Ferrara Chosen as Assistant Principal Mathematics
Former Coordinator of Mathematics Maryann Ferrara assumed the role of Assistant Principal (AP) Mathematics at the start of the spring term after serving as Coordinator since September 2007. A C-30 committee, made up of representatives of the parents, students, faculty and administrators, recommended Ferrara for the position at the end of January and Principal Stanley Teitel confirmed the choice. Ferrara said she started working at Stuyvesant when it was still an all-boys’ school. She retired from teaching to be a stay-at-home mom, but returned in 1994. As AP Mathematics, she said she can “move on to long term plans,” like bringing technology into classrooms.
Track Team Accident Victims Recovering
Junior Valerie Piro, who was injured when a van carrying members of the girls’ racewalking team crashed on its way to a meet at Dartmouth, is now undergoing therapy at the New York University Rusk Institute. Piro was temporarily paralyzed due to the crash. Junior Lucia Hsiao, who was also hospitalized after the accident, has returned to school. “I’ve been getting some feeling back in random spots,” Piro said in an e-mail interview. “They’re very dull feelings, but they’re a lot better now than they were three weeks ago.” According to The New York Daily News, Piro’s family has hired a lawyer to investigate the accident.
Joshua Lederberg, Nobel Laureate and Stuyvesant Alumnus, Dies
Dr. Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel laureate and Stuyvesant alumnus, died of pneumonia on February 2, 2008, at the age of 82. After graduating from Stuyvesant in 1941 at the age of 15, Lederberg studied at Columbia University. At 19, he received his bachelor’s degree. He then went to medical school at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia. Lederberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for his discovery that bacteria can mate and exchange genes, making him one of the youngest to ever receive the honor. One of the founders of the field of molecular biology, he helped lay the groundwork for many biological innovations, like biotechnology. His discovery that bacteria engage in sex helped explain how bacteria evolve and acquire new traits, including resistance to antibiotics. Lederberg was interested in many other areas. He theorized about the possibility of computer intelligence and the possibility of alien life. His broad range of knowledge also led to him to long years of advising several American presidents. President George W. Bush awarded Lederberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2006. A dedicated educator, Dr. Lederberg worked at many schools, including the University of Wisconsin, Stanford, and Rockefeller University. “His scientific work speaks for itself,” biology teacher Dr. John Utting said. “But he did so much more than just his scientific works.”
Bronx Science Walkout
Around 60 students from the Bronx High School of Science staged a walkout Tuesday, January 15, at 10:45 a.m. They were responding to the possible firing of English teacher Helen Kellert. Kellert showed her classes a video without distributing the required handouts. Students were outraged at Principal Valerie Reidy’s threat to fire Kellert, as well as the school’s increasing regulations such as an enforced no-cutting policy. No punitive action was taken against the students who walked out. “People were really into it,” Bronx Science senior Monika Pathak said. “We had signs and chants. […] I don’t think [the walkout] was that effective. The majority of students were seniors. It would have been more effective if other students got involved.”
