2024 Freshman Caucus Endorsements

Sara Mostafa and Elly Wu Feng 

DYNAMIC: The Mostafa-Feng ticket demonstrates experience and compatibility. The pair met over the summer in a group chat for representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign, and their bond has only grown from there. The two share a love for outreach and engaging with their peers, something both have experience with; Mostafa started one of her middle school’s first clubs and was a representative of the Student Leadership Team, and Feng was class president her first two years of middle school and student government president in eighth grade. Despite their shared passion and goal to empower the freshman class, however, the Mostafa-Feng ticket lacks a clear division of responsibilities, instead claiming to do everything together. Still, they demonstrate strong communication, noting their experience working together, strong friendship, and shared free periods as evidence.

PLATFORM: The Mostafa-Feng platform revolves around helping freshmen adjust to Stuyvesant and improving the school through feasible policies. Unlike their competition, to ensure the feasibility of their plans, Mostafa and Feng have been in contact with administration and faculty; the two first reached out to their guidance counselors, who redirected them to Assistant Principal of Safety Brian Moran. With Moran, they discussed both the feasibility and process of implementing some of their ideas, as well as funding.

The Mostafa-Feng ticket have a variety of policies planned, including adding hooks and sanitary products to bathrooms (which they discussed with Moran and the custodial staff), adding beanbags to the half-floor (also discussed with custodial staff), and providing portable chargers in the library (discussed with librarians). The two also want to help freshmen establish themselves at Stuyvesant by creating a program to assist in setting up LinkedIn accounts, working with alumni, and connecting with upperclassmen; Mostafa and Feng already reached out to Mufei Yu and Johanna Li, the current sophomore caucus presidents and previous freshman caucus presidents, to discuss their policies. The duo also wants to hold a freshman dance and plans on preparing a realistic breakdown, though the details of their plan are currently unclear.

OVERALL REVIEW: The Mostafa-Feng ticket is highly passionate and ambitious, and its candidates are backed by experience and diligence. Even if each candidate’s role is unclear, Mostafa and Feng’s chemistry and communication are palpable. Their ability to communicate with the administration and their care for establishing feasible policies is favorable. Furthermore, the two hold strong, consistent desires to help the freshman body smoothly adjust to Stuyvesant and connect, which is supported by their outgoing and communicative personas. Thus, The Spectator endorses this ticket. 

DYNAMIC:

The Bokor-Vater ticket brings a variety of perspectives to the table. Vater takes many advanced classes at Stuyvesant while Bokor focuses on extracurriculars, which would allow the ticket to plan both academic and more “fun” activities. Both are active members of the Speech and Debate team and Model UN and believe that these experiences would be advantageous in enacting policies. They plan to divide the responsibilities that come with being caucus presidents, although they don’t yet know how they will specifically do so.

PLATFORM:

The ticket’s main policy difference from others is a freshman guide—a compilation of resources for freshmen such as teacher guides, class Discord servers, and tutorials on using Talos and Jupiter. Specifically, classes would have group chats to set up study groups during free periods since many students aren’t available for AIS tutoring after school due to extracurriculars and AIS tutoring is inconsistent. They would also have an anonymous teacher complaint site and use the power of the SU to suggest that teachers change their methods. As for non-academic policies, they plan to include PSAL sports on Epsilon and encourage the school to allocate more funding to sanitation and cleaning the swim gym lockers. They also plan to organize activities such as freshman get-togethers and freshman Olympics, and they plan to raise money through a club fundraising competition for a small prize. Many of their policies are feasible and could be useful but lack large and profound impacts on the freshman body.

OVERALL REVIEW:

Motivated by a desire to enact real change to make freshman’s lives easier and more manageable, the Bokor-Vater ticket would bring many feasible initiatives to the freshman class. However, while creating study groups and class Discord servers would help freshmen with the academic transition to Stuyvesant, the ticket lacks larger initiatives and fun events to bring the freshman class together. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic: 

The Lantushko-Qaisar ticket claimed to have instantly clicked with each other during homeroom over their shared interest in politics. From that moment, they decided to run together as a president and vice president, which is less common as opposed to the typical pairing of two co-presidents. When asked why they chose this pairing, they explained that they believed this was the traditional approach and wanted to get a head start on the road to Student Union presidency.

When creating their policies, they split the work evenly and supported each other through their respective time constraints. Likewise, they claimed that, if elected for caucus, they would support each other when needed and maintain an equal 50/50 split of the work. Overall, they seemed like close partners, but there were moments when the dynamic fell slightly out of sync.

Platform: 

The Lantushko-Qaisar ticket proposed five policies. They emphasized their focus on increasing socialization and interaction within the freshman body. They aim to achieve this by holding workshops and events where students can bond with each other and foster a stronger sense of community. Most notably, they discussed their informing policy, which includes a summary of each issue of The Spectator and an opportunities email tailored specifically for freshmen—both of which aim to keep students informed and connected. They also advocated for all physical education classes to be single-sex—an ambitious policy but nonetheless appreciable. 

Overall Review: 

Overall, the Lantushko-Qaisar ticket seems eager to help the freshman student body. They have a cohesive platform and a manageable dynamic. However, their policies and motivations indicate a general lack of understanding of the role of caucus and the Student Union as a whole. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket. 

Dynamic:

Goto and Fedtsov’s dynamic is unique—they both moved to New York from San Francisco prior to starting high school, and they formed a connection from this similarity. The candidates answered questions individually but agreed with each other’s responses. They concurred that if they were to be elected, they would not want a situation in which one has more power than the other.

Platform:

Goto and Fedtsov want to create opportunities to ease the transition to Stuyvesant. Since they both came from San Francisco, they understand the struggle of moving to a different environment. One policy they have is to lower the grade requirement to take AP courses, as the current system may induce stress in students who also feel pressured to take on extracurricular activities. Another policy they have is creating a website where students can connect with other students that have similar career interests to find more opportunities and better prepare for their futures. Their other plans include creating a website where people can anonymously post questions, providing a greater variety of lunch food, and organizing cultural bake sales. 

Overall Review:

Overall, although Goto and Fedtsov have good intentions for the freshman class, the majority of their policies—such as lowering grade requirements and having a greater variety of food—are unfeasible and outside of the powers of the Freshman Caucus. Possible policies, including establishing websites to ask anonymous questions, are already in place at Stuyvesant. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

DYNAMIC: 

Bauskar and Chen’s dynamic is robust and they are well organized as a result of knowing each other for many years. After meeting, the duo continued to grow their friendship by bonding over shared values despite later attending different schools. Both have experience in leadership and volunteering before attending Stuyvesant, and they speak equally to add to their policies. Their skills and contributions seem to complement each other; if elected, they plan on dividing the work so that Bauskar handles the financial aspect and Chen handles communications and writing. 

PLATFORM: 

The Bauskar-Chen ticket proposes many ideas that would undoubtedly benefit the Stuyvesant population, but they lack concrete plans to execute them. The ticket wants to allow students to re-enter the school before the five-minute bell once per period, alongside leaving the building during gym or subject free periods. They also propose some interesting events—the Freshman “Memory Box,” allowing students to preserve items to open at the end of the year, and “Tape the Teacher,” where students pay a small fee to buy pieces of duct tape to stick staff to the wall and raise money. However, when asked about how they would actually execute these lofty goals, the ticket didn’t specify any concrete strategies.   

OVERALL REVIEW:

While Bauskar and Chen complement each other, and they have a strong focus on creating a welcoming and supportive environment for freshmen through fixing long-standing issues such as the homework policy and five-minute bell, they fall short in identifying executable and realistic solutions to many logistical challenges. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket. 

DYNAMIC: 

Lui and Gao have a close relationship with each other despite just meeting this year. They claim to communicate very well and trust that they can rely on each other. Lui possesses leadership experience from middle school as part of a social-emotional leadership team and as the president of her out-of-school debate team. Gao also has plenty of leadership experience, most notably from being part of her middle school’s student government. 

PLATFORM: 

The Lui-Gao ticket regards community and the adjustment period for freshmen as the aspects of Stuyvesant they’d like to focus on. They want to implement a “Travel Pals” program in which students could commute to school in groups to promote community, a newly revamped half floor for a Freshman Bar, and “Morning Music” during the holiday season during which students could volunteer to play music as classmates enter the school. Although they have a very clear and focused theme for their campaign, their methods of implementing such changes—even solutions for the adjustment period—are very vague. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 

The Lui-Gao ticket, despite their decent dynamic and understanding of the stresses in the adjustment period of freshman year, provide solutions that aren’t clearly implementable. The ambiguity of their proposed policies doesn’t make them the strongest candidates, as their community policies make them seem not as engaged as they claim to be. For these reasons, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket. 

Dynamic:

Benjamin Xie and Daniel Hall met in Geometry class and soon found that they shared other teachers and classes. The two grew close playing in the band for the Little Shop of Horrors musical by the Stuyvesant Theater Community and have a good dynamic. Hall tends to be more comfortable answering questions, oftentimes elaborating on Xie’s points. 

Platform:

The Xie-Hall ticket hopes to make the freshman class more comfortable transitioning to high school by working with the SU to create an interactive map of Stuyvesant. They want to compile more study guides to make the academic workload less intimidating and get help from peers and upperclassmen, although the details were unspecified. They would organize recreational events like an end-of-the-year talent show, bake sales, and a holiday karaoke marathon before winter break, which they exemplified by singing “All I Want For Christmas Is You” during their interview. Their policy of having decisions made by the student body through emails and social media and holding meetings open to all freshmen would help prioritize the perspectives of the entire student body. Another proposed policy is to create a digital suggestion box for anonymous suggestions from students where any suggestion made 15 times in 30 days would be considered for action by the caucus.

Overall:

Although Xie and Hall have made commendable efforts in devising feasible and creative policies and considering funding in their plans, they failed to elaborate on how they would execute said plans. Larger projects, such as the interactive map of the school and karaoke marathon, would require detailed planning and budgeting that they did not fully clarify. Furthermore, though the two bonded through some shared classes and interests, their dynamic does not seem as strong as other candidates. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic

Despite only having met this year, He and Bhowmik share multiple classes and have formed a tight-knit friendship. They understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and are capable of effectively dividing responsibilities amongst themselves.

Platform

The He-Bhowmik ticket emphasizes realistic policies that will help freshmen transition into Stuyvesant both academically and socially. Principally, they intend to make use of social events and study groups. In particular, they aim to serve as a bridge between freshmen and administration by addressing students’ concerns and relaying them to counselors and department heads. However, they lack clear plans and strategies by which they would go about implementing these policies.

Overall Review

While the He-Bhowmik ticket has feasible intentions for this upcoming school year, their initiatives lack attention to detail and do not reflect a sense of uniqueness in comparison to other candidates. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

DYNAMIC

Going to the same elementary school, Dean Piao and Calvin Lee have an established relationship that has nearly spanned an entire decade. Though they maintained in touch at different middle schools, Piao and Lee fully reconnected this year and have created a unified harmony and tight-knit bond entering Stuyvesant. Both emphasize their membership in Stuyvesant’s Key Club and their commitment to non-profit organizations outside of Stuyvesant, with both being avid volunteers and Lee being a board member of the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors’s New York City branch. Piao and Lee also play for the badminton and bowling teams, respectively—overall, they are heavily involved in the Stuyvesant community. In terms of office strategy, they tend to have an impromptu style of organization, with no sole person taking charge of specific attributes of office, and instead taking initiative of ideas that are spurred up.

PLATFORM

The Piao-Lee ticket runs their platform on four pillars, abbreviated as “FIND,” for Freshmen, In-School Events, News, and Documents/Textbooks. The freshmen section, meaning the ways they’ll help their student body, lists early access during free periods, less punishment for missing P.E. uniforms, and more club funding. All three points, albeit attractive and desired, have been discussed each year at Stuyvesant to no avail or are already being addressed by the SU, leaving much doubt as to the realistic success of these aspirations. One unique and plausible idea is “Calm Corners,” in which Piao and Lee propose adding furniture and resources to corners around the school where students can relax and let loose, including beanbag chairs and houseplants. Piao and Lee also discuss in-school events such as Movie & Cultural nights for the freshman body, which, though not extraordinary, is a respectable promise to increase school spirit. A peculiar section of their platform is their method for selecting cabinet members. Once elected, they would select cabinet members based on “reputation,” leading to doubts about the integrity of a prospective cabinet.

OVERALL REVIEW

The Piao-Lee ticket is undeniably well-connected, with energy oozing out of the two candidates. However, with unrealistic expectations in terms of capability and regulations, as well as a weak prospective cabinet foundation, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic

The dynamic between Liu and Tissera is fairly strong. They met in their AP Biology class and developed a strong relationship. The candidates seem to have done a fairly good job of splitting up the responsibilities in such a way that both are performing the tasks they’re most well suited for.

Platform

Their platform includes regulating teacher behavior by requiring them to allow students an extra grace minute during passing periods and requiring them to give a mandatory five minutes of study time before pop quizzes. This ticket also wants to bring back single-sex swim gym, something that the student body has already been lobbying for. The candidates also want to plan a variety of events including a freshman prom and a movie day. The candidates also plan to host “crash out groups” monthly in order to allow freshmen a place to vent. Some of these policies are fairly unrealistic in both the amount of money they require and difficult to implement, but others are probable and strong policies.

Overall Review

While the Liu-Tissera ticket has some feasible policies, a majority of policies proposed either could never be negotiated with teachers and faculty or funded. Teachers aren’t going to agree to give students an extra grace period, and the faculty isn’t going to reimplement single-sex swim gym, a prospect they’ve been refusing for years. Unfortunately, a freshman prom would be difficult to fund, and even crash-out groups would likely have to be entirely student-maintained, as they would struggle to have a consistent faculty advisor. Therefore, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

DYNAMIC: Alexa Gilbert and Monro Nuhash have a friendly yet professional dynamic that was born out of the two’s shared Art Appreciation class. They have since found that their different personalities and skill sets complement each other, with Gilbert emphasizing her ability to handle the technical side of things and Nuhash expressing her love for working with people. Gilbert has extensive experience as a leader in her middle school student union and boasts a number of accomplishments, including helping plan cultural festivals and working with the DOE. Nuhash, on the other hand, lacks experience, and while this gives her a fresh perspective, it also seemed to hold her back from sharing ideas and platforms during the interview.

PLATFORM: The Gilbert-Nuhash ticket emphasizes peer communication and connection in their campaign. This is reflected in their platform with policies like online suggestion boxes, open forum meetings, and emotional intelligence workshops. During their few months at Stuyvesant, the pair has acutely observed and noted issues and gaps within Stuyvesant student life and sought to address them with solutions, including adding a cultural day to spirit week. Some of their policies, however, are redundant and vague in terms of execution; for example, ideas such as teacher appreciation week, peer tutoring services, and a second freshman picnic are already done by existing Stuyvesant organizations like the Student Union, ARISTA, and the Big Sibs. The ticket offers little explanation for how they will work with these organizations or make better programs than the ones that exist. At the time of writing, their policy document also lacks details on fundraising, raising the question of how they intend to fund events such as their proposed freshman prom. 

OVERALL: The Gilbert-Nuhash ticket emphasizes the importance of community building within the freshman student body. The two candidates voiced a desire to connect with their peers in order to find out what students need. Both candidates seem passionate about bringing positive change but lack specific, attainable measures to bring about this change. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic

Calista Harrington and Zoe Hoon (Calzo-ne) met during first period PE; as they said during their interview, there’s something special about watching each other mess up at gymnastics, which instantly brought them together. Their interview was filled with laughter, energy, and well-thought-out responses, demonstrating clear camaraderie and synergy.

Platform

The Calzone is definitely an eye-catching way for Calista and Zoe to frame their campaign; they use their innovative marketing as a metaphor for building community among the diverse freshmen class. Their event ideas include movie nights in the auditorium, scavenger hunts, and picnics. One that stood out in particular was “speed-friending,” where students would be paired with another to have a conversation for a few minutes and share their interests, classes, and more.

Overall Review

Although Calzone is a strong campaign that is built on realistic, implementable goals, the majority of the events in their proposal solely focus on community, with many ideas but a lack of feasibility in parts of their implementation. In comparison, there are other tickets who have plans to both improve community in the freshmen class alongside other aspects of the freshman experience—such as academics and relationships with teachers. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic

Despite meeting each other during a chance encounter just this year, Harsono and Katsiklis are both leaders in their own respects. Both have already established themselves as leaders in middle school and freshman year—Harsono was the class representative and student government treasurer in middle school and Katsiklis has leadership positions in the Stuyvesant Greek Club and the Stuyvesant Racing Club. That being said, their partnership seems to be unbalanced: Harsono sometimes overpowers Katsiklis, who occasionally defers to her comments. 

Platform

Harsono and Katsiklis’s platform centers around helping integrate the freshman class into the general Stuyvesant community. They stress how Stuyvesant is not just a place to learn but also a place to build community and connect with others. When planning their events and policies, Harsono and Katsiklis utilized their past leadership experiences to generate ideas that they felt were both exciting and realistic.  

The Harsono-Katsiklis ticket aims to host numerous monthly and seasonal events to build community and raise money to fund their policies. Their policies mainly focus on student-to-student connection; they hope to implement numerous social programs, such as travel buddies, organized peer study groups, and lunch groups.

Overall Review

Much of the pair’s platform is well thought out, planned, and consists of feasible policies. In particular, their policy of creating benches on the half floor is a clear example of their emphasis on feasibility and community. Despite these achievable goals, many of their policies and events lack uniqueness compared to other tickets. Additionally, there is much room for improvement within the ticket’s partnership dynamic, and it is unclear whether the candidates can effectively balance the responsibilities for these proposed policies between themselves. Therefore, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.

Dynamic: Joshi and Ryan met on the first day of school in their Geometry class and have since then shared multiple experiences in several classes, including what they jokingly dub their “shared trauma” in AP Biology. They have a genuine and respectful dynamic. In their working relationship, Joshi handles outreach due to his networking skills while Ryan takes on the more detail-oriented tasks such as event-planning. In this way, the Joshi-Ryan ticket aims to tackle responsibilities by dividing up tasks according to their strengths. Reagan is a member of the Student Union’s Events Department; however, Ryan has minimal experience in student government. 

Platform: The Joshi-Ryan ticket runs on a platform that aims to implement policies that are impactful but achievable. They believe they are well-connected with the freshman class and aim to create policies that address popular desires. For example, they want to raise money for underfunded clubs through fundraisers and events such as talent shows and carnivals. However, they haven’t thought through the challenges they may face along the way. Other policies include redecorating the third and fourth floors and “Birthday-grams,” which are year-round Boo-grams that are delivered to students on their birthdays. While their policies and events are creative and well-intentioned, they lack substantial planning.

Overall Review: The Joshi-Ryan ticket is a well-rounded choice for this year’s Freshman Caucus election. They run on a platform that puts feasibility before anything else. However, their lack of government experience and vaguely planned policies hold them back. Thus, The Spectator does not endorse this ticket.