The Paw Print

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

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July 4th Shootings Leaves Queens Residents Shaken Up

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Since the July 4th shootings at the Pomona Houses in Flushing, residents have noticed a larger police presence. However the tighter security through the apartment complexes isn’t doing much to make people feel safer.

Police have set up large florescent lights in the middle of three buildings and have been patrolling the area in groups of four.

“It makes sense to have the florescent lights, but I don’t exactly think that it would help that much because one of the shootings were in broad daylight so obviously the shooters aren’t exactly hiding, ” said Dannille Alexandra, 42.

“I feel like the police fail at life,” was how 18-year-old Ashley Bradshaw put her response to the police actions.

She says since the police didn’t catch the shooters, the other residents don’t feel safe.

Bradshaw feels immune to any danger. “I’m a thug and thugs don’t get scared,” she said. “Plus, I stay strapped,” she said referring to carrying a gun.

She is, however, worried for her 71-year-old grandmother who often runs errands in the area.

“I was scared knowing it happened so close to my home, but I’m still doing my normal routines with caution,” said Norma Bradshaw, the grandmother.

On Independence Day, two shootings cost one woman her life and left three men in their early 20s shot in a span of five hours.

The shootings caught the community off guard. “In the 10 years that I’ve lived here, nothing like this ever happened,” said the elder Bradshaw.

There has been a 66 percent decrease change in the last two years of murders in the area according to police data.

“To be honest the police probably don’t know exactly how to handle this since an event like this isn’t common to the area,” added Alexand
ra.

According to news reports, the police have brought in Lerome Robinson for questioning in relation to the shooting.

The police and Community Board 7 refused to comment on the matter.

Even Teens Think Other Teens Share Too Much Online

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When Richard Desjardin,16, scrolls down his newsfeed on Facebook, he gets annoyed when he sees that some of his friends have updated their statuses six times in the last ten minutes.

“Why do I need to know that your dog just took his first bath? I don’t even care,” he said.

Complaints like Richard’s have become increasingly common among young social media users.

“If you’re in the party tweeting about how poppin’ the party is, then the party isn’t that live,” said Chris Rivera, 21. “Or you’re a lame for sitting in the corner on your phone.”

Many teens are becoming fed up with their friends who tell everyone, everything that happens in their lives, all the time.

“There’s no need to put your whole life on Facebook,” said Bruce Simms, 17. “Updating your status that many times is pointless.”

Some teens believe that every detail of their personal lives should be on the Internet while others consider this excessive sharing.

Not only is it pointless and annoying, “It’s just way too much information,” said Raychelle Lohmann, former high school counselor, psychologist and author. She noticed some teens have an “impulsive need to respond to messages the instant they are received” and to update their statuses periodically.

“People don’t need a play by play of your day,” said Lohmann.

Teens like Marc Cancel, 16, agree with this. He really hates when people update too much, saying that when people post too much he cannot see what “other people are talking about today.”

He posts a couple times a day, and sometimes every other day if he is really busy.

Similarly, Richard tries not to update his status more than six times a day to avoid being annoying. He said he posts to let people know when he’s busy and when he becomes available again to avoid having people call or text him while he is doing something important.

However other teens post more frequently.

“I post what happens,” said Angelica Chin, 16. “It’s called a status update for a reason.”

Whenever something happens that she finds “interesting or funny” she posts it on either Facebook or Twitter. She admitted to posting once and hour most of the time, and even said she had posted multiple times in ten minutes on more than one occasion.

“It’s my Facebook” said Angela Ali. “I don’t care what people think about me. I can post whatever I want, whenever I want, and if you don’t like it then block me or delete me.”

However, “It’s not just your Facebook when you’ve invited all your friends to view it,” Lohmann said.

“I hate seeing the same person update their status so much, it starts to clog my newsfeed and time line,” Rivera said.

When Richard and Marc see that people are updating too much, or updating about things they do not care about, they either block them on Twitter, or remove them from their newsfeed on Facebook. Neither however, would go as far as to delete them from their friends.

“It’s not serious enough to delete them, they’re just status updates” Marc said.

However, “If you’re sitting there updating your status that much, then you can’t really be doing anything important,” Richard said.

Those Three

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Yesterday was a huge day for someone, as his best friend said goodbye and moved to Denmark. Who knows how long it will be until they see each other again. He let a few tears fall as we drove home, farther away from one of the most important people in his life, I thought about my life and my friends. I thought about how it would feel to let them go like that. I don’t have a lot of friends. I mean real friends, not those people that are your acquaintances. The people who you actually trust with your life, someone who you consider family. For me, that’s only three people. No matter what happens, I know I’ll be fine with those three.
 

If I didn’t have them, I don’t know how I would survive all the things I can’t handle alone.
I know that one day, maybe soon, I’ll be separated form these three. Maybe it’ll be me moving to Denmark or England. Maybe it will one of them. I don’t know. Who does?
All I know is I love the fact that I can always have faith that these three will be there for me when this does happen. I love that.

Planking Trend Leads to Questions on Origin

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Lying face down while being photographed in an unusual location doesn’t sound like a remarkable activity to indulge in, however as of recently, hundreds of individuals have chosen to participate in this act known as planking.

Since becoming popular earlier this year, discrepancy on the origins of planking has emerged, causing disagreements on its significance.   

Planking has received controversial media attention after causing the death of an Australian man who plummeted to his death while planking on a balcony. This media attention has since augmented after entertainers, including Courtney Luv, openly denounced this trend because of its perceived ties to slavery.

“My view of planking is fairly negative since I do believe its roots come from either slavery or the mockery [of slavery,”] said Luv in a recent interview.

On her blog, http://www.courtneyluv.com, she cites research that while on plank beds, slaves were forced to lay face down with their arms by their side.

However, slave historians find no substantial proof in Luv’s claims.

“I doubt that the term originated from the slave trade,” said Sian Rees, author of “Sweet Water and Bitter: The Ships that Stopped the Slave Trade.”

“In all my research into the slave trade, I have never come across the word ‘planking’ in any contemporary document,” she said. “It seems obvious to me that the term has been coined because planking requires people to lie stiff as a plank — I cannot see why any other meaning should be inferred.”

Julius Lester, author of “From Slave Ship to Freedom Road” and “To Be a Slave,” agrees that slaves “were put on their sides and their knees were bent, and they were laid more like spoons in a drawer,” as opposed to lying stiff, face down, like people do when planking.

His research is supported by references from Hofstra University.

According to a passage in http://people.hofstra.edu, slaves were rarely positioned on their stomachs with their hands to the side. They were generally placed on their side due to the ship captains’ intent to have slaves occupy as little space as possible.

“It seems more logical to think that planking comes from imitating a plank of wood,” Lester said. “I see no connection with the slave trade.”

Despite what professionals say, people have their own reasons for planking.

“In the dictionary, the work plank means timber,” said Delroy Bloomfield, who agrees that planking is connected to the mocking of wood rather than slavery.

Delroy, 17, who is a proud planker, said, “I think [anti-planking activists] are uptight people who lack the ability to have fun.”

Though, despite admitting to it being a stupid trend, he still enjoys planking because it’s funny to see the different places where people decide to plank.

“Yea it’s stupid, but since when are non-stupid things fun? There’s a little stupidity in every entertaining thing,” he said. “I don’t care what they think. That’s their opinion.”

Despite professionals’ dismissal of the slavery connection, there is still enough evidence for the controversy for Mike Louis, a senior at Thomas A. Edison High School and anti-planking activist.

“Planking looks exactly like what the slaves went through,” said Louis who viewed planking as an ignorant trend and plankers as mimics.

“People continue to plank because they don’t care about its history,” he said. “They only see the humor in it.”

Nevertheless, whether the intentions are to resemble a piece of wood or mock slavery, the fact that people continue to gain gratification though planking and entertainment from its photographs, is ultimately what keeps this trend afloat.  

And, despite the controversial dismissal of researchers who have studied slavery, a recent interview with Luv indicated she has no intentions to neither change nor reconsider her beliefs.

“It does not change my views at all,” Luv said. “Rather it leaves me wishing I could challenge their thoughts.”

Gay Teens Respond to Marriage Equality Act

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Sixteen year-old Stanley Chan’s wish to be married in France may not be such a distant dream after all. 

Now that same sex marriage is legal in New York, Stanley like many gay teenagers, can see their future marriage plans come true. Though, it may be years before they walk down the aisle, gay teens still feel affected by the passing of the Marriage Equality Act.

The act allows gay and lesbian teens the chance to have a choice they never had before.

“There are [many alternatives to marriage], but it’s good to have every option available. I know a lot of LGBT individuals that don’t want to get married,but they still want the option to do so,” said Stanley, a member of Stuyvesant High School’s Gay Lesbian and Straight Spectrum club.

 â€œI used to wonder whether or not I’d be able to get married here in 20 or so years whereas now, I know I will be able to,” he said.

The legalization also provides LGBT teens the knowledge that they too have the same rights as heterosexual teens.

Sixteen-year-old Isaac Park, a gay student at Queens High School for the Sciences, said, “I’m glad we’re given the same God-given rights. Everyone should be able to love… This is one step further towards acceptance.”

However, not all teens agree with this.

“The legalization may make others believe in growing acceptance, but I know that I am not anywhere near close to accepting,“ said 17-year-old Lillian Puk.

Lillian, who  participated in a public protest against same-sex marriage on July 24, said, “This is not going to change the way I feel.”

Anthony Dong, another LGBT teen, realizes this.

Indifferent to the legalization, Anthony, a member of an Ultimate Frisbee team, said, “People will not just start accepting because of this [Marriage Equality Act]. Actually I think they [people against same-sex marriage] will get angrier now, since they finally lost a very long battle.”

It certainly was a long battle for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Back in 2004, 25 same-sex partners in New Paltz were married by Mayor Jason West. Days later, the Ulster County District charged West with only 19 of the misdemeanor charges for performing them.

The New Paltz marriages sparked countless court cases contesting their  constitutionality. More than seven years later, on June 24, the Marriage Equality Act, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, was passed in the New York Senate.

The legalization made New York the 5th and largest U.S. state to recognize same-sex marriages.

Thirty days after the law passed, more than 800 same-sex couples were married in New York City, according to USA Today. 

“These marriages took forever to happen, so I am so happy for these marriages!” said 14 year-old Kristie Goon, a LGBT teen and member of her school’s soccer team.

“[I am also happy] for myself because now I can see myself with a ring and a fluffy white wedding dress,” cheered Kristie.

Members of the Harvey Milk School are also enthralled by the legalization.

“Personally and professionally, I have been thrilled by this [Marriage Equality Act],” said Thomas Krever, executive director of the Harvey Milk Institute, which runs the school that acts as a  refuge for LGBT teens who have been bullied in school for their sexual orientation.

Krever says LGBT teens at the school and all around the nation will be affected by the legalization because it “sends a clear message that they have a future that will provide them all with the same life as heterosexuals.”

But, like most teens the concept of marriage is a ways off for Park, the Queens high school student. “I’m only 16.,” he said.”I don’t think I’m going to get married for a while now.”


Parents Give Permission to Toke Up

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The hallway outside of Greg Newton’s Harlem loft smells like a jungle of exotic plants. Inside the fourth-floor apartment, the 18-year-old is lying on the floor smoking marijuana from a bong. His eyes are barely open. Awkwardly, Newton’s father sits next to him, seemingly higher than his son.

According to the research, marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug used by American teens today. Approximately 60 percent of teen drug users, smoke marijuana exclusively. Since many teens are using the illegally controlled substance, the question arises whether parents should give them permission to use the drug.

Single mom Beverly White says it is okay. White allows her 17-year-old son Joseph to smoke marijuana in her own home.

White, who first experimented with pot as a teen, said, “My friends were smoking so it seemed like the cool thing to do and I’ve been smoking ever since.”

White viewed her decision of allowing her son to smoke marijuana as a blessing in disguise.

“It actually helped our relationship rather than having a contentious one,” White said.

In fact, she said the decision brought them closer together because her son was honest with her.

While some people, may question White’s parenting skills, she insists that she runs a tight ship at home.

“If he wasn’t taking care of school it would be different,” White said.

There are boundaries to Whites permissiveness. She will not tolerate Joseph drinking. “I have a problem with the drinking because the drinking can lead to alcoholism,” she said.

It was about four month after Joseph started smoking pot that his mother found out about his habit.

“It came time to where I got caught so I told her,” Joseph said.

Joseph said his mother agreed to let him smoke in her house after they had   a long discussion.

He also sees the side effects of his mother’s actions.

“I look at her more as a best friend type than a mother. I can speak to her about anything,” he said.
Others, however, opposed White’s decision to allow her teen child to smoke marijuana.

Jonson Ortiz, a father of two children ages 18 and 25, said that he would not allow his children to smoke pot, calling it “a level of respect.”

“It’s settings up boundaries as to what’s the right thing and how do you want your family being remembered,” Ortiz said.

After being questioned about how a parent’s role would be altered if they allowed their children to smoke pot, adult therapist Cesia Morillo said that the parent becomes less an authority figure and will continue to play it safe.

“I think that the compromising makes it difficult for the child to understand why smoking marijuana is unhealthy in the first place,” Morillo said.

“Some parents sit down, have a conversation, set limits in terms of consequences, but they should never stoop down to their kid’s level just to ease a situation,” said an anonymous volunteer who works for Parent Stress Line, a helpline.

White argues that in her role as a parent, she will always have the upper hand. And while she does allow the pot smoking, she doesn’t condone it.

“I do hope that he stops,” White said.

The Debate on Planking: Which side are you on?

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Lying face down, while being photographed in an unusual location doesn’t sound like a remarkable activity to indulge in, however as of recently hundreds of individuals have chosen to participate in this act known as planking.
 
Nevertheless, since becoming popular in February 2011, discrepancy on the origin has emerged causing disagreements on its significance.   
 
Planking, has received controversial media attention after causing the death of an Australian man who plummeted to his death while planking on a balcony. This media attention has since augmented after entertainers, including Courtney Luv, openly denounced this trend because of its perceived ties to slavery.
 
 â€œMy view of planking is fairly negative since I do believe its roots come from either slavery or the mockery [of slavery,”] said Luv in a recent interview.
 
On her blog, http://www.courtneyluv.com, she sites research that while on “plank” beds, slaves were forced to lay face down with their arms by their side.
 
However, many slave historians find no substantial proof in Luv’s claims.
 
 â€œI doubt that the term originated from the slave trade” said Sian Rees, author of â€œSweet Water and Bitter: the Ships that Stopped the Slave Trade.”
 
“In all my research into the slave trade, I have never come across the word ‘planking’ in any contemporary document”  she said “It seems obvious to me that the term has been coined because planking requires people to lie stiff as a plank – I cannot see why any other meaning should be inferred.”
 
Julius Lester, author of â€œFrom Slave Ship to Freedom Road” and â€œTo Be a Slave agrees “They [slaves] were put on their sides and their knees were bent, and they were laid more like spoons in a drawer.” As opposed to lying stiff, face down, like people do when planking.
 
His research is supported by references from Hofstra University.
 
According to a passage in http://people.hofstra.edu slaves were rarely positioned on their stomachs with their hands to the side. They were generally placed on their side due to the ship captains’ intent to have slaves occupy as little space as possible. 
 
“It seems more logical to think that “planking” comes from imitating a plank of wood” said Lester. “I see no connection with the slave trade.”
 
But, despite what professionals say, people have their own reasons for planking.
“In the dictionary, the work plank means timber” says Delroy Bloomfield, who agrees that planking is connected to the mocking of wood rather than slavery.
 
Delroy, 17, who is also a proud planker says, â€œI think they [anti-planking activists] are uptight people who lack the ability to have fun.”
 
Though, despite admitting to it being a stupid trend, he still enjoys planking because it’s funny to see the different places where people decide to plank.
 
“Yea it’s stupid, but since when are non-stupid things fun? There’s a little stupidity in every entertaining thing…”
 
However, like most disputes, with rebuttals comes disagreement.
 
“I don’t care what they think. That’s their opinion.” 
 
Despite professionals’ dismissal of the connection, there is still very much to be controversial about for Mike Louis, a senior at Thomas A. Edison High School and anti-planking activist.
 
“Planking looks exactly like what the slaves went through” said Louis who views planking as an ignorant trend and plankers as mimics. 
 
“People continue to plank because they don’t care about its history,” He said. “They only see the humor in it.”
 
Nevertheless, whether the intentions are to resemble a piece of wood or mock slavery, the fact that people continue to gain gratification though planking and entertainment from its photographs, is ultimately what keeps this trend afloat.  
 
And, despite the controversial dismissal of professionals who have studied slavery immensely, a recent interview with Luv indicated she has no intentions to neither change nor reconsider her beliefs.
 
 â€œIt does not change my views at all,” said Love, “Rather it leaves me wishing I could challenge their thoughts.”
 

Time Periods

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Growing up, I listened to my grandparents and parents childhood stories often. These stories

made me wish I could of grown up in another time period. I would have loved to grow
up in the late 50s and wear clothing similar to the Brady Bunch children. Or watch the civil rights movement occur. Or even be there for the American Revolution. I think the major accomplishments  that occurred during these time periods have shaped the world today. Those significant events changed the course of history in a positive way. I would have loved to experience those crucial moments when history was being made. I could have asked questions and saw historical figures. The civil rights movement, developments in science, music and mathematics are just a few examples of advancements from these time periods.

 Unfortunately, I am unsure what people are going to take away from the present time period (2000-2011). Will it be the latest raps, the technology or the violence? I think this time period doesn’t include the culture and art that past time periods have. I wonder what impact will this generation have on other generations to come. I want this time period to be remembered and to forever change the world. Years to come, I hope people wish to have experienced living in this time period, but I’m not so sure that will happen. I hope that significant changes occur, so our time period can be remembered. How is it possible that despite being so advanced, we have yet to leave a mark?

Teen Says Rigorous Training is Worth an Olympic Dream

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Emma Davis, 16, is in the process of becoming an Olympian. She pushes herself to the extreme in order to one day compete in the world’s most famous athletic competition.

Besides being a full time student at NYC Lab High School in Chelsea, Emma is also on a training path to reach the Olympics. After a seven-hour school day, she commutes an hour to attend a two-hour high intensity workout four days a week with her soccer team. Emma’s team is part of the Olympic Development Program (ODP), which has traveled around the world competing, despite injuries to her anterior cruciate ligament in her leg causing her to have crutches and wear a brace.

Despite her many sacrifices like missing social gatherings with loved ones, the Olympics means everything to her.

“The Olympics are what I work for. I work to get to that level one-day and play for my country in the Olympics,” said Emma. “The Olympics are like the final chapter and the final prize, once you’ve made it there, you’ve reached your goal.”

Some teen athletes train up to six hours a day, says Peggy Bendel, a spokeswoman for the U.S Olympic teams.  â€œThey are dedicated athletes and they take their sport very seriously,” she said.

Emma’s training schedule is proof of the dedication needed to become an Olympian.

Her team’s high intensity workout consists of 15 minutes of stretching a round of keep away, conditioning exercises involving suicides and agility tests, additional drills and then, finally, a full game with all teammates.

Some people think that the level of dedication required is too much for teens.

Dr. Harold Raucher, a pediatrician affiliated with Mount Sinai Medical Center, said the Olympics “is a safe environment for teens.” However, “the whole issue is allowing them to focus on a sport to an extreme level practicing for many years.”

Other doctors don’t believe that the Olympics is too demanding on younger teens as long as precautions are taken.

“The Olympics is an extreme accomplishment and don’t discourage it in any way but if can be unsafe when proper training isn’t used,” said Dr. Jordan Metzl, through a spokesperson. Metzl is sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. “This is the number one thing to make sure of when you are competing at such a high level. The Olympics can have some long term detrimental effects on teens when proper precaution isn’t taken.”

The intensity of the Olympics might not be for everybody.

Duval Mandel swam for six years and competed for three years before she quit. Her schedule of two-hour training sessions four days a week became too much. Eating only protein bars before swimming and carbo-loading before swim meets were more reasons for quitting.

“I wanted to be a kid rather than an Olympian,” said Duval now 16.

But Emma can’t see that getting in her way.

“I would never quit soccer,” she said when she heard about Duval. â€œI’ve been playing for so long it is my life, it is my dream and I refuse to quit on my dream.”