thehorace mannReview

Domestic - International - Features - Economics - Science & Technology - Viewpoints

A Year In Numbers

HM Review Vol. XIX2

The Horace Mann Review: Issue 9

A Year In NumbersDomestic:

International:

4 ImmigrationNational Security

Gay RightsBarack Obama

6Iraq and

AfghanistanChinese Influence

Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Economics

8 Debt and Bail OutGreece

College and Finances

Science and Technology

10 NASA Stem Cell Research

IpadGenetic Engineering

3

Dear Reader, Polls and numbers are ubiquitous. We see them displayed all over campaign flyers, quoted in sound-bite political advertisements, praised by census advocates, and utilized in every possible way imaginable, for positive and negative purposes alike. Yet, numbers and statistics can be misleading and malleable. The same numbers can be used to support both sides of an argument: augmented and manipulated to overstate the severity of some problems, or to undermine the seriousness of others. Thus, all a reader can do to stay afloat the ceaseless flow of information is to be skeptical and to consult as many sources as possible. However, we at the Review have sought to take a snapshot of the school’s leanings. We have interviewed freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors to cover a wide

list of questions. How did they feel about immigration? How about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? And did they follow the economic situation in Greece? The polled material was collected from four integral sections of the Review, amassed by our team of editors to view as wide and as comprehensive a snapshot as possible. After a week and a half of questioning (as some of you may have recalled if you were involved in this process at all), we bring to you this ninth issue of the Horace Mann Review. It has been a rewarding, and at times, tough process. But with all the work the staff put in, I wish you all a happy reading for the last time and hope you find this material relevant and fascinating.

Kevin Lin,Editor-in-Chief, Volume XIX

Introduction

March 2010 HM Review

The horace Mann review

voluMe XiX , Polls issue

A Journal of Opinion on Current Events,Politics, Public Policy, and Culture

Board of TrusteesMaximilian D.C. Thompson, Zachary

Freyer-Biggs, Charles Stam, Kunal Malkani, Venkat Kausik, Zachary Malter

Associate EditorsAaron Goldman, Andrew Demas, Daniel

Grafstein, Danielle Ellison, Deependra Mookim, Justin Katiraei, Victor Ladd

Production AssistantsSeth Arar, Elisabeth Stam

Staff WritersAdela Kim, Alexander Familant, Alex Ma,

Andre Manuel, Avital Morris, Christine Kim, Dorin Azerad, Emily Feldstein, Jacob

Moscona-Skolnik, Jessica Chi, Justin Burris, Katie Cacouris, Matt Fox, Rebecca Segall,

Wallace Cotton, Zander Daniel, Zoe Rubin

Contributing WritersHannah Jun, Nathan Raab, Stephen Pad-uano, Alex Posner, Greg Barancik, Jessica

Bernheim

Faculty AdvisorsMr. Gregory Donadio

The Horace Mann Review is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the American Scholastic Press Association, and the National Scholastic Press Associa-tion. Opinions expressed in articles or illus-trations are not necessarily those of the Edi-torial Board or of the Horace Mann School. Please contact The Review for information on advertisements at thereview@horace-mann.org.Visit The Review website at: web.horace-mann.org/review/

Henry HoglundSpencer Penn

James YaroDan Temel

Starlyte HarrisEditorial Director

Alex FalkManaging Editor

Nancy DaSilvaDan Shapiro

Features Editor

Aradhna AgarwalWill Dubbs

Production Manager

Kevin LinEditor-in-Chief

Nicholas HerzecaJason Sunshine

Executive Editor

Jordan FedererAntonia Woodford

Mario AlvarezHill Wyrough

Senior Columnists

Freddie AdlerBen Marks

Eric SchwartzBusiness Manager

Camille KnopAylin Gucalp

Photo Editor

An Introduction to Our First Horace Mann Review Polls Issue

HM Review Vol. XIX4

Domestic

Do you support gay marriage?

Do you think that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform?

Which one of these domestic issues do you feel is the most pressing?

Has Barack Obama been successful thus far in fulfilling his campaign promises?

Domestic

78 22NoYes

Have recent domestic terrorist attacks changed

how secure you feel?

Economy National Security PovertyEducation Health Care OtherAbortion

0 20 40 60 80100

92 Students

42 Students

Yes

No

win

terf

ace.

com

“The fact that America considers itself a land of equal opportunity while denying gay rights is an abomination. Gay couples with or without children deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples. What gives the govern-ment the right to determine the validity of a relationship? This country is founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Allowing religious beliefs to interfere with legislation goes against the intentions of the framers of our Constitution..” -Justin Gilston

June 2010 HM Review 5

Domestic

Do you support gay marriage?

Do you think that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform? Has Barack Obama been successful thus far in fulfilling his campaign promises?

Domestic

No

“We have to recognize that terrorism, while certainly a threat, is not the only threat America faces, nor is it the most significant one: of the 13,000 murders committed in the United States this year, less than 20 of them were caused by terrorism. What are we willing to give up to solve such a marginal is-sue?” -Nathan Raab

“In our country, we strongly disap-prove of racial profiling, but it is racial profiling that can save lives. Racial profiling isn’t the problem, it’s the an-swer.” -Anonymous

0 20 40 60 80100

47%

40%

13%

No

Yes

Somewhat

arm

ybas

e.co

m

wikimedia.com

YES - 89%NO - 8%

SOMEWHAT- 3%

118 students11 students

4 students

“The fact that America considers itself a land of equal opportunity while denying gay rights is an abomination. Gay couples with or without children deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples. What gives the govern-ment the right to determine the validity of a relationship? This country is founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Allowing religious beliefs to interfere with legislation goes against the intentions of the framers of our Constitution..” -Justin Gilston

HM Review Vol. XIX6

InternationalInternational

DoyouthinkthewarsinAfghanistanandIraqaregoingwell?

Iraq and Afghanistan

The Future Focus:WhereshouldtheUnitedStatesdirectit’sinternationalattention?

msnbcmedia

International

The United States is currently embroiled in two wars in the Middle East: one in Iraq and the other in Afghani-stan. Originally, both wars were launched with the goal of protecting U.S. national secutiry: the Iraq War in order to remove threatening weapons of mass destruc-tion, and the Afganistan War in order to combat ter-rorist organizations in the wake of the September 11 attacks. However, many Americans have differing opin-ions regarding each of the two wars. According to one student, “The Iraq War isn’t a real war - it’s a political battle in which the government is deceiving the public. On the other hand, I’m satisfied that we are handling the Afghanistan situation, and we need more troops in order to eradicate the terrorists there.”

Nuclear Non-ProliferationIraq and Afghanistan Wars

International ElectionsIsrael-Palestine ConflictAiding Developing CountriesOther

17%

44%1%31%5%2%

“Our debt to China makes it clear that China has or will shortly take our place as the economic super-power of the world.”

“The Iraq War isn’t a real war - it’s a politi-cal battle in which the government is deceiv-ing the public.”

June 2010 HM Review 7 dc Pages

International

Nuclear Non-Proliferation

wikimedia

AreyouplanningtolearnChineseand/orabouttheChineseculture?

DoyouthinkthatChinaisthreateningtheU.S.’sdominanceintheworldeconomy?

Since the Cold War, the possibility of nuclear warfare has been a menacing threat for the entire world. Moreover, as an increasing number of countries, many of which possessing volatile govern-ments, have developed either open or concealed nuclear weapons programs, the prospect of nuclear attacks has become even more foreboding. Nevertheless, strategies such as international treaties and economic sanctions are producing some progress. As one student explained, “The new START threaty is a step in the right direction. Obviously there is a long way to go but Obama’s nuclear policy is the right one and he seems deeply committed. In addition, the new sanctions proposed [on Iran] is one of the most important initiatives to maintain stability in the Middle East.” However, as another student said “In our current world some countries need nuclear weapons, but in a perfect world there should be no nuclear weapons.”

In recent years, the surge of the Chinese economy coupled with an increasingly staggering United States debt has made many feel that China may be threatening U.S. economic dominance. One student noted that “Our debt to China makes it clear that China has or will shortly take our place as the eco-nomic superpower of the world.” However, since the Chinese economy largely depends on exports to the U.S. and the two economies are profoundly inter-twined, others feel that Chinese economic growth will produce U.S. economic growth as well. In light of this strong connection between the two nations, recently there has been an enormous increase in Chinese language and culture programing in U.S. schools.“I think China does pose an economic threat to the U.S. and I think it would be very beneficial if I learned Chinese,” remarked a student.

Doyoufeelsafefromnuclearthreats?

Shouldhavenuclearweapons?

Chinese influenCedreamofsiam

HM Review Vol. XIX8

Economics

“The government is at fault for encouraging subprime lending through initiatives such as the housing programs implement-ed during the Clinton adminis-tration.”

“The financial crisis was pri-marily caused by lax lending standards by banks which were lending to lower income and lesser-qualified borrowers.”

“The Securities and Exchange Committee galvanized the eco-nomic meltdown via extensive deregulation over the course of the past 20 years.”

Who Is At Fault For The Economic Crisis?

As we finally seem to emerge from the 2008-2009 recession, President Barack Obama’s fiscal policy has forced Americans, conser-vative and liberal alike, to reconsider their economic views. The old strife between the Reaganomics and Keynesian Economics has been renewed and revamped with the introduction of an even more liberal third topic for contention: nationalization. Some people contend that Obama’s bailouts are temporarily suspensions, which are merely pro-longing an exacerbation of the economic downpour. Others, howev-er, believe that Obama’s policies have substantiated the validity of big government spending. Even proponents of socialization of industry have recently manifested themselves proclaiming that recent success of big spending result from limited nationalization. Here is what Hor-ace Mann said about government industrial policies:

Should we bail out banks again if need be? “Are programs that have increased spending on worth the risks of a larger national debt?

yes no yes no

84% 16% 70% 30%usu wordPress

wordPress

wordPress

June 2010 HM Review 9

Economics

Do you think that the financial crisis has

made college decisions more competitive?

College, FinanCes, and The eConomy

In wake of the recent economic crisis it is inevitable that the welfare, state of mind, and general morale of United States citizens will be diminished; however, the question that is on the mind most college graduates, high school students, and especially Horace Mann High School students is whether the current crisis will affect college admissions and job prospects. One would think that the general lack of money would create less competition in the admissions process. Contrarily, others believe that financial aid policies based on a need blind basis will allow admissions to remain unaffected. But how will the recession affect and continue to affect employment and un-employment rates. These are the issues Horace Mann students tried to consider when answering the following questions:

greeCe

Immersed in economic tur-moil, Greece has found itself in a state of ultimate rebellion, as citi-zens refuse to pay taxes and the government fails to evade economic disaster. Greece was recently bailed out the IMF, which is largely sup-ported by the United States, as well as the EU’s powerhouse nations: France and Germany. The euro has plummeted in value, and the home of democracy has now become the Achilles heel of the EU.

Do you think that the riots are justified?

Should the United States pay to help bail

out Greece?

Do you think the econo-my will be in better shape

in ten years?

wordPress

wordPress

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nyt

nytnyt

YES76 %

NO24 %

YES95%

NO24 %

NO66 %

YES34 %

YES80 %

NO20 %

HM Review Vol. XIX10

and Technology

After NASA received a slash in its funding, yet managed to send a shuttle into space, the Horace Mann Review asked Horace Mann School what it thought of the program and what should be done next.

Science

3673

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Horace Mann students are quite vocal in their opinions, whether about poli-tics, or about something that intrigues them. To get a snapshot of how Horace Mann as a community stands on some science and technology issues, the Sci-ence and Technology section polled the student body on four issues: NASA, the iPad, stem-cell research and genetic engineering. Here are our results:

June 2010 HM Review 11

Science and Technology

about

The iPad was released last month amid much fanfare. But exactly how do Horace Mann students view this new device?

63

59

10121

1

Do Horace Mann students support genetically modifying food and animals? The Review takes a look:

All for it

Not at all53 59comPlab025

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