While browsing through the pages of the Student Union website, one might come across minutes from previous meetings of Stuyvesant's elected student officials. In addition to summarizing the key points of discussion, the minutes list students and faculty members present. In the online report of an October 2001 meeting, the expected attendees are listed -- SU President, Vice President, class presidents, and Board of Elections officials. And then under "Others Present," there is senior Gary He.

He's website, Stuynet.com, garnered great media attention a year ago when teachers threatened to take legal action over libelous evaluations anonymously posted by students. While the days of his mentions in the New York Times and on the Howard Stern Show may be in the past, He maintains the status of a public figure within the Stuy community with an amorphous position. Through Stuynet, He has played a role in everything from the politics of the Student Union, to the post-September 11 debate over air quality, to a popularity contest he hosts called the "Bangcock Tournament." The webmaster discusses it all in a Q & A with the Spectator.

Spectator: What first inspired you to create Stuynet?
Gary He: It's a long story... Basically, sophomore year, I believe it was March 2000, I was in charge of two sites: the Sophomore Advisory Council (SAC) website and the Soph-Frosh SING! 2000 website... On the SAC website, in the copyright section, I wrote something like "If you copy anything from this site, you will be shot 40 times," or something like that, and it was a reference to Amadou Diallo, and [SU officials] found it pretty sick... That was the low point of my four years at Stuyvesant--I was hated by everybody... So then I figured, you know, this is bull----, working for official school stuff. There's no flexibility involved, so I might as well create my own renegade site where nobody has any jurisdiction over me. That's how I got started.

Spec: Which was when?
GH: It started during the summer between sophomore and junior year because that's when I first had the time to work on it.

Spec: When did the site really start to catch on?
GH: SING! 2001.

Spec: Did you ever anticipate the massive public reaction to the teacher evaluations?
GH: No, it was coded really, really crappily (laughs). Originally, there was a homework center where kids could pick their teacher and they submit the homework assignment for the night, which was basically, I don't know, like a covert way to have kids copy each others' homework assignments. But that didn't work out too well, so then I made some modifications to the code and I said, "OK, so this is 'Teacher Evaluations' instead. Just click on a teacher's name and rate them." I really didn't expect it to be that popular, I just expected it to be some other thing that was on the site.

Spec: What were the site's original focuses before that?
GH: They were mostly academic... We were really focused on making it for if you were confused about something in your homework, you could just log onto Stuynet, check it out, and learn something. But after the popularity of teacher evaluations, we realized that controversy would get us the attention that we wanted. So we just stuck with that.

Spec: Amidst other media coverage, Howard Stern mentioned you in connection with teacher evaluations, and you were actually invited to be a guest on his show, right? What made you decline?
GH: Funny story about that. During the Big Sib June luncheon with the freshmen...[Principal Stanley] Teitel walked up to me and he was like, "You know at each one of these sessions, a parent has asked about you." I said, "OK, that's pretty nice." And he said, "So, you know Howard Stern invited you onto his show. Don't you think you want to go on?" I was like, "No that's quite all right, Mr. Teitel, because I realize that if I went on the Howard Stern show, I would basically be made fun of." I guess he realized that too, which is why he wanted me to go on.

Spec: After Stuynet's great exposure in the media, how did people begin to treat you differently?
GH: Nobody treated me any differently. It's all the same, it's pretty much all the same.

Spec: But did it ever occur to you that you are one of the most notorious people at Stuy?
GH: I do realize that, and once in a while, I'll bring it up in conversation.

Spec: Or on your site where you write that you're too popular for your own good.
GH: Yeah, but I don't let it get in the way.

Spec: Getting back to discussing Stuynet as a resource, what role did it play in the post-9/11 return to normalcy?
GH: Basically, after 9/11, the school's website went down and I was the only source of information... On the second or third day after September 11, [Technology AP Steven] Kramer had his website up, The-Kramers.net, and it was the official school source. Then...an original Stuynet editor made the mistake of putting up a direct link to The-Kramers.net... I spent like half an hour yelling at him that that was a stupid move, and how basically, it detracted the hits from us. I was really selfish at that point. I didn't even see the urgency of the situation. I was basically like, "You know, you just f---ed me over. This could have brought me back to the top. But you just linked directly to them, and now everybody's going to visit Kramer's."

Spec: What is your unofficial role in the politics of the SU? As a "regular" student, why do you feel it important to attend SU meetings and functions (such as the trip to Thomas Jefferson H.S. in Washington, D.C.) and how are you included in them?
GH: It's a matter of being around the SU all the time. I see the SU as, sort of like, the "school's team"... If the school really needs something like another person to go to Thomas Jefferson, or someone to sell drinks during the shows, I'll be a team player and I'll help out. The thing with going to meetings is, the SU has always had a problem with communication, and you don't really know what happens in the SU. They claim that through video homeroom, "We're telling you everything," but you don't really know what's happening behind those doors. So I'm the guy on the inside reporting...

Spec: You say you are an unofficial player on this "team," but you are not always 100 percent supportive of the SU at all times.
GH: It's sort of complicated because the SU is split into two factions this year... If they were together, they wouldn't put up with my crap...

Spec: The PA website has several links to your site. How did you use Stuynet, particularly in the wake of 9/11, as a medium for political agendas such as the PA's and your own in connection with resolving scheduling concerns?
GH: We learned about the 45-minute periods, I was talking to [PA President] Marilena Christodoulou, and a teacher who shall remain nameless. We decided to form an alliance to get every single parent to e-mail, fax, or call Chancellor Harold Levy about 30-minute periods. And basically, we came up with the "30-minute plan." I give the PA most of the credit for this because they actually called the parents and the parents faxed him, or whatever. However, I do hear that Harold Levy got an insane amount of e-mails, and I'm like the only one who posted the e-mail address, so I guess I played some small role in bringing the 30-minute periods to Brooklyn Tech, but that's as far as it goes.

Spec: Do you have any plans of staying involved with Stuynet to some degree? Can students and websurfers in general expect any updates from college?
GH: I think I might have a "gary.stuynet.com," but I think that might do more harm than good because it would mean that I'm sort of still attached to my high school roots. I think I might just let go and start some other site where it's just photos, or just ramblings, and not anything to do with Stuy, and just let [junior] Ashok [Kondabolu] (who has run his own division of Stuynet, ak.stuynet.com, for the past year) run his show.

Spec: Are you ready to go back to being "regular" Gary He as a freshman all over again? Or do you have some plans assuring a rise to fame in college?
GH: We'll just have to see. Back in junior high school...a kid named Andrew Greenhut--get this name down--said to me, "You know, you're going to be horrible in Stuy. No one's going to know you and you're going to do so bad. You're not going to be on top any more." And four years later, guess where I am. So, I guess we'll just have to see, I mean, nothing can be predicted.

Spec: Let's talk about the "Bangcock Tournament." What made you decide to start a male as well as a female competition?
GH: I have no idea what you're talking about, because the male tournament went up first. This was intended to be a fully male tournament, but after the male brackets went up, the demand for a female tournament sort of skyrocketed, so I decided to put together a female tournament. (sarcastically laughs)

Spec: Has everyone involved in the tournament been a willing participant?
GH: No one has come to me with a complaint yet... If they really don't want to be a part of it, I will respect their decision.

Spec: All right, on that note I'll let you get some sleep.
GH: Sleep? This interview has been really exciting, I can't sleep after this!

After all, how can he sleep when "the sun never sets on the Stuynet empire?" Those were the webmaster's closing words in his final Stuynet post, dated June 9.