“The Pulse of the Student Body” The SpectatorThe Stuyvesant High School Newspaper Volume 111 No. 11 March 2, 2021 stuyspec.com SCIENCE HUMOR You’re Not Alone: Zoom Fatigue Is Real Frog and Toad: Where are They Now? Science writer Riona Anvekar explains the scientific basis Humor writer Krista Proteasa catches up with classic chil- behind “Zoom Fatigue,” and the complex calculations that dren’s book characters Frog and Toad, and reveals what our brains make every day in a remote setting. they’ve been up to since their time in the limelight. SEE PAGE 11 SEE PAGE 20 The Show Must Go On(line) By SAKURA YAMANAKA, there are tryouts, learning days, given point deductions if rules or live audition. “It is the people day after school. However, virtu- MAGGIE SANSONE, and practices. Because of the later are broken. “The biggest COV- who would be hired in a normal ally, we don’t have this luxury, and JAMES KANG, timeline, current crew rosters are ID-19 guideline we have in place SING! season that possess the we’d like to accommodate the al- and EZRA LEE being finalized through February. is that SING! members cannot skill set to not only run an effi- tered schedules of many SING! All meetings and SING! events physically meet up to rehearse cient crew but also adapt to the members,” Kronman said. “This In light of the COVID-19 are scheduled to be completely or record for SING!. With re- new format and the new circum- has proved quite challenging, as pandemic, SING! will be hosted online, and platforms such as hearsals, recordings, and writing stances that we have to deal with Slate has to manage the many, virtually this year. Due to the un- Zoom and Flipgrid will be used. done at home, we’ve been able to to ensure that the production is different-paced schedules of certainty of the spring semester, In addition, all participants circumvent having an extensive just as good as any other year, if crews.” SING! will be operating on a In light of the changes, co- later timeline compared to that ordinators hope to preserve the of previous years. Though the SING! atmosphere while still three show dates are tradition- upholding safety. While they are ally in mid-March, the virtual preserving the majority of artistic performances will be later in the or production-specific elements, year. With the recording process there will be an editing crew to starting in April, the anticipated each SING! production. Other livestream date will be in June crews, such as Tech and Lights & to accommodate the logistics of Sound, will be modified by merg- the large production. There will Courtesy of Liam Kronman ing with other crews to adapt to also be no dues or ticket fees col- the virtual setting. “The most im- lected. portant thing about maintaining SING! is an annual school- the feel of a normal SING! sea- wide student-run musical compe- son is that sense of community tition in which each grade com- and unity. The reason that people petes against the others (with the keep coming back to SING! year exception of freshmen and soph- after year is that this is what intro- omores, who compete together as Courtesy of Lianne Ohayon duced them to so many of their SophFrosh SING!). The crux of Courtesy of Alec Shafran closest friends,” Shafran said. SING! preparation is similar to will be held accountable to the policy for how meet-ups will oc- not better,” Shafran said in an e- This year, there will be no that of past years, but with modi- COVID-19 guidelines set by Co- cur,” Kronman said in an e-mail mail interview. Rehearsals will be dues collected. Instead, all mon- fications. In an in-person school ordinator of Student Affairs Mat- interview. conducted over Zoom or other ey will be raised through exter- year, SING! preparation starts in thew Polazzo and coordinators Drawing on their ability to video-streaming platforms. nal fundraising. In addition to a mid-January, and coordinators, Lianne Ohayon, Alec Shafran, adapt to the virtual setting, crew However, this flexibility is also slate producers, scriptwriters, and Liam Kronman of Soph- directors will have the freedom a challenge in regards to schedul- songwriters, crew directors, and Frosh SING!, Junior SING!, and to decide the audition process ing. “At school, SING! members crew members are all often cho- Senior SING!, respectively. The for their respective crews, be it would claim whole floors, and continued on page 2 sen by late January. From there, respective SING! team(s) will be through a Google Form/Flipgrid rehearsals would happen every NEWSBEAT StuySquad Hosts Annual Performance Virtually Senior will be By JESS ZHANG, SARAH some uncertainties about how we we [...] [used] Edpuzzle video show, directors were required to Katerina Corr wanted to proceed with the show submissions for all members to edit their respective crew’s vid- the New York representa- HUYNH, JANNA WANG, and JAMES KANG this year,” senior and StuySquad make sure they were on track and eos. Senior and StuySquad Direc- tive at the virtual U.S. Sen- Co-President Elizabeth Tang having all crews edit their vid- tor of Logistics Athena Lam and ate Youth Conference. StuySquad, Stuyvesant’s larg- said. “Originally we were plan- eos.” Sophia Lin then assembled each est annual dance showcase, was ning on having people film in a In addition to teaching and crew’s video to produce the show. hosted virtually for the first time studio so everyone could film it dancing over Zoom, there was a “There was a big learning curve on February 1 and streamed live together, but that didn’t pan out.” major shift to video editing this figuring out the best ways to Seniors Ian Saint-Germain on YouTube. This year, practices teach over Zoom and edit,” Lam and Isabella Lee participat- were conducted over Zoom, said. “It was a fun learning pro- ed in the Songwriters Hall evaluations were conducted over cess because it took a lot of trial of Fame Master Session. Flipgrid, and there were no mem- and error trying to think of a new ber dues. Currently, the streamed solution to figure out a problem show is available for viewing on and how to approach it. It was a StuySquad’s YouTube channel. really nice learning experience to Stuyvesant’s Ethics Team StuySquad consisted of 13 figure things out as a group.” ranked third out of 40 teams dance crews: Co-ed K-Pop, Belly, Adjusting to the new envi- Tap, Boys Hip-Hop, Bollywood, ronment, video editing also pre- in the Long Island High / TheSasha Socolow Spectator Flow, Girls Hip-Hop, Latin, sented new challenges. “It was School Ethics Bowl. C-Pop, Contemporary, Step, really time-consuming to sync all and Girls K-Pop. Traditionally, the members to the music and StuySquad auditions, learning required a lot of brainpower to days, practices, rehearsals, and incorporate formations in a vir- Sophomore Yihan Bao performances are all held in-per- tual setting,” Xinlei Lin said in an placed second in the annual son. The StuySquad presidents e-mail interview. Nengajo Contest hosted by select board members and crew Though communication be- the American Association directors through an interview came more difficult, it remained of Teachers of Japanese. process; directors would then a priority for members. “Some hold learning days, during which To monitor the progress of year. “Video editing was a re- challenges I faced in preparation they teach the audition dance to dancers learning choreography ally big problem because a lot of for the show were making sure recruit members for their respec- through Zoom, directors used people have never edited videos that everyone was communicat- Huge Ma (’07), a software tive crews. The members would multiple platforms for check- before and [senior and video edi- ing and on top of their respon- engineer at Airbnb, launched then choose their dance pieces ins. “Dance is a very fluid action tor] Sophia [Lin] helped anyone sibilities, which was especially and directors would teach the and in order for me to teach and who didn’t have any video edit- important when we couldn’t see TurboVax, a free website monitor my crew’s progress, I’d ing experience. Overall, working each other in person and our that compiles choreography to the dancers. vaccine avail- The StuySquad Board de- need to see them in person and with the new environment was only way of communicating be- ability from three main city cided to make the show virtual in how they use the space around really difficult for us,” junior and and state systems in New light of the COVID-19 pandem- them,” senior and StuySquad Co- StuySquad president-in-training York and sends updated in- ic. “There was a very big learn- President Roshni Patel said. “To Melody Lin said. continued on page 2 formation to Twitter. ing curve when we started and get through [...] these challenges, In piecing together the virtual Page 2 The Spectator • March 2, 2021 News The Show Must Go On(line) eryone can participate in,” senior adapt SING! to a virtual setting. continued from page 1 and Student Union President Ju- “The essential elements of SING! lian Giordiano said. are basically still the same,” Pola- predetermined budget from the Compared to last year, this zzo said. Judging, which consists Student Union (SU) and a dona- year’s SING! will require less of 30 alumni judges, will remain. tion from the Parent Association of an administrative role from Despite the virtual setting, (PA), individual SING! donations teachers and staff members.