Gavin Huang

Let's be clear: I'm for the building of the Cordoba House. After reading opinions from both sides, watching interviews with different constituents, and listening to countless politicians' sound bytes, I've come to my own personal conclusion that building a center for intercultural understanding would be a fitting complement to the 9/11 memorial when it is finished (whenever that is). Mayor Michael Bloomberg's defense particularly hit a chord on the Constitutional side of the issue while an opinion column by William Dalrymple convinced me that this center would not be the "shining trophy of victory" that opponents claim it to be. The project's leaders compare it to the Y.M.C.A. and the Jewish Community Center (JCC), which both provide the city with multicultural facilities. (I myself frequent the JCC in Manhattan and have never once been pushed into participating in any religious activities.) So I can't disagree with having another similar center that will not only provide a swimming pool and auditorium for a neighborhood that could use more public pools and theaters, but also events that will broaden my understanding of different cultures.

Drama is always an element of high school. Things get blown out of proportion, relationships come and go--it's natural for high school to be filled with emotional tirades that, in hindsight, probably shouldn't have been taken so seriously. So when the New York Post published an article about a long-standing tradition at Stuyvesant, followed by other reports from Fox 5 and other minor news sites, we scoffed. And then, we blew over the fact that such a minor part of our lives was being taken so seriously by people who didn't even understand what they were reporting.

Outgoing Web editor Victor Ma and I will be holding a workshop on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter on Saturday, April 17 at the 62nd New York District Key Club Leadership Training Conference in Monticello, NY. We hope to see you there!

Good luck! This second-term senior is taking a break.

These past two weeks have been hectic with final exams, group projects, and long term papers, but I'm happy to say I survived and can now get back to blogging regularly. Right now, I am working on uploading all the clips of the ballroom dancing presentations in Ms. Choy's second period class. You can watch them all here in playlist form. It takes a while for me to put up each one, so be patient. They should be completely done by next Tuesday. In the meantime, enjoy this video of The Spectator's Web editor, Marcin Skok, singing "Love Story" without ever having heard it before.

Just got back from the inauguration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and Comptroller John Liu. The ceremony lasted an hour with celebrations afterward that were rather modest, reflecting the rough economic times (Bloomberg didn't even hold an afterparty; instead, he opted to volunteer at five locations across the boroughs throughout the day). Even the ceremony itself was unusually mute. Instead of having celebrities as masters of ceremonies, six students from the Newcomers High School in Long Island City (recently ranked sixth best high school in the country by US News & World Report) introduced the honorees. All attendees of the public ceremony received a mug of warm apple cider, a contrast to the festive New Year's celebrations that occurred just 12 hours prior. Ticket holders were allowed in at 10:30; the seats were separated in gray, blue, and white sections (each level providing better viewing angles than the one before). The City Council, including the 12 incoming members and 12 outgoing members, were present as well as the mayor's commissioners, district attorneys, borough presidents, and former mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkens. The weather was not as cold as in past years (a good 40 degrees). The ground was still wet from last night's rain; skies were gray, but it didn't seem to dampen the energy of the three city officials.

Liu, who was sworn in first by Supervising Judge of the New York County Civil Court Jeffrey Oing, praised the city's diversity and promised to "hit the ground running" and use his position to provide opportunities for the underprivileged. De Blasio, who was sworn in by United States Representative Jerrold Nadler (who, by the way, graduated from Stuyvesant in 1965 and was the student president then), made similar promises to protect and fight for the underrepresented, notably the homeless. Bloomberg, sworn in last by New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, had to justify his run for a third term and modestly called it a "special opportunity" to improve the city. He offered plans to improve management by moving deputy commissioners to other departments for three weeks and having them work with different commissioners. Let's see how these three different men will perform together in the next four years.

Also, here's a New York Times article with Bloomberg's actual speech. At least, what he really meant to say when he told New Yorkers that "the building [City Hall] behind [him] is yours." Yeah right, Bloomy. Nice try.

Ten years ago, pundits struggled to come up with a name for the first decade of the 21st century. At the decade's end, we have made little progress. Names possibilities have ranged from the Ohs (proposed by The New York Times 10 years ago) to the Zeros (which was popular in the UK) and many seem to have settled for "The Aughts" (or Naughts). Already, people have gotten to proposing names for the next decade. A leading Australian news site has taken an optimistic route and chosen the One-ders as the winner of a naming contest. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's remember that this decade still isn't over. Yes, there's only a day left, but as we move on to the next 10 years, let's look back at the events that shaped our world and the tumultuous 10 years that have defined us for decades to come.

With 2009 coming to a close, some of the last indelible images of the year for Stuyvesant students included the flashing lights of fire engines and locked bathroom doors. For many, the fires were an ultimatum on a year marred with problems of budget cuts, overcrowding, and increasing student apathy. It was the last straw for both students and the administration. Principal Stanley Teitel, fed up with the increasing number of problems in the school, issued threats of a lockdown. Students, fed up with the fires, protested in the only way they knew how--on Facebook and with allusions to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire."

As this "worst year ever" comes to an end, let's take a look back into history. Although students took it upon themselves to establish the Billy Joel hit as their protest theme, the original purpose of the song was to rebut critics of the Baby Boomer generation and refute claims that the generation's rejectionary attitude caused the political upheaval and social atmosphere that characterized the later half of the 20th century. In light of the recent events in the school, I was moved to create this music video, which brings together historical archival clips of the people and events referenced in the song with concert footage from the band's 2006 River of Dreams Tour in Germany. It took me close to a month to find clips of all 119 items mentioned in the song.

For most people, their plans for the 24th and 25th of December were quite clear. On Christmas Eve, they rendezvoused with their families and awaited the arrival of Santa. On Christmas morning, they opened their presents and later at night shared a big dinner with family members. If they're Jewish, well, as the classic Robert Smigel sketch "Christmastime for the Jews" goes, "They can finally see King Kong without waiting in line. They can eat in Chinatown and drink their sweet ass wine."

And then there is the day after. If you are a student, you're most likely still on vacation. And this year, we're lucky enough to have the 26th fall on a Saturday. So what to do with the day after Christmas? Traditionally, the day is known as Boxing Day, a day observed in the UK as a sort of after-Christmas for the less fortunate (the name comes from the tradition of haves giving boxes of durable or monetary goods to have-nots). In the US, the 26th traditionally signifies the end of the holiday season. What's your after-holiday tradition? There are so many ways to spend that extra day after. Here are some suggestions.

So this week, you found out you were either done with the process and celebrated, or that you have a few more weeks to go and then four more months of agony. If you were accepted into a college you want to go to, you have both my congratulations and my envy. If you still have to go through the process, you are with me on the long haul. This week, I'll share with you two articles I found on The New York Times: one fascinating, the other hopefully reassuring. Maybe they will put you at ease with this arduous process.