Given by Science Olympiad
Science Intel Science Talent Search:
Olympiad at States
News/5
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
TO THE COMMUNITIES OF STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL, TRIBECA, AND BATTERY PARK CITY
“Your School, Your World—Your News” Visit us at: www.stuystandard.org
SING! Is an annual production put on
by Stuyvesant students. There are three
competing groups: seniors, juniors,
and sophomores and freshman.
Policy Changes in Stuy
by Jennifer Schlesinger,
editor in chief
In recent weeks, there have
been some changes in Stuyvesant
High School’s administrative poli-
cies. Unfortunately, for many of
these changes proper notification
was not been given out and reasons
behind the change are unknown.
The Student Union (SU) insti-
tuted a new policy that all Sing!
tickets had to be paid for with
checks. No concrete reason for the
new policy has been given, but it
has been suggested that the ad-
ministration thought checks were
safer because they could not be
stolen as easily as cash. Unfortu-
nately, proper notification of the
change was not given to ticket
purchasers. Up to last year, tickets
could be paid for either in cash or
with a check. Both the ticket-
buying website, www.singtix.com,
and the Class of 2008’s website,
www.stuy08.com failed to mention
this at first. Later, the Class of
2008’s website was changed to
Mysapce? Facebook?
2007 Competition
News/3
SING! Review
by Jerry Wang, staff writer
On Friday, March 23, as the
curtain was pulled back to reveal
the first production of the eve-
ning, Senior SING, the audience
were awed by the bright and crea-
tive set. The story revolved
around a terrorist group made up
of vegetables threatening to de-
stroy King Burger’s land and its
inhabitants. The cast was amazing
and gave great performances. The
costume crew did a fantastic job
making the various attires ranging
from a burger costume to a pickle
getup. All the dance crews were
spectacular. The dancers were in
sync and the band played some
great tunes. Personal favorites
based on the audiences’ claps
were Indian dance, Irish dance,
and Swing. Overall, the story was
creative with funny jokes in be-
tween, a spectacular cast, and
great dance crews.
Next up was Soph-Frosh
SING! and based on reviews of
the performance on Wednesday,
many did not expect to be enjoy-
reflect the new policy.
The spring college trip has
been cancelled. It was supposed to
allow students to visit colleges in
the Mid-Atlantic region. The can-
cellation was announced in the
Parents Association (PA) Bulletin
and on the Class of ’08 website,
where reasons were given. Stuyve-
sant Principal, Stanley Teitel, had
delegated the responsibility of col-
lege trips to Eleanor Archie, the
Assistant Principal of Pupil Af-
fairs. She has been sick and re-
cently returned to Stuyvesant,
leaving little time for planning.
Moreover, the dates set for the trip
were during spring break. Because
the dates contained a religious
holiday and were when many go
on vacation, there were concerns
over getting enough chaperones.
Furthermore, because of the recent
addition of guidance counselors,
Archie has more responsibilities.
The Junior President, Michelle
POLICY continues on page 3
Teen Obe-
The Perils of Online Friends
Op-Ed/6
ing the next hour. However, de-
spite the criticisms, the produc-
tion was tolerable. The story cen-
tered on a bunch of prisoners who
broke out of jail to run away to
Russia. The cast was funny and
believable enough but the set on
the other hand, encountered many
problems. A prop fell during the
middle of a scene,
the microphone
“Overall, it could be The Junior pro-
stopped working,
forcing us to strain
seen that all grades
to hear the chorus had given tremen-
sing during the Jazz
dous amounts of ef-
dance, and com-
pared with the other
fort into one of the
productions, the largest productions.” the big paper
scenery fell short of
outstanding. All the
dance crews did fairly well, with
the exception of the Step crew
and the Indian dance crew. The
Step crew was amazing and the
incorporation of a battle between
the dancers was a fresh and very
trendy idea. Even without music,
they were unbelievably great and
enjoyable. However, the same
could not be said of the Indian
Interview with Naomi Hinchen
by Allen Wang, staff writer
Naomi Hinchen, a senior at
Stuyvesant High School, was
recently a contestant on the game
show Jeopardy. Hinchen, as well
as 14 other teens from across the
nation, participated in the annual
Teen Jeopardy tournament. After
coming from behind to win her
quarterfinal match, Hinchen lost in
the semifinals to eventual
champion David Walter of
Wilmington, Delaware. Here, she
shares with us her thoughts about
this event.
The Stuyvesant Standard: What
did you do to prepare for the
show? Any specifics?
Naomi: I didn't do any sort of
formal preparation at all; I
figured that cramming wasn’t
going to help right before the
show, and I wouldn’t have known
what to study anyway. But my
parents made sure that I knew the
name of the new U.N. Secretary
General, Ban Ki-Moon, in case it
sity
Science/8
March 29, 2007
VOL. 6, No. 12
dance. The dancers were not in
sync, the music was not even of
Indian culture, and the boys
looked like they would rather be
scrubbing toilets. However, even
though the production only lasted
forty five minutes instead of the
normal hour, compared to last
years’ Soph Frosh, this one was
not so bad.
duction was last
but certainly not
least. The scen-
ery with the
clown drawn
background and
mashay hand
was very well
done. The story centered on one
circus’s competition with another
circus that just moved into town.
The cast did a wonderful job and
the dancing was amazing. Favor-
ites included but were not limited
INTERVIEW continues on
page 2
came up.
TSS: Were there any particular
q u e s t i o n t h a t yo u fo u n d
interesting during the show?
Naomi: There was one where they
showed a map of Australia, and
from seeing the map you would
know the answer without even
reading the clue. On the show,
there’s a pause as we all look at it
and think, “That’s way too easy. It
must be a trick question.” You
don't really notice the pause as
much when it’s on TV, but I’m
sure the entire studio audience was
wondering why no one rang in
sooner.
TSS: What do you think you
gained from this experience? What
are your plans in the future in
terms of game shows, contests and
etc.?
Naomi: The best thing that I
gained from the experience was
making friends with the other con-
testants. I don’t have any specific
INTERVIEW continues on
page 2
2 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 NEWS

EDITORIAL
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
Founded 2001
 

THE STUDENT UNION

 

“Your School, Your World—Your News”

Earlier this year, we reported on the inconsistencies at Student Union
Executive Leadership Team budget meetings. The right people failed to attend; other people voted in
their place. Minutes from the meeting could not be produced, and
attendance could not be provided. We’re happy to say that, almost three
DR. JOHN NIKOL FACULTY ADVISER
JENNIFER SCHLESINGER EDITOR IN CHIEF months later, some of our concerns are finally being looked into.
DEREK WENG MANAGING EDITOR We applaud President George Zisiadis’s decision to make changes
KHOI NGUYEN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER in his second-term cabinet. Just because were appointed once does not
FANNY TANG LAYOUT EDITOR mean that they are automatically guaranteed the same job again,
DANNY ZHU COPY CHIEF especially if they fail at their basic duties, such as attending meetings.
JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR However, two developments trouble us. For one, nowhere in the Student
PRISCILLA MELO OPINIONS EDITOR Union’s constitution does it say that appointments are made on a term-
EMMA RABINOVICH ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR by-term basis. Secondly, it was mentioned that the lone attendance file
ERIC MAYO SPORTS EDITOR
JOSEPH KRUTOV SCIENCE EDITOR
was on a hard drive that became corrupted. Valuable files such as these
HANFORD CHIU BUSINESS EDITOR should be backed up. The Student Union cannot risk losing files due to a
LADA KUKUY LITERARY EDITOR computer crash.
DANNY ZHU WEBMASTER We also applaud the Student Union’s decision to look into its
BENNETT HONG DIRECTOR OF PHOTOJOURNALISM constitution. We have reported on many of the flaws that the document
DANIEL EGERS (‘03) FOUNDER possesses, and a subcommittee is a step in the right direction. The
ERNEST BASKIN (‘04) EDITOR EMERITUS subcommittee should take a look at Issues 6 and 8 as a starting point for
discussion.
Publication Stuyvesant is lucky to have a Student Union so dedicated to its
student body, something which the general population should take
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD is a nonprofit and nonpartisan publication pro- greater advantage of. By fixing the flaws in the budget process as well as
duced by the students of Stuyvesant High School. outlining the specific duties of each officer, the Student Union can fulfill
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD distributes 2,000 free copies on a bi-weekly its duty as the representatives of the student body.
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
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. INTERVIEW many times when I didn't get a
continued from page 1 question because I couldn’t ring in
Copyright ©2006 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD soon enough. Also, I would have
plans to go on other game shows thought over my wagers a little
Contact Us — in fact, I’m forbidden to go on more, because I was really terrible
at wagering. But other than that, it
any others for six months — but I
Please direct all correspondence to: was luck of the draw. In the first
was recently in the National Vo-
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD cabulary Champi- round I got a total
345 Chambers Street of $2800 for
onship, though I
New York, NY 10282-1000 “The best thing I knowing my car-
didn't win any-
readers@stuystandard.org toons, and in the
thing. gained from the
Find us on the web at www.stuystandard.org second round I
TSS: You said
“making friends” experience was kne w I was
Advertising was the best thing. making friends screwed when I
If you would like to advertise in THE STUYVESANT STANDARD, please e-mail Can you describe looked up and the
with the other last two categories
advertising@stuystandard.org to request an advertisement form. We offer that a bit?
a broad range of options including full color capability for your advertis- Naomi: It was contestants” were Biology and
ing needs. really great to French. And then
Naomi Hinchen
meet so many in- the next group got
Jeopardy Contestant
teresting people, a category where
Subscription and we had a lot of they could only
fun hanging out together before, answer two of the five clues, and I
during and after the taping. After- knew every single one.
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD wards there were a few jokes about TSS: How did you feel losing in
SUBSCRIBE TODAY the outcome, such as when we the semifinals? What were your
1 YEAR — $15 were playing Apples to Apples and overall reactions?
Delivery Information David played a card that said “My Naomi: I was disappointed, but
Name:______________________________________________ Bank Account,” but there were no not so much because I lost as
Address:____________________________________________ hard feelings about who beat because I didn’t do better. But then
___________________________________________________ whom. Frank was on the next show and
Billing Information TSS: You played extremely well just barely lost because he
Please circle your choices below: during the quarterfinals, but not as miscalculated his wager, and I
Check Money Order Cash well during the semifinals. If you think that’s a much worse situation
Billing Address:______________________________________ were to done something differently to be in. If that had been me, I
___________________________________________________ the second time, whether it be pre- would still be kicking myself over
Please cut and mail to THE STUYVESANT STANDARD, 345 Chambers paring or anything if any, what it. At least losing by a lot means
Street, New York, NY 10282-1000 OR send the above informa- would it be? that I don't have to think “If I had
tion to subscription@stuystandard.org. Naomi: Firstly, I would work on just done X, Y and Z I could have
my buzzer reflexes. There were so won.” ◙
 NEWS March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
THE STANDARD NEWS
Intel Science Talent
Search Champion
by Liwei Mao, staff writer was able to split light and use a
camera to record the resulting
Each year, thousands of high spectra. Although there were limits
school students send in their of the inexpensive laser she used
application to the Intel Science as her light source, she could make
Talent Search competition; 300 relatively accurate measurements.
semifinalist and 40 finalists are A senior at Westmore High
chosen of them. This year’s School in Oklahoma City, Mary is
finalist, Mary Masterman, was hoping to enroll at either Stanford
awarded a $100,000 scholarship on or MIT.
March 13 in Washington for John Pardonfrom Chapel Hills
successfully building a home-made High School in North Carolina
spectrograph. won second place
A spectro- and a $75,000
graph is an optical “One spectroscope
scholarship for his
instrument that could cost as mathematics re-
uses the light fre- must as $100,000. search of the un-
quencies emitted folding of simple
by heated particles Mary was able to
closed curves.
to identify mole- build the spectro- Dmitry Vaintrob
cules. A standard was awarded third
spectroscope can
scope at home for
place for his pro-
cost as much as merely $300.” ject in mathemat-
$100,000. Mary ics involving loop
was able to build the spectrograph homology.
at home for merely $300. In total, over 1,700 contestants
“I wanted to build one that entered the competition this year.
was lower-costing so it would be The 40 finalists each received a
available to anyone interested,” personal computer and a scholar-
Mary said. “The most challenging ship of at least $5,000. New York,
part was trying to get it to work.” as in the previous years, had the
According to Mary, the spec- largest number of finalists. Twelve
trograph took her three months to New Yorkers were finalists; none
build and another three months to of them, unfortunately, were from
get working. She found machining Stuyvesant. Two of these students
the parts and aligning the optics to
be the most challenging part of the
project. The end result, however, INTEL CHAMPION
was rewarding. Her spectrograph continues on page 4
Principal Autonomy
Increased
by Jerry Wang, staff writer disparaged. Eric Nadelstern, chief
executive of the school system’s
Power. For centuries, men empowerment initiative was
have fought over it, and people criticized for over two hours.
have died for it. What exactly is Councilmember John Liu believes
meant by power? For kings, it that Nadelstern’s efforts are all talk
means more land; for businessmen, and no action.
it means money, but what does it As Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben
mean for a principal? Mayor used to say, “With power, comes
Bloomberg’s administration is great responsibility.” Schools
planning on giving New York City Chancellor Joel I. Klein tried to
public school principals more reason with the critics by starting a
autonomy starting September. new program called the
However, New York Cit y Achievement Reporting and
lawmakers are condemning the Innovation System which will hold
decision and justifying their principals accountable for their
opinion by stating that there were schools’ results. A five-year, $80
not enough achievements made by million contract with I.B.M. will
principals that deserved additional
authority this year. Those who
AUTONOMY
support the choice are being
continues on page 4
Not the Usual Intel
Finalists
by Hesham Saleh, staff writer
The Intel Science Talent
Search dinner, in which the top 40
finalists were commemorated for
their work, took place on March
13. For the third year in a row,
neither Stuyvesant High School
students nor Bronx High School of
Science students attended.
Although Bronx Science and
Stuyvesant students were the
“expected” finalists for this
prestigious competition, that is no
longer the case, due to an increase
in research programs in most high
schools.
The Intel competition is
spreading
throughout the
nation’s high
schools. Previ-
ously, most
high schools
that competed
in this program
were situated in
New York City,
but this has
changed. Now
there are 24
other h i g h The top 10 finalists of the Intel Science thrilled about that.”
schools that Talent Search 2007.
have finalists
Source: http://www.sciserv.org/sts/index.asp
on the top 40 list. Some of these
schools are just outside the city,
while others are in the Midwest,
such as the Illinois Mathematics
and Science Academy.
POLICY
continued from page 1
Lee, is pushing for a college trip to
the Mid-Atlantic region early next
year in order to make up for the
missed trip.
In response to concerns about
too much homework being given
to students during vacation, a new
policy was but into place. It was
announced on the PA’s website.
The new policy is the product of
collaboration between Teitel, the
Student Leadership Team, and the
teachers. The policy says that
teachers must not give more home-
work than necessary for students to
remember what they have learned.
Furthermore, ample time must be
given to complete any projects
either before or after break so that
students who are unable to work
can still do the assignment. More-
over, no assignments may be given
that mandate visiting places in
New York. The policy is open-
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 3
Why has there been such a drastic
change in finalists over the past
few years? First, New Yorkers
were common finalists because
they had the benefit of the subway
system, which allowed them to
easily travel to laboratories or
hospitals to conduct their research.
But now, the Internet has nearly
eliminated this advantage by
making communication easier.
Second, most rural high schools
have started research programs
designed to motivate and teach
students about scientific studying.
The fact that more students from
different areas are receiving better
educations is outstanding, and has
excited many
teachers and prin-
cipals. Valerie J.
Reidy, principal of
Bronx Science,
said “Am I happy
that our kids aren’t
winning first
prizes? No. But
that it’s traveling
far and wide and
other kids are get-
ting hooked, I’m
Stanley Teitel,
principal of Stuyvesant, expressed
similar feelings. “They are not
INTEL FINALISTS
continues on page 4
ended because of the differences in
classes and teaching style. Any
complaints with the policy should
be addressed to the Assistant Prin-
cipals.
This term, parents were not
given the opportunity to visit on a
school day and see classes. This is
a traditional part of Open School
Week. It took place up to the fall
term of this school year. Unfortu-
nately, very limited notice was
given out, leading many parents to
show up at Stuyvesant. These par-
ents were told by the security
guards that the event was cancelled
and they could not enter the build-
ing. The only notification was a
sentence in the PA’s March Bulle-
tin. Most parents had not yet re-
ceived the bulletin via mail. The
PA did announce to its e-mail list
that the bulletin was up. However,
many parents are not on the mail-
ing list. In general, parents feel that
proper notification should have
been sent out. ◙
4 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
INTEL CHAMPION
continued from page 1
made it to the top ten.
Bronx Fire Worst in 17 Years
by Dennis Ng, staff writer
Catherine Schlingehyde, from
Oyster Bay High School, won On March 7 at 11 p.m., a fire
fourth place for her research in broke out in the Bronx, killing ten
micro-RNA repression pathways. people, nine of whom were
The other New Yorker, Rebecca children. It was the worst fire in
Kaufman, from Croton-on Hudson, New York City in 17 years. After
was fifth place for her medicine ignition, the fire quickly raced
and health project dealing with the through the four-story, multifamily
effects of male hormones in rela- house in the Highbridge section of
tion to sclerosis. Of the top ten the Bronx. The fire raged for
finalists, six were female. Intel nearly two hours before it was
Chairman Craig Barrett said he extinguished by 150 firefighters.
was “heartened by the fact that The severity of the fire was
more women were finalists and top worsened not by the size of the
10 winners this year than in any house, but rather by poor human
year since Intel assumed the title oversight. The fire was most likely
sponsorship in 1998. When I meet caused by a space heater causing
young scientists like Mary, John, the building’s wiring to overheat.
Dmitry and the other Intel STS The building, built in 1901, had
finalists, I know that the future of only one staircase and no fire
American innovation is bright.” ◙ escapes, making it difficult for the
Clinton on the Move for Women Voters
by SangHee Chung, columnist
Source: Yahoo News
While in the race for the
presidency, Democrat Hillary
Rodham Clinton will be attempting
to draw in the majority of voters,
namely women, on her campaign
as the first female president.
“Today, women are a majority
of the voters, a majority of
students in college, and we are a
growing presence in the Congress.
But there are still far too few
women in leadership positions,”
Clinton said at a luncheon in
Emily’s List, an organization
raising mone y for female
candidates favoring abortion
rights.
Clinton hopes that the national
Clinton gives a speech during her government will work toward
campaign. She hopes to win a large equal pay for women. Although
percent of women voters as the first she criticized the Bush
female president of America. administration for failing to keep
AUTONOMY I.B.M. contract, acknowledging
continued from page 1 the complaints of no-bid contracts.
Last year, a $15.6 million no-bid
allow the city to see every contract with consulting firm Alva-
individual student’s progress in rez Marsal was signed. In an effort
school. The program will be to help save money for the admini-
running by September and will stration, Alvarez Marshal advised
give each principal a letter grade a change in bus routes. The ad-
from A to F to show if principals ministration supported the idea,
are meeting the standard education leading to complaints from angry
performance. parents and coun-
Principals who fail
can be removed
“Starting September c i l m e m b e r s .
Councilmen Jack-
from their schools. 2008, even parents son and Garodnick
Starting September can track their both used the inci-
2008, even parents dent as a reason in
can track their
child’s progress us-
rejecting the deci-
child’s progress ing the system” sion to increase
using the system. principals’ auton-
James Liebman, the school system omy. Many council members are
chief’s accountability officer stated upset and concerned that the ad-
that the administration has already ministration chose not to discuss
received 19 bids from major the changes concerning the princi-
technology systems regarding the pals with them and the parents. ◙
occupants to leave. The woman
from the apartment where the fire
started unknowingly ran to the
upper apartments with the door
opened behind her, allowing the
fire to spread more quickly. The
three adults in the house attempted
to put out the fire and made other
phone calls before dialing 911,
which wasted precious time.
Firefighters arrived approximately
three minutes after they were
called and faced other obstacles,
such as a chained door in the back
of the house. However, the
building did not appear to have any
violations and no complaints were
filed regarding unsafe conditions.
Nine of the ten victims were
children. One of them survived the
fire but later died at the hospital. A
funeral was held for the victims on
record of any gender
discrimination in the workplace,
she was most honored for her
policy on national security, which
created more allies than enemies.
“I hope you'll join me on the
campaign trail,” she said. “When
we throw open the doors of
opportunity and break those glass
ceilings, then we give everyone in
America a chance to be all that he
or she can be.”
Some women, including
Ellen Malcolm, founder of
Emily’s List, believed that a
woman like Clinton was needed
in office.
“We need her influence, her
power, her expertise, her
experience in the White House,”
Malcolm said.
However, others believed
that a female candidate would not
win the females over. Rather,
INTEL CHAMPION
continued from page 1
going to allow me to monopolize
this competition, and I think that’s
wonderful,” he said.
Natalie Kvetyana, a senior
who participated in this year’s
competition, said, “We might have
started off the Intel roller coaster,
but more schools are jumping
aboard. It doesn’t matter. All of us
love to do research.”
This year’s finalists have
made significant attempts in con-
tributing to science. Some created
devices that would help the dis-
abled. For example, John Granata
created a device that allows dis-
abled persons to communicate
using brain waves.
Other projects studied the per-
sonalities of humans. Ashley Bah-
nkan tried to find answers about
NEWS
March 12. Muslim prayers were
held during a brief service.
Hundreds of mourners gathered to
pay respect to the dead, including
Senator Hillary Clinton and Mayor
Michael Bloomberg. Four of the
children and their mother were to
be flown to Mali for burial. The
funeral was paid for by the New
York Yankees. ◙
Source: 1010Wins
The severity of the fire was worsened
by poor human oversight.
they would look at the candidate
as a whole.
“The XX chromosome alone
is probably not enough to win the
female vote,” said Phil
Trounstine from San Jose State
University. “All other things
being equal, women voters tend
to favor women candidates, but
women voters are not one-
dimensional. They’re going to
look at a whole variety of
characteristics and assets that a
candidate has.”
A new website has also
launched for women as a means
to “offer a real opportunity for
her in getting the Democrat
nomination.” The website, which
c a n b e f o u n d a t
www.icanbepresident.com, links
to Clinton’s campaign Web page,
allowing users to support and
learn more about her policies. ◙
certain behaviors of firstborn chil-
dren. Other ideas were more fun
and theoretical. Daniel Mark, for
example, used math to prove that
aliens would not be able to use
modern technology to monitor the
Earth.
The Intel competition has
been a success since it was
founded in 1941. Six Intel
finalists have gone on to win
Nobel Peace Prizes. But more
importantly, the competition has
motivated students all around the
nation to conduct research and
contribute to the world. In the
words of Leon M. Lederman, a
Physics Nobel laureate, “We also
have to have innovation if we’re
going to survive, so you have to
nurture the gifted kids.” ◙
 NEWS
Confession to 9/11
by Timothy Tong, staff writer
According to a revised
transcript released by the United
States military, mastermind
terrorist Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed confessed to many
attacks and plots of terrorism in a
forceful declaration.
The list of 31 maliciously
planned attacks included plans to
assassinate Pope John Paul II,
President Clinton, and Pakistani
president Pervez Musharraf. He
also revealed his plans to attack
the Sears Tower, the Empire State
Building, the New York Stock
Exchange, the Panama Canal, Big
Ben, and Heathrow Airport,
which are all densely populated
places that are significant to the
economic society of the Americas
and Britain. In addition to those,
Mohammed took full
responsibility for “the 9/11
operation from A to Z.” He was
also involved in the 1993 World
Trade Center truck bombing.
There was also the beheading of
American journalist Daniel Pearl,
who was working on a story
about Islamic militancy in
Pakistan when he was abducted
and murdered in January 2002.
Videos and pictures have been
released all over the Internet and
show Mohammed holding the
head. In his confession spree, he
even took responsibility for the
bombing of a Kenya beach resort
in 2002 and for the bombing of a
nightclub in Bali in 2002.
Despite the obvious
malignance of these actions,
Mohammed stated that his main
guiding force is his religion.
Although he said that “Islam
doesn’t give a ‘green light’ to
killing” (implying the killing of
children), he also stated that “the
Science Olympiad States Competition at West Point
by James Zhang, news editor
On March 9, while most
people were still slaving away in
school, the Stuyvesant Science
Olympiad team prepared to leave
for the biggest event of the year:
the states competition. Members
have been preparing for this day
since the beginning of the school
year. Disappointed at their fourth-
place ranking at the regional com-
petition, the team was determined
to win. This spirit even passed
over to noncompetitors, who, in
some cases, were even more
thrilled than the actual competi-
tors.
The Science Olympiad
team departed Stuyvesant for a
hour bus ride to West Point.-three
Many competitors used this
March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
language of the war is victims.”
He then made an interesting
analogy, referring to how some
“consider George Washington as
hero. Muslims many of them are
considering Osama bin Laden. He
is doing same thing. He is just
fighting. He needs his
independence.”
Mohammed has been
questioned thoroughly by the
military tribunal. Despite his
claims that the CIA tortured him
to extract information, the CIA
denied it, saying that it used legal
“interrogation practices.” A 26-
page revised transcript was
released, evoking surprise and
triumph, as well as nervousness
about the future.
Mohammed is just one of 14
alleged terrorists who were
caught. They will be tried, and if
declared “enemy combatants,”
they will be punished
accordingly. Two other captured
alleged terrorists, Abu Faraj al-
Libi and Ramzi Binalshibh,
refused to attend the hearings,
making the situation for them a
“lose-lose situation.” ◙
Source: Corbis
Al-Qaeda operative Khalid Sheik Mo-
hammed shortly after his capture. The
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, he
confessed his role in the Daniel Pearl
killing and 29 other terror plots.
minute-opportunity to do some last
-studying and catch up with a well
delayed sleep schedule. As a
noncompetitor, I was able to
observe much of the inner
workings of the competition
without having to feel the pressure.
Noncompetitors occupied their
time by watching tech events,
which were often exciting. The
Sumobots in particular were the
highlight of the tech events. The
competition has 25 events, which
cover most of the major science
topics, such as physics, biology
and chemistry. Each team is
allowed only 15 competing
members, and at most seven can be
seniors. In the end, every
competitor has to be able to
.compete in more than one event
FACULTY FOCUS: COUNSELOR
Ms. Ferrer
by SangHee Chung, columnist
Raised in Queens and Long
Island, Diana Ferrer may be new
at Stuyvesant High School, but
she is certainly not a newcomer to
college advising. She started her
career as a college counselor and
received the bulk of her expertise
working for 10 years at the
Manhattan Center for Science and
Math. Afterwards, she worked as
a counselor for the Bronx High
School of Science and worked in
Region 1 in the Bronx, serving all
the schools in the area.
So far, Ferrer has found her
transition into Stuyvesant to be
smooth and very natural.
“My peers
are very
receptive,” she “I want to give Stuy- “When
said. “They vesant students a
have made
tremendous sense of self-
efforts to reach confidence and have something,”
out and help
an appreciation for
and train me
whenever they their talents.”
can.” Diana Ferrer
A l t h o u gh Guidance Counselor
Ferrer only
started at
Stuyvesant this spring term, she
has already developed a fondness
for the students. She felt that
there is a very diverse and
multitalented student body at
Stuyvesant.
“They’re leaders and young ado-
lescents maximizing their poten-
tials,” she said. “It’s extremely
stimulating.”
Her favorite thing about
working at Stuyvesant is her
opportunity to work as an SSR
On March 10, the day of
most of the events, members woke
up early to prepare for the big day.
Many had very few hours of sleep.
Valery Li, president, complained
of her 46 minutes of sleep. Alvis
Yuen boasted of his being able to
get over three hours of sleep. Be-
sides those who were studying,
some noncompetitors demon-
strated unconstrained altruism,
making coffee runs to aid wearied
teammates. I, on the other hand,
teamed up with a few other observ-
ers and had the most fun we could
have, even kicking a competitor
out of our room.
In the end, this late-night
cramming paid off and the Science
Olympiad was able to earn medals
in five events, including a gold
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 5
writer and being able to know the
students beyond their transcript.
“We go to the core of who
the student really is as a person to
provide a well-rounded
assessment,” she said. “It’s very
exciting. I love it.”
Her only complaint about
Stuyvesant is the commute, which
takes 90 minutes on a daily basis.
Upon arriving at the school,
Ferrrer’s typical day involves
working for two to three periods
on SSRs. She spends the rest of
the time working with individual
students, answering phone calls
from parents, and keeping up
with records to make sure that
s t u d e n t s a r e me e t i n g t h e
graduation standards.
I work with
students, I want to
make them feel like
they’ve accomplished
she said.
“They’re all very
bright and intelligent,
but the y’re all
different. I want to
give them a sense of
self-confidence and
have an appreciation
for their talents. Overall, I want
to make sure they are happy
beings. They shouldn’t compete
against each other, but against
themselves — to be the best that
they can be.”
When she is not busy
assisting students and parents,
Ferrer spends her time outside of
the building reading, talking
walks, going to the theater and
enjoying the natural environment
around her. ◙
medal in Designer Genes. When
the long-awaited awards ceremony
came along, the members were
ecstatic when it was announced
that Stuyvesant won 10th place.
This was the best Stuyvesant’s
Science Olympiad team had ever
performed in the states
competition. Stuyvesant came
forth as the highest-ranked school
of New York City, defeating long-
time rival Townshend Harris High
School, who was ranked first place
in the regional competition. On the
bus ride going home, nearly
everyone was asleep, fatigued
from the two days of studying and
competing. However, there is no
doubt that, even while asleep, they
were extremely content with this
year’s victory. ◙
6 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
OPINIONS
Why the
‘F-Word’?
by David Mannes, staff writer
Recently, at the Conservative
Political Action Conference, Ann
Coulter enraged many people with
the following comment: “I was
going to have a few comments on
the other Democratic presidential
candidate John Edwards, but it
turns out you have to go into rehab
if you use the word ‘f-----,’ so I —
so kind of an impasse, can’t really
talk about Edwards.”
It was pointless for Coulter to
call John Edwards this word. She
clearly has strong political be-
liefs, and is most likely capable
of presenting an intelligent argu-
ment. While that would not have
gotten her as much publicity as
her controversial joke, it would
have probably convinced a lot
more people to agree with her.
In her defense Coulter said
that the word is a “schoolyard
taunt.” She also said that she was-
n’t speaking in a way that was
offensive to homosexuals, but
rather to suggest that John Ed-
wards is a “wuss.”
Sadly, this horrible word has
become a schoolyard taunt, a fact
that anyone walking around Stuy-
vesant can attest to. However,
I’ve heard students at Stuyvesant
use a lot worse than this as a
taunt. Just because kids use a
phrase as an insult, it doesn’t
make that phrase appropriate or
politically correct.
Although Coulter shouldn’t
have used the word in reference
to John Edwards, she clearly did-
n’t mean what she said as an in-
sult to homosexuals. John Ed-
wards is married with kids, so the
insult wasn’t directed at Edwards’
sexuality. In addition, Coulter
stood up for gay rights at another
point in the same speech.
Coulter did make one really
good point about the joke, and
that was that it wasn’t only a joke
about John Edwards. The state-
ment was also mocking the fact
that an actor on the show Grey’s
Anatomy, Isaiah Washington,
was forced to receive counseling
after calling a fellow actor this
degrading term. The people who
got angry over what she said
overreacted to a joke about how
VULGARITY
continues on page 7
March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
Disregarding All Direction
by Amna Ahmad, columnist
Our lives are centered largely
around exams. We learn to know
the College Board better than our
own grandparents. We go to prep
programs, forcing our parents to
invest ridiculous sums of money to
improve our test-taking abilities. In
fact, we are so concentrated on
test-taking that we are able to sit
glued to the seat of a cold, rusty
metal chair conveniently decorated
with assortments of gum and graf-
fiti for three hours or sometimes
more just to make a few marks on
paper. It is my personal opinion
that tests are generally neither a
measure of competency in a field,
nor credible in deciphering intelli-
gence. Accordingly, I decided to
give a focus group of Stuyvesant
students the first fair test that they
had probably ever encountered.
Unfortunately, the majority of stu-
dents failed.
The test that I had adminis-
tered served no purpose other than
to test the ability of students to
follow directions. I gave the stu-
dents a test paper and told each of
them these exact words: “Fill this
out and follow directions. You are
not allowed to ask me any ques-
tions.” The directions on the test
paper were as follows “Put your
name on the top of the paper.
Perils of Finding an Online Friend
Source: Facebook
Although the Internet is a great tool
for information, online predators may
use information posted on online com-
munities to their advantage.
by Hui Ting Jiang, staff writer
The Internet is probably one
of the greatest inventions ever. It
not only connects people halfway
around the world, but also allows
information to be sent in bulk
instead of the old-fashioned mail
or fax. The Internet is not only a
form of exchanging ideas, but a
form of sharing information as
well. Sadly, this information is
sometimes illicit or inaccurate.
STUY VOICE
Don’t ask the person giving you
the survey any questions. Do not
answer any questions. Then hand
in your paper.” Interestingly
enough, 76 percent of students
chose to answer the questions pro-
vided on the test paper when all
they needed to do to pass was
write their name, leaving the ques-
tions blank.
I think that perhaps it is fair to
attribute this trend of tackling the
questions first rather than reading
the directions to the idea that the
main goal of tests is to get the right
answers. Yet on some tests there
are multiple correct answers, but
just one that is “the most correct,”
as can be seen in the critical read-
ing section of the SAT, for in-
stance. Test answers over the years
have also been written biasedly,
utilizing subjective terms that we
are all too commonly expected to
identify, although such terms can-
not logically be presented in con-
junction with facts, but rather opin-
ions on a topic.
Perhaps I hadn’t noticed what
a nervous test taker looked like, or
the extent of blatancy of our
obsession with tests, because I had
never actually had a chance to look
around the room at all of my
classmates during a test, but I
assume that similar behaviors
MySpace, Facebook and
Sconex are just a few of the
websites that teenagers use daily
to find friends or potential mates.
Personal information such as their
full name, age, home address and
even cell phone number are
shown to attract web users. As if
that isn’t enough, teenagers post
suggestive photos of themselves
for the world to see. This
abundant amount of information
might be useful for a fellow
class ma te t o c ont act tha t
individual for homework help or
clarification on a l esson.
However, that is not the case
most of the time. Information,
such as that listed above, is
usually used by predators and
stalkers to follow their prey.
An anonymous freshman
confided to me that she stalks
“[her] crush on MySpace and
Facebook every single day.” This
is not only indicative of a
OPINIONS
would indeed be evident, and I am
nearly certain that reading
directions would be the last thing
on students’ minds, as they
disregard all directions to show off
what they “really” know, as if it
mattered.
Needless to say, the students
taking my “exam” displayed some
inappropriate behavior. As the test
“proctor” I was bombarded with
questions although the directions
had overtly stated that students
were not permitted to ask me any
questions. In addition to the shak-
ing, twitching, and sweating that I
had witnessed throughout the
course of administering the tests, I
watched as students aggressively
chewed on the pens that I had
given them to use. When I re-
minded one student that the pen
she was chewing on was mine, she
hastily removed the pen from her
mouth and made a gesture as
though she were shamefully offer-
ing it back, slobber and all. I’m not
sure if pen-loaners are typically
expected to accept chewed-up pens
back from those who borrowed
them, but I surely did not. ◙
Followed
directions
(Passed test)
Did not follow
directions
(Failed test)
physiological problem, but also
an unnecessary distraction from
more important things like
family, friends and schoolwork.
Online predators are more
common than they used to be,
mainly due to the fact that
teenagers are more trusting of
“outsiders.” At first, predators
pretend to be friendly, accepting
and sympathetic people. As their
re lationshi p deve lops into
something more complex, the
predator will pounce and pressure
its “prey” in illicit activities by
providing money, lavish gifts,
attention and promiscuously
taken photos. Usually, teenagers
cave into the pressure and
unwillingly do things they
normally would not do.
A show recently done by
NBC called “To Catch A Predator
ONLINE PERILS
continues on page 7
 OPNIONS
VUGLARITY
continued from page 6
people overreact when the word
is used.
Coulter’s intention in making
this joke was to get publicity.
She could have easily insulted
Edwards and mocked what hap-
pened to Isaiah Washington in
two separate jokes. She chose to
say something controversial, and
to see how many people would
become infuriated over a joke
about how society overreacts to
controversial statements. ◙
ONLINE PERILS
continued from page 6
III” illustrated tactics that online
predators use to lure susceptible
teenagers. Initially, the predator
introduces him/herself as a
prospective friend that would do
nothing to harm them and
everything to benefit them. As the
friendship progresses, he or she
will slowly incorporate topics
about sex into conversations. This
is a major red flag in identifying
predators, but teenagers’ interest
in such matters will often
overcome their instincts. Soon,
the predator will suggest a secret
meeting for the two to meet,
which later may culminate in
sexual activities. NBC
correspondent Chris Hansen
caught fifty men trying to engage
minors in sexual activity.
Surprisingly, all fifty men
pleaded not guilty in court. ◙
Letter to the
Editor
26 Homerooms — 13 Counselors
Do the math!
Why isn’t the college office writ-
ing SSR's?
Who knows better than the college
office what the colleges are look-
ing for in an SSR?
The members of the guidance de-
partment must serve as guidance
counselors and grade advisors, in
addition to writing all SSRs. Their
caseload assignment is as follows:
The college office has gone from 2
positions to 3 full-time counselors,
who have the following caseload
to advise on their college choices.
They also have two full-time sec-
retaries and a school aide to assist
them with the paper work. Their
caseload assignment is as follows:
PAT CLEARY : 5A-5E
GREGG W ALKES: 5F-5Q
KATE OLIVER: 5R-5ZD
How can we better serve our stu-
dents?
Regards,
Concerned for Stuyvesant Students
March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
HPV: The Human “Promiscuity”
Virus Vaccine?
by Alvis Yuen, columnist
Every year, 250,000 women
d i e fr o m c e r vi c a l c a n ce r
worldwide. In the last decade,
scientists have discovered that
more than 70 percent of cervical
cancers are caused by HPV, the
human papillomavirus. In 2006,
the FDA approved a vaccine that
would prevent cervical cancer by
stopping HPV. Studies have shown
that the vaccine was over 95
percent effective in preventing
cervical cancer. The onl y
requirement of the vaccine is that it
must be administered before any
sexual activity to prevent previous
transmission of the virus.
With the advent of the HPV
vaccine, states have considered
making the HPV vaccine a part of
the regular vaccination schedule
for young girls. The first state to
make HPV vaccination
mandatory was Texas. However,
despite the benefits of the
vaccine, some parents are
opposed to mandatory HPV
vaccination. In traditional areas,
such as the Bible Belt in the
South, the vaccine is opposed
primarily because parents are
afraid that the new vaccine will
make adolescents more bold and
more likely to have sex. As a
result, legislators are reluctant to
Counselor Room
BIEGELSON Jay 236R
FERRER Diana 236L
GUTHRIE Undine 236A
MC CRAY Jan 236C
MUI John 236F
NEGRIN Meredith 2360
RAJWANT Shaklra 2368
SCHINDLER Mazra 236G
VIBOCH Marev 236N
WANG Jeremy 2360
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 7
push for mandatory vaccination, rusty nails. On the flip side, the
for fear of reprisal from vaccine could serve as a deterrent
unsupportive parents. of sex; the vaccine is a constant
It is absurd to oppose reminder that sexual behavior can
mandatory HPV vaccination on lead to cancer. I hope people can
the grounds that the vaccine throw away their sensitivity to the
would promote promiscuity. If sexual aspects of the vaccine.
there were a better reason, such This vaccine is like any other
as possible damage to the body, it vaccine a person gets as a young
would be reasonable to oppose child.
mandatory vaccination. Millions If parents choose to believe
of dollars were invested to invent that the HPV vaccine promotes
the vaccine. It is a disgrace to sexual promiscuity, consider this:
label the lifeblood of scientists as would you rather your daughter
something promoting die from cervical cancer, or have
promiscuous behavior, when their sex? ◙
aim was to save lives. It is an
insult to the victims of cervical
Source: Corbis
cancer when parents refused the
potentially life-saving vaccine
because it might promote
promiscuity.
I ask everyone who opposes
ma n d a t o r y va c c i n a t i o n t o
reconsider their unfair assessment
of the vaccine. First of all, the
vaccine only prevents one
disease, cervical cancer. If the
teen was to have sex, there are
many other risks and STDs, such
as syphilis, gonorrhea, and
herpes, to consider. The idea that
the HPV encourages sexual Gardasil, the world’s first cervical
behavior is as crazy as the idea
cancer vaccine, is on display during its
that a tetanus vaccine would launch in Sydney. It aims to halt the
encourage people to step on more spread of HPV, which causes cervical
cancer.
Ext. Seniors Juniors Sophomores Freshmen
2385 7B 7J 7JA 5A 5G 3A 3B 3JA 1A 1B
2383 7T 7V 5T 5V 5W 3T 3U 1T 1U
2362 7C 7D 5C 5D 5E 3C 3D 3E 1C 1D
2363 7F 7H 7S 5JA 5JB 3F 3G 3H 1F 1G 1H
2366 7K 7L 7R 5J 5K 5L 3J 3K 1J 1K
2364 7E 7M 7N 5M 5N 3M 3N 3O 1M 1N 1O
2361 5B 5F 3L 3W 3Z 1E 1W
2367 7P 7Q 7W 5P 5D 3P 3O 1P 1O
2386 7A 7G 7Z 5H 5R 5S 3R 1L 1R
2387 7X 7Y 5X 5Y 5Z 3X 3Y 1X 1Y 1Z
8 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 10 SCIENCE

SCIENCE
“Missing Is There Anybody Out There?
Chunk” of by John Yoon, staff writer numbing and difficult, while the SETI has currently only ob-

Earth Poses
chances of a reward are very served 750 solar systems, but
Of all the overly-debated and slim. “It’s like pulling the lever within the next 25 years, technol-
controversial subject matters in the on a slot,” states senior ogy is expected to improve enough
Threat to
field of science, few come close to astronomer Seth Shostak. “The that a few million more systems
the sheer passion generated by the next quarter might be it.” will be viewable. Shostak uses
possibility of extraterrestrial
Tectonic
So while many people find this fact to wager a Starbucks cof-
beings. The science fiction novels the search for life on other worlds fee with his interrogators that “the
inspired by these arguments are to be futile and hopeless, Shostak question of whether mankind is
Theory
limitless, ranging remains optimistic
from Orson Scott about the data that
Card’s Ender’s
“The question of EXTRATERRESTRIALS
whether mankind is SETI has collected, continues on page 9
Game to H. G. and the data it will
Source: zeenews.com

Wells War of the alone in the universe collect in the future.

Source: amazon.com
Worlds. To
many people, will be settled by the For example, it has
been proven that
however, the year 2025.” harsh conditions
idea of an alien can still propagate
civilization re- life, with the prime example
mains in the world of fiction, and being Earth, which has many
the few people who cling to their places with extreme weather and
faith are scoffed at, but there might temperatures that still give birth
A team of British scientists set out to
be more reason to “believe” than to organisms. In addition,
study a newly discovered “missing
chunk” in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. previously supposed. astronomers now believe that
Many respected astronomers anywhere from 5 percent to 90
and physicists solemnly occupy percent of all stars are orbited by
by Omar Ahmad, staff writer
their time with the pursuit of planets; that is equal to 10 million
From elementary school to our extraterrestrial creatures. One other solar systems. SETI
current high school careers, we major organization is SETI, or theorizes that of these billions
have been taught that the Earth’s Search for E xtraterr estria l upon billions of planets, there H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds speaks
continents are in constant motion, Intelligence. The experiments exists at least one alien species. of the possibility of the existence of
in a process known as plate tecton- that they conduct are mind- extraterrestrial beings.
ics. This process involves the shift-
ing of “plates” that are beneath the
Earth’s crust, but above the Earth’s
mantle. These plates are said to be
Obesity Count Triples Among U.S.
in motion for certain amounts of
time, until they collide with other
plates. These plates should block
Teens, Raises Many Questions
our view of the mantle that is hid- left with many psychological age. In a study of 354 girls at the
Source: Yahoo News

den beneath. But is that really so? problems once the y reach University of Mott Children’s
A team of twenty British sci- adulthood. Obesity is becoming an Hospital in Michigan, those who
entists set sail to study a newly epidemic among the young and not were fatter at the age of 3 and
discovered phenomenon along the enough is being done to protect continued to gain weight for the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a gaping hole, them. next 3 years had reached puberty
approximately 2.25 miles deep, The number of teens that get by the age of 9. The trend is
that unveils the previously hidden a surgery believed to
mantle of the Earth. The problem t r e a t me n t for “Obesity is becoming contribute to the
is that a tectonic plate should be obesity is early maturation
visible at the site, but, currently, skyrocketing.
an epidemic among of girls in the
only the molten material of the Luckily, teens the young and not United States.
mantle resides there. Especially at Childhood obesity may cause earlier have been found enough is being done Early puberty has
this area, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, puberty in some girls. to recover faster been connected
notorious for earthquakes and from the surgery
to protect them..” with negati ve
other happenings of the sort, a by Garry Chien, staff writer
than adults. In o u t c o m e s ,
plate should exist. Often, upon hearing of the 2003, teens recovered in an including psychiatric disorders,
One reason that people do not dangers of obesity, one average of 3.2 days as opposed to deficits in ps ychosocial
believe that it is indeed the mantle immediately thinks of heart 3.5 days for adults. However, functioning, earlier use of
at the entrance to the hole along disease, high blood pressure, they have been found to suffer alcohol, earlier sexual
the Ridge is that the Earth’s crust diabetes and cancer. However, more psychological problems intercourse, and increased rates of
is supposedly much thicker than a obesity may also trigger early than adults such as a crash in obesity and cancer.
mere 2.25 miles. If it is true that puberty, which is extremely weight, or identity issues. The These are not the only
the mantle is present only 2 miles unhealthy. Many teens are now at teens are put in situations they problems of the new obesity
under the surface, then there must risk as the occurrence rate of never believed they would be in. epidemic. A large problem is that
already be a large portion of the obesity continues to climb. For As if cancer or heart disease an obese person usually continues
crust missing. The missing instance, the rate of obesity is not bad enough, scientists have to become even more overweight.
surgery for teens has tripled in the discovered that the obese young
last few years, and while teen are also more likely to reach
MISSING CHUNK OBESITY
patients recover quickly, they are puberty before others of the same
continues on page 9 continues on page 9
 SCIENCE March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 9
EXTRATERRESTRIALS
Our Thoughts: Once Private, Now Exposed continued from page 8

to the Public alone in the universe will be settled

by the year 2025.”
by SangHee Chung, columnist “The fact that we can volunteers were only focused on So i f, h ypot het ica ll y
determine what intention a person the two possibilities, rather than speaking, we finally made contact
Scientists in Germany, is holding in their mind pushes the infinite choices people may with an alien, just what should be
Britain, and Japan have found a the level of our understanding of have in other situations. expected? The sci-fi traditional
way to “read minds” using subjective thought to a whole Once the technology becomes image of an insect-like creature
functional magnetic resonance new level,” said Dr. Paul Wolpe, more developed, it can have a wide (the “Buggers” from Ender’s
imaging (fMRI) and computer a psychiatry professor at the range of uses, from criminal inter- Game) or an anthropomorphic
programs. This may seem straight University of Pennsylvania. rogations to airline security creature (such as the Alien or
out of a science-fiction novel, but Led by Dr. John-Dylan checks. It may even be used one Predator) is thought to be highly
it’s reality. Ha ynes, the day for people who are paralyzed. unlikely, and these images tell us
Volunteers research team By understanding intentions, the more about the human psyche
were slid into an than anything else.
MRI machine and
“These technologies, tried to identify technology could carry out instruc-
Many other theories of just what
which part of the tions such as changing television
asked to perform for the first time, give b r a i n stored channels or using the Internet. the first alien-human encounter
simple tasks, such us a real possibility intentions, and There are, however, ethical will be like are suggested. As
as adding and sub- eventually came issues involving potential abuse by some scientists frankly state, “The
tracting or decid- of going straight to universe is three times as old as the
across the authorities, marketers, or employ-
ing on buttons to the source to see prefrontal cortex ees. earth, so there’s opportunity for
push. The scien- what somebody is region. “These technologies, for the civilizations that are billions of
tists were able to “If you knew first time, give us a real years ahead of us.” Their superior-
accurately deter- thinking or feeling.” ity to the human race could be so
which thought possibility of going straight to the
mine their inten- Dr. Hank Greenly signatures to look source to see what somebody is huge that to humans, any form of
tions 70 percent of Stanford University for, you could thinking or feeling, without them technology or communications
the time. Although theoretically having any ability to stop us,” would be considered magic. But
scientists have predict in more said Dr. Hank Greenly from once again, this edges on the side
already known about detecting detail what people were going to Stanford Univer sit y. “T he of fiction, so while the possibility
physical motions before they ap- do in the future,” said Haynes. concept of keeping your thoughts of extraterrestrial life is out there,
pear, this is the first time they have Currently, however, the private could be profoundly one shouldn’t hope too much for a
identified decisions in more com- technology cannot be used to spy altered in the future.” What a visit from a Wookie any time
plex cases. on others. Furthermore, the 21 change that would be! ◙ soon.◙

MISSING CHUNK
continued from page 1
“chunk” of Earth would have to be
a vast 4-11 miles thick.
“It’s a real challenge to our
established understanding of what
the Earth’s surface looks like
underneath the waves,” said
Bramley Murton, a senior research
scientist at Southampton’s
National Oceanography Centre.
Scientists are hoping to discover
whether the crust was sliced off by
enormous geological faults, or if it
never even developed in the first
place. Yet another explanation
may also be relevant, however.
The scientists could have drilled
into a magma chamber along the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The hole in
the Earth’s crust could just be an
entryway to a small deposit of
magma above the Earth’s crust. ◙
OBESITY
continued from page 1
A suppressor called SOCS-3 is
believed to be associated with the
fat hormone leptin, which tells
the body if it is hungry. It is
believed that obesity occurs due
to a lack of leptin or a weakened
response to it As obesity rates
rise, even the generations that are
yet to come are suffering. Teens
who have not reached adulthood
and even youngsters who have
yet to reach their teenage years
experience ps ychol ogic a l
damage. The problems are likely
to affect them for the rest of their
lives. To make matters worse, as
studies on leptin responses
indicate, some people have no
control over obesity. In time,
however, scientists will surely
develop a cure for obesity. ◙

BUSNIESS
It’s Killing Cats and Dogs
by Hanford Chiu business editor
Menu Foods, a pet food
manufacturer based in Ontario,
Canada, has recalled over 60
million cans of wet dog and cat
food products over the past few
weeks. The voluntary recall,
“Godless” Dollars Hit the Market
by Paul Rozenburg, staff writer a coin, but the designers of the
Emporia, Kan. Menu Food, which George Washington dollar parted
supplies 1 percent of America’s An unknown number of newly with this tradition. Because of
pet food products, has stopped minted George Washington dollar
this, a new and more complex
coins were struck without the manufacturing system had to be
PETS phrases “In God We Trust” and “E
used, prompting the errors.
continues on page 2 Pluribus Unum” inscribed on their The George Washington
edges. The coins, part of the new
dollar was put into circulation
Presidential Dollar Program, were
Source: Yahoo News

which covers over 90 brands of partly as a result of the failure of

put into circulation on February the Sacagawea Golden Dollar,
dog and cat food in the United 15.
States, including Iams, PetCare first released in 2000. The Mint
It is believed that around responded to public demands for
and Science Diet, was due to a 50,000 coins containing the error
contamination that is believed to a new dollar coin, and was
were released, out of a total of hoping for success similar to that
have been caused by a supply of 300 million produced. All of the
wheat gluten (which is used to of the State Quarter Program.
coins without the inscriptions The Presidential Dollar Program
thicken the gravy used in wet food came from the Philadelphia
products, which means the dry will run until all presidents who
A toxin normally used in rat poison branch of the United States mint.
food products are not affected) to The two missing phrases are
has recently been found in pet food, DOLLAR
Menu Food’s main food plant in usually struck on the front face of
which has killed a number of pets. continues on page 10
10 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12
Google Search Engine… Google
Mail… and Now Google television?
by Si Hong Huang, staff writer tisers by Google and delivered to
the cable company so they appear
Google Inc., the Mountain in the normal breaks in program-
View, Calif. Company, has com-
ming as other ads do. Examples as
menced pursuing its next big ambi- to what consumers might see in-
tion: controlling the television ads
clude: an area with a lot of chil-
that viewers see and adjusting dren might be more likely to see
them to fit viewer interests. It
commercials for minivans than for
plans on taking its extremely prof- sports cars, or a consumer who
itable contextual online advertising
owns a dog might see constant dog
as the model for its test run for food ads.
television commercials to cable
Although Google is still in
subscribers in Concord, Calif. the early stages of bringing new
Google CEO Eric Schmidt told
ways of advertising to television, it
analysts in January that the com- comes to show that the way
pany is experimenting with televi-
advertisements are brought to
sion advertising. He said the com- consumers could be changed
pany intends to use its technology
forever. If Google succeeds in its
to better target television commer- plans, other media companies
cials to viewers.
might actually lose their positions
According to The Wall Street in the advertisement market due to
Journal, Google since last year has
Google’s popularity, stock price,
been steering television commer- and financial holdings. Google’s
cials to subscribers of cable pro-
foothold into television
vider Astound Broadband, a unit of commercials comes at a time when
WaveDivision Holdings LLC.
the cable industry itself is turning
When Astound’s customers watch to ads as a hopeful source of
television, some commercial spots
they see have been sold to adver- revenue. ◙
McDonald’s Trying to Change its McImage
by Hanford Chiu business editor
Source: YahooNews
McDonald’s, the fast food
chain known for its fatty foods and
low-prospect employment, has
been undergoing a publicity
campaign to completely turn
around its image. Most recently,
McDonald’s is trying to get the
Oxford English Dictionary to
change its definition of “McJob”,
which is currently defined as “an
unstimulating, low-paid job with
McDonald’s will try to define few prospects, especially one
“McJob” entries in British dictionar- created by the expansion of the
ies, believing it to be incorrect. service sector.” Here in the United
States, people working at
DOLLAR promised to alter the
continued from page 9 manufacturing process in order to
add the lettering on the edges for
have been deceased for more than all the coins, but another problem
soon surfaced.
two years have their likeness
A couple in Colorado found a
imprinted on a coin.
dollar coin without the face of
The entire program has come
George Washington on it: the
under speculation from those who
coin was blank on both the heads
remember the Sacagawea Dollar.
and tails side. Although this is an
When a coin of a large
isolated incident so far, it was
denomination is produced, critics
confirmed by Ron Guth, a
will naturally reply that bills are
professional coin authenticator in
easier and more efficient to use.
California.
Nevertheless, if the coin does not
The golden dollar will proba-
catch on with consumers, it will
bly never be as widespread and
still have a chance for success
successful as the state quarters, but
with coin collectors.
the series will still have a long run.
When the “godless” coins
No one will ever opt to carry
were originally discovered, they
twenty coins over one bill, but
fetched as much as $600 dollars
collectors will have the power to
online, but their price sank to $50
make this collection a popular one.
after it was realized how common
the mistake was. The U.S. mint ◙
PETS
continued from page 1
shipments from the suspected
supplier, the identity of which has
not been disclosed by the FDA.
After several complaints of
pet deaths related to kidney
failure in mid-February, Menu
Food informed the FDA, which
promptly began an investigation
into the matter. Then, in a
quarterly taste test administered
to about 50 cats and dogs on
February 27, nine cats died due to
the tests in early March (no dogs
died, but it is not clear if any of
those who survived suffered
kidney damage).
The delay between the first
complaints and deaths has
prompted a lawsuit from a
woman in Chicago, whose 9-
year-old orange tabby became
sick about a week before the
recall after eating a single serving
of Special Kitty Select Cuts and
was diagnosed with kidney
failure. The cat was euthanized
on March 17. Since then, there
have been numerous other
complaints from consumers
whose pets have mysteriously
McDonald’s, especially on its shop
floor level, have long been
associated with high school
dropouts and disadvantaged
minorities. Some parents threaten
their kids with a future of working
at McDonald’s in order to
encourage them to study.
Now, in a drive for publicity
and more talented employees,
McDonald’s is working to change
this negative misconception about
its employment opportunities.
“It’s the complete opposite to
that,” said
Amanda Pierce,
a 15-year “McDonald’s is
McDonald’s working to change
employee and this negative miscon- and the government
s p o ke s p e r s o n ,
on OED’s ception about its em- McDonald’s has
definition. “It’s ployment opportuni- been the target of
stimulating, ties.”
rewarding and
offers a wide
range of opportunities. All the
ski l l s I ha ve l earn e d a t
McDonald’s will last me a
lifetime.” Meanwhile,
McDonald’s is sending a petition
(signed, of course, by
McDonald’s employees) to OED
in order to get the term’s
definition changed. Responding
to McDonald’s efforts, an Oxford
University Press spokeswoman
said, “We monitor changes in the
language and reflect these in our
definitions according to the
evidence we find.”
BUSINESS
died recently after eating food
from the company, which may
lead to a class action lawsuit.
This pet food scare is reminiscent
of recent recalls of human foods,
such as the E. Coli infected spin-
ach in 2006. However, a contami-
nation of pet food products is
more serious than one of human
food products, since pets have a
more limited variety of edible
foods. Thus, if one of the main
ingredients in pet food products
becomes contaminated, then it
could end up affecting many pets
since they are all likely to con-
sume it. However, in this case, it
is due only to a single supplier
and distributor of food, unlike a
more widespread contamination
of food, such as the bird flu or
mad cow disease. ◙
If your pet has symptoms of kidney
failure such as a loss of appetite,
lethargy, vomiting, increased
urination and thirst, contact a
veterinarian immediately. For
more details on the recall, check
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/
or http://www.fda.gov for a list of
recalled products.
Nevertheless, McDonald’s is
pushi ng for wa rd wi th it s
campai gn to attract more
customers and better employees.
Last year, McDonald’s took
advantage of the term “McJob”
by using it in part of a slogan for
attracting employees.
“McProspects — over half of our
executive team started in our
restaurants. Not bad for a
McJob.”
McDonald’s has always had a
somewhat negative image here in
the United States.
Linked with the
rampant obesity
that many parents
is trying to fight,
multiple lawsuits
claiming that its
food has made
people obese. Furthermore,
stories have come up now and
then over the last decade of
random things being found in
people’s orders, such as syringes
or fried chicken heads, which has
further marred the image of its
food an d wo r ker q uali t y.
However, McDonald’s has been
responding responsibly by taking
actions such as making the food’s
nutrition facts available and
agreeing to comply with Mayor
Bloomberg’s trans-fat ban here in
New York City. ◙
 A&E March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 11

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Wickedly Uplifting Final Fantasy III Review
by Si Hong Huang, staff writer

From the opening scene of the
Broadway hit “Wicked,” I felt my-
self leaving my seat and entering
Oz, a place from my childhood
that was green and familiar. But it
wasn’t familiar for long. “Wicked”
backtracks in order to tell the story
of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of
the West) from the beginning, that
is, conception. “Are people born
wicked or is wickedness thrust
upon them?” asks Glinda the Good
Witch, and this musical definitely
takes the latter view. Chronicling
their time at school together and
what puts Elphaba on the path to
wickedness, “Wicked” is based on
the best-selling Gregory Maguire
book of the same name.
The musical is strangely
consistent with the plot of the
classic book (“The Wizard of Oz”
by L. Frank Baum) while having
a completely different tone,
outlook and cast, mostly because
there’s no Dorothy. That’s the
only main character missing,
however, as the Scarecrow, the
Lion, the Tin Man and the Wizard
all make an appearance. The
second half of “Wicked” seems
more to set the scene for
everything that happens in
Baum’s book, with such style and
flair that it outshines the 1900
work.
While the story is strong and
the character development is
solid, the thing that I liked best
was the music. The music and
lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz,
who’s won Oscars for his work
on “Pocahontas” and “The Prince
of Egypt.” The cast varies but
Elphaba is currently portrayed by
Julia Murney, and Glinda is
played by Kendra Kassebaum.
Both do a spectacular job in terms
of acting and singing, especially
Murney, whose fiery, sarcastic,
witty depiction of Elphaba leaves
nothing to be desired.
The minor discrepancies that
do exist between “Wicked” and
“The Wizard of Oz” make the
storyline hard to place inside
Baum’s sequels but anyone who’s
not an avid fan of the thirteen
books probably won’t even care.
In fact, by the final scene, I had
become acquainted with two
different versions of Oz and I
definitely liked this one better.
“Wicked” transforms Baum’s
endearing children’s book into a
story engaging for everyone,
while Schwartz’s brilliant work
will leave you bursting with glee.
Good tickets are hard to
come by and most evening
performances still play to a
packed theatre. Buying tickets at
least a month in advance is
practically the only option.
“Wicked” is playing at the
Gershwin Theatre and tickets are
available at the theatre and online
at ticketmaster.com. ◙
Source: amazon.com
The Final Fantasy III is now available
for the Nintendo DS.
by Jonathan Xikis, staff writer
In 1990, Final Fantasy III was
released in Japan for the Nintendo
Family Computer, better known as
the “Famicom.” The only problem:
it never came to America. Fast-
forward 15 years, to 2005. A Final
Fantasy III remake was
announced, not for the Playstation
2, but, in a surprise move, for the
Nintendo DS. Granted, the DS is
not known for its amazing
graphics, but FFIII lives up to its
expectations, delivering an
amazing 3D world to explore and
addictive, though a tad repetitive,
gameplay.
Final Fantasy III is not in any
way quirky, and doesn’t stray far
from the classic RPG formula. In
fact, this is the reason people
would want to buy it: to get a taste
of how the whole thing began, one
of the earliest games in the Final
Fantasy series. Like most RPGs,
there is not much dialogue except
before boss fights and in special
sequences, but the characters are a
bit better-developed than in the
1990 game. The story itself is typi-
cal — four teenage warriors are
chosen by a magic crystal to go out
and save the world, for reasons not
apparent until later in the game,
when more backstory is revealed.
What really makes this game shine
is the graphics, which, although
lackluster by the PSP’s standards,
are a great achievement for the DS.
The world itself is gigantic, and
every enemy is lovingly rendered
in 3D. The main characters them-
selves change in appearance when
they take on new jobs, letting them
use special abilities. For example,
the Knight can defend fellow fight-
ers, while the Thief is fast and can
open locked doors. Each character
has a unique style, and can show
facial expressions during
cutscenes. Attack animations range
from simple to downright immense
later in the game, especially when
using magic. The view can even be
zoomed in to find hidden secrets,
such as switches or items.
This is not to say that there are no
downsides to FFIII, however, for
there are quite a few. A “feature”
of the game which annoys many is
FINAL FANTASY
continues on page 12

“It Turns Out Persian Corpses are Slippery…”

by Rpbert Colbourn, staff writer
Source: Yahoo Movies

ning the famous battle of Ther-
mopylae.
After graphic novelist Frank It is expected that since this
Miller’s first commercial success, film is based on a graphic novel, it
“Sin City,” expectations were high is not going to be historically accu-
for his next motion picture adapta- rate, easily seen when certain crea-
tion. Luckily, “300” met them all. tures from Xerxes’ armies come
“300” begins with a short life forth. Yet importance should not
story of King Leonidas (Gerard be placed in this area. What should
Butler), ruler of be valued here is
Sparta. He is raised “What should be val- the stunning im-
as a true Spartan
warrior, taught never
ued here is the stun- agery. “300” was
done all in a stu-
to show fear or pain, ning imagery. The dio, using mostly
never to retreat or fight is beautifully blue screen and
surrender. He is ap- green screen
proached by a Per- choreographed.” effects, allowing
sian messenger who for breathtaking
informs him of a plan to enslave backgrounds and amazing visual
Sparta. Leonidas does not take the effects. It also made the actual
threat seriously, and, without the battle something to behold. The
help of the Spartan army, he and fight is beautifully choreographed.
300 of his best men ride off to de- There is no fast-paced shaking of
fend Sparta and to face the largest the camera (a downfall of Star
army ever assembled, thus begin- Wars: Episode III’s battles, in my
opinion), perfect clarity, and every
character on screen is always do-
ing something incredible. No one
stands around and waiting for a
turn; everyone is involved.
There is very little that one
could nitpick in this film. One of
its few downfalls is the lack of a
conclusion to the great side story
of the movie. Queen Gorgo (Lena
Headey) is the strong-willed wife
of Leonidas. While the battle is
occurring, she has to deal with
the Hellenistic, patriarchal
politics in Sparta. The story is
never really concluded, and
therefore fells like just filler in
between the battle scenes. There
is a good deal of character
development going on there, but I
believe one more concluding
scene would have done the story
more justice. Yet, this little
problem aside, “300” can only be
described as an epic movie that is
the must-see of 2007. ◙
 12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 A&E

FINAL FANTASY
continued from page 11
the inability to save except on the
world map. There is a “quicksave”
option, but the saved game is auto-
matically deleted when you return to
your game. In effect, this means that
if you spend three hours trudging
through a huge dungeon and are
vanquished by the boss, you must
start again from the beginning.
This also necessitates heavy train-
ing, or “grinding,” which is made
more uninteresting because of the
slow battle system — there is no
way to skip animations, and the
menus load slowly. Another gripe
is the undeveloped Wi-Fi mode,
known as “Mognet,” which only
allows you to send simple mes-
sages to others over the Internet,
and does not feature co-op or mul-
tiplayer. To make matters worse,
the keypad layout could be much
more convenient. Sending mes-
sages is actually required to obtain
the game’s strongest class and
weapon, an impossibility to those
with no wireless Internet access.
Final Fantasy III is a game
made for hardcore RPG fans, ones
who enjoy the pain of braving an
onslaught of monsters, have the
patience to reach level 99, relish
defeating the unbeatable final boss,
and have the guts to try it again if
they fail. Casual gamers beware —
this game is probably not for you.
With that said, FFIII, despite its
flaws, should be a part of the col-
lection of any self-respecting
gamer. ◙

Movie Watch: A New Batch of Movies To Look Forward To

by Amy Qui, staff writer TMNT (March 23rd) human and half-wolf.

Source: Yahoo Movies

Now that spring has come along,
bright ,this means warm weather
flowers and yes, new movies!
Here’s what’s coming to a theater
.near you
Blades of Glory (March 30th)
After two skaters get into a fight
at the World Championships,
they’re both barred from compet-
ing ever again. Played by Will
Ferrell and Jon Heder, the skaters
find a loophole that will allow
them to compete. The problem?
The teenage mutant ninja turtles
are back to star in this 3D movie.
Strange things have been
happening in New York City and
only one man is to blame: Max
Winters, who’s creating an army
of ancient monsters to take over
the world. Looks like they’ll have
to save the day super ninja style.
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (March
23rd)
In this sequel to the horror film
“The Hills Have Eyes,” a group
of National Guard soldiers
Shooter (March 23rd)
Mark Wahlberg and Danny Glover
star in this thriller about an ex-
Marine sniper who grudgingly
returns to the military after being
persuaded to head off a president
assassination. After he gets set up
and framed, he is determined to
find out who was really behind the
murder. ◙
apparent later on that the objects
were sent for a different mission,
which the children become

Source: Yahoo Movies

embark on a search and rescue
It’s pairs’ figure skating. mission in the hills. Though they
are responding to a distress
signal, they also land themselves
Source: Yahoo Movies
entangled in.
Skin Walkers (March 30th)
Werewolves are more than just
bloodsucking creatures in Skin

into the evils that lie within. Walkers, where two sects of
Source: Yahoo Movies

The Last Mimzy (March 23rd)
Toys become truly educational
when two children find a
mysterious box containing
strange objects. As they play with
them, their intelligence level
grows drastically. It becomes
wolves fight for control. Some of
them are looking to end the curse
on their kind, while the others
want things to stay the way they
are. In the end, the only one with
the real power to change their
destiny is Timothy, who is half-
 SING! March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 13

SING! FEATURE

SING! REVIEW PHOTO CREDITS:

continued from page 1 Dennis Ng, Derek Weng
to Step, Girls Hip Hop, and Rave.
The production even included
pictures from a projector shown
on the left wall, though the peo-
ple sitting in the mezzanine could FRIDAY SATURDAY TOTAL
not see them. Overall, it could be
seen that all grades had given
tremendous amounts of effort into
SOPH-FROSH 348 381 729
one of the largest productions. At
the end of the night, however, it JUNIOR 501 363 864
was unanimous from the screams
and shouts that Junior SING had SENIOR 381 491 872
won. ◙
 14 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
PUZZLES&LITERARY
In The Mind
by Hui Ting, staff writer
In the mind of a bumblebee,
Buzzing across the field
Searching for a delightful treat,
It dashes about looking for
The perfect meal that
Derives from the core
Of a savory honeysuckle
Standing alone in the field and
Apart from the muddle.
Bumblebee flee in the air,
Through the autumn
Breeze, without a care
Or a worry in the world,
For it spots a flower that
Seemed impearled
With a sweetness beyond
Compare. Bumblebee swoops
In and suckles on the abscond
Honeysuckle that is truly beyond compare.
IN MEMORY OF
GABRIEL BLITZ AND EUGENE MARSHALIK
It is with deep sadness that The Stuyvesant Standard marks the death of
Gabriel Blitz, a member of the Stuyvesant High School Class of 2008 and
Eugene Marshalik, a member of the Class of 2005. Marshalik was a student
at New York University and an auxiliary police officer. He was killed in a
shooting in Greenwich Village while on patrol.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/03/16/2007-03-
Source: Koester
March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 PUZZLES&LITERARY
The Circus
by Stephanie Tam, staff writer
People soaring in the air
Elephants roaming here and there
Among them an audience cheering so loud
Applause spreading through the crowd
The Circus! The Circus!
The Circus is in town!
Each and every one of you, gather around!
Monkeys and tigers doing tricks on the floor
This event is never a bore!
Cotton candy and peanuts
Distributed to and eaten by all
Then there’s hotdogs and popcorn
Come one, come all!
Gabriel and I went to the same middle school, Manhattan East (M.E.).
Although he was two years older than I, I remember seeing him when he
came back to visit M.E. in his freshman and sophomore years. I am a very
garrulous person, so, naturally, I was inclined to ask him what high school
he now attended and other such things. I think that was when I first decided
to call him the “Green Guy” and that name stuck with him. He told me
about his love of reptiles and herpetology and that explained the green
jacket that I will always remember him by. He was one of the nicest, most
sincere people. Then, when I came to Stuyvesant, I frequently saw him in
the hallways and always talked to him in between classes. It led to some
random (but meaningful) conversations about everything and nothing. It
was great. The last time I talked to him was on the platform of the 1 and 2
trains. We talked about how we have the same initials and the cool things
one can find on the Staten Island Ferry. I even remember his way of
waving “hello” which, for lack of better words, is best described as wiping
a window (without moving the wrist). He was also one of the very few
people at Stuy who reside in the Bronx and I always saw him as my fellow
Bronx-ite. Now every time I see someone with a green jacket in the
hallway, I think that maybe it’s Gabriel and that all of this has been just a
terrible misunderstanding. I start walking faster, to catch up to that
mysterious person who could put an end to this nightmare, and I am only
saddened to see that it’s not him. It’s not Gabriel.
I am very happy to have known him. I only wish that I could have spent
more time with him. I miss you, Green Guy.
Guergana Borissova
 LITERARY&PUZZLES March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 15

Video Surveillance by Robert Stevenson

KINCKS
Sudoku Created by Angel Wong continued from page 16
4 5 remain coach and general manager
of the Knicks.
Although many claim that Do-
8 4 2 lan was rushed into this action,
there is no doubt that Thomas did
in fact improve the Knicks. For the
5 6 1 3 most part, Thomas has motivated
the Knicks players and has taught
them how to effectively play to-
gether. Although Eddie Curry,
7 8 4 Knicks center, Stephon Marbury,
point guard, struggled for most of
last season, they have both ex-
6 celled under Thomas. Curry has
been named the best center in the
East by many experts.
1 4 9 Although the Knicks have im-
proved compared to last season,
many still think that the Knicks
3 9 2 7 must do more. Steven Jones,
MSNBC news writer, claimed that
the Knicks will not make the play-
7 2 5 offs this year because of inconsis-
tency. “Only twice in the first four-
plus months of the season did the
4 6 Knicks win three games in a row.
They are a team that goes from hot
to cold not only from game to
game but from quarter to quarter,”
he wrote in a recent article.
Knicks players, however, have
been very optimistic about their
future. In a blog, Nate Robinson,
Knicks guard and 2006 Slam Dunk
Champion, showed his approval of
the Knicks’ improvement. “I know
we still have a long way to go, but
I can’t help but feel excited about
the improvements we’ve made
since last season. We’re the best
rebounding team in the East and
one of the better scoring teams,
too… We can move up in the East,
and even become a playoff team. I
really believe that,” Robinson said.
So for all you Knicks fans, do
not lose hope in your team. They
have undoubtedly progressed un-
der Thomas, but further improve-
ment is still necessary. It is defi-
nitely possible for the Knicks to
make the first round of the play-
offs, and who knows, maybe even
further. ◙

The Case of the Knife Wielding Riddle

by Lillian Su, staff writer
by Jeffrey Liaw, staff writer
A notorious gangster, Scarface Joe, was found face-down on a barroom
floor by Detective Hobbs. He had a bullet wound in his left ear, where a Charlie was abandoned at a nearly age and had a terrible life. He couldn't
bullet had entered and must have lodged somewhere in his brain, as there stand his adoptive parents and their children One day, he couldn't take it
was no exit wound. The bullet matched the gun of Bernie the Bull, another and just killed his adoptive parents' offspring. Oddly enough, the parents
gangster and Joe's rival. It is widely known that though they hated each still worked hard and made sure he survived. Charlie later left when he was
other, they frequented the same bar. old enough.
Bernie said that he was the only customer when Joe came in and started
yelling at him. "He was like a madman," said Bernie. "He pulled out a knife
and started coming at me. I shot him in self-defense as he charged head-on The police, or social services were not called even though Charlie killed his
at me swinging that knife." Joe's body lying close by still had the knife adoptive siblings. Why?
clutched in his left hand. "He just wouldn't stop coming at me," exclaimed
Bernie. "I had to shoot, I had no choice."
The only witness was the bartender and another shady character, who 1) Nothing to do with being underage
agreed with Bernie's story. 2) His family had a habit of doing it
3) His adoptive parents did not blame him
Detective Hobbs just smiled and said, "you boys will have time to think of 4) He never joined the military
something better than that story on the way to the slammer." 5) He was born in the spring

How did he know?

16 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD March 29, 2007—VOL. 6, No. 10 SPORTS

SPORTS
The Sports Beat: Why You
Don’t Read Forbes for Sports
by Eric Mayo, sports editor waste the talents of Kevin Garnett
by surrounding him with medioc-
The Economist’s next issue is rity like Ricky Davis, and prior to
going to feature the best rappers in that, Wally Szczerbiak. He’s
the world, and rate them on how wasted free agent money on point
“gangsta” they are. Sports Illus- guard Marko Jaric, who averages 8
trated is going to be doing a fea- points and 3 assists a game for five
ture on the best hair and skin care million dollars, as well as wasting
products. Don’t forget about The five million on Troy Hudson, a
Standard’s next issue, a special on bench player. This is the best GM
pension funds. in professional sports? The guy
If you couldn’t tell by now, who is outspent only by the
the above samples are nonsense. A Knicks?
magazine about economics has Third on the list is Billy King,
nothing to do with rap. You GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. The
wouldn’t read Sports Illustrated for 76ers were a near carbon copy of
hygiene tips. If you’re looking for Minnesota, surrounding a talented
pension fund information here, you player (Allen Iver-
obviously have the son) with expen-
wrong newspaper. “Print media should sive mediocrity.
Print media should Though the 76ers
only write about only write about
something they something they have have traded Iver-
son to the Nuggets
have a clue about. a clue about. That is and have since
That is why Forbes improved, it’s
should give up on why Forbes should
clear that Iverson’s
its analysis of give up on its analy- prime was wasted
sports. sis of sports.” by King’s mis-
To be fair, management.
economics and The best general managers of
sports are much more closely re- sports are in baseball. Baseball has
lated than sports and hygiene prod- no salary cap, so a team with little
ucts. However, Forbes Magazine’s payroll, like the Kansas City Roy-
latest dive into the world of sports, als) has to compete with the Yan-
an article titled “The Best General kees on a yearly basis. General
Managers in Sports,” is wrong
Managers who spend little and win
beyond any imaginable belief. ought to be rewarded. A perfect
To rank the general managers,
Once Upon a Time in March
Madness
by Hesham Saleh, staff writer
On March 11, after 24 long
hours of analyzing the NCAA bas-
ketball teams, the selection com-
mittee invited 65 teams to join the
tournament. From March 11 to
March 15, when the first game
took place, millions of Americans
from around the country filled out
brackets. Yes, March Madness has
officially started. Everyone knows
that during this time, 65 NCAA
teams battle each other and try to
reach the Championship. Fans test
their expertise by filling out, and
usually waging money on, brack-
ets. There are several interesting
tales that come with March Mad-
ness, many of which are virtually
unknown.
Fans use many different tech-
niques to predict the winning
teams, some of which are truly
absurd. Some people use colors to
predict the winning teams: the
team with the “fiercest color” will
go the furthest. Others imagine a
mascot fight, and pick the team
with the “unbeatable mascot.” Still
others choose their teams based on
graduation rate. The lower the
graduation rate, the more likely the
team is to win: if they’re not study-
ing, then they must be playing bas-
ketball.
NCAA tournament pools can
be found nearly everywhere — on
situations with other players in the
locker room, trying to analyze the
best and worst possible situations
for their teams.On a totally differ-
ent note, colleges try to come up
with their own “mathematical for-
mula” to predict their team’s most
likely seed number. After analyz-
ing the teams that reached the Fi-
nal Four since 1999, the experts at
Georgia Tech University created
the Logistic Regression/Markov
Chain Model, or LRMC. This sys-
tem is based on the number of road
wins, strength of schedule, and
most importantly, margins of vic-
tory. “Anything that doesn’t take
point differential into account ig-
nores the element of luck,” said
Joel Sokol, “If I beat you by 20, it
probably wasn’t by chance.”
This system showed itself to
be extremely accurate. In the 2004
NCAA tournament, four of the
teams the LRMC ranked top five
made it to the Final Four. Out of
all ranking systems, the LRMC
was the most accurate.
But at the end of the month,
the most important question will
not be about brackets or different
prediction systems. Who will reach
the Final Four, and who will be
proclaimed the Champions of
NCAA Basketball? ◙
Source: Corbis

example of this is Billy Beane of

Forbes took two things into ac-
count: winning percentage com-
pared to their predecessors and
payroll relative to the league me-
dian when their predecessors were
around. Winning was factored
twice, so as to discount teams that
just slash their payroll consistently, general manager.
like the Florida Marlins.
The results? All over the
place. Leading the list was Kevin
McHale, GM of the Minnesota
Timberwolves. He’s managed to
the Oakland Athletics. The Oak-
land payroll is nothing when com-
pared to those of the Yankees, Red
Sox and Anaheim Angels. Yet no
matter what the circumstances, the
Athletics compete in the AL West.
That is the sign of a truly good
You don’t read The Standard
for retirement issues. You don’t
read Sports Illustrated for beauty
tips. Above all, don’t read Forbes
for sports. ◙
the Internet, at work, in school, at
restaurants, and many other places.
Believe it or not, they are also
found in MLB locker rooms during
spring training. MLB players take
their brackets very seriously. The
pool is usually created and super-
vised by a veteran. Each player
puts a certain amount of money
into the pool, usually somewhere
between $20 and $100. After they
pick their teams, it’s an all-out
battle. Players discuss their teams’ Emeka Okafor puts a shot against the
Duke Blue Devils during the NCAA.

Knicks Fans: Expect the Unexpected

by Hesham Saleh, staff writer
As of March 12, the New York
Knicks’ record was 29-34. Al-
though their record is less than
.500, they are a half game ahead of
the New Jersey Nets for the eighth
and final playoff spot in the East-
ern Conference. Although this may
not seem to be a great accomplish-
ment, for the Knicks it is almost a
miracle.
Over the last few years, no
Knick fan has really expected a lot
from the team. The Knicks have
had five consecutive losing sea-
sons, making the playoffs only
once, in 2004. The last time they
won a playoff series was in 1999,
when they reached the NBA Finals
to the San Antonio Spurs. Last
season, under the “great” Larry
Brown, the Knicks managed to win
only 23 games, for a mere .280
winning percentage.
But this season has been
slightly different for the Knicks.
Despite instability and several in-
juries, the Knicks have already
won more than 23 games, and are
astonishingly in the race for the
two final playoff spots in the East-
ern Conference.
At the beginning of this sea-
son, James Dolan, owner of the
Knicks, threatened to fire Isiah
Thomas, the current Knicks coach,
president and general manager, if
he did not see “sufficient pro-
gress.” With still approximately a
quarter of the season remaining,
Dolan has already seen that pro-
gress. On March 12, he signed
Thomas to a multiyear extension to
KINICKS
continues on page 15