is it time for a curfew?

FAREWELL TO DEAN MAIMON...GOOD LUCK OUT WEST
Poetry
Page 10
Editorials
Page 6
Queens College Summer Journalism Workshop For Minority High School Students
Cuts
Page 3
July 1996
IS IT TIME FOR A CURFEW?
By
Allison Chin and Doris Eng
Imagine a 16-year-old walking
down Main Street on a Sunday
evening, as a voice shouts, “Freeze!”
The teen is not arrested but, has to
perform 25 hours of community service.
This could happen to many teens in
New York City if the curfew
bill is passed.
This recently
proposed bill would ban
kids under 18 years of age
from city streets after 10
p.m. on weekdays and 11
p.m. on weekends.
Violators would have to do
25 hours of community
service for the first offense
and 50 hours for each
additional offense.
Further, the offender’s
parents would have to pay
a $75 fine and a $250 fine
for the next time.
While some
legislators support this bill
because of fear of crime,
there are other legislators
and civil rights advocates
who believe this is
detrimental to teens.
With all the
conflicting views that
arise, a teen curfew raises
issues of legality, ease of
enforcement, and ability to
comply.
One rights
advocate is Director of the
New York Civil Liberties
Union Norman Siegel, who
believes that teen curfews
“...are unjustifiable
government intrusions on
the rights of young
people...These laws penalize
normal...and otherwise lawful
behavior...They penalize all of the
young people because of the misdeeds
of a few.”
Likewise, Laura Cohen, the
Deputy Director of Training in the
Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal
Aid Society, said that the curfew poses
a “...constitutional problem of denying
equal protection of laws. [Crime is on
the decline] even in New York City
without the curfew.”
Councilwoman Julia Harrison,
a Democrat of Queens said, “I’m not
favorably inclined [to the teen curfew]
because it can’t be enforced.”
Harrison said that when her kids were
growing up, she told them to be home
at a certain time and they came home.
“I think it’s a parental to child relationship,” said Harrison.
Sheldon Leffler (D-Hollis),
Chairman of the Council’s Public Safety
Committee, does not think the curfew
hearing. Leffler feels that the curfew’s
purpose is to protect teens from being
victimized.
On the other hand Minority
Leader Councilman Thomas Ognibene
(R-Middle Village), who proposed the
curfew, perceives that it would be
suitable for teenagers because it would
encourage them to “read a book” and
“spend time with their family.” He also
explained that he felt it was a good idea
for teens to be in their homes, reducing
their risk of being harmed. If this bill is
passed, it would be enacted in four to
six months.
“Juvenile crime increases
significantly at night,” Mr. Ognibene
stated. He also said that the police will
would be good in New York City
because, “There is too much diversity.”
He feels that the law would be difficult
to enforce. “The curfew is worthy of
consideration,” stated Leffler. He
explained that his committee will make
sure the curfew bill is given a fair
not be on the lookout only for curfew
violators. In fact, many of the complaints that he receives are from
neighbors of the area where there are
kids who are noisy.
Addressing whether the
curfew is fair for teens who don’t
commit crimes Mr. Ognibene said, “I’m
not punishing kids.” Instead, he said,
he is protecting them from getting
involved in unlawful activities. “The
streets don’t belong to the kids; they
belong to everybody,” said Ognibene.
As each community will decide
whether or not it will adopt a curfew,
teens and adults alike are voicing their
opinions on this much debated topic.
Bonnie Yuen, 17, of Queens
feels that the curfew “...is a really good
idea because of all of the violence
going on.” Similarly, Nancy Yuen, 33,
believes that the curfew would be
beneficial for New York, “...but it
depends on your age.”
Salome Braganza, 16, of Queens
expressed apprehension
about the age factor
when she said, “I don’t
see why the curfew
should be against
teens.” Stephanie
Braganza, 33, of Queens
considers the curfew to
be a good idea, but feels
that, “Fifty percent will
listen, and 50 percent
won’t listen.”
Courtney Spence, 18,
a college student said,
“It takes away from
teenagers’ freedom and
it’s wrong. So many
kids go out anyway, I
doubt it will be effective.” Courtney feels
that the curfew depends
on the neighborhood.
He compared the
possible curfew law to
the seat belt law
because the police
won’t be able to tell
who’s breaking the law
and it’s not a major crime
committed.
Susan Halley, 17, a
college student, said, “I
don’t like it [the curfew]
personally.” Susan
believes that the curfew
should be for younger
kids, such as 15 and
under, because they are
more susceptible to peer pressure.
However, she does not feel that the 25
hours of community service is too
hard. “I don’t think the punishment is
too hard because teens should
contribute to the community and show
respect,” replied Halley.
2
Single-Parent
Homes, More
Than Doubled
By
Anastacia
Smith
As the 21st century approaches, there continues to be a
tremendous surge in the number of
single-parent households. For the last
20 years, this trend has redefined life
for a significant number of adults and
their children. Despite the reason for
single-parenthood -- many reported
ones are births out of wedlock,
separation, divorce, widowhood, or
incarceration of a mate -- they all face
similar problems such as poverty,
loneliness, and delay of future goals.
A Census Bureau report
showed that, across the nation, the
number of single-parent households
was 30.8 percent in 1994. This was up
from 28 percent in 1990, 22 percent in
1980 and 13 percent in 1970.
What the vast majority of
single parents in New York City have to
out of three single-parents households
headed by a woman, has lived below
the poverty level.
When Trina Brooks, a 25year-old mother of three faced the
incarceration of her mate, poverty
became a major issue in her life also. “I
couldn’t afford the rent after he left so I
was forced to move. I was transferred
from shelter to shelter until I found a
permanent residence.”
Single parents, male or female,
find living the single life with children
very trying. They often feel their lives
are on hold because all that matters
now is their children’s well-being.
Angela Moore, a resident of
Brooklyn, has been a single parent for
17 years. “Being a single mother of
four, I find dating difficult and keeping
up with my finances very distressing. I
became a single parent when I was in
high school. I had to drop out after my
eleventh grade year, but eventually I
got my G.E.D.”
Moore and Brooks are
examples of the many female householders who press pause on the remote
control of life to take care of their
SINGLE-PARENT
HOUSEHOLDS
30.8%
28%
22%
13%
Census Bureau
contend with is poverty. The 1990
Census showed that in New York City
alone there was a combined total of
916,662 single parents, both male and
female. A total of 657,194 of these
single parents, 72 percent or almost
three out of four, lived below the
poverty level.
Jamaine Le’Gare, a 21-year-old
print shop worker, recalls his years
growing up in a single-parent household and facing poverty. “I noticed
that once my parents were separated
there was a definite lack of money. We
had to move to a smaller place because
we couldn’t afford the rent,” said
Le’Gare.
In New York City, women are
particularly prone to becoming single
parents living in poverty. In New York
City alone the 1980 Census showed
that there was a total of 465,995 single
female householders. This number
increased to 508,463 in the 1990
Census. These recorded figures
showed that, over a 10-year period,
more women have become and stayed
single parents. Since 1980, at least one
families. Despite those who lose
patience and give up each year, there
are some who are strong enough to put
up the fight.
Brooks thinks being a single
parent completely puts your life on
hold. “You feel like you’re in this
comfort zone that sends off this signal
informing you that you can’t do
anything because you have kids and
you’re stuck in a rut.”
For a single parent, having
your life “on hold” can mean the
difference between finishing school
and dropping out, providing for your
children and struggling with poverty,
and delaying your future to concentrate on the present.
As the level of singleparenthood grows, those involved are
constantly seek ways to confront their
daily struggles. Said Le’Gare about life
in a single-parent household: “I
personally face a daily struggle with
seeing my mother alone. I work
everyday to help keep food on the
table. I just wish I could help out the
way I really wanted to.”
By
Doris
Eng
It’s the summer and if you’re a
teenager, it’s a chance for you to relax,
watch television and have some fun.
However, some teens use this time to
volunteer in various types of community service. Teens all over New York
City take advantage of their time off to
work at local hospitals, libraries,
nursing homes, day care centers, youth
centers or churches.
Teenagers may choose to
volunteer to gain work experience, to
prepare themselves for college and
because they find volunteering a
rewarding experience. Organizations
that maintain a volunteer staff count on
volunteers for additional help and
support. Some institutions even find
that they have more applicants than
positions.
One of the places where
community service is offered is
Flushing Hospital. Patricia Puliafito,
the Director of Volunteer Services, said
that an average of 50 people volunteer
during the summer, half of which are
young adults. The younger volunteers range in age from 14 to 23.
Puliafito said that a positive
aspect of having volunteers at
Flushing Hospital is, “They bring
additional man power to the hospital,
especially at a time when there’s no
money.” Puliafito said that all of the
volunteers worked without pay.
During the fall, most of the volunteers
are from high schools who usually
work on weekends. Those who
volunteer in the winter usually do not
return to volunteer in the summer.
Compared to previous years,
the number of applications have
increased, but Flushing has more
applicants than available positions.
Two of the things that are reviewed on
an application are the applicant’s career
choices, and his/her reasons for
wanting to volunteer.
Although some advertising is
done to attract potential volunteers,
Puliafito said, “It’s almost not necessary. I think that every one knows that
there are volunteers in the hospitals. I
don’t think that’s a secret.” She also
said that “word of mouth” is their
biggest promoter.
The volunteers at Flushing
Hospital are taken seriously and their
skills are developed through a training
program. They do not immediately
begin working in the hospital. Instead,
they go through an orientation period
which lasts from one to two weeks.
One of the volunteers at Flushing
Hospital, Salome Braganza, 16, of
Queens, has a deep interest in volunteering because, “I like to be helpful to
others. When they appreciate what I
do, I feel better.” Braganza’s volunteering job is also where she is receiving
her first working experience.
Volunteering not only
encompasses the feeling of being
helpful, but of being able to obtain
work experience in a certain field. This
undeniably pertains to Braganza, as
she hopes to one day become a
cardiovascular surgeon.
She decided to volunteer
because she felt that, “When you’re
being paid for a job, not everyone
appreciates what you do because
Giving
Time For
Others
you’re being paid. When you’re a
volunteer, people tend to appreciate
you more because you’re helping
because you want to.”
Another hospital which offers
community service is the New York
Hospital Medical Center of Queens.
Maria Burns, the Director of Volunteer
Services, said that approximately 180
teens volunteer per year. An additional
50 to 60 teens volunteer during the
summer months. The ages of the
younger volunteers range from 14 to 20
and none are paid.
Burns said that the volunteers
“bring that extra special touch.” They
are able to spend more time giving an
individual attention than can a paid
employee.
Eighty percent of the volunteers continue to work at this hospital
and Burns said that this percentage is
consistent from year to year. The
volunteers also receive preparation for
the job which they will be doing. At
New York Hospital, they also receive
“on the job training.” The volunteers
are taught skills needed to work with
patients such as how to use the wheel
chair and how to feed a patient.
Another place where volunteers are greatly needed is public
libraries. Alina Yuen 17, of Queens
chose to volunteer without pay at the
Fresh Meadows Library. Yuen wants
to study accounting or business, and
she feels that volunteering at a library
is propitious because she is able to
acquire experience in the work force.
“The work experience I’m
receiving now will lead me to my next
job. After all, it’s very hard to get a job
with no experience. I treat this
volunteer job as if it were a real job,”
said Yuen.
Yuen found the position in the
library on her own, and chose to
volunteer instead of obtaining a paying
position because, “It’s hard to find a
paying job if you don’t have any
working experience. I was curious if
this library was hiring volunteers.”
Volunteers at this library are
required to work for 10 weeks in order
for it to be official. Yuen said that she
would continue to volunteer after the
10 weeks, “...but I would also look for a
paying job at the same time.” Yuen
said that the best thing about volunteering at the library was “...meeting
new people.”
Both Braganza and Yuen feel
that experience and the appreciation
which they receive are key factors in
their decisions to become volunteers.
However, one other reason lingered
when they were applying for the
volunteer jobs.
As with many teens, Braganza
and Yuen both understood that
colleges would recognize their volunteer work. As Braganza said, “Community service is an important part of a
resume, and it’s very crucial that
colleges see that community service
has been performed.”
3
Health Care Workers Strike
By
Lisa
Minott
A labor dispute between the
League of Voluntary Hospitals and
workers at 14 of its member hospitals
led to a walkout that has union
members currently walking picket lines
all around the city.
The workers, who have been
working without a contract since last
November, rejected the contract
proposed by the League of Voluntary
Hospitals which requires a cut in their
benefits and pay. The League represents management at its member
hospitals, and the workers are members
of the Service Employees International
Union, Local 144.
Under the proposed contract
the employees would experience a cut
in their current salaries. New employees’ starting salaries would be about
$85 less than the current weekly
average of $540. The proposed
minimum rate for new hires would be
$383 per week or 85 percent of the old
rate.
In general, the new contract is
different from the old because the
League wants to reduce starting pay,
paid leave for new hires, sick leave
accrual from 15 days per year to 12
days for present employees and
eliminate the costly practice of
annually paying for unused sick leave.
“We are giving nothing back.
We are going to be out here until we
get what we want,” said Charlotte
Dash, a representative from the union.
The workers are prepared to fight, said
Dash.
“The strike makes no sense,
they are taking back money from the
workers. It’s no good,” said Andrew
Questions About The Budget
By
Rukshana
Ahmed
In the recently released state
budget, restorations to education
funding increased the money the city’s
public school system will receive from
the state by $212 million more than last
year.
However, since the state
budget is still so new, many city school
officials don’t know how this money
will break down for the 32 school
districts in the city.
But news of the increase in
state dollars, made district superintendents around the city more hopeful
about funding prospects for the fall,
but they have no choice but to take a
wait and see attitude.
“Budget cuts to the Board of
Education in theory [are] not as severe
as they thought,” said Mr. Michael
Cinqueni, Deputy Superintendent for
Community School Board 29 in
Queens.
Mr. James Mazza, Superintendent of Community School Board 3 in
Manhattan, said that although the city
Stengel, a union spokesman. “It’s
terrible that the League of Voluntary
Hospitals throws 9,000 workers on the
picket lines (and) through the ringer to
make a couple of million of dollars for
themselves,” said Stengel.
On the picket lines across the
city are nurses, dietitians, social
workers, lab and X-ray technicians,
orderlies, laundry workers, electricians,
carpenters, desk clerks, nurses’ aides,
janitors, and tooters (new workers who
have been recently hired by the
hospital) from the 14 League hospitals
across the city.
women occupy the street corner at
Parsons Boulevard between 88th and
89th Avenues. They defiantly walk the
picket line holding signs while chanting, “No justice no peace!”
“These benefits they are
taking back from us was what was
given to the workers of this hospital for
over 20 years and we will keep having
this strike as long as it takes,” said a
nurse from Mary Immaculate hospital.
Sometimes the striking
workers get a thumbs up from passers
by with buses passing by honking
their horns to show their support for
for the patients and the registered
nurses because they are forced to do
the work that they’re not accustomed
to.” One of the workers on strike
added that some registered nurses are
very angry because they have a lot of
work to do in the hospital.
So far, there are no negotiations scheduled between the hospital
workers and the League. Many people
involved in the strike wish the disagreement between the League and
hospital workers could be resolved
without going through this messy
process.
Photo By Lisa Minott
One of the evident picket lines
in Queens is outside of Mary Immaculate Hospital where 323 of the
hospital’s 1,200 workers are on strike.
Each day these men and
the strike.
While the strike continues
many people will be affected. Marcia
Khan, an assistant nurse of Mary
Immaculate Hospital said, “I feel bad
Said Dash: “It’s ridiculous. It
should never have come to this...we
have worked here too many years with
these benefits and now people are
struggling for it.”
cuts have not been received by city
districts, he feels that the cuts will not
be as severe as they were expected to
be.
So far, the Guiliani administration plans to cut the Board of Education budget by an estimated $301
million. Approximately $86 million of
those reductions will affect service in
public schools, said school officials.
“The school year has [yet to
begin] and already we’re making cuts,”
said Mazza. He also complained about
the $275 million appropriated for the
maintenance of all the city’s public
schools. This is a major drop in
funding from last year.
While everyone waits for
word on what the state budget
education restorations means to local
schools, the Giuliani administration has
been heavily criticized for its planned
cuts to the system.
For the 1.1 million students in
the city’s 1,100 public schools, these
cuts, if they remain, will increase class
size, they may decrease school hours
for some schools, and they will
definitely decrease the amount of
teachers that are on school staffs.
“There [are] not enough
resources to provide an appropriate
physical environment for students [to]
learn. The class size increase refrains
from a proper learning environment,”
said Galen Kirkland, the executive
director of Advocates for Children, a
Queens-based organization that
monitors the school system and
represents students.
United Federation of Teachers
spokesman Ron Davis called for an end
to the practice of reducing some
students’ required hours in school due
to the cuts. “[The] practice must stop,”
said Davis adding that “[students]
cannot [acquire] an education on a
shoestring budget”
Until they know what’s what
with the state money, local school
official continue to juggle to make ends
meet. To avoid overcrowded classrooms in District 3, Mazza said that he
has reduced the amount of guidance
counselors and advisors from the
schools in his district. He also noted
that most of the assistant principals
bear the brunt of the cuts to the
district. He said the he will probably
lay off some more district officials so
that the schools are able to get as
much money as possible.
Over the past five years, the
school system has been struggling to
survive with the $2 billion in cuts the
system has sustained.
District 3 could not provide
summer school this year due to limited
funds and, said Mazza, half of the
district’s extracurricular activities have
been terminated because of the limited
amount of money that was provided
last year.
Hillcrest High School in
Queens could not provide for all the
classes that students needed to take in
summer school this year. The previous
year Hillcrest had to send the students
who needed summer school to a
neighboring high school because of
the limited funds that were available.
Some superintendents believe
that although the mayor and city
council may be more accommodating
toward the school system this year, the
city schools now have major deficiencies in what they provide their children.
Mazza said that even though
they have funds for the basic essentials that run a school, in the area of
technology many schools in the city
are in danger of falling far behind the
suburban districts.
Davis, of the U.F.T. said that
many unlicensed teachers are teaching
classes and licensed teachers are
teaching courses they do not have a
license for because the schools cannot
offer better pay to acquire more
experienced teachers for every subject.
“Not enough money (is given)
to attract the best and brightest
teachers,” said Davis whose union
provides free college courses for
teachers to get certification licenses.
4
Children Crying For Help
By
Marjorie
Louis
In the latest shake-up since
the death of Elisa Izquierdo, the
Giuliani administration recently named
three people to the city’s revamped
child welfare agency.
Along with reports of the new
appointments was the announcement
of the resignation of Kathryn Croft, the
former head of the agency who’d been
demoted after the 6-year-old’s death.
However, the new hires were
greeted with mixed feelings by
children’s advocates. Some were
critical these new officials have all
worked for the agency in the past and
were not successful in implementing
reforms, while others felt there was
hope for change.
“The new officials may
improve the child welfare agency if
they are given another chance,” said
Kelly Ryan, a social worker who works
in a private foster care agency in the
city.
In New York City the child
welfare agency -- now called the
Administration for Children’s Services
and formerly known as the Child
Welfare Administration -- oversees
around 43,000 kids in foster care and
investigates thousands of reports of
abuse each year. And some major
questions about the running of the
system still remain. Can the city’s child
welfare agency save the children who
have been reported to be suffering
from abuse? Will issues like confidentiality for the abused and their families
and caseworker overload be resolved?
“The child welfare system
may not be perfect, but people do
depend on it,” said Ryan.
Prior to the death of little
Elisa, the then-Child Welfare Administration did not hear the 6-year-old’s
cries for help. Elisa’s mother, Awilda
Lopez, was first reported to the agency
shortly after Elisa’s birth because she
was born addicted to crack cocaine.
The little girl was eventually turned
over to her father’s care. But after his
death she returned to her mother’s
home. All of the warnings were
unheeded, even those from employees
of the preschool Elisa attended who
reported to a judge that the little girl’s
life was in danger. Elisa remained in her
mother’s custody. On the day before
Thanksgiving in 1995, Elisa died at the
hands of her mother.
After the Izquierdo case, the
system came under a great deal
scrutiny from the Giuliani administration. The federal, state and local
confidentiality laws were attacked as
being part of problem, and demands for
reforms were made. But, case workers
have mixed feelings about these
proposed reforms.
The confidentiality laws -- a
shield that helps protect the accused
and the victim -- have been accused of
helping government agencies to hide
important information from the public.
According to a staff analyst working
for the Administration for Children’s
Services, information such as how the
child was abused, when it was reported, who reported the abuse, and
when the child welfare respond to the
abuse is kept confidential. And this
prevents the public from knowing
exactly what went wrong in cases like
Elisa’s. “ I really think that the
confidentiality laws are needed. They
are needed because it helps protect the
children and family involved. If people
feel that the laws are getting in the way
of finding faults in the Child Welfare
Administration then at least when the
cases are broadcasted in the media, as
in the case of Elisa, the media should
keep the name of the child involved
anonymous,” said Ryan, a social
worker who works in a private foster
care agency.
The process of reporting
child abuse begins with a phone call to
the Central Registry by anyone who
witnesses the abuse of a child. After
the
incident is
reported
an
investigation
should
take
place by
a caseworker. If
the caseworker
feels that a child
is being abused
detrimental effects to the cases they
are involved in .
Most caseworkers should be
getting 18-20 cases in a caseload.
Instead the child welfare agency still
assigns 20-35 cases to caseworkers
and sometimes even more. A single
case can include more than one child.
“I receive a set case load of
about 50 kids and those are the only
ones that I involve myself with.
When you are a beginner that is when
the agency gives you 20 kids in your
caseload,” said Ryan.
Given
these conditions, some of the
caseworkers question the motives of
the public child care agencies. When
a case is investigated and the
decision is made to take
the child out of an abusive
environment, the child
usually goes to a center,
where according to Ryan,
the children are given food
to eat and clothes to wear.
or neglected, the child will be transferred to an agency that takes in
abused children. The child will then be
given an evaluation to decide his or her
mental state. The length of the process
varies from case to case. Anyone can
report the abuse of a child, either a
hospital employee, a teacher, or a
counselor.
According to insiders, another
huge problem in the system that has
not been addressed since the Izquierdo
case, is the caseload of each case
worker. According to the staff analyst
from the child welfare agency, the
workers of the system may be overworked and underpaid, leaving them
susceptible to errors that can cause
“Any child that
comes into welfare care
means money to the
agency that is taking care
of the child. Only certain
individuals help the children but the
system as a whole does not care
about the children,” said the staff
analyst. Some agencies such as the
Residential Treatment Center, a
publicly-funded place that accepts
abused children, are given $2,000 to
$3,000 per child by the government.
Said the staff analyst:
“Bottom line-- no one cares about the
children, they care about the money.
If you look at these kids you can see
that they are withdrawn from society.
If you try to speak to them they do
not respond and its as if they do not
have any life in their eyes because
they know they are a part of one big
cycle:”
High Cost For AIDS Treatment
By
Upkar
Malla
After the recent AIDS conference in Vancouver, some scientists and
researchers believe they are on the
verge of a potential cure for the AIDS
virus. But, the cost of these new
treatments are reportedly in the
neighborhood of $10,000 - $15,000
annually and raises concerns about
affordability and availability for all
those infected.
Scientists are currently arguing
that the new therapies are going to be
relatively expensive and aren’t going to
be as readily available to the general
public as other treatments are.
“The cost is impossible for most
people to afford and practically
unavailable to the people that really
need it in the Third World countries,”
said Steve Soba a Communications
Coordinator and Therapy Advisor at
the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in NYC.
However, there are some insurance
companies in the U.S. that could
increase the availability.
“People that have Medicaid will
receive a lot of coverage, also those
who have no insurance can receive
coverage from another private insurance organization called ADAP. ADAP
will cover most of the cost if the income
of the individual is above the Medicaid
requirements,” said Frances Tarlton a
spokesperson for the New York City
Health Department.
In the new treatment, researchers
and scientists are using combinations
of protease inhibitors -- which decrease
the amount of HIV virus in the blood -and common AIDS drugs such as AZT
and 3ZT which combined may maximize
the life span of the of the individual.
These new treatments might have the
potential to completely obliterate the
virus from detection in the human body.
Previous studies have shown that
protease inhibitors lead to a constant
rise in the number of CD-4 cells, which
are the specialized white blood cells that
are significant in immune system
function. The CD-4 cells are the ones
that are destroyed by the HIV virus.
Now protease inhibitors working with
some standard AIDS drugs have
appeared to be a powerful new AIDS
therapy. The way the new treatment
works is that it reduces the amount of
prospects are being made daily. The
the HIV virus in the body by about 90% general public must stay aware and
or more. Also, it assists in increasing
still practice safe sex and not be led
the amount of disease fighting cells that into a false sense of security,” said Dr.
function in the body’s immune system.
Joseph O’ Connell, the Director of
Aside from the price, the adminisPersonal Diagnostics, which conducts
tration of the drug is quite tedious. The several case studies.
treatment is very demanding on
Said Mary Meridith, an informapatients, it can require taking more than
tion specialist with the Centers for
15 pills a day at specific times. Also the Disease Control in Atlanta: “The new
drugs have to be taken on an empty
treatment has absolutely proven
stomach and cause immediate side
beneficial to those who are infected
effects that not everyone can tolerate.
with the HIV or AIDS viruses. The
Despite the concerns about
outlook on the future for AIDS
affordability and availability, many
prevention has definitely become a lot
people working in the field are openly
better.”
optimistic about the potential of the
new treatment.
There is an
White
Race or ethnicity of persons
apparent watershed
(not Hispanic)
reported with AIDS was:
in the AIDS crisis
and it looks quite
Black
hopeful.
(not Hispanic)
”The treatment
Hispanic
is still in its
experimental
stages, and there is
still no cure for
Asian/Pacific American
Indian/
Islander
AIDS. However,
Alaska
Race/ethnicity
Native
the new treatment
unknown
174,715
dose look promis243,107 174,715 90,031 3.555
1,333
746
ing and new
5
Unemployment!
Still A Fear For
All Generations
By
Omotola
Omoyele
“How will I pay these bills?
What about this month’s rent? Where
will I find another job?”
These are some of the
questions 29-year-old Jason Peters
found himself trying to answer after
losing his job at a large department
store.
Unfortunately, Peters is not
the only New Yorker faced with
unemployment. The May 1996
unemployment rate for the city was 8.4
Tamara Greene at Busstop
percent, a 2.0 percent increase over the
December 1995 rate of 6.4 percent. That
8.4 percent unemployment last May
represents 268,113 people out of work.
According to a New York
Times article, the city’s slow climb out
of its deepest recession in
decades has come to a halt. In this
recession, 342,000 jobs were lost from
the beginning of 1989 through 1992.
Only about 70,900, or about 21 percent
of those jobs have been recovered.
Whatever the reason, the New
York economy has changed for the
worst. It has been reported that
within a nine month period between
March 31, 1996 to June 31,1995 an
additional 9,000 jobs were lost. These
reports seem to favor the position
taken by economists. They believe
large cuts in government spending
injured the city’s finances. The largest
job losses reportedly were in government agencies, where 29,000 jobs were
lost in comparison to the private sector
where there was a gain of 20,700.
The city’s economic position
is dramatically different from the overall
situation nationwide.
According to the June 1996
Unemployment Data Record there is a
5.3 percent rate of unemployment in
the nation, that is 7 million people
listed as being out of work. An
unemployed person is defined as one
who is over 18 and under 66, not
attending school, mentally and
physically able to work and not a
homemaker.
Those in the city faced with
unemployment see various reasons, in
addition to the economic
downturn, for the situation they’re in.
Eleanor Johnson, a retired
bankteller, believes that computers are
taking all the jobs.
She remembered when banktellers who
just took deposits were being replaced
by AMT machines.
“Once they realize you are
getting old they look for a way to get
rid of you and hire someone young,”
said Johnson recalling the time when
Photo by Omotola Omoyele
she was laid off then replaced by a
younger person.
Tamara Greene disagreed: “It is hard
for us young people to get a job. They
want older people with experience.
Employers are looking for experience,
and with age experience comes.”
“Once they
realize you are
getting old they
look for a way to
get rid of you
and hire
someone young.”
All hope is not lost for New York
City. Patrick Coleman a representative
of the federal labor department,
believes New York is going through a
very slow yet stable recovery. A
recovery depends on New York’s
ability to attract new industries which
the city already has a great deal of
such as health, advertising and
personnel.
Minimum
Wage,
Weighs
Heavy
By
Allison
Chin
Some workers may want to
start anticipating their pockets getting
heavier, because the minimum wage
may soon increase. That is, if the
Democrats and Republicans can work
out their differences in this election
year.
The Democrats support the
minimum wage bill and feel that its
passing will help keep President
Clinton in the White House for another
term. However, one of the biggest
hurdles that this bill faces is opposition
from the Republicans. The minimum
wage bill is opposed by some Republicans who fear that an increase in
wages would cause an influx of layoffs
in small businesses. Some Republicans
want to block the bill until the Democrats compromise on a health bill that
would allow workers to keep their
insurance as they change jobs.
If the bill successfully winds
its way through Capitol Hill, teenagers
particularly, will be affected by this
increase. The expected rise in minimum
salaries is from $4.25 to $5.15 in two
increments. After President Clinton
signs the final bill, the minimum wage
will go up to $4.75. Then in the
following year, the wage will go up to
$5.15.
Job advocates, business
managers and the average teenaged
employee don’t see the potential rise in
the minimum wage as something that
will have a detrimental effect on general
or teen employment.
William Miller, manager of a
McDonald’s in Whitestone where 50 to
60 percent of his employees are
teenagers, believes it will raise the price
of products. “It’s going to cost more
to buy a hamburger.” However, he
doesn’t believe that the number of
employees will go down because of the
minimum wage increase.
Dr. Margaret Hayes, executive
director of Jobs for Youths, a privatelyfunded New York City-based program
designed to help teenagers get parttime and full-time jobs said that the
wage increase is good since, “...the
cost of living is so great here [in New
York].”
The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is a government
funded program that helps find youths
a place to work in the summer. The
SYEP plans to hire the same amount of
youths as previous years. Dr. Hayes
explained that the minimum wage
increase for SYEP will not affect the
number of teens hired next year
because the government’s wage level
will increase. Dr. Hayes said that
privately funded corporations might
have a difficult time increasing the
wage level.
Connie Luthra, the Personnel
Manager of Caldor on Main Street in
Flushing, said, “I don’t think it [the
minimum wage increase] will affect us
at all.” There are currently no people at
the Flushing Caldor under the age of 21
working at minimum wage. She stated
that all employees start out making
$5.00 per hour. With the wage
increase, Caldor employees would
make $5.20 per hour.
Marianne Pingol, a college
student who works at Barnes and
Noble in Manhattan, said that with the
minimum wage increase she would
save her money to pay for college
tuition and books. As for layoffs and
cutbacks, Marianne feels that, “Companies are looking for people and they
don’t have a choice.” According to
Ms. Pingol, employers have to pay the
minimum wage increase.
Susan Halley, a recent
graduate of Francis Lewis High School
and an employee at Genovese, a drug
store, said that the store is very busy
and needs a lot of people to work. She
doubts that the teens working would
have hours cut because of the wage
increase. With some extra money Ms.
Halley said, “I’m going to save some
and spend some.”
The minimum wage increase
has a positive impact for teenagers
because they will make more money.
With the extra money teens will be
making they may buy tapes, CD’s,
food, clothing or just save the their
money for a rainy day.
The Senate passed the bill on
July 9th and the House approved a
similar bill earlier this year. Before the
President signs the bill, the House and
Senate must compromise on some small
details. When the bill is finally passed,
businesses must comply with the new
standard. At this point, employers may
be disappointed by this recent
milestone in history. Yet teenagers
may be celebrating what once seemed
to be an impossible dream.
6
Banning Fire Crackers
Not A Bang-Bang Issue
By
Rukshana
Ahmed
Shortly before Independence
Day, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani
banned fireworks use by minors and
non-professionals on local streets. He
enforced the crackdown by ordering
the arrest of people for illegal use and
confiscating fireworks sold illegally by
store owners. New Yorkers had varied
opinions on these new regulations.
While a poll conducted by a
local television station found that the
majority of New Yorkers supported the
mayor’s decision, many disagreed.
Many of the supporters were con-
cerned with the noise and danger of
firecrackers on July 4th, but the
dissenters were disappointed because
the mood of their holiday was dampened.
Jamaica Estate resident, Julie,
31, who has a newborn child said, “I am
happy about the assertiveness of the
mayor. He has [taken] action on an
issue I was dreading because of the
baby. All night long they usually light
M80s, blockbusters, etc., that might
have kept the baby up all night long,
disturbing his peace and also the
residents of Jamaica Estates. Thanks
Giuliani.”
However, many teenagers and
children were disgruntled. Their ritual
of lighting firecrackers on the Fourth of
July had been disrupted. Many teens
and children seem to be unaware of the
injuries caused by the misuse of
firecrackers. How dangerous is the
Fourth of July? Although the Emer-
gency Medical Service (EMS) does not
have statistics on firecracker injuries,
they do know that there is an eight
percent increase in ambulance calls on
the Fourth of July.
Ashwini Persaud, a student
who attends Hillcrest High School,
said, “Why did the mayor do this?
Lighting the firecrackers was the best
part of the day. It shows our patriotism
to our country.” A friend of Persaud,
Mintu Sunny, said, “My relatives came
for a visit from England to see the
sights. We were planning to light
some firecrackers on our own after
[attending] the fireworks display done
professionally. It just isn’t fair, why
should they care now when they never
cared before!”
Some parents feel that
firecrackers are safe if they supervise
or light the firecrackers themselves.
But are these parents aware of the
hazards? No matter the supervision or
caution used, lighting firecrackers may
result in deadly situations. I know of a
1992 case in which a person died just
from being a bystander. Some individuals in Manhattan lit a couple of
M80s in a trash can and put the lid on.
As the bombs blew up, the lid flew off
and cracked open the boy’s skull.
One Astoria resident who
wished to remain anonymous said,
“What’s the harm in lighting a few
firecrackers? The children enjoy it and
also the adults. Nothing ever went
wrong before. Why should the mayor
do something now when none of the
other mayors did nothing before?”
While it’s glorious to see
bursts of color in the air with many
different shapes to dazzle young and
old minds over and over again,
statistics indicate it’s best to leave it to
the professionals. Mayor Giuliani stick
to your plan because you have the
city’s interest at heart.
Child Abuse, A Painful Issue
By
Sanjida
Hoque
A child is a precious gift for
every couple who wants to have a
family. Many women feel like something spiritual happens to them when
they give birth after carrying a baby for
nine months.
It’s a touching feeling for both
mom and dad, holding a little miracle in
their arms. They feel like they have
entered a new world, buying little
clothes, diapers and toys for the baby.
Although taking care of a
newborn is a big job, parents eventually learn to manage and incorporate a
baby into their lifestyle. But not all
situations work out well. Sometimes
abuse becomes a part of the relationship.
Many of us are familiar with
cases of child abuse in the United
States. In 1992, an estimated 1,261
children died from abuse or neglect
nationwide. According to national
statistics released by the Childhelp
USA, more than three children die each
day as a result of mistreatment.
A counselor from a New York
Child Abuse Hotline said that there are
many reasons why parents become
abusive. One of the most important
reasons is that parents are faced with a
lot of stress. In today’s society,
parents are faced with very serious
issues such as poverty, unemployment
and job dissatisfaction. Sometimes
parents that have a hard time dealing
with their stress take it out on their
children. It is not uncommon for a
parent who was abused by his/her
parent(s) to become an abusive parent
as well.
These child abuse stories are
shocking. One story that vibrated
around New York and the rest of the
nation was the death of 6-year-old Elisa
Izquierdo. She was murdered by her
birth mother Awilda Lopez on November 22, 1995, a year and half after she
was awarded custody of her daughter
by a New York judge. After her child’s
death, Lopez’s relatives said that the
household had been governed by fear,
madness and violence. Police said that
the bruises and scars that covered
Elisa’s body made it clear that she had
A Pocket Full Of Entertaiment
By
Omotola
Omoyele
Well, honestly I did. I said,
“How come some basketball players
make over a million dollars a year? For
example, Larry Johnson got $84 million
for 12 years, while the average American income is only about $25,000 $45,000 a year. And all these players
do is run up and down the court
having fun.”
On the contrary these athletes
work very hard, they practice on a
regular basis. They travel from city to
city leaving their family behind. If they
don’t play up to the expectations of
their fans they get ridiculed nationally.
They are regularly bombarded with
crazed fans for their autograph. They
have until they’re about 35 years old to
make enough money to provide for
their family for the rest of their lives.
Most of them have no other means to
make ends meet. They also have to
maintain a certain lifestyle.
If that’s not enough to
convince you, let’s compare them to
other entertainers. Demi Moore made
$12 million for her role in “Striptease.”
Nineteen-year-old Alicia Sliverstone
signed a contract for $10 million for two
movies. Sylvester Stallone gets $20
been physically and sexually abused
for some time. Elisa’s mother, who was
a crack cocaine addict, smashed Elisa’s
head into a concrete wall causing
internal bleeding in her brain and
eventually leading to her death.
Izquierdo is one example of a
child who was abused by her parent.
But often physical abuse doesn’t stop
here. Many children are also sexually
abused by their parents. Larry
Gohring, 45, of Dayton, Texas was
sentenced to 20 years in prison for
sexually abusing his teenage daughter,
who killed herself shortly after authorities allowed Larry to move back home.
He also assaulted two other teens.
These children who are
abused by their parents, in many
instances, often turn out to be troubled
when they grow up. They don’t learn
the value of love because they were
denied love as children. All parents
have to know that their children don’t
deserve any abusive behavior. They
are like angels, they are innocent.
They deserve love which will help them
to move on with their lives.
I think we have no right to
bring these precious lives into this
beautiful world if we can’t take care of
them with love. We, as a society, can’t
allow their lives to be messed up like
this. We have to learn to value
children. We have to learn to work
things out together as a family. If
parents have any problems or are
stressed, abusing a child won’t help to
relieve stress, it will only make things
worse. Beating a child won’t bring
food into a home or won’t bring
clothes to wear.
Sometimes abuse becomes a
cycle. People that were abused by
their parents do not need to be abusers
themselves. People should not let their
children feel the same way they felt
when they were being abused.
The agencies which oversee
foster care and investigate charges of
child abuse need to be tightened so
that no child has to die or live a
horrible life. The government also
should be concerned with the problems
that these abusive parents deal with in
their lives. The government needs to
provide jobs so people don’t have to
be unemployed and don’t have to live
with so much stress. In cases of
poverty, the government should
provide aid like food, clothes and
medicine. The government also has a
responsibility to take care of children
who are being abused.
million per film. Just to name a few.
Now if that is still not enough
to convince you. Blame the public.
Yes, the public. If we don’t spend $15
or more to see a basketball game, $8 or
more to see a movie, and $35 or more to
a play, or refuse to pay anything that
athletes and celebrities endorse maybe
their salaries wouldn’t be so high.
If you think about it, don’t
you feel good after your favorite team
wins a game? Or when you see your
favorite actor or actress in a good
movie? They entertain us.
We could discuss how
nurses, journalists and firemen don’t
make enough money. They are truly
underpaid. Or how some of the
entertainers don’t deserve all that
money. And, I could name more than a
few.
Besides. Only a few entertain-
ers get to the point of making millions.
This should convince you
basketball players don’t make too
much money. Life is not fair, and some
entertainers got it like that.
7
Fire Crackers Blow-up
An Award Winning Workshop
It’s with great pleasure that
the Queens College Journalism and
Liberal Arts program publishes for the
seventh year in a row a newspaper
written by participants in the Summer
Journalism Workshop for Minority
High School Students.
This year is the first time that
we can call ourselves an awardwinning paper. Last year one of our
students, Dalila-johari Paul, then a
student at Townsend Harris High
School, won a college scholarship in a
nationwide Dow Jones newspaper
workshop contest.
Her front page story last
summer the “New Faces of the
Homeless” brought us and her glory.
In addition she won a scholarship that
can be applied to her college tuition in
her freshman and sophomore years.
It’s our hope that this annual
workshop can be used as a gateway
into the world of journalism for this
city’s minority
high school
students who are
seeking avenues
into the field.
We are able
to provide these
opportunities
with the help of
Dean Elaine Maimon
our primary
funders, The New York Times Foundation and the Dow Jones Newspaper
Fund. And we’re very grateful to be
able to play a role in helping to
diversity the nation’s newsrooms.
None of this would be
possible without the resources and
support of the Queens College
community. The creativity and
foresight of Dean Elaine Maimon, who
started this workshop and who
incidentally recently left Queens
College to head west to Arizona State
University, has made it all possible.
And, the unflagging support from the
offices of President Sessoms and
Provost Thorpe is helping to make this
workshop an institution at the College.
It goes without saying that
many thank yous are owed to Evelyn
Hurr, Celeste White and their staff
whose administrative help and cookies
keep us going.
The Summer Journalism
Worskshop for Minority High
School Students wishes to thank
The New York Times Foundation,
the Dow Jones Newpaper Fund,
Newsday, Dean Elaine Maimon
and her staff, and the following
professionals:
Laurence O’Donnell, former Managing
editor of the Wall Street Journal
Mari McQueen, Senior editor, People
Magazine
Monica Almeida, Photographer,
New York Times
Workshop Director & Editor
Prof. Natalie P. Byfield
Graphics & Layout
Clarence Sheppard
Copy Editor
Mary Kate Cipriani
HOPING THE
CHRONICLE ‘96
CAN WIN
BACK
TO
BACK
AWARDS
Reporters
Rukshana Ahmed
Allison Chin
Doris Eng
Sanjida Hoque
Marjorie Louis
Upkar Malla
Lisa Minott
Omotola Omoyele
Amilcar Priestley
Anastacia Smith
Khurram Syed
8
Almicar Priestley
You’ve been ERASED! These
lines are uttered repeatedly by Arnold
Schwarzenegger, the star of the
summer hit “Eraser.” I’m not one to
follow the critics but this is one movie I
would definitely take their advice on.
Schwarzenegger plays the role
of an FBI agent protecting the life of a
government witness--the lovely
Vanessa Williams, from a slew of foes
who want to take her out before she
can testify. Williams is an associate in
a military defense firm who calls the
FBI with suspicions of treason after
figures for sales do not add up. She
becomes a government informant and
is sent to retrieve information which
could incriminate top government
officials. She makes two copies of the
disk, hands one in and keeps the
second as an insurance policy. Every
possible attempt is made to kill her,
including using a photon gun, an
object which should not exist.
Schwarzenegger must protect
Williams and clear his own name, after
his boss, played by James Woods, sets
him up. The action in the movie is
amazing, as are the special effects. One
scene which everyone talks about is
the one in which the computer animated alligators rip the villains apart.
For anyone who is in into
“shoot-em up,” fast-paced action flicks
or anyone trying to decide which
action movie to see among this
summer’s plethora, “Eraser” should
definitely be at the top of their list.
Allison Chin
If you saw “Mission: Impossible” and didn’t quite understand the
movie, it’s okay. You’re not the only
one who needed cliffnotes to follow
the plot.
Tom Cruise, the star of the
movie, looked great and his acting was
outstanding. But it seemed like every
character that Cruise encountered, died
in the next scene. Just when I thought
Cruise would have a friend to be in the
movie with, they exploded or fell down
a bridge.
There were many action
packed scenes that left the audience at
the edge of their seats. But when
everyone thought there would be a
romance story in the middle of the plot,
they realized that they were wrong.
The movie really made me think and
say, “What’s going on?” Perhaps the
writers did this on purpose or maybe
they really didn’t know what was going
on either.
Although the movie was a bit
confusing, it brought in $74.9 million
and was the second biggest opening of
all time. It would be a good idea to wait
for “Mission: Impossible” to come out
on video, so you can see it over and
over again, maybe then the plot could
be understood.
Upkar Malla
Rukshana Ahmed
Disney’s newest blockbuster
cartoon has hit the theaters. “Hunchback of Notre Dame” is a classic story,
about a hunchback and a gypsy, who
are outcasts, and a captain who
returned from the crusades to protect
Paris, France from miscreants and the
trouble they all get into.
The evil character in this
thrilling film is not only the head of the
police force and judge in Paris but also
the hunchback’s master and provider.
The hunchback does have companions
even though he lives in exile in the bell
tower. The gargoyles are the humorous characters in the story.
This story focuses on the
hunchback who for one day wants to
be a part of everyday life instead of
just observing it from the bell tower.
When he does go out into the world he
meets the beautiful gypsy who does
wondrous magic and is kind to him.
They are both pawns to the judge of
Paris, who wants to be rid of all the
gypsies in the city. The captain falls in
love with the gypsy and is aided by the
hunchback who leads her to safety
when the judge seeks to find her for
himself. In the end the evil judge is
slain and the hunchback is accepted by
the citizens of Paris as a person and
not a monster.
This movie has faced a lot of
controversy because of the amount of
violence it contains and also the adult
perspective of the film. Many of the
critics feel that the “Hunchback of
Notre Dame” has adult meaning to it
and that children under the age of
seven would not get the message or
appreciate the movie.
Siskel and Ebert have a
different view than all the others. They
both feel that even though Disney
used darker colors on this film than
any other, Disney still made a wonderful film that portrays human emotions
such as greed and shame and that the
movie is suitable for children of any
age.
I feel that Disney did a
wonderful job and made another hit
among its many others. This cartoon
will show children that even though
many individuals are different they do
have feelings like any other human
being.
Go to the theater’s and a buy
a ticket for “Hunchback of Notre
Dame.” Believe me, this film is great for
everyone.
“Independence Day” lived up to
all the talk and hype that the media has
given it throughout the months. In the
opening week “Independence Day”
rolled right over any box office record
thus far with a stunning $104.3 million,
leaving the box office runner up
“Mission Impossible” at $74.9 million
in the first week.
Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith
played a jackpot pair and were quite
funny at times with there one liners. I
believe everyone in the theater was
raving when Will Smith welcomed the
alien by saying, “welcome to earth,”
followed by a swift knock out punch to
the alien’s jaw.
People were amazed by the
spectacular special affects that cost a
bundle to bring to light. The movie
itself was quite suspenseful and had
the perfect balance of action and
comedy that made it a winner.
Like most enjoyable films,
there are many subthemes to “Independence Day.” There was the theme of
troubled relationships between Jeff
Golblum and Margaret Colin, also the
separation between Will Smith and his
girlfriend Vivica Fox. Both of these
dilemmas were resolved and ended
happily. But, one did not end happily
and that was the president’s relationship. His wife died soon after the alien
invasion.
Also there was the theme of
unlikely heroes. Jeff Goldblum who
plays a genius cable technician, wound
up to be the guy who came up with the
means to disable the invaders defenses. Will Smith was the man in the
driver’s seat when they took on the
alien invaders and flew right into
enemy headquarters. Who can forget
Randy Quaid who was left in a poor
state of mental health after a previous
alien encounter. Randy Quaid was the
brave soul who became the one to fly
right into the primary weapon of one of
the ships and heroically gave his life to
save the life of his family and the rest
of the world. It can be said that all
these men played the role of the simple
man, but they all had heart. It’s the
people with heart who will prove to be
the real heroes in the long run, while all
the others come up short.
Marjorie Louis
The witty and absolutely
fabulous punch-lines of this summer’s
newest hit, “ The Nutty Professor,” will
be a hit at the box office.
Eddie Murphy stars as a shy
400-pound college professor named
Sherman Klump. Klump is a chemistry
teacher who discovers a wonder drug
that can make a person lose weight in a
minute. Since he was experiencing low
self-esteem because of his weight, he
decides to use himself as a guinea pig
for this new drug. Under this drug,
Klump goes through a Jekyll and Hyde
transformation which makes his
skinnier self a real jerk.
The director, Tom Shadyac, of
this hilarious movie used the classic
1963 Jerry Lewis comedy to create
“The Nutty Professor.” Nevertheless,
Eddie Murphy displayed his own
unique style to bring out laughter.
Murphy was able to play six different
characters at the same time. Now that
is talent!
The movie was not only fun
and games, but it also has a special
moral behind it. Behind the gags and
silliness, the film taught the audience
that it’s the inside that counts not the
outside. Beauty can just go so far but
personality goes an extra mile.
9
Journalists Make It Through Three Weeks
By
Sanjida
Hoque
Participants in this year’s
Queens College journalism workshop
for minority students found it to be a
great opportunity for students who
love writing and who want to visit the
world of journalism. Although they all
found it to hard work, all the young
writers seemed to identify some of the
major elements of journalism: accuracy,
clear writing and a nose for news.
Seventeen year-old Marjorie
Louis from Hillcrest High School said, “
I love writing, so any chance that I can
write, I will go for it. This workshop
was a great opportunity for me.” She
also added, “ Being a journalist is a
hard job. It’s even harder for the
beginner.”
Sixteen year-old Doris Eng
from Francis Lewis High School said, “
The other programs which were being
offered didn’t interest me because they
involved science. Also, I wanted to
see what the process of journalism was
like.” Eng chose to participate in this
workshop over other summer job
opportunities and science programs.
Ana Smith, a 17-year-old
student from August Martain High
School, said, “ I was interested in this
journalism workshop because I saw a
good opportunity to get a free training
from a professional.” She added, “ I
think it’s [journalism] a very hard job
because you have to get a lot of
information for your stories and all
your facts have to be straight.”
Queens College High School
Summer Journalism Workshop is
supported by The New York Times
Foundation and Dow Jones Newspaper
Fund. The students publish a newspa-
1996 Summer Workshop Crew pose for group picture in the News room where it all happened
per, The Chronicle, which consists of
stories that they have written in the
workshop. The newspaper from this
journalism workshop has been
published for seven years. Experienced journalist Natalie Byfield is the
Director and the editor of
The Chronicle. She has
encouraged these young
journalists with their
reporting.
Byfield said,
“The purpose of this
journalism program is to
provide practical experience to young minorities
who may be interested in a
career in journalism.”
This
summer, 11 high school
students were chosen to
work in this journalism
program. The students chose story
ideas which developed from their own
interests. Computers are set up in the
newsroom for these beginning
journalists to write their stories. Each
journalist is extremely busy clicking
his/her computer keys, making phone
calls, conducting interviews and
researching in the morgue in order to
meet the deadline.
Mary Kate Cipriani, copy
editor of The Chronicle said, “It has
been a great experience for the
students and myself. Each day we all
learn something new. It has been really
interesting and rewarding to watch the
stories evolve from ideas to great news
pieces.”
Eighteen-year-old Amilcar
Photo By Sanjida Hoque
Priestly from Bronx Science High
School said, “ I was interested in this
workshop because it was something to
do and since I didn’t have any job, I
figured it was a good way to spend my
time. It gives me a better sense of how
to use a computer and it improves my
typing skills and improves my writing
skills. Journalism is hard because
sometimes you have to put your morals
aside and it’s hard to
make contact with
people who are reluctant
to give information.”
This journalism
class was held in room
312 of Kissena Hall.
Each day, students
started their work at 10
a.m. and after putting in
a long day of hard work,
headed to their homes at
4 p.m. The staff met for
a two hour lunch break
during which they
discussed editorial
changes for their stories
while enjoying a variety
of delicious lunches.
During one of
the lunch meetings, Mari
McQueen, senior editor of People
Magazine and a former editor at New
York Newsday, visited the workshop
and encouraged the young journalists
to continue in a journalism career. She
thinks journalism is a great profession
but, she said, people need to have
courage and stamina to be a good
journalist.
Seventeen year-old Allison
Chin from Flushing High
School said, “I was interested
in this workshop basically to
learn the details [of what] a
journalist must go through. I
think it’s very tough and
frustrating job with deadlines,
investigations and lot of hard
work.”
According to 16year-old Khurram Syed, a
student at Hillcrest High School,
journalism is a hard job, it takes
a lot of dedication and patience.
“ I like writing. I want to be a
sports journalist. This journalism workshop gives me an idea
how it is,” said Syed.
Lisa Minott, 18-yearold August Martain High
School’s student said, “ I was
interested in how reporters get
their information to the public.” Like
many of the other students, Minott is
considering a career in journalism.
“Right now I am trying to explore all
aspects of media and communication.
However, I am interested in news
writing,” said Minott.
Recently, the young journalists of the workshop took a trip to The
New York Times under the guidance of
Byfield and Cipriani. Mr. James
Morgan, who conducts tours for the
newspaper, led the group around its
Manhattan offices. It was fun because
the students were able to see what
goes on inside the Times and how their
reporters operate.
Sixteen year-old Rukshana
Ahmed from Hillcrest High School said,
“ The trip was informative, you get to
know how The New York Times
actually works.”
Seventeen year-old Omotola
Omoyele from Thomas Edison said, “ I
was interested in this workshop
because I wanted to improve my
writing. I think it is hard because you
have to look up information and you
have to be accurate.”
Upkar Malla, 17-year-old
Hillcrest High School’s student said, “ I
was interested in this journalism
workshop because I wanted to broaden
my academic horizons. I’ll recommend
this to other people who are at my
age.”
Reaching the top of a
mountain is not easy. But people do it
because they are able to take risks.
These young journalists will reach their
goals of being real journalists if they
can face risks.
10
The African Male
The bigger they are the
harder they fall
A catchy phrase to some
The darker the berry, the
sweeter the juice
A favorite of this one
Dark as in chocolate, sweet
amber complexion
Be it light, medium, or dark
Though the darker complexion will embed itself
Deep in any woman’s heart
Cause with blackface comes
black body and soul
Not fiction but a simple fact
But it’s not all in the appearance of a brother
But also the way he may
act
His attitude, his state of
mind, can factor in a
big way
You’ll think it’s false, but
you’ll know it’s true
In the words that he may say
All in that voice, that sweet sexy
voice
Deep and speaking of truth
Open yourselves to the African
male;
All dark berry and sweet juice
Black Woman In Training
When I was just a
little girl
I wanted to be
a star
But I was
criticized
for my
looks
And told
I
wouldn’t
get far
I asked my
mother what do
they mean
When they call me
a jigaboo
With her kind, sweet
face and appealing
voice
She said, “Honey, I’ll tell
you
You’re a black woman in
training
So keep your head held
high
Ignore the comments
of ignorance
As best as you can
try
Bite your tongue
for no one
And let your
feelings
show
Get your
point
across
at best
So other
folks will know
Have pride in yourself, my African
Queen
And be proud of your black face
For without your consent
You can’t feel inferior to any other
race.”
By Ana Smith
One a day people
One a day people have less worries,
They take life one day at a time,
and don’t rush in their hurries.
One a day people know,
how precious life is.
And take each day,
with their heads held high.
Taking it day by day,
won’t change your personality,
but it will expand your prosperity.
By Lisa Minott
By Ana Smith
Meaningless Lives
We are giants in this world
Play the part of God by creating
and destroying
Immortality is unreachable to us
but we seek other means such as power
Reaching out the dream
Life is short,
So you want it to be perfect.
But sometimes it turns out messy,
You feel pain
Because no one is there to make you
happy.
Sometimes you dream about someone
special
You think he will come to you
And ease your pain.
In reality, no one comes to you
And asks you the cause of your pain.
You never give up dreaming
Until he is really here,
Who will make you happy
With lots of love and care.
By Sanjida Hoque
Our egos can create mass destruction
We are only conquerable to ourselves,
and by mankind
By other lesser creatures we cannot be
destroyed
We seek superiority by creating
inferiority
Small words with profpound meanings
to our pride and beliefs
We stomp on any living forms and wipe
the blood from under our feet
Because of the differences and strangeness
of its ways, we kill it
Just as we kill one another- without
thought
We should be wiser than this and end
this civil
war to bring forth meaning again to our
lives.
Angels sent to calm water
Angels are sent to calm waters.
There have been regrets in our lives,
but they are sent to help us see,
every new day dawns to bring a brand
new light.
Life can be a running water faucet,
but angels are sent to calm the flowing
waters.
By Lisa Minott
Smile for me
The picture in my mind of your smiling
face delights me
Smile for me.
When you smile you make the dark
world seem more bright
smile for me.
When the dullest day swallows my
brightest hour,
Smile for me.
Your smile mends a heart,
When I see you looking at me I want
you to see me smiling.
Send your Love
By Lisa Minott
Awaiting the Sun
In the fields I stand, looking up to the
heavens waiting,
waiting for the miracle to happen. My
unperceivable chains
encumbering my feet prevent me from
walking too close
to the sunrise, a symbol of unrestraint, a
ritual my soul seeks
By Marjorie Louis
every dawn.
Eyes
Then it came, higher, higher, like a
portal to the world,
Your eyes remind me of an evening
sun,
because they shine so bright ,
they can turn a dark room into light.
They glow with your personality they
make me feel alive,
When I look into them they drift me
away,
Just like a sun they always surround
me,
and just like warmth they warm every
part of me.
By Lisa Minott
with exploding flames and fires bursting
with variations of light .
So much beauty, full of life.
Now that I have seen a piece of glorious
heaven I may
begin to start my labors and start a new
day and await
or the sun tomorrow.
Photo By Ruby L. Williams
By Marjorie Louis
11
Clutch Hitting, Pitching, Lead Youth
Service To Victory In North Carolina
By
Khurram
Syed
The Youth Service Blue
Machine baseball team, the all-stars
from one of the roughest sandlot
games and leagues all over New York
City went into North Carolina hoping
to get into the national tournament
championship game and maybe even
win the tournament. And with great
pitching and a lot of clutch hitting, all
the hoping became a reality as Blue
Machine won the 32 team tournament.
Youth Service is not an
ordinary team. Try outs start in
January while other teams don’t begin
try outs till the middle of March. The
players are very disciplined and are
taught the meaning of hardwork. The
organization started in the early 1950’s
and major leagures such as Manny
Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians,
Shawon Dunston of the San Franciso
Giants and Frank Rodriguez of the
Minnesota Twins have played for
Youth Service.
Greensboro, North Carolina
sponsored the tournament and teams
from all over the country partcipated in
it. The tournament is an invatational
so any team can participate, the teams
just have to pay for the fees of the
tournament. There were four brackets
and the team with the best record in
their bracket would advance into the
semi-finals. If the team won the semifinals, it was onto the championship
game from there.
The first game for the Blue
Machine was against Waterford, a team
from Connecticut. Pitching was the
key as Ferdinand Lopez of Manhattan
pitched seven superb innings holding
the opposition to only one run as
Youth Service opened the tournament
with a 4 -1 win. “I felt alright, I
was nervous but it was probably
one of the best games I pitched,”
said Lopez. A. J Ramos of the
Bronx who attends Lehman High
was the hitting star who went 2 for
3 with two RBI’s and a run scored.
The second opponent
was the United Eagles, a team from
North Carolina. Trailing 4-3 in the
bottom of the seventh, Youth
Service started a rally with one out.
The Eagles pitcher after retiring the
first batter, lost the plate and hit Eddie
Castro of Manhattan. A.J. Ramos
followed the walk with a base-hit to left
field putting runners on first and
second. The next batter, Rudy Lugo of
Brooklyn roped a double down the left
field line tying the game at 5 and
putting runners on second and third.
“With the tying run on
second, I had to do something. I was
just trying to hit the ball hard and I
did,” said Lugo. Lugo will attend F.D.R
High this year. Jayme Morales who
resides in Manhattan was then
intentionally walked. The bases were
now loaded and Carlos Perez who also
attends F.D.R High School in Brooklyn
lined a base-hit into right center field.
A.J Ramos scored the winning run and
the Blue Machine had themselves a
very electrifying win as and they
improved to 2-0 in the tournament.
Things were looking good for
Youth Service until they ran into a team
called the Doyle Enterprises from North
Carolina who stunned Youth Service 42 in the third game of the tournament,
Blue Machine’s first
loss. Coach Zitter
responded to the
loss, “The
lefty that
was
pitching
Bishop Ford who was the hero of the
day, singled in the winning run as
Morales slid into home and the Blue
Machine was headed to the semifinals.
“As soon as the pitch was thrown, I
knew it was a fastball and
all I wanted to do was hit
the ball hard,” said
Applewhite. And he did it
hard for the game winning
hit.
To get into the
finals, Youth Service
needed to beat another
team from Brooklyn called
the Bandits. Carlos Perez
against
us was
a junk-ball
pitcher and
we didn’t hit at
all.”
Things got
scary for the Brooklyn
team who dropped to 2-1
and were on the brink of
elimination from their bracket.
The United Eagles were 2-1 and
Baseball Academy from N.Y was 30. To get into the semi’s, Youth
Service needed to beat their next
opponent Winston Salem and the
United Eagles would have to beat
Baseball Academy. The United
Eagles shutout the Academy 8-0
and all Youth Service had to do was
win.
Once again Youth
Service performed its comeback
magic as they scored two runs
against Winston Salem in the
last inning .
Youth Service was
trailing 5-4 going into the
last inning. Once again
the first man to bat in the
inning was retired. Anthony Vega, a
native of Queens who attends
Xaverian High drew a walk and then
stole second base. Vega was stranded
at second as the next man flew out to
right field. That brought to the plate
Jayme Morales. It got a little hair
raising when Morales had a count of 0
and 2 on him. Morales came through
as he singled to left field scoring Vega
and tying the game at 5. “I had
confidence because in my last at bat I
hit a double. All I was thinking, don’t
strike out and just make contact,” said
Morales. Carlos Perez walked and the
next batter Danny Troncoso who
resides in the Bronx and attends
Kennedy High also drew a walk.
Chris Applewhite, a junior at
was overpowering and threw a
complete game shutout. The final
score was 5-0. Brian Sargeant of
Brooklyn hit an enormous two run
homerun in the first inning that cleared
the centerfield wall and that was all
Perez needed from the offense. Chris
Applewhite put the game away in the
fourth inning when he also hit a tworun homer. “I thought it was a pop-up,
I thought I was jammed and then I saw
everybody screaming and then I just
jogged the bases,” stated Applewhite
after hitting the homerun. Great
pitching and a couple of homers had
put the Blue Machine into the tournaments finals.
Blue Machine showed great
heart when they rallied to win two
games in the last part of the tournament. Clutch hitting and great pitching
were the key for Youth Service
throughout the whole tournament. The
hardwork of coach Mel Zitter and his
players all paid off at the end.
In the finals, a team from
Illinois was the final opponent in
Youth Service way. Nicky
Figueroa, a graduate of Lincoln
High in the Bronx pitched six
and two thirds of marvaleous
baseball as he was the winning
pitcher of the championship
game. I asked Figueroa if he
was nervous pitching in the
tournament championship and
Firgueroa replied, “Actually I
wasn’t, I went in loose and
relaxed and ended up pitching a
pretty game. I didn’t even know
I was pitching in the game, I
found out about midnight before
the game.” He also said,
“there’re players that played for
Youth Service for eight years and
they haven’t won anything, so it
was nice to see them win.” Figueroa
will take his pitching talent to
Hutchinson Community College in
Kansas.
Leading 5-0 in the bottom of
the sixth, Brian Sargeant hit a three
run homer and put the team from
Illinois away. Youth Service was
leading 8-0 in the top of the seventh
when the Michigan team scored four
runs but it wasn’t enough as Youth
Service had won the tournament.
Coach Zitter said, “ I was
really happy of the team’s progress
after the loss to Doyle Enterprises,
we improved each game after the
loss. In the championship game, it
was probably the best team we
faced in the tournament and we
made them look weaker than
they were.”
The team is made up
of 17 and 18 year olds and
has an unbelievable record
of 41-5 but Coach Zitter
isn’t surprised. “This is
a young team, a hungry
team and players who
want to play baseball
and are dedicated to
baseball. I can’t say I
wasn’t surprised we
won the tournament,
but I was really happy
we won.”
Blue Machine
players said that Coach
Mel Zitter does a great job of teaching
the kids discipline, hardwork, dedication and giving them confidence in
their baseball abilities.
Sports
Story Inside
on page 11
COLLEGE APPLICATIONS - HAIR RAISING
As the summer wanes on
many students have started preparing
senior at James Madison High School
in Brooklyn, worries about the expenses of the upcoming year.
“The amount of money it will
cost to send applications has me
stressed. Each individual application is
expensive, so imagine how much they
will cost combined,” said Cruz.
“Students often say they
can’t attend private schools because
themselves for the college application
frenzy. While some are anxious about
the process many are filled with
questions and uncertainties.
Many of those who have
begun or are about to begin the
process are fretting over what awaits
them. Prospective applicants can
anticipate going through pages and
pages of applications, writing and
rewriting essays, memorizing their
social security number twenty times
over and after four years, finally
memorizing the number and address of
their high school.
Can I get in? What will it take?
These are the fundamental questions
that prospective students ask throughout the admissions process.
A great many students will
base their application decisions on
expenses, either application fees or
tuition. Edwin Cruz, 17, an entering
they are too expensive, however
private colleges realize this to be a
concern, which is why they offer
scholarships to be able to compete
with public colleges,” says Richard A.
Avitable, Director of Admissions and
Enrollment Management at New York
University.
Others wonder whether their
applications are strong enough to get
into the colleges of their choice. “I
intend to join more clubs and participate in more activities in my senior
year. I want to show that I’m not only
into my grades,” said Marjorie Louis
an entering senior at Hillcrest High
School in Queens.
There are other concerns
shared by prospective students-What are the most common essay
questions? Do I really need to take
SATII subject tests? Should I take
calculus in my senior year even if I
By
Amilcar
Priestley
don’t think I’ll do well? Is it worth it to
take an SAT prep course? What do I
do if I am waitlisted ?
High school graduates are
usually willing to give helpful suggestions to inexperienced applicants
because they have completed the
process. “The admissions process is
one that you can’t get through without
asking questions. Asking the right
questions,
directed at the
right people,”
said Tonya
Adison, 17, of
the Bronx High
School of
Science class of
1996.
Michael
Lawrence,18, a
recent graduate
of George
Wingate High
School in
Brooklyn said, “I
would definitely
suggest students
choose at least
two safety
schools that they
are relatively
certain they will
get into.”
The
question, “How
do I know which
college is right
for me?” comes
up quite often.
James Minter,
Assistant
Director of
Admissions at
Columbia
College, tells
prospective
students that the
“right” college
“...needs to
match. It is not
only a question
of setting and
size, but also one
of what kind of
students attend
and do they
contribute to the
overall college environment.”
Admissions counselors often times recommend
students do a self-assessment. Albert Forbes, college
admissions counselor at the
Bronx High School of Science
suggests, “Students should
first ask themselves what it is
they aspire to. Then they
need to begin the actual
search process by matching
whatever it is they want to do
with a list of colleges that can
offer the particular major they
are looking for.” This approach allows the applicant to
think seriously about what
they want to do, before they
jump into the process and
become overwhelmed.
One of the key
elements in the application
process is the taking of the College
Entrance Examination Board (CEEB)
entrance exam. Often times when
applying to a college a student is
uncertain about the testing requirements at the school. The majority of
schools require the SATI tests and
while some schools require the SATII
subject tests, other schools only
recommend the tests be taken, and still
others don’t require them at all. Mr.
Lawrence suggests “...take your
Achievements immediately after you
complete the corresponding course.”
When it comes to SAT’s
everyone claims to have the best way
to get the highest possible score.
Princeton Review and Kaplan Educational Center are the two most commonly used prep courses and the two
most popular. According to Sepi
Basili, Director of Pre-college Programs
at Kaplan, students who have used the
program raise their scores an average
of 120 points (in a range of scores that
can fluctuate between 200-1600), and if
there is no improvement you get a full
refund. Princeton Review guarantees a
free refresher course if your score does
not improve at least 100 points.
Rahsaan Chisolm, 18, a recent
graduate of Brooklyn Tech says “You
don’t need to take the course. Just find
one person who has taken the course
and study their material. No point in me
wasting my money, is there?”
College admissions books
often communicate basic things one
should consider such as: size,
affordability, proximity, academic
requirements and average SAT score
requirements. However they do not
fully convey the importance of visiting
colleges. Visiting a school can often
times be a good indicator of the
school’s atmosphere and how life as a
student will be there over the next four
years.
Although this is a particularly
trying process for many the end result
is well worth it. College admissions
officers such as Mr. Avitable, often
suggest that in making the final
decision, the best decisions are ones
“...which are mutual decisions [between parents and the applicant] with
the student taking the lead.”