The International Insider » facts

Sophomores Get to Know Health

Celeste Chow and Jamie Miller — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:23:00 +0000

Here at our school bake sales and junk food are forbidden for health reasons but yet students are not taught healthy eating habits. Health class is not taught here or at many New York City schools.

Since health class is not offered, the SPARK, Ms. Hattie Slaughter, at our school decided to incorporates health into advisory. SPARK is a program that offers individual and group assistance on positive alternatives. Even though Ms. Slaughter teaches the sophomore advisories with regular health lessons, it is not the same as having an actual health class.

According the Department of Education, health class is not mandated for students to take as a specific class, which is why we learn health class through advisory.

Health class should be mandated to take because having health class through other classes is not always beneficial. By not having a specific class dedicated to health it is not guaranteed that you will have a health lesson everyday and it is important for students to learn about health.

“Health class is to inform students on their mental and physical health and to teach good eating and exercise habits. It is also to teach the importance of health. By teaching health poor nutrition, and drug and alcohol awareness are prevented,” said Ms. Slaughter.

According to Ms Pastena only one health credit is required to graduate, so the lessons that would be taught in a traditional health class are taught throughout the four years of advisory.

“Learning about health class in advisory is important because we get to learn about how to live a longer healthy life and the bad effects of drugs,” said sophomore Ashley Heyne.

Ms. Slaughter is not always available to teach health lessons, which is why health should be part of our curriculum. Without a health class students don’t learn proper things they need to know for their everyday teen life.

The few Advisors who are teaching about health are helping their students to become more aware of their bodies. Ms. Orlando’s advisory is currently focusing on alcoholism and drug abuse.

“I think it’s important for students to learn about health because it helps them become aware of their bodies, as well as the poor influences in society,” said English teacher Melissa Orlando.

According to Ms. Pepe, health is an important subject that covers everything from nutrition to issues that teens face in today. It may help students to talk about topics that they may not be able to discuss with their parents or friends. It also can help in knowing the facts on certain subjects instead of guessing.

International Ice

The Insider — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:18:07 +0000

TORONTO, CANADA- Traveling to the Antarctic with Students on Ice taught me things that I may never have learned without this unique experience. Of course, we all gained significant knowledge about the South Pole – facts and figures and such. However, it is what I learned through the experience of being surrounded by such extraordinary people in such an extraordinary environment that has truly impacted my life.

Forming the strong relationships I did with the students on the trip lead to my realization of a few different things. For one, I learned that everybody has something to offer, whatever that is, and because that thing is unique to that one person, it is valuable. Furthermore, to label or judge people because of the way they look, talk, or where they’re from does nothing but limit a relationship. What I am referring to rather is tolerance, in that in order to form a strong relationship with someone, one must be able to embrace their perhaps less desirable qualities as much as they embrace their desirable qualities.

For me, one of the emerging topics of this trip was passion. The thing that struck me most all of the educators and chaperones that were on the trip was that they have all followed their passions. Before this trip, I had always thought that I would go to business school, get a degree, get a job that I can live with, and practice my passions on the side. However, meeting these truly inspiring adults has led me to question my own ideals and priorities that most definitely translate into life choices that I will soon be making. Talking to other students that were on the trip, I do believe that this coming of age was shared by many.

Being in an environment as untouched as Antarctica guided me to a realization of the fragility of the planet. Needless to say, it is difficult to imagine what somebody’s actions in New York, Toronto, or Shanghai have to do with the Antarctic. However, I have learned that much of what humans do around the world effects the environment, whether that environment is Central Park or Deception Island in Antarctica. Furthermore, small changes in the environment may not affect human beings; however, they may have a tremendous impact of the environment.

For example, it was a common sight throughout the trip to see penguins laying belly-down in the snow. The penguin equivalent to a mist fan on a warm summer’s day, lying in the snow is one way penguins cool down in the heat of the summer. This sight led me to wonder what were to happen if the earth continued to warm even gradually over decades. Therefore, the way humans choose to live their lives can have a direct impact on not only their surrounding environment, but the global environment.

Indeed – a delicate planet we inhabit.

Students on Ice!

Aleksandra Makowska and Simit Christian — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:17:09 +0000

Sitting in a classroom always gets boring sooner or later. For two weeks, we had the chance to switch our typical classmates for penguins, seals, ice, and more penguins as we made our way to Antarctica, which is called the “Greatest classroom on Earth.”

Students on Ice (SOI), which has given Antarctica this title, is an organization that organizes educational expeditions for students each year to the Arctic and Antarctic.

“The expedition’s education program has three main goals. The first goal is to promote learning about polar fundamentals. The second goal is to engage people to consider environmental problems and solutions. The third goal is to encourage everyone to take responsibility, join generation G, and make change,” said Tim Straka, Education Director of SOI.

Our expedition to Antarctica included not only 65 students from around the world, but also a group of 25 SOI staff, veteran Antarctic researchers, journalists, and the ship crew. All of these people were happy to tell the students everything they knew and share their experiences, while the setting of their stories lay right outside the ship’s window.

The first days onboard weren’t too great. When the ship’s lounge was filled with people seasick, napping near trash-cans, moaning, and cursing the ocean, we knew we were crossing the Drake Passage to reach the Antarctic continent. Geologist Fred Roots attempted to distract us by telling us all about the land around us, and the sea that covered it up. He explained that the currents circled Antarctica clockwise and were then squeezed between South America and Antarctica, forming the infamous Drake Passage. Later, the students and staff walked the decks with barf bags in their hands all while pointing to a distant, exclaiming ‘breaching whale, over there!’

“I got the pictures of the humpback whales jumping out of the water all three times, this must be pretty rare. I am lucky I had my camera with me at the right moment,” said Chicago SOI participant Alex Brewer.

The Antarctic ornithologist Santiago Imberti pointed to penguins, discussing their mating habits, life spans, biology, and even the color of their poop. All the while, we were surrounded by thousands of the penguins on a tiny Antarctic Island. Completely unafraid of humans, they wobbled along in a straight line until they reached a cliff to the shore. They stood around for a long while until one impatient penguin shoved another into the dangerous waters. Then, the rest followed.

The polar expert Olle Carlsson explained why the penguins were so hesitant in their dives into the water, the leopard seal. The leopard seal would, if successful in its hunt, play a game of cat- and- mouse with the penguin. We crossed our fingers that no such seal would appear in the water, yet we oooh-ed and aaah-ed when we saw an adorable elephant seal sleeping on shore and scratching its belly and back. This scratching, Carlsson explained, was called molting, the shedding of skin, and we sympathized with the seal. At another island, we even saw seven of them piled between two rocks, portraying their liking for body contact. The cold ice beneath them did not seem to bother them, despite their lack of fur or feathers.

“Isn’t that amazing,” Carlsson always said in his Swedish accent after mentioning a strange fact about Antarctic wildlife.

Explorer David Fletcher planned a hike at 5:30 in the morning to the top of a steep glacier. We took two steps forward and one step back as our rain boots slid on the slippery slope or were stuck in the ice, but we made it to the top feeling a sense of victory and accomplishment. Later, after a good breakfast, we did it over again on another glacier and took ice core samples that have existed for as long as half a century. Fletcher explained just how valuable such research was and how these samples were artifacts of the past, air, weather, and even wildlife.

We took some deep breaths, and then we slid down the glacier. A half hour hike concluded with a 20 second slide. Students didn’t hesitate to climb back up only to slide down one more time. Everyone got to his or her feet slowly after the slides ended, checking for any holes in pants from the slide, and there were plenty to find. This activity was obviously fun, but by sliding down we gathered an understanding of ice texture, glacier steepness, and much more.

“My pant pocket came right off, but I didn’t care. The slide was worth it,” said Palestinian SOI participant Zayne Abudagga.

This type of constructive learning is perhaps one of the most effective ways to relish an education mainly because it involves all of the human senses. Students can truly experience and absorb their learning this way, even if it means sentencing themselves to a distinct penguin smell for weeks. And that is exactly what many of the 65 students admitted happened during the expedition.

We were chosen as ambassadors from Staten Island to experience Antarctica and share our experiences when we returned. We learned many things about penguins, seals, geography, history, and the Poles. We also learned that nothing is as educational as experience itself.

Sneaker Selling Savvy

Nicole Margolies — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:52:52 +0000

In the bitter November pre-dawn chill, Glenn Kugelman arrived in Manhattan at 5 a.m., beginning what would be a fifteen-hour wait on line. He was there to score three pairs of Nike sneakers, to be released that day only. They were “hyper strikes”, meaning fewer than 300 exist. Fifteen hours is nothing; he’s seen people wait five days.

In fact, for one design, only thirty six pairs were produced. It was a huge event. Ninth in line, Glenn watched a news reporter interview a man ahead of him. He returned home that day with three pairs of sneakers that have since sold on eBay for $900 each.

Glenn has an encyclopedic knowledge of sneaker brands and history – he can describe limited edition sneakers, tell the stories behind them, including which artists worked on them, and what they’re worth just like our history teachers wish we’d memorize facts.

“They’re sneakerheads,” said junior Martin Sanchez.

Sneaker-whats? Teens so interested in sneakers that they collect them, often buying from high-end sneaker boutiques. They read sneaker-oriented magazines like Sole Collector. More impressively, they are finding ways to turn their hobby into a profitable enterprise.

These, of course, are not your parents’ shoes. “To some people, sneakers are trophies that they don’t wear,” said junior Justin Roa.

Some sneaker ideas are just bizarre. Soho shop “A Life” teamed with Reebok to produce its pumps in bright yellow tennis-ball fuzz for a Black Friday special in 2006, and has been selling them in a different color each year since. Not all understand the hype, however.

“Shoes protect your feet. They’re not meant to be a primary fashion accessory,” said junior John Shiavone.

Yet comprehend it or not, they are.

Now Glenn enjoys ‘friends and family’ discounts on the weekends, is notified of releases nine months in advance, and has a definite edge: “I can sell sneakers at 40 percent off retail price and still make a profit,” said Glenn.

And profit he does. He’s attended sneaker conventions where, expense of renting a table inclusive, he’s racked up $150 in shoe sales in one day.

He doesn’t see his interest in sneakers fading in the future, and he’s milking the present for all it’s worth.

“There are a lot of good releases at the end of this year,” Glenn revealed, adding that “they’re bringing back Jordans in the most sought-after colors, and a few new ones.”

Sneakerheads, get them while you can.

Smoking Kills Young and Old: Dangers and Diseases Explained

Matea Kulusic — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:10:09 +0000

Today many people smoke, from people on the big screen to people you see walking down the street. One may think it is okay to smoke. Wrong! Yes, there are people who smoke that seem healthy, but eventually the diseases and possibly early death will catch up with them. So, a word of advice, don’t smoke!

Smoking is harmful. It causes diseases, and it doesn‘t just harm the person smoking, but everyone around as well. Some people might not know the affects of smoking, but most people do know, due to the many commercials warning them of what can happen. Smoking shouldn’t be something people do, and here’s why.

According to www.smoking-facts.net, cigarettes contain a lot of chemicals that are proven to be cancerous and harmful, such as: acetone, tar, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and nicotine. Tar is used to patch up roads. Acetone is used to remove nail polish.

Carbon monoxide is fatal in large amounts. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man. And the most disturbing one yet, formaldehyde is very poisonous, and is used to preserve corpses.

“Some of the possible side-affects are COPD- (chronic abstractive pulmonary disease). One of these is emphysema. Smoking can also lead to lung cancer, cardiac problems, and other problems of the vital organs of the body. Even secondhand smoke has proven to cause health problems to people who inhale it,” said school nurse RN Brigid Davies.

So, what is our school doing to raise awareness about smoking?

“We tell kids not to smoke, we put up signs that say not to smoke, and we have literature and classes on the harmful affects of tobacco,” said guidance Counselor Ms. Hattie Slaughter.

People nowadays know that smoking is harmful, and they still smoke.

According to Ms. Slaughter, teens start smoking, because they are curious, or pressured by peers, or think it might make them feel grown up. And what’s worse, once a person starts smoking, they are hooked. Others, however, are smarter.

There have been incidents of students caught smoking on school property. According to Ms. Slaughter, smoking on school property is illegal, and the students caught had to listen to long lectures about smoking.

“Yeah, I got caught smoking. They suspended me. I don’t care much. I still smoke sometimes, but not around the school,” said an anonymous student from our school.

Many smokers do have white, beautiful smiles, fine breathing, and don’t have any problems that come from smoking. But don’t be fooled. Those problems don’t happen overnight. It takes years to develop them, and usually when these problems do start to appear, it might be too late to fix them.

“Smoking is disgusting. It’s tempting to try and the majority of people have tried it. But in the end I realized that it doesn’t do anything good for anyone and I think people shouldn’t do it,” said freshman Rachel Kogan.

Smoking is a nasty habit. It can be broken, but it tends to be a long and painful process for the smokers. So what is the best solution to prevent cancer and diseases caused by smoking? Don’t smoke! Every person gets one life. Is it worth to lose it to an illness caused by smoking?

Shortchanged on Sex Ed?

Nicole Margolies — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:50:47 +0000

You may or may not have read Volume 3, Issue 4 of the Insider, but if you at least flipped the pages, chances are you noticed the headline “Let’s Talk About Sex.”

We may not flinch from mentioning the unmentionables, but our school’s still short on sexual education.

Twenty two US states, plus DC, mandate sexual education.

As of September 1, 2009, New York is still not among them.

Many will receive the infamous “talk” from a family member, or some offhanded tips from a friend, but check the numbers: more than six in ten high school students will have sex before they graduate, and 110 teens will become pregnant today, according to getthefactsny.org.

“We should definitely have health education in school,” said junior Raven Fakoya, adding “students get their knowledge on sex from the streets.”

Data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute reveals that fifty percent or more of teenage pregnancies in New York end in abortion.

Only three other states can claim likewise: New Jersey, Massachusetts and District of Columbia.

At least New Jersey and District of Columbia mandate Sex Ed.

It’s time for New York State to step up. Since it rejected federal funding for ineffective abstinence-only programs, state and federal governments have not replaced that funding for evidence-based sex education.

And when the Center for Disease Control reports that one in four teenage girls have a sexually transmitted infection, it’s clear students either don’t have the information they need, or aren’t using what they know.

We can’t change hormones but we can change some major misconceptions.

Some teens are going to have sex. But bombarded with enough of the facts, a fraction might sink in and incite them to be slightly safer about it.

You Know You’re in Switzerland When…

Ariana Chevalley — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:09:24 +0000

Searching the Internet for interesting facts about Switzerland, this reporter found and adapted facts about the Swiss. You know you’re Swiss if…

…you get frustrated if you go grocery shopping abroad and there aren’t at least 10 different varieties of chocolate and 15 kinds of cheese available.

When shopping in Switzerland there are always at least 15 to 20 different kinds of cheese available. The choices range from Swiss cheese (Emmentaler, Appenzeller, Thurbenthaler, Raclette) to French cheese and also Italian cheese. In Switzerland we have no such thing as the American “Swiss cheese”. Likewise, even the smallest shopping stores in Switzerland have at least an aisle of chocolate. Milk chocolate, chocolate with marzipan filling, chocolate with truffle filling, hazelnut-milk chocolate bars and all sorts of pralines can be purchased. That is the one thing about Switzerland that everyone gets right: we have the best chocolate in the world!

…you have learned three to four languages and think this is completely normal.

In Switzerland we speak our Swiss dialect, which is very different from high German. Our classes are taught in high German but everyone else speaks Swiss German. In the fifth grade, we began learning French and continue learning it until we finish school. In seventh grade, everyone learns English, which is continued until graduating from secondary school. By that time, we all speak Swiss German, high German, French and English. Later on in apprenticeships, we may also learn Italian or Spanish and sometimes also Latin.

…you walked to kindergarten without supervision wearing a large orange triangle around your neck.

In the two years of kindergarten every child attends, they have to wear a so called “chindsgi bändel” (translated: kindergarten ribbon). It is bright orange or yellow and has reflectors on it. From kindergarten through secondary school, children walk to and from school twice a day because lunch is served at home, not at school.

…when being asked to explain how certain things work in your country, you have to use the phrase”it differs for each canton, so…”

Switzerland is divided into 26 cantons, all with their own similar set of laws. As an example no two school systems are exactly alike. In the canton Zurich, secondary school is divided into A, B and C, and according to how good you are, you are place into one of them. If you’re good in school you go to A. From there you may take a test to go to gymnasium. If your sixth grade teacher sorted you into B or C, you cannot take the test but go on and do an apprenticeship. In Aarau you are sorted into secondary school in the fifth grade. In Geneva, the students are not strictly divided, but still have half of their classes all together. The canton Schwyz has different tax laws than Zürich does, and each canton or even city decides how to distribute the 13 to 14 weeks of school vacation per year.

…you were legally allowed to drink beer and wine at the age of sixteen.

The drinking age for beer and wine in Switzerland is 16. The driving age is 18. There are some clubs you can go to if you’re 16, but mostly the minimum age limit to enter is 18 or 21.

…you have been asked , upon stating your nationality, whether you live in the mountains and whether you can yodel.

Everyone who hears the name Switzerland immediately thinks we all live in the mountains and can yodel. Well, this is most certainly not the case. The cities of Zürich, Basel Lausanne, and Geneva all have populations of over 150,000 people. Others live in villages around bigger cities. Only a small part of the population lives in very mountainous areas, where most of the milk and cheese production takes place. The alphorn is still played in the mountains, and there is also yodeling, but most city people don’t yodel anymore.

…you think everything is cheap abroad compared to Switzerland.

This is a fact: everything in Switzerland is very expensive. Here are a few examples: an average meal in a restaurant costs at lest 30-35 Fr. ($29.00-$33.83) per person. A Big Mac sandwich costs 6.50 Fr. ($6.37) and a Big Mac meal is around 13 Fr. ($12.75) Going to the movie theater costs 18-20 fr per person. We pay much more for cars and also for gasoline. A gallon of gas here costs $6.10. As a result, most Swiss drive small cars. iTunes charges are 1.50 -2.00 fr. ($1.45-$1.93) a song.

How do you really know though, that you’ve landed in Switzerland? Go to Starbucks! In Switzerland you will pay 7.50 Fr. ($7.25) for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Farewell, Class of 2009 – Will the legacy stay strong?

The Insider — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:32:38 +0000

This June our school will have finally completed a four-year long saga of education. A saga that included not only an education, but laughter, tears, stress, good times and bad, memories, and all the other adjectives that typically go along with graduation. But enough about the seniors. How will our school be affected after they leave?

With a graduating class of its own, our school is hardly new anymore. In fact, with a newer high school that opened up last year on our campus, we haven’t been all that new, anyway. Now, when people ask our students where they go, it’s becoming more and more likely that they will actually have heard of CSI High School for International Studies. Four years have passed, and with that, the school’s reputation has soared.

Now, what will students, parents, and faculty be able to say at open houses, in interviews, to others? The legacy of the Class of ’09 will be rightfully awe-inspiring, but that legacy is also meant to be a precedent. Without the seniors, will the juniors rise to the challenge of becoming role models for the rest of the student body? Will the sophomores be able to handle the stress of junior year? Will the freshmen grow into their own and delve even deeper into the community that is CSI?

Our answer is a resounding yes. The seniors may be gone, but we’re a real school now. An emotional, closely connected school no doubt, but a real school nevertheless. With each graduating class that passes through the new halls of the Jerome Parker Campus, the legacy of our school merely extends further.

A real school, as many have complained in the halls, would never do half the things our school does. However, with all the requirements of a “good school” fulfilled – acceptance into “good” college, high standardized testing scores, limitless opportunities – how can we deny that by being “good” we also fit into the “real” category?

Many argue that a “real” school may not do SMART goals, or have advisory, or require capstone and portfolio projects, but then again, a “real” school may not have produced the students that will graduate from here. How many “real” schools can boast of our accomplishments? Everyone knows them: it’s hard not to have a list of facts about our school in the back of your head at all times for description to curious friends and neighbors who have never even heard of it.

So are we a “real” school now, truly? Of course. Technically we’ve been a real school since day one. But this year more than ever, from moving into a “real” building, to having more PSAL sports teams, more clubs, more class offerings, a senior trip, a prom, and most importantly, a graduation, we have come of age in the world of high school.