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TUYVESANTTUYVESANT
 
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TANDARDTANDARD
 
Monday, April 6, 2009 Volume 8 Issue 10
Vivian Zeng
Programs Like SPARK May Soon LosePrograms Like SPARK May Soon LoseTheir Spark Their Spark 
 
In recent weeks, Mr. An-gel Colon of SPARK has been or-ganizing a massive effort to saveSPARK and many other commu-nity–based social clubs. Accordingto “Hard-hit New York State MayAx Veteran School Drug Counsel-ors” in the March 8 issue of theDaily News, the state plans to getrid of over half of several hundredschool-based drug counselors and put their jobs up to the highest bid-ders. This action will save around2 million dollars of the state’s budget. However across the region people are rallying to save thecounselors.Mr. Colon came to Stuyve-sant High School in the fall of 2005 making this his fourth year atthe school. He jokes, “I’m a senior here.” Since then, he and theSPARK members have worked torevitalize SPARK and have gottenrid of the negative connotationsassociated with the program. Mr.
Continued on page 3Continued on page 3
By: Rammiya Nallainathan
From March 5 to March10, the forty Intel finalists went toWashington D.C. to present their  projects to the panel of Intel judges. After going through a long,intense process, the final winnersof the competition were announcedon March 10.The top three winners in-cluded, Eric Larson who won a$100,000 scholarship for his pro- ject on classifying mathematicalobjects called fusion categories.His work describes these dimen-sions for the first time. WilliamSun won a $75,000 scholarship for his project that studied the effectsof a molecule that could help treat bacterial infections and preventneurodegenerative disorders suchas Alzheimer's disease. PhilipColon says that, “[SPARK has] be-come a community component.The students make it what it has become today.” Within SPARK Mr.Colon and his dedicated membershave worked to address issues suchas drug education, self-esteem,stress, diversity and social relation-ships to name a few. Senior ChrisMoll said, “As for how I viewSPARK, I see SPARK as an impor-tant resource for my peers not only because we're Stuyvesant students, but because we are teenagers aswell. Not only do we face academicchallenges, but we also have to dealwith problems where we need out-side help. I feel that SPARK pro-vides a place where we can reachout to fellow peers as well as to a professional adult for advice with-out being judged. Without SPARK,I think that the school would face alot more problems that would have been considered resolvable if it had been addressed earlier properly.”On March 18, 2009 Mr.Colon attended a conference in Al-
T  S  S  / E l  i   s  s  aT  am 
 As a result of efforts to conserve money and resources in the state’s budget, Stuyvesant’s SPARK program led by Angel Colon may potentially be among the programs to be cut.
Streich won a $50,000 scholarshipfor his project on carbon nanotubesthat can lead to the development of ultra-strong materials and ultra-fastnano-electronics. Adam Sealfon,one of Stuyvesant’s Intel finalists,knew Eric Larson very well. Theymet during a math summer pro-gram and shared their interest inmathematics. “He is smart and ex-tremely nice,” said Adam.The week consisted of many events. Below is a break-down of the exciting week the Intelfinalists had written by Adam Seal-fon, one of two Intel finalists fromStuyvesant High School.We arrived on Thursday,March 5
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, and started to get toknow the other finalists. Getting toknow one another over the courseof the week was incredibly fun.
 
 Adam Sealfon Reflects: Adam Sealfon Reflects: 
 Week As an Week As anIntel FinalistIntel Finalist 
In This Issue
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Stuy STRIVE RealizesGoals Through
 
Page 3
Making the Decision
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PointCounterpoint
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StuyvesantSyndromeGrades AreNot Everything
Page 9
SING! Review:
Senior SING! Rocks theHouse
 
2 The STUYVESANT STANDARD April 6, 2009–VOL.8, NO. 10
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Publication
THE STUYVESANT STANDARD
is a non-profit publication produced bythe students of Stuyvesant High School.
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Staff Editorial:
SPARK Needs OurSupport
As reported in our front page article, “Programs LikeSPARK May Soon Lose Their Spark,” Stuyvesant High School’sSPARK program headed by AngelColon is at serious risk of beingeliminated at the culmination of the2009 school year. While it is under-standable that cutting programs likeSPARK in schools across the statemay save 2 million dollars for thefollowing school year, SPARK is a program that a great deal of studentswould certainly be hard-pressed tolive without.Angel Colon is one of thefirst members of the Stuyvesantcommunity that incoming studentsand their parents meet during theOpen House and Camp Stuy. Hereassures students and parents thathe will always be there for a studentin a time of need, and he definitelyhas been. It comes as no surprisethat high school can be an ex-tremely stressful atmosphere somestudents because of the academicexpectations and social pressure thatinfluences students in the otherwisecomfortable learning environmentthat thousands of us call our “homeaway from home.”SPARK is not a frivolous program that exists simply becausestudents enjoy what it has to offer.On the contrary, SPARK is neededat Stuyvesant and is a program thathas guided students to find positivealternatives to life choices thatcould potentially result in self-devastation. Members of SPARK have also been active in develop-ing programs and participating inevents that have brought studentsnot directly involved with the pro-gram down to Earth by remindingthem that some things in life aremore important than the perfectG.P.A. such as the Peer Partner-ship Program (which helps orientStuyvesant students with special-education students that also use the building) and the recent BreastCancer Walk.While it is understandablethat Principal Teitel did not allowstudents to follow Angel Colon toAlbany to defend the continuationof SPARK and similar programs because it took place during schoolhours, we call upon students,teachers, and other members of theschool administration to vocalizetheir concerns for the effects thatthe potential termination of SPARK may cause for students inthe future. Angel Colon should not be without our support in his en-deavors to preserve the programthat he has watched grow in influ-ence over the past four years.
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 As Stuyvesant High School’s onlyindependent school newspaper, we feelthat it is our responsibility to offereach and every student theopportunity to contribute to a newspublication. If you would like to joinany section of the StuyvesantStandard, or have any comments orquestions that you would like to runpassed us, please email us at:
EIC@stuystandard.org
.
 
 NEWS The STUYVESANT STANDARD April 6, 2009 –VOL.8, NO. 10 3
TheStandardNews
Programs LikeSPARK May SoonLose Their Spark 
Continued from page 1
 Adam Sealfon Reflects:
 Week as an Intel Finalist
We stayed in the St. Regis hotel.
March 6
 
and 7:
The two days after thatwere mostly devoted to judging.There were four panels of three judges each. Each finalist wasasked a series of questions on alldifferent areas of science by eachof the twelve judges. The ques-tions ranged from biology to phys-ics to chemistry to mathematics toastronomy to other miscellaneoustopics that may be hard to define.It was an exhausting process, sinceeveryone was either waiting to be judged or being interviewed by the judges. There was not that muchtime to think either, so you reallyhad to be quick on your feet. Thequestions the judges asked werevery interesting and thought- provoking. Many of them did nothave an immediately-clear, singlecorrect answer, and they were in-tended to illuminate our thought processes. It was fun, but also a bit nerve-wracking, since youcould be asked questions aboutabsolutely anything.
March 8:
The next day we presentedour projects at the National Acad-emy of Sciences. The judgeswalked around to the different presentation boards and talked tous about our projects and asked usquestions. In the afternoon, thegallery was opened to public view-ing. A number of students fromHunter College High School cameto Washington D.C. and visited thegallery.
March 9:
 On the morning of March9 we did more presenting at the bany regarding the future of coun-selors like himself. At the confer-ence, all sorts of advocacy groupsand representatives from the citywere present defending the counsel-ors and the programs. Some of theletters from the letter writing cam- paign were read to the panel. Ac-cording to Colon, these were veryheartfelt and sincere testimonialsfrom students involved in SPARK describing how it had helped themmake positive choices, providedopportunities to help other students,and was an open, welcoming,friendly, and safe support base.Principal Stanley Teitel alsoexpressed his concerns about thefuture of the program. He said,“Mr. Colon is a valuable member and I certainly would not want tolose him because of all he does.”However he explained, “You haveto be realistic. When you look for things [to cut] the classroom iswhere you look last. What is goingto go through? You’re going tohave to decide.” In regards towhether or not the school had any back up if SPARK were eliminatedMr. Teitel said, “Not at the moment.It’s not just a matter of picking andchoosing. Mr. Colon is speciallytrained and I don’t think anyone onthe staff is qualified to take his place.” Even though Mr. Teitel didnot allow students to accompanyMr. Colon to the conference due toconcerns over “loss of instructiontime,” Mr. Colon is in full agree-ment with Mr. Teitel and said that,“Mr. Teitel was concerned aboutsafety because the conference washeld at 6am and students wouldhave to travel extremely early toschool to make it to Albany andclass time and I agree. Mr. Teiteland the rest of the Stuyvesant com-munity support our cause.”As the June 1, 2009 ultima-tum approaches Mr. Colon is con-tinually rallying support to saveSPARK and the other programs.And as he does so many studentsand staff members are lending their efforts to the cause. One studentwho wished to remain anonymoussaid, “SPARK is a large part of theStuyvesant community. Everyoneknows it is a safe haven for studentsand it is the only place in Stuyve-sant High School a student can goto talk about their problems.SPARK has been a crutch for mesince my freshman year. I startedout sitting in the SPARK room dur-ing my free periods, learning aboutmy teachers and the school fromupperclassmen. When I eventuallyfelt comfortable enough, I confidedin the SPARK Counselor, AngelColon. I was having a lot of per-sonal problems both in school and
Continued from page 1
Stuy STRIVE RealizesGoals ThroughPower Shift 2009
In order to raise awarenessabout current climate issues, con-cerns about energy use, and their repercussions on the economy,seven Stuyvesant students fromStuyvesant’s STRIVE club, in ad-dition to 12,000 other strong sup- porters, attended the Power Shift’09 Conference held by the EnergyAction Coalition in WashingtonD.C. The conference ran from Feb-ruary 27 to March 2. The goal of the conference was to get thePresident and Congress membersto pass an energy policy that would put forth renewable energy, green job creation, and a cap on carbonemissions.On February 27, the four-day event started off with a greencareer fair and a conference withfamous guest speakers. Somespeakers included Van Jones, au-thor of 
Green Collar Economy
,and Majora Carter, an environ-mental activist from the SouthBronx. Though the snow stormaffected many areas of the city,various events still went on. Theseevents included seminars, panels,workshops, legislative briefingsand activist trainings. To concludethe event, on March 2, hundreds of lobby visits were made and rallytook place on Capitol Hill withmore than 3,000 people. Jessy Tol-kan, director of Power Shift organ-izer Energy Action Coalition, said,“This year’s participation is twiceas big and twice as energetic as our last gathering in 2007. We stand ata critical point in our nation’s his-tory, ready to work with our newleadership to pass bold climate andenergy policies. We won’t allowthis moment to pass us by.”Rather than attending therally, Stuyvesant’s STRIVE clubwent to every New York City’scongressman’s office to propose a“Green School” plan for all NewYork City schools. After doingmuch research, the group foundout that New York City publicschools do not pay any of the en-ergy bills or waste costs. Becauseof this, there is no reason for schools to save energy or reducewastes. To create an incentive for schools, STRIVE proposes thatschools should be given part of themoney they save when reducingenergy and waste bills. The groupwas also able to sit down for ameeting with the staff of Congress- National Academy of Sciences. Nobel laureate Dudley Hirschbachwas also there. It was extremelyexciting just getting to meet him.Around noon, we went to theWhite House to meet the President.White House security is rather seri-ous. We were not allowed to bringso much as a pen onto the grounds.Meeting President Obama was justamazing. He said a few words tous, and then he asked everyone tointroduce themselves to him andshook our hands. It was somethingof a dream-come-true for me. He'sincredibly charismatic, even moreso than I'd imagined.
March 10:
In the morning, we went toCapitol Hill. We got to meet somecongressmen. Two of the threePhysics Ph.Ds in the House of Representatives came to speak with us. Afterward, many of uswere able to meet with our repre-sentatives. The New York finalists,including Anissa Mak and myself got to meet with Senator Schumer.Senator Schumer was very niceand interestingly enough, he isfrom Brooklyn. We also bumpedinto Al Franken in Senator Schumer’s office. That eveningwas the Awards Gala. The key-note speakers were former Secre-tary of State and Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powelland Secretary of Energy StevenChu. It was rather inspirational toget to hear from them.
March 11:
The next morning, we flew back to New York. It was hard toleave. It was an amazing week,and it was incredible getting tomeet so many amazing people andgetting to know the other final-ists.
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By: Rammiya Nallainathan
Continued on page 4Continued on page 4
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