The VerdictTo inform, enlighten, and entertain.

Cardozo HS 57-00 223rd Street Bayside, NY 11364

April 2013

Editorial PolicyThe goal of “The Verdict” is to provide a medium through which the students of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School can express and accurately inform them-selves regarding the issues surrounding them. We en-courage our readership to use “The Verdict” as a forum for thoughts and ideas. Readers are welcome to submit any letters concerning our content or other matters.

ChinaDance students get the opportunity of a lifetime as they visit China.

INSIDE

2 the verdict

table of contents

Please contact us with your comments and questions at cardozo.verdict@gmail.com

10 QuestionsNot only is Ms. Kalish is a Span-ish teacher, but also a vegan,

volunteer, and an activist.

5

WHAT’S

staff WritersMaria BrangoNia Canady

David GmucaVenus JosephElaine Kong

William LombardiCharlotte Moran

Sophia PapadopoulosSasha PersaudLauren PoonArash Saedi

Christina ShankerDylan Wong

VerdiCt staff

Advisor Georgia Mavromihalis

3News-Holocaust survivors speak to students at Yom Harhoa. -Annie Reeves of the S.O. speaks out.

Take advantage of New York’s diversity by trying Dim Sum or empanadas.

10Try new food

15-16-Coaches vs. Cancer and the Walk-a-thon raise money for good causes.-Handball team, Boy’s tennis, and Girls La-crosse.

Sports

8-9Italy44 Cardozo students travel overseas to visit Italy.

-James Franco and friends put on a unique performance in Long Island City. -Take a walk on an old above-ground subway line; the Highline.

6Out and About

Editor-in-ChiefCariahnna

Collazo-Cintron

7

4Events/Commentary

-Dozopalooza really excited its smaller than usual crowd. -Cardozo students are tired of the crowded hallways.

14Health-Sleep is an impor-tant part of staying healthy.-Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, so treat it that way.

1st Place asPa award

2006-2013

Feature EditorJuliana Kim

11Feature-Tips and tricks for maintaining healthy hair.

Copy EditorIsreal Matos

Page EditorRJ Rubio

Cover Photos: Popolo Square, Rome, taken by Georgia Mavromihalis Great Wall of China, Beijing taken by Sheila Clark.

Layout EditorMelanie Capraro

Managing EditorJihan Ramroop

Online EditorChristine Ishanyan

News

3April 2013

Happy spring Cardozo! In order to get into the spring spirit, we’ve got some great events coming up! This week you got to see your fellow students dress up for S.O. Spirit Week and show off their Dozo Pride (it is my personal favorite time of the year). Our spring athletes had the chance to give back to their community, and raise money for a cause this weekend, participating in the coaches vs. Cancer event held here at Cardozo. The players raised money for cancer research, with each team wearing

a different color to support different types of cancers. All of our spring teams have been doing great in their seasons as well, including the Girls and Boys Lacrosse Team, and the girls softball team. Just the other day, the girls softball team defeated their rival, Bayside High School! Boys Baseball season is in full swing, as well as Tennis. Let’s cheer them on, and hope they succeed for the rest of the season. Have a great April, ta-ta for now Carodozo! See y’all on the flip side! - Annie Reeves/S.O. Secretary

Tuesday, April 9th, was Yom Hashoa, an international day for honoring and remem-bering Holocaust victims. On this day, Car-dozo held a remembrance assembly. English teacher Mrs. Eshaghian invited three Holo-caust survivors to this event, Anita Weis-bord, Hannah Liebmann and Ethel Katz. The first to speak was Ms. Anita Weis-bord from Vienna, Austria who remem-bered the holocaust dating back to 1938. “My mother made a difficult deci-sion that saved my life. She put me on a train to England so I could have a normal childhood. She was fearful of what the future held. I remember being inside the train and her standing outside the train. For four agonizing hours I sat there star-ring at her, not knowing whether we would see each other again. I was privi-leged to see her again,” she remembered. Many parents felt the only protection for their kids was to send them away. After the Jews were released from a concentration camp, many of the kids who were reunited with their parents couldn’t recognize them and never made a connection. They were taken away while they were too young to recognize their parents, and their parents had to face this traumatizing experience. It was difficult to connect with their kids.

“I’m proud of what my mother did. It takes a lot of courage to do that. It wasn’t until I had my daughter that I understood her decision. The protection of the child is always the mother’s first priority,” she said. By keeping their stories alive, Holocaust survivors teach us what hate can do. It is up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The second speaker, Ms. Liebmann, was someone who survived imprisonment in the camps. She was from Germany and was arrested because she was Jewish. “Hitler laid out his policies. He blamed Jews for everything, from the economic downfall to the war. During the Great De-pression, huge amounts of people were unemployed. In 1936, all Jewish students had to leave the schools and attend Jew-ish school. This was better for Jewish kids because they were spared from bul-lying, harassment and discrimination. Jewish businesses were sold. An 8 p.m. curfew was enacted which further isolated and restricted Jews,” Liebmann recalled. The first deportation of Jews oc-curred in 1940. They rode on a train for three days without food or wa-ter. Approximately, 70-80 people were pushed together on a freight train. Upon arriving at the camp, there was a

narrow roadway to get in. Guards with big guns, and barbed wire surrounded the place. Conditions were horrendous. They slept on the floor or on wooden beds. “We were poorly fed. Many died of star-vation and diseases broke out. We shared living space with rats and rodents. Quaker families managed to hide Jews at the risk of their entire family being exterminat-ed. Those who risked everything, to help Jews, and take a stand for what is right, they are the real heroes,” she continued.

Yom Hashoah By Venus JosephRemembering the Holocaust

SOpeaks

ut HEY DOZO!Ethel Katz speaks about her holocaust experiences. Photo by Bhindi Mahabir

INSIDE

the verdict 4

Review/commentary

As a student at Cardozo, you have defi-nitely experienced the struggle of trying to get past the main intersection of the first floor hallway, 42nd street, mid-day. With hundreds of students trying to get to their next class and deans closing off intersec-tions, it’s nearly impossible to move. Stu-dents are squished together, pushing and shoving, trying to get by. It’s like that scene in “Finding Nemo” where the fish are trying to break free from the huge net. Senior, Franz Johnson said, “The halls are ridiculous. Sometimes I have to get rude because people are so slow. It’s espe-cially worse in the summer. The halls are hot, sweaty, stinky and way too crowded.” Although it’s a known fact that Car-dozo is one of the most crowded schools in NYC, students experience it first hand while commuting through the hallways because of the fact that it’s so difficult to move. With half of the main hallway inac-cessible, students are forced to push and shove each other in an effort to get to their destination on time. I honestly don’t understand the pur-pose of locking down the main hallways on the 1st floor. There isn’t a huge fallen tree that’s occupying the hall. According to one of the deans, who prefers to remain

anonymous, “The middle hallways on the first and second floor are the hardest areas to sweep out. Students tend to congregate there, so by shutting it down it makes cleaning out the hallways an easier task. I’m not sure if that’s the official reason, but that’s definitely one of the ideas be-hind it.” As far as I’m concerned, locking down a main part of the hallway is only creating a bigger problem for students while mak-ing the jobs of the deans easier. That’s not okay. “I feel like the issue has been brought to the attention of school officials, but ig-nored by the deans. If deans were more proactive in the hallways and used better tactics, the problem could be solved in-stantly,” said S.O. Vice President, Thomas Dinegar. Instead of being able to walk straight down the hall to the next stairway or class, students are forced to go around the entire first floor and down the hall to make their way. This simple lockdown of one corridor truly does cause a large inconvenience. I couldn’t imagine what this situation would feel like if I were a claustrophobic student at Cardozo, which I’m glad I’m not. I believe it is time to find a new so-

Hallways Leading NowhereBy Cariahnna Collazo-Cintron

lution because closing down that intersec-tion clearly isn’t working. Students are fed up, stressed out and straight up annoyed. Walking five-feet, generally takes 10 seconds, but when you’re in the halls of Cardozo, this simple task becomes a five-minute long adventure. Before you know it, the bell has stopped ringing and you’re late for class. “[Walking through the hallway] is irritat-ing. People are rude and likely to get an attitude when you tell them to hurry up,” said Junior, Victoria Toloza.

Dozopalooza This year’s annual Dozo-palooza, Cardozo’s very own Rock music extravaganza, graced the auditorium on Fri-day April 5th at 7p.m. The week leading up to the show was filled with tons of hype and excitement. Unfortunate-ly, the show’s turn out was not what was expected. Although Dozopalooza raised more money and sold more tickets this year than in recent years, the size of the crowd did not reflect that. Rock music is either a hit or miss, but all the bands of the night rocked. The show opened with a

By Charlotte Morannewly formed band, The Lunchables, whose lead punk vocal was Cardozo’s very own, social studies teacher Phil Ackerman. Their set contained several songs and really kept the crowd alive. The following acts were just as exciting. All of the bands and singers were able to keep the viewers intrigued because of the intimate feel-ing that one got due to the smallish audience. Overall, the event was re-ally engaging and there was a fantastic amount of talent displayed on the stage.

Keeps The Heads bangin’

The “Lunchables” performing.

Cardozo students stuck on “42nd.”Photo by Israel Matos

Photo by Charlotte Moran

people of Interest

5April 2013

1.When did you realize you wanted to become a teach-er? I was doing an office job and I didn’t love it. I realized I’m not really good with office work, so I’d rather do something more with people. I’m good at lan-guage and I heard a radio ad from the Department of Edu-cation-what was then the Board of Education-and I went to be interviewed.

2. one thing that you love about being a teacher is... It’s exciting to work with young people. I think young people are usually more optimistic and have a lot more potential than older people.

3. teLL us about the “Secret Life” of Janet Kalish. All my life I’ve been frugal, not just for financial reasons, but because I see the value in objects and I don’t like to waste them. In 2004, I joined the group ‘freegan.info’. Freeganism is a reaction to the wasteful, destruc-tive capitalist sys-tem. Freeganism looks for alterna-tives that might be more viable for our world. I became very ac-tive with the group; one of the things that we do is dumpster dive. Some freegans don’t ever do that, but this is

what we became famous for. We lead trash tours

twice a month and take people on a tour of different supermar-kets’ waste. We open the bags and show tons of good food in there; people are sur-

prised and amazed. It’s a life changing experience

to be on a trash tour.

4. What’s surprising about people’s perception of tak-ing food from the trash? People are shocked when they hear that most of what I eat comes out of the garbage, but what’s surprising, I think, and shocking is that it’s good food in the garbage. The stores don’t wait for the food to rot. It’s a crime or a sin that so much good food is being wasted while so many people are going hungry. 5. A piece of advice you would give to students is: Be considerate, respectful, car-ing and conscious of the sen-sitivity of others. Sometimes students are a little frivolous in their language. Once you have offended somebody it’s hard to retract. So I would advise stu-dents to think carefully be-fore they say something that might be hurtful.

6. if you could wish for anything in the world, that can’t be bought with mon-ey, what would it be? Some problems with our world are pollution, litter, hostility and violence. I think that comes from people not feeling like they belong. Every little thing people do affects other people; you can change other people’s moods with your behavior. The more people believe that their actions count, the more they can make a better world. I wish people sensed that connection.

7. if you could change one thing in the world, what would you change? The economy. The way we have it, people are encouraged to make money and work for a profit and spend their money on the next pair of sneakers and the next cell phone. I see it as a brainwashing of society. People might feel good getting these new things but it’s some-body else who’s making a big profit and it’s our planet that’s suffering the exploitation of our resources and the toxic disposal of things.

8. What do you like about Cardozo?

There’s such a great variety of cultures, philosophies,

beliefs and back-

grounds. Students come here expecting to have a good edu-cation, so it keeps the teachers working hard and keeps many of the students working hard. I really like that we take school seriously.

9. one thing other people may not know about you is...Well, I’m kind of a health and fitness nut. We’re born with one body and we have to take care of it. That’s really the only physical thing that matters, so I care a lot about my own health. It’s really important to exercise and to eat healthy and to not breathe bad air and not smoke or eat bad food.

10. something exciting in your life is: I am apart of The River Fund, a food pantry in Richmond Hill, Queens, run out of a house and a garage. Every Saturday morning I work there from about 7a.m. - 12p.m. We give away a lot of food that’s been donated, from canned food to boxed cereal, beverages, pro-duce and meat. More than 500 people on any given Saturday come for this food. Trader Joe’s in Queens gives to the River Fund but I went with a friend to a Trader Joe’s in Westchester and we were taking from their dumpster. The manager, or an employee, told us we shouldn’t be doing that. We were able to get badg-

es from The River Fund and now collect dona-tions every Friday

from this Trader Joe’s. We fill my car with good food and give it away the next day at The River Fund. That’s an exciting thing in my life, that I’m collecting food directly from the store and not just from their dumpster.

Ms.Kalish and her collection of food for charity. Photo Submitted by Janet Kalish

By Jihan Ramroop

1 Kicking It

Kalish Style: Spanish.Teacher,

Freegan & Volunteer

the verdict 6

out and about

“BIRDSH*T” HITS THE STAGE By Melanie Capraro Most of us know James Franco as a movie su-per star whose acting covers a wide spectrum of characters in such films as “Pineapple Express”, “Spring Breakers”, and “Milk.” But, what many people don’t realize is that his range of artistic en-deavors doesn’t stop at the big screen. On Sunday, April 7th, 2013, James worked with friends Nina Ljeti and Chloe Kernaghan to put on two produc-tions of their multi-media show, “Birdsh*t.” This was part of “Sunday Sessions” held at MoMA P.S. 1. This branch connected to the Museum of Modern Art is a non-profit organization that was originally established in 1971. It was formed with the idea of setting up exhibitions in various underutilized and abandoned spaces through-out New York City. This was until 1976, when it found its permanent location in Long Island City. This particular Sunday Session was the culmi-nation of the live performances of Ljeti and Ker-

naghan, and that of Franco’s acting projected on three screens around the domed theater. The live performances were that of Ljeti acting in conjunc-tion with her band and Karnaghan with her four selected dancers. After Franco introduced the show, the madness began. There was plenty of ex-pressive choreography, paint splattering, feathers flying, booming music, and passionate acting. The show was inspired by the play “The Seagull,” by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895. The ideas presented were about the hysteria of the 19th century surrounding women’s sanity and how they were treated. At the time, if they were thought to be acting crazy in the eyes of the male society, they’d be sent to a mental institution. Horrible things were done to them, especially sup-pressing their ability to express their sexuality. The way these women were treated in these insti-tutions prevented them from really being women. This is the second show that Franco and Ljeti

have put together as a team; the first one, which was in 2011, being “Collage.” They wanted to do something bigger and better than the original, consequently resulting in “Birdsh*t.” “The Verdict” got to speak to Nina Ljeti about her experience with putting on the production. She explained that her favorite part about putting this together was being able to work with amaz-ing artists. “You get to meet a lot of people who are really talented and it’s really inspiring.” Ljeti felt like the best thing about this was that she had fun bringing her acting and music together, leav-ing her very pleased with the finished product. Ljeti’s advice to young aspiring artists is “If you want to be an artist, the best thing to do is work with friends ‘cause that’s when magical things happen.” And the magic was definitely felt while watching the show. Keep an eye out for possible future productions.

When people think about recycling, most think about daily objects like bottles and cans. But, in the case of the High Line, an old West Side Cen-tral Train Station, they were trans-formed into an urban park. In 2004 NYC decided to reuse this historic freight rail line as a new city park instead of demolishing the tracks. The High Line is a long nar-row public park elevated above the streets on Manhattan's West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenue, about 1 mile long. It is a pleasant and peaceful place to walk, jog and hang out with friends or fam-ily. The planting design is outstanding, basically focused on native species. Almost every month there are differ-ent kinds of plants blooming on the out-of-use rail tracks. Another spe-cial feature in the park are the seating elements, which include the "peel-up" benches and riverview sundeck

chaise lounges. After dark, the pathways are illuminated by energy-efficient LED lighting elements to create safe conditions for walking. There is no children’s playground

like other parks, but most children still enjoy jumping, running, or look-ing around and listening to their parents introducing the famous sites of Manhattan. Also, dogs are not al-

lowed at the park, so it is kept clean all the time. There are multiple entrances to the park and some of them have elevator access. Since biking is not allowed at the park, there are bike racks along the outside. If you’d like to see the entire park, it is better to start from one end and walk to the other end. When you are inside the park, to the east you can see New York's sky-scrapers, to the west, you can see the Hudson River. If you look down, you can see the busy streets of Manhat-tan with cars and pedestrians buzz-ing around. Next time, when you go to Man-hattan on a nice sunny day, whether you are alone or with friends, High Line Park is waiting for you. Entry is free. It is opened to visitors all year round and daily from 7 am to 10 p.m. The High Line is similar to the Promenade Plantée in Paris and the Bloomingdale Trail in Chicago.

Feathers rain down on Kernaghan and her dancers during the show.

TAKE A WALK ON THE HIGH LINE By William Lombardi

The beautiful setting of the Highline’s walkway.

Photo by Melanie Capraro

Photo by William Lombardi

American student dancers of the APSA program.

By Nia Canady

Photos Submitted by Sheila Clark

When dance teacher Carolyn Devore answered the phone, she was in for a pleasant surprise.

“Sandra Jeffries, a former student of mine at Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Dance School, gave me a call. She told me she was living in Beijing, and working on a program for students to study with the renowned Beijing Ballet Company during spring break, at no cost to them. I was ecstatic and honored and I immediately went to Ms. Clark. Sandra told me she’d be in New York on January 11, 2013, and we scheduled a meeting with her, her supervisor, Ms. Clark and Mr. Matori,” said Carolyn Devore. Accompanied by A.P. Dance, Sheila Clark, dance students, Brittany Chan, Aliyah Piper, Heather Gardner, Demi Page, and Shelby Dean were given the opportunity of a lifetime; a trip to China and a chance to engage in the culture, dance, and beauty of the country. “The purpose of this trip was to show

students the international jobs for danc-ers and increase the enterprise between China and the U.S.,” said Ms. Devore. Students took classes with skilled Chi-nese dancers. “They had really nice tech-nique classes. Our teachers were very flexible and they helped us work on that aspect of our dancing,” said sophomore, Brittany Chan. “They [the students] were thrilled with the dance instruction and felt it would have a major impact on their technique.” Dancing wasn’t the only thing that the visiting students participated in, “The language classes, the excursions to the Great Wall and observing the recreational activities enjoyed by Beijing citizens in the

local park, gave them great insight into the Chinese culture,” continued Clark. “As a Chinese-American I was able to learn about, where I came from, the food, which is very different from ours, and the lifestyle of the people that live there,” said Brittany. “The students also had to do a follow-up project, one student chose to choreo-graph a dance based on the style they learned in Beijing and even performed it for the class,” said Ms. Devore. “To be invited to the U.S. Embassy to celebrate APSA’s 5th anniversary was an extraordinary honor, and will not be soon forgotten,” said Ms. Clark. “This trip was a life changing event for our dancers.”

Travel

April 2013 7

FLORENCE

VERONA By Sophia PapadopoulosAll Roads Lead To Rome

After landing in Milan, our first stop was Verona, the setting of Shakespeare’s “Ro-meo and Juliet”. Here, we visited Juliet’s balcony, where couples proclaim their love by scribbling graffiti at the entrance and placing locks on the gates. Those looking for love rub the breasts of Juliette’s statue, which supposedly leads you to your true love. Ironically, The Arena, which is one of the best preserved ancient structures, didn’t attract as much attention.

On Cardozo’s trip to Europe, English teacher Brian Shea led 44 students on a tour of Italy. From Ancient, to Medieval times, and the Renaissance, we got a taste of Italy that went far beyond gelato and pizza. Many pieces of history still stand in forms of buildings, statues, and roads, some are ruins, while others are still in tact.

The floating city of Venice was absolutely breathtaking. We vis-ited the Doge’s Palace, one of the main land-marks in the Gothic city, took a ride on a gondola, and some even ate the traditional Venetian dish Squid Ink Pasta. “We experienced the true heart and feel of Venice by getting lost - discovering new foods and meeting new people. I’d love to go back there one day,” said Junior, Chen Fang.

VENICE

PISA

T U S C A N Y

Known as “The Cradle of the Renaissance”, Florence, is a city full of statues by great artists such as Michelan-gelo. The Duomo Cathedral is a masterpiece known for it’s ex-ternal design of colorful marble and Brunelleschi’s Gothic Dome. There were more museums than we had time to visit, because shopping for leather is also a specialty and something no shopper wants to miss.

1

SAN GIMIGNANO

Pisa, best known for its leaning bell tower, was a quick stop for some typical tourist pictures, which were Facebook and Instagram musts.

Layout by Juliana Kim

The bumpy boat ride to Capri was not the smoothest part of our trip, and made many

of us seasick, but after some crackers and lemons, we enjoyed tour-ing the island and taking in the beautiful views.

Our next stop was a monas-tery in Assisi, Tuscany, which is

best known for its beautiful land-scapes and mountainous countryside.

The medieval town of San Gimignano is one of the settings in the video game “Assas-

sin’s Creed”. We visited the museum of torture, and had what was voted as the World’s Best Gelato for six years in

a row. Kevin Tapia, junior, said, “After seeing the horrific methods of torture, one after another, I left the museum and I got on one knee, and thanked God that I live in the 21st Century.”

All Roads Lead To Rome On Cardozo’s trip to Europe, English teacher Brian Shea led 44 students on a tour of Italy. From Ancient, to Medieval times, and the Renaissance, we got a taste of Italy that went far beyond gelato and pizza. Many pieces of history still stand in forms of buildings, statues, and roads, some are ruins, while others are still in tact.

One of the more memorable parts of the trip was being at the Vatican on Easter Sunday. Al-though there were over 250,000 people there, some of us man-aged to push through and see the new Pope, from a close distance. Since this was Pope Francis’ first Easter mass, being in the crowd was a historic moment.

SAN GIMIGNANO

POMPEII

CAPRI

Photos by Sophia Papadopoulos, Vivian Chen, Adriana Braciak, and Jillian Sutera.

ASSISI

Pompeii, the city frozen in time by the Volca-nic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., was something we had read about in history books, but never imagined we would see in real life. The remains of the buildings show a highly civilized

culture, with lead pipes for running water, to art with depth perception. Seeing the human remains

was eerie, but knowing that this, one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, is expected to

erupt again with a vengeance, is even more frightening.

VATICAN

ROME

Rome has a lot of beautiful landmarks, the famous Coli-seum, was the most notable. “The Coliseum, although it is now just ruins and an at-traction sight, is truly amaz-ing. Just to think that we were walking through history and walking through the same paths that spectators treaded to watch the gladiator fights; that was truly surreal,” said Senior, Cinthia Aquino.

sum-thing to eat By William Lombardi

the verdict 10

Want to try a different kind of Chinese food? This comes in small portions, so the risk is minimal, but the gain is so well worth it. So, if you haven’t tried Dim Sum, you really should.Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese food that you will not find at your local Chinese take out place, but is a specialty worth trying.

Photo By William Lombardi

We have all had those days when we crave something to eat, but don’t know what to get, so we end up eating the same food over and over again. For days like these, I recommend EMPANADAS. Stop reaching for pizza and try a simple snack that will not only fill you up, but excite your taste buds. Empanadas are a traditional Hispanic food. The truth is that em-panadas come from a variety of places. They have been changed

The empanada experience By Maria Brangoand adapted by the different cultures of other countries. The name empanada comes from the Spanish term “empanar” which means “to wrap up in bread.” A certain type of filling is wrapped in a soft circle shaped dough. It is then folded in a half moon and fried. The dough can either be white, yellow/orange, or multigrain. The shell generally varies depending on the filling. Even though empanadas are traditionally fried, some restaurants have adjusted their recipes for the more healthy customers and bake them instead. The Argentinean Empanadas are known for their ground beef and vegetable fillings, which could be either be baked or fried. on the other hand, Uruguayan Empanadas are often sweet, with chocolate or “quince”, a type of fruit that looks like a pear. Mexican Em-panadas can be sweet as well, but are often filled with potatoes and pumpkins. Meanwhile in Venezuela, the empanadas are filled with white salty cheese and shredded chicken or beef. As a Colombian teenage girl, I have always loved the traditional Colombian chicken or meat empanadas with the famous “ají,” a spicy sauce made of vinegar, cilantro, peppers, salt, and green on-ions. This sauce gives more flavor to your delicious empanada. I definitely recommend you try “Mama’s Empanadas” on Northern Blvd. At that restaurant they have all different types of empanadas from all over the world.

A typical Dim Sum setting.

Some samples of empanadas.Photo By Moises Rodriquez

It is prepared in small “bite size” portions that are traditionally served in small bamboo steamer basket. Dim Sum is a meal, but can also be served as a snack. Most often people will go for Dim Sum as brunch. Each serving comes in different shapes. There are as many as 150 items that you can order ranging from seafood to all kinds of meat, while some are made of Chinese vegetables or even in the form of a sweet pastry.Dim Sum literally means “Touch the Heart”, which makes it a good meal if you’re feeling down. Originally a Cantonese dish, it is now a staple Chinese meal, especially in Hong Kong where it is served in many restaurants as early as five in the morning until mid-afternoon.Dim Sum food can be baked, steamed, or fried. Each portion usu-ally comes in 3-4 pieces. The main reason Dim Sum is served in small portions is so that people can try a wide variety of flavors. Ordering Dim Sum is easy, just let the food come to you. A server will come to your table with a cart of a variety of Dim Sum, hot and ready to serve. Feel free to ask questions, or suggest what type of meal you are looking for.Some of my favorites are “cha siu baau.”, spring rolls, sticky rice and chicken feet, which is more appetizing than it sounds. The drinking of tea is as important as the food, but that is a whole other discussion.

Sabor Latino

features

features

11April 2013

Act Like You By Cariahnna Collazo-Cintron

Care Control Your Hair

Have you ever felt that your hair is dry, lacking volume, shedding or breaking off easily? Human hair is made of fi-brous proteins and there are steps you can take in order to maintain healthy hair. Think of your hair as an expensive, delicate cloth. The same way that you wouldn’t repeatedly wash or expose this

One very important thing to do when car-ing for your hair is making sure that it is always moisturized. A common misconception is that, like a plant, you would moisturize your hair with water. Though there is some validity to that idea, wetting your hair too much can actu-ally dry it out. If your hair is severely dry, you can try applying warm argon, coconut or Moroc-can oil to it while it is still damp, prefer-ably after you’ve first washed or co-washed it, (a co-wash is when you only condition your hair, instead of shampooing and con-ditioning). Moroccan, Argon and Coconut oils can be purchased at any beauty supply store and most pharmacies like Walgreens or CVS. When applying the oil to your lightly damp hair, part it off into four or more sec-

Dealing With Dryness?tions, depending on what works best for you. Separate one section and apply the oil, about the size of a quarter, into your palm and then, to your hair. Start by focusing on the parts of your hair that you find are the driest. For example, if you find that you have a very dry scalp, start applying the oil at your roots (massage it in) and then move on to the rest of the section. DO NOT AP-PLY HEAT to it, let your hair air dry and sit in its natural state. Another concern that some may have is dry hair but an oily scalp. One way to deal with this situation is the way that you wash your hair. Shampooing only your roots/scalp will alleviate the oiliness of your scalp. Concentrating on your roots and not scrubbing the rest of your hair will allow your strands to maintain some of the oils that are already locked in. This does not

The same way that people can have natu-rally oily skin, oily hair is also a very com-mon condition. Hair oil is produced be-neath the scalp. It is then released through individual pores, where the hair grows. This oil is your body’s natural conditioner. Some people produce more oil than others. There are many factors that may affect the amount of oil your scalp produces like your

diet, stress levels, and the hormones your body produces. The easiest way to ensure overall healthy hair is to maintain a healthy diet. If your diet is well balanced with lots of protiens and vegetables, your hair and skin alike will both look healthier, which includes less oiliness. Some good foods to incorporate into your

Dealing With Oiliness?

cloth to heat, is the same care you should take with hair. That being said, there are a myriad of hair types, for example hair can be dry, oily, curly, or coarse, and each requires a different method of care. If you find that your hair is problematic, stick around for a few tips.

diet are salmon, spinach, and carrots. Also, a daily vitamin might be a good investment if you’re not too good at watching what you eat. In addition to eating healthy, or keep-ing up with your vitamins, exercise will also help your hair grow. When you exer-cise the blood flow to the hair folicles in-creases and allows your hair to grow more.

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mean your hair will remain dirty, it won’t. The remaining shampoo will work its way down to the tips of your hair and eliminate any residue.

Dealing With breakage? One of the main reasons that hair breaks is in direct relation to dry hair. If your hair isn’t moisturized, then it will tend to break off and split at the ends. To remedy break-age, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. In addition, most people do not properly comb or detangle their hair. To minimize damage and breakage use a comb, which fits your hair’s needs, and start to detangle from the ends of your hair moving your way up to your roots.

the verdict 12

op-ed

Dear Cardozo Verdict,

Dear Thomas Dinegar,

This letter is regarding the review fea-tured in the most recent issue of “The Ver-dict” pertaining to Cardozo’s annual poetry show, “Oh Snap!” Many people, including myself, found the review to be overly criti-cal, misleading, offensive, and overall in bad taste. Being a part of the show I understand that my opinion may be biased, however, even I can admit that the show did have its low points. These low points were no excuse to single out specific performances and ridi-cule those students publicly. By singling out specific performers you have both hurt and embarrassed them in front of the entire school. If you are going to exercise the Freedom of Speech Amendment, you should consider the offense that you inflicted upon those people, their friends, and their families. From personal experience I can assure you that it takes a lot of guts to get up on stage and perform, the last thing that a performer

needs to worry about is the possibility that they will be mentioned in a negative way in their own school newspaper. I am sug-gesting that when writing negative reviews, “The Verdict” should exclude the singling out of performers. One could argue that negative reviews could motivate a performer to do better, I would strongly disagree because many of the performers are not preparing for a pro-fessional career in the performing arts and although they may be good at their talent, they take part in the show “just for fun” and therefore may not be prone to public criti-cism. “The Verdict” is not the “New York Times” and “Oh Snap!” is not a Broadway production, we are both in the learning stag-es of our craft. Articles like these only discourage student involvement in any school production there-fore diminishing the much needed school spirit. The review continued to make criti-cal remarks about mishaps that are common

in all Cardozo shows and events such as technical difficulties and the show starting late which both can be blamed on Cardozo’s lack of decent equipment. I would be lying if I said the review did not make some mild positive remarks on the show, but the negative comments greatly outweighed the positive. I respect Freedom of Speech, which is why I am writing this letter, however, the opinions showcased in the review misrepresented how the majority of the audience felt towards the show. Using this letter I, along with many stu-dents and faculty members, ask that all pres-ent and future staff writers of “The Verdict” think twice before writing articles/reviews similar to the “Oh Snap!” review. As S.O. Vice President, it is my duty to voice the opinions of the students, and the students have spoken.- Thomas Dinegar S.O Vice President

I would first like to thank you for reading “The Verdict” and taking the time to write our staff a letter expressing your concerns. Here at “The Verdict”, we encourage dia-logue and feedback from our audience. In regard to your letter, it was not my in-tent to hurt or embarrass anyone with my re-view. My job as a journalist is to report the news or the truth as I see it. Whether I am writing for the “New York Times” or “The Verdict”, my job remains the same. As the S.O. Vice President, you should be aware of the fact that “The Verdict” has been an award winning school newspaper for the past eight years; this is due to the fact that we, the staff, take our jobs seriously. As a member of “The Verdict”, especially as the Editor-in-Chief, I am expected to write with the utmost honesty and I can assure you that I would never print an article that was un-true. This may not be Broadway, but that does not mean that there should be no standards. Yes, sometimes shows start late, but start-ing half an hour late is not acceptable, espe-cially when half of the audience was wait-ing in the lobby already for 45 minutes to an hour because they were not allowed into the auditorium. In fact, this was actually the first Cardozo production that I attended that started that late and guests were not allowed early entry to the auditorium to find seats. The show’s late start set a bad tone for the

rest of the evening and therefore it is impor-tant that it be addressed and avoided in the future. In your letter you state, “... you should consider the offense that you inflicted upon those people, their friends, and their fami-lies.” Now, speaking as a human being and a journalist, I can assure you it is impossible to spare all feelings. Getting your feelings hurt is a part of life and I honestly feel that if you can’t handle negative opinions, then you shouldn’t put yourself out there as a performer. You also said that you, yourself, are a per-former and that “the last thing that a per-former needs to worry about is the possibil-ity that they will be mentioned in a negative way in their own school newspaper,” and I wholeheartedly disagree with that state-ment, being a performer myself. As a per-former, your job is to reach the audience and deliver a good performance. If you’re not worried about what the audience will think or say, then you’re not doing your job correctly. Neither I, nor my fellow editors, feel that the article was “overly critical” or “in bad taste.” Stating that the performers were not articulate and that I could barely understand a word they said is not a critical statement, it’s a fact, one that many agreed with, in-cluding a number of the show’s performers. Just because one doesn’t like or agree with

how someone felt about their work does not mean that it was in bad taste. When asked for her opinion on the mat-ter, Bonnie Messina, AP English said, “You wrote a legitimate review. A review consists of one person’s opinion. As a journalism student you were doing your job. If you worried about everyone’s feelings, no one would trust journalists. You have to be hon-est at all times. Writing what you think peo-ple want to hear is yellow journalism, and that’s not what real journalism is about.” Although it is possible that my review did not represent the majority of the opinions in the audience, that statement isn’t exactly relevant because I was not speaking for the majority; my review was a reflection of how I felt about the show, not how the audience felt. I can respect that you and your peers do not agree with my review, but I will not re-proach myself for writing an honest review. As the Editor-in-Chief it is my duty to de-fend my staff and our newspaper. I refuse to encourage any present or future writers to use anything but the truth as content for their work. With that said, no article that leaves the doors of B37 will ever be inten-tionally in “bad taste.” Keep in mind that how each of us perceives an article and how that article was meant to be perceived can be two different things. - Cariahnna Collazo-Cintron Editor-in-Chief

opinions

13April 2013

Prom-Don’t Believe the Hype

Still deciding whether to go or not? Freaking out about finding a prom date? Worried about how much your limo is going to cost? Join the club. Between all of the movies and TV shows regarding the big night, it’s easy for stereotypes and high expectations to suck the fun away from what’s sup-posed to be an awesome cele-bration of your senior year. You don’t have to fall into that trap! It’s easy to get caught up in the moment when you’re mak-ing preparations for prom; be-ing tormented about every little detail for months leading up to the big night can be over-whelming; causing lots of un-necessary stress and anxiety. The idea that, you need to have a date, is simply not true. No matter how much pressure you feel from your classmates, you have to admit that having a date doesn’t always make the night more fun, and having fun

is what prom is about. If you’d rather spend the night hang-ing out with a bunch of your best friends, other than stress-ing about an awkward date situation, then stop the anxiety. Prom may be the most im-portant event on the high school social calendar, but you shouldn’t be going into debt for a social event. In or-der to have a pleasurable prom experience, it’s not neces-sary to spend a ton of money. There is a leading miscon-ception that limos are the only means of transportation to prom. There are a number of other ways to get to and from prom without spending your entire allowance. Think out-side of the box. Don’t rule out other transportation ideas like renting an old-fashioned car, or even hitching a ride with friends or your parents. A mistaken traditional belief is that fancy prom attire is a must.

Dressing up in new gowns and expensive tuxes isn’t necessary when planning your prom at-tire. The more comfortable you feel in the outfit you pick, the more enjoyable prom will be for you. I’m sure you have a suit in the back of your closet, or a friend who has a fancy gown sitting in her wardrobe. One of the biggest delusions is that you absolutely must go to prom or you will be missing out on some life changing event. If you don’t want to go to prom, you shouldn’t feel compelled to. In fact, skipping prom isn’t going to mean anything in the grand scheme of your life. If you know you will feel less stressed staying home on prom night, by all means do it. You’re the only one who knows what makes you happy better than anyone else, so don’t lis-ten to anyone who tries to tell you that you must participate.

PROM-THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

After the long four years of working our rear ends off, taking all those exams and re-gents, applying to colleges, stressing over the anticipation process and waiting to receive our acceptance letters, some cannot wait for this so called special day, PROM, to cel-ebrate the completion of our high school journey, while others ask is it really worth it? It is definitely worse for girls than guys. Imagine the stress they have to go through. They have to find a special date, look for their perfect dress, and make sure everything, in-cluding their hair, nails, and makeup, is absolutely perfect. Then for the guys, they have it bad at first when it comes to asking a girl to prom, but do not have it too bad when it comes to spending. However it can still add up if you are a

gentleman and choose to pay for your date’s ticket. There is the renting of the tuxedo and shoes, purchasing prom tick-ets, and of course not to forget buying their dates corsages. Every year the prices of dresses, prom tickets, limos, and everything else prom re-lated seems to increase. On average a prom dress rang-es anywhere from between $200-$800 and in some cases maybe more. Cardozo’s prom tickets are $110 per person. Then there is the cost of trans-portation. Traditionally when you think of prom you’re think-ing of a limo! It is a proven fact that limo companies increase their prices during prom sea-son. If you are smart enough, you’d be doing the math in your head and thinking to your-self about the different pos-sibilities of what you could

be doing with all that money. Nowadays prom doesn’t just end when the clock strikes midnight. Now there is the in-famous after prom, which adds on the stress of deciding where to go and what to do. And of course, you have to find an-other outfit if you decide to go to a club or another party since you don’t want to be drag-ging along your prom gown or getting your tux all sweaty. The spending never ends.If you’re senior and you just simply don’t care to go to prom, whether it’s because you can’t find a date or you can’t afford it, it’s really not the end of the world. What you should be thinking of is what you’re go-ing to wear to walk across the stage on June 21st, 2013, the day we can finally call our-selves graduates of Benja-min N. Cardozo high school.

By Elaine Kong

Jury Box

Is prom overrated?

It’s a waste of money and time.Savannah Ranaghan - Junior

Matthew Villacias - SeniorNo, because it’s something that you’ll remember as your last high school experience.

Ify Chizor - SeniorNot at all. It’s a chance for those who don’t get recog-nized in school to stand out.

Ludy Thenor - SeniorIt is. Everyone has such high expectations, but when the time comes around it turns out to not be what they anticipated.

By Maria Brango, Rochan Hendricks, & Israel Matos

By Sasha Persaud

It becomes overrated if you take it too seriously. It’s just supposed to be a night of fun with people you’re with.

Avinash Sohan - Senior

the verdict 14

health

tells your body, “Let’s go!” Christine Yuen, a junior, said “… I just don’t have time for breakfast.”Breakfast is also a key point in one’s diet. If you want to improve your metabolism, the time it takes to digest food, you should eat regular meals every-day. That means, eat the same portion at the same time of the day. If you’re on a diet, that shouldn’t mean to stop eating

entirely, in fact that’s probably the worst thing that you could possibly do. “I eat breakfast because it gives me more energy throughout the day,” said Senior Youn Jin Kang. There are many breakfasts that you can eat on-the-go which only take a few minutes to prepare.Cold Oats1. Soak oats overnight 2. In the morning add some sugar or sweet-

ened milk along with fruits (raisins apples or anything you have) and put it in a paper cup and go!!- This breakfast is fast, filling, and great for your skin.Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana English Muffin1. Buy some whole wheat English muffins, cut in half 2. Put peanut butter & banana slices on the muffin Bam. Done.- Protein in the peanut butter- Other great vitamins in a banana- Filling and fast If those don’t suit your fancy, you could always just buy some cereal bars or muf-fins for the week to grab on the go, or you come to school five minutes early and grab breakfast from the cafeteria! The breakfast really isn’t bad, in fact, on some days it’s pretty good; they have cheese sticks and granola bars! Eating breakfast could prevent your mid-day hunger and stop you from buying candy or food from the vending machines. Pop tarts among other sugary treats from the candy boxes around school will only give you a temporary sugar rush and you will soon go hungry again.

It’s Sunday night, 1a.m., and you only have four more hours until you have to get up for school but you’re still not asleep. We’re all guilty of this terrible crime, but it’s not like we want to stay awake. Some of just can’t fall asleep at the time we want to. Doctors recommend 8 hours of sleep, for teen-agers, each night. Without it our bodies won’t function properly and our daily activities be-come harder to complete. But as teenagers, it’s hard to try to keep up with that. Between keep-ing up our grades, maintaining a social life, hav-ing a job, and still trying to make time for family and friends, we find ourselves making up those missing hours of sleep during our classes. So how do you do it? How do you get into the habit of getting 8 hours of sleep a night? 1. Reset the Internal Clock Remember when you were younger and your parents enforced a strict bedtime? Time to jump back into that. Studies show that teenagers who sleep at a set time each night will have an easier time falling asleep than those who go to sleep at a different time each night. So what time is ap-propriate? Start from the time you have to wake up, and backtrack 8 hours. If you have to wake up at 6 a.m., then 10 p.m. would be a good time to turn in.

2. Unplug! A major factor in teenage sleep deprivation is technology. (Following Facebook, texting with friends, and watching late night television.) All

of this staring into bright moving screens is rob-bing you of precious hours of sleep, and it can actually make it harder for you to wind down and go to bed. It is recommended that you “un-plug” at least 30 minutes before bedtime to tell your body that it is time to rest and allow your-self to fall asleep easier. 3. De-stress As teens we have a lot of things going on in our daily lives which makes it hard for us to keep track of it all and it leads to a massive bubble of stress that seems like it could burst at any sec-ond. All this stress might be what’s leading to your lack of sleep. Some ways to dial down the

Regardless of the fact that we all have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, a lot of people do not eat breakfast daily. There are tons of excuses for skipping this vital meal, yet none of which are actually acceptable. Food is fuel for your body. For many, it’s easy to forget the importance of a morning meal. When you wake up in the morning, your body has gone without its “fuel” for hours and the first meal of the day is what

Sleep More, Stress Less

Join the Breakfast Club By Lauren Poon

By Israel Matos

tension might be to get a day planner going or use the one programmed onto your phone. Keep track of what you have to do each day and it will help with keeping yourself on track with what’s going on. 4. Take Naps Naps after school can do wonders for teens that are struggling from lack of sleep. They help recover from the long day of school and help stay awake until bedtime. But too long of a nap can do more harm than good, as they can de-lay a teen’s ability to go to sleep on time. Naps around 30 minutes long are recommended as they help rejuvenate us, and allow us to go to

sleep on time. But don’t over-due it because long naps can actually do more harm than good.5. Read a book If all else fails, pickup the biggest textbook you have and give it a read. Nothing puts me to sleep like one of those pup-pies. I lay down telling myself, “I will stay awake” but sure enough in 10 or 15 minutes, I’m out. So for those of us who have trouble falling to sleep at a time that doesn’t leave us with a tired feeling, try these tips and tricks if you want to start say-ing hello to better mornings.

Some examples of “on-the-go” foods.

Photo by Lauren Poon

A tired student sleeping in class.Photo by Israel Matos

sports

15April 2013

The boys handball team is striving to be first in its division this year. As of now, the boys team is “basically undefeated,” with a perfect winning streak. Captain Eugene Lau, has the responsibility of preparing each individual on the team. “I usu-ally play one-on-one games with them [team members] to help each one polish off their skills and give them construc-tive criticism,” he explains. In addition to the new mem-bers, Mr. Tsolekas has stepped up to be the team’s new coach. With a strict conditioning rou-tine, Tsolekas and Lau ensure that each member is physically and mentally prepared going into each game.

Handball Team has a Handle on the Competition Lau says, “…although the team lost a group of great seniors, we gained new members with plenty of potential and I feel Tsolekas and I build the founda-tion for them to grow into better players." He believes that the team has improved a lot since last year. New member, Alvin Chen said, “The workout is rough, but I see a difference in my game-play al-ready.” He is confident in each player’s ability. They are leading strong and “took out our main competition earlier in the season…as a team, I strongly believe we can ac-complish anything.” Recently, Eugene won the 17 and under competition also known as the High School

Spring Meet, a tournament in which all and local high schools come together to compete for a very prestigious title. Lau won first in singles, and second in

doubles with partner, Michael Chu. Their next game is against Francis Lewis High School on May 2nd.

Coaches vs. Cancer, held on Saturday April 20th, was successful in terms of rais-ing funds and bringing fans to the event. According to Athletic Director Joe Cavallo, this year’s event, through the efforts of all the teams that participated, raised almost 4,000 dollars, four times what was raised last year. In terms of athletic competition, that was also exciting and fun to watch. Boys volleyball, had an all day tournament and a final championship game was held between Cardozo and Richmond Hill. Extra incentive to win this match was that Coach Daniel Scarola’s brother was the coach of Richmond Hill’s volleyball team. Cardozo won in a close match and senior Tyler Gaugler was named Most Valuable Player. “I am so proud of my team for winning; what a great day for our team and school,” said Tyler. In lacrosse, the girls played to a 7-7 draw against Mary Louis and boys lacrosse beat Stuyvesant. Along with that, tennis matches were played between Cardozo and St. Francis Prep. Boys baseball and girls softball played as well. Although these games were only scrimmages, the level of competition was extremely high and the games, all around, were exciting to watch.

By David Gmuca

By Dylan Wong

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE WONGLau leans in for the hit.

PHOTO BY DAVID GMUCAGirls lacross in a group huddle.

Cardozo Coaches vs. Cancer Walkathon Gets us Going

“It was a great success!” said track coach, Gail Em-manuel. The Annual walk-a-thon event, held by the track team, on the football field, April 19th, was an event you didn’t want to miss. The team was raising money in order for the girls to attend the prestigious Penn Relays. This year they raised more money than last year; however the amount was not disclosed. There were lots of fun things to do. They had games like tug of war and more. There was a DJ and music and kids dancing. There was even a bake sale going on, with cookies and cupcakes and much more. “We do plan on holding this event again next year, and have it bigger and better,” said Coach Emmanuel.

By Sasha Persaud

PHOTO BY SASHA PERSAUDCoach Gail and her girls.

The girls lacrosse game on Tuesday, April 16th, brought fuel to their already existing fire. The home game was con-sorted by frigid weather and the smoldering desire to win against Beach Channel High School. After losing to Beach Channel in the play-offs last year, the girls were playing for redemption. Repentantly, our Lady Judg-es lost 13-1, making this game the third loss of the season. Senior Milana Larin, number 16, scored the only goal. There was a sufficient turn out with a crowd of about thirty spectators, more than half of whom are on the boys lacrosse team, came to sup-port their fellow athletes. Justin Dong, of boys la-crosse, said, “The score doesn’t tell the story.” Having lost seventeen se-

niors from last year, the team currently holds a record of 5-3. So far they’ve lost to Tottenville, Midwood, and Beach Channel and have won against Stuyvesant, Long Is-land City, and Hunter College High School. The girls are ranked third on the League

Championship North Board, under Long Island City and Stuyvesant. For the girls lacrosse team, their loss to Beach Channel only brings fuel in the form of motivation. According to midfielder Sherry Li, their loss means

that they have to, “...push and work harder.” With seven games left in the season, the girls still have time to redeem themselves.

The Score Doesn’t Tell the Story By Christina Shanker

BOYS TENNIS TEAM ASPIRES FOR ANOTHER RECORD

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE WONG

Milana Larin attempting to score.

The boys tennis team has been one of our top, more no-table teams. This year is like any other for them. They practice two-to-three times a week, doing a lot of conditioning, drills and running, which builds up their agility and strength. The team makes the playoffs every year and finishes close to the top. The Judges have been number one in their division, Queens A1, for many years. The team of ten is blanced with both new and experi-enced players. They’ve had top players in the past and are building up once again. Still undefeated, they continue to work hard and plan to hold onto their re-cord for the rest of the season

including the championships. Jaffar Singh, a senior and a member of the team, said,

“Even though we play our games alone, we help each other in practice to get better

and hopefully win. The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in war.”

By Andy Lee

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE WONGMathew Balilo swinging at the ball.