Author: jhamlin

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2017-2018 Archives Features students

Word From the Real World: Joy Hamlin

Hi all.  This was surprisingly hard for me to write, mostly because I couldn’t think of anything I could say that would be memorable.  So I didn’t bother.  I don’t expect I’ll say anything in this column that you haven’t heard a thousand times already, but I’ll try my best.

Living on campus in college is extremely different from high school, especially a high school as small as BSGE.  You have a world of choices in picking your own classes, there isn’t a clear separation of school time and home time, and you’re far more responsible for taking care of yourself than ever before.  Personally, I found it liberating.  At Stony Brook, I got to get away from my family and be myself.  I was finally able to take a physics class, though some of you lucky students got to do that at BSGE now.  I performed in a short theater piece and was stage crew for a much longer one, fumbling blindly on a pitch black stage trying to move giant flats into place.

One thing I didn’t do, though, was try to join Stony Brook’s student newspaper The Statesman in any capacity.  Editing for The BaccRag is an experience I’m very glad I had, but one I have no desire to repeat.  I originally joined in 8th grade because my father insisted I wasn’t busy enough and so I needed to join another club, and as time passed I kept going.  Eventually I became an editor, as much because I was one of two seniors participating as because it was something I had a positive desire for.  It was very interesting, trying to manage a fleet of young writers to produce decent writing in a reasonable timeframe, but that experience was vastly different than anything I would have done with The Statesman.  Besides, this way I got to focus my time on extracurriculars that BSGE doesn’t have, like theater.

I suppose the advice I have to give is to use college to seek out new experiences.  Most of what made my first year as great as it was were the parts I couldn’t get at BSGE or ever before.  Use college to its fullest.  Do things you’ve thought about for a while but never tried.  Or at least, that’s what worked for me.

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2016-2017 Archives BSGE by Lalla A '20 News

BSGE’S Lack of High School Ranking

The U.S. News and World Report annually publishes a list of the nation’s, and each state’s, top high schools. For the past few years, BSGE has ranked among the top ten high schools in the state, and among the top 50 in the country. Last year the school was placed at #5 in New York, and #32 nationwide, ranking above Bronx Science and Stuyvesant, among others. This year though, BSGE was not listed among the top ten, or even the top 50 in the state, but rather has lost its high ranking.

This is because of “the lack of IB data,” as stated by the U.S. News and World Report. This year, the newspaper was unable to receive data from the IB, dramatically dropping the school’s rank. As the school is based of the IB program, there was very little data for the newspaper to base the school off of. The most that was gathered was the general statistics, such as number of students and their ethnicities, as well as standardized math and English test scores. There was no mention of the fact that most of the students take IB  exams, which is necessary for an important statistic known as the “college readiness index.” This means BSGE now has a bronze medal with no official ranking, besides being “nationally recognized.”

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2016-2017 Archives by Janielle D '19 Culture Entertainment and Culture

What Do You Meme?

Memes: there is no escaping them. From the Instagram explore page and Twitter relatable accounts to company marketing advertisements and BSGE bake sale posters, memes are used to reach a wide audience, with purposes including entertainment and advertising. While the iconic Pepe and Kermit the Frog memes made their viral Internet debut in the 2010s, memes have been around since the 1940s, connecting people around the world.

The word “meme” was first coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins, who described it as “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” Under Dawkins, memes were analogous to genes and were considered a “unit of culture” that reproduces itself. Inspired from Dawkins, the study of memes, known as memetics, arose to act as an evolutionary model of the transferring of information within cultures. Despite its scientific beginnings, memes have taken a different route that most people can understand.

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2016-2017 Archives by Rachel R Z '20 Faculty Features

Teacher of the Month: Ed March

Where did you grow up?

I was raised in Brooklyn, New York.

What was your previous job?

My last job was working as loss prevention for Prada in a mall.

What kind of student were you in high school?

I was kind of this odd under-achiever; I could’ve done better, but besides that, I did pretty well.

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2016-2017 Archives by Krista P '22 Features students

How to Make Something of Your Free Time

Free time. Those are words some haven’t heard in a long while, yet don’t realize when they experience it. Therefore, when students get any amount at all of time with almost nothing to worry about, tests or homework, they can just relax. But this leads to frequent boredom, staring at phones, debating whether or not to like a photo from 56 weeks ago.  There has to be a better way to spend the time.

Since free time is so rare, few know how to spend it. Spending free time wisely is meant to give a sense of accomplishment and contentedness with yourself.

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2016-2017 Archives by Mrittika H '20 Entertainment and Culture Food

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds strawberries; squished and jammed
  • 5 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • Whipped Cream
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2016-2017 Archives BSGE by Jacqueline C '20 Features News students

The Flapjack Fundraiser: Making More Than Just Profits

The Flapjack Fundraiser is an annual occurrence at BSGE that not only supports the school’s softball team, but also unifies the school community. This year it was “extremely successful,” according to team member Anela Salkanovic ‘20. The fundraiser provided the softball team with enough money to buy new jerseys and prepare for the upcoming season. It also gave them a chance to celebrate with teachers, parents, and other students in anticipation of their future victories.

The ticket sales are always the biggest producers of the team’s funds, but not the sole basis for the fundraiser’s success. Emily Costa ‘17, one of the team’s captains, explained that “raffles were a big deal” because they profited the team several hundred dollars. She continued, saying that these gains were one of the factors making the fundraiser “at least as good as last year’s…if not better.”

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2016-2017 Archives BSGE by Rakiba S '22 Clubs/Activities News Student Life

The Blood Drive of 2017

With the motto of, “Donate blood now…people can’t live without it,” plastered on posters across the school, some may wonder what exactly went on at the blood drive. This blood drive was sponsored by the Helping Hands Committee, meaning that the general group of people in Helping Hands sponsored the blood drive rather than any specific committee. Peter Wilson, the advisor of Helping Hands, was the one who facilitated the blood drive on the day of. This blood drive was the first blood drive of 2017 and was hosted in partnership with the New York Blood Center. On March 17, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM, a bus known as the bloodmobile was available with staff, donor beds, and refreshments to ease the process. Helping Hands’ was to collect at least 35 pints of blood for New York City hospitals and other medical facilities to use.

Approximately 45 appointments were made BSGE students, despite the cold weather on the day of the blood drive. However, of those 45 appointments, only 25 were accepted. Despite how enthusiastic students in BSGE were to donate blood, factors including blood type, blood iron level, weight,  height, and countries recently visited affected whether or not one would be accepted to donate blood. Peter mentioned that during the dozen years Helping Hands had sponsored the blood drive, around 65 people would sign up during warm weather, but of those, about one-third to one-half would be rejected.

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2016-2017 Archives by Novaleen A '20 Entertainment and Culture Movies/T.V.

Top Anime of 2016

Anime, or Japanese animation, come in various genres, just as American TV does. It is prominent in today’s society and is very frequently talked about. In BSGE, there are many anime lovers, introduced to it for various reasons. Kai Wahlin ‘22 is “partly Japanese, so Anime is cool.” Aayman Abdellatif ‘18 says, “I grew up watching popular anime like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Shaman King, etc so my love for anime grew to include less mainstream anime such as Akuma No Riddle, Baka to Test, [and] Erased”. BSGE students were asked about their favorite anime of 2016, with many responses from different genres.

yuri on iceYuri!!! On Ice  is a sports anime produced by MAPPA, directed by Sayo Yamamoto, and written by Mitsuro Kubo. It is about figure skating, in which the 23 year old Yuri Katsuki faces a major defeat in the Grand Prix Final. He begins to believe that his career as a skater is coming to a close. Until, a video of him performing a routine of the Russian five-time world champ- Viktor Nikiforov goes viral. Viktor comes to Japan out of nowhere to become Yuri’s coach. Stupefied, Yuri accepts his idol’s offer, beginning to train for the Grand Prix Finals. 

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2016-2017 Archives by Lalla A '20 Entertainment and Culture Food Health

The Reality of School Lunch

Every day, students at BSGE line up, wondering what’s for lunch. Some days it’s chicken, hamburgers or mozzarella sticks. In any case, there is a general consensus that the quality of the food is low, with it being at times undercooked, stale, or even frozen chocolate milk. It’s not just in BSGE though. Schools across the city have students complaining about food quality and the the fact that it can be greatly improved.

The official school food website states, regarding the meals for NYC schools, “nutrition standards always meet, and many times exceed, USDA Nutrition Standards for School Meals.” While this claim may appear impressive to some, the standards are do little to focus on serving food that students are willing to eat. For example, the USDA states that schools should “offer fruits and vegetables as two separate meal components.” This does not discuss what may be done to improve them or make sure that the food served tastes good. Furthermore, there have also been claims from students in NYC that they had found pieces of metal in the chicken tenders, according to CBS news. This report was made recently last month, with the city now removing the option from lunch. Other students have reported moldy pizza and choked on bones where they shouldn’t have been, CBS news continues.

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2016-2017 Archives by Katherine Y '22 Opinion students

Dealing With the Crowded Hallways and Stairways

Imagine needing to reach your next class in a hurry and getting delayed because the stairways and hallways are crowded with students who are all on the wrong side. A BSGE student has to deal with this problem in between almost every pair of class periods. Sometimes, people even get delayed because others are cutting them off or running in front of them. Two common ways to deal with this problem are brushing off these people or cursing them out. Which option is used more often and which one is better?

Numerous people believe brushing people off would be the best option. However, some people admit they curse others out. Samin Chowdhury ‘22 admits that he curses people out an extensive amount. But, cursing is a natural thing to do. Humans can’t really control their mouth in a rush or a bad mood. However, if you curse too loudly, just hope that there aren’t any administrators around you. If you have trouble holding back your swears, try using words to replace them. “Try saying flipping chicken licker to replace the F word,” suggests Liam Costello ‘22.  Wei Wei ’19 presented the alternative of sticking to a basic replacement such as “Frick”.

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2016-2017 Archives by Lalla A '20 Clubs/Activities Student Life

The Civic Discussion Club

We live in a time of great change. Faster than anyone thought possible, society has been evolving to better suit today’s modern culture. Every day, a new topic is brought to the table along with the controversy surrounding it. Issues such as LGBTQ rights, woman’s rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, abortion, and health care never seem to be too far away. The wars and conflicts in the Middle East are becoming more and more apparent in BSGE students’ everyday lives. Technology has been advancing beyond a level people can easily comprehend, while lives become more reliant on it, as well as new threats such as global warming now loom over humanity. There has never been a time when society has more rapidly been changing than right now. It’s hard to fully comprehend everything that’s been occurring, especially since the news spits out one thing after another. There barely is any time to discuss and fully think about what is happening. This is the reason Daniel Sahr ’20 has created the Civic Debate Club, “so students can learn about current events and issues.”

The club was created after he experienced a series of political discussions with friends and classmates. It has, Daniel said, “the ultimate goal of preparing the members to be able to formulate opinions and ideas based on information and facts, and work with other people to find effective ways of presenting.” Especially with the recent changes facing the country, the club serves as a way for people to become more “politically active in forming and defending opinions.” According to Olivia Wegrowski 20’, the club has “helped me see people’s viewpoints on significant issues we have and opened my eyes to those issues as well.”

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