The Paw Print

Maggie Lin, a 17-year-old high school student from Baruch College Campus High School, has worked every summer since she was 14. In addition to the money that she makes in her summer jobs, her mom also gives her a weekly allowance whenever she runs out. In an attempt to save, she keeps her money in a box at home. However, the money she saves won’t last for long—she plans to spend it on Black Friday shopping.

Many teens do not understand the importance of money management or the importance of saving their money, several admitted during interviews. Many also said they think there are differences in spending habits between young people who work and those who receive allowances from parents.

“I am definitely tempted to spend the money with me. Whatever I have, I spend it. I spend on clothes and shoes,” Lin says.

“My mom gives me a few guides as to what to spend, what not to spend and to buy things that I need and not things that I want,” Lin says. “She always tells me that I have too much clothes but I never listen to her. She doesn’t have control over the money I worked for.”

Teens who only receive allowance say they rely on their parents to help them when they run out of money. They do not need to consider the possibility of going entirely broke because their parents would always give them more money, or buy them the things that they want.

“My mom buys all my clothes and makeup and everything. And when I go shopping, she just gives me extra money,” says Hui Yi Liang, a high school student at Baruch College Campus High School.

“My parents usually get me what I want because I do well in school and I’m not a ‘bad’ kid,” says Kristin Liang, also a student from Baruch College Campus High School. “I usually buy it regardless of the price, but I would be more likely to buy if it was on sale.”

However, not all teens who receive allowance spend mindlessly.

“I look at the prices [and] discounts to show that I am smart enough to manage my money,” says Xiao Ming Chen, a 17-year-old who only receives allowance from her parents.

“The only person who works is my dad, so both my mom and I try to save money for our own use and not to spend all of it,” says Kathy Chiam, a 17- year- old student at Baruch College Campus High school. “I always ask myself, do I really need to buy it? I always try to save some money when I go shopping. But if it’s something I really want, I would only buy that and nothing else and go window shopping.”

According to a survey conducted by Charles Schwab, an investment bank, 86 percent of teens say they would rather learn about money management in a class before making mistakes in the real world, and 75 percent say that learning about money management, including budgeting, saving, and investing is one of their top priorities.

According to Mandy Lau, a Personal Finance teacher in Baruch College Campus High School, having emergency funds would be extremely helpful when going through a job loss or health issues in life.

“I think teaching personal finance to high school students is so important because it teaches individuals at a young age how to be responsible with their money in order to avoid dire financial situations in the future,” she said.

Most teens have the intent to save for the future, but some, like 16-year-old Vivian Chow, just can’t resist spending when they see something that they like.

“If it’s something I really, really want, I’ll just suck it up and buy it,” she said.

Bouquet of roses. Candle-lit dinner. Mood-setting music. A freshly-cleaned outfit. The perfect date.

Seen in many movies, books and how-to articles, the media seems to have a strong grasp on societies’ expectations for romance and love. But New York City youth say the depiction of romance and relationships in media and pop-culture is over-exaggerated and gives fake impressions of relationships in real life. They also say that the opinions of young adults are easily swayed by what is said in the media.

“Media has that power, whatever they say, people just listen and they end up being controlled by what they say,” said Anna Lang, 13, a student at Lab School for Collaborative Studies, located on the west side of Manhattan.

Some also say relationships in movies and celebrity relationships in the news are overly dramatic and inconsistent with reality.

“The media makes it seem that relationships will always fail and it makes it seem that in someway, someone will [come to] ruin the relationship,” says Brittany Waldren, 16, a student at Baruch College Campus High School. “I feel like all they talk about is failing relationships and how hard it is to have one. Failing shouldn’t be the focus, being open and honest should be. It wouldn’t be hard then.”

Some youth also feel that media has become a manipulative tool and teenagers are too easily influenced by it.

“I do believe that the media has an effect on the people around us. I’ve seen students at my school freak out over some ‘impending zombie apocalypse,’ after some guy bit a hobo’s face off,” Melissa He, 16, a student at Baruch College Campus High School said.

But Paul Levison, a professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University, says young adults are not that easily influenced by media and can comprehend things at the same level adults can.

“When you’re 12 years old, you have adult level mentality and you have less experience. Obviously someone who is 32 years old has more experience than someone who’s 12 years old, but in terms of the ability to think it’s pretty much the same,” he said.

He also says that relationships seen in movies and television are all relatable and it is part of a person’s natural instinct to feel the need to be loved, but there are some forms of exaggeration in the media.

“Although there might be a superficial influence that any trend among pop-culture might have, in the end people still need human contact and they still need relationships and therefore romance is still part of their lives,” he said.

Samantha Young Chan, 16, a student at BCCHS, said she thinks the media should focus on issues that affect the world rather than the celebrity affairs and relationships that are done for publicity. In recent news, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ divorce had generated an overwhelming amount of attention from both the media and the public.

“I think it’s over-exaggerated. It makes people delusional as to what they should be experiencing, which isn’t right. I think the media should focus on actual important news, not stuff like celebrity marriages,” Chan said.

Popular dating shows like “The Bachelorette,” give people a fantasy, one that makes them think relationships are dramatic and beautiful. But in reality, relationships are not as picture perfect as they seem, according to Waldren.

“It seems wonderful and like something that everyone should be experiencing,” she said. ”It looks perfect, but in reality, nothing is perfect because not all relationships last forever.”

A 2010 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, an organization that analyzes health-related data, found that there has been an increase in the amount of time teenagers spend utilizing media since 2004, from six hours and 21 minutes to seven hours and 38 minutes. With many outlets to choose from, young adults are exposed to a lot of information.

Ann Niles, 17, a student at Lab School for Collaborative Studies said, “Everyone is online all the time, it’s hard to avoid things like this when it’s right in your face.”
Anna Lang, 13, feels that the romance in novels and movies are too simplified and doesn’t reveal the complexities in real life.

“Relationships are complicated already, I don’t want other people to show me what is right or wrong,” she said. “I just want to do my own thing.”

This summer I was torn on what to do. My mother said this summer she was not going to let me just stay home like I did in summer 2010 and 2011. So my choices were either getting a job or taking a college course. My first choice was getting a job for two reasons: one I never had a job and two I didn’t want to do collegenow because I was so burnt out from the year that I did not want to have more work over the summer since I would already have summer assignments.

Jordan Selig stands at the baseline awaiting the serve from his twin brother, Justin.The sweat drips off his chin and onto his red Nike shirt. His black hair is plastered to his forehead. The scorching sun beats down on the hard court, and the gum soles of his tennis shoes drag along the court, as fatigue sets in. 

Both boys started playing tennis at age three, and would never have picked up a racket had it not been for a free tennis program in their neighborhood on the upper east side.

New York Junior Tennis League (NYJTL) is a non-profit organization that introduces the youth of New York City to the game of tennis. Their sites are located in all five boroughs, providing tennis rackets, court time and lessons all for free.

“ It introduced me and my brother to the game that we now play daily. It not only got us started, but it has continued to help us advance our game,” said Selig, 17.

At every NYJTL site, they provide a tennis racket for each player, along with hundreds of tennis balls. Each day is separated into two periods. In the morning, the younger children come in for lessons taught by the older players, mostly volunteers who once played at that site when they were younger. At around noon, when the lessons are over, the more experienced players have four hours of open court time, where they can do anything from practice their serves to challenging one another to matches.

Some of the more popular sites, like Wagner Middle School on Second Avnue and 76th Street, have broken up their week to accommodate the vast number of kids.

“We had about 100 kids coming to play each day and as a coach, that’s way too much,” said 19-year-old David Aharoni, a volunteer at the Wagner Middle School site. In order to give every kid equal court and lesson time, they assign Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for kids ages six to 11, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are for ages 12 to 18.
Andrew Elmorshedy, a seasoned NYJTL veteran, is in his final year of the program has a different opinion on the program’s recent growth.

“Thank god I’m getting out of here.” Andrew says. “All these little kids keep taking my court time.”

Although he knows his court time is diminishing, he admits it is great for the program.

“Its better to have the young guns on the court then us old grandpas. Plus If was their age, I would want the same thing,” he says.

Since its start in 1971, the program has expanded its reach to over 100,000 children. They have added a travel team for more experienced players, tournaments for novice players, and play host to the Mayor’s Cup Tournament each year, a competition for all players, held on the same courts as the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

And the entire time, they have kept the program free for all.

Tennis can be a huge burden on people’s wallets if they want to get court time, and lessons are an even more expensive. The Billie Jean National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, charges $65 per hour to play on one of their courts. At the Sportime Tennis center on Randall’s Island, it costs $45 per hour to play. This is without lessons. Private lessons at these sites cost over $100 per hour. Tennis rackets can cost over $150, and a can of three tennis balls goes for around $4.

Helen Nie, 17, admits that without NYJTL, she probably wouldn’t be playing tennis.

“If my parents knew how much tennis actually costs, I would never be close to a court. With NYJTL I can tell my parents it’s free,” she said.

Journalism Review on Journalism

By Yakov Gavrilov

Today would be my last post, and I want to thank all my readers for following me up until now. The program and my experience with all of you would be lingering in my mind for years to come.

It was an interesting experience, learning about journalism, I mean. It was a skill that always interested me because like many others I read the news.

What I learned about journalism was more interesting than I thought it would be. Apparently there are different types of Journalism and they actually like spelling things there own way.

Like the words lead and nutgraph are actually spelled lede and nutgraf, funny I know but it’s true.

The lede and nutgraf is the beginning of the article and the things that I’m probable never forget because it’s something I see daily.

There is so many ways you could write this ledes that it makes an article more interesting to read because it would be boring if each of them started the same way.

If everyone did start it the same way then the newspaper industry would really be a dying industry.

The history of this industry is really interesting to learn about mostly the recent history because the history of the industry is changing now.

Every article most people read is on the Internet, this article is on the Internet.

 But the industries are trying to power themselves through it and it’s really interesting, how there going about solving the problems of an industry that is dying.

Some are adapting to the Internet and others stay in print because there such a large newspaper and many have fallen because of the economic problems.

That was probable my favorite experiences in this classroom. Maybe it’s because I’m just such a history nerd.

– Thank you to my teacher, fellow classmates, and readers I wish you all the luck in life, and thank you for making me have such a wonderful summer.

Wow! Six weeks have surely gone by fast. My experience in Journalism class was so much more then I thought it was going to be. I expected to have a boring six weeks filled with schoolwork, but instead really learned in a way that was fun and informative. Through the class I have learned o write hard news stories, interview people with ease, and even keep up with current events. It is bittersweet that this class is over. I made many new friends and overall had a summer that was beyond my expectations. 

As water burst from the opened fire hydrant in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, children rushed about in swimsuits, cupping water in their hands, splashing, screaming and laughing as water flushed into the streets, disappearing down the sewer drains.

Although fire hydrants may help residents cool off, it’s causing conflict for the Fire Department and the Department of Environmental Protection. The city is working to alert the community about the dangers of opening a fire hydrant illegally, and encourage residents to use the hydrants correctly.

“Opening a fire hydrant without an approved spray cap is dangerous, wasteful and illegal,” said Carter Strickland, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), at a press conference in July.

Using Spray caps, in other words, “sprinklers” is the legal way for opening a hydrant., Residents can obtain the spray cap at any local firehouse, as long as the claimer is 18 years and older, according to the DEP. Using spray caps lowers water pressure. The powerful force of an open hydrant without a spray cap can knock a child down, causing serious injury, according to the DEP.

“It’s okay for it to be open during extreme heat, as long as they have sprinklers on,” said Sheik Samsair, 46, a resident and business owner from Cypress Hills.

Without the use of spray caps, not only will it waste water supply, it will also affect how the fire department will function if there is a fire incident in the neighborhood, FDNY officials said.

“Open hydrants without a sprinkler cap can lower the water pressure and create a dangerous situation in the event of a fire,” said Frank Dwyer, spokesman for the FDNY, in an email. “The FDNY uses hydrants every day, at every fire our members hook a hose up to a hydrant, or multiple hydrants, as needed.”

According to the DEP, an open hydrant generally releases more than 1,000 gallons of water per minute, while a hydrant with a city-approved spray cap releases only up to 25 gallons per minute.

“I wouldn’t open it. If you open it full, I think it is a water decrease for the city. If you have sprinklers, you save water,” said Jimmy Rambally, 24, a resident from Brooklyn.

The DEP has been partnering with community organizations to inform residents about the consequences for opening a fire hydrant illegally. The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) is currently in its second year of partnership with the DEP and NYC Development of Youth Community Development (DYCD), to create the Hydrant Education Action Team (HEAT) program.

“We believe that unauthorized and improper fire hydrant use, especially in the summer months, endangers important resources, such as water supply available for emergency use, hospitals, etc. that are much needed for the communities themselves and New York City as a whole,” said Eyca Ergeneman, vice president of development at SoBRO, in an email.

“Businesses have been eager and willing to support,” said said Tyza Perdomo, Project Coordinator of the HEAT team. “The DEP Protection saw a need due to a large amount of calls during the summer because of open fire hydrants. They created this program to help our community.”

The HEAT team consists of young adults who are concerned about water conservation and protecting their environment, according to Perdomo. They encourage residents to look for other ways to escape the heat, like using local pools and parks.

“Well it’s more convenient than the park. The kids can come downstairs and get wet,” said Tamaris King, 28, as she sat in front of her house in Brooklyn, watching children playing in the fire hydrant. Although it does help decrease the heat, Tamaris believes that it is better to use spray caps because it can be dangerous without them.

“It shoots too hard and wild,” she said.

Opening a fire hydrant improperly can lead to penalties and charges, including imprisonment for up to 30 days and a charge of $1,000, according to the DEP. The FDNY will “respond and close an open hydrant” if there are complaints from neighbors, according to Frank Dwyer.

Although the penalties had been announced for a while, some residents still don’t know anything about penalties for opening a fire hydrant improperly.

“I open it every day if it’s hot. The people came to put on the sprinklers on. They said it was a waste of water,” said Sarah Hines, 31, a resident from Brooklyn.

“This is the first time I ever heard about the penalties. That’s bad. It will be hot. Some people can’t make it to the pool,” she said.

Rihanna Bebe 19, said, “Usually, I don’t like it because I don’t like to be all wet in the public. [But] it should be an option. If people do want the hydrants to be opened, then let it be.”

When I first came to this class I thought it was going to be a waste of my summer vacation. I didn’t think that spending six weeks in a classroom was going to be fun. Luckily I was mistaken and judged the course before it started.

One thing I like was that we were not in a normal classroom with desks and chairs. We had a journalism studio with computers and a conference room setup. 

Another thing I underestimated was not making any friends. Turns out I was wrong about that as well. Everyone in this class was cool to talk to. For the most part we all got along like friends even though after this week we might not ever see each other again.

I thought this class was really interesting because before this class I did not know there was a different type of writing besides school essay writing. Journalists have a completely different way of writing their information and thoughts.

The introduction to a journalist is a lede, the paragraph after is the nutgraf and their title to their story is a headline.

During this coarse I also learned about the direction that news and journalism is going. Editors have told us that eventually there will not be a newspaper anymore, due to the advancement of technology.

I found the process of obtaining information when writing a story interesting. You have to ask dozens of random people questions about your story. Most of those people will either refuse to help you or claim to not know what you are talking about. 

The last thing I found good about this class was the professor. She was extremely passionate about making her students into real journalists. Her lessons really helped prepare us for what it would be like in this field of work. 

Overall it was a good experience. 

As today is the last day, I feel I should write my last blog on my experience taking this course. I’ve learned how a reporter has to deal with interviewing strangers, trying to get people to respond to your calls and emails before your deadline, stressing out over your deadline, and learning how to write like a journalist.

I chose this course to improve my writing for the SAT. However, taking this course allowed me to realize I am willing to consider going into journalism for college. I’ve learned how essay writing differs from journalism writing. Journalism writing is short and to the point.

My favorite part of this class was going out to interview people on the street about Bloomberg’s soda ban policy and how people in NYC are dealing with the heat. By taking this course, I have been given the chance to meet new people and experience what a college course is like.

Being a journalist is hard and stressful, however, it is the best feeling to have your work read by people. I’ve enjoyed interviewing people on the streets and overcoming my shyness. I would recommend taking this class for everybody who wants to improve their writing and socializing skills.

To anybody who reads this, addio, aurevoir, and goodbye for this will be my last blog post.

Today it’s everyone’s last day at blogging on the Paw Print. It’s hard to think of something to write when it’s your last day at College now. I see the people around me and all they have is a blank word document open, and staring at it wondering to write.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever see my classmates again, maybe one day in college without knowing I go into a class and I see someone from college now sitting right next to me and tells me, “Hey, you remember me?” These past few weeks in my Journalistic Writing class, I’ve learn a lot of things that I wouldn’t have known until I actually go to college. Now I am sure that I want to become a journalist in the future. I came here into the class with little knowledge and now I’m leaving with a lot of knowledge J. This was an amazing experience because it helped me get out of doubts that I had about becoming a journalist.

Thank you, Jeanmarie for teaching us the true meaning of journalism and giving us that once in a life time experience. You made it seem so real, like if we were in an office writing a newspaper due the next day. I would always remember this experience J

                                                                            Thank you once again.