May 2017 Volume 17 Magic of the Casino Issue 5 Royale! By Madeline Blinderman On Saturday, April 29, the Member annual Harvey School Benefit took of the planning place. Located in The Fenstermacher committee Stepha- Athletic Center, the event had more than nie King stated, “It 300 guests and raised approximately was such a pleasure $300,000. Believe it or not, the registra- working with this tion goal was met a week before the year’s incred- event even occurred. ibly dedicated and creative Parent There is a lot of planning that Association Benefit goes into this benefit. The planning Committee. It was committee started working in December a true collabora- for a night that would happen in April. tion between our The first step is always figuring out the PA benefit team The transformation of the Fenstermacher Athletic Center for the theme. This year’s theme was “Casino and the staff and faculty Casino Royale benefit. Photo courtesy of Adam Blinderman. Royale, License to Thrill,” a play on the to bring this vision and James Bond movie titles. design to life, creating an During the benefit, there were environment where we can celebrate the many options for what to do. There Featured There are many actions that the achievements of the Harvey commu- were gaming tables such as roulette, marketing committee took that helped nity.” blackjack and poker. In addition, the in this issue: everyone become excited. First, there is dance floor was a great way to get the a lot of brainstorming that goes into it The silent auction was a huge guests socializing and having a good before anything starts. The committee part of the event. Some items up for time. There was even a photo booth, members sent out several emails and a auction included a weekend at the which is always a fun touch! l Current Events link to the silent auction. After people Major-League Baseball All-Star Game saw what they could bid on, the antici- in Miami, Florida, a trip to Africa, and The Pulse spoke to Director pation raised. In addition, there were two tickets to “Hamilton.” There was of College Counseling Ms. Christine l News from many signs posted around the Harvey even an option to have Mr. Lazzaro Cahill, who attended the benefit. Ms. The Harv campus and up the driveway when you and Ms. Christie cook for you in your Cahill said, “The planning committee first pull into Harvey. home. Generous donors of The Harvey l Reviews School gave all of these items. Magic of the Casino Royale: cont. on page 5. A Very Handy Club By Julia Mallon The Harvey Mr. Lauria continued, School offers a variety of “My fiancée is a sign lan- language courses that allow guage interpreter, so I often students to be able to com- interact with her deaf friends municate with people of and co-workers. I also enjoy foreign countries, but what volunteering at deaf events about a specific group of every year at deaf schools.” people in the United States? With an advisor that has real Most people forget about experience with the deaf the communication gap community, the students are between people who can all eager and enthusiastic to speak and hear and people learn. who have hearing and voice disabilities. Juniors D’Avanzo was one Katharine D’Avanzo, Anna of the students who was Buchmueller, and many determined to get this club other students wish to close started. She told The Pulse, this gap and bring the chal- “One thing that made me lenge of learning American interested in sign language Sign Language (ASL) to Mr. Lauria, the club advisor, along with Isabella Iannone and Katharine was that I saw a show where The Harvey School. D’Avanzo, two current members of the ASL Club, signing ‘ASL’. the people were talking in Photo courtesy of Julia Mallon . sign language, and since then, According to the I’ve wanted to learn.” National Institute on Deafness and Other none, and others created the ASL Club in Communication Disorders (NIDCD), time for the spring term. The ASL Club Once a week in the Study Hall, “ASL is a complete, complex language already has 10 students since it started, D’Avanzo and other students have an op- that employs signs made by moving the and it is continuing to pick up interest portunity to learn a new language outside hands combined with facial expressions each week. of the classroom atmosphere. Mr. Lauria and postures of the body.” The NIDCD told The Pulse, “At the beginning of the also states, “It is the primary language of Spanish teacher Michael club meeting, we enjoy some food while many North Americans who are deaf.” Lauria accepted the advisory role and watching videos about some aspect of The Harvey School was thrilled when he saw the continued Deaf and Hard of Hearing Culture.” On 260 Jay Street After talking and compromising interest in sign language. Mr. Lauria told Thursday, March 30, the club watched a with Dean of Students Ms. Normandeau, The Pulse, “I have been signing for five video on how sign language interpreters Katonah, NY 10536 years now, and during the last two years, translate music. D’Avanzo, Buchmueller, Isabella Ian- I have been in formal ASL classes.” A Very Handy Club: cont. on page 3. Page 2 OP/ED Where Has the Truth Gone? Let’s all say it together: we are living in a post-truth America. It is no great secret that the American experience has been completely disoriented in the face of changing global relations and new political ideologies. Along the way, some things were lost. We lost direction. We lost security in our national identity. Perhaps most importantly, we lost the truth. The There have been many catch-all theories as to why Americans have become skeptical— and frankly scared— of the traditional understanding of the idea of “truth.” Some blame unfair media bias, and others blame the identity-politics- Pulse Staff driven perspectives of traditionally revered news sources. While these concerns are valid, a simpler explanation may be better: it seems that almost every American agrees that there is a potent and unparalleled division between political parties. These groups are created and maintained in the name of bias. Think about it; all of a political party’s policies are Editor-in-Chief essentially commonly shared opinions. Naturally, these groups will clash with one another. The problem is that in the past few years, these clashes have become uglier, creating a division between citizens and destabilizing the idea of one objective Madeline Blinderman truth. One of the most memorable of these clashes was the “birther” conspiracy. This faux-scandal was basically a right- wing reaction to the election of Barack Obama. Washington conservatives spread propaganda and accused the president of Kevin Dorf illegally occupying the office of President based on the false claim that he was not born on U.S. soil. Even after President Obama produced his U.S. birth certificate in 2008, many vocal opponents of Obama— namely PresidentTrump, according Dajour Fisher to The New York Times— still accused his presidency of being illegitimate on the basis of birth location. Zachary Gault A similar series of clashes can be observed in the past few months. President Trump has tried to dodge all criticism Jake Lewis of his campaign, character, and presidency by decrying several generally respected— albeit left-leaning— news sources as “fake news.” For example, on Feb. 17, the President tweeted, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, Tali Looney @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Julia Mallon What’s more, the White House staff has gone on record and defended his false claims insinuating his inauguration Ashley Mckenzie was the most attended inauguration in history by claiming that his statements were based on “alternative facts,” according to The Washington Post. Matthew Mutkoski As Americans, this seemingly-endless stream of untruths has prompted us to ask ourselves: What do we do when Jake Rogers our President lies? Whom do we believe? Where has the truth gone? There are no easy answers to these questions. In times Samuel Shapiro like these, it is crucial to examine the situation through a historical lens. Michael Spadafora In the years preceding 1974, President Richard Nixon repeatedly went on record and claimed that he was com- pletely innocent of any involvement regarding the Watergate Scandal. Throughout the whole ordeal, two Washington Post Sara Steinberg journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, captured the nation’s attention in their search for the truth behind the scan- dal. Eventually, they prompted the Senate to begin an investigation into the matter, which forced Nixon to resign to avoid impeachment. Throughout this ordeal, the American public trusted the media far more than they did the federal government. The same goes for President Reagan’s involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. Behind closed doors, the White House arranged for arms to be sold to Iran in order to fund the Nicaraguan Contra soldiers— a staunch violation of arms Faculty Advisors embargoes and government ethics. Throughout the scandal’s lifetime, Reagan claimed that he was not involved in any il- legal dealings, although news outlets such as The New York Times had discovered Reagan’s ties to the scandal. Eventually, Lesley Boltz media investigations prompted him to admit his involvement in the affair. Once more, the American public trusted the media and doubted the government. Virginia Holmes Today, such a dynamic is impossible. While not every biased news source is inherently “fake news,” it is easy to see that in this day and age, publications are more than happy to appeal to their readers’ identity politics.