The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

Mahattan

WNYC’s Brigid Bergin

by Leave a Comment

Brigid Bergin went from working in a bank, to being part of the political beat at WNYC. 

She confessed to Baruch College Now students at a spacious conference room in the offices of NYC Public Radio yesterday with the goal of helping aspiring journalists. When the last question came up, everyone listened carefully to Bergin’s response about her professional career. 

“I didn’t know I really wanted to be a journalist,” is something the high school students didn’t expect to hear from the WNYC City Hall and politician reporter. 

Bergin worked 8 and a half years in a bank and described her work space there as “a little cubical.” She wanted to go out and explore what was happening around her neighborhood and her city. She realized that journalism would fulfill her desires of being involved in various communities. 

She went to journalism school and that’s when she transitioned from her work at the bank to being a full-time journalist. 

“I fell in love with radio and WNYC,” she says when talking about being an intern at the NYC Public Radio. 

 She began as a general assignment journalist for a year, like many others. Later on, she was assigned to specific topics. 

If she wasn’t in the politics area, she would lean towards the cultural aspect of finding different communities around each borough.

Summer Time, More Like Work Time

by Leave a Comment

    Summer time is usually the time for fun and games, but for many students it is time of rigorous hard work. Carlos Lossa, Cynthia Mojica and Adrien Cohen are upcoming seniors at Quest To Learn, who are working for the first time this summer.

    Carlos Lossa who has been working at McDonalds since late May. “I’m only going to work for the remainder of the summer because I have to focus on my senior year” he said. “When I was working, it didn’t have an effect on my school work because I had passed all my finals and regents in June”, he said “I’ve always been an average student, nothing more, nothing less”, he added.

    Cynthia Mojica who has been working at a cafe on Wall Street as a cashier since mid June. “Til summer’s over, so when school starts I’m out,” she said. Cynthia was picked to attend the College Now program but she simply said, “I had no interest in joining”. “Takeaways: Work doesn’t equal school, which is kind of obvious but for me I like taking a day off once in awhile to cool my head or something but nope, work doesn’t let you do that. It’s exhausting but pretty worth it once you get your paycheck”, she said. “Work makes you appreciate the days you have off”, she said, “I guess it just depends on where you work” she concluded.

    Adrien Cohen who has been a bus boy at Sunset Beach. “I’m quitting for the school year because I gotta focus on school, and it shuts down in the fall anyway,” he said. “And it helps in a lot of ways, you get great people skills, you learn how to interact with people”, he said. “You have a respect for the people serving you, you have a respect for life”, he concluded.

Kids Take Over The New Era of Wonderama!

by Leave a Comment

Parents say good luck as kids prepare for the taping of Wonderama (Photo by Brandy Sarabia)
Parents say good luck and the stage director explains what is going to happen for the live taping of Wonderama (Photo by Brandy Sarabia)

An upcoming hit sensation that is bound to sweep the nation. Chuck Armstrong and his studio crew are in New York City bringing back an old sensation, Wonderama.

What is Wonderama?

“A TV show made for kids, by kids,” says Chuck Armstrong, the executive chief producer for Wonderama. First introduced to American families in 1955, this show brings joy to kids and adults. “We’re trying to show things that everyday kids can do to really attain their goals in life,” says Armstrong. Not only is this show encouraging kids to reach their goals, but it also teaches kids how to overcome challenges. Everyone who collaborated on Wonderama has a story about overcoming challenges. Coco and Breezy are 27-year-old twins who were bullied during their childhood. They overcame their bullying by designing glasses to help avoid making eye contact with people. After high school, they moved to New York City. They now own a well-known eyewear company and are DJ’s for Wonderama.

David Osmond, is a 36 year old singer who is also fighting multiple sclerosis. Although he is overcoming MS, Osmond is funny and outgoing. It’s no wonder he is the host of the show why kids love him!

“I’ve hosted a lot of shows, but nothing like this. I’m having the time of my life” chuckles David. He isn’t the only one who is having the time of his life. The look on the kids faces as they watch live animals and people dancing makes it almost seem like a miniature Disney World.

What makes Wonderama even more special?

Wonderama gives kids the opportunity to feel special. Take for example, Nate, the eight year old kid who raised money for charity. Or the seven-year-old girl who was a boxer. To make it even better, the kids in the audience demonstrate their talents. Wonderama gives kids an opportunity to become a something more than just an average kid.

While Wonderama is a children’s tv show, people of all ages can enjoy watching David Osmond, Mr. Blue, and a special guest appear when the show airs on tv, October 2016. They are still filming the first season at Baruch Performing Arts Center.

Can Phil Answer Our Question?

by Leave a Comment

Phil raising his Coach of the Year award.
Phil raising his Coach of the Year award.

Knicks fans have been desperate for change in the Knicks organization because it has had no NBA titles since ‘73 and questionable signings and moves over the years. Phil Jackson, aka The Zen Master, won 13 NBA championships which makes him on top as a player and coach of all time. In 2014, the Knicks announced that Phil Jackson would return to the Garden as president. This move gave Phil Jackson have full control of the coaching staff, player contracts and exploring trade options to make the Knicks as good as possible. Phil Jackson won 2 of his championships as a defensive minded player on the New York Knicks back in 1970 and 1973 and played alongside Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Willis Reed.

He was then hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989. It took Phil, Michael Jordan,Scottie and their supporting cast 2 short seasons to win their first championship in franchise history. The Chicago Bulls went for a 3 peat from 1991-1993 and 1996-1998 which solidified Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time and Phil Jackson as a basketball genius. Phil retired as a coach in 1998 but signed with the Lakers in 1999 and won the 5 championships in the span of 11 NBA seasons as coach which also solidified Kobe Bryant as one of the greatest of all time. Phil retired in 2011.

The New York Knicks had been in a terrible slump for almost 16 seasons after losing the NBA finals against the Spurs in the 1998-1999 season and only making the playoffs in only 11 of the last 16 seasons. In his first move as president he fired the entire coaching staff and hired someone who he’d coached for 10 plus years Derek Fisher. After this huge signing, Phil Jackson and the Knicks organization brought a lot of hope to their fans because a lot was expected from Phil.

Heading into the 2014-15 season, the Knicks were projected to be a playoff team but things didn’t go as planned. Phil’s first major move was trading a fan favorite, Tyson Chandler, and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. Some Knicks fans thought it was a great move but the majority thought it was pointless.

The Knicks ended up 15th in the east and 29th (out of 30) in the standings, with a record of 17-65. The Knicks later got a lottery pick in the NBA (4th overall) and Phil Jackson put all his trust on a 19 year old Latvian named Kristaps Porzingis. Many people automatically lost hope on the Knicks after this random pick by Phil.

Kristaps’ first season (2015-16) recently ended and he ended 2nd in votes rookie of the year and averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds, and roughly 2 blocks per game. A lot of people doubted the overseas star but they also saw him evolve under Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony who guided him on the floor.

The NBA started the offseason in July 1 but the Knicks started to make power moves with a blockbuster trade acquiring Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose while sending Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez to the Bulls. As free agency began, the Knicks made another huge signing by acquiring free agent big man Joakim Noah who was Derrick Rose’s teammate in Chicago since 2008 that could bring in good team chemistry.

I’ve asked 10 basketball fans who live in New York if the Knicks can be contenders for the championship and three people thought they could and 7 they couldn’t. My personal opinion is that the Knicks could become a playoff team next season but it might take some time to be contenders for the championship.

Knicks fans are starting to have hope and starting to believe in the Zen Master aka Phil Jackson to make the Knicks a championship team once again.

Is Union Square’s “Beautification” a Facade?

by Leave a Comment

An ambulance siren blinked and blared as paramedics closely followed a tall man. They held a bright orange stretcher shadowing him as he led the way.

A woman sat with her body folded forward and eyes closed. She appeared to be unconscious just before she was swiftly pulled up straight by the tall man. Her eyes opened up wide, mostly revealing white. A hollow expression formed on her face.

The paramedics stood still for a moment looking at the woman’s eyes. She may have overdosed.

Children danced, jumped, and ran in a small field of grass just footsteps away from the helpless woman. It was Thursday in Union Square Park.

Thursdays, Union Square hosts a daylong event called Summer in the Square. The non-profit Union Square partnership offers a range of free community activities to children and adults. The events have been held since June 16 and end August 11.

Summer in the Square has been hosted by the park for 14 years, said staff. They said the event has gotten bigger and bigger each year. The program has a large range of sponsors.

According to Summer in the Square’s website, the park hosts the event “to ensure… Union Square district’s continued growth and success by providing… sanitation, public safety, economic development, marketing and events like Summer in the Square.” The site claims it is focused on “investing in the beautification of Union Square Park.”

Union Square hasn’t exactly provided the “sanitation, public safety and economic development” it insists it offers.

In a short walk around the square, you can smell the stench of rancid trash. On the east side of the park piles of garbage bags sit, left to be picked through by homeless looking for recyclables and food.

Drug addicts, who are often also homeless, populate the entirety of the park. Some are spaced out or incapable of motion.

Cop cars are usually parked along the east side of the park, yet these occurrences persist.

The growth and success Union Square claims to ensure has not been felt by all its community. While many enjoy the services the park provides, those who generally need it most don’t take advantage of those opportunities. Because they aren’t offered significant attention, they’re bound to decline.

The tents with big names plastered across them, and the big stage that holds up performers can’t hide the reality of the deterioration of Union Square’s smaller community.

 

Heatwave at Baruch

by Leave a Comment

A heatwave hit New York on July, 25 and 26 and inconvenienced people at the Baruch College. At the same time, it was mandatory for the college to cut electricity usage in the school.

Baruch participates in an Energy Demand Response program which requires City Universities of New York or CUNYS to “reduce energy consumption significantly” during heatwaves to prevent brownouts or blackouts in the city. The college reduces electricity consumption by turning off elevator/escalator services during certain times of the day, raising temperatures to reduce air conditioner usage and turning off lights.

The reduction of energy affected a lot of students who were quite used to the services and comfort the school provides. One student angrily described how she was late to class since she was “unable to take the elevators.”  Another one describes how it was “unbearably hot” in the classrooms since the air conditioners weren’t turned on to full power.

On the flip side, some people like Louis Li a student in the school said “I went through the day as normal and I didn’t even notice the heat or escalators not working.”

Participation in the Energy Demand Response program is good for the environment and the city, so questions remain why the college  doesn’t do more to curtail energy use throughout the year or even just the summer.

Often when you enter the college in the summer, the air is much too cold and energy is wasted on lights in halls nobody uses or elevators nobody is using. Perhaps the school should try to conserve more energy like they do during heatwaves in order to benefit the environment.

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Rotten Tomato

by Leave a Comment

“I pretty much see movies all day,” Rafer Guzman told Baruch College Now’s journalism students at the end of July at the Vertical Campus.

To many kids and young adults, watching movies all day for a living sounds fun. But to professional movie critic Rafer Guzman, it can get “frustrating at a certain point, because sometimes, there’s just nothing to say– but you have to say something.”

“You have to see absolutely everything, even if you don’t like it,” Guzman explained.

But Guzman doesn’t mind seeing terrible movies because he believes that “you always learn about what makes movies good or bad.” Many reviews by Guzman will include what he thought the director did well, or which scenes worked or failed.

It wasn’t until after Guzman graduated when he started to critique movies.

“I had no idea what I was doing with my life at all… There was no grand plan from the very start,” he said.

All Guzman knew was that he liked movies and music, that he watched a lot of movies, and that he listened to a lot of music.

Guzman told the students that he started writing freelance movie reviews at 26 and sold them to companies willing to publish his reviews.

Since then, Guzman has published over 900 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which have appeared in publications such as the Boston Phoenix, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday.   

National Night Out Against Crime: Harmony for a Day?

by

Come on, it is a summer event in New York City. Try not to steal or rob on this day, because police officers are everywhere.

Tuesday Aug. 4,  the 32nd National Night Out Against Crime once again starts in NYC. About 22 police precincts in Manhattan host this “against crime and danger party” around neighborhood.

At 4 P.M. in Columbus Park, there are about 5 to 8 police officers setting up booths. Some are preparing free snacks and free drinks for parents and their children. Others are preparing to hand out safety flyers. Also, there are two inflatable facilities which children could play and jump inside there.  

Less than half an hour later, many parents, children and citizens gather around the park to enjoy the party that NY police officers prepare for them.

The purpose of this activity is to promote the relationship between the police and citizens. To show that police officers are not always serious, they can also be social and communicable.

A police in a white shirt says, “The purpose of this is to let us come together with the community, to let citizens know about our job.”

In the park, police officers are talkative and friendly. They play with children and discuss the NY police duty with parents. Many police officers believe people’s lives are their priority, and it is their responsibility to protect them.

They think their main duty is to create a “peaceful New York City” where less accidents may happen. And this is why police patrol every street of NYC everyday from morning to night. 

Flyers they hand out in the park are about NYC Biking Laws and the safety procedure of driving. They are translated into several languages, such as Chinese and Spanish. Since most citizens live in Chinatown speak Mandarin and Cantonese, there are several bilingual police officers who translate for them.

On the driving flyers, it says: “in a city with 8 millions, accidents are everywhere. But car accidents can be prevented”. To reduce the risk of car accidents, citizens should be careful of a car that is about to do a U-turn. Drivers should slow down when they see people across the street.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter that the event is: “A promising symbol of how we can come together for the common good.”

However, some citizens think this event is just a temporary “harmony.”

On the Town hall website, “NYC ‘National Night out’ Seeks to Strengthen Police, Citizen Relationship” article by Cortney O’Brien points out many skeptical concerns about whether the police can truly protect communities.

Perhaps police can only be nice for certain period and then bring the fear back again after this party.

Such as in the past years, O’Brien mentions “the controversial and deadly altercations in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, and Baltimore.” These cases are familiar to all in the United States.

Whether the National Night Out Against Crime is a “one day harmony” or a relationship bridge between police and citizen, we will see the result in the future.

Chinatown Residents Angered by the Sale of Counterfeits

by

“Get off the damn sidewalk! Beep, Beep! Go somewhere else!”

This is one of the many angry comments made by people of Chinatown on a daily basis about the lack of sidewalk space. The presence of sellers who sell counterfeit bags to tourists overcrowds the sidewalk and residents are fed up.

The sellers are usually women who wear fanny packs and loiter in front of areas where tourists tend to frequent. With an earpiece in one ear, the seller’s eyes shift from potential customers to the end of the block, making sure the police is nowhere in sight. If one gets close enough, one could hear them mumble names of several brands such as Gucci and Prada.

They have potentials customers meet them in an area without many police officers and give the latter a piece of papers with pictures of products they offer. Once the customers make their choice, the vendors contact the supplier to deliver the goods.

However, many residents of Chinatown start to find it a burden on their daily lives especially as the number of vendors and tourists grows. Some sellers harass people who simply walked pass them.

Ying, a former Chinatown inhabitant, commented, “My cousin told me that one day he would just gather a bunch of them [the sellers] and claim he is going to buy a lot of stuff…then call the police on them cause they block…the sidewalk.”

It seems a little harsh but illustrates the frustration among Chinatown residents.

Amy, a teenager, commented “I don’t mind the sellers…it is actually fun to watch them try to argue with the tourists about prices….but it does make it hard to walk.” She later added that the situation is caused by increased tourism in Chinatown. Some vendors even made alliances with tourist companies so the latter would bring tourists into certain areas of Chinatown that are known for counterfeit sales.

According to the American Bar Association, New York City Council Member Margaret Chin, who represents Manhattan District 1, is working to reduce the demand of counterfeit goods especially on Canal Street. The street is known internationally as the destination for purchasing counterfeit handbags and watches.

Chin introduced a bill that would provide stricter punishments for people involve in the the illegal sale of counterfeit goods. The bill, Title 18 United States Code Section 2320, punishes vendors with a fine up to $2,000,000 or 10 years of imprisonment.

Despite city crackdowns and City Councilwoman Margaret Chin’s effort to pass a bill, many people continue to break the law. In recent years, some residents notice that the initial business has moved away from Canal Street and has spread to other areas of Chinatown to avoid detection by the police. The new places include Elizabeth Street and Mulberry Street.

Police are even going undercover, using civilian vehicles to smoke out several operations in the aforementioned areas but this has only caused more disturbances.

On August 1st, police and vendors clashed on Mulberry Street. A street filled with both tourists and Chinatown residents as they watched an officer in a brown civilian car calling out to the group of vendors, causing the latter to drop their goods and break into a run. However, instead of chasing them, the officer stepped out of the car, picked up the goods and left.

These chaotic events are becoming more common in this area and civilians are tired of the continuous chaos.

“Sometimes, I just wish it was happening in some other place…you know?” said Henry, a teenager who lives in Chinatown.

 

Funding Baruch College Now

by

178791472_8357f2350d_o

High school students getting free college credits? The idea seems far-fetched.

However, this is made possible by Baruch College Now, a free program for high school students funded by the City University of New York (CUNY) and New York City Department of Education, that works to improve the academic achievements of high school students prepare them for college-level work.

According to The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent corporation that works to improve higher education through effective public policy, the entire College Now program in NYC has a budget of $10 million, and a competitive scholarship available only to College Now students who enroll into a CUNY.  However, funding for each school in the CUNY system varies based on the number of students and programs the college chooses to provide.

For example, high school students enrolled in Baruch College Now are able to earn free college credits, to access Baruch facilities, to interact with Baruch faculty and to participate in academic, social, and cultural events. The main goal of the program is to reach as many students as possible to provide them with college level work and the college experience.

Some classes offered at Baruch include Journalism, Public Affairs, Anthropology, and Business. The program runs not only during the school year but also in the summer. In the summer, students are provided a metrocard and a daily meal ticket.

However, this summer, the Baruch College Now program seems to offer less funding for certain activities, hinting that perhaps there has been a change.

“Last year, the amount of money in the printing account was $50, this year it’s only $30,” commented Jane Liu, a returning College Now student who noticed the decrease in the amount that the program provided for students to print.

In an interview, Baruch College Now director Maziely Crisostomo admitted that this year “we got a little less [funding]” but she quickly added “we were able to keep the same amount of students.” She says that the program plans to expand and offer more programs in order to appeal to a wider variety of students.

Ms. Crisostomo mentioned the possibility of Saturday classes during the school year and the return of the Student Ambassador Program, which provided internships.

According to Ms. Crisostomo, “What hurts, [the program’s funding] is when students withdraw and not being able to fill seats,” because the number of students directly connects to the amount of funding the program receives.

Regardless of the problem this issue creates, the mission of the program will remain unchanged.