Bronx High School of Science - Observatory Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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DYNAMO PAM Domzs J EFF GREENFIELD Picture, if you will, a room hidden in the depths of the campus level of our school. Dominating this room is a long table, on which is strewn a tremendous pile of manuscripts. At the head of this table sits Jeff Borak, the chief potentate of Dynamo, the schoolns literary magazine. lmmediately to his right is Miss Anita Baskind, the faculty guide. She constantly hands him papers and whispers into his ear. On either side of the table sit about twenty young men and women, each concentrating on out-talking the person next to him. Add to this a constant stream of people entering and leaving the room for no purpose whatsoever. This is a Dynamo meeting. The staff of Dynamo has tried to publish the best creative efforts of the students of Bronx Science. The senior staff has the job of making the final decision on these efforts. The judgment often takes the shape of group therapy, with each member getting rid of all his pent-up hostilities. The 'cconstructive criticismsa' are usually to this effect: FRAN STILLMAN: Heregs a poem by someone from Creative Writing. VIDA KAHN: lt,s in, but let's hear it anyway. RUTH SCOLNICK: fbegins to read the poeml STEVE LUTZKER: Oh that thing-you call it a poem? JEFF GREENFIELD: Where,s that manuscript we were taking ap . . er, that is, discussing, last week? PAM DODES: You mean the poem that rhymes? JUDY WEINER: fmeeklyy l forgot it-l left it home. ln spite of the atmosphere, the school's literary magazine does get published annually. This year, the senior staff of Dynamo grudgingly took on some sophomores and juniors to insure the perpetuation of this magazine. It was only through the constant recommendations of Miss Baskind that any lower-classmen were accepted at allg membership in Dynamo was guarded jealously. In addition to selecting material for publication, the senior staff also had the job of picking the winners of the annual contest for the best short story, essay, and poem. This year,s winners were Richard Jacobson, Maxine Zaretz, and Norman Levitt. The finished product of Dynamo was presented to the school with a little pride and a lot of satisfaction. The school always responds in the same way: 44What's that wise-guy Chip Delaney trying to doiw But the staff of Dynamo goes on, tirelessly toiling for Art in Science. KYKl ' v 1 . xf M.v 1f' tv

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I 6Llflfl6L FL5AOP JUDY SHAPIRO It was that tin1e of year again-an evening at the beginning of April. The place was the auditorium of the Bronx High School of Science. Students and faculty gathered in the lobby outside and then took seats. They awaited eagerly one of the finest accomplishments of their extra-curricular program: the Annual Show. For most of the audience, the Annual Show had come alive a few weeks before, with the first announcement of title, cast, and date. It would have its moment of glory and then would sink back in oblivion, to .return again a year later. However, for the students of the Drama Workshop, the extra-curricular branch of the special Dramatics English classes, the challenge of producing and performing a full-scale dramatic production was a year-round affair. To learn about the efforts that culminated in the Annual Show of 1960, the Kaufman and Hart comedy You Canit Take It With You, we took a Hlook behind the curtainn at a typical rehearsal. Behind the apparent chaos, there was intense activity. The difficult job of selecting the cast from the members of the Drama Workshop had been completed. Part of the cast, seated around a table, was attempting to finish at least one scene before 4:30. To us, the afamilyf' seated at the table looked like Jeff Borak, Maurice Schmir, ,loan Weisberg, Joan Hecker, and Necia Grant. We recognized Dan Paget, President of the Workshop, Myles Barrett, Joel Kramer, and Elizabeth Karlin watching the action from seats in front of the stage. The ucostumesw were school clothes and the living room was the drama classroom. It was difhcult to imagine that on opening night these students would not only look, but act, like a delightful group of eccentrics. Elsewhere, other challenges were being met. The show was being publicized, tickets were being sold, a Playbill was being prepared, costumes were being made, and, for the first time, all the props were being made by Science students. Slowly but surely, problem after problem was conquered. By opening night the play had been perfected to the point Where it would be a credit to the tradition of Annual Shows at Science. Yet all this might not have been possible without the help of Mrs. Marion Kaplan, faculty advisor of the Workshop. The name c'Mrs. Kaplanli has bacome synonomous with 'LDrama at Sciencef' We saw that the Annual Show was much more than a two-evening task. The amount of work done by the actors, the stage crew and technical staff was tremendous. But by meeting the challenge of the Annual Show and in their final accomplishment, the students of the Drama Workshop were amply rewa ruled. l i ' f.ht T 1 E IS Qi

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LIR EY Picture if you will a room hidden in the depths of the campus level of our school. Dominating this room is a long table, on which is strewn a tremendous pile of manuscripts .... Look familiar? It is in fact the same room described on the preceding page. But there is a serene difference. Where confusion reigned, a stately order presides. The hitherto strewn-with-copy tables lie spotless. Why? The room IVIICHAEL NIARKMAN is empty. It awaits its next players who daily unfold a piece of the saga of the freely-censored press. Scene I The action takes place in and around The Room before the jirst period. First to appear is Survey Advisor, Arnold Canell. He is necessarily first-as faculty adviser, he holds the ojfice key. He penetrates in succession the outer and inner offices, pausing to note that the vaguely dentisty odor is still issuing from the unused vaguely dentisty cut nle. Mr. Canell takes his seat, busies himself sorting his mountainous mass of morning mail, and awaits the unimpeachable Mr. Balamuth. Dave Balamuth arrives for his early-morning conference with Mr. Canell. The Two decide whom they shall oppress as the most incompetent, insujeralnle editor of the day. This unfortunate is invariably next to appear. For this morning, we have chosen Roger Swaybill who, as editor of the yearbook, insists that his name be included near the beginning of the article. Balarnuth: Where's your make-up? Swaybill: Oh this. Oh . . . No, my dermatologist went heserk yesterday with his sunlamp. I take ultra-vio . . . Balamuth: Wherels your make-up! fThis last is said innumerable decihels louder and is punctuated with a sharp hang on the tahlej Canell: Moderation. Balamuth: Incomplete sentence, sir. Canell: So was that. Swaybill: I was go . . . errr . . . Well, I gave it to . . . At this point, Michael Markman, managing editor, enters, carrying the manuscript of his first novel, Le Brun et Le Noir. Swaylyill: lLooking aroundj . . . to lVIarkman. Balamuth: IVIARKIVIANI ltwo bangsj Markman: Good morning. Balamuth: Whereis the page-one make-up? Markman: I gave it to . . .