The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
Volume 112 No. 9
January 25, 2021 OPINIONS
stuyspec.com ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Old Plays, Modern Ideas
The Emergence of Abstract Art
Opinions writer Ivy Huang explains the revolutionary way Shakespeare approached gender in his plays, and how that has in turn paralleled her own gender identity.
Whether it’s oversimplified or too obscure, there are an overwhelming number of critiques and interpretations of an abstract artwork’s meaning. But how did abstractionism come to be?
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see page 16
Omicron Variant Causes New Schoolwide Policies and Updates tending school if they are negative and asymptomatic. Students are now to report
By LAUREN CHIN, OLIVIA HAVEN, MADISON KIM, JINA KOH, and FIONA SHI
interview. Because the Omicron variant is more contagious, Stuyvesant has
Ibtida Khurshed / The Spectator
As the Omicron variant causes COVID-19 cases to surge, Stuyvesant has implemented new policies and enforced existing ones to ensure the safety of students and staff members. In addition to daily health screenings and a mask mandate, students are encouraged to remain socially distanced when possible. Additionally, Stuyvesant distributed at-home test kits for the school community and implemented new quarantining policies. Previously, students who tested positive for COVID-19 had to email Director of Family Engagement Dina Ingram and Assistant Principal of Security, Health, and Physical Education Brian Moran of their case. They would then forward the information to the Situation Room, the Department of Education’s (DOE) response agency responsible for tracking positive COVID-19 cases and possible close contacts. Students who test positive are to quarantine for at least 10 days while students who are identified as close contacts are to get tested and can continue at-
positive results directly to a Google Form to make the tracking process more efficient. “This information assists us in getting cases reported to the DOE’s Situation Room in a more timely fashion, having an accurate quarantine list for teachers, counselors and the attendance office as well as get information to families on return dates in a timely manner,” Ingram said in an e-mail
seen a large spike in COVID-19 cases as students returned from winter break. A total of 416 positive cases were reported since the start of the new year as of January 14—about 2000 percent more than the number of cases reported before winter break. To minimize the spread, students who are symptomatic are encouraged to stay home. “We want
Stuyvesant Students Organize Citywide Walkout ings. Over 20 schools participated in the walkout, with some schools, like Brooklyn Tech, having over 400 students walk out. “A walkout is much more disruptive,” Farrow
Classrooms once packed with students and teachers have been replaced with a new reality. As the spread of the Omicron variant surged throughout New York City, many classrooms were left emptier than usual due to an increase in absences and a shortage of staff members to keep schools functioning. Though some specialized high schools, such as Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Technical High School, have had higher attendance rates than the averages, this trend is not reflected throughout all public schools. The citywide attendance rate as of January 19 was 81 percent. In light of these circumstances, juniors Samantha Farrow, Rifah Saba, and Cruz Warshaw organized a citywide walkout to garner public attention for a temporary closure of schools until it becomes safer to attend. ¨Our goal is to temporarily close schools for one or two weeks so that we won’t have to use the shutting down of schools as a last resort like last [year] and face months of remote learning. I’d rather face one or two weeks of remote learning rather than an extended period of remote learning,” Saba said. The walkout occurred January 11 at 11:52 a.m. and was designed for students citywide to collectively leave schools to protest against the continuation of school open-
ers and government officials, so we needed as much attention as possible,” Saba said. “It was successful in getting the attention of policymakers. The chancellor had
Courtesy of Isabella Jia
By ISABELLA JIA Additional reporting by Momoca Mairaj
said. “Doing it in the middle of the day and visually seeing [students] walk out has a big visual impact.” Given the visual impact, the organizers hoped a walkout would bring more exposure to the Omicron surge in schools and lead to governmental action. “We were trying to garner the attention of people in power like policymak-
“The Pulse of the Student Body”
representatives reach out to us, but that’s just the first step, so I would say our work isn’t done yet.” The momentum and support for the walkout came largely from social media and widespread continued on page 4
to stress to families that if a student does not feel well, stay home. Academics can wait and be made up. Do not come to school if you are not feeling well,” Ingram said. Close contacts who are asymptomatic or do not have a positive test result from a COVID test will now no longer have to quarantine and are permitted to attend school. Stuyvesant has also distributed rapid at-home test kits with instruction sheets to all students. Students identified as close contacts or who are symptomatic are asked to take a test first and, if they test negative, to take another test five days later. Otherwise, test kits should be stored until they become necessary. “We plan to distribute these kits to students once per week. Staff also [receive] these kits once per week,” Ingram said. The administration also canceled all in-person after-school activities with the exception of scheduled PSAL games without spectators and certain activities approved to hold meetings, such as Robotics and the Stuyvesant The-
NEWSBEAT The Board of Regents and New York State Education Department canceled all Regents exams for January 2022, replacing the week of January 24 with instructional learning. Senior Nina Shin was named one of the top 300 scholars of the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022 for her project “Using Immunophenotyping to Investigate Mumps Virus Infection of Natural Killer Cells.” Social studies teacher Robert Sandler attended an Academy of Teachers Master Class on the backstory of “Maus” led by its author, Art Spiegelman. A new mural has been painted by the artist Vexta on Stuyvesant’s fourth floor.
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Mental Health: One Semester Down, One to Go By SARAH DIAZ, CRAIG CHEN, IAN KIM, MARY LEE, and SARAH HUYNH Additional reporting by Karen Zhang The abrupt transition to remote learning was a challenge for many students, and the entirety of the 2020-21 on-line school year exacerbated the issue of students’ mental well-being. Throughout the semester, the administration introduced various mental health initiatives to help ease students back to in-person learning. In spite of this, concerns surrounding mental health continue to be raised as the semester nears its conclusion. A discussion about mental health was sparked among the student body by a Facebook post by junior Julia Williams in January 2021. Williams created the post—which garnered over 370 comments and nearly 500 reactions—to address the lack of resources provided to students to help them manage the workload remotely. “Stuyvesant expected kids to do an amount of work that was not dissimilar to what they would have been asked to do in in-person school,” Williams said. “Some kids were able to do it, but the people who were struggling a lot were not being given ways out.” In the time since Williams’s post, the administration and counseling office have implemented
various mental health programs and resources, such as partnerships with MyRobin—an organization that provides lessons led by mental health coaches on coping mechanisms and techniques to promote healthy habits—and Counseling in Schools (CIS), which provides an additional clinician in the school five days a week. The new counseling staff hopes that their presence will provide additional support to students. For example, CIS counselor and art therapist Sapphire Chao began holding group art therapy sessions available after school this semester. “Some students have never seen their classmates until this year, so that’s why we want to have a place that’s more natural to meet other people,” Chao said. “It’s partly that we want students to relax, but on the other hand, we want students to connect and support each other.” Alongside art therapy, Chao also holds individual sessions with students and parents, in which she listens to their major concerns and helps students understand themselves. “I do hear lots of students talking about how much stress they have from school, but on the other hand, I also have students come to me to figure out who they are, including sexual and racial identity, or it could be about their interests continued on page 4
The Spectator • January 25, 2021
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News Omicron Variant Causes New Schoolwide Policies and Updates continued from page 1
ater Community (STC). “At this point, we allowed after-school activities that need to continue that are controlled environments with an advisor present to continue,” Ingram said. “We know how important [these activities] are to the student experience here at Stuyvesant. The administration will continue to monitor and bring back activities when it’s deemed safe.” While PSAL sports team games and after-school practices are still permitted, some players are concerned about social distancing guidelines in a high-contact sport. “Already, we were taking precautions by masking, but there is only so much you can do when playing a high contact sport like basketball,” senior and boys’ basketball team captain Deven Maheshwari said in an e-mail interview. The ban on spectators at sports games was disheartening for some, but understandable given the increase in COVID-19 cases. “I’m upset that we can’t have spectators. I love the energy that people bring and the crowd makes the games more enjoyable. However, I understand that the new policy was necessary to try to keep cases down,” senior and girls’ basketball team co-captain Paige Wolfing said in an e-mail interview. Despite after-school activities cancellations, some clubs and organizations, such as STC, still remain active. “After returning from break, Dr. [Zachary] Berman, our faculty advisor, contacted Mr. Moran and Principal [Seung] Yu, and we were allowed to continue rehearsals given that we have constant faculty supervision,” senior and STC Executive Producer Ava Yap said. Additionally, AIS tutoring after-school has resumed, with teachers, such as history teacher
David Hanna, hosting tutoring sessions. However, he has been unable to meet with students as regularly and has taken several precautions to ensure safety. “I’ve only had a few tutoring sessions since the Omicron surge began. There was one after break when no students showed up,” Hanna said in an e-mail interview. “There was one large one that I moved to Lecture Hall A and made sure each student had an empty seat between them and the next student.” History teacher Mordecai Moore added, “Because I’m not giving a final or a test in the next couple of weeks, the kids who are coming are coming for help on a project or something, so my numbers are lower than they normally would be.” The administration has had to adapt to the constant changing of COVID-19 state protocols. “Personally, the biggest challenge I am facing is constantly having to adjust as new guidance and information comes in. We are trying to make the best decisions for Stuyvesant,” Moran said. Moore acknowledges the rapid virus mutation impact on updating administrative policies. “It’s challenging for the administration because COVID is changing so quickly, through different mutations, and therefore both federal and city policy is changing, so I know the school is trying its best to keep up with proper health and safety procedures while maintaining a rigorous curriculum,” he said.“They’re doing the best they can, but I think it’s challenging because everything seems to be changing at the same time.” Due to the rise in COVID cases, some students have decided to stay home to reduce their risk. “I did miss a few days of school because of the whole reason of not wanting to get COVID, but unfortunately still managed to get
it somehow a few days ago,” junior Ria Escamilla said in an e-mail interview. “I am now missing 10 days of school (including a week of finals) because of quarantine guidelines.” For those who tested positive for COVID, some expressed difficulty with schoolwork due to a lack of communication from teachers and administrators. “I got COVID two weeks ago and there was such little communication between me and the teachers. They wouldn’t answer my emails on time [and] we were all unclear about how remote learning was supposed to work for us,” an anonymous freshman said. In response, many teachers made new adjustments due to an increase in student absences, such as hosting remote office hours for quarantined students to keep up with work. “I’ve been doing Zoom classes after school for students who are absent due to COVID and because I teach AP classes, I do more than the minimum because I really want kids who are in these AP classes to not really fall behind,” Moore said. “I end up doing three Zoom classes a week for an hour each.” Though there is no remote learning option, some desire one, feeling that attending school in person is unsafe and that the limited remote options for quarantined students make it hard to catch up. “We should still return to remote learning, considering the number of people testing positive for COVID,” an anonymous sophomore said in an e-mail interview. “Going remote would make keeping up with classes easier for students who do test positive.” However, Hanna preferred teaching in-person classes throughout the rest of the school year. “Returning to remote learning would be a major step backward,” he said. “It would have a seriously negative effect on morale across
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and NASA
WORLDBEAT An apartment building fire in the Bronx killed at least 19 people, of which nine were minors. President Joe Biden led a new plan that will require private insurers to cover the cost of eight at-home coronavirus tests per person per month. Chicago’s public school system closed down schools and returned to remote learning due to protest from the teacher’s union and a rise in COVID-19 cases. Mayor Eric Adams reversed overhaul efforts at Rikers Island and plans to restore solitary confinement on the island before closing its facilities. President Biden delivered a speech at the White House to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. the board.” Like Hanna, Escamilla expressed concerns about returning to remote learning. “I know a lot of students who do not like staying at home because of a toxic household or other problems at home. I also do know students who depend on the school for shelter and food so for that reason I wouldn’t really like schools to close,” she said. At the same time, she acknowledged that a temporary remote learning option may be the most beneficial. “I am also concerned for immunocompromised students or family members and get that not everyone, including myself, feels safe going to school,” she said. “There should at least be an option for some students to learn that
way, [so] the safest thing would [be] to [switch temporarily] to remote learning for people’s safety and health.” With the increasing spread of the Omicron variant, both the faculty and student body hope for a return to normalcy. To keep the community safe, the administration urges continuing to follow policies set in place by the DOE and paying attention to updates. “Stuy students have done a great job of being safe by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, staying home when not feeling well, and reporting positive test results,” Moran said. “We ask that students remain patient while we modify activities. Our goal is to keep everyone safe and keep the school open.”
January 2022 COVID & Attendance Tracker By KAREN ZHANG and MORRIS RASKIN With the rise of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus across the city, nation, and globe, many New York City schools saw attendance levels plummet. Here were Stuyvesant’s statistics for the month of January.
COVID Case Numbers As of the weekend of 1/22-23, there were 502 total cases at Stuyvesant since the beginning of the school year—460 students and 42 staff members. 231 of these cases have been in the last 14 days.
The Spectator • January 25, 2021
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The Spectator • January 25, 2021
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News Stuyvesant Students Organize Citywide Walkout continued from page 1
sharing. “It was citywide, so we organized it on social media just to get the word out really quickly and that’s the most effective way to do that. It was mostly on Instagram. There were a lot of story re-
shares, so that really helped get the word across to everyone in New York City schools,” Warshaw said. For Stuyvesant, the administration acknowledged the walkout and made accommodations to help students successfully walk out. “Students who decided to participate in the walkout were
asked to swipe out to indicate they would be leaving the building and not returning. The responsibility of the staff was to make sure students without issue could leave the building to participate in the walkout,” Principal Seung Yu said in an e-mail interview. “Staff also informed families the morning of
the walkout with an update indicating students may choose to participate in the walkout and leave the building.” Though walkout participation varied around the city, many students felt empowered to be able to come together and advocate for an alternative solution to
school openings. “I felt a sense of connection between fellow Stuy students, a sense of power that I thought we did not have as students,” junior Keynan Nain said in an e-mail interview. “Though the number of people did not meet my expectations, the sentiment of authority did.”
IO Classroom and PupilPath Gone and Back By REBECCA BAO Illuminate Education’s two major grading platforms, IO Classroom and PupilPath, were fully restored on January 18, allowing both teachers and students to regain access to the online gradebooks before the end of the semester. The previous week, Illuminate Education notified Stuyvesant of a service interruption proceeding its prolonged shutdown. The temporary unavailability of the platform caused the school to shift to recording class attendance through hard copy, while also restoring the attendance module in Talos, which was used during remote learning. “The IO Classroom and Pupil-
Path outage caused considerable angst and hand-wringing for the Stuyvesant High School community,” Assistant Principal of Organization Gary Haber said in an e-mail interview. With attendance being a major concern, many teachers found the outage to be inconvenient. “The outage has not only affected our attendance record-keeping but our daily class participation grade as well,” Physical Education teacher Rebeca Morel said in an e-mail interview. “Since Physical Education is a participation-based class, it’s important for students to be able to see how they’re doing every day.” As for grade-keeping, the temporary service delay did not require
major adjustments to be made by all teachers, as some already noted scores on different physical or online services for backup. “[Usually] I keep a separate excel file [with] grades as well as a Delaney book with [homeworks] and tests marked,” math teacher Stan Kats said in an e-mail interview. In addition, teachers who often use PupilPath for assignment submissions transitioned to accessible alternatives. “My chemistry teacher posted our test grades on Google Classroom, and some teachers have also switched to collecting homework [there], whereas before they would collect it either in-person or on PupilPath,” sophomore Sonia Atlas said. However, with the end of the
semester approaching, students expressed concerns over losing their ability to know how recent exams impact their course average. “I want my [geometry] grades to come out, and [because] we just had a test, [...] it could bring my grade up or down. [...] It makes me feel relieved to know if my grades aren’t that bad,” freshman Joy Herman said. Other students find that having PupilPath available gives them a grasp on what they need to do to prepare for upcoming exams. “Personally, I’m slightly concerned because keeping track of my grades is the way I’m able to see how I’m doing in class and in which ways I need to work harder,” Atlas said. “Since right now
we’re before finals, it’d be easier to know how I [previously] did so I’ll know what I need to study.” With IO Classroom and PupilPath fully functioning as of January 20, teachers and students can return to their daily visit to the gradebook. However, despite the platforms’ restorations before the end of the marking period on January 24, the week that was lost has increased the workload for teachers. “Teachers are particularly affected as they now have a backlog of period attendance, assignments, and grades to input into IO Classroom,” Haber said. “Insofar as the fall term [...] ends on Monday, January 24, 2022, teachers have a great deal of work on their plate.”
How are NYC High Schools Faring With the Omicron Variant? By MOMOCA MAIRAJ AND REBECCA BAO Additional reporting by Ashley Lin and Isabella Jia As Stuyvesant grapples with and adjusts its response to the Omicron variant, circumstances may vary across other New York City public schools. The Spectator gathered the perspectives of students outside of Stuyvesant on how their schools have dealt with the variant. “The school hasn’t handled Omicron very well. While they have been good about certain things such as distributing COVID tests, they lack in other aspects such as general communication. Not many of my teachers have been absent, but some of my classes had close to half the students missing. I believe that schools should be shut down for a short amount of time, maybe two weeks or a month, in order to contain and recover from Omicron.” —Max Bieber, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, junior “The overall situation at Nest is getting better, but slowly. A lot of kids aren’t coming to school because they either have COVID or are scared they’re going to get it. Since the beginning of December, I’ve had at least one substitute teacher a week. A lot of students have been absent. Before break, I think attendance was about 30 percent. It sucks because a lot of the education and curriculum is being put on hold. In the future, if there’s a huge spike in cases again, I think a shut down should be considered, as horrible as virtual learning was.” —Ruby Kiesewalter, New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math, junior
“One of the main issues in the school the first and second week back was that a lot of students were absent, and a lot of teachers were absent too. Usually, when a teacher’s absent, they send the kids to the auditorium for study hall, and the auditorium was always full and it definitely wasn’t safe in terms of COVID safety measures. A student wrote a Reddit post that gained a lot of attention online about the conditions, and the school actually did change its policies after that. There are a lot more substitutes. A lot of students just want a better option for remote learning in case they do have to be absent due to COVID since right now there isn’t really instruction well-tailored to students staying home, so a lot of the time, they just have to look at powerpoints or ask other students in the class. Starting last week, teachers started offering to have zoom meetings with students once or twice a week where students can ask questions, but that’s still quite different from asking questions in class or asking questions in the moment. ” —Giulia Cartegni, The Bronx High School of Science, junior “When we got back from break, about 20 to 30 percent of people were out, not as much nowadays, but some favored teachers have left permanently due to COVID. Ideally, I would not like schools to close. I’m a social person, so school for me is about the people as much as it is grades.” —Riley Hill, The Beacon School, junior
“For my school, they have been slowly managing Omicron. After winter break, our school ran out of tests immediately and no one was able to get tested after being in an exposed classroom for almost an entire week. Now they have decided to give only two tests per student every week regardless of the number of times you have been in an exposed classroom. Rules with masking and open windows for ventilation have also been stricter now. Coming back from winter break I would have six to seven students in my classes. Makeup tests after school or during the school day have also increased due to the number of students absent. Our classes have also increased the number of ARROW days (days where we just catch up on any work/free period) and pushed back dates for tests and quizzes. Some COVID protocols my school has implemented are allowing students to go out for lunch, opening all windows, and not using lockers.” —Anonymous, The Brooklyn Latin School, senior
“While I feel like the situation at my school is the best it could be under these circumstances, many students including myself don’t feel safe. We average about five new confirmed cases every day despite the fact that most students wear their masks and there are protocols put in place. I believe that my school is doing a good job in that they provide students with free tests and are very adamant about social distancing and staying home if symptoms are present. On the other hand, many students are not taking the pandemic as seriously as they should be, in terms of inadequate social distancing. My school’s student attendance rate has gotten as low as 35 percent.” —Henry McQuillan, The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, junior
“The first week was a complete frenzy, with students administering their rapid tests in the hallways, in the auditorium, in the lunchroom, and the bathroom. With packed hallways and many students not even wearing face masks, my school has become a supercenter of spreading COVID. There have been so many teachers absent that there aren’t even enough teachers to cover, so classes are to report to the auditorium or cafeteria. For one school day, I had spent more time in the auditorium than I had spent in a classroom due to my teachers being absent, all for COVID-related reasons (either tested positive or a family member tested positive). The current learning situation is unproductive for everyone: if teachers are out, a Google Classroom assignment is not enough to make up for live instruction; if students are out, even for a day, they immediately get behind from the class.” —Lauren Fan, Brooklyn Technical High School, junior
Mental Health: One Semester Down, One to Go continued from page 1
in the future, career, and college,” Chao said. “Some students see me because they don’t feel confident about themselves, or have challenges in being assertive, or to communicate with their family, teachers, or peers.” Stuyvesant also added new counseling clinicians as staff. Many students feel that these additional mental health resources are a step
in the right direction and encourage peers to be open-minded to utilizing them. “Reaching out to school staff about mental health can be intimidating, but having spoken to some of the new clinician staff, I’d definitely encourage more students to try reaching out to take advantage of the new resources being offered at Stuyvesant,” junior Grace Wu said. “There’s still a long way to go in terms of mental health here, but it’s nice that there’s an active effort [by] staff to increase the
availability of resources at school. To me, that’s signaling the issue is at least being acknowledged.” The counseling office is making it a major priority that resources at Stuyvesant are accessible to students. “Even pre-pandemic, we saw that Stuyvesant students, in general, need a mental health service brought to them,” Assistant Principal of Pupil Personnel Services Casey Pedrick said. “Instead of going to therapy outside of Stuyvesant, we have it right here in-
house so that students don’t have to choose extracurriculars or studying over their mental health.” Despite these new sources of support, students still continue to struggle with mental health. Some counselors express that more students have reached out with mental health concerns this semester, compared to past years. “Students have mentioned to me they appreciate having the convenience and availability to now speak to someone in person when they need
an adult to talk to or some assurance,” guidance counselor Sandra Brandan said in an e-mail interview. “They feel relief that someone is ‘there’ and an adult is available for them.” Anxieties about the spread of coronavirus have also resurfaced in light of rising Omicron cases. “I’ve noticed a genuine decline in my continued on page 5
The Spectator • January 25, 2021
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News Meet the 2022 SING! Coordinators of the job is working with so many talented people just because there are so many incredibly creative individuals in each grade and on a day to day basis, and during math class or English, you don’t get to experience that in its entirety,” Shafran said. As this year’s SING! production will be hybrid, Shafran is hoping to expand opportunities to different niches which had not been necessary for an in-person production. “I definitely want to
Senior SING!: Alec Shafran Senior SING! Coordinator Alec Shafran has participated in SING! ever since his freshman year and dreamed of doing so before he had even graduated middle school. Shafran previously served as a producer for SophFrosh SING! 2019 and coordinator for 2020 SophFrosh SING! and 2021 Junior SING! After attending his older brother Mark Shafran’s (’18) SING! performance when Alec Shafran was in sixth grade, Shafran was enthralled and knew that SING! was something he wanted to participate in. “I was absolutely in love with it because it’s a really cool tradition and I had never seen anything like it before,” he said. As coordinator, Shafran is inspired by the people he gets to work with in leading this production and enjoys overseeing the collaborative and creative nature of his classmates. “My favorite part
new perspective of what we would and wouldn’t like to do,” Ohayon said. “Being able to compare the in-person and virtual SING! experience is going to help us integrate elements of both into one SING! production, which I am looking forward to doing this year.” Ohayon also hopes, especially for the 50th anniversary of SING!, that the production is memorable. “We are working together to make the SING! monumental because, in the last few years, SING!
Courtesy of Caroline Stansberry
It’s SING! season! While the timeline for the annual schoolwide, student-run original musical production is delayed this year due to a postponement of StuySquad performances, Stuyvesant’s annual dance showcase, SING! is anticipated to happen in a hybrid model with both in-person and virtual aspects. This year’s SING! coordinators—senior Alec Shafran, junior Lianne Ohayon, and sophomore Caroline Stansberry—speak on their past experiences, goals, and expectations for SING!. Coordinators take on an administrative role in managing logistics, budgeting, hiring, and ensuring that overall logistics are on schedule.
and solid plans has been so far our strategy just because we know that we need to be adaptable.” As this year will be the 50th anniversary of SING!’s inception, Shafran is optimistic for this year’s SING! to be a special one, especially in working with the other coordinators as well. “Working in tandem with Lianne and Caroline is going to make for a very unique SING!, which I think is very great for the 50th anniversary,” Shafran said.
Courtesy of Alec Shafran
By MAGGIE SANSONE, SAKURA YAMANAKA, MADELINE GOODWIN, and EMMA CHIO
be able to give more people an opportunity to get involved in SING!. There is a huge untapped potential in the Stuy community because so many people are super talented at filmmaking, video editing [...] and a normal SING! season doesn’t really give those people the space to be creative,” Shafran said. Shafran anticipates collaborating extensively with his slate, made up of seniors Ava Yap, Avni Garg, Elizabeth Stansberry, and Ella Krechmer, to accommodate for any COVID-19 related circumstances. “This year, I’m going to try to take into account the different opinions and creative input of all the talented people in my grade and incorporate that into whatever format SING! ends up taking,” Shafran said. “Going into it without any solid expectations
Jingwei Liu / The Spectator
Junior SING!: Lianne Ohayon This year’s Junior SING! Coordinator Lianne Ohayon has had extensive experience working in musical theater, and with SING! in years past. During the summer before her freshman year at Stuyvesant, Ohayon had her first SING! experience at sleepaway camp. Later, Ohayon was a producer for SophFrosh SING! 2020 and became SophFrosh coordinator in SING! 2021. Ohayon anticipates that these experiences will help her as the Junior SING! coordinator this year, but acknowledges that her role this year will be unlike any other because of the hybrid nature. “This year, we are working in a different way. Having had the virtual SING! experience has given us a
has looked a lot different from SING! 10 years ago,” Ohayon said. “SING! is one of the largest student events at Stuy and we want it to live up to the 50th-anniversary expectations.” Given the pandemic, Ohayon realizes the difficulties of coordinating a “monumental” production. Despite these challenges, Ohayon remains optimistic that SING! will still be a fulfilling experience. “It’s still going to be SING! and the fact that we are all invested in making the SING! season as incredible as possible,” Ohayon said. “When we are looking at how to run SING! this year, there may be some changes logistically, but it will still be the same SING! that we all know and love.” SophFrosh
SING!:
Caroline
Stansberry Caroline Stansberry is this year’s SophFrosh SING! Coordinator and was previously a producer for SophFrosh SING! 2021 as a freshman. Even before entering Stuyvesant, Stansberry had already been dreaming about participating in SING!. With older siblings who both participated in SING!, Stansberry discovered her love for SING! prior to entering Stuyvesant. “My first time seeing SING! was three or four years ago and I’ve seen it every year since and I was just like it seems so fun,” Stansberry said. Though Stansberry expressed nervousness, she feels calm in receiving support from Shafran and Ohayon. “I’m going to do my best because last year I was not in person so I’m not as familiar as past coordinators, but Alec and Lianne have been super nice and have been helping me along this process so far,” Stansberry said. She approaches this year’s SING! season with high anticipation, as it will be her first year in person. However, she also recognizes the possibility of a hybrid option due to the Omicron variant. “Our first choice is to do it as in-person as possible, but going forward, we’re not really sure with Omicron and how policies will change regarding after-school activities,” Stansberry said. “Hopefully practices get to be in person, and performances especially get to be in person.” As coordinator, Stansberry looks forward to participating in what she has watched and admired from a distance for a while. “SING!: it’s been a part of my life for several years now and I’m glad I finally get to be in this position,” Stansberry said. “I’m really really excited to do this year, especially after last year [was] virtual, that we get to do something in person.”
Mental Health: One Semester Down, One to Go continued from page 4
mental well-being in the past few days. I even had a teacher email me asking me if I was okay because of the way I seemed in class,” junior Zoe Parkin said. “The stress of having to worry about homework and not failing tests combined with the stress of not catching a virus is causing me to feel grim. I was not as stressed in the first months of this semester but now that we’ve come back from break and every day, you can just see the number of cases growing.” However, other students express anxieties surrounding the possibility of returning to remote learning. “I’ve been able to have good grades again and engage in my classroom environment this year, and so going back has been something that was really good for me because my grades were awful last year. I’ve gotten more into my groove of doing moderately well, and going back to remote will completely erase all that progress,” Williams said. The counseling office staff states that the prominent concerns students have communicated to them pertain to circumstances relating to COVID-19. “From concerns [such as] going back remote, loss of learning, getting sick, losing someone because of COVID, isolation because of COVID, loss of extracurricular opportunities, parents losing work, loss of friends [and] high school experience, mental health diagnosis in which COVID exacerbated them, students also worry about the world of uncertainty because of COVID,”
Brandan said. While some students have utilized the new mental health resources at Stuyvesant, others express that they primarily rely on friends and peers to effectively cope with stress. “Most of my friends have been through what I have regarding issues at school and it’s nice to receive their advice when trying to get through something tough,” junior Peter Carini said.
those [are] not a commitment,” Pedrick said. “It’s nothing in that formal sense that some of us think therapy is.” In spite of the various initiatives Stuyvesant has implemented to address students’ well-being, many students say that these resources failed to address the student body’s main stressors, including heavy workloads and a grade-orientated culture at Stuyves-
reason why the instability of students’ mental health is so difficult to solve. “Mental health itself is a kind of competition. If you come off as depressed, people might think they can handle things better than you, or at least that’s how it comes off when people don’t show they’re struggling,” Roy said. Williams echoes this sentiment, adding how students and administration reinforce the competitive
“Until the emphasis switches away from grades and more into finding things that you’re interested in, and this culture [of] super high grades, Ivy league colleges, and loading on as many extracurriculars as possible. Until that culture is shifted, there isn’t going to be any progress with the school no matter how many seminars on stress management they provide for us to go to.” —Julia Williams, junior Along similar lines, the counseling staff hopes to foster greater normalcy associated with reaching out to Stuyvesant’s mental health resources. “It feels like it’s much more common to attend tutoring at Stuyvesant, so let’s make it so that its much more common that you come and seek out a balance with your mental health by visiting your school counselor or our social workers or going to Sapphire’s art therapy group session[s] because
ant. “I talked to my guidance counselor to complain about [one of] my [teachers], and while [my counselor acknowledged] my concerns, she instead suggested art therapy, which wouldn’t be helpful for my problems,” sophomore Amrisha Roy said. “Drawing isn’t going to take away the fact that I’m failing my math tests—it just takes away time that I could be studying.” Students agree that the competitive culture of Stuyvesant is the
culture at Stuyvesant. “At Stuyvesant, it becomes this total treasury of getting good grades and taking on APs and extracurriculars for the sake of college and for the sake of fulfilling the reputation of being a Stuyvesant student,” Williams said. “Our school falls really flat with teaching kids how to learn and how to engage with the topics they learn in class. Until the emphasis switches away from grades and more into finding things that you’re interested
in, and this culture [of] super high grades, Ivy League colleges, and loading on as many extracurriculars as possible. Until that culture is shifted, there isn’t going to be any progress with the school no matter how many seminars on stress management they provide for us to go to.” Pedrick emphasizes the importance of promoting community and mutual empathy to improve mental health at Stuyvesant. “The majority of [students] are happier to be back in school, to be able to have a sense of routine, to be able to interact with friends and [extracurriculars], but of course, a lot of us put on a brave face and are not really showing that we are struggling on the inside maybe to our friends or to our teachers,” Pedrick said. “One of the things we can do as a Stuy community, from our staff to our parents to our students, is to remember to give each other grace in this time and understand that everyone’s going through something on some level, whether you can see it or not.” As the second semester approaches, students and staff alike echo this sentiment and hope to see addressing mental health remain a priority at Stuyvesant. “Personally, my mental health has seen a lot of ups and downs throughout the semester, but what’s really helped is keeping my well-being in mind even when I’m struggling and knowing when to turn to friends, teachers, or even the guidance office,” Wu said. “I’m not sure what next semester will look like, but I’m glad mental health is becoming a continuous conversation here at [Stuyvesant].”
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The Spectator • January 25, 2021
Features The Omicron Predicament in The School That Never Sleeps
By THEO SASSANO
The COVID-19 Omicron variant is taking New York City by storm, and it’s difficult to say what will happen next. For several months following September, it seemed like schools would hold up, and that everything would soon go back to normal. After nearly two years, was this nightmare going to finally end? Soon enough, the city discovered that this was too good to be true. Despite the effectiveness of vaccines and decrease in hospitalizations as compared to previous COVID-19 variants, the highly-transmissible nature of the Omicron variant has led to demands for public school closure, with lawsuits and walkouts arising throughout the city. In response to this pressure, the new NYC mayor Eric Adams has announced that he is reconsidering his prior decision to keep schools open indefinitely, though it is possible that this is only an empty gesture with the intents to alleviate the general public’s outrage. Despite the new safety measures enacted by the DOE to reduce the spread of COVID-19, many students do not feel safe in the current school environment. While improving ventilation and providing rapid COVID tests does contribute to in-school safety, many students believe that only remote learning can truly ensure safety. “It’s frustrating that the
choice is taken out of whether you want to show up to school or not,” freshman Filie Chen wrote in an e-mail interview. “During the dark days of the pandemic, I had the people who I love close to me at home to reassure me.” Chen is especially concerned as she lives with two high-risk family members, and is putting them at greater risk by attending school. “It’s really scary that so many other vaccinated individuals who take precautions still get sick,” she said. “If it gets worse, I will stay home without a doubt.” Attendance rates have shown an all-time low with over 25 percent of Stuyvesant students absent on January 7th, and over 50 percent citywide. With the option for asynchronous learning with excused absence only available to students who test positive for COVID-19, this 25 percent represents the students who are forced to pose risk to their academic record for the sake of the health and safety of their families. Stuyvesant’s significantly higher attendance rate despite the Omicron crisis is likely due to the highpressure environment inflicted by both students’ peers and parents. Such pressure can manifest itself in extreme and detrimental ways. For instance, one senior’s post on Stuyvesant Confessions admits to attending school after testing positive for COVID-19 due to her par-
ents’ overwhelming pressure for her to maintain her GPA. Despite the risk of currently attending school, COVID positive or not, prolonged absence simply isn’t a sustainable option to many. “I know it is very risky to continue interacting with 150+ people every day in school while a COVID surge is going on, but the prospect of catching up on work from being absent discourages me,” freshman Eva Lam wrote in an e-mail interview. “Catching up on missed work and having to self-teach yourself the new material learned is not as simple as the teachers think it is, and this pressures students to come to school, even if feeling unwell.” Some believe that in-person learning is unreliable due to staff shortages. “For the past week, half my teachers have been absent, leaving the students a worksheet to do and for us to figure out the rest,” Lam shared. “I’ve been struggling in these classes since I have no clue what to do or what points to focus on as the teachers aren’t there to guide me.” Others believe that remote learning would be equally detrimental to students’ education. One anonymous freshman is a proponent for remote learning in this period, but acknowledges its drawbacks in terms of academic integrity. “I think that if we were to go remote [again], students would be more reliant on the internet for infor-
mation,” she said. “However, safety should [always] be the first priority.” Sophomore Deangelo Poon feels differently, noting that remote learning, while safer in certain regards, doesn’t provide the same experience as in-person learning. “I was a freshman last year [in remote], so it was hard for me to make new friends and socialize with people,” he explained. “I also think that many of us would fall behind in classwork [since] it’s harder to learn from a computer screen.” Poon is less concerned about contracting COVID-19, noting that although the Omicron variant is more contagious, it is relatively mild, especially for vaccinated and boosted individuals. Junior Luca Adeishvili believes that while it’s necessary to close NYC schools, remote learning will be detrimental to Stuyvesant’s academic experience. “It’s insanity to keep the schools open any longer, and despite how awful remote learning was for my and many others’ mental health I still think it’s the best way to go,” he said. Adeishvili understands that neither alternative is favorable, reflecting on his experience with remote learning in previous years. “My participation grades dwindled [and] I found it difficult to grasp certain topics in some subjects because I wasn’t able to focus on the lessons during remote class,” he explained.
Adeshvili also found the social experience to be quite limited in remote learning. “I remember how quiet breakout rooms always were, because nobody ever had the drive to do anything there,” he recalled. “The social element of school [was] completely gone.” The debate between remote and in-person learning is more than a debate between health and education; there are several other factors to consider. For one, if schools were to transition to remote, many parents would be faced with the challenge of needing to watch over their children and also regularly attend work. However, keeping schools open for longer could also backfire, as a greater spike in cases could lead to a longer period of remote instruction in the future. At this point in time, neither option is perfect, or even close to it, and this is something that the Stuyvesant community, as well as all NYC public schools, must come to terms with. Mayor Adams, though understanding of the public’s concerns, is weary of returning to remote learning— even if temporarily—acknowledging that it was harmful to students’ education in previous years. In the weeks going forward, students, parents, and teachers may look toward a compromise as one’s current situation may differ from another’s, whether a remote option becomes available or not.
Saving Christmas With Diwali Lights, Jewelry, and Fake Gifts
By ANISHA SINGHAL
it, made a space for it in our living room, … and promptly realized that we didn’t have anything to decorate it with. So we improvised. My mom found a sturdy clay vase
(with my brother cradling the base of the trunk and me clutching the top), we sanitized
to balance the tree in. I dug out our Diwali lights to drape around the tree. Seeing that
Courtsey of Anisha Singhal
I’ve always loved Christmas, the hustle and bustle of buying presents, the Santa decorations in shop windows, the holiday music, and the “Home Alone” and “Die Hard” movies. Every year, I feel the buzz of cozy traditions and cheerful closeness around me, but besides a few presents exchanged with friends, I’ve never quite felt like a part of the holiday myself. I always settled for secondhand cheer as an observer of a culture I was surrounded by but separated from. There was always a tinge of disappointment in my December 25 mornings because I never quite got my Kevin-in-the-Plaza moment. But this Christmas Eve, I found the perfect conical tree leaning upside down against the fence of what would soon be a section of boardwalk blocked off for a fragrant Christmas tree dumpyard. It befuddles me why anyone would toss their tree before the big day. Not only does it defeat the purpose of having a tree, but they cost $100! If I paid that much for a tree, I’d keep it all winter. Regardless, I thank whoever threw theirs, because for the first time, I had a chance at a true Christmas experience. My parents had always refused to let me get a tree. “What’s
the point? We don’t celebrate anyway.” But after some light convincing and my promise to be a diligent caretaker, they let me adopt the abandoned tree. After dragging it 10 blocks
they were only long enough for two loops, I pulled the flamingo fairy lights from my bed and wrapped them around our tree as well. I found colorful jewelry—a seashell necklace, a few chunky rings, a pair of mahogany hoop earrings, and two beaded bracelets—to fill in as makeshift ornaments. My brother sandwiched Christmas cards between branches and placed a toy Pinocchio at the top as a substitute for a star. It wasn’t a glamorously color-coordinated, glass ornament tree, but it felt so authentic that we all fell in love with it anyway. The real twist of our Christmas was the presents. When I asked my parents if they had presents for us to put under the tree, they pointed out (again) that we do not celebrate Christmas. It was too late to buy presents. Shops were closing, and while Amazon Prime is fast, it’s not order-onChristmas-Eve-get-by-Christmas-morning fast. In another stroke of creativity, my brother and I devised a plan to save our Christmas. We wrapped up items from our closets and set them under the tree. Some gifts from friends, unopened body scrubs, a couple old comics, a slightly worn iPad case with a missing key, and a collection of shiny leather-bound notebooks found themselves re-
purposed as presents. It was far from the perfect Christmas. There was no enthusiastic wrapper shredding to uncover an unknown object of desire. But we jokingly feigned surprise as we unwrapped our self-placed gifts. The sentiment of celebration does not need expensive gifts. Though new things are exciting, we used this celebration as a chance to grow our appreciation for the old and semi-new. (It was environmentally friendly too!) I’d always romanticized the perfect Christmas, but it’s the imperfections that make the holiday fun. Without the robbers, “Home Alone” would just be a kid eating ice cream and watching trashy noir;; without the terrorists, “Die Hard” would just be a lonely cop trying to win back his wife; and without the Grinch’s jealousy, Dr. Seuss’s “The Grinch”” would have just been another quiet, small town Christmas. While I won’t be asking for a run-in with bad guys for Christmas anytime soon, it was the little mishaps and lastminute mistakes that brought the most joy to my first real tumble with the holiday. The best Christmases are the ones that almost don’t happen—the ones that need to be saved.
The Spectator • January 25, 2021
Page 7
Features Jumping Into the New Year By SOFIA ALLOUCHE
New Year’s is the favorite holiday of many. It gives people the chance to start fresh and commit to the saying “new year, new me.” Others dislike the culture surrounding the event, claiming it is simply a clerical date. Like it or not, come December 31, calendars will change, and festivities will commence. One time-tested New Year’s tradition is the revered resolutions list. “I have a few New Year’s resolutions that I feel like I might really follow through on,” junior Subha Bhuiyan said. “The main one I want to focus on is being more organized because I
By OLIVIA WOO and MILLIE BELL
feel like that is one of my biggest issues.” But not everybody participates in this ritual. “I don’t really have a New Year’s resolution, mainly because I couldn’t figure out one,” junior Jessica Qiu said. Though resolutions are popular, many complain about the often unfulfillable promises. Besides figuring out resolutions on New Year’s Eve, students have a variety of ways to keep busy during the buildup to midnight. “My friend and I [...] are both into K-pop, and since two concerts were being held virtually, we tried to decide on which one to attend,” Bhuiyan said. “Because we are fans of all the
groups in both concerts, it was hard to choose.” Unlike Bhuiyan, junior Ria Escamilla decided to celebrate New Year’s at home with family traditions and movies. “I like watching holiday movies as a final goodbye to the holidays. We also have a tradition where we eat 12 grapes to represent each month of the year, and we eat them at midnight. After that, we all knock out because of exhaustion,” Escamilla said. Food and family both play large roles in the New Year’s celebrations of many. “Usually, my family and I invite our cousins, uncles, and aunts to our house, and we just eat and watch the
countdown,” Bhuiyan said. “We usually meet at a restaurant beforehand, but this year, we ate different foods like dumplings, biryani, and Thai soup.” Qiu also listed some favorite foods she eats to celebrate New Year’s. “Tofu, glass noodles, sliced meat like lamb or beef, fish balls, [and] chicken feet [are] usually some food we eat,” she said. “Usually, I have a lot of people from my family over, like my uncle’s family, and we eat together to have a hot pot. Because this year was different, [my] mom stayed home for New Year’s and made food like fried chicken and French fries. She made egg tarts as well.”
Few New Year’s traditions are as time-tested as the countdown. But not everybody is a fan of the custom. “I surprisingly don’t watch the countdown because it isn’t as interesting to me as other things I could be watching,” Bhuiyan said. At the stroke of midnight, many are surrounded by loved ones, entering the new year with joy. Even though countless students couldn’t be with family this year, the entire Stuyvesant community entered 2022 with the same hope. “Though it’s not the same, all we can do is stay hopeful and wish that when we enter 2023, it’ll be on a much better note,” Bhuiyan said.
Is Stuyvesant’s Cheating Culture Untreatable? choice between doing [busywork] that wasn’t necessary to understand a unit and sleeping, I would choose sleeping,” anonymous sophomore A explained. This outlook is reflected in
said. However, they also pointed out that its harm is limited to the effectiveness of an assignment in the first place: “There are loads of teachers who assign homework that’s just busywork, and that doesn’t help people actually learn, so I feel like if people end up cheating on that type of homework, then it’s not really a problem with the students [...] It’s more of a problem with the type of homework that [a teacher is] assigning.” For many students, especially those who have to balance school with extracurriculars or other nonacademic activities, doing unhelpful work can feel like a waste of time, thus increasing the inclination to cheat. “If I had the
data collected by The Spectator in a survey of the graduating class of 2021. Of those interviewed, 79.1 percent said that they had partaken in academic dishonesty at least once, and 36.8 percent agreed that cheating in any form could be justified. The discrepancy between those who consider cheating to be justified and those who actually take part in it can be explained in a variety of ways. An anonymous senior B suggested that it comes down to sympathy for the needs of others. “Many people will choose to help a friend even if they [themselves] are against the principle of academic dishonesty,” they wrote in an e-mail interview.
Nada Hammed / The Spectator
For much of Stuyvesant’s history, students have traversed the murky waters of academic dishonesty. From homework sharing to plagiarism and even ascending to large-scale Regents rings, cheating is embedded in Stuyvesant culture, making it an important indicator of the student body’s mentality regarding academic honesty and grades. For some, the transition back to in-person learning reignited this disregard toward academic integrity. “In remote [learning], there’s less of an excuse for academic dishonesty because, for me, remote was a lot easier academically. I didn’t have to commute, and I could wake up later, and I had more time to do everything. Now, I think that I take and give homework answers more and have a less grave outlook on [cheating],” anonymous sophomore A said. On the other hand, several students expressed that cheating was more prevalent during remote learning than it is now. “Remote learning changed the playing field,” anonymous senior A wrote in an e-mail interview. “It was closer to [an] honor system, so I felt that most people were more likely to push the rules a bit.” Anonymous sophomore B noted the effects of this mindset. “A lot of people didn’t actually learn as much last year because of how easy it was to cheat on things, which is sort of sad,” they said in an e-mail interview. Like anonymous sophomore B, most students agree that cheat-
ing is harmful. “Academic dishonesty is bad, of course, [be] cause it’s not conducive to learning for anyone who does it, and it’s also kind of a peer pressure thing,” anonymous sophomore A
An anonymous sophomore C provided another explanation: “Academic dishonesty [...] might go against [students’] morals, but sometimes, the want for a better grade in a class [overrides this principle],” they said in an e-mail interview. This widespread desire for academic success is acknowledged by an anonymous sophomore D. “There’s a lot of pressure on students to get good grades and to perform well rather than learn the material, both from parents and the competitive nature of Stuy. [This expectation] pushes them to become dishonest academically,” they said. Anonymous sophomore C agreed with this view. “If the school was less stressful, there’d definitely be decreased levels of dishonesty since not as many people [would] feel like they have to get good grades all the time,” they said. Anonymous sophomore A recalled a time when this pressure to earn good grades encouraged several students to resort to cheating on a test. “There was a teacher who did not make his own tests at all, and he took his questions from the Internet. The questions did not match what we learned in the unit, [...] so it was really hard to do well. There were like five kids in the class who looked up the answers to his short response questions, and they just copy-pasted the answer[s],” they said. “He gave [...] them a zero. If [he] maybe [...] made sure [the test questions] matched the unit and made everyone feel comfortable in their ability to answer the questions, then they wouldn’t be
[cheating].” On the other hand, anonymous senior A recognized that there is a certain level of pride in academic integrity that is promoted by the Stuyvesant culture, even when students are under pressure. “Stuy[vesant] encourages original work, as there’s a feeling of being proud of being at Stuy, that you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are, so that [is a motivator] to continue doing your own work as best as you can,” they explained. Views on academic dishonesty at Stuyvesant are spread over a wide spectrum. However, most students agree that cracking down on individual instances of academic dishonesty isn’t an effective method for discouraging the practice. “Stuyvesant is such a big school that you’re never gonna catch everyone who’s cheating. Only some of the kids who are cheating will get suspensions, and a suspension is something that stays on your record,” anonymous sophomore A said. Anonymous senior A agreed, citing the immediate effects this method would have. “Any stricter checking would place too much burden on teachers and would overall just detract from the learning experience at Stuy,” they said Students have agreed that there is only one viable solution, then, to address Stuyvesant’s cheating culture: “Maybe Stuy should focus on the reasons why people feel the need to cheat instead of the fact [that] some people break the policy,” anonymous sophomore C said.
Cracking the Surface of the Private Bus Service
By ANDREW OH and JUNI PARK
A bus at 7:00 a.m., then the two train to Chambers Street. Maybe the LIRR to Penn Station and the three train? Perhaps a carpool, or is today the day that you ride the seven train with your friends? Such has been the routine precedent of the “Stuyvesant Student” commute for decades. But now, more than ever, students and parents alike have prioritized a need for safe transportation. As a result, parents banded together to organize a new private bus service for Stuyvesant students: a routinely scheduled collection of coach buses that sweeps Stuyvesant students to various public bus stops and the school. Since the start of in-person school, safety concerns over packed subway cars and a re-
cent spike in hate crimes have caused many Stuyvesant parents to place their trust in S&J Tour & Bus Inc. to drive students to school. “Personally, my parents wanted [me] to take S&J because they thought it was unsafe in the subway since there are lots of people around and there’s a higher chance of catching COVID,” sophomore Rainie Sun said. Multiple students have had a positive experience riding the bus. “The people on the bus are really nice,” freshman Brandon Waworuntu said, also noting that he met his first Stuyvesant friends on the bus. Additionally, many students have found the private bus to be more convenient than other modes of transportation as they are able to freely sleep, complete homework, or socialize on the ride. “It’s very easy not having to pay
attention to stops,” sophomore Zareen Islam said. “The bus is in the same place every day. If there are delays, they’ll let you know, things like that.” While the year started off on a positive note, a plethora of issues soon arose for some students. The bus service originally advertised to travel along three routes: the 495 route, the Queens Boulevard route, and the Northern Boulevard route. “One month after school started, they merged the routes of Queens Boulevard and Northern Boulevard, so now the students on Northern Boulevard take three hours to get home instead of two,” anonymous freshman A said. A claimed that S&J also falsely advertised certain accommodations for their services. “At first, I signed up for the bus service because it was a safer way
to get to school without having to take the subway, and the bus company also offered WiFi and snacks, but those promises were never fulfilled,” they said. A also observed clear unprofessionalism among the workers. “The late bus driver would smoke in front of the bus while kids were getting on,” A noted. “After he [smoked], he would be coughing throughout the entire trip without wearing his mask.” Although these problems could easily be reconciled through communication between customers and the staff, an anonymous freshman B claimed that S&J has ignored parents’ efforts to contact them. “Originally, there was a group chat for communicating with the service staff members and parents, but recently, they disbanded that chat. They didn’t give a reason for why they end-
ed it. They just kicked everyone out one day,” B explained. After the major platform where customers were able to stay in touch with the bus service was shut down, parents began voicing their concerns to the staff through e-mails. However, all their complaints went unheard. “There were at least 20 people trying to get refunds, but the bus company owner and the affiliates ignored the whole thing,” A said. “The owner told the parents to see them in court instead of actually resolving the issue.” In addition to all the issues that have arisen with S&J’s service, some students have found that it isn’t worth the unreasonably high price, around $4,000 continued on page 8
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The Spectator • January 25, 2021
Features Cracking the Surface of the Private Bus Service continued from page 7
By LAUREN LEE
who take the bus are freshmen, but they only had a bus
minority, and they did not provide bus service for first period per contract,” A said. “The majority of the people
for the usual time. So people who depended on the bus got to school extremely early and had to just wait for a few hours
until school started.” At this moment, S&J has made it clear that there is no room for accommodations. “The contract was very straightforward. Nothing has been changed,” a worker at the S&J service said. “We’re being as proactive as we can. We send out e-mails every week [and] remind them to send us an e-mail or give us a call if they have any questions or concerns.” Whether the issues of the bus service are a product of the circumstances surrounding the pandemic or the fault of S&J, numerous students have made their dissatisfaction with the S&J bus service clear. “They’re going to start losing business if they don’t change anything,” A said.
Table Tennis and a Road to the Olympics citing her primary motivation to continue playing after the initial visit to the table tennis center. Kang’s transition to Stuyvesant has posed the greatest challenge so far to her table tennis career. With a long commute and academic pressure, Kang has found it difficult to keep up with her personal table tennis training. However, she has worked to reach a perfect balance in the past few months. Her new training schedule accommodates for her commute and responsibilities at Stuyvesant. Kang detailed her schedule: “If there is school table tennis practice or matches, I usually end up going home around six to seven. Then, depending on my homework load, I will go to my table tennis club and have a lesson for about one and a half hours, and I will have to leave immediately to go home, eat, shower, and then finish homework.” Though her days seem hectic, she has managed to handle it with grace. English teacher and coach of the
girls’ table tennis team Emilio Nieves compared her budding success to that of former student athletes. “They amazingly were able to excel as students despite the time commitment of their sports. [Kang] thus far has seemed to be excelling in the same way,” Nieves noted in an e-mail interview. The transition into Stuyvesant became easier after her acceptance into the girls’ table tennis team as the first singles player. “I definitely feel like there’s a lot more support because I’m around [my teammates] for two or three days of the week, and we practice together, so it’s a lot more different than training by myself with my coach,” Kang said. Though the team consists mostly of upperclassmen, Kang has had little trouble blending in and creating strong relationships with her teammates. While her team has become a support system for her, Kang has been giving back in a different way. “When she is practicing, she has incredible
focus, and it’s hard to not be inspired by her. She is also willing to give improvement tips to her
Francesca Nemati / The Spectator
Oftentimes during the winter season, the clamoring of small, hollow ping pong balls can be heard from the cafeteria. The Stuyvesant girls’ table tennis team is practicing drills or playing intense matches with other schools. One of the players, freshman Alyssa Kang, who is just starting her career as a Stuyvesant student, has already taken the position of first singles on the table tennis team. Her success in table tennis, however, is not new. Throughout her competitive career, Kang has played in the U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships, the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships, and multiple Team USA trials. Kang started playing table tennis when she was eight years old and her mother brought her to play for the first time with her sister. “I kind of really like smacking the ball, so I wanted to go back. So I just kept on playing until now,” Kang said,
niors and sophomores. “They only supplied the bus for the
Courtesy of Rainie Sun
for round trips annually. “There are people who have extracurriculars, and they are unable to take the regular bus, which means that they won’t be taking as many trips on the bus as other people do regularly,” Sun said. “And [though] they do provide a late bus service, from personal experience, sometimes it doesn’t come on time to the point where I have to resort to public transportation.” No cost accommodations have been made for students with more unusual schedules. Many students, such as A, paid for the Early Bird package—a deal through which students could sign up for the ser-
vice early in exchange for a discount—before their class schedule was finalized. “When we paid, I had no idea that my schedule would have eight, nine, and 10 free,” A said. “I have to take the LIRR home, so I feel like it’s a waste of money for me to sign up for this bus company and then not take it to go home. There were no refunds at all.” There was one day when the bus’s inflexible service became especially apparent. On the day of the PSAT, many freshmen suffered from the bus service’s poor scheduling. While juniors and sophomores took the exam at 8:00 a.m., first period for freshmen started at 12:54 p.m. Despite two separate time schedules, S&J only provided service for ju-
teammates, which I appreciate,” Nieves commented. Kang aims to play in the Olympics and has started competing in trials to qualify. Last year, Kang played in the under 17 Team USA trials, ranking in the top 10. In the past, Kang also represented Team USA in the Swedish Open, and this year, she ranked in the top 15 in
the under 15 category. “There are trials every year. At first it’s the under 15 team, and then you go into the under 17, and then under 19, and then even right now you can make the adults team, which would go to the Olympics in four years,” Kang explained. Her goal for this year is to make the under 15 team, but she hopes to eventually see herself at the Olympic trials for the 2024 Olympics. “The idea of being able to represent Team USA is such an honor, especially since table tennis has been one of my biggest passions since I was nine. It would be amazing to play alongside some of the best players in the world,” Kang described. As Kang works toward her far-reaching goals like playing in the Olympics and making division champions with her team, she continues to play with one thought in mind: “If it’s a loss, I’ll take it. If it’s a win, I’ll take it too. It’s just about learning from your mistakes.”
Dead Art
“Yu-Krampus” by Jasmine Wang
“Sondheim” by Justine Kang
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Science SCIENCEBEAT
2021 Science Wrapped By KARINA GUPTA
Vaccines and Variants The nation entered 2021 with one main goal in mind: herd immunity. With the COVID-19 vaccinations approved by the FDA by the end of 2020, the next objective was to rapidly distribute them to the public. Currently, around 60 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, with 70 to 90 percent needed to attain herd immunity. The peak period of vaccination was in April 2021 with three million shots distributed every day. However, this pace has slowed to a crawl as most people who were intending to get vaccinated have already done so. Now, common reasons for the unwillingness of those who are not yet vaccinated are the fear of the symptoms it may cause, religion, disbelief in sci-
Climate Change Continues Climbing Because of the decrease in industrial activity, the air and water quality of cities drastically improved and the false hope of a silver lining of the pandemic emerged: it may in fact give the Earth time to heal. However, though the past year has helped the planet in some ways, it has deeply damaged it in others. 2021 was
vaccinated to encourage kids—and their parents—who may be fearful of getting the shot. Just when people were starting to lower their masks, the world was put on edge again when new variants began to emerge, the most significant ones being the Delta variant, which dominated the summer of 2021, and the Omicron variant, which first appeared in November 2021. Both of these variants caused spikes in cases and sparked the fervent work to find a new means of protection. This led to the release of booster shots, which were shown to neutralize the omicron variant.
life on Mars and cache samples for its eventual return to Earth in around 148 days. Having launched on July 30 in the midst of a global pandemic, this rover’s name is relevant on many levels. Taken literally, this rover is persevering on a hostile planet, but this journey represents the perseverance of humanity in whatever challenges that may stand in the way.
An artificial intelligence capable of recognizing a player from their chessplaying style has been developed, raising questions about privacy in the digital world where its applications can be used to track and identify anonymous behavior online.
reported to be one of the Earth’s hottest years in history. Ever since the start of the pandemic, huge amounts of waste have been accumulated and haphazardly disposed of due to the panicked hoarding mindset and the need for all things disposable, such as masks and other personal protective equipment. This new year’s resolution should be to save the planet.
Billionaires in the Space Race Three prominent billionaires are taking the phrase “reach for the stars” literally. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson each have a new mission: filling space with tourists. Though they share a common goal, these businessmen have varying visions and have set different records along the way. Musk’s Falcon 9 made history on September 15 as the first space mission with an all-civilian crew; the passengers remained in orbit for three days. Branson, the first passenger on a rocket he helped fund, took a one-and-a-half-hour trip to and from space in his Virgin Galactic ship, while Bezos’s trip in New Shepard was only eleven minutes. Many suspect the cause for the sudden space craze to be the billionaires’ higher-than-sky egos. However, Branson claimed, “We are here to make space more accessible to all [...] for everybody.” He seems to have intentionally left out that the tickets to fly were $250,000 each, but the prices are likely to decrease as space travel becomes more common. Rather than throwing their money around, it is probable that these billionaires have embarked on these missions to show that the sky is not the limit.
millennia, there is finally a reliable form of protection against this parasitic disease spread by infected mosquitoes; near the end of just last year, the WHO approved the first malaria vaccine. If not lower their masks, at least people may now lower their bug spray and sigh in relief.
Landing of Perseverance After over one year in space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s rover, Perseverance, touched down on the dusty surface of Mars. This rover’s mission is to look for signs of past
Malaria, Managed From 6,000 years ago in Ancient Mesopotamia, cuneiform engraved in clay tablets describe deadly and periodic fevers: the disease that we now know as malaria. Having taken countless lives for
Though 2021 was an extremely trying year, it is important to recount not just the bad, but the good, exciting, funny, and hopeful. The expectations for 2022 are focused on healing—for both the Earth and its people.
Stefanie Chen / The Spectator
James Webb Telescope Launched The James Webb Telescope was launched into space on December 25, 2021 with high hopes of getting a glimpse of the universe right after the Big Bang. This telescope isn’t traveling back in time, though—instead, it will view the Big Bang’s first glows and the emergence of the galaxies and celestial objects we know today. Similar to the Hubble Space Telescope, which can see 450 billion years after the Big Bang, Webb uses infrared vision to catch these faint, ancient light waves. Unlike the visible light waves that we can see with our naked eye, infrared light is dimmer and has longer wavelengths. This type of light is sometimes visible to us in the form of heat, appearing as “ripples” in the air on hot days or near a fire. The telescope’s 6200 kilograms of meticulous engineering hurtling 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth may be the gateway to our first glimpse of the beginning of the universe.
ence, and lack of trust in the government. In response, the government launched several campaigns to persuade the public to get vaccinated, whether it be through commercials, social media, billboards, or even posters on the subway. A common strategy used was publicizing the vaccination of certain celebrities and influencers. Big Bird, a famously fearful character in Sesame Street, was shown to get
Scientists have created reusable “jelly” ice cubes consisting of water and gelatin that are biodegradable and capable of being frozen and rethawed several times, offering a cleaner and eco-friendly alternative to ice packs and ice cubes.
New treatments for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are possible after researchers discovered that after successful HIV treatment, the virus integrates itself into rarely used portions of human DNA, locking itself out of reproduction and allowing the immune system to check any remaining virus production.
Where is Our Department of Science and Technology? By GERARD LIN Almost every developed country has a central federal agency dedicated to the advancement of science. China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the European Union’s Horizon Europe, and Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada are just a few examples. The United States, on the other hand, chooses to split part of its annual budget among various decentralized agencies like the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Our country’s scientific advancements have been largely successful using this dispersed approach, but pressing modern issues, including antibiotic resistance, the COVID-19
pandemic, and climate change, can only be effectively addressed by creating a centralized Department of Science and Technology. Currently, the Office of Science and Technology Policy is the federal body overseeing American scientific research. However, this oversight is lacking as it serves only to advise the President and other members of the Executive Branch on the effects of science and technology on foreign and domestic affairs, involving a meager 45 employees. In other words, there is a lack of coordination between sectors of science to form an overarching plan to achieve strategic goals. In comparison, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology created its Made In China 2025 plan in 2015, aimed at updating its manufacturing base
to shift China away from foreign dependence on materials like semiconductors needed for a modern, high-tech world. The lack of initiative by the United States limits its ability to compete and collaborate with other nations that are centralizing the scientific power necessary to achieve long-term goals. An American centralized agency centered around scientific development would expand the current public-private partnerships in science where competition for grants drives innovation. This would ultimately increase the government’s effectiveness in responding to intellectual problems. The 9/11 attacks exposed the weakness of splitting up intelligence agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency across the government
and fostered the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in response. Similarly, the failure of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to produce effective COVID-19 testing kits and the subsequent slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines exposes the weakness of splitting up scientific agencies. Unifying independent organizations like NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency with governmental organizations like the NIH would promote synergies necessary for huge undertakings, like the establishment of bases on the Moon and manned missions to Mars. Centralizing scientific agencies would also increase their collective bargaining power for money, creating a bipartisan consensus on funding for research and limiting politically motivated
budget cuts by the incumbent president. The long-term benefits of consolidated power vastly outweigh the predictable, short-term costs of confusion following the centralization of scientific agencies in the United States. Above all, it would keep our country competitive across all industries with emerging powers like China and bolster our economy by limiting the growth of outsourcing. Function follows form: nothing currently stops scientific agencies from cooperating, but reorganizing the current spread of scientific organizations in the United States into a centralized federal department would be an acknowledgment of a collective vision and mission reflecting the needs of the 21st century.
The Science Behind Procrastination By ELMA KHAN Procrastination is the wellknown plague that pollutes the work ethic of many Stuyvesant students. When our eyes fall upon our ever-long homework list, our five-minute break stretches into half an hour and the homework remains unappealing. Procrastination is delaying any unpleasant but necessary task and completing it at the last minute, or in some cases, even after the deadline. Contrary to popular belief, procrastination is not a habit. In fact, our brains
are practically hard-wired to procrastinate due to the constant battle between two central parts of our brains: the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. The limbic system, otherwise known as the paleomammalian brain, is one of the oldest parts of the human brain and is located in the center of the brain behind the prefrontal cortex and above the brainstem. The four main parts of the limbic system are the hypothalamus, amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus, which maintain homeostatic balance, regulate
emotions, relay motor and sensory signals, and process memories, respectively. The limbic system is responsible for our behavioral and emotional responses, especially those necessary for survival, including the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. On the other hand, the prefrontal cortex, located at the front of the brain, is one of the newer, less developed parts of the brain that controls decision-making, processing information, and many complex cognitive processes, like critical thinking and metacognition. It is said to be the part
of the brain that separates humans from animals as it isn’t emotional, but rather logical. When we acknowledge completing a less-than-entertaining task, like finishing homework, it activates the prefrontal cortex. Since it is responsible for decisionmaking and isn’t manipulated by emotions, it guides us to achieve our goal in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, the limbic brain also kicks in and has automatic reflexes which—while useful in life-ordeath situations—are not useful in terms of productivity. These
signals counteract the prefrontal cortex's signals with emotions like boredom or dread, preventing us from working and instead, taking on a more pleasing task. Immediately after succumbing to these signals, the limbic system activates a function called “immediate mood repair,” where that pleasant task, whether it be scrolling through social media or finishing a good book, causes the brain continued on page 10
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to release a small amount of dopamine, a hormone that induces feelings of pleasure. As a result, we are likely to continue actions that release that dopamine. Researchers understand procrastination as preferring “short-term mood repair” over actually finishing the intended task to feel good. Our brains are designed to prefer an immediate reward; when rewarded with dopamine by our limbic brain for not doing the intended task, it makes it hard to go back to it. Though most students use the words “procrastination” and “laziness” interchangeably, they are
not the same. In fact, teenagers are more vulnerable to procrastination because prefrontal cortexes don’t fully develop until the age of 25. Therefore, our limbic system can overpower the prefrontal cortex more easily. Procrastination usually makes us feel bad about ourselves because we associate words like “laziness” and “carelessness” with it. Laziness is accepting not doing our work. Procrastination is not being able to do a specific task, despite knowing that it is necessary. It is a problem of regulating emotions and a concept of willpower. Additionally, low self-esteem and perfectionism are key contributors to procrastination. In the
case of low self-esteem, doubt increases anxiety, causing us to avoid the task even more. Moreover, perfectionism is a significant cause of procrastination as it negatively affects our ability to manage stress. Perfectionists create a theoretical ideal of themselves and aspire to achieve said ideal. Therefore, many perfectionists put off work to avoid dealing with that overflow of anxiety. Many also procrastinate due to fear of failure. Procrastination is meant to be a coping skill to deal with undesirable tasks, yet it induces guilt, stress, and anger. This seemingly trivial issue can have long-term effects. Researchers link chronic procrastination to stress-related
headaches, colds, digestive problems, and insomnia, a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult to fall or stay asleep. Procrastination has also been linked to a higher probability of hypertension, or high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. While our brains were designed to procrastinate, such instincts don’t mean that we have to be procrastinators. There are many ways to overcome it, including separating a massive undertaking into smaller, more doable tasks. Large lists initially appear too daunting for us to approach, but completing smaller tasks induces a feeling of accomplishment, acting as a strong motivator. Investing in
a planner can also reduce procrastination by allowing us to organize our tasks and set personal deadlines. One can also make a boring task more fun through challenging ourselves, whether it be by setting a timer to try to “beat the clock,” or simply doing something fun alongside the boring task, like listening to music. Moreover, a simple yet effective strategy is counting back from three and immediately starting your work after hitting one without thinking about it. This builds a sense of habit. Oftentimes, we cannot help procrastinating—it’s instinctive after all. But by constantly working on diminishing it, this instinct within us can soon fade.
The MooLoo: How Potty Trained Cows Save Our Planet
As more than one million species are at risk of extinction due to the worsening of climate change, countless efforts are being made to reverse the damage. Countries are increasing financial funding for green companies, accelerating their Zero-Emission Vehicles policies, and creating goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Though humans are the main source of the global crisis, there are many other contributing forces lurking in the shadows. One of the least susceptible is cows. Cows spend most of their days eating and roaming on grass fields—overall harmless activities. Their consistent consumption increases the number of secretions, with the average cow producing more than five gallons of urine and 65 pounds of manure a day. Unbeknownst to the public, cow urine and feces contain substances harmful to the environment, such as nitrate, a toxin that pollutes water once it reaches an excessive amount, as well as methane and nitrous oxide, which pollute the air as a greenhouse gas. When urine is mixed with feces, ammonia—a major nitrogen pollutant—is created. Its release impacts biodiversity, such as soil acidification, and negatively interferes with humans’
bodies. Cows are used to peeing on the fields, resulting in the urine leaking into waterways and mixing with feces. With one billion cows around the world, it seems nearly impossible to prevent the increasing pollution. However, an animal behavioral scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, Lindsay Matthews, seems to have found a solution: potty training. Matthews and his colleagues took 16 calves because their less developed body results in minimal involvement in milking processes and less likelihood of slaughter. For 45 minutes a day, each calf was put into a MooLoo, an improvised latrine. Every time a calf peed into the MooLoo, they would be handed a treat. In the beginning, the calves went to the MooLoo for treats, but soon learned that they had to pee there to be granted one. If the calves peed in the hallways instead, they would get lightly sprayed with water. Eventually, the calves connected the MooLoo to treats if they peed there, and the hallways to be spritzed with water. Based on the current progress, Matthews deduced that “cows are at least as quick to learn as two- to four-year-old children.” 11 out of the 16 subjects were potty trained within 10 days. Though this progress is shocking to many, Lindsay
Whistance, a livestock researcher in Cirencester, England, was not surprised. She had expected the cows to be able to get potty trained and was instead more concerned with training one billion cows. Training a billion cows is a large
important as it makes the MooLoo process more efficient and practical. They might put urine sensors in the latrine for the automatic treat dispensing to occur. After creating the system, there must be planning of the quantity and
task. For it to happen, scientists will need to overcome numerous hurdles, such as obtaining enough funding. Firstly, the MooLoo training must be an automated system that gives the calves a treat when they pee in the MooLoo. This is
location of the MooLoos on the farms. To make MooLoo part of our reality, scientists will need to solve each of these obstacles. However, there might not be a need to successfully potty train all the cows around the globe.
Lillian Zou / The Spectator
By JOVANNA WU
Researcher Douglas Elliffe mentioned that collecting 10 to 20 percent of urinations would be enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching significantly, improving both our environment and health. As ammonia is one of the more significant emissions greatly reducing the quality of the air, collecting 80 percent of the cows’ urine will cut ammonia associations in half. Additionally, cattle’s urine and feces could be turned into fertilizers for crops, as it contains nitrogen and phosphorus—key nutrients for plants. Using the collected urine from the MooLoo, scientists can make more fertilizer to promote plant growth, leading to a healthier environment. Cows’ feces contain lower levels of nitrogen, which are beneficial for more fragile plants. With the rapid increase in air pollution, scientists are working hard to reverse the chaos that humans have caused. The MooLoo is one of the many solutions created. With such a promising solution made, the MooLoo has a high chance of being a widespread practice amongst animal and dairy farms. The cows’ high intelligence and fast learning speed make it easier to be done. Slowly and surely, MooLoos will spread, healing our planet one cow at a time.
Cypherpunks and the Battle For Privacy By ISHAANA MISRA When someone says “crypto,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably “cryptocurrencies.” Not too long ago though, this term actually stood for cryptography, a field of techniques used to communicate securely with another party. While methods to communicate securely have been developed for centuries, the need for cryptography was emphasized by the emergence of the internet. With more people communicating online, the government could surveil its citizens much more easily. Cypherpunks recognized this and advocated for the use of cryptography to maintain privacy over the internet. Modern cryptography makes use of keys, a string of characters, to encrypt and decrypt messages. There are two main branches: symmetric-key cryptography and asymmetric-key cryptography (also known as public-key cryptography). Initially, there was only the former, which is when the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt a message, meaning that both parties sending messages back and forth must have the same key. But how do both parties communicate the key that they want to use for
encryption and decryption while making sure that eavesdroppers can’t intercept it? Anyone with access to this key could use it to decrypt all encrypted messages. Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman wrote a paper in 1976 titled New Directions in Cryptography that outlined the idea of public-key cryptography, where one party generates a private key which they keep secret, and then from that private key generates a mathematically related public key, which can be distributed to anyone. One can encrypt with a public key but must have the private key to decrypt it. Therefore, even if an eavesdropper knew the public key and could encrypt messages, they could not decrypt them without the private key. Additionally, it would be extremely difficult to derive the private key from the public key. So far, the only method one has to find a private key, from the public key, is randomly guessing until they get the right one. Computers could spend a hundred years guessing a private key, yet yield no result. This discovery changed cryptography as people no longer needed to share the same key. So who are cypherpunks? The cypherpunks first started out as a
group founded by Eric Hughes, Timothy May, and John Gilmore. They started a popular mailing list, which was commonly used at the time as a place to host discussions on a variety of topics like cryptography, mathematics, philosophy, and economics. Ideas were generated, discussed, and implemented, such as SSL connection to web servers and secure remote access using the SSH protocol. While cypherpunks held many diverse opinions, they shared a few core beliefs that brought them together. In 1993, Eric Hughes wrote A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto, which laid out some core beliefs as well as the overarching goals of the cypherpunks. Among these is the belief that privacy requires anonymity and that software can’t be destroyed if it is widespread enough. One noteworthy section from it is: “Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software to defend privacy, and since we can’t get privacy unless we all do, we’re going to write it.” Cypherpunks knew governments and large corporations were unlikely to create tools to maintain the privacy of citizens and customers, so they decided to take it into their own hands. The majority of code written by the cy-
pherpunks is open-source, meaning that anyone can use it for free and can modify the code to make improvements to ensure that those who want privacy are able to get it. Often, the implication with one’s desire for privacy is that they have something to hide. To show carelessness regarding privacy is seen as a statement implying that you have nothing to hide. In Permanent Record, Edward Snowden strongly refuted this notion, writing, “Ultimately, saying that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.” Cypherpunks believe that privacy is a basic human right. Cypherpunks had been trying to figure out how to make a currency native to the internet, seeing it as a prerequisite to having a truly liberated internet free from censorship or surveillance. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was born from this cypherpunk movement. In fact, the Bitcoin Whitepaper, a paper outlining how Bitcoin works, was first published on the Cypherpunk mailing list. Bitcoin embodies the ethos of cypherpunks. Firstly, it allows for pseudo-anonymous transactions, since Bitcoin only
reveals a person’s payment address without other personal information. Additionally, Bitcoin’s code is also open-source, allowing anyone to download it off the internet. Its code is so widespread that shutting it down would almost be akin to shutting down the internet. While the Cypherpunk mailing list is no longer active, the spirit of the cypherpunks still lives on in the Bitcoin community. Bitcoiners believe in uncensorable transactions that aren’t controlled by the government, a large corporation, or other third parties. They see Bitcoin as a method of reclaiming financial freedom. While many people believe cryptography’s permission-less and uncensorable nature can be used by criminals to commit crimes, it can also be used by people trying to overthrow oppressive governments, people trying to save their wealth in countries where inflation is off the charts and assets are hard to find, and people who want to maintain sovereignty over their own information and wealth. While some commit crimes in our current system, we should not be denying access to technologies where its benefits outweigh the harms.
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Science A New Way to Treat COVID: Pills By ALEX ZHENG The country is currently surfing a massive spike in COVID-19 cases caused by the spread of the Omicron variant. Patient hospitalizations and ICU admissions have risen dramatically while daily cases continue to rise by tens of thousands. What may come as welcome news is that, on December 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the world’s first COVID-19 antiviral, Paxlovid, for emergency use to quell the explosion of cases around the country. Created by Pfizer, Paxlovid is a combination drug that prevents patients with mild to moderate symptoms from developing more serious ones that require hospitalization. Authorized for those above the age of 12 or greater than 88 pounds in weight, each Paxlovid package contains two tablets of nirmatrelvir and one tablet of ritonavir. Both tablets are protease inhibitors, which block and prevent SARS-CoV-2 from utilizing proteins found in the human immunodeficiency virus for replication and reproduction. The two
By ANDY CHEN Nanotechnology is the use of matter on a near-atomic scale, ranging between one to 100 nanometers. To a naked human eye, a nanoparticle is invisible, but this minuscule size makes nanotechnology particularly useful when manipulating atomic-sized particles such as viruses. In fact, nanoparticles have taken the world by storm as a prospective way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Nanomaterials have already been essential in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, as both the Pfizer– BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use lipid nanoparticles as a vehicle to deliver mRNA into cells. With the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases, many scientists are pushing for nanoparticles to play a more active role: halting the virus by binding and disrupting it. What's more, the introduction of nanoparticles in antiviral therapeutics will be revolutionary. It is well known that viruses mutate as they are transmitted, which is responsible for the current variants
By SUBAAH SYED The ball drops, confetti fills up your television screen, and 2022 begins. “New year, new me,” you say, anticipating the accomplishments you’ll make this year. 2021 was where you left studying for the night before the test and chugged down four cups of coffee each day. 2022 though, will be different. The perfect Stuyvesant student will start now. Maybe you’ll even start using your planner consistently. Well, hold your horses. As optimistic as we feel at the turn of the new year, don’t count on keeping your New Year’s resolutions for long. The statistics for holding New Year’s resolutions are bleak: in a study of 200 New Year's resolvers, an overwhelming 77 percent of the participants maintained their goals for only a week. For resolvers, setting goals after New Year’s is a tradition that correlates with self-improvement and idealism as it is an easy thing to say or write down. Pursuing the goal, on the other hand, is harder as the individual has to deal with difficulties posed by reality and themselves to achieve their goal. The differences between the science of goal-setting and goal-striving make experiences
tablets should be taken together orally twice a day, for five days. Consumption of Paxlovid beyond the five days is not yet authorized by the FDA due to undefined side effects. Pfizer’s clinical trials have shown that these antiviral pills help prevent high-risk patients from developing serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, or confusion. Pfizer’s antiviral studies further confirmed the efficacy of this new pill: in a study with 2,000 volunteers susceptible to extreme COVID-19 symptoms, there was an incredible 89 percent decrease in hospitalization cases in patients who took Paxlovid compared to those who received a placebo. Earlier studies published by Pfizer have shown a similar reduction in the number of deaths, with an overall 79 percent decrease between all patients regardless of severity. As with all drugs, side effects are present after taking Paxlovid. Most are generally mild, with common side effects including taste changes, diarrhea, muscle aches, and high blood pressure. Additionally, those who take certain medi-
cations or have underlying health conditions are advised against taking Paxlovid as it may cause harmful reactions. For instance, the ritonavir tablet from Paxlovid has an adverse effect on patients with liver problems, producing effects like jaundice, and has been shown to interact with common medication used to treat heart diseases and cancer. It is also possible for Paxlovid to dilute concentrations of other medications in the bloodstream. More research is required on Paxlovid’s interactions with other medications as well as its effectiveness against other variants of COVID-19. For example, scientists are currently researching Paxlovid’s effect on the new IHU variant discovered in France last December. Different kinds of antiviral pills will likely have to be developed to combat the various mutations of COVID-19. In addition to Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill, the FDA also authorized Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’s antiviral Molnupiravir, another COVID pill, for emergency use in late December 2021. Like Paxlovid, Molnupiravir is also consumed
orally over a span of five days. However, instead of targeting viral replicating proteins like Paxlovid, Molnupiravir inhibits SARS-CoV-2 from replicating by introducing errors during viral RNA replication. This is not a foolproof process and could allow chance mutations to occur, resulting in new, more resistant viral strains. This fact, in addition to possible adverse effects on cartilage, bone growth, and pregnancies, contributes to why the pill only had a 30 percent reduction in hospitalizations and was authorized only for patients above the age of 18. Due to these side effects and its lower efficacy compared to Pfizer’s pill, treatment with Paxlovid is preferred by healthcare professionals and Molnupiravir is only recommended as a last resort for those incapable of taking Paxlovid due to shortages or urgent health reasons. Currently, treatment with both pills is still limited due to a lack of supplies and is only available for patients with the highest risk of developing severe symptoms, such as those suffering from cancer, awaiting transplants, or the
Is Nanotechnology the Answer?
of concern: the Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. Since traditional therapeutics normally target a specific virus strain, their effectiveness wanes as the virus mutates—this is why there is a new flu vaccine released every year. However, antiviral nanomaterials remove the need for a yearly vaccine by targeting common physical and chemical properties of viruses. They may contain additional advantages such as quick production time and high efficacy across different strains of viruses, which are urgently needed in this pandemic. One nanomaterial-based antiviral technique plans to intercept viruses by using host cell decoys made from nanoparticles. Most viruses recognize and attach to receptors on host cell membranes using glycoproteins on its surface, however, researchers can create antiviral decoys by imitating these binding sites. Liangfang Zhang, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, has employed this approach through nanosponges. The nanosponges are created through the process of emptying a
human cell, leaving only the cellular membrane. Then the membrane is split into thousands of 100-nanometer wide vesicles, which will become the outer coat for the nanoparticles. The final product is a nanosponge that can envelop a virus and prevent it from infecting a host cell. Zhang has achieved promising results with the nanosponges. Just recently, Zhang discovered that nanosponges with membranes from human lung epithelial type II cells, which are present on the surfaces of the body, or human macrophages can neutralize a SARSCoV-2 infection in vitro, or outside of the organism. Moreover, an unpublished in vivo, or within the organism, study with mice produced results that confirmed the nanosponge’s efficacy against coronavirus and its negligible toxicity. Another antiviral strategy traps viruses by using specially designed nanoparticles that maximize binding with viruses. The nanoparticle is shaped to match the virus’s morphology, allowing it to effectively halt infections. A team at the Free
University of Berlin developed silica nanoparticles with tiny extruding spikes that lock onto the glycoprotein on a virus’s surface. The spikes can also be improved by mixing in sialic acid sugars to strengthen binding or adding antiviral compounds. In vitro experiments revealed that the nanoparticles were successful in treating cells infected with the influenza A virus. Now the team is pursuing a spiky nanoparticle to counter SARS-CoV-2. Some antiviral nanomaterials directly disrupt the viral membrane instead of binding to viruses. The viral membrane is essential for initiating infections and keeping the virus’s structure intact; by compromising the viral membrane, the virus is unable to continue reproducing and maintaining its structure. A company named NanoViricide has implemented this strategy and uses nanoviricides as the disruptor. The nanoviricide structure contains 1,200 ligands that mimic viral targets like cellular receptors. Like nanosponges, nanoviricide attracts and binds to viral glycoproteins. When the binding occurs, the na-
A Guide to Keeping Your Resolutions
of these two noteworthy parts of the New Year’s tradition. The tradition of New Year’s resolutions stems from the societal construct of temporal boundaries, or calendar landmarks. The mark of a new month, year, or school semester stimulates a source of motivation and opens an opportunity to make a change to oneself; creating goals during this period helps in creating the notion of a “fresh start.” The long-term goals that people make during New Year help give them a better map of their life for the next year, providing a sense of stability in the short term. During temporal boundaries, people develop a dissociation between their present and past selves, hence the phrase, “new year, new me.” In the given moment, we picture our future selves as our more ideal selves: versions of us who are closer to achieving our long-term goals. However, this rosy picture is disrupted when reality hits shortly. After a few weeks of effortful pursuit of our goals, the difficulty in maintaining them seems more vivid and the rewards feel distant. Combined with external stressors, such as major life changes or school stress, our initial motivations fade away. It is easy for us to
get distracted by events happening around us, and when we see the desired progress is not made, the acknowledgment of one’s lack of productivity further weakens their motivation. Humans also have the tendency to delay things for later, or procrastinate, as the new year settles in because our original goal may seem harder to achieve than how it originally seemed. In this way, people may sometimes intentionally distract themselves from their goal as a coping mechanism to protect themselves from actually taking on the overwhelming responsibility of keeping a resolution. For Stuyvesant students, our New Year’s resolutions range from social to professional to educational improvements. Adolescence is the period of time where we strive for validation and independence, and setting up goals and successfully accomplishing them are influential to these feelings. Though we may start off the first couple of weeks headstrong, it is undeniably difficult to preserve this consistency for the whole year, especially when dealing with the stressful environment of our school. However, with the right action plan and a strong, prevailing mindset, you can look back at the
end of the year with pride and a sense of fulfillment. Here are some tips for keeping your New Year’s resolutions for the long-run: 1. Focus on why you set this goal. Every goal has a reason behind it, especially long-term ones. For example, if your goal for the new year is to sleep for at least eight hours, it would be due to a desire to improve your health and school life. New Year’s resolutions correlate with a desire to change oneself for the better, whether it be physically or mentally. When in need of motivation, it can be helpful to recall the initial reason as to why you made this decision and its benefits. 2. Take it step by step. For many, keeping long-term goals is difficult due to the time and dedication required as well as behavioral changes. To account for this, create smaller and subordinate goals to build up to the long-term goal. Fulfilling smaller goals assists in developing the motivation required for the larger goal. 3. Make it personal. Studies have shown that goals that are more relevant to one’s identity are more likely to be successful. Personal connections enhance one’s intrinsic motivation, which
elderly. Therefore, while this is not yet a treatment that is open to the general public, the FDA bought $5.3 million worth of Paxlovid to have millions of doses ready to face surges in 2022. Despite the novelty of oral antiviral pills in our battle against COVID-19, Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Molnupiravir pills have been established as effective drugs in lowering the hospitalization rates of COVID-19 in high-risk patients across the board. The development of specific antiviral pills to treat each mutation is essential for the eventual suppression of the pandemic, and, accordingly, further research into other treatments will be facilitated by the existence of Paxlovid. In the future, Paxlovid may become a medication available at local pharmacies, which could help normalize the existence of COVID-19; as patients use an increasing number of tools available to combat the virus, they will become less prone to developing symptoms that require hospitalization, ultimately rendering COVID-19 as an illness no different from the common cold.
noviricide releases lipids into the viral envelope, destabilizing the viral structure and inactivating the virus. In vitro experiments demonstrated that mice with severe coronavirus survived substantially longer when treated with nanoviricide as opposed to traditional antiviral medications. While nanotechnology is still a relatively novel field, it has been receiving overwhelming support and producing impressive results. Despite this, pharma and biotech companies are progressing cautiously with nanomaterial-based therapeutics until its safety and efficacy can be confirmed through adequate testing. It is uncertain whether there are permanent side effects, and many worry about the bioaccumulation of nanoparticles. However, the recent nanotechnology advancements in COVID-19 vaccines and antiviral therapeutics are the first steps in making it credible. As nanotechnology continues to storm ahead, it won’t be long before it becomes a trustworthy treatment against the coronavirus and other viruses.
is motivation that stems from the person’s own desire to fulfill a behavior, rather than extrinsic motivation that is influenced by external factors, such as monetary rewards and peer pressure. Unlike extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is long-term and helps in keeping a goal longer. Personal connections with your resolution can be fostered by better understanding the impact of the goal on your life and understanding how it can improve you as a person. 4. Pursue your New Year’s resolutions with a friend by your side. Not only does having a friend pursuing your New Year’s resolution with you fun, but it also instills a sense of accountability. This accountability also gives a dopamine boost, which encourages you to continue with the habit. 5. Be disciplined. When taking on a long-term goal like a New Year’s resolution, the need for discipline also comes with motivation. It is important to focus on your goal and take appropriate measures to achieve it, such as having responsibility for the times when you lack motivation and putting in the effort of solving this problem.
Page 12
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
Editorials Closing Comments As this is the final issue for the seniors on the Editorial Board, here are their words of wisdom to the Stuyvesant community: Aaron times you will see the sun, and the breeze will be Each bi-weekly issue of The Spectator is a mir- mild and fair. acle. Hundreds of people coordinate to fill almost So go, lovely Rose! Go! 30 pages with high quality writing. Each issue, it seems the paper will never come out, and yet each Dexter issue, a new paper is conjured, miraculously makIt seems that I’m old news all of a sudden. Odd ing it onto the racks by the proper deadline. But how that happens. I am proud to announce that I the process is not miraculous. The Spectator is the have indeed learned a few things at this school. product of painstaking hours of dedication and Try to be in the habit of developing good habhard work. Editors, and particularly the Editors-in- its. Take care of yourself, even if doing so isn’t ever Chief, push to meet deadlines and maintain a pro- in vogue. It’s perfectly reasonable to take a mental fessional level product. health day or opt to get a good night’s sleep rather After almost two years, I am happy to be fin- than working. Talk to your guidance counselor, ished. But The Spectator has been the most mean- even when you aren’t in a moment of crisis. Seek ingful experience for me at Stuyvesant. In it, I have help when you do feel you need it or even if you forged my writer’s voice and personal identity. I aren’t sure. Periods of dismal mental health can start with a blank document and end with an article be hard to realize until you begin to emerge from I can be proud of, improving every time. As an edi- them. tor, I oversee scores of writers who mature in front Appreciate the people around you; enjoy the of my eyes. Every other Friday (or whenever the presence of friends. I don’t think that my time at paper comes out), I hold in my hand something I Stuyvesant would have been worth it without the helped create, a piece of myself that hundreds will people. Enjoy socialization in whatever capacity take home. The experience has been difficult, but suits you. Don’t suppress an impulse to tell somenothing meaningful has ever come easily. one that they mean something to you. In this way, The Spectator mirrors the school It is wonderful to pursue your genuine interests, that runs it. Stuyvesant is often difficult and te- but it is also okay if you need to spend your time dious. With seven semesters under my belt, I am figuring out what those interests are. Take your thoroughly pooped. But Stuyvesant has been and time to identify what you care about, and if you has contained one of the most meaningful experi- find it, embrace it. ences in my life. I have changed much for the better Finally, just try to realize where you are before in the last four years, and I regret nothing. it becomes a chapter of the past that you gaze upon wistfully. Somehow, I think that I may miss Adrianna the times I’ve had in high school. Somehow, I think Don’t run for the subway. Unless you have a test you may too. first period, it’s not worth it. Don’t run for class either. You can get from the Ezra first to tenth floor in time with a strategic combinaThese past four years have gone by so quickly, tion of climbing stairs, taking escalators, and climb- and working for The Spectator was definitely a ing escalators. If you have a bad class transition, as highlight in my high school career. From 4:00 a.m. I’ve been smited with nearly every semester, you’ll sending nights to department-wide projects, I enadapt. It works out. joyed every second of it. And just some advice as I High school goes by faster than you think. leave Stuyvesant: I hope you all remember that it’s Though it may sound ridiculous to savor your time okay to sleep, play, and cry once in a while. You’ll as a constantly stressed, sleep-deprived Stuy stu- survive. Probably. dent, savor it. Treasure the great moments; you’ll know when you’re in one, and if you don’t, you’ll Francesca know after. I remember blips of my freshman year, Coming into Stuyvesant, I was told, like I am such as being accepted into Spec Art, so vividly that sure most of you were, to expect hours of homethey could’ve happened yesterday. I still can’t be- work and low grades. I heard about the constant lieve I’m nearly four years older now. lack of sleep and the depressed students. I was Adjacently, don’t stress yourself out more than warned that I had to sacrifice one of sleep, acayou need to. Don’t take classes you vehemently demics, or social life to have the other two. Yet I don’t want to take, and don’t freak out over a com- came here anyway. And four years later, I am still paratively bad test grade if your other ones are here. Despite all the long nights, early mornings, fine. You will be fine. Trust me. It’s also all right to and homework-filled weekends, I am happy I came. “waste time” sometimes. We can’t function at our If college is supposed to be the best years of very best 24/7, and we shouldn’t expect to do so. one’s life, I suppose high school would have to be a Take that nap. Go out for dinner with your friends. close second. We all do a lot of complaining about Do something you enjoy for a bit. From a tired se- Stuyvesant, but spending the last year and a half in nior unto you, make the most of the time you have online school has made me realize how much I achere before it’s gone. You’ll come out of it much tually like the school. I have fond memories of bakmore satisfied. Less burnt out too. ing banana and chocolate cupcakes for a Columbian Exchange project, spending hours at Whole Foods Clara debating with other countries in the Congress of What I told the authorities was this: “You want Vienna, watching SING! from the back row of the me to retire from The Spectator, you’re gonna have balcony, and throwing water balloons at my softball to drag me out KICKING AND SCREAMING.” coach on his birthday. Call out the army, because I’m staying put. There is During my time here, I have met such amazsap in this old tree yet! ing, smart, talented, ambitious, genuine people that An old tree is precisely what I am. Bent are my I don’t believe I would have been surrounded by limbs from the blowing blasts and breezes, my bark anywhere else. The people are what make Stuyvesis roughened and toughened by the seasons. An ant so special. My peers at Stuyvesant have encouraged thrush builds a nest of brambles on my bar- aged me to push myself to become the best sturen branches. dent, teammate, and friend I could be. Recently, I have enjoyed listening to a song I am truly grateful for my time at Stuyvesant. called “Go, Lovely Rose,” a poem by the English poet Edmund Waller set to music by Roger Quilter. Gavin Perhaps in my bleary old age, I have been thinking I am probably going to graduate from Stuyvesof wizened trees and lovely roses because of this ant with fewer than two years of in-person learnsong. Here is the first verse of the poem: ing, so take all of my sage advice with a grain of salt. That being said, I still have all the jaded fauxGo, Lovely Rose wisdom anyone could possibly want from a high Edmund Waller (1606-1687) school senior, so here’s what I’ve learned: • No one cares about your haircut as much as Go, lovely Rose! you do, and it’s not even close. Tell her, that wastes her time and me, • Don’t do all of your homework assignments. That now she knows, It’s just not worth it. Getting a good night’s When I resemble her to thee, sleep is almost always a better investment. How sweet and fair she seems to be… Stuyvesant students are good at math, so take the time to figure out the fraction of a fracGo, lovely Roses, into the sun while you still tion of a percent of your GPA that you’re have time! Waste no time and means. Beauty is in weighing against your mental and physical your friendships, in each day’s laughter, and in the health. rush and hush of the hallways as you skip bath• You can clean your gym clothes once every room-wards. two marking periods and face no conseMy sunset hour is here. My trunk creaks and quences. cracks. But before I go, let me croak out my last — at times the gales will blow harsh, and the soil of continued on page 13 Stuyvesant will seem rocky and bare, yet at other
O UTGOING
EDITORIA L
The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
“The Pulse of the Student Body” ED I TO RS
I N
CHI E F
Morris Raskin* Karen Zhang* N EWS
E D I TO RS
Isabella Jia** Jenny Liu* Momoca Mairaj Janna Wang** F EATURE S
E D I TO RS
Angela Cai Christina Pan Clara Shapiro* O PI N I O NS
E D I TO RS
Maya Nelson Anisha Singhal** Aaron Visser* S C I E NCE
E D I TO RS
Gerard Lin Sathirtha Mondal** Sonya Sasson ARTS
BOA RD
SPO RTS
E D I TO RS
Krish Gupta Shafiul Haque** Sam Levine Matt Melucci PHOTO GRAPHY E D I TO RS
Alexander Lopez** Francesca Nemati Sasha Socolow Zifei Zhao** ART
D I RE CTO RS
Afra Mahmud Adrianna Peng Sophie Poget Vivian Teo** L AYO UT
E D I TO RS
Ezra Lee Amy Lin Susie McKnight CO PY
E D I TO RS
Nora Miller Tashfia Noor Shreyasi Saha Ruiwen Tang Raymond Yang BUSI NE SS
M ANAGE RS
Jared Moser Tina Nguyen
&
EN T E RTAI NM E NT E D I TO RS
Suah Chung Kenisha Mahajan Gavin McGinley Dexter Wells
WE B
E D I TO RS
David Chen Alyssa Choi Samantha Hua** Theodore Yochum** FAC U LT Y
H U M O R
E D I TO RS
Logan Ruzzier Kelly Yip*
* Managing Board ** Editors-in-Training
Please address all letters to: 345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282 (212) 312-4800 ext. 2601 opinions@stuyspec.com
I NCOM ING
ADV I SE R
Kerry Garfinkel
We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and length. © 2018 The Spectator All rights reserved by the creators.
EDITORIA L
The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper
“The Pulse of the Student Body”
BOA RD
HUM O R
E D I TO RS
Erica Chen Oliver Hollmann SPO RTS
E D I TO RS
Taee Chi Shafiul Haque Ava Quarles PHOTO GRAPHY
ED I TO RS
I N
CHI E F
Momoca Mairaj Maya Nelson N EWS
E D I TO RS
Rebecca Bao** Isabella Jia Janna Wang F EATURE S
E D I TO RS
Lauren Lee Shivani Manimaran Christina Pan O PI N I O NS
E D I TO RS
Peter Goswami Anisha Singhal S C I E NCE
E D I TO RS
Sathirtha Mondal Sonya Sasson ARTS
&
EN T E RTAI NM E NT E D I TO RS
Nicole Liu Kenisha Mahajan Levi Simon
E D I TO RS
Alexander Lopez Zifei Zhao ART
D I RE CTO RS
Afra Mahmud Vivian Teo L AYO UT
E D I TO RS
Susie McKnight CO PY
E D I TO RS
Nada Hameed** Eman Sadiq** Ruiwen Tang Raymond Yang BUSI NE SS
M ANAGE RS
Inara Rabanni Amber Shen WE B
E D I TO RS
David Chen Samantha Hua Theodore Yochum FAC U LT Y
ADV I SE R
Kerry Garfinkel
* Managing Board ** Editors-in-Training Please address all letters to: 345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282 (212) 312-4800 ext. 2601 opinions@stuyspec.com
We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and length. © 2018 The Spectator All rights reserved by the creators.
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
Page 13
Editorials Closing Comments •
• •
It’s totally fine to be average, and it’s totally nutzo to think you have to be exceptional at even one thing. Do what you find fun, focus on improvement, and don’t compare yourself to other people. Be happy when others succeed. Not not jealous, actually happy. Know the value of your time. I’m not going to pretend like good grades and planning for the future don’t matter—they matter a lot— but being a teenager in NYC is pretty rockin’. Get the most out of it while you can. I’ve recently had all of my totally tubular senior plans Air-Jordan-Slam-Dunked into the concrete by some totally unforeseen conundra, so all I can say is that none of the opportunities you have now are guaranteed in the future. You’ll feel better about the places you’ve failed than the places where you didn’t even try.
Jared When I entered Stuyvesant as a freshman, I thought that I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I thought that I would end up taking every AP class, lead multiple clubs, be captain of a sports team, and then go off to Harvard to study physics. I intended to do nothing that would interfere with what I determined was best for myself. I never thought that I would join the school newspaper, but I joined The Spectator on a whim and filled out my application an hour before it was due. Now, I’m on the editorial board, contributing to one of the best student newspapers in the country. I also thought that I would get a Ph.D. in physics, but I’m not going to major in physics next year, and I certainly won’t be going to Harvard because I didn’t even apply. I’m not saying it’s bad to have goals; the ambitions I had freshman year helped me through many tough classes and led me to leadership positions. My mistake was being far too closed-minded. Don’t close yourself off to all of the amazing opportunities that Stuyvesant has to offer. If a club looks interesting, join it. If you want to hang out with your friends, do it. Don’t force yourself to follow a predetermined path for success just because you or your parents think it’s what is best. If you open yourself up, you never know what might happen. Enjoy your time at Stuyvesant, and never be afraid to try something new; you never know what opportunities await. Jenny Hi! I am writing to you in a time crunch from 615E, or the Spec Classroom. People are chatting around me. Newsbrief is written on the front board. I am thinking I will be very nostalgic for this and other places in the Stuyvesant building. The fourth floor bathroom where tears streamed down my face after failing my first test. The English book room where I changed into gym clothes. The little corner tucked into the theater spot where I took my naps: these, and countless others, all have a warm place in my heart. And the people that come with these places! Dropping by Mr. Rubinstein’s virtual office hours to talk more about The Beatles than actual math (and then doing so in-person), walking along the sunny piers with friends during eighth period lunch, and having my first News interview on the first floor. From sending Ms. Ingram too many interview request e-mails to chatting with cool alumni like Uber’s Chief Inclusion Officer Bo Young Lee, I’ve also loved my time specifically as a Spectator News editor. No other position has let me cover so much ground that is the present and past Stuyvesant community and left me feeling very small in a very good way. It’s a wonderful thing to be open to and touched by people. And one eventually realizes that this part of one’s life—handed on a silver platter engraved “HIGH SCHOOL”—has much less to do with what one is actually doing and more so the people one does it with and one’s own attitude within it. So I hope you fill your platter with people you love in places you cherish, come what may. Karen Stuyvesant pushes you to be strong. But it also pushes you to be at your most vulnerable and learn that strength comes gradually. Remember that it’s okay to seek help from your teachers and guidance counselors. It’s okay to drift away from the path you once imagined for yourself. It’s okay to lose love for something you once loved or thought you would. Instead, use that space for something new, whether it’s exploring your newfound appreciation for history after participating in the Congress of Vienna through the numerous electives or joining SING! or a new club for the first time, regardless of your grade. When looking back at your four years at Stuyvesant, you’ll not want to remember simply the harrowing academic stress, but rather the small waves and chatters with your friends in between passing periods, the lunch runs, or the recluses within the building you retreat to with your peers during your free periods (the sixth floor has so many hidden gems). And that you are much more than grades and expectations.
Above all, put yourself out there, even if you don’t feel wholly confident at the moment. Be brave and unapologetically yourself in your actions, voice, and writing, but remember to set limits for yourself when it becomes too much. Make blunders and learn from them as it’s being wrong and imperfect that makes us truly alive and human. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after conducting over 100 interviews for The Spectator, it’s that everyone has something to share. And you’re allowed to share your story. Let yourself be heard. Kelly My time on The Spectator was one of chance. Initially stumbling upon the Humor section one day and randomly deciding to become a writer, I never would have imagined that I would be here, writing a message to you all before I retire after three(ish) years of barely making deadlines, 3:00 a.m. edits, and funky brainstorms. That being said, I highly suggest that you take risks. Do things on whims. Go after something you suddenly find yourself passionate about, because after your chance passes, it might be gone forever. For me, that decision was joining Spec, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. Some more advice: try not to succumb to caffeine addiction. The two for $6 deal at McDonald’s is a steal. Take advantage of BOGO Wednesdays at 16 Handles too. There are outlets around the school for charging things in a crisis. Put yourself above your work. Have a laugh when you need to. Befriend your teachers. Use as many “keys of success” as you can get your hands on (iykyk). And finally, appreciate your friends. Create memories while you still can. Support them when things are rough, and celebrate when they succeed. I feel that as a senior, the realization that everyone will soon go off on their own journeys doesn’t hit until it’s too late. So, before everyone inevitably moves on, pursuing their dreams and changing the world, make sure to take the time and appreciate your gang, your squad, and your fam. And stay in touch! Krish As a freshman entering Stuyvesant, I never would have expected the laundry list of challenges during my four years to include a pandemic, only two and half actual years in the building, and a senior year during which I didn’t once reveal the bottom of my face to the class. Nonetheless, I have left Stuyvesant with some of the best memories of my life. A few things I’ve learned at Stuyvesant: if you want to spend a free period in the library, plan to sprint up the four-to-six escalator to arrive early; the sports teams aren’t as bad as you think they are; the chocolate milk in the cafeteria is underrated; don’t lose your ID; work hard, play hard; find your community; do your thing; keep it real; have a high school experience that you will look back on positively; smile because it happened; and, most importantly, read The Spectator starting with the front page (Sports). You only get to go to high school once, so enjoy it, whatever that means for you. Logan I wish I’d reached out to people more at Stuyvesant. I’m guilty of spending every class mouthing off to my friends, only to walk right past them in the halls. I count their faces in club photos online, and wonder how differently my experience might’ve been, had I only kept in touch. It’s only recently that I’ve realized it’s worth it to pursue that friendship, to talk to that person for the first time. In a threadbare gym period last week, none of my friends bothered to show up. Instead of curling weights alone, I struck up a conversation with another silent customer, and we’ve been enjoying our dwindling classes ever since. You might be thinking, “Wow, you talked to someone, Logan! What a revelation!” but truly, it is. It may sound like cheesy or obnoxiously chipper advice, especially to us jaded high school students, but as my dad has told me every morning since first grade, “Go out there and make a new friend.” Never be content with the same people, same food, same experience day in and day out. You’ll find that a great relationship can exist between the unlikeliest of friends. You’ll see weeks as more than a painfully long list of assignments and obstacles. And you’ll taste a whole heck of a lot of great food. After all, I may not remember what I learned in Art History, but I do remember the girl who sat next to me, and drew little hearts in my notebook. Matt Cherish your time at Stuyvesant, and don’t focus too much on your grades. In this massive school full of opportunities, take your time to make meaningful friendships and meet people with diverse interests and backgrounds who will enrich your perspective on life. Explore, take risks, and don’t be afraid of quitting things that make you unhappy. One way or another, everything works out! As you progress through Stuyvesant, it may seem like you’ll never reach the end of high school and the work just
keeps coming in, but when you reach your senior year, you’ll look back surprised at how fast the years went by. Have fun in these four years to the point where you want to relive them. Morris I think I’ve spent a lot of my high school career in a state of general confusion. At a school as big as Stuyvesant, it’s impossible to truly stay on the pulse of current trends, events, and local affairs. In freshman year, I felt especially disconnected from the school community, letting events and Stuy-specific vocabulary pass me by in a haze. Of course, there will always be countless unknowns at Stuyvesant; rooms that you’ve never walked into, teachers you’ve never had, and students you’ve never met. So my advice is twofold (and also contradictory, so do with it what you will): First, accept this state of oblivion. You will never know the full extent of Stuyvesant’s multitudes, and that is okay! Don’t feel intimidated when it feels like others are perpetually in-the-know––in truth, we’re all a bit lost here. But secondly, attempt to defy this state of oblivion. Having a fundamental understanding of Stuyvesant’s structure, layout, quirks, performances, and inner-workings gives the school a much deeper meaning than simply a building full of over-caffeinated overachievers. How to do this? Keep an ear to the ground! Ask for help! Loiter after school! But whatever you do, don’t let the four years pass you by. Sophie My name means wisdom, and I will now impart some words of Sophie upon you: You have to get a pizza bagel from Terry’s at least once. When you get to pick your gym classes, first period yoga is a lovely way to start your morning. You will feel significantly worse the next day if you decide to binge-watch “90 Day Fiancé” instead of going to sleep at a reasonable hour. Sleep is the most important part of the day, and it is criminal how long it took me to understand that. If you can’t think of anything relevant to what you’re reading in English, bring food for your minutes gift; everyone will thank you. Hug your friends, go to Poet’s House to study (if it opens again anytime soon), join all the clubs (especially Spec Art), and take advantage of all the time you have at this school. It is such an amazing place because of the lovely people, and I am so thankful for the memories I’ve made here. Suah Stuyvesant taught me, among other things, how to climb stairs. The steps I’ve overcome or am still in the process of overcoming: • Don’t stress about improvement or becoming a “better version of yourself.” Growth comes in waves. As they crash toward you, embrace them. • There are only 24 hours in a day, and sometimes that is not enough time to finish everything. That is ok. Take a mental health day if you’re feeling burnt out, or push back that individual homework assignment in pursuit of more sleep, which will make you happier in the long run. • Pursue what you are interested in, but also try something you might not be, just for the slight possibility that it might become your greatest passion. Alternatively, don’t be afraid to let go of things that didn’t end up being a match for you. • Start something new. There is value in what you have to contribute, and don’t let potential social validation (or invalidation) stop you from going for it. • Don’t be afraid to open up to others. Find your safe space, whether it be in Ms. Kornhauser’s guidance office after a brutal day or on the train with your friends on the way home from school. Or create your own, and bring a support system to others. • Friends are important, but sometimes, sleep is more important. Stick to what is right for your wellbeing, and roll with it. Your friends will understand. • Don’t forget to love yourself. • Cherish the small moments. While you are living through these moments, they can feel like an eternity, but now, as I near the beginning of my last semester of high school, I can’t help feeling that it all passed in a blur. • It is okay to feel overwhelmed and then procrastinate as a result. Don’t feel guilty about it, and just move on. Though you might have wasted X number of minutes, hours, or days, the next moment is undetermined. Make the best of it. I definitely know it’s not easy, but those little steps will get you there, and before you know it, you’ll be at the top of the Tribeca Bridge. • You’ll make it, and congratulations in advance. To read the full version of this piece, go to https://stuyspec. com/opinions/staff-editorials/closing-comments-2022.
Page 14
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
Spectator 2021 Writing Competition Over 100 middle school students from across the city submitted entries to The Stuyvesant Spectator’s 2021 Writing Competition. After careful deliberation, these three entries were found to exemplify journalistic instincts and a knack for engaging prose. Read the honorable mentions at stuyspec.com/opinions/writing-competition.
A Stich in Sexism By ABIDA MARIAM Abida Mariam is an eighth grader at M.S. 101. Dress codes have been part of the education system since the dawn of time, and they have become a common practice throughout many schools. You can’t wear “revealing” clothing that exposes your shoulders or wear shorts and skirts that go above your fingertips. Schools implement dress codes under the excuse of keeping the environment “distraction free,” but how effective are these dress codes? In many cases, these dress codes are targeted toward feminine clothing, including spaghetti strap tops, sandals, short shorts, and tube tops. Even though dress codes can also have an impact on boys, dress codes disproportionately affect girls. Dress codes spread inequality among genders and spread rape culture. Dress codes are part of our long-standing patriarchal world. The patriarchy is a social system in which men dominate responsibilities such as political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and property control. The patriarchy sees women as beneath men, with women not having the same opportunities as men because of their gender. Dress codes help to spread gender inequality through schools and reinforce to students, from a young age, that men are the superior gender. This is done through what is called “hidden curriculum,” which is in place to ensure that a girl matures into the type of woman that a patriarchal society desires, guaranteeing that males continue to control and dictate society. “Hidden curriculum is a concept that describes the often
unarticulated and unacknowledged things students are taught in school and that may affect their learning experience.” One major area of hidden curriculum is the academic hierarchy, which has stereotyped and underestimated girls, along with their intelligence and capability. “Teachers also tended to see girls’ futures in terms of marriage, child-rearing, and domestic work. Future careers were stereotyped into secretarial and caring work.” The hidden curriculum is habits that are picked up by kids simply from being in the school building. This hidden syllabus continues to standardize the way girls are perceived, therefore leading to gender inequality. Dress codes merely compartmentalize girls’ abilities and turn them into objects for the male gaze. And while the dress code may affect some boys as well, how dress codes are targeted towards clothes typically labeled as feminine is sometimes completely disregarded. In one school, a girl received detention for wearing shorts, while a boy wearing an inappropriate shirt was ignored. Rules like these install a mindset in adolescents about gender superiority, and these rules contribute to perpetuating the patriarchal society. In an interview with a middle school student in the Bronx, NY, she discussed whether or not dress codes discriminate against girls, stating, “Girls are constantly up against double standards with regards to dress codes. Usually, girls have much stricter dress codes than males. [Girls get dress coded for] shoulders, midriffs, thighs, cleavage, and many other things, [though] they are just normal parts of the body deemed as distracting. Many boys get to wear any
shorts or shirts, while girls have to worry about covering the shoulders with tops and their bottoms with long or loose pants.” In school, we learn a variety of things, such as math, science, ELA, and Spanish. Unfortunately, dress codes used in school also teach students that because a student is a girl, she can be discriminated against because of her gender. Dress codes also strip the right of students to express themselves. Some students feel more comfortable in different types of clothing that represent them, but if their clothing choices do not pass dress code regulations, they are forbidden from wearing that clothing. Furthermore, some girls choose to express themselves by their hairstyles, but in some schools, girls can also be targeted for their hair. A second student stated, “It’s someone’s hair. And I know people at a lot of schools who discriminate against others with textured hair or bigger hair that they mark that as distracting.” Usually schools that discriminate against a student’s hair are racially motivated. Girls of color are discriminated against not only because of gender but because of their culture. Schools mark students who wear hairstyles such as braids and ponytails or who wear their hair down to be distracting to “the boys and male teachers.” In one case, a 12-year-old African-American student’s parents claim she was threatened with expulsion because she refused to cut her naturally styled hair. Her mother was told she was a “distraction” at school and had broken the dress code. Hairstyles are a form of expression that may connect to one’s culture. Dress codes aggravate gender inequality and take away a student’s right to ex-
press herself. Another major reason why dress codes are sexist is that they expand rape culture. Rape culture is a sociological idea that describes a situation in which rape is widespread and acceptable as a result of cultural views on gender and sexuality. Many schools respond to criticism of dress standards by emphasizing the need of having a “distraction-free” learning environment. However, dress codes sexualize young girls’ bodies by telling them what part of their bodies they are not allowed to expose. It is repeatedly told to girls that the main reason that they need to cover up their bodies is to avoid “distracting” male peers or making male teachers “uncomfortable.” One student states, “I have been walking down the street in my school uniform, and regardless, I have gotten catcalled or verbally sexually harassed.” Dress codes instill in our young the belief that women’s bodies are dangerous, powerful, and sexualized and that males are biologically driven to objectify and harass them. It prepares them for college, when one in every five women is sexually assaulted. Interestingly, society blames, questions, and silences the victims, while the perpetrators are rarely punished. There has been little to no effort in disciplining boys for harassing female students, whether that be physically or verbally. Dress codes help to expand rape culture as they sexualize and objectify girls’ bodies. Girls are then blamed for being distracting to male students even though they are the ones being objectified. “Because how am I distracting another student with what I wear? This person chose to be
distracted by focusing on me and what I’m wearing. I’m not responsible for another person’s thoughts, so how am I at fault?” the student quoted above asked. Some schools make the claim that dress codes help prevent sexual harassment by enforcing rules to “protect” female students. Nevertheless, girls continue to report being harassed, only to be silenced. When teachers call out students for their clothing, it “projects an adult sexual perception onto an outfit or body part that may not have been intended or perceived as such by the student herself. It can be disturbing and distressing for students to be perceived in this way, and there is often a strong element of shame involved,” Time Magazine reported. Around 97 percent of women and girls have been sexually harassed, and it will only continue as rape culture persists because of dress codes and other factors. Ever since the beginning of time, women have been subjected to scrutiny over their attire and their bodies. Through not only school dress codes, but also stereotypes, the media, entertainment, and so much more, girls have been perceived as damsels in distress who need to be saved. Dress codes have negatively affected not only girls, but also boys who likewise want to express themselves freely. These codes have only fueled the continuing rape culture of normalizing sexual harassment and behavior. It’s time for schools to realize that school dress codes need to be removed, allow students to express themselves freely, fight against the gender inequality that entraps the world, and know that it’s time for a change.
little more aware of what I’m about to do. I get closer and closer to the ocean, and I start undoing the clasp on the velvet pouch that contains the last pieces of my sweet beloved Gogo. Sometimes I wonder what piece of her is in my pouch. The head, the leg, the hair. I hope it’s the heart. Because her heart was bigger than anything. With shaking hands, I pull open the pouch and look inside. The color of the ash is like everything else today. Gray and lonely. I wade into the ocean. I don’t care that I am in the nice dress that Gogo got me. I want to do this right. The waves are so rough that I am forced under again and again until I come to the breaking point. It’s calmer out here. The water is about as cold as Antarctica in winter, but I keep going. I get to the point where I can barely stand. I am on my toes now, gently bobbing over not yet formed waves. I hold the pouch over my head so I can put some ashes in my palm. The wind starts up again. Knowing that this is my only chance, I lift my hand into the sky and let the wind carry away the ashes to the beach, into the depths of the ocean. I hope she is at peace there. Before the ashes are all
gone, I start singing her favorite song. Not singing. Screaming. The tears are coming down hard. I belt out the chorus and cry through the high notes. My voice tingles, and people are staring. I don’t care. The noise of the waves behind me is thunderous, but they don’t stop me. I sing until my throat is hoarse and the ashes are long gone. I lower my hand into the water and stand there, swaying with the current. I must be there for a long time because eventually, the sun starts rising. The sun looks like an arm. Not just any arm. Gogo’s arm. My Gogo’s arm. Reaching up into the sky, welcoming light into the world, and accepting everyone for who they really are. For the first time since June, I feel a smile creep its way into my face. I don’t fight it. I smile until my face hurts, and I relax a bit. My family comes rushing into the beach and call my name. Before I start walking back to them, my eyes focus on the sunrise. And the next thing I say isn’t to the sun or to the sky or to the clouds. It is to my Gogo, the one who is in that sun, waving to me, waving to the earth, waving to my family, telling us that she will never forget us, and so I say this: “Welcome home.”
Untitled By ELAINA SHORT Elaina Short is a sixth grader at M.S. 51. The ocean is gray. Loud. Empty looking. Just like me. How my soul feels. How my body feels standing here in the cold, not daring to shiver or show any sign of weakness. My feet are scratched up from running, and my hair is all strewn about in my face, clinging to the wetness of the tears in my eyes. The wind starts up. It is the fiercest wind that I’ve ever seen on a beach before. It is merciless, almost pushing me down the stairs. I don’t care if it does though. I can’t possibly be in a worse state than I am in now. A memory comes to me, and I quickly close my eyes and groan to make it go away. All I have to do is make it down these stairs. That’s it. Easy. The velvet pouch containing Gogo’s ashes that is in my hands suddenly feels rough and cold. My stomach turns. Gogo died in June 2019. This is the first family reunion without her. The one where no one will be happy and joyous as they once were. Nothing will ever be the same. Of course, I know this. Nothing is
permanent. I just never knew that family wasn’t. We don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone. We don’t understand the importance of family until we lose it. This is the concept that became crystal clear at the event of Gogo’s death. Pajaro Dunes is our yearly family reunion spot. Gogo started the tradition. Forty years and now, it is all over. Her ashes are the last things left of her, and soon, they will be all gone. Drifting away in the ocean. Not a problem in the world. Not able to feel the pain of grief and sadness that I am feeling right now. They might end up belonging to some sea creature. I shudder. Hopefully, that will never happen. I count the stairs. Twelve. Twelve stairs means 12 thoughts of turning back. Of running into my bed and sobbing until Christmas break. Of grief and sadness and vulnerability that I have never felt before. I drag my foot to the edge of the path. I put one foot down and feel a flurry of butterflies in my stomach. God, I hate this feeling. It is like feathers in my chest. I want to collapse and break out in tears and cry until she comes back, but it’s clear that that’s not happening. So I take another step.
Maybe it’s just a hoax, I think when my foot lands on the next step. Maybe she was feeling insecure about who loved her, so she faked her death to see our reaction. Yeah, that’s got to be it. She will come running to me with open arms any second. I look back to the boardwalk, and nothing happens. Nobody is running to me. It’s time to stop pretending and get on with the realization that I am all alone. I make a move to the fourth step. They are probably looking for me, I think. I should probably turn back now. I wince and decide to get it over with. I go to the fifth step. I’m hungry. I should go back now. Sixth step. It’s cold. I might get hypothermia or pneumonia. Seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th and all the way down to 12th are the same. New thoughts come to me every time my foot lands on a rickety piece of wood. When I get to the last step, I collapse on the sand. My hand is buried deep in the cold gray grains as I clench the pouch. The wind is blowing sand straight into my eyes, and I decide that it’s time to get on with it. I stand up and start walking. Every time my bare, scratchedup foot descends into the sand, I get a little colder inside and a
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
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Spectator 2021 Writing Competition How My Dad Found His Own Voice By SAM BLUMENFELD Sam Blumenfeld is an eighth grader at M.S. 51. In New Orleans, Larry Blumenfeld was interviewing jazz musicians about their music before and after Hurricane Katrina, and how it may have changed. He suddenly thought back to the days that he did marketing for musicians. But then he snapped back into the moment and realized how much his decision to be a writer has impacted his life positively. He realized he loves the work that he does. In the middle of a crisis, he was able to tell these musicians’ stories in his own words and help people understand what was really going on. Before the change, Larry Blumenfeld did marketing and
publicity for arts organizations. He ended up working at a major record label with famous musicians. He loved the music and the musicians, but he didn’t love his job. He realized that he wanted a closer and purer connection with the musicians. He really didn’t want to be involved in their business. He wanted to share their ideas. So he thought that he would change his job to have more freedom, rather than just doing whatever his manager told him to. He wanted more freedom to write and to get to know the musicians better. He started writing and eventually thought that he would do this for a living because it was something that he actually liked and wanted to do. Larry started freelance writing. He still had the job of marketing, but he was transi-
tioning away from that. Before long, he moved to journalism. He had many friends who were journalists and who helped him with the transition. Soon enough, he became a very successful journalist about jazz and art and jazz culture. He found that this was a better way to connect with the arts and a way to express himself, too. At first, he was a little scared about failing, and he wasn’t quite sure how to do what he wanted to do, but pretty quickly, he realized that he liked this a lot, and it felt natural to him. There were some older writers whom he knew who helped him feel confident with his decision. They gave him advice. One of them had become an editor of a magazine, and he hired Larry for an assignment. On the one hand, this de-
cision led him down a path on which for decades, he’s gotten to know and to interview brilliant people and to do work that he thinks really matters. On the other hand, he’s made less money than he probably would have made if he had stayed in marketing. In his previous jobs, even though he was paid to have good ideas and to be creative, he mostly did the work that his employers told him to do. As a journalist, you sort of have to invent your own job with each new assignment, and it’s never the same from story to story. This job has taken him to many places, including Cuba and New Orleans. He found his voice as a writer, and people began to appreciate his work. He’s proud of the work that he’s done, and the course of his career since this decision
has enriched his life and has made him a smarter and better person. One lesson from his story is that it’s good to find a job that allows you to follow your passions. Larry made a change that largely impacted his life, and he thought it was for the better. He loved what he did after that because he met new and interesting people who made his life less bland and more filled with color. Also, it’s good to change because it often brings the most out in people and usually ends up with positive outcomes. If you decide to make a major change in your life, then it will probably benefit you because of the opportunities that will greet you, as well as the people you will meet.
Editorials Letter to the Editor In response to “Mother Knows Best: Parents’ Takes on the College Process” by Momoca Mairaj, Raymond Yang, and Krish Gupta, published in Volume 112 Issue 8.
By JEFFREY MAKRIS, ELIZABETH HUGHES, and JEAUREL WILSON
Jeffrey Makris is the Director of College Counseling. Elizabeth Hughes and Jeaurel Wilson are Associate Directors of College Counseling. It was profoundly disappointing to read the “Mother Knows Best” piece in the most recent Spectator issue. Parents and students are certainly entitled to their opinions and to have their voices heard; however, we felt it important to take this opportunity to enlighten readers about exactly what we do in the College Office. In the article, a parent proposed the idea of “hosting an assembly to introduce underclassmen to the college process earlier.” But, our College Office has in fact been presenting to all ninth graders each spring for the past four years. And, we have presented to sophomore parents each fall as part of our Parent Coordinator’s Sophomore Parent Night the past five years. And, we have been presenting to sophomore students each January for the past four years. Also, our annual CUNY Night and Hidden Ivy admissions panels have been in place for even longer and have always been open to ninth and 10th grade families, whom we have strongly encouraged to attend. This represents hours of content for underclassmen that also connect them to resources to prepare for the in-depth college admissions work of junior and senior year. Information from most of these events is then available in every student’s Naviance account in Document Resources, which they have access to beginning in ninth grade. Serving a population of students that overwhelmingly pursues colleges with single-digit admit rates means that many students and families will face some disappointment, even when they have done everything right; that is the nature of highly selective admissions. This is even more true in 2022 with the massive increases in application volume most of
the uber-selective colleges have seen since adopting test-optional or test-free admissions policies as a result of the pandemic. We will never be able to please everyone, no matter how much we do or how much information we provide to students and families. The pressure students and parents feel sometimes leads them to make requests of us that just aren’t ethical or equitable, and of course, we can’t oblige. We are also well aware of how painful it can be for a teenager to face rejection (and for their parents to witness that). We understand all of this; we’re here to support students having these feelings, hear their frustrations, and be honest with them throughout this process. We also understand that we need to continually pursue our own professional development and assess what we need to do better for Stuy from year to year, and we encourage parents and students with individual concerns to reach out to us. But, we do speak to many families who do not see us as “useless.” We get their e-mails and calls and cards throughout the year. Yet none of those opinions appeared in this article. Before any student or parent concludes that we are useless, I would ask them to read our College Handbook from cover to cover. We take the time to write and update that in its entirety every year, and the content is ours and ours alone. Attend all of our presentations (and don’t skip the hyperlinks within the PowerPoints). Read ALL of our instructional emails for juniors and seniors. Attend your junior family meeting and fall meeting with your assigned counselor, and use our daily office hours as needed (virtual or otherwise… the pandemic never interrupted these services). If you’re at a college fair or information session, ask those admissions reps who have been working with us what they think of our program and college counseling staff. Most importantly, communicate with your assigned college counselor whenever you need help with this process.
Articles like this risk undermining our ability to work with our families and undermining their trust in our process, a process which includes spending countless hours on tasks students and parents simply do not see (such as submitting literally over 100 thousand electronic documents to colleges each year, managing Naviance on the massive scale necessary for Stuy, arranging over 100 virtual or in-person admissions rep visits for seniors each fall, or the countless emails and conversations we have with admissions representatives every year, the college advisory boards on which we serve, and the leadership and volunteer positions we take on in our professional organizations…). They distract from the reality that our counselors have over 60 combined years of college counseling experience, extensive training, and a large network of admissions colleagues, many of whom we have worked with for years. We hold ourselves accountable to NACAC’s ethical standards and strive to maintain an accessible college counseling program that suits the needs of all of our students, one that satisfies the mission of the NYC public school system, which might not always please all parents. Nobody gets special favors…there’ll be no “Varsity Blues” here at Stuy if we can help it. Misleading statements in the Spec can make our families more vulnerable to less reputable (and often needlessly expensive) sources for college assistance who hope to promote their brand by taking credit for the successes of a uniquely talented and driven population of students. It also makes families more anxious about the entire process. This does nothing to promote a healthier school climate at Stuy, something that we in the College Office care about very much. We hope this gives those readers who are not yet familiar with our office a better understanding of what we offer through our college counseling program. Best of luck to all of you as we approach the end of the fall term.
Response to the Letter to the Editor By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
We would like to extend a formal apology to the counselors of the College Office for our recent article “Mother Knows Best: Parents’ Take on the College Process.” A number of issues within the editing and layout process, in tandem with tight deadlines, meant that we were unable to do justice to the subject matter of the article. The quote that asserted that the College Office was “useless” was meant to be cut out of the article, but we had laid out an older version of the article instead of the edited one. The former ended up being sent to the printer. This is our mistake, and we completely apologize for not catching this error earlier and removing it from our paper. We’ve uploaded an updated version of the article to our website that omits this quote. We recognize that the quote recommending that the College Office offer more presentations was misinformed and that we should have followed up with accurate information about the College Office’s efforts. Finally, we were unable to get as robust a spread of sources as we should have to accurately depict the school’s feelings on the College Office. The Spectator has always strived for diligence and accountability, and we will continue to work toward an accurate and well-sourced newspaper in the future. Our goal with our “Spectator University” College Issue was to break down Stuyvesant’s relationship with the college process and promote a healthier environment surrounding admissions. We would like to thank the College Office for raising these concerns to us.
VOICES Would you like to share a personal narrative with the school? Whether it’s an essay you’ve written for a class or a piece you’ve been working on by yourself, if it is non-fiction and in first-person, it could get published in The Spectator! Send your stories to features@stuyspec.
com, or e-mail us with any questions or concerns. If you wish, it may be published anonymously.
FOR THE RECORD “Lore of the Sixth Floor” in Issue 8 was written by Soobin Choi, Isabelle Lam, and Andrew Oh.
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The Spectator • January 25, 2022
Opinions Old Plays, Modern Ideas By IVY HUANG
Macbeth. Stereotypes surrounding masculinity prevent Macbeth from expressing vulnerabilities deemed feminine, such as fear, remorse, and compassion. After reading Macbeth’s letter at the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is informed of the bearded witches who foretold Macbeth’s rise to power as Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. She wants to act upon these ambitions through violent means associated with her perception
natural and natural worlds, and the boundary between the two entities is obscured by the introduction of three gender-neutral witches who permeate the entirety of the play. Shakespeare questions traditional gendered expectations through the struggles of a revered generalturned-tragic-hero, Macbeth, and his ambitious wife, Lady
of masculinity. Lady Macbeth then pressures Macbeth to kill King Duncan, the first of many murders. Macbeth, however, is reluctant to act upon these instincts, and his manhood is questioned by Lady Macbeth. While Macbeth battles the suffocating confines of toxic masculinity, Lady Macbeth struggles with restrictions
Sophia Li / The Spectator
I am the daughter of Fuzhounese immigrants. Though I was born in a Brooklyn hospital, I spent the majority of my childhood in the predominantly white suburbs of Dillon Valley, Colorado. I loved skiing during the winters and was obsessed with Marvel action figures. As a carefree seven-year-old, I didn’t see anything wrong with my “boyish” hobbies, but deep down, I knew the Dillon Valley girls saw me differently. They’d gawk at me from the American Girl section of book fairs as I flipped through Lego Ninjago comics by myself. They’d stare at me by the field as I ran around the jungle gym. I wanted to fit in. I wanted friends. I asked my mom to buy American Girl dolls and hair clips, even though I did not care for them. I tried faking my way through conversations by mimicking their “lady-like” mannerisms, but ultimately, I could not change their tainted perception of me. When I turned eight, my family moved back to New York. I was eager to start anew. I attended P.S. 40, another predominantly white school. Things did not change. One day, we were sitting in a circle on a carpet laced with ABC blocks. One of the girls got up and playfully assigned ratings based on our appearances. When she finally got to me, she paused for a moment. The silence was painful. Another hesitation elapsed after a sigh. “Zero,” she said. Zero. For a number that equated to nothingness, it sure weighed heavily on the shoulders of my eight-year-old self. I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t want to laugh along, because then I’d look dumb. All I could do was stare at my grubby, tan fingers as their laughter died down painfully slowly. After that day, I threw away all my dresses, my American Girl dolls, and my hair clips. I felt ugly. I cut off almost all of my hair. I didn’t want to associate myself
with the P.S. 40 or Dillon Valley girls. I didn’t feel worthy of being a girl anymore. On the other side of the globe, 400 years ago, William Shakespeare wrote “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” one of his most famous plays. Even in a society that restricted women’s rights, Shakespeare never shied away from discussions about gender roles. Notorious for its stage superstitions, “Macbeth” is considered an unlucky play by actors and fanatics alike. The play features both the super-
placed on women at the time. Despite the female monarch, Elizabethan women could not yield the same power or own property like men, and they instead dedicated their lives to motherhood and domesticity. Directors also had to submit to these conditions, and women were prohibited from performing. Shakespeare’s cast only consisted of men, even though his plays highlighted progressive ideas. With these limitations, femininity in this era meant incapability and defenselessness. Both the Macbeths want to express traits associated with the opposite gender. In one of her most famous lines, “Under my battlements. Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,” Lady Macbeth attempts to break free from the fetters of traditional gender roles. Similarly, Shakespeare’s cross-dressing romantic comedy “Twelfth Night” is also premised on the boundaries of gender and sexuality. The play centers around identical twins, Viola and Sebastian, who each think the other is dead after being separated in a shipwreck. Viola, who washes ashore on the Adriatic coast of Illyria, laments the supposed death of Sebastian and decides to fend for herself by seeking employment as a eunuch for Duke Orsino under the guise of a male alias, “Cesario.” Viola and Lady Macbeth’s journeys are not so different from mine. They both learn to adapt to a world that feels out of place. After my exile from the tribe of girls, my sights shifted to “the boys.” Secondgrade boys didn’t care about appearance, instead favoring the Yankees and the Avengers. Deep down, I knew I was still a girl; I didn’t want to let go of my feminine attributes. But my choices at the time seemed limited; I could be team boys or team girls, no in-betweens. Like Lady Macbeth, I called upon the spirits to “unsex” me and put on my “Cesario” disguise. At
first, this facade felt comfortable. I could finally talk freely about my interests. I wasn’t the last one picked for school projects anymore. But soon, my suppressed duality started to tear me apart like “two spent swimmers that do cling together/ And choke their art” in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”As time went on, I felt more and more alienated from my sense of self. I grew tired of my “Cesario” attire and secretly longed for my hair to grow back. On the coast of Illyria, Viola, still in her male attire, is also confused by her clashing duality as she resides in a gray area between both sexes. In a turn of events, Countess Olivia falls in love with Cesario and reaches out to “him” by returning a ring that Viola never had in the first place. When Viola realizes her feelings for Count Orsino and Olivia’s feelings for her Cesario persona, she feels like a monster. She, like me, is also confused by the fluidity of gender and sexuality. In many instances, she is told she is acting manly even when she behaves in a stereotypically feminine manner. Through Viola’s dilemma, Shakespeare suggests that figuring out one’s identity can be puzzling, messy, and even gruesome. Reading Shakespeare’s plays has allowed me to reflect on my past and current sense of self. Like Viola, I have not fully come to terms with my conflicting masculine and feminine characteristics. She never comes out of her male costume, even after her identity as a woman is revealed. Count Orsino has never met Viola outside of her gentleman’s attire and continues to address her as Cesario. He declares her his “mistress, and his fancy’s queen” immediately after she unveils her identity, indicating that even Orsino falls in love with Viola’s male persona. In other words, Viola’s male counterpart never really goes away; it is still a central part of her identity.
College and Money: Where Does It End? By KHANDAKER MUSHFIKUZZAMAN Bob Dylan once said, “All the money you make will never buy back your soul.” It is our souls that money seems to be taking, especially when it comes to college. In a world driven by material wealth, so-called “higher education” consumes a lot of it. The practical purpose of education is to reach progressive levels, meaning a good middle school education will supposedly lead to a great high school one, an even greater college education, and an outstanding career. This circle of money needs to end by making colleges free. Education is vital. However, our society is centered around wealth. While primary school education is free, students with only a high school education are unable to get a suitable career fitting the demands of a world that can only be answered by money. This point is where college comes in, but at
a high cost. The average private college tuition per student per year is around $38 thousand, while the average American has an annual wage of about $51 thousand. Colleges expect students to make around 75 percent of the average American’s wage at 18 to get an education, which forces the majority of students to take student loans that are $30 thousand for recent college graduates on average. One must pay to get an education to get a job, yet many end up with student debt and a position that barely covers it. Life is made out to be a simple equation: a good education equals a good career equals a good house and ultimately a good life, but it often isn’t so clear-cut. A solution implemented by colleges as a remedy for high costs is providing scholarships for students who deserve a higher education but face monetary instability. However, the limited space and strict demands only create extra pres-
sure to obtain scholarships, causing many to miss out. Less than one percent of students receive a complete grant, making scholarships an ineffective solution. The combination of the strain of financial conflict, heavy weight of education, and urgent feeling of stabilizing one’s private life is unbearable to the point where students ask, “How is this worth it?” Colleges aren’t providing the help that these students need, and the pandemic only made matters worse. COVID-19 made education challenging for everyone, especially college students. With an economic crash, even the part-time jobs that college attendees worked to pay off student loans became unavailable. However, making a college education free can put an end to this ceaseless loop of money. With no student debt, students will be free to pursue the careers they studied for. President Joe Biden put forward a
plan to make public, four-year college free for students whose families make less than $125 thousand a year. This initiative did not come to fruition, as the original $111 billion proposal for higher education decreased to $40 billion in Biden’s new spending plan in October 2021. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that the government works toward making college free. It would create equality for students nationwide. Closing this opportunity gap would also boost the economy as more students attend college and eventually work at higherpaying jobs. Furthermore, the income gap will be less pronounced; when college is made accessible to both the poor and wealthy, so is the range of careers, allowing for a balanced earning field. The money to make college free would have to come from the same place that public middle and high schools get funding from: taxes. Taxing the rich more effectively and re-
distributing federal funds can contribute to the daunting task of making college free. The 11 percent ($754.8 billion) of federal spending on the military in 2021 compared to the 4 percent ($296.6 billion) spent on education captures some of the priorities of our government. Though it would take a large sum of money to make college free for 19.6 million annual students (approximately $744.8 billion), it’s certainly possible for the government to redistribute funds by cutting costs from the military and judiciously taxing the rich in order to make college more accessible. With contributions from state funds and colleges themselves, making college free is a likely possibility. Students need to advocate for the government to make colleges attainable for all in order to put an end to the tyranny of money and set up an easier path to create a more adequate and meaningful life.
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
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Opinions By SUYEON RYU Good hygiene is expected of everyone, but the expected hygiene level seems to differ by gender. Oftentimes, being overly hygienic is just as large of a problem as being unhygienic because women are pressured by society to erase their bodies of “impurities” like body hair. Society’s unnatural obsession with hygiene exclusive to women does not regard actual cleanliness but is yet another unrealistic standard women have to abide by. Recently, social media has fueled a trend of dermaplaning, where women use a small razor to take the “peach fuzz” off of their faces, leaving more radiant skin, clean of debris and bacteria that small facial hairs contain. Getting rid of micro hairs barely visible to the eye seems unnecessary and foriegn, but it might become the new hygiene norm for women, as shaving has become. In the near future, women with a slight hint of hair on their cheeks might be seen as lazy or inappropriately prepared for a formal party. When music artist Halsey posed for a magazine with
mere stubble visible under her armpits, she was bombarded with hateful comments; even hints of hair are seen as unhygienic to people accustomed to the paper-smooth skin of waxed, laser-removed, and photoshopped images of women. Of course, male celebrities don’t face this problem, and nobody is shocked at a full bush of hair on their legs. Naturally growing hair, even when it grows in the same places, is only socially acceptable for men, while women are left to believe that hair removal is a basic step of hygiene. The irony of this shaving frenzy is that men usually grow more hair—their facial hair easily grows longer and thicker than dermaplaning can get rid of. However, shaving is seen as a stylistic choice. Body hair can be perfectly maintained as long as proper hygienic procedures such as showers are followed, showing that shaving, unlike what women are taught to believe, is not a matter of hygiene but of beauty. One driving cause behind these unnecessary hygienic practices is the need to force women to be socially accept-
able. Femininity has long been associated with purity, and because youth is also associated with purity, women are pressured to look younger to be more feminine. Pressure to remove body hair, which grows prominently after puberty, is one way to make women seek validation for looking youthful and therefore “womanly” enough for the rest of society. The media also plays a significant role because it reinforces the standards of femininity by limiting media exposure to women who have flawless skin, often purposefully. The money made from razors, wax strips, and depilatory creams sold to women encourages companies to promote aesthetic choice as hygiene to garner a greater profit. Companies also target women with a pink tax, which charges women a higher price than men for shaving products that often have lower quality. Due to these double standards, women spend much more money, time, and resources than necessary on body hair removal, even if they don’t personally want to shave. The average cost for shaving across a woman’s lifetime is $10,207,
an expense that many women pay without doubting its necessity. With body hair destigmatized, women would be given the freedom to determine their own verdict on shaving, and thus the choice to decide whether shaving is a worthwhile investment of their time, money, and effort. Nobody outwardly expresses that shaving, exfoliating, or other less practical hygienic practices are obligations. Rather, there is a deep-rooted social stigma that brings about a fear of seeming unhygienic. It takes courage to oppose this stigma as the media, peer perception, and even our own judgment intensify our insecurities around our bodies. Thus, celebrities like Miley Cyrus who publicly show their armpit hair and even dye it destigmatize body hair. Hygiene expectations for women have extended beyond the simple act of staying clean to a beauty standard that judges our natural bodies as shameful. The media should
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Beauty Under the Name of Hygiene
represent unshaved women alongside men and bring hygiene back to maintaining health, not aesthetics.
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The Spectator • January 25, 2022
Opinions The Flaws of High School Debate By LAUREN CHIN No debate team has ever been advertised as easy. Almost every debater will agree that their career’s successes were gained from afternoons of drills, evenings of prep, and nights of reading news articles and research studies on incredibly niche topics. Debate is, after all, a competitive activity in which people aim to hone their argumentative and public speaking skills. Unfortunately, those attempts at improvement can sometimes unintentionally escalate into something more aggressive. Recently, I competed at an online Lincoln-Douglas debate tournament. After one round, a judge mentioned, “I don’t know how you stayed so calm when your opponent kept cutting you off.” I responded truthfully, “I didn’t notice.”
Hostile opponents in the debate sphere have become as normalized as the ever-increasing workload of prep. The line between “assertive” and “rude” is blurred at times, making it difficult to tell if your opponent is criticizing your arguments or you as a debater. The opponent I encountered was just one example of this situation, in which I failed to recognize an impolite trait that would have been obvious in normal conversation. This uncertain distinction becomes particularly clear when gender is taken into account in debate. Many female debaters have noted that their aggressiveness is perceived as “cattiness,” while their male counterparts are praised as confident and self-assured for similar behavior. Clear sexism and misogyny pervade other aspects of debate as well. Opponents and judges have historically objectified and demeaned females, making
comments about their appearances, voices, and demeanors. Most horrifyingly of all, multiple female debaters have reported sexual harassment and assault by their male teammates, opponents, and judges. Schools with smaller debate teams and debaters from lowincome families face exclusion as well. Those with larger debate programs and more money have greater access to key resources, including prep, knowledge, and, of course, guidance through paid coaches and debate camps. Smaller teams from less affluent schools are often barred entry to certain tournaments due to exceptionally high entry fees. So why do I, and so many others, continue debating? What is there to gain from an activity plagued by such issues? Flaws don’t make something irredeemable. Though debate has its issues, it’s still an interesting and educational extra-
curricular for its participants. There’s nothing quite like dressing in a blazer and traveling for two hours by bus just to argue with another 16-year-old for 45 minutes straight (or, more accurately in our post-pandemic era, rolling out of bed and logging into a video-calling website 15 minutes before the round starts). Where else can teenagers learn about Hobbesian ethics and the Outer Space Treaty and get to argue about them? Moreover, there is an extensive community that aims to resolve debate dilemmas. Older debaters, particularly those who have faced these problems firsthand, are often at the forefront of these efforts. Many initiatives intend to support marginalized groups and aid gender and racial minorities in particular. Others offer help to any debater who needs it, regardless of income or school size. Debaters themselves make a
difference, too. The discriminatory, exclusionist individuals are only a fraction of the greater debate community, a community that is largely dedicated to constantly learning and helping others. With each new generation of debaters, we can hope to make debate a safer and more inclusive extracurricular for everyone. Forming relationships with others, aiding those on your team, and standing up against injustices are all ways to foster such an environment. And besides, the satisfaction of winning a round—especially one that involves an irritatingly aggressive opponent—is not something that I’m willing to give up. Ironically, my opponent’s unnecessary forcefulness ended up costing him the round. He misunderstood an important argument that I could have clarified if he had just let me speak.
The Order of Books: The Intentions of Melvil Dewey By SAVIDYA (MINADEE) KULAWANSA Libraries are full of thousands of books, so trying to find the right one can seem daunting. Organizing books in a library is an intimidating task, and the person who designed the categorization system that libraries currently use was incredibly intelligent. However, his accomplishments don’t exempt him from being criticized. Similar to how members of the Stuyvesant community are looking into renaming our school because of Peter Stuyvesant’s anti-Semitic sentiments, it is time to look into who Melvil Dewey was and his legacy in libraries. Instead of erasing controversial figures from history, we should recognize their accomplishments and build off of their work to fix the problems they created. This idea applies to Dewey, who was the creator of an ingenious method of organization that revolutionized libraries all across the globe but was also a sexist, racist, and homophobic anti-Semite. Dewey published the Dewey Decimal System in 1876 to sort
the Amherst College Library. This system categorizes books by different subjects, such as religion, social sciences, history, biography, and geography. These sections determine the hundreds place of the book number. From there, each of the topics is divided into 10 subtopics that determine the tens place. The following subsections are divided into even smaller subsections, which determine the ones place. The more specific the subsections are, the more digits after the decimal point, until one reaches the specific book. This method of organization is efficient, but when the numbers become categories, its problem becomes apparent. Books with a classification number from 200-250 encompass strictly Christian-related subjects, while books in the 260s-280s are on Judeo-Christian topics. The bottom of the pile, the 290s, are allocated for about 4,000 “other” religions, further illustrating Dewey’s attempts to keep books about “inferior religions” hidden. The problem with giving such a vast
topic, like religion, a small number of diverging subcategories (10 subtopics) is that there is a vast increase in the number of digits after the decimal place. If all 4,000 of the world’s religions except for Judaism and Christianity are under 290, then 291, 292, 293, and so on, would be used to divide all these religions into the main 10, after which may be the role of these religions in certain countries. As the subtopics get more specific, the classification number gets longer. Librarians and readers probably do not want to label and look for a book with 10 digits after the decimal point—nor are book spines big enough to fit such a large label—so they merely chop off the extra numbers, keeping the book with its more general subject. When this truncation happens, the initial classification is erased, and a large number of books are unified under a broad topic. Then, the books are sorted out by the last name of the author, meaning that a book about Hinduism could be placed right next to a book about Jainism in India.
Overall, it is harder for readers to find a certain book, since they have to sort through an entire section of uncategorized books. This problem is seen again in the 300s section, where books written by African Americans can be classified under the number 305.8 with the title “Ethnic and National Groups,” and books by East and South Asians can be put under the number 305.895. African American and Asian authors face the gross pooling of all subjects into one impenetrable mass because of their race, as books they write about topics other than “Ethnic and National Groups” are often still placed in the 305.8 or 305.895 sections. For example, books about Barack Obama are placed in the 300s section instead of the 900s section with all the other presidents. Dewey sorted out all the books written by white authors or topics that he approved of, such as Christianity, so that browsing for these books would be much easier. He created the 300s section for the books written by people of races he thought were inferior, so these books would be hid-
den and readers would be much more likely to read books by white authors. If we justify the racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and religiously motivated actions of people in the past by claiming that “it’s the way of the time,” we are unable to analyze the true character of our predecessors. Dewey’s belief that other races were inferior led him to try to make it harder for people to find their books. However, it is also important to see the positive contributions people like Dewey have made and strike a balance between honoring figures who brought change and acknowledging their misdeeds. For Dewey, it is best to keep the number portion of the Dewey Decimal System while re-allocating its subject portions. This task entails condensing the Christianity section to one tens place while dividing up the “other religions” category into more specific sections. Changes like this one will decrease the institutionalized discrimination in libraries.
Why Parallel Universes Exist By NELLI ROJAS-CESSA The trope of the multiverse in science fiction is a fascinating way of combining all the characters and worlds in a series. Recently, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a multiverse, encompassing other franchises. While this implementation was a narrative device to do a crossover event, parallel universes are very probable in our real world, and there are sound theories backed by acclaimed scientists. The first theory is based on probability. Each universe is categorized by a set of particles arranged in such a way that it will develop into that universe. The Earth only exists because its particles were in the correct time and place to form a ball of mass that orbits our sun. In order to find similar universes, we have to search for a universe with a similar set of particle con-
figurations. Since the universe is unfathomably huge, the chances that similar particle configurations exist are extremely high. Each parallel universe then has minute differences that result in infinite possible results. Every possible variation of the universe we live in, as well as its replicas, is in the realm of possibility. The next theory is based on the Big Bang, the idea that the universe started off as an infinitely dense point that suddenly stretched and inflated outwards at a rate faster than light. Some scientists have extended this theory to the hypothesis of “eternal inflation.” To simplify, the idea is that the universe constantly inflates through having most patches of the universe self-reproduce and inflate as bubbles. These mini-universes then self-produce and multiply indefinitely. This hypothesis
supports the idea of parallel universes, as it says inflation is eternal. If the universe is infinite, then that idea not only means that other life exists, but also that life similar to our world’s organisms exists. To take it further, there’s the implication that
Annie Lam / The Spectator
similar worlds exist in our universe’s many bubbles, since each bubble has its own characteristics that are mostly replicated in each offspring bubble, therefore demonstrating the existence of parallel universes.
Another scientific theory for the multiverse is based on quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is a complex subject that people are still researching today, but what best explains parallel universes is the doubleslit experiment, which demonstrates that light can have the same characteristics as both a wave and particle. If there is a light source that illuminates a plate with two slits, the wall on the other side of the plate will show a pattern that indicates that light travels as a wave. The interference pattern looks like drops of water rippling in a puddle. However, if one were to observe a single photon pass through a specific slit, the light would act as a particle. This phenomenon is the concept of wave-particle duality; paradoxically, light and even matter can behave as both a wave and particle. The takeaway from the dou-
ble-slit experiment is the idea of superposition: quantum objects can be in two different states at the same time. The wave function encompasses all of reality and all possibilities, so it is in superposition. Our observations of and interactions with our universe cause the wave function to collapse, as only one outcome can occur. Though all three of these theories are quite convincing, they’re just theories. Over time, new experiments and discoveries will bring us closer to the truth, proving or disproving the theories on parallel universes. Nowadays, with increasingly impressive technology and brilliant scientists to debate over the subject, the science fiction idea of parallel universes may become fact. However, it will take a long time to find out the truth, and interacting with another universe will take even longer. So until then, we can ponder the possibilities.
The Spectator • January 25, 2022
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Opinions Betty White Sets a Standard By CHARLOTTE PETERSON
the time of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, racial contentions were high as the civil rights movement gained major traction. The overwhelming majority of white America was hostile and angry. White followed her moral compass despite the times, opting to feature a Black tap dancer on her variety show. Ignoring pushback and threats from racist Americans and risking her job, status, and reputation, White stood up for what was right. Now, with the external pressures of bygone eras farther removed, it is much more straightforward to unlearn and reduce the biases taught to us since birth. White was hardly the only progessive elderly person advocating for justice. One of the most well known progressive figures in America today, Bernie Sanders, turned 80 this past September. Born two decades after White, he was also one of the most progressive figures of his time and still is today. Sanders advocated for a whole host of reforms in his youth, famously protesting segregation as a student. More recently, Sanders has pushed for modern-day policies meant to improve the standard of living, particularly for younger generations. With some of the
Aryana Singh / The Spectator
Beloved American actress Betty White passed away on December 31, 2021, just weeks before her 100th birthday. While her longevity and decades-long career are both widely discussed feats, the astonishing implications of her age in relation to her incredibly progressive stances are not as often acknowledged. Despite belonging to one of the most conservative generations in our society, she held some of the most radical beliefs of her time. White was exceptional, but why should her progressiveness be the exception? It is time for society to stop giving older generations a pass on bigotry and instead encourage them to follow White’s lead. Phrases like “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” or “they’re just a product of their time” are often used to excuse or justify bigoted remarks elderly relatives make over the holidays. With families in uncomfortable silence, awkward chuckles ensue and the topic is quickly changed. “It’s just their age speaking. Don’t pay it any mind,” a relative says, and the issue is forgotten. Despite how ubiquitous these kinds of justifications from slightly younger
relatives are, they are often not remotely helpful or even accurate claims. White disproved the aforementioned judgment of age, as she was always quick to adapt to and push for social change before it became the norm. White, born in the 1920s, was part of the “Traditional” or “Silent” Generation. Despite the regressiveness of her generation and the hateful societal standards that were present during her upbringing, White held some of the most progressive views among mainstream celebrities and actors. She announced her support of gay marriage in 2010, five years before it was legalized by the Obama administration. White, nearing 90 years of age at the time, explained that she thought “if a couple has been together all that time, […] it’s fine if they want to get married.” As an unusually progressive person, White demonstrated that despite the conditions and standards of one’s upbringing, a member of any generation can learn love and kindness over bigotry and adjust to rapidly changing social expectations. Even before progressive views were more prevalent in our society, White maintained a devout anti-racist profile. At
most aggressive climate change policies, Sanders has adjusted his viewpoints to accommodate new scientific discoveries. White and Sanders are proof that people can possess modern-day viewpoints that weren’t wholly understood or widely present in their time. While such figures may have been generational exceptions to the rule, the stubbornly upheld ideals from past ages are not unyielding to change. More
effort needs to be put into holding everyone accountable for their actions, regardless of age or upbringing. Instead of letting bigoted remarks go unaddressed, they should be discussed and learned from. Young people are not the only ones capable of leading societal change, and the claim that older generations can’t adapt furthers the circulation of misconceptions and discriminatory judgments.
The Endless Spiral of Gacha By STEFANIE CHEN You’re pulling on the limited banner for an anime waifu who will never be available after today. You don’t know if you’re guaranteed the character, but you do know that you have three months’ worth of rent due and you haven’t eaten anything but packaged ramen in weeks. The drive of chance both excites and torments you, and the uncertainty compels you to continue. That’s the game of gacha: subtly abusing the system to the extent where you don’t even realize how much you have spent. This mechanism has been effective throughout the years, with gacha remaining a major aspect in some of today’s most popular games. Gacha is a genre of video game that originated in Japan, encompassing the very idea of chance. Each time you purchase a loot box to try to get a new weapon for your character, you’re not guaranteed to get what you want. All that’s certain is that you have a chance of getting this Confetti Cannon Bazooka you’ve been saving up for for the past few months. This element is where the true danger of the gacha genre comes in; this aspect of chance emulates the concept of gambling. However, in this case, you’re not gaining any money from buying a loot box, but instead virtual items or collectibles that won’t help you pay your rent. Traditional gambling may be inconvenient or inaccessible for some people, which makes this world of readily available gambling material even more dangerous.
The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan documented a total of 840 complaints toward the problem of gacha games in 2011, with over a third of them involving minors. The problem with extravagant spending in gacha games reached such an extent by 2012 that Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency declared
probabilities just for a chance of the final prize. Further restrictions were put on minors to the extent that well-known gacha-based game companies such as Bandai Namco, KLab, SEGA, and DeNA had to enforce a “spending cap” for children. EC Network Director Yuri Harada stated that with one click, your money is
game is primarily advertised as an RPG, so new players do not expect this system. Less than six months after the game’s first release on September 28, 2020, the game had grossed over one billion dollars, with nearly $253 million from the Chinese App Store alone. This massive profit results from the game’s gambling structure.
All that’s certain is that you have a chance of getting this Confetti Cannon Bazooka you’ve been saving up for for the past few months. This element is where the true danger of the gacha genre comes in; this aspect of chance emulates the concept of gambling.
kompu gacha, a type of gacha that heavily incentivizes people to spend money in the game, to be illegal. Imagine you are playing a game and you want a specific character, but the only way that you can get this character is to get four other characters first through the gacha system. This situation is an example of kompu gacha, which forces people to spend even more money on questionable
gone in seconds. The simplicity of purchasing more virtual collectibles amplifies the rabbit hole that gacha presents as a video game genre for all ages. Gacha is more relevant than ever in today’s gaming industry, being the main reason certain games are topping the revenue charts. Genshin Impact, an action role-playing-based game, retains players with its central gacha element. However, the
With a 0.6 percent chance of acquiring a five-star character, the desire for someone to continue spending money on the game is well justified. Similarly, the probability rate also increases this specific genre’s popularity and addictive pull. Star Wars Battlefront II is another video game with gacha elements under its gameplay. The 2017 video game includes an incentive to spend, as play-
ers need to buy certain loot boxes to progress in the game or make in-general upfront purchases for items. These gacha boxes, which went for as much as $60, included several exclusive characters, further elevating the temptation of continuously buying these probability boxes to gain a virtual item. It’s not entirely possible to fix this gacha addiction due to its hold on digital gaming. Trying to convince people to give up a game is nearly impossible, especially for people who have already allocated several hours playing it. Instead of trying to erase the existence of gacha, we can try to restrain its damages by creating a spending limit for all ages that is better enforced by the government. Spending caps have been implemented before in Japan, but only with a younger age group. Therefore, imposing a spending limit for all players would restrain the heaviest spenders, along with younger kids who shouldn’t be engaging in gambling at such an age. Having the government, rather than private game companies, enforce these restrictions would ensure that corporations follow this regulation. With this idea, there is hope for gacha to become a fun game for everyone without damaging anyone’s personal financial situations. Gacha is not perfect, and with its chance-based systems, it will never lose its addictive element. However, if we can lessen the influence of money while keeping the chance, we can look forward to an evolution of gacha.
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Jaden Bae/ The Spectator
Ying Chen / The Spectator
Stacey Chen / The Spectator
Reya Miller / The Spectator
Chloe Huang / The Spectator
Cadence Li / The Spectator
Anjali Karunadasa / The Spectator
Page 20 The Spectator • January 25, 2021
Art Spread Meet the Artists By THE ART DEPARTMENT
Nada Hameed / The Spectator
Joanna Meng / The Spectator
Sin Liu / The Spectator
Phoebe Buckwalter / The Spectator
Aryana Singh / The Spectator
Fareha Islam / The Spectator
Phoebe He / The Spectator
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Nelli Rojas-Cessa/ The Spectator
The Spectator • January 25, 2021
Meet the Artists By THE ART DEPARTMENT
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Art Spread
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
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Arts and Entertainment Art By SUBHA BHUIYAN How can abstract art be defined? Some may describe it as a conglomerate of colors and indiscernible lines of varying degrees with no inherent meaning, while others may describe it as meaningful and inventive. Whether it’s oversimplified or too obscure, there are overwhelming numbers of critiques and interpretations of an abstract artwork’s meaning. But how did abstractionism come to be? It’s unlike previous art movements, including the representational art movement, in which painters typically depicted recognizable real world events. One representational art movement in particular was the Rococo movement in the 18th century, which featured soft and delicate subjects in blithe acts of enjoyment. It differs from the unfocused objects of abstractionism, which relies on subjecting oneself to a state of compos mentis (a sound mind) to intuitively figure out a piece of work that is simultaneously devoid of meaning and filled with answers. Abstract art blossomed during the beginning of the 20th century, and one of the earliest contributors to this movement was Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). In 1935, Kandinsky wrote to his gallerist that he had created the first abstract painting in 1911, an experimental watercolor piece. However, mystery surrounds this notion because in 1906, Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) had created a series of abstract paintings in Sweden. Controversy over whether Klint or Kandinsky was the first creator of abstract art
Film By SAYANTAN SAHA JK Rowling’s beloved book series, “Harry Potter,” has had a long legacy to date, spawning eight well-received movies. What’s more, its memory is carried in the hearts of a massive fandom that continues to expand its story even today. “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone,” the very first book in the series, recently passed its 20th anniversary. In honor of this momentous occasion, HBO released a special, “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” in which much of the original cast reunited to revel in the glory days and tell stories about the behind-the-scenes of the movies. Altogether an enjoyable experience to watch, this special certainly returned some light into the eyes of Potterheads in spite of the franchise’s darkened image in recent years. It doesn’t take a particularly careful viewer to notice that when watching the HBO special, the very creator of this universe, J. K. Rowling, is missing for its entire duration. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons: her views on
The Emergence of Abstract Art still remains. The answer is still unclear, as Klint’s gender could have very much prevented her from gaining public recognition for her inventive art. However, though both Klint and Kandinsky created some of the first works of abstract art and propelled the movement to where it is today, slight abstractionism has been prevalent throughout history: cave paintings. They were used as a way for cavemen to mimic their surroundings in a visual way and
of the world’s naturalistic pleasures, artists tried to reconcile with the changing times and created art to complement the emerging culture. Abstractionism emerged from the waning of realism, as the independence that artists possessed during the 20th century aided in the genesis of these dissonant yet captivating pieces. Artists could be commissioned by the public, as well as patrons, to extensively experiment with colors, textures,
Cadence Li / The Spectator
recreate their beliefs, represented with symbols of various specific meanings, such as the herd of a certain animal or the weather. Why was the 20th century abstract art movement so vastly different from almost every art form preceding it? Though abstractionism was influenced by surrealism, impressionism, and fauvism, the “style” is nonetheless undeniably distinct. The rise of intense industrialization and an era of modernization factored into the appeal of abstract art. Straying away from the portrayal
and mediums within their art. Soon enough, the beliefs of this new era led to the ethos of the time period being carefree and the resulting experimentation with one’s art, a basic tenet of abstractionism. During the 1940s and 1950s, a new form of abstract art emerged: abstract expressionism, which was created by Americans and popularized after World War II. Famous abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock (19121956) and Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) were distinguishing
figures within this movement. Pollock’s famous drip technique, which he used to paint “Autumn Rhythm,” is one of the most recognizable pieces of abstract art to date, and Kooning’s beautifully amalgamated cubist and expressionist art paved the way for more to come. In the 1960s, optical art (“op-art”) and minimalism began gaining popularity among artists. Victor Vasarely (1906-1997), the creator of op-art, dabbled with color, shapes, and light in order to craft enthralling visual illusions. For the case of minimal art, artists utilized simple but geometrically complex shapes. Abstract art’s different styles are representative of the freedom to experiment with different aspects of art for every artist who participated in the movement. Abstract artists today play with the ideas of their predecessors and redesign them in their own idiosyncratic ways. A modern abstract artist, Osamu Kobayashi, delicately paints converging colors that seem to swallow the canvas in a calm, minimalistic way, and viewers can’t help but get consumed by each whirl of the paint and its billowing gestures. Another abstract painter, Ruairiadh O’Connell, uses components from op-art to create bright, geometric illusions that look like otherworldly prints. His usage of light, in pieces such as “The Pursuit” and “The Adieu,” alter the painting itself, as they seem to illustrate the passage of time between dawn and dusk. With how much abstractionism has changed throughout history, there’s no question that it will continue to evolve and surprise us with new creations.
In Remembrance of The Boy Who Lived the movies, given that she built the magical universe, would have been interesting after all. However, it also points to an almost active decision to dissociate Rowling with the Harry Potter franchise. Rowling released a controversial essay about her views on gender identity in 2020 and was quickly canceled for her overtly transphobic beliefs. And this is hardly where this story began. Rowling has long been notorious for outrageous claims on platforms such as Twitter, and her recent transphobia is merely what set Harry Potter fans over the edge. Thankfully, the brilliant works she wrote haven’t been critiqued excessively for their association with the author. However, in an attempt to avoid any question of this in the future, there have been clear attempts to keep the two entities distinct from one another. Aside from the more controversial notes that this special avoids, the content is a clever mix of behind-thescenes highlights, anecdotal interviews, and a general camaraderie between the actors. Their chemistry is especially
integral to the overall enjoyable result, as these individuals who essentially grew up together on the big screen share a truly unique relationship. These sentiments are conveyed even more easily due to the decision to split the special into four chapters. Each chapter narrows its focus to certain films within the franchise and any content that is based on them. Every short anecdote was notable, whether it was simply a wholesome story of old times or an insightful look into an actor’s mind. For example, a fan-favorite story retold was when the main trio was asked to write an essay on their particular casting. True to the nature of their characters, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) wrote a serviceable onepage paper, Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) wrote a perfect 16 pages, and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) wrote absolutely nothing, arguably the best representation of his character. While not adding any substantial information, how can one not chuckle at such a tale? Looking at the more introspective moments, the special’s ending also serves as a tribute
to the actors who have passed away since the movies were made. In particular, it sheds insight on Alan Rickman’s (Severus Snape) nuanced acting choices throughout the films, as he was the only one aware of his character’s ending from the beginning, since the books were still being released during filming. It just makes the final line of the anniversary film, Snape’s iconic “always,” that much more nostalgic and meaningful. Of course, there are more of these moments present in the special, but little can describe the shared chemistry between these friends like the genuine tears that Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe shed when nearing the film’s end did. In its entirety, this 20th-anniversary reunion hit the mark for Potterheads everywhere. It serves to provide audiences with content that, though from an immediate glance may not seem special, is undeniably genuine and completely captures the scope of the bond between these brilliant actors. This special is truly a recommendable watch for any fan of the universe and really reignites life into the franchise.
Playlist Editor’s Picks! By THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DEPARTMENT With their time at the Spectator coming to a close, two departing A&E editors finally do away with the illusion that anyone else gets any input on these playlists.
Gavin Pork And Beans Weezer Alt Rock The Marvelous Misadventures of Super Trip and His Sidekick, Acid Strawberry Milk Cult Indie Bodys Car Seat Headrest Indie Rock Intersection Modern Baseball Midwest Emo American Tune Paul Simon Folk Dexter Fade Into You Mazzy Star Alt Rock/Shoegaze Throw Away Future Rap Vito’s Ordination Song Sufjan Stevens Folk/Indie The Kiss The Cure Alt Rock Speed Trials Elliott Smith Indie Folk/Rock Bonus: Morris Indiana Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek Indie Folk Saint Preservus Andrew Bird Alternative
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
Page 23
Arts and Entertainment Is the Future of Music in the Hands of Robots?
Music Music is innately human— it has been a constant of the human experience for millenia and elicits a broad spectrum of irreproducible emotions. It is almost impossible to imagine music being produced by anything other than people. However, artificial intelligence is making waves in the music industry, challenging human creativity. While many consider AI only for its practical uses, it has expanded into the realm of music and art optimization. It may initially seem intrusive, or even dystopian—that mindless simulations are encroaching upon our domain—but an argument can be made that the presence of AI might not serve as an obstacle for human expression, but rather spark a new era of creativity and push music into unexpected directions. The technology behind music AI utilizes neural networks, or software that attempts to mimic the human brain. A music producer sends pre-composed music to the neural network, which then recognizes melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and timbral patterns to generate new music. The neural network has grown to hold such a multitude of songs over the past decade that it is challenging for humans to monitor their extent of data. One company that has become a masthead for the public consumption of AI-generated music is OpenAI. Through their own public neural net-
Film By KAEDEN RUPAREL “The Matrix” (1999) and its two sequels revolutionized the way technology was incorporated into movies, setting a bar that was close to impossible for this year’s “Matrix: Resurrections” to surpass. The recent franchise installment pales in comparison to the impact of the originals on the film industry, and its plotline is not nearly as invigorating, but it succeeds in presenting even more thoughtprovoking and socially relevant themes than the originals do. The movie’s opening allows the audience to glimpse into the tormented mind of Neo, or Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), slowly revealing that he has been put back into the Matrix and convinced that his experiences were simply part of a video game he designed. While watching as Neo re-awakens his mind, the audience is introduced to a new team from the Human Resistance––those fighting against the Matrix––led by Bugs (Jessica Henwick) and a new Morpheus (Yahya AbdulMaten II).
work named Jukebox, they are able to spontaneously generate new music by modeling uncompressed audio, a departure from developing music symbolically, by recognizing elements like piano chord pro-
music industry has already seen artists remove a synthesized Jay-Z song from YouTube. Although copyrighting an algorithm is challenging, this issue will only grow worse with the development of AI, and
gressions. Jukebox’s pivot to raw waveform synthesis grants computers the ability to replicate the human voice while developing unique lyrics—a novel accomplishment inaccessible by older AI models. However, with this adaptation, Jukebox can easily become a copyright disaster. Say, for example, AI is trained to mimic the style of Taylor Swift: would she own any rights to the generated music? The copyright issue might restrict the potential spread of AI, as the
it is only fair that artists who own the creative property to the original piece receive some sort of compensation. Even though the legality of AI-generated music is questionable, it remains an innovative development that pushes the boundaries of the music industry. Alternatively, some artists have already begun to utilize AI in their own creative processes. In 2016, musician Alex Da Kid (Alexander Grant) used AI to analyze contemporary hit songs, social media data, and
Gabriel Gutierrez / The Spectator
By SIMONE RALEIGH
top-grossing films to compose “Not Easy,” using popular pitches and note sequences. He reached number four on the iTunes Hot Tracks chart within 48 hours of the song’s release. After seeing the success that AI artists have brought to the music industry, AI has begun to be used for finding the next big hit. AI has been helping large corporations like Warner Music Group and Apple find new artists through its abilities to quickly shuffle through music. Applications like Musiio feature an algorithm called Hit Potential Algorithm, which is not only able to categorize and assess new music but also measure how likely it is to reach commercial success. Musiio can determine tracks with no plays, no release date, and no social media marketing as potential hits. Although this process is less effective than that of a professional talent scout, its speed is unmatched, meaning more artists can be discovered. Apps like Musiio are best used in tandem with the human ear to pre-emptively sort through 40,000 tracks a day, saving time for those searching for potential stars. As this technology continues to develop, it will create new accessibility to the music industry. Up-and-coming artists may be able to create professional-sounding music with merely a phone instead of devoting money to expensive royalties or a recording studio. Music AI could also benefit established artists like French musician SKYGGE, who cre-
ated the fully-AI assisted album “Black is the Colour” (2019), which saw their style shift from French pop to traditional American folk. Though there have been positive effects on musicians from using Music AI, there still are concerns for its future. One is whether or not the optimization of music with AI will shift the focus of music away from art and onto corporate bottom lines, which can carelessly push human creatives out of business in favor of efficiency. Currently, AI tunes are clearly discernible from human-created music, but even if new technology was able to create music independent of its base of human art to draw from, it would never sufficiently replace human artistry. AI holds no guiding values, fresh perspectives, or cultural analysis, meaning that unlike human music, it is devoid of some of music’s greatest communicative utilities, such as artistic intent, political commentary, or emotional connection. For now, that is. Music AI is quickly changing the environment of the music industry, paving new paths to the music industry, and giving composers complex tools to enhance their creativity, and finding diamonds in the rough of music created each day. Advances in AI show no signs of slowing down, so the future of music remains exciting with the exploration of new sounds and techniques that have never existed before.
“Matrix: Resurrections” Leaves a Stain on a Revolutionary Film Franchise As the story progresses, its focus shifts to Neo and the designer of the latest Matrix version, who has imprisoned Neo and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). The original “Matrix” trilogy was renowned for its technology and plotline as well as remarkable character development. Such character development is lacking in “Matrix: Resurrections,” as many of the side characters fall to the wayside, even though a handful of them are just as interesting as the original crew. Reeves’s performance is far better than that in the original trilogy, and Carrie-Anne Moss once again shines as Trinity. Jonathan Groff also excels despite his limited screen time as the newly casted Mr. Smith––Neo’s enemy from the original trilogy. Jessica Henwick stands out in her depiction of Bugs, though it likely would have benefited from a more fleshed-out storyline for her character. The remainder of the supporting team is not particularly noteworthy, aside from Morpheus––Neo’s mentor and the longstanding leader of the Human Resistance. Abdul-
Mateen II delivers an excellent and unique interpretation of the iconic character, though incomparable to Laurence Fishburne’s from the original. Neil Patrick Harris is phenomenal as Neo’s therapist in the Matrix, truly convincing the audience that the whole thing was all in Neo’s head. However, his subpar portrayal of the Matrix creator, especially relative to the stern manner of the creator from the original series, begs the question of whether his more joyous demeanor was an intentional choice or simply a product of yet another poorly developed character. The film’s production is one of the highlights of the new installment. The story takes after many of the themes and events in the Matrix while remaining distinct enough from the original trilogy to be entertaining and not repetitive. Lana Wachowski and cowriters Aleksander Hemon and David Mitchell breathe new life into many of the visual supporting elements, including the technology used by the Human Resistance and the leaders of both sides, an effort
that successfully differentiates the new film from its prequels. Lana Wachowski’s direction in “Matrix: Resurrections” truly keeps the film afloat. The opening scenes of the movie, filled with confusion and chaos, are expertly navigated by Wachowski. The seemingly chaotic and rapid transition as Neo’s mind is awakened is again stupendously directed, filled with subtle hints and references to imagery from the original trilogy. The entire movie is fast-paced but is still remarkably easy to follow, and the film’s culmination cleans up all the loose ends without explicitly answering the key question of the films. If “Matrix: Resurrections” is to see more success than it has enjoyed to date, it will stem from the themes explored by Lana Wachowski. Wachowski, a transgender woman (along with her sister, Lilly), acknowledged before the film’s release that her personal experiences with the concept of the binary (both in gender as well as more generally in society) would certainly be expressed in “Matrix: Resurrections.”
The prequel trilogy was based around a very binary choice: red pill or blue pill. “Matrix: Resurrections” seeks to dismantle this concept. Throughout the entire film, Wachowski subtly hints at the fact that Neo himself is not, in fact, the One; the One is a far more complicated concept than simply a person. Similarly, the line between reality and pretense is blurred throughout the movie. The Matrix has grown ever more realistic to Neo and the audience. “The Matrix” and its two sequels enjoyed immediate success because of the revolutionary ideas and remarkable production and direction. Yet, these movies were so successful in the long run because of how the Wachowskis subtly integrated social commentary throughout the films. “Matrix: Resurrections” has not enjoyed the same immediate success because of its lackluster plotline, character development, and acting performances, and it is kept afloat merely because of outstanding production and direction.
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
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Arts and Entertainment By MADISON KIM A hallmark of the halcyon era of television, Betty White is an ubiquitous figure in American culture. Unlike other contemporaries of her time, White managed to waltz her way through the minefields of changing generations with relative ease, charming viewers from the era of antenna-bound boxes to that of touch-screen technology. White was a proud recipient of three Screen Actors Guild Awards, eight Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards, a Grammy, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was a 1995 Television Hall of Fame inductee. Blessed with the je ne sais quoi of a true entertainer, a clever tongue, and an alluring smile to boot, her ability to effortlessly shift gears from a loveable, graceful guest to a quick-witted comedienne marked her as a true connoisseur of her craft. Born as Betty Marion White Ludden on January 17, 1922, White got her first taste of the spotlight after starring on an experimental television transmission in high school. She officially kicked off her career on the radio, first landing a few gigs on popular productions and later receiving her own radio program. Despite these ambitious strides, her big breakthrough ultimately came in 1949, when she was named co-host of the live talk show “Hollywood on Television” (1949-1953) alongside disk jockey Al Jarvis. White began to host by herself in 1952 after her male counterparts left, becoming the first woman in the U.S. to be the sole host of a talk show. Despite her limited opportunities as a woman in the industry, White was able to spin “Hollywood on Television” (1949-1953) into “Life With Elizabeth” (1953-1955), a sitcom starring White as the titular Elizabeth. A woman taking the reins of an original project was unheard of at the time, marking “Life With Elizabeth” as a prominent milestone in the gradual absolvement of gender
Film By KAEDEN RUPAREL Playing a role in a movie is a difficult task. Playing two similar roles in the same film is perhaps twice as tricky, but playing two complex, distinct roles in one picture is a feat that many actors would consider unfathomable. Mahershala Ali tackles this feat effortlessly in Benjamin Cleary’s expertly directed Sci-Fi/Drama film “Swan Song”. Set in a futuristic society, “Swan Song” navigates the life of Cameron Turner (Mahershali Ali) after he learns of his terminal illness. The plot is kicked off when Cameron finds a possible solution to his illness: replacing himself with a technologically created clone, replicated down to every memory, personality trait, and cell. The film tells the story of Cameron as he is faced with an incredibly difficult decision: permanently leave his life behind with a clone replacement or burden his wife and child with grief from his certain death.
(Almost) 100 Years of Betty White restrictions in television media. With the success of the two-year sitcom, White also had the chance to produce her own daily talk show, “The Betty White Show” (1954), which aired on NBC. Granted creative control over the entire project, she was able to hire a female director, which marked another monument in the history of television. After her run on “The Betty White Show” (1977-1978), White decided to build onto her impressive résumé with frequent game show appearances. Her appearance on shows such as “Password” (1961-1967), “Tattletales” (1974-1978), “To Tell the Truth” (1956-1968), and “Match Game” (1962) made her dubbed the “First Lady of Game Shows” after claiming the hearts of both the hosts and the American public alike. It was on these shows that White was able to hone her distinct public persona, one that would propel her to national acclaim like never seen before. With popular culture dictating that they were undesirable afterpassing the ripe age of 35, no longer classifying as coquettish, fresh-faced sex symbols, women were consequently shoved into the “office worker” archetype: the pressed-collar, flat-wearing matrons you run into in at a secretary office or at the library counter. White took advantage of this stereotype to define her signature public mien, presenting herself as a clean-cut auntie with a devilish mind: amicably sweet on the outside, yet enticingly risqué on the inside. Betty White ultimately redefined the etymology of woman stardom, and in 1973, at age 51, when most women were kicked to the curb by Hollywood executives, her career reached new heights on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970-1977). On “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” White not only cultivated this persona, but also maximized these qualities to create the larger-than-life character Sue Ann Nivens. A catty nymphomaniac who wielded her winning smile like
a rifle and deployed her chipper nature like a feint, Sue Ann was a representation of what American culture suspected the “modern woman” to be—a fox behind closed doors. Sue Ann was an enigma of unbridled femininity and a satire on the unbecoming of a woman: a so-called “Betty White type” polished into perfection. White breathed a
continued to charm audiences around the globe. Her most significant appearance was in 2010 as the host of “Saturday Night Live” (1975), which marked her as the oldest host in the show’s history. So what exactly made White such a beloved figure in American history? While her raw talent and multitude of achievements
new type of humanness into female characters on television, transforming them from shallow, simpering secondaries into three-dimensional figures that television had rarely seen. Eight years after “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” ended in 1977, White took a pivot with her work on “The Golden Girls” (1985-1992), assuming the role of optimistic widow Rose Nylund. Rose was a slippery character and could have been whittled down into a dim, one-dimensional punching bag in the hands of the less experienced. For White, however, it was a match made in heaven: she molded Rose into a character of unexpected wisdom and strength, yet another protagonist saved by her natural ingeniousness. After the show’s finale in 1992, White worked on a variety of other projects and
were a presiding factor, her life of dignity and grace sets her apart from the crowd. When met with racist bigots who demanded the removal of black tap dancer Arthur Duncan from “The Betty White Show,’” White received threats from NBC, which threatened to cancel the production. Instead of complying, she rebounded by increasing Duncan’s airtime, which ended her critics’ spiel of polemics with a curt “live with it.” White further established her progressiveness with her early support of same-sex marriage, advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and proving herself to be a trusted ally. In addition, White was also a major proponent of animal activism, serving as a trustee of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and the Morris Animal Foundation. She
Chuer Zhong / The Spectator
Television
volunteered tirelessly at animal welfare organizations, donated to numerous charities, and even won the National Humanitarian Medal from the American Humane organization. Above all, Betty White is a class act for all the decades that have been graced by her presence. Along the course of her career, she broke countless barriers of American culture and paved the way for women on television, overcoming the limitations of old age with her remarkable sharpness while fighting for praiseworthy causes. For many Americans, White was a beacon of hope in Hollywood who channeled her compassion into the heart of her work, never once losing her “Golden Girl” touch. Betty White passed away on December 31, 2021, just 18 days before her 100th birthday. Within minutes of the report, three generations of Americans flocked to all kinds of social media forums to mourn. For days to follow, the fragmented American masses came together in these social spaces to revel in her bounds of life––the same way audiences of generations gathered around the television to watch her on the small screen. With the cultivation of her work, she managed to stitch together the seams of America once again. Perhaps the true magic of Betty White wasn’t her gleaming smile, her witty quips, or her lasting legacy, but her benevolent presence that enveloped us all in a communal blanket of pride, a display of a career in all its glory. It didn’t matter if you were not familiar with her name before the tragic announcement. Even if it was just for a second, we were all ushered into the collective embrace of honor and got to bask in the signature Betty White charm that lingered behind, the same magic that will fuel the veins of American television for years to come. Rest in peace, Ms. White, and may your kindness continue to empower generations in the future.
Mahershala Ali Excels as Both Leads in “Swan Song” Cleary manages to stretch out the story into a full two hours without ever boring the audience. Each character has a unique backstory, allowing the film to focus on developing compelling characters just as much as an enthralling plotline. Both Cameron and Jack, the temporary name for Cameron’s clone, are incredibly complex in both their individual and shared characteristics. Cameron has lived his life doubting himself and walking on eggshells. Now, he faces the most difficult decision of his life, knowing that he could die at any time. Meanwhile, Jack is affected by the decision Cameron must make and knows he has no control over the outcome, and he has resigned himself to this fact. Jack shares the same traits and memories as Cameron, yet there is a small part of him that is hopeful and excited to actually experience life. Mahershali Ali’s brilliant acting is on full display for the duration of the movie,
portraying both Jack and Cameron marvelously. Never once are audiences left confused about who Jack and Cameron are. The costume design certainly helps, but even if the two characters were wearing identical clothing, their demeanors and intonations would still be easily distinguishable. Mahershali Ali is able to carry numerous scenes between just Jack and Cameron effortlessly. Throughout the entire film, the contrast between the two characters are easily distinguishable and the conflicts between both of them are captivating. His depiction of Cameron is fueled by the stress of his decision and the impact of it, both for himself and for his family. He knows he’s letting a stranger––though not really––into his home, and yet he knows it’s only to benefit his family. Ali’s outstanding acting expresses Cameron’s stress and anger along with Jack’s confused yet complacent mindset. His
performance as Cameron alone would easily be worthy of an Oscar, and he is able to carry scenes entirely solo far better than other actors can carry scenes with another person. The supporting cast shines as well, with an expectedly notable performance from Glenn Close, who plays the role of the doctor. Naomie Harris excels as Cameron’s wife Poppy, whose joyous spirit has taken a hit after dealing with her brother’s death. Awkwafina delivers one of her best performances to date with an incredibly conflicted yet resigned portrayal of another patient at the facility with Cameron. The direction and cinematography of the movie is remarkable. Breathtaking, yet minimalistic settings help create Cleary and cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi’s futuristic vision for the film while still remaining realistic. The simplistic palette of the mansion is beautifully contrasted with the vibrance of Cameron’s home and
the more lively decorative style of Poppy, and the simple costumes are specifically chosen to echo the emotional state of Cameron and Jack. The best part of the direction from Cleary, however, is what he chooses not to do. At many parts, the movie easily could’ve become a psychological thriller or even horror. However, Cleary chose to focus on the beauty of telling a seemingly simple yet complex story, which pays off beautifully. Incredible direction from Benjamin Cleary and a tremendous performance by a supporting cast brings “Swan Song” to life. Nevertheless, the movie would not have been anywhere close to what it was without the Oscar-worthy performance of Mahershali Ali, who shines in arguably his best work yet. A beautifully told story, filled with expert direction and phenomenal acting, contributes to the true masterpiece, “Swan Song.”
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
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Arts and Entertainment Cheap *ss Lunch #10: Halal, in a Burger. Why Not?
Food There isn’t much need to go into great detail on the importance of Halal food to the Stuyvesant diet. As the archives of this column would suggest, it is perhaps the most popular and widely-loved meal option for those with little money or time on the streets of New York. Simplicity is its defining feature, the portions perfectly calibrated to satisfy the strongest hunger. Even a dish that is so seemingly simple and perfected can sometimes revolutionize the eating experience with a little bit of culinary innovation. Now, would slapping the entire Halal mixture onto a fully decked-out burger have that effect? Soup & Gyro certainly thinks so. Peeking out from under a bright yellow awning surrounded by plenty of convenient tables and chairs, perfect for eating out in the age of social distancing, lies a deceptively small storefront with an interior stretching far back from the bustling street. Walking inside, patrons are met with the full gamut of the Turkish restaurant: stacks of honey-based sweets in tin foil containers, a cooler stocked with yogurt drinks and fruit juices, and a kitchen flanked by trays of sliced meats, chopped
vegetables, and a cornucopia of sauces, all centered around the pièce de résistance: thick, glistening towers of rotating kebab. The innovative lunch special consists of the entire innards of
to bacon any poultry can get, with the same rewarding tactility between the teeth minus the gamey fat or tough charred bits. The beef and lamb mixture is similar, with a stronger bite (though not quite as much
the standard street cart Gyro, transplanted onto a burger bun. This deal comes in at $7.60 for a choice of chicken, lamb and beef, or a Turkish meatball on a bun, and a Deluxe costs $11.95 for the addition of a pile of fluffy French fries and a bottled beverage. The chicken is by far the best option: a sublime layering of crisp, fatty meat with a sweet sauce on top of it, its smokiness and not unpleasant greasiness comes the closest
explosivity in its deliciousness). The two components come together in a complementary mixture, melding the stringy chewiness of beef with the fatty funk of lamb into what could almost be considered a new meat. The Turkish meatball, perhaps a type of Kibbeh, is the closest to a traditional hamburger experience, with multiple sideby-side smaller patties of seared beef packed with spices and bits of vegetable, halfway between
Lily Serry / The Spectator
By MATTHEW WAGMAN
Ah, memes. Weird, cryptic things that dictionaries often fail to define, because memes are like nonsensical inside jokes shared by millions that can only be vaguely understood by experience. Inside the general category of memes lies a subcategory called “meme songs,” which have had an undeniable impact on pop culture. Parts of “Barbie Girl” and the Wii theme song are instantly recognized and are often sung among friends. While all meme songs have a special place in our hearts, there can only be one victor. Let the championship begin! NUMBER FOUR: “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley was released in 1987 and became a meme in 2007. The song is largely famous for its role in “rickrolling,” a harmless prank in which internet users are tricked by misleading messages or thumbnails into clicking on a link that brings them to the “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video. For a meme song, this ‘80s dance-pop track is innocently ordinary. The bass and drums make for a moderately satisfying groove, and Astley’s vocal performance is sincere. Unfortunately, the song fails to leave any lasting impression— the lyrics are emotionless, the instrumentation is overdone and repetitive, and Astley’s dancing
Rounding out the Deluxe is a small, watery sweet––a meltin-your-mouth morsel of a honeyed pastry which, while a nice touch, doesn’t add much to the meal. Plenty of condiments are offered if you aren’t afraid to ask, including a silky and cool garlic-and-dill-tzatziki, generic brand ketchup packets, and a peppery vinegar-based hot sauce (read: probably Tabasco). All those options come in a convenient paper bag and tin foil container, which is very handy for holding the scattered remains of the meal for frantic scooping while rushing back during the five minute or longer walk back to the building before the bell. The burger selection rounds out their “affordable” menu, with any potential further ventures stopping dead at the double digit prices of the platters. Though their prices are a good two to three dollars more expensive than other comparable dishes, Soup & Gyro offers better ingredients, a safer digestive experience, and more expansive amenities than its cart-based Halal counterparts. Some may not think the farther trek for such a novel difference is worth it, but on the whole the restaurant, with its straightforward and effective fare, is well worth a visit.
The Meme Song Showdown
Music By FRANCES SCHWARZ
an Italian sausage and a regular burger. For those who want a vegetarian option, your best bet is to head next door to NishNush for a much more masterfully prepared falafel. Soup & Gyro’s attempt isn’t terrible, with plump, tangy patties with undertones recalling tartar sauce enrobed in a creamy, umami hummus, but these chickpea fritters’ mediocre texture and crumbliness leave little lasting impression upon the palate and one’s hunger. However, all the excess hummus renders a winning combination when paired with the otherwise bland-tasting fries in the Deluxe. Along with the sturdy starch of those fries, the salad on each burger provides a counterpoint to the meat, buns, and sauce. Cool chunks of firm tomatoes, shredded cabbage, and lettuce impart a crunch to the soft sandwiches, though their flavors get lost in their more riotous surroundings. Every burger option comes on a lightly grilled golden brioche bun, which is forgiving almost to the point of insubstantiality but avoids the disintegration of poorer quality wrappers. The sauce—a simple blend of ketchup and mayo—is tasty enough, but its sweetness and fattiness threaten to overshadow the sometimeslacking quantities of protein.
is questionable. While ranking the allstar (pun intended) of meme songs last was hard to do, this competition is one of quality, not popularity, making this ranking inevitable. NUMBER THREE: “All Star” by Smash Mouth “All Star” by Smash Mouth is a rock song that was released in 1999. After the song’s appearance in the movie “Shrek (2001),” the song became a meme when people parodied it on social media. Contributing both to the meme and the quality of the song is the absurdity of the music video, in which the lead singer of Smash Mouth appears in an unflattering pair of
snappy drums and the laid-back vibe of the guitars are perfect for this playful song. The song’s structure is also innovative, going beyond the typical versechorus format to include a breakdown, melancholic bridge, and chorus with more mellow instrumentation. While the hiphop influence in the breakdown doesn’t fit in with the rest of the song, the other two unique sections add surprising heart to it. NUMBER TWO: “MEGALOVANIA” by Toby Fox Coming in as a close second is “MEGALOVANIA,” an instrumental electronic track most notable for its appearance in the popular video game
sporting the catchiest melodies on the list and a structural progression that takes the listener on an emotional journey. The retro lead synths, metalinspired guitars and drums, and packed instrumentation also make for a satisfying sound. The energetic, lo-fi production both compliments the retro look of “Undertale” and pairs well with the climactic moment in the game’s story. NUMBER ONE: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X For a man who chose his stage name as a joke, it’s only fitting that Lil Nas X’s smash hit “Old Town Road” would be a joke, too. First released in 2018, the song became a meme the
Ah, memes. Weird, cryptic things that dictionaries often fail to define, because memes are like nonsensical inside jokes shared by millions that can only be vaguely understood by experience.
sunglasses and sings in a nasal tone. Nonetheless, the lyrics are surprisingly meaningful, as they encourage the listener to have fun and chase after their dreams. While the instrumentation is far from extraordinary, the refined groove created by the
“Undertale.” The song became a meme in 2016 when people began uploading videos of themselves playing the main hook on everything from kazoos to doorbells. This song is most successful in its musical composition,
following year after it trended on TikTok. In terms of sound, the song wins for being both the most addictive and innovative. The blend between country and trap is seamless, with the country vocals and lazy guitar beat
accentuated by modern trap drums and satisfying 808s. Lil Nas X’s Southern twang adds richness to the track while Billy Ray Cyrus brings that authentic country tone, making for a fantastic vocal performance. Finally, the lyrics are masterfully packed with satisfying rhyme and alliteration, cowboy imagery, and personality. The song’s music video also stands out for the way it addresses the racial controversy around this song. In 2019, Billboard removed “Old Town Road” from its country chart, a move which many suspected was racially motivated. Yet, in the song’s “Official Movie,” Lil Nas X enjoys himself in the face of violent white cowboys who “weren’t too welcoming to outsiders,” and even persuades an all-white room of cowboys to party. The way the song persevered through its removal from the country charts to become an anthem for the “black yeehaw agenda” is perhaps the greatest thing a meme song has ever achieved, earning the song its number one spot. The songs came, they fought and grappled with each other, and now no other ranking is acceptable. While “Never Gonna Give You Up” might have been an easy last place, the competition for second and third place was fierce. Although meme songs may not matter much in the grand scheme of the universe, they certainly matter in the bizarre world of teen culture and, of course, in our hearts.
The Spectator ● January 25, 2021
Page 26
Humor These articles are works of fiction. All quotes are libel and slander.
MTA Cuts Subway Service as Revenge Against Annoying Stuyvesant Students A new year has begun, and the MTA has decided to celebrate with service cuts. The B, W, Z, <F> Express, <6> Express, <7> Express, and Rockaway Park A trains have been indefinitely suspended by the MTA due to annoying Stuyvesant students. Yes, it is Stuyvesant students’ fault that their commute times have increased by 10 to 30 minutes due to the reduction in service. Acting MTA Chairman Janno Lieber recently released a statement relating to the service cuts on January 3, stating, “It is my responsibility to announce that beginning this morning, we will be suspending all part-time subway services indefinitely and running remaining subway service at 45-minute headways. We will also be running LIRR and MetroNorth service every two hours. Why? Because of the students who attend Stuyvesant High School. They have annoyed our train crews into retirement with their gossip, giggles, and AP Calculus chatter. Many don’t wear masks as they’re busy drinking their Starbucks coffee and haven’t gotten vaccinated during this pandemic. The Stuyvesant Transit and Urbanism Club has also vandalized our train cars by stealing rollsigns and subway maps, as well as sabotaging operations that render our equipment and infrastructure inoperable. They also ride for free by using student Me-
troCards (which will be replaced Unsurprisingly, the Stuyveswith OMNY cards in January), ant student body has reacted with but now the Department of Ed- anger. Student Union President ucation isn’t reimbursing us due Shivali Korgaonkar stated that to ‘a lack of appropriated funds.’ “this is public corruption at its And they are, by far, the largest finest, targeting the brightest stuusers of student MetroCards, dents in New York City for meaning that we lose the most their teenage by servicing them currently. Not instincts and to mention, many of them just a c a d e m i c jump or crawl under the turnstile, success.” meaning we don’t get our money Princiat all! Most importantly, though, pal Seung is the fact that I haven’t been Yu depaid the six-figure salary that c l a r e d had been promised by former t h a t Governor Andrew Cuomo “our studue to the Stuyvesant students’ negligence and their cost burden on us, which is the only thing I care about! It is time for them to pay!” The services that have been suspended are the ones that Emily Young-Squire / The Spectator many Stuyvesant dents are being students rely heavily on. The Z singled out as scapegoats for the and <6> trains stop at Brooklyn irresponsible actions of other Bridge-City Hall, the W stops at students (such as those from City Hall, the Rockaway Park A Brooklyn Tech, BMCC, NYU, stops at Chambers St-Park Pl, Staten Island Tech, and Columand the B, W, and <F> are a bia), which is greatly affecting transfer away from Stuyvesant. their academic performance and Service is also heavily reduced their mental health in a negative on nearly all subway lines (A, way.” C, E, R, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) that The Transit and Urbanism stop near Stuyvesant or are just a Club also sharply rebuked Litransfer away (B, D, F, M, L, N, eber in a public statement: “We Q, G, and 7). do not steal rollsigns or vandal-
Our Feelings Matter! By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Every Valentine’s Day at 10:20 a.m., thousands of students sit in anticipation. Hearts pound. Nails scratch on desks. Then, the doors open, and the heartbreak begins. For as long as Stuyvesant students can remember, The Indicator has encouraged students to buy flowers for each other to distribute during homeroom. While this event might seem like a fun tradition, it has inverted the day of love into a day of disturbing exclusion. In a groundbreaking report, The Spectator has discovered that thousands of students received no flowers, irreparably damaging their mental health for years to come. Thankfully, the school administration stepped in to right this wrong. While the state of this year’s flower sale is still in limbo, it is likely that Big Sibs will be required to purchase one for each of their freshmen. A recent poll has found that since the implementation of this new policy, mental health levels have jumped 20-fold. The Editorial Board has a few other suggestions to help reduce the exclusive nature of Stuyvesant. At a school that has contin-
ually prioritized academic excellence over athletic prowess, many Stuyvesant students lack confidence about their athletic abilities, further fueled by the highly exclusionary policies of many of the PSAL sports teams at Stuyvesant. The administration should remedy this issue by creating a new policy requiring everyone who tries out to be included on a sports team. While this initiative might have detrimental implications for Stuyvesant’s competitive success, the administration should understand that the reputation of Stuyvesant athletics is meaningless when students feel left out. The administration must also understand that many students go through the pressures of Stuyvesant without taking a break for food and suffering in hunger to finish their work; these nutritional deficiencies further hurt the mental well-being of many students. Therefore, there should be a new policy requiring any student seen consuming a snack in the hallways to share the said snack with all passersby. These initiatives, among others, are a positive start for our school to begin combating the damaging nature of exclusivity within our halls.
ize subway cars. At least, I think we don’t. I don’t know for sure. However, those who do are not entitled to membership in our club and are likely criminals. Except our most beloved members, of course. They’re just taking home memorabilia, which isn’t harmful at all. Lieber is a dirty liar who finds our status as transit advocates and railfans to be a threat to his high paying job of incompetence and corruption. He has done nothing good for the MTA, and thus, Governor Kathy Hochul should withdraw his nomination.” Quite recently, this controversy has even turned political. Representative Jerry Nadler of Manhattan (’65), a Stuyvesant alum, and Representative Grace Meng of Queens, who has significant numbers of Stuyvesant students as constituents, quickly responded to e-mails from Stuyvesant students calling for justice. They immediately introduced a bill to cease federal funding for the MTA unless it restores service to normal levels. Many members of the New York congressional delegation signed as well, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Assemblymember Richard Gottfried (’65) of Manhattan, also a Stuyvesant alum and a friend of Nadler, introduced another bill in the state assembly to restructure the corrupted MTA into a more
Disney acquired the rights to the entirety of North Korea. Chemical fires continue to ravage the midwest. Are soccer moms to blame? Scientists report that we have “passed the point of no return”—Among Us memes have had an irreversible effect on human society. Due to COVID-19, the number of roaches currently outnumber students. Bronx Science was accused of hoarding PCR tests to resell at higher prices later. reliable agency. Soon enough, Lieber was forced to back down: “I can’t lose my six figure salary and all of the millions of dollars in back pay that I am owed. So fine, I’m backing down. Stuyvesant students are still annoying, but I don’t want a potential Governor Lee Zeldin firing me, especially since all of the Stuyvesant parents voted for him, or Governor Hochul withdrawing my nomination. Hence, normal service will resume January 19. Until then, deal with the reduced service, Stuyvesant losers!” Stuyvesant reacted with recontinued on page 27
Fun Column Guess the Teacher
Answer on the bottom of the page.
Hint: This administrator is the head of three departments at Stuyvesant!
Issue 9 Mini-Crossword
Down 1. 2008 Pixar film 2. Lathered 3. Motion Picture Association Rating of 1-down 4. German affirmation 5. Wet 6. “––” - dash Across 1. Federal mail carrier 4. Image filetype 7. - stick 8. “___ __ Name” from “Breaking Bad” or “Destiny’s Child” Answers on https://stuyspec.com/spec-plus/issue-9-mini-crossword Answer: Francesca McAuliffe
By MUHIB MUHIB
NEWSBEET
The Spectator ● January 25, 2021
Page 27
Humor Key to Finals Success: Work Hard, Pray Harder By CHRISTIAN KIM and RAYMOND CHEN Principal Yu ventures to the boiler room, and a deal is struck. The result? Answered by the little verse the Big Sibs love to recite:
Hudson Stairwell really makes you wonder: has Stuy officially lost its mind? No. What you are witnessing is actually the “Plan A” of many underclassmen (and the occa-
PRAYING If petty larceny for The Grind’s shrine isn’t your idea of worshiping, don’t worry! There’s another way. All it costs is your time and dignity—so basically,
The Principals of Stuyvesant High Go out looking for a cry With finals that have always been so spry
SHRINES Seeing little piles of homework, tests, and lost objects surrounding a deformed figure made from soggy paper towels from the bathrooms scattered around the
Natalie Soler / The Spectator
That’s right: ’twas the season to be jolly, and ’tis the season to be melancholy. Well aware of the fact that you’ve already burnt through a couple of lives during your time at Stuy, I’m here to kindly remind you that your finals are just around the corner. P.S. I’ll also be here to remind you of your June finals when those come around <3. “Well, crap,” you say, and with good reason because you’ll need a couple of miracles to endure it. The main strategy to get through finals (tested over the past century) isn’t related to studying. Besides, look at your current studying time. Oh right, you don’t have one because you’re too busy girl-bossing Stuy by being a world-class tennis star, math team wiz, and part-time world-class musician all at the same time. Instead, rack up as many blessings as you can right before you enter the classroom on your doomsday. Here are some of the most popular ways.
sional junior) as they snatch whatever they can get their hands on to create shrines dedicated to the patron gods and goddesses that look over Stuy, such as the ancient Pegleg Pete and the mischievous spirit of the sixth floor. Though Stuy students worship a myriad of deities, one, in particular, stands out among them: The Grind, the patron of coffee. She blesses students with the endurance to grind through three essays and half-ass four STEM assignments with her magic cup of ground coffee beans. This ensures around 30 minutes of pure study time on your way to school, all for the price of your mental sanity.
nothing that you hadn’t lived without before. All you have to do is to hunt down and worship a senior until they are defrauded of their precious wisdom through a combination of flattery and bribery. If you’re athletically inclined, run errands and do favors for them to get any tips and gimmicks. If you’re an individual that would rather take the two-tothree escalator instead of walking up the stairs, you can offer the seniors No. 2 pencils for the same advice. Now, seniors may not always be satisfied with the favors that we do for them. In that case, resort to flattery. While some believe that genuine compliments would be
more effective in convincing the senior, it would require the ability to establish personal connections with people, which would exclude a large part of the Stuyvesant student body. Instead, we should only use the most excessive forms of praise with the senior. The more unnatural, the better. Plus, if the senior tries to run, you can yell the praises at them and intimidate them into giving you advice. There is some risk, however, due to senioritis. Our targeted seniors may be plagued with that illness, and we may obtain nothing from them despite our efforts. Still, this is not a complete drain of effort. For underclassmen, this method counts toward our tithes and duties to the seniors. Nothing goes to waste in this closed system. SACRIFICES Now, some of you might still be unsatisfied with the options given and, tragically, might have even started to think about studying for finals. Thankfully, there remains a third method for the exceedingly desperate that taps into the arcane arts: sacrifices. To begin, you must first identify the ideal location. Luckily for us, our predecessors recorded this information, which can be found hastily scribbled on the bathroom stalls or sprayed across the mirror in a language long forgotten. Using the translation key etched on the sixth-floor benches, you can piece together the clues. For the sake of convenience (and because we’re nice), we’ll just give you the answer. Though there are many good contenders, like the fifthfloor cafeteria or the fourth-floor hallways, the best spots are near
the windows installed in bathrooms, especially the ones in direct view of the toilet, because of their apparent proximity to evil (according to our predecessors’ notes). Once you have found your favorite bathroom window, you will need a friend (or if you’re friendless, you’ll need two pens, preferably Muji) to follow you to the bathroom with a notebook from one of your failing classes that is ready to be sacrificed. Together, you and your friend (assuming you found one) will loudly chant the obscure Stuyvesant school song, which should be on the school website, once to the window (or twice to intimidate any unsuspecting student using the bathroom during your ritual). After chanting, take out your notebook and rip out all the pages, crumbling and flushing it down the toilet all at once (with you clogging the toilet, maybe you are the “evil” that our predecessors’ notes refer to). And that’s it! Now, you are well equipped to withstand anything during finals week, whether that be coping with the imminent emotions of despair or finishing any last-minute work that teachers loop-hole in (and most recently, having to actually GO to school </3). If you are disappointed with the results of your rituals, you can improve the efficacy of the blessings by copying the phrase “i forgor” 50 times on a piece of paper while accepting your doom (optimally at 3 a.m., at which time you should normally still be awake, anyway). While you’re at it, one more thing: go kick some ass out there, you math team wiz of a tennis star (and part-time world-class musician)!
Yu Are the Impostor By VINCENT D’ANGELO A controversy arose this week with the appearance of a mysterious individual claiming to be Stuyvesant’s true headmaster. The man appeared on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., confronting all that were unlucky enough to leave the school via the Chambers Street Bridge. What was first believed to be nothing but belligerent hollering from the man soon turned suspicious when onlookers started to pay attention to his words. The prestigious Humor Department sat down for an interview with a student who encountered the man on Tuesday evening. “Man, it was terrifying. I thought it had to be Principal Yu even if he wasn’t facing me at first. Same stature, build, and that voice reminded me of the guy who was near the bridge at Camp Stuy. So yeah, it seemed a lot like him, but when he turned around, he had this weird scraggly beard, and his nose was all crooked. I was taken aback, but I’ve learned to deal with these unfortunate surprises because of all these masks, so I just kind of averted my eyes and listened,” he reported.
This student, along with other sources who all chose to remain anonymous (many asserting that they were “afraid of the Sus-meister”), reports that the man did indeed bear a shocking resemblance to our esteemed principal. They were terrified when the man told them that the being believed to be Principal Yu for some time now is no more than an impostor. Several sources claim the man stated that he was “the true head of the stupendously succulent Stuyvesant skeleton and body” and demanded to “speak with school officials immediately.” However, the man reportedly yelped and fled on foot, waddling away like “a penguin with some nerve damage in its joints” when a student told him that the authorities were going to fetch Principal Yu from the building, making the man’s threats slightly less menacing. Nevertheless, it took little time for rumors to spread. While many believe that this individual was merely an attention-seeker who just happened to resemble the principal, others started to look more suspiciously at Mr. Yu when he roamed the hallways. They unrelentingly questioned and ha-
rassed the principal, leaving him no room to plan his next move. This morning, one of our lovely freshman peers hijacked the morning announcements for the first time, causing some students to actually listen to them. She called out Principal Yu for avoiding our desperate pleas for answers before plugging her Stuyvesant Class of 2025 “tea”/”confessions” Instagram page. Later, three students were even suspended for playing the video “Among Us (Role Reveal) Sound Effect (HD)” on loop outside of Yu’s office for 30 excruciating minutes. The situation escalated, however, when it was revealed that one student had taken a picture of the bridge-Yu on Wednesday. People used this image to create posters, highlighting various similarities between Yu and the Yu look-alike, from their hairlines to their cheekbone structure, and even their style (or lack thereof). One peer rented a large portable x-ray machine and snapped a few pictures of the principal when he arrived in the morning. The resulting images, posted on the Instagram account @stuyconfessionsntea25, were unsettling, to say the least.
But Yu has still not budged. Instead, he has busied himself with gathering donations for what he says are new plans to build another escalator, which will extend from the Tribeca Bridge to the roof of the Stuyvesant building. Adversaries of the principal, through a bulletin board on the 10th floor, argued that the principal was telling lies and that he had come to possess a terrifying ulterior motive with the donation money to “bribe a brigade to brutally bring down the bridge-Yu and his backers.” If the escalator project were to be believed, the specific reason for such an emphatic waste of donations is up for debate, but reported leaks straight from the principal’s office suggest it to be the first step in a long-term strategy aimed to attract tourists to the building. This leaked e-mail conversation between Principal Yu and Director of Family Engagement Dina Ingram contains some truly outlandish ideas, including an underwater hallway that would branch off to a gymnasium on one side and gift shops selling Stuyvesant drip at ridiculous markups on the other. Another proposed idea
was to swim to Pier 40 at midnight and replace the “I WANT TO THANK YOU” mural with the phrase “STUY OR DIE BAYBAY.” It was also revealed that Ingram had planned to hold an emergency meeting near the cafeteria with all the Assistant Principals to discuss recent “alarming circumstances,” demonstrating that the school staff was aware and fearful of the ongoing situation. The meeting was called off because of an abrupt failure of the entire school’s lighting system, which Yu asked Ingram to personally deal with “in electrical,” to which Ingram replied, “What’s that?” the final message in the conversation. Principal Seung Yu is scheduled to hold a press conference this Sunday at 1:00 p.m., during which he has agreed to answer the school’s actual most pressing questions including, “When are we going to get a pool on the roof ?” and “Why have you been spending so much time near the school’s ventilation system all of a sudden?” The Humor Department will update our readers with additional information as soon as we get it.
MTA Cuts Subway Service as Revenge Against Annoying Stuyvesant Students continued from page 26
lief but also little fanfare. Korgaonkar responded that “the MTA may have announced plans to
restore service, which is excellent news, but we cannot forget the corruption, nepotism, and incompetence that resulted in these service cuts.” The Transit and Urbanism
Club felt that “our glorious and storied transit system is returning to full service, but we would never be in this place without the legacy of Tammany Hall and the machine it inserted into state
agencies, such as the MTA.” Yu reiterated that “this ‘dirty trick’ is the work of machine politics interfering with the lives of our students, even if service returns to normal levels.” In the end,
Stuyvesant was optimistic in the return to full service but also dismayed by the level of corruption and nepotism within the MTA that was interfering with their daily lives.
The Spectator ● January 25, 2021
Page 28
Humor 2022: Year of the Finals By MICHELLE HUANG
stuy.edu Subject: take the L Dear peeps of Sutuvensat hi skool, To celbrate this new year for the Stuyvesnsanrnt comunity and to fill my soul with hearty kidz’ tears, I, Princepal Yu, hereby declare 2022 to be Year of the Finals. Rather than having finalz and regents week, we will have finals and regents yEAR. For one year, we will have nothing butt exams. This unique method of edukation will set Strnvesent above other trash hi skools and cement our spot as the top high skool in the nation! Pls see attacked calandar for further finormation. Sincerly, Principal Yu
Sent January 1, 2022 at 1:51 a.m. From: Seung Yu To: Brian Moran, Manuel Simon
Celeste Hoo / The Spectator
Principal Seung Yu is woken up by the sound of piercing screams. Startled, he emerges from the warm comfort of his bed. He tries to focus on the screaming but doing so only worsens his violently throbbing headache. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees his phone light up with notifications flooding the screen. Next to his phone, an open bottle of champagne is dripping onto the floor. “Ugh, my phone is soaked,” he mumbles to himself. He turns the bottle upright and checks his phone. The first thing he sees is the date: January 1, 2022. Yu thinks, “That’s right, New Year’s Day! Explains the champagne and the raging hangover I have from last night.” Then, he checks his email, expecting the regular slew of “Happy New Year” messages and COVID-19 notifications. As he scans the subject lines of the e-mails, he notices a strange pattern. “what the fudge is the new finals calendar” “Concerning the Finals Schedule: is it really all of 2022 please no i want to go home and
see my family” “respond to our emails about finals ik you’re reading this” Confused, Yu asks, “What did I do?” He notices everyone reply-
ing to one particular e-mail—one that he has no recollection of writing, but apparently sent out.
Bcc: classof2022@stuy.edu, classof2023@stuy.edu, classof2024@stuy.edu, classof2025@
Yu gasps in horror. “How drunk was I last night?” He quickly opens up the exams calendar and is greeted with something that should be banned by the Geneva Conventions. The computer science final, once nonexistent, now stretches over the entire month of July, leaving no room for eating or sleeping. The Global Studies test entails traveling to Rome, resurrecting Julius Caesar, and submitting a firsthand account of his death, all of which
will be handwritten in traditional Chinese. The AP Microeconomics final is a spoken exam that involves listing every country’s currency and calculating how much of each currency is needed to pull a Jungkook photocard from “Butter.” “Okay, that one’s actually a good idea,” Yu notes. The continued screaming from outside practically splits Yu’s skull in half. He angrily rips apart his ugly denim curtains and prepares to scream at the neighborhood kids outside but is taken aback. Standing all over his dying lawn are dozens of students, raising signs and barricading the front door with textbooks. His fear mounts as he realizes that students found his house address. How? The Computer Science department must be teaching some form of tracking or witchcraft. Yu looks at the teenagers, desperately searching for even a shred of humanity. There is none; all he sees are tired, dead eyes brimming with rage. And that screaming—is that screaming? No, it’s chanting. “DOWN WITH FINALS! DOWN WITH FINALS!” It is not a happy new year for Yu.
Senior Writes a Totally Not Recycled, Unique “Why College” Essay By KAREN CHEN Subject: Is this advisable? Jane Smith johndoe.edu> to Elizabeth
<janesmith@
Hi Elizabeth! I hope maternity leave is going well for you. I’m sorry for interrupting your bonding time with the new baby (how is she?), but I desperately need some advice about whether or not to accept an applicant to JDU’s Class of 2026. The other week, President Johnson pulled me aside and asked me to consider giving student applicant 9720125 a boost in the application process (apparently their parents are a delightful addition to his Sunday brunches). While I would normally just add them to the Z-List, I had a few concerns after reading their “Why JDU” essay, which I’ve attached below. It seems like they acciden-
tally submitted a rough draft instead of the final piece. Do you think that 9720125 would make a good addition to the campus? Thanks for the help, Office of Admissions John Doe University “In 650 words or less, please explain why you want to apply to John Doe University.” When I was a fetus, I often wrote code using my developing mind. Before I was even born, I had already learned Python and Java and built my own computer out of biological compounds. I thought that at the wise age of 17, I had already learned all there was to know about the world. However, during my mission trip to [...note to self: remind me where I went again?], I gained experiences and knowledge that I never would’ve otherwise. I met so many people who, simply be-
cause of bad luck, never had the chance to have an education like I had. Of course, that was until I packed my suitcase and bought a plane ticket to my destination. With my trusty Papermate ballpoint pen, I managed to fix everything! Long-term effects of colonialism? Gone! Income inequalities? Gone! I even solved sexism while staying up one night daydreaming about working at FAANG after getting my CS degree [maybe curing cancer would work better here, idk]. My experiences from those fateful two weeks are what drove me to apply to this college. John Doe University has a strong student volunteer culture—perfect for Instagram virtue signaling! I also plan on joining John Doe’s Smile Club [what do they even do again?] and doing independent research under the supervision of Professor Adams from the Psychology Department (I look up to them immensely!) on
why my ego is so huge and how to transplant pieces of it to those less fortunate. In addition, I’m extremely excited about attending class, especially because the class sizes at JDU are so small! The few students in Organic Chemistry would help decrease the probability of having another antisocial being in the room other than me. In the past, I always had to murder some of my classmates to become the only psychopath in Algebra II, which seriously reduced the amount of time I had available to find a cure for cancer [maybe I should put this in the additional info section—something about being a big fish in a small pond?]. Yale also has great study abroad opportunities available for undergraduate Yalies, which is great for my passion for mission trips [so sad that my admissions consultant said that I shouldn’t talk about my illegal black market business in kidney donations in this essay]. Finally, John Doe’s
unique core curriculum would allow me to learn from many disciplines beside my double major in computer science and pre-med. I’m looking forward to taking classes like LIT251: Analysis of “American Psycho” and SPORT1/0: Fictional Water Polo and overall becoming a wellrounded person. [Hm need to write a bit more about my construction plans for a new library…] Elizabeth Hall <elizabethhall@johndoe.edu> to me Hi Jane, A new library would make for some great scenic photos on next year’s Apply to JDU pamphlets. Don’t worry too much about it! Office of Admissions John Doe University
Principal Yu: The Man Who Broke My Heart By ERICA CHEN, ALEXANDER CHU and ANIKET ROY Dear Stuyvesant students, These are unprecedented times. The entire world is attempting to adapt to this new environment because of the ongoing pandemic, and I urge full cooperation. Due to these dire circumstances, I’ve implemented a new set of rules to follow during the school day. As all of you are aware, I possess powers bestowed upon me by the Supremest Overlord of your Education, David C. Banks. By the time you’ve read this e-mail, I will have exercised one of my many powers and banned all Stuyvesant PDA. Allow me to reiterate: avoid hugging, hand-holding, and any physical contact in hallways and open spaces. I’m aware that this is a shocking rule, but I hope all of you can
understand that this is in the hopes of protecting the livelihoods of our students. Sincerely, Principal Yu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It’s been a few hectic days since Principal Yu sent out the e-mail that outlawed all PDA in school. My fellow classmates have started to go haywire because the only emotion they feel anymore is an insatiable yearning for love. I see couples sobbing their eyes out in the hallways because they can’t even hold hands, and the Hudson Stairwell has become a vast wasteland filled with tumbleweeds rolling around. Ever since Yu brought down the ban hammer, I’ve been going through a lot. I have a significant other, and I don’t think Yu banning all PDA is going to further my plans to propose by junior year
and rent the Stuyvesant building for our honeymoon. This doesn’t mean that I’m not suffering from the eternal lack of human touch, especially from my lover. My brain is overrun with teenage hormones, and I can no longer bear to suppress my desires. “Weren’t you in a relationship just because it’s cuffing season? Didn’t you guys just start dating a week ago? Homie, you haven’t even said ‘I LOVE YOU’ yet!” my friends exclaim. “NO! IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW LONG WE’VE BEEN DATING!” I scream with extreme passion. After catching my breath, I continue my spiel. “It was more than that and always was! They were my soulmate—I’ve known since the day they offered me a mask after the strap of mine broke. It was a pink mask, which meant that it must have been a confession of love!” I still remember the day I confessed my love to them. I caught
them walking to their next class and performed an organized tap dance with my friends to woo them. Once I finished tapping my way into their heart, I ripped open my shirt, and there it was: their name painted on my chest in big, bold, red body paint. Their expression was one of extreme shock, which I had presumed to be disgust until they shrieked with happiness and ran toward me with their arms wide open. “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!” they exclaimed, hugging me tightly. The whole hallway erupted in applause until the teachers all came running out of the rooms and sent everyone back to class with exasperated sighs. I thought I was the only one performing dumb acts of love. But I wasn’t the only one with repressed passion. It turns out most of the student body was too. A few sophomores brought flower bouquets, and one especially wealthy junior brought an actual ring (he swears it wasn’t stolen from his
mother) to school to express their feelings. Even The Stuyvesant Spectator has started reporting on relationships, and my Facebook page has been bombarded with Stuy Confession posts admitting their desperate love for another student. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Stuyvesant students, After seeing the student body’s response to my last e-mail, I think it is best to reverse my decision on PDA at Stuyvesant. After some extensive deliberation with Mr. Moran, I realized that the best way for stu dents to cope with the six hours of homework they receive a night is through the heat of passion. While I do not recommend going to the Hudson Stairwell with your significant other, I will allow for some physical contact between students. LOL (Lots of Love), Principal Yu
The Spectator ● January 25, 2021
Page 29
Humor A Living Nightmare: Remote Stuy Returns By RYAN PENG As you wake up to your blaring alarm at 5:30 a.m., you look outside to see a black sky with rain slapping angrily against your window. As you begin your morning routine, you think about the dreary day ahead, wondering what your parents will think if you fail your AP Chemistry test, and whether or not you’ll misplace your ID for the third time this year. Pulling out your hopelessly cracked phone, you see a shocking e-mail. Seung Yu: [co24] ALL CLASSES MOVED TO ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK Due to your long-deceased sleep schedule, your brain is completely fried, and what was intended to be a cry of anguish becomes a groggy mixture of gibberish. The trauma is too great for your body to handle, and the resulting thud as your legs give out makes your downstairs neighbors wonder if they could get some easy cash from selling out the robber in your apartment. Opening your eyes again, you unwillingly sit up and look at the clock, which now displays “ZO:OM.” You’re probably hallucinating, but you don’t care. As you drag yourself over to your laptop at the pace of a decrepit old codger, you see an e-mail from your first-period teacher with a link you had hoped to never see again after the nightmare that was
last year’s virtual gym class. As the reality of the situation sets in, you begin to realize: “Hey! Those were mine! Get back here and give me back my chicken nuggets!” may be the last in-person interaction you will have with your friends. You’re scarcely 10 minutes into your first period Honors Algebra II class when the teacher happily announces, “Alright, I’m going to split you into breakout rooms. Remember to communicate with one another and not just stare at each other silently!” The grin on their face makes you wonder if they aren’t some sort of satanic devil that enjoys making children suffer. You preemptively turn off your camera right before the dreaded “Entering Breakout Room Four” pops up on your screen. It seems like the seven other people in your room had the same idea because, in about 30 seconds, the Zoom is completely black and silent. Just then, the teacher pops in and says, “Why are none of your cameras on? You know what, Zoom just added a new feature…” Suddenly, all eight cameras turn on, showing five empty screens of students who probably went to heat up
their breakfast, and two showing students asleep in their chairs, leaving you as the sole representative of this group. The teacher scribbles down some things in their notepad, looks up, and says, “Alex, do you have an answer to the question?” *** “I can’t take this anymore!” you
Fareha Islam / The Spectator
cry in despair after smacking the “Leave meeting” button for third period with your head. You try to reach out to your friends, but your Messenger contacts have been replaced by strings of monkey emojis, and your other messaging apps have been locked by the 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. downtime that was
set by your parents five years ago. In a desperate final attempt to connect with your friends, you decide to re-install the app that you had once used for a group project three years ago and had promptly removed. “Maybe after all this time, I’ll finally have a use for the inferior version of Messenger,” you think to yourself as you type in “Google Chat” and press the “Download from Cloud” button. All seems well until you realize that you’re late for your next class and that your Physical Education quiz had started 10 minutes ago. Whispering a string of curses, you frantically click onto Google Meet, just in time to hear the teacher say, “Time’s up everybody! I’m closing the response form in three seconds, so make sure to submit it by then. Three… zero!” Slumping back in your chair, you think, “How could this day possibly get worse?” Unfortunately, your pity party is rudely interrupted when you hear the teacher yell into the microphone, “Alexander! Yes, you! Since you’re late today, why don’t you lead the exercises? And for the sixth time, turn on your camera or you’re getting a zero for today’s participation!” After what feels like 18 hours,
the school day is finally over. All you want to do is drown your sorrows in the comforting taste of Hot & Spicy Chicken Flavor Maruchan® instant noodles, fall face-first onto your cement mattress, and forget everything that had happened. To your horror, you discover that the secret ramen stash you bought with your parents’ money has been replaced with a crinkled piece of paper with the words “Instant Ramen at Home:'' scrawled on it in dried-out whiteboard marker, taped to a tiny bowl of imitation noodles. The sight of such a bad meme makes your heart literally break, and your final thoughts before collapsing on the floor once again are: “You know what? At the end of the day, going to hell will at least be more enjoyable than virtual Physical Education quizzes.” *** You sit up suddenly in your bed, covered in a cold sweat. Looking around, you grab your alarm clock and rapidly press the light button. It reads 5:31 a.m., and with a sigh of relief, you realize that it was all just a crazy dream. Pulling out your (thankfully) uncracked phone to check your emails, you see: Seung Yu: [ALL STUDENTS] 148 CASES SCHOOLWIDE YESTERDAY, ALL CLASSES OFFICIALLY MOVED TO ZOOM
Five Ways to Destroy Your PE Uniform The horror of PE uniforms has plagued schools all over the world for centuries. Their inelegant nature dates back to caveman times when small children were taught to repel woolly mammoths by wearing the most hideous fur coats. Since then, people like me have descended from heaven to help you poor things out. There are many ways to go about destroying your uniform (and of course you want to destroy that hideous thing because what else would you do? Wear it? Don’t be ridiculous.), but here I have listed the five most efficient methods that I’ve found. 1. Hope That It Burns To use this method, you’re going to need your PE uniform, a trash can (preferably one not made of wood), and a box of matches. The first step is to grab those awful, sweat-stained clothes and throw them into the trash can. The next step is to set them on fire. You know, arson. Maybe it’s “better for the environment” if you just throw them away, but the environment’s already screwed, and nobody liked polar bears that much in the first place. So you watch those brilliant flames cover the nauseating orange lettering on the T-shirt as great plumes of smoke slowly hide the see-through shorts from view. You smile and laugh for the first time since the school year started. You are finally free of those stupid, baggy sweatpants and those shirts with the quote on the back that you never bothered to read. 2. New Lunch Special For this process, grab some scissors and unleash all of your
pent-up aggression on your uniform. Once you have finely ground strips of gym clothes, pick up the pieces and put them in a bag. Take that bag to the cafeteria and—here comes the tricky part—sneak into the kitchen. You’ll have to get past t h e lunch ser vers and the mile-long queue of students. Y o u must brave the anger of your fellow students as you cut the line, dodging hands that try to push you away. You mustn't get distracted by the apple sauce and cold sandwiches, and don’t even try to look at the cookies, or the whole mission’s blown. If you survive the trek to the kitchen, you’ll need to act fast. Grab those tiny shreds of your PE uniform, and sprinkle them into whatever concoction is brewing on the stovetop. You might be asking, “Why would you put your clothes in people’s food?” and the answer to that would be “How else do you expect to get rid of the evidence?” If you’re still feeling unsure about this and are maybe worrying about what students will think when they bite into their pizza, finding it tasting saltier and greasier than normal, don’t be! They’ve probably disposed of their uniform in the exact same way as you have before. 3. Throw It Off the Edge of the World This one can be a bit hard to accomplish, seeing as no one’s
actually found the edge of the world… but don’t let that deter you! Feel free to supplement it with a large-sized cliff. Now, get your bundle of bacteria-infested cloth, and bring it to the cliff ’s edge (cliffhang er?).
Emily Tan / The Spectator
By SARA HELLER
Throw the gym clothes over, but be careful! You don’t want to… 4. Kill Two Birds With One Stone This method will result in the loss of your gym uniform AND a higher grade in PE class, so read attentively. You have to go to a store and buy one of those wooden box puzzles—the hardest one you can find. Then shove your uniform into said puzzle
(you have to solve it first, but that should be easy for someone as smart as you—I mean, you’re reading the Spectator humor section, you
must be clever). O n c e y o u ’ v e got the b l ue-a n d gray rags stuffed into the box, you need to put the puzzle back together a g a i n (sorry about that). Then wrap the puzzle in some nice wrapping paper and gift it to your PE teacher. Give an excuse, maybe something about it being an early Valentine's Day present. Whatever your reason is, make it so convincing that they can’t refuse. Now they own a box puzzle they’ll never be able to solve, and you’ll be uniformfree. The teacher will then decide to be nice to you, since you gave them such a lovely present, and you’ll get amazing participation
grades for the rest of the semester. They probably wouldn’t care if you showed up naked every day or ask you about the two dead birds you’re holding. 5. Hide It In Dog Food This method is pretty simple. All you have to do is pick up your lumpy, drab PE outfit and bring it to a Professional Shredding Service (a PSS, as we in the shredding biz call it). Once you have your cloth scraps, you need to go out and find a dog. Or a lion, but that could be considerably more difficult. You’ve heard of homework-eating dogs, excrement-eating dogs, and even chocolate-eating dogs (though those typically don’t last very long)... now I introduce to you the cloth-eating dog—very fluffy and extremely good at getting rid of clothes. Once you have your clotheating dog/animal, discreetly hide your shredded clothing in their food and wait. Side effects of having a cloth-eating dog may include but are not limited to: lack of clothes, loss of limbs, and death. The Stuyvesant Spectator is not responsible for any emotional or physical damage. After reading these five suggestions, I hope that you’re more knowledgeable about how to get rid of your PE uniform. Of course, you could just say you lost it or sell it on the gym uniform black market, but what’s the fun in that? Without bearing the weight of having to wear the uniform, you’re now free to sit back, relax, and laugh through the window at the freshmen wearing their PE uniform in English class.
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
Page 30
Sports Boys’ Table Tennis
The Goats Primed for Playoffs By WILLIAM TSE After losing in a heartbreaking fashion in 2019 to Brooklyn Technical High School at the city championship and losing the 2020 season due to COVID-19, the Goats, Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity table tennis team, are seeking revenge. The Goats started working straight away after bringing back returning players and getting two new freshmen from tryouts. “Sometimes, I didn’t have to push the students to practice. The students pushed themselves,” coach Manuel Simon said. The Goats started out the season strong with a 5-0 sweep against Graphics Campus. Without feeling pressured, the Goats won each match by an average of 11-1. The following week, the Goats kept the pedal to the metal with another sizable sweep against BCAM High School. Beating BCAM by an average of 11-2, the Goats added another win to their undefeated record. However, the Goats’ archrivals, Brooklyn Tech, were also undefeated and tied for first. Only one team would stay undefeated and take the top spot in the rough Central Division after they played each other in the next match. The first singles match started out with a win, as junior and cocaptain Max Yenlee swept Rensong Wang. In the next game, senior and co-captain Cyrus Cursetjee got
swept by Brooklyn Tech’s second singles, evening the score 1-1. In the third singles match, it seemed like junior Jialin Yang was going to pull out the win as the score was 2-0, but opponent Zhengrui Zhou made a miraculous comeback and ended up winning 3-2. Despite getting a point on the board first, the Goats were quickly losing momentum, and the match turned in Brooklyn Tech’s favor. Both doubles teams lost, sealing a win for the home team. Ultimately, the 1-4 loss was a learning experience for the Goats, leading to the realization that they had to work harder if they wanted to beat the defending champions in the near future. Two days later, the Goats had a game against John Jay Campus (Millennium High School). In the last season, the Goats won both matches against John Jay 5-0 and 4-1. This year, John Jay decided that the tables had to turn. The Goats were handed their second loss of the season, which sat them at a record of 4-2. It was a tough start to the season, and they needed to bounce back quickly to gain some momentum before their next matches against Brooklyn Tech and John Jay. “Losing to Millennium at home and away was a big slap in the face,” Cursetjee said. With two forfeited matches by the Institute for Collaborative Education and another breeze with Graphics Campus, the Goats were
at a winning record of 5-2. In their second match with John Jay, the score was tied 2-2, with wins from Cursetjee and the first doubles pair of seniors Krish Gupta and Jack Lubitz. The result of the match went down to the final game of the second doubles pair, senior Michael Lam and the only freshman to crack the starting lineup for the Goats, Vedant Kothari. Though Lam and Kothari won the first game, they dropped the final three, and John Jay beat the Goats 3-2. Three days later, Stuyvesant swept BCAM yet again, but they did so with more underclassmen, showing the depth and quality of their team. “Most of our starters are seniors, so it’s going to be difficult losing them. We have [Yenlee], who is our best player, so he’ll lead the team well. Otherwise, we have a really deep team and a lot of good players [who] could start in the future. So overall, it’s really exciting, and I think we could win more championships,” Gupta said. The Goats are currently sitting at third place in the Central Division with a record of 6-3. They have one final game left against Brooklyn Tech. With a ride to the playoffs clinched, it is crucial to get a win against Brooklyn Tech so they are higher seeds in the final championship. The Goats are confident that they have the ability to beat any team, including the defending champions. “It’s going to
be a very interesting game between us and Brooklyn Tech. [Though] we lost to them the first time, we have learned through the process and improved our skill sets to a high degree, which is why we don’t fear any opponent from this point on,” Kothari said. Going into the playoffs, the Goats are mainly focusing on the doubles matches. In both of the matches with John Jay and Brooklyn Tech, the doubles played a significant role. “When the match is close, doubles always ends up being the deciding factor, and so far, the results have been going the wrong way,” Cursetjee said. The senior duo of Gupta and Lubitz, who have been playing side by side at the number one doubles position, has been a rock solid anchor for the Goats. With Gupta being left-handed and Lubitz being right-handed, they make a perfect combination for a doubles pair and have won five out of their six matches, a team high. They look to be a continuous and solid model for the more inexperienced players and show them how to thrive under pressure in big matches. Meanwhile, the Goats have been trying different combinations of players in their other doubles position. With Lam having the first spot in the second doubles nailed, the Goats had to decide between Kothari, junior Tedd Lee, and sophomore Caleb Lin to play
alongside him. It was important that the Goats made the right call as the second doubles position has been a weakness for the team. Though Lee has played more games this season, the Goats decided to stick with Kothari, considering his recent form and amazing connection with Lam. “Doubles two has always been our wildcard, but we’re going to stick with [Lam] and [Kothari]. They seem to be working well, and with enough training, I am confident they will dominate all their games,” Cursetjee said. In the final few weeks of preparing for playoffs, the Goats must put every last bit of effort into improving their technique and making sure they are ready. It’s going to be a matter of which team works harder for the championship. Confidence is building in the Stuyvesant camp as they look to go one better from last season and finish with the city championship. “I think we’re peaking at the right time for playoffs and to compete for another championship,” Gupta said. Win or lose in the playoffs, the Goats should be proud of what they’ve accomplished throughout the year. Despite major setbacks and COVID-19, the Goats have still found a way to come through with a good seed. “The athletes play their hearts out, and that’s what matters,” Simon said.
MLB
Everything You Need to Know About the 2022 MLB Lockout By MAYA BROSNICK Major League Baseball (MLB) went into its ninth ever and first work stoppage on December 2— the first since 1994. For anyone who has been following the league for the past five years, this event comes as no surprise. To understand everything that is happening, one must go back to the beginning of organized sports. Much of the trouble stems from antitrust laws in place. The goal of antitrust laws in the U.S. is to encourage competition and to prevent monopolies. For example, the laws make it illegal for all the store owners in a mall to get together and decide that they will sell socks for $90. In general, those laws are good for business and the economy. However, they would make it impossible for sports leagues such as the MLB to exist. Such laws would prohibit and restrict integral parts of the sport, such as the draft and recruitment of players. MLB players are unionized so that the MLB (representing owners) and the Major League
Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) can negotiate a contract called a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA is a set of predetermined terms agreed upon by both sides that determine how the league will function. Usually, they can negotiate terms that create a more level playing field. However, when the two sides cannot come to an agreement, the contract expires, and the players strike, or, in this case, the owners lock them out. In a lockout, all baseball transactions stop, meaning that players are not able to interact with management, use team facilities, or receive pay. When the existing CBA was extended after the 2016 season, it was clear that both players and owners were only delaying the inevitable conflict. The MLBPA has been warning players to save money for this exact scenario for years now, and the owners have not made any move to budge on their current stances. If it was up to the owners, not much about the latest CBA would likely change. In the most recent set of talks,
the owners received essentially all how service time works. As the that they wanted, so much so that agreement is now, teams have six according to MLBPA lead nego- years of control over drafted playtiator Bruce Meyer, they are not ers before they can go into free even making counter-proposals. agency, and for the last two years, Under the recently expired CBA, a player moves into arbitration and the MLB made nearly 11 billion receives a larger salary. Players, undollars in 2019, all while keeping surprisingly, would like to be paid control over the players through more than the bare minimum in means like arbitration and a luxury their first years. On top of that tax, which acts as a soft salary cap. condition, some teams hold maThe owners want to keep making jor league-ready players in the mithe same kind of money, so they nors for longer than necessary just hope the contract stays to maintain the maximum the same and are not level of control over yet willing to negothem, something tiate on anything which players have that would get deemed unfair. in the way of The MLBPA, maintaining its of course, is not terms. perfect. Owners Going argue that teams in, the playwith smaller payers knew that rolls are struggling changing the to compete already, CBA would be and giving them less difficult. They control will not help with Christina Jiang / The Spectator want to change that challenge. They also just about everything in the cur- claim that some of the most negarent agreement. One of the play- tive fan reactions are to favorite ers’ main complaints is about players leaving for free agency.
Both of those points are valid, and three of the last five World Series winners were teams with bottomhalf payrolls, making a pretty good counter-argument for the owners, who are not just going to cave. The owners have won in the past by just waiting the players out, aware that eventually they’ll run out of money and need to play, but the MLBPA is ready for that situation this time. They have not only been warning players to save money, but they have also been saving themselves and will be able to give out reduced paychecks well into the season. As things stand now, it is very likely that the 2022 season is going to be pushed back. The players went on strike for 232 days back in 1994, resulting in a cancellation of the World Series. The 2022 season is not in danger of being canceled just yet, but every day without progress edges closer into that territory. No one wants to miss any games, but with the owners unwilling to compromise and the MLBPA unwilling to cave, everyone is going to lose.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Greyducks Just Won’t Slow Down By ROMAIN TARAYRE and VERNON HUGHES At five in the evening at the McCarren Park Track in Brooklyn, Stuyvesant’s girls’ indoor track and field team, the Greyducks, is sprinting around the track, dressed in thick hats and wooly gloves to fight the 30 degree weather. They shiver as they wait in between sets, and they heave forcefully with every step they take, as many of them run in masks. It may seem counterintuitive for an indoor track team to host
practices outside in the cold, but as COVID-19 cases reach unprecedented levels around the city, it’s become an unfortunate reality that suffering through the harsh weather is the only way for team members to safely train together. With lofty expectations and even loftier goals, the Greyducks know that perseverance through these difficult circumstances is necessary, and these girls are aiming for the top. When the start of practices was delayed until late November and early December, there was barely
any time for the team to train and hone in on its specialized events before races commenced. The PSAL Jim McKay Games, hosted at the Armory on December 5, were the team’s first chance to compete this season. It was a novel experience for underclassmen and upperclassmen alike, as freshmen and sophomores had their first ever opportunity to experience a high school indoor track meet, while juniors and seniors raced indoors for the first time since the cancellation of their season nearly two years ago in March 2020.
At this meet, senior and co-captain Susan Zheng placed sixth in the 600-meter run, while senior and fellow co-captain Zuzi Liu placed second in the triple jump. Senior Cecilia Chen was sixth in the shot put event, the team’s varsity 4x800-meter relay finished fourth in their division, and the freshman 4x800-meter relay team finished third among freshman teams. Following the McKay Games, the team raced at the PSAL Night of Sprints, the Coach Saint Invitational, and the PSAL Holiday Classic to
round out a busy December. The Greyducks were most successful at the PSAL Holiday Classic, with a number of athletes finishing in medaling positions (top six in an event): junior Isabella Stenhouse and sophomore Caroline Hon finished first and sixth, respectively, in the varsity 3000-meter run; Zheng placed third in the varsity 1000-meter run; Emily Li and Suyeon Ryu placed first and fifth, respectively, in the freshman continued on page 31
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The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
Sports Boys’ JV Basketball
Rebels are Running a Marathon of a Season The Rebels opened their season with an 82-33 win over
Stuyvesant High School has been having a runaway basketball season thus far this year. The boys’ varsity team’s record is 5-4, the girls’ team’s record is 8-2, and the boys’ junior varsity team’s is 2-0. However, the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to a disparity in the number of games that the JV team has played. With the postponement of many matches, the Runnin’ Rebels have played just two PSAL games over the past month. Despite the scarcity in matches, the Rebels are playing extremely well, winning by an average of 45 points across their two games. It’s clear that their oncourt success has not been hampered by off-court setbacks.
Francesca Nemati / The Spectator
By TY ANANT and AVA QUARLES
School of the Future on Decem-
ber 15, 2021. Sophomore cocaptains David Glick and Ichiro Goodrow were nothing short of spectacular in the season opener as they combined for 34 points. The pure talent of the players has been the one of the driving forces for these wins. “This group has the potential to be one of the best groups of guys Stuy has seen in a while,” head coach Howard Barbin said. Goodrow believes the team’s chemistry and camaraderie are also integral to their success. “In games, I trust my teammates to know where to be,” he said. According to Glick, the skill of the other teams they have faced so far simply doesn’t compare to their own. “We have a really strong team. With many strong players, practices can be really competitive, which pushes
us to get better and prepares us. Sometimes, the bench that we play in practice will be stronger than the other team’s starters, so it’s almost like the games are practice,” he said. Again, the only hindrance to the Rebels’ season has been complications caused by the COVID-19 virus. “Three of our games got postponed or canceled. Some of the other schools don’t even have teams due to COVID, so that’s less teams we would be playing anyway,” Goodrow said. In some cases, schools opt to reschedule games because of virus outbreaks within the team or simply as a general precautionary measure. The Rebels are scheduled to have nine more games this season, but the status of these games remains uncertain.
Coming off their two blowouts, the Rebels can only hope that COVID-19 doesn’t get in the way of the playoffs. Still, the team manages to see the upside of the situation. “It’s frustrating more so [than challenging], but on the bright side, it brings everyone closer together, and we work harder in practices because we never know when our last one is,” sophomore Tyler Chan, who has missed several practices because of COVID-19, said. During a season and year plagued by uncertainty and with a rigorous six-day practice week, the Rebels have been able to hold each other accountable, emerging as one of the premier teams in their division. “We’re gonna be number one. 14-0,” freshman Vitaly Pyagay said when asked about the future of the team.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Greyducks Just Won’t Slow Down continued from page 30
1000-meter run; junior YuLin Zhen placed sixth in the varsity 1500-meter run; senior Charlotte Li was sixth in the varsity weight throw; and the team’s varsity 4x800-meter relay finished first. As the team has competed, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has forced Greyducks’ head coach Carl DiSarno to reconsider his plans for the team. “I have moved practice to be outdoors more, as opposed to indoors at the Armory, so hopefully more athletes will show up. Attendance at practice has dwindled due to COVID positives and some fear of COVID positives,” DiSarno said. As the Greyducks practice outdoors, there is a greater risk of injury from running fast in extremely cold conditions. “We have worked on injury prevention a lot this year and have a document that helps to advise new
runners [on] how to stay healthy and fit,” Zheng said. Not only have practices been affected, but the team has yet to get all of their top runners to race in the same meet, which has heavily impacted relay teams. In addition to winning the 4x800-meter relay at the PSAL Holiday Classic, the Greyducks placed first in the 4x800meter relay at the Day of Relays, the team’s first race in January, so their relay teams have done well thus far. Nonetheless, the absence of key members at both meets caused the team’s fastest 4x800-meter relay of the season, 10:36, to fall six seconds short of the time needed to qualify for the City Championships. The degree to which COVID-19 will impact the rest of the season is anyone’s guess, but DiSarno remains hopeful that the season will continue. “I’d be very upset if [the season gets] canceled, [and] I wouldn’t be surprised if it [is], knowing the PSAL, but I don’t think it will happen. I think we’ll finish the season,”
DiSarno said. Looking ahead, the Greyducks have a number of invitational meets before getting to their season’s culmination: the Borough and City Championships. With such a talented group of athletes, DiSarno says that the Greyducks will first try to win the Manhattan Borough Championships and then qualify as many individuals and relay teams as they can for the City Championships. “In our borough, Hunter [College High School] has a very good team, as does HSMSE [High School for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering],” DiSarno said. Two years ago, Hunter edged out Stuyvesant to finish in first place in the borough, but during the 2021 cross country season, the Greyducks were utterly dominant. All five varsity scoring members finished in the top 10 spots at the cross country Borough Championships. They were led by distance runner Isabella Stenhouse, who continued to build on her im-
pressive high school running career by finishing first at both the cross country Borough Championships and City Championships, as well as qualifying for the all-state team after an impressive showing at the NYS Federation Championships. Stenhouse won both the 1500-meter and 3000-meter events for the indoor track Borough Championships her freshman year and will likely be the favorite to win again in February. Along with Stenhouse, Liu will lead the team in short-distance events and guide a new generation of freshman and sophomore sprinters, while Chen will be the team’s top competitor in various throwing events. There’s a lot to look forward to for the Greyducks. First and foremost, DiSarno is especially excited to be welcoming the new freshmen and sophomores who have yet to compete in an indoor track and field season. Likewise, senior and co-captain Margaret Jin feels honored to be leading a new generation
of Greyducks and is excited to see their hard work pay off at the end of the season. “It’s been difficult to maintain consistent training given the understandable health conditions, but we’ve been working on establishing more flexible training plans. I’m most excited about seeing all our athletes—distance, runners, sprinters, throwers, and jumpers— compete together at Borough’s and City’s,” Jin said. It’s going to be an adverse journey for the Greyducks, but there’s no doubt that they have what it takes to reach their goals. Athletes will have to remain strong and resilient to fight through the tough weather, but it will all be worth it as their hard work comes to fruition in time for the most important meets next month. Hunter and HSMSE better watch out as the Greyducks fly across the track and perform in their top events, hopefully beating out all competing teams for a Borough Championship victory.
Football
College Football Playoffs Recap By EFE KILIC and YAQIN RAHMAN The first year back to a full season of college football has been anything but disappointing. Avid college football fans were in for a ride this season, as they were met with many surprises. Among these surprises were rivalry upsets, such as Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines topping their longtime rival, the Ohio State Buckeyes, in Ann Arbor, which knocked the latter out of the playoffs. These surprises also included the introduction of three new teams to the College Football Playoff National Championship: the Michigan Wolverines, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. One aspect of college football that has been consistent throughout the past decade is the Alabama Crimson Tide’s dominance. Alabama, ranked number one, toppled Cincinnati, ranked number four, by a score of 27-6, culminating their miraculous, undefeated season. Even after losing their star quarterback (Mac Jones, round one), star running back (Najee Harris, round one), and Heisman winning receiver (DeVonta Smith, round one) alongside numerous other starters, Alabama looks as strong as
ever. They currently sit on a 13-1 record, with their one defeat coming from a shocking three point loss to Texas A&M. Since that loss, they have been undefeated, thanks to the likes of their Heisman winning quarterback Bryce Young, an incredible offensive line, and a slew of talented players in their starstudded roster. On the flipside, the Georgia Bulldogs have also been performing exceptionally. Georgia, at number three, ended number two Michigan’s miraculous season, despite being labeled as underdogs prior to the game. Georgia quarterback and walk-on Stetson Bennett marched the offense down the field with 310 passing yards of the day, aided by running back James Cook and freshman All-American tight end Brock Bowers. Georgia’s offense was able to breeze past Michigan’s defense, which includes Heisman finalist and future first-round pick Aidan Hutchinson. Georgia’s defense proved to be impenetrable, as it has been in the regular season, shutting down Michigan’s passing game led by quarterback Cade McNamara and stopping 1000-yard rusher Hassan Haskins in his tracks. Georgia boasts a defense with multiple All-Americans, including defensive
tackles Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and safety Lewis Cine. They played an integral role in keeping Michigan at 11 points to set up the Georgia offense for scoring, thus sending them to the national championship against Alabama. This national championship was a rematch between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs. Earlier in December, Alabama handed Georgia their first and only loss, with a score of 41-24. Georgia entered the national championship with a historically strong defense, allowing only 9.5 points per game and 10 touchdowns total. Their offense was not one to underestimate either, ranking 10th in total offensive yards. Bennett stepped in at the beginning of the season after starting quarterback JT Daniels was injured and never looked back, commanding the offense with the fourth best passing in college football at 178. Georgia planned on getting revenge for their single loss and ending their six-game losing streak against Alabama. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was a former defensive back for the Bulldogs himself, but he also served under Alabama head coach Nick Saban for years as a defensive coordi-
nator. Coming into the game, he planned on taking the title from his former colleague and bringing it to his alma mater. Meanwhile, Saban, considering his long history of defeating Georgia in the playoffs, didn’t plan on letting his seven national titles escape him. An audience of 22.6 million viewers across the world tuned in on Monday night to watch the match. In a stunning upset, Georgia beat Alabama 33-18, ending 41 years of their national title drought. In the first three quarters of the game, Georgia and Alabama traded field goals, with their defenses proving to be impenetrable. Alabama matched Georgia’s unstoppable defense, with players like All-American Will Anderson Jr. making plays all over the field, linebacker Christian Harris putting on the pressure, and defensive backs like Jordan Battle and Kool-Aid McKinstry at coverage. Only one touchdown had been scored so far: a huge run by Alabama player Cook for 67 yards, bringing the Georgia offense close to the endzone for a touchdown run by Zamir White. Then, the legendary fourth quarter commenced as both teams stepped up their offensive firepower. Bennett fumbled the ball, which placed the Crimson Tide right at the end
zone for Young to score. Georgia followed up quickly with an onslaught of completions from their walk-on quarterback, ending with a 40-yard deep shot to give them the lead. After the Bulldogs forced the Tide to punt, runs from White and Cook marched Georgia down the field to set up a touchdown pass to Bowers. On third and 10, with one touchdown behind, Young threw the ball but was intercepted by Kelee Ringo. An entourage of blockers led the way for Ringo to run into the endzone for a gamesealing pick-six. For the first time, Georgia was able to break their curse against Alabama and end their national title drought in the biggest stage of college football. Smart was ecstatic after the game. “I’m so happy for the Georgia people,” he said. “I told the guys in the locker room, ‘Just take a picture of this.’ […] As they say, they become legendary [...] It’s not for me [...] It’s really for these guys.” Bennett, who was named MVP of the game, also took some time to express the hard work and dedication of the team: “The tears afterwards, that just hit me,” he said. “When you put as much time as we do into this thing, blood, sweat, tears, it means something.”
The Spectator ● January 25, 2022
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THE SPECTATOR SPORTS NFL
The Late John Madden’s Legacy By YOONAH CHANG Hall of Fame coach and beloved NFL broadcaster John Madden passed away at the age of 85 on December 28, 2021. In the week following his passing, players, fellow coaches, students, and fans all gathered to pay tribute to the football legend. His legacy as a successful coach, memorable broadcaster, and stalwart figure in the sports entertainment industry made Madden the legend he is today. His startling and humorous newscast interjections, as well as his unconventional turkey traditions, made him all the more unforgettable. Madden’s first encounter with football involved former Los Angeles Rams head coach John Robinson, with whom he sneaked into stadiums to watch football and baseball games when he was younger. After playing football at the University of Oregon, he caught the eye of the Philadelphia Eagles and enjoyed a short NFL playing stint as an offensive tackle, but a knee injury in his first training camp brought his professional playing career to an untimely end. Madden quickly
turned his focus to coaching, first making headlines as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. His first year as head coach of the team kicked off a succession of victories. He won the American Football League Coach of the Year award and gave the team its 12-1-1 record and AFL West Division title. He would also go on to successfully bring the Raiders their first Super Bowl victory against the Minnesota Vikings in 1977. During that season, the Raiders achieved an impressive 17-game victory streak as well. Over his 10year span with the Raiders, Madden b e c a m e Emily Lu / The Spectator both the winningest coach in the NFL and in Raiders history, with a regular season winning percentage of 75.9 percent. He was also the youngest coach to reach
100 regular season career wins. He was later inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. However, what made Madden truly special was not his personal accomplishments nor the success of his team, but rather his sincere love for football. He stepped on the field with an unparalleled passion for the sport and always made sure to relay that enthusiasm to his players. “Football is what I am. I didn’t go into it to make a living or because I enjoyed it. There is much more to it than just enjoying it,” Madden said in his Hall of Fame biography. Off the field, Madden worked as an analyst for several television platforms on CBS, ABC, and NBC, where he quickly became a fan favorite for his eccentric and lively personality. Madden consistently ignored the standard dress code and showcased his Thanksgiving tradition
of eating a turducken (turkey, duck, and chicken) on air. His explanations and analysis of replays were accompanied by incoherent diagrams of X’s and O’s, as well as the occasional “boom!” and “doink!” giving the otherwise monotone analysis a pop of color. Madden’s sportscasting partner, Al Michaels, described working with Madden as “singing a song.” Madden’s unique personality allowed viewers to stay engaged with the game and clearly understand what was happening, even if they weren’t too familiar with the sport. “My knowledge of football has come from coaching, and on TV, all I’m trying to do is pass on some of that knowledge to viewers,” Madden said in his book, “Hey, Wait a Minute! (I Wrote a Book!).” Madden received a mountain of accolades as a broadcaster, garnering 16 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Analyst/Personality, the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award, and the Golden Mike Award. Madden is also known for having lent his name to the wildly popular football video game fran-
chise Madden NFL. He assisted with the development of the game in its early stages, hoping that it would help fans, especially the younger generation of gamers, understand the sport better. He emphasized the realistic qualities of the game and added his unique football lingo. His advice was valuable, as he was able to point out small problems of certain aspects of the original game that game designers and editors didn’t catch. As a result of his hard work, the franchise is now highly successful, and all video gamers, football fans or not, know of his famous game. “His knowledge of the game was second only to his love for it, and his appreciation for everyone that ever stepped on the gridiron. A humble champion, a willing teacher, and forever a coach,” EA Sports said in a statement commemorating Madden’s legacy. Having changed the face of football commentary and made his mark as one of the most successful NFL coaches, Madden will go down in the history books as an iconic star in the game of football.
Sports Editorial
The Fading Line Between Politics and Sports By KRISH GUPTA Winning the Talladega Speedway race was supposed to be a celebratory moment for Brandon Brown. After all, it was his first NASCAR race victory. Instead, the headline of his win was replaced by a meme. In his post-race interview with an NBC reporter, fans behind Brown were audibly chanting. Not “Let’s Go Brandon” as the reporter on air initially misheard, but “F— Joe Biden.” Conservatives quickly picked up on the trend, and “Let’s Go Brandon” became a rallying cry for the Republican Party. Trump supporters now wave flags bearing Brown’s name and Donald Trump Jr. even started a “Let’s Go Brandon” chant at an event. Brown has been hurled into the national spotlight, not for his historic win but as a political ploy. NASCAR has long been known as the sport of the South, and by extension, conservatives. Roughly 40 percent of fans are from the South, with just 20 percent of fans being Black or Latino. Last year, NASCAR made headlines as they finally banned the Confederate flag from events after a campaign mounted by Black driver Bubba Wallace. Brown has been dragged into a political conversation he wants no part in. The New York Times conducted a feature piece on him in the aftermath with one emerging message: Brandon Brown just wants to race. Five years ago, the line between politics and sports was also crossed when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled for the national anthem. By the end of the season, he was out of contract and has been out of the NFL ever since. This isn’t the case of a player simply not good enough, either. Kaepernick led his team to the Super Bowl, an accolade only a select few can boast. This is a league in which the Giants fielded a quarterback who passed for negative yards this year; a quarterback who is struggling so
much that the coach chose to run quarterback sneaks on secondand-10 and then third-and-nine inside their own five-yard line because he wasn’t confident in him to pass for yardage. Kaepernick wasn’t cut because of a lack of talent. He was blackballed from the sport of football. Former President Trump, in an expletive-laden message, infamously tweeted to Kaepernick that he was fired. Kaepernick was trying to protest for social justice, but instead, this spelled out an untimely end to his career. The president and his millions of followers—which include the majority of NFL owners—immediately saw Kaepernick as a threat and ended his career. Fifty-seven percent of NFL fans are white, and 62 percent identify as either Republican or Independent. Meanwhile, just 29 percent of the league’s players are white. This wide disparity in the racial makeup of fans and athletes creates unnecessary political tension in an environment that is meant to be an oasis from it. While Kaepernick can’t find a job because of his protesting for social justice, domestic violence offenders have found that their crimes have been consistently forgiven by sports fans and leagues. Look no further than Kareem Hunt’s re-entrance into the league or former Patriots offensive lineman Kenyatta Jones, who continued to play in the NFL after pouring scalding hot water on his roommate then later urinating on the dance floor of a Tampa club. There is no better example illustrating this than NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2020 after a productive nine-year tenure where he earned seven Pro Bowl nods amid misconduct allegations. Despite this, the Las Vegas Raiders signed him, but it was not to be. Brown never even played a game for the Raiders, ending in Brown requesting his release to his 6.1 million followers on Instagram. Soon
after, quarterback Tom Brady lob- a league that has been run right. justice causes. bied for the New England Patri- Contributing to this is the fact NBA commissioner Adam Silots to acquire Brown. Brown ap- that, out of the four major Ameri- ver stands alone from the other peared in one game before he was can sports leagues, the NBA has commissioners of major North cut as further allegations came up, the most diverse fanbase. Fifty American sports. While the NFL’s including one from his athletic percent of the fan base is Black Roger Goodell is booed whertrainer in 2019 and another from or Latino, while 46 percent is ever he goes, Silver has earned an artist in 2017, to which Brown white. This has created a climate the respect of fans and players responded by texting a photo of in which players are more com- alike. The commissioner’s job is the accusers’ children to her. A ra- fortable making their voices heard to run the league, and whoever tional person would begin to sense and pushing their causes for so- runs it sets the tone for the league. a pattern, but it turns out that the cial justice. In the NBA Bubble, Goodell is known for implementNFL was willing to give Brown for instance, Los Angeles Clip- ing a “No Fun League,” one witha fourth chance. Brown won pers forward Paul George and out fun celebrations and without a Super Bowl the Milwaukee Bucks good-natured taunting. More imwith the Buccasparked a boycott portantly, while Goodell has often neers and was of sports been lax with cases of domestic a consistent games in violence or other social issues, Silmemthe wake ver has taken a hard line. In 2014, ber of of the Silver banned Los Angeles Clipthe Tamshooting of pers owner Donald Sterling from pa Bay ofJacob Blake. the sport of basketball after mulfense. This boy- tiple racist comments he made to This seacott ex- his girlfriend were disclosed. son, howtended to all Until sports leagues take a ever, the other games good look at their policies, athsaga has in the NBA as letes, and front offices, issues such continwell as many as domestic violence, political ued. First, other sports polarization, and racism will only Brown lied leagues with continue to fester. Let’s make about his games slated for that sports a refuge from politics and vaccination day. NBA players also discrimination again, and let the Ying Chen / The Spectator status, leading to a regularly wear shoes that athletes who deserve to play, play. three-game suspension. Then, in a show support for various social Week 17 matchup against the New York Jets, Brown took off his uniform, riled up the crowd, and ran off the field. This happened while Brady and the Bucs offense were getting ready to run a play. Tampa Bay Head Coach Bruce Arians Renowned tennis star Novak Djokovic had his visa for Australia in his postgame conference said rescinded, which excludes him from the 2022 Australian Open. that Brown was no longer a Buc. If this was indeed finally the last time Antonio Brown stepped onto The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 the field on a Sunday, let it be a in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship. cautionary tale to the league and to sports in general. Football fans, Twenty-nine-year old attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho joined while disapproving of Brown’s English club Aston Villa on a loan for the remainder of the season. conduct, found it in their hearts to forgive Brown because of his achievements as a player. In fact, The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 26-19 in they may do it again. Regardless, the NFL playoffs, breaking their 30-year playoff win drought. by turning a blind eye to misconduct and violence of its athletes, the NFL has only tarnished its Vinícius Jr. has stepped up his game for Real Madrid this season, own reputation. with 15 goals and nine assists in 28 matches so far. The NBA is a rare example of
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