September 2016— THE BEAK — 1
VOLUME L, NUMBER 1
GREENWICH HIGH SCHOOL, GREENWICH, CT 06830
2016
Western Fields Remain Closed After Contaminants Are Found In Soil
Ben Rosenfeld
News Editor
According to Lori Saliby,
a CTDEEP official assigned to
review the soil conditions, the
extent of the contaminated area
has not yet been delineated. Due
to this uncertainty, the perimeter,
depth and area need to be determined before further steps can be
taken. So far, out of thirty areas
that have been tested, arsenic has
Despite findings of possibly dangerous chemicals in the
soil in the recent recommendations submitted by environmental
consultants, the Town of Greenwich’s environmental department
has delayed remediation of the
Western Middle School
sports fields.
In late August, it
was determined that the
amount of lead, PCBs,
arsenic, and other contaminants found in the ground
exceeded the limits set by
the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
(CTDEEP). Since these
findings, the fields have
been closed for public use.
While they did not reach
the level at which remediation would immediately
be required, Langan Engineering and Environmental Consultants, the town’s
environmental firm, has
strongly suggested that the
Greenwich Times
Western Middle School
fields be excavated and its
soil be replaced as soon as
been found in three, PCBs have
possible. According to Langan
been discovered in two, and lead
Vice President Jamie Barr, the
has been found in five. Accordstate will have to determine if the
ing to local press reports, the
contamination levels are acceptaState Department of Health canble. Action will probably have to
not compel the town to excavate
be taken by the town before the
the fields, as that power resides
school can resume using the
in the CTDEEP. Saliby, howevfields.
er, plans on using that power in
the near future. As she recently
put it, “We have the authority to
compel the town to test, and I
intend to make that ask.” While
measures by the town have been
delayed, some local officials
have proposed taking action before the state requirement. One
of the officials who have taken
this position is Selectman Drew
Marzullo, who has argued that,
“Immediate cleanup should
begin. Waiting for the state to
decide, in my opinion, is ridiculous.”
In the wake of these
concerns, Western Middle
Googleimages.com
Fashionufeel.com
Fortune.com
Solar Panels: Energy of the
Future?
Page 2
School has had to make several
changes to adjust to the lack of a
functional sports field. Currently,
plans are being made for Physical
Education classes to take place in
the gym, tennis court, and fitness
room, while other classes and
sports practices will be held at
fields located the nearby Dorothy
Hamill Skating Rink. Western
Principal Gordon
Beinstein and Parks
and Recreation director Joseph Siciliano have considered
several other possible practice locations
on the Western side
of town for Western’s boy’s and girl’s
soccer teams, as well
as the girl’s field
hockey team. Additionally, because the
middle school is the
site of many fall
baseball and soccer
games, the town will
have to begin settling on viable fields
to host these games.
According to Beinstein, this matter will
become especially
pertinent if they do
not reopen in the near future.
Although there are currently no plans for remediation of
the soil, First Selectman Peter
Tesei has extended the field’s closure until further notice as a precautionary measure.
Fashion and Minimalism
Diversity In TV
Page 4
Page 8
Business
2 — THE BEAK — September 2016
A Solar Powered GHS?
The Greenwich High School Newspaper
Greenwich High School
10 Hillside Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
(Phone) 203-625-8053
(Fax) 203-863-8823
E-mail: [email protected]
2016-2017
EDITORIAL STAFF
Anna Brecher
Kai Sherwin
Lucie Turkel
Editors-in-Chief
Ben Rosenfeld
News Editors
Madeleine Zhou
Opinions Editors
Zilana Lee
Features Editors
Sofia Vittoria
Entertainment Editor
Mark Sunoo
Sports Editors
Connor Li
Henry Shi
Science Editors
Dillon Klevan
Business Editor
William Yin
Production Editor
Sarah McConville
Faculty Advisor
Dillion Klevan
Business Editor
In recent times, solar power has become a very popular
source of energy. Solar panels offer
a source of renewable energy devoid of any release of harmful
greenhouse gases such as excessive
amounts of CO2. The trend of these
solar panels has been catapulted by
the famous entrepreneur Elon
Musk, who, through the company
Solar-City, standardized the availability of solar panels across the nation. There exists a common detractor of these panels, however.
Their initial cost typically exceeds
that of normal electricity utilities.
Over time, in contrast with traditional power services, the panels
will cost a great deal less. Solar
panels are often a one time payment, whereas typical household
utilities for power are paid on a
monthly or annual basis for however long you choose to use them.
This distinction between the two
options has brought forth many
opinions on the subject, particularly
when considering installing solar
panels on a sizable scale.
Greenwich High School
currently utilizes traditional energy
sources such as electricity. A significant consideration of theirs,
however, is installing solar panels
to aid in producing energy for the
facilities at GHS. This idea was
Sports Editor
People across the country are outraged about the recent
Do you have something to
say?
Send us an e-mail:
[email protected]
Check us out on the web at
Ghsbeak.org
initial cost of solar panels, as stated earlier, is very expensive at
around $35,000 per solar system
unit. Traditional utilities are far
less costly at a smaller rate at a
per month basis. In order to convince GHS to inaugurate solar
systems at GHS, they must see
past this initial cost, and look towards the money saved down the
road. After a 20 year interval the
solar system nearly pays for itself
and in some states more than pays
for itself. This is due to the lack
of monthly payments.
Another key benefit to
installing something so scienceoriented is that it encourages current students at GHS to learn and
potentially involve themselves in
solar panels and their numerous
applications.
You can help spark a solar panel
movement at Greenwich high
school by contacting student government representatives, who can
transmit your message to school.
EpiPen Controversy: Perspective
Mark Sunoo
The Beak is published by the students of
Greenwich High School and is distributed, free of charge, to
members of the high school community. The Beak is part of the
high school’s communication program, and it also serves as a
medium for the expression and exchange of responsible
opinions. While recognizing the United States Constitution’s
guarantee of a free press, The Beak also acknowledges its role as
a school newspaper. Consequently, The Beak does not publish
material which it deems will disrupt the educational process,
nor does The Beak coerce a particular point of view, or violate
the right to disagree with a particular point of view. In addition,
The Beak will not publish material that is obscene, profane,
libelous, or slanderous. The Beak reserves the right to edit or to
refuse to publish material that advocates unlawful activity, that
unfairly criticizes or demeans any individual or group, or that
encourages action that endangers the health and safety of the
Greenwich High School community. Editorials are the
opinions of The Beak editorial board. Signed commentaries and
columns are the views of the writers. The Beak welcomes letters
from its readers. Upon request, a writer’s name will be
withheld. The Beak accepts appropriate and responsible paid
advertising as a means of defraying publication costs, but it
does not endorse or guarantee any product, services,
businesses, or organizations mentioned or described in any
advertisement.
proposed
successfully before
in 2012,
when a 7.7
-kilowatt
solar system was
brought to
GHS. “A
Greenwich
resident
Google Images
Frank
Alfano, the
chief executive officer of Port Chester, N.Y.-based Mercury Solar Systems, which installed the system,
said it had a market value of
$35,000. About $12,000 of the cost
was covered by a grant from the
state Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority's Clean Energy
Communities Program, with the
company making up the difference.”
Alfano later stated that “It's small,
but it's a beginning”. Since then,
there has been little to no attempt to
instate a more expansive solar system at GHS. This could possibly be
due to the economics of the decision
of instituting solar panels. The
reaction.
Backlash has intensified as many
are targeting the ethics and morals of the company, particularly
CEO Heather Bresch. Many al-
Google Images
price hike of the EpiPen. Many
families will be left behind because they will not be able to
afford this lifesaving treatment.
The product’s list price has been
raised by over 500% where it
will now be at $600. Just a decade ago, the EpiPen only cost
$100. Mylan is a public corporation that bought the rights to
the EpiPen, a device that effectively injects emergency epinephrine to stop a fatal allergic
lude to her raise in pay over the
course of the price hike of the
EpiPen, while others note that
she has been associated with other scandalous behavior. The increase in the list price of the EpiPen has steadily increased over
the past couple of years. In 2008
and 2009, the pharmaceutical
company raised the price by 5%.
Sooner than later, in 2010-2013,
there was a 10% price hike. As a
result, the stock price tripled
from $13.29 in 2007 to a high of
$47.59 in 2016. This relationship
brings into question whether the
company’s operating profits
should be valued more than moral
and ethical behavior. With
that being said, Mylan’s
shares have fell more recently
(4 points in August) because
of noticeable problems such
as alternatives to the EpiPen
and government investigations. Because of a patent on
the EpiPen mechanics, a generic or inferior does not exist; however, patients are
buying cheaper EpiPens
abroad and going to DIY syringes. Connecticut’s Senator, Richard Blumenthal has
spearheaded an effort to have
an investigation of Myland
for antitrust violations in connection with the extreme rise in
prices. More recently, Mrs. Bresch went before Congress to explain the Mylan’s motivations.
The company has moderated its
efforts by announcing a statement
that explained that it would give
“instant saving cards worth $300
to patients, which amounts to a
50% price cut for people without
insurance or deductible plans.” It
is unclear whether this is enough.
NEWS
September 2016— THE BEAK — 3
Harriet Tubman: The New Face of $20
Anna Brecher
Editor-in-Chief
In June 2015, Secretary of
Treasury, John Lew, proposed to
innovate the $10 bill. He encouraged help from the public in
choosing a public figure to replace Alexander Hamilton on the
bill. However, following the release of the hot Broadway musical Hamilton in August 2015,
Lew decided to keep Alexander
Hamilton on the bill. People opposed the change to the $10 bill,
as Hamilton’s achievements were
emphasized in the Broadway
show: founder of the first Bank of
the United States, the first Secretary of Treasury.
Hamilton is
credited with elevating the status
BBC
of America as a world power in
the late 18th century by revamping the economic system. As a
result, Lew decided to keep Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill,
and instead replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
Jackson has a controversial legacy. On the one hand, he
was a war hero, winning the Battle of New Orleans in 1812. In
addition, he was considered a
man of the people, a relatable political figure. However, on the
other hand, Jackson persecuted
the Cherokee Native American
tribes who lived east of the Mississippi River. Jackson orchestrated the Trail of Tears journey,
a forced relocation of Native
Americans from Georgia
and colonized areas to
Oklahoma, western undomesticated
land. Thousands of Native Americans died during the treacherous jour-
help lead hundreds of slaves to
ney due to harsh climates, poor
freedom through the Underaccess to resources, and sleep
ground Railroad. Tubman is a
deprivation. Jackson reasoned
historical symbol of female emthat the relocation would be
powerment, liberty, justice, and
beneficial to the Cherokees as
suffrage. It is predicted that the
they would not have to compete
new $20 bill will be printed and
with
colonists
for
recirculated beginning in 2020,
sources. However, in reality,
marking the 100th anniversary of
the Trail of Tears had a devaswomen’s suffrage. Harriet Tubtating impact on the Cherokee
man’s new place on the $20 bill
population and demonstrated
exemplifies
acceptance
and
the oppression that they faced.
equality
in
the
United
States,
as
After hearing input from
she will be the first woman perdifferent associations across the
manently on American currency.
United States, Lew decided that
Harriet Tubman would be the
replacement figure on
the $20 bill. Harriet
Tubman is a famous
abolitionist, Civil War
spy, and leader. She
escaped
enslavement
during the Civil War,
seeking safety and freedom
in Pennsylvania. However, she jeopardized her freedom to Hamiltonbroadway.com
How Millennials Could Decide The 2016 Election
Ben Rosenfeld
News Editor
On
September
17th,
speaking to the Congressional
Black Caucus, President Obama
emphasized the importance of
voter participation on Election
Day this November. Recalling
record low voter turnouts in recent primaries and caucuses,
Obama urged those voters who
would refrain from voting or
even registering to “read up on
their history,” and asserted that
he would consider their failure to
fulfill their civic duty “a personal
insult” to all the progress the
country has made over the last
eight years.
Despite the president’s
concerns, the main threat to his
legacy may not be people abstaining from voting altogether,
but rather voters casting their ballots for third party candidates.
This overarching concern exists
despite voter turnout being less
than 60 percent in the last two
presidential contests. Among this
divergent group of voters, it is the
millennial population that has
caught the attention of both can-
Legal Sports Report
didates, especially Secretary
Clinton. According to a Pew
study, millennials are one of the
most consistently Democraticvoting age groups, with about 51
percent identifying as leftleaning. However, a recent
Quinnipiac poll found that in
2016, around 44 percent of voters 18-34 would vote for a third
party candidate this year: 29 percent casting their vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, and 15 percent for Green Party nominee
Jill Stein. From this arises the
question of how a two way race
would differ from one with all
four current presidential nominees. In any case, most polls only show one candidate ahead of
the other by a margin of two or
three points. Because both candidates have struggled in the
past to gain support outside their
partisan base, winning over the
Independent vote could mean a
significant win for either nominee.
However, a major problem with this voter trend lies
with the minimal press that independent candidates receive. Because their policies are rarely
publicized and analyzed, few voters
take the time to
fully understand
the
candidates’
platforms before
giving their support. According to
economist
Paul
Krugman, many of
these voters are
Inside Gov
quick to shift their interest from
a candidate like Hillary Clinton
due to minor discrepancies in
her policies compared with
those of Senator Bernie Sanders.
Many of Gary Johnson’s expected voters, for example,
come from Sanders’ primary
electorate. These citizens, who
once rallied behind Sanders for
his championing of the working
class and his promises to expand
universal health care, have shifted their loyalties to candidates
like Johnson, who proposes a
near-abolition of the income tax,
the dismantlement of government programs like Medicare
and social security, and the privatization of multiple government programs such as the EPA
and the Department of Education. Ironically, it is still this demographic of young voters
which Clinton is continuing to
struggle with in the polls, despite her relative similarity to
Sanders on policy matters.
As of September 21st,
Johnson only holds 8.6 percent of
the vote while Stein holds 2.9; yet
according to Krugman, this could
have a serious impact on the two
front runners, one of whom will
undoubtedly win the election on
November 8th. As political scientists have observed, these seemingly small numbers are nothing to
be disregarded. A prime example
of this is the 2000 election, during
which Al Gore lost to George W.
Bush due to a two percent portion
of the popular vote won by Independent Ralph Nader.
As Krugman argues, a vote
for a third party candidate in order
to make a political statement is no
better than refraining from voting
at all. Regardless, if the largely
millennial Independent voter base
does shift their political allegiances, it could prove to have an enormous impact on the choosing of
our next president.
4 — THE BEAK — September 2016
Sports/Opinions
Greenwich Football Gets The W At Home
Mark Sunoo
Sports Editor
The Greenwich football team won
their second game in a row this year
on September 17th, defeating Trinity
Catholic 41-20. The first home game
of the season saw the Cardinals coming out strong as they stormed out to
an early 21-0 lead. Connor Langan,
the Cardinal quarterback, recorded
four passing touchdowns to four different receivers: Matt Morganti, Jeremiah Harris, Tyler Farris, and Kevin Iobbi. He also had a rushing score.
In the early second half,
Greenwich extended their lead to 366, the largest lead of the game for
Greenwich. The Trinity Catholic
Groogle Images
quarterback, Nick Granata, scored a
rushing touchdown to make the
game 36-13. However, Greenwich’s
defense fought back and held them
to only 6 more points. Senior running back Kevin Iobbi had 14 carries for 83 rushing yards, while
Cole Hartley had 12 carries for 99
yards.
As quoted in the Greenwich
Sentinel, Coach Marinelli said,
“Good practices, sure tackling and
offensively we’re starting to click.
Our offensive line and our running
backs played well. We see it clicking and that’s what the difference
is. They did some good things on
defense too, I think we just came
ready to play,” Marinelli continued.
After Greenwich barely
beat Westhill three
weeks ago , the entire
team went through a
tough week of practice
to fix the mistakes they
made against last week.
They knew that their
home opener was a big
moment, one that required them to be at
their best performance.
Of course, the team did
not disappoint the hundreds of fans who were
in attendance. The Cardinal Crazies, a club
dedicated to making
school spirit as lively as
possible, came in huge
Facebook.com
numbers, and were all dressed in
USA-themed apparel.
Recently this weekend,
Greenwich
fell
short in a back
and forth battle
against
Darien,
the
reigning
FCIAC and Class
LL
champion.
Both teams were
undefeated entering the weekend.
The
football
squad is looking
to bounce back
where they will
host Bridgeport Central on Friday at
6 pm.
Greenwichtimes.com
How Fashion Has Warped Minimalism
Madeleine Zhou
Opinions Editor
In the past couple years,
the concept of minimal fashion
has been popping up more and
more. It has become a trend
amongst designers and bloggers
alike, and there is no doubt that
clean, sharp lines and simple silhouettes are pleasing to the eye.
However, with more people jumping aboard the minimalist bandwagon, the definition of minimalism has strayed away from what it
originally was, and some argue
that fashion has killed minimal-
Www.thefashionmedly.com
ism.
First of all, fashion is based in
artistic design, and the fashion
industry revolves around trends.
A fashion show is like an art exhibit, and each model serves as a
canvas. Designers often create
looks that are over-the-top as an
act of artistic expression, so to
suddenly see collections where
the embellishments are stripped
away is a surprise. It makes a
statement by itself, and it is easy
to understand how people are
intrigued. Many people think
fashion is ridiculous because of
what they see on the runway, so
the purity of minimalism is like a
breath of fresh air.
However, whenever a
trend pops up, there
are always people
that change it to
make it their own,
and then the trend
experiences a second
round.
Eventually, the end
result looks nothing
like what it initially
was. Minimalism is
not just an art concept, but it is also a
lifestyle. Minimalists
own as few things as
possible and try to
reduce their consumption, often giving little meaning to
material possessions.
Minimalism in fashion is characterized
by lots of white and
blank space, and
monochrome outfits
are popular.
Www.chaos-mag.com
September 2016— THE BEAK — 5
FEATURES
Vision Club
Zilana Lee
Features Editor
ter. Here, there is a sheet that
has a list of songs. There are two
options that people can choose
from: for $1 they can choose a
As you walk into the student center, a wave of blaring music fills the huge room.
Ranging from Drake to
Twenty One Pilots, a new
song is always playing
during transition time.
This recent project was
started by a community
service group called the
Vision Club. One of the
main endeavors that they
accomplish every year is
sponsoring a girl in Guatemala through a charity
called, Safe Passage. The
money that is raised goes
towards paying for her
health care, education,
living, and more. The rockcoastrollersblog.wordpress.com
music in the student center is a fundraiser for a girl in
song off of the list to be played
Guatemala. Students, faculty
during a certain passing time
members, or parents can donate
that they choose, or for $2 they
by going to the table that is set up
have the option to add a new
in the middle of the student cen-
song that is not already on the
list. When asked how the music
in the student center was going,
Jean Zamora, a president of the
and creative fundraiser.” This new
project is a great way to raise
money for a good cause, and has
changed the dynamic of the student center.
Another fundraiser
that the Vision Club
has done is Miles
for Myositis. This is
a run that took place
after school on June
6, 2016. People not
only competed in
running, but also
fundraised for a
grand prize. Mils
for Myositis raises
money and awareness for a very rare,
but harsh group of
autoimmune diseases in the Myositis
group.
Vision Club claimed, “It’s going
great we’ve made a good
amount of money and we are
getting lots of positive feedback,
many people think it’s a cool
Cardinal Street Fashion: An Interview With Founder Edith Copp
Lucie Turkel
Editor-in-Chief
One of the greatest aspects of going to a large high school is the
myriad different activities that one
can get involved in. With about 25
different sports teams for both
boys and girls and a little over 100
clubs, there’s almost endless options for student engagement. Perhaps the best part is that the roster
of student-run clubs is always expanding. One of the newest editions is the Cardinal Street Fashion club, which was just created
this school year. Edith Copp, a
junior at GHS and the creator of
the club, answered a few questions about this new and exciting
addition to the impressive list of
GHS organizations.
Why did you decide to start Cardinal Street Fashion?
I started the club because I saw
kids wearing really awesome
clothes to school and I thought
they should get some credit for
the effort they put in.
Describe what you usually do in
the club.
We spend a lot of time taking
photos, editing them, coming up
with themes, and organizing
meetings. Taking photos is the
main activity we do though. The
club doesn’t usually do anything
outside of school but we do allow
high schoolers to be photographed off school property.
How many members are there?
There are about thirty members
so far, but anyone can join the
Www.vgrradio.com
club as long as they know
the rules.
How has social media
helped your club expand?
Instagram is our main
platform for the club so
without social media
none of this would really
be possible. Almost everyone at GHS has an Instagram so it’s really a
great resource for us to
reach out to everyone.
How can people get involved/join the club?
Www.vgrradio.com
Email us at [email protected] or come to one of
our meetings so that we can explain the rules and then they can
get cracking!
Cardinal Street Fashion Club
meets every other Monday after
school in Room 714. It’s open to
any students to join. Make sure to
follow
their
Instagram
@cardinalstreetfashion to keep up
with their latest photos and for a
chance to be featured!
6 — THE BEAK — September 2016
SCIENCE
Floating Solar Plants: Energy Of The Future?
Alex Reice
Staff Writer
In countries across the
globe, a new green energy source
is popping up: floating solar
plants, or “floatovoltaics”. In recent years with the string of record breaking hot months, many
countries have been scrambling to
find cost effective and environmentally friendly sources of power. For some countries, including
England and Japan, floating solar
plants seem to be the answer.
On the Yamakura Dam reservoir
in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture,
50,904 solar panels will float atop
the water in about two years. The
solar panels will generate enough
electricity to power almost 5,000
homes, according to Kyocera, the
company building the solar plant.
That is enough to offset 8,170
tons of carbon dioxide emissions
a year, the amount put into the
atmosphere by consuming 19,000
barrels of oil. This solar plant will
be the largest of its kind in the
world, and the company is developing at least ten more similar
projects. Floating solar plants
have also appeared in the United
States and Australia. The growing popularity of these solar arrays is in part due to the growth
of the solar market and the drop
in cost of the technology.
In Jamestown, Australia,
a similar floating solar plant is
being built. It went into opera-
Wired.co.uk
tion last year, and was constructed so that the plant generates
almost 57% more energy than a
rooftop solar plant. The panels
are placed a on a tracking system
that moves them to maximize
sunlight over the course of the
day, and they are coated to prevent corrosion. The same company responsible for the plant in
Australia, Infratech Industries, is
working on a similar one in
Southern California. The nonprofit Sonoma Clean Power has
also announced its plan to build
the largest floating solar project
in the United States, in northern
California.
In California, the Far
Niente winery was ahead of the
curve, constructing the world’s
first large-scale
floatovoltaic system in 2008. The
company placed
994 solar panels
on pontoons over
an
irrigation
pond. The plant
cost around 4.2
million
dollars
and took around
two and a half years to design
and build; but Greg Allen, an
employee at the winery, said the
system should pay for itself by
2020. And, the solar panels don’t
seem to affect the health of the
pond or the organisms living in
it.
In London, Europe’s largest floating solar farm has recently been completed. The farm is
an array of 23,000 solar panels
on the Queen Elizabeth 2 reservoir
at Walton-on-Thames. The six
million euro project will create
enough electricity to power the
utility’s local water treatment
plants, providing clean drinking
water to around ten million people
in the area, which is a large and
unrecognized use of electricity.
Floating solar arrays may
be even more economically efficient than solar plants on land.
Renting or buying land is expensive, and there are fewer regulations for things built on bodies of
water not used for recreation.
Floating solar plants can also be
hidden from public view. The
panels keep water from evaporating, which may be beneficial in
areas affected by drought, and
they are more efficient than landbased panels because water cools
the panels.
With energy costs rising
and clean energy becoming more
in demand, floating solar plants
may soon be appearing on reservoirs near you.
The Science Behind Interstellar And The Martian
Henry Shi
Science Editor
Interstellar and The Martian are great space movies of the
modern age. With breathtaking
scenes of spaceships, wormholes,
and planets, these movies are sure
to entertain as well as amaze.
Interstellar
Interstellar is about space
colonization. A crop blight on
Earth threatens humanity’s survival, and man named Joseph
Cooper wants to escape his
doomed life on an Iowa farm.
Cooper stumbles upon a secret
NASA facility during a storm,
and volunteers for a manned mission with three other astronauts to
visit distant exoplanets and test
their habitability. Their mission
will help NASA determine where
to colonize when they eventually
evacuate humanity from Earth.
In the movie, a wormhole
appears near Saturn. The wormhole is one mile wide and ten billion light-years long, connecting
our solar system to a distant black
-hole system. The wormhole projects a distorted view of the black
-hole system through a spherical
entrance. According to NASA,
wormholes function as teleporters, allowing travelers to take
shortcuts across the fabric of
space and time. Physicists predict
that real-life wormholes (if they
exist) would have a threedimensional spherical opening.
Cooper and the astronauts explore the exoplanets orbiting the black hole Gargantua.
The astronauts plan their mission
carefully to avoid running out of
fuel or time. First, they visit a
water-covered planet near Gargantua. According to a principle
crewmates on the ship age 30
years in his absence.
The Martian
The Martian describes
the survival of an astronaut,
Mark Watney, stuck on Mars
after an aborted manned mission.
A dust storm separates Watney
from his crew, who leaves in the
Space.com
known as time dilation, time
passes more slowly near a massive object, such as a black hole.
In the movie, for every hour that
passes on the water planet, 7
years pass on the spaceship.
Cooper explores the planet for a
few hours and finds it unsuitable
for human life; meanwhile, his
spaceship Hermes. He must survive a year on Mars, alert NASA
headquarters, and wait for a rescue mission to return home.
Watney converts his
Martian habitat into a greenhouse to farm potatoes. He burns
hydrogen from leftover rocket
fuel, in the closed oxygen-filled
habitat (nicknamed “HAB”), a
chemical reaction that produces
water. The potatoes absorb water
and carbon dioxide from the HAB
air to perform photosynthesis and
grow. Watney fertilizes the plants
with human feces, which contains
essential nutrients.
According to Space.com,
gardening on Mars would be difficult but possible. Martian soil is
rich in iron, minerals, and organic
matter, but lacking in water. Mars
has a cold, dry atmosphere, but
plenty of sunlight for photosynthesis. With a controlled climate
and a supply of water, astronauts
could someday grow crops to feed
themselves.
However, radiation would
be a serious problem on a longterm Mars mission. In the movie,
the crew members spend a long
time on the surface of Mars and in
space, exposed to deadly cancercausing x-rays. The HAB and
Hermes ship offer little protection
against radiation. People on Earth
are protected by Earth’s magnetic
field and ozone layer, but astronauts in space and on Mars lack
such protection.
SCIENCE
September 2016— THE BEAK — 7
Year In Review: Honors Science Research 2015-2016
CT Science Fair
By Connor Li
Science Editor
The Honors Science Research class has once again been
bustling with innovation. Students in
the class last year developed research
projects having the goal of taking
them to not only regional, but also
international science fairs. Last year
had been very successful for the
Honors Science Research class, with
eighteen students taking their projects to the Connecticut Science and
Engineering Fair (CSEF), five students going to the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering,
and Environment Project Olympiad
(I-SWEEEP), and three students
even going to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
Another nine students went to the
Norwalk Community College Science fair and twelve competed at the
Phenomenon Science Fair, dominating the scene there as well.
Many prestigious awards
have been won at each of these fairs.
The students of Greenwich High
School took home over $34,000 of
prize money from CSEF, nearly half
of the available awards. Outstanding
winners at CSEF include William
Yin and Christo Popham, who both
won first in their respective categories of biotechnology and physical
sciences. Sanju Sathish placed second in the life science category, with
the three researchers all earning a
trip to ISEF in Phoenix, Arizona.
Devyn Zaminski also placed fourth
in the physical science category as
well.
Five of the researchers who
competed at CSEF were also given
the opportunity to compete at ISWEEEP in Houston, Texas: Margaret Cirino, Connor Li, Derek Woo,
William Yin, and Devyn Zaminski.
All five won awards there, with
William Yin winning the Grand
Prize and a trip to Stockholm, Sweden to attend the 2016 Nobel Prize
Ceremony. Margaret Cirino, Derek
Woo, and Connor Li won silver
medals in their categories, with
Devyn Zaminski winning a bronze
medal in her category as well. Two
of the students competing at ISEF
won prestigious honors, with William winning a Second Award in
Biomedical Engineering and Sanju
winning a First Award in Cellular
and Molecular Biology. At the NCC
fair, the GHS researchers Dante
Grace Minichetti and Manuel Carballo took first and second prize,
respectively. Other GHS researchers, Michelle Woo, Luca Barcelo,
Rahul Subramaniam, and Alessio
Fikre, won honorable mentions.
NCC Fair
Greenwich Post
says William Yin. “In this little
time, Mr. Bramante has helped
propel me to surpass the impossible.”
ISEF Award-Winning Projects:
William Yin: Development of a
Portable, Tattoo-Based Biosensor
for the Non-Invasive, Low-Cost
Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis via
Iontophoresis of MacrophageTargeting Silver Nanoparticles:
William’s project developed a
portable, cost-efficient method to
quickly diagnose Atherosclerosis,
a major health condition in the US
that results in three million cases
per year that involves plaque
buildup on carotid artery in the
neck. He developed a tattoo-based
biosensor, resembling a bandaid,
that releases silver nanoparticles to
detect plaque buildup when applied to the neck.
Sanju Sathish: The Optimization of
Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery of Melittin in a Colloidal Suspension as a Selective Method to
Target HIV Structural Antigen
p24:
Sathish’s research focused on combating the replication of HIV-1 using
a new process that doesn’t have the
same drawbacks as modern treatments. He developed a way to
transport melittin, a drug that can
prevent HIV replication, using silver
nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles themselves are able to be operated using magnetic fields, allowing
for controlled application of the
treatment.
Even after all of these accomplishments, the year was not over for the
research students. Connor Li won a
gold medal in Science at the GENIUS Olympiad held in Oswego, NY,
the only GHS student to compete
there. Thirteen students also competed against one another at the Phenomenon Science fair, with Henry
Dowling taking first prize, Connor Li
taking second, and Sophia Chow taking third. As the new school year
begins, a new set of students are taking on new ideas and opportunities,
and it will certainly be interesting to
see what’s to come.
Intel ISEF
Greenwich Time
All of the researchers who
went to the fairs this year credit the
Honors Science Research teacher,
Mr. Andrew Bramante, for their
success. “Two years ago, I wasn't
even aware of the existence of the
science research course at GHS,”
I-SWEEEP
Greenwich Post
Bruce Museum
Greenwich Post
Bruce Museum
Greenwich Post
8 — THE BEAK — September 2016
Entertainment
Where’s The Diversity In the Shows We Love?
Sofia Vittoria
Entertainment Editor
You turn on your TV on
Thursday, the hottest night of television. You flip around the channels to see what shows are playing.
Click. Grey’s Anatomy. Click. The Big Bang Theory. Click. The Vampire Diaries. Click. Scandal. Click. Loui
e. Click. The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Out of these
six shows, only one of them portrays a lead character who is African American, Olivia Pope,
played by Kerry Washington on
Scandal. Washington is the first
black woman to star as the lead
character in a network drama in
nearly 40 years. Although these
are only a select number of television shows, the fact that on the
most popular night of television
only one portrays a female of color in a lead role proves the lack of
diversity in American television. The fact is, television remains predominantly white. They
do not accurately represent the
almost 40% of minorities in our
country, and when a show does
depict a diverse cast, the dialogue
is usually a stereotypical representation of how people of color talk
and act.
Chances are, if you were
to name your three favorite television shows, one would have an
African American or Hispanic actor playing the lead character. There is no question that television has improved during the
past decade in promoting diversity. Minority lead roles in cable
television shows have risen from
14.7% in 2011 to 19.3% in
2013. Although this looks optimistic, the inequality and lack of
representation runs deep. Darnell
Hunt, author of the second annual
Hollywood Diversity Report by
UCLA for African American
Studies expresses, "Hollywood is
not progressing at the same rate as
America is diversifying.” The
problem is not the viewers. According to 2012 and 2013
Nielsen ratings and box-office reports, audiences prefer shows with
diversity in their casts. The true
obstacle rests in the agencies and
broadcasting networks who value
advertising dollars over viewer
opinion. The reports show that
television networks are “an industry that routinely devalues the talent of minorities and women.”
Audience approval for diverse
casts and their dedication for these
shows does not matter if the show
does not make money from advertising. All-American Girl, one of
the first shows to feature an Asian
woman in a lead
role, only survived one season
on ABC. As a
leader in diverse
casting,
(representing
many
minority
groups in Scandal, How to Get
Away with Murder,
Black-ish,
Cristela, Modern
Family, Fresh off
the Boat and
more) ABC is
now making a
concerted effort
to bring diversity
to the screens of
millions
across
the world. Paul Lee, current
President of the ABC Entertainment group shares, “We certainly felt from the beginning
that we wanted to reflect America. If you think about it, the
demographic changes are just as
important to television as they
are to the political landscape.” Some networks have
started to follow this trend, including Fox’s new release, Empire, whose cast is predomi-
Hercampus.com
The other problem facing
television today is how diverse
characters are portrayed. Other
than providing entertainment,
television provides a chance for
viewers to be educated by character portrayals. Many viewers
agree that they learn lessons
from their favorite shows, and
many shows use a diverse cast to
portray characters that promote
unjust stereotypes. One example
is Sofia Vergara, the actress who
Money.cnn.com
nantly
African
American. Empire’s number of viewers has escalated 15% each
week, nearing 12 million viewers, proving fan approval for the
show and ultimately more advertising revenue. Although
these networks are beginning to
represent America, these are
just two of the dozens that present popular hits on television.
Nevertheless, this spike in new
diverse shows is definitely a
step in the right direction to reflecting America’s culture.
portrays Gloria Pritchett on the
hit comedy, Modern Family. Gloria, a Colombian woman,
is constantly ridiculed for her
heavy accent and misunderstanding of American idioms. Writer
Maria Valdez explains, “She depicts the typical Latina stereotype, which has infuriated many
who believe Hollywood needs to
break away from the old stereotypes and give Latinos a different
protagonist.” As Valdez shares,
although this provides funny dialogue, it promotes dangerous ste-
reotypes that could cloud the understanding of
South Americans. The same goes for Jenna
Ushkowitz and Harry Shum Jr.
who both play Asian students in
the musical comedy, Glee. Every
action of these characters is determined by their race. For example,
when they receive an “A-” on a
test it is considered an “Asian
F”. They are characterized on the
show as studious and intellectual,
a harmful stereotype to AsianAmericans. Although these TV
series have diverse casts, the comic dialogue can be harmful to different races by promoting false
stereotypes.
The 2015-2016 season for
television has seen an improvement, but networks must continue
to improve the diversity of their
programs.
Interestingly, many
people around the world have access to American television, often
admiring American culture which
makes it necessary to accurately
represent our population. Shows
with greater than 20% minority
casts make significantly more
money around the world than
shows with 10% or lower. Shonda Rhimes, frontrunner in
creating diversified television
shows shares, “I think it’s said
that [race in casting] is still a
thing. Somebody else needs to get
their act together. And by the
way, it works. Rating-wise, it
works!” Perhaps the networks will
understand that giving viewers
what they want to see is more
profitable.