Volume 8 Issue 12

THE

STUYVESANT

STANDARD Monday, June 22, 2009

Volume 8

Issue 12

Students in Store for New Policies Although the 2008-2009 school year has almost ended, there are new prospects for next year at Stuyvesant High School. There are a couple of changes being made to the school, although none have been set in stone. Though there is still no definite word on the new out-to-lunch policy, Principal Stanley Teitel may restrict out-to-lunch privileges for the incoming freshmen class. “I’m thinking about it,” Teitel said. “We’re trying to alleviate problems with local businesses; freshmen may have to earn their privileges for lunch.” One solution suggested that no freshman would be allowed out to lunch for an entire semester. After that semester, the school would see how well the students have behaved and decide from there. One semester may be too long, however, so another idea was suggested. If, after the first marking period was over, an individual student had passed all their classes,

TSS/Amna Ahmad

that person would be able to go out for lunch. If someone failed class, he or she would have to wait until the end of the semester, when another decision would be made. Teitel adds, “If the policy doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else.” The final decision on the matter has not been made as of yet, but by September 1, the day of Camp Stuy II, the choice will be revealed to the incoming freshmen. Students have mixed feelings about the policy that might be enforced. Freshman Tanya Jain says, “I don’t think it’s fair to punish the incoming freshmen for something they didn’t do. I think that they should be given a chance to share the same privileges we have, and then look at what happens. If there is a problem, that privilege should be taken away.” Another student who wished to remain anonymous states, “Since the freshmen and sophomores did not behave as they should have, it’s fair not to let them go out for lunch. Who knows what can hap-

By: Yelena Vayner

As the 2008-2009 school year comes to a close, students anticipate a number of policy changes by members of the administration. Some of the changes that could take place have to do with freshman lunch privileges and gym locker rooms.

Continued on page 3

Library Faces Changes By: Nada Elmansy TSS/Nada Elmansy It was no secret that renovations have taken place in the back of the library. However, very little information has been released about the purpose of the renovations.

One of the places Stuyvesant students visit most often is the library. However, throughout the year, the library has been going through many different changes. One of the most apparent changes is the construction that is due to occur at the back of the library. It was Principal Teitel’s decision to remove the book shelves and clear out the back of the library in order to build an extra classroom. This decision was taken in order to allow more room for incoming freshmen. Most Stuyvesant students found this to be a “rather disappointing decision” considering the limited student space. However, sophomore Adam Yabroudi feels that the endless

By: Jenny Shan On May 29 and 30 2009, approximately two thousand high school students from around the nation competed in the 34th annual American Regions Mathematics League (ARML). The ARML is a mathematics competition held every year on the weekend right after Memorial Day. This year, the competition took place at four different locations: Penn State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and the University of Georgia. Teams consisted of fifteen high school students, each representing their own city or state. New York City sent six teams to the competition, a total of ninety students. Of

Continued on page 3

A Year to Be Remembered

Swine Flu Makes Appearance in NYC Schools

these ninety team members, fortyone are Stuyvesant students. The ARML competition consisted of four events. The first event was the Team Round, in which each team had twenty minutes to solve ten questions. Five points are awarded for every correct answer. New York City’s Murph & the Magictones team scored forty points at this event, tying with the top score. The next event was the Power Question. In this event, each team was given one hour to complete a guided proof. Fifty points can be earned in this round. New York City’s Murph & the Magictones team earned forty- six points, again tying with the top score. The third Continued on page 3

Page 9

Looking Back:

Page 5

Page 3

In This Issue

NYC Takes Fourth in ARML

An

Editor-in-Chief

Says Goodbye

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009–VOL.8, NO. 12

Staff Editorial: Speak Up for Student Rights The Executive Board MARINA TAWFIK MUHAMMAD TAMBRA CHARLOTTE RUBY TIFFANY CHOI NADA ELMANSY JENNY SHAN HUI TING JIANG DANIEL AFONIN OMAR AHMAD MICHAEL BLOCK CODY LEVINE MEGAN BRESLIN DANIEL EGERS (‘03) ERNEST BASKIN (‘04)

EDITOR IN CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR COPY CHIEF LAYOUT EDITOR NEWS EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OPINIONS & LITERARY EDITOR ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR 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 ©2009 THE STUYVESANT STANDARD

As the end of the year approaches, the students of Stuyvesant High School should learn from this past year’s mistakes, especially the incidences that took place at Whole Foods and Barnes and Nobles. They should take heed that their actions have consequences. They should realize that the fact that they are among the privileged few to make it into Stuyvesant High School does not give them free reign. They should know that they are given many privileges not because they should have them, but rather because they earn them. During this year many events took place that forced the administration’s to reevaluate their approach toward the student body at large. Because various policies of the administration depend on the ability to trust students to behave responsibly, it is in the students’ best interests to ensure that they act respectfully in and around the Stuyvesant High School building. It is also the student’s responsibility to communicate the needs and concerns of the student body to members of the administration. Unfortunately, this year Student Union leaders did not do an effective job of representing the perspective of the student body, so it goes without mention that in many ways the administration was forced to base policies on what they believed was best for students in the

absence of student feedback. It is our hope that the appropriate representatives of the SU and the class caucuses make a point of reaching out to the administration in ways that we have not seen in the past few years. The administration has also had discussions about canceling the out-to-lunch privileges of the incoming freshmen class. As soon as rumors of this started to spread there were accusations that the administration was taking a “draconian” and “unfair” approach to controlling student conduct. While the Stuyvesant Standard does not support the proposed policy, the current students have not taken any real initiative to show the administration that Stuyvesant students are worthy of the “rights” they have been given. It is up to the student body to prove that they deserve of the privileges that they are granted. Therefore, it should be the goal of the student body to start as soon as possible to repair relations with the administration to protect those privileges that every student cherishes. The new Student Union representatives should do all in their power to communicate more effectively with the administration in order to put an end to the continuing trend of shrinking student liberties.◙

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Contact Us Please direct all correspondence to: THE STUYVESANT STANDARD 345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282-1000 [email protected]

The Stuyvesant Standard Editorial Staff of the ‘08-’09 school year welcomes Marina Tawfik as Editor in Chief and Muhammad Tambra as Managing Editor of The Stuyvesant Standard.

As Stuyvesant High School’s only independent school newspaper, we feel that it is our responsibility to offer each and every student the opportunity to contribute to a news publication. If you would like to join any section of the Stuyvesant Standard, or have any comments or questions that you would like to run passed us, please email us at:

[email protected].

NEWS

The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO. 12

3

The Standard News Students in Store for New Policies

NYC Takes Fourth in ARML Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1 Another change we should be expecting for the upcoming year is the renovation of the gym locker rooms. New lockers will be installed during the summer, and they will be ready for the fall term. In addition, the new lockers may come with master locks, which are the locks installed on regular lockers. There have been ongoing problems and thefts in gym locker rooms. These are due to students leaving lockers open or utilizing designer locks that they have acquired on their own. Even after precautions were taken, such as locking doors to gym lockers, thefts have persisted: a phone, graphing calculator, and other possessions have been stolen from the gym lockers. As a result, all students will have to pay twelve dollars to buy locks for the gym lockers, in addition to paying for the locks on the

Library Faces Changes Continued from page 1 shelves of books in the back were not very useful to students. “We still have a good amount of space throughout the library and maybe an extra classroom would be good use of the unnecessary space.” When this decision was made, the number of books the library disposed of began to increase. Lately, it has not been unusual to see a cart full of books outside the library. Students as well as teachers are asked to help themselves to these books. It was originally thought that the library was disposing of such a large number of books in order to allow for room for the new classroom. However, one of Stuyvesant’s librarians, Ms. Kalish, said that the librarians “have to weed out the books like you weed out a garden.” It seems that the new plan to build an extra classroom is not affecting the books being disposed of. Rather, the Stuyvesant librarians have a very complex system in deciding what books are no longer needed at the library. When the Stuyvesant High School library first opened in 1992, the main concept was “heavy duty books,” as Ms. Kalish said. There was no concern about student space or the number of computers available. The library

was designed to simply house shelves and shelves of books. However, now that it is a lot easier to access material online, some books have to be under “withdrawal,” meaning that they are no longer in the library’s system. At our school library, books that have not been checked out for ages, such as an interesting book on Eskimos, which had not been checked out since 1986, are subject to withdrawal. Before this is actually done, the books are looked up on Amazon.com. If the price of the book is less than two dollars, it will most likely appear on the cart outside the library. There are however cases where the librarians have to reconsider. According to Ms.Kalish, “If a book is not in good condition but is valuable, it becomes part of the history collection.” This system has been developed to protect the library’s collection of books so that a structural change to the library, such as the new classroom, would not affect the books at the library. In fact, all this decision is doing to our library is compressing the books rather than disposing of them. Soon enough we will find out how this change will affect the library. For now, it is a priority to create more classroom space.◙

TSS/Jenny Shan

pen?”

regular lockers. All students will be required to buy the locks. If a student is not able pay the amount of money required due to the family’s financial situation, they can work it out with the principal. To this idea, one junior who wished to remain anonymous declares, “It doesn’t make any sense. Why should we pay for lockers when we could buy them for a cheaper price by ourselves?” Freshman Andrew Scasny agrees, “It’s not our fault that some people don’t lock their lockers and things get stolen. We shouldn’t have to pay money.” But another student says, “It doesn’t really matter to me, it’s not big deal to pay an extra $12 for me. At least our things will be safe.” Nothing is final as of yet; Teitel still hasn’t sat down with the cabinet. No other policies have been decided, so Stuyvesant students will have to wait and see what else is in store for next year.◙

Stuyvesant High School students were among the team members that helped bring the NYC American Regions Math League team to the tenth place bracket during a recent competition.

event was the Individual Round. In this event, students were given five pairs of questions, with ten minutes to complete each pair. One point is awarded for every correct answer, so each team can earn up to 150 points. New York City’s Murph & the Magictones team earned 102 points, coming in fifth for this event. The last event consisted of two Relay Rounds. In this round, each team formed five groups of three people. The first student solves the given problem and passes the answer to the next student, who uses the answer to complete their own question. The process is repeated with the third student, who submits the final answer. In this event, New York City’s Murph & the Magictones team scored five points in the first relay and three points in the second relay out of a possible twenty-five points for each relay. In the end,

the New York City’s Murph & the Magictones team scored a total of 196 points, coming in fourth place. Lehigh Valley from Pennsylvania came in first place, scoring 215 points. “They were in a position to win,” says Mr. Cocoros, Stuyvesant math teacher and coach of the New York City Math Team. “It just didn’t work out at the tail end. But I’m still very happy.” In the previous year, the New York City team won first place in the ARML competition. This year, the team lost seven senior members who graduated in 2008, three of whom were considered to be the best in the nation. With the loss of those members, it was thought that the New York City teams did not have a chance in performing as well as in the previous year. However, this did not stop the New York City team from finishing fourth in the nation. ◙

Looking Back: A Year to be Remembered By: Jenny Shan With the school year approaching an end, many students are eagerly welcoming the start of the summer. Before saying the final good-bye to the 2008-2009 school year, though, it may be time for Stuyvesant students to look back on the events that have made this year a year to remember. The 2008-2009 school year started on Tuesday, September 2, with Stuyvesant High School welcoming 843 new freshmen. The start of a new year has also brought in new policies, such as Principal Stanley Teitel has making it mandatory for students who have failed a course to attend

AIS sessions. The 2008 presidential elections brought much excitement into Stuyvesant High School. On Halloween, whether it was to make a public statement of endorsement or to display disapproval, many students dressed up as the presidential candidates or their running mates. On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States of America. President Obama’s victory was historic, as it was the first time an African American, or member of any minority group, won the presidency. Later that same month, Chancellor Joel Klein announced that New York City Public Schools Continued on page 6

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

OPINIONS

The Standard Opinions ACL FML Q: What do Tiger Woods and I have in common? A: We both tore our ACLs. The anterior cruciate ligament, otherwise known as ACL, is an extremely important ligament in your knee. Although it is not mentioned in Biology class when the human body is taught, the ACL is the frontal cross-shaped ligament that is responsible for your knee’s flexion, extension, and up-downside-to-side movements. It allows one to walk, run, hop, and skip. Without this ligament, your knee is virtually useless. Lately, it has become a growing trend for Stuyvesant students to hobble around on crutches, limp with braces, and shuffle with casts. As a result, the elevators usually reserved for teachers have become crowded with injured students. Most of the elevator users are athletes, although there are occasional exceptions. The elevator is always a great place to test one’s skills as a

conversationalist. In such a confined area, one either stands silently and awkwardly, waiting for the destination to arrive, or grabs the opportunity to make a new friend. I had the pleasure of finding out one boy’s peculiar reason for using the elevator. He told me, and I hope this is not an invasion of his privacy, “I had to get surgery on my toe…there was a fungus.” The sheer number of injured students I have seen traversing the Stuyvesant hallways takes me back to my own injury – a torn ACL. Before the incident, I was always aware of the possibilities of bruises and broken bones while playing sports. I never thought a torn ligament was subject to occur. According to Doctor Sclafani, an orthopaedic surgeon, ACL tears are one of the most common injuries among young athletes. If that is true, why haven’t high school athletes been properly warned about them? High school athletes are competitive by nature and push their bodies to the limit every day at practice. They are even harsher on themselves during games. Since their bodies are in use so often, it is tremendously important for athletes to be

aware of their bodies. I feel it is not only the athletes’ responsibility to be knowledgeable and be careful, but also the coaches’ to inform their players of the impending dangers of playing a sport and also to educate them in prevention methods. I am in no way harping on coaches’ individual methods of training, but rather reminding them that it is equally important to stress conditioning and strengthening as a means of avoiding injuries common in young athletes. Learning how to prepare athletes’ bodies for the taxing physical activity may be more essential then actually learning to play the sport. Athletes need to develop the proper muscles to support their bodies in motion lest something unfortunate happens. I hope in the future athletes will listen to their bodies instead of ignoring the aching pains and pushing through them. Life is too fragile an entity to be treated lightly or ignored. It needs to be treasured by athletes. Whereas speed, endurance and agility will soon leave one’s memories as the years drag on, your body is something that will remain with you through it all. ◙

TSS/ Hui Ting Jiang

By: Hui Ting Jiang

Opinions and Literary Editor Hui Ting Jiang suffers from an injury of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Attendance Goes Haywire TSS/ Elissa Tam

By: Marina Tawfik As the last few weeks of school have inched by, most things seem to remain the same. Teachers still assign homework, tests, and projects as though the circumstances have not changed. For the most part, they are right; it may be the end of the year, but that does not mean work should be put aside and summer should begin early. Only one thing is at all noticeable—the poor student attendance over these final days due to the swine flu scare. It seems that students are gravitating towards either of two extremes: they either stay home because they are scared of getting sick, even though they show no symptoms, or they insist on going to school regardless of their physical state because they do not want to fall behind. Both of these mentalities are very flawed, but in different ways. Missing school even though a person has very mild or no symptoms is unnecessary and merely results in a poor attendance record and needless missed work. There have been recent days when hundreds of students are absent at a time. Many of these students only miss school because either they or their parents fear that they will fall ill at school. On the other hand, it is

Stuyvesant has paid witness to a growing trend of “strategic absences” by students, but some argue that absence from school should always be a last resort.

even more detrimental to students who show severe symptoms to be present in school. Most of the time, this results in the student being sent to the nurse by a teacher, which leads them to go home early anyway. However, the difference is that their presence in school for just a few periods can lead to contaminating other students. This is truly unnecessary, as students should come to the re-

alization that going to school while they are sick will not benefit their schoolwork at all. It is nearly impossible to concentrate on learning when a person has a major headache or is constantly running to get tissues. A day of rest can be extremely beneficial in that as it improves their physical condition it also prepares them to go back to school and participate as actively as they did before becoming ill.

The two extremes actually fall hand in hand, and so if one overcomes their fear, the other should too. That is to say that once people stop fearing that they will fall behind in schoolwork, less people who are actually sick will be present in school. This means that the students who fear contracting an illness can come to school with no worries, because they know that anyone who is ill is at home resting. The essential point for students to understand is that health comes first, regardless of the circumstances. Labs and tests can almost always be made up, and usually it is to a student’s benefit to take a makeup exam when they are well rather than to go in and attempt to take it when they are rendered incapable of doing even very basic assignments. The recent surges in absences were not unavoidable. Though nothing can be done about the past, students and teachers can work to avoid this large a number of absences in the future. Both students and teachers should stay home if they are ill in order to avoid infecting others. In addition, teachers should send any students who appear ill to the nurse in order to benefit that student and the class as a whole. Falling ill certainly is not fun, but attending school at the same time is all the more detrimental.◙

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

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The Standard Science & Technology Swine Flu Makes Appearance in NYC Schools TSS/Omar Ahmad

By: Omar Ahmad Novel influenza A, H1N1 strain, more commonly known as “swine flu” is a new flu virus of pig origin that was first detected in Mexico and the United States in March and April, 2009. The initial H1N1 patient in the United States was confirmed by laboratory testing at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on April 15, 2009. The second patient was confirmed on April 17, 2009. It was speedily clarified that the illness was dispersing from person-to-person. On April 22, CDC commenced its Emergency Operations Center to organize the public health reaction. On April 26, 2009, the United States Government declared the “swine flu” as an international public health emergency. According to CDC, antiviral drugs can be given to assist those who become strongly ill. These antiviral drugs are prescribed medicines, in the form of pills, liquid or an inhalable media, and take action against influenza viruses, such H1N1 flu virus. There are two influenza antiviral medications that are recommended for use against H1N1 flu. The drugs that were used for treating H1N1 flu are called oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). The CDC noted that as the H1N1 flu continues to spread, these antiviral drugs might become diminutive in supply. Therefore, the drugs would be given first to those people who have been bedridden or are at high risk of injury. It’s widely believed that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread; principally through the coughs and sneezes of infected people. Since the outbreak began in the United States, an increasing number of U.S. states have reported

Information for this chart was derived from the Center for Disease Control.

cases of novel H1N1 influenza with related hospitalizations and deaths. By June 3, 2009, all 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were listing cases of the innovative H1N1 infection. According to the World Health Organization, 66 countries had officially reported 19,723 cases of infection, including 117 deaths, as of June 3, 2009. Particularly, the cases in Argentina, Australia and El Salvador more than doubled. But according to CDC specialists, however, the flu occurrence in the U.S. is dying down in the country as a whole. For example, as of May 30, Wisconsin had more cases than any other state: 1,430, but Wisconsin officials said that this was "nothing to worry about," pointing out that the greater numbers largely reflected the state's efficiency in testing suspected cases.

As experts struggled to give details on why so many deaths had primarily occurred in Mexico and nowhere else, the CDC, on May 1, suggested a straightforward rationalization: "there are many cases in Mexico, most are mild, and just the bad ones have been seen so far." It noted that newer and more severe cases had focused on patients seeking care in hospitals and acknowledged that there could in fact be a large number of undetected cases of illness, which would explain the much higher mortality rate. Other experts agreed: "The central question every flu expert in the world would like answered, is how many mild cases Mexico has had," said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of global migration and quarantine for the Centers for Disease Control, in an interview. "We may just be looking at

the tip of the iceberg, which would give you a skewed initial estimate of the case fatality rate," as he also speculated that there may have been tens of thousands of unreported mild infections, which would then make the number of deaths seemingly low, and as the flu spreads, the number of people who become seriously ill would remain relatively small. It’s uncertain at this time how somber this novel H1N1 virus will be in terms of how many people infected will develop serious complications or die or how this new virus may affect the U.S. during its upcoming influenza season in the fall and winter. Because this is a new virus, most people will have little or no immunity against it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, Continued on page 6

Clash of the Titans: PC vs. Mac By: Omar Ahmad Apple’s admired commercials have illustrated the picture of this struggle in plain terms: There are two types of consumers, Mac people and PC people. If the marketing holds true, the Mac represents a stylish, young, and enthusiastic consumer who uses his computer for video discussion, music mixing and other unique, modern recreations that the stiff, formal PC users were never encouraged to do, unless they tried on the slick Apple interface. Then again, Windows PC enthusiasts may think that Mac representative is a smug slacker with a luxurious toy that can’t perform true calculation and organiza-

tional work. Surprisingly, both stereotypes prove wrong. With a 7.5 percent Operating System world market share, Macs no longer cater specifically as the computer choice to artists, writers, and musicians. Apple is, in actuality, the fourth largest computer producer in the world. Remarkably, as time continues to progress, the internal hardware of Apple and PC computers alike seem ever-similar. Both types of machines utilize Intel proc-essors. Both purchase memory, hard drives and graphics cards from the same small group of suppliers. The primary operating systems have markedly singular tastes, but in terms of efficiency and productivity, Microsoft Windows Vista and Mac OS X

Leopard have unpredictably similar built-in multimedia, Internet and business-related applications. Yet what makes the systems feel so dissimilar is their approaches to these applications. Internet Explorer versus -Safari, Windows Media Center versus Front Row, Photo Gallery versus iPhoto, Backup and Restore Center versus Time Machine—these structural mechanisms from Microsoft and Apple are designed to accomplish essentially the same goals. To users, however, the position and movement of the virtual knobs and levers make all the difference. These specifics are predominantly issues of predilection and style, but one can still make a level-

headed effort to measure them, as did the popular technology site, Popular Mechanics. They tested two allin-one desktops and two laptops— one Mac and one PC per category— and created a board of testers with a range of knowledge and penchant that ran the scale from expert users to the average computer layman. Their participants were asked to set up the computers out of the box and investigate the machines through routine objectives such as Internet browsing, document construction, uploading pictures, downloading Adobe Acrobat files and playing music and movies through Media Center and Front Row, the entertainment software Continued on page 6

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Swine Flu Makes Appearance in NYC Schools TSS/ Hui Ting Jiang

Continued from page 5 count. currently there is no vaccine to protect against this novel H1N1 virus. CDC anticipates that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with H1N1. At this time, most people who have become ill with novel H1N1 in the United States have recovered without requiring medical treatment and have experienced typical flu symptoms. However, this still says little about the nation’s current cases, particularly those in densely populated areas like New York City. The cumulative number of ‘confirmed’ cases in NYC is 623. This number does not reflect the overall incidence of H1N1 flu, since only select cases are tested for H1N1. Most cases of influenza-like illness do not need to be tested for H1N1, so they are not included in this

Senior Allen Granzberg, coordinator of this year’s Student Union Blood Drives, stated that Stuyvesant is “a different school [that] should have been closed down” because “at other schools, students don’t come in if they have a sniffle,” but at Stuyvesant “[students] will take an exam with a fever.” As many organizations, such as the previously mention WHO and CDC scramble to update the world on the status of this infectious disease, the virus continues to spread through many countries and communities, so the CDC highly recommends minimal physical contact with other people, covering one’s nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing, and of top priority, getting oneself tested, as did Chancellor Joel Klein in his outreach to the New York City Department of Education.◙

A considerable number of New York City school students have reported flu-like symptoms and remained home from school with the fear of having contracted Swine Flu.

Clash of the Titans: PC vs. Mac Continued from page 5 bundles supplied in Vista and Leopard, respectively. The testers were instructed to remove themselves as much as possible from their previous technical preferences and charge their experiences with each computer’s software and hardware. The tested computers were tested on a level of equality, but in the interest of full admission, The Gateway One PC had a processor that runs 400 MHz slower than its iMac competitor, though not a sufficient distinction in the current age of dual-core chips, but it also had two extra gigabytes of DDR2 memory. In the laptop category, the Asus M51 had a 2.2 GHz processor, compared to 2.4 GHz for the MacBook. But the Asus had a larger screen, a more

sophisticated graphics card and an extra gigabyte of RAM. The extra RAM often seems to give a competitive advantage to the PCs on the market. Vista, nonetheless, is a noted memory consumer, proving that providing a significant amount of RAM in a PC computer is probably less of a perform-ance inoculation for producers than it is an updated standard hardware requirement. Speed benchmarks, meaning, the time it takes a computer to perform a certain task, are consistent displays of performance, though the numbers may feel somewhat pointless to commonplace users. This proved to be the reason Popular Mechanics created their own unique set of tests, independent of manufacturer standards, to compute the speed of everyday

tasks. Testers recorded boot-up and shutdown times, and commencement times for the Internet application and multimedia player supplied in each operating system, as well as for ordinary programs such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop. It was evaluated how long each computer took to burn a CD and install large program bundles. The laptops played a particularly lengthy film, Saving Private Ryan, which spans 2 hours, 49 minutes, until the computers clicked, cut off and shut down. Finally, all four computers ran three different video sources (a YouTube clip, a DVD and an .avi file), DivX encoding, instant messaging, Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat and a spyware scan simultaneously—then retimed our launch of Photoshop.

The results provided a comprehensible winner in the presentation categories, but the cumulative surprise was how little disparity was found in user preferences. As explained by Popular Mechanics testers, both forms are competent and easy to use, but only one was the victor, the Mac. The MacBook and iMac alike proved to have significantly higher battery life, processing capabilities, and multimedia capacity, than those of the PCs, while slashing weight, download and boot-up times, as well as cost for internal software sold separately on most PCs. However, the PCs held cost down, as well as overall familiarity in running the OS, though the appeal of the sleeker, simpler Leopard OS X interface put shame to the clunky, oddly colored Vista visualizations.◙

Looking Back: A Year to be Remembered Continued from page 3 will be expecting more budget cuts as a result of the economic crisis. Though it was said that the cuts will be made in non-school budgets, there was no doubt that many public schools, including Stuyvesant, have been and will be affected by the new budget cuts. A week into 2009, the Stuyvesant community received devastating news of Ava Hecht’s death. Ava Hecht passed away on Thursday, January 8 due to meningococcal disease. This news struck deep in the Stuyvesant community, as Ava Hecht was loved by many at Stuyvesant High School. Two weeks after Ava Hecht’s death, a

Celebration of Life memorial in memory of Hecht was held at Stuyvesant High School. Ava Hecht will forever stay in the hearts of everyone who is a part of the Stuyvesant community. During Regents and finals week in the end of January, Teitel announced that cell phones were not to be brought into the exams. If a student were to be found with a cell phone, that student would receive a zero on the exam and fail the course. The strict enforcement of this policy was due to previous problems with cheating. On January 28, forty students were named Intel Science Talent Search finalists of 2009. Anissa Mak and Adam Sealfon,

who both submitted math research papers, are two of the finalists who are from Stuyvesant High School. The final winners were announced on March 10. Stuyvesant’s Science Olympiad team competed in the annual New York State Science Olympiad State Competition on March 21. The Stuyvesant team finished tenth in the state out of forty-nine schools. STRIVE, Stuyvesant’s only environmental activism club, held its first Earth Day Festival on April 22. This event took place on the third floor atrium at Stuyvesant and was open to the Tribeca community. The Earth Day Fest increased awareness of the ongoing

problems our Earth is facing, and encouraged “green” habits by giving out free Energy Smart light bulbs and free tote bags. Towards the end of April, New York City was struck with swine flu. Stuyvesant has been experiencing increased absences due to sickness. Many New York City schools have been closed in order to prevent more flu-related cases and allowed for sanitary procedures to be taken. Though the 2008-2009 school year has almost ended, it will not be long before the next school year arrives. Now, only time will tell what the upcoming year will bring. ◙

ENTERTAINMENT

The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

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The Standard Entertainment E3 Madness: The Techs TSS/Amna Ahmad

Every spring, thousands of excited gamers flock to Los Angeles to experience the most important and most awaited video game conference of the year. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or more notably E3, is a chance for the titans of the gaming industry to showcase upcoming projects, updates, systems, and games. This is a time for gamers to find out what innovations will be added to their favorite consoles in the imminent future. The E3 convention is usually held for an entire week, with separate days dedicated to individual companies for their presentations. From year to year the most attention is always directed upon the Big Three of the gaming industry: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The never-ending rivalry between these companies, each pioneering its own system, results in a heated competition for stealing the spotlight of E3. This year’s exposition did not disappoint… Microsoft The first day of E3, June 1, was Microsoft’s chance to take center stage. Revealing an unforgettable list of innovations headed for the Xbox 360, Microsoft set an incredibly high bar for this year’s E3. The first “tech-based” announcement made by the company included the introduction of three new services to Xbox Live. Drawing up partnerships with Facebook, Last FM, and Twitter, Microsoft will be giving Xbox Live Gold members a chance to interact with their friends like never before. Gamers will now have access to their own and their friends Facebook profiles without leaving the couch. Updating statuses, viewing photos, and even posting screenshots from your own in-game experience is just a fraction of the things one can do with Facebook on your Xbox dashboard. In addi-

TSS/ Daniel Afonin

By: Daniel Afonin

A considerable population of Stuyvesant High School students rely on either glasses or contact lenses to enhance their vision throughout the course of the school day.

Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony made public some of the new technologies they hope to continue developing during the E3 convention. The three companies will have to compete for the loyalty of millions of picky consumers.

tion, members will now be able to listen to thousands of streaming songs and even make their own radio station using the service of Last FM. Finally, instant messaging will also be brought over with Twitter. Microsoft’s biggest announcement was saved for last. The appearance of Steven Spielberg on stage was accompanied by the presentation of Xbox 360’s newest entertainment endeavor – Project Natal. Project Natal is all about eliminating the need for a classical controller and actually putting you into the game using high tech motion sensory. Recognizing all aspects and movements of the human body, Natal’s camera

fully mimics all actions on screen giving way for an entirely new experience. Based on Microsoft’s introductory trailer, players will be able to browse through their dashboards using simple hand maneuvers, scan items such as skateboards to use in certain games, and enjoy new titles like never before, whether it be fighting or racing. Instant face and voice recognition also adds onto the hype of this new technology. The presentation was accompanied by demos of two games called Ricochet and Paint Party which made Project Natal one of the more memorable moments of this year’s E3.

Sony Microsoft’s jaw-dropping presentation on June 1 made Sony’s job a lot harder. Fans were not disappointed, though, as the company had two tricks up its sleeve. The first trick featured the long awaited news of the new Playstation Portable – the PSP Go. This new console will hit stores October 1, embodying a new “slider” design, a 3.18-inch screen, Bluetooth technology, and a 16 GB memory drive. In addition, the new PSP will be smaller and lighter, but at the expense of the UMD drive. Several games were also announced in conjunction with the new system, including a new Metal Gear Solid Continued on page 8

E3 Madness: The Games By: Daniel Afonin Even though new technology always steals a large part of the spotlight at E3, game announcements are equally as , if not even more, anticipated by the thousands of gamers who keep track of the exposition. Original new titles as well as popular sequels to already established franchises always play a big part in deciding which company will come out on top and claim leadership on the market. New games are also extremely important because not only do they retain the interest of hardcore gamers to a specific console

but also attract new fans to the scene. Basically, games are what define a console and end up as being the greatest factor acting upon a player in search of a new system. This year fans of all three companies were left mesmerized by the upcoming list of titles soon to hit stores. Featuring loads of trailers and live gaming footage, E3 2009 brought back some old favorites as well introduced a couple of never before seen ideas… Microsoft The Microsoft E3 presentation started off with a colorful and music-filled trailer showcasing the next installment in the Rock Band series – The Beatles Rock Band. Followed by some on screen

gameplay of everybody’s favorite Beatles tracks including “Back in the USSR” and “Here Comes the Sun,” the audience erupted with applause as Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney made a guest appearance to express their reactions to the game. Following Rock Band came the introduction of a new Tony Hawk game presented by none other than the skateboarding legend himself. Incorporating an actual skateboard (without the wheels) controller with laser tracking of feet and occasional hand positioning, Tony Hawk: Ride gives the player a whole new physical experience of gaming. After that the lights dimmed and the audience was immersed in the

blockbuster trailer for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was revealed a week before E3. Chock full of explosions and action and accompanied by brilliant graphics and environments, the trailer was followed up by a segment of in-game footage which found your character climbing up a sheer cliff of ice in a raging blizzard. Next, in rapid succession came a whole bunch of exciting games including Final Fantasy XIII (the first non – online Final Fantasy for the Xbox 360), Epic’s arcade shooter Shadow Complex, Joy Ride (a free racing game for your avatars), Crackdown 2, Left 4 Continued on page 8

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

ENTERTAINMENT/LITERARY

The Standard Literary

Continued from page 7 and LittleBigPlanet. That was not all, however. Sony presented its own version of a new motion sensor featuring the use of a “wandlike” controller with a red globe apparatus at the end, which works with the Playstation Eyetoy. Boasting pinpoint accuracy and the ability to detect depth, the controller paves the way for a ton of new experiences. Basically, the controller will be able to shift into anything you want it to be, ranging from game to game. Swords, shields, golf clubs, or whips are all possibilities. Even a bow and arrow mechanic was introduced using two wand controllers. Nintendo Unfortunately, after Microsoft and Sony’s innovative motion tracking developments Nintendo’s technologic efforts at E3 were largely overshadowed. Even though Nintendo did introduce a new Wii Motion Plus sensor, which would allow the controller

TSS/ Hui Ting Jiang

E3 Madness: The Techs to capture the actions of the player more precisely, it was nothing fans haven’t already seen. Following that was a presentation of the Wii Vitality Sensor – a piece of technology for your finger, connected to the Wii remote, in order to measure your heart rate and determine levels of excitement. Even though this was an interesting feature, no games were presented alongside it. This lead to more questions than answers. Many fans were left wondering how the Vitality Sensor would be incorporated into game play, and whether it was needed at all. Thankfully, Nintendo’s list of upcoming titles was good enough to put smiles on the faces of fans nevertheless. The technological aspects of E3 were probably more than enough to get many gamers psyched for the future, but there was even more to come. E3 announced an entire list of longawaited games that would hit each system in the future. Interested? Well then keep reading…◙

E3 Madness: The Games Continued from page 7 Dead 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Forza Motorsport 3. Probably the biggest reveal of all, though, was centered around Bungie. An in-game sequence from the upcoming Halo ODST including a massive firefight and explosion of a bridge left fans more anticipated than ever. That was not all. Bungie went as far as to reveal a brand new installment in the Halo series, Halo Reach, which players will be able to experience through a beta once ODST launches. Finally, ending Microsoft’s lineup of games was Alan Wake, a totally new mystery oriented game. Sony In contrast to Microsoft, Sony began its conference with a PS3 exclusive – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. An in-game sequence revealed Drake leaping and

climbing through the rooftops of a half destroyed, secluded city somewhere in the mountains followed by a fast-paced getaway from a military chopper. Gorgeous graphics and an interesting online aspect to the game left many fans of the series itching to experience the multiplayer beta coming out the same day. Uncharted was followed by MAG, an epic multiplayer FPS coming out for the PS3. Including 256 people in a single match, the game stresses cooperation of individual units and the securing of strategic objectives in order to defeat the opposing team. After these two premiers Sony shed some light on upcoming titles for the PSP including Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines, The City of Final Fantasy, Rock Band Unplugged, and Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. An in-

sight into Assassin’s Creed 2 followed the PSP showcase giving players a look into one of missions through a demo. The most memorable part of the demo included Ezio’s (the character) use of Da Vinci’s flying apparatus in order to glide through the night sky. Next came two unforgettable trailers of The Lost Guardian and Gran Turismo 5 finished by the presentation of Sony’s crown jewel – God of War III. Nintendo Nintendo seemed to lag behind the competition in technological aspects, but its greatest efforts were put into new games focused on the DS and Wii. The first new game on the horizon brought to everyone’s attention was a New Super Mario Bros game for the Wii highlighting cooperative

gameplay through a four player story mode. After a brief announcement about yet another Wii Fit game using an improved balance board Nintendo went into the Wii Motion Plus discussed in the previous article. Along with this Wii Sports Resort was introduced, integrating the new technology and giving fans the opportunity to do archery, play ping pong, and even go skydiving. New DS titles included in the presentation were Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers as well as a new Kingdom Hearts. Finally Nintendo ended the presentation with its biggest announcement, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Dead Space: Extraction (continuation of the epic survival horror game) and Metroid: Other M (a brand new FPS Metroid that will redefine the series).◙

The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

To Whom It May Concern: I always have a difficult time starting pieces like this so I went looking for outlets of inspiration. I drank 3 cups of coffee and a coolatta and spent the past two hours dancing in circles in my living room with my 11-year-old brother to really corny old songs on satellite radio to prepare. I think I’m ready now. I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I am finally leaving Stuyvesant. In fact, unlike most other second term seniors, I’m dreading graduation. I just don’t feel ready to leave this place, and I am unsettled by the fact that so many seniors are so quick to say “I really can’t wait to get out of here.” I don’t think most Stuyvesant students understand just how fortunate they are to attend this school and look onto college as a definite chapter in their lives rather than a mere possibility. Unlike myself and the majority of my Stuyvesant classmates, my parents didn’t have it so easy in their lives. My mother was married two weeks before her seventeenth birthday, and forced to leave high school by her parents. She sacrificed the prospect of furthering her education and building a career for herself in order to raise her children, while in many ways still a child herself. My father was only 21 when he married, and experienced his first day off of work on his honeymoon. His father passed away two months after his wedding. It was his responsibility to console his family members in light of his father’s death, support his pregnant wife, take on two jobs, and at the same time pass a number of incredibly challenging engineering courses as a student of Pratt Institute. My parents held their world together when most other people presented with similar life circumstances would have likely given up. In telling me their stories, they have taught me that graduating high school is surely more a privilege than it is an accomplishment, and in many ways I’m not sure I deserve the honor of graduating from Stuyvesant High School. I wish that my peers would take the time to acknowledge how lucky they are to have been granted a Stuyvesant High School education. One of the reasons I’m having so much trouble leaving Stuyvesant is that somehow I find it almost impossible to relieve myself of my commitment to the Stuyvesant Standard. It is altogether discomforting to know that something you worked so hard on for so many years will be getting along very well without you. I joined the Stuyvesant Standard my freshman year as a writer for the Opinions section. I later created the Stuy Voice column, and went on to be Literary Editor by my sophomore year. By junior year I became opinions editor and toward the end of the year I became Editor-in-Chief. The telephone conversation in which the former E.I.C., Jennifer Schlesinger notified me that I would assume the position undoubtedly represents one of my fondest memories. I was honored to be able to follow in her footsteps. For the three years that I had known them, Jennifer Schlesinger, and Eric Mayo (the former Managing Editor,) had become both friends and role models for me. I tell them all the time that I haven’t met many people who are as genuine, devoted, and passionate as they are, and unfortunately I don’t expect to in the future. In spite of the wonderful job that Jenny and Eric did in preparing me for what I would face this year, acting as Editor-in-Chief has been a tremendous challenge for me at certain points. For that reason, I would like to thank all of the ’08-’09 school year editors who worked so hard to make our vision of the Standard a reality. I am extraordinarily proud of the work we were able to produce together this year and I’d like you all to know that your commitment is the reason this publication will continue to survive in the coming years. I would also like to express my sincerest appreciation toward Ms. Breslin, our faculty advisor. I’m not sure I can effectively communicate the extent to which she contributed to the paper this year. Not many teachers would be willing to read through an entire newspaper over the phone during weekends and holidays, offering suggestions, sentence-by-sentence as Ms. Breslin was. In many ways, I have learned more from discussing the Standard with Ms. Breslin this year than from any class I’ve taken at Stuyvesant. I don’t believe it would have been possible to imagine a more qualified, and motivated faculty advisor to work with. I am eternally grateful. As one of the few Editors-in-Chief that the Stuyvesant Standard has had in its young life, I’d also like to thank Daniel Egers for having the vision to found what could easily be deemed one of the nations’ most progressive publications. There are very few high schools that have independent biweekly newspapers in addition to a more established school newspaper and Daniel Egers surely deserves the credit for being able to recognize the potential of the Stuyvesant student body to continue the movement toward innovation that the creation of the Stuyvesant Standard represents. Fortunately, I will be able to leave the Standard with the knowledge that the individuals who will succeed the current generation of editors will bring this publication to even greater heights. The ’09-’10 editorial board of the Stuyvesant Standard possesses a number of motivated, creative, passionate, and intelligent individuals prepared to produce quality work that will impress our audience of readers. In fact, the new editorial board is in many ways one of the strongest ones I would have ever hoped for and there is no doubt that the editors will prove themselves to be worthy of the honor they were just afforded in being granted their positions. Great things can and should be expected of them. Marina Tawfik, the next E.I.C. is a calm force that demonstrated her enthusiasm for the paper as Opinions Editor this year. She does not fear letting what she thinks is best for the Standard be known. Marina was always the editor I felt I could rely on for anything. She was always there for this paper and as a responsible, insightful, and considerate individual who has worked very diligently in the past few years, I am more than pleased to have her succeed me. Because I would like the opportunity to directly address our audience of readers for the last time, I will end by offering Stuyvesant students a bit of advice that I think they really need to hear. A few weeks ago I cracked open a fortune cookie after dinner. The fortune read: “No one can be exactly like you.” And it’s true. No one can be exactly like you and you cannot be exactly like anyone else. So muster up some confidence and speak-up because others will want to hear what you have to say. If you don’t, you’ll definitely be sorry you didn’t. Trust me. Thank you Stuyvesant, Amna Ahmad P.S. If anything I said was unclear, just take a train ride up to 116th Street and we can have a chat. There’s nothing too trivial to discuss over coffee.

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

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SPORTS

The STUYVESANT STANDARD

The Sports Beat:

Hockey? No? Didn’t Think So Continued from page 12 soccer sport a net? So I confidently call the owner of this argument ignorant. The next most popular argument is one of my favorites: hockey players aren’t that athletic. Okay, so the average NHL player’s bench press numbers are not going to impress anybody the way an NFL lineman’s would. When Scott Niedermayer skates 28 mph and Zdeno Chara shoots a puck 105 mph, though, it’s hard to take the person who challenges their athleticism seriously. Baseball, even less so before needles started pricking butts at a record pace, is rarely challenged as a sport – and its athletes aren’t often called out. Baseball players are renowned for their hand-eye coordination. It’s not exactly easy to hit a 98 mph fastball or a professional curveball. That being said, it is definitely not easy to redirect

a puck going 98 mph toward a six by four foot goal around a professional goalie. For some reason it’s just more difficult for people to accept and be awed by the athletic prowess of a guy named Jaromir, Henrik, or Teemu. Now to my absolute favorite anti-hockey argument: “boooooooooring”. Admittedly, hockey on TV isn’t as engaging as your Cinemax on-demand television alternatives, and the puck isn’t as aesthetically pleasing, or, well, visible, as a football. However, if you’re a sports fan that judges a game based purely on how it looks on television then you should be condemned to a year of figure skating and juggling. Hockey is a fast paced, physical, and exciting sport, which I guess makes it exactly like your Cinemax-on-demand shows. Until I am presented with legitimate reasons to dislike hockey, my opinion of the average sports fan will remain where it is.◙

Chess With Robert Hess Continued from page 12

June 22, 2009 –VOL.8, NO.12

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Pitching Phenoms Compete for Acclaim Continued from page 12 their investments by keeping their pitchers on strict pitch counts, Toronto keeps Halladay in so he can finish the job. Zack Greinke is the only player on this list who has not won a Cy Young Award. In fact, he is the only one who doesn’t have a history of dominance. This year, he has really found his stuff. Pitching two complete games and three shutouts in his first three starts, Greinke leads the Majors in ERA and has a WHIP of only .90. He has pitched five complete games, and allowed only ten earned runs

this season. While some are skeptical about whether or not he will continue to put up such impressive numbers, the season is already one third over and he has shown no signs of slowing down. In a survey about which pitcher fans would rather see pitching for their teams, Santana easily won the most votes. Out of 35 people, 25 voted for Santana, with Greinke coming in 2nd with six votes, Halladay with three, and Lincecum with a lowly one. I don’t know about anyone else, but my vote certainly goes to Santana as well.◙

Do you have an opinion about The Stuyvesant Standard that you would like to share? Tell us what you think. Your comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome with us.

Black to Move Ideas: Pin, Smothered Checkmate Solution: 1... Nxf3! 2. Bxe7 Ng3+! 3. Nxg3 Rxh2# (! Is a good move. # signifies checkmate) The position starts off with approximate equality: black and white have the same material, except that white has the two bishops against black's two knights. White's light squared bishop on d3 and the queen on c2 form a nice battery for white, while black's rook on h6 has an X-ray attack, that is, attacking a piece with only one piece in the way, on the white king on h1. White looks to be better with the open A-file for his rook and the pin on the knight on g5 (if the black knight moves, the black queen will be lost). However, black has some tactics to significantly improve the position. After...Nxf3, white can recapture gxf3, but black simply goes Qxh4 and is up a pawn with an attack on the white king. After...Ng3+, white cannot recapture with hxg3 because white's h2 pawn is pinned to the king. 3. Nxg3 is the only legal move as black's knight on f3 occupies the g1 square for the white king.◙

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The STUYVESANT STANDARD

June 22, 2009–VOL.8, NO.12

SPORTS

Pitching Phenoms Compete For Acclaim TSS/ Cody Levine

By: Thomas Fabrizio With a third of the baseball season complete, people are talking about whom they consider to be the best pitcher in baseball. Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals, who leads the Majors with a 1.10 ERA (Earned Run Average, or earned runs per nine innings) through 11 starts, is frequently mentioned, as is last year’s National League Cy Young Award (for the best pitcher) winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, who leads the league in strikeouts with 91. I have decided to break down some of the top pitchers this season to see whether they are Cy Young material or not. Tim Lincecum, the 25 year-old ace of the Giants, posted an 18-5 record on the season with a 2.62 ERA and a league best 265 Strikeouts on his way to the Cy Young. His unorthodox pitching motion gives him exceptional speed on his fastball and break on his curveball, despite his small frame. Although Lincecum has great “stuff,” there are several factors that concern me. His youth, and therefore relative lack of ex-

Pitchers are often considered the most important players in baseball. Tim Lincecum, Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, and Zack Greinke are MLB pitchers that have celebrated recent acclaim.

perience, means that he might crack under pressure. He also plays in a division that doesn’t have strong offensive teams, so his 3.01 ERA and 91 strikeouts are somewhat inflated by the lack of hitting. Against non-division teams, he has an ERA of over 4.30, allowing nine earned runs in 19.1 innings. He is a great pitcher,

The Sports Beat:

Hockey? No? Didn’t Think So By: Zack Goldberg It’s amazing how often people claim to dislike things that they clearly don’t understand. For reasons beyond me people seem to hate the sport of hockey. My usual reaction to the guy who shoots down a hockey conversation with a simple “hockey sucks” is a look of confusion. It’s not because I don’t know what they’re talking about, but because they don’t know what they’re talking about. I sometimes try to rationalize the thought processes of the baseball, basketball and football fans that are so quick to dismiss hockey. I’ve made a small mental collection of ex-

planations. One that I hear surprisingly often is that hockey is not accessible enough; that the need for ice and skates is a major detraction. One can’t just go shoot a puck or play a pick-up game the way you can with football. Ignoring the fact that there are versions of hockey that you can play on foot, there is some truth to that statement. It would take a lot more text messages to start a game of hockey than it would a game of football. Then again, if roller blades and a tipped over trashcan aren’t good enough for their standards, why are hockey haters okay with playing football without a goalpost or pads? How many pick-up games of Continued on page 11

but his stats have definitely benefited from the weakness of the division. For a number of years, Johan Santana has dominated hitters in both leagues like no other pitcher. He has won two Cy Young awards while having a career 1.10 WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched) and 3.07 ERA. Despite finishing the 2008

season at 16-7, he boasted a league best 2.53 ERA and over 200 strikeouts. He has the ability to pitch deep into games and work his way out of jams. The determination he has on the mound strikes fear into opposing players. In 2009, he is 7-3 for the New York Mets, with a combined three earned runs (all coming in the same game) in his three losses. Not much else can be said about Santana; his numbers really speak for themselves. Roy Halladay is another dominating pitcher. The first to reach nine wins this season, Halladay has already pitched two complete games and thrown 91 innings this season, which puts him on pace to break his career high. While his 2.77 ERA is not the best in the league, his ability to get the job done is one of the reasons why the Toronto Blue Jays are just a few games out of first place in the American League East, which is generally considered the toughest division in baseball. Halladay is one of the last few pitchers able to pitch deep into games consistently. While many teams try to protect Continued on page 11

Introducing: Chess With Robert Hess By: Robert Hess Come up with a solution for the situation in chess simulated in the picture below for the black pieces. It is your move next. Look on page 11 for a possible solution devised by Robert Hess, an American International Master of Chess who has achieved international acclaim in the competitive world of chess.

Continued on page 11