The SAR Buzz, December 2012

Official Newspaper of SAR High School

The Buzz

December 2012 — Vol. 8, No. 2

What’s Inside

Judy’s Jabber Page 2

So You Want to be an SAR Student?

The High School Admissions Process

By Shalhevet Schwartz SAR is only in its tenth year of existence, but in that short amount of time, the number of applicants per year has increased dramatically. As the number of applications increases, so has the school’s size; SAR already has more students than Rabbi Harcsztark thinks it should. “I think a little smaller would be good... [an ideal grade size] would be more like 80-100,” he says. The school’s current average grade size, somewhere in the range of 120 students, he thinks is “fine.”

This influx of applications and burgeoning school size has caused complications for the SAR administration, which has to make decisions about which students merit a place within its walls (or lack thereof).

SAR’s class of 2016 is, by SAR’s standards, enormous—there are currently 151 freshmen roaming the halls of SAR High School. As most concerned students know, this high number was due to a fluke. SAR has, for the past several years, experienced a yield of approximately 65%, meaning that of students accepted, about 65% have chosen to come. Aiming for a grade size of approxi-

mately 120 students for the class of 2016, SAR accepted about 180 students, only four more than it did the previous year. But instead of the expected 65%, there was closer

Ms. Lerea addresses a group of ninth grade “buddies”

to an 85% yield, causing the anomaly of the current freshman class.

While this was clearly an unexpected aberration in yield, perhaps the SAR administration is not entirely blameless for its error in calculation. Last year saw a dramatic increase in the number of SAR High School

open house attendees as well as an astonishing number of applicants; 256 students applied, a number far higher than in any previous year. While SAR might not have expected such a high yield, there certainly were indicators that last year was going to be different from any grade SAR had seen before, and that interest in SAR had gone up significantly.

Regardless of whether or not SAR is responsible for the “mistake” of the class of 2016, the question remains: what if the same situation arises this year? After all, SAR has steadily risen in popularity among the Metropolitan area. Rabbi Harcsztark admits, in fact, that if this high number of applicants and high yield continues, SAR will need to seriously reconsider its admissions policy.

As the current policy stands, there are four basic factors that SAR considers in deciding which students to accept. SAR looks at students’ middle school transcripts, compares BJE scores, reads recommendations from the students’ teachers, and conducts interviews with each student. The decision is Continued on page 14

Don’t Forget to Love the Restaurant Hurricane Horrors Page 9

Sleep or Lack Thereof Page 12

A Brief Look into Skyview Behaviors

By Deena Nerwen It’s 7:45 am. You bolt out of davening, grab your cash and a friend’s arm, and race down the stairs, shouting out excuses as your push in front of your peers. It’s a mad rush to the finish line: Dunkin’ Donuts.

You arrive, and breathe a sigh of relief, smiling with triumph as you look behind you towards school and see your fellow coffee addicts still waiting to cross the street. Then, you look ahead, and sigh sadly because the line is daunting and tiresome. Many SAR students have been confronted with this situation from time to time, or even every day.

But how do they deal with it?

Recently, Rabbi Harcsztark met with each grade separately, sharing with them an email sent to Rabbi Kroll from the owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, Sachin Shah. Mr. Shah explained that he has noticed a problem with line cutting for years, but as it was isolated to a few, he has looked the other way. “This year, however,” he continued in his email, “it has gotten out of control, as a large num-

ber of students are doing it just so they don’t have to wait in line. This morning, I had three regular customers walk out of the store

Skyview Shopping Center

because they had been cut several times after waiting in line. I don’t need to tell you that this is not good for business.”

When asked if they think inappropri-

ate behavior in Skyview is a problem, every student replied with a firm “yes.” Orly Arbit (‘13) elaborates, “It’s a problem because it’s a ‘Chilul Hashem,’ although we are technically surrounded by other Jews. Also, it makes a bad name for the school, which we don’t want because we want everyone to love SAR.” If the general consensus is that this behavior is unacceptable, why is there any issue at all?

Alec Waxman (‘16) offers a plausible explanation: “I think it’s mostly because people are rushed to get to class. [This is true] especially in the morning, at breakfast, because we don’t have a lot of time.”

Some students disagree, arguing that students are impatient and therefore don’t want to wait on line for fifteen minutes to purchase their food. Jacob Ungar (‘15) elaborates: “You know what the move is these days? You call to your friend at the front of the line, and go stand with them. Or you tell them to order you something. That’s the move.” Though students recognize that this Continued on page 14

2

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Editorial Column

A Breach

of the

Trust Bond

reflecting on the way in which school policies are communicated

By Judith Kepecs SAR has established many rules regarding student conduct. Rules create an environment where the safety of each individual or community is preserved. But, the reality is, rules can only do so much. By replacing any form of “honor” system, the bond of trust between the teachers, administration, and students is severed. It is not the rules themselves, but rather the way in which many of these rules are communicated that dissolves this bond of trust.

When I am taking an exam, and my desk is not a full foot away from the adjacent one, I am asked to push it over. This is demeaning to me, and, I’m sure, to others around me. Everything operates under the assumption that if a system is not in place to prevent transgressions, students will lack any incentive to prevent misbehavior themselves. When teachers operate in this way, a student frustrated by the presumed distrust in the teacher’s remark will often not feel the ethical weight of that request.

The realities are well known and undeniable. In many instances, I have witnessed students cheating on an exam right in front of

STAFF Editors in Chief Ricki Heicklen Judith Kepecs Danielle Pitkoff Layout Editors Rose Frankel Harry Varon Associate Editor Anna Ballan Features Editors Avidan Grossman Hilla Katz Miriam Lichtenberg Rebecca Siegel Copy Editor Zachary Nelkin Online Editors Chanan Heisler Shalhevet Schwartz Photography Editor Andrew Frenkel Research Manager Elana Rosenthal Faculty Advisor Dr. Rivka P. Schwartz Faculty Supervisor Rabbi Jonathan Kroll

me. I have even left and taken my exam outside the classroom because the discussions between students were echoing throughout the room.

Swaying from ethical matters, many students do not fast on minor fast days, even after discounting all those who do not fast for health reasons.

And, perhaps the most flagrant of all, many students do not honor the dress code. Fully aware of these realities, SAR is in the process of implementing a new academic integrity policy, does not allow students to leave the building on fast days, and repeatedly reminds students to “honor the dress code.” But there needs to be a better way of balancing the enforcement of discipline and the creation of a culture of trust.

Though these rules are necessary to a certain extent, they seem to emphasize that the reality is otherwise. Rules should be implemented in a way that emphasizes less the current culture, and more the ideal that SAR is trying to create. The school environment should promote a secure sense of trust between the administration and the students. When students breach this bond, there is a need for stricter, more concrete policies. But the school needs to work harder to create a culture of honesty and judicious decision-making.

If the school took a more laissez faire approach, I believe that eventually the incentive among students to do something undesirable in the eyes of the school would be lessened. The bond of trust would be restored because students would recognize that the school is trusting them to make wise decisions. Restoring a sense of trust is a gradual process. Perhaps more clearly outlining expectations that contribute to the culture SAR is trying to create will prove the policies to be less of a response to a reality. The policies will instead appear to be a method of creating an environment where the school clearly defines its values and can trust its students to

uphold them.

Though this process may seem difficult, PACT is a prime example of the school having already begun this approach. PACT provides a list of expectations for students outside school walls, rather than a set of rules. PACT does not call attention to the fact that the current culture deviates from the ideal, but explicitly states the school’s expectations for students in relation to the culture it is trying to create. Outlining expectations is definitely not the same as preventing students from leaving the building on fast days,

Rules should be implemented in a way that emphasizes less the current culture, and more the ideal that SAR is trying to create. which seems to be an outright acknowledgment that, if the building were open, students would go out to eat during the day.

Discussions may also convince students that the school is working to identify a religiously and ethically moral culture, rather than advertise the fact that students are breaching the trust bond. The Beit Midrash curriculum is successful in incorporating some aspects of this idea, but at the same time can still be improved.

Over the past three years, we have discussed topics such as kashrut, Shabbos, cheating, and

Letter to the Editors

Dear Editors:

I want to compliment Shalhevet Schwartz on her comparison of the Art Scroll and Koren Talmuds. I want to give you a different perspective on the difference between the two. I finished learning the Daf Yomi cycle with Art Scroll and enjoyed it greatly.

I was planning to ‘retire’ from Talmud and pursue other learning. However, I checked out the Koren Talmud and was drawn in right away. There is a more vibrant tone to the Koren Talmud. The Art Scroll is a monumental project that aims to make the Talmud accessible. Each volume has multiple contributors who translate the text and explain the concepts in great detail. The analysis is

excellent but impersonal. On the other hand, the Koren Talmud represents the 40 years of painstaking and loving labor devoted by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. His love of the Talmud and clearness of thought shine through in every sugya. With Art Scroll, I was learning. With Koren Talmud, I am learning with with Rabbi Steinsaltz. Learning the Koren Talmud brings forth the personal experience of learning with a Rebbe, one who has dedicated his life to making Talmud accessible to everyone. I look forward to picking up the Koren Talmud everyday and seeing the Talmud come to life through the vision of Rabbi Steinsaltz.

Melissa Lavine Ronit Morris Deena Nerwen Maya Pretsfelder Olivia Rosenzweig

PS I wasn’t planning to write a letter to the editor but I was speaking to one of the editors about the article and was encouraged to write a letter. The Buzz is a great way for the students of SAR to express themselves and I encourage all to give feedback about the ideas the students bring up. In this way, the Buzz can serve as an even better forum of ideas to help the students develop their talents for public expression.

Warren Slaten, SAR Parent

Staff Writers Isaac Breslow Gilad Fortgang Ariella Gentin Rebecca Harris Liat Katz

dress code in Beit Midrash. The discussions highlight the values of Modern Orthodoxy and, as a result, provide insight into the school’s policies. However, the bottom line is that these policies were selected among all others for a reason: they are viewed as more problematic than others. They are the issues which spur the need for many school policies. Perhaps having students pick the Beit Midrash topics would eliminate any sense that certain topics are chosen because they are problem areas. Students would choose many of the same issues, but the Beit Midrash curriculum would be coming directly from students, and not from the administration.

SAR does indeed live up to its reputation as an ‘open’ school, where students can freely express their own opinions and discuss issues that would never be discussed in any other school. But when it comes to the nitpicky policies, incorporating even more student feedback before creating a list of policies will make it clear that the policies are not solely meant to “shape up” students who cannot be trusted to operate without discipline. Rather, they are meant to create a certain culture that even students desire.

I deeply admire those teachers who already operate on an honor system. Hopefully in the future, we will come to a point where there will no longer be a need to even tell students “we are trusting that you will work to create an X environment,” but there will be a general consensus that everything is in some way or form an honor system. I understand that an absolute honor system at this point in time would not work; there would be no order. However, continuing to create initiatives similar to PACT is necessary to begin fostering a system of trust, integrity, and honor that would help ensure that students retain these values even as they move on to college and careers.

Dalia Scheiner Harry Scheiner Lilly Scherban Samantha Schnall

Online Correspondents Gavriel SteinmetzSilber Toba Stern Rachel Weintraub

Emma Cantor Alon Futter Jessica Kane

Jennifer Kleiman Arly Mintz Benjamin Perla

The Buzz, December 2012

3

Advice School Column Life

Seperate but Equal

gender discrimination on the sar bowling team

By Jessica Kane Nurit Haberman (’15) and Rachel Abrams (’15), members of SAR’s bowling team, were told they were not allowed to compete in their first match. They were forbidden from playing, not because of inferior skill, but because of their gender. Both Abrams and Haberman had tried out alongside their teammates, and made it onto the team, while several male students did not. It was not until the team’s first match of the year against Frisch High School that they were told that they were not allowed in the league.

“We were never told about this rule, and the coach was unaware,” Abrams complains, upset about the lack of communication between the Bowling League Commissioner, Eli Brazil, and the school.

Even after her coach told her she could not participate in the match, Abrams attempted to bowl. “So I pick up the ball,” she says, “and I’m about to start bowling when Adam says, ‘No, you really can’t.’”

Adam Friedman, a fellow, replaced Rabbi Hain as coach of the SAR bowling team this year. Haberman and Abrams attest that before the start of the match, while

warming up, none of the SAR team members could find Friedman. When he returned,

didn’t you fight back?’ and he said, ‘I tried to, but there’s nothing I can do right now.’”

he bore the news that Abrams and Haberman were forbidden from bowling in the match.

He explained to the girls that the Frisch coach had contacted the commissioner, and the commissioner had confirmed that the league is open to boys only. Haberman, though, is unsatisfied with her team’s effort to push the commissioner. “We said, ‘why

Haberman proceeded to bowl in a lane of her own, separate from the competition, scoring a 167. Haberman’s score was not counted as part of the match.

The SAR Bowling Team, which is currently in its third year of existence, was originally coached by Rabbi Hain. Although

Rabbi Hain was aware that the league was only open to boys, he allowed girls to try out as well, in the hope to convince the league to allow talented girls to play alongside boys.

Until this year, no girl had proved to be good enough to make it onto the team.

Adam Friedman, who adopted the position as coach this year, was unaware of this situation. Haberman and Abrams both showed their talents during the tryouts and were allowed on, under the impression that they were to be granted equal status to the males on the team. Due to a lack of communication, Friedman was misinformed about how the league had been initially established and that it was originally supposed to be an all-boys’ league.

Rabbi Kroll was informed of the occurrence shortly after the match. He immediately proceeded to contact Eli Brazil, the commissioner of the league. His feelings, as stated in one of his emails to Eli Brazil, are that “everyone is dressed in a tzanua fashion. This [should] be more similar to the chess league or college bowl, in which girls compete against boys.”

The commissioner replied to Rabbi Kroll with an open mind. He concluded that Continued on page 16

Elections 2012

political discourse at sar

By Anna Ballan During the past few months, the subject of politics has been no stranger to dinner table conversations and Facebook news feeds. Weeks of feverish speculation, debate, and controversy culminated with the re-election of Barack Obama on Tuesday, November 6th. So to what extent has SAR felt the heat of the 2012 election, and are its effects still tangible? Are American politics prominent in the atmosphere of SAR, or does political apathy prevail?

Many students do, in fact, feel personally connected to American politics. “I follow the American issues extremely closely and find myself very emotionally connected to them,” expresses Aaron Liberman (‘14). “As the election was nearing, I felt very personally that my country was about to vote.” Adina Goldman (’13) also shares this sentiment: “I love America, am emotionally involved in American political issues, and feel that it is important to be informed about American history and current events.”

However, some believe that American politics have not been stressed nearly enough in school. “I think that the consensus [of our school] is apathy,” asserts Zach Nelkin (‘13).

“There are certainly students who do care a lot about politics, but they are the minority.” He comments further: “I don’t think the election was stressed very much and it might be beneficial to do more [about politics], considering how ill-informed the student body is on current

events.”

Despite some disagreement about the level of engagement, most students agree that American politics should be further emphasized in SAR’s classrooms. Rachel Rosin (’14) ar-

those around us.” Elana Rosenthal (’14) shares Rosin’s view: “The elections were not stressed in SAR classroom settings. It would be nice for [politics] to be focused on a little more. I love learning about current events, and I feel discuss-

ticulates, “I don’t think elections were stressed enough… I think that if the class went over what each candidate was for in each aspect, in a totally unbiased way, it would help us make our own decisions without biased influence from

ing the elections is nice.”

During the time of the election, the focus varied significantly from class to class. In several history classes, students were encouraged and even required to watch the debates between

President Obama and Governor Romney. Several teachers devoted entire class periods to analyzing the debates, discussing the claims of each candidate.

Eitan Boiarsky (’14) articulates, “I cannot speak for all SAR classes, only my own. In Dr. Schwartz’s AP US history class, we spent a number of classes talking about debates and the pros and cons of both sides.” Akiva Aranoff (’13) was among students with a different experience: “I’m taking AP government and we didn’t even talk about the election that much.”

Evidently, the focus on politics at SAR has depended upon the choices of teachers and the environment of individual classrooms.

Dr. Schwartz remarks, “Ideally, I would love to have everyone spending a lot of time delving into the elections, because it’s timely and it’s relevant and it’s a learning opportunity and it’s everything else. The reality is that we all have substantial curricula to cover and we don’t have enough time to cover those curricula as it is. Two days off for the hurricane didn’t help.

And I can’t reasonably expect all kinds of classes to devote an enormous amount of time doing elections. I think that what we do is a reasonable balance; I think that history classes do some amount of coverage, more in the American history and government classes and everyone is expected to address it to some extent.” Ms. Pepper agrees: “We have spent some time in hisContinued on page 19

4

The Buzz, December 2012

School Life Advice Column

We Plagiarized This Article

the new academic integrity policy

By Hilla Katz Cheating? At SAR? Never! Why would we ever need a policy that would deal with such a crime? But suppose that, hypothetically, such a policy was necessary.

A school would need specific, enforceable rules across the board.

In the past, however, SAR’s cheating policy has been subject to the interpretation of various teachers. “Our policies regarding cheating have been much more subject to discretion of the individual teacher, and we have not always found this to be effective because different teachers respond differently,” says Dr. Schwartz. “Although we definitely had guidelines in the past, the fact of the practical matter was that individual teachers would sometimes address it, or bring it to a curriculum coordinator, bring it to Dr. Shinar, but there wasn’t a systematic uniform approach.”

Teachers, then, have the opportunity to approach cheating in ways that they think are appropriate. Mr. Fleischer explains the way he chooses to deal with cheating: “The few times that I’ve caught plagiarizers, they failed that assignment, which obviously is

extremely bad for their grade, and I end up having a conversation with their parents...

I generally subscribe to the ‘you’re really cheating yourself’ kind of attitude... Basically, I just think cheaters are jerks, and if people want to be jerks, that’s their way.”

Although the administration feels that the policies regarding cheating have, until now, been inconsistent, several teachers disagree. They feel that in the past, the administration has provided comprehensible

“Has our school become so competitive that our academic integrity is at stake?” and responsible instructions for dealing with breaches of academic integrity.

“I can say that I feel there is consistency in the way cheating is handled,” says Dr. Ballan. Mr. Fleischer shares similar sentiments: “Dr Shinar has given wonderful

guidance as have the head of my department and the various GLCs.” The administration has never truly articulated to the student body what specific transgressions are actually considered cheating, and what the specific punishments are for these transgressions. In an attempt to clarify these policies and define SAR’s perspective on cheating, the administration has recently created a document that “breaks up cheating into categories, such as academic integrity as it relates to written work and as it relates to test taking or quizzes,” Dr. Shinar explains. “We have [in this document] concrete policies as far as what we do when we suspect cheating and plagiarism that is very obvious, like cutting and pasting off the internet or copying someone’s paper.”

While teachers may have received generally consistent guidelines in the past regarding cheating, some teachers feel that this set of concrete rules is exactly what the school needs right now: “I’m pleased that the school, the administration, the faculty and the students are confronting this issue and not ignoring it and not dealing with it on a case-by-case basis,” says Rabbi Hain.

“I think it’s important to set some policy and

communicate that so that you have a sense that both the students and the faculty know what to expect should cheating arise.”

The release of such a document may induce a moment of self-reflection for the SAR community. Has our school become so competitive that our academic integrity is at stake? The administration, at least, has confirmed that it was not a recent outbreak of cheating that prompted this document, rather that “it’s reactive to the sense that we don’t respond [to cheating] in a uniform way and a consistent way across the board,” explains Dr. Schwartz.

The document is also an attempt to encourage teachers to take an active role to prevent cheating. “Sometimes teachers weren’t being as vigilant as they could be,” contends Rabbi Harcsztark. “Sometimes teachers do work or sit at their desk while they’re giving a test when they should be standing up.”

“Just open up the newspaper; there is cheating everywhere in the world.” says Dr. Shinar. “In that respect, we’re being reactive but not reactive to an SAR issue per se.”

Although transgressions of academic Continued on page 13

Eating Disorders

addressing health issues in sar

By Olivia Rosenzweig “My body makes me feel gross. I try to diet, but I always end up eating a lot, and afterwards I’d feel awful. In the past, after eating a high calorie meal, I would sometimes make myself throw up. That way, I could eat tasty food, and still not gain any weight. I know it’s not the healthiest approach, but it would still make me feel much better about myself.” This story, shared by a previously bulimic anonymous Junior girl, reflects the dangers that eating disorders and negative body images can pose, even at SAR. Although eating disorders are rarely discussed and often unheard of at SAR, they may be more present than students realize.

Though they are a minority, some SAR students do suffer from anorexia, an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat, or bulimia, extreme bouts of overeating followed by depression and self-induced vomit, purging or fasting. In a recent survey, 42% of students report knowing somebody at SAR with an eating disorder first-hand, and another 33% report knowing indirectly of students who suffer from eating disorders.

Another anonymous Junior girl says she is “personally acquainted with multiple people who have body related issues about self esteem and about how much they are

eating…[and believes] it’s definitely a real issue in our grade, in SAR … [and] in the world of teenagers in general.” She contin-

ular people…it’s not that awkward person on the sidelines, it’s generally people that you wouldn’t even think of [having an eat-

ues to explain that this issue is not confined to outliers and stereotypes: “The people that I know who have [eating disorders] are pop-

ing disorder].”

Shoshana Rosenzweig (’15) claims that although “Most girls are just over-exag-

gerating when they say ‘I’m fat, I can’t eat this’… [she agree that] a lot of people do have eating disorders and it is a problem.”

However, 27% of students reported have never even heard of this issue. Aryeh Zapinsky (’14), claims to “know nothing about [eating disorders].” Aryeh says, “I don’t think any eating disorder is apparent within my group of friends or people that I know of…I didn’t know that there were any eating disorders within SAR.” Anna Ballan (’14) offers an explanation as to why people may not be aware of eating disorders at SAR. “When people have eating disorders it’s often something very personal that they struggle with and it’s not really something that I think they even share with people and that is acknowledged in their public lives.” Because these issues are so private, they often slip under the radar of those students who aren’t specifically friends with anyone with a disorder.

Although perhaps not as common, eating disorders don’t only affect girls in our school, but guys too. Despite Jake Sytner’s claim that “with guys I don’t think it’s as much of a problem because guys don’t really care what they look like,” he admits to knowing a few boys who suffer from eating disorders.

Continued on page 17

The Buzz, December 2012

5

Advice Op-EdColumn Debate

Should teachers express their political opinions in class?

AFFIRMATIVE

By Isaac Breslow Almost every decision we make is political in nature – and I only say “almost” for the sake of avoiding a superlative error.

It’s in the words we choose to use, and everything we say and do. The idea that politics are somehow reserved for choosing between team red and team blue is a myopic understanding of what is meant by “political,” or “opinions.” To say politics should remain private is patently absurd.

Even the things we all agree upon entirely are profoundly political; they are not obvious truths, but consensuses reinforced by time, cultural progress, and random chance.

For instance, the ideas that teachers should listen to the concerns of their students, slow down lessons if students need help understanding, or, by the way, give equal consideration to girls, are all deeply – albeit uncontroversially – political truths.

In fact, they’re not that uncontroversial. So if you want to say politics should be kept to ourselves, then you shouldn’t do or say anything at all.

Either the idea is meaningless, or it means we must keep quiet concerning political opinions we disagree upon. Perhaps that’s what is meant when people say politics should be kept out of the classroom: live in accordance with the political values we agree upon, but keep silent on the range of issues where there is a debate. We all agree that it’s wrong to throw battery acid in a girl’s face in revenge for the crime of learning to read – so we have no problem with boys and girls learning equally side by side, and we act accordingly. But we don’t all agree that President Obama’s recent victory was a lucky break from a very frightening prospect, so we keep quiet on the issue.

However, if this is the case, who gets to decide where that bar is set? Who delineates the set of ideas which are debatable, and the set of ideas on which we agree? We are then left with three possible approaches.

1) We can never do or say anything, because those actions or words are political in nature (this is clearly absurd). 2) We agree to some arbitrary domain of ideas which are up for debate and therefore off limits; this can either be through some democratic

RESPONSE BY GILAD FORTGANG Isaac’s premise is wrong simply because not every opinion involves politics-including Isaac’s own stance in this op-ed.

Isaac asks the wrong question. It is not about “who delineates the set of ideas which are debatable.” I would agree that teachers should certainly be empowered to frame the debate. But the issue is not who sets the topic of debate; rather, who are the participants in the debate? Is it proper for an authority figure to express his or her political views to an audience over whom

consensus, or, more plausibly, some source of authority will arrogate the right to decide (very dangerous, as well as self defeating; it is clear that if this is the case, the acceptable set of opinions would be skewed in favor of one particular bias by those who happen to be in a position to do so.) Alternatively, there is a third choice, which I believe to be the only practical option: we accept that as different people with different perspectives we will disagree deeply on serious topics.

We accept this simple reality and acknowledge that the only way to respect people, and foster an environment in which the best ideas emerge, is to stand strong in our affirmation of the most basic freedoms: freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. We have the maturity to admit that people are biased; by self-critically acknowledging this fact, everyone can be free to express their opinions.

It is often said that the primary mission of an education is not to teach students “what to think,” but to teach them “how to think.” To worry that a teacher expressing a particular view would unduly affect the worldview of a student is to assume that SAR has failed in its most basic prerogative as a learning institution. Maybe you buy the argument that the school fails to teach the basic skills of critical thought; however, I have a higher opinion of our school. At the very least, we should aspire to be a school in which the teacher’s role is more than that of a human book-on-tape. To paraphrase Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting: you can

“So if you want to say politics should be kept to ourselves, then you shouldn’t do or say anything at all.” get an education at your local library, for a lot less money.

they hold influence? He make this point himself when he discusses how “dangerous and self defeating” it would be to give “some source of authority... the right to decide”.

Finally, Isaac states that “the primary mission of an education is not to teach students ‘what to think,’ but to teach them ‘how to think.’” When an authority figure tells a class what he or she thinks, they are preaching what and not how to think. The teachers can moderate, but let debate in SAR be held amongst students.

NEGATIVE

By Gilad Fortgang A teacher’s role in the classroom is relatively simple: to relay the facts of the material to students so that they can learn as much as possible about that topic. Regarding the subject of history, this role is more difficult to fulfill. A history teacher should communicate the facts of an event, what it lead to, and what people thought of it. However, due to the nature of the subject, history classes often digress and discuss politically debatable matters. And when those conversations veer to politics, teachers’ opinions can influence their student’s views, while making other students extremely uncomfortable.

In SAR, we pride ourselves on great student-teacher relationships. However, political discussions in class have the potential to puncture those relationships, for example, if a student feels uncomfortable with what the teacher is stating, or if a student replies inappropriately to teacher’s statement because he or she is offended by it. Both of these situations can ruin a student-teacher bond, a bond that SAR holds so dearly.

Concerning the recent election, political digressions occurred frequently in history classes. Last March, my history class discussed Super Tuesday and the numerous primaries occurring at that time. As we discussed each candidate, the teacher stated simply, “Mitt Romney is as stiff as wood.”

Because of the harsh comment, some students got the impression that Mitt Romney was not a legitimate candidate before even knowing anything about him. I protested a little, arguing that it would be hard to walk if he was indeed a tree; nobody really listened, since I was that annoying kid who disagreed with everything the teacher said. I felt extremely uncomfortable, and I knew that anybody in my position would feel the same.

The next candidate we discussed was Rick Santorum. At that point in time, I was pretty fond of Santorum. One of my classmates, wanting to instigate a debate, said he was my favorite candidate. The teacher replied, “Nah, he’s is too conservative for Gil.” Let me be honest: nobody is too conservative, and nobody is too conservative for Gil. Nevertheless, the majority of the class had swayed opinions. And there wasn’t any-

RESPONSE BY ISAAC BRESLOW Read Gilad’s argument – read it well, my friends. He is essentially arguing that naïve students can be misled by unscrupulous teachers using their pulpit to force unchallenged opinions. The problem is, his entire point hinges on anecdotal examples.

He doesn’t argue against teachers presenting opinions on principle; he simply presents an example of when doing so would be inappropriate. I never argued that a teacher should take significant time out of class to espouse their personal views, in a

thing I could do about it, because the teacher himself had created this impression. I know that the teacher had little intention of convincing the class that his opinion was a fact.

But it happened.

Sadly enough, I know the political views of most of my teachers, as do most of my classmates. Unfortunately, the reason I know is because personal opinion is so often spoken in the classroom setting. And every time this occurs, a student, or a part of a student, starts to believe it.

Why is this so? Because a teacher is an authoritative figure who is respected by most of the students. When a well-educated teacher argues with a high school student, it

“Political discussions in class have the potential to puncture those relationships.” is fairly obvious who will “win.” It is understood that teachers have personal opinions, but in order to be fair, a teacher should present the opposite viewpoint as respectable and possible to understand. This can be difficult if a teacher firmly believes one specific view, but all SAR teachers are educated enough to know the counterarguments to their arguments. If an opinion must be expressed for whatever reason, teachers should say: ‘I say this, but there are those who say this,’ clarifying that what was stated was their personal opinion, as well as providing a counter-argument to balance their opinion.

However, there is an even more preferable solution, one that SAR itself has actualized: holding an inter-faculty debate.

This sort of event allows students to experience balanced arguments and decide for themselves what they believe in. A teacher against a teacher, not a teacher against a student. Students should be able to choose for themselves based on fair debate, instead of having opinions essentially forced upon them. If teachers do not get in the way with their own opinions, students are capable of deciding for themselves what they believe, and it is in everybody’s interest to let them.

context unrelated to the lesson – even if the opinions happen to be obvious ones.

Oh, but what of this idea that teachers unfairly influence their students? Quite simply, I don’t buy it. Our school has students with opinions wide and varied, and I’ve seen opinions hold firm under duress from teachers with equally firm and diverse opinions. So when he tells us let’s have a debate, I agree. He simply hasn’t proven anything, other than the obvious.

6

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice School Column Life

SAR’s Suspension System

By Samantha Schnall When most people hear the word “suspension,” they envision all its repercussions.

“What will my parents say?”, “Will I ever get into college?”, “How will it affect my course grades?” are only some of the questions coming from hysterical students. But suspension is actually not the apocalypse it is made out to be.

Dr. Schwartz asserts that “there isn’t exactly a written, permanent record” that lists a student’s infractions of school policy.

She explains that while some offenses undoubtedly result in suspension, most are resolved on a case-by-case basis.

In fact, infractions of school policy aren’t reported to college or kept on a permanent record. Rather, on the Common Application, each student is asked, “Have you ever been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any educational institution you have attended from the ninth grade (or the international equivalent) forward, whether related to academic misconduct or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in a disciplinary action?” According to Mr. Courtney, the

document that is sent out to college is just a “one-page academic document that reflects a student’s courses, course levels, and final grades in Quality of Work and Investment in Learning.” This document, known as a transcript, doesn’t serve to “report disciplinary violations.”

By dealing with “disciplinary violations” situationally, the suspension policy can be considered somewhat lenient. Nevertheless, the many faculty members like the suspension policy the way it is. Mr. Courtney opines, “Because SAR philosophy believes in recognizing the unique needs of every student, so too there shouldn’t be a blanket policy for every situation.” Rabbi Harcsztark agrees, attesting that he isn’t inclined to change the policy unless it proves to be “an educational disservice.”

Dr. Schwartz, though in general support of the current policy, expresses some doubt about not reporting offenses to colleges. She doesn’t want to hold “the threat of a transcript or permanent record over our students’ heads,” because she is “opposed to [the way] college dominates so much of what students think is important.” However,

she isn’t sure whether her objection to the “dominating” force of college should “go away in the face of reality that [reporting violations of school policy] will get more students to care more about school policy” and therefore more likely to adhere to it.

Rabbi Harcsztark also expresses doubts about the current suspension policy, sharing that it “bothers [him] that kids are put in a complicated situation in answering the question on the application if they were ever suspended (or expelled).” He continues to explain that students whose answer to this questions is “yes,” have a good reason to answer dishonestly because admitting that they ever committed such an offense would probably hurt their chances of getting into college.

Though the administration generally agrees with the suspension policy’s lack of a “blanket policy,” few students share similar sentiments. While Liat Katz (‘16) thinks that the school suspension policy should stay focused on individual cases and devoid of official regulations, because each potentially suspendable case is different, several students disagree with such an argument.

Ricki Heicklen (‘14) disputes, “SAR should absolutely have a codified suspension policy [because] when such repercussions are left to be decided in individual cases, justice is rarely meted out the way it ought to be.” She continues to argue that students don’t take school policy seriously enough when there is no official document that writes up a specific policy (in this case, there is no official document about suspension).

Adina Goldman (‘13) agrees that there should be an official policy because “not having one could unintentionally lead to unfair treatment of some students.” Yet, she feels that since it is difficult for a general policy to resolve all potentially suspendable cases, “there should always be room to discuss the specifics of particular cases.” Gilad Fortgang (‘15) agrees with Heicklen and Goldman, though he doesn’t consider having a “blanket policy” plausible.

The absence of an official suspension policy can create an even bigger problem: students don’t have a clear idea of what is Continued on page 8

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Gaza awareness around the school

By Zachary Nelkin “The importance of being knowledgeable and committed to Israel cannot be underestimated as a Jew. If you identify as a Jew, with the exception of the Neturei Carte and hardcore left wingers, whether you like it or not, you are affiliated with Israel.” This quote by Harry Scheiner (’13) illustrates how important Israel is to SAR as a modern Orthodox day school. The conflict between Hamas and the Israeli government has put a spotlight on the school’s efforts to maintain that strong and personal relationship while also keeping students informed. It has also raised the profile of some of the pro-Israel activism going on at SAR over the past few weeks.

In the days following the outbreak of the recent conflict in Gaza, SAR instituted several changes to the everyday routine. At all the morning minyanim, tehillim was recited. Dr. Schwartz said that “emails were sent out to davening teachers saying we should have daily updates in tefillah so that people would know what was going on.”

The Meaningful Minute, Israel Activism’s weekly announcement over the loudspeaker, declined to mention a “lighter note,” (a cheerful component usually included at the end of an update) in solidarity with the citizens of Israel living in a state of war.

Not every student was satisfied with these efforts. Geffen Ohring (’15) thought that “SAR’s reaction to what was happening in Gaza was not the most efficient way to react. Adding tehillim to our davening just

made it longer. I don’t think that many people felt a personal connection to this. They should have had some sort of assembly or groups to talk about what was going on.”

Another criticism of the response was that it gave a biased approach and lacked nuance. Rafi Bocarsly (’13) was very disturbed by the school’s reaction. He felt, “unimpressed at best and insulted at worst with the way the school reacted to the situation with Gaza. The most appalling thing was the meaningful minute that week. It insulted me. They are talking about Israeli soldiers being killed and Israelis being bombed the entire time. Throughout this process no one mentioned that the death toll of the Palestinians was high.”

Shalhevet Schwartz (‘15), however, feels that this lack of nuance may have been appropriate. “I’m all for nuanced dialogue about Israel, and I don’t think that Israel always does the right thing. That being said, when Hamas is firing rockets and Israel is launching air strikes, that’s not the time for nuanced dialogue, it’s the time for solidarity with Israel’s soldiers and citizens. It’s true, there should have been more mention of Palestinian civilian casualties, and the school should have said that our thoughts were with them too. But I did hear some of that, and on the whole I thought the reaction was appropriate.”

Scheiner also expressed support for SAR’s presentation of the issues. “The school did a fantastic job of stressing the importance of what was going on in Israel, both in informing the students about the facts of

what was going on and helping us connect through tefillah.” The effort was large for an institution with a dual curriculum that is perennially pressed for time. According to Dr. Schwartz, more programming would be difficult to achieve. She explains, “we have 500 students who are living their lives, and completely upending their lives in sympathy and empathy with the people in Israel is not the right thing to do for them.”

This year there are many new opportunities for pro-Israel activism. Not only is there the Israel Activism Club, there is also the Haoketz newsletter and the online Israel Discussion Forum on Haiku. Scheiner, who founded the discussion forum and writes for Haoketz, has a goal in mind for both. He states,“I started the Israel Discussion Forum for several reasons: as a place where students can practice formulating their opinions on Israel and be ready for them to argue them effectively and to be an open place where students can share their views.” Many students also participate in the program “Write On For Israel” where they are trained to be effective advocates for Israel and have the opportunity to visit for a week in February.

There are also a number of students who attend NORPAC and AIPAC events where they get to speak with their representatives and advocate for pro-Israel legislation in the United States.

The school’s regular discourse relating to Israel has received some additional scrutiny in recent days. Ohring thinks that “SAR doesn’t focus much on Israel in any of our curriculum. It should be more of an is-

sue that we talk about but it isn’t.” Bocarsly agrees, “If I am to use one word to describe the school’s attempts to educate us about Israel, it would be pitiful. We find time for Beit Midrash and Mach but why can’t we find time for one period a week for current events and Israel?” Many might find this perplexing considering that Zionism is written into SAR’s mission statement.

Yet it turns out that exactly this kind of course does exist at SAR. Dr. Schwartz explains that second semester senior year we have “a history class that focuses specifically on Holocaust and Israel that includes the origins of the Palestinian refugee situation… Maybe we should be doing that earlier. These are not simple questions and there are [no] simple answers. If we wanted to say ‘Rah, rah, rah, sis, boom, bah, Israel is always right,’ we could do that from the beginning of 9th grade.”

It is difficult for any institution to respond in a balanced way to the tremendous upheaval in the region, both in regards to Israel and the Arab spring surrounding it.

SAR has a strong, active, and broad proIsrael sentiment that attempts to transcend ideological disagreements. It also has a faculty determined to give its students information and a love for the country. Though it inevitably will sometimes fail or fall short of expectations, there is every reason to believe that the SAR community can rebound and live up to those expectations.

The Buzz, December 2012

7

School Life Advice Column

Senior Grade 13rings It On

By Chanan Heisler It’s a usual sight. Hundreds of students are eagerly sitting on the gym floor. They know that in just a few minutes the designated SAR drummer will finish queuing up. As a blast of Dovid Melech Yisrael hits them, they stand up, scream, and run into each other. But, as always, nobody from my grade, Class of 2013, can be seen.

“We scare the 8th graders learning in the gym together, we create mini chagigahs together, and we lose our elevator privileges together.”

Yet this past chagigah was a little different. As the notes of Seven Nation Army reached their climax, 95 seniors suddenly ran down the side staircase and charged at the silently shocked student body sitting on the floor. I have to admit that I was proud.

I felt we had finally made it. We were real seniors.

Over the course of three years, my grade has gained the reputation of being “the worst.” My grade made up the minority of every team and club. We were the grade that didn’t show up for chagigahs. We were the grade that lost color war two years in a row.

We were the grade that, apparently, didn’t care.

As I reflect on my past years of high school, I have found that there was some truth to these statements. Yes, we are the grade that communally failed our first semester of tanach. (Sorry guys, I didn’t help with that first Goldscheider Test.) Yes, we are the grade that started a cake fight, causing Dr. Shinar to begin his campaign to clean up the ‘streets’ of SAR. (But let me just point out, a Butterflake cake was used in the fight, so at least we were using quality goods.) And yes, we still have not created a kosher Purim Shpiel to be presented in front of the school.

But, even with all of those “wrong” things, there has been a unifying theme amongst the members of our grade.

Our grade genuinely cares for one another. Whatever we do, good or bad, we do it together. We are the grade devoid of bullying. We are the grade that doesn’t compete for spots on academic teams or grades. We all respect each other as individuals with unique talents and qualities. Though we are still not the most perfectly behaved grade, we are unified.

Yes, we disrupt every 4th period

class on Fridays, but we do it as a grade.

We dance around the school, lift freshmen on our shoulders, run into classrooms and scream “Shabbos Kodesh” for everyone in Riverdale to hear. And yes, we do race freshmen, but we do it together, and then go and apologize to the freshmen together, because we care. We scare the 8th graders learning in the gym together, we create mini chagigahs together, and we lose our elevator privileges together. If our grade does something, you know we did it together.

I remember exactly one year ago Max Dobrinsky, Natalie Frohlinger, Rani Kubersky, and I had a secret meeting in the camera room on the second floor of the auditorium (no, get your mind out the gutter). Given our grade’s reputation when it came to Color War, as Color War captains we didn’t know how to proceed. We thought we would have a ridiculously hard time involving the kids in our grade. We thought we were doomed for another fourth place.

As it turned out, we really didn’t have much to worry about. All of a sudden, our grade became alive. Everyone was running up to me, volunteering to help create the video, painting, skit, or song. Our grade didn’t need anyone to tell them what to do, they just did it themselves. Out of nowhere, we started fighting the preconception that we could not win Color War. We fought all the way through, and even though we didn’t win, it didn’t seem to matter. We proved that we can ‘care’, and that as a grade, we could accomplish anything.

Ever since that Chanukah Miracle

“Though others may claim that we aren’t the most athletic, intellectual, or publically acclaimed, we have something that many other grades seem to lack: respect and unity.” of Unity, our grade has completely turned around and has become far more spirited than any faculty member or student expected. Nowadays, all seniors express only excitement and pride for our grade.

So yes, though others may claim that we aren’t the most athletic, intellectual, or publically acclaimed, we have something that many other grades seem to lack: respect and unity. Get ready for next chagigah, or better yet, Color War, because if you look at our grade now, you know we’ll 13ring it.

Junior Stress

By Avidan Grossman As my Mom’s sixth favorite writer for The Buzz, I solemnly accept my obligatory responsibility to drop knowledge on the uneducated masses of SAR high school. In lieu of this serious undertaking, I magnanimously present to you the definitive answer to the ageless debate over the degree of difficulty involved in junior year. I’ll be frank with you, if not for the stringent censorship imposed on all writers for The Buzz, I could concisely summarize junior year in a few obscene expletives. But since most of the words would be explicitly unprintable, you have to suffer through a full article of my cantankerous kvetching.

For those ignorant boors that still seem to be under the misconception that junior year is not nearly as difficult as reputed, let me quickly reduce your opinion to smithereens. Junior year is awful. Boom. (Insert sound of your argument being blown to countless miniscule pieces).

The difficulty with junior year is twofold. Firstly, ya’ll better hope your housekeeper is also an undercover chiropractor or least well versed in Chinese acupuncture, because you’re about to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with the backpack full o’ bricks you’ll be lugging to school. Don’t worry about your pals routinely mistaking you for Quasimodo, because you’ll inevitably see the quick dissipation of your social life in front of your own over-caffeinated eyes. No reason to fret, though. The only friends you really need junior year are the ones you can take into the SAT’s with you, so you better hope your graphing calculator and meticulously sharpened pencils are good enough conversationalists. Secondly, if the swift decline of your posterior vertebrae isn’t warrant enough for concern, you can kiss your psychosomatic happiness and physical health goodbye too. Forget shelling out for a good chiropractor, you might as well hire Dr. Hoffman for the extensive psychotherapy you’re going to need.

Honestly, you’ll be lucky if you can even feel your physical weariness over the throbbing pain of your gradually growing headache. It’s gotten so bad I just sprinkle a couple of aspirins into my Cinnamon Toasters before I drown it all with curdled school milk and a bottle of black market Four-Loko.

It’s okay, though. The twitching wears off after a while. You’ll eventually acclimatize to the nervous environment of your grade, and towards winter break those two hyperintense students will eventually stop debating the merits of the SAT essay section versus the ACT critical reading portion. Also, don’t worry about your social plans being constantly interrupted by your schoolwork.

You’ll adapt quickly. Just pretend you’re Jim Lehrer!

The straight up mind-boggling part of junior year is that it’s viewed as a necessary feature of the high school experience.

If teachers understand that we’re already

cramming for arguably the most important standardized test of our life, would it be so difficult for the administration to lessen the academic workload? Sure, you could try amicably asking your caring teacher if she can hold off on the next assignment in light of your smothering workload, but she’ll probably just smile viciously and hit you with an essay contrasting conservative biblical commentary on the matriarchs with classical literary feminism. On the issue of junior year stress, teachers have proven to be about as helpful as a Con Ed workman in a hurricane.

To be honest, the difficulty with junior year is probably not a problem pertaining exclusively to SAR High School. However, that certainly does not excuse its presence at SAR. I’m sure junior year is difficult regardless which school you go to, however SAR cannot simply hold itself to the unacceptable academic standards of the outside world. If SAR truly values its students’ happiness and wellbeing, (insert generic quote from the mission statement), the administration will work tirelessly to make sure the junior workload is a problem of the past. As a high school that prides itself on fostering relationships that will last far beyond the three walls of

“The only friends you really need junior year are the ones you can take into the SAT’s with you, so you better hope your graphing calculator and meticulously sharpened pencils are good enough conversationalists.” the SAR building, the administration should recognize that the junior workload has serious detriments on the social and communal lives of the junior students. Regardless of what every potential student government president says, getting rid of homework is not a feasible option. Still, there are reasonable restrictions that can be applied in order to lessen the stress and anxiety forced on juniors every year. Additionally, the faculty could make an effort to be more understanding and accommodating of the pressure and anxiety of junior year. In light of the further apprehension and stress that awaits us next year, a little understanding and accommodation would really go along way.

8

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Column Student Life Suspension Policy Continued from page 6

and is not allowed. Heicklen believes that a “written, specific policy” would make students “more cautious about how they act... [since there are many] situations where students are harming others and see no moral issue with it.” Furthermore, she explains that in the specific situation of bullying, “[SAR] is hindered in its inability to significantly punish bullies because no clarifying document exists that defines and condemns bullying.” Without the presence of such a document, bullying incidents are viewed subjectively, making it very difficult to punish those students. At the end of the day, she says, the “victims [of bullying] suffer.”

If the administration doesn’t want to make an official, written document for the suspension policy to better enforce adherence to the rules, then what is an alternative way to do so?

Another way of enforcing discipline is

putting violations on a student’s permanent record. As previously stated, some administrations oppose using the “fear of college” as a deterrent from violating school rules.

As for students, it is split down the middle whether this tactic should be used.

Judah Goldman (‘13) comments, “Fear

“While some offenses undoubtedly result in suspension, most are resolved on a case-by-case basis.” is never a useful tactic because it just pressures people and creates some sort of ‘dicta-

torship’ in school.” Fortgang shares similar sentiments: “Getting into college is personal; the school shouldn’t conflict [with] the students’ personal interests.” Adina Goldman believes that SAR’s value of “openness” would conflict with using college as leverage against students. She explains, “In order to maintain [our open] culture, the administration [has] to treat us like like adults [and] part of approaching us as [adults is] not using threats.”

There are other students who disagree, arguing that the administration should use the importance of college to students to their advantage. Hilla Katz (‘14) notes, “the reality in our school is that since freshman year, there is an enormous awareness of college, [so] when it comes to enforcing the rules, it may be effective if the administration threatened us [with college finding out about infractions of school policy].” Others, such as Heicklen, propose that the “fear tactic” should be used for specific offenses, such as

“bein adam lechaveiro rules,” arguing that while a cultural focus on college as the all and end all of our high school experiences is detrimental on the whole, desperate times call for desperate measures, and using this threat would “significantly reduce the number of [harmful] incidents.”

It is interesting to note this discussion has been around for a while now--a newspaper article from June 2008 about the suspension policy centers around a similar heated discussion to this one. Though SAR may have undergone many changes over these years, the school’s relatively laissez faire approach to suspensions and expulsions has remained approximately the same. It is therefore unlikely, despite several doubts about the current suspension policy, that this policy will change in the near future.

a school theme or a closer connection? an analysis of dveykut

By Toba Stern Though the literal translation of “Dveykut” may be adhesiveness, it is so much more than that. Dveykut is the way we talk, daven, and approach the world around us. It also happens to be SAR’s theme this year.

Last year, SAR started a new tradition of implementing an annual theme. This theme is integrated into shabbatons, beit midrash classes, and everyday activities in school. The theme enables students to understand and grapple with various aspects of their religiosity within the SAR environment.

Whereas the goal of Arvut, last year’s theme, was to inspire students to think about their communal responsibilities, the goal of Dveykut is to encourage students to think about their relationships with God. Some students find that Arvut was an easier theme to tackle because it was emphasized more throughout the year. Nicole Berger (‘15) explains, “Last year they always brought up Arvut in different ways, like at the shabbatonim and trips and stuff they always talked about Arvut and being together. But this year I don’t really understand Dveykut because they aren’t really using it.”

Danielle Lebowitz (‘15) agrees: “We don’t really talk about Dveykut much.” Freshmen Jessica Hecht (‘16), Asaf Gadasi (‘16), and Avi Siegal (‘16) all agree that Dveykut was not discussed on their shabbaton, which focused instead on decision-making and pressure in high school.

Some students also feel that the theme of Arvut was more “accessible.” Dveykut

requires a certain connection that some students feel they cannot achieve. An anonymous Junior explains, “I liked Arvut because it gave us a greater sense of community. But I don’t believe in God, so Dveykut doesn’t speak to me.”

Beyond theological concerns, some find that Arvut is simply easier to understand and discuss. Danielle Lebowitz (‘15) admits that “I do not know if I can fully wrap my head around the idea of Dveykut. Arvut means a lot to me because I feel that community is important.” Shalhevet Schwartz (’15) agrees: “I liked Arvut better because I felt like it was much easier to talk about…

Dveykut is very hard to talk about, so it just ends up in beit midrash class having been a lot of awkward conversations where no one wants to say anything.” However, others, such as Mr. Fleischer, feel that connecting to the theme of Arvut may not be as simple as some perceive. Mr. Fleischer explains, “If all we do on the weekends is watch football and sleep, that’s not Arvut, that’s not what it looks like… These are tremendous, difficult, challenging values and you have to work really hard to actualize them.”

Rabbi Harcsztark explains that the general reaction to Dveykut was expected because it is a difficult theme to understand.

“We expected it to be hard for kids to talk about… we’ve actually found that it has been hard for faculty to talk about too…

Some kids have been more comfortable [talking about it] than others. I expected it to be a challenge, but it has probably been more challenging than I expected.”

How can students begin to develop a perspective on Dveykut? Mr. Fleischer ex-

plains that connecting to the theme of Dveykut is a process: “Students have to work to cultivate their relationship to God, it’s not just going to happen. It’s like anything else, you practice.”

Many students already do feel a con-

“Dveykut requires a certain connection that some students feel they cannot achieve.” nection to Dveykut. Students can connect to Dveykut in a variety of ways. Tamar David (‘16) remarks, “The highlight of my shabbaton was all the singing and dancing. We had a really musical davening, and it was one of the best davenings I’ve ever had because there, arm in arm, singing with my friends, I felt Dveykut.”

Michael Green (‘16) echoed a similar sentiment. “I like Dveykut, it’s a good theme. It brings us all together.” Rebecca Harris (’15), agrees that she likes Dveykut because “we’ve had so many conversations about how we should talk to each other, respect each other and be there for each other, but we never really talk about how important it is for people to have a relationship with God.” Harris’s sentiment is actually one of the main reasons why the theme was chosen.

Rabbi Harcsztark explains that one of the

goals of Dveykut is to give the students an outlet to talk about topics that may be difficult to talk about, but are important nonetheless. He states: “I have had numbers of parents who said, ‘when I was in school we didn’t talk about those things.’ And kids who said, ‘this is the first time I’ve really talked about this.’” Dveykut offers an opportunity for students to think about and discuss their connections to god; it is a topic that is not often emphasized.

Dveykut is a broad and general theme, so it is no surprise that students differ in their opinions as to what Dveykut is. To Harris, Dveykut means “that our relationship with God should be more obvious within our life…And we should have so much gratitude towards him.” Hecht feels that Dveykut involves “sharing your life experiences with God.” To David, “Dveykut is thinking about God in situations where you normally wouldn’t. Not just davening, but when taking a test or when something good happens.

It means having a healthy relationship with Hashem, not just turning to Him when you need something.”

Even so, students’ reactions to Dveykut may not indicate the success of the theme.

Mr. Fleischer believes, “Like or dislike isn’t the measure… Its effectiveness can’t be measured for another ten, fifteen, twenty, years.

When we have a generation of SAR High School students that graduated… and they decided that as a result of their SAR High School education they would participate in the Jewish community in deep and meaningful ways, then we’ll know it was successful.”

The Buzz, December 2012

9

Advice Column School Life

Hurricane Horrors

By Alon Futter In the waning hours of October, Hurricane Sandy ripped through the northeast, causing more damage than anyone could have imagined. The roughly eight hundred mile storm front wreaked havoc from North Carolina all the way to Massachusetts. Some people lost everything in its wake, their homes and businesses reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. Thankfully, most of the SAR community did not suffer anything more than loss of power.

But even at SAR, Hurricane Sandy caused more disruption than most people expected. The administration, as well as the student body, needed to adapt to a broken tristate area. “You have to be comfortable with ambiguity,” says Dr. Shinar. “Sometimes you just don’t know what’s going to come your way. Whether it’s a storm or snow, you just have to be willing, in this line of work– in the business of school and dealing with people– to figure out what has to be done.”

For SAR, this included cancelling school on Monday, October 29th and Tuesday, October 30th while the storm raged outside. On Wednesday, October 31st, school began at 10:30. “Because we had power and because we could run a full operation, we were going to have school on Wednesday,” explains Dr. Shinar. On Thursday and Friday of that week, the school again chose a delayed opening, due to the fact that, according to Dr. Shinar, “a lot of people didn’t have power and we didn’t want people waking up when it’s still dark outside. This way when people are leaving their homes when it’s light outside.” The last order of business was to cancel all tests and homework because “it’s just not reasonable to ask people to do tests or homework when many people are still sitting in the dark.”

“School is closed on Monday, but that doesn’t mean that we should miss out on Torah learning,” read an email sent by Rabbi Kroll on Sunday, October 28th, in anticipation of a day off. At 11:00 AM on Monday morning, Rabbi Kroll gave an online parsha shiur to anyone who chose to attend. Similarly, once the school made the decision to cancel school on Tuesday, the administration sent out an email to parents containing two online learning opportunities with Rabbi Hain and Dr. Schwartz. While participation in these activities was completely optional, a number of students, teachers, and alumni tuned in, with 106 computers accessing the online shiur by the end of Rabbi Kroll’s live stream on Monday, despite a widespread loss of power.

For some teachers and departments, the loss of class time due to Hurricane Sandy has been extremely detrimental. The eleventh grade language classes, which lost almost a month’s worth of classes between September and October, were dealt a serious blow by the hurricane. “We teach Hebrew in two bands at each level,” Ms. Naftalovitch, head of the Hebrew Department, explains.

“One group learns Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday… [it] has missed significantly more class than the other group, which learns Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The administration knows this, and as a result they quickly announced that this Thursday [November 1st] would be Monday in order to

learning time despite the storm. SAR was the only school open in New York City on Wednesday, October 31st, and stayed open while many schools closed down for the entire week. Though SAR managed to stay open, the school was still able to accommodate the extenuating circumstances, as noted

by Jacob Shteingart (’15): “The school made it kind of easier on us because we [weren’t] required to do work. In the beginning I was doing school work in the candlelight; I even got wax all over my chemistry papers.”

When asked about how Hurricane Sandy’s ramifications affected them, students’ responses differed. For some, such as Ricki Heicklen (’14), the storm couldn’t

Courtesy of Andrew Frenkel

minimize the discrepancy and to allow the 11th grade to be tested. The teachers are also doing everything they can within the time given.” Even before the hurricane, Mondays and Tuesdays have been missed more than any other days, so the administration’s decision to run Thursday, November 1st as a Monday schedule was quite appropriate.

Some teachers, like Mr. Goodman, who teaches AP Biology, say they cannot afford to miss class time. On Sunday, October 28th, after school had been cancelled, Mr. Goodman sent out the following email to his class: “True, there is no school tomorrow, but that does not mean there is no AP Bio class. By approximately 10 AM tomorrow I will be sending you a narrated PowerPoint lesson. Please take notes as you listen to the presentation.” Obviously, this created a dilemma for students without power, who had to rely on their friends’ notes.

Overall, SAR took a strict approach toward Hurricane Sandy and tried to maximize

have happened at a better time. “Thank God for unscheduled natural disasters,” she remarked when interviewed during the storm.

“I’m three weeks behind on homework in every class, I’ve got four tests this week, and I have yet to get full nights of sleep this year.

The extra day or two of vacation will give me just the time I desperately need to catch up on The West Wing.” There were several other students who also could not be happier about its timing. Yoni Israel (‘14), another 11th grader, describes his experience: “Being a Junior, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the timing of the hurricane. Last week I couldn’t afford to miss any days of school because the tests and work would have just piled on to this week.” Thanks to Sandy, however, he was able to relax and catch up on work. Some students, however, like Chanan Heisler (’13), thought losing power wasn’t worth a few days off: “Snow days can be fun and everybody loves playing outside then, but when there’s a hurricane and I lose

power, I’d rather just go to school.”

Students’ personal hardships during the hurricane tended to be much less severe than the hardships experienced in much of the New York area. Some students feel guilt about the hurricane’s good timing, knowing that other people’s experiences were much more rough. “Sure, the hurricane was a nice break from school,” says Shalhevet Schwartz (‘15). “But I can’t believe that’s what people are talking about. People lost their homes; people died. And we’re talking about our test schedules… I’m not saying I don’t do it. I know I do. But the fact that we’re even asking this question demonstrates just how selfish we all are.”

And while no two communities were hit to the same extent, all saw damage. Just days after the hurricane, Akiva Goldman (’15) noted that in White Plains “It’s a mess.

There are trees down everywhere, and the majority of people in White Plains don’t have power.” In New Rochelle, according to Shteingart, the immediate effects of the hurricane were widespread. “Most people don’t have power, but there are some patches of people that do,” he notes. “Most of the more southern half of New Rochelle has gotten power back, but the northern side of New Rochelle does not have power.”

Within a week and a half, most communities had begun to recover in Sandy’s terrible aftermath, but some communities such as Cedarhurst, NY are still reeling from the Hurricane. Liam Eliach (’14), a resident of Cedarhurst, says that his block “looked like a war zone: floating cars, 2-3 feet deep waters, dead fish, and rescue jeeps driving down our block.” Eliach continues: “After around 2 more days, the water finally receded and we were able to see [our] house.” 26 days after Hurricane Sandy, Liam and his family were finally able to move back into their house. “I am really thankful to G-d that nothing permanent happened because I know many people who even live down my block [who] will never be able to live in their houses again.”

But SAR pulled through, and the school slowly returned to normalcy. “First, I think that the parents have been really supportive and amazing,” says Rabbi Harcsztark. “I think a lot of people offered to open their homes and stuff like that. The academy did a great job getting people to schools in different places and I’m really happy we were able to host some of them here. I thought it was really fortuitous that we had a blood drive scheduled just for [one of the first days back from school]… The faculty was really fantastic.”

Special thanks to Andy Wolff and the Riverdale Review for printing this issue of The Buzz.

10

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Features Column

Lonely Man of Fantasy: Fantasy Sports Culture in SAR

By Harry Scheiner It began in Ancient Greece. A chubby kin of an athlete, although amazed by his father’s portrayal of majesty and masculinity, was somehow tormented. He could not perform at the same level as his father, so rather than marvel at his father and other mens’ athletic prowess, he decided to objectify them with statistical aspirations. The young lad turned to his friend and voiced words that would forever dominate the lens through which we watch sports: “I bet you Abaddon and Barnabas can combine to throw the stone disk more times (they were playing PPR) and for a further total of daktylos (Ancient Greek measuring unit) than any two athletes you can choose.”

The sweeping phenomenon of fantasy sports has managed to work its way into SAR culture, past the new gates that Rabbi Hain so eloquently remarked were put in place to “Keep the riff raff out.” This shouldn’t surprise anyone; with a large population of males, all with the desire to prove they are better than their friends (by strategically ma-

neuvering the weakest link in their league out of his first round draft pickup), a fantasy league culture was inevitable.

How strong is this force of fantasy sports? Believe it or not, the sensation has proven to be visited more than email nowadays. More importantly, an entire show is set around a group of friends obsessed with their fantasy football league. Its this show, called “The League,” that inspired the actions of the seniors’ fantasy basketball league. In the show, the members of the fantasy football league used their kid’s birthday party to stage the order of their draft. They each chose a random number which corresponded to a four year old kid, and all the kids had a bean bag race. The kids received draft seeds based on where they placed in the race. Naturally, the senior fantasy basketball league decided to mimic this concept, replacing the five year olds with freshmen. Despite exuberant excitement over the idea from the freshmen, the administration saw it as bullying by the seniors.

Regardless of whether or not that particular event was wrong, it represented a

common theme found among fantasy sports: bonding. The freshmen felt honored to be included in the senior’s recreation. The seniors saw it as a great way to express their approval of the ‘coolness’ of this year’s freshmen class, while having a fun time. The bonding doesn’t stop there. Every Tuesday morning at breakfast, fantasy leagues sit down arguing and bragging about the outcomes of last weeks matchup. Perhaps the most essential of the bonding is the trash talking; while some of it may be crude, the inside jokes will forever remain between a group that knows one of its friends traded away Doug Martin right before his consecutive 18, 32, and 51 point weeks.

However there are sports enthusiasts in the school who are opposed to what fantasy sports bring to the table. Rabbi Hain detests the organism of fantasy sports. He states: “It ruins families, it ruins friends and it ruins sports. I can’t stand to listen to people’s fantasy stories.” The argument he touches upon is a common concern among fans that love football and fantasy football. Among them, Dvir Ofer is in a must win situation against a

team made up of Ahmad Bradshaw, Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz. Statistical analysis show that 82% of the time the Giants and the team Dvir is playing have the same result, and Dvir is a huge Giants fan. Therein lies the question of who you are more loyal to, your fantasy team, or the NFL team you affiliate with. Luckily for me, I’m a Giants fan, and said team is mine.

Some guys, however, can be slightly bashful about their obsession with fantasy, fearing that girls may be indignant towards it, and therefore consider them to be ‘losers’.

I did some investigating into the matter, and found that Jordyn Wasserman thinks that “Its cute how guys can be so passionate about it.

I don’t get it at all, but its funny how much they care.” Helen Berman notes: “They can actually learn valuable skills from it.” When I asked if either of them thought we were ‘losers’ because of our obsession, they said no. So there it is, from the girls themselves, we are not losers. So boys, be intuitive, be aggressive, and be proud fantasy owners.

SAR’s involvement in students’ outside lives To survey opinions on SAR’s involvement in students’ outside lives, the following poll was taken. Elana Rosenthal obtained the following results, polling 216 students.

A more extensive verision of this survey can be viewed online at TheSARBuzz.org

PACT Signatories As of December 2nd, the number of students and parents who had signed on to the PACT document were as follows:

Students: 99 Parents: 138

This information will be periodically updated on The Buzz’s website, www.thesarbuzz.org

SPORTS STANDINGS Be sure to check online at

www.thesarbuzz.org

for a complete list of wins and losses of SAR sports teams!

The Buzz, December 2012

11

Advice Column Features

SWITCHED at BIRTH

The Buzzer List four teachers who previously worked at SAR Academy.

The first person to tweet or email us the correct answer will be featured in our next issue’s Pop Culture Grid. You can reach us at @TheSarBuzz or thebuzz@sarhighschool.org.

Jake Goldstein (‘14)

Top 5 Reasons for Being Late to Class 5. I was too busy learning torah that I didn’t hear the bell 4. I was attacked by a posse of 8th graders on the back staircase 3. I got trapped on the 7th floor 2. I got stuck at the end of a long line at Chickies 1. I got lost in my AP Bio test, and Mr. Goodman didn’t give me a map

Ben Listman (‘15)

STATEMENT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Student Government is going to bring some awesome new initiatives to the Sting Nation in the next few months. The sting apparel is looking mighty fine thanks to Senorita Miriam Lichtenberg and designs by Nechemia Renzoni. Hopefully that will be out soon so you guys and gals can look fly like a bee. Also in homage to ex-prez Maximillion Kane, there will hopefully be an attempt on the whole school to break a world record.

Exactly what it will be is still in the works. A big focus for the times ahead will be the new recycling initiative that Dr. Landes has so eloquently introduced. We will be working with the maintenance staff on making the school more green. We are waiting for our spiffy new recycling bins so that the able-bodied men and women of the GAAC/Environmental Club can get the whole school started on turning our trash into treasure.

Lastly, get super pumped for homecoming on January 12th (It’s going to be cray-cray).

For more updates please follow us on Twitter @StingSG. PB & JElliot David

Faculty Facts

Name: Mr. Marty Berlin Position: Athletic Director; Physical Education Teacher Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York Family: One brother; two sisters

Each issue, The Buzz features an interview with a faculty member at or around SAR High School. Buzz Correspondent Maya Pretsfelder sat down with Mr. Berlin, Athletic Director and Physical Education Teacher at SAR. Maya Pretsfelder: Where are thing about the school yet, I just working here? now in medical school and, as you from? saw that there was a job availyou know, I live in Scarsdale. able. I thought it might be in- Mr. B: I’m starting my ninth I really enjoy what I’m doing, Mr. B: I was born in Brooklyn, teresting and something a little year here, and it’s hard to be- I guess you can’t ask for much New York. I lived in Brooklyn bit different, so at that point I lieve that I’ve been here for so more than that. until I was 35 years old. applied, and here I am. many years. One of the nicest things [about working here for MP: Where have you traveled?

MP: Did you always know what MP: Do you enjoy it here? so long] is that I’ve watched you wanted to do? the school really grow, from Mr. B: A year after I started Mr. B: Oh I love it! two grades to four grades. I’ve working, I traveled for eight and Mr. B: I never knew exactly seen the building expand; now a half weeks. I went to Israel, what I wanted to do, but then MP: What is your favorite thing we have all these things that the Greece, and that whole area. once, after being in college for about it? school didn’t have when it first The following summer I went to about two years and taking all started.

Japan. I did a lot of traveling... these courses, I finally decided Mr. B: Well besides for Ms. it’s something I really enjoy to that this [physical education] is Gryzlo [laugh], I like the coop- MP: What’s the most interesting do. It was a great “eye openwhat I wanted to do. eration and attitude of the ad- thing about you? ing” experience, traveling on ministration, that’s one of the my own. But right now I am in MP: How did you find yourself nicest things about it…and of Mr. B: I don’t know; I’m overall a stage where I am more family at SAR? Why SAR? course the students. pretty boring [laugh]. I have two oriented: me, my wife, and my kids, and to me, that’s the most two kids. Things change; your Mr. B: Well, I didn’t know any- MP: How long have you been important thing. My daughter is battles change, life continues.

12

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Column Student Life

i’m too tired to come up with a title sleep deprivation at sar

By Rebecca Siegel “I didn’t get any sleep last night” announces Lia Hartman (‘14) as she strolls into Shacharit, her eyes small and puffy. By the time davening is over, Hartman feels more awake and is almost ready to take on the long day ahead of her. But sometime after lunch, her exhaustion rears its ugly head yet again and her eyelids feel heavy once more.

Many students attribute their sleep deprivation to the fact that there is little time after school to do homework, extracurriculars, and anything else that needs to get done.

Rachel Rosin (‘14) elaborates: “Because we get out at 5:10, my extracurriculars end later.

I don’t get home until 9:30 [on] some nights, and am therefore up until 12:30 or 1:30 in the morning.”

Ben Listman (‘15) agrees with Rosin that he is pressed for time after school. “Between school work and my friends and TV and everything, it’s really hard for me to go to bed before midnight.” However, Listman adds that there is an element of procrastination that is within his control: “I always say

‘I’ll go to sleep early tonight’, but then it never happens.”

work or distractions, but also in the fact that teenagers underestimate the importance of

Though not so apparent, lack of sleep among students is not just rooted in home-

sleep. Students routinely cram for exams, staying up well into the morning to jam in-

formation into their minds. These students do not understand that sleeping is also a form of studying. While you sleep, your brain reviews information, processes and problem solves. When you’re exhausted and studying at 2:30 AM, you’re unlikely to absorb information. The stimulation of studying and stress also makes it harder to fall asleep once you are in bed. Amanda Goldsmith (‘13) confirms this, explaining that “unwinding from stress and work” keeps her up even later.

Studies indicate that it is better for students to go to sleep earlier and give their brains time to “sleep-study,” rather than cram information into their exhausted minds. “If you’re really sacrificing your sleep for that cramming, it’s not going to be as effective as you think, and it may actually be counterproductive,” states study author Andrew J. Fuligni. Mr. Fuligni is a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA and has conducted numerous experiments on sleep. His results suggest that exhaustion limits one’s ability to problem-solve. Sleep Continued on page 17

Merry Chanukah

the balance between secular and jewish holidays

By Lilly Scherban With santa’s laugh in the air, you snuggle up with some warm hot chocolate while the fire burns, the presents wait beneath the tree, and a vague hum of Christmas music can be heard.

As Jews, we are told to only imagine this ideal Christmas scenario. This is one example of the struggle facing modern American Jews: to find the balance between their Jewish heritage and the American culture at large. As a solution, some Jews do celebrate pagan and non- Jewish holidays, a trend which reflects itself among the students at SAR. For a school where students are exposed to both American and Jewish cultures, SAR has managed to instill a sense of Jewish identity, pride, and knowledge of Jewish heritage into many of their students.

Jacob Ungar (‘15) thinks that holidays are so important “because our history is one of the best things about us...the fact that we’re still here is remarkable and we need to celebrate.”

Furthermore, students recognize the significance of Jewish holidays and the necessity to celebrate them. Ben Aranoff (‘15) comments, “Even though I celebrate nonJewish holidays like Thanksgiving, I think that Jewish holidays are definitely more important because I’m Jewish and I identify more with them.”

Thanksgiving, while not a Jewish holiday, is generally considered innocuous because it is a national holiday with no religious affiliation. Even students who believe that most non-Jewish holidays should not be

“‘To go trick or treating is completely against all beliefs of Judaism. No matter what it is now, it really comes down to what the origins are.’” celebrated accept the celebration of Thanksgiving. Akiva Goldman (‘15) articulates this, saying, “Thanksgiving is perfectly okay to celebrate because it is a national holiday and is generic.”

However, most non-Jewish holidays are not national ones. A considerable amount originate from either Christian or pagan roots. Many of these holidays have become commercialized, or “hallmarkized” in recent years, causing some SAR students to believe

that they are no longer associated with their Christian or pagan roots are therefore secular and harmless. Many students have no problem celebrating these holidays, feeling, as Shira Silver (‘15) does, that “it’s [not] the hugest [sic] deal as long as you don’t do it in the spirit of the Christian holiday.”

There is a strong student consensus that certain Christian holidays are clearly problematic. For example, Christmas has a direct correlation to Christianity as it is a celebration of their savior - a savior whom Judaism has rejected. As Goldman describes,“It stands against so many things we believe in.”

Although Thanksgiving is overwhelmingly accepted and Christmas overwhelmingly rejected, celebration of Halloween is a gray area for many. A few students are vehemently against celebrating Halloween. Gilad Fortgang (’15) called Halloween “avodah zarah,” saying, “The origins of Halloween are paganist… I think that to go trick or treating is completely against all beliefs of Judaism. No matter what it is now, it really comes down to what the origins are.”

Echoing Fortgang’s sentiments, Shalhevet Schwartz (’15) remarks, “You can celebrate Halloween for fun, without thinking about its origins, but it’s impossible to completely separate a ritual from its pagan roots.

It’s like wearing a sweater and saying, ‘I’m just wearing it because I like it, not because it was made by slave children in Mali.’”

However, many students are in favor of celebrating Halloween. Silver comments, “My parents don’t think it’s right [to celebrate Halloween] because it comes from St. Hallows which is a Christian holiday… Personally, I don’t think it’s the hugest [sic] deal as long as you don’t do it in the spirit of the Christian holiday.”

An anonymous sophomore who goes trick or treating observes, “I never thought of it not being Jewish; I just wanted some candy and would always throw out the not kosher candies like nerds or sweet tarts.”

Micah Levy (‘15) adds, “ It has nothing to do with Christian beliefs or non-Jewish beliefs.

I love Halloween.”

Like Halloween, Valentine’s Day is controversial amongst students. On the one hand, giving teddy bears and chocolates can be seen merely as a nice gesture and not a celebration of a Christian Saint. As Talia Marcus, (’15) notes, couples that celebrate this day are “thinking about each other on Valentine’s Day, not about the saints or whatever Valentine’s Day is named after.”

On the other hand, there are students, such as Fortgang, who believe that since “it has a lot to do with St. Valentine [and Christianity]...it should not be practiced by Orthodox Jews.” All of these conflicting opinions belie a larger problem in Jewish society: a constant wrestling with the question of our identity, of who we are as modern Jews in a modern American society.

The Buzz, December 2012

13

Advice Column School Life

We’ve Got Ruach, Yes We Do!

By Rebecca Harris The roars of the Chagiga transcend throughout the school. Yet another Rosh Chodesh filled with Rabbi Kroll passionately belting out his favorite Chagiga song over pitchy speakers. Everyone is intruding through different simcha circles, invading them with yelps and screams. Everyone, except for a select few who trail up the stairs, notes in one hand, squeezing their eyes shut in concentration to remember the 35th atomic number on the Periodic table. To them, a lively ruckus is not worth spending their valuable studying time.

Rachel Abrams (’15) is occasionally one of these students. She sometimes prioritizes other things above Chagigot, saying, “I would miss a Chagiga to do work.

I have before.” At the Chagiga for Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, a large portion of the Junior Grade was absent, due to an AP Bio test later that day. Even students who don’t have work will often skip out on the monthly celebrations. Sarah Lobel, (’14) shared “I’m not into any of those, really. I’m not into chagigas.” An anonymous freshman shared Lobel’s ambivalence toward Chagigot, stating, “I just don’t get into it because it’s kind of pointless and it’s not fun.”

While most students who avoid Chagigot part with them for utilitarian purposes (to do work) or because of a lack of interest, some even claim to avoid Chagigot because of ideological disagreements with how the school should inspire Judaism. “I feel like [it’s] sort of a fake energy and I’d rather just have a more sincere [energy]. It’s not sincere. And it’s too loud,” says Shira Wolf (’15).

On the other hand, many students do see the value of devoting time each month Cheating Continued from page 4

integrity do not seem to have increased rapidly at SAR recently, the same cannot be said of many other schools. Lately, there have been a number of incidents of cheating at top institutions such as Harvard University, Stuyvesant High School, and North Shore Hebrew Academy High School. It is indisputable that cheating has become easier, and therefore occurs much more frequently.

“There are numerous reasons that a student may feel possessed to cheat: internal pressure, external pressure, lack of selfconfidence, peer pressure, laziness, etc.” explains Mr. Courtney. SAR is without a doubt a competitive environment, and in any competitive environment, some cheating is inevitable.

But despite the hype that will inevitably surround the release of the document outlining the new cheating policies, the faculty does not think that cheating is an incredibly pressing issue at SAR. “I administer the SAT and ACT testing at SAR and my proc-

to celebration and entertainment. Jessica Schwartz (’16) says [in accordance to Chagigot], “it’s good, it’s entertaining.”

The ruach in the school seems to be targeted at a certain group of people, those who have the will and determination to pump all the sleep deprived children into a running circle, and those who don’t have the

erybody connects in a different way, so some people connect through ruach, some people connect by davening, by learning, by doing chesed, but everybody has their connection.”

But if they do want to join, children of the school also have to learn where to find their place in the circle, and just jump into the escapades of happiness that the Chagigot emit.

Rachel Ashe (’14)

willpower to resist the smiling seniors who are pulling them in. All the rest, however, are left behind.

“There needs to be a way of getting the other grades. In every grade, when they get to be seniors, they do it. But we need a way to get them in…beforehand,” says Mr. Lannik. He worries about the students who are uninspired by exciting Chagigot and do not feel compelled to participate. Yoram Roschwalb, on the other hand, believes that many students connect in different ways, and should be left to their own devices. He says, “What’s beautiful about Judaism is that ev-

agrees, “It’s really important for every student to get involved and to have a good time.

If you make fun out of it, you’re going to have a great time.” Harry Scheiner (’13) agrees, “ruach in SAR is the reason that I love SAR.” Matt Landes (’13), Student Body President, seems to believe that SAR is going in a great direction with its ruach. “There is definitely more ruach at SAR than at most other schools, and that is a good thing.”

Yoram agrees, saying, “The school is so dedicated to the spiritual enhancements of their students, and I feel that this school has

tors and I have never caught an SAR student cheating on the exam,” says Mr. Courtney.

Mr. Fleischer, with regard to his experiences with plagiarism, feels the same way. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with that,” he concurs.

Although there are many punishments that the new document does articulate, a blemish on a permanent record is not one of them. In fact, SAR currently does not have any type of permanent record that accounts for acts of delinquency or breaches of academic integrity.

“Whether we need to have some kind of formal written record that we send to colleges that includes major disciplinary incidents is something we would need to discuss and think about,” says Dr. Schwartz.

Dr. Shinar, however, thinks that the current policy is not perfect. “What’s the difference between a kid who fails for cheating and a kid who fails because he doesn’t know the material?” he asks. “That doesn’t make sense to us. If a kid cheated, there should be some sort of blemish on their record, transcript or SMS, or something that would in-

dicate that their F was an F of integrity, not an F of academics.” However, the school has not yet decided to implement any change.

“We’re talking about it,” says Dr. Shinar.

Due to the lack of a permanent record, students may assume that their crimes may not be punishable beyond high school. Mr. Courtney explains that this is not the case, because another major ramification for cheating presents itself on the Common Application (and other individual university applications).

“The Common Application asks the following Yes/No question: ‘Have you ever been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any educational institution you have attended from the 9th grade (or the international equivalent) forward, whether related to academic misconduct or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in a disciplinary action? These actions could include, but are not limited to: probation, suspension, removal, dismissal, or expulsion from the institution.’ If the answer to this prompt is a “yes,” the student must write a summary of the incident that occurred.”

a reputation of being purely intellectual, and it’s far, far from the truth, this school is full of ruach, full of spirit, full of life, and it’s the only place to be.”

While Chagiga ruach accomplishes the purpose of exciting many students, this excitement often comes at the expense of valuable learning. Most teachers, while supporting ruach as a whole in school, don’t agree with the methods that are being practiced; namely, the rampant herd of seniors that storm the castle every Friday, expressing their love of Shabbat with shouts and intense dancing throughout the school. “I find it highly disruptive to class, and not just for two minutes either. Getting students’ attention back afterwards as well as calming down my own anger, takes another couple of minutes on top,” says Mr. Krausz on the subject. Ms. Pepper agrees: “While I recognize the beauty of singing “Shabbos Kodesh,” the seniors’ enjoyment actually comes at the expense of student learning... Spreading excitement for Shabbat is a wonderful thing, but I think the seniors take special enjoyment in the fact that this comes during class and not in between.”

Harry Scheiner (’13) disagrees with the teachers, stating, “ruach in SAR is a unique characteristic of SAR where kids are able to express their love for Judaism through having fun and essentially just going crazy and I think that that’s a great thing.” Yoram agrees with Scheiner. “I think [the] awareness that shabbos is so beautiful [is] worth going crazy.”

While students and teachers can disagree on the merits of Chagigot and monthly ruach, everyone can perhaps agree with Joel Fisch(’15), who, when asked his opinion on SAR, replied with a beaming smile, “SAR’s awesome.”

While this may be enough for some teachers, other teachers, like Rabbi Hain, feel that there needs to be more serious long term consequences. “I feel as if one of the deterrents to be looked at and considered is [the permanent record]. If we’re in a school that is certainly competitive in terms of colleges, one of the ways in which we would effectively deter cheating is by having... the incident placed on a person’s record. If we’re not doing that because we feel that’s not a fair punishment, that it’s not rehabilitative, thats okay; if we aren’t considering that because we want to preserve a clean record for college applications, I feel like that’s something we should look at.”

The new document attempts to make the student body understand that there are serious consequences for their actions. For those students who have made cheating a habit, the consequences will hopefully discourage cheating and cause students to think before they act.

14

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Column School Life Admissions Continued from page 1

ultimately made by an admissions committee, which includes Rabbi Harcsztark and Ms. Lerea as well as the rest of the administration and several other faculty members.

While transcripts and BJE scores seem to be objective criteria, there is no exact threshold a student needs to pass in order to get into SAR. Rather, Rabbi Harcsztark says, “it’s about getting a picture of the student.” Looking at a student’s transcript is not about seeing whether he or she is academically oriented enough to attend SAR; rather, it is seen as part of a larger picture—one of the student’s talents, struggles, aspirations and values.

SAR searches for those students who are committed to SAR’s mission, especially with regard to religious commitment. “We’ll ask them what their relationship to tefillah is, what [aspects of religious practice] they struggle with, or what goes well [for them],” Rabbi Harcsztark explains. Looking at how a student approaches religion in a multidimensional world of Jewish thought and practice is more important in shaping the environment of the school, he says, than looking at exactly how the student acts.

Understanding a student on this level is no easy task. Interviews are only about a half hour in length, and that is the only time that the SAR administration interacts with the potential students. And eighth graders are young; their behavior in eighth grade will not necessarily accurately predict how they will act over a four-year period. “How do you know what a kid is going to be in a couple of years from now, or whether there seems to be a commitment to our mission?”

Ms. Lerea contemplates.

Her answer is to look beyond the student, to a student’s family and community.

Before deciding whether or not to take any Skyview Behaviors Continued from page 1

behavior causes a longer wait for customers in front of them, they continue to cut nonetheless.

Though student onlookers will often recognize the inappropriateness of this behavior, they often do not actively reprimand it. An anonymous freshman admits, “Someone cut me in line the other day, but it was a junior boy so I was scared of him...I just ran away.” Ben Elias (‘15) confirms this: “When kids cut lines, which tends to be when the line mainly consists of kids younger than them, people almost always notice, but most of the time no one has the guts to speak up, especially if it is an upperclassman.”

The consensus among students asked is that this ill-mannered type of conduct generally occurs mostly at Dunkin’ Donuts and Judean Hills. Yael Marans (‘16) verifies, “I think in Judean Hills the cutting is worse than in the other places because when people wait on line there, it just becomes a group of people waiting in that front room, so anyone can just cut to the front.” She adds, “This probably makes it harder for people that aren’t from SAR to order since we’re all just

eighth grader, someone from SAR will have a conversation with the student’s parents as well as some sort of Jewish role model (principal, synagogue rabbi, etc.). “[If] you think that there’s a match between a family and the school, you want to be able to accept that student,” explains Ms. Lerea. Looking at family and community is often more accurate and effective than interviews are, she says. A family’s values and priorities can give the school a better sense of how a student will behave long term, she continues, than talking to the students themselves. This policy, however, leads to cases when the school will choose to accept or reject students based not on their own merits, but on those of the people around them. While family is an important factor for SAR to consider, it is certainly a fine line for the school to walk.

For about 65 students a year, though, this entire process is relatively meaningless.

SAR High School has always automatically admitted students from SAR Academy, excepting those rare cases when the school had a very good reason not to take a specific child. This policy shackles the administration, which has to accept about 65 students a year regardless of how those students measure up to SAR High School’s standards. Maintaining a grade of only 120 or so students becomes especially difficult, because in reality, SAR can accept less than half of that number of students from other schools. But SAR High School is indeed affiliated with SAR Academy, and it sees itself as serving the greater SAR community. “We do have a special relationship with the kids from SAR Academy… we’re one school,” argues Ms. Lerea. “We feel that as a community, we would definitely prefer to offer them spaces at the high school.”

Rabbi Harcsztark, however, admits that SAR might have to implement change,

and soon. Already, he says, SAR has started to shift its policy regarding students at SAR Academy. He is not willing to go so far as to simply reject students after they apply, though. SAR plans to break the news more gently to those from SAR Academy who do not seem to be the right students for SAR High School. While they are still at SAR

a big mob.”

Interestingly, however, the manager of Judean Hills brushes off a question on students’ conduct as a non-issue. “They’re kids.

Everyone cuts the line sometimes. If some elderly or other people come in here, I gotta take care of them first, before the kids. But they’re not really a problem.”

The Carlos and Gabby’s manager agrees with this sentiment. Discussing students’ attitudes in the restaurant, he comments, “They’re excited they can get kosher Mexican food so close to school, so usually everybody’s pretty loud and happy...They don’t break anything, and they don’t make too much of a mess. I don’t really mind, I was in high school once, too, so I know what its like to be hanging out at lunch. You just kind of want to cut loose. But I have never had to talk to an SAR kid and say: ‘Can you not do that?’” He explains that in the rare care of student rowdiness, “We kind of take the regular customers to the side when the SAR boys are in here having lunch.” He added jokingly, “I mean, come on, do girls even go to SAR?” Another Skyview store that gets signif-

icant SAR business is, of course, the go-to for lunch, drinks, and that Mincha break snack that you desperately need to get you through the remaining hour and a half of the day: The Riverdale Kosher Market. Many students are familiar with Elisha Block, who is not only the owner of the store, but has probably scanned your finger quite a few times as well (he runs the lunch program in the cafeteria).

He states: “I find that as a whole, the SAR students are very well behaved and very respectful. Over the two years I’ve been here, I’ve had very few problems with any of the students behavior in the store...I don’t see line cutting, and if they do, they kind of just don’t even realize it. I find that the students are respectful when they speak to employees here, I find that they’re very respectful when they’re on line in school.” Elisha concludes, “I really, as a whole, like the student body very much.”

Although an overwhelming number of Skyview employees seem to find little fault with SAR students, some, with similar sentiments to Mr. Shah, still think there could be improvement. An anonymous Gruenbaum’s worker recounts, “Student’s are sometimes

“SAR has started to shift its policy regarding students at SAR Academy.”

Academy, the school plans to inform those students that SAR High School might not be the best place for them, giving them time to use that knowledge to either reconsider their behavior or reconsider where to apply.

Students from SAR Academy, however, will continue to have a significant leg up in the admissions process, to the relief of some and the dismay of others.

Because the change that SAR plans to make is small, it is unlikely to be enough to account for the ever-increasing applicant pool. Rabbi Harcsztark maintains that last year’s yield was an anomaly, but even so, he is not necessarily willing to bank on that assumption. It is possible that SAR will simply need to start accepting fewer people. If SAR gets the impression—and Rabbi Harcsztark maintains that the school will be able to get an accurate impression before it needs to make any decisions—that the students it is accepting are very likely to come, SAR will have to accept fewer students and put more on a waiting list. “There really isn’t any alternative,” he says.

But this is a difficult thing to accomplish. SAR is not willing to completely give up its commitment to students from SAR Academy. SAR is also committed to those families that are already part of the SAR community, which means that, although it is not a hard and fast rule, SAR will usually accept the siblings of other SAR students.

And SAR is not willing to give up on bringing new families into the school. “[Bringing in new families] is your life, that’s your future,” argues Ms. Lerea. As much commitment as SAR has to taking care of its own, it is not willing to sacrifice new families.

Last year, the school discovered that the admissions policy as it stands is not sustainable. “[This] year is going to be pivotal,” says Ms. Lerea, because SAR will finally have to reassess its admissions policy in a decisive way.

Something has to give, and it is unclear whether that will be SAR Academy students, siblings, new families, or grade size. And while Rabbi Harcsztark maintains that “120 is fine, but more than that is complicated,” keeping the numbers low for next year does not look realistic. “It’s going to be more than 120,” admits Ms. Lerea.

But this year’s round of admissions has just begun. The school has already begun interviewing eighth graders and many students have already had their half days.

The school can make bold predictions about reducing—or not reducing—grade size, but we will have to wait until January or February to see whether these plans actually come to fruition. “Right now, it’s easy to say what we’re going to have to do,” says an unsure Rabbi Harcsztark. “But then we’re going to have to see what it actually looks like when we get down to doing it.”

a little disruptive, they can get pretty loud.”

Elias adds another behavior misdemeanor to the mix, claiming that students aren’t very concerned with “loving the restaurants”; they don’t throw away their food and they leave messes behind.

Two students also mentioned that stores seem to be more crowded this year.

This is undoubtedly because of the large freshman class size this year, perhaps causing lines to be somewhat noisier and longer.

Max Slepian (‘14) observes, “Stores have always been packed, and every year it’s just going to get more and more crowded.”

Students, the next time you’re waiting on a long line, try to remember how lucky you are to go to a school that allows us to roam our shopping center freely, to eat kosher pizza, Mexican food and sushi to our heart’s content, and to drink vast quantities of coffee to make up for our disastrous lack of sleep. If you do that, perhaps those five minutes will go a bit faster. If not, just whip out your iPhone and read the Buzz website for a little while; that’s always a good way to pass the time.

The Buzz, December 2012

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Advice School Column Life

Freshman Excuses

By Liat Katz and Ariella Gentin Freshmen may be like sheep, but as we all know, every flock needs its shepard. So when herds of Freshmen end up in RPT, only to evade it with a crafty excuse, one might begin to wonder whether the Freshmen perhaps need a stronger shephard.

Many agree that freshmen have an easier time negotiating their way out of discipline. Freshman-isms like ‘I was looking at the wrong Wednesday schedule!’ or ‘I’m just a Freshman, how was I supposed to know advisory was only a free period on the Tuesday before a Wednesday 2?’ are extremely prevalent on the third floor. A pitiful puppy-dog look coupled with a variation of the “I’m only in 9th grade, I don’t know any better” line is enough to get any Freshman out of trouble.

Though RPT is handed out generously,

a Freshman’s plea to the GLCs is enough to avoid it. Perhaps because Freshmen are in the process of adjusting to high school, there is often confusion about school rules and restrictions. Alana Woloshin (‘16) explains: “I think mostly they [the Freshmen] don’t know what is going on because sometimes the things in school or times are somewhat confusing.” Between the four Wednesdays and the constantly modified schedule, it’s easy to explain why a student may become befuddled. And if you’ve only been a student for three months, that confusion only multiplies.

Although many Freshman excuses are legitimate, Noam Ben-Zacharia (‘16) notes that there are definitely students who create illegitimate excuses to avoid missing their free time. “It’s not that hard to think of an excuse,” Doria Leibowitz (‘16) adds. An anonymous Freshman admits that he invents

false alibis to dodge the repercussions of his lateness. One Freshman even acknowledges that he sleeps in the nurse’s office during mincha, and will then use this as an excuse to get out of RPT. Some students feel that generally Freshman excuses, even when they appear to be legitimate, are not warranted. Tamar David (‘16) explains that “there is no way a Freshman can legitimately use the ‘I didn’t know’ excuse because SAR has been so clear [in explaining the rules].” She elaborates: “The first day of school, they brought us to a room in the annex and told us all of the rules, and we continue to have meetings with Rabbi Harcsztark during advisory and other times when he tells us the rules.”

While the Freshmen’s excuses seem to frequently get them out of RPT, they are less likely to be effective when it comes to disciplinary acts such as dress code. Shoshana

Rosenzweig (’15) explains, “When I was a Freshman I was skirted probably twice a week, and this year I haven’t been skirted yet.” She offers an explanation: “Teachers are trying to set guidelines for them.” Teachers may focus their efforts on disciplining students in their early years of high school to prevent certain issues from becoming problematic in the future.

Though certain excuses may pertain only to Freshman, many students seem to utilize “Freshmanesque” excuses. “RPT was always pretty easy to get out of, you just needed a teacher on your side,” explains Zach Smart (’14). Teachers may in fact ‘accept’ excuses of sophomores, juniors, and seniors just as they ‘accept’ Freshman excuses.

Smart concludes, “The teachers usually buy it, even when the excuses are ridiculous.”

Growth of Faculty at SAR High School

By Miriam Lichtenberg Do you remember your first day of school? Feelings of nervousness or excitement may come to mind. Many students have clear memories of their first day at SAR. And, interestingly, so do teachers.

Ms. Klatt describes her first day at SAR: “The faculty couldn’t have been more welcoming. Everyone introduced themselves to me, welcomed me to SAR, and offered to help me adjust in whatever way they could.”

Though most people have focused on the enormous size of the Freshman grade this year, there has also been an increase in the amount of new teachers on the SAR staff. Walking around school, students are left confused as to whom they are passing in the hallways. “Whenever I see new teachers walking around the floor, I always think that they’re really religious fellows,” proclaims Ayelet Rosenberg (’14). Deena Woloshin (‘14) is frustrated by this reality. “It’s really weird to be walking around the school and not know some of the teachers, because I feel like I used to and now I don’t.”

The SAR faculty does not seem to notice a growth in the faculty as much as students do. Ms. Schneider admits, “I don’t feel a drastic difference.” She does note that this may be due to the fact that she is a Junior GLC and therefore does not really encounter as many of the new teachers.

Hiring new teachers is not a simple process. Dr. Shinar explains that once Juniors and Seniors choose their courses and the freshman class is finalized, “the curriculum coordinators and I begin to pull together our projections for how many sections and teachers we need for each grade.” He adds, “With the larger Freshman class came more sections, so we hired more teachers - some part time, some full time.” For the past few years, the school has hired around nine new teachers each year, mostly to take the place of teachers who left SAR’s walls. This year, however, the school hired thirteen new teachers, increasing the number of teachers from 108 to 110.

“With the influx of new teachers comes more unique experiences and perspectives that help broaden and enrich our school culture.”

Some students embrace the influx of teachers. “I really like the new faculty. I like having more teachers because the teachers

that SAR hires are awesome, so the more the merrier,” declares Chanan Heisler (’13).

And it’s true. SAR knows how to hire its teachers. “The staff is an amazing staff.

I wonder if the students are aware of how amazing the staff is,” asserts Rabbi Ben-David, a new teacher. On his reasons for joining SAR, Rabbi Ben-David notes, “I heard it was a great school, and it’s a very creative school, and [the school] really believes in the values of integration and collaboration.

There are a lot of different things that make this school really unique.” Unbeknownst to Rabbi Ben-David, he is one of them. With the influx of new teachers comes more unique experiences and perspectives that help broaden and enrich our school culture.

The English department has undergone the most faculty growth. “The English department is large and increasingly diverse in terms of instructional strategies, approaches to literature, and even goals to some extent, while at the same time we have all been hired because we reflect SAR’s core values,” explains Mr. Huber, a member of school since its inception. He has seen his department grow and evolve as the school incorporates new English teachers into the SAR community.

One of the new additions to this department is Mr. Broder. His reasoning for choosing SAR, after holding a leading role at MTA, is, as he explains it: “I was looking for a change of scenery. I was looking

for a school with this school’s vision. I liked its freshness and its ability to be forward thinking... I liked the fact that the school was eager to revisit traditional modes of student education.” SAR’s teachers, a growing body, are all unique; excited about teaching at SAR and enthusiastic about working with fellow teachers to help better the student community.

The feeling amongst teachers was clear: whether there were 1,000 teachers or five teachers, relationships would still prosper. “Colleagues here are great. One of my favorite things about school is... having a lot of friends on staff. Friends that I knew before coming here. But I feel like I’ve made more as well,” Rabbi Ben-David shares with a smile.

Even as a veteran staff member, Ms. Schneider agrees that the close knit faculty dynamic remains the same as always, even as new teachers come to SAR in greater numbers each year. “We still have the same reflective faculty meetings and we’re still discussing important issues.”

This consistency is due to the fact that new teachers are hired based on the same standards as the older teachers. “We ask all of our teachers, new and veteran, to be content experts and to really care about working with kids. Whether teachers are experienced or not, these are the types of professionals who are met with most success at SAR,” concludes Dr. Shinar.

Readers are invited to submit letters or responses to articles and editorials in The Buzz. Letters may be sent to: thebuzz@sarhighschool.org (Submissions may be edited for length or content). Readers can read and respond to articles on The Buzz’s website, TheSARBuzz.org.

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The Buzz, December 2012

Advice School Column Life Bowling Continued from page 3

although he understood Rabbi Kroll’s case, he did not feel comfortable changing the rules on the other schools in the league, concerned that it would make them uncomfortable. He decided that he would ask whether it was comfortable with a co-ed bowling team, since that was the school most likely to have a problem allowing girls in the league.

After speaking to Rabbi Darren Blackstein, TABC’s Bowling Team coach, he wrote again to Rabbi Kroll: “[The TABC coach] said the league has always been [all] boys, and that some of [the school] parents might object. If we would have told them from the beginning, that would be something else, but in the middle of the season he doesn’t want it. I can’t push him on it, as he is correct.”

Rabbi Blackstein declined to respond to an email interview for this article.

Haberman feels that whether or not the league was originally established as single sex, the rule is unjustified. “Unlike other sports, where there might be a halachic reason girls can’t play,” she complains, “like basketball with touching I understand, but bowling there’s no contact.” Abrams expresses the same objection to the commissioner’s decision. “I don’t think it’s fair,” she confesses. “I’ll even go as far as to wear a skirt when I’m bowling, because it’s the equivalent of college bowl. There’s no contact and it’s incredibly tzanua.”

Other students and faculty members at SAR High School also have strong opinions about Eli Brazil’s decision. “It’s unfair to exclude them if they’re just as good,” ex-

“Unlike other sports, where there might be a halachic reason girls can’t play,” Haberman complains, “like basketball with touching I understand, but bowling there’s no contact.” presses Benjamin Listman (’15). Rebecca Packer (’15) agrees with him: “It’s not fair because it’s not a contact sport. Girls should be allowed to bowl if they want to because there’s no touching and it’s not halachically wrong.”

There are dissenting voices, though.

“Even the olympics has separate gender sports,” states Rabbi Schwab in support of the commissioner’s decision. “So it’s not just about contact sports. I don’t think it’s purely about Judaism and religion, I thinks it’s much broader.”

“I definitely see where the other schools are coming from,” Yoni Gelfand (’14) agrees. Gelfand is one of Nurit and Rachel’s team members. He thinks that the commissioner was in the right, but not because there is anything inherently wrong with co-ed bowling. Rather, he thinks that the ruling made sense because of the mindset of the students coming from different ideology. “Kids from single-sex schools, like TABC, aren’t as familiar and comfortable with girls as us SAR kids are. Their focus and attention would be thrown off if they’d play against girls... The whole competitive mentality would be thrown off.”

While keeping bowling single sex might be justified, the fact remains that there is no girls’ team, and therefore no opportunity for girls to bowl at all. This is not necessarily only a debate about the merits of mixed gender activities; it raises a larger issue of gender discrimination.

According to Title IX, a federal education amendment passed in 1972, “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in... any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Although all of the schools in Brazil’s bowling league are

private schools, and therefore not necessarily bound by this law, the legal implications are not so clear cut and many private schools that receive federal funding are in fact bound by Title IX. Many students feel that regardless of the legal ramifications, private schools should make every effort to provide equal athletic opportunities for both genders.

Elana Rosenthal (‘14), who attempted to try out for the boys’ wrestling team earlier this year and was turned away, feels that “boys and girls should have the same sports opportunities. I wrestle with my brother all the time, and it’s unfair that I shouldn’t get to compete in a sport because I’m a girl.”

Whether because of a legal or a moral conscience, Eli Brazil has assured Rabbi Kroll that, “next year we will start a girls team.” But this is easier said than done; finding girls interested in bowling is, according to Hilla Katz (‘14), “very difficult... girls tend to get excited about teams like basketball and volleyball, not really bowling.” It is entirely possible that Abrams and Haberman may never get a chance to bowl as part of a high school team.

Rabbi Kroll, though he has pushed for the league commissioner to change his mind, also understands his position. “The league has always been a boys league.” He explains. “I think it’s quite reasonable for everyone to assume that it would remain so unless otherwise indicated at the beginning of the season. I still think that that is the wrong position, but it is a reasonable position in my view.”

What’s Online?

The following articles can be found under online articles at www.TheSARBuzz.org Meeting Gilad Shalit: A memoir

by Miriam Lichtenberg Halacha Chodashit or Yomit?

by Jennifer Kleiman

Shabbaton: Sophomore Grade United

by Ben Perla Analyzing the Annual Report

by Arly Mintz New Outdoor Area: A “Real” Campus? by Emma Cantor

The Buzz, December 2012

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Advice Column School Life Eating Disorders Continued from page 4

A sophomore girl also says that she knows one boy with an eating disorder and claims to have “had discussions with boys saying they’re not going to eat at Carlos and Gabby’s every day anymore because of their weight,” but also admits that “I haven’t seen [cases with boys] as severe as [cases with] girls.”

Explains Dr. Hoffman, “The boys who are more at risk [of developing an eating disorder] tend to be serious athletes or serious perfectionists.” However, he holds that while the majority of people with eating disorder are female, “boys also get distorted messages from the media about what you’re supposed to look like.”

Perfectionism and distorted ideals of beauty from the media are both significant factors in causing eating disorders in boys and girls alike. According to an article by psychologist Dr. Esther Altmann, “the most significant risk factor for an eating disorder is going on a diet,” but other factors include familial pressures, perfectionistic tendencies, and times of transition in a person’s life.

Dr. Hoffman adds that people who have eating disorders tend to “have really high standards of themselves or come from families…where it’s clear there are high standards...[and] a lot of girls have these distorted and conflicting messages from their peers and from society about what’s a healthy way to live and what’s a realistic lifestyle.”

Some people believe that the SAR environment helps students deal with these disorders. Nurse Russi Bohm believes that in SAR, a student is “surrounded by people who are so willing and able to help you…If you were in a different school I don’t think you would have the same people looking out

Sleep Deprivation Continued from page 12

deprived students will therefore do poorer on exams than those who received an adequate night’s sleep.

But how much sleep do students actually get? Listman admits that he gets an average of 6.5 hours of sleep nightly, and sometimes as little as 5 hours. Similarly, Goldsmith explains that on an average school night she gets between 6 and a half and 7 hours of sleep.

While these numbers may seem shocking, a poll conducted among 40 students from different grades reveals that an average SAR High School student sleeps around 6 hours and 50 minutes per night, over 2 hours less than the suggested amount for teens.

Research suggests that teenagers need 9.25 hours of sleep at night to perform optimally but only one student admitted to getting 9.25 or more hours of sleep per night. There is no

for you so well as [we do] here.”

Anna Peterman (’14) adds, “I think that being in SAR might help the situation because… even though there’s competition for grades sometimes, I never really feel that there’s a competition for popularity or any-

“A lot of girls have these distorted and conflicting messages from their peers and from society about what’s a healthy way to live and what’s a realistic lifestyle.” thing…I feel like that’s a huge element in a lot of other schools that might lead to people having confidence issues [and] eating disorders but I don’t really think that the student body in SAR has that problem.”

However, Shai Katz (’14) challenges this opinion. He thinks that “the SAR environment is competitive in every way: work, looks, clothing...And many people feel that they need to change themselves to be ‘better’ and fit in. Whether that means changing the way you dress or working harder in school or finding a way to change your appearance.” He adds, “This environment helps people grow but after a certain point it can be destructive.”

The anonymous recovering bulimic quoted above also attributes her struggles with body image to the culture at SAR. “I feel like everyone always needs to look their

doubt that many SAR students are, in various degrees, sleep deprived.

For Deena Woloshin (‘14), the only way to even begin to compensate for her

“An average SAR High School student sleeps around 6 hours and 50 minutes per night, over 2 hours less than the suggested amount for teens” average of 5.5 hours of sleep per night is

best. Everyone always says how they’re too fat, or not pretty enough. I don’t think that’s only true at SAR, but it definitely contributed to me feeling like I had to be as skinny as possible.”

A male student who has a bulimic friend blames this issue on bullying within the school. He claims, “often kids will make each other feel bad about their body figure, even if the person being made fun of was not criticized directly.”

One SAR student who this year suffered from Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder, and depression, stress, and the desperation that came with it, attests that the SAR environment did not help her situation, explaining that she simply “didn’t like the way I looked.”

An anonymous female student directly blames the school for these types of issues, claiming that there are “a lot of pressure[s] and…labels on kids, and the faculty doesn’t have enough ‘love yourself’ programs.”

Currently, the SAR guidance department is making some sort of an effort to help these issues. Dr. Hoffman says that in “the health education classes we have, [we] present factual information about what it is [to have] a healthy relationship with food and a healthy body image…We try to preach being proud of who you are…and not feeling the need to change who you are to meet someone else’s unrealistic expectations.”

He explains that SAR also does a lot to help with individual cases of eating disorders. “Friends will come forward and say ‘I can’t help but notice [my friend is] not eating lunch every day’ or people start to notice a student is in pain or thin or malnourished or lethargic, so sometimes we have to be the ones to step in.”

Nurse Russi says, “A lot of times [I hear that students have eating disorders] from other faculty members or from the par-

ent who calls to give me a heads-up or to ‘redflag’ that there are warning signs and to see that if it gets worse and I can collaborate with the parent.”

Dr. Hoffman explains that they then “talk to the student and raise their awareness that if you’re trying to be healthy and…get to a particular way your body looks, there’s nothing wrong with that ambition as long as you’re doing it within healthy parameters…

[If] even in spite of that intervention it still looks like someone’s really at risk for harming their health, we’ll make some suggestions about doing some therapeutic work outside of school.”

However, once a person gets to the point where they have a full-on eating disorder, treating it becomes difficult process. Dr. Hoffman describes these people as experi-

a daily dose of espresso. “Thank goodness there’s a Dunkin Donuts right next to school...coffee is literally the only way I can get through school sometimes,” explains Woloshin. However, caffeine and energy drinks are misleading. They may cause you to feel awake by stimulating nerves, but they do not replace actual sleep. The benefits possessed by sleep are not given to you in a cup of coffee. In fact, people who drink coffee and energy drinks later in the day often cannot fall asleep at night.

The research is in, and it unequivocally indicates that sleep-deprivation in teenagers is unhealthy and has long-term effects.

Though sleep deprivation is common among most students, some students do get a sufficient amount of sleep. What is this select group of students doing to get enough sleep?

Yoni Gelfand (‘14) explains that he shares a bedroom with his younger brother so that he is forced to go to sleep when his

younger brother does. Ricki Heicklen (’14) has parental controls set on her computer so that it shuts off at 10:00 pm, preventing her from working (or, more often, procrastinating) late into the night. Other students report that they give their computers to their parents, or ask siblings to put passwords on their phones until the morning. Even teachers, like Ms. Klatt, are going to sleep earlier thanks to iPhone features such as “Do Not Disturb,” which enables iPhones to remain silent and unilluminated throughout the night.

At the end of the day, it is clear that almost every student (and probably much of the faculty) is overtired. On one Friday morning after davening, Tamar David (‘16) yawned and announced: “We all need to get some more sleep.” Indeed, we really do.

“We try to preach being proud of who you are…and not feeling the need to change who you are to meet someone else’s unrealistic expectations.” encing “a certain distortion of reality where someone looks at their self and says ‘I see a fat person’, whereas everyone else looks at them and thinks they’re unnaturally thin… it’s like trying to convince someone that the way they see reality isn’t real.”

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The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Advertisement Column

The Buzz, in partnership with Dollar a Month, will contribute ten percent of all revenue from advertisements to tzedakah.

The Buzz, December 2012

19

School Life Advice Column Elections Continued from page 3

tory classes discussing election issues, though I wish more time could have been afforded to the topic.”

Classroom focus aside, most students feel the student body is mindful of current politics and opinionated about the recent election. However, students have different experiences regarding politics at SAR; many of them disagree about the overall political consensus of the students and faculty.

Many students assert that the political tone of the school has favored Governor Romney and the Republican Party throughout the election. “I’ve noticed that most of the students are more affiliated with Romney and the Republican side; I’ve noticed that ever since I was at SAR Academy. A Democrat never won the in school elections that were held at the academy,” observes Rosin. Many students agree that most SAR students are in favor of Romney, although not all think that the student body is incredibly so. Before the elections, Nelkin speculated that “Romney would narrowly win SAR’s mock election.” Elana Rosenthal agreed: “I feel, overall, there is an even support for both candidates.

Although if SAR were to conduct a poll for the student body about Romney vs. Obama, I think Romney would win.”

In fact, the mock election ultimately reflected support for Governor Romney. 64% of 372 students voted in favor of Romney/Ryan, as opposed to 35% for Obama/Biden. To much of the student body, this news was not terribly surprising. Katz states empathetically, “I was not at all surprised that Romney had more support among the student body.” Lichtenberg reflects on her own experience: “Before the whole election heat happened, I just assumed that more students here were Democratic, and then as the election approached and people were talking more about it, I realized, wow, everyone here hates Obama. That’s why the results of the poll didn’t surprise me as much as they would have two months ago.”

However, as many students did not participate in the mock election, this statistic may not necessarily reflect the indisputable consensus of the school. The results of the student election presumably reflect the opinions of those who most passionately wished for their opinions to be heard, correlating with the Romney/Ryan supporters in the student body. Because only 372 students voted, there is still room for discussion concerning the overall political consensus of SAR students.

Some suggest that the true consensus of the SAR student body reflects the near 50/50 split of our US population at large. Many students see the political climate of the school as balanced, unable to discern an overall preference from their surrounding environment. Boiarsky comments, “the overall political consensus of the student body of those in favor of Obama vs. those in favor of Romney, in my opinion, is about 50/50.” However, he sees it as a balance of extremes rather than moderation. “Many students have been discussing among themselves their own personal views,” he states. “There has not been much moderate talk, but rather more extreme views of either President Obama or Governor Romney.” Ms. Pepper reflects, “when

teaching about the elections and hearing student responses it seems to me that there is no consensus–like in the general population, students are divided in their opinions.”

Numerous factors contribute to students’ individual political views. For the most part, students acknowledge the role of parenting in their political affiliations. Nelkin articulates, “I feel very strongly about politics, and it’s no secret that I’m a big social Democrat. I would say that I came to my point of view on my own, but since the correlation between parents’ political views and the views of their children is so

Lichtenberg also notes the significance of teacher influence on students. “By a teacher sharing [his or her] views, [he or she] can really have an impact on [the views] of [his or her] students. Especially if it is a teacher who is really admired by [his or her] students.” Students have felt the influence of teachers in classrooms where politics are frequently discussed. “Dr. Schwartz has caused me to reconsider a number of my views,” shares an anonymous Junior girl.

Unlike the student body, the faculty seems to lean more often towards Democratic views. A poll before elections revealed that 70% of teach-

The Pre-Election Debate between Rabbi Gober and Dr. Schwartz

strong, the facts seem to disagree with me.” Ms. Pepper observes this phenomenon: “Some students admit to “voting” the way their parents do, as parents voice their thinking at home.”

Miriam Lichtenberg (’14), who is one of these students, reflects, “most of my political knowledge comes from conversations at home, and since my family is very democratic and pro Obama, I say I am too.” Rosin expands on the point: “I think my parents’ views definitely af-

“I was not at all surprised that Romney had more support among the student body.” fect my personal orientation; they are the ones who teach me about what each candidate and party is for, they will explain the party they are in favor of more enthusiastically and they usually don’t address the negative side of that party, whereas they only address the negative side of the party they are against.”

Katz continues in this vein. “I’m going to be honest, most of the kids in the school, myself included, have parents who affect their political beliefs,” she admits. “No kid in here can honestly say that they aren’t affected by their parents, whether it’s that their parents drive them in the opposite direction of their political views or whether they influence positively.”

ers intended to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, while only 17% intended to vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan (the remaining faculty members voted for third party candidates or indicated that they did not intend to vote). However, only 23 staff members submitted responses to the poll, so it is difficult to extrapolate to the entire faculty.

A few of the dissenting faculty members indicated strong disapproval of Barack Obama.

An anonymous teacher who voted for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan shared strong feelings about the President’s campaign strategy and past four years. “The sole focus of Obama’s campaign has been to insult Romney. He has done this to draw attention away from the pathetic job he has done the past four years. Under Obama’s watch we have seen the debt grow to an absurd level and millions of Americans abandon the labor force.” While this teacher is an outlier amongst a more liberal faculty body, such views may indeed affect a student body susceptible to teacher influence.

Many students cite their solidarity with the Jewish and Zionist communities as influential in their political views. In fact, many students who support Governor Romney state that support for Israel has driven them to the right.

Boiarsky states: “My Jewish background most definitely impacts my opinions of Obama and Romney. My primary reason for supporting Romney is that he will be a better friend to Israel and tougher on Iran than Obama. My family and most Jews in my neighborhood feel the same way.”

Aranoff agrees: “I like Romney because I think he’s better for this economy and I also

think he’s better for Israel. I think Obama has shown that he doesn’t really care about Israel.”

Chana Rosenthal(‘16) asserts, “America and Israel are allies and rely on each other, and if we have a president of the United States that’s not for Israel he wouldn’t want to help. I think Romney being pro-Israel definitely affects my political views.”

Rosin expresses frustration at this generalization concerning Obama’s and Romney’s views on Israel: “A lot of time people will say that Obama isn’t pro-Israel, and therefore if you are for Obama, you are not for Israel.., etc. At first, when people said this to me I felt like my parents were leaving something out and that my parents were wrong and not pro-Israel, but I decided to investigate what people were saying so that I could come up with a better response to this.”

An anonymous senior claims, “among my peers, it’s more politically correct to say you like Obama. The only socially acceptable reason to support Romney is that Romney equals pro-Israel in people’s minds. That’s the one reason that it’s ‘okay’ at SAR.” Katz challenges this reasoning: “To be honest, I obviously am pro-Israel but I’m not going to choose a candidate based on their views on Israel. If you’re the president of America, America is your top priority.”

Dr. Schwartz, however, thinks that SAR students do not believe that Israel in American politics is a black and white issue. “I actually think that being in the SAR environment is a little more nuanced than being Jewish and proIsrael, because within the ‘we’re all Jewish and we’re all pro-Israel’ world, I think SAR is less politically uniform than some places are.”

Despite these variations in perception, attitude, and belief, the SAR climate remains one in which politics are taken seriously. Gross explains: “I definitely think that everyone who’s voting from my grade is taking it seriously. I think that we’re all kind of shocked by the fact that we’re 18 and can actually influence the political process to some extent.”

SAR itself has organized events to encourage this environment of political awareness and discussion. On the day of the presidential election, Rabbi Hain moderated a formal debate between faculty members Rabbi Gober and Dr. Schwartz, in which they addressed many pressing political issues. Over 100 students attended, listening in as the two animatedly disputed issues ranging from global warming to national healthcare. Many students express enthusiasm about the debate and the discussions it engendered.

Lichtenberg states, “it was really great to have attended such a lively inter-faculty debate. It says something about the environment of SAR that there was such a big and engaged turnout.” Elana Rosenthal agrees, asserting that “both Dr. Schwartz and Rabbi Gober stood on their own two feet and presented arguments that were clear and illuminating. The debate was a chance to hear both sides of the political spectrum, and it brought forth political conversations among my peers. I’m happy that these kinds of discussions can happen in SAR.”

20

The Buzz, December 2012

Advice Column Dear Sandy Survivors, This past hurricane has given me more free time than I know what to do with. I can’t hang out with my friends because it is too windy outside. The hurricane has also left many without power, which means no TV or Internet access, and I therefore cannot watch Gossip Girl. How should I spend this free time?

Sincerely, Bored at Home Dear Bored at Home, We know how you feel. We love vacation, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much and we need a vacation from vacation. Of course, after a day or two of school, we realize that what we need is a reverse vacation from vacation, which is actually just another vacation. Remember that just because it’s vacation does not mean you should miss out on torah learning. We are very thankful that the administration sent out an email telling us this because if it had not, we probably would not be “frum” and would go eat lobster on Yom Kippur, which everyone

knows, leads to mixed dancing.

Of course, if you’re like us and have braved this “hurricane” with your laptop, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, or Steve Jobs*, then you have no real need for any activity. We should add that if you spend more than five hours landing planes on google earth or doing any other activity on your computer, then your eyes will be more red than Mr. Lannik’s facial hair.

The power going out may be the best thing that has happened to you.

Use this time to find your passion. Walk around and try to be a bat and use sonar to navigate your house**. You can also try being an electrician by using a screwdriver to fiddle with the fuse box. If this doesn’t fix the power, we can think of thousands of great games to play in the dark***. If you live in an apartment building, invite some friends over to play night tag in the hallway****.

You can also make an over-under bet with someone on how many trees will fall. This makes the window a lot like a TV, the 3D kind, just be careful

because you might get a headache if you watch for too long. Lastly, I would recommend finding envelopes and stamps to send letters to food companies, asking dumb questions, to get free stuff. I managed to get two packs of Matt’s Munchies last year.

unfair teams for the next round of microwave toss. ****It may not be as fun if your building was built after 1978 because your building may have emergency lights

Have fun, Knoam and J. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way *He’s not actually dead, he and Jay are making a new technology company, and Norm is their butler. Also Steve is kind of boring, he keeps jumping right into our shenanigans, and its like honestly don’t you have anything better to do? **This is not recommended for going down the stairs. Not that we tried this. ***Many of these usually end in someone saying “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt,” which is unfair to say, because we still had fun after David went to the ER, we just had slightly

Knoam Spira and J. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, our new advice specialists

To submit a question to The Buzz, email TheBuzz@SARHighSchool.org. If you want a serious answer, please make it clear so we don’t embarrass you.

Solomon Bergwerk (9th)

Micah Levy (10th)

Hannah Weiner (11th)

Leah Slaten (12th) Buzzer winner

Adam Friedman (Fellow)

Mr. Courtney

1. How would you title a Yoram Roshwalb Autobiography?

How to be the world’s greatest fellow

Yoram: The Little Engine that Won’t Shut Up

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Fellow

It wouldn’t have a title.

Yoram couldn’t focus enough to write one.

Purim

I’m just gettin’ started

2. The most underrated piece of furniture

Garbage

Russi’s sick bed

SAR doesn’t have furniture

Do walls count as furniture?

Copy machine

The Jonah and the whale piece. People are impressed it’s not Jesus.

3. My most interesting study period was spent..

Getting other kids in trouble

Shopping at “Vacuum World”

Watching Wendy Williams with Rabbi Birnbaum

Studying

In Dunkin Donuts

Playing Jared Frankel one on one...come from behind win

Rabbi Helfgot and Cooking

Ms. Jacobs and Creative Writing

POP Culture

Compiled by Chanan Heisler and Max Altholz

4. Most interesting Rabbi Mr. Berlin teacher-course Hollander and Hebrew combination? and English

Mr. Friedlander Ms. and basketball Brandriss coach teaching sex ed

5. The fingerprint scanner will work when...

Na! That thing will never work

Dr. Michnick misses a day of school

It won’t...

I get my Hell freezes over..I power back.. hope soon though

Mashiach comes

6. On the Monday Sandy threw us out of school I...

Slept for a good 15 hours

Cried in my freezing cold bed

Was annoyed that “How I Met Your Mother” wasn’t on

Watched Rabbi Kroll teach a class in a raincoat

Spent the day on the phone with 5 seniors applying to college

Sat in my 20th floor apartment with power, internet, and a fridge full of cold food