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Monday, September 17th Volume 7
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Student Union
Reforms
The SU Constitution governs how the Student Union is run
by Rammiya Nallainathan, SU
Correspondent
The new Student Union (SU) Constitu-
tion came into effect on the first school day. Many
changes were made to a document which had not
been updated in several years.
One change within the constitution in-
cludes a new commitment for all presidents and
vice presidents of each grade. This is to “Promote
spirit, unity, and activity within his or her grade”.
Jamila Ma, President of the Student Union and
member of the committee which revised the con-
stitution, elaborated on the new clause.
She stated that before, the duties of the
class president were a bit more “technical” in the
sense that they would describe what committees
they would be on rather than the actual duties of a
president and vice president. The duties of the
class presidents include organizing and preparing
for special events in their grades , including but
not limited to comedy nights and grade-wide
dances. Ma explained that this would make the
Issue 1
TSS/Eric Mayo
presidents and vice presidents responsible for
making their grade more “functional and cohe-
sive.”
Another change was that the directors of
all committees would be able to vote as a member
of the Budget Committee and Executive Council.
When Ma was asked about this, it was discov-
ered that this change had actually been in effect
for some time. The problem was that no one offi-
cially updated in the Constitution who was voting
at these meetings. When asked her opinion on
why this was a smart choice she said,
“Many issues that the Executive Council
and the Budget Committee vote on will affect the
communications department, as well as the other
departments, so it is only fitting that they should
REFORMS
continues on page 3
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SEE PAGE 3
Your School,
Your World —
Your News
Presenting
Our Principal:
Mr. Stanley
Teitel
by Kenneth Lam, staff writer and Jimmy
Zhang, co-news editor
In September 1983, Stanley Teitel entered
the Stuyvesant community as a chemistry
teacher. The following year, he began teaching
physics. Soon afterwards, he was promoted to
the position of Assistant Principal for Chemis-
try and Physics. Then, in 1999, Teitel was ap-
pointed principal of Stuyvesant High School.
Even with this position, he still retains a pas-
sion for teaching his students, and still teaches
freshman physics. This year marks Teitel’s
25th year as a member of the Stuyvesant com-
munity and his eighth year as principal.
As both the principal and a teacher, Teitel
often has to juggle the two jobs at once. In an
interview, he happily replied that the physics
half of his job was the easy part because he was
already accustomed to it with years of teaching
experience. Being a principal requires that
Teitel deals with three main bodies: the student
PRESENTING OUR PRINCIPAL
continues on page 4
In this Issue
Arabic School Causes Contro-
versy in Brooklyn
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3
Is Celebrity Coverage Excessive?
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4
The Enigma of Peer Evaluation
Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 8
2 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 NEWS

EDITORIAL
COMMUNICATION
A new locker system and new scanner policies were introduced as
students made their way back to school. Though the policies themselves
have in the most focus of the students, we need to look at the bigger issue
surrounding all of these policies: Communication.
Did the Student Union really accept the new locker policy, as reported
last year, or were they “strongly opposed” to this, as Student Union Presi-
dent Jamila Ma said in a Facebook posting on August 31? If the Student
Union was strongly opposed, why didn’t they attempt to organize the stu-
dents to rally against the new lockers?
The Editorial Board The Student Union’s failure to communicate with the student body is
the reason why the administration can get away with imposing restriction
after restriction on students. Students last year received zero information
MS. MEGAN BRESLIN FACULTY ADVISER directly from the Student Union about what was going on in the Student
JENNIFER SCHLESINGER EDITOR IN CHIEF Union. Media outlets cannot report about everything that’s going on. It is
ERIC MAYO MANAGING EDITOR the responsibility of the student government to make sure students are in-
formed about important issues effecting them.
DIANE CHEN DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
Another example is the new constitution. The new constitution refers
ANGEL WONG DIRECTOR OF FINANCE everything about the Budget Committee to the “Budget Committee Meet-
SANGHEE CHUNG LAYOUT EDITOR ing Procedures”. These procedures, if available online, would have ex-
DANNY ZHU COPY CHIEF plained our Budget Article (Volume 6, Issue 6). However, we were led to
JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR believe that an error was committed.
The Student Union can’t rely on outside sources to rally the students
TIM CHANG NEWS EDITOR
against a cause. Stuycom is clearly not what it used to be, and Facebook
HESHAM SALEH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR can only do so much.
PRISCILLA MELO OPINIONS EDITOR If the Student Union feels that student support can help their agenda,
EMMA RABINOVICH ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR that’s fine. It must be their responsibility then to seek out the students to
RICHARD MAI SPORTS EDITOR tell them what’s at stake.
JOSEPH KRUTOV SCIENCE EDITOR
OMAR AHMAD ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

LETTER
HANFORD CHIU BUSINESS EDITOR
AMNA AHMAD LITERARY EDITOR
ROBERT STEVENSON ASSITANT LITERARY EDITOR
JESSE ZHANG WEBMASTER
ELISSA TAM
DANIEL EGERS (‘03)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOJOURNALISM
FOUNDER
TO STUYVESANT
ERNEST BASKIN (‘04) EDITOR EMERITUS The Stuyvesant Standard is excited about the start of a new school
year. We are looking to continue to improve our paper to make it the best it
can be for our readers. To help us further achieve this goal, we have re-
Publication designed the paper with easier to read fonts and bigger pictures, so you can
get your news quicker and easier.
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD is a non-profit publication produced by For those of you new to Stuyvesant, we welcome you to our com-
the students of Stuyvesant High School. munity. The Stuyvesant Standard is a newspaper of Stuyvesant High
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD distributes 2,000 free copies on a bi- School. We are dedicated to providing the Stuyvesant Community with
weekly basis to the students and faculty of Stuyvesant High School information to allow them to be informed about not only their school, but
and throughout the adjoining neighborhoods of TriBeCa and Battery their surrounding community as well. We are entirely student run with a
Park City. faculty advisor, Ms. Breslin. The editorial, which you see directly above
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD welcomes letters from its readers. For a this letter, is written by the Editorial Board, a group of seniors, juniors, and
letter to be reproduced in print, a name and method of contact must sophomores. We publish bi-weekly, but more up to date information can be
be provided. found on our website, www.stuystandard.org
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD reserves the right to edit any published We will be holding recruitments later this week, for all sections.
material. The viewpoints of contributors do not necessarily reflect This includes more than just writing, such as business, layout, photography,
the views of the Standard staff comics, and web. Information will be posted on posters and our website.
Copyright ©2007 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD Please contact recruitment@stuystandard.org if you have any questions.
We are also taking ads now. Ads are a great way to reach Stuyve-
Advertising sant High School as well as the local community. Please contact
If you would like to advertise in THE STUYVESANT STANDARD, cfo@stuystandard.org if you have more questions.
please e-mail advertising@stuystandard.org to request an adver-
tisement form. We offer a broad range of options including full Welcome back to Stuyvesant, and we wish you success in your new school
color capability for your advertising needs. year.

Contact Us Sincerely,
The Stuyvesant Standard Editorial Board 2007
Please direct all correspondence to:
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
345 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10282-1000
readers@stuystandard.org
Find us on the web at www.stuystandard.org
NEWS September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 3

THE STANDARD NEWS

Arabic Language School Causes
Controversy in Brooklyn
by Hesham Saleh, assistant
news editor
On September 4, all NYC
public schools reopened their
doors for the thousands of students
in the NYC public school system.
One new school, Khalil Gibran
International Academy (KGIA),
which opened in Brooklyn, faced
much controversy from the com-
munity even on its grand opening
day.
A group of 60 11-year olds
entered the doors of KGIA on Sept
4, which is currently open only for
sixth graders. KGIA is a NYC
public school that teaches the regu-
lar curriculum, but with an empha-
sis on the Arabic language.
There were large groups of
protesters outside KGIA on Sept 4.
One major group, which called
themselves “Stop the Madrassa”
(“madrassa” means “school” in
Arabic) tried to fight their way to
City Hall to protest the opening of
this school. Supporters of this
group claimed that the new school
had not clearly explained its cur-
riculum. More importantly, these
protesters accused the school of
planning to teach its students how
to become terrorists.
KGIA released little informa-
tion about its curriculum. The prin-
cipal, Danielle Salzberg, made it
known that many of the books in
the curriculum were directed to-
ward teaching Arabic, and in-
cluded English novels, released by
“Scholastics,” which were trans-
lated into Arabic. But opponents of
the school want more information,
to ensure that the school is neither
a religious nor a terrorist school.
One critic, Brian Rooney, told
Cybercast News Service (CNS) of
his and many others’ suspicions
about the school. “It [the school’s
withholding information] contin-
ues to raise suspicions that KGIA
is an anti-American, anti-Christian,
and anti-Jewish propaganda center
operating as a public school,” he
said.
According to CNS, NYC
Schools Chancellor Joe Klein, sup-
ported the opening of the Arabic
school, saying, “Khalil Gibran will
add a new, important option for
our students who are interested in a
rigorous academic program with
an international and Arab language
theme.”
Allen Rabinovich, a junior at
Stuyvesant High School, summed
up the major reason for the contro-
versy surrounding this school.
“People just associate the Arabic
language with Islam,” Rabinovich
said, “and Islam with terrorism.”
This stereotypical view, along with
several other reasons, has indeed
been the reason for the large num-
ber of people protesting the open-
ing of KGIA as a NYC public
school.
Got an Opinion?
We want to hear it!
E-mail us or post in our
forum
www.stuystandard
.org

The Stuyvesant Standard Raffles

Parents’ Camp Code: 0704911112

Click here to win free prizes!
From buying textbooks for AP classes to going out to eat dur-

Stuy
by Tim Chang, news editor
29 August – After two months
of slumber, Stuyvesant’s lobby
was once again abuzz with the
energy of orientation. But this was
not a student orientation. Rather,
hundreds of anxious parents
poured into the lobby to sign in for
the first ever Parents’ Camp Stuy,
created and coordinated by Eleanor
Archie, Stuyvesant’s Assistant
Principal for Pupil Personnel Ser-
vices.
After having sandwiches at the
snack table, parents sat in the audi-
torium and listened to various
speakers, including Alec Klein,
Stuyvesant alumnus and author of
the new book “A Class Apart.” But
this meeting would be of little
practical use unless, as Sumei
Chan, representative for the stu-
dent leadership team, stated, the
program took “the whole child”
into account. Speakers on stress
management, parent-child relation-
ships and other important topics
were brought in to bring the par-
ents into the Stuyvesant commu-
nity. “It is important to let the par-
ents know,” Chan said, that “there
are people to help empower them
to raise their child.” Knowledge-
able parents lead to less stressed,
happier students, which means
better academic performance.
Parents’ Camp Stuy was
Archie’s brainchild, but the Par-
ents’ Association (PA) and the Big
Sibs brought it to life. Over 50 Big
Sibs and tens of parents volun-
teered to help in order to keep eve-
rything running smoothly. The PA
spent approximately $14,000 on
the event.
The PA was surprised at the
turnout. According to Chan, from
the 831 students enrolled for the
class of 2012, over 700 parents
showed up, a very high turnout
considering that the event fell dur-
ing the vacation and right before
Labor Day weekend. As for the
Big Sibs, Chan believes that the
Big Sibs showed “wonderful en-
PARENTS’ CAMP STUY
continues on page 4
ing lunch, many students in Stuyvesant just don’t have enough money
to buy themselves the latest gadgets. Many are dying to buy the latest
PSP-2000 or the recently released iPhone but can’t seem to muster
the money needed. Well, starting this year, The Stuyvesant Standard
will be having a number of raffles for prizes such as these and more.
Though there are no set prizes, The Standard team hopes to have gift
certificates to Best Buy and other stores as well as some technological
gadgets for the drawings starting this December.
So, how much do you have to pay for these raffles? None
whatsoever! All you need to do is sign up on The Standard’s website
(http://www.stuystandard.org/). Each issue, a small box similar to
the one this article is printed in will contain a special code. Just enter
this code on the website and you’ll automatically get a ticket.
The alternate method to acquiring these tickets is to utilize
The Standard website. When you are logged in, you can post com-
ments and vote on articles. Also, you can chat on the Forum with
other Stuyvesant students. Whenever you do so, you will get a certain
amount of points. After acquiring 50 points, you have an option to
purchase a ticket for the current drawing. It’s simple and it’s easy to
do!
So, when you get home today, turn on your computer and
enter in this code to redeem your free ticket!
REFORMS
continued from page 1
have some say in the matter.”
The other major change to the constitution came under the Budget
Committee. As reported last year, there were several inaccuracies concern-
ing the members of the Budget Committee and whether they were actually
eligible to vote. The new constitution refers students to the Budget Com-
mittee Meeting Procedures, a document not available online. In the proce-
dures, how a budget meeting works is clearly laid out, including the mem-
bers of the committee and their responsibilities.
4 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
Is Celebrity Coverage Excessive?
by Liza Pincus, special to the
Standard
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
anchor Mika Brzezinski recently
used a lighter and paper shredder
on live television to destroy a
script about Paris Hilton’s release
from jail. The Associated Press
reported on July 8 that two million
people have since watched the clip
that made a British Web site call
Brzezinski “woman of the week.”
“My skin was crawling,”
Brzezinski said after the show.
“This was our lead? On a day like
this? To me, it was just the ulti-
mate Paris Hilton out-of-control
moment. We've gone too far and
we've got to stop.”
However, analysts say public
obsession with celebrity news does
not seem to be peaking any time
soon. The AP reported on its web-
site that the Hilton story ranks
fourth after the Iraq War, the death
of Anna Nicole Smith and the Vir-
ginia Tech shootings with the most
clicked upon stories of the year.
PARENTS’ CAMP STUY
continued from page 3
thusiasm” and that showcasing the
school’s kids gives the school
pride by casting a positive light on
the student body.
Parents were just as pleased
with the program as the PA was.
Freshman parent Judy Li was espe-
cially impressed with the “range of
programs that the school offers”
and felt that the session overall
was very helpful and informative.
Li was also impressed with the
guidance counselor system and the
many services the guidance coun-
selors offer, and said it was “good
to know about them.”
There were some aspects of
the program that the PA did not
believe went so well. The problem
of the language barrier always ex-
ists in a multicultural school.
While parents fluent in Mandarin,
Cantonese and Korean were
brought in to help interpret some
items, about 5 percent of Chinese
parents experienced language
problems, according to Chan.
Unlike many PA meetings, there
was no simultaneous translation to
help parents understand speakers
on stage. Also, the program was a
bit lengthy, and Chan believes that
future programs of this nature
should be cut shorter. But judging
the event by its success, this help-
ful program will be repeated in
years to come. Chan, the parent of
a senior, only wishes that “they
had it for themselves.”
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1
Media experts say teenagers
tend to concentrate on celebrity
news. Limor Peer, research direc-
tor at Northwestern University's
Media Management Center and
Readership Institute, said a recent
study showed a definite interest in
this topic.
Actions like Brzezinski’s are
rare among members of the media,
even those who say they dislike the
Hilton coverage. According to the
AP, when Anderson Cooper’s
CNN broadcast immediately fol-
lowed Larry King’s June 27 inter-
view with Hilton, Cooper spent an
hour talking about the celebrity.
Nielsen Media Research, which is
in charge of TV ratings, found that
Cooper’s viewers doubled that
night to 1.89 million people.
Pew Research Center reported
that in mid-February, 38 percent
cited Anna Nicole Smith as the
person they had heard most about
in the news, while 28 percent cited
President Bush.
But why do people care so
PRESENTING OUR PRINCIPAL
continued from page 1
body, the parents , and the faculty,
each of which must be dealt with
in “a fair and equitable manner.”
And while these three constituents
are indeed distinct, he finds that
the parents often side with the stu-
dent body.
Teitel’s main concern regard-
ing Stuyvesant is student safety.
He guarantees that while students
are in school, they will be kept in a
safe environment. However, he
acknowledges that while students
have no reason to worry inside of
school, life outside school is a dif-
ferent story, one which Teitel has
no control over. Students often
have commutes that take over two
hours a day. He also notes that
these commutes often take place in
the dark, and as to their safety,
“Who can say?”
That being said, Teitel has
great expectations for the students
in Stuyvesant. He believes that the
students already have the qualities
necessary for the school. “My job
is to provide them with a good
education,” he said. “Your job is
to take advantage of what I’m of-
fering.”
This year, Stuyvesant is cer-
tainly offering something new. In
keeping with his concern over
safety, Teitel stated that one such
new aspect of school life is the
locker initiative, where students
are assigned a locker and are given
much about celebrities? Robert
McClory, associate professor
emeritus at Northwestern Univer-
sity’s Medill School of Journalism,
said it is human nature to be inter-
ested in scandals.
“It’s not anything we should
be proud of, but there’s a human
The Associated Press reported on its website that the Hilton story ranks fourth after
the Iraq War, the death of Anna Nicole Smith and the Virginia Tech shootings with
the most clicked upon stories of the year.
a choice of whether or not they wish
to use it. A second such new aspect
is lunch scanning. Previously, ID
scanners were introduced to help
maintain a safer environment as well
as to streamline attendance taking.
They were restricted to only scan-
ning into school during the morning.
This year, ID scanners are to be put
into effect not only during mornings,
but also during lunch periods, where
students will have to scan in and out
of school for lunch outside.
When asked about a theme for
this year, Teitel responded, “Using
data to improve instruction.” By
collecting student progress data from
various classes in Stuyvesant, the
faculty can assess different ap-
proaches to instruction. By improv-
ing instruction based upon this data,
Mr. Teitel hopes that student grades
will rise, indicating better perform-
ance on the part of the faculty and
the students.
Outside of school, Mr. Teitel
enjoys a variety of different activi-
ties. Like many people, he enjoys a
good book. His duties as both a
principal and a teacher provide a
constant block to this pastime, and
during the school year, he rarely has
Presenting Our Principal: Stanley
Mr. Teitel
Fast Facts
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Food: Linguine alla vongole
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
NEWS
interest and satisfaction in other
people’s troubles,” he said.
McClory said people are inter-
ested in celebrities because they
CELEBRITY COVERAGE
continues on page 5
Source: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/parisL2606_468x272.jpg
enough time to sit down and read.
As a result, it takes him nearly a
month to finish a book. During va-
cations, on the other hand, Mr. Teitel
can read at a much faster rate. Dur-
ing the past summer alone he read
four books. On top of reading, Mr.
Teitel also enjoys traveling. One
facet of travel that he particularly
likes is wintertime travel, as he
sometimes gets a chance to ski. For
Mr. Teitel, skiing is an enjoyable
pastime and one which he is very
good at.
While it is a busy job being both
a principal and a teacher at Stuyve-
sant, Mr. Teitel enjoys his job very
much. When asked to give one word
that described Stuyvesant, Mr. Teitel
opted to give a list which included,
“wonderful, terrific, enjoyable, vi-
brant, energetic and exciting.” Al-
though these words are used to de-
scribe Stuyvesant, Mr. Teitel also
feels that these words can describe
how he feels about his job. As for
his favorite aspect of Stuyvesant?
“Students.”
NEWS
CELEBRITY COVERAGE
continued from page 4
feel like they know them.
“When people hear that their
neighbors are getting a divorce,
they’re interested,” he said.
“Thanks to TV and movies, people
regard [celebrities] as their
neighbors.”
David Standish, the magazine
editorial adviser at Northwestern
University’s Medill School of
Journalism and previous editor and
staff writer for Playboy said there
has been an increasing fragmenta-
tion in American culture over the
past 20 years and that there are
fewer common threads between
people. He said he thinks celebri-
ties act as a common thread.
Standish said in a society
where most people are living in big
cities, it is a “more anonymous
experience.”
“Our interest in celebrities is a
way of dealing with that hunger to
feel like we’re a part of something
we all know,” he said.
Shirley Halperin, a senior
writer at Entertainment Weekly and
former west coast editor for Teen
People and Bop Magazine, said
after 9/11, the public needed an
escape from reality. She said that
lead to an appetite for more trivial
news.
Callie Schweitzer, 18, an in-
tern at People, said people idolize
the celebrity lifestyle. She said
people think that all celebrities
have to do is wake up, look pretty
and party at night.
“People don’t think acting is
that hard,” she said.
However, Cynthia Wang, the
Los Angeles associate bureau chief
of People, said people read about
celebrities to feel better about their
own lives.
“The conventional wisdom
used to be that the grass was al-
ways greener on the other side,”
she said. “People liked to read ce-
lebrity news simply to see how the
rich and famous lived. Now it’s
almost the other way around —
people like seeing how those they
once felt were out of their league
now have the same problems and
foibles the average person does.”
Wang also attributes teens’
obsession with celebrity news to
the fact that many stars themselves
are young. She said there are teen-
agers who have grown up along
with Hilary Duff, for example.
“It’s easier to get caught up in
celebrity when you can follow
your favorite stars’ every move on
their website or MySpace page, or
see new photos of them daily on
wire websites, or publicize your
thoughts on them on your own
blog,” Wang said.
Halperin said teenagers con-
centrate on celebrities because they
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1
have more time and fewer respon-
sibilities than adults do. She also
said celebrity gossip serves as top-
ics of conversation for teenagers
with their friends or boyfriends
and girlfriends.
Peer said she calls celebrity
news “news with a small n,”
though she doesn’t necessarily see
that as a bad thing. This “news
with a small n” has become a large
part of today’s media.
Standish said the abundance of
celebrity coverage is a direct result
of public demand. He said he
thinks too much celebrity coverage
is a fault of society, not of the me-
dia. He said the media is an ex-
pression of the culture.
Jane Hirt, editor of RedEye,
MSNBC Anchor Mika Brzezinski lights her Paris Hilton story on fire. t i m e
The clip generated hundreds of thousands of hits on Youtube and a
the free daily edition of The Chi-
cago Tribune, said in an e-mail
that she thinks celebrity coverage
is fueled in part by traditional news
sources which are expanding
i n t o mo r e n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l “ape” what their parents do, which
news areas in order to compete
with the web.
Media experts say a publica-
tion’s type of coverage should de-
pend on its mission statement.
Wang said People’s mission state-
ment is to tell the stories of ex-
traordinary people doing ordinary
things, and ordinary people doing
extraordinary things, so both ce-
lebrity news and more serious
news is reported.
“However, a magazine such as
Star or US Weekly caters to young
readers interested in celebrity news
and fashion, and it would be incon-
gruous if all of a sudden those
magazines started to feature Iraq
stories,” she said.
Halperin said she thinks
there’s a place for celebrity issues,
and it’s not necessarily on CNN.
She said she thinks there’s a re-
sponsibility for CNN to cover sto-
ries that will “really affect people’s
lives.”
Halperin also said hard news
sources are just looking at ratings
and that’s “kind of sad.”
Halperin said teenage apathy
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
toward world events is indicative
of a much bigger problem than the
media’s response to public interest.
She said it’s the fault of parents,
educators and the community that
teenagers are not better informed.
“You’re a product of the envi-
ronment you’re raised in,” she
said.
Wang said the problem with
hard news is that ratings may con-
flict with a publication’s direc-
tives. However, she said although
hard news publications think they
can’t survive without celebrity
coverage, they probably can.
Bret Begun, the National Af-
fairs Editor for Newsweek, said
cable news networks may be able
to survive without covering celeb-
rities
b u t
there is
“real
com-
petitive
pres-
sure.”
He said
with 24
hours
of cov-
erage
every-
d a y ,
n e t -
works
need to
fill the
somehow.
“There’s
nothing
wrong with doing things in mod-
eration,” he said. “Watching Paris
Hilton leave her house to go to jail
is pretty compelling coverage.”
Begun, said teenagers tend to
he said is true of anything, not just
celebrity news consumption. How-
ever, he said he doesn’t think par-
ents are at fault for this.
“If a parent wants to watch
celebrity news, it’s perfectly le-
gal,” he said.
Wang said teens whose par-
ents enthusiastically watch movies
and talk about music naturally fol-
low in their footsteps. She said in
households where parents “rely on
the television to be the babysitter,”
young children grow up more in-
terested in celebrities.
“With less reading in a house
and more consumption of the me-
dia there is a more celebrity-
obsessed culture,” she said.
Begun said he thinks paying
attention to world events is a per-
sonal choice. He said publications
such as Newsweek can’t force peo-
ple to care about what is going on.
“It’s not my job to be didac-
tic,” he said. “If we’re a nation that
cares more about ‘American Idol’
than presidential elections, it does-
n’t bode well for our nation.”
In 2006, Newton South High
5
School in Newton, Mass. surveyed
164 students on political trivia and
pop culture. While 39 percent
identified the purpose of the Pa-
triot Act, 80 percent identified
Johnny Depp’s character in the
“Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
Katie Sanders, a senior at
Newton South High School, said
the survey didn’t surprise most
students.
“It just goes to show that de-
spite our strong educations, we
spend so much time focusing on
what's not important that we lose
sight of what arguably is” said
Sanders.
Begun said he doesn’t think
teens’ interest in celebrity news is
an entirely negative thing.
“Life is hard,” he said. “If you
want to escape a little, there are
many worse ways you could do it.”
Standish said he doesn’t think
there’s anything wrong with a cer-
tain amount of “fluff,” manifested
in entertainment magazines.
“We can’t be all serious all the
time,” he said.
Wang said she doesn’t think
heavy celebrity news consumption
is a problem.
“But what would make me
pause is if teens don’t acquire the
skills to break down the informa-
tion they read,” she said.
McClory, who said many of
his students read teen magazines,
said he doesn’t condemn the inter-
est in celebrity news. He said teen-
agers need excitement to take them
away from a lot of “awful things in
their lives.”
However, he said it’s an ex-
tremely negative thing if teens
aren’t paying attention to anything
else.
Begun said because teenagers
today have so many more options
for where to get their news, hard
news is often boring to read. How-
ever, though he said habits are
formed early, he said he thinks as
teens get older, more serious issues
such as how an administration
“lied to get us into war” become
more interesting.
Carley Lake, 17, from Los
Angeles, Calif., said although she
closely follows celebrity gossip,
she thinks she will grow out of it.
“I’ll always go on the celeb-
rity blogs but as I get older I’ll
concentrate on more things that
will affect me as an adult like so-
cial security and health care,” she
said.
Media experts proposed ways
to strike a balance for teenagers
between celebrity news and hard
news.
CELEBRITY COVERAGE
continued on page 6
6 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 NEWS

PHOTO ESSAY
THE BACKPACK
The backpack is probably the most ubiquitous accessory
around Stuyvesant. From Jansport to Northface to all the
lesser known brands, backpacks and their attachments
can almost tell something about the person wearing
them. What kind of differences in backpacks do we
see between freshmen and seniors? Standard correspon-
dents David Yin and Kenneth Lam decided to investigate:
Harrison Wong - Senior David Huang - Freshman Alex Wang - Senior

David Gong - Freshman Jason Tong - Senior Daniel Zhang - Freshman

CELEBRITY COVERAGE
continued from page 5

Begun suggested an impetus
such as a Facebook news channel
that will inform teenagers while they
leisurely surf the web. Halperin sug-
gested more efforts by celebrities to
inform teens of world issues.
McClory said public obsession
with celebrity news, especially
among teenagers, is “not leaving
us.”
Wang said the appetite for
celebrity news is healthy and will
stay that way for awhile.
“As long as celebrities con-
tinue to do newsworthy or notori-
ous things, there will be outlets
around to cover them,” she said.
Acording to experts and statis-
tics, public interest in celebrities is
not peaking anytime soon. Brzez-
inski told the AP that the news
lead on Paris Hilton that day made
her “feel stupid.” She also said
even she will not stop covering
celebrities.
“It's not like I'll never cover a Paris
Hilton story again and it's not like
I'm never going to listen to my
producer again,” she said.
7 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 OPNIONS

THE STANDARD OPINIONS

Nine Tips for the Ninth Grade
by Hui Ting Jiang, staff writer
It is your fprestigious
School (affectionately Stuyvesant
known as Stuy) and you are so
nervous that your hands are
dripping with sweat. You don’t see
anyone you know, and when you
think you do, it turns out to be a
complete stranger. Embarrassed,
you turn the other way and proceed
.to find your homeroom
Those were my first few
minutes at Stuy. Hopefully that did
not happen to you because yours
truly will provide you with a basic
guide to Stuy. Read on to find out
proof your first year-how to fool
.here
1. Be loquacious. Your first year
of high school is meant to be a
learning experience, educationally
and socially. Strike up a conversa-
tion with whomever you sit next to
in your classes. Even talking about
a ‘boring’ subject such as the
weather can be stimulating due to
this year’s insane climate. How-
ever, be careful not to be too long-
winded, or everyone will turn the
other way when they see you!
2. Update yourself. Both students
and teachers at Stuy are incredibly
up-to-date. Don’t hesitate to buy
the paper and read it on the train. If
you can’t afford to put 25 cents
aside, then grab a copy of the com-
plementary Metro or AMNY and
skim through it for international
and national news.
3. The bridge. Also know as the
TriBeCa Bridge, it is regarded by
some as the ‘passageway to free-
dom’. It is the bridge you walk to
go outside during your lunch pe-
riod and the bridge you walk once
school ends. As an added bonus,
the bridge has two elevators on
either side that will take you down
if you are too tired (or lazy) to take
the stairs.
4. Your lunch period. When you
eat really depends on your luck.
There is the brunch-like lunch dur-
ing fourth period and there is the
dreaded eighth-period lunch, be-
fore which your stomach is already
grumbling for a decent meal. The
good thing about high school is
that you can ditch the brown
bagged lunches and purchase your
own lunch outside of school. Eve-
ryone raves about the sandwiches
from Terry’s, a store right next to
school, so it would be wise to try
them at least once during your four
years here. But remember to go
back to the bridge 10 minutes be-
fore your next class!
5. Don’t be afraid to ask ques-
tions. Remember when you used
to persistently ask “why?” and
adults would say in return
“because”? Those days are over.
The faculty at Stuy are more than
happy to answer your questions,
because they genuinely care about
your curiosity and desire to learn.
Here, no one ridicules you for rais-
ing your hand consistently. So ask
away!
6. If in doubt, go to the library.
That may sound nerdy, but the
library is actually a great place to
go during your free period! Stu-
dents flock there in droves, so be
sure to get there early. Although it
is a bit on the noisy side, it gives
you a place to relax with your
friends or catch up on some home-
work.
7. Opt for the stairs. Although the
escalators may seem ritzy and ex-
citing at first, they are not very
practical. They are usually im-
mensely crowded and not very
fast. If it isn’t crowded, there are
always those dreaded groups of
upperclassmen who block your
way on the escalators. Be smart
and take a walk.
8. Learn to walk. That may seem
silly, but students have places to
go and people to see. The hallways
are filled with people who rush
from room to room. It can be hard
to navigate if you walk at the pace
of a turtle and don’t know your
way around the school yet.
9. The half floor. Yes, it exists. It
is one of the many hangout spots
in this school. Don’t be afraid to
venture there. We don’t bite! As a
side note, it is usually occupied by
self-proclaimed musicians at the
end of the day. So if you are inter-
ested, then go check it out.

Big Brother at Stuy?

by Priscilla Melo , opinions
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/1984first.jpg

sly “designer” locks. Their mistake such scrutiny. We, as students,

editor
It all started innocently
enough — but the path to hell is,
like they say, paved with good
intentions. At first, it was a stricter
lunch policy, so the mice wouldn’t
find their Utopia in our halls and
classrooms. Then it was the ID
scanners, which some were infuri-
ated with, but all in all, it helped
the administration with attendance.
Then came the iPod/cellphone ban,
which many have blatantly disre-
garded and with good reason. But
the new locker assignments and
the usage of ID scanners during
lunch is, I fear, the beginning of
the end.
Since the school does not have
lockers with integrated locks, it has
always been left for students to
buy and use their own locks. Some
bought Master locks with a 25-
number combination to safeguard
their most precious possessions,
while others naively bought mea-
will hopefully make them into
more responsible young adults, as
the high school experience should
do. Now, equipping the school
with bulky black locks and de-
manding that everyone pay 11 dol-
lars for their lockers is a bit too
drastic for the mistakes of a few
students. Besides, the beauty of
Stuyvesant halls depended in part
on the diversity of locks and their
colors; taking that away is like
taking part of our individual ex-
pression.
Putting aside aesthetics, the
amount of control and bureaucracy
that the administration is wielding
and relying on is scary. Stuyve-
sant, like any other school, has a
few deranged souls that would
steal coats and blow up bathrooms,
but overall, the student population
is quite sane and responsible.
There is not such a history of
widespread and general violence,
gun possession, and other illicit
phenomena to have all of us under
should receive more respect and
trust. This invariably means that
each individual student will also
have more responsibility, that each
student will have to suffer any
consequence for their actions. This
is perfectly okay.
However, what the school
administration is instituting now is
not okay. Their ability to check our
lockers if anyone “tips them off” is
a violation of our privacy, espe-
cially in a school where the aver-
age student wouldn’t dare go
above the law if it would lower
their chances at Harvard. This ex-
tra security is superfluous and is
chipping away at our already lim-
ited freedom. Sure, it may just be
the lockers now, but metal detec-
tors and security cameras on every
Big Brother is a fictional character in
hall are just around the corner. I
George Orwell’s 1984. In the novel,
am glad that I’m in my last year
Big Brother is the dictator of a totali-
and will not be here to witness
tarian state where everyone is under
Stuyvesant students calling the
surveillance through telescreens.
principal “Big Brother.”
OPINIONS September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 8

Cheap Labor Comes at a High Price

On August 2, Mattel's Fisher-Price Unit recalled almost a million Chinese toys
because of possible hazards due to the toys coated in lead-based paint.
by Guergana Borissova , staff
writer
The thought of Barbie dolls,
Matchbox cars, Dora the Explorer
kitchen sets, and SpongeBob
SquarePants journals brings to
mind the carefree days of child-
hood. Until recently, rarely would
one associate these popular chil-
dren’s toys with learning disabili-
ties, stunted growth, comas, and
even death — all as a result of lead
poisoning. But how has this come
Source: matteltoys.yahoo.bmp
stration, the agency has decreased
in size, leaving only about 420
people responsible for testing
products for hazards. The current
chairwoman of the CPSC, Nancy
A. Nord, believes that the agency
is doing its best to protect the con-
sumer, but could certainly do even
more if it had the resources. Seeing
that the agency is responsible for a
growing industry that made nearly
$1.4 trillion last year alone, why is
the budget of the CPSC declining?
Cameras, televisions, toys,
and cosmetics, used by millions of
Americans daily, are often not
screened as thoroughly as they
should be, until an official report is
filed with the CPSC of an injury or
death resulting from one of these
consumer products. Even then, the
to be? agency can only investigate 10 to
The Consumer Product Safety 15 percent of all reports received.
Commission (CPSC) is responsible It is simply too late to wait for the
for testing products and ensuring brain and central nervous system
that those that pose a safety threat of an innocent child to get perma-
to the public stay off the market. nently damaged from lead poison-
Over the past thirty years, their ing before taking a closer look at a
work has contributed to a rapid favorite toy. Recalls often come
decline in deaths and injuries asso- too late and are tedious for both
ciated with consumer products the manufacturer and consumer.
If we invested more in proper
such as household chemicals,
power tools, and toys, as stated in testing of these potentially lethal
their mission overview. After products, we could prevent many
budget cuts from the Bush admini- kids and their parents from unnec-
essary suffering caused by these
defective goods. However, it is
unlikely that government funding
for agencies such as he CPSC will
increase any time soon, at least not
until the war in Iraq, which costs
an estimated $100,000 per minute,
ends.
Just like artists tend to occa-
sionally take a step back and look
at their work from a distance, we
need to stop for a moment and
examine the condition of the soci-
ety we have created. Sometimes
we start to delve into the trivial
details of life and lose sense of the
bigger picture of what really mat-
ters.
“If we invested more
in proper testing of
these potentially le-
thal products, we
could prevent many
kids and their parents
from unnecessary suf-
fering caused by
these defective
goods.”

Stuy Voice: The Enigma of Peer Evaluation

by Amna Ahmad, literary editor/
columnist
Peer editing is a widely used
method employed by teachers with
the hope that grades will rise and
papers will improve. In my experi-
ence as a high school student,
however, no reasonable improve-
ments or pertinent marks have
been made on a paper of mine
through the process of peer editing.
However, the pizza stains and torn
page corners serve as constant re-
minders of the lack of effort dis-
played by peer editors on the high
school level.
I often get the impression that
peer editing falls under the cate-
gory of ideas that appear to be
“Forty-eight percent
of students noted that
as a result of the peer
editing process,
grades either de-
clined or remained
constant.”
flawless in concept but are in real- of it, then what makes peer editing unmatched in numbers when
ity nothing short of faulty. The Perhaps the entire peer editing scores are finally retrieved from
model of having a student edit the system acts as a confidence .teachers
work of another, more or less booster for students whose papers While I strongly disagree with
equal in scholastic aptitude, char- are returned with few corrections the Stuyvesant community with
acterizes an adequate system, yet merely out of the incompetence or regards to the effectiveness of peer
when one factors in a few other passivity of a peer editor rather editing, I do understand why peer
noticeable facets of the peer edit- than the actual quality of the paper. editing would seem to be more
ing process, the method begins to This grants the writer a false sense successful a practice than it actu-
lose integrity. of confidence and success ally is.
Seventy-three percent of stu-
dents polled in a recent survey of
the Stuyvesant community agreed
that peer editing is an effective tool
in the revision of a paper. How-
Is peer editing an effective tool in the
ever, 48 percent of students noted revision of a paper?
that as a result of the peer editing
process, grades either declined or
remained constant. From these
contradictory survey results, it is
possible to deduce that the trust in
the sincerity of one’s peers is re-
sponsible for what appears to be
the “success” of the system that for
a great deal of students who
deemed it effective had failed in
terms of scores.
If peer editing is considered an
the writing effective tool in
process by a substantial number of
students who experienced no
improvement in grades as a result
9 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
When It Rains, It Pours: Bottled Warer
by Jonathan Xikis and Amy Qiu,
staff writers
There's nothing like a cold
bottle of water on those hot sum-
mer days, but if given a choice,
would someone pick the bottled
H2O or filtered water from the tap?
The general consensus is that bot-
tled water is the more pure and
natural choice, so it may come as a
shock for consumers to find out
that, in many cases, there really
isn't much of a difference between
the two. Recent studies have
shown that about 25 percent of
bottled water consumed comes
from the same municipal water
supplies as tap water.
Water bottles have become as
ubiquitous as textbooks in Stuyve-
sant, thanks to their ability to pro-
vide refreshment without a student
having to leave class to drink at a
questionably sterile water fountain.
Brands such as Poland Spring,
Dasani, and Aquafina charge one
dollar or more for 16-ounce bottles
filled with purified water, which
are available at every reputable
restaurant or deli. Paying for this
“quality” water may not be worth
it, according to environmentalists
who say that every plastic bottle
produced is taking an increasing
toll on the Earth’s well-being.
According to recent environ-
mental studies, more than 8 billion
gallons of bottled water are con-
sumed every year in the United
Panspermia: A Theory
on the Origin of Life
by Rammiya Nallainathan, staff
writer
People have always had fan-
tasies on how they think life on
Earth actually originated. Some
follow the somewhat mundane
lightning-and-primordial-soup
theory, while others may just leave
it up to their imagination. How-
ever, one theory that has recently
gained traction is the theory of
panspermia. This theory states that
life is distributed through the uni-
verse in the form of spores or
germs. The idea behind this is that
early lifeforms were found inside
comets, and once the comets hit
the Earth, life was scattered on the
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1
THE STANDARD SCIENCE
States alone, fueling the industry’s
boom. The energy required to
make the 25 million plastic bottles
that are produced annually con-
sumes about one and a half million
barrels of oil, and only 10 percent
are recycled, meaning that the
other 90 percent end up in landfills
and as litter. Although beverage
companies are pushing recycling
and decreasing bottle weight to
make up for this, only 11 states
have deposit laws, according to the
Container Recycling Institute, and
PET bottle recycling rates have
almost halved in the last 10 years.
If this immense environmental
impact isn’t making one question
their water-buying habits, consider
the findings of the National Re-
sources Defense Council — that
bottled water is essentially the
same as tap water. According to
Jane Houlihan, the president of the
Environmental Working Group,
“you don't have any assurance of
better safety [with bottled water],”
which is tested for contaminants
less than municipal water. The
issue of concern, though, is that
consumers are not being ade-
quately informed about the real
nature of the water lining their
store shelves. Misleading labels
illustrated with images of moun-
tains and flowing water don't ex-
actly clear things up. “Bottled wa-
ter may be no safer, or healthier,
than tap water in many countries,
while selling for up to 1,000 times
planet. Recent evidence for the
theory came from NASA’s Deep
Impact probe. The probe hit a
comet with a 370-kilogram projec-
tile, causing clay particles to be
ejected. According to Chandra
Wickramasinghe of Cardiff Uni-
versity, since clay needs water to
form, the presence of clay suggests
that the comet may have once had
a warm liquid interior due to heat-
ing by radioactive isotopes present.
This in turn would allow the idea
of clay being present as a catalyst
to change simple organic mole-
cules into complex polymers to
PANSPERMIA
continues on page 10
the price,” said the World Wildlife
Fund, according to reporting from
USA Today.
Concerns have been raised
even further by the fact that since
bottled water is considered to be a
“food” by the FDA, it is not sub-
ject to the stringent regulations and
constant monitoring that tap water
is. Natural “spring water” has not
been free from scrutiny either. Al-
though it is not necessarily equated
with tap water, its purity has been
questioned by those who point out
the surface pollution the water may
be exposed to during the engineer-
ing processes associated with the
spring source. These safety con-
cerns present the possibility that
filtered or boiled water may actu-
Bottled water may taste better than tap water, but in fact, they are very much alike.
While You Were Away
by Omar Ahmad, assistant sci-
ence editor, andJonathan
Xikis, staff writer
Everyone falls behind on their cur-
rent events awareness during sum-
mer vacation, when they have bet-
ter things to worry about, like
sleep. Now, it’s time to turn back
the clock and recap some of the
summer’s most important scien-
tific events.
Hurricane Dean
Hurricane Dean was the first major
Atlantic hurricane in the 2007
storm season, and the ninth most
powerful one ever recorded in this
region: it was a Category 5 at its
peak. Dean formed due to low-
pressure waves traveling west from
the coast of Africa. After passing
near Jamaica, Dean bulldozed
BUSINESS
ally be the healthier way to go.
Although bottled water may
have been run through compli-
cated-sounding filtration systems
such as reverse osmosis, tap water
is also given a thorough sand filter-
ing and infused with minute
amounts of chlorine, which kill off
any harmful germs, as well as fluo-
ride, which improves dental health.
In fact, says Richard F. Daines,
M.D., commissioner of the state
Department of Health, “some of
the world’s best-tasting and high-
est quality drinking water is found
in New York State.” The next time
you pick up that bottle, maybe you
should consider bringing one from
home instead.
Source: bottledwater2.corbis.jpg
through the Yucatan Peninsula by
August 21 and continued on to
Mexico before dissipating. Luck-
ily, Hurricane Dean inflicted only
$2 million in damage and caused
only 42 deaths, since its landfall
was in a relatively low-population
area. In comparison, the last Cate-
gory 5 hurricane to make landfall,
Hurricane Andrew, caused more
than $38 million in damage and 65
deaths.
To r n a d o i n B r o o k l y n
No, it’s not a B-movie from the
Sci-Fi Channel. A tornado actually
touched down in Brooklyn on Au-
gust 8, ripping the roofs off build-
ings and causing tens of millions
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY
continues on page 10
 SCIENCE
Planet Formation: Is the Mystery Finally Solved?
by Omar Ahmad, assistant
science editor
Scientists have long known
how planets begin to form, yet
there has never been an explana-
tion of how a planet resists the
many dangers in its environment
until recently.
When a star is in its develop-
mental phase, known as star infant-
hood, an accretion disk, a disk-
shaped collection of gas and dust,
forms around it. Dust particles
bunch together to form clumps
around the infant star. After these
boulders form, they are faced with
a deadly obstacle. The remaining
gas from the accretion disk, which
is not moving as quickly, forms a
“headwind” which pulls the boul-
ders toward the forming star and
ending in their doom. But Morde-
cai-Marc Mac Low, an astrophysi-
cist at the American Museum of
Natural History, said recently that
“if the gas is sped up, the boulders
don't see a headwind. By getting
the gas going with them they con-
serve energy and stay in orbit.”
A more simple way of looking
PANSPERMIA
continued from page 9
become true. Because of the large
volume of clay and the role of clay
as a catalyst in converting simple
organic molecules into complex
ones, Wickramasinghe argues that
comets are a more likely source of
life than the Earth itself — 24 or-
ders of magnitude more likely, in
fact. The whole idea of clay from a
comet being found as the origin of
life has created even more contro-
versy now than previously. Water
on early Earth would have evapo-
Source: panspermia.yahoo.bmp
Panspermia is the hypothesis that "seeds" of life are prevalent in the Universe and
that these seeds landed on Earth and propagated.
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1
at this concept is using trucks on a
street as opposed to boulders in
orbit. Each boulder is similar to a
truck "pushing" the gas in front of
it, creating a pocket of air behind it
that other trucks can travel in with-
out using up as much fuel. If the
boulders do end up remaining in a
steady orbit, they will most likely
join together to form an orbiting
planet.
Even so, these boulders may
dust. Mac end up colliding to form
Low concurred. “You've got
thousands, millions of boulders
swarming together like a hive of
bees. In my nightmares I imagine
that they grind each other down to
dust and it all goes away.” If this
were to happen, the particles
would either form to make new
boulders and restart the process, or
.never come together at all
Alan Boss, an astrophysicist
with the Carnegie Institution in
Washington, D.C, said that this
theory of planetary formation was
an encouraging approach to under-
standing how something happened
that we know must have happened,
at least for the terrestrial planets.
rated within a thousand years, not
giving enough time for life to de-
velop. However, in a comet, clay
and water stay mixed over a longer
period of time (1-2 million years),
providing a stable place for life to
form. However, the main problem
is that no clay samples have been
found in the samples NASA’s
Stardust mission collected from a
different comet. Even though there
is still a dispute about this contro-
versial topic, scientists still con-
tinue to research and document
their findings in the investigation
of the theory of panspermia.
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
Planet Formation remains a puzzle for scientists
If this theory does reach as far
as Mordecai-Marc Mac Low
hopes, this concept may reach the
influence of the scientific world
and be recorded in textbooks
worldwide as an accepted theory
of planetary formation. There is
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY
continued from page 9
of dollars in damage. After causing
minor damage in Staten Island, the
storm moved eastward into Brook-
lyn. Starting in Bay Ridge, an F2
tornado spread a path of destruction
through a church, over the BQE,
and into Prospect Park South. The
2007 tornado was the strongest ever
recorded in New York, and its ac-
companying storm caused major
subway disruptions during the
morning commute. When asked if
the tornado was a result of global
warming, a NASA scientist stated
that “the answer seems to be ‘yes.’”
China Recalls
China, hailed by companies world-
wide for its dirt-cheap manufactur-
ing facilities, has come under fire
after a fair number of exports were
found to be harmful towards the
health of consumers. It started with
toxic pet food and toothpaste,
which were discovered to contain a
chemical commonly found in anti-
freeze. A later recall involved toys
that had been manufactured with
lead paint, as well as various other
safety problems. China executed
the head of its food and drug ad-
ministration in July, citing bribery
and irresponsibility as some of the
charges. In August, the head of a
company that supplied Mattel with
toys committed suicide, probably
due to the recalls.
New Developments in Human
10
Source: planetformation3.nasa.gov.jpg
much more research being done in
this study, and this information
provides a substantial base for fur-
ther research to come.
Genome Race
Dr J. Craig Venter, famous for
leading and founding the gene-
coding company Celera Genomics,
has decoded a large portion of his
own genome. His rival, a consor-
tium organized by the government,
was said to have beaten him in the
race in 2003, but he has recently
released a report on his own ge-
nome which unveils that different
human genes are far more different
from each other than previously
assumed. His results are also
deemed far more accurate than
those of the government consortium
due to the fact that the consortium’s
subjects were all of different races,
genders, etc., whereas Venter used
his own specific genome to com-
pare to others.
New Jersey Teen, George Hotz,
Hacks the iPhone
AT&T and Apple had a strict
agreement over the iPhone, making
the iPhone exclusive to AT&T con-
sumers. But seventeen-year-old
George Hotz, of Bergen County
Academies in New Jersey, has
hacked the iPhone, making iPhone
service available to T-Mobile buy-
ers as well. T-Mobile is the only
other phone company whose
phones can support the iPhone, but
international companies are sure to
take advantage of this lucky occur-
rence. Hotz has already traded a
Nissan 350Z and 3 more iPhones
for his hacked iPhone.
11 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 BUSINESS

THE STANDARD BUSINESS

Home Security-Protect Your Property
by Hanford Chiu, business edi-

tor
How safe are you in your own
home? Chances are, you are one of
the nearly eighty percent of Ameri-
cans that do not have some sort of
home security system installed.
Granted, property crime rates in
New York City have dropped al-
most 80 percent since 1990, but
there are still nearly a thousand
armed robberies and burglaries a
week. Nevertheless, now is as
good a time as any to equip your
property with the latest innovations
in preventative and responsive
security measures.
The home security market has
been growing at nearly nine per-
cent a year since September 11,
which drove safety-concerned con-
sumers to the market. Prices have
been spiraling downward as well,
with home security systems cost-
ing an average of $1500 in 1990
and $1000 in 1999; now a simple
monitoring system can cost as little
as $100 plus a monthly fee. The
technology involved has also
changed dramatically, with prod-
ucts such as fingerprint scanners
and wireless cameras easily acces-
Source: homesecurity3.yahoo.bmp
sible to consumers.
But what kind of security sys-
tem is appropriate? The most high-
end security systems used by
America’s richest such as CEOs
and Middle Eastern Sheikhs and
princes are practically military
grade. Panic rooms, purified re-
serve air supply, bulletproof glass
and building materials and even
protection from biological attacks
are almost the norm for the upper
class. Of course, the cost of one of
these systems can be up to several
million dollars. For more budget-
minded consumers, there are secu-
rity measures that range from
about $25 to several hundred dol-
lars. Home security equipments and systems may range from 25 dollars to over hundreds
There are basically three cate- of dollars.
gories of security measures one
can use: preventative, responsive Alternatively, even if a robber has minutes. Defensive measures are
and defensive. Preventative meas- enough courage to smash a win- those that are used to stop a bur-
ures are things that scare away dow or break in through a door, a glar or armed robber, such as a
opportunistic robbers, such as se- loud alarm system could also pre- gun, mace, or for the most high-
curity cameras, which can be wire- vent a burglary in progress from end security, an on-site security
less or hooked up to an Internet going any further. Responsive guard.
cable and viewed on a computer; measures are those that call for In the end, a basic home
motion sensor lights that turn on help in the event of a burglary. monitoring system is a must. For a
automatically; fancy locks such as Home monitoring systems gener- small installation and monthly fee,
one that reads fingerprints or uses ally send alarms to the security a security company can provide
a pass code to unlock; or even just company, who will then send for you with peace of mind for your
a cheap dummy security camera. the police to show up in a matter of home and belongings.

The Rise of Personalized Advertising

by Hanford Chiu, business edi-
tor
Advertisements with specific
groups of consumers in mind are
nothing new. Since the beginning
of advertising, products have been
recognized to have a higher
demand within some specific
groups of consumers than others.
For example, watch Lifetime, a
channel for women, and there will
be commercials for skin care and
beauty products. Watch Spike TV,
a channel for men, and there will
be commercials for pay-per-view
wrestling and beer. With the rise of
the Internet, more consumers and
groups can be reached with
relevant ads. Visit Facebook, a
social networking site generally for
high school and college students,
and see ads for private colleges
and job offers. However, even with
all this exposure and targeting,
advertising companies spend over
$20 billion a year on online
advertising in return for a 2 percent
Fetchback, one of the earlier
companies to utilize this technique,
is hoping to create a large network
of advertisers in order to reach a
large target audience with products
they might purchase. Some of its
retarge ting cl ient s i nclude
YouTube and MySpace, which
don’t sell any product but reach a
large amount of potential
consumers.
While this system is far from
perfect in linking consumers to
their products, it’s an important
step toward an ultimate goal, an
Internet where a user’s shopping
habits and interests are tracked and
advertisements from all sorts of
corporations are displayed, so a
video gamer would see ads for the
latest games in his favorite genre
when they come out, and a clothes
shopper would see all the latest
fashion in their favorite color,
brand or style.
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Spike_TV.png

view rate, meaning that only 2

“Ad retargeting is the
collection of data
from users about the
sites they visit, and
then the display of
ads pertaining to
products of interest
from websites that
they previously
browsed.”
percent of people who see the ad
actually follow the link, and even
less make any purchase.
A new innovative technique in
advertising is hoping to change
this rate and bring consumers more
of what they want, and it is called
ad retargeting. Experimented with
by major online advertising
agencies, ad retargeting is the
collection of data from users about
the sites they visit, and then the
display of ads pertaining to
products of interest from websites
that they previously browsed.
Watch Spike TV, a channel for men, and there will be commercials for pay-per-view
wrestling and beer.
 A&E September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 12

THE STANDARD ENTERTAINMENT

Fall Movie Preview
by Emma Rabinovich, entertainment editor
The Heartbreak Kid
Ben Stiller’s first R-rated comedy
Source: theheartbreakkid.imdb.jpg

since 1998 is a remake of Elaine

May’s 1972 classic of the same Blockbuster season may be over, but there’s
still plenty to see at the movies this fall.
title. Fortunately, aside from the
title and the basic plot, a lot has
been changed. Eddie Cantrow Here’s what to watch out for as you’re filling
(Stiller) is now more sensitive and
sympathetic and, played by a
your closets with long-sleeve shirts and
brilliant comedian, he’s also a lot putting the flip-flops away till next year.
funnier. The film comes out
October 5.

Finally, Patrick Dempsey on a big

Enchanted
American Gangster screen! The “Grey’s Anatomy”

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enchanted/gallery.php?
Based on a true story, “American heartthrob stars in a completely
Source: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809745897/photo/970438627

Gangster” is period drama about
the 1970s Harlem drug lord Frank
Lucas, played by Denzel Washing-
ton, and the incorruptible cop
Richie Roberts, played by Russell
Crowe. Washington plays a cun-
ning drug smuggler who deals in
heroin and murder. Directed by
Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”), the
movie comes out November 2.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/09/07/2007-09-07_hunting_party_is_search_for_monster__clu.html
new spin on the Disney fairy tale.
Giselle (“The Wedding Crashers”)
gets tricked into leaving her fairy
tale world by the evil Queen
Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who
doesn’t want Giselle marrying her
stepson (James Marsden). She
winds up in New York City and
quickly runs into Dempsey’s char-
acter. The new Disney musical hits
theaters on November 21.
The Jane Austen
Book Club

The Hunting Party The movie is loosely based on a

true story about a group of journal- Starring Emily Blunt (“The Devil

ists chasing a Bosnian war crimi-
nal. Writer and director Richard
Sheperd describes the film as “a
broad comedy about a very serious
subject,” which makes it difficult
to categorize, as the film’s trailer
focuses mainly on suspense. Star-
ring Richard Gere and Terrence
Howard, the film came out Sep-
tember 7.
Source: janeuastenbkclub.imdb.jpg
Wears Prada”) and Maria Bello
(“Thank You for Smoking”), this
movie is set in modern-day
Sacramento and revolves around a
group of women whose love lives
resemble those of Jane Austen’s
heroines. Written and directed by
Robin Swicord (“Memoirs of a
Geisha”), the movie comes out
September 21.

Unfortunately, the “Champ” Decided

to Stay Dead for This Bout
by Robert Colbourn, staff writer
When this new “boxing
mo vi e , ” “Res urrec ti ng t he
Champ,” started getting publicity,
no one knew what to expect. At
first glance, it seemed like an odd
tale that would have taken place if
Rocky became homeless and senile
by the time of his sixth movie.
However, this initial reaction dis-
guises a film that tries to delve
deeper into a different aspect of
sports entertainment: the journalis-
tic side of it. Unfortunately, while
this film tries to shed light on mod-
ern journalism and a man’s rela-
tionship with his family, it takes
each concept, waters it down, and
creates a movie with an interesting
concept, good acting and a terrible
telling of its own plot.
Erik Kernen Jr. (Josh Hartnett)
is a journalist who is trying to live
up to his father’s name, but he is
churning out articles with “no per-
sonality.” He finally finds his per-
fect article when he bumps into a
homeless man who calls himself
“Champ,” a.k.a. former heavy-
weight Battlin' Bob Satterfield
(Samuel L. Jackson). Kernen now
believes that this story is his one
shot at achieving his father’s for-
mer glory, reconciling with his
estranged wife (Kathryn Morris)
and truly connecting with his six-
year-old son (Dakota Goyo).
The initial concept of a former
champion losing everything and
the journalist trying to help him
recapture his former glory is
enough to entice one to see this
flick, but the execution came out
sloppy and poor. The film touched
on very important issues regarding
the decline in modern journalism,
living up to a “code of honor,”
remembering the past and seeing
the truth instead of what one
wishes to be see. These are all in-
teresting topics, but unfortunately
the film is unable to coherently
piece them together in its 111-
minute running time. However,
while “Resurrecting the Champ”
fails to give insightful commen-
tary, it provides truly stellar acting.
Champ is portrayed perfectly by
Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a
retired ex-champion better than
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
continues on page 13
 13 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 PUZZLES

Muhammad Ali does. sion and start to focus on new

When it comes down to it, the
film is actually very enjoyable
until the last half-hour. At that
point, it seems that to be just filler
until a tacked-on ending is pre-
sented and finally the credits roll.
It seems to lose sight of a conclu-
Source: resurrectingthechamp.yahoo.jpg
themes that just become progres-
sively shallower and shallower.
It’s understandable why the movie
Finished with the
had poor ticket sales on its opening
weekend: it’s simply a “down and
Crossword?
out” story that ends up being a
cheap movie rental at best. Check Your Answers!

Only at www.stuystandard.org

And enter in a free raffle too!

(With valid code found inside
Today’s issue)

Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) is a good Samaritan when he saves a homeless guy
(Samuel Jackson) from out-of-control college kids. The man was known as Champ
and hopes to restore his reputation as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

THE STANDARD PUZZLES

Crossword
Puzzle #1
by Amna Ahmad, literary editor

ACROSS
5:State for which Mitt Romney served as
governor
6: Telephone service carrier for which
the iPhone is exclusively programmed
7: Acronym for the institution that
neighbors Stuyvesant
11: Temporary or lasting for a moment
12: Age at which a person qualifies for
a driver's permit in N.Y.
13: Selfless with regards to others
15: Elected party of the Palestinian
people
19: Host city of the 2008 summer
Olympics
22: University that ranks #1 in the U.S.
according to U.S. News
24: Nation with the 2006 World Cup's
winning team
25: Repetitive
28: Without fear or unafraid in nature
29: High-end automobile company
30: One who flatters; yes-man
33: Something people write on
35: First name of former first lady

DOWN
1: Author of the Oedipus Cycle
2: Daily travel to and from home
3: A fierce storm
4: Coin containing George Washing-
ton's face
6: Famous Italian clothing designer
8: Acronym for one of N.Y.C.'s most
famous museums
9: One who avoids interaction, and acts
as a hermit
10: First name of the queen of Jordan engaged daughter 26: Actor who plays Jason Bourne in lived for a time during his childhood
14: Unable or incapable 20: The recently released 6th Smashing The Bourne Ultimatum 31: Arrogant; proud
16: A French-speaking province of Pumpkins album 27: One who takes advantage of situa- 32: Last name of the artist whose work
Canada 21: To seize the status of another in a tions without considering values or moral is displayed atop the roof of the Metro-
17: Recent hurricane that hit Mexico fraudulent manner reason politan Museum
18: Name of President Bush's recently 23: Iraq's neighbor 28: Asian country in which Obama 34: Recently elected president of France
LITERARY September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 14

THE STANDARD LITERARY

A Swift Realization by Robert Stevenson, assistant
literary editor

Humble Expectations by Amna Ahmad, literary editor

In Homeroom by Robert Stevenson, assistant

literary editor
SPORTS
Like What You See?
Join Stuyvesant’s
only paper devoted to
your world and your
school
Recruitments will be
held Wednesday and
Friday in Room 836
Visit us on the web
www.stuystandard.org
Look for the raffle!
USA Basketball Bounces Back
by Richard Mai, sports editor
This summer, countries in
North and South America
participated in the FIBA Americas
basketball tournament, trying to
qualify for two team spots in the
2008 Olympics in Beijing. Team
USA, headlined by young stars
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James,
tried to keep USA basketball afloat
in what has been for them a
turbulent world of basketball.
In 1992, when the first
Dream Team, with Michael
Jordan, was established as the
go l d i ma ge o f A m er i c an
dominance and skill, there was
little doubt during the following
years who would win the
basketball championships every
time. Each year, Team USA
didn’t just defeat opponents, they
made them look bad, averaging
43.8-point margin wins with
scores that looked like 127-83.
In recent years, especially
after the disappointing bronze
medal loss to Argentina in the
2004 Athens Olympics, the team
hoped to revitalize its image as the
birthplace and champion of basket-
ball. In a team already studded
with young stars, Kobe was the
newest member of the squad that
expect him to lead them to their
gold. Leading these young stars
who were just like him when he
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
first came into the league, Kobe
was a selfless and effective leader,
as seen in the way everyone passed
the ball.
Bryant, James, and Anthony
are some of the top-scoring players
in the NBA, but the way they
played was so selfless it seemed
like a competition to see who
could pass the most. The important
thing was that the strategy worked,
and while players averaged scores
only in the teens, almost everyone
on the starting lineup and the
bench had a chance to score. Jason
Kidd, a veteran who had missed
previous Olympics due to injuries,
had hoped his possible last run
would lead to a gold medal. Kidd
was the only member of the team
who knew what it felt like to be a
gold medal winner. Along with his
pinpoint passes and eclectic game
play, he brought along wisdom and
leadership that the young team
needed to nurture its ego and skill.
This summer, veteran
lea de rs hi p an d yo uth fu l
determination were a winning
combination as Team USA went
undefeated in the Olympic
qualifiers. They played selfless
and excellent basketball
throughout the tournament,
defeating Puerto Rico 135-91 in
the semifinals and defeating
defending gold medal champion
Argentina 118-81. The U.S. and
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1 15
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
continued from page 16
THE SPORTS BEAT
continued from page 16
in total. Unable to get into a It doesn’t even need to be a
rhythm, the Peglegs only scored similar mascot in order to show
one touchdown late in the fourth school unity. It can be as simple as
quarter, on a run by senior Amos finding out what our school colors
Dai. are. If you go by the football team,
It wasn’t all bad. The player it would be blue and red. The girls’
of the game was Junior Nick swim team wears green bathing
Goldin, starting Wide Receiver,
Safety, and Kickoff Specialist,
who ended the day with more re-
suits. The track team wears white
with red lettering. Finding a com-
mon color could unite Stuyvesant
ceiving yards than the rest of the
team combined (102). He had as
athletics across the board in pursuit
of athletic glory.
many receptions as John Adams. In order for this idea to have a
had passing attempts. Dai aver- realistic effect on school spirit,
aged 12 yards per carry. Dai also everyone has to get involved. It
led the team in tackles with 5 and a started last week. Though this will
sack. Stuy outplayed John Adams have printed after the Peglegs’ first
in terms of offensive yardage (256- legitimate home game at Pier 40,
139). no more can students use the ex-
The game was lost on turn- cuse about the field being nowhere
overs. Alam threw 4 interceptions, near Stuyvesant. Pier 40 is a short
including the one that was returned walk up the Hudson River. The
for a 70 yard touchdown return.
The next game is against the
three home games at Pier 40 are all
Friday nights at 6 p.m., so there’s
Franklin K. Lane Knights on the no reason why students can’t stay a
road, who the Peglegs beat 24-8 few hours to come and cheer on
last season. their team.
Stuyvesant sports will never
come first. Can we at least try to
make the athletes feel important?
Argentina, the first and second years not to get too pompous
place winners, will join Spain, now. Since the days of the Dream
Iran, Angola, Australia, and host Team, the rest of the world has
China as teams that have already woken up and risen to the
secured their Olympic spots. The ch a l l en ge . If Te a m US A
team is relieved to have come out continues their teamwork and
on top once again, but they’ve effort, they can hope to soon
learned enough from previous become Olympic gold medalists
once again.
Source: http://www.2007lasvegas.fibaamericas.com/pages/eng/fe/07/fibaAmer/men/news/lateNews/p/competitioncode//cp//eventid/3965/langlc/en/newsid/21884/playernumber//
roundid/3965/searchstr//season//teamnumber//zone//FE_news_lateNews_arti.html
Medal ceremony of the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, held at Las Vegas.
16 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
Friday Night Lights
by Zakhar Shtulberg , staff writer
A staple of Middle America came crashing
down on the Hudson. For the first time, the Stuy-
vesant Peglegs played Friday night football at
their new home at Pier 40.
The game met the hype leading up to it by
far, despite the outcome. Every available
bleacher seat at Pier 40 was filled, and the total
attendance was over 100 students. The game
came complete with free drinks, a halftime cheer-
leading routine, and live commentary. There was
a game too.
The Peglegs played the John Adams
Spartans, a team that went 0-9 in the Bowl Divi-
sion of Public School Athletic League (PSAL).
They were relegated into the Cup Division. The
fact that they went winless in that division raised
the confidence of many Stuyvesant players, some
of which guaranteed wins.
One of these players was junior wide re-
ceiver and defensive back Aaron Ghitelman, who
September 17, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 1
said, “If I get touches, we will win.” He didn’t
get touches. The Peglegs lost 22-8.
The Peglegs started off strong, holding the
Spartans out of the endzone on a fourth and goal
play. On the ensuing drive, unable to get any-
thing going, the Peglegs were forced to punt. A
bad snap set up incredible field position for the
Spartans, who scored their first touchdown to go
up 8-0.
Later in the first half, senior quarterback
Shafi Alam threw an errant pass on third and
goal, which led to an interception ran back for a
touchdown, but Adams was unable to hit the two
point conversion, leading 14-0.
The Peglegs were plagued all game with
offensive line problems. Even with Alam setting
up in shotgun for every play, two or three Adams
defenders were in the backfield before the play
had a chance to develop. Adams had seven sacks
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
continues on page 15
SPORTS
What’s in a
Name?
It’s right there in the first chapter of Alec
Klein’s new book “A Class Apart” — when
talking about the Peglegs, Klein says, “Such
associations don’t seem to inspire athletic
greatness on the football field.”
Team names should strike a sense of fear
into the heart of the opponent. The Michigan
Wolverines, the Florida Gators, the Penn State
Nittany Lions, to name a few teams, all have
mascots you probably wouldn’t want to pet at
the Bronx Zoo. They give the team a persona
that they can carry out onto the field. They give
the fans an object to rally around.
That’s the reason you will never see the
Anywhere University Fuzzy Pink Bunnies
anytime soon. Right after the opponent finishes
laughing at your bright pink uniforms with
white pants, they will humiliate you
mercilessly. What image does a pegleg repre-
sent? A swashbuckling pirate that couldn’t run
into battle on account of a wooden leg? Is it a
governor of New Amsterdam from the late 17th
century? The Peglegs nickname does not suit
the game of football.
What Stuyvesant needs is a new, unifying
nickname. Each of the 32 PSAL teams has its
own nickname, which is great for team identity.
Everyone knows that the Penguins are the girls’
swim team, or that the Hitmen are the boys’
baseball team. There is no common thread for
Stuyvesant athletics. As fans, we can not say,
“We are…” like Duke can say about the Blue
Devils or Stanford about the Cardinals.
THE SPORTS BEAT
continues on page 15