The Ra1n Page Volume XXV Number 7
The Ramaz Upper School
r
Poll Shows Students Content with School by Cnlg Dush•y vcy, causing many to complain On certain very important As one of the phases of the 1ha1 there was not enough time 10 points the survey showed that stu Middle States accreditation finish the poll. ln more than one dent opinion is evenly split. process that Ramaz undcrv.•cnt class, leachcrs coldly informed When asked about their overall this year, an extensive student students that "the school will gel opinion of the school counselors, opinion poll was conducted at the accredited no matter what you pul the vote was evenly divided with school on February 16. The poll, down... The popular joke that one-third of the students answer which was :1dministered to 408 began circulating around school ing either .. strongly agree .. or students in all six forms, consisted was that the #2 pencils were used .. agreement," another third of 38 statements about the school. as a precaution so thal the sixth "'strongly di sagree" or ..disagree," For each stalcmcnt, students were Ooor office st.Jff could easily erase and one-third "'undecided." When asked 10 respond by indicating any responses lhal the administra asked whether teachers were like that rhey either s1.rongly agreed. tion did nol like. Some students ly 10 give them individual cn agreed, di.sag.recd, strongly dis fell lhat many of the poll's ques cou ragc men I, students also aw,ced or we,rc undeddcd about tions were either ambiguous. con rcvca.lcd no.._consensus: roughly a the sutcmcn\.
Responses were
recorded with #2 lcad pencils on a computer scan shceL There was also an additional see1ion where students were asked to give short answers to specific questions. The way in which the survey was conducted led many students to feel th.at the administration did not plan 10 anach much impor1ancc 10 the results of lhe studenl poll. Only half of n class period was al101ted 10 complete the sur-
Inside this Issue:
Our Last Words page2 Hackers at Ramaz page3 Student Expose page4
fuslng, or entlrcly ittclevan\.
Lastly, some fell that the seventh and eighth graders should have be.en surveyed in a separate poll. because their Ramaz expcnencc is very d1fferen1 from that of s1u dents who :mend the high school proper. Nonelhell!Ss, students did their bcsl 10 answer questions on the survey, and the results thal were compiled have yielded some interesting insights into the way students perceive Ram�
1hird strongly agreed or agre-cd
by J•remy St,m After two years of diligent preparation and self-study, the Middle Stales Association ar rived. The evaluation was, for many, an ant1-climax: 1he Middle States evaluators were not the olher-worldly creatures who would omnisciently judge our fu. tures. Indeed, students found them 10 be educators and teachers, above ail normal people (one of the visitors even fell asleep during a class he was observing). They came 10 see what Ramaz docs and offer suggestions on how to im prove the school. But for the most part, lhc whole occredilation process remained a mystery to s1u dents. Still, there was significant in leraction between students and Middle Statc.5 evaluators. The visitors spoke to students In lhc halls at random. Individual stu denls were chosen by members of the visiting committee to attend a studcnl session, where lhey had the opportunity to express their opinions on a wide variety or school Issues. The committee was
interested in 1he student perspec tive on extracurricular activities. Students noted thal school com memorative activities, like yimei iyun, are dominated by a select group of people, with little varia tion in participation from asscmb1 y to assembly. The talk meandered into s1udent-ad ministralion relations, stressing that stude-nts ore seldom listened to. Some students took 1hc oppor tunity to raise their own issues, particularly the need for more electives and course choice. Junior Ellen Kandel summ:irized lhe proceedings of the meeting: "It was our chance to complain-so we complained." A second meeting, composed of student leaders and GO offi cials, was called to deal with topic of advising in Ramaz. The stu dents cri1icized the lack or advis ing in Ramaz-1hat is, outside of the context of college placement The students stressed the lack of choice in classes, connecting lhat fact with the absence of academic guidance in 1he development or student course plans. They also
that they were likely to receive encouragement, another third was undecided, and the final third strongly disagreed or disagreed. These results reflect the individual experiences of the students. The vote that each student cast mighl have heavily depended on which teachers he has had in Ramaz. Whereas the two statements dis(continued on page 4)
May 1993 /Sivan 5753
Ramaz Hails Year of Woman in GO Elections
by Evan Farber and Evan Smith Ramaz students hailed the "Year of the Woman.. as they elected a remale majority into GO office Afler a pre-election period rife with controversy, students elected Josh Zable as Treasurer; Sarah Falk asSeaeury; Ben ub• wohl as Junior Vice President, Alissa Shanske as Senior Vice President; and Evie Dabah as President. The GO elections of 1993 were filled with quirks and controversy that starled before the primaries and continued through election day. The issues of contention ranged from an attempt to block a s1uden1·s candidacy to an allega tion that the elections were fixed. There was �Isa a great deal of excitement regarding lhe fact that, for the first time m I 5 years . a remale was elected presidenL Junior Jonathan Wolfson wanted 10 run for the office of president But Mr. Rochlin and the administration tned hard to prevent Wolfson's candidacy be cause they lhought that he would not .wrve as a prope.r role m�I. Wolfson, however, felt th.al he "met all of lhe qu3hficat1ons pre viously set down .and II was unfair lhat the adm1n1s1rat1on was bloc.k ing (him] from running because of its personal pre1ud1ce." The past GO rallied 10 WoJrson's defense. Pres1den1 Perry Smith argued that •·everyone should have the oppor tunity 10 run for a GO position,'' as long as the candidate has ful filled the requirements set fonh by the administration.
A second controversy revolved around campaign fliers 1ha1 some students thought were or bad 1as1c. Of these, the most noted one was by Brian Cooper, a1unior runnmg for secretary of the GO. The n,er contained what many felt was a sexist comment. There were other fliers thal people thought were sexisl such as one by David Pepper listmg his gender as a reason 10 vote for him Others objected to a flier put oul by Ben Lcbwohl that made threats-in jest-lo the wellbeing of the stu dents and their families.A poster by Rachel Abrams that listed five reasons 10 vote for her, which were taken verbatim from Rabbi Lookstein ·s speech m memory of RavSoloveitchik . was thought by many to be in parttcularly bad taste. As a reaction to these feel ing, of the students and faculty, Brian Cooper dropped out of the elections. Ben Lcbwohl, in his speech, apologized, albeit mock ingly, for his comments. Controversy struck again on election day, when some students challenged the authenticity of the
�:SC���t���
1
e
�u�fn":oll::rro�
fairly and lhat there was a plot lo
insure the success of a male senior v,cc president. President Perry Smith responded, "If I here is un fairness m the coun1ing of the bal lolS, do you think lhal I would ever have beaten Seth"'" This controversy over shadowed much of the election process . But the elections proceeded, starting with the (continued on page 6)
Middle States Delegates Visit Ramaz
called into question the utthty of spending then own lime filing oul the form adviser system in fonns and producing paperwork. general, and the qualificauons of Others criticized the self-study. its members in particular Student Ms. Rosen, chair of 1he an depart reaction to that meeting was ment, called the wording of lhe generally negative. The students self-study questmns "poor" and were ready to talk aboul the ques11ons lhcmselves "too academics in Ramu, but were general." It seemed, she surprised when they heard the elaborated, that the questions meeting was about advi sing. were written to apply 10 all Lower classmen were upset !hat academic subjects, without con they could not fully p.1rticipate rn sideration of the one at hand. the meeting because they have yet Both the faculty and Middle to receive college guidance ... We Slates seemed impressed with the had nothing lo say," remarked GO job the teachers did in the sclf Treasurer Benjamin Lcbwohl, a study. Dr. Hartheimer, member of sophomore. Senior Seth Gribctz the French department, felt that though! that the meeting was the faculty "took the self-study "beneficial" However, he felt seriously," pointing out Ramaz's that, due to the small amount of faults as well as its strengths. time allotted to the discussion, its Kenneth Pierce. head of the visit effect would be minimal. ing committee, complimented the Teachers, 100, criticized the ac school on its sclf-evaluallon, call creditation process Every teacher mg it .. a fine job." He was par was obligated to participate in ticularly impressed by the film three committees, in which they Ramaz presented at the opcnmg wtre required to grade lhe school dinner,"It gave me a feeling of the on topics ranging from the English life of the school.'' Mr. Pierce department to tracking. Some fell stated his satisfaction with the that the preparation was tedious (contuwed on page 5) and tiring. They objcclcd 10
Page 2
May 1993 / Sivan 57S3
TheRamPage
Editorials Praise for Ramaz; Opprobrium for Yeshivot
Letters to the Editor Why Is lumaz Afr.ild of
Womtn and Trfilin lssut?
Quite often, we use this space to oi1icizc J>Olicics Ramaz establishes. But this time we would like to commend lhe school on its stand on participating in lhc Youth Salulc lo Israel Parade. In clear and unequivo cal 1erms, Rabbi Look.stein announced on Israel Independence Day that Ramaz will show its support for the Jewish state by participating in the annual parade. Rabbi Look.stein stressed that Ramaz is in no way advocating a homosexual lifestyle by opposing the mainstream modem Orthodox movement on this issue. Instead, he said, the matter of gay and lesbian Jews should be settled in another forum. The primary blame for the decision not to march if Beth Simchat Torah docs lies with the rabbinic leadership. Some rabbis attempted 10 use halacha to discourage observant Jews from marching in the parade. We arc not cxpens on Jewish law, but we do have the right to questi on our rabbis when they issue such puzzling halachic statements . Halacha is a sacred process that should never be abused lo control the behavior of others. And for the rabbis who sat by silently, they should have raised their voices against the misuse of Jewish law. Yet the rabbinic leadership would not have had much impact if the lay leadership had not been so cager to make n statement. The Onhodox organiz.ations and schools involved should have had the sense to do what is right They should also have seen that their actions would make them seem petty and divisive. As we know, ''Dercch crctz lradmnh latorah." All the rest is commentary.
To the Editor: I was very happy 10 read Ariel Adesnik's uncensored article about religious policy at Ramaz. I know of at least two earlier ar liclcs (by olhcr people) on lhc 1opic of tefilin that were censored by the admm1s1ration I 1hink 1t is important that the students arc dis cussing issues of mitzvot and halachah. Regarding the wearing of tdilin at the school, what saddens me most of all is that the ad ministration has made a political issue out of a mitzvah. I under stand that some people arc upsc1 by see ing things that 1hey arc not used to. However, I wtnl through the s a m e silualion at SAR Academy where I davened In their shut with tali t and tefilin for two years (and where my sister still davens with talit and tcfilin every day). The difference is Ihat SAR allowed me to wear my tefilin and discovered that the negative reac• Before we send ourfioal RamPage to press, we, thteditors, would lion they thought would happen like to say a final goodbye. First, we would like to thank all those never came true. Instead, it was a wbo made tht paper possible. \Vitbout Mr. Gottz and the staff, our positive e;q,cncnce for my friends work would have been in vain. \Ve also appnciate the hands•off and guests who came to see the attitude lbt administration extrci.sed towards tht RamPage. And school. le 1s wrong for an Or if lt were not for you, the n:aders-esfM:dally thOSt who take the thodox yeshiva that teaches about time lo comment to us abollt the paper--the RamPage would not m1tzvot to prevent someone from have sucaeded. v o l u ntarily taking on more Most Importantly, bdort reUnquishlng our positions, we want to mitzvot make SU.rt that we ban not orrendtd anyone" at any point during The idea that the adul1 minyan our t�un. Ir, for any rrason, you an angry with us, please ltt us at Kehilath Jeshurun could handle know, and we will try to rtmedy lht situation. my wearing tcfilin while the stu Wt extC"ad our heartrdt apologies to all lbt hard-working star dents al Ramaz could not in.1-uhs fmtmben wbOSt article.s never made it to press. Tbtre are many the maturity levd and mlelligence ractors involved In dttidlng what to print, and the df'cislon to hold of Ramu students. My sister and a story back is nner puson2L I have davened with tefilm in Wt hope that we le:avt the RamPage a betttr paptr than U was shuls in Yeru.shalayim, Miami, the wMn wt took ovC"T U.t btlm. Wt also bopt that It contlnuts to Bron:<, and Queens, plus at camp, � ...,dr� ..-.....«otedlton.. and allhough some kids might La.stfy, we wish the best orluck 10 the new editors. have disagreed, the majority of Slnttrtly, students I have met have been Rena Davis tolerant and supportiv-:. To this date, no one else has taken on Uri Hellman these m1tzvot because of my ac Jm,my Sttnl tions or to rebel. I have enough respect for my Ramu fncnds to assume that they can hve with halachic diversity. l!llfTOltS.IN-CHIEF If a boy were to come to Ramaz Rena A. Davis • Uri !ki1m111 t I=my Siem and take on the chumrah of not cutting his payot, I cannot imagine that he would be forced to daven at KJ. If someone wanted 10 eat ASSOOATE l!l>ITOR only cholov yisn:el, I am sure that LearalClciD we would let them eat in the lunchroom at Ramaz. I have never imposed my point of view on anyone else, and I am very EDITOlllAL l!l>ITORS d1saippointed that Ramaz has not Sabrina Mari: • Jessica Pulurman aa:epted another way of davening by allowing a student with a dif ferent m1nhag to daven In its buildmg. \Vould Rabbi Looks1ein PEAnJUS EDITORS and Rabbi Bakst have prevented Ra,oefiaaa. �Maadd M 1chal, the daughter of King Saul. from puning on her 1efitm m lhe shul at Ramaz? I would chink not MANAGING EDITOR Atira Comet-Murc1ano S..7.iaa' Form Ill
Parting Words From the Editors
Sl'Oll1'S IDITOR RmaSiclid OPEDEDITOR Daw! llbollky
PAC\IL1Y ADVISD Mr.Alb<IIOoecz
Alumnus: The RamPagt Should Lum from lhe 'Rral World' To the Editor. I read lhe entire February/Adar 1993 issue or the RamPage with great intere.s1 and I was quite im pressed with 1he depth of issues Iha! were couched upon. 1-low ever, your editorial was, to pul it bluntly, dead wrong on almost every point from both a legal and journalist,c standpoint. From 1he 1itle, ''Unethical Journal1sm-No1 Us," to the last lme, your cd1tonal smacks of a know- ii-all auitudc, that, while common, is i ntellec• tually unhealrhy in high school students (or anyone else for thar mailer). Admittedly, I smirked while reading lhe edllorial be cause it. m many ways, takes the positions that I would have taken whtn I was a writer of the Ram Pagc. Unfortunately, your mis• characterization and ultimate rejection of Rabbi Rubin's criticisms ddeat your inillal argu ment that "lhe RamPage holds joumahst,c ethics above all con s1derat1ons." Allhough the views expressed in this letter arc my own and not those of the Alumni Associa110n, I did rake the liberty of speaking wi lh a number of Journalists in an effort to delermme, for myself, the professional and ethical guidelines Iha! are commonplace Coday at newspapers and magazines. These guidelines
have been instituted 10 protect the print media from libel actions and more importantly to make sure thal a slory is punted m a fair and impartial manner. Paramount m these guidelines is 1he reqwre mtnl lhal no article is printed aboul any person w11hout tha1 per son being (i) confronted w11h any allegations or statements made and (ii) afforded an oppor1uni1y 10 respond. While such ideas may, as you pit ii, be "impractical'' they arc the cornerstone of fair and hones1journa lism and newspapers and magazines throughout lht: country employ both comm111ees and lawyers to make sure that the guidelines established by tho1-e publications are followed You attack Rabbi Rubm 's ideas as a form of censorship and in sinuale that his suggc:.s1ions are an attempt lo ..prevent the truth from getung out" The facts are 1ha1 Rabbi Rubin's recommendations are standard journalist practices 1n the world ouLS1dc of Ramaz. I would be happy 10 gel Ramaz a l u m n i w h o a r c currently reporters or editors to hdp you establish guidelines that will help you find and pnnt !he 1ru1h m a more professional and ethical way Steven Koppel '78 President, Ramaz Alumni As• socia1ion
Editors of The name Respond ro Past Utter To the Editors: N, editors of The Flame (L1krat Shabbat), we feel it is our rcspon sibllily to address the issue raised in the lencr published m the Ram P■.. bcfor■ tho •fMI of lhc. .chool year. First and foremost, we wish to make clear our mission in publish ing our weekly paper We do this so our readers w ill not expect our publication to be some1hing for which it is not intended. Our purpose 1n publication is to bring a Ta'am sheI Shabbat, a taste of Shabbat to fellow students. Our anicles discuss issues uiscd in the parshah and haftarah or lhe week, ideas about the various holidays of the year, and events in Jewish history. In addition, at tempting to relate these ideas to our times, we mclude articles in lended to heighten our awareness 10 problems facing the Jewish community, We do not fear controversy, 1t is not our purpose We recom mend that s1uden1s who wish 10 1'11s letter is bt'ing prtnted, as promised to us wruers, in 1/us issue Due to dcadlmes, 1/11.s lt"t· ter could not be mcfoded '" tlie Ftbruory ed11,or1 of1hl! RamPagt.
examine controversial issues begin pubhshmg another paper designed to address these issues We remind anyone assuming this new rcspons1blli1y lhal when ad1h'csslng conu-6vcn ,l•I \uuc.s, especially of halacha, these issues must be dealt w11h 1n a scholarly man ner. The molivation behind 1h1s new publiat,on should not be . to lure readers wilh "hot . topics. After having stated our pur pose, and what 1s not our purpose, we can address the decision made not to include certain items in our publ1ca11on. We feel that we cannot include in Likrat Shabbat anything that would mock the ideas prescnred m our publication This includes rovers and articles which make hght of the Torah's ideals and characters. We do not sec ourselves as the moral conscience of the school, or of any other mst1tut1on II is for this reason thar an anicle con demning an ilhc11 event that oc cured on Junior Seminar was excluded from Likrat Shabbat. As for the articles addressing the issue of women's wearrng tefillin, in the words of Rabbi (co1111nued on page 5)
Ramshackles by Scott Miller :T.S
RAD
vH
May 1993 / Sivan 5753
The RamPnge
Students Criticize SFAC for Lack of Success by Yunt Slonlm What ho.s SFAC done for you la1dy7 If you don't know. you nrc n o t 3lonc 1n y o u r p l i g h t. Throughout the school 1here has been a fecling orpowcrlessness by lhe s1mJcn1 body. A big reason for this siem.s from a reaction to one or the few voices of the students, SFAC M a n y students and teachers reel th:u SFAC mcctmgs arc an exercise m futility. As senior Daniel Rosen put it Any• lhing 1ha1 [SFACJ accomplishes is trivfal; they never address real is sues." Some students and facully feel that the school should rid itself altogether of SF AC . Junior Andrew Jakabovics complained 1h31 "SFAC arc lhc puppclS of lhc administration.. Anything the stu dents say, the administration al• ways has veto power over it. Therefore. there is no need for SFAC!" Another commonly heard complaint was voiced by junior Jonathan Kaufthal. "SFAC is a ra,ce. It's just a way for SIU· dents to feel like they have some power " Rabbi Bienenfeld, a three year participant in SFAC meetings, wa.� in agreement with Kaufihal saying lhat SFAC "lcos the students think they ar. e ac• complishing something." Besides feeling that SFAC in ineffectual, some students also feel very dc:1ached from SFAC, noting lhat it docs not lruly ,cpre• senl the student body. Junior Jason M1rvis asks .. What is a SFAC and what docs 11 do?" Jonathan Rosenfeld. president of the junior c l�.-.said "'the only thing actually done w a s the moving of the mike in davcmng." This improvement. in fact. did not last too long, for the log1stacal M
problems of the m1crophom.'. loca tion were never worked out. Whot 1s the problem w11h SFAC? Why do SludcnlS feel 1h31 their ,eprcscnta11vcs arc nol get ting the job done? SFAC"always talks," explains Alisa Shanske. junior class president, ''bul 11 doesn ·t always accomplish somc1 hing." Rosenfeld complained that SFAC "never follows up on anything" Shanskc added, "when we [SFACJ do decide lo do something, we decide it's a prob-
Shakespeare Performance to be Ramaz's First Ever by Evan l lochbtri;
.
in the. same capac11y for the entire festival Ramaz was also the only group to perform wilh ils own live band, which was the official band for the entire show. Of no1c, too, ts 1hc leading role thal two cham ber chorus members, Naomi Rosen and bnct Latner, played. They, and not profcss1onals. led lhe commumly sing.mg.. Although all of the Ramaz per formers who a11endcd had a tremendous impact on Che festival. almost as important as those who
The school owes the performers a termen do11s amount of credit, feels Sharona Pal/er R11benstein, head of the dance troupe were there, were chose who were not. Only 16 out of lhc 22 dancers were present, and numerous chorus members were abscnc due to their schoolwork, Freshman Seminar, which took place over the weekend, a chicken pox epidemic, and several other con• ccrns. Ms. Goldberg was very upset by the poor atlendancc. Sharona Paller Rubinstein, head of lhe dance troupe. said that the school owes the performers who did partlclpa1e a tremendous amount of credit because they managed to balance their rigorous academic schedules with their commilment lo the arts, (contin11cd on pagt 6)
Ramchops
Gfrt my rtgards lo 78th
Strul-al lr:asl now, btfore It's loo l:lle. Workrntn havt begun working on subttr• ranean pipelinu, digging up a huge" whole at lhe comtr or Madison and 78th. Teachers and sludenl5 have devrloptd several ways or enlerlng the hallowed venue by car. One lcchnique, ravored by more conservative types, is lo tnltr 7 8 t h s t r c t l f r o m Park A v e n u e-b a c k w a r d s . Another Irick, more daring, Is to r:nter tht block brad-on, and play bumptr cars on 78th Slrttl.
granled The pt:1111on "as signed by 70 s1udents Mr Rochlin anJ Ms Goldberg then also approved of lhe idea 1l1e original plan was to produce "Macbeth," but the presentation wa� changed 10 '"The Mcrchanl of Venice" Also, Hilan Warshaw wanted the play 10 be performed in the s1x1h floor loungl!, which would serve :as "the perfect Shakespearean envuon mcnl" Nevertheless, the site of lhe performance 1s undecided. A goal was 10 have a big cast full of"ordmary people," because Although many Ramaz the root or Shakespeare 1s the sludtnls complain about thtir common man The cast consists level or llleracy in Hebrew, of fifteen accors. w11h Av1 Cohen .. Do You Rud Me?," the as Antonio. lhe merchant, David recent Htbrew play, was vtry lshofsky as the Jew, Shylock, popular. Hebrew ttachers Susannah Galhn as the learned htlptd make their students Portia, Janet Latner ;is the Jew's understand tht ptrfonnance repentant daughlcr, Dan Brown as by uplainlng lhe plot and the ingenious Bassanio, Amir teaching k t y vocabulary Lopatin as the maliciously e,i:. words in class. Congratula cuable Grallano, and Danielle tions to Ms. Goldbtrg, lh• Druck as 1hc pungently witty cast, and crew ona job wrU Nerissa. There have also been done. many volunteers who wish to help Tht RamPage is lurnint a with the visual aspects of the play. 1 new page in its history with Mr. Berkowitz hopes that rhc the retirement or the pnsent play will enable students to sec a rdilors-ln-chld and the an Shakespearean comedy, while in nouncement of the new brads.. class they only sec tragedies. He Dani Benel and Andrew also wants lhe students 10 obtain a Jakabo.-lcs wlll assume the bcuer sense o( how Jews were mantle or Jude.nhlp for tbt seen m lhe English Renaissance. rest or this ytar and the 1993Could this be lhe beginning of 94 school year. With a rast a Ramaz tradition? 801h Mr new c:omputer, a soon to arrive Berkowitz and H1lan Warshaw laser printer, and a dedlcated would love 10sec a Shakespearean starr, th, RamPagt: should play performed every year. c o n t i n u e t o nrvt as t h e prunkr Ramu. publicatk>n. R,c,ntly, four seniors mtriltd .scholarships from lhe National Merit Corponllon for outslanding ptrformanct on lht PSAT/NMSQT tesl given In theirjunior year. Roy Aslrach:rn, Ellen Hochberg, Ari Tuchman, a n d Elhan Tucker all nctind lttlers of commendation in their junior yrar and succesrully passed each sh:p in the Merit scholar ship process, brcoming seml fi n a l i s t s , rlnallsls, a n d ullimaltly winnrrs. Parlez-►·ow- /ranfais? Ap parently, several Ramaz stu dents do extremtly wrU-and Ramu has cracktd down oa compultr mlsc.hld lhty have tht: awards lo pron it. Sophomore Jesse Grauman and Shalom Holtz p l a c e d fourth and tblrd regionally in the Concours Nalional de fran�is, lblrd by D,nltlle Druck occasionally did delete other yt: ar nctlon. Junior According to the Admims1ra- peoples· files, he made backups of Sttphanlt Gros tamed fint 1ion, chc computers in the library the m. He stopped "messing place In lht rourlh•Jt:ar were mslalled to give new inlel around" afcer .someone ruined one division, winning a trip to lcctual and technological opporof his programs. This former Quebtt. Maul tov to all and 1uni1ics to Ramaz students. It hacker feels that he has matured hon voyagt to Stephanie seems 1ha1 a number of students since 1hc incident. Mis punish Maul tov tojunior Shalom arc misusing ancl abusing the com ment, which was toned down from H o l tz and soph omort puters, much 10 the dism:iy of a harsher one, is thac he must help Jonathan Gruenhut, nrst and faculty and administration. lhe school with its computer sttond place wlnntrs, rttpcc The library ha.5 five compu1cr problems until he graduaccs and Uv,ly, of lhe national Cbldon stations where ..intcrmincnt, mali write up a lisl of ethical computer llalanch. They will ny to h cious behavior has been going guidelines for students. ratl on lsntl lndtptndanc.t: on," says Mr. Berman, the Direc While he disapproves of the Day to comptlt In the lntuna tor of Computer Development abuse of the school computers, tional compttltion. This behavior involves changing Mr. Berman stresses 1hat the Kudos lo Ell Kaufman and files and menus in the computer, school musl distingui sh between Tamar Pngt:r who tltd for putting games on the hard drive, ..exploring a sys1em for academic fint place In Ramaz's annual and tampering with the disc reasons, even if n involves break Shakespeare competition. drives. ing in, and malicious attempts to They uch rtcelnd a copy or One student hacker was caught enter a system." .. The Complete Riverside after he crea1ed what he calls a The culprit admits that what he Sbakt.spure." Thtff wtre ''dirty file" on the computer, and did was not ethical, bul certainly tlnen conttstanls whose prr added it to the menu and prognms should not be considered mali fomuonc,s wtn,judgtd by the last year. For example, he would cious because the pranks did not English dtpartmtnt. add on to file in1tructions the com "do any harm to the computer or mand ..press 'C' to get I revelation to other students.." He points out from God." He adds 1h11 when he
One day after school in early June, history will be made al Ramaz For the first time ever, 1he school will present, 1n foll, a s1u dent-ini11atcd piece of theater The idea of a student-run play 1s the brainchild of Hilan Warshaw, who 1s d,rectmg "The Merch:rnt of Venice," a comedy by Wilham Shakespeare. �lilan 's goal as to bring Shakespeare .. off the page and onto the slage" The play is about a Jewish 'SFAC never follows merchant's quest against evil Shakespeare d1cw upon myths up 011 anything,' feels from the middle ages that asserted Jon Rosenfeld, J1111ior lhat Jews will do anything to ob class president. tain the flesh of Chnst1ans l-l1lan wants lhe audience to look beyond lem but don't necessarily take ac• lion .. Many s1uden1s agrce the production and 1hink of anll· SFAC's problem is that 11 docs not semihsm and the gap between tum its words inlo actions. One Jews and Christians To that end. teacher said lhat another problem there will be actors on the stage 1s that SFAC meetings become pretending to be. Chns11ans watch sessions for everyone to express ing lhe play in Shakespeare's lime. his/he, view on the topic; by the While some feel that the comedy lime everyone is finished talking, is sympathetic to Jews, Mr. lhe meeting is over. From all of Berkowilz, an English teacher at these complaints and problems Ramaz and the faculty adviser for the play, points out that the play is comes the need for a solution. Some pnctical solutions were clearly not pro-Jewish. Htlan had the idea for a perfor offered such as Shanskc's idea of "shortening the agenda so that we mance last year. He wanted Shakespeare 10 mean something can actually come to a con clusion." Others have suggested to students ou1S1de of a grade; eliminating ropics from the agen since he enjoys the excitement of making a show, he took the initia• da that will obviously never come live of gathering support. He first to resolution. GO Treasurer Ben Lcbwohl recommends trimming went to Mr. Miller who cold him that if 25 students would sign a SFAC. so thal meetings arc run more efficiently. All agree that if pclltion m favor of the production, pcnnis.sion for lhe play would be change is lo be effected, II must come from within. even if chaniie itscU Is difficult 1n the-confines of SFAC.
Students Perform Publicly at Israeli Dance Fstival by Chani Bloom Ramaz recently took part m The lsncll Dance Festival and Fes11val of the Arts. On Sunday. March 28, over 50mcmbcrs of the Ramu Performing Arts depan• ment part1c1pa1ed m the day-long fcs11val Run by the Israeli Dance lns11tutc, the event provides an op, po11un1ty for performers from around the world lo come 1ogc1he, 10 celebrate lsraeh cuhurc. This year, Ramaz was one of 13 dance 1roupcs and chrce choruses lhat performed. The parti cipants are puma r i l y amateurs from synagogues, youth groups. col• lcges, and un1vcrs1t1es. They come from the tri•slale area, Washington DC, Canada., and Is rael. The theme of this year's fcs• tival was Jerusalem. The Ramaz chorus sang a medley of songs about the cuy, as well as songs on other themes. In addition to the regular choral performance, lhe chamber chorus p e r f o r m e d separately, singing ..W e came to sing in Jerusalem," accompanied by the com�r, David Burger. The final parl of the program in• eluded all three pans of1he Ramaz contingent (dance, chorus, and band) performing "Punin' on the Rill," in He.brew . The role Ramaz played in this festival Is broader than that of other participating groups. &. sides supervising the large Ramu ensemble, Ms. Caroll Goldberg, choral dlreC1or of Ramu.. scrvcil
Page 3
.
Ramaz Computers No Longer Haven for Local Hackers
(continutd on pagt 4)
Pag,4
The RamPag•
Poll Shows Students Are Content With School (con11nued from pag� I)
cussed obovc deal with sub1ce11vc opinions, statement #34, which asks students to evaluate whether there is a drug or alcohol problem m the school, would seem to be an issue of fact--cithcr there is a problem or lhcn:: isn't But again, the survey rcvcale<l a balanced division, with undecided receiv ing the highest portion of the vote for that p.articular sta tement . The results also contained their share of surprises. Question #16 asked whether students felt they could meet with the principal on the same day that a problem arose. The results showed that a com bined 30% of students felt that they could sec the principal. One junior c a l l e d t h i s result " a ridiculous misrepresentation of the truth." In fact, students could have interpreted .. principal" to refer either 10 Rabbi Lookstcin or to any members of the administra tion. Either way, the answer stu dents gave seemed to run contrary to facL Rabbo Looksteon spends most of his time 3t Kchilath Jcshurun. As for the other ad m i n i s t r a t o r s , t h e y have a notorious rcputa1ion among stu dents for having little time for ap pointments. Even Ms. Aranzazu. Mr . Miller's secretary, acknow ledges that the possibility of get ting a mcetmg with Mr. �tiller on the same day is .. highly unlikely because or his busy schedule." The over-all strongest response on the survey dLSpl.1ycd th:ll general ly students fec1 very positively toward Ramaz_ A combined 839"o..._ of students cllhcr agreed o r strongly agreed 1hat t h e c o m munity i s proud of Ramaz. 86.5% of students, the largest majority recorded for a n y statement, voiced that they were very satis fied with the school building and 1lS facdu1cs. The most positJvc of the results was possibly that 80.3% of the student body fell that ..The total education thal students receive is of h1g.h quality .. Concerning 1his result, Mr. Miller commented that he was "extremely pleased 10 sec that people feel thal our obJect1ves arc bcmg reached .. The highest in dividual tally that any one opinion recorded was the 57.4% of sru dents who agreed that most teachers will provide students wi1h help outside of class. The existence of biology, chemistry, and physics reviews scheduled
ca ch week, as wcl I as M r. Krasncr's term paper question and answer session and Ms Petcrfrcund's essay guidance meetings probably mfluenccd this vote. As the questionnaire was the s1::rndard one thal Middle States uses for all schools, some of the questions appeared to be unclear or simply inapplicable to Ramaz. Statement #24 seemed panicular• ly inappropriate. It polled student opinion about 1he "vocational guidance" program at Ramaz. Smee no such program officially ex 1sts, 55% of those surveyed answered undecided. By contr�t certain questions . were acutely applicable to our school. Statement #35 asking stu dents lheir opinion on whether cheating is a scnous problem in Ramaz came right on the heels of the cheating scandal that rocked the school during the mid-term period. Accordingly, a combined 59% of studenls strongly agreed or agreed that there was Indeed a serious probkm with ch�ting. The 38 s1atcmcn1s can be broken down Into smaller sub groups for further analysis. These sub-groups include student invol vement in school, sludenl-teacher relationship, student-counselor relationship, s1udcnt-administra1ion relationship, school cur• riculum and instruction, and school image. When 2veragcs arc lakcn for each sub-group, the over-all mosl ncgauve response is clearly centered around the stu den1-2dminis1,�11on rda11onsh 1p. In fact. only 3.2% of the students strongly agreed that they had suf ficient mput in policy making. in contrast with the 38.7% that strongly disagreed. On the poor showing for the category as a whole, Mr Miller expressed that he was .. very hurt by the result." He continued 10 say that whale the overwhelmingly positive response to the perception of educational quality is encourag ing ..,he admm,stration now musl concentrate its efforts to create heller communication between the administration, the faculty, and the student body in order lo ooordinale that all the parties will be working towards a common goal." Finally, he stressed the need to "'break down the 'us ver sus them' mentaJily that s1ude.nts perceive 10 exist bcrween students and lhe administration."
School Hits Hackers
(co,wnu�dfrom page 3) that the other students who know how to use oomputers do lhcsc things for Iheir own benefit, which sometimes come at lhc expense of others. Mrs. Nussbaum, 1hc head librarian, admits lhal she expected that when there was Increased ac cess 10 the computers students would abuse their privileges. "Bu�· she adds, "it's hud to tell wheiher lhcy do it to cause problems for others, or jusl for fun and power. S1udcnts like to tcsl li mits, and don't like to play by the rule$." For whatever reason students engage In computer mischief,
there appears to be less concern about lhe problem lhan there was last year. Only a small group of students arc involved, and the number of hackers has been decreasing. Some have auributed lhe decline in hacking to more secure school computers, but they do nol overlook the fad that stu dents might have matured, been gradualed, or simply grown scared by the punishments meted ouL However, the librarians and Mr. Berman are still quite upset. As Mr. Berman put ii, ..There arc basic values not 10 destroy. It's oommon sense. What some people do is ludicrous."
Alumni Spotlight:
May 1993 / Sivan 5753
Sherry Colb '84
Ms. Colb gave a very positive be a very Important as5et m col• by Arltl Adtsnik It was lasl July 1ha1 Sherry account of the atmosphere al lhe legc and as a lawyer. Ramtt Colb '84 began working as a law coun offices and described Ju.s- faculty and adminisua1ion fondly clerk under Supreme Court Jus- ticc Blackmon as "sweet, wann, remember Ms Colb. Mr, Moller, . ticc Harry Blackmun. The posi- and very committed." Ms. Colb who had Ms. Colb in his AP tion of c l e r k , as Ms. Colb parlicularly admires Justice English class, emphasizes her . explained, is not al all easy to Sandra Day O'Connor because . remarkable mind" and come by. Each justice picks only she "brings a woman's voice to ..phenomenal auention 10 de1a1l." four people oul of the hundreds lhc 1ablc" and stands up to all In addition to mentioning her in• lhal apply for the position. While forms of d1scrimmation. Ms. tellcctual gifts, Mr. Mi ller calls Ms. Colb says that a large pan of Colb ciled a case in which Justice hcr'"kindheartcd, gentle," adding the selection process was "luck," O'Connor sided with a man who that he "still thinks of her." Her biggest in11 is not surprising that 10 spiration this "lucky" Ramaz academic success alumna was valcd,cwas her father, who lorian al both Ramaz onlyhvedduringthe a n d Columbia, as first six years of her well as a gr.aduate of life, and who saved Harvard Law School lhousands of Jews The essential the during fonclion of a clerk is by Holocaust to be the legal adviser procunng them with 10 the justices. Ms. acHis papers. fals, Colb pointed out that ""' lions earned him 1t is "hke an inter- �•llp !l""':::'7 nsh1p," because the rccog01110n m Yad Vashem ob usually lasts for Just o v e r t w o one year and 1s given 1 0 lawyers just out of ShtlT}' Colb 'Mb dtrtd■c ror Joutltt Horry lllackmaa years ago, Ms. Colb law school. She placed the claimed he was rejected from married Michael Dorf, a law rcsponsib11i1y of the clerks into nursing school specifically be· professor at Rutgers and a former three main c.ategories. First, they cause of his gender. Among the clerk for Justice Anthony Kenmust analyze the appeals to the benefits of thejob were tickets to ncdy. They currently live m an Supreme Coun and advise the the Presidential Inaugural Ball apanmen1on thenonheas1sideof 'ustices whether the cases merit and a chance to meet President Capitol Hill. Ahhough lhey do no1 regularly anend any specific hearing. Of the many appeals Clinton. The first thing Ms. Colb men• synagogue, Ms. Colb went to that arc submitted, only rwo per• cent actually make it to the high tioned in conjunction with Farbrcngcn, a Conservative con• court. Second during the pcnod Ramaz was the fact that ... twas a grcgat1on, for lhe high holidays . of coun pro«edings the clerks progressive school." Ms. Colb, for what she describcd asa ..famiread the briefs (the arguments of who chose Ramaz over Central ly feeling " In her spare timethe opp,,smg sides) and recom- High School, said that ..compc11- wh ich is not very much for Jaw mend viewpoints 10 their rcspcc• lion wllh boys was healthy; both clerks-she enjoys swimmmg, tive justices. Finally ii is the m terms of self-esteem and m reading, and watching movies . . cle.rks'job toduJc the.op1monsof terms of mtcllcctual excellence - Next year she plan� 10 reach Jnw lhe justice under which lhcy She said lhat the admirable wril- nt Ru1gcrs. mg program in Ramaz proved to s,rve.
-=--'-l!D'
Excerpts from the Student Poll:
SA-Strongly Agrtt A-Ap,.. �Undtcldtd D-Dlsagrre SD-Strongly Dis■grtt
16. I can see the principal the same day I need to: SA- 7.1 A-22.8 U-20.1 D-28.4 SD-19.9 � 8. We have enough involvement in policy decisions: SA-3.2 A-16.2 U-13 D-28.2 SD-38.7 27. Generally I am satisfied with the school: SA-21.8 A-47.8 U-13 D-9.6 SD-6.9 3. School prepares students for a complex world: ; SA-4.9 A-22.3 U-31.4 D-25 SD-14.7 5. Cheating Is a serious problem In our school: SA-24.8 A-34.1 U-21.3 D-14.5 SD-3. BB. Total education students receive Is high AUallty: SA-37.7 A-42.6 U-11.5 D-2.7 SD-2.9
May 1993 / Sivan 5753
Middle States Visitors Evaluate Ramaz (continu,d from page/) school at an addr,,ss he gave to the faculty aflcr lhc evaluation com• mince had lcfL Ramaz studcnlS arc, he feels, .. intelligent and com mitted." He did raise several �rcas where Ramaz an improve, including better utilization of community resources such as the museums and cultural institutions that dot the landscape of the upper cast side. Mr. Pierce also sug �cstcd _ i;iving faculty mor,, input 1n decmon making processes. A more general problem 1ha1 he spoke of-but did not elaborate on-was a tendency on the part of
"There is no such thing as perfection " in a school. lhc administration to overlook stu dents in planning the school pro-
gram. Mr. Pierce will include lhcsc commendations and recommen dations in a lengthy report he will send to the Middle States Associ,. tion. He estimates the writing takes about twenty to 1hirty hours. during which he must formulate an evaluation based upon the self• study, the committee's obscrva• lions, and his own perceptions about Ramaz. The rcpon will be forwarded lo the llSOCiille dircdor o f Middle States, Susannah Piero:, who is also his wife. Mrs. Pierce will then summarize the school's strengths and weaknesses in a one-o,a.u., 1:�rt_ lt is a.l5o b« job to recommend Kaeditation
�s H
and se1 a timetable for implemen• • �tion of Middle S1:ue-1' suggcs• lions. What docs Middle States con sider important in a school? The organization publishes a booklet
Kenneth Pierce... com plemented the school on its self-evaluation.
that lists criteria for schools 10 live up to. However, Mr. Pierce cm• phasizcd that tht most important Job of the school is to combine the three pans or cduc..tion: school and community, philosophy and goals, and school program and services. This idea is summed up in a triangle diag:nm, with these three aspects at the comers of the triangle. A well-run school, Mr. Pierce slated, allows for smooth interaclion belween lhe three comcrs ofthetriangle. Ales.s well run school might have excellent goals and an able administration, but be unable to transform the goals into a cohesive program. The triangle is thus incomplete, leaving room for improvement Since achieving proper interac• lion between the three parts 1s dif• ficult, Mr. Pierce underscored that ..,here is no such thing as pcrfcc• tion" in a school.
n.
Middle Stales OHlaa tlou b.1t·e come la. The .xi laue or ... Raml'a1• wt11 pro, •Ide a delalled accvaat or wtaal 1M IYpOl1 said, u well u roac11o.. fr-om ,.. admlalltnlloa UdiliiidlJ.
Ramaz Marches, Others Follow By Andrrw Jakabovlcs Rabbi l..ookstcin's speech on the morning of Yorn HaAtzm:wl was interrupted a number of times by deafening applause from the audience, consisting of Ramaz students and faculty. Rabbi Lookstcin unequivocally an nounced that Ramaz will be ma·,. ching in the Salute to Israel Parade, to be held on May 9. This speech was in response to an open leucr signed by an alphabet soup of Orthodox Jewish organizations who refused lo march in the parade due lo the panicipation of certain groups which have changed the message o f the parade. Rabbi Lookstein denounced these groups by reminding the audience that the parade is one of the most impor tant ways of supporting the State of Israel and why the support is so vital at this point in time. The final decsion was the cul minalion of over one month of give and lake between the right wing Or1hodox, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, the Union of American Hebrew Congrega tions, and lhc American Zionist Youth Fedention. The Salulc to Israel Parade is sponsored by the AZYF, and the decision to allow a
One Rabbi called The Forum "garbage."
Flame Editors Respond to Letter (continuedfrom pag, 2) various halachic argumcnls in volved" Unfortunalcly, we never received any new article on the subject. Having addressed lhe issues w h i c h were raised by the anonymous lcncr in the RamPagc, we hope we have cleared up any misconceplions which our readers may have. We hope lhat our readers w11I continue to voice any quesllons which they may have regarding our publicalion. Bchir Sabban Shalom Holtz
group to march lies solely w1th the AZYF Cong,cgation Beth Sim• chal Torah rcqucsled penniss1on to march under its own banner, not under lhc Reform ·s as m years pas1, and staled at the time that if rejected, they would not protest the decision as had been done by ILGO in rchtion to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The AZYF was pressured by
The UAHC threatened to boycott if the gays didn't march. both the Orthodox and the Reform movements. The Orthodox threatened to boycou the parade if the gays were given permission, and the UAflC threatened to boycou ,f the gays didn't march. When 1hc gays were allowed to march under their banner. which iuclf caused a controversy, the principals of the Jewish schools, under 1he auspices of the BJE. decided not 10 par ticipa l e. Ramaz, SAR, Frisch, Moriah. and North Shore decided that support for Israel far outweighed any olher message that might be construed by lhcir participation. As a concession, Beth S1mchat Torah agreed todrop"New York's
only SilY and lesbian synagogue" from the banner, but II was not sufficienl 10 convince the Or thodox to march As long as lhe gays march, the Orthodox felt, participation in the parade: would legi11mizc homosexual11y, which is considered an abomination by the Torah. To this end, 11 psak din was wrilten prohibiting Jews from m ar chi ng. One Ramaz sophomore criticized 1his idea with the following analogy: "I b,licvc in God Pope John Paul believes in God. Docs thu mean I believe in the Pope?. h docsn'I mean I'm going to boycoll God "' either! Finally, this past week, the en lire controversy wa.s resolved when Congregat10n Be1h Simchat Torah agreed 10 march under lhc UAHC banner as they have done in years past All of the Onhodox schools decided 10 allow their stu dents to partic1pa1e in the Salute to Israel Parade. Be il Simchat Torah held a ban quel 10 honor Israel, since it could not march. Aside from a few protesters, Ramaz was generally greeted with loud cheers as 11 mar ched. and the parade is considered successful. w11h thousands of spectators present .
Students Create New Forum for Debate
by Ena Farbtr With the addition of two new journals, the Sophist and The Forum, the Ramaz print media spectrum is now complete. Publi cahons in Rame.z now nan 1he gamut from official, faculty super vised papers, to undergroundone:.s that are unsupervised. TheForum, in its own words, is a new journal of, by, and for 04
The Forum, 1n unofficial Ramaz publlc.11Uon, shocked many wUh its controvrnlal essays when it apearred on lunchroom t.tblt:5
Goldmintz. "the research the stu• dcnls h a d d o n e w a s being prc.scntcd in a partisan manner, one which bordered on advocating one halach1c approach over another. which is itsclf whal is in• volvcd in psak. As such, the ob Jcct ion w a s t o t h e s t y l e o r prcscntalion o f the authors and not . 10 1hc content of their research . Both writers were "encouraged to pool their ,rrorts and jointly author a single piece which would dlspusionalely and accuralely prc.scn1 a balanced view of some
Page 5
TheRamPage
Ramaz students." Conceived last year, The Forum wa.s "created to fill a gap" and include articles lhat arc not ..appropriate" for other school publications. The editor believes that TheForum should be open to all ideas, communication, and inquiry that Ramaz students may have-as long as the wr iting adheres lo ethical standards. A disclaimer on lhc bottom of page three states thal "The views presented here arc not Ihose of The Forum because The Forum has no views. II 1s simply an outlet for students lo voice lheir opinions " And the "basis of The Forum is freedom of speech, .. said lhe cd11or. Most of lhe articles con1aincd in the first issue of The Forum seem to hold a definile view; anti• Ramaz and anti•Orthodox Judaism. The articles in the six page debut Issue discussed topics ranging from sexism in Orthodoxy to Ramaz's dress code. The criti que of Ramaz's Tanach depart ment spurred the most and the angriest debates. One student . found lhc piece . unfai r, untrue, and inappropriate." A. llan's "Ir Rabbi Akiva Were Alive Today• also came under heavy auack: Rabbi Weiser, speaking at Lunch and Learn, argued that Orthodoxy was not at all slatic, but quite vibrant
There certainly was a strong response to lhc first issue of The F o rum . Some readers saw hypocrisy: there was a seeming bias in the paper that claimed to have none. The edilor explained lhal when she invilcd people to write, she tried 10 get a balance of articles, but people whose ideas arc generally concurrent with those of the school generally have little inc:en1ivc to wrilc for an un derground paper. AnotherForum contributor said he considered the issue of bias moot, since The Forum was meant 10 make people rethink their previously held values and ideas. Nevertheless. one student who read The Forum felt lhal many of the articles were jus1 written "to make trouble." One Rabbi calledTheForum "gar bage." Sumc students and (acuity members were upset tha1. except for the pomt-counlerpoint, !he ar• t1cles in The Forum were all un• signed The editor expla ined 1h;u many people uc afraid to sign their names lo controvers ial ar11cles because they fear possible repercussi on, from facuhy and student Wh ile lhc edi tor fears that people would assume she wrote all of the unsigned anicles, she feels lhat 1'- more 1mpor1ant for studenls 10 wnte what they feel responsibly w11hout wor ry,ng about rep ercuss i ons. "Even though teachers anti t1d ministra1ors may claim 1ha1 they will not act differently toward stu• dents who write articles w,th which they dis.,grec, many still fear subconscious biases thal can ari se," she cxpliined. In add11ion, writers do no1 want lo be s1igma1ized or harassed by lheir peers because of what they write. Many faculty members and students feel that II is wrong 10 print unsigned arucles because the writers of such pieces do nol have
lo face the con.sequences of their ankles. This. according to op ponents of anonymous pieces, could cause them to be more ir• responsible in their writing. The Forum is Sltll under ground. This is largely be.ca� the editor did not want a facuhy adviser who would be able to cen sor any articles. Her decision was also based on the advice of certain people whom the editor respects, including teachers . Bui later, when the editor felt lhere was no reason not to make The Forum an official Ramaz publication, she was blocked from doing so. The editor wanted lo make an an• nounccment after davcning on March 15, divulging her idenlity
Who is the editor of The Forum? and inviting students to contribute articles, but w a s denied the privilege of doing so by Rabbi Bakst. Who is the ed i tor of The Forum ? Senior Rena Davis. She is among the rc1mng cd11ors or The Ram Page and a fonner cdilor of The Flame. from which she resigned tarlicr this year. She claims that there was nevtr any conflict of intcrcslS, and the papers arc unaffiliated with each other. She had fonncd lhc idea for 1lu: Forum well before s1cpping down from The Fl3me; it is not a result of the lener The Flame suh• mined to The RamPage . but Rena is glad to be i�grccment w11h the edi1ors of The Flame about 1hc need for another periodical. She believes that lhere arc articles 1h31 could be printed in any one of Ramaz's mainstream newspapers. bul so far, The Forum has been more Jewish--oriented than The RamPage. and it has ..a different .. •gcnd, than The Flame. While (con1in11ed on page 6)
Page 6
Spo�ts Roundup Boys:
Hockey Softball Blue Yellow Tennis Softball Tennis
Girls:
Morals Crumble at Yeshivot 5-7 7-0 0-7 4-1 2-4 4-0
Student Creates New Forum (continued from page 5)
The Forum consists solely of opinion pieces, The RamPagc is mostly made up of news anicles. There has, however, been some friction between The Flame and The Forum. 1bc: Aamc has long been a paper to be read, as Rabbi
May 1993 / Sivan 5753
TheRamPage
she felt offended on two acrounts. First, ahhough the staff of The Flame had sent a lcltcr to The RamPage defend mg it.self, the let ter was not pnnted. Second, con• vcrsauons bclwccn staff members of The Flame thi:11 had taken place Baksl put tt . ..at the Shabba1 in confidence had been used table .. Thus m.:any arr1cle.s chat publlC'ly m pnnl 0:ga1ns1lhal paper. arc controversial or that seem 10 Ms Benel was refaring either to The Forum states that lhe mention of The Flame on the cover of The Forum, or to an ear "The F/ame ... does not lier letter that had been pnnted tn print many articles be The RamPage crit1c1zang The cause it 'is not the Flame. But she refused to com ment any f-unher. as she wanted to forum for them.' n avoid a feud, eilher personal or be anll•halachic arc c ensored. between publications. She .said The paper 1s meant pnmanly to that she just wanted to avoid any contain divrc1 Torah that arc con false rumors or further misuse of sidered appropriate for Shabbat. confidenli:11 conversations. To But this has given ri.!.c to 1wo !his end, she even censored a cri1it1sms. First. because of the censorship, The Flame rarely con· Rena called Tire Forum 1ains a n y opinions, and the opinions u docs contain never dif a "companion" to the fer from those espoused by the other school publica school. Second, its readership is tions. very l i m i t e d B e c a u s e of Flame article anack,ng an article ..ideological differences," Rena dissociated herself from The from The Forum. In response to Mrs.Bcnel, The Flame earlier thL� year. 1-fowcver, RamPage editors have stated that she said, she respects The Flame's The Flame's lelier was not printed staff for adhering 10 its values, inThe RumPagesimply because il even if she feels those values missed the deadline As to the should change. rela1ionsh1p between lhe papers, But Rena's resignation from Rena called The Forum a '"com The Flame did not ac.ale a maJor panion" 10 lhe olher school pubh s1ir until the appearance of The ca1ions. Forum. The Forum stales that Rena LS in no hurry to publish another issue, and she is con1ent to Ms. Bene/ denied any wall for a while and see whal ha� rumors that she was p ens. She 1s glad, but not connected with The surprised that the school did not punish her for dlstribuling The Forum. Forum, which she photocopied 'The Flame... docs not print privately. The school is laking a many articles because 11 15 not the rather lenient approach lo the new rorum for them." Shorlly after underground paper-the firsl in The Forum came mro being, �1.s Ramaz in two years As for now, Benel, faculty adviser of The 1hc future of The Forum is un• Flame, made an announcement in decided, although Rena is looking which she denied any rumors tha1 to underclassmen to lake over the she was connected with The helm Forum. She went on 10 stare thal
by Danit! Beorl The obloquy of the Ramaz cheating scandal has forced a rude awakeningupon both s1udents and facully alike. The administration reacted by supporting an informal d1scuss1on between faculty and students, whose purpose was 10 dispel rumors and explore the so• cial ram1ficat1ons of cheating. Student reactions, on the other hand, wert not focused internally, but rather k>wards other schools in the Tri-Slate area. Many ques tioned whether scandal is ex• elusive lo Ramaz, or if 01hcr Ycsh1vo1 and Jewish day schools arc experiencing similar d1fficul ucs with their s1udent bodies The sentiment, .. Is 11 only us?" was one that Ram11Z students suuggled wi1h for many weeks. The answer to this quandary seems 10 be no. Sources throughout the Yeshiva communlly dcscnbe a very bleak por1ra11 of crumbling moral struc1ures among Jewish students.This decay, sources reveal, s1tms from a growing sub• culture of students involved in heavy drinking, drug use and smoking. The proliferation of these activilies seem 10 be corrod ing the otherwise ethical values of the m:1jo111y of yeshiva students In the Solomon Schecter High School 1n New !ency, a group of students were caught sellmg drugs
al a school-sponsored event. Sources note, though, thal even though the students who received punishments were those who were involved with illegal drugs, there was also a tremendous amount of drinking that went unnoticed At the Frisch High School in New Jersey, slightly different of fenses were reported. During 35.8% of students polled agree that there is an alcohol/drugs problem at Ramaz.
lunch pe:nods, moderalely saed group of students often left 10 smoke in secluded areas of the school Dubbed the "Smoking Ring," 1hese students were al• legedly 1urned in by 01her slu• dents Though, on the surface, these offenses may seem d1ss1m1lar from lhosc which were per• pclr.Ued m Ramaz, many pointed out the underlying disturbance m the moral fabric of yeshiva youth . . , think we should address the quesuon of '\Vhat wenl wrong'1' and attack 1hcse problems al their roots, either at home or m !he schools," noted one Fusch Junior One Ramu teacher no1ed, ....that smoking an yeshivas has always been a common prad1cc In places hke Torah Vadas and m other real
yeshivas, (smoking] is just a ., yeshiva trad11ion Though MJme agree that smoking in yeshivas 1s not a new vice, many pointoul that the problem is worsening. ..It seems 10 me that a growing num• bcr or s1uden1S arc expcrimcnung with substances 1ha1 arc known lo be harmfol," stated one Ramaz junior. Tales of heavy drinking m Greenwich VIiiage after lhc Ramaz Purim Chag1gah were heard throughout the school'scor· ridors Evidence of such behavior was available a block over on 781h Strccl, where, a week after the Chag1gah, tickets for 1he eve.nl were strewn around 1wo bottles of alcohol and cigarette butts.Junior Amir Lopatin, though, believes that, '"Students arc trying 10 go back 10 lhe era of the hippies, the bc:11n1ks and the feelings or 1hc s1xt1es. :rnd I approve of thaL I also thank lhal SIUdcnlS arc lOO worried about their futures, they arc always doing the right lhmgs 'for college.' I 1hmk dnnkmg bnngs these people back into the present." In a recent student opinion poll 35.8% ofRamaz stu dents agree 1hat there 1s an al• cohol/drug problem in Ramaz... What some consider most disturb• mg, though, 1s that many do not consider drugs and alcohol a prOO lem.
Year of Woman in GO Elections
primaries and followed by lhc second annual RamPage-spon• sored presidenual debate. The debate was moderated by Craig Dushey, and the con1est.an1S were Rachel Abrams and Evie Dabah the first lime tn recent memory lhat lhe pres1den11al candidates were both female. Rachel was markedly insecure as she started her opening statement, in which she claimed to be motivated and capable to effect change. She would continue the old programs and involve the s1uden1s in crcat• Ing new ones. Evie emphasized her experience as junior vice president and class president before thaL Rachel responded to the a111ck on her inexperience by saying 1ha1 she gained experience m the GO as freshman class presi dent, and had afterwards gone on to experience being pan of the stu• dent body, panic1pating in a wide range of ac1ivi 1ies. Rachel refused to decide on the spot be· 1ween being GO President and being Caplam of Mock Trial, while Evie emphasized htr rom . mitment to the GO: ., love what I
c1o:·
One issue that was much dis cussed was 1hc relallonsh1p be· tween students and the admimstralion. About lhe dress code. the possibility of limiting exlra-cumcular involvement, and the quesllon of marching in 1hc Salute 10 Israel Parade, Evie said that the sludent government was empowered only 10 offer suggcs• tions. Rachel, however, stated that she had approached Rabbi Looks1cm about the parade, and felt 1h11, 1f she handled 11 senously enough, lhe ndminastration would li�ten to her. As 10 possible solu•
(continuedfrom page I)
tion.1, Evie recommended a
monlhly mec11ng between stu• dents and their presidents, and talking to the teachers and ad• min1stra1ors about problems Rachel said 1hat all the parties must be scns111zcd to the pos1llons of lhe other groups. The election .:issembly proceeded as usual Mr.Rochlin introduced the assembly, and President Peny Smith offered a farewell address comparing Ramaz 10 Cheers. Josh Zable, who was running for treasurer, poking fun al his own stature, spoke while slanding on two much debated One issue was the relation ship between the stud nets and the administration.
telephone books to reach the microphone He argued that shon pe:oplc could accomplish the same the things as lall people. He quipped, "vote for little, get a lot." Jon Rosenfeld spoke of his ex• pcriencc, a n d promised 10 publicize GO financial records, get input on the budget, and ac1 as the voice of the students. Running for Junior Vice Prcsi• dent. David Kaufthal began by as king "what?" He claimed that he could approach the adminislr3tion wilh lhe students' needs, nnd he could speak congenially but force fully, •nd diplomalically but per sistently. Ben Lcbwohl's speech was mostly a string of jokes, but he did stale thal he would continue to pursue his objective of"studcnt control of student life." Josh Schwalbe, candidate for Senior Vice President prOJX>sed to lower the workload and raise school
St)lfll J-li11, Of'pnn,-nl Ah.__ Sh:rnskc, expressed her hope of improving Ramaz by taking ad• vantage of the cuhure of New York City, involymg slUdcnl.5 m SFAC meetings, and devoting her self to her posuion Rachel Abrams began b y saying she wrote her speech without her father's help, and she procreded to speak aboul her per• sonal qualifications as a well rounded, Slrong and 3SSCr11ve SIU· dent. She also pledged to help rclurn Ramaz 10 a leadership posi• uon In social acuon, and hoped ro resolve the dress code and extra• curricular debates. Evie Dabah used the melaphor of a castle 1n the sky, saying that she envLSioned goals for Rama.z.. and wanted to be involved m their realization S� 3lso emphasized that she loved working for srudents on the GO, 3nd gained much experience dunng her tenure.
Dance Festival
(continued from page 3)
Both Ms. Paller Rubenstein and Ms. Goldberg saw great value in the festival. Paller Rubenstein commcnled that this event highlighted Ramaz's m• volvcmenlS in the arts. She added lhat 11 was an exciting show.Ms. Goldberg added that the res11val 1s s1gn1fic:rnt be• cause 11 crosses over religious barriers, and brings togelher groups from a wide range of religious observance.