The Award-Winning Political Arts Magazine ^ of the College of Staten Island/CUNY •A^ Spring 2008 | www.ThirdRailMag.com r jST f ‘- r G O ia I^ M N A M ER ieA l) APARTHEID COLLEGE OF STAHN ISLAND IS Look Who Teach atCS Dr. Chalmers Clark Formerly of the CSI Department of Political Science, Economics and Philosophy. His background is in the naturalized epistemology of W. V. Quine. His interest is to extend Quine’s scientific holism into the domain of moral and political thought. The result has been research and publication in several interdisciplinary forms. Current work is on trust relations in the professions (medicine especially), the professions as stewards of public trusts, and the role public trusts play in the basic structure of a free society. w w w .th I rd rai I m ag.com CSI’s ONLY student publication website is THIRD RAILJ IVIAG c o m Read the latest new s on CSI & CUNY Send a L etter to the Editors Respond to any article, poem or p h o t o g r a p h R equest an Issue to be snail m ailed f o r FREE Read select back issues online Stay inform ed about Third Rail events NO intrusive corporate ads R ead CSI’s only aw ard-w inning journalism from the com fort of your hom e! ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS WWW. RAIL .com I ^ T h i r d A l h h d R a i l A Third Rail R a i l THE COLLECTIVE C S r s o n l y (in alphabetlral order) JOSEPH BRUSH auuard-Lulnnlng Business Manager CHUN HOWl student publication Pacifist IVledLtator c o n te n ts MEREDITH FOGELMAN Poetry Editor MICHAEL GUALTIERI E i SPRING Distribution AAanager . m 2 0 0 8 JEFFMCGRAHAM T h e N a t i o n . Won-Fiction Editor MICHAEL MILEV 0 4 CSUCUNV THIRD Stalinist Bureaucrat Neuus Briefs W © I L a t o T.J. RILEV RAII- Associate Editor NIKKI SAINT BAUTISTA Q g Rim baud Ponderer of Alllhlngs I V I A C 3 NEILSCHULDINER 07 Enlightenment Layout & Design • c o m KATHLEEN VANMANEN Q g CSI P eace UJeek Secretary ■ ANTHONY VIVIRITO Armed Security Detail 10 Phony S o ld ie rs? CONTRIBUTORS 15 Rush Llmbaugh ILLYAGELLER f o r OxyContln JOHN ELLIOTT SHELOON J. BOURNe"^^;. |g Iraq Uar Index THOMAS GOOD C : : D HAYUKO la |g Love Poem PETA EARTHSHARE 10 Tainted Love RONALD B. MCGUIRE, ESQ. 20 American Apartheid & THE CUNY EMERGENCY LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Legal Department 3 2 a poem W t e [RteDD PROFESSOR BRIAN COGAN Faculty Advisor 3 3 PETA: Ulhat’sthe #1 c a u se of CONTACT glo b al unarm ing? E-MAIL: maLlpThlrdRallMag.com 3 4 A UUeeknlght Out LUEB: ujuiui.ThLrdRalLMag.com on th e Town fo r Booze and Brains SNAIL MAIL; Third Rail Magazine c/o College of Staten Island 3 g C om rade X: 2800 Victory Boulevard C o m r a d e Campus Center Room 207 The Fourth Estate Staten Island, NY 10314 8- Revolution X MAGAZINE OFFICE: Room 231 on the 2nd floor of the CSI Campus Center 41 EarthShare ► TELEPHONE: 718-982-3105 4 2 Sin Is Only FAX' Skin Deep 718-982-3104 4 4 L e tte rs IVIEIVIBER to the Editors Booze S- Brains Phony Soldiers? Nikki Saint Bautista infiltrates Mike G ualtlerlasks uuhv Rush 3 ^ 4 8 Bullpen: Third Rairs © Las Vegas Showgirls Union Hall’s Secret Science Club Llmbaugh receives tax payer monies L a? intrendv Park Slope to denigrate Iraq uuar veterans Hard bl Mogo^ Is pubfished by ifaa studanb of the Colap of Stolaa yoiL Opuiions expressed herein are those of the writers and are not necessarily shared by Third Roil Magazine staff or the ColvofSMmysiiTMiyMi«azlMlsfwiiMbribesh^ College of Staten Island of the CHy University of New York. Third Roil Mogozine is not o publication of the College of SlotM yotxl or 1hs(3yUiiw^ of Now Y«kThCslage(rfftitMiskmdi8Ri The City University of New York ore not responsible for the contents of Third Rail Magazine. i and 11 NEW S BRIEFS CUNY Chancellor R aises SAT Ma CUNY Chancellor M atthew Goldstein has t unilaterally raised the SAT math admission score without the consent of CUNY faculty. • <S> ® <E> t 3 CS> ® ® to m (8> <s> <B} <S> 14 ® • <$> <® <s> »f <S> <S> © <g) • 15 <S> <S> ® ® be utilized as cutoff scores, especially for t * (S> <D <g) • <© 16 (S) d> © ® • high stakes decisions. According to the test designers, any use of the SAT that treats scores as precise measures are seriously flawed. The test-makers admit two students’ scores must ity University of New York (CUNY) provide a better forecast of future college differ by at least 125 points before they CChancellor Matthew Goldstein has performance than does the SAT can reliably be said to be different, due to recently announced plans to raise the The Educational Testing Services (ETS), measurement rather than error. minimum SAT score for freshmen entrance a private, not-for-profit company, develops Critics of Goldstein’s plan cite the to CUNY senior colleges (including CSI) and administers the SAT, but the College startling statistic that since the end of to between 480 and 510 on the math Board, a not-for-profit consortium of remediation in 1999, the number of section. This plan is to go into effect in member colleges sponsors the test and African American students attending the Fall of 2008, according to Goldstein. decides how it will be constructed, the top five CUNY senior colleges had Many experts fear the increase in SAT administered and used. Thie College Board fallen from 20 to 14 percent, with African score minimums at CUNY schools would collects more than $150 million annually American enrollments at City College exclude many African Americans from from student test fees. dropping by a full 12 percent. the opportunity to pursue an education The SAT design is based on the model Critics also charge that there are at a CUNY senior college. The average of the early U.S. Army examination. alternatives to the SAT: 740 accredited, math SAT score for African Americans The Army examination was the bachelor-degree granting colleges do not in New York is 431. Experts point brainchild of Lewis Terman and Robert use the SAT to make admissions decisions out that lower SAT scores for African Yerkes, both of whom were executives for a substantial number of their applicants. Americans are not surprising when one in the American Eugenics Movement. This includes highly competitive takes into consideration that the SAT is They designed the Army examination institutions such as Bates College. a better predictor of household income in an attempt to exclude blacks and The SAT is a three hour multiple choice than college success. One major reason immigrants from the army. and essay test that purports to measure for this is that SAT preparatory courses Critics argue that CUNY Chancellor verbal and mathematical knowledge and (like The Princeton Review or Kaplan) Goldstein’s plan misuses the SAT according skills. Colleges have implemented it as increase student’s scores by 150 points to the recommendations put forward by part of the admissions process for close to (on average), but the courses cost around both ETS and The College Board, both of a century. Just shy of 3 million students $800. The companies that design and whom contend that the test should never take the test annually. teach SAT preparatory classes earn about $300 million a year. The SAT consistently over-predicts CUNY Trustee Randy M astro Dropped the performance of white males in ayor Michael Bloomberg has opted ^^ . jeajga aa CUNYCUNY TrusteeTrustee waswas iin college and constantly under-predicts the Mnot to re-appoint Randy Mastro to « “ 2001,2001 ,when when hehe introduce introduced performance of minorities and women the CUNY Board oFrrustees. Appointed ’ ’ a motion at a CUNCUNY in collegiate environments. For example, in 1999 by then Mayor Rudolph TrusteemeetingendorsingTrusteemeetingendorsin high school girls score 33 points lower Giuliani, Mastro had been one of the Un CUNYCUNY ChancellorChancellc than boys on the math section of the SAT more anti-student/faculty trustees of the Goldstein’sGoldstein’s criticisrcriticism (on average), but earn higher math grades last half decade. Mastro proposed ending regarding an anti-war teach-in organizedorganize in their freshman year of college. The bilingual education for NYC immigrants by the faculty and students of CUNY.CUN'! College Board admits that high school when he was head of Giuliani’s task The motion passed unopposed. MastroMastr grades and courses taken in high school force on bilingual education. One is replaced by Charles A. Shorter ofc WWW .T H I R D R A I L M A G ■ com of his more contentious moves as Ernst and YoungYoune LLP. CSI STUDENTS MAY PAY MORE he CUNY Board of Trustees recently receiving his $10,000 raise, CSI President Tawarded huge raises that ranged from Morales announced his support for the CUNY $10,000 to $26,000 per year to top CUNY Compact, a plan that would raise tuition for officials. CSI President Tomas Morales received CSI & CUNY students on an annual basis. a $10,000 per year raise after less than two According to the C U N Y Compact, tuition months on the job. This brings his monetary could rise by as much as $160 per year, for salary up to $230,000 per year. In addition, every year one registers as a student.