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Students React To Underfunding At Baruch College Campus High School

December 15, 2024 by Gail Robinson Leave a Comment

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.)

Liberal Arts and Sciences: Surviving at the Business School

August 6, 2015 by Anastasia Krasilnikova

What do you think of when you think of Baruch College? For many it’s a business school; most students come here for finance, marketing and accounting. However, there is another side to Baruch that most students dismiss.

Some 21.9% of students at Baruch don’t have a business major. They seek to get a good education in liberal arts and sciences among an overwhelming amount of future business “sharks.” Some aspects of education are equal while others, some students say, need improvement.

5671612216_981e6ddd5f_o “Overall, I think business students get more support and opportunities,” said Christina Pak, a senior majoring in journalism. This is evident in many parts of Baruch. For example, the Zicklin School of Business webpage lists dozens of scholarships for students in every degree it offers. The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences page, on the other hand, has noticeably fewer scholarships and they are not organized by major.

Even bulletin boards on the 7th floor where most liberal art departments are located contain mostly business and marketing internships.

“We are not doing such a good job at connecting students with career paths and real jobs,” admitted Professor Tim Aubry, associate professor of English and deputy chair of the English department.

However, as Christina said, “as long as a student is proactive,” he/she will be able to find opportunities and internships.

All these interviewed emphasized the professionalism of both business and nonbusiness departments. “In most core classes my professors are experts in their field,” said Chase, a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in economics.

Many experts are attracted to the city because of its active and colorful life, says Professor Aubry, and that helps Baruch college hire many professors with expertise and working experience.

“My professor worked at the newspaper for a long time,” said a journalism student, Yoolim Hwang. Nevertheless, she added she found changing her major from business to nonbusiness difficult because of “lack of information and assistance” and fewer “classes available”.

Despite the issues, Chase, Christina and Yoolim said that they are satisfied with the education they are receiving at Baruch. Plus, affordability and location make this college even more attractive, Chase admits.

So, while business students make up the majority and might be getting more attention, Baruch college is focused on making its liberal arts and science programs “as competitive as the ones of Hunter college,”says Professor Aubry.

Why Does the Gunman Shoot?

August 7, 2013 by LOUIS CASTILLO

When one is informed of tragic events that happen on a world scale one may ask himself thought-provoking questions about how this could happen. Some may say that evil is the creation of God. Another would disagree, likening it to the actuality of dark and cold. But consider this. Acts of violence cannot only be attributed to the absence of God but also to inclinations within the human condition. In other words, the human race has the inclination to do something wrong whether it be to cheat on a test or to go so far as to commit an act of violence. The presence of God is what prevents one from committing a wrong thing.

When arguing the validity of God and Christianity some would say that God created everything. In addition to that, some may even imply that, if God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists. Therefore according to the principal that our actions define who we are then, God is evil.

Coming to this conclusion is logical but the flaws in this logic must be exposed. Liken this to the existence of cold. One may say that cold indeed exists simply based on the reason that they have felt cold. In fact cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in actually the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to examination when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes incapable of reaction at that temperature. In actuality heat, on Earth, can never be absent. Rather it can vary in its intensity.

One may also believe darkness exists based on what they have experienced. Once again this empirical evidence is baseless and invalid. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. We can study light , but not darkness. We can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.

You cannot measure darkness. How can one know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.

Now ask yourself does evil exist? Evil in fact does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of Jah. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith or love that exist just as light and heat do. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no warmth or the darkness that comes when there is no illumination.

The actions of men are those that come from overwhelming inclinations that stem from the human condition. When one does things that seem to defy our nurtured reasoning, that is evidence of the natural inclination of man. Philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and Kongfuzi believed that humans all have a sense of evil within them that must be contained in one way or another. Kongfuzi believed that men should understand the order of respect and mutual respect. He felt that if all men understood those levels of subjugation, evil would have no place and if those who have liberating powers, like fathers and leaders of countries, practiced ultimate benevolence evil would have nowhere to take root.

Thomas Hobbes on the other hand expressed his radical conservativism towards the autocratic subjugation of peoples whether it be brutish or benevolent. To Hobbes all humans were evil and needed to be subject to a higher power. He once said, “The condition of man…is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.” Hobbes implies that men do what they want within the confines of their own material gain. He felt men create a “social contract” between one another so that they may be able to coexist without mutilating one another because that is their natural tendency.

To both of these philosophers of old evil is the constant and goodness is simply a catalyst. However, evil is not the constant. Goodness, kindness and benevolence are the constant but, like heat, vary in intensity. One may ask oneself that if we have this “social contract” why do men kill other men? Well to simply answer, it is the absence of God.

In 2010, America suffered a homicide total of 12,966, 67.5 percent of those homicides were firearm related. This is an ever-so-often occurring issue in America. We hear about these events and then wonder how does God allow these things. Why are they happening? The fear of God is not in the hearts of the men who commit them. They kill for pleasure and even as a quick fix to their own problems. They have disregarded Hobbes’ “social contract” and Kongfuzi’s hierarchy of respects. Evil has outshined the light of goodness.

How can politics solve a problem that is simply more than just crime? This issue is not about how many guns are in the nation. This issue is not about how many bullets are in a clip. This issue is not about some conspiracy to disarm the nation. This issue is an issue within the fabric of humanity and has been and will always be. A man will kill when he feels he wants to. The only way to control this is by regaining the goodness we were born with. We regain it through God.