Senior Student of the Month: Samantha Lutt! - Defne Arslan
Sam is one of the most active people I know. When I asked her to define herself in three words, she gave me “altruistic, sensitive, motivated” - a very accurate description indeed. She has been the treasurer in the Student Council for 4 years now, planning all the events that take place for including but not limited to the Class of 2014. She has planned fundraisers, homecoming, and proms. She says that this experience has not only enriched her skills of organization, but also made her happy for she was contributing to the effort for making high school a better experience for all, which really speaks to her passion for helping others. She is currently the treasurer of National Honor Society, an organization that recognizes students that have contributed to their community in a notable way. She has been a tutor at Increase Miller Elementary School for four years, and says she really enjoyed helping kids with homework. Sam’s drive for making a difference and interacting with people is perhaps most evident in her involvement in the council of the Northern Westchester Hospital, through which she has promoted and raised awareness about public health. As if all these weren’t keeping her busy enough, she has also been on the John Jay Women’s Varsity Swim Team for four years, competing in regional competitions and representing our school. She has also been writing and editing for Focus since her sophomore year, for which she is currently the managing editor. She loves journalism, and has spent last summer at Brown exploring that topic. Her favorite class is English, as she loves reading and writing.
As one can imagine, Sam doesn’t have much free time. But when she does, she reads realistic novels, watches “Grey’s Anatomy”, goes swimming with her family or hangs out with her friends, whom she thinks will be what she’ll miss the most about John Jay when she graduates in June. “The thing I like about John Jay is that I know everyone, have connections with people and the community,” she says. John Jay will miss you too, Sam.
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HOJJ: The Start of a New Project is Here - Emily Fagan
Now, Brandon’s blog has nearly one million followers on Facebook and Tumblr, in addition to his website < humansofnewyork.com >. With the help of his chosen widely accessible media, HONY allows people from all over the world insight into the daily lives of some of the most fascinating New Yorkers.
With Brandon’s goal in mind, I began thinking how this could be incorporated into John Jay. Unaffiliated pop-up branches of the idea of HONY have been springing up in places like India, already. So, I figured why not bring HONY to John Jay - creating a Humans of John Jay.
The goal of this project, however, is slightly different. Perhaps it is not so much for others to be able to look through a looking glass and see a glimpse of who we are as individuals, but instead for all of us to look back on who we were, in the future. The hope is for HOJJ to be a continued project for years to come: a documented, informal, online yearbook for students, teachers, family members and more. We will be able to look back on our time at John Jay and say ‘I remember her! She was an incredible person’, or ‘Is that really how my hair looked?’ or ‘I wore THAT!?’.
With John Jay’s population of students and faculty being greater than 1,000, not every person knows everything about one another. HOJJ will give further insight into the minds and lives of our peers. I intend on keeping the HOJJ portraits as varied and widespread as I can, with the overall goal of documenting John Jay as a collective yet unique body of individuals. Be on the look out for HOJJ in the future and enjoy!
Biggest Winners and Losers of the MLB Offseason - Jack Kingston
With pitcher and catcher’s report less than a month away, MLB teams are finalizing their free agent pickups, in preparation for the upcoming season. In the offseason, there were teams that made moves clearly establishing themselves as having a successful offseason, and there were teams that did the exact opposite, giving their fans reason to be disappointed. With that being said, which teams “won” the offseason, and which teams “lost”?
Winner: New York Yankees
While some people may find bias in this, if you really look at the offseason the Yankees had, there is no reason why the Yankees aren’t winners this offseason. Coming into the winter, no team had bigger holes to fill than the Yankees. However, they were able to add several impact players to their roster, along with many role players who should fill these holes in a positive way for the Yanks. Although they may have overpaid for these impact players, especially at the end of their years, the immediate future looks bright for the Yankees, adding three star players, including Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brian McCann. In order to make the Yankees the obvious winner of the offseason, they need to add one of the top pitchers on the market, preferably Masahiro Tanaka, and one more pitcher to add to their depleted bullpen. The immediate future looks bright for the Yankees, thanks to their big spending offseason.
Loser: Minnesota Twins
After finishing last in the AL Central last year, with an abysmal finishing 29th in the league with a 4.55 ERA, the team decided to make pitching a priority heading into the offseason. Sticking to their word, they signed three new pitchers to their team, spending $88 million to do so, which seems like a good plan, until you find out who they signed. The Twins signed Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, and Mike Pelfrey. Any baseball fans who have heard of these pitchers know that these three names are NOT the pitchers you want to add if you’re team is in the cellar in team ERA. What’s even worse is that their staff is improved from signing these players! However, with the signing of those three pitchers, it’s certainly not enough to get out of last in the AL Central, and Twins fans should be looking forward to another year of mediocrity.
Winner: Texas Rangers
Entering the offseason, the Texas Rangers had several moves they had to make. With an excess of right-handed hitters, and three infielders for two spots, the Rangers General manager, Jon Daniels had problems to fix, and he did. Big time. The Rangers traded away second baseman to the Tigers in return for the left-handed power hitter they’ve needed since Josh Hamilton left, Prince Fielder. This not only gave the Rangers a lefty power hitter, but also got rid of the third infielder, and gave the starting second baseman job to top ranked prospect, Jurickson Profar. However, after addressing their two biggest needs, they weren’t done. The Rangers went and signed veteran outfielder Shin-Soo Choo to a seven-year deal, giving them a leadoff hitter, and another lefty hitter. Similarly like the Yankees, in order to make them the clear winners of the offseason, the Rangers would have to add another starter.
Loser: Chicago Cubs
The long rebuilding process that is the Chicago Cubs is looking like it’s going to continue for another year, as their top prospects aren’t due to come for another year. While the future is bright in Chicago, what have they done to better their team to compete for this year? The Chicago Cubs have a large payroll, over $100 million, however, their most notable offseason acquisition is… Jose Veras? Even though the Cubs have been rumored to be going all in to sign Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, they have failed to address their lineup, at all. Unless Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo all of a sudden prove to be superhuman, the Cubs are going to have a tough time scoring many runs next year. The future looks bright in Chicago, but can it come fast enough?
While there are still plenty of moves still to be made, these teams for now, are my biggest winners and losers of the MLB offseason.
Although the Timberwolves are just at 0.500 winning percentage, compared to their season last year where they had gone a meager 0.378 percent. This is a notable turnaround for a team in the NBA with little to no changes or acquisitions to their roster. However, this season’s record should be expected, if not even a little better than their current record, with the talent that is present in Minnesota: Ricky Rubio, who can facilitate the team’s offense by getting everyone involved with his not-from-this-planet passes, Kevin Love, being an athletic big man that not only held the record for most rebounds on multiple occasions, he can also knock shots down from down town (three pointers) with ease making him a very valuable asset to that team. The rest of the roster consists of sharpshooters, pass first players, and exceptional role players, but on paper, this team is capable of doing great things, the only thing is that in the real world they don’t really hold up to their expectations as much as they should. Even though this team does have the talent that they need to do something in this league, it seems as though they’ve been stricken with injury, which is the biggest reason for their downfall and with this turn around do I think they could win the championship this year? No. But I do think that they could at least make a decent playoff run.
As for the Phoenix Suns, who had gone from 0.305 to 0.600 is also a huge turnaround, but the Suns’ turnaround is a little more remarkable considering they do not have any real superstars on their team compared to the Timberwolves roster, mainly just role players and average to good players, but again no one special. After seeing how they had played last year I didn’t think they were too bad (despite their awful record) but I thought that maybe in a few years they could do something with their organization and possibly go far until they had waived, what I had thought to be their superstar, Michael Beasley. I understand that he is a bit troublesome and may have cost more than he was worth, but I think that he was good for what they had. Boy, was I wrong. This year, the Phoenix Suns had acquired point guard, Eric Bledsoe, who had made a much greater impact on the team than I would have ever imagined. This team is a promising young group of players who could definitely make a big impact on this league in the upcoming years.
Finally, a team that could be considered the most surprising team in the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers. Who would have ever thought that the Portland Trailblazers would be leading their conference as well as being tied with the Miami Heat for second overall in season record as of late? I sure didn’t. The Portland Trailblazers, to me, had seemed to have potential over the past few years especially with their acquisition of rookie of the year (not at the time), Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge a few years prior, as well as a few other talented big men and players. So it was a bit surprising to me seeing how poorly the team had operated last season finishing with a winning percentage of 0.405 and missing the playoffs entirely. In the offseason, Portland was involved in a multi-team trade that involved JJ Hickson, one of their talented big men, to go to the Denver Nuggets, Robin Lopez going to Portland and a few other players and draft picks being moved around. Although I was sad to see Hickson go, I guess it was for the best for their team considering as of January 11th, 2014, the Portland Trailblazers have a phenomenal record of 27-9 and a winning percentage of 0.750. This team is very promising and still has great potential to great things in this league, and although I’m not so certain that they’re a championship team yet, they’re certainly close.
As for many, including myself, these teams had been very surprising to see obtain these records this far into the season and be able to maintain their current levels of play. Teams like these make the NBA much more entertaining to watch and I’m very excited to see where they end up come the end of May.
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With this new cold weather trend starting and Thunder Ridge being wide open, the ski team has been able to start training and competing for their eventual run at the Section 1 title. Their first opportunity to showcase their talent came last Tuesday in their first Giant Slalom race of the season.
In this race your John Jay Indians were pitted against the Bulldogs of Brewster, The Horace Greeley Quakers and the Fox Lane Foxes. This matchup between the teams is thought to have been a preview of the matchup soon to come as the race for sectional and state tournament positioning begins in mid February. But being as it was the first race of the season for all four teams competing, it was visible to the spectators that the chunks of rust left from offseason were flying off. The lady Indians started off strong yet were barely out muscled by the lady Quakers to lose by a very slim margin. For the male Indians however, the race season jitters were clearly visible. Many of the male skiers simply did not ski to their full potential and were beaten out by Greeley by a substantial margin.
However there is a still very confident feeling within the teams as to their chances throughout the season. The girl’s squad led by Helen Eifert and Dakota Adamec feel as though their team is progressing very well. The general consensus is that with some very hard work and good training this season they will be able to get back to last years form and claim the sectional title once again. On the boy’s side there is a lot of raw talent that needs to cultivate, “ We are a very strong group of boys and are a force to reckoned with. The talent is definitely present with myself, Bear (Carlson), Scott (Michaels), Trace (Beyer), Ryan (Reinke), and Brett (Sweeney), we just have to pull it together,” said Nils Carlson. The john jay Indians are as talented as any team in the section, just simply need to fine tune it and be able to perform when it comes to crunch time
John Jay has a light week next week with just one race scheduled. This should give them a great opportunity to work on what needs to be done for the remainder of the season. The preparation will be needed as after next week, their schedule becomes very competitive and have up to 3 races a week for three weeks in a row, meaning minimal practice time. John Jay takes on Greeley once again on February 6th just one week before the sectional race. The hope is that the team will have blossomed and prepared for the chance to teach Greely why us Indians are superior. There are few teams in the league that stand in between the Indians and their 2nd consecutive sectional title, and those teams will be taught why your John Jay Ski team is the best in Section 1.
The Transformation of Physical Education - Grant Goldman
Athletes will definitely hurt the most from the monitors. Given the amount of exercise that these students do on a daily basis, athletes will typically have lower resting heart rates than non-athletes. If class participation in gym is solely based off of data collected from the heartbeat monitors, then people who have slower heart-rates will need to work that much harder to bring their pulse up to an acceptable level. (If you are not an athlete, don’t get your hopes up too soon. The monitors are itchy, annoying to put on, and will certainly be sweaty, smelly, and dirty after nine straight periods of use.)
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, adults should spend 150 minutes a week exercising, performing a combination of aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity. Gym classes meet for half of the school year. Classes are 40 minutes long, but when you take into account the time spent changing and giving instructions, students spend closer to 30 minutes actually exercising per period, which comes out to about 5% of the recommended amount of exercise an adult should get over the course of one year. Clearly, gym classes alone do not meet the CDCP requirements, heartbeat monitors or not.
With this in mind, one would think that as long as students are enjoying themselves and putting forward a strong effort, gym teachers should keep the curriculum the same. However, it would be challenging to participate in the more “enjoyable” units of gym, like handball and badminton, with a heartbeat monitor strapped to your chest. Consequently, gym teachers plan on making students spend more time on treadmills and spin-bikes, where the data from the monitors can be collected efficiently and neatly. However, because no real progress can be made when students only go to gym for a fraction of the year, skimping out on the fun activities in place of the bland ones will without a doubt cause lower levels of participation and enthusiasm among students.
PE teachers need to recognize that gym alone is not enough to change someone’s current health levels. Instead of blindly denying the facts in the hopes of solving a complex issue, teachers should consider the idea that students will apply themselves most when they are exercising in ways that are enjoyable for them. For some people this is running, but for others it is pickle-ball; we need options. Heartbeat monitors and treadmills are not the answers. As cliché as it is, fun is the answer.
I’m sure all throughout this past December you’ve noticed the frequent appearance of “ugly” holiday sweaters. It’s a pretty bizarre idea that during the holidays these sweaters are fashionable and fun yet if worn any other time of the year a holiday sweater can generally be considered hideously tacky. Yet still, in my opinion, it wouldn’t be the holidays without the sporting of one of these classic holiday staple pieces. Of course, ugly holiday sweaters weren’t the only attire students were wearing this month. There was a trend of integrating holiday colors into everyday outfits with reds, greens, blues, cream and white. Overall, the fashions of John Jay during the holiday season continued to be warm and cozy with a spice of holiday excitement.
The Importance of the Quarterback in the NFL Playoffs - Miles Kirsch
In the first matchup, the Indianapolis Colts took on the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs started off 9-0, but finished the season with an 11-5 record with new coach Andy Reid. Led by running back Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs had a solid offense and a top five defense. The Colts, with sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck also finished with an 11-5 record, including a big win over the Chiefs in Kansas City in week 16. Although the Chiefs were the 5th seed and the Colts the 4th, the Chiefs were favored regardless. Now, the quarterbacks. The Chiefs weak spot was at no other position than quarterback, where former 49er Alex Smith took charge after getting outplayed by Colin Kaepernick. Andrew Luck, on the other hand, led the Colts’ offense all year with the help of long time veteran Reggie Wayne. If all other factors were to be forgotten, no avid NFL fan would pick Alex Smith over Andrew Luck. And that’s exactly what it came down to - Smith couldn’t make a big pass in the 4th quarter, and Luck’s toughness and determination allowed the Colts come back from 28 points down to win 45-44 over the Chiefs.
Next came the New Orleans Saints against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles also had a new coach in Chip Kelly, a former college coach that didn’t change his game style in the slightest after coming to the big leagues. Kelly ran more offensive plays than any other coach, and LeSean McCoy got his time to shine. They finished first overall in rushing yards per game, and had a solid rush defense. The New Orleans Saints came out as a top tier team again after a forgettable 2012, finished both 2nd overall in passing yards and pass defense. With a backfield of Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and others, their offense was a force to be reckoned with. Although the Eagles finished with a 10-6 record compared to the Saints’ 11-5, the Eagles held the 3rd seed as the NFC East champions. Many factors pointed towards an Eagles victory - the Eagles had the best rushing offense going against a weak rush defense in the Saints, and the Saints had never won a playoff game on the road. But again, it was a battle of the quarterbacks. Nick Foles replaced Michael Vick after an injury, but his impressive play led him to be named the Eagles starting quarterback for the postseason, but he’s no Drew Brees. Brees had another monster season, and showed no signs of slowing down as he led the Saints to a 26-24 victory.
The first Sunday game featured the San Diego Chargers against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chargers won their last four games of the regular season, including surprising wins against the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs, making them the hottest team in the AFC Wild Card round. The Chargers had no real threat, but running backs Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead gave them a strong, athletic backfield, and rookie Keenan Allen was a big weapon all season. The Cincinnati Bengals on the other hand finished in the top five in both passing defense and rushing defense, making neither an obvious option for opponents. Andy Dalton and A.J. Green had another successful year and finished 8th in passing yards per game for the season. The Bengals finished 11-5, and the 9-7 Chargers were not expected to pull this one out. Now, the quarterbacks in this game are not as clear-cut as the previous. Although Andy Dalton was a rising star, his postseason numbers have been absolutely awful, and Philip Rivers has been a solid, consistent NFL quarterback for ten years now. Dalton had another terrible game with 4 turnovers, and Rivers, even though he threw the ball only sixteen times, proved to be the superior quarterback and rolled over the Bengals 27-10.
Finally, the San Francisco 49ers matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The 49ers won their last six games of the season, finishing at 12-4. The 49ers defense had another impressive year, finishing 7th in pass defense and 4th in rush defense. Offensively, veteran Frank Gore again carried the load and helped the team finish 3rd in rush yards per game. The Green Bay Packers made the playoffs thanks to backup quarterback Matt Flynn stepping up in the final games of the season, and young running back Eddie Lacy proved himself to be a top back in the NFL. Defensively, the Packers were at the bottom of the pile in virtually every category. The quarterback matchup in this game was perhaps the most intriguing of all. On one hand was Colin Kaepernick, an erratic, athletic quarterback that could pull down the ball and outrun safeties and cornerbacks for a 70-yard run. On the other hand was Aaron Rodgers, returning from a collarbone injury that sidelined him for several weeks. Now, Aaron Rodgers is certainly the superior quarterback here. But Kaepernick is a nightmare for defenses, and the Packers defense had no solutions for him all night. He ran for just under 100 yards in addition to well over 200 passing yards and was too much for the Packers defense to handle. In the end, Kaepernick led his team in a winning drive, leaving no time on the clock for Rodgers to work his magic in a 23-20 victory for the 49ers.
Will the next round be the same? Who knows? The Saints and Seahawks will be the first to play, and Brees will not have it as easy on the road against the vicious Seattle defense in the loudest stadium in the NFL. The Indianapolis Colts will take on the New England Patriots, and Tom Brady will try to prevent Andrew Luck from leading his team in another victory. The 49ers will face off against the Carolina Panthers, featuring Kaepernick and Cam Newton, two of the most athletic quarterbacks in the game. Finally, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will try to end the five game winning streak of the red-hot Chargers.
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Indians Return From a Successful Upstate Trip - Jason Styles
Plattsburgh, NY, January 7th – This past weekend the John Jay Ice Hockey team traveled upstate to play two games. The contests were against Beekmantown and Plattsburgh High School, occurring on Saturday and Sunday.
Lewisboro Ledger/PHOTO
After a slow start against Plattsburgh it was obvious that the Indians had to come out stronger against a strong Beekmantown Eagle team, who at game time was ranked sixth in the State for Division II. Lead by a Mark Leprine goal and a beautiful move by Prestamo on the Penalty kill, the Indians jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. After two quick penalties in the conclusion of the first period Beekmantown pounced tying the game early in the second period, and later taking the lead. Late in the third period Senior defenseman Leprine tied the game on a wrap-around attempt, and later gave the Indians the lead with a strong shot from the point on the power-play. Shawn Smith added an empty-net goal as the Indians took down the Eagles 5-3. Leprine recorded a Hat-Trick for the game It was a rather successful trip for the Indians, returning with two victories despite coming off a significant bus ride for their contest against Plattsburgh. The trip had also been pushed back a day due to the snowstorm which had occurred. After the upstate accomplishments the Indians look to improve their record against Lakeland Panas and then look to Carmel and Hendrick Hudson this upcoming weekend.
For starters, the wide legged pants are making a comeback. The last time I remember wearing something distinctly “wide legged” was in 4th grade during the phase when I lived in gauchos. However, these billowy wide leg pants definitely score a ten on the comfort scale and when styled right they could definitely be a staple piece for these upcoming months. Another dramatic trend you can be sure to spot this 2014 is the tea length skirt. I know what you’re thinking: since when was tea a length? To answer your question, I have no idea, but I do know that “tea length” corresponds to the length in between a midi and a maxi skirt. This very feminine looking hemline looks great when paired with a crop top and will definitely be another bold trend to try out for the upcoming spring. The boxy, cropped jacket and collarless coats have also made an appearance on the runway. Although they may not be as bold as the other trends, they will still be interesting to try. Obviously the runway can’t throw away all of 2013’s fashions. Trench coats, pleated skirts, shift blouses and bomber jackets are just a few of 2013’s trends that 2014 is still obsessed with. The least bold but still my personal favorite new fashion trend for this year is the men’s button down shirt. I’ve actually been a supporter of this trend for years. For the number of men’s button down shirts I have, if you didn’t know any better, you could be in my dad’s closet. I love the loose fit of a men’s button down with leggings and boots. It’s my go to outfit whenever I’m in a hurry and I’m so excited it’s finally becoming a known trend for 2014.
Although fashion trends definitely don’t end here, there are still a handful of make-up looks to talk about for 2014. A lot of these looks are very bold and a little intimidating, but once you play around with the vibrant and dramatic colors, you may just surprise yourself with something gorgeous. In my opinion the boldest trend to try is the orange lip. While orange is a very difficult color to work with, when matched with glowing skin and a neutral eye, it can be the icing on the cake. Orange’s complimentary color, blue, is also making an appearance this year. Blue eye shadows and eyeliners are becoming a big deal in completing many new looks for 2014. From navy to cobalt to sky, all shades of blue will be making their way into everyday makeup looks. And when you’re not in the mood for blue, pick up that green eyeliner pencil! Yes, a pop of green is also making its way into 2014’s makeup palette. Springy shades of lime, turquoise, mint and forest will all make an appearance in the new year. A final trend some makeup artists call the “gilded lid” will additionally be corrupting eyelids everywhere. Gilded lids really just translate into gold, shimmery shadow shades and look really pretty with bronzed skin and nude lips.
Before you shut down all of the relatively bold trends I’ve mentioned, remember that no matter what the year is, going out of your comfort zone in the fashion/beauty world is always a fun way to make the new year fresh and exciting. Cheers to a new year and new trends!
Sophomore Student of the Month: Gabby Dowd! - Samantha Lutt
What activities and clubs are you involved in at school?
I am the President of the Sophomore Class, a member of Campus Congress and also the Vice President of the Relay for Life club. I was very involved in the Relay for Life event last year.
Are you involved with any sports at John Jay?
Yes, I have been on the swim team for the past two years and have been a swimmer for pretty much my entire life.
I think math is definitely my favorite subject.
What other activities are you involved in outside of school?
I am involved with ASP and this summer we are going to West Virginia for a week to build houses. In addition, I am also a tutor.
Favorite food?
I think I have to say pizza.
Do you have a job?
Last summer, I was a camp counselor and I am also currently becoming certified as a lifeguard, so hopefully I will be able to guard this summer.
Hobbies?
I love to swim, run, read and also listen to music.
What do you like about John Jay?
I think that our school community is very welcoming, there are lots of different kinds of people and there are always fun things happening.
The first launch was scheduled for November 25th, 2013. Unfortunately, two aborts were called within the hour long launch window, as a result of an issue between supply lines between the liquid oxygen tank and the booster stage. The next window occurred on November 28, 2013, yet a slower than expected thrust ramp-up caused the rocket to abort just seconds after main engine ignition. Oxygen contaminated the ignition fuel mix, causing this issue. After deciding to scrub the launch and make extra sure that the rocket would perform as expected, checking and cleaning the engines while waiting for the next launch window to appear, on December 3rd.
SpaceX is planned to have the first rocket launch of 2014. Initially, SpaceX was again to launch the Thaicom 6 television satellite, which would provide satellite television to South Asia, on January 3rd, 2014. Unfortunately, the initial launch was aborted. Though nothing was explicitly wrong with the rocket, SpaceX engineers exhibited their desire to strive for a flawless launch record, desiring to double check the systems to make sure that the launch would go off without a hitch. As of writing, the launch is scheduled for a window on January 6th, though other windows remain through January 8-12.
SpaceX is leading the charge of private space companies into a new era of spaceflight. With its promising Falcon 9 surpassing expectations, and its developing manned crew vessel, Dragon, it is proving to be a company ready to take on the old titans of spaceflight, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency. Other companies are competing for the throne as well, with Orbital Sciences preparing a resupply launch on their Antares rocket set to launch no earlier than January 8th. It’s a very exciting time, with rocket launches going up at a frequency similar to that of the space race in the 1960’s. With 2 launches scheduled within the first 2 weeks of 2014, it is shaping up to be a very important year for space travel and exploration.
Is John Jay ready to be a leader in technology and education?
Superintendent Dr. Paul Kreutzer says that the issues with the school’s WiFi can be traced back to a policy problem. The biggest change that has happened in the school’s technology is in the infrastructure, the network backbone, which has been entirely replaced. The change was first piloted in Increase Miller Elementary School. The whole school was gutted out and replaced with new wires, nodes, and switches that enabled mobile devices to be channeled to 3G broadband. The switch was a success, and the new infrastructure was very efficient. Dr. Kreutzer hoped that John Jay would make the same switch without a problem the same way Increase Miller did. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. When John Jay’s infrastructure was replaced, problems arose when trying to get the new filtration system to work with the old system. By law, schools cannot provide students with Internet access without also setting up a filter to monitor and regulate student activity online. The new filtration system was put on twice, and both times problems and conflict occurred and the school had to revert back to the old filtration system while continuing to repair the new system. This means that right now, students are still using the old system. The new system will eventually be put back on once again. Hopefully the third time’s the charm.
All the changes in the school’s hardware means that new expertise is needed to work on the issues that the infrastructure is currently experiencing. Dr. Kreutzer admits that this will mean a shift in maintenance cost. There will be a reduction in tech support areas in classrooms, which means less assistance and support to help users, and an increase in hardware support to work on the school’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, changes to the school’s network and policies are encouraging a greater use of technology, creating difficulties for students and teachers alike when accessing the WiFi on the old system. However, Dr. Kreutzer says that the system is becoming very stable and providing good service. Thanks to new changes, the school now has ubiquitous WiFi that covers the entire school, and open bandwidth for cablevision. Dr. Kreutzer hopes to have ubiquitous WiFi in all the buildings in the district, but for now it’s mostly concentrated in the high school and middle school. WiFi is heavily banded in areas like the library and the cafeteria, where students most often access the Internet. The new network allows 2,500 simultaneous devices to access the school’s network. Several weeks ago, there were 1,800 devices being used in the school. However, there are only 1,200 students in the school, showing that there are multiple devices being used all throughout the day, even before and after school. A year ago, the school had bandwidth of a factor of 18; now, it’s up to a factor of 100. This means greater capacity and greater efficiency of the school’s Internet. It’s filled to capacity a few times every day, and the school’s looking to expand even more to add greater educational value.
Students may have also noticed better cell service inside the school, especially those on Verizon plans, thanks to the new cell tower that was recently built close to the school. While students may see this as an opportunity to text their friends during class, Dr. Kreutzer sees another advantage. He hopes to have the school covered by 3G network. With 3G broadband, the school will have even greater capacity and access to Internet. Dr. Kreutzer says it’s all about the mobile devices, and mobile broadband is one way to increase student access to the Internet from mobile devices in addition to the school WiFi.
Dr. Kreutzer’s push for more mobile devices in the school coincides with the school’s new “Bring Your Own Device” policy. Students can now bring any electronic device of their choice, whether it be a phone, tablet, or laptop, from home to bring to school to assist them in class lessons. For those who cannot do so, the school is now renting out iPads to students, and of course the school is choc full with the latest MacBooks and iPads for days when teachers need them as part of their class agenda for the day. Dr. Kreutzer wants a ¼ ratio, meaning that every building will have one mobile device for every four students, providing ¼ of the total need of mobile device standardization. Some students complain about the use of iPads at school, seeing it as a waste of money and an added distraction, not to mention the particularly glitchy iPad WiFi. The benefits that the iPad gives over regular computers, Ms. Pidgeon argues, is that they are easier to use, smaller, and easier for internet research, while laptops are a better alternative when using programs such as Word and Excel. She doesn’t believe either device is better than the other. Rather, it depends on which one serves your own purpose. Students do admit that renting out iPads is a good idea, and have seen friends benefit from having an easy, portable device they can bring to and from school at no cost.
Then there is the more glaring issue: how are students really using their devices? It’s no surprise that students will occasionally try to use their phones or laptops to goof off in class instead of doing work. The question is whether the academic benefits of devices are worth the added distraction. Students like senior Jenna Zitomer aren’t sure they are. “The school WiFi is good for looking up stuff during class and I do use it often,” Jenna says, “but honestly, it poses more of a distraction than it does a service.” Other students agree that despite its problems, the greater access to school WiFi is creating a distraction for students, and more devices being used in the school only adds to the problem. How this issue is addressed, Mrs. Pidgeon says, is a matter of management. Teachers are trained to address the issue of students getting distracted. Still, it’s not uncommon to see students checking Facebook from phones hidden under desks, or writing an essay for another class on their laptops. Dr. Kreutzer acknowledges the adverse effects of having an open WiFi campus, but he also hopes that for every “silly” use of technology, students are also looking for educational things. He believes new technology gives students a wider opportunity for learning, a time and location of choice, and greater access to the internet.
Ms. Pidgeon is also optimistic about the new policy. “Students are enjoying using the technology because it gives them the option to choose the device they’re most comfortable with.” The technology students are using in the classrooms is the technology the students have grown up in and are used to, and Ms. Pidgeon believes that teachers have an obligation to use technology that students are relating to. Teachers can still use other methods of training, but technology provides another tool to use for learning; neither is mutually exclusive. She predicts that technology will continue to grow and expand in our school.
The school has already done a lot this year to expand the technology in the school. Teachers are assigning more online homework, especially the physics and calculus teachers via websites such as WebAssign, and using blog pages and iPhone apps to communicate with students outside of class and provide students with extra material for studying. Every unit in the art and tech wings has been replaced with Apple devices. Classes are now borrowing iPads in addition to laptops for students for online research and projects. In some classes, 27” TVs have been replaced with 70” flat screen TVs, which actually brings a lot of advantages other than looking a lot nicer. The new TVs can display what’s on an iPad or other mobile device onto the screen, making for easier presentations. They use 1/3 less energy than Smartboard, there’s no need to replace a bulb or fix a projector, and they also work in bright light scenarios. Dr. Kreutzer says he “wants the best equipment in the hands of students about to leave into the real world.” For some, however, the boost in technology may be too much, too quickly. Teachers are still figuring out how to work the technology; there is a learning curve among teachers when it comes to implementing new technology in the classroom. For the rest of the year, it will be about working through the kinks and finding out how to use technology to its fullest potential. One way teachers are doing this is through user groups, with a focus on users teaching users. In a workshop called “appy” hour, teachers get together to show how they use devices in their classrooms. They’ve even had an outside expert work with staff for three days teaching them how to use technology in their curriculum.
Of course, if the network isn’t reliable, then there’s no point in user groups when the teachers can’t even use their own devices. The biggest priority is a more reliable network and greater capacity. Then, teachers can use devices, and then they can be trained to use devices to their greatest educational potential. Dr. Kreutzer isn’t sure of what’s in the future for the school’s technology, but the most important part is getting a stable network, a stable platform for students to grow and a safety net to fall back into. The priority list is network, devices, and then hard training. Teachers can’t learn to use their devices if there isn’t a strong network, or if teachers don’t have devices. Once the network is stable, there will be more training development.
Some teachers already have a head start. Dr. Hefferon designed the layout of her classroom in N hall using her past experience working as a technology advisor. Students who take Humanities Research, 21-11 or 21-12 will be familiar with the classroom, whose walls are lined with desktops and a huge flat-screen TV mounted behind the teacher’s desk. Dr. Hefferon says that technology is extremely useful in these classes, allowing students to do in-depth online research using the school’s databases and make slick presentations. She realizes that it is not the technology itself that helps students learn, but how teachers use it. An example would be in the Humanities Research I class, where the syllabus covers a wide range of topics including international affairs, art, and law that students research on throughout the school year to introduce students to the Humanities Research program before students focus on one research topic to follow for the next year or two. Dr. Hefferon has observed that students are excited about the class because of the new topics that they learn through other students’ research that are presented to them in an appealing way, thanks to technology and Dr. Hefferon’s guidance.
Dr. Hefferon also says she understands that the use of technology is not one-size-fits-all. While she finds technology to be very advantageous for research-based classes like Humanities Research and the 21 classes, she doesn’t see technology being as beneficial in the AP classes, where the class is centered more on analyzing literature and finding deeper context, requiring less technology and more of a student’s own intuition and inferences. Smartboards are good for classes that are more hands-on, allowing for easy editing and highlighting important information. While many classes are beginning to implement iPads into the classrooms, Dr. Hefferon doesn’t see the advantage of that device in her classes, and opts to stick with using the desktops that have worked well for the students for the last several years.
For some teachers, though, technology isn’t working as effectively in their classes. Problems with technology pose a concern to the language departments. As the language teachers are already beginning to prepare their AP students for the AP exams next May, students are already experiencing trouble with the voice recording application they will need to use for their exams. This is the second application that has had technical problems, after replacing the application students used last year to record audio for the AP exam that also had its own problems, which were luckily fixed before the exam date. BOCES recently came to assist with the issues students were having with recording their voices, and the voice recording program was reportedly running smoothly for the AP Spanish classes. Hopefully, the application will be working for all of the AP language classes in time for the exams.
Dr. Kreutzer’s ultimate goal with the new technology is for the district to become a technological leader, and expects this will happen in two years or so. He wants the schools to be leaders in technology and education. For him, this means it’s imperative that the school’s technology is up to date with the 21st century. “It’s a no-brainer that the World Wide Web is incredible,” Dr. Kreutzer says. Despite the problems students and teachers are currently experiencing with the school’s network, Dr. Kreutzer assures us that we’re almost there. For now, though, students will still have to deal with a few technical difficulties.
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Forced Roles in a Progressive Society - Kate Russell
In recent years, the direction of advertising has changed drastically. What was once a primarily female-based advertising world has changed to be directed towards young children. Unfairly so, “…establishes clearly that most children younger than 7–8 years of age do not recognize the persuasive intent of commercial appeals.” (Psychological Issues in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood) This study concluded that children could not discern when they are being coerced. This would be expected because children of that age have not yet been exposed to the world and its many nuances. Even though they lack life experience, they are constantly attempting to define themselves. Many times what defines them is what their interests are, such as television shows. In an hour-long show, 36% is advertising. With the average American child watching 1,480 minutes of television a week (American Time Use Survey) are they defining themselves, or conforming to an ideal set of standards?
Advertisements’ persuasive intentions prevent children from developing their own conclusions. More specifically, confuse a child’s developing sense of gender. Instead of the child developing this essential factor itself, there becomes a haunting “should,” pressuring them to be the ideal form of their sex. The advertisement agencies prey on what society expects them to be rather than what they truly feel they are. “Gender needs to be understood as a culturally constructed category, which goes beyond but encompasses the biological category of sex, the social psychological category of sex role, the psychological category of masculine/feminine identity, and the psycho-behavioral category of sexuality.” (Artz, Nancy) The fueling of the ideal male and female structure attempts to revitalize traditional gender roles. The price paid for this revitalization is individuality.
The constant bombardment of advertising can confuse a young child still developing. It creates a false sense of need and the pressure to conform to the ideal societal form of your gender. It then becomes nearly impossible to discern one’s true identity. Which incorporates gender, personality, and how one differentiates oneself from another. With the already confused sense of gender based on this type of advertising, a key aspect of identity is already lacking. If one is watching 1,480 minutes of television a week giving directions of what one should want and what one should like, is their room for drawing one’s own conclusions? This lack of ability to create one’s identity can lead to a multitude of disorders; a recently emerging disorder is dissociative identity disorder. “DID reflects a failure to integrate various aspects of identity, memory and consciousness in a single multidimensional self.” (Psychology Today) With gender specific advertising it becomes increasingly difficult for the directed audience to form a strong sense of self.
Gender specific advertising fuels the creation of stereotypes; defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “to believe unfairly that all people or things with a certain characteristic are the same.” Today our society is filled with stereotypes of many kinds. These stereotypes are constantly renewed by the advertising business because they refuse to change with the times. Many of them happen to be gender targeted, such as, the idea that if you are an American male you need to like football. While it is fair to say a great deal of American men enjoy football, can you say that that is then a staple of manhood? While generalizations do not invalidate exceptions, exceptions must be accounted for when associating oneself with the outside world. With continuous societal growth it no longer makes sense to look to the past to continue these stereotypes. To undo this societal growth by continuing gender specific advertisement would do a great injustice to the world.
While demographics do demonstrate more girls like dolls than boys, and boys like Tonka trucks more than girls do, this is influenced by gender specific advertisements. The advertisements make the impression that only girls should have dolls, and only males should have trucks. So, those kids are naturally attempting to fit those demographics. By advertising gender specifically, the demographics are skewed because of the pressure to conform. If advertisements were gender neutral the demographics could change drastically.
The solution is simple. Incorporate both genders into commercials where it is appropriate therefore allowing the child to decide based on their true personality, if they want that toy product. Versus creating a false sense of “because I’m a girl I should get that.” Since advertisement can never be stopped, by reaching out to the considered fringe elements by creating gender neutral commercials, the advertising agencies and reached out to emerging demographic changes. If we continue to allow gender specific advertisement we will be allowing hundreds of years of societal progress to be undone. It is no one’s right to pressure others to conform to an ideal structure. We are part of a constantly changing and hopefully evolving society, there is no longer a need for archaic ideals. And hopefully soon, no longer a want to abide by them.
Cantor, Joanne, PhD, Peter Dowrick, PhD, Dale Kunkel, PhD, Susan Linn, EdD, and Edward Palmer, PhD. "Psychological Issues In the Increasing Commercialization of Childood." Comp. Brian Wilcox, PhD. (n.d.): 1-53. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://adage.com/images/random/childrenads022404.pdf>.
Nancy Artz and Alladi Venkatesh (1991) ,"Gender Representation in Advertising", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 618-623.
Muller, Robert T., PhD. "The Media and Dissociative Identity Disorder." Psychology Today. N.p., 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
