The Paw Print

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Do High Schoolers Feel Prepared For College Applications?

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The story was written by Ryan Xiao

“I knew [college applications] would come eventually–and now it’s senior year, and we’re [at the] submitting deadlines–but I honestly do feel ready for this new chapter of our lives,” Baruch College Campus High School senior Ashley Saltl said. 

Applying to college is a rigorous process, but seniors at Baruch College Campus High School say they feel somewhat ready for application challenges because of support from peers and their school.

“My guidance counselor has helped me a lot with confidence. If it wasn’t because of her, I would’ve been more nervous,” Rosangely Alvarez said. “And also my siblings, they’ve prepared me for what I’m gonna go through.”

Saltl agrees and says she’s been surrounded by support.

“It’s always been talked about for me by my family, friends, and also outside people because I take a lot of extracurriculars such as Girl Scouts, and they also prepare me for that,” Saltl said.

But students also say there’s room for improvement in support for college applications. They feel that preparations for applications should have started earlier.

“In our junior year, college wasn’t talked about because [they made it seem] like no pressure but it is a really big year,” Anabel Suriel said. “[Students] all need support, they all need as much help as they can get. Students shouldn’t have to feel like they’re struggling their junior year.”

Adriana Seminario says she’s felt stressed since junior year and has mixed feelings about college in general. 

Students also face issues concerning counselors. Alvarez says counselors appear to favor certain students, which is damaging to others. 

“I feel like it’s just a communication thing where sometimes they forget about certain students and prioritize others,” Sultl said. 

Saltl suggests that counselors should be “Setting the time for each student to actually meet their counselor one on one [to discuss] what colleges you’re applying to and what your circumstances are.”

Amaya Trotman says that although college advisors are helpful for the application process, she feels she has had to rely on herself because of their lack of availability. 

These issues of leniency towards certain students and unavailability of counselors, as well as the lack of support in earlier years hinder students’ confidence in the college application process. But despite the nervousness surrounding applications, some students persevere and say they feel somewhat prepared.

“I’m a very confident person, especially in academics. I take pride in making sure that I’m prepared,” Suriel said.

Students React To Underfunding At Baruch College Campus High School

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This article was written by Ryan Xiao

With about 450 to 500 students, Baruch College Campus High School is among the smaller and poorer high schools in New York City. The school’s underfunding is a major discussion point among students and staff, and an issue that is constantly brought up.

Many students wanted more programs the school couldn’t provide, and many staff wanted more opportunities for students the school couldn’t afford. 

“There should be an inclusion of musical arts as well as arts itself,” said Lana Denis, a junior at Baruch College Campus High School. “We as a student body create a lot of clubs to be inclusive and have our [extracurriculars] in school, but our school should strive for more inclusivity. … I wish it had a music program and an engineering program for Hispanics and people of color.” 

According to the 2019-20 School Year Financial Transparency Report from the NYC Chancellor’s Office, the per pupil expenditure for Baruch College Campus High School was around $19,269.02 compared to the district’s school average of $26,234.77 and the state’s school average of $22,834.84.

The staff says the underfunding is apparent through missing opportunities–such as programs–and wants more ways to support students.

“More snacks would be nice,” Lily Kepstra, the school’s social worker, said. “I think it is true: kids can concentrate better with more snacks.”

The staff members also say they feel limited in their options because of financial issues.

“I would like to plan more trips, but I don’t like trips with money because it’s not as equitable,” Kepstra said. “I don’t want to ask kids to pay for trips.”

Kepstra said that she fears some students might miss out on trips because of the price, and the underfunding contributes to this. Because of that, she says, she has chosen not to plan as many trips.

Many students were bothered by the lack of funding and felt the school could do more.

Chloe Castera said that the bathrooms are often unsanitary and stink, and that the school could do a better job at maintenance. Many other students agreed with her, claiming that the school seemed old–dusty stars, tiles falling out, a ceiling collapse, etc.

“It’s very dirty and I don’t want to be in this environment,” Castera said.

Other students were less bothered by the lack of funding, but they still recognized the effects. Sarah Seleza says that she went to a poorer middle school, and so Baruch is an improvement. But she still recognizes that change is rare in the school because of lack of funding.

Some students said they didn’t care, even though the underfunding is apparent.

“We don’t get the full experience we deserve. If we’re gonna be here for so long–for four years–this school needs to be better,” Katherin Malik said. “[But] it does not really affect me, I don’t really think about it.”

Despite the great ratings–Baruch College Campus High School scores an A in the “College Prep” and “Teachers” sections, and an A- in the “Academics” section according to Niche.com–many students speak negatively because of the financial hurdles the school faces. 

“They could do better,” Kyle Zárate–another student–said.

(All names in the story were changed and are not the actual names of any students or staff.)

Despite Rain, Cold, Fans Flock to Global Citizen Festival

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This year’s Global Citizen Festival was held on Sept. 28 at Central Park’s Great Lawn. The lineup included Post Malone, Doja Cat, LISA, Rauw Alejandro, Jelly Roll and Benson Boone. Each artist promoted important causes, such as ending extreme poverty, defending the planet, empowering women, and supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

The Global Citizen Festival is an annual event where speakers from around the world promote change toward sustainability, equality and humanity. Fans can win tickets by signing petitions, tweeting and posting videos that raise awareness for these causes.

Doors opened at 2 PM, but fans were expected to arrive earlier to get closer to the stage.

The festival faced harsh conditions, as fans had to wait for long hours in rain and cold temperatures. They persevered and eventually made it to either general admission or VIP section. The concert was exhilarating, with each artist performing three to five songs, some of which included mashups or covers to pay tribute to other artists.

Between each act, activists spoke on various causes aimed at improving the planet, such as poverty, climate change, pollution, deforestation, and rape awareness. Several QR codes were displayed on the big screens to encourage the audience to take a stand and create change.

Fires Spread Across State and City, Leaving Residents Scared

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Lately, due to the ongoing drought, fires have been erupting all over New York City and state. Parks and forests are burning, and a lot of people are scared about what could happen next.

Blanca Lopez lives in northern New York. She says that the fires are making her nervous. “Living up here has felt less and less safe because when I look on the news, I see that counties close to me are being evacuated because of the fire. I’m scared that’s going to happen to me and my town,” she said.

Even people in the city aren’t safe from the fires. Vanessa Alvarado, 45, lives close to Inwood Hill Park, which had recently been on fire. “I was at my second job and I smelled smoke,” she said. “Then I asked my coworker about it, and he said that Prospect Park was on fire. I thought it wasn’t that bad until my daughter called me at work a few days later and told me that Inwood Hill Park was on fire now too. I got scared because I live less than two blocks from there.” The fires did make her conscious about the severity of the drought, so she went to the store that night and stocked up on water.

The fires were surprising for teenagers like Jayden Marte, 16, who lives in Inwood. “When I was walking home from school, I saw the f***ing park on fire. It was freaking insane. All these fire trucks were there and for a moment, I got scared. But honestly, I don’t think it could be that bad,” he said.

His younger sister, Navila Marte, 13, had a very different reaction. “We talked about the fire in school,” she said. “I didn’t think that things like this could happen in our neighborhood. Nothing ever really happens here.”

Up north, a lot of people share this feeling of helplessness and despair due to the ongoing fires. Felix Lopez Jr., a 51 year old man who occasionally works in the city but lives in northern New York, said, “When I drive home past certain areas, there’s nothing but the smell of smoke. Makes me sad. My poor mother and father live here. Last thing I want is for them to have to leave home. I’m scared it’s gonna happen.”

Experts say that the fires keep occurring because the drought dried out plants and soil, making it easier for them to catch on fire. People have been warned to follow evacuation rules and to avoid any actions that can cause new fires. 

These fires have been a wake up call for many. “This is a reminder that we need to take climate change seriously,” Vanessa Alvarado said. “It’s not just happening in places far from us. It’s affecting our homes and our neighborhoods.” 

The fires continue to burn, and New Yorkers are left waiting for rain so the fires can be stopped before things get any worse.

Post Election, New Yorkers Assess What It Means to Them

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(Shortly after the election we asked some New Yorkers how they think the presidential elections and Donald J. Trump’s victory might affect their social lives. Here’s what they said.

“The election hasn’t really affected my social life in a major way but people have cut me off because they think that I am a trump supporter for not caring about the election.”

–Filadelfo Rodriguez (male), 17

“It’s caused me to be more aware of my surroundings.”

–Sanaya Collins (female), 16

“I can’t say that it has really affected my social life because me and my friends share similar [or] the same beliefs, and we fight for the same causes. I will say that when the results came out every one of us felt super bummed out.”

Emma Cambero Gil (female), 25

“It hasn’t really affected my social life. Politics is not my world. I don’t talk about politics in social settings. And I know to steer clear of other people’s political beliefs.”

Dr. Ricky Brown (male), 40

“It’s made me more nervous because it affects a lot of the people I care about. Other than that I haven’t cut anyone off over the election. If anything I’ve spoken to a lot more people and have gotten to know them because of the election results.”

Chace Collins (male), 16

“It hasn’t affected my social life because before the election I had already cut the people I didn’t like off. They were Trump supporters and I didn’t f*** with that.”

Lia Muñoz (female), 16

“I noticed people who were in my social circle were Trump supporters. I usually have a good radar for these things. But I just had to cut these people off.”

Martin Kelly (male), over 50

Corruption of NYCHA

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For the past few years, the number of complaints about NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) has skyrocketed by residents living in their projects. Their complaints range from rat infestations to dangerous levels of lead in their paint, and residents of NYCHA are sick of it. 

NYCHA is supposed to give safe and decent affordable housing in a secure environment for low-income residents, but that doesn’t seem to be the case to many NYCHA residents. The vicinity of housing buildings are scattered with rats and the construction of the buildings are weak, causing mold and leaking roofs on rainy days. NYCHA residents have had enough and want better conditions for themselves and their family. 

When residents try to contact workers in NYCHA to help fix their issues, they receive terrible service and have to wait until NYCHA comes to fix it — which is usually after many days or months. 

“They guys [NYCHA workers] made a hole in my son’s room. This happened almost a year ago, and they still haven’t fixed it after saying they would come in the next day to fix the issue, and now a mold is growing from that hole,” said Sonia, a resident in a Frederick Douglass housing building between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue on 104th street. 

The wall in Sonia’s sons room

Sonia isn’t the only one with a problem like this. In nearly every other housing building, there are more issues that endanger the health of residents and authorities of NYCHA aren’t doing much about it. 

According to the City Limits, “lack of provision of adequate heat & water, functioning elevators, uncontrolled pest infestations, and fraudulent inspections whereby the City of New York (via NYCHA, NYC’s largest landlord) admits to numerous housing-code, environmental and human-rights violations disproportionately impacting the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of low-income residents, in particular children and seniors of color.”

NYCHA residents are getting a lack of care of attention, and not much has been done to satisfy them. This leads to residents having to take on the problems with their own hands, wasting money for issues they are not responsible for. 

“Last year, over the summer, they [NYCHA] had shut off my stove for three months. I’m a single mother with two kids, and I didn’t know how I could feed them… I had to order a small mini stove to cook for the three of us… it was one of the hardest times I’ve had in my life,” says Mayah, who lives in the Washington housing buildings on 3rd Avenue, 100th street. 

Rather than tackling the issue head on, NYCHA has been trying to minimize the problems.

“They put a bandaid on the problem, they don’t fix it entirely,” the tenant association president at Ingersoll Houses told Spectrum News. 

While many people are complaining about these hazardous situations in their homes, NYCHA continues to get away with it. 

An article on the Gotham Gazette, states, “most notably, 20 months ago we issued a report after our investigation determined that children in NYCHA apartments were being exposed to dangerous levels of lead paint and that senior NYCHA officials had filed false forms with the federal government that failed to disclose this fact.” 

NYCHA then had falsified more forms after failing to check smoke detectors. The same article on the Gotham Gazette mentions, “the first report came after two children died in a fire where the smoke detector did not go off, even though an inspector had been in the apartment just hours before the fire and falsely filed paperwork stating that he had tested the alarm and it was working.”

Angry residents urge that NYCHA be held responsible for their incompetence and give them a secure and healthy living space so they can get their money’s worth; and so they won’t feel as though their lives are at risk.

Summer Heat

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With the summer heat killing everyone, all you want to do is cool off in a pool and stay there all day. Those who can’t go to the pool, go to the nearest fire hydrant that is open. Walking past seeing the kids play and get soaked looks refreshing.

The only problem is the people cooling themselves don’t know that they are wasting water that could be used to put out a fire. If a house is on fire the day after a fire hydrant was open pouring thousands of gallons of water out, when the firefighters come and open the fire hydrants, the possibility of little water coming out is high. Opening a fire hydrant without asking a firefighter is illegal and is called uncapping. People who do this could receive a fine of $1,000 or 30 days in jail.

Uncapping fire hydrants, started with the “Great Heat Wave of 1896,” which lasted 10 days, according to 6sqft. The hydrants were opened to cool down the streets and help wash away the garbage piling up. Kids enjoyed playing and people continued uncapping fire hydrants more often, but later on many complained that water was being wasted.. After this uncapping was no longer legal throughout the twentieth century. In the late 1950s, six city agencies met up to come up with a solution to uncapping fire hydrants illegally. They agreed to distribute free spray caps which released only 25 to 28 gallons per minute versus as much as 1700 gallons per minute without the cap. This is better for the community as it saves water in case there is ever an emergency.

The uncapping of fire hydrants is tolerated by the city when temperatures climb above 90 degrees, because not all pools can take everyone. It benefits people because hydrants are much closer to their house and they don’t have to wait in line. During the heatwave in NYC that lasted for three days July 19-21 allowed the uncapping of fire hydrants. The temperature was above 95 degrees, but it felt like 107 according to a New York Times article.

Uncapping mostly happens in large neighborhoods with a higher percentage of people living on lower incomes. Hell’s Kitchen, the Lower East Side, the SouthSide of Williamsburg, Bushwick, BedStuy, Jackson Heights, and Woodhaven are among the city’s uncapping hotspots according to 6sqft.

In Corona, Queens five fire hydrants were opened all day on July 20. Kids were playing, getting all soaked and the parents were talking to their neighbors. “The kids are having fun and running around, it’s good, especially with this type of weather,” said a mom who was sitting outside her building while her two kids were enjoying themselves with the water. Another mom added “It’s better than being inside with the kids on their phones and tablets all day.”

Now spray caps are not being used, the problem of overflowing water is back. Gallons of water are being released and wasted because people don’t know that if you go to a local fire station, a fireman will install or lend you a spray cap.

 

A Queens District Attorney candidate may be brought to victory by the Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families Party

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It may seem like the only way ordinary people can impact elections is to vote. But in Queens, effective grassroots campaigning may decide the District Attorney election.

It seemed Tiffany Cabán was winning the Queens Democratic primary election for district attorney. However, the paper ballots take longer to count, and when they were counted it was determined that Melinda Katz, Cabán’s main opponent, had won the election by just 20 votes. Because of how close the election was, the votes are in the process of being recounted, so Cabán still has a good chance of winning.

Cabán’s near victory is part of a larger progressive movement. She campaigned around issues like ending the war on drugs and mass incarceration within queens, as well as planning to “tackle corporate crimes” according to her campaign website. Cabán was also backed by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

This election mirrored the 2018 congressional election as Katz and Cabán were each backed by candidates in that election. Former Congressman Joe Crowley backed Katz; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive candidate who defeated Crowley, backed Cabán.

According to Luke Elliot-Negri, a CUNY Grad Center sociology student who has been published in Jacobin and NY Daily News, there are other factors at play than just a recent progressive movement. He believes that the Working Families Party was central to Cabán coming within 20 votes of winning. The Cabán campaign was a “coming together” of the two organizaitons’ strengths: the DSA’s numbers and the WFP’s methods and experience. The WFP has connections to labor unions who could be drawn on, while the DSA has members who helped a lot with the campaigning process. “The most effective thing to get people out to the polls is to show up to their doors” as Luke Elliot-Negri put it.

This election is part of a greater national struggle against political machines throughout the country. Due to the recounts, it is very possible that Queens’ next District Attorney could be Tiffany Cabán, despite the efforts of some powerful political figures.

New York taking steps to penalize cashless businesses

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Cashless

With credit and debit cards on the rise, the use of cash is rapidly dwindling. However, several states, including New York, want to reverse this trend. 

In a matter of days, the New York City Council will vote on a bill that will eliminate discrimination towards low-income individuals who don’t have bank accounts by punishing businesses and stores that don’t accept cash. Introduced by District 15 Council Member Richie Torres, this bill would make shops and businesses think twice about refusing to accept cash.

If the bill is approved, New York will join several other states and cities who prohibit businesses from not accepting cash. According to Karma Allen of ABC News, both Massachusetts and New Jersey passed bills earlier this year to eliminate “cash-free practices.” 

While there is no civil penalty yet, Raymond Rodriguez, Deputy Chief of Staff for Ritchie Torres, says there will be a $1,000 fine for businesses after their first violation. Rodriguez talked about how a big portion of the city’s population don’t have bank accounts and are not able to pay electronically. 

“The rise of cashless businesses in these areas limit minorities and even senior citizens from purchasing goods and products from stores that don’t accept cash,” said Rodriguez.  

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), approximately 6.5% of U.S. households didn’t have a bank account in 2017, many of whom were African-Americans and Hispanics.

However, this proposed bill has received some criticism from various store owners and small businesses. Places that allow credit and debit cards enable faster and easier transactions and conversely, accepting cash will make these stores vulnerable to robberies and thefts. 

Dig Inn, one of the many food shops that don’t accept cash, says on its website “8% or less of transactions were cash.” It also states that cash management takes up a sizable amount of the day, lessening time dedicated to needed food production and preparation to serve their customers. 

The same can be said with the popular food chain Dos Toros. According to Henry Grabar of the Slate, co-founder Leo Kremer said the number of customers paying in cash fell to 15% before this year and managing cash was eating up valuable time toward serving their customers. 

At Hudson Eats, a high-grade food court found at Brookfield Place, all of their shops are cashless because it is located in a rich neighborhood and surrounded by large business sectors. The store managers at Northern Tiger, Dos Toros, and Num Pang say that they don’t accept cash because they have to accommodate to their customers, who have higher incomes, credit cards, and bank accounts. 

And finally, Rolln, a sushi restaurant located at 38 E 23rd Street, also goes cashless and kiosks that allow customers to pay with a credit card or paying apps. One of the employees, William, says that they accept cash only on special occasions. 

“[Going cashless] makes it easier and convenient for us and is a simple, streamlined process,” William said. “We have not had enough cash transactions to justify to accept cash but we also want to give our customers some options.”

Whatever the case may be, Torres hopes that once the bill is passed, it will make other states aware of this issue and prevent businesses from not serving low income households and those who do not possess a bank account. 

Torres said, “The cashless business model is what we call an ‘exclusionary model.’ Once the bill is passed through legislation, hopefully it advances the movement to prohibit it [cashless businesses] across the country.” 

WNYC’s Brigid Bergin

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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.