Back to Articles Sports Back to Sections Spring Recap 2024 Rehmat Kaur Volume 5 Issue 2 November 25, 2024 Image Provided by Sophia Song Girls Varsity Softball had 7 wins and 12 losses. Tiffany Melendez earned All-County and Conference Player of the Yea r. She hit .692 with 45 hits and 38 runs. Alyanna Nadal was All-County and Jainessa Melendez was Honorable Mention All County . Lia Giaconelli won the Nassau County Coaches’ Scholarship . We lost in the quarterfinals to Seaford 7-4 and won the VSCHSD’s Inaugural Team Grit Award. Boys Varsity Baseball was again a playoff team, had a solid season, and lost in the playoffs to Clarke High School, who eventually won the County Championship. Nick Lang and Anthony Rivera were All Conference players. Jimmy Stroehlein was an All-League player. Defensive MVP was Gavin Ferreira . Girls Varsity Badminton had 3 wins and 14 losses, with many new athletes joining the team and few returning. One of their highlights was beating Massapequa over Spring Break. The first singles and Captain, Rehmat Kaur , showed great performance with scores like 21-1 and 21-4, winning in straight sets against Evergreen Charter. Second singles and Captain, Melanie Cevada, gaining victory with her tremendous play against in straight sets with East Rockaway with a score of 21-15. Their first doubles Captain Richmia Erisnor and Marcia Salinas won their match against Westbury with straight sets and an impeccable score of 21-9. The team has greatly improved throughout the season and got some memorable wins. Girls’ Flag Football finished with a 10-4 overall record, making the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. The season ended with a playoff loss to MacArthur High School. Big contributors the past season were Ava Suaza who was dominant on defense prior to her injury. Ryann Blount , caught a touchdown in our playoff game. NORTH STAR’s own Sports Photographer Sophia Songveeratham had several flag pulls, Victoria Singh ran the ball well, and Gianna Acevedo , an unsung hero, played center, caught a touchdown, made key blocks, catches, and helped our offense be successful. Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse completed their season with 5 wins and 11 losses with scores of 6-1 (Uniondale), 6-0 (Lawrence), 7- 4 (Freeport), 5-4 (Hempstead), and winning their last game against Uniondale with score 7-6. Captains Imran Paul and Luke Tartamella both played tremendously throughout the season with great shots, goals and assists. Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse ended their season with 2 wins and 12 losses. Freshman at the time, Eshal Ikram made her Varsity debut as goalie and made over 75 saves for the season. Hailey Quinlan mastered defense for the second year in front of the goal as well as Addison McGrath , second-year starter with leading assists. Ariella Vera , Milania Rivera , Juliana Dekel and Sabrina Garufi added to the District's attack and midfield showing potential for the next season. Gia Piccolo and Aryana Phillips truly added to the teams attack and midfield scoring goals and keeping defenders away. Aleeza Dhillon , Jennifer Larosiliere , Mia Graine were excellent defenders causing turnovers and helping transition the game from one end of the field to the other. It was an exciting season with a brand-new team that really worked hard and got better throughout the season. Girls’ Varsity Spring Track : The girls won the Division Championships. However, they lost the Conference Championships and County Championships. All-County Paige Fessler County Champion – High Jump, 3rd place – 400m Hurdles Moanna Thelusca County Champion – Discus, 2nd place – Shot Put Nattaly Lindo County Champion – Shot Put Brooke Fessler 2nd place – High Jump Chantelle Gamory 3rd place – Pole Vault Gabriela Bonilla 3rd place – Pole Vault All-Division Jazmyn Dorsey Division Champion – 4x100m Relay, Long Jump and Triple Jump Lexie Sowerby Division Champion – 4x100m Relay and 100m, 2nd place – 200m Paige Fessler Division Champion – 400m Hurdles and High Jump Nattaly Lindo Division Champion – Shot Put, 2nd place – Discus Moanna Thelusca Division Champion – Discus, 2nd place – Shot Put Alyanna Nadal Division Champion – 100m Hurdles Uzoma Nweze Division Champion – 4x100m Relay Alissa Azor Division Champion – 4x100m Relay Arielle Tieschmaker 2nd place – 1500m Cianna Nadal 2nd place – 100m Hurdles Brooke Fessler 2nd place – High Jump Dadiana Delance 3rd place – 1500m Chantelle Gamory 3rd place – Pole Vault Boys Varsity Spring Track : The boys won the Conference Championships and the Division Championships. However, they lost the County Championships. All-County Raphael Baez 2nd place – High Jump, 3rd place – Long Jump Jayden Gonzalez 3rd place – High Jump Mathew Olivencia 3rd place – Pole Vault Sedgeley Duperval 2nd place – Long Jump, 3rd place – 400m Matteo Somma 3rd place – 3200m All-Division Raphael Baez Division Champion – Long Jump, 3rd place – 200m Matteo Somma Division Champion – 3200m Kevin Beltran Division Champion – 1600m Michael Muoio Division Champion – Pole Vault Antonio Casoria Division Champion – Shot Put Jayden Gonzalez Division Champion – High Jump Jaden Frederique 2nd place – Discus, 3rd place – Shot Put Samuel Onuoha 2nd place – Triple Jump Danial Haq 2nd place – Shot Put Nigel Monrose 2nd place – 400m Hurdles Matthew Hunt 2nd place – High Jump Mathew Olivencia 2nd place – Pole Vault Dominick Rios 3rd place – 400m Hurdles Marcus Chiu 3rd place – 110m Hurdles Maxximus Estrada 3rd place – Pole Vault BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Science & Technology Back to Sections The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Records Broken By Matteo Somma Volume 1 Issue 3 December 16, 2020 Image provided by the Weather Channel As we all have noticed, 2020 has been a whirlwind - for example with the COVID-19 virus growing by the day and the social injustice citizens have been experiencing recently. But what many aren’t looking at is the growth of natural disasters around the world which have been breaking records. As the record-breaking hurricane season just recently ended here on the east coast, we felt the wrath. It started around halfway through May, over half a month before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The season began with the two tropical storms: Arthur and Burtha. Burtha slowly died off into nothing, but Arthur had other plans. Arthur started on May 14th just off the coast of Cuba. As the system headed towards the straits of Florida, it slowly died down to a tropical depression. Two days after the storm tuned down into a tropical depression, it cranked up winding towards the Outer Banks, NC. After crashing towards the banks, it slowly depreciated into nothing as it turned back toward Cuba. Six out of the 30 named tropical storms, hurricanes, cyclones, or depressions were categorized as major hurricanes, while in 2019 we had only half of those numbers. The worst was the hurricane named Laura. Laura caused 10-12 billion dollars of damage, in comparison Superstorm Sally, which caused 8-10 billion dollars of damage. The way a hurricane forms is when moist, humid air passes over warm water. From there, the humid air is pushed upward with warm ocean water as well as forming storm clouds. As the clouds rise, it begins to rotate forming a hurricane. The recent rise in warm waters all over the earth causing all these hurricanes over the Atlantic is due to global warming. The hurricane is roughly 300 miles long on average with an eye and surrounding thunderstorms. The eye of the hurricane is relatively calm and spans anywhere from 20-40 miles across. Churning through 2020 has often been nightmarish. The hurricane season officially ended on November 30th, 2020, with no new storms forecasted or on their way as of our publication date. This season saw double the average number of storms, with 12 named and 6 total hurricanes, while this year we had 30 named storms and 16 hurricanes. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections New York University Annie Diep Volume 4 Issue 1 November 6, 2023 Image provided by The Patriot Description: NYU, also known as New York University, is a private institute founded in 1831 by Albert Gallatin located in New York City, the business and fashion center of New York. They have more than 171 buildings under their name, and the university also has two other degree-granting campuses based in Shanghai of China and Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates. They also offer over 25 countries for students to select when studying abroad. Acceptance rate: 8% Tuition: Depending on the program and your circumstances, these prices may vary. For the 2023-2024 school year: Tuition - $60,438 Food and Housing - $24,102 Books and supplies - $1,494 Transportation - $1,154 Personal Expenses - $3,034 TOTAL: $90,222 Application fee : $80 Popular majors: Visual and Performing Arts – 17% Social Sciences – 14% Business, Management, Marketing, and related majors – 13% Psychology – 7% Notable Alumni: Jelani Alladin Angelina Jolie Anne Hathaway Chris Evans Lucy Liu Location: NYU’s buildings are scattered all across New York City. The majority of them fall among Houston Street, Broadway, 14th Street, and Sixth Avenue. As there are too many buildings to list, we’ll only list a few of the residential buildings. Lafayette Residence Hall - 80 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10013 Greenwich Residence Hall - 636 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10014 Hayden Residence Hall - 240 Mercer St, New York, NY 10012 Broome Street Residence Hall - 400 Broome St, New York, NY 10013 Seventh Street Residence Hall - 40 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003 Source: New York University Academics & Majors - US News Best Colleges NYU BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections The History of the Penny Lane Coat Ava Augello Volume 6 Issue 3 Image Provided by Unsplash Have you been searching for the perfect fall-to-winter, winter-to-spring coat? The Penny Lane coat is not only beautiful but also has a fascinatingly long history. This iconic coat was originally known as the Afghan coat because it originated in Afghanistan during the early 20 th century. This coat, usually made of sheepskin, leather, or a suede material joined by fur lining and cuffs, provided Afghans warmth from the country’s chilly weather. Despite the commonly written idea that only men wore them at the time, women often did too. These coats were omnipresent in Afghan society as national dress. But how have these unique coats become popular all over the world? As stated by The Conversation , from the early 1960’s, an increase of foreigners began to Afghanistan as it embarked on a new program of modernization. This modernization would lead to a significant rise of women in Afghanistan to unveil and find new forms of paid work. Among the influx of foreigners, Western “hippies” came as well. These hippies arrived in Afghanistan to pursue a free spirited, nomadic lifestyle. The widely walked path from Istanbul to Kathmandu would become known as the “Hippie Trail.” On this pilgrimage, a prominent destination was Kabul’s Chicken Street, a shopping destination for Afghan artisans to sell their goods, including Afghan coats. This would further attract Western tourists, especially hippies. From this, Western Hippies would adopt the Afghan coat as a staple piece. Hippies would sell these Afghan coats in their own stores, furthering their popularity. The coat would only truly take the world by storm when it was worn by one of the most influential pop culture figures, The Beatles. According to Scarlette Magazine , “Beatle John Lennon famously wore a yellow Afghan coat with red floral designs and white fur lining…Lennon’s coat was one-of-a-kind and demonstrative of the counterculture’s increasing influence” (Scarlette Magazine 1). This allowed The Beatles’ grasp on the fashion world to strengthen. Other musical artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and David Bowie would also begin incorporating Afghan coats into their style. Later, during the 90’s, the trend to incorporate ‘60s fashion would include Afghan coats. Further popularizing the Afghan coat would be Angelina Jolie on the set of the 1999 film “Girl, Interrupted”. A year later in 2000 the movie, “Almost Famous” would truly revitalize the Afghan coat as a statement piece. In the film, Kate Hudson plays Penny Lane, a prominent character who wears an Afghan coat during a tour with an upcoming band in 1973. Scarlette Magazine says, “The coat was so significant to this character that it has since been synonymous with her name, Penny Lane” (Scarlette Magazine 2). With the Afghan coat’s new nickname, the coat would once again become widely popular, with many adding the coat to their closet. Now, whether you choose to call it an Afghan coat or a Penny Lane coat, it’s undeniable that it is a fashionable way to keep warm during the colder months. Sources: The Evolution of the “Penny Lane” Coat | Scarlette Magazine Penny Lane Coats: Iconic Hippie Clothing - Glamour Daze Friday essay: how ‘Afghan’ coats left Kabul for the fashion world and became a hippie must-have The rock ’n’ roll inspiration behind Penny Lane’s coat in Almost Famous - Interview Magazine BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections The Future of the Supreme Court By Craig Papajohn-Shaw Volume 1 Issue 3 December 16, 2020 Image provided by AP News The recent passing of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in late September has led to a controversy surrounding the judicial branch. Her passing under the currently Republican Trump administration caused a problematic uprising among Democratic politicians. Many claimed a new justice should only be appointed once the election has taken place. Democratic Senators such as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were outraged with President Trump’s decision to make an appointment to the Supreme Court, tweeting on September 20, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” Much of this backlash was provoked by the perceived hypocrisy within the Republican Party when former President Obama attempted to appoint a new justice in his final year of office. He made this effort after Justice Anthony Scalia, a conservative, passed away in February of 2016, 237 days prior to the 2016 presidential election. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dismissed him from doing so, stating back in 2016, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” President Obama would go on to nominate Circuit Judge Merrick Garland; however, the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee prevented any hearings from being held for the judge. Mitch McConnell further said in 2016 that, “One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.’” Even with the past precedents that Republican senators set, President Trump would still nominate Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be the next Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, this time only 27 days prior to Election Day. The Republican Senate would ensure her placement on the court, as only a majority is needed for a Justice to be confirmed. On October 26, the Senate would confirm her with a 52-48 vote, staying along party lines apart from Susan Collins (R-ME). Senator Collins stated, “Prior to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, I stated that should a vacancy on the Supreme Court arise, the Senate should follow the precedent set four years ago and not vote on a nominee prior to the presidential election.” Her decision was striking to many, as she was in a close senate race with Sara Gideon (D). Judge Barrett would be sworn in that evening by Justice Clarence Thomas. The third confirmed justice by President Trump solidified a 6-3 conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court. During the 2019-2020 term, Chief Justice John Roberts was seen as a swing vote, occasionally joining the liberal bloc of the court, as in cases such as June Medical Services LLC v. Russo and Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California , both of which resulted in a 5-4 decision solidified by Justice Roberts’ vote. However, his role as a “swing vote” has been eliminated. This was recently exemplified in the November 25th decision of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo where even though the ideological right-leaning Chief Justice, sided with the liberal bloc, he would still be in the minority as newly appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the conservative bloc, making this a 5-4 win for conservatives. Pending decisions on cases such as California v. Texas , which questions the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as Obamacare), which now has a penalty of zero for not buying health insurance, and if it is ruled to be unconstitutional, may further demonstrate the impact of the supermajority. Throughout Joe Biden’s campaign, the former Vice President, as well as Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), were pressed on their views regarding “court-packing,” or adding justices to the Supreme Court in order to benefit the Democratic agenda. The Constitution does not state a maximum number of justices the Court is required to have. However, the current state of having eight Associate Justices and one Chief Justice has been in place since 1869. Both the Former Vice President and the Senator have been avoiding and deflecting questions on this topic. Back in late October, Biden told CBS, “If elected, what I will do is I'll put together a national...bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative. And I will ask them to [spectate] over [the next] 180 days [and] come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it's getting out of whack.” While the messages about the pressing issue from the incoming administration are unclear, it should be stressed that packing the courts is not a simple process. In the 1930s, Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attempted to pack the courts when his “New Deal” legislation was being struck down. The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, which would ultimately fail, was proposed as a way for Roosevelt to appoint up to six new justices for every member of the court over the age of 70. In the modern era, Joe Biden would need a simple majority in each chamber of Congress to add justices. However, even if the Democrats win both Georgia Senate runoff races in January, schisms within the party might make court-packing difficult, as certain Democratic senators have implied, they do not support the idea. As the 2020-2021 Supreme Court term progresses, the supermajority on the court will make influential decisions that will shape the country for decades to come. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Science & Technology Back to Sections The Black Hole – A Dark Phenomenon By Elyas Layachi Volume 2 Issue 2 November 19, 2021 Image provided by Katie Bouman Introduction Ever since the telescope was invented in 1608 by Hans Lippershey, scientists have been making discoveries regarding the universe around us and our place in it. From determining the Earth's and planets' orbits around the sun to discovering that the universe is ever-expanding, we now know more about our universe than ever before in human history. However, most phenomena we have discovered are still theories, such as black holes. While scientists have laws, observations, and general ideas about what black holes are, they have not been limited in their ability to directly study them. History of Black Holes Black holes were originally theorized by astronomer and astrophysicist Karl Schwarzchild. However, Einstein's theory of relativity helped prove Schwarzschild's black hole theory. Using E = mc^2, Einstein theorized that gravity could behave like matter. This became known as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, and it introduced space time, which adds a fourth dimension to the current dimensions of length, width, and depth: time. We cannot see space time directly, but black holes prove space time exists by “bending” the space time fabric. Schwarzschild, using Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, theorized that there comes a point where every particle, including light, becomes gravitationally trapped. He dubbed this point the “event horizon,” and he also theorized that as matter approaches the event horizon, time slows to a complete standstill. Several decades later, astronomers found evidence to support this theory, and named the systems they discovered black holes, since even light cannot escape them. Astronomers discovered Cygnus X-1, the first black hole discovered, by observing it suck gas and matter away from a blue supergiant star. This proved black holes have an immense gravitational force, and since scientists could not physically see the black hole, due to it trapping light past the event horizon, this proved Schwarzschild’s theory. Current Scientific Understanding Today, the current acceptable definition of a black hole is that it is a region of space time where gravity is so strong that nothing – no particles, or even electromagnetic radiation such as light – can escape it. According to NASA, black holes form when the center of a very massive star has so much gravitational force that it collapses upon itself. This causes a supernova, or an exploding star, that blasts parts of the star into space. Out of the supernova comes a black hole, which increases in size as it consumes more matter. Black holes have three parts, or layers: the outer and inner event horizon, and the point of singularity. The event horizon, both inner and outer portions, is the boundary around the mouth of the black hole, and once light passes this part, it can no longer escape the gravitational force of the black hole. The point of singularity, which is the inner region of the black hole, is the most massive part of the black hole. This region is the point in space time where the mass of the black hole is concentrated. Scientists theorize that the point of singularity has an infinite density and therefore is a point of infinite curvature of space time. At the center of our Milky Way galaxy exists a black hole named Sagittarius A, and all stars and star systems in our galaxy, including our solar system, orbit around the supermassive black hole. Astronomers Bruce Balick and Rober Brown used the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s radio telescope to study the center of the Milky Way. They found that a small point, or central core, was emitting immensely powerful radio waves. With more observations, the astronomers concluded a supermassive black hole was at the center of the Milky Way. The Future of Black Hole Research Today, scientists use several satellites and tools to help them observe black holes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the ASTRO-H Satellite, the Swift mission, and radio telescopes on Earth. In the future, scientists at NASA plan to develop more satellites and telescopes to study the relationship between gamma ray emissions and black hole gravity. I hope you learned something new about black holes! BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Contemplation Back to Sections End of Silence By Arunima Roy June 8, 2021 Oil Volume 1 Issue 8

Back to Artwork The Memory Project Back to Sections Hayden LaJoie - Memory Project By Hayden LaJoie March 18, 2021 Volume 1 Issue 6

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections We Were Liars Book Review By Leah Ally Volume 3 Issue 1 November 7, 2022 Image provided by Amazon.com Raised in a privileged upbringing with eminent wealth, seventeen-year-old Cadence Sinclair Eastman spends her summers at the privately`-owned Beechwood Island when a tragic accident turns her elegant life into a living nightmare. Desperately attempting to put the pieces of her shattered memories back together from the night of her haunting incident two years before, Cadence struggles to mentally deal with her issues concerning romance, friendship, and her complicated family life. Blinded by deception and lies, Cadence realizes that everything she has ever known is not exactly as it appears within the tall walls of the Sinclair mansions. Author E. Lockhart’s writing style that portrays Cadence, a disillusioned teenager, adds to the notion of the story, giving a realistic narration of her mental health and the challenges she faces. For instance, the apprehensive tone used in both dialogue and her thoughts convey her anxiety throughout the story. As a reader, I enjoyed how the novel was structured, as it was in the past when Cadence was fifteen years old, yet gradually works its way up to the present, two years later, with Cadence at seventeen years old by the end of the story. The steady description of Cadence growing up helps to retrace the steps of her life as if you are following her thought process in attempting to restore her memory. In addition, Lockhart also includes a wealth of details, including the in-depth development of the characters or settings, even though certain aspects can drag out the story instead of progressing the plot. In particular, the descriptions of minor characters such as Cadence’s cousins can be repetitive and insignificant. I would recommend  We Were Liars  to middle school and high school students who enjoy psychological, realistic fiction thrillers. There are numerous themes in the novel that might easily relate to readers, such as family issues and mental health struggles; for instance, thematic notions of anxiety, depression, and lack of self-esteem are presented throughout the novel. Additionally, current social issues are used to convey the plot, for example, the brief demonstration of racism or bigotry towards Cadence’s presumed love interest, Gat Patil. There are also significant lessons from the novel, including how making decisions on impulse or with bold emotion can bring many consequences and risks. Moreover, regardless of how wealthy or how much fame you may have, money does not buy genuine happiness, even though it may appear to be the ideal life. Overall,  We Were Liars  by E. Lockhart was a fascinating read as it explores many themes, has a compelling writing style, and a fast-paced, exciting plot.                            BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Lights On for Education Back to Sections Marissa Nardone - Lights On for Education - 2 By Marissa Nardone April 22, 2021 Photography Volume 1 Issue 7