The State of the Arts
Volume 1 Issue 3
www.laguardianewspaper.weebly.com
Edition: February 2016
Communication at LaGuardia:
Students and Faculty
Dance majors perform with Junior Band. (Matt Louie)
Student Life - Page 2
Current Events Page 4
Arts & Entertainment - Page 5
Student Life
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Edition: February 2016
New Plans for Penn Station
By Kaitlyn Quach
It's 7:15 a.m. The train doors slide open and I step onto the
grimy platform alongside my fellow commuters. It's stuffy,
and the air smells like a week-old salad mixed with pizza.
Upstairs isn't much better; the long hallway is narrow and
there's people scurrying in all directions.
This might sound like the typical subway station,
but it's actually Pennsylvania Station, once regarded as one
of the most beautiful places in New York City---rivalling
even Grand Central Terminal. So, what happened?
With rail usage declining in the '60s, the company
that first owned Penn Station, Pennsylvania Railroad, sold
the air rights to Madison Square Garden. Despite numerous
protests, the beaux-arts station was demolished in 1963 to
make way for the sports complex. What remains of the
once marvelous Penn Station is deep underground, lowceilinged, windowless, and a total nightmare during rush
hour. As architectural historian Vincent J. Scully Jr. once
said, "One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now
like a rat."
But that doesn't mean there aren't big plans for
Penn Station. Over the years there have been numerous
redesigns, including tons of windows and large,
sophisticated open spaces radiating with a futuristic feel.
Additionally, there have been plans to move the main
concourse to the James Farley Post Office across the street.
In 2013 the Municipal Art Society pushed to reduce
Madison Square Garden's operating permit to only ten
more years, and finally, in January 2016, Governor Cuomo
announced his three-billion-dollar project that will give
Penn Station back the things it's been missing for all these
decades-including new bridges, tunnels, and concourses.
This new project, called the Empire State Complex, will
double the size of Penn station, allowing a more even
distribution of the
600,000 commuters
that pass through on a
daily basis. Will this
endeavor pull through
and become just what
Penn Station needs?
Penn Station (pbs.org)
Page 2
Mr. Meyers conducts Intermediate Orchestra.
(Matt Louie)
MusicalE not Musical
By Matt Louie
Have you heard anyone ever mention the term musicale?
Of course you have. However, its normally spelled
musical, right? Well, actually, we have both at school.
Many saw the production of Beauty and the Beast earlier
this school year, which was an exciting musical indeed.
Besides that show, there have been other performances like
the Semi-Annual, Senior Dance Showcase, and Symphonic
Band Concert, which have been in the spotlight. The
musicales, split into three consecutive evenings, normally
come right after the Semi-Annual art exhibitions and the
Senior Orchestra and Senior Chorus groups.
For some reason, which continues to beguile us all,
the person who decided to name these evenings a
musicale, apparently was successful, as we are now
stuck with this term. Not only are the musicales a bi-yearly
sequence of events as well, but they are special dates. The
musicales are arranged in a manner that enables singing
and instrument playing to occur within minutes of one
another according to different groups. Januarys musicales
were especially enthralling, since there was a small
interlude of dance majors that sprung out from behind
stage to support the tunes of the band!
The term musicale has been thrown around quite
frequently in this article so far. Of course there is important
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terminology, among other aspects, pertaining to the music
industry that must be made privy to everyone. For those
who lack ensemble experience and remain unfamiliar with
the tidings of our concerts, prepare to delve into the music
world that instrumentalists and vocalists have put together!
All the musicians work extremely hard to put on a
wonderful performance in more than one of the
consecutive shows. Before worrying about anything else,
Girls Chorus performs (Matt Louie)
the tone of the notes or whether they are produced from the
right pitches, the most essential variable is to strive for
perfection, through hours and hours of practice. Technique
is refined and new possibilities become more and more
clear to the musician. It is imperative that their use of
dynamics, the change in volume, is mediated to match the
way that the composer originally intended those markings
to be heeded. Rhythm and tempo are crucial since they
vary as different people perceive these concepts in their
own manners as means of matching what they are capable
of. In addition, following the conductor is something that
stifles even some of the more experienced students, yet
there are also some that have just recently begun their
training no more than half a year ago. Whether it is
elementary orchestra or chorus, intermediate orchestra or
girls chorus, the groups efforts cannot be underestimated.
Clearly, the musicians that sing and play a variety
of instruments are important to the schools annual
performances. Listen closely next time January comes
around, for it is musicale with an e, not musical. By this
time, that is long done and this chain of performances
spanning three evenings not only provides the next best
form of entertainment, but also demonstrates the students
and staffs dedication from September until now.
Edition: February 2016
Communication at LaGuardia
By Naomi Keusch Baker
A conference day is a motivational sigh of relief, at least
for students. As soon as the shortened schedule is
announced, we have the date marked in our calendars. Or,
we are pleasantly surprised when the bell for first period
doesnt ring at 8am. Leaving school early is a minor
reward for our hard work.
However, to a rare student who thoroughly reads
the Weekly Bulletin, there is usually another detail,
marked Faculty Conference or Faculty Meeting. This
isnt a surprise; its called Conference Day for a reason.
The afternoon is an opportunity for faculty members to
discuss what? What decisions are made and how do they
effect the student body?
What we dont know cant hurt us, but it could
help. If the purpose of these meetings is to discuss current
positive and negative aspects of issues and how the
situation could change, students deserve to know the
substance of these meetings. We are directly impacted by
adjustments in school policy. One solution for informing
people is to keep minutes. A designated secretary can
record the points discussed, including individuals
reactions. A write up of the meeting can be published in
the Weekly Bulletin or posted on LaGuardias website.
Of course, some of the staff may argue the
meetings are purely bureaucratic and only address
teachers, so we should not be involved. However, this
explanation is likely implausible because meetings by
academic subjects and majors are held, probably to
concentrate on curriculum. Also, sensitive material could
be censored out if needed, though the record should reflect
what teachers and administration are working toward.
Communication among students and staff needs to
increase. The Student Government Organization (SGO)
strives to maintain a mutually understanding environment,
but a similar problem exists. Representatives in SGO
compassionately ask us what issues we want them to
discuss at meetings, but thats mostly the end of the
interaction. What happens in these meetings? Are the
issues discussed or not, and why arent we informed of the
results?
These concerns are genuine, and not meant to be
accusatory of one person or party. LaGuardia High School
has an abundance of strengths, but we can always
acknowledge possible areas in need of improvement.
Page 3
Current Events
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Photographs from Winter Storm
Jonas in Forest Hills
Photography By Ausra Pranevicius
Edition: February 2016
Welcoming Four New Elements!
By Kaitlyn Quach
Time to update those textbooks! On December 30th, 2015,
the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
(IUPAC) introduced elements 113, 115, 117, and 118,
temporarily nicknamed Ununtrium (Uut), Ununpentium
(Uup), Ununseptium (Uus), and Ununoctium (Uuo),
respectively.
These newcomers are classified as "superheavy,"
which means that they aren't found in nature and are
synthetically created by scientists. These four, in
particular, only last for a fraction of a second before
radioactively decaying into other elements! As you will or
may have learned in Chemistry class, an element's atomic
number represents the number of protons inside its
nucleus. Therefore, making new ones requires adding more
of them. This requires smashing previous elements
together inside high-energy particle accelerators until, at
the perfect speed and position, their nuclei fuse together
(with the protons inside) and form something new. Then,
the scientists are able to separate the new atom from the
rest because of its different chemical properties. As a result
of this process repeated all across the world, from the
United States to Russia to Japan, this quartet will
satisfyingly complete the seventh row of the periodic table.
The four new elements are located in the seventh row
of the periodic table. (sciencenews.org)
Page 4
Arts & Entertainment
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Edition: February 2016
Creed, Directed by Ryan Coogler
Farewell Tom Coughlin
By Joanna Seifter
By Alec Spector
Before I say anything, I guess I have to address the
elephant in the room, on behalf of The State of the Arts:
The Oscars are just as narrow and focused on their shallow
standards of quality as they were last year. Okay? Happy,
Buzzfeed addicts? Now, on with the review.
I think we can officially mark 2015 down as the
year of nostalgia. From The Force Awakens to Jurassic
World, weve been begging and begging for sequels, and
Ryan Cooglers Creed, the seventh installment in the
Rocky film series, is no exception.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Rocky
franchise, let me fill you in. In Rocky, Apollo Creed is the
world-renowned boxer who fights the virtually unknown
titular character. Although Rocky beats Apollo by the time
Rocky II rolls around, they remain close friends until
Apollos death by Russians in Rocky IV (which, if you
havent guessed, was a Cold War-era movie). In Creed,
Apollos youngest son Adonis Donny Creed, decides
that he wants to, as he puts it, build a new legacy for
himself as a boxer without relying on the fame and fortune
of his father. Funnily enough, this description can be
applied to the film itself, and both Donny and Creed
succeed.
Creeds best qualities are its strong performances
from a stellar leading cast (including Michael B. Jordan as
Donny, Sylvester Stallone reprising Rocky, and Tessa
Thompson as Bianca), along with its competent and
assured direction from Coogler and a beautiful musical
score by Ludwig Gransson, coupled with a satisfying
rendition of the original Rocky theme. Creed also has
evocative and daring boxing scenes, crisp cinematography
and editing, and a decent story that pays homages to Rocky
in favor of simply retreading familiar narrative territory.
Although the film can sometimes be weakened by
inconsistent pacing and a pretty lame antagonist (seriously,
what kind of self-respecting boxer would call himself
Pretty Ricky??), if youre looking either for a fresh
installment to a culturally important film series or just
something with a bit more substance than your average
sports drama, check out Creed. You will be anything but
disappointed.
On January 5th, 2016, Tom Coughlin stepped down after
12 years as the coach of the New York Giants. One of the
Giants best coaches, he finished with 102 wins and 90
losses, placing him second on their all-time win list. He led
the Giants to two Super Bowl wins in 2007 and 2011, but
had not made the playoffs since the 2011 season. He
coached famous players such as Tiki Barber, Michael
Strahan, and Eli Manning, and will be remembered for
having a no-nonsense, fiery attitude.
When Coughlin became head coach in 2004, it
appeared as if fate was guiding him to this position, for
Coughlin had previously coached under Bill Parcells, the
famous Giants head coach back in 1990 when the Giants
won a Super Bowl. Tom had a reputation for arguing with
players, but because of his loyalty to them, many players
wanted him back including the quarterback, Eli
Manning. Manning grew up with Coughlin as coach; they
both joined the Giants in 2004. Manning, and teammates
past and present, hoped Coughlin would stay to coach for
one more year. However, while his players wanted him
back, the fans felt otherwise. For the past three seasons, the
Giants failed to make the Playoffs and Coughlin felt their
ire. Some may argue it was not Coughlin but the players
who failed. However, in the end, the coach always gets the
credit and the blame.
Now with Coughlin gone, Ben Mcadoo, the Giants
offensive coordinator under Coughlin, will take over as
head coach. Ben is well liked by the players and the
coaches, and Manning knows his system. While everyone
wishes Mcadoo success, Im disappointed to see Tom
leave the organization he helped to build. Tom Coughlin is
a classy guy and will be sorely missed. He will be
remembered as one of the best coaches the Giants ever
had.
Tom Coughlin
(nbcsports.com)
Page 5
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Shades of Blue: NBCs New Gem,
Hidden in Plain Sight
By Malach Campbell
After watching a television show air for several years, one
may start to question the reasons behind that very same
shows apparent downfall. Staff, such as writers and
directors, are often the first blamed for the loss of realism
or originality of which the show garnered in its inception.
Yet, looking closer, one may realize that the writing and
directing staff may not be the initial sources of incessant
inanity or lack of authenticity, as more than a few times,
shows have been forced by the murderous hand of change
off of the cliff, and into the oblivion of a different
schedule, and it networks own altering habits.
Though an extremely popular network, NBC has
proven its complete loss of realistic storylines and
characters, most of which focus on the rough lives and
intricate crimes of police officers and criminals in cities
like New York and Chicago. Dick Wolf, ever since his
ingenious creation Law and Order, has been pumping out
one show after another into NBC nightly time slots,
including Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med,
all of which have failed miserably in their uses of
intriguing dialogue, characters, events, plotlines, or
performances (forget realism completely). Currently, Dick
Wolfs creative brilliance exists only within the fact that he
has mastered the general viewers desires for
entertainment, which dont include slow paced, deeply
troubled, genuinely complex crimes and characters, seen
most often on more sophisticated networks, such as HBO
or Showtime.
Almost monthly, it seems one crime drama after
another most set in New York tries its luck on the NBC
network, most of which dont last more than a couple of
seasons, if that. Its shows have all become so similar in
both conception and execution that most who have become
more accustomed to simply, better T.V., dont bat an eye
at even the advertisements for a new NBC show. However,
with almost every network, there is always an exception,
and with expectations as low as they can be for a new NBC
cop drama, Shades of Blue has gone far beyond the
unremitting banality of its network siblings, proving with
its strong female, yet slightly anti-heroic lead, and its new
and unique plot its place among those exceptions.
The show, which premiered on January 7th,
contains two well-known veteran actors. Jennifer Lopez
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Edition: February 2016
stars as single-mother Harlee Santos, a corrupt Brooklyn
detective who is found out by the FBI. She is forced to
slowly and carefully gather information on her coworkers
and boss, who is also her closest friend, Matt Wozniak,
play by Ray Liotta. Problems arise when Wozniak
discovers that theres an informant within his task crew,
and takes Santos under his wing to find and kill them. The
plotline becomes evidently adroit towards the end of the
episode, when Santos is arrested by the young FBI agent
Stahl and given two options: go to prison for a decade to
protect her friends, or sell them out for full immunity.
Ultimately, yet doubtfully, Santos agrees, but she quickly
wants out after she has a conversation with Wozniak, who
informs her that he knows theres a rat on his team, yet
he does not know who it is, and he wants her to help him
dispose of it. The complications that arise out of this ordeal
force Santos to lie pathologically, all of which overtly lead
to more lies and genuinely nerve-racking moments of
narrow escape from Wozniaks gut senses and terrifying
stares.
As a program of the NBC network, Shades of
Blues most confounding, yet captivating element is the
main character. A fictional female lead cop is not entirely
unheard of these days, but a fictional lead female cop who
is not a complete hero is. Santos is not a complete antihero;
however, she appeals to the viewer naturally due to her
position as the main character. In reality, she is police
officer who has abused her power for personal gain. She
owns one of the nicest brownstones in Brooklyn and her
daughter attends an expensive private high school. More
notably, when pressured to decide whether or not to go to
jail, Santos places herself atop her friends in terms of
importance, confirming the belief that her life matters more
than theirs, using her daughter as the one reason she cannot
go to prison. As harsh as this may seem, it is undeniably
compelling for a story, and works perfectly as Santos is
pressured by Wozniak to help find the rat.
By the third episode, writers of the show carefully
crafted each character, separating Shades of Blue from the
expected NBC-styled lack of attempt in character
development. Many characters are there only to fill in for
the empty spots of the episodes to contrast with Santos and
flourish the growing intensity of her predicament. Warren
Kole, who plays FBI Agent Stahl, establishes the banality,
irritability, and subtle, creepy attraction he has toward
Santos, who despises him, yet has no choice but to work
for him. Their relationship drives the show forward, with
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Stahl constantly trying to get Santos to dig deeper in order
to uncover more evidence, while Santos does not shy away
from expressing her disgust for him.
Shades of Blue will air into March, with its last
episode set for the 31st. Hopes are strongest for the writers
to deliver throughout the rest of the season as they have so
far, with good pacing and an avoidance of the ridiculous.
Yet, its hard to picture a network of anything-but realistic
fiction working to follow realitys path within a show, and
instead to veer directly toward the laughable, the foolish
the absurd. Many will walk by the posters, or see the
advertisements, and think this of the show already, but it
has shown potential as a legitimately unique television
program, maybe failing as a sophisticated drama, but
succeeds indefinitely as a highly entertaining one.
Shades of Blue airs Thursdays at 10pm. It stars
Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta.
Please
read
the
full
article
online
laguardianewspaper.weebly.com. Thank you!
Edition: February 2016
Stormtroopers. Enter the new Darth Vader, aka Kylo Ren,
and his goons. They were all scouring for the possible
coordinates/information rumored to give the location of
Luke Skywalker- the last Jedi. The villains are known as
the First Order and eliminating the Jedi would accelerate
their plans in world domination (typical sci-fi plot so far,
right?) One Stormtrooper particularly is hesitant to partake
in the massacre of the citizens and the audience begins to
think he is the only Stormtrooper who has been capable of
breaking free of the brainwashing techniques employed by
the Dark Side since the beginning. The scene shifts to
show our other protagonist, Rey on Jakku. I personally
think it is located near Tatooine, since the whole landscape
has a desert-vibe similar to that of A New Hope. It was
brilliantly done to show a parallel between her and Luke
Skywalker from the previous generation.
at
Awakened, the Force Has
By Matt Louie
For a full few months, all people could think about was the
force awakening. Well, its no surprise that all the
hubbub derived from the return of the Star Wars franchise.
Truly, the title of the most recent episode represented the
greater resurrection of the force. Why now of all times?
The force never really died, per se, but some fans
started feeling like it did for several years. However, true
Star Wars fans knew it was impossible. There was no way
that Star Wars would not make a come-back into our lives.
The revival of the Star Wars franchise was more surprising
in its sequence of events than the other six movies have
been. To recap, this movie was so mind-blowing that there
is no way for me to cover every single moment that
occurred, or it might be shorter to watch the actual film,
rather than read the full script with commentary. Note: If
you have not seen any of the last three episodes of Star
Wars, I suggest you watch them and the first three
episodes, but definitely squeeze the seventh one in that
sandwich somewhere in order to get the full experience.
If you have decided to continue reading this article,
then prepare yourself because SPOILER ALERT! The film
begins with a crazy shooting moment with the
Character posters of Rey (left) and Kylo Ren (right)
(Lucasfilm/Disney)
The story unfolds rapidly as the rough estimate of
Lukes whereabouts are given to the new droid, BB-8 by a
character named Poe Dameron. Rey stumbles upon BB-8
and the defected Stormtrooper, later named Finn since FN
21-87 was annoying to say, converged on Jakku. Lots of
running, shooting and screaming occurred to bring our
heroes to the rusty old fighter craft to escape from First
Order pursuers. Little did they know, they were getting on
the Millennium Falcon! By now the audience is pretty
clear that this movie takes place several years after the last
volume. How do we know this? Well, just as the ship
undergoes some intensive repairs that almost lead to an
acid breakout, two people board the ship. It is none other
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than the aged Han Solo and his trusty companion,
Chewbacca! Before we have time to gasp, people looking
to settle a score; with Hans undying habits of conning
various races in the galaxy, it is not uncanny this would
happen. In fact, the only other interesting fact about Han
and Chewies attackers was that they had heard about Rey,
Finn and the BB-8 unit that may have been spotted
boarding the ship.
To keep things moving briskly and to not
summarize every single second of the film, all you need to
know is that Carrie Fischer as Leia, who is now the general
of the Resistance, makes a short stand. Though her
appearances are brief, she is a strong supporting female
officer that foils the plans of the First Order. A battle
indifferent from one that occurred on Hoth and against the
Death Star occur, but not before Rey has the chance to
slowly discover traces of her power as a Jedi. On a planet
at a tavern, we meet Maz Kanata, a bug-eyed alien. She
serves as Reys ticket to acquiring knowledge of the Force
before Luke Skywalkers old lightsaber calls out to her.
Rey runs into the forest with BB-8 but the evil Kylo Ren
pursues her and utilizes a mind trick that throws Rey into a
helpless unconscious state. At the same time, all hell
breaks loose as Finn, Han and Chewie face heavy fire from
the First Order troops. That battle was more epic than the
Battle of Endor from the sixth movie and it could have
gone either way if Finn had more training with the
lightsaber that Rey had neglected.
Later, Rey awakens and is interrogated by Kylo
Ren, who we begin to see as nothing more than a big
crybaby with no fashion sense. Did I mention he is
obsessed with completing Darth Vaders mission, which
explains why he wears a mask and a hood to hide his face.
Simultaneously, Chewie and the others mobilize to
apprehend Rey and her captor. With the assistance from
Resistance troops, our heroes manage to stealthily board
the enormous warship that arguably rivals the Death Star.
Please
read
the
full
article
online
at
laguardianewspaper.weebly.com. Thank you!
The State of the Arts thanks the Academic Forum of
LaGuardias Parents Association for generously funding this
issue. Circulation of printed copies would not be possible
without your support.
Thank you Ms. Abate for supervising our meetings and
providing assistance.
If you are interested in contributing to The State of the Arts,
please email lagnewspaper@gmail.com. Meetings are most
Thursdays in 661 after school, and writers, photographers, and
illustrators of all levels are welcome.
Thank you for reading!
Cartoon by Kaitlyn Quach
Page 8
Edition: February 2016
