02/24/22 INFO Edition

1. Crybaby
by Mae Tigay
Front Cover
by Z Fluger

2. Editorial by V.I. Wexner
Published in 1959
Anybody there? Come on, I know you’re out
there. I see you walking, talking, and
eating. Yet no matter what we do with this
paper, you seem dead. I begin to wonder if
you talk, or think, or care about INFO at
all.
This school paper is your voice, and it
is virtually your only organ for comments
about school. From personal experience, I
know that you have many constructive
comments. I’ve even heard murmurs of dissent
as to several of the articles and policies of
this paper. Yet, to be perfectly frank, for
an energetic group of students, your reaction
to this paper has been surprisingly
apathetic. To be more specific, the editors
have received exactly two letters thus far,
and one was merely a rehash of a Council
discussion. That boils down to approximately
one thought per term, a very impressive
total.
The editors hoped to make INFO
thought-provoking and entertaining. We have
no way of telling if we’ve succeeded, or in
which direction we have failed. If you have
reactions, either this paper, or to any
relevant issue, please do not hesitate to
write us a letter.
Should your point be well presented and
of extreme importance, we will gladly issue
an INFO Bulletin with your ideas. Let me add
here that we hope that the members of the
staff, too, will be kind enough to express
their written opinions.
INFO cannot be directed towards the
student’s desires unless it is informed of
them. I’m sure that the readers themselves
will enjoy seeing the reaction of others to
an issue of importance to all. Please help us
make INFO the kind of paper you’d like.
(Remember, if you hand your letter to your
INFO representatives, you’ll save postage.)
Letter from the Editors
To the student body,
We are so excited to publish our second
to last edition of INFO this trimester!
For this edition, instead of a letter to
the editors, we have published an article
from the archives urging the student body to
submit a letter to the editors. The editors
of INFO have decided to publish this article
in every edition that we fail to receive a
letter from the student body for. Please
submit letters to the editors unless you
would like to see this article in every
edition.
First, we have published a letter written
by Keanu Arpels-Josiah, Anna Veronis, and the
Red is Green X-Block about the school’s
energy efficiency rating. Next, we have a
beautiful snippet from Zane Walker’s
sketchbook, and following that, an incredible
multi-media piece from Vida Jones about
pigeons. The following piece, written by Kate
Deming, argues for the removal of The Great
Gatsby from the American Literature
curriculum. She wrote this piece

3. for her 10th grade American Literature class,
and subsequently submitted it to INFO. We
also have published another infamous
anonymous bathroom review; this one is about
the men’s bathroom in the cafeteria.
Returning to this edition is a brand new LREI
bingo, specifically made for History and
English classes. The last piece of art in
this edition is a wonderful photo taken by
Oni Thornell. Finally, this edition’s front
cover is a block print made by Z Fluger, and
the back cover features a sketch from Mae
Tigay.
We hope you enjoy this edition and look
forward to seeing future letters to the
editors and submissions!
Sincerely,
Tilda, Z, Piper, and Rhyus
Flower Doodle by Leanne Daley
An Underknown Truth
Keanu Arpels-Josiah & Anna Veronis
An underknown truth about our school is
that we have the lowest possible complying
energy efficiency grade. Outside the Charlton
building, a sign can be seen which indicates
the building’s energy efficiency rating. This
sign, which is posted on a window on the
first floor, states that the building’s
energy efficiency rating is a D, 10/100.
According to NYC local law 33, every school
is required to record their energy
consumption each year. With this information,
the energy efficiency rating is determined.
We’re in the 10th percentile. This feels
incredibly low for a private school in
downtown Manhattan.
To better understand the cause of this
low grade we reached out to the school’s
chief financial advisor. He cited the fact
that our building, which is over 60 years
old, is classified as a ‘landmark.’ Landmark
is a classification given to many older
buildings, and buildings with historical
significance, in the city. However, this
classification reduces our ability to make
changes to the building, specifically to its
facade. For example, many of the windows in
the library, and other parts of the building,
have cracks in them or aren’t fully
functional. This heavily hurts our heat
efficiency, increasing the amount of heating
needed to keep classrooms warm, but due to
New York City’s landmark restrictions, this
is not something that can

4. the emissions that cause Climate Change,
while the effects affect poorer communities
first and foremost.
Action to reduce our energy waste is
being pushed for by the Student Government
and the Red is Green X-Block. Margaret and
Allison have been very supportive and
helpful, providing crucial guidance.
Nonetheless, the student body's support is
critical. But up until this point, this has
been an underknown fact about our school,
which is why we felt it necessary to write
this letter and publish it in INFO. We urge
you to remind your grade representatives and
those who represent you in the Student
Government to continue to work on this issue,
and to urge them to make meaningful changes
to improve our energy waste. For when we all
work together to achieve something, there is
little that cannot be accomplished.
Thank you for reading this.
With hope,
Keanu Arpels-Josiah & Anna Veronis
be easily resolved.
In addition to the heating, another
substantial contributor to our low energy
efficiency rating is the lights. Long after
the school day has ended, lights in
classrooms, hallways, and bathrooms are often
left on (additionally, there is a similar
problem with electronic devices, such as
computers and projectors). Members of the
Student Government and Red is Green are
currently pursuing ways to lessen this energy
efficiency issue. One potential solution Red
is Green has focused on is the installation
of motion-sensing lights in classrooms. There
are already some motion sensors installed on
the fourth floor, in the hallway and
bathrooms, however, they are not in a
majority of the classrooms.
Furthermore, not only does our school’s
energy waste hurt our environment and
contribute to Climate Change, it is costly
for our school financially. Installing
motion-sensing lights in classrooms could be
an effective way to reduce our energy use,
whilst eventually “paying for itself,” with
the money saved from the change. Whether it
be motion-sensing lights, solar panels on our
unused roof space, or another solution,
action must be taken to reduce our energy
waste. It is our responsibility as a
wealthier independent school, especially one
which claims “commitment to Social Justice,”
to pursue ways to reduce our energy waste due
to the injustice which historically is
embedded into the Climate Crisis, as
wealthier people contribute a majority of

5. Pigeons
Vida Jones
Don't you think it is amazing? The
pigeons? They act like people: they walk on
the street and eat street food. I like it
when the pigeons walk on the sidewalk and
stay out of people's way, just like any
respectable person would. I do not like it
when unrespectable people shoo them off. I
especially like it when they hop off the curb
to cross the street, just like me. I do not
like it when they get run over.
I find pigeons very entertaining.
by Vida Jones
Sketchbook
Excerpt
Zane Walker

6. PAGE 11

7. PAGE 15
“(In)equality” “Patriarchy”
“Radical
”
“___ism”
“Power”
“Privilege”
“Pandemic”
“Capitalism”
“Systemic
”
“Reform”
or/vs
“Abolish”
FREE
SPACE
“Oppression
”
“Perpetuate
”
“America”
“Justification”
“Speaking
as a…”
“Intersectional
”
“Bubble”
“Exploit”
“System(s)”
“Juxtaposition” “Proximate”
“Communities
”
“Identity(ies)”
“This
school”
LREI LIT/HISTORy
Discussion Bingo
Try to get BINGO during your literature and
history classes!
If you get BINGO, email one of the editors
with your name and the class you completed
the sheet in and we can celebrate your win in
the INFO edition!!!
Teach the Truth: Why The Great Gatsby is
No Longer Welcome in my Classroom
Kate Deming
Despite the beautiful language,
symbolism-ridden pages, and intel on society
through the lens of wealthy white Americans
amidst the “roaring twenties”, Fitzgerald’s
The Great Gatsby spews blatant sexism,
racism, and antisemitism that is detrimental
to its reader.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, the
depictions and descriptions by powerful white
men of female characters not only objectify
them but paint them as completely helpless
and shallow. As the narrator, Nick is quickly
established as our guide into this world of
extravagance and status. Although he seems to
be passively describing the people within
these social circles, his depictions of women
versus men are incredibly alarming. When Nick
is invited to a dinner party he begins to
describe Tom Buchanan stating: “he had
changed since his New Haven years. Now he was
a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a
rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.
Two shining arrogant eyes have established
dominance” (7). Yet, when he describes Jordan
Baker, a close friend of Daisy he states: “I
looked at Miss Baker, wondering what it was
she ‘got done.’ I enjoyed looking at her. She
was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an
erect carriage, which accentuated by throwing
her body

8. same rhetoric from the perspective of men.
There are other texts which highlight how
women were confined by society whilst still
giving them substance and allowing them to be
more than a body designed for the male gaze
to analyze. In a piece of literary criticism
by Kathryn Schulz (Vulture), she reflects on:
“Fitzgerald’s unthinking commitment to a
gender order so archaic as to be Premodern:
corrupt woman occasioning the fall of man.
There is, relatedly, the travesty of his
female characters—single parenthesis every
one, thoughtless and thin” (Schulz).
Fitzgerald is inherently sexist throughout
this novel, and both his explicit and
“casual” sexism weaved throughout his pages
is reason enough to halt reading.
Despite the claim that The Great Gatsby
is an informative commentary on classism
within the United States amidst the 1920s, it
excludes and erases people of color from this
narrative, therefore being inherently racist.
This high-class society filled to be brim
with poshness and superiority also includes
blatant white supremacy. Towards the
beginning of the novel during the dinner
party at the Buchanan's, Tom discusses a new
book stating: “Have you read ‘The Rise of the
Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard? Well,
it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read
it. The idea is if we don’t look out the
white race will be – will be utterly
submerged. It’s all scientific stuff…This
fellow has worked out the whole thing. It’s
up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch
out or those other races will have
backward at the shoulders like a young
cadet.” (11). Instead of describing Jordan
similarly to Tom, she is immediately
sexualized. Tom is given substantial
characteristics such as dominant or “sturdy”
whilst Jordan is subjugated to her body. This
“casual” sexism within The Great Gatsby
distills women to simply their looks while
ignoring their substance.
Fitzgerald explicitly wrote his male
characters to perpetuate misogynistic
behavior, but also his female characters.
Daisy, despite her immense status, is
completely trapped in a patriarchal box, for
at the dinner party she reflects on her
daughter's birth explaining: "I'm glad it's a
girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-- that's
the best thing a girl can be in this world, a
beautiful little fool” (17). Fitzgerald
writes Daisy as a woman who believes herself
to be inferior to men; that she’s accepted
that she is supposed to be foolish. Never
once does Fitzgerald attempt to make a point
examining why these characters' behaviors are
harmful, why? Fitzgerald himself believes
what he wrote. What could we truly learn from
these misogynistic portrayals from the
perspective of a wealthy, white, man? They’ve
always been elevated to the highest pedestal,
given the utmost power. It’s critical to
acknowledge the sexism during this time
(although the 1920s did bring much newfound
power to women, which is practically
disregarded in this novel), but it’s possible
and crucial to do so from another lens. We’ve
always been told this

9. Through the descriptions and the
character himself, Mr. Wolfsheim, The Great
Gatsby also perpetuates harmful stereotypes
against Jewish people. Fitzgerald’s writing
of Wolfsheim demonstrates his anti-semitism,
therefore perpetuating these stereotypes.
When Nick first meets Wolfsheim, he describes
him as: “A small, flat-nose Jew raised his
large head and regarded me with two fine
growths of hair which luxuriated in either
nostril. After a moment I discovered his tiny
eyes in the half-darkness” (69). Fitzgerald
goes on to use a slur against Jewish people
from the perspective of a party-goer when he
writes: ‘“I almost married a little k*ke
who’d been after me for years. I knew he was
below me’” (35). This blatant anti-Semitic
and incredibly hateful language is embedded
in this novel, and therefore reflective of
the wealthy, white, male author, Fitzgerald.
Over the course of the novel, as readers,
we’re led in the direction of sympathizing
with rich white men, for we’re reading a
novel written by one. We should be expanding
our perspectives. This story of a white
wealthy pompous society has been told for
thousands of years and if we hope to move
forward as a society rejecting this sort of
culture, it should start with the books we
read in the classroom. Our education plants
the seeds to how we view the world, of
course, and we have our own distinct opinions
and perspectives, but what we’re taught in
school develops said thinking. As book bans
continue to ricochet across our
control of things” (13). Tom’s racist and
xenophobic remarks are met with absolutely
nothing from Daisy, Jordan, or Nick. It could
be argued that Fitzgerald is giving us
insight into how the White upper class held
these beliefs, but why not learn about the
racism and bigotry through those who it was
actually affecting? We already know as
readers how wealthy white people were seen as
the pinnacle of society. White people's
opinions are constantly uplifted and put on
the forefront, we still can learn how white
people perceive classes and race through
another voice.
During the full class debate, it was
argued how The Great Gatsby provided insight
into America’s classist system, through the
Valley of the Ashes and characters like
Wilson and Myrtle. But The Great Gatsby is
racist in itself by not including any people
of color in this narrative of the lower
class. It’s erasing the full story and
presenting a single one. Those in poverty or
in the working class were not made up of
simply a white group, so, is it still this
profound educational commentary on the class
it was deemed to be? As my peer Ajani stated
in class, what are we actually learning from
this? Why do we continue to accept this kind
of story written by men like Fitzgerald?
Fitzgerald himself carried these beliefs, he
chose not to include this kind of
representation, which is not allowing us as
readers to understand the era. Therefore,
this book is just spewing white superiority
and power.

10. Io’s Coffee Rankings
Io Weintraub
1. La Colombe
2. School coffee
3. Grey Dog
4. Seven Grams
5. Porto Rico
6. M&O
7. Coffee Car - by the bank
8. Pizza deli
9. Other La Colombe (Southern location)
10. Olive’s
11. Dunkin Donuts
12. Starbucks
However, the ultimate NYC coffee near school
is in my home. LMAO.
Sincerely,
country, and as critical race theory
continues to be weaponized, shouldn’t we take
advantage of reading a book by an author of
color, or a female author? Shouldn’t we take
advantage of the privilege we have in reading
a book that represents diverse, and truthful
perspectives of the 1920s? The era was more
than flappers, extravagant parties, and a
“successful” tale of the American dream.
Fitzgerald himself embodied these views of
racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism. He didn’t
write this novel to demonstrate how these
characters' views were wrongful in any way,
it wasn’t a criticism.
Isn’t it more beneficial to give light to
the perspectives that have always been
hidden, instead of continuing to lift up a
novel that actively silences them? There are
a plethora of pieces of American literature
with beautiful language that holds meaningful
symbols and fascinating underlying themes
beneath its pages. There are many works that
exist to spark meaningful conversations and
debates in the classroom. As students, it’s
important to learn about the harsh realities
and discriminatory behavior within the 1920s,
but it should be taught from a perspective
that truly teaches us something.

11. Bibliography:
An Underknown Truth:
“Local Law 33 as Amended by LL95 of 2019 -
Steps to Compliance.” NYC Department of
Buildings, City of New York, 2019,
www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/ll33_compli
ance_steps.pdf.
“ENERGY STAR Score for K-12 Schools.” Energy
Star, Aug. 2018,
www.energystar.gov/buildings/tools-and-resour
ces/energy-star-score-k-12-schools.
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable
Energy. “Energy Efficiency.” Energy.Gov, US
Department of Energy, 2022,
www.energy.gov/eere/energy-efficiency.
“New York State Leader Award Recipients
Energy Star Program.” NYS Prekindergarten
through Grade 12 Education, New York State
Education Department, Apr. 2009,
www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/documents/NYSERDA_E
nergyStarAwards-April2009.pdf.
LREI Board of Trustees. “LREI Mission and
Diversity Statements.” LREI, LREI, 6 October
2014,
www.lrei.org/we-are-lrei/mission--diversity-s
tatements.
Untitled by Oni Thornell Flower Doodles by Leanne Daley