Volume 104, Issue 7

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

Volume CIV No. 7

SING! Faces Scheduling Changes

By TINA JIANG and David Mascio By the time opening night arrives, hundreds of students will have lent a hand to create SING!, whether as dancers, set-builders, musicians, or actors and actresses. While its members may not appear on the stage, the Student Union (SU) plays an important role in making SING! a possibility.

Each fall, the SU President, Vice President, and cabinet members work with SU faculty advisor Lisa Weinwurm to develop SING!, choosing SING! coordinators for each production and dates for the performances.

Most years, SING! is scheduled for the first week of March.

Due to a particularly crowded schedule, however, choosing a date for SING! this year was more difficult than usual. The SU had proposed three possible times for SING!: the first, second, and third weeks of March, each of which had its own issues.

The first week of March was problematic in that there would be too little time to rehearse.

According to Junior SING! Coordinator Emily Ruby, having more days to practice will be essential this year, because the

administration has decided that SING! practices after school can no longer last past five p.m. In previous years, students were often permitted to practice until eight p.m. “It would have been a lot harder to put things together like [we did] last year, when we could stay at school longer, even though SING! was scheduled for the first week,” Ruby said.

The second week of March is a weekend when many juniors are planning to take their SATs. The final round of the Intel Science Talent Search Competition will also be taking place.

On the third Saturday of March, Stuyvesant will be hosting a Speech and Debate tournament—the Catholic Forensics League Debate and Congress Grand—and the administration did not wish to schedule two events on the same weekend.

Report cards will also come out during this time, possibly resulting in students being pulled out in the midst of preparation.

In the end, Weinwurm and Assistant Principal of Organization (APO) Saida Rodriguez-Tabone chose the second week of March for SING!, believing this would cause the fewest disturbances in everyone’s schedules.

Many juniors are now wor-

Courtesy of Paolo P.. Singer

Alumnus Paolo Singer Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

By Rebecca Chang and Larisa Jiao Alumnus Paolo Singer (’09) was among 32 Americans selected from a pool of 800 applicants as Rhodes Scholar-Elect for the Rhodes Scholarship this year.

Named after English politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most selective international fellowships. It aims to reward college students who display

academic achievement, willingness to help others, and the potential to become future leaders.

“Once you get to the interview phase, everyone is so qualified for the scholarship.

I could not even process what was even happening [when they announced the winners],” Singer said. “I was very surprised and very happy.”

Rhodes Scholars receive twoyear scholarships to Oxford University, as well as a monthly stipend for accommodations and living expenses. Both are paid for by the Rhodes Trust, a British charity that was established to honor Rhodes’s will. Despite receiving the scholarship, winners are not guaranteed admission, and are still required to apply for a full-time postgraduate course before the deadline in January.

In order to apply for one of the 32 slots available to Americans, prospective applicants must be citizens of the United States between the ages of 18 and 24 and have attained at least one Bachelor’s Degree. In addition, they must also submit five to eight

letters of recommendation, a personal essay of 1,000 words briefly describing their proposed major at Oxford, and a résumé listing extracurricular activities. After this, 12 applicants are selected from each of the 16 districts for interviews conducted by a panel of eight judges consisting of previous Rhode Scholars or community leaders.

At Stuyvesant, Singer was heavily influenced by his peers and teachers, who motivated him to work toward his goals.

“You’re able to value education more when you’re surrounded by people who value education,” Singer said. “Being in that environment really prepares you for college.” As the budget director for the Student Union, a member of the Stuyvesant Theater Community, and a part of multiple crews of SING! all four years, he was exposed to many different aspects of the school community and connected with a variety of students with a variety of interests. continued on page 2

ried about SING! and the SAT occurring at the same time.

The last few weeks leading up to the exam will coincide with rehearsals, and students may also have to perform after a four-hour test in the morning.

“I respectfully dislike this in the most disdainful manner possible,” junior AnneGail Moreland said. “We have too much to worry about as it is, and to have a school tradition like SING! land on an unprecedented and hectic date is unbelievable.”

Some students, on the other hand, believe that the new date for SING! will not be a problem. “We have around two months until SING! starts, and it won’t have any effects on the actual performance. Last year I took my SATs around SING! and it went fine,” SU President Eddie Zilberbrand said.

Aside from concerns about SING!’s chosen date, students were unhappy with the way in which the scheduling conflict was handled. “I am frustrated at the lack of communication between the administration and the SU involving SING! dates. The situation and the administration’s position were never quite clear, and the decision was not made in

Photo Department / The Spectator

• Professor Robert Blecker of New York Law School, advocate of death penalty use in extreme cases and author of The Death of Punishment, gave a lecture at Stuyvesant on Monday, December 16. Blecker spoke about the history of the death penalty and its merits.

• Principal Jie Zhang received the WCBS Radio Women’s Achievement Award for her work in education. She was honored at a ceremony on Wednesday, December 11.

• One hundred percent of students in Economics teacher Catherine McRoyMendell’s classes passed the National Finance Literacy Test. Economics teacher Catherine McRoyMendell will be recognized as a Gold Star Teacher.

Stuyvesant, however, failed to rank in the top 25 of schools for performance the test.

• The Stuyvesant Speech and Debate team placed 4th at the George Mason University tournament, which attracted more than 3000 competitors.

stuyspectator.com

(Pictured) Edward Li (‘12) as David Blaine in Senior SING! 2012. Despite decisions to ban the mosh-pit and post scores online after the Saturday show in 2012, SING! has still been a success. Facing major scheduling issues this year, SING! faces new uncertainties.

a timely fashion,” Ruby said.

Senior and SU Chief of Staff Sweyn Venderbush concurred, believing that the problems in scheduling stemmed from the administration’s mismanagement. “Tabone knew what we did last year, yet she didn’t take that into consideration. She just doesn’t really care to make the effort,” Venderbush said. continued on page 3

De Blasio Challenges SHSAT

Courtesy of Politicker

Newsbeat

December 18, 2013

“The Pulse of the Student Body”

In an attempt to address racial inequalities, mayor-elect Bill de Blasio plans to reform the specialized high school admissions process.

By Gabriel Rosen and JENNIFER LEE The Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) may receive its first challenge in decades. Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who will replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg in January, ran his campaign on reducing inequality throughout the city, specifically racial inequality within New York’s specialized

high schools. Statistically, approximately 12 percent of students attending specialized high schools are African American or Latino, even though those ethnicities make up half of the New York City population. “[The specialized high schools] are the academies for the next generation of leadership in all sectors of the city, and they have to continued on page 2

Page 2

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

News

Emma Mcintosh/ The Spectator

Speech and Debate Team Wins Villiger

At this year’s Villiger Speech & Debate Tournament, coach Julie Sheinman was awarded the Championship Coach Award.

By ALEXANDRINA DANILOV with additional reporting by rebecca chang Stuyvesant’s Speech and Debate Team came out on top in the team sweepstakes at the 34th annual Villiger Invitational Tournament. English teacher and Speech and Debate Team coach Julie Sheinman received the Championship Coach Award for the team’s victory. The tournament took place on Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24 at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Students from 26 states competed in this national invi-

Sheinman was awarded the Championship Coach Award, which is given each year to the coach whose team has won the overall tournament.

tational, some from states as far as Florida, according to senior and Speech and Debate Team President Jack Cahn. Stuyvesant competed in ten categories: Original Oratory, Dramatic Performance, Declamation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Oral Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Student Congress, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

This tournament is one of the biggest events of the year for the Speech and Debate Team. “This is one of the few tournaments where Speech and Debate go at the same time as a unified team,” senior and Speech Captain Juliette Hainline said. “It’s one of the best bonding experiences.”

Competing at invitational tournaments like Villiger takes a considerable amount of dedication from members of the team. “The philosophy

of Speech and Debate is that you get out of it what you put in to it. At least a week before Villiger, competitors practice until five. On a regular basis, these members practice at least two to three times a week after school,” Hainline said.

Many Stuyvesant students had outstanding individual results. Senior Tahia Islam won first place in Dramatic Performance, the team of sophomores Danielle Hahami and Rishika Jikaria won in Duo Interpretation, and junior Benedict Bolton won third place in Student Congress.

Team members are proud of their showing at the tournament. “Stuyvesant’s win speaks to the dedication of our students and coaches, who pour their hearts out preparing for their respective speech and debate events,” Cahn said.

Sheinman was awarded the Championship Coach Award, which is given each year to the coach whose team has won the overall tournament. Stuyvesant has won the award over twenty times. The first win was in 1986, two years after Sheinman first started coaching at Stuyvesant. “It isn’t just like we have a few good kids once in a while. The team sustains excellence,” Sheinman said.

Sheinman stressed that young members of the team are consistently talented and excited from year to year. Novice members of the team did very well at Villiger. Freshmen Kate Johnston and Liam Elkind placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in Oral Interpretation, which Sheinman called an “amazing” feat considering that they are competing against seniors who have been competing for four years.

Sheinman stressed that the victory was a product of the talented team and all the other coaches, not just her. “I only win the tournament because they win the tournament,” she said.

Members of the team believe that Sheinman’s win is well-deserved. “She always puts in a lot of office hours and does a lot of organizational work to help the team members gain the experience they need to be skilled and succeed nationally,” Bolton said.

“Ms. Sheinman is an organized individual who manages to run the Speech and Debate Team smoothly while facilitating the growth of its members,” junior and debater Daniel Poleshchuk, said.

Alumnus Paolo Singer Awarded Rhodes Scholarship continued from page 1

“I would’ve seen him more as a theater and arts type of guy and I never thought of him becoming a Rhodes Scholar,” alumnus Alon Sicherman (’09) said. “At the same time, it’s super awesome that he’s [in] a big and super official realm.”

Singer was also influenced by his teachers. “I’ve had a few very awesome mentors [and] certain teachers who just [opened] up a whole new world of possibilities,” Singer said. “I never thought I would be good at English until I had a teacher who would believe in me and saw that I could be good at English.”

English teacher Rosa Mazzurco fondly recalls Singer in her Existentialism class. “He always seemed to be the sort of person who did what he loved because he loved it,” Mazzurco said.

As a senior at Harvard University, Singer is majoring in economics and government.

“Before actually deciding what I wanted to concentrate in, I went through a lot of different possibilities [such as] philosophy and social theory and environ-

mental science,” Singer said.

In his freshman year, he was involved in a nonprofit organization known as Cultural Survival and worked with indigenous groups in Kenya and Panama. In addition, while traveling abroad to South Africa and China during summer break of his freshman, he was able to study the effect of urban geography on those countries’ economies. In his sophomore year, Singer had the chance to travel to India to improve slum conditions and reduce poverty levels.

“I felt like I was learning something every day—something I had never seen before or couldn’t really understand really well,” Singer said. “[My question was], how can we use economics as a tool for really transforming the way that we understand growth?” After his experiences, Singer decided to focus his studies at Harvard on how to use economics to improve conditions in underdeveloped countries.

This was supplemented by an internship Singer completed at the White House in his junior year and a mentorship and educational civics program he start-

ed for under-resourced and underprivileged students in Boston.

At Oxford, Singer plans to advance his studies in economics, politics, government, and geography. He is excited to be attending school in another country, and especially cannot wait to experience a new culture there. “It’s a different perspective on how people are thinking about economics and development,” he said. “It will be really amazing to see how people are thinking about these topics, [and] I’ll be surrounded by such a different group of people who have had such different life experiences than I have.”

Singer has come a long way since graduating from Stuyvesant. With the knowledge he has gained from high school, college, and traveling around the world, he encourages current Stuyvesant students to leave their comfort zones. “You have to find what makes you tick, and what makes you get up every morning, and what makes you excited,” Singer said. “Putting yourself out there is really the best advice I could give.”

De Blasio Challenges SHSAT continued from page 1

reflect the city better,” de Blasio said in an October interview with the New York Daily News.

De Blasio vows to change the admissions process for acceptance into specialized high schools. As he proposes supplementing the SHSAT with other factors for admission, such as middle school transcripts, interviews, and extracurricular activities. He believes that this will increase racial diversity among specialized high school students and provide better educational opportunities for lower-income families. De Blasio further argues that the SHSAT creates a phenomenon in which wealthy families can afford test prep courses while less wealthy ones cannot, thus perpetuating poverty cycles and maintaining racial inequality.

“I agree with de Blasio that there’s some kind of inequality here, but he should be pushing for better study programs in schools to level the playing field,” junior and African American Sayid El-Saieh said.

“My middle school, I.S. 318, gave me free SHSAT prep, and [because of it] I was one of three kids [from I.S. 318] to get accepted to Stuyvesant.”

In order to counter this inequality, Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced the formation of a free test-prep service for eligible youths to help them gain entrance into specialized high schools in April 2012.

The “DREAM - The Specialized High Schools Institute” program is a 22-month prep course for students who demonstrate academic excellence and are economically disadvantaged. This program was created with the intention of increasing diversity within the specialized high schools. It will complete its first cycle of students one month after de Blasio is inaugurated as mayor.

Many argue that programs like this are not necessary, because the specialized high school student bodies reflect signifi-

cant economic diversity already.

In fact, 46 percent of Stuyvesant students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and 33.69 percent are eligible for free lunch, running to contrary to de Blasio’s claim that the SHSAT creates a “rich-get-richer phenomenon.”

De Blasio’s calls for future reform are already encountering resistance. New York State’s Hecht-Calandra Act of 1972 reserves the SHSAT as the sole factor for admissions into Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech. This means that de Blasio must consult the governor and the State Legislature if he wishes to uniformly alter the criteria for specialized high school admissions. The law as it stands was designed to protect the unique character of the original three specialized high schools. One reason cited by critics to overturn the law is that it inadvertently facilitates racial inequality. The NAACP, for example, lodged a legal complaint this year with the United States Education Department, alleging that the city violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through its use of the SHSAT as the sole criteria for specialized high school admissions.

Support exists for de Blasio’s proposed reforms within the Legislature. “I believe we can and should use other criteria in addition to testing to allow for a more diverse student population and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full potential,” Democrat and State Legislature Speaker Sheldon Silver said in an October interview with the New York Daily News.

Many Stuyvesant students and faculty members, however, oppose this new plan for admissions. “If more racial diversity in the specialized high schools is our goal, then we need to start helping every student from a much earlier age,” senior Zane Alpizar said. “Investing more in our schools is the best thing we can do, not trying to make these quick fixes to issues that have a much deeper root in our society.”

“Basing the admissions on a single test—the SHSAT—is

enough, and it should stay exactly as it is. It’s not perfect, but it is the best possible method, and the students who get the best scores deserve to get in,” Sophomore Caucus President Krzysztof Hochlewicz said.

Others argue that changes to the current admissions process could put extra burdens on the specialized high schools that will negate any equalizing benefits from the changes. “High schools just do not have the availability of trained staff to go through each and every student that applies. The SHSAT allows high schools to quickly and efficiently set a mark that students need to get into the respective school,” junior Kevin Yoo said.

Another point of contention has been the de Blasio’s plans to incorporate middle school grades as a criterion. “If you live in a neighborhood that does not have a lot of middle schools with funding, then they’re not going to have the same opportunities as other neighborhoods that do get better funding.

You’re going to end up with the same student makeup or close to it,” guidance counselor John Mui said. Mui, however, believes that it is too early to judge de Blasio’s plans. “The question is: what additional measures [will he] use?” Mui said.

Some of de Blasio’s supporters claim that incorporating additional factors into the admissions process while keeping the SHSAT could be a fair compromise between the two sides of the issue. “It’s unfair for one test to define your high school career, and possibly, your whole life,” junior Sofia Hargil said.

“There are many [additional] factors outside of the SHSAT that need to be considered.”

De Blasio still has time before his inauguration to finalize his stance on the issue; however, until he decides on a course of action, the current system is to remain in place. “I’m not in a position to say what de Blasio’s choice should be, but I hope that whatever he decides upon will help students across the city,” Principal Jie Zhang said.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 3

News

Justin Strauss / The Spectator

Students from China Visit Stuy

Chinese high school students visited Stuyvesant on Tuesday, December 3 as part of their trip to the United States for a Model UN conference at Princeton, NJ.

By Sonia Epstein and SHARON LEE

Students may have been surprised to see a group of

unknown students entering their Mandarin classes on Tuesday, December 3. These students were visitors from China who had traveled to the

United States for a four-day Model United Nations (Model UN) competition in Princeton, New Jersey. They decided to visit Stuyvesant two days before their competition began.

Their visit, which lasted from around noon to 3:30 p.m., was meant to demonstrate how an American high school compared to Chinese schools. The group totaled around 50 high school students from three different schools in southwest China. In addition to visiting Stuyvesant, the students visited landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, World Trade Center, Times Square, Fifth Avenue, and other well-known areas in New York.

Upon their arrival at Stuyvesant, the students were given a tour of the building by social studies teacher and Model UN faculty advisor Kerry Trainor

and Parent Coordinator Harvey Blumm. The students visited an assortment of classrooms, including an Advanced Placement (AP) Government class taught by social studies teacher Matthew Polazzo. The tour guides also brought the visiting group into several Mandarin classes. The students were able to exchange questions with students in Mandarin.

“They learned it’s not easy teaching your own language.

They were pretty impressed with [the Stuyvesant students’] Mandarin,” the students’ chaperone and economics teacher at the Confucius International School of Chengdu Mark Dunn said.

The students from China were surprised to note the differences between Stuyvesant and their own school. “[Stuyvesant High School was different because] there were stu-

dents lounging around and sitting on the floor. [There was also] a much more rigorous PE program than what [our students] are used to,” Dunn said.

The students wrote their e-mails on the blackboard of the classes they visited, giving Stuyvesant students their contact information for future use.

Stuyvesant students had the chance to question the visiting students about high schools in China and what their schedules were like. “One of them recited a poem from the days of Mao Zedong in China and another poem by Li Bai, so that was interesting for the kids,” Trainor said.

This is not the first time students from China have visited, “but it was still nice to come back again, in particular to see the new World Trade Center,” Dunn said.

SING! Faces Scheduling Changes continued from page 1

“She never reached out with questions and didn’t respond to our requests to reach out to her. When the SU approached [Principal Jie] Zhang, she said it wasn’t her responsibility.

Anything that’s a major school event is her responsibility. At the least, she could have signed off on scheduling and made sure things were working out.”

Others, however, point out that the new administrators need time to adjust to Stuyvesant. “I think it’s unfair to blame Zhang and Tabone for the issues at hand here.

We need to realize that when there’s a new administration, stuff like this tends to happen.

They’re new at the business and will naturally have some hard time in the beginning,” senior Hassan Mohammed said.

Regardless of who is ultimately responsible for the SING! problems, students are planning their schedules accordingly. “I honestly don’t know whose fault it is, or if it’s just bad luck. I’m taking the SAT on the Saturday of SING! and I know it’s going to be really hard for me to participate, but laying blame without all of the facts is never a good idea,” junior Miranda Rose Chaiken said.

“I am frustrated at the lack of communication between the administration and the SU involving SING! dates.”

—Emily Ruby, junior SING! coordinator

Ugly Sweaters

by the Photo Dept.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 4

Features

Courtesy of Nan Melville

Hallelujah!: The Messiah Comes (to Lincoln Center)

Members of the Stuyvesant chorus sang during the performance of Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday, December 1.

By Benjamin Attal and Ariella Kahan “How many chances do you get to perform at Avery Fisher Hall?” said sophomore Lucy Winokur, when asked why she decided to give up her Thanksgiving weekend to perform the “Messiah...Refreshed.” For most students, the answer to this question is probably zero. However, Winokur, along with the other members of Stuyvesant’s choruses, had the unique opportunity to perform alongside professional singers, soloists, and musicians in the renowned Avery Fisher Hall, a concert hall in Lincoln Center with the capacity to seat up to 2,738 people.

Assistant choral director Liliya Shamazov was the main force behind the event’s organization. Shamazov came up with the idea of getting the Stuyvesant choruses to perform on a professional stage when the Carnegie Fellows, a chorus she is part of, was invited to sing with the Distinguished Concerts International - New York (DCINY). “I sang, and while we were performing and rehearsing they had high school choruses and adults just like we’re doing now,” Shamazov said. “I thought this would be a really cool thing for our children to sing on [the] Lincoln Center stage.” After consulting choral director Holly

Hall, Shamazov decided to contact the DCINY about possible opportunities for the Stuyvesant choruses. The DCINY told her that Stuyvesant would need to audition, so Shamazov sent a CD of last year’s chorus singing Beethoven’s Mass in C during the spring concert. “They loved it, and they said they would love to work with us,” Shamazov said.

After Stuyvesant’s participation in the performance was finalized, there were logistical issues to sort out, such as the need for chaperones and rehearsal schedules. The chaperone issue was quickly remedied.

Numerous faculty members, including Principal Jie Zhang, English teacher Philip Mott, and other music teachers and substitute teachers, volunteered to not only take up this responsibility, but also perform. In order to prepare for the performance, the choruses worked on Handel’s Messiah, which they also performed at the Winter Concert, in class. There have been ten additional afterschool rehearsals, around two hours each, primarily for the students who decided to perform at Lincoln Center.

The music department has been buzzing with excitement this whole year in anticipation of the concert. “It’s been fabulous. Everyone is so excited, everybody is so energized, everyone is loving the work, and it is

really hard work,” Hall said.

Perhaps the reason the choruses are so excited is because of the music they are performing. The Messiah is an oratorio, an opera lacking sets and direct speech, and has been sung widely ever since its composition in 1741. “It’s one of the highlights of Western culture,” Shamazov said.

The Messiah’s usage of biblical texts, stunning crescendos, and intricate melodies contributes to its popularity, but they also make it a difficult piece to perform. “It was really hard, probably one of the most challenging compositions the chorus has ever done,” sophomore Sophia Zheng said.

In addition to being a challenging piece, The Messiah has other functions that extend beyond the concert hall. “I think another mission or another goal is to promote classical music, which is not as popular with your generation,” said Zhang, who is very fond of The Messiah and a fan of classical music.

She believes that performing The Messiah will be effective in reviving an interest in classical music among current Stuyvesant students.

As excited as the faculty responsible for this event were, the students were equally as enthusiastic about the performance.

Many were very eager to perform at Lincoln Center, which is known for hosting many famous ballets, operas, and concerts.

“Performing at Lincoln Center is an honor most people will never be able to have, and this is probably the only time that I’ll be able to perform there in my life,” said senior Youbin Kim. In addition to the current chorus members, some of last year’s seniors joined this year’s chorus at the concert. “We also have alums who really wanted to do it last year when we even said it was [just] a possibility,” Shamazov said. Of the alumni who participated in the event, many had to learn The Messiah by themselves, while others who go to college in the city attended the afterschool rehearsals before the performance.

Though students had the

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chance to perform at Lincoln Center, some students opted out because they weren’t able to commit to the extra rehearsals.

Many believed that the commitment, in addition to sectionals, afterschool rehearsals in which chorus members are divided up based on their vocal ranges, was far too much to bear. “Chorus is supposed to be strictly a co-curricular activity, which means it’s in school, and Ms. Hall is turning it into an extracurricular activity, which some students, including me, don’t think is right,” one participating chorus member said. “But once we actually start performing on the stage, I will think it’s worth it, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and these types of opportunities take practice.”

Students commuted to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center at eight a.m. on Sunday, December 1. Until the performance of The Messiah began, choristers intermittently rehearsed and took breaks. At two p.m., when the production began, Stuyvesant’s chorus members sang alongside professional choruses from around the world (including two choruses from Canada and one from Australia) and were accompanied by a live orchestra and soloists. Stuyvesant’s choruses, dressed in black and white, sat next to men and women from various other choruses on a series of benches behind the orchestra and were conducted by a professional conductor. After the first section of the concert, all the choruses exited the stage and sat on the balcony surrounding the audience for the remainder of the performance.

Though the whole show exhibited amazing harmonies, melodies, and dramatic changes in volume, the most stunning and well-done song was “Hallelujah.” During “Hallelujah,” everyone in the concert hall stood up and listened as the choruses on stage were joined by the choruses on the balcony. This particular performance of “Hallelujah” was especially impressive because the audience heard the beautiful song from all sides of the concert hall.

Throughout “Hallelujah,” everyone in the concert hall looked around to see singers in all directions. Some audience members even violated Lincoln Center rules and took out cameras to capture the moment. In addition to the surround-sound effect that distinguished “Hallelujah” from the rest of the pieces, the fact that this performance of the oratorio was adapted for a full chorus and orchestra made the sound livelier and fuller.

Hall predicted how spectacular “Hallelujah” would be before the actual event, saying, “all the choruses that are in the hall are going to rise up and sing ‘Hallelujah’ with the people on the stage, which I think should be really thrilling.”

When the performance ended, Hall, smiling widely, came onto stage with the chorus directors of other groups and received a huge round of applause from the whole audience, which included Stuyvesant parents, students, alumni, and teachers.

“It was very exciting, and I was so proud of them,” said Hall, clearly happy about how the concert turned out. “I am still very proud.”

The quality and professionalism of the “Messiah...Refreshed” sets it apart from many other past Stuyvesant chorus performances. However, the successful end product was not the only thing that made it so special for some of the performers. “I thought it was not only a great opportunity to perform at Lincoln Center, but to represent Stuyvesant High School there,” Kim said. Hopefully, this performance marks the beginning of Stuyvesant representation in Lincoln Center.

While the music department has not yet planned for another performance outside of school, the success of The Messiah makes the expansion of Stuyvesant’s choruses beyond the school walls likely. “We would like to do some other things in general with the choruses—take them out somewhere and share the world of music so they experience the world of music that’s out there, just beyond our walls,” Shamazov said.

The Spectator â—? December 18, 2013

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The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 6

Features

Courtesy Of Jonathan Sondow

Jonathan Sondow: From Calculus Prize to a Lifelong Passion

By Mcvvina Lin In the morning, he would teach an undergraduate course, attend a faculty meeting, and plan to meet with students during office hours. In the afternoon, he would teach a graduate class, attend a research seminar, and work on writing a paper. In the evening, he would prepare lectures for the next day and work on his computer. Occasionally, he would work on an application for a grant to support his research. Who is he?

With a passion for mathematics, Dr. Jonathan Sondow (’59) has been a professor for just about his entire career, devoting his time to passing on his knowledge to young people and researching in the field of mathematics.

Dr. Sondow was accepted into Stuyvesant High School in 10th grade, after completing middle school as part of an SP (special progress) program, under which he finished seventh,

eighth, and ninth grade in only two years. He proceeded to graduate from high school at the age of 16. Following that, he spent three years at the University of Wisconsin, earning a Bachelor’s with Honors degree in topology. He spent another three years at Princeton University’s graduate school, from which he graduated at the age of 22 with a Ph.D. in differential topology, a field invented by his thesis advisor, John Milnor.

“In a way I regret that. I wish I had slowed down and learned more, because it’s easier to learn things in graduate school than later, when you have other duties and pressures. So in some ways, it became a game to see how fast you can do everything, how young you can be,” Dr. Sondow said. “I wouldn’t recommend it.” On the other hand, rushing through the process of learning mathematics had an upside—it helped Dr. Sondow stay focused on mathematics, rather than getting involved in the army, politics, or the news.

In high school, Dr. Sondow had planned to become a doctor or biologist, and even had dreams of becoming a fiction writer. “I had crazy ideas,” he said. “I also thought of being a doctor, photographer, and even a gambler.” In college, Dr. Sondow had even considered pursuing physics, but chose not to do so when he decided that he did not have physical intuition and outcome prediction. And though he also did have an interest in math in high school, it was only in college that he thought of becoming a mathematician.

Stuyvesant provided a very competitive atmosphere and motivated Dr. Sondow to do better. “It was the most intense competitive experience of my life,” he said. Dr. Sondow recalls that the competition for grades and colleges caused this atmosphere, and that almost all of the boys in the Stuyvesant his time were invested in either science or mathematics.

However, high school life did not always revolve around grades. Dr. Sondow recalls many events involving “mixers,” in which dances were held between Stuyvesant boys and Hunter High School girls. “The atmosphere was fraught,” he said, laughing. Later, he would experience “three normal years at Wisconsin, sandwiched in between three years of only boys at Stuyvesant and three years of men at Princeton,” he said.

One of the main reasons why Dr. Sondow became interested in mathematics was Herman Winter’s calculus course in Stuyvesant. Dr. Sondow recalls that Winter had a sense of humor and was one of Dr. Sondow’s favorite teachers. Dr. Sondow enjoyed the optimization of problems and functions in calculus. He was nominated

by Winter for the Calculus Prize during graduation for Dr. Sondow’s enthusiasm and work.

The Calculus Prize was a reflection of Dr. Sondow’s work on the Zeta function and Euler’s formula, which were the roots of his love for number theory. “I was surprised to hear my name called out on the announcement of the award for seniors that I got the Calculus

Prize,” Dr. Sondow said.

When asked if there were one thing that he would change about his high school career, Dr. Sondow said that he would have joined the math team. As with our current math teams, practices were held at the beginning of each school day. “I might have gotten up early enough to be on the math team. I didn’t do that because I lived in Queens and I had to take a bus and the subway to school every morning,” he said. “It was hard enough being on time for classes, much less an hour earlier for math team practice.”

After graduating from graduate school in 1962, Dr. Sondow spent his years doing research in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship and a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship, before becoming an assistant professor at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. From then on, Dr. Sondow continued to pursue his career as a professor, teaching calculus and upper-level classes. He particularly enjoyed teaching non-required classes because of the students’ motivation and enthusiasm. “I enjoy teaching advanced classes and students who are eager to learn,” he said. He has been a professor for his whole career, with the exception of one job, in which he worked for the Communications Research Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses, which may have had connections to the National Security Agency. The universities at which Dr. Sondow has had posts include the

New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the City College of New York, Rutgers University, Rice University, Yeshiva University, and many others.

Though Dr. Sondow concentrated on topology in college, he has focused on number theory for the past 20 years.

“At Wisconsin, I was already interested in topology,” he said.

“And then at Princeton […] I became interested in differential topology and wrote my thesis in it. But at Stuyvesant, I had been actually interested in number theory.” He reflected on his mathematics career. “So, many years after being into topology, I got back into number theory.”

Today, Dr. Sondow attends math conferences, during which he gives and listens to mathematics talks. He also attends seminars, which are usually held at universities and focus on specialized topics. “I’m very active, more active than I was when I was teaching, because then I just couldn’t seem to find the time,” he said. In addition, Dr. Sondow has written many publications, only one of which is not a paper—he is listed as a coauthor on a book by his mathematics professor at Princeton. Nonetheless, he much prefers writing papers to writing a book. “To me, it indicates what you do after you stop doing research: start collecting other people’s work, organizing it, making a nice book presentation,” he said. “As long as I’m still able to come up with new formulas and new theorems, I prefer doing that.”

By Lon Yin Chan, Wei Hou Wu, with additional reporting by Sanam Bhatia A few years ago, freshman Kofi Lee-Berman celebrated the holiday season in style: not only did he light the menorah for Hanukkah, but he also received some “lai si,” or red envelopes. WIth curly Jewish hair, tan skin, and a sharp Asian complexion, Lee-Berman belongs to the multiethnic population at Stuyvesant and stands out from the more prevalent ethnicities present.

These mixed characteristics, however, bring both perks and troubles.

Lee-Berman’s father is of Central-Eastern European Jewish descent, and his mother’s family is from Guangdong, China. Despite Lee-Berman’s rich heritage, he felt that he was a “very culture-less person,” he said. “I only very weakly identify with either side. Most of the time, I just consider myself third-culture, somebody almost completely free of affiliations.” He added, however, that his tendency to identify with one side often depends on the environment. “Sometimes I feel like the Asianest kid and sometimes the whitest kid.” He celebrates various national holidays like most other Americans and remains religiously indifferent, since both his grandparents are atheists.

“Some years we’ll light the me-

norah and some years we’ll celebrate Chinese New Year, but we’re pretty bad at correctly doing both,” said Lee-Berman, laughing. “We’re essentially still an American family, so we celebrate Christmas.”

Interactions with peers can also result in moments of awkwardness for multiethnic students. “What really frustrates me is when people start assuming things based on the color of [my] skin, only to be confused by my last name,” said junior Sarah Prutchenko, who is Egyptian and Ukranian and has relatively dark tan skin and curly black hair, but lives with a Chinese stepfather. In fact, Prutchenko was unaware of her Egyptian heritage until second grade. “I didn’t know my ethnicity, I just thought I was some white kid who stayed really tan all the time,” she said.

Growing up with different ethnicities has caused her some struggle, but she now considers herself “white.” “[T]echnically Egypt is in the Middle East and Ukraine is an Eastern European country, and since the Middle East is considered white, I’m ‘white’—[but] not the kind of white [people] expect,” Prutchenko said. Her first language was Russian, but her mother told her, “This is America, speak English” when she came home from school one day, which was exactly what Prutchenko did. Unfortunately, since she stopped speaking Russian, it’s been harder to communicate

with her grandmother. When her Chinese stepfather stepped into the picture, Prutchenko started taking Mandarin in middle school, which she continues even at Stuyvesant, in order to communicate with her step-grandmother.

Senior Savannah Jeffreys expresses a similar point of view. “I… struggle with how I’m supposed to define myself because….most people assume I’m white...because of my olive skin,” she said. “When people... don’t believe me when I tell them that I’m black or hispanic, I feel like I have to defend myself in some way.” Jeffreys is Caucasian, African American, Puerto Rican, and Cherokee Indian, though she identifies herself mostly as “white and black.” As a result of the constant frustration she gets from the disbelief of her peers, she strives to raise awareness of the fact that race isn’t always distinct. She is the co-president of the Black Student League, a club designed to spread awareness for African American students.

As for Lee-Berman, he “doesn’t see it [racism] as ignorance,” though he does agree with the lack of racial awareness. “Another strange part of growing up mixed is the...ability to always be the minority,” he said. “It shows the tendency of people to reject, rather than accept, whenever possible.”

One thing that multiethnic students can all agree on is the

Alice Oh / The Spectator

Multi-Ethnicity: The Spice of Stuyvesant

(From left to right) Senior Savannah Jeffreys, freshman Kofi Lee-Bernam, and junior Sarah Prutchenko offer glimpses into their experiences as multiethnic students in and out of Stuyvesant.

fact that it has been easier to deal with being multiracial in an environment like New York, where there is less discrimination than in some other places.

Nonetheless, these students strive to define themselves, even in subtle ways. “My hair is naturally really curly. My dad has dreadlocks, my mom has curly hair. But I usually straighten it,” Jeffreys said.

On the other hand, junior Shahruz Ghaemi, who has a Iranian father (or, as Ghaemi puts it, “Persian”) and a Chinese mother, feels as though being biracial has not really affected his personality so much as opened him up to the world.

“I take great pride in my cultural heritage,” he said. “But I think my personality has been more influenced by the types of

people my parents are, rather than their ethnicities.” Ghaemi enjoys traveling to California every year to visit his Persian extended family, as well as to China every three years to see his mom’s side of the family, though he admits to not knowing much Chinese or Farsi.

Just as New York City is the melting pot of the world, Stuyvesant High School is where these multiethnic students, as well as students of all ethnicities, come together. Although they may be confused as to where they belong, the school offers them choices. “As a mixed-race individual, I love the atmosphere at Stuy and the diversity,” Ghaemi said. “In fact, I think that a homogenous ethnic group is one of my nightmares for a social situation.”

The Spectator â—? December 18, 2013

Bookworms

By the Photo Department

Page 7

Page 8

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Features If Teachers Could Make the Test

By The Features Department If you were to grade the Advanced Placement (AP) exam out of five—with one being the worst and five the best—what would you give it? Here is our rubric: it should accurately measure a student’s performance on a national level; it should reflect a challenging college test; it should push students towards curiosity and thinking; and so on. We leave this question to a multitude of AP teachers in Stuyvesant, whose answers are below:

All AP Language and Composition courses are supposed to focus on certain kinds of writing, specifically argumentative, expository, and analytical. Since the writing portion of the AP exam always, from what I have seen, tests students’ skills in these genres of writing, I believe it is a fair exam. Some may think that writing three essays in two hours is a bit too much to ask for, but I believe the rigor of the course prepares students well for this kind of pressure. I also believe that the reading passages that are given each year are fair. If you look at the multiple choice questions of the past, they ask about general terms that are supposed to be covered in AP courses. So, to reiterate, the AP Exam is consistent with the course objectives stated on the College Board website, so there is no need to change it in any way. If they change their objectives and the kinds of writing they expect students to master, I am quite sure they will adjust the exam accordingly.

—Emilio Nieves, AP English Language and Composition: American Literary History

Yes, I like the AP test. The College Board changed the AP test before, like three years ago. And before that, it was a little different. Now, they are incorporating more culture, and art as well, to the readings and the works that we are analyzing and talking about… Right now, I think the change from the College Board was very good because they incorporate other things, not just the work itself, the poetry. They incorporate art and more culture to the test... The test is actually very intense because we have listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing. Now, they have to write four different pieces. Two of them are short, the other ones are essays where they have to compare different works, and they have to analyze poetry.

—Anna Montserrat, AP Spanish Literature

I’m not really satisfied. The test is a lot easier now and we’ve handled harder tests in the past... It’s not good because this is supposed to be a college course and colleges teach more than this. Students need the information...

I would like to see more qualitative analysis questions on the AP. Sample Questions: More questions on the topic of buffers.

—Sushma Arora, AP Chemistry As far as the US is concerned, [AP Government] is not terrible. It’s pretty good at orienting you towards facts. If you can pass the AP and get a four or five, you definitely know a lot about US Government. What I find really frustrating about the exam is that they never ask you your opinion, your thoughts and feelings on it. I guess I can see why they do that. They can’t really grade you on that, I just feel that from my course, one of the most important things for me is that students really think a lot about the issues that are debated today and really take opinions, and that’s something that’s lacking in the exam...

In my US Gov class I’m constantly giving my students homework where I ask how they think or feel about the American Government… Those are things that are totally the thing that’s missing in the AP, the sense of questioning institutions. For US Gov, I’m torn because I would like there to be more evaluation of an opinionated essay, but I can see how they would avoid that.

As far as [Comparative Government goes], it’s similar, except it deals with all these countries and that’s also worth thinking about. The countries that I teach are dictated by the Comp Gov exam, and those countries are Britain, Russia, China, Iran, Mexico, and Nigeria. Those are interesting countries and I like studying their governments, but if the AP didn’t exist and I had to change this course on my own, I would vary the material. On the other hand, because those countries are covered on the AP, it’s easier to find material related to their government. It’s a mixed blessing. With Comp Gov, it isn’t really a question, it’ll just be changing the countries that they study.

Sample Questions: 1. Should the Senate be abolished?

2. The electoral college is totally undemocratic and should be reformed; do you agree or disagree?

3. Does the Supreme Court hold too much power?

Yujie Fu / The Spectator

—Matthew Polazzo, AP Government and AP Comparative Government

I’d like to see the multiple-choice section eliminated altogether [on the AP European History exam]. Instead, I’d like to see a separate document analysis section requiring analysis of both primary sources and secondary sources, with an emphasis on historiography. I’d also like to see historiography encouraged—even required—in the free response essays. The College Board describes its history courses as college-level, but compared to the International Baccalaureate, it falls short.

—David Hanna, AP European History

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 9

Features If Teachers Could Make the Test

The College Board has set certain standards that students must reach upon completion of the course. These are based on Four Historical Thinking Skills: crafting historical arguments from historical evidence, chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, and historical interpretation and synthesis. There are also five “themes” for the course listed under the Curriculum Framework of the course description provided on the College Board’s website. Currently, the AP World exam consists of 70 multiple choice questions and three essays (Change and Continuity, Comparative, and a DocumentBased Question). This is supposed to be a class for students who are interested in the study of history—historians generally do not take multiple choice exams to demonstrate what they are arguing. My ideal AP World exam would consist only of essay questions related both to content and the historiography of topics that we study (meaning what historians have written about a topic).

Sample Questions: For AP World, the exam would take place throughout the school year, in that students would write short essays periodically (5-6 per semester), culminating in a final essay on a topic of the student’s choosing, but based on both primary and secondary materials relating to the topic. The College Board would hire historians based on the content areas of the questions to grade the exams throughout the year, instead of the current model. In my humble opinion, this approach would lead to both a deeper learning experience, a stronger understanding of what historians do, and less anxiety about one single test where the questions are completely unknown.

1. Were the causes of World War I primarily structural in nature, or were individual decision-makers to blame?

2. How did the role of women change during the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment in Europe?

3. Was the decline of the Ottoman Empire primarily the result of internal or external forces?

In answering each of these questions, the students would have to cite both primary sources and the historiography of the topic. They would have to have a clear original thesis and support it with evidence from all sources.

—Kerry Trainor, AP World History

Next year they are changing the exams substantially: they will be reducing the multiple-choice, [adding] more document-analysis questions.

What I like: Unlike the Regents, the AP does not release the multiple-choice questions for each exam, so even if the AP Exam recycles the questions, it will be accurate in assessing the students’ knowledge. Students are forced to actually interpret documents. Also, identities of students aren’t released, so it’s better—no bias. The exam is hard, so it motivates the students to study for it. My concern is that [the exam] covers events from 1492 to 2013, so it’s like going on a train that never stops. There is too much material to cover and no in-depth analysis allowed during classes, and not as much expression.

Sample Question: Essay questions that offer two sides and requires much analysis. For example: Was Hamilton or Jefferson a better advisor?

—Victor Greez, AP American Studies

I have no objections to [the tests for AP Calculus]. I think that they’re pretty fair and pretty reasonable. They test problem-solving and they test knowledge of calculus, so for the most part, calc teachers that I’ve spoken to—it’s not just my own opinion—feel that it’s a reasonable test. You do have to prepare a little bit for the test in light of the fact that some of the questions are sort of AP questions. But aside from that, it’s a pretty reasonable test. It’s possible they could do more with limits and evaluating limits, but I’m pretty satisfied in general; they do teach the prep and definitely what they’re supposed to test you on, calculus.

—Gary Jaye, AP Calculus AB

I’m not really satisfied. The test is a lot easier now and we’ve handled harder tests in the past... It’s not good because this is supposed to be a college course and colleges teach more than this. Students need the information... I would like to see more qualitative analysis questions on the AP. Sample Questions: More questions on the topic of buffers.

—Sushma Arora, AP Chemistry

Yes, I am satisfied with the AP test administered with my subject… I think of the AP Chemistry test as a way for students to challenge themselves. It is as rigorous as it is rewarding... I like questions that test multiple concepts. I like questions that require quantitative analysis. And I like questions that I get wrong on the first try. For example, I recently came across a question asking for the pH of a dilute, 6.6 x 10^-8 M hydrochloric acid solution at 25 degrees Celsius. Whenever I get a question wrong, I learn from it, and I feel like it makes me a better teacher.

—Steven O’Malley, AP Chemistry

As for AP Government, I would shorten the multiple-choice section and replace those questions with problems/ situations/simulations that the students would solve. Again, instead of the current model, the College Board would hire political scientists with political experience to grade the exams. Examples of this type of assessment could include: 1. You are the President of the United States. A terrorist attack has just occurred on a major American city. How do you respond? In your answer, you must explain the various Executive Branch agencies and their role in your response.

2. You are the Chief of Staff to a freshman Member of the House of Representatives.

Your boss must soon take a vote to send U.S. troops to a foreign country to fight.

Your constituents are overwhelmingly against sending troops, but not sending troops could endanger the nation and hurt your standing in your party. What do you advise your boss to do? In your answer, you must have a detailed strategy to deal with the vote including the press office, the scheduling office, and the legislative office.

3. You are the leader of a group whose mission is to overturn the famous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. How would you complete your mission through the courts?

In your answer you must have a clearly defined strategy utilizing the media as well as the federal court system.

—Kerry Trainor, AP Government & Politics

Page 10

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Editorials Staff Editorial

The Spectator

Respect No one can deny that Stuyvesant is a school of nerds.

We don’t cause trouble or raise hell in our free time. Instead, we study, and at worst, we occasionally play handball in the hallways. Nevertheless, administrators enforce rules curtly, aggressively, and often patronizingly, creating an unnecessary “us versus them” dynamic and a tense relationship between students and the administration. The administration needs to change its tone to reflect the lack of severity of most rule infractions and must respect students for their mostly upstanding behavior.

Many Stuyvesant regulations are minor and usually insignificant. No hoods in school, no cell phones, no moving chairs in the library. Yes, these might be important in the context of DOE regulations, but in the grand scheme of things, they are certainly not causes of great concern. Many rules don’t even accomplish their basic goals, as eight Spectator editors and writers demonstrated when they swapped ID cards and were admitted into the building nonetheless. A fivefoot Asian female can scan in as a five-foot Caucasian male and not be stopped, but if she wears a hood, she’ll be yelled at.

Something is wrong. Rules are in place, but they are catching the wrong people.

Justified or not, the rules themselves are not our primary concern. The hostile, pe-

remptory tone that is often the default when enforcing these rules, however, must be addressed. When a student enters

The administration needs to change its tone to reflect the lack of severity of most rule infractions and must respect students for their mostly upstanding behavior. the building wearing a hood on a rainy day, there is no need to shout. Barking commands at students is unnecessary, not to mention disproportionate to the seriousness of the infraction. When a student is standing next to an open locker on the seventh floor, why is the usual reaction a “Show me your

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ID!” with the assumption that the student is cutting class?

Why turn every interaction into a confrontation? Because if the worst thing we do is try to sneak into the library when it’s already filled with people doing work, it isn’t the end of the world.

It must be noted, of course, that not all faculty members, administrators, or school safety officers are at fault for poor student-administrator relations.

While treating students with respect and compassion should be expected rather than exceptional, we applaud those teachers who do it on a daily basis.

In particular, Principal Zhang deserves to be commended for adopting an incredibly friendly personal demeanor towards students since her first day on the job. She leaves her door open to students and greets them with a smile and, often, candy.

Likewise, we recognize the responsibility of the Stuyvesant student body to continue to behave appropriately, and to treat the adults in our building with respect. Together, we can work towards creating a school environment that is a little less cringe-worthy—one that feels more like a school.

But it has to start with the administration. Take us for the relatively tame kids that we are, and take your responsibilities as our educators and/or protectors for what they are. We don’t want to fight. Please: just don’t be so rude to us.

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The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 11

Opinions Happy Holidays, Ms. Damesek

By David Cahn, Risham Dhillon, Jack Cahn, and Sweyn Venderbush This holiday season, we would like to offer a “thank you” to Ms. Randi Damesek.

As the Former Assistant Principal of Organization, she was competent, efficient, and wellrespected. However, she was asked not to return to the school on Monday, September 2, upon being investigated by the Department of Education (DOE).

Three months later, she has yet to be charged. Let’s take a moment to celebrate Damesek’s accomplishments, especially because the DOE has thus far expelled her from the place to which she has dedicated her professional life.

Damesek, who comes from a long line of old-school New York City administrators, was named New York’s Best Assistant Principal in 2010. At that time, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) Communications Director Chiara Colleti told The Spectator, “She’s extremely efficient, extremely dedicated, and takes almost no credit for herself.

And she’s like an old-fashioned principal […] Her father used to be a principal […] of an old school, where everything had to be done exactly right and schools ran very smoothly, in a way many schools are not run nowadays. And she does it just like her father probably did.”

Indeed, Damesek is one of our role models—a paragon of integrity, hard work, and pride.

She was often the first one in the school building and the last one out. Responsible for “Organization” at Stuyvesant, Damesek planned exams, managed student events, and squeezed every last dollar out of the school’s ever-shrinking budget despite citywide cuts. She carried out her responsibilities with ease,

earning her the admiration of her coworkers and the respect of the student body.

Damesek was not universally loved. She frequently took firm stances on unpopular issues. Many students resented her harsh enforcement of the dress code and the sternness with which she confiscated cell phones. We certainly did not agree with every one of Damesek’s decisions; in fact, we were sometimes her most vocal critics. But even then, Damesek was a worthy adversary. She earned our admiration as an honest arbiter of justice, a passionate administrator, and a woman with an unfaltering sense of integrity.

For the DOE, however, political games took priority over service. In the aftermath of Stuyvesant’s 2012 cheating scandal, former Principal Stanley Teitel resigned. Over the course of the next year, Damesek continued to run exams, including SATs, PSATs, Regents, APs, and finals, which she conducted effectively and without incident. On Friday, August 30, a Freedom of Information Act request forced the DOE to release a 56-page report on the cheating scandal to the public, which criticized the Teitel administration’s handling of the situation. The report revealed nothing that the DOE had not known for an entire academic year. But after its release, the DOE responded to this negative publicity by holding Damesek guilty by association, despite evidence that she had advised Teitel to act according to the letter of NYC regulations.

In seeking Damesek’s termination, the DOE has made its priorities clear. Political maneuvers and public relations take priority over effective leadership and quality education.

In a school system that bemoans falling test scores, failing

schools, and a dearth of talent, the DOE should be courting, not attacking, the public servants who dedicate their lives to our students. We are disappointed.

Stuyvesant students took to the streets in protest of Damesek’s removal from the school on Monday, September 9, the first day of classes, despite threats of suspension by school administrators. During the protest, DOE representatives tried to intimidate students out of participating.

One man, who asked a protest leader if he would like to “take a walk” and was seen approaching crowds of students and asking them why “they would risk their future for this.”

“You’ve worked so hard to get into college,” he told them.

“Don’t ruin it for this.”

He poses an interesting question. Why do we, students who protested, care?

We still care because we are dismayed by a system that would ruin a woman’s life because it is politically convenient. We are shocked by how easy it is for someone of integrity to fall from power to ruin, condemned by the city she has served for her whole career. We were naïve. Perhaps we still are.

We believe that good people ought to be treated with dignity and respect. New York needs more Dameseks, not fewer.

Today, three months later, Damesek’s legacy remains strong. She has taught us what it means to dedicate oneself to education, and she serves as a glowing example of service and competence.

Happy Holidays, Ms. Damesek.

This article is a print adaptation of “Thank You Ms. Damesek,” which was released online on November 28.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Re: Happy Holidays, Ms. Damesek

By Chester Dubov As a member of the Stuyvesant High School Class of 2011 (and former News and Humor Editor of the Spectator), I am writing in response to the opinion piece titled “Thank You Ms. Damesek,” released online on November 28.

While I cannot speak to Damesek’s efficiency or competence in administering standardized tests, I believe that Damesek often had a corrosive impact on Stuyvesant’s culture and educational mission. Her approach to discipline (at a school where disruptive violence is almost unheard of, and students are by-and-large self-motivated to learn) set up a combative, adversarial relationship between students and administrators that precluded any kind of productive interaction between the two groups and fostered the “us against them” attitude among students that lies at the core of Stuyvesant’s ongoing battle with academic dishonesty. When dealing with students, Damesek’s authoritarian style sent a clear message: “Students are not trusted or valued.” If a student did not conform to Damesek’s strict standards of behavior (which, in my experience, tended to mean obsequious obedience in all things, from the content of SING! scripts to the length of girls’ skirts) they were treated as disruptive and unwanted members of the school community. This atmosphere of suspicion and distrust undermined Stuyvesant’s most basic mission: to provide an

environment where some of the city’s most dynamic and intelligent students can flourish academically in ways that might not be possible at less “specialized” schools. When administrators work tirelessly to keep students down, it is difficult for them to grow.

I am not writing this to assail Damesek’s character or to comment on the criteria that the DOE used to remove her from her post. It may well be that Damesek was transferred to a rubber room for purely political reasons. Instead, I am writing this to point out that, in my opinion, a Stuyvesant High School administrator’s job goes far beyond efficiently carrying out organizational duties, or even operating based on an internally consistent set of ethical standards. Administrators play a fundamental role in defining the school’s culture. When administrators are respectful of the students they oversee, the productive possibilities are endless, and the school becomes a healthier place for students to learn. These more intangible, cultural aspects of school administration need to be taken into account when assessing Damesek’s legacy and her impact on Stuyvesant. To just say that she was efficient is to miss the larger point.

Sincerely, Chester Dubov ‘11 Princeton, New Jersey

By Danielle Eisenman The other day in biology, when we got back our quizzes and I received my second consecutive perfect score, one of my classmates was impressed.

“You’re almost, like, Asian!” he joked. I told him I am Asian (well, half ), and his face immediately faded into a bored, “well, duh,” kind of expression.

This expression completely invalidated my hours and hours of hand-writing chapter outlines, reading and re-reading those outlines, and taking self-tests numerous times online. My good grade became, for him, a direct result of my genetics—nothing more and nothing less. I went from being an intelligent white person (a gem, a rarity, a freak of nature!) to being an ordinary Chinese girl. According to him, I was just another part of the not-so-glamorous surplus of Stuyvesant.

While the days of explicit segregation are over in the US, indirect racism is still prevalent. At Stuyvesant, I’ve heard many things that aren’t necessarily racist, but are nevertheless offensive and insensi-

tive regarding race. The racial breakdown of the student body plays a sizeable role in propagating racial stigmas—in 2010-2011, one percent of the Stuyvesant population was African American, three percent was Hispanic, 72 percent was Asian, and 24 percent was Caucasian. As a part of the two most prevalent racial groups, the prejudiced comments I’ve received are considerably minor and infrequent. Hispanics and African Americans, however, who make up a mere four percent, do experience a perturbing amount of offhand remarks from their peers, especially concerning the SHSAT and college acceptance.

The strikingly low percentage of minority students scoring high enough on the SHSAT to go to Stuyvesant is an issue that has long sparked debate.

Now, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s plan is to base acceptance to specialized high schools on other criteria, such as middleschool grades. Most Stuyvesant students disagree with de Blasio’s plan, but it is not their opinions that bother me, it’s the offhand remarks Stuyvesant students tend to make.

We sometimes make uneducated assumptions about Hispanic and African American students and end up unfairly criticizing them and their histories.

In a recent conversation in the Stuyvesant Class of 2017 group on Facebook, students expressed their rather troubling views on the matter. While Facebook may not sound like a completely reliable source, it is, in my opinion, a great way to get people’s honest and uncensored ideas.

The post had hundreds of comments from a variety of participants across all grades.

One such student said, “[Hispanic and African American students] are already getting a [large amount] of prep since grade school (for free), yet they still can’t pass the entrance exam.” This is an uneducated assumption, because I know for a fact that there are minorities who have not had preparation since grade school, and certainly not very much of it. The student is essentially calling these students stupid.

Another commenter said, “Maybe the so called “mi-

norities” (Latinos and blacks) should stop wasting money on games, and several smartphones and use that money to help their children’s future.”

Regardless of whether or not this is an accurate statement, it is said with a cavalier and condescending attitude.

Another student said the “NAACP is a joke.” The NAACP is an important part of black history, and calling it a “joke” is extremely degrading and invalidates a long and difficult fight for racial equality that still hasn’t been won. We need to start realizing that.

This racism, which manifests itself on Stuyvesant;s Facebook pages, also echoes through Stuyvesant’s halls during the college season. One of the biggest problems with affirmative action, I believe, is the backlash that minority students who are accepted into college tend to get from the students of majority races.

Practically everyone who is accepted into an elite college has worked extremely hard to do so, and being told “you only got into [insert college here] because you are Hispanic or African American” must feel

Jessica Wu / The Spectator

Think Before You Speak

terrible. It strips these students of their academic efforts and misidentifies them as “just another privileged minority.”

Stuyvesant students need to think before they speak.

Everyone has experienced the negative effects of racial stereotypes to some degree.

The prospect of getting rid of them isn’t aided by people who say things that reinforce racial stereotypes. Be respectful. Stuyvesant should be a comfortable and an accepting community for everyone who is a part of it.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 12

Opinions 5 Pointz Graffiti Let’s Demolish Some Graffiti!

Jjustin Kong/ The Spectator

Nicole Rosengurt/ The Spectator

A Culture Whitewashed: The 5 Pointz Travesty

By Nino Dickersin and Munawar S. Rahman

vibrancy and spontaneity, it is a splendid example of the quintessentially American mixing pot of creativity. When the building was whitewashed, the nooks and crannies that define who we are as New Yorkers were bleached, leaving nothing behind.

The choice to weigh the value of a shortterm monetary gain over the cultural identity of the city is completely selfish. While it may be Wolkoff’s property, there was never any justification for the destruction of the beautiful artwork featured on the warehouse’s walls. To corporate tycoons like Wolkoff, a building isn’t truly a landmark unless it can churn out millions, but 5 Pointz churned out much more important things than money. The artwork that coated 5 Pointz was priceless and should never have been destroyed.

Artists across the world visited and interacted with the vibrant colors and intricate designs that covered the walls of the warehouse. The obvious economic benefits from increased tourism definitely outweigh any economic benefits caused by building condos. The area around 5 Pointz contains enough high-rises already, most of which are still unowned. It is a basic rule of economics that, when there is little demand for something, increasing the supply can only have negative outcomes. Creating 240 new housing units will only lower the value of said units and is completely unnecessary.

In addition to this, current condos were only valued anyway because they were positioned near 5 Pointz. The destruction of the landmark can only hurt the value of these properties and others in the area, causing more economic damage. Wolkoff’s decision to transform 5 Pointz into a high rise is only going to have negative repercussions for both him and the area. It was a poor business decision overall.

Wolkoff has singlehandedly robbed New Yorkers of a milestone of artistic achievement, as two decades of collective, creative labor have given way to a nondescript apartment complex. But the 5 Pointz tragedy has, thankfully, turned public attention to the problem of the preservation of street art. Now, officials and estate tycoons will have to reconsider decisions as heavy-handed as Wolkoff’s, and similar incidences will hopefully decrease in frequency. Long live 5 Pointz.

As white paint splashed over the meticulously painted technicolor designs on a warehouse wall in Queens, a city of artists cried. The destruction of the graffiti art on the 5 Pointz warehouse in Queens is an attack on the very culture of NYC. Since 1993, 5 Pointz (named because it signifies the unification of the culture of the five boroughs) has been a canvas for graffiti art, thanks to the permission of its many owners. The warehouse’s walls have proven to be one of the most successful outlets for the street artists of NYC. The intricate and colorful graffiti art sprayed across “The Institute of Higher Burnin” was a man-made landmark that helped define our city and its people. But everything changed when Jerry Wolkoff, the owner of the warehouse, attacked. He decided that he was going to demolish the building and replace it with condos. The entire building was whitewashed in a single night. In a flash, 20 years of NYC history were annihilated. Even though it was technically legal for Wolkoff to commit this destruction, it was completely immoral for him to destroy such a unique phenomenon.

Graffiti art has been a central part of

NYC culture since the 1970s. It has been a fundamental medium of expression for New Yorkers, allowing them to streak their sufferings across a wall with the shake and spray of a can. The issue with conventional graffiti is that it is illegal. 5 Pointz served as a legal outlet for an anarchical form of expression and helped transform graffiti into a legitimate art form. It was a successful solution to a situation that was plaguing our city. Despite the raw beauty of the art that covered 5 Pointz, the greatest loss we endured was the destruction of not the works themselves, but rather the vast history of New York culture that they embodied. One only need recall the Stuyvesant-BMCC mural displayed right outside our school. Just as that mural signifies the unity between the two educational institutions that share the block, 5 Pointz represents the unity of the five boroughs sharing our city. With its

Judy Lee/ The Spectator

The greatest loss we endured was not the destruction of the works themselves, but the vast history of New York culture that they embodied.

By Brian Dong You know there’s a problem when you get 8000 phone calls from angry New Yorkers who complain about the same thing every year. After all, who wouldn’t be irritated by graffiti?

A massive infection of graffiti has plagued our esteemed city for far too long.

The mid-to-late 1900s provided the ideal conditions for its proliferation. Broken window theory, developed by now-deceased social scientist James Q. Wilson in 1982, states that if minor, petty crimes such as graffiti are not properly dealt with, crime rates will increase. Due to a lack of enforcement before the 1980s, graffiti gained popularity and subsequently became a larger problem. When people realize that they won’t be punished, they gradually become bolder and start committing more serious crimes, hence the name “broken window.”

In 1972, Mayor John Lindsay initiated the infamous war on graffiti. Since then, the city has made successful, aggressive attempts to stifle graffiti’s expansion. Tough anti-graffiti laws, which labeling it vandalism, and more potent security measures have substantially decreased graffiti in the city. By 1989, the MTA had removed from service the last graffiti-covered trains. Former Mayor Rudolph Guliani initiated the Anti-Graffiti Task Force in 1995, which led to greater suppression of quality-of-life crimes and one of the nation’s largest anti-graffiti campaigns.

Crime rates have simultaneously fallen within the past 20 years, which affirms the broken window theory. Greater enforcement led to lower crime rates. But graffiti is still a problem. Due to a dwindling budget and a lack of resources, the city cannot afford to maintain meticulous patrol, and the graffiti problem has resurged in recent years.

In 2007, the amount of graffiti complaints nearly doubled from 4,886 in 2006 to 8,866 in 2007, as stated by the NYPD. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, graffiti constitutes 35 percent of all city complaints on property vandalism.

However, the city will soon put its trump card to the test. The city’s graffiti artists’ arguably most sacred relic, the world-renowned 5 Pointz Warehouse in Long Island City, is about to crash down in flames. It is scheduled to be demolished in late 2013, and efforts to erase this attraction have al-

ready begun. Much of the iconic warehouse was whitewashed on November 19. This whitewashing was not a mere paint-over; it was a vicious assault on the heart of the city’s graffiti culture. The body cannot survive without its heart, and this problem will be brought to its knees.

5 Pointz’s eventual destruction is beneficial for the city. 5 Pointz is widely considered to be a safe haven for graffiti artists. Graffiti-lovers from all over the world congregate to marvel at the building, and its demolition will clearly be a huge loss for its fans. Try as people might, such an iconic and defining symbol can never truly be replaced, and that will substantially undermine the graffiti spirit. Despite the fact that 5 Pointz is legally sanctioned, its removal will send a clear message to all that graffiti is unwelcome. A flame without oxygen cannot burn. If graffiti artists continuously have their outlets taken away from them, then they will gradually tire out and stop.

In place of the old 5 Pointz site will be two luxury towers with 210 affordable housing units. The city struggles to meet the huge demand for affordable housing, and the space provided by a demolished 5 Pointz will help alleviate the situation, in addition to striking irreparable damage to the graffiti community. Furthermore, the developers are lenient enough to reserve 10,000 square feet exclusively for graffiti. 5 Pointz’s scheduled destruction is for a good cause, and it caters to the needs of not only the city, but the graffiti artists as well.

5 Pointz’s destruction is perfectly legal and has government support. It is privately owned by Jerry Wolkoff, and people have a right to do whatever they want with their own property. On August 21 and October 9, 2013, both the New York City Planning Commission and the New York City Council, respectively, unanimously approved of 5 Pointz’s replacement with two luxury condos.

Another common criticism is that, as a hot tourist attraction, 5 Pointz is a great source of revenue, and demolishing it would further jeopardize the city’s faltering economy. It cannot be ignored however, that graffiti causes considerable economic harm. It mars the aesthetic value of neighborhoods, which harms businesses and decreases property value. If given a choice, people prefer conducting their business and living in a more visually appealing area.

In 2006, Los Angeles County spent $28 million in graffiti removal with a per capita cost of $2.80. The luxury condominiums replacing 5 Pointz will contribute quite a bit to the community. According to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the construction of a mere 100-unit condo would generate around 300 jobs and two to three million in income in just its first year of construction. These towers are over 47 and 41 stories tall, respectively. If a plain old 100unit condo can make that much, think of how much money these two luxury buildings will make.

5 Pointz’s approaching demise is necessary and beneficial. Graffiti has remained one of the city’s most commonly complained issues for nearly half a century. The best solution is to strike at its heart, and the downfall of the graffiti emperor is one step closer to a cleaner, fresher, and nicer NYC.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 13

Opinions

By DANIEL KODSI In the latest round of the Program for International Student Assessment, Americans dropped another few ranks— we’re now 20th in reading, 23rd in science, and 30th in math. A mere nine percent of fifteenyear-olds are in the top tiers of mathematics proficiency, lower by far than the average of the rest of the industrialized world. Testing mania spreads like a plague; new standards have been introduced; teacher evaluations are being implemented. None of it seems to matter; we’re just falling further and further behind. The problem is that any effective measure must take place at the core of the system—if America truly wants to begin to climb back up the ranks, we need drastic change. This comes in two forms: the pushing back of the school day, and a shortening of our summer vacation.

Let me start first with that first necessity: starting school later. It’s not uncommon, especially here at Stuyvesant, to be surrounded with a sea of tired faces, the faces of students who go to sleep at midnight just to wake up sometime between five and six in the morning. To quote Arne Duncan, the US Education Secretary, it’s a system “that work for adults and not for kids.” He went on to call it common sense that later start times would yield greater student achievement, but there’s more than just logic

behind it: there’s science. According to Dr. Judith Owens, director of the Sleep Medicine Clinic at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., “we are asking [teens] to be awake and alert at the time in their 24-hour clock when

[A] ninety-page report by the RAND Corporation in 2011 found that “students perform, on average, one month behind where they left off in the spring.” their alertness level is at its very lowest.” Her reasoning lies in the fact that, beginning in puberty, our circadian rhythms (or biological clock) begin to shift, making it challenging to fall asleep before 11 p.m., and wake up earlier than 8 p.m..

The toll, Dr. Owens postulates, is grievous: depression, car accidents, and lower grades.

There is even empirical evidence to back up those claims, some of which has even been out there for more than a decade. For instance, Kyla Wahlstrom of the University of Minnesota, found that when the seven comprehensive high schools of the Minneapolis Public School District shifted their start times back to 8:40 a.m., there was “improved attendance and enrollment rates, less sleeping in class, and less student-reported depression.” In addition, according to NPR on December 2nd, when Fayette County in Kentucky pushed back start times to 8:30 a.m., teenage car crashes dropped by 17 percent—especially noteworthy in the face of an eight percent increase in the same demographic statewide. And according to the United Press International on September 5th, out of the 27 school districts that have shifted their school day back, there has been “increased student attendance, decreased student lateness and better grades.”

So, we’ve got the nation’s students to be more attentive, learn more in school, and be safer on the roads. Regardless, it isn’t enough. In the end, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2013, American students only spend 180 days a year in school, as compared to 220 in Korea, 200 in Japan, and 193 in Germany.

Here’s the difference: our infamous three month summer

vacation. From June to September, students are allowed to soak up the sunlight, as the formulas and facts we worked so hard to learn dissipate from our brains. Of course, some, especially the affluent, spend their summers at rigorous summer programs, but that just accentuates another problem: the divide between lower-income students, usually racial minorities, and the top performing. This annual “summer slide” is another key flaw in America’s educational structure.

To understand just how absurd that summer vacation is, we need to first understand its origins. As The Atlantic explains, it was a response to a few drastically outdated problems: inadequate farming schedules, an irrational fear of summer diseases, and a lack of air-conditioning. While that last one might still be a problem (is there a reason Stuyvesant’s air-conditioning is on in the winter, but off in the summer?), the other two are terribly anachronistic. The effects of keeping the policy, though, are far less silly. First, according to Caroline Hoxby, a chaired professor of economics at Stanford, in an analysis of New York City charter schools, there was a marked difference between schools that stayed open just an extra ten days every year and their normal counterparts.

Moreover, a 90-page report by the RAND Corporation in 2011 found that “students perform,

Stephanie Chan / The Spectator

Big Changes, Big Results

on average, one month behind where they left off in the spring.” Finally, as Malcolm Gladwell explained in his bestselling book, “Outliers,” one of the single most important differences between underprivileged black students and their affluent white peers is that the former remain idle during the summer break, while the latter do not. So, while minorities and whites might end the school year on the same note, by the time September rolls back around, there is a significant disparity.

American exceptionalism is on the decline. For a country with one of the highest standards of living, the most Nobel laureates, and the world’s greatest output, it’s unacceptable to have an education system that ranks so low. In order to compete in the long-term, we need sweeping change, and we need to make it right now.

Sabrina Chan / The Spectator

Enlightenment and Employment

By Teddy Becker-Jacob I’ve been warned a lot lately that my plan to major in philosophy is an awful idea, because it’s a degree that comes without the promise of a job. The same can be said of most humanities majors, as well as, some say, degrees in pure mathematics. As a consequence, many American universities are trimming these programs, while grade school curriculum writers are attempting to dilute them into semi-practical exercises geared toward the demands of the contemporary workplace.

But while academics are quick to point fingers at the professional establishment, scholars themselves are in part responsible for the decline of their disciplines.

The humanities have tripped over their own coattails: they have made them-

selves bourgeois. Many academics publish in jargo ns that make their writing impossible to understand, even for other scholars. Judith Butler, the prolific superstar of gender theory, is perhaps the best example.

Her prolix and incomprehensible writing style, nowadays familiar to most students of the humanities, is famously encompassed in the following outlandish sentence: The move from a structuralist account in which capital is understood to structure social relations in relatively homologous ways to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition, convergence, and rearticulation brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure, and marked a shift from a form of Althusserian theory that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects to one in which the insights into the contingent possibility of structure inaugurate a renewed conception of hegemony as bound up with the contingent sites and strategies of the rearticulation of power.

What’s more, academics have further alienated the public by establishing formal structures for writing—including and especially the overrevered five-paragraph essay, as well as various other styles specific to different disciplines —so that papers become exercises rather than projects. And even worse, they’ve dictated that only certain materials are academically worthy. It starts

early: I recall my sixth grade English teacher waxing dread over the day when schools teach children Harry Potter.

Heaven forbid indeed, lest kids fall under the delusion that literature is meant to inspire their imagination. And should any student stray so much as an inch from the discussion at hand, let us chop off his foot and stifle his tongue to make sure he stays on topic in the future.

Here we arrive at the illusory self-image with which the humanities have framed their decay. In attempting to prove their equality in rigor with the sciences, some scholars have lost touch with the very reason humans began studying their subjects in the first place. We study the hard problems of the humanities merely because they’re interesting things to think about, in the same way that fractals and consciousness are interesting things to think about. All this is not to say that school shouldn’t be practical at all. But there is nothing Victorian about the idea that education should include some chances to examine the complex and unanswerable questions of existence and the human condition.

It can be said that the state of humanities education is already far more relaxed than it once was, when students memorized Romantic poems and recited them word for word under the penetrating gaze of a paddle-brandishing schoolmaster. But I fear we’re headed

down that path once again, with the assembly lines of education reform busy manufacturing new curricula based on supposedly practically minded standards that water down the purer disciplines, including mathematics and logic, to a point where they are neither pleasurable, nor really useful at all. Thanks to curricula developed based on shoddy interpretations of the Common Core State Standards, students

“Certain problems and ideas are intrinsically beautiful and fulfilling in the same way that, say, music is.”

will soon be parsing instruction manuals for literary elements to use as evidence in critical essays. (My philosophy degree might at least land me a seat in law school; that activity is completely useless.)

There are actually many

reasons to spend years of education studying the hard problems of being, time, and the human condition, and not many them have to do with careers.

For one thing, thinking about questions that lack knowable answers is a rigorous mental workout (though like the leg press, these strenuous exercises often develop muscles whose use is not immediately obvious). A notable exception is when the questions involve human beings, in which case they become tools to draw upon later in life. Our personal lives provide us with a finite set of experiences to consult as we make our choices, and quite often no one is interested in discussing these with us.

The humanities could alleviate this problem by having people sit in rooms and talk about human nature.

Above all, the reason we’ve been drawn to the humanities since the dawn of language is that they’re aesthetic in themselves. Certain problems and ideas are intrinsically beautiful in the same way that, say, music is. They’re fun to meditate on, spiritually fulfilling in ways the workplace will never be. And everyone should have the chance to experience them and talk about them, even if they’re not majoring in philosophy and do plan to go on to have careers, white-picket fences, screaming families, and all the rest of it. Thinking isn’t polo, after all. So what’s bourgeois about doing it in college?

Page 14

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Opinions Euromaidan, A Turning Point

Ukraine’s Berkut, a thuggish military outfit and the state riot police, is feared for its physical prowess, unbridled brutality, and lack of political accountability. After nightfall on December 1, these hard men descended on a peaceful, several-hundred-strong protest in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, and disbanded the organized rally in a bloody fray. Mere days later, nearly a million protesters flooded the Kievan streets and cried for the resignation of its despotic president. These events should not be the legacy of our struggle for independence.

The Orange Revolution was a first, cumbersome step for Ukraine’s political liberty. During the 2004 uprising, the country’s population wrested power from the encroaching grasp of Viktor Yanukovych, a plutocrat who subverted elections by committing widespread electoral fraud. Ukraine, a Soviet satellite until 1991, enjoyed a victory for popular democracy—albeit briefly. The Orange Revolution fostered an incompetent reformist government and induced disenchanted Ukrainians to elect Yanukovych to the presidency at the turn of the decade. Now, three years

“The situation is dire, but not without a logical resolution: the EU should counter Russian threats with increased financial incentives, and, far more importantly, the Ukrainian opposition must unite under common leadership.”

later, he has unilaterally decided the nation’s political and economic future by refusing to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU), a treatise that would further integrate Ukraine with the Eurozone and distance it from Russia’s domineering foreign policy.

Even as hundreds of thousands of citizens flock to the streets of Kiev to protest Yanukovych’s potentially catastrophic diktat, the West hesitates to act, Russia interjects with pressure politics, and Ukrainians remain without an organized opposition. The situation is dire, but not without a logical resolution. The EU should counter Russian threats with increased financial incentives, and, far more importantly, the Ukrainian opposition must unite under common leadership.

Ukraine has palpably improved both economically and politically over the past decade and gradually tended towards European inclusion. Corrupt post-Soviet politics have partly given way to freer elections and more transparent governance. Tourism developed, Kiev turned into a burgeoning metropolis, and after Ukraine co-hosted the 2012 Eurocup with Poland, closer relations with the EU appeared imminent, promising even greater progress. In 2005, the European Parliament voted almost unanimously (467 in favor, 19 opposed) for increased interaction with Ukraine; three years later, a commercial agreement promised to liberalize trade; and in 2009, Ukraine joined the Eastern Partnership, an economic forum for post-Soviet states seeking European integration. The country seemed poised for a Europe-oriented future that, besides promising further political and industrial reform, would mitigate Russian influence.

The European Union proposed an Association Agreement—an effective precursor to EU membership—under the condition that Ukraine cleanse its federal institutions of cronyism. Despite tensions over the ill treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko, a pair of opposition leaders imprisoned after indictments in politically-charged trials, the EU has continued talks.

Russia responded by threatening “protectionist economic measures” if Ukraine opted for the EU over the Customs Union, Putin’s Eurasian consortium. Succumbing to pressure, Yanukovych attended the Vilnius summit on November 29, 2013 and officially rejected Ukraine’s European track by

“The Euromaidan protests speak to the country’s desire for closer integration with the EU, and are an opportunity to build a civic society.”

of Ukraine’s exports headed to Russia. Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russian gas imports, and any cuts in gas prices would give a boost to its energy-intensive gross domestic product. It is also dependent on Russia for credit, as Ukraine struggles to find external sources of funding. Thus, the carrots that Russia offers—reduction in debt, investments in key industries, gas price reductions, and special trade privileges— are understandably attractive to Yanukovych as he tries to improve the economy in order to guarantee reelection in 2015.

This indicates that the Euromaidan protests were never guaranteed the easy victories of the Orange Revolution and will require an incredible commitment from the country’s citizens to become successful.

Despite the odds, it’s imperative that the Euromaidan protests continue. They speak to the country’s desire for closer

integration with the EU and are an opportunity to build a civic society. Even more importantly, the country’s electorate can flex its muscle against an increasingly autocratic plutocracy.

Of holdovers from Soviet rule, oligarchy and pervasive corruption are arguably the most corrosive: The International Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Ukraine 144th out of 176 investigated countries— paralleling the likes of Cameroon and Syria. Upwards of 15 percent of the state budget is pocketed by politicians. By heavily protesting a typical unilateral move, Ukrainians send carefree politicians a sobering warning. Yanukovych, after all, blatantly ignored the nation’s overwhelming wishes for a pivot to Europe—a GfK Ukraine poll found 45 percent in favor of closer EU ties, and a mere 15 percent opposed. Ukraine’s politicians must show that they will be held increasingly accountable for their political agendas and records.

In order to be successful, Ukraine’s opposition, currently a motley crew, will need to mobilize. The favorite is a world champion boxer, Vitaly Klitschko, who only recently initiated his political career. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a lawyer and economist, has more political experience but less popular appeal. Petro Poroshenko, a businessman, strongly supports an EU track but lacks support in the polls. Finally, Oleg Tyahnybok is a well-known politician but holds concerning nationalistic views. To pose a serious challenge to Yanukovych’s rule, the candidates must coordinate their agendas by forging a political coalition and rigorously campaigning for greater electoral recognition.

The EU should also recognize Ukraine’s value as both a political and economic asset and further incentivize Yanukovych to sign the Agreement by providing financial aid and helping to repair the country’s troubled economy. Ukraine can alleviate EU dependence on Russian resources and energy and simultaneously rob Putin of a pawn on Europe’s political stage. Four-fifths of Ukraine’s territory consists of “black soil,” nutritious ground excellent for crop growth, while its estimat-

“This indicates that the Euromaidan protests were never guaranteed the easy victories of the Orange Revolution, and will require an incredible commitment from the country’s citizens to attain success.”

ed iron ore reserves constitute five percent of the global total.

Oil giants Chevron and Dutch Shell each recently signed $10 billion contracts for gas and oil prospecting rights on Ukrainian territory. With a wealth of commodities, economic assets such as a booming IT sector, an expanding tourism industry, and a consumer base of 45.4 million, Ukraine would boost the Eurozone’s economy while decreasing reliance on erratic Russian commerce.

Signing the Association Agreement may not bring an immediate end to Ukraine’s troubles. Initial forays into European markets will be painful—Ukraine’s economy is inefficient and excessively accommodated to Russian supply and demand. The country will need to reform politically, finding capable leaders to replace the old guard of the country’s institutions. Yet the EU represents Ukraine’s only tangible hope for a better future. We want West.

Lydia Wu/ The Spectator

By Severyn Kozak and Christina Kozak (‘04)

refusing to sign the Association Agreement. In short, our president bowed to Putin’s brutal pressure in a thinly-veiled pursuit of personal best interests—by pandering to Russia, Yanukovych seeked to gain economic support and cement his chances of reelection in 2015.

That night, several thousand protesters marched on Kiev’s Maidan (Plaza of Independence). Nearly two weeks later on December 8, their numbers had swelled to the hundreds of thousands.

The “Euromaidan” protests are deceptively similar to the Orange Revolution, but are genuinely different. This time, no overt political crime has been committed: Yanukovych simply rejected a trade and association agreement, rather than rigging national elections.

Unlike the Revolution, which occurred under the auspices of a weak president on his way out of office, Euromaidan activists face a government with a lot at stake and a year-long term remaining.

Yanukovych primarily fears political fallout with Russia, which threatens reprisals should Ukraine sign the Association Agreement. The country is a genuinely important trade partner—in 2012, 26 percent

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 15

Arts and Entertainment Restaurant

By Nicole Rosengurt I have never been a particular fan of two-dollar burgers served in crowded, sweltering fast food joints that smell of grease and stale French fries. In my search for the ultimate gourmet patty, I found Umami. If there were a kingdom of burgers, it would be Umami. The word “umami”

“All the choices at Umami work for those who want to spice up their boring, burger-filled lives.”

is Japanese for the hard-to-pinpoint fifth taste, as well as “pleasant savory taste.”

Once inside, the restaurant is loud, dim, and full of activity. The chatter of patrons in the packed restaurant rises above the

trendy electronic music. Indeed, the whole place is reminiscent of a converted nightclub with its hazy red lighting and neon burger lights. But beyond the nightlife veneer, the décor is boring. Of course, I wasn’t there to eat the interior design, but to try some famous burgers. The waitress led my friends and me past the crowded ground floor to the much emptier and calmer upper level, where we sat with a gorgeous view of the West Village in the evening.

Their best starter, the truffle cheese fries, shouldn’t even be considered a starter; it was great enough to be a main course. It consisted of perfectly salted and crispy fries drowning in gooey hot cheese, with enough punch of truffle that you could taste the rich mushroom without being overpowered. Seriously, these fries are addicting.

What I came for was the Truffle Burger. I heard about Umami from friends in California who raved about this burger, and honestly, putting truffle on anything makes it many times better. Between two buttery, fluffy brioche buns that melt into butter and sweet bread in your mouth is a patty that’s just as light. The patty is perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of tenderness and juiciness. It’s soaked in decadent truffle cheese sauce that smells as if gods themselves have blessed your plate. The enjoyment, however, ends all too soon, as it’s easy to finish the fairly small burger in two or three bites.

Besides my personal favor-

Sora Kim / The Spectator

Burgers for the Connoisseur

Umami Burger (432 Avenue of the Americas) is an upscale burger joint with affordable prices and a relaxed atmosphere.

ite, there’s the namesake Umami Burger, which is a bit fancier for those who want something more filling. It’s laden with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, parmesan crisps, and ketchup. A more classic choice would be the Cali Burger. It’s like a BLT, but richer, smoother and with the prized Umami meat, which is more tender and put together in a looser patty. Other burgers have toppings ranging from green chili to

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beer-cheddar cheese and from smoked salt-onion strings to ahi tuna. The beef burgers all cost around $12.

Umami started out in 2009 as a small shop in L.A. Since then, it has expanded to about 20 eateries around California. The Greenwich Village joint on 432 6th Ave is the first one on the East Coast.

People flooded in during the first few months due to its high acclaim in California. The wait has been said to reach three hours,

and even when the rush is down, customers can expect to wait at least 30 to 45 minutes. The wait is worth it.

All the choices at Umami work for those who want to spice up their boring, burger-filled lives. Umami is good for burger adventurers who are ready try something they never knew could come on a patty. Mostly, though, this restaurant is for the average hungry citizen who just wants a really good burger.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 16

Arts and Entertainment Looking Forward : December SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

17

18

19

20

21

Album release B.o.B’s “Underground Luxury” Genre: Hip hop, pop

Concert Handel’s Messiah Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium 8 p.m.

Concert The Breeders Webster Hall 7 p.m.

Concert Dillon Francis Terminal 5 8 p.m.

Concert The Ocean Blue Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

Concert Saves The Day Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

Art exhibition Group Show: Clouds Curated by Adam Simon Lesley Heller Workspace (Lower East Side) Available through January 26, 2014

Art gallery Tommy Litz: “Reverie” Noho Gallery in Chelsea

Concert The 1975 Webster Hall 7:30 p.m.

Museum exhibition The American West in Bronze, 18501925 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sports Boys’ Basketball vs. Economics & Finance 4:30 p.m.

Movie release “Her” Genre: Drama Movie release “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” Genre: Comedy

Sports Boys’ Basketball vs.

Art & Design 4:30 p.m.

Sports Boys’ Wrestling vs.

Wingate Educational Campus 5:00 p.m.

The Gaits: A High Line Sound Walk The High Line From Make Music New York’s “Make Music Winter” parade

Laura Eng / The Spectator

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

Concert The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, starring Beyoncé́ Barclays Center 8 p.m.

Columbus Circle Holiday Market 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Columbus Circle Holiday Market 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Concert Ancestors Mercury Lounge Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $10

Wreath Interpretations NYC Parks: 31st annual wreath exhibition Arsenal in Central Park 830 Fifth Ave

Movie release “The Wolf of Wall Street” Genre: Biography, comedy

Holiday Train Show The New York Botanical Garden 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Concert Zedd Pier 94 9 p.m.

Concert Phish Madison Square Garden 7:30 p.m.

Concert The Met Orchestra Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium 3 p.m.

Movie release “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Genre: Comedy, fantasy Movie release “August: Osage County” Genre: Comedy, drama

Concert Pitbull Barclays Center 7:30 p.m.

Concert The Front Bottoms Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

Movie release “Labor Day” Genre: Drama

Concert New York String Orchestra Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium 8 p.m.

Movie release “Lone Survivor” Genre: Drama, war

Movie release “47 Ronin” Genre: Action Fantasy 29

30

31

Concert Punch Brothers Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m.

Concert Gogol Bordello Terminal 5 8 p.m.

Concert Jill Scott Radio City Music Hall 9 p.m.

Concert Big Gigantic Roseland Ballroom 8 p.m.

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Times Square Best seen on Broadway (43rd-50th St) or Seventh Avenue (up to 59th St)

Michelle Lin / The Spectator

Playlist 1.

“Find You” by Skrux&Felxprod ft.

Complexion Genre: Electronic, dubstep

2.

“White Nights” by Oh Land Genre: Alternative

6.

“Booty Swing” by ParovStelar Genre: Swing, electronic

11.

7.

“Worse Things Have Happened” by James Wallace and the Naked Light Genre: Psychedelic, indie, folk

“Be Be Your Love” by Rachael Yamagata Genre: Indie

12.

“The Mother We Share” by CHVRCHES Genre: Synthpop, electopop

13.

“For You” by Angus & Julia Stone Genre: Singer-songwriter

14.

“Middle of the Bed” by Lucy Rose Genre: Alternative

15.

“Reasons to Love You” by Meiko Genre: Singer-songwriter

3.

“Landfill” by Daughter Genre: Indie, singer-songwriter

8.

4.

“Gun” by CHVRCHES Genre: Synthpop, electropop

“The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel Genre: Folk rock

9.

“Sea of Love” by The National Genre: Indie rock

10.

“Fuerteventura” by Russian Red Genre: Indie, folk

5.

“Hippy Hill” by Grouplove Genre: Indie rock

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 17

Arts and Entertainment Looking Forward : January SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

4

Happy New Year!

Art exhibition opening Andy Denzler: “Andy Denzler” Claire Oliver Gallery (Chelsea) 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Available through February 1, 2014

Movie release “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” Genre: Horror Cast: Andrew Jacobs, Richard Cabral, Carlos Pratts, Molly Ephraim

T.V. premiere “Taste in Translation” Genre: food, cooking Cooking Channel

Movie release “The Railway Man” Genre: Drama Cast: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgard

Concert Mark de Clive-Lowe Lincoln Center, David Rubenstein Atrium 7:30 p.m.

Sports Boys’ JV Basketball vs. Louis Brandeis

Seventh Annual NYC Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading Cornelia St. Cafe 29 Cornelia St, between W 4th and Bleeker 6 p.m.

New York City Ballet George Balanchine, “The Nutcracker” 2 p.m., 8 p.m.

Tickets for sale online Last night available

Sports Girls’ Basketball vs.

Graphic Communication Arts 4:30 p.m.

Laura Eng / The Spectator

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Art exhibition opening Martha Clippinger: “Hopscotch” Elizabeth Harris Gallery (Chelsea) 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Available through February 4, 2014

Museum exhibition MoMA Art Lab: Movement MoMA, the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Available through August 31, 2014

T.V. premiere “Deception” Genre: Crime, mystery, drama NBC

Art exhibition Angel Ortiz (LA2): A Young Collectors Exhibition Leila Heller Gallery (Chelsea)

Concert John Newman Bowery Ballroom 9 p.m.

Concert Jake Bugg Terminal 5 8 p.m.

Art exhibition opening Larry Poons: “Larry Poons” Danese Corey (Chelsea) 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Available through February 8, 2014

Movie release “The Truth About Emanuel” Genre: Drama Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor

Art exhibition Emilio Perez: “Footprints on the Ceiling” Galerie Lelong (Chelsea) Available through February 1, 2014

Sports Boys’ Wrestling vs.

Automotive 5:00 p.m.

Sports Girls’ Basketball vs. West 50th Street Campus 4:30 p.m.

12

13

globalFEST 2014 7 p.m.

Webster Hall Age restriction: +16 Tickets: $40

Museum exhibition “Designing Modern Women 1890-1990” MoMA, Architecture and Design Galleries Available through October 5, 2014

Ninth Annual Freeze Tag on Wall Street Corner of Wall and Broad Streets 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

Free

Concert Jay-Z, the Magna Carta World Tour Barclays Center 8 p.m.

Sports Girls’ Basketball vs.

Bayard Rustin Educational Complex 4:30 p.m.

Laura Eng / The Spectator

Sports Boys’ Gymnastics vs. Long Island City 4:30 p.m.

T.V. Premiere “1600 Penn” Genre: sitcom NBC Sports Girls’ Basketball vs.

Beacon 4:30 p.m.

Art exhibition Paul Glabicki: Relativity Kim Foster Gallery (Chelsea) Available through February 15, 2014

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 18

Arts and Entertainment This is a Meta Spread If on a winter’s night a meta spread

Spectator Releases Issue 7; Introduces ‘Meta Spread’

Introductory Remarks What is meta? This is the question that plagues the profound among us, those who never excelled in soccer and cricket. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the adjective “meta” describes a creative work “referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre” and anything that is self-referential in nature. If any of this is unclear, refer to the article below, titled “Meta Spread Gone in Circles.”

By Emre Tetik

By Noah Rosenberg

It is Wednesday, December 18, and you’re leaving Stuyvesant High School after a long day of classes to hang out with friends or do whatever else you’ve planned for the afternoon. As you leave the building, you decide to pick up a copy of The Spectator.

You peruse the front page for interesting news and look at the Newsbeat for quick tidbits of information before making your way through the rest of the paper. You move on past Features and plow through the Staff Editorial and Op-Eds. Finally, you arrive at Arts& Entertainment, and, waiting for you on page 18, is the Meta Spread. You are fascinated

by A&E’s cerebral exploration of postmodernism. The article “If on a winter’s night a meta spread,” written by EmreTetik, catches your eye. You begin reading it, and it goes like this: “It is Wednesday, December 18, and you’re leaving Stuyvesant High School after a long day of classes to hang out with friends or do whatever else you’ve planned for the afternoon. As you leave the building, you decide to pick up a copy of The Spectator. You peruse the front page for interesting news and look at the Newsbeat for quick tidbits of information before making your way through the rest of the paper. You move on past Features and plow through the Staff Editorial and Op-Eds. Finally, you arrive at Arts & Entertainment, and, waiting for you on page 18, is the Meta Spread.

You are fascinated by A&E’s cerebral exploration of postmodernism. The article “If on a winter’s night a meta spread,” written by EmreTetik, catches your eye. You begin reading it, and it goes like this: “It is Wednesday, December 18, and you’re leaving Stuyvesant High School…

The Stuyvesant Spectator, Stuyvesant’s official newspaper, released a new issue on Wednesday, December 18, 2013.

It is the seventh issue of volume 104.

Contents include the standard fare—including News, Features, and Arts &Entertainment (A&E)—as well as a revolutionarily self-referencing “Meta Spread,” as reported by an article in the Meta Spread titled “Spectator Releases Issue 7.”

While it is commonly known that The Spectator does not have any readers, at least not those dedicated enough to actually look at the articles on page 18, senior andA&E Editor EmreTetik remains hopeful that many will notice the Meta Spread, which he spearheaded. Tetik wrote that the reader will be “fascinated

by A&E’s cerebral exploration of postmodernism” in an article titled “If on a winter’s night a meta spread,” also contained within the Meta Spread.

The Meta Spread has so far met with mixed opinions. While Tetik is proud of his creation, junior Anne Duncan and freshman Kit Eterem wrote a scathing review of the Meta Spread, titled “Meta Spread Gone In Circles,” which can also be found in the Meta Spread. Duncan and Eterem maintain that “the review of the Meta Spread, ‘Meta Spread Gone in Circles,’ is—in a word—garbage,” and criticize many of the spread’s other features.

Senior Noah Rosenberg remains neutral about the Meta Spread. In his article, “Spectator Releases Issue 7,” he writes that the spread is “full of self-referencing art, photos, and articles, such as ‘Spectator Releases Issue 7.’” Rosenberg reports only the facts, upholding the principles of journalistic objectivity and never once revealing that he thinks the spread is absolutely awful.

As a whole, the issue was not read.

“Is there a Shake Shack coupon?” sophomore Sorenbera Hong said.

Meta Code import java.io.File; import java.util.Scanner;

Continued on page 18

public class Meta {

Meta Spread Gone In Circles

public static E makeMeta(){ return makeMeta(); }

public static void main(String[] args) { File file = new File(“Meta.java”); Scanner scan = new Scanner(file); while (scan.hasNextLine()) { String i = scan.nextLine(); System.out.println(i); } scan.close(); }

By Anne Duncan and Kit Eterem I thought it would never end. I’m still not sure if it did. It is safe to say that the Meta Spread in The Spectator is the most self-referential work I have ever read, and then re-read, and then re-read some more. It gave me an acute sensation of my brain exploding inside my skull. What senior Emre Tetik, the chief architect of the spread, was thinking when he created this black hole of cyclical thought is beyond me.

To begin with, Tetik’s piece, “If on a winter’s night a meta spread,” is an insipid effort to pretend to be intelligent and to understand the sublime ideas articulated so eloquently by Lyotard and Baudrillard. The reader is left with nothing but the most superficial expression of meta (see “Introductory Remarks”).

And speaking of the Introductory Remarks, why did the writer (I would not be surprised if this was also the work of Tetik) feel the need to insert his athletic shortcomings into a supposedly serious meditation on meta? The digression does nothing but muddle an alreadydisorganized discussion of such sophisticated ideas.

The derivative art by junior Anne Duncan is mediocre at best. It is clearly a result of a late-night Photoshop attempt gone awry, leaving the spread a haphazardly aligned mesh of rectangular pieces.

If all of this weren’t bad enough, the review of the Meta Spread, “Meta Spread Gone in Circles,” is—in a word—garbage. Firstly, it reads very mundanely, as if the writers are enumerating points on a list. Secondly, it shows that the writers (Duncan and freshman Kit Eterem) lack a discerning, critical eye. The opinions expressed in it are simplistic and reductive, and should not be trusted.

The one exception to the overall crumminess of the spread is the news article by senior Noah Rosenberg covering the release of Issue 7 of The Spectator. In it, Rosenberg aims for depth rather than breadth; the article does not comprehensively lay out the details of the issue as a whole, but rather focuses on a few highlights, namely the Meta Spread (see “The Spectator Releases Issue 7”). He gives the reader a good overview of the contents found therein, adeptly choosing his words to maintain an objective tone despite the spread’s obvious low quality.

But even Rosenberg’s compelling addition to the spread could not save it. I hope I never have to experience the Meta Spread again, and yet I keep experiencing it, over and over.

}

Metta “Meta” World Peace self-reflects.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 19

Arts and Entertainment Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Brand New Day

By Geoffrey Luu

It’s difficult to imagine any pop-culture phenomenon lasting as long as “Doctor Who” has. And, for the many viewers who grew up with “Doctor Who,” it is even more difficult to imagine life without it. Considering the massive following that it has gained since it was first introduced in 1963, it’s not surprising that the science-fiction TV series would be worthy of a 50th Anniversary celebration. On Saturday, November 23, the BBC simultaneously broadcasted a special episode, “The Day of the Doctor,” in 94 countries to commemorate the event.

The 75-minute anniversary episode celebrates the decades-long history of “Doctor Who” and is filled with references, both subtle and obvious, to previous versions of the Doctor and many of his past adventures, companions, and enemies, while addressing major plot points introduced into the show’s canon since its return in 2005. The basic premise of the episode revolves around a much older series convention: the Doctor, being a Time Lord, has the ability to prevent his own death through regeneration.

“The Day of the Doctor” brings together three of those regenerations to solve a twofold crisis. In Elizabethan England, malevolent aliens known as Zygons concoct a plan to invade present-day Earth. Meanwhile, on a Gallifrey of the Doctor’s past, the Time Lords are embroiled in the final day of a catastrophic conflict, known as the Time War, with some of the Doctor’s oldest and deadliest enemies, the Daleks. The decisions the three Doctors make in one time influence those they make in the other, even though the two events are otherwise separate.

The special stars Matt Smith and David Tennant as the Eleventh and Tenth Doctors, respectively, alongside John Hurt as the War Doctor, a forgotten regeneration who exists between the Doctor’s eighth and ninth forms. As clearly established since the series’ revival, both the Eleventh and Tenth Doctors have experienced the end of the Time War. It was the War Doctor who eventually ended the war by destroying Gallifrey, along with the Time Lords and the Daleks. This is the focal point of the interactions between the three, with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors haunted by the guilt of the decision that the War Doctor has yet to make. At first, the Tenth and Eleventh harbor a large amount of distrust and hatred towards the other and argue over their actions during and after the Time War. Eventually, they are able to come to terms with those actions and learn to work together, joking and bantering along the way.

The progression of the relationship between the Doctors is one of the highlights of the episode, providing some of its most tense, humorous, and saddening moments.

Smith and Tennant give typically stellar performances as their respective Doctors. The impact of the horrors of the war on each is distinct, with the generally cheerful Tenth prone to fits of anger when discussing it, and the goofy and eccentric Eleventh trying his best to bury his past and move on.

Given Tennant’s and Smith’s experience in their roles, it is, surprisingly Hurt who stands out most. His Doctor, like his future selves, is weary of war but not yet guilt-ridden over the destruction of his planet and people, and makes little effort to hide his past. Instead, the sheer gravity of the situation in which he finds himself and the decision he will be forced to make clearly shows in his face and eyes. Though the War Doctor was only recently introduced, the fact that we can connect to the character so swiftly following that introduction is a testament to the strength of Hurt’s performance.

There is only one major problem with the special. Because “The Day of the Doctor” is meant to celebrate the long history of “Doctor Who,” it is a poor jumping-on point for new, curious viewers, who will not understand the many references to past episodes. However, viewers who have been watching since the beginning (or at least since 2005) will not have this issue, and should be entirely satisfied with the quality of the writing and acting that the episode offers. The special provides more than enough action and emotion to keep viewers invested, and watching the three Doctors alternate between bickering, joking, and collaborating is incredibly entertaining. “The Day of the Doctor” does exactly what it is meant to, commemorating the history of the show while moving the Doctor’s story forward and opening up new possibilities for his future.

Looking Back on New Who

By Shahruz Ghaemi

From 1963 to 1989, “Doctor Who” was an important cornerstone of British popular culture. But in 1989, the show faced a decline in viewership as well as script and production quality, and the BBC placed it on indefinite hiatus before its 27th season. “Doctor Who” remained off the air for 16 years until the series was rebooted in 2005.

In the early 2000s, executives at BBC began to express a desire to bring “Doctor Who” back to British television. One of the key figures in this movement was Russell T. Davies, an ardent fan of “Doctor Who” and former writer for BBC productions who had met with executives earlier on to push for the show’s revival. In 2003, it was announced that Davies would be placed at the head of the rebooted series.

“Doctor Who” returned to the airwaves in March 2005 with Christopher Eccleston cast as the Ninth Doctor. The Doctor’s story under Davies largely picked up from where the 1996 “Doctor Who” TV movie left off. However, Davies introduced a major plot to inaugurate the new show: The Last Great Time War, a universe-spanning, time-warping conflict between the Doctor’s fellow Time Lords and their archenemies, the Daleks. The atrocities the Doctor witnessed during the war and the actions he took impact much of his character in the new series. A continuous subplot throughout the reboot is that the Doctor committed genocide of both races to end the war and carries with him enormous guilt. The Doctor’s experience as a veteran lends more weight to his memorable exclamation that “Just this once, everybody lives!” at the end of one successful escapade.

Another distinguishing feature of New Who is that it primarily features the Doctor in standalone stories, while Old Who ran in multiepisode serials. Both Davies and Steven Moffat—who succeeded him in 2010—wrote seasons of mostly standalone episodes that culminated in epic season finales (usually with the departure of a few beloved characters). However, Moffat has been criticized for his overly ambitious story arcs, which sometimes conflict with the intended nature of individual episodes. For example, the Doctor once travels to a resort planet with his companions in the midst of an arc about the search for their abducted child.

Overall, the revival of “Doctor Who” has been an overwhelming success. It has prompted three wildly popular Doctors, two TV spinoffs (“Torchwood” and “The Sarah Jane Adventures”), and the successful celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary. Smith is set to hand over the role to Peter Capaldi, a popular choice, in this year’s Christmas Special. “Doctor Who” has returned from the dustbins of programming history to the apex of nerd culture and even what it means to be British.

The Companions

By Nicole Rosengurt What would the Doctor be without his companions? Just a lonely madman travelling the universe in his box. But with them, he has purpose. He has someone to love and take care of. And he has someone to take care of him.

Each companion has been a perfect match for his or her Doctor. They fit exactly who or what the Doctor needed at some point in his existence. For the Ninth Doctor, there was Rose. Nine is born from war and anger, full of mourning for his lost planet. Then enters Rose, the sweet, young, adventurous shop girl whose pureness pulls Nine away from his memories of war. And when Nine becomes Ten, the Doctor falls even further in love with Rose. When she is gone, Ten is devastated, and this is where Martha comes in. At first, it’s easy to pin Martha as the pathetic rebound girl, desperate for the Doctor’s love. But she comes to prove that she is an incredibly intelligent medical student and a strong, independent woman. She helps the Doctor move on from Rose by showing that she doesn’t need to be the second choice. After Martha comes Donna, Ten’s best friend and my personal favorite. She is the most ordinary, and yet ends up the most important woman in the world. Moreover, no one can resist her sass and honesty.

Eleven’s companions are more of a reflection of Moffat’s writing. Though I love Amy and Clara, it’s much harder to relate to them than to previous companions. They’re practically magical, each possessing some mystical plotline to explain their relationship with the Doctor. While Amy is spunky and full of love, and Clara is “cute” and feisty, we know nothing of their normal lives, only of their special and supernatural connections to the Doctor.

The companions are there for us. We are the companions. We are the average folk who get thrust into adventure whenever the Doctor is around. For the most part, the companions are just like us, people making their own lives extraordinary and looking for an adventure.

Old Who

By Anne Duncan After becoming infatuated with New Who, I ordered a few Netflix discs of classic “Doctor Who” episodes and specials. I discovered that “Doctor Who” isn’t like what it used to be, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I am now infatuated with both.

Old Who was all about the plot. The point of watching it was to find out what happens next: What’s the next adventure? Who is the next enemy?

Where is the next world? It was the ideal sci-fi experience. The companions were young, mostly unhelpful women, in need of the doctor’s guidance and reassurance. Meanwhile, the Doctor was a brazen hero who always found a clever way to beat his brute of an opponent. The special effects were nothing like the flashy television we are used to now, and the whole experience of watching classic “Doctor Who” is a rewarding blast to the past for those of us who find bad special effects, series that emphasize plotlines, and robot dogs named K-9 to be endearing.

When New Who came out, the show as a whole slowly became less about the plotline and adventure, and more about the dynamics between the companions and the Doctor.

“Doctor Who” has essentially become two different shows, loosely connected, much like the Doctor’s different versions between regenerations. Each has its own appeal.

The More, the Merrier: The “Real” Anniversary Special

By Eda Tse

The 50th Anniversary special of “Doctor Who,” titled “The Day of the Doctor,” was an hour and 15 minutes long, but only brought back three old characters from the series.

The good news for those still nostalgic for their old favorites, though, is that “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot” was uploaded on the BBC website the same day, featuring actors whom many may have missed in the special. Written and directed by Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor), “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot” brings back Davison, Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor), and Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) as themselves, actors desperate to get into the 50th Anniversary special. Fed up with not getting a call from Steven Moffat, they enlist the help of David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) and John Barrowman (Jack Harkness) to get them into the episode.

While the plot may be simplistic, Davison brings together many of the actors who are notably missing from the 50th Anniversary in an enjoyable half-hour comedy spoof.

Davison, McCoy, and Baker are spectacular at making fun of themselves as old, unrecognizable actors (except for McCoy, who is shown plugging in “The Hobbit” at every possible moment) and mocking their own insistence on being part of the episode. In Davison’s portrayal of Moffat, the lead writer is obsessed with playing with action figures of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, which many fans might find endearingly true to his character.

In “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot,” Davison perfectly captures the fun of “Doctor Who” through lighthearted gags and references abound. In one case, John Barrowman ditches his secret wife and children to drive Davison, McCoy, and Baker to Cardiff, where the actors can sneak into filming. While the actual episode may not involve any of the older Doctors (except Tom Baker as the mysterious museum Curator), the “Reboot” ends with Davison, McCoy, and Baker hiding underneath sheets during the filming of the episode and then sleepily celebrating on a bus. At the very least, in an alternate universe, these three additional doctors did get onto the “Day of the Doctor”—and we can all just pretend that it happened.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 20

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

• Several sex tapes have been posted online after the junior college trip. Expert pornographers believe that the location of the filming was the Boston Marriot Hotel.

• After multiple requests from Freshman Caucus President Matthew So, the Stuyvesant administration has ordered the construction of a “Fresh-

men Bar” on the 11th floor.

• Students expressed their concern about Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s plans to abolish the SHSAT. “This discriminates against the richer families that can afford tutors,” freshman Sam Lee said.

• The cricket team is holding an interest meeting on Tuesday, December 17.

Philip Shin/ The Spectator

Junior Basketball Elective Cancelled Because There is Nothing Left to Teach

I’m a Boy

By WINTON YEE

In what is being hailed as a landmark move and the beginning of a new era of acceptance, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that a new initiative, called “I’m a Boy,” has been launched by the city. The goal of “I’m a Boy” is to help all boys understand that they are beautiful, and that it’s their personality, not their body type, that counts.

“There are just so many issues that plague boys in this day and age,” Bloomberg said. “Men are underrepresented in so many fields of society. I mean, has every president had an X and a Y chromosome? Sure. Are men paid more than women in the workplace?

Yeah. But have you seen a recent WNBA roster? Are you aware that no man has ever won an Academy Award for Best Actress?”

Boys, however, are less sure about whether they need the confidence boost. “I ain’t insecure.

Like hell I wanna look like an Abercrombie & Fitch model,” said teenager Irvin McCoy, eating a bag of Doritos.

Intelligence and Security Studies Shut Down; Mr. Trainor Flees To Russia

By Karandeep Ahluwalia

Sophomore Alexis Kushner, an invaluable member of the Girls’ Varsity Basketball team, practices her famous “granny shot,” a difficult move to perfect, even for players in the WNBA.

By Daniel Goynatsky and Bill Chang The programming office began student elective selections for the spring term on Wednesday, November 20, leaving many juniors dismayed to find that the basketball elective was no longer available. The removal of the popular elective came as a shock to the class of 2015, many of whom were planning to fail junior year in hopes of being able to take the class twice. “I use the basketball class to not only impress girls with my sick handles, but also show off to all my friends,” junior and varsity basketball bench-starter Roman Szul said.

In the past, students who planned on taking the course would prepare by playing basketball in their free time. “I practice every day before school and during my lunch. I am only 32 inches away from dunking!” sophomore Justin Oh said.

The general opinion regarding the removal of the class was varied among faculty and students.

Many teachers were frustrated with the abrupt decision. “What are we supposed to do with all of these basketball textbooks?” physical education teacher Dr. Anna Markova said.

As a result of the basketball elective’s removal, students began to explore the world of physical activity outside of basketball. Some even discovered that Stuyvesant offers many more physical educa-

tion classes than had they originally thought. “Polar bears just lie around all day, so the class must be easy,” said junior Daniel Kanter as he perused the course list.

Although basketball is traditionally taken by vertically-challenged teenage boys with skin problems, the fiasco has affected female students as well as male.

Some feel that without the class, they will be unable to find suitable boyfriends. “I don’t know about the other girls, but I choose my men exclusively based on their ability to shoot three-pointers and the size of their calves,” junior Remi Moon said. “There’s nothing like watching 13 sweaty boys playing full-contact, trying to score as many goals as possible.”

Many believe that, due to the abundant amount of sheer basketball talent present in Stuyvesant, it is inevitable that the basketball team will come to an end as well.

“Picking a varsity team this season was the hardest task I’ve had to complete in my entire Stuyvesant career, right after problem #38 of the 1998 Algebra Regents exam. At this point, anyone who tries out is guaranteed to get on the squad because of how talented they are. What I’ve decided to do is cancel the basketball team. It simply isn’t fair for the other schools to play us, since we always outmaneuver them with our 30-60-90-degree passing strategy,” physical education teacher Philip Fisher said.

Another scandal has forced students to take up arms in protest once again. Beloved social studies teacher Kerry Trainor was discovered to be a spy against the Zhang administration, ready to spill its secrets in his new elective Intelligence and Security Studies.

Anonymous sources say that Assistant Principal of Security and Student Affairs Brian Moran uncovered the plan after overhearing Trainor ask, “Just what exactly does Mr. Moran do in this school?”

Using every security guard in his command, Moran attempted to corner and restrain Trainor. Just when he was surrounded, Trainor put on a baseball hat and was instantly unrecognizable by any security guard in school. “One moment we had the traitor cornered and the next thing I knew I had a very handsome student asking me where there nearest exit was,” Moran said.

Soon after, Spectator Humor was trusted with the leaked files left via an unmarked package at editor Jeremy Karson’s doorstep. “I just couldn’t believe it. Library restrictions, SU’s unknown budget, the school blood drive; they’re all connected. Of course, with information like this, it’s important to remember the motto of Humor’s founder: ‘I report the facts as I see them’ — Helen Keller.” When word finally reached the students, many were outraged. In an attempt to get the administration to reverse its policies, students rallied under leaders, including Jack Cahn.

“There is only one way to tell the school that they can’t do this to us without them ignoring us. Another protest!” exclaimed Cahn. Unfortunately, for Jack, many protesters were confused about the message they were trying to send out. One such protester, Emily Ruby, even grabbed a bullhorn and repeatedly asked the crowd questions like, “What do we want?” and “When

do we want it?” Despite the lack of organization, many feel that the protest worked. A sense of normality returned as students began to stop caring about the violation of their rights. “I mean it’s not like Ms. Zhang changed anything, but at least we brought attention to it.

Plus, I’m really busy right now, and it’s not really that big anymore,” Student Union Vice President Keiran Carpen said.

As for Trainor, he has fled to Russia. When we finally tracked him down for an interview, he said, “I had to leave. I no longer felt safe living in a country with such an oppressive regime. But I have faith that the students of Stuyvesant will never allow themselves to be controlled like this. They would die before they would give up. And when they finally topple the administration I will return!”

He pumped his frostbitten hand.

“Yup. Won’t be long now.”

Things We’re Thankful For

By Jacob Faber-Rico and Spencer Weiss 1.When the 2-4 escalator works 2.Catching the 3 train by two seconds 3.Hanukkah 4.That big gift box you know has something awesome inside 5.Finding coal and a couple pairs of socks inside of that big box 6.The possibility of not having SING! this year 7.The conference schedule days that we never have 8.Nothing

9.Getting more articles in the New York Post than Brooklyn Tech does 10.Finding out Santa isn’t real (wait, what?)

11.If our sports teams lose to another school, well, we’re still smarter than them!

12.When a teacher blatantly ignores the “no homework over the break” rule 13.The ELA exam that was certainly worth the time spent taking it 14.Our fantastic Board of Elections

15.Olive, the other reindeer 16.Seth Rogan and James Franco’s “Bound 2” music video 17.Christmas Carols three weeks before Thanksgiving 18.Black Friday deals that don’t actually save you money 19.Getting away with not dressing up for Nerd Day because it comes naturally 20.Absolutely nothing 21.Watching the New York Giants play decent football teams 22.Watching the New York Jets play every other week 23.Robinson Cano

Stuyvesant Alumni: It Doesn’t Get Better for All

Luna Oiwa/ The Spectator

By Coby Goldberg and Noah Rosenberg Many Stuyvesant students have dreams of becoming CEOs, doctors, lawyers and high school physics teachers. But some think outside the box when planning their life trajectory after Stuyvesant.

After graduating Stuyvesant, Chad “C-Dawg” Dai (‘99) attended Syracuse University, where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in communications. While he did not graduate, college still played a major role in C-Dawg’s development.

To this day, his canonical hoodie

bears the inscription “SPE,” a nostalgic throwback to the Orange.

Since leaving Syracuse, CDawg has developed a resumé many former employers describe as “diverse.”

Before moving back into his parents’ Brooklyn apartment, CDawg worked in the claims department of State Farm life insurance as a senior file clerk. Associates remembered him fondly. “Guy with the glasses, I think,” Claims Administrator Larry said. Bob, supervisor of the Files Department, remembered that C-Dawg showed up pretty regularly. One of C-Dawg’s notable achievements

at the firm was reorganizing the “I” and “J” files, saving an average of $7.31 for hundreds of clients in the Western Connecticut region.

C-Dawg’s proudest achievement is the development of what he calls the “Double Whammy Peanut Butter Sandwich.” “What I do is I put peanut butter and jelly on both sides of the bread,” C-Dawg said. “Once you put them together, it tastes real good, but make sure you have a napkin handy because it might drip.”

C-Dawg looks back on his years at Stuyvesant with mixed feelings.

He fondly recalls certain parts of the Stuyvesant culture: 4/20 cele-

brations, the SING! afterparty, the sixth-floor boys bathroom, and the sixth-floor girls’ bathroom, to name a few. C-Dawg served as Freshman Caucus President for two consecutive years. “His message was all about hope,” Adam Spohngellert (‘98) said. “He had some great, fresh ideas, like limiting the amount of homework.”

For Stuyvesant students who want to follow in his footsteps, CDawg recommends changing for the 2 or 3 at Atlantic Avenue on rainy days. “Keeps you high and dry, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink.

Anne Duncan / The Spectator

Newsbeat

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 21

Sports Boys’ Wrestling

Spartans Search for Consistency in Rollercoaster Start

Jennifer Dikler / The Spectator

Neil Meepagala (left) takes on a player from Grady High School on December 3, 2013.

Spartans Shaky in Season Opener

By Tahmid Khandaker After finishing in third place in the division for the past three years, the Spartans were ready to fulfill their expectations of coming out on top. They marched into their meet on Tuesday, December 3, expecting an effortless win, but were quickly disappointed after being outmatched by the undermanned William E. Grady Falcons’ 13 wrestlers, in comparison with the Spartans’ 40. Plagued by injuries and a lack of available players, the Spartans’ one-point loss to the Falcons unveiled the inexperience of a team with great potential.

“We underperformed. We should’ve destroyed the Falcons,” senior and co-captain Jae Ahn said.

The Spartans were unable to showcase their full lineup because of senior and co-captain Michael Berlin’s shoulder injury and foot injuries afflicting senior and co-captain George Liu and junior Ishman Choudhury, a key wrestler on the bench who was a viable option for starter earlier in the season. Berlin, who held a 6-0 record in the regular season last year, and Liu were expected to win, had they wrestled. Also troublesome was the general lack of starters. Junior Henry O’Donnell, for example, was unable to play due to a failure to submit medical forms on time.

Though key veterans junior Tony Chung, senior Yasseen Islam, and Ahn were in the starting lineup, the Falcons forfeited

their respective weight classes due to a shortage of available wrestlers, resulting in an automatic six points for each forfeit.

“They could have beaten anyone on that team,” Berlin said. The Spartans were hoping for for-

“We focus a lot on what the other teams neglect, and that’s good stamina.”

—Pavel Kondratyev, junior

feits in higher weight classes or the 99lb weight class, since they did not have enough wrestlers to wrestle at those weight classes, as opposed to weight classes that

they would have won due to their strong wrestlers.

Such disruptions in the starting lineup forced coach Michael Cigala to resort to unorthodox tactics. Sophomore Neil Meepagla wrestled at 120lb even though he is in the 102lb division, and some inexperienced wrestlers were forced to start.

“I didn’t expect it to go down this way. I had to wrestle the Falcons’ captain,” said junior Jarek Liang, who started for the 152lb weight class and got one takedown. Similarly, junior Paul Dzhugostran substituted for the injured Liu and also lost.

As unlucky as the Spartans were during this game, the team hinted at a dominance that could last the whole season. Contributing to this dominance was an emphasis on cardio and stamina training during practice. “We focus a lot on what the other teams neglect, and that’s good stamina,” junior Pavel Kondratyev said. Meepagla, who surmised a 6-2 record last season, won his match even though he wrestled an opponent one weight class higher than himself. “He was just in control of the match, which was unexpected. As soon as the match started, Neil capitalized on his opponent’s mistake and he didn’t look back,” Kondratyev said.

Junior Taras Klymyuk was similarly assertive and dominant during his match, delivering several takedowns. Seconds into Klymyuk’s match, he gripped his opponent by the abdomen and jerked the Falcon up until he landed with a thud on the mat.

Klymyuk was as relentless on his feet as he was on the ground.

Since much of the match consisted of Klymyuk attempting to roll over his opponent for a pin and his opponent trying to escape out of bounds, Klymyuk’s superior endurance allowed him to stay mobile while his opponent was conspicuously exhausted.

The Spartans are accustomed to shaky starts. They started off the last two season with two losses in the first three games, but they recovered both times to finish in the top half of their division.

The future is bright for the inexperienced Spartans, especially with the return of Choudhury, Liu, and Berlin in sight and new recruits like Liang. “I have hope for the team. There are just a few

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things that they have to brush up on, but once they put those few

“There are just a few things that they have to brush up on, but once they put those few things together and learn to do them automatically, the result is profound.”

—Michael Berlin, senior and co-captain

things together and learn to do them automatically, the result is profound,” Berlin said, referring to the team’s dedication and technique.

Spartans Ain’t Going Down Early

By Zhe Lee The Spartans began their first league game with their energy and tenacity resonating in the Stuyvesant gymnasium. They won a decisive and commanding victory over the Erasmus Hall Campus Dutchmen on Friday, November 13, prevailing 48-21.

Numerous forfeits due to the Dutchmen’s small roster heavily assisted the Spartans. In fact, Erasmus immediately surrendered five forfeits because of a lack of lighter weight classes, forcing them to give up 30 easy points.

This helped the Spartans cushion the blow of losing a majority of their matches.

Junior Douglas Chan wrestled first, fighting tooth and nail in an attempt to pin his tough opponent. At one point during the match, his opponent attempted to utilize an illegal full nelson on Chan, which resulted in a technical violation and gave two free points to Chan’s score. Nonetheless, Chan could not overcome the overwhelming strength of his opponent and lost 11-15. “Personally, though I fought my hardest, I fell short of victory,” Chan said.

Junior Taras Klymyuk, on the other hand, swiftly pinned his unfortunate opponent within a few minutes, scoring two takedowns.

He scored six points for the Spartans, increasing the team’s lead to 36-3. “Taras is really good,” coach Michael Cigala said. “He’s able to make it to the City Championships.” Junior Paul Dzhugostran also cleaned up in a workmanlike fashion and quickly finished his opponent off with a pin.

However, junior Rafi Obidullah and senior Yaseen Islam could not hold up against their opponents. Though Islam was up 15-5 and scored a number of points from his takedowns, he was suddenly pinned after a quick reversal in a backbreaking loss.

Some of the Spartans’ older key players, including juniors Abraham Lusk and senior Michael Berlin, were not wrestling because of various injuries and illnesses. Despite their absences, “it was a good chance for our backups to get practice and [for] our starters to rest and heal up,” junior Cooper Weaver said.

Though many of the Spartans are first-year members, the team believes that it will go far this year with a combination of effort and talent. “Our first-year members have a lot of potential this year.

They just need more experience on the mat and [have to] come to practice this year,” senior and cocaptain George Liu said.

In fact, despite being marred by injuries and illnesses, the Spartans have already won two consecutive meets, led by a strong core of juniors.

“The expectations that we have this year are within reach.

That said, we expect each and every one of our wrestlers to put in the effort it requires,” Chan said.

Page 22

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Sports Boys’ Basketball

Peglegs’ Season Starts with Stumbles continued from page 24

we played smart, and offensively we played slow. That’s our game.

That’s how we play,” said senior Imtiaz Hssan, who led all Stuyvesant players with 13 points. Despite allowing the Blazer to have a hot start to begin the quarter, Stuyvesant managed to keep the game close, maintaining a onepoint lead going into half-time.

After the break, the Peglegs made adjustments on the defensive end. Smothering the Murry Bergtraum players as soon as the Blazers received a pass from their point guard, Peglegs were able to force turnovers, which led to fast break opportunities on the offensive end. The Peglegs were able to limit the Blazers to four points during the entire quarter, going into the final quarter ahead 29-25.

“We played at our pace today. The ball was in control, [we played] slow, there was ball movement, and we broke the press,” senior and captain Matthew Dalton said. “If we play at our pace, we are going to have a good season.” The team knew that it had to do to control the tempo of the game during the last quarter, and that is exactly what they did. For the third time, the team locked down the Blazers and limited them to single-digit conversions for the quarter.

Fisher will likely reference this game when the team needs to be reminded of playing a game at their tempo. Other than the run the Blazers had at the start of the second quarter, the Peglegs had a tight grasp on the tempo of the game, forcing the Blazers to slow down to an uncomfortable speed. “The team concept has to stay,” Fisher said. “I got 11 players in this game, which is something I rarely do. With [senior Noah] Kramer out, there are more minutes, so everyone else needs to pick up their game.” With a notso-pretty .500 record, the team has much to improve upon and build upon, especially facing the throes of an injury that has resonating effects throughout the entire roster.

Stuyvesant Peglegs Lose NailBiter against Seward Park

By Ari Hatzimemos For their third game of the season, the Peglegs faced Seward Park, a big division rival. Last year, the Peglegs had two close contests against Seward Park but came out victorious both times by a combined margin of only four points. This year, however, the result was different, due to turnovers and inexperience on the Peglegs’ bench. On Tuesday December 10, Seward Park defeated the Stuyvesant Peglegs 51-48.

In the first quarter, the Peglegs dominated. They handled the ball, rebounded well, and made their shots. When the other team tried to throw press coverage (a defensive strategy in which defenders press “up close” to the guy with the ball, intending to force a turnover) at them, the Peglegs responded resiliently with sound passing. They also forced Seward Park to foul multiple times, lending the Peglegs 15 free throws throughout the game, nine of which they landed.

By the time the quarter was over, the score was 12-0.

However, this dominance was short-lived. As the game went on, the Peglegs’ starters, who were already ravaged by injuries, grew tired, and the more inexperienced bench players became integral parts of the game. “[Senior and co-captain Matthew Dalton] has a very bad sprained right thumb, but he still played with it.

Arlex [Gole] took a pretty bad fall last week, so he hasn’t practiced.

So we really haven’t had a full team practice in a while,” coach Phillip Fisher said. This became apparent in the plays, as no nonstarters scored in the double digits over the course of the match.

The Peglegs’ defense and the offense that stunningly opened the game in the first quarter both faded as the game progressed.

Bad passes led to turnovers virtually every time the Peglegs had the ball. On one play in the third quarter, a turnover led to a fast break with only one Stuyvesant

defender left to defend the shot.

A quick crossover from Seward Park, however, led to two easy points. “[Our bad defense] was a combination of giving up too many defensive rebounds and not getting into our offense,” Dalton said.

In spite of this, the Peglegs held onto their lead late until late into the fourth quarter. They appeared to be putting it away, but

“We can’t make any excuses.

We need to box out, and we need to work harder.

The only way we are going to beat the more athletic teams is by outworking them.”

—Konrad Krasucki, junior

more turnovers and the referees made all the difference. “Honestly, the referees weren’t perfect.

We called on every little touch, and the calls weren’t going both ways,” senior and co-captain Imtiaz Hssan said. During the game, three Peglegs fouled out, including Hssan.

With 42 seconds left, the Peglegs were down for the first time all game, 49-46. A few whistles

and missed shots later, the game was over, with a final score of 5148. The last play was actually another foul, preventing the Peglegs from even taking a potentially game-tying shot.

There is still some reason to look ahead for the Peglegs, who caught a glimpse of their potential. If they focus on their defense and look back on the first quarter of this game as a sort of template for the future, they may be able to turn this shaky start to their season around.

Bulldogs Unleashed on Peglegs

By Chris Kim Imagine a gymnasium a little less than the size of the Stuyvesant locker rooms. Now imagine a cramped row of fans lined up along the sidelines of the court, compressed against a wall. With a basketball court that has not been legally approved by the PSAL until this season because of its size, it’s safe to say that the Washington Irving High School Bulldogs had an immense home court advantage coming into the game against the Stuyvesant Peglegs on Thursday, December 12.

But this alone was not what led to the Peglegs’ defeat. Despite the Peglegs’ valiant team effort, the athleticism of the Bulldogs came out on top, taking a 61-46 victory over the physically weaker Peglegs.

The Peglegs’ inferior athleticism when compared to those of other teams in their division has been a persistent issue. “Every team we play is going to have a huge advantage in athleticism and size, and our job every game is to overcome that,” senior Nick Kalantzopoulos said.

The Peglegs have worked out a strategy against some of the much quicker teams, and it has proven to work if executed correctly and consistently. “We have to play Stuy basketball—slow, deliberate basketball,” coach Philip Fisher said. “We don’t have the speed and the athleticism, so we have to play Stuy ball.” The Peglegs’ offense focuses on swinging the ball and creating high-

percentage, open shots. Even if it takes 20 quick passes within one possession, the Peglegs will rinse and repeat the process until they get that open shot, completely slowing down the game.

However, the Bulldogs were the ones who controlled the tempo of the game, out hustling the Peglegs on both sides of the court with their superior athleticism. The Bulldogs dominated the Peglegs in rebounding, securing 13 more offensive boards and 21 more in total. The Bulldogs also ruthlessly pressured the ball, forcing turnovers and resulting in easy baskets for the team. While the Bulldogs were right up on the toes of the Peglegs on defense, the Peglegs stuck to a more passive zone defense, forcing fewer turnovers and making it a comfortable offensive game for the Bulldogs.

Though the Bulldogs clearly exposed many of the areas that the Peglegs need to work on, the Peglegs showed major improvements from their previous three games. “The fact that my kids were able to execute their plays as well as they did today in this box, I thought we did a nice job,” Fisher said. In addition to their improving offense, the Peglegs also progressed in their defense.

“We were able to limit a team that scores around 85 points to 61 points, which really showed how we improved as a team,” senior and co-captain Imtiaz Hssan said. In Stuyvesant’s first league game against Bayard Rustin Educational Complex, the Peglegs gave up 79 points, but they were able to confine the Bulldogs (who gave Bayard their first loss) to 61 points.

If the Peglegs want to contend for the playoffs this season, they must aim for games that only add up to around 30 to 40 points for the opposing team. Though there are still 12 games left in the regular season, the Peglegs must refine their “Stuy Ball” offense and find ways to overcome the athleticism of their opponents before it’s too late.

Boys’ Swimming

Yi Zhu / The Spectator

Pirates Chill Through Their First Victory

The Pirates practice at Seward Park High School for their upcoming season under the guidance of Coach Bologna.

By Grace Lu and Jeffrey Zheng After practicing in the Seward Park High School pool since the beginning of last season, the Stuyvesant Pirates were no strangers to subpar pools. However, the George Washington High School pool was in a condition much worse than Seward Park’s. Filled with freezing, lime

Gatorade-colored water and with a deck so cold “that it would have been warmer if the meet was outside,” junior Justin Choi said, George Washington’s pool made the Pirates appreciate Seward Park’s. Despite these conditions, Stuyvesant had no trouble cruising to their first win of the season.

The Pirates, having faced George Washington only once

last year, were completely unaware of the conditions in which they had to swim. However, despite shivering on the sidelines in their winter jackets to stay warm, the Pirates soundly defeated George Washington with a score of 51-31. George Washington High School has finished 7-3 in the Bronx/Manhattan division in the past two years. However, they are never any match for the three powerhouses of the division: Stuyvesant, Hunter, and Bronx Science.

Consequently, this meet was not a test for the Pirates, serving as more of a walkthrough for the rookies. It was the newcomers’ first meet, so “it was nice to start off with an easy meet, since it boosts the team morale,” sophomore and rookie Beck Zhu said.

“I was really nervous coming into this meet, but now I have a lot more confidence from the experience I’ve earned.” With about 10 Pirates ineligible because they didn’t meet the PSAL requirement of 10 practices in order to swim, the rookies were able to swim in more events against a George Washington team composed of

mostly seniors and juniors.

These rookies showed not only more initiative in going to practices, but also no signs of nervousness during the meet.

The 100-yard freestyle was dominated by freshman Brian Chan and Zhu, both of whom joined the team only this year but finished first and second with times of 57.12 and 58.01, respectively.

They also qualified for the A Division Championships in February. As of this season, these are the 14th and 17th fastest times in the city. Last year, however, neither of these results would have placed in the 50 fastest 100-yard freestyle times. Even so, Chan and Zhu have established themselves as the Pirates’ top freestylers. Freshman Lawrence Kwong also surprised the team with a 1:04.60 in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing first by a solid eight seconds. With this time, Kwong is the fourth fastest butterfly swimmer on the Pirates, as well as the youngest. “I’m really proud of him. He works very hard, and I see a lot of potential in him,” senior and co-captain Kevin Lee said.

The Pirates continued to dominate the rest of the meet, easily placing first in each event.

By the time junior Andrew Guo and sophomore Justin Lin finished the 500-yard freestyle, the seventh of 11 events, the Pirates had already amounted 51 points and went unofficial for the rest of the meet. Guo finished with a time of 5:49:12 and Lin with a time of 6:43:07, both more than 50 seconds ahead of third place and more than three minutes ahead of fourth place. Had the Pirates not gone unofficial for the rest of the meet, the gap between the scores would have been significantly greater.

The Pirates’ first meet could be considered a warm-up for the rest of the season, as well as a gauge for certain swimmers’ performances. With many more practices to go, the Pirates have just settled in for the grind of the season. “We have to work on our underwater kicking, turns, and streamlines,” coach Peter Bologna said. Only time will tell if this season will be supported mainly by the underclassmen of the boys’ swim team.

The Spectator ● December 18, 2013

Page 23

Sports Come Together, Stuy

By Anthony Cheang

Last year, the Stuyvesant Phoenix manhandled their division, tying for first place with an impressive record of 12-3. This year, they hope to do the same, making their first game important in setting a precedent for the rest of the season. Thankfully, the Phoenix had a tame opponent on Monday, December 2: the High School of Economics and Finance Lady Panthers. Lacking even a home gymnasium, the Lady Panthers lost to the Phoenix last year in a complete blowout, 80-8. With home-court advantage, the Phoenix repeated their victory this year, crushing the Lady Panthers 78-16.

After the first quarter, the match became even more reminiscent of last year’s game, as the Phoenix led 20-4 and only allowed two lucky buckets from the Lady Panthers.

By halftime, Lady Panther fans had broken out their mobile devices, recognizing that the game was all but over. The Lady Panthers were entirely unorganized, managing zero rebounds and zero assists as a team.

On the other hand, the Phoenix ran like a well-oiled machine, powered by juniors Lauren Sobota and Sophia Gershon, who respectively dropped near triple-doubles. Sobota managed an almost Magic Johnson-like effort, racking up 20 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds, and finding seemingly every open person for an easy dish-and-swish. Gershon managed the middle with 18 points, 15 boards, and seven assists, crashing the board relentlessly. The starting guard and center were individually able to score more than the entire Lady Panther team; as expected, the end of the game turned into the Phoenix scoring on the Lady Panthers as though they were practicing layup lines.

Moreover, the Phoenix were excellent in sharing the sugar; they managed 26 assists with their 78 points. “I definitely think the way we move the ball directly correlates to how well we perform. If we can keep ball movement as our number-one priority, we’ll continue to get better,” Sobota said. Their crisp passing cut through the Lady Panthers’ defense and busted the game wide open.

“I definitely feel that winning a game at home to start the season is good for us. I wasn’t the coach last year, so I didn’t pay much attention to last year’s game, but I feel this year we have a strong squad,” coach Vincent Miller said.

The Phoenix can look back on this game as an easy win and hopefully use it as a launching pad for future games against tougher squads.

They benefited by giving their deep bench some running time, as Miller subbed out his starters after halftime.

“It’s always good to get a win under our belts. It helps to build confidence, and hopefully we can build on this for the future,” Miller said. The Phoenix came out scorching hot to start the season, but they were up against easy prey.

They can take this win with a grain of salt and come out strong in the next game against School of the Future, whom they beat by 45 points last year. The Phoenix should be able to take advantage of this easy early schedule and start racking up wins in preparation for a deep playoff run.

By Anne Duncan In my time at Stuyvesant so far, I have had my best experiences and made my best friends in my extracurricular activities.

The ties between club and team members are often strong, and the support of our peers is a priceless resource. Teams buy apparel to show their allegiance, give senior gifts to show their appreciation, and stick together to play well. I am extremely grateful for the support I receive from my lacrosse teammates, on and off the field.

What has been lacking, though, is support from the rest

of the school. My teammates and I cheer as loudly as we can on the sideline even after losing 17-1, just because we got that one point. Yet our shouts cannot fill the silence left by the distinct lack of fans on our sideline. We are not the only ones who feel this way. This is a common experience for Stuyvesant’s sports teams.

At first, I thought nothing of it. My games are often far away, difficult to get to, and unpopular. I know most students won’t attend games unless they are social experience. When I ask my friends to come to my games, they tell me, “No one wants to go to Randall’s Island.” My teammates and I understand the inconvenience.

This reluctance, however, leads to an imbalance in fan attendance. So many fans attend boys’ basketball games that they spill out the door. The football and baseball teams usually have at least a crowd of parents and a few students at the side of Pier 40. Events that go on in or near school are more likely to have fans than those of other teams. It makes sense.

However, I started to notice a greater bias. Students are far more likely to attend a game if the sport is popular in the streets, parks, and stadiums of

New York City (baseball, basketball, football, etc.). Friends have asked me, “Hey, are you going to the basketball game today?” But I have never been asked about a golf match or a fencing meet or a bowling game. Why not? Each of those teams is highly ranked in the PSAL, some even more so than the basketball or football team. Surely all of those teams want fans to cheer them on. It seems that the student body ignores some teams’ successes and failures.

The solution has since become clear to me: the unrecognized sports teams have to start by supporting each other. After checking in with my team and gaining their support, I suggested to all sports team members and captains via Facebook that we arrange swaps in attendance with other teams. If the golf team were to attend any one of my team’s lacrosse games, we would, in return, attend one of their matches. The bowling team could attend a cricket game, and the cricket team would then attend a bowling game. This way, both teams get much-desired support from each other. But the point is not to create more segregation between teams. If teams that already have plenty of fans want more in the stands, then they and their friends would

make great attendees at other sports games.

Though some games might be inconvenient to attend, the promise of having someone else’s encouragement is encouragement enough to spend one afternoon cheering on someone else. Besides, attending any event as a team promotes bonding between teammates. It can be difficult for a whole team to find the time to go to one game, but one member of a team can make a deal with one member of another team. Just one fan on the sideline can make such a difference, especially to teams that are used to having none.

This immediately solves two problems. Each team now has at least a few fans at some games, and those athletes might bring along their friends for company, adding to the crowd. Events also always seem more worthwhile if there is the promise of a few hours with your friends.

If Stuyvesant wants any unity as a school, it has to start somewhere. I suggest that the sports community become just that—a community. As with anything, it is easier said than done, but the prospect of our unpopular teams cheering for each other should be enough to get the ball rolling.

Not Just for Leisure

Stephanie Chen / The Spectator

Phoenix Blaze Past Lady Panthers

Justin Strauss / The Spectator

Girls’ Basketball

The Badminton Club travels all the way to the New York Badminton Center in Flushing, Queens to play and practice as the Stuyvesant gymnasiums are occupied everyday.

By Jeffrey Zheng “Badminton is mad boring and takes no skill,” junior and boys’ varsity basketball player Arlex Gole said.

“Badminton? I think my grandma plays that,” junior and boys’ varsity football player Ervin Flores said.

These are the usual responses when one mentions badminton. As a sport, it is scoffed at and belittled by fans and players of popular American pastimes like basketball, football, and baseball. Most people are unwilling to accept the fact that badminton is a sport. They associate it with not demanding athletic training, but leisure and a slow pace associated with old people or young children. This is why sophomore Jialin Ke and her club, the Stuyvesant Birdies, are trying to revolutionize the way people view badminton.

As president of the Birdies, Ke is extremely frustrated by the lack of recognition that badminton receives. “I’ve heard things like ‘badminton is for slow people’ or ‘it’s not even a sport because it’s super easy to play,’” Ke said. “It honestly makes me really mad, because it implies all kinds of things about what I’m like and what my club members

are like. None of us are slow or fat, thank you.”

In order to further promote badminton as a sport in Stuyvesant, Ke has revitalized the badminton club. Last year’s club was nothing more than a number of fruitless interest meetings. Many people wanted to play and anticipated official badminton meetings, but those tournaments never occurred. Ke was disappointed at this lack of activity and decided to take charge by resubmitting the charter for the badminton club to the Student Union.

In addition, she has tremendously improved her own competitive badminton skills and shown her passion for the sport by training this summer.

Ke, along with freshmen Charles Sang and Chris Ye, attended the New York Badminton Center in Flushing, where they worked hard to polish their skills and learn strategies. “I remember when I trained for the first week and I could barely walk after,” Ke said. The center is filled with some of the best badminton coaches in New York, who train players who range from beginners to experienced and competitive players.

The Stuyvesant Birdies are devoted to instructing people

about badminton, teaching them how to play the sport, and, ultimately, entering competitions. In order to promote the club and badminton as a sport, the Birdies have suggested “showing a few games to the school and letting other people try playing against Charles,” Ye said. After playing against the club’s strongest members, people may change their minds and rethink their opinions of badminton’s difficulty. Still, while there are almost 100 members in the Birdies’ Facebook group, only 13 people showed up to the first meeting.

The Birdies’ most immediate challenge, however, is not even the lack of attendance. Rather, it is the lack of a consistent location where they can meet periodically to play badminton.

Stuyvesant has numerous PSAL sports teams that constantly occupy the gyms, but Ke notes with frustration that “schools like Bronx Science can somehow manage to accommodate for their badminton club,” she said.

“As for Hunter, the co-presidents had to fight for badminton’s recognition as a sport, but eventually they got their spots during lunch periods.”

At Stuyvesant, though, the badminton club’s options are outside, which is not an ideal location because it is either too cold or too windy to hit the birdie, or official but faraway badminton centers like the NYBC. While official badminton centers seem like a perfect spot for the Birdies, the centers are only open late at night or charge prices upward of $10. To make things even more tedious, the administration requires permission slips from each member when they hold meetings away from the school.

Despite these obstacles, Ke and the Birdies will continue on to their goal and even “advocate for badminton to be an official PSAL sport,” Ye said. As of now, the club continues to meet offi-

cially at the NYBC. Though it is not the most ideal location, due to the schedules of the mem-

“I remember when I trained for the first week and I could barely walk after.”

—Jialin Ke, sophomore

bers, they have official badminton courts, and the Birdies have even been able to cut the price of admission from $10 to $6.

Ke faces a steep uphill challenge with the club, one that proved to be too great for past club presidents. The sport not only has a negative image, but also suffers from lack of interest because people don’t take it seriously. On top of that, when there are devoted club members, it is hard to find areas to actually play. But Ke has already shown a burning passion for the sport, and, with two freshmen who seem to share her interests, she hopes that this strong core will lead to big changes for the club and—more importantly—the sport.

December 18, 2013

Page 24

The Spectator SpoRts Boys’ Basketball

Katherine Fennell / The Spectator

Peglegs’ Season Starts with Stumbles

Junior Arlex Gole shoots a basket at an away game on Thursday, December 12 against Washington Irving High School.

Peglegs Unprepared for Titans’ Aggression

By Anthony Cheang and Louis Susser The end of the last year’s season opened many questions for the Peglegs. With the graduation of six stellar seniors, the entire roster shape-shifted from last year’s heady veteran squad to this year’s team of mostly newcomers. The inexperience of this team was tested on Wednesday, December 4, against the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex Titans. Bayard only finished fourth in the division last year, with a record of 8-7, while the Peglegs ended with a 12-4 record. This year, Bayard is looking to flip the script, and began doing so with a 79-51 victory over the Peglegs.

Bayard has one of the less spectacular basketball courts

in the division. Their short and cramped court caused mayhem for the players. “We have to be careful with the ball in such a cramped space to prevent turnovers,” coach Philip Fisher said.

Bayard also had the advantage of having only three seniors graduate; 10 of their players returned.

In the first half, the Peglegs were outplayed. On the very first play off the tip-off, a Bayard player dove out of bounds to save the ball for an easy layup. Bayard managed 38 rebounds, and these showed in the score. In the first quarter, the Titans had 32 shot attempts, while the Peglegs had only 20. The Bayard players were playing a full-court trap, haphazardly sending multiple players to trap the ball handler. The Peglegs simply couldn’t move the ball around, which resulted in 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone.

In the second quarter, the Peglegs faced much of the same Bayard aggression. The harassing Bayard defense continued to wreak havoc on the Peglegs’ ball movement, limiting their possessions and ultimately only allowing 11 points in the quarter. By halftime, it was obvious that the Peglegs had to regroup through halftime if they still hoped to win. “We can’t play as fast as we were playing in the first half.

We were careless with the ball,” Fisher said. As the first half came to a close, the Peglegs faced a 24point deficit, 44-20.

The third quarter was the only quarter in which the Peglegs outscored the Titans and finally found their footing in sound fundamentals. They managed to slow the game down and consequently got more shot attempts, in contrast with their hasty play in the first half. Led by junior Konrad Krasucki and senior Imtiaz Hssan, the Peglegs were able to outscore the Titans 22-8 and cut the deficit to 12 points. “In the third quarter, Konrad came in, and we cut the lead in half.

They don’t go in the paint when Konrad is there,” Fisher said.

The Peglegs’ third-quarter efforts were in vain, however, when the Titans took advantage of Krasucki’s foul troubles and proceeded to blow the game wide open in the fourth quarter. Without Krasucki protecting the middle of the paint, Bayard opened a 30-point chasm between the two teams.

“We can’t make any excuses. We need to box out, and we need to work harder. The only way we are going to beat the more athletic teams is by outworking them,”

Krasucki said.

Stuyvesant Peglegs Cool off Blazers

By Rayyan Jokhai After suffering a difficult loss to Bayard Rustin Educational Complex in their season opener, the Stuyvesant Peglegs were hoping to bounce back against the Murry Bergtraum Blazers. They ultimately prevailed over the Blazers 39-33 on Thursday, December 5, in a slow-paced, methodical game.

Coming into the game, coach Philip Fisher knew that if the Peglegs were to win, they would have to play at the tempo at which they felt comfortable. In the previous game, the team tried to play a speedy run-and-gun offense to keep up with the other team, which resulted in the Peglegs’ routing. “In the last game, we tried to run with them. That’s not how we play, that’s not us,” Fisher said.

The Peglegs were able to create an early lead for themselves in the first quarter, outscoring the Blazers 12-8. They played tight defense on one end of the court and then strong offense on the other, as evidenced by their 13 total assists.

After a slow-paced first quarter, the Blazers came into the second quarter looking to speed up the momentum, resulting in a quick 9-2 run to tip start the quarter. However, after a timeout, the Peglegs regrouped and got back to their game plan. “Defensively continued on page 22

Sports Wrap-Up

Facing a tough schedule at the start of the season, the PEGLEGS, Stuyvesant’s boys’ basketball team, are 1-3 in their first four games. After a blowout loss to open the season, the team has improved its passing and patience on offense and hopes to turn things around before winter break.

The PHOENIX, Stuyvesant’s girls’ basketball team, are undefeated in their first three games. Juniors and leading scorers Sophie Gershon and Lauren Sobota are leading the team on both ends of the floor, averaging 15 rebounds per game and nine assists per game, respectively.

Stuyvesant’s girls’ gymnastics team, the FELINES, kicked off their year with a victory over Christopher Columbus Campus.

The PIRATES, Stuyvesant’s boys’ swimming team, began their quest to reclaim the PSAL championship they lost last season by defeating George Washington decisively.

After an unexpected, disappointing defeat in their first non-league game, the SPARTANS, Stuyvesant’s boys’ wrestling team, bounced back with a victory over Erasmus Hall Campus in their season opening league game.

Roving Reporter: Reforming the PSAL

By Lev Akabas and Luke Morales with additional reporting from Chris Kim Though the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) provides an outlet for student-athletes across New York City to participate in athletics alongside their academics, the program is sometimes flawed in the way it facilitates competitions, just as is any system in which winners and losers are selected. The program’s size can understandably cause organizational difficulties, butThe Spectator’s Sports Department has witnessed many unfair rules and inconsistencies that should be involved in no sport.

By opening up the floor to Stuyvesant’s coaches and student-athletes, we hoped to examine the problems in the PSAL as it currently stands.

“What is one thing you would change about the PSAL, and why?”

“The PSAL doesn’t technically allow winter games for baseball because the baseball teams kept playing in tournaments under their PSAL names. But teams just play not under their team name anyway, and it’s silly that they can’t practice under their own team name. There’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be able to play in the winter.”

—Aaron Mortensen, junior boys’ baseball player

“The quality of sport teams in each borough is so different that good teams from Manhattan or from each borough are not as good as the worst teams from other boroughs. There is too much discrepancy, and sometimes we should be playing just to beat our borough, rather than once we get to the playoffs and suddenly play everybody.”

—Nick Kalantzopoluos, senior boys’ basketball and boys’ baseball player

“The administration from the top down should be replaced. They use the rulebook when they want to use the rulebook, and if they don’t want to use the rulebook, they don’t use the rulebook and they make up their own rules. They only use the rulebook if they want to stick it to a coach and show them the rule. It’s different rules for different teams.”

—Anonymous Stuyvesant coach

“Some coaches take on two sports teams right after each other, so once you’re in playoffs and your season is ending, they’re already busy with their other team, so they can’t put as much attention on you. They juggle two teams at once, so each team doesn’t get enough attention. [It’s a scheduling problem] because in volleyball, we were in the playoffs, but we weren’t getting enough practice time because [our coach] was busy with his gymnastics team.”

—Julia Gokhberg, junior girls’ volleyball and girls’ tennis player

“I would make it so the Stuyvesant handball team would have many more games throughout the year, at least three or four, against the other top teams in the city, because historically, if you look at our record, we always win the division. We’re 12-0 almost every single year, and we get to the playoffs and then all of a sudden we play these really tough teams. Teams like Bayside, for example, play against other great teams the whole year, so it’s like they’re playing playoff scrimmages constantly, because they have such a good division in Queens. So I wish that the PSAL commissioner for handball would make it so that we have scrimmages [...] more regularly during the year.”

—Robert Sandler, boys’ handball coach

“As a JV coach, the fact that a 17-year-old can play JV is a tremendous disadvantage. A 17-year-old is much more mature than a 13-year-old from a physical standpoint, and I have a problem because at most of the other schools, I know for the fact that the kids are as old as 16 or 17. It’s just not fair.

“At some of the sites, the security should be a lot better. Particularly, I think that at a lot of other schools, once we’re in the gym, they don’t keep things in line as well as we do.

Not at all gyms, but at certain gyms, sometimes the way the gym is laid out, the spectators are on the court, shouting profanities or ethnic slurs, and I find that sometimes it crosses the line. But I know that [the PSAL] is a big program, and there are going to be difficulties when you have a program that big.”

—Howard Barbin, boys’ junior varsity basketball coach

“The PSAL needs to get better refs—refs that are specific to the sport. In volleyball, they have refs that aren’t trained for volleyball. They need to know the game.”

—Abigail Baltazar, senior girls’ volleyball player

“There needs to be better communication between the PSAL and the athletic directors.”

—Larry Barth, Athletic Director