Volume 6 Election Issue

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

SPECIAL

SU ELECTIONS

TO THE COMMUNITIES OF STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL, TRIBECA, AND BATTERY PARK CITY “Your School, Your World—Your News” Visit us at: www.stuystandard.org

SU President/Vice President Endorsement All four candidates for the offices of Student Union President and Student Union Vice President are well qualified for the job. Each shows valuable leadership skills that will serve the Student Union and student body well. The biggest issue in this election is the SU’s ability to communicate with the student body. T h i s y e a r , communication w a s lacking: n e w s about Student Union events c a m e secondhand, and the SU didn’t do enough to spread their own messages. Both sets of candidates have remedies to this problem. Both involve maximizing the potential of stuysu.org, the SU’s website. Each promises to post minutes of meetings online, as well as moving other resources to the web. Yet this is where the two

campaigns start to differ. Jamila Ma and James Kim propose a new SU handbook, including the new Constitution, a description of the club-pub process, and a list of SU members and contact information, wasting trees on information that would be more appropriate on the website. Vanessa Charubhumi and Alexa Solimano hope to create an SU newsletter to distribute during homeroom, demonstrating their commitment to transparency and student involvement. The SU is not a static organization: policies change and revisions occur. An expensive handbook is bound to be outdated within several months of its publication, is it really the best use of our money? If the handbook contains a static set of information, why can’t it be placed online? The bottom line: students need to make informed decisions. A monthly newsletter from the SU SU PRESIDENT ENDORSEMENT continues on page 3

COVERAGE

June 3, 2007 VOL. 6, Special Issue

SU Senior Caucus Endorsement In the race for Senior Caucus, the two teams are relatively close; however, we do feel that Lee and Gonzalez are the stronger ticket. Both do have many similar ideas. We feel that Lee and Gonzalez will be more capable of carrying them out. Lee and Gonzalez have more experience than Andrew Kim and Vivian Luu. Luu has never been part of the Student Union (SU). Although the team feels this will allow the bringing in of new ideas, it is hard without experience to come up with ideas that are able to be used. Furthermore, the Senior President and Vice President can get ideas from the senior class. In terms of communication, both teams have similar ideas. Both also plan to use the current class website, www.stuy08.org. Lee promised to improve the registration process for the website if elected. Kim and Luu did not specify specific changes for the web-

site. Both plan to have homeroom representatives, allowing messages to spread weekly. Kim and Luu plan to have the homerooms elect representative, which is an idea that should be implemented. Currently, junior homerooms had representat i v e s picked for them. The overall theme of Kim and Luu’s platform is helping to make fall go by quickly and them having fun in spring. They plan to have college trips and college information sessions in the fall, as well as some fun events to relieve stress. Lee and Gonzalez also want to have more college trips. Lee has experience as Junior President working with the administration to arrange trips. Kim and Liu’s plan for college information sessions is to get people from different organizations SENIOR ENDORSEMENT continues on page 2

SU Junior Caucus Endorsement This year’s Junior Caucus election provides two very different sets of candidates. Daniel Goldstern and William Oh lack SU experience, but are filled with enthusiasm and a willingness to get the job done. Phillip Kim and Jenny Han bring about as much experience as a pair of candidates can have. Experience, as we learned this year, is not necessary for the Junior Caucus position. Current Junior President Michelle Lee and Vice President Andrew Kim had very limited SU experience, but there have been few problems with the Junior class within their control. Both sets of candidates’ goals are to offer the best year for the Junior class. Goldstern and Oh plan to do this by involving the Junior class in event planning. Kim and Han want to make sure that the three big events of junior year go smoothly: Junior Prom, Comedy Night, and the College Trips. The Standard endorses Kim and Han. Kim has extensive exJUNIOR ENDORSEMENT continues on page 2

Inside this issue: Editorial

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Charubhumi / Solimano

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Kim / Ma

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Kim / Luu

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Lee / Gonzalez

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Kim / Han

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Goldstern / Oh

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THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 3, 2007—VOL. 6, SPECIAL

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD Founded 2001

    “Your School, Your World—Your News”

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Editorial

EDITORIAL THE STUDENT UNION ELECTIONS Another primary election, another disappointing vote total. This year, out of an approximate 2400 eligible voters for Student Union President, 700 voted. That is approximately 29%, not including the two votes that every voter was eligible for. Participation was no better in the caucus elections, as turnout averaged 40% in the two caucuses. The number represents a decline in votes from last year, which could be understandable. Under the watching eyes of a camera, many students felt the need to go to vote. Just because there is not a camera traveling with the candidates does not make the election less important. The Student Union still represents the views of the students to the administration and the outside community. By forfeiting the right to vote, you are denying your right to protest any decision made in the future. Voting gives you the right to choose. Every candidate we interviewed, one question remained the same: Why don’t people vote? The answers varied, but one thing held true throughout. Many people didn’t know the primaries were last Tuesday. Every candidate should make it their responsibility to get out the vote. Even if they don’t vote for you personally, they are helping to make a difference in the Stuyvesant community. Many people view student elections as a popularity contest or a choice of the same people year after year. That does not have to be the case. Read through this special edition. Find out what the candidates stand for. Take two minutes and read through some of the many pamphlets worked on tirelessly by these candidates. Changing stereotypes start from within. Don’t let yourself feel your vote doesn’t count. Especially with the President and Vice President of the Student Union candidates, getting the student body involved will be a big issue in the coming school year. The Student Union wants more participation. You, the student body, will have to be willing to receive it. Complaining is not an option if you do not exercise one of the most fundamental rights in our country. These candidates are campaigning for your votes. Do them a favor and take the time to make an educated decision on who is best to run the Student Union. SENIOR ENDORSEMENT continued from page 1 to give talks. Kim said he had some experience working with Kaplan. However, it was never clarified how they team was going to get free talks for Stuyvesant students. As for events, Kim and Luu had no truly new ideas. They want to have the more usual comedy nights and bowling. They did talk about an open mike in the park, which sounded slightly unfeasible. Kim and Luu’s plans for spring were a little shaky. They want seniors to have fun and some great events. Unfortunately, neither has much experience planning events. A highlight of Kim and Luu’s platform is the Clean Sweep Team. It is an idea that can be utilized if some more thought is put into how it will be organized. The theme of Lee and Gonzalez’s campaign is remembering senior year. Both have strong experience in arranging events. They also bring some innovative idea, such as the video memories disk.

Furthermore, they have clear goals, such as a good graduation speaker and the Stuy ’08 DVD. The Standard endorses Lee and Gonzalez because their experience and creative ideas will pay off for the senior class. JUNIOR ENDORSEMENT continued from page 1 perience in planning many of the events of the sophomore class, including Soph-Frosh Semi Formal and the first ever Soph-Frosh Comedy Night. As mentioned earlier, it is possible to run Junior Caucus without SU experience. However, there are limits to how inexperienced one can be. The advisory councils work with the President and Vice President to plan events related to that grade. Being on the committee, as Lee and Kim were, provides invaluable insight that cannot be replaced. For an experienced candidacy, the Standard endorses Phillip Kim and Jenny Han for President and Vice President of the Junior Caucus.

June 3, 2007—VOL. 6, SPECIAL

President / Senior Caucus

THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

3

SU PRESIDENT & VICE PRESIDENT Vanessa Charubhumi and Alexa Solimano Vanessa Charubhumi and Alexa Solimano are looking to take the SU to an entirely different level if elected President and Vice President of the Student Union. Charubhumi has plenty of experience with the Student Union. She was president of her freshman and sophomore class, in addition to being the Vice President this year with George Zisiadis. She credits her time as Vice President this year as a great learning experience and allowed her to be involved with the inner workings of the SU. Solimano was the Executive Producer of Soph-Frosh SING! this year as well as a producer last year. Solimano is also a member of the Sophomore Advisory Council. Their platform breaks down into three parts: Improving relations between the SU and the general student body, Opening the Student Union to the entire Student body, and Redefining SU traditions. To open the SU to a greater majority of the students, they propose to re-design the outer SU. Furniture would be purchased to foster a better atmosphere, and a station set up within the SU to pick

up applications for various funding. To improve communication, the candidates have two specific ways to get the SU message out to the student body. The first is a calendar, similar to that on the Key Club bulletin board, showing the important events of that month. Second, the candidates plan to maximize the use of the Student Union website, stuysu.org. Minutes from all meetings would be posted, in addition to making all applications accessible from the internet. According to Charubhumi, in the past, “The SU website has never been maintained or updated.” The candidates also want to continue certain SU traditions, such as Supplyline and Elective Day. They want to expand Elective Day to two per term. Supplyline, where students are able to exchange review books for new ones, would become completely automated as to speed up the process. The pair also wants to continue newer traditions, such as the Stuy T-Shirt contest.

James Kim and Jamila Ma With an arsenal of Student Union experience to support them, candidates Jamila Ma and James Kim are entering the battle for the 2008 SU presidency well prepared. As a popular freshman and sophomore class president, Kim has a wide support base among the sophomores. Ma, while not as widely recognized as Kim, and never having held an elected position, has an impressive record that will undoubtedly add to her growing reputation. As a member of the Constitution Review Committee, she hopes to continue her plans by creating a revised, comprehensive “SU Handbook,” which will include a copy of the Constitution and other information to bring the Student Union closer to the student body. While Ma and Kim concede that this handbook will be a great expense, they believe that the money spent on it will be well spent if it is comprehensive. The goal of bringing the Stuyvesant community closer to the SU is a central theme of the Ma/Kim platform. Improved communication is a key component of their campaign – ambitious plans for an improved and user-friendly SU website and more student liberties demonstrate the interest Ma

and Kim show for helping the student body. On the Zisiadis administration of ’06-‘07, Ma believes the previous president “neatened up the SU.” The two of them hope to continue this trend by streamlining club/pub protocol in their SU handbook. In terms of administrative capability, both candidates are relying on their prior experience as a selling point of their campaign. Ma would even go so far as to say that “an inexperienced [president/vice-president] could be dangerous,” indicating that this position is extremely demanding and that the student government could be thrown into inefficacy and weakness by novice.

Don’t Forget to Vote!

Wednesday, June 6th By the bridge

SU SENIOR CAUCUS Andrew Kim and Vivian Luu

SU PRESIDENT ENODRSEMENT continued from page 1 gets the student body the information they need in a clear and concise form and quickly. Based on this, The Stuyvesant Standard endorses Charubhumi and Solimano for President and Vice President of the Student Union. We feel that these two will work harder on improving communication between the Student Union and the Stuyvesant community as well as fostering a more involved student body. We hope that they will devote a majority of their funding and attention to communicating with and serving the student body as a whole.

With a sense of determination, juniors Andrew Kim and Vivian Luu are looking to “sweep” their way to Senior Caucus victory this Wednesday. Kim is currently the Vice-President for the Junior class, as well as SING! Hip-Hop Director and Building with Books Vice President of Fundraising. Luu has no previous SU experience, but according to the candidates, that should not be an issue. Being involved for the SU in so long can limit your ideas, according to Kim. They would be more likely to try something out of the box then sticking to the same ideas that the SU currently has. One of the ideas the group has is the “Clean Sweep Committee”. One of the issues that the Student Union deals with is a lack of respect from the administration. They suggest that this can be partly attributed to the poor state of the hallways, particularly the third floor atrium and the fifth floor by the lunchroom. The committee’s responsibility would be self-explanatory. The goal is to improve the overall cleanliness of the school while improving student relations with the administration.

Specifically for the senior class, Kim and Luu want to make the first half of senior year go by quickly. “Fall term senior year is just an extension of junior year” said Luu. To help seniors, Kim and Luu propose a series of College Crash Courses to help students learn what’s expected of them in concern to the college procKIM / LUU continues on page 4

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THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 3, 2007—VOL. 6, SPECIAL

Michelle Lee and Lauren Gonzalez With experience on both sides of the ticket, the team of Juniors Michelle Lee and Lauren Gonzalez want to “Make it last” for the seniors of 2007-08. Lee and Gonzalez have the credentials for running for Senior Caucus. Lee is the current Junior class president, and has been involved in everything from coordinating the Junior Prom to Administrating stuy08.com, the junior class website. Gonzalez was the Vice President for her freshmen and sophomore class, and is currently on the Special Events Committee. Along with Lee, they are co-coordinating the Junior Prom. The overarching theme of their candidacy is creating lasting memories for the senior class. Their first idea is to create a Stuy Seniors ’08 DVD. Included on the disc would be clips of SING!, student and teacher interviews, pictures, and much more. The second way they plan on creating these memories is through the selection of the graduation speaker. They want to create the same buzz around the speaker as last year, when Conan O’Brien, host of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien

This was a particularly difficult year in terms of college trips for the junior class. Ms. Archie was absent for an extended period of time, forcing Lee to step up in organizing the college trips. Though only one long trip was organized, Lee and Gonzalez plan to hold the Senior College Trip to the South that was canceled in April. One of the duo’s greatest strength is idea planning. Lee was behind the first Stuy-Junior Bowl-O-Rama, which took place on Memorial Day at Leisure Time Bowl. As mentioned earlier, they are the co-coordinators of Junior Prom, in charge of the entire operation. Both agree that one of the biggest things the SU needs to work on is communication. Lee says “Not everyone looks at the bulletin boards, and the announcements are fuzzy.” One idea suggested was a podcast. Currently in the development stages, the idea is to use the power of the podcast to deliver Student Union news directly to the students. Furthermore, specifically for the senior class, the Stuy08 website would be re-designed so that whenever something is posted, an e-mail is immediately sent to all users.

Junior Caucus KIM / LUU continued from page 3 ess. Luu says “Most (current) juniors are uninformed about how the college process works.” The workshops would be designed to give students the knowledge they need in order to succeed in the college process. To communicate with the Senior Class, Kim and Luu propose to continue the current website stuy08.com. They also plan to use a Facebook group to communicate important messages to the class. One of their other goals is to maximize the use of the Senior Advisory Council. Each homeroom would get one representative on the council. They argue this will be an effective way of getting information to the Senior Class, as homeroom is now administered every Tuesday.

SU JUNIOR CAUCUS Phillip Kim and Jenny Han Both Phillip Kim and Jenny Han agree that their biggest asset in their candidacy for Junior Caucus is their experience. Kim is currently the Sophomore Caucus Vice President, as well as the Freshman Vice President last year. He is joined by Jenny Han, who is a current member of the Sophomore Advisory Council and was a member of the Freshman Advisory Council last year. Han said about Kim “He really got things done.” Kim said the reason he wanted to run for Junior President is that he enjoyed his experience as vice president and wanted to “step it up” by becoming president. According to Kim and Han, the most important aspect of the Junior Caucus revolves around three specific events: Junior Comedy Night, Junior Prom, and the College Trips. Kim already has experience planning Comedy Night, as he helped run this year’s first Soph-Frosh Comedy night, as well as planning both Soph-Frosh semi-formals. Their ideas are not limited to those three events, however. They would like to create a Junior DVD filled with their memories from the year. Also on their to-do list is a Basketball Tournament in conjunction with the sophomore

class. It was being planned for this year, but there was no available gym time. Kim says that with his experience, he knows what events are possible and what events aren’t. That’s why they have chosen not to make any unrealistic promises. For communicating with the Junior class, a website specifically for the class of 2009 would be created. It would allow the class to give suggestions to Kim and Han, as well as ways to contact both of them. They also plan on openly advertising for the Junior Advisory Council, making sure they get a diverse opinion of the entire Junior class. They both agree that the reason why few people voted in the primaries is because they had no idea Tuesday was the election. Kim and Han both said that even their closest friends forgot that Tuesday was the primary. Another reason they say that voter turnout is low is that too many people are indifferent. As Han says “Voting is what selects your future leaders.” Both Kim and Han are hoping to get selected Wednesday.

Daniel Goldstern and William Oh The plan of Daniel Goldstern and William Oh is to have a great Junior year, mainly by having more events. Oh said, “We want to have more of these events. It’s a stressful school. We want to help.” Both members of the team lack Student Union (SU) experience. However, they have talked with members of the SU to get an idea of what they need to do. They also feel there is an advantage to their inexperience. Goldstern said, “Experience is a beneficial thing at times. Experience can be deceiving. We might have an idea that [would] get under looked [by experience SU members].” They team also feel that being students gives them their greatest experi-

ence. Oh said, “We’ve been students, too” Goldstern and Oh plan to represent their class well. Goldstern said, “[We want] a balance between what we have in mind and what students have in mind.” Overall, they feel that only a poor president and vice president would overlook the desires of their class. They want to have a representative from each homeroom and to create a class website. The team plans to hold comedy nights, bowling nights, college trips, more dances, and other not specified in school activities. To do this they will, “Plan ahead. Try to get trips planned as early as possible,” said Goldstern.