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thehorace mannReview
Domestic - International - Features - Economics - Science & Technology - Viewpoints
A Year In Numbers
HM Review Vol. XIX2
The Horace Mann Review: Issue 9
A Year In NumbersDomestic:
International:
4 ImmigrationNational Security
Gay RightsBarack Obama
6Iraq and
AfghanistanChinese Influence
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Economics
8 Debt and Bail OutGreece
College and Finances
Science and Technology
10 NASA Stem Cell Research
IpadGenetic Engineering
3
Dear Reader, Polls and numbers are ubiquitous. We see them displayed all over campaign flyers, quoted in sound-bite political advertisements, praised by census advocates, and utilized in every possible way imaginable, for positive and negative purposes alike. Yet, numbers and statistics can be misleading and malleable. The same numbers can be used to support both sides of an argument: augmented and manipulated to overstate the severity of some problems, or to undermine the seriousness of others. Thus, all a reader can do to stay afloat the ceaseless flow of information is to be skeptical and to consult as many sources as possible. However, we at the Review have sought to take a snapshot of the school’s leanings. We have interviewed freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors to cover a wide
list of questions. How did they feel about immigration? How about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? And did they follow the economic situation in Greece? The polled material was collected from four integral sections of the Review, amassed by our team of editors to view as wide and as comprehensive a snapshot as possible. After a week and a half of questioning (as some of you may have recalled if you were involved in this process at all), we bring to you this ninth issue of the Horace Mann Review. It has been a rewarding, and at times, tough process. But with all the work the staff put in, I wish you all a happy reading for the last time and hope you find this material relevant and fascinating.
Kevin Lin,Editor-in-Chief, Volume XIX
Introduction
March 2010 HM Review
The horace Mann review
voluMe XiX , Polls issue
A Journal of Opinion on Current Events,Politics, Public Policy, and Culture
Board of TrusteesMaximilian D.C. Thompson, Zachary
Freyer-Biggs, Charles Stam, Kunal Malkani, Venkat Kausik, Zachary Malter
Associate EditorsAaron Goldman, Andrew Demas, Daniel
Grafstein, Danielle Ellison, Deependra Mookim, Justin Katiraei, Victor Ladd
Production AssistantsSeth Arar, Elisabeth Stam
Staff WritersAdela Kim, Alexander Familant, Alex Ma,
Andre Manuel, Avital Morris, Christine Kim, Dorin Azerad, Emily Feldstein, Jacob
Moscona-Skolnik, Jessica Chi, Justin Burris, Katie Cacouris, Matt Fox, Rebecca Segall,
Wallace Cotton, Zander Daniel, Zoe Rubin
Contributing WritersHannah Jun, Nathan Raab, Stephen Pad-uano, Alex Posner, Greg Barancik, Jessica
Bernheim
Faculty AdvisorsMr. Gregory Donadio
The Horace Mann Review is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the American Scholastic Press Association, and the National Scholastic Press Associa-tion. Opinions expressed in articles or illus-trations are not necessarily those of the Edi-torial Board or of the Horace Mann School. Please contact The Review for information on advertisements at [email protected] The Review website at: web.horace-mann.org/review/
Henry HoglundSpencer Penn
James YaroDan Temel
Starlyte HarrisEditorial Director
Alex FalkManaging Editor
Nancy DaSilvaDan Shapiro
Features Editor
Aradhna AgarwalWill Dubbs
Production Manager
Kevin LinEditor-in-Chief
Nicholas HerzecaJason Sunshine
Executive Editor
Jordan FedererAntonia Woodford
Mario AlvarezHill Wyrough
Senior Columnists
Freddie AdlerBen Marks
Eric SchwartzBusiness Manager
Camille KnopAylin Gucalp
Photo Editor
An Introduction to Our First Horace Mann Review Polls Issue
HM Review Vol. XIX4
Domestic
Do you support gay marriage?
Do you think that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform?
Which one of these domestic issues do you feel is the most pressing?
Has Barack Obama been successful thus far in fulfilling his campaign promises?
Domestic
78 22NoYes
Have recent domestic terrorist attacks changed
how secure you feel?
Economy National Security PovertyEducation Health Care OtherAbortion
0 20 40 60 80100
92 Students
42 Students
Yes
No
win
terf
ace.
com
“The fact that America considers itself a land of equal opportunity while denying gay rights is an abomination. Gay couples with or without children deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples. What gives the govern-ment the right to determine the validity of a relationship? This country is founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Allowing religious beliefs to interfere with legislation goes against the intentions of the framers of our Constitution..” -Justin Gilston
June 2010 HM Review 5
Domestic
Do you support gay marriage?
Do you think that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform? Has Barack Obama been successful thus far in fulfilling his campaign promises?
Domestic
No
“We have to recognize that terrorism, while certainly a threat, is not the only threat America faces, nor is it the most significant one: of the 13,000 murders committed in the United States this year, less than 20 of them were caused by terrorism. What are we willing to give up to solve such a marginal is-sue?” -Nathan Raab
“In our country, we strongly disap-prove of racial profiling, but it is racial profiling that can save lives. Racial profiling isn’t the problem, it’s the an-swer.” -Anonymous
0 20 40 60 80100
47%
40%
13%
No
Yes
Somewhat
arm
ybas
e.co
m
wikimedia.com
YES - 89%NO - 8%
SOMEWHAT- 3%
118 students11 students
4 students
“The fact that America considers itself a land of equal opportunity while denying gay rights is an abomination. Gay couples with or without children deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples. What gives the govern-ment the right to determine the validity of a relationship? This country is founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Allowing religious beliefs to interfere with legislation goes against the intentions of the framers of our Constitution..” -Justin Gilston
HM Review Vol. XIX6
InternationalInternational
DoyouthinkthewarsinAfghanistanandIraqaregoingwell?
Iraq and Afghanistan
The Future Focus:WhereshouldtheUnitedStatesdirectit’sinternationalattention?
msnbcmedia
International
The United States is currently embroiled in two wars in the Middle East: one in Iraq and the other in Afghani-stan. Originally, both wars were launched with the goal of protecting U.S. national secutiry: the Iraq War in order to remove threatening weapons of mass destruc-tion, and the Afganistan War in order to combat ter-rorist organizations in the wake of the September 11 attacks. However, many Americans have differing opin-ions regarding each of the two wars. According to one student, “The Iraq War isn’t a real war - it’s a political battle in which the government is deceiving the public. On the other hand, I’m satisfied that we are handling the Afghanistan situation, and we need more troops in order to eradicate the terrorists there.”
Nuclear Non-ProliferationIraq and Afghanistan Wars
International ElectionsIsrael-Palestine ConflictAiding Developing CountriesOther
17%
44%1%31%5%2%
“Our debt to China makes it clear that China has or will shortly take our place as the economic super-power of the world.”
“The Iraq War isn’t a real war - it’s a politi-cal battle in which the government is deceiv-ing the public.”
June 2010 HM Review 7 dc Pages
International
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
wikimedia
AreyouplanningtolearnChineseand/orabouttheChineseculture?
DoyouthinkthatChinaisthreateningtheU.S.’sdominanceintheworldeconomy?
Since the Cold War, the possibility of nuclear warfare has been a menacing threat for the entire world. Moreover, as an increasing number of countries, many of which possessing volatile govern-ments, have developed either open or concealed nuclear weapons programs, the prospect of nuclear attacks has become even more foreboding. Nevertheless, strategies such as international treaties and economic sanctions are producing some progress. As one student explained, “The new START threaty is a step in the right direction. Obviously there is a long way to go but Obama’s nuclear policy is the right one and he seems deeply committed. In addition, the new sanctions proposed [on Iran] is one of the most important initiatives to maintain stability in the Middle East.” However, as another student said “In our current world some countries need nuclear weapons, but in a perfect world there should be no nuclear weapons.”
In recent years, the surge of the Chinese economy coupled with an increasingly staggering United States debt has made many feel that China may be threatening U.S. economic dominance. One student noted that “Our debt to China makes it clear that China has or will shortly take our place as the eco-nomic superpower of the world.” However, since the Chinese economy largely depends on exports to the U.S. and the two economies are profoundly inter-twined, others feel that Chinese economic growth will produce U.S. economic growth as well. In light of this strong connection between the two nations, recently there has been an enormous increase in Chinese language and culture programing in U.S. schools.“I think China does pose an economic threat to the U.S. and I think it would be very beneficial if I learned Chinese,” remarked a student.
Doyoufeelsafefromnuclearthreats?
Shouldhavenuclearweapons?
Chinese influenCedreamofsiam
HM Review Vol. XIX8
Economics
“The government is at fault for encouraging subprime lending through initiatives such as the housing programs implement-ed during the Clinton adminis-tration.”
“The financial crisis was pri-marily caused by lax lending standards by banks which were lending to lower income and lesser-qualified borrowers.”
“The Securities and Exchange Committee galvanized the eco-nomic meltdown via extensive deregulation over the course of the past 20 years.”
Who Is At Fault For The Economic Crisis?
As we finally seem to emerge from the 2008-2009 recession, President Barack Obama’s fiscal policy has forced Americans, conser-vative and liberal alike, to reconsider their economic views. The old strife between the Reaganomics and Keynesian Economics has been renewed and revamped with the introduction of an even more liberal third topic for contention: nationalization. Some people contend that Obama’s bailouts are temporarily suspensions, which are merely pro-longing an exacerbation of the economic downpour. Others, howev-er, believe that Obama’s policies have substantiated the validity of big government spending. Even proponents of socialization of industry have recently manifested themselves proclaiming that recent success of big spending result from limited nationalization. Here is what Hor-ace Mann said about government industrial policies:
Should we bail out banks again if need be? “Are programs that have increased spending on worth the risks of a larger national debt?
yes no yes no
84% 16% 70% 30%usu wordPress
wordPress
wordPress
June 2010 HM Review 9
Economics
Do you think that the financial crisis has
made college decisions more competitive?
College, FinanCes, and The eConomy
In wake of the recent economic crisis it is inevitable that the welfare, state of mind, and general morale of United States citizens will be diminished; however, the question that is on the mind most college graduates, high school students, and especially Horace Mann High School students is whether the current crisis will affect college admissions and job prospects. One would think that the general lack of money would create less competition in the admissions process. Contrarily, others believe that financial aid policies based on a need blind basis will allow admissions to remain unaffected. But how will the recession affect and continue to affect employment and un-employment rates. These are the issues Horace Mann students tried to consider when answering the following questions:
greeCe
Immersed in economic tur-moil, Greece has found itself in a state of ultimate rebellion, as citi-zens refuse to pay taxes and the government fails to evade economic disaster. Greece was recently bailed out the IMF, which is largely sup-ported by the United States, as well as the EU’s powerhouse nations: France and Germany. The euro has plummeted in value, and the home of democracy has now become the Achilles heel of the EU.
Do you think that the riots are justified?
Should the United States pay to help bail
out Greece?
Do you think the econo-my will be in better shape
in ten years?
wordPress
wordPress
wordPress
nyt
nytnyt
YES76 %
NO24 %
YES95%
NO24 %
NO66 %
YES34 %
YES80 %
NO20 %
HM Review Vol. XIX10
and Technology
After NASA received a slash in its funding, yet managed to send a shuttle into space, the Horace Mann Review asked Horace Mann School what it thought of the program and what should be done next.
Science
3673
6
nasa
comPlab025
Horace Mann students are quite vocal in their opinions, whether about poli-tics, or about something that intrigues them. To get a snapshot of how Horace Mann as a community stands on some science and technology issues, the Sci-ence and Technology section polled the student body on four issues: NASA, the iPad, stem-cell research and genetic engineering. Here are our results:
June 2010 HM Review 11
Science and Technology
about
The iPad was released last month amid much fanfare. But exactly how do Horace Mann students view this new device?
63
59
10121
1
Do Horace Mann students support genetically modifying food and animals? The Review takes a look:
All for it
Not at all53 59comPlab025
cornerstone
HM Review Vol. XIX12
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