Photo by William Lombardi

The Verdict November 2012

To inform, enlighten, and entertain.

Cardozo HS 57-00 223rd Street Bayside, NY 11364

Volume 45Issue 2

INSIDE November 2012

2 the verdict

table of contents

SO speaks outVice President Thomas

Dinegar talks about upcoming S.O. plans for Cardozo.

Superstorm sandy strikesHurricane Sandy hits New York

hard, leaving many without power, heat, or hot water.

Corrections-The September issue of The Verdict was not labeled on the cover. It was volume 45 issue 1. -On page 3, in the testing schedule chart, Science was misspelled. -On page 3, in the Jury Box, Mr. Peter Georgatos was misquoted, what he said was that his former school did not offer as many A.P. classes.

If you need some guidance, you can look to The Verdict for help in their advice column. You can contact us

anonymously with your questions at cardozo.verdict@gmail.com

2

10 questions17 year Cardozo veteran

Richard Elgart answers our questions.

8

4

WHAT’S

Editorial PolicyThe goal of The Verdict is to pro-vide a medium through which the students of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School can express and ac-curately inform themselves regard-ing the issues surrounding them. We encourage our readership to use The Verdict as a forum for thoughts and ideas. Readers are welcome to submit any letters concerning our content or other matters to The Verdict’s mailbox in Room 109 or

e-mail us at cardozo.verdict@gmail.com.

Staff WriterS Maria BrangoDavid Gmuca

Shahab HaidaryVenus Joseph

Andy LeeCharlotte Moran

Cecilia OhLauren Poon

Jihan RamroopYenisel Ravelo

Verdict Staff

1st Place asPa award

2006-2012Advisor Georgia Mavromihalis

Graphics EditorMelanie Capraro

Editor-in-ChiefSijin Choi

Fashion EditorSasha Persaud

Opinion EditorRJ Rubio

Sports EditorArash Saedi

Copy EditorNia Canady

Features EditorKiana Bey

5NewsCardozo’s grade improves to a B, budget reductions affect the school hard, and credit recovery just got much tougher.

9 eventsCardozo’s College Night, Haloween Carnival, Halloween Dance, and foreign food night are successful.

6featuresCardozo Night Live hits the stage and a generous donation helps Cardozo’s music department.

14 ActivitiesLearn about Cardozo clubs Accapella, Autism Speaks, and Badminton.

15-16The Cardozo Judges gear up! Read about the fencing, girl’s volleyball, and girl’s soccer teams. Wrestling needs your votes.

11PreviewGet a sneak peak at this year’s Cardozo Night Live and Multicultural Show and read about how fun Homecoming was.

13opinionsElectoral college no longer necessary. Hurricane Sandy leaves many without power.

Sports

INSIDE

Sports

News

3 November 2012

PAIN IN THE GAS

The small beach town of Rockaway, Queens now lies in ruins after being ravished by one of New York’s most severe hurricanes. Hur-ricane Sandy left many coastal residencies such as, The Rockaways, Coney Island, Bergen Beach, and Lower East Side trembling as the super storm caused major flooding accompanied by 90 mph wind gusts that resulted in significant fallen trees and power outages. Once the storm passed, an entirely more frightening problem sur-faced; fires plagued the small town of less than 13,000 with over 130 residential fires, leaving homes and businesses in ashes. The fires which are thought to have been caused by faulty electrical work spread rapidly consuming countless properties on end. Little remains now of what had been a scenic town for surfers and sunbathers alike. One of the areas hit hardest, The Rockaways, still copes with the damage. When residents returned, after being told to evacuate by Mayor Mi-chael Bloomberg, they were shocked to find the damage and devastation left behind. Thousands were left without power, hot water, or even heat, items considered necessary for everyday life. “My neighbor called [me] crying be-cause the water height had reached the kitchen counter [and] he was scared that he might die” said Rockway resident and Cardozo staff, John Miller. As a result of this hurricane about 50 lives were taken in New York State, 41 of the deaths occurring in the New York City area. In the rubble of it all many questions still remain for her, “What are the next steps to rebuilding? How do we, as a

By Venus Joseph

community, triumph over the physical and mental pain we have as a result of this unfortunate hurricane?” Nevertheless, The Rockaways that stood before the hurricane are not the same. Tourists that visit won’t see what Rockaway residents once did. The boardwalk that stretched out to what seemed like for-ever, contains only its metal lining, and is left board-less. The Papa Johns’ many visited after a long day of school or after a swim on a hot summer day, has been turned to rubble. The giant Whale statue, Whalemena, a collective effort to represent the community, lies now in pieces on nearby lawns, covered in the sand. “It will take years to rebuild but we can and will,” said Rockaway resident Linda Mays.

The Wrath of Sandy By Niamaya Canady

Among everything people had suffered as a result of Hurricane San-dy, one of the most stressful was the gas shortage. After the storm, many gas companies lost power or ran out of gas; it was a lose-lose situation as gas stations either had power, but no gas or had gas, but no power. Long lines formed outside locations where gas was in supply. The shortage was so severe that even public trans-portation was suspended, preventing people from getting groceries, going to work, and attending school. “It took me one week to get gas. After going to ten gas stations, I finally was able to fill my tank. The prices increased to $4.59 and the line was 6 or 7 blocks long; I had to wait two hours on line and my husband waited four and a half. We tried not to drive if we didn’t have to. We saved a quarter tank in case of an emergency,” said English teacher Pheobe Eligon-Jones. Some residents tried to fuel up early in the morning when the gas was delivered to the station. Armories set up in Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island tried to help by giving out free gas. Some stations had to wait all day for the gas to be delivered and then allowed people to fuel up. This forced them to stay open later and employees had to work longer hours and police officers were stationed at different sta-tions to maintain order. “We didn’t suffer a power loss so my business did very well; it was crowded and we had long lines. We only ran out of gas twice and had between 200-300 customers in one day. The price remained at $4.29; we didn’t raise the prices because we were getting more customers,” said a local gas station owner Imran. “Each customer was only al-

lowed $40 worth of gas, which was about 10 gallons. We worked lon-ger hours, sometimes 16-17 hours a day. If the gas got delivered at 2:00 p.m. then we had to stay there until all the cars left.” While the strain on consumers was prevalent, gas stations thrived as business boomed. “Honestly we tried to help everyone; I lost power in my house so I know how it felt. The gas station next door raised their prices and were rude to their customers; we tried to service everyone and make sure everyone got gas. It took about 10 days for things to get back to normal. We did receive a significant profit from all the customers.”

PHOTO BY NIAMAYA CANADYThe remain of what was the Rockaway boardwalk.

Cars on line for gas. PHOTO BY VENUS JOSEPH

Restoring Hope After SandyBy Rochan Hendricks

Feature

the verdict 4

There are so many ways to describe the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but we can all say that it was perhaps the most devastating storm to have ever hit the tri-state area. Many people lost their homes, businesses and most importantly their family. However, many families had to be evacuated especially in the coastal areas. It was in the aftermath of the storm that people began to perceive the severity of the damage, and the mayhem that followed. It was then that many realized that there would be no home to return to, and that they would have to stay at temporary shelters, while trying to slowly put the pieces together. The Armory in Jamaica, Queens became a temporary homeless shelter to many people whose homes were destroyed or flooded. Senior Jelryk Leon volunteered at the Armory, offering his time and efforts to the victims of the storm. “Everyone was trying to keep their kids happy and calm, while trying not to panic,” said Jelryk. He described the experience as “very demanding”, but he said that he was glad to help in any way that he could. “There were about 300-400 people that were housed in the shel-ter,” he said. Jelryk Leon worked with the National Guard while at the Armory.

Beds and other materials had to be built quickly for refugees. Many of the vehicles that were normally parked in the compound of the Armory had to be removed. Asked if he would partake in this eye-opening experience in the future, Jelryk responded with a resounding, “Yes.”

Dozo Lends a HandCardozo once again started out the school year loud and proud! To get settled in, the hardworking leadership class, led by Mrs. Kierez, organized the annual club fair. It was a huge success. Many students who attended were shocked to discover that Cardozo offers over 60 after-school clubs. From balloon twisting to ukulele club there is a club for just about anyone. One of the many perks of attending such a large high school is the extracurricular activities so my advice is, take advantage and get in-volved. Student involvement is the key to having a fun high school experience and it also looks great on a college application. Moving unto October: ghouls, ghosts, and of course a huge amount of students attended Cardozo’s 2nd annual Halloween Dance. The dance allowed students to showcase their dance moves and the super creative costumes made the dance an event to remember. A few weeks ago we asked students and faculty to “Think Pink” [to raise awareness] for breast cancer. Teachers were given pink ribbons and the Red Cross Club volunteered at the Breast Cancer walk-a-thon in Central Park. The next couple of months are packed with some fantastic show. On December 9th, we will show how diverse and talented our school truly is through the annual Multicultural Show. Singing and dancing from all different cultures make the Multicultural Show a must-see. Live from Bayside, it’s Cardozo Night Live! Cardozo’s very own hi-larious sketch comedy show. The talented play production class will once again put a funny show that is full of original skits. If you are looking to laugh out loud, I highly recommend attending CNL.

In January Oh Snap! Will be hitting the stage once again. The spectac-ular show contains original poems, songs, raps, and dances preformed by Cardozo students. This year, Oh Snap! Will be circus themed and I have no doubts that Mrs. Eligon-Jones will once again organize an amazing show that is definitely worth seeing. As you are all aware, the horrific super storm Sandy has recently devastated the metropolitan area, destroying people’s communities and leaving many homeless without any basic necessities. Cardozo has wasted no time in helping those who were affected by Sandy; the leadership class has set up a sandy relief box in the main lobby where clothing, cleaning supplies, and toiletries can be dropped off. Currently, there is a coat drive and toy rive for victims so I hope to see you all donate. As your Vice President of the Student Organization, I am doing my very best to constantly improve the school and make a better place for you, the students. Going beyond my duties as vice president, I am attending SLT meetings to improve Cardozo and I am also attending monthly meetings with the chancel-lor and mayor to improve the New York City Department of Education overall. I welcome your suggestions and your concerns. Your Vice President, Thomas Dinegar

SOpeaks

ut

The armory in which Jelryk volunteered in.

By Rochan Hendricks

Dozo Lends a Hand

Dozo Gets Solid B

By Kiana Bay

NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012

Budget Takes a HitBy Sijin Choi

Getting a B as a grade has many different interpretations and meanings for different re-cipients. For some, the grade is worthy of a pat on the back; hey, you deserved it. But to over-achievers, the grade can only be received with a feeling of grudge, maybe even scorn. For Cardozo, the latter of the sce-narios was the dominant feel-ing as the DOE (Department of Education) bestowed Cardozo with another annual grade of a B. “It’s been five years since the DOE has been giving out letter grades and Cardozo has always gotten a B,” said Princi-pal Gerald Martori. The criteria or rubric that grades New York City schools is divided into four categories: Student Progress, Student Pre-formance, School Environ-ment, and Closing the Achieve-ment Gap. The last of the said categories was the source of B, borderline C, as Cardozo took heat for struggling with its bottom 1/3 academically chal-lenged students. “The Closing Achievement Gap category includes ESL learners, special education stu-dents, along with students that lag behind in academia,” said Martori. Cardozo’s grade has aroused a Scarlet Letteresque type of treatment, as both school facul-ty and students have expressed disapproval of the B. “The DOE should look for ar-

eas of improvement but also recognize [our] achievements,” said Head College Advisor, Ja-calyn Kucker. “98% of our kids went to college last year. We should be given credit for the majority of our successes.” Various departments have tak-en an initiative to fix Cardozo’s shortcomings. National honor society, Arista, has adopted a new, rigorous tutoring program to help students that need tu-toring. The S.O. has also set goals on encouraging students to attend tutoring sessions and be comfortable with asking for help. “We are still lacking. It [the grade] is a great inspiration for us,” said S.O. president Char-ley Ukubiwe. “We all have to help each other.”The bitter taste of the grade will remain until next year’s evalua-tion. Martori sighs after a long day at the office, taking a mo-ment to gather himself. After all, managing over 4,000 stu-dents is a daunting task. “I would be lying if I said that less students would be easier to manage. It is. But I knew what I was getting into when I became principal. We have a great staff and Cardozo’s a great place to be,” said Martori. “The grade doesn’t accurately represent Cardozo. What we offer at Cardozo is beyond aca-demics and you can’t measure that.”

Puzzled looks fill the hallways this year as students look at pro-grams that don’t make sense and are filled with multiple gaps where classes belong. These an-noyances can be attributed to recent reductions in funding which have caused Cardozo to tighten its pocketbook strings for the 2012- 2013 school year. Al-though many people are referring to the changes in finance as bud-get cuts, they are actually reduc-tions in school funding. “Our enrollment is down, be-cause of this, we get a lower pro-jected enrollment. The projected enrollment is down, so there aren’t as many teachers or class-es. If the number of students goes up, more classes can be created with more teachers,” said Assis-tant Principal Yvette Bohlman. For the 2013 Fiscal year, Car-dozo receives $19, 157, 845 ac-cording to the Division of School Budget Planning and Operations’ Galaxy Data Source. Although this sum may seem like a large sum of money, it begins to dwin-dle after paying for library books, printing services, textbooks, gen-eral supplies, educational soft-ware, equipment, and 214 staff members.One of the departments hardest hit by the budget reductions is foreign language. Many students are missing a third year of lan-guage and fourth year of language levels have been eradicated com-pletely. The foreign language department was the hardest hit,

with six teachers gone, and only eight teachers left. Many classes are oversized, and some Span-ish classes have upwards of fifty students in one classroom. Most colleges require a minimum of two years of a language other than English, and recommend additional years as well. “We are trying to provide four years,” said AP of Foreign Lan-guage Robert Goodman. “It makes students more competi-tive.” “The fact that we [Cardozo] required 4 years of foreign lan-guage set us apart. How we can even consider ourselves a school of excellence anymore I don’t know. Children are being de-prived of a well- rounded educa-tion,” stated Wendy Weiner. United Federation for Teacher (UFT) Chapter Leader, Dino Sferrazza, echoed similar senti-ments. “Cut somewhere else. Cut from the central admission, 65 Cort-land St. [City Hall]. Bloomberg was in business before; he should know where to cut and where no to.” However, Cardozo will have to make ends meet with the budget reductions, although such cuts will be most detrimental to stu-dents. “In the end, only the kids suf-fer. Bottom line is that the teach-ers have to do more with less, and do it as well as when we had more,” said English teacher Lau-ren Testa.

Credit Recovery Got a Whole lot HarderBy Maria Brango

The way that credit recovery has worked in the past years has been changed as of July 1st, 2012. As a result of the revised policy, no matter how many classes you fail, New York high school students can only make up three classes that they fail or never took in their four years of high school. If you already used the three opportunities, you will have to retake the class the next year no matter what grade you are in. The Department of Edu-

cation passed this law to make schools and students more ac-countable. The law will apply to all fresh-men without exception. Juniors and Seniors who recovered more than three classes before will not be penalized, but after July 1st, their opportunities will also be limited to three classes.Sarah Liu, guidance counselor, said, "This new law will encour-age students to pass classes, work hard and do better." They will

have to be serious and realize they will not have so many op-portunities to make them up. Amaris Erstein, freshmen, said, "This new law is unfair for the freshmen this year." "I understand why they are do-ing it because there are a lot of shenanigans in other New York City schools, kids making up credits for things that didn't real-ly seem credit worthy, so I think this is a way of making sure that when a kid graduate from high

school, they really took enough classes and sat enough hours on a seat to awarded a Diploma," said Ms. Bonnie Messina, English As-sistant Principal. Alex Taliotis, senior, said, "Now freshmen are driven to pass all their classes because they know they have a limited amount of opportunities, so I don't think is terrible, in fact I might actually agree with it."

Many Cardozo alumni who have been in the Music Depart-ment are likely to remember the old, dilapidated piano that sat in the corner of the band room. “The previous piano pedals and keys didn’t even work, and we called a profressional piano tuner to come bt check it out, the price to repair it cost an otrageous amount,” said music teacher Bernard Rose. When Elsa Huang, a budding pianist of four years and a student here at Cardozo complained to her mother, Anne Liu, about how terrible the school’s piano was and how she could barely play it, her mother offered to buy the school a new one. “The woman offered to give money to buy a piano and I went out to go look for one. I found one, came back and asked ‘Is this much okay?’ she said yes,” said Dr. Rose in astonishment. Elsa, who upon learning that her mother had offered to buy her a piano , felt guilty about how costly it was, insisting to her mother that she did not have to do this. “I felt bad because it was so expensive,” she said softly. When asked if the donation had been helpful, Dr. Rose re-plied, “Abosultely; we hardly have any money to buy instru-ments and last year we had hardly any repair money. Budget cuts are really strangling us.”

NEWS

cardozo gets a generous dontationBy Cecila Oh

He also said the piano has been an immense aid to his teach-ing: now the students can hear the proper notes are and listen to the music as it was written. “If you play baseball with a brokem bat, will you become a very successful hitter?” he said. “My initial reaction was just, wow. It’s wonderful that there are people who would do this for their kid and other people’s children; it’s very generous. It will not only benefit her but other students as well”+

Black Friday is the kick-off of the holiday shopping season. It can be both exhilarating and exhausting for many consumers. Shop-pers of all ages travel to stores a variety of stores to get deals on merchandise ranging from ten percent, all the way to ninety per-cent, off. These great deals cause customers to flock to stores by the masses, creating lines that run through, around, and straight out of stores. However Black Friday comes complete with an array of disappointments and unfortunate accidents. One notable problem is that items get sold out quickly causing many people to go home without buying their intended purchases. ” Make an agenda of where you’re going to shop is one of the most important things you could do on Black Friday, so you could buy what you want before it gets sold out,” advised Senior, Samuel Choi. Many shoppers focus on buying electronics during Black Friday rather than buying clothes. “It was packed. And at some stores the line extended outside the store,” said Senior Shabab Waleed, who is a seasoned Black Friday shopper. Altercation is a frequent occurrence at stores on Black Friday. One of the most infamous fights that happened during last year’s Black Friday was the Oakland 4GB memory card war, when a mob of shoppers fought over memory cards. Black Friday fights and stampedes are the cause of death for some shoppers each year. For many, the pros of Black Friday will outweigh the cons, and

they will find themselves shopping online, from the comfort of their homes.

BEWARE OF BLACK FRIDAYBy Shahab Haidary

PHOTO BY CECILA OH

PHOTO BY SIJIN CHOI

By Cecila Oh

Staff Spotlight

the verdict

10 Questions By Shahab Haidary

U.S. History Juggernaut and Blues Lover, Richard Elgart, Takes our Questions.

ogy, but rather sports or music, because those are my other two loves.

If you could have picked a different career, what would it be?I would be the announcer for the New York Yankees, or I would have become a sports talk host. Or a rock or blues guitarist. Or even a talk radio host.

What advice do you give to your students regarding college? Can you give some to the senior class?Absolutely. After the AP exam, I spend a lot of time with my students on it. They get a project to do over Christmas vacation. The best advice I would give is to start your col-lege search, at the latest, over Christmas vaca-tion of junior year. There`s so much pressure involved in the college application process. There are a lot of websites I tell my students to go to, and to Google search colleges and do the personality profiles. Everybody`s family situation is different, and some people can-not do this, but if I had to do this, all over again, I would go away for college. I encour-age that, but I know financial situations make it impossible or some parents don’t want their children to go away. But, I do regret not going away for college.

What do your students mean to you?They mean a great deal to me. They are very special people and not because they’re smart. As far as I’m concerned, “smart” people are a dime a dozen; it’s their character that really appeals to me. They’re just the greatest kids that I have fun being around.

When did you start teaching at Cardozo? What was is it like then?It was great; I taught, for the first portion of my teaching career, in the Bronx. I started teaching at Cardozo in 1995. I love coming here; the kids are great and the staff is very professional. And it’s a shorter trip from my home.

How has Cardozo changed over the years?Well, I think we have more diver-sity now than when I first came here. We have had a tremendous influx of people from South Asia, for example, since I came to the school. And basically, that’s the dif-ference: the student population now is much more diverse than it was in 1995.

Why did you decide to become a teacher?I remember the exact moment! I was a sopho-more in high school and I would always see this teacher with a big crowd of students around him. And you could see that they were paying attention to what he had to say and he had a big impact on their lives. I want-ed to have that big of an impact on people’s lives so I decided to become a teacher at that exact moment.What is your favorite part of teaching?I love the students. The students are friendly and humorous, and they laugh at my jokes. I mean, what can be better? I just love the kids as a whole.

What’s your favorite time period of history to teach about? Why?I most enjoy teaching about the start of the Cold War because it really enables us to take a look at the two different sides and how they

came about. The United States and the Soviet Union had

two different viewpoints to what the world should be like and I find that interesting.

There’s speculation that you will retire af-

ter this school year. Is that true?

Well, to be honest, I started off this year fully intending to

retire at the end of the year, so that original “rumor” would be correct. However, I’m having such a good time this year; I have such great classes and students that I’m giv-ing some thought to continue my teaching next year. So, to make long story short, I’m not really sure.

What are your plans after retiring?I’m going to switch to the other side of the desk. I’m going to sign up for many continu-ing education programs at various colleges and take some courses. There are several pro-grams for retirees; take a few mini courses and you’re encouraged to teach a couple of courses, in that setting. If I were to teach, I wouldn’t teach American History or psychol-

8

“As far as I’m

concerned, ‘smart’ people are a dime a

dozen; it’s their character that

really appeals to me.”

PHOTO BY DIANA EBRAHIMI

Events

9

Cardozo held its annual College Night event on the evening of October 16. Over 160 representatives from different colleges came to visit Car-dozo and offer insight into their respective institutions. College representatives did not only talk about the basic entrance re-quirements but also answered any questions that the students had about a particular college. During the event, students and parents walked around the building to pick up brochures and to get information. The event was open to the public, not just Cardozo students. "This event has been going on ever since the college office has been established,” said college counselor Jackie Kucker. “You have to ask questions to get information about college; you can not tell much from the brochures,” said Arista President, Margaret Wang. As for the visitors, students came away with a wealth of knowledge and better understanding of the application process. “College night really helped me because I got a chance to visit some of my dream colleges. It was crowded in some of the popular college rooms and this event gave me an idea of some colleges that I may want to go to,” said junior Changyao Huang.

College Night Done Right By Nikola Skibola

Cardozo takes Halloween seriously this year with its two events to celebrate the funfilled holiday. The Cardozo Halloween Dance first started as a request from seniors last year and became extremely popular thereby returning this year as well. ... “The dance was amazing; it had great music and I’m kind of upset that I never went to last year’s Halloween dance; but now that I went to the dance I feel great and excited for the many events and dances that will come along in my last year of high school,” said senior Emily Rosen, who dressed up as a doctor. The Halloween Carnival was also held for children of younger ages. The cafeteria was transformed into a crafts/game room with face painting, balloon tying, and pumpkin decorating. “I look forward to bringing my son every year. The students are friendly to him and friendly to everyone else around them. My son usually falls asleep on the way home every time… because he has so much fun being there,” said science teacher Joshua Glasel.

Halloween Bash a Blast By Shahab Haidary

One of the biggest opportunities for students to raise funds for their clubs is the foreign food night, which takes place during the parent teach-er conference twice a year. This year’s first event was on October 25th with 73 clubs bringing in food to sell to parents, teachers and students. The night consisted of eating, dancing, and fund-raising. Different types of delicious food were spread across the cafeteria representing each club. “I’m very impressed by what the students have done and how well they behave, and how organized they are. The food is delicious too,” said par-ent Laura Lox. The SO sold tickets for 50 cents each. The tickets could be used at dif-ferent tables to buy the food that tempted taste buds. Ticket prices for the foods were set by the clubs. “We sold a crazy amount of tickets, so that means clubs are getting a crazy amount of tickets, which means they’re making money, which is great. The food looks delicious and everyone is having a good time; I hope the clubs make a lot of money,” said SO President Maria Iskaros.

Foreign Food Night Delights By Maria Brango

PHOTO BY ANDY LEECardozo’s Arista Honor Society presents College Night.

PHOTO BY MARIA BRANGOVarious cuisines on display at Foreign Food Night.

Mr. and Mrs. Shin pose with their child at the Halloween Carnival.

PHOTO BY SHEILA CLARK

the verdict

If you do not laugh at least once a day, then you will explode. Whether or not that statement is true, you will definitely get enough gut-wrenching laughs at Cardozo Night Live (CNL) to last a lifetime. CNL will take place on December 14th, around 7:30 p.m. Tickets are only $5. According to director, Ara Muradyan, half the proceeds will go to Hurrican San-dy relief efforts. The show is fairly new; this year will mark its third anniversary. “The skits have matured from the previous shows and CNL gets better each year.” said senior Melina Bougat-sos. Play Production was close to being cancelled at the beginning of the year due to budge cuts. However, this move only fueled the students to protest the adminis-tration. And they won, as Play Production will remain within the Cardozo curriculum. “The first day I joined Play Pro, they said it shut down. I got my whole family to call.” said freshman Grant Koster.This year’s iteration of CNL is expected to dazzle audi-ences and stimulate laughter. Sophomore Nick Spathis even went out on a limb and claimed that this year’s CNL will be “one of the funniest shows in Cardozo his-tory. The fact that we could lose it, makes us want to make it the best.”

Looking for a fun way to learn and celebrate other cul-tures at one of the most anticipated events of the year? Then come to Cardozo’s annual, Multi-Cultural Show. Acts vary-ing from Spanish dancing to Portuguese rapping all express the vibrant backgrounds of the many students that make up the school community. Students prepare for the Multi-Culture Show from almost the beginning of October, right up to the very last second before their performances. “We practice everyday, from 3:00-7:00, p.m., on our dance routines,” said the president of the Caribbean Club, Priscilla Sasser. Audience members are in for a treat at this year’s show, as no performance is replicated. Club presidents and members have worked to make this show different from past shows by adding exciting new material. The show will take place on December 7th at 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the S.O. store or at the show.

“People will surprise you. We take on the role of differ-ent characters. You will definitely see another side of your students.” said senior Charlotte Moran. She also hinted that this year’s show will feature, “Inappropri-ate family members, sarcastic people, imaginary best friends and a “Black Swan” parody.” So save yourself a boring Friday night with Netflix and your cat and go to Cardozo Night Live!

MULTICULTURAL SHOW SET TO AMAZEBy Nia Canady

CNL MAKES ITS COMEBACKBy Briana Stephenson

11NOVEMBER 2012

Previews

kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time!

12

“Breaking Dawn” By Sasha Persaud

SECTION

the verdict

If you are a “Twilight” fanatic like I am, you would understand me when I say this movie was absolutely amazing! It was the perfect way to conclude the “Twilight” Saga.

The characters and the setting were beautiful, as usual. However there was something spe-cial about this one, Bella became a vampire, which made her look absolutely perfect, like the rest of the vampire family. Bella and Edward’s child was so adorable. She was the main character of the story as most of it revolved around her. There was so much mystery, action, and emotion in this movie that it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! It’s funny that most people think that only

teenagers are into the twilight movies,because it’s actually not true. The sec-ond day after the movie was released, the tickets were sold, but low and behold, the theater was filled with more adults than kids! Whether you are a team Jacob or team Edward fan, I guarantee you will love the final part of the Twilight Saga. As a matter of fact, you don’t even have to be a “Twilight” fan to enjoy the great scenes and incredible story line of this movie. When thinking of this movie after you have watched it I am almost certain the only word that will come to mind is “Wow!”

“Life of Pi” a Memorable Movie By Jihan Ramroop Boy lost at sea, check. Ship sinks with whole family aboard, check. Boy finds him-self on lifeboat with 450 pound Bengal tiger –wait… what? Life of Pi is no ordinary movie, it far surpasses others of its generation and has the capability to leave you stunned and still thinking about the movie long after exiting the theater. Based on Yann Martel’s bestselling novel of the same title, the movie does the book justice by bringing to life Martel’s characters with stunning setting and sound and many visual effects that accomplish the brilliance and complexity of the novel. Set in Pondicherry, India, the movie begins at a relatively slow place that will bore some viewers. But this backdrop of the life of Piscine Molitor Patel, a sixteen year old Indian boy, played by Suraj Sharma, serves a purpose. It tells the life of Piscine, or Pi as he calls himself, at a young age because of his taunting classmates who dub him the nickname ‘Pissing’ Patel. Academy-Awarding winning director Ang Lee gives glimpses of Pi’s life as he grows on his father’s Zoo before his family decides to move to Canada because of the politi-cal atmosphere in India at the time. Born into the Hindu religion, with a father whose belief remains in science and a mother who strongly affirms her traditional Hindu faith, Piscine is the odd one in the family, believing and faithfully practicing three religions: Christianity, Islam and Hinduism even though his family frowns upon his beliefs. Pi spends 227 days alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with only the company of one animal who has survived the shipwreck, a nearly 500 pound tiger. One scene that has you completely mesmerized and drawn into a stupor is when Pi and the tiger, Richard Parker, are staring into the depths of the inky blue Pacific and Pi sees to the bottom of the ocean. Lee holds nothing back as he captures this intense mo-ment of insanity and hopelessness while depicting what it truly means to be lost at sea. This movie will positively leave you with a satisfying ending. Its brilliant story line will take you away to the vastness of the Pacific, and will leave you with a reawakened soul as you grasp the true meaning of life.

the Highlight of the Twilight Saga

OPINIONS

13november 2012

Hurricane Sandy hit the tri-state area on October 29th to the 30th, knocking power out in over 8 million homes. Over 800,000 people lost power in New York City alone. I live in Douglaston Manor, Queens, and on November 6th, a week after the hurricane, most of my neigh-borhood, including my family, was still without power. Yet, liv-ing through an extended black-out was shockingly enjoyable. I loved being without power. Although it was very frustrat-ing, showering in the dark, and eating family dinner by candle light, it definitely had a redeem-ing quality. During the power outage, I really got to reconnect with my family. It was much eas-ier to hold a conversation with my siblings, without the televi-sion blaring in the background. While, most of my peers, teach-ers, and neighbors absolutely

I recently received an email from the Obama campaign read-ing, “We won because of you.” No you didn’t. I and millions of other New Yorkers had nothing to do with President Obama’s resounding victory over the chal-lenger Mitt Romney. In fact, the email should have read, “We won because of all of you liv-ing in battleground states.” The Electoral College, which elects the president in the United States, must go. Now. Not be-cause it consists of corrupt offi-cials (although, that may be the case) or because it takes bribes (which also may be true). In-stead, the Electoral College must hit the shower because it is incompatible with the very principles of our democratic government. The power to elect the president should be or-dained to the very people that will be directly affected, not the elite few who will thrive re-gardless of which party wins. During Election Day and thereaf-ter, many potential voters I knew refused to vote due to the excuse

“my vote does not matter”. And with good reason. The last time New York’s electoral votes have ever gone to the Republican Party was in 1984 when Ronald Regan won the presidency. Ever since, New York has consistently voted Democrat, which in turn, has discouraged the Republican voters in the state. Why should I go through the hassle of vot-ing for Mitt when I know that my state’s representative have already made up their mind?

By using this “winner takes all” method, the voices of certain vot-ing blocs are completely muted. There are many proposed alter-natives to the Electoral College. Some want to assign electoral votes based on local regions. Others want to abolish the system wholly, instituting a popular vote system. My job is not to advocate on behalf of one specific solution. What I am here to do is to merely point out a dangerous threat, the Electorate, and its negative

implications on our democracy. Second term president Barack Obama declared to Americans to “exercise their right to vote” as it is one of the most important priv-ileges granted by a free society. But why vote when doing so is futile and fruitless? Mr. President and members of Congress, if is it true that our government is a representative one and not an oli-garchy, I strongly urge the elimi-nation of the Electoral College. Sincerely, A Disgruntled American

By Sijin Choi

A Sandy Surprise By Charlotte Morandreaded the power outage, I would encouraged them time and time again to make a bad situation into a good one. If you didn’t lose your home, or a loved one in this storm, you haven’t got a reason to complain. My mentality during the dark days at home was that it could have been a thousand times worse for my family and friends, which is why I kept reminding everyone that we didn’t lose our homes like hundreds of families did. Between the lack of available gas and dropping temperatures, we were indefinitely stuck at home. So, instead of logging into Facebook and Skype, or blaring music from my iTunes, I hung out in the living room with my family. Some nights we played poker and some we played mo-nopoly. I even got to finish four books, by candle light of course. At night, dividing up the blankets

in the house was always difficult, regardless of the vast amount of blankets we had. It was so cold that, I slept with more than five blankets most nights. For nearly the whole week, we went out to eat. As it turns out, cooking dinner is pretty difficult without simple kitchen applianc-es and lights. I didn’t mind eat-ing out for dinner at all… pizza should be dinner every night. I wish I could tell everyone to make the best out of the next blackout. Take advantage of time without appliances, lights, computers, and cell phones. Play board games and ask your parents about their childhoods. Mend on-going feuds with your older sis-ter. Write a book. Play an instru-ment. Draw a self portrait. The possibilities are endless! You’d be surprised how easy it is to be productive without all the distrac-tions that come with electricity.

Jury BoxHow did Hurricane Sandy

affect you?

“My power went out but there was no property damage. I had no power for four days.”

Dylan Williams - Junior

Mafanta Keita - Junior“I had broken windows and two trees fell on our cars. We had no cars for a week.”

A Disgruntled American

Badminton club making a racket

By Andy Lee

Cardozo Clubs

the verdict 14

Whether you’re a novice or pro, the Badminton club is right for you. They meet every Monday, periods 9-10. President Tracy Zheng, vice president Redmond Xia, and advisor Bernard Haggerty all agree, “Anyone can join.” It is a club where you get to play badminton with your friends and hang out. You can sometimes play with the teachers as they tend to drop by. “It is a lot of fun,” says Jeff Tsui, a member since last year. There are no competitions, they usually play outside near the front of the school by trailers 1-4. There are two nets setup to play on, you can play with up to four people. When they aren’t playing outside, they are in the teacher’s cafeteria. There is a fair amount of people at the club. There are many rac-quets and shuttlecocks to use. So you can practice on the side by yourself or just play you own game with someone while waiting to play on the net. You don’t have to play if you don’t want to, instead just enjoy the atmosphere around you. Badminton is a fairly easy sport to play. There are experienced player there that can teach you how to play. So join now, and get your chance to play badminton.

Are you passionate about singing? Every Tuesday and Wednes-day they meet of each week you can join the Vocal Workshop A capella Club in room 107, after tenth period, with music teacher Mr. David Goldman. There are about 30-40 students who attend the club. The minute you walk in the room you have to write your name on a sheet, you relax and or practice with someone next to you. You don’t have to sing by yourself, you can sing with another person as well. Every time you get off your seat to sing you gain points and whoever gets the most points by the end of the year, wins a prize. “It’s your own personal concert,” said Junior, Diana Bahram Za-deh Ebrahimi. The Vocal Workshop Acapella Club can help you build confidence and break your stage fright. The one thing that everyone shares in this club is love for music and singing, every-one in it helps each other. You don’t have to be a professional, you just need to have potential. Being a part of the Vocal Workshop Acapella, you will work with many different styles of singing which will help you expand your interests in, not only vocals, but music as a whole. Members create new friendships while growing as musicians and doing what they love most. Luis Trinidad, a senior said, “We criticize a person’s singing for the better, not for the worse, because we are always there to help and not ruin people’s dreams.” For more information, ask Mr. Goldman, or just come in on Tuesday or We d n e s d a y and witness what it’s all about. And as the poster that hangs in the center of the music room re-minds us “No music, no life. Know music, know life.”

Find Your Inner Soprano at A capella

By Yenisel Ravelo

Autism Speaks is one of the clubs that makes Cardozo a school with a heart. Club presidents, Emily Rosen and Nathalia Ayala Agu-ilera, are very passionate about their cause. Their focus is to spread awareness of Autism and to fundraise in order to make the lives of the families, that have children with the disorder, easier.“It’s important to spread awareness because Autism doesn’t have specific symptoms or a cure… Autism af-fects every 1 in 88 children” explained Emily Rosen. Emily first joined Autism Speaks because she was in-spired by her cousin who has autism. She wanted to help any way she could. The club is affiliated with the official Autism Speaks Organization, and through them, Emily was able to par-

ticipate in fundraising events such as the annual bowl-a-thon and spread awareness of the disorder. One of the events Autism Speaks

Club has arranged at Cardozo is: Light it Up Blue, where ev-eryone wears a blue shirt to represent Autism awareness.

Nathalia, the other president of the club, joined Autism Speaks with a different motive. “I have an interest in psychology and Autism

is a disorder having to do with the brain… it is interesting.” said Nathalia, at a club meeting.Nathalia and Emily wish to help those with the

disorder and to spread awareness while also learning more about Au-tism Spectrum Disorder and treatment.

uniting to promote Autism awarenessBy Lauren Poon

Photo by Andy Lee Photo by Andy LeeStaff vs. students in a game of badmitten. Students singing in the halls.

Sports

15November 2012

GRANT YOUR VOTE = $50,000By Lauren Poon

Cardozo Knights AdvanceBy Shahab Haidary The Cardozo boys fencing team is one of the most formidable school teams in the city. This is due in part to the dedica-tion that Coach Seth Skolnick and assistant coach Karen Roginski have given to the boys fencing team. Both coaches have years of experience in the art of fencing. Seth, a Cardozo alumnus, was Roginski’s student at Cardozo when she coached the boys fenc-ing team. Now, Roginski helps coach the boys and girls fencing team and Skolnick coaches the boys fencing team in Cardozo as well as another fencing team in Jericho. Fencing, for those who don’t know, is a sport in which two people duel each other us-ing two different styles and swords: foil and epee. The difference between them with epee swords the target is anywhere on the body ex-cept for the bell of the weapon. Foil swords, however, only target the torso of the opponent. Each dueler is pitted against another player. The goal is to score more hits on the opponent while avoiding his attacks at the same time. The fencing team relies on a combination of footwork, weapon control, focus, and repeti-tion of skills, which are vital to their team’s success. The team also follows a code of con-duct in which all players must have proper attire and show respect towards their oppo-nents. The coach also works with the fencers to improve on areas they are having trouble in. The team trains five days a week from 4 to

ing a game.” He believes foil is harder than epee but more strategic because of the small target area you can hit an opponent. It may

“It’s time to act as one, Cardozo,” Says Chris Milani, physical education teacher and wrestling coach, to his gym classes. Around the halls are signs that say, “HELP CARDOZO WRESTLING… Text 1634pbf to 95248.” The wrestling team entered to win an online grant and to be sponsored by Clorox. If Cardozo wins this grant, the school will use the money to turn room B41 into a state-of-the-art facility that can be used for the wrestling team, physi-cal education classes, and dance classes. Cardozo is home to approximately 4,000 students that need resources. The physi-cal education department has been hor-ribly neglected because of budget reduc-tions. City athletic teams are struggling with the facilities they have to work with. Half of the wrestling team practices in the basement hallways and the other half practices in an empty classroom. “We need as much help as we can get… and

we actually use Clorox bleach twice a day [when cleaning the room],” says Mr. Milani. To win the grant money, the wres-tling team needs you to vote everyday. The students and staff of Cardozo need to work together as a team and get as many people as we can to vote everyday. “We were previously in 3rd place, but now we’re in 10th… We really need your help,” says junior wrestler, Tommy Qu. The grand prize is a $50,000 grant, but there are other prizes schools can win too. The “Three Voters’ Choice Prizes” is a $25,000 grant to the school with the most votes in each nomination category (play, explore, create). The “Three Judges’ Pick Prizes” is also a $25,000 grant but it is awarded to one school in each of the three categories and is picked by the judging panel. Schools are judged by the quality of their submis-sion, the impact of the program on children, and the adherence to the contest theme.

We’ve got a good shot, Cardozo. It doesn’t cost anything to contribute and you can text or vote online. Let’s work as a team and win this for our school. This contest doesn’t go on forever. Polls are open until De-cember 19th, so vote everyday until then!

6:30 p.m. in which they have practice duels with each other and perform drills to condi-tion themselves for fencing competitions. Injuries do occur during prac-tices and games, but they are usually minor since the team is always covered in protec-tive armor. The armor, at first, feels sweaty and un-settling, but after a while players, get used to it. Kenneth Hoe, team manager said, “Fenc-ing is a hard sport to learn and requires intense training and focus to mas-ter but worth it in the end.” Senior Nathan Leung added, “Epee is easier and more fun because in epee you can hit anyone anywhere and you have a wide variety of options, al-lowing for fast paced game-play and variety of attacks to open up.” One of the foil players Max Warshaw who has fenced since the 8th grade said, “Fenc-ing is all about practice, if you practice more and more you can become a pro at the sport. It’s about experience and hard work.” He says, “Fencing comes with a lot of pres-sure but the team spirit keeps you going dur- Fencer lunges towards opponent.

uniting to promote Autism awarenessStudents singing in the halls.

PHOTO BY ALEXIS YAU

16 the verdict

Sports

Fighting Till The end With a solid mix of freshman, sophomores, juniors, and se-niors, the Cardozo Girls Var-sity soccer team have enjoyed a highly successful season with their latest victory a 1-0 win against Bayside. Tied for first in their divi-sion, the girls are focused on the playoffs, and focused on accomplishing their goals ( pun intended) and win the PSAL city championship. The girls work together and have all contributed to the team’s suc-cess. Amongst the players who have made the biggest impact are senior captain Amy Gomez who has led the team and has scored 8 goals this season, and seniors Kelly Bouzi and Jac-queline Porras have contributed with 3 goals a piece, even while serving as defense man, posi-

tions that who tend to not score. Amongst the other players who have made key contributions are breakout sophomore Brit-tany Ehrlich with 18 goals, and freshman Hayley Schade and Sim-one Gmuca who have amassed six and three goals respectively. “I am excited for the playoffs”, said freshman Hayley Schade. “I think we are the best team in the city and I’m confi-dent we’ll win the championship .” Now that the team is headed for the playoffs, they look to keep the win-

ning going, and achieve the ultimate prize that they have set out to capture. After a 2-1 win against Leon M. Goldstein high school in the first round of

the playoffs, the girls suffered a double overtime loss 1-0 to Bard early high school. Con-gratulations to the girls on a wonderful hard fought season.

Title Slips through their FingersBy Kianna Bey

Cardozo’s volleyball team is concluding its season with an impressive record. They are 7-1, making them the number one team in the Queens divi-sion. With the semifinals fin-ished, the Judges completed yet another successful season. “The season went really

well,” said Coach Daniel Sca-rola, “Considering that the team is really different. We lost five starters, and eight seniors in total. The chemis-try is very good and the play-ers are getting along well.” Since last year’s seniors have graduated, the team has expe-

rienced a complete re-vamp. Two players that were previ-ously not on the team became starters, and the new team is a mix of people who were on the team last year, or are new. Ash-ley Grubler, one of the team’s key players and recipient of the PSAL Wingate Award left

the team with an unsure future. “I didn’t expect to recover as quickly as we did,” said Scarola.Even though the Judges lost their semi- final game to Bronx High School of Science, their record does show a season of hard work and dedication.

By David Gmuca

PHOTO BY ALEXIS YAUGirls varsity volleyball giving it their all.

Lady judges on transition offense.PHOTO BY SAMUEL VILAIN