8 SU ELECTIONS
Primary Results
Student Union
President and Vice President
Paul Lee and Keiji Drysdale
Casey Griffin and Oren Bukspan
Wes Schierenbeck and Chester Dubov
Junior Caucus
Omika Jikaria and Emily Quint Hoover
Samira Siddique and Harris Dupre
Mohammed Hossain and Ha Gyun Chung
Kathy Lin and Ashish Bhandari
Tobi Idowu and Gally Battat
Konrad Wojnar and Riho Tsuji
Senior Caucus
Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo
Sara Hassan and Dylan Cohen
Valeriya Tsitron and Lorraine Thomas
Arun Abraham-Singh and Yi-Feng Zhao
Garreth O'Brien and Tousif Ahsan
Richard Lam and Esteban Pomboza
Endorsements THE STUYVESANT
STANDARD
SU President/ Vice President
# of Paul Lee and Keiji Drysdale
Votes
Monday, June 8, 2009 Election Edition Special Issue
297
201 SU President / Vice President
153 Endorsement
It seems that as the years have gone on, the student
body has grown farther and farther apart from the Student Union
# of and the administration. Student apathy towards their chosen repre-
Votes sentatives has thus inevitably increased, leading to a weak, discon-
nected student body. In situations such as this, there is only one
74 way to salvage the student unity that seems to be lost, and that is
Junior Caucus to start again and work on a slate.
62 Omika Jikaria and Emily Quint Hoover In this year’s Student Union election, freshmen, sopho-
mores, and juniors will have the opportunity to choose between
59 the team of Casey Griffin and Oren Bukspan and the team of Paul
Lee and Keiji Drysdale. Although Griffin and Bukspan offer stu-
dents more experience in the Student Union than Lee and Drys-
47 dale, at a time when students are expressing greater and greater
indifference towards the Student Union, it would be unwise to
46 return to supporting the same individual who was unable to tackle
the problems that candidates will face next year. The Standard
endorses Lee and Drysdale for Student Union President and Vice
44 President because of their promise of deeply needed change to the
Student Union. Candidates for SU President and Vice President Paul Lee
(Right) and Keiji Drysdale (Left).
SU President / Vice President Endorsement continues on page 7
# of
Votes Senior Caucus SU Junior Caucus SU Senior Caucus
98 Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo
74
Endorsement Endorsement
While both tickets up for Student Union junior caucus The Stuyvesant Standard takes great pleasure in
62 positions consist of students who could be trusted to do an ac- endorsing Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo for Senior
ceptable job in guiding the junior class through next year, the Caucus. They have demonstrated to us that they are visionary
Stuyvesant Standard has chosen to endorse Omika Jikaria and candidates that are capable of accomplishing the goals they set
60
Emily Quint Hoover over Samira Siddique and Harris Dupre for for themselves during their time in office in addition to han-
junior president and vice president respectively because upon dling the responsibilities that come along with the privilege of
37 close consideration of where both tickets stand, Jikaria and Hoo- being a student body representative. As members of Stuyve-
ver left us with the impression that they are more qualified to sant Model UN’s Secretariat they have been put in charge of
assume leading roles in the SU than their counterparts. In Jikaria organizing Stuyvesant's annual Model UN conference. This is
24 and Hoover, we found two individuals who we felt were genuine an enormous responsibility as students from all across the
SU Junior Caucus Endorsement continues on page 3 SU Senior Caucus Endorsement continues on page 5
2 SU ELECTIONS
SU Junior Caucus:
Samira Siddique and Harris Dupre
SU Junior Caucus candidates Samira Siddique and Harris Dupre..
In an interview with the Stuyvesant Standard, Samira
Siddique and Harris Dupre noted that their main concern for their
junior year would be ensuring that the administration shift to a
“Students First” approach, citing former Stuyvesant principal
Perullo as the inspiration for their motto. It is their hope that
they can effectively tackle the same issues that have been plagu-
ing the Student Union in recent years, namely, communication
between the Student Union and the junior class and student apa-
thy and challenge policies of the administration that prove to
shrink existing student liberties.
Siddique explained that the principal means of com-
munication with the junior class would take place through Face-
book and an online blog that she and Dupre would organize be-
fore the start of the new school year. Students would be given an
opportunity to ask questions and offer insight through the two
mentioned mediums of communication. They also expect that
SU Junior Caucus:
Omika Jikaria and Emily Quint Hoover
Omika Jikaria and Emily Quint Hoover are running for
Junior Caucus. Both girls have been active with respect to extra-
curricular activities. Jikaria is the current Student Union Special
Events Assistant, a member of Speech and Debate, Fresh-
man/Sophomore Advisory Council, and cheerleading. Hoover is
a member of Model UN, as well as Varsity Track and Tennis.
The major plan of this duo is to raise the general unity
of their grade. Both Jikaria and Hoover claim to have plenty of
energy and enthusiasm, which they hope to use to spur the spirits
of their peers. “[We’ll] have a good influence in terms of spirit
SU Junior Caucus: Jikaria and Hoover continues on page 3
the dissemination of information through the use of homeroom
leaders will be an efficient means of spreading information
through the grade. The possibility of a junior class newsletter
was also raised during the interview.
Siddique and Dupre hope to make defending out-to-
lunch privileges, extending the number of floors on which
students are allowed to spend their lunch and free periods, and
reversing a trend toward what they call “general condescen-
sion” of students by members of the administration, their main
priorities should they be elected into office next year. They
see no reason why students should not be allowed to occupy
the halls of the third and tenth floors and will voice their con-
cerns about the problem of a growing student body amid ef-
forts to shrink student space in the school building. Siddique
explained that they would like to bring back student-run cam-
paigns like StuySpace and even go so far as to stage protests
and sit-ins if they prove to be necessary to realize their goals.
They were sure to mention that fundraising will
definitely take up much of their time should they be elected.
In order to discourage the use of less-eco friendly containers
such as plastic water bottles, they expect to sell canteens, and
use the profits they make to less the financial burden that col-
lege trips may pose for students. It is also their intention to
rely on support from the Alumni Association and Parents As-
sociation should they need any further financial assistance.
Siddique and Dupre have collectively declined to
comment on ways they will increase junior-class spirit as they
believe that for the purposes of the campaign they need not
mention specifics. However, they promise a junior prom bet-
ter than the one that took place this year and will plan ahead to
ensure that their promise is fulfilled.◘
and enthusiasm,” Jikaria said.
This team, if elected, would basically continue to
hold many of the same events as previous years, with little
modification. They explained that they intend to have college
trips. However, they would like to have surveys to see which
schools their fellow students would like to visit in order to
restructure trips based on their preferences. This would allow
the trips to be more directly catering to students. Jikaria and
Hoover will also spend time planning Junior Prom and chang-
SU ELECTIONS 7
SU President / Vice President: Griffin and Bukspan
continued from page 6
“The main problem in the SU this year was not
enough planning ahead and thus not having time to execute,”
Griffin said. “We have everything planned out to ensure that
tinue the Student Forums which have been successful in getting
next year, that does not become an issue.”◘
students’ opinions on SLT proposals,” Griffin said.
Additionally, Griffin and Bukspan plan on updating
an SU bulletin board and using posters and banners in order to
inform students as to when and where events and meetings are
being held.
On connecting the student body with the administra-
tion, Griffin and Bukspan will “provide students with a voice to
communicate with the administration and act as the student
body’s representatives,” Bukspan said.
“We will be actively present in [Principal Stanley
Teitel’s] office negotiating with him and making sure the stu-
dents’ opinions are voiced,” Griffin said.
If elected, Griffin and Bukspan plan on choosing
department directors first, and then using them in the process of
filling the department so “department directors are sure to know
who they are working with and a functional team is created,”
Griffin said. SU President / Vice President candidates Casey Griffin and Oren Bukspan.
SU President / Vice President Endorsement
is fixed in order to get rid of student apathy. Lee and Drysdale
continued from page 1 understand that communication is not a one-sided establish-
ment. Not only do they want to make sure students can receive
The Lee-Drysdale platform emphasizes the “promise information about Student Union events through posters, web-
to change the SU to become one that is creative, accessible, flexi-
sites, and Facebook announcements, but they also want to re-
ble, and accountable.” They do not come with the background of ceive as much input from students as possible. “We want to
“five years of experience working in the Student Union,” but
constantly remind the student body that they can contact us if
instead have had their experience in other fields within school: something occurs or if they have an idea. […] We want to make
Lee is an active participant of the speech and debate team,
sure it is a student-run Student Union rather than just a small
SING!, and is also currently vice president of the junior class; clique of people deciding things,” Lee said.
Drysdale has been involved in SING! as well as the varsity golf
and basketball teams. Together, the two seem to represent the Organization and time management by Student Un-
perfect balance of participation in a variety of school-wide activi- ion representatives is necessary, as without it the student body
ties. “We’re angling for student representation and capturing all could expect a number of unsuccessful events. “If everything is
3,000 students in their entirety,” Lee said. organized, it is possible to spend as much time as possible in the
SU while still being involved in extracurricular activities,”
A main focus of Lee and Drysdale is their desire for Drysdale said. According to Lee and Drysdale, a calendar of
more communication between the student body and the Student
Union, and a greater sense of accessibility of the Student Union
events like that of Griffin and Bukspan may be a nice thought,
but until the events are actually confirmed and reserved, it is
to all students. This is clearly a large issue, as many students feel
a strong sense of apathy towards the Student Union due to its
hardly different from a few ideas bottled up in one’s mind.
Lee’s and Drysdale’s determination to get things done are per-
removed nature from the students. It is seldom found that stu- sonal characteristics that will undoubtedly lead them to success
dents feel that entering the Student Union office will be produc- if they remain adamant.
tive or enjoyable. Lee and Drysdale look to change this by mak-
ing themselves as available as possible in the Student Union. It is currently an unfortunate time in our student
“We want to let people know that we are their representatives body’s history. Fewer people are interested in school affairs
and we are here to help them,” Lee said. But more importantly, than ever before. Lee and Drysdale represent an end to this
Lee and Drysdale give off the genuine impression that they trend. They are the only hope for the student body to regain its
would not hesitate to take the time to help a student in need. interest in school affairs and stand for the deep change this
They are the type of individuals that some one would not feel school needs to see in order to recover the benefits that come
intimidated by, that a typical student could turn to without fear. naturally as byproducts when students participate and give feed-
They plan to continue open student forums “where people won’t back to their Student Union. Lee and Drysdale can finally
be afraid of voicing their opinions,” Drysdale said. They are bridge the historic gap separating students and their representa-
correct in believing that they need to make sure their credibility tives.◘
6 SU ELECTIONS SU ELECTIONS 3

SU President / Vice President:
Paul Lee and Keiji Drysdale
Senior Paul Lee and Junior Keiji Drysdale are run-
ning for 2009-2010 Student Union Caucus. Both candidates
have been involved in various activities in the Stuyvesant extra-
curricular sphere. Lee was a producer for Soph-Frosh SING!, as
well as Vice-President for Junior Caucus this year. Drysdale
was on this year’s SING! Crew, along with the Varsity Basket-
ball and Varsity Golf teams. Despite being engulfed in extracur-
ricular activities, both Lee and Drysdale claim that they will be
comfortable with the added responsibility, if they manage to
win. “[It] basically boils down to time management,” Drysdale
commented.
When asked what they thought was the biggest prob-
lem of the current SU, both said that students were too skeptical
toward the SU and its events. “[We need to prove that] we will
keep our promises and take responsibility,” Lee said.
One of Lee and Drysdale's goals for next year is to
improve communication between the SU and general student
body. They intend to set aside certain time during Homeroom to
make an “SU News Announcement.” During this time, they
would announce upcoming SU events and budget meetings, in
an attempt to better inform the student body.
Lee said that in recent years, the SU has not been open
to the ideas of students. “We must make ourselves available,”
Lee said. He suggested having office hours during which SU
members must be in the office, so that in case students have
questions they would be addressed by the appropriate individu-
als. Further, Lee and Drysdale hope to continue the Open Student
Forums, which have already been adopted this year. This is an
effective way for students to voice their opinions without fear,
Lee commented. They will also use the web to generate ideas for
new events.
Lee and Drysdale would also like to improve the rela-
tionship between the SU and the administration. They argued that
there were too few meetings between the current SU leaders and
Principal Stanley Teitel this year. “We need to create an open
bridge between the administration and SU,” Drysdale said. Lee
also noted that Kim and Griffin did not consult with freshman,
sophomore, junior, and senior class presidents and vice presi-
dents before speaking on behalf of the student body as a whole to
the administration and hope to avoid that same mistake.
Lee and Drysdale, if elected, will attempt to transform
the SU into a “compatible and adaptable” organization.◘
Amna Ahmad, Marina Tawfik, Muhammad Tambra, and Hesham Saleh were
responsible for writing the articles contained in the election issue.
SU Junior Caucus: Jikaria and Hoover
continued from page 2
ing it from previous years. However, because of Jikaria’s experi-
ence as Events Assistant, they feel that too much money was spent
on the event this year, so they would look to reduce these costs if
possible.
This duo will also continue to have Junior/Senior
events, such as basketball and volleyball tournaments. In addition,
they would like to stage a Color War between the grades. Their
biggest new idea, is to have a school carnival to fundraise for
junior events.
One problem that Jikaria and Hoover mentioned about
this year’s Junior Caucus is communication. They feel that a poor
job was done to develop a bridge between the students and the
leaders. To correct this problem, they will create a website for
their grade, as well as make creative posters to promote events.
Jikaria and Hoover’s campaign consists of a number of objectives
that they promise to satisfy. “We will do [what we promised].
We’re very determined, and do things to the utmost; no half-
SU Junior Caucus candidates Emily Quint Hoover and Omika Jikaria..
hearted attempts,” Jikaria said.◘

SU President / Vice President:
Casey Griffin and Oren Bukspan
Junior Casey Griffin and sophomore Oren Bukspan,
running for Student Union President and Vice President, ad-
vanced to the general elections, to be held on Monday, June 8.
They received a total of 201 votes in the primary election.
Griffin and Bukspan have a combined five years of
experience in the Student Union. Griffin was vice president of
both her freshman and sophomore classes, and is currently the
SU Vice President. Bukspan was vice president of his freshman
class and currently holds the title of Communications Assistant.
Bukspan believes that his experience as communica-
tions assistant is crucial in that it will be “helpful in getting
information out to students, which is an important aspect of
keeping the student body interested and connected.”
Griffin and Bukspan have a calendar of all events
they intend on holding for the 2009 – 2010 school year. If
elected, they will “take the calendar directly to members of the
administration so that we can avoid last minute planning and
cancellations,” Griffin said.
Events that they have planned include traditional
dances such as the Big Sib, New Year’s, and Spring Fling
dances. They have also planned for new events such as a battle
of the bands, talent show, and charity gala.
“Problems with planning only arise when people have
no experience with planning and coordinating events,” Bukspan
said.
In dealing with the budget, Griffin and Bukspan plan
to hold an SU fundraising carnival. “It will be outside in a park
with the classic fun carnival games. […] We want to show stu-
dents that they can help and make a difference,” Griffin said.
“Students will always have apathy [towards the Stu-
dent Union], but fun events attract people,” Bukspan said.
“Events will bring students together as a union.”
Griffin and Bukspan also plan to tackle the issue of
student apathy through better communication with students. They
plan on recreating the Student Union website, issuing a monthly
Student Union newsletter, and continuing the recently introduced
Student Forums.
“We want to make the newsletter monthly so students
always know what the SU is planning, and we also want to con-
SU President / Vice President: Griffin and Bukspan
continues on page 7
SU Junior Caucus Endorsement continued from page 1
and open in their approach to us, whereas we at the same time
struggled with whether Siddique and Dupre actually intended on
fulfilling most of the promises they have made during their cam-
paign.
Jikaria already has an accurate sense of just how the
Student Union functions from behind the scenes because of her
experience on the Freshman and Sophomore Advisory Councils
and her position as SU Events Assistant. While Jikaria has seen
SU leaders in action, neither Siddique nor Dupre has had any for-
mal involvement with the Student Union in the past two years.
And in spite of what Hoover lacks in Student Union experience,
she definitely exhibits the excitement that comes along with being
the half of the ticket that is an outsider to the SU. Jikaria repre-
sents the SU contributor who has worked diligently behind the
scenes for the past two years and deserves to finally take center
stage. At the same time, Hoover represents a student who has
watched the SU function for the past two years from the outside.
The merging of these two perspectives is precisely what we be-
lieve embodies a “well-balanced ticket.”
Because it is the responsibility of the junior president
and vice president to organize a number of events ranging from
college trips to junior prom, Jikaria’s experience as Events Assis-
tant would only serve to make her more qualified to fill the posi-
tion of junior president. In contrast, Siddique and Dupre had
to be reminded to talk about college trips during their inter-
view and did not elaborate on their plans for them although
college trips are very important resources for student in their
junior year. They also declined to mention Junior Comedy
Night, College Night, or Senior-junior events, while Jikaria
and Hoover explained their intentions to make sure those
events run smoothly and to ask students for their input before
beginning to organize them. Jikaria explained: “We don’t
want to make any promises. We want to stay with what we
know we can make happen.” It is clear therefore, that already
Jikaria and Hoover have been making better-informed deci-
sions in their campaign than Siddique and Dupre which only
leads us to question whether the latter ticket would be able to
succeed in offering the junior class what they expect when
they have thus far been reluctant to discuss a few of the major
responsibilities of junior president and vice president.
Jikaria and her running-mate explained that for
fundraising for junior events (that oftentimes students are
discouraged to participate in because of the financial burden
associated with them) they will organize bake sales and carni-
vals. Although the Jikaria-Hoover approach may not be the
most innovative one, it is probably the safest possible ap-
proach to take. Siddique and Dupre on the other hand are set
on selling canteens as a fundraiser to discourage the use of
SU Junior Caucus Endorsement continued on page 5
4 SU ELECTIONS
SU Senior Caucus:
Sara Hassan and Dylan Cohen
Senior Caucus candidates Dylan Cohen and Sara Hassan.
Sarah Hassan and Dylan Cohen’s campaign for sen-
ior caucus began with beating out such heavyweights as Va-
leriya Tsitron, the class of 2010’s president for their freshmen,
sophomore, and junior years, to come in second place in the
primaries with 74 votes. Hassan has been an active member of
the Stuyvesant community as a columnist for the Spectator and
being a member of the track team for two years. Cohen has
served as a Big Sib for two years and is involved in Stuyve-
sant’s Model UN. Hassan and Cohen’s platform centers on
tackling problems with communication and trying to best repre-
sent their class.
SU Senior Caucus:
Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo
Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo rose to the
occasion during the primaries for Senior Caucus crushing the
competition. They beat out the second place candidates, Sara
Hassan and Dylan Cohen by 24 points, decimated Valeriya
Tsitron and Lorraine Thomas by a margin of 36 votes. Moham-
med Rahman is an active member of the Stuyvesant community
as a member of Stuyvesant’s Model UN Secretariat. He also
sings professionally and has experience organizing concerts.
Steven Arroyo is also on Stuyvesant Model UN’s Secretariat
and has served on the class of 2010’s freshmen and sophomore
advisory councils.
SU Senior Caucus: Rahman and Arroyo continues on page 5
Rahman and Arroyo stressed the importance of
Their plans include having a larger number of senior
spirit days by adding on days like Senior Baseball Day where
they would buy a large section of cheap seats at either Citifield
or Yankee Stadium for seniors to attend a game together. They
also want to work on increasing communication between differ-
ent groups in the school. They want to start a student-teacher
newsletter so that students can be better informed about the
policies of the administration as well as the decisions of the SU.
They also want to revitalize Stuy2010.com, although have not
yet decided upon the details. In addition to this they want to
form a more open relationship with the students. To accomplish
this they propose setting up office hours and a suggestion box.
They also plan on putting up flyers to promote events.
With regards to events like Senior Prom they plan on
making tickets less expensive. They want to try to keep costs to
a minimum by holding fundraisers and doing their research. To
accomplish this they say they will work with the faculty and
administration. They want to speak with people such as Ms.
Damesak and Mr. Teitel early enough to get events organized in
advance. They also plan on finding out which objects the class
of 2010 wants to see in its cube before graduation. They plan on
talking to their fellow classmates to find out the general consen-
sus. They hope to be as creative as possible with designing the
cube and will appoint a qualified cube committee. .
Their basic goal is to make senior year as enjoyable
as possible for everyone. They hope to garner enough support
so that should they be elected next year, students will be willing
to provide them with their opinions on certain decisions.◘
cheaper prom tickets. They pointed out how the tickets for Jun-
ior Prom were a bit pricey at 55 dollars and senior prom is even
more expensive, floating around 195 dollars just for the ticket,
not to mention everything else a person needs to attend. Rah-
man brought up his connection to the manager of the Waldorf
Astoria, the traditional venue of the Senior Prom, and how he
would try and use it to get cheaper tickets. He explained that his
father knew the manager personally and how he and Arroyo
have already opened up professional dialogue with the manager.
SU ELECTIONS 5
SU Senior Caucus: Rahman and Arroyo
continued from page 4
They also want to increase the communication and
organization of the senior caucus. To do this they want to
create a public forum online and also increase the popularity
and influence of the student forums that took place earlier this
term. They also plan on meeting over the summer to begin
planning out their goals for the 09-10 school year so as to
maximize efficiency for next year.
With regard to senior spirit days they seek to not
repeat what they considered to be a mistake on the part of this
year’s senior caucus, specifically the controversy surrounding
“Senior Ghetto Fabulous Day”. They plan on taking polls and
finding out if the students would be willing to participate in
the spirit day they propose. They concluded by adding that
they have the drive and will demonstrate the effort necessary
to succeed and will be willing to be held accountable for the
decisions they make in office should they be elected.◘
Senior Caucus candidates Mohammed Rahman and Steven Arroyo.
SU Senior Caucus Endorsement continued from page 1 SU Junior Caucus Endorsement continued from page 3
country attend. If they are capable of managing this as well as the
multitude of schoolwork and their other extracurricular activities water bottles that are less environmentally friendly. When
they are involved with, we can surely expect to see them shine asked who would actually bother to buy a canteen or
next year should they be elected. whether they anticipated that they would be able to make a
substantial enough profit off of relatively costly items, they
Their competition, Sara Hassan and Dylan Cohen,
were unsure how to respond. They then informed us that
offered many new ideas as well but it seems as if they were trying
they would rely on the Alumni Association and Parents
to bite off more than they could chew. Especially when it came to Association in times of financial necessity. In response we
the Senior Spirit days that they would put in the hands of the noted that during the economic downturn taking money that
senior class and a revamping Stuy2010.com before consulting could potentially be given to clubs and publications in need
with anyone who could be able to restructure the website. They would be unwise but they continued to defend their original
have good intentions but it seems out of their capacity to accom- position on the issue
plish those unrealistic goals. Rahman and Arroyo have set realis-
tic goals in their campaign and have already taken initiative and
started taking major steps to help out their fellow seniors.
Furthermore, Jikaria and Hoover presented them-
selves as a team that not only has chemistry and cares about
the student body but that is serious about succeeding in their
They are well disciplined and know how to handle
responsibility. As the class of 2010 approaches its senior year it
positions next year, and as Hoover mentioned enthusiasti-
cally, “If we’re excited about it, we’re willing to make time
needs strong, dedicated leaders to make the journey as smooth as to do it.” On the other hand, it was difficult to tell what
possible. And the future senior class has clearly made a statement. exactly could be expected of Siddique and Dupre, because
With 98 votes they clearly were the frontrunners of this year’s some of their plans do not seem to be designed with the
election for Senior Caucus. Their connections to the Stuyvesant reality of what being a representative entails in mind. And
community and other groups outside of the school make them while Jikaria and Hoover bounced ideas off of one another
invaluable during senior year. Organization and discipline being and were both equally enthusiastic about the campaign,
their forte these two possess the potential to take the senior class Siddique clearly outshined Dupre who typically only spoke
to newer and better places. They have the drive and ambition to when probed by his running mate. It follows then, that
improve upon this year’s senior caucus while also implementing Omika Jikaria and Emily Quint Hoover deserved their first
new ideas. Their willingness to have transparency and account- place position in the primaries, and the staff of the Stuyve-
ability also shows that they are turning a new leaf in regards to sant Standard believes that they deserve the same result
how things have generally been running. With the student’s sup- following the general elections on Monday June 8. ◘
port and their dedication, Rahman and Arroyo on the verge of
what seems to be the eve of a great year to come. ◘