The SpectatorThe Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

Teacher Feature: Beyond the BeardIf English teacher Mark Henderson’s life was a book, it

would be filled with plot twists.‘Wichcraft offers pricey, but enchanting sandwiches with uniquefillings.

‘Wichcraft: Food Nothing Short of MagicalArticle on page 3.FeaturesArts & Entertainment Article on page 10.

Volume XCVIII No. 14 April 18, 2008 stuyspectator.com

By CHRIS LEE and ANI SEFAJ

Juniors Valerie Piro, LuciaHsaio and Girl's Indoor Trackassistant coach Erin Taylor arerecovering after a car accident onSaturday, January 12 left themseriously injured.

Taylor was driving Piro,Hsaio and five other race-walkersnorth on the I-91 in Hanover,New Hampshire to theDartmouth Relays, when her vanswerved into a grassy areabetween the northbound andsouthbound highways. The vanwas airborne for a few secondsand then rolled over twice, com-ing to a stop with the driver’s sidefacing the ground.

Taylor, Piro and Hsaio weretrapped inside the van. Rescueworkers helped them out of thevehicle and rushed them to theDartmouth-Hitchcock MedicalCenter.

The five other race-walkers,who suffered minor cuts andbruises, were released from thehospital the night of the acci-

dent. Piro, who injured the cervical

area of her spinal chord, hasweakened use of her right armand will wear a neck brace forthree months. She is being treat-ed at the New York UniversityRusk Institute of RehabilitationMedicine.

“The first week after the acci-dent, I felt absolutely nothingbelow the chest,” Piro said. “Itwas scary.” Currently, she isundergoing physical and occu-pational therapy, which, as ofyet, has not led to a full recovery.

Piro’s emotional recovery hasbeen just as difficult. “I used tobe annoyed when I couldn't runfor two days straight,” Piro said.“You can imagine what it's like tonot run for three months.” Sheremains optimistic because ofdaily visits from her friends andfamily, and signs of physicalrecovery.

“I can't say really when I'll beback to normal or when I'll be

Race-walkers Recoverafter Car Accident andCoach Faces Lawsuits

continued on page 2

By SARAH KAPLAN

Despite the fact that mostStuyvesant students will beunable to vote in the 2008presidential election, many arestill making an effort to becomeinvolved in politics. In aSpectator poll, almost one infive sophomores and juniorssaid they were planning oncampaigning for one of thecandidates in the comingelections.

Next year, sophomoresMatthew Leiwant and MichaelMay will start a club atStuyvesant to canvas for SenatorBarack Obama should he winthe Democratic nomination.

“Many politicians andpeople in the political worldignore young people and thenwonder why no one votes in thiscountry,” Leiwant said. “Themain reason is that they do notfeel involved. Michael May and Iboth feel it is important to getinvolved and that is why we arestarting this club. I am in touchwith Grassroots Campaign and Iam trying to get a grant to bringclub members down toPennsylvania next year tocanvas for Obama. If we do notget the grant, we will raise themoney ourselves. We will alsowork inside the Stuyvesantcommunity and inside the City

of New York to raise awareness.” Sophomore Sharada Sridhar,

who is also planning onvolunteering for Obama, said, “Idecided I wanted to directlywork with Obama's campaignwhen I realized that it would bethe step that I would be takingto better America. I would besharing in the ‘we’ of ‘Yes wecan.’”

Even those who aren’tdirectly campaigning for acandidate are still making aneffort to become involved inpolitics. Last year, current juniorPhilip Kim interned at theimmigration office of SenatorHillary Clinton. “A friend ofmine had been working in thesame office for a few years, andhe asked me if I would like tohelp him out,” Kim said.

“I started off working theredoing various things such asfiling mail into differentcategories, organizing officespace, clearing out oldimmigration cases, and so on.As I became more experienced, Iworked on the computers usinga system called IQ to work onsome immigration cases,” Kimsaid. “I thought the experiencewould be very interesting and ithas been […] my parents areimmigrants, so some thingsabout the whole immigrationprocess were applicable to my

family.” However, this interest in

politics is not universal atStuyvesant. Quite a few studentsare alarmingly ignorant of evenbasic facts about the election. Inthe same Spectator poll, a thirdof the freshmen said they didn’tknow the names of thecandidates in the currentelections, and almost half didn’tknow what a primary is. None ofthe freshmen polled said theywere planning on volunteeringfor a candidate.

“I haven’t even thoughtabout it,” freshman Abie Sidellsaid.

Equally surprising is the factthat few seniors are activelyinvolved in the campaigns.While almost all seniors areaware of general informationabout the elections, only one in26 seniors said they wereplanning to volunteer for acandidate.

Most seniors choose not tovolunteer for political reasons.“I’m not volunteering foranyone because I’m not excitedabout the candidates. I thoughtthat the best democraticcandidate was Edwards, buthe’s no longer in the race,”senior Alex Blamm said.

Others stay out of the

Election 2008: Primary Participants

continued on page 2

By PAULINA KARPIS, RACHEL KIM and

ARIANNA MOSHARY

English teacher LynneEvans, who taught inStuyvesant since 1983, passedaway on Sunday, April 6. Thecause of her death was pneu-m o n i a .

This year, Evans taughtModern European Literatureand Great American Literature.

“Overwhelmingly, her stu-dents talked about how kindand considerate she was,”Assistant Principal EricGrossman said.

“She was very supportive,”junior Karmen Cheung said.“She had very interesting con-versations with her class.”

"She was the warmest per-son," senior Anya Shetler said."She was like an unofficialguidance counselor."

Junior Aidan Bonneragreed. “If someone had aproblem, she was nice about itand she would never make itfeel like you were wasting hertime,” he said.

English teacher Walter Gernsaid Evans “knew books inti-mately and loved them.”

According to Gern, outsideof school, she enjoyedShakespearean and Greek the-ater and 19th century paint-ings, and was “very much a fan

English Teacher Lynne Evans Passes Away

continued on page 3

“The Pulseof the

StudentBody”

Cou

rtes

yof

Th

eIn

dica

tor

By PEI XIONG LIUand LEE TSAI

In response to Saturday,January 12 car accident involvingtwo Stuyvesant girls—juniorsValerie Piro and Lucia Hsiao—onthe race-walking team and theliability charges facing AssistantCoach Erin Taylor, PrincipalTeitel suggested that all club andpublication faculty advisersattend after school meetings andfunctions held outside of school.

According to the Departmentof Education Chancellor'sRegulations, the faculty advisermust supervise all meetings andtake responsibility for accidentsthat may occur.

"Each club is supposed tohave a club advisor who signedthe charter and has to be presentduring club meetings," Teitelsaid.

However, due to the legalallegations of the crash, manyteachers are declining to be fac-ulty advisors because they do notwant to be held liable.

According to social studiesteacher Debra Plafker, theTeacher’s Union is demandingthat the school be held liable forthe students.

"Many teachers do not thinkit's fair,” Club Pub Co-directorEliot Kim said.

Senior class presidentMichelle Lee believes too muchburden is placed on the facultyadvisers. "There's only so muchthey can do to keep the studentssafe," she said.

The decline of faculty advis-

ers also affects new clubs and theschedules of existing clubs.

According to Kim, manyclubs have already been affectedby the new policy. "I've had clubs/ pubs that couldn't passbecause they couldn't get theircharter signed."

Teitel said, "If a club can'tfind an advisor, and she feels ifthe club is warranted, [Healthteacher] Weinwurm can be thedefault advisor."

According to Teitel,Weinwurm will be paid extra tosupervise the meetings.

Senior and president of theEntrepreneur's Association ClubDavid Dai believes this systemposes many difficulties. "If youhave a lot of meetings, then it'stough,” he said. “You have tomake [faculty advisers] stay a lotin a month.”

Due to conflicting schedules,teachers may also decline toattend meetings.

"It will be really hard to holdclub meetings now,” senior andpresident of the Chinese PopCulture Club said.

According to Kim, no clubhas been penalized for lackingsupervision. The administrationwill carry out all penalties.

Lee, however, thinks the sys-tem is reasonable.

"[It’s] really an act for securi-ty," she said.

Social studies teacher GeorgeKennedy agreed.

"The issue here is a concernfor the well being and safety ofthe students," he said.

Teitel Suggests FacultyAdvisers to Attend All

Club Pub Meetings

The Spectator • April 18, 2008Page 2

749,000Number of dollars in theStuyvesant bank account

80Percent of Stuyvesant students with a GPA

of 85 or above

200,700Number of dollars cut fromthe school budget this year

60Percent of Stuyvesant students with a GPA

of 90 or above

By MASHA GINDLER

Stuy’s Free Hugs Club heldits f irst Annual St. JudeChildren’s Hospital Fundraiseron Thursday, April 10 in thecafeteria. The fundraiser raised3500 dollars, overreaching theirgoal of 2000 dollars. Ticketscost five dollars.

Stuy’s Free Hugs Club is aservice volunteer club run byjunior and club presidentKatharine Chen and junior andclub vice president TanyaKobzeva. The club’s mission isto raise money to “give back tothe community,” Chen said.The club was founded last yearby Chen and Kobzeva who gotthe idea for the name from thepopular “Free Hugs” video thatfeatured Juan Mann givingstrangers hugs.

All the proceeds will go tothe St. Jude Children’sResearch Hospital which pro-vides medical attention to chil-dren with cancer. The hospitalis known for taking in patientswith high risk cases and thosewithout enough financialresources to get help else-where. St Jude Hospital alsoresearches possible cures forserious diseases like leukemia.

The fundraiser was a carni-val, with food, games, prizesand performances. Originallythe members wanted to have aparty to raise money, but theychanged their minds because“the party idea wasn’t perfectyet, and a carnival would raisemore cash,” Chen said.

So many students attendedthe event that many had to beturned back at the door due toa 500 person limit in the cafete-ria. “We expected 200 peopleoriginally,” junior and Stuy’sFree Hugs Club treasurer DavidMannes said.

The students may have

been attracted by extra-credit,because some teacherspromised it. Although sopho-more Forrest Di Terri alsoreceived extra credit for atten-dance, he went because “all themoney spent there is allegedlygoing to a great cause and itseemed like it would be a lot offun,” he said.

The carnival had variousgames including Penny Toss,Can Smash, Guess How Manyand Tiger Dartboard, all run byStuy’s Free Hugs Club volun-teers. Each game cost one ortwo vouchers, depending onthe level of difficulty. Prizes forthese games were relatively

modest, like brain teasers orbeach balls.

Aside from the small games,there were Limbo, SmashBrothers, Dance DanceRevolution and arm wrestlingtournaments. These tourna-ments were the most popularevents. “I lost my voice. I wasdead,” said sophomore andStuy’s Free Hugs Club Editor

David Rice who monitored theSmash Brothers Brawl. Thewinners of those received moreexpensive prizes, like an iPodshuffle.

Prizes were also given outin a raffle competition. Prizesincluded gift cards to storeslike Starbucks and Barnes andNoble, a Yoga lesson for two,gift baskets and movie tickets.The prizes were mostly dona-tions from companies andstores around the Tribeca area.

The food was provided byneighboring business, l ikePortebello’s, which donated 15pizza pies. In addition, mem-bers of the Stuy’s Free HugsClub brought in food anddesserts. The wide food selec-tion offered plates like sushi,chicken cuts and rice. “Mygrandpa brought in blinchiki,”said freshmen and Stuy’s FreeHugs Club member RitaKirzhner, “a type of Russianpancake.” A plate of food and adrink cost two tickets, anddessert was an extra ticket.

Performers were chosen byaudition, and they includedStuy Squad, the BarbershopQuartet, junior DimitriWijesinghe, Indian Dance,senior Serge Lobatch, Greekdance, junior Michael Ardeljanon saxophone, the Salsa Club,A Cappella and Swing Dance.“It was a good idea for us,”sophomore Katerina Ceciliaand Greek dance participantsaid. “We love Greek dance andit was for a good cause.”

“I liked the show concert,especially the swing dance […]performance, and the chorus,”Di Terri said. “I had a lot offun.”

Stuy’s Free Hugs Club Gives More Than Just Hugs

leaving the hospital,” Piro said. Currently, she is taking

Advanced Placement (AP)English, AP United States Historyand pre-calculus. "Mr.Jaishankar comes once a week toteach me pre-[calculus], and Dr.

Stern and Mr. Garfinkel keep meupdated on what the class islearning," Piro said.

She will be returning toStuyvesant in September as asenior.

Hsaio, who fractured herwrist and second cervical verte-brate in the accident, wasreleased from the hospital onThursday, January 17.

She wore a halo, a metal ringthat surrounds or encircles apatient's head, until the end ofFebruary. “It's gotten a lot easierwithout the halo, that huge con-traption I had before,” Hsaiosaid. “I got it off […] and thenhad to wear a Sternal OccipitalMandibular Immobilizer brace(SOMI) from then on untilrecently.”

The SOMI brace is wornthroughout the day. It isstrapped around a patient'schest and back with two pieces,one that goes behind his or herneck and one that goes under hisor her chin. A patient's head islocked in place between thesetwo pieces to prevent mobility ofthe neck.

Hsaio has not recovered fully.“I haven't yet regained full rota-tional use of my neck,” she said.“Other than that, I feel great andthe fracture was barely visible inmy last x-ray.”

She resumed practicing withthe track team. “The hardest part[was] being away from my teamand unable to train,” Hsaio said.

Taylor, who fractured herneck, was released from the hos-pital four days after the accident.She also wears a halo that pre-vents her from looking down orbehind her.

She now faces a legal battle.According to the New YorkTimes article, "Straight Ahead,One Foot in Front of the Other"by Michael Brick, FredricEisenberg, Piro and Hsiao’slawyer, filed a lawsuit seekingunspecified damages against theFord Motor Company, AvisBudget Group, the Departmentof Education, New York City andTaylor, who is named as an agentof the school.

In the article, Eisenbergclaims that although the race-walkers’ parents gave Taylorwritten permission to bring theirchildren on the trip, she did notseek Principal Stanley Teitel’spermission.

Bernard Kleinman, Taylor’slawyer, claims Taylor notified theschool of the trip, followed pro-cedures and acted in the scope ofher employment. He said thoseprocedures had never includedinforming the principal.

Teitel said, “I am supposed tosign off on all school trips.” Hedid not sign off on the track teamtrip.

Kleinman declined to com-ment and Eisenberg couldn't bereached.

Taylor's assistant coach posi-tion on the track team has notbeen filled. "I doubt that if theyever assign our team a new assis-tant coach, they will find onespecifically for the benefit of therace-walkers. It's rare to findsomeone with the qualificationsto capably coach race-walking,"Hsaio said. "This whole incidenthas been blown way out of pro-portion.”

Race-walkers Recover after Car Accident andCoach Faces Lawsuitscontinued from page 1

“I used to be annoyed when I couldn't run for

two days straight. You can imagine what it's like to

not run for three months.”—Valerie Piro,

junior

Stuy's Free Hugs Carnival raised money for St. Jude Children's Hospital with food, games, performances and raffles which includedprizes such as gift cards and movie tickets.

Zin

Hte

t/T

he

Spec

tato

r

So many studentsattended the event

that many had to beturned back at thedoor due to a 500

person limit in thecafeteria.

campaigns for ethical reasons.“I choose not to volunteer for acandidate because I thinkeveryone should just be able tomake their own choice withoutany outside influences,” seniorAlbert Manina said. “The wholepoint of a democracy is that itrepresents the opinions of thepeople.”

Even so, most students stillfeel that it’s important forstudents to be involvedregardless of whether or notthey’re eligible to vote.

“Students have to be aware ofpolitics because it’s somethingthat affects us,” freshmanPricilla Odinmah said.“Learning about what’s goingon in the world is just asimportant as the academics welearn in school.”

Leiwant agrees. “Thecountry is making the decisionof who will hold the mostimportant office in our nationfor the next four years,” he said.“That is a very big deal and I feelall Americans, regardless of age,should be aware of andparticipate in this process.”

Election 2008:Primary Participants

continued from page 1

The Spectator • April 18, 2008 Page 3

161Number of sophomores

who signed up for the AP European History exam

328Number of sophomores

who signed up for the AP World History exam

657Number of sophomores in

AP World History

164Number of sophomores inAdvanced Placement (AP)

European History

By ANDREW CHOW and EMMA ZIEGELLAUB EICHLER

The beard was an accident. According to English teach-

er Mark Henderson, his new,fully-grown beard is the resultof not shaving during Regentsweek. He decided to keep thebeard, to the delight of most ofhis students and fellow teach-ers.

Henderson has achieved a

degree of fame at Stuyvesant.Though he has been atStuyvesant for only one and ahalf years, he has developedquite a reputation among stu-dents.

As a child, Henderson wasexposed to a range of experi-ences. His father was a forestranger, so although Hendersonlived with his mother (his par-ents divorced when he wasyoung) in the suburbs of

Detroit, Michigan, he spenttwo months every summer withhis father out west. Despite hisunusual childhood, Hendersonsaid, “Everybody takes their lifeand views it as normal.”

His varied experiences as achild sparked his interest inseveral different fields. In fact,teaching was not Henderson’sinitial profession of choice. Thefirst thing he ever wanted to bewas a doctor’s husbandbecause “she would make a lotof money and I wouldn’t haveto work,” he said.

Henderson said he proba-bly wanted to be an astronautwhen he was little, but the firstthing he remembers wanting tobe is a professor “because youget the summers off,” he said.He attended teaching school atNew York University.However, he became tired of itbecause “it’s very hard to be anacademic and a lot of itbecomes competition over avery, very few jobs,” he said. Itwas less about literature thanabout “cutting everyone elsedown,” he said.

His second field choice waspublishing. He worked at pub-lishing companies W. W.Norton and then Routledge. Atfirst, it was exciting. “It’s really

cool the first time a book hap-pens and it’s because of you,”he said. He said he enjoyed“that you actually see the prod-

uct of your labor.” However,Henderson was disappointedto see that publishing increas-ingly became focused on “mak-ing money off of books,” hesaid.

Finally, he started thinkingabout teaching. He receivedhis first job teaching for twoyears at the Cobble Hill Schoolfor American Studies inBrooklyn. He described it as“really hard” because “thereare so many obstacles for a stu-dent to succeed.” However, healso said, “Working there was areally great experience. […] Ifelt like I was actually helpingpeople, people who otherwiseprobably would not behelped.” After two years, hewas ready for a new jobbecause of the difficult situa-tion at his school.

When Henderson applied tobe an English teacher atStuyvesant two years ago, heknew Stuyvesant only by itsprestigious reputation. He wasamazed by the behavior of hisstudents on the first day ofschool. “The students cameinto class, opened up theirnotebooks and looked at me asthough they were expecting tolearn something,” Hendersonsaid. “That’s not usual.”

Henderson was forced toadjust quickly from teaching atan underperforming neighbor-hood school to a school wherethe expectations were extreme-ly high. The transition period,however, did not last very long.Henderson’s easygoing natureand humor helped him grabthe attention of students. “Mr.Henderson makes the class-room enjoyable,” freshmanEmma Pollack said. “He relatesto his students more than mostteachers do.”

Over the past two years atStuyvesant, Henderson hasdeveloped close relationshipswith his students. “I don’tthink I could teach for verylong if I didn’t like the kids,”Henderson said. He is com-fortable talking to kids abouttheir personal l ives, whichmakes the kids more relaxed

during class. “[Henderson] isthe kind of guy you can talk toabout anything, and he'll listenand give his feedback,” sopho-more Andrew Cook said.

Last year, Henderson

became the faculty advisor forthe Stuyvesant TheaterCommunity (STC). He took onthe post despite not having anyexperience in the field, and wasimmediately impressed by thediligence and productivity ofthe theater program. “I wasamazed at how a group ofteenagers were pulling off sixor seven shows a year,”Henderson said.

However, Hendersonrecently decided to give up hisposition in STC for personalreasons. In a month,Henderson's wife’s twin boyswill be born. He says theprospect of being a father isalready affecting his relation-ships with his students. Hefinds himself looking at thekids and wondering, “Are mychildren going to be l ikethat…or l ike that…or l ikethat?”

Henderson’s relationshipswith his students make histeaching style unique. “There’san upbeat feel in his classroomthat most other teachers can’tachieve,” freshman Ariel Lernersaid. “I couldn’t think of any-one who could teach [Englishcomposition] better than Mr.Henderson.”

Teacher Feature: Beyond the Beard

“Everybody takes their life and views it as

normal.” —Mark

Henderson,English teacher

“There’s an upbeatfeel in his classroom

that most other teachers can’t

achieve.” —Ariel Lerner,

freshman

Despite only being at Stuy for a year and a half, English teacher Mark Henderson'sinventive teaching style has earned him popularity among students and teachers.

Sara

hC

ohen

-Sm

ith

/T

he

Spec

tato

r

of ballet.” Evans held memberships to

several different museums.“She and I at least twice ven-tured to the Museum of ModernArt,” Gern said. “I took mydaughter, who really l ikedL y n n e . ”

Evans was involved in theschool community through herwork with the Stuyvesant chap-ter of the United Federation ofTeachers (UFT). She was a rep-resentative of the SunshineFund for many years.“Whenever there was a happyoccasion, like a birth, a weddingor some happy event in thedepartment, she […] wouldalways come with a gift for thatperson,” Grossman said.

World Language teacher

Patrick Niglio said Evans was“Miss Hospitality for theschool” because she went “outof her way to always make surethat people felt special.”

Niglio said Evans was also amember of the UFTConsultation Committee, which“talks to the principal everymonth about different things inthe school and [works] togetheron things to improve thes c h o o l . ”

Evans became the UFTchapter representative inFebruary 2008 when the previ-ous UFT representative EllenSchweitzer went on sabbatical.

Evans made friends withteachers in many differentdepartments, who rememberher fondly.

“She always seemed to be

very composed, extremely artic-ulate and had a very good sense

of humor,” Gern said. “She wasalways putting New Yorker car-

toons in my mailbox.”Niglio said she was an

“angel” and “one of the mostcompassionate individuals Ihave ever met” because she was“always giving her 110 percentto her students and her col-l e a g u e s . ”

“She always had a beautifulsmile for everyone no matterwhat,” custodian HaydeeReynolds said. “She alwaystreated everyone with respect.”

"I admired her dedication toher students and her availabili-ty to help people,” ElsieAugustave said. “She used tomanage to always find time toh e l p . "

“She had a certain wit thatshe always brought with her toany conversation,” PrincipalStanley Teitel said.

English teachers HughFrancis and Holly Weiss willcover Evans’ Great AmericanLiterature class and Englishteachers Kim Rober and MeganBreslin will cover her ModernEuropean Literature class.

“I'm proud of the way [theteachers] stepped forward inthe interest of Ms. Evans' stu-dents,” Grossman said. “Theyrecognized the importance ofstudents finishing this semesterin a way that’s valuable andproductive and out of respectfor Ms. Evans.”

Evans' funeral was held onWednesday, April 16, at theQueen of All Saints Church.

A memorial service for herwill be held at Stuyvesant onTuesday, April 29.

English Teacher Lynne Evans Passes Awaycontinued from page 1

"I admired her dedication to her students

and her availability tohelp people.”

—ElsieAugustave,

French teacher

The Spectator •April 18, 2008Page 4

Speech Team Wins ThirdPlace at States

The Stuyvesant Speech andDebate team won third place atThe New York StateChampionship tournamentheld at Albany High School onFriday, April 4 and Saturday,April 5.

“This is a tremendousaccomplishment consideringthe large number of schools[who competed],” senior MilesPurinton said.

Only students who qualifiedby receiving two half qualifica-tions could participate. Halfqualifications are given to thetop speakers in each category atevery tournament. The numberof half qualifications dependson the number of participatingstudents.

“There were about 900 peo-ple at States and 100 of themwere from Stuyvesant, whichshows how well we did,” sopho-more and semifinalist BrianaLast said. Thirteen Stuyvesantstudents were semifinalists.

“We did incredibly well,”she said.

Freshman Omika Jikariaplaced first in Junior VarsityOral Interpretation. SophomoreKashyap Rajagopal placed thirdin Declamation. Junior HarlanDowns-Tepper placed first inStudent Congress category andjunior Xander Palmer placedfifth in Varsity OralInterpretation. Senior MaurizioMartinelli placed fifth inHumorous Interpretation andPurinton placed sixth inOriginal Oratory.

Robotics Team Qualifies ForNationals

The Stuyvesant roboticsteam, 694, won the EngineeringInspiration award at the NewYork City For Inspiration andRecognition of Science andTechnology (FIRST) RegionalRobotics Competition. Theevent was held at The JacobJavits Center from Friday, April4 to Sunday, April 6. TheEngineering Inspiration award,the highest award at the compe-tition, qualified 694 for thenational competition in Atlanta,Georgia from Thursday, April 17to Saturday, April 19. This is694’s fifth time qualifying fornationals.

FIRST is a non-profit organi-zation that, according to theirwebsite, hopes "to create aworld where science and tech-nology are celebrated."

Team 694's robot, namedDESbot after their main sponsorD.E. Shaw, a New York Citytechnology and investmentfirm, is equipped with a robustdrive-train, a mechanical devicethat helps the robot resist ero-sion, and a manipulating arm. Ittravels at a speed of 10 feet persecond, weighs 120 pounds andis six feet tall. DESbot also has apicture of FIRST founder DeanKamen on its puncher, thedevice used to hurdle objects.

The regional competition,FIRST Overdrive, consisted ofan oval playing field whererobots raced counterclockwiseto score points. Teams couldscore extra points if their robotsretrieved balls placed on anoverpass above the field’s centerand moved them across the fin-ish line or throw them over theoverpass. Each match wasdivided into two periods:Hybrid and Tele-operated.During the Hybrid period, theRobocoach used a remote tocontrol the robot, whichresponded using programsinstalled on its hard drive.During the Tele-operated peri-od, the robot was directly con-

trolled by the drivers.Team 694's drivers for the

2008 season were senior andpresident Steven Lam andsenior and director of engineer-ing Andrew Mandelbaum. TheRobocoach was the sophomoreand vice president of engineer-ing Seth Berg.

At the Friday practicerounds, 694 faced a number ofdifficulties. "Adjustments tomanipulator and arm weremade to ease the grabbing ofballs," freshman and media offi-cer Mao Hu said. "We alsoencountered problems with thepneumatic system due to thenew design of the puncher."

After making a few mechan-ical adjustments to the robotafter the Friday practice rounds,694 had a 7-1 win-loss recordduring the competition. Itdefeated veteran teams, includ-ing 375 from Staten IslandTechnology High School—which won Regionals in 2006and is seeded as one of the bestteams in New York City—and1155 from Bronx Science HighSchool, winners of the regionalsin 2007 and recipients of theEngineering Inspiration awardin 2006. However, 694 wasdefeated in the Sunday semi-finals in a close best-of-threematch. It played partners 375and 637 from MontvilleTownship High School in NewJersey and 348 from NorwellHigh School in Massachusetts.

“Though we have doneextremely well so far, I expect usto do even better atChampionships, building uponthe successes and experiencesgained at both New York andTrenton,” junior and presidentof marketing Jonathan Meedsaid. “I have to say I am amazedat how well we are doing thisyear.”

Stuyvesant Math TeamsWin State Math League

Thirty-five Stuyvesant stu-dents competed in the NewYork State Mathematics League(NYSML) competition onSaturday, April 5 in MonroeCounty in upstate New York.

Senior Artur Dmowski wonthe individual event and seniorand two-time NYSML winnerDanny Zhu was awarded thefirst-ever Berman-RockowAward for MathleteExtraordinaire.

Ninety students from pri-vate and public high schoolsthroughout the city were divid-ed into six teams. Six out of the11 NYC team captains werefrom Stuyvesant—seniors KenSuzuki, Eliot Kim, JesseMadnick, Artur Dmowski, JennyKwun and Julia Wang. The com-petition consisted of proof,relay, team and individualrounds.

“The competition went verywell,” math teacher and headcoach of the NYC Math TeamJames Cocoros said. “Things ranvery smoothly."

Seven Stuyvesant studentswere among the 24 individualswho received a perfect score onthe individual round and quali-fied for the tiebreaker round.

Team A and N from NYCscored first and second placewith scores of 172 and 146respectively. The team fromNassau County was third placewith a score of 142.

The six NYC teams willcompete at the NationalAmerican Regions Math Leagueon Saturday, May 31.

"What I really enjoy is theentire city coming together andtruly functioning as a team,"Cocoros said. "It's inspiring tosee the older members of theteam encourage and mentor theyounger students."

By ALEXANDER SHIN

The Stuyvesant High Schooljunior and senior caucuses haveeach appointed their first everCube Coordinators: senior JamilaMa and junior Abby Schaeffer.

“A lot of grades haven’t donetheir boxes yet. It just wasn’t a bigdeal for them. I want to makesure it gets done for our year,” Masaid. “Last year, the senior caucusjust did it.”

“We want to try to plan for the[block-filling] this year, so we cando it well next year,” junior classvice president Jenny Han said.

Each Cube Coordinator hasto locate and prepare the cubedesignated for his or her year,devise a way to obtain the class’sopinion on what to put in thecube and arrange a “Block Party”where seniors celebrate filling thecube and their memories ofStuyvesant.

The caucus chose the coordi-nator based on an application heor she submitted. “We were look-

ing for someone who is reallypassionate about our grade andour school. We were looking forresponsibility and creativity,”senior class vice president LaurenGonzalez said.

"The Cube Coordinator fillsthe important role of curator forthe senior class' physical memo-ries,” senior class presidentMichelle Lee said.

The Cube Coordinator alsoselects four members to be in theCube Committee, which decideswhat items to put in the cube.“Some classes didn’t put muchthought into the process [of fill-ing their cubes]. We should makeit memorable and devote sometime to it,” Han said.

“The cubes are important.We're making our mark on Stuy,”Schaeffer said.

Artists Kristin Jones andAndrew Ginzel started themnemonic blocks project. Fourhundred glass boxes includingartifacts from around the worldwere randomly installed through-

out the building. An additional 88were installed for future graduat-ing classes, to fill with whateverthey believe defined their year.

Katherine Gressel, the artists’assistant, contacted technologyteacher and senior activitiesadviser James Lonardo to reachout to the senior class. Gresselthen contacted Lee andGonzalez.

“I sent a job description ofthe Cube Coordinator out andthen met with Michelle andLauren and together we decidedon the different responsibilities ofthe committee roles as well ascoordinator role,” Gressel said.

With the formation of theCube Committee andCoordinator, Gressel hopes to seethe block filling process become aresponsibility of the studentbody.

According to Ma, until thisyear many graduating classes didnot fill their cubes. “After peoplegraduate, it’s hard to get every-one together to fill the cubes.Many of them are still in the pro-cess of being filled,” Ma said.

The classes of 2001, 2002 and2007 filled in their boxes in 2007.These classes were the first to fill

their cubes in 8 years.“It’s really important to have

these blocks filled because it’s apart of community building andtradition. Filling the cube couldbring the Stuy senior classtogether. It’s a cohesive souvenirof that class,” Gressel said. “Thecubes are almost like a yearbookpage built directly into theschool's architecture; this tradi-tion must continue.”

Disclaimer: Abby Schaeffer was not involvedin the writing or editing of this

article.

First Cube Coordinators Appointed

Junior Abby Schaeffer and senior Jamila Ma were appointed the Cube Coordinatorsof their respective classes.

Lan

ceA

mm

os/

Th

eSp

ecta

tor

“A lot of grades haven’t done their

boxes yet. It just wasn’t a big deal for

them. I want to makesure it gets done

for our year.”—Jamila Ma, seniorCube Coordinator

News In Brief

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The Spectator • April 18, 2008 Page 5

By CHRISTOPHER NATOLI

A plaque was mounted inthe third floor atrium onMonday, April 14, commemo-rating the recent construction ofa stained-glass coat of arms.Technology teacher RichardRealmuto headed the construc-tion of the coat of arms.

Realmuto, AssistantPrincipal Music, Art andTechnology Dr. RaymondWheeler, and a few of theseniors involved in the con-struction attended the ceremo-ny, which also took place in the

third floor atrium .The plaque was placed on

the north wall of the atrium. Itlists the names of the 26 seniorsand the staff members who wereinvolved constructing the coatof arms. Principal Stanley Teitel,Dr. Wheeler, President of theAlumni Association RobertSherwood (’68) and Realmutowere named on the plaque. TheAlumni Association funded theproject, which cost roughly 250dollars.

The stained-glass window,displaying the Stuyvesant coatof arms, was created by

Realmuto’s fall-term Principlesof Engineering class. They fin-ished it on Monday, January 28and hung it in the third flooratrium soon afterwards.

Realmuto’s desire to createthe window originated in hisinterest in rose windows—color-

ful, stained-glass, circular win-dows that decorate cathedrals.

The stained-glass window ismade of foam, plywood, acetate

gel and paint. The window dis-plays the classic Stuyvesant coatof arms, a circle ordained with ahammer, two books, and theLatin words “Pro Scientia AtqueSapientia” (“For Knowledge andWisdom”). It was mounted highon the north wall of the atriumso that it shines in the sunlightfrom windows behind it.

“It’s pretty exciting to see theactual window up there every-day, and to think that it will beup there for future generationsof Stuyvesant students to see,”senior Perry Fisher, one of thehead leaders of the project, said.

“It’s an artistic way to repre-sent the technology depart-ment,” Dr. Wheeler said.

The construction of the coatof arms was also a project in stu-dent leadership. The Principlesin Engineering class was dividedinto teams and there were sevenstudent leaders, including twohead leaders.

“Having been a project neverattempted by anyone, includingMr. Realmuto himself, we onlyhad a vision for the project withno idea how to reach it,” seniorJaron Wong, another head lead-er, said.

“There were a lot of prob-lems to solve, and that’s whatwe do—solve problems,”

Realmuto said. “[The students]loved it.” Deciding on inexpen-sive and light-weight materialswas one of the challenges. The

class solved such problems bydiscussing them with each otherin an attempt to come up withpractical ideas.

“Every time I see it, I stopand think of all of the goodtimes I had while working on it,”Fisher said.

Plaque Mounted for Contributors to Stained-Glass Stuyvesant Crest

The stained-glass coat of arms window hangs in the third floor atrium.

Lau

ren

Sham

an/

Th

eSp

ecta

tor

“There were a lot of problem to solve, and

that’s what wedo — solve problems.” —Richard

Realmuto, tech-nology teacher

“It’s prettyexciting [...] to

think that it willbe up there forfuture genera-

tions ofStuyvesant stu-

dents to see.” —Perry Fisher,

senior

By LAURA YE

While 98 percent of the 164students in AdvancedPlacement (AP) EuropeanHistory course registered fortheir AP exam, only 50 percentof the 657 AP World Historystudents signed up for theirs.

According to Assistant

Principal History Jennifer Suri,fewer students registered forthe AP World History exambecause AP World History is a“f irst year course” atStuyvesant.

The administration decidedto change sophomore GlobalHistory 3 and 4 to AdvancedPlacement (AP) World History

last year because Suri fe l tthese two classes were on parwith AP-level classes.

Current sophomores, whodidn’t e lect to enrol l in APEuropean History, were auto-matically programmed for APWorld History. This is the firsttime a department has man-dated an AP curriculum for an

entire grade.Students have di f ferent

reasons for not taking the APexam. Some students feel thatit is a matter of interest. “[APEuropean History students]are just more comfortable tak-ing it,” sophomore AlexandraSagianis said. “They’re theones who enjoy history,

whereas [AP World Historystudents] don’t necessari lydo.”

“Some people don’t feellike taking the exam because itstil l depends on the collegewhether or not you get credit[for taking the class],” sopho-more Michelle Newman said.

AP World History Exam Participation Low for Its First Year

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Page 6 The Spectator • April 18, 2008

Reflections

... a poem that Ms.Evans brought into class forme and now after her pass-ing, it touches me evenmore. Sophomore year I satnext to my friend Maggie inher class. I guess our seatingarrangement jarred herpoetic memory and the nextday she brought in thispoem entitled "Maggie andMilly and Molly and May"by EE Cummings

Maggie and Milly and Mollyand May

went down to the beach (toplay one day)

and Maggie discovered ashell that sang

so sweetly she couldn'tremember her troubles,and

Milly befriended a strandedstar

whose rays five languid fin-gers were;

and Molly was chased by ahorrible thing

which raced sideways whileblowing bubbles: and

May came home with asmooth round stone

as small as a world and aslarge as alone.

For whatever we lose (like ayou or a me)

it's always ourselves we findin the sea

Those last two linesjump out at me now. In herpassing, as was the caseduring her life, I learnedmore about myself throughher teachings than anyEnglish poem or book weread. Ms. Evans class was aclass on decency, respect,and above all, compassion.

We were an unruly class tosay the least. On currentevent journal day we weresupposed to have broughtin an article to free writeabout but we wouldundoubtedly end up tossingone newspaper around theroom frantically rippingout an article before shereached our desks. On per-sonal journal days I wouldtake to drawing pictures ofmy neighbors and doodlingin the margins until on jour-nal check day a month laterI realized I had very little toshow for myself. Iapproached her timidly anddisplayed my modest art-work. To my surprise shereviewed my notebook as ifit was brimming with wellcrafted short stories and inher trademark indecipher-able handwriting, scribbled"beautiful! check plus."After that year, my friendsand I visited her room oftenand in the halls we finallypersuaded her to return ourhugs. I can still hear hervoice and see her smirk asshe reluctantly yet sweetlycalled after us "I love youtoo, girls!" Ms. Evans was atrue angel in all of our livesand I will carry her memorywith me always. Just as sheended each class with"Thank you ladies and gen-tlemen," I thank you, Ms.Evans, for being the mostperfect, gentle, and passion-ate person; I am trulyblessed to have known youand your memory will liveon with every kind word Ispeak.

Your student always,Mollie Simon (’08)

I'll never forget her as one ofthe best teachers at StuyvesantHigh School to turn to for anyadvice and counsel. She was myEuropean Literature teacher dur-ing my sophomore year and shewas excellent in her craft. Shewould encourage and nurture ourminds in English and writing ingeneral by having us write in ourjournals. I would be writingabout ideas for stories that I wasworking on, and she would gentlyprod for more to keep my creativethoughts coming. No matterwhich subject we wrote on, Ms.Evans would have an open mindabout any ideas and have us elab-orate on it.

This open mindedness is alsoreflected in her personality. Ms.Evans would give an ear to any-body who needs it and give helpfuladvice wherever she thought itmight help us. Even in happytimes, she would chuckle with ususing that sweet laughter of hers.

She had a big heart and gave ahelping hand to the best of herability to anyone who needed it.In a way, she was a maternal fig-ure for some, and even possibly agrandmotherly f igure for theyounger generations currently atStuyvesant High School.

I will remember your kind faceand place it in my fond memories.I'm sorry I won't be seeing youagain, especially after you askedme to come and visit you againnext break. Death is but anotherjourney we must al l take, asGandalf had stated in the Lord ofthe Rings: the Return of the King,movie, and we will one day meetagain. You will continue to liveon in our hearts, and will not beforgotten.

Rest in peace, Ms. Evans, andthanks!

Remembering you always,Ray Leung (’06)

I just found...

In loving memory of Ms. Lynne Evans,

I did not have an easyfour years at Stuy. I don’tknow if I could have gottenthrough without Ms. Evans.

I had her for EuropeanLiterature my sophomoreyear. The class was a wel-come low-stress break fromthe rest of my hectic day.Ms. Evans exuded a sense ofcalm that made all my trou-bles seem a little less press-ing. I particularly rememberher letting me cross stitch inclass. A crafter herself, sheunderstood that I couldstitch and fully participate indiscussion at the same time.I have other fond memoriessuch as journal time and lin-ing up to have the indeci-pherable comments on ouressays translated. If Ms.Evans were here right now, Iwould probably tease herabout never handing backour Richard III papers.

But my most importanttime with Ms. Evans wasn’tspent in class. During myjunior and senior years Ispent innumerable free peri-ods in room 327. SometimesMs. Evans and I would talk.Our topics of conversationranged from current eventsto our plans for the weekend.We shared our joys and wor-ries. Other times we wouldsit in si lent company, medesperately trying to finishmy math homework, shegrading papers or bubblingin her attendance forms. Ioften took refuge in her roomto take a nap or avoid gettingkicked out of the hallway.Always caring for her stu-dents, Ms. Evans kept a boxof tissues in her desk drawer.She was the first person Iwent to see when I caught a

cold.Though I wasn’t in her

class anymore, Ms. Evanswas my escape from theworld. She was the first per-son I’d go to when I had abad day and needed a shoul-der to cry on. She wouldgive me a hug and comfortme with her soothing voice.She was always willing to lis-ten to my troubles, but neverpressured me to talk. In away, room 327 was a place Icould go for companionshipor to be alone. I never hadto worry about Ms. Evansjudging me; she provided apeaceful oasis within Stuy’sturbulent environment.

One of my favorite mem-ories of Ms. Evans was askingher to sign my yearbook atthe end of senior year. Iopened the book to her pic-ture and noticed that we hadindependently chosen thesame Eleanor Rooseveltquote: “Great minds discussideas. Average minds dis-cuss events. Small mindsdiscuss people.” I don’tthink we ever discussedEleanor Roosevelt or men-tioned the quote, but clearlythe time we spent togetherhad an effect.

Since graduating, I havebeen back to Stuy a fewtimes. Over fall break, I got tospend a wonderful twentyminutes telling her every-thing I could about college.Ever conscientious, she gaveme a bell schedule to helpme plan my day at Stuy.That was Ms. Evans, alwaystrying to think of ways tohelp. I last visited Stuy inJanuary. As always, I made amental l ist of teachers Iwanted to visit and consulted

the department schedules.There were classes in 327during her free periods (I canonly imagine her disappoint-ment when she first learnedof the room’s schedule) and Iwas unable to find her until9th period. She was teach-ing, but she excused herselffor a minute and came out-side to speak to me. Weexchanged greetings and sheexpressed regret that shecouldn’t spare time to talk,but she had a class to teach.“Well Elaine, it was lovelyseeing you. Stop by nexttime you visit.” It will be dif-ficult to go back with her notthere.

And so I am left withthose words and her messagein my year book: DearElaine, I enjoyed sharing thevicissitudes of life with you.Be brave and strong, andremain the lovely person thatyou are. All the best! LynneEvans.

But she left me with morethan just a few words in myyearbook. Ms. Evans had anamazing way of making peo-ple feel that they were worth-while. She taught me tobelieve in myself and for thatI am ever grateful. If I had todescribe Ms. Evans in a fewwords, I ’d say she had anacute sense of perceptionand always put it to the usefor the benefit of others. Shewas endlessly sweet andinfinitely patient. Havingher as a teacher and friendwas a gift. I only wish I hadgotten to spend more timewith her.

—Elaine Lavin (’07)

Without Ms. Evans

. . . without a doubt, the bestEnglish teacher I have ever had. Shealways let us say whatever we thoughtabout the literature while simultane-ously helping us realize the true valueof whatever we were reading. Ouropinions were always safe and cher-ished in that class, even if they weredifferent from those of others. Ms.Evans, like other teachers, was some-one you could learn from. However,she was one of the few teachers thatactually inspired an interest in hersubject from many of her students.Her intelligence and manner of teach-ing inspired a love for literature thathad seemed boring or plain before.

Ms. Evans was an astounding per-son who never radiated anything butoptimism and positive emotions. Shenever got upset with any studentsbecause they slept in her class. On thecontrary, she became concerned thatperhaps they weren’t getting enoughrest. She was the most selfless, intelli-gent, and caring person that I haveever met. Those who have had theprivilege of having her as a teacher

understand what an amazing personshe was and how she changed somany students’ opinions of both liter-ature and life with her caring andcompassionate manner.

I have forgotten the many inspira-tional and wonderful things she hadsaid and I just wish that I couldremember more than the titles of thebooks we had read in her class. But Iwish even more that I had spoken toher more often this year, said hello toher in the hallways even when I wasrushing not to be late to my next classand not taken her presence for grant-ed this past school year. But I wish themost that she is happy wherever she isright now. It is only when we losesomeone that we realize how specialand irreplaceable they are to us.Though she is no longer with us, herspirit and memory will forever live inthe hearts of those who had the privi-lege of knowing her.

—Anna Yegiants (’09)

Ms. Evans was...

The Spectator • April 18, 2008 Page 7

Reflections

...of Lynne Evans, myEuropean Literatureteacher at Stuyvesant HighSchool, who passed awaysuddenly on Sunday, April6th, 2008. Death was acommon topic discussedin our class, concerningancient Greek mythology;yet her untimely departurefrom this fleeting, consum-ing existence serves only asa reminder to all of us...weall have a limited lifespan,and a time and place to goas well. Whether secular orspiritual, none can denythe truth of the testament:'every soul shall tastedeath'. Let us thereforemake the most of it, andcelebrate those gone, butcertainly not forgotten.

In the words of headguidance counselor JayBiegelson, she was ateacher's teacher. I knowthis to be true from per-sonal experience and cher-ished memories, the fond-est of which centered onher greeting each studentat the door, especially late-comers l ike myself . Shewould always inquire as tohow my weekend was,what I thought of the liter-ature I hadn't read for theday, and commented fre-quently in the margins ofmy reflection journal,despite my preference ofamateur graffit i overmeaningful prose.

She said I had neathandwriting, and appreci-ated my sarcasm most ofall. I can only smile now,when I recollect her com-plimenting my permanentgoofy grin as I would walkthe halls and greet her hur-riedly, as the impression-able sophomore I oncewas.

She was the kind ofteacher that didn't yell atstudents caught sleeping,doodling or otherwise notpaying attention. Shealways ended class saying,'thank you, ladies and gen-tlemen'. Of course, she wasa classy lady and compas-sionate educator, havingtaught and mastered hercraft at Stuy for 25 years. I

can still recall her classicstyle vividly: an elegant redcardigan embodied oldschool charm now dilutedin most teachers. If ever Ibecome a teacher, I needonly emulate her, and thatshall suffice.

Lastly, it was her thatinstilled the sense of prideas a Stuyvesant HighSchool student in me, dur-ing the formative socialblooming every teenagergoes through. I rememberher tel l ing me to 'quitslouching, and walk tall'though I was the shortestin her class.

I only wish I had visitedher during office hours orstopped by her third floorclassroom for a quick'hello'. Now that I thinkabout it, I wish I had askedher to sign my yearbook, ortaken a picture with her, oreven said goodbye at grad-uation or Alumni Day.. .still, I remember signingup for European Literaturedespite an indifferencetoward classical texts, butby the end of the year, Ihad grown to loveVoltaire's 'Candide' andEuripides' plays of Alcestisand Medea.

The old alma mater losta legend but the heavensgained an angel. Myself, Ihave lost a mentor, but willcontinue to salute the lifeof Ms. Lynne Evans. It'snothing short of amazinghow her gentle, motherlycharacter, even in passing,has softened this cynic'sheart. The only redeemingact from one as selfish asme is remembrance.

In closing, she has andwill always remain cher-ished as our favoritehumanities teacher; herdevotion admired, herwarmth appreciated, hervirtues imitated. Above all,her memory will l ive onforever, and through that,so will she.

Rest in peace, Ms. Evans.Thank you for everything.

—Farooq Zafar (’07)

...that goes "As long asyou remember someonethey will live forever."

Lynne Evans, the face ofthe Sunshine Fund, a stead-fast figure representinglove, caring and support forothers, has passed awayunexpectedly this weekend.A consummate profession-al, this educator hastouched the lives of thou-sands of students over theyears. The extra attentionshe would give to each onewas always appreciated.Her comments on theirwritten work, and the offerof help extended towardevery one of them, willnever be forgotten. She did

not just go the extra mile;she was there for the entiretrip, and the road back.

Lynne had a greatimpact on the staff ofStuyvesant. Always a fighterfor justice and what shebelieved to be right, Lynnegave her time selflessly forthe union, representingstaff members on a varietyof causes over the years.Always willing to listen, toserve as a sounding boardfor new ideas, and providecompassionate yet objec-tive responses to our ques-tions and problems, Lynnewas a counselor for us all. Iwould always feel like I wasreally heard and under-

stood when I met with her.She was totally there foryou, for me, her friends, hercolleagues, her students,and for her family. She iswhat students look for andwhat staff aspire to be, ateacher's teacher.

She will be missed, butnever forgotten. She liveson in my heart, and in everysoul she has touched overthe years. Bravo LynneEvans, I salute you!

With love and admira-tion,

Jay Biegelson, GuidanceCounselor

...taught the class I abso-lutely despised lastsemester: Greek Mythology.But she was one of thenicest, if not the nicestteacher in my school. Iremembered the times Islept in her class with myneck slowly rocking towardsthe surface of my desk. Iwould attempt to keep myeyes half-open during mostof her classes. And I sat inthe very front too.

One time she pulled meafter class obviously notic-ing my constant pattern ofsleeping. I was scared thatshe was going to scold meso I silently prepared myselfas I walked near her.

“Grace, is somethingwrong? Is something goingon at home?” was the firstand only thing she askedme.

I was surprised andrelieved at the same time. Ididn’t want her to get thewrong idea so I assured herthat nothing is wrong andthat I was just tired.

“Alright then” was herresponse.

For the next few days,nothing changed about myfalling asleep in her class.Unfortunately I had Englishclass last period and I wasbound to feel sleepy. Butthere was one thing I neverforgot her say, spite mydrowsiness.

“Thank You, ladies andgentlemen” was what shesaid at the close of eachclass as the bell rang.

Honestly, her deathscares me. It was only lastweek I spotted her strollingin the halls with her usualred cardigan, carrying agreen apple or a salad con-tainer. Today, she’s not in

school. Today, she’s not inthe world anymore.

Greek Mythology usuallyrevolved around death. Ms.Evans would mention theword death at nearly everyclass discussion and shewould elaborate on thecharacter’s death to us.Now, she died. I wonder ifshe felt what death was likeafter over two decades ofconsecutive mythologicalliterature.

I didn’t have the bestrelationship with her. Infact, I was one of the worseperforming students in herclass. I had poor test gradesand occasionally I didn’tattend class because I sleptin the library the periodbefore. On our last ‘retro-spect’ journal entry, I wroteabout how I hated mytholo-gy and how stupidly violentit was. Just for the hell of it.

She never hated me. Shenever disliked me. She com-mented on my journalentries like everybody else,adding her thoughts at themargins of my journal. Shecommented on my funkystyle and she even asked if Iwanted to go into fashion.

I feel ashamed that I’mwriting these words now. Ifeel ashamed for thinkingthese thoughts. She’s dead.She’s dead! She won’t knowthe things I say now. Shewon’t know how much shescared me.

As Heidi Klum says ‘InFashion, one day you’re in.the next day you’re out’.

In Life, one day you’re inand the next day you’re out.

I wonder when Ms.Evans’ funeral is. I think I’llgo because I feel obliged togo. I’ l l remember therespect and concern she’s

expressed for me. I feelashamed that I’m payingthis back at her funeral.

Rest In Peace Ms Evans. I wish you’re doing well

in heaven. And thank you for not

ignoring me because Ididn’t do well in your class.

This semester, many ofmy teachers torment mebecause my numbers arenot high enough for theirliking.

You made me realizethat death is sudden, thatlife is terribly short.

You were smart aboutlife – saving precious timeby not raising your voice toyour students. You weretrue to yourself and every-body around you was ableto tell.

I’m sure there are manypeople jealous of how beau-tifully you lived your life.

Because I sure am.Ironically I’m currently

reading “For One MoreDay” by Mitch Albom.

If I had one more day Iwould have apologized toyou about my rude behaviorand conduct. I would thankyou for your generosity andconcerns. If I had one moresemester I would change myschedule to English at firstperiod. I would come toclass prepared to participateand discuss themes fromthe Odyssey.

Ms. Evans, you deservedto stay longer and spreadyour generosity and wordsto more students. There aremany other people in thisworld that should havemoved on in place of you. Ifeel like I’ve lost the lotteryby one number.

—Grace Lee (’10)

In loving memory...There is a saying...

Ms. Evans...

The Spectator • April 18, 2008

EditorialsPage 8

F O R T H E R E C O R D• In Issue 13, the byline for the article “Katherine Banks Wins Fourth Placeat Intel” was incorrect. It was written by Kristen Kim. • In the cutline of the photo for “Godfather of Sudoku Visits Japanese Class,”Japanese teacher Chie Helinski’s name was misspelled.• The byline for the article “The Scoop on Summer Programs” was misstat-ed. It was written by Catherine Zhou. • Photographer Sarah Morgan Cohen-Smith’s name was misspelled in thephoto credit for the article “Alex Jaffe: Miniature Band, Full Size Composer.”• In the byline for the article “Stacking the Deck,” writer Emma ZiegellaubEichler’s name was misspelled.

The SpectatorWe are compiling an archive of

past issues.

We are looking for issues published before 1995.

Please send any newspapers to:

The Stuyvesant Spectator345 Chambers StreetNew York, NY 10282

If you have any questions,e-mail us at:

archives@stuyspectator.com

STAFF EDITORIAL

E D I T O R I N C H I E FSam Gerstenzang*

M A N A G I N G E D I T O RMelissa Chan*

N E W S E D I T O R SPaulina Karpis

Rachel KimArianna Moshary

F E A T U R E S E D I T O R SDanielle OberdierAbby Schaeffer*

O P I N I O N S E D I T O R SRebecca Elliott*

Gavin HuangKiran Sury

A R T S &E N T E R T A I N M E N T

E D I T O R SJames Dennin*

Alan Sage

S P O R T S E D I T O R SLuc Cohen*

Christopher Zhao

P H O T O G R A P H YE D I T O R S

Sean Gordon-LoeblStephanie London

Diane Yee

A R T D I R E C T O R SAva HechtAndy Pratt

L A Y O U T E D I T O R STina Kuo

Lodoe SangmoLaura Ye

C O P Y E D I T O R SDivya Dayal

Jonathan Lerner

B U S I N E S S M A N A G E R SJanet KimGrace Lee

W E B E D I T O R SVictor MaJenny Ye

The Stuyvesant HighSchool Newspaper

“The Pulseof the

StudentBody”

The Spectator

Please address all letters to:345 Chambers StreetNew York, NY 10282

(212) 312-4800 ext. 2601letters@stuyspectator.com

We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and length.© 2008 The Spectator

All rights reserved by the creators.* Managing Board Members

F A C U L T Y A D V I S O RKerry Garfinkel

The location of the Student Union (SU) suitehas been a source of conflict between the Parents'Association (PA) and the SU recently. The SUmaintains that it has always been a student space,while the PA says the SU is not using the spaceefficiently. At the moment, the PA is correct in itsanalysis. The SU isn’t being used to its full poten-tial. But it can be.

Some individuals believe SU members have anelitist attitude that discourages students frommaking use of the space as a student communitycenter. However, over the past several months, theSU has made great steps in promoting the SUsuite as a community space. Initiatives includingWaffle Day and Freshmen Movie Day have tried tomake the SU suite into a welcoming communitycenter for all students, and not just a select groupof upperclassmen. Stuyspace, an SU sponsoredcampaign to promote a cleaner Stuyvesant, hasproven the SU's commitment to protecting andpromoting student spaces.

The real problem lies in the fact that the SU isopen for limited hours, usually from 10th perioduntil 5 p.m.. The SU should be open the entireday, giving students a place to go during free peri-

ods and creating a hub of student activity. If the administration paid for teachers to take

shifts monitoring the SU, students could use theSU throughout the day. While this approach isunlikely due to the recent budget cuts, teacherscould also volunteer to watch this area duringtheir free periods. The best solution, however,does not add an extra burden to the budget orinconvenience the teachers—it simply requirestrust. The administration should remove thedoors to the SU suite, or at least leave them openduring the day.

Student space is becoming increasingly rare asthe number of students allowed in the library isbeing limited. Students are still not allowed tocongregate on seven out of 10 floors.

We should treat the SU as an open space—likeother open spaces, such as the senior bar andcafeteria—that students may leave and enter asthey please, with security guards monitoring thearea occasionally. Redefining the SU suite as anopen student space would allow it to becomewhat it should have always been—the heart of stu-dent life at Stuyvesant.

Open Up

Testing at Stuyvesant is no trivial matter—admission itself is based on the Specialized HighSchool Admissions Test. Yet recently there hasbeen a trend of excessive testing.

With so much testing, students often resort tocramming and then promptly forget the informa-tion after the exam. When the majority of a classfails a test, teachers often continue the curriculumwithout going back and re-teaching what the classmight have missed. Neither approach helps stu-dents learn.

While testing is an adequate—or even some-times ideal—form of evaluation in some depart-ments, it is not productive in all classes. Eachdepartment's unique needs should determine theamount of testing it incorporates into its curricu-lum.

The physics and world language departmentshave implemented separate final exams to accom-pany the New York State Regents Exams this June.The English department is also considering an in-class essay final for sophomores.

Assistant Principal (AP) World LanguagesArlene Ubieta and AP Chemistry and Physics ScottThomas believe an additional exam will benefittheir respective departments. World languagesfinals are designed to prepare students forAdvanced Placement classes, while the physicsfinal aims to prepare students for the Regents.

The physics department will use the extra finalas an additional grading tool. The Physics Regentshas traditionally been the students' final examgrade. But the Regents will be graded the daybefore grades are entered this year, making it diffi-cult for them to be factored into final averages.

The process of filling in bubbles and having amachine return a grade is easy enough, but testgrades often fail to reflect how much a studentunderstands.

If teachers want students to retain informa-tion, they cannot forget the importance of interac-tive learning. Advanced Placement languagecourses, which tend to be test-heavy, should findalternate methods for evaluation. Creative pro-jects, which are both entertaining and informa-tive, can accurately demonstrate students’ com-prehension of a subject. World Language teacherscan also help reinforce grammar and vocabularylessons with ‘No-English’ days. For the otherdepartments, hands-on lessons are very effectivein helping students understand the course materi-al.

Test results are not the only effective methodfor evaluation. Stuyvesant teachers should shyaway from simply increasing testing to bettergauge students' performance. Each class needs itsown tailored approach. Testing is not the onlyanswer.

This is Not a Test

The Spectator would like to thank the AlumniAssociation for their generous donation.

Do you want to reflect on anarticle? Or speak your mind?

Write a letter to the editor and e-mail it toletters@stuyspectator.com or drop it

in The Spectator box in the second-floor mail room.

The Student Union as it was 2 years ago.

Mic

hael

Boy

ce/

The

Spec

tato

r

Opinions Page 9The Spectator • April 18, 2008

By JUDY CHEN

It is a sprint towards the fin-ish line. One runner has a three-page English paper to type up,one needs to print the sciencehomework and another needs tocheck his e-mail. The prize: arare chance to sit in front of acomputer.

Being an elite math and sci-ence school with 3,157 students,one would think that we havethe resources needed to satisfysuch a large number of people,

but the number of computersavailable to students in thelibrary is disappointingly low.There are only 15 computers foran average of 153 students whoenter the library per period, andonly a small number of thosewho want to use a computer willget the chance to use it.

There are few computersreadily available because stu-dents abuse their privilege byusing computers for thingsother than schoolwork or by tak-ing longer than necessary.Although gaming Web sites areblocked, students bring flashdrives from home to play games.Through these flash drives,viruses can make their way intocomputers, leading to frequentbreakdowns. Many studentsprint over five pages, and manydocuments end up unclaimedand thrown in the trash bin.

More computers can bemade available by partitioningthem into two stations: one toonly print out documents andanother to complete longerassignments. A sign-up sheet forthose wishing to stay online fora short period of time would be

helpful in maintaining organiza-tion with the computers.Students would reserve a com-puter the day before and putdown a time limit between 15 to30 minutes.

The librarians should desig-nate several monitors to watchover those at the computers, tomonitor the sign-up sheet,report students using computersfor purposes unrelated to schooland submit a list of these stu-dents to the librarian by the endof the period. Other monitorscan watch over printer usageand make sure there are nojams. They should also makesure that students do not printover 15 pages of non-academicwork, such as birthday posters.

So the race comes down tothis. The winner won’t be theone who gets to the library first.No one is going to win the race ifthe prize is not worth the sprint.We cannot have students con-tinue to misuse the computersand negatively impact thosewho need to use them for seri-ous work. We need to start rec-ognizing the roots of the prob-lem and begin fixing them.

Computing the Problems

Tin

cey

Wan

g/T

he

Spec

tato

r

By VARUN SHARMA

There was an air of excite-ment in my music class. Wehad a substi tute. I lookedtoward a group of people whostared back. We both knewwhat time it was—Mario Karttime.

Mario Kart is a racinggame. During the race, playerscollect power-ups and speed-boosters while avoiding mud,water and comically large bul-lets. A recent adaptation ofthis game for the NintendoDS, a dual-screened handheldvideogame-console, al lowsgroups of players to raceagainst each other at the sametime.

I was chosen as the leaderof our group. We set up thegame’s race track, chose ourfavorite karts and, in almostno time, my fr iends andanother kid were in a race tothe death to see who the bestplayer was. About three peo-ple surrounded each of us andcheered us on as we, f i l ledwith uncertainty and determi-nation, raced on.

All my daily training on thesubway, racing against myown records and testing outtr icks came down to onemoment. I dodged the mud,hit every speed-booster andfinally made it to first place. Iproudly shook hands with thespectators and asserted myposition as champion of themusic class.

I went to Spanish next. Asusual, my teacher was late andeveryone was talking andhanging out. But I couldn'twaste my time socializing. Ineeded to train for otherraces, and decided to ask for

advice from an experiencedgamer. But he was preparingfor an upcoming match duringlunch.

Next, at lunch, I sat downin the cafeteria and started toeat my sandwich. Then, I sawthe glint of a gold DS out ofthe corner of my eye. I tbelonged to the SupremeMario Karter. No one had everbeaten the pretentious, inces-santly sniff l ing sophomorebefore, and I intended to bethe first. I pushed away my

sandwich and, with my heartpounding, I walked up to him.

“What do you want?” hesaid, wiping his nose with hissoggy sleeve. “I want to beatyou,” I answered. I whipped

out my DS and set up a match.I chose my fastest racing char-acter and fastest car, and weplayed on a track I had beenstudying for the last twoweeks.

The countdown began. Allthe advice my Spanish classguru had given me and theexperience I had from playingon the train flashed throughmy mind. I sat next to myadversary focused on the race.We both started with a boost. Iwas lucky and got all of theright power-ups, cut cornersperfectly and used a glitch myguru told me about. After twolaps, we were neck and neck.The finish line drew closer.

Then, my finger slipped.My kart slid to the left and theother kart sped by. I lost ,holding my DS limply in mysweaty palms. The snobbysophomore looked at me,smiling.

My friend gave me a lightjab. “Hey, what’s the matterwith you?” he asked. “The endbell just rang. We should getgoing.”

I looked across the cafete-ria and saw two people play-ing Mario Kart. “Jeez, thoseguys would probably keepplaying if the school was onfire,” my friend said. “I’m gladyou’re not one of them.”

I hesitated before answer-ing. “Yeah, so am I.”

Diary ofa Game Freak

All of my dailytraining on thesubway, racing

against my own records and

testing out tricks came down

to one moment.

By EMMA ZIEGELLAUBEICHLER

Each year, Stuyvesant stu-dents write dozens of papersand essays. For everything wewrite, there is one ironcladrule: don’t plagiarize. Everyteacher tells us this. They warnus of the consequences: a callhome, suspension, or even apermanent black mark on ouracademic record. Some teach-ers make us sign papers pledg-ing that our work is original,trusting that we’ll honor ourcommitments. Other teachersuse Turnitin.com, an onlineplagiarism-checker that com-pares submissions withInternet content. Turnitin ispopular because it is a seem-ingly sure-fire way to catchcheaters. However, there’s aprice to pay: Turnitin’s legalityis highly questionable and itcreates an atmosphere of dis-trust between students andteachers.

Anything you write forschool is automatically copy-righted; you do not need toapply for one. When you sub-mit your work to Turnitin,Turnitin saves a copy to itsdatabase to compare againstfuture submissions in order tostop students from plagiarizingother students’ work. Since youdon’t know that Turnitin is sav-ing a copy of your paper, and itdoesn’t ask for or acquire yourconsent, its a potential viola-tion of your rights.

Saving a copy of your paperis copyright infringementbecause Turnitin is using yourpaper for its own economicgain without compensatingyou. The copyright laws state

that portions of original workmay be quoted, but only ifallowed by the author or for“fair use” (discussions). Bymaking a hefty profit throughsubscriptions to its expensiveservice (which can cost thou-sands of dollars a year),Turnitin uses your work in away that was not originallyintended. What makes Turnitinso “effective”—the reason it ispreferred over all other suchsites—is that it checks stu-dents’ papers against eachother. But this means that itsprofit is coming directly fromstudents’ work.

Turnitin argues that itsenterprise is “fair use.”

However, it goes no furtherthan to say, “When studentsclaim that Turnitin violates thelaw or engages in ‘commercialexploitation’ of their copy-rights, that claim is simply notbased on fact.” This oversim-plified response fails to answerthe charges against it, and isprobably the reason there arealready multiple lawsuits filedagainst Turnitin.

Putting aside the legalissues, when teachers useTurnitin, they send their stu-dents the message “We don’ttrust you.” While Turnitinclaims its so-called “OriginalityReports” (the results it gives tothe teacher) do not provide aclear-cut “guilty” or “inno-

cent,” having to use Turnitin atall is an accusation. Its verdictsare of questionable reliability,as it does not check offl ine(printed) books. It also hurtsstudents who incorporatedirect quotes into their paperssince it has no capacity to rec-ognize citations. At the end ofits check, Turnitin returns theresults as a percent plagia-rized—just a number. If ateacher just looks at the per-cent and does not examinewhere it came from (Turnitinmarks each section), studentswho used direct quotes appearto have cheated. Some studentsmight stop using direct quotes,sacrif icing quality in theirpapers. Using Turnitin doesn’tteach students that plagiarismis wrong. It just encouragescheaters to find another way tobeat the system.

While there is no perfectsolution to the issue of plagia-rism, Turnitin is far from per-fect. Other sites, such as plagia-rismchecker.com, use Googlesearches, and while not aseffective, they are free anddon’t save copies of students’papers. Instead, teachersshould impress upon studentsthe importance of honesty andthe consequences of plagia-rism. One of my teachersalways tells her classes: betterto fail one test or two tests oreven all my tests than risk get-ting caught cheating once. Ifyou fail, I’ll help you. If youcheat, I’ll throw you out of myclass. Instead of trying to catchstudents after they plagiarize,teachers should stop plagia-rism before it starts.

Despite the wide usage ofTurnitin.com, PrincetonUniversity rejects Turnitin andall other plagiarism checkers. Itstill abides by an honor code,in which it addresses the copy-right issue, “The right to intel-lectual ownership of originalacademic work is as importantto the life of the university asthe right to own personal pos-sessions.” If a respected IvyLeague school can trust its stu-dents to do what’s right andnot plagiarize, we should fol-low their example and do thesame.

The Truth about Turnitin

Zin

Hte

t/T

he

Spec

tato

r

Sean

Gor

don-

Loeb

l/Th

eSp

ecta

tor

Turnitin.com can help

limit plagiarism,

but not without

its share of moral

and legal controversy.

The card ban at Stuy is a useless

weapon against teenage

gambling, and the strict

gaming policies are limiting

the sociallives of students.

Arts & EntertainmentThe Spectator • April 18, 2008Page 10

By LEILI SABER

The name of a business cansay much about what kind ofestablishment it is. It can becute like frozen yogurt hot spotPinkberry or fancy l ike thegourmet Triangolo or mis-spelled. My first thought uponapproaching ‘Wichcraft wasthat proofreading should bemandatory for everyone. OnceI walked inside, it becameapparent that the curiousname came from their mainp r o d u c t — s a n d w i c h e s .

The large menu board fea-tures a selection of mostunusual sandwich fi l l ings.There is smoked ham, avocadoand butter sandwiches forbreakfast and even stranger isthe grilled fontina, with blacktrumpet mushrooms and truf-fle fondue sandwich. Even themost adventurous diners willf ind the idea of a gruyerecheese and caramelized onionsandwich unusual.

While perusing the menu, Ibegan to resent my mother forstuffing plain ham sandwichesinto my lunch bags instead ofmarinated eggplant with chick-pea puree and watercress.

The gril led sandwicheswere flattened on the grill andpacked a burst of flavor into

such a compact meal. The casual dining area is

nothing spectacular, furnishedwith dark brown woodenchairs and tables, but it hasthat cozy, slightly extravagantStarbucks atmosphere, butwithout the pretension. Theprices are on the high side—

most sandwiches range fromapproximately six to 10 dollars,but the sandwiches are madeof meticulously from highquality ingredients.

Portions are also smallerthan what is expected for suchpricey fare.

The beverage list replacesthe usual Coke and Sprite withS. Pellegrino Limonata asparkling lemonade, and vari-ous sodas such as Izze in fla-vors like sparkling blackberryand grapefruit. The drinkselection is not only pricey ataround two dollars, but alsovery trendy.

Service may be fast, butthere is not enough time tosqueeze a meal at ‘Wichcraftinto a Stuyvesant student’s 40-minute lunch period.

Sophomore Seth Bixlersaid, “If it weren’t so far awayfrom school, I would comehere for lunch everyday […]the food is amazing.”

Other customers seem tobe in agreement, as the restau-rant has gotten so popular thatit now has a total of 12 loca-tions in Manhattan. I didn’tsee a single cauldron while eat-ing there, but somehow,‘Wichcraft’s sandwiches havecast a spell over everyone.

‘Wichcraft397 Greenwich St. and Beach

‘Wichcraft: Food Nothing

Short of Magical

Even the mostadventurous din-

ers will find theidea of a gruyere

cheese andcaramelized onion

sandwich unusual.

Luci

aH

siao

/Th

eSp

ecta

tor

'Wichcraft carries a wide variety of inventive, though overpriced sandwiches.

While perusing themenu, I

began to resentmy mother for

stuffing plain hamsandwiches intomy lunch bags

instead of marinat-ed eggplant with

chickpea puree andwatercress.

By NICOLE LEUNG

While many sought theauthentic Korean fare servedbefore the show, other attendeesat the Korean Culture Night 2008on Thursday, March 27 eagerlyanticipated the series of perfor-mances that followed, a colorfulblend of traditional and popKorean culture. Korean CultureNight resembled a Korean SING!,with students participating in avariety of dance and music per-formances.

Korean teacher Jisun Lee andKorean Outreach CommitteeChair Robert Lee were the coordi-nators of this event. A lack ofmaterials and money for theKorean class, which was devel-oped by the Korean OutreachCommittee, inspired Jisun Lee toinvent Korean Culture Night orNorimahdang. The KoreanOutreach Committee raised 9,000dollars at Korean Culture Night2007, all of which went to theWorld Languages department(mostly for the Korean class). Theprofits from Norimahdang 2008haven’t been disclosed yet.

Unlike Korean Culture Night2007 which was held at theMurray Kahn Theater,Norimahdang 2008 took place atthe BMCC Tribeca PerformingArts Center at a cost of 7,000 dol-lars to the Korean OutreachCommittee. The main reason forshifting the location was that“many people want their ownculture night,” Jisun Lee said.Using the Murray Kahn Theaterfor Norimahdang would haverequired the school to do thesame for other culture nights.

The Korean food was dis-tributed by volunteering parentsbefore the show in an terracenear the BMCC entrance. Thoughthe food choices were more limit-ed than those at Korean CultureNight 2007, more food was pro-vided and people were able tohave seconds or thirds—foodquickly ran out at Korean CultureNight 2007. The beef and thekimchee were two of the mostpopular dishes. Admission to thedinner was also made free for thisyear’s Korean Culture Night,though admission to the perfor-mance still required a ticket thatcost 5 dollars for students.

After the audience enthusi-astically sang along to the UnitedStates and South Korean NationalAnthems, followed by a briefaddress by Principal StanleyTeitel, the show began.Norimahdang started off with atraditional Korean “mixeddrums” performance, followed by

the mystical mask dance. “I reallyliked the drums,” sophomore JeffZhang said. “But next year I won’tdare to sit too close because itnearly killed my ears.”

Colorfully dressed Koreangirls with braided hair and tradi-tional Korean dresses dancedgracefully on stage during theHand-in-Hand Circle Dance.When the Korean flag at the cen-ter of the stage accidentally felldown during the dance, thedancers remained calm andworked together to bring the flagback up, unknowingly emphasiz-ing the cooperative meaning ofthe “hand-in-hand” dance.

There were also Taekwondoand Kumdo performances, bothforms of traditional Korean mar-tial art. The martial art perfor-mances were not as austere asthe audience had expected. Theperformers’ blend of humor and

martial arts—they hit each otherwith Kumdo sticks—had theaudience roaring with laughter.

The second half ofNorimahdang retained a Koreanpop culture vibe, making it moreappealing to the majority of theyoung audience. 90Pro, a groupconsisting of seniors BenjaminOh, Dennis Oh and Mark Kimentered the stage in Korean popoutfits, stunning the audiencewith a rendition of “Good Life,Arirang.” Their deep and robustvoices impressed the audience.

The Sophomore Hip Hopdancers also offered an astound-ing repertoire, coming the closestof any of the performances toimitating modern Korean popculture. Not only were theirmoves influenced by Korean popmusic videos, but their perfor-mance also expressed the samecarefree and cheerful vibe.Sophomores Tiffany Kim,Rebecca Lee, Grace Ko and SooHyun Kim wore black and whitefrom head to toe, joined by theirmale partners, sophomoresJihwan Kim, David Park, Bryant

Hua and John Han. For the sec-ond part of the dance, the girlschanged into off-shoulder shirtswhile the boys wore colorful“New York City” shirts.

Other highlights includedthe rhythmic and fun song “RedGo Together,” originally sungduring the 2006 Fifa World Cup inGermany to cheer on the Koreanteam. The song was performedby sophomores Chong No, BrianWoo and David Park and theSenior Hip Hop dance crew,Pumpflow, consisting of seniorsAndrew Kim, Deborah Moon,Hannah Kwak, Grace Park, KevinPark and Youlen Sung. TheSenior Hip Hop dance crew per-formed one of the night’s mostimpressive dances, their danceinvolving innovative mime-likemoves.

“Tell Me,” another sopho-more hip hop performance, alsowowed the audience, especiallywhen sophomore Jihwan Kimrapped during the dance. “I reallyliked the senior hip hop dance,but the sophomores did a greatjob with ‘Tell Me,’” sophomoreMichael Chen said.

One of the most popular fea-tures of Norimahdang was theseries of celebrity interviews.Since Robert Lee’s wife is a closefriend of the owner of a largeKorean entertainment company,he was able to have the companyinterview the celebrities in Koreafor free.

"By the time Tablo appearedon screen, the estrogen levels inthe audience spiked,” said Zhang,referring to the popular leadsinger of South Korean hip hopgroup Epik High. Commentssuch as “Oh my god Tablo, I wantyour babies” were audible duringthe interviews. Other Koreanbands such as Shinhwa wereinterviewed.

“We tried to include everygenre and broaden offerings,”Robert Lee said. “That way it’smore appealing to the performersand audience. The goal is to havemore students come.”

The pop culture portion ofthe Norimahdang seemed to bethe real attraction for most audi-ence members. “Everything wasgood, but if I was to watch it asecond time, I'd probably onlywatch the hip hop,” Zhang said.The hip hop dances’ excellentchoreography added greatly toNorimahdang’s pop cultureappeal.

For now, the KoreanOutreach Committee has onlyone plan for next year’s KoreanNight: “bigger, better and raisemore money,” Robert Lee said.

Norimahdang 2008: Korean Culture Night At BMCC

Drummers, dancers and martial artists clad in traditional Korean attire performed an array of Korean arts as part of Norimahdang, acelebration of Korean culture held at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Thursday, March 27.

Ala

nSa

ge/

The

Spec

tato

r

“I think by thetime Tablo

appeared onscreen, the estro-gen levels in the

audience spiked.”– Jeff Zhang,sophomore

The Spectator • April 18, 2008 Page 11

Arts & Entertainment

A Clean (STC) Slate

“I was scared to try out [for STCproductions] when I was an underclass-man because I wasn’t really sure whatthe STC was about,” Nam said. “No onearound me was in it.” As a junior, Namfinally broke the wall between herselfand Stuyvesant theater by auditioningfor the fall musical, “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Nam’s experience during “Bye ByeBirdie” inspired her to try out for thisyear’s studio musical, “Moby Dick! TheMusical.” After acting in these twoshows, Nam realized what she had beenmissing out on as a freshman andsophomore and decided she wanted toprevent other underclassmen frommaking the same mistakes. Nam hopesto do this “by providing the Stuyvesantpopulation with all the informationthere is about the STC,” Nam said.

“Mindy is extremely enthusiasticand shows a lot of initiative,” senior andcurrent STC CommunicationsCoordinator Kasey Huizinga said. “Shecame into the theater community laterthan the other members of the slate,but it actually added to her appeal. Shedoesn’t come off as a typical theaterkid, so it makes it easier for her toencourage more students to give the-ater a shot.”

As Communications Coordinator,Nam wants to spread the word aboutStuyvesant Theater and inform morepeople about how to become involvedin the STC. “Most kids come to Stuythinking only study, study, study,” Namsaid. “They aren’t aware that they canhave an amazing experience in STCshows.”

Mindy Nam: Communications Coordinator

Russo didn’t become involvedin the STC until his sophomoreyear. “Freshman year I went toshows, but I didn’t know howthings went, so I wasn’t reallyinvolved,” Russo said.

Russo co-produced his firstshow, the studio drama “Proof,”with current junior Jos Diaz inthe fall of his sophomore year.“They were very involved for pro-ducers,” said sophomore KendraMiller-Rosenberg, who acted in“Proof.” “[Russo] was alwaysthere for crucial moments.”

Yet Russo truly became afamiliar face in the STC during“Blood Wedding,” last year’s win-ter drama, when crisis struck—the show lacked a sound crew.Russo was asked to coordinatesound for “Blood Wedding” andagreed to do so. Russo didn’t facetoo many problems working inthe sound booth; he had gainedexperience working with his dad,a song writer, in his own record-ing studio.

With both technical experi-ence and producing experience,Russo then went on to co-directthe 2007 spring comedy, “TheMan Who Came to Dinner” withDiaz.

As Production Coordinator,Russo will oversee the productionof the three main STC produc-tions: the fall musical, winterdrama and spring comedy. Also aBig Sib Chair, Russo is adamantabout getting underclassmeninvolved in theater. “I want to bearound for people who haven’tdone [theater] before,” he said.

Most of Russo’s peers seementhusiastic about his positionon the STC Board. “He has goodexecutive skills but he’s not over-powering,” Miller-Rosenbergsaid.

As for the future, Russo isunsure. “I might go study film,”said Russo, who has a passion forfilm. He has been trying to spreadhis passion to others through theStuyvesant Film Community(SFC), a club that Russo founded.Russo also enjoys photography asa hobby. For the time being,Russo aims to keep the STC orga-nized and make himself availablefor anyone interested in theater.

JJ Russo:Production

Coordinator

Blackman is known for her enthusiasmand quick mind both inside and out of thetheater. “She has so much energy,” seniorand fellow speech team member Alice Xusaid.

According to Blackman, her passion fortechnical theater is rooted in her elder sister.“My sister is a master electrician onBroadway,” Blackman said. “I always had aninterest in it. I just never thought it wouldbecome such a big part of my life.”

During her freshman year, Blackmanbecame involved in the STC by joining theSTC’s art crew. “Except when I joined art, thetech room was right next door,” Blackmansaid. “I fell in love with the power tools.”After working on the tech crew for“Antigone,” the 2005 winter drama, shefound herself working on the tech crew ofvirtually every show, including the STC’slarger productions, the studio shows, theOne-Acts Festival and SING!.

Blackman’s involvement with theater andthe Big Sib program has made her dedicatedto getting new people interested in theater. “I

hate that theater has a stigma that you haveto be popular, that you have to know theright people,” Blackman said. “I’m a Big Sib,and I hate seeing my Little Sibs not try outbecause they think that they’re not prettyenough.”

In order to interest more people in the-ater, Blackman proposes that the showsoverlap with each other, preventing the usualgroup of confident actors and techies fromintimidating newcomers.

Blackman emphasizes how theater catersto all students’ passions, unlike many otherprograms and activities that require specifictalents. “Theater is the epitome of choices,”she said. “If you can’t act, join art. If youcan’t paint, join lighting.”

Blackman has big plans for the future“My dream is to be an ambassador,” she said.“But I don’t know. Maybe I’ l l change.”Whatever she chooses to do in the future,Blackman is sure to channel her positiveenergy and extensive knowledge of technicaltheater into the STC.

Danielle Blackman: Technical Coordinator

Tramontin got her start in Stuyvesanttheater in the first week of her freshmanyear. After nailing a part in the chorus ofthe fall musical, “A Chorus Line,” she“became instantly enamored of allaspects of Stuy theater,” Tramontin said.“Even after just one show, I knew I want-ed to be a member of the StuyvesantTheater Community Slate.”

Since “A Chorus Line,” Tramontinhas expanded her involvement inStuyvesant theater. She has been a castmember in the last three fall musicals,the studio drama of her freshman yearand the One-Acts festival of her sopho-more year. As a junior, she co-directed“Moby Dick! The Musical,” trying herhand at the offstage aspects of theater.

“Whether she is acting in a show ordirecting, Dylan is always a lot of fun to

be around and work around,” said seniorHannah Temkin, who co-directed “MobyDick! The Musical” with Tramontin.

In addition to her passion, her col-leagues also find merit in her manage-ment skills. “She is very organized, andwhile she doesn’t have much experiencein the financial aspects of theater, I thinkshe will be able to pick things up quick-ly,” senior and ’07-‘08 STC FinancialCoordinator Paul Silverman said.

Next year, Tramontin hopes toexpand the scope of the STC by generat-ing an interest in non-Stuyvesant the-ater. By making Broadway and Off-Broadway tickets available to Stuyvesantstudents at reduced prices through theSTC, she hopes to increase interest andappreciation of theater, as well as inspirestudents to participate in more shows..

Dylan Tramontin: Financial Coordinator

Dennin’s first encounterwith theater occurred duringhis freshman year when heauditioned for SING! cast, feel-ing comfortable because hewould be involved with onlysophomores and freshmen.Feeling somewhat moreadventurous later in the year,Dennin starred as a fairy in the2006 spring comedy, “AMidsummer Night’s Dream.”

Despite starting off in theSTC’s larger productions,Dennin feels that studio the-ater is much more intimatethan the other STC produc-tions, which are more con-cerned with spectacle. “Smallshows without a large budgetor special effects have to relyupon the nature of their art,not upon dazzling their audi-ence,” Dennin said. “Becauseof this, they’re more meaning-ful.” He deepened his involve-ment in studio theater duringhis junior year, directing anoriginal one-act and co-direct-ing the Studio Comedy, “IHate Hamlet.”

“James is going to make agreat Studio TheaterCoordinator because he is justso passionate about theater,and studio theater in general,”’07-’08 Studio TheaterCoordinator SusanAugenbraun said.

Dennin hopes to put onmore student-written plays inthe future—he plans toachieve this by holding work-shops for students to work ontheir plays before submittingthem.

Though theater will alwaysbe a part of Dennin’s life, it isunlikely to play the centralrole in Dennin’s career.Dabbling in arts of all sorts, heis a writer and considersbecoming a teacher, publish-ing poetry or working with hisrock band, The Rubberband.Yet, for the time being, Denninis focusing on theater. “He isdedicated to putting on greattheater, shows that are bothentertaining and real works ofart,” Augenbraun said.

James Dennin:Studio

Coordinator

Whether they’re holding up a homemade donation box at the One-Acts Festival or carrying pieces of portable stage into the lobby because the theater is off-limits to stu-dio shows, the members of the Stuyvesant Theater Community (STC) Slate are the backbone of the STC. If you’re interested in theater and don’t know how to get involved,these five people can answer any questions you might have. After a rigorous selection process that involved written applications and interviews with ’07-’08 STC Slate, thenew STC slate has been chosen—juniors Mindy Nam, JJ Russo, Danielle Blackman, Dylan Tramontin, and James Dennin.

“I am happy with the choices and I have confidence that the new STC Slate will do a fantastic job,” senior and ‘07-’08 STC Production Coordinator Joe Kopyt said. “In amath and science school, people think that the theater wouldn't be good. But […] the STC Slate will help theater thrive in the school.”

Although these five talented juniors will not necessarily be on the Stuyvesant stage, their contributions to theater will be central to a year of successful productions.

Theater may be an art form, but even artists need structure. With skills and tact at hand, the STC Slate will provide that structure.

Disclaimer: James Dennin was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

Danielle Blackman, Dylan Tramontin, JJ Russo, James Dennin and Mindy Nam were appointed the 2008-2009 STC slate.

Sadm

anIs

lam

/T

he

Spec

tato

r

Arts & Entertainment

By JACOB SUNSHINE

Hella’s debut album from2002, “Hold Your Horse Is,” pairscomplex and heavy dissonancewith beautiful, melancholymelodies that seem to be extract-ed from melodic alternative-rockfixtures such as the Red Hot ChiliPeppers, Blonde Redhead andThe Police.

The duo is comprised ofdrummer Zach Hill and guitaristSpencer Seim. They generally arecategorized as “math rock” as aresult of their complex time-sig-nature based riffs. However, theyare far too melodic and avant-garde to fall squarely into thatcategory—their style differs fromthe rigidity of other math rockacts.

One would think that as aduo, the arrangements of thesongs would be very simple,focusing on a simple riff anddrum beat. Instead, Hill’s andSeim’s playing styles compensatefor the lack of instruments—Hillquickly extracts timbres andunique sounds which make noiseproduced by drum set orchestral,while Seim builds bass lines inthe lower registers of his guitar,while constructing dissonantmelodies by tapping with his lefthand.

On parts of the album, Hellablends a wide range of influ-ences, from actual musicians toanimal sounds. One of Hella’smost unique talents is its ability

to evoke mood with sound thatisn’t necessarily musical, a themeprevalent in the album. In “Beena Long Time Cousin,” the songbegins with the droning of an air-plane, before the spontaneousappearance of a Led Zeppelin-esque riff. “Brown Metal” seemsto be a conventional metal songwith a galloping feel, before theabrupt inclusion of computereffects. On “Cafeteria Bananas,”the influences are more cultural,with aboriginal chanting openingthe song, which rapidly evolvesinto an Irish river dance. It isclear that Hella means to bothsurprise and puzzle you withtheir music. This inanity and ran-domness often comes with mixedresults.

And yet they also havemoments of beauty. “Better Get aBroom,” the final track on thealbum, has a gorgeous, soaringminor-key melody that the BeachBoys would have been proud touse—that is once the song wasrefracted through an industrial-strength filter to eliminate thescratchy fuzz.

Clearly, this album is not forthose with tame ears. But thosewho are willing to experimentwith their listening choices willget much mileage out of thisalbum. Although Hella’scacophonous conniption fits arenot for everyone, their sense ofmelody and use of tension makethis album both an interestingand pleasurable listen.

Unearthed From the Slush Pile: So-Cal Sensations Think Mathematically

The Spectator • April 18, 2008Page 12

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Olympiad Academia188-16 Northern Blvd. 2FL, Flushing, NY11358

(718) 762-6364www.olympiadacademia.org

SAT I (9/8/07~1/24/08, 20 sessions)Saturday Morning 10am-2pm: Reading, Writing, and Math

(9/8/07~1/19/08, 80 hours)Saturday Afternoon 3-7pm: Reading, Writing, and Math

(9/8/07~1/19/08, 80 hours)Sunday Afternoon 3-7pm: Reading, Writing, and Math

(9/9/07~1/20/08, 80 hours)SAT I Essay (Scores 2-3/6): Tues 7-9pm, 9/18 Start.SAT I Essay (Scores 4-5/6): Mon 7-9pm, 9/24 Start.

9th & 10th Grade PSAT, SAT I, and Book ClubPSAT: Sat 10am-2pm, 9/8 Start.

Math B 10am-12pm, English 12-2pm.Book Club: Fri 4-6pm, 9/28 Start.

SAT I Vocabulary & Grammar: Fri 6-8pm, 9/28 Start.

SAT II (10/12~April 2008, 56 hours)Biology: Sat 6-8pm, 10/13 Start.

Chemistry: Fri 6-8pm, 10/12 Start.Sat 2-4pm, 10/13 Start.

Physics: Sat 8-10am, 10/13 Start.Math IIC (Pre-Calculus Included): Fri 7-9pm, 10/12 Start.

U.S. History (SAT II & AP): Fri 5-7pm, 10/12 Start.World History, Spanish, and English Literature 1:1 tutoring available.

Olympiad (5-month Course)Biology Olympiad: Sun 1-4pm, 9/16 Start.

Math Olympiad (AMC 12, AIME): Sat 6-9pm, 9/15 Start.Chemistry Olympiad: 1:1 tutoring available

Physics Olympiad: 1:1 tutoring available

CartoonsThe Spectator • April 18, 2008 Page 13

Sports

By SCOTT CHIUSANO

School had just let outwhen physical education andhealth teacher Vincent Millerquickly made his way to Pier40 to coach practice for theChipmunks, Stuyvesant’s girls’varsity softball team. It was 34degrees and drizzling outside,but Miller was unfazed. Hepulled his blue Stuyvesantbaseball hat over his ears andrushed to the field. Neitherrain nor cold could stop himfrom coaching the Chipmunks’practice.

Miller grew up in MarinePark, Brooklyn, and playedhigh school baseball and bas-ketball at St. Edmund’sPreparatory School. He wenton to play Division II baseballat Queens College. “I wasalways into sports,” Millersaid. “My love for them helpedme want to project what Ilearned to other people.”According to Miller, his collegepitching coach inspired him tobecome a coach himself. “Isaw how hard he worked,” saidMiller, who has been teaching

at Stuyvesant for only twoyears. “He wasn’t based onwinning and he just wanted toteach the kids.”

Last year, Miller was askedto be an assistant coach of theboys’ varsity baseball team,the Hitmen, along with headcoach John Carlesi and assis-

tant coach Matt Hahn. Thecoaches felt that he brought adifferent perspective to theteam. “He was the calm one,and Coach Hahn and I werethe pressure guys,” Carlesisaid. “It was good cop, bad copand he was the good cop.”

“I enjoyed working with theplayers, and I learned a lotfrom the two other coaches,”Miller said. After a year ofassistant coaching, he wasready to take on the job ofhead coach.

This year, Miller was headcoach of the girls’ junior varsi-ty volleyball team, the Roonies,and led them to a 5-0 season,the best record in their divi-sion. He is currently coachingthe Chipmunks, who have got-ten off to a good start with a 2-1 record, placing them third intheir division. After placinglast with a 4-12 record lastyear, Miller is doing his best toget the team back on track. “Ihave some very dedicatedgirls,” he said. “They show a lotof heart and determination.”

Players on his team appre-ciate Miller in return. “I likethat he pays attention to whatgoes on in games and tries towork on it in practices,”sophomore and pitcherAlexandra Albright said. “Hepays attention to what individ-ual players need to work on.”

“He gives us useful exercis-es to improve our skills,”senior and outfielder MelissaLok said.

In addition to his ability tocoach the team, theChipmunks value his under-standing personality as well.“He knows how to coach, sowe have more respect forhim,” Lok said.

“He understands that weare students and we havework, so he’s not really harsh ifwe can’t come to something,”Albright said.

Whether he is in the gymteaching soccer or gymnastics,or on the field hitting groundballs and pop flies, Miller has apositive attitude. He believesthat nothing comes easily andthat one must work hard inorder to accomplish a goal.

“You can’t just put on aglove and go out on the fieldand play well,” Miller said.“You have to have dedicationto improve your skills.”

Coach Spotlight: Good Cop, Praised Coach

“You can’t just puton a glove and go

out on the fieldand play well. Youhave to have dedi-cation to improve

your skills.” —Vincent Miller

An

na

Men

kova

/T

he

Spec

tato

r

By JOHN GREISMAN with additional reporting by

LUC COHEN

After A.P. Randolph tied thescore with a late fourth quartergoal, Stuyvesant’s boys’ lacrosseteam, the Peglegs, prepared itselffor overtime. Stuyvesant wasplaying its first PSAL lacrossegame in history on Thursday,March 27. In the overtime ses-sion, junior and attackmanZakhar Shtulberg scored on abounce shot—sealing the win forthe Peglegs. This was a relativelylow-scoring game, with no goalsscored in the first half of play.Junior and goalie Joshua Levittmade 13 saves. The final scorewas 2-1.

The Peglegs played FrederickDouglass Academy, a Division IIteam, on Monday, March 31.Frederick Douglass scored ontheir first possession followingthe face-off, quickly setting thepace for the game. Soon enough,Stuyvesant found themselvesdown by six goals at halftime,and ultimately lost 11-1. This lossbrought the Peglegs to an even 1-1 record.

The relative ease with whichFrederick Douglas Academyscored in the first half signifi-cantly lowered the Peglegs’morale, which was reflected intheir weak offensive perfor-mance throughout the game. “Iwasn't happy with our executionon offense. But it's only been acouple of weeks, so there's roomfor improvement,” junior anddefensemen Tarek Elessawi said.

Coming off of this hard loss,the Peglegs competed in the 2008Mayor’s Cup Lacrosse Jamboreeon Saturday, April 5. Eighteenvarsity high school lacrosseteams from public, private andparochial schools throughout thefive boroughs competed in thisinvitational event.

The Peglegs had five sched-uled games for the day. Theirfirst was against SportsProfessions High School, theonly other developmental teamin their league. Stuyvesant wonby a score of 8-1, displaying amuch stronger offense than intheir recent game againstFrederick Douglas Academy.“The most important game for uswas against Sports Professions,because they were the only otherdevelopmental team and wewere able to play well and get abig win,” junior and midfielder

Mikhail Goman said. Their second game was

against the much strongerDivision I Curtis Warriors, towhom they lost by only one goal.After forfeiting their third gameagainst Frederick Douglass dueto a glitch in the schedule, thePeglegs defeated the Division IPort Richmond High School RedRaiders by a score of 3-2. In theirlast game, Stuyvesant tied theDivision II Lehman High School.

The second meeting betweenStuyvesant and Lehman onTuesday, April 8 turned out to be

more of a one-sided affair.Lehman took an early lead, andnever looked back. They held onto win by a score of 9-4. “Ithought we were going to make acomeback near the end of thegame, but the defense fell apartand it was really tough to bear,”junior and goaltender JoshuaLevitt said. Despite their highestgoal total in three games,Stuyvesant faltered in theircomeback attempt.

The Peglegs are hoping toimprove throughout the courseof the season by focusing ontheir fundamentals. “Lacrosse isa game with a lot of fundamen-tals,” Peglegs’ coach Brian Sackssaid. He hopes to improve theteam’s “passing, scooping,catching, and defense” amongother things.

Coach Sacks views this sea-son as the template for lacrosseat Stuyvesant. This season mayas well determine lacrosse’splace in the future. “My goals forthis season are [...] to understandthat our wins and losses don'tmatter. It's about building for thefuture,” he said.

Stuy Lax Takes a Promising Start

Coach Vincent Miller teaches physical education in addition to coaching the girls'junior varsity volleyball team and the girls' softball team.

Page 14 The Spectator • April 18, 2008

Boys’ Lacrosse

By KAREN MUI

Stuyvesant's first ever girls’varsity lacrosse team, theHuskies, has finally begun itsseason. Although the team isdevelopmental, meaning theywill not be competing for a spotin the playoffs, they wil lundoubtedly be developingessential skills for future sea-sons. "We work harder to proveto ourselves and everyone elsethat we can play just as well asany other team," junior AnnaZhang said.

The team holds weekdaypractices from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.at Pier 40, and its membersdedicate their Saturday morn-ings to practice at Astoria Parkin Queens.

A regular practice for theHuskies consists of tossing,catching, defensive and offen-sive dril ls , goal shots, andexcessive cardio drills. Becausethe girls promote a strong teammindset, if one player messesup during practice, the wholeteam will end up running laps."Many of the team playersaren't used to such a rigoroussport," Zhang said.

The Huskies had their firstcompetitive experience in anon-league scrimmage againstMidwood High School onMonday, March 30. Though theHuskies lost by a score of 10-0,they were able to realize thespecific areas of their gamewhich they needed to improveon. "In our developmental year,

it 's a learning experience,"coach Holly Younglove said.

"[It is easier to] play fair andplay as best as I can since Iknow that our coach and theother girls would be coolwhether we win or lose thegame or scrimmage," freshmanSang-A R. Bae said.

The Huskies attended theNew York City Mayors' CupLacrosse Jamboree that tookplace at Randall's Island onSunday, April 6. The all daytournament attracted schoolsfrom all over the city—publicand private. They played five25-minute games, which wereroughly half the duration of areal game. Stuyvesant won onegame,, against A.P. RandolphHigh School.

Underclassmen talent isone significant attribute of theteam. "We've got a young teamwith only two seniors and mostof the team is made up ofunderclassmen," Younglovesaid. In fact, freshman SeungGee Kim was chosen at theMayor's Cup to take part in anAll-Star tournament.

"The freshmen really kickedbutt at the Mayor's Cup,"Zhang said.

The Huskies then started offtheir regular season with a 3-2win against Queens HighSchool of Teaching. "We have adedicated group of girls whoare progressively learningfaster," Younglove said.

Huskies Hope to Keep Pulling Sled of Success

Girls’ Lacrosse

“My goals for this season are

[...] to understandthat our wins andlosses don't mat-

ter. It's aboutbuilding for thefuture.” –Brian

Sacks, head coach

Sports

By NICK HANwith additional reporting by

DAVID DEGUZMAN

The boys’ varsity baseballteam, the Hitmen, beat theHigh School of GraphicCommunication Arts by a scoreof 2-1 in their season openinggame on April 1. SophomoreNicholas Gallo pitched for theentire game, which took placeat Graphics High School. Galloallowed only one earned runwhile striking out six batters.

Two days later, the Hitmenbeat the High School ofGraphic Communication Artsagain—this time by a score of

11-4. The game was the first oftwo to take place at Pier 40,which was acquired byStuyvesant earlier this seasonas their home field. Since Pier40 is only a 10 minute walkfrom Stuyvesant, more fansthan usual showed up to cheeron the Hitmen.

“It is always nice when thepeople from the school comeout and watch the game. It’s aplus. It gives everyone a lift.Usually, we go to Central Parkor we’re up at Inwood and wereally get nobody,” coach JohnCarlesi said.

Unlike their first game, in

which they banked on theirpitching skil ls to win, theHitmen relied on their hittingin the second game. “Lastgame we were swinging thebats, but we weren’t makingsolid contact. But today, every-one came out and everyonewas well rested and everyonecould see the ball well today,”senior Scott Ritter said. Afterthe High School of GraphicCommunication Arts scoredtwo runs in the first inning, theHitmen answered by scoringfive runs in the second. Fromthere, the Hitmen never lookedback, maintaining the lead for

the rest of the game.Stuyvesant’s pitching was

strong as well. After giving uptwo earned runs in the firstinning, junior and pitcherNolan Becker refused to give upany more. “I struggled early inthe game but then I relaxed andit got a lot easier,” Becker said.He finished the game with twoearned runs and eight strike-outs in six innings.

Despite their 2-0 start to theseason, the Hitmen were notyet satisfied with their perfor-mance. “You can’t tel l toomuch from 2-0. [Graphic Arts]was not one of the better

teams. We have to put this alltogether every game,” seniorand co-captain Mark Chiusanosaid.

Stuyvesant went on to winfour of their next five leaguegames. Their record nowstands at 6-1.

Last season, the Hitmenstarted the season with a 4-0record, but then lost their nextthree games. This season, witha new home field, the Hitmenare trying to avoid thedownslide of last season.“We’re hoping to win the divi-sion and go deeper into theplayoffs,” Chiusano said.

Hitmen Are Off to a Good Start

Boys’ Baseball

Am

yC

reh

ore/

Th

eSp

ecta

tor

By SHALIYA DEHIPAWALA

Whether they are thedefending PSAL champions ora developmental program, allStuyvesant athletic teams sharethe need for new talent.Traditionally, this need is madeapparent to the student bodyby the huge numbers of signsposted along the hallways priorto the start of every new sportsseason.

These signs publicize inter-est meetings, which givecoaches a chance to interactwith those who are serious injoining their teams. Fromthere, many teams hold multi-day tryouts that take multipledays. These tryouts give coach-es a chance to scout out poten-tial athletes with coveted skillsand cut those without the abili-ty to compete on the highschool level.

In Stuyvesant, however,with our 32 varsity teams, wehold exceptions to this process.Some coaches, either out of

necessity or philosophy, leavetheir team open for all thoseinterested to join. Even thoughthese “walk-on” tryouts satisfyteams’ basic need for athletes,

the potential consequencesshould make it the secondaryoption for coaches.

A team laden with unquali-fied athletes can stretch thelimited resources of teamseven thinner. One resourcethat is especially susceptible tobeing diverted is the coach’sattention. One coach cannot bein multiple places at the sametime. The attention a coachspends teaching basic skills tonew athletes could be betterspent on game strategy andadvanced drills.

The lack of field space isalso a serious issue. Field spaceis given even higher value byurban teams. A crowded spacelimits the variety of drills thatcan be done at a practice. Italso poses a safety issue. In the

springtime, for example, morethan five different Stuyvesantsports teams hold practices atPier 40.

The absence of a competi-tive tryout can also affect themindset of athletes. Athleteswho are forced to compete forlimited spots on a team willview their spot on the roster asa fitting reward for their hardeffort at tryouts. These athletesgo into the season knowingthat nothing will be given tothem without diligent work atpractice.

On the other hand, notholding competitive tryoutscould lead to a sense of com-placency among the team’sathletes. It is easier for an ath-lete to take their position forgranted because they did notput the same effort into makingthe team than they would haveif there had been competitivetryouts.

These opposing mindsetscan be the difference betweenan athlete giving maximumeffort at each practice and anathlete sliding by with the bareminimum. It is also the differ-ence between a potentialchampionship caliber teamand a team weighed down bymediocrity.

The first priority of coachesis to have a roster large enoughto meet eligibility require-ments, which is especially cru-cial for developing teams whoneed to build from scratch.This situation makes noncom-petitive tryouts optimal.Eventually, the decision toswitch from noncompetitive to

competitive tryouts must bemade. This is a difficult butpowerful decision for thecoaches to make.

The only tools at tryoutscoaches have to assess playerswith at tryouts are their owninstincts. It is impossible toknow whether the athlete whois about to be cut is a potentialsuperstar who’s just having arough day. On the other hand,there is also the chance thatone of his sure-fire stars justhappens to get lucky at theright time.

Mistakes made early in aseason can be hard to correct.

Competitive multi-day tryoutsminimize the possibility of ros-ter selection errors, givingStuyvesant teams a more com-petitive edge going into theseason.

“It is always nice when the

people from theschool come

out and watch the game. It’s a

plus. It giveseveryone a lift.” —John Carlesi,

coach

Tryout Treason

Junior Nick Rozar catches the ball to beat the runner at first base during a practice for boys' varsity baseball.

Page 15The Spectator • April 18, 2008

Dia

ne

Yee

/T

he

Spec

tato

r

Not holding competitive

tryouts could lead to a sense of

complacencyamong

the team’sathletes

that schools hire coacheswho belong to the UFT, ath-letic programs should belooking for individuals whoare the most qualified forthe job. For example,because the boys’ ultimateFrisbee team is not a PublicSchools’ Athletic LeagueSport, they were able to hirea coach, Dave Hollander,who won the world champi-onships while playing forNew York City Ultimate in1994.

Athletics are am impor-tant part of students' highschool experiences.Athletics should not beharmed because of theUFT’s desire to protect itsmembers. As of now,extremely qualified candi-dates, such as retired pro-fessional athletes, musteither coach at privateschools or at the collegelevel. This must change.

Student athletes, notteachers, should be the firstpriority of high school ath-letics. The first step towardsthis goal is hiring coachesbased on merit, not onwhether or not they are UFTmembers. To improve highschool athletics, the coach-ing pool must be widened.

Athletics forthe Athletes

continued from page 16

The absence of a competitive

tryout can also affect the

mindset of athletes.

Girls’ Softball

Page 16April 18, 2008

THE SPECTATOR SPORTS

By CODY LEVINE

The Mimbas, Stuyvesant’svarsity girls’ soccer team, kickedoff their 2008 season onWednesday, March 26 with a 4-0victory over Lab Museum United(LMU). A few minutes into thegame, the Mimbas, began to getinto a rhythm. Sophomore andmidfielder Marantha Dawkinsscored the first goal of the gameat the 29th minute, making thescore 1-0. Senior, captain anddefender Angela Khermouchtook a pass from junior, mid-fielder and forward Elisa Muyland scored a goal in the closingminutes of the first half, bringingthe score up to 2-0.

The second half started slow-ly, until junior, midfielder andforward Morgan Browning ranpast the entire LMU defense anddrew a penalty shot.Khermouch was brought in tokick the penalty shot and wassuccessful, scoring her secondgoal of the game.

Sophomore and forwardCassandra Lee scored a left-foot-ed goal in her first official soccergame, making the score 4-0. “Itwas surprising and I was elated,but in soccer there's not enoughtime to really celebrate afterevery goal,” Lee said of scoringher first goal. “Still, it made me

happy for the rest of the day.” Junior and goalie Monika

Rozkowska had to make onlyone save, as senior and centerback Sara O’Connor steadilyheld down the defense. The twoteamed up to ensure that LMUdid not have any significantscoring opportunities.

The Mimbas, who currentlyhold a 5-0 record on the season,continued their success in afriendly, unofficial game onThursday, March 27 againstBayside High School, the teamthat knocked them out of theplayoffs last year. The Mimbaswon 2-1. According to O’Connor,the low score resulted from theMimbas’ inability to score goalswhen they had the opportunityto do so. “We should have won10-1, but our finishing has beenoff,” O’Connor said.

Regardless, Coach AdamGoldstein is especially satisfiedwith the Mimbas’ display ofunity and teamwork. “It was animportant scrimmage thatmeant a great deal to the girls,”he said. “They needed to knowwhat I was already certain of—that we have the ability to beatany team in the city if they playas 11 players on the field, not asindividuals.”

However, he isn’t getting toofar ahead of himself. “It's tooearly in the season to lift any tro-phies, and it was only a scrim-mage,” Goldstein said. “Whenwe see them again in May, I'llhave a better indication of wherewe are, but for now, I'm veryenthusiastic about the season tocome.”

Goldstein’s assertion that theMimbas will play Bayside againin May is, of course, based on theassumption that both teams willmake the playoffs. Their fivewins so far prove that theMimbas are strong, if notstronger, contenders than theywere last year.

Mimbas Off to 4-0 Start

Boys’ Tennis

Girls’ Soccer

By CHARLIE GINGOLD

After missing the playoffslast year with a 4-6 record, theStuyvesant boys’ varsity tennisteam, the Ponstars, started offthe 2008 season with two con-secutive victories. Now with a 4-4 record, the Ponstars sit infourth place in theBronx/Manhattan A Division,behind the Blue Devils ofBeacon High School (6-0), theWolverines of the Bronx HighSchool of Science (5-2) and theHawks of Hunter College HighSchool (6-1).

In their first game of the sea-son on Wednesday, March 26,the Ponstars beat the Senatorsof the High School of AmericanStudies at Lehman College (1-3)with a score of 5-0. The nextgame against Eleanor RooseveltHigh School on Friday, March28, was much closer. After losingtheir first and second singlesmatches, they rallied back towin the third and final singlesmatch and both doubles match-es against Eleanor RooseveltHigh School.

Nonetheless, these two vic-tories, in which the Ponstarsdefeated the division’s weakerteams, were not seen as much ofa challenge. “Our main compe-tition is Beacon, Hunter andBronx Science,” senior and firstdoubles player Chaitanya

Medicherla said. The Ponstarslost 3-2 to the Hawks on Friday,April 4 and 5-0 to the BlueDevils on both Wednesday,April 2 and Thursday, April 10.Stuyvesant was dominated par-ticularly in the latter match.Although it was missing its threetop singles players—Sam

Alperin, Norman Yu and JasonSu—it did not manage to winmore than four games in anymatch.

In addition to strong teamslike Beacon, the Ponstars havealso been forced to face thechallenge of rainy weather. So

far, the Ponstars have beenrained out of three matches. Intwo of these rained out games,the Ponstars were supposed toplay Bronx Science.

While the weather hasimpeded on the Ponstars’ gametime, the lack of space has pre-vented them from practicingsufficiently. “It’s kind ofdecreased our chances of prac-ticing,” senior, co-captain andsecond singles player SamAlperin said. According toMedicherla, the team used topractice every other day beforethe season started. Now, oftenfaced with three to four matchesper week, the Ponstars haveheld only one practice since thestart of the season. “It’s not justthe weather that is keeping usfrom practicing, but also thelack of courts,” Alperin said. ThePonstars practice at the courtlocated right beside the TribecaBridge. But with one court and21 members on the team, it isdifficult to get a lot of practicein.

The fast start has thePonstars thinking about theplayoffs, which they have notmade since 2005. In order tomake the playoffs this year, thePonstars must finish with aneven record of 6-6. “I have faithin the team and hopefully we’llgo all the way this year,”Medicherla said.

In Light of Rain, Ponstars Start Strong

By REBECCA ELLIOTT

This past year,Stuyvesant's athletic programexpanded to include moreteams: cricket and lacrosse.Two things are needed tomaintain Stuyvesant’s variousteams. One is student interest,which is certainly not lacking.Another—a competentcoach—is not as easy to find.

Coaches are not as impor-tant to a team’s success as areskilled players and team spirit.But passionate and experi-enced instruction can turn adecently skilled group of play-ers into a seamless team.

However, the UnitedFederation of Teachers’ (UFT)regulations make finding out-standing coaches difficult.According to AssistantPrincipal Athletics MarthaSinger, union contractsrequire public high schoolcoaches to have a teachingcertificate.

Such tight regulations areput in place to protect players,who practice alone withcoaches for hours.

However, knowledge ofC a r d i o p u l m o n a r yResuscitation (CPR) and theuse of an Automated ExternalDefibril lator (AED), whichcoaches are required to have,and a routine job selectionprocess are enough to ensurethat coaches are responsible.Requiring coaches to be certi-fied teachers and members ofthe UFT is unnecessary andhurts public school athletics.While many teachers wouldmake ideal coaches, others getcoaching positions simplybecause such a limited pool ofapplicants can’t produce abetter candidate.

Under the current system,if coaches from within theschool do not volunteer theirtime, teams are forced to lookto teachers from otherschools. This poses manyscheduling conflicts andwidens the communicationgap between the coach andthe team. Coaches who areteachers not only haveresponsibilities to their team,but also to their students.They therefore often show upto practice late or cannot getin touch with team membersto disseminate vital informa-tion.

Rather than mandating

Athletics for the Athletes

By EDDIE CYTRYN

After ending the 2007 seasonwith a forfeit to GeorgeWashington High School, theStuyvesant Chipmunks, thegirls’ varsity softball team,dropped down to last place inthe Manhattan A division, with arecord of 4-12. The new seasonbegan with a new coach and a15-2 victory against the HighSchool of Art and Design.

The Chipmunks currentlyhold a 3-3 record, good for thirdplace in the division. “I thoughtwe played great, we played witha lot of heart and determina-tion,” physical education teach-er and first year coach VincentMiller said of the early success.

The Chipmunks lost theirsecond game 11-8 to the LadyBlazers of Murry BergtraumHigh School, who finished firstin the division last year with arecord of 16-0. The Chipmunkskept the score close until the lasthalf inning, when MurryBergtraum scored five runs totake the lead and ultimately win.

“We let a lot of balls comethrough the field at that point,but we had kept a good gameuntil then and I’m sure when weplay them again that won’t hap-pen at the end,” sophomore andpitcher Alexandra Albright saidof the loss.

The Chipmunks won theirthird game over GeorgeWashington High School by ascore of 11-10 on Friday, March28. There was an explosion onoffense at the beginning of thegame by both teams, withGeorge Washington leading 8-7after the first two innings.

Down 10-9 in the bottom ofthe seventh inning, Stuyvesantscored two runs to clinch the

victory. Sophomore and firstbaseman Kelly Quinn hit an RBIdouble to tie the score. Senior,captain and first basemanArianna Demas followed withthe go-ahead RBI single. Demasplayed an important role in rais-ing the team’s morale during thecomeback. “We were missing acouple of girls due to differentreasons,” Demas said. “Ourinfield was switched up, but weended up winning. It was excit-ing.”

Albright pitched all 7 inningsand allowed 5 earned runs whilethrowing 8 strikeouts. She alsocontributed heavily on offense,going two for three with a walk,a double, a home run, two runsscored, and five runs batted in(RBI). In a 13-3 victory overLouis Brandeis High School onMonday, April 7, Albrightsprained her ankle when anopposing player slid into herwhile she was covering home

plate. The Chipmunks lost thetwo games since that she wasforced to miss due to the injury.However, she is now cleared toplay and will be welcomed backat the next game on Tuesday,April 15, against Hunter CollegeHigh School.

The Chipmunks lost fiveseniors to graduation at the endof last season, but compensatedby adding five freshmen thisyear. “Even though we lost fivereally great seniors, we’veimproved a lot,” Albright said.“We’ve been working a lot onbatting, and we’ve been hittingmuch better than we did lastyear as a whole.” Indeed,Stuyvesant has already scoredabove 10 runs in a game threetimes this season, which theydid only twice last season.

Miller said, “We practicehard 5-6 times a week and if wekeep working hard, I think we’lldo well.”

Ch

rist

ine

Lee/

Th

eSp

ecta

tor

Chipmunks’ Explosive Offense Leads to 3-2 Start

Even though the girls' softball team, The Chipmunks, lost five seniors to graduationlast year, they have still placed third in the division with a 3-2 record.

continued on page 15

Sadm

anIs

lam

i/T

he

Spec

tato

r