Proud Members of the
Friday, December 21 Volume 7
Visit us at www.stuystandard.org
‘Twas Happy
Holidays for All
Mr.Tamosaitis conducts the Symphonic Orchestra during the holiday concert. (Photo Credit: Jensen Cheong)
by Robert Colbourn
entertainment assistant editor
Well, it’s December now, and that means that
holidays are coming up (or already over for
some). Well, the Stuyvesant music and art depart-
ment decided to celebrate these holidays with a
concert and art show on the first floor. Hopefully,
many of you already went to the two perform-
ances on Wednesday, December 12 and Friday,
December 14, but if not, make a trip to see it next
year. It was a wonderful performance filled with
festive pieces, and it was really the jolt of holiday
spirit that one needed to fully enjoy this season.
The concert was a joint effort composed of
the symphonic band, symphonic orchestra, and
both Stuyvesant choruses. First up was the
symphonic band, which played six pieces: Bells,
Festive Overture, Sleigh Ride, and three
movements of Suite Francaise. The first three
pieces were well played by the band, but were a
Issue 5
bit of the same old, same old. It was not
necessarily a bad thing, but it was exactly what
you expected, and nothing more. Suite Francaise,
however, demonstrated the power of the band,
with great solos for each instrument that showed
their technical prowess.
The chamber choir performed four songs:
Winter Wonderland, Ose Shalom, Three Kings,
and Deck the Hall; the concert chorus
performed five: Gaudeamus!, Let it Snow!, Es
ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, Pitakhta, and Elijah
Rock. The choruses were accompanied by
several piano players, of whom I’d like to make
a special note. They enhanced the tone of every
piece they were in, and really complimented the
chorus extraordinarily. Once again, there were
a couple of “typical” sounding pieces, and the
ones that really shone were the more obscure
ones. Elijah Rock and Gaudeamus were very
CONCERT REVIEW
continues on page 9
National Scholastic
Press Association
Stuy Ranks
15th in
American High
Schools
by Nousin Haque
staff writer
and Jennifer Schlesinger
editor-in-chief
According to US News and World Report,
Stuyvesant High School is ranked 15th among
American public high schools. The report was
the cover story in the December 10 issue. Tho-
mas Jefferson High in Alexandria, Virginia
topped the list off. The next two schools on
the list were Pacific Collegiate Charter in
Santa Cruz, California and International Bac-
calaureate Program in Bartow, Florida..
According to US News and World Report
there are more than 18,000 public high
schools in the US. They analyzed only high
schools that had grade 12 enrollment and had
data to be analyzed. The list they compiled
was divided into three parts. The first 100
schools received gold medals. The next 405
schools received silver medals. The final
1,086 schools to make the list received bronze
medals.
The high schools were ranked according
to a three step analysis by The School Evalua-
tion Services, an education data analysis
group run by Standard & Poor’s. First they
were analyzed on well students performed on
state evaluations. Then, they were evaluated
on how well the school’s disadvantaged stu-
dents did. Finally, the schools were judge on
how well they offered college-level work.
College level work was partially determined
by the number of students in senior year who
STUY RANK
continues on page 3
In this Issue
Stuy Voice: Minority Takes on
New Meaning
Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4
How To Find the Christmas
Spirit in Five Movies
Entertainment. . . . . . . . p. 8
2 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 NEWS

EDITORIAL
DOE: Give
Stuyvesant
The Executive Board the Proper
JENNIFER SCHLESINGER
ERIC MAYO
DIANE CHEN
ANGEL WONG
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
Respect
There are clearly some problems with the way that we as Stuyvesant
SANGHEE CHUNG LAYOUT EDITOR students are treated by the Department of Education. As one of the most
DANNY ZHU COPY CHIEF successful schools in the entire New York City, we have long been a haven
TIM CHANG NEWS EDITOR for intellectuals. However, the DoE is shifting away from that stance, as is
evidenced by the embarrassing disparity between a recent national ranking
HESHAM SALEH NEWS EDITOR of high schools in this country.
JIMMY ZHANG NEWS EDITOR According to US News and World Report, we are ranked as fifteenth
AMNA AHMAD OPINIONS EDITOR in the entire nation, compared to every single eligible high school in every
EMMA RABINOVICH ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR backwater town in every part of these United States. And how did the DoE
ROBERT COLBOURN ASST. ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR rate us in their rankings? They were unabashed to give a school of such
rigorous standards and talent a mere A minus, and they were certainly un-
RICHARD MAI SPORTS EDITOR abashed to rank us much lower than the fifteenth best high school in New
OMAR AHMAD SCIENCE EDITOR York. Right here in our own backyards, Stuyvesant High School is beaten
HANFORD CHIU BUSINESS EDITOR by schools that could have once been on the state’s most needy schools in
ROBERT STEVENSON LITERARY EDITOR terms of academics.
JESSE ZHANG WEBMASTER So just why do we feel such scorn from the DoE? Why is Stuyvesant
the city’s Siberia where intellectuals get exiled to and quarantined in some
KIRIL GOURUV ASSISTANT WEBMASTER poor locale faced with the very real negative effects of possible crime, a
ELISSA TAM DIRECTOR OF PHOTOJOURNALISM giant highway right next to our door, and being so far away from the other
MEGAN BRESLIN FACULTY ADVISOR boroughs where students generally live besides Manhattan? Well, in the
DANIEL EGERS (‘03) FOUNDER DoE’s rankings, they base their score on progress, whereas US News and
World Report base it on overall power. Perhaps the DoE supposes that
ERNEST BASKIN (‘04) EDITOR EMERITUS there is always room for improvement, even when what you are judging is
already the pinnacle of New York’s intellectualism. Nevertheless, the DoE
Publication should stop trying to relegate Stuyvesant’s importance deep into the back-
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD is a non-profit publication produced by waters of oblivion, even in rankings designed to dangle in front of poor
the students of Stuyvesant High School. performance schools in order to inspire competition amongst them. It is a
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD distributes 2,000 free copies on a bi- double slap in the face when we are scorned both publicly and privately,
weekly basis to the students and faculty of Stuyvesant High School when we do not receive the funds we so desperately need and the prestige
and throughout the adjoining neighborhoods of TriBeCa and Battery that is the driving force in recruiting new students for our school.
Park City.
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD welcomes letters from its readers. For a
letter to be reproduced in print, a name and method of contact must
be provided.
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD reserves the right to edit any published
material. The viewpoints of contributors do not necessarily reflect
the views of the Standard staff
Copyright ©2007 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

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NEWS
Bizarre Temperatures Take
Over the Classrooms
by Nada Elmany
and Mo Tabmra
staff writers
With the changing weather
outside come the highly variant
internal temperatures of faulty
central heating. The bizarre
weather inside the school’s
classrooms has probably become
obvious to everyone.
Students have noticed the
temperatures in the school, and
whether one freezes or sweats
during class depends on the room.
Freshman Sharmila Ahmed said
that she is often confused by the
crazy changes. “I don’t know
what to wear and sometimes I’m
wearing a short-sleeved shirt and
I’m sitting in class shivering.”
Freshman Shanna Chen agreed
with Ahmed. “I kind of hate it.
One room will be really freezing
cold, and another will be so hot
that I’m wearing short sleeves in
December.” Although Ahmed and
Chen both dislike the
Caught on the Web
By Hui Ting Jiang
staff writer
Technology has advanced
tremendously throughout the years.
Computers used to be massive and
The online homework system is prevalent in present-day schools such as the University of Ten-
nessee. However, many criticize such systems as being more of a hassle than they're worth.
December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
THE STANDARD NEWS
temperatures in the school, comfortable instead.
freshman Zoe Wu believes that Until this problem is solved,
this is not a problem.“It doesn’t it may bother some students and
bother me. I really don’t mind the even serve as a distraction, while
different temperatures. I just for others, it really won’t matter
bring a sweatshirt to every class.” much. Take Wu’s advice and you
Wu seems to have a good will be able to cope with this
solution for all the confused problem for now. ◙
students. “Just bring a sweatshirt
to every class and you’ll be able
t o c o p e wi t h t h e c r a z y
Temperatures
temperatures.”
However, other than the
confusion temperatures cause
students, can there be other Room # Temperature
effects due to the malfunctioning
thermostats? Chen believes that 237 66°F
appropriate clothing is not the
635 72°
only problem with the
temperature. “It’s actuall y 327 76°
distractin g because you’re
constantly thinking about the 133 78°
bizarre temperature in the room.”
435 78°
Rather than concentrating on
what the teacher is saying, the 507 81°
varied temperatures can distract
students from the lesson and 1009 84°
focus their attention on staying
709 86°
bulky machines that took up whole advantage of students’ access to
rooms. Now, they can easily be the Internet by assigning
placed on a desk in one's bedroom homework online. Sophomore Shu
for education or entertainment. Lei praises online homework
While most of the time it is the because “it’s more convenient and
latter, teachers are taking definitely saves paper.” Although
this is a valid reason for students to
surf the web when parents ask, it
poses numerous problems.
Photo Credit: Elissa Tam
First, students don’t always go
directly to the website on which
homework is assigned. Instead,
they opt for the ever-popular You-
Tube, the addictive Facebook, or
online gaming. By using the com-
puter for their own leisure, stu-
dents are not benefiting from the
useful information available
online. Some even stay up until 2
a.m. claiming to do their home-
work when in fact they are waiting
for a video to load.
Furthermore, computers are
not perfect. There could be hosting
problems with an assigned website
that makes it inaccessible to all
students. This problem is
CAUGHT ON THE WEB
continues on page 4
3
STUY RANK
continued from page 1
took Advanced Placement (AP)
Courses in high schools divided by
the total number of students and
well as how well students did on
AP exams, which are scored on a 1-
5 scale. Three was determined to be
passing. Ties were broken by the
number of AP exams seniors
passed.
According to US News A
World Report the ranking shows
that schools in different situations
can excel. In the top 20 schools
were a suburban school with en-
trance requirements, Thomas Jef-
ferson High School, and school
near the border between Texas and
Mexico with a high percentage of
its being immigrants, Hidalgo High
School, and Boston Latin High
School, the oldest public high
school in the nation.
Overall, New York City did
better than any other area in the
state. Bronx High School of Sci-
ence and Brooklyn Technical High
School placed 20th and 39th re-
spectively. New York State had 18
schools on the list, second to Cali-
fornia, which had 23. However,
when ranked by number of schools
in the top 50 by state, New York
came in seventh.
Stuyvesant was not higher on
the list because it received lower
scores on its college-level work and
on the performance of its students
living in poverty. Stuyvesant’s dis-
advantaged students were judged to
be performing better than those in
Thomas Jefferson. However, its
students living in poverty did worse
than those at Thomas Jefferson.
The participation rate in AP classes
was 100 percent at Thomas Jeffer-
son compared to 92.6 percent at
Stuy. Moreover, 100 percent of
seniors at Thomas Jefferson had
received at least one score of 3 or
above on an AP exam compared to
88.2 percent at Stuy. In general
Thomas Jefferson students pass
07.4 percent of AP exams com-
pared to 92.9 percent at Stuy. Fur-
thermore, on average, students at
Thomas Jefferson took 6.6 AP ex-
ams before graduating compared to
3.2 at Stuy.
Students in Stuyvesant were
shocked that Stuy was not ranked
higher. Junior, Sami Rabb said, “I
thought we [would be] higher [on
the list].” There were some people
who thought this score was justi-
fied. A student said, “We are lo-
cated in a city: with no outdoor
territory or fields, the dangers of
crime, a highway right by…we
don’t get special funding from the
department and many of our clubs
and teams have a lot less available
money.” The administration did not
comment on the ranking of Stuyve-
sant High School. ◙
4 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
THE STANDARD OPINIONS
Stuy Voice: Minority Takes On New
Meaning
by Amna Ahmad
opinions editor
Stuyvesant is often described
as a community, a city within a
city, however, from statistics re-
trieved from a recent poll of the
Stuyvesant student body, I have
come to the conclusion that per-
haps Stuyvesant is a bit more
unique than we thought. In Stuyve-
sant the characteristics that make
up the majority of the population
of the United States are the minor-
ity of the student body and vice
versa. Stuyvesant High School, in
short, is a representation of the
world turned inside out and flipped
backwards as far as statistics are
concerned.
For instance, on average there
CAUGHT ON THE WEB
continued from page 3
exemplified by the website
www.go.hrw.org. It is used by
language teachers and students to
access an online textbook and
workbook. One such teacher is
Gabriele Dehn-Knight, who has
mixed feelings about the matter.
“Originally, [online homework]
was a good idea but 10-15 percent
of kids have technical problems,”
she said. However, students are
faced with problems most of the
time. Either the website doesn't
load because of a “technical
difficulty” or the pages don't print
it is a hassle to go to websites for homework when homework eventually ends up on paper
anyway.
December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 OPINIONS
are approximately three children white. Correspondingly, 64 gest of Education Statistics, 44.1
per household in the United States percent of students were said to percent of high school graduates
according to census statistics, be of Asian descent, making them were enrolled in four-year colleges
however poll statistics indicate that a fairly significant majority. Yet in 2003, a percentage that was
72 percent of students at still, while whites may be much lower when our parents were
Stuyvesant have either one sibling considered a dominant minority attending college.
or no siblings at all. in Stuyvesant, people like me, Because the race that
Furthermore, according to the who fall under the category of represents the majority of the
most recent census gathered in “other” for race, will always be a nation is a minority in Stuyvesant,
the United States, 77.1 percent of definite minority whether in the number of children per
United States residents Stuyvesant or the country at household for a Stuyvesant student
considered themselves white, large. is below average, and the parents
however, as is obvious to any However, the most intriguing of Stuyvesant students seem to
member of the Stuyvesant statistic that I encountered was the have more education than the
community, whites and second- percentage of parents who had a majority of Americans, the idea of
generation Americans are a college education. Poll results de- minority takes on a new meaning
minority in our school — around termined that for 73 percent of in Stuyvesant High School,
33 percent of the student body. students, both parents had a col- offering a refreshing disparity
Yet such poll statistics are lege education. In this aspect as between our high school
definitely ambiguous because it is well, Stuyvesant students can be environment and the country we
entirely up to the individual to considered a minority group, con- live in as a whole. ◙
decide what makes a person sidering that according to the Di-
properly. This poses an unfair usually give kids the benefit of stick to the old-fashioned method
situation to students who are the doubt…but when it happens of giving homework in class. If
otherwise diligent, but are unable too often, you know who is they don’t want to take time out
to access a certain website. lying,” Ms. Dehn-Knight said of their class to announce the
Even if students don't face sadly. homework, teachers can assign a
the problems mentioned above, Therefore, it is a hassle to go space on the blackboard where
they can feign difficulties, taking to websites for homework when homework is posted and tell their
advantage of the already unstable homework eventually ends up on students of this permanent
system. It is a convincing paper anyway. Teachers should situation. ◙
explanation to blame the Internet
for not having homework, since
problems do exist when certain
websites are accessed. Although Subscribe to
teachers are generally
understanding, when problems
The Stuyvesant Standard
caused by homework online occur using the form below!
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students are at a disadvantage. “I
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SCIENCE December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5
THE STANDARD SCIENCE
Fighting HIV…By Suppressing T-Cells?
By David Huang AIDS, also known as Ac-
staff writer quired Immune Deficiency Syn-
drome, has its root from an infa-
mous and elusive virus known as
Source: http://uhavax.hartford.edu/bugl/t_help_hiv.jpg
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV). Such virus is devastating
because it crumples the human
immune system against pathogens,
leaving patients susceptible to
deadly infections. So far, numer-
ous techniques have been proposed
to fight the virus. Among the most
famous is Merck’s V520 vaccine,
one of the most promising vaccine
candidates to help fight HIV. How-
ever, disappointment swept
throughout the field of AIDS re-
search as the vaccine was reported
ineffective.
Despite the discouraging
reports, scientists have devised a
very unorthodox way of tackling
HIV: suppressing the immune
system. One might ask, how do
HIV infects the T helper cell because it has you fight enemies without the
the protein CD4 on its surface. soldiers? According to the HIV
Termites Point Way to New Dawn of Bio-Energy
By Alexandros Kaliontzakis found bacteria is utilizing them in
staff writer such a way to have them . The
present generation biofuels are
Usually when one thinks of made from processed corn and
termites, one might imagine repul- sugar cane, and are made into fuel
sive, destructive little insects that through fermentation and distilla-
do nothing but eat away at the tion. This however, is putting a
foundations of buildings. How- large strain on the global food mar-
ever, a team of US scientists ket and is affecting it greatly. The
closely studying the termites’ in- next generation biofuels, however,
testines have found the many dif- such as wood chips, are not made
ferent genes, enzymes, and even from food, and are being stopped
microbial helpers that break down from reaching worldwide avail-
the wood eaten by the termite. ability by large costs and the many
It has long been suspected that the problems that arise. The challenge,
250 species of bacteria living in Leadbetter and his colleagues sug-
the termites’ gut have helped break gest, is in the beginning of the
down the wood, a substance high process, which involves breaking
in energy but extremely difficult to down two substances in the wood,
break down. "This was a fairly cellulose and xylan. He states that
risky project when we proposed if his team can understand and
it," says Caltech associate profes- identify what genes are responsible
sor of environmental microbiology for this process, an easier way of
Jared Leadbetter. Even so, the re- making biofuel may result.
searchers went ahead and extracted In addition to finding the genes,
the contents of the hind gut of the the team identified about 100 bac-
termite, and sent their extractions teria pirochetes that belong to the
in for sequencing. The result was genus Treponema. This makes
the code for thousands of genes, them a very close relative of bacte-
amounting to about 71 million ria that cause diseases like syphilis,
letters” of genetic code, that help Lyme disease, and gum disease.
break down the cellulose and then The bacteria actually seem to
convert it into fermentable sugars. benefit the health of the termite
The real problem with these new- according to the study. Especially
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
researchers, HIV has an unusual
feature of overloading the im-
mune system in the first week of
infection. In this situation, T
cells, soldiers who fight infec-
tions, enter cellular cycle and
produce large amount of cytokine
(chemical messenger that aids
counterattacks on pathogenic ac-
tivities). However, one subtype of
T cells, CD4+ T cells, enters cell
cycle and undergoes apoptosis
(cellular death) in large quantity,
thus lowering the body’s immune
system efficiency. What is more
important is that the activated T
cell also helps replication of vi-
rus.
To the researchers, such a
phenomenon offers a new method
of battling HIV. Experiments
have shown that blocking viral
replication with antiretroviral
medication attenuates the immune
activation, thus increasing the
number of CD4+ T cells. The
important is that these bacteria
seem involved in the processes that
create hydrogen. It seems as if the
bacteria can even respond to dif-
ferent chemical stimuli in the ter-
mites’ gut by swimming around to
find the source.
Termites, according to Andreas
Brune of the Max Planck Institute
for Terrestrial Microbiology in
Marburg, Germany, are very effi-
cient in what they do. He claims
that they can turn, in theory, a
sheet of A-4 sized paper into 1.8
liters of hydrogen. The endeavor to
It has long been suspected that the 250 species of bacteria living in the termites’ gut have
helped break down the wood, a substance high in energy but extremely difficult to break down.
5
next step, researchers and scien-
tists proposed, would be the ap-
plication of immunosuppressive
therapy, which would slow down
viral replication by limiting im-
munological activation and pre-
vents the decrease of CD4+ T
cells. Utilizing such a method,
viral infection can be delayed
significantly and T cell function
can be preserved, preventing im-
munity overturn.
Although this may be opti-
mistic news for AIDS patients,
such a remedy is still in its ex-
perimental stages and, with scien-
tists being extremely cautious, are
still questioning about its practi-
cality and effects on human
health, due to the fact that numer-
ous experiments have been con-
ducted and yielded mixed results.
Thus, only time will tell if such
clinical approach is viable. ◙
find a way to make termites pro-
duce biofuel has been a very big
step for mankind towards finding
the perfect renewable energy
source that can be produced
quickly, cheaply, and without com-
plexities. To get there, they must
simply figure out what each gene’s
job is. Who knows? There may,
one day, be a viable source of
transportation fuel extracted from
the guts of the ever useful termites.
◙
내ㅕㄱㅊㄷ
: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Workertermite1.jpg
6 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 SCIENCE

Pictures Playing Around With Your Memory?

by Rammiya Nallainathan Dario Sacchi of the University of
staff writer Padua, has shown that people
tend to change their views about a
In the book 1984, there was a historical event after they see
man known as Big Brother and he pictures that have been altered to
did many things to make sure be inaccurate. Of course, the
everything ran as he planned, people who viewed these pictures
such as scrutinizing people and were not told about these
altering historical documents. But modifications, and had to figure
what if Big Brother were here out for themselves what really
today? What if he changed the happened.
past? Could one be fooled by Participants in this group
these changes? study were given altered pictures
Elizabeth Loftus, a of the 1989 Tiananmen Square
psychologist at UC Irvine, protest in Beijing, and the 2003
designed an experiment to see anti-war protest in Rome. The
how doctored photographs affect 1989 protest was changed so that
memory of a past event. The it seemed as if there were more
experiment, conducted by people present at the protest, and
researchers Franca Agnoli and the 2003 protest was changed to
show riot police and a masked
protester. After viewing these
pictures, the participants were
then asked to answer a few
questions regarding the event,
mainly the number of people
involved, and the extremity of the
violence.
Answers to these questions
were quite different from what
actually happened. Many said
there were violent demonstrations
and a lot of property damage. As
Loftus put it, “With the addition
of a few little upsetting and
arousing elements in the Rome
protest photo, people remembered
this peaceful protest as being
more violent than it was, and as a
society we have to figure how we
can regulate this.”
Not only have pictures of
historical events been altered, but
also pictures of everyday events
have been changed as well to
make it onto magazine covers.
Although this issue may not seem
that serious to some, it can really
have an impact on others once
they start to see that they base
many of their opinions on what
they see in the newspaper. If
these alterations portray certain
facts inaccurately, they may
affect people’s knowledge on
current events for the worse. To
view more of these altered
pictures, just go to cnetnews.com,
and see what you think of them. ◙

ANNUAL MEDICAL ETHICS SYMPOSIUM

The 22nd Annual Medical Ethics Symposium took place on

Thursday, December 13 in the theater. Photos Taken By Talha Khan
BUSINESS December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 7

THE STANDARD BUSINESS

China Facing Monetary Problems
by Hanford Chiu
business editor
Most of the world is aware by
now of the financial cooldown of
the United States and the subse-
quent monetary devaluation of the
American dollar to all-time lows
over the past few years. They cer-
tainly permeate everyday life in
the form of soaring food and en-
ergy prices, as well as a general
decrease in purchasing power.
However, as foreign investors and
governments move away from a
dollar that could spiral out of con-
trol, many of them are shifting
their currency reserves over to a
country that serves as America's
foil in this time of crisis — China.
But for all their economic might
and growth, the Chinese are start-
ing to feel the pressure of a possi-
ble currency collapse, similar to
America’s.
According to the Wall Street
Journal, China is feeling massive
internal and external pressure to
stop its policy of refusing to evalu-
ate the yuan and clamp down on its
massive economic growth. For the
fifth consecutive year, China's
GDP growth has been in the high
double digits, and at the same time,
inflation is soaring because of the
extremely high amounts of trade
surplus and foreign speculation.
According to BusinessWeek,
China's trade surplus with the
United States hit a record $233
billion last year (meanwhile, U.S.
trade deficits have hit record lows).
Many other warning indicators of
rampant inflation, such as expan-
sion of money supply, credit
growth, speculation in stock and
bond markets, and industrial in-
vestment, are above official tar-
gets. China's central bank, the Peo-
ple's Bank of China, has tried to
remedy this with little success,
recently raising its loan rates to
7.29 percent, as opposed to Amer-
ica's policy of constantly lowering
interest rates, currently at 4.50
percent after a recent .25 percent
drop. While our monetary policy
has sent investors fleeing, China's
rampant expansion has brought
them flocking and, as a result,
China faces a real risk of the prices
of its goods soaring well above
attainable prices, which would
cause massive social unrest. Mean-
while, America's policies might
lead it to similar results, except it
would be the case that Americans
would no longer be able to afford
products with a crashing dollar.
China's policy makers are at
a crossroads. On the one hand,
they wish to foster job creation
for one of the world's largest and
fastest-expanding populations.
On the other hand, they must now
rein in these out-of-control in-
vestments and protect its econ-
omy from a surge of prosperity it
cannot handle. If they cannot dis-
enchant investors by setting up
protectionist trade barriers and
disincentives to foreign invest-
ment, much as if America cannot
encourage the importation of
American goods and services,
then the economy will finally
crash and burn after a long, good
ride for the investors. ◙

The Orange Box

by Jonathan Xikis
staff writer
Pros: Great bargain;
incredible games; tons of replay
value
Cons: You may already have
some games; Portal is too short
What do Earth-enslaving
aliens, an insane supercomputer
and a gun-toting Russian have in
common? Besides the fact that
they’re all highly dangerous, you
fights through a town of zombies,
assists rebel forces in a post-
apocalyptic city, embarks on wild
airboat chases and even infiltrates
a maximum-security prison with
an army of giant alien bugs. Epi-
sodes 1 and 2 continue the story in
shorter intervals, and include some
jaw-dropping plot twists and ac-
tion, as well as place more focus
on important story elements.
Though Episode 2 is slightly better
than Episode 1, they’re both worth
the play.
wanting more…much more.
The last game from The
Orange Box is the long-awaited
Team Fortress 2, an online
multiplayer game. Completely
different in tone from the somber
Half-Life, this cartoon-styled and
insanely paced shooter looks like
something from “The Incredibles.”
With a number of different classes
including the spy and turret-
building engineer, its only
weakness is that there are not
enough maps. TF2 is a run-n-gun
game, and includes gameplay
modes such as “capture the
intelligence,” where a player must
steal a briefcase from the other
team’s base. The replay value of
TF2 is immense, and it lasts long
after all the other games have been
played. It also has the most
impressive graphics of the bunch.
◙

can find them in the assortment of
games known as The Orange Box,
released by Valve Software for PC
and Xbox 360. With five games in
one package, it’s an incredible
bargain at $50. If you’re still not
sure, then I suppose that’s why
you’re reading this review.
The five games included in The
Orange Box are Half-Life 2, Half-
Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, Portal,
and Team Fortress 2. While not all
of them are completely new, Valve
allows the purchaser to give away
any of the games to a friend. Half-
Life 2, the oldest game in the
bunch, is also the best, and should
be experienced by everyone. Its
detailed plot centers around former
scientist Gordon Freeman and his
counterattack on the Combine, an
alien empire that has enslaved
Earth after a freak accident involv-
ing inter-dimensional portals at
Freeman’s research laboratory,
Black Mesa. Along the way, he
Source: orangebox.darkdiamond.net.jpg
Portal is the first original
game included in The Orange Box.
This pseudo-puzzle game includes
elements of first person shooters,
with one catch — you don’t have a
gun. Instead, your handheld device
creates miniature wormholes,
called “portals,” which can be used
to travel instantly to otherwise
unreachable areas. The problem?
You’re trapped inside an aban-
doned research facility with only
one way to escape. To make mat-
ters worse, you’re under the watch-
ful eye of the mysterious A.I.,
GLaDOS, who promises you
“cake” when you’re finished. As
you make your way through the
perilous obstacle courses, you be- Quick Rating
gin to discover that not all is as it Graphics: 8/10 Not the world’s best, but they’re impressive for such low
system requirements.
seems. And could this be related to
Gameplay: 10/10 Half-Life and Portal feature ingenious puzzles, and
Black Mesa…? While this game is Team Fortress 2 has great action.
very short, at only 2-4 hours, it is Content: 10/10 Plot is ingenious.
never boring, and includes a num- Replayability: 8/10 Team Fortress 2 is the only game that’s really replay-
ber of bonus maps for post-game able many times.
enjoyment. Portal’s dark humor Value: 10/10 Value cannot be matched anywhere.
and ingenious idea leaves me Overall score: 10/10
8 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
THE STANDARD ENTERTAINMENT
System Fans Can Surely Praise the Lord and
Pass the Ammunition
by Robert Colbourn
assistant entertainment editor
Last year, a travesty occurred
that rang through the entire mod-
ern rock world: System of a Down
decided to go on an “indefinite
hiatus.” That’s right; no more Sys-
tem albums will be released for
quite a few years. Fans of the band
showed enormous sadness, but
were comforted by the fact that
each member of the band would
pursue individual projects that
many could look forward to. The
lead singer, Serj Tankian, decided
to publish a solo album titled
“Elect the Dead.” System fans
Elect the Dead is the debut solo album by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian. The first
singles off the album were "The Unthinking Majority" released on August 7, 2007, and "Empty
Walls", which was released on September 25, 2007.
How to Find the Christmas
Spirit in Five Movies
by Emma Rabinovich
entertainment editor
If you’re scrambling to make dead-
lines and haven’t noticed that
Christmas is fast approaching, here
are five holiday classic not even
the Grinch could resist.
National Lampoon’s Christmas
Vacation
No holiday season is complete
without at least one viewing of the
Christmas from hell, courtesy of
Chevy Chase, disaster extraordi-
naire. This is by far the sweetest
and funniest of the series and with
the surprisingly tame language and
humor, you can even watch it with
December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5
were cautiously optimistic when album. “Empty Walls” combined
faced with this prospect, but their powerful instrumentals and vo-
fears can be laid to rest. “Elect the cals, while depicting ideas on
Dead” is a step in the right direc- certain events involving the war
tion that perfectly incorporates soft in Iraq. “The Unthinking Major-
rock elements with heavy metal. ity” sounded less mainstream, but
The first two songs released its quirky lyrics and heavy guitar
to the public back in August, melody still struck the right
“Empty Walls” and “The Un- chords.
thinking Majority,” were instantly Then there were several
hits on the Internet along with songs on the album that strayed
their respective music videos somewhat far from System’s
(Serj decided to make a video for style. “Sky is Over,” “Lie Lie
every song on the album, and Lie,” “Saving Us,” and
they will be released gradually). “Beethoven’s C***” all dealt
It was plainly obvious that Serj with very different subject matter
was still keeping his political and melody. All three were a lot
focus, at least for some of the less “metallic” than the rest of the
songs on the album, so Serj eased
Source: electthedead.latimes.com.jpg
up on the strong percussion and
focused a bit more on his piano.
The lyrics were all vague in
meaning, but dealt with ideas of
love, death, poverty and betrayal.
They were all very fun songs to
hear (and try to interpret).
Next were three songs that
seemed to fall in between the
previous ones discussed.
“Money,” “Feed Us,” and
“Honking Antelope” still had
powerful instrumentals, but they
were backed up with more lyrics.
Serj’s amazing voice could truly
be heard in these three songs, as
he needed to use a wide range in
order to hit every note. The lyrics
your family. make you appreciate it that much
more. Daniel Radcliffe is the cutest
Love Actually wizard-that-could in this faithful
Hugh Grant heads an ensemble adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s be-
cast in this holiday feature. Not loved novel. Christmas is a magi-
only is it touching and genuine, but cal time so what could be more
also it somehow captures reality appropriate than a story about
(without sugarcoating it) while Harry’s first year at Hogwarts
maintaining a kind, forgiving view School of Witchcraft and Wiz-
of the world. Different stories in- ardry?
tertwine; old couples face hard-
ships; new ones form. It may not Home Alone
be original but it is nonetheless Macaulay Culkin’s portrayal of a
fresh and endearing. devious youngster who discovers
that his one wish (to be rid of his
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s family) may not be what Christmas
Stone is all about never gets old. There
You’ve probably seen this one are many memorable scenes, but
before but the holidays will really mostly it’s the idea that captures
ENTERTAINMENT
dealt with important issues, in-
cluding the moral issues behind
currency, a government’s role in
dealing with its people, and envi-
ronmental issues. Serj truly went
above and beyond, and this album
looked amazing already. But
wait! There were still three more
songs. “Praise the Lord and Pass
the Ammunition” was probably
the quirkiest song found on the
album. It used a lot of dissonance
and awkward melody, but it all
came together beautifully, mak-
ing it one of the best songs on the
album. The song that shares the
album’s name, “Elect the Dead,”
was the softest-sounding song on
the album. It was entirely a piano
solo done by Serj, and anyone
who has heard Serj play his piano
knows already that it is amazing.
Finally, the last song was entitled
“Baby.” Unfortunately, this was
where Serj fell short. “Baby”
made an attempt to use powerful
instrumentals in its melody, but it
turned out to be repetitive, and
the lyrics were extremely shal-
low, mostly repeating the word
“baby” over and over again.
However, it was the only “bad”
song on the album. The rest was
pure gold, and anyone one who is
interested in any modern rock,
System fan or not, should buy the
album. ◙
the true meaning of Christmas —
that having a mother who can’t see
through your evil brother’s façade
is still better than having no
mother at all.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
This old classic still brings a tear
to my eye every time the judge
announces his ruling at the end.
Edmund Gwenn’s stunning depic-
tion of Kris Kringle (a.k.a. Santa
Claus) is one for the ages. Plus, it
beats watching “It’s a Wonderful
Life,” which is still too sentimental
for my taste. ◙
PUZZLES December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 9

by Amy Qiu
staff writer
With “The O.C.” and “One
Tree Hill” absent, the slot for hot
teen drama seems to have been
taken over by “Gossip Girl,” the
CW’s latest hit series. Based on
Gossip Girl
must deal with her shaky relation-
ship with Nate and her conflicted
feelings about Serena (Blake
Lively), who’s both her best friend
and the one who seems to take
everything away from her. The
show for the most part stays true to
the written version, although there
are some deviations. The show’s
major mysteries to latch viewers
onto the show. And no one can
forget about the catty narrator,
who identifies herself only as
“Gossip Girl” and interrupts the
show with phrases like “Spotted:
S and B having a heart to heart.”
and “You know you love me.
XOXO.” You can’t help but love
her, though the show would be
better off without her ruin-the-
moment comments. Yet, given its
downsides, the show is still quite
addictive. ◙

the books by Cecily Von Zell-
weger, the new show centers on a
circle of teens from upper Manhat-
tan who live their way among Ivy
League pressure, Halloween mas-
querade parties, and weekly Sun-
day brunches, not to mention the
occasional moments of tension and
jealousy. Yet despite the seem-
ingly high amount of drama, the
show is relatively slow paced and
random hookups are surprisingly
few in number. The lack of highly
dramatic action is made up for by a
somewhat realistic plot. There’s
Nate (Chace Crawford), who des-
perately wants to back out of his
father’s plans for him, though he
doesn’t quite know what it is he
does want to do with his life. Jenny
(Taylor Momsen) is busy trying to
find her way into the “in” crowd,
while Blair (Leighton Meester)
Source: 1gossipgirl.tvguide.com/jpg
portrayal of Jenny is not at all like
that of the books. And while
Serena has the most presence in
the stories, Blair seems to trump
the more down-to-earth version of
Serena in the show. Yet these are
some of the things that make the
show much better than Von Zell-
weger’s books, which are, at best,
clichéd and unengaging pieces of
literature that somehow managed
to land on the New York Times
bestseller list.
“Gossip Girl” is definitely
an interesting new show, but
whether it will make it past this
season is still uncertain. The
show is entertaining, but after a
while, it gradually loses its “I
Gossip Girl is an American television teen drama based on the popular novel series of the
can’t stand not watching today’s same name. The show revolves around the lives of socialite adolescents growing up on New
episode” effect. Maybe it is be- York's Upper East Side who attends elite academic institutions while dealing with drugs and
cause there are not really any other teenage problems.

CONCERT REVIEW
continued from page 3

powerful pieces that gave each

section of the chorus a chance to
show off their amazing voices.
Then, the orchestra
performed its three pieces:
Brandenburg Concerto, Fantasia
on “Greensleeves,” and Concerto
Grosso. The harpist and the
pianists brought a great festive
feeling to all the songs. However,
for the rest of the orchestra, these
pieces were not as well performed
as the band and chorus pieces, so
they sort of brought the ending
down a bit. The finale brought
together members of the band,
orchestra and the two choruses in
order to perform six pieces: Gesu
Bambino, The Very Best Time of
Year, Do You Hear What I Hear?,
Shepherd’s Pipe Carol,
Somewhere in My Memory, and
Merry Christmas, Merry
Christmas. These did bring forth
a holiday spirit, but it was a
relatively anticlimactic ending to
a well done concert.
The art show outside,
meanwhile, was very great to see,
and it was worth it to spend 15 to
20 minutes looking around at all
the pieces after the concert. So,
all in all it did provide for a great
evening, and I encourage all to
get tickets to next year’s,
especially if you did not make Holiday concert photos courtesy of
this one. ◙
Jensen Cheong.
10 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 LITERARY

THE STANDARD LITERARY

A Vacation Away by Robert Stevenson
literary editor

Happy Holidays! By Jensen Cheong

staff writer

O U V A S T U J E V A X I S D A N Z S U N M A G Word List
Christmas
A S I N P A S L E I G H B E L L S N S U N G R A
N K D M A H G A S I N C T O R I N N E N I S W O Hanukkah

N D W E R I N G I F S H O M P E O F T E H E P E Kwanza

O P L A E S H E R K G N O W R S A R E W I N Z T Boxing Day
A S O E N U R E S I T E A N E V I L L Y E M O N New Years Day
S I V E U Z R E N T N M A D S A M E J E U C I S
Presents
O N T A M O A T N O T C R E E A X L J A H U I L
Reindeers
L C C B E T N T E S F R H I N E N O S R A R E H
Santa Claus
E C L P I E N G H S E R L A T N G U I S E H H E
Snow
T R E A L D C H R I S T M A S N O S O D P H Q R
Winter
T H E I R E B E D N I F F M N M T P N A O U T S
R T S E A R E M Y H T E L I L M F M Q Y V R P G Sleigh Bells

T W O T Y D D Y U N E K V K A U O L R R W Q O T Christmas Tree

E S S A N T A C L A U S J S H R Z K S S X O S U Silent Night
O F S I E C O N P I I J T A A R J W W I D Y V F Good Feelings
Y S E C H Z D P O H H R K O L S I S I F H T Z G
Holly
I R N F R A N C G G E K E U N C H H E N E R U N
Grinch
O I X D Y I F F M E U F I C I L G E L Y T U I A
E D H A N B O X I N G D A Y S V L F A E W E I N Finished the Word Search?
N M O I S E D E A L E P H I N I E G P X S B R V
Check out the
A A L L P E R H S P I N C E N C L C Y O T X H E Standard’s website at
www.stuystandard.org
S A L C R E L E S A L I N G D I C Z B A T E S I for the answers!
N B Y G U L Z A R I N B S T E C S N O W L W I G
A J E N S E N E N T A S I N G U L A A R B O B S
SPORTS
Pirates Prepared to Plunder
by Richard Mai
sports editor
The Pirates, Stuyvesant’s
boys’ swimming team, are looking
to a new season after finishing 8-0
at first in their division and win-
ning co-city champions with rival
Brooklyn Tech in the finals last
year. The Pirates wish to continue
their long streak of city and opens
championships, and last year’s tie
should only fire up the swimmers
this year to do even better.
The logo of the Pirates, the Stuyvesant Boys Swimming Team.
The Stuyvesant Standard would like to thank the
Alumni Association for their generous support.
The Stuyvesant
Standard would like
to wish its readers
a happy
holiday season!
December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5
After eight seniors graduated
last year, a substantial hole needed
to be filled at the start of this sea-
son. Tryouts for the team were
held on Monday, November 12,
during which 33 swimmers tried to
make the cut.
The Pirates were tough on
their cuts in order to stay competi-
tive. Only two freshmen made the
team this year, while the other
grades’ totals were pretty evenly
spread, bringing this year’s roster
to 27 swimmers. Their first home
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
meet of the season was against AP
Randolph; the Pirates won 51-39.
They did fairly well, earning first
and second in most events except
for the long-distance freestyle re-
lays and breast and backstroke.
Led by senior co-captains
Chris Han and Andrew Wong, the
Pirates feel motivated to continue
their dominance not only in the
Bronx/Manhattan division but in
the city as well. “As of now, I’d
say we’re better [than last year] as
we had a lot of people get best
times at the last meet. A lot of
people also went to club practice
over the summer and during the
off-season, so most of the team is
in just as good shape as they were
at city champs last year,” said Han.
They expect to meet Tech in
the finals again this year. It has
also lost significant seniors but has
talented freshmen and good depth
as well. Do the Pirates expect to
settle for a tie again? “No, we're
aiming to win outright, no matter
who we're up against,” replied
Han.
The Pirates’ next meet is on
Thursday, December 20th against
Lehman High School. ◙
11
THE SPORTS BEAT
continued from page 12
High School in Staten Island
(.638) were not nearly as
successful as Stuyvesant during
the same stretch. Oddly enough,
some of the most successful
schools during the fall season
were Bronx High School of
Science (.844) and Brooklyn
Technical High School (.743).
The success didn’t end at the
regular season. Stuyvesant
claimed two city titles (boys’
cross country and fencing), a city
runner-up (girls’ swimming), a
third place me dal (girls’
v o l l e yb a l l ), a n d i t s f i r s t
quarterfinal appearance (boys’
soccer). Stuyvesant’s multiple
city championships are already
more than their lone shared city
title with Brooklyn Tech in boys’
swimming last year. Stuyvesant
should have several more
opportunities to win a city
championship in bo ys’
swimming, and later in the spring
with boys’ and girls’ handball as
well as girls’ fencing.
Granted, the fall season at
Stuyvesant tends to produce the
teams with the best overall
winning percentage. Last year’s
fall winning percentage was .814.
By the end of the year, the
winning percentage decreased to
a still-impressive .748.
MARBURY
continued from page 12
19.8ppg and 7.8apg. Robinson and
Collins are just not at that level.
Perhaps knowing that, Isiah recon-
ciled with Marbury days later,
when he returned to the starting
lineup. As a coach, Isiah said that
he would “use whichever player
that needs to win the game.”
If one knows about Isiah’s
situation, one has to believe that he
is actually making an effort. With
all the embarrassments, rumors,
and losses surrounding him (the
sexual harassment, Marbury’s irre-
sponsible departure, eight-game
losing streak, the 45-point humili-
ating defeat at Boston, you name
it), Isiah can be fired by the Knicks
GM James Dolan any moment. On
many occasions, the crowd in
Madison Square Garden has yelled
“Fire Is-iah!” and booed him dur-
ing the game.
Knicks fans are surely
disappointed at the team’s early
failure. Hopefully, this low point
of the season will not go any
lower. The Knicks have a lot of
talent, and it is just a matter of how
to put together these talents. And
to do that, they will need both
Isiah’s and Marbury’s leadership.
◙
12 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
Knicks’ Early Season Embarrassment
Stephon Marbury, star point guard for the New York Knicks, is often criticized as being a selfish and overrated point guard.
by David Feng
staff writer
The Knicks have by far been the NBA team
with the most controversies and rumors. Months
ago, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was sued for
sexual harassment by Anucha Browne Sanders,
who later won the case. Stephon Marbury’s recent
irresponsible departure from the team just exacer-
bated the matter. Marbury, the starting point guard
for the Knicks, has been bitter with Thomas over
playing time and has had a rocky career so far
with the Knicks. Wasn’t he supposed to be the
native Brooklyn prodigy to turn it all around?
There was no exact answer for why Marbury
left the team. Isiah kept telling reporters that Mar-
bury’s departure was an “in-house matter” and
would not give further information. On the other
hand, Marbury said that he received permission
from Isiah to leave the team. But most likely, he
was angry with Isiah for removing him from the
starting lineup. Before Marbury’s departure, the
Knicks lost to the Heat by a close margin. In the
final seconds, the Knicks were down by 3 points.
Logically, the Knicks would want to give the ball
to Jamal Crawford, who makes the most clutch
shots. Instead, Marbury took the ball and missed
the potential game-tying 3 point shot by a mile.
Isiah was angry at his selfishness and shot selec-
tion that time. It was reported that Isiah and Mar-
bury had a bitter argument after Isiah decided to
December 21, 2007—VOL. 7, No. 5 SPORTS
Source: marbury.newsday.com.jpg
Brains and
Brawn
Since 1993, the National Association of
Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)
has annually rewarded the Director’s Cup to
the school with the most success in athletics.
The same school has won the award every
year since 1994. It’s not the Fighting Irish of
Notre Dame. It’s not the Trojans of Southern
California. The winner of the past 13 cups has
been the Stanford Cardinals.
The same school where 28 Stuy students
over the past two years have applied early,
put Marbury on the bench for the next few games. with about two out of every three being
Marbury might be angry at another issue: rejected, has the best athletics program in the
the minutes he played per game. Throughout his country? A school with 18 Nobel laureates
12-year career, Marbury received around 38.3 currently on staff also has won 54 national
minutes per game. With the arrival of Zach championships — the most of any school?
Randolph, Marbury might play even fewer min- Yes, it is possible to be smart and succeed in
utes. So far this season, he has just played 33.9 athletics.
mpg. The point guard also has to pass the ball to It’s not just in the collegiate ranks that
Randolph in the low post, so he would score less the idea that smart people are bad at sports is
per game. found. When I lead tours to potential
Marbury’s role in the Knicks as the leader freshman at open houses, one of the questions
was tarnished by these events. As a leader, he always asked is if Stuyvesant has sports.
knew that his actions would harm the team, and Students and their parents look at me amazed
above all, the fans. Many people criticize Mar- when I tell them about the depth of the
bury as a selfish and overrated point guard, and Stuyvesant athletic program.
some critics say Marbury’s skill as a point guard In the fall regular season, Stuyvesant
is quickly deteriorating. Throughout his 12-year teams compiled an impressive record of 72
careers in the league, Marbury has only made the wins, 11 losses, and 2 ties. With a .867
playoffs one year. Critics say that this is a sign winning rate, that’s the top record in the
that Marbury cares nothing about winning. borough, besting the .847 by Hunter College
Despite all of these criticisms, there is no High School.
doubt that Marbury is still the most resilient point Among schools that might be considered
guard on the team. In addition to woes on the “sports schools” due to their large student
court, he’s had to face tragedy off-court when his body, that percentage is the best in the city.
father died suddenly after a game. The Knicks’ Schools like Francis Lewis High School in
bench point guards, Nate Robinson and Mardy Queens (.747), Benjamin Cardozo High
Collins are not as talented as he is. Marbury has School in Queens (.746), Midwood High
put up consistent numbers in his career, with School in Brooklyn (.695), and Tottenville
MARBURY THE SPORTS BEAT
continues on page 11 continues on page 11