World news

Faculty Freshman: Dr. Shahar

By Jack Gomberg

Contributing Writer

Born and raised in Minnesota, Dr. Doron Shahar moved to Arizona for high school and stayed there to attend the University of Arizona. He studied math and physics for his undergraduate degree and math and statistics during his graduate studies. Not only did he excel in the university, but it’s also where he discovered his passion for teaching. “I think it happened when I started my PhD program. They threw us into teaching as well, and I really liked it, and at that point I knew I wanted to do something with teaching.”

Upon getting married, Dr. Shahar and his wife moved to Brooklyn, where he started teaching at the Yeshivah of Flatbush. Dr. Shahar teaches four classes, including multivariable calculus, geometry, AP Physics 1, and AP Physics C.

His favorite part about teaching at Yeshivah of Flatbush is the students. “You guys have a lot of energy. It’s very exciting and nice to see all that energy that you guys bring to the classroom,” stated Dr. Shahar.

While Dr. Shahar immensely enjoys teaching at Flatbush, he admits that he does struggle with being a new teacher at times. “As a new teacher in a new school, it can be scary getting used to the culture and making all of your materials,” he noted. Regardless, he remains optimistic, remarking that, “once you’ve been at a place for a while, you know all of the ins and outs, and it gets easier.”

In his free time, Dr. Shahar enjoys playing chess, going running, playing with his son, going on hikes with his wife, and watching various TV shows. One fun fact about him is that, despite a widely held belief among students, he is not actually from Israel. “A lot of people think I’m from Israel, but really only my parents are Israeli. Hebrew is actually my second language, because I didn’t start speaking until I was 3,” Dr. Shahar elaborated.

How Daylight Saving Time hurts our bodies

Science in English:

By Emily Tarrab

Contributing Writer

Most of the United States turned the clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 6. This was the official end of Daylight Saving Time. No more dark and gloomy mornings on the way to school. No more Shabbats ending at 8 p.m. Standard Time is now in place, providing us with a natural morning alarm clock— the sunrise—as well as a sunset at roughly 4:30 p.m.

“Falling back” and “springing forward” has recently been a hot topic nationally since the Senate unanimously voted last March to make Daylight Saving Time permanent and to eliminate Standard Time. (The House of Representatives has not yet voted on the bill.)

Regardless of how lawmakers resolve it, there are multiple issues concerning Daylight Saving Time and our health, especially as students.

Waking up to darkness completely contradicts the human trait instilled within us to rise with the sun. According to freshman Sam Gindi, who commutes to school from Manhattan, “walking to the subway every morning during Daylight Saving Time is gloomya, mopey, and tiring.”

On the other hand, science teacher Ms. Mikhli believes that Daylight Saving Time should be implemented all year round. “I don’t mind driving to school in the dark at all, but I absolutely hate driving back home after sunset during Standard Time. I begin to feel very drowsy and unproductive,” she communicated.

Scientists have proven that sleep loss and heart attacks are more prone to happen as we transition to Daylight Saving Time. Neurologist Beth Marlow firmly believes that our biannual clock switch should be eliminated, and we should follow only Standard Time. Confusing our body clock and waking up to darkness results in weary drivers in the morning, thus making collisions far more prevalent. When evening arrives and there’s still light out, this too “messes with our brains,” claims Dr. Marlow.

As high school students, falling asleep can be extra challenging during Daylight Saving Time. It’s so bright during the evening that, by the time we want to go to sleep, we still aren’t “tired” enough. Our melatonin hormone, which notifies us when to go to sleep, gets released an hour or two later than it’s supposed

Europe’s energy crisis getting worse

Holiday lights on Paris Avenue des Champs-Élysées

By Michelle Belenky

World News Editor

Millions of people travel every year to see the beautiful lights that decorate the Champs-Élysées in France. However, this year the lights will be shut off earlier to save energy. France isn’t the only country struggling with energy insufficiency—all of Europe is currently going through an energy crisis caused by a decrease in oil supplied by Russia. Sanctions on Russia (instituted after their attack on Ukraine) put many European countries in a tight spot regarding their energy consumption.

The European Union stated that the drop in Russian energy supplies has gone “from 45% of our gas imports last year, to just 14% in September 2022.”

Without the oil that Russia typically provides, gasoline and electricity prices have skyrocketed.

While this has been a prominent issue for the past couple of months, the coming winter is significantly exacerbating the energy crisis. Heating bills and availability of heating power are set to make this winter a brutal one for many European countries. Last year, 7% of the European population was unable to heat their homes adequately. Heating bills have already grown far more expensive than they were last year, foreshadowing the precarious position European households are being cornered into this winter.

The countries most at risk this year are Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus as they got the brunt of last year’s heating poverty. However, even European countries that have historically been more resilient regarding heating conservation are in trouble this year. In the UK alone, one third of all households are projected to be pushed into energy poverty or to be devoid of access to modern energy technology this winter. This means no functioning heating or light fixtures throughout the house. The European Union has created a plan of action in order to remedy the energy situation. The REPowerEU Plan’s goal is to end European dependence on Russian fossil fuels before the year 2030. The EU’s website states that this is a plan for “producing clean energy, saving energy, and diversifying energy suppliers.” The EU claims to be working with international partners to locate alternative energy supplies, aiming to speed up the green transition and spur massive investment in renewable energy. They would also like to enable industry to substitute fossil fuels with green energy faster to bring down emissions and dependency on Russia. Finally, the EU also pushes the conservation of energy on the industrial and local level. These efforts may ultimately provide more and cleaner energy throughout Europe in the long term. In the short term, many Europeans are bundling up in anticipation of a very uncomfortable winter.

to, so our bodies don’t get the trigger to go to sleep on time. When we consider early school start times, it further proves to be a recipe for disaster.

In 2017, the Cherry Creek School District in Denver conducted an experiment, switching school start times to 8:30 a.m during Daylight Saving Time, and as a result, their students got more sleep. This ultimately improved their functionality and attentiveness in the classroom, since they got more hours of sleep and woke up to daylight. This year, the majority of high schools in California followed suit and implemented later school start times in order to benefit their students’ health and sleep time.

As the Senate’s plan to make Daylight Saving Time permanent is still pending, pediatric pulmonologist Sonal Malhotra has a couple of helpful tips for dealing with early mornings during DST: keep a consistent sleep, meal, and exercise schedule as well as avoiding caffeine and afternoon naps. The main focus of these tips is to minimize the negative effects of DST on our bodies, since it is very unlikely that the Flatbush administration will change our school start time to 8:30 any time soon.