The New York City Urban Debate League
LGJ WEEKLY!
Week of Monday April 26th-Sunday May2nd 2010
LGJ WEEKLY! is a weekly newsletter dedicated to the accomplishments of the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice community in the law, government and justice fields.
Greetings!

This week was perhaps one of our busiest weeks yet...of celebrations!  Our school celebrated Law Day, celebrated two debate tournament victories, celebrated worker and immigration rights at a May Day rally at Union Square, celebrated LGJ's first annual "LGJ Historical Forensic Conference," and celebrated with a huge dance party on Friday.  I think its time for Celebration!  Click here for Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" song and video.


Sincerely,
Mr. Fogel and the LGJ Department
 
The Law, Government, Justice Department
Mr. Yorke, J.D. Government Teacher
Mr. Parmett, J.D. Business Law Teacher
Ms. Donato, J.D. Mock Trial Coach
Mr. Fogel, J.D. Debate Coach, Justice Club/BuildOn Advisor
Ms. Martin, Forensics Sciences
Ms. Coleman, Student Government Advisor
Ms. Felder, Director of School Partnerships
Ms. Hernandez, Social Studies Chair
Ms. Porter, Principal
FIRST ANNUAL LGJ HISTORICAL FORENSIC CONFERENCE!
by Ms. Martin


Our forensic students began to participate in the First Annual LGJ Historical Forensic Conference. Students presented the culminating results of a historic webquest. Our kids became experts on cases ranging from the Jon Benet Ramsey murder to the Kennedy assassination to the Jack the Ripper, and even Ted Bundy. Students got deep into their roles as forensic historians, aiming to explain the crime that was committed, how the evidence was analyzed, and if justice was served to the victims.
 THE JUSTICE LEAGUE STRIKES AGAIN!
FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE ON MAY DAY FOR IMMIGRATION RIGHTS.
by Mr. Fogel






While our Debate Team was debating about immigration.  Our Justice Team was marching and protesting about it!  Our Justice Club and Build On members joined over 1000 New York City protesters near Union Square for a "May Day" rally.  May 1st is recognized as International Workers Day throughout the world.  Since 2006 it has also become a symbolic day for the struggle of undocumented immigrants and workers' rights.  On Saturday a coalition of students, artists, union workers and leaders, and community organizations came together in Union Square for a rally, march and Hip Hop concert in support of immigrant and worker rights.

May 1st or "May Day" is synonymous with "The International Workers' Day," or Labour Day" across the world (in the United States, labor day is celebrated the first Monday in September).  The idea for a "Worker's Holiday" began in Australia in 1856 after a labor victory to win an "Eight-Hour Work Day."   In the United States, "May Day" was also used to commemorate the Haymarket Riots in 1886 where police opened fire and killed several workers on strike.  Back then labor unions were illegal and often attacked by the police and company security.   The day after the shooting, there was a rally and police tried to disperse the workers, a bomb was thrown and a police riot left at least a dozen people dead.  A trial followed that was more about political beliefs than the bombing and it led to the hanging of four alleged anarchists (people who don't believe in government).

            In 1958 in response to the Cold War and anti-communism hysteria, the United States responded to the International Workers Day and worker celebrations by designating the date May 1st as Loyalty Day and later Law Day.Today, May Day is used as a day for political protest for worker and immigration rights. 

For the official statements and more information about the May Day Coalition, please check out their website at http://www.may1.info/.

If you want to join the Bronx Justice League and join in other service activities like May Day, we meet every Tuesday afterschool in Room 247 for one hour (3:00pm-4:00pm).  And then for the next hour in Room 147 computer lab for our Technology Session (4:00pm-5:00pm).

 


 
 LAW DAY AT LGJ!
by Mr. Fogel


 



Our school continued a rich tradition of celebrating Law Day which is technically May 1st but since that fell on a Saturday, we celebrated it on Friday, April 30th.  There's an interesting history in that May 1st is recognized around the world as the International Workers Day.  But in 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower due to anti-communist hysteria created "Law Day" and "Loyalty Day" instead.  He stated "In a very real sense, the world no longer has a choice between force and law. If civilization is to survive it must choose the rule of law."  However, today, with the Cold War long ended, bar associations, law schools, and legal education associations use Law Day as a legal education tool.

 

36 U.S.C. � 113 states, in part:[4].

Law Day, U.S.A., is a special day of celebration by the people of the United States-

(1) in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to the United States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries; and

(2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life.

 

What does that mean at our school?  It meant a day filled with law related education activities.  Mock Trial students spent the afternoon presenting in front of lawyers.  Several classes were selected for trips to the courthouse for presentations including a presentation on Drinking Under the Influence.  The debate team spent the evening training for a debate on poverty.  And the whole school celebrated with a professional "dress up" day!

 

Click here for more pictures of our Law Day events.



 
THE BRONX GREAT DEBATERS COMPLETE FIRST PLACE SWEEP!


On May 1st 2010 our debaters swept the tournament by winning the most awards of any school and taking 1st place in every division.  Over seventy debaters gathered at the Institute for Collaborative Education for the New York Urban Debate League's final tournament of the year.  Among the schools were the KIPP Academy, the nation's largest and most prestigious charter school network, Frederick Douglas Academy, the gifted school of the Institute for Collaborative Education, and several others.  Nevertheless, our debaters triumphed over the competition!

 

MIDDLE SCHOOL BEST TEAM AWARDS

1st Place - Armend Pashtriku & Rhaqiem Thom

3rd Place - Ashley Cabrera & Petergaye Laine

4th Place - Geordanno Liriano

5th Place - Luz Montan & Stephanie Nyame

8th Place - Yaira Brito & Starr Arroyo

 

MIDDLE SCHOOL BEST SPEAKER AWARDS

1st Place - Armend Pashtriku

3rd Place - Jonathan Avilla

 

JUNIOR VARSITY BEST TEAM AWARDS

1st Place - Betty Mahmud & Annie Chen

2nd Place - Maria Morales

3rd Place - Adrie Bailey & Ermira Pashtriku

 

The topic was our regular policy debate topic "Should the United States substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States."  On the Affirmative side, our students propose a policy of increasing social services for legal and so called "illegal" immigrants who are currently denied services even though many work low wage jobs that Americans do not want.  Our position was strengthened by the recent news of Arizona enacting the nation's most restrictive and criticized immigration law (the police are now empowered to arrest and deport you if you do not have your "citizenship papers").  Our teams have argued that this has led to racial profiling of Hispanic Americans, xenophobia and historically akin to the Nazis demanding Jews to carry their "citizenship papers."  Indeed our teams in each of their speeches used jokes to introduce their arguments by late night comedians to ridicule the law including Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live, Jay Leno of the Tonight Show, and 

 

On the Negative side we argued that the government should not increase social services because (1) our national debt needs to be addressed first before we add another social service; (2) we should not use the federal government which is isolated from local poverty and is often too bureaucratic and corrupt; (3) we proposed a counterplan of community and NGO (non governmental organizations) actions instead of the government.

 

Our participants were Betty Mahmud, Annie Chen, Ermira Pashtriku, Adrie Bailey, Maria Morales, Armend Pashtriku, Rhaqiem Thom, Yaira Brito, Starr Arroyo, Tiuana Ginyard, Luz Montan, Stephanie Nyame, Ashley Cabrera, Petergaye Laine, Jonathan Avilla, Angel Marte, Geordanno Liriano.

 

Congratulations to our debaters! 

 

Click here for more pictures.  You can also visit our website, www.bronxgreatdebaters.org for more news on our debate team.

8TH GRADE DEBATERS TRIUMPH OVER HIGH SCHOOL DEBATERS!
BRONX LAW DEBATE TEAM TAKES 2ND PLACE AT NEW YORK CITY'S ANNUAL LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE COMPETITION ON THE ISSUE OF GUN CONTROL.

On Thursday, April 29th, we sent three debate teams consisting of Charles Athanasopolous, Armend Pashtriku, Kristine Valentin, Yara Brito, Starr Arroyo, Petergaye Laine, Ismita Nadia and Ermira Pashtriku to Queens for a debate tournament afterschool.

 

Every year the New York Urban Debate League sponsors a two tournament series of debates called the Lincoln Douglas Debate Tournament.  Lincoln Douglas Debate is different from our traditional event of Policy Debate because it is based on philosophical arguments rather than evidence and communication skills should be more persuasive than the speed of policy debate.  The topic selected this year was "Does the United States undervalue the individual's right to own and bear arms when balanced against the greater social needs for society." 

 

Our Debate Team is the only team in the city to debate in every format of debate.  The down side of this is our turn around time to study for each topic is a week or less since every weekend we have a different debate event.  Nevertheless our students used their time this week efficiently to study and used their general debate skills to triumph over their competition. The team of Charles (8th grade), Armend (8th grade) and Kristine (10th grade) went undefeated and took 2nd Place Best Team.  Charles also won the 2nd Place Best Speaker Award.

 

On the Affirmative side our team ran the argument that the United States does undervalue the right to own and bear arms because of Supreme Court jurisprudence that does not recognize the right to own and bear arms as a fundamental right and instead of applying strict scrutiny in its judicial review of gun control laws, the courts instead use the lower standard of rational basis.  We also argued that recent laws, public opinion and other factors continue to erode gun rights.

 

On the Negative side our team ran the argument that the United States does not undervalue the right to own and bear arms because (1) rights are not absolute and so there needs to be some restrictions on gun ownership; (2) recent Supreme Court jurisprudence has actually protected the right to own and bear arms; (3) public opinion, state laws, and national laws continue to respect gun rights.

 

Congratulations.... AGAIN!.... to the Debate Team. 


Click here for more photos of the tournament.  And check out our website, www.bronxgreatdebaters.org for more debate team news.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:
LAW DAY, EVERYDAY!

by Mr. Fogel






Our school celebrated Law Day on April 30th with a professional "Dress Up Day", trips to the courthouse, speeches in front of lawyers, and other exciting activities.  But I could not help but think that everyday is law day at our school.  Just take a look at the activities this week.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday our high school mock trial team members were training our younger middle school mock trial team members.  On Thursday we dispatched six of our debaters to Queens to debate at the New York City Lincoln Douglas Debate Tournament on the topic of gun control, they went undefeated and took 2nd Place!  On Saturday, the Bronx Justice League and Build On student members attended a May Day rally in support of immigration rights in Manhattan along with over 1000 other protesters.   Also, on Saturday we dispatched over 20 debaters to Manhattan to debate on the topic of poverty and we took 1st Place!

 

So while its nice that our nation recognizes a day for law.  We must also recognize that we have to struggle for the principles of law, government, and justice everyday.   What happened to Tale-Yax this week on April 24th shows how necessary this is...

 

On April 24th in Queens, Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, a homeless man rescued a woman being assaulted by a knife wielding attacker.  She was able to flee without being hurt.  The homeless man however was stabbed and the attacker fled.  He lay there for hours, bleeding to death, while over 30 people just walked by him without stopping to help or even calling for medical assistance.  Surveillance cameras did show several people take pictures of him on their cell phones and several lifted up his head to look at the blood, and then just strolled away.  Click here for a news article on this tragedy. This was similar to the 1965 case of Kitty Genovese, also in Queens, who was stabbed multiple times.  Dozens heard her cries, but they closed their windows and didn't even bother to call for the police.  After realizing she was still alive, her assailant returned to murder and rape her 10 minutes after the initial attack.  Still no one bothered to call for help.  Click here for an article about the Kitty Genovese tragedy.

 

You don't need to be a Super Hero to simply make a phone call and save a life.  Everyday you need to stand up for the principles of law, government, and justice.

 

Sincerely,

Mr. Fogel


STUDENT GOVERNMENT UPDATE!

STUDENT GOVERNMENT UPDATE!

By Armend Pashtriku

 

Watch out for upcoming events like bake sales and the Middle School Olympics!


 
In This Issue
Forensic Science Update!
Justice Update!
Law Update!
4/29 Debate Tournament!
5/1 Debate Tournament!
Letter from Editor
Student Government Update!
Debate Team Student Spotlight
Kristian Valentin is one of our top debaters and our first public forum debater.  He specializes in current events.  His research propelled his debate team to an undfeated record and 2nd place showing at the NYC Lincoln Douglas Debate Championships on the topic of gun control on Thursday.

Justice Student Spotlight!
Carmen Veras is one of the founding members of the Bronx Justice League, our community service club that unites with Build On! for weekly service projects across New York City.  Carmen always brings her sister on our weekend projects for Double the Impact!  Her leadership and work with our younger middle school students have created a powerful program.
Upcoming LGJ Events....

DEBATE TEAM
(for all debate tournaments, meet at McDonald's at 7:30am and leave by 8:00am on Saturdays)

May 1st - NY Urban Debate League Tournament at the Institute for Collaborative Education

May 15th - New York City Championships Debate Tournament

May 15th - New York City Lincoln Douglas Debate Goldberg Invitational Tournament

May 22nd - Big Apple Debate League Middle School Tournament

May 23rd - Bronx Day March & Parade for Debate Team

May 23rd - New York Urban Debate League's Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony

MOCK TRIAL TEAM
May 5th - Middle School Mock Trial Tournament

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Regularly scheduled meetings. See Ms. Coleman

JUSTICE CLUB & BUILD ON CLUBS

May 1 BUILD ON - (Saturday)- May Day March in Union Square

May 2nd - Be Kind to Animals Week

May 4th - National Teacher Day

May 5th - Cinco de Mayo

May 8 - BUILD ON (Saturday)- City Year school beautification and block party

May 9th - Mother's Day

May 12th - School Nurse Day

May 15 BUILD ON (Saturday) - It's My Park Day at St. James Park

May 16 - AIDS Walk NY

May 17th - Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

May 19 - Malcolm X's birthday

May 22 - International Day for Biological Diversity

May 31th - Memorial Day





Quick Links

DEBATE TEAM HOMEPAGE
http://www.bronxgreatdebaters.org

LAW TEAM HOMEPAGE
http://web.me.com/erikfogel/bronxlawteam

JUSTICE LEAGUE'S HOMEPAGE
http://web.me.com/erikfogel/bronxjusticeclub

STUDENT GOVERNMENT HOMEPAGE
Coming Soon....


Contact Us!
If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, or if you would like to submit articles and photos, please contact Erik Fogel at.....

EMAIL: [email protected]

MAIL: Attention: Mr. Fogel, The Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice, 244 E. 163r St., Bronx, NY 10451.

VISIT US: Drop by the school!