~~" . ..;:.,- 'l' NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE ;VoI.10, No.3; June''1994 • PAID F'ormIt No. 163 Com mack. N.Y. aSSlC.....-.--. Townsend Harris High School at Queens College 75-40 Parsons Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11366 Move to campus delayed Class ot'94, ·Iargest yet, by Beth Mellow and Jennifer ect like the new building on Sorowitz college campus, between 15and graduates with honors Plans for moving into the new • 20 sub-contractors are utilized. building on the Queens College E.H. Howell, the main contrac- by Jennifer Sorowitz the seniors that, in fact, the fac­ to the school newspaper, The campus collapsed this month tor, fired the masonry contrac- Four challengi ng years drew ulty was not so easily fooled, Classic; the yearbook, The when the School Construction tor for working too slowly. The to a close for the class of '94 and that while the students .Crimson and Gold; the literary Authority (SCA) announcedthe plunbing contractor went out of with the Baccalaureate Cere­ thought the teachers were laugh­ magazine, The Phoenix; and school will not be ready for business. Presently, they are mony, held on Tuesday, June ing with them, they were actu­ the science magazine, The September occupancy. No new looking for replacements. 14, and finally culminated with ally laughing at them. It was Quantum Cat. opening date has been set. The School Construction ' Commencement on Monday with this spirit of friendl y jok­ Many students were also hon­ After attending a meeting on Authority did its best and "tried June 27, both held at Colden ing' that an evening of praise to ored for their achievements in April 29discussing the installa- to right the wrongs," Mr. Belesi Center on the Queens College honor the achievements of the the National Merit Scholarship tion of telephones in the new said. However, the problems campus. Two hundred thirty _ seniors began. Program. building, Principal' Malcolm did affect the critical path. five seniors, the largest class There were many noteworthy The chorus, under the direc ­ Largmann received a phone call The Queens high school of- yet, bid farewell to the school awards pre sented . Three tion of Florence McKinley, per­ informing him of the delay. Dr. fice said they were "eager" to which helped to prepare them Townsend Harris High School formed"Together inOneSong" Largmann contacted Betty Sil- move Townsend Harris into based on a theme from "Finlan- verman, who is in charge of . their new building. AfterHarris ~ dia" and arranged by Dale education for Queens Borough departs from this building, Dis­ 8 Wood. President Claire Shulman. trict 25 will place Collaborative .U The final honors of the eve­ According to Ms. Silverman, High School and a new junior ! ning were given by Dr. the delay was a direct result of high school here. Now the high l Largmann when he presented the bitter winter. school occupies the top floor of .... sashes to Valedictorian Craig Bclesi, Project Officer ajunior high school. They will Christine Trilivas and Saluta­ of the SCA, said the postpone- remain there until Townsend torian Diana Tuite. ment of the new building's Harris moves out. Following the ceremony, fac­ opening was due to several fac- The delay came as a surprise. ulty members, students, and their tors. These included "some The Board of Education had . family and friends attended a contract changes, a change in already ordered boxes for pack­ reception in the Patio Room of the type of fire alarm system, ing, furniture, and supplies. the Cafeteria, where refresh­ [and] the addition offiber optic There are varied opinions on ments were served. backbones." In addition, there the delay. "I was really disap­ Less than two weeks later, the were some design irregularities pointed when I heard the new Walking center stage, Salutatorian Diana Tuite, senior, accepts students gathered together for which had to be corrected, but building would not open this an award at the Baccalaureate Ceremony, June 14. the last time for graduation. The Mr. Belesi pointed outthat such September. It's just like the key-note address was given by corrections are commonplace . Board of Ed.," said junior Katie for college and the future. Outstanding Service to School Ervin Drake, a member of the with a project such as this. He Heather. The school honored 173 sen­ and Community Medals were class of '35. A prolific song­ also cited disagreements with Sophomore Tony Tsai said, iors with awards at the Bacca­ given to CynthiaBogart,Robyn writer and an award-winning contractors. "It won't be so bad. Although laureate Ceremony. These Herman, and Becky Lee. The memberofthe SongwritersHall "The original timetable was the school is packed, I think the awards of certificates, pins, City Councilman ' Morton of Fame, Mr. Drake wrote music very tight- very ambitious," said crowding adds to its character." plaques,and scholarship money Povman Citation was awarded and lyrica for more than 700 Mr. Belesi. "It was known we "We need to get this building ranged from perfect attendance to Jessica Antoszewski for her primetime television programs. were behind schedule." finished ," said AssistantPrinci- to community service, the volunteer work at St. Mary's He is also the author of the With the undertaking of such pal Malcolm Rossman. "If the \ humanities to physical educa­ Children Hospital. The Princi­ school's alma mater. The cho- a project, a schedule must be put building would be ready , we tion. pal's Leadership Award was rus honored Mr. Drake by per­ together. This is referred to as would move in the middle of the The audience was greeted by given to Tina Morgan, Senior forming a medley of his songs'. "Cri tical Path Management." If year." Sheila Orner, Assistant Princi­ President. The National Action Other speakers and special a problem arises which can be It is not yet known how long pal ofPupil Personnel Services. Council of Minority Engineers guests included Dr. Larmann. quickly resolved withoutaffect- it will take to completethe build­ Then ' Principal Malcolm MET A Networks Award and Queens Borough President ing this critical path, than the ing. Mr. Belesi said, "We are Largmann gave a message to POSSE Scholarship was pre­ Claire Shulman, Shirley Strum schedule will not have to be awaiting the contractors' new the seniors which resembled a sented to Christine Farrier and Kenney, the Queens Colle~e . amended. However, if there is a schedule," which must then be roast. He spoke of the many Gia Griffith, who will be at­ President, who will be depart­ problem that cannot be solved reviewed and agreed upon. The ways in which the students . tending Rice University in the ing next fall for SUNY Stony­ immediately, it will have a sig- time of the opening is really "a thought they were tricking the fall. The Outstanding Male and brook,Roland K.Yoshida,Dean nificant impact upon the proj-' shot in the dark," he said. It teachers - anything from sneak­ Female Athlete Plaques were ofStudents ofQueens College, ect, "said Mr. Belesi. could be this October, January ing a drink while doing laps on awarded to David Topper and Dr. Ron Scapp, QueensCollege For a large construction proj- or June of 1995. the stairs during one of Dean BernadetteCrespo, respectively. Liason, who will also be leaving Wanda Nix's physical educa­ Numerous students were re­ after working in conjunction tion classes to having two sets warded with plaques, pins, and with the school for four years, of textbooks.Dr. Largmann told certificates for their dedication Continued on P.18 Gambling Hate Sports HarrisNet Speech Stars 10-11 13 15 19 --- - ' I ".' , Building spirit: Dealing with delay LE}tters to the Editor Don't let 'Bridge Year' collapse To the Editor: Although I [soon] will be graduating from Townsend Harris..., I am writing about the future of Townsend Harris High School. Townsend Harris is a unique school because of the Bridge Year Program. Throughout the years, Townsend Harris students have been extremely successful in their senior year. They have also been able to experience the "college life" in order to have a smooth . transition.to their freshman year of college. This is an aspect of our school career at Townsend Harris which is looked forward to by underclassmen. I am concerned about having seniors in the high school building next year. Although I . ~ ~ do agree that certain high school classes like Participatory Democracy, economics and [JJ~\~ \ electives should be held in the new building, I completely disagree with detaining the =FkifIi --: seniors in that building for anything other than those classes. Humanities seminar classes should be held in college classrooms partly because a professor is part of the team that teaches the class. Although seniors are still in high school, it is important to realize that senior year is completely different from the first three years at Townsend Harris. Seniors have different needs and different activities surrounding them. Please do not make the Bridge Year Program a thing of the.past for Townsend Harris seniors. Tina Morgan ~" ~.- ..:. Sr. Council President ~~ " ~ . Unfair 'coverage in Classic To the Editor: Balance in reporting is very important in any paper, but especially a school newspaper. Everyone knows if you dangle a carrot in front of a rabbit's nose and then pull After the last edition, there appears to be a recurring pattern, There seems to be a leaning it away, the rabbit will be disappointed and frustrated. That's how we all felt upon towards science figures (namely Shimin Zheng) and ladies' athletics, which is unfair. learning that the new building will not open in September. The delay has lowered Being a humanities school, the feeling is that we as an educational institution have an the morale of the students and may cause complications next year.