Winter 2015-2016 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER www.surveybths.com

Obama’s Daughter Joins the College Frenzy

The President’s daugh-ter Malia Obama, now in her senior year, was spotted on several Ivy League campus-es during the summer. She was accompanied by her fa-ther and several secret service agents. Her college search has recently caught the attention of many and attracted so-cial media buzz as she visited some of the most prestigious college campuses in Ameri-

ca, including Harvard, Princ-eton, and Brown University. She was also named one of the “Most Influential Teens of 2015” by Time magazine for being a cultural icon. Although many peo-ple don’t have strong opinions against her, many are con-cerned about how her father’s position would weigh in on her admission. Many peo-ple say that the universities

shouldn’t consider her status because it would be unfair to other students. However, a practice like this is common with many Ivy-League univer-sities. Many accept a student if his or her parents were alumni or if the parents donated a sig-nificant sum of money to the school.

BY SADMANUL ISLAM

How to Become a Happier Person

There is no secret to hap-piness, but there are small things you can do to become happier. It is easier to be

BY BING CHEN

Space Coffee You’ve just taken three quizzes and a test, and you’ve got one more class to go. Only you’d gotten three hours of sleep last night, so what you really want is to crawl into a deli or a Starbucks to buy yourself a desperately need-ed cup of coffee. But there’s still that last class, and no place to get coffee at Tech. If you think that’s trag-ic, just imagine the struggle

BY OLENA NAZARENKO for astronauts. When we think about astronauts, we wonder how they bear leaving behind the things we sometimes take for granted: loved ones, de-licious Earth food, and good old gravity, but what we of-ten fail to remember is that they also leave behind an Ethiopian treasure, one that seems all-too-accessible in the city that never sleeps: coffee. Coffee helps us stay alert while we struggle to keep

our grades up, but for astro-nauts, coffee is an essential stimulant that may make all the difference between life and death and what makes nation-al success or national failure. If a person in space isn’t fully awake to react appropriately to a problem with machinery, there may be terrible conse-quences: a lack of oxygen, an explosion, the list goes on.

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“The deadliest attack on its soil since World War II”. That was what many said about the three conspired attacks against the French in the heart of Paris, France on November 13th, 2015. One was a bombing outside a sta-dium, another was a shooting at a restaurant, and the last was a hostage attack during a concert. Over 130 people died in the attacks that evening and dozens more were killed in various raids through-out the city in the following weeks. ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack. In response to the attacks, the borders of many European countries were closed to Syrian Refugees and quite a few American gov-

France and the World Heal from ISIS Attacks

ernors denied refugees from coming into their respective states (many of which are red states). However, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush suggested that Christian refugees be allowed into the country instead. As Stephen Colbert joked on The Late Show: “The question of whether to let Syrian refugees into the country has become the new political issue, com-pletely overshadowing the old political issue: whether to let Mexicans into the country.” Congress eventually passed the American Securi-ty Against Foriegn Enemies Act (ASAFEA), a bill that required stricter background checks for Iraqi and Syrian

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BY JEREMY TU

The Rise of the Refugee Crisis As the world faces an increased concern over terrorism, given the attacks in Paris, Syria and Lebanon (during the month of Novem-ber), light has been brought unto the refugee crisis around the world. A growing number of people have begun to flee from the contained fighting in areas such as Syria and Af-ghanistan where the fighting

has been taking place, to areas such as Turkey and Lebanon, seeking asylum. With nearly four million people fleeing, countries providing asylum face a crisis in how to accom-modate such large numbers. According to data from the Mercy Corps, an organization that aids in the placement of refugees, the number of refu-gees has grown exponentially each year since 2012.

In order to accommo-date the growing numbers, ar-eas in Jordan and Turkey have established refugee camps with the help of the United Nations. Such camps are simple in organization, with refugees living in caravans or tents within a community, sharing a camp supermarket.

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negative as a result of all the stress of being a student and a teenager. Happiness is some-thing that everyone wants to achieve, and you can do so by making slight changes in how you deal with the issues that come your way.

BY RUZETTE SOLIS

Allen Karimov PhotoHappiness, Brooklyn Tech Style!

Lend me a TenorA lot cAn hAppen behind closed doors…: An inside look on this year’s fall play.

Read more on Page 14(continued on Page 20 in

STEM)

2

NewsObama’s Daughter

Joins the College Frenzy

Mr. Samir Hassan, a biology teacher at Tech, states that, “That’s not how it should be, but it is what it is. It’s noth-ing new as wealthier students with powerful parents almost always end up in better col-leges than students with a low-er household income despite higher grades.” In Brooklyn Tech, there are mixed feelings about how the position of an appli-cant’s parents should affect the applicant’s decision into a re-spectable school. Some argue against Malia saying that the admissions would be losing focus on her because they are too focused on the parents.Isaac Anzures ’17 agrees when he explains, “It’s not the 1700’s anymore, our system is [dic-tated by] a meritocracy and admissions shouldn’t consider the parents.” However, there are people who think that Malia Obama’s advantage is fair. Ac-cording to some people, her father’s position can build on to her knowledge and experi-ences as she has constant ex-posure to politics and highly educated individuals.

Sean Brunstein ’17 elabo-rates “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Students who have a parent in higher position would generally be raised bet-ter and they tend to be more successful.”

Malia Obama has cer-tainly been building a good application with her report-ed internship at HBO’s show, Girls, and her volunteer ac-tivities. Along with her expo-sure to politics, her chance of getting into a great college is a good one.

Sources:http://time.com/4081618/most-influential-teens-2015/http://www.businessinsid-er.com/where-will-malia-obama-go-to-college-2015-10

Latin American Mercenaries Enter the Yemen Conflict

The arrival of 450 Latin American mercenaries in Yemen last month has in-troduced yet another danger-ous element to the turbulent conflict within the area. The Emirates army had secretly created this foreign army over the course of five years, and it was once under the management of Erik Prince, an American businessman and founder of Academi (formerly Blackwa-ter USA), a U.S. government security company. However, Prince had been relieved of his involvement with the project years ago, and the for-eign army had been managed by the Emirates army ever since. The foreign army primarily consists of Colom-bian troops, but there are also Salvadoran, Chilean, and Panamanian troops involved in the fighting. This just adds on to the mounting problems for Yemen amidst the many armed factions and terrorist networks persisting within the country.

The introduction of this mercenary army reaf-firms a rising trend of wealthy Arab nations turning more aggressive militarily. Yet Arab nations like The Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are unused to such prolonged warfare, and their populations who are mutually disinter-ested in military service also hinder their performance in the conflict. Though the exact objective of the army is un-clear, Emirati officials have made it evident that they had specifically chosen Colom-bian troops over other Latin American troops for the purpose of building off of the Colombian foundation which consists of soldiers who are more experienced in guerrilla warfare after spending years fighting the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia (FARC). Keeping these Co-lombian troops is also not a problem for the Emirates who provide the troops with high salaries and insurance. Many

Colombians have left their native army in favor of fight-ing for the Emirates to secure more money to send back home to their families. To some extent however, this has caused a drain in firepower for Latin America as more of their troops get employed by the Emirates. Nonetheless, the foreign army continues to add to the dynamics of the many sides of the Yemen conflict. For the Yemen supporters (U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Unit-ed Arab Emirates), the pres-ence of a foreign army gives them more opportunities to go on the offensive. For the Yemen opponents (Houthi rebels and Iran), the foreign army has yet to pose serious problems, but its introduction to the battlefield pushes them on high alert. As the conflict rages on in Yemen, time will tell whether it was worth in-vesting in this secret foreign army.

“The children of politi-cians definitely benefit from their parents’ po-sition because they get an inside view about how the government

actually works.”-Matt Grin ’16

“Who she is has bear-ing, and the university can brag about having the President’s Daugh-ter study there. Money is not an issue for her, but if she doesn’t have the grades, the college will not accept her.”

-Mrs. QuilliamTeacher

refugees to make sure that they were not threats to the country. Meanwhile, the world was devastated. After the attacks, support from within the city and outside the city poured into France. Taxis within France were turned off to help fellow Parisians get home safely. For those who were too afraid to go home, social media blasted with the hashtag #portesouvertes (open doors) to offer those in fear a night of stay in others’ homes. As for the rest of the world, #prayforparis was also used as a form of expression throughout social media net-works. Key landmarks were also filled with projections of the French flag in support of France, such as the Sydney Opera House. Rio de Janeiro’s

Christ the Redeemer, and the Empire State Building. Memorials were laid outside the areas where the attack occurred. Musicians have united to honor the fallen with mu-sic. Davide Martello played John Lennon’s “Imagine” on the piano he brought 400 miles over to Paris. His piano (which had a peace sign on it) and his soulful playing at-tracted a small crowd outside Bataclan theatre, one of the three sites that were attacked; candles were still laid on the sidewalk. World leaders have of-fered support for France and called for meetings to plan a military strategy for ISIL.

Since then, bombs have been dropped on ISIS territory, eventually killing the ringleader of the Paris attacks. Multiple groups have waged digital wars on ISIS, such as Anonymous. In addi-tion, a summit has been held in Turkey for world leaders to discuss military strategy, and all the while, France has tried to resume normal life.

France and the World Heal from ISIS Attacks

“…an attack not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of hu-manity and the uni-versal values that we share.”

-President Obama

“…an act of war com-mitted by a terrorist

army Daesh, an army of Jihadists, against

France.”-President Hollande

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(Continued from Front Page)BY SKYE AN

Memorial in Paris, France to honor the victims of the Paris Attacks.

Creative Commons Photo

The most populous city in the U.S. and a global urban power in its own right faces a serious problem: safety lapses in construction. New York City is still in the midst of a building boom, and while construction workers continue to transform the Big Apple into a commer-cial and residential haven, it’s starting to come at the cost of their lives. Statistics in recent years have shown that the number of construction work related deaths and injuries exceeds the rate of construc-tion in New York City. Work-ers like Manuel Colorado, Gurmeet Singh, and Lukasz Stolarski plummeted to their untimely ends when the shaky foundation beneath them col-lapsed. Many reports have ar-gued that these accidents are totally avoidable, but a lack of supervision and observance of safety protocol (wearing har-nesses and helmets) amongst the workers causes these is-

Beware of Falling New Yorkerssues to persist. An emphasis on get-ting the job done quickly contributes to this safety haz-ard. Speed rather than safety is being prioritized, and as a result, many construction workers face high risks of in-jury or death while on the job. The known deaths occurred in Midtown and Williamsburg, but the rest of the accidents go largely unnoticed and improp-erly documented throughout all boroughs due to contrac-tors failing to pay penalties. As the economy con-tinues to improve, Mayor Bill de Blasio pushes for further construction to make housing more affordable. Many devel-opers who are uncertain over tax abatement programs add on to the frequency of con-struction in order to cover all of their assets. Immigrants compro-mise most of the construction deaths, and they are especially susceptible to these accidents because they are often poorly trained and afraid to speak up about the safety hazards for

fear of losing their jobs. Pur-suing the American Dream isn’t easy, and many immi-grants will take on any job they can in order to earn mon-ey. However, financial security has compromised the physical safety of the workers and pe-destrians. Sinyee Cheung ’17 says, “The city is often under a lot of construction. Whenever I go to Manhattan and come across a construction site, I get a bit nervous because the way the workers work doesn’t seem very safe. You never know when one of their mate-rials or maybe even an actual worker may come tumbling down on top of you.” NYC’s Building De-partment has recently pushed for better safety precautions and warnings, and many in-spectors agree that they should have done that years ago. If all goes well, New Yorkers won’t have to wear helmets every-where they go after all, but for now, it would be wise to heed this warning: Beware of falling New Yorkers.

BY SKYE AN

3

News

Benjamin Trinh Photos

The Rise of the Refugee CrisisThe camps are often uncom-fortable and face issues with overcrowding.

Not only do the refugees face obstacles with overcrowding, but they also face language barriers in the country they travel to, dangers when traveling, lack of education for youth and violence. The Wall Street Journal reported that 218,394 refugees arrived in Europe in the month of October, crossing the Mediterranean in makeshift boats, an extremely dangerous voyage. While sympathizing with refugees, not all coun-tries accept those who seek asylum. The Guardian reports

that the United States has a cutoff of accepting ten thou-sand refugees in the coming years, yet not every state in the country permits refugees. Thirty states in the US do not accept refugees. Countries in Europe such as Germany and Sweden have also seen an increase in refugees seeking asylum, 44,910 and 13,220 respectively. Countries struggling with this worldwide crisis have now begun attempts to fund such numbers, as the United Nations plays a large role in relocating the displaced people. Ultimately within this ongoing issue, millions of families require assistance and areas around the world are now seeking the help they need to provide for them.

“We are suffering here and just trying to sur-vive. It is a very hard

life.”- Syrian Refugee

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Syrian refugees rallying and getting ready to leave their homes.Creative Commons Photos.

Features

4

With the ease of use and accessibility that digital cameras and phones have pro-vided us within the last de-cade, it can be easy to forget the true emotional power that the little dots on the top of our phones have. I sat down with Sami Patwary ‘17, the owner of Sami Patwary Photogra-phy, to get a better grasp at the power of the camera and the artistry of the photographer.

Do you consider what you do to be art? “Yes, a subjective art. It’s very similar to painting a picture. Just like a picture, what you as a viewer have to do is interpret the photograph from the photographer’s view-point. There are rules that should be followed, but what is beautiful about photogra-phy is that these rules don’t need to be followed.”

Entrepreneur, Friend, and Artist:An Interview with Sami Patwary

How did you get in-volved with photography? “I always had an inter-est in photography. I would always take pictures with my friends’ cameras and loved to be photographed myself. It was my friend, Becky Jiang ’17, that really influenced me and got me to buy a camera and start taking pictures my-self.”

Does Sami Patwary Photography have a mission statement? “To try and get peo-ple to start in the art. It might seem a bit greedy for me to ask for a price on this, but I am of-fering a skill and I think I de-serve to make a profit for that.”

What does Photogra-phy mean for you? “I see the camera as a brain and the lens as eyes. The process of seeing is simply re-

peated with a camera. For ex-ample, I will look at the fence then I will align the camera to replicate the scene I had just seen with my eyes and I will try to make the photog-raphy capture the emotion I had when I first looked at the fence. Essentially, I don’t see a fence, but an opportunity for a picture. Photography opened my mind to how beautiful the world is. I hope that what I do will help people truly see the world around them and will help them think for them-selves.” If you would like to learn more about Sami, his business, or to get a photo shoot; like his Facebook page: Sami Patwary Photography.

BY PETER ROSLOVICH

5

Features

How does Starbucks Affect Our Health?

With the holiday sea-son coming into full swing, the number of people frequently visiting a local Starbucks is unsurprisingly skyrocketing–even for a company worth over $70 billion. The seasonal release of the red cups, as any Starbucks aficionado would know, signifies the temporary revival of limited edition fes-tive drinks. Such drinks in-clude the peppermint mocha and chestnut praline latte. Any Tech student who has been to the DeKalb Avenue Starbucks can attest to how crowded and chaotic the lo-cal Starbucks can get. But all this talk about one of the most well-known coffee companies worldwide brings light to an interesting matter–should we be concerned with how Star-bucks drinks affect our health? On every menu in ev-ery Starbucks, any prospective customer can view the calorie count of each type and size

BY JULIA ANDRESAKIS

C.H.A.O.S. You Know On December 5, 2015, Tech’s male step team, Orga-nized C.H.A.O.S., also known as Organized, Crazy, Hot, Amazing, Original Steppers, showed the judges and audi-ence exactly how O.C. han-dles business, bringing home the first place trophy from the Youth Step USA Bronx Borough Championship. When asked how he felt about the win, Bryan Belmont ’16, one of the team’s captains said, “Honestly, coming into this new season I was really worried about how well we would do as a team. We had seven out of the nine people on competition squad graduate last year and it was up to me and Joel to take a group of really inexperienced guys and make a winning team out of them. But I’m really proud of the progress they’ve made in just the past three weeks and I think that pride and confidence will carry us throughout the year, even through nationals in the spring.” For most of the guys

that performed, this was their first real competition, but they didn’t let the nerves get the best of them. They definitely lived up to the O.C. reputation, set by the guys that came before them. David Melo ’17, a member of the team since his sophomore year, said, “I was nervous and a bit unsure of the team since it was our first time doing any type of competition but I’m glad we won. This is huge for me and for the team. This boosted my confidence way up since I have never won anything in my life except for academic awards. It’s nice to know that we have talent and I believe if we can win one competition,

we can probably win more in the future.” This competition and being part of Organized C.H.A.O.S. has been a great opportunity for the guys. You can truly see the bond amongst them, from their after-school practices to cele-brating their win. “It was one of my biggest accomplishments and it cured my fear of public speaking,” says Alen Prospere ’18, a member of the team since last year. This was O.C.’s first of many competitions this season, and we’ll definitely be seeing more of them in the future.

O.C. brings home their first place trophy in the Youth Step USA Bronx Borough Championship.

Xia Headley Photo

BY XIA HEADLEY

Limited Edition Anniversary drinkJasmin Wang Photo

of drink. The common sizes are Tall(12 fl. oz.), Grande(16 fl. oz.), and Venti(20 fl. oz.). However, select drinks are available in an extra-large size, Trenta(32 fl. oz.). Con-sidering a healthy, adult-sized bladder can only hold 16 fl. oz., a Trenta seems superflu-ous and much more than a person could hold. Notably, drinks that are available in this super-size are those that contain a chock-full of sugar. The smaller drinks also con-tain a large amount of sugar. These beverages, iced coffee and lemonade, are the most popular orders year-round. Similar to Seven Eleven’s Big Gulp, Starbucks’ Trenta fur-thers the epidemic that has plagued America for the past couple of decades: obesity. Although it seems easy to say that it is unhealthy to ingest sugary drinks twice the size of a human bladder, many people order these drinks. McDonald’s, Burger King, and other fast food chains

serve as the perfect examples of causing American obesity. However, Starbucks is unique in that it specializes in mak-ing coffee drinks. It may be easier to associate Starbucks drinks as “low-calorie” and “not necessarily unhealthy” compared to an order of Mc-Donald’s french fries. At the end of the day, these junk foods will lead to health issues such as cardio-vascular dis-ease and diabetes. These two are the main factors of health related deaths in America. While it is festive to stop by Starbucks during the holiday season to warm up with a white hot chocolate or chai latte, keep in mind the nutritional content and calo-rie count. Limit treating your-selves to these drinks, hence the name limited edition bev-erages. Make healthy choic-es by going for classic black coffee or unsweetened drinks that contain just as much hol-iday spirit as the other drinks!

“Health is not valued till sickness comes.”

-Thomas Fuller

Dear Survey Readers,

Can you believe that we are already in the month of December? Time passes by quickly, and news travels fast. As you read through our latest print issue, I hope that you will become a better updated and informed student at Tech. Perhaps you’ll find yourself nodding in agreement with an editorial or get drawn in by a thought-provoking news article. Maybe you’ll recognize a featured student or sports team, or become inspired to take part in the artistic productions put up by the school. How you interpret these articles and what you take away from them are all up to you. Let the ideas of your fellow students from these articles percolate within you. I am also very excited to introduce two new sections of The Survey: STEM News and Lifestyle. As a school with a heavy focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, our STEM News section will cover news concerning Tech students engaged in STEM activities and clubs, to ground-breaking scientific discoveries happening all over the world. As for our Lifestyle section, you’ll not only get up to date with the latest trends, but you will also get tips to improve your health. Life isn’t easy, especially when you’re at a school as challenging as Tech, but our Lifestyle articles on health are here to give you greater insight on how to man-age and overcome these struggles. For more news coverage by The Survey, feel free to check out our website at surveybths.com. We are also always welcome to have more writers, so if you like what you read, or are looking to bring your own style of writing and news coverage to Tech, be sure to stop by room 5E14 after tenth period. Meetings are held every Wednesday. Enjoy the rest of the issue!

Sincerely,Skye An

Editor-in-Chief

6

STEM

Could Zombies Walk Among Us?

BY RHIA SINGH

Zombies are thought to exist purely in the realm of fantasy, but they may be much closer than they appear. Zombies are usually thought of as undead hu-mans that crave brains, and they usually walk with stiff legs and with arms that are perpendicular to the floor. However, according to Anjali Singh’ 17, from the Biological Science Major, “If you Google the definition of zombie, you would probably find a picture of me on a Monday.” There are multiple definitions of zombies but are any actually real? It is unlikely that there will be any zombies in the future but there are diseas-es that can cause symptoms similar to those of zombies.For example, Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness is a parasitic infection found in Sub-Sa-haran Africa. Humans are infected by the HAT parasite through the tsetse fly. HAT is a chronic infection, so the person can be infected for months or even years without exhibiting symptoms. When symptoms emerge, the patient is already in an advanced stage in which the central nervous system is affected. During this time, patients exhibit changes of behavior, confusion, sensory disturbances and poor co-ordination, along with dis-turbance of the sleep cycle, which gives the disease its name. Although sleeping sickness does share similar symptoms with zombies, it’s very unlikely it will cause an apocalypse anytime soon. Another disease with symptoms similar to that of a ‘zombie virus’ is Rabies. It is

in the Rhabdoviridae family of viruses, under the genus Lyssavirus, and it is transmit-ted through the bite of rabid animals, such as raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes.Similar to the sleeping dis-ease, Rabies infects the cen-tral nervous system. After en-tering the host, Rabies, travels to the spinal cord through the peripheral nervous system’s afferent nerves. From the spinal cord, Rabies travels to the brain and begins to rep-licate itself while it destroys the host’s nerve cells. Then, the virus travels through the efferent nerves to the salivary glands. This causes hypersali-vation (increase in saliva), dif-ficulty swallowing as well as insomnia, anxiety, confusion, partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs with-in days of the onset of these symptoms. These symptoms seem like they could be the characteristics of a zombie.But, for the Rabies virus to trigger a zombie apocalypse, it would need to be more contagious. Usually, only one human is infected from a bite, and pet vaccinations prevent

much of the spread. Accord-ing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, annually, only one in three people report contracting the disease. For rabies to become more contagious, it would have to be transmitted by air, meaning it would have to “borrow” traits from another virus, such as influenza. Dr. Levine, an AP Biology teach-er at Brooklyn Tech, stated, “viruses mutate all the time and become more virulent,” however unrelated viruses do not usually hybridise because their DNA is incompatible.Although, it is improbable that there will be a zombie apocalypse; Konstantin Dral-lios’ 17, from the Gateway to Medicine Major, commented that, “It is very interesting that humans can imagine such improbable occurrenc-es as a zombie apocalypse. I think we imagine apocalyptic scenarios because the danger is alluring but also because they are so improbable.” There is no zombie apoca-lypse in the near future.

That is, not until the next Monday morning.

An image of an infectious bacteria being consumed by a phagocyte, or white blood cell.

Image from Hospital-associated MRSA bacteria. Source: NIAID via Flickr.

The STEM section welcomes newcomers, especial-ly nerds like ourselves! We are a new section this year, and have already begun to write a wide array of articles rep-resenting all aspects of science, technology, engineering, and math. Our writers come from many different fields of interest, allowing us to have passionate reports on every-thing from evolutionary biology to mathematical anal-ysis to robotics. The articles we write are both informa-tive and argumentative, depending on the subject matter.Since our school puts heavy emphasis on STEM, we are able to report on our many academic teams, student research, and STEM competitions, as well as more wide-reaching topics. We have one of the most academically active student bodies of any high school in the country, meaning we will always have arti-cles reporting on the interesting things Tech kids are building, discovering and exploring, including some of our own staff!Science seeks to understand the fundamental laws of na-ture, engineering seeks new innovative systems to push the limits of human possibility, technology gives us access and more and more powerful tools to create, and math pro-vides an elegant framework by for it all to operate within. If you are like me or the rest of the staff here, this is your passion, and here is a place to access and discuss every-thing from communal achievements to cutting-edge re-search with people who care about just as much as you do!

-Brandon WoodSTEM News Editor

Space Coffee(continued from Front Page) Coffee is thus a sur-vival tool. There’s just one problem: how do you drink a boiling hot liquid when the liquid doesn’t go where you want it to go? Like, what if it goes up your nose, or splatters into your eye? Gravity doesn’t just act upon you on Earth—it acts upon your cup, your cof-fee as it adopts the shape of your cup, and your coffee as it travels down the side of your cup while you tilt it toward your mouth. In space, there’s no gravity, so you either need to lick the coffee from the bot-tom of your cup, or throw the coffee into the air and attempt to ingest it as it floats away.

These options may seem silly on Earth, but in space they’re

a terribly inconvenient reality. In fact, it’s so much of an inconvenient reali-ty that NASA had to come up with a zero-G coffee cup. “Basically,” explains fluid physicist Mark Weislogel

of Portland State University and IRPI LLC, who helped

with the invention, “the liquid piles up right at the lip of the cup and keeps flowing as you sip. It pours out by the com-bined effects of your mouth, the wetting conditions of the fluid, surface tension, and the particular shape of the cup.”

So if you decide to go to space like a couple oth-er Brooklyn Tech graduates, don’t forget to thank those who’ve made pleasant your daily cup o’ java in zero gravity.

7

STEM

Ten years ago, we would not have been able to imagine the technology that is available today. Take the smartphone, GPS, Bluetooth, wireless charging, or wearable technology, all of which have had major improvements. But what awaits these tiny, power-ful computers next? When asked what he looks forward to in smart-phone innovation, Edmon Rober ‘17 (software engineer-ing major) says, “The cooler the phones the better, as long as the quality of the phones doesn’t reduce, and it func-tions as a computer would (or close to it).” After all, what more could we want from cell phones, aside from versions that break less, have longer battery life, or look better? Smartphones have been developed that bend, send smells, and photograph in three dimensions. Within a decade it will be possible to sell these commercially. Ariel Tolosa ‘17 (software engineer-ing major), is looking for-ward to all these innovations. “Honestly, I’d be surprised and a bit curious as to how scientists would be able to implement such things,” she wonders. The answer is unex-pectedly conclusive. Flexible phones, like those which allow the user to view the screen from an angle and can withstand someone sitting on them, already exist, but are only a preview of what is to come. What we can look forward to is a complete-ly foldable device. Strong, flexible glass material for the display has already been figured out. However, internal components of the phone, like the batteries, processors, and camera modules are not very flexible. Engineers are trying to implement shaped batteries and flexible printed circuit boards to make bend-able phones a possibility. “Smelly” phones that

can send scents are going to introduce a completely new form of communication. Imagine being able to make your friends’ phones smell like flowers, spices, even ba-con! Smell-sending phones have had recent success, currently selling as an exten-sional plug-in for your phone, the plug has cartridges of dif-ferent smells. Unfortunately, because it is unconventional, progress is slow. Ms. Tolosa backs this point by saying, “at first glance, people are going to dismiss [this feature] as silly and unnecessary.” Phones with new depth-sensing capabilities open more doors than the odor phones, such as the ability to make a game with your room as the map layout, or show potential buyers the layout of a house. Although 3D cameras already exist, they are not yet a convention-al part of a smartphone. Three dimensional phone cameras take two pictures with two separate camera lenses and calculate where objects are located in relation to the two centers of projection. This innovation, like the others, has not been efficient eco-nomically, hence its apparent absence from the market. As more features are added to our smartphones, even more are thought off and created. Michelle Abreu ‘17 (media major) takes a guarded stance, “The ‘phone’ aspect of a cell phone will be taken away, just as the Inter-net caused phones to change in meaning forever.” These three innovations will change the way we use phones yet again, and not for the last time. Just imagine using a foldable, smelly smartphone with a depth sensing camera and thinking up new ideas to make our smartphones even better – perhaps paper-thin devices?

BY HANNA BIASSONAVA

Smartphone Advancements– The Future is Now!

This year’s Nobel prize winners all made advance-ments in their fields. Par-ticularly the winners in the science categories- physics, chemistry and medicine- who made monumental discover-ies. Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald received the Nobel Prize for physics. They discovered that particles called neutrinos have mass. Neutrinos are subatomic particles made when a radio-active material decays, which were previously thought to be undetectable and massless. They can come from the birth and death of stars, and col-lisions in a particle accelera-tor. There are three different types of neutrinos; electron, tau and muon neutrinos. The discovery that neutrinos have mass disrupted some previous notions about them. A theory called Standard Model was extremely popular because it was thought to be a fundamental theory about sub-atomic particles. It even predicted all undiscovered sub-atomic particles. How-ever, it relied on the idea that neutrinos have no mass. Ka-jita and McDonald’s discov-ery, disproving the Standard Model. Furthermore, because neutrinos have mass, they can change into any of their three types at will, helping them pass through any kind

of matter as though it weren’t there. This discovery will help scientists understand how the universe changes in relation to neutrinos, and even how celestial bodies, such as stars, function. Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar won the Nobel Prize for chemistry for their indepen-dent work, on how cells can repair damaged DNA. Sancar discovered how DNA, after being damaged by substanc-es that alter the shape of the DNA is repaired by poly-nucleotide excision repair. Modrich, meanwhile, discov-ered a process called mis-match repair, where a protein ‘marks’ segments of DNA incorrectly copied during cell division for replacement. Lindahl discovered DNA gly-cosylases, which are proteins that read, remove, and replace damaged genetic segments. These discoveries help sci-entists to further unravel the mysteries surrounding DNA and how it functions, and may led to further research on how the processes can be implemented to combat genetic diseases. Satoshi Ōmura, Wil-liam C. Campbell, and Youy-ou Tu won the medical Nobel Prize. Ōmura and Campbell won the prize for their work in developing Avermectin, a medicine for treating parasitic

diseases such as river blind-ness. They developed their treatment from microbes in the soil that they found combated parasitical diseases most effectively. Tu found a compound in a plant that seemed to combat malaria and extracted it so that it could be used as a treatment. “Dr. Tu’s creation…not only helped mortality rates for ma-laria but also, it helped con-tribute to economic growth,” said Rhia Singh, a student at Brooklyn Tech, telling us how scientist’s discoveries not only affect the area that they are working on directly, but they also affect many other parts of our life. These scientist’s discoveries are instrumental for reducing the pain and suffering that these diseases cause in many lives. These discoveries not only affect the scientific com-munity’s understanding of the topics, but also all of Brook-lyn Tech. Specifically, how we as students learn about and understand the topics of physics, chemistry, and medicine. “It’s inspiring to see the achievements that these scientists have made,” Singh commented. When great scientists make discoveries, students like us get interest-ed and inspired to make our own.

Huge Discoveries from 2015 Nobel PrizesBY ROSE MCCORMACK

Creative Commons Photos

8

STEMThe Science and Solutions

of Ocean Acidification

Climate change is thrown around a lot, but many people refuse to believe it even exists, as its effects are not always apparent. How-ever, one result of climate change, ocean acidification, has tangible detrimental effects on the biodiversity in the ocean. As more carbon di-oxide is stored in the atmo-sphere, a process called ocean acidification occurs. This is, exactly as it sounds, when the ocean becomes more acidic. The increased use of fossil fu-els causes the release of more carbon dioxide molecules into the atmosphere. The ocean absorbs the carbon dioxide and forms carbonic acid. As the amount of carbonic acid increases, the number of hydrogen atoms increase as well causing the pH level of the ocean to decrease. The pH of the ocean is expected to drop from 8.2 to 7.8 in 2050. Although this may seem like a small decrease, the added acidity will severely detriment marine biodiversity. More specifically, it will impact marine animals with exoskeletons or any that partake in biomineraliza-tion. For example, marine pteropods or sea butterflies (types of sea snails), have exoskeletons. An experiment conducted by researchers in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the acid in the ocean caused the exoskeleton of the snails to disintegrate. Another experiment con-ducted by R. C. Carpenter, S. Comeau, C. A. Lantz, and P. J. Edmunds for the Biogeo-sciences Discuss revealed that Ocean Acidification prevent-ed the calcification (accu-mulation of calcium salts for rigid biological structure like bone and coral) of coral reefs and disintegrated the coral.

Amanda Thomson ’17 , from the Environmental Ma-jor, stated, “ One example of [Ocean Acidification] direct-ly impacting the well being of people is the amount of seafood we consume. As the acidity of the ocean increas-es, animals such as Lobsters, which have exoskeletons, will become extinct.” The biodi-versity in the ocean is similar

to a domino effect. Humans are a member of the food web and the decrease in different animals, like lobster, could negatively impact the balance of such a food web. As much as preventing climate change can be altruistic, it is also in the best interest of humans to prevent it. However, some facto-ries have tried to capture car-bon dioxide emissions using limestone which has calcium oxide. This method has prov-en cheap and efficient. How-ever, limestone is unstable and cannot be renewed easily. The best way to prevent ocean acidification is to limit carbon dioxide output. This is much easier said than done. “Fossil fuels have become integrated into the modern culture. It is used in everything from cars to factories,” stated Anjali Singh ’17 from the bioscience major. It may be difficult to reduce carbon emissions but for the sake of preventing ocean acidification and saving ocean biodiversity, it’s worth a shot.

BY RHIA SINGH

“The best way to pre-vent ocean acidifica-

tion is stop the burning of fossil fuels.” -Mr. Cunningham,

Teacher

Is 3D bioprinting Worth The Pursuit?

Biological 3D printing transplanting is a very prom-ising field as it holds the po-tential to reduce the amount of donor wait lists. However, there are some arguments against pursuing this technol-ogy, as opponents claim that the economic repercussions make the future technology not worth investing time into. Biological 3D print-ing, or 3D bioprinting, is a process of additive manu-facturing using biologically compatible substances (i.e.; cells, proteins, fats) to create anatomical structures such as tissues, bones, and so forth. The hope is that one day this technology will develop to the point where it can be used to turn stem cells into fully functioning organs that can be transplanted into patients, but much more progress is needed. One argument against the technology is that giv-ing anyone a 3D printer and enough money to print or-gans will inevitably lead to a spike in black market activity. With new biological print-ers, people could sell organs cheaply without adhering to important standards or regu-lations. Dominic Young ’16 says, “While I personally be-lieve that we should continue to develop this technology, there is certainly a discussion to be had concerning black market activity. Technology like this that satisfies such a great need, and given the powerful economic incen-tives, unregistered and illegal substitutes are very attractive for the buyer who needs a cheap alternative to save his or her life, and the seller, who can make money off these people without having to deal with regulation.” This is a problem already rooted in the organ donor system. According to an article by Denis Campbell, and Nicola Davidson pub-lished in The Guardian, the World Health Organization estimates around 10,000 black market operations involving human organs occur annual-ly. These black market oper-ations are both unsafe and unclean. Furthermore, organs

are removed without system-atic regulation which leads to dangerous surgical practices, thus putting the lives of the donor and the recipient in danger. Despite the dangers of a potential black mar-ket, these downsides pale in comparison to the possibility of removing donor lists all together.

Removing organ donor wait lists, on which an average of 21 people die every day, would arguably be worth the cost of potentially spur-ring black market trade, and certainly worth it in term of loss of life. Others would argue

that technology like this lends itself to monopolies, similar to the early years of genetic engineering where companies used there patents to control entire sections of the agri-cultural industry. The fear is that something like a process for building a heart can be patented, and that patent can be used to drive up prices of these products beyond rea-son. James Bacchi summa-rizes the counter-argument concisely: “I feel that there is something different from monopolizing a genetic code and a way of manufacturing something like a liver. The latter would require many complex steps that could be improved upon, where-as genes are an unchanging set of information. Monop-olizing, or even patenting something like this would be incredibly difficult, as it will mostly likely require the collaboration of many differ-ent labs, all building off each other’s work. Either way, this kind of advancement could give us access to a potentially unlimited supply of organs.” Some would ar-gue against organ printing, claiming it would lead to black market activity and monopolies; however, others would argue that the risks are certainly worth it, and mo-nopolization isn’t necessarily going to play a role. Either way, it seems that the use 3D bioprinting remains conflict-ed.

“The vast majority of scientific progress comes with the risk

that people will do bad things with it. A stu-dent could go look up how to make a weap-on online, that doesn’t mean we should shut

down the Internet. This technology is on the brink of becoming

reality, and it holds the potential to save

countless lives.”-Dr. Parlo

Teacher

“At the moment, we don’t have the ability to [reduce or replace donor lists], the idea

is very promising, and we will abso-

lutely be able to do it down the road. And, between 3D printing advancements, stem cell research, protein engineering, and ge-netic engineering, we will certainly have the

technology soon.”-Dr. Maxfield

Teacher

From popsci.com

BY BRANDON WOOD

It’s hard not to notice the projects taking place in Fort Greene when walking to and from Atlantic Ave-nue-Barclays Center. Bar-clays Center itself is a recent construction, with its opening only in 2012. Skyscrapers are beginning to almost sur-pass even the Williamsburg Savings Bank in height, hard to miss in the skyline. The dif-ference is noticeable even on the street, with the construc-tion of chains like 7/11 or Applebee’s. These are steadily beginning to outnumber the amount of small-business-es owned by locals, such as Rocky’s Deli. Maybe we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that a more expensive, exclusive, and upper-middle class Fort Greene, with its original diversity growing more and more elusive. Gentrification, the process of a region growing increasingly more upper-class while displacing the original, lower income citizens, seems

Editorials

9

ESL Students at a Disadvantage for the New SAT The SAT is one of the most important test for stu-dents. 95 percent of colleges look at SAT or ACT scores during the admissions pro-cess. With the top universities requiring nearly perfect scores before applicants are even considered, Brooklyn Tech Ju-niors are stressing in mayhem to balance their AP classes with preparation for the test. This coming March, The College Board will be re-leasing the new SAT, refor-matted to more closely match the current curriculum. While some may celebrate the redesigned test, many of you will find yourselves in the bleakest nightmare ever. Here’s why: the test is a read-ing marathon; and if you’re not an avid reader, good luck! The reading section is similar to the old test except there won’t be any sentence completions that require stu-dents to jam their brains with

vocabulary. However, there will be questions on graphs related to the passages as well as ones asking for textual ev-idence. Ironically, though, the excessive emphasis on reading was the main ob-stacle to the new SAT, many students thought the reading section improved the most in the transformation. Amy Wei’17 who is set to take the test in March, said, “The new reading section is a lot easi-er; the questions that ask for evidence help me answer the question before it. I’ll know I chose the wrong answer if the answer choices in the next question don’t include lines that support it. They also cut the answer choices from five choices to four, so that will also be a lot of help.” The writing section is completely reformatted, shifting from the tradition-al single grammar questions to several long passages with underlined parts that need re-

BY ROSE CHEN vision. Focusing more on the content and style of writing, the section tests significantly less grammatical technical-ities. This may be easier for some, but again, it involves much more reading than the old test. The analysis prompt will be like an oasis in a des-ert for academic writers, es-pecially those of you taking AP English and Composition. For the most part, the essay continues to be the glar-ing rays of the scorching sun. If your energy wanes and you struggle to understand the ar-ticle, it will be almost impos-sible to write the rhetorical analysis essay. This new em-phasis on reading will partic-ularly impact ESL students. Although there are fewer vo-cabulary for them to memo-rize, the extensive reading in all three sections including the math, are bound to affect their scores negatively. Even the “math” questions have become so tediously wordy that they’ll

baffle even the most ingenious mathematicians. Perhaps the English professors will have a better chance at solving them. All these new changes are subjective and may be eas-ier or more difficult depend-ing on individual strengths. Therefore, regardless of which test you decide to take, it is al-ways a good idea to invest in prep classes on school days or weekends. Some popular tu-toring centers include Mega, in Queens, which many Te-chies already go to, Ivy Prep, for those of you in Brook-lyn, Sylvan Learning in the Bronx, Huntington Learn-ing Center in Staten Island , and Florentine and Higher Learning down in China-town, Manhattan. Princeton Review is also hosting class-es at our school on Tuesdays and Thursday to prep for the December SAT at a discount-ed rate for Tech students. While, some of you might decide that you don’t

learn anything from the class-es, you have to concede that the mere fact that prep makes you practice is priceless. But of course, with a load of self discipline and motivation, you can save a lot of money by preparing alone with practice books. Many organizations such as, Kaplan and Prince-ton Review are offering free practice tests at local librar-ies, so keep yourselves up-dated on those opportunities! The test may seem daunting, but it is certainly not impossible. After having a feel for the new test through the October PSAT, Chloe Wong ’17 expressed an optimistic view, “It was a breeze. If you do your prep, you should be fine.” The SATs, and even the ACTS are truly one of those things that live up to the adage:

“Practice makes perfect.” Anyone can master them with

a little bit of perspiration.

Fort Greene, One of Many Gentrifying Brooklyn Neighborhoods

more like a fact of life than something one can combat. Previously, apartment resi-dents along Pacific St ran the risk of getting evicted from their Pacific Street apartments due to rising rent. Neighborhoods like Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy,

Williamsburg, and Bush-wick seem to be growing increasingly more catered towards the upper-middle class, driving out previous residents. Previously poor

neighborhoods are now seen as beacons of wealth and cul-ture. When asked about this change, Sennett Lee, a junior at Tech, said, “It is unneces-sary and inexcusable without just compensation. The com-pensation should be higher than the property value to make up for the loss, and so the former property owners could be able to adjust to the area as its wealth increases. However, housing is more important than building sites for commercial wealth.” The longer we keep ignoring the struggles of the original residents for this, the harder it will hit them. Some argue that this is beneficial, as it contributes to a stimulus in the economy of the neighbor-hood and lowers crime. ` However, this eco-nomic stimulus only benefits the wealthy and crime only drops due to an increase of people leaving the neigh-borhoods. The rent keeps rising in these now desir-able neighborhoods, work-ing-class turned rich, with

no alternatives to the people originally there other than to flee. Families that have found themselves in one area for years are now being forced to move their legacy, as their neighborhood is no longer af-fordable. The original culture present in these neighbor-hoods turns almost white-washed, with neighborhood diversity being driven out in favor of gourmet espresso bars and Soulcycle gyms. It’s a shame to see these neighbor-hoods undergo grand trans-formations while forgetting the original residents, and people must stop taking it as a fact of life.

“What makes this city great is the arts and free

spirit. Unfortunately, that can’t cohabitate

with the extremely high rents caused by gentrifi-cation. Essentially, these higher rents just make Brooklyn into a urban suburb of Manhattan,

destroying our arts scene.”

-Sam Lazar ’18

Fort Greene neighborhood Benjamin Trinh Photos

BY ANNA MARUKHNYAK

For those who still do not know, on December 2, 2015, there was yet an-other mass shooting in the United States. This time, it was in the city of San Ber-nardino, California. As of now, there are a whopping 14 deaths and 21 injuries. The shooting was committed by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, both of whom are Pakistani. The shooting has been clas-sified as an “act of terrorism.”The shooters had four guns, (semi-automatic pistols and semi-automatic rifles), more than a thousand rounds of am-munition, and black tactical gear. It should be noted, that all of this was purchased legally. How many shootings are we going to have that in-volve legally sold guns? In the Oregon shooting, just two months ago, nine people died with 13 legally obtained guns. Not even a week before the San Bernardino shoot-ing, there was a shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colo-rado Springs with legally ob-tained guns. At this point, the police are not deciding what to do if a shooting occurs, they are figuring out what to do when the next shooting occurs which seems likely to happen again soon given the alarming consistency we’ve seen so far. In 2008, of the 16,272 murders, about 10,886, or 67% were committed with the use of firearms. I guar-antee that the number of gun-related homicides has increased, and will increase. Samuel Browning ‘18, em-phasized that, “ The only rea-son for people to have guns is the second amendment. They have no human right and they have no moral right. There is no case for having a gun for protection. It is proven that if you have a gun in your house during a break in, you are more likely to die or get injured than if you don’t have a gun.” The problem is that people believe that this is an issue about Islam when it’s more about gun con-trol. This causes people like Donald Trump to blame Is-lam and think of crazy ideas. At first, Donald Trump stated that if he were elect-

ed president, he would force Muslims to register themselves and wear a special badge. As many know, this is very sim-ilar to what Adolf Hitler did to the Jews during World War II. However, now he has de-cided that he would ban new Muslims from entering this nation and stated that “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the vic-tims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Ji-had, and have no sense of rea-son or respect for human life.” This ridiculous state-ment has angered many, in-cluding Brooklyn Tech stu-dents. Nicholas Howell ‘18 claimed that Donald Trump also defended his plan by cit-ing Roosevelt’s detention of Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants during World War II, but that certainly doesn’t justify his outrageous plans.

What should we do? For starters, we should in-crease gun control. The U.S. should also make it mandatory to get background checks and psychological evaluations, put a limit on the amount of guns a person can legally own, and make it illegal for a person who is inexperienced with guns to purchase one. The tragedies caused by guns need to end.

San Bernardino, Terrorism, Gun Control, and Donald Trump

BY ALEK GOZMAN

10

“I think the shooting in San Bernardino was a totally avoidable shoot-ing, but banning Mus-lims is not at all the right way to go about avoiding future shoot-ings. Rather than en-gage in one of the most xenophobic, racist, rep-rehensible government policies since the holo-caust, we should be pre-venting private citizens from having the equip-ment to carry out such

terrible attacks.”-Nicholas Howell ‘18

Editorials

The first real mea-sure of the candidates for the democratic presidential was in the first democratic debate. The first Democratic Debate or as I would like to call it, “the Clinton-Sanders Debate,” took place on October 13, 2015 and the main question is “Who won the debate?” Pro-claiming a tie would satisfy nobody especially those who would like a simplistic answer of either “Sanders or Clinton won.” There is no clear way to determine a winner, online polls like those on CNBC that show Sanders winning by a huge margin with 67% of the votes, but a poll by Garvis Marketing that surveyed 760 registered democrats, tells an-other story. They showed that more people saw Clinton in a favorable light as compared to Sanders (73% to 64%) and that more people thought Clinton won the debate than Sanders (62% to 30%). In terms of perfor-mance in the debate, Mr. Avery (An AP Human Geog-raphy teacher) brilliantly said that “Clinton was the best politician” and that “Sanders was more emotional” in addi-tion to that “we see what we want to see from the debate” which I agree. Clinton gave the more careful and polit-

ical answers, while Sanders went for a

stronger emotional aspect. In addition both sides won in different aspects, Clin-ton seemed stronger in gun control while Sanders had the edge in Wall Street. The debate did more than to show the differences between Sanders and Clinton, it actually led to Chaffee, and Webb to drop out leaving only O’Malley, Clinton and Sanders much less than what the Republicans have running (three to eleven). Despite the divided opinions of the debate, statis-tics from various sources such as the Real Clear Politics and Huffington Post Pollster all show that Clinton is gener-ally leading in the polls. In the Real Clear Politics data, it shows Clinton 22.3 points ahead of Sanders national-ly, 24 points ahead in Iowa, 47.6 points ahead in South Carolina, 35.5 points ahead in Florida and only in New Hampshire is she actually 1.3 points behind Sanders. In the Huffington Post Pollster, it shows that Clinton has a 25.7 point lead over Sanders nationally. Polls all have a margin of error but general consistencies are telling of a general trend. Reasons that I believe that Clinton is winning in the polls and as of now is poised to win the democratic nomi-

Who Will Win The Democratic Presidential Primaries?

BY DEMETRIOS VENTOURATOSnation is because she has the name recognition, a larger pool of funds, and she doesn’t have the socialist label. In terms of name recognition she is extremely well known. Clinton is the current Sec-retary of State, her husband was a former president, she was a senator, and she has ran for president before in 2008. As for funding, Clinton has managed to raise about 30 million dollars compared to Sander’s 26 million. Lastly she doesn’t have the socialist label that could potentially hold back Sanders. I, myself, would not discriminate against a socialist but a gallop poll from 2010 showed that 58% of Americans have a negative perception of socialism, and a newer poll from 2015 show that about 50% of Americans would not vote for a social-ist. These numbers may vary from group, for example 26% of Republicans would vote for a socialist while 59% of Democrats would vote for a socialist. But as a whole they seem to be against a socialist candidate like Sanders. As of now, Clinton seems most likely to win the Democratic Nomination for president. However within a span of a few months, things could change and Sanders might end up winning.

Many people can’t wait to get out of high school. In fact, I was one of those people. However, now that I’m in college with my high school years firmly tucked behind me, I can’t help but reflect over those years that some people take for granted. Brooklyn Tech sets the foundation for success for all its students who so choose to pursue it. During my time at Tech, the school had present-ed me with many interesting and engaging opportunities which made my high school experience all the more mem-orable. I was very ambitious at Tech. I took many honors and Advanced Placement cours-

es; I was an active member of Key Club, UNICEF Club, and NHS; I was in Chorus; I was part of the cast of the school play…the list goes on. I loved that I was able to take part in all these activities—it was so much fun! It definitely broad-ened my interests and gave me a sense of what more I wished to learn and the type of per-son I wanted to become. I also gained better time manage-ment and organization skills. Through these activities and classes, I met the most amaz-ing people, many of whom are still my closest friends to this day. Tech is also where I found out what I wanted to pursue in college. I was a Bi-ological Sciences Major, and

this greatly stimulated my in-terest in medicine. After Tech, I’ve become more passionate about the field, and as a cur-rent college student, I am ac-tively pursuing this passion to become a doctor. I was lucky to be under the tutelage of great teachers at Tech who encouraged and guided me throughout my high school journey. To current and future Technites, remember that Tech is what you make of it. Take these four years to learn new things, try new clubs, meet new people, and find your interests and passions. Study for exams but don’t stress out! Lastly, make sure to have fun—it’s high school!

Guest Column: Rina Liang ’12

as many students as they need. There is a petition that is being sent around, asking students to sign it in order for the school to get equal fund-ing. So far, only 2900 students have signed it, and so far, the Department of Education still has not given Brooklyn Tech any more money. If any of you believe that Brooklyn Tech deserves equal funding, I and the rest of the school, urge you to sign the petition.

Editorials

Brooklyn Tech has always seemed like a very humble school. Whether it’s our disgusting bathrooms, our dirty cafeteria, or just the garbage that is in our hall-ways and staircases, Brook-lyn Tech has never bragged about cleanliness. It has caused many students to use the phrase “Broken Tech.” Well now they are right to say so. According to the Brooklyn Tech Parent Teacher Association, “Brooklyn Tech is getting the lowest percentage of Fair Student Funding of all the specialized high schools.” Brooklyn Tech gets funded at 87%. Now at first, that doesn’t seem ridiculous, however, Stuyvesant gets funded at 97%, and other spe-cialized high schools get fund-ed at over 100%. Consider this, if Brooklyn Tech received the same funding percentage as Stuyvesant, Tech would get an extra 2.5 million dollars. 11

Why is an Interest in Politics Important?

Does voting seem like an important task to you, es-pecially the older seniors who could possibly vote? If not, join the club of 55% of American that are 18-29 years old. Ac-cording to data from the Unit-ed States Census only 45% of all eligible voters in the 18-29 age brackets voted in the 2012 presidential elections. Whilst 59.4% of people 30-44, 67.9% of people 45-64 and 72% of people 65 and older voted in the presidential election. Vot-ing and an interest in politics have a close connection, dates from Pew Internet Research show that 26% of millenni-als (18-34) listed politics as one of their top three inter-ests, and 43% of people aged 18-30 follow political figures and events in Washington. In both cases the youngest age bracket has the least interest. How does this relate to the community of Brooklyn Technical High School? Most students are not even eligible to vote due to the fact that they are not 18, but political decisions can affect students in Brooklyn Tech and political

awareness can start at a young-er age. Political events sur-rounding schooling are a great example. Recently there have been debates of reforming the SHSAT, Common Core and college tuition. Changes to the SHSAT affect the future of Brooklyn Tech the most, and through a mixture of student, school, and communal back-lash, no changes were made to the test. Political decisions like these affect students, and need some awareness from students to decide whether or not to support such decisions. Political awareness also goes beyond High School issues. Take, for example, the recent 2015 legalization of gay marriage within the United States of America. Through demonstrations, rallies, and public support, gay marriage was made universally legal. A student who was political-ly aware and supported the right of marriage for gays could have voiced their opin-ions to others, and even par-ticipate in rallies, helping a cause that they care about. In this day and age, it

is easier to get politically in-formed. The Internet allows an individual to read a myriad of articles about any topic for free, and also allows easier ac-cess to political speeches and debates, such as the GOP and Democratic Primaries. Being politically informed does not involve knowing every single detail about every single is-sue that the world faces, but rather it involves knowing enough about important is-sues, such as elections, to have a solid opinion of your own. Politics may seem to be a bore, or not substantial to an individual’s daily life, but it is something that affects an individual and the country he or she lives in. The leaders that are elected and the policies that are put in place change the country and the people living in it, either subtly or substantially. Take an inter-est in politics, form opinions, debate or talk about politi-cal policies, and lastly, vote if you can; it really does matter.

BY DEMETRIOS VENTOURATOS

Silent GenocidesBY ANIQA TASNIM

A few days ago, I overheard two girls in the hallway comparing slav-ery and the Holocaust. They were comparing the severity of each and which genocide was “worse” in a sense. Per-sonally, I think we shouldn’t be comparing the severity of the two events but I think the comparison of the response by the west is necessary. It is essential that we talk about the double stan-dards of the west when it comes talking about primari-ly African genocides to west-ern ones. It is simply impos-sible to ignore the difference in the way the two are treated. The Holocaust is com-memorated every year and millions of reparations were paid to survivors. Howev-er, when the topic of slavery in the Americas is brought up, people are often told to “forget about it” and under-stand that “it’s in the past.” Blacks, to this day, have nev-er been paid any reparations. If we were to com-pare the genocide happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Holo-caust, we can see that in both situations, millions were sys-tematically killed yet people reacted to both genocides dif-ferently. The US was silent as they watched millions of chil-dren under the age of 5 die brutally and as they watched millions of women become a victim of rape in central Af-rica. Since 1996, The US has funded Uganda and Rwanda to drench the Congo in the blood of 6 million victims for their own personal gain. So many devastating mass murders happen all over

the world throughout histo-ry yet the west never hears about most of them because it never receives the amount of coverage it deserves. This is not necessarily a race issue because black people were also persecuted in the Ho-locaust but there is unfair-ness present in the west’s re-action to different atrocities that needs to be addressed. Many people will try to devalue my opinion by deeming it racist, but what I am trying to convey is that you can compare the two different reactions from the west which is necessary in evaluating the erasure of the murders of so many inno-cents but you cannot com-pare the severity because that actually has very racist and anti-Semitic underlinings. Aqil Arman of BTHS stated that “We need to open the eyes of Americans on what’s going on in the world so they will develop com-passion and the want to help others before the world be-comes too destroyed to help.” I’m writing this to open the eyes of people who are ignorant to the many geno-cides that have completely de-stroyed certain groups of peo-ple. Jewish people have faced demonization, stigmas, and racism throughout history and even today and I am not try-ing to take away from the im-mense pain that was caused by the Holocaust but I am trying to shed light on other geno-cides that have had similar ef-fects but have gone unnoticed. Not only is that ex-tremely evil and a violation of human rights but it is unfair and a complete double standard.

Brooklyn Tech’s Unfair Treatment This is ridiculous! Brooklyn Tech deserves just as much funding as Stuyve-sant. Tech has more students who need free lunch and more students in the school. Not to mention that we are also the largest specialized high school. It also makes me won-der what we could do with that extra 2.5 million dollars. Ms. James, the school secretary, says that, “It is unfair that the school gets less fund-ing, considering the size of our school. The extra 2.5 mil-lion dollars should be geared toward STEM, since this is a STEM school.” Ms. James is 100% correct. Our school is larger, it deserves just as much funding. Plus we do need mon-ey in our STEM education. Leo Kharmats ’18, ex-plained that “Our school re-ceiving significantly less fund-ing than other specialized schools, despite it being the largest, is absurd. Addition-

BY ALEK GOZMANal funding would markedly improve Brooklyn Tech. The best usage would be installing air conditioners and updating the computer labs.” Although I agree that Brooklyn Tech deserves more money, I dis-agree that we need it most in air conditioning, since that is a matter of personal preference. Daniel Eisen ’18, states that, “I believe that BTHS should be funded equally, if not more, because of its size. The size affects the amount of accessories needed for each room (i.e chairs, air condi-tioners, etc.) However, we are funded less than any oth-er specialized high school. If we do get funded, we should renovate the bathrooms and get air conditioners in more rooms.” Once again, I have to disagree that we need it most in air conditioning, since there are so many other ar-eas that need more money. I believe that if Brook-

lyn Tech were to receive the 2.5 million dollars that we deserve, we need it most in our education and extracur-ricular activities. Everyone knows that our school could use more funding in educa-tion, but few know about the lack of funding that our extra-curricular activities have. The school band is using broken instruments, the school teams have old and damaged equip-ment, and the school clubs cannot possibly afford to hold

personal issue for those who choose not to vote. However, the statistics show that this runs deeper than a ‘person-al issue’-it’s become almost institutionalized. Reminding people to vote and participate in government is critical to achieving true representation in government.

Perhaps you, as an American citizen, don’t im-mediately think of China and Russia when someone asks which countries are a threat to United States supremacy in the world. Perhaps you don’t think of any country at all. The United States has been the single most dominant world superpower since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and even before then we were recognized with incredible esteem. But now, with Vladimir Putin in office in Russia, and Xi Jinping in China, these countries have been increasing their pow-er and influence almost as quickly as they are increasing their anti-western sentiment. Over the last 30 years, China has “capitalized,” and took advantage of its massive labor force. Its economy has boomed (with an official 7% growth each year) because of how dependent other nations are on its exports. Now under Xi Jinping’s presidency, China has expressed expansionist and militaristic goals. Over the last year, the Chinese government has claimed over 80% of the South China Sea, a body of water disputed over by many Southeast Asian countries. These waters are actually supposed to be inter-national, however the Chi-nese military has constructed air base islands in various places around the sea to as-sert military dominance. This is disrupting international trade, and local economies of coastal towns. This has caused tensions between western powers (mostly the United States) and China. China is also refitting its nuclear arsenal, and ex-panding its navy to include an aircraft carrier. Not only that, but there have been several cyber-attacks on the United States sourced from China, which have hardly benefited

Editorials

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the relationships between the two. What I think this shows is China attempting to be-come more of a global influ-ence. They could be position-ing themselves to overtake the United States as the greatest economy and model nation in the world. If this were the case, China would have to take militaristic and political movements to prepare itself for a transition such as that. Movements such as the ones they’ve been taking in the past 10 years. As for Russia, ever since Putin regained con-trol in 2012, the country has expressed expansionist goals as well, through the encroachment into Georgia, annexation of Crimea, and the support of the separatist movement in Ukraine. An-ti-western sentiment among Russian civilians since the 90’s has grown to over 80%, according to the Washington post, and NATO is viewed as a very provocative and threat-ening belligerent. Russia’s repositioning of ballistic mis-siles at its western border, and recent activity in Syria sup-porting the Assad regime has further challenged the United States and NATO. Both China and Russia over the last decade have been increasing mili-tary, economic, and political dependence on one another, strengthening their collective power. They have become more of a world influence than ever before, and this may mean a new rivalry between eastern and western powers. Looking at the evidence pre-sented and patterns in history, I think this could lead to an escalation of distrust and hos-tility if rules continue to be broken, and compromise isn’t reached. Who knows what that might spell for the years to come.

The East RisingBY ROBERT MINDOLOVICH

The Syrian Civil War, A Conflict Between Two Sides, Or Four?

BY WASEEO AHMED The Syrian Civil War has been waging on for the past four and a half years and has killed roughly 300,000 people and displaced nearly 12,000,000. This conflict is by no means a conventional war, it’s not a war between two sides with their own set in stone be-liefs. Rather this is a war being fought between four major groups who themselves are comprised of various militias, rebel groups, and organized military components. To further explain the Syrian Government’s military is split into four groups (The Armed Forces, The N.D.F, The Baath Brigade and Shabiha) each branch having its own duties and responsibilities in the war. Now where it gets more complicated, there are ten militia groups who sup-port the Syrian Government. A few of these militia groups being the Houthis, Hezbollah and the S.R and within some of the ten militia groups al-though supporting the Syrian Government at times clash among other another over personal/political/theological quarrels. The second major par-ty of this war would be “The Syrian Revolutionary Coun-cil” which is a Union of vari-

ous Syrian rebel groups and factions aligned together in the common goal of toppling Bashar al-Asad’s (current Syr-ian head of state) government. This Union however is prob-lematic as half the rebel groups within it are “progressive” “pro-western/democracy” but the other half are Islamic fundamentalist and want to establish Syria into a country mirroring Saudi Arabia. The question that arises about the Revolutionary Council is that what happens if they win? Will the “moderates” or Wahhabi’s hold the power? The stark dif-ferences between the contrast-ing sides of the Revolutionary Council will most likely lead to another civil war if they do win. The third contend-er in this war and possibly the most well-known (even though they did not originate in Syria) is I.S also known as ISIS and ISIL. An Islamic-Ter-rorist group that intervened in the war during their rise to power in January of 2014 and declared war on all sides fight-ing in the civil war in hopes of killing them all off and mak-ing Syria part of their Neo-Ca-liphate. They have gained group rapidly using training, tactics and modern weaponry (which they acquire through the black market and also the

fleeing Iraqi Army in their Northern Iraq campaign). The final major con-tender in this war is Roja-va, also known as the Kurds who are fighting the Syrian Government, I.S, and vari-ous other Syrian rebel groups. The Kurds goal in the war is to regain land that tradition-ally and historically belonged to the Kurdish ethnic group in the Middle East. The want to create their own state and make Kurdistan become in-ternationally recognize. This war is obviously not a simple one, nor is there any clear end to it, to quote Brooklyn Tech student Peter Roslovich after being asked if the conflict would end any-time soon “not soon even if somebody wins there will just be another war.” However re-cent Russian and Iranian in-tervention may sway the odds in favor of Bashar and lead Syria closer to stability. Al-though there are multiple reb-el groups and factions jiving for power in this war there are two categories in which you can put all of them into. Either they want to depose the Syrian Government or they are fight-ing for its continuation which in theory boils this down to a 2-side war.

Voting is what allows us to maintain a democracy in which everyone’s opinion can contribute equally to the majority. Tiffany Mohabir ’18 agrees, saying “Voting allows people to have choices and decide which they like best even if it is just an illusion of choice most times.” But does it do so fairly? The United States has struggled with voter turn-out for years, with about a 60% voter turnout for recent presidential elections. The unheard 40% of Americans is shocking; how can we impose a majority rule when we aren’t hearing from almost half the population? Who isn’t voting, why, and what does this say about the American voting system?

According to statistics from

Pew Research Center, only 13% of voters are college graduates, 31% are Black or Hispanic, 36% are under 30 years of age, and 52% have an annual family income of under $30,000. What we see is that under-represented and under-privileged groups ar-en’t showing up to the voting booths, and it may be hurting them. The issue of non-voting runs all the way to issues of class and representation. The working class often doesn’t have time to get involved in politics or research past news headlines due to their time and energy draining jobs, leading to a lack of interest. Many don’t lean any way politically due to a lack of interest caused by a lack of time to devote to poli-tics. Another important issue is that many who do have

political interest lack time to vote. When working long hours, often times work ends after booths close, or work-ers need to return home to their families. Because of this, some presidential candidates, such as Bernie Sanders, have proposed making Election Day a federal holiday to make voting more accessible to many Americans. The longer such a large demographic of Americans is unable to cast their opinions on a ballot, the longer they will be under-rep-resented. Melanie Cho ’17 elaborated further on this, saying, “Voting is important in a situation where a person has to represent a group of people or a set of morals, be-cause the people have a say in who they believe would most justly represent themselves”.

What does this say about the American voting system? It implies a classist voting system, where only the educated with jobs that allow for time off work to vote can participate in the election. Some may discredit this entirely by stating that the right to vote is still present to everyone, and it is simply a

Is the Voting System Classist?BY ANNA MARUKHNYAK

On December 1st, Goodreads, a website where readers discuss their favorite books, released a list of 2015’s best books, according to its community. Here are this year’s most popular reads!

The Best Books of 2015

Fiction: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

This sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, set two decades later, tells of a grown up Scout Finch and her trip from New York back to her father in her hometown of Alabama. Throughout the novel, the reader see many familiar characters amid Scout’s rocky journey, where she learns of the truth of her close-knit family. This book, full of twists and turns, brings a nostalgic feel-ing to those who loved To Kill a Mockingbird, while introducing an entirely different plot.

In this debut psychological thriller, Hawkins aims to please her readers. Rachel is a girl who follows the same cyclic routine everyday; she takes the same train to the same station, at the same time everyday. She watches the same cou-ple eat breakfast on their deck. To her, they are living the perfect life that she lost. But her repet-itive life is interrupted when she sees something she wasn’t supposed to. Now Rachel is entwined in a deep case, wondering if she did more harm than good. For all those mystery and thrill-er junkies out there, this is the novel for you.

Mystery: The Girl On The Train By Paula Hawkins

#1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to captivate and haunt with his third collection of short fiction, which has an exclusive American Gods story, “Black Dog.” In this anthology, Gaiman shatters the veil of reality to reveal the mysterious, shad-owy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction – stories, verses, and a very special Doctor Who story written for the show’s fif-tieth anniversary. The collection explores hu-man vulnerability, and why it is often hidden.

Fantasy: Trigger Warning: Short Stories and Disturbances By Neil Gaiman

Auburn Reed has planned her entire life out, with no room for mistakes. But she falls in love with mysterious artist Owen Gentry from her studio, and her everything is interrupt-ed. This romance novel tells of Auburn and Owen’s developing relationship and the prob-lems they encounter as they learn more about each other’s pasts. Auburn is left having to decide if Owen is out to help her, or hurt her.

Romance: Confess By Colleen Hoover

From the author of the creator, and star, of The Mindy Project comes a collection of essays that are as hilarious and insightful as they are deeply personal. In Kaling’s most recent book, she shares her ongoing journey to find con-tentment and excitement in her adult life. She tells stories from her own life – falling in love at work, attempting to be one of the first people in Hollywood to lose weight naturally, and be-lieving that though she is different from many stars, she has as much talent as them. The book, with its comedic anecdotes, expresses Kaling’s most important message: nobody is perfect.

Humor: Why Not Me? By Mindy Kaling

This novel, the fourth of the Throne of Glass series, continues Celaena Sardothien’s trek back to her empire. She is hungry for ven-geance against those who took everything and everyone she has come to love. Celaena is prepared to fight for her family, friends, and for the people of her kingdom. In Queen of Shadows, readers see a Celaena who has accepted her responsibility as Queen and is willing to make sacrifices for her supporters.

Best Young Adult: Queen of Shadows By Sarah J. Maas

Youtube sensation, Connor Franta, shares his journey in an intimate memoir of his life out-side of work. Franta tells of his Midwestern childhood, a personal struggle with self-ac-ceptance, and his decision to fuse his pas-sions and his career. His stories are endear-ing, as they inspire his young audience to be themselves in spite of a judgmental society.

Memoir & Autobiography: A Work in Progress By Connor Franta

Arts & Entertainment

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BY FAREHA HUDA

Creative Commons Photos

There are many things that could go wrong when you schedule a famous and beloved singer to perform at your opera company for its most anticipated production yet. There could be lighting issues, costumes malfunc-tions, late performers; the list goes on. But those are manageable, predictable even. Once those obstacles are removed, it’s usually smooth sailing onward to a successful production. However, in the case of this year’s fall play, Lend Me a Tenor, the story’s situa-tion was anything but under control. The problems kept piling up with increasing absurdity and hilarity, and just when you think the chaos has finally subsided, another unexpected event sends the audience back into enduring fits of laughter. Set in a 1934 hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio, an anxious Henry Saunders (Darren Valdera), the general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, awaits the arrival of the famous Tito Merelli (Rageeb Mahtab), a world-class Italian opera tenor with a pen-chant for attracting women, much to the dismay of his hot-blooded and jealous wife, Maria (Ally Nizamov). Saunders walks in on a shaky conversation be-tween his daughter, Maggie Saunders (Maeve Hogan), a huge fan of Tito, and her on-and-off boyfriend Max (Nicholas Svan), an aspiring singer and Henry’s assistant. Though unstable and some-what one-sided, Maggie and Max’s relationship becomes a central element of the play that is slowly deepened as Max gets dragged into a cha-otic scheme which ends up giving him the opportunity he needed to prove his love

for Maggie. The plot in between those events is just as intrigu-ing, as Maggie and Max aren’t the only ones with a dynamic relationship. Charming yet somewhat unfaithful, Tito often angers his paranoid wife with his immense amount of female admirers. Topped with humorous Italian accents, these two characters move the story forward with their passionate dispositions and quarrels. The Bellhop (David Rosa) adds on to the comic relief of the play as an en-ergetic opera fan on a quest to get Tito’s autograph. He constantly tests Henry’s patience with his rebellious and flippant attitude, and his untimely appearances con-tribute greatly to the comedic progression of the play.However, when Maria leaves Tito seemingly forever after a misunderstanding involving closets and a shocked Mag-gie, Tito attempts to commit suicide but is stopped by a frantic Max who chases him down and gets him to bed, but is unaware of the amount of pills Tito had taken to soothe himself. When it is finally time for Tito to make his appearance, Max is unable to awaken the opera star and mistakenly believes him to be dead. Henry is furious and comically remarks that Tito should have waited until after the performance to com-mit suicide, and after many attempts to revive and re-kill the seemingly lifeless tenor for the troubles he has caused so far, Henry devises a plan to disguise Max as Tito in order to pull off the performance that will determine the fate of his career. An exasperated and nervous Max reluctantly agrees and masquerades as

the famous II Stupendo, but further complications arise when Tito miraculously (or perhaps now tragically) awak-ens, and when Julia (Rosa Sicks), Chairwoman of the Cleveland Opera Guild, and Diana (Zaria Alexander), a seductive soprano, enter the stage along with the reappear-ances of a determined Maggie and a reformed Maria who is willing to give Tito one last chance. In a wild and door-slamming chase in-volving two Titos who have the rest of the cast members scrambling to make sense of the whole situation, the con-flict is finally resolved when Max reappears as himself. Tito and Maria leave togeth-er, as do the rest of the cast members with the exception of Maggie and Max. Maggie realizes that Max, not Tito, was the one who she was with earlier, and the two affirm their love for one another in a kiss that concludes the play. The chemistry be-tween the actors truly made the play a success. Each character had moments with stellar connections with the others and impressed the audience with passionate act-ing. The immense efforts of director Ms. Massie and other crew members were definitely evident in the production as a whole. With the successful end to this play, Tech student have once again proven their versatility beyond the school’s heavy focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. David Rosa ’17 who played The Bellhop says, “I had a great time doing the play, especially with it being my first time on the Tech stage. As a cast, we all bonded really well together which I think helped a lot with the flow of the play. We

had something unique that made us stronger and better together as an ensemble. I can’t imagine doing the play with any other group. There was some pressure on us since the fall school play was dying as the musical is usual-ly the big thing people go to see, and so we really wanted to save it as well as blow the musical out of the water and show people that the fall play could be just as fun. I think we accomplished that pretty well. I also think it’s super sad that we didn’t have more time to perform. The arts are really underappreciated at Tech. Just this year they cut the number of show days for the play and musical by a day. We were supposed to have three days and the musical was supposed to have four. I know that we are a STEM school, but the arts are just as important. They bring creative individu-als into our community and work hand in hand with the principles our school holds. We should be a STEAM school and not a STEM one.” Nicholas Svan ’17 who played Max says, “The play was a wonderful expe-rience, but it wasn’t without hard work. Almost all of us had rehearsals from 3:35 to 5 P.M. in the beginning, and then that extended to until 8 P.M. Everyone dedicated so much effort into this play and eventually it all paid off. We had an amazing show and it couldn’t have been without our amazing teacher and director Ms. Massie, and our dedicated stage manager Audrey Kastner!” Ally Nizamov ’16 who played Maria says, “I can hon-estly say that in my four years at Tech, being a part of the Lend Me a Tenor production was one of the few occasions in which I truly experienced a sense of belonging. It’s all

thanks to the incredibly tal-ented and supportive cast and crew, dedicated stage man-ager, Audrey Kastner, and especially our charismatic director, Ms. Massie, who en-couraged us to get out of the closet (or the bathroom), and taught us how to be vulnera-ble on stage and truly embody our characters. She started off with a goal: To put the Tech play back on the map. Together, under her wing, we unlocked the door to the audience’s heart and made her goal a reality.” Zaria Alexander ’17 who played Diana says, “After never really pursuing my pas-sion for acting, I decided to listen to my boyfriend, Justin Mollison, and take a chance. It was the best chance I took. I was received so openly by my crazy cast, my new best friends. Spending every day, 5 hours a day for 3 months, it was inevitable not to build some of the tightest bonds I’ve had. I’ve grown so much as a person working on the play, I’ve even adopted the title Mom 2.0 from making sure everyone is on track. From this experience I’ve had the privilege of gaining a new family, courage and an im-mense love for being on stage. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” If there’s one lesson you get from Lend Me a Ten-or, it’s probably that a lot can happen behind closed doors. Beware of Italian tenors and the trouble that follows. If you thought that Lend Me a Tenor was great, look forward to Tech’s instru-mental and choral concerts which will take place on Wednesday, December 9 and 16. Also keep a lookout for Tech’s spring musical, Little Shop of Horrors.

Jasmin Wang Photos

Brooklyn Tech’s Fall Play: Lend Me a TenorBY SKYE AN

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Arts & Entertainment

Arts & Entertainment

The Gingerbread Man

You’ll Need:• ½ cup sugar• ¼ cup molasses• ¼ cup water• 1 ½ tsp ground ginger• 1 tsp cinnamon• ½ tsp cloves• ½ cup or 1 stick butter (softened)• 2 cups flour• ¾ tsp baking soda• A pinch of salt• 2 eggs• 3 cups of powdered sugar• 1-2 tsp of water• ¼ tsp cream of tartar (optional)• Food coloring of your choice (optional)• Gingerbread man cookie cutter

Procedure:Cookie

1. In a medium pot, stir together your sugar, molasses, water, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove it from the heat.

2. Stir in your softened butter. Let it cool for 15 minutes.3. In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, baking

soda and salt.4. Slowly add your molasses mixture and stir until you get a light

brown dough.5. Wrap the dough in some plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2 hours

(or freeze for 1 hour).6. Preheat your oven to 375F.7. Take out your chilled cookie dough and roll it out until ¼ thick. Us-

ing the gingerbread man cookie cutter cut out as many cookies as possible.

8. Transfer your gingerbread men onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

9. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Icing1. Sift the powdered sugar, and cream of tartar into a large mixing

bowl.2. Using an electric mixer (or a hand-held whisk), whip the beaten

eggs for about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.3. Add water and stir until desired consistency of icing is reached.4. Put in food coloring. (Optional)5. Decorate your gingerbread cookies.

Festive Holiday Treats!BY ASHLEY CHANIt’s holiday season and people are busy and frantically shopping for their family and friends. This is why many forget what the holidays are really about: spending time with family. One fun way to get everyone’s holiday cheered up is by baking traditional treats. Here are some snacks that are guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

The Melting Snowman

You’ll Need:

• 1 egg• 1 cup Country Crock• 1 cup sugar• 2 tsp vanilla extract• 2 cup flour• 1 ½ tsp baking powder• ½ tsp salt• 1 bag of mini peanut butter cups• Orange sprinkles• 1 white cookie icing• 1 brown cookie icing

Procedure:1. In a big mixing bowl, cream together the Country Crock and

sugar until it is fluffy.2. Add in your egg and vanilla and beat until all is combined.3. Add in your flour, salt and baking powder and mix everything

until the dough comes together.4. Using a tablespoon measure or a spoon, scoop a serving of

your dough into your hands.5. Roll it into a ball and flatten it out.6. Transfer your cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet about

three inches apart. 7. Put your cookies in the oven at 375F for 12-14 minutes or

until they’re golden brown.8. After your cookies are out of the oven, set them out to chill

before decorating.9. Use the white cookie icing to trace a squiggly outline on your

cooled cookies and fill it in.10. Taking your white cookie icing, draw a circle for the snow-

man’s face. Add an orange sprinkle on it while the icing is still wet.

11. Using black cookie icing, draw the eyes on the snowman.12. Cut your peanut butter cups in fourths. Put them on the

cookie to make a hat for the snowman.

You’ll Need:• 1 ½ cup of butter• 2 oz semisweet chocolate

chips• ½ cup unsweetened co-

coa powder• ¾ cup flour• ½ tsp baking soda• ¾ tsp baking powder• ¼ tsp salt• 2 large eggs• ½ cup white sugar• ¼ cup brown sugar• 2 tsp vanilla extract• ½ cup buttermilk• 3 cups powdered sugar• 1-2 tsp milk• Green food  coloring• Cupcake liners

• Yellow fondant• 1 small star cookie

cutter• 1 large piping bag fitted

with a star tip• Confetti sprinkles

Procedure:Cupcake1. Melt ½ cup butter and

chocolate in the micro-wave. Then set it aside to cool.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingre-dients: cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, add

the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in the cooled butter-chocolate mixture and mix until it is well combined.

4. Add half of the dry mix-ture to the eggs mixture, then mix in the butter milk.

5. Pour the remaining dry mixture and mix until the cupcake batter has a thick consistency.

6. Using an ice cream scoop (or any 1 tbsp. spoon), scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake

liners.7. Set the oven to 350F

and bake for 18 min-utes.

Frosting1. Cream the remaining

cup of butter with an electric hand/stand mixer.

2. Gradually add in pow-dered sugar, one cup at a time.

3. Mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract.

4. Add enough milk until the frosting is at the desired consistency.

5. Put in the green food coloring.

Assembling:

1. Take out the cupcakes and let them cool.

2. Frost the cupcakes using the star-tipped piping bag.

3. Sprinkle on some of the confetti sprinkles on top of the cupcakes.

4. Roll out the yellow fon-dant and use the small star cookie cutter to cut out 12 stars.

5. Place the stars on the top of the frosting, to making it look like a Christmas tree.

A Chocolate Christmas

15

In many ways, The Man in the High Castle is a question posing as a TV Show. The question begins simply enough: “What if the Axis Powers had won WWII?” But what makes the show great is that the question seems to be constantly changing; in The Man in the High Castle, things are never as they appear. If the show had to be summed up in one word, that word would most likely be intrigu-ing. The plot is that the Axis Powers have won WWII and the United States of Ameri-ca has been partitioned be-tween Germany and Japan. The plot past that is mostly comprised of several characters who are all trying to acquire films made by the eponymous Man in the High Castle, that show a world in which the Allies have won WWII (or in other words our world). This is where we start to see how the TV show works on two levels. As it shows both our world and the Axis- controlled world, it makes the audience wonder what reality is the show ac-

tually set in, ours or theirs? It works on levels both physical and metaphysical. However, even if complex philosophy isn’t your cup of tea, the show is also a great political thriller. One of the major subplots of the show is that Germany and Japan are in a Cold War that could turn hot at any moment. The efforts of the Japanese and German politicians to stop this at all costs is a very in-tense and thrilling affair, one that harkens back to Cold War thrillers. This portrays anoth-er aspect of the show, how similar in some aspects the al-ternate reality is to ours, and how similar the Cold War be-tween the Japanese and Ger-mans is to the one between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. An intriguing plot and deeper meanings are all good, but is the show actual-ly watchable? Absolutely! The production value of The Man in the High Castle is one of the greatest things about it! 1962 Axis-Controlled Amer-ica is one of the most beau-tifully detailed and realized worlds on television right

now. From Times Square to the Golden Gate, each set en-grosses you in the world and lore of the show. The acting is very well done, especial-ly when you consider that most of the cast isn’t very well known, and only have a few other credits to their names. The writing can become sur-prisingly very emotional at times. The show is certainly very dark and violent and the writing shows the emotional repercussions for each char-acter’s actions in a very pow-erful and emotional manner. Conclusion: The Man in the High Castle is an incred-ibly different show. One that works off of philosophical and political ideas. With high pro-duction values, great writing and a premise that could fill even the most stoic of people with curiosity it is a huge step for Amazon Prime.

The Man in the High Castle: Metaphysical MayhemBY JACOB ROSLOVICH

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Arts & Entertainment

The movie opens with a shot of a man looking into a mirror, painting a nearly com-plete self-portrait. There is no music, no sound, and no dis-tractions from the frowning artist. He is shot from behind, and so begins Bridge of Spies. To have the ability to make a shyster and an ene-my spy into national heroes is no small achievement, but that’s exactly what happened in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. Starring Tom Hanks, Alan Alda, and Mark Ry-lance, this movie is rated 4.2 out of 5 on Rotten Tomatoes. James Donovan (Hanks) is a non-threatening New York attorney, but is also ready for a fight. Called into office by his boss (Alda), Donovan is informed that he must take the case of defend-ing Rudolf Abel (Rylance), an accused Russian spy. He

realizes that this case will make him unpopular, but

decides he has to take on the case. Set in 1957, Dono-van’s act is seen as a betrayal to the American people. His whole family even starts to question his loyalties. Protag-onist James Donovan slowly realizes that the Russian spy might not be so bad after all, even arguing that Abel could be useful for Americans, and that he should be respected. Bridge of Spies pays very close attention to detail; each set and each costume looks like something straight out of the 1950s. Spielberg and the rest of his team made the film focused and deliber-ate. The film builds tension through exchanged words, conversations, and thoughts as Donovan begins to realize that the world of espionage is a complicated one. Every decision seems to be careful-ly considered, as one mistake could lead to a fatal disaster. Spielberg did a great

job on making the film as re-alistic as possible. He took a difficult event from histo-ry and turned it into some-thing almost inspiring. From the first scene with Abel to the last with Dono-van, this film was brilliant. Bridge of Spies is rated PG-13, but it would still be a movie for the family to watch together. Its historical feel is something that will teach its audience that even amidst the tension of the Cold War, there are people willing to ignore it all for the sake of justice.

From imdb.com

Bridge of Spies: A Visit Back to the Cold WarBY FAREHA HUDA

Creative Commons Photos

Now is the time to start thinking about eating healthi-er. It can be hard to eat healthy when we are constantly sur-rounded by processed foods, but there are many different ways to achieve a healthy life-style without these junk foods. Eating healthy is nei-ther complicated nor hard when we learn to make some changes to our diet. “It may be hard at first, but with any changes in life it just takes time to get used to. Eating healthy is not easy all the time especially when you’re a student, but it only takes a few adjustments to your diet and is worth the effort” said Amy Liu’17. Another great way to obtain a healthy lifestyle is learning how to cook your own food. Cooking will allow you to incorporate vegeta-bles in your diet and help you avoid the greasy, oily take-out and fast food restaurants. Cooking yourself means that you can actually control what goes into your food. Try making your own lunch if you always buy some-thing from the Deli. There are not that many options and it may be not very healthy to eat a bacon egg and cheese sand-

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Lifestyle & FashionHealthy

Eating HabitsBY BING CHEN

Tips for eating healthier:

1. Avoid snacking on cookies, chips, and candy as a source of energy or feeling ‘full’. These snacks are full of empty calories and provide no nu-

tritional value. Instead, try snacking on fruits, nuts, and seeds. Cashews, almonds, and sunflower seeds are examples of superfoods that provide

brain fuel and antioxidants.

2. Avoid sodas and drinks full of sugar. If you are someone who habit-ually drinks vitamin water, soda, or juice, it’s to time to cut them out of your diet. It’s a known fact that these beverages are full of sug-ar and contain no benefits for the body. It will be a big change, but just start with replacing a beverage with water once a week. Then, re-place all beverages with water. If you are looking for flavor, try add-ing lemon slices to water or making your own smoothies and juices.

3. During lunch, the cafeteria has salad stations stocked with lettuce, toma-toes, cucumbers, and other vegetables. Try incorporating these vegeta-bles into your diet. It is important to add a decent amount of vegetable servings. If you are not the biggest fans of vegetables, start small and incorporate veggies into your diet at least once every day. You can also try making your own salads or making a small sandwich with vegetables. Vegetables may be intimidating, but they are an essential part of our diets.

4. Maximize the amount of food intake during breakfast. It is not recommended to just eat a granola bar for breakfast. Instead, eat some fruit or oatmeal if possi-ble.. Breakfast is important to start the day off, and what you eat is important. Sugary cereal is not a good breakfast, and since there are so many varieties of cereal, it won’t be hard to find a healthier alternative.

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.”- Mark Twain

The Lifestyle Section welcomes all newcomers to explore the Survey page. This year, there will be an exten-sive collection of different topics being covered. There will be articles dealing with emotional, physical, and physi-ological topics relating to our daily lives. As teenagers, we are faced with many hardships. This includes balancing academics with extracurriculars. There are many times when we feel defeated and aren’t able to communicate our thoughts to others. The point of this section is to encour-age all readers. These articles are meant for the readers to apply anything they find helpful into their personal lives.

Interests will also be featured in this section. This in-cludes fashion, exercise, cooking, etc. These interests will add to the list of things that keep us smiling throughout the day and living in a stress free environment. High school is indeed a stressful and claustrophobic environment, but our interests keep us motivated. For many, it’s socializing with friends during our free time. For others, it’s playing sports or joining clubs. Articles written about various interests might spark an inter-est for readers. There will be many healthy habits and inspira-tions that readers will be able to incorporate into their lives.

The lifestyle we have currently isn’t perfect nor is it permanent. We are able to improve it whether it is eating healthier, having a positive outlook on life, or staying moti-vated during stressful situations. High school is a time where we try to learn about ourselves and what we truly value. It may not seem like it, but we are in control of what goes on in our bodies and minds. We shouldn’t let negative thoughts disparage our well being. Step by step, we can make our-selves happier by improving our lifestyle. This section re-quires tons of feedback so that we can address any questions and recommendations the readers address in future articles.

-Jasmin Wang Lifestyle & Fashion Editor

wich everyday with Arizona. There are so many lunch ideas on the Internet, and they can be very simple and quick to make. If you don’t like school lunch, then you should bring your own lunch because skip-ping meals is never a good idea and may affect fluctuating en-ergy levels throughout the day. Most importantly, don’t diet or starve yourself to lose weight. Eating healthy is not about starving your-self; it is about cutting out junk food and adding nutri-tious foods into your diet.

Eating junk food once is not the end because we’re human; we have these cravings we just can’t help but give into. However, it is crucial that we learn to find a balance between living healthily and happily.

Jasmin Wang Photo

Bing Chen Photo

Capacity: Comparing the Jans-port and Herschel classic bag styles, there is a difference in how much each bag can hold. The Jansport Super-break Backpack’s dimensions are 17 in x 11in x 8.5 while the Herschel Heritage bag’s dimensions are 18in x 13 in x 5.5 in. The Superbreak is wider, allowing more items to fit. The Heritage is longer and wider, allowing larger objects to fit.

Appearance: The Jansport bags tend to have very simple, plain designs. The bags are made with primarily solid colored exteriors featuring the trademark logo. Herschel focuses more on the aesthet-ics of their bags. The bags have thick cotton canvas ex-teriors in a variety of designs with their signature red and white striped lines interior. The physical appearance of the bags is Herschel’s priority. Many students and teachers prefer Herschel bags for its stylish appearance. “ I appre-ciate how my Herschel does not sag at the bottom like how Jansport bags do when filled with a heavy load,” said Joyin Wong ‘18. Overall, Jansports have a basic ap-pearance while the Herschel bags have more trendy mod-els.

In conclusion, each brand has benefits and draw-backs. Both brands are equal rivals and really come down to what an individual is look-ing for in a bag. Jansport bags gear more towards student looking for cheaper prices and durability. Herschel bags gear towards students who look for more style and com-fort in their bookbags.

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Write Away Your Stress Amongst high school students, stress is no strang-er. Stressors are found every-where. Examples are having a big test coming up, having to think about college, and dealing with issues that arise between friends. Everyone copes with stressful situations differently. Some overeat, oth-ers try to ignore the situation, or may even go as far as com-pletely shutting down. How-ever, a more positive and ben-eficial way to deal with stress is something everyone can do, no matter where they are or what time of day it is: write! Writing out problems, to-do lists, and feelings may seem stupid or like common sense, but it truly does help cultivate a sense of organiza-tion. Additionally, it could be interesting or helpful to be able to look at a situation once put in words, and to analyze the feelings that go along with it.

Not big on journals? Paranoid that your nosy sib-ling will find your diary in your room and mock you for the way that you deal with stress? There are still a tons of way to write without having a physi-cal pen and paper at your dis-posal. On most phones, there is an app that allows the user to write down any notes or reminders that they have–per-fect for jotting down all your ideas/responsibilities/prob-lems without worrying about anyone wondering what you are doing, as they will assume you are texting. If frantical-ly typing on a train ride or in the middle of the lunchroom isn’t something that sounds appealing, there is still social media! Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and nearly every other site actively used by teenagers has settings that allow only the publisher to view the status-es or updates that they post.

For example, having a protected Twitter account with only five followers for ex-ample, may be helpful if you know that all your thoughts will be heard and validat-ed. Posting, “Oh man, I just bombed my math test. Why am I such a failure in life?” and having someone else say, “That sucks. Want to talk about it?” could immensely help. Now, your frustrations have been heard and someone is offer-ing their support. Even if you would prefer that nobody ever read your thoughts, a heavy weight can be lifted off your shoulders when you are able to see them put into words. So go on, write away your stress until you forget all about that failed math test.

“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.”- Ayn Rand

BY JULIA ANDRESAKIS

Do Video Games Affect Our Lives Negatively or Positively?

Your mom sighs and says to you “This is why you shouldn’t play games. They turn you into negative peo-ple.” However, is that state-ment actually true? Does playing video games really have a negative influence like most people believe or can it be beneficial in some way? To start off, let’s go over some negative effects. There are several ways a person can pick up negative or aggressive behaviors. A person may be influenced negatively by other people who may be chatting and using offensive language or profanity. They could also be flustered or agitated by the game due to poor perfor-mance. Those who are agitat-ed, express their anger in dif-ferent ways. They may even be influenced by the game’s con-tent of gore or violence. Stud-ies show that video games that are addictive, can lead to iso-

lated social life and a general decrease

in academic focus. However, there is not enough evidence to make a conclusive statement about the effects of playing games. Insight from League players themselves reveals how they feel about the game. “League is a game where the players should be gunned down like the de-generate they are. You play games for fun winning or losing doesn’t matter, but league players don’t get that” said Johnny Guo ‘18.A major conflict that League creates for students is the bal-ance between time and work. “League takes up a lot of time since one game lasts a minimum of 20 minutes. The game affects my sleep and study time” said Jeffrey Chen ‘18. Although there are some negative effects of play-ing games such as League, there are numerous benefits. It can help reduce stress by providing entertainment from a stressful day. Playing games can increase your multi-task-

ing skills such as: focusing on what’s happening in front of the player and surroundings and making quick decisions based on your judgments and resources that you have at the moment. It can improve your hand eye coordination, as well as sharpen your re-action times. As time pro-gresses, it gets easier for the players to improve for hand eye coordination, which in re-turn aids adaptation to a sud-den changes in surroundings. Tony Chen ‘18 noted, “I feel great when winning and after losing I feel like I can do better. League is a game of skill, and sometimes I stay up to finish a promo and it keeps me ‘alive’ and thinking.” Despite the negative ef-fects of gaming, it provides stu-dents with a way to escape re-ality and forget about worries.

“Beware of a man with nothing to lose.”- Varus

BY WINFRED LIN andJEFFREY ZHONG

Jansport or Herschel? “As we walk through the school hallways, we see many popular brand named school bags strapped on the backs of students and teachers. Herschel has only recently grown in popularity among students while Jansport has been around for quite some-time. These rivaling compa-nies are both set to satisfy the users. However, each brand has focused and prioritized on different aspects that can make one student favor one from the other” said Kimberly Fong’ 18

Features: The Jansport has many features that students strongly value. Jansport bags are known for their durability and long lasting quality. Their bags include a sturdy 600-de-nier polyester construction. “I’ve had my Jansport for three years in counting and it’s still going strong,” said Jasmine Lee ‘18. On the other hand, Herschel bags are known for better comfort due to air mesh straps increasing airflow. The Jansport bags do not have this feature. They are lined with lightly padded straight cut straps.

Price: Both brands have vari-ous styles that price at a cer-tain range. The classic Super-break Backpack from Jansport is priced at $38. Other bags made by Jansport are gener-ally within low price ranges. Meanwhile, the classic Heri-tage Backpack by Herschel is priced at $55. Additionally, some of their backpacks can price up to $170. Jansport proves to be the more afford-able option in comparison to Herschel.

Warranty: Jansport offers free shipping for all orders and a lifetime warranty for purchase of bags. Herschel, on the oth-er hand, can only replace or fix bags if there are immediate defects within a year time-frame of purchase.

Jansport vs. Herschel Backpacks

BY STEPHANIE MACH

Stephanie Mach Photo

Lifestyle & Fashion

Lifestyle & FashionHow Technology

Affects Our Stress Levels

BY ALEX CHAN andSAURAV HOSSAIN From computers to handheld devices,dependence on technology has heightened significantly; the use of tech-nology almost as essential as the air we breathe in. Many stu-dents responded to how tech-nology has affected their lives.

Meiqe He ‘18 said, “I’m de-pendent upon technology like computers and my phone, because they aid complet-ing homework and research more easy. This applies to the socializing aspect too.”

Emily Wu ‘18 noted, “I’m very dependent on my phone and computer, but mostly on my phone. It is my con-nection to other people and connection to information that I need. It also serves as a source of entertainment.”

“I’m quite dependent on tech-nology due to the fact that it makes any task simpler and less of a hassle to deal with. For ex-ample, having a phone allows one to talk to another instead of going to talk to them in per-son” said Rashidul Islam ‘17.

Technology, al-though it is used by many, isn’t quite acknowledged as a key stressor. Technology is credited as one of the biggest reasons for stress. It leads to massive procrastination and prolonged distraction.

“Technology causes stress when I’m playing games too much. I am unaware of the time and therefore I forget about my homework” said Meiqe.

“Although it is great, technol-ogy can induce stress, partic-ularly in terms of socializing. With a phone in almost ev-eryone’s pocket, one would be expected to keep connected to everyone” stated Rashidul.

So we’ve seen how de-pending on technology can induce stress, but what about the other side of the story? Technology can relieve stress in certain situations. For ex-ample, social media, which plays a large part of everyone’s day offers many benefits. It al-lows us to communicate with friends and share our many qualms. Social networks such as Facebook or YouTube serve as sources of aid. The inter-dependent social networking community always has ad-vice to offer. There are other technologies that allow us to release stress. Photographers find joy in taking photos and reminiscing through shots.

Arseniy Dmitriev ’17 noted, “When I lift the camera to my eye, it’s just me and the frame, and it’s like I transport my-self into another world with every photo.” Others are pas-sionate about the way certain mechanisms function such as the airplanes. Use of tech-nology may reduce the us-er’s stress levels. Technology has affected everyone’s lives both negatively and positively.

“Technology… is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.” -Carrie Snow

19

Someone once said, “Good shoes take you good places.” In modern society, this couldn’t be any more true. Shoes have evolved be-yond protection and comfort. They vary in style and cost, and there are many aspects to consider while buying a pair of shoes. Are the shoes comfortable? Will they match your outfits? Of course there are a myriad of options out there, but what if you are trying to choose between two very similar brands? Most people find Converse and Vans comparable. Converse shoes were created by Marquis Mills Converse in Massachusetts. It was originally meant to mim-ic galoshes which protect real shoes underneath. Then, they made sneakers designed for playing basketball which were called “All Stars”, promoted by Chuck Taylor. However, people choose to wear them casually. Today, over 60% of the country either owns a pair of Converse, or once owned a pair in the past. Ayla ’18, a supporter of Converse, notes

Converse vs. VansBY LOBSANG DOLMA

that, “Vans are the wannabe Converse.” imageVans was opened by Paul Van Doren and three other partners in California. The Vans compa-ny started production later than Converse. Most of the people who wore Vans were skateboarders. Around the 1980s, they started expanding their company and created shoes for more sports. This shoe soon became competi-tive with Converse. Sidratul Muntaha ’18 said “I like the style of Vans and for me, they’re more comfortable. Also I think there is a wider variety of styles available for Vans. Converse has different colors but same style most of the time.” Both Converse and Vans offer customization on their websites. Vans also offer customizable hats and bags on the website. Typically, Converse shoes costs more than Vans shoes due to the iconic Chuck Taylor signa-ture. Both shoes have solid and neutral shades which go with many ensembles. Many people find that they particu-

larly look nice with shorts or skirts. It is quite easy to say that there will continue to be people sporting both Con-verse and Vans. No matter the logos or price of either one, the decision to choose the favored brand ultimately depends on the individual. Some people have no pref-erence and like both brands. Simran Ghotra ’18 noted, “The similarities between the two are abundant, and both are seen as a classic tie to-gether for most casual outfit and some dressy ones. Both shoes have all that are in a good shoe, from versatile use, to good reputation with the fashion world and compa-nies, even stretching to each having a sturdy structure, making the shoe a practical, often easily purchasable and modern-day, forever trendy necessity in closets.” Even if you don’t like these particu-lar shoes, it is important to find any good pair of shoes to make memories in.

“I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes.”- Oprah Winfrey

Lobsang Dolma Photos

Saurav Hossain Photo

Lifestyle & Fashion

20

Do You Have Trouble

Going to Sleep?

What better time than 1:32am to write about a tremendous Tech prob-lem: insomnia. Actually, all high school and college stu-dents face insomnia. Insom-nia, caused by stress, work, overload, and various ori-gins lead to the same con-sequences, a large popu-lation of students with an insufficient amount of sleep.“I get about 5 to 6 hours of sleep every night,” not-ed Horace Wan’ 18.Insight from a tech student that graduated and is now attend-ing college reveals that the lack of sleep continues to increase.Nizoom Khan’15 said, “My sleeping schedule is very spontaneous, but I would say it’s between 5-7 hours.” Very common reme-dies for this problem are caf-feine rich beverages such as energy drinks. Drinks include Red Bull and cups of coffee are abundant among students. Al-though they are seemingly ef-fective, its remedies do noth-ing but energize students with a minuscule amount of time. The large amount of sugar leads to a huge crash later in the day. Its long term effects are fatigue, inability to focus, poor memory, low motivation and fluctuations in energy levels. Now the obvious solu-tion is to sleep more; how-ever, there are many exten-uating circumstances. Is it possible for one sleep with four tests in a day or complete piles of homework stacked on their desk? Well there are various ways to accomplish

such tasks with some that are very beneficial and oth-ers that are not as auspicious.

“When I am feeling tired from not sleeping enough I splash my face with cold wa-ter or cause sharp pain to my-self,” stated Johnny Guo’18.“I try to cope with the lack of sleep by drinking as much water as I can, wetting my face and eyes with cold wa-ter. Sometimes I’ll try to slip in naps between class-es or tasks” said Nizoom. If homework and tests are keeping you up late at night, take a breather. During your free time, free writing, lis-tening to music or even read-ing a book can improve the quality of sleep. These activ-ities release anxiety, which in turn eases the mind and body. Practicing these techniques not only will allow pleasur-able way to enter sleep, but allow better focus in school and better grades as well.

How does technology affect your stress?

Vote at http://surveybths.com/2015/10/do-you -have- t rouble -going- to -

sleep/

BY SAURAV HOSSAIN • Gratitude. Being grateful is the first step to becom-ing happier. Being thankful puts every-thing into perspective. Start off the day by reminding yourself what you are grateful for and you won’t think about the things that you believe that you lack. You will also feel more gracious when you are kind to others and give back to the community. Remember that gratitude is a choice.

• Don’t compare yourself to others. It is great to be challenged to do your best when motivated by your fellow students. However, comparing yourself to oth-ers causes unnecessary feelings of envy and sadness. Instead, find inspiration in others. Social media can cause a lot of the anxiety and can be depressing when you feel like you are missing out. Try to cut life things that cause negative feelings out of your life.

• Avoid complaining. It’s easy to complain and most of the time we don’t realize that we are complaining. Complaining to our friends about grades and homework has become a ritual. All the complaining can be detrimental and harmful to our bodies. The constant negative energy has no benefits because complaining solves nothing.

• Be Optimistic. Even if nothing is going your way, try to think of positive things that will happen.

How to Become a Happier Person

Life is full of ups and downs and there is always something good that will result from something bad. It’s easy to be pessi-mistic and expect the worst. Don’t get dis-appointed, but challenge yourself to look on the bright side.

• Try new things and get out of your comfort zone. Find something you enjoy doing and continue to challenge yourself. Challenging yourself will push yourself to adapt and to find new ways to solve problems. If you don’t challenge yours, you will find yourself in a dull routine that you repeat without a purpose.

• Stop being so hard on yourself. The first steps to becoming a happier person is feeling good about yourself. It’s okay to have high standards for yourself, but don’t be too hard on yourself when you do make mistakes because you can be your worst critic.

• Happiness is not the same for everyone. Everyone has something that makes them happy. Students in Tech have various things that make them happy. Ivy Zhang ’17 said that “dessert makes her happy” and Angela Xie ’18 said that it makes her happy “when people laugh at her jokes”. It’s im-portant to find that thing that brings you joy. Make collages about things that make you happy. Listen to music that makes you happy. Read inspirational quotes, blogs, and books. Most importantly, surround yourself with positivity.

(continued from Front Page)

“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down” -Charles Chaplin

Bing Chen Photo

Jeffrey Zhong Photo

NBA’s Best of the Best: Top Ten Player RankingsThe NBA season has just kicked off and fans are already out of their seats. Night after night, players are showing off their versatility and their flashy moves. What better way is there to start off the season with a fresh set of player rankings!

1. Stephen Curry

Averaging 33 points per game, Steph Curry is a scoring machine. The reigning MVP, an

all-around great point guard and an inhuman player from beyond the arc. Curry has been

better than ever as of late, and is undoubtedly the best shooter in the league or even through-

out history.

2. Lebron James

Lebron James is one of the best players defen-sively and offensively, and for many may be

considered the best NBA player as of now. He put Cleveland on the chip on his shoulder last year as he carried multiple games, but rounded up losing to the Warriors in 6 games. His abili-ty of carrying a game is outstanding which eas-ily puts him in the top 2. Averaging 27 points per game along 8 rebounds per game, Lebron

James is a statistical machine.

Kevin Durant is one of the best scorers in the league alongside Curry, but has unfortunately been set back because of his injury. Nonethe-

less, he is playing superbly, going 45% from the 3 point range which is his best so far.

3. Kevin Durant

4. Anthony Davis

Averaging the most blocks (2.4 bpg) in the NBA for the second consecutive year, Anthony Davis is the best power forward there is right now- “Fear the Brow.” This is only the begin-ning for him, as I feel the only thing holding

him back is his team.

5. Russel Westbrook

Despite contrary belief claiming that he and Kevin Durant on the same team doesn’t work,

that doesn’t take away from him being one of the most athletic and explosive basketball

players today. His offensive ability and energy brings nothing but positivity for the team.

Sports

6. Chris Paul

Chris Paul is probably what a true point guard should look like, as his synergy

with Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan highlights his unselfishness. Racking up 8 assists per game, he can play both ends of the floor and has decent shooting abilities

alongside his passing.

7. James Harden

Harden is a dynamic play maker, and can create space on the floor with ease. He

is great at drawing contact, and can be a one man scoring machine provided that

he was 2nd in scoring last year. It’s his turnover game that he needs to work on.

8. Blake Griffin

Griffin is a vital player on the Clippers, with his ability to not only dunk fero-ciously but also shoot from the mid-

range. He has even begun to shoot more threes, becoming a more versatile player. He is improving massively, with a whop-ping 55% field goal percentage, and an average of 9 rebounds per game so far

this season.

9. Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol has become key to the Mem-phis Grizzlies, as his defensive as well as offensive capabilities are unmatched by most centers. Currently averaging 16

points, he is going to be a major factor in the Grizzlies performance this year.

10. John Wall

Wall is one of the best point guards in the league, despite coming off a slow start to his career. Ranking second in assists last season with 10 per game, Wall is great at creating space for his teammates, and is also very effective on the defensive end.

21

BY AMAN KAIYUM

Creative Commons Photo

basketball player through-out the years, but the lack of teamwork among the Knicks could torpedo their victory.With new additions to the team such as the 7’2” Latvian rookie, Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks have improved in re-bounding and defending, but I highly doubt that the Kicks will secure a championship any time soon.

22

Boys’ Badminton: Season in Review This year marked great strides made by the Boys Varsity Badminton team. Although the team put up a fight against Stuyvesant High School in the quarterfi-nals, they were sadly beaten, but came back home with pride and dignity. The Boys Varsity Bad-minton team was the second seed in the South Division with an outstanding record of 10-2. The team’s only two losses came when they played against Franklin D. Roosevelt High School twice. Hopefully,

that can be changed in the upcoming spring season. One of team’s most dominant wins came on October 14 when they played against regional rival, John Dewey High School. Here, the team played against an-other strong team who had an above .500 record. Tech was dominant throughout the game and ended up winning 5-0. It was a remarkable tri-umph for the team. The team also played very well against another regional rival, James Madi-

BY TAHMID AHMED

If one were to ask a fanatic sports fan what he/she does for a hobby, that fan most likely would say “Daily Fantasy Sports.” Daily Fantasy Sports is basically where enthusiastic sports fans are able to compete with other sports fans through the means of online compe-tition. Players contend with each other by building a ros-ter of professional athletes and earn points based on the sta-tistical performances of their athletes in live-action games. However, in Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), entire seasons are accelerated which usually lasts for a single day or for a week. This is because players can receive some sort of profit from this. Players usually have to pay an entry fee to partic-ipate and build their team

Huge Blows for Daily Fantasy Sports while also managing a salary cap for their team. Thus, priz-es and other rewards are usu-ally funded by these entry fees. DFS has become in-creasingly popular in the last few years that two of the DFS services, Fanduel and Draft-kings, are at a gross product of a billion dollars. These sites have become so apparent that according to Wired, “Fandu-el and Draftkings air an ad on TV every ninety seconds.” Not only do these sites adver-tise themselves continuously on TV, but they are making agreements with many TV providers. In fact, Draftkings and ESPN have just made a $250 million agreement. Although, Daily Fan-tasy Sports seems intriguing to many companies and fans, many in the public are argu-

son High School. Here, they played another strong team in their division. Fortunate-ly, the Brooklyn Tech’s Boys’ Varsity Team was once again preeminent, winning 4 to 1. As the regular season concluded, the Boys Varsity Badminton team was able to make it to the NYC Playoffs. They progressed all the way to the quarterfinals where they would lose to Stuyvesant High School, 3-2. The score was very close in that the Brooklyn Tech team had only lost by one match. Brooklyn

Tech’s most notable match wins came from both of their Single Matches. Here, Jun Hui Lin won both Sets 1 & 2 consecutively with a score of 21 in each set. Mitchell Liang also played exceptionally in Match 1 with a score of 20, 21, and 15, defeating his op-ponent. Brian Law, an athlete on the Boys Varsity Badmin-ton Team, offered some of his thoughts. He said, “If you know you tried your best but you still lost, it’s alright; just win next time.” The loss in the

quarterfinals can be looked as an inspiration for the team to do better in the upcoming spring season. The team has figured out its strengths and weaknesses and will hopeful-ly use what they have learned this season to perform even better in the spring. All in all, it has been a terrific season for the Boys Varsity Badminton team and hopefully the spring season will even bring out more pos-itive results.

ing that it is a form of gam-bling and thus should be ille-gal. The debate has brought so much attention that New York State attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, filed a lawsuit against Fanduel and Draft-kings to stop functioning, implying that both sites are gambling and are violating the U.S. Constitution. He believes that DFS is just “sports bet-ting.” NFL Hall of Famer, Joe Namath, had similar thoughts. He said, “If you have to pay anything to play and if you win something, it’s gambling.” In order to combat this argument, both CFO of Fanduel, Matt King, and CEO of Draftkings, Jason Robbins, say that DFS isn’t gambling but a form of entertainment. Both are implying that it is not illegal and many states

excluding Nevada have al-ready allowed DFS permissi-ble. Jin Qiu, ’18 offers some of his thoughts, saying, “DFS shouldn’t be illegal because it’s just another type of game.” But what has left many in dismay is that a slim per-centage of competitors actu-ally win money. According to ESPN’s Outside The Lines, “91% of the profits won were by the top 1.3% of the play-ers while 85% of the play-ers were losers.” In addition, those who won were believed to have won because they are “skilled in statistics.” These astonishing percentages de-pict the unequal distribution of prizes among competitors as well as unfair competition. Unfortunately for Draftkings and Fanduel, is that New York has recently ruled

DFS as illegal gambling. This is a critical turning point in both sites because New York is the home of marketing and losing New York is a huge blow for both companies. In addition, now that New York and Neva-da are among the first to rule DFS as illegal gambling, many DFS companies are worrying if this domino effect will con-tinue to spread to other states. As of now, certain precautions must be taken by both of these companies in that prizes are distributed more evenly because without DFS, watching sports would be less thrilling and “dream teams” of many beloved sports fans would be destroyed.

BY TAHMID AHMED

After a disappointing season this year, many New York Knicks fans were left in dismay at what was evident to be game after game of horren-dous performances. With key additions to their roster, including Aaron Afflalo, Robin Lopez, and Derrick Williams, do the Knicks have any hopes of making the playoffs this year? The situation seems to be looking up for the Knicks, as they’ve started off the presea-son with a statement of going

4-0. Although the team did perform

well despite having its star players Carmelo Anthony and Robin Lopez sitting out, the Kicks ended up losing in a narrow defeat to Charlotte. Thus, the bigger question is how will the Knicks stack up against other teams during the regular season? Judging from how the Knicks have been play-ing so far, I’d say that they’re definitely putting up a fight. It’s tough to say what their chances are of making the playoffs due to the strong competition presented in the western conference. Last

year, the Knicks allowed 101.2 points per game, but only scored 91.9 points of those points. Despite the poor turn-out from last year, the Knicks seem to be more capable this year and may manage to

make it into the 8th seed to secure a playoff spot. After going 17-65 last year, their performance has certainly lowered many people’s ex-pectations for them this year, but I feel that they will pull through and be the team to see at MSG. According to the New York Post, Carmelo Anthony feels like this will be a big year for him and the Knicks While I agree that Anthony will perform well, I have less faith in how the Knicks will per-form as a team. Anthony has proven himself as a skilled

“I think that the Knicks will surely perform

better this year since you really can’t get any worse than being the

29th seed.” -Michael Moy ’18

Bold Predictions for the Knicks this Upcoming 2016 NBA SeasonBY AMAN KAIYUM

Sports

Sports

23

Tech’s Wrestling Team Makes Great Strides Although Tech’s Wres-tling season has recently be-gun, there are many positive expectations for their up-coming games. The team has played three tournaments thus far and has performed exceptionally in each one. Coach Flanagan says, “We are a young, talented team with veteran experience, hoping to win championships and medals.” Indeed, many of the team’s members are re-turning which will not only make the team stronger, but will benefit the newcomers. December 5th marked the first of Tech’s tournaments. Brooklyn Tech Wrestling had amazing performances in their first two tournaments they participated in: the Car-dozo Tournament and the Xaverian Clipper Classic. The Xaverian Clipper Classic was the season opening wrestling tournament in which 15 mem-bers of Tech Wrestling were placed winners and 8 of them finished with either a gold, sil-ver or bronze medal. Five of the medal winners were two juniors, two seniors and one

sophomore. Sophomore Mat-thew Mina wrestled at 113 lbs and took home a silver medal while Juniors Anthony Fer-rara and Calvin Chau each finished with a bronze med-al. Juniors Chris Panagakos and Senior Fernando Gonza-lez were also awarded silver medals. In addition, Junior Murad Ramazanov won the gold medal and was named “Most Outstanding Wrestler.” The night before the tournament, Senior Hen-ry Kamornik wrestled Ju-nior Julian Silverio, both of whom had received gold medals in the Clipper Clas-sic. On the same day in the Cardozo Tournament, Tech had two finalists in which Gabriel Rios won the gold medal at 160 lbs and Ricardo Cortes won silver at 120 lbs. Jason Sabatelle ’16 says, “Even though our season has just started, I’m very confident that we will take back the title this year. We have put in work all summer, and I believe we have what it takes to win it all.” The team has huge ex-pectations, but they are

toiling down in practice everyday, hoping the most pos-itive results for tournaments. On December 11th, Tech also finished strong in which they finished 1st in a quad meet with Brooklyn International, Murry Berg-traum, and Erasmus Hall. An-thony Ferrara ’16, who was a winner of a match, says, “I did what I had to do to win.” Once again, on De-cember 12th, Tech finished remarkably in which they were placed third in the North Babylon Tournament. Mazid-ul Ahmed ’18 says, “The team has been working hard re-cently and I feel that we’ll do great this year. We have been practicing everyday, and I am confident in our team’s abil-ity.” Tech’s Wrestling Team has a history of great seasons and triumphs, and preparing constantly this year will sure-ly help the team in the future. So far, the season is looking extremely well and hopefully there will be more wins and medals to count.

Jessie Xiao and Aleksandr Kamornik Photos

BY ALEXANDER LEON

Skye An

Christopher Sprycha

Benjamin Trinh

Choudhury Rahman

Abbas Ramadani

Amanda Woo

Tahmid Ahmed

Joselle Dizon

Jasmin Wang

Brandon Wood

Jessica PeesOlena Nazarenko

Ms. Filippelli

Ms. Ambrose

Mr. Asher

The season for Ju-nior Varsity Basketball is coming up, and many peo-ple are anxious to see how they will perform. After go-ing 4-8 last year, what are their plans for improvement this year? Tad Ye’ 18 offers his thoughts on his team. He says, “Everyone is getting to know each other better, and I feel confident about our team. I think it will be a great season and I’m looking forward to it.” In order to prepare, the team has been doing various drills during practice. They run, go over plays, and overall get a chance to build chemis-try. With the season kicking off in December, there isn’t much time left before the first game. Last season, Brook-lyn Tech Junior Varsity was the fifth seed in the Brook-lyn II division. I feel that they can definitely do better this year with new additions to the team and more chemis-try among the players. In ad-dition, the experience from returning players can be very beneficial for the team. The Tech team was amazing during the 2013-2014 year as they went 11-1. This can defi-nitely be achieved again with enough practice and effort by

the players as a team. During the

SportsGirls’ Volleyball Team Wins Championship

Brooklyn Tech’s Girls Volleyball Team finished their season on Tuesday, November 24, with their final game at the PSAL Girls’ Volleyball Divi-sion A championships held in Long Island University. Unde-feated in the regular season, the team was placed in the 1st seed as they entered the play-offs 10-0. Because Tech was placed in one of the first four seeds, they were awarded a bye for the first round. They won their first playoff game against 16th seed Bayside 25-14, 25-13 on November 12th. They moved on to beat 8th seed

Bronx Science in quarterfinals match with a final score of 25-17, 26-24 on November 18th. On November 22, the team played its semi-final game at York College against 4th seed team Hunter High School in which the Engineers sealed the game with a 25-11, 25-14 win. With this win, the group advanced to their final match at LIU Brooklyn against re-gional rival, Midwood. The team won against the 2nd seed team 25-22, 25-21. The match was so anticipated that it was even broadcast-ed over the NFHS Network.

24

BY ALEXANDER LEON

Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball warms up for the

upcoming season

~-•-~ The Survey Staff ~-•-~

The Girls Varsity Vol-leyball Team has also been seen in a different light in which they engaged in some chari-table work before the season, hosting its first annual Cloth-ing Drive for several orphan-ages in Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe. They were visited by Captain Sasha Kiosse from Moldova who assisted in the collections which ran from June 12th through June 25th. The team not only has won the champi-onship, but the hearts of many. The team has also become champions in the

Cardozo tournament for the second consecutive year. Victoria Plonski was named the All-Tournament Player and Chellsa Ferdinand was awarded MVP. The team was a finalist in Brooklyn’s Best Tournament as they beat Poly Prep in the semifinals, and went undefeated as they won first place in the Francis Lewis Tournament. Victoria Plonski was named Tourna-ment MVP, and Cody Fung an All Tournament Player. The team also placed first in the Seward Park Tournament where Victoria Plonski and

Cody Fung were, once again, named the Tournament MVP and an All Tournament Play-er, respectively. Senior Jane Lynn finished the season with 35 aces and Senior Victoria Plonski finished with 32 aces. Congratulations to Coach D’Augusta, Coach Gigliello and the Varsity Girls Volley-ball Team for their success.

2014-2015 season, one of their best wins came from their up-heaving defeat against Bush-wick Campus with a score of 48-46. Here, they outplayed a team ranked a higher seed than they were. This signifies the vast improvement of the JV team from the beginning of the season to the nearing end of the season. Unfortunately, the JV team would not make the playoffs, but hopefully, that can be changed this year. Freedom Yao’ 18, another member of the team shows his hype for the upcoming season. He says, “It’s going to be a fire season with many W’s.” December 15 marks the first game of the new BTHS JV Basketball team where they will play against newcom-ers, Prospect Heights Cam-pus. Hopefully, BTHS will get its first win of the season. As of now, the team hasn’t played any official games yet, so it’s unsafe to jump to conclusions. Howev-er, that doesn’t take away the goals and motives from the team. Although, December is coming closer, the team is toiling in practice to get fit for the season. Let us all hope nothing but the best for the upcoming 2015-1016 season.

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