The Paw Print

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

Archives for May 2016

High School of Health Professions Holds Election

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On May, 6, 2016, High School for Health Professions and Human Services held their annual school election.

The high school, located in downtown Manhattan,  prepared for this huge assembly weeks in advance. The candidates running for the president election practiced their speeches and advertised their campaigns all over school.

“There are posters everywhere! I’ve seen them in the locker rooms, hallways, lunchroom and even the bathrooms!” says a freshman in this high school. By using posters and creating online videos, the candidates spread the news about the election like wildfire.

When the day finally came, all the students gathered into the auditorium to make their decisions. Junior Christiny Celestinwas the first student to take on the stage. She showed the audience her video on the changes  she plans to make at the school and the crowd went wild. “WE WANT CHANGE, WE WANT CHANGE!” chanted the students. Christiny’s video included her ideas on creating more school trips and dances, more  exciting classes and better school lunch.

Her opponent, Mohammad Rahman, took the stage afterward. He recited his speech and talked about creating more school clubs and less homework. Mohammad says, “Who here has always wanted to join a club, but never has because the ones at school are lame? I can help change that, vote for me and there will be better after school activities.”  

After the assembly came to a close, the audience came to a decision. The winner of the annual Health Professions High School election was Christiny Celestin. Her classmate cheered for joy as she claimed her spot as president of class of 2017.

A Great Talent Show

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Saman Khan

 

High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies held its 10th annual talent show on Friday, April 22. The talent show is a great opportunity for students to show off their skills and talent, but it’s not very entertaining and can get quite boring for students.

For the past years the school tends to have a few talented performers but some are not so good. Students still cheer as loudly as possible just for fun.

“I just really love the singers in our school, but some singers last year were ehh… let’s just say they were a little bit off key and that was the part that bored me to death,” Tiberius Saint Louis an 11th grader, says. Some students like him don’t find some performances very entertaining.

The students from China every year act in different plays. Last year it was “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” and most of the students thought the performance was pointlessly long  and boring. “I literally couldn’t hear a word the actors were saying and the play was way too long, it took up half of the talent show time!” Janice Chen a 10th grader says.

Some other students came to the performance just for the heck of it — not because they were actually interested. “Honestly … I just came to see the talent show because I don’t want to stay in class and I really don’t care whether the performances were good or not but the magician was not entertaining at all,” Athena Tozzo an 11th grader says.

Nicole who sang “Halo” in last year’s talent show, students participating in the lion dance and Tianyan and Lishi playing the violin were the most talented performers in my opinion and as well as a few other’s opinions. “Nicole’s voice really blew me away, she really knows how to hit those high notes just like Beyonce,” Pema Yangchen, a 10th grader ,says.

The way the students memorized the 10-minute-long dance is outstanding! It requires a lot of practice daily to have a perfectly memorized performance. And the two girls playing the violin, Lishi and Tianyan perfectly played the instrument, with a smooth and soft rhythm.

Overall, the performances were well-played and some entertaining but some were not very entertaining due to the way they played their performance and the duration of some performances were too long for students to pay attention to.

 

Hot or Not: DiorSkin AirFlash Foundation

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The company Dior is well known for its beautiful fragrance line, and now it is becoming popular in the makeup world.

With the launch of the DiorSkin Airflash Spray foundation, the company describes the product as “the go-to solution for professional makeup artists, Dior’s Airflash is the first revolutionary spray foundation that brings airbrushed perfection to your daily makeup routine.”

The simple 2.3 ounce can come with a price, $62 U.S.

Yes, $62 is a lot for foundation, so here is why you get your money’s worth.The foundation comes with a little pamphlet with detailed instructions on how to apply the foundation to achieve a flawless complexion.

Without reading the reviews on the product, I went to Sephora to purchase this item for special upcoming events. IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM. This is coming from a teenage girl who struggles with acne and acne scars, and when I sprayed this foundation on, my imperfections were nowhere to be seen! It looked very effortless, and as I went through the hot summer days in New York City it did not melt off my face. The finish of this foundation makes the skin look healthy, luminous, and it stays all day with no need of reapplication. I didn’t expect it to be this good because it was high end, and these kind of products usually don’t carry a lot of product but it lasted months.

A user DeeNYC86 comments on the product on the Sephora website: “Initially I was flipflopping back n forth from getting either 500 and 600 because I seen so much YouTube video reviews of women who are deeper than me buy 600, I am NC 50 Mac and 177 makeup forever.

“I final settled for 600 and it is absolutely perfect for my skin tone.

“So my only gripe is Dior make deeper shades for women of color! Women want to wear this product so bad that they buy it even though it’s not their shade. Smh.”

I agree that the company should make more shades for its diverse audience, so they can get a chance to experience this beautiful product. Personally I am in the shade 400 Honey Beige and it matches perfectly, looks very natural and dewy. It is also very useful for the people who are on the go and don’t have to time to apply their makeup. You just spray this guy on and blend and you’re good to go.

Another reviewer on makealley.com said, “After stalling for years and refusing to try this (“$62 for foundation? LOL/GTFO” – me), I finally gave in and bought it. I am so ANNOYED that this foundation is as perfect as it is, because I’ll have to keep shelling out big bucks for it. But you guys, honestly – it has all these positive reviews online for a reason. I can’t say anything that the rest of the reviewers haven’t already – the coverage is lightweight and natural-looking but somehow makes your skin look perfect and glow-y. (For reference, I have aging, combination skin with dryness around my eyes and a t-zone that tends to turn into an oil slick, but if you moisturize and prime appropriately, you’ll get a beautiful, perfect finish.) BUY IT.”

This is why I have continued to purchase this item from the DiorSkin line for two years now, and  never had a bad experience with this product.

 

 

Is Urban Music Dead

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“It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine salt’n’peppa and Heavy D up in the  limousine” Notorious B.I.G

The ’90s was a remarkable year for all urban music. Now Urban music struggles to stay alive, with very few MCs who bring that ’90s flow back to life.

In the ’90s, music was driven by passion of it and not just the money. Artist  like 2 Pac, Dru HIll, MS. Lauryn Hill,Erykah Badu and many other artist spent time to create quality work.

Now senseless artists come into the urban music world and don’t  uphold the standards. Artists are now unrecognizable on their tracks and only the beat carries them through.

These artists have no substance when it comes to music anymore. Many of these so called MCs rap/sing about money and females in a rather degrading way.

While urban music is constantly being torn down few MC struggle to keep it alive. J.Cole and Joey Bada$$ are two of the few artist who still bring that flare of 90s music.

Bring back the root of our Urban music.

The Beginning Of A New Era: Body Cameras

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Fatal shooting or abuse by police officers has recently gained significant attention through the media. Citizens demand justice for their loved ones who have experienced police brutality. However, it is nearly impossible to discern what truly occurred between an individual and the police without any witnesses around.

Families such as those of Michael Brown, the teenager who was fatally shot by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri are requesting that police officers begin to wear body cameras. A year long study of the Rialto, California police department showed that when officers wore cameras the rate of use of force incidents was reduced by 59 percent and “utilization of the cameras led to an 87.5 percent reduction in complaints” by citizens against cops. Police reformists and equipment vendors endorse body cameras because they often provided accountability.

“Body-worn cameras hold tremendous promise for enhancing transparency, promoting accountability and advancing public safety for law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. President Obama recently announced $263 million in funding to purchase 50,000 body cameras for local police agencies.

Many individuals celebrate the introduction of a new era for justice although the adoption of body cameras will not all happen at once. A officer from the New York police department said, “ There are so many cons to these body cameras that people are not focusing enough on. For starters, I will feel like my own privacy is being invaded at times because I will not want anyone listening in on my conversation with my partner, family or friends while being on duty.”

There is a debate about when the body cameras should be on and off. “What if I need to use the ladies room?” the officer continued “There is no way I will have that camera on. There needs to be an exception because if not, my privacy is being completely violated!”

There are citizens who believe that there will be fewer unjustified shootings, fewer acts of brutality, and ultimately, fewer unjustified arrests with body cameras. However, others maintain that body cameras will become an intrusion to their life since their everyday actions will be watched.  Despite the different opinions, body cameras has already became a reality in our world.  

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A Woman’s Line of Code

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Jennifer Gomez, an aspiring sophomore at Manhattan Village Academy who is learning computer coding plans a promising, yet challenging future in the men-dominated field of technology.

As technology becomes more prevalent in society, many aspiring young people are trying to make it a career path. Phones, computers and televisions use a variety of software. With newer technology, more people are taking on the challenge. Most of them are men.

Gomez and her family members were born in Lima, Peru. Her experience in Peru was drastically different than her life in the United States. “It’s really different from the United States, most of my family lived there and people are more friendly,” Gomez said. She moved to the United States with her parents at the age of 7.

She now resides in Queens, switching between living with her father and mother because they are divorced. The divorce does not prevent her from spending time with her parents. And through this, she was able to set a good example for her brother to spend quality time with both parents.

Gomez took coding classes on “Girls Who Code” during the summer. The summer course allowed her to be more creative and analytical in computer programming. This short session inspired her to be more like the founder of “Girls Who Code,” Reshma Saujani.

Her path proves difficult and time-consuming. However, she plans to persevere to the end.

She wants to spread awareness for women to be more involved in a men-dominated field. She hope that one day she will be able to influence and empower women to be confident and break the social norm of conventional women’s occupations.

Black Futures

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On Saturday the visual arts group took a trip to the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. The instructor took the kids to this burial site to expose them to how blacks in New York were treated and put to rest when they passed. From the 1690s to about 1794 free and enslaved Africans were buried right outside the settlement of New Amsterdam  later known as New York.

After watching a documentary about the history of the burial ground the arts group took a tour around the cemetery and talked about their views and thoughts of the memorial.

The Junior Scholars  Program at the Schomburg Research Center is a unique program for young people. Kids around the tri-state area attend these morning Saturday sessions to learn more about Black American studies. The young scholars are split up into special groups to demonstrate their talents and to talk about global black experience through photography, visual arts, spoken word, theater and many others. All of this hard work will pay off during the celebration at the Junior Scholars Summit in May.

Every year the program identifies a specific topic for the year. This year it is “AfroFuturism,” the  idea of how the black race would progress and and grow mentally to become more aware of their opportunities for success in the future.

This year the visual arts instructor kicked off the year by bringing the group to the African Burial Grounds  to start thinking about what kind of message we want our audience to receive and how our ancestors have wanted us to live our future.

“What does Black Futures means to  you?”

The instructor asked the group that question before they started taking pictures and and choosing how they wanted to present their work.

The experience of putting together the project for the end of the year celebration takes a lot  because the discussion and the brainstorming the group goes through is very intense. The visual arts group has used the archives at the Schomburg to collect old footage and documents that could relate to the topic for the summit. As the summit approaches the group will complete various pictures and edits for other scholars and parents to see.

 

Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo: Should Albums be Altered?

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“A living, breathing, changing creative expression,” is definitely an unorthodox way to describe an album.

But this is how Kanye West described his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, which initially released on February 14. I say “initially” because the album has been altered multiple times since its release, with the most recent version coming on April 1. Although most of the changes have been slight, such as audio tweaks to “Waves,” “Feedback,” “FML,” and “Fade,” these changes are noticeable.

The biggest change came in the form of the song “Wolves.” The original version of the song featured vocals from Sia and Vic Mensa, but the album version replaced this with a verse from Frank Ocean. After many fans (including myself) were upset that the original version of the song was changed, Kanye compromised by reverting the track back to its original, and by giving Oceans verse its spot, entitled “Frank’s Track.”

Perhaps the most controversial song on the album, “Famous,” had a line change that may seem insignificant, but helped improve the direction of the song. This verse two line was originally: “She be Puerto Rican Day parade waving,” and was changed to: “She in school to be a real estate agent.” This new lyric went much better with the following line of, “Last month I helped her with the car payment.”

There already have been multiple changes to The Life of Pablo, and Kanye’s record label, Def Jam, stated that Kanye’s album is “an innovative, continuous process. The album will be a living, evolving art project,” showing that there are more updates for The Life of Pablo in the near future.

This brings up an interesting question: should albums be altered? Kanye West is an extremely controversial artist and almost everything he does gets plenty of media attention. Kanye could be starting a trend for albums and artists of the future. Changing a product gets people interested in it again, but that doesn’t necessarily make it ok to go back and edit something. In another 5 to 10 years, will we still see revisions being made to this album?

Kanye has compared his album to a piece of art, and many people believe the title, The Life of Pablo, alludes to famous painter Pablo Picasso. But when artists showcase their art at a gallery, they don’t run around the room with a paintbrush, attempting to make last minute changes to their paintings.

By making these changes, Kanye shows his dedication to his work, and that he wants his work to stand the test of time. I think treating albums like living, breathing, ever-lasting forms of art can greatly improve the music industry. Although it may seem like cheating for an artist to go back and edit the parts that fans didn’t enjoy, that’s why music is so beautiful. It can change, it can grow, and as long as these changes are made for the right reasons, albums should be allowed to be altered.

Prom Season

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As prom approaches for most seniors, dresses are running out! Walking through the streets of Manhattan around 3 p.m., you will witness cliques of girls rushing with excitement to get to the store on time to shop for dresses.

Gianna Peralta, a current senior at the High School of Fashion Industries, is a victim of still not finding her dress nor having enough money for it.

“Prom takes place on May 21. My budget is about $150, because I pay for my own things. My parents are divorced and they really aren’t helping me out, except for when they bought my prom ticket,” she said.

Gianna goes on, about how she needs to find the perfect dress because she wants to feel like an absolute princess. “Our prom theme is Arabian. So I want to find something that goes with the theme and the weather. The weather is important because that defines if I get a warmy dress, or a cleavage dress,” she said.

But the longer she takes, she’ll have fewer options. Many girls in this school have already bought their dress, for very little money. Some have said they have found the perfect dress, and others that if they don’t find their dress, they won’t go to prom.

“I have to get heels, I need to know how I’ma do my hair, I need to set up the appointment for my make-up and I NEED MY PROM DATE!” Gianna says.

As seniors are all excited about prom, it’s causing them some stress.

Emely Pena, another student from the High School of Fashion Industries, breaks down and says “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t even know what I’m going to wear, I haven’t even paid for my prom ticket and all of my friends are already ahead of me. I have to worry about college applications and how I’m going to pay my senior dues, I really want to go but I don’t know if I am,” she said. Unfortunately, most seniors pay for their own ticket.

Prom, in this high school, isn’t as good as what it seems in movies. Seniors are excited about it, but they are also overwhelmed on the stress about looking absolutely stunning on this day.

NYC Highschoolers fuming over spring break

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In New York City, spring break is much later than other spring breaks nationwide. Spring break in other states such as California or Maryland, is in late March/early April. However, in New York, the DOE placed Spring break on the week of April 25.

Any normal high scholar would agree. Jadah Stone, a 10th grader at Manhattan high school, says, “It’s completely bogus, I wish that my spring break was earlier. I hate having to wait two months for another break.”

This voice is not alone, I took a survey of ten random high school students at Tompkins Square Park, and seven of them said that they thought that this spring break is too late in the year. One of them, Jack Capello, an 11th grader at East Side Community High School, thinks that spring break should be two weeks instead of just one.

The debate about breaks is strong among students in New York City’s high school system. Many students are angered about most schools in the nation getting off for summer break in May, while the last official day of school in New York City is June 28.
Is there a legitimate concern over a student’s mental stability? Or are New York City high scholars just lazy. New York City has something that most other cities don’t, a mid-winter break, in February.