respectable albums on the periphery of the mainstream.

Others believe that West was right to express his displeasure for what many thought was a guaranteed Beyoncé win, as her self-titled album was one of the biggest releases of the year, if not past couple of years.

The fact that this debate is getting more attention than Beck’s album is a blemish on the award show. It speaks for the weight the award of Best Album holds when we choose to talk about the expected antics of an artist rather than the actual work of the awarded artist. Perhaps Kanye’s criticism of the Grammys is legitimate: “At this point, we tired of it because what happens is, when you keep on diminishing art, and not respecting the craft, and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration.”

West’s comments are nothing new. Critics, artists, and even winners of the award show have said that the Grammys seemed to overvalue commercial success.

The event that celebrates the most ubiquitous form of media in our culture ought to award artistic ability, not marketability. Yet the mission of the Grammys, awarding outstanding achievements in the music industry, is not an adequate celebration of today’s music. In this digital age, musical culture has become something that goes beyond the industry.

Modern musical culture has meant the rise of platforms such as SoundCloud and iTunes that have enabled the unprecedented success of independent artists who are not tied to the major record labels that comprise the music industry.

The quickest path between new artists and audiences is no longer along the ink-trail of a commercial

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Cynthia Sze / The Spectator

The Breaking Point of Grammy Apathy

contract, but a couple of links on social media. The newfound ease of spreading music has increased competition, quality, and diversity that challenges the music industry as we know it. Achievement is determined less by album sales and radio plays and more by direct reactions to artistic ability in views, likes, and shares. The Grammys has not been able to keep up with the growing complexity of an age dominated by independent digital artists outside the reach of the industry.

By common consensus, the top Hip-hop albums of the year were Run the Jewels’ “Run the Jewels 2” and Flying Lotus’ “You’re Dead.”

However, neither were granted their well-deserved places on the nominees list. On SoundCloud alone, tracks of both albums hovered between tens and hundreds of thousands of plays, some even past the million mark. Both albums made their way into the higher-tier of lists for top albums of the year, with “Run the Jewels 2” even topping lists such as Pitchfork’s Best 50 Albums of 2014 and Rolling Stone’s Best 40 Rap Albums of 2014. Yet it

is more of the same, with Eminem, who together with Kanye West has won Best Rap Album 10 times since 2000, winning for an albumsequel that was at best nostalgic.

The Grammys’ representation, or lack thereof, of the way music is heading is disappointing, but not surprising.

Does music deserve an award show that is as celebratory and credible as the Oscars? Absolutely.

With the way that music is moving, is it possible? Maybe not. The great variety of artistry that exists within the ever-changing music scene means that perhaps it is unfair to name a singular best new artist or album, but it should not stop potential listeners from learning about even just a fraction of the new music out there. The Grammys does not represent the growing modern musical culture but rather the worn-out ideal of searching for the next big pop artist. With music and the Grammys moving in seemingly opposite directions and the latter possibly unwilling to adapt, the future of the Grammys seems especially bleak.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 19

Arts and Entertainment Theater

Yuxin Wu / The Spectator

A Two-Star Constellation

By Nusheen Ghaemi and Shahruz Ghaemi “Why can’t people lick their elbows?”

That’s the icebreaker Marianne (Ruth Wilson) uses when she meets Roland (Jake Gyllenhaal) at a barbecue in Nick Payne’s new play, “Constellations” (Marianne’s answer is: “Because the tips of your elbows contain the secret to immortality, and if everyone lived forever, well, that’d just be chaos”). “Constellations,” playing at the Samuel J. Friedman theatre until March 15, explores the unfolding romance between the two main characters through the fascinating lens of theoretical physics.

The first time Marianne leans over and asks him out, Roland scrutinizes her askance and shoots her down, saying “I’m in a relationship.” There is a flash of

lights and an orchestral snap— the scene is reset and Marianne sidles up again. This time, Roland awkwardly replies that he just got out of a serious relationship.

Flash, bang—the scene resets again. And again. With each repetition, Roland seems more receptive, up until the point when we reach the scenarios where she and Roland hit it off, and we get to witness two world-class actors try to lick their elbows onstage.

This opening scene, their first encounter, is repeated several times before the play moves on to the next scene, which is their first date. The format is repetitive, but is constantly changing—certain actions and lines remain the same, while others are permeated with the little nuances necessary for plot development.

The play’s premise is clear.

We’ve all wished for the possibility of time travel, to be able to

venture back and try again. What “Constellations” presupposes is not time travel but a very real quantum physics theory: that every decision ever made results in the creation of, as Marianne puts it, an “unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes” (or “the multiverse”). In each universe, only one outcome is true—the one that has already occurred.

But in the multiverse, with its collection of universes, theoretically, any result is possible.

This “vast ensemble” is visualized as a mass of white balloons floating above the stage. To represent transitions between scenes (i.e. between universes) the stage goes dark and the balloons flash a bright white light, giving the actors a few seconds to reposition themselves—either for a new scene or a parallel-universe-version of the same situation.

Payne explores as many possibilities as he can of Roland and Marianne’s relationship in a scanty 70 minutes. He delves into not only the beginning of Roland and Marianne’s courtship, but their dates, their fights, and their highs and lows.

By adventuring into different multiverses, Payne shows us their sympathy, nervousness, loyalty, and love, as well as their darker sides. In one scenario, Roland finds out that Marianne cheated on him, which leads to a fight, ending with him hitting her. In other universes, Marianne cheats on Roland. Their reactions vary from defeat and acceptance to anger and violence. We see as many

different Rolands and Mariannes as there are stars in the sky, and they become mere stand-ins for the exploration of a human story about the trials and errors of life.

But as the ideal of a character dissipates into meaninglessness, Roland and Marianne somehow feel more and more real.

Marianne is an eminently relatable figure; we’ve all said things that made others look at us strangely (why can’t you lick the tips of your elbows?). Despite being a Cambridge physicist and obviously highly intelligent, she is as down to earth as Roland, who is simply a beekeeper. While Roland is more of an “average Joe” than Marianne, that doesn’t make him less of a dynamic character. Roland, like Marianne, is so compelling because of his frank humanity.

We can certainly credit the portraits of humanity onstage to Wilson and Gyllenhaal, who are both superb actors. Wilson in particular brings Marianne alive with her expressive face and limbs.

Gyllenhaal on the other hand, reflects Roland’s quiet nature with hands deep in his pockets and a hunched posture. Despite the fact that they have to repeat the same lines and the same scenes over and over again, both actors always manage to bring something new to the plate with each repetition. “Constellations” is full of laughter, joy, anger, misunderstanding, confusion. It is the uncertain back-and-forth of two real people trying to communicate with one another.

Payne not only toys with the mundane questions of romance (say, whether or not a breakup could have been averted), but also whether or not things beyond our control have the capacity to turn out differently. Take, for instance, the brain cancer that Marianne is diagnosed with.

In one universe, the cancer ends up being benign, but in most others, Marianne doesn’t have much time to live. Facing incurable disease may be a pop culture cliché (“The Theory of Everything,” “Transcendental,” and even “Iron Man”), but it works. Payne takes a good hard look at a romance that is real and embraces all of reality’s darkness and tragedy.

Even at the brink of death, philosophical physics brings comfort. When Roland tells Marianne he wishes they had more time together, she says, “The basic laws of physics don’t have a past and present. Time is irrelevant at the level of atoms and molecules. It’s symmetrical. We have all the time we’ve always had. You’ll still have all our time.

There’s not going to be any more or less of it.”

“Constellations” is a sophisticated and intelligent date-play and a meditation on life, love, physics, and the very art of acting. Our life experiences are a tiny sampling of the infinite possibilities that could—and if you’re a physicist, do—exist. Payne’s play wedges its foot in the door to the multiverse and gives us a small peek inside.

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 20

Arts and Entertainment STC

12 Somewhat Aggravated, Variously-Gendered People

By Danielle Eisenman and Jongyoul Lee Boldness can be manifested in various forms. When one man makes the intrepid decision to separate himself from the majority, he is being bold. When, in an age of simple entertainment that is snappy and quick, a group of teenagers puts on a play that is devoid of colorful embellishments, this group of teenagers is being bold. This theme of stark but reckless audacity was ever present in the Stuyvesant Theater Community’s (STC) winter production of Reginald Rose’s “12 Angry Men,” taking place on the nights of February 11th, 13th, and 14th.

“12 Angry Men” is set in a courthouse in New York City, where twelve jurors contemplate the fate of a 19-year-old boy accused of stabbing his father. At the play’s opening they reach a nearly unanimous vote regarding whether there is a reasonable doubt. Eleven vote that the boy is guilty, while one, Juror 8 (sophomore Liam Elkind), bravely stands alone.

The theme of austerity was most recognizable with regard to the show’s set. Olive-colored walls with meticulously painted windows served as the backdrop.

Stage lights were illuminated with different hues to accent specific moments in the performance, creating feelings of drama in the scenes with a lot of shouting. At times, the presence of vibrant yellow and purple lights against the

modestly saturated earth tones of the rest of the set was somewhat distracting.

But the rest of the set was simple. For most of the show’s duration the twelve jurors sat at a long wooden table in the center of the stage, an image that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” At one end of the table was Juror 8, and on the other, Juror 3 (senior Harmehar Kohli). This ingenious organization augmented the dynamic animosity taking place between the two jurors, which the show was essentially centered around.

Casting for the show proved to be a unique task, as the teleplay and film versions of “12 Angry Men” have always had allmale, all-white casts, which contributed to a conspicuous uniformity—among the twelve white men (almost exclusively named “Juror [number]”) in white dress shirts and black ties, the only distinguishing factors were dialogue and subtle facial features. STC’s casting directors evoked a sense of diversity by choosing actors of various ages, races, and genders.

As a result, the production felt much more modern and realistic because most juries are made up of more than one demographic.

From the start of the play, there existed an obvious conflict between Jurors 3 and 8, two foils of one another, who defended their arguments from their own ends of the table. Juror 3 was a brutally abrasive character. At the start of the play, she boasted a weightless cockiness, stem-

ming from the fact that she was a progenitor of the popular opinion that the suspect was guilty.

However, as Juror 8’s preaching of reasonable doubt spread to the other jurors, Juror 3’s disposition soured and her bragging became whiny. Her expressions were saturated with a sarcasm that was meticulously articulated, yet fiery. It is rare to see a high school actress so completely engaged with her character. Kohli’s performance was pleasantly distressing—to witness her body flopping around in exasperated anger, and to hear her voice never cease to be painfully shrill was an unexpected treat.

Juror 3 played the role of a much less imposing underdog, managing to balance the meaty weight of the show on his shoulders. Juxtaposed with the gratuitous yelling on Kohli’s end from the very start, Elkind appeared to be the rational one. He defended his stance with evidence and morality, paying close attention to the suspect’s accounts of the homicide and repeatedly confronting Kohli’s character’s inhumanity in wanting to take the life of a man who could be innocent—though he said this so many times that the message got a bit exhausted.

Elkind was sharply dressed and he expressed himself intelligently, while simultaneously possessing a lovable childlike quality. His voice, in a stage of deepening yet still adorned with little squeaks as reminders of his adolescence, ignited a “Let the

kid talk!” sympathy within the audience. Compared to Kohli, whose opinions remained static, Elkind was receptive to aspects of the homicide to which his counterparts were originally been blindsided. Elkind embodied his character in a way that appeared as beautifully effortless as it was natural, and gave the audience something to feel warm and bubbly about when he was successful in—at least temporarily—preserving the life of the suspect.

Another noteworthy performance came from senior Rebecca Yuste-Golob, who brilliantly rendered a silly and myopic Juror 2. Yuste-Golob served as an adorably mousy beacon of spunky light, providing comic relief in a production that was rather serious from start to finish. Her delicate but high-pitched voice was delightfully resonant with that of Minnie Mouse, and her clueless actions—such as offering cough drops at inopportune moments—were immensely fun to watch.

Sophomore Winston Venderbush’s interpretation of Juror 4 embodied a sort of idiosyncratic charm. His lines were delivered in a pseudo-intellectual fashion, making use of hefty vocabulary words, but proving to be unable to say anything substantive. Juror 4 created an aura of intimidating, but somewhat phony, charisma, accentuated by his perfectly fitting heather grey suit, ambercolored Clark Kent glasses, and a little trick he performed with a black pork pie hat at the very end.

Venderbush portrayed Juror 4’s character arc quite nicely, too— the brash quality of his voice was covered up with a delicate softness that slowly deteriorated into explosive fury that took the audience by surprise.

In STC productions, the cast’s brilliant work is sometimes overshadowed by technical difficulties. Unlike other productions, this year’s did not have any major technical issues. One minor mishap, however, was the inaudibility of a few conversations at the beginning of the play. Another was the cast’s not getting rid of a piece of paper that Juror 3 tossed on the floor. In an attempt to discreetly dispose of it, several characters kicked the paper, but each time to no avail. However, these little occurrences were not compelling enough to have any major influence on the overall quality of the play.

Originally written in 1954 for television, “12 Angry Men” has seen countless adaptations and remakes, each offering something new. STC’s version, which implemented unorthodox casting, offered a new spin on this timeless play and it proved to be a success. Each member of the cast contributed to the production and wholly deserved the enthusiastic applause at the end.

As Juror 8 was triumphant in his quest to save a possibly innocent man from facing the death penalty, the STC prevailed in its mission to elegantly modernize an old classic.

By Hayoung Ahn

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 21

Arts and Entertainment Television

Passing on the Crown of Late-Night Some say monarchies are an element of the past, but latenight television begs to differ.

The so-called “crown of latenight” has been steadily passed on from mentor to apprentice for many years, but in the last year, the line-up has been shaken up a bit. An entire set of hosts announced their exits, and the world’s attention is now on the new monarchs. Though well trained, these new kings of latenight television have yet to perfect their acts. It is time for the new generation—Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Larry Wilmore, and Stephen Colbert—to show off the skills that they have hitherto been polishing.

Johnny Carson pioneered the late-night talk show movement when “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” began to air on NBC in 1962. Carson transformed late-night programming by beginning with a monologue and continuing with a satire of the daily news that was broadcasted minutes before his program. In doing so, he set the tone for future hosts who will continue to occupy the evening show lineup on every major network. Since Carson, NBC’s “The Tonight Show” reigns have been successively passed down to Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and now Fallon. “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” has also sparked to the creation of various shows

such as “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”

Recently, however, the latenight lineup has faced serious changes as a retirement domino effect has been playing out among the older hosts. Last year, after much deliberation, Leno retired from his NBC run, passing on his spot to Fallon and Myers, two friends and fellow “Saturday Night Live” alumni. Fallon took the reins from Leno as host of “The Tonight Show” and Meyers followed with the complementary “Late Night” gig. A year after Leno’s announcement, Letterman released a statement that explained his upcoming exit and the announcement of his replacement, Colbert (who will be vacating his Comedy Central position and handing it over to Wilmore). Soon after, Craig Ferguson and Jon Stewart also released notices of their impending departures. After Stewart’s announcement of leave, some spoke about a female host coming into the picture. Names such as Amy Poehler and Aisha Tyler were brought up as legitimate choices, but nothing is known for certain.

This new lineup has caused a stirring within the older generation of late-night show viewers, who feel that the younger generation of hosts will destroy the sanctity of the genre and cause its eventual doom. Though only

Fallon, Meyers, and Wilmore have settled into their positions so far, these three have shown that the future does not look all that bleak for the new generation of hosts. In his first few months hosting, Fallon’s ratings toppled those of Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman combined.

Meyers’ ratings are growing, as well—although, not as drastically. As the older generation fades away and the newer generation gains prominence, it becomes clearer than ever that it was time for the sages to bestow their wisdom onto the rest and live out the remainder of their lives in retirement.

At the ends of their careers, Leno and Letterman each had a hard time delving into the new age. They did not understand and did not want to understand the “Twittersphere” or how some of their most popular guests became famous off of YouTube. Similarly, they were no longer genuine fans of some of their biggest guests, so they often looked disinterested in their interviews.

Fallon and Meyers, however, have used new technological mediums to their full extents. On top of that, the hosts have found more and more ways to impress the public with hilarious games and interviews. Fallon has created monumentally popular YouTube videos, such as the one of Daniel Radcliffe rapping Blackalicious’ “Alphabet Aero-

Rui Ling / The Spectator

By Frances Dodin

bic,” or another with Fallon and Julia Roberts playing “Face Balls” (a game in which two people throw huge, transparent beach balls at each others’ faces). Likewise, Meyers’s “Ya Burnt!” and “Second Chance Theatre” videos are fan favorites. According to Entertainment Weekly’s “Entertainer of the Year” article about Fallon, his “Lip Sync Battle with Emma Stone” video garnered almost 40 million views on YouTube, which, compared to the 5 million views received by Letterman’s video memorializing the late Robin Williams, is a grandiose accomplishment.

The old hosts have a lot going for them, for they each contributed to establishing a genre that has become a significant part of today’s television. After shedding their jobs that spanned decades, they can now each pursue proj-

ects that they may have been unable to take on in the past.

Leno has already appeared several times doing stand-up and Stewart will leave with much on his to-do list, including “having dinner on a school night with his family,” as he said.

The new generation will be interesting to follow; there is no telling whether they will live up to the extraordinary Fallon and his predecessors. Hopefully, each of the new hosts will live by the same mantra Fallon held when he presented his first “The Tonight Show” monologue as host. As Fallon put it, “My goal is just to make you laugh and put a smile on your face so that you go to sleep with a smile on your face and live a longer life. Isn’t that the whole goal of what we’re doing? Having fun?”

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 22

Arts and Entertainment Television

Orphan Black is Back

By Jenny Jiang

Yuchen Jin / The Spectator

Helena is a clone-killing, religious extremist turned antihero. Alison Hendrix is a suburban soccer mom who squeezed hot glue onto her husband’s chest. Cosima Niehaus is a bisexual graduate student who studies evolutionary biology and has sports glasses, dreadlocks, and a nose piercing.

These are just a few of the characters from “Orphan Black,” a Canadian science-fiction television series produced

by BBC America about human cloning. “Orphan Black” only has ten episodes per season, a low episode count that adds to the show’s emphasis on quality over quantity. Though the plot is highly intense and complex,

it does not have the viewership that it deserves. The second season finale, for example, only garnered approximately 540,000 viewers, making “Orphan Black” one of the more underrated shows on mainstream television.

The show begins with protagonist Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) witnessing a woman identical to herself commit suicide. As a street hustler, Sarah takes advantage of their similar appearances and proceeds to take over the apparent doppelgänger’s life, mainly to reap the monetary benefits.

However, the woman who committed suicide was Elizabeth “Beth” Childs, a detective who carried outside investigations and discovered that she was the product of a human cloning project, inevitably pulling Sarah into the cloning conspiracy.

Orphan Black explores several dark themes raised by cloning, such as the sense of identity experienced by each clone and the right to patent the clones as experiments while testing the control of life and its meaning.

The show’s focus on evolution is evident in its episode titles: season one’s episode titles are quotes from “On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin while season two’s episode titles are excerpts from works by Sir Francis Bacon, an English scientist from the late 16th and

early 17th centuries.

The most distinguished aspects of “Orphan Black” are the use of visual effects and Maslany’s talented depiction of Sarah and the other clones.

Most dramatic scenes employ sharp, bright lighting to force the viewers’ attention directly to the actors. This type of contrast lighting is reminiscent of the classic science laboratory, subtly tracing back to the show’s sci-fi roots. Though scenes that involve multiple clones do require motion control cameras to replicate movement between each shot, the majority of the work is done by Maslany and her body doubles.

She has played more than ten characters, all clones of Sarah, on the show, utilizing wigs, different clothing, body language, and accents to distinguish the clones. Nevertheless, Maslany’s most well-known body double Kathryn Alexandre, who is often used to save post-production time, also deserves credit.

Perhaps one can attribute Maslany’s success in portraying the variety of characters to her unique method of preparation: she creates a musical playlist and a dance style for each clone she plays. On GarageBand, she records lines of the clones and rehearses against them after memorizing her abundant dialogue. Because she perfectly executes each of the clone’s

unique personalities, it is easy to forget that she is the lone person portraying all these different personas.

Orphan Black is a sciencefiction drama, but it has many comedic moments that make the show all the more memorable. For example, Helena, the

Perhaps one can attribute Maslany’s success in portraying this wide variety of characters to her unique method of preparation: she creates a musical playlist and a dance style for each clone she plays.

killer clone, has a naiveté that serves as a source of comic relief throughout the show. In one scene, she dives into Jell-O and pancakes at a diner during a meet up with Sarah. In another, she hisses at Felix, Sarah’s foster brother, when he makes fun of her Ukrainian culture.

Maslany’s acting has earned her and the show critical acclaim. Both she and the show have won many awards since 2013, including the Critics’ Choice Television Award and the Canadian Screen Awards.

Maslany has even been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. However, she failed to receive nominations for both the 65th and 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, a disappointment that has been met with outrage. Her fans, known as the Clone Club, half-joked that she should really be awarded for every character that she plays.

If you’re looking to start a refreshingly original show— perhaps one that incorporates science into drama—and have not had the opportunity to watch Orphan Black yet, then now would be the perfect time to binge-watch the first two seasons.

The third season of Orphan Black premieres on April 18th, 10 p.m. on BBC America and all other AMC channels.

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 23

Arts and Entertainment Exhibition

Krista Stark / The Spectator

On Kawara’s World of Silent Order

By Danielle Eisenman My walk from the 6-train station to the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum was more of a goofy shuffle than it was a walk. The vicious February air was like a pinprick in my backside that motivated me to quickly transport my body to the warmth that existed between Frank Lloyd Wright’s magnificently designed walls.

As I approached, however, my shuffle deteriorated into a curious stroll, stimulated by strange sounds emanating from speakers surrounding the museum’s exterior. A man and a woman were taking turns speaking the names of future years.

Upon entering the museum I, along with defrosting my extremities, learned that these sounds were part of “One Million Years,” a piece that is essentially a list of one million dates before 1969 (the year it was born) and one million dates after. The fact that it is

performance art automatically made me feel jaded toward the whole thing. However, after I got over my hatred toward art school pretentiousness, I was more receptive to the elegant way the work brings attention to the concept of time and its ability to expand infinitely both forward and backward. By the time I arrived, the speakers had gotten up to 460,872 A.D. “One Million Years” is a work by artist On Kawara. The Guggenheim is currently hosting a retrospective of Kawara’s work under the soft-spoken title “Silence,” which will be held in the museum’s rotunda until May 3rd.

Kawara started his art career during the 1950s avant-garde movement that took place in his hometown of Tokyo, Japan.

His early work consisted almost entirely of iconographic images, such as “the Bathroom Series” (1953-4), which portrayed two naked mutilated figures in a bathroom crawling with

slugs. It wasn’t until the ‘60s when Kawara had done a lot of traveling (Mexico City, Paris, and New York were among his destinations) that he truly indulged himself in conceptual art, art that is regarded based on the ideas behind it, rather than the execution or visual aesthetics. Since then, Kawara not only embraced the genre, but molded it, until June 2014 when he passed away.

The work Kawara is most recognized for (specifically, everything produced during and after 1965) is, at its core, meticulous recordkeeping. By creating little maps, calendars, lists, and letters, Kawara placed emphasis on specific details such as times, dates, and names, but never made note of his personal feelings regarding specific occurrences. He favored quiet anonymity and soothing cleanliness, and liked the idea that each of his works was a systematic part of the organized entirety of his body of work.

As a reflection of his love for organization, Kawara divided the retrospective into 12 chapters, each with anywhere from one to hundreds of works. The chapter “Today” contains the kind of work Kawara is the most famous for, his Date Paintings (1965-2013). Each Date Painting has the date it was painted (written in the format “MMM. DD.YYYY”) in a white sans-serif font on a solid-colored background that is either a candy apple red, cobalt blue, slate grey, or jet black. It is painted on a canvas that is one of eight specific sizes, ranging from 8x10 inches to 61x89 inches. When I first saw individual Date Paintings on Google Images before going to the Guggenheim, I was underwhelmed. A single Date Painting out of context can be easily mistaken for a page from a 365-day calendar you’d buy at Ikea. Visually pleasing? Yes. Compelling art? Not really.

My initial judgments, however, were ill-informed. While a Date Painting on its own is pretty bland, when they are together as an elegantly arranged collection, in which each piece is a valuable segment of a magnificent whole, it is enthralling.

Many of these paintings are positioned next to the front page of whatever newspaper (usually, The New York Times) Kawara read on the day he painted it.

Many of the pieces presented were created in the ‘70s, a time in which the headlines and photographs portrayed President Nixon wearing horn-rimmed glasses, presented the old kingdom of the Great Zimbabwe as “Rhodesia,” or simply discussed racial inequalities like those that continue to plague the modern word and serve as a simply but beautifully curated journey back to that era.

“Codes” is a much smaller chapter than “Today.” It consists of approximately a dozen drawings, and each one has a translation of an ancient text in a code that is only decipherable by Kawara himself. Some of these codes are numbers written out as words (“...eight quintillion eight hundred-two quadrillion...”) and some are collections of little tick marks made with colored pencil.

When presented with these dauntingly elaborate pages of random symbols, we as viewers are perplexed. It isn’t difficult for me to picture Kawara guffawing and taking delight in the fact that he is in on a secret that us viewers are not. The drawings reflect Kawara’s obsession with encryption, along with the quietly cheeky nature of his work. These little bursts of tongue-in-cheek humor were nuances within the simple monotony of the collection (all the Date Paintings are practically identical, as is the majority of his body of work), which keeps us from getting bored.

My favorite chapter was “Self-Observation—12 Years” (1968-1979),” which detailed a precise but meek form of comprehensive narcissism. This chapter was composed of three series of works, the first being “I Got Up.” Every day, between 1968 and 1979, Kawara would send out two postcards with the phrase “I GOT UP” followed by the time he woke up that morning. The postcards, made

by Kawara himself, had photographs with deeply saturated colors of the locations he was

staying in. Those postmarked from New York City had aerial views of Shea Stadium, while those from Buenos Aires had scenes from traditional bullfights.

My favorite chapter was “SelfObservation—12 Years” (19681979), which detailed a precise, but meek form of comprehensive narcissism.

The second series in the collection was “I Went.” Each day, Kawara printed out a street map of the city he was staying in and, using a red pen, traced his movements for that day.

“I Met,” the third series, was a collection of grey binders with one page for each day of the twelve years. Each one had a single-spaced, all-caps list of the full names of people Kawara happened to talk to on that date.

The sense of order encapsulated by each and every part of this chapter—along with Kawara’s body of work as a whole—washed over me with a sense of complete tranquility. Even remembering it now brings upon a gentle sense of euphoria. Kawara’s knack for delicate organization is soothing in the same way that writing out color-coded homework assignments in my school planner is soothing. The thing is, though, where my organizational habits are finicky and fastidious, Kawara emanates effortless beauty.

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The Spectator â&#x2014;? March 4, 2015

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 26

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

Investigation Begins for the Whereabouts of Lunch Teachers The Stuyvesant administration launched an internal investigation into finding the whereabouts of the lunch teachers on February 14. Some of the teachers that are being searched for include Herr Rowe, Holland Dayes, and Franken Bean. These beloved teachers once formed the cornerstone of healthy lunchrooms.

Stuyvesant students have been forced to endure and

“So you hear the stomachs rumbling? Too long have the upperclassmen established where they sit without our opinions. Eaters of cafeteria unite!”

—Lorenz Vargas, sophomore

adapt to the brutish nature of the cafeteria due to the lack of supervision from teachers.

Freshman Kevin Li said, “Everyday I walk into that lunch room expecting to have my mind and body nourished, but instead I come out feeling disgusted by what I made myself do.”

During a meeting with the Board of Ed, principal Jie Zhang was informed that there are lunch teachers on the payroll who have not shown up for work for the past few years.

Following this discovery, the administration began to look more closely into the disappearance of the edible educators. In an email, Zhang said, “The location of these rogue teachers is of the utmost importance to ensure that Stuyvesant does not descend into living hell.” She later retracted her statement, on the grounds that she meant cell phones instead of teachers.

With no qualified lunch teachers, the future of the cafeteria looks grim, with communist sentiment rumored to be growing among the students.

The conglomerates of students, formerly segregated by race and grade, have begun to converse with each other on the issue of no teachers, causing disorganization and intermingling of the classes. Sophomore Lorenz Vargas, who wishes to be referred to as the ‘one-eyed commie,’ fervently said, “So you hear the stomachs rumbling? Too long have the upperclassmen established where they sit without our opinions. Eaters of cafeteria unite!”

Various student-run clubs have offered to watch over the state of the cafeteria until the lunch teachers are found or replaced, but others worry that the lack of guidance will not end well.

Sophomore and Muslim Students’ Association member Gazi Ohi said, “Oh, how I miss Mr. Rel. Lunch. He was always so reliable, and I always got him as my lunch teacher. Even if I starve the whole day for 8th lunch, the mere thought of being with Rel. satisfies me.”

Academically speaking, the lack of lunch teachers is expected to drastically lower the college admissions rate. With

no teachers available to teach AP Lunch, many second-term

“Heck, I didn’t even realize they existed.”

—Liam Daly, junior

seniors fear they will not be prepared for the upcoming exams. The number of finalists for NYSEO (New York State Eating Olympiad) is also projected to drop, putting even more pressure on the administration to the find the whereabouts of the teachers.

With the future of the cafeteria uncertain, many students are taking the time to reflect on how they took their lunch teachers for granted. “I barely even noticed them when they were apparently on duty,” junior Liam Daly said. “Heck, I didn’t even realize they existed.”

With no evidence of foul play, it has been so far assumed that the lunch teachers left on their own accord. If no replacement teachers are found, the lunch aide system may continue on indefinitely. The Spectator decided to take matters into their own hands and look throughout Stuyvesant for these teachers. After about one free period, the Spectator concluded that the teachers are masters of flaking.

Katherine Pan / The Spectator

By Jason Mohabir

An Open Letter to the Programming Office

By Nathan Mannes and Muhamed Rahman Dear Programing Office,

My first-period class is my third-choice elective. Let me repeat that, third choice elective.

I have no problem with a full schedule, but do I have to have Invertebrate Zoology first period? I want to become a doctor, but at what cost? If the sadism of Ms. Fong’s gradebook will discourage me from my dream to become a doctor, then it is your fault for subjecting me to that.

Thank you, at least, for giving me weight training. That was the one thing you did right—or so I thought. Right after I spend the full 45 minutes of third period benching and squatting so that my prom date isn’t stronger than me, you turn around and make me run up

SING! 2015 Predictions By aLEC dai and Fish Milnikiewicz Soph-Frosh

In regards to the actual SING! performance, everyone is left scratching their heads with Soph-Frosh. Their theme, plot, and everything else are a total uncertainty. Their characters range from historical figures to television characters to English Teacher Phillip Mott. Their script has numerous settings, from the surface of the moon to the bottom of the ocean to Mott’s dreadlocks. When questioned about the actual theme of their performance, SophFrosh SING! coordinator Winston Venderbush said, “Don’t you get it? Our theme is everything. We couldn’t narrow it down. Also, since we’ve literally included everything in our play.

We are definitely getting no accusations of racism.”

Juniors

Following the trend set by last year’s juniors, this year’s Junior SING! theme is unintentional racism. Junior coordinator Rishika Jikaria accidently leaked the entire script on Facebook about a week ago, blaming “broken fingers” for her fault. In it, the main character, Kim Jong Un, played by Jordan Foster, goes on a long journey across all parts of the world that aren’t North Korea, where he interviews many people, sings “Firework” to them, and slaps them. When attacked by vicious comments on Facebook, one of the writers wrote, “The script is, like, whatever. It wasn’t meant to be racist.” According to Junior caucus President Krzysztof Hochlewicz, famous for walking across the stage in last year’s SING!, the entire performance is “very demeaning to the point of being not demeaning at all, like we’ve gone full circle.”

Seniors

This year’s Senior SING! is called “The Highland Adventures of Snabean Moran Emberfury.” It is allegedly about a group of dwarven seniors who set off on an epic journey of senioritis. The main character, a musically gifted dwarf, Snabean Moran Emberfury (played by Jasmine Thomas), also doubles as the only character in the entire performance, and the only member of every crew. Emberfury “delights” the audience for nearly an hour with her interesting vocal skills, okay step skills, and most of all her Romeo and Juliet style romance.

Senior SING! coordinator Emily Ruby tells us, “It is a beautiful love story that tells the world that love isn’t always between a man and a woman. It can exist between two circus clowns, two cavemen, or a dwarf and herself.”

I may have given up some first amendment rights when I signed that form at the beginning of the year, but nowhere did it say I had to give up my right to chicken burrito bowls.

and down the stairs so I can do nothing but lose the gains I was about to receive.

You keep leading me on, programming office. Okay, so

you gave me fourth lunch. I have been trying to make the best of it. There’s this cute girl

How dare you give me a lunch period before Chipotle opens?

in my English class, and I’ve been meaning to work up the nerve to ask her to eat Halal with me after school. Right when I’m about to do it though, her friends always show up. Every single time! It’s like I’m trying to roll a rock up a hill every day, but when I get near the top, the rock’s friends show up and take the rock away to talk about some other attractive male rock, leaving me all sweaty and rock-less.

That’s not even the worst part. How dare you give me a lunch period before Chipotle opens? How do I feed the gains I was supposed to receive?

Have you no shame? Would you starve your own children like you are starving me of the basic sustenance? I wouldn’t even wish this upon my worst enemy, which I guess is you at this time. I may have given up some first amendment rights when I signed that form at the beginning of the year, but nowhere did it say I had to give up my right to chicken burrito bowls. What do you expect me eat while I boycott Ferry’s?

Sincerely, Sam Mend

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 27

Humor Super Bowl Loss Explained: Seahawks Pulled All-Nighter Cramming

Reports have finally emerged concerning why the Seattle Seahawks lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX 24-28: the night before, the Seahawks reportedly stayed awake all night getting in some last-minute preparation for the game.

According to players, the team started preparing for the Super Bowl just the day before. “I woke up that morning and I was just like, ‘crap, I am so screwed for this game,’” co-captain Kam Chancellor said. “I thought the game was the next week, but then someone told me it was actually on Sunday. So we had to build up an entire season’s muscle mass in one day,” added the 6’3’’, 232-pound strong safety.

After finishing ten hours of weight work, the team skipped dinner to study various plays.

“How do you do #26? Help plz,” quarterback and co-captain Russell Wilson said in an e-mail interview.

The Seahawks weren’t initially planning to pull an allnighter: “Of course, I recognize that sleep is important. They were going to sleep at 12,” coach Pete Carroll said. “But then we realized that none of them knew how to catch or throw a football.”

The team spent the rest of the night drilling themselves on how to catch a football, throw a football, and other essential parts of the game. “Damn it, I totally forgot how to run,” Wilson said.

“You know, we really should have been practicing this stuff for the last five months,” Chancellor said. “We might’ve won.”

During the game, the team

25 Percent of People on the Internet are Lying Sociopaths.

The Human Eye Receives Light Differently Depending on Perceived Surroundings.

By Randolph Higgins, Spectator Writer Currently Looking at this Picture of a White and Gold Dress.

By Randolph Higgins, Spectator Writer Currently Reading an Article About Light Perception.

“Then we realized that none of them knew how to catch or throw a football.”

—Pete Carroll, Coach

Over the last few days, it has become increasingly clear that the internet has a substantial population of people who will attempt to lie and use bogus science just to make other people uncertain about their eyesight. This lower common denomination of human has taken it upon himself to use every deceptive method available to

Marshawn, wake up. Go splash some water on your face. Would you like to go visit the team doctor? At least go splash some water on your face,” one reporter told running back Marshawn Lynch during a press conference, after she noticed Lynch snoring with his head down on the table.

“Uh,” Lynch responded.

It would seem like this incident does not provide very good publicity for the NFL, but Commissioner Roger Goodell disagrees: “After a season in which my league has come under heavy criticism, I am proud to announce that we are making stride forwards in some areas.

While the Seahawks’s behavior around the Super Bowl is not ideal, it is better than last year’s, as the Dallas Cowboys arrived to the game hung over.”

I am no lighting expert, but let me tell you, there isn’t enough light at a nuclear testing facility to turn black into bright gold

The human eye is a fascinating thing. We have millions of receptors so sensitive that not only can they detect the presence of light, they can tell colors apart. Beyond that, our minds have the ability not only to interpret the images we see, but fill in the blanks, editing shades and colors in an image so it makes sense. This is especially true in people who tend to over-utilize their cones, which are the photo receptors responsible for seeing shades. That’s why some people see the dress as blue and black (its actual color), while most interpret the poor lighting differently and see a white and gold dress.

The whole phenomenon is explained in depth in many articles, but it’s actually fairly simple. If you want to test it, you can just tilt your phone or laptop’s screen or change the brightness, and watch the dress change color. For some with vision in the middle, just waiting for a new time of day can also do the trick.

stayed awake by replacing the Gatorade jugs with Red Bull and Richard Sherman’s excess adrenaline. These jugs ran out before the press conference, but the media understood the players’ predicament. “Excuse me,

New Cell Phone Policy Set to Change Nothing at All

By RandOLPH Higgins Stuyvesant High School— Following months of rumors and inaccurate reporting on the issue, on Wednesday, February 25, Principal Jie Zhang released the details of the school’s plan to change absolutely nothing about how students use or carry their cell phones in the building.

In a mass email that most students surreptitiously read on their cell phones in class, Zhang released a comprehensive list of the reforms that are completely useless to everyone. The most important of these changes was a move away from salutary neglect of cell phone possession, to a new, progressive policy of allowing students to have phones, which, Zhang assured, will possibly ease the minds of students who actually care about school policy. The email, which was also read on mobile devices in bathrooms, stairwells, and the first floor, proposed specially designated areas where students can use their phones throughout the day.

Some have criticized the email itself as ambiguous, citing the line “cell phones will be allowed in the building, but will be confiscated if used in hallways

or classrooms,” which will have been the case both before and after the policy change. However, most students have reacted positively to the news. One junior, posting to Facebook from his 6th period AP Computer Science class, hailed the change as “a step in the right direction. Or maybe just like, walking in place, but facing the right way.”

Despite the positive reactions from students, this change appears to be too much for some members of the administration.

Speaking from thrones crafted from the iPhones and Androids amassed after years of confiscation from students, Dean Manuel “The Confiscator” Simon and Assistant Principal of Safety Brian “You Can’t Have That in School” Moran told Spectator reporters, “From the dawn of time, it has been the solemn duty of The Deans to defend this school from the cell phone menace. If this power of ours is subverted, cheating will be rampant, [students] will be distracted, and we will surely descend into an era of chaos.” Simon also told reporters that students could pry their cell phones from his cold, dead hands, or, alternatively, have their parents pick them up between 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on any weekday.

him just to see honest people doubt themselves.

Well now we say to them that the emperor has no clothes, that anyone who says that the dress is blue and black is either a lying sociopath or has been so cowed by invented science as to pretend to agree.

The most saddening part of this story is the ease with which some people seem to have been swayed by these invented arguments. First and foremost are the claims of poor lighting. I am no lighting expert, but let me tell you, there isn’t enough light at a nuclear testing facility to turn black into bright gold. In fact, the only things on earth that could make that dress black and blue are LSD or ctrl,fn,alt-8.

Even worse are the “accounts” of the people who “bought the dress”. Do the corrupt, scheming abusers of information expect us to believe that someone at a wedding was wearing the dress they claim is in the picture? It is dark blue and black. Was the bride’s mother expecting to go to a funeral after the ceremony, or was the wedding theme “Tim Burton”?

In conclusion, the dress is white and gold.

There is no other side to it and if you say there is, you are either blind, a liar, or both.

Courtesy of Business Insider

By Jacob Faber-Rico

Point - Counterpoint: The Dress

After much debate, the humor staff of the Spectator has determined that the above photo is, in fact, black and white.

New York City Shut Down by Historic Air Storm

By Jacob Faber-Rico Winter Storm Juno struck New York City on Tuesday, January 28, depositing six inches of snow and well over three feet of cold air all over the five boroughs. The storm brought schools, transportation, and reason to a complete halt.

The National Weather Service warned that the storm could be “life-threatening.” It certainly was, bringing cold temperatures that—while barely low enough to freeze water—were more than enough to freeze the cognition of millions of New Yorkers.

“I thought I was going to die,” junior Jesse Elliott said. “I mean, it was the craziest thing I’ve ever lived through. The air covered my entire door, so I had to dig a tunnel through it just to get out of my house.”

The large drifts of air brought

by Juno paralyzed the subway system for around six hours, making it just the 178th longest train delay in the last month.

Juno also brought the greatest paralysis of common thought since October, when the deadly Ebola virus killed trillion of neurons throughout the city.

In addition, students expe-

rienced the first-ever air day in New York City history. Kids across the city were elated to go outside and build airmen while their parents shoveled pounds of nitrogen and oxygen off the sidewalk.

While weather stations mainly reported freezing temperatures, there was some variation; according to meteorologists, the city was blanketed in 500 feet of pure nonsense as the media blew a historic amount of hot air across the entire city.

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 28

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The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 30

Sports 2014-2015 NBA All Star Snubs and Surprises

By Joshua Zhu It’s that time of the year again, when NBA players finally get a week-long break from regular season games while fans are treated to a spectacular game between the top players in the league. New York City hosted the 2015 All-Star Game in Madison Square Garden on February 15th, the first one it has hosted since 1998. While the All-Star Game is purely an exhibition game, it has grown to be an indicator of a player’s ranking within the league and alongside all-time greats. First time selections for players such as Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins symbolize their transcendence into stardom, while selections for perennial All Stars such as Tim Duncan (15x) can only serve to solidify their legacy. Every year, fans have heated arguments over who should and should not have made the All-Star Game. Here are the top six players who I felt either earned or didn’t deserve an All-Star Selection. *All statistics are accurate as of games played by February 15th, 2015

Our first surprise is a pleasant one.

The Atlanta Hawks have experienced great success this season, entering the All-Star break with a 43-11 record and the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. But despite the Hawks’ success, Kyle Korver’s accomplishments were always overshadowed by those of his teammates Al Horford, Paul Millsap, and Jeff Teague. When Horford, Millsap, and Teague were selected as the All Star Reserves, it seemed as if Korver’s work would go unrecognized, but with a stroke of luck, Korver was selected as a replacement for the injured Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. However, Korver should not be thought of as simply a replacement for an injured player—he fully deserves the selection. Korver currently has the single greatest shooting season in NBA history. Shooting an all-time high true shooting percentage of .736, he is on pace to become the only person in NBA history to shoot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range, and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Since Korver is having the best season of his career so far, it seems fitting to top it off with an All-Star Selection.

YZovinar Khrimian / The Spectator

Surprise: Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks)

Go up to any stranger you see on the street and ask him or her who Kobe Bryant is. Chances are that he or she has heard of the tremendously popular player. Then why is it a surprise that he was selected for the All-Star Game?

Bryant, a 17-time All-Star, has been a dominant force in the NBA for so long that it is difficult to remember a time without him.

However, for those who have been following the 2014-2015 Lakers season, Bryant has been anything but “dominant.” An initial glance over his stat line might not reveal much: 22.3 points, 5.6 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals do not look terrible. It is only by looking over his shooting percentages that the problem begins to reveal itself. Bryant is currently shooting a field goal percentage of .373 and a three-point percentage of .293, all while averaging a team-high of 34.5 minutes in his 19th NBA season. A longstanding claim has been that Bryant is a “ball-hog” and this year’s low efficiency and terrible shooting percentages seem to support this assertion. Add in the fact that the Lakers have experienced little success this season, and it hardly seems fair that Bryant was awarded a selection for the All-Star Game.

Snub: DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers) DeAndre Jordan is one of the best big men in the league.

There is no question about it. Averaging 10.7 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and a .725 field goal percentage, Jordan has been a major reason why the Clippers have managed to stay in the playoff race in the notoriously competitive Western Conference.

Acting as the anchor on the defensive end, Jordan is ranked fifth in defensive win shares and 13th in defensive rating. In layman’s terms, this simply means that Jordan is a complete beast on defense. In our current league, in which there is a lack of defensiveminded centers, Jordan deserves to be rewarded for breaking the trend. It is debatable whether or not Jordan’s offensive prowess could use some development. However, by single-handedly making up for Clipper’s lack of defensive talent, Jordan deserves a nod in the All-Star Game.

Vahn Williams / The Spectator

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

Surprise: Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)

Mike Conley is a top five point guard in the Western Conference.

So why didn’t he make the All-Star team? Granted, it is quite difficult to make the All-Star team in the star-studded Western conference. However, Conley’s season averages of 16.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 31.7 minutes propel him to the top, alongside players such as Chris Paul and Stephen Curry. In addition, Conley is the floor general for the vastly improved Memphis Grizzlies that hold a 39-14 record and are the second seed in the Western Conference.

Conley’s ability to remain calm during close games has led the Grizzlies to entrust him with the basketball during crucial possessions. Conley is ranked second in field goals and threepoint field goals made during clutch moments which puts him ahead of Lebron James and Kevin Durant.

There is no reason why Conley was not playing in Madison Square Garden on February 15th.

Zovinar Khrimian / The Spectator

Snub: Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)

As an avid Knicks fan, it is difficult for me to admit this, but Carmelo Anthony’s appearance in the All-Star Game is somewhat of a surprise.

Anthony has been the best player on the Knicks all season. But that isn’t saying much for the owners of a worst-in-the-league 1043 record. Make no mistake, the Knicks’s record is no indication of Anthony’s individual performance. Through 40 games, Anthony has averaged 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and a .444 field goal percentage. However, in a league in which records are emphasized, Anthony should not be starting in the All-Star Game.

Slivers of justification can be found in Anthony being selected as a reserve, but the unfortunate truth is that Anthony is an All-Star starter solely because of his popularity among fans.

Snub: Brandon Knight (Milwaukee Bucks) One season removed from a disastrous 15-67 record, the Bucks have completely turned it around this season. They are currently the sixth seed of the Eastern Conference and a major part of their success can be attributed to Brandon Knight.

Coming into the 2014-2015, the Bucks were projected to be near the bottom of the conference standings. They have quickly proved their doubters wrong by winning games against some of the best teams in the NBA and staying in the playoff race. Although the Bucks clearly have a “team-first mentality,” if their success could be traced to a player, it would be Knight. Knight is currently averaging 17.8 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.6 steals, which all lead his team. With the lack of depth at the guard position in the Eastern Conference, Knight certainly deserved an All-Star selection.

Zovinar Khrimian / The Spectator

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

Surprise: Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)

The Spectator ● March 4, 2015

Page 31

Sports Indoor Track

Boys’ Swimming

Greyducks Fall Short at City Championships

Pirates Fall Short at City Championships continued from page 32

“Winning the semis was [definitely] the height of our season and everybody came together as one to win that meet,” Bologna said.

The Pirates felt like they had accomplished the impossible by defeating the Staten Island Tech Seagulls who had a 10-0 record during the regular season. “They had a dream team relay, really fast kids, faster than any of us. and we still came back, that was really it,” junior Daniel Gutman said. Nevertheless, the Pirates quickly moved on and eyed their final game against their long time rivals, the Brooklyn Tech Engineers.

Despite much anticipation and a clear will to win, the Pirates were severely outperformed by the Engineers in the finals. Still, the meet was not devoid of success—Glas placed first in the individual 200 and 500-yard freestyle and swam the fastest splits in the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relays.

Reflecting on the meet, Glas said, “I wasn’t disappointed [...]

I think that this year, we all gave it our best and there’s not really anything we can be disappointed about. Tech was just a better team.”

Gutman offered a similar sentiment. “Everyone swam as best they could,” he said. “Tech had a dynasty but now […] all of their best swimmers are graduating next year [while] the majority of our best swimmers are still staying. I think that its going to even out and that next year we [will] really have a shot of winning.”

Even though many of the Pirates’s best swimmers are seniors who will graduate this year, the Pirates continue to strive to take the title of City Champions at Finals next year. Soon to be led by this year’s juniors—including Glas, Gutman, Stephan Berezhnyk, Brandon Frank, Justin Lin, James Park, Peter Strbik, Leo Wang, and Beck Zhu—the Pirates hope to regain the City Championship crown against a weakened Brooklyn Tech.

“A few things had to go our way for us to win and unfortunately it didn’t go our way.” —Peter Bologna, coach “Our juniors this year really supported our team, as well as our seniors, and I’m looking for them to come back in better shape and dropping some time between now and then,” Bologna said. He added a parting note for the outgoing seniors: “To the seniors I want to thank them for all their leadership and their hard work and dedication throughout the years on Stuyvesant’s Swim team, and they’ll always be a Pirate.”

By Lucy Wang After winning the Manhattan Borough Championships, both the male and female Greyducks hit a rough patch at the 112th Annual NYC PSAL Indoor Track and Field Championship on February 22nd. Because of the difficult times one needs to reach in order to qualify for the meet, few runners participated in the City Championship: the boys entered 11 runners and the girls entered six. Among the runners who did participate, however, many ran fast times and an impressive number of members finished in the top six of their events.

The fast qualifying times were not the only reason that so few Greyducks attended the meet. Many runners were “out due to illness and injuries,” senior and captain Reda Lamniji said. “We simply did not have enough people who qualified for cities to even be a contender at cities.” In addition, two crucial qualifiers, sophomore Zovinar Khrimian and senior Eric Chen, both among the best distance runners in the city, were injured and unable to participate.

Another difficulty the team encountered was the timing of the City Championships. Taking place at the end of Presidents Week, many Greyducks were on vacation or had recently returned from a vacation. “We had too many guys that had gone away that week. Some not making it back for the competition, others who did come back hadn’t done a thing and just looked dull,” boys’ head coach Jeffrey Teta said. Nonetheless, both teams entered confident

in their ability to perform well.

“I had a mixed bag of feelings, but overall I felt good going into the competition,” Teta said.

“I had a mixed bag of feelings, but overall I felt good going into the competition.”

—Jeffrey Teta, boys’ head coach From the eleven members of boys’ track and field team who participated in field or running events, seven ran in relay races; the boys qualified for both the 4x200 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay. The 4x200 meter team came in 11th and the 4x400 team came in tenth— only 0.12 seconds ahead of the 11th place team.

Junior Samuel Greenberg was seventh in the city for the 3200 meter run with a time of 10:15.9. Though he was only 0.75 seconds behind the sixth place finisher—an especially disappointing result because runners who come in first through sixth receive medals— this was a successful race for Greenberg. His time was a new personal record, a notable 15second improvement over his time at the Borough Championships in the 3200- meter run.

Other athletes were not as

pleased by their performances. Junior Jacob Hoffman, who came in 19th and 25th in the 55 meter hurdles and 300 meter dash respectively, was disappointed in his times. “I feel like my performance did not reflect [my preparedness]. Sometimes, athletes have off days. Good athletes learn how to take their losses though,” said junior Jacob Hoffman.

The girls’ indoor track team had six members who qualified for the City Championship. Of the six runners, two competed in the 1500-meter race-walk, two competed in pole-vault, one in the 3000-meter run, and the sixth in both the 55-meter hurdles and the long jump.

Though this was a low-turnout for the large team, many Greyducks performed well.

The 1500-meter race-walk was their most successful event at the meet, as the two competitors placed in fourth and sixth place. Sophomore Sharon Hu, who came in fourth place, was unhappy with her time which was sixth seconds below her personal record. “I got yellowcarded twice during the competition, which was a first for me.

I was afraid of getting disqualified, so I slowed down without thinking,” Hu said.

Despite the lack of runners participating in the City Championships, the boys’ and girls’ teams are confident in their ability to improve in the spring season. As the distance runners continue to brave the cold weather and the sprinters continue to occupy the fifth floor while training, athletes are developing their skills and many hope this hard work will pay off in the spring.

Boys’ Table Tennis

Varsity Table Tennis Wins City Championship Stuyvesant Table Tennis

4

Bronx Science Table Tennis

1

By Xuanjia Fan As the Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity table tennis team proudly lifted their championship banner off the ground, it was clear that it had exceeded expectations. The team’s victory over Bronx Science on Wednesday, February 11, closed out a very successful season in which Stuyvesant went on a rampage, going undefeated for 13 games straight. The team adds another banner and trophy to its collection and has improved its impressive 12-1 record from last year.

When the regular season ended, the team was seeded first with a 10-0 record. Coach Bernard Feigenbaum, however, was nervous before the match against Bronx Science. “[Bronx Science] also had a perfect season,” he said. “This will be a very good game.” The stage was set as the two best teams in the city competed for the title of city champions.

The day began with the first singles match. Sophomore Alston Wang, who is considered

the best table tennis player in the city, faced senior Andrew Min from Bronx Science as they competed to win the best out of five matches. Wang was nervous as his game against Min approached because he had not practiced for two weeks prior to the game. The matches between the two were fierce as each player tried to gain the upper hand—one could see the sweat drip from each player’s forehead as they traded point for point during the first game.

However, Wang managed to pull ahead and won the first match with a score of 11-9.

However, a weak start threw Wang off and cost him the second match. Wang performed spectacularly in each game as he threw off Min with quick and hard returns left and right.

He once returned a very hard hit by perfectly positioning his paddle; this return caught Min so off guard that Min could not return the ball. However, Wang could not catch up to Min’s lead and ended up losing three of the five matches.

Though Wang’s defeat left

him feeling very dejected, the table tennis team remained optimistic as sophomore William Yao and junior David Song defeated their opponents very soon after Wang’s defeat.

Still, Song later recalled that he was disappointed by his victory. “Even though I won, I feel terribl[e],” Song said. He elaborated that he felt disappointed in his many avoidable mistakes.

“I felt ecstatic. I was expecting a close game, but I swept [him].”

—William Yao, sophomore

Yao, on the other hand, was very excited about his victory.

“I felt ecstatic,” Yao said. “I was expecting a close game, but I swept [him].” Because of Song’s and Yao’s victories, the team had a 2-1 lead as the doubles matches began.

Stuyvesant’s first doubles team crushed its opponents during the first and second matches. Sophomore Eric Amstislavkiy and freshman Alvin Chen were in perfect synchronization as they only allowed Bronx Science to gain one point during their first game.

They continued to play effectively throughout the second and third games, winning the match 3-0.

This victory was quite a landmark game in the day, as having already won three of the five games that would take place, Stuyvesant’s victory was sealed. However, Chen was not very excited about his and Amstislavkiy’s victory. “I felt neutral,” said Chen, explaining that he was already expecting an easy win.

Stuyvesant’s second doubles team played a much more defensive game; freshmen Graham Lo and Isaac Rose Berman took their time. It seemed that Lo and Berman were not

perfectly coordinated because sometimes the duo would argue after a messy return. Luckily for the pair, this did not prove to be a big problem, as Lo and Berman came out on top, winning 3-1.

Feigenbaum gave his team a huge smile after the overall 4-1 victory and congratulated his players for such a wonderful final. “Great singles,” Feigenbaum said. “Best doubles, even better than last year.” The ceremony was very exciting for the team as each player was called up by name and given a medal to honor his achievements. The huge trophy and banner were presented to the coach, and the team posed for the last time of the year, looking forward to next season.

Feigenbaum expects the same results next year because none of his best players are graduating. He explained that he “feels bad for the incoming freshmen,” because they will have to play exceptionally well to become a starter for the team.

With such a solid team that is only looking upwards, Feigenbaum hopes to keep the 10-0 regular season record and win another final next year.

March 4, 2015

Page 32

The Spectator SpoRts Coming Out of a Rough Season Stuyvesant Runnin’ Rebels

49

48

Stuyvesant Running Rebels

60

Murry Bergtraum Blazers

63

Stuyvesant Running Rebels

29

Seward Park Campus

56

Baynard Complex Titans

By Tousif Hossain and James Ng Though they fought hard all season, Stuyvesant’s Runnin’ Rebels fell short of the playoffs and ended the season with a 6-10 record. It has been five years since the Rebels last missed the playoffs, and the team was greatly disappointed. However, looking past the Rebels’ poor record, there is no doubt that the team tried their best. Being undersized most of the season, the Rebels were already at a disadvantage coming into many games.

This year was definitely a difficult one for the Rebels, characterized by their lack of consistent victories and their small team. The season began with two disappointing losses, and from there on, it was an upand-down battle with the team struggling to win consistently.

The Rebels were frequently blown out and had close games slip out of their hands. Of the eight games in which the differential in the final score was 10 points or fewer, the Rebels lost six.

The most devastating loss was at an away game against the Murry Bergtraum Blazers. This was the second to last game of the season and a win may have brought the Rebels into the post-season. However, the team fell short of a much-

needed victory by a mere three points. This loss can be attributed to the Rebels’s poor execution. As fatigue set in towards the closing minutes of the game, some players missed open layups that they could have scored in the opening moments. As demonstrated by the close losses, better execution may have been the difference between a 6-10 team and an 8-8 team.

Despite the negative aspects of the season, there were also many memorable moments, such as when sophomore Michael Feinberg scored a seasonhigh 19 points against the Murry Bergtraum Blazers. There was also a tightly contested game against the Bayard Complex Titans, in which the Rebels had to fight until the final buzzer to prevail with a one-point victory. “This was a great season no matter what the final record is. I feel that we need to take the positive aspects of this season and transition it into next year,” junior Vladimir Shapiro said.

“We have to work hard on our weaknesses and just be ready for next season.”

Although 10 seniors will be leaving the team, there will still be six players who remain on the roster. “I think that the six non-seniors are going to need to work very hard this offseason considering that 10 players are graduating from a 12-man rota-

tion this season,” senior Roman Szul said.

Next year, there is a high chance that the team will once again be outsized. However, the team’s returning players do not doubt that this year’s perseverance and hard work will be replicated. “Next year is going to be really tough considering our general lack of size. We have the potential to do well next year if we can run all of our plays smoothly,” junior Jayantra Froment-Rudder said.

Szul offered a similar sentiment, saying that “there is potential for success but it will require focus and determination to make up for a lack of experience. [...] At the end of the day, there will be some talented guys returning next year, and [he believes] in them succeeding if they are willing to work hard.”

As long as the Rebels continue to work hard, next season will not be a disappointment.

Even though most of underclassmen did not have a lot of time on the court, they were ready to do anything to lead their team to victory when they were swapped into games. This was seen in the last game of the season when Shapiro was put into the lineup for a mere thirty seconds. In that small window of time, he scored four points.

Knowing that next year may be Coach Philip Fisher’s last year at Stuyvesant, we should expect that his final season will nothing but exceptional. Players on the junior varsity basketball team have shown potential to make it onto varsity next year and several of the juniors have shown their excitement for trying out for the team once again.

With such an immense presence of resolve, Fisher should be able to put together a playoff-contending team.

Pirates Fall Short at City Championships 36

Brooklyn Tech Engineers

58

By Susan Wu and Joshua Zhu The Stuyvesant Pirates lined the pool to whistle and cheer on their teammates. As the race continued, the intensity only increased, with slight pauses when a swimmer flip-turned.

Such was the scene at Lehman College during the PSAL championship game on February 11, where the Pirates competed against their long-time rivals, the Brooklyn Tech Engineers.

The Pirates had performed quite well the entire season and hoped to cap off their year with a PSAL trophy.

As the final event, the 400free relay, came to an end at the Lehman College pool, the Pirates knew they had been defeated by Brooklyn Tech. It was a disappointing end to the season, but not an unsurpris-

ing one as the Pirates also lost to Brooklyn Tech in the finals last year. “I knew it was going to be a very difficult meet [...] A few things had to go our way for us to win and unfortunately it didn’t go our way,” coach Peter Bologna said.

Although the Pirates did not claim the City Championships on February 11, their defeat is not a characteristic of their entire season—the Pirates remained undefeated until they faced Brooklyn Tech in the finals.

However, the team did experience some problems after the quarter finals against Bronx Science. After the team defeated the Bronx Science Wolverines 54-33, swimmers were not taking their warm-down seriously; instead, they were playing on the diving board. Bologna responded by cancelling practice

The boys’ gymnastics team, the Lemurs, beat the Laguardia High School Athletics in a meet on February 13th with a score of 128.6 to 116.3. Junior Gregory Redozubov led the team, winning first place in Pommel Horse and Floor Exercise and second place in High Bar, Parallel Bar, and Rings.

Sports Wrapup • The boys’ table tennis team defeated Bronx Science 4-1 to win the city championship. Congratulations for an undefeated season!

• The girl’s basketball team, the Phoenix, won their first playoff game against W.C. Bryant High School, 62-39. Good luck Phoenix!

• The boys’ junior varsity basketball team, the Runnin’ Rebels, lost to Martin Luther King Jr. High School on February 23, 6418. The Runnin’ Rebels have a 1-9 record.

Boys’ Swimming

Stuyvesant Pirates

Capturing the Lemurs As They Move to the Playoffs

Yi Zhu / The Spectator

Boys’ Basketball

the next day, and called a team meeting to discuss the team’s attitude. “I think [the meeting] was helpful because after that we [regrouped with a] fresh mindset,” junior Aaron Glas said.

Such was showcased at the semifinal meet against Staten Island Tech, which many called the “high point” of the season. The meet featured evenly matched teams; neither team ever pulled ahead. By the last event, a clear winner had not yet emerged. Consequently, the last event was fueled with great intensity as the newly bonded team members cheered each other on. The relay event finished, and a moment of tranquility descended as each person anticipated the final score.

Bologna gathered the team into a huddle which immediately erupted in shouts of joy as the Pirates saw the final score: 5150. continued on page 31

• The Spartans, Stuyvesant’s wrestling team, lost to Madison High School in the first round of the playoffs, 61-24. The Spartans ended their season with a 6-1 record. Great job this season!

SPORTS CALENDAR Sunday, March 8

Wednesday, March 18

PSAL Freshman Sophomore Indoor Track & Field City Championship @ Armory Track

Boys’ Lacrosse vs. Frederick Douglass Academy @ Randall’s Island Field 73

Thursday, March 19

Friday, March 20

Girls’ Softball vs. Hunter College High School @ Central Park Great Lawn 1

Boys’ Tennis vs. Eleanor Roosevelt High School @ Central Park Tennis Courts 1