Classic newspaper Volume 24 Issue no. 3

Vol. 24, No. 3 May 2008

Townsend Harris High School at Queens College

149-11 Melbourne Avenue, Flushing, NY 11367

Principal search moves to Level II

'A Funny Thing Happened':

'Forum' wins enthusiastic fans

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l The soldiers of Miles Gloriosus (from left to right: sophomore Rahul Bhasin, junior Damian Charles and senior Dionisio Espinal, Jr.) hold Pseudolus (senior Sasha Diamond) at "sword point."

by Lory Martinez, Abigail Koffler, and Faith Aronowitz "Something familiar, something peculiru:, ?>Omething for everyone, a comedy tonight," sang the Townsend.Harris Players in the opening number of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum on Friday and Saturday evenings on March 28 and 29.

The musical, directed by English teacher Joe Canzoneri and produced by Assistant Principal of Humanities Susan Getting, starred senior Sasha Diamond as Pseudolus, the slave on a mission to earn her freedom.

"I loved the part's versatility," said Sasha. "While playing Pseudolus, I had so many opportunities to do different things. I could be cute and cunning, for example, or I could,play the part of an . old witch-like soothsayer."

Written by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart and composed by Steven Sondheim, Forum is based on the ancient Roman play style of the threehouse set. This show's three houses are: the house of Marcus Lycus (played by senior John Costello), buyer and seller of courtesans; the house of Senex (played by senior Stephen Frias), the dirty old man; and the house of Erronius (played by senior Vaughn Watson), an old man in search of his children, who were stolen in infancy by pirates.

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Pseudolus attempts to win her freedom by helping her master, Hero (played by sophomore Joey Spitaleri), woo the girl he likes. Hero's love interest, Philia (played by senior Melanie Sovem on Friday and senior Diandra Torres on Saturday), happens to be the only virgin in a house of courtesans.

Meanwhile, Senex is having his own love problems with his wife, Domina (played by senior Ellie Philips). In the end, Herogrants Pseudolus her freedom and the moral of the story is, "Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight."

"It really seemed like they were a big dysfunctional family. I like the part where David [Ferrari, who played Hysterium] had to pretend to be dead and ended up jumping and running away; it was great timing," said freshman Shannon MacColl . '~The show was amazing," raved freshman Ariel Prochowski. "It was really witty and comical. I wasn't going to see the show but my friends told me it was really funny, so I went to see it Saturday."

Junior Samantha Garofalo, who played Panacea, said, "Probably the best part of danCing in the show was the friendships I made. Being able to be on stage with some of the greatest people I've ever met is more than anything I could ever ask for." David said, "It was · continued on p . 11

by Benjamin Snyder two previous ones, Mr. Cunningham The process to obtain a new princi- said, "Thete are no ... changes other than pal formally resumed when the newest the DOE has agreed to screen applicants Level I Circular-30 Committee [C-30] for the position before selecting them for met in the principal's conference room interviews rather than after the selection to interview six candidates on May 13. process [is] completed." The DOE Each member of the committee rated the website notes the change, saying that candidates, and the C-30 Committee's before the list of candidates is sent to recomendations were sent to Queens the Hiring Manager, "the Talent Office High School Superintendent Bonnie [evaluates] candidates to determine Laboy for Level II of the process. whether they meet the selection criteria According to the regulations on the set."

Department of Education (DOE) It was announced by Mr. website, Ms. Laboy, who is the Hjpng Cunningham that the process was to be .

Manager for Townsend Harris, is to use extended for a secon9 time at a faculty the ratings and recommendations from meeting on December 10. When asked Level I to determine ·who will be inter- whether he was frustrated regarding this view~d at Level II. lengthy process, Mr. Cunningham, who Principal Thomas Cunningham's announced his retirement last May but ''best guess" is that his successor will agreed to remain on the job until a new be named"before the end of the school principal was found, replied, "Not at all.

The position is too important to settle year - the last week of June."

In accordance with the DOE regula- for an average candidate, but we are all tions, all members of the C-30 signed a hoping for someone with the skills and statement of confidentiality. The com- background to be successful in the premittee was comprised of the same mem- mier humanities high school in New hers who served on the second one. York City."

These included juniors Carmelle Alipio Susanne Felder, Co-President of the and Shama Rahman, student represen- PTA, said, "Since the first and second tatives from the School Leadership C-30 did riot yield a principal, it was Team [SLT]; French teacher and UFf decided to do a third C-30." The C-30, representative Mariet D'Souza; English said Stewart Weiss, a parent representateacher Ilsa Cowen; parents Barry tive on the committee as well as the Brodsky, Susanne Felder, Judith Fried- · · School Leadership Team, "lobbied the man, Carol Sica Gulotta, David Chancellor's Office vigorously to ensure Pecoraro, and Stewart Weiss; library that the school would get every opporaide Paul Sforza, representative of DC tunity possible for the best candidate."

37; along with alumni observers David Dr. Weiss, who is·also the webmaster Herszenhom and Craig Slutzkin. In ad- for the PTA website, said, "We basically dition, Winifred Radigan represented the contacted the Chancellor [Joel I. Klein] DOE anQ Rick Hallman, principal of and told him that we wished to meet with Cardozo High School, represented the him to discuss the process." The Chansupervisors and adminisrators' union. cellor arranged for the committee to Ms. Laboy selected the candidates ineet with Amy Mcintosh, the Chief for evaluation by the C-30 from the to- Talent Officer, as well as Judith Chin, tal pool of applicants. the Regional Superintendent for Region The position was posted April 1 on Three, and Ms. Laboy. the DOE web site. The Alumni Asso"I felt ,that the meeting with them was ci~tion and the Parent Teacher Associanot only productive, but reassuring," tion [PTA] united to aid the process with said Dr. Weiss. "Amy Mcintosh made it a national search utilizing an advertise- quite clear at the meeting that she . ment to obtain the widest possible pool wanted to take constructive steps to of qualified candidates. make sure that we have a better outcome Comparing this latest search to the in the next, and hopefully final, C-30." continued on p. 8 ~

Terra Hawk Robot

Current Events Forums

First Drama Festival

Athlete of the Month

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May2008

Flawed··Ranking System Vacation Blues Since 1983, U.S. News and World Report has released annual rankings of the Vacation. Winter. Mid-winter. Spring. _We all look forward to vacation: havnation's top colleges and universities. These rankings have had an unprecedented ing time to relax, catching up with friends from other schools, maybe even pickinfluence upon high school students' ~ollege choic~s. providing more ammuni- ing up a new hobby. Vacati.ons from school give us, well, just that: a muchtion for the hysteria that now characterizes the college application process. · ill needed, well-deserved break from the mundane routine of. school. Unfortunately, 2007, U.S. News extended its ranking monopoly to American high schools. This vacations are no longer the well-liked refuges they used to be in junior high recently released report, in which Townsend Harris is ranked 45th, is just as flawed school. What are supposed to be relaxing breaks from the daily pressures and as the college ranking system for which the magazine is so well-known. stresses 9f school have become even more stressful than school itself. Now that Many of the collegt< ranking criteria are incomplete and therefore misleading we're back from spring break, we're in for the long haul and it doesn't help that to readers. For example, 25% of a college's overall score is based on the ex- students were not even able to relax during spring break and come back to school tremely subjective criterion of peer assessment. This means that the fate of a reinvigorated. school's ranking can be determined by students who may or may not represent the Teachers pile on the work, believing that, just because we haye several days school accurately. Furthermore, schools that do not complete a ·satisfactory num- off from school, we will have ample time to finish the assignments. Furtherber of peer assessment surveys are automatically excluded from the rankings. Other more, pre-vacation week bears extra str~s. due to all of the tests that are crammed schools who do not fill out the required paperwork are either unranked or ranked in. Eight tests in five days do seem a bit unreasonable. When vacation finally lower than they would be otherwise. ·arrives, students have collaterals, tests, and papers to look forward to. The great Another heavily weighted criterion is student selectivity, which makes up 15% amount of work takes away the euphoric feeling vacations are supposed to proof the overall score. Although this should be a legitimate factor in determining vide. What's spending a day with old friends if you are constantly thinking about college rankings, U.S. News does not take into account all aspects of the applica(continued on page 8) tion process. Fifty percent of this criterion is based on SAT/ACT scores, 40% is based on how many students were in the top 10% of their high school class, and 10% is based on the college's acceptance rate. Although grades and test scores are important, many schools stress the importance of essays, interviews, and the special talents of individual students as factors influencing admission. Recently, U.S. News has excluded from the rankings those schools that do not use SAT or ACT scores in determining admission.

This hints at one of the most basic flaws with the U.S. News college rankings and rankings in general: they treat individuals as s_tatistics. Although these statis1JJ Maddy Jlt'e'Rcli tics may l;>e helpful, they are not holistic and should not be treated as the final ~·I lo-ve T<:>wnsend Harris~ I don't cue what you say:"' 'I'.Itis was one of word in determining the relative merits of academic institutions. The U.S. News ate many memorabie things said by Townsend Harris alttmnitlS Hasan rankings are fallible and should only be consulted in conjunction with other inZaman, from ate cla-ss of 2.005, whenever .one <Jf his friends woul<i camformative materials such as college guide books and college pamphlets. Campus plain abaut S0tlle aspect o-f the scllool he loved.. The zo. .year~old was kl:led visits and overnight stays are also excellent ways to determine whether or not a on January 5 in a car acciaent en the Grand Cemrai Parkway. His loss bas particular school is right for you. been felt by the entue graauating class o.f 2M5, and hrut also impacted In the past, the college rankings have spurred sales, so U.S. News and World otller alumni. eurrent stuaats and staff. The services for Hasan tot>k plaee Report has chosen to capitalize on this success by expanding its audience and snortly alter his d.ea:tll:, and many '1"owt1sena ai'Q.J.'l.'lN!i anEl ·s,taft' oame to pay publishing another high-selling issue. The magazine' ranking of high schools is their respeets ta Plasan and his family. motivated by profit, not by a genuine interest in serving its readers.

Hasan was a lwd-wofkil:lg student who l!eCognizeti and. took advantage The high school ranking system; like the college one, is fundamentally flawed. o.f aJ!l the opfO:ttUnities that Townsend Harris has to o:fiter outside ef the According to U.S. News, the schools are evaluated based on "how each school's classroom. •'He Iovett that high soheol and l00ked forward ta going every students performed on state tests, how well each school's disadvantaged students · aay.'' said Hasan*s younger sister N.oor Zaman. Hasan was a member of did [on the state tests], [and] whether the school was successful in providing the Free ate Children cluh, and was en the scnaot's Hianabal team, and he college-level coursework." They also consider performance on A.P. exams. These actively pard:eipated in the backstage acti~s of SINO! as weD. as the criteria are neither accurate standards by which to measure a school's merits nor Fr@ the Cllt'ldten variety show. Altllougb he was net on the schoors Track are they all-encompassing. · , team. he fre<tuendy attended meets in support of hls frlenas who were If schools are being compared nationally, it does not make sense to use state Hawks. · testing as a criterion. Certain states may have more rigorous testing than others, Throughout Hasan's bigb school caceer, he maintained an avid interest creating an unfair advantage for schools in states with lower standards. ' in the FJ.!eD:Cb.lasgttage, fueled by Dis passion for Frencll rap.

He received The performance of disadvantaged students in various schools is also hard to the Emanuai feingold award for ex-cdlenee in Ji'reBC'h at &e B:accalaurate compare. ~ The magazine defines "disadvantaged" as black, Hispanic, and lowce.remony. After puatiag from Townsend Jlattis., Hasan went on to at-income students. Such a close-minded definition inevitably leads to gross genertend the City University 0f New York. at Barueh College, where he maw alizations about those termed "disadvantaged," as well as serious omissions of jared in political science. 'people who should be included in the category. For example, .it doesn't make ..

Hasan ~Y not have matte any visible impacts on the school, hut bis sense to term a middle-class Hispanic student as "disadvantaged," while presumspirit toucheci everyone whom he came in oontact with," said fellow ing that a recent non-English speaking Caucasian immigrant has the same advanTownsend Hams aiumna and goaa frienQ, Nessa F~lt. · tages as a native English speaker. Like so many other aspects of these rankings, Because of Hasan's strong school spirit.

Hasan's family ana friends have the "disadvantaged" definition does not account for specific circumstances.

Eleciaed to create a scholarShip in bis name fer future T•wllSena Harris Measuring'a school's success in providing college-level coursework is also graduates who ~mptify similar school pride...He cared about Dis friends, extremely subjective. U.S. News defines college-level coursework strictly as he oared about nis schooL He was very proua 0f baBl," said anether and Advanced Placement classes.- There are two types of schools that are misreprealUJ.iml.US ana clese·friend, Jon Cmdone.. . sented based on this methodology. First, there are the small schools. These instiHasan was the epitame of a tme Townsend Harris stuaent who was futi tutions often do not have enough students to fill many A.P. classes, making a 0f spirit, entbtlSiasm for life, an<l positive energy.

He win be truly missed wide choice of such by many-. (continued on page 3)

In Memoriam: Hasan Zaman

. (contmued on pageS) News Staff: Jasmine Daniel, Shelby Hecht, Cristine Khan, Sydney Lowe, Adrianna Mateo

Editorial Board Ariel Brodsky

Faith Aronowitz

Stephanie Pak

MarisaLupo

Benjamin Snyder

Feature Staff: Heriselda Begaj,Pearl Bhatnagar, Hayley Desmond, Maddy French, Rupinder Garcha, Abigail Koffler, Steven Lange, Sarah Mahmood, Lory Martinez, Freddy Millan, Jr., Rebecca Seidel, Rupeshi Shah, Esther Whang Sports Staff: Laura Corrigan, Kirstin Guelly, Eilin Perez Artists: Alice Hung, Liz Kussman, Melissa Lin, Safa Siddiqui, Amy Wang, Esther Whang

SunMeiLiu Photography Editor

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Ashley Knight Sports Editor

Heriselda Begaj B~usiness

_Principal - Thomas Cunningham

Darren Deoraj Bonnie Ng Co-Art Editors

Manager

Advisor - lisa Cowen

Photography Staff: Pearl Bhatnagar, Ashley Guzman, Kenneth Ho, Leo Mancini, Sharrrlin Rashed, Angglelia Sutjipto

Townse,;d Harris High'School at Queens College 149-11 Melbourne.Avenue, Flushing, N.Y. 11367

The Classic-is an open forum for the expression of student views. The opinions expressed therein should not be taken to represent those of the administration or faculty or student body as a whole.

Readers are invited to submit letters to the editor.

Letters should be placed in Ms. Cowe11's mailbox in Room 315 ore-mailed to thhsclassic@yahoo.com. The Classic reserves the right to edit all letters. Letters must include name and official class. Names will be withheld upon request.

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Comic Muse Day to arrive May 30 material that they will use

by Faith Aronowitz Get ready to be a-MUSE-d! throughout the day, including Comic Muse Day, Townsend a few surprises that they hope Hams 's annuaJ celebration of will entertain their fellow stuall things funny, will arnve on ,dents.

Ms. Michlewitz and her' Friday, May 30.

Students in the two Comic students anticipate that on Muse classes taught by English May 30, the hallways will reteacher Debra Michlewitz , who sound with laughter. Says Ms. will nin the day's festivities, are Michlewitz, "Comic Muse currently planning the day's Day is a day when laughter is events and working on comic possible all day long."

Multicultural Week features food, .f.l~ags

by Freddy Millan, Jr. which attracted the least Multicultural Week, which _ amount of participation, and took place from March 10 - 13 the Festival of Nations were was an opportunity to show off on March 13. and be proud of one's culture.

"I think that Multicultural Through food, traditional Week went well, but I wish clothes, and other cultural sym- more people [had] particibols, everyone had a chance to pated in Traditional Dress learn about other cultures as Day," freshman Kerry well. The Festival of Nations McEnerney said . . rounded out the week, with perSenior Tague Mosoian formances from cultural groups said, "I think the week went throughout the world. by well. It seemed dry, . March 10 was Flag Day, and though. The choices for the those who participated sported days were excellent, but the their flag colors in differt)nt participation was lacking. ways. Some simply wore the This might be in part because colors, while some wore a shirt it was not advertised as much with their country's flag on it. . as it should have been. OverOthers wore flags as capes, all, it was fun, especially hung flags from their pockets, FON. FON was exhilarating." or wore two flags like a sandwid} board. There were also some cultural groups, such as a group of Korean students, who · (Editorial continued fro in all wore similar shirts for Flag page 2) Day. these schools in this category ''I decided to wear a jersey should be balanced by their Jor Flag Day because I have a benefits, such as smaller lot of pride for my roots," said classes and more personal stujunior Annette Paciorek, who dent-teacher relationships. represented her Polish heritage. However, since U.S. News On Food Day, March 11, par- does not account for these ticipants shared specialties from qualit:les, such benefits are not their culture during lunch bands. reflected in a school's ranki:p.g, There were noodles and pastries Schools_that have partnerships available from many cultures, with - colleges, such as although mainly freshmen par- Townsend Harris, also are not ticipated. accurately represented by such March 12 was Karaoke Day. a system. Since college-level During the lunch bands , a coursework is strictly defmed karaoke machine was set up so as A.P. classes, the actual colthat students and staff could lege courses taken by sing songs in different lan- Townsend Harris seniors are guages. Participation was slow not part of the calculations. Is at first, but it soon soared. Many U.S. News suggesting that students sang with friends, and there is a better way to provide faculty members joined in as college-level coursework than well. · actual college classes?

Traditional Dress ·Day, The negative repercussions

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Festival of ·Nations displavs · diVersit

by Maddy French The Festiv al of Nations - (FON) featured cultural performances that ranged from Punjabi dances to French songs.

-Language classes and groups formed outside of class both participated in FON on Mar-ch 13.

"The show was awesome and very exciting," said sophomore Inti Rojanasopondist.

"For 'S~bor Latino,' my group and I practiced every day after school for an hour and on £ weekends as well," said junior Michelle Castano. ~ The Festival was coordi.s nated by Lisa Mars, Assistant Principal of Languages Other than English and Fine Arts, Festival of Nations presidents Caroline Raak and Amaira Hasan, and the master of ceremonies, Michael Best.

Juniors Jackeline Moreno and Raoul Valencia show off their moves during The Tech Squad, led by Clas- the "Sabor Latino" dance at FON. sics teacher Andrew Hagerty, worked hard to make the show shared nationalities. Soine stu- time, said, "The experience was run smoothly. Junior Brenda dents, however, participated in · great. I met new people andesHernandez, a member of the acts that reflected culture.s other tablished many friendships."

Sophomore Frank Spitaleri, squad, said, "We ... required than their own.

Inti, a student of Thai who was in the Festa ltaliana much patience and determination because of the various ethnicity, performed in the dance, said, 'The experience changes that they [the perform- "Chinese Iron Fan Dance: The was great for me because I exFANtastic Fourteen.'1 "It was an plored my culture and had a lot ers] were always making." 'f_erformances included a amazing experience and. I was of fun participating and perclassic French lullaby, "Frere very happy with the result," she forming ."

The show reflected the diJacques," sung by the French said. "All the performances literature class, and dances such were brilliant and a lot of hard versity of the student body.

Michelle said, "I lik~ the fact work was put into each one.'' asK-Pop and Festa ltaliana.

Sophomore Angela Ly, who that many cultures were repreThe show served as a way to bring together students of participated in FON for the first sented."

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U.S. News: flawed rankings of the high school rankings are might cause the school to rise garded in the eyes of college also matters of great concern. If in the rankings, but it would admissions officers. This is not the high school rankings con- take away funding for unique only detrimental to the students, but also to the school's reputatinue along the same path as the elective classes.

Lower-ranked schools will tion. college rankings, the high U.S. News and World Report schools may suffer like the col- . also suffer from these rankings. leges have. Some universities, Such schools will have more undersells Townsend Harris besuch as the University of North trouble attracting good students. cause it doesn't address our Carolina and Ohio State, have Therefore, schools that may greatest strengths: our partnerspecifically catered to U.S. have initially deserved a l;ligher ship with Queens College and News standards in order to rise ranking will end up as a lower- our emphasis on a humanities in the college rankings. In do~ quality institution. As a result education. The magazine is a · ing so, they may have allocated of the rankings, there could be ·self-proclaimed authority in the funding inappropriately and an actual decline in the quality area ofranking academic instjof the school's students and its tutions. Left unquestioned, thereby harmed their schools.

If the high school rankings overall performance . This they have been able to expand become just as revered as the could be particularly harmful to their monopoly to American college rankings, a similar prob- Townsend Harris, which was high schools.

This is a trend that needs to lem may arise. A school such ranked below three rival as Townsend Harris, for ex- schools : Stuyvesant High end. Otherwise, parents may ample, does not need to offer School, Bronx High School of soon be fighting for their more A.P. classes because of its Science, and Brooklyn Techni- children's admission into the partnership with Queens Col- cal High School. Additionally, nation's top-ranked preschools, lege. To allocate funding for students at the lower-ranked as dictated by U.S. News and more A.P. classes, therefore, schools may be less highly re- World Report.

The Classic

i ~ 4 Young resea·rchers ·find su.cc·ess·at competition.s ,.

May2008

by Stephanie Pak Science and social science research students have set new records with the New York City Science and Engineering Fair . (NYCSEF), Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), and International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) competitions. The Quality of Life Competition also has another finalist, senior Gabriel Felder, continuing the tradition of always having Townsend Harris represented in the final

round. On May 11-16, seniors Tinya Cheng, Nischay Kumar, and Erin Zeqja participated in ISEF held in Atlanta, Georgia, placing second in the physics category and third in the team projects category, respectively.

Tinya and Nischay received $1,500 and Erin won $1,000.

Gabe will present his project, "Sight for Independence: Fighting for the Elderly," .in the final round. The year~long project focuses on helping senior citizens with vi-

sual impairments. student with an individual In each contest, Townsend _two-year project.

Harris had the most representa"It's a testament to the kids tives or one of the most repre- and [the] teachers whoworked sentatives selected for the ad- with them. We are definitely vancing round. Records were well-represented," said scialso set for the greatest number ence teacher Ms. Cooper. of students participating in the "I am really proud of how research programs' histories. As- Harris did. The work that each sistant Principal of Science Su- student did made me oversan Brustein, Assisant Principal whelmingly impressed and of Humanities Susan Getting~ proud," said.Ms. Brustein.

For NYCSEF, held on Febscience teacher·Katherine Cooper, and social science teacher ruary 2-3, 500 research Franco Scardino guided each projects were submitted from

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the entire city, and 10 percent of the projects selected for the final round were from Townsend Harris.

For JSHS, 11 research students were selected for the final round. The· number of students who advanced to this stage was a personal best for the school. Senior Warren Cheng also placed second in his category at the JSHS finals. . Topics varied from biomedical sciences to physical sciences to public policy analysis.

Science ·olympiad ·places hi'gh in New York State

by Heriselda Begaj The Science Olympiad team placed 17th at the New York State competition at the West Point Military Academy on March 14-15. The team's 15 members competed against 44 other teams and also captured the title of B.est Decorated Room, which they shared with Islip High School.

The State Competition tested students' knowledge of a variety of fields ranging from rocks and minerals to health science to sumobots, which are robots that compete in tournaments. The Townsend Harris team claimed several high rankings, including a sixth place finish in oceanography and a seventh place finish in food science. Science teachers Thomas Sangiorgi and Katherine Cooper, along with Assistant Principal ~f Scie~ce Susan Brustein and science teacher Philip Jones, coached the students.

Townsend Harris's fourth place. finish at the Regional Competition in February quali. fied the school for the State Competition. Students prepared by studying and building instruments and robots. Although Townsend Harris had

"The competition was fiery - fast - it's truly an Olympiad. were generally friendly and acteams fiddled frantically to deco- [Everyone is] constantly mov- commodating." rate, study, and such. Everyone ing, competing, [and] hoping Students found the compebattled like Spartans and sup- • for the best," he explained. . tition to be personally rewardported their- peers the whole Although the contest dynamic ing. Sophomore Rachel Mayo way." · was always present, Steven said, "I was satisfied because all Mr. Sarigiorgi agreed; "The added, "It never became cut- of our many hours of practice sequence of events moves very throat or menacing. People paid off." Junior Alice Hung ,felt, "the results, [although] not perf~ct, .... gave my efforts ,, meaning." Steven said, "When I finished the day, I was exhausted, but fortunate for the experience."

Although many students cited the competition as a way for them to demonstrate their passion for the sciences, they were also aware of the benefits it offered outside the competitive arena. Rachel said, "It's more than just the competition ;j aspect; you become very close § to your teammates." Freshman ~ Eunice Chou said that the com~ petition allows students to "be _g proud ofbeing nerdy; it's fun ~ to [work] with rocks and not be weird." Senior Nischay Kumar . felt that as a senior, th_e experience allowed him to advise underclassmen on how to succeed. He added that the comScience Olympiad team members Warren Cheng, Nischay Kumar, Reynaldo Lopez, Zach Gao, Rachel Rosengard, petition "is not all science," beKibret Yebetit, Mandy Trinh, Alice; Hung, Karen Bulaklak, Rnineek Kaur, Deborah Duke, and Praveena Tathineni were cause there are many other dyan_1ong the students who helped the team place 17th at the New York State competition at West Point. They were namics involved. accompanied by their coaches Katharine Cooper and Thomas Sangiorgi. advanced to the State Competition last year as well, Mr. Sangiorgi explained that this year was a "different dynamic [with] new events, [an:d] different students who hadn't attended before."

Junior Steven Lange said,

Steel Hawks hatch ·'Terra Hawk'_for robotics ·contest

by Stephanie Pak and Heriselda Begaj · The Steel Hawks, the new Robotics team, competed in the New York City Regional U.S. FIRST Robotics Competition on April 4-6. The contest, which took place at the Javits Center, pitted the Hawks against over 600 students in over 60 teams from the city. As rookies, the Hawks attained a 52"d place standing in the competition with their robot, "Terra Hawk" The first day of the competition allowed the teams to check their robots and practice on the fields where the matches

would be held. The second day included the qualification matches and the third day included the end of the qualification matches as well as the finals. All of the matches involved two arbitrarily formed alliances that were each comprised of three teams.

As senior Tinya Cheng described it, "each alli!Ulce [had to] work together to gain the most points by herding, hurdling, and placing a 40" diameter ball through/over/on a 6 11 2-foot overpass." Science teacher Philip Jones described the atmosphere as "exciting - · as if it were a sports event."

Assistant Principal of Science entered this competition in the and Technology Susan Brustein past, possibly because, as Mr. called the competition "exhila- Jones said, "it takes a while for rating," and sht< said that the people to see the interest in team "was able to accomplish robotics," this year, that inter-everything that it set out to do." est "came to a mature point," Furthermore, a~ senior Erin ·and a team was trained.

Zeqja pointed out, "the experiTeam members and their ence at the competition was ex- mentors, Mr. Jones and Ms. tremely fun because we met a lot Brustein, are very proud of of new teams and learned a lot what was accomplished in the of new things, such as how to competition. Ms. Brustein make a crate." Junior Reynaldo said, "You have to come in Lopez added that although the knowing that it's hard work, competition required a lot of but ultimately, it's amazing hard work, "it was definitely fun." Tinya agreed, saying, something that I think our entire "We did everything that we set out to do, and we were exteam took a lot from." ·Although the school has not tremely happy that our robot

is still very much functional."

Ultimately, as Erin said, "Motivation, confidence ... and teamwork are crucial to having an award-winning robotics team with a great robot."

Interest in the Regional U.S. FIRST Robotics began to grow when Con Edison contacted Ms. Brustein about entering the U.S. FIRST Robotics Competition. She worked to bring together a group of motivated students interested in building the robot and competing in the competition. With her help, Mr. Jones mentored seven students as they built their robot, which continued on p. 8

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May 2008

Current Eve.nts Forums tackle controversi-al -issuesby Hayley Desmond, Sydney Lowe, & Sarah Mahmood David Herszenhorn, class of 1990 and former president of the ·Alumni Association, ·conducted a discussion on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law during all lunch bands on May 13. This was the third Current · Events Forum organized by senior Sasha Diamond, who chose and invited the speakers.

The first fonim on Febiu~ 29 featured Christopher Dunn, the legal executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, who spoke on the use of let~al injection to execute prisoners on Death Row. For the second forum on March 7, the President of Veterans for Peace, Elliott Adams, spoke · about the effects of the Iraq War, and previous wars, on veterans.

"So many people our age are burdened by homework, etc., and we use that to excuse.ourselves from keeping up with the news," Sasha said. ''With the Current Events Forum, I'd hoped that...speakers would · come to the school to help educate and, more importantly, engage others my age in current issues in the news ... .It's a lot more interesting than you might originally think it to be." ·Mr. Herszenhorn, a New York Times Washington com:~-

spondent who has reported about issues concerning education, spoke about the No Child Left Behind Act. The act was Presid~nt Bush's first big domestic venture after coming into office. It is up for reauthorization in December; however, Mr. Herszenhorn doesn't believe that it will be reauthorized. He said, "This is not only ·. because the Democrats don't want to give a legacy to Bu.§h, but also because the act is flawed."

The act measures the Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, of schools. A school is deemed failing if test scores don't improve by a certain percentage annually. Amajor criticism of the act is that it makes teachers teach to the test. Mr. Herszenhorn pointed out that while this is a better alternative for schools that previously taught nothing, it detracts from good schools. Referring to Townsend Harris, he said, "In a school like this, the numbers ·should go out the window."

While passing exams like the Regents is supposed to be the bare minimum, some schools regard it as the maxi- · .mum. Mr. Herszenhorn said, "In reality, in most schools it's the finish line. If that's all you've got, you haven't got a very good education."

Discipuli 'well

by Esther Whang Harrisites were recognized for their knowledge of Latin at the Latin Quiz Bowls on Feb- ruary.8 and March 31; The first annual New York City -Quiz Bowl, or Certanien, was held at Harris. The firstyear team took first place, while the second-year team placed third. The competitors . battled other high school students from Brooklyn Latin, Stuyvesant, Tottenville, Bronx

While a goal of No Child Left Behind is to help minority and sub-par schools, Mr. Herszenhom pointed out that failing students cannot be helped by just giving them more tests. "No Child Left Behin<J's problem is that it's giving you all the numbers in excruciatingly detailed ·data, with no solutions," he said.

Addressing the audience during seveQth band, Mr. Herszenhorn said, "The 99.999 is great, but at the end of the day, have you learned some~ thing new? I hope your high school experience is not all New York Times reporter David Herszenhorn discuSses the No Child Left Behind Act 'up close and personally' with the audience. about a number."

The President of Veterans ·back from the VietnanrWar ports by the Associated Press, for Peace, Elliott Adams, spoke knowing that there was no way though U.S. troop morale imabout the effects of the Iraq War that this process could bring proved in Iraq last year, soldiers and previous wars on Veterans about peace." Mr. Adams went fighting in Afghanistan sufin the second forum on March on to explain the significant dif- fered more depression as vio7. Veterans for P!!ace is a na- ferences, and similarities, be- lence there worsened. Officials tional organization founded in -tween the wars of today and found that rates of mental 1985 that includes men and yesteryear. "Iraq soldiers come health problems such as anxiwomen veterans of all eras and back broken, not dead, thanks ety, depressions and post-comduty stations from World War to better technology and better bat stress were similar to those II, the Korean War, the Vietnam protection," Adams continued. found tlie previous year in Iraq, _ War, and the Gulf and Iraq "1~ our war, we would have when nearly 30 percent of Wars. They draw on their own died right there. Instead they troops on repeat tours said they personal experiences and per- have personality disorders and suffered a problem. Mr. Adams spectives gained as veterans to their behavioral and motor made a_ point to touch upon raise public awareness of the skills have completely post-traumatic stress disorder, true costs and consequences of changed ....When a soldier gets which results from ·traumatic militarism and war, and to seek back to real life, ... [he] just experiences. "A new war peaceful, effective alternatives. ...{doesn't] knoW how to handle scratches ~pen the wounds of "War is wrong, not good for it." old vets," Adams continued. "It America," he said. "I came (continued on p. 8) According to published re-

prepa-red~

High School of Science, and Bayside.

The second Certamen was held at Stonybrook University.

Latin teachers Jonathan Owens and Andrew Hagerty accompanied students on the trip. The second-year team took firstplace, and the third-year team took second place. Participating schools incluc;led Brooklyn Latin, Stonybrook School, and Riverhead. . The competitions drilled

at Latin Qu·iz Bowls

students with questions on topics such as grammar, history, the daily life of Romans, geography; and Greek and Roman . mythology.

In preparation, the first-year ·students studied once a week for about four months with foreign language teacher Marianthe Colakis. "I'm very proud of the st).ldents," Dr. · Colakis said. "I can't take much credit for their success, because they learned much ofthe mate-

rial on their own."

Sophomore Sujata Gupta Mr. Owens, Latin club advi- said, "I think we were very well sor, mentored the second-year prepared using the buzzer to students and also helped to or- · answer actual Certamen ques~ ganize the Certamen. Latin club tions. During the Latin Quiz members were encouraged to Bowl, I really enjoyed the feelparticipate, and they also helped ing [we got] when we anby keeping score and running swered a question corectly."

Keegan Valbuena, sophoother aspects of the competition.

Mr. Owens said, "I was more, said, "Participating in amazed by how eager th.e mem- the Latin Quiz Bowl was a bers of the club were to volun- highly enjoyable and competiteer. Certamen could not have tive experience for me, and I happened without their help." c-an't wait for the next one!"

Seekers combat hu-nger·with 30-Hour Famine _by Esther Whang The annual 30-Hour Fam- _ ine, hosted by ·Seekers, the Christian club, began at 9:30 am on March 27. The worldwide event, sponsored by -World Vision; a Christian nonprofit organization that organizes ev~nts targeting world issues, aims to both raise awareness about and fight world hun- · ger.

Although it was not mandatory to fast for 30 hours in order to participate, most partici_pants did, experiencing the hunger that some people face every day.

They raised funds for people ill areas such as North Korea, Africa, China and India.Since the ev.ent was not limited to club members, other students were also encouraged to

participate. It .was publicized the hallways wearing the famAssistant Principal of Maththrough posters around the ine shirts, because it means that ematics and Seekers advisor school, and green tee shirts with they are [participating in] the Ellen Fee said; "There are cria fork and knife as hands on a faniine, too. There's a sense of ses in Africa with water accesclock saying, "Hungry?" were unity and you know that you're sibility,-food shortage, and also sold. On March 28, the sec- not alone."

HIV/AIDS. Seekers should ond day of the famine, particiSophomore Agness Kim be ... [at the] forefront in raising pants wore the shirts to make a · agreed. "After fasting for 30 awareness and.helping combat statement and to encourage one ' hours and providing aid to the these issues. I look forward to less· fortunate, I Jeft accom- partnering with World Vision another. .

Junior Angela Wu saiq, ''It's plished," she said. "This was a _next year to address these criamazing to see other people· in really great experience for me." ses in innovative ways." .

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Archon celebrates. service with traditional cerem.o·ny

by Ariel Brodsky coming back to Townsend Har- freshments served in the lobby.

More than 200 new and re- ris and sharing her experiences "[The ceremony] was turning members of Archon, the truly is a significant one, for it great," Mr. Stonehill said. "The service honor society, were rec- portrays the impact and influ- food was good, the crowd was ognized at the annual Archon ence Archon clearly had on her good .... the event ran smoothly Induction Ceremony on March life," she said. and was very nice."

Also featured were two 5 in the auditorium.

He acknowledged, however, · "Archon in many ways rep- musical acts. Violinists Jeffrey that only about 80 percent of resents the best of what Wong, junior, and Sheena Tsai, the inductees were present at Townsend Harris is," said Co- sophomore, played the theme the induction ceremony. "I wish ordinator of Student Activities from "Princess Mononoke," it was 100 percent," he said. and Archon advisor Adam and Jane and junior Carmelle "It's such a nice ceremony."

Stonehill, who extends a "big Alipio sang "The Prayer."

Mr. Stonehill also wished to · congratulations" to all the ArAfter the outgoing Archon · remind new Archon members chon members. · Executive Board welcomed the that attendance at meetings is.

Incoming Archon president incoming Executive Board essential to being inducted next Jane Whang,junior;has already members during the Flower of year, a requirement that outgoset goals for the new A!chon Tradition Ceremony, Assistant ing Archon president Reshmi year. "This year, we plan on Principal of Pupil Personnel Oberoi, senior, addressed in her reaching out, raising more Services Janet Solomon ad- speech during the ceremony. If funds, and making an even ministered the induction members are unable to attend more indelible impact on the pledge to first-yearArchon in- meetings due to a class or other community than Archon al- ductees. Students then came on commitment, they must e-mail ready has," she said. stage to receive their awards the Executive Board with their The induction ceremony was according to their year of in- . reason. comprised of various speeches, duction, placing two ja~s of Archon members maintain including one by 1990 alumna baby food into collection boxes an overall minimum average of and past Archon president as their first act of service in 85 and perform at least 80 hours Donna Manion. Jane was par- the new Archon year. of community service. ReturnAt the conclusion of the cer- ing members must also have ticularly impressed by Ms. emony, Archon members and completed at least two charity Manion's presence.

"The act of [Ms. Manion] their guests were invited for re- walks and one charity event. :

Mu Alpha.~ Theta ·celebrates rc Day with pi~ · pha Theta version of "Are You

by Ariel BrQdsky Mu Alpha Theta inductees Smarter than a 5th Gra,der?"

Juniors Lindsay Chin and . ~elebrated their success in mathematics with pizza pie, :rt- Jordano Sanchez were chosen shaped cookies, and fruit pies as contestants through a raffle, served in the student dining hall but neither were able to advance on March 14, also known as "Pi to the million-dollar question to Day," during an informal cer- win an iPod Shuffle.

"The game looks easy when emony that began at 3:14pm.

The math honor society pro- you're in the audience, but gram included two games of when you're on the spot, you "Are You Smarter than a 6th suddenly forget everything," Grader?", a mock version of the Jordano said.

Certificates were then dispopular television series "Are You Smarter than a 5th tributed, followed by the pizza party and the raffle. Stress Grader?", as well as a raffle.

"Mu Alpha Theta not only balls, a calculator, Mu Alpha promotes ·math, but also the Theta-themed bags, flashdrives, enjoyment of math, and I think elevator passes, and iPod we had a really fun time," said Shuffles were among the prizes.

M-any inductees agreed that Assistant Principal of Mathematics and Mu Alpha Theta the ceremony was entertaining.

Junior Hualy Li joked, "It was Advisor Ellen Fee. After a short welcome by very enlightening to know that Ms. Fee, the two rounds of we ate not smarter than 6th grad"Are You Smarter than a 6th ers!"

Requirements for Mu Alpha Grader?" began. Annalise Fee, Ms. Fee's daughter, returned Theta include the completion of with her 6th grade friends to Math B, a minimum average of play the gam(( after having par- 93 in all math classes, and an ticipated in last year's Mu Al- overall average of 90 or above.

Winter Concert features holiday tunes

by Steven Lange The annual Winter .Concert on December 13 featured a wide array of pieces by the Intermediate, Concert, and Jazz Bands, as well as the Chorus and the Chamber Music Ensemble.

The Intermediate Band, directed by music teacher Peter Lustig, began the concert with "The Star Spangled Banner," followed by "Finlandia" and the season-fitting "The First Noel:" Additionally, "Livin' La Vida Loca," popularly associated with Latin star Ricky Martin, proved to be a lively rendition.

After some technical difficulties, the Chorus, directed by choral teacher Florence McKinley, sang "Festival Sanctus," as well as "One Candle."

The Jazz Band, led by Mr. Lustig, played tunes such as "Silent Night" and "Evil Ways," and featured solo performances. Junior Erica Dimitropoulos said, "Being a performer, I enjoyed it very much and thought it was great."

The Chamber Music Ensemble, directed by music and

Japanese teacher Mariko Sato, then took their places ori stage.

Violinist Jeffrey Wong, junior,

Mononoke". and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

Last to perform was the con-

junior, said was "the best we've sounded all year." Other tunes included "In the Hall of the

art by Amy Wang

the concert was "The Sounds of Christmas Joy." "The .concert band," said Erica, "played songs that everyone knew, played them well, and had the audience dancing and having a good ;.-. time. It was a great way to end ~ the show."

Andrew said that the concert "was definitely a hit. All of the groups played well, and · the whole thing stayed on time ' ~is the season: Performers play winter and holiday tunes as others watch conductor Peter Lustig for their cue. and went smoothly."

Erica, however, was disap_and junior Amy Cha, "Were the cert band, directed by Mr. Mountain King" and "Motown pointed in the turnout of classRevue," a medley of old favorfeatured soloists in the Con- Lustig. The band opened up mates and teachers due to the certo for Two Violins, by J.S. with "Eagle Overture," which ites such as "My Girl" .and the Bach followed by "Princess trumpet player Andrew Mayer, Jackson Five's "ABC." Ending weather.

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Seniors triumph at SING! competition

by Lory Martinez , . Lee, Kayla Hollihs, and Laura · by Barbara Cvenic. Soon after, songs and dance humbers dur- Damien Kamienicki, who The senior class emerged as Dolabela, acting director Sasha .Lucy is kidnapped, throwing ing the dance-off. Choreogra- played "The Insulter." the victor of SING! 2008, af- Diamond, and vocal director Austin and Dr. Evil into another phers Essie Assibu, Monica The . Sophmen SING! ter performing on January 24- Ellie Philips thanking their ad- competition to discover her Ng, Samantha Crifasi, prequel joined the story of 26. The theine was "prequels . visors,' mathematics teacher whereabouts. Although Dr. Evil Jamieson Kao, and William Jo, "Cinderella" with the plot of the and sequel~," allowing each Sara Liu, science teacher finds a way to discover Lucy's as well as vocal directors Divya television series The Fresh grade's SING! to create either Katharine Cooper, and English kidnapper, Austin proves to be James and Johanna Sanders, Prince of Bel-Air. Cinderella, a sequel or a prequel to a popu- teacher Rafal Olechowski. the winner, as he discovers credited director Jane Whang played by Abigail Koffler, has lar story. Alumni and staff The juniors presented a Lucy's lipgloss in the hands of for much of their success. They a daughter, Ella, played by members served as judges of prequel to the popular Austin one of her close friends. This also thanked their advisors, As- Christie Getejanc. Ella meets a SING!, and final votes for the boy named Carl, played by winners were tallied on the last Bryan Medina, a nerd. who night of performances. learns to act "cool" from the "SING! is always a load of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, played fun because you get the opporby Andrew Gumbs. Ella and tunity to create an entire perCarl are attracted to each other, formance with your own ideas but the daughters of· and those of your peers," said Cinderella's step-sisters, played senior SING! ·actor David

by Jasmine Cotrich and Alyssa Ferrari.

Alicino, get in the way. The The seniors created a show featured songs such as "You Can't Stop the Beat," prequelto a typical SING! performance. The characters pre· from the musical Hairspray, pare for SING!, but problems and "Gimme More," by Britney begin to arise faster than the diSpears. Directors Ashley rector, Carly, played by Newman and Melanie Ngo, Melanie Sovem, can handle. · choreographers AlyssaAliciQo, Tensions eventually boil over _ :ij Jasmine Cotrich, and Shannon when the dancers, Sil).gers, and ... 'tl Marie Caparatta, acting direcactors become involved in a _,,.. t ~ tor Christie Getejanc, and vobrawl, and Carly considers ~cal directors Kellie Gergoudis making a deal with the Devil, ,\'\ .. ' ~ \ and Vicky Papagermanos all played by Monica Morales, in "-~' r " :\ .§. enjoyed working with their ad1 order to save the show. _ _ .... \ ...., ·"':"· visors, math teacher Aleeza The performance included a Delia, played by senior Diandra Torres, offers an idea for the plot of Senior SING! as part of the seniors' prequel.

Widman and guidance counsevariety of music from .the lor Sara Skoda.

Broadway c1assics Chicago . Powers trilogy. The youngAus- rivalry is said to have caused sistant Principal ofMathemat"It has been such a wonderand Footloose, "Arms of an tin Powers and Dr. Evil, played the hostility between Dr. Evil ics Ellen Fee and science teach- ful and fun experience working Angel," and Billboard Top 100 by Ryan Urquidi and Giovanni and Austin Powers. ers John Tsai and Shibing Shen. with the sophmen for the past songs such as "Wall to Wall" Simione, are high school" stuThe songs included "Lip "[SING!] opened my eyes two SING!s ... The friendships

by Chris Brown. The show dents who hold a dance-off to Gloss," by Lil Mama, and "The to the world of drama and act- that were made and the memo-· concluded with director Silbia compete for the last invitation Way I Are," by Timbaland, ing, and I can't wait until next ries created will last a lifetime," Han, choreographers Vivian to a party held by Lucy, played along with a wide array of oth~r year," said Junior SING! actor Ms. Widman said.

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Variety show sends school supplies to Sri -L anka

by Pearl Bhatnagar Free the Children and Amnesty International co-hosted the annual Variety ·Show on February 12 to help raise funds for a school in Sri Lanka.

Through the Free the Children and its various chapters m schools around the world, the more than $700 raised at the show will go to buy books and supplies for those c~ildren affected by th~ tsunami that devastated Sn Lanka in 2004.

Although the Variety Show is usually presented by the members of Free the Children, Amnesty International also helped to organize this year's show. The president of the Townsend Harris Chapter of Free the Children, senior Rabia Shaikh, stated, "Both the clubs have the same motive, which is to free children from poverty in underdeveloped countries."

Despite a heavy snowfall that prevented many from attending, Rabia said, "There were more acts this year than there were last year. I really

Organiz~tion

appreciate the hard work that all the performers put in."

The performers were also

experience and I'd love to do it again next year."

There were over 11 more acts, including a sample of this ~ . . ,.---spring's play, A Funny Thing F'l(flf 11;£ CHJLI)RI£f't - Happened on the Way to the .........__ , Forum, and numerous .

I· Hollywood performances.

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The show seemed to de- · : ~~~= ~ r ligh.t what sophomore Laraib ~ · .

• "· Ijaz described as "a very supt · t ... , portive and excited" audience. , , '~ - \f 7 ~ _. \ :, She .added, "It was sno':"ing . . . .~ ~_ _/) outside, so many peopl-e d1dn't ~,,... :..

• . ~ .., , , come, but the people who did ,_ '' , ':,. · ~' ' ' come were very enthusiastic =-' _ _ . about the special cause for which the show was pre7 sented."

However, the crowd's enthusiasm could not make up for the money lost due to the lack of attendance. Last year, proceeds from the Variety · Show were close to $1500, compared to ·the $700 made at the door this year. Nonetheless, the Free the Children club members were proud of their efforts. "In my opinion, this art by Safa Siddiqui grateful to have the Variety ways Be My Babf' by Mariah pared to performing at the Va- year's show was successful," Show available to showcase Carey, said, "I have performed riety Show. It was quite the said Rabia.

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their talents.

Sophomore Crystal Wong, who performed the song "Al-

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before, but only for my middle school chorus. Although that was fun, it was nothing com-

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The Classic May 2008

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Vacation Blues Hc;>nor society inducts _science - achievers

by Ariel Brodsky The Science Department honored over 190 new and returning New York -State Science Honor Society (NYSSHS) members at an induction ceremony on March 31 in the auditorium.

"I always look forward to-the Science Honor Society induction because we have so much to celebrate with our students," said Susan Brustein, Assistant Principal of Science and Technology and NYSSHS Advisor. "I am so proud o( the tremendous energy and intellect that they display in our classes and in our extra-curricular programs."

The induction ceremony included remarks by both Ms. Brustein and Prin-cipal Thomas Cunningh~, as well as musical perfotmances_, Senior Adrianna .:Mateo played "Romance in F# Major" on the piano, and junior Jeffrey Wong and sophomore Sheena Tsai played the

theme from "Spirited Away" on the violin and piano, respectively. After the inductees received their awards on stage, seniors Eleanor Philips and Sasha Diamond sang the Alma Mater, accompanied by science teacher Katherine Cooper. The ceremony coneluded with refreshments served in the lo~by.

"[The ceremony went] scientifically - fast and efficient," Mrs. Cooper said.

"I loved the musical selections that were played." She added, "The food disappeared miraculously fast."

Requirements for induction into NYSSHS include a 90 average in both-science and math, as well as an overall average of 90. In addition, students must demonstrate ·an outside interest in science, and each inductee must be recommended to the society by two science teachers.

Terra Hawk makes debut

(Editorial continued from p. 2) the collateral you ne~d to start or the book you l}eed to go pick up at the library? The truly studious students who complete their work well before the vacation is over deserve trophies. However, for those of us who tend to procrastinate (which is many of us), the great amount of vacation homework may result in an all-nighter before school even resumes.

To suggest that there should be no homework given during vacations would be absurd. However, is it too much to ask to give us a break? Perhaps teachers couldJ\l~t lighten the load a bit, ~o make vacation work less-overwhelm~ mg, If students had less work to do, they could concentrate on doing more care-ful work, instead of doing a sloppy job so they cari move on to their next assignments. This would benefit both the students and the teachers.

Better yet, perhaps- teachers could assign their students something that they have always wanted to do, but never tried, or something they have not done in a long time. We spend so much of our time with our heads in our books that we forget about all of the resources

that New York City has to offer. The Culture Vulture, which encourages students to get out and sample new food, go to a museum, or go to the theater, is a great incentive for students to see the city with a new point of view. There should be rp_ore assignments like the Culture Vulture.

During the school year, students have very little time to pursue their individual interests.-We must read and study the texts that are in the curriculum. During vacations, students aild teachers alike should be able to return-'to that unfini!!hed short story they are writing or the novel they have been meaning to get to for the past few months. · We are not asking for no homework whatsoever during vacations. We are just asking for a lighter load, one that allows us to enjoy what should be stressfree and rejuvenating_ days off from school.

In thinking ahead to next year, perhaps we could start with a work-free summer, one that truly allows students to separate themselves from school.

Maybe then s.tudents will come back from summer vacation refreshed, rejuvinated, and ready to wox:k.

was able to get everything done through submission of the robot, all the team many hours of work, which included members were very "professional" in accomplishing their feat. The team also staying until 10 pm.

Initially, the experience got assistance from Queens College facseemed daunting. Senior ulty, including head machinist.Howard Erin Zeqja said, "We [the Rose, who helped the students with cutteam mel}lbers] had a lot of ting different things needed to make the questions since we had robot.

"They're a crazy bunch of people• • never built a robot before."

Tinya pointed out that "one in a good way," said Mr. Jones. "The of the strengths of our team students knew more than I did and fed was the tenacity of the core - off of each other's energy and ideas. All members." Erin added, "Ev- I did was beat the drum. And make sure that they didn't cut off their fingers," he ~ ery member of our team was = . added. ~ -specialized in a particular "They worked together with amaz']"" field ... [and had] talents var';, ied_throughout the fields of ing consideration, grace, and respect for each other," noted Ms. Brustein. engineering and robotics."

"Our bot's beautiful," she said. .§. , Mr. Jones reported that although there was an abundance of anxiety before the

(continued from p. 4) is the largest that the science department h~s ever built. · Participating in the competition is expensive because of technical equipment and machinery, but the Parent-Teachers' Association, Alumni Association and Queens College provided donations to help cover $6,000 of costs. Two l,>enefactors from Con Edison with no connection to the school, Larry Ackman and Barry Weinberg, also gave financial assistance for the Terra Hawk. _Once this year's challenge, FIRST Overdrive, was reyealed to all competition participants on January 5, the Steel Hawks, composed of seniors Warren Cheng, Robert Lum, Dan Yan Yu, and Erin Zeqja, junior Reynaldo Lopez, and captains Tinya Cheng and Nischay Kumar, both seniors, began work on

their robot. Despite having few members and no prior experience,- the team

Search for principal

Forums address debatable topics

(continued from p. I) The PTA and Alumni Association, said Ms. Felder, "joined to fund an ad campaign to broaden the audience for a bigger pool of qualified candidates."

Advertisements ran in The New York Tim!?S and Education Week. Ari excerpt from the advertisement reads: "One of the nation's premier public. humanities high schools is accepting applications for the position of Principal. Applicantsmust be experienced educational leaders a~ the secondary or university level, with expertise to lead a school steeped in the classics and humanities with a multi-disciplinary approach that is essential in the 21st century."

The PTA and Alumni Association _split the cost of the advertisements, which, as estimated by Dr. Weiss, came to a total of approxim,ately $10,000.'

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On a roll: The Terra Hawk, the prized creation of the Science Department, ro!Is down the 6th floor.

· (continued from p. 5) jection in executing prisoners on Death drug can take effect. When this occurs, opens the door to memories we don't Row. Mr. Dulin began-the discussion the person must endbre the failing of his _want to have. Iraq Vets are doing what with the story of a man who was sent to' or her organs without being able to move we did: committing suicide. The num- the electric chair and had to be electro- or to communicate~ Due to the chance bers of vets who have committed sui- cuted twice before he died because the of this happening, the Supreme Court is ·· cide outweigh the number of soldiers first electric shock failed. This led to the currently deciding whether or not lethal who died i:n Iraq so far. Right now there , end of electrocution as a method of ex- injection is a humane way to adminishave been approximately 11,000 and the ecution in New York, and lethal injec- ter the death penalty. numbers are expected to grow."

A show of hands demonstrated that tion took its place_.

The audience res·p onse to Mr. Lethal injection works in the way of the majority of students who attended . Adams's speech was . overwhelmingly a "three-drug cocktail." The person be- the seventh band meeting thought that positive. Senior Eleanor Phillips said, ing executed is first given a drug that lethal injection is less ciuel than the elec"I thought the turnout was really good. causes him or her to lose consciousness. tric chair.. Many avidly contributed to The audience didn't have to agree with Thell_, a drug is administered that para~ the discussion, which gradually his views, but it was so great that so lyzes the entire body. Finally, the per- transitioned into the_ morality of the many people came to just learn about son is given a drug that causes the or- death penalty. the issues at hand."

Mr. Dunn said that advances in scigans to fail. This process takes several At the ftrst forum, .on February 29, · hours. ence over the past decade have lowered the legal executive director of the New In some cases,· the. first drug, wl'J.ich · the number of ~eople being executed beYork Civil Liberties Union, Christopher -many consider to be what makes the pro- cause in many cases, DNA has proven Dui:m, spoke about the use of lethal in- cess humane, wears off before the third the innocence of convicted defendants.

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May 2008

Kim competes at ~ citywide vocabu·lary champio.nship-·

by Rupeshi Shah Quick! Which of these words relates to the study

National Vocabulary Champi- · The National Vocabulary onships on December 10. AI~ . Competition was held for the frrst time last year. though Julia did her best to English teacher .Georgette · Wallace, acting as "Queen Bee," prepped 11 Harrisites for this contest.

She was not provided with -a list of words for the students to study, making the process arduous. The group used The ] Ameril:an Heritage ~ DiCtionary, and the .5 Win With Words and ij Free Rice websites . ..c:: ~ After voluminous ~ · hours of studying and advantageous tutoring sessions, they were set.

Sophomore Julia Kim studies vocabulary in the library.

On Nevember 1, of currency: magnate, antrounce the others with her verthe 11 students took the test prepared and sent by the Princeton cillary, supernumerary, or hal proficiency, she did not Review. The exam was in mulnumismatist? Which word make it to the finals. refers to something very tiple-choice format and the stuThe first place winner large: se.rendipitous, nomidents placed their answers on earned $5,000 for college, a nal, deliquescent, or Scantron sheets. The Princeton fourth edition copy of The brobdingnagian?

Review graded the tests and American Heritage Dictionary Sophomore Julia Kim sent the results back. Julia was and a spot in the National Voanswered questions simithe top scorer and thus chosen cabulary Championship Fito represent Harris. lar to these at the Citywide nals.

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Relationship·violence:

Survey .yields unexpected results . by Hayley Desmond A poll conducted by Shakespeare's Sisters, there- . cently disbanded women's issues club, found that one-third of the surveyed Harrisites had, or kne'Y someone who had, experienced relationship violence.

Less than half of those sirrveyed were able to correctly identify the types of abuse described in the survey.

The survey has brought attention to the importance of young women's rights, especially within the Harrisite community. The former Shakespeare's Sisters hope . that, as a result, awareness in the Townsend Harris community will rise.

"I think it is harder to be a young woman today than when I was a young woman," said Judy Biener, former advisor of Shakespeare's Sisters.

The survey was anonymously distributed last spring to six to eight classes of mostly .

upperclassmen. It tested Harrisites on their knowledge and recognition of relationship violence, and also included questions about the students' personal experiences.

The results of the survey shocked many people. Although many teenagers know that domestic violence is occurring, they dismiss it; others don't recognize it for what it is.

Therefore, many victims go unassisted. These are issues which Shakespeare's Sisters sought to address.

Using bake sales and other fundraisers, Shakespeare's Sisters collected money for women's shelters and awareness and assistance operations, such as the Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program.

Ms. Biener, who experi· enced an urihealthy relationship during adolescence, did not fuily understand it as abuse at the tinie. However, she ended the relationship with the support of friends, and eventually

realized that it was a case of teen relationship violence.

Shakespeare's Sisters met every Friday morning to discuss women.politicians, body image, traditional versus modern upbringings and other women's issues.

Ever since it started in 1992, Shakespeare's Sisters promoted awareness of various pro~lems that women face globally. However, due to the graduation of many of ·the · . members of Shakespeare's Sisters, and the lack of incoming members this year, the club has recently .disbanded.

"There's still a terrific need for [Shakespeare's Sisters]," Ms. Biener said.

"These are serious issues everyone has to face, and I'd be happy to restart the club."

Ms. Biener is always available tQ students interested in or affected by the issues important to Shakespeare's Sisters.

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Drama Festival is 'inspiring'

by Heriselda Begaj Teddy and Gussie . When a hand. Mr. Hagerty conThe first drama ft~stival was Teddy leaves for a trip to trolled the show's lightproduced on December 19 by Greece , Jimmy takes his ing, while Ms. Wisc!Jerth the newly-fomied Drama Club brother 's absence as 'an oppor- helped with the sets and and consisted of two plays writ- --- tunity to immerse the restaurant props. ten by students in last year 's ih corruption. The play focuses Both of the plays were playwriting clas s. Senior on the emotional struggles that chosen by Ms. Rizzuto , Deanna Kokotos 's Teddy 's dl- the fannly must endure, and the who taught last year's re cted by .semor M elanie animosity that brews from their playwnting class.

Sovern, and senior Sasha heated disagreements.

Last year, when Mr. Diamond's self~ directed In the In the Penal Colony, an ad- Canzoneri asked Melanie ( Penal Colony allowed mem- aptation of Franz Ka fka ' s and Sasha to· be the co"d 1l bers of the Drama Club to short story, involved an un- presidents of the new showcase their acting abilities named penal colony and its use club, they immediately ,with the help of English teach- of an elaborate t orturing and agreed. Ms. Rizzuto, who -~ ..c: ers Joseph Canzoneri and Helen execution device. This play had had wanted to put on Rizzuto. a much smaller cast of four ac- plays for many · years, .

B Teddy 's centers on the fam- tors. . suggested the idea of a .§. ily drama that surrounds a Classics teacher Andrew Drama Festival. "It was Greek restaurant and the three Hagerty and art teacher just as much her baby as siblings who own it, Jimmy, Margherita Wischerth also lent it was' ours," - said Benjamin Snyder holds Lydia Nitchman captive in In the Penal Colony.

Melanie."They [Ms. Rizzuto and Mr. Canzoneri] were every- SING!, I thought directing I thought the script was excelwasn't fun- until now." lent and Nadia [Ahmad] was thing."

The audience- gave over- just brilliant."

Mr. Canzoneri, however, Mr: Canzoneri felt that the said thatthe festival '.'should be whelmingly positive feedback festival had a good turnout. "I pushed as student-generated. on the plays.

"You can tell that the actors was very pleased with- the They ran rehearsals; they did everything! Urness I was asked, worked very hard, and the drama festival, especially for a props helped the audience jump student-run production with no I didn't do anything."

The· actors themselves right into action," said junior music. Usually something like this is hard to sell. I mean, this worked very hard. "I thought Michelle Hulewicz.

Sophomore Stephanie isn't SING! ," he said. they were amazing. I'm so As for the next Drama Fesproud of them," said Melanie. Lugaro said that she "thought The cast of In the Penal Colony both plays were great - very tival, the future is unclear.

"This may have been just a held a seven-hour rehearsal the dramatic, but still very great."

Social studies teacher John one-time thing," said Sasha. "d weekend before the festival.

"The actors really pulled it O'Malley agreed: calling the "We wanted to leave behind a "' together. They were very ner- performances "inspiring and legacy, but we don't know if it's going to happen."

-~ vous. Part of the idea was to enthrailing."

Senior Kayla Hollins said, "I Mr. Canzoneri said that the 65 give people a chance who had think that the plays were beaupossibility of another festival .S never acted before," said 0 . ' tifully done.

At the end, I'm lies in the hands of "the stu: ] Melanie. o.

Sasha said; "After directing pretty sure I had goosebumps. dents who want to continue it."

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Damien Kamienecki and Beatrice Luchian take advantage of a restaurant owner's absence in Teddy's .

FreeRice.com teaches vocabulary, saves lives

by Rupinder Garcha

What's better than ending world hunger and scoring higher on the SATs? FreeRice.com gives students the perfect opportunity to achieve both goals by motivating them to take action against world hunger while they improve their vocabulary.

FreeRice.com is a non-profit website where anyone can answer vocabulary questions and simultaneously donate rice to people around the world. For every word that players define correctly, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice to the needy.

The program was started by computer programmer John Breen on October 7, 2007, both to help users build vocabulary and help fight world hunger.

Since then, it has donated over 17 billion grains of rice. For its first seven weeks, FreeRice donated 10 grains of rice for each question answered correctly. On November 28, 2007,

it was able to increase the number to 20 grains. FreeRice, however, doesn't provide the rice directly. The money generated from the advertisements that appear .on the website is used to buy the_ rice.

The rice is then distributed by the United Nations World Fqod Program (WFP); which works in over 75 countries with hundreds of other organizations internationally. WFP also buys food locally to support local economies and farmers.

Many Harrisites think that FreeRice.com is a good idea.

Junior Karen Abramowitz said, "I' ve heard of it. I came across it on a Facebook. It's a good idea to improve your vocabulary and make you feel like you are helping people." Similarly, junior Deborah Duke said, "I learned about it from another website I frequently visit. I think the website is an amazing idea, and it is fun to test your vocabulary."

Sophomore Cora Kim had els in all, but it is rare for people never heard of the website, but · to get much above level48."

The site program determines she said, "The site is definitely a good idea. I know tons of Har- the diffic1,1lty of each word ris people who have a rather based on how many people get limited amount of advanced each word right or wrong. The vocabulary, and the ones that program adjusts each word's think they have a large vocabu- difficulty level accordingly. lary are always using it wrong. The easiest levels consist of It's embarrassing and annoying words people often get right. to hear them speak, no offense." The words at the hardest levels FreeRice gets the vocabulary are the ones that people most words from a database with often get wrong. As more thousands of words varying_in people play, the levels- become difficulty. The words are appro- - much more accurate.

Sophomore Sharrnin Rashed priate for people at any vocabusaid, "As the Hamsites enhance lary level. their vocabulary and keep anThe site tests players with swering more questions, more words at different levels of difgrains of rice are being donated ficulty and then places them at and are eventually leading up their approximate level. When to much more than just a few players get a word wrong, they grains." go down one level. For every Harrisites who visit the site three words defined correctly in don't have to worry about run~ a row, players move on to a harder level. Karen said, "I'm ning out of vocabulary wordstrying to get to the last level, but to learn. FreeRice constantly it gets pretty hard." According has professionals working to to the website, "there are 55 lev- add more words to the FreeRice

database. Five new levels were added in late January 2008, and FreeRice plans to add more soon.

According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die every day from hunger-related causes, most of whom are children. Every donation is valued, especially by the families of those dying from ·hunger.

The United Nations estimates that the cost to end world hunger, along with diseases related to hunger, is about $195 billion per year. Twenty-two countries have joined together to raise this money by each contributing 0.7% of their national incomes.

Senior Alejandro Zarate said, "I think this is a pretty clever and unique way to resolve this big problem [world hunger]. Harrisites certainly like their vocabulary words, and with such brain savvy [people].'... , we'll be sending off a lot of rice."

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The Classic

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Athlete of the Month: Sheldon -Jones The Cfassic ~ai Staff has 4:ecided te adtl an ••Athlete of the Montlf' seCtion to the uw,spaper. 1iZach Month a ~t team will be chosen aad the team Members witt vote on Wiho ltey think slrould be 1tte player ef dte MOBfh. This~ is pven to the pmyer who, f!le team believes~ demon~wates the

Most team spirit ami dte best work efihie.

Name: Sh:eld0n Jones Otaae.: 11

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Team:: D0ys' varsity Basketl.tail Pavol'Ue Part of IWng on the Team: Unity 'Pre1J3m:e .ltiituats: "I put my left sock u :lest. thn my ~ and then I put on another pm. I ai~ listoo to Jay z·s seu;g. 'Lost Ones.' too."

Pre·game Snack~ P0p tans

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Outside 'ream.: MU (Amateur Athletie lJ:n:ion), ..New Yotk Cit,y's :Finest"

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Hero: Ty Lawson

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Favorite Jtas:ket'baD T.eam: New Yerk·Knidts

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Jtmtor Slteldrm Jones ~the bait .to vki:GJlY for the Wawks.

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Harrisfest bands, solo .acts 'A Funny Thing Happened' on stage play to small audience a lot to me." (continuedfrompg.l) In addition to performances the most amazing experiby the bands Anorunk and Wel- ence of my high school life-and come to Arkham, which are I'm sad it's over.'' ·botlfcomprised of sophomores, Mr. Canzoneri was very exother seniors such as Silbia Han cited to do Forum. "I saw it and Ellie Philips displayed their done at Forest Hills High vocal abilities by giving solo School four years ago," he said. performances.

"I thought it was v~ry funny Alumni also returned for an -from start to finish.'' Accordopportunity' to showcase their ing to Mr. Canzoneri, "The big·talents, but freshman participa- gest issue about casting Forum tion was lacking. Sophomore was whom to cast as the lead, ·Sharmin Rashed said, "I think since the lead is supposed to be there should have been at least a male. However, Broadway alsome freshman participants." lowed Whoopi Goldberg to Sophomore Cora Kim ad- play the role of Pseudolus as a dressed the quality of the replacement for Nathan Lane. school's sound system, stating, If Brodway can do it, then I can "The bands' music was okay, too,'1 he said.

Science teacher Katherine but you could barely' hear the vocals." Numerous bands felt Cooper and alumna Laura the impact of the faulty micro- Schubert, '07, choreographed phones, which made it difficult the dances, while art teacher to hear the songs' lyrics. Margherit_a Wischerth conSharmin said, "I couldn't really strue~ the scenery with a crew hear much. The school micro- of students and outside _help. phones aren't that great. But English teacher Judy Biener overall, everyone did well.'_' Senior David Ferrari sings and plays guitar while junior Matthew .

Watton plays the drums.

"Not enough people particiby Pearl Bhatnagar their cover of "Where'd You pated, so the show ended a Drittitlg School,I;nc.

Despite a small turnout, Go?'', originally a rap song by whole lot earlier than expected," said Anorunk vocalist bands and solo acts performed Fort Minor.

Among those performing Ashley Newman. Nonetheless, to an enthusiastic audience during Harrisfest on December 1s: was senior Sasha Diamond, bal).d members improvised, Due to a lack ofband partici- whose original song "Comfort" finding different ways to enterpation, however, the show was initially a component of a tain the audience. A drum-off, ended an hour earlier than an- school assfgnment. _Before in which the drummers of two ticipated. starting her act, she announced, bands showed off their skiils, The Christian Rock band "It was written fbr an English was followed by a jruii- session Cradle opened the night with · -collateral, but it actually means by an Ariorunk: guitarist.

served as vocal director. "I got a lot of help from [senior] Ellie Philips .. .! couldn't have done it without her," she said.

Sasha said, "I can think of no better way to end my four years here. I got to work with people I love on a hilarious show, and, to top it all off, people seemed to enjoy watching it!"

When asked what she will miss the most about the high school shows, Melanie replied, "If it's !lOt the actual shows, because I hope I'll be doing those for the rest of my life, it would have to be the people. I don't think it's a coincidence that my best friends are theater people. And rehearsal is the only place where I can break out into song randomly and nobody will give me strange looks - for the most part."

"I'll miss yelling at Dave Ferrari for missing cues," joked Mr. Canzoneri.

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The Classic

t 1 12 Boys' Ba$ketball wi-ns division -_ champion·ship .

May 2008

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By Eilin Perez home court and we wanted to show the eree warned Mr. Denunzio that if he conAfter a 20-point win over East Side other team," said Van Winckle. tinued, he would get a technical foul.

With eight seconds left in the second Community High School, the Boys' Mr. Denu11zio believes that the keys Basketball team triumphed over the quarter, senior Jon Stein and Jones threw to the game are "the usual defensive Bread and Roses Jaguars, 71-58, on themselves on the hardwood floor in a schemes, which help the game s~ay February 28 in a nail-biter that clinched scramble for the ball against a couple of close." the division championship. The win · Jaguars in a play that resulted in another After a lead was established in the caps off a 17-win, 1-loss regular sea- Hawks' po~session. This was a reflec- gaine, Mr. Denunzio advised his team son for the Hawks. tion of the "resiliency" and "hustle" that to "methodically keep the ball away Juniors Sheldon Jones and Ryan Van coach Frank Denunzio so often stresses. from the other team" in order to run time Winckle started the offense. Jones While not every shot was going down off the clock. When the Jaguars got close scored the first two points and for Jones, he was still able to play solid again, the Hawks "made adjustments scrambled for the ball three times dur- defense, and score clutch free throws to defensively." Mr, Denunzio was "iming the game. keep the Hawks in the driver's seat. . pressed with the boys' fight and confiVan Winckle made 12 baskets and Mr. Denunzio argued with referees on dence," saying that "they knew what shot a lot of rebounds. "The team was every call he considered unfair. The ref- was at stake here: not just a division very aggressiv.e. We knew it was our

championship, but [higher] seeding in the playoffs."

More fans attended the previous game. "Only 60 fans came to this game.

It didn't matter to me, though, I just wanted to win," said sophomore John Murray. Even so, Mr. Denunzio thought that it was "nice to see the'student body, parents, and administration out there," and described the crowd as "a sixth man" on the court.

Team captain Jon Stein played defense for a large majority of the game.

Tlie win, Stein said, "feels great. We worked hard, played hard. We have a great chance to take it all." .

Wrestl·ing team places fourth in developmental meet · by Kirsten Guelly The Boys' Wrestling team's first season came to a close with a record of six wins and two losses in the dual meet season. The Hawks ended with a § fourth place finish at ~ the 2008 Developmenc3 talDualMeetWrestling § Championships at Flushing High School ~ on February 10. ] After weeks of train"" ing and days of fasting, · the wrestlers competed in the firial tournament.

Each member of the team wrestled four

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Sophomore Joseph Halkias wrestles his opponent to the floor at Canarsie High School on December 22.

Hawks dribble to. a close

by Ashley Knight The Girls' Varsity Basketball team - lost to the Fort Hamilton Tigers, 35-57, on February 13. The game marked the first time in six years the Hawks made it to playoffs. The girls prepared for the game by researching the players on the other team and practicing almost every day.

The Tigers Were on their home court and had several loud supporters. "The Tigers initially started off with 100% effort. My girls were intimidated and weren't off to the right start," said coach Lauren Caiaccia.

In the second quarter,. junior Francesca Ba~talini and sophomore Ivana Ilic blocked four shots. "My defense made a bad situation a little bit _better. It was ryally hard to catch up to the other team, though," said Bartalini.

"During the third quarter, we felt like we were figP,ting a battle. We knew the game wasn't over and there was still a chance to come back. We knew it would be really hard, though," said junior Julia Fusfield.

Senior Captain Nicole Van Allen and junior Cecilia Ehresman continuously drove the ball down the court, but both of their point averages were lower than usual. "We didn't play our hardest in this game," said Ehresman.

After the game, Ms. Caiaccia said, "I was disappointed with the team's

times and faced four different developmental teams in separate dual meets.

The Hawks were victorious in their first match against Hunter College High School and were allowed to move on to face Flushing High School. The Hawks lostto Flushing in the final match of the regularseasonbutconqueredthematthe Championships.

The team moved to the semi-finals where they faced Brooklyn Technical High School, a team that had defeated thJ:m in the regular season. "It was a huge fight, and it was close to the very end, but we weren't able to beat them," said junior Damian Charles.

The boys then competed against Wingate High School for third place.

"The season came full circle because Wingate was our first match and they were also our last match," said senior Adam Elessawi. The Hawks lost to Wingate and finished the competition in ·fourth place.

Some notable individual scorers at

shooting. I thought they were only giving 20% in that area. Our team was evenly matched up to Hamilton's but the girls were psyched out from the beginning, so it was very hard for them to play to their potential."

Van Allen looked back to "one of the most memorable games of the year." It was the third game of the season, when by Eilin Perez The Boys' Indoor Track team entered the team fought a neck-in-neck battle . the Queens Championships at the Aragainst Richmond Hill. In the final quarmory on February 3, confident that their ter, the score was 41-42 and the Hawks line up would allow them to place well. were down by one point. With six secThe team was pleased when they finonds left, Van Allen drove the ball toished third in the overall scoring, the wards the basket and got fouled. "I knew highest finish for the boys' team in rethat I would have to make at least one cent history. foul shot," said Van Allen.

In his first races since Cross CounMs. Caiaccia called the team in and try season, junior Christopher Guerrero gave Van Allen a pep talk. Van Allen . finished in third place in the 3200-meter took the first foul shot and sunk it in. race with a time of 10:21.1, and fourth The second foul shot bounced · three in the 1600meter race with a 4:52. times before going into the hoop. With Guerrero commented, "I started out that last shot, the Hawks won by one slow and relaxed to see how I felt. Af- · point and the crowd cheered. ter the mile mark, I picked it up and fin"Despite our loss, I'm very proud of ished strong." the girls," said Ms. Caiaccia. "They The 4 X 800 relay team of Guerrero fought to the end and didn't give up. and seniors Alyas Hamid, Kenneth Ho, This season was very exciting and I'm and Kiran Lorick came in first with a ready for the next. Even though three time of 8:50.1. Captain Lorick said, "It seniors are leaving, we have a strong felt good to be in first place for much of team of freshmen, sophomores, and junthe race.

We were in control of the iors who I know will step up. Now that place."

The quartet qualified for City we have a taste of what a playoff game Championships with their performance. is like, we will be more mentally preA second relay team of senior Chrispared and ready for the challenge."

the Dual Meet Championships were sophomor~ captain Joseph Halkias, who had a 4-0 record, and Elessawi, who had a record of 3-1.

The previous weekend, the team competed at the Mayor's Cup, a tournament that focused primarily on the individual wrestler. Halkias won his weight class in the Freshman/Sophomore NoVice Division. In the Junior/ Senior Novice Division, senior Cody Alongi placed third, senior Abish Onta . fourth, and senior Sam Gerold fifth in their respective weight c]asses. "It felt good pinning down my opponent," said Gerold. "When you do so, you feel as though you have indefinite power."

Next year the team will no longer be developmental and will be competing on the varsity level. ''Competing against varsity teams will definitely be more challenging, but I think we'll be prepared for it," said junior Gaurab Reja, ~'This season has been a great experience and I can't wait for next year!" '

Runners stay on ,track; finish third in Queens topher Chen, sophomores Adam Mielnik, Christopher Wang, and junior Aneury Hernandez finished in fifth place in the same race with a total time of 9:31.1.

Coach George Rio stressed the runners' success in the field events as a large reason for their third place finish.

Mielnik cleared 9'6" in the pole vault and cruised to a first place finish. "I worked hard over the summer and it paid off. It's rewarding to now be the best pole vault In Queens," he said.

Also in the field events, junior Andrew Mayer broke the school record for the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 10.0 seconds. After coming in sixth in the high jump competition, Mayer said, "I'm very happy with my performance but I still think there is room for improvement."

Mr. Rio believes the Hawks placing third at Queen's Championships highlights their "best indoor season ever."

It was, he said, "an all-around effort; everyone contributed."