Issue 8 Alpha

News:

Entertainment:

Opinions:

AIS Tutoring Canceled

Diversity Week

Memoirs of a Scoliosis Surgery Patient Page 4

Page 3

Page 9

Tuesday March 18, 2008 Visit us at www.stuystandard.org

Volume 7

Issue 8

Proud Members of the National Scholastic Press Association

SING! Article

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THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

EDITORIAL

The Executive Board JENNIFER SCHLESINGER ERIC MAYO DIANE CHEN ANGEL WONG SANGHEE CHUNG DANNY ZHU TIM CHANG HESHAM SALEH JIMMY ZHANG AMNA AHMAD EMMA RABINOVICH ROBERT COLBOURN RICHARD MAI OMAR AHMAD HANFORD CHIU ROBERT STEVENSON JESSE ZHANG KIRIL GOURUV ELISSA TAM MEGAN BRESLIN DANIEL EGERS (‘03) ERNEST BASKIN (‘04)

EDITOR IN CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR DIRECTOR OF FINANCE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE LAYOUT EDITOR COPY CHIEF NEWS EDITOR NEWS EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR ASST. ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR SCIENCE EDITOR BUSINESS EDITOR LITERARY EDITOR WEBMASTER ASSISTANT WEBMASTER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOJOURNALISM FACULTY ADVISOR FOUNDER EDITOR EMERITUS

Publication THE STUYVESANT STANDARD is a non-profit publication produced by the students of Stuyvesant High School. THE STUYVESANT STANDARD distributes 2,000 free copies on a biweekly basis to the students and faculty of Stuyvesant High School and throughout the adjoining neighborhoods of TriBeCa and Battery 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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Contact Us Please direct all correspondence to: THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282-1000 [email protected] Find us on the web at www.stuystandard.org

NEWS

NEWS

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

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THE STANDARD NEWS Stuyvesant High School Naturalized Stuyvesant held a United States naturalization ceremony for 300 citizenship applications, including two students, on February 27. The ceremony was the first of its kind to be held at Stuyvesant, which has served immigrants since its conception in 1904. The current student body contains representatives of a large number or countries; thirty percent of the freshman class is composed of immigrants, making Stuyvesant a fitting place to hold the ceremony. The ceremony was proposed by Natalie Lui Duncan, who graduated from Stuyvesant in 1993. She currently works for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The ceremony began with Stuyvesant principal Stanley Teitel giving the opening remarks. Afteward, Alfonso Aguilar, chief of the USCIS Office of Citizenship, who was serving as the master of ceremonies, asked the guests to rise for the singing of the National Anthem and for the presentation of colors. The Stuyvesant High School Chorus sang “This is My Country” and “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor.” Next, the applicants for citizenship were called by name and country. There were 55 countries represented. Emilio T. González, director of the USCIS, led the candidates in the Oath of Allegiance. A video was then played with a message from President George

Photo Credit:

by Jennifer Schlesinger editor in chief

A naturalization ceremony was held for 300 citizenship applicants, including two Stuyvesant students. The ceremony was the first of its kind to be held at Stuyvesant High School.

W. Bush. Then, the two students, sophomore Yimei Hu and senior Minglian Pan, were called to the stage. They led the Pledge of Allegiance. According to the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), both students immigrated from China. Hu said, “It’s an honor. I’ve always wanted to become a citizen. I finally know what it means to be a real American,” on the ceremony. Afterward, González con-

gratulated the new citizens. He honored Secretary of Labour Elaine Chao with the Outstanding Americans by Choice award. Chao is the first Asian-American woman to be a member of the President’s cabinet. She emigrated from Asia when she was eight, which inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to ensuring that people have the opportunity to improve their lives. She gave the keynote address. The ceremony ended with

senior SangHee Chung playing “God Bless America” on the piano. The guests of the ceremony included many Stuyvesant community members, including chemistry teacher Dalia Bulgaris and history teacher Reuben Stern, who immigrated to the United States. Also in attendance were Jamila Ma, president of the Student Union, and Bob Sherwood, president of the Alumni Association. ◙

AIS Tutoring Cancelled Due to Budge Cuts by Rammiya Nallainathan staff writer

Due to the challenging nature of Stuyvesant’s classes, many students find that they need help. This term, Stuyvesant had to cancel all AIS tutoring due to recent budget cuts. According to Susan Olds, the executive budget director of the Department of Education, because the economy is in a downward trend and the city is not receiving expected tax revenues, the city must spend less. Therefore, schools across the city in districts 1-32 have had to face a 1.75 per-

cent budget cut so that the city can meet the $100 million tax levy reduction. Stuyvesant alone has lost $277,522. The decision on how to adjust with the budget cut was made on February 5 at the School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting. According to the plan, either afterschool AIS tutoring had to be cut, or there would be no replacement for Kate Oliver, a college counselor who recently left. Understanding the situation, students and parents agreed that hiring a replacement for Oliver was more important, and so AIS tutoring was cancelled. James Kim, vice president of the Student Union, said, “We could

have found another way to relieve us of the deficit. However, cutting tutoring was probably better than cutting a college advisor. I am sure we will work through this well.” ARISTA Tutoring and Big Sibs will have to help out with the after-school tutoring sessions. When asked about the situation, Dennis Ng, ARISTA vice president for tutoring, responded enthusiastically, saying, “ARISTA Tutoring is an excellent way for students to get academic support. Students can choose to be tutored one-on-one or in a group. Our dedicated tutors are quite knowledgeable. While the suspension of

AIS Tutoring will greatly affect the way students get help for their classes, ARISTA Tutoring is ready to lend a hand.” Junior Naziat Zaman agreed. “I think now ARISTA and Big Sibs will become an even more important and crucial part of the Stuyvesant community.” ARISTA tutoring is available everyday and is walk-in. Because of the expected increase in the number of students, ARISTA tutoring has moved from the library to room 511. The Big Sibs are also playing its part by providing one-on-one tutoring for many students. ◙

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March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

OPINIONS

THE STANDARD OPINIONS Multiplying Like Rabbits As the year goes by I walk down the halls of Stuyvesant High School and see more and more of the same freshmen. Noticing more and more freshman in the hallway many thoughts race through my head: “Man, will these people move any faster? Why are there so many of them?” More now than ever before, freshmen are visible in large groups crowding up the already sluggish escalators. Even the Hudson Staircase seems to have more traffic than usual. I can’t help but ask myself what is going on. According to online statistics, an average of 800 students make it in to Stuyvesant each year. This year however, many more freshmen were admitted than ever before. This influx of lost “newbies” has caused the hallways to become overcrowded. Opening a door to the stairwells is getting dangerous because you might hit someone in the face. The library has become even more packed with hordes of students racing towards the computers. No one seems to have a solution to these obvious conundrums. With the school becoming more congested I think that some sort of change has to take place before classes have to congregate in hallways like the SING! cast and crew. This year alone, at least 100 more freshmen than usual decided to accept placement in Stuy. This has caused class sizes to increase from the usual 29 to 30 students to a norm of 34 to 35. Having this many students in one class has a negative affect on the learning environment of this school. As more and more students are placed

Photo Credit: Elissa Tam

by Muhammad Tambra staff writer

Stuy Voice Ode to Expression by Amna Ahmad opinions editor

As the school gets more crowded, changes should be promoted before classes begin to congregate in hallways.

in one class, teachers give less individual attention to students. Consequently, an individual who feels hopelessly lost in a class may be ignored because the rest of the class is doing just fine. The inverse is also true. An advanced student may find himself bored in a class that he finds unchallenging in light of the struggles of the students around him. There is very little opportunity for one-on-one attention to be provided to a student from a teacher. The school needs to deal with this problem because it is only going to get worse and might have worse consequences than we have seen already. Next time Stuy might not get an A from the DOE; instead we might end up with a B on our ratings. The continual increase of the student body size could cause the reputation of a once-esteemed high school to be tarnished. Next thing you know, Stuy is no longer a specialized high school and is ranked among the worst in the

nations, at which point students would say, “Wasn’t this school like 15th best in the country or something?” and another students would respond by saying, “Are you kidding me, this place?” There are some ways to prevent this, however. What the BOE and the school can do is raise the overall standard to get into a specialized high school. What this will do is make Stuyvesant a more exclusive school where only the best of the best of the best can be admitted. This would cause the current population of Stuyvesant to drop from the current population to a more comfortable number. They can also try limiting the number of people who are allowed to take the SHSAT based on grades in junior high school and performance on citywide tests in order to further tackle this problem. These potential solutions offer hope to the hopeless student trying to make it to the tenth floor from swim gym. ◙

The purpose of the Stuy Voice column has always been to consider the opinions of the Stuyvesant student body while employing statistics from surveys on a wide range of topics in order to lend a voice to those students too shy to write what’s on their mind in an independent school publication as I do biweekly. After tallying hundreds of surveys over the past two years, I’ve come to the realization that most students crave better representation than a few simple poll statistics, and wish to think outside of the box — that is, the box on the survey where students are expected to draw a check if they are in agreement with the statement above it. I entertain this assumption simply because some students that I have surveyed in the past have had a less-thanappreciated tendency to insert their own answer options, ask questions, and provide insight on the central theme of the survey they are filling out, in the form of weird doodles and chicken-scratch handwriting. I thought that since the surveys of these students who thought themselves deserving enough to discount the boundaries put into place for them in a survey were STUY VOICE continues on page 5

Memoirs of a Scoliosis Surgery Patient by Amna Ahmad opinions editor

Scoliosis is a condition in which a person’s back curves to the left or right, generally forming an “S” or “C” shape. It is idiopathic, meaning it has no known cause, but it has been shown to run in families. It affects approximately three percent of the United States population; however, it is more common in women than in men. I can proudly say that that three percent includes me. During May of 2007, I started

to notice that I was not standing up completely straight and that my shoulders were slightly uneven. I did not think much of it and dismissed it, assuming that I was just one of the millions of teenagers with notoriously bad posture. A couple of months later, in the middle of the summer, while on a family vacation in Florida, both of my parents noticed that my back did not look straight. My mom was a bit concerned, but my dad, just like me, told her not to worry about it.

It was not until the end of August while we were doing some back to school shopping that we realized that I really did have a problem. My back had gotten drastically more curved and it was very obvious. Yet, none of us knew what scoliosis was at the time, so we went to my regular pediatrician. She told us some basic information about scoliosis and immediately referred me to a doctor who specialized in treating it. I went to see the specialist in October, nervous because of what

he would tell me. After my pediatrician told me that I had scoliosis, I did some research on the topic and encountered a lot of information. The part that interested me the most was the treatment of the condition. I found out that curves less than 25˚ are simply monitored for progress, curves between 25˚ and 45˚ are treated with a brace that people have to wear for as many as 23 hours a day, and curves over 45˚ MEMOIRS continues on page 5

OPINIONS

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

are treated with surgery. All I could do was hope that my curve would be less than 25˚ so I would not have to worry about an annoying brace. I thought it was virtually impossible for my curve to be bad enough to require surgery. Boy, was I wrong. When I got to the office, they took x-rays of my back and then I got to speak to the doctor. He spent a lot of time figuring out the various angles and taking what seemed like millions of measurements. Then came the news that shocked me. I had a curve of 76˚ and needed surgery as soon as possible. We set the date for the surgery right then, deciding it would be on December 4th at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases. Feeling scared and brave at the same time, I spent the days leading up to the surgery doing more and more research about the procedure, as well as making arrangements for tutors to come during the two months of school that I would miss. I found out that the surgery is performed by having two metal rods fused to the spine and connected with several screws. By December 4th, I felt as prepared as I was going to get, and entered the operation room as bravely as possible. There were twelve doctors there, each with a separate purpose, like handling anesthesia or monitoring my spinal cord. When I woke up, all I remember was feeling pain. A nurse gave me a button I could press to receive a dose of pain medicine. It was specially designed, of course, so that I could never overdose on the medication, no matter how STUY VOICE continued from page 4 left unused, I was still somehow obligated to include their voices, and honor their participation despite their reluctance to follow directions. I decided to share some of the extraneous material written on surveys with hopes that the voices of these students would indeed be heard. Flipping through a stack of surveys administered in early November, I came across one survey in particular on which all responses were written using an orange pen. As if the use of macaroni-colored ink wasn’t weird enough, I realized that this particular individual had also written a few strange comments

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Wiki_pre-op.jpg

MEMOIRS continued from page 4

Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side or front to back. The spine may also be rotated.

many times I pressed the button. The first couple of days after the surgery, I spent most of my time sleeping because the pain medication made me extremely drowsy. A physical therapist came everyday and made me practice sitting up in a chair and walking around. I hated sitting up because it was so painful, but

walking actually did not seem too bad. After a week in the hospital, they let me go home. I spent the first week or two at home only lying in bed, basically taking complete advantage of the fact that there was no physical therapist there to force me to walk around. A different tutor would

such as “Yea Boi” and “I’m always right” as answers to the questions being asked. Now, while I’m not entirely sure how those two comments related to the survey at all, I thought they were a bit entertaining. But then again, it did make me question the sensibility of the focus group of students that I had so earnestly relied on for some genuine feedback. I’m not sure if I should value even to the least extent the opinion of a person who answers a yes or no question with an expression like “Yea Boi.” Not only are these essentially unnecessary side-notes at times entertaining, but they can also be a bit offensive. For instance, one individual must have thought I

was dumb enough to not know the difference between fact and opinion as can be seen from the following statement written on the survey: “I don’t know! — bad question, really bad question, factual not opinion. FIX THIS!” Who would have known that asking a peer whether or not they knew that in some religions coffee consumption was forbidden would cause such a passionate response? Some other examples of comments that I have read in the short time I have been writing this column are: “DEPORTATION,” “When aren’t they?” “How are those two related?”, and “Voided ☺.” If you think these examples make no sense out of the context of the

come for each subject, and so there would be one person coming each day for two hours. The workload wasn’t too bad, but there were definitely several occasions on which I wished I could just sleep instead of learn. After about four weeks of immobility, I decided there was something wrong. I should have been getting better, but instead I was still always in bed. I had assumed that my body would heal on its own, and only time would make me better. However, as I attempted to sit up for half an hour and quickly felt pain, I decided that I would have to push myself if I was ever going to improve and get back to school. The progress I made was amazing. As I gradually started practicing doing things on my own and walking around my neighborhood in short trips outside, I realized that my tolerance of not lying down was increasing. It wasn’t long before I was able to go to the mall, and eventually I was back to school, feeling more energetic than I had been in the past couple of months. I can honestly say that I have gained more through this experience than I have from anything else in my entire life, and I’m not simply referring to the three inches I gained in height. Having this surgery opened my eyes to what real pain is, and how hard it is to truly persevere instead of giving in. Most importantly, I have learned that no healing is possible without unison of body and mind. No matter how long one waits to recover from either physical or emotion pain, nothing will happen until one has mentally decided that he wants to improve. ◙

survey on which they were written, I can honestly assure you that they wouldn’t make any more sense to you if you were actually in possession of the surveys in question, and if you were to ask me where the smiley face came from on the last comment, I simply would not be able to tell you. Thus, I offer this piece to you as an ode to self-expression, because now that I take the situation into consideration I can’t help but ask myself what makes me so qualified to judge the actions of those students who were motivated principally by a desire to put their ideas out there or make their mark on an idea in their own individual way, in both a literal and figurative sense. ◙

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March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

SCIENCE

THE STANDARD SCIENCE Eating Dirt: When Microbes Make Us Well Many of us have heard that we should eat yogurt after taking a round of antibiotics if we ever want to digest food again. Within the last few years, phrases like “live cultures” and “probiotic” have found their way onto dairy product labels at even the most mainstream grocery stores. What’s up with that? According to Science News and reports in professional journals like Immunology, in the last decade, new research has disclosed an increasing awareness of the complexity of microbes and their function in managing wellness in the human body. The news from think tanks like Washington University in St. Louis, and Germany’s Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Food is that the microbes, the flora, the fungi, and other living things that find their way into our bodies as hitchhikers on our lunch or as a kind of microbe starter set, courtesy of Mom at birth, do a lot more than anyone ever thought. Why else would our systems allow tens of trillions of microbes to

Source: http://www.biogeosciences.org/images/dolo_microbe2.jpg

by Devyn Buckley staff writer

Microbes, such as those shown above, constitute 90% of our bodies, bringing new questions in the realms of both biology and theology.

thrive and communicate with one another in our bodies? Interestingly, one line of new research suggests that our “bodies” actually are mostly microbes. Since microbes outnumber cells in the human body by a factor of 10, it looks like we are actually about 90 percent microbial. Weird, huh? Rather than a single human body, we are more like a teeming superorganism, made up of symbiotic communities of microbes. This is an interesting find for evolutionary biology, not to mention theology. One of the most important

implications for microbes revolves around immunity. Since the gastrointestinal tract, where most microbes live, is the largest immune organ of the human body, researchers are looking at the role intestinal flora play in resistance. In one study, individuals infected with a common cold virus were given three different probiotics (microbes) at early stages of the illness. Analysis showed that the probiotics did not cure the common cold. However, the microbes clearly minimized the symptoms and shortened the

illness’s duration and intensity. It was found that the human body had responded to the probiotic trigger by creating more T cells. In German studies, microbes as probiotics were found to affect the intensity of allergic reactions, an aspect of immune response. The research involved mixing cells of allergic people and nonallergic people together. When immunestimulating substances were added to the cell mixture, all of the cells reacted, but the allergic cells reacted aggressively. Interestingly, when probiotics were added to the cell mixture, the response of the allergic cells was subdued. Studies like this one suggest that additional research may lead to the use of microbes to treat allergies. Another line of microbe research has engaged the pharmaceuticals. They are interested in the possibility of creating medicines that treat the microbes that manage our wellness. We may be taking specialized bugs —helpful bacteria—as treatments and we may be taking medicines that alter the bugs in our bodies. A lot of reMICROBES continues on page 7

SCIENCE

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD MICROBES continued from page 6

Behind the Satellite by Alexandros Kaliontzakis staff writer

On February 21, 2008, a satellite failing United States spy was shot out of the sky by a U.S. Navy missile. The satellite, weighing about 500 pounds and approximately the size of a school bus, lost power shortly after it reached orbit in late 2006 and went out of control, slowly descending .toward Earth The Navy was concerned that pieces of the satellite’s debris might be big enough to fall to Earth and cause damage. The primary concern was to make sure that the missile destroyed the satellite's hydrazine fuel tank and vented its toxic gas into space. The satellite was destroyed to keep the toxin from affecting humans as it

fell to Earth. Nowadays, satellites get into orbit attached to a rocket or in the cargo bay of a space shuttle. For the ones launched by rocket, the rocket is at first aimed straight up, to get it through the thickest part of the atmosphere, quickest and with the least consumption of fuel. The rocket’s guidance mechanism then changes the course of the rocket to follow the rotation of the Earth (to the east), which gives the rocket increased acceleration. Although this advance might seem insignificant, it is actually very important. The immense weight the rocket must lift, which includes its own weight, the weight of its fuel, and that of the satellite, means that getting into space takes a lot of energy. So, rotational velocity, which is greatest at the equator,

plays a very important role in getting a satellite in the air. Once the rocket reaches a sufficiently thin portion of the atmosphere, about 120 miles above the ground, the navigational system fires small support missiles to assist the rocket in maintaining a horizontal position. The satellite is then released, and the missiles are ignited once again to provide space between the satellite and the transportation rocket. When a satellite reenters the atmosphere, only 10 to 40 percent of its mass is likely to reach the surface of the Earth, as the heat of reentry burns up the majority of its mass. Even though it seems unlikely, there remains the possibility of debris striking the Earth where inhabitants may be dwelling. ◙

You Are What You Drink, And Your Hair Knows It In the past week, the field of forensics has been dramatically advanced with the advent of a new type of hair analysis which can detect where and when a person last ate or drank. Developed by University of Utah scientists Thure Cerling and Jim Ehleringer and published on February 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the method involves analyzing hair samples for certain isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. The amounts of these isotopes in hair have a direct correlation to those found in drinking water, and may thus be used to track movement of criminals or murder victims. The premise of the new hair analysis method is to measure the levels of the common isotopes hydrogen-1 and oxygen-16 against the levels of rarer isotopes like hydrogen-2 and oxygen-18. While the ratios of these isotopes are fixed in air, they vary in drinking water from region to region. By examining oxygenhydrogen isotope ratios in scalp hair from across the United States, scientists Cerling and Erhleringer have been able to show that there is an 85 percent correlation between the isotopes found in a person’s hair and the ones found in an area’s drinking water, showing that

Photo Credit: Elissa Tam

by Shayra Kamal staff writer

Scientists have discovered a new method of forensic science: hair examination.

drinking water leaves isotopes in growing scalp hair. By demonstrating how a person’s hair is affected by the local water supply, this new type of analysis has great relevance to forensics. From just one strand of hair, police can determine the hydrogen-oxygen isotope ratios of a specific individual, then compare them to the isotope ratios of the surrounding area. Consequently, a person’s movements can be traced back several weeks or even years. In fact, this technique has the already been put to use by police, including an instance in which a murder victim was found

outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. By analyzing the hair samples present among the remains, detectives were able to determine her location changes up to two years prior to .her estimated time of death However, analyzing isotopes found in scalp hair often yields results that do not indicate a person’s exact location, but rather a wide a geographic area. Nonetheless, hair analysis in this manner has many possibilities beyond forensics. If perfected, this method might even be used by anthropologists and archaeologists to determine migration patterns of ancient peoples. ◙

search must be done before microbes will become an everyday remedy, of course. Genetic researchers are busily describing the more than 100,000 genes that exist in the microbes our bodies harbor. Considering that our own bodies offer only 30,000 genes to manipulate, the broader target of microbe genes is promising. For pharmaceutical investors, there is interest in the possibility that microbes may hold the secret to America’s first truly effective weight loss medicine. Because microbes can be used to alter the emulsifying acids that make fats digestible, frontline research institutes like Nestle, in Germany, are looking to microbes as a possible treatment for obesity. Perhaps even more important to the human tribe is the strong evidence that microbes can be used to make absorption of nutrients more effective, making probiotics a possible tool in the prevention of hunger and starvation, especially among human cultures that have carbohydrate-heavy diets. If microbes can be used to make digestion more efficient, then it’s certainly possible that they can help combat hunger. Where is the research that indicates such far reaching results of probiotic treatments? Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington University is one researcher who has led the way. A group of mice delivered by sterile Caesarean Section and raised in germ-free conditions were far less efficient at absorbing nutrients, including vitamins B12 and minerals like calcium, than control mice. They ate up to 30 percent more and were generally smaller and less healthy than the control group. This same line of research is also likely to look at whether probiotics can delay bone loss in women after menopause, perhaps preventing osteoporosis. What other paths will this exciting early research lead to? Will children once again be encouraged to make mud pies and play in the dirt? Will handling soil become the next new therapy? Will we ever learn to like being sneezed on in the subway? Wherever we end up, regardless of the curves along the way — for surely microbes will have a dark side—it’s likely that our thinking about germs may never be the same. After all, it seems that, well, we are the germs. ◙

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March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

BUSINESS

THE STANDARD BUSINESS Sins of a Solar Empire: Review Strategy games are as deep and rich as the amount of thought and planning involved in playing one, yet for a long time, there have been two polar schools of strategizing, each intricate in its own way by requiring different modes of thought. On the side of quick reactionary reflexes lies realtime strategy (RTS). Most games usually involve short periods of army selection and then escalate into large concurrent games of rock-paper-scissors and mixing and matching units in order to target enemy weaknesses to get the best battle outcome. These games usually end in some huge climax where the ultimate armies fight to the point of destruction. On the opposite side of the scale lie turnbased strategy games, often described as 4X games, because they usually entail exploration, expansion, exploitation and, eventually, extermination. 4X games are generally long-term games, where players slowly acquire territories and resources, meet rival players at a highly developed point, and take the enemy down at a crawling pace with battles of attrition and marginal victories. These games generally require long-term planning, excellent resource and territorial management, and visionary army composition. The rapid-pace battlefield tactics of RTS and the slow managerial operations of 4X games never quite meshed well together. Enter Sins of a Solar Empire. Played on a field of stars and planets with fleets of starships, Sins is a delightful combination of RTS and 4X. Players can start with one of three factions, mostly identical in fleet composition but with significant strengths and weaknesses that can alter battles and the end-game buildup. For example, the Unity specializes in small cheap units and has exceptional strike craft, which are fighters and bombers deployed from carrier ships. This leads to an emphasis on carrier fleets and requires more micromanagement than usual because there are more tiny units to look after and steer away from devastating anti-fighter freighters. There are also economic differences: some races can make better use of some planets and are more efficient with

Photo Credit: Elissa Tam

by Hanford Chiu business editor

Sins of A Solar Empire is a real-time strategy game that incorporates some deeper, more extensive elements from 4X strategy games.

certain resources. The resources in the game are credits, ore, and crystals. Credits are gained as tax from every planet in the game, while ore and crystals are found in mining asteroids orbiting those planets; different planet types have different corresponding asteroids. Thus, in team games, it might be more efficient to divvy up planet colonization based on race strengths to properly exploit resources. The game plays out like Risk in the beginning, with the main theaters of battle being a planet’s gravity well and the main form of travelling being through phase lanes, which are the only ways in or out of a gravity well. Therefore, most of the game consists of amassing units in your starship factories around your planets and then shipping them off to conquer other planets or meet your enemies in choke points. In fact, most of this game is like a traditional 4X game, and indeed without the RTS battles that occur within gravity wells. Interplanetary movement is quite slow, so there is an element of planning. Diplomacy and neutral pirate factions add to the flavor by allowing collaboration and the secret hiring of pirates to destroy enemies and backstab allies. Research takes up a lot of time

and resources, but leads to longterm benefit and stronger fleets. The game could in fact be played as a 4X game entirely if a player never zooms into the tactical level; the AI of your ships is rational and capable of fighting well when simply sent into an enemy’s territory. But the RTS portion is powerful, and can definitely stand alone without all the empire building behind it. Each ship has its own purpose and fleets should be carefully arranged. For example, shield and healing ships should be placed out of the line of fire; flanks should be formed to prevent the enemy from circling your fleet, since ships cannot fire at every angle; and ships with special abilities should be micromanaged to be used properly to turn the tide of battle (although the AI is quite capable of auto-using them). Battles are quite slow (but the game’s speed can be changed in options), so there is plenty of time to put ships in formation and then sit back and watch the fireworks. Terrific content aside, the game also utilizes excellent graphics to show the beautiful vacuum of space, and to render the sleek ship designs and flashy firepower. Also amazing are the exceptionally low system requirements for watching

these battles; even an average laptop can run this game without much slowdown. Meanwhile, the zooming system is revolutionary; much like in Supreme Commander, players can zoom in to watch their capital ships wreak destruction and then zoom out seconds later to view their entire empire, viewing dozens of planets on one screen. Also like SupCom is the substitution of units with icons so that you can still watch and command from far out. All in all, Sins is an excellent game to satisfy both RTS and 4X cravings in one delicious vacuumsealed space meal. The lack of a single-player campaign is disappointing, but the game makes up for it with a solid AI and a very inhabited multiplayer server for short games or epic ones that might last for multiple sessions. This game is very replayable, and even playing under the same conditions over and over again can produce different results because of the variety of tactics and army composition that is available. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to experience the intensity of small RTS battles while maintaining the grand scheme of things in building a solar empire. ◙

ENTERTAINMENT

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

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THE STANDARD ENTERTAINMENT

Spring Movie Preview Diversity Week: An Effort by Emma Rabinovich entertainment editor

Warmer weather means spring is just around the corner and a new batch of movies is on the way. Not a very ambitious bunch (hardly a blockbuster in sight), these upcoming flicks seek to entertain without flashy CGI sequences, resorting rather to raunchy humor and star power. Drillbit Taylor The latest film from producer Judd Apatow, creator of the now-classic “Superbad” and “Knocked Up,” is about three nerds who hire a bodyguard to protect them from school bullies. Their bodyguard-ofchoice is played by Owen Wilson, in what promises to be another hilarious outing from Seth Rogen, who wrote the script. Superhero Movie Taking the same general idea that powered the hilarious “Scary Movie” franchise, “Superhero Movie” spoofs what can probably be called the most deserving genre of all: comic-book blockbusters. Drake Bell (“Drake & Josh”) stars as Rick Riker, a high school student who transforms into Dragonfly after being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly. Sound a little familiar? (In theaters March 28.) Baby Mama

Starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, “Baby Mama” is about a woman (Fey) who desperately wants a family but cannot conceive. Enter whitetrash surrogate mom (Poehler) ready to lend the struggling career gal her oven. These two Saturday Night Live veterans should make for an interesting watch. (In theaters April 25.) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Using a more adult brand of comedy, “Miss Pettigrew” stars Amy Adams (“Enchanted”) as a bubbly American actress and Frances McDormand as Miss Pettigrew, a frumpy exgoverness living in pre-WWII England. Based on the 1938 novel by Winifred Watson, the film details Miss Pettigrew’s adventures when she gets caught in the glitzy, romance-filled life of Adams’s Delysia Lafosse. (In theaters March 7.) 21 “21” stars Jim Sturgess (recently seen in “The Other Boleyn Girl”) as a brilliant MIT student looking to earn some cash with the help of his girlfriend (Kate Bosworth) and a math professor (Kevin Spacey). Based on Ben Mezrich's 2002 nonfiction bestseller “Bringing Down the House,” “21” has a promising trailer and an amazing cast. It’s also “based on true story,” however loosely. (In theaters March 28.) ◙

to Bring About the End of Disunity by XXX XXX

February is truly a month in which people of all cultures, races, religions and ethnicities have tried to band together and shatter preconceived notions about themselves. It is a time to celebrate all that everybody has to offer. Formally, February is Black History month and celebrated at the end of the month is Diversity Week. At Stuyvesant, Diversity Week was celebrated with a series of guest speakers who spoke about their own experiences dealing with segregation and their observations on the situation today. The list of speakers was quite diverse, including Frank McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes), Dr. Leon Bass (part of a segregated U.S. army unit in WWII), Judith Sloan (author of Crossing the Boulevard), Yvonne Campbell (a Jewish child in Toulouse, France during WWII), Dr. Terrance Rob-

erts (part of the Little Rock Nine) and Sarah Jones (wrote and starred in “Bridge and Tunnel”). These figures really were close to the topics they discussed because of their extended experience in dealing with segregated people. Judith Sloan figuratively embodied persecuted people with her stellar talk and performance. Judith Sloan was born in Queens, which she revealed was the most diverse place in the country in 1999 and 2000. Because she still lives in this wonderfully diverse place, she decided that it would be a wonderful opportunity to interview immigrants that emigrated from their countries after 1965 and came to live in Queens. These immigrants struggled to adapt to an incredibly new environment, but many were not beaten down by this. Some were extremely optimistic, as revealed by DIVERSITY WEEK continues on page 10

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THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

LITERARY

Diversity Week Talent Show DIVERSITY WEEK continued from page 9

performance and her book. She told the stories of some of the people she interviewed, and while the subject of racism is a serious one, many of these were more lighthearted and humorous. For instance, the Kazakstanian immigrant revealed his thought that even the criminals were nice in America, because one day, when a mugger pulled a gun to his head in his cab in order to rob him, the mugger ended up giving the immi-

Ms. Sloan’s impersonation of a Kazakstanian immigrant: “When I came to this country, I thought that the people were the nicest in the world.” Littered through Ms. Sloan’s slideshow were pictures of Queens, of the good and the bad (mostly bad), and of the amazing characters that she included in her

grant a dollar because of his lack of money. Some stories were marked with irony, such as the Romanian immigrant who was racist against non-whites and gypsies in her early life. Then, when she came to Queens, she ended up going to school with many Middle Easterns, blacks, and Hispanics. Judith Sloan truly opened everyone’s eyes to the true meaning of

Diversity Week, not through overused clichés, but with a performance that will not be forgotten. ◙

Photo Credit: Elissa Tam

THE STANDARD LITERARY Cyberspace Wordsearch

Presidential Showdown

by Jensen Cheong staff writer

by Jensen Cheong staff writer

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SPORTS

March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

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The NBA Shuffle by David Feng staff writer

MARCH MADNESS continued from page 12 Kevin Durant to the NBA. If Texas can beat Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament, a #1 seed and a trip to San Antonio are in the cards. 4 Teams to Stay Away From: 1. Memphis: In the past 10 years, only 3 teams not from one of the major conferences have made the Final Four: George Mason in 2006, Marquette in 2003 (from the old Conference USA), and Utah in 1998. Although Memphis has shown its impressive talents in non-conference wins against Connecticut, Georgetown, and Arizona, its conference schedule has been filled with bad teams like Tulane and the University of Central Florida. The grind that teams like Duke and UCLA get from playing challenging schedules year round will be a disadvantage for Memphis in the later rounds.

The Suns attempt to tweak their style of play without losing their fast-paced identity after trading to acquire

shot 29 and 40 percent from behind the arc respectively. Lacking any semblance of an inside game, the Blue Devils will have to be hot to make it to the final weekend. One unfavorable matchup, such as the Lopez twins of Stanford in the Elite Eight, and the Blue Devils will be toast. 3. Xavier: Currently ranked ninth in the AP Top 25 poll, Xavier has yet to be challenged in conference play. Looking through their schedule, there isn’t much to be impressed with besides a home win against Indiana. Losses at Miami of Ohio and at Temple show that Xavier still has some work to do if they want to make the second weekend. 4. Any #16 seed: Don’t do it. The closest any #16 seed has come to winning a game was a loss in overtime in 1990. 4 Players To Watch:

2. Duke: If Duke hits their threepointers, they could conceivably win the tournament. If they go cold, there’s no telling when they could lose. A recent stretch of Duke basketball had them losing by 13 to Wake Forest and 1 to Miami. In those two games, Duke

live up to Kidd’s legacy in the Nets? The most shocking trade has to be the Shaq-Marion deal. Even people in the league were shocked about the trade. Many people started to wonder about Steve Kerr (the Suns’ GM)’s judgment. The Suns’ runand-gun style can be ineffective as a result of Shaq’s presence. However, there’s still logic behind this trade. Even though the Suns were and still are an excellent team during the regular season, they failed to go deep into the playoff because they didn’t Photo Credt: Elissa Tam

As the trade deadline passed recently, there was a flurry of blockbuster trades that stormed the NBA. In swaps that involved superstar names like Shaq, The Matrix and JKidd, almost the entire power structure of the Western Conference was reordered. Some of them were good trades, while others were less so. First, let’s us take a look at the Lakers-Grizzles trade, in which the Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Pau Gasol's brother Marc, and first round picks in 2008 and 2010 for Pau Gasol and a 2010 second-round pick. This has shown to be a great deal for the Lakers, as the Lakers won game after game with Gasol on the lineup. When Bynum returns from injuries, the Lakers will have one of the best starting lineups in the league. However, it is not fair to say it is a completely disadvantageous trade for the Grizzles. This deal allows them to rebuild the team while developing young and talented players. Yes, they have given up this season, but at least they are planning for the future. Next up, the Nets sent J-Kidd to Dallas in return for Devin Harris and a few other players. A good

point guard, like Kidd in Dallas, can really improve a team. Only a few guys in the NBA see the floor better than Kidd. He can make plays for others and give open shot opportunities to Dirk. It is true that Kidd is aging, but it seems like his passing ability improves as he ages. The Nets did not live up to their expectations this season, so they hope to turn things around through this trade. As for now, the role of Harris in the Nets is unclear. As an emerging star point guard, will Harris be able to

1. Michael Beasley, forward, Kansas State: The do-it-all forward is a contender for the National Player of the Year. Averaging 26.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 40 percent from three, Beasley has single-handedly put Kansas State on the map. He’ll

be a handful for any team playing the Wildcats. 2. Adam Emmenecker, guard, Drake: This former walk on has led Drake to their first postseason tournament victory in the school's 32 years of Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play. In addition to averaging 8.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 6.2 assists, Emmenecker claimed the MVC player of the year as well as the MVC Tournament MVP. He's also a quadruple major in finance, management, entrepreneurial management, and general business. And you thought you had a lot of work. 3. Ty Lawson, point guard, North Carolina: An ankle injury against Florida State exposed North Carolina’s weak depth at point guard. Lawson needs to be at 100% if the Tar Heels want to make it to the Final Four. If he’s healthy and the Heels can beat Duke in Durham and then again in the Conference Championship, a #1 seed should be theirs. 4. DJ White, Forward, Indiana: Indiana has gone through a lot the past few weeks, with coach Kelvin Sampson forced to resign in a recruiting scandal. Although rumors of the team walking out on

have that big man that can dominate the post — Amare is more suitable as a power forward than as a center. Good trade or not for the Suns, only this April’s playoffs can tell. As for the Heat, the addition of Marion will definitely be helpful for changing their miserable record. Pat Riley said that Wade and Marion reminded him of Jordan and Pippen, although this sounded like an exaggeration. Last but not least was the Kings-Hawks trade, in which the Kings sent Mike Bibby for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright, Shelden Williams and a 2008 second-round draft pick. Bibby, as we know, is one of the best point guards in the league when he is healthy. As time goes on, he will see that he can rely on his new team because it has a lot of new talents like Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford. Then, with the 100% recovered Bibby, the Hawks can be a very dangerous team. The deal doesn’t work as well for the Kings because the players that they received are not quite at the level Bibby is. To make it worse, the West is too good and they need a veteran point guard. The trade deadline has passed, and the teams are set. It is now up to the players to see who can adapt to their new environment the quickest and help their team reach the playoffs. ◙

interim coach Dan Dakich were unfounded, a lot of pressure is going to be on this senior forward. Named a Second Team All American by Sports Illustrated, White is averaging 17.2 points and 10 rebounds a game. If star freshman Eric Gordon goes cold, White needs to pick up the slack in order for the Hoosiers to make it to the final weekend. ◙

THE SPORTS BEAT continued from page 12 in the first round as a #1 seed, but that doesn’t really matter. I am the jealous type, and karma must be avenged. Then there’s also the pride factor. As the sports columnist, I feel obligated to know my stuff so I don’t get embarrassed. At one point last year during the second round, I was in second-to-last place in my group and the Sports Editor for a different paper was last. Two years ago, one of my friends, who I’m pretty sure still doesn’t follow college basketball, won my group because he decided to put Florida in the Final Four. There’s only one thing to take for granted: Anything can happen in March. ◙

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March 18, 2008—VOL. 7, No. 8

SPORTS

March Madness: The Power of Four

It’s Madness

4. Texas: Though Davidson managed to play North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA competitively, Texas has defeated UCLA in Los Angeles, then Kansas and Tennessee at home. Led by sophomore point guard DJ Augustin, the Longhorns have not missed a beat even though they lost

For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite days of the year, besides my birthday and the last day of school, was the Monday after Selection Sunday for the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. I would spend all my time before school trying to decide who would be the champion of college basketball. I’m clearly not alone. According to outplacement firm estimates, the economy suffers $1.5 million in lost productivity during the month. That includes filling in the brackets, researching the picks, and following the games. Millions of people, most of whom will never watch a college basketball game, follow the same ritual every year. The problem for the ultra-competitive type like me is that picking winners is like winning the lottery. Take two years ago, as an example. Out of all the brackets filled in on ESPN.com, only two had George Mason, the biggest surprise of that year’s tournament, in their final four. One person, a software engineer from Omaha, Nebraska, confused George Mason with George Washington, another mid-Atlantic school. The difference was that George Washington had a 26-2 record while George Mason barely snuck into the tournament. The second, a 15-year-old, has claimed he filled in more than 20 brackets last year (ESPN only allows for 5). To summarize, to win is to be lucky. This year, picking teams will be complicated by the college admissions process. As an applicant to four schools who should qualify for the tournament, I must be prepared to take revenge on any school which sends me a rejection letter. Yes, that means I might pick North Carolina to become the first team ever to lose

MARCH MADNESS continues on page 11

THE SPORTS BEAT continues on page 11

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs in many colleges and universities in the United States.

by Eric Mayo managing editor

Spring is coming, the birds are chirping, and brackets are being filled out. Oh, what a joyous month March is. To help you prepare for the upcoming tournament, here’s a preview of what’s to come. 4 Teams To Watch: 1. UCLA: The only thing that has stood between the Bruins and back-to-back NCAA titles is the Florida Gators. Although Florida graduated its big four (forward Joakim Noah, forward Al Horford, guard Corey Brewer, and guard Taurean Green), UCLA’s core players remain with one addition. Freshman forward Kevin Love is in contention for the PAC-10 player of the year award, averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. If UCLA can sneak up and claim a #1 seed, they should be able to go to San Antonio. 2. Davidson: Not many teams can boast playing North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA in the same year. Very few teams could keep it competitive for all three games, which is precisely what the Wildcats did. Their incredibly strong non-

conference schedule prepared them well for their Southern Conference schedule, allowing them to win their last 19 in a row. Currently projected as a #11 seed by ESPN.com, Davidson will give a large headache to their first-round opponent. 3. University of Southern California: Last year, USC advanced to the Sweet 16 before being eliminated by an 18-0 run by North Carolina. The team returns two of the stars from that squad, guard Daniel Hackett and forward Taj Gibson. Leading the way this year is freshman guard OJ Mayo, who has averaged 20.7 points per game and is expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Although the team has stumbled this year, losing games to Mercer at home and California on the road, the talent on this team is enough for a repeat trip to the Sweet 16.