Marouf Hossain

Presidential Candidates:
Jacob Azrilyant:

Transcript:
Hey everybody! It’s that time of year again, where we all get together and pick your President, or at least watch the candidates’ debate it out. For those who don’t know me, although I’m sure most of you here do, I’m Jacob Azrilyant, your Junior Class President. It’s been an interesting year, we’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs, but in the end, I can definitely say it was worth it. We’ve seen a broad scope of change in the school, we’ve achieved the Vacation Homework Policy, the Budget Reform (or, at least the end of it), the Testing Policy, and with the help of CSA and Junior Government, many of the events that you’ve been to or heard of (who here went to Semi-Formal?) Its been a productive year, which is why I believe you need to vote for me, Jacob Azrilyant, in order to keep the Progress Going.

Let me start off by talking about the biggest positive change for the students that I have created. How many of you have heard of the new vacation homework policy? Many students this year, not just juniors, complained that their teachers assigned too much homework during a time when there was supposed to be relaxation, the whole point of what they call a “vacation.” It became especially difficult when you went away on vacation, sometimes for the whole week or 10 days or whatever it was. Nobody wants to lug around a textbook, or type up 4 page essays, or do anything revolving around school. So, Ikra (the Senior President) and I brought to you, the Vacation Homework Policy. This has to be the biggest positive change for the students in the 3 years I’ve been here. Never has there been a limit on homework, and now, here it is, a burden-free vacation, for the most part. For those who are not exactly sure what it’s about, I’ll tell you. First off, all major non-ap classes are straight up not allowed to give homework. So all those classes include con law, civil law, organic chem, etc. etc. Every other class can only give 1 nights worth of vacation homework for every 4 days of vacation. Now I know, some teacher is going to say “This is one nights worth of vacation homework, just do it” while assigning enough homework to make Baldwin Thursday seem like a joke. If this happens, you’re allowed to appeal to the AP of that subject, and guaranteed your homework problems will be sorted out. So when you think Vacation Homework Policy, think Jacob Azrilyant.

Now, the Budget Reform Bill is also a biggie. I proposed a budget reform bill back in September, and 8 months down the line, we have something that is much more near completion, and something that the majority of us can agree on. The bill will tackle the issue of fairly distributing money to clubs and teams. Clubs and teams have come up and said “Hey SGO, why’d you give us so little?” Well now, we’ll have a rubric that breaks down what we look at when we allocate money, and how much weight each factor has into determining what we give you. At the end of the budget process, not only will we be giving you guys money, but we’ll also give you a piece of paper that says how we got the number that tells you how we got that number. Another thing is SGO cards. I understand that this is a hot issue, and not a lot of people want to buy them. But SGO cards pay for student activities. The Principal won’t know how much he can give to Student Activities until after June 4th, while he’s aiming at the standard $5 a student ($25,000 total, roughly), there’s no telling how much money we’ll receive. So I implore everyone to go out and buy an SGO card, in the end, it all comes back to you.

Now I’ve talked enough about SGO policy, but now I’m gonna go in a little different direction and talk about the student voice. The basic purpose of SGO is to make the students voice get heard, and make sure the administration listens clearly. Most of what I’ve done this year I only did because the students spoke out and needed help. When printers were taken out of the library for some unknown reason, they came to SGO and complained. In a matter of one week I got the printers put back. How? I had a meeting with Ms. Zoughlami, Mr. Barclay, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Kaelin. We brainstormed ideas of what we could do since the printers were taken out, and we came up with concrete solutions. The following week I talked to Mr. Asher at SLT about the issue, and he agreed to put the printers back in the library. When LAS and SSR kids got their report cards and saw that Western Political Thought, the second period of the double period APUSH class wasn’t weighted, I went full force into attempting to get it weighted. Unfortunately, the administration also went full force against it. But in the end, the Social Studies Department and the Principal were aware of the issue, but were not willing to weigh it. On the Class of 2012 page, a person complained about hallway doors, so I asked the Principal, in a meeting I had with him one on one. They will be fixed in the future. Someone else brought up that the locker room bathroom sinks weren’t working and that the locker rooms in general needed ventilation. That night I emailed Mr. Fanning, and he responded saying that the issue will be dealt with. The point is, they heard, and in some cases, they acted.. At another point, the students spoke out against the changes in 2C3 and I acted as the bridge to the administration, but once again, the administration won because of the magnitude of the project. A vote for Jacob is a vote for communication. Another big thing is the Testing Policy. I’ve mentioned it a lot of times, but I’ve never quite explained what it was. The testing policy originated over people complaining about too many tests at the end of the marking period bunched up together. So what I did was make a testing schedule, and I showed it to Mr. Palmer, the testing AP. However, it was not practical to apply this to the end of the marking period, so instead, it was applied instead of final exams. This June, there will be no uniform final exams whatsoever. Instead, there will be a schedule where each subject teacher will have their own day to give an exam (not necessarily a final) on a certain day to which they are assigned. Teachers are strongly advised to adhere to this schedule, and if not, this can be brought up with the AP of that subject. Isn’t that a good testing policy? No final exams AND tests aren’t bunched up together? Now, over the past year we’ve seen a massive increase in communication through facebook and BTHSNews. And I don’t mean the general event communication, I’ve been telling people about projects, policies, and just other things that students wouldn’t normally know. Because of this, the membership count of the Class of 2012 page jumped. So remember, if you want communication to increase, vote for Jacob.

In terms of events, most people are indifferent to the fights and quarrels that happen in the building, or the policies that SGO pushes forth. But one thing is certain, all seniors, and I mean ALL seniors, want a fun senior year filled with excitement . This means successful Senior Pride Days, Masquerade, Prom, and of course, Graduation. If it comes to one thing I can promise you this. You WILL have a great Masquerade, Graduation, Prom, and all that fun stuff in between. When it comes to events, the Senior Planning Committee and Committee for Student Activities will work hard as they did this year to make sure that your senior year is going to live in your memory forever. Now of course, the skeptics are gonna say, “well you’re not THAT great of an party planner.” I want to make this clear, the President alone, no matter who it is, does not have a greater say in how events turn out than any other member of the Senior Planning Committee or the Committee for Student Activities. I will be there keep order, keep things organized, and make sure things are running smoothly, but when it comes to events, I’ll let the people who know how to party plan make sure everything turns out perfect. As President, my job is to represent the students, it’s to voice their concerns, and make what they want happen. Through SLT and SGO, the President is there to make the school a better place, and while events are equally important, the President’s make role is to make sure the students have a voice.

One issue I have that I want to address that hasn’t been touched upon yet, is Math grading. A lot of people dislike that when it comes to math, tests pretty much define your grade, and things like homework and participation, sometimes even projects, don’t count as much. Using the skills I’ve acquired this year as Junior President, I hope to use them to talk to the Math AP and possibly negotiate something that would be a bit more fairer. Everyone knows that math is always the harshest class when it comes to grading, but with a little help, maybe it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. I’m not promising this will happen. But I am promising that I will give it my best. If the vacation homework policy and testing policy worked out, why shouldn’t this one?

In the end, vote for someone who has a broad scope of experience, and someone who’s worked hard to better the school for everyone. Vote Jacob Azrilyant, for Senior Class President 2012.

Michelle Gorbonosov:

Transcript:
Hey everyone, My name is Michelle Gorbonosov and I’m running for Senior President. I was part of Student Government Organization since my first day in this building. I have been planning events, attending meetings, and helping to implement policies since the time I first set foot into Tech. I have the experience, dedication, and perseverance to make our senior year an exciting, memorable one.

An important part of SGO is planning and executing events and contributing to other issues within the school. I have been doing this ever since our freshman year, as secretary of Freshman Council. Some contributions I made in my sophomore year at Brooklyn tech include planning the College Trip, which was open to any Tech student and supporting SGO funding to help renovate the boy’s locker room.

In terms of events that I accomplished during my sophomore year, I helped to plan the Sophomore-Junior Trip, the Oratory Contest, and the Lights Out dance. In my junior year I still participated in planning events and implementing policies. I was once again in charge of planning the Sophomore-Junior Winter Trip and the Oratory Contest. In terms of events geared towards Juniors, I helped to plan the Junior Semi-formal which turned out to be a successful party as seen this past Saturday – it was our gateway into all things Senior Year.

Being President, I would make sure that previous mistakes are not repeated so everyone has the best time possible, enjoying our last year as Technites as we head closer to the end of our high school careers. In the policy making field, I aided in reforming how SGO handles the budget, attending various meetings this year, although I was not an Executive. My committee is coming up with a proposal on how to allocate funds to clubs and teams in a more objective manner – working to help the small clubs- yet not forgetting the large clubs. I also reformed and restructured student assembly so more students could come and voice their opinions.

Now these past three years I have done my best to plan events and implement policies, but senior year is almost here and I want to make it a remarkable year worth all the work we’ve put in these past three years. Next year I will be part of the Yearbook team which will allow me to publish and portray senior activities and events in the yearbook. I will be able to contribute the work I do in SGO to help make our yearbook better as well. I will improve the communication between SGO and the students. One of my ideas is to create a bulletin board outside of the Student Activities Office, 7C1, which will have information specifically for Seniors on upcoming events, payments, and other updates. It will be updated weekly so that students can get the most up-to-date information.

Senior year is not only about just policies, but it’s also about the lively Senior. I sat on the Senior Planning Committee this year and I was one of the members who helped plan Masquerade, which is in the stage of being finalized. I was also involved in discussing the Senior Pride Days that will be hosted next year. Although we are not done deciding on which Pride Days will make the final cut, I will make sure to fight to keep the most popular ones alive. I have also been actively researching and calling potential venues for our Prom and Graduation – I want to make sure that we get the best deals for the most extravagant places for the event every Technite looks forward to.

From my experience in and dedication to SGO I understand what it takes to be a president and to be a leader. Being president constitutes you as a leader – a person who voices the opinions of others, fights for their beliefs, respects their views, and supports others. I’ve been doing this for several years now, ever since I set foot into Tech, and hope to continue doing so next year. Do your high school career some justice by ensuring a stress-free, exciting Senior Year and do the right thing for your Senior Year and vote Michelle for Senior Class President!

Victor Vega

Linda Wang

Danielle Jean

Brian Maison

For the first time in Brooklyn Tech history, a split graduation will be held for the graduating class [Class of 2011].

The classes will be split by majors, with the Engineering, Arts and Social Studies majors in the morning and the Science and Math majors in the afternoon.

This change in the graduation ceremony is due to an increasing class size, and continuing demands from parents on shortage of tickets.

“If we did one ceremony for everyone, we would only be able to give every candidate for graduation one ticket. Now the last, three, four, five years when we could only give families two tickets? I used to get calls off the hook everyday from angry parents and family members. So downsizing to just one ticket was just not an option,” says Marc Williams, Assistant Principal of Student and Parent Engagement.

With a graduating class size of 1136 students, the Student Government faced their most challenging task yet.

“There was a restructuring of student government last year, we used to have a four COSA system where each grade had their own respective COSA. Due to budget cuts we had to go back to having one COSA for all four grades,” says Ikra Ahmed, Senior Class President. Marred by this setback, the Class of 2011′s Student Government did not start planning for graduation until June of Junior year. They looked to Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, the Jacob Javitts Convention Center, and the Saint John’s University gym. All were declined, with financial and time constraints in mind. An outdoor graduation was considered, but a tent covering all 1136 students and their parents along with the cost of renting chairs would also have been far too expensive.

The class of 2011′s graduation ceremony is not only breaking new grounds by having two ceremonies however. This will also be the first graduation in Brooklyn Tech history where the student’s names will be announced.

“It’s kind of a rule at our graduations that we don’t read the names of the graduates, that we don’t call the graduates up. Because to call over one thousand graduates up would take a very very long time. Every student gets to have their name called and come up on stage, which is kind of huge, because we’ve never ever done that at a Tech graduation” says Joseph Kaelin, Coordinator of Student Activities.

Student reactions to this have been both negative and positive. Many are disappointed that they will not be graduating with their friends, while some are relieved, that the ceremony will be shorter and less crowded. Meanwhile, parents seem to have no qualms about the split graduation.

A continuing trend in Brooklyn Tech is the increasing size of the incoming class. The class of 2010 narrowly avoided this issue, and now the Class of 2012 may have to suffer the same fate.

“As we’re making all these improvements and changes to the facilities, hopefully we will get a lot more seats and maybe have it back here because I know that’s important, but I don’t know right now. Currently, I don’t think that we’ll be able to do one ceremony for all the graduates in our building”, Williams said, leaving the future of Tech’s graduation in ambiguity.

*Reporting contributed by Andy Mai

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“It’s very important just to start your day off, nothing is more important than a good breakfast and just get your day started,” said Keller.

Keller shared his own meal plan and stressed the importance of getting key nutrients throughout the day.

While the school breakfast is a popular option among students, school lunch continues to be a problem. Students often criticize the food served in the cafeteria in the middle of the day.

“Not really,” said Gino Nadela, Brooklyn Tech running back, “The food here is kind of terrible.”

Various students agree with Nadela criticizing the food as: disgusting, terrible, unhealthy and could be a lot better.

“I think you don’t know how good you have it until it’s gone,” Keller responded, “I know in my high school it really was bad and that’s not stretching the truth… once these guys leave high school you realize you had it a lot better than you think you did.”

About once a month, Keller writes a column in The New York Times about eating healthy. He gives tips to readers on topics such as controlling cravings.

While Keller came to Brooklyn Tech to promote school food, he also shared his personal experiences in the National Football League (NFL).

If he could receive a pass from any quarterback? “Other than Mark, Peyton Manning.”

The hardest hit he’s even taken? “Ray Lewis.”

The completion of lunch forms was also stressed at the press conference. The New York City Department of Education School Food is giving away a pair of NFL Pro Bowl tickets to a lucky student who hands in their completed lunch form.

BTHSnews.org was given the opportunity to interview Grayling Williams and we were honored to have been given the chance to interview the Tech alumnus.

Technical Assistant – Alex Fevry

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161065610586308

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161065610586308

Whether you know it, time is running out on the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) decision on New York City Student Metrocards. Later this month, the MTA will vote on whether or not to continue the Student Metrocard program. The decision is for students getting free public transportation now to have to pay half fare next school year and full fair the following year. A decision heavily criticized by parents, students, teachers, transit workers and MTA employees.

The New York City Student Union, on June 11th, organized a March for Student Metrocards across the Brooklyn Bridge. The March was led by Brooklyn Technical’s own Lucas Johnson and Henry Pines who spoke with BTHSnews.org about the effects of losing student Metrocards. Johnson did the math and predicted a expense of over a $1000 a year for each child to get to school. Pines criticized the MTA’s wasteful spending by stating only three years ago the MTA had a billion dollar budget surplus and today they are in the hole.

To show that students care, back in March, the NYC Student Union collected expired student Metrocards from students all over New York City with messages on the back of them explaining how the cuts would effect them. At a March public hearing, the NYC Student Union presented the student Metrocards to MTA officials pleading the students point of view. On June 11th, they used 3000 expired student Metrocards and strung them up on a line to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.

Both Johnson and Pines stressed the right to an education and taking away student Metrocards would be taking away that right. The march also landed on the same day as an organized student walkout for student Metrocards. Students left school early to protest student Metrocards at City Hall. The MTA is expected to make their decision on student Metrocards in late June before summer vacation.