SiemenS: making HiStory - Hewlett

The Independent Voice of George W. Hewlett High School
HEWLETT SPECTRUM
Volume LXIII No 2
Inside:
A New Face to Guidance
Page 5
Robotics: Triple Threat
Page 12
Sadd ‘Treks’ a Pose
Page 10-11
The ‘Chorus Line’ Reunion
Page 14
60 Everit Avenue Hewlett, New York
Friday, December 20, 2013
Siemens : M aking H istory
by Chenab Khakh and Daniel Kostevetsky plants with extra ozone-resistance genes are through the Regional Finals, working around
For the second year in a row, the more tolerant of environmental hazards, such the clock to prepare an intense ten-minute
Hewlett Science Research program has won as drought, pollution, and bacterial infection. judging presentation. Their hard work paid
first place in the Siemens Competition for Their project titled, The Isolation and Char- off when they were chosen as one of six
Math, Science and Technology, this year acterization of an Ozone Responsive Stress teams to compete in the National Finals in
against the largest field of competitors in Related Protein (OZS) in Ceratopteris rich- Washington, D.C.
history. In an encore performance, three ardii, examens the effect of air pollution on
Before announcing the results on
seniors along with mentor Terrence
Tuesday, all teams endured hours
Bissoondial have earned Hewlett
of preparation, and showed off their
its second consecutive grand prize
knowledge by answering quick-fire
win, the longest streak ever by any
questions and presenting a slideshow.
school, and captured an impressive
Bissoondial prepares the students
$100,000 scholarship. Out of hunmore than judges would expect,
dreds of schools that submitted reholding much higher expectations.
search to this competition, Hewlett’s
“Torture, reading, drilling, going over
science research program defied all
lots of information. Studying day and
odds to defend its title. Seniors Prinight. It all depends on studying the
yanka Wadgaonkar ’14 Jasmine Pei
material to win. Every free time they
’14 and Zainab Mahmood ’14 were
had was spent in preparation for quesannounced as first place winners in
tions.” Bissoondial stated. Knowing
Washington D.C. on Dec. 10. Comthe information and knowing your
Photo Courtesy of Terrence Bissoondial project is the key to the success for all
pletely awe-struck and ecstatic, the
The trio poses in Washington D.C. for the final round of the
girls could not believe what had just
the projects he has mentored.
competition.
happened. “Upon winning we were
“We were judged in a session
extremely excited, as we knew we had plant health and crop yield; and how plants with multiple judges asking questions. They
made history for Hewlett,” Mahmood said. adapt to that physical stress.
questioned us all together.” Mahmood said.
They have been working together
Their findings can be used to geneti- The team was asked questions largely consince freshman year, as most students do in cally engineer element and disease-resistant cerning future applications of their research
the high school’s science research program. crops, which could lower food prices and and on specific aspects of their project.
After three years of sifting through journals, strengthen the global food supply. After They were also questioned about why they
browsing science textbooks and making and submitting to the Siemens competition, and did not consider other biological pathways.
testing hypotheses, they discovered that being named regional finalists, they battled
continued on p.7
Hewlett’s In-House Research Program Takes a Break
by Oren Mizrahi
Hewlett High School’s award-winning Science Research program will not be
able to participate in the Siemens Foundation or any other research competition with
in-house research for at least another two
years. The program will still be in existence,
but students who want to be involved in
research competitions will have to find opportunities outside of school: primarily, in
nearby university research labs. Although
this solution seems viable, parents are pushing to get the program back on track; internal
research is important and recent wins attest
to the strength and success of this renowned
program. Luckily, the administration has
been extremely receptive to this issue and
we expect radical changes as early as fall
of next year.
Two years ago, the Hewlett-Woodmere School District had to make budget
cuts. To save money, the district rearranged
teacher schedules, thereby moving classes
around and changing the specific classes
that certain teachers teach. Unfortunately,
research teacher and mentor Terrence Bissoondial was one of the aforementioned
staff members.
All staff members work for five of
the ten periods during a school day, not
including grading, testmaking, hall duty,
preperation or extra help. As one of two
research mentors on staff, Bissoondial was
given three class periods and two research
periods (to investigate biological studies
and prepare research projects for students in
the biological research program). However,
due to these budget cuts, instead of teaching
three periods and doing research-related
work, Bissoondial was given two additional
Intro to Science Research and Biotechnology classes. Without the two periods to
prepare for research projects, Bissoondial
was not able to compile research projects
for the current sophomores or freshmen.
“Our success with research competitions like the nation’s premiere Siemens
STEM Competition resulted from the students being adequately prepared to conduct
and to defend their research projects,” Bissoondial said. “We cannot expect the same
level of performance if the time to prepare
and develop research projects for students
is truncated. In the vernacular, you cannot
have your cake and eat it too.”
Since preparing research projects is
a several-year process, no research projects
will be available for classes for the next
couple of years. The next students to participate in research will be current eighth
graders or, hopefully, current freshmen.
In an e-mail, Bissoondial writes, “All
research projects conducted at GWHHS
for any national competitions (the Siemens
Foundation Competition in Math, Science
and Technology and the Intel Science Talent
Search) required extensive years of preparations. No project was developed overnight.”
Parents of students involved in the
GWHHS research program have become
aware of this major issue. The parents
of the current freshmen involved in the
research program were debriefed about
the current state of the biological research
department back in October, for “Meet the
Teacher Night.” In a response to concerned
parents, Bissoondial, principal Theodore
Fulton and science chairperson Brian Terry,
convened to discuss the state of the research
department. After much deliberation, the
only solution was to arrange for GWHHS
students to perform their research in nearby
university research labs. This is called
“out-of-house” research, something that
superintendent Joyce Bisso says is what
most high schools do and is not “out of the
norm” for Siemens.
Despite the additional help offered by
Bissoondial to place students in labs, many
problems arose with this solution. For one,
transportation to and from research labs
on a regular basis would be very tough for
parents and students to arrange. Second,
regulations that control labs and ensure they
are safe and humane make it very difficult
for anyone under the age of 17 to work in a
research lab. The largest problem, however,
is actually finding mentors for all of these
students. Researchers are very busy and
usually do not have time to take on high
school students that need to be watched over
and taught. Unfortunately, this is the only
way for students of the freshmen and sophomore research classes to conduct lab work.
“As a parent of a student who is
enrolled in the freshman Intro to Research
class,” Dolly Giordano, mother of Sophia
Giordano ’17, began, “I believe Dr. Bissoondial should be given the full support of the
school administration so that he can continue
to develop in-house research projects for
his incoming students. Unfortunately, Dr.
Bissoondial was not given adequate time by
the administration to develop new research
projects over the previous two years, which
resulted in the sophomore and freshman
classes having a lack of innovative research
projects to conduct in order to compete for
the prestigious research competitions.”
continued on p.5
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF GEORGE W. HEWLETT HIGH SCHOOL
SPECTRUM
Friday, December 20, 2013
Help Wanted: Part-Time Employees
As of now, Spectrum
stands as the best studentrun newspaper in all of
New York State. That’s why
many of us were surprised
editorial
when only one teacher
stepped up to the plate after former faculty advisers
Kristen Hamilton and Angela Galtieri submitted their
resignations as supervisors
of Spectrum.
To start, we would
like to commend Rick Royals for taking on this huge
responsibility and assuring
Spectrum can keep publishing issues despite our recent
“bump in the road.” Without
any journalistic experience,
Royals made the decision
to be faculty adviser for
the club, something we all
appreciate. Royals has been
deep-set on making sure
he learns how to advise the
club and has been doing a
phenomenal job given the
sudden nature of his position. However, through all
of this chaos, we as editors
have been trying to understand why a mathematics
teacher has been forced
to carry the tremendous
weight of Spectrum by himself.
The f irst problem
occurred after Hamilton
and Galtieri resigned from
their positions as full-time
faculty advisers. Although
Galtieri has been lending a
hand, no other staff member
has committed to co-advise
Spectrum, or even agreed to
assist for that matter.
Hewlett High School
offers a great deal of extracurricular activities, yet
Art by Zekiel Maloney
Editorial
HEWLETT SPECTRUM
2
when few teachers are willing to participate, it sends a
poor message to students.
As an educator, teachers
should be responsible for
encouraging their students
to excel academically, yet
also engage in after school
activities. Basically, if
teachers do not participate
in Spectrum, neither will
students.
Even as
teenagers, we
are aware of
the im mense
responsibilities
staff members
have. Whether
they are raising a family or
tending to after-school jobs,
they should still
feel a sense of
obligation to
help the st udent body during and beyond
school hours.
Our administration should
provide us – as
dedicated writers and journalists – the
tools needed
to maintain an
award-winning
paper. We are
not looking to
ba sh on a ny
cu r rent st aff
members, just
merely pointing out a problem, which
leads us to our next point:
a solution.
Although Spectrum
only meets once a month
for a straight week, it is still
extremely time-consuming
to produce one presentable
issue. With that said, we are
not asking teachers to put
their lives on hold to super-
vise the school’s newspaper.
Rather, we are proposing a
system of rotation, in which
a teacher is only required
to supervise one out of the
five days of layout per issue.
Department heads would
be responsible for creating
a schedule to fit the needs
of the teachers. Therefore,
they would be sacrificing little of their
time, yet also assuring Spectrum
sustains its prestigious award-winning reputation.
At the moment, Spectrum
is struggling to
produce h ig hqualit y papers
given our circumstances. There is
only so much a
team of experienced editors
can do to better
the newspaper
without multiple
faculty advisers
assisting the layout process.
With that
said , we u rge
staff members to
reconsider and
contribute their
f ree time to a
passionate group
of students who
are eager to learn
a nd t o c r e a t e
something they
are proud of. If
they’re not willing to help
us, then who is?
LETTERS AND OPINION POLICY
HEWLETT SPECTRUM
Spectrum encourages members of the school community to express their
DREW BELLER & MORGAN MARC, Co-Editors in Chief
views through letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and sent to either
the Spectrum mailbox in the main office or [email protected]. No
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AMANDA GOFFNER, Op-Ed Editor
ZEKIEL MALONEY, Art Editor
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ELYSE COOPER, After Hours Editor
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[email protected]
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Reporting/Copy/Layout Staff: Max Berman, Janna Bickoff, Elissa Candiotti, Kelly Cheng, Sagar Chinnappala, Adon Chowdhury,
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OP-ED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Go Google or Go Home......................................................3
No Claps for ‘Snaps’...........................................................4
NEWS AND FEATURES
Ms. Harrison ‘Guides’ the Way..........................................5
Tom Leaves; Hewlett Grieves............................................7
AFTER HOURS
Jake Salner ’14: Hewlett’s Karate Kid...............................9
SADD-Trek 2013: Dress Well, and Prosper.................10-11
Cooking Pancakes for a Cause....................................... 12
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
‘GTA V’ is Killing the Game.............................................13
A Chorus Line...................................................................14
1D Takes a New Direction................................................15
SPORTS
Pin to Win..........................................................................17
H-Town Wheels at it Again...............................................18
South Shore’s Big Three.....................................................19
Friday, December 20, 2013
by Amanda Goffner
It’s 11 o’clock
on a Sunday night
and as you frantically scamper to get
that last bit of work
completed, you cannot help but dread
what tomorrow will
b r i n g. To m o r r ow
will be Monday, but
more importantly it
will be the day when our fatigued bodies
retake their seats in those monotonous,
old classrooms. We will stare aimlessly
at the embellished chalkboard and listen to our teachers ramble on and on.
As exciting as that
may be,
we will
daydream
about how
gratifying it would be to snuggle up into
our cozy beds and watch the cold, winter
day fade out of sight, out of mind.
Throughout generations, school
has taken on this dull, tedious reputation
in which students grudgingly wake up
each morning to attend their classes. On
the other hand, Google, an innovative
mind, has devised a way to ensure such a
reputation does not overshadow its prosperous environment. With Google’s success leading the nation, why not follow?
Google has succesfully integrated
a zealous vibe into their work place,
follwing the Silicon Valley mentality.
the amanda
show
SPECTRUM
Go Google or Go Home
All “Googlers” abide by this mindset, proves no better. The walls are suffowhich believes in generating a joyous cating from a dull-colored paint, and
environment to stimulate productivity. the classrooms are screaming for a fun
Google paints its opaque walls with vi- and eccentric design. Would it be so
brant colors, offers Ping-Pong and pool wrong to break free from the traditional,
tables for employee breaks and all the military-like arrangement of desks in
highest technology. They provide free, rows and columns? Wouldn’t it be more
organic food, as well as free haircuts and beneficial to have classes in a circle
massage rooms for their employees to where students even sit on multicolored
rest in when necessary; the
list of benefits just continues
to grow. Google has a policy
called 20 Percent Ti me,
which allocates 20 percent
of the workers’ time to do
anything they desire. This is
just the foundation artfor all
of their success.
E n t e r i n g r e p e t i t i ve
codes into a computer can be
more tedious than studying
for a test, however, Google
has established a framework
where its staff members can
actually enjoy what they’re Art by Zeke Maloney
doing. Learning about new
things our mind has never yet acknowl- beanbags? The classroom’s rigid, inflexedged could be the most fascinating ible chairs are causing us back pains at
thing in the world. Our administration such a young age and what student would
needs to establish an environment where willingly go to a school that is all work
we can actually enjoy learning, so we no and no play?
longer view education as an obligation
According to Google, one’s workforced upon us by society.
place ref lects the vibe and passion proFor starters, the school’s anachro- jected by their employees. For example,
nistic architectural design does nothing if a working environment is drab and
to stimulate an enjoyable and productive dull, the employees will be disinterested
setting. The outer appearance resembles and bored with the projects at hand.
a school from the 1950s and the inside The same may be said about a school
Opinions 3
environment. However, Google strives
to create an innovative, fun and unique
design to keep employees fascinated
with their work.
While I understand Google is a
large company with tremendous funding, much greater than our school’s, the
administration can still create a desirable work atmosphere on a smaller scale.
Despite Googlers’ high degree of education and maturity, the school board should
still give us some leeway to
take our minds off frustrating schoolwork, even if it
is for a small portion of the
day. The school could find
money within the budget to
upgrade the facilities. It is
simply a matter of reallocating their resources.
So wh i le we m ig ht
not be Sergey Brin or Larry
Page, who have established
t h i s r e now n e d d a t a b a s e
essentially controlling our
nation, we still have the power to implement reform in hopes of creating an appealing work environment to encourage
productivity. Whether we are replacing
unwanted school chairs with vivacious
resistance balls, painting the walls with
a brighter color to promote happiness, or
putting fun table games in the internet
café to relieve stress, there is much to
do to reform what has evolved into a
relatively dull school day. Don’t believe
me? Just Google it.
Gun Control: Back (Ground check) it Up
by Ariel Purnsrian
on their past? I believe if one fails a thorough
Newtown Massacre, LA airport background check, they should be denied
killing, Washington Navy Yard shooting the right to such a powerful weapon like a
how many more incidents will it take for the gun. Buyers that purchase firearms through
government to realize change is needed? All private sales in the United States do not have
of these tragic acts of violence have resulted to pass a background check before obtainin innocent deaths and more controversy ing possession of a weapon. Personally, I
regarding gun safety and security. There is cannot seem to understand the logic behind
no definite solution, but there are definite allowing these “buyers,” to have a gun no
consequences. A lack of action will turn matter their history. Many of these people
these unforeseen incidents into anticipated fail to comply with the law to begin with,
events. So how can America protect its often having criminal history, so what logic
citizens, while still fulfilling the freedoms justifies granting them a weapon that could
upon which it was founded? The question at end a life? This is completely unacceptable
hand is, would you give up your
freedom for your security?
Michael Barber, an Iowa
resident, recently received his
conceal-carry permit and is now
entitled to own a gun. According
to Fox News, he states carrying
a handgun for protection is his
constitutional right. Michael
Barber is also completely blind.
So yes, while it is his right to bear
arms, isn’t it the public’s right to
rely on the government for safety
and security? Giving a visually
impaired man a weapon does not
sound very safe to me.
It is also one’s right to have Art by: Siena Placino
freedom of speech, but screaming “fire” or “bomb” unecessarily in a and a threat to our public safety.
building is a punishable offense. The federal
Gun control laws vary throughout
government must tighten gun control laws. the states, and it is, without a doubt, necesWhat rationale can explain giving someone sary to systemize and unify these laws to
the rights to a gun when they are denied the protect the public. In my perspective, all
right to a driver’s license?
buyers should go through the same backThis leads me to my second concern: ground check, consisting of the same strict
background checks. How far is too far when examination and inquiry. While in Missouri
checking a person’s history? Would it be and Minnesota, applicants are required to
constitutional to deny a person a gun based complete a live-fire test, Iowa allows the
blind to carry a gun. In a recent poll, less
gun-related deaths were reported in states
with stricter gun control regulations. Thirtythree thousand citizens have suffered from
gun-related violence in just the past two
years. For this reason, it is imperative to
standardize background checks throughout
the nation and more thoroughly investigate
one’s background prior to issuing weapons.
An aspect of gun control that is often overlooked but is vitally important to
gun safety, is the type of gun sold. Adam
Lanza, slaughtered 20 children and six
staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary
School in Newtown, Conn. on
Dec. 14, 2012. According to the
Connecticut state police’s recent
release, Lanza used one of his
mother’s semiautomatic Bushmaster .223 rifles. This type of
gun is a military-style rifle that
has the capability to fire dozens
of high-velocity rounds in just
minutes. The ungraspable aspect
of this fact is his mother, Nanzy
Lanza legally purchased all the
guns used in the shooting. Now, I
am no gun expert, but if you ask
me, I would hold reservations over
what in the world an ordinary
Connecticut mother needed an assault rifle for? Therefore, I would
question the safety and future of our nation.
The government described this incident as
“unforeseen”, yet they continue to legalize
high danger weapons to regular civilians.
Unfortunately, such mayhem has not been
limited to the Sandy Hook shooting, and
has become familiar in several situations
over the years. Semiautomatic rifles have
been used in at least four high-profile mass
shootings since 1999. I would imagine at
this point you have questioned, why has
the government not banned the sale of such
guns? Believe it or not, it didn’t take much
putting together or fitting the pieces for me
to point my finger on it. According to the
National Shooting Sport Foundation, the
United States would be deprived of over 4
billion dollars by banning semi-automatic
shotguns in our country. According to my
standards, you cannot put a price on a life,
yet the government has managed to do so.
The Washington Post has pointed out 15 of
the 25 worst mass shootings in the past 50
years have taken place in the United States.
This is enough to show that reform is needed.
The government has made it so easy to possess a gun, so why not just legalize murder
at this point? There seems to be no apparent
difference.
As a first step to reform, the government should tighten the responsibilities of
the gun-holder. Any American requesting
a gun should have a reason, and that reason
should be checked periodically to confirm
its validity. This idea must be enforced in
America to substantiate that weapons are
in the hands of the right people for the right
reasons.
In addition, it is important there be a
unified database throughout the nation in
which every gun holder and gun tracking
number be recorded. That way a person will
think twice about shooting a bullet that they
know the government can track. The fact
of the matter is if Lanza, along with all the
other shooters in these mass shooting didn’t
utilize such deadly guns, not as many people
would have been killed at a time. We, as a
nation, must start to focus on what is more
important: is it our constitutional freedoms,
including the right to bear arms, or our freedom to life and security?
4 Opinions
SPECTRUM
Friday, December 20, 2013
Shop Smart, Minus the Cart No Claps for ‘Snaps’
by Daniel Kryzhapolsky
There are few things Americans love
more than seeing “50 percent off” in bold font
plastered all over their favorite products. The
one day of the year when we can shamelessly
splurge on these products is the infamous
Black Friday. But for a lot of people, the inconveniences outweigh the Art by Sydney Kleinrock
benefits. Sure you can
get the Vizio flat screen
at Wal-Mart for $300
or less, but are you
willing to elbow your
way through hordes
of determined dealseekers just to find out
the TV has been out of
stock for hours?
For those of us,
like myself, who do not
enjoy the thrill of Black Friday, the answer is
no. Black Friday, notorious for the large crowds
it attracts, also brings a great deal of tragedy.
In 2008, a crowd of 2,000 people here on Long
Island began to chant, “Push the doors in!” at a
local Wal-Mart; they took the door right off its
hinges and trampled an employee to death. In
2010, the police arrested a Wisconsin woman
after cutting the line and pulled out a gun when
authorities sent her to the back. In the past,
being the first to enter the stores was the only
way to capitalize on these great deals. With
the growth of technology there are more convenient alternatives to Black Friday shopping.
The Internet is an excellent place to conduct Black Friday shopping. For starters, the
chances of being trampled by sweaty, anxious
shoppers are extraordinarily low. In addition,
the Internet deals are identical to those found
in stores, with the cost of shipping being little
to none.
Some shoppers seem hesitant nowadays to engage in online shopping for fear
of missing the in-store exclusives; however,
online sources have found ways to compensate for these minor disadvantages. This
year, Amazon not only offered a ton of sales,
but also promised to
price-match any sale
its competitors offered
regarding televisions or
cell phones. Websites
such as Slickdeals.com
further contribute to the
benefits of online shopping by compiling all
the internet sales into
one database, making it
easier to find the lowest
possible price.
Another reason why it may be logical
to stay home on Black Friday is the often
overlooked Cyber Monday, the online equivalent of Black Friday. What this means is not
only can you find great online sales the day
after Thanksgiving, but also you are able to
you find great sales the Monday after. Cyber
Monday often focuses on electronics which
is excellent because many shoppers are shopping solely for that new Samsung flat screen
or that dirt-cheap PS3.
The bottom line: there is no point in
leaving your cozy bed Friday morning after
that caloric titan of a meal you like to call
your Thanksgiving dinner. You do not have
to battle through determined customers to
get great deals. You have the luxury of the
Internet right at your bedside, providing you
with some of the best prices and deals. Be
smart: don’t load that shopping cart.
by Max Berman
In today’s society, about 500 million
people are part of our nation’s Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as SNAP. SNAP is a government funded poverty program that gives a
certain amount of money to lower income
citizens for groceries.
In the beginning of Nov., cuts were
made to SNAP in order to continue funding
for other programs such as farm subsidies. To
clarify, farm subsidies are a yearly payment to
farmers to encourage them to keep growing
particular crops, regardless of market fluctuations. Now, the House of Representatives
wants to create a new bill, which entails more
cuts to the poor and more benefits for the rich.
Do you see a problem?
According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, about one-seventh of the U.S.
population receives food stamps, which in
2012, costed the country roughly $78 billion
dollars. Although the amount of money given
to each household has gradually dropped, the
House of Representatives proposed a $40
billion cut over the next 10 years in their new
farm bill proposal.
The government plans on making
the program harder to qualify for, in order to
implement the cuts. The Republican-based
House of Representatives has not taken
into account the $5 billion in cuts that have
already been made this Nov. The House is
more concerned with making minor changes
in farm subsidies, which totaled about $15
billion last year. The House’s bill proposes
to shift government-sponsored assistance to
wealthy farmers. The bill is also planning to
shift from direct payments to crop insurance
premium subsidies.
Even if this were to lower some costs,
there would be no income limit for the farmers who receive this. The Republicans seem
to ignore the issues that have been brought up
by the cuts that were implemented this Nov.
The reduction of food stamps has caused people to rely on food banks which in turn has
created a food shortage. We live in a nation
that allows an already rich class to continue
to earn money from the government; we do
not live in a laissez-faire government, so we
should and could force farmers to follow the
same rules of farm subsidies for free.
So while rich farmers earn more
money from the government, poor Americans will end up receiving less government
sponsored money for food. According to
the Environmental Working Group, from
1995 to 2012, one percent of farms received
about $1.5 million each, a quarter of the
total of farm subsidies. Moreover, about
three-quarters of the subsidies went to just 10
percent of farms. These farms earned about
20 times the amount received by the average
SNAP beneficiary.
So you might ask, why were farm subsidies even created? In 1933, at a time when
40 percent of Americans lived in rural areas,
farm incomes had fallen by about 50 percent
in the first three years of the Great Depression. They were used as an anti-poverty
program. Ironically, the farm subsidies are
“stealing” money from the SNAP program.
Eighty percent of SNAP members of
the 47 million are living below the poverty
line. Even with this support, they are still
struggling to get by. So why would we propose more cuts to the program that serves as
the largest lifeline to poor Americans?
by Kelly Cheng and David Perkins
In the much-publicized movie “Mean
Girls,” the students of North Shore High
School labeled the math club as “social suicide,” urging Cady Heron, the main character,
not to join. The director generated a setting in
which the popular crew controlled the highschool environment. All other students tried
to emulate the desirable characteristics of this
so-called popular group. However, today’s
society no longer praises the jocks and cheerleaders as portrayed in movies. Nowadays,
it seems society praises smart, intellectual
students rather than those jocks who flunk
out of school, yet attend all the parties.
Traditionally, intelligent students are
teased and given labels such as geek, nerd
or teacher’s pet, while the jocks or athletes
are viewed as the “cool crowd.” However,
this stereotypical view has gradually shifted
and academic success now seems like an
admirable quality to have.
In the past, so called “nerds” are looked
down upon for lacking considerable social
skills, and athletic prowess. Since they were
awkward and lacked self-confidence, they
seemed to be targeted by school bullies.
Yet in today’s society, these brilliant
individuals are cherished for their outstanding accomplishments. For instance, chairman and chief executive of Facebook Mark
Zuckerberg was never captain of the football
team or an all-star basketball player. In fact,
his intellect and enlightened thinking were
what led him to create the virtual atmosphere
known as Facebook, to communicate with
others behind a screen. When Zuckerberg
recently visited the Brooklyn Prospect Public Schools, he told many students, “Look, I
know that most of you are like I was as a teenager—expert computer programmers having
some tough luck with the ladies. That’s why I
created The Facebook: so kids like you could
become cool and start frenching with girls.”
He explains that Facebook was designed to
give “everyone a voice.” His sharp, innovative mind made him the youngest billionaire
in history.
Zuckerberg isn’t the only “nerd” to
succeed in today’s society. In fact, computer
expert, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft,
Bill Gates has a net worth of $77.2 billion.
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index currently ranks
Gates as the richest billionaire. Floyd Mayweather, a Forbes ranked boxer, is the top-paid
athlete with a total earnings of $85 million.
While his athleticism allowed him to succeed,
he is still no match for Bill Gate’s success.
Although the media tends to portray
intelligence as a bad characteristic by showing
skinny boys with wire-rimmed glasses being
shoved into lockers by the taller, stronger boys,
in reality, high school acknowledges it is not
bad to be smart. Reminiscing on our previous
years in high school, we have never witnessed
any skinny boys with wire-rimmed glasses
being shoved into lockers; in fact, many students strive to be like them.
Many have realized that being “cool”
does not give you an automatic acceptance
into a great college, or land you a successful
job on Wall Street. At this time of the year,
first quarter report cards have been received
and college acceptances are rolling in; many
are hoping and praying to be in the high honor
roll, or to be accepted into their dream school.
Over the past few years, more and more
students are enrolling in advanced placement
classes in school, more students are paying
to be in high honor roll, more students are
striving to be a nerd. After all, what is so
bad about being intelligent? As American
writer of comic fantasy Christopher Moore
so eloquently stated, “Nerds rule.”
by Lindsay Cohn According to the New York Times,
cheerleading is the fastest growing girls’
sport, yet more than half of the American
population does not believe cheerleading
compares with other sports such as football, soccer, baseball or basketball. A sport
is defined as a “physical activity that is
governed by a set of rules or customs and
often engaged in competitively.” Therefore,
competitive
cheerleading
is not only
a popular
pastime, but
also a sport
that should
be recognized by all.
Every
cheerleader
gets fired up
when someone t ries
to argue,
whether or
not cheerlea d i ng is
considered a
sport. Other athletes
question why they are not involved in a
“more athletic” activity. However, cheerleading requires a variety of skills similar
to many other sports. Cheerleaders need
the strength of football players, the grace of
dancers and the agility of gymnasts, in able
to perform their challenging jumps, stunts
and tumbles.
As an All-Star Cheerleader, I have
competitively cheered based on a series of
guidelines similar to gymnastics. Cheer-
leading squads are awarded points for difficulty, technique, creativity and sharpness on
a routine with limited time, only two minutes
and 50 seconds, during competitions. Teams
undergo extensive training and preparation
to meet the extreme demands comparable to
the training of any other athlete.
Some people claim cheerleaders are
just “flirts in skirts” and only serve to entertain the spectators. Despite this stereotypical
belief, cheerleaders work
just as hard as
other athletes.
Naysayers may
argue sports
h ave a r i sk
of injury, but
cheerleaders
simply stand
on a sideline;
in fact, almost
60 percent of
sports injuries
are related to
cheerleading.
According
to the United
States Sports
Ac a d e my,
cheerleading
causes the second most catastrophic injuries
among all sports.
In our school, many people fall into this
naysayer category. Some students constantly
view us as, “sideliner cheerleaders,” rather
than, “competitive cheerleaders” as they are
unaware of the amount of work we put in for
one, simple routine. Cheerleaders practice
every day just like any other sport team and
should be recognized to the same extent as
any other sport.
Cheer for Cheerleading
Art by Elizabeth Donohue
Nerds Rule!
Friday, December 20 2013
SPECTRUM
Ms. Harrison ‘Guides’ The Way
by Sammy Stern
On Oct. 15, 2013 Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools appointed Mary
Harrison as the Chairperson of the Pupil
Personnel Services of George W. Hewlett
High School. She fulfilled the position
previously held by Thomas Kenny, who
left to become the Director of Guidance in
the Bethpage School District. Harrison’s
appointment was approved by the Board of
Education in September and was officially
announced on Oct. 16, 2013.
Harrison came to Hewlett from the
East Williston School District, where she
served as the Director of Guidance K-12
since 2008. At the East Williston School
District, Harrison supervised all guidance department staff, created the course
selection guide and formed the master
schedule. In addition, she served as the
Dignity for All Students Act Coordinator
and ran numerous programs and workshops for students and parents. One series
of workshops included Parent University,
in which an assortment of different areas
was discussed from financial aid to study
skills. She also ran student workshops on
college admissions and a senior send-off
workshop. In the senior-send off workshops, real life skills were discussed to
help the seniors who were leaving to
attend college. Harrison hopes to bring
the senior send-off workshop to Hewlett
this spring along with other workshops
on essay writing, interview skills and
applications.
“Ms. Harrison is a powerful advocate for students,” Theodore Fulton, principal of George W. Hewlett High School
said. “She brings a tremendous amount
of experience to the Hewlett-Woodmere
community and we are so lucky to have
her here.”
Prior to East Williston, Harrison
was a guidance counselor at the Herricks
School District for ten years. She also was
an Adjunct Professor at Queens College,
part of a School Counseling Program from
2005 through 2011 and was the Assistant
Director of Admissions for Drexel University and Adelphi University.
Harrison brings to Hewlett an impressive record of accomplishments. In
2004, she was awarded with the New
York State Jenkins Award for Outstanding
Service and Performance. She is also the
author of “The Guide to Long Island High
Schools, What Every College Representative Needs to Know.”
With a School Administrator Certification and Master’s Degree in Educational
School Counseling, both from Queens
College, Harrison also obtained a Master
of Business Administration Degree from
Adelphi University and a Bachelor of
Business Administration from the State
University at Old Westbury.
Harrison is married with two sons,
one a sophomore at the University of Richmond and the other a junior in high school.
“They [her sons] help me so much
with my profession as I was watching
their developmental stages,” Harrison
said, “It truly applies to what I do as a
professional.”
Outside of school, Harrison and
her husband are outdoor enthusiasts who
enjoy skiing, going on bike trails and
playing tennis.
When asked why she chose guidance, Harrison replied by sharing her own
experience in high school, where she had
an ineffective guidance counselor who did
not even know her name.
“I said to myself I could absolutely
have an influence on somebody just by
M.V.T: Most Valuable Teacher
by Max Greenberg
Each year, the Business Teachers Association of New York State
(BTANYS) awards a business teacher
from New York with the Clinton A.
Reed Award. This year, the association
honored Ilene Walker, a business educator at the Hewlett High School with this
award. Walker certainly demonstrates
all the qualifications of this award as
the Clinton A. Reed Award is given to
a teacher who has made outstanding and
meritorious contributions for the development and advancement of Business
and Marketing Education.
“I am truly honored to receive this
year’s Clinton A. Reed Award and it is
an honor I never expected,” Walker said.
Barbabra Mattes, head of the
business department at Hewlett, nominated Mrs. Walker for this outstanding award. Walker traveled to Buffalo
on Sept. 4, to be presented with the
Clinton A. Reed Award. Joanne Ryan,
the president of BTANYS, presented
this award to Walker at the BTANYS’s
conference.
When Walker was told she had
been selected to receive the Clinton A.
Reed Award, she was truly shocked. In
fact, she was not aware that she had even
been nominated to receive this award.
Walker said she is still “stunned” at the
surprise of being chosen to receive the
award and thanks all of her colleagues
for being extremely supportive and always lending a helping hand.
For the past 33 years, Mrs. Walker
has been a business educator at Hewlett
High School. Walker has a M.B.A from
Hofstra University and also taught a
variety of business classes at Hewlett
High School, including Principles of
Marketing, College Marketing, Word
Processing, Keyboarding and Record
Keeping.
Walker also has the important
role of supervising the Hewlett High
School’s Senior Capstone project. For
the senior year project, students have to
complete tasks such as proposal writing,
journal writing and presentations.
The Senior Capstone project was
initiated by Walker in 1996. Walker
tested the program with students from
Joseph Zarodkiewicz’s AP Government
class. After the initial test run, the program became the Senior Experience,
which allowed only AP students to participate. In 2006, the program required
all seniors to complete a Senior Year
Project through their English classes.
In 2011, the program was renamed
Senior Capstone, which now includes
an English project as well the 25 hour
internship. This has become a graduation requirement. The Senior Capstone
project gives students insight about
which career path they may want to
choose later in life.
Walker remarked “It is extremely
fulfilling and gratifying to try to help
students search for a career opportunity
and learn more about a potential field
of interest through hands on experience.”
giving them a warm smile and knowing
their name and saying I heard you did
great on a bio test,” said Harrison, who
seeks to make a difference in the lives of
as many students as possible.
Having grown up in the neighborhood, Harrison was very excited to take a
position at Hewlett High School.
“Hewlett is a widely known academically challenging high school that offers tremendous opportunities for students
and staff,” said Harrison. “I particularly
love my department. The counselors and
the social workers and psychologists are
extremely hard-working and available for
their kids for every reason possible.”
The guidance department also is
equally thrilled about Harrison’s new position. Her transition into her position has
been quite successful, as the department
is excited to see what her leadership and
vision for Hewlett High School will bring.
“We are so happy to have someone
on board who is so in touch with kids today
and willing to put her innovative ideas
into action,” guidance counselor Melissa
Rose said. “Her will to reach all students is
coupled with her warm personality, which
has been a bright spot in the PPS office.”
With her friendly and warm nature,
Harrison emphasizes her availability to
talk to any student or parent who may seek
her assistance. She wants to make it clear
she is here is to help guide and support
students throughout their years at Hewlett
High School.
“My door is always open for any
parent or student if they can't see their
guidance counselor for whatever reason
they can always come in here and ask me
anything” Harrison said, “I want people
to feel very comfortable about asking me,
calling me or running anything by me.”
News
5
Research Lull
continued from p.1
Some parents feel strongly about this
issue and demand the administration reform
the policy so Bissoondial can be given the time
he needs to in order to come up with research
projects. The success Bissoondial has had with
his research program and the corresponding
research competition is seen in the statistics.
Hewlett High School has the greatest number
of semifinalists by any single high school in
New York, two consecutive first place wins as
well as two $100,000 scholarships: something
no other high school has ever done.
Principal of Hewlett High School,
Theodore Fulton, says the administration is
pushing to change scheduling around in order to give Bissoondial the time he needs to
develop projects. He adds that the administration agrees this is an issue of importantance
and wants to support Bissoondial completely.
The current proposition, according to Bisso, is
regardless of scheduling dilemmas, to provide
Bissoondial the necessary periods for research
development. The proposition will be a focal
point of the January 2014 Board of Education
meeting, scheduled for the 22nd, where the
Board will discuss the cuts and expansions of
certain programs.
If all goes well, the research program will
fall into the latter category and freshmen might
have research projects prepared for their junior
and senior years. The same goes for the current
8th graders who will come into the research
program next year. Sadly, an exhaustion of
research projects will hit hard for some current
sophomores who do not have projects or the
two years to wait for projects to be completely
ready and will unfortunately not be able to apply to research competitions like Siemens and
Intel. The students, parents and administrative
staff members can only hope that the resolution
of this problem will allow students to enter into
these competitions with in-house research and
continue the tradition of excellence at GWHHS.
The Startling Storm
by Dani Cooperman
The deadliest and strongest storm in
world history, Typhoon Haiyan, struck the
Philippines and other parts of Southeast
Asia on Nov. 8. Coastal towns were left
devastated by the category five typhoon as
many lost their homes, friends and family.
This startling storm brought gusts of wind of
up to 195 miles per hour and waves as high
as 45 feet, in contrast to Hurricane Sandy,
which had winds of only 115 m.p.h.
Even with the Public Storm Warning
Signal (PSWS), residents of the Philippines
were not fully capable of saving everything
they owned and loved. In the provinces of
Samar and Leyte, residents in major flooding areas were required to evacuate and the
military was issued to position planes and
helicopters in the areas expected to be affected most.
This overwhelming nightmare first
damaged the region’s low-lying areas, such
as Tacloban on Leyte Island and Guiuan, in
Eastern Samar province, which alone had
ninety percent of its structure destroyed.
Many of the area’s buildings were reduced
to piles of debris and much of the town was
completely ruined. In Tacloban itself, the
largest city on Leyte Island, thousands of
people died while survivors sifted through
flotsam and wreckage of their homes in a
desperate hunt for supplies and their belongings. The storm surge that hit Tacloban
washed away the pre-existing pontoons and
moorings for boats near people’s shore side
homes. Cargo ships were swept ashore,
while coastal buildings were destroyed. The
city’s airport buildings were smashed, trees
were uprooted and vehicles were upturned
by violent winds. Further along the coast
from Tacloban, cargo ships ploughed into the
coastline where victims were desperate for
help. Although the actual death toll remains
unclear, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
confirmed 5,209 fatalities across the country.
Extreme damage throughout the region created problems that greatly slowed
relief efforts. Though aid was flown into
local airports, a limited number of planes
were actually capable of bringing muchneeded supplies to the victims, as most
roads remained closed. With lack of access to sanitary necessities, some families
went through drastic measures to obtain
provisions to survive. Tacloban became
an extremely violent area to live in, with
residents constantly looting and stealing.
Safety concerns emerged causing several
relief agencies to back out, such as some of
the staff within the United Nations. Thousands of injured victims received no medical
attention as hospitals were either shut down
or very limited in capacity. The possibility
of the spread of disease is high due to the
lack of food, water, shelter and medication;
the lack of aid will increase the number
of casualties. Over millions of survivors
remained homeless and thousands were left
displaced. For this reason, many refugees
traveled to less affected areas, such as Cebu
and Manila, causing their population to more
than double.
Currently, the Philippines are still
recovering from this disaster and searching
for any possible help available.
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SPECTRUM
News 7
Straight to All-State Tom Leaves; Hewlett Grieves
by Ali Hagen
Each year, a select group of students
are chosen for the New York All-State Music
Festival. This year, Hewlett High School is
proud to have had three students participated
in All-State: Alice Falco ’14, Stephen Ng ’14
and Rose Generoso ’14. Only the best high
school musicians are chosen to participate in
this extraordinary event and it is an honor to
represent one’s high school at the festival.
“These selected students are competing
against all students who go Level 6 All-State
throughout all of New York,” James Dragovich, band teacher at the high school, said.
The festival for 2013 was Dec. 5-8 at
East Middle School of Music in Rochester,
N.Y.. The performance groups consist of
symphonic, wind ensemble, women’s choir,
mixed choir, symphonic orchestra and the jazz
ensemble. Highly regarded professors from
major universities located around the country
conduct the pieces at the festival. NYSSMA
scores reflect the results of the audition; most
All-State musicians receive a score of 100.
Students practiced their music daily in order
to ensure they were prepared for the audition.
“The way that I prepared for the audition was by starting to pick out my All-State
NYSSMA piece early so I had plenty of time
to practice,” Falco stated. “I also listened to
recordings of my audition piece to get an idea
of the style of the music so I could imitate that
to the best of my ability”
Fortunately for Falco, her determination
was worth it: “Making All-State proves that
hard work and dedication actually pays off.”
This is Falco’s second year making
All-State as a bass clarinet player in the wind
ensemble. According to Hewlett High School’s
wind ensemble director, Dragovich, Falco’s
achievement is remarkable.
“For Alice [Falco] that means that she
is one of the two best bass clarinet players in
the state of New York,” Dragovich explained.
Ng was chosen for a second year to be in
the mixed choir at All-State and worked hard
to achieve this accomplishment.
“Making All-State is meaningful because it is a very selective group and being
selected to represent your school is an honor,”
Ng stated.
Generoso, also a vocalist, performed
in the All-State women’s choir for the second
year in a row. For Generoso, the event is more
than just to make music.
“It shows that music isn’t just about
making pretty sounds,” Generoso revealed.
“I enjoy the synergy that is created from being around people who are just as passionate
about something as I am. The musicians come
from a variety of backgrounds; we’re all so
different but our appreciation of music brings
us together.”
These three students bring honor to
Hewlett High School and to the HewlettWoodmere community. It is rare to have
students coming from a small high school attend All-State. However, these three students
prove Hewlett High School is no ordinary
school. Falco and Generoso believe All-State’s
importance is more than creating beautiful
performances.
“I like being part of All-State because
it’s really interesting seeing all the different
kinds of people who make it into the All-State
Conference. It’s really cool to see how different everyone is, yet they all have a passion for
playing music,” Falco concluded.
by Samantha Acriche
Thomas Marrow’s retirement hit
hard for students and teachers alike. After
years of dedicated service to the HewlettWoodmere School District, security guard
Marrow bid us farewell, leaving many
melancholy because the school will be
without him.
“After 22 years as a New York City
cop,” Marrow said, “and 21 years as a
security guard. I think my wife would like
to relax in Florida.”
This past summer, Marrow and his
wife purchased a house in Florida and
plan to move there in December. He hopes
to spend more time with his wife and
enjoy the Florida weather. However, this
decision was not easy to make. HewlettWoodmere has been Marrow’s “extended
family.”
“I have met many great people,
many good friends and many good students,” Marrow said.
Marrow watched approximately
6000 students graduate from Hewlett High
School. He has built strong relationships
with many students, due to his dedication
to the school and his caring personality.
Students believe the school will not be the
same without him.
“I am so sad he retired,” Ifrah Ansari
’14, executive board vice president, said.
“He greeted everyone with a warm smile
and made everyone feel welcomed. We
will all miss him dearly.”
Marrow has helped many students
who required additional care and attention.
With the help of Marrow and the excellent
academic support staff, the students who
needed an extra push in high school went
on to be successful in life.
“Once in a while a student that had
to be challenged a little bit, but for some
unknown reason, they always pulled
through,” Marrow said.
Marrow has not only helped students, but has also aided in the development of the Hewlett High School into the
wonderful academic institution that it is
today. Marrow has had the privilege to
see departments within the school grow
and change.
“I have seen numerous changes in
the education, athletic and music departments,” Marrow began. “I have had the
honor to see music shows and concerts.
I have seen the athletic department turn
a mud football field and cinder track into
an artificial track and turf field.”
Academically, Marrow has seen
the growth of technology over his 21
years working as a security guard. These
advances, Marrow believes, have greatly
enhanced student performance.
“I have watched students use pens
and pencils too, every student in the
school getting computers, helping them to
be better informed and do better work and
do better educational stuff,” Marrow said.
Thomas Marrow has been an invaluable staff member for the past 21
years. His endless dedication, support,
kindness and hard work will certainly be
missed. The Hewlett-Woodmere community thanks him.
“We appreciate all that Tom has
done for the district,” Allie May ’14 said.
“He will be hard to replace.”
by Samantha Acriche
Nelson Mandela, South African
President and anti-apartheid hero, passed
away on Dec. 5, 2013, at the age of 95. In
recent years, he has battled health issues,
such as lung infections, which have led
to numerous hospitalizations. He will be
remembered for his struggle against racial
oppression and his devotion to democracy
and equality.
W o r l d Art by Zekiel Maloney
leaders gathered at Johannesburg’s FNB
Stadium for
Nelson Mandela’s memorial
service on Dec.
10. The event
honored Mandela’s legacy.
Mandela went
from a militant
freedom fighter,
to a prisoner, to
a unifying figure, to finally an
elder statesman.
He became a
hero to blacks
and whites and
became the nation’s conscience as it healed
from the scars of apartheid. His defiance of
white minority rule and long incarceration
for fighting against segregation focused the
world’s attention on apartheid, the racial
segregation enforced by the South African
government until 1994.
President Barack Obama and formePresidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton
and Jimmy Carter were some of the many
dignitaries to pay tribute to Mandela. President Obama was one of many to speak at
the ceremony. Obama described Mandela
as his inspiration in life and as a political
figure. He stated his political mission was
to follow in the footsteps of Mandela. Other
well known figures such as David Cameron,
Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband were there,
along with every living former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
This day was especially difficult for
Mandela’s family. Winnie MadikezelaMandela, Mandela’s
former wife, spoke
powerfully during the memorial
service. However,
she, as well as other
members of Mandela’s immediate family, did not have to
go through this hard
time alone. They
were surrounded
with support and
love from around
the world.
Individuals
from across the
globe expressed
their grief through
numerous mediums, specifically social media. Between
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the number
of posts regarding Mandela’s death reached
the millions.
Nelson Mandela never compromised
his commitment to ubiquitous democracy,
equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never responded to racism with
animosity. His life – and his work – have
been a source of inspiration for those who
were oppressed and suffered from racism.
The work he has done for the world, in this
particular respect, will be valued and commended for centuries to come.
continued from p.1
At first, the girls were not so confident in their answers and presentation. “To
be honest, we did not think that we would
win. The caliber of the other projects at the
competition and the people executing them
could be intimidating at times,” Pei reflected.
“We felt that Dr. Bissoondial prepared us
extremely well, but were just a bit anxious
after having presented. We were not sure if
we had done enough.”
Since the mentors were not allowed
near the students when being judged, Bissoondial did not know what was going on.
“When Priyanka came out, after judging, she
was crying and I was under the impression
that they had done poorly,” Bissoondial said.
Although this was a time of great
anxiety for the group, it was a surprise to
have been announced as first place winners.
“It seemed that the judges didn’t
expect the level of detail in the answers for
which I had prepared the students for. They
only have twelve minutes for this entire
round, and my expectations were greater
than of the judges,” Bissoondial said.
The team was overwhelmed after not
hearing their name until the very end for
first place.
“They began with the runner-ups. I
kept listening keenly to hear our name, but
they didn’t announce it.
It really did not occur
to me that we had just
won first place. It was
a total shock.” Wadgaonkar exlaimed. The
trio, along with their
mentor, were honestly
astonished in realizing
they had made history
for the Siemens Competition, for their school,
and especially for them-
selves. “It was really nice to be awarded for
all our hard work, especially working in a
high school. It is great to know it all paid off.”
The team competed against other
students who often complete their projects
in professional laboratories at universities
along with the expertise of university professors. Yet, Hewlett still won the grand prize
of one of the most prestigious competitions
in the nation.
“The team designed an elegant study
—conducted completely in a high school
lab— to understand how plants defend
themselves against environmental stresses
such as air pollution. This work addresses
a fundamental environmental problem
and its potential effect on our future food
supply,” Brooke McCartney, associate professor, Department of Biological Science,
Carnegie Mellon University said. “These
students exhibited remarkable creativity,
persistence and critical thinking ability that
represents the best of what science education
can inspire.”
They made the school extremely
proud, and deserve to be commended for
their achievement. The science research
program remains resilient, focusing on its
recently unbelievable records not only in
Siemens, but also in other science competitions.
H is M emory L ives O n Two Consecutive Wins
8 After Hours
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Growing With Youth Leadership
by Ali Hagen
Youth Leadership Forum and Youth
Leadership Club have been working on
many projects to benefit our community and
school. With the addition of servant leadership, members have been working hard to
reflect on the past and achieve even more
for the future. Involving multiple parts of
the community to work together, including
students, senior citizens and parents, Youth
Leadership is determined to have a successful future.
At the most recent Youth Leadership Forum, David Rifkind, Social Studies
teacher, introduced the concept of servant
leadership. Servant leadership holds the
values of club members, and inspires the
efforts of the group. Servant leaders lead by
example, not by giving direction.
“Servant leadership is at essence the
notion that each of us can make positive
contributions leading to a more successful
system and in doing can enrich ourselves
and others,” Rifkind explained. “The system
can be an organization such as our school
district, it can be the community as a system,
or it could be a family system which requires
each individual to actively seek ways to keep
strong or strengthen the family.”
Members of Youth Leadership are expected to have the characteristics of servant
leaders. These qualities are important for
fulfilling the goals of the club.
“Part of what makes a servant leader is
awareness that a system exists and a willingness to try to learn about the system, not only
to fulfill your role and achieve your goals, but
understand the roles and goals of others so
your actions complement and contribute to
a stronger system,” Rifkind said.
The actions of many servant leaders have contributed to the success of the
garden this season. Students grew a variety
of vegetables and distributed them to a soup
kitchen in addition to several restaurants,
church groups and community members.
These leaders were diligent in tending to the
garden through regular garden calls. Rifkind
also attributes the success of the garden to
the help of Richard Batta, who constructed
the vegetable beds, installed an automatic
sprinkling system, plumbed the irrigation
lines, delivered the soil and responded to all
kinds of requests pertaining to the garden
throughout the growing and harvest seasons.
Among the accomplishments of the
garden are workshops, which include learning about tomato grafting, as well as the
expansion of agriculture in the community.
Local restaurateur Lou Muto went to Franklin Early Childhood Center as a guest chef
and made salads demonstrating the different
vegetables grown in the garden. Students
received information about the garden, nutrition and the variety of vegetables. Many
were excited to begin their own gardens in
the spring of 2014.
The gardening at the Community
Garden Learning Center may be finished
until spring arrives, but the club is planning
the creation of an iBook and a gardening
app to show off the knowledge that Youth
Leadership has acquired through the garden.
“The iBook will serve to teach the
community about the community garden and
give them tips on starting their own garden at
home,” Lenny Khazan ’17, a main contributor to the iBook and app said. “The book will
talk about both the experiences we had in the
garden and what we learned, and the app will
serve both as a learning tool and a "sandbox"
to try out your garden designs.”
The iBook is on track to be published
by the spring and will give advice for or-
ganic home gardening, from milk carton
flowerboxes to garden beds. The Cornell
Cooperative Society, which has been helping
the YLF’s community garden since it’s inception, will be editing and proofing the book for
quality and ensure factual information.
From the garden, students have learned
their own organic fixes for many maladies
such as pesky insects on the leaves of kale.
“We are hoping this will be a good
way to reach out to the community and invite
people to participate in the community garden
as well as tend their own,” Rifkind said.
In the coming spring, Youth Leadership is also looking forward to a new butterfly
garden at the Community Garden Learning
Center. It will consist of flowers, plants and
shrubs that will attract monarch and other
native butterflies. The idea for the garden was
largely inspired by Melissa Gates, a member
of the Board of Education. After finding
Black Swallowtail caterpillars in the garden,
Gates brought them to FECC for chrysalis
and emergence in the spring. With the help
of Gates, students are seeking permission to
set up butterfly hatcheries in Franklin and
the elementary schools with displays on the
lifecycle of a butterfly as a system.
Another project Youth Leadership is
currently involved in is the sale of bricks for
Phase I of the Community Garden Learning
Center’s pathway. The bricks are being sold
for $75 and include three lines of a personal
message. The goal is to sell 100 bricks by
Dec. 31. Bricks are a way for families to
honor their graduates, clubs, school groups,
organizations and community businesses.
The profit from the brick sales will sponsor
home gardening workshops facilitated by
garden professionals and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, as well as other activities
that will serve the community. The brick sale
is an opportunity for Youth Leadership to extend its community outreach. Rifkind hopes
each brick in the pathway at the community
garden will be a show of the support of the
community, and a combined effort of all
involved, even if they didn’t garden directly.
“It’s a statement of community support
for a project that is working hard to become
sustainable financially as well as environmentally,” Rifkind said, expressing his desire
for the bricks to be successful. “Every brick
brings the garden closer to becoming a true
environmental learning center.”
Another Youth Leadership project
is selling flags to contribute to the Field of
Honor, a memorial in front of Woodmere
Education Center from Memorial Day to
Flag Day. Flags are available for $25, or can
be bought as shares of a flag for $5 through
the “flag-share” program. All flags purchased
through flag-share are going to be donated.
For an additional fee, flags can be folded into
personalized displays. The proceeds from this
event go to Disabled American Veterans and
the Wounded Warriors charity.
The garden newsletter will have a new
email list soon and anyone who is interested
can email Rose Panarelli and request to be
a part of the list. Youth Leadership is looking to extend to even more volunteers in the
future. With many things to look forward to,
Youth Leadership is reaching out to acquire
more help.
“I can’t wait to see the future of Youth
Leadership, because I’m sure the hard work
will pay off,” Franny Gould ’16, member of
Youth Leadership Forum said. “Volunteers
of community members without direct ties
to the school district are something we really
want to increase. It’s a “Community” Garden
Learning Center; the mission is to involve the
community, not just the school.”
by Kelly Cheng
“Roses are red, violets are blue,” is
what you may hear as you walk down the
English hallway on a Thursday afternoon.
Vintage, a literary arts club at
Hewlett High School, meets on Thursdays, bi-monthly in the English hallway.
This year’s executive board is made
up of President Kelly Cheng ’15, Vice
President of Art Hannah Burkhart ’15,
Vice President of Poetry Oren Mizrahi
’15, Treasurer Andrew Kevelson ’15 and
Secretary Margaret Feldman ’15.
At the meetings, desks are arranged
in a circle and everyone sits facing each
other as members go around the circle
sharing their work. Everything from poetry to art to music to personal anecdotes
are shared. Members give each other
positive feedback and snap to show their
appreciation.
Many view this club as a relaxing
place as members can come and go according to their personal schedules. This
is a club where students can go to meet
new people, share personal experiences
and listen to the experiences of others.
“At Vintage I have come across a
variety of people with loving hearts,”
Layla Elkoulily ’17 said. “We have
shared a variety of poems from very dark
ones to very lights ones. Once we’re in
that circle of chairs, we are open to sharing our poetry without the fear of being
judged.”
Elkoulily recently has gotten in
touch with Dave Johnson, the New York
State contact for Poetry Out Loud, a
National Recitation Contest eligible for
students grades 9-12. This foundation
encourages students to learn about poetry
through memorization and recitation as
well as to develop public speaking skills
and build self-confidence. This competition includes the state round as well as
the national round in which state winners
receive a cash prize of $200, as well as an
all-expenses-paid trip with a chaperone
to Washing- Art by Zekiel Maloney
ton D.C. for
the national
competition.
Runner-ups
in each state
receive a
$100 cash
prize, in addition to
$200 for
their school
libraries.
Vi ntage is looking to get
involved in
a Poetry Out
Loud competition locally and hopefully to compete
against others at the state and national
level.
“I believe since Vintage is such
a great outlet to voice our opinions,”
Elizabeth Donohue ’16 said. “Being able
to share the talent of the club members is
necessary and taking part in this national
competition would be a good way to share
our club with others.”
Last year’s successful event of
Vintage Open Mic Night, planned and
coordinated by Lauren Altus ’13 and
Kayla Epstein ’13, had over 50 gather in
the Woodmere Middle School cafeteria
to share each club member’s poetry and
art. The current executive board has this
year’s Open Mic Night planned for March
21, 2014 in the High School commons
where students can once again gather to
share poetry and art. However, this year’s
ev e n t e x p a n d ed
to include music
as well so that it
is truly an “open
microphone” for
everyone.
In fact, the
executive board
has already been
accepting submissions at their email
address: vintageopenmicnight@
gmail.com.
“As a board
member of Vintage, I hope to see
its members expand their horizons
and show their creativity through various
media,” Burkhart said. “To me, Open
Mic Night should be a fun night where
all participants are encouraged to think
outside the box and express themselves.”
In April 2013, some Vintage members attended a poetry convention at Adelphi University, where they learned tricks
and tactics for creative poetry writing,
and were given a chance to submit their
own poetry to the competition. This event
was beneficial as Vintage members were
able to meet new people from around
Long Island who share similar interests.
This year, the members of Vintage are
planning to attend this convention again,
hoping to even further expand their
knowledge and win an award for their
poetry.
“It was a very social event that enlightened me and gave me great insight
to the poetry community,” Kevelson said.
“I hope to make even more out of this
year’s trip.”
There are several new members of
Vintage this year, many of whom are from
the freshman class. Their enthusiastic
attitudes and novel ideas seem to bring a
more exciting aura to the club meetings.
“The ninth graders bring enthusiasm to the club and everyone has so much
to share,” Faculty adviser Darla Smyth
said. “We wonder from year to year about
a continued existence of a club, especially
a poetry club. People often don’t see a
practical use for it, but Vintage has continued with passion.”
Throughout the course of the year,
[email protected] accepts
submissions of poetry from Haikus to
acrostic poems as well as artwork from
pastel, and charcoal to watercolor.
Members then meet in the school
computer lab and compile the works
into the annual Hewlett Vintage Literary
Magazine, which is shared throughout the
school and available in the high school
library.
Even though many of the members
of Vintage graduated, this year’s club is
still bustling with excitement and new
ideas, and the executive board is planning
for a big year ahead.
A New Year Brings New Beginnings for Vintage
Friday, December 20, 2013
After Hours 9
SPECTRUM
Jake Salner ’14: Hewlett’s Karate Kid
by Julia Weinstock
Have you ever wanted to prove yourself to someone? Prove you could be better,
stronger and more confident than anyone
thought you ever could be? Everyone has
been doubted, put down in their lives and
everyone has limits. However, who is to
say you don’t have the capability to go
beyond those limits? The answer is no
one, no one but yourself. Jake Salner ’14
decided to push himself beyond his own
limits and expose himself to karate, a sport
he has been involved in since entering the
eighth grade.
“My dad and I loved watching the
movie ‘Karate Kid,’” Salner said. “I was
always drawn to the concept of the underdog; being able to push your limits and the
limits people place on you. I had a similar
situation to the movie; I was coming into
eighth grade as the new kid.”
Salner came into the Hewlett-Woodmere School District as an eighth grader
with little confidence. After all, it is a bit
nerve racking to be a new student in a
school that is new to you. You don’t know
anyone and you basically have to start all
over. Salner knew all of these things were
true and decided to begin learning martial
arts, a sport that would ultimately boost his
confidence when nothing else could.
“Although I wasn’t expecting to be
bullied, I felt martial arts would give me
confidence in the new setting,” Salner
explained. “Luckily, everyone treated me
with respect and I had no troubles, but my
newfound confidence didn’t hurt.”
Salner started learning karate at PaKua Martial Arts, located near the Woodmere Middle School. He began in a co-ed,
adult class where he was the youngest
among people ranging between their midthirties and forties. Despite this, Salner did
not feel out of place or uncomfortable. He
was there to do something he enjoyed and
nothing else mattered.
“I have found martial arts as an
easy way to make new friends, so getting
comfortable with the strangers was easy,”
Salner said.
Martial arts still plays a prominent
role in Salner’s life today. Currently, Salner
is a red belt. The different colors of belts
represent different levels of difficulty.
Pa-Kua, has a slightly different order than
traditional martial arts schools. The belts
go from white, yellow, orange,
green, gray, blue, red and finally
to black. Clearly, Salner is very
experienced and is gradually
moving his way towards achieving a black belt. Each level requires more extensive training
time in order to move up and
progress to the next belt. Salner
will have to spend six months of
training with his red belt, take
improvement classes and write
an essay in which he will describe
what Pa-Kua means to him and
what he has learned throughout
his training in order to obtain his
black belt.
“It feels amazing to be this
close to my goal,” Salner explained. “Becoming a black belt
will be an accomplishment that I
can be proud of for the rest of my life. It's
crazy looking back at all the training I went
through and to think I'm so close. I think a
lot of the excitement comes from the fact
that I stuck to it. It's been a long hall and
I'm so close.”
Salner has had many accomplishments throughout his training. As a gray
belt, Salner was qualified and given the title
of an instructor. However, Salner received
this title entering his junior year when he
put more time and effort into his studies and
did not quite have the opportunity to capitalize on his teaching opportunity. Though
this opportunity has not gone to waste.
“I hope to begin to teach soon after I
get accepted to college,” Salner said.
Salner also had the chance to display
some of his skills, which he typically does
not share with others, when he performed
in Hewlett’s Got Talent. He demonstrated
different techniques and won Most Creative
Act at the end of the night.
Despite Salner’s pride and enjoyment
in his participation in martial arts, he has
had his doubts.
“When I began training, I didn’t tell
by Hannah Jacobs
In current culture, the emphasis is
on looks: beauty, body figure, flaws and
imperfections. People overcome these
stereotypical characteristics with personal
style. Individuals can express themselves
by wearing whatever they feel comfortable in. Since types of fashion vary,
people can get away with wearing any
kind of outfit. Unlike how media depicts
beauty to be, styles that stray from the
norm are considered cool.
Fashion trends appear often, but
don’t stay for long. Over the past few
years, trends have included floral and
animal print, sheer fabric, peace signs,
military, denim shirts, bandage skirts,
cut-outs, color-blocking, skulls, studs and
anything leather.
Trends are usually short-term. However, if a trend has caught enough attention to stay popular for more than a few
months, then it has to make the transition
into everyday style, and it is no longer
considered a trend. This rarely happens
because trends are very impulsive and
stem from short-term fads, which is the
stage before transitioning into a trend.
The hipster trend has been popular
for a while now. A stereotypical hipster
wears flannel shirts, crop tops, high
waisted shorts, stockings, chunky jewelry
and big glasses. Items like these are vital
components of the hipster trend for students at Hewlett. For most, it’s more of
a façade than a lifestyle. Hipsters listen
to obsure music and remain secluded to
promote a mysterious profile.
When someone says the word “hipster,” there is not just one outfit combination that is pictured.
“Glasses, bright colors, and a weird
combination of clothing,” Antonio
Cordello ’14 said, describing his
depiction of a hipster. “It’s a hard
concept to explain because they
don’t all dress the same. The point
is to have your own style, so there
can’t really be a specific prototype of clothing to be a hipster.”
The New York Times article
“A Hipster in the Mirror,” characterizes hipsters as the “inventors
and first adopters of novelties”
who pride in “knowing, and deciding what’s cool in advance of the rest
of the world.” This idea of having a
novel and unique sense of style is
prevalent among students who try
to embody the style.
“Some hipster stores are
American Apparel, Urban Outfitters and random thrift shops,” Lexi
Betesh ’16 said. “These stores are
different and carry unique pieces, which is
what makes hipster people drawn to them.
They want to have clothes that nobody
else has so they can look interesting.”
But if all hipsters are shopping at
the same few stores that are considered
to be edgy, won’t everyone have similar
pieces from those places?
“The beauty of shopping in a store
like Urban Outfitters or American Apparel is that they both carry such a large
inventory that covers a bunch of different styles,” Betesh said. “Two
people with totally different tastes
can shop in the store and still be
equally satisfied. Also, there
are so many different clothing
articles that no two people can
really buy exactly the same
things.”
A hipster lifestyle has a
central focus on being different
and priding yourself on maintaining unique interests. Hipsters
promote a sharing and publicization of quirks. This forms a
strong foundation of character
that can potentially help individuals to be their true selves.
Students who dress like hipsters
in edgy clothing are willing to be
more open with his or her peers
and express themselves.
“Some people just are naturally not fans of things that are
popular, and that is perfectly okay,”
Sydney Kleinrock ’14 said.
Yet these original and unique hipsters are often wearing typical outfits,
and look similar to one another. Does
this mean that someone who is trying to
because that is certainly not the case. He is
involved in martial arts because he enjoys it
and feels accomplished when doing it, not
because he feels he needs to defend himself.
“I think it’s important for people
to understand that martial arts isn’t about
fighting,” Salner explained. “In my case, I
would never hurt a fly.”
People who are friends
with Salner know he would never
do any harm. However, others
who only know him through martial arts sometimes question him.
“I often get the question,
‘if you wanted to, could you
beat up anyone in the school?’”
Salner said. “I always have the
same reaction, ‘why would I beat
anyone up?"
Salner is good-hearted and
simply wants to pursue something he enjoys, just like any
other person with a particular
interest.
Although Salner’s opportunity to continue training is
coming to a close, this does not
SPECTRUM/ Sydney Epstein mean he is done with martial arts
forever, in fact, Salner plans to seek
anyone, not even my best friends,” Salner out other training areas wherever he goes
said. “To be honest, I was a little embar- to college.
rassed. I had this idea in my head that I
“I think it is important to continue
was a loser for doing martial arts, but then in the same kind of martial arts because I
there’s this other part of me that says that have come so far and have so much more
I shouldn’t care what anyone thinks. I do to learn; this is just the beginning,” Salner
it because it makes me happy and what said. “If there are no places by me, I want
people think of me should have no effect to join a boxing gym. Anyone who knows
on my outlook on martial arts.”
me knows I love Rocky so I think boxing
Salner’s outlook should set an ex- would be perfect.”
ample for others looking to achieve similar
No one should be afraid to pursue
goals or participate in “not so ordinary” ac- his or her dreams because Salner certainly
tivities. No one should be afraid or ashamed was not. He has come such a long way with
to do what they love and no one should ever such an unusual activity and that is certainly
be afraid of being judged by others.
worth appraisal.
Although Salner seems to be inSalner’s last piece of advice to evterested in contact sports such as karate, eryone is to “go out and try something
he should not be mistaken for a person that makes you happy. What do you have
who likes fighting or anything of the sort to lose?”
How Much Does a Hipster Weigh? An Instagram
Art by Elizabeth Donohue
dress like a hipster is basically the same
as someone who is trying to dress with all
the latest styles?
“Being a hipster today is like being every other person you see walking
down the congested streets of New York
City consisting of scarves, Buddy Holly
glasses, pea coats too short for the wearer
and skinny jeans tight enough to burst
capillary veins in any average human’s
legs,” Vinny Locasto ’14 explained.
According to Urban Dictionary, one
of the definitions for the word in question
is “someone who listens to bands you’ve
never heard of, wears ironic tee-shirts, and
believes that they are better than you.” It
seems as if there is some hostility towards
hipsters from those who believe they can
see through the façade, even if it is only
that; a facade
“Someone is not a hipster when they
purposely try to go against what ‘mainstream’ is, no matter how they actually
feel,” Kleinrock said. “That is just the
same thing as liking something because
it is ‘in’.”
Even though these students wear the
same thing, all have the same intention of
expressing themselves in a unique way.
The hipster trend running rampant
through Hewlett High School will eventually fade like any other trend, but some
of its staples may be here to stay.
After Hours
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
SADD-Trek 2013: Dress Well, and Prosper
by Elyse Cooper
On Dec. 6, the
Hewlett Students
Against Destructive
Decisions (SADD)
club hosted its
annual fashion
show, which is
sponsored by
local businesses and
stores. The
fashion show
was another
successful SADD
event, with
the theme
“SADD-Trek.”
Hosted by
club presidents
Mollie Falk ’14,
Daryl Last ’14,
Lauren Dana ’15 and Alex Gerber ’15, the
event featured students from the district and was
held in the Hewlett High School auditorium.
It showcased the latest fashion and styles from
local stores such as Mixology, Morton’s and
Mur-Lee’s.
The fashion show is a way for SADD
to raise money for donations and to fund other
educational events, such as guest speakers, which
spread awareness of the effects and consequences
of destructive actions.
It takes three months to plan an event as
large as the “SADD-Trek” fashion show. The SADD
Board began planning for the fashion show when
school started in September. In order to make sure
everything was completed in a timely fashion, the
club split up into committees, each of which handled
a different aspect of the fashion show. These committees included food, decorations, tickets, stage crew,
donations and any miscellaneous jobs that helped the
show run smoothly. Evan Gartner ’15 made a DJ mix for
the models to walk down the runway.
Because there were so many volunteers for modeling, the SADD Board held auditions to see who fit
the part best. These tryouts were held in mid-October,
almost two months before the show.
“Trying out to be a model is just the beginning of
a fun SADD experience,” Emma Boykin ’14, a model,
said. “Even when we’re rehearsing and walking and pos-
ing, its an opportunity
to be a ‘model’.”
In order for the models to “strut their stuff”
down the runway, clothes from nearby stores needed to
be provided. Like in previous years, the female models
wore clothing from Mixology. During the week leading
up to the show, the models visited the store to make sure
everything fit correctly. The male models wore clothing
from Mur-Lee’s for the formal portion of the show,
and Morton’s for the casual outfits.
The presidents described the fashionable
outfits and models as they made their way down
the runway.
“The SADD fashion show was an incredible experience,” Alexa Strauss ’14 said. “We had a great group of
gorgeous ladies and a solid handful of boys who knew how
to work the runway with swag.”
The models were not the only entertainment at the
show. The school’s step squad performed an original routine.
Raffles also played a big part in the fundraising. Each
ticket bought at the door earned the audience member a raffle
ticket, that could have earn one of the many prizes given out.
Along with gift certificates, there were also items that some
stores chose to donate as well.
“As a second year president, the SADD fashion show
is an extensive event to plan and execute,” Falk said. “Between the models and all the businesses that have helped us
throughout the years, the fashion show keeps getting bigger
and better. It’s an amazing experience and something I will miss
fondly after high school.”
The fashion show, which coincided with a varsity basketball game, received more audience members than usual, which
helped boost the sales. With each ticket going for $10 and a bake
sale, the revenues were even higher.
Advisers Sheryl Gordon and Jennifer Trow were instrumental
in the success of the fashion show.
“The fashion show wouldn’t have been possible without our
advisors,” Falk said. “They adjusted outfits, regulated the models’
walking and helped organize the businesses that generously lent
clothes and did hair and makeup for free.”
Models talked about the strenuous practices that took place
the week before the show.
“Each practice consisted of a run-through of the show,”
Boykin said. “We had to make sure our shoes fit correctly and we
could walk in them. We practiced our poses and worked on timing. A fashion show is a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work. Putting
together all of the elements led to long hours in the auditorium.”
Four rounds of outfits, performances and fundraisers came
together and created an event that will be hard to top in the coming
years.
“SADD-Trek was unquestionably a success and I loved every
moment of it,” Strauss said.
After Hours
11
Layout contributions by Jessie Kurz and Drew Beller
Photo contributions by Stephanie Cooper
10
12
After Hours
SPECTRUM
Build it, Code it, Test it, Win it
by Renee Kaplowitz
Each year, the Hewlett High School
Robotics’ Team takes part in a competition
called the FIRST Tech Challenge. Mathew
Schildknecht helps students build and program
robots for these competitions.
In previous years, there were only two
robotics teams: a co-ed team, Innovo and a
boys’ team, Roboboogie. However, this year,
the club added a girls only team, Bionica.
“Having more teams gives more people
an opportunity to be a part of robotics and it’s
interesting to see what each team is going to
come up with,” Samantha Belluccia ’14 said.
The teams have set high goals this year,
and each team member is given a significant
task to perform.
“Our team, Roboboogie, this year seems
a lot more organized and focused at the task.
We have everyone contributing something to
the team as opposed to other years where we
had some people not able to contribute much,”
Josh Elbaz ’15 said. “We’re more synchronized as a team than the past couple of years.”
The teams meet every Saturday from
7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to work on their robots.
“I'm enjoying the club a lot so far. I'm
learning so many things that I had no idea
about before,” Ali Hagen ’16 said. “It’s incredible that we are doing this as an all-girls team
and I hope we win awards at competitions!
Maybe even beat the boys.”
The student’s hard work can also earn
themselves big scholarships. This year, 150
colleges and universities will give as many as
900 individual scholarships to students, adding
up to about $18 million.
Teams have to create completely new
designs and robots each year. The season starts
with a few weeks of brainstorming ideas and
strategizing. After that, it takes around five
weeks to assemble the robot. Teams want
to make sure the robots are efficient and
consistent.
“It's very important to be able to rely
on your design and for it to work every time,”
Drew Beller ’14 said. “Only one loss on
competition day last year actually made the
difference between failing and qualifying for
the world championship.”
After the robots are completed, teams
test them for about two weeks. In the end,
the teams spend about 50 hours making their
robots and perfecting them for the competition.
“The competitions are a ton of fun and
very exciting,” Beller said. “It's essentially
one big tournament with hundreds of people
dressed up, yelling, screaming, dancing and
cheering.”
Each team has a group of students that
build the actual robot. Another section of the
team is in charge of programming the robot.
These programmers write the code that makes
the robot move and perform tasks such as
opening a claw. The code is made using the
program RobotC, which downloads the code
into the robots so the students can operate
each robot.
The robots Herwlett builds are similar
to one of the “claw games” seen at carnivals.
There are aspects of the team that don’t
involve robots such as maintaining the website,
raising money, keeping a log of hours worked
and managing social media. These are all
tasks that are just as important as building the
actual robot.
Each year, the team needs to raise money to help fund it. This year, they are hoping to
Cooking Pancakes for a Cause
by Janna Bickoff
Since 2008, the Epstein family, including Sydney ’14 and Olivia ’16, has been
working hard to raise money for the Pancakes
for Parkinson’s fundraiser. Parkinson’s Team
Fox, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, supports
research and funds scientists and doctors who
work to cure Parkinson’s disease. Starting as
a bat-mitzvah project, the family’s Pancakes
for Parkinson’s pancake breakfast is in honor
of their grandfather, Stewart Epstein, who
unfortunately has Parkinson’s disease. Now,
five years later, the
breakfast has become
a strong staple in the
community.
The event,
which was originally
held in the Woodmere
Fire House, is now
held in Congregation
Sons of Israel. The relocation was because
of an increase in attendance. Activities
during the two-hour
event include cupcake making, face
painting, a DJ booth and even a circulating
magician, but the main attraction is the buffet breakfast, which features many varieties
of pancakes.
In addition to volunteers, the Epstein
family relies on other families that help them
organize and execute the event, including
the Shorenstein and the Bergman families.
Because of the generous donations and
people in attendance, the Epstein family
was able to raise $50,000 this year, a new
record. The Epstein’s hard work has certainly
made a difference in the help of research for
Parkinson’s.
“Planning the event is very stressful,”
Sydney said. “My parents do a lot of the
work, and we are grateful for that. My sister
and I do a lot of the marketing for the event.
Planning the event takes a lot of time. Basically, when the event for the current year
ends, planning for the next year begins.”
To the Epstein family, Pancakes for
Parkinson’s is not just a way to raise money
for a worthy cause, it is a meaningful time
that could result in a potential cure, so that
their grandfather, and many others, can be
healthy again.
“The event is so special to me because not only does
it help the world get
closer to find cure for
Parkinson’s, it brings
the community together,” Olivia said.
“Together, we all help
to find a cure which
makes it even more
meaningful.”
The pancake
breakfast has had a
beneficial effect on
the community.
“It is not only
Courtesy of Sydney Epstein a time to raise awareness of what Parkinson’s disease is, it’s also
a way for the entire community to come together and do something to better the world,”
Sydney added. “Pancakes for Parkinson’s
brings hundreds of people to honor and help
those with Parkinson’s.”
The Epstein family, along with those
who participate, hope that Pancakes for
Parkinson’s will continue for many years to
come. It is a special event for many and is
for a wonderful cause.
“Luckily the event has flourished, and
we are able to raise more money every year,”
Sydney said. “Because of the event’s success,
I hope to bring Pancakes for Parkinson’s to
the college I am attending next year.”
raise $10,000 from bake sales, donations and
crowd-funding websites such as Kickstarter.
com and Plumalley.com.
One of this year’s competitions will
take place at Hewlett High School on Jan. 19,
2014. About 24 to 36 teams are expected to
attend, bringing the total to about 300 people.
Matches in each competition are two
minutes and 30 seconds long. This consists of
two teams against another two teams, forming
two alliances. The alliances could however
change for the next round of games. Each
team has two remote control driving operators and a coach, who is another student on
the team.
The robot must be able to fit into a
cube with sides of 18 inches before the start
of the match. However, once the match starts,
the robot can expand to any size. The teams
compete on a 12 by 12 feet playing field.
In this year’s challenge, 100 blocks are
put into two block zones on either corner of
the field. In the middle, there is a bridge that
has two pendulums on either side, each hold
four baskets. Under both pendulums, there are
scoring areas on the floor. On opposite corners
there are flags, one for each side. On the field
there is tape down the middle to separate the
teams. The robots start on their side of the
field with one block to start. Robots can only
hold up to four blocks at a time.
The first part of the match is the autonomous period, which lasts for 30 seconds. In
this period, the robots must move by themselves with pre-programmed instructions.
Robots can use an infrared beacon to guide
them around the playing field. If the robot
parks half way up the bridge it gets 10 points
and if it were to park all the way up the bridge
Friday, December 20, 2013
it would receive 20.
The next part is called the driver controlled period, which lasts for two minutes.
The two remote control drivers steer the
robot around obstacles and drop blocks into
bins. The driving coach reminds the drivers
of important strategies.
The last part is the end game, which lasts
for 30 seconds. During this period, robots are
still able to score points. When the match is
over, if the pendulum is balanced your team
gets a 50 percent bonus. If the robot can raise
the flag, then the team gets 20 points in the
lower position and 35 in the higher position.
The other team can’t block the flag during
this period or prevent the block from hanging.
If the robot hangs on the bridge your team
receives 50 points.
“I think every team has a legitimate
chance at winning this year even though the
competition is getting harder,” Elbaz said.
Team Innovo has been a finalist at the
regional competitions every year and have
won awards for innovation. Last year, the
team almost made it to the finals. Roboboogie wasn’t as successful last year, as in years
before.
“I think for a rookie team, we are pulling
everything together and are learning as we go
along,“ Alex Gerber ’15 said. “Our team is
very dedicated and I’m very confident in our
designs and programs.”
“I've wanted to do it the whole time that
I have been in high school but never got around
it. Now that I finally am part of the robotics
team, I'm really happy,” Denenberg says, “It's
a really cool experience and everyone is both
helpful and nice. I'm excited to see where the
season takes us.”
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Entertainment 13
‘Grand Theft Auto V’ is Killing the Game
by Sagar Chinnappala
The effect of video games on the
youth of the nation is a topic of much
controversy and debate. A frightening
statistic from USA Today: mass killings
– defined by the FBI as four or more
victims, not including the killer – have
occurred across the country at a rate of
approximately one every two weeks,
since 2006. Do video games such as the
recently released and wildly popular
“Grand Theft Auto V” promote violence
and cause players to be overly aggressive, or are they harmless and used only
as forms of innocent entertainment?
With the release of this brand new,
open-world action game with unrivaled
graphics and a complex and twisted plot
line, we can only wonder how far the
term “recreational activity” can extend
over such a topic.
“Grand Theft Auto V” was developed by Rockstar North and was
released on Sept. 17. It earned more than
$800 million in the first 24 hours and
eventually made its way to $1 billion
in the next three days. The game sold
for $60, but to many fans, it was well
worth the money.
“Buying this game was totally
worth it,” Tyler Drucker ’16 said. “It’s
awesome!”
Nicknamed “GTA V,” the game
allows players to take on the role of
three criminals within the fictional city
of Los Santos. Players complete mis-
sions involving criminal activities using
pistols, machine guns, sniper rif les and
explosives to kill various enemies, who
are usually from rival gangs. This Mrated game warns players of blood, gore,
intense violence, mature humor, nudity,
strong language, strong sexual content
Art by Erin Palumbo
and use of drugs and alcohol.
“The game is extremely graphic
and very violent,” Michael Cohen ’15
said. “I could see how parents would not
permit their kids from playing.”
Not only does the game base its
missions on gangs, mass crimes and
killings, but an issue has also surfaced
involving the depiction of women in
the game. They are often portrayed as
strippers, prostitutes, long-suffering
wives or comical feminists the audience
is meant to laugh at.
“‘GTA V’ ha s lit tle room for
women,” GameSpot, a game reviewing
website, cited.
But for the avid gamers out there,
the game is nonetheless exhilarating
entertainment. With parental permission, kids could potentially enjoy this
game and even learn
a few lessons about
t h e h a r s h o u t s id e
world.
“If parents feel
that their k ids are
m at u r e e nou g h t o
handle the content,
then they should be
able play,” Drucker
said.
“ GTA 5” i s
rated M for mature.
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e
Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB), the content of an M-rated game
is generally suitable for ages 17 and up.
However, some players who may be
younger than this suggested age pose
a valid point about the true meaning
of ratings.
“Ratings are there not to restrict
underage people, but only to tell them
that the game has specific content,”
Drucker said.
But studies show that this content
could cause unintentional harm to its
players. For example, an incident oc-
curred on Monday, Sept. 16 that could
be linked back to the violence promoted
by video games such as “GTA 5.” Aaron
Alexis, a former Navy reservist, shot
and killed 12 innocent people at the
Washing ton Nav y Yard, the secu re
military facility. The weapons used included an AR-15 assault rif le, a shotgun
and a semiautomatic pistol. They were
reportedly taken from his victims, as if
the killer was in a video game.
Friends of Alexis admitted to the
killer’s obsession with video games,
reporting that he played more than 16
hours at a time.
Adam Lanza, who killed 26 elementary school students in Newtown,
Conn., was also found to have been a
fan and avid player of similar shooting
type games. One cannot link these two
factors together for sure, but there may
be an association that stems from an
aggressive behavior developed from
these games.
No one should die in the hands
of a video game, and stopping the
exposure of younger children to these
levels of violence may be a cure. It is up
to the parents of the underage players
to permit or disallow the usage of the
game, but in a society where mass killings and gun control are issues at the
top of the government agenda, we can
only wonder what the effects of these
violent video games have on the gaming
generation.
Angels Strike a Pose Katniss Catches Fire
by Hannah Prusack
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
aired on CBS on Dec. 10 and received
almost ten million viewers, making it
a television sensation. This year’s show
featured the Victoria’s Secret Angels,
who are among the world’s most famous
supermodels, and a few featured artists
who performed the background music
for the show. It was directed by Hamish
Hamilton, a world famous live event
director and producer.
The fashion show is one of the
biggest events on television. It began as
a runway show in 1995, taking place at
the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Now,
it is considered to be the most anticipated
event on television, attracting audiences
of all ages to experience the magic of
the show.
One of the most anticipated parts
of the show is the revealing of the year’s
“Fantasy Bra.” This year, the bra was
named “Royal Fantasy” and was worth
more than $10 million. The diamond
encrusted bra was modeled by Candace
Swanepoel. Each year, a different model
is selected to wear the gorgeous piece and
it has been worn by some of the world’s
most well-known supermodels such as
Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Tyra
Banks.
The elegant wings worn by each
model are signature parts of the show.
Some of the most famous angels in this
year’s show were Adriana Lima, Miranda
Kerr, Candice Swanepoel and Alessandra
Ambrosio.
The show opened up with a performance by Fall Out Boy featuring
Taylor Swift. As the first act, titled “Ship-
wrecked,” ensued, the models strutted
their stuff down the runway, striking a
pose or giving the audience a wink. The
second act, called “Parisian Nights,”
included the models in elegant lingerie,
accessorized by music symbols and Eiffel
Towers on their heads. During the third
part of the show, called “Birds of Paradise,” the models wore tribal colors and
feathers to match the eccentric theme.
During “Punk Networks,” a rock-star
flair was incorporated into the costumes,
including balloons. The final act, known
as “Snow Angels,” closed the show with
elegant and gorgeous white lace and
sheer outfits.
Victoria’s Secret Angels are known
as world icons. Not only are they beautiful, they have to have the brains and
business work ethic in order to become
known in their field. Advertising is an
extremely difficult industry to become
successful in and these young women
have made their way to the peak of their
careers through hard work and dedication, casting calls, rejections and endless
hours of travel.
They are also subject to a lot of
criticism through their endeavors on
social media sites. They have millions of
followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and are constantly being judged
for every post or picture. These young
women face the challenge of maintaining
their role model status for young, aspiring
girls around the world.
The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a huge event for the entertainment industry. At the end of the night, the
models and production staff received a
well-deserved standing ovation.
by Lesley Vaysman
After a long wait of one and a half
years, the second movie in the Hunger
Games trilogy, “The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire,” finally opened on the
big screen on Nov. 22. With pre-ordered
tickets in one hand and large buckets of
popcorn in the other, fans arrived to the
premiere sometimes two hours early,
jittery with excitement to see the movie
they’ve been anticipating.
This movie broke records, making
more than $161 million after the opening
weekend, topping the revenue of the original movie, “The Hunger Games,” which
earned $152 million after the opening
weekend in 2012. The third movie in the
trilogy, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay,” will have a part one and two that
will come out in Nov. 2014 and Nov. 2015,
respectively.
The trilogy of “The Hunger Games”
is based on the novels written by Suzanne
Collins. The second movie was directed
by the talented Francis Lawrence and
feature an all-star cast including Jennifer
Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.
The plot revolves around an accumulation of 12 districts making up
Panem, a fictional territory governed
by a strict, oppresive administration.
These districts attempted a revolt and
as a punishment, are annually forced to
participate in an event known as the “hunger games.” The games involve sacrifices
from each district competing for survival,
fighting to the death and having to kill
each other until only one remains and is
crowned champion.
In the first movie, Katniss Everdeen, played by Lawrence, together with
Peeta Mellark, played by Hutcherson, win
the 74th Hunger Games through deceit
and trickery performed on the government. At the end of the first movie, they
agree to commit suicide and die together,
leaving the winner ambiguous. But instead, the government decided in favor
of a joint victory.
In the sequel, the winners embark
on a victory tour that stops in every
district. Katniss serves as an inspiration
to the suffering people in these povertystricken areas, who then attempt another
revolt on their government. President
Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, made
it his primary goal to get rid of Katniss
Everdeen and crush the rebellion.
As the 75th Hunger Games approached, a horrific twist forced Katniss
and Peeta to compete again for their district, but the ending that Snow craved for
Katniss was not so easily granted.
“The Hunger Games: Catching
Fire” was much more impressive than
the original movie, which is very rare
for most sequels. The movie managed to
include an adaption from the book that
was almost word for word and included
details that allowed characters to come
to life. The new cast members like Jena
Malone, who played the brave Johanna
Mason, and Sam Clafin, who played the
heartthrob Finnick Odair, also added
some new spice and excitement to the
sequel, which the original movie lacked.
Although the novel by Suzanne Collins seemed to overpower the greatness
of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,”
the special effects, wonderful acting and
flawless script and directing allowed the
movie to come close to perfection.
14 Entertainment
by Lauren Dana
It is hard to believe the cast of this year’s
musical, “A Chorus Line,” consisted of high
school students – not Broadway stars. On Nov.
20, the Hewlett High School Music Department held the opening night of the production,
which left audience members mesmerized by
the talented young actors.
“A Chorus Line” portrays the efforts
and struggles of professional dancers who
are desperately trying to be in a Broadway
show. The characters share their challenges
with the show’s director, Zach, played by
Adon Chowdhury ’14. Throughout the story,
anecdotes reveal the history of each character, that demonstrates the hard struggle each
dancer went through.
The music in the play is by Marvin
Hamlisch and the lyrics are written by Edward Kleban. The show has already had a
Broadway revival since its original debut in
1975; the original won nine Tony Awards in
total. Later in 1985, “A Chorus Line” was
adapted into a movie, directed by Richard
Attenborough, which starred Michael Douglass. But it is the musical, undoubtedly, that
has made the storyline so famous. The show
has been performed all over the world, from
Singapore to Scotland.
The audition process portrayed in the
musical was similar to the audition process
that the students themselves endured to get
their parts for the production.
“We had two rounds of auditions, with
one group of people cut each round,” Gabby
Zinnar ’15, who played the part of Bebe,
explained. “It was really narrowed down and
very selective and we all wanted our parts
so badly.”
For some, the auditions served as a
perfect platform to show off their talents and
impress the judges, whether it be with cold
readings, or short bits of the big song and
dance numbers.
“My favorite part was watching everyone try out for their parts,” Kat Gueli ’14
said. “Everyone is so talented and a lot of the
leads this year haven’t had a lead before, so it’s
amazing to watch them go up and perform.”
Gueli, who played Judy Turner and
served as the Student Director, has been a
part of the music department for four years
SPECTRUM
along with Zach Cohen ’14, who played Mike.
“As a lead, you see the whole show
come together and see all the work everyone
pulls together to make the show what it is,”
Cohen said.
Senior Laurie Antoine played Zach’s
assistant, and agreed with Cohen’s sentiments.
“People became more comfortable with
their parts and were able to grow,” Antoine
said.
The auditions took place last June and
the rehearsals began in September, lasting for
about three months. The rehearsals took place
for a few hours, five days a week. As the debut
approached, Saturday rehearsals were added.
“Rehearsing was probably the most
work I’ve put into anything,” Mark Laskin
’15, who played Greg, said. “This show has
been our lives for months.”
Director Walter Lastowski and Musical
Director Eric Williams fostered the growth
and development of the student actors as they
learned and perfected their roles. They served
as guidance for the students and worked tirelessly on making sure the entire production
came together.
“Without Will and L, there would be
no show,” Morgan Marc ’14, Lighting Manager, said.
Whether it was singing in the chorus
room or dancing in the auditorium, the cast
spent a lot of time together.
This year’s cast was smaller than previous years’ casts in order to suit the amount of
students performing in the show. With a main
cast of 19 characters, and an ensemble of 38
additional students, the small group formed
an unbreakable, family-like bond.
“We’re really like a family,” Alizé
Martinez ’14, who played the hilarious Diana
Morales, said. “I’m not trying to sound cliché,
but we all get along so well that you can tell on
stage we are all really good friends.”
Since the show is based on a group
of hopeful dancers, the choreography was
the heart and soul of the show. The dances
were choreographed by Ali Kresch ’03, who
came back to share her knowledge and skill
in musical theater with the cast. From dainty
ballet routines to fun, upbeat dance numbers,
it was evident that the cast worked extremely
hard to perfect every move in order to grasp
the audience’s attention.
“It took a long time to prepare the
dances,” Adrian Antoine ’15, a member of the
ensemble, said. “When we all started, most of
us weren’t really dancers, but with training we
became better.”
Elysha Maloney ’15, also a member of
the ensemble, agreed that nailing the choreography was challenging.
“Getting everybody to understand and
perform the choreography was the most difficult part,” Maloney said. “As a whole, we
worked really hard to make sure we looked
professional and in character.”
Senior Jason Leonhard played Bobby
Mills, the aspiring dancer with a conservative
upbringing from Buffalo, N.Y. With a difficult
role to play, Leonard had his own challenge to
face during his performance.
“Getting into character when you have
lines is very easy, but standing on stage for two
hours straight is difficult because you have to
react to what everyone’s saying at all times,”
Leonhard said. “You can’t just space out and
take a break on the stage.”
Besides the advanced choreography
and complex character roles, the musical
required the actors to portray emotions
embedded in the songs. The soundtrack was
expressive and emotional, which created a
further challenge.
“There are a few high notes here and
there but nothing I haven’t seen before,” Alex
Benary-Mann ’15 said. “After hard work and
practice, however, I got a lot better.”
One of the most memorable moments
was a monologue by Paul DeMarco, played
by Leor Ginzburg ’14, who told the audience
about his life as a drag queen, and how he
was leaving his job behind to pursue a career
on Broadway. The audience was captivated.
“To move people in the audience and
make them cry for me is very satisfying as a
performer and makes me feel like I am doing
my part,” Ginzburg said.
Ginzberg’s character is carried to the
hospital after injuring himself during the
dance auditions, making him unable to dance
again. This heartbreaking event serves as
an epiphany for the cast, displaying that in
one single moment, everything can change.
Together, the dancers conclude that they need
Friday, December 20, 2013
to chase their dreams and do what they love.
The cast represented a spread throughout the grades. It’s never easy being one of the
youngest of a group, but one of the newcomers, Marcelle Angeles ’17, was able to bond
with the upperclassmen and become part of
the music department family.
“Being a part of this year’s play was
really different and nerve wracking because
I’ve never been in a high school play before,”
Angeles said.
The stage crew worked endlessly to
construct the set, adjust the lighting, adjust
the curtain and quickly remove props between
the scenes. It is easy to underestimate all the
work put into making the show a success, but
without the stage crew, the magic of the show
would be impossible.
“We stayed until ten at night sometimes
programming the lights and building pyramids,” Stage Manager Jessica Choi ’14 said.
As the show dates got closer, it was time
for the addition of the orchestra pit, consisting
of a variety of instruments.
“The pit consists of seven students and
a number of professionals,” Jonathan Holford,
the Band Director, said. “Many students hold
very important roles and sound just as good
as the professionals.”
To no surprise, the show packed the
auditorium for each performance and the
audience had trouble trying not to sing and
dance along.
“I never expected any high school student to act, sing or dance the way that the cast
members did,” Ariel Eisenberg ’15 said. “It
really was a great play and looking around the
audience, I saw laughter and tears from many
throughout the course of the show.”
“A Chorus Line” was the first musical performed for a second time in Director
Walter Lastowski’s 18 year career in Hewlett.
Performed in 2000, the musical was such a
success that Lastowski chose to run it again
thirteen years later.
With all the hard work put in by the cast,
crew and instrumental pit, Lastowski only had
one thing to say in regard to the success of this
year’s musical.
“Hard work truly pays off.”
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Entertainment 15
All the Favorites are Chosen at the AMAs
by Katie Giron
The Twitter world was overf lowing with comments and opinions as
people turned on their TVs to watch
the American Music Awards, one of the
music industry’s most important nights.
The 41st annual American Music
Awards aired on Sunday, Nov. 24. It
is a night dedicated to acknowledging
the world’s biggest music stars and the
masterminds behind the lyrics that get
stuck in everyone’s heads for hours.
This year, the awards were hosted by the
Cuban rapper Pitbull, the award show’s
first Latino host.
The two big winners of the night
were Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift.
Timberlake won Favorite Male Pop Rock
Artist, Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist
and Favorite Soul/R&B Album for “The
20/20 Experience.” He performed his
new country-style track, “Drink You
Away,” which differed from his usual
pop/R&B type of music, but still left
everyone feeling energized. Taylor Swift
brought home Favorite Country Album
for “Red,” Favorite Female Country Artist and Artist of the Year for the third
time, setting an AMA record.
Musicians such as Imagine Dragons, One Direction and Rihanna perfo r m e d a nd wo n awa r d s. I m a g i n e
Dragons received Favorite Alternative
Rock Artist award and performed a
rendition combination of their songs
“Demons” and “Radioactive” that
left audience members st unned
and cheering. British-Irish boy
band One Direction won Favorite
Pop or Rock Album for “Take
Me Home,” t hei r sophomore
album as well as Favorite Pop
or Rock Band, Duo or Group.
Finally, Rihanna won the very
first Icon Award, which her
mother handed to her. She
also won the favorite soul/
R&B female artist award.
Rihanna proved just why
she was worthy of the Icon
Award through her performance of “Diamonds.”
She poured her heart and
soul into the song and
rem i nded ever yone
how amazing of a
live singer she is.
A mong t he
other performers
of the night were
A r ia n a G r a nde,
who won New
Artist of the Year;
Je n n ife r L opez ,
who paid tribute to
the late Celia Cruz by
performing a medley of songs by Cruz;
Katy Perry and Kendrick Lamar.
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and
Ray Dalton performed their huge
single “Can’t Hold Us” and also
brought home Favorite Rap/HipHop Album. In their acceptance
speech, the trio spoke out against
racial profiling.
“It’s time that we look out
for the youth and fight against
racism and the laws that protect
it,” Macklemore said.
What many saw as the
m ajor p e r for m a nce of t he
night was Miley Cyrus and
her hit song “Wrecking Ball.”
She poured her hear t out
i n f ront of a v ide o of a
kitten in space mouthing
the words to the song and
crying diamonds. Cyrus’
performance left many
fans slightly confused,
but glad that she had
toned it down from
h e r p a s t p e r f o rmances.
Some of the
other top winners
of the night included Lady A ntebell u m fo r Favo r it e
Country Band, Duo or Group, Avicii
for Favorite Electronic Dance Music
(EDM) Artist, Maroon 5 for Favorite
Adult Contemporary Artist, Matthew
West for Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist, Marc Anthony for Favorite
Latin Artist and Pitch Perfect for Top
Soundtrack.
Fashion at the AMAs was a crucial component to the night. Glamor
and prestige were evident on the red
carpet before the show. Cyrus sported
a clean and crisp white pant and jacket
suit, revealing yet conservative. Always
making a fashion statement, Cyrus definitely chose boldly.
Swift, the star of the night, dressed
the part; she wore a short, fitted sequin
dress paired with matching dangling
earrings. Ariana Grande also chose the
sequin style, sporting a long, red dress
with her hair half up, half down in her
signature style.
One Drection looked calm, cool
and collected in black and gray suits
and ties, each slightly different, yet
coherent.
The AMAs were very enjoyable
for music fans of all ages who tuned in
to watch. The artists and performances
appealed to everyone and the night made
history as music’s biggest sensations
claimed historic titles and awards.
Book Thief Steals Hearts 1D Takes a New Direction
in a movie. Even though Nelisse shares
screen time with veterans like Emily
Watson and Geoffrey Rush, Nelisse truly
steals the show and easily makes viewers
fall in love with Liesel.
Both Rush and Watson did wonders
in the movie; they f lawlessly translated the characters from the book into
their performances. Rush and Watson
naturally took on the parts of Rosa and
Hans Hubermann,
respectively, as if
t hose pa r t s we re
made for them.
Rush and Nelisse make a dynamic duo and demand
viewer’s attention.
Their performances carry the film,
bringing it to the
next level. Of course
Nico Liersch, who
played Rudy, and
Ben Schnetzer, who
played Max, also
contributed significantly to the story
line because their
performances were
also phenomenal.
“The Book
Thief” may not live up to Zusak’s novel,
but it is one of the best movies to hit the
big screen. It provides an incredible,
unique perspective of World War II from
a whole different angle. This is the type
of movie that will truly stay with viewers long after the credits roll, making it
absolutely unforgettable.
“The Book Thief” deserves widespread acclaim as it is an absolute mustsee and will continue to strike a chord
with audiences everywhere.
Art by Zekiel Maloney
by Jon Goldhirsch
There is just something so powerful and raw about Markus Zusak’s “The
Book Thief.” It is one of the trickiest
books to adapt because it’s far from a
simple story; the novel is nearly 600
pages with the main narrator of Death
himself, commenting on the events of
World War II. How could Brian Percival
direct such a movie without doing the
novel injustice?
“The Book
Thief ” movie is tr ue
to its source material,
even though it doesn’t
mai nt ai n one of t he
major aspects of the
novel. The filmmakers
rarely utilized Death’s
nar ration, so conse quentially, the movie
felt a bit awkward and
less spine-chilling than
the novel.
The stor y revolves around the main
prot aganist, Liesel
Mem i nger. Liesel is
a young girl living in
a small town in Nazi
Germany whose family decides to hide a
jewish boy, Max Vandenburg. Tragedy
ensues when the Gestapo find Max in
the basement.
Despite the u neven ness of the
narration, the movie really captures the
essence of Liesel’s story. All of the characters were perfectly cast, the dialogue
was well done and the film captures
practically all of the emotion from Zusak’s novel.
Sophie Nelisse is a newcomer to
Hollywood and this is her first major role
by Divya Lall
One Direction has taken a totally
new direction with the debut of their
new album, “Midnight Memories.” The
band members; Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis
Tomlinson; aimed to stray away from
their preferred musical style of teen pop
and achieve a more sophisticated style.
The album has a rock flair, unlike any of
their previous albums.
The members of One Direction
auditioned individually for the British
televised singing competition, “The XFactor,” back in 2010. Simon Cowell got
the idea to put these talented individuals
together and create this modern twist on
a boy band.
The group released their first studio album titled “Up All Night” in Nov.
2011 and became instant stars both in the
United Kingdom and eventually overseas
in the United States.
Their second album was released
in Nov. 2012 and was titled “Take Me
Home.” This album topped the charts in
more than 35 countries and paved the way
for the new style of music that the band
would come to introduce.
“Midnight Memories” is the third
studio album that the band has released.
Following in the footsteps of the previous
two, the album has
already become a hit.
“ T he new alb u m i s e x t r e m ely
d if ferent f rom t he
previous two,” Sarah
Walder ’15 said. “It
really shows a growth
from the point where
they were before to
where they are now.
Eve n t hou g h t he
songs are less popular, they are still
constantly stuck in my head.”
The release of the singles “Best
Song Ever” and “Stor y of My Life”
preceded the album and quickly became
extremely popular. The fans were given
a sneak peak taste of the new style of the
album. Formally released on Nov. 25,
the album sold more than 237,000 copies
within the first week, making it the fastest
selling album this year.
“From listening to One Direction’s
new album, I found that each song in the
album is unique in its own way,” Jennie
Goroly ’15 said. “No two songs seem to
be of the same genre.”
While some fans rave, other’s are
completely thrown off by the drastic
change, claiming that the band is trying
to become something it just isn’t.
“The new album consists of a lot
more rock songs and less catchy pop
songs,” Dani Abitbol ’15 said. “Many
girls are not for the new music, but I
definitely am!”
Both old and new fans of the British boy band were shocked by the new
music from “Midnight Memories.” The
feedback has been positive and negative,
but the band has continued to rock the
world as one of the most popular groups
of the 21st century.
16 Art
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Art by Zekiel Maloney
Art by Kelly Cheng
Art by Siena Placino
Art by Gillian Moser
Art by Elysha Maloney
Art by Sydney Kleinrock
Art by Zekiel Maloney
Art by Melissa Bernstein
Art by Elizabeth Donohue
Art by Elizabeth Donohue
Art by Elizabeth Donohue
Friday, December 20, 2013
Sports 17
SPECTRUM
Pin to Win
by Jonathan Schechter
The Hewlett wrestling team returned
with arguably its strongest group of the brief,
six year history of the program. Among the
Bulldogs who make a run at a team Nassau
County championship, are nine All-Conference wrestlers, four Conference finalists,
two All-County finishers and Hewlett High
School’s first Nassau County Champion,
Owen Bachelder ’16. Bachelder, along with
Captains Matt Kaminer ’14 and Oran Revivo ’14, as well as returning All-County
competitor Lucas Pincus ’17, are the team’s
key players.
“We are feeling really good about the
group we are bringing back this year,” Kaminer remarked. “Practices to begin the season
have been physically taxing, but we have been
seeing good things out of our underclassmen.
I see nothing in the way of a County title for
us this year as a team, and many All-County
wrestlers on the individual side.”
The Bulldogs enjoyed a banner last
season when four wrestlers achieved All
County honors. Bachelder, a freshman at
the time, pulled off one of the biggest upset
victories in New York wrestling history, when
he knocked off a returning National Champion from Wantagh on the way to a County
Championship.
“It was so exciting to bring Hewlett its
first Nassau County wrestling title last year,”
Bachelder noted. “Expectations remain high
for me and I don’t plan on slowing down.”
Bachelder projects to be in the 132
pound class. Kaminer, a three-time AllConference wrestler who will man 220 lbs
for the Bulldogs, and Revivo, a two time
All-Conference honoree at 138, along with
Sal Bosco at 195, are the lone seniors on a
primarily young team. Big contributions are
expected from returning starters Alex Gordon
’15, Charles Tsakh ’15, Andrew Kevelson
’15, Tredd Smith ’15 and Andrew Fang ’16,
as well as from new faces to the lineup such
as Steve Salerno ’15, Jacob Warshall ’16,
Paul Lane ’15 and Mike Curiel ’16.
Coaching the Bulldogs is Steve Jones,
who has been at the helm of the program for
the past two seasons, he has already produced
five All-County wrestlers and three student
athletes who are competing at the college
level. Jones’ motto for the team since his arrival in 2011 has been, “Believe.”
“I have constantly pushed my wrestlers
to believe in themselves and always feel that
they cannot be stopped,” Jones noted. “Owen
[Bachelder] exemplifies what it looks like
when you believe in yourself and your abilities, and I expect nothing less than the best
from this year’s team.”
The team remained active in the offseason, with Kaminer and Revivo traveling
to the University of Minnesota and Cornell
University, respectively, to train over the
summer.
Kaminer, who will continue wrestling
next year at Washington and Lee University,
believes this will make the difference.
“Wrestling is a year-round commitment for most of us,” Kaminer explained.
“It doesn’t end when the season ends. What
we do in the spring and summer is just as
important to us as our real competitions in
the winter. I believe that this group is vey
special and if everyone buys into a strong
commitment.”
The bar is set very high for the Bulldogs, but if all goes according to plan, pinning
down Nassau County is a strong possibility.
Could Defense be the Key?
by Matthew Kaminer
playoffs last season shows just that.”
New faces are taking the court
The Bulldogs play in a challengfor the Hewlett girls’ varsity basket- ing conference. They are looking to
ball team this season. Last season, the avenge losses from last season, includteam relied heavily on a strong senior ing those from: Sewanhaka, Glen Cove
class. Now, the squad is looking to a and Bethpage, as well as North Shore
younger contingent to carry the load. who knocked the Lady Bulldogs out of
Led by experienced varsity players Em- postseason contention last February.
ily Rodriguez ’14 and Kimberly Smith However, none of these results will
’14, the Lady Bulldogs are attempting come easily. Smith is confident that
to make the playoffs for the second she, as well as her teammates, has been
straight year.
doing what it takes to be successful.
“We have a new group
of girls and the season just
started but I’m expecting it
to be a good season,” Smith
noted.
Not only is the team
missing its graduated players, but they are continuing
to play without Sam Disalvo
’14, who excelled on the
varsity squad in her first
three seasons with the team
before suffering an injury that
will force her to bow out for
this year. However, the girls
have learned to win despite
adverse circumstances, and
will not be halted by one
injury. According to Smith,
expectations remain sky high.
“We have a bunch of
new girls with potential on
the Varsity team, and a lot
is expected of us because of
our success last year,” Smith
said.
Some of the younger
players who are being relied
SPECTRUM/Jessie Kurz
Jillian Rosenblum ’16 dribbles the ball down the court in a
on to take on a larger role
this season include: Melissa tough loss against Sewanhaka.
Rogoff ’15, Sabrina Feldman
’16 and Gabi Korin ’15. While much
“I am very proud at all the hard
of the development of this year’s team work I put in to be at the skill level
will rest with the players, a sizable that I am at,” Smith said. “Success
task is set before Head Coach Frank is never easy. It takes time, effort,
Viggiano, however Smith believes with and dedication. I worked as much as
Viggiano’s support, the task is easily I could to be the best that I could be,
attainable.
and when the team needed me the most,
“Since we have a lot of new I’m proud that I was able to rise to the
people on the team, we have to practice challenge and show everyone what I
our plays, just like any team does at was capable of.”
the start of a season,” Smith explained.
As for whether the Lady Bulldogs
“But Coach Viggiano has been pushing will show what they are capable of,
us to our limits and making it to the only time will tell.
NBA Power Rankings
by Alec Posner and Jon Schechter
30. Milwaukee Bucks
29. Utah Jazz
28. Philadelphia 76ers
27. Sacramento Kings
26. Orlando Magic
25. New York Knicks
24. Toronto Raptors
23. Brooklyn Nets
22. Cleveland Cavaliers
21. Washington Wizards
20. Charlotte Bobcats
19. Los Angeles Lakers
18. Chicago Bulls
17. Detroit Pistons
16. New Orleans Pelicans
15. Memphis Grizzlies
14. Boston Celtics
13. Atlanta Hawks
12. Minnesota Timberwolves
11. Phoenix Suns
10. Dallas Mavericks
9. Denver Nuggets
8. Golden State Warriors
7. Houston Rockets
6. San Antonio Spurs
5. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Miami Heat
2. Portland Trailblazers
1. Indiana Pacers
Send in your predictions for each NBA team’s end of season record to
[email protected]!
The student with the most accurate prediction will be featured in a
future issue of Spectrum!
18 Sports
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Stroking to Success
by Alec Posner
If past success is something a young
team can build on, then the Hewlett boys’
swim team will be in for quite a successful
2013-2014 campaign. After beginning the
2012-2013 season with a record of 4-2, the
Bulldogs lost their last two meets, therefore
finishing with a record of 4-4. This year, the
Hewlett boy’s swim team looks to explode
through the gates, but finish it off just as strong,
as opposed to last year’s botched finish.
The three captains: Alex Belluccia ’14,
Justin Rosenthal ’14 and Dean Nawee ’14
along with coach Gregg Solnick look to lead
this team to the level it has been in past years,
maybe even to new heights. To achieve this
goal, some of the players decided to play other
sports in the offseason to work on their stamina
and stay in shape.
“I decided to run cross-country this past
spring season,” Belluccia said. “I did this to
try something new but ultimately, I needed to
work on my endurance and stamina for swim.”
Cross-country is an extremely physically taxing sport. It is the quintessential sport
for an athlete who wants to increase his or her
stamina, mainly because it is constant running
for miles and miles on end. By running crosscountry, Belluccia, who was already a star
swimmer last year, has increased his stamina,
strength and ultimately his work-ethic by
participating in such a vigorous sport. This
has the potential to expand upon his ability
that had already made him a top swimmer in
the conference last season.
Even though having a strong work-ethic
in the offseason is important, working hard in
the regular season is just as, if not more necessary, especially for a young team like this one.
“Our teams in the past seem to have
been stronger,” Belluccia said. “Over the past
few years, we have lost key members of the
team. As a result, we have a relatively young
team. Solnick is a huge influence though.
Not only does he give us difficult workouts
to improve our strength and speed, but he
focuses on a lot of technique which helps
tremendously.”
“We have been practicing hard the past
few weeks to kick everyone into shape. I guess
we will have to wait to see where we stand.
Both Delano Townsend ’17 and myself have
the freestyle sprints covered, but in order to
earn most of the other points in the meet we
need to improve the abilities of our off stroke
and distance swimmers but I like to stay optimistic,” Belluccia added.
The captain has his head on his shoulders, and is prepared to put in work for the
upcoming season, but he isn’t the only factor
on this team. The two other captains, Nawee
and Rosenthal also put in work to make this
team successful.
“As leaders of the team, Alex, Justin and
myself make sure that everyone is staying on
task and that everyone knows what they are
doing,” Nawee said. “We also make sure that
everyone is pumped to swim their best during the meets. If it wasn’t for the effort each
individual puts into the sport, we would not
be the team that we are.”
“Preparing for the season is never easy,
considering I swim only three months out of
the year. In order to prepare for the season I
start eating healthier and doing exercises that
strengthen my arms and legs, so they are prepared to handle the resistance of the water,”
Nawee said in context to his preparation for
the upcoming swim season.
Though individual effort is important,
team chemistry is also a huge factor. The boys’
swim team uses interesting and delicious ways
to maintain their strong cohesiveness.
“We are different because we do many
things outside of practice and games that make
us closer as a team,” Nawee said. “We go to
IHOP every weekend as a team after Saturday
morning practices, and before our division
championships, we shave our mascot into
our heads. We also have a pasta party every
year before the division championships. These
things help us become closer as a team and
also act as an incentive to keep swimming.”
The key members of this team seem
to agree that pre-season preparation and
teamwork is key for sucess in the upcoming
season. In addition to working well together,
the swimmers also have taken a keen liking to
Coach Solnick, and their teammates.
“Our coaches have always cared about
the swimmers,” Rosenthal said. “They always
make sure we’re working to the best of our
ability during practices and meets. Our team
has always been a family and I feel that one
of the main ways the team is successful is
because of this.”
Coach Solnick added his thoughts on
his 2013-2014 Hewlett boys’ swim team.
“The team has to be dedicated and committed. They need to work on the little things
as far as their strokes, stroke techniques, and
how they push off the wall with their head
down to reduce drag. We’re going to be practicing all of these things over the long winter
break. Also, I like to give them things to think
about as far as what has to be done in order
to be successful. They have to want to do it
and they have to take pride in what they do.”
Solnick also commented on the teams’
cohesiveness. “A lot of times after weekend
practices, the swimmers go out to breakfast
together. The boys also are on a similar workout schedule so everybody gets to know each
other. They’re all doing difficult workouts
so they know they’re all in it together. I like
to let them know that it’s not just the fastest
swimmers who are important, but the whole
team as a whole. In swimming, the top four
fastest swimmers compete instead of some
sports where only the fastest, strongest players succeed.”
It is unknown, if the boys will meet
their fans and teamates expectations, but they
have all the potential in the world. Whether a
swimmer has made states in years past like
Belluccia or he is an up-and-coming freshman
like Townsend, there is potential to make a
huge difference on this team. If all goes as
planned, the Hewlett boys’ swim team is sure
to make a splash this season.
by Andrew Levy
When one thinks about school sports
in Hewlett, most students think about the
more popular sports: football, basketball and
lacrosse. However, a glance at the banners
hung up in the gym reveals the track team
racks up the accolades.
“We have won three county championships in a row,” Antonio Cordello ’14 said.
“I don’t think many schools have done that.
We definitely left a mark on other schools,
as well as our own, because they know that
we are good every and that we deserve a lot
more respect that we actually get.”
It is very impressive that the team
is able to sustain winning at such a degree
of success. One reason for the track team’s
success is due to hard work. Honerkamp, the
winter track coach, believes the closeness
of the team is one of the aspects that could
benefit the team.
“The team chemistry is great,” Elissa
Candiotti ’14 said. “We are a myriad of the
most absurd mixture of student, yet when
you put us on the track, we mix together to
become. The chemistry is irreplaceable and
a key to our success.”
Hard work is another reason why the
team is able to create a winning record.
“We work hard each and every day on
the track,” Joey Tansey ’14 said. “We are
out there every day and we know it will pay
off because when others say it is too cold, we
put on another layer and run even harder. I
have been through the same situation for the
past three years and we have brought home
the county title for the first two, and I plan on
the same this year.”
This year, both the boys’ and girls’ track
team look to add to their resumés. The girls
look to continue their undefeated record while
the boys look to repeat as county champions.
“This year I hope to get a lot out this
season both individually and from the team,”
Candiotti said. “Personally, I hope to try to
cut down my times and place high in my
races. For the team, I think we should set the
bar at conference champs and an undefeated
season.”
This year, both the boys’ and girls’
track team need to overcome lost key seniors
from last year. The boys’ track team lost the
perennial triple jump winner Kevin Dehaney
’13, pole vaulter Daniel Goodelman ’13 and
Brian Chambers ’13. The girls’ track team
lost Nicole Sellino ’13 and reigning female
athlete of the year Gabrielle Leon ’13, among
others. Coach Stephen Honerkamp of the
girls’ track team knows the seniors leaving
will be difficult to overcome.
“Losing last year’s senior class will
definitely have a big effect on the team,”
Honerkamp said. “We are losing not only
important runners on the team, but important leaders on the team as well. This years’
senior class will definitely have some big
shoes to fill.”
Although the team lost key assets
from last year, both Honerkamp and Eamon
McHugh, the head coach of the boys’ track
team, know they have the ability to replace the
leadership. Both track teams have a plethora
of seniors that are willing to assume the roles
of leaders.
“This is my fourth year on the winter
track team,” said Candiotti. “Though many
say it may become redundant to run around
in a circle every day, being a senior, I have
taken practice into a new perspective, and
have learned to take each stride seriously.
Knowing that this is my last track season, I
hope I am able to guide the younger students,
to help them try to improve and get them to
have the same passion that I have now.”
Replacing the talent that left will not
be as big as a task as it may seem. The boys’
track team is looking for juniors from last
year to play a pivotal role in the success of the
team this year. With Goodelman gone, Alex
Belluccia ’14 looks to take over the role as the
primary pole vaulter, and Aaron Gladstein ’14
looks to assume the role as the main distance
runner with Chambers gone. Although many
may think the seniors leaving may hurt the
girls’ track team as well, this years’ team is
loaded with talent and is poised for a county
championship year. Shari Weiss ’14 and Gabi
Schwartz ’14 highlight the major talent for
the team.
“Shari and Gabi bring a lot to the table,”
Honerkamp said. “Shari Weiss is our schools
all-time leading scorer. She was a key component to our county championship and we
definitely count on her if we plan on winning
another. Gabi had one of the fastest times at
counties. They are both versatile athletes,
and their ability to run a variety of races adds
tremendous value to the team.”
Both track teams also count on the
development on some of the underclassmen
for the success of their teams. The girls’
team is counting on Cynthia Debranche ’16
and Sydney Corda ’16, who are returning
relay champs. Natalie Weintraub ’15, one
of the teams most lethal distance runners, is
expected to step up and play an important
role in this years team. The boys’ track team
looks for underclassmen to contribute. Alec
Kreuger ’17 trained with the cross country
team in the fall and may be able to contribute
in the relay events. The team also looks for
Tommy Rizzo ’15 to play an important part
to the success of the team.
“Tom is a really hard-working and softspoken athlete on the track,” McHugh said.
“He seems to have made the transition from
being an underclassmen on the team to being
an upperclassmen. Despite the fact that there
are a great number of seniors on the team that
are the undeniable leader of the team, Tom has
certainly shown this year that he will be the
at the core of the program moving forward.”
The girls’ track team may get an extra boost from Emily Cohen ’14 and Sam
Disalvo ’14. Both three sport athletes and
future Division I athletes for lacrosse, Cohen
going to Binghamton and Disalvo going to
Stony Brook, finished the basketball season
and look for winter track to get them ready
for their other sports.
“I decided this year to get ready for
lacrosse this year and Binghamton next year,”
Cohen said. “I know winter track will benefit
me in regard to my lacrosse future. With the
help from my coaches, I hope to become faster
and stronger.”
Although both Cohen and Disalvo both
had intentions to join the team to get into better shape, it is the girls’ track team that will
reap the benefits. Honerkamp knows they
bring intangibles to the team that might make
them important assets.
“It may take a little bit to get them into
better runners,” Honerkamp said, “but both
of them bring speed and great work ethic to
the table. There is no reason why they should
not evolve into great runners.”
Both the male and female track teams
took the field on Dec. 4 and each found
success, winning the respective meets. The
teams’ goals are beyond the first meet, yet they
feel it is important to start off strong in order
to reach their lofty goals.
“The first meet went well,” Candiotti
said. “The team definitely worked hard and
each individual member discovered their
capabilities. We are definitely going to be
excited about starting off the season with a
victory, but we know that the following days,
we are going to work even harder in order
to attempt to be undefeated, and hopefully
county champs.”
H-Town Wheels at it Again
Friday, December 20, 2013
SPECTRUM
Sports
19
South Shore’s Big Three 3-hunna
by Zion Olojede
“They give me positive encouragement brook.” Baptiste said. “He is a very agAfter a long offseason, the Hewlett constantly and they never want anything gressive player and he takes much pride
basketball squad is excited to begin the but excellence so it gives me something in his defense just like I do.”
quest for the Nassau County Champion- to continuously strive for.”
Hewlett may have these players reship. The defending conference champiFeldman used his offseason to re- turning and a very good overall team, but
ons were sent home early last year after cover from a torn left labrum and help the road to conference champions will be
suffering an upset to Valley Stream South coach the team in offseason practices and much tougher than it was last year. With
in the Class A quarterfinals. That loss was scrimmages. He expects the team to go some new teams entering the conference,
used as motivation during their rigorous further than it did last year and to show the Bulldogs have an idea of who their
offseason. The team is led by coach Bill Hewlett basketball is no joke. Eckerle toughest matchup will be.
Dubin, who is in his 14th year coaching has similar expectations for this team and
“I think Lawrence is going to be
varsity basketball, and hasn’t changed his wants for the team to do whatever they can our biggest challenge because they have
expectations from day one.
to win the Nassau County Championship. many players returning from last season.”
“I expect this team to improve each He spent his offseason improving every Eckerle said. “They are also are rival of
day,” Dubin said. “I want us to work hard- aspect of his game.
course, so that will always make the game
er than we ever worked
interesting.”
and it will translate into
The Lawrence Golden Torresults.” nadoes have historically given
Dubin is considHewlett trouble and Hewlett
ered to be one of the
looks for the first win against
best coaches in the conthe rivals since 2010. Hewlett
ference and is well rewon that game in double overspected around Long
time and were led by a freshman
Island. Two years ago, he
named Avery Feldman, who had
won the Nassau County
27 points and 20 rebounds in that
Coach of the Year award
game. Baptiste is very excited to
after Hewlett had its best
play them this year and feels like
run in the playoffs in
he has something to prove.
school history. He added
“One guard that I am exa conference championcited to matchup against this
ship to his prestigious
year is senior Dwayne Daniel
resumé, as well as finishfrom Lawrence.” Baptiste said.
ing with a 10-1 record
“We are very close friends off
last season. This year’s
the court, but it will feel good to
team has to replace Welget two wins against his team.”
don Irvine ’13 and Nico
Hewlett will play LawLeguillow ’13, who were
rence at home on Jan. 2, 2014 and
both top players in the
at Lawrence on Jan. 31, 2014.
conference last season.
Unlike most teams, Hewlett
“Someone on this
has size and experience. The
roster will replace them,”
team has six players that are
Dubin said. “When they
six feet or taller. Those players
were here, they replaced
are Feldman, Joe Pasquale ’15,
someone else.”
Messiah Clarke ’15, Bar Itzhak
Though Irvine and
’15, Eckerle and David Perkins
Leguillow have left to
’14. This is also the most experiplay basketball on the
ence a Hewlett team has had in
college level, the Bullmany years, with a total of seven
dogs still have a returnreturning seniors.
ing core of three players
The Bulldogs kicked off
who all have three or
their 2013-2014 season with a
more years of experitough matchup on Dec. 6, 2013
ence on the varsity level.
against West Hempstead. UnforSPECTRUM/Jessie Kurz tunately, the Bulldogs suffered a
Those three players are
Dimitri Baptiste ’14 attempts a lay-up in a huge home game win against
Dimitri Baptiste ’14, Plainedge on Dec.17
heartbreaking loss by five points.
Avery Feldman ’14 and
Eckerle, Feldman and Baptiste
Bryan Eckerle ’14. The
combined for 44 of the team’s
Miami Heat may have to relinquish the
“In the offseason I definitely im- 62 points. Though the Bulldogs got off
nickname “The Big 3” to these Hewlett proved my three point shooting, defense to a rough start, they are well capable of
Bulldogs. Hewlett’s “Big 3” combined for and rebounding.” Eckerle said. “I would maintaining expectations.
38 points of the 57.5 points the team aver- consider myself one of the top shooters in
The team isn’t necessarily worried
aged last year. Eckerle and Baptiste both our conference especially after how hard about how good its opponents are, espereceived All-Conference honors last year, I worked this offseason.”
cially if they will play in the Hewlett High
while Feldman received an All-County
Eckerle hopes he will play well School gym. Last year, the team went
honor. Feldman has been on varsity since enough this year to receive an All-County undefeated at home in the regular season,
his freshman year and has loved every accolade, but his primary goal is bring- and finally lost at home in the playoffs
moment of Hewlett basketball.
ing a Nassau County Championship to against Valley Stream South. They had
“Hewlett basketball has changed Hewlett. It is clear the primary goal of this the largest visitor attendance in Hewlett
and impacted my life so much for the four team is to win a championship.
history and neutralized the home court
years I’ve been a part of it. Feldman said.
“One of my expectations for this advantage for the Bulldogs. The team
“I couldn’t be more grateful for coaches season is winning back to back conference gives a lot of credit to the fans called the
Bill Dubin, Andy DeBernardo, Steve Witt, titles,” Baptiste said. “I also expect us to Hewlett Dog Pound. Eckerle has a mesJohn Welsh and Derek Klein.”
do whatever we can to win a champion- sage to share with the Hewlett Dog Pound
Feldman is coming off of a fantastic ship this year.”
for this 2013-2014 season.
season. Last year he averaged 17 points,
After three years of playing shoot“The Dog Pound has got to come
six rebounds and six assists. He has ut- ing guard for Hewlett, Baptiste is a point to all the games, screaming, yelling and
terly dominated the conference ever since guard this year. Baptiste has embraced the making noise.” Bryan Eckerle said. “You
he stepped on the high school court as a role and doesn’t think the transition will have to make the opponent wish that he
young 14-year-old. He has definitely as- affect his game at all. In fact, Baptiste never has to play in the Hewlett High
serted himself as one of the top players models his game after a superstar point School gym ever again.”
on Long Island.
guard in the National Basketball AssociaThe Hewlett Bulldogs have high
“I think what makes me one of the tion (NBA).
expectations this year and hope to hoist up
top players on Long Island would be the
“One player in the NBA that my the Nassau County Championship trophy
teammates I’m around,” Feldman said. game resembles most is Russell West- at Hofstra University in March.
by Jacob Fink
Wo o d m e r e L a n e s i s h o m e t o
Hewlett’s bowling team, which aims
to repeat the success it had last season.
Last year, the Bulldogs were undefeated in their conference and were
ranked third overall in the county. By
qualifying four bowlers for the county,
Hewlett reached a milestone because
they reached the maximum number of
bowlers allowed.
The team, led by captains Luke
Borden ’14 and Jake Salner ’14, is
aiming to repeat its success, and even
possibly surpass it, with Counties coming up.
“I hope to keep the tradition of
winning going,” Salner said. “We came
in first place in our conference last
season, both JV and varsity. Hopefully
we can take counties this year.”
Even with a talented roster and
a good track record, the Bulldogs still
have to overcome adversity this season
to achieve their desired goals. The team
lost many talented seniors who helped
lead the team last year, but that doesn’t
seem to be crushing the team’s spirits. It
sparked a realization they need to work
hard to achieve success.
“From last year to this year, we
lost a significant amount of seniors
who dominated the varsity squad,”
Jack Bluth ’14 said. “Also, we have a
lot of new juniors and freshmen joining
the team. These factors have required
us to make major changes, but like all
good high school sports teams we must
evolve with the coming and going of
players.”
Even adversity isn’t stopping the
Bulldogs, who are still poised for success and seem to be very capable of
having a great season. All high school
teams have to deal with change, but the
bowling team is prepared.
“We have gone through transition
before and did quite well. I expect the
same this year because this is a team
that was close to their ultimate goal last
year and will be again this year,” Coach
Nick Paxinos said.
The Hewlett bowling team is
prepared to compete, and they created
a strong lineup of returning players
and newcomers, for what seems to be
a surefire road to a winning season.
“We are looking into the future
and expect great things from everyone,”
Borden said.
Additionally, while the Bulldogs
have put together an all-around lineup
with strong bowlers throughout, the
team does have a key weapon, Adam
Glickman ’16.
“Our best bowler is hands down
Adam Glickman, a sophomore,” Salner
said. “He takes us from being a good
team to a great team, with an average
in the 200s.”
Paxinos also agreed with Salner’s
sentiments about the budding star.
“Adam Glickman is our best
player. He has a chance to be a special
bowler, one that can compete in college and possibly even professionally,”
Paxinos said.
The Bulldogs have high hopes and
believe their hard work and dedication
will pay off with more success than
last year.
“We have great group of kids
and look forward to a great season,”
Borden said.
The Independent Voice of George W. Hewlett High School
HEWLETT SPECTRUM
A-Very Promising Senior Year
Volume LXIII No 2
60 Everit Avenue Hewlett, New York
Friday, December 20, 2013
Inside SPORTS:
SPECTRUM/JessieKurz
Avery Feldman ’14 was a key contributor to a huge 65-44 win over Plainedge with 20 points including four 3-pointers. Now 1-2 on the season, the boys’ basketball team is now looking to get into a rhythm in hope for a
playoff run towards the end of their season.
Boys’ Swimming Strokes
to Success
Page 18
Could Defense be the
Key?
Page 17
H-Town
Wheels at it
Again
Page 18
Boys’ Wrestling ‘Pins to
Win’
Page 17