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“We’ve Got the News Down To a SCIENCE SURVEY Science” Volume 81 Issue 4 The Bronx High School of Science February 2014 Bronx Science Bronx Science Students Send Bullying Hotline Fungus to Space May Be Revamped By SAMUEL FREDERICKS A small Teflon tube Yang, Wong, and Li were By EVAN LERNER containing microscopic assigned the task of design- fungus spores, which was ing an experiment as a large- The Bronx Science bullying hotline, created designed and produced scale assignment in Mr. Mu- to give students a safe and anonymous way to by Bronx Science Juniors ratore’s sophomore Biology/ report incidents of bullying against themselves or others, is instead being used by some prank- Patrick Yang, Wei Li, and Physics Research class. “Dr. sters to harass classmates and faculty alike. Alvin Wong, was launched Muratore helped us greatly In anonymous emails to the “hotline,” which aboard the Antares space- by always providing us with is actually an email account, users have fabricated craft last month--one of new ideas and keeping in stories that include fanatical ranting and wild ac- only eleven student-run touch with the space pro- cusations. The abuse has pushed Ms. Loukissas, experiments chosen na- gram. He let us know what we the Director of Safety and Security, to say, “I’m tionwide out of more than had to change in our experi- thinking of either getting rid of the email or replac- seven hundred proposals. ment to improve it,’ said Li. ing it with another form of reporting bullying.” The hotline was first introduced in 2011 by Once the tube reaches With the help of Mr. Mura- the school safety commission with the under- its destination--the Inter- tore as well as Mr. Scheiber, standing that bullies instill a great sense of fear national Space Station-- Wong, Yang and Li all had to in their victims, leaving them afraid to tell au- an experiment rigorously break down the difficult task thority figures or get help. The hotline offered planned over the course of Photo Credit: Student Spaceflight Experiments Program of designing the experiment. a solution to this in giving the victims the abil- several months will begin otropism is a fungi’s way of knowing “We worked as a unit,” said Wong. ity to voice their problems anonymously, with- to test the effect of the absence of grav- which way is up or down and we are “One person researched about growth out the threat of any potential repercussions. ity on the growth of the mushroom spores. observing how fungi will grow with- and development of fungus, one looked But the lack of repercussions inspired a new wave of ideas. “If this is anonymous, how The experiment draws on the fact that on out knowing which way is which.” for the right preservative, and one would could I possibly get in trouble for making a Earth, plants use something called ge- In an age of dwindling natural re- modify the apparatus. Mr. Scheiber aid- joke out of it?” said one Bronx Science stu- otropism to grow so that their roots go ed us in creating the preservative for the sources here on Earth, the project could dent. And the jokes have not stopped coming. downward and their stems grow upward. lead to important practical applica- fungus.” The preservative is vital to the The misuse of the hotline has two common forms. In a zero-gravity environment, plants tions. “Hopefully,” Patrick said, “this functionality of the experiment, control- The first is to report being bullied by another student, or fungi may have difficulty with this. can give way to something much larg- ling when exactly the fungus spores be- often in a vulgar or ludicrous way. The second is some “To put it simply,” said Yang, “ge- er in scale, like agriculture in space.” gin their growth. Continued on page 5 outlandish story, often involving fictional charac- ters or people, having no relation to bullying at all. Former Specialized High School Students and Current Rappers “I’m getting ridiculous emails about The Jok- er bullying Batman,” Ms. Loukissas explained. Weigh in on Their High School Experiences “One student reported that his pet Tamagot- chi was bullied while he was in the bathroom.” By GRIFFIN LEE MILLER Students have also been falsely reported for bullying The recent Grammys have prompted a public discussion over ably sound familiar: “I had a one and a half hour commute by others, but these “bullies” are often aware of these the state of the music industry. This entails not only a fiscal re- to school and I’d spend a lot of it with headphones on writ- false accusations and later find them to be funny. flection, but also an appreciation of the different artists from the ing lyrics. I wasn’t trying to rap though, I was just really bored.” “Most students know and are prepared when past year who released music noteworthy enough to make it to It seems as though even across generations, the Bronx Science expe- the awards show. The public focus on music made it seem ap- rience is very much the same. Little aspects of the school seem so insig- There has not been one propriate to investigate the musical history of our own school. nificant and yet are so timeless. “There would always be random pock- When most people hear “Bronx Science alumni,” they think ets throughout the school that would smell terrible, like mobile phantom legitimate report of bullying of doctors and lawyers. It’s no secret that, for better or worse, zones of stink,” Nafis concluded his email. “It was hard to walk through.” through the Bronx Science Bronx Science is a rigorous academic establishment. However, Continued on page 8 our school produces many creative figures whose accomplish- Bullying Hotline, officials say. ments are also noteworthy. Yet, while this is also common knowl- IN THIS MONTH’S EDITION... edge, most students would be surprised to find out that among they’re called down,” Loukissas explained. our school’s esteemed ex-students are a handful of rappers. LOVE IS IN THE AIR Those students who are in on the “joke” At the beginning of the decade, Himanshu Suri of the unconventional credit:http://thumbs.dreamstime.com Photo come down to the Dean’s office and are able and iconic rap group Das Racist, known most famously for its song “Com- to clear up the accusations pretty quickly. bination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” formed the record label Greedhead. “I was called down to the deans for [bother- Just as Himanshu is a New York native, most of the rap- ing another student] in the courtyard,” Sopho- pers and artists on Greedhead grew up in the city, and went to more Solomon Wise said. In all of these cases New York City high schools. Suri himself went to Stuyves- the claim gets worked out relatively quickly, ant and two rappers affiliated with Greedhead, Lakutis and Big but it is still a gross misuse of the staff’s time. Baby Gandhi, have their roots in the halls of Bronx Science. wikimedia.org credit: Photo Since October, Ms. Loukissas has been the Direc- Big Baby Gandhi, real name Nafis Islam, is a Queens native tor of Safety and Security and there has not been one who first gained attention in 2011 when he released his first mix- legitimate report of bullying through the hotline. tape, the phenomenal Big [expletive deleted] Baby. Nafis never “I was called down for supposedly send- makes overt references to Bronx Science, but he did attend the Check out Feature on page 7 for ing a student a link to a website called ‘Lem- school, running on the track team and playing for the baseball onparty.org’ and that it had inappropriate pic- team during his time here. “I used to be on the newspaper too!” students’ Valentine’s Day tures of myself,” Junior Ziggy Gokea said, he told me in an email, “They even let me write about rap music!” traditions! another example of the misuse of the hotline. Very graciously, Nafis traded emails with me in which Ms. Loukissas said she has come to the he talked about his memories of high school and what conclusion that it is time for a change. She and he took away from his experience at Bronx Science. Like the the school administration now feel compelled “I liked a lot of things about it. I liked how there was al- to discontinue the anonymous email system, ways some work to do; you do develop a good work eth- Science and go back to their original process of dealing ic. I sound like a dad but it’s a mad valuable skill to have in Survey on with bullying, which is addressing it in person. your life. The people that I met there were really unique.” One thing has been made clear to Ms. Loukissas Just like any high school student though, “There were things I Facebook didn’t like,” he told me. Many of the troubles Nafis faced prob- about the bullying hotline: “It’s a waste of time.” EDITORIAL 2-3 NEWS 4-5 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 8-9 SPOTLIGHT 10-11 Bronx Science Battens Down the Hatches The Snowmen: Custodians Meet Winter’s Woes Google + Cats The administration is investigating an appar- A New Spin on Disclosure School custodians lose sleep and dig deep to In an experiment conducted last ent breach in the school’s computer security system af- Ravers and readers alike will be able keep sidewalks and plaza clear of snow and summer in collaboration with Stanford ter members of the Electronics Club and Robotics Teams to tune into the latest release from UK- safe for students and neighborhood residents.

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