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Hackley School, Tarrytown, NY 10591
W d ee I nh ta ht ’is s i inss si u W h a t ’Duty s i nInsNeed i d eof Reform? .3 Is Lunch Opinion p- p.2 W a t ’Talks s i nPhilanthropy, s i d e Triathlons, & More Feature p- p.7 .3 Mr.hRizzi
The voice of the student body November 23, 2015
hsdial.org
Hackley Unveils Plans for New Round Health and Wellness Center Square in
Singapore By Alexi Sandhu
Sketch courtesty of Architechtural Resources Cambridge Newly released sketch of new Health and Wellness Center design located opposite Pickert Field and to be completed by 2018.
By Hunter Freedman
Hackley is about to get another major facelift. The next project on the Hilltop is the construction of a state-of-the-art Health and Wellness Center. While the project was announced already, administration has just started showing members of the community some of the plans for the new center. Assistant Headmasters Phil Variano and Steve Bileca and Director of Community Wellbeing, Charles Colten are the administrators in charge of this
innovative project, and based on the plans and ideas behind the design, this building is sure to be Hackley’s best investment to date. Recently, Hackley has taken new initiatives in its approach to health and wellness. “As an important aspect of our approach, Hackley created the position of Director of Community Wellbeing. To that end, Mr. Colten was hired 18 months ago and has been very successful in advancing new programs and initiatives which are already taking place in a variety of ways,” said Mr. Bileca.
The Health and Wellness Center came about from the bequest of the estate of Ethel Allen. The Allen family donated three paintings, including a Monet, which auctioned off in 2012 for $43 million. “The family’s request was that the school design and construct a first-class Health and Wellness facility to enhance the physical and emotional wellness of the community,” said Mr. Variano. For all of the outstanding athletes at Hackley, this cutting edge center fencing, Continued on page 8
On September 28th, Hackley’s six student delegates, sophomores Hunter Freedman, Kioni Marshall, Hallie Robin, Julia StewartWood, Will Zhou, and I, along with Assistant Headmaster Steve Bileca and math teacher Karen Casper embarked on a journey to Singapore to represent Hackley at the 2015 Round Square International Conference (RSIC). RSIC consists of schools all around the globe. Each conference focuses on an aspect of one of Round Square’s IDEALS (Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership, Service) — this year’s RSIC focused on Sustainability and the motto “Act Today, Change Tomorrow.” Our trip lasted two weeks, with a four day pre-trip in Malaysia, followed by the six day conference in Singapore at the United World College of South East Asia (UWC). UWC is a group of schools all over the world run by the same organisation, with two campuses located in Singapore. The students returned early on the morning of Friday, October 9th. After an almost 22-hour trip we arrived in Singapore early Saturday morning, but it most definitely did not feel like morning with the 12-hour time difference we experienced. Singapore is one of the last remaining “citystates” in the world — the country is literally just one big city. While we were there, we went sight-seeing and were able to see a few temples, ate some unique food, and walked around what we thought was “Chinatown” until we collapsed in our hotel beds for a night of restful sleep. On Sunday, we went to the Singapore Zoo and Little India before saying goodbye to Singapore and leaving for Continued on page 8
Social Media Shapes New Era for Teens By Bridget Barsanti
We all know the drill. Get home, grab a snack, check your phone. Eat dinner, do homework, check your phone. It is now a second nature for people to be constantly connected online. Whether it be Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat, social media can be all-consuming. Teenagers are especially attached to the virtual world, undeniably affecting their day to day experiences. As more and more apps hit the shelves that are designed to encourage interaction, teenagers receive additional pressure from their “friends” or “followers” to fit in and change the way they express themselves according to what these people “like”. As the modern teen’s daily routine becomes more impacted by social media, some consider it to be an obsession, and what causes the lack of productivity that exists within this “online” generation. According to a study of 102 students by Johnson & Wales University, 57% of students stated that social media has made them less productive. “It is a big part of my life...the rise of social media has taken over a lot of my down time,” said freshman Maddie White. Furthermore, a study by Ohio State University concluded that college students who use Facebook spend less time on studying and have lower grades than those who do not use social media. Similar time constraints affect Hackley students as well. “It encompasses my
life and just about everyone else’s lives growing up in our generation a lot, and probably more than it should,” said senior Kelly Saxton. Sophomore Grace Rubin agreed with Kelly’s statement, but in a more positive manner. “It is not a major part but I like that it can capture the important moments in my life and the exciting things and I can look back on them and be all nostalgic and be like ‘aww I remember that,’” said Grace. Anthony Wagner of Stanford University researched such mental responses to posts on social media. “Each time we get a message of text, our dopamine reward circuits probably get activated since the desire for social connection is so wired into us,” Wagner stated. People also create routines for themselves in social media, using specific patterns on when and what they post to ensure the best possible response. “I post pictures with people so then if someone looks at my profile they will be like ‘oh, he has friends.’ And then I guess kind of just showing who you are through those photos,” said sophomore Eli Hankin. Students also reported a pressure to post their most positive selves online.“I want to seem fun, I don’t want to one of those people who always look depressed looking out the window, I want for it to seem like I do exciting things,” said sophomore Grace Rubin. Many students dedicate a lot of time Continued on page 7
Photo by Robert Hallock A typical sight to see amongst today’s teens: a laser focus on technology rather than in-person contact.