May 2015 (64, 1)

350 Prospect Street Belmont, MA 02478

Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage Permit #58555 Boston, MA PAID

Volu m e 6 4 , Issu e 1

Philip Conigliaro Named AllAmerican

By John Markis Panel Staff “All-American: Phil Conigliaro.” Dr. Melvoin’s words were met with both awe and amazement. A young man not much older than a seventhgrader receiving such a high honor is unheard of; however, Conigliaro is not your average Middle Schooler.

Bill Mahoney

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

A Student Publication of the Belmont Hill School

Kim Phuc: An Inspiring Story of Loss Transformed to Love

By Jason Fischman Panel Staff On the morning of April 10, Kim Phuc, a victim of Vietnam War bombing, came to Belmont Hill as part of the Hunt Lecture Series to share her story. As a nine year old girl, Kim Phuc’s village was napalm-bombed by the South Vietnamese. Her clothes blown off and her body severely burned, Phuc was photographed by a reporter as she ran from the scene; the photograph went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, and now serves as a harsh reminder of the Vietnam War. Kim Phuc’s story began in Trang Bang, a village in southern Vietnam, where she described herself as a very happy child, always laughing and spending time with her friends. Her parents owned a noodle shop, allowing them to live comfortably.

“For nine years, I felt safe and loved,” explained Kim Phuc, “but then, on June 8th, 1972, the war came to my village.”

After showing video footage from the documentary on her life of the planes bombing her village, Kim Phuc described the day that changed her life in greater detail. She was in the middle of the blast, and should have died considering that napalm bombs burn

Conigliaro’s first true love came in the form of football; he began the sport in fourth grade, and continues to play the sport today as a bruising fullback.

After every football season, the coaches gave out flyers promoting wrestling; picturing WWEstyle fights in his mind, Conigliaro could not wait to join the ranks. Conigliaro was denied this opportunity by his mother when he first asked, but in fifth grade, he was finally allowed to start wrestling for Dedham. Although he did not have the opportunity to throw any chairs as he imagined, Conigliaro displayed a propensity not previBy Brendan Pulsifer ously seen by his coaches, and Panel Staff in seventh grade, they recommended him for a club team.

After March break, the At first, Conigliaro was “beat student body returned rested, continued on page 6 refreshed, and ready for the end of the year, having spent two weeks in a tropical destination, on a school trip, or, most likely, on the couch at home. However, not everyone on the faculty could say the same thing.

While most were catching up Senior Talent on Mad Men or spending time Show with family, Dr. Tift was putting the finishing touches on her pg 3 dissertation and receiving her doctorate in Editorial Studies from Boston University. ReceivNBA Mock Draft ing a doctorate culminates Tift’s pg 6 learning experience in the classroom, and, although she did not initially envision herself at this ZBB Review place in her life, she is thrilled to have accomplished such a feat. pg 8 Actually, Dr. Tift did not even think she was going to become a teacher until later in Are APs Worth It? her career - after finishing her pg 10 undergraduate studies at Vassar and earning a B.A. in English, she was immediately drawn to Vanilla vs. the job of a copy editor at Duke University Press in North CaroChocolate lina, where she proofread and pg 11 streamlined writers’ prose. She

Holly Gettings

at 1200˚C, enough to melt the skin off of someone’s body.

The nearby soldiers, in an attempt to help her, poured water on the burns, but in reality, this mistake only made the napalm burn deeper in her skin, causing her to pass out. Three

days later, Phuc’s parents found her in the hospital, where doctors had done everything they could for her. “I had been left to die. They had no more hope,” Kim Phuc remarked, “but then a miracle happened. A kind doctor got me transferred to a

larger clinic in Saigon, where I got treatment and survived.”

Kim Phuc did not focus on her injuries, and instead tried to use her story as a teaching point for numerous lessons. “I don’t want to talk about the suffering. Let me just say the pain was unbelievable. I learned to be strong even when it hurts so badly. I was nine years old, and I knew nothing of pain.”

As Phuc recovered, her injuries sometimes made it difficult to move on; even small things, like wearing a short sleeve blouse, were embarrassing because of the scars on her arm. However, she persevered, and decided her dream was to be a doctor, so she could help others the same way doctors saved her. Accepted to medical school at age 19, Phuc’s dream looked like it was coming to fruition, at least until the government began using her as a symbol of the war, picking her up from school to do interviews with the foreign press. Eventually, Phuc begged the government to allow her to leave so she could study in peace, and the prime minister agreed to send her to the University of Havana, where she met her future husband, another Vietnamese student. continued on page 4

Tift Receives Doctorate in Editorial Studies from Boston University then became an acquisitions editor for Random House Publishing, where it was her job to work with budding authors on crafting novels and discover new, inspiring works of literature for

most of all the sense of community around campus and the close interactions she has with students; however, something was missing. Even though she was officially a teacher, Dr. Tift

print. Yet it was not until the opportunity arose to work as a teaching assistant in a Harvard English class on literature and social reflection that Dr. Tift found her passion for pedagogy.

As a teacher, previously at both Falmouth Academy and Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall, and now at Belmont Hill, Dr. Tift soon found that she loves

was not yet finished with being a student; thus, she continued her passion for learning by enrolling at BU and getting both an M.A. and, most recently, a Ph.D. in Editorial Studies, a field which ties in well with her previous career as an editor.

To receive her doctorate, Dr. Tift needed to attend classes, take tests, and even

Look Inside

have proficiency in another language. The paramount requirement for receiving a doctorate, however, is the dissertation, an extensive, comprehensive essay about a certain area of interest.

Wanting to craft her dissertation around editorial studies, Dr. Tift chose to research the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson and the director Lloyd Richards as they worked together to edit Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, for a Tony-nominated run that began at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Tift chose this topic for her dissertation because of Wilson’s powerful narratives of racial struggle in the twentieth century and his complex partnership with Lloyd Richards, a partnership which clearly demonstrates the importance of editing.

Having defended her dissertation successfully, Dr. Tift comes back to Belmont Hill with her head held high and becomes one of a select few teachers who have received a doctorate. Although she will be hearing “Ms. Tift” for a little while longer, it won’t be long before her new name sticks and her accomplishment is recognized by all.☐

Belmont HIll NEWS

Pa g e 2

Th e Pan el

Debate Team Flourishes at Year’s End DeCaprio ‘16 Excels in Chinese Contest

By John Gosselin Panel Staff The recent Belmont Hill OregonStyle debate on April 12 , involving 23 four-person teams and 8 schools, was the capstone event for the debate team, which has attended several debates over the course of this year. One of the organizers for the debate, George Hu, said, “I’m really proud of how everyone worked together, despite some planning disasters by the other schools in the debate. Although we faced numerous cancellations by other schools, everyone, debaters, judges, tab runners, chefs, and organizers alike, worked together marvelously to run the event to perfection,” commenting on some of the challenges the team faced as a few of the teams which had signed up previously could not make it on the day of the debate, forcing the schedule to be re-done on short notice.

The topic of the debate, whether or not the US should adopt President Obama’s proposal for universal community college, came from a long topic-selection process carried out by the debate team in its weekly meetings.

The meetings are usually on Tuesdays at 2:15 in Dr. Tift’s room, though meetings have ended for the year since there are no more debates in the DANEIS league for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Members of the team prepared for one side of the debate, either affirmative or negative. Once each team had prepared its arguments and gotten to the debate, they presented their cases in time-constrained, structured speeches, and then asked cross-examination questions of their opponents.

Belmont Hill sent two four-person teams to its own debate, down from the four which the team sent to Andover, since many people who would have been debating were helping out with planning for the debate. The teams did fairly well, considering that the debaters also helped organize the debate.

When asked about his team’s performance, debate team head Alex Czarnecki said, “I think the debate team did a good job and put in a lot of work. Public speaking is a good skill to develop, and debate helps a lot in that regard.”

Overall, the debate team has had a successful year, with several events and a marked increase in membership.☐

By Bhawramaett Broehm Staff Writer Every year, China’s Confucius Institute hosts a “Chinese Bridge” U.S. High School Student Chinese Speech Contest.

To compete in this contest, students must submit an application, including a threeminute Chinese speech. On Saturday, April 12, twenty-four finalists from around the country congregated at UMASS Boston to participate in this prestigious competition. Belmont Hill has sent a couple of students to this event in the past, and this year, Fifth Former Jake DeCaprio had the opportunity to represent Belmont Hill.

Jake, who has studied Chinese since he enrolled at Belmont Hill, regards Chinese as both one of his favorite subjects and an intellectual passion. When asked about why he decided to participate in this contest, Jake said, “This September, Shen Laoshi approached me about doing it. I’ve always been very passionate about studying Chinese and have always worked really hard to make sure I have a good Chinese accent. To be able to compete in a competition like this is an honor and reward for all my work.” Since this September, Jake spent his free periods with Shen Laoshi

to come up with a topic, write a speech, and practice it to make it is “as perfect as possible.”

Jake competed with seven others in the contest’s intermediate group (for students who have studied fewer than four years of Chinese). In his speech, “The Language Switch,” Jake discussed the difficulty of switching between speaking English and Chinese. With the aid of Shen Laoshi, Jake delivered clever Chinese puns that had the Chinese judges howling. Jake closed his speech with a humorous anecdote, in which he unknowingly gave directions to an American man in Chinese, and concluded that the struggle of seamlessly switching languages indicates that his Chinese is continuously improving.

At the end of the day, Jake was awarded third place for his speech and received a certificate, trophy, and Chinese dictionary for his achievement. Jake said “I never really did any public speaking, especially in a different language. It was a totally different experience than anything before. I’m very appreciative for Shen Laoshi and for this opportunity.” One of the best Chinese students in America, Jake represented Belmont Hill exceptionally well in both his spirit and skill.☐

Students Aid Underprivileged Community on Trip to South Carolina

By Ranjit Thomas Staff Writer

The Debate Team

Alex Czarnecki

Model UN Enjoys Significant Growth

By Ishaan Prasad Staff Writer The Model United Nations Program at Belmont Hill has seen tremendous growth this year! From the foundation of the Middle School Program, a group that includes both boys who debate in-school, as well as 20 boys who compete competitively, to the refreshed Upper School Program, it is clear that Model UN has truly become a defining feature of Belmont Hill’s student body. A club that focuses primarily on debate, international relations, and the operation and policies of the United Nations, students in the program have debated both contemporary and historic topics, such as the Ebola Crisis of 2014 and the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cold War, both in-school and competitive inter-high school tournaments.

The program began the year with several in-school debates before heading to their first conference in October, held at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury. Less than a month later, the group then travelled to St John’s Prep in Danvers, earning several awards in their second conference of the year.

In March, after several months of diligent work and debating, the group competed in the BC High and International School of Boston conferences,

showing tremendous improvement and winning an even larger assortment of awards, such as best delegate, best position paper, and best debater.

As Patrick Connor ‘18 appropriately remarked after the final conference of the year, “Model UN combines the fast-paced aspects of debate and international relations with history and research, a pairing that leads to interactive and comprehensive discussions on some of the most important issues that our world faces today.” With such a large number of Belmont Hill students excelling in history and showing a passion for debate, it makes sense that Model UN has been a perfect club for many boys, whether in 7th or 12th grade.

Although the conference season has ended for Model UN, the members are still looking forward to debates and competition next year, with continued success and growth guaranteed in the group. Hoping to continue off this year’s success, in the 2015-2016 school year, the Model UN program plans to continue to develop a curriculum for debate and international relations, as well as partaking in more interscholastic competitions. With the group hoping to attend conferences at Dartmouth, Brown, and MIT, in the coming years, Belmont Hill’s Model UN program hopes to see tremendous growth and success.☐

For the Community Service Trip of 2015, students traveled to the hot and humid island of St. Helena, South Carolina. Mrs. David organized a week in which students worked hard, contributing their efforts to a range of charitable works while also enjoying a few tourist attractions. Upon our arrival in South Carolina, the group hopped onto the bus we would use for the duration of the week, where we enjoyed a tasty, prepared box lunch. We were then shuttled off to Fort Sumter,where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. The underwhelming physical size of the fort came as a surprise to many of us Fifth Form U.S. history students; however, a tour of the museum inside would show us how strong a defense Fort Sumter could have provided in its time. After a couple hours there, we rode to the Comfort Inn where we would spend our leisure and free time for the duration of the trip.

On our first full day of the trip, we met up with out correspondent for the group of people we were working with that week, the Gullah Geechee. The Gullah are the descendants of African groups who were brought over to North America as slaves. The society that exists today is largely the same as that which was brought over, maintaining a very traditional African culture. Our correspondent was in fact the elected Queen of the Gullah nation herself, so she was very educated on the elements of her community. We spent the entire first day learning from her about the culture of the Gullah as she took us around to various public buildings of her people. The next day, we started our community service by picking up trash, raking certain patches of lawn, and moving furniture in and out of deteriorating homes.

We broke for lunch, which we had packed that day and the following days in the morning with the sandwich material provided by our hotel. After lunch, we returned to our work until 3:30, where we would return to the hotel for some pool time and dinner.

The third full day was much like the previous, in that the nature of our work

was largely the same as that which we had done the day before. Ultimately, we would spend another couple hours picking up trash around Gullah property. On Wednesday, due to scattered rain showers throughout the day, the Queen informed Mrs. David that our efforts would not be entirely efficient with the poor weather, so we should just stay at the hotel. The chaperones frantically searched for other community service activities nearby, but they were unsuccessful, although the group did enjoy their time going to the movies and a local bowling alley.

On Thursday, we returned to the Queen for our last day of community service and, to no surprise, she requested that we use our time by picking up more trash.

Begrudgingly, we adhered to her words and returned to what was getting to be a monotonous task. At the close of the day, the Queen thanked us for our services, took a photograph with students and chaperones, and sent us on our way. We spent that evening packing our bags and preparing for the journey back the next day. On Friday, we said our goodbyes to both the hotel and South Carolina and made our way to the airport where we would fly back to Boston, officially ending a somewhat unconventional but satisfying community service trip.

The St. Helena trip was entirely a positive experience this year. Students were forced to mingle with others whom they wouldn’t have interacted otherwise. New friendships were made, as we became better acquainted with the people we go to school with. Ultimately, the community service side of things could have gone better; however, this was by no fault of our own. The Queen, despite only benevolent intentions, proved to be a somewhat difficult correspondent, in that she strained her relations with our chaperones. We did end up doing a great deal of work, just perhaps not in the way we imagined we would. The week was overall a good representation of the hard work we do and fun we have on the community service trips. Any Belmont Hill student should therefore be encouraged to at least consider next year’s trip, the destination of which still has yet to be decided.☐

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

Belmont Hill NEWS

Pag e 3

Students Immserse Themselves in Foreign Language, Culture on Spain Trip

By Jay O’Brien Panel Staff On the first official day of March vacation, some Belmont Hill students travelled to Madrid, Spain, hoping to improve their Spanish speaking abilities, as well as learn more about the Spanish culture. The students were accompanied by Spanish teachers Señor Steffey, Señor Harder, and Señora Brabo. After everyone said their goodbyes to family members, we boarded our connection flight to Paris, and then boarded a separate plane set for Madrid.

The first day in Spain had little planned for us in an effort to regain our energy and adjust to the different timezones. The second day began with an early morning day trip to nearby Toledo, where we walked as a group throughout the narrow streets, periodically stepping into the various shops and restaurants, as well as taking tours inside both the Cathedral of Toledo and El Alcázar, a museum filled with historical artifacts from the different Spanish Wars. The night ended by watching a critically acclaimed Spanish movie called Relatos Salvajes, which combined six different stories of madness and chaos into one movie, and, despite the lack of subtitles, everyone agreed that the movie was very entertaining.

The second full day in Madrid served as the busiest of the trip, as we started by traveling to El Museo Nacional del Prado, one of the most famous museums in the city, thanks to its abundance of paintings made by

Jay O’Brien

Students on the Spanish Trip in Spain famous artists like Francisco Goya, El Greco, and Diego Velázquez. The group then travelled to the Sede Prim to learn about an educational program offered

by Middlebury College for college students. Then, we prepared for the most exciting part of the trip: watching the Champions League game between Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen in Atlético’s stadium. The game eventually reached penalty kicks, where Atlético Madrid won and moved on to the next round of the Champions League.

The next day, the group toured through the nearby cities of Avila and Sergovia and visited the main attractions like the Aqueduct of Sergovia, the Alcázar of Segovia, and the tall stone walls that protected the city of Avila during the middle ages. That night, some of our more passionate soccer fans travelled to Spanish restaurants to watch another Champions League game between Manchester City and Barcelona.

One of the highlights of the fol-

lowing morning was a trip through El Escorial, a royal site which functions as a monastery, museum, and royal palace. Yet below the ground level of the palace, there is a burial site where the majority of Spanish kings have been laid to rest for five centuries.

Then, we hopped onto our tour bus and drove to the burial site of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Inside, the tomb was primarily made of marble inside the side of a mountain, and after walking through the illustrious halls, we eventually saw Franco’s final resting place in the ground of the cave.

In our second to last day, the group traveled in two different buses to the base of a small mountain, which we climbed over the course of several hours. On our way to the top, the tour guides stopped us at several places to point out the interesting aspects of that particular forest, some of which included the different rivers, unique trees, or monuments in dedication to important

Bill Mahoney

Bill Mahoney

Spanish figures. Even though by the end, we were all relatively sore and tired, the ride back to the hotel was immediately followed up with a walk to a local indoor bath place in the heart of Madrid.

The Hammam Al Ándalus contained three baths of progressively higher temperatures, as well as a sauna room that went up to 150 degrees. Overall, the bath place was a great place to unwind after the tiring hike earlier in the day.

On our second to last night in Spain, we decided to eat dinner at the oldest recognized restaurant in world history, Sobrino de Botín. For appetizers, the group ate a variety of seafood options, including shrimp, calamari, and oysters. For the main course, we were given an option of either suckling pig or chicken, with a side of potatoes. Lastly, the dinner concluded with a mixed plate of filling desserts, ranging from chocolate mousse to vanilla filled angel cake.

The Spanish trip allowed all students to improve their Spanish speaking abilities, while also being introduced to a different setting outside of the United States. While it certainly helps to practice Spanish within the Belmont Hill classroom, there is nothing like having the opportunity to speak the language in an entirely new environment, and overall, the Spain trip served as a great learning experience for everyone who took part in this memorable experience. To anyone who would consider going on the trip at some point in the future, I highly recommend going, as a way to practice the language and enjoy the Spanish culture with classmates.☐ Bill Mahoney

Performers Dazzle at Talent Show

By Ben Rush Panel Staff On a Friday long school meeting, this year’s senior class hosted the inaugural Senior Talent Show. The show featured a wide range of acts, a panel of judges, and background videos on the participants, presenting the seniors a final opportunity to share their talents with the school community. Hosted by Alex Santangelo, acts included rock bands, air guitar, rap battles, and dance, showcasing the Class of 15’s impressive entertainment talent.

After each performance, the acts received feedback, both constructive and humorous, from judges Mr. Curran, Mr. DiResta, Ms. Bobo, and Mr. Feldman. The morning started off with a performance from 350 Prospect, the senior rock band. Chris Bracken followed with a Bach viola solo, which led logically to CJ Layton and Cam Chiarelli’s performance of the SNL rap classic “Lazy Sunday”. Next came a touching duet

from Hercules by Myles Walsh and perfectpitch Benny Wanger, complete with costume changes from togas to tunics and gladiator armor. Alex Andriolo and Jack Tamasi brought down the house with their lip syncing & choreography, followed by Eric Rolfs’ and Jack Wilhoite’s inspiring interpretive dance. Harry “The Boss” Kraft rocked the air guitar accompanied by Sultan “Big Man” Olusekun on the sax. Yohannes Mezgebu and Jonathan Innocent presented a dance routine and the show was capped off by a heated rap battle between Harry “HP” Porter and Nate “Nizzy Nate” Trznadel. In the end, the judges crowned dancers Eric Rolfs and Jack Wilhoite the winners of this inaugural event.

The Senior Talent Show gave departing seniors an opportunity to show off their many artistic and entertaining talents. Complete with a panel of judges, the show engraved a great final impression of the Class of 2015, filled with laughs and energy in a newly-founded school tradition. ☐

belmont hill news

Pa g e 4

Th e Pan el

Trautz and Sweeney Lead Exotic Hawaii Trip Students Discover Ancient Wonders in China

By Duncan Grant Staff Writer On the first day of spring break, 12 students headed to Logan Airport for a trip of a lifetime. Chaperoned by Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Trautz, the group circumnavigated the big island of Hawaii, considered the most breathtaking and exciting of all islands. In the mornings, the team would pile into two four-wheel drive vehicles for daily adventures, such as visiting the southern-most point of

attempted to eat the massive Sumo Stacker (three large pancakes, three eggs, three slices of bacon, one large ham steak, and around a pound of butter), but they came up just short. Unlike other Belmont Hill trips, the group of 14 spent three nights camping out under the stars: twice in the mountains with the glow of Kilauea Crater in the distance, and once on the beach.

This trip was not only relaxing, but educational. The group of students learned about the formation of lava tubes, the history behind the Alii Path, and also about the geologic pro-

Jon Folsom

Students on the Hawaii Trip pose for a group picture the United States. Arguably the highlight of the trip was when the group travelled to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. Upon arriving, Mr. Trautz quickly pointed out an area where Green Sea Turtles usually congregated, and before long the whole group threw on their snorkels and spent the day swimming with these amazing marine creatures. When Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Trautz weren’t cooking hamburgers and hotdogs, the crew headed off to famous eateries like Ken’s House of Pancakes. At this particular breakfast stop, both Duncan Grant and Patrick Connor

cesses that created the island. The group hiked on an old lava flow and saw a cinder cone formed by volcanic ash.

The Belmont Hill trip gave back to the Big Island by doing a day of community service at Mr. Trautz’ old stomping grounds: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Here, the group planted 651 trees to provide a habitat for the threatened Iiwi.

This adventure around the big island was a breathtaking experience for every student, and even for the teachers who had experienced it many times before, with the only flaw being the trip’s short length. ☐

Perdoni Brings New Ideas to Presidency

By Thomas Wolpow Staff Writer Most of you probably associate David Perdoni with the football star or the weight room giant. David, however, has found himself in a new realm of stardom-politics. Next year, David will assume the highest position in student government: President of the Sixth Form. Having never held a student office before, David was an underdog in the running against veteran Chip Daley. Nevertheless, the current Fifth Form voted for a changing of the guard, and David is confident that he “can do a pretty good job,” and that his “ability to empathize with a wide range of people” makes him the right choice for school president.

David’s future goals as president are practical and important. First, he thinks that any spoiled milk at milk and cookies is “completely unacceptable.” David also aims to improve the lunch, a mission that all of us will appreciate. Finally, David’s goals for senior spring are clear cut.

“I will do everything I can to help us do as little as possible come next spring.” Additionally, David wants to reduce the number of TYSK classes for seniors, regain the use of the chapel lawn, have weekly dress-down days in an effort to raise money for a multitude of charities, and host more activities with sister schools.

On a more serious note, David wants to ensure that he not only improves student life at Belmont Hill, but also continues to spread important messages to the younger boys, saying: “Belmont Hill is a tight knit family, community, and overall

a special place...pursue your own path, utilize the resources available to you.”

David stresses the importance of having a “strong commitment to Belmont Hill,” a lesson that he learned through the teachings of retired legend Mr. Gallagher.

In summary, David wants to give back to the school that has dealt him the “most important years of (his) life.” David’s election to president of the school will give him the power to realize his goals and “make a real impression and impact at Belmont Hill.”

Assisting David in next year will be vice president D.J Demetri, along with Senators Charlie Danziger, Robert Griffin, and Callen Morris, along with fifth form president Ray Hunt and fourth form president Will McCormack, both of who are returning to office.

This new group of leaders will undergo its first test come the fall of next year, as they prepare for David’s opening speech in the chapel before the whole school. The leadership hopes to combine their innovative ideas with longstanding traditions to have another great year at Belmont Hill. ☐

By William McCormack Staff Writer On Saturday, March 14, 17 students and three Chinese-teaching faculty members, Shen, Latimer, and DiResta, met at Terminal E for a 5:10 PM Hainan Airlines flight to Beijing. Excitement levels were very high, though the 13-hour direct flight did drain everybody’s energy. Nevertheless, once on the ground in Beijing Sunday night, the group happily proceeded to the Beijing Hotel, located in the center of the city, while also meeting Mike, our tour guide, and Li Shi Fu, our famous bus driver, on the way. Actually being in China was almost indescribable for some of us, like Alex Ackerman, who described the country: “Like nowhere I had ever been before. I had always wanted to go there since I was little, and now I was in awe. It was breathtaking.”

Activities, food, and language immersion began immediately the next morning, as the group travelled to the Temple of Heaven for sightseeing, as well as lessons on Taiqi, Jianzi (Chinese hacky sack), and Devil Sticks. The first day continued with the Beijing ShiChaHai Sports School for Kung Fu instruction, and the old Hutong neighborhood for a rickshaw tour, along with lunch at a local house, calligraphy, Chinese Yo-yo, and mask painting. Tuesday was highlighted by a two and a half hour trip north to the Great Wall. While it was tough work getting to up to the wall (Third Former Henry Wyett claimed it was “more like the Great Haul”), the view at the top, and the beauty of walking along it, is really more incredible in person than in any photos or paintings available. Bennett Morris looks back on the Wall with awe: “It was surreal to be halfway across the world on one of the world’s seven wonders, after reading

so much about it, and then finally being able to experience what embodies such a great deal of Chinese history.”

Our magnificent journey on the Great Wall was succeeded by a night in rural Hexi village where everyone learned to make dumplings and enjoyed the Chinese Basketball Association Finals with locals. The group was fortunate enough to gain insights into city life the next night, contrasting it with life in the countryside, through an evening with an SYA China student and their host family, which followed a trip to the zoo and a visit to the No. 2 High School in Beijing. Thursday morning, we were all awed by Tiananmen Square and the massive Forbidden City, before enjoying a shopping spree at the Pearl Market during which everyone tested their bargaining skill and loaded up on fake merchandise to bring home.

Following an intense afternoon of shopping and chaos, we travelled to one of Beijing’s train stations for an 11-hour sleeper train to Xi’an. In Xi’an, we were able to bike all the way around Xi’an’s ancient city wall, visit the magnificent Terracotta Warriors, the Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, and a trip to an orphanage for children whose parents are in jail. Being able to play with the kids there, aged from 6 months to 23 years old, and organize a fun basketball game, all in Chinese, was a highlight for many. A Saturday night bullet train ride back to Beijing preceded a scavenger hunt throughout Beijing, hot pot lunch, more shopping at the Silk Market, an acrobatics show, and a trip to the Night Market for scorpion, grasshopper, and other crazy delicacies on Sunday. After an early morning trip to Wangfujing, we found ourselves on a sad, nostalgic bus ride Monday morning to the airport after an amazing week, complete with so much value, fun, and adventure.☐ .

Kim Phuc Delivers Inspirational Speech Continued from Page 1

In Cuba, Phuc changed her course of study, moving from medicine into languages like English and Spanish. After moving back to Vietnam, she married her husband in 1992, and the gov-

ing how she let go of her hate a little bit every day, eventually achieving her goal of forgiveness. Phuc, raised in the Cao Dai faith like most Vietnamese, converted to Christianity as an adult, because she

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

Belmont Hill sp orts

Boys in the Boat Enjoying Success

By Jack Richards Panel Staff The Belmont Hill Crew team has been off to a strong start this season, with boat line-ups finally settling and the boats themselves moving quicker and quicker every day. Escaping down to Orlando, Florida for March Break, the team rowed in near-perfect conditions on the alligatorinhabited Lake Mary Jane (indeed, a baby gator was spotted on several occasions).

Developing a good base down south, the team was lucky enough to find the Charles River unfrozen by the time school resumed.

Under the leadership of VI Form Captains John Power, Andrew Wilkins, and Jamie Mazzio-Manson, the team is working hard to match and beat the talents of crews such as the ones at Deerfield and Groton.

Looking ahead to the culminating NEIRA races, the crew has already enjoyed successes on the water. At the opening race against the Pomfret School, the top six BH 4’s all handily defeated the visiting team. Next, the top 4 boats travelled to Middlesex to race, where each boat gained large margins on the hosting crew; the 1st boat even set the course record!

Later that week, the top 6 boats all raced

BBN in the 56th year of the Ducey Cup, one of the oldest high school crew races in New England. Continuing the trend of the last decade or so, Belmont Hill successfully retained the cup in its boathouse.

Next, Belmont Hill faced off against Nobles to compete for the Basset Cup, another long-standing race. After all six BH boats defeated Nobles, the Cup stayed for another year in the boat bay.

Finally, the team travelled to Lake Quinsigamond for the annual WaylandWeston Regatta, the largest New England high school regatta before NEIRAs. Facing stiff competition in the talented Groton and Deerfield crews, Belmont Hill stayed strong and nearly swept the whole regatta.

From the bottom, the fifth and sixth boats both won their races, fourth boat edged out Groton by 0.3 seconds, third boat won by over 5 seconds, second boat took second, and first boat seized first place, 2 seconds ahead of the competition. The encouraging results of the regatta confirmed that the competition will be fierce in the weeks ahead, but Belmont Hill will be right there in the mix. With NEIRAs only a few weeks away, the team is training hard and doing everything it can to stay ahead of the tough competition. ☐

felt it was more fulfilling, and the Bible, along with much prayer, helped her move on from her hatred.

After escaping from Vietnam and realizing how lucky she was, Kim Phuc decided she wanted to help others in the same way she had been saved as a small girl. She founded the Kim Foundation International, which helps children affected by wars, much like she was all those years ago. Since its inception, the Kim Foundation has sent medicine to Tajikistan, built schools in Uganda, and constructed hospitals in Kenya, to name a few. Kim Phuc also serves as a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

Overall, it was very interesting to hear Kim Phuc’s story, and the lessons she taught regarding forgiveness are applicable to many of our daily lives.☐

Lacrosse Team On a Roll

By Evan Ricci Panel Staff The 2014-2015 Belmont Hill Varsity lacrosse team is off to a fast start. Currently standing with a record of 9-1, the team is towards the top of the ISL standings as well as being a top contender in New England. The team is playing solid lacrosse, and includes newcomers from the freshman and sophomore class, and features returners from the junior and senior classes. The team’s big wins include a 10-8 victory against St. Sebastian’s, a momentumboosting 8-7 win against Phillips Academy Andover to get the season started, and an impressive 6-3 victory against a talented Roxbury Latin squad. The team’s only loss came against a very talented Governor’s Academy, who sit atop the standings of the ISL with a 10-0 record, and sit comfortably as the 3rd ranked team in New England.

Belmont Hill Lacrosse sits as the 10th ranked team in New England and is currently on a 6 game win-streak, including having scored 15 goals in each of their

past two games against Lawrence Academy, and St. George’s. The teams’ roster consists of 2 lines of midfielders, 6 attackers, and 6 defenders. The midfield lines consist of Zach Geddes, WIlliam Stonestreet, and Griffin Gustafsson, while the other line consists of Johnny Hincks, Charlie Durbin, and Matt O’Neal. The attackers include members from Form III through Form VI, while the defenders consist of members from Form IV through Form VI. Many players on the team are also off to college next year to continue their journey, including Princeton, Williams, and Brown. The main goal of this year’s team is, just like every other year, to win the ISL title. The team’s remaining games include matchups against Nobles, Groton, Brooks, and BB&N. A fun game for Belmont Hill this year will be against Rivers under the lights at 6 pm on Saturday May 9 at Danehy Park in Cambridge. However, Belmont Hill’s biggest challenge for the rest of the year will come against a talented Middlesex squad, who are ranked 8th in New England. Good luck to the team as they attempt to bring the ISL title back to Belmont Hill this spring. ☐

Baseball Team Hopes for Title Run

By AJ DiFillipo Staff Writer

has been lights out on the mound giving up only one earned run in 29 innings while striking out 36 batters.

Up and down the line-up, evWith the halfway point of the season already passed, the varsity eryone is competing, making it tough baseball team is heating up in hopes for even the ISL’s best pitchers to have that it can obtain its fourth straight lasting outings. The junior trio of ISL title. The team boasts an 11-2 re- Austin Masel, Christian Faggas, and AJ cord and still controls its own destiny DiFillipo is also making an impact at for at least a share of the ISL title. The the plate and in the field. Behind the highlight wins so far have been over dish, Robert Caputo has been increda high-powered Worcester Academy, ible while also spraying hits all over Roxbury Latin, St. Seb’s, Milton Acad- the field with the bat, and the same emy, and Lawrence Academy. Led by goes for right fielder Noah Levine and three senior captains, the team is hit- second baseman Robbie Cronin. The Bill Mahoney ting its stride both offensively and de- battle for another ISL championship fensively. Charlie McConnell has an will be extremely difficult as always; Long pole Matt Harrity (Form VI) has been a key contributor to the team this year outstanding 23 stolen bases and has however, the varsity baseball squad yet to be caught stealing. Jack Wil- looks poised to make a serious run hoite leads the team with three home for the four-peat, a testament to the runs including a clutch three-run hard work of the players and coaches to ascertain their goals. The team displayed

By DJ Demetri bomb against St. Seb’s. Benny Wanger Grant, Feeley, O’Leary, and Houser.☐ their ability to bounce back as they dominatStaff Writer ed their competition at St. George’s and then Once again the Varsity Track team subsequently defeated Thayer the next week sets their gaze on both the league and New at home. Looking forward, while the second our season thus far.” Two ‘surprise’ key per- England titles. Last year, Belmont Hill fell week loss to Roxbury Latin prompted the

By Matt Reppucci formers have been J.P. Champa and Owen short to Thayer in the ISL (ISTA) meet “#BelmontBeat,” the team has proven to be a Panel Staff Greenwood. J.P. has been out for most of the but the resilient team was able to surpass formidable opponent in every aspect of the past two seasons with injuries but this year the rival school at New England’s. Off to sport. Most notably, multitalented captain With an 8-2 record as of Saturday, May has played no. 6 on the ladder and is one a rocky start with a loss to Roxbury Latin, Lucas Ribeiro continues to awe the crowds 2nd (after winning handedly at St. George’s), of the best doubles players as well. Owen this year’s track team, captained by Sultan with his disc jockeying and discus throwing. the Varsity Tennis team has gotten off to a has improved immensely from last year Olusekun, Harry Porter, Lucas Ribeiro, In the second week, at St. George’s, Lucas great start this year, and has serious ambi- in both doubles and singles, and has been and Will Malloy, will be forced to harness shattered his previous New England record tions for the league title as well as a success- a staple in the Top 4 of the lineup all year. the same resilience and hard work needed of 179’1” with a throw of 189’10”. However, ful turnout at New England’s. Captain Ben A moment that Ben describes as the Brazilian Bear was not finLebowitz is “very happy with the season so his favorite is one symbolic of a team growished, he continued his quest to far,” saying, “All our new guys are killing it. ing both in talent and in camaraderie. He the top of the charts as he broke We all practice hard each day, with hitting remembers, “We ran one [beep test], got his own record several weeks and our fitness too, and are getting better yelled at, and were forced to run a second later in a dual meet with Phillips Exeter throwing 193’2”. This each day so it’s hard not to be positive about one. I think each person bettered their throw edged him even closer score from the last run and it was a pretty aweto the number one spot in the some moment for all nation, congratulations Dad! of us to see what we all As the regular season had at the bottom of comes to a close, the Track team the tanks.” Looking forwill attempt to finish their seaward, the whole team son on a high note. Belmont Hill is very optimistic about will host the league (ISTA) track the rest of the season, meet on Saturday, May 9th taking the team’s best two athletes and seem to be hitting in each event. Then the team their stride at the right time: their most rewill head down to Tabor Acadcent win at St. George’s emy for the New England Track marks their fourth Meet on the 16th hoping to finvictory in a row. ☐ Jack Ablon (Form IV) plays #2 on the ladder Lucas Ribeiro (Form VI) broke the NE Shotput Record ish their season with a win.☐

Track and Field Looking Sharp

Tennis Team Hitting Its Stride

ernment allowed them to honeymoon to Moscow. On the way back from Moscow, their plane stopped in Newfoundland to refuel, and Phuc decided that a life of freedom was more important than their lives and possessions in Vietnam, so they defected to Canada, leaving everything behind. Phuc said: “I just had my purse. Everything else stayed on that airplane, and all my stuff went back to Cuba. We had nothing, but we had each other and we had freedom, so we had everything.”

In Canada, Phuc focused on forgiving those who had caused her so much agony, using a cup of black coffee as an example. Her heart, like black coffee, was “bitter, angry, and full of loss.” Phuc slowly poured the coffee out of the cup, describ-

Pag e 5

belmont hill sp orts

Pa g e 6

Th e Pan el

Conigliaro an All-American Matt Reppucci’s 2015 NBA Mock Draft continued from page 1

up by everyone”; then everything clicked, and he started dominating at a national level. At Belmont Hill, Conigliaro did not lose a match in the Middle School; however, he knew that the competition would be much stiffer come varsity.

Before the varsity season, Conigliaro set three goals: to win the Beast of the East tournament, to win the New England championships, and to place at National Preps. Although Conigliaro did not win Beast of the East, he came back with a vengeance the rest of the season, and crushed the opposition. Conigliaro came in fourth at Prep Nationals; about a month later, he came in third place at Freshmen Nationals. Conigliaro’s goals for next season are to win the Beast of the

East and to win a national championship; he knows that his hopes will be difficult to fulfill, but he “always sets the bar high”.

Conigliaro is not just a stud on the mat; he is also in advanced math and was a class officer this past year. He is also a role model around campus, exhibiting great leadership qualities, such as his humility and grit; he says that “without Coach Leo, Coach Bradley, Coach Davis, and Pete (Tedesco), I would not be where I am today.”

Before every match, Conigliaro reminds himself that he has worked too hard to lose; it is hard to defeat a wrestler with that kind of mindset. Conigliaro admits that he doesn’t know how far his career will go; however, he definitely has the potential to achieve great things. Phil Conigliaro has received many accolades in the past; however, he has an even brighter future.☐

Athlete of the Issue: Colton Bradley

By Evan Ricci Panel Staff

ly great coach. Colton has qualified for the National Championships every year for the past seven years since he has been eligible.

Colton is included amongst some of the best gymnasts in the country. Colton is constantly faced with injury, which has been a challenge he has faced from the start. He has dealt with stress fractures throughout his career. While at the 2015 Blackjack Invitational in Las Vegas, he was recruited to West Point for his rings routine. At Army, Colton looks to keep getting stronger on the rings and be able to compete for the team next year. We wish the best of luck to Colton in his future endeavors on and off the floor.☐

Colton Bradley, a member of the Sixth Form, is a national gymnast. At 7 years old, Colton was an energetic boy who enjoyed climbing and jumping around the house, so his parents decided to put Colton through a gymnastics program at Burlington High School. From then on, Colton fell in love with the sport. A year later, he started the pre-team program at Gymnastics & More, a gym for gymnasts located in Woburn, MA, and then competed in his first meet as a Level 5 when he was 9 years old. Colton described to me that the competition season runs from December to May. These competitions include States, Regionals, and Nationals. Practice is year round for Colton consisting of 5-7 days a week, and 4-5 hours a day. Colton said that too many days off can leave a gymnast out of shape, and the gymnast’s muscle memory could begin to fade.

Being a serious, and impressive gymnast, Colton is faced with the task of balancing his school life at Belmont Hill with gymnastics. When asked about this balance, Colton stated that “success in both comes at the expense of an often total lack of free time.”

However, managing both has taught Colton to work efficiently on a tight schedule, certainly a characteristic that is desired and hard to achieve. Colton describes the gymnast commureceived a set of 6 new boats, and last nity as awesome, and includes a Colton at Tim Daggett Invitational year’s 6 boats have now been transferred great group of guys, and an equalto Winchester High School’s sailing team.

The team’s first race was on April 8, at the Winchester Boat Club on the shore of Mystic Lake, against Dover Sherborn. The sailors braved tough very strong teams. After a tough battle

By Maahin Gulati weather conditions which included rain and all three teams going back and forth, Staff Writer and hail, and came back with a very Belmont Hill prevailed. John Lazor was close loss with a score of 2-3. This did As the last of the snow finally the highlight of the day shooting 70 (one not deter the sailors, who went on to melted, the beautiful golf courses around under par). As Mr. Doar very clearly put win their next two races 2-0 and 3-0. the Massachusetts, are finally open. The it, “Deerfield and Taft have some of the The current record of the team is Belmont Hill golf team has started out best golf programs in the area. So for us 2-3, but the team has many a couple more their season with tremendous fire. The to go down there and beat both schools races to sail, and due to the strong nature team has taken Brooks down twice (6-1, shows that we take the Belmont Hill golf of the squad, it is expected that they will 4-3), and defeated Dexter, Taft, Deer- program very seriously and are ready to win. The culminating event of the sail- field, Middlesex, BB&N, St. Sebastian’s, compete.” Led by Captains John Lazor and ing season for the year is the Downeast St. George’s, Milton, and St. Marks. One Joe Lynch the golf team has a successful Regatta. Starting on May 15, a group of of the most impressive wins for the golf record of 11-0. With only 9 matches left sailors will drive up to the Maine coast team was in a tri-match against Taft and till the finale of the season, The Kingman several hours away to have a shot at Deerfield two weeks ago. Six boys trav- Tournament, it will be very interesting to claiming victory for Belmont Hill.☐ eled down to Connecticut to face the two see how the team wraps up the season.☐

Sailing Team Riding the Waves

By Armin Thomas Staff Writer As the 2015 spring athletic season starts off, the Belmont Hill Varsity Sailing Team has gotten off to a great start. Captains James Collins ‘16 and Lucas Jurgensen ‘16 are leading the team to places as far away as Tabor Academy on the Cape and St. George’s School in Rhode Island, and bringing back victories for Belmont Hill.

There are many returning veterans, such as Spencer Kim ‘16, Jacob Whitney ‘17, Jack Murphy ‘18, and Stephen Pellegrino ‘19. These team members have helped the newer members of the team learn the ropes of sailing.

Since the first practice on March 30, the team has gotten much more efficient and better at team racing and roll tackling. This year the sailing team has

Golfers Hope for a Strong Finish

belmont hill sp orts

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

Pag e 7

NBA Season Review and Playoff Predictions

By Bhawramaett Broehm and Ranjit Thomas Staff Writers Western Conference Semifinals: Golden State Warriors (1) vs Memphis Grizzlies (5) After a sweeping the Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs, it would seem that the Warriors are ready to carry their regular season success into into the postseason. With one of the best starting fives in the NBA (lead by the high-scoring "splash bros."), it is difficult to predict anything but a series win for Golden State. However, the Grizzlies have proven that they are able to play team basketball with a unique ability to adapt and incorporate a successful playing style to attack any team's weaknesses.

With star power from Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph and young talent from Jeff Green, the Grizzlies could win one if not two games. Prediction: Warriors 4-2.

Houston Rockets (2) vs LA Clippers (3) BA fans should be excited for yet another exhilarating Western Conference matchup as two of the most offense-oriented teams face off against one another. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are coming off an impressive Game 7 one possession game win, knocking the defending champion Spurs out of the playoffs. The tenacity they have already shown will likely take them far. On the other hand, James Harden has shown that individual talent should not be as underrated as it has been recently. Harden's offensive skill may be the deciding factor in what will likely be an extremely close series. That and Houston's Dwight Howard's

growing prominence in the paint. Prediction Rockets 4-3.

Western Conference Finals:

Golden State Warriors (1) vs Houston Rockets (2) Any prediction regarding the outcome of an undecided Western Conference Finals is definitely premature, as all the teams still in the playoffs still have reason to consider themselves contenders. However, if the Warriors and Rockets do square off in the finals, it will be an exciting MVP-candidate standoff. Coincidently, there has recently been much debate over who deserves this prestigious titleSteph Curry of Golden State or James Harden of Houston.

Perhaps the argument may be settled in this series. As for what team will come out on top, it is likely that the Warriors' deep roster and their better ability to play team basketball may carry them past the Rockets. Prediction: Warriors 4-2.

Eastern Conference Semifinals: Atlanta Hawks (1) vs Washington Wizards (5) The Hawks have a dynamic starting lineup: Jeff Teague is an athletic guard, who can force turnovers, Kyle Korver is one of the best three point shooters in the league, Demarre Carroll plays lock-down defense on the perimeter, and the frontcourt tandem of Al Horford and Paul Millsap can dominate the paint. Although John Wall and Bradley Beal is the most exciting backcourt in the East, Washington fails to run an efficient half-court offense on a consistent basis.

Like the Spurs in the West, the Hawks have played excellent team basketball this year. The Wizards may steal a couple games, but the Hawks should win the series within six games.

Prediction: Hawks 4-3.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2) vs Chicago Bulls (3) The loss of Kevin Love will hurt the Cavs. Still, Kyrie and Lebron have the ability to take over a game.

If Derrick Rose can take care of the ball and Jimmy Butler can consistently shoot the ball well, the Bulls should win two or three games. But, with more rest heading into the series, favorable position matchups, and a solid bench, including top-defender Iman Shumpert, the Cavs should still be in a good position to win this series. Predictions: Cavaliers 4-3.

Eastern Conference Finals: Atlanta Hawks (1) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (2) Although the Hawks may have a more wellrounded team, Lebron James knows how to get to the finals. The Hawks pose some problems for the Cavs, as they can force turnovers and protect the rim. However, as teams go deeper into the playoffs, having a reliable superstar becomes increasingly important. While guys may be able to occasionally step up, the Hawks lack a player, like Lebron, who can single-handedly win a game. The Hawks will put up an exciting fight, perhaps pushing the series to seven games, but much to the chagrin of the Eastern Conference, Lebron James will be in the finals once again. Prediction: Cavailers 4-2.☐ Predicted NBA Finals Matchup: Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

2015 MLB Season Preview

By Matt Reppucci Panel Staff AL East: This division should be an average one, with all five teams competing closely for the top spot. The Orioles won the division last year, but should expect a drop off after losing Nelson Cruz from the middle of the lineup, and not upgrading their average-at-best starting rotation. The Red Sox retooled and might score the most runs in baseball this season, but if their pitching continues to struggle horrendously, they won’t be going anywhere. The Rays always seem to find young pitchers who perform, and despite losing Matt Moore to Tommy John surgery, they still have Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi. Runs will be hard to come by for the Rays, but they should finish above .500 and fighting for a wild card spot. The Blue Jays and their stacked lineup are always tough to beat, but luckily for opponents their pitching might be worse than that of the Red Sox. The Yankees could surprise if Masahiro Tanaka pitches like an ace and their lineup full of 30+ veterans overachieve, and should be in the hunt into September.

Predicted Division Winner: Boston Red Sox AL Central: This one should be a two team race. The Tigers and Royals are the jewels of this division, as the Tigers have a very good rotation led by David Price and an unbelievable lineup (see Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler, Yoenis Cespedes, etc.), and the Royals are coming off a World Series berth with an experienced lineup, an above-average pitching staff, and a lights-out bullpen led by Wade Davis and Greg Holland. Although the White Sox added a stud pitcher in Jeff Samardzija, and a solid bat in Adam Laroche to a core of Jose Abreu and Chris Sale, the rest of their team is below average. The Indians just don’t have anyone to carry them, and with a team of platoon players and below-average pitchers, they should finish near the bottom of the league in winning percentage.

The same goes for the Twins, although they have a bright future with a plethora of highly-rated prospects in line for promotions at the end of this year and into the next few.

Predicted Division Winner: Kansas City Royals AL West: This division was expected to be a close race throughout the year, but none of the teams are off to such great starts. The Angels should perform well again, as they have an above-average lineup led by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, but their pitching staff is not great, and come the end of the year might have trouble putting them in position to win enough games to take the division. The Athletics are always in the hunt despite a lack

of superstars, and they should be again, as Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir are very good players who will take them to a lot of regular-season wins. The Astros are off to a hot start (thanks to Dallas Keuchel, Colin McHugh, and Jose Altuve), but their lack of proven talent and strikeout-prone lineup should not hold up throughout the whole season. The Mariners added Nelson Cruz to the middle of a lineup featuring Robinson Cano, but they always seem to go only as far as Felix Hernandez can take them, which, this year, could end up awarding them a wild card spot. The Rangers have no pitching. Their lineup is solid, but again, the Rangers have absolutely no pitching, and should finish last in the division.

Predicted Division Winner: Oakland Athletics NL East: The Washington Nationals were favored by many to win the World Series as they have a stacked rotation one-tofive (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, and Gio Gonzalez), but thus far their lineup and fielding has failed them. They certainly have the potential to go on a long winning streak and go far in the playoffs, but it takes more than just a list of five names to win baseball games.

The Braves are always solid, but should finish at about .500 and seem OK with that thought after trading Craig Kimbrel.

The Marlins have lots of young talent, and they might surprise with their lineup, but it does seem like one year too early for this team since All-Star Jose Fernandez will be out until mid-June recovering from Tommy John. The Mets have an old lineup, but have lots of great young pitching (plus 42-year-old Bartolo Colon) led by Matt Harvey and Jacob DeGrom and could fight for the division if Washington continues to underperform. The Phillies are the only team in this division without a real bright side, as they have old pitching, old hitting, and no prospects. They will need to trade Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Chase Utley in order to acquire pieces for the future, because they are sure to finish last in the division either way.

Predicted Division Winner: Washington Nationals NL Central: The Cardinals have been to the NLCS in three straight years, and should have the chance to get back there if they accomplish their expected goal of winning the division. They have a proven and balanced lineup and a good rotation, although with the news of Adam Wainwright’s season-ending injury, they might fall short of their goal this year. The Cubs could be a beneficiary of the Wainwright injury, as they have a solid rotation led by John Lester and a lineup of incredible prospects, most notably Kris Bryant, who could lead their charge for a division title. The Pirates are always in the hunt, but Andrew McCutchen will have to return to form if they hope to have a shot at a Wild Card spot or even the division. The Reds have solid pitching and a solid lineup, and might end up trading stud Johnny Cueto if they aren’t in the hunt by the trade deadline,

as this looks to be an average year for them. The Brewers have the talent, but have underperformed thus far and injuries have hurt them, but even at full-strength, they lack elite pitching which is needed in the National League, possibly leaving them with a sub .500 season.

Predicted Division Winner: Chicago Cubs NL West: The Dodgers have some competition this year, but boast a lineup with big names and a rotation led

by Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke that lend themselves to a run at the division title. The Padres re-loaded and now offer a high-powered lineup led by Matt Kemp and James Shields as the ace of their very good staff. They have played well against the Dodgers this year, and seem to have the best chance to unseat them as division champs. The Rockies always seem to have a good, young lineup, and this year is no different. Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Corey Dickerson could carry this team to a strong year, and a push for a Wild Card spot, but their below-average pitching will need to hold up in order to do so. The Diamondbacks are in a sort of purgatory, as they have a superstar in Paul Goldschmidt, but everyone is young or average and just good enough to keep them around .500. They should not expect more from this season as they wait for their prospects to develop for future years. The Giants are defending World Series Champions, but they never seem to play well a year after a championship, and seem to be headed down a similar path this year. They will be solid, but should not make the playoffs, as they have lost too many players and the rest will underperform throughout the year.☐ Predicted Division Winner: San Diego Padres

Belmont hill arts

Pa g e 8

Jekyll + Hyde By Zac Brown Band

By Jake DeCaprio Panel Staff The Zac Brown Band currently has three albums in the top 100 on iTunes, two of which are over two years old. Their new album, Jekyll + Hyde, which was released on April 28, sits at the top of that list with a hefty standing. Jekyll + Hyde is hardly a down home country album; one would be hard pressed to label the album under any genre, given the choice. The Zac Brown Band has always been ambitious in their albums, pushing the boundaries of country music, but for Jekyll + Hyde, there are many points when the sound completely leaves the country reservation.

In fact, the genres within Jekyll + Hyde change so much from song to song that the album loses cohesion: it’s a mess of jam-band country, rock, gospel, jazz, and EDM. In a world where individual song downloads far outweigh album purchases, this genre mashup seems to work fine, but the album on the whole has no true identity or logical progression of songs; I find myself skipping all around the album, rather than listening to it in order.

Released as a single back in January, “Homegrown” is the closest to what is generally expected from the Zac Brown Band: a country jam-band feel and lyrics like “I’ve got everything I need, and nothing that I don’t.” Because of the sheer love for this traditional Zac Brown Band sound, “Homegrown” reached the very top of Billboard in April, and remained there for two weeks.

The country and island songs that the Zac Brown Band is known for are not otherwise absent from the album. “Wildfire” might be the most country of the songs on the album, and has a touch of Eric Church (who co-wrote the song) in it; this song has the potential to be a huge hit. “Castaway” and “I’ll Be Your Man” provide a great margaritaville/Jimmy Buffett feel, though “I’ll Be Your Man” is simply too long; it might as well be over about halfway through the song. “One Day” has a wonderful groove to it, and invokes the desire to chair-dance in the listener. “Dress Blues” is a cover of the song

by Jason Isbell, and the Zac Brown Band completely outdid him. An emotional song about the funeral of a soldier, “Dress Blues” might be the best on the album. It’s a bit too long for radio, so don’t expect to hear it there; spend your $1.29 on this one.

For the rest of the album, the band

zigs and zags in and out of country music, and at points completely annihilates what you could ever expect from them.

Released in March, “Heavy is the Head” is a hard-rock song featuring Chris Cornell.

“Heavy is the Head” currently sits near the top of the charts with good reason, as it is one of the album’s best, but it is anything but a country song. Also in the hard-rock category, “Junkyard” is over seven minutes of an absolute head-banger of a song, and I love every minute of it; John Driskell Hopkins’s deep voice in the background makes the song. On the recorded songs, it seems like there is something missing that I feel will come out in a live show.

Crank out the bell-bottoms, because it’s time for some 70’s easy listening with “Loving You Easy.” The song is unbelievably catchy, and the opening guitar riff is impossible to forget once you have heard it. “Beautiful Drug” and “Tomorrow Never Comes” are two songs that heavily incorporate EDM elements, and belong on Kiss 108 instead of the Bull: they might as well be Avicii songs. An acoustic version of “Tomorrow Never Comes” is also included, and it is much more of a natural Zac Brown feel. “Bittersweet” is a somber tune that makes you want to reach for the tissues; its lyrics and instrumental opening are simply beautiful.

“Remedy” takes on a gospel feel and has powerful messages with it; it is certainly the most introspective song on the album.

The biggest surprise of the album is “Mango Tree” with Sara Bareilles, a jazz/big band tune with island-inspired lyrics. Though the song is catchy and a good listen, it would fall flat without Bareilles, and seems to serve no purpose on the album, other than to show the musical aptitude of Brown.

Because of the now true establishment of the Zac Brown Band as a player in country music, the band has taken a number of risks that may or may not pay off in the way of a smorgasbord of an album.

Jekyll + Hyde is certainly a fitting name for this new album, in that it truly has a split personality. This incongruence in personality and genre, however, makes the album feel all-over-the-map, and not always in a good way. Each of the songs has its own merit, and most, if not all, are good listens when taken individually. The Zac Brown Band kicked off their largest tour yet this month, and it includes an unprecedented three-night-stand at Fenway Park in August (limited tickets are still available).☐

Th e Pan el

belmont hill arts

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

Piano Trio Works with the Best

By George Hu Staff Writer On the warm Saturday evening of April 11th, 2015, the Belmont Hill Piano Trio performed the fourth movement of the Brahms Piano Trio in B Major in a masterclass with Ms. Mia Chung Yee, a professor at the Curtis institute of Philadelphia, one of the premier music conservatories in the world. Initially assembled as a new extracurricular group before this school year, the Trio, whose members include violinist Austin Kwoun (’18), cellist Spencer Kim (’16), and pianist George Hu (’16), had attracted Ms. Chung Yee’s attention in the fall with their recording of the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor, and with the help of their instructor, Mr. Glenn, the masterclass had been arranged in early March.

In front of a small audience in the music building, Ms. Chung Yee delivered a mesmerizing hour of coaching that inspired the Piano Trio and audience members alike. To the Trio, Ms. Chung Yee enthusiastically gave helpful instructions and advice on dramatizing and energizing the work through dynamics and artistic expression. The Trio’s instructor, Mr. Glenn, commented, “I think that this masterclass really reinvigorated the group. While the Trio has always impressed at school, a

lesson with one of the best chamber music coaches in the country has definitely pushed the Trio to perform the Brahms at another level of musical expression.” Despite the sophistication of her masterclass musical advice, Ms. Chung Yee remained entertaining and accessible to the audience throughout the session. One student observer noted, “Musically, the class seemed very sophisticated, but I also felt like it was relatively accessible to me as a layperson and fun to watch. I’m so glad I went, because it really was amazing to see someone that passionate and that skilled throw herself into the class and really help these three super talented young musicians.”

Overall, the masterclass with Ms. Chung Yee has been a blessing and benefit to the Piano Trio. Incorporating her helpful suggestions, the group has since performed the Brahms at the Corporation Dinner, Spring Concert, and Parents’ Council Evening with the Head of School.

One member of the Trio specifically remarked “the Masterclass really helped us.

While everyday rehearsal with Mr. Glenn was always productive, being taught by a world-class coach really helped us to play at our maximum level and quality.” The Trio would like to thank the audience, their parents, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Mahoney, Dr. Melvoin, and, of course, Ms. Chung Yee for making the evening possible.☐

Pag e 9

Artist of The Issue: Seamus Clair

By Augustus Lamb Panel Staff

Holly Gettings

Holly Gettings

This issue’s Artist of the Issue is Seamus Clair of the Fourth Form.

Throughout the past four years, Seamus has been an active member of Belmont Hill’s music and theatre community. In Middle School, he sang in the Glee Club and performed in several holiday concerts and shows. Seamus is an esteemed member of the B-Flats and has also acted and sang in numerous plays and musicals at Belmont Hill, performed in coffeehouses, and has a passion for playing the ukulele.

A former vocalist of the group Not the B’s, Seamus has retained his passion for music in the Upper School, as he is finishing his first year as an affiliate of the B-Flats. For Seamus, the B-Flats is a way for him to spend time with friends and be a part of something special while doing something that he loves. In his own words, “B-Flats is a great way of making new friends. Ever yone is on a sports team, but it’s great to be able to do other things and be a part of extracurriculars. It’s something I really enjoy and I would recommend.” Sea-

mus has also performed at seasonal coffeehouses, displaying his singing voice and playing songs with friends.

Another musical talent of Seamus’ is the ukulele. The ukulele is his favorite instrument, and he has been playing it frequently for several years.

Currently starring as Robby the Stockfish in the spring show, Urinetown, a satirical comedy musical with Dana Hall School, Seamus has a long list of plays on his theatre resume. His first show was Beverly Hillbillies back in 2011. In 2012, he appeared in Fiddler on the Roof with several Belmont Hill and Winsor School students. He also was a cast member of The Pajama Game, Chicago, and Twelve Angr y Jurors. To conclude a year of fantastic plays and musicals, Urinetown begins May 15 at Dana Hall School.

Sadly, next year Seamus will not be continuing his tremendous music and theatre career at Belmont Hill. Instead, he will be attending SYA China, a high school study abroad and homestay program. Spending the entire academic year across the globe is an extraordinar y opportunity, and we wish Seamus the best of luck in his upcoming adventure!☐

Holly Gettings

Holly Gettings

Holly Gettings

Students at the Spring Coffeehouse

An Impressive Show of Talent at Ryles

By JP Champa Staff Writer

Executive Editor Brendan Pulsifer

Editors-in-Chief Jake DeCaprio Jay O’Brien

Arts Editor Alex Afeyan

Copy Editors Ishaan Prasad John Markis

Sports Editor Matt Reppucci Photo Editor John Gosselin

Assistant Editors Gus Lamb Evan Ricci Jack Richards Ben Rush

Faculty Advisors David Hegarty Juliette Zener News Editor Jason Fischman Opinion Editor Mack Perry Online Editor Arnav Prasad

The Panel, founded in 1953, is the official school newspaper of the Belmont Hill and Winsor schools. The Panel is the voice of the student body. We publish articles that are of consequence to the students, as well as the school communities. The views expressed in the Panel belong solely to the authors and editors and do not necessarily represent the student body, faculty or administration of either school. Any comment about the content should be addressed directly to the editors. The Panel encourages responsible opinion in the form of Letters to the Editor. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for length and content. Copyright 2015 the Panel. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of the Editor-in-Chief. Printed by the Harvard Crimson, Cambridge, MA 02138.

On the Friday evening of May 1, both the Upper School Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Combo traveled to Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge for a night of music. Under the direction of Mr. Glenn, the bands performed a variety of both jazz and fusion music. This performance was particularly heartfelt, as it was the final concert for seniors Eric Dawson, John Lazor, and Benny Wanger. At 7:00p.m., the doors opened and parents, friends, and teachers filled the room. While dining on BBQ ribs and pulled pork sliders, guests listened to the groups play their best music from the year.

The Jazz Combo kicked off the night with their first set of 3 tunes.

Members included pianist Lucas Jurgensen, bassist Juan Carlos Fernandez del Castillo, guitarist Sean Rayment, drummer Scott Jackson, David Yellen and Jack Richards on alto sax, and William Weiter and Brian Tanabe on tenor sax. They played a variety of jazz classics, including selections by Dizzy Gillespie, Grant Green and Miles Davis.

After a round of applause, the Jazz Band took the stage to perform their first set. It was the first set for guitarist Eric Dawson, Marshall Knight on Bari Sax, Ethan McIlhenny on Tenor

Sax, Mr. Glenn on alto sax, Armin Thomas on trombone, John Lazor, Benny Wanger and John Paul Champa on trumpet. Playing in both the Combo and Ensemble, Scott and Juan Carlos didn’t have much down time between arrangements.

After a short intermission, both bands played their second and final sets of the year. The Combo showed their musical skill with a Above: canoes built by seniors in Mr. Zamore’s Maine Coast Inquiry Course variety of different songs including Sandu, Nice and Easy, and Work Song, complemented by fantastic solos from all members. The Jazz Ensemble then played Brick House, an obvious favorite of the audience, Children of Sanchez, and Take Five.

The evening ended with Mr. Glenn thanking the Ryles staff for the opportunity to play. He also expressed his appreciation to Mr. Patterson for his help both on this night and throughout the year. Lastly, he was grateful to both the parents and especially the students, for both their hard work and commitment to the music program. The jazz ensemble finished out the night with their last rendition of Sticks, an upbeat and energetic song. The crowd loved it and expressed their appreciation for all the performances with a standing ovation.

The evening was a huge success.☐ The Jazz Combo at this year’s Spring Coffeehouse

Matt Reppucci

Holly Gettings

BELMONT HILL OPINION

Pa g e 1 0

The Increasing Value of Language & Classics at Belmont Hill

By Arnav Prasad Panel Staff

In recent years, multilingualism has grown to be regarded as a necessary skill rather than a rare talent around the world.

Within Belmont Hill, there is a

Th e Pan el

“Learning a language, paired with developing an understanding for cultures far different from ours, remains an impressive feat of patience, hard-work, and skill.” at Belmont Hill, it will be important to diversify the options to engage new students. And as for the the Belmont Hill’s language and classics programs, it is clear that students in all forms can benefit from new options for exploration and learning.☐

BELMONT HILL OPINION

Should High School Students Take AP Classes?

Yea

By Alex Afeyan Panel Staff Last year, over two million students took at least one AP course and exam, including more than fifty thousand Massachusetts high schoolers. AP tests widely

the country take each year. In this exam, nearly 50% of the students who took the test last year achieved a 5, and about 65% achieved a 4 or a 5. Although a 5 in this subject may not be as outlying or statistically impressive as a top mark in an exam with lower standouts, the standardized format of the class ensures that the large number of students who did earn a 5 have a high level of un-

Nay

By Jack Richards Panel Staff Every year, thousands of determined high school students enroll in Advanced Placementlevel courses, arguably the most challenging courses in the school.

Furthermore, understanding foreign cultures has become increasingly relevant to the Belmont Hill student body and the professional world. common agreement that adaptability, communication, and a mutual understanding are fundamental traits of a contributing member to any team, workforce, or community. Furthermore, understanding foreign cultures has become increasingly relevant to the Belmont Hill student body and the professional world.

This spring, an optional survey concerning the opinions on each language was distributed to students of every form at Belmont Hill. After stating which language they are currently (or had been) learning, participating students considered four questions: how much they enjoyed their language (on a scale between 1-10), how difficult/challenging they found their language (on a scale between 1-10), why they chose their language (mark all that apply), and their overall experience with languages at Belmont Hill.

Learning a language, paired with developing an understanding for cultures far different from ours, remains an impressive feat of patience, hard-work, and skill. Furthermore, such an accomplishment is increasingly recognized by colleges and employers. With many interested students having addressed the value of being a part of their language and classics departments

May 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

consist of highly regulated courses with uniform curricula throughout the United States. These standardized exams provide a completely unbiased way of comparing the achievement of students in a given subject. For example, last year over two hundred thousand students from across America took AP Biology, an offered class for sophomores at Belmont Hill. Of these national students, just fourteen thousand (6.6%) achieved a top score of a 5, clearly separating the standout students, giving an easily interpretable statistic to colleges considering a potential applicant.

Another example occurs in Calculus BC, an AP usually taken by Belmont Hill seniors, which over a hundred thousand high school students from across

derstanding of Calculus sufficient to excel in the subject in college.

The challenge for schools that decide to do away with the AP system is establishing the same value and reputation for an advanced course as defined by the school.

Although a school like Belmont Hill has built a high level of trust with elite colleges like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, a shift from the AP system to what Belmont Hill defines as “advanced courses” would necessitate a significant amount of evidence in order to prove that the classes offered truly match or exceed the difficulty of an AP Exam. The ease of comparison provided by AP exams, as well as the assured difficulty of the tests, make the AP system superior to other options.☐

At Belmont Hill, many students choose an AP class simply because it is the most difficult; unlike many other schools, especially larger and/or public schools, there are no honors-level classes for subjects such as history, science, and some languages - only regular and AP. Although some students hope to test their academic skills, often times they choose an AP course hoping for a “5” on the exam, which will look good to colleges and exempt them from some college classes. Ironically, more and more colleges, such as Columbia and Brown, no longer accept any AP scores as a means of testing out of a class, understanding that an impressive exam grade does not necessarily reflect a student’s talents in the subject.

As students cram shallow, bulk learning over the course of a year for a prescribed exam, they force themselves to ephemerally learn as much as possible; as soon as the exam is over, the relieved students often forget the material which they had spent the year learning. A recent Dartmouth study revealed that 90% of 100+ high school seniors who scored a 5 on the AP Psych exam, expecting to be exempted from the college course, failed an entry-level, APstyle Psych exam the following fall.

Since each and every student who participates in these rigorous classes is subject to identical syllabi and exams, teachers across the country are limited in what they can teach. Educators, feeling a growing strain to assure that they do not stray too far from the set material, must curtail fruitful class discussions to adhere to the course guidelines. In addition, the College Board changes the AP syllabus often, restricting teachers in what they can explore in the classroom, as they must spend precious time adapting to the whole new curriculum and exam.

Yet another issue presents itself in the form of Belmont Hilloffered AP classes; the school is only able to offer a fraction of the AP courses that are available every year. Although this may be due to the size of the school or other factors, students are limited to choose from only the most essential AP classes, such as chemistry, European and U.S. history, and BC calculus. The school, moreover, has not yet deeply committed itself to the AP curricula due to the small number of APs offered, allowing for a fairly easy and smooth transition to an APfree curriculum. Indeed, some of the original schools to adopt AP’s, such as Andover and Exeter, have questioned the reliability of the system; Exeter and Pomfret School have recently decided to completely drop AP’s, while Andover is only retaining a select few.

Clearly there are drawbacks to AP courses that outnumber the benefits. With these considerations, Belmont Hill should consider dropping most or all APs in favor of a BH-specialized, flexible, and equally rigorous level of courses.☐

Pag e 1 1

Vanilla or Chocolate?

In this issue of the Panel, we are continuing our feature debate between Form V students Jay O’Brien and Gabe Schmittlein. After The Panel is released, a poll will be sent out to assess the student body’s views on the topic at hand. These results will be published in the subsequent issue along with a brand new talking point. So without further ado, we present the fifth debate—vanilla vs. chocolate

Team Vanilla

By Gabe Schmittlein Panel Staff I had avoided this debate for months, because arguing with Jay about taste buds is like debating over who has more luscious hair -- it’s pointless, and I’d win without a doubt. However, as the idea of debating vanilla vs. chocolate brewed in my head for the last few weeks, I realized

that there is merit in debating the topic, for the argument itself transcends simple genetics. I am not a vanilla supporter because I was given some hereditar y gene labeled “you shall like vanilla.” In fact, to dispel the notion that the vanilla vs. chocolate debate could be solved by simply analyzing genetics, I will mention that my dad is actually a zealous chocolate fan.

He also likes eating radishes, so can we really trust him?

Thus, here I am, about to tell you why vanilla is better than chocolate; let’s begin…

Ever ybody knows that when we’re discussing vanilla vs. chocolate, we’re talking mainly in terms of ice cream.

Sure, I could do some re-

search and find all the dishes that have vanilla in them and Jay could do the same with chocolate, but that’s not what the people pay to read. The people pay to see the heavy hitters, and there’s no heavier hitter (that’s a double entendre, because ice cream is both world-renowned and a good way to become heavier) than the refreshing delicacy that we call ice cream.

For starters, let me

say that plain chocolate ice cream is absolutely Busch League when compared with plain vanilla ice cream. If I wanted to eat something that was unfathomably bitter and had the consistency of a sponge, I’d eat Jay’s side of the debate, because it’s bitter and full of holes. Boom. Roasted.

Vanilla, on the other hand, has that smooth texture that is complemented so perfectly by its delicate sweetness.

The real value in vanilla ice cream, though, comes with its adaptability. For all you math studs out there, I like to call it the common denominator of the ice cream world. There simply are not any ice cream toppings or alternate ice cream

Team Chocolate flavors that will not mix well with vanilla. At times we may not even notice that vanilla ice cream is the base of so many classic flavors, but upon further research the evidence is countless. All of Oreo, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, the Americone Dream, French Vanilla, and Moose Tracks are built up from the foundation that is vanilla ice cream.

Sure, chocolate plays a role in

several of those flavors, and it is true that I enjoy chocolate in small quantities, but I will embark on a heated argument with anyone who would proclaim chocolate to be the main ingredient in the aforementioned flavors.

If a bowl of some arbitrar y ice cream flavor were to be described in Hollywood terms, chocolate would be that forgettable cast member while vanilla would be Leonardo DiCaprio. I don’t necessarily dislike chocolate, I just think it’s less important, and so does Leonardo DiCaprio.

Just like Leo desperately deser ves to win an Oscar, vanilla undoubtedly deser ves to win this debate. It’s in your hands now. Vote vanilla.☐

Results from Last Debate LOTR - 47

40%

Star Wars - 72

60%

Advantage: Star Wars

While some people argue that everyone is entitled to their opinion, in the case of the chocolate vs. vanilla, there is only one correct opinion. Plain and simple.

The clear answer for this outrageous debate is chocolate. There’s not even a doubt in my mind. A person’s stance on chocolate vs. vanilla certainly says a lot about that individual, where those that are pro-chocolate tend to make good decisions in life and enjoy

and thinking, “Yikes...This kid has a vanilla cake. Well, the friendship was fun while it lasted…” True story. Chocolate birthday cakes are simply rich in taste in comparison to the vanilla cakes, and the same is true for cupcakes. I mean, I’ve been on this Earth for 16 years, and I still don’t really know where vanilla comes from. Is it a bean like chocolate? Does one grow vanilla? If so, how does one grow vanilla? I would look it up, but I don’t feel that such a boring flavor deserves my time. Speaking of boring flavors, vanilla pudding

taking educated risks (that has been proven by scientists, look it up). On the other hand, Google defines the word vanilla as “having no special or extra features: standard or ordinary.” Now I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love when the foods that I eat contain lots and lots of “standard” with a touch of “ordinary” (just kidding, that sounds terrible). For those who still need convincing, I feel that it is important to list the abundance of tasty and financially successful brands of food that contain chocolate, as well as describe the rich taste that has made chocolate a Hall-of-Fame-caliber flavor.

There are certainly many types of foods that allow people to choose between vanilla and chocolate, the main examples being cupcakes, birthday cakes, pudding, and ice cream. I distinctly remember going to a kids birthday party back in elementary school,

is a dishonor to the pudding game, and I am simply unable to understand the thought process behind buying vanilla pudding over chocolate, especially when chocolate pudding tastes as good as it does.

Chocolate has also made a name for itself in the candy industry, where chocolate has singlehandedly allowed for the creation of incredible chocolate bars like Crunch, Snickers, and 3 Musketeers. I almost feel bad for the candy companies that try and sell vanilla forms of their product, such as golden Oreos (yikes). Plus, one can eat chocolate in liquid form (hot chocolate), syrup form, cookie form, chip form, and even mousse form. Vanilla simply can not keep up with chocolate’s ability to cover all of the different spectrums for food. Chocolate’s versatility and overall taste quality creates a wellrounded flavor that is clearly superior to that of vanilla. Debate over.☐

By Jay O’Brien Panel Staff

Pa g e 1 2

L ast L o ok

The Mystery of Doc Fast’s Missing Keys

Email 1: Stanndard SOS email here from Doc Fast. He seems to have lost the keys to his Miata. Not sure when or where he lost them. As far as we know, he may have lost them back in 1969 while rocking out to Jimi Hendricks at Woodstock.

Email 2: Veteran move here

by Doc, providing us with some specifics as to where or when he might have lost the keys.

Woodstock seems unlikely. Spoiler alert - we have a clever bit of foreshadowing when Doc Fast includes that he travelled from “Melvoin AC to my classroom.”

Brillliant work by Doc to layer his text with such advanced literary devices.

Email 3: He’s found the keys!

Without a doubt enthralling and wellwritten mystery stories I’ve read. YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THE SUPPORT DOC:|:).

Th e Pan el

Pats Season Predictions

Bye Week