The SpectatorThe Stuyvesant High School Newspaper

From Rice to RugelachThe International Food Festival offered delicious ethnic

cuisines, cheap prices and long lines.AP World History leaves students confused about whether they’rereally in an AP class.

AP World History: Asking for ProgressArticle on page 8.Arts and EntertainmentOpinions Article on page 7.

Volume XCVIII No. 15 May 16, 2008 stuyspectator.com

“The Pulseof the

StudentBody”

By PAULINA KARPIS

Senior Alice Pang andjuniors Alexandra Hanin andJudy Baek will participate inthe USA Biology Olympiad(USABO) National Finals fromMonday, June 2 to Saturday,June 14 at George MasonUniversity in West Virginia.Stuyvesant is the only schoolin America with more than twofinalists.

The USABO began inFebruary with an open examgiven to interested high schoolstudents nationwide. The top10 percent or the top 500 OpenExam participants—including13 Stuyvesant students—advanced to the semifinals.

Biology teacher RosylnBierig prepared students forthe Olympiad by deliveringlectures after school and dis-tributing material.

“[Bierig] is not only anexcellent coach,” AssistantPrincipal Biology ElizabethFong said. “She knows how tomotivate the students to workeffectively.”

"[Bierig] told us what topicsto focus on, such as plants andbiotechnology," Hanin said."She and Dr. [Jonathan] Gastelonce spent half an hour argu-ing over how to solve a prob-lem about DNA technology,which was pretty amusing towatch."

Three Students Advance to USABO Finals

By CHRIS LEE

Senior Vivian Truong was afinalist for writing in this year’sannual Scholastic Art andWriting Awards. According toAssistant Principal English EricGrossman, Truong is the firstnational finalist fromStuyvesant in the competition.

The Scholastic Art andWriting Awards is held eachyear for middle school and highschool students. “Everyoneexcept high school seniors sub-mit individual pieces, like ashort story or a personal essay.The seniors submit a portfolio,which consists of a maximum ofeight works,” Truong said.“They compete for the NationalPortfolio Gold Award.”

About 100,000 works of artand writing were submitted inall categories: art, writing andphotography. According toTruong, 5,400 of them wereportfolios.

Truong submitted a collec-tion of poems, short stories and

essays. “Most of them werestrongly grounded in personalexperiences, and even the fic-tion pieces reflected my ownencounters and relationshipswith people I see every day,”Truong said. “The piecesranged from a short story abouta mother-daughter relationshipto a memoir about my experi-ence as part of the fencing teamto a poem about how I feltbeing called quiet as an Asian-American.”

Grossman believes thatTruong’s success in the compe-tition was well-deserved. “She’sa sensational writer,” Grossmansaid. “[I’m] thrilled that she’sbeen recognized for it.”

On the regional level,seniors Mark Chiusano, EzraGlenn and Katherine Wycisk,juniors Eunju Namkung,Georgia Stasinopoulos andJenny Ye, and sophomores ClioContogenis and Cassie Moywere recognized with various

Vivian Truong Is NationalFinalist in Scholastic Art

and Writing Awards

continued on page 5

continued on page 5

By ASHLEY SEENAUTH

In response to yearly goalsset for the English Department,all sophomores will be given anin-class practice regents essayon Friday, June 6.

The primary goal for theEnglish Department written inthe Spring 2008 Goals andObjectives template <what isthis template exactly? Who putsit together/ writes it? is “toimprove writing instruction(including grammar) for sopho-mores.”

“I am not at all pleased withPSAT results on writing,”Principal Stanley Teitel said. “Ican’t wait for the next PSAT tomake my assessment. If we dosomething in June, then I cando something earlier.”

“There’s a move in theDepartment of Educationtowards something they’re call-ing data given instruction andin part this is our attempt tocomply with that,” AssistantPrincipal English Eric Grossmansaid.

The essay will be used toquantifiably measure progressin student writing ability.Grossman said, “It will measure

across the courses how studentsdo. It’s a way of diagnosingwhat skills students need towork on holistically.”

“We are looking to measure[…] patterns in what studentsdo well on and areas ofimprovement so we know howto adjust our instruction andpatterns among teachers,”Grossman said.

The same essay will be givento all students. It will be mod-eled on a Regents Task IV essay,the “Critical Lens Essay.”Students will be asked to drawconnections between any twoworks of literature that theyhave read. It is highly likely thatthe essay topic will be takenfrom an old English Regentsexam.

Sophomore Daniel Cho said,“I don’t think it would be aproblem, but since teachers usedifferent books at differenttimes, I’m not sure if a uniformtopic would be fair.”

The essay will be given in-class to ensure that studentstake it seriously. “It doesn’thave any value otherwise,”Grossman said.

Beyond student assessment,data collected from essay scores

will be used to assess teachers.“I wanted Mr. Grossman tomake an assessment of howthings are going on with theteachers in the classroom,”Teitel said.

“By looking at these essays,we can say ‘What’s one teacherdoing that’s successful?’ Howcan we spread these practicesthroughout the department?”Grossman said.

The essays will be graded bya small committee of Englishteachers after the school yearcomes to an end. Each Englishteacher will have the additionaloption of grading their own stu-dents’ essays and factoring itinto the semester grade. Howcan they factor it into thesemester grade if the gradinghappens “after the school yearcomes to an end”? Also, howmuch weight will the essay havein the final grade?

Grossman said, “Really it’s adiagnostic for us. Nothing isgoing to happen to any studentas a result of his or her perfor-mance on it.”

Sophomore Angela Chu said“I find it kind of pointless andvery subjective. How do you

Standardized English Essayfor Sophomores

By MASHA GINDLERand ALEXANDER SHIN

Chemistry teacher DaliaBulgaris, who taught at Stuyvesantfor 29 years, passed away fromlung cancer complications onSaturday, May 3.

Bulgaris battled lung cancerseveral years ago. When the cancerreturned in the fall of 2007, shewent on medical leave two weeksinto the semester.

Bulgaris is remembered byother teachers for her dedicationto the school. “Stuy was a majorpart of her life,” chemistry teacherDaisy Furth said. “She lived toteach.”

"She was, I felt, a wonderfuleducator and colleague," musicteacher and chorus conductorHolly Hall said. "She cared greatlyfor her students and [their]achievements, even the ones out-side of chemistry."

“She stayed late [at school].”Principal Stanley Teitel said. “Shewould stay if she had to until six orseven […] and she was extremelywell organized.”

According to chemistry teacherDr. Steven O'Malley, Bulgaris alsohad a close relationship with herstudents. She had a “genuine inter-est in her students,” O'Malley said."Her students responded well toher."

Chemistry Teacher Dalia Bugaris Passes Away

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TribecaCoverage

See pages10-11

The Spectator • May 16, 2008Page 2

105Number of male faculty members at Stuyvesant

14Number of Stuyvesant

teachers who havedoctorate degrees

157Number of teachers at

Stuyvesant

83Number of female faculty

members at Stuyvesant

By EILEEN CHANG

Junior class President PhilipKim and Vice President JennyHan coordinated the first everCareer Day, where speakersfrom various professional fieldsdiscussed their careers withStuyvesant students. It tookplace after school in the studentcafeteria on Monday, April 28.

The event was designed to"help students find a generalnotion of what they might beinterested in for the future," Kimsaid.

The speakers includedUnited Nations (UN) HumanResources Representative NellyKeita, UN Deputy JohnWashburn, accountant DanielZica, NY1 reporter Roger Clark,and curator of The AmericanMuseum of Natural History andformer National Aeronauticsand Space Administration work-er Mordecai-Mark Mac Low.

To advertise the event, Kimand Han distributed fliers on theTribeca Bridge, posted flyers onschool bulletins, made a PublicAddress announcement during

homeroom and created aFacebook event.

According to health teacherand Coordinator of StudentAffairs Lisa Weinwurm, BrooklynTechnical High School and sev-eral other high schools hostannual Career Days.

“We became inspired toorganize one at Stuy too,” Hansaid.

Initially, only juniors wereinvited to attend Career Day.According to Han, the seniorcaucus declined to participatebecause a large majority of theseniors have already decidedtheir majors and future careerplans.

Career Day was extended tothe entire student body because"we thought it could benefiteverybody because anybodycould learn from this experi-ence,” Han said.

Raffles, free refreshmentsand pizza were distributed to theattending students. A portion ofthe expenses were paid for byfunds raised from the juniorcaucus’ Valentine’s Day candysales.

A raffle number was dis-tributed to each student in theirfliers. The prizes included giftcards to Starbucks, Jamba Juiceand the Regal Battery ParkStadium 11 movie theater.

According to Han, not manystudents attended. "I expected alot more people to show up forthis event [but] it was under-standable because it was held on

the first day back from break and[chorus teacher Holly] Hallcalled sectionals that day,” shesaid. Sectionals are chorusrehearsals held after school. Hallrequires all her students toattend sectionals.

Some students did notattend because of AdvancedPlacement (AP) tutoring heldafter school.

"I couldn't go because Iwanted to go to AP chemistryreview," junior Hyunjee Chosaid.

“I had to study for theupcoming World History AP,”sophomore Nisa Beoceriklisoysaid. “I felt it was not importantto go because I can find infor-mation on any career I desire on

the Internet, television shows,and people around me."

Students who attended theevent responded positively.

"[Career Day] helped mebecome more aware of paths Inever considered before" juniorNaomi Chun said. "I alwayswanted to be a news reporterwhen I was young so it wasinteresting to see that present-ed."

"It got me thinking about myoptions […] I now realize thatcollege is not so far away and Ineed to start taking things seri-ously," sophomore TasfiaNayem said.

Junior Caroline Sagalchiksaid, "It was a great opportunityto gain insight in some fields ofwork [but] there was clearly alack of attendance [and the]speakers focused too much ongeneral idea."

"This event is somethingeveryone can learn from [so] ifPhil and I are elected next yearfor senior caucus, we will workon a better Career Day and getmore people to attend," Hansaid.

Kim and Han hope toaccomplish this by rallying moreparticipation from the studentbody, collaborating with moreStudent Union members andStuyvesant organizations suchas ARISTA. Han said, “[We] thinkthat it should become a futureStuy tradition.”

Junior Caucus Creates First Ever Career Day

The first-ever Career Day, held in the school cafeteria on Monday, April 28, gavestudents an opportunity to explore different jobs through speeches made my pro-fessionals in those fields.

Luci

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"[Career Day]helped me

become moreaware of paths I

never consid-ered before"

—Naomi Chun,junior.

ADVERTISEMENTS

The Spectator • May 16, 2008 Page 3

By SEONG IM HONG and KRISTY ZHEN

GreenStuy, a Stuyvesantenvironmental club, has beenhosting an ink and toner car-tridge drive since Monday, April14. Used ink cartridges are col-lected in a box near the secondfloor bridge entrance. The drivewill last until Friday, May 30.

According to their onlineclub description, GreenStuy’sobjective is to raise awarenessabout global warming, animalrights, energy sufficiency, and,above all, sustainability throughrecycling, volunteering, educa-tion and creative planning.

GreenStuy is collecting usedink and toner cartridges fromthe school and from studentswho bring cartridges fromhome.

"We're collecting cartridgesthat will otherwise be disposed[and] sent to landfills," juniorand president of GreenStuyMarcela Rodriguez said.

“Since cartridges continuallycome, we will have [a drive]every two to three months,”Rodriguez said.

The empty cartridges aresent to Funding Factory, a com-pany started to help groupsraise money through recycling.Funding Factory recycles thecartridges and gives moneyback to GreenStuy to use forfuture projects.

GreenStuy will use themoney from The FundingFactory to organize a school-

wide cleanup and a plant sale,which will take place next week.The profits from the plant salewill be used to adopt pandasfrom the World Wildlife Fund.

GreenStuy hopes to collabo-rate with a school service clubto host a clean up, which willinclude sorting recycling binsand cleaning the fifth floor cafe-teria.

To advertise the drive,Rodriguez posted fliers inschool, announced it in theschool website and made aPublic Address announcement.

According to Rodriguez,GreenStuy has collected about40 cartridges from students.

“We still have room forimprovement,” Rodriguez said.“We’re hoping for perhaps 20 or40 more cartridges.”

GreenStuy has also beenworking in conjunction withThe Stuyvesant EnvironmentalClub (SEC) to collect cartridges.During the beginning of thedrive, the SEC exchanged inkand toner cartridges for bakedgoods.

Physical education teacherand Assistant ProgramChairperson Larry Barth beganrecycling toner cartridgesapproximately a year and a halfago.

“People call down for newtoner cartridges and I store [theold ones] in a room on the 10thfloor,” Barth said. “When thereis enough to fill a box, the car-tridges are sent to E-CycleEnvironmental.”

E-Cycle Environmentalrecycles and disposes used elec-tronic equipment. Money isgiven in return for recycled car-tridges. The StuyvesantTechnology Department usesthe money to purchase newequipment. “We’re recycling[…] to get the most money forthe school,” Barth said.

Recycling bins, used to col-lect plastic and paper, areplaced on each floor with theexception of the first and 10th.However, according to PrincipalStanley Teitel, the recycling binsare rarely used for its purpose.“We tend to use them for trash.”Teitel said. “We don’t seem topay attention [to recycling].”

“Virtually nothing's beingrecycled," Rodgriguez said.

GreenStuy HostsCartridge Drive

“Thestudent body is

environmentallyconscious.

[But] it could bemuch better”

—JamesMatyszczyk,

junior.

By KAITLYN KWAN and ROBERT COLGAN

The Inquiry Team, a groupof teachers and administra-tors who have been investi-gating poorly-performing stu-dents since September,changed its focus at the startof the spring term to a newgroup of students. It informedthe Department of Education(DOE) of the change onWednesday, April 30.

An Inquiry Team, mandat-ed by the DOE for all NewYork City public schools, con-sists of faculty from differentdepartments. The originalpurpose of the team was toexamine students who werenot succeeding, determinewhy, and then apply the find-ings to the entire student pop-ulation.

Previously, the teamworked with 29 sophomoreswho had averages between 75and 80 during freshman year.

“We tried to look at whythey would be in this situationand we just couldn’t find any-thing,” Principal StanleyTeitel said. “We stopped andhad to say to ourselves, wehave to rethink this.”

Teitel said the teamchanged its focus away fromexamining the students’ GPAsbecause “we couldn’t find acommon thread.”

According to guidancecounselor Jeremy Wang, whois the team's data specialist,the group’s focus has shiftedtowards English aptitude.

"English reading is actual-ly the base of all learning,"Wang said. "[Students won'thave] a good understandingwithout good comprehensionin the English language.Sooner or later, students willrun into some difficulties."

"Part of our goal is to lookat a population of studentswho are considered outsidethe sphere of success,"

English teacher KellyMcMahon said.

For the new investigation,Wang said the Inquiry Teamselected roughly 25 new stu-dents, who are all enrolled inSophomore ExpositoryWriting Seminar, a class thatfocuses on writing.

The Inquiry Team hasbeen focusing on data aboutspecific skill areas, such as thestudents' scores on theEnglish Language Arts testtaken in eight grade, the ver-bal portion of the SpecializedHigh Schools Admissions Testand PSAT writing scores,rather than their GPAs.Personal data, like languagesspoken at home, is also beingstudied.

"We’d like to see if there’ssomething we can do to helpimprove writing and then, ofcourse, we will institute thatin freshman composition,which is what everybodytakes," Teitel said.

Inquiry Team Shifts Focus to English Aptitude

By MICHAEL ARDELJAN

The Tribeca branch ofBarnes & Noble hosted aStuyvesant open mic event from3:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday,April 8. English teacher HollyWeiss's junior poetry class andtwo other Stuyvesant studentsparticipated in the event.

Open mic is a scheduledevent where students read orperform their work during anallotted time frame. The openmic held at Barnes and Noblewas not affiliated with theStuyvesant Open Mic that isheld in the library.

The event was coordi-nated in conjunction with theParents’ Association (PA) book

fundraiser, where 10 percent ofthe gross sales from SAT andACT preparation book purchas-es were donated to the PA. Thefundraiser took place onTuesday, April 8 to Thursday,April 10.

Twelve students read eitherpoetry or prose. English teach-ers Annie Thoms, VitoBonsignore, Jonathan Weil,Assistant Principal English EricGrossman and friends of theparticipating students attendedthe event.

"[The event] was a great wayfor some of our writers' voicesto be heard and it was nice tobring the Stuy writing commu-nity into the public eye," Weisssaid.

"It was a really nice experi-ence, because students got toread stuff they [have] beenworking on, and in a more pub-lic environment," junior SammySussman said.

"I was really impressed withboth the quality of the writingthat I heard and with the spiritof the community and fun that Ifelt," Grossman said.

Barnes & Noble RelationsManager Carolyn Hughesoffered PA Fundraising co-chairDave Gibson to host an openmic at Barnes and Noble duringthe days of the book fundraiser.

According to ParentCoordinator Harvey Blumm,Barnes & Noble is trying tobuild its relationship with theTribeca community.

Barnes & Noble also hosteda PA fundraiser fromWednesday, December 12 toFriday, December 14, where thePA earned 10 to 15 percent of allgross sales, and hosted aStuyvesant and LearningLeaders sponsored holiday giftwrapping event from Monday,December 17 to Monday,December 24.

"Part of my role as parentcoordinator is to connectStuyvesant to communityresources," Blumm said."Building up a relationship withlocal companies, such as Barnes& Noble, is a great way to dothat."

“B&N is a socially proactivecompany committed to literacyand to helping schools raisemuch needed funds,” Gibsonsaid in the December issue ofThe Spectator.

Due to the success of theevent, the English departmenthopes to hold more open micsat Barnes & Noble in the future.

"We are hoping, and therehave been talks, about havingreadings, book fairs in the falland spring of next year,"Hughes wrote in an e-mailinterview. "I would be delightedif that happened as Stuyvesanthas one of the most dynamicstudent bodies in the city."

Barnes and Noble Hosts Open Mic

Barnes and Noble, located just a few blocks away from Stuy, hosted an open micevent that many Stuyvesant students participated in.

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evaluate someone’s skills inEnglish?”

English teacher Emily Moorehas contrasting feelings about theessay. “I don’t like the emphasison using classroom time for testpreparation. I would rather usethose days to discuss a novel or to

strengthen students’ theses,”Moore said. “On the other hand, Ido think that timed reading andwriting is becoming increasinglyimportant because of tests like theRegents and SATs. In that sense,it’s a valid thing to do well.”

“I don’t know whether it willprove valuable or not. I’m willingto see,” Grossman said.

Standardized EnglishEssay for Sophomorescontinued from page 1

ADVERTISEMENTS

The Spectator • May 16, 2008Page 4

BY JENNY YE

If you’re taking chemistry,then you might know of theoret-ical physicist Wolfgang Pauli bylearning about the PauliExclusion Principle. Simply put,it states that no two electronscan occupy the same quantumstate. But you probably don’tknow his reputation for acci-dentally breaking experimentalequipment. Though he was notat the site of the accident, Pauliwas blamed for ruining anexpensive piece of equipment atthe University of Göttingen inGermany. Such has beendeemed the “Pauli effect,”which physics teacher UlugbekAkhmedov uses to teach stu-dents about the apparentlyvolatile combination of theoret-ical physicists (like Pauli) andtechnical equipment.

According to the “grandduke” (the English translation ofUlugbek from Uzbek), anec-dotes and stories are an attemptto “show the human side ofphysics,” Akhmedov said.

Akhmedov grew up inUzbekistan in a family of teach-ers. His father, a physics teach-er, helped foster his interest inphysics and mathematics.Akhmedov went on to pursuephysics at Tashkent StateUniversity of Uzbekistan. As astudent, he was interested inhow computers worked andresearched ways to improvetheir efficiency. Akhmedov alsodabbled with space travelresearch and graduated with abachelor’s degree in physics in1993.

After college, Akhmedovfound work in assembling elec-tric devices and consumer prod-ucts. However, having tutored

students throughout college andonward, Akhmedov discoveredhis passion for teaching. “I real-ized that I can teach, and thatstudents understand when I tryto explain things,” Akhmedovsaid.

Akhmedov moved to NewYork in 2000 after “most of [his]friends moved in the late 90s,”he said. He took on his firstteaching job at Evander ChildsHigh School in the Bronx in2002. Since then, Akhmedov hastaught at Baruch CollegeCampus High School in lowerManhattan and began teaching

at Stuyvesant in 2006. Besidesphysics, Akhmedov also teachesthe Introductory Astronomyelective and Physics IntelResearch.

He has become very com-fortable with teaching highschool students, with whom he

can “interact with more or lesson an adult level,” Akhmedovsaid. He strives to make physicsmore accessible and under-standable. “I see that many stu-dents are interested in physics,but fear that it is hard andunlearnable. I constantly learnand try to improve on how Ideliver the material,” Akhmedovsaid.

Akhmedov’s teaching stylehas struck a chord with his stu-dents. “He knows that physicsconcepts are not easy to under-stand, and he is very patient inhis teaching,” junior Ke Jiangsaid, a former student inAkhmedov’s Astronomy class.

Besides teaching, Akhmedovis dedicated to helping studentswith scientific research. As theteacher of the Physics IntelResearch class, Akhmedovwants “to see more studentsjoining and winning competi-tions like [the] Intel [ScienceTalent Research] and [the]Siemens [Competition].” Hesees research as a great oppor-tunity for students to pursuepossible scientific interests. “Ifstudents are interested in sci-ence, they have to find some-thing that will drive them,” hesaid.

Senior Alice Fok, who tookthe Intel Research class, saidAkhmedov “kept [her] on sched-ule, and gave the class maxi-mum exposure to science com-petitions.”

Akhmedov does research aswell, channeling his passion forphysics into researching sus-tainable energy. He is currently"looking for a way to get energyin a friendlier way" with hisbrother, who runs CentaurusTechnologies and InnovationsIncorporated. Akhmedov hopes

to "bring us to the point wherebuildings will be energy sustain-able," meaning that energy willbe replenishable and will notcause long-term harm to theenvironment. The pair is work-ing on developing an efficientnatural lighting mechanism forhouses and buildings.

Akhmedov’s confidence inphysics keeps him dedicated tohis work, both in the classroomand out. “Physics, which comes

from the ancient Greek word‘physika’ for nature, is the mostfundamental part of humanknowledge about nature, andunderstanding it [...] willimprove the quality of ourlives,” Akhmedov said. He hopesto help his students “learnphysics in broader and deeperways and retain this informationfor years to come, if not for life,”he said.

Teacher Feature: The Grand Duke of Stuyvesant Physics

Physics teacher, Ulugbek Akhmedov, grew up in Uzbekistan where he developedan interest in physics, mathematics, and teaching students.

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“I realized that Ican teach, andthat students

understand whenI try to explain

things.”—UlugbekAkhmedov,

physics teacher

Reflections for Dalia Bulgaris

...of the Biology Department fondly remember Ms. Bulgaris as a truly dedicated professionalwho not only mentored and loved her students but was challenged by her role as a chemistryteacher.

We will always be reminded of the warm friendships we share her endearing smile and for thelady-in-scholar she exemplified.

Elizabeth Fong, ChairpersonBiology Department Staff

Friends and colleagues...

... Ms. Bulgaris for the Chemistry & (cova-lent) bonding you have taught us about sci-ence and about life. It was in your class thatwe fostered our friendship, aone that stillgrows to this day, and we owe it to you. Wewill always remember your smile from when

we sang Chemistry carols around Christmastime. You will be missed.

—Bemise and friends (‘03)

Thank you.... . . that you find a teacher

that leaves an everlasting impacton your life; one that you knowyou will never forget. I amthankful, that I have found sucha teacher, but sadly she wastaken away too quickly. Ms.Bulgaris was more than just ateacher: she was a mentor, aremarkable human being and a"grandmother," to her students.Ms. Bulgaris was one of thekindest individuals that I haveever met in my life. She alwayscared about the well-being ofher students, as she paid atten-tion to the smallest details. Shewas one of those teachers thatactually read your absence note,because she wanted to knowwhy you were out. She wantedto make sure you were feelingwell and she always offered helpof all sorts. Her kindness tran-scended into the classroom. Shenever yelled at her students,even when she knew they werenot giving her the attention thatshe deserved. She always gavethat extra weekend before col-lecting assignments. She wasjust a perfect teacher: caring,knowledgeable, helpful, andpleasant to be around. Thereare so many memories that stickin my mind from her class.Those wonderful smiley facesthat were put on your home-works that made you quite

happy after getting a 60 on anEnglish quiz, her jokes duringclassroom lectures, theHershey's chocolates onValentine's Day, and so manymore. She was not only aninspirational person, but a won-derful teacher. She covered thematerial in depth, and wantedher students to learn chemistry.The 9th floor halls will surelymiss her. They feel incomplete,without Ms. Bulgaris's book cartrolling down the hall, with herpocketbook always on the cart.As I am writing this, there is somuch more that I want to write,but cannot express in words.Ms. Bulgaris's personality andcharacter cannot be describedin words, because she truly wasan angel on earth. I f I weregiven the chance, I would havepaid more attention in her class.I would have listened to everyword she said and copied downevery word she wrote. I wouldhave visited her during her freeperiods and told her how much Iappreciated her. Today, all I canhope for is that she lived a greatlife and that the Stuyvesantcommunity never forgets her. Iknow I will never forget such anamazing teacher, person, and"grandmother."

—Allen Granzberg(‘09)

It is rare...

... one of the best teachers I've ever had.She was kind,generous, dedicated, and inspi-rational. She encouraged all of us to do ourbest. She even encouraged the students thatcouldn't tell propane from methyl ethyl etherto at least try their best. What I will remembermost about her is her smile; I have never metanyone with a more heart-warming smile.

I had Ms. Bulgaris second term sophomoreyear. I was very tired and stressed during thattime, so one day I decided to stay home fromschool. When I came back to school the nextday, one of my friends told me that I hadmissed Ms. Bulgaris' birthday. The entire classsang happy birthday to her, and I was devas-

tated to hear that I had missed such a joyousevent. It's been almost a year, and I am stillupset that I never got to sing happy birthday toher. I know it's a little late, but…

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Ms. Bulgaris,

Happy birthday to you.

—Jacob Rath(‘09)

Ms. Bulgaris was...

The Spectator • May 16, 2008 Page 5

By ZOE WUand KRISTY ZHEN

Stuyvesant created a fundfor junior Valerie Piro to helpher family cover the cost ofmedical expenses. Piro suffereda spinal cord injury that tem-porarily left her paralyzed fromthe waist down in a Saturday,January 12 car accident.

Girls’ Indoor Track assistantcoach Erin Taylor was drivingValerie Piro and six other race-walkers to the DartmouthRelays in New Hampshire whenher van swerved off the road,was airborne for a few secondsand rolled over twice.

Piro is currently at the NewYork University Rusk Instituteof Rehabilitation Medicine

undergoing rehabilitation andphysical therapy “to conditionher to make her stronger,” saidAlfred Piro, father of ValeriePiro.

Shortly after the accident,Principal Stanley Teitel receivede-mails from several parentsasking him what they could todo help the Piro family. Lastmonth, “the Parents Associationasked me about [a fund] andsaid they wanted to do some-thing about it,” Alfred Piro said.

The fund was set-up theweek after spring break.

Faculty members wereinformed first by way of noticesin their mailboxes on Monday,April 28 and Tuesday, April 29.

“Then, we posted it [online]for the greater community,”

Teitel said. “I know people havegiven checks already.”

In about a month, Teitelsaid he is going to “make a clos-ing date” and then write a checkfrom Stuyvesant High School tothe Piro family.

According to Alfred Piro,most of his daughter’s medicalexpenses will be covered byinsurance. He said the fund willprobably cover more of what“Valerie needs,” like a ramp fortheir house, glider for stairs,bathroom adjustments, multi-ple wheelchairs, rehabilitationequipment and any type oftherapy or care that she’ll needafter she gets released from thehospital to further her recovery.

The race-walking team willbe active in raising money for

the fund. The team plans onholding bake sales, and design-ing and selling t-shirts. “It willhelp Valerie a lot. I’m doing all Ican. I’m sure every other girl onthe team is doing all they can,”senior and co-captain of therace-walking team Huili Zhusaid. “It’s just no matter howmuch we help her, it’s still goingto be a great cost [to her fami-ly].”

“[The fund] will be a greathelp to the Piro family,” seniorand co-captain of the race-walking team Nina Yang said. “Iam definitely going to con-tribute and I think a lot of peo-ple will contribute.”

The Piro family has receivedother forms of support. “Wehave been visiting her intermit-

tently throughout since theaccident in January,” Zhu said.“It’s important that we go visither frequently and talk to her.”Alfred Piro believes the visits hisdaughter receives from friends,teammates and teachers helpher maintain a positive attitude.

“We appreciate all the sup-port we’ve gotten from theschool, administration, ParentsAssociation and individual par-ents,” Alfred Piro said.

Those who want to donateto the fund should write checkspayable to Stuyvesant HighSchool with “Valerie Piro Fund”written on the memo line andsend the checks to StanleyTeitel, Stuyvesant H.S., 345Chambers Street, NYC 10282.

Fund for Valerie Piro Created

By MAO HU and CHRISTOPHER NATOLI

Ten Stuyvesant studentsqualified for the United States ofAmerica MathematicalOlympiad (USAMO) examina-tion, which took place fromTuesday, April 29 to Wednesday,April 30. This is the most quali-fiers Stuyvesant has ever had.

USAMO is open to allhigh school students in theUnited States and Canada.Approximately 500 top scoringAmerican MathematicsCompetition and AmericanInvitational MathematicsExamination participants areeligible to take the USAMO.

“Participating in the USAMOis a very prestigious thing,”senior and USAMO qualifierDanny Yuan said.

The nine hour exami-nation consisted of six proofbased questions that involvedalgebra, geometry, countinginequalities and number theory.

“Most won’t answer allsix questions,” head coach ofthe Math team and mathemat-ics teacher Jim Cocoros said.“The way of thinking is moreabstract to them than they’reused to.”

According to Corcoros,abstract math is theoretical andproof-based. Abstract mathquestions do not require defi-nite answers but generaliza-tions.

"Many of the problems askyou to prove things that seemintuitively true, but are quitehard to recognize," junior and

USAMO qualifier BenjaminHirsch said.

Stuyvesant tied for secondplace with Montgomery BlairHigh School in Maryland for thehighest number of qualifiers.Phillips Exeter Academy in NewHampshire had the most, with17 qualifiers.

The record number ofStuyvesant qualifiers was partlydue to increased practice withmore material and access toonline resources.

USAMO winners, honorablementions, the top 15 scoringnon-seniors and the top 30 scor-

ing ninth graders will be invitedto a two day Olympiad AwardsCeremony in Washington, D.C.,sponsored by the MathematicalAssociation of America, theAkamai Foundation, theMicrosoft Corporation and theMatilda Wilson Foundation.

These students will thenattend the MathematicalOlympiad Summer Program(MOSP), a three week programheld at the University ofNebraska-Lincoln, to train forthe International MathematicalOlympiad (IMO).

The top 12 USAMO scorersare eligible take a TeamSelection Test.

Only the top scorers on theTeam Selection test will beselected for the IMO U.S. team,which consists of six membersand two alternates.

The IMO is a world champi-onship mathematics competi-tion where high school teamsfrom over 90 countries compete.

The 2008 IMO will be held inMadrid, Spain from Thursday,July 10 to Tuesday, July 22.

“Math isn’t only aboutnumbers, computations orobscure formulas,” senior andUSAMO qualifier ArturDmowski said. “It’s aboutabstract ways of thinking […]that's what makes math espe-cially appealing.”

“Not only are they brilliant,but they're creative mathemati-cians who I am sure will dowonderful things for mathemat-ics in the future,” AssistantPrincipal Mathematics MaryannFerrara said.

Record Number of USAMO Qualifiers

“Not only are theybrilliant, but

they're creativemathematicians

who I am sure willdo wonderful

things for mathe-matics in the

future.”—Maryann

Ferrara, AssistantPrincipal

Mathematics

Students in her Regentschemistry class appreciated herstyle of teaching. “She wasalways so kind and patient. Iremember when she brought inchocolate for the class on spe-cial holidays like Valentine’s[Day],” junior Somi Kim said.

“I got the feeling that shereally loved what she did. Shewould teach us with great focusand attention,” junior CharlesKuang said. “She was one of thesweetest teachers I ever had. Shewas very lenient and easy toapproach."

Bulgaris, along with historyteacher Reuben Stern, was hon-

ored at the NaturalizationCeremony held at Stuyvesant onWednesday, February 27 forbeing a naturalized immigrantwho had provided service to thenation through education.

While Bulgaris was verycommitted to the school and herstudents, she had outside inter-ests in the arts. “She enjoyedmusic, especially ballet,” Furthsaid.

Bulgaris was involved inStuyvesant's music community."She was supportive of themusic program. She alwaysattended the concerts. She lovedhearing the students expressthemselves musically and artis-tically," Hall said.

Respects were paid onTuesday, May 6 at the GannonFuneral Home. "We went to theservice [...] and various peoplespoke," Teitel said. "I spoke, andso did [Assistant PrincipalBiology Elizabeth] Fong and Ms.Hall."

Bulgaris will be missed bystudents and teachers. “Hearingabout her death was really hard.I remember her class as some-thing really fun and hearing thatsuch a kind person had passedaway was painful,” Kim said.

"She was an outstandingmember of our faculty and wewill miss her," AssistantPrincipal Physics and ChemistryScott Thomas said.

Chemistry Teacher Dalia Bugaris Passes Away

continued from page 1

Gold and Silver Key Awards. “Ifeel so honored to have had mywork chosen for recognition,especially since there are somany talented writers in theNew York area alone,” Wycisksaid.

There were five finalists forwriting. Truong won 1,000 dol-lars for being best in the region,and won 10,000 dollars for theNational Portfolio Gold Award,which was also awarded to 11other finalists.

“The money is going to be abig help for my family becauseI'm going to Brown and thefinancial aid was really disap-pointing,” Truong said.

Not only did being a finalistbring Truong money, but it also

confirmed her belief in her tal-ent as a writer. “I want to bepublished one day and being awriter is really not the best jobin terms of financial stability,”Truong said. “[But] if these bigliterary buffs who are judgingthis contest appreciate my writ-ing now, then after five or 10 or15 years, I will have workedharder, written more, writtenbetter.”

Truong believes thatStuyvesant has contributed toher success in the contest. “[Allof my English teachers] reallypushed and encouraged me towrite," Truong said.

“Becoming a finalist [. . .] feltreally amazing,” Truong said.“I'm really fortunate to be sur-rounded by motivated peersand inspiring teachers.”

Vivian Truong Is NationalFinalist in Scholastic Art

and Writing Awardscontinued from page 1

The semifinal exam, whichconsisted of multiple choice,true or false questions and ashort answer section, wasadministered in mid-March."The test was insanely long.We started after school and Ileft Pang, Hanin and Baek arethree of the 20 people whoadvanced to the USABONational Finals.

"I'm really honored to be afinalist," Baek said. "A lot ofmy friends and classmates,who are amazing in biology,[took] the test. I really wasn'tsure if I could make it in."

“We’re very proud ofthem,” Fong said. “We knowhow many hours of work theyput in.”

“It’s an absolute joy for meto work with them,” Bierigsaid. “To get such results isvery exciting.”

During the National Finals,which Fong describes as“Biology Olympiad Bootcamp,” Pang, Hanin and Baekwill work with leading biolo-gists and participate in two

weeks of intensive theoreticaland practical tutorials.

At the end of the twoweeks, the 20 f inalists wil lcompete for one of the fourplaces on the United Statesteam by taking two exams.

The four members of theUnited States team will partic-ipate in the InternationalBiology Olympiad the week ofSaturday, July 13 in Mumbai,India.

Three StudentsAdvance to

USABO Finalscontinued from page 1

Juniors Judy Baek, Alexandra Hanin,and Alice Pang will compete for theinternational Bio Olympiad Team.

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The Spectator • May 16, 2008

EditorialsPage 6

F O R T H E R E C O R D• In Issue 14, Priscilla Odinmah’s and Albert Monina’s names were mis-spelled in “Election 2008: Primary Participants.”• Katerina Patouri’s name was misspelled in “Stuy’s Free Hugs Club GivesMore Than Just Hugs.”• Lucia Hsiao’s name was misspelled in “Race-walkers Recover after CarAccident and Coach Faces Lawsuits.”• There was no byline for “A Clean (STC) Slate.” The article was written byClio Contogenis and Hayward Leach.• Frederick Douglass Academy’s and writer Jack Greisman’s names weremisspelled in “Stuy Lax Takes a Promising Start.”• Sadman Islam’s name was misspelled in the photo credit for “Athletics forthe Athletes.”

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

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.

This letter is to respond to“The Truth about Turnitin,” aneditorial by Emma ZiegellaubEichler that appeared in TheSpectator on April 18th, 2008.

As English teachers, we arecommitted to honoring honestwork. We have chosen ourcareers because we enjoy youngpeople, and because we hope tohelp our students grow intoexpressive, fully literate, morallyresponsible citizens. Because ofthese commitments, we viewplagiarism as an ethical issue.When students present workthat is not their own, they sacri-fice their personal integrity andforfeit the opportunity to learnfrom our assignments andinstruction.

"Instead of trying to catchstudents after they plagiarize,teachers should stop plagiarismbefore it starts," writesZiegellaub Eichler. In fact, all ofus work tremendously hard inorder to create assignments thatare difficult to plagiarize, assign-ments that will help to developstudent writing, reasoning, andcreativity, yet every single one ofus encounters plagiarism everysingle semester, and each caserequires us to spend an enor-mous amount of energy locat-ing, discussing, and confrontingsuch academic dishonesty.Additionally, many of us feelthat the emotional costs of pla-

giarism—disappointment, thefeeling of being lied to, the sensethat all our efforts have been invain—are even more troublingthan the actual time that suchcheating costs us.

The real problem is notTurnitin; the real problem isStuyvesant’s culture of cheating,a culture that creates an atmo-sphere of distrust that all of ussuffer from, and one that temptsstudents to cheat in order tokeep up. We view Turnitin as aprotective measure, one thatwill deter some would-be pla-giarists and reward the vastmajority of students who areworking honestly by punishingthe few whose plagiarism con-tributes to the culture of suspi-cion that Ziegellaub Eichler sorightly rejects.

On a more technical note,one of the copyright casesZiegellaub Eichler mentions wasdismissed in March due in partto the notion of “transformativeuse”; the court reasoned thatbecause Turnitin simply com-pares texts, rather than publish-ing or selling them, the copy-right argument is irrelevant. Ona more local level, Stuyvesant’smathematics and sciencedepartments have been usingthe software for several yearswithout student comment. It istherefore questionable as to whyits use in the English depart-

ment would now raise suchobjections.

There is also a factual errorin Ziegellaub Eichler’s descrip-tion of the originality report assolely numeric. Reports are nar-rative as well. Teachers have theopportunity to see and interpretstudent work when placed nextto matching texts, thus allowingthem to distinguish betweenproperly quoted and blatantlystolen material. Should ques-tions arise, students may viewthese originality reports, furtherpreventing false accusations.

Citing Princeton’s use of anHonor Code, Ziegellaub Eichlerargues that "if a respected IvyLeague school can trust its stu-dents to do what's right and notplagiarize, we should followtheir example and do the same."In fact, Princeton’s Honor Codeis twofold; students pledge notto cheat, and to turn in anyonethey discover cheating, thus tak-ing responsibility for both them-selves and for the members oftheir community. As teachers,we support such efforts to createa more ethical academic com-munity. Turnitin is one of thoseefforts.

Sincerely, Emily Moore, Megan Breslin,

Annie Thoms and Jennifer ChoiEnglish Teachers

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Re: The Truth about Turnitin

Pro Scientia Atque Sapientia—for knowledgeand wisdom. Stuyvesant exists to educate, and we,the students, come to learn. But Stuyvesant ismore than just a school. We’re a community, andthere’s more to be gained at our school than aclassroom education.

Clubs encourage students to pursue their owninterests independently and are essential to theschool’s culture.

Stuyvesant’s current conventions concerningclubs allow students to run meetings without fac-ulty advisors present. However, because of therecent track team accident and a lawsuit againstthe school, a new club-safety policy is currently inthe works that requires teachers to supervise clubmeetings.

We understand that it is the administration’sduty to keep us safe, but safety is rarely a problemat Stuyvesant. The track team accident cannot beused to justify a new policy for regular club meet-ings: classrooms are safer than highways.Furthermore, an adult, though an uncertifiedteacher, did supervise the team—and wasn’t ableto prevent the accident. Similarly, a few students,supervised by certified teachers, were injured dur-ing SING! rehearsals. Teachers can’t always pre-vent accidents from happening.

The safety policy will also create problems ofits own.

There are twice as many clubs as teachers atStuyvesant. Aside from this teacher shortage, fac-ulty advisors will not be paid for supervising clubsafter school. Many teachers may not want tobecome faculty advisors if they aren’t paid fortheir time. It will also be harder for clubs to meet ifthey have to depend on their faculty advisor’sschedule.

The safety policy also makes teachers assumeliability for the clubs they advise. Legal risks willdiscourage teachers from becoming faculty advi-sors. Many teachers have signed a petition againstthe safety policy, demanding that the school—notteachers—be held liable for students’ safety.

Many clubs, like the Gay Lesbian and StraightSpectrum (GLASS), need peer-to-peer confiden-tiality—something that would be sacrificed if fac-ulty members were at every meeting. This policywill only make us less independent, not safer.

Clubs hold our school together as a communi-ty. For clubs to thrive, we need a balance betweensafety and student independence—and the cur-rent balance works. Although the administrationhas our best interests in mind, the new safety poli-cy will hurt more than help.

Bringing Down the Club

The Stuyvesant Composers' Forum will be holding a bene-fit concert on Friday, June 6 at 6 p.m. in the theater to raise

funds for both Valerie Piro and the Cyclone relief inBurma. All the pieces played will be student written works,

ranging from jazz to singer-songwriter to classical innature. Admission will be free, but there will be a raffleand a donations box. All proceeds will go directly to the

two charities.

AD SPACE DONATED B Y THE SPECTATOR

By LUC COHEN

“Why aren’t you in the AP?”my history teacher asked meafter reading an essay I had writ-ten.

“Isn’t this an AP?” I respond-ed. I was somewhat confused.After all, the class was calledAdvanced Placement (AP) WorldHistory. m

Last spring, the social studiesdepartment rationalized thatsince the sophomore WorldHistory curriculum was alreadymore challenging than that of theRegents and similar to that of theAP, making the course an APwould benefit students by givingthem an opportunity to earn col-lege credit without significantlyaltering the way the course wastaught.

Unfortunately, the course hasnot turned out to be as rigorousas an AP should be.Consequently, many students donot feel ready to take the APWorld History Exam, as illustrat-ed by the fact that only 328 out of657 eligible students registered totake it. Nonetheless, there aremany steps the social studiesdepartment can take to improvethe course for next year.

Instead of relying too heavilyon multiple choice tests like theydo now, AP World teachersshould also assess students withessays. One must write threeessays on the AP World Exam,and they count for half of its

grade. I have only written oneessay in history this year, whichleaves me unprepared for thissection of the test. This is unac-ceptable as the class shouldfamiliarize students for the for-mat of the exam. Critical feed-back on essays written in or outof class would help students suc-ceed on the exam’s essay section.

Part of an AP class is teachingin accordance with the AP cur-riculum. However, Stuyvesant’sAP World classes are dispropor-tionately Eurocentric. Twenty-two of the 37 chapters in the cur-rent textbook used by AP Worldclasses, “World History:Perspectives on the Past,” focusexclusively on Europe.

In contrast, test prep reviewbooks indicate that Europeanhistory makes up a comparative-ly small part of the material cov-ered by the AP curriculum. Onlyseven of the 34 chapters in“Barron’s AP World History”describe events in the history ofEurope. As a result, many topicscovered in depth by “Barron’s,”such as the Atlantic Slave Trade,are hardly mentioned in class.

In addition, failure to complywith the AP curriculum hasresulted in too much time beingspent on topics that will not beincluded on the AP exam.Intricate details of a topic such asthe Russian Revolution, whichare covered in depth in AP WorldClasses, are not even mentionedby “Barron’s.” While these topicsmay be important, excessivefocus on them detracts from theability of the course to preparestudents for the exam.

While changes need to bemade, teachers should avoidmerely teaching to the test.Although the course is meant toprepare students for the APexam, its primary purpose is toensure a positive learning experi-ence. The creativity of bothteachers and students must notbe stifled just so students canscore high on the test. A middleground must be found—assign-ing more essays and reducing theamount of Western bias will bothincrease test preparation and

enhance the educational experi-ence.

The social studies depart-ment needs to reconsider mak-ing the AP course mandatory. Inevery class, there are studentswho want to learn at the AP leveland students who don’t. To teachthe course at the AP level is notfair for students who are notinterested in history and don’tplan to take the AP Exam. As aresult, teachers water down theAP curriculum, catering to those

students’ lack of motivation. Thisin turn is not fair to the otherswho are taking the exam andwant to learn at the AP level. Tosolve this problem, AP WorldHistory should remain as anoption alongside AP EuropeanHistory, but a non-AP historycourse should be available tosophomores as well. This was notan entirely failed experiment, butit should not be forced upon thestudents.

The teachers of AP WorldHistory taught the material well,facilitated interesting discussionsand assigned creative and funprojects. Nevertheless, I do notfeel as if this course did every-thing within its capacity to pre-pare me for the AP exam.Stuyvesant’s social studiesdepartment has indeed learnedthe hard way that sticking twoletters in front of a course’s namedoes not make it more challeng-ing.

Opinions Page 7The Spectator • May 16, 2008

The SocialStudies

Department needs to

reconsider making the APWorld History

course mandatory.

By JENNY HU

Everyone experiences thepain of losing someone eventu-ally. The Stuyvesant communityrecently lost English teacherLynne Evans. For me, it seemedunreal that she could be thereone day, and gone the next.

Her death should haveaffected me deeply, but Icouldn’t feel much beyond theinitial shock. I was sad over los-ing a teacher, but I didn’t reallyknow Ms. Evans as a person.She was just another teacher Isaw for 40 minutes every day ofthe week.

News of her death spreadquickly, but I doubted if manypeople actually knew Ms. Evansas a person—rather than just a

teacher. It was disheartening torealize that her death wouldhave had a bigger impact on meif she had taught the entireterm. Her death showed mehow far apart students andteachers really are.

Maintaining relationshipswith teachers has never been atop priority for me. There is notmuch time for students to stayafter class and have nice chatswith teachers about their lives. Idon’t blame the teachers for notreaching out to students: theyhave tests to grade, lesson plansto work out and lives of theirown. But if both students andteachers made an effort to sharemore, talk more or even smilemore, it would make for a betterand friendlier atmosphere.

Looking back on the fewshort weeks I knew Ms. Evans,my biggest regret was not get-ting to know her more. Shealways made an effort to con-nect with students and wasunerringly polite. A teacher whotruly cares about students israre and should be treasured. Inever got the chance to thankher for being so caring and calmno matter what the occasion,and never appreciated her fullyuntil she was gone. In the wordsof Ms. Evans, Thank you foryour attention, ladies and gen-tlemen.

A Closer Relationship

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AP World History: Asking for Progress

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By LEENA MANCHERIL

When it comes to academics,our school has to work as ateam. A website run by theadministration gives students anoverview of the classes Stuyoffers, but students also need toresearch information them-selves in order to be preparedfor future classes.Hypothetically, this seems like aperfect way to handle competi-tive Stuyvesant students.However, it’s more problematicpractice.

When registering for classes,the school website offers mis-leading information concerningrequirements for AP classes.Students who believe they areeligible for a class are often

denied acceptance because thecutoff grades have not beenupdated on the website foryears. “The minimum averagefluctuates every year, dependingon the students’ overall perfor-mance and the number of seatsavailable for the class,” AssistantPrincipal Technology EdwardWong said. “It’s the depart-ment’s responsibility to notifyus when there is a change, butwe’re usually too busy to getaround to updating the web-site.” Teachers may have longerto-do lists than the rest of us,but it is their responsibility tonotify the rest of the schoolcommunity when AP admissionrequirements change. Studentswill still be rejected from APcourses, but at least they willknow that it was because theyfell short of expectations—notbecause the school policy waschanged without notice.

While it’s easy to point fin-gers, the administration is notthe only one with communica-tion problems. Students them-selves must research moreabout the classes Stuy offers. Ifstudents look up requirementsearlier from more reliablesources—guidance coun-selors—they would not face the

disappointment of rejection. Inany case, the goal should not bemaking the cutoff by one point.

Students should try their hard-est, and not just aim for theminimum grade.

Taking responsibility andthinking about the effects ofactions taken can make studentlife at Stuy less worrisome.However, it is still the adminis-tration’s job to improve thecourse registration process.Delayed notifications, mislead-ing information and ignoredrequirements negatively impactour school as a whole. A smallmove toward better communi-cation can go a long way towardimproving life at Stuy.

Not Quite There: The Struggle for APs

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By NAZIAT ZAMAN

In the past two weeks, onething that has been on every-one's mind at Stuyvesant is theselection of AdvancedPlacement (AP) courses for thefollowing semester. At the timeof registration, choices fromthe school’s website look entic-ing, and most students selectas many APs as they can fit intotheir schedules. However, stu-dents don't always stop tothink about issues such as theworkload and personal inter-est.

When selecting APs, stu-dents must ask themselves whythey are taking an AP class.Students fill up their scheduleswith APs, which prevents oth-ers from taking APs that theyactually care about.

Students who want an edgeview take multiple APs as a wayto make themselves look betterin the eyes of college admis-sions officers. So when theoption to take one arises, theyimmediately sign up, even ifthey’re not particularly excitedabout that course. This greedresults in less of an opportuni-ty for students who want totake the class and actuallyintend to continue that fieldfor college.

“I know people who saythat they 'want to' take like sixAP classes, but it's so obviousthat they're just doing it sothey can put it on a collegeapplication, which I find com-pletely annoying because lateron they end up complainingabout how much work theyhave," junior Michelle Urmansaid. Urman said she abstainedfrom signing up for senior APEnglish in an attempt to allowother English-loving students achance at taking the coursenext year. Though there aresome students who are consid-erate of their peers, the issue ofthese AP hogs sti l l remains

apparent at Stuyvesant.In conjunction with the

current grades-based system,students should write a briefparagraph that expresses theirgenuine interest in taking cer-tain AP courses. This can beread by whoever is teachingthe course, and will ensure that

only those who are both quali-fied and motivated are select-ed. This would deter those whoload up on courses just to fillup their schedules, as theywould probably be too lazy totake that extra step. I f thecourse is in such high demandthat twice the available seatsare requested, a teacher rec-ommendation should be nec-essary. This will cause someextra work, but such a systemwould be fair to the entire stu-dent body at Stuyvesant.

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Students are cheated

out of the chance to take

an elective or APthat they’re genuinely

interested in.

The school Web site offers

misleading information in

terms of the requirements for AP classes.

Arts & EntertainmentThe Spectator • May 16, 2008Page 8

By JENNY CHE

The One-Acts Festival wasmoved from the fall to the springlast school year to prevent a con-flict with the fall musical, but wasreinstated to its usual time thisyear (a clash with the spring com-edy created just as severe a prob-lem). Now, the StuyvesantTheater Community (STC) hasdecided to have two One-ActsFestivals each year, one in the falland one in the spring.

“All year underclassmen havehad opportunities to view showsand work on backstage crews,”junior and STC Slate FinancialCoordinator Dylan Tramontinsaid. “The One-Acts offer them achance to finally dive in anddirect or act in a smaller, lessintimidating environment.”

The One-Acts were initiatedto encourage a wider scope ofparticipants. This year, that goalhas been achieved like neverbefore —a conglomerate of new-bies and theater veterans areinvolved in this spring’s One-Acts Festival. “Those who sawthe fall One-Acts when it was toolate to get involved can join innow,” junior and STC SlateProductions Coordinator J.J.Russo said.

This spring’s One-ActsFestival has already seenincreased student participation.“We had 14 plays submitted thisyear,” Tramontin said. “I’venever heard of a larger turnout.”

The One-Acts Festival’s pro-ducers, junior Amy Crehore andfreshman Ben Garner, are bothnew to the position. Crehoredirected “Brenda and Jerry” withjunior Gaby Flamm for the One-Acts this past fall. Crehore is hesi-tant, however, to direct again. “Ididn’t feel too confident with mydirecting skills, but I knew I hadto be part of it again,” Crehoresaid.

This is also the first directingexperience for three of the One-Acts directors, although few arenew to the STC. Juniors DanielGoldstern and Jonah Meyersonare directing “Line Leader,” acomedy about the universalstruggle to find a niche in society.The two had watched a renditionof the play by the Whitest KidsU’Know, an independent sketchcomedy group, before decidingthat “the topic would be relevantto the Stuy community,”Goldstern said.

Although this is their first

time directing, both Goldsternand Meyerson helped write theJunior SING! script. “I had a greattime doing it,” Goldstern said. “Itenabled me to interact with theactors much more than I wouldhave otherwise.”

Junior Boris Jacobson isdirecting “Exodus: ABlasphemous Tale of BiblicalProportions,” an original playwritten by sophomore WesSchierenbeck. The play is ahumorous portrayal of the bibli-cal exodus, centering on threeJews who missed the chance toleave Egypt and must remainslaves there for the rest of their

lives. According to Schierenbeck,

inspiration for “Exodus” camefrom a dream. “The way I getideas for things is by blackingout,” Schierenbeck said. “I actu-ally passed out from fever, anddreamt this while my dad waswatching Charleton Heston's‘Exodus'.”

Schierenbeck was originallygoing to direct “Exodus,” but hisfailure to pass a majority of hisclasses resulted in his removalfrom the One-Acts Festival.Jennifer Choi, English teacherand the show’s faculty advisor,would have been forced to pullthe play, but Schierenbeck want-ed the show to be performed,even if “Exodus” would be direct-ed by Jacobson instead of him-self.

“He wasn’t meeting the stan-dards for being able to participatein extracurriculars,” Russo said.“James [ Dennin, STC SlateStudio Coordinator] tried talkingto Ms. Damesek but she wouldn’t

allow it.”Meanwhile, “The Closet,” an

original play written and directedby freshman MiryamCoppersmith, brings a darkerside to the One-Acts. “TheCloset” depicts the struggle of aJewish pianist who is hiding in anuclear physicist's apartmentduring the Holocaust.Coppersmith wanted to write apiece that would link art and sci-ence when she noticed that “noone had really ever connected thetwo events of the Holocaust andthe making of the A-Bombtogether in a way that shows theparallels between the two,”

Coppersmith said. “I'm lookingfor people to enjoy it and for itto change the way some peoplethink about the Holocaust.”

“English Made Simple,”directed by seniors CarolineBrickman—who directed“Group” during last fall’s One-Acts—and Ezra Glenn, centerson a young couple who revealthat they knew each other froma previous encounter, and wereeven involved romantically. Atthe same time, a scientist is onstage, psychoanalyzing the cou-ple’s words and explaining thereal meaning of their words.

Another stray from the typi-cal One-Acts Festival play is“The Sermon,” directed byjunior Jos Diaz. “The Sermon,”a monologue, is a unique addi-tion to the festival

“I have never seen a mono-logue done in the One-Acts,”Tramontin said. “I would usuallydoubt how entertaining a mono-logue could be to an audience ofhigh school students, but I havecomplete faith in Jos to pull itoff.”

The slate admits to havingtaken some risks in their deci-sion. “A lot of our one-crewmenare first timers to their jobs,”junior and STC Slate TechnicalCoordinator Danielle Blackmansaid. “Our producers are new andthe majority of our directors arenew.”

But the slate is confident thatthe One-Acts will be a success.“It’s going to be different becausewe’re trying out a bunch of differ-ent things,” Russo said. “But Iknow it’ll turn out well.”

“The audience will be verypleased with the variation of theplays,” Blackman said. “This isgoing to be a supercalafradgelis-tic show.”

A Supercalafradgelistic Show

By SAHIL GOSWAMI and LEILI SABER

Although the 2008International Food Festival’spopularity caused tediouslines, the food certainly wouldhave made Emeril say “BAM!”.With dishes ranging from kim-chi to rugelach, as well as end-less ethnic rice platters, thisyear’s International FoodFestival lived up to its eclecticstandards.

“The festival is the mainevent for the language classesto get money,” Italian teacherVito Recchia said. Students areasked by their foreign languageteachers to bring either home-made or store-bought food,usually from the country whoselanguage they are studying.The festival was representativeof the World Languages depart-ment, offering food fromKorea, China, Spain, Italy,Germany, Greece and Israel, toname a few.

The biggest attraction of thefestival was the low price. Ateach station of ethnic food, stu-dents could purchase a platefor two dollars and fill it with asmuch food as they liked. Thecheap prices seemed to be a lit-tle too attractive. Large crowdsformed outside of the cafeterialong before the festival began,and limited seating quicklybecame a problem. Most, how-ever, seemed perfectly finewith consuming their exoticplatters standing up.

The cafeteria was arrangedinto one large wraparound buf-fet. The most popular tablestended to be the Asian tables—the Korean table was especiallyenticing. “The Korean tablewas absolutely incredible. Ittastes just like my mom makesit,” sophomore Soo Kim said.The line to reach the Koreantable’s kimchi and rice plattersnever seemed to decline. Adelicious pickled green veg-etable dish impressed connois-seurs willing to overlook anymisgivings its appearance mayhave incited.

Despite an array of excitingofferings, the Jewish table sawfew visitors. The desserts werethe highlight of the table,

namely the rugelach, a tradi-tional Jewish knot-shapedcookie.

The Italian table, which wasappropriately starch-centric,offered fewer, but higher quali-ty foods. Dishes like thebruschetta and homemadefocaccia helped the Italiantable sell nearly all of its foodbefore any of the other tables.

The Spanish sectionstretched for about three orfour tables, but most of thefood was repetitive and similar.Bland tasting rice and beansdominated, only to be followedby overly sweet flans. TheSpanish wedding cookies (but-ter cookies dusted with powdersugar), however, melted in yourmouth and had many cus-tomers making multiple tripsto the table.

The Chinese section’s friedrice also brought many visitorsback for seconds and thirds—the rice was scrumptious, nomatter which platter youserved yourself from. The frieddumplings were also notewor-thy, despite the oily consisten-cy of some. The steameddumplings, however, tastedcongealed and probablyweren’t meant to be served atroom temperature.

Another popular sectionwas the Japanese tables. Likethe Spanish and Chinesetables, the Japanese table wasalso rice-dominated. Most ofthe table showcased sushi anda sticky rice dotted with sesameseeds. The sushi consistedmostly of California rolls—avo-cado, crab meat and cucumber.They would have tasted betterhad it not been for the thicklayer of rice overwhelming theflavor of the filling.

The International FoodFestival’s seemingly endlessdishes can accommodate eventhe pickiest eaters, but thecheap price seems to be thefestival’s most popular aspect.“I love that I can pay two dol-lars, buy a plate, and pile itwith all the food I want to eat,”senior Kelvin Yeung said. “Ididn’t even eat lunch today inanticipation of this. It’s defi-nitely the thing I get mostexcited for every year.”

From Rice to Rugelach

The International Food Festival featured diverse ethnic cusines at low prices.

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The Spectator • May 16, 2008 Page 9

Arts & Entertainment

By JAMAL ALOKASHEH and DANIEL FLEISHMAN

With his long hair, easy pres-ence and Jamaican accent,junior Dimitri Wijisinghe couldeasily be mistaken for a native ofthe Caribbean. But this aspiringreggae artist hails from an islandon the other side of the world—Sri Lanka.

Born to Sri Lankan parentsin Brooklyn, New York,Wijisinghe was raised inFlatbush, a predominantlyCaribbean neighborhood. Hewould listen to his father's oldrecords, growing up on reggaestaples such as Bob Marley andDennis Brown. Drawing inspira-tion from his musical heroes, hebegan writing his own songs inseventh grade.

Now, only four years later,Wijisinghe’s career has begun totake off. The aspiring reggaeartist regularly performs in suchvenues as Carlito’s Café, TellAstorya and the Everything GoesBook Café. He has recently fin-ished compiling his first album,“The Revolution,” which he willsoon release independently asan unsigned artist, paying forthe full cost out of his own pock-et.

“The album is a collectionof positive vibes,” Wijisinghesaid. “Some songs protest socialissues, some just give thanks toJah, some are just dancehallsongs you can move to. But themessage is to stay positive andlive righteously.”

Wijisinghe can easily recallthe first time he played in frontof a live audience at Carlito’sCafé in Harlem. “The club own-ers had had some reggae at theclub before, and they knew athing or two about reggae,”Wijisinghe said. “I was secondon the list, so I was pretty ner-

vous, but I just went up on stageand started talking to the crowd.There were a couple of drunkguys in the front who kept ran-domly shouting ‘Jah Rastafari!’at the beginning but, all thingsconsidered, I think it helpedbuild the vibe.”

At the beginning ofWijisinghe’s career, his songsusually dealt with his Christianfaith. However, the strongRastafarian presence in hiscommunity eventually led himtowards learning more aboutthe religion, which considersformer Ethiopian emperor HaileSelassie “Jah/Jah Rastafari” orGod. The religion’s messages ofpeace and equality began toattract Wijisinghe. In ninthgrade, he decided to convert toRastafarianism, but hisChristian father and Buddhistmother initially disapproved.

“You could hear my parents'yells from miles away,”Wijisinghe said. “Naturally, myparents disagreed with my con-version but [eventually] accept-ed it as a part of who I am.”

Wijisinghe doesn’t record ata studio, but instead composeshis music using “Reason” (amusic mixing and recordingprogram), a microphone, hispiano and his laptop. His use ofthe computer and the keyboardrepresents a new wave of reggaethat embraces the use of mod-ern technology to make music.His songs are mostly based onhis political views andRastafarian faith. Wijisingheexpresses ideas of pacifism andtolerance as well as his love anddevotion to Jah: “It’s alwaysblack and white/or right andwrong/till we all kill each otherand there’s no one left around.”

“Reggae has always beenvery politically and socially con-scious,” Wijisinghe said. “That’s

one of the things that first drewme to it.”

Wijisinghe has found itsomewhat difficult to share hispassion for reggae with otherStuyvesant students. “Most ofthe people I talk to don't reallylisten to reggae, and some ofthem don’t even know that

there is such a genre,”Wijisinghe said. “Someonecame up to me [after one perfor-mance] and was like ‘Yo, thatsong was mad hot—what lan-guage was it in?’.” However, hehas made some headway, regu-larly performing at Open Micand other events that feature

student performances, such asthe recent St. Jude Children’sHospital Fundraiser.

Wijisinghe desires to reachout to those who don’t typicallylisten to reggae, largely based onhis frustration with the media’sportrayals of the genre. “I feelthat reggae has been excessivelyassociated with just ganja [mari-juana] and just Jamaican peo-ple,” Wijisinghe said. “I want toshow the world that [reggae] isfor all people, from all races andall walks of life.”

Wijisinghe, however, has no

intentions of compromising hisvalues for the sake of goingmainstream. “[Going main-stream] doesn’t mean, however,that I will adjust my message tofit the commercial market,” hesaid.

The idea of a Sri Lankan BobMarley hopeful may be odd tosome, but Wijisinghe’s ideasabout music transcend racialboundaries. “At the end of theday, if you’re a musician, it’s allabout your music,” he said.

Sri Lankan Reggae Sensation

Junior Dmitri Wijisinghe, of Sri Lankan origin, is an aspiring reggae artist who hasbegun to build his career by performing at venues such as Carlio's Café in Harlem.

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By LYDIA BOOZ

If The Kills were any otherband, headlines like "GuitaristEngaged to Kate Moss" would-n't matter. The publicity wouldperhaps net an extra thousandrecords sales, but such newswould be a sideline to theirmusic. The Kills, however, are adifferent breed.

The duo, vocalist Alison"VV" Mosshart and Jamie"Hotel" Hince, believe theirmusic is a reflection of every

facet of their creativity. Whenthe two record an album, they

head to the studio armed withjournals, sketch books andphotographs. To maintain theintegrity of their musical iden-tity, The Kills must preserve thecreativity that propels them.This is why, at least for thisband, tabloid headlines reallydo matter. For two people who

have maintained a staunchanti-industry stance, Hince'sintimate involvement withsupermodel Kate Moss is anartistically compromising act.Party on, but the music won'tbe as good.

The near-palpable sexualtension in their previous

albums made The Kills fun tolisten to. However, in MidnightBoom, their latest album, thisdynamic has been supplement-ed by apathetic detachment–aresult of their increasing com-mercial success. In the openingsong "U.R.A. Fever," jarringdial tones and heavy beats

from their drum machine setthe momentum. For someonein love, Hince sti l l soundsawfully cynical: "Go ahead andhave her/ Go ahead and leaveher/ You only had her whenyou were a fever." This song isone of the strongest and mostdefined of the album. Anotheris "Last Day of Magic," and itsstripped down rock elementscarry the weight of the song'slonely lyrics.

The Kills have alwayspushed towards a stark sound.Each album has produceddarker and more elementaltracks. Yet in Midnight Boom,the minimalism approacheshollowness. If The Kills intendto strip their music down to itsskin and bones, they haveneglected to grant listeners aglimpse at their music's heart.Maybe it's not there.

It's not that "VV" or "Hotel"have tried too hard or not hardenough. As they absorb moreand more of the industry, theyhave allowed themselves tolose their only defining factor:the intimacy of their internalcreative connections. Thismakes the record more main-stream, but less substantive.Thus, this record won't neces-sarily change your life, but itwill entertain you for 34 min-utes.

“Someone cameup to me [after

one performance]and was like ‘Yo,

that song was madhot—what lan-

guage was it in?’.”—Dmitri

Wijisinghe, juniorand reggae artist

Under the Slushpile: Look out for The Kills

“If it is The Killsintention to strip

the music down toits skin and bones,

they have neglected to grant

the listener aglimpse at the heartwhich lurks beneath

it. Maybe it's notthere.”

Arts & EntertainmentThe Spectator • May 16, 2008Page 10

By JAMES DENNIN AND SEANGORDON-LOEBL

To some, color coded secu-rity warnings seem ridicu-lous—but they keep us safe,right? In an age of heightenedsecurity, it's difficult to imag-ine a time when one did nothave to remove one's shoesbefore stepping on a plane—ora time when a group of foreign-ers could smuggle over a ton ofequipment to the top of thetallest building in the countryand orchestrate an early morn-ing tightrope walk.

Such is the context of JamesMarsh’s new fi lm “Man on

Wire,” which premiered at theTribeca Film Festival. Themovie revolves aroundPhilippe Petit's legendary walkbetween the World TradeCenter (WTC) on a 450 poundwire. The movie includesdetails about Petit's long jour-ney from the streets of Paris toa tightrope above the streets ofManhattan.

The film does an incrediblejob of transporting the viewerback in time. Grainy, blackand white shots and footage ofevents like Nixon's impeach-ment takes us back to 1974.

Petit's spirit shinesthroughout the movie. His

relentless—and often reck-less—pursuit of his dreamdrives the fi lm. After thescreening, when Petitannounced that he planned totightrope-walk across ancientruins on Easter Island, theaudience had no doubt that hewould accomplish this feat—even though he's nearly 60years old. The film preservesPetit's youth with humorousanecdotes, l ike his story ofstealing the wallet of a police-man who forced him downfrom a wire across a busyAustralian highway.

"Man on Wire" also makesgreat use of the photographs

that Petit's team of co-conspir-ators took of his walk. Althoughthere is no actual footage of thewalk, the documentary conveysthe incredible gravity of Petit'sfeat and the wonder of thosewatching below. The images ofPetit lying down on the wirefacing the sky are stunning.

While Petit’s story is thefilm's core, the movie also hasa greater message about howNew York has changed. Apolice report about the tightrope walk consisted of threewords: “Man on Wire.” Chargeswere dropped when Petitagreed to juggle for the cam-eras.

A government may limitsome freedoms for security'ssake, but, as we sign away ourfreedoms, we must questionwhat is lost. Nowadays, streetperformers require a permit.“Man on Wire” documents anextraordinary event, but, moreimportantly, it is a portrait ofan older New York.

The film uses its narrativescenes to great effect, trans-porting the viewer back toPetit's childhood and momentsof revelation. Petit describesreading about the Twin Towersfor the first time while waitingfor a dentist appointment. Theactor portraying Petit smiles,and in a humorous momentdraws a line connecting the topof the two buildings, and thendashes out. Petit said, "[I] had atoothache for a week, but I hadmy dream."

He has since made manytight rope walks--often withthe consent of the authorities.Since his walk at the WTC, hehas performed in WashingtonSquare, at the Cathedral of St.John the Divine, and at theEiffel Tower. He is uncon-cerned with risk. "If I die, whata beautiful death to die in thepursuit of your passion," hesaid.

When Petit was doing hiswalk, he stopped for a momentand lay down. He thought tohimself, “This is an imagewhich I will never see everagain.” Watching this film is arather similar experience,because, in its vivid andentrancing narrative style, wesee New York frozen in time.Watching this f i lm is alsosomewhat sad. We will neversee our city as it was in thisfilm.

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By JAMES DENNIN

For centuries, great philoso-phers and common men alikehave pondered the question"What would you do if youknew you only had a week tolive?" Would you run? Wouldyou spend it with the peopleyou love? Would you makeamends for all of your trans-gressions? Would you party likethere’s no tomorrow? What ifyou still had some business leftto take care of?

These are the questionsposed by Richard Ledes’s newpsychological thriller, “TheCaller,” which won the TribecaFilm Festival’s narrative com-petition for films set in NewYork.

Frank Langella plays awealthy business executivewho, troubled by his con-science, decides to reveal hisbusiness's questionable prac-tices. When his would-beemployers inform him that hehas two weeks to live, he enliststhe aid of a private detectiveplayed by Elliott Gould.

At first, we see what seem tobe the bare elements of anarchetypical mystery story.However, there is a great dealmore beneath the surface. Forone, Gould does not comeacross as a typical action hero.Slightly overweight and just ahair away from retirement, hespends far more time watchingbirds than he does pursuingleads. He accepts the casebecause he is offered an exorbi-tant pay increase, but we are

soon forced to questionwhether there is a case at all.

Gould’s role in thefilm, from the start, is shroudedin mystery. Langella hiresGould to tail him, offeringdirections through cellphonecalls while disguising his voice.For awhile, Gould takesLangella’s directions withoutquestion, following his subjectthrough the streets ofManhattan, dutifully takingnotes on how Langella greetshis mother and the way he putsout his cigarettes.

The plot has a series oftwists which all seem to suggesthow we are inextricably linkedto our past. While the film ischaracterized by many of theelements of a typical detectivestory–a surprise ending, a sen-suous and mysterious heroineand a climactic chase–it is ulti-mately about a search for self,rather than a search for a mur-derer. Langella and Gould findthemselves connected, and thefilm is far more satisfying than awhodunit.

The film is enhanced by itsbeautiful depictions of NewYork. At times, it seems as if thefilm is a tribute to the detectivefilms of the 1940s. However,Ledes sets his film during thespring, a time when the city israther youthful and full ofcolor. This separates “TheCaller” from its ancestors in thenoir genre. Few film makersother than Woody Allen canclaim to posses Ledes’s talentfor evoking mood from a city’sstreets. The scenes of Langella

sauntering down the West Endwith his surrogate daughter,Gould watching birds inRiverside Park, and a thrillingboat chase on the Hudson areall important to the film’s suc-cess.

In the end, “The Caller” is acharacter study as much as athriller. Its writers (Ledes andAlain-Didier Weil) place theircharacters in a number of situa-tions as unfamiliar to theircharacters as they are to theaudience. It’s hard to imaginebeing so out of one’s element,and such writing raises this filmabove the pack. Langella andGould are also spot-on per-formers, who play their roleswith a sense ofbewilderment–even when theyare in control of the movie’sevents. The film is also uniquein that there is no puppet mas-ter, despite the heavy amountsof deception.

The film is sophisticated,sometimes overly so. There isan abundance of historical andcultural references, and Gouldspeaks a good deal of laughableFrench. It’s easy to get lost inthe nuances, but intelligentmovie goers will find reward inthis exciting and beautifullyshot film. However, there aretimes when the dialogue dissi-pates and we grow weary ofGould’s tireless pursuit. At thispoint, it’s easy to sit back andenjoy this worthy portrait ofNew York. Even at its lowestpoints, you can no doubt findan endless amount of satisfac-tion in looking for your house.

The Caller

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 avail-

able.

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

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

Arts & EntertainmentThe Spectator • May 16, 2008 Page 11

By ALAN SAGE

““It puts you in a placewhere the planet’s polesreverse.” This line from JimCarroll’s poem, “8 Fragments forKurt Cobain,” and other poemsby both Carroll and Edgar AllenPoe, complement the mood pro-jected by director Amos Poe inhis new film “Empire II.”

“Empire II” is based on AndyWarhol’s 1964 film, “Empire,” aneight-hour film centered on asingle image of the Empire StateBuilding, with the only varietyprovided by an occasional flick-er of light. “Empire II,” despiteslightly greater variety in itsimages, still retains the experi-mental artistry seen in Warhol’soriginal, as well as equallyenchanting footage of theEmpire State Building (shot inthe distance). “Empire II,” likethe original, lacks any plot what-soever.

Though the silent film’sthree-hour span makes watch-ing it somewhat grueling, thefilm’s length is also necessary forthe film’s mysterious and fleet-ing atmosphere to fully devel-op—two hours might have beena nice compromise, though.

Amos Poe referred to“Empire II” as an experimentabout “the perception of time infilm,” Amos Poe said. “The mainthing was to get the energy ofthe art, taking time out of time.”

The theme of time is seenthroughout the film. The film,shot from Amos Poe’s apart-ment windows in a “homevideo” fashion, returns numer-ous times to the image of a largetower with a clock. Footage ofthe clock is fast-forwarded andslowed down at different pointsin the film—hinting at Poe’ssubjective view of time.

Since “Empire II” was shotentirely from a few windows in aGreenwich Village apartment onSixth and Greenwich avenues,the film draws on a repertoire ofsimilar images (such as theEmpire State Building, a lun-cheonette across the street andthe rhythmic traffic movementsbelow). Despite many images’similarity to each other, innova-

tive and dramatic editing tech-niques carry the film. Poe oftenmanipulates images of buildingsblocking the sun into shots withan apocalyptic feeling.

Certain shots strayed fromthe bulk of abstract images seenthroughout most of the film.Images of a homeless man sit-ting on the street gave a moreconcrete meaning to the lonelyvibes given off by the moreabstract portions of the film.

The film’s soundtrack isdiverse, with music rangingfrom spirituals to the rock andcountry sounds of Steve Earle’s“Down Here Below.” Thoughmost of the songs featured wereeither related to New York orechoed the film’s lonely atmo-sphere, Poe feels that the film’srhythm allows for any music toaccompany it. “You could actu-ally watch it with your ownmusic,” Poe said.

The poetry that accompaniesthe film hints at the ideas under-lying “Empire II.” Lines such as“Let us bathe in this crystallinelight!” from Edgar Allen Poe’s“Ulalume” were recitedthroughout the first half of thefilm. These poetic fragmentsmade the images of the EmpireState Building all the more

haunting. Though “Empire II” seems to

portray New York City as bleakand cruel (the sounds of sirensare amplified in much of thefilm), Poe described his inten-tions to base the film more onenergy and time than on thecity’s harshness. “We startedputting kinds of street soundsthat would elicit the temporalityof speed,” Poe said.

Though the audience hasseen about as much as it wantsto see of both the Empire StateBuilding and the corner ofGreenwich and Sixth avenues bythe end of the second hour,“Empire II” becomes more of anexperience than a film. Therepetitive shots of the EmpireState Building cause the build-ing to gain an omnipresencethat seems to transcend alltime.re State Building, the onlyvariety provided by an occasion-al flicker of light. “Empire II,”despite slightly greater variety inits images, still retains the exper-imental artistry seen in Warhol’soriginal, as well as equallyenchanting footage of theEmpire State Building. “EmpireII,” like the original, lacks anyplot whatsoever.

Though the silent film’s

three-hour span makes watch-ing “Empire II” somewhat gruel-ing, the film’s lengthy span isalso necessary for the film’smysterious and fleeting atmo-sphere to fully develop—twohours might have been a nicecompromise, though.

Poe referred to “Empire II”as an experiment about “theperception of time in film,” Poesaid. “The main thing was to getthe energy of the art, taking timeout of time.”

The theme of time was seenthroughout the film. The film,which was shot in a single loca-tion in a “home video” fashion,returns numerous times to theimage of a large tower with aclock. Footage of the clock isfast-forwarded and sloweddown at different points in thefilm, causing time in the film togain a subjective quality.

Since “Empire II” was shotentirely from a few windows in aGreenwich Village apartment,the film draws on a repertoire ofimages (such as the EmpireState Building, a luncheonetteacross the street and the rhyth-mical traffic movements below).Yet slight variations in theimages, such as the addition of acurtain to a window and even

the changes in the weather,cause the film to drag the audi-ence through never-endingemotional highs and lows.

Certain shots in the film’srepertoire were frequented lessthan others, thus highlightingthem. Images of a homelessman and of a drooping sunflow-er in the windowsill embodiedthe more abstract loneliness cre-ated by the returning images ofthe Empire State Building andthe sky.

The film’s soundtrack israther eclectic with music rang-ing from spirituals to the rockand country sounds of SteveEarle’s “Down Here Below.”Though most of the songs fea-tured were either related to NewYork or echoed the film’s lonelyatmosphere, Poe feels that thefilm’s rhythm allows for anymusic to accompany it. “Youcould actually watch it with yourown music,” Poe said.

The poetry that accompaniesthe film hints at the ideas under-lying “Empire II.” Lines such as“Let us bathe in this crystallinelight!” from Edgar Allen Poe’s“Ulalume” harmonizes the mys-terious gloom created by imagesof lighted windows amidst ablack and unforgiving night sky.I am confused as to in what waythe poetry accompanies thefilm. Is the poetry spoken? Doyou read it like a subtitle?

Though “Empire II” seems toportray New York City as bleakand cruel (the sounds of sirensare amplified in much of thefilm), Poe described his inten-tions to base the film more onenergy and time than on thecity’s harshness. “We startedputting kinds of street soundsthat would elicit the temporalityof speed,” Poe said.

Though the audience hasseen about as much as it wantsto see of the corner ofGreenwich and Sixth avenues bythe end of the second hour,“Empire II” becomes more of anexperience than a film. Therepetitive shots of the EmpireState Building cause the build-ing to gain an omnipresenceseeming to transcend all time.

Empire II: Three Hours, One Location

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CartoonsThe Spectator • May 16, 2008Page 12

SportsPage 13The Spectator • May 16, 2008

Boys’ Handball

By YIFENG ZHAO

The Dragons, the boys’ varsi-ty handball team, have beguntheir season this year with thehopes of bouncing back strongfrom a stunning defeat theyendured in last season’s play-offs. In a season in which theteam had expected to win thePublic Schools Athletic League(PSAL) championships,Stuyvesant lost in an upset toBronx High School of Science inthe second round of the 2007PSAL handball playoffs, in whichthe Dragons were eliminatedfrom further playoff contention.“This year, we’re much better, interms of our talent level,” historyteacher and coach RobertSandler said.

So far, the Dragons havebeen taking advantage of theirweak Manhattan Division II, asevident in their current unde-feated record of 8-0 withinleague play.

Senior and co-captainMichael Wu, who has been a

member of the team since hisfreshman year, is currently sec-ond in the Public SchoolsAthletics League (PSAL) with 76aces in only six games.According to Sandler, Wu is “theheart and soul of the team.”Another senior, Pengyuan Qiaois ninth in the city with 48 acesin five games. These two veter-ans have been playing the posi-

tions of first and second singles,respectively.

“It’s hard to [stay in shapewith a weak division].Sometimes I wish the PSALwould have divisions like theydo at colleges, but we havescrimmages. We scrimmagedagainst Brooklyn Tech and Isometimes have players who arebetter and players who are oldercome play with us at CentralPark,” Sandler said. Sandleroccasionally even gets involvedhimself, and practices with theplayers—working on drills.

Recently, senior Alex Tamand senior and co-captainNelson Chiu, who play first dou-bles on the team, won first placeat the third Annual HandballInvitational Tournament thisseason, in the doubles division.“We definitely proved that we’rethere this year,” Chiu said.

Although last year’s early exitfrom the playoffs was disap-pointing, the team has learnedfrom that experience. “It’s beena year so a lot of us have beenmore mentally prepared [for theplayoffs],” Wu said. ThoughSandler cited the problem ofnew players who do not consis-tently attend practice, many ofthe senior Dragons still holdvery high expectations for theplayoffs. The graduating class of2008 has had very successfulcareers at Stuyvesant, helpingthe team to a 33-game regularseason winning streak and anoverall record of 41-1 datingback to the 2005 season.

“We’re probably the team tobeat this year,” Wu said.

Sandler agrees. “I expect usto win the whole city this year,”he said.

Dragons Readyto Fight Fire

“I expect us to win the whole

city this year.” —Robert Sandler,

coach

Sticky Fingers did not partici-pate in any national tourna-ments. Instead, they played andeasily defeated the only otherNew York City high school witha girls’ Ultimate Frisbee team:Beacon High School. Even withthe lack of competition, theycontinued to “work really hard”and “practice every weekwhether it was raining, snowingor icy,” junior and co-captainNicole Lau said. Because 15players this year were rookiesthat had never played the gamebefore, such commitment wasneeded to train them.

“Basically everyone whojoin[ed] the team ha[d] neverplayed ultimate before,” seniorand co-captain NatashaMishchenko said. The StickyFingers spent two hours everyTuesday and Thursday and fourhours every Saturday doing“plyometrics, throwing, discdrills, and scrimmaging,”Mischenko said. Plyometricexercise involves the rapid andcontinuous contraction of mus-cle to improve strength andreflexes. She said their practiceregimen also included “track

workouts [and] running stairs inschool.”

These vigorous workoutswere to prepare the team forintense out-of-state competi-tions, where the level of compe-tition can be significantly high-er. “College teams often havemore experience,” sophomoreAmy Lin said. “Sometimes, thereare entire towns devoted toUltimate.” Frisbee is muchmore popular in other cities,such as Amherst,Massachusetts.

Members of the high schoolteams they do play in out-of-state competitions often “startplaying in middle school,” GraceLin said. She said these teams“are coached by some of thebest Ultimate players around.”

A major disadvantage forthe Sticky Fingers is that theseteams “have grass to practiceon. Whereas in New York, wehave to travel pretty far to find anice field,” junior Angel Li said.

“The only piece of grassaround Stuy is Battery [Park],and it’s usually too crowded todo anything productive,” GraceLin said. “We have to travel toProspect Park.” Team memberssaid it takes them slightly more

than 30 minutes to reach thisdestination.

Despite all these challenges,Mishchenko said the StickyFingers “still match up wellagainst those teams.”

All the preparation and prac-tice has kept the team competi-tive. In a game against BucknellCollege at the Spring Phling, acollege tournament at PennState on the weekend ofSaturday, April 5, the team “wasdown at the half 7-3 and cameback to win the game 13-9,” Lausaid. “This game really gave us aboost and showed the collegeteams not to underestimate us.We were seeded last, 10th, atthat tournament and the factthat we got third place surprisedmany people.”

The following week, theteam flew to Georgia for thePaideia Cup, which “was withsome of the best high schoolteams in the country,” Amy Linsaid. They came in fifth.

Although the team has totravel out-of-state in order toplay competitive games,Ultimate’s popularity atStuyvesant is increasing. “Thegirls’ team has doubled in sizefrom two years ago to 27 play-

ers,” Lau said. However, it is stillnot accepted by the PublicSchools Athletic League (PSAL).This is seen as a benefit by manyteam members.

“PSAL has so many rules andrestriction and it is just a hassle,so it is great to not have to dealwith them,” junior Michelle Masaid. “I don’t really have a prob-lem with us not being a PSALteam.”

Lau echoed this sentiment.“We have an awesome coachand great support from our fam-ilies,” Lau said. She said it“allows us a lot more freedomand gives us more of an oppor-tunity to compete in out-of-state tournaments.”

The lack of PSAL acceptance,however, does have drawbacks,namely lack of school funding.“We have to sell candy and havebake sales to raise money,” Lisaid. Overall, they are successfulin fundraising, often raising justenough money to fund theirout-of-state trips. Nonetheless,they need to fundraise yearround in order to finance alltheir expenses.

The team believes thisaffects its performance.“Because we don’t have the

money, we can’t go to all thetournaments we want,”Mischenko said. “Sometimes,we can’t bring our entire teamto tournaments because wehave to fly and it costs toomuch.”

Another drawback is the lackof respect the team gets fromthe rest of the Stuyvesant popu-lation. “Many people don’t con-sider Ultimate a real sport so wedon’t get much support fromthe school,” Grace Lin said.

To combat this, the boys’and girls’ Frisbee teams encour-age each other by going to eachothers’ games, cheering eachother on and playing recreation-al games together. “The mem-bers of the boys’ and girls’Ultimate teams are very closepartly because of the fact thatwe are not part of the PSAL,”Grace Lin said. “We supporteach other because we knowthat nobody else will.”

Members of the StickyFingers believe that Ultimate isa legitimate sport. Amy Lin said,“Ultimate is discipline, toler-ance and integrity wrapped upconveniently in a 175-gramdisc.”

Proving Themselves in an Unsupported SportGirls’ Ultimate Frisbee

The boys’ varsity handball team, the Dragons, currently holds an undefeated record of8-0.

Truong, who lost both her A2matches 5-3, said that the victo-ry wasn’t as dominating as thescore suggests, as shown by thetightness of the A and C match-es. “It was kind of challenging,”she said. “But we all expected towin because we worked reallyhard.”

Senior and C1 fencer MalikaRakhmankulova suffered aninjury during the 7-2 semifinalvictory over Townsend Harris,but insisted on playing in thefinals. “As a senior, she said tome she wanted to play her lastmatch in high school, so I puther in,” Winston said.Rakhmankulova lost both herC1 matches by the close score of5-3.

Although the Untouchablesended the season undefeated,there are a few other schools inthe city that posed a challenge.“There’s very tough competitionfrom Cardozo, Brooklyn Techand Tottenville,” said Winston,who also coaches Stuyvesant’sboys’ varsity fencing team.

“The best competitor isBrooklyn Tech because theyfence outside of school and getcoached by professionalfencers,” Truong said. BrooklynTech and Tottenville tied forfirst place in theBrooklyn/Staten Island Divisionwith records of 7-1.

Truong won ten of elevenmatches with 53 touches in the

regular season and holds an Erank in the United StatesFencing Association (USFA).Ranks from A-E are given out toUSFA members across thecountry based on their successin tournaments throughout thecountry. Since most membersare unranked, a rank of E is con-sidered exemplary.

“Vivian’s not only a solidfencer but she’s the captain,”Winston said. She helps runsthe team, keeps the team’s spiritup with gatherings outside ofschool, and she’s really essentialas the team leader.”

Sophomore NzinghaPrescod, who fences inStuyvesant’s A1 position, was 6-0 in regular season competitionand 5-0 in playoff matches. Inthe finals, she won both of herA1 matches by a score of 5-0.She holds an A rank in the USFAand won a gold medal at the2008 Cadet WorldChampionships in Sicily inApril.

Although seniors like Hsiao,Truong, and Rakhmankulovawill no longer be with the teamnext year, Winston expectsreturning players like Prescodand Ng to lead the team to suc-cess.

“We love winning but afterthe game, but I’m already think-ing about how next year is goingto be,” Winston said. “The teamhas a lot of talent, and next yearlooks promising.”

Untouchables EndSeason Untouched

Girls’ Fencing

the playoffs against BenjaminCardozo High School, whoended up winning the champi-onships. Unlike any of the otherthree semifinal teams from lastyear, all five players fromStuyvesant’s team are returning

this year. Nieves said that he is proud

of his team’s depth. “I’m confi-dent that it will take us far,” hesaid. With their fast start, theSwingers have their eyes on thecity championship. Meyer said,“We have a good shot to win thewhole thing.”

Swingers Right On Course

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SportsPage 14 The Spectator • May 16, 2008

By ALAN TSE

When they started practic-ing right after February break,many members of the newgirls’ varsity lacrosse team hadbarely played the game. Butwith the help of a rigorouspractice schedule, the Huskiesare getting better with everygame.

Since it is their first season,the Huskies are being givendevelopmental status, meaningthe results of their games donot factor into the records oftheir opponents. In addition,no matter what its record is,Stuyvesant cannot make theplayoffs. This season, their goalis purely to develop. “As adevelopmental team, our firstyear is not about winning,”senior and co-captain JenniferLiu wrote in an e-mail inter-view. “It is about learning fromour experiences and growing asa team.”

Since lacrosse is a new sportto many players on the team,they practice five or six days aweek. “We want to prove to theother schools that we’re just asgood,” junior Anna Zhang said.“We work just as hard, maybeharder.”

The Huskies participated inthe Mayor’s Cup LacrosseJamboree at Randall’s Island onSunday, April 6, a round-robintournament in which theyplayed five 25-minute games.Despite losing the first four, theHuskies were able to win their

last game 3-2 against A. PhilipRandolph High School. “Weprogressed through the fivegames, learning more and moreabout strategizing and finallywinning our last game,” seniorand co-captain Stephanie Honsaid.

Freshman Seung Gee Kim, adefender who helped theHuskies by bringing numerousground balls up the field, wasselected as a member of theMayor’s Cup All-Star team. Allthe coaches came together tochoose one or two players fromeach school for the all-starteam. “Kim was nominatedbecause of her fierce aggressivedefense and her ability to bringup the ball from the defensiveside of the field to the offensiveend,” coach Holly Younglovewrote in an e-mail interview.“She has great energy and hasproven to be a key asset to thedefense with her hustle andcommunication.

Like many other Stuyvesantplayers, however, Kim has hadlittle prior experience withlacrosse. “The first time I saw alacrosse stick was at camp lastsummer, but I never actuallyplayed with one until this sea-son,” she said.

In addition to practicingand improving their play, newteammates must bond witheach other in order to succeedon the field. To promote teambonding, the Huskies watcheda professional men’s lacrossegame together at Madison

Square Garden on Friday, April18. For many of the players, itwas a good learning experience.“The whole team got to learn afew things,” Kim said.“Whenever she could, ourcoach pointed out specialdefenses and plays.”

As a result of watching thegame together, “We’re definite-ly more of a team than before,”Hon said.

The Huskies are currently 1-1 in Public Schools AthleticLeague (PSAL) competition.They started off the regular sea-son with a 3-2 victory overQueens High School ofTeaching (QHST) and an 11-3loss to Cardozo High School,which has a 5-2 record, rankingthem third in the PSAL.Member of the Huskies areproud of their performance inthese two games. “We beatQHST who’s been playing forseveral years, and when weplayed Cardozo’s B team, forthe first half of the game, thescore was close,” Hon said.

Younglove was alsoimpressed by her team’s per-formance. “They have reallycome a long way in short periodof time with the game oflacrosse,” she said. She believesthat the Huskies’ rapidimprovement will carry over tonext season, when they will beeligible to compete for a playoffspot. She said, “With only twoseniors on the team, Stuy willbe a team to be reckoned withnext year.”

Huskies Progressing in First Season

By JOHN CONNUCK

Both the boys’ and girls’ tennis teamsclinched spots in the playoffs this pastWednesday, April 16. It was certainly awelcome achievement as both teamsbegin to wrap up their seasons.

After winning all five matches in theirWednesday game against Bard HighSchool, the girls’ tennis team, theLobsters, came away with an undefeatedrecord of 8-0 and a guaranteed seed in theplayoffs. “It’s impossible not to win in thisdivision,” senior and captain Jane Linsaid. Lin refers to the relatively weakBronx/Manhattan A Division of the PublicSchools Athletic League (PSAL) in whichStuyvesant competes. In their final regu-lar season game, the Lobsters defeatedHunter College High School on Thursday,May 1, in a close match by the score of 3-2—ending their regular season undefeat-ed and at the top of their division.Currently, there are several injured play-ers on the team, including Lin, forcing

Stuyvesant to substitute two sophomorein the playoff-clinching match onWednesday, April 16. The Lobsters areawaiting their first playoff matchup.

The boys’ team, the Smokin’ Aces,also saw success that Wednesday—gain-ing a playoff spot and improving theirrecord to 6-4. The boys ended their regu-lar season with a 4-1 loss to HunterCollege High School, but still finishedwith a 7-5 overall record. “The regularseason ended very well for us because theBronx Science team forfeited their match,giving us a win. It gave us a 7-5 record onthe season, which gave us a higher rank-ing in the playoffs,” senior and captainSam Alperin said.

The Smokin’ Aces ranked fourth out ofseven teams in the Bronx/Manhattan ADivision. Stuyvesant won their first roundplayoff game 3-2 against Tottenville HighSchool on Thursday, May 8. Theyadvanced to compete in a second roundmatchup against the Judges of BenjaminCardozo High School on Monday, May 12.

Boys’ and Girls’ Tennis Make Playoffs

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Both the boys' and girls' tennis teams had successful seasons, with the Ponstars and the Lobsters compet-ed in the playoffs on April 16.

Boys’ and Girls’ Tennis

Girls’ Lacrosse

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

By SHAFIR UDDINwith additional reporting by

CHRISTOPHER AVERY ZHAO

At the age of five, Scott Ritterwould play catch with his fatherand brother in the park. Within12 years, Ritter would earn thestarting catcher job for theStuyvesant Hitmen, the boys’varsity baseball team, during hisjunior year.

Ritter, co-captain of theHitmen, has been playingAmerica’s favorite pastime forjust about his whole life. He

received his first glove at the ageof five, from one of his brother’sfriends. “My dad and my broth-er were playing catch, and oneof my brother’s friends had usedup his glove and had given it tome,” Ritter said. “That was myfirst mitt—I grew up using it.”

Ritter had played baseball inhis local little league for sixyears. In little league, he wasboth a pitcher and catcher,although he preferred pitching.When he was about nine or 10,however, he went to a baseballcamp where he played catcher a

majority of the time. “That’swhen I fell in love with it,” hesaid. He believes his personalityis well suited for the unique andrelatively unpopular position.“Who else would sit behind theplate while someone throws you90 mile per hour fastballs?” Healso enjoys the pressure andresponsibility that comes withthe position. “The catcher’s incharge of the game,” he said. “Ilove that feeling. Everythingrests on you: you’re the stop-per.”

Ritter continued to playcatcher and enjoy the gameoverall, so the decision to playbaseball in high school was ano-brainer. “When I was lookingfor high schools throughout thecity, I was looking for a schoolwith a baseball team. I doubt Iwould have gone to a schoolwithout a team, because thatwas important for me,” Rittersaid. When it came time tochoose a high school,Stuyvesant was a place where hecould see himself fit in.

During his freshman year, heinstinctively tried out for thejunior varsity baseball team. “Itwas hardly even a decision forme. The only question was whatposition would I play?” Rittersaid.

Ritter, along with juniorZachary Karson, senior MarkChiusano and senior BrianSchatz, was given the position ofco-captain earlier this spring.“We picked guys that haveshown leadership. Someonethat’s always there, and can tellthe younger classmen what theyneed to do,” head coach JohnCarlesi said.

“It’s an honor to be a cap-

tain, although it also means tak-ing on many responsibilities,taking care of the entire team,”Ritter said.

Responsibilities for beingcaptain include demonstratingleadership, being ready for prac-tice everyday and being avail-able to underclassmen foradvice.

As a captain, Scott is knownto be a leader on the field. “Scottis the kind of guy that will becoolheaded and talk to the guysafter a poor outing,” Carlesisaid.

“Scott is just a natural lead-er,” Karson said. “Even whenhe’s down, he keeps everyone ingood spirits. He has a passionfor the game that you just haveto respect.”

Despite being a captain,Scott considers his teammatesas peers and describes his rela-tionship with them as mutual. “Ialso get advice from teammates.Once I had a teammate come upto me and say, ‘You know Scott,you might be able to improveyour throw’,” Ritter said. “Wethen watched some tape andwent over my throw.”

When the time came toapply to college, Ritter appliedto eight different schools. “Atthe end of [my college] process,there were three schools: NewYork University (NYU),Northwestern University andthe University of SouthernCalifornia (USC).”

Because he wanted to getout of the city, Ritter’s choicewas mainly between USC andNorthwestern. In the end, hedecided to attend Northwesternalong with his fellow captain,Schatz. “I just liked the atmo-

sphere at Northwestern better. Ifelt that if I were going toNorthwestern, I would havemore of an opportunity to playbaseball than at USC,” Rittersaid.

At Northwestern University,Ritter plans to major in film. Healso is planning to play clubbaseball during his freshmanyear in college, and possibly tryout for the Division I varsityteam his sophomore year.

For the moment, however,his focus is on the Hitmen’s cur-rent season. Despite starting offthe season 6-0, the Hitmen havegone on an eight game slide. Ithas been a tough season forRitter, who was diagnosed withelbow tendonitis in the middleof the year. As a result, hecouldn’t play catcher and hasbeen forced to play designatedhitter, which he has been some-what disappointed about. “Youwant it to be a good year, butthen the season kind of vanishesin a way,” he said.

The Hitmen have two gamesremaining in the season againstBeacon High School, who Ritterdescribed as their division rival.They must win both of them inorder to make the playoffs.According to Ritter, the Hitmenhave not gotten the big hits theyneeded this year. The team iscounting on Ritter, who hit agame winning double to clinch aplayoff spot for the Hitmen lastseason. Ritter is confident thathe, as well as the rest of theteam, will be able to comethrough.

“We get stuff done when weneed to get stuff done,” he said.

Athlete Spotlight: Scott Ritter ‘The Stopper’ Keeps Going

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Senior Scott Ritter, co-captain of the boys’ varsity baseball team, plans to play clubbaseball during his freshman year at Northwestern University.

SportsPage 15The Spectator • May 16, 2008

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

Page 16May 16, 2008

THE SPECTATOR SPORTS

By AARON GHITELMAN

Last spring, the PublicSchools’ Athletic League (PSAL)added cricket to their list ofcommissioned sports. This wasa great and groundbreakingdecision since New York is nowthe first city to officially spon-sor high school cricket.

But not everybody agreesthis was a positive addition. Onthe sports blogpologrounds.blogspot.com, ablogger with the pseudonymMel Ott wrote, “Cricket is aniche sport that will never gainwidespread popularity. Why arecity schools fielding cricketteams for a small group of play-ers? If anything, Americansports and sporting cultureshould be encouraged.” Notonly is cricket popular, but itqualifies as a truly Americansport.

The popularity of cricketboth at Stuyvesant and in NewYork City is indisputable. Sincethe winter of 2005, Stuyvesanthas had an active cricket club.Every year when Battery park isopen, I have seen kids playingwith the flat cricket bat.

As for the rest of the city,cricket has a dedicated follow-ing, and its popularity is grow-ing. On any given weekend,about 100 men flock to the VanCortlandt Park in the Bronx toplay cricket.

Now, the question ofwhether cricket is American istricky. However, it should notmatter whether a sport is‘American’ or not. Nonetheless,something about the sport isinherently patriotic. When ourfounding fathers were decidingwhat to call the new postGeorge Washington would holdas head-of-state, John Adamsproposed the word ‘President.’Adams rationalized that sincethe leaders of cricket clubs werecalled Presidents, the samename should be given to theleader of our new nation. Inaddition, it is recorded thatWashington himself playedcricket once. If a sport is goodenough for the foundingfathers, it’s good enough forme.

Cricket in New York alsorepresents the true spirit of ournation since is played almostexclusively by first and secondgeneration immigrants. TheAmerican spirit is displayed notonly by the acceptance of newimmigrants, but also by theintegration of their ideas andtraditions into our culture. Toreject cricket would be to vio-late all that America stands for.

As the smooth and success-ful start of Stuyvesant’s cricketseason has shown, cricket ishere to stay—in our school, ourcity and our country.

Cricket: As American as Apple Pie

By HOWARD LAM

The Untouchables,Stuyvesant’s girls’ fencingteam, won the Public SchoolsAthletic League (PSAL) citychampionships on Friday, May2nd with a 6-3 victory overBrooklyn Technical HighSchool. This is the second yearin a row in which Stuyvesanthas finished the season in firstplace of the Manhattan

Division with an 8-0 record andassumed the title of CityChampions.

“I wasn’t worried,” coachJoel Winston said, indicatingthat this year’s starting lineupdiffered from last year’s cham-pionship team by only onefencer. “We put a lot of heartinto the season and it feelsgreat when it pays off.”

During the match, eachteam won half of the A, or high-

est level matches, as well as halfof the C, or lowest level match-es. This made the B, or middlelevel matches, the deciding fac-tor. “We just totally dominatedthe B matches,” Winston said.Junior Megan Ng won both herB1 matches 5-4, while seniorJenny Hsiao won her B2 match-es 5-4 and 5-0, respectively.

Senior and captain Vivian

Untouchables End Season Untouched

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Girls’ Fencing

By AARON GHITELMAN

With six victories and thefirst hole-in-one in the team’srecent history, the month ofApril was a successful one forStuyvesant’s undefeated golfteam, the Swingers, who nowstand at 8-0. Each of their com-petitions is made up of fiveindividual matches. Of these 40total individual matches,Stuyvesant has lost only one.

The week of Monday, April14 was especially triumphantfor them. Junior Charles Kuangnailed the team’s first hole-in-one in recent history onTuesday, April 15. Two dayslater, on Thursday, April 17 theteam defeated its chief rival, theBronx High School of Science,in all five matches.

Kuang’s hole-in-one cameon the third hole of a matchwith Riverdale Kingsbridge

Academy. “I was really sur-prised,” Kuang said. “I didn’tthink it would be a hole in one.”According to the New YorkTimes, the odds of getting ahole-in-one are less than one in3,000.

The Swingers returned toVan Cortland to face an unde-feated Bronx Science thatThursday, April 17th. While theSwingers won all five matches,there was much tension.Besides sophomore CodyLevine’s 5-1 victory, every othermatch came down to the lasttwo holes. Senior and captainFrederick Meyer improved hisrecord to two wins, one loss andone tie. The other three players,senior Josh Clemente, juniorAlex Robinson and sophomoreAlex Shin, all maintained theirperfect records.

First year coach and Englishteacher Emilio Nieves said, “Wehung in there and won thematch and that’s all thatcounts.” Nieves was particularlypleased with the performancesof Robinson, who he said is“tough to beat, he hangs inthere with anyone,” and Meyer,who he said “has shown a lot ofheart.”

"My opponent played verywell,” Meyer said. “It was a verytight match, but I pulledthrough in the end and won areally big victory."

Last season, the Swingerscame within a shot of forcing atiebreaker in the semifinals of

Swingers Right OnCourse

Golf

By WHITNEY KO

Although some doubt theirsport’s legitimacy, members ofthe Sticky Fingers, Stuyvesant’sgirls’ Ultimate Frisbee Team,practice intensely and strive forsuccess in high-level tourna-ments. After finishing last yearwith a first-place win at the St.Johnsbury Invitational in St.Johnsbury, Vermont, the StickyFingers had high expectationsgoing into the 2007-2008 sea-son. Despite losing six seniorsto graduation last spring, juniorand co-captain Grace Lin isconfident in her current team’sability. “We [can] fill the void,”she said

In September, the StickyFingers beat college teams inthe New York Metro SectionalsTournament and “almostbecame the first high schoolteam [to qualify for] the MetroEast Regionals,” Grace Lin said.Stuyvesant was tied with a YaleUniversity club team for thefinal qualifying spot. The Yaleclub team moved on to makethe tournament, but membersof the Sticky Fingers don’tunderstand why Yale was cho-sen over them.

They find out about college-level tournaments throughindividual players’ onlinememberships to the UltimatePlayers Association. Highschool teams normally are notinvited to college tournaments.

However, their coach is able touse his connections as an alum-nus of Pennsylvania StateUniversity’s Frisbee program to

get them invitations. For the next six months, the

Proving Themselves in an Unsupported Sport

Girls’ Ultimate Frisbee

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