the
Spectrum
The Blake School
v Issue V v February 24, 2012 v blakespectrum.org v your voice in print v
MUN: The pretend United Nations
Students conquer at Chicago and Georgetown conferences Laine Higgins Editor-in-chief
I
n the past three weeks, two contingencies of Blake students have traveled to Model United Nations conferences hosted by University of Chicago and Georgetown University. Although the students spend most of their time debating world issues in large conference rooms, students are given the opportunity to come out of their shell and design a lasting world peace, if only for a weekend. This year, 35 Blake students represented the Russian Federation and the Marshal Islands at the Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC), with great success. At the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) hosted by Georgetown University, 15 students
photo credit: Caroline Hunsicker
The Georgetown team at the Afghan Embassy, where they had a Q&A session with Afghani diplomats.
represented Angola, U.S. Senators from Texas, members of the Japanese Mob, diplomats in the Georgian government and Ger-
man Senators from the Weimar Republic of 1934. The delegates from the Blake School have the opportu-
Jazz it up: Jazz Express changes solo artists Sanjana Srivastava Staff Writer
T
he Blake Upper School has a variety of arts clubs and organizations that meet outside of the normal class schedule. One group of advanced and ground breaking musicians is Jazz Express. Jazz Express is the Upper School jazz band consisting of nine band students: Tom Commers ’12, Meghna Kaul ’14, and Aaron Sharper ’15 who play saxophone; Max Meyers ’12 and Kentucky Morrow ’14, who play trombone; Clare Flanagan ’14, who plays trumpet; Inder Majumdar ’12, who plays piano; and Jake Barczak ’12 and Kylan Duff ’13, who
MUN Style Guide A&E
photo credit: Nicky Christenson
Brian Olson has a jam session during the latest Jazz Express practice
play percussion. Brian Olson, the band director and Jazz Express leader says of the group’s origin: “I started Jazz Express in my second year teaching here in 1987, so it’s been around 25 years. Bill Colburn was in the very first Jazz Express when he
Rage against the Vending Machine Opinions
was a student here. He played drums.” Since it began, the jazz group has been an integral part of Blake arts as well as the music world beyond Blake. Along with performing at every Upper School band concert, Olson says, “every year we end up playing for one or two parent organization meetings, sometimes we’ve played private things off campus. One of the coolest things Jazz Express did was in 2000 Jazz Express was invited to go to Washington D.C. and we performed three or four times around D.C. as part of the bicentennial of the White House—a city-wide celebration.” ...
continued on page 10
Is Reading Outdated at Blake? In-Depth
nity to represent their countries in one of three types of committees: crisis committees, historical committees and general as-
semblies. In general assemblies, every country in the United Nations (roughly 200) is represented. The GA committees cover a wide variety of topics from environmental initiatives, social and humanitarian issues, women’s rights and world health. The historical committees take place in the past: anywhere from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the United States Executive Branch in 2002. These committees allow delegates to rewrite history and change the future of the world. Crisis committees are much more responsive than the other two types of committees: delegates are given an opportunity to start wars, assassinate government officials, issue news reports and change the flow of debate in mere minutes. ...
continued on page 4
Super PACs gobble up political power pellets Noah Abromavitz Staff Writer
K
nown formally as Political Actions Committees, PACs are small organizations that promote a wide variety of causes, which are created in order to raise money through funds to promote the election campaigns of the politicians who best represent their interests. Recently, in June of 2010, a new type of PAC evolved, known at the Super PAC. These came to be as part of a Supreme Court case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission that ruled that massive organizations wishing to accept and
Spread the rumor Sci-tech
give contributions in order to influence elections must register as a political committee and report their finances to the Federal Election Commission. Still, under these restrictions there has been much outrage over the fact that these groups are major influences in the political system. According to OpenSecrets.org, as February 17th, “328 groups organized as Super PACs have reported total receipts of $98,650,993 and total independent expenditures of $48,644,852.” It is these startling numbers that really show how profound of an influence....
continued on page 4
What’s Inside: student life.................................. 2-3 news............................................... 4 opinions...................................... 5-7 in-depth...................................... 8-9 a&e......................................... 10-11 sci/tech.................................. 12-13 features....................................... 14 sports....................................... 15-16