Volume 15, Issue 4 (February 1983) - The Rampage

i

e �amp

Volume XV, Number 4

February 1983/Ad■r 5743

A Free Publlcallon

Alumni Rate Ramaz Experience

by Edie Diamant In the midst of all the evalua• t,on that 1s currently taking place 1n Ramaz, one very 1mpor­ Iant set of opinions has been overlooked The Ramaz alumni, part,cularly the newest among them, can evaluate the "Ramaz experience" tram a special standpoint Twenty alumni lrom a variety of colleges and post-secondary school programs and from the classes ol 1981 and 1982 responded to a questionnaire sent out by the Ram Page con• cernmg the educational experi­ ences al Ramaz They respond­ ed with sentiments ranging from severely cn11cal to ex• ceed1ngIy appreciative and nostal gic. In general, however, most of lhese Ramaz graduates

though! favorably of the and "mterpret1\le" reading re­ academic, soclal, and religious quired In college preparations they received from By contrast. several alumni lho1r alma mJlcr felt 1h31 1ho books read per term In !he acadcm,c realm, the were too few in number. One general consensus among alumna cited a particular defici­ lhose who responded was that ency m Shakespearean l1terathey were we11•prepared for 1ure According to Shari Leven­ college-level courses Very few thal ('81), who a11ends Vassar cited anything as seriously lack• College. lnd1vloual mterpreta­ Ing ,n their academic prepara­ t1on was itrTIJted at Ramaz 'I tion Nonetheless, they were lound that my abtlity to evaluate slightly more IudgmenIal wIIh and interpret literature was, to regard to ind1v1dual subJects some e)(tenl, held back at Forty percent of tne Ramaz by the idea that tnere Is respondents (a plurality) rated only one way to understand a the,r exposure 10 English lltera• piece of literature." tura as being ·very good,' e)(• Ironically, while a maIorIty of pla,nong that they found them• alumni lauded their preparation selves better versed In the In English literature, an even classics than their peers and greater number were cot,cal of that they were properly skolled the writing program Many fell ,n dealing wllh the " analyt,car· there simply was not enough wot+ng In any of the courses at Ramaz Some compla1ned that they were never taught basic grammar, structure, or organlza­ IIon, others felt J_hat their weak­ noss extended from ele�ontary school and was never remedied at R amaz. One respondent recommendations for improve• noted that as long as her ideas ment.

Preparations for a Middle were good, grammatical and States visit are long and tedt· punctuational errors tended to be overlooked According to ous. Each aspect of 1he school, from I1s philosophy and ob1ec· Barbara Rosenberg ('81), the t,ves to the maintenance of the problem does exist. but at the school's tac1litles. Is evaluated same t,me, ,t cannot be solved Adm1nI strators, faculty mem· w 1 t h I n Ramaz·s c u r r e n t bers, officers of the school, and framework "We must recognize vaoous persons affiliated with the differences between thirty the school. form committees to to forty hours a week spent m review various aspects ol the class and ten to fifteen I can't school. ,hey use booklets call• really see how Ramaz coutd become a mInIature Yale " ed Evaluative Crtter,a which are However. a significant mInor,supplied by the Middle Stales Organ1zat1on. For example, one 1y was surprised to find that their skills In vmtmg exceeded of the questions posed to the School Fac1l1t1es Committee ,s: those ol their peers There were ··Does the building provide suf• several alumni who felt that the f1c1ent area tor the physical edu• writing program was quite cation program?" The commIl• substantial as well as bene­ 1ee responded with a ·very l1c1al.

Foreign languages received good.' After hlhng out the ques­ I1onna,re, each comm,ttee re­ conll,ctlng (almost dlchoto· ports ,ts findings to the entire mous) evaluations in regard 10 prepara1ton for college On the faculty and admlnistrat,on Rabbi Jay Goldmintz. chair· one hand, every respondent man of the Judaism Commillee, seemed to have a Hebrew back· describes the reporting pro­ ground that was- strong enough cess: "Everybody gathers lor advanced placement in his around and a chairman gets up language requirement. In fact. and describes his department nearly 75% were exempted alto• and his committee's findings. gether. However, aside from Then the floor is open for ques· Hebrew. the other languages, 110ns posed to the chairman by namely French and Spanish, the rest of us. The number tf seemed to pale m comparison. questions asked usually de• The maionty rated their knowl· edge of foreign language as be· pends on how tired we are.''

This process Is, nevertheless, Ing ·fair.' Sylvia Z1mbler ('81) ex• plained that students did not \lery rewardtng, because, as Ms Rachel Taub explains. the lac· take the "extra" language very ulty as a whole fam1lla11zes it­ ser1ously precisely because of self w11h different aspects of the domination ol Hebrew Ziv the school. such as the curri­ Hellman ('82) summed up his cula and ob1ec1Ives of each de· preparation "Hebrew got me out ol my requiremenls, and I ·partment (Co111m11ed on Page 6) (Co,itinued or, Page 4)

A Decade In Review

by Jonathan Krasner Some hme In mld-Aprll, a band of approxomately fofleen people will invade Ramaz for a lhree day period. During this 11me. not a tie shatr be out of place. not a skirt will be above the knees, for lhe Day of Judg· ment shall be upon us, one and all' This band of inliltrators, known as "'The V1s1tmg Commit• tee," shall tear the school apart piece by piece, textbook by text• book. in search of an answer to the ultimate question: Is Ramaz worthy of reaccred1Iat1on by the Association of Middle States?

In reality, there ,s ltllle-doubt that Ramaz w,11 receive its reac­ cred11a1Ion from lhe Middle Slates Assoc,alion of Colleges and Secondary Schools. But, if nothing else, the Middle States ·visit gives the Ramez faculty and administrators a fine oppor­ tunity to evaluate the school's performance, as a whole. over the pasl ten years The primary purpose of a Mid· die States evaluation Is to im­ prove "the ind1v1dual high school m the service It Is render­ ing 10 the growth of lhe commu• nIly which It serves," Middle States sends approximately f,f. teen people, known as the visit· mg commIt1ee. to the school It ,s evaluating. These people, educators themselves. sit in on school classes, randomly inter· view students regarding their feelings towards lhe school. re· view the written reports pre· pared by the various faculty committees, and then prepare their own report commenttng on lhe school's strengths and weaknesses as well as making

Israel's President Yltzchak Navon addresses students from various yesh,vot of metropolitan New York in the main sanctuary of Kehilath Jeshurun.

Euthanasia:

Murder or Mercy?_

by Jeffrey Eifender In llhnoIs, the parents of deformed, inseparable Siamese twins and their doctor are charged with attempted mur,d . er.

The doctor, with the agreement of the parents. denied the children a respirator and food so that they could die rather th�n !Ive a bltghted llfe. Similar­ ly. in Cal1forn1a, a man fell into an irreversible coma The doc­ tors removed his respirator and food In order to let him "die with dignity," rather than languish ,n a vegetative state. He died and, as a result. the doctors were charged with murder. These are Ius1 a couple of examples of the problems lacing doctors today ,n treating the severely handl· capped and terminally Ill. Because of sophlst,cated medical technology. such as In• travenous fluids, dialysis machines. and heart and lung pumps, such patients can be kept alive. sometimes tor years: however, they can· never be cured. Many times. keeping them alive means that only the vital functions, such as heart­ beat and respiration are work­ ing. However, these people are

either rn a coma or re­ stricted to a hospI1al bed. is the function of the doctor to maintain Ide, as he Is sworn to do by the H1ppocrat1c Oath, or Is he to decide wheth9r or not certain lives should be prolong• ed? The debate In both the medical a n d non-medical worlds is which 1s more impor­ tant. life itself or the quality of that life?

While ,t ,s defin11eIy illegal to use active euthanasia (shooting or poisoning a patient), passive euthanasia (which constitutes removing machines. medIca­ I,ons. etc.). although dubious In some situations. can be done legally. This ,s a result of the 1975 Ou,nlan decision. The Judge. in this landmark decl· sIon. allowed the removal of Karen Ann Quinlan's respirator on lhe basis that the patient's right to privacy O\lemdes the in­ terest of the state in maintain­ ing ltfe Since lhen, many families have gone to court lo have their terminal or comatose relatives removed trom _llfe­ sustaimng machines.

However, decisions vary in (Continued 011 Pag� 6)

Pago 2

February 1983

Tho Ram Page

Published by tho s1udon1� at Rdm,)l High Scnool 60 Easi 78In s, NY, NY 10021 HA 7 1000

Editor-in-Chief Execullve Editor News/Pollllcs Editor Feature Editors Photography Editor Stall Photographers Faculty Advisor

Edie D1ament Lynn Charytan Herbert Block Rachel Hallote, Carol Sall Daruol Mcron Michael Haber, Joshua Scnwartz Steve Olson

Tzniut and Tzionut:

An Imbalance lfl The Religious-Zionist Education At Ramaz W ith a curriculum as immense and congested as the one at Ramaz, ,t ,s ,II-advised to be teaching subfects that do not prove meaningful to a student s education, and even more so when other more v,tal topics are taught peripherally, If at all I Incorporated into the rellgIous studies at Ramaz ,s the study of the laws of 1Zn1ut. W hile discussion of the abstract concepts of modesty and moderation are essential to the understanding of many tenets of Judaism, lengthy study of trad1t1onal standards of modesty in dress Is a misdirection of effort At best, ,t engenders guilt over the wearing ol cur­ rent fashions, at worst, ,t breeds disregard for other more relevant strictures.

By contrast, even after the development of the World/· Jewish History program, modern Zionism is not studied ,n any depth during the two-and-a-half year course Despite their proficiency In the traditional Biblical sources, Ramaz students, more often than not, find themselves 1ll-equ1pped to answer anti-Semitic, antl-Z,onist accusations of Israeli "rac,sl and Imperialist tendencies." Would ,t not be more useful to learn to dl�tingu,Gh between Jabotin�ky's and Begin's Zionist philosophies than to delve Into minutiae of sleeve length?

It Is not the assertion of th,s editorial that tz,onur should necessarily replace tzn,ut In the curriculum, but a re­ examination of the goals and emphasis tn teaching might be in order

Note From a Disenchanted Graduate To the Editors: As a recent graduate of Ramaz, I fmd two events that transpired this past semester troubling enougn to compel me to write 1h1s loller to the editor The sweep type search of every student s locker and lhe conf1sca1Ion (censorship ? ) of an issue of the Ram Page arc ac 1ions u,a1 are indicative ol an admlnistra1Ion thal feels It can use quasi-lega l tac11cs to

achieve 11s goals While in theory the aam,nistrat,on has the right to censor the school newspaper by m fact do,ng so ,t sets a danaerous precedent Tne paper does depict Ramaz accurately and having read the Ram Page ,ssue which was con !,seated. I saw nothing pro­ v o c a t Ive or controversial enough to Justily tne hId1ng of the paper from those allendmg the open house for prospective freshmen Is the adm1mstrat1on

Whenever I See Your Smiling Face ...

To the Edilors: When was lhe last 11me you walr<.ed ,nto the school ornce and were greeted wItn a smlle ?

Chances arc. 11 was not a recent experience Do we make such nuisances of ourselves as 10 merit these dour e:KpressIons, or ,s 11 simply 1he d1lf1cult gr,nd of off,ce work that has everybody up there so down ? Perhaps the laull lies w1th1n the slUdcnt body Rocall,ng the past several occasions I nave been ,n Ihe of f l ee, I can 11st my reasOns lor be mg there as rnutine v,s,1s (, c . picking up a copy of the daily

bulletin). vIs11s to clarify Ques tIons I might have had as to cer; taIn procedures. and v1sIts to pick up messages or make ap po,ntmenls None ol the occa s10ns gave me anything to smile about and many studen1s pro­ bably feel tne same way abOut 11 Regardless of tne 1r1v1alit1es of 1hese v1s1ts students do not deserve deprec,a11on by lhe ol l,ce staff, especially ,n a school the size of Ramaz one that ,s more conducive 10 close, and warmer relations between stafl and students

Point/Counterpoint

The Jewish Community and the City's Homeless

Koch's Comment Was Irresponsible To tho Editors: During a group ol parllcutarly co10 and snowy days a 1ew weeks ago, New York City was reawakened 10 the sulformg of the cold, homeless, hungry souls shivering on +ts streets New Yorkers enthus1as1,c.ally 100k measures to help a slightly more than nominal number of vagabond their c 1 1 y's wanderers Churches among other places, let tne,r large emp• ty rooms be used as Oedrooms !or u,e homeless II was a numane action Mayor Koch, In tne middle of me doing ol this good deed, 100k 1t upon himself to chastise the Jews for being the only religious group that did not allow the homeless to sleep on Its sanctuary floors By rep• rimand,ng tne Jews he tainted the good spirit of the churches ac11on by Imposmg on ii a hol,er lhan lhou· a111tude After K och's commen1s, some synagogues dIC1 open their doors and floors to the cold sufferers, stating that what Koch said I s ngnt, and lhat no matter what else Jewish organizations do for New York City's poor. more can always be done Of course tho homeloss should have synagogues to sleep 1n too Yes, lhey say, Koch had a good point The vahcllty of Koch's point Is only one part of the ,ssue H,s words might have Deen correct, but the fact that he sa,o them 1s afraid 1hat outsiders w,11 see the scnoo1 as ,t really is?

However, t11at 1ne admin•stra 1,on made the decision to open and check each and e1Jery stu­ dent s locker was no1 only �wong from a moral point of view, but in lach the action was illegal In response to Jonatnan Berman s c,ting of the Fourth Amendment concerning search and seizure the scnool. being the owner ot the lockers may searcn them However accor ding to Ne .. ., York S1a1e law. lockers may only be opened in the presence of the student whose belongings are contain ed w1thIn I am ne11her advoca1,ng that !he studenI body sue the ad m1nlstrat1on tor invas,on of privacy nor trying to get back·' at my high school Ramaz g,ves a line, well-rounded educat10n However. such blalant and overt v1olat1ons ol students' rights are not part ot the Ramaz education as I unders1and 11 I believe a bit al 1n1rospectIon 1s needed here Does this school, wh,ch ,s known for so many othe, noble acts wanl ,ts reputa1Ion tarn1s110C by in• c1den1s such as these ? I hope not and t hope the adrnmIstra­ t1on will consider suet, actions such as these more carelully in the future Member ol the Class ol 1981

c�ntomptlble Koch ta Jew n,msell) made !he Jews st,ck out in 1r,0 city as an mesponsl· ble group This Is what the public hears (This Is the same public whose more violent lac· _ 1,on pa,nted "P LO !Ives on the front of this school's building last fall ) Koch d,d not mention to the public the Jevv1sh dollars already 1nves1ed 1n helping lorlorn people �ecause

he fa,ted to mention the good Jews do we see that Koch's motive for reprimanding the Jews was not 10 obtain more shelter for the homeless, as the synag ogue-p r o v I d1ng Jews believe, out was an11•Sem111sm 10 gel New York City 10 resent I1s Jews, the ve,y same people ,mo, ,ron1ca11y, helped keep • Mayor Koch ,n office Rachel H.alloto

We Could Do More To tho Editors.

Reccnlly Mayor Koch caus�d an uproar when he said that not a single synagogue had opened I1s doors 10 the homeless While 1he mayor might have gone too far in his broad condemna11on of the Jewish community. wtuch has always been a pioneer In social service agenc,es, he did make some valid points So vma1 can we� as Ramaz s1uden1s do ? We can urge the establishment of more shelters, both 1n this ne1ghborr1ood and around the c,ly, in schools and public buddings The tnree synagogues that voluntoorod to se1 up shelters do not have the oest ol lac1l1t1es ye1 they recognized tne problem this winter and took action Wnere nave all !he large synagogues of Manhallan with extensive fac,111Ies been when ,t comes lo volunteering ? Between our two Ramaz bu1ld1ngs ttlere are two gyms and three audItor1ums

and we should give serious cons1dera1Ion to the teas1b ll1ty of establishing a temporary shelter 10 be stalfed by Siu· oents, faculty, members of Keh1lath Jeshurun and alumni, If this really proves 1mposs1ble, .-.e ourselves must volunteer to go and occas,onally spend n1ghts helping at other shelters tnat will be established Either we must start our own sheller, no1 an 1mpossIblc or unmanage­ able task given the experience of Partnership for the Homeless ia coalt11on of rellg1ous inst1tu• I,ons that has developed sneltermg 1cchn1ques), or at lc.lst soy to u,o city-' you fmd

a building tor shelter and the Ramaz community, I n the highest trad1t1on of charily, w,11 staff 1t We have 1he opportunl• 1y right now to snow we can do more and dispel any not,ons tnat we are not a compas­ s10nate people Let us get started Herbert Block

A Friendly \J\(arning To the Editors: Tt,e Audio Visual room ol the i.o,ary Is one of tne more pooular places tor students to spend theu precious spare moments Mus,c lovers be H cIass1cat o, rock hsten 10 thelf lavorite recordings on tape and discs THIS WILL SOON ENO UNLESS RESPECT FOR THE EQUIPMENT ANO PREMISES IS DEMONSTRATED' ABUSES Include , Records are tell on record players often with the needle on the record The record Is somet1mes lef1.on even when the students leave 2 The record players are IelI on {even without records). or the arm with the needle ,s not replaced ,n ,ts 011 ' pos,11on 3, Records are not treated as the lrag1Ie Items whIct, they are They are neither returned to their protective covers, nor replaced ,n the des,gnated sec lion of the record cabinet

4 Tape recoroers are left with their buttons depressed so tnat they are In operating pos,­ uon even w11hout casse1tes

5 StudenIs lake food into me AV room even though there are s,gns posted that no fooo or beverages are permmed 6 Students frequently ,um­ mage through other mate r1als-boo�s magazines eQu1p mem-ano leave the room ,n disarray The library stall ,s very sup por1Ive ol the right ol students 10 listen to mus,c tor recrea 11on31. as well as educat1onaI. purposes 11 must be emohas,z ed. however that lhe A-V room 1s used 10 store the equipment neeaed for classroom proIecIs The same record players tape recorders. and records are ut1liz• ea by teachers II students con· t1nue 10 aouse lhem. the students will no1 be perm11ted lo use them I Fair enough ?

The library Stall

February 1983

Tho Rim Pago

P1g1 3

More Than Just Another Pretty Face

by N_aoml Abraham! reconnaisance team that fell in• to an ambush He and another Watching him patch a hole In soldier were wounded, but, In the plaster wall or wrestle a what Danny calls "something load of supplies onto the really crazy," they sent the third elevator, you would probably man to call ,n t�e artillery on not suspect that Danny Fuc­ their posI11on In order to clllo, one of our maintenance lac,lltate their escape. In 1969 .crew, has also fought in V,et• Danny was discharged from the nam, worked for New York State army because of injuries. He Narcotics Control Commission, suffered severe leg damage competed in the New York when shrapnel shattered parts Governor's Cup sailing race, 'of h,s tibia and kneecap. He had part1c1pated In the construct1o.n to undergo physical therapy for ol the 78th Street bu1ld1ng. and approximately one year until he earned an associate degree in regained lull use of his leg. business.

Danny, an only child, was Danny was not bitter about born in Brooklyn Alter receiving going \o Vietnam; rather, he Danny Fuccillo an elementary and high school was bitter about the way the milted Crime.' Nowadays, education, q_e participated ,n a citizens of the U S. behaved movies portray Vietnam fighters manager's training program at toward the soldiers when they • as the bad guys . They are the Korvettes. Within six years he returned home People treated ones who know-how to handle rose to the position of merchan­ them llke secori'd class citizens the weapons and wear the black dise manager of the children's According to Danny, this cape The media has tarnished department. However, Danny negative view of the veterans the image of the veterans •· left this job in July, 1968, when has been propagateo by the After his recuperation, Danny he was called into active duty media. "When someone com­ decided It was time for a During his service 1n Vietnam, mits a crime, the first thing they change-something different.

Danny was awarded a Bronze ask him IS 'Did you fight in Viet­ exciting and challenging. In Star Medal for bravery in com­ nam?' The article will then 1970, he I0Ined the New York bat. He was part of a three-man begin, 'Vietnam Veteran Com- State Narcotics Control Com•

Stationery and All That Stuff

by Rachel Hallote Exotic and exclusive stores can be found all over New York, but the most underrated kind is the sfmple old Five & Ten. Many chains oJ thi�sort of store exls1, such as Woolworth's, Lamp• ston, and McCrory 's, I toured several Five & Tens recently and discovered that atmosphere iS' their best product.

The more expensive stores, at first glance. have better at• mospheres. They are more crowded, more noisy, more liberally spread with brand name nail polish and throwrugs, yet more hos11le. I had the experience of watching a woman altempting to buy a single folding chair for fifteen dollars. The cashier. a hair• flipping, gum-chewing teenager, rang up twenty dollars. The aghast woman proceeded to argue, pointing out many limes that the chair was from the fif. teen dollar pile 10 the right. nol ,1he twenty dollar p,le 10 the left (The chairs to the left were more expensive because they lolded up smaller. ) The manager was called, and a loud. huffy spat between th,s typically short. balding man with b1-focals and 1he woman, permeated the bustie of the store. Shoppers put down their battery-operated · desk lamps and their F,ve· Dollar-And-Up·Shirts•For-H,m to watch. In the end the woman got the manager to agree that the chair was really only fifteen dollars. yet refused to buy ,t, and huffed out of the store declaring that she would never shop there again.

I never witnessed an episode of tharsort in one of the less ex' pensiye Five & Tens.

The very name "Five & Ten" Is deceiving. It used to mean that every item In the store cost 5 or 10 cents. That Is no longer accurate, but some stores have become 69 or 79 or 88 cent.

stores, raIsIng their price with me over 10 them. I began a con• the percent of 1nflat1on An 88¢ versatIon about the vastness of store is located on Lexington her store She, a typical 5& tO Avenue at 52nd Street On employee. responded by exploring II, I found that half a reciting a long tirade about her pen and pepcIt set costs. 88�� personal problems, and why she Obviously, one would buy the got her job two years ago, and entire set for $ 1 .76, though how her children are driving her everything In the store really crazy She said she liked work• ing there. I sa,d I was glad I left does cost no more than 88c.

In Manhattan, the most com· Always, the best part of shop• ping ,n a Five and Ten Is the mon store of this haphazard browsing Everything somehow and entertaining sort Is looks marvelously exciting. Lamston·s Several branches boxes of small toys, for in- are located on Madison, Lex• s t a n c e miniature plastic Ington, and 3rd Avenues. one marionettes In the shape of every 20 blocks or so. So stop Wall Disney characters (so off sometime and browse what d they were only piled two Maybe some obscure kni ck• inches high on a heap of hidden knack will turn out to be the Styrofoam}, rows of stationery ideal present for someone. Or and colored pencils, oodles of maybe you will only get lost In plastic pencil sharpeners, rows ol fabrics and sneakers Scotch lape. rubber erasers. and pop-up books and skin• 100th paste and headbands It Is softeners pathetically easy to buy several md1v1dually cheap items which are vtrtually useless, but add up to quite a bit of money. I, for instance, walked out of one store with a package of rubberby Brenda Schachter bands and a SQua.re of Scotch sell-st1ck1ng note cards. I Still Recently. the overcrowded have not opened II. Anolher bulletin boards in the school store lett me with a Smurf nallways earned yet another folder, a spool of yarn (I do not advertisement. this time fC'lr the know how to knit), a box of Torah Homework Hotline Most Ra,senettes and 27¢ I soon students were indifferent to 11. resolved never to buy anything but there were · those who did a ever again. double-take, curious about the A problem equally perplexing new "Jewish" phone service to the one of over-buying Is that The hotllne's function Is to of finding a spec1f1c ,tern one is lookiog for. For instance. help day school students from erasable typewriter paper (an ·grade one and up who have essential item for all Aamaz problems w,th their Hebrew students) ,s hard to find. I walk· homework but have no one at ed up and down the aisles ol home who can help them The stationery and school supplies. hotflne Is-a project of Yeshiva until I came on It quite sudden• University and Is the brain child ly, wrapped ,n brown, with of Rabbi Norman Lamm. pres,­ "erasable paper'" written in tiny den�of the unIversIty, It ,s staff· ed by students of the university letters nea'r the top.

In another store I asked for as well as graduates with help In finding the kitchen uten-� sm,chah. Very t,,ghly qualified s,ls. A very sweet lady brought high school students can also

mission as a state corrections officer. In this position, Danny was able to add to his list of In• juries. He suffered a concus• slon, had his cornea scratched, and was paralyzed for six months on the right s,de of h,s face He even has the scar of a human bite.

His Iobs in the numerous lac1lit1es in which he worked were mainly secunty related, but he also had to observe how the "clients" reacted under con­ finement and transmit such In• formation to psychiatrists and counselors. Since Danny work• ed In male. female and Juvernle centers. he was able to draw comparisons among the three types of inmates. "The older ad­ dicts caused fewer problems since they were basically in• 1 sUtut1onalized as Juveniles and"" knew how to act. Much of the racial tension a n d open violence that people hear about occurred among the Juveniles.

Although homosexuality was prevalent ,n both the male and female fac11tt1es, the female ad· diets were more open about It than were the men " In 1974 Danny left h,s I0b as a corrections officer and was assigned. along with two other men. to a special unit called the warrant squad Their duties in­ cluded picking up runaways and parole violators as well as transferring prisoners Untor• tunately. in 1978, Danny was laid off because of cutbacks in the state budget under Gover•

nor Carey. His wife, Liz, took over support of the family, and Danny became a lulH,me night sludent at K1ngsborough Com· munlty College, where he earn· ed an associate degree In business while keeping house and caring for his two girls (now ages 5 and 17).

In 1980 Dann;, 1oined the con• struct,on crew of the 78th Street Ramaz building, and when he w a s o f f e r e d a job on maintenance after erection was completed. he accepted. "It was a good marriage." And It con­ tinues to be just that: Danny en• Joys working at Ramaz, "It's dil· lerent; It's very close-knit."

Consequently, he continues to work at Ramaz although his wife earns more money than he.

This does nol bother Danny. ··N ol She SUPPO/IS m y hobbies," h e exclaimed in a humorous tone.

Danny loves to sail. For three years in a row he placed fourth in the New York Governor's Cup Sailing Race. He Is also the proud owner of a rowing scull.

"One of the most beautiful things to do," says Danny, "is to go rowing when no one else is around." He has also partici­ pated In pistol competitions.

Using his experience with guns as a state correction and war­ rant officer. Danny was able to take third place m the Connec­ ticut Undercover Police match.

Himself the licensed owner of a personal firearm, Danny Is a strong believer In gun control. ··everyone has the right to buy a weapon, but there must be con­ trol."

Currently, Oany and Liz are overseeing the building of their split-level c h a l e t in t h e Poconos. They drew u p the blueprints on their own and then hired a contractor for the actual construction. To put It in Danny's words, "This ,s our newest adventure."

It might seem that keeping the Ramaz building in order Is rather dull in comparison to all the other actIvIt1es Danny has been involved In. But who knows, maybe that too is an adventure.

Torah Homework Hotline be on the staff

- tIon of a Hebrew poem found In a ninth-grade textbook. I was ,mmedlately told that they might not be able to give me the help I needed. T)le hotline helper tried to answer my ques­ tions by p1ck1ng out the Hebrew words he knew, finding the roots of others and asking other hotline helpers. He also con­ sulted a dictionary. He tried to convey the general feeling of the poem At the end of the con· versation. I felt that neither or us really understood the poem.

Althoug h ,t may be dangerous t o generalize lrom these two examples. It does seem that the hotline personnel are more helpful In Bible and Rabbin1cs than in Hebrew language and literature.

If you are encouraged to use the hotline, then do so following their own guidelines. ··use 1t.

I called asking for an explana• Don't abuse 1t."

The hotllne staff answers Questions by consulting the texts, using dIct1onanes and other reference works, and by talking questions over with other staff members. In some cases, they know the answer 1mmed1ately. In other cases, they ask the caller to call back after gIvIng them time to f ind tt,e answer. On a busy night they can have between twenty and forty calls, while on a slow night they have about ten calls Emlly Marbach, a I unIor. call­ ed the hotline during finals week asking for help with a lew psuk,m and a commentary Ac• cording to Emily, 11 took the per· son on the hotline f,ve minutes 10 explain to her what would have taken her at least an hour to figure out on her own.

February 1983 Page 4

The Ram Pago

Thumbs Up For Rabbi Miller

by Ilana Hollar Interpreting dreams tor an AP

English class ,s not e•pected of a Talmud teacher, but that ,s e,­ actly what Rabbi Jay Moller d,d

this past semester lor Mr Steve

Olson, who was teaching Fydor Dostoyevsky 's Crime ana Punishment to his seniors Rab• bl MIiier has been studying psychotherapy for four years Part of hos education Includes seeing patients privately H,s goal as an analyst ,s 10 show how dreams reveal what the pa­ tient thinks ,n his subconscious and how these thoughts relate 10 his conscious hie Rabb, Miller's Interpretation of Rodlon Raskolnikov's dream In Cnme ana Punrshment further Il­ luminated the impotence and megalomania already v1s1ble In Raskoln,kov's character.

The convent,onal part of Rab• bl MIiier's work In Ramaz began

last year when he was hired to

Oav,d Henkin describes It: "We

were given a Gemara thal we had never seen before and we

that

respondents

most

of

the

who criticized

foreign language at Ramaz and complained that they had for­ got1en their French or Span,sh did not continue with these par• t1cular languages in college,

most likely because of the placement they allained for

their apparent proficiency In Hebrew. One anonymous alum­ na who did continue her

language at Queens College rated her preparation at Ramaz as being 'excellent.' "I took three years of language and an AP ,n foreign language, and I came 1n10 college knowing more than the college students on my level. '' Mathemat ,cs was highly praised by nearly all the graduates. M ost fell that their sk,lls were "sharp" and .. solrd."

However, several alumni main•

1aoned that BC Calculus could have been taught In high school. Two students who have obviously pursued higher-level math courses in their respective colleges coted one weakness namely a def,c,ency In for• mulat,ng fo rmal proofs of theorems.

E i g h t y p er c e n t of t h e respondents felt that the history p r o g r a m a t R a maz was elaborate a n d ' qu,te soph,s:icalLd. Many remarked that

the

sen,or electives in

history far outweighed those of­ fered on any other subject. Some

alumn, noted a deeper knowl•

edge of history up to 1850, fon­ ding a .. falling oll" in coverage of the events of the twentieth century. According lo Bennett Katz ('82), who allends SUNY•

students

Rabbi Moller applies hos psychological 1ns1gh1s 10 ,m­

of the challenge David Henkin

When asked where he had

Slud,ed, Rabb, Moller apposolely

remarked, "Everywhere!" More

Jewish

Hebrew Universlly "The Kab· balls11c approach to Torah and Mltzvot can gfeatly enhance the understanding of the devot,onal

provmg the lntcraclIon between h1msell and his students His approach Is obviously effective as md,cated by the appreciative words of a student ,n his Honors Talmud class, "He Is a very learned rabbi He's a genius•"

academic adJ ustments were smoother than those ol stu·

ments since "college Is m no way c o m p a r a b l e to h i g h

tnbuted 1h1s 10 parental pres­ sure, others blamed Ramaz

Rabbi Jay MIiler enlightens Howle Schub at Yeshiva College, Harlman Dash Coppel, Hebrew Univers1• ty, and other vat1ous yeshlvot In Israel He completed his Master

of

Arts

,s taught very superf,clally If I hadn·1 taken AP American

History, I would ha"e gone into

college with very little back­

ground in American history" Evaluations of the sciences

at Ramaz were spill evenly Half the respondents fell lhal the science courses at Aamaz were superior ,n content, and half found the program to be fair. and, in some cases, even poor Unltke the evaluations of

who were cr111cal and those who weren't included students who continued with science In col·

lege According 10 an alumna

lrom Yale, there was not enough

laboratory work al Ramaz AP B,ology was rated very poor. and by contrast, AP Phys,cs acclaimed

as

,n

grounds, an advantage she at· tributes 10 Ramaz Twenty-live percent felt that college was ac­ tually easier than Ramaz Aneh Coll ('81), who attends Tufls Uni• versI1y, describes his college workload "There may be more out-of-class work, but there Is more time to do It " One anony• mous respondent who attends an l"Y League school even chast1zed Ramaz for being "un• duly d1fflcult and compe11t1ve" However, there were some who felt that Ramaz did not help them al all regarding adJust-

excellent

prepara11on, far beyond most advanced high school courses Nevertheless. according to Claudia Marbach ('81), who Is 1ak1ng biology at Barnard Col• lege, the background she rece,v­ ed from Rarnaz ,s "quite good.''

According 10 the ma1oro1y of respondents, Ramaz lives up to

,ts Image of oe,ng a preparatory school. Nearly half the alumni fell that whole their workload In college s heavier than ,n high

school, the pressure was not unusual and that similar expen•

ences al Ramaz had prepared them very well. Jacob Chachkes ('8tJ . a parllc,pant ,n the City College Seven-Year Bio-Medical Program, stated that "the dou· ble curriculum certainly helped as far as being able to handle the large amount of work." Ac­ cording 10 Shari Leventhal, her

Philosophy

and

Kabbala

al

school " According 10 Toby Kosowsky ('821 who attends Barnard College, ..The workload

Is structured d1fferen1Iy so, although Ramaz gives a lot of work, you can't always apply the study habits you·ve ac­ quired to college work" Regardmg the obsession with grades that Ramaz students are notorious for 49% adm1t1ed that they were overly concerned about grades while at Ramaz

Others, lhough they den,ed any

personal concern In that area, noled a competI1Iveness among their classmates Some at-

"Ramaz placed a very strong

emphas,s on gett mg mto the Ivy League schools I remember

feeling that ,t I d1dn·1 gel ,nto a

·good' college, I was really stupid It's a bad teel,ng. and I know many students lelt that way Some alumni felt that they were ·as concerned as necessary According to Laura

Blumenfeld ('821, who allends

Harvard Un,"ers1ty, · It really 1s important lor college acsm,s­ s,ons" In any case. most of the respondents agreed that con­ cern for grades. once In college,

(Continued on Pu,:t 7J

He's Got the Beat

fore,gn languages. both those

was

degree

dents from public school back­

Binghamton, knowledge of American tl1sto,y, as opposed to European. was llm1ted "The World/Jewish History progrm was good. but American history

My former students

are now teaching there "

students were very apprec1at1ve

... Alumni Rate Ramaz ever.

Jerusalem "I returned to America, and he started the Brovender Yeshiva with other

had to explain 11 10 Rabbi Baksi.

Rabb, Looksteln, and Rabbi MIiier. They then asked us ques• hons" Desp,te the dltf1cu11y. lhe

spec,f,cally, though, he studied

(Contmu�d from Patt /J

privately He ran an evening pro•

gram for Barnard College under the auspices of the Bravender Yeshiva in Jerusalem Rabb, Miller and Rabbi Bravender had studied together for s,x years at Hartman Dash Coppel ,n

lustrated In his senior Honors Talmud class's un1Que final examination this pasl semester

qulslllon of

can st,11 Impress people by pre­ tending to understand French " It 1s important to note, how•

,s crucial 10 being a Jew " Because of lhls strong belief in the importance of teaming, Rabbi Moller not only teaches a full, "frantic, frene11c day" at Ramaz. but he also teaches

According lo Rabbi MIiier, the students acllve role ,n class Is increased "I learn with the class instead of lecturing " His emphasis' on teaching techni­ ques for learn,ng Talmud was Il­

commented, "There should be more classes with so smart a teacher and so lew students"

Talmudic tech•

practice of intellectual learning

specific curnculum Thus. his course is that much more enlightening lor his students.

teach Honors Talmud 10 a select group of Juniors, namely, David Held. David Henkin, Howle Schub, and Jeffrey Shoulson. They learned an extraordinary amount in only nine periods a week. The ac•

aspe ct of lea r n i n g and practice·· Rabb, Moller believes ,n 1hc supremacy of the Torah study ethic. especially the study of Talmud as was prac1,ced ,n the Lllhuanoan yesh1vo1 "The

nlques was the goal ol Rabbi MIiier's teaching Because of h,s expanded knowledge ol the Talmud, he Is able 10 teach from a broader perspective, ll 1s not necessary for him 10 adhere 10 a

by Eugen!! Nathanson

old enough 10 Qualify for the

On Sunday morning, when most of us are asleep, one member of the Ramaz student

It's a lucky thing for users of Central Park that he subse­ quently found that pamphlet Auxiliaries are often the first on the scene ..When you fall olf your bike, or gel mug_ged and need help, whether medical or

body rises to protect our c11y

from crime and ln1ustIce When asked why he does It, David Fur­ man replies w,th noble phrases lrke, "People should get ,nvolv­

.

ed.

and "'Everybody should

volunteer."

Volunteer for what? For duty

as an auxiliary police officer in

the Central Park Precinct in Manhattan. Every Sunday, (or Monday or W ednesday nights

when there 1s no school the next

day) Oav,d commutes 10 the city

from his home in the Bronx to

report tor duty His Job as an

auxiliary police officer Is a tax­

Ing respons1b1lr1y, but tor a serious-minded cop like David,

.. Helping people ,s the only way 10 get helped yourself " Obta,n,ng the ,nformatlon about the volunteer program happened quile by accident, says David. At a car show, he picked up a pamphlet about the p r o g r a m t h a t l o o k e d 1n1eres11ng, and, as he was not yet

program. he stuck It In a drawer

pohce, we're usually the first ones you see ·· Often, their mere presence 1s enough to scare any crook.

R1d1ng around the park in a squad car all day may seem tedious, but to David, not a mo­ ment ,s boring He took spec,al

courses in law, police science,

and first a,d, and ,s always on the alert ,n case anybody should need assostance.

As ,f the oll,cers were not im­ posing enough in uniform, aux• 1hanes atso carry n,ghtstlcks. which they are specially trained to use, and they brush up on their skills once a year In a

refresher course. David never

loses out on the action 1n his area, even In school He occa•

sionally carries a police band monitor with him and often lets me know when my neighbors

are being robbed A s1uoen1 ap­ proaching David might be sur­ prised to fmd a leather case on the back of hos belt conta,nong

hos handculls David chose to work al lhe

Cen1ra1 Park Precinct because the volunteers there have an

especially f,ne rapport with the

officers What choice would a student with this kind of background make lor a lifelong career?

Oav,d m,ghl become a regular member of the police depart•

ment He Is ind ustriously gomg about learning more about police He Is always coming up

w,th another book about cops,

and. when not recommending

them, he ,s reading them Presently. he ,s plann,ng for a course that will be ottered th,s spring. The course es about tear· mng to patrol on a scooter

Few

young

adults

regard

community service a$ more than an occasional trip to a nur

song homo, or are prepared to stand up and defend our rights 10 a sate place 10 live, work . and play Officer Furman, we salute you.

February 1983

The Rem Page

P1g1 b

-Driver's Education: Those Are The Brakes

by Eugenia Nathanson A Dr1ver's Ed class provides more than an opportunity to ac­

quire the skills of safe droving. It ,s a lesson on how to deal with society al large One way to avoid unpleasant encounters ,s to learn how to stop the car on a t,mely fashion, !hereby prevenI. ong possibly pa onful and tome­ consumong accIdenIs If an ac• c1dent should occur as a result of any one of a number of causes (loo numerous to men­

I,on here) and, of your hands are not Stoll busy woth lhal sloce of p,zza you were eating white driv­ ing, you w,11 be able to lulf o ll lhe most important or oblogatoons perIa,nIng 10 vehicular conduct lolling out the MV-500 Insurance form When you start to drive, your parents' In s u r a n c e

pre �Iums w,11 g o sky high, bul lhat s okay, ,l's all pan or the fun If you love ,n Manhattan, the lun begins at the lender age or sixteen All you need by way or legal consent ,s a messy bunch

or

papers called,

ostensibly

enough, a "learner's permit "To

qualoly lor a perm,I, two tests

are administered an eye test and a written test The more d1f­

f1cull one ,s the eye lest I use

the term 'adm1n1stered' and do

not spec,ry that the tests must be passed, but how can you

pass a written test wllhout eyesight? Handwnting ,s no

knowing how lo read w,11 not keep you lrom passing the test,

random guessing has been pro•

ven qu,Ie ellectove by the pre­ sent generation of drivers (If they knew how to read, would lhey drive like that>) It has been e51omated by lhIs reporter that only a small mInoriIy of the employees on the Departmen1 of Molor Vehicles know how 10 drlvo They seem incapable ol e ven _

simple

comprehensive

perception If ,t does not involve standing ,n the correct ad• m1nlsIrat1ve red, yellow or green lone, or in,t,along liltle blue boxes Filling out those I,11Ie boxes 1s as challenging an e>e• perience as maneuvering north on Flllh Avenue at rush hour.

One word ol caution here, ,f you

apply for a perm,t al the CenIre StreeI branch of lhe Motor Verucles Bureau. bong your own pen and be prepared 10 lose ,1 You w,11 be amazed by how big

and rough some of the other ap­ plicants who forgot their pens at home can be By the t,me you have stapled all the pertinent

sheets of paper

(your tesl

results, your address, your choice of organs 10 be or not to

be donated, and had everything InIII aled by all sorts ot

bureaucratic bumblers) you are

ready to leave, and are even will• 1ng lo drive home to escape the cloying atmosphere of a govern­ ment bu1ld1ng (especially those

obslacle to getting a passing

gray balllesh,p linoleum lloors I

lack of 11 All you do ,s observe a

you s1,11 have an entire course to take on learning how to deal

grade on the exam. nei1her 1s

s,tuallon on a screen 1n front ol

you (dead ce�ler) and answer Ihe queshon A, B, C, or D Nol

But you can't drive home yet.

with details like steer1ng, ac­ celerat,ng, and retaining control

Naomi Abrahami prepares to leave the curb. of the car in 1he event of a

blowout or a skid

And tti.at

comes only a her you have been lectured on the importance of seat belts (which are a sc1ent d 1ca lly-p ro ven s a fe t y device t o prevent your hitting the bnck wall before the car Ooes, 1f you happen to be a woooen test dummy ) You should ,know. afler all

lhos. that the Driver's Ed course

at RAmaz ,s given to students in

lhe morning at s·oo a m. and In lhe evenongs from 4.00 10 6 00

Look What They've Done To Our Songs

by Elizabeth Wurtzel

FM <ock radio, once the most poignant. innovative form of raC110 entertammenl. seems to have taken a turn tor the worse In recent years When 11 was first created In the late

1960s as a reaction 10 AM Top-40 stahons thal played the same old songs repealedly, FM

was notonous for play,ng a huge range of rock mus,c. from

top ac1s like _The Who right down to obscure. barely known,

underground bands As a result of lhe lree-lorm playl,sts on FM

radio. rock music was alloweo

10 llourish, and bands thaI

might never have been heard from like Love. Iron Butterfly,

and Thirteenlh Floor, had con•

sIderable but bpef success Now. because bands, record companies. and radio stations are interdependent, tighter and

tighter play-losts are forcing

challenging, new music out Many new bands don't even

stand a chance. FM radio ilself

,s in the rut of playing the same

old songs repeaIedly-fusI like lhose AM Top-40 sIaI,ons The lacI ,s that when the sporot ot proIesI and onlegrity died ,n the '70s. what replaced 11 were lhe greedy and narcIssIst1c values

of big business, and FM rad,o became a v1c11m of ,ts own suc­ cess

Actually, II Is not lair lo say that r9ck radio 1s In a total

slump, since more and more

stations are re1h1nk,ng their lor­ mats But 1t Is true I hat the most popular stations lack dIverstty and play more and more of the same thing The case in point 1s me lop FM-station ,n New York (and consequently the nation),

WPLJ Once lhe very hip WABC· FM tlhe sIaI,on's name cnanged

10 d1s11ngu1sh 11 from its AM

counterparl, WABC), lhe WPLJ

we know now has become more like the AM stat,on (belore 11

went lalk) They seem 10 reluse

10 e:-:pe11ment or progress. and. as a result, most rock fans are hearing un1nterestIng music

The Slat,on WIii only play the esIabl1shed or near-esIabloshed groups (who probably have an

AM hII single as well) that are exlremely accessible They have completely ignored groups like Jam (number one in

England) or X (thought to be the

greatest

American act since

Bruce Sprin gsIeen). Even worse, when an act does gel popular, they w,11 play only one

or two popular songs from the

acl's

latest

album,

ignoring

material preceding 11 Such 1s

the case w,Ih the Clash's "Rock the Casbah," a good song but

no reason to igno·re their previous albums popular with

1ends lo forge1 acts too easily, I hey have completely written off old acts. such as Joni Mitchell, even though she has hnally released a new album of

Rock n Roll, and

Creedance

Clearwater Revival. that has

aQOUI three of IIs songs playing,

though tney have many more Old groups as,de, even newer ones like BlonC11e have been cas1 aside because they sud· denly "Clo not flt" into lhe lor­

maI 11 may be thal Ihese days BIOf\d1e, as welt as other suc·

cesslul rock groups, makes

music that ,s more maIns11eam

than Rock'n'Roll, but lhey sII11

attract a rock audience and re• main a force In rock music

In effecl, WPLJ's lormat or playing only two to four (lhere are exceptions) songs from a very hmiled number of albums by an extremely limited number

of groups prevents a lot of good mus,c lrom beong heard The

worst part Is that. even in the

case of Bruce Spr,ngsIeen, lhe Rolling SIones and I he Who, on• ly a lomoted number ol songs are played from albums on wtt,ch every song Is a polent,al FM hit.

The result ,s that a lot or very catchy

mus,c

remains

unplayed With such a lomrted tormal ,1 would not �e right 10 call lh,s staI,on AOR (album• oriented rock) ra<lI0, S,nce Pro• Live It Up, 1here Is no reason to gram D,reclor Larry Berger has limit his air play to his medley ot heard lhIs complaint before and animal songs The station also (Contmued on Pogt 8)

audiences long before Combat Rock Furlhermore, with a good album loke David Johansen·s

Pm All studen1s are advised to remain within reinforced con• c!rete buildings at those times, a n d not, u n d e r a n y cir• cumstances. to think of going onto the public streets ano sidewalks.

The u1t1ma1e aim ot students 1akIng the Driver's Ed course ,s 10 pass the road test The roao test 1s a tascina1mg experience because It gives lt\o novice driver the opportunity to explore his or her Sk•lls w1lhout the supervision of Grandmother. the insurance agent, the dog. and In cases of very close fami­ ly rela11ons, the parakeet The only person permitted In lhe car Ounng the test 1s the off1c1al in­ spector The inspector Is an enigma the driving mstructor attemp1s to warn students about by clue,ng them in to his possible frame of mind and cir­ cums1ances a1 the 1Ime of ex­ amination One clue given ,s not to make a road tesl appo,nt­ ment on Monday morning or Fn­

anyway. First you must realize

Ihat pass,ng the course does

not mean you know how to drive It means you have sat

through the required amount ot

fascinating educa11onal films lntendeO as warnings of what Onving in a raceway during a demolit1on derby at 110 miles per hour can oo to your upholstery Next comes true enlightenment. You don't really krow how to Orlve, all you've

Deen trained 10 do ,s get past

ttus tes1 Even the test Is not

really loke driving, it's offered ,n

remote areas where the life you lose Is only your own. nobody sane would be caught deao in ni1s neighborhood (The uptown loca110n tor the test 1s at lhe

,nIersecIIon or Edgecombe Avenue and Jumel Place. I'll bet

you never ,magmed they in­ tersecteo The city numbenng makes the streets equivalent to

One-Hundred•and•Sevent,eth SIreet on Manha11an Island, wh,ch you thought ended alter day alternoon because ,l's bad the NoneIy-Second Street Y.) 1 enough hav,ng to test people for began to lose my apprehension a living: ,rs much worse when when I was 1nlormed that the neither party really wants to be ne,ghborhood bum ate only the lhere Another helplul h1nI t neighborhood dogs. and round learned 1s to keep the car on the Upper East-Siders noI to his hk• tell-hand side of the road Most ong The time came when I had beginning drivers tend t o to step ofl terra firma and enter underesI1maIe the width ol their the three ton, steel deathtrap In• vehicle, and invanably the right tended "solely for my cruising half or the car gets cut ofl. The pleasure" (according to the inspector spends many hours a

day, many days a week. s,11,ng on the right-hand side of a car we can all assume he would rather not be ,n, woth you at the wheel just wailing ror 1he oppor• Iun11y to cut him ott. 11 makes the hogh r,gures or retests much more beloevable. The Inspector will not pass a driver he beloeves w,11 threaten the salety 01 the Cl· ty he works ,n Also helplul Is

manufacturer)

The first thing to do upon entering the car belore the test begins Is to adjust the seat.

Spend some lime doing that: ,1 shows you are lam,loar with your vehicle and actually know how 10 move the seat. If you are short. don't worry about the in• spector. He doesn't mind beong scrunched up, so long as he ,s

secure that both you and he can the course instructor's directive ,,,. reach the brake. Now that you

not to exceed a speed ot lwent� miles per hour. (Remember yo must provide the car for �ach lest. Bang 100 many up 100 soon and you will have lo renI) So we hnally arrive al the scene ot the test. Nervous?

have sellled on the position from which Y�U Intend lo drive, you must adIusI the mirrors to see out or the car. (You can readjust them to apply makeup or shave after the test.) This procedure should also be dwelt on be•

sugges11ons on how to gel by

/Co11rmutd on Pag, 8/

Sure yo� are, but we have a few

cause 11 gives lhe inspector

Page 6

... · Euthanasia (Conlmued from Page }) every state There are no legal standards governing when a doctor may or may not remove a l1fe-susta,nlng dev,ce. Many physicians resent the court's telling them whom they can treat and how. They feel that their own ethical and moral views are suppressed by people outside their field.

It might be thought that such decisions should be left up to the patient himself. However, consultation with the patient might not be feasible. In cases, such as the Quinlan one, where the patient cannot advise the doctor as to whether he wishes to live or die, doctors feei•they are treading on thin Ice. One solution to this is signing of a living will, a document In which a person declares Iha t should he become Incompetent and his Illness become terminal, no measures should be taken to keep him alive. To doctors who wish to adhere to their patients wishes there is still a problem of consistency Living wills are not legal In all states and, as one doctor puts it, "While many

••

February 1983

The Ram Page

sign it now. later on, when they are face to face with death, I hey may wish 10 change their minds; but one would never know since by then the patient Is Incompetent."

Because of the legal com­ surrounding p llca t ions euthanasia, many doctors are confused. They cannot turn to the Amencan Medical Associa­ tion for guidance since that organlzat1on, which establishes ethics for doctors, has not ar­ ticulated any standards of ,ts own. Dr. Peter A. Oouvres, a pro· minent New York internist and a prolessor of medicine at New York Medical College, says that even though the family agrees or even reQuests the removal of life-support machines, many doctors would not do It, not necessarily for ethical reasons, but because the family "can turn right arou'nd and sue for malpractice. AS a result, we must protect ourselves by prac• tIcing defensive medicine."

While the fear of being sued has caused some doctors to shelve their own persona!

beliefs and e thics, It has driven a patient to die Quickly." others to another extreme. For Dr. Fred Rosner, Director of example, according 10 another Medicine at Queens Hospital New York Internist, If a terminal and co-author of Jewish patient stops breathing or has Bioethics, points 10 some possl­ cardiac arrest, many doctors ble reconciliation. "While you give a verbal order to nurses not can't remove a respirator, if you 10 resuscitate No one knows, know that It WIii not make any not even lhe family, and, since - difference, then you don't have the order was never written lo put ,t on." Rabb, J. David down on the patient's charts, Bleich, the other author of the doctor can deny any accusa- Jewish Bioethics and professor tion. at Yeshiva University, cautions The conflict whether lo com• that a "doctor must be ab­ mlt passive euthanasia ,s most solutely sure that someone ls prominent among Jewish doc- gossess (a term characterlz,ng tors. According to halachah, the patient as one who will die any form of euthanasia is ab- within three days) before deny­ solutely forbidden In Judaism, ,ng a respirator. Most doctors life ,s stressed as the most Im- cannot do that In good cons­ portant thing; it does not belong c,ence." Both Or. Rosner and to man but 10 God. He gives life, Rabbi Bleich raise the problem so only He may take it. Thus, ac- of listening to livil'g wills. Since, cording to traditional Jew,sh by Jewish la)V. a patient must law, the removal of life-support seek o u t all a c c e p t a b l e mechanisms, despite good In- treatments 1 0 save his Ille, the tentions, would be tantamount signing of living wills, as Dr. to murder. As Rabbi Jay Rosner points out,!'could be in­ Goldm,ntz, who teaches views terpreted as suicidal in nature concerning euthanasia in his and the doctor who llstens to it freshman class says, "The crux ,s thus an accomplice. of the problem facing Jewish One Jewish doctor practicing doctors today Is that of trying to internal medicine with a sub· reconcile the Jewish law with specialty In geriatrics raises an their own Consciences, the objection to the whole tradI• moral and ethical standards of ttonal view. "We must·be scIen­ halachah with their own desire t1f1c, not dogmatic. The Quality to alleviate suffering and allow of life 1s what counts, not the

. Middle States

(Con11nued from Page /) Based upon the Evaluative Cnterla and their own f1�dlngs, the members of the visiting committee decide 1I the school 1s living up to its philosophy and obJectives. If the answer to this question Is affirmative, then the school ,s accredited by Middle Stales. Ramaz then pays the Middle States Assoc,at1on an undlsclos.ed sum of -money annually. The Middle States Assoc,atIon returns at ten year intervals to reaccred,t the school and update their evalua­ tion. As one teacher, who wish• ed to remain anonymous, put 11, "Belonging to Middle States ,s I,ke belonging to a high-class country club. The admissions director comes to look you over.

If they accept you, you pay your dues, and In return, you get a certain status. When 11 comes ·11me to renew your membership, they send someone to look you over, making sure you live up to that acQuired status."

Follow,ng their visit, the Mid­ dle States commI1tee w,11 send the school a report with com­ mendations tor ,ts successes and recommendations the school might consider In order to 1mpfove what the V1s1ting • Co mm1t1ee feels a re the schodl's shorlcom,ngs.

AlthOugh the Middle States V1s1t1ng Committee gives a re­ port of its own, the setf-evalua1,on process should g,ve the faculty several Indications as to how well the school is achieving ,ts staled ohjectives. For exam• pie, preparation for the Middle States v,s,t has emphasized the need for a new Judaism currl• culum In forms Ill and IV. Rabbi Jay Goldmintz, chairman of the Judaism Committee, has, with 1he help of other Judaic Studies faculty members, developed a new curriculum for these

grades, based on the Ten Com­ mandments. The new curri­ culum has begun to be insti­ tuted In the school this year.

Judging from feedback from students, the new curriculum Is successful. "The topics," ex­ plains one student, "lend them­ selves to d1scuss1on."

The Middle States V1slt1ng Committee w,11 be presented w1lh a more difficult task than usual, since the committee will be evaluaung the Ramaz Jud1ac Studies Program, as well as General Studies. Three of the members of the V1s11Ing Com · m,ttee have been selected for lhIs purpose Among these three are Rabbi Greenbaum.

Dean of Admissions at the Jew­ ish Theolog,cal Seminary, and Rabbi Or Steven Lorch, a Ramaz alumnus and prmclpal of a Jew,sh day school ,n Phlla· delph,a.

Since Middle States does not provide Questionnaires pertaIn­ Ing 10 the Judaic Studies Pro• gram, Ms. Rachel Taub, chair• person of the Tanach Comm111ee, Rabbi Jay Goldmintz, chair• man of the Judaism Committee, Rabbi Jack Bieler, chairman of the Talmud CommI11ee and Ms. Rachel Mellnek, chairperson of the Hebre1v Language Comm,!• tee, were forced to write their own evaluations from scratch.

Ms. Taub recalls that the hours spent were long and tedious "Headaches I �ad once expen• enced ,ears ago when I first be• gan teaching, and have since then overcome, returned to plague me again."

The biggest headaches, how­ ever, were s�ffered by the d1stin­ gu1shed-tooklng, moustached newcomer to Ramaz, Mr. Ira Miller, who has been serving, under the superv,s,on of Rabbi Joshua Baksi, as the coordlna-

tor of lhe Middle States prepa­ rat ,on process. It Is his 10b lo compile and correlate all the Evaluative Criteria. schedule committee meetings, and col• lect materials which he feels the V1s11ing Committee should review. These materials range from school textbooks to thea­ ter workshop playbills.

The most interesting ques• lion to be asked Is· has Ramaz improved on what the 1973 Visiting Committee considered to be the weak points of the school ten years ago, and what areas are still in need of ,m­ prOvement?

When Middle Stales v,s,ted Ramaz ,n t973, the integration of the Jewish tradition with the values of the society we live in was cited as the maJor objective of Ramaz. It is also true that Middle States Implied lhat , Ramaz fell short in th,s particu­ lar area. "A concentrated effort should be made to achieve greater integration between the Judaic and General Studies pro­ grams."

Has Ramaz achieved this goal? According lo Rabbi Joshua Bakst, although there has been some InnovatIon in the last ten years, such as lhe mtroduct1on of the World/Jew• Ish History course, neverthe­ less, integration, on the whole, ,s In need of further attention.

Integration Is, consequently, a sticky ,ssue among the faculty and administration.

The overbearing dally sched­ ule ,s another ma1or, seemingly unsolvable problem cited ten years ago with which Aamaz Is stoll faced �r. Steven Olson, co• chairman of the Faculty Coun­ cil, harshly condemns the schedule as being "counterpro­ ductive" and "1mp1nging on 1he Quality of education." "Schedul-

mg of classes," explains Mr. Ol­ son. "has become a madness In Ramaz. There Is abosolutely no cont1nuIty in the school day.

Most of the faculty," he conun­ ued, "would agree that the schedule ,s very damaging.

Something must be done." Mr. Olson does not have a solution to this problem: neither do Rab­ ·bI Bakst and Mrs. Rliterband, al­ lhough meetings 10 discuss this issue are currently being planned In evaluating Ramaz In 1973, Middle States recommended that there be add1t1onal ut1llza1Ion of community resources ··to enrich the existing pro­ grams." Although the use of local museums has been inte­ grated into the history and art cumcula, Aamaz has not taken lull advantage of tne city's rich resources Rabbi Bakst at• tempted to 1ust1fy the situation.

"Because lhe day ,s so long, and the schedule so complex. the ut1llzat1on of lhe abundanl resources in New York C1ty has been limited."" Further use of community resources "will seri­ ously interfere with the normal course of study ,n Aamaz,·· the Rabb, added.

The student actIvIties pro­ gram at Aamaz. . has also im­ proved over the last ten years as a result of the 1973 Middle States evaluation. The student actlv1t1es budget was tnpled.

According to Mr. Berl, "The ,n­ shtutlon of the student actIv1• Iles center was done as a result of an evalua1Ion, stating that a setting was needed to offer ser­ vices." The proposal lhat the seniors be given more freedom lo p' 1ck their courses was done partially as a resull of the t978 vIsIt, explains Mr. Michael Berl, co-chairman of lhe Student Ac­ tIvIt1es Commiltee. The incorpo­ ration of Y,mey lyun into the school curriculum, and the vast choice of extracurricular act1vi­ tIcs, have led to Ramaz's fine reputation and unlQueness among Jewish day schools and yesh1vot.

prolonging of agony. Quite a number of patients send me let­ ters, which I know won't stand up in court, asking me not to allow them to linger on In an un• dignified sustenance. II Is a moral crime 10 lei them suffer needlessly."

Rabbi Bleich slates' that a maror problem Is thal "most physicians have no b1oethlcat background and are ,gnoranl of halachah. Pnor 10 ten years ago, no courses in ethics were given." Rabb, Bleich proposes a sol ut1on to help doc Iors sort out the ethical dlff,culty. "There should be more standardiza­ tion. Hospitals should have eth.Ics committees with doc• tors, clergymen, and legal con­ sullants to sel up guidelines as 10 how to 1rea1 terminally ,II pa11e n ts." The B e t h - I s r a e l H o s p i t a l in B o s t o n a n d Montefiore Hospital 1 n the Bronx have already set up those guidelines and committees. The rabbi, who has served as a con· sultant In such cases, points out, "This Is. however, only a partial solut,on. Doctors should learn the halachah and abide by ,t. After this. the only real recon­ c1hatIon a doctor can make with passive euthanasia 1s the one a sinner makes with his trans• gress,on "

Interestingly enough, much of the critIcIsm offered in 1973 was In regard to both over­ crowding and lack of facll111es ,n the Ramaz building 11self.

Since the construction of the new bu1ld1ng, many of lhe prob· lems have been solved. Some, however, still remain, ''The Middte States evalua­ tion has given us a chance to sit back and see ti what we built works and 11 what we have sMI needs improvement." explains Dr. Noam Shudofsky, chairman of the School Facilities Com­ m11 tee.

"The Jewish atmosphere that the school building creates cer­ tainly makes the school pleas• anl to be in," says Dr. Shudof­ sky. "and, on the whole. the school has solved many of ,ts problems." The colors of lhe wal Is, the •size of the class­ rooms. the s1ze and the flex1b1l1ty of the auditorium. lhe stu­ dent lounges, and the double kitchen are all sufficient ana "all work."

Ironically, many of the prob­ lems Aamaz fclced ten years ago are s1111 evident. Unfortu· nately, lhe school suffers from an rnsult1c1ent number of class­ rooms, poor lighting ,n the chapel, lnsuff,c,ent study space ,n 1 he library, a senous ventila­ tion problem, lack of gym space, and msufltc,ent funds to remedy many of these situa• tIons Ramaz has made an effort to remedy what Middle States con­ sidered to be its weaknesses in 1973 by ,ncreas,ng the number of electives offered ,n the senior year. increasing use of aud10v1sual aids, expanding the Guid­ ance Program as suggested, ln­ lroduc,ng Spanish into the for• e,gn language program, improv­ ing lhe writing program, reduc­ ing class size, establishing de­ partment heads for General Studies departments, ,mple­ menling a World/Jewish History 1 course as suggested, and devel• oping the student activities pro­ gram to near full capacl\y.

Ftbru1ry 1983

by Noreen Wachs

I

Nat Hentoff Visits Ramaz; Lectures on Book Censorship

includlng Bernard Malamud's The Fixer and Kurt Vonnegut The Ramaz library hosted the Jr.'s Slaughterhouse Five, were Hudson Valley Library Assoc,a• removed from the shelves of t1on's tn-annual meeting late school libraries. According to last month. The afternoon Hentoff, this action was the featured an exchange of profes· first Instance of book-banning s1onal ideas and concerns, an from school libraries to be con• address by the prolific author sldered by the courts. Previous• and critic Nat Hentoff, and a ly, court cases had involved on• tour of our library Over seventy ly textbooks or those books t1brarlans attended, 1ncludmg which appeared on required representatives from Spence, reading lists Hentoff further Tr1rnty, Brearley, F1eldston, and asserted that school libraries Colleg,at� <,onnect,cut and came under -attack because of New Jersey schbols were also their importance In the shaping represented. The Association 1s of chi ldren's lives. Public intended to provide a forum tor l1brar1es, he continued, are not exchanging ideas, sharing com• attacked 1n legal ways but 1n men concerns, and promoting pol1t1cal-0nes their budgets are better commun1cation. cut.

Hentoff's address was entitl­ H e,n t o f f advised any ed "Censorship and School llbranans who are confronted Libraries." The Vi'flage Vo,ce with censorsh1p to reply tm· contnbutor �,gorously opposes mediately to the threat and all forms of censorship. either make the challenge public This from the right or from the left. 1s effective because the at• " Everyone has a right to receive tackers do not llke to be mfo�mation 1n a tree society." depicted 1n the medra as he said. narrow-minded or parochial.

Hentoff went on to give a Hentolf reserved some report on the field of book caustic words for llbrarians censorship. He spoke at length themselves. He stated that pr�­ about the Island Trees book· select1on is the most insidious banning case where nine books, type of censorship. If librarians

Antics at the lmprov

by David Cowan Every nlght, almost until dawn, stand-up comics and mu• siclans entertain at t h e Improvisation on the corner of 44th Street and Ninth Avenue.

The line-ups Include tomorrow's stars and sometimes even today's big names like Rodney Dangerfield, Aobtn W1lllams, and Joe P1scapo. They all started at Improvisation tor ,ts sister club m Los Angeles) and have appeared at the New York showcase within the last month. Robert Klein, David Brenner, Andy Kaufman, Freddie Pr1nze and David Frye are other celebrities who have performed at the club. However ,·lmprov's credentials are not what lures the audience night after night; it is the young talent that hopes to launch lengthy and successful careers as per• formers Sliver Friedma n, the club's proprietor, founded lmprov 1n 1963 with her husband, Budd.

They decided that New York's actors needed an mexpens1ve place to relax. Theatre people like George C. Scott, Dustin Hoffman, and Dudley Moore frequented the new club and performed for each other 1mpromp1u. Hence the name "lmprov1sa11on." ''If Rudy Vallee came ,n for a cup of coffee, he would get up and perform," �xplained Ms. Freedman. Thus Ame(lca had its firsl comedy showcase.

Sorr,e of the early spontaneity still abounds The man who Just poured your drink pours his heart out on stage on!;! minute later (Bartenders, waitresses, doormen-the talent is everywhere!) Comedians line the bar, sometimes untll 3 a.m., wa1t1ng , 10 perform.

Page 7

The Ram Page

"Between 10:30 and t 1:30 Is the best time,'' suggested Dom lrrera, an lmprov regular.

Although he has done comedy for only three years, 1t has been his llfe-long amb1t10n. ··1 was a funny baby. I used to get laughs d o i n g p r a t falls tn my incubator," Joked Mr. lrrera, while munching on one of Im­ prov's famous burgers.

Other professionals never ,m­ ag1ned that comedy would be their calling.• Three years ago, John Mendoza had a family and a comfortable 10b He then saw David Brenner perform and decided to quit his job and break into comedy Does he regret 11? "I never en1oyed fife better," he said.

Mike Langworthy practiced law for two" years, William Car­ onel studied architecture; and Dave Kelly pursued a career tn Journalism before they shifted to comedy Michael Cain, formerly Doctor Matthews on "As the World Turns,'' spenl four years m a monas�ry before he broke into show biz The priesthood and comedy "are both message-carrying professions," said Cain, ex­ plaining his change of heart . Once a predominantly male proless1on, comedy now has its share of women. According to Carol S1sk1nd, who hosts the show 0nce a week, women con­ front some resistance How­ ever, she humbly ascribes some of her success to the attention that she receives as a woman.

"If they remember you, that's the best," said the comedienne, as she rushed toy,ards the stage to Introduce the next act.

Manhattan now has several comedy Joints, but the hopeful comics still llne the pavement in

Librarians attend a meeting of the Hudson Valley Library Association. From fell to right: Ms. Noreen Wachs, Ms. Esther Nussbaum, Mr. Nat Hentoff, Ms. Connie Corson (Spence School fibrarlan) and Ms. Eileen Schmidman (Lower School librarian). avoid purchasing materials which they fear may be chal• lenged, then they are. m his v,ew, censors themselves A second h1ghl1ght of the afternoon was a display entitled · Books Banned" compiled on the basis of a lls! provided by front of 1'inprov on the after­ noons of the monthly aud111ons.

Why do so many comics prefer working at Improvisation' "This 1s the original comedy room in the country," remarked Dave Kelly. '"I'm very comfortable on stage here-maybe because b� lhe tradition Involved. A lot of famous people started here."

Musician Andy Shulman add·

the American Booksellers' Association Among the books displayed were Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, An f.mer,can Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, Sherlock Holmes by Ar­ thur Canon Ooyle, and the Talmud, all of which were bann-

ed for religious, pol1t1ca1, and obscenity reasons.

The Hudson Valley Library Association attendees were en­ thralled during the tour of Ramaz's library. Esther Nuss­ baum and I were gratified by their compliments tor our fac1llt1es and services.

ed, "It's the most comfortable stage, set ln front of a plain environment by far." Of course, bctck wall, faces a large mirr or. some entertamers feel at ease According to Max Alexander, wherever they perform. "I'm the mmor helps comedians most comfortable on stage," spot problems in their acts "I said Dom lrrAr;l. "I'm most un. used to rock back and torlh on comfortable in the rest of my stage," he said. "I think I got It life." from davenmg.'' (Max Is just one For a New York hot spol, the of several lmprov performers decor ,s understated. Tab!es who attended a yeshiva.) crowd the small space The fCommued on Page 8)

strengthened by Ramaz, and consequently, she ,s an active part1c1pant in Jewish and Zionist groups on campus.

One alumnus explained that (Continued from Page 4) Despite praise for Yme1 lyun Ramaz helped him "find a place and mini-courses, many alumni for rel1glon" in his Ille Unfor­ 1s only self-imposed B e y o n d the s c o p e of felt that Aamaz did not properly tunately, he was disinclined to academ ia, the alumni had address itself to the very real continue his rel1g1ous obser­ varied opinions concerning the issues on college campuses, vance following his graduation social and r e l igious at· such as alcohol, drug abuse, from Aamaz "I am not. how• mospheres at Ramaz and the in­ sexuality, and ant1-Sem111sm ever, ant1·rellg1ous," he wrote. ltuence these had upon their Several alumni expressed the "My decision was reached not op1n1on that sexuality was by re1ect1on but by unanswered trans1l1on into college S i x t y p e r c e n t of t h e repressed 1n Ramaz "Dealing questions " respondents felt that Ramaz w11h the opposite sex·· was Overall the part1c1pants 1n was indeed a sheltered environ­ c11ed as a ma1or social adJuSI· tne Ram Page alumnus survey ment, however, very few actual­ ment Others were disturbed by were proud and happy to have ly regretted this Most mention­ the mc,dence of 1n1er-fa1th gone to Ramaz. When asked ed experiencing a type of cul­ datin g, particularly among what they missed most about ture shock upon entering col· former classmates from Aamaz Ramaz, answers included. close lege "When I amved at Yale," Though many felt that they were relat1onsh1ps wtlh teachers, the wrote Barbara Rosenberg, "I not well-prepared for these ··personal touch," Hebrew, Rab· realized that people do act in problems, they were not sure b1 B1eler's and Ms. Taub's ways which society deems what Ramaz could have done m classes, good friends, the little more morally reprehensible this regard "There is no substi­ guys on the balhroom doors, than not wearing a tie to class." tute for experience " pranks, lockers, and the Jewish Several students felt thal An overwhelming majority of atmosphere. Things missed Ramaz dtd, 1n fact, "inculcate Ramaz graduates currently par· lea's! by the graduates included: knowledge of lhe outside t1c1pate 1n Jewish act1v1ties on gelling up at 6 00 a m., the world," certainly more so than campus . Most agree thal dress code. the homogeneity. other yesh1vot in metropolitan Ramaz alfected thern m a posi­ commu_tlng, peer pressure, New York. Manhattan, 1nc1den­ tive way, 1nfluenc,ng their narrow-mindedness, Talmud, tally, was cited by two respon­ Jewish behavior ln college JAPS, AP Biology, teachers dents as being ,"as unsheltered Several alumni claimed that complaining about how ltllle as you can get " Bennett Katz their own religious background time they have to cover expressed the prevailing op1- was the sole influence upon m alerial , daven,ng, being mon "Unless you are lacking in theu part1c1pal1on Two alum­ treated like children, mini• lac! and common sense, deal­ nae cited time they had spent in courses, and standing on llne ing wllh people that are dif­ Israel before entering college as f o r t e a c h er-s tud e n t c o n ­ ferent 1s no problem. It 1s better a greater religious influence ferences. A s one alumna said. to strengthen your own 1dent1ty than Ramaz had been Accord­ "In Ramaz il's hard to find a per• flrsl so that you can view the ing 10 Rachelle Abraham, ('82), son who ,s no! a deop-down ways of others from the proper who attend·s Swarthmore Col· good person, Ramaz really was perspectlVe." lege, her Jewish identity was a special world!"

... Alumni Rate Ramaz

0

Page 8

February 1983

The Ram Pig•

... Driver's Education (Conflnuedfrom Page j) lime to sort out the paperwork concerning your permu and license Ohl Old I forget to men­ tion that you must bring the stack of papers you picked up f r o m the Motor Vehicles Bureau? If there is no room for all of them In the car, a U-Haul I ruck woll suffice (troop carroers, once thought the only way to transport the mull,tude of docu­ ments, are difficult to get hold of these days.).

You are now ready to turn on lhe car. This sequence of ac­ tions 1s more complicated than turning on a light sw,tch. It in­ volves movement on the part of lhe feet as well as lhe hands.

The steps are. press down gent• ly but hrmly(l),on the gas pedal, release II, turn lhe key In the ig­ nition and sit back comfortably.

Several points must be made here about the unreality of lh1s situation To begin with. you Just drove up here to get into practice for the test: your car has already been started; you adjusted the seats and mirrors at home, and you would natural• ly be carrying your permit because you must carry ,t with you whenever you intend to drive the car. Perhaps you are overlooking the law pertam,ng to "driving in the city before reaching lhe age of seventeen The only time you can legally drive is with a licensed instruc­ tor beside you. Unless your parent Is a licensed instructor you can't really drive. All those practice sessions were Hlegatl Driving here (lo Edgecombe and Jumel) was a f,gmenJ of your lm­ ag1na1ton (unless you are ready to confess your crime). Now, you know the truth about whether you drove here, and lhe tester probably does too, but to play along with the stupod,ty of the entire process of learning to drrve, you fake ot.

As you are turning around to' observe lhe flow of tralfoc before pulling away from the curb, a short verse of psalms should be uttered. Your road test has actually begun. My first maneuver was to "execute" a left turn. The tester said, "Turn left here," and I did Do anything your tester says. If he says

ctomb a tree, demolish your car In an attempt to do Just that A special feature ol road test regulations Is the 'double slgnall,ng' rule. Come rain or snow or sleet or hail, you must stick your arm out of the win­ dow to signal turns, stops, park• Ing, and pulling oul of a space There Is also a special pro• cedure to follow when at a stop sign To ensure agalnsl 'rolling stops' you mus1· stop complete• ly within full view of the stop sign, count to Jhree slowly, roll lorward wllhout exerting pressure on the gas pedal, pass the sign far enough to get a clear view of oncoming cars, stop completely again, count to three slowly, then make a break for ,t On the nexi phase of the test you w,11 execute a "K" turn The "K" turn 1s also known as the broken "U," depending on your love for particular letters of the alphabet or geometric shapes My "K" turn took place outside a school in the neighborhood at d1sm1ssa1 time I have como to the conclu• s1on that the high point m these kids' days is making fun of the people learning to drive. Park· 1ng was not d1ff1cult I had train• ed hardest for that particular segment In Manha1tan there 1s plenty of opportunity for finding very tlghl spaces to practice getting your car ,�to. And so I began the last maneuver of my 1est, pulling ,nto a space near a curb where the tester would get out and I could put the car in park and let my father take over.

I have never been so relieved nol 10 drive.

After a wa,1 of approximately s,x weeks, I received notitlca­ t1on of having passe<l the test, along with a class '6' license, which restricts driving to those occasions on which you are ac• companied by a senior licensed driver. Upon complellon ol the probationary period, and having reached the age ol seventeen at which lime I was eligible lor an adult license, I made another trip down town to Centre street to visit my froendly Oepartmen1 of Molor Vehicles Perhaps you find ,1 Ironic that I call the Department friendly, bul how else can I describe Jhe people I

... lmprov (Contmu,dfrom Pag, 7)

The comedians usually have great aspirations for the future.

Moke Langworthy,' for example, hopes to produce, direct, and star in mov,es . However, 1n their struggle 10 "make It," come­ dians frequently' encounter demoralizing moments c,n statge An unappreciative pa1ron, an off-duty policeman, once pulled a gun on Ron Darien during his act as a warn­ ing to Improve the show. Accor­ ding 10 Michael Cain. his "bad moment c.,n t.tage lasted for the ffrst three years. I was lemble."

Several of the performers of­ f e r e d a d v i c e f o r Ramaz students who enlertaln dreams of doing Carson, Letterman, and Vegas. "Don't study 111g-ll's a wasoe of time," ad·

vises Dom lrrera. "If you want to be a comedian, s1udy people Trig never comes In handy."

Dave Kelly recommended tak­ ing every chance one has to be on stage "If you can M.C. a talent sh:>w or be in a school play, do •t · he said Michael Caln expressed the idea that there 1s no reason lo rush ,nlo It. "Experience enough ol Ille to lalk aboul II." Joy Bahar strongly urged aspir,ny comediennes not to gove up their ambition "Do not accep1 the deflnot,on," she ad• vosed, "that a g111 woth a good sense of humor Is a g,rl who laughs at boys' Jokes " Finally, Chuck Montgomery offered some half serious counsel."Don't go Into comedy Stay away. Thero are loo many people and we don'I need 11."

Dominique Winn concludes the senior class's production of the Wizard of Oz: "There's no place like home!'' met there who were willing to help me search my pockets for the one dollar fee !or my license? While on the green light hne wa1t,ng to pay the cashier my dollar (all lhe cash I had on me at lhe lime), I was sandwiched between two six foot black gentlemen who were

having ddf1culty understanding lhe concepl of lhe third party check (which the sign near the cashier said the department did not accept) When called upon to offer some explanation tor this financial phenomena, I ad· libbed as beso I could and prayed even better The clerks

(Cont1rwed from Page 5) 1s still adamant about mainlam· mg 1h1s magic high-ratings for­ mula, the only thing to do ,s turn the dial. However, although the music makes 1t 1mposs1ble to en1oy llslening, the station st,11 has lhe most interesting and personable disc Jockeys In the area, many of whom have been with the station for years and probably have very ltttle 10 do with the programming. There 1s still nothing like tuning 1n to Jim Kerr in the morning, and I sllll like 10 hear Carol Miller, Tony Pigg, and Mark Coppola from time to time

lime It may seem annoying to hear one unfam1har song after ano1her bul lhey do play plen1y of popular groups, and 11's all good music Olien Jhey'II play a song that hasn't been heard 1n a long time and 1ust sounds good They may slip 1n something from O'onovan, Spirit, Velvet Underground, or something else lrom the past Besides 1he oldies, it's amazing how much new. up-and-coming music they play These include many strange new sets like Lydia Lunch, Culture Club, and ABC Mosl no1,ceaDly, !hough, WNEW truly plays album music-any song from any album-and a tot more E P's (ex1ended plays), imports, and non-released material. For ex• ample. every radio station played Patti Smith's "Because lhe Nigh!" hundreds of 11mes, but only on WNEW will lhey play a lesser known cut like "Gloria " They play one of Spr1ngsteen·s finest songs, ··se True," even !hough it's only been released as the B-slde of a single Only on WNEW can you hear an import single by Men At Work lollowed by a yel unknown songwriter singing his strange tune, "Mona, You're Drunk" All lhlS IS nol to say lhat WNEW IS perlect-perhaps Its programm­ ing Is a bit heller skelter-Dul. ,,,. relat1vodly speaking, ,rs the most 1nteres11ng.

The newest of the rock radio stations ,s lhe lormer WTFM, revamped as WAPP, and commcrc,al•free for the past summer In terms of music. this -station may be a cut above WPLJ, but II seems to be moss­ ing a personality There's 1ust

. .. FM Radio

As for the other stations.

WPLJ's long time rival, WNEW­ FM has always been respected for its album-oriented approach 10 rock radio. Although ,t now falls sl,ghlly behind ,n the ratings game, it's still most respected for its consistent w1ll1ngness to play a very wide range of music, and for its highly professional group of disc )ockeys, currently in­ cluding Scott Mun,e and Dave Herman Past voices Included Alison Steele (the hrsl woman), J o n a t h a n Schwartz, and Roscoe. WNEW has a more low­ key or even mature approaCh In lalklng w,th people, WPLJ seems to have a greater appeal among kids; WNEW is more popular v111h people In !heir twenties and thirties and the d,sc Jockeys may seem, and often are, older. Most 1mpor1ant1y, though, 1hey do play a v11de variety They actually go Jo extremes where 1t seems they rarely play the same song twice unless ,rs very popular al the

really dtd not deserve lo be bea1en up so brulally as the gentlemen suggested but who was I to differ?

Thus. ended my not-brief enocunter with the rules. mechanics, and psychology of driving My next amb1t1on 1s to learn to ride a bike

nothing outstanding about ,t All I can p,ck up IS "WAPP-the Apple-Lake Success, New York," maybe 11 rust needs some time Locally, on Long Island, lhere .,s WBAB (Babylon) and WLIR (Hemps1ead), both of which are very good at what lhey do, and neither of which can be picked up in most places ouos,de Long Island. WBAB has always had an album-oriented format with very llttle new wave and a penchant for playing lhe craziest hardcore heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Def Lep­ pard WLIR, on lhe other hand, has recently changed ,ts formal lrom typical AOR to very pro­ gressive new-music-only With the excep11on of early in­ novators ol the punk movement .11ke David Bowie and Lou Reed, lhey don'! play any songs that pre-date th8 punk era-certatn• ly no h e a v y m e t a l or mainstream rock Instead WLIR plays very new groups like Vaz (Yazoo), Romeo Void, and a large assonment of lmporls (one ol their most lrequenlly played songs right now 1s in German).

WLIR, crossed Wllh WNEW, os rad,o of the future This m,ghl noo be s o m e t h i n g that everybody will like, bul !hey pro­ bably don't really like rock'n'roll lhal much either Stations 1ha1 try to make rock accessible for everyone (like WPLJ) have their purpose, bul lhey take OUI a IOI of the ln1eres11ng edge that Is inherent 1n the music For­ tunately, the musical cycle con• tinues, and what 1s currently be­ ing produced, especially on small, Independent labels, ,sat 11s peak, you 1ust have 10 find 11