Volume 5 Issue 19

Volume V, Issue 19 June 2, 2006 Free

The Stuyvesant Standard The Stuyvesant Standard The Stuyvesant Standard TO THE COMMUNITIES OF STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL, TRIBECA, AND BATTERY PARK CITY

“Your School, Your World—Your News”

cluded ships from Britain, Can-ada, France and other nations.

Besides the daily ship tours, there are also special events, such as the Parade of Ships and Bless-ing of the Fleet. The Parade of

New York Fleet Week BY JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR

SU Candidate Platforms More on page 6,7,8

Book Sales More on page 10

More of your favorite columns like Critical Lens,

Meet the Teacher, Club Pub Spotlight inside.

The 19th annual Fleet Week in New York City took place from May 25 to May 31. Four thousand sailors from the United States Navy, Coast Guard and even in-ternational navy ships were ex-pected to spend time taking in the urban life of New York. Fleet Week also includes many military demonstrations and displays. Af-ter the ships dock, they are open to the general public for tours.

Fleet Week has been hosted nearly every year since 1984. It is New York City’s celebration of the sea services. This event also provides an opportunity for citi-zens to meet sailors and witness the abilities of today’s Navy, Ma-rine Corps, and Coast Guard. This year’s event had less of an arousal than usual. There were fewer ships and only one foreign en-trant, a British navy ocean survey vessel. Past gatherings have in-

Continued on Page 2

On Tuesday, May 23, The Stuyvesant Parent’s Association (PA) held a meeting. After elec-tions were held for PA offices and some preliminaries were dis-cussed, the main presentation for the night took place: a talk on the new SAT by The Princeton Re-view and on the ACT, by a repre-sentative of the test.

The representative from The Princeton Review began the pres-entation by giving some back-ground information. She said that in the past there have been changes made to the SAT without disastrous results. The most re-cent change was a result of The University of California’s (UCA) decision to not use the SAT as a

criterion for admission anymore. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which runs the SAT, did not want to lose their business, so they met with UCA to discuss possible changes. It was that the SAT I Reasoning Test would be combined with the SAT II Subject Test Writing, since the writing test was already required for ad-mission by the majority of col-leges.

The new SAT is 45 minutes longer and is now graded out of 2400 instead of 1600. The anal-ogy questions were removed while harder math questions were added along with a 25-minute essay and questions on grammar. The representative said this may cause a problem because “Kids

The New SAT Versus the ACT

Continued on Page 4

BY JENNIFER SCHLESINGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

UNA USA Spells Victory for Stuyvesant

Model UN BY TIM CHANG COLUMNIST

Ships signals the start of Fleet Week. On May 24, everyone was invited to watch the arrival of the ships as they made their way to the piers. The Blessing of the Fleet took place the next day. At

Staten Island, Monsignor James Dorney, the vicar of Staten Island and pastor of the St. Peters Church, St. George, Staten Island, conducted the blessing of these ships. There are also 14 scheduled parades in various parts of New York.

The Marine Corps also sched-uled a series of demonstrations. In their helicopter demonstration, the Marines demonstrated heli-copter insertion and extraction as well as a display of helicopters and other equipment. There was also a face-painting session for children. The Marine Corps also had another event, the Day at Central Park. Displays and dem-onstrations covered the Naum-burg Bandshell. There were Ma-rine Martial Arts displays, vehicle and weapon displays, and local band performances.

Fleet Week is one of the most patriotic times of the year. “I

Sailors aboard the USS Kearsarge as it docks at Pier 88 in Manhattan.

AP

On May 20, at East 44th Street and First Avenue, the Stuy-vesant Model UN team walked triumphantly out of the United Nations building with awards given to five out of the seven delegations being represented by

Stuyvesant at The United Nations Association of the United States of America’s (UNA USA) sev-enth annual Model UN confer-ence.

The UNA USA conference is undoubtedly the most significant Model United Nations conference

Continued on Page 3

The delegates gather at the United Nations in to begin their conference. unausa.org

News...........................2-8 Puzzles..............................12-13 Business......................4&9 Science……………….......13-14 Opinions.....................9-11 Arts & Entertainment......14-15 Literary.....................11-13 Sports................................15-16

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

If you would like to advertise in THE STUYVESANT STANDARD, please e-mail [email protected] to request an advertisement form. We offer a broad range of options including full color capability for your advertis-ing needs.

Advertising

Subscription

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD is a nonprofit and nonpartisan publication pro-duced by the students of Stuyvesant High School.

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD distributes 2,000 free copies on a bi-weekly basis to the students and faculty of Stuyvesant High School and through-

out the adjoining neighborhoods of TriBeCa and Battery Park City. THE STUYVESANT STANDARD welcomes letters from its readers.

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD reserves the right to edit any published mate-rial. The viewpoints of contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of

the Standard staff.

Copyright ©2006 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

Executive Leadership Team

Publication

Page 2 June 2, 2006 NEWS THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

Please direct all correspondence to: THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282-1000 [email protected]

Find us on the web at www.stuystandard.org

Contact Us

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD SUBSCRIBE TODAY

1 YEAR — $15 Delivery Information Name:______________________________________________ Address:____________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Billing Information Please circle your choices below: Check Money Order Cash Billing Address:______________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Please cut and mail to THE STUYVESANT STANDARD, 345 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10282-1000 OR send the above informa-tion to [email protected].

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD Founded 2001

“Your School, Your World—Your News”

DR. JOHN NIKOL FACULTY ADVISER JENNIFER SCHLESINGER EDITOR IN CHIEF DEREK WENG MANAGING EDITOR KHOI NGUYEN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FANNY TANG LAYOUT EDITOR DANNY ZHU COPY CHIEF JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR

PRISCILLA MELO OPINIONS EDITOR EMMA RABINOVICH ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR ERIC MAYO SPORTS EDITOR JOSEPH KRUTOV SCIENCE EDITOR HANFORD CHIU BUSINESS EDITOR LADA KUKUY LITERARY EDITOR

DANNY ZHU WEBMASTER BENNETT HONG DIRECTOR OF PHOTOJOURNALISM DANIEL EGERS (‘03) FOUNDER ERNEST BASKIN (‘04) EDITOR EMERITUS

CLUB SPOTLIGHT Chinese Chess Club

BY JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR

For most people, there is one kind of chess: international chess. In this chess, the pieces look like what they represent. A knight, for example, would have the shape of a horse. This type of chess shows the hierarchy in a kingdom. How-ever, people of the Chinese Chess Club are bringing light to another kind of chess: Chinese chess. In recent years it has started to be-come better known among non-Chinese.

Founded by sophomore and current president Emily Ho, the

club has been getting very rowdy lately. There have been an in-crease in the number of members and many new players can be seen at the club now. Sophomore Simon Hu, secretary, thinks that the Chinese Chess Club has been getting more members lately; its average attendance has doubled. “I'm excited by the increase in the attendance. I hope that this club is impacting the Stuyvesant commu-nity,” says Hu.

Instead of having a hierarchy of the kingdom, Chinese chess has the hierarchy of an army, simulating a war zone. The prin-ciples of Chinese chess are simi-lar to that of international chess. There is still a piece to defend. There are still pawns. However, there is no careful buildup of pawn structures, the major pieces come into play immediately, and drawn-out endgames are rare. Sophomore Kenneth Lam said, “I liked Chinese chess because, to me, it was simpler than Western chess.” Most members agree that the simplicity of the game is a

New York Fleet Week Continued from Page 1

want to see as many sights as pos-sible — and Ground Zero comes first,” said Marine Cpl. Bart Kilgo, 24, of Maple Lake, Minn., making his first visit to New York. “There's something to be said for just walking through Times Square at nighttime or even in daytime if you're in uni-

form,” said Navy Cmdr. Tim Fowler, a staff member at the Of-fice of Naval Research. “Even if you're from a big city, New York has so much to offer.” “I saw two sailors on the street and I had a conversation with them. They were really nice and were also excited to be here,” said sopho-more Simon Hu. ◙

An aircraft carrier sails into New York Harbor for Fleet Week 2006.

LAST ISSUE’S CORRECTIONS

• Tomorrow’s Technology Today was continued from page 12. • Androids was continued from page 12.

Continued on Page 4

Chinese Chess, or xiang qi, is perhaps the most popular board game in the world.

thetradingcentre.co.uk

AP

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD June 2, 2006 NEWS Page 3

Before the school day even begins, Dr. Utting can always be found in room 736, where he pre-pares for his upcoming classes. Born in Croydon, England, he traveled around Britain a lot be-cause of the war, mostly along the east coast, near the North Sea. He went to college at Leeds Univer-sity, an imperial college in Lon-don.

When asked when he decided to become a teacher,Dr. Utting responded, “I’m not sure I did.” He started teaching after he re-ceived his graduate’s degree, when he was around 25 years old. However, he felt unsatisfied and went back to the university after-ward. He entered the New York public school system in 1984, when he began teaching night classes at CUNY. He also began teaching at Stuyvesant that year, and has continued teaching there until today.

Dr. Utting enjoys teaching at Stuyvesant. He said, “I’m very fortunate to be teaching at Stuy-vesant.” He encourages the stu-dents to be active during the class by participating and giving him

feedback on h is l essons. “Teaching here at Stuyvesant is fairly near university teaching,” said Dr. Utting. He also enjoys the variety of teachers here at Stuyvesant and admits that they gossip about students just like students gossip about teachers.

What does Utting do in his free time? He is a man of many interests. For physical exercise, he enjoys swimming and cycling. As for music, he listens to con-certs, ballets and operas. He reads many books as well. His favorite books are by Russian and French authors. A book that changed his o u t l o o k o n l i f e w a s “Remembrance of Things Past,” by Marcel Proust.

Many students are very en-thusiastic about his classes. Sophomore Kenneth Lam who is taking molecular biology with Dr. Utting, said, “Dr. Utting is a

really cool teacher. He’s not above communicating with his students and will help us out when we need help. He's also really funny and can get a class laughing.” Utting is funny, help-ful, and his classes are looked highly upon by many of his stu-dents. “He's really funny and really nice. The class is enjoyable and I look forward to it during math class,” said sophomore Sara Yoon. Most of his students agree that Dr. Utting is a great teacher and they all look forward to his enjoyable classes. “His sense of sarcasm is beyond even that of a teenager. I especially enjoy his funny remarks in class. Appar-ently, he enjoys making us laugh,” said sophomore Jimmy Zhang. ◙

Column by Tim Chang

[email protected]

BY DAVID YIN STAFF WRITER

Meet Dr. Utting! M

s. Daves

Name: John Michael Utting Place of Birth: Croydon, UK Subjects Taught: Molecular Biology, AP Biology

Favorite Food: Tarragon Chicken Favorite Color: Blue Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

QUICK PROFILE

Continued from Page 1

of the season. Most importantly, it takes place in the actual United Nations building, making it an honor to attend, and there are more delegations present at this conference than at other confer-ences. The UNA USA confer-ence has delegations from schools all over the world. From Mexico to Africa to Bahrain, the people present at the conference make it a truly international experience. As one student put it, “This con-ference embodies the ideal of Model UN.”

The conference began with

original opening ceremonies on May 18, hosted in the Great Hall of the United Nations. Among the guest speakers who came to talk were star Russell Simmons and Chancellor Joel Klein (whose arrival elicited a call from the audience for him to “return our cell phones”).

The next day, students filed into their committee rooms to begin debating. “This conference was a little more serious, I thought. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing as opposed to co l lege ones [conferences] where half the kids

didn't do any research,” says freshman Julia Cabot, who repre-sented Monaco in the sixth Gen-eral Assembly Committee along with sophomore Tim Chang. During committee, people from different schools and even differ-ent countries came together to solve the various issues at hand.

Stuyvesant received the ma-jority of its positions in the Gen-eral Assembly, where every na-tion was represented. The sheer size of this general assembly, which was slightly larger than those of other college confer-ences, made it harder to create single effective resolutions. A larger assembly is harder to work with as well, and getting a chance to address the assembly is diffi-cult.

Model UN at Stuyvesant is not a very big team; in fact, it is more of a club. Model UN is similar in focus to the speech and debate team, but with a more in-ternational perspective. Students of all grades travel to various con-ferences, mostly hosted by col-leges along the East Coast, to solve different issues in the world and possibly win awards for their diplomacy.

The Stuyvesant Standard would like to congratulate Kevin Anderson, Snigdha Sur, Rajiv Singla, Jakub Stosik, Michael Gsovsky, Julia Cabot and Tim Chang for receiving honorable mentions, and Anant Agarwalla and Zharna Shah for winning gav-els for best delegations. ◙

UNA USA Spells Victory for Stuyvesant Model UN

The delegates at the UNA USA conference. A closer shot of the delegates.

unausa.org

unausa.org

June 1: German Honor Society

June 2-3: ARML Competition

June 2: French Honor Society

June 3: SAT Exam

June 4: Speech and Debate Dinner

June 7: Awards Night

June 8: Staff Development -

No Student Attendance

June 8-9: Spring Comedy

June 9: Gay Day

June 10: Prom at Waldorf

June 12-23: Textbook Collection -

Main Floor Lobby

June 14-22: Finals /Regents Exam

June 16: Mentor/Leadership

Dinner

June 19: Graduation Rehearsal/Cap

and Gown Distribution, Stuyvesant 9

AM

June 20: PA Meeting 7 PM

June 26: Graduation at 9:30 AM

June 28: Last Day for Students

www.stuy.edu

JUNE Events & Dates

Page 4 June 2, 2006 NEWS/ BUSINESS THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

BY KENNETH YU STAFF WRITER

Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996 as a research project at Stanford Uni-versity. The famous Google search engine is known for its simplistic design and consistently better results than its competitors. Using a system of back links to rank pages, websites that are linked to frequently are listed at the top, since they are more

likely to be relevant to the user’s queries. In addition to Google’s search engine, there are several other products that Google offers such as those listed in Google Labs and complements to their search services such as Google Desktop.

One of Google’s main char-acteristics is its constant innova-tion. The company follows a for-mula said to be derived from cal-culations by co-founder Sergey

Google: The Search for Success

don’t have such a grasp of gram-mar anymore.”

Overall, the new SAT has raised some concerns among stu-dents, administrators and col-leges. Moreover, scores nation-wide have dropped five points compared to the old SAT. The Princeton Review believes this may be because of the longer test-ing time, which results in a loss of concentration. Also, there are now fewer critical reading and math questions, which means that students must answer more ques-tions correctly. Because of this, students must answer a larger number of hard questions in order to get a comparable score. The Princeton Review’s representative warned the audience not to worry by saying that, “Colleges are aware of this. They’re the first to sound the alarm [about the possi-bility of problems].”

After, the representative from the ACT took the stage. She ex-plained what the ACT is and talked about its history. ACT originally stood for American College Testing Program. How-ever, the company has grown to encompass more, so the letters have become just an acronym. The ACT was first administered in 1959 in the Midwest. The ACT has four core sections: math, reading, English and science. There is also an optional writing section. The ACT is scored on a scale of 36 and a student’s main score is a composite of his or her scores on the core sections. The core sections have subsections on which a student can receive a score from 1 to 18. The writing section is scored on a scale of 2 to

The New SAT Versus the ACT Continued from Page 1 12 and is graded by two raters. If

they disagree by more than two points, a third rater will look over the test. The ACT without writing lasts fours hours. The writing sec-tion is an additional 30 minutes.

Some East Coast students may feel nervous about takin the ACT since the traditional testing base is in the Midwest. However, the ACT representative reassured the audience, saying that the na-tionwide average score is 20.9, but the average score in New York is 22.4. Moreover, students in Stuyvesant High School scored the highest overall compared to all other New York high schools.

After her basic, overview, the representative talked about the differences between the SAT and the ACT. She began by saying that “[The] ACT is a viable op-tion.” She then stressed that “The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement test against the SAT which is historically an aptitude test.” The reason for this differ-ence is that the ACT is composed of material that colleges tell it that they want students to know. They test how well students know a topic. On the other hand, the SAT tests how bright students are. The ACT is a good option for students wanting to do all their testing at once, as many colleges, including Yale University, accept the ACT with writing in lieu of the SAT and three SAT Subject Tests. The SAT is a good option for students who would like to break up their testing and take subject tests in areas they decide on.

After the presentation, the floor was opened to questions. ◙

A chart comparing the ACT and the SAT.

ww

w.princetonreview

.com

CLUB SPOTLIGHT Chinese Chess Club


definite beauty. “There are too many of them [pieces in interna-tional chess], and they do not have as much power as those in Chinese chess,” says Lam.

Instead of having sculptures,

Chinese chess merely has tiles with Chinese words chiseled into them. Even for those who do not normally read Chinese, however, this does not pose much of a problem. “I don’t read it; I just remember how it looks,” says sophomore Tamir Yewdaev one of the few non-Asian members of the club. Yewdaev joined the club because several of his friends are in it. After several months, he has decided that it is “as fun as regu-lar chess.” His progress in the game has also significantly grown. When asked if he likes the game, he replied, “Not like I would play it during lunch or any-thing, but a game every once in a while works.” ◙

The co-founders of Google.

google.com

Continued on Page 9

Set up of a Chinese Chess game.

Grenier-du-m

ac.net


A Look at the Spring Concert and Art Show!

TSS/

Ben

nett

Hon

g


Meet the Candidates! The Student Union, Junior

Caucus, and Senior Caucus elections are approaching. Do you know who is running?

Let’s have a closer look at the candidates.

Student Union President and Vice President

MICHAEL ZAYTSEV AND MARTA BRALIC

If elected we plan to do everything possible/feasible to regain the various rights that the students have been robbed of the past few years. Furthermore, we will do all we can to preserve the few remaining rights students enjoy. Another major goal will be to increase the popularity of the Student Union, in the sense that people will take interest in the SU and support it. Theoretically, one day competition for SU appointed positions should be similar to the competition for SING slate or Big Sibs. Besides encouraging student in-volvement and protecting student rights we want to make some improvements. One major thing we want to change is the student store. It needs a much better food selection at more reasonable prices. Also we want SU actions to me more widely known by having a CONSISTENT newsletter that may or may not be given out with each spectator, so people actually read it. Also we want to efficiently lead the SU to increase productivity. We are two very dedicated candidates who have the school’s best interest in mind and if elected will do everything we can to make Stuy a better place for students.

GEORGE ZISIADIS AND VANESSA CHARUBHUMI

We have the most comprehensive and tangible reform pro-

gram in addition to our unmatched 5 years of SU experi-ence in managing crises, organizing events, and dealing with administrative policies. We are eager to bring a new level of competency to the SU, to redefine its function in Stuy, and to finally make it work for you.

Some ways in which we are seeking to revamp the cur-

rent SU: 1) Reform SU Budget Surpass $100,000 mark for first time ever 2) Reorganize Budget Request System

Announce meetings well in advance and make online system streamlined and user friendly

3) Restructure Club Pub System Guarantee that you obtain your requested room, and that it is available for your use and also fully implement the Grand Candy Plan funding system for clubs.

Some of our new initiatives include: • Elective Day, give students and parents more info

about Stuy’s electives • Excursion Day, take the whole school on a trip out of

NYC • Ice Skating, continue the successful stuy tradition

started by us • Student-Faculty Games, make these much more en-

gaging for the whole school

HANNAH FREIMAN AND LAUREN GONZALEZ

As SU President and Vice President, we plan on con-

tributing to the school. We want to hold more dances and events such as the Knicks game. We’ll pick effective SING! coordinators and make SING! at a convenient time We would like to hold a Fashion show or a DANCE-A-THON to fundraise and look into creating a student lounge, where Stuy students can relax during their frees. We would also participate in Locks of Love, Blood Drives, and start a Scholarship in memory of April and Kevin. We‘ll organize an awareness program in which speakers on different cur-rent event topics, come and speak throughout the year. Teachers will be encouraged to bring their classes to these guest lectures that will be informative. We would work with SLT and Big Sibs to make information available monthly on important dates (SAT and AP registration), guidance resources and reviews of APs and electives.

ALEX LEONARD AND ZAKIA BABB We intend to fight for the reduction of unnecesary re-

strictions placed on the student body such as people not being allowed out to lunch with temporary IDs and such a rigid cell phone ban. Also we intend to balance the Stu-dent union budget so that it provides funding more ade-quately to sports teams that would require greater funding compared to smaller clubs or pubs. And just generally seek to represent everybody within the student body fairly, instead of just looking out for the interests of a select few.

Are you running for SU office?

Do you want your message to be heard?

The Stuyvesant Standard would like to interview you!

Please contact [email protected]

This is an opportunity not to be missed.


Senior Caucus

BRIAN GROBER AND RYAN GELLIS

Senior year is the culmination of the high school experi-ence and a time of great stress and hopefully great fun. It is a year full of college worries and life changing occasions such as prom and graduation. Senior year is a time when the stu-dent body does not want to suffer from a poorly constructed and executed planning of events. Because we understand how important it is to justly represent the class of 2007 in their senior year Brian Grober and Ryan Gellis are running for sen-ior caucus to embody the desires of our peers.

If elected to the senior presidency Grober & Gellis would work rigorously to make sure that the college acceptance process runs as smoothly as possible to accommodate every student in his/her last year of school. Furthermore we would start planning immediately for events such as senior prom and graduation to make sure both of those important events are as exciting and memorable as possible for the class of 2007.

ARNOLDYS STENGEL & TAANZILA MOIN

We've noticed that during these three years in high school, everyone has been separated into little "cliques". Since this is the last year that most of us will be together, we will arrange more activities and events to further unite Class of ‘07. By having more theme days, like "Crazy Hair Day", we could have many more lasting, memorable moments. Our ideas will come from you guys as we plan on asking you what you want or would like to see happen. We also plan to try to organize more dances that would allow us to just let "OUR WILD SIDES OUT" to relieve the stress that we build up. If you choose us to be your Senior President and Vice President, we promise to base our decisions on the mainstream needs and wants of our class and try to make this the best year you’ve had in high school.

CHARLOTTE AUSTIN AND BEN ALTER We, Charlotte Austin and Ben Alter, have shown over

the past three years our dedication to the Class of 2007 and to the school community at large. Through our work in SING!, the Student Union, and various other school organizations, we have proven our ability to competently organize and make things happen. We have been vocal supporters of Student Rights, and would continue to do so in the future. We promise a successful and affordable Prom, a mind-blowing SING!, an exciting graduation, and whatever else people want. The opinions of our fellow classmates will always be valued, and we promise to set up an infrastructure through which we can communicate, such as a mailing list, subcommittees, as well as maintaining a website. For the best senior year possible, vote Charlotte and Ben for Senior Caucus.

GEORGE TSIVIN AND ALEKSANDR KITAYGORODSKIY

Our aim is to restructure and reform the way in which stu-

dents like you can contribute to the decision making process of our grade. ALL MAJOR DECISIONS WILL BE DONE BY REFERENDUM. Voting will be done electronically through our website. That means that YOU will be able to directly decide on graduation speakers, theme days, prom nu-ances, and other important issues throughout the year. Our goal is to make your senior year the most memorable year at Stuyvesant. Among our numerous plans is a College Trip to Canada, expansion and improvement of Comedy Nights, planned and scheduled outdoor sporting events, several sea-sonal dances, and finally an unforgettable, truly exceptional prom. To try to limit college application anxiety, we will set up a college forum where seniors can ask any college-related questions. In addition we will host college workshops where you can receive individualized help from professional college advisors. We hope that by taking everyone’s opinion into con-sideration, we can tailor the most enjoyable senior year possi-ble. George and Alex are a team with experience, knowledge, and a strong work ethic ready to serve YOU and your needs.

MICHAEL TSIDULKO AND LENNY FRENKEL If elected President and Vice-President of the Senior

Class of 2007, we will aim to provide all 710 students of the grade with a fun, climactic, and most importantly memorable year. This will be done though unifying Senior events such as a College Trip to Canada, an exceptional Graduation Speaker, an unofficial “Senior Spring Break”, and an unparalleled Prom. Similarly, the year will be accented with several Senior Comedy Nights and Senior Theme Days. Notably we plan to continue the use and expansion of www.stuy07.org, the offi-cial website of the Class of ’07, as a means of informed com-munication among the Senior Grade and the Senior Caucus. The website will continue its tradition in the spirit of Democ-racy, and will provide a vector in which the Senior Class will be directly consulted and involved in decision making during the school year on policies including Graduation Speakers, Theme Days, and all issues of equal importance. We strongly believe that the greater the amount of people participating in the decision making processes at Stuy, the more enjoyable and accommodating the year will be. With Mike previously elected as Junior president and Lenny enthusiastically in-volved in current ordeals at Stuyvesant, our ticket provides experienced, knowledgeable, and genuine candidates - what our grade needs most.

JULIAN DUFAULT AND AARON LANDMAN We are running to be president and vice president for the

class of ’07 in order to accomplish several important things. We intend to establish very good relations with the SU in or-der to better senior activities, and events. We intend to create a strong relationship, and have good communication with the entire senior class in order to reflect the wants of our entire class, thus making our last year at Stuyvesant our best year. We intend to return Senior Prom once again to the Waldorf Astoria. We intend to acquire a moving, motivate, and inspir-ing graduation speaker, to conclude our years at Stuyvesant, and send us into our futures. And we intend to react to any necessary problem or concern, any member of the senior class might have as necessary.


Junior Caucus

CHRIS LEE AND SCOTT RITTER

As Junior Caucus representatives Chris Lee and Scott Ritter are committed to the advancement of the Junior class's unity as well as transforming the most stressful year of high school into the most en-joyable. These advancements will be made through budget-profiting activities such as dances, bake sales, and professional shows/sporting events (i.e. comedy night and Knick's games). These will culminate in a successful and reduced priced Junior Prom.

Secondly, in a time when many students feel their rights are be-ing attacked by both the Stuyvesant administration and the Board of Education, Chris and Scott are dedicated to the preservation of unal-ienable student rights as well as the advancement of the student-administration relationship.

This is the only junior year you will get to experience and we should enjoy it and live it to the fullest. Chris Lee and Scott Ritter are ready to deliver just that.

MATT BUCH AND CHARISSA NG

We are running for junior caucus because we believe we are the most capable, and will be the most driven and effective candidates in raising the bar from previous junior years. We plan to make the col-lege process easier for juniors by improving college nights, college trips and the relationship between the college office and our junior class. Hopefully we can make a difference in the college process!

Junior year is notorious for being the toughest year of high school. AP’s, SAT’s, and college admissions, on top of classes and extra-curricular’s, can be a complete nightmare for everyone. We want to make this coming year a little more relaxing by encouraging teachers not to give homework and tests during SAT’s and college trips. We also want to improve junior events by arranging better comedy nights and a sick junior prom. Let’s make junior year the best year of our lives!

AMOS DAI AND SARA YOON

If elected President and Vice President of the Junior Class, we plan on improving various aspects of the Junior Caucus. Since the opinions of our class are vital in our decisions, we will extend the duties of the Junior Advisory Council (JAC).

In addition, we are determined to organize the best Junior Prom that Stuyvesant High School has ever seen. Many candi-dates will tell you how they plan on having elephants and 50 cent at prom. We are concerned in making sure we are able to finance our plans. We will do this through various fundraising events.

The junior class is infamous for its sleep-deprived and gray-haired children. If elected, we plan to organize stress relieving social events occurring every month or two. This will lead to less suicidal students and will also relieve the tensions of the Stuyve-sant cut-throat environment.

PHILIP CHANG AND ANASTASIA BUYALSKAYA As junior president and vice president, we will make sure next

year is as productive and enjoyable as possible. We will definitely try to make the best junior prom ever by incorporating people’s thoughts and ideas. Another idea we have is to create a website just for juniors. Students can stay in the know using the discussion board and weekly posts. Since the student store is a great way to raise money we want to put it on the web! This should increase our profits. We want the students to learn as much as they can about different schools so there will be college trips to multiple schools. Also, a college night would be created only for jun-iors. Finally, there will be a comedy night, carnival, and theme days dedicated to juniors. We are doing all of this because they deserve it, and hopefully, we can follow threw on our wishes if elected.

MICHELLE LEE AND ANDREW KIM

As president and vice president of the junior grade, Michelle Lee and I, Andrew Kim, will work to keep the junior year exciting, eventful, and most importantly, successful. One of our original ideas is to include another dance besides the prom. Of course, this would require more money in order to fund the program. Thus, we also propose more fundraising, including an international dessert festival event. Furthermore, we plan on keeping the prom and the college tour as successful as it was in the past, and only improve on it ac-cording to the students’ overall preferences. A student website will also be maintained in order to keep the juniors updated on upcoming events. Our main goal is to balance the stressful academic junior year with fun-filled events and activities; therefore, Michelle and I promise to be responsible officers, and use our best judgment to keep the Class of 2008 satisfied.

TIM MULLEN AND DAN LEE

If elected into the presidency, we pledge to devote every fiber of our character to the creation and impeccable follow-through of pro-grams that would benefit Stuy, concentrating our efforts on the Jun-ior class. We will ensure a stellar Junior Prom (with more desirable DJ's.) We will work to showcase the talents of our schoolmates, par-ticularly by establishing a Battle of the Bands at Stuy. We will try to ease the pain of long commutes by developing a school bus system. We will be open to the suggestions of our peers and schoolmates for productions that will benefit the school. We look to make momentous action for all of us. We're decisive, defensive, and dedicated to mak-ing Junior year downright incredible for the class of 2008.

SHAYAN SABER AND ELIZABETH SO

As junior class president and vice president we’ll provide an area besides the library where students can relax/study. We want to use the atrium on the third floor near the nurse’s office and buy mats to cover the floor so students may sit and relax. There’ll be booths for teams/clubs to sell candy and raise money. Sign up sheets will be at each table and teams/clubs must pick a time slot and day. Teams/clubs won’t be permitted to reserve a spot more than two periods a day. We also plan to have a great junior prom. We’ll take surveys as to where our prom should be held as well as decoration suggestions so the students have more say. We’d like to organize more social events. We will have a question and suggestion box open at all times. Students may leave complaints, suggestions etc in this box that we will check daily.

ALLISON WEINER AND NINA YANG

In order to have quality events junior year such as Junior SING!, and Junior Prom, we plan on having many fundraising events that are open to the junior class such as:

-games of extreme elimination -athletic tournaments (ultimate frisbee) -Junior Field Day There are generally two college trips and one comedy night for

the junior class. We plan on increasing these numbers.

All platforms courtesy of Board of Elections.

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD June 2, 2006 BUSINESS/ OPINIONS Page 9

BY ALVIS YUEN COLUMNIST

Critical Lens: A Column Dedicated to Your Opinions

Today's Model Students advanced, natural selection may have raised I.Q.’s slightly. As self-empowering as it makes me feel, that theory is as hole-ridden as … the Mexican border! In the US, Koreans do very well in school, but Koreans in Japan tend to languish academically.

Personally, I only see two plausible explanations for the academic success of Asian-Americans. First, our parents left their homeland, risked their lives, and toil day and night so that we have a chance for a better life. Doing well in school is the least we can do to show our apprecia-tion. Second, academic success is deeply rooted in Asian culture and society due to Confucianism. Confucianism promotes and re-veres academic success as the road to fame and fortune.

I am Chinese. I get good grades. Aside from the reasons I already mentioned, there is an-other personal reason I succeed in school. While my academic suc-cess pleases my parents, it seems hollow and senseless to work my tail off just to please them. I love

Stuyvesant is dominated by Asians, or at least it seems that way. There are so many stereo-types and jokes about how much Asian students obsess over grades. One of my favorite jokes, from sophomore Luke Xu, is: “You get a 100; you go home and show your parents. Your parents say, ‘Why didn’t you get a 102?’” Now on a more serious note, Asians do seem to do particularly well in school. In 2005, Asian-Americans averaged a combined math-verbal SAT score of 1091, compared with 1068 for whites, 982 for Native Americans, 922 for Hispanics and 864 for African Americans. An interesting tidbit is that among Asian-Americans, 8 percent earned 750 or higher on the math portion of the SAT.

People try to explain why Asian-Americans do so well aca-demically. The reasons range from parental pressure to “Asians are just smarter.” Some geneti-cists theorize that since ancient Asian societies were intellectually

Google: The Search for Success Brin. Product focus is split “70-20-10,” according to CEO Eric Schmidt. Seventy percent of Google’s investment goes to its core products such as advertising and search, while 20 percent goes to related products such as Desk-top Search and on Google’s prod-uct search, “Froogle.” The re-maining 10 perent is used for ex-perimental products that might not make money, but are critical for long term growth. Google engineers are also encouraged to spend 20 percent of their time on “pet projects” that interest them. Services such as Gmail and Google News are said to have come from these independent ef-forts.

Google’s motto “do no evil,” coined by Sergey Brin, represents of Google’s commitment to its users and customers, but it has also been a point of debate, as Google has been accused of ques-tionable business practices. Google recently settled a $90-million-dollar click fraud lawsuit

for improperly charging Google advertisers. Because advertisers pay a fee for each time their ads are clicked, spammers can artifi-cially inflate the cost of advertis-ing and make it harder for compa-nies to keep their ads. “Some ad-vertisers have been allegedly overpaying by tens of thousands

of dollars, but will only get a few hundred dollars back as a result of the settlement,” said attorney Brian Kabateck. Google has also censored itself in China, which led to criticism by civil rights groups. Information about sub-jects that the Chinese government deems unsuitable, such as the Tiananmen Square protests and

the Falun Gong religious sect has been removed from the search results of www.google.cn.

Google has also been facing controversy about how it handles users’ private information. Google Desktop 3.0 raises secu-rity issues with its “share across computers” feature that intro-

duces the ability to search content from desktop to desktop. Gmail is also facing complaints by privacy activists for the way it distributes relevant ads by filtering incoming email messages.

As Google is coming out with new products every month, rivals Yahoo and Microsoft are provid-

ing increasing competition. Mi-crosoft released MSN Virtual Earth, a map software, to com-pete with Google Earth. Micro-soft also released a new version of Windows Live Local against Google Maps. Yahoo and Micro-soft have produced new beta ver-sions of their e-mail systems in response to Gmail’s innovative features.

Unlike other companies, Google is more willing to release more experimental products, such as Google Sketchup, a 3D model-ing software, or Picasa, a photo organizer. The company is noted for its beta services.

When asked about Google’s beta policy, Larry Page explained that services in beta allow engi-neers to keep making significant changes until they are stable and fit the users’ needs. Google’s betas are also central to its iden-tity, since the Google search en-gine was once labeled beta itself.

“Part of our brand is that we underpromise and we overde-liver, and being in beta is part of that. It's part of our branding strategy.” ◙


The familiar logo of Google.

goog

le.c

om

Continued on Page 11

China: Source of Deceit BY LAWRENCE HUANG STAFF WRITER

"This is not the right moment to talk."

Perhaps if Chen Jin spent more time on his research than lying about his achievements, he wouldn’t have uttered these words to the press.

On Friday, May 12, the Chi-nese government determined that Chen Jin, a renowned computer scientist, was a fraud. In February 2003, he became a national hero

by claiming that he had created digital signal processing computer chips, a technological break-through in China. There is a huge gap between China and the West in science. If Jin’s “breakthrough” had been true, China would have saved billions of dollars each year by using its own chips in elec-tronics.

Highly known as a very con-troversial nation, China is a very

shady place, even to some schol-ars. China is known for stealing foreign technology, among other things. However, Chen Jin was caught breaking rules on a na-tional scale. It’s as if by punish-ing Chen Jin, China is proving to other foreign countries, “Look, we are punishing lawbreakers here!” In addition, punishing Jin would be the government’s re-venge for his giving everyone false hope.

It is highly unlikely that Chen Jin is the only scientist in China

who has fabricated his research. Pressure was what made Chen Jin become deceitful. His honor was on the stakes, and if he lost, he would have been shamed. Receiv-ing a Western education and ac-complishing nothing says much about your intelligence and char-acter in China. The only reason he received so much publicity was that he actually met China’s in-sane standards and priorities. If

Chen Jin, a computer scientist at Shanghai’s prestigious Jiaotong University, was discovered faking his research in developing computer digital-processing chips.

newtech.aurum

3.com


Stuyvesant provides a wonderful learning environment. If I do not take full advan-tage of it, I am not being fair to myself.

Page 10 June 2, 2006 ADVERTISEMENTS THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

BOOKS TO SELL • Barron’s Regents Exam and Answers: Math A (Red book) 2005 Edi-

tion (Condition: Barely used, not written in, Original Price: $6.99) Price: $3.50

• Barron’s Let’s Review Physics (Blue Book) Third Edition (Condition: Barely used, not written in, Original Price: $13.95) Price: $8.00

• Barron’s SAT II Physics 8th Edition (Condition: Never Used, Origi-nal Price: $14.95) Price: $9.00

• Barron’s AP European History 3rd Edition (Condition: Used but not written in; Original Price: $16.95) Price: $9.00

Contact: Jennifer Schlesinger

[email protected] Prices Negotiable

Science Review Books • Prentice Hall Brief Review in Chemistry With Answer Key (Written

in, Original Price: $11.00) Price: $5.00 • Princeton Review H.S. Review Chemistry (Brand New; Original Price:

$10.81 w/ tax) Price: $5.40 • Prentice Hall Brief Review in Physics With Answer Key (Written in,

Original Price: $11.00) Price: $5.00 • Sparknotes SAT II Physics (Brand New Condition, Original Price:

$15.21 w/ tax) Price: $7.60 • Barron’s SAT II Physics (Brand New Condition, Original Price:

$16.24) Price: $8.10 • Princeton Review AP Psychology (Brand New Condition, Original

Price $19.55) Price: $9.75 • McGraw-Hill 5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology (Brand New Condition,

Original Price: $18.41 w/ tax) Price: $9.20

Grammar Review Books • Princeton Review Grammar Smart (Brand New Condition; Original

Price: $13.04) Price: $6.50 • Barron’s Painless Grammar (Cover is bend, Original Price: $9.72 w/

tax) Price: $4.75

English Review Books • Barron’s SAT II Writing (Brand New Condition, Original Price:

$15.15 w/ tax) Price: $7.50 • Kaplan SAT II Writing (One test was written on, Original Price:

$20.64 w/tax) Price: $10.00 • Barron’s English Regents Blue Book (One test was written in, Original

Price: $10.54) Price: $10.00 History Review Books

• Barron’s Blue Review for Global History 2nd Edition (Cover is worn, Original Price: $12.98) Price: $6.00

• Barron’s AP European History (Written in, Original Price: $18.41) Price: $9.00

• REA AP European History with Software (Brand New Condition, Original Price: $32.53) Price: $16.25

• Princeton Review United States History (Brand New Condition, Origi-nal Price: $16.24 Price: $8.10

• Understanding American Government (Brand New Condition, Original Price: $16.24) Price: $8.10

Vocabulary Review Books

• Vocabulary Cartoons for SAT (Brand New Condition, Original Price: $14.07) Price: $7.00

Math Review Books

• Princeton Review: Math B Regents (Brand New Condition, Original Price: $16.24) Price: $8.10

• Barron’s SAT II Math IC (Brand New Condition w/ Transparent Pro-tective Covering; Original Price: $15.15) Price: $7.50

• Amsco Reviewing Integrated Math Course I with Answer Key (Brand New Condition (Brand New, Original: $20.00) Price: $10.00

• Amsco Reviewing Integrated Math Course II with Answer Key (Brand New Condition (Brand New, Original: $20.00) Price: $10.00

New SAT Review Books

• McGraw Hill SAT 2400 to Master Verbal (Brand New Condition, Original Price: $20.58) Price: $10.30

• Rocket Review Revolution New SAT with CD (Brand New Con-dition; Original Price: $32.53) Price: $16.25

New ACT Review Books

• The Real ACT Prep Guide (Brand New Condition; Original Price: $21.67 w/ tax) Price: $10.80

For more information, contact Winnie Lee at

[email protected] 917-582-0796

Do you want to earn some money?

Are you desperate to get rid of those review books that you will never open again?

The Stuyvesant Standard is now introducing new section– Sell Your Review Books, at the affordable and cheap introductory rate of 3 per-cent of the selling price, you can advertise your review books to not only

the student community at Stuyvesant High School, but also to parents, teachers, the surrounding Tribeca area. An email with your books listed

will also be sent to The Standard’s web group.

Interested? Email The Chief Finacial Officer, at [email protected] with your Name, ID, contact info, and list of books with prices and

conditions the books are in that you want to sell.

Regents Review Books • Barron’s Chemistry Regents Review with Red Book (Brand New,

Original Price: around $21.00) Price: $14.00 • Barron’s Biology Regents Review with Red Book (Used only blue

book; Original Price: around $20) Price: $9.00 • Princeton Review: Regents Review for Living Environment (Biology)

(Brand New, Never Used, Original Price: $14.95) Price: $8.00

• Regents Red Chemistry Book (Hardly used, Original Price: $6.95) Price: $3.00

• Regents Red Math A Book (Brand New, Original Price: $6.95) Price: $2.00

• Regents Red Math A Book (Brand New, Original Price: $6.95) Price: $2.00

AP Review Books • Barron’s AP United States History Review (Brand New Condition but

used tab to separate appendix from rest of book; Original Price: $16.95 w/ tax) Price: $12.00

• Barron’s AP European History (Written in; Original Price: $16.95 w/ tax) Price: $7

• Barron’s AP Chemistry (Written in; Original Price: $16.95) Price: $8.00

• REA’s AP Chemistry (Never used, but dropped on floor once; Original Price: $18.95 plus tax) Price: $13.00

• Barron’s AP European History (Written in, Original Price: $18.41) Price: $9.00

• Barron’s English Literature and Composition (Never Used; Original Price: $16.95) Price: $13.00

SAT II Books

• Barron’s World History SAT II (Written in, Original Price: $14.95) Price: $5.00

• Barron’s Biology E/M SAT II (Written in , Original Price: $14.95) Price: $5.00

Contact Fanny Tang at [email protected]

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD June 2, 2006 OPINIONS/ LITERARY Page 11

Critical Lens: A Column Dedicated to Your Opinions Today's Model Students


my family, but not that much. I actually enjoy learning, but not necessarily in school. Grades are just an assessment of your knowl-edge. If you enjoy your courses, it is much easier to retain the mate-rial. Even when I don’t like my classes, I can still push myself to work. Why? How? Stuyvesant provides a wonderful learning environment. If I do not take full advantage of it, I am not being fair to myself. If I don’t take cal-culus now, when will I take it? I am depriving myself of an oppor-tunity, an opportunity to get it

over with as soon as possible. Right now, my goal in school

is to learn as much as I can. Whether it’s volleyball or Span-ish, I try to absorb everything. Instead of partying, I am spending my Friday nights doing organic chemistry, so that 10 years from now, I’ll be the one partying while others are still struggling with calculus in college. There will always be time for fun. After all, I’m Chinese. ◙

Alvis Yuen wants your opinions. Please send your opinions on this issue’s article to him via e-mail at [email protected]”

To My Mother BY EILEEN CHANG STAFF WRITER

The sun rises on the other side, to light the golden fields. Nurturing the infant buds, and all the fruit it yields

And when early fall comes great success, The sun has carried through.

And when I become great someday, I’d owe it all to you.

Nature’s Wonders BY STEPHANIE TAM STAFF WRITER

Nature has many wonders and surprises too

There is no end to what nature can do It might rain or it might snow

Nature will always be unpredictable Flowers bloom then wither away

As if they were expressing dismay Animals can be wild or tame

Making us play a guessing game The sun stays out longer in the spring

The birds chirp and come closer to take wing

Paranoia BY CAROLINE HUGH STAFF WRITER

The first thing she saw was the slanted window shade. Na-

talia had always kept the window shade horizontally, parallel to the floor and ceiling. She did not open the windows before she left home. The air was chilly and the heat cost too much to waste. She tried the door. It clicked but did not open. She stood on the front porch, her shoulders in their usual habit of sagging, her black Macy’s bag yanking down at her right arm like a bur-densome child. The biting wind whipped her hair around her face. She narrowed her eyes but did not see.

Someone was watching her. Natalia looked all around. Was

it simply paranoia? The usual old man across the street did a Charlie Brown on his rocking chair. Whenever she walked by him, he checked out her rear. She just pretended not to know. It couldn't be him, though. He had a housekeeper, a wheelchair, an occasionally visiting daughter who looked butch in her mascu-line clothes and military-style hair. She always came in her beat-up sedan. Middle-aged, and alone. He had all the tools but no means to move.

I can't leave my bag here either. She carefully walked down

her brick staircase. No wandering glass or broken window from what she could see in the driveway. She didn't dare walk to her backyard.

Natalia stayed still. The only measurement of time she could

depend on was the number of times her hair got into her eyes. Black lines crossed her vision sometimes while questioning nee-dles poked at her eyeballs. The cycle of dryness and eye-watering. The effort to minimize blinking. She thought she saw her tulips move against the wind. She thought she heard her gate bang. The longer she stayed, the harder it was to move. If I stayed here forever...

Forever got her going. Forever was what she could not bear.

Forever was the length and depth of suspense she had to deal with. She waited until she heard no wheels passing by, then sprinted across the street.

The pervert blinked. His shriveled hands propped against his

belly, on top of his crotch. His eyes rolled down to her. ”Uh. Hello... sir. Did you see anyone enter my house?”

China: Source of Deceit Continued from Page 9

you came back from the West, you were expected to come up with something spectacular. Al-though he is a bright man, this pressure may have forced Chen Jin to lie about his success. The shocking news of a breakthrough may have also made the nation oblivious and fail to question the authenticity of the research.

If competition wasn’t the way it was today in China, Chen Jin might have made his own set

of computer chips at his own pace. Then again, without pres-sure spurring the scientists, there wouldn’t have been as many ac-complishments as there are today. It is sad to see how the figurehead of Chinese technology was a fraud. But what’s even sadder is what Chinese scientists would do to achieve the overambitious goals set by the government. ◙

Page 12 June 2, 2006 LITERARY/ PUZZLES THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

Sudoku BY JEFFREY LIAW PUZZLE COLUMNIST

Cryptogram BY JEFFREY LIAW PUZZLE COLUMNIST

TSIVWQ-RVLR BNPXRNQ TSQM-QVLLNH TSILUN LMO AWQ TSYNIVUNJ. TSLLUCIL, TSOZ QWZN, TSTVBJS PUJW WAANQNH.

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, many students

need some inspiration. The following quotes were selected to help you find motivation to accomplish your goals and succeed in your future endeavors. Success and Goals “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”-Les Brown “Apparent failure may hold in its rough shell the germs of a success that will blossom in time, and bear fruit throughout eternity.” - Fran-ces E. W. Harper

Honesty and Rightfulness “The time is always right to do what is right.” - Martin Luther King Jr. “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” - George Washington

Friendship “Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own ac-cord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.” - Samuel Johnson “Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there. You've got a friend.” - Carole King “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” -Aristotle

The Future “After all, tomorrow is another day.” From “Gone With the Wind” -Margaret Mitchell “Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.” - Edgar Cayce

Inspirational Quotes! COMPILED BY JENNIFER SCHLESINGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Crossword BY JEFFREY LIAW PUZZLE COLUMNIST

1 2 4

6 5 1 7

3 2

3 5

2 5

4 9

3 6

4 9 6 5

7 2 3

Across

2 Compund with -COOH 6 Computer Program that prowls the internet looking for publicly accessible resources 7 Wiesel's Masterpiece 10 A stiff cap with ridges across the crown; worn by the Catholic Clergy 12 Rubbing Alchohol 13 Moved by Air 15 A solid suspended in gas 18 Aimed at the head 20 Command imputting device 22 A material made of cellulose pulp 23 Music playing device 24 Sponsor 25 Expulsion 29 Law Enforcement agency of heinous crimes 31 Sport of fist-fighting 32 To make up for 35 An output device that prints the re-sults of data processing 36 Homer's Artist and CreatoR 39 Compressed air of can 41 File compressing format 42 Edged tool 43 Hand tool for fastening devices 44 Container for dry foods 45 Shakespearean play 46 Timepiece

Down

1 Device for converting sound waves into electrical energy 3 In between a suspension and a solution 4 Tool for mixing tool 5 Ancestor of all Indo-European lan-guages 8 Brain Condition 9 To make smaller 11 Organized search for a fugitive 14 Played Sirius Black 16 Hormone secreted by the pituitary gland 17 Flavored sugary food 18 Containing H and C 19 Magnetic Disk used to store data or programs for a microcomputer 21 A republic in north central Europe established by the Soviet Union 22 Distorted sensory perceptions 27 Center for written works 28 Luggage 30 Agent that was working during Viet-nam 31 Field Glasses 32 Product made from grain 33 Language made of two symbols 34 Toxins or Bacterium used in biologi-cal warfare 37 Innocuous Prescription 38 Protection against hazardous air 40 A golf shot that curves to the right

WORD BANK

Many authors have written entertainingly about time travel but what would actually happen if you could be taken out of time for, say, five seconds and then returned to exactly the same spot?

Riddle BY JEFFREY LIAW PUZZLE COLUMNIST

The Standard would like to congratulate Jeffrey Liaw and welcome him as our

second Puzzle Columnist.

Last Issue’s Solutions Cryptogram

Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? - Cicero

Invisibility: A Possible Reality

BY KENNETH LAM STAFF WRITER

3 1 5 7 8 9 2 4 6

8 6 7 3 4 2 1 5 9

9 4 2 6 1 5 8 7 3

6 3 8 5 9 1 4 2 7

1 2 4 8 7 6 3 9 5

7 5 9 4 2 3 6 1 8

4 7 1 9 3 8 5 6 2

5 9 3 2 6 4 7 8 1 2 8 6 1 5 7 9 3 4

Invisibi l i ty has a lways seemed something straight out of science fiction novels or the latest Harry Potter installment. How-ever, as with so many prior seem-ing impossibilities, it may soon be possible.

When light hits an object that is the same color as it, it is re-flected. The human eye then processes the light reflected into the cornea and turns it into the images that humans see. This entire process hinges on the fact that light is bounced off an object. If light is absorbed, then the ob-ject seems darker in color. So what happens when light is nei-ther reflected nor absorbed? The answer lies in metamaterials.

Metamaterials are synthetic materials that have the ability to bend light in any desired direc-

tion. A typical object can refract light to a certain degree. How-ever, with metamaterials, this refraction degree is expanded to theoretically the maximum that it can reach. Metamaterials are also known as left-handed materials, and were first created by Profes-sor J.B. Pendry in 1999. Metama-terials do not exist naturally, and can only be found inside a lab. In addition, the base units of these left handed substances do not consist of typical atoms, but rather wires or split-ring resona-tors.

A split-ring resonator is a special synthetic unit consisting of two rings, one around the other. They are used in metama-terials to create a current when exposed to a magnetic field. These currents are contained within the ring. As a result, the ring will vibrate rapidly in place, creating a resonance effect. A variation of the split-ring resona-tor is one in which the inner ring is perpendicular to the outer ring, and is called a crossed split-ring resonator. In metamaterials, the split-ring resonators are placed in a cubical lattice.

The refraction property of left-handed materials is the cor-nerstone of a theorized invisibility device. Although an invisibility device has only been seen in sci-ence fiction and fantasy, a team of scientists from the United States and England theorized that such a device could be built using meta-materials. This device would use the refracting abilities of left-handed materials in order to bend light so that it would go around the subject of the invisibility de-


This camocloak is a sign of what is yet to come in invisibility-cloak technology

TOMORROW’S TECHNOLOGY TODAY

LIGO, the Underground Observatory

BY MOTTAQUI AL-KARI COLUMNIST

In September 1915, Albert Einstein published a three page paper which added the elements of gravity and acceleration into his first paper on special relativ-ity, which dealt with time and motion. He established the idea of space-time, a four dimensional manifold which is curved by the presence of mass, energy, or both. Einstein asserted that gravity is the disturbance created in space-time by the system of mass and energy. If there is more mass and energy in the system, the distur-bance in space-time will be greater, and thus force of gravity of that system will be greater.

Imagine now, that a large system of mass and energy sud-denly moved, or more realistically speaking began orbiting a more

massive system. When this hap-pens, it is said that space-time ripples outward the way a water surface will ripple if something is dropped on its surface. These hypothetical ripples are called gravitational waves.

Proof of these hypothetical gravity waves came in 1974, when Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse discovered a pair of orbit-ing neutron stars emitting gravita-tional waves. This discovery, however, was simply a mathe-matical discovery which was de-termined by studying pulses of radio waves that one of the neu-tron stars emitted. The sole pur-pose of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO for short, is to directly detect gravitational waves that are the result of collisions of gargan-tuan systems of matter in a 300


Invisibility has always seemed something straight out of science-fiction novels or the

latest Harry Potter installment. However, as with so many prior seemingly impossibilities,

this may soon be possible.

Nextfest

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD June 2, 2006 PUZZLES/ SCIENCE/ LITERARY Page 13

Summer Concert Guide

BY JENNY HUANG STAFF WRITER

Page 14 June 2, 2006 SCIENCE/A&E THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

Tomorrow’s Technology Today LIGO, the Underground Observatory


million light-year radius. In the 1990’s, the National

Science Foundation began work for the two LIGO observatories. The LIGO Livingston Observa-tory is located in Livingston, Lou-isiana, and the LIGO Hanford Observatory is located in Han-ford, Washington. When viewed from the top, LIGO looks like a giant “L” with each arm being about 2.5 miles long. The two arms create a 90 degree angle when they intersect.

A laser is beamed at the point where the two arms of the “L” intersect, where the beam is split into two beams, each going to-wards one of the arms. A mirror which is semi-reflective allows the beams to enter the arms. The beam then travels through the arm to a second mirror and continues to bounce back and forth about fifty times before returning to the beam splitter through the partially reflective mirror. Since both beams are of equal energy and travel the same distance between the mirrors, they merge are return to the laser when they travel back towards the beam splitter.

A gravitational wave will

alter the space-time in the local area and cause a change of length in one or both of the arms. This will break the perfect synchroni-zation of the laser beams and the

beams will not merge back to the original beam. This break of har-mony will cause one of the beams to travel through the beam splitter to a special area of LIGO which contains photodiodes that can be used to analyze the strength and characteristics of the wave or waves.

Theoretically speaking, a

gravitational wave that originates a few million light years away will probably cause the laser beams to distort a distance of ap-proximately one thousandth of the

size of a proton. Hence, LIGO will be able to detect waves which were spawned by collisions of two black holes; any other massive collision could not pro-duce waves strong enough to be detected at LIGO.

On a scientific basis, it is believed that LIGO will eventu-ally prove or reaffirm many scien-

tific theories. In the area of phys-ics, LIGO will assert the exis-tence of gravitational waves, test the prediction of general relativity that these waves travel at the speed of light, and establish the existence of the graviton, a hypo-thetical fundamental particle of gravity which is believed to have a mass of zero. It will also prove general relativity’s theory that the graviton has twice the spin of the photon, the forces the waves exert on matter are perpendicular to the wave’s direction of travel, and that black holes really do exist. In the realm of astronomy, scien-tists hope that LIGO will provide data on the merging of two neu-tron stars, the collapse of newly merged neutron stars into black holes, the birth of neutron stars from supernovas, the pulsation and spin of newly born neutron stars, and “star quakes”, which are basically earthquakes in neu-tron stars.

LIGO can be thought of as the next generation of observato-ries. It uses innovation to deliver precise data over a wide scope of topics which will ultimately lead us to a greater knowledge of the world around us, and ultimately, to a greater understanding of our-selves. ◙

Invisibility: A Possible Reality vice. The result is that none of the light gets reflected or ab-sorbed; rather, it is refracted around the subject, and then con-tinues to travel in the direction it was traveling in before refraction. Thus, the eye does not sense any absence of light or any reflection of light, and the subject becomes invisible to the human eye. The subject is simply in its own pocket in space into which light does not enter.

Unfortunately, such a device

is still at best theoretical, as more research needs to be done before such an idea can be made a reality. Projects such as this one are already in the works, and prototype devices are potentially down the road. In addition, the invisibility device is not going to be a light one. Instead, a large thick device that can be worn like a cloak is expected. The future for invisibility devices is easily visible. Just wait and see. ◙

This diagram demonstrates how LIGO works.

ligo.caltech.edu


The air is heavy and humid; your skin is sticking to the leather. Exhaustion is creeping into your veins and your brain is on “rot mode.” That’s right, sum-mer is finally here! So you’re staying home this vacation and you think that you have nothing to do because you’re broke. Well, that’s where you’re wrong! Sum-mer is the season of amazing free

outdoor concerts, and if you’re in the city at this time of the year, you have no excuse to miss out on delicious ear candy! Here are some of the highlights of this summer’s music fests. Siren Music Festival Various Artists July 15, noon

Get ready for the Village Continued on Page 15

The crowd at the Siren Music Festival.

AD

Your School, Your World, Your News Are all just a short click away. Come visit our website.

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

WWW.STUYSTANDARD.ORG

Porcys.com

The Virgin Wilderness BY TINA LIU STAFF WRITER

Stuy Magic: Hitmen Beat Madison


the ball to first to appeal, the run-ner should be safe. The umpires then reversed their call and al-lowed the runner to take second base. Stuyvesant played the rest of the game under protest, mean-ing that if they were to lose this play would be subject to review. The Hitmen gave up four runs in the seventh inning to lose 4-3.

However, their protest was granted, and the game was reset to the point immediately after the incident took place. The Hitmen refused to blow the lead for a sec-ond time Senior Tyler Newhouse only allowed one run, and Stuyve-sant went on to win the game 4-1. That makes them the lowest seed entering the second round of play.

Their next game was not an easy one. Stuyvesant traveled to Bayside to take on the Commo-dores. Though the Commodores are seeded 23rd, they feature one of the best pitchers in the city with Anthony Velazquez. Ve-lazquez, a junior, became the first person in high school history to throw two consecutive perfect

games, accomplishing the feat versus John Bowne and Flushing earlier this season. The Hitmen caught a break, however, as Ve-lazquez started the first round game for Bayside and was not available to pitch. Even though he was not available, the Hitmen had a tough matchup, where their pitching and strong defense would have been the key to success.

The Hitmen did not get off to a strong start. They quickly went down 5-0 after only two innings of play. The offense got going with a run in the third inning and one in the fifth, but Bayside scored two in the bottom of the fifth to seemingly put the game out of reach at 7-2.

However, the Hitmen didn’t quit. They scored another run in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 7-3, and then scored another four runs in the seventh to tie the game at 7-7. However, Stuyvesant could not send the game into ex-tra innings, as Bayside scored a run in the bottom of the inning to win the game 8-7. ◙

Accompanied by soulful and divine folk music, the movie “ K e ke x i l i : M o u n t a i n P a -trol” (2004), takes you directly into the magical land of Tibet. With the warm welcome from the playful Tibetan children and the mesmerizing smile of the Tibetan girl, one might think one has set foot in paradise. But beneath the beauty, there lie the hidden poachers bloodthirsty for the wool of the antelope. Because of the harsh local economic condi-tions, the impoverished poachers betray their motherland and sell their consciences to the insatiable desires of the Western market for the exotic pashmina wool.

While watching this film, one can’t help but be moved by the inexhaustible spirit of the brave local men in their fervent battle against evil. They are willing to sacrifice their flesh and blood for the price of innocence. Underfi-nanced and lacking governmental support, a local volunteer group, led by the leader RiTai (Duo Bu-jie), struggles daily to defend the pristine and fragile region of Kekexili, a remote part of Tibet. Aside from the ceaseless noctur-nal hunting for the poachers, death is a constant companion in the adverse environment. The pitiful volunteers can die from just about anything: dehydration, quicksand, high-altitude sickness, car accidents, and freezing. Every goodbye they have with their families might just be the last. With help from the Beijing re-porter Ga Yu (Qi Liang), the pub-lic begins to pay more attention to

this little-known region and to question how involved the gov-ernment is in saving the endan-gered species.

The director, Lu Chuan, is a master at combining good and evil, creating a brutal yet beauti-ful realism and blurring the strict distinction between morality and corruption. The not-so-subtle so-cial context behind this film pre-sents a crucial problem that faces this society: what must humanity do to save Mother Nature?

Although many of the mem-bers of the cast are amateur Ti-betan actors, their amateurism brings candidness to their per-formances. Set up like a semi-documentary, this movie is shot on location in Kekexili. The scen-ery of the film is so heavenly that one remains hypnotized through-out. ◙

Summer Concert Guide Voice’s sixth annual Siren Music Festival, taking place on two stages at Brooklyn’s Coney Island Beach. Lineups mainly comprise indie bands on the rise. Popular bands that have previously played at Siren include The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Hot Hot Heat and Death Cab for Cutie. This year’s lineup includes She Wants Revenge, Stars, Art Brut, Tapes ‘N Tapes, The Stills, The Cribs and many more bands that have yet to be announced. See them at Siren and be able to say that you heard them before they went mainstream. Be ad-vised: nine hours of baking in the sun will require a great deal of sun block.

Central Park Summer Stage Feist, Buck 65 and Jason Collett June 25, 3 p.m.

So you think Canada is just hockey and maple leaves, eh? Well, this year’s Summer Stage is shining light on three of Canada’s most talented musicians. Female singer and songwriter Feist, a member of the prolific Toronto band Broken Social Scene, deliv-ers jazzy vocals set to folk music. Buck 65 is an up-and-coming hip-hop artist and turntablist. His mu-sic is considered to be an avant-garde movement in underground hip hop, combining elements of blues and electronica with hip-hop sound. In addition to Feist, fellow BSS member Jason Collett is also performing as a solo artist at Canada Day. His sound con-sists of inventive, poppy country set to an appropriately slow pace, perfect for the long dog days of summer. Seaport Music Festival Sugar Hill Gang July 20, 6 p.m.

Rap pioneers Sugar Hill Gang gave birth to hip-hop in 1979, with the hit single “Rapper’s De-light.” Their old school sound constitutes party-starting beats with ridiculously fun lyrics. There is little doubt that hip-hop’s great-est entertainers will get the crowd moving on Pier 17.

A movie poster of the Tibetan film


Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with DC Snipers August 25, 6 p.m.

Hailing from Washington, D.C., Ted Leo and the Pharma-cists is mainly a punk band, mix-ing in genres of folk and soul. The music is upbeat and dance-worthy, with passionate but in-conspicuous social and political messages. Their live perform-ances are always fun and ener-

getic, so put your dancing shoes on and don’t mind the sweat-drenched hipsters around you.

Don’t miss out on these free and incredible concerts! Start marking those calendars and pre-pare for a musically memorable summer! ◙

Summer Stage fans await performers. sum

merstage.org

The Sugar Hill Gang (left) and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with DC Snipers (right) are among artists who will perform at the Seaport Music Festival.

seaportmusicfestival.com

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD June 2, 2006 A&E/ SPORTS Page 15

Obadoba.de

THE SPORTS BEAT Are Athletes Above the Law?

BY ERIC MAYO SPORTS EDITOR

Stuy Magic: Hitmen Beat Madison

BY ERIC MAYO SPORTS EDITOR

You’ve probably heard of the cliché “Celebrities are above the law.” In this great American jus-tice system, you would hope that this is not true. Each citizen is granted rights and everyone is held to an equal standard under those rights. Think again.

A recent “USA Today” study studied 40 professional athletes who were sentenced to commu-nity service in the last six years. In 24 out of the 28 cases in which the community service could be determined, the community ser-vice didn’t serve any community. Only four of the 40 participated in the back-breaking work that most non-celebrities get as their com-munity service, such as picking up trash along the highway or working at a shelter.

Take Kurt Busch, NASCAR driver, for example. In November 2005, Busch was pulled over by the cops. He was rude to them and failed to take a breathalyzer test at the scene. Though the drunk driv-ing charges were later dropped, Busch was still charged with speeding, to which he pleaded no

contest. His sentence was 50 hours of community service and a $580 fine, chump change for a multimillion dollar athlete.

One of his 50 hours of “community” service was throw-ing out the first pitch at an Ari-

The Hitmen had a rockier road than usual to make their 10th straight playoff appearance. Though they started off by win-ning their first two league games, they dropped the next two before pulling off a six-game winning streak in late April. As of late, the team had been faltering, losing three out of their last four games.

However, most of the losses were close. In their six losses, four were decided within three runs or less. Poor hitting contrib-uted to these close games, but they didn’t faze the Hitmen. They

finished second in the Manhattan West division, earning the 26th seed out of 32 in the PSAL A division playoffs. Their opponent was James Madison. Madison finished 14-2 in the regular sea-son, and was led by pitchers Jo-seph Watroba and Brian Fried-man. Both were in the top 25 in PSAL A in earned run average and wins, the two biggest pitching categories.

The game started off well for Stuyvesant as they jumped off to an early 3-0 lead. Junior Wes Gil-bert took command of the game, shutting down the Madison hit-ters. The game got interesting in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out in the sixth, Gilbert surrendered a double to Madison. According to sophomore catcher Scott Ritter, the runner missed first base on his way to second. The Hitmen appealed to first, and the batter was called out. How-ever, Coach Vincent Caiazza of Madison argued that since the Hitmen did not physically throw


The Stuyvesant Hitmen.

psal.org

zona Diamondbacks game. An-other was donating $10,000 to a Little League group in Arizona for new equipment. Yet more time of his community service was spent recording public ser-vice announcements with the

sheriff. No one can argue the fact that

athletes usually get off easy in criminal proceedings. Any charge is usually given a plea deal, and even then, the judge lets the ath-lete off with his community ser-vice. No athlete is above the law, and the same punishments that would be given if a regular person broke the law should be given to athletes.

The problem doesn’t even lie with the fact athletes get off easy with community service. It’s that community service should serve the common people, and not serve sport’s best interest. I’m all for Busch throwing out a first pitch at a ballgame, but how can that equate to real community service? It doesn’t.

The criminal justice system might not always be fair, and preferential treatment as well as high-powered lawyers for traffic tickets will always be a given. The part that judges can control, however, is the sentencing. Sen-tence athletes to real community service. The community will benefit, and most importantly, the athlete will benefit as well. ◙

Kurt Busch doing his "community service."

usa t

oday

.com

Page 16 June 2, 2006 SPORTS THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

Documents

Volume 5 Issue 19