`Sing in praise of happy daze` at Tons of Horrors Hi`gh

NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE'
PAID
Vol. 8, No.4, June 1992
Permit No. 163
Commac!<. N.Y.
•
75·40 Parsons Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11366
Townsend Harris High School at Queens College
'Sing in praise of happy daze' at Tons of Horrors Hi'gh
#I
by Zina I zrael
Extended procrastinations, thoughts
of cancellation, followed by unification, jubilation, and finally a grand
ovation are images characteristic of
.Sing 1992. After much delay and controversy as to whether or not there
should be a Sing, the production was
presented on June 5 in the cafetorium.
Unlike the heated Sing competitions
of seniors versus juniors during prev ious years, the grade barriers were dissolved and, for the first time in several
years, the talen ts of both juniors and
seniors we re bl ended into one production of Sing under the direction of
junior Stephanie Nix and the supervision of Georgette Wallace, English
teacher.
" A Harris Carol" was about a student, Chris, who graduated from Tons
ofHorrors High and finally, got a letter
of acceptance to the University of East
Cupcake. She was forced, by the ghosts
of certain of her teachers, to relive the
horrors of her freshman, sophomore,
yo - -
-
'
-
doing a kickline
and parading
down an imaginary runway for
.:t!fI;
,
tl
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models . This
provoked waves
oflaughter from
th ewdi ~~
pleasure," according to Sing members .
The crisp sounds of conjugated Latin
verbs echoed from the mouth of Mr.
Ego Sum, played by senior Sean Persaud, and bounced back in a rather
spiritless fashion from Chris and her
classmates, who seemed rather indifferent as to whether the accent on ambulare was pl aced on the " a" or the
Pianists Elaine
Eng, junior, and
..
Dien T aylor, "u. n
senior,andthe"4
Minutes later, the spirit ofMr. Bones
E Skinless," the (junior Keith Tully) reintroduced Chris
~
senior band, sup- to her junior year. Senior Krissy Rice
-&. plied the music to played a frant ic male m ath teacher,
accompany Mr. Ruler, whohad a violent obsession
are freshman Rebecca Parker,
Sing's songs, all with striking his ruler agains t most inof which con- animate objects in sight. The end res ult
bodies," she yelled senior Felicia Froimovitz, and juniors January Angeles and Donna Weiss.
as her class was in the middle of a 30- stuffed green frog swinging from Chris' tained familiar melodies with lyrics of such rage was the breakage of the
minutejog with several people, having shoulder.
that had been changed to coincide hu- ruler. Was the aud ience surprised?
alre ady fainted, lying flat on the floor
The audience got a first-hand glimpse morously with the plot. There was not Probably not, according to some math
creating obstacles for the rurmers. The of what really goes on in a male locker one moment of silence.' The band students in the audience.
nightmare continued with Chris' re- room. Accompanied by Right Said continued playing during intermission
Sing Producer Bari Shultz, sen ior,
fusal to dissect a frog in biology class. Fred's "I'm Too Sexy," five boys, like and was kind enough to throw in seg- left a word to the wise for future Sing
This psychological torture resulted in five fingers on a fist, punched straight ments of "Bar-mitzvah Music From productions: "Don't be veclempt, Rea song and dance about morals with a through the heart of the audience by Hell" for the audience's "listening hearse early and hard," she said.
6
A matter of censorship? ·Quad back in business after lock-out
by Jennifer Sorowltz
Members of the newly-elected Student Act ivities Corporation [SAC] voted to restore the budget
of The Quad, the student newspaper of Queens
College, on June 1. The journal's staff was locked
out of their office on May 20 because of a
decision made by the outgoing board, which was
a result of the claim that The Quad provided inadequate cov erage of campus events.
The action of the outgoing SAC board received
widespread metropolitan press coverage because
of the First Amendment rights issue raised by the
cas e.
"We got our $8800," said Bruno N avarro, Edi tor-in-Chief of The Quad. "Every club was supposed to ge t an 18% cut across the board. Instead,
we wer e exe mpt from the 18% cu t."
SAC , an org anization which distributes funds
to student clubs, also voted to establish a Quad
advisory committee, whi ch will include faculty
and students. Its purpose is "to make suggestions
for The Quad ....to train the staff [and] fam iliarize
them with the Student Gove rnm ent," said Bruno.
"This adv isory comm ittee has no real power over
us. It will serv e as a buffer...so we can't just be
defunded like that. It w ill be impartial. Th ey'll be
more ge ared [toward] ho w to improve the paper."
It is yet to be de termined how many people will
sit on the board or who they will be, he said. The
Quad and SAC must agr ee upon the members.
"I'm ho ping we can get professional journalists
on the advisory board," said Bruno.
In addition to denying the funds necessary for
running The Quad, SAC had originally voted to
fund a different newspaper to be run by the
joumalism program. The journalism department
had not been notified of this decision. 'That's
news to us," saidjournalism professor JoannLce.
"We were not in anyway involved in that suggestion" (New York Newsday 5/22/92).
the outgoing board of SAC, consisting of seven
students and two administrators. I thas since been
replaced by the incoming board, which is operating under old guidelines, said Ron Cannava,
college spokesman. The newer board will operate until July I, when a College Association will
take over most of its responsibilities. The board
of directors of this organization will have less
student representation than SAC.
The old SAC board had decided to give The
~~~~~iliill11~~illf~t~~ili~~ili~~1~jlm~~~~f~j~~~~ili~Ii1~~~~~ll~lm~ili~lili.~~g®~~~i~ili~~ Quad a budget of zero dollars bec ause "students
were not being represented adequately by the
.newspaper and when they were represented, they
were represen ted falsely," said Matthew (Daily
News 5/22/92). "Over eigh ty percent of the clubs
on campus feel they are misrepresented by The
Quad. [It] wasn't covering events on campus,
especially when it came to changes in curriculum
and raci al tensions on campus," he said (New
York Newsday 5/22/92).
Both sides are content with the agreement.
'The decision of the previous SAC board not to
"I'm glad tha t we could resolve the matter in an fund The Quad for the fall semeste r was clearly
eqitable manner," said Matthew Shulman, Vice an act of frustration. As The Quad's publisher,
President-elect of SAC, who m ade the motion to the SAC board used its primary power - the
se ttle . "Both sides realized tha t an independent po wer of the purse - to demand changes in the
campus newspaper and an accountab le campus p aper ' s structure so that it could better serve the
newspaper need not be mutually exclusive ideas" college co mmunity," said Student Association
(Queens Tribune 6/4 -10/92). ''This is a pos itive President Charmaine Worthy in a sta tement isstep. It signals a new working relationship be- sue d by the press office of the coll ege (Queens
tween student gov ernment and the newspaper," Tribune 6/4-10/92) .
"Ch arm aine was really the one respons ible for
said Bruno (Queens Tribune 6/4- 10/92).
The decision to defund The Quad was made by get ting us back our fund ing ," said Bruno. "If she
,...this action was a
violation of our First
Amendment right. ..'
had n't taken the initiative...I don't think we would
have a paper in September ."
When the staff had discovered that the computerized locks had been changed to their office on
May 20, they sought Paul Simon, director of the
Student Union. "He said the executive board of
SAC had requested that we be denied access to
the computers," explained Katie Donahue, Features Editor of The Quad . 'They were afraid we
would sabatoge the computers." Dr. Simon reprogranuned the key, and the students regained
access to their office, but could no t use the
computers or dark room until the settlement w as
made. .
The Quad had filed a civil rights lawsuit against
the college. Marc Goodman, executive director
of the Student Press Law Center of Washington,
had agreed to take the case pro bono. SAC 's
actions were based on the "contents of the publication and that's a clear violation of the First
Amendment," he said (Daily News 5/22/92) .
The Quad had also been circ ulating a petition to
the students and faculty in order to regain their
funding. "Even students who have cr iticized The
Quad in the past are with us on this," K:ltie said
in an interview conducted prior to the res toration
of the newspaper's fun ding .
"We [felt] this action was a viol ation of our
First Amendment right of free speech," said
Katie. She feels that SAC acted against the paper
because of political differences: articles were
published which presented the Stud ent Govern -
continued on page 7
Future Teachers
p.4
Festival
of Nations
p.S
Security Guards
p.7
'Skating'
p.8
2
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The Classic
June 1992
A victory for freedom of press?'
Although the Queens College Quad has not always been friendly to Townsend Harris, we were appalled when the Student Activities Corporation (SAC) defunded the long-established
college newspaper. (See A matter of censorship?, page 1). This was clearly a violation of
the staffs First Amendment rights, since, as Marc Goodman of'the StudentPress Law Center
of Washington said, this action was based on the paper's actual content.
SAC's new board, however, redeemed the organization by voting to restore the budget of
the newspaper. The decision to implement a Quad advisory committee to oversee the
production of the paper should prove beneficial . Hopefully, the panel will serve as a resource
for professional advice which can only improve the quality of The Quad.
Let's hope that SAC's true intent is to more adequately portray campus life, and not to
advance or protect their own organization. It is imperative that this new alliance benefit the
entire school community and not lead to censorship on the part of SAC.
The success of this alliance is of par ticular interest to Townsend Harris students, since
seniors spend their Bridge Year on the college campus and during that year are Queens
College freshmen, as well as Townsend Harris seniors. For most of us, The Quad will serve
as our only source of information about the events on campus. It is essential that it report the
who le truth, and not just a variation of it. It can only serve as the true voice of the campus if
it is guaranteed full freedom of the press.
Cheating controversy
To the Editor:
I was most intrigued by your editorial on cheating. It seemed to place
blame on role models (e.g. parents and
elected officials) and teachers, not on
students, where the responsibility
should lie.
Since the editorial clearly stated the
ethic al grounds on which cheating
should be condemned, it is apparent
that students have been taught and have
learn ed that lesson. And having gotten
that far, is it not incumbent on the
ethical person to behav e in an ethi cal
way?
Having eth ics means that one understands how values apply in given situations, and one acts accordingly. It
does not mean that one only behave s
that way becau se another is watching,
And if one docs, indee d, behave
ethicalI y because someone is watching, it is the beh avior, not the person,
tha t is ethical.
If this argument is not persu asive.
perh aps another approach may be. The
cheater should weig h what he has to
gain ag ainst what he has to lose. If
cheating results in a higher test grade,
how many average points are rea lIy involved , when tha t test grade is computed - along with a do zen or more
oth ers - into a final class mark? One?
Two ? Three? If tbe chea ter is caught
and is given a zero on that same examination, how many aver age points arc
now at st ake?
'
Fur ther, what benefit of a doubt will
that cheater ever receiv e from that
teach er? Can that cheater ever request
of that teacher a recommendation for
anything? Is there anything the cheat er
can do to regain the respect of those
who know him as a cheater? Is it worth
the risk of such a notat ion on the permanent recoJ1! card ? T hatnotation will
have carved itself into the stone of the
che ater's record for alI to see for alI
time.
To summarize, two arguments
against cheating arc presented here .
The first places respon sibility on the
indiv idu al for ethical behavior. T hat is
as it should be. Ethical people have no
probl em with that. The second threatens re tribution for unethical behavior.
6- J1j -If;).
THE
l'
,~
~
Everybody works hard and works for
themselves and not for their neighbors.
No answer paper from the smartest kid
in your class is "smiling you in the
face." and the copied answers from the
homework are mostly the wrong ones .
Besides, our teachers are pretty smart
and find out fast who is doing whose
homework.
Cheating will always be around. It is
often the easy way out . For us motivated and intelligent students, how ever, it is the hard way ou t, bec ause
cheating robs us of the foundations of
To the Editor:
T his letter is in reference to the pre- kno wledge. and we will need a lot of
vious editorial concerning cheating. In knowledge at the places we plan to go.
O tto Petersen
it, you so eloquently awakened the
sleeping controversy which encases
cheating.
It [che ating) is a real problem in
Townsend Harris. In a school such as To the Editor:
As the originator and teacher of the
ours , it is a shame that students take it
so lightl y. Man y students believe that "Literature of the Holocaust" elective
when they do not study , it is their right class, I wish to comment on the title
to cheat in order to attain that ever so change of this course. I have been informed that this course is now listed in
important 95.
How can this be? Is it not true that the elective catalogue as "Literature of
those who indulge in this deceitful Oppression and Protes t."
This course was des igned to introactivity insult the found ation upo n
which this school and all schools are duce the issues of oppression and resistance to our students through literbuilt?
In conclusion, I commend you and ary wor ks. Th e model event chosen for
The Classic staff for tak ing a plunge this study is the Holocaust, since an
into shark-infested territ ories. Don't impressive and deeply touching body
take to heart those who are blind and do of literature deals with this area. Also,
not wish to see. Perhaps people will be the process and extent of this event
willing to open their eye s when a trag- brings sham e and reproach to all
edy occur s. Maybe there will be a hu manity in the twenti eth century. We
greater reaction when one of our own read this literature both for its artistic
gets caught cheating on a big test...the merit and for the understanding we can
SAT, maybe?
learn from it. This course seeks to
Name withheld upon request enlighten us all through a careful
study of one example.
Certainly we do not seek to ignore or
To the Editor :
I found the article about cheating very belittle the experiences of any people.
interesting, although I do no t agree Indeed, we often exten d our discus with the figures. It is my opinion tha t sions to other examples and we come
this article generalizes too much , espe- to a more significant understanding of
cially about cheating that occu rs at the tragic results of opp ress ion. I feel,
how ever, that changing the name of
Townsend Harris.
It is true that there is a lot of press ure the course misrepresents its con tent,
on us students. Sometimes we have and m ight mislead some students. Th is
two or three tests in one day, and the course explores one of the most sigweekends arc spent working on colIat- nificant issues of our time. Let's not
erals or exams, but cheating is proba- trivialize it by dilutin g its name.
Harri ette Blechman
bly the last though t on our minds.
Humanities Department
Nobody gets a free ride in our school.
It puts forth fear of consequences as a
deterrent to unethical behavior. But,
understand, if it is only fear that pre vents a person from cheating, that person is not ethical, and that person will
revert to his nature whenever a situationn arises in which he believes his
cheating will not be found out.
I don 't trust people like that, and I do
not count them among my friends.
Alan'Katz
Humanities Department'
Course title change
QC QUAI>
~
,.:
oppression and protest.
To the Editor :
It is obvious that the course title n
It has come to our attention that the
Literature of the Holocaust course title not be changed as it received an 0\
has been changed to the 'politically whelming response in its original fo
correct' Literature of Oppression and We wish to have the return of
Protest. Literature of the Holocaust correct and rightful title - "Literal
was designed to educate students about of the Holocaust" - and the politic;
the history of oppression through a correct but misleading replaceme
study of the persecution of Jews with a "Literature of Oppression and Prall
specific focus on the Holocaust. Dur - - used for a more appropriate cou
Ale xia Komninos, Michele
ing our discussions it was only natural
Goldstein, and The Literatun
that other persecuted groups were
the Holocaust Class , Spring
brought up and the conversation included references to many different
examples of oppression, but we analyzed these events through the example
of the Holocaust. Th e title " Literature
As we were going to press. we W I
of Oppression and Prote st" is misle adsaddened to learn that Peter Josepl
ing and it miscons trues the aims of the
husband of Parent-Teachers Assor
course. Thi s recently imposed title
tion Co-President Rita Joseph, anc
father of Stephanie Joseph, 'SS,an
impli es that all oppressed peoples will
Tracy Joseph, '92, passed away or
be dealt with generally, with no spe June 21.
cific atten tion on one group.
Mr. Joseph, who was on the P.T.
We feel that the adm inistration has
ExecutiveBoard. was an extreme'
jumped too strongly onto the band active and highly valued member
wagon of political corr ectn ess. In sorne
the Townsend Harris community.
cases P.C. is beneficial, but not when it ·
will be greatly missed.
The Classic joins the entire Tow
masks the truth, the truth being that
send Harris community in extend:
this course is based on Holocaust litits deepest condolences to the Jos
erature, not the universal literature of
family.
In Memoria"
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TowRICnd llam a JlichSet.... at Q
Senior Editor: J en nifer Dubow
Edilor-in-Chief: R a ndl Korobeln lk
Rishona Fleishman
15-40 PanoN HlycLFJw.binc. New
Nefta li Serrano
Jennifer Mattucci
Manacinc FAirer
He",. Editor
Th eres e Ferguson
Daihung Duong
FUlllure Edi kJr
ec. PukriLa,__ Ediur
SporUi £dik.-
..
l ennifer SorowilZ
Jan uary Angel es , Olga 'Mazu rkie wicz
Aa.iIIlanI Fc.lllr'e'c.:- pwer &dikr
Co-Pho&.or;r-phy Editon
Pearl Chan
Steph8Die Wo lf
Sall~dtk~i~uite
i.~~~~
Art Edilclr
BUoIIhC. . Ma.na.pr
Readers ..e irw'iled to sutm
edi"'. La.... , shouklbe placed
mail box in tle gene ral office
reserves tle r~t 10 edit a11 11
must indude name and oflc:ia
wi. be withheld upon reques t
~
Aleema Bacchus . Jennifer Chau, Erika DiSanzo , Jordan Dressl er , Johanna Fausto, Jeani f
Alison Gabriele, Latash a Green e, Laura Humm el, Z ina Izrael, Wendy Lamec Iason Leder, Ev a Lev
Mazyuk, Beth Mellow , Shalene Moo die, Kristina Olson. Veru sha Palczy nski , Elen i Passias, Fran c
Sarah Trernm l, Donna Weis., Anna Zw ien
Pho to grapben' Phoebe Dall al. Joann a Drescher, Alison Gabriele, Hadar (Jack ie) Hell man, Brannk
Beverlie Leano , Michelle Lockw ood , Vic ki Soffer, Denielle Tropea
Aniill;, Cannon Chu, David Iankelevich,lames Kim, Bikkei Law, Vinh Nguy en, Tim othy Nol 8D.
Mari a Skrepet os, Teresa Tse , R itzel Tuazo n, Cynthia Wong, Amy Van
Typjn g !!!ld Busings Staff' Ann Carro ll,lenn ifer Chau , Dan iella Colem an , Sabrina Falco ne, Olga
Roxanne Ryan . Felici a Vinci. Tara Weinstein. Jan ice Vee
Pr incipal: Dr, M alcolm Larg mann
.:)1
Ad visor: I1s a Cow en
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The Classic
June1992
3
.
Fair educates on health Issues
by Stacey Gluck
AIDS and alcoholism were only some of the
many topics presented at the fourth annual Health
Fair held in the gymnasium on May 11 . The fair
was coordinated by Guidance Counselor Susan
Rotter, health teacher Ellen Schwartz and a student committee.Students had the opportunity to
talk to professionals in the health field and receive informative pamphlets.
The main purpose of the fair was to "educate
the students about important health issues. We
also wanted students to be aware of services they
may need for themselves, family members or a
friend. We are trying to make resources available
to them," said Ms . Rotter.
Ms . Rotter and Ms. Schwartz were assisted by
14 students who made up the Health Fair Com mittee. The group met several times before the
fair . Their job was to brainstorm ideas, evalute
last year's fair and help make suggestions. The
committee also organized and operated the
booths.
The gymnasium was filled with booths from
various organizations. The American Cancer
Society, Al-Anon, and Planned Parenthood were
some of the groups represented.
Golda Watts, the senior health educator at
Planned Parenthood, said , 'This year the students are less shy . They are willing to talk about
contraceptves openly. Overall, I think they are
more aware of the different types of protecton
and prevention."
The Department of Transportation distributed
a safety quiz to students. All students who took
the quiz were awarded either a button or a reflector.
In addition to outside organizations, students
participated in the fair . Juniors Matt Cretaro and
Keith Tully demonstrated their karate and selfdefense skills. They were assisted by junior Chris
Anderson and sophomore Man Puglisi. Freshman Brenda Morissey also gave a CPR exhibition.
"I feel that this year the fair had more participatory activities and exhibitions than past years,"
said Ms. Rotter. "However, I'd like feedback of
what students would like to see. We're trying to
get presenters of interest to the students because
that is who this [health fair] is for ."
Concert celebrates spring season
by Sa rah T r em m l
Two bands, the chorus, and vocal as well as
instrumental soloists entertained the school
community at the annual Spring Concert held on
May 7 in the cafetorium. Music teacher Adam
Alter conducted the band and Choral Director
Dorothy Savitch led the Chorus.
The Concert Band's performance included
music by LeonardBernstein, Mozart, and Rimsky
Korsakov.
"I really thought that they were good. I didn't
expect such talent," said freshman FlorenceW asserman.
The LAB Band, a beginning and intermediate
ensemble, played "Canon" by Pachebel.
"I was so nervous. I felt so unprepared. Then
we started to play, and well , '" it just seemed all
right," said band member Tara Seary, a freshman.
The chorus,under the direction of Ms. Savitch
and accompanied by pianist Bella Guthstein,
presented a variety of songs; Vocal soloists
included sophomores Debbie Gelfand, Desiree
Morgan and Trina Cabrijan, and junior Aron
Chizik
Latin and Greek teacher Richard Russo further
entertained the audience with a selection he sang
in Italian called "Si, guerriesi," written by G.
Apolloni, from theoperaL' Ebreo, "I didn'tknow
that Mr. Russo could even sing, let alone sing
opera. However, he was very good," said one
freshman.
Assistant Band Director Stephanie Wolf, senior, led the band in playing "Psalm 18," written
by Marcello and arranged by Whitney, and senior Alison D'Amico joined Stephanie for a flute
duet, "Grazioso" by Bach.
"Overture to the Marriage of Figaro" by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Scheherazade"
by Rirnsky Korsakov were the last two band performances of the concert.
"I thought that the band improved from the
winter concert. They were good then, but they
were even better now," said freshman Hollie
Pena.
·s
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6
E
~
-a
-JUNIOR
- - ISABEL CUERVO dons make-up in preparation for the Junior Banquet.
Junior Banquet well attended
by Sally Magdi
Approximately 150 juniors gathered together
for the first Junior Banquet in school history at
Bruno 's on the Boulevard in Jackson Heights on
May 15, from 8-12 P.M.
Juniors Christine Marrero and Melissa Parlefsky organized the banquet in Coordinator of
Student Affairs Judy Biener's Student leadership class last term . The two were involved with
collecting the deposits, booking Bruno's, promoting the banquet and hiring the disc jockey.
Arthur Boulanger, Program Coordinator and the
banquet advisor, handled the monetary aspects of
the affair.
"The whole week [before the banquet] I was a
total wreck. I was sick and I had a fever every
night," Christine said. "But seven months of
pulling my hair out was all worth it," she continued . Melissa agreed. "I was very nervous throughout the whole week," she said . Juniors Johanna
Plavin and Laarni Matteo presented a bouquet of
flowers to Christine, Melissa, and Mr. Boulanger,
on behalf of the junior class to show their appreciation for all the time and effort they put into the
banquet.
Most students who attended thought it was a
success, even though this was the first year the
junior class had a banquet and not a prom. Organizers of the event avoided using the word prom to
keep people from feeling they needed a date to
attend.
"I really enjoyed the banquet," junior Erica
Eisenstein said. "I think Christine and Melissa
did a really nice job to put together a really great
party."
"It was a great way to end the week. It is a rare
occasion when you get a chance to dance to old
and new music at the same time," said junior
Sharon Politis, referring to such novelty songs as
the "Club Med" song , "Alley Cat" and "Shout"
that were played.
"I thought it turned out very well, " Melissa
said. "We had some complaints but most people
had only compliments."
~'I was really excited about going, but now that
I went, I think it was a waste of $30," said one
female junior. "Th e food was raw and youcouldn 't
even dance to the music," she continued.
"I thought the disco balls were tacky and the
chicken was fake ," junior Jason Deleo said .
"but I had good company, so I enjoyed myself."
The chaperones for the event included Assistant Principal Malcolm Rossman, AssistantPrincipal of Humanities Lynne Greenfield, English
teachers Debra Michlewitz, Helen Rizzuto, Judy
Biener, Arthur Boulanger, Harriette Blechman,
Georgette Wallace, and Thomas Sweetin; history teacher Nancy Leib; and Spanish teacher
Ilene Marcus.
"It was fun for me to see all the students dressed
up," Ms. Biener said. "They all looked great. I
especially enjoyed dancing to the novelty songs."
"I would like to thank everyone who attended,
especially the faculty members who helped us
pull it off without any real difficulties... especially Mr. B.," Christine said.
Mr . Boulanger gives all the credit to the students."All efforts for a banquet could be ruined
if the class doesn't work together. This class is
the most together class Townsend Harris has
seen in years....Christine and Melissa proved
everything I thought to be impossible, possible.
I never thought we would be able to collect $500
from 50 people in one week, but by the end ofthe
week, 100 people had paid," he said.
"Now it is time to get ready for the senior
prom," said Christine.
\
Faculty versatility dispayed at concert
.by Donna Lin Weiss
Verdi.
\
Music teacher Alan Alter performed a sonata
Piano tunes , flute notes, clarinet trills and vocal
vibrato filled the cafetorium during Enrichment
on May 26 at the First Annual Faculty Recital.
Many members of the faculty showed off their
various talents during this performance. ,
Bela Guthstein, chorus teacher, opened the
concert by playing the piano piece "Fantasia in
D minor" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ms.
Guthstein also performed "Prelude in C sharp
minor" by Rachmaninoff. 'The piece was hard to
play, bu t as a professional musician one really
has to be able to read the music quickly to play it,"
said Ms. Guthstein.
IIsa Cowen, English teacher, played a solo
flute piece, "Syrinx" by Claude Debussy. T he
composition is based on the mythological story
of the God Pan and his des ire for Syrin x, the
nym ph.
Latin teac her Thaddeu s Ferguson and Lat in
and Greek teacher Richard Russo performed a
duet, " Si pel ciel,' from the opera Otello by
by Poulenc on the clarinet. The piece was in three
movements and represented both mechanical,
impersonal tones and slower, more lyrical music.
He was accompained by Ms . Guthstein on the
piano.
Principal Dr. Malcolm Largmann praised the
faculty for giving students "an opportunity to be
introduced to a new kind of listening experience."
"I think we are pr ivileged to have such talented
teachers," said freshman Brett Zuckerman.
Sophomore Brannie Jones said, " I thought it was
really enter taining. The talent was unexpected."
In addition to the praise and applause, some
students had suggestions for next year's performance. "I think they shou ld have more teac hers involved," said junior Chris topher Caltabiano. Junior Marni Sussman challenge d the faculty when she comm ented, "I would like to see
the faculty do things like dance, act or ju ggle!"
4
The Classic
June 1992
To bee great citizens:
Kamens and Chan win state competition
by An a Zwierz
Seniors Joshua Kamens and Pearl Chan
were winners in the New York State Citizen
Bee on May I , in Albany , New York. Joshua
placed first, and is go ing to the national
competition, which will take place from June
27 to July 1 in Was hing ton D,C. Pearl placed
fifth, making her the first alternate for the national compe tition. History teacher Michael
Manson was their coac h.
Besides personal satisfaction, Joshua received approxim ately $1250in savings bonds ,
and Pearl, $200.
Th e Citi zen Bee is a nationa l contest spon sored by The Closeup Foundation, a privately endowed organization. The contest
has varying levels -local, state, and national.
Joshua and Pearl placed first and second in
the local competition, respectively, sending
them to the state level.
The competition tests a student's knowledge of American history, geography, the
Constitution and government, current events,
and economics.
Joshua and Pearl, along with their other
teammates, senior Shibber Khan and junior
Reuben Rosof, prepared for the competition
with Dr. Manson for four to five months.
Although the contestants were quick in acknowledging Dr.Manson's help, he said that
"the students did much of the work on their
own."
The victory did not come easily for either
Joshua or Pearl. There were a few discrepancies in the judging. Pearl was not originally
announced as a fifth place winner. "In Albany I wasn't cou nting on anything [at first] ,
but [later ] when they announced the winners,
they didn 't call me, and I was a little disappointed," she said.
As it turned out, one of the judges had
misread the competition scores, and had
awarded 5th place to another person. The
mistake was uncovered after the awards ceremony. The fifth place " winner" had to give
up his rank and prizes to Pearl. Joshua simi larly almost did not place in the bee . He
answered a question wrong because it was
phrased incorrectly. "The question I got was
ambiguous and, after appealing to the judges,
they agreed with me and threw the question
out. They then gave me a new one which I got
right," he said .
While Pearl names history as her worst
subject, Joshua likes it a lot . "I have been
exposed to various topics of study," he says.
"I developed a liking for history, the classics,
and international relations, among other liberal arts disciplines." He plans to pursue an
education in liberal arts at Wharton School of
Business starting in September.
When asked to predict Joshua's performance in the next phase of competition, Dr.
Manson replied, "We expect to win, of
course."
Workshop presented by seniors
at New York teachers' convention
by J oh an na Fausto
Future Teachers seniors Alison
D ' Amico, Georger Reuter, and
Dien Taylor offered a workshop
on teaching techni ques to a gathering of thousands of New ' Yar k
City teachers and studen ts at
Hunter College on May 11. The
annual conference and luncheon,
"A Celebration of Teaching," was
held by the New York City Association of Teachers of English.
The three seniors spoke about
their teaching experiences acquired
as members of the Future Teachers club, advised by Joan Walsh,
Assistant Principal of Foreign
Language.
Dien, the first of the three to
speak, talked about motivating
children to learn. He believes ,that
it is "important that teachers motivate their students." He said that
"it's the responsibility of the
teacher to know how the students
are motivated so that he/she 'will
know what to do."
George explained that there
should be a joint venture between
Mock Presidential Convention mirrors Election '92
Services Sheila Orner on their overall presentation,
elocution, development of issues and ability to evoke
audience reaction.
The program was assembled in the middle of the
1992 presidential campaign, when the city was given
money in order to involve students in the electoral
process and let them "get a feel for the Presidential
race," said Mr. Stessel.
"I believe that if we don't get excited about our
campaigns now, we never will when it comes our tum
to vote . I'mconcerned about people getting involved in
the electoral process," said Mr. Stessel, who participated in the same type of progtam when Jimmy Carter
ran against Gerald Ford in 1976.
Students who did not write speeches but wished to
take part in the Mock Convention program, made placards, posters and slogans to support their candidate.
Sophomores Adrian Muzich, Chris Born, Alexis Joseph, MoniqueCole, LydiaBrown and Natalie Krauser
were a few of the students who participated in the program and received certificates of
recognition.
"I'm interested in how the system
L
works and wanted to see for myself
because in a few years itwill be my
1
tum to vote," said Alexandra, commenting on why she became involved in the convention.
N
"In order for future voters to make
. 1 .~
., an informed and educated decis ion,
they have to know what goes on
~ behind the scenes," said sophomore
~ Alexis Joseph.
'The experience was a good one
$' for students and now that they have
~ some idea of what campaigning
'8. entails , they can encourage their parents and relatives to vote," said Mr.
DEMONSTRATORS hold up balloons, placards, and banners in
Stessel.
by Latasha Greene
Randi Korobelnik, junior, represented Townsend
Harris in the Democracy '92 Mock Presidential Convention at Forest Hills High School on May 20. She lost
to Andrea Pellettiere from Forest Hills High School
who later went on to represent the borough of Queens
in the city-wide competition on June 5.
Randi was selected to compete in the borough finals
after winning the May 12 school-wide competition
organized by history teacher Paul Stcssel,
Participants in the in-house convention included
freshman Alexandra Laifer, and sophomores Joseph
Cahill, Julianne Fisher and Nancy Forsberg .
Competitors had to write a 7-10 minute presidential
campaign speech tackling such issues facing thl!
nation as economic growth.education, foreign policy,
taxation, the environment, inner cities, crime and drugs .
Participants were judged .by Principal Malcolm
Largmann, Assistant Principal of Humanities Lynne
Greenfield and Assistant Principal of Pupil Personnel ,
•
:a
a
support of their presidential candidate Randi Korobelnik.
the student and the teacher . "Y ou
should talk with them so that they
will be more receptive," he said .
"You don't wan t your students to
view you as a gian t, intangible
perso n whom they can't approach.
It should be more like a journey.
You take the ch ild' s hand and both
ofyou will explore the world of the
unknown. This way, you'll both
be learning together."
~11~1jmjjjmmmmmm11~1111~~111;lm~~~mmmmmJfjtmmr~~mm~mmmmm;1;1~I
'It's hard to b ylieve that they re
only high school
seriiors.'
Alison spoke about her fourth
grade English as a Second Language student. It was hard for her
student to grasp English easily, so
Alison needed to find a way for
him to learn it. By observing her
student, she found out that he loved
to draw. She therefore incorporated his love of drawing into her
teaching to facilitate his learning.
"I made him draw all the new
vocabulary words that he had jl
learned, and the following week
used the pictures as flash 'c are
This made learning easier and me
fun [for the student] and teachi i
easier for me . Teachers must
very observant so that they can s
what their students enjoy do i:
and relate it to wha t they're lear
ing," said Alison.
After the presentation, teach,
asked about the Enrichment pr
gram, which enabled the studer
to go out and teach.
Many teachers offered their COl
pliments to Dien, Alison, a:
George and told them how iJ
pressed they were by their pc
forrnance. "They dress, act, til
and look like professionals; i
hard to believe that they're or
high school seniors," said Rc
Riessman, Chairman of the cc
ference.
"I attribute all these cornplimei
to Ms. Walsh," said Dien. "S
created an excellent program a
educated us to the frontier of ed
cational techniques and method:
The Rime Of The Classical Latin Studerr
by Tim Nolan
It is a covered textbook,
And it sits in front of me.
"This should be just like Spanish.
So how hard can it be?"
For weeks 1 thought that I was right.
Yes, Latin was a breeze.
1 knew the cases and the places
For long a's and e's,
One day the rules and patterns
Just overfilled my head .
"Why should we learn a language
That has been so long dead? "
"No one could have learned this!"
1 knew I'd had enough.
To think of it would make me frown
Wasfur a third declension noun?
I couldn't take this stuff!
The verbs seemed to attack'rne
In endless conjugation.
Agreement of the adjectives was
A cause for lamentation.
So right after school today,
I plan to meet my buddy.
We're going to his house at three
To help each other study.
We're going to read and memorize
Until our brains are worn.
Two more tired, wiser guys
We'll rise tomorrow mom.
Latin, Greek scholars achieve succes:
by Erika DiSanzo
Medals, ribbons, and certificates of merit
were awarded to 120 Townsend Harris stu dents who took the National Latin and
Greek examinations. The exams took place
after school on March 9, and March lOand
were given in threelevels of Latin as well
as classical and modem Greek.
Latin students of Thaddeus Ferguson,
Margaret Landry, Richard Russo , and Thomas Sweetin won awards which varied
from "summa cum laude" (gold medal) to
"cum laude" (certificate of merit). Latin
level 1 students were hono red with 66
awards, four of which were gold medals
and 11 of which were silver. Latin level 2
students received 28 awards , including three
silver medals. In addi tion, a gold medal
was awarded to Joshua Kamens and a silver
medal to Dien Taylor, two of the four
students taking Dr. Ferguson's Latin 3 class
after school,
<Among those students of Mr. Rus,
who took the classical Greek exam, four :
ceived red ribbons for achieving a sec
between 30 and 34 out of40; eight receiv
green ribbons for scores ranging from ~
39. The twelve students who took I
Modem Greek examination were
awarded ribbons - six blue, three red, a
three green.
"With such outstanding results, wI
else can one say butc'estmagnifique? C
students have once again lived up to I
high standards that they have set for the
selves ," said Joan Walsh, Assistant Pr
cipal of the Foreign Language Depa
ment. "Dr. Ferguson, Ms. Landry, tI
Russo, and Mr. Sweetin deserve 'surru
cum laude' certificates for their superlati
efforts in preparing our students,"
~ J un e1 99 2
5
Festival of Nations showcases cultural diversity
by Alison Gabriele
Saris, sombreros, kilts and kimonos were among
the colorful costumes worn by the students participating in .the Festival of Nations celebration
on April 9 in the cafetor ium. Joan Walsh, Assistant Principal of Foreign Languages, coordinated
the event with the inten t of "promoting an understanding and appreciation of each other's ethnic
diversities in order to nurture a sense of brotherhood among us."
She was assisted by the foreign language teachers and jun ior Aram Taleporos, the stage manager. Th e master s of ceremonies were senior
DienTaylor and sophomore Christopher Musarra.
While the festivity was originaIly called "International Night," this year it was changed to
"The Festival of Nations," "Our new image is
implied by our new name .We have broadened
the scope of International Night to include the
sharing of cultures and traditions beyond the
foreign languages we teach in Townsend Harris," said Ms. Walsh. "I felt by limiting a performance to just the six languages we teach in
classrooms, it was not truly an international event.
We wanted to represent as many of our students'
cultures as possible."
The performances ranged from poems, to singing and dancing, to a martial arts demonstration.
The evening opened with a color guard representing the "United Colors of Townsend Harris,"
Junior Diana Starnatelatos sang the National
Anthem.
The Spanish department's presentations in-
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"OF COURSE, LET"S HAVE FUN!" Ms. Landry's Latin classes perform a drinking song, Gaudeamus lgitur , at the Festival of Nations celebration .
eluded the reading "Redondillas,' by Sor Juana
Ines de la Cruz. The poem, which deals with
prejudice towards women, was recited by juniors
Rishona Fleishman, Alana Sanford, Michelle
Schaffer, and JenniferTeodoro.The song "Guantanarnera," by Jose Marti, was performed by
Spanish teacher Ilene Marcus' class. Freshman
Mariella Martinez and junior Gilberto DaSilva
performed a traditional Peruvian dance entitled
"La Marinela." The song "La Paloma," by Julio
Iglesias, was performed by sophomore Susan
Stewart with accompaniment on the piano by
freshman Matt Soran.
"When I was little, my mother used to sing 'La
Paloma' to me. I think it's weird that now I'm
singing it for her and many other people," said
Trink!" which involved the entire audience. The
stories of "Max und Moritz" and "Erster Streich"
were told by Ms. D'Souza's and Ms. Cheswick's
classes. A waltz, "Tales from the Vienna Woods,"
was performed by juniors Verusha Palczynski
and Chris Catalbiano to the accompaniment of
seniors Alison D' Amico and Stephanie Wolf on
the flute with Mr. Sweetin on the piano.
Japanese teacher Michael Rubin and Sarah
Loebs' class performed a Japanese rendition of
"New York, New York," by Frank Sinatra.
Some of the performances were run entirely by
the students. One group danced an Indian folkloric dance, "Megha-reMegha,' choreographedby
junior Sonal Patel. Sophomore Bibi Mukherjee
danced to the Indian classical dance "Prabhad."
Verusha, who belongs to a Ukranian dance
ensemble, also did a Ukranian dance to a song
entitled "Kolomeyka,"
Another group displayed African ceremonial
dances, which were choreographed by Nicole
Sessions. The audience was also introduced to
the Chinese culture. Under the choreography of
sophomore Mary Tsai, the Chinese ceremonial
ally non-existent. The toilets were plate dance and ribbon dance were performed.
Junior Laarni Mateo, and her younger sister
just 25 - 30 holes in a long wooden
board. There was no toilet paper. Liza, performed a Philippino dance which they
The washroom contained a long had choreographed.
wooden sink with a pipe with holes
The "Haymakers Jig," a Ceili dance, was also
running over it. Once or twice a performed by several sophomore andjunior girls,
week the prisoners were allowed to representing the Irish culture .
use it.
Sporting tradiitional Greek clothing, sophoLiberation finally came in March , more Andrew Mallios led a group of students in
1945. The Nazi's were gone. Soon traditional dances.''I'm proud of my heritage,
everyone was embracing.
and I'm glad I got to show the audience a part of
Mr. Potasynsky went to a Dis- the Greek culture , even if it meant that I had to
placed Persons camp. He was there : wear a skirt," said Andrew.
for seven months before he went
The martial arts demonstration was performed
back to Poland looking for his under the supervision of its Enrichment advisor,
family. He found three cousins and science teacher Phillip Jones. It consisted of five
an aunt already there and soon his domonstrations, including the Stick and Dagger,
father showed up, followed by his Board Beaking, Self-Defense Techniques and
mother. Some people never saw Thai Boxing . Senior David Parksjunior Matthew
any members of their family again. Cretaro, and sophomore Michael Barrows were
Still, he lost fifty-five members of among those who participated.
his family.
Posters and pictures by Anthony Morales' art
After seven or eight months, Mr. class provided a colorful addition to the night.
Potasynsky's father decided he The artwork depicted the cultural impact of Cowanted to leave Europe with his lumbus' arrival in the New World .
family. However, Poland was now
''The Entertainer," by Scott Joplin, played by
occupied by Russia andyou couldn't Mary on the piano, was the fmale of the evening .
travel freely. Finally, they were
The entire performance was a success," said
successful in their escape, and in sophomore Oliver Block .
November, 1946, they left Europe.
"It was beautiful. Besides doing a great deal to
After he finished his story, Mr. enhance school spirit, it was fun," said Ms.Walsh.
Potasynsky explained his purpose. Principal Malcolm Largmann agreed. ''The For"I'm not here to make you feel bad eign Language Department tapped every ethnic
or sad.I want to make young people resource we have. True spirit of good will was
aware of what hate and predjudice conveyed the entire evening . We really felt ~ if
did and can do," he said.
we were at a festival," he said.
Susan .
The French department contributed to the
evening with a skit called "L' Accent Grave," by
Jacques Prevert, which featured sophomore Sean
Dougherty as a teacher in a French class. The
poem, "Chanson des Escargots qui vont a l'Enterrement" was recited by Brigitte Cheswick's
French classes.
Margaret Landry's Latin class sang a Medieval Latin drinking song, "Gaudeamus Igitur,"
which translates to "Of course, let's have fun!"
A variety of songs, dances and literature was
presented by the German department. German
teacher Thomas Sweetin, dressed as a German
boy, led his class in the singing of"Du, Du Liegst
Mir 1m Herzen" and "Trink, Trink! Bruderlein,
Reliving the horror:
Holocaust survivor educates on consequences of hate
by Eva Levinson
Lee Potasynsky,a survivor of the
Holocaust, spoke to several classes
in the library during Enrichment on
April 14. His talk spanned his life in
concentration camps during theNazi
occupation and after the war. He
also discussed his feelings about the
war and his hopes and warnings for
the future.
Mr. Potasinsky was six years old
and living in a town about 600 miles
from Warsaw, Poland, when the German army invaded and occupied the
country in 1939. His life was about
to change dramatically.
The Nazis instituted a 6 P.M. to 9
P.M. curfew for all Jews. Jews were
forbidden to walk on certain streets
no matter what time it was,and on
the streets they could use,they could
only walk in the gutter. A yeIlow
star of David had to be sewn onto all
clothes. Food was rationed. Often
there was not enough food to go
around. Sometimes the food they
were given violated Jewish dietary
laws. Mr. Potasynsky and many
others lived on bread and potatoes.
One early morning in August 1942,
the Jews were rounded up and divided into groups: elderly, ablebodied men , and able-bod ied
women. Lee looked at his grandfa ther, who pointed to the men and
said, "Why don't you run across to
) @'SJi\1Q -*.,· .... '''-'~, _ ~
them," Lee ran over to the men, and
stayed in the middle to avoid being
noticed.
Mr. Potasynsky and the otherprisoners were brought to Makstak, a
camp on the Polish - Czechkoslovakia border. There they were given
1.D. numbers. Mr. Potasynsky explains this as the day" we [Jews] lost
our identity as human beings."
the constant fear that you could be
killed. We never thought of committing suicide. Most or all of us
never lost hope thattomorrow would
be a better day,"
One night,all the prisoners were
loaded onto cattle trains and taken to
an unknown destination . An old man
sitting next to Mr. Potasynsky turned
to him. "I think we're all finished,"
he said. Then he recited the Kaddish
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(prayer for the dead). Lee asked him
why he was saying it now, "Because
once I'm gone, there'll be no one to
fe~l
say it for me," he replied.
Eventually they arrived at
From the age of nine and a half Auschwitz. He saw a train full of
until he was twelve and a half, Mr. people being unloaded; suitcases and
Potasynsky went through seven clothes were everywhere. Then he
different camps , including smelled the horrible burning of
Auschwitz, Dachau, and Lansood. human flesh.
At Dachau, Mr. Potasynsky arrived
The prisoners were marched five
in the middle of the night in deep miles to work for ten to twelve hours
winter. He and the other prisoners digging or carrying rocks .Then they
were surprised by what seemed to were marched back to the bunk and
be an act of kindness. They were lined up for dinner.soup in a tin
given blankets. However, they soon bowl.
found out the reason for this act.
Lack of food caused some people
Due to overcrowding, they had to to become emaciated. Others went
sleep outside with the lice-infested crazy, and others swelled up like
blankets .
balloons. Mr. Potasynsky's feet
"I think about it [those times] ev- swelled up so much that he was
ery single day," explains Mr. Pota- unable to wear shoes. He had to tie
synsky . "It is impossible for me to rags with wire around his feet. He
think how I as a human being could still has scars.
endure those conditions. There was
Hygiene at Auschwitz was virtu-
'I'm not here to
make you
bad or sad.
6
The Classic
June 1992
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-Hamlet star 'shares acting experiences with Drama Enrichment
by E len i Passlas
Stephen Lang , the star of the current Broadway production of Hamiel, spoke to the Drama
Enri chment on April 28, and on April 29, a group
of To wnsend harris students went to the Roundabout Th eater to watch his per formance.
Mr. Lang, the son of philanthropist Eugene
Lang, an alumnus of the old Townsend Harris ,
received a 1991 Tony nomination for his performa nce of the "veteran-turned-street philoso pher " Lou in The Speed of Darkness.
Hamiel, the Shakespeare play which portrays
the Prince of Denmark's struggles in coping with
the death of his father and the subsequent mar riage of his mother to his uncle , becomes one of
revenge after the ghost of Hamlet' s father appears, revealing Hamlet's uncle to be the dead
king 's murderer.
"My vision of Hamlet is a guided tour of death
due to the tremendous sense of loneliness that
Hamlet felt," said Mr. Lang, who had wanted to
roles in films and
play
the
on r.v. as well
Prince of
", .
.~
as on the stage.
Denmark
Through expesince 1974.
~
" At that time
rience, the 39
::E
year-old actor
in my life I
was
ve ry
has de veloped
alone , which
his own acting
£
led to my detechniques. He is
~
sire to somea method actor
T O NY AWA RD WI NNING ACfOR, Stephen Lang explains
who believes in
day enact the
to the Drama Enrichment why he wanted to play Hamlet .
subordin ating
role of Ham his life and per let," he told
sonality to those of the characters. "I really
the the Drama Enrichment.
Mr. Lang's goal to play Hamlet came to frui- like to submerge mysel f and hide in the role
tion on M arch II, the opening night of the pro- I'm playing," he said. Mr. Lang believes he was
duction.
born to be an actor, and also described to
An actor for 20 years, Mr . Lang explained that students his "strong innate sense of pretend,"
it "requires years of experience to become ade- which he feels greatly helps him with each
quate." He made his New York debut in 1974 as role he plays. For the T.V. production of "Babe
Bernardo in Hamiel, and went on to play major Ruth ," he transfigured himself into the baseb all
-
:8
.
5
-a
legend by purposely gaining weight to better fit
the part.
In speaking to the Dram a Enrichment, Mr.
Lang expressed his preference of stage acting to
films . "A film. is just there, whereas on stage it is
live in peopl e's memor ies and that makes it better
and better. Ham let is good now but will be fantastic in the minds of many 20 years from now ," he
said.
Although acting is currently his top priority,
Mr. Lang, the father of four, feels his family is
equally important as his career. Mr. Lang explained that when working on a play, his family
role is essentially one of crisis intervention."When
I' m out of work, I spend quality time with them,"
he said.
Mr. Lang 's hopes for the future are many and
varied. He is interested in producing, butfornow,
he would like "to master the craft of acting." His
immediate goal is to move from younger roles
'and into mor e mature ones.
Barkan , Sacher create videos to document Public Art in Public Schools
by Aleema Bac ch us
Unlike the well -known careers of
docto r, lawyer, or those of their col leagues in education, Janice Barkan
and Sharon Sacher have rather unusual
jobs.
Both of these women are currently
involved in the Board of Education's
Public Art, in Public Schools project to
create a video documenting the creation and installation of the artwork
which has been commissioned for the
new Townsend Harris building. Ms.
Barkin is coordinating the project and
Ms. Sacher, who teaches video production at P.S. 201, is directing the
squad of elementary school children
that she trained. The youngsters have
already taped reporters from The Classicinterv iewing artists Bing Lee, Clyde
Lynds, and Fred Wilson. A Townsend
Harris video squad directed by art
teacher Anthony Morales is also involved in the project.
Both Ms. Barkan and Ms. Sacher
admit that their jobs are unusual. "[My]
career isn't as widely known as others,
but it has its advantages. It allow s
creativity, it allows me to work with
many classes at different levels, and it
teaches children excellent skills and
actually makes learning exciting," said
Ms. Sacher.
Ms . Barkan agreed. "I get to see a lot
of major art pieces, and I work in conserving sculptures. We try to give stu dents a variety of hands -on experiences creating a unique appreciation
of art involvingthem directly," she
said .
Some of the projects that Ms . Sacher
has worked on included producing a
prize -winning anti-drug rap video
documentary and a documentary on
how to integrate impaired children into
a regular classroom setting.
Even though these two women are
happy with their careers, their jobs are
not the ones they originally had in
mind . "Its very strange because as a
child, I didn't even like art," said Ms.
Barkan. "I hated it! I think it was due to
the fact that they [her art teachers]
weren't making it interesting and
weren't presenting it in the right way.
My love was actually music, and for a
while, I considered becoming a concert violinist. But, eventually, I came
to be able to accept their opinions and Coordinator for Public Art, Public
the courage to still be ableto go on." Schools, Ms . Barkan is also the au"I was a direct product of the sixties, thor of a book of poems and mus ic
and I had to overcome the limitations pieces called Voyager. She hopes to
said, "I wanted to be a cultural anthro- women had then," said Ms. Barkan. someday write a book with her daughpolog ist. Sometimes I still regret not "Women were expected to become ter.
Ms . Sacher , in addition to being a
taking that path in life, but my love for teachers, and my mother really wanted
teacher,
also has an assistant principal
art was always constant. I was always me to become one, but I had to find the
license.
doing creative things then ,just like I'm courage within myself to go beyond
Th ey both look forward to the comdoing creative things now. I also loved that. I had to look into myself and see
plet
ion of the art project at the new
what I was capable of doing. "
working with children."
building
.
Besides
being
the
Video
Program
Ms. Sacher has two children, aged 10
and 16. She said that they enjoy pre AIR~CONDITIO NED
viewing some of her videos, but complain that her job is very time-consuming. Ms. Barkan also has two children,
aged 19 and 23. 'They know I'm crazy
because I'm not conventional- I'm not
a trad itional mother. I'm very selfsufficient and I was raised to be indeAccredited by N.Y. State Board or Regents
pendent," she said.
Although both women are very successful today, they had to overcome
many difficulties to get there . "I had to
overcome the guilt of leaving my children and my hus~and to persue a career," said Ms . Sacher. "Also, since I
work in the field ofart, I'm open to alot
IN PRIVATE SCHOOL YOUMAKE TAKE
of critisim, so I had to find the strength
to love art."
Ms. Sacher, on the other hand, always loved art as a child, but she did
no t always want to be a teacher. She
CLASSROOMS
WINDSOR
SUMMER SCHOOL
Grades 6-12
for ADVANCING or
REPEATING or ENRICHMENT
(Regents ExaminationsAvailable)
UPTO4 CLASSES
Alumnus focus: Vollme r prese rves natural beauty
by Jason Led er
"I t is a great field. It is extremely
creative," stated alumnus Arnold H.
Vollmer about his career as Ii land scape architect, engineer, and planner.
Mr. Vollmer has served as a panelist at
the White House Conference on Natu ral Beauty and designed more than 75
major parks, including Robert Moses
New York State Park.
Mr. Vollmer, who worked for 43
years , begillning in 1937, is still not
sure what made him choose his profession. After spending a summer at a
boys ' camp in Buzzard 's Bay, he had
a great desir e to become a foreste r. Mr.
Voll mer was going to enroll in Cor nell, which had a "decent forestry
program ," but his family cou ldn ' t afford it. He ended up enrolling in Co lumbia, and "drifted from landsc ape
engineering to city planning." Mr.
Vollmer has no regrets about his career
choice.
Mr. Vollmer said he gets a thrill from
seeing one of his visions completed.
He described the feeling as "the best,
the tops." Among his many accom plishments, he is most proud of the
Lifetime Achievement Award , which
was presented to him by the New York
City Commissioner of Parks and
Recreation.
With his successful career came a
down side, though - the fact that he did
not spend as much time as he would
have preferred with his family . "I
worke d very hard. I worked too muc h
on my profession.I built afirm[Vollmer
Assoc iates] and I am happy about that.
But I didn 't know my children until
they grew up. Everything has a price.
There are no free lunches," he said.
Mr. Vollmer has fond memories of
the old Townsend Harris. "We all sat
in alphabetical order. It amazes me to
think that Jonas Salk and Herman Wouk
must have been sitting right next to
me," said Mr. Vollmer. Jonas Salk is
the scientist who developed the polio
vaccine and Herm an Wouk is a celebrated author.
To wnsend Harris was an "inspiring"place for Mr. Vollmer. "Mr. Mandeville, [his favorite teache r] was a
young, lively, bright his tory teacher
who made the course interesting." He
enjoy ed the time he spent at Townsend
Harris and was "very unhappy when it
was closed. It was one of Mayor
LaGuardia's worst mist akes .
Townsend Harris was an elite school,"
said Mr . Vollmer. "I am glad that it is
now once again open."
ENGLISH
Grades 9 to 1%
READING
HISTORY
Globltl, World, us,
GOVERl'MENT
ECOSOMaCS
ART
PREPARATION
for IlI1 RCT'S
SAT MATH & VERBAL
SEQ. MAT H I, n,m
MATH 12 . Pre. Cak. PSAT MATH &VERBAL
COMPUTERS
A.P. CALCULUS
SPANISH
PRE-ALGEBRA
FRENCH
FUND. MAT H.
T YPING
GENER AL MATH.
PHYS.•ED.
GEN ERALSCffiNCE
HYG IENE
BIOLOGY wltbL'ABS
TO EFL
C HEMiSTRY wltb LABS
E.s.L.
PHY SICS wltb LABS
EARTH SCIENCE
Preparation for A~on toSpedalized 8 .s. (s.s.A.T.)
DRIVER EDUCATION
WINDSOR SCHOOL
136-23 Sanford Ave., at Main St••
Flushing, N.Y. 11355
Telephone: 718-359-8300
AIR-CONDmONED CLASSROOMS
",i~r:~'I]l;f::~:l~I~I~ ~I~~r ~~~~ll!l{r~~:~~:::~
7
Leroy leads balanced life
by Diana Tuite
"Nothing compares to Townsend
Harris," declares security guard, Leroy Howard. After working here for
only one year and a half, Leroy, as he
likes to be called, is confident that this
is where he belongs .
A security guard for 18 years, his
resume includes Hillcrest, JohnBowne,
Forest Hills, Flushing and Andrew
Jackson high schools. Leroy welcomed
an opportunity to transfer here, wanting to "see students advance themselves in a peaceful environment." In
absolute agreement with the tagging of
this school as "safe," he added, "You
should be proud ." Since he has arrived,
there have been no inside fights and
only one outside altercation.
His most frightening experience
involved taking a gun away from a
youth in another school. Leroy also remembers breaking up a fight between
two girls, one of whom stabbed the
other with a screwdriver .
The way Halloween is handled here
surprised Leroy, who used to view it as
a dangerous event. "In other schools,
Halloween was a horror....It was always a very tense time for me."
A brown belt in self-defense has
proven helpful in apprehending youths.
Leroy studied martial arts forfour years
as a teenager. In addition, security
guards must report annually for re-
training. They are taught procedures
for weapons and drug confiscation,
something he describes as "not a problem here."
As part of his daily eight- and- a-half
hour routine, Leroy patrols the cafetorium and sits near the main door.
Constantly amazed at how little time it
takes him to empty the halls, he credits
the students with making his job easier.In previous schools he had to shout
for fifteen or twenty minutes before
everyone would go to class.
Leroy is proud to be a permanen t part
ofTownsend. "When the school moves
in '94, I'll move with it," he stated.
Once the school is relocated to the
Queens College campus, the security
staff will gain one person and Leroy
will be "group leader."
Born on St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, Leroy came here with his family
when he was three years old, and was
raised in Queens. Although he misses
the island and keeps in touch with
relatives there, he has not visited it in
more than 15 years.
Married, Leroy has two sons in the
navy, a daughter in college and another
in high school. Because he works surrounded by adolescents , Leroy feels he
possesses a distinct advantage as a
father. "My younger daughter cannot
pull anything over on me, " he said.
Likewise, Leroy attributes his popularity with
students to his experience as a parent and "a
willingness to get along
well with people. I do
not like to put students
:l
13
down just because they
~
are younge r," he said.
However, Leroy plays
roles other than that of
};
security guard and parent. "Actually, I am a
carpenter by trade:' he
revealed. His avid interest in carpentry was
sparked by an uncle. Together, the two often
remodeled houses when
SECURITY G UARD LEROY HOWARD sits at the front desk, making sure that villainous
he was very young . Affiends do not enter the school building.
ter attending Thomas
Edison High School and
the New York School of
Now, he roots for the Los Angeles
. Carpentry, Leroy worked full time as a carpentry.
Inspired by his friends, Leroy has Lakers .
contrac tor for several years.
Drawing on his varied exper iences,
However, with a growing family to developed a new and "nerve wracksupport, Leroy sought a job with a ing" interest in computers . Currently , Leroy has this advice for young adults:
more steady salary. ''That,was where he is hooking his comput er up to his "Above all, learn as much as you can
for when you get into the real world,
the security job carne in, "he explained. stereo system .
Despite all of his other interests, and care for one another ." He feels at
Not abandoning his passion altogether,
Leroy builds furniture for his home . "I Leroy still enjoys sports, even if from Townsend Harris, for the first time in
built a stereo unit for my stereo room," a specta tor's point of view. A fan of his career, students are way ahead of
he said. In the future, he hopes to basketball when he was younger , he such advice. "Being here, I have seen
devote even more of his free time to joined his junio r high school team. that the future has some kind of hope ."
•
I
i
Security long-time career for Marlene
l'ol
.~
~
.
..
i:l
~
5
};
t
IN UNIFORM, standing near the main entrance, is school safety officer Marlene
Lee, insuring that unauthorized students do not leave the building.
A Matter of Censorship?
Continuedf rom page 1
ment in a less-than-favorable light.
"We don 't think that a group of people
which is incapable of making impartial decis ions should be given...the
power to defund for political reasons,"
said Katie. "We strongly feel that these
issues cannot bestifled.A student paper
is a very importan t forum for students."
Matt said that SAC' s decision to give
The Quad a budget of zero had to do
with the overall poor quality of the
newspaper.'The paper could have been
WrillPTl h " lI l' r There was no accounta-
bility," he said. Among the faults he
found with the publication were its
"copy, editing, [and) editorializing in
classified advertisements."
Meanwhile, The Quad is continuing
to do business as usual. A summer
issue is planned . "That'll be out in the
middle of July," said Bruno. "We're
going to hold off on the major coverage of the [defunding)" until the first
issue in September, when the incoming freshmen will be there and people
will be back on campus, he said.
the bathrooms are now locked for the
first ten minutes of each band."
Marlene's daily routine takes her
from the front desk to the cafetorium to
walking the halls of the first and second floors. She alternates posts with
Leroy, so there is always someone at
the front desk.
Born in Harlem, Marlene later moved
to Queens, where she has been a resident for 32 years. Her family lives
close to the school. "My parents live
only five blocks away [from me). I get
to see them often," she said.
She and her husband of 35 years are
the proud parents of two children. She
has a married, 34-year -old son and a
29-year-old daughter. Both her children attended Bayside High School.
Marlene said the best training for her
job was being a parent. She attributes a
greatpercentageof the violence taking
place in schools today to poor upbringing.
"There shouldn' t be-so much violence. The pattern of trouble has to
stop. Ther e should be education available for parents so that they know how
to enforce values and restrictions in the
home ," said Marlene.
She remembers a time when it would
be safe to come home at three or four
o'clock in the morning. "My friends
and I never used to have to worry
about violence," she said. " So much
has changed. People's behavior is very
' different." She again blames lack of
parenting for these changes in society.
Marlene feels the biggest problem
teens are faced with today is peer pressure.
"It's so hard not to give in. Kids are
tempted so often. Even though it' s
difficult, my best advice would be not
to give into the temptation. It's not
worth it," she said.
When Marlene isn't working orreading magazines such as McCalls,Lady's
Home Jourrial orGood Housekeeping,
there is a good chance she's knitting.
Taught by her mother, Marlene has
been knitting since she was eight years
old.
"I always knit things to give [to]people
as gifts. I'm currently working on a
sweater for a little!' girl I know:' she
said.
Cooking is another of Marlene' s
hobbies. She is currently on a "low-fat
food kick." "Its more healthy." she
said.
Marlene also enjoys watching suspenseful movies . "I recently saw City
of Joy, a movie about India, which I
liked a lot," said Marlene
Looking toward the future, she plans
to "follow the footsteps of Townsend
Harris" to the Queens College campus.
"I'm very excited about the move.
Wherever Tow nsend Harris goes, I'll
go with it. I love it here!" Marlene
said.
!:"'~
''rt~.'"
'J
"
S'
The Classic
June 1992
Boys' Handball hits crack in season
Skateboarders sweep through streets
~."
by Erika DiSanzo
You get on your skateboard and ride
with any amount of speed you choose.
You put your front foot on the nose and
your back foot on the tail. You put all
your weight on the nose. After this, you
take your front foot off the nose and your
back foot goes in arapping motion so that
the board turns around your leg, looking
as if it is attached to your leg. Now you
ride away with a smile knowing you
accomplished your trick.
What was just described may seem out
of the ordinary to some people, although
to sophomores Angel Falcone and David
Khuzistani it is known as an "Ollie Impossible" or just a daily part of their lives
as skaters.
There are many misconceptions about
skating. Skating is not gliding across ice
with a pair of boots with blades on the
bottom; neither is it having a boot with
four wheels attached to each foot. Skat'ing is skateboarding.
Skating can be divided into two main
categories. The first category is street
which branches into two subdivisions.
The first subdivision is "freestyle." Freestyling involves stationary tricks (you don't
go out of a 10-foot radius) which include
a lot of twists,...-flips,
and turns. The second
•. • '.--"-" """ ."' ••- -....
o..-'-.o:'-:::-,-.,..::--.'-----" _. . ._.- .. •.. _ -... -._.~.
.:. : - .~
subdivision is "street style" which involves more speed and fewer flips. It is
usually performed off any urban obstacle
such as steps, handrails, curbs, fire hydrants, and garbage cans. "I prefer street
because I like the freedom to go where I
want. I can skate handrails, steps, or just
whatever I'm in the mood to," says David.
The second casegoryis ramp. This style
of skating is more popular with suburban
kids because of the fact that most city kids
don't have the backyards for ramps. According to Angel, "City kids are forced to
hit the asphalt and pavement such as
streetstyle. Ramp is boring because all
they do is go up and down the ramp and
do air maneuvers that would impress the
non-skater, but nevertheless the tricks are
still difficult."
Skating requires a lot of hard work and
determination. It can take weeks to learn
one trick. In order to become a professional skater, you must be prepared to
skate for hours, just about every day.
Angel and Dave try to skate as much as
possible, but due to their homework and
other school-related activities, they can
only skate for 1-2 hours about every other
day. However, they try to compensate for
lost time by skating at least six hours a
on the weekend.
-_day
... _., .,.-----_.. _---- .-
Girls' Soccer hampered by injuries
by Neftali Serrano
Hobbled by injuries, the Girls'
Varsity Soccer team finished off a
disappointing 1992 season with a
record of5-3,just one victory short
of the playoffs. A 3-2 loss to
Richmond Hill High School in the
second game of the season proved
to be the back breaker for the
Hawks, with Richmond Hill ending the season ahead of the Hawks
via a tie against Newtown High
School on the last day of the season
to fmish at 5-2-1.
The game against Richmond Hill
was one most team members say
should have been theirs. Goalie
Ngozi Efobi had stopped a
Richmond Hill shot when she
handed the ball over to a teammate
thinking the situation called for a
goal kick. However, the ball was
still inplay and the referee awarded
a penalty kick for Richmond Hill
which they promptly made. The
final score in overtime was 3-2. "It
was a very big game," said junior
defensive-back Onicka Voglezon.
"We would've won the game ...we
would've been in the playoffs right
now."
"On paper llfthe beginning of the
season we should've been the best
team," said Coach Hanson. However,acombinationofplayersdropping off of the team and injuries to
forward Nicki Ioannou, out for the
season; defensive-back Eleana
Valaouras, injured the second half
of the season; and midfielder Erika
DiSanzo, out the first half of the
year with a foot injury, stunted the
team's ability to play at 100%.
Without these three players on the
/";.. 1,1 ~, ,h.. same time, the Hawks
What does all this skating lead up to?
There are many answers to this. First of
all, says Angel,"It keeps me fit." The
second answer is that it gives you a feeling of accomplishment because your
friends are always cheering you on.
However, the ultimate goal of most skaters is to become sponsored. Being sponsored means that a skate shop, a skate
board distributor, or some sort of skate
company provides you with new 'skateboards, accessories for your board, and
clothes/sneakers. It cuts the money you
spend on skating down to nothing, but it
also promotes the products of the company that sponsors you. However, being
sponsored is not very easy. You have to
skate really well and basically be in the
right place at the right time (preferably in
front of some skate scout). "The fact that
you can hope to be sponsored one day
motivates you. When I feel ready to quit,
I just keep going knowing that I have to
go on if! ever wantto become a pro," says
Angel.
Skating is frustrating and it takes a lot
of time and patience, according to Angel
and David. David h.asthis piece of advice
for all potential skaters: "If you want to
become a good skater, just keep trying
hard and don't give up."
by Francine Rich
were against Andrew Jackson and
The Boys' Handball team ended one was against Martin Van Butheir season on May 5 with a record ren.
of3-5. Global History teacher and
Coach Scarnati encouraged his
coach Anthony Scarnati expressed players to learn from their losses.
disappointment in the team's sub "They were much better by the end
.500 record, while also stating his of the season," he said.
pride in their effort.
Players are needed for next year,
Despite the less than perfect rec- with five out of the seven starters
ord, players Viral Shah, Chris graduating. Coach Scamati is lookDudin, Kevin King, and Danny ing for boys who like to play handGingerich advanced to the individ- ball and are willing to practice and
ual championships.
work hard. "Next year will be wide
The five losses included two very open," he said.
close games to Martin Van Buren
"We had a good year. I'm lookand Francis Lewis High Schools, ing foward to next year. I think
both matches ending with a final we'll have a good team because we
score of 21-18.
have many young prospects," said
Of the team's three victories, two junior Chris Dudin.
Softball plays' hardball with division
17-6. Coach LarryCeraulo felt this
by Shalene Moodie
For the Girls' Varsity Softball victory may have been a turning
team, this past season proved to be point early in the season.
"It [the season] was pretty much
one of the most successful in school
history . With a record of 11 wins smooth sailing. At times our deand 6 losses, the Hawks were able fense failed, but if we played well,
to place second in their division, we were able to win. Many of the
girls have been playing together
earning a playoff spot.
Perhaps the greatest challenge for three to four years, so it was
this season for the Hawks was rival probably my easiestyear as coach,"
Newtown High School. Their first said Mr. Ceraulo.
Easing Ceraulo's way were team
game was extremely competitive
and ended in a4-0 Harris win. The leaders senior Lauren Caiacca,
second ballgame was a blowout sophomoreBernadette Crespo, and
with the Hawks winning once again senior Holly Sage.
30-Love:
Tennis team ends third straight season undefeated
by Latasha Greene
Despite an extremely strong
season, junior Rob Liff lost to
Forest Hills in the first round of
the tennis playoffs on May 14
with a score 11-9. "I got tired
towards the end of the game
and my opponent came back,"
said Rob. Commenting on the
loss,junior Dave Rosenthal said
"We were winning; then towards the end, Liff began to
weaken and his opponent took
advantage of that, took the lead
and won,"
"The team always does well
in division play but when it's
The Boys' Tennis team, won
five division championships in a
row, beating Cardozo, the second
year City Champs, 5-0.
"Competition is tougher, but this
is one of our stronges t teams ever,"
said Murray about the team's
tl 45 th straight win in division play.
10 "The kids have been getting better
~ each year," he said. This is his
third season as head coach.
~
The team consists of two sen$' iors Ron Sussman and Liang Lee,
five sophomores and five juniors.
"Even though the seniors will be
leaving soon, we will get fresh..
JUNIOR JONATHAN STROj\fGIN, member of the Boys'
men to take their place," said Mr.
the playoffs, we are eliminated Tennis Team practices at Queens College.
in the first round. The opposing
Murray.
teams have better courts to practice on while our team has to
Playing in the Singles competition are Ron, Dave, and Rob.
make do with the present courts," said Guidance Counselor The Doubles team consists ofjunior Reuben Rosof and Joseph
and coach James Murray.
Spak, Liang and David Topper.
i
*
-a
"
Record ruins possibility of post-season play
It was her first time playing singles for the excellent second doubles team, with a
school. Her only two loses came against record of 5-3," said Coach Schwartz.
the divisions toughest competitor, CarThese jwo doubles teams, as well as
dozo High School.
Christine, will be representing the school
"Cardozo has a very good team. Maybe at the PSAL Individuals Tournament.
next year our team will be abl~ to defeat
Next year's team does have the potential
them," said Christine.
to be strong. Many of the team's newer
Two doubles pairs who also had good members will be returning. However, the
seasons according tocoach Schwartz were team will miss the experience of seniors
juniors Stacey Hollander and Dina Pinto, Jennifer Luscher , who played second
first doubles, and freshman Mariella singles for two years in a row, and Melissa
Martinez and senior MelissaTan, second Tan, who was a starter for the first time this
doubles. "Melissa and Mariella were an season .