October 2010 Chronicle

election2010

As election time rolls around again, alumni, faculty and students get involved in campaigns, some seniors prepare for their debut voting experience and AP Government and Politics classes closely follow contested races.

A8-A9 Oct. 14, 2010

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Harvard-Westlake School Los Angeles, CA Volume XX Issue III chronicle.hw.com

Wishing tree aims to promote gay tolerance

SPORTSWatch

Joining a nationwide effort to curb discrimination based on sexual orientation, the Gay Straight Alliance will set up a tree of support and remembrance in the quad.

By Lara Sokoloff

MaxPreps ranks girls’ volleyball 1st in nation

By Charlton Azuoma The girls’ volleyball team is ranked number one in the nation by MaxPreps.com as of last Sunday.

The team has a win percentage of .923, an overall record 12 wins and a single loss to Marymount High School.

The team has defeated many highly ranked teams to earn their spot at number one, including beating both La Costa Canyon and Assumption High School in the Durango Fall Classic Tournament, where the team took first place.

“There’s never pressure to perform because we don’t think about that… we only think about getsee volleyball, C5

bump, set, spike: Christina Higgins ’11 hits the ball over the net in the Wolverines’ win over Bishop Montgomery (top). Anne Cohen ’11 digs (bottom).

Austin Lewis ’11 has been nominated by the school for the Morehead-Cain scholarship, while Christopher Holthouse’11 was nominated for the Jefferson Scholarship and Melanie Borinstein ’11, Catherine Wang ’11 and Tiana Woolridge ’11 received nominations for the Robertson scholarship. All three scholarships are merit-based and include at least tuition and enrichment opportunities.

These five students were selected by a board made up of deans and other members of the administration. Each dean presented students who they believed were eligible for each scholarship. These students were then narrowed down and voted upon in order to determine who

see GSA Tree, A5

photos by daniel kim/Chronicle

Deans nominate prefects, athletes for Duke, UNC, UVA scholarships

By Chloe Lister

After the recent suicides of gay teenagers across the country, the Gay-Straight Alliance is raising awareness and showing support for gay students through a wishing tree in the quad beginning next week, club adviser and Visual Arts department head Cheri Gaulke said.

On Oct. 3, a 30-year-old man and two male teenagers were kidnapped and harassed in the Bronx by a group of nine young adults, better known as the Latin King Goonies, the New York Times said last Friday.

After the gang forced both teenagers to admit to having had sexual encounters with the older man, gang members forced one of the boys to attack the man as they stood by cheering and shouting gay slurs. New York City officials and the police called it “the worst antigay case in recent memory,” the New York Times reported.

The incident followed multiple gay suicides as a result of bullying and harassment by their peers. Seth Walsh, 13, of Tehachapi, Calif. hung himself in his backyard last month, unable to live with the constant taunting and abuse from his classmates. Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate live streamed a video of a sexual encounter of him with another man in his dorm room. Billy Lucas of Greensburg, Ind., 15, hung himself after facing relentless criticism at school. Thirteen-year-old Asher Brown of Houston shot himself after perpetual harassment by his classmates.

Harvard-Westlake was faced with its own harassment case last May when an anonymous homophobic threatening note was left in an openly gay student’s backpack. The incident led to the revival of the GSA, which held a large meeting in response to the note to spread awareness and rally support.

Club member Anders Villalta ’12 felt strongly that he had to do something in response to the tragedies

would be nominated.

“Once we present where they are in terms of their curriculum and performance in that curriculum, their leadership, their integrity and their personal qualities, it usually becomes pretty clear which ones rise to the top,” Dean Sharon Cuseo said.

Morehead-Cain The Morehead-Cain Scholarship is given by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Applicants must demonstrate moral force of character, scholarship, physical vigor, and leadership.

Lewis is a Prefect and runs on the cross country and track teams.

“He just has a rigorous curriculum; see scholarships, A7

INSIDE paying the bill:

When families fail to pay tuition on time, the Business Office takes action.

A6

On The bandwagon:

Hordes of students have taken to wearing Silly Bandz bracelets, colorful rubber bands that come in a variety of shapes.

B12

A2preview

The Chronicle Thursday, Oct. 14 2010 Volume XX Issue III

Elana Zeltser/Chronicle

learning from the master: Jazz saxophonist Bob Mintzer instructs Jazz students during a Master Class session Tuesday. Minzter played for the jazz

news

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class and helped them improve technique in the Master session. Mintzer, a 13-time Grammy nominee, Mintzer plays with the jazz rock band Yellowjackets.

Students and parents test a new surgical robot while visiting Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

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New smartpens that record class lectures lead to controversy.

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Harvard-Westlake pays over $5,500 to host students from local high schools for ACT, SAT.

sanjana kucheria/Chronicle

features+a&e B4

Traffic court allows student drivers to challenge a citation. One student shares her personal experience in the judicial system.

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Short films from Video Art classes will be screened in Ahmanson during Homecoming.

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Eric Myerson ‘98 is nominated for an editing Emmy for the documentary Whale Wars.

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By Joyce Kim

The Country Gentlefolk Club, founded

by Roy Murdock ’11, Rafael Osorio ’11 and Robert Vega ’11, is the newest nature loving, storm hunting, and chillin ’n’ grillin’ club on the upper school campus.

“What we mean is that grilling is an activity that separates the boys from the ‘country gentlemen,’ so to speak,” Osorio said, “But the club isn’t just limited to males. Anyone who is interested is welcome to join.”

Besides the founders, George Sandler ’11 and Haley Lucitt ’11 are in the process of coordinating events for the club, such a mountain biking and hiking trips.

“We planned a camping trip to Lake Isabella and we really enjoyed the experience.

We loved being away from the frenzied city lifestyle, and want to give other HarvardWestlake students the opportunity to do something similar,” Osorio said. “One trip we’re thinking of doing is a storm hunting trip in Oklahoma with [science teacher Dietrich] Schuhl.”

The club’s main focus is to emphasize community and take the time to enjoy nature, while of course, making sure the grill is on.

“There’s no better way to embrace a brother than to serve him a perfectly grilled patty on a toasted bun after a day’s hike,” Osorio said.

printed with permission of eric myerson

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

C4

Varsity field hockey is undefeated and ranked first in the Mission League.

New Beginnings

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Varsity water polo was forced to forfeit its first league game.

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Q&A with volleyball star Christina Higgins ’11 and varsity football quarterback Max Heltzer ’11.

English Department Chair Larry Weber and wife Devorah Brous welcomed daugher Sela Brous-Weber on Sept. 21.

President Thomas Hudnut welcomed his second grandchild, Louise (Lulu) on Sept. 20.

Oct. 14, 2010

News A3

The

Chronicle

Annual wellness clinic benefits school faculty

By Ingrid Chang In order to save faculty and staff money and a trip to the doctor, Harvard-Westlake hosted its annual Wellness Clinics at both the Upper School and Middle School. The services, provided by Concentra, a national health care company that supplies comprehensive health services to employers, are part of the faculty and staff healthcare plan and are funded by the school’s medical budget.

“Employers don’t usually offer this much free service to everybody,” Concentra Regional Manager for On-Site Services Joanna Charman said.

“It just makes it very easy for everybody and makes sure they get everything done,” Director of Personnel Marty Greco said.

At the clinic at the Upper School Oct. 5 in Chalmers East and in Bing Auditorium at the Middle School on Oct. 6, staff from Concentra set up tables and booths to administer vaccinations and blood tests.

This is the second year Harvard-Westlake worked with Concentra on the Wellness Clinic.

“About 80 percent of the staff and faculty take advantage of the blood screenings or some form of immunization at the health fairs,” Personnel Assistant Nicole Ryan said.

The services offered include the Tuberculosis test, flu vaccination, Hepatitis A and B vaccinations, Shingles vaccination, Tetanus and whooping cough vaccinations, bone density screenings, carotid artery ultrasounds, colo-rectal cancer home tests and vision tests. None of the vaccinations or tests were required except the Tuberculosis test, which is required by law for school teachers.

Faculty and staff chose which services they wanted.

Flu and whooping cough vaccinations and the blood tests were most popular. Of the 316 Upper School and Middle School faculty and staff eligible to receive

treatments, 160 received the flu vaccination, 151 received the whooping cough vaccination and 156 had blood drawn.

This year, the combined Tetanus and whooping cough vaccination was added to the list of vaccinations offered, since the Department of Public Health has recommended that all Californians get it due to the whooping cough epidemic.

“The whooping cough vaccine is a good thing to get but it’s not necessarily something that I would have gotten if it weren’t here,” Latin teacher Derek Wilairat said.

Ryan said that the clinic is helpful to faculty and staff because it saves them both money and time, and provides vaccinations that some would not get on their own.

“They don’t have to take time off of work to do it,” Ryan said.” If we didn’t offer these things here, a lot of them wouldn’t get it.”

“It’s really nice that they do this for us because otherwise you have to go to the doctor to get a blood panel done, which is really expensive; it’s about $500,” Visual Arts teacher Nancy Popp said.

A benefit of the clinic from the administration’s point of view is that they are keeping their staff and faculty healthy. The convenience of the clinic allows them to be sure that everyone gets their tests and vaccinations done, and they can do it all at one time.

“Also, if somebody has a problem, they can find out and go to the doctor, whereas if they are not sure they may just put it off and not take care of it,” Greco said.

“It’s great for one, you don’t have to go make a doctor’s appointment, and two, it’s free,” English teacher Geri Harding said.

Healthy Habits The following treatments were offered by the Wellness Clinics at the Middle and Upper campuses.

Approximately 80 percent of faculty participated in the health clinic.

Vaccinations

The clinic provided vaccinations for Hepatitis A and B, Shingles, Flu, Tetanus and whooping cough.

Bone density screening

The x-ray test diagnoses osteoperosis and predicts risk of fracture.

Carotid artery ultrasound

The test provides images of the bloodflow in neck’s arteries.

Tuberculosis test

The law requires school teachers to take the skin test, which indicates if the person has ever had tuberculosis.

Vision test

Vision acuity tests measure the patient’s near and farsightedness.

Colo-rectal cancer home test The test screens the patient for colon cancer.

source: webmd.com graphic by eli haims and rebecca nussbaum

School overturns policy requiring photo purchase

By Sajjan Sri-Kumar

mike bietz

motion to adjourn: Julie Engel ’14, Shelby Heitner ’14, Michael O’Krent ’14, Michelle Lee ’14 and Annie Kors ’14, from left, take a break at the Cal-State Long Beach tournament. This was their first high school tournament.

Debate team wins in Iowa invitationals, moves forward

By David Lim

and

Ana Scuric

Lincoln-Douglas debaters will head off this weekend to the St. Mark School’s Heart of Texas Invitational in Dallas and The New York City Invitational at The Bronx High School of Science.

Both tournaments are among the most competitive in the country and will be attended by eight members of the debate team.

Earlier this month, one of the eight debaters, Michelle Choi ’12, reached the semifinals of the Mid-America Cup at West Des Moines Valley High School.

She was the youngest of the four debaters who reached that round and received a bid to the Tournament of Champions.

Two bids must be acquired by reaching higher rounds of important tournaments to be invited to the Tournament of Champions, which is considered the most prestigious tournament in the national debate circuit.

Brendan Gallagher ’13 was in contention for a bid when he reached octofinals but lost his round and was eliminated from the Mid-America Cup tournament.

The team has swelled in size this

year to around 40 participating members.

“We have kids that are both successful nationally and also a bunch of new kids sort of coming up which will hopefully build stronger tradition,” debate coach Mike Bietz said.

Earlier this month, most members of the team attended the Long Beach Tournament on Oct. 2 and 3. It was the first major tournament for the freshman debaters on the team in the Lincoln-Douglas format of debate.

“Lincoln-Douglas and middle school debate are so different, because in Lincoln-Douglas debate, you only have yourself to rely on rather than debating with two other teammates,” Julie Engel ’14, a former middle school debater said. “But I like it better because it is up to you to win or lose, and everything you accomplish is all on your own merits.”

Engel won second place in the tournament after losing in the final round. This is the third year in a row that Harvard-Westlake has made it to the finals and lost at this particular tournament.

Another freshman debater, Annie Koors ’14, made it to semifinals at her debut in Lincoln-Douglas debate and ranked in the top four out of the 160 competing debaters.

Students are not required to buy prints of their yearbook pictures, after the school decided to reverse its policy.

The school had always required students to have their picture taken for the yearbook, but the school had never required students to purchase prints of those photos.

This year, the school was planning to charge all students $26 for a basic package of prints of the photos, which were taken in late September. The policy shift was brought to the attention of Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin by The Chronicle.

Levin subsequently called a meeting with Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra, Head of Middle School Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau, Yearbook Adviser Jen Bladen, Director of Student Financial Affairs Patti Snodgrass and Executive Assistant to the Head of School Emily Kennedy.

The school decided to allow families to opt out of purchasing prints if they do not wish to purchase them, Levin said.

He said that families would be e-mailed soon to ask if they would like to decline the prints.

The initial plan to require all students to purchase prints grew out of a desire to streamline the process and to leave little room for error, Kennedy said.

Kennedy also said that in past years, parents found it hard to figure out how many photos to order before they had seen them.

This way, Kennedy said, families can see what the photos look like first and order more if they wish.

The package of prints includes one five-by-seven print and a set of wallet prints.

The package also includes retouching for the photographs. In previous years, students who bought prints could also elect to have their photos retouched.

Kennedy said that Nathanson’s Photography, the company hired by the school to take photos, said that most families

chose to have their photos retouched last year, so the school had decided to charge everyone for the retouching as part of the streamlining process.

Students who paid to have their photos retouched had both the prints they paid for as well as the photos that appeared in the yearbook retouched, Nathanson’s photographer Cliff Cramer said.

Those who did not purchase photos or did not specifically pay for retouching had their original shots printed, so the yearbook has always consisted of a mix of retouched and original photos.

Students who decline prints will have their unedited photos printed in the yearbook, as in years past, since the photographers are not being paid to retouch the prints and the school’s yearbook staff does not retouch the photos.

Before reversing its policy, the school had decided to notify parents of the mandatory charge via a posting on the hw.com parent portal.

The receptionists at both campuses were given a paragraph explanation of the new system in case parents had questions. Kennedy said that the administration elected not to notify parents via e-mail as the school tries “not to bombard parents with e-mails.”

There was no effort to notify students themselves, Kennedy said.

She said that they felt that since parents are ultimately responsible for paying the bill, there was no need to let students know as well.

As a result, many students did not know much about the policy to require families to buy photos, which, in combination with the fact that many photographers were also unclear about the policy, led to confusion on picture day.

Oscar Beer ’12 and Alejandra Reynoso ’12 were taking their pictures, when Beer asked one of the photographers if students were being charged.

Reynoso said that after checking with another photographer, the photographer came back and replied that there was no charge except the “smile on your face.”

A4 News

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Kutler Center targets 2012 completion date

By Daniel Rothberg

Sanjana Kucheria/chronicle

surgical robot: Dr. Chester Koh ’87, Director of the Pediatric Robotic Surgery Program at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, demonstrates techniques needed to operate the da Vinci robot.

Science group tests 3-armed surgical robot

By Rebecca Nussbaum Director of the Pediatric Robotic Surgery Program at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Dr. Chester Koh ’87 demonstrated a da Vinci robot to students, teachers, and parents on Sept. 29.

Koh demonstrated techniques to operate the robot to science teachers Krista McClain, Stephanie Quan and Walt Werner, and 11 students.

Afterwards, everyone had five minutes to test drive the three armed robot, Sanjana Kucheria ’12, who organized the event, said.

They also attempted to put rubber bands around different shaped figures, suture, or tie surgical knots, using the robot.

The da Vinci robot enables surgeons “to perform complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with extreme precision,” the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles website stated.

The three science teachers informed students from Human Antatomy and Physiology, Advanced Placement Chemistry, Genetics and

Biotechnology, Honors Chemistry, and the robotics club of the opportunity. The students who went were very interested in science, McClain said.

“No one was timid and shy,” she said. “They really got in there and tried it on their own.”

The group also saw videos of doctors using the da Vinci robot to perform surgeries. A representative of Intuitive Surgical, the company that produces the robots, told the students that there are 1,400 of their robots in American hospitals, Kucheria said.

The students also saw the plans for the New Hospital Building, a 460,000 square foot addition to the Childrens Hospital that will open next summer.

They saw six newborns in the Center for Newborn and Infant Critical Care.

Although children are not delivered at the hospital, infants in critical condition are referred to CHLA by other hospitals in the Los Angeles area.

McClain said that she hopes to bring another group of students to the Childrens Hospital to see the robot during second semester.

By January 2012, the new independent research and interdisciplinary studies department should be operational if plans go as hoped, Director of Upper School Master Planning John Feulner said.

The Kutler Center for Independent Research and Interdisciplinary Studies, known as IRIS, will include three new classrooms and one office, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said.

All humanities classes as well as the Independent Studies program and the directed studies program will be centralized under the purview of IRIS by Fall 2011.

“Since those usually involve either intensive study or research, they fit under the mission of what the new department and center is about,” history teacher Larry Klein, who will chair the center, said.

The center is named in memory of Brendan Kutler ’10, who died in his sleep last December.

Jon and Sarah Kutler’s lead gift will fund the project, which will include a complete renovation of the Mudd Library to make space for the department’s new home. Those involved in plans for the Kutler Center said that they hope to construct the facility as a physical bridge between the third floor of Seaver and the top floor of the library.

“I think it will bring the library into the traffic flow of the campus a little more if there is the opening to Seaver,” Head Librarian Shannon Acedo said. “Anything that makes it easier for kids to get here and increases access to the library is a positive in my mind.”

After the Upper School Building Committee heard presentations from several architects this summer, Lester Tobias (Bryce ’10) was contracted as the architect for the project, Feulner said.

The Upper School Design Committee, which is comprised of trustees and Harvard-Westlake personnel, will be meeting soon with Tobias to review ideas for the center and finalize design, Feulner said.

“We are hopeful that we can meet the [January 2012] goal,” Feulner said. “That’s what we are going to shoot for.”

One goal for renovating the Mudd library is to modernize the facility.

“Our modernized 21st century library will still contain books, but there will also be dedicated space for collaborative work, and additional computer portals for completing online research,” Huybrechts said in a letter last June about the center.

In addition to constructing the center, the school is also focused on building a curriculum for the new department.

“This shouldn’t proceed in a strictly linear fashion,” Huybrechts said. “Otherwise, nothing’s ever going to get done.”

Klein said that the format of the Independent Studies and Directed Studies programs will not change from its current setup.

In addition, Klein said that the department will coordinate internship opportunities for students.

“I’m looking forward to the idea that we will have an institutional infrastructure both physically and curricularly that will embody the spirit of Brendan, which was exploring knowledge for knowledge sake and not being bound by the structure of our traditional department set up,” Klein said.

Klein said that IRIS will develop original courses to incorporate into the curriculum in the future.

“Down the road, it’s anticipated that we will add new courses or have existing courses modify what they do,” Klein said.

“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to develop courses that give students the opportunity to do some independent research on their own,” Huybrechts said. “If every single student graduates from this school having done one independent research project of some sort, I think that would be a great gift for our students.”

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There are still spots open for students who want to spend winter break on a Panama Canal cruise as part of the first Semester at Sea program for high school students. The Brendan Kutler Foundation is awarding four scholarships to students who are interested in the trip.

According to Father J. Young, who will be chaperoning the voyage with his wife, only one student has submitted a formal application. There are 10 spots in the program and Young said that five students must commit to the program in order for the school to be able to participate.

The program will allow participants to take classes aboard a ship and stop at various countries in Central America.

Students who want to participate need to submit a formal application to Young.

“We were approached by the Semester at Sea folks, but prior to that the school

was familiar with and impressed by the program,” Young said.

The ship will travel along the Panama Canal and make stops in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Belize. Most days, the ship will be docked and students will have various opportunities to learn about the country they are visiting.

“In port, students will have several options to choose from – some historical, some art related, some environmental, etc,” Young said.

Other schools that are planning to participate in the high school version of Semester at Sea this year are Derryfield School in Manchester, N.H., High Tech High International in San Diego, Marlborough School in Los Angeles, Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J., and Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Kamuela, Hawaii. The cruise will start Dec. 15 and end Jan. 4.

Oct. 14, 2010

News A5

The

Chronicle

Prefects alter Spirit Week events, games

By Caitie Benell and Emily Khaykin

Chloe lister/chronicle

speaking out: Gabe Benjamin ’11 informs GSA club members about the logistics of the Tree of Remembrance and Support at the club’s weekly meeting on Monday. Students can begin writing wishes and pledges in the quad beginning on Tuesday.

Tree of remembrance and support to commemorate harassment victims from GSA TREE A1 and approached club presidents Danielle Strassman ’11 and Gabe Benjamin ’11 to ask for suggestions as to what he should do.

Visual Arts teacher and club adviser Nancy Popp and Gaulke were inspired to adapt the tradition of a wishing tree after seeing it at a Yoko Ono concert recently, Gaulke said. The traditional wishing tree commemorates a Japanese summer holiday. Participants are to write their wish for the year and hang it on the tree, creating a visually stimulating symbol, Benjamin said.

“None of us knew these students who committed suicide,” Gaulke said. “But, their actions are heartbreaking. Each of us wishes we had been there for them, to tell them it’s okay to be gay.”

From far away, the pieces of paper hanging on the tree give the illusion of the tree blossoming; from a closer perspective, the papers become clearer and it morphs into a supportive pledge tree, Benjamin said.

“We all know someone who identifies LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth] and so we all know someone who has suffered discrimination for identifying [as] LGBTQ,” Popp said. “As our school community understands this, they will decide to sincerely contribute to the tree, and it will really ‘blossom.’ It’s a true human ‘family tree.’”

Students are to pledge their support on pieces of paper provided by the club; on one side, students can dedicate their pledges in memory of a friend, family member, or one of the teens that have recently taken their own lives. On the other side, they are to write a pledge, such as, “I will not use antiLGBTQ language or slurs. I will intervene, if I safely can, in situations where students are being harassed. I will support efforts to end bullying and harassment,” Strassman and Benjamin said in their plan submitted to the Planning Committee on Friday.

The club said it hopes that the tree will provide students

with the opportunity to express themselves in an open and public way and to spread awareness about the suicides.

“We hope it allows students to see things outside of the Harvard-Westlake bubble,” Strassman said.

“It’s a nice symbol that allows the campus to come together in support of the suicides,” Benjamin said.

Gaulke added that a primary goal of the tree is to ensure that this sort of “senseless death” does not happen again, not at Harvard-Westlake or anywhere else.

“I hope that the act of declaring one’s own intentions will be a powerful reminder to members of our community that each and every one of us can make a difference, that our acceptance and support of LGBTQ youth is a life-saving gesture,” Gaulke said.

Representatives from the GSA spoke to junior and senior class meetings on Monday and Tuesday to inform them about the tree. The club members explained that why the club is planning to set up the tree, and also emphasized the gravity of this issue. Next week, Oct. 18-22, is National Ally Week. According to allyweek.org, Ally Week was created to unify the work of Gay Straight Alliances all over the country by encouraging students to ally against bullying and harassment in schools. In honor of Ally Week, the GSA is encouraging students to wear purple on Oct. 20. Because October is LGBTQ history month, the club hopes to plan a week-long event featuring speakers and increasing awareness, Strassman and Benjamin said.

Dan Savage, a columnist based in Seattle, has started a YouTube channel titled “It Gets Better,” featuring gay adults who tell their personal stories about how their life has drastically improved since their teenage years.The channel is designed to instill a sense of hope in bullied teens, that despite the hardships that they are forced to endure now as openly gay teens, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Savage said in The New York Times on Oct. 3.

“This will be a beautiful and powerful symbol of the commitment we have to celebrating our students,” Benjamin and Strassman said.

School, Fanatics debate fan behavior

By Austin Block

and

Shawn Ma

As the Faculty Academic Committee reviews the Fan Behavior and Sportsmanship Review Committee’s draft proposal to improve sportsmanship at athletic events, the Sports Council has begun a dialogue with the five Head Fanatics.

The Head Fanatics met with the Sports Council on Oct. 4 to discuss fan behavior at sporting events. The Fanatics mainly lobbied to continue using chants directed at opposing teams and players, which are prohibited, according to the school’s fan behavior policy. The Fanatics don’t support personal attacks, but believe generic negative chants should be allowed, Head Fanataic Noor Fateh said. Though the two sides were unable to reach an agreement, both are hopeful that a consensus can be reached.

“The Head Fanatics established a strong relationship with the Sports Council and the school,” Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said.

“They definitely got us thinking.”

The Sportsmanship Committee has narrowed its draft proposal for improved school sportsmanship to five items. The FAC is currently reviewing the streamlined proposal and will most likely approve it sometime this week. Faculty will submit any comments to math teacher Kent Nealis, the head of FAC. If FAC approves the proposal, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts will review it.

If she signs off on the proposal, the recommendations will start to be implemented.

“The revised proposal report has five priority items that the school community felt would be the biggest deal for us to address,” Sportsmanship Committee Chair Dietrich

Schuhl said. “Most of it was all stuff that was in the original report but there are some new things and a couple of changes that came up that everyone thought would be helpful.

We are already working with the SAAC to look at fan behavior and ways to talk about it with students at class meetings.”

Schuhl said the five provisions of the report say the school should establish expectations for sportsmanship and fan behavior, clearly communicate those expectations, and work with the Fanatics and the student body to develop appropriate fan behavior expectations.

Schuhl said that the committee hopes to “make it so it’s still fun for the Fanatics and at the same time have positive cheering. It’s not just about telling the Fanatics what to do, but about working with the Fanatics to develop the expectations.”

Spirit Week is adding new events this year, with two assemblies and four theme days.

Tuesday is Sports Day, where students will be encouraged to wear jerseys and t-shirts of their favorite sports team or Harvard-Westlake team.

On Wednesday students wear their leg warmers and spandex for ’80s day.

During break, Matin Pichvai ’11 will be playing ’80s music for everyone to dance to in the quad.

“I’ll be dancing, no doubt about it,” Lida Mazina ’13 said.

While Thursday’s theme is not yet confirmed, the Prefect Council is giving students a chance to share their ideas.

A school-wide survey has been sent out to give students the chance to pick the theme.

On Friday, all sophomores will wear red, juniors will wear white and seniors will wear black.

There will also be an assembly on Friday hosted by the head Fanatics. A basketball team dunk contest, a special performance from the cheerleaders and the introduction of varsity homecoming teams are just a few of the activities planned for Friday’s assembly.

This year, Homecoming will feature additions in food options and game booths.

“The Parents’ Association tried to switch things up for Homecoming this year,” co-chair of the Parents’ Association Homecoming Committee Alicia Levitt (Halle ’12, Oliver ’15) said.

“We still have the whole carnival theme going on with the Ferris wheel and the simulator,” Levitt said, “but we will also be adding a new game called Football Frenzy.”

The Parents’ Association starts planning for Homecoming during the summer. Letters are sent out to parents, asking them to volunteer for various planning committees, Levitt said.

“Each grade has its own set of parent representatives,” she said. “The representatives for each grade picks a couple of games or food items to be featured at Homecoming.”

This year, Levitt plans to have more food trucks come to cater the event.

“Most of the food trucks are wellknown and I’m pretty sure students will recognize them,” Levitt said.

“I think students will have a blast,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Changing fan conduct The Sportsmanship Committee submitted a tenative proposal to FAC to improve student conduct.

The points are subject to change.

1

Establish expectations for the student body.

2

Communicate the expectations to all members of the community.

3

Work with the fanatics to develop what the expectations are.

4

Increase the recognition of positive examples for students

5

Create on going program of appropriate fan behavior.

Source: Dietrich Schuhl Graphic by Lara Sokoloff

A6 News

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

inbrief Business office takes measures to collect delinquent tuition UCLA blood drive lowers age requirement

Sixteen-year-olds will be able to donate blood at the blood drive benefiting the University of California, Los Angeles Blood and Platelet Center for the first time this year.

The drive, which is held annually for upper school students, will take place on Nov. 12 in Chalmers East.

UCLA has lowered the minimum age to donate by one year, to 16, although 16-year-old students will require parental permission to donate.

—Saj Sri-Kumar

Big Sunday founder to speak student body The founder of Big Sunday, a community service non-profit organization, will speak on Nov. 19 during an all-school assembly.

David Levinson created Big Sunday in 1999 as a single day for people in Los Angeles to volunteer.

Two hundred people showed up to the first Big Sunday weekend, volunteering for 19 organizations.

In 2009 the Big Sunday Weekend gathered around 50,000 volunteers, who participated in over 500 projects, from beach clean-ups to volunteering at elementary schools.

—Meagan Wang

Adashek ’01 returns as MS technical director William Adashek ’01 is the new Technical Director at the Middle School, succeeding Grant Gorell.

Gorell left earlier this year to accept a position at the California Institute of Arts.

As a member of the Performing Arts Department, Adashek will teach Stagecraft and Advanced Stagecraft in addition to being responsible for all of the technical elements of school productions with his student crew.

—David Lim

BLACC joins Loyola, Marlborough at dance The Black Leadership and Culture Club has joined with similar clubs at Marlborough School and Loyola High School to host a dance to raise money for the Jenesse Center and to promote African-American culture at their respective schools. The dance will be held at Marlborough School tomorrow.

The Jenesse Center, which is located in South Los Angeles, supports victims of domestic violence, regardless of the victim’s ability to pay.

—Jean Park

3 Chronicle journalists win Ryan White awards Anna Etra ’10, Michelle Nosratian ’10 and Allegra Tepper ’10 will be awarded the Ryan White Excellence in Journalism Award for their student writing on health stories in last year’s issues of The Chronicle.

Tepper won second place in Feature Writing for “Pictures in their Heads” about students with synesthesia; Etra won second place for her editorial, “Step Away from the Skittles” arguing that students should be able to make their own cafeteria choices and Nosratian won first place in Editorial Writing for “Let Us Count our Own Calories,” an article urging the school cafeteria to provide students with nutritional information rather than banning food items.

—Olivia Kwitny

By Rebecca Nussbaum

If nobody pays the bill

Parents pay tuition for their children to go to school. What happens when parents fail to pay the bills?

One month after the Aug. 1 tuition deadline, about 98 perApproximately 30 families missed the cent of parents had paid their bills, leaving around 30 tardy Aug. 1 deadline for paying tuition. The families, Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin said. About half school takes these three steps when of these families are supposed to pay full tuition and half of families fail to pay their on time: them are on financial aid.

The difficulty in dealing with the families, Levin said, is 1 separating those who cannot and those who will not pay.

If a family is unable to pay the tuition bill, “we are endlessly Director of Student Financial Affairs supportive,” Levin said, but if they are just “putting the school on the bottom of the stack,” the Business Office has to enforce Patti Snodgrass resends the bill payment, even if it requires them to be harsh, Levin said. multiple times with a note to remind There are many ways to help the parents who cannot afford the family that it is past due. tuition, Levin said. In addition to a single annual payment, the school has in-house, not-for-profit pay plans that allow families to pay tuition over time. Forty percent of families not 2 on financial aid use these plans, Assistant to the Director of Student Financial Affairs Melanie Blackwelder said.

Snodgrass and Assistant to the The school provides short-term interest free loans for families in need of temporary help. For more permanent Director of Student Affairs Melanie problems, the Business Office directs families to Director of Blackwelder begin making phone Financial Aid Geoff Bird to find a payment program that fits calls and tell them that they need to their new financial needs. contact the office to receive help.

There are also the people who do not pay even though they are capable, Levin said.

Parents do not always respond to the bills and letters the 3 Business Office sends. A month after a late bill, Director of Student Financial Affairs Patti Snodgrass resends the bill When families have not responded to with a note to remind the family that it is past due. Snodgrass all previous notices, Chief Financial and Blackwelder begin making phone calls after 60 days and continue to tell the family that they need to contact the office Officer Rob Levin sends a letter with a to receive help, Snodgrass said. final date at which the student will no Although the vast majority of families pay their bills on longer be allowed to attend classes. time, those who do not can be difficult to deal with, Levin said. source: Rob Levin and Patti Snodgrass Graphic by David Lim, Keane “This kind of person is used to dealing with business venMuraoka-robertson and Saj Sri-Kumar dors and stiffing them,” Levin said. “We’re not going to get anywhere by dealing with them nicely, and, well, we’re not If the administrator cannot make leeway with the family, going to get stiffed. If you give people a written invitation say- he or she gives Levin permission to tell the family that if they ing please ask for help, and you send people letters and make do not pay before a certain deadline, their child will not be phone calls and they don’t answer your letters and they don’t allowed to return to school. answer your phone calls, at some point, that’s not going to “What’s a little disturbing is in 70 or 80 percent of those work.” examples, people just pay, which meant that they may have Levin said that getting parents to pay is a tough, but neces- had to stretch,” Levin said. “The point is that we weren’t sary endeavour. taken seriously until we “Teachers need to get paid, behaved unpleasantly.” and programs need to run When threatened with around here,” he said. “Our goal dismissal, almost all of the is to see you graduate. And if families that do not immewe can do that by being nice diately pay contact Levin to your parents, we’re going to or Snodgrass to formulate do it. Ninety-nine percent plus a way to make tuition afthat works, but for a few people, fordable using payment it doesn’t. And if the only way plans, loans, or financial —Rob Levin we’re going to keep you here ’til aid.

Chief Financial Officer graduation is by being a little “Once you’ve broken nathanson ’s/chronicle tough on parents, we’re going to the communication deaddo it.” lock, we can help work Snodgrass said that there have been more late payments with them,” Levin said. “Any parent who’s willing to work during the recession. with us, we’re there for.”

“I think it’s difficult for parents who can’t pay because The only way a student will be prohibited from returning there’s a certain amount of pride involved,” she said. “They to school is if the parents don’t commnicate at all. It is rare don’t want to ask for help.” for parents to totally ignore the ultimatum, Snodgrass said.

Levin compared this ocurrence to a “deer caught in the However, she remembers one family who failed to respond to headlights.” Often the first time a family can’t pay, they don’t them at all, and the student had to leave. respond because they are embarrassed, he said.

Hypothetically, if a senior’s parents failed to respond to the Levin estimates that five to 10 families per year do not Business Office’s communication, the senior could be asked respond to Snodgrass and Blackwelder. When they don’t re- to withdraw from school, prohibited from graduating, or not spond, Levin sends them a letter. If that gets no response, he provided with a transcript, Levin said. talks to the student’s dean, Head of Upper School Harry SalaIt is important to enforce the tuition deadlines “because mandra or Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts to see if anyone otherwise you’re going to have a lot of parents who don’t pay is aware of a problem going on with the family. you,” Levin said.

“Occasionally, I’ve made telephone calls to parents and “Once that starts to add up, well then you have to raise the what I’ve found is that most of them have been people who tuition for everyone,” he said. “It’s a fairness issue. Everyone have gotten into some kind of a bind,” Salamandra said. has to do their part.”

30 days late

60 days late

Final warning

“

Any parent who’s willing to work with us, we’re there for.”

Hot iron causes Rugby evacuation

By Wendy Chen The use of irons was the likely cause of a fire alarm going off in Rugby on Sept. 30.

The alarm sounded in the costume shop, adjacent to the drama office.

During fourth period that day, performing arts teacher Lisa Peters was holding a class in the shop. Inside there is a table where students can iron fabrics. Two fire sensors are also located within the room, directly above and behind the table. Shortly before the fire alarm went off, some of Peter’s students were using the irons at ironing table.

At 11:11 a.m., the fire alarm went off.

Many fourth-period classes in Rugby and the surrounding buildings were evacuated for approximately five minutes as a result of the alarm.

What caused the fire alarm to sound is not known due to the lack of smoke, fumes, and other telling signs of fire.

Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra said the use of one of the class’s irons could have set off the alarm.

“It was invisible particulates that set it off. They didn’t know it was going to set it off,” he said.

Salamandra believes that a fusible adhesive could have gotten stuck to one of the irons. If an adhesive strips were to leave a residue of glue on an iron, the

burning of the glue could have triggered the sensor next to the ironing table.

Peters offered another possible explanation: The irons could have burned a cleaning substance and set off the alarm. She had applied this cleaner to the sole plate of one of the irons only minutes before the alarm sounded.

Despite the fact that the alarm sounded when there was no fire, Salamandra said he is happy that the alarm was sensitve enough to sound.

“Personally, I’m glad that [the sensors] are that sensitive,” he said. “It got people out of a potential problem. If you have to err on one side, I’d rather it err on the side of safety.”

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

News A7

inbrief

100 Model UN members to host school conference The Model United Nations club will host a conference at the Upper School on Oct. 30, club president Bryn Woollacott ’11 said.

The club’s leadership body, known as the Secretariat, is planning the conference.

Woollacott said they plan to simulate three United Nations bodies, the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Security Council.

—Lara Sokoloff printed with permission of claire nordstrom

O’er the land of the free: Claire Nordstrom ’15 sings the Star Spangled Banner on Sept. 12 at Seattle’s Qwest Field. An estimated 70,000 cheering fans turned out to see the Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, their divisional rivals, 31-6.

8th grader sings Star-Spangled Banner at NFL opening game

By Maggie Bunzel Claire Nordstrom ’15 sang the Star Spangled Banner on Sept. 12 at the Seattle Seahawks’ first football game of the season.

She was invited to perform there after her grandfather sent his friends at Seattle’s Qwest Field a link of her singing “Time to Say Goodbye” with opera singer Andrea Bocelli at his induction to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She began singing when she was seven and when she was younger she wanted to be waitress.

When she arrived in Seattle before her performance, she went into over-drive, rehearsing her performance of the National Anthem daily.

“I would picture how many people would be there, 70,000, and would freak out,” she said. “But after the rehearsal, I felt really good about it, and when the real thing came around, I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Every rehearsal at the Seahawk’s stadium she couldn’t believe she’d committed to sing in such a big venue.

“Even so, I felt very patriotic and a part of my country.”

Nordstrom said.

School nominates seniors for scholarships from scholarships, A1 he’s really challenged himself, yet he’s managed to be a leader in the community in a lot of different ways,” Cuseo said.

Lewis’s initial reaction to his nomination was surprise. Although he had not planned on applying to UNC, he now sees it as an option after being nominated for the Morehead-Cain scholarship.

“This opportunity comes very rarely and I might as well just see where this takes me,” Lewis said.

Scholars are offered the opportunity to apply for Discovery Funds, $8,000 grant funds given over the course of four years to let students “delve deeper

into personal or professional interests,” the scholarship’s website said.

Wang was nominated as the alternate for the Morehead-Cain scholarship.

Jefferson Cuseo described the Jefferson Scholarship awarded by the University of Virgina as “very similar to the Morehead scholarship.”

The idea of “nurturing future leaders is at the heart of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation’s mission,” its website said.

Cuseo said that “the fact that they separate out leadership and citizenship” was the reason they chose Holthouse as the ideal nominee, and she defined him as a “classic scholar” due to his interest

Merit Scholarships Five seniors were nominated for three merit based scholarships at Southern colleges, which include tuition and enrichment opportunities.

Morehead-Cain

Jefferson

(UNC-Chapel Hill)

(U of Virginia)

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Austin Lewis

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Christopher Holthouse

Robertson

(UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke)

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Catherine Wang

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Melanie Borinstein

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Tiana Woolridge

Graphic by Alice phillips, Rebecca Nussbaum and Saj Sri-Kumar

in social sciences and philosophy. Holthouse is also a Head Prefect, and he plans to pursue the scholarship.

“I think one of the most exciting things about getting nominated was knowing that other people had recognized certain qualities or qualifications in me,” Holthouse said.

Robertson The Robertson Scholarship is available for students applying to both Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and it offers students the experience of both schools by requiring them to spend the second semester of their sophomore year at their sister school.

The criteria for the Robertson Scholarship emphasizes leadership potential, Cuseo said.

“We were proud of ourselves because we were able to find three people who are leaders in different ways,” Cuseo said.

Bornstein is a Head Prefect as well as a Peer Support leader. Cuseo described her as a “traditional leader.” She plans to pursue the scholarship.

“I think it’s very cool to be part of a special program at college that can enhance your experience even more,” Borinstein said.

Wang is a Community Council leader, a varsity swimmer, and Executive Editor of The Chronicle.

She will be applying for the scholarship while also pursuing admittance to the United States Naval Academy.

The advisory process offered to Robertson scholars attracted Wang to the scholarship.

Woolridge is part of the Student Athletic Advisory Council and Community Council and plays both volleyball and basketball.

“Whatever activity I’m involved in, I try to take over the active role in it and lead my classmates in every aspect that I can,” she said.

In addition to students nominated to the scholarship, applicants to both Duke and UNC Chapel Hill can fill out supplemental applications for the Robertson Scholars Program, and all applicants to both schools are considered.

Seniors design sweatshirt for contest, pick favorite Seniors submitted designs for senior class sweatshirts on Friday.

Voting will occur soon, Senior Prefect Austin Lewis ’11 said.

The contest was sponsored by the Prefect Council.

Senior Prefect Christine Kanoff ’11 came up with the idea to hold a design contest for a senior sweatshirt when she saw her friend’s senior sweatshirt from Chaminade High School.

—Catherine Wang

Students, faculty to play intramural soccer game Students and faculty will compete in a soccer game at the middle school on Spirit Day on Oct. 22.

The game will have 22 teachers playing against 40 students.

“It’s just totally for fun. There was originally both a volleyball game and a soccer game last year, but the soccer game was more popular since there’s the field, so we just got rid of the volleyball,” student council member Henry Hahn ’14 said.

—Bo Lee

Alum to visit Kenyan refugee camp to teach film Michael Morgenstern ’03 will go to Dadaad, a Kenyan refugee camp which houses 300,000 people, on Oct. 21 to teach visual effects and help with technology.

Morgenstern’s first project was to go to Haiti and help set up the big screen for the World Cup. “Things do not always work out that well,” Morgenstern said.

Morgenstern and FilmAid are looking for donations of old camera equipment, along with cash donations. Anyone interested in donating can contact him at Michael@ mjmfilms.com.

—Molly Harrower

Six Chronicle writers win Gold Circle Awards Six members of the Chronicle staff have won Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for articles and designs in last year’s school newspaper.

A third place News Writing award was given to Allegra Tepper ’10. Sam Adams ’10 received an Honorable Mention award in Editorial Writing. Jean Park ’11 and Tepper received Honorable Mention awards in News Feature. Daniel Rothberg ’11 received an Honorable Mention award in General Feature. Adams and Candace Navi ’10 received Honorable Mention awards in Photo Illustration: Single Color Image. An Honorable Mention award in the same category was given to Chloe Lister ’12, Navi, and Tepper. A First Place Op-Ed or News Analysis Page Design: Tabloid Format Color award was given to the Chronicle Staff.

—Cherish Molezion

A8 News

The

Chron

Party Time: Election 2010 With the November 2010 election approaching, some students and alumni are taking their first look at the issues, while others are actively participating by fundraising and interning for candidates.

Junior, alum volunteer for gubernatorial race

A

re you voting in the upcoming election?

y

These are the results of a poll sent to all upper school st on the candidates and propositions involved in the Nov

If the election were be how would you vote on

...the California gubernato

160 Jerry Brown (D 70 Meg Whitman (R) 5

Other

69 No Opinion printed with permission of nick pritzker

Talking politics: Nick Pritzker ’12 introduces Republican candidate for governor, Meg Whitman, at an event at the Auto Club Speed Way in Fontana that he helped organize for her campaign.

By Catherine Wang

and

Megan Ward

In the midst of California’s gubernatorial frenzy, politicized students find themselves getting involved in the candidate’s campaigns, representing both sides of the political spectrum.

As a volunteer for Meg Whitman’s campaign, Nick Pritzker ’12 stepped out onto the Auto Club Speed Way in Fontana to introduce the Republican candidate for governor in front of a crowd of people from all over the state. Pritzker’s introduction was the start of a fundraising event on Aug. 31 he co-hosted with Gillian Zucker, president of the Auto Club Speed Way, the main purpose of which was to raise money for Whitman’s campaign.

“With California being such a big state, it’s impossible for [Whitman] to be everywhere at once or shake every voter’s hand,” Pritzker said.

“I felt that it was important for me to help her in her campaign by raising funds and enthusiasm to her cause.”

Besides hearing a speech from Whitman herself, the fundraiser lasted two hours and everyone attending was invited to take a lap in a race car around the Speed Way with a professional driver. Depending on the amount of money donated, certain individuals were given a chance to take a lap with Rusty Wallace, former NASCAR champion. Pritzker became involved in Whitman’s campaign over the summer. “[Zucker] and I were talking about the political arena of California and she mentioned she was thinking of putting on a fundraiser for Meg Whitman,” Pritzker said. “I told her that I really support the ideals upon which Whitman is running and that I would love to help out any way that I can.”

In weeks to come, Pritzker began to voice his opinion about the fundraiser and eventually Zucker asked if he would like to co-host the event. Pritzker began soliciting donations for the event, trying to organize it in a mere 20 days.

“I made calls to people and talked to them about state politics, trying to generate interest and get people as involved as possible,” he said.

Pritzker described his family as very politically

printed with permission of zach sokoloff

joining jerry: Zach Sokoloff ’07 poses for a picture with gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who he interned with over the summer.

inclined. His father, Tony, usually votes Republican whereas the other members of his family vote democratically. One week prior to the event due to their growing interest in the candidates, Pritzker and his father spontaneously decided to go the California Republican Party Convention in San Diego. There, Pritzker met Whitman for the first time and spent some time talking to her about her policies.

Coming from a family which is very interested in politics, Pritzker experienced firsthand a different side of politics he had not before.

“I think it was great because a lot of people don’t get that experience of learning how to put on a fundraiser and I feel privileged that at such a young age I was given that opportunity,” Pritzker said. “As a young person in our state, there is only a certain amount of say I have in government, but I think that whatever say I have, it’s important to voice it.”

Unlike Pritzker, working for California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign was not Zach Sokoloff ’07’s first exposure to the world of politics. During the summer of 2009, Sokoloff made his home in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., working as an intern for California senior Senator Diane Feinstein.

“It was my first foray into politics and I was captivated by the excitement of it,” he said.

This past summer, Sokoloff – currently a senior at Yale University - found himself involved in politics again, working as a full-time intern at Brown’s Oakland gubernatorial campaign headquarters for two months.

He emailed the campaign that he was interested in contributing early in the spring. After sending his resume to the campaign and having a phone interview, he was hired.

Sokoloff conducted research on policy proposals such as a restructuring of California’s criminal justice system and an expansion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics classes for students across the state.

He compiled a record of Brown’s accomplishments as they pertained to certain voting blocs and created one-page handouts that were tailored to specific constituencies. He also translated Spanish advertisements and news reports into English, and he helped organize and mobilize voters in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties.

“When I went around the state and talked to people, they were frustrated by the lack of outlets to voice their concerns,” he said. “They want their elected officials to listen to them, and even when voters yell and complain, they’re trying to convey a message.”

Sokoloff ’s interests are “fairly diverse,” but he considers politics a passion.

“You’re at the center of everything that’s happening, and it is very fulfilling to know that your work will have a significant impact on the lives of others,” he said.

Since returning to school, Sokoloff has “stayed peripherally involved” in Brown’s campaign. He will return to Oakland the final few days before the Nov. 2 election.

“I put a lot of heart and effort into the campaign, and I want to do everything I can to make sure that [Brown] wins,” Sokoloff said.

...the United States Senate

174 Barbara Boxer ( 39 3

Carly Fiorina (R) Other

87 No Opinion

... Propo

... Propo

... Propo

Grap

AP Gov teacher considers attending Washington rallies

By Allison Hamburger When history teacher Francine Werner heard about political comedian Jon Stewart’s Oct. 30 Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall, she knew she wanted to go.

“I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but it seemed like a venue in which I wanted to stand up and be counted,” Werner remarked. To her disappointment, the rally, as well as Stephen Colbert’s March to Keep the Fear Alive, take place the weekend before teachers must turn in first quarter grades, so Werner will not be attending in order to keep up with work.

Werner said that she wanted to attend the event because she is troubled by the hysteria that has been going on in the United States recently.

“I’m sort of reawakening to the

concerns that are out there, and I think that it’s a pretty strident time right now, and it shouldn’t be,” she said.

“It really shouldn’t be.”

The Stewart and Co strations were announced ly Show with Jon Stewa Colbert Report” in Sept art invited people to com “spreading the timeless it down a notch, for Am Sept. 16 episode of his sh This would not be t Werner would be parti Washington demonstrat tended the march on Wa college student in 1969 Vietnam War because sh strong opinion about wha at the time, Werner said.

News A9

nicle

yes

No

33

270

tudents to gauge their opinions v. 2, 2010 midterm election.

eing held today, n...

By Lara Sokoloff

orial race?

D)

e race?

(D)

osition 19?

Yes 181 No 118

Legalizes the use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21, allowing the government to tax the sales and control the use of it.

osition 23?

Yes 109

No 180

State law that requires the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions will be suspended until the unemployment is under 5.5 percent for a full year.

osition 25?

Yes 148 No 129

Francine Werner

olbert demond on “The Daiart” and “The tember. Stewme to the rally message: take merica,” on the how. the first time icipating in a tion. She atWashington as a to protest the he had a very at was going on .

Seniors eligible to vote in the November elections look forward to having their voices heard in government for the first time.

“Elections are something that I have been aware of and paid attention to my entire life, but I’ve never actually felt that my opinion made a difference,” Christine Kanoff ’11 said. “People take you more seriously when you’re 18 because they know that you are actually going to make a nathanson ’s/chronicle difference.”

Chris Jake Sonnenberg ’11 is participating in the elections beHolthouse ’10 cause it his duty to vote in order for our political process to work properly, he said.

“It’s necessary for people to vote to elect the officials who accurately represent the people,” he said. “I’m voting to ensure that we have officials in power that will do things that the people want.”

Chris Holthouse ’11 looks forward to actively participating in a process that in many ways, “defines our country,” he said.

“By voting, you are making an important personal decision, and simultaneously becoming something that is nathanson ’s/chronicle much bigger than just yourself,” he said.

Christine Many students feel that the opinions of their parents Kanoff ’10 have influenced their own opinions without completely controlling them.

“My parents’ opinions are what I have grown up with,” Kanoff said.

She feels that their opinions have definitely helped her to form her own, she said.

Sonnenberg feels that his parents’ beliefs have helped shape his own general opinions, but how they are voting in this specific election has not really affected him, he said.

Holthouse agrees that his parents’ opinions have influenced him in the general sense, but not regarding specific issues.

“Regarding some issues, I have fallen in line with them, but for quite a few others, I have taken a different stance,” he said.

Although the students have followed elections in the past, they have taken a particular interest in these elections, knowing that their opinions could make a difference for the first time.

Sonnenberg feels that his Advanced Placement US Government and Politics class has proven to be the most useful class that is relevant to current events. However, the majority of his research regarding the election has been done independently, he said.

Holthouse also said that he has been paying more attention to newspaper articles and radio reports knowing that he will be voting in November.

“I can’t say that I have a strong opinion about every issues,” Holthouse said. “There is just an element of plain excitement about getting the chance to do something new.”

Upper school history classes to track, study state elections

By Emily Khaykin

Alters the legislative vote requirement to pass the state budget from two-thirds to a simple majority.

Source: www.sos.ca.gov phic by Maddy Baxter, Eli Haims, Allison hamburger and Chloe Lister

nathanson ’s/chronicle

First time voters voice their political opinions in election

Werner said she would like to work on a campaign when she has the time. She planned to help with Gavin Newsom’s campaign for governor in the summer of 2009, but he pulled out of the race shortly after she signed up.

She hoped to attend the Stewart and Colbert marches because she agrees with the intention of the marches, even though the program of the march has not yet been announced.

“Every once in a while you have to do something more than vote,” Werner said.

During election years, the history department strives to get students involved and familiar with election processes as much as possible. This year, students in Contemporary American History and Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics have been assigned to follow the local political elections in a particular state of their choice.

“This project is basically a continuation of the State Government project that [AP U.S. Government and Politics students] did a couple of weeks ago,” Upper School history teacher Francine Werner said.

“The states with any Tea Party candidates should be especially interesting.”

The department tries to get students exposed to election processes, even if it means analyzing an election that happened in previous years, Werner said.

“I think the elections are far too important to let them go by without giving some attention to it,” Werner said.

While the AP U.S. Government and Politics students will be focusing on the elections within their state of choice, Contemporary American History students will be looking at the Senate race.Juniors in U.S. History will also spend some time watching and analyzing the House elections. Students are given various websites from which to

gather information about the candidates and the demographics of their chosen state.

From this data, students will ultimately make a prediction as to which candidate is most likely to win the race.

“We give students a break from homework a few days before the election so they can track the progress,” said Werner.

“I picked Connecticut for my state project because my grandparents live there, but I didn’t really know about any of the politics going on there,” Erin Landau ’11 said.

“One of the most interesting things I’ve learned is that both of the Senatorial candidates are running very vicious ad campaigns right now,” Landau said, “the commercials they are running are directly targeted at the other candidate.”

“I decided to choose New York,” Ben Sprung-Keyser ’11 said, “And although I didn’t know a lot about specific parts of New York and the way they run things, I had already known some stuff about Bloomberg and some huge issues with passing budgets and things like that.”

“But what really got me interested was the stalemate in the New York legislature,” Sprung-Keyser said.

“I haven’t actually looked in depth at the candidates yet,” SprungKeyser said, “but I think it will get pretty interesting when I do.”

soundbytes “I don’t think the government should be in the business of regulating moral issues and people’s decisions about personal matters like [smoking marijuana].”

—Jeffrey Goliger (Daniel ’11) “[Minors] already feel justified smoking pot, and legalization will only give them added incentive to think they’re okay using it.”

—Renee Greif (Nick ’07, Ben ’12) “As long as people are using [marijuana] in private, it is not the government’s job to tell people what they should and should not do.”

—Jack Petok ’11 “There are lots of things going on in the world, but if we don’t have the world, then nothing else really matters.”

—Paul Freedman (Chris ’12) “People are struggling with the economy and all, but when our children and our grandchildren are fighting with global warming, what are we going to tell them?”

—Ben Gail ’13 “I think the California legislature has been held hostage by the minority Republicans for several years in terms of getting legislature passed.”

—Mark Wilding (Jack ’13)

A10 News

The

Recorder pen prompts debate among faculty

By Eli Haims

and

Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle

Claire Hong

A policy regarding use of smartpens that record lectures while students take notes may soon be implemented, according the Head of the Upper School Harry Salamandra. Discussions are currently going on between faculty, some of whom use the pens, while others ban them in classes, and the administration.

“When new technology is available we’d like to address it and find out about it. This is a device that a couple students have asked to use in classrooms so right now we’re going to discuss it with the faculty and go from there,” Salamandra said.

He said that the policy may be similar to the one regarding students bringing laptops to school. If a student wanted to bring a laptop, they had to sign a contract that “outlined the do’s and don’ts on campus.”

Upper School Dean Jon Wimbish fears that students may potentially use the recording in inappropriate ways, yet he also believes that they would be helpful to many students.

“Are there students who would use a recording pen, who would then go home and have their studying for their next test be enriched by that? Yes. […]

Would there be students who would put two teachers’ recorded lectures side-by-side, in order to indicate which lecture was good and which lecture wasn’t good?” he said.

Students are not the only ones interested and

speakingout: Con “I feel students will use them for the wrong reasons, especially recording gossip whicH could cause Drama between friends.”

—Julian Casillas ’11 “I would not be comfortable with it at all.

It prevents them from using skills we are teaching and it is a Huge privacy issue.”

—Francine Werner history teacher all photos by nathonson ’s/chronicle graphic by maddy baxter

affected by these pens. Satterthwaitte has been using one for about 10 months. She finds it especially convenient during faculty meetings because of its ability to record conversations and link that part of the conversation to what she had been writing.

This feature relieves pressure on her to keep track of the time and write down everything that is being said, which “frees me up to listen and engage in the conversation.”Although the pen has been very beneficial for her, she has “mixed feelings” as to whether students should be allowed to use them.

“I would certainly let them try it,” she said, “but students should never record without permission.”

Satterthwaite feels a “discussion should happen between students and teachers” so that students are aware of what their responsibilities are regarding the recorded lectures. She also has faith that the Honor Code will serve as a reminder for students of what is acceptable and what their duty is to both their teachers and their classmates. She also believes that rules concerning these pens extend beyond the school and its Honor Code. Legal issues could arise from potential abuse by students overlooking safety and privacy laws with the recordings.

The pen Satterthwaite has been using is one of the more popular brands, Livescribe. The pen operates by using a camera near the pen tip which tracks a series of dots that are printed onto special pads of paper that have to be used. The pen stores any information it collects along with the dot pattern at that point. Not only does this allow users to target specific sections of recordings based on their notes, it also allows the pen to create digital copies of the pages. Once uploaded to the computer, the notes can be searched, made into PDFs or made into movies with the audio from the class. These digital copies of notes also serve as an archive of the notes if the physical notebook were lost.

Devon Breton-Pakozdi ’12 has used a Livescribe since ninth grade, when he got it for Christmas. He used it heavily as a freshman, especially in history and science, but its use dropped off considerably once he got to the Upper School. He says that this is because many teachers haven’t let him use it in class, and it requires additional work outside of class, such as uploading the files from the pen onto his computer.

“Especially in lecture heavy classes, I think there’s a general stigma against it because they don’t necessarily want to be held accountable for things that can be taken out of context,” Breton-Pakozdi said. “I felt the payoff for me was not great enough, because I was only using it for a couple of my classes. Whereas, if I were taking other classes where I felt it would be really valuable to use the pen, the work that went into it, that would have basically stayed constant, would have been really trumped by the value it would have been to me for all those other classes.”

Because many of his teachers objected to his using the pen in class, Breton-Pakozdi brings his laptop instead.

“I would rather not have to bring my laptop and just bring the pen, but that’s been the way it’s gone,” he said.

“You don’t know how it’s going to be sliced up and where it’s going to end up and where your voice is, you know. There’s just that lack of control that I understand that makes people nervous,” Wimbish said.

Satterthwaite expressed some of the same concerns. She believes that with advancing technology, students are increasingly placed into a position where

speakingout: Pro “Students should be able to use what they want, but I wouldn’t use them.”

—Claire Baba ‘12 “I think they should be able to use them especially in history where sophomores aren’t as used to listening to lectures.”

—Jordan Brewington ‘13 “I have no problem if it will help to enhance study techniques. I don’t think they should use it as the only thing to take notes with.”

—Krista McClain science teacher all photos by nathonson ’s/chronicle graphic by maddy baxter

they could easily “manipulate” a recording to suggest something other than its true teaching purpose.

Wimbish also thinks that another aspect of the pen is that it may hamper students’ note taking abilities. Instead of having to process whatever a teacher is saying and pulling out the important points while still retaining enough detail, students would have the option of just writing a few main keywords through the whole lecture, which would each link to a section on the recording.

“We want students to learn skills here just as much as they learn content and so, if you’re going all about just getting the content and you’re going to record every word that a teacher says, you’re not learning how to take good notes. It’s the same thing as someone who wants to bring a laptop to class.

Teachers are mixed on that, and I understand that as well. There are students who want to literally want to transcribe a lecture, well that’s not taking good notes either,” he said.

There are also potential upsides to their use, he said. He believes that anything that could potentially “make the experience of being in class more beneficial when you’re not in class” deserves a chance.

Chris Freedman ’12 thinks that for people who are not necessarily audible learners, being able to go back and listen to the recordings again would be very helpful.

“I know lots of my teachers don’t write on the board, and they just talk, and talk, and talk. I have no way to keep up with their speed writing it down.”

Student speaks at summit

By Alex Gura Sadé Tavangarian ‘11 spoke at the Village School Leadership Summit on Sept. 27 and was honored for being their first senior keynote speaker.

Tavangarian, who attended the school through sixth grade, was approached by the head administrator of the school, Sue Slotnick to speak at the conference for parents association committee leaders.

“She approached me and told me they were doing a leadership summit,” Tavangarian said, “[She] told me there was ‘no one as perfect as you.’”

Tavangarian was asked to speak in front of a group of 60 mothers and a lone father to help them get their children involved in volunteering and community service. She spoke to them about the importance of helping their children to find something in volunteering that they love from an early

age.

One of the main reasons that Tavangarian was chosen to speak was her past experience with volunteering while attending Village School. When she was 9 years old, Tavangarian raised over $1,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and impressed the head administrator of her school.

“She was amazed that a 9 year old could raise this much money,” Tavangarian said. “She asked me ‘how are you doing this?’”

It was her parents, Tavangarian said at the summit, who had given her the tools to volunteer and made her interested in community service.

“I watched my parents volunteer, and that influenced me to get involved,” Tavangarian said.

“When I saw that kids my age were dying, I wanted to help do something about it, so my parents helped give me a little push.”

Oct. 14, 2010

News A11

The

Chronicle

Hosting SATs creates home court advantage

The school has been an SAT testing site for over 25 years, but it only began hosting the ACT last year in response to the growth in popularity of the ACT among students.

Until just a few years ago, the ACT had only a small presence on campus. It was traditionally the standardized exam for students in the Midwest, whereas the SAT was most common on the coasts.

In 2005, when the SAT added its writing section, the ACT saw an opportunity to expand.

“It [the ACT] was always around but just a little bit, but after [2005] when they made [the SAT] a writing, math, and critical reading [test], the ACT saw its time and they began a lot of Public Relations, and they began a lot of promotions to high schools about the value of the ACT and we started offering students do like to take it here and try to sign up the PLAN,” Upper School Dean Vanna Cairns said. here because it’s a familiar place, you’re with familiar The school first offered the PLAN on campus to people, generally the proctor and the reader in the the class of 2011 during the 2008-2009 school year. room is somebody you may have had in class or some“We had more and more students every year from body you have at least seen around and you’re taking 2006 doing the ACT and then we thought, well wait it where at least half of them are schoolmates.” a minute, we like the ACT too and for some kids In all, Gragg said, “I definitely believe it’s a good it’s really good, so we should probably promote it as thing to do for our students and I do believe it ben- much. It won’t be looked at as good as the SAT to efits them, helps them to be relaxed and therefore get the community unless we give it as much value and better scores.” we make everybody take the “I think espe[PLAN].”

I think cially for some kids In the first two years, the who get nervous it PLAN wasn’t mandatory for especially for is nicer to have it at students, but this year it was some kids who your own school,” made mandatory.

Upper School Liget nervous, it The school hosted its first brarian Shannon ACT in June and its second is nicer to [take Acedo said. “I know in September. For now, the my kids had to take tests] at your school will host the ACT it at another place. twice a year and the SAT own school .

They didn’t like it.” seven times.

Chelsea Ed—Shannon Acedo don hagopian/chronicle “Last June was the first wards ’11 said her [ACT on campus],” Cairns Head Librarian experience was said. “We thought, well wait distinctly better at a minute, we’re trying to prothe Upper School. mote this thing, but we’re not saying it loud enough, “I knew the area and the environment and it was our behavior doesn’t match what we’re saying so we a lot easier to go to the test,” said Edwards, who took said, well we should be an ACT site, so now we are for the SAT I both at Harvard-Westlake and at Redondo just September and June.”

Union High School, “I felt more comfortable.”

Gragg said there are a few other benefits to host“When I took it at the other school I didn’t know ing tests on campus. where I was taking it, [it was] hard to find,” she “It’s a really nice way for middle school and upper said. school teachers to get together and get to know each Edwards said she believes the more comfortable other because there aren’t that many opportunities environment positively impacted her performance during the year,” he said. “This is a good way for the and said she thinks it is important that the school students to see teachers [from the Middle School].” continue hosting the test.

The school hosts hundreds of students each year who come to the Upper School campus to take various standardized tests. There is no financial incentive for the school, which pays $5,500 to test students from other schools.

By Austin Block Hundreds of students converged at the Upper School to take more than 1,000 hours of standardized tests on Saturday. Nine times per year, the campus is converted into a testing center, with Harvard-Westlake faculty and occasionally their immediate families serving as proctors for the ACT and SAT. Approximately 350 students attend each testing weekend, and the majority of them are Harvard-Westlake students. The next leading feeders are Buckley, Campbell Hall, North Hollywood High School, Milken and Oakwood.

Though the College Board and the ACT pay faculty proctors, the the school also supplements the amount to encourage faculty to participate.

As a result, in addition to any costs the school incurs from hosting the test, Harvard-Westlake ends up paying to test students from other schools.

Two years ago, Upper School Technology Center Director Chris Gragg, who is in charge of standardized testing, calculated that it cost the school $5500 to test students from the top nine feeder schools. The school also has to pay its maintenance crew to set up tables, energy bills, parking personnel, and the security team for these Saturday mornings.

Though the school has no financial incentive for hosting standardized tests, it remains a testing facility because the administration believes that on campus testing makes students comfortable and helps them perform better.

Head of the Upper School Harry Salamandra said that hosting the SAT on campus is just convenient for students, especially since the number of SAT testing sites has decreased in recent years.

“I don’t know how to quantify any major benefits to our students,” Gragg said. “I just know that our

“

”

Hudnut, Huybrechts talk about summer experiences

By Camille Shooshani President Thomas Hudnut and Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts told new and returning parents what they learned from their trip to China and Singapore.

They also stressed the importance of independence, accomplishment, and assurance at the first Parents’ Association Meeting Sept. 22.

Both speeches centered on connection; both the connection that parents and teachers have with the students and children and the potential connections that can be made with students in China.

Roughly 350 parents gathered for

the welcoming speeches in the Bing Performing Arts Center.

One parent said that she attended the welcoming meeting every year to hear Hudnut speak.

“He is an amazing speaker who always leaves me with something to think about all year,” she said.

Hudnut emphasized the importance of Harvard-Westlake’s purpose as an international example to follow.

Huybrechts described her trip to China and Singapore, where she observed strategies for teaching, which included a very technologically advanced library that she hopes, will help in the upcoming remodeling of the upper school library.

New detention procedure encourages student reflection

By Catherine Wang In an effort to decrease the number of students who attend detention multiple times, Attendance Coordinator Gabriel Preciado instituted a new detention procedure for this year.

Morning detention still lasts an hour, starting at 6:55 a.m. and ending at 7:55 p.m. Before this year, students arrived at school, sitting in a classroom looking straight ahead, for an entire hour.

This year however, students fill out a two-page form with questions aimed at forcing students to reflect on their actions.

Through a series of questions, students explain why they are in detention and what they have learned from their actions. After reading the forms, Preciado follows up with the students

to discuss what actions they have taken to remedy their actions.

“It helps me learn why they are here, and what issues they may have,” he said. “It’s my way of trying to help them.”

“Hopefully, students will consider what ways to make a change,” Preciado said.

Preciado also stressed the ease with which students could avoid getting detentions, most of which are attendance related.

Preciado hopes the new detention process will make students more responsible, disciplined, and more willing to work out attendance conflicts with him.

“It has been very helpful for me to get to know students in a different capacity,” Preciado said. “It gives me more feedback.”

Wolverines Eat Pizza From Mama’s and Papa’s !!!

the

Chronicle

3700 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles, CA 91604

Editors-in-Chief: Alice Phillips, Daniel Rothberg Managing Editors: Austin Block, Jordan Freisleben Executive Editor: Catherine Wang

pinion o Harvard-Westlake School Volume XX Issue III Oct. 14, 2010 To meet the demands

of our growing population, global withdrawal rates of water

could reach more than 70% of the reliable runoff by 2025 and 90% if per

Presentations Editors: Ingrid Chang, Mary Rose Fissinger

capita withdrawal of water continues increasing at the current rate. This is a global average. Withdrawal rates already exceed the reliable runoff in some areas.

Irrigation if the biggest user of water,

Executive Sports Editor: Alex Leichenger

followed by industries and cities and 10% residences....................

Business and Ads Manager: David Burton Copy Editors: Jordan McSpadden, Susan Wang News Managing Editors: Matthew Lee, Emily Khaykin Section Heads: Rebecca Nussbaum, Lara Sokoloff, Sajjan Sri-Kumar Infographic Editors: Maddy Baxter, Eli Haims Assistants: Wendy Chen, Carrie Davidson, Molly Harrower, David Lim, Keane Muraoka-Robertson, Ana Scuric, Camille Shooshani, Megan Ward Opinion Managing Editors: Noelle Lyons, Jean Park Section Heads: Alex Gura, Chanah Haddad, Anabel Pasarow, Shana Saleh Assistants: Rachel Schwartz, Michael Sugerman Features Managing Editors: Joyce Kim, Olivia Kwitny, Sade Tavangarian Features Section Heads: Allison Hamburger, Chloe Lister Infographics: Megan Kawasaki Features Assistants: Caitie Benell, Mariel Brunman, Jamie Chang, Leslie Dinkin, Gabrielle Franchina, Michael Rothberg, Elana Zeltser Science & Health Editors: Claire Hong, Nika Madyoon Centerspread Editors: Camille de Ry, Arielle Maxner Arts & Entertainment Editors Jessica Barzilay, Justine Goode Arts & Entertainment Assistants: Maggie Bunzel, Bo Lee, Aaron Lyons Photography Assistant: Cherish Molezion Sports Managing Editors: Alec Caso, Kelly Ohriner Section Heads: David Kolin, Austin Lee, Julius Pak, Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Assistants: Michael Aronson, Charlton Azuoma, Nicole Gould, Luke Holthouse, Daniel Kim, Robbie Loeb, Shawn Ma, Micah Sperling, Ally White Chronicle Online Managing Editor: Vivien Mao News Update Editors: Evan Brown, Hank Gerba, Sanjana Kucheria Opinion Update Editor: Victor Yoon Feature Update Editors: Julius Pak, Nick Pritzker A&E Update Editors: Tiffany Liao, Meagan Wang Sports Update Editors: David Gobel, Judd Liebman Mulitmedia Editors: Ashley Khakshouri, Chelsea Khakshouri Blogs Editor: Abbie Neufeld Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published nine times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager David Burton at (626) 319-0575. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

On the record, forever

W

Jean Park/CHRONICLE

e live in an age where the walls of privacy are quickly crumbling. Today, everything we say or do is up for grabs. A racy comment made in English class often becomes the subject of a tweet by end of the day.

Once isolated incidents, embarrassing moments are now crystallized in the form of a Facebook “Mobile Upload” in a matter of minutes.

Overall, this trend has made many of us more cautious. We’ve become more careful about what we say or do out of a fear that those words or actions will be disseminated on the Internet for all of our friends and family to see.

While behaving cautiously is not necessarily a bad formula for living life, overly cautious behavior in a school setting threatens a fundamental principle upon which education is grounded. Fear that our words will reappear on the Internet, hinders the ability of teachers and students to take intellectual risks and share controversial views in the classroom.

Recently, a new note-taking device that provides students with an inconspicuous way to record class lectures has hit the market. In the guise of an ordinary pen, the “smart pen” is a marker that simultaneously records lectures and handwritten class notes.

LiveScribe, the company behind the pen, claims that this feature allows students to go back through their notes and fill in words that they may have missed during class.

While there are obvious benefits to this device, we foresee several negative repercussions that could result from the use of the “smart pen” in class. First,

if teachers knew that they were being recorded during class, they would be more likely to self-censor their lectures.

As a result, vibrant and engaging, discussions would be made dryer and duller, something that would come at a great cost to students. Especially in humanities classes, exposure to unconventional ideas and different opinions is an important part of our intellectual growth.

Teachers will, without a doubt, be less inclined to share these views if they are afraid that what they say could be used against them later.

Moreover, allowing recording devices in the classroom would also discourage students from taking intellectual risks. Students would be more cautious in presenting controversial ideas or opinions, thus weakening the class discussion for everyone.

Some might argue that the pen is a note-taking tool that, as advertised, will allow students to “never miss a word.” However, is it really necessary to copy down every single word of a class discussion? Shouldn’t we be more interested in learning the themes than obsessively making sure that we have every adjective and adverb scribbled down in our notes?

The administration should ban the use of these pens from the classroom. In the end, they threaten an open learning environment and in doing so, diminish the academic experience provided at Harvard-Westlake.

The politics of friendship

E

lection fever is rising, seniors are turning 18, and politically, many of us know exactly where we stand. For the elder statesmen of the senior class, the 2010 elections will have a whole new meaning.

Students have the power now. “Republican” and “Democrat” are no longer abstract concepts. They are words of self-identification.

We’re Harvard-Westlake students. We’re passionate, opinionated, and argumentative, so political debates run rampant across our campus. They’re fun. We get excited. We feel righteous. We can’t wait to spew out our next piercing insight in the faces of our equally excited friends. Our rhetorical skirmishes just build and build as more and more people jump in. The skirmishes mushroom into full-fledged verbal battles.

And then we stop listening. We stop thinking rationally and forget that the defiant kids sitting across the table from us are our closest friends, and we start criticizing. We start saying things we wish we could take back. We start hurting.

It’s far too easy for a group of overzealous teenagers to gang up on a student with an underrepresented view. Even when there is no intent to harm, the sheer number of students in such groups will naturally intimidate and unsettle the lone voice of dissent.

We are pretty well-informed here. We read the paper, watch the news, and speak Jon Stewart’s lines along with him. But Jon Stewart’s newscasts are as superficial as they are entertaining. We’re informed, but only to a

certain extent. We’re not on Capitol Hill and most of us don’t spend countless hours thoroughly researching topics before voicing our opinions. How can we possibly justify a claim that another person’s point of view is absolutely wrong when we don’t have the information to back it up?

And when it comes down to it, we’re still just kids.

We lack life experience: we’ve never paid taxes, never held a full-time job, and never had to figure out how to make a living on our own. We don’t have the perspective to fully understand all sides of an issue. A controversial topic is controversial for a reason. If there was a clear right and wrong for an issue, it would have been resolved already.

We all embrace tolerance here. We all know that disrespecting a student for his/her political beliefs is wrong.

Let’s be sensitive, and let’s think before we speak.

Friends are friends, no matter what their political beliefs are. No political disagreement is great enough to strain a friendship, no matter how “right” you may think you are.

Students shouldn’t be reluctant to express their opinions here. If we truly value our friends and open, fair debate, we’ll stop lashing and start listening.

October 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Cater to the few

Brown 70 miles

Chloe Lister

T

our school can only improve from a wider breadth of classes.

he majority of my close friends at school are in the Latin program, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s safe to say that Latin is not the most popular language choice. Even though I dropped Latin this year to pursue other interests, the friendships that class fostered and the community it created will remain.

The photography program at the Upper School is similarly small; there are currently only 12 students enrolled in Photo II. However, these 11 of my peers, who I never thought I would speak to, I now greet in the hallways daily.

Although Latin and photography draw fewer students than classes like Spanish and Drawing & Painting, I would like to give credit where credit is due and thank the administration for allowing these classes to continue.

However, a few weeks ago, I was chatting with some peers before my seventh period Psychology class. Someone said that they didn’t know a particular girl we were talking to was taking the class, and she replied that she wasn’t until hours before when she was notified that The Self and The Spirit had been dropped from the curriculum because only four people had signed up.

Whether the teacher didn’t want to teach such a meager number of students or the school suspended the course due to the lack of sign ups, I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t think it matters.

Rather than just abandon the class completely, the school, teachers and students alike should adapt. If students have the drive to take a certain class, even if it is among only a handful of their peers, I think there are definitely possibilities.

As long as there are students interested and a teacher willing, the school shouldn’t suspend courses due to fewer sign-ups than usual. Instead, all parties should make the most of the situation; the students would get a more intimate and fulfilling experience, the teacher would get to become closer to his or her students, and the school could pride itself in a more educated, well-rounded, and closer community.

Our school can only improve from a wider breadth of classes, so next time a class is under consideration to be dropped due to a lack of interest, teachers and administrators alike should take a moment to contemplate their roles as educators as well as their roles in fostering our school community.

Bard College 5 miles ahead

JEAN PARK/CHRONICLE

Decisions, decisions Jordan McSpadden

D

uring my last month in Spain, I looked forward to summer 2010, believing it would be a time to relax and adjust to being back in America. Little did I know, my summer would be filled with college research, the Common Application, and visiting 17 different colleges on the east coast.

Most of my classmates had seen many college campuses and knew quite a bit about their favorite colleges. Most students I talked to couldn’t imagine not having taken a spring college tour. I hadn’t seen one American college campus yet. Was I impossibly far behind in the process?

I started researching colleges that I thought I might like to visit. By the end of July, I had a list of 17 colleges I wanted to visit. My parents and little brother agreed to accompany me to the East Coast where most of the colleges were located. We decided 10 days would be sufficient enough to see all the colleges.

After visiting no more than three colleges, it dawned on me that each college was tremendously different.

I realized off the bat that I would never want to attend some schools, while other schools I instantly loved. In addition, each school had different traditions, varying from “Heavy Petting Day” at Brown (all of the faculty members bring their pets to the main lawn so that students can have a

And the rival is.....

I

nherent in all Harvard-Westlake students are a few things: a curiosity for learning, a desire for challenge and a hatred towards Loyola High School. Even the girls, who could not possibly have any personal vendetta against these Jesuit Catholic educated boys for athletic reasons, have ingrained in them a disgust for the institution.

I cannot claim to be entirely above this; any victory over the Loyola cubs seems to me to carry with it an extra level of joy and accomplishment, one that I am not loathe to revel in.

But my brother went to Loyola, class of 2007. And while you may think this would temper my view of the rivalry, I’ve found that rather, I’m most likely more familiar with it than anyone.

I get it from both sides. The snide comments and obnoxious teasing

A13 Opinion

I got from my brother and all his friends when I announced my decision to attend Harvard-Westlake for high school has not stopped to this day. Though they do it out of love and affection for me (they say), I can declare with near certainty that not one of them has an ounce of affection in their bodies for my beloved high school.

However, Harvard-Westlake takes it a step further. At almost every school gathering I’ve been to, be it commencement a cross country team party or ring ceremony, a joke about Loyola’s usual athletic dominance or double loss to us in basketball last year is made. And while I appreciate that these remarks are made to draw laughs or conjure up fond memories by referring to something we all can relate to, are they necessary? Because I’ve got to tell you, from

day to relax and play with their animals) to “Mountain Day” at Mount Holyoke (one day out of nowhere, the president decides to cancel classes and invites the students to climb Mount Holyoke).

Seeing the colleges allowed me to eliminate a big chunk of my list. After visiting all these campuses, I knew I wanted to apply to small, secluded colleges. Bard is an example of the type of school I loved. It is located in Annandale-on-Hudson and Rhinebeck is a small town that is a couple of miles away.

Some of my first choices became my last choices due to their locations and student body. While some of the campuses were beautiful, the surrounding areas were not. I arrived to one school and looked around for a while.

The campus was wonderful, but when my family and I left the college, we drove into a terrible neighborhood right next to it that changed my mind. At another college, my parents and I did a quick drive through of the campus before we went on the tour. The campus was horrible so I didn’t bother going on the tour, knowing that I would never apply.

It was equally important for my family to see these schools because I want them to see where I possibly will be spending the next four years of my life. Now that I know what colleges I want to apply to, I feel much more prepared as I begin my senior year.

The loyola athletic culture is simply accented by the occasional fierce battle with Harvard-Westlake, not defined by it.

Mary Rose Fissinger

someone who’s attended a great deal of Loyola High events herself, Loyola is not talking about us.

Not once have I heard a HarvardWestlake joke come from the mouth of a Loyolan, unless it was a friend of my brother doing it simply to elicit a comeback from me.

After every Harvard-Westlake event, my mother comes home and calls my brother to tell him the most recent Loyola reference, and then the two of them laugh and laugh.

They do it because, to them, it’s amusing how fully Harvard-Westlake is invested in this rivalry. Sure, Loyola likes to colloquially and informally poke fun at us, and things get particularly heated when they play us in basketball or water polo, but these are isolated incidents brought on by the emotion of that singular moment, not by deep-seeded, permanent loathing

embedded in their souls.

That mom didn’t set out to find the coach of the Harvard-Westlake team and shove him into the pool simply because he was the coach of HarvardWestlake.

But we do make snide comments about Loyola simply because they are Loyola.

The Loyola athletic culture is simply accented by the occasional fierce battle with Harvard-Westlake, not defined by it. Because we ARE good. Yes, Loyola as a whole is better, but come on, they have 1,200 boys to pick from.

They can’t be our yardstick. And, off the sports field, we reign supreme.

Did Loyola make the Forbes Top 20 Prep Schools in America?

Does Loyola consistently have over 10 percent of the class become National Merit Semifinalists? No. So let’s give it a rest. Cubs who?

I There are simply too many options at our school for any one person to take advantage of.

Shopping around

October 14, 2010

Chronicle

The

A14 Opinion

After

Before

Austin Block

wish I could have taken Psychology.

And the Self and the Spirit. And AP Comparative Government. And Video Art II. But it’s my senior year, and I’ve already cavorted through the shiny blue Harvard-Westlake Curriculum Guide for the last time. I will never again scribble all over a crisp green scheduling sheet. I will never delight in the first day of a new class. There are simply too many amazing options at our school for any one person to take advantage of. Too often, students sign up for classes that they think they will enjoy and then find the classes aren’t what they envisioned. By the time they realize the class isn’t the right fit, however, it is often too late to switch out. We only have three years to enjoy the upper school curriculum, so every period is precious. The administration and the deans should take action to help students pick the classes they will enjoy most and find most fulfilling.

As Head Prefect Melanie Bornstein ’11 suggested last year, we should emulate several major universities and set up an informal “shopping period.” At colleges like Brown, students can attend as many classes as they would like during the first few days of school and then select only the ones they are most interested in. Rather than make the first few days of school a free-for-all, we could establish a more structured system. . Just as seniors are allowed to miss class for college meetings, underclassmen should get the chance to miss one period to visit another class.

The school could designate a certain stretch of days as a shopping period for juniors and another time as a shopping period for sophomores to avoid having sophomores sit in on empty junior classes.

The classroom benefits would be tangible as well, both for teachers and for students. If my observations are any indication, engaged students pay more attention during class, work harder, contribute constructively, and perform better on graded assignments. The more I enjoy a class, the less I view its homework as a chore and the more willing I am to put in the extra effort.

Exciting, rewarding classes make my life so much richer. There is little I find more fulfilling than a jaw-dropping, brain-spinning, in-class discussion. My favorite classes at Harvard-Westlake have swayed my world view, shaped the way I think, and influenced my aspirations. There is no reason for it to stay that way.

RACHEL SCHWARTZ AND NOELLE LYONS/CHRONICLE

Many faces of Halloween

F

Evan Brown

ear. An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Why is a feeling so tainted by negative connotations so common, even anticipated, in our society? With Halloween on the horizon, kids and adults everywhere are poised to rid themselves of their everyday personas in exchange for a holiday grounded in the sensation of fear.

However, some may see Oct. 31 as merely a night full of costumes and lore. Others, as an eerie night which serves as an excuse to play pranks and behave foolishly.

This marks the divide between the Halloween of our youths and the Halloween of our teens.

For instance, kindergartners who dress up as princesses and superheroes parading around their neighborhood yelling TRICKOR-TREAT! obviously have no malintent.

But the spooky teens and 20-somethings egging houses, T.P.-ing lawns, and hiding behind bushes in neighborhoods do.

For most high schoolers, Halloween means donning barely-there costumes and going to a party with friends.

This means leaving behind the excitement one achieves when hearing the plop of a new

piece of candy hit the bottom of their bucket.

However, there is still that percentage of teenagers who would love to knock on each and every door, dress up as a generic ghost with a sheet, and trade candy with friends and family.

What age marks this shift in interest?

Perhaps it’s the people handing out candy.

Cute little kids more readily get loads of candy than someone who looks like they’re headed for college. Or maybe it’s the unrealistic nature of the holiday. As we get older, we become less afraid of goblins and cobwebs and have to occupy our Halloweens otherwise.

Maybe this marked difference can be credited to the fact that most teenagers want to be seen as mature so putting themselves in bone-chilling situations would allow them to prove that. But does that really show fearlessness, or is it just a waste of around $50?

Here’s how I see it: You can party any day of the year, so why not leave the night of Oct. 31 for traditional trick-or-treating? Maybe I’m biased due to my height and can pass for a 12-year-old...but I think the best bet is to have the best of both worlds and get teethrotting candy and celebrate with a party afterwards. BOO.

Only seven out of eight W

hen it comes to freedom in choosing a curriculum, HarvardWestlake, compared to other secondary schools, is pretty lenient. But there are still many major flaws and frustrations I find when I try to plan my next year’s classes.

There are eight periods in one day, each one 45 minutes long. Yet with these six and a half hours of learning, students are not ALLOWED to learn for all six and a half hours. We are only allowed to take seven classes even though there are eight classes in a day because teachers think we will overload ourselves, and, many times, that ends up being the case.

However, that rule does not apply to everyone.

The truth of the matter is that the students who want to take

seven classes or less will take seven classes or less. There are some students who even now take only five or six classes, and that’s completely fine. However, for the students who really want to take eight classes, why do we limit them? The California education system requires an art elective, a certain number of years for certain courses, and other mandatory courses. With only seven periods to fill, it’s unfair to limit the amount of classes a student can take, and then dictate to that student what classes must be taken.

Take the example of art requirements. I, for one, truly appreciate art. However, it is not a field in which I wish to study in particular.

I admire artists, and I believe the arts are an extremely important part of education; on the other hand, why on earth should I be forced to take an art course when

I would rather fill up that space with an independent study in my own specialized field? I don’t mind taking art classes out of school, or even filling up that eighth spot with a Visual Arts class, but I also don’t want it to take up a crucial spot in my already full curriculum of seven courses. Yet still I will be forced to drop a class in lieu of an arts course.

If a student cannot deal with eight classes, then he or she should be advised to take only seven or less. But don’t force students who believe they can manage their time effectively to take less than what they can and want to do.

To be perfectly frank, this limitation is also limiting interest fields for young minds. When someone goes to a school like HarvardWestlake, the first thing on his or her mind is honors courses, APs,

Vivien Mao

and colleges but look at the classes which are just interesting and yet have less participation because they don’t give that tiny little grade boost. Meteorology, psychology, and creative writing are all interesting specialized topics that cannot be taken by many students because of the obsession with the title “honors”. With only seven classes (and three or four pre-chosen classes), how can students even think of choosing “regular” classes?

If California forces high school students to take certain classes before being admitted to college then schools should make it easier to fulfill those requirements. Let us take the outside art class to complete our mandatory course requirements. We shouldn’t have to be forced to fill our already short time with classes that don’t directly interest us.

Oct. 14, 2010

Opinion A15

The

Chronicle

quadtalk makinggrades Do you think the new Fanatics slogan “We Go Hard” is inappropriate?

“It is a really motivating slogan. it makes me go to athletic games.”

—Simone Bookman ‘12

The Chronicle evaluates recent campus developments.

A C-

Nearly 400 students showed up for Peer Support’s first meeting.

Harvard-Westlake was the last school in the valley to cancel practices due to excessive heat.

B+

Mid-semester break gives seniors a day to work on college apps, but many teachers must spend the day writing recommendations.

F

Detentions and tardies are only listed online this year.

bynumbers

“i don’t think of it in an inappropriate context. it is intense.”

The Chronicle polled 302 students who weighed in on the use of technology to record class lectures and discussions.

Recording What do you think of the “smart pen” that can Lectures record class lectures?

—Kelley Butler ’11

120

“i think it is a funny quote. it is cool, and i like it.”

—Eric Dritley ’13

87 82

27

If the pens are used purely for academic purposes, they should be allowed.

I don’t have an opinion on this issue.

They are really helpful and I don’t see anything wrong with using them.

I don’t approve of these pens because using them is an invasion of privacy and illegal without consent.

The Chronicle polled 303 students who weighed in on the tolerance of political opinions in school.

Political Views

“Yes, it is inappropriate. what does it mean, anyway?”

178

95

—Sanders Jackson, Security Officer

42

9

photos by jean park/Chronicle

Do you think that students are accepting of the political views of other students?

For the most part students are tolerant of different political views.

A strong majority of students share the same political views, making it uncomfortable for those with different views.

Students are often criticized for having different political views.

No, students are intolerant of others with different political views.

Results based on an online poll e-mailed to Harvard-Westlake upper school students through http://www.surveymonkey.com.

Oct. 14, 2010

exposure

First Show

A16

Senior artists showed off drawings, paintings, and photography they produced last spring or summer.

By Catherine Wang Senior artists showcased their work Monday Oct. 4 in the first art exhibit of the school year, the annual Senior Art Show. Despite the rain, students, teachers, and deans trekked up to Feldman-Horn Gallery to support the senior artists and celebrate their work, while munching on fruit and muffins.

“It’s a great feeling to see your work up in an exhibit,” Drawing and Painting III student Courtney Kelly ’11 said. “Everyone’s art is amazing – it’s so great to see how much everybody improves,” The show featured work by students from Drawing & Painting III, Advanced Placement Studio Art, and Photography III completed late last year or during the summer. There was no theme or requirement of the work submitted to the show, only that the work was not previously shown.

“We always need some way to open the year in the gallery, before this year’s assignments yield results,” Visual Arts teacher Kevin O’Malley said. “[This is] my favorite show of the year. Mainly because I get to see — really see — what my students are interested in photographing.”

senior showcase: Teachers Eric Zwemer, Katherine Holmes-Chuba and Marianne Hall mingle and observe artwork in Feldman-Horn Gallery while students take in their classmates’ work and enjoy refreshments.

photos by MAry rose Fissinger/Chronicle

Enjoying the show: Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra and Dean Vanna Cairns examine paintings by Lauren Jones ’11.

Dream Sequence: Assignments from the Postcard from a Dream and Stream of Consciousness projects by Alex Valdez ’11 and Courtney Kelly ’11.

about face: Oil painting portraits done over the summer vacation by Ingrid Chang ’11 and Hannah Rosenberg ’11.

Surreal life: Surrealist oil painting by Celine Pourmoradi ’11 and still life drawing by Lily Cha ’11.

Eatures F caffeine the Chronicle Volume XX Issue III Oct. 14, 2010

overflow

Whether they drink it for the extra boost or simply the taste, many students and teachers fill up on caffeine on a daily basis while others keep their distance. B6-B7

photo by julia wald

Y

Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle

The

B2 Features

GA

Some pursue athletic glory on the playing fields, but yoga practitioners seek serenity, as well as PE credit.

Yoga class teaches methods to cope with stressful life

By Arielle Maxner

In the Hamilton gym, away from the main upper school campus, Amy Bird teaches her yoga class. The atmosphere is quiet and relaxed, yet focused. Students are guided through asana poses or sun salutations, concentrating on maintaining stability.

In teaching these poses, Bird wants to incorporate how to apply the tenets of yoga to everyday life.

“I want my students to know that it’s more than just physical exercise…to have some sense of the philosophy of yoga, and then how they might apply that to their life,” she said.

Stability is a key part of Bird’s yoga philosophy.

“Stability is a nice description for the way we want our bodies to be, the way we want our psyches to be…stability is such an important thing.”

She said she teaches stability in the poses, and then makes the connection between physical stability and mental stability, saying “stability of the asana practice eventually will lead to stability in mental practices…those two are linked.”

Bird’s first experience doing yoga came from a book. She started during her senior year at Dartmouth University. She was studying martial arts at the time and made a connection to yoga.

Continuing this way for four years, it was not until she moved into a city where yoga classes were actually offered that she began taking them.

Yoga was something she wanted to continue doing, even as she moved away from the city.

Bird asked her teacher about creating her own classes.

She organized a small, simple yoga class teaching basic poses in Maine, and her first “real” yoga job was at a YMCA in Boston.

When she moved to California, teaching yoga was just something she did “in the meantime” while looking for another job. It was “sort of by default, at first… I was looking for something to do, but I had something that I did, and that I was good at.”

Pretty soon, yoga became what Bird did for a living, something she spends “time and energy trying to incorporate into my life.”

Bird says that there is no way to completely describe how yoga has affected her life, but she knows it “wouldn’t be the same.” In other words, she doesn’t know “to what extent I would attribute the way that I live to yoga, but it certainly has impacted the way I want to live my life, the way I want to raise my child, what I deem to be quality of life.”

Some of these choices include being a vegetarian and not watching too much TV. Yoga has impacted Bird in “all those kinds of broad, social, contextual ways.”

But Bird doesn’t expect her students to become vegetarians.

“I want to teach them good posture…how to relax, how to breathe, techniques for coping with the stressful life of Harvard-Westlake,” she said.

nika madyoon/chronicle

stretch it out: Austin Sherman ’12 and Noah Ross ’12 follow Yoga Teacher Amy Bird in the upward-facing dog pose (top left). Bird leads a Yoga class in Hamilton during third period (top right).

Nora Kroopf ’12 and classmates hold the downward-facing dog pose as instructed by Bird (bottom).

Teacher shares yoga addiction

By Rachel Schwartz

david lim/chronicle

honoring the earth: Students at the Middle School follow as Latin Teacher Moss Pike leads them in a yoga seminar on the field to honor the planet as part of Earth Day last year.

After running from quiz to test to essay on campus, once every week students at the Middle School can step into a room devoted to serenity, where students are greeted by Dance Teacher Carrie Green ’99, hands pressed together and bowing, with a whispered “Namaste.”

Green, a certified yoga teacher, who started the yoga club at school two years ago, says she is “addicted” to the meditative practice.

Latin teacher Moss Pike is also a faculty member who has made yoga a part of his life, and a part of school. During last year’s Earth Day celebrations,

Pike lead a yoga seminar which was open to the entire school on the field in honor of the earth.

The club meets on Wednesday mornings at break, in AC 137, the dance studio on the bottom floor of the Academic Building.

The lights are dimmed and yoga mats are unrolled as the meeting begins.

In the 20 minutes that the club meets, Green and Pike lead a combination of yoga poses and movements such as Sun Salutation, Tree Pose, and the Cobra, which can sometimes challenge students’ balance, flexibility and agility.

The club is open to seventh through ninth graders, and beginners through advanced yogis. When students are

curious about more difficult postures and motions such as headstands, another Activities period during the week is often dedicated to these more challenging parts of yoga.

Mikaila Mitchell ’13 described taking yoga from Green as “a good break from the hard work of the week.”

The club started based on an interest in yoga that students expressed to Green.

The practice originated in India and is related to meditation practiced in Hinduism and Buddhism.

“I’m so happy to be sharing what I love so much in my own life with the students here at Harvard-Westlake,” Green said.

Oct. 14, 2010

The

defending their

Features B3

Chronicle

Chloe Lister/chronicle

driving

By Daniel Rothberg With his mother at his side, Connor Dillman ’11 waited quietly in a small courtroom for one hour before the police officer, who had ticketed him about a month before, arrived at traffic court.

“The officer said that I had made a right hand turn on a red light without coming to a stop,” he said. “I said that it was a yellow light and I had the right to not stop.”

The 10-minute trial at traffic court ended with Dillman losing his case.

Dillman had appeared before the same judge at his arraignment case about one month earlier.

If an offender receives a ticket, their first appearance in court is typically an arraignment, criminal lawyer Donald Etra (Harry ’05, Dorothy ’08, Anna ’10 and Jonathan ’11) said.

At an arraignment, the defendant must enter a plea.

“There was a judge [at —Adrianna Crovo ’11 the arraignment] and he went down the row saying what the fines would be and if you wanted to contest it or not,” Dillman said.

If an offender chooses to contest their ticket, he or she must enter a not guilty plea and return to court at a later date for their trial, Etra said.

Dillman chose to contest his ticket since he said he believed he was not at fault.

Dillman sat with a group of about 10 other minors and their legal guardians at the arraignment.

Minors are required to be accompanied by a guardian during both the arraignment and the trial, Etra said.

Additionally, while it is common for a judge to bring several minors into one courtroom at once, Etra said that minors always have a right to privacy during juvenile proceedings.

“

It’s definitely scary and definitely Not A situation you want to put yourself in.”

Getting a traffic citation is never fun. Here is what to expect if you have to appear in court.

At the trial, the officer who issued the initial citation appears in court with the defendant.

According to the Los Angeles Superior Court website, a defendant is allowed to subpoena witnesses and has the right to an attorney.

These trials are often heard by a judge pro tem, who is an attorney that volunteers to hear certain court cases.

Temporary judges must have completed a training program for judges and had their license for at least 10 years, the website said.

Adrianna Crovo ’11, who was pulled over in her mother’s car because the vehicle was unregistered, said that at her arraignment, a sheriff read a list of courtroom rules.

“You had to be really quiet… It was pretty button-down which was a little weird,” Crovo said. “Being respectful was really emphasized.”

Crovo said that she chose to be seen in a group since she believed her transgression was not that serious.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” she said. “It wasn’t really clear about where you were supposed to be and what was going to happen until you got into the room.”

Other minors in the Santa Monica courtroom were appearing for infractions that included covering a license plate and not wearing a bike helmet, Crovo said.

Courtney Hazy ’11, who was pulled over for driving minors before having her license for one year, said that going to traffic court was a “waste of time.”

Hazy said that she learned to be more cautious because breaking the law is not worth being fined.

“You learn to be more careful,” Hazy said. “It’s not worth it to pay a lot of money to have someone in a car with you.”

“It’s definitely scary and definitely not a position you want to put yourself in,” Crovo said. “[Going to court] definitely taught me that I don’t want to do anything more serious than not having the car registered.”

Dillman, who was forced to pay a fine and is planning to attend an eight-hour session of traffic school, said that he learned that you have to be well prepared before arguing a case in traffic court.

“You’ve got to earn it. You have to do your homework first,” Dillman said. “[The officer] took five minutes to explain his side and I took 30 seconds to explain mine.”

Going to traffic court: a firsthand account It was approximately 8 p.m. and I was hurrying through Pacific Palisades to say goodbye before my friend left for Brazil. As I quickly tried to pass the Drummond St. and Sunset Blvd. intersection light before it turned red, a Will Rogers park ranger van’s sirens suddenly went off.

After pulling me over he asked for my driver’s license, which I didn’t have with me in my car and my insurance card, which had expired in March 2010. Since it was June 2010, I was cited three tickets, one for running a red light, one for driving with expired insurance, and one for not driving with my driver’s license. As I studied my ticket that night, I found that he wrote my license number wrong, my location wrong, and believed I was an adult, not a juvenile. Weeks after I received the ticket, the ranger sent a corrected ticket, but I was ready to contend in trial.

Fifteen hours after I received my first three tickets I was speeding down Sunset Blvd. A cop on a bike popped out of the side street of Westcove Street and pulled me over for driving 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. Luckily I had my license with me, but I still didn’t have the right insurance card.

I had terrible luck with the court system. My first scheduled date to contend the speeding ticket was Aug. 3. I was interning at an attorney’s office all summer, and he suggested I go a couple days prior to my court date to check if the case was still ac-

tive. Unfortunately juveniles with tickets can check if their cases are active solely through the actual courthouse. My case was found inactive, but I still panicked and showed up to court on the Aug. 3.

The juvenile traffic department was closed, so my mother and I asked an employee from the adult traffic court to check if my case was active. The woman thought she was doing us a favor by calling the police officer who gave me the ticket to remind him to give me a valid court date. Lucky me, a corrected court date ticket came in the mail two days later. My new date was Sept. 22.

Next was going to court for the first three tickets I received. It was Aug. 26, and my last time my mother accompanied me to court, since I was turning 18 in a few days. I surpringly saw a couple of Harvard-Westlake students and family friends there, which put me at ease. The judge said I could have one point on my record, attend traffic school, and pay a $500 fine. I knew I could easily fight the ticket so I bravely asked to go to trial. Trial was set for Sept. 23.

I went to court on Sept. 22 and extended my ticket to Oct. 22 because I didn’t want the judge to see me there two days in a row. Depending on my punishment, I may choose to go to trial.

The night before my first trial, I wrote down an entire argument against the park ranger. Clearly if he wrote all those mistakes on my ticket something

was wrong. He wasn’t accustomed to giving tickets out; in fact I didn’t even know park rangers were given the power to. My father helped me rehearse, but I went to court alone to fight by myself.

I nervously sat in the chair and awaited my turn.

If the officer doesn’t show up the tickets are automatically dismissed, however if he does show up, you have to go through trial procedures. When the park ranger showed up I was extremely nervous but I went in and said all the mistakes on my ticket and took pictures of different intersections and showed how it was impossible for him to see me pass a red light when he was directly parallel to me. The judge was impressed and all my tickets were dismissed.

As relieved as I am to have three tickets gone, I still have two more up in the air. I am honestly embarrassed to reveal my name in this article as it isn’t so highly regarded to be a defendant in court against the California traffic system. I just had a lot of bad luck within those 15 hours, but it was a slap in the face I deserved.

My biggest advice to students is to always be prepared. Going to trial isn’t necessarily a bad thing; you could win your case on your own. I learned a lot about the juvenile court system, which was interesting for me and am somehow getting around these tickets.

—Author’s name withheld by request

Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle

The

B4 Features

photo reprinted wih permission of Eliza Kellman

photo reprinted with permission of Victoria Pearson

photo reprinted wih permission of Adam Wininger

new country, new family, new friends: Eliza Kellman ’12 climbs a ropes course on one of her days off of school (top left). Victoria Pearson ’12

EURO

Schooling

By Sanjana Kucheria Four juniors are studying abroad in Spain, China, and France this year. School Year Abroad provides students with the opportunity to learn a foreign language and familiarize themselves with a culture other than their own.

Victoria Pearson ’12 Victoria Pearson ’12 has been interested in a study abroad program since eighth grade, and when she heard about it last winter in her Spanish IV class, her interest sparked. She was initially opposed to going because she did not want to quit volleyball, and was worried that being away for the “most important year” of high school would hurt her chances of getting into college.

“I was actually told by a lot of significant people in my life not to do it but in the end I knew if I didn’t go it would be something I would regret for the rest of my life,” she said.

After landing in Madrid for School Year Abroad, Pearson met her new family that she will be staying with for the school year.

“We don’t have dorm rooms, and every student is handpicked a family to live with,” she said. “After we were accepted [to the school] we and our parents had to answer a lot of personality quiz type questions about ourselves and they placed us according to that. My family is amazing. I have a sister named Maria and a mom whom from the first day, I’ve referred to as Mamá.”

Pearson is attending a school in Zaragoza, Spain in the northeast corner of the state Aragon.

With 64 students in her class, which consists of juniors and seniors, Pearson and her classmates call themselves “promoción of 2011” because they will graduate from SYA in 2011.

Every student has to take six classes, which meet four times a week. There are seven periods a day with 50 minute classes and five minute breaks in between. School starts at 9 a.m. and they have two classes before they have a 35 minute break called “descanso”. Afterwards, they attend three more classes before going to their 90-minute lunch break. Finally they go to two more classes before the school closes at 5:15 p.m.

On Fridays though, the school ends at 2 p.m.

“One of the great things is that if we don’t have a class, we don’t have to be in school,” Pearson said, “Our campus is in the middle of the busiest plaza in Zaragoza, so there are tons and tons of cafes, bakeries etc. that we can go to in between classes.”

Starting in November, students also have the ability to gain the right to travel independently.

The school will give rights to people once they have proved themselves to be dedicated to their

and Kellman stand outside the Alcazar in Spain (top right). Adam Wininger ’12 takes a break after a long day of walking with friends in France (bottom left).

Traveling, living with host families and immersing in a foreign culture are perks of School Year Abroad.

studies and the language, and maintained good grades.

Independent travel allows one or two students to travel anywhere in Spain for anywhere from two to five days if the school approves it. Students have the option of living with a host family, in a hotel, or hostel. The students book all the tickets and hotels themselves and live alone for that time.

“Being in Spain has really made me rethink the whole concept of common comforts. Back home we live such excessive lives and have this insatiable desire for more ‘things’. The importance of material possessions is much more present in my American life,” Pearson said.

Pearson and fellow classmate Eliza Kellman ’12 attend the same school together in Spain.

“I see Eliza just as much or more than I would at Harvard-Westlake,” Pearson said, “We live 10 minutes away walking distance and are in the same AP Spanish Language class which meets every day and the same Phonetics class which meets once a week,” Pearson said.

“I decided to study abroad because I thought it would be fun to live in France for a year, and I’m half French, so I’ve always wanted to go there,” Wininger said.

Gabi Kuhn ’12 Gabi Kuhn ’12 is also studying abroad in Beijing Normal University’s High School Number Two in Beijing, China. School Year Abroad has a whole floor to themselves so the SYA students do not actually have classes with the BNU students.

There are 48 SYA students in her year, and their class sizes vary on the courses.

Kuhn is taking three hours of Level 4 Chinese a day, English (reading Chinese classics,) Precalculus, Study Hall, Chinese tutorial, Chinese History (from the Ming Dynasty up until modern times), and a Chinese Culture and Society course.

Kuhn had been taking Chinese at HarvardWestlake with Chinese Teacher Bin Bin Wei for two years, and she also belonged to the HarvardWestlake Chinese Culture Club.

“All of this, and the Eliza Kellman ’12 fact that I was born in Kellman loves traveling and China, really made me wanted to learn more about a interested in the cultural foreign language, so she was —Victoria Pearson ‘12 aspects of this trip, and I excited about studying abroad. just wanted to really ex“I figured this would be a perience China in an imgreat opportunity to really mersed way,” she said, learn a new language and it’s For Kuhn, the most never too early to start,” she said. exciting experience is living with a host family.

Kellman has also taken Spanish at Harvard“My host family speaks no English whatsoWestlake, so she figured she would continue to ever, and every night at dinner, trying to underwork on her Spanish. Every city and town in stand each other through over-exaggerated and Spain has their own parties and this upcoming confusing pantomiming is quite a challenge,” she week is Las Fiestas de Pilar, honoring Zaragoza’s said. patron saint.

Kuhn wants to excel in Chinese because all “I want to gain the typical things, a greater SYA students are all required to take the Chinese world view, learn a new culture, new language, AP exam at the end of the year, but also she’s meet new people and over all just grow,” Kellman been taking this all one day at a time. There’s not said. an overall goal here, she said. Kuhn is just there to have fun, do something challenging and amazAdam Wininger ’12 ing, and see what becomes of it.

Adam Wininger ’12 is also studying abroad Kuhn stresses that hearing from previous for his junior year. He’s attending an American “SYAers” really helps understand what one is school called School Year Abroad in Rennes, getting into in a way that the pamphlets, photos France, and is staying with a French host family. and videos can’t.

Wininger is taking French Culture, French His“SYA is a unique experience and I’ve made so tory, Art History, AP Language and French Lit- many amazing friends here, but I miss my ones erature all in the French language. In addition back at home too,” she said, “It’s so strange to to those classes, Wininger is also taking English think that I’ve essentially skipped over a normal and math in the English language. The average junior year and will be shot-putting straight into class size there is around 67 students. being a senior,” she said.

“

Being in Spain has really made me rethink the whole concept of common comforts.”

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Features B5

a life of

protest

Upper School Humanities Department Head Martha Wheelock passionately advocates equal voting rights for women and minorities.

By Austin Block

women winning the right to vote [for] next year, the 100th anniversary.” artha Wheelock sat on a porch In the documentary, Wheelock will detail the swing and chatted with a bent over, grassroots campaign of the early Californian middle-aged African-American suffragists. She said these passionate people woman on a small farm in Tougaloo distributed over 3 million pieces of literature, County, Mississippi. The lady initially scoffed at knocked on doors, held rallies and smaller Wheelock’s suggestion that she register to vote. meetings, and used modern political campaign “Oh, they don’t want an old woman like me practices like using electric signs, billboards, voting. I don’t have anything to say,” Wheelock handbills and buttons to support their cause. She recalled her saying. said the suffragists eked out a narrow victory on Wheelock, now an English, Ethics, and Gender Oct. 10, 1911, despite major opposition.

Studies teacher, then started questioning her “We were western, and it was a big state, about current issues. The woman immediately and there were not these big parades like in the launched into her opinions. Soon after, Wheelock East Coast so the women and the men had to helped the woman register to vote. go person to person, to learn how to argue, to “She gave me lemonade and I brought my learn how to express their passion, and it is such registration and showed her how to do it,” a moving story because it really shows you how Wheelock said. “She knew how to write her name people working together … can actually move but it was really shaky, it wasn’t very fluid, but mountains,” she said. “At one time in this state, in I explained it to her and she did what she could 1910, there were 700 newspapers. So what did the and then I witnessed it so people would know women do? They sent out press releases to 700 that it was an authentic name … I just hope she newspapers a week. These were ordinary women voted. I think she felt empowered after that.” who didn’t have any degrees, they just believed Denied by a case in what they were of mononucleosis the doing and that’s a opportunity to join the really great lesson fledgling Peace Corps, that when we’re Wheelock signed up to fired up, we can find help Southern Africana way to coordinate American voters register with somebody else during the height of the or to share our Civil Rights Movement vision.” in the 1960’s. She spent Before moving two summers knocking to California in the on doors and working 1980’s, Wheelock —Martha Wheelock one-on-one with adults taught in Harlem, who had never before on Long Island, at voted. The middle-aged woman’s door was the Dalton College and at School Within a School, an first she approached. alternative school embedded in Greatneck South “I saw how my particular small dormitory [at Senior High School on Long Island that she Earlham College] got along because all sorts of started with a few other teachers around 1970. races were in it,” Wheelock said. “Then I had a “She does everything,” Rachel Katz ’11, who personal experience of falling in love and wanting had Wheelock for Honors English III, said. “I to marry an African American, and out of the don’t know how but literally every single day personal experience and out of the education I of class we find out that she has had a previous was getting, I was impassioned.” career in some other profession … I would make Wheelock’s participation in the Civil Rights eye contact with kids in my class like ‘how? How Movement was only one part of a lifelong has she done something else?’ It’s ridiculous.” commitment to activism and ethics. In addition Wheelock said that at some point, she would to teaching for over 40 years, she also joined still like to fulfill her dream of volunteering the Women’s Rights and Ecology Movements, internationally. participated in anti-war protests, worked on “I was supposed to go to [East Africa] and work the recent “No on Prop 8” campaign (in support with people there, so this is something that’s just of gay marriage), made several documentaries driven me crazy,” Wheelock said. “As an older and a feature film, published several works, and person, I want to go and work with young people started her own “alternative school.” in the Peace Corps, or in international care, or She is currently working on a documentary, work with women and children or something like “The Sixth Star: California Women Winning that.” the Vote,” which will be part of the statewide In the meantime, students and teachers Centennial Celebration of the 100 year appreciate her presence in their lives. anniversary of women’s suffrage in California.

“I think Ms. Wheelock brings genuine The film will be screened at the Autry Museum compassion to the table and real life experience,” on Sept. 18 of next year. It will also be screened Katz added. “Beyond just teaching the material I in towns throughout the state. Wheelock held a think she teaches a lot about how to make this launch event for the film near school on Oct. 10. world alive.”

Wheelock has also made two other films about “She’s got her hands and heart in so many viwomen’s suffrage, including “One Fine Day,” the tal aspects of the school,” English Department video played at the Women’s History Month Chair Larry Weber said. “She brings an energy assembly each year. that is enviable, that the sun would envy, and a “I fell in love with women’s suffrage history,” passionate interest in the well-being of young Wheelock said. “People really have to voice what people and [the] development of their hearts and they need and what they want, so I did a film their minds and a breadth of knowledge about for the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage and a variety of subjects … and I think a real love of now I’m working on a film to celebrate California people.”

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Out of the personal experience and out of the education I was getting i was impassioned.”

Austin Block/chronicle

Rock the vote: English teacher Martha Wheelock (top) chats with a guest at her launch party for “The Sixth Star: California Women Winning the Vote,” a documentary she is making to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in California. At the event, posters advocating women’s suffrage adorned the walls (middle). Wheelock makes an announcement at the event (bottom).

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Chron

The

B6 Features

awake

According to the FDA, consuming over 600 mg of caffeine a day is unhealthy. How much caffeine is present in some popular beverages?

how much is

too much? energy drinks Red Bull Energy 8.46 ounces 80 mg of caffeine 110 calories

5-Hour Energy 2 ounces 138 mg of caffeine 30 calories

Rockstar Energy 16 ounces 160 mg of caffeine 220 calories

Monster Energy 16 ounces 160 mg of caffeine 200 calories

Source: shapefit.com illustrations by cami de ry

ghly caffe i h o t n r u t n te f o s t n e rough h d t t r e l a u y a t s t d n a S ne o d k r wo uch caffei m o o t s t c e f f e the

I

By Nika

n a school where personal style can mean wristfuls of bracelets, blue hair dye, faded jean jackets, and sports team attire, one accessory seems to always fit in: a Starbucks coffee cup. There must be something other than their ability to enhance any look that make the white, paper cups famously adorned with the java giant’s green logo so popular on campus.

Staying alert can be difficult for members of the school community that are required to get through a rigorous schedule and a substantial amount of work each night. For some, a good old cup of coffee is the perfect boost.

Autumn Chiklis ’12 is just one example of many who have a habit of drinking coffee in the mornings.

“I don’t feel like it’s absolutely necessary, but I prefer a cup of coffee in the morning. The first thing I do when I wake up is go to the coffee pot,” she said.

Daniele Wieder ’12 cites the chai latté as her drink of choice.

“I have a lot of energy anyway, so I don’t really need coffee to stay energized. I only drink it when I really need it,” Wieder said.

Coffee is not the only option when searching for a little extra boost. From Redbull to Monster to Clif Bar, the possibilities are endless. Many opt for less extreme alternatives, such as Coca-Cola or a cup of tea. But nearly everyone has their own way of re-energizing when there’s a stack of papers left to grade or two hours of cramming left to do.

Mark Seuthe ’12 says he depends on one bottle of Monster to keep him up every day.

“If I don’t have that or caffeine, I’m falling asleep,” Seuthe said.

Normally, Jake Sonnenberg ’11 is not a fan of energy drinks.

“I can’t drink Monster,” he said.

But when it comes to 5-Hour Energy, another popular drink, Sonnenberg has a different opinion. He drinks one during the morning whenever he has a wrestling or debate tournament.

“I think it’s great, and there’s no crash,” he said.

Teachers are also fans of caffeine products. Science teacher Krista McClain drinks Starbucks Frappucinos and soda simply because she loves the taste.

“I usually drink a frap[pucino] almost every morning and occasionally I will have a can of pop during the day or evening,” McClain said.

Though McClain is aware of the increase in energy she experiences in the mornings, the alertness she has noticed is not what motivates her to drink caffeine.

“I do just fine on days when I don’t have any caffeine. I drink them [Frappucinos and soda] purely for the taste and not the effects,” McClain said.

In fact, the boost she gets from drinking caffeine in the evening gives McClain a hard time when trying to fall asleep. Being a runner and drinking caffeine can be problematic for McClain if she doesn’t make sure she is drinking enough water during the day.

This has caused her to have kidney stones, a hereditary condition that was passed down to her by her father, also “an avid runner.”

So what is it that makes these drinks so effective, often addictive? An ingredient known as caffeine is responsible for the stimulating effects witnessed by those who consume coffee, tea, chocolate, or a large variety of other common products.

They have been helpful when it comes to alleviating the pain McClain experiences from migraines, a problem she has been suffering from since childhood.

“When I feel the start of a migraine, I immediately get a frap with extra shot of espresso,” McClain said.

“The caffeine constricts the blood vessels in my brain so it helps relieve the pressure that my migraine creates. Migraines are a dilation of the blood vessels so caffeine, cold, cold wash cloths, and some med[ication]s all constrict the blood vessels. Excedrin Migraine pills even have caffeine in them for that exact reason,” said McClain.

The FDA writes that the average adult consumes 200 mg of caffeine a day, what some doctors suggest should be the limit for caffeine consumption.

Studies show that caffeine has addictive properties, causing consumers to witness negative withdrawal symptoms from the substance, often referred to as a “crash.”

According to the FDA, “Experts agree that 600 mg (four to seven cups of coffee) of caffeine or more each day is too much,” and it takes ap-

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proximately one hour for caffeine to reach its “peak level” in the blood, at which point it remains there for another four to six hours.

As long as consumers limit their caffeine intake, they should not be adversely affected by coffee or other forms of the substance. A central nervous system stimulant, caffeine can increase the body’s “basic metabolic rate” and, though exercise is a better alternative, can help consumers lose weight more quickly, writes Stefan Aschan on the ABC News Health website. Aschan included temporary benefits such as increased mental clarity and muscle coordination as positive effects of caffeine as well.

The negative effects of caffeine overuse are not limited to the well-known symptoms such as yellowing teeth and causing bad breath: caffeine has been linked to a number of other conditions.

Dr. Robert J. Siegel, Director of Non-Invasive Heart Laboratory (Cardiology) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explained the various cardiovascular risks of excessive caffeine consumption. Siegel listed increases in anxiety, nervousness, and stress level as possible negative effects of caffeine.

“It increases your heart rate and in some people causes blood pressure to go up,” Siegel said.

Siegel went on to explain that after taking in a lot of caffeine, stopping intake can cause headaches and other harmful side-effects.

More than about three cups a day increases anxiety and blood pressure and can lead to an “increased risk of racing or skipped heartbeat,” Siegel said.

Though caffeine affects individuals differently, it has generally been found to interfere with sleep, and if consumed excessively, can have severe health risks.

According to Karen Collins, R.D. (Registered Dietician) on the MSNBC website, “When caffeine consumption climbs to 250 to 700 mg per day, people may experience nausea, headaches, sleep difficulties or increased anxiety. People may have heart palpitations with more than 1,000 mg.”

Dr. David J. Clayton, M.D. concurs in his book “The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living: How to Survive Your Bad Habits”: “Too much coffee causes tremors and jitteriness, diarrhea, thirst, and indigestion.”

Sodas are another very common option for students seeking an alertness boost, and, though they contain much less caffeine than coffee and tea, they are also high in sugar. Diet Cokeis sweetened with aspartame, which, as Claudia Daude of the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago writes on the university’s Discovery Hospital website, “has been shown to cause birth defects, brain tumors and seizures and to contribute to diabetes and emotional disorders.”

The popular energy drink Red Bull has also raised negative attention. In fact, at one point, it was banned in France, Denmark, and Norway. Red Bull is one of many energy drinks that contains both caffeine and taurine, an amino acid. The combination of the two has been shown to have negative effects.

Chad J. Reissig and Eric C. Strain of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Roland R. Griffiths of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Neuroscience wrote on the National Center for Biotechnology Website, “In addition to caffeine intoxication, the consumption of energy drinks has been linked to seizures (Iyadurai and Chung, 2007), acute mania (Machado-Vieira et al., 2001) and stroke (Worrall et al., 2005).”

At Harvard-Westlake, several students have developed alternative personal methods by which they stay focused while dealing with the demands of schoolwork and other obligations.

Jake Schapiro ’12 listens to music on his iPod. “Coffee doesn’t work on me at all,” he said.

Annie Wasserman ’13 avoids drinking coffee, or consuming any other energy product for that matter.

“I don’t drink coffee because I don’t like it and I don’t find that it gives me any significant amount of energy to stay awake,” Wasserman said.

Austin Hopp ’12 uses physical activity as a means of staying alert.

“I usually do some kind of exercise. Then I can focus,” he said.

The reasons for and effects of drinking caffeine vary from person to person. Looking around campus, one may never realize that what appears to be another tall Starbucks coffee is really someone enjoying a hot chocolate, or perhaps a science teacher avoiding a headache.

how much is

too much?

Starbucks drinks

(12 oz serving)

Cappuccino

75 mg of caffeine 90 calories

Caffè Latte

75 mg of caffeine 150 calories

Frappuccino®

85-90 mg of caffeine 220 calories

Caffè Americano 150 mg of caffeine 15 calories

Brewed coffee 260 mg of caffeine 5 calories

Source: starbucks.com illustrations by Justine Goode text graphic by justine goode and nika madyoon

Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle

The

B8 Features

Needlepoint Skin, earlobes, lips, noses and other parts of the anatomy are a canvas for human body art through tattoos and piercings.

By Kelly Ohriner

and

Catherine Wang

When Jackson Foster ’11 found out his friend from Israel got his ear pierced when he was 9 years old, he thought it was “awesome,” but was not yet ready to make that decision for himself. Years later, getting a piercing was still on his mind. With the encouragement of his friend Alice Newman ’11, he decided to “go for it.”

He got his left ear pierced in 2008 at Claire’s with Newman, Celine Pourmoradi ’11 and his brother Lucas Foster ’13. In Israel in 2009, he stretched the original piercing himself with a taper gauge and began gauging it.

When his piercing stretched to a gauge size two — a fourth of an inch in diameter — he got his right ear pierced to a gauge size two as well.

“Piercing my right [ear] hurt a lot,” he said. “I had to sit for like 10 minutes and felt really dizzy.”

Foster’s parents knew about and consented to both his piercings.

“My mom thinks they are cool, and my dad thinks I am kinda silly and doesn’t want me to go bigger but who knows what will happen,” he said. “They think they fit my personality so they are cool with them.”

He continues to stretch his piercings himself, which are now a 00 size — 0.365 inches in diameter.

“I just think they are fun and interesting,” he said. “I frequently put flowers, pencils, or paint brushes through them to hold, it’s handy and looks interesting.”

In addition, Foster said that he feels his piercing is a connection to the past.

“Check out Tutankhamun’s tomb,” he said. “He had them.”

On King Tut’s mask, there are holes in his ear that resemble gauges like the ones Foster has.

“It’s awesome to have something in common with Tutankhamun,” he said.

Foster turns 18 in November, and he plans on getting another piercing during the week of his birthday.

Lael Pollack ’11 and Marka MaberryGaulke ’12 wanted to get piercings outside of their earlobe piercings; both, however, were hesitant to get piercings that were too noticeable.

Maberry-Gaulke thought a nose piercing would be “cute.”

“I enjoy getting piercings, which is kind of weird,” she said.

One of her parents did not like the idea, but her other parent took her to get it, since people under 18 must have parental consent.

“I love it so much,” she said of her piercing. “I like how little it is — pretty small — so it’s not 100 percent noticeable sometimes.”

Pollack got her piercing at a parlor popular among her friends. She had talked about getting a navel piercing with her mom several times before.

“She said she didn’t get it but wouldn’t stop me,” Pollack said. “I called her right before I went to the piercing place to tell her that I was about to get it done, that way she didn’t really have time to change her mind.”

Pollack does not want another piercing right now, but says it’s a possibility for the future. “[I’d most likely get] a tongue piercing or something that wouldn’t leave a visible scar,” she said.

Like Maberry-Gaulke and Pollack, Kirstin Cook ’11 wanted to get some kind of

body art that would not be noticeable. She got a tattoo on the inside of her bottom lip during the summer before her junior year.

The tattoo is the Greek word for fish. The word’s letters are the first letters of Jesus, Christ, Son, God and Savior, respectively.

Cook likes her tattoo because it is not a meaningless tattoo or something she will regret when she is older.

“If I do end up regretting it, which I don’t and probably won’t, it’s not somewhere that people can see unless I actively show them,” she said. “It’s nice because it’s discreet and won’t prevent me from getting a job or something, as opposed to having something huge on my arm.”

Garrett* ’11 has two tattoos, both of which his parents have no knowledge of.

Garrett’s tattoos are always covered by clothing and are easily concealed from his parents.

He was drunk when he got the first one, and he regrets getting it.

The second one is “meaningful” to him.

“It hurt a bit but not really,” he said.

“Another reason it didn’t hurt so bad was that a girl I was with told me she liked them.”

He and his friends plan on getting tattoos together at the end of senior year.

Barbara* has three tattoos, all of which are relatively hidden. She has a tattoo of the Hindu Om symbol behind her ear, lyrics to a song by her favorite band on her upper right leg, and the word “Vital” in old English on her hip.

While her mother knows about two of them, her father has no knowledge of them. She got them done at a parlor that allows minors to get tattoos.

“I really like my tattoos,” Barbara said.

“I like the freedom that comes with getting a tattoo. I can choose any way to represent myself.”

Adrianna Crovo ’11 has 17 piercings, eight of which she pierced herself, and she is comfortable letting people see them. Her favorite piercing - and most recent – is a bar piercing through the cartilage in the top of her ear. A field hockey goalie herself, Crovo was inspired to get the piercing after learning that the world’s best field hockey goalie had one.

“She is a huge idol of mine so I got it to sort of mimic her,” she said. “I thought it would be a constant reminder to work hard and stay focused on my sport and it actually did that for me, as lame as that sounds.”

Crovo is one of many students who have gone beyond the typical earlobe piercing and tried other types of piercing or body art.

Crovo convinced her mom, who initially “hated” the idea, that the piercing would motivate her.

“When they pierce your industrial, they use a gauged bar and pierce it twice at a specific angle through your cartilage,” she said. “It hurt for a little while and was really swollen but it was 100 percent worth it – it makes me happy.”

Crovo’s dad doesn’t know about her piercing, though she assumes he has seen it. Her friends have mixed reactions to it, while most adults “do not understand” it, she said.

Crovo hopes to add to her already large number of piercings.

“It doesn’t interfere with my wearing my helmet or sleeping or something, I don’t see the harm,” she said. “You can always take them out.” * name has been changed

Printed with permission of Marka maberry-gaulke

Jamie Chang/chronicle

Printed with permission of jackson foster

Printed with permission of Lael Pollack

body art: Marka Maberry-Gaulke’12 likes her nose piercing because it’s unnoticeable (top left). Adrianna Crovo’s ’11 cartilage piercing reminds her to work harder as a field hockey player (top right). Jackson Foster ’11 stretched his own ear when he was in Israel (bottom left). Lael Pollack ’11 did not want a facial piercing, so she got a navel piercing (bottom right).

Caring for a new tattoo or piercing Wash your hands before cleaning or touching the new piercing or tattoo to avoid infecting it.

Products like lotion, cosmetics or perfume can cause irritation, which leads to scarring.

Taking showers instead of baths prevents soap from getting into and damaging the area.

Washing the area with antibacterial soap and warm water aids the healing process.

Infographic by Claire Hong Illustrations by Claire Hong and Vivien Mao Source: http://www.youngwomenshealth.org

Oct. 14, 2010 IA

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Early Birds

Chapter 3: The five seniors worry about Early Action and Early Decision while working on their essays.

By Catherine Wang

Alexis: the Athlete “Not much has changed” on Alexis’s* front, she said. She is “keeping up with coaches” via e-mail and phone calls.

“We’re still going back and forth,” she said. “We communicate when we can.”

For most of the schools recruiting Alexis, recruited athletes do not need to complete the full application, so she has been balancing senior year classes with a demanding training schedule for her sport, which is “going well” so far.

“I feel like this year is the year I could choose classes I want to take,” she said. “So I’m really enjoying my classes.”

Madison: the Performer Madison* decided that in addition to applying to Wesleyan University Early Decision, she will also apply to Emerson College Early Action.

“It was a personal decision,” she

said. Emerson is a school Madison’s CAL STATE Zoe thinks she will be happy with dean categorized as one she would her grades at the end of first-quarter. “most likely” be accepted to, and Three of her classes are Advanced Madison would like to have the Placement courses. The course she comfort of knowing she is accepted to has to put the most effort into is AP a school in December.

Economics, she said.

“It’s the same reason people apply Two academic teachers will write to schools with rolling admission,” sheMIDDLEBURY recommendations for her, in addition explained. to an art teacher and a professor Because Wesleyan does not have from an art program she attended a supplement essay, Madison feels this summer. that she has the time to complete the “I’m really nervous,” Zoe said. “I essay Emerson requires for students hope my professor writes me a good applying to her chosen major. one.”

“My Common App essay is almost Zoe’s dean thinks she is in “good done, so what more can I do for the shape,” especially given the strength Wesleyan application?” she said. of her portfolio.

Madison took the SAT on Saturday “It’s totally different for me since and is continuing to put a lot of effort I’m an art-based student,” she said. into her schoolwork.

At her summer program, Zoe “I guess I’m as confident as a senior worked with NYU professors and can be about my grades right now,” students on the material she compiled she said. into her portfolio.

“I got feedback from people who Zoe: the Artist are from NYU,” she said. “Hopefully it’s what NYU wants.”

“Each time I look at my applications, I think of something new I should say, or something I’ve said improperly and should say differently,” he said.

Carter has yet to do any of interviews. He plans on doing his MIT interview after submitting his application.

“I’m actually afraid that with the early deadlines, I may not get enough time with each application that I initially thought I would,” he said.

Carter: the Brain Illustrations by Melissa Gertler

As she expected, Zoe* has not yet finished her application essays for either New York University or Emerson University, both of which have Nov. 1 deadlines for early applications.

She has, however, finished her art portfolio, which is what she thinks will be a key component of her application.

Neither NYU nor Emerson give alumni interviews, and she fulfilled her standardized testing requirement last year, so she is focusing mainly on schoolwork.

“We all know first quarter you have to work really hard, and I don’t want to jeopardize anything,” she said.

Based on her performance so far,

After one full month of school, Carter* is starting to realize that balancing a “tough senior courseload” with three early applications is not easy.

“It’s ultra stressful,” he said.

Carter is taking seven academic courses this year, all of which are Advanced Placement, Honors or Directed Studies. In the midst of his schoolwork, he dedicates 30 minutes each night to his applications by either writing new material or “strengthening” what he has already written.

Aiden: All Around While most of his peers are frantically completing early applications and striving for respectable first quarter grades, Aiden*, who will not apply anywhere early, is “not really stressed out.”

Seeing his friends and classmates in “panic-mode” and knowing he has more time to “think things through” makes him more confident in his decision not to apply early.

Aiden has been making progress with his applications, having moved from the brainstorming phase of his Common Application essay to the writing phase. He has also started the University of Michigan supplement.

“I’m getting the grades I anticipated,” he said. “So that’s a good thing. I’m pretty satisfied with that.”

As of now, Aiden’s college list has nine schools on it, including University of Michigan, University of Southern California, and University of Pennsylvania. * names have been changed

B10 A&E

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Putting on a show

By Justine Goode For most little girls, just getting an American Girl doll for their birthday would be a dream come true. When Megan Ward ’13 was 10, she had the chance to bring two of those American Girls to life after she was cast in the American Girl’s Revue, a professional musical staged at the American Girl Place in Los Angeles. Ward portrayed both Felicity, a colonial girl, and Josefina, a girl growing up in New Mexico in the 19th century, for 265 performances.

“It was an amazing experience,” Ward said. “I met some of my best friends and I gained invaluable training and experience I wouldn’t have had at that age.”

Ward said that though the cast was mainly 10 to 15 year-olds, they were treated like adult employees.

“I had to quickly adapt to the environment and the demands of having a job while going to middle school,” she said.

Ward, who played the eponymous role in last year’s middle school production of “Auntie Mame,” made her theatrical debut as “the Sun” in her first grade weather play. Her next memorable part came when she was six-years-old in a summer camp production of “Grease.”

“I had one line in the sleepover scene and I still remember it: ‘Face it girls, she’s got a whole new wardrobe!’” Ward said.

Since then, Ward has performed in over 20 community and school shows. Some of her favorite roles include Diana Morales in “A Chorus Line,” Sophie in “Mamma Mia,” Gabriella Montez in “High School Musical” and Lorraine Sheldon in “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” She has also been in the musical “Annie” five times, playing almost every role in the show.

Ward said her love for theater has been fostered by both her parents, who introduced her to two of her favorite shows. Her dad took her to see the

Megan Ward ’13 is already an experienced theater actress who has starred in numerous iconic musicals.

musical “Les Miserables” when she was eight years old, which despite initial uncertainty, she came to love.

“He is a big sports fan, so I didn’t really trust his judgment,” Ward said. “I ended up loving and crying through the majority of the show.”

The show “A Chorus Line” is also special to Ward, as it was the first show her mother ever took her to see in New York.

There are a number of roles she says she hopes to have the opportunity to play in the future, including Eponine in “Les Miserables,” Charity Hope Valentine in “Sweet Charity,” Mille Dillmount in “Thoroughly Modern Mille,” and Elphaba or Glinda in “Wicked.” Her favorite theater actresses include Sutton Foster and Idina Menzel, who originated the roles of Mille Dillmount and Elphaba on Broadway.

In addition to performing, Ward enjoys journalism, creative writing, and reading.

Though it’s still a bit early in her college process, Ward says she hopes to attend a college where she could major in both Performing Arts and Journalism.

“I would love to pursue theater in college and as a career. It’s my absolute dream to be on Broadway one day or take Meredith Vieira’s job on the Today show,” Ward said.

Currently, Ward is in rehearsals for the upper school production of “Pippin” as part of the ensemble.

“The cast is amazing and it has been so much fun to meet many upper classmen that I didn’t know before,” Ward said.

With music and lyrics written by Stephen Schwartz (“Pocahontas,” “Wicked”), “Pippin” has provided Ward with yet another opportunity to feed her passion for live performance.

“My favorite part about performing is getting to be on stage, doing what I love most in the entire world,” Ward said.

“There is nothing more exciting than a live audience on opening night.”

center stagE: Megan Ward ’13 sings at The Girly Show, a song and dance variety recital with all-female performers. Ticket proceeds were sent to the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center to benefit breast cancer research.

photo reprinted with permission of megan ward

Short films to screen at Homecoming

By Bo Lee

photo reprinted with permission of cheri gaulke

Heated: Nick Lieberman ’11, portraying a gangster, deflects reprimands from a principal in the film, “The Boss,” directed by Jack Goldfisher ’14 and Alex Thal ’14 and written by Alexandre Moritz ’12.

Student short films from the Video Art classes as well as from the Summer Film Camp will be screened on Homecoming Day, Oct. 23, in Ahmanson Lecture Hall. The genres will include dramas, comedies and animations ranging in length from one minute to 16 minutes.

Cheri Gaulke, Visual Arts Department Head and Video Arts teacher, said that she will put together a reel of some of the best films of the past year, and will have them screened repeatedly from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The entire program will be an hour in length and will repeat entirely right after.

Gaulke said that she got the idea to showcase the films when she was at lunch one day with several teachers and one of them asked when they would get to see the films. Gaulke realized that nobody at Harvard-Westlake

ever got to see the films except for a few students in a classroom.

“I began thinking about when I could showcase the work, like perhaps after school, but I feared no one would show up. So my partner, Sue Maberry, said, ‘Why don’t you show them during Homecoming when lots of people will be on campus?’ I asked my students what they thought of the idea and they thought it was great,” Gaulke said.

Gaulke also said that many of the films have yet to be selected in film festivals since they are mostly new, but two of the films have been selected recently for films festivals. An animation of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by Molly Cinnamon ’14 was recently shown at Santa Monica College during a public service event regarding the environment, and a film called “The 254 Year Old

Boy” by Robert Vega ’11 was selected for the International Student Media Festival in Anaheim.

Gaulke said that the screenings would be a wonderful opportunity to show the work of students to the families of prospective students.

Anyone will be allowed to attend the shows since all of the films are appropriate for all ages, and admission will be free. A schedule will be posted outside Ahmanson Hall indicating which films will be shown at what times.

“Homecoming is a time to celebrate our school and we are thrilled to have our film program be part of the celebration. I am also happy that our students will get a chance to share their excellent work with this community of parents, siblings, classmates and friends. If this is a successful event we may make it a new tradition,” Gaulke said.

Chronicle

A&E B11

The

Oct. 14, 2010

Jazz to play show at Vibrato Grill

By Arielle Maxner

Printed with permission of Eric Myerson

Whale of a Ride: Eric Myerson ’98 was the lead editor of an episode of “Whale Wars,” in which the Shonan Maru #2, a whaling ship, collides with the Ady Gil, a Sea Shepherds vessel, ripping the bow off and causing it to sink.

Alumnus scores Emmy nomination

By Jessica Barzilay

sion. Nights spent in post-production while in graduate school led Myerson to discover his passion for editing, Eric Myerson ’98 has made a career out of building despite his initial interest in film production. stories as a television and music video picture editor, “In editorial we get to go through the footage and but now he’s making his own headlines. He recently re- choose how we want to use it to tell the most compelling ceived a Primetime Emmy nomination in Outstanding story that we can,” Myerson said.

Picture Editing for his work on Animal Planet’s “Whale Myerson has worked on “Whale Wars,” the program Wars.” for which he was nominated, for two seasons. The docuMyerson’s first high school foray into film and televi- mentary television series details the adventures of The sion came in the form of art teacher Cheri Gaulke’s vid- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group of envieo class, a course that really resonated with him. ronmental activists, as they attempt to stop Later on, Myerson took advanced video classes the activity of the Japanese whaling fleet in with visual arts teacher Kevin O’Malley.

Antarctica. Documentarians remain neutral “While Kevin O’Malley’s classes taught me on the issues they feature, and “Whale Wars” how to tell stories in the structure of a tradirepresents both points of view, Myerson said. tional narrative, Cheri Gaulke introduced me to “It’s a very intense show and whether you experimental and documentary video. Because are against whaling or pro-whaling, you will of this, I tend to think outside the box a little find that the story is extremely compelling,” while at work while maintaining a proper story he said. structure,” Myerson said. At Columbia UniMyerson’s job consists of sifting through versity, he double majored in Visual Arts and the footage of the 90 day whaling season to Psychology, with the knowledge that he would printed with permission create a through line of the Sea Shepherds’ of eric myerson pursue a masters degree in film. journey.

Myerson worked on several independent Eric Myerson ‘98 “We work to create an emotional experiartist ventures during his time at Columbia, ence that puts the viewer on the edge of his including “X-Posed,” a documentary he created along or her seat,” Myerson said. with Nicole Brown ’98 that aired on the student-run As a freelance editor, Myerson enjoys editing many television station. different types of programs, from reality shows to music Determined to garner some professional experience videos to sporting events. Editing each piece of work while still an undergrad, Myerson arranged his schedule presents unique challenges and therefore unique learnto accommodate a part time position at MTV, where he ing opportunities, he said. Throughout his career, Mywas transferred to several different departments, rang- erson has kept in touch with Gaulke and O’Malley and ing from on air to set design and props. carried with him the skills he learned in high school.

After college, Myerson relocated to Los Angeles to “The biggest thing that I learned from Harvardattend University of Southern California School of Cin- Westlake is how to think critically and how to effecematic Arts, previously USC’s School of Cinema-Televi- tively tell a story,” Myerson said.

Soboroff stars in series to rebuild schools

By Michael Sugerman Jacob Soboroff ’01 will be starring in a new NBC series, “School Pride,” premiering tomorrow. Soboroff first heard about “School Pride” through his agent at Creative Arts Agency.

“It was from the creator of ‘Extreme Makeover’ and also from Cheryl Hines, who plays Larry David’s wife on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’” Soboroff said. “I thought that there couldn’t be two better creators of the show, so I went to the meeting and they asked if I wanted to do it. I said ‘Yeah,’ and before I knew it we were getting to work.”

Soboroff and other team members went to schools in Compton, Detroit, Baton Rouge and more, including three schools in Los Angeles.

The “School Pride” crew, joined by students, teachers, and parents, then rebuilt the schools. The result: a brandnew and completely transformed place of learning.

“In every community, whether it’s Compton or Baton Rouge or Detroit, every kid wants an education and every kid loves their school. The problem is that the schools aren’t loving them

back.

These schools are in such bad shape in some cases that the kids feel like there’s a sign outside that says ‘We don’t care about you,’” Soboroff said.

“School Pride” is the solution to the problem. The most important thing about the show, Soboroff said, is that “it’s not a show about makeovers.”

Soboroff, a journalist, is one of four “community organizers,” including a police officer, an interior designer and a former substitute teacher who help lead the community through the makeover process.

“I see the makeover itself as a tool to get people talking about the issue of education,” he said. “I was lucky; I got a great education. I had the opportunity to go to Harvard-Westlake. I got to have great teachers who told me that even though I wasn’t a great student, I could still follow my passion. Because of the education I got from HarvardWestlake, I felt like this was a great project to be able to give back and shine a spotlight on the fact that not all kids in the United States, or even the majority of them are not getting a great education.”

Printed with Permission of Jacob Soboroff

teacher’s pet: Jacob Soboroff ‘01 stars in “School Pride,” in which he helps to rebuild schools around the country.

The Jazz Explorers and Advanced Jazz Combo will have a “Jazz Night” at the Vibrato Grill Jazz club in Bel Air on Oct. 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

This is one of two performances at Vibrato this year, and there are other future gigs at a variety of different locations.

In the past few years, the two combos have played at restaurants such as Vitello’s and Catalina Bar and Grill, and they’ve had a trip to nathanson ’s/chronicle Santa Barbara for the Dos Kevin SchwarzPueblos High School Jazz wald ’11 Festival. Occasionally, the jazz bands will also play at private parties.

The set list for Oct. 24 includes a variety of jazz music, which will be rehearsed on days when the Jazz Band meets, and sometimes after school, organized by Kevin Schwarzwald ’11 and Jordan Bryan ’11, the student band leaders. nathanson ’s/chronicle “The repertoire is chosen by us, and the styles we Jordan Bryan ’11 choose reflect the instrumentation, for example a larger horn section may result in a larger focus on arranging and the repertoire may include more funk or Art Blakey… while a combo with only one horn may focus more on improvisation and traditional jazz songs,” Schwarzwald said. Of course, the musical tastes of the combo members and leaders are also considered.

Bryan said that they “try to take on a different issue” every rehearsal, but that “rehearsal time is always used to prepare songs specifically for an upcoming gig because there are quite a few of them throughout the year.”

Sometimes the main focus is learning the song, but once they’ve played through the song a few times the concentration is shifted to perfecting their performance, especially on more difficult pieces.

Mastering the song is only part of the process, therefore, and then performing presents its own set of challenges.

Actors audition for ‘Two Masters’

By Evan Brown Everyone who auditions for the fall play “The Servant of Two Masters” starting Monday must sing and act.

Auditions will continue throughout the week for students who are not participating in the fall musical.

Although it’s not a musical in classic Commedia dell’ Arte form, there are a few songs throughout the play.

The play is written and performed in the traditional European style of theater, most identifiable by the masks the performers wear and the improvisational comedy used throughout the productions.

Actors of the Commedia dell’ Arte came from various social classes, primarily from families that had long been involved in the entertainment business.

“The Servant of Two Masters,” written by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldini in 1743, is a tale consisting of love, humor, and adventure and how the themes come together.

The story surrounds Sylvio, the young man in love with Clarice, who loves him back equally. Additional parts include the roles of Dottore the doctor and Sylvio’s father, Pantalone, Clarice’s father, Truffaldino, the servant of two masters himself, Smeraldina, Clarice’s servant, and Florindo, a good looking man who has the heart of Beatrice, the woman disguised as a man.

Other characters include Brighella, a nice woman whom everyone is afraid of for various reasons, and Bob, Jim, and Steve, the three actors in the play. Therefore, there will be only eight roles available for which students can audition.

Callbacks are next Thursday and Oct. 25.

Performance dates are Friday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m, Saturday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m, and a matinee on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m.

B12 Features

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

By David Burton

M

aking everything a little bit sillier with their electric colors and vast array of shapes, Silly Bandz™ are quickly establishing themselves as a new popular teenage fashion. On campuses, in malls, at fast food chains, around the beach, on amusement park rides, these exotic new bands shine in the limelight.

Silly Bandz are a colored wristband accessory that look like normal wristbands when worn, but when taken off, recoil into the shape of something. The bands can take the form of giraffes, pelicans, polar bears and penguins. Some Bandz are letters or numbers. There are dinosaur designs, Halloween designs, Hello Kitty™ designs and Marvel Comics™ designs.

Even teenage pop star Justin Bieber has “Bieber Fever” for Silly Bandz with his own customized package of 24 different shapes.

“They are fun to look at,” Danielle Strom ’11 said. “I’m constantly looking at my friends’ Silly Bandz trying to see what kind of unique design they are wearing.”

Silly Bandz started to emerge towards the end of last year, and the trend exploded over the summer.

“Last year, I had no idea what Silly Bandz were, but as I went on vacation over the summer and even when I stayed home, I saw more and more people with them, and I decided to get my own,” Courtney Hazy ’11 said.

Although Silly Bandz were originally popular fashion among girls, boys have joined in on the fun as well.

“They are a new thing, a new trend,” Drew Tuttle ‘11 said. “Just like Vans went through a trend and skinny jeans went through a trend, Silly Bandz also are go-

ing through that phase in which they are just worn by almost everyone.”

In fact, Silly Bandz have different designs that cater to guys specifically.

“I have a design of one of Michael Jordan’s shoes with his number inside of it,” Tuttle said. “There are definitely ones that guys can wear too.”

More and more guys have begun to wear them, usually landing their hands on one or two from a girl’s extensive private collection.

“Not many boys are willing to go to a store and buy a silly band, so we usually get one or two from girls whom we are friends with,” Josh Hearlihy ’12 said.

Fanatics of these new bands can be seen with 30 or 40 Silly Bandz around their wrists, ankles, water bottles and rear view mirrors of their cars.

“I’m always anxious to show my friends what kind of new Silly Band design I found.

They are super cool, but I have to admit that they are kind of fun to wear and look at,” Kathyrn Gallagher ’11 said.

Although most people enjoy the creativity of Silly Bandz, some people are not so enthusiastic about this exploding fashion.

“They are fun for little kids. But other than the fun factor, they are pretty pointless,” Kellie Barnum ’11 said.

Others, like Barnum, prefer to look at the cool designs of other people’s bands, rather than to wear their own. But these few opposers to Silly Bandz will unlikely be able to keep the Silly Bandz phenomenon from growing.

“Silly Bandz are definitely on the rise, and I think they will stay a popular fashion for a little while,” Anthony Thompson ’13 said. Despite what people may say, as more people begin to incorporate Silly Bandz into their fashion, the evidence is there, Silly Bandz seem to be “IN.”

allison hamburger/chronicle

Biology three hang ten

By Meagan Wang

O

n any given day, students walking into the Science Department will most likely be greeted by a colorful array of Hawaiian shirts. Three teachers, all of whom teach AP Biology, are known to always wear Hawaiian shirts. Despite this similarity, Larry Axelrod, Blaise Eitner and Walt Werner insist that they never coordinate their wardrobes.

The coincidental coordination, Axelrod explains, is probably a result of the teachers’ common backgrounds in science.

“I started wearing them to school, at first only on Fridays, [in] about 1981,” Werner said. He said he still has at least one shirt from college.

Axelrod thinks he started “probably when I first started wearing clothes.”

Eitner said that he can’t remember, but “probably in graduate school.”

Werner dons a Hawaiian shirt to school every day.

The only time he will not wear one is if it is too cold.

Axelrod wears them to everything, he said—to weddings, hikes, dates and work. Eitner wears them about three or four days a week.

Axelrod says that he likes Hawaiian shirts because they are casual and reflect his outlook on life. They also remind him of when he used to “hang ten.” Werner finds them “interesting,” while Eitner likes the shirts because they “look good.” They all agree that Hawaiian shirts are comfortable.

“It’s in the genes,” Axelrod said. “I think field biologists typically have a different outlook on life when compared to a researcher who is strictly a lab scientist. Occasionally you will see a physics or chemistry teacher wearing a Hawaiian shirt at school…but they always look a little uncomfortable, as though they can’t wait to take it off and slip on a button down.”

Meagan wang/chronicle

Justine goode/chronicle

Feeling Floral: AP Biology teachers Larry Axelrod (left), Walt Werner (center) and

justine goode/chronicle

Blaise Eitner (right) consistently wear Hawaiian shirts to school regardless of the season.

ports S the

Chronicle Volume XX Issue III Oct. 14, 2010

Fencing Phenom May Peterson ’13, following in her sister Emma’s ’11 footsteps, is an accomplished fencer. She recently competed in Switzerland.

C7

Daniel Kim/chronicle

In the Fray: Running back Jamias Jones ’12 runs the ball, evading Sylmar’s defense. He rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries in the Wolverines’ 24-14 home victory

Football starts Mission League play Friday

By Judd Liebman After having its two game win streak snapped by Bishop Alemany High School on Oct. 1, the varsity football team had a new agenda in its bye week in order to be ready for the next game against Chaminade.

The Wolverines had back-to-back victories against Leuzinger and Sylmar, 42-8 and 24-14 respectively, before losing to Alemany 49-17 at Alemany’s Homecoming game. The game was one of revenge for Alemany, as the Wolverines upset the Warriors at Harvard-Westlake’s Homecoming game last year.

The team had little offensive production in the first quarter while the defense was not ready for the Warriors’ speed and fundamental skill, Head Coach Vic Eumont said.

“We had a lot of [young] players who were in total shock by the speed and skill of Alemany,” Eumont said.

“They wore us out early on both sides of the ball and we got too far behind to catch up.”

Alemany put up more points on the Wolverine defense than any other opponent thus far. The Warriors’ tactics as well as physical strengths were too much for the Wolverines to overcome, Eumont said.

“We didn’t even touch them [on their] first three touchdowns. They do a lot of unbalanced lines and stuff, and [for] this game we prepared for everything they were doing. But then we couldn’t adjust when they would motion, and it’s bad enough that the other guys are faster than you,” Eumont said of Alemany’s offensive control.

The Wolverine offense started just

over the Spartans. The team, now 2-2-1 overall, will face off against Chaminade in its first league game on Friday. The Wolverines lost to Chaminade 24-17 last season. as slowly as the defense did against Alemany. Starting quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 threw two interceptions to end the first two possessions of the game.

“Well I like to think we’re on the upslope even though we played a good team and didn’t play well. We have to think [of the game] that way,” Offensive Coordinator Dave Levy said.

“As a quarterback, you need to have amnesia about a game like Alemany.

Someone once told me that ‘mental toughness is the #1 attribute required to be a good quarterback.’ I am looking forward to the Chaminade game, not back on the Alemany game,” Heltzer said.

Heltzer said he takes it upon himself to ready the team for its next game against Chaminade.

“As a leader [on] offense, and being the quarterback, it’s my responsibility to get the offense and team focused and ready to play [the next game],” he said.

After his rough start against Alemany, Heltzer was replaced by quarterback Chad Kanoff ’13, who led the offense to 17 points. Kanoff has not taken the starting position from Helt-

School hires new lacrosse coach

By Alex Leichenger

The athletic department will host a “Meet the Coach” night to introduce new varsity Lacrosse Head Coach and Lacrosse Program head Matt Lewis Oct. 21 in Ahmanson Lecture Hall. The hiring of Lewis was announced Sept. 24.

Lewis was the head coach at Loyola High School from 2007 to 2009, leading the Cubs to a 42-91 record in that span.

“Matt has demonstrated that he can run a big-time program at a school where academics matter,” Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said. “He has great contacts in the lacrosse world, his ability to assemble a top-shelf staff is self-evident, and he’s a

proven winner.”

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for the school, Harvard-Westlake, and the athletic program, so when I heard that this coaching position was open, I jumped at the opportunity,” Lewis said.

Lewis played lacrosse at Penn State from 1994-1997 and coached club lacrosse teams before taking a job as an assistant at Loyola in 2006.

“I think what really came through in his interview that was very impressive was his commitment to teaching the game at every level,” Barzdukas said. “He cares about how the fundamentals are taught along with how complex systems are implemented.”

Lewis said he plans to as-

semble a coaching staff of “former Division I players.” Former University of Maryland player Max Ritz is expected to be hired to run the middle school lacrosse program, created last year.

“As far as what I hope to accomplish at Harvard-Westlake, I want to consistently win,” Lewis said. “I want to win championships. I want to bring HarvardWestlake its first Mission League championship.”

“I think one of the things that was really intriguing about this candidate was his ambition,” Barzdukas said. “He understands that Harvard-Westlake is a school that prides itself on excellence in everything that it does, and he wants to ensure that the lacrosse program holds its weight.”

zer because he and Heltzer are considered a dual threat, Eumont said.

“Now we have two good options in case things aren’t going well. It’s also hard on other defenses. If they prep all week for one guy and then a new guy comes in, they’re going to do this and that differently and that’s hard to react to in the moment,” Eumont said.

A recurring problem for the team is injuries. The team is depleted on both offense and defense at this point in the season. Eumont said he looks to other players’ resilience to get through holes on both sides of the ball.

The team’s next game is against Chaminade, who defeated the Wolverines 24-17 last year.

Focusing on Chaminade during the bye week, the team constantly watched film and prepared for the opponents’ toughness, Heltzer said.

“Chaminade is our main focus right now,” Heltzer said. “Last year we played one half of really good football against Chaminade, and if we can do that for four quarters, we will put ourselves in a good position to win.”

The Wolverines will play rival Cathedral at the Homecoming game on Oct. 23.

INSIDE

C2-C3: Homecoming Preview C8: Homecoming Q&A

C2 Sports

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Facts

& Figures

2 3 4 10 38

Homecoming2010 games of the month

HOMECOMINg Saturday, Oct. 23

Number of boys’ water polo games involving forfeits.

Harvard-Westlake forfeited to Crespi and Mater Dei forfeited to the Wolverines.

Underclassmen members of the highly-ranked girls’ volleyball team, out of 14 players on the roster.

Rank of junior Cami Chapus’ time among high school girls’ cross country runners nationwide. Chapus ran a 16:58 time at the Woodbridge Invitational.

Rank of junior Amy Weissenbach’s time among high school girls’ cross country runners.

Weissenbach ran a 17:06 time in the same Woodbridge Invitational race as Chapus.

Daniel kim/chronicle

Key player: Running back Jamias Jones ’12 carries the ball in the Wolverines’ loss to Sylmar.

The Wolverines need Jones to produce against Cathedral in order for the team to pull off an upset.

Savannah de Montesquiou’s ’13 singles rank in California. She is the girls’ tennis team’s number one singles player.

This Month in Wolverine History

Girls’ Volleyball vs. Dos Pueblos: 2 p.m.

Volleyball is looking to continue its incredible run with a win in front of what could be its largest crowd yet at Homecoming. The Wolverines, ranked #1 in the nation by MaxPreps.com, are trying to avoid

being upset by the #43 Chargers.

Key players to watch in this match are Wolverines’ opposite hitter Christina Higgins and and the Chargers’ opposite hitter Amanda Moriarty.

Girls’ Field Hockey vs. Bonita: 3 p.m.

Head Coach Erin Creznic is very enthusiastic about the Wolverines’ chances against Bonita.

The Wolverines recorded three blowout wins in October, scoring nine goals or more in each contest.

VS. Vox ‘98

Number 1 Spot: Marissa Irvin ’98 was the number one junior singles player in the world as a senior.

October 1997

By Micah Sperling Marissa Irvin ’98, winner of the US Open Junior doubles championship, takes the court for the Wolverines for the first time as the top-ranked junior doubles player in the nation. Irvin, who raised her singles ranking to number one in the world in her senior season, had competed in prestigious junior tournaments worldwide as well as the regular US Open, her schedule had not worked with Wolverine tennis practices. Irvin played for Stanford, leading the Cardinal to the 1999 NCAA national championship and an NCAA finals appearance the next year. She was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and the Intercollegiate College Tennis Association’s Rookie of the Year in 1999.

Boys’ Water Polo vs. Cathedral: 5 p.m.

The water polo team looks to continue a successful season against the Cathedral Phantoms, whom the Wolverines tied in a

game earlier this year.

Key players are Alec Zwanefeld ’12, Kayj Shannon ’11 and Henry McNamara ’13.

Football

vs. Cathedral: 7 p.m.

The football team will face a difficult test against the Cathedral Phantoms in the marquee Homecoming event.

The Wolverines have beaten Cathedral three out of the last four years; however, the one loss came last year. The Wolverines’ rushing attack has been strong, with Jamias Jones ’12 averaging 66.6 yards of rushing a

game. Cathedral is led by sophomore quarterback Hayden Rettig, who is currently averaging 235.8 passing yards per game. Cathedral is ranked 232nd in the state, while the Wolverines are ranked 318th.

The Wolverines will have to pull off a Homecoming upset for the second year in a row.

Homecoming head man

Sports C3

Chronicle

The

Oct. 14, 2010

Homecoming2010

Head Football Coach Vic Eumont leads the Wolverines into their game against Cathedral.

By Alex Leichenger In the little-visited third floor of Taper Gymnasium, football coach Vic Eumont spends most of his day laboring. In the secluded room, the blinds shield the view of the basketball court below and a fan blowing cool air, stacks of papers line the table in front of the film projector, and scrawlings of offensive and defensive formations cover the whiteboard.

At the time of this scene last year, the Wolverines were coming off two blowout victories to open their season, both of which were shutouts. The Wolverines’ next contest was their stunning 24-20 Homecoming upset of Alemany, a perennial local powerhouse.

Eumont and the Wolverines will try to recreate some of the same magic when they square off with Cathedral at Homecoming Oct. 23.

“The great thing about last year was that we had to push some fans out of the way to shake hands with the other team,” Eumont said. “That was hard to do because everyone was piling on top of each other.

That’s the closest thing to tearing down the goalpost we’ve ever had.”

Still, in a country where many schools live and die with their football teams, some coaches would be frustrated with a school like Harvard-Westlake.

Athletes have multiple commitments, and football does not sit on a special pedestal of importance above other sports.

“Football here at this school is a little tougher because you’ve got great students who are also involved in other club sports that go year-round,” Eumont said. “So there is a thing that limits us some ways, but [on the other hand] we end up getting players that really want to play football, and they’re good kids.”

Before coming to Harvard-Westlake, Eumont was the head coach at Jesuit High School in New Orleans.

The school produced two future NFL draft picks during his tenure and it was a place where football sits on a pedestal, he said.

Eumont compared Jesuit to Loyola, which plays in the Serra league with larger teams like Alemany.

Eumont has also been an assistant coach at the collegiate level, making stops at University of New Mexico, Louisiana-Lafayette and his alma mater, Tulane University. As a college coach, Eumont said he was constantly working, whether he was recruiting, coaching in practice or coaching in a game.

But along with winning, working at high-profile schools comes with the “headaches” of dealing with some players. Often athletes came to play for Eumont because someone promised them they would

big red

Harvard-Westlake sports magazine’s first issue of the year.

Homecoming Issue

Read about: Extended previews of all four Homecoming games, including key player matchups

Extended profiles on the 2010 Athletic Hall of Fame class: Bryce Taylor ’04, Shelley Madick ’04 and Lindsay Flacks ’04.

Profiles on other athlete alumni, including Brennan Boesch ’03 and Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’07.

And much, much more...

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Teaching from experience: Vic Eumont has coached football at both the high school and collegiate levels. He moved to Los Angeles in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina struck his hometown of New Orleans. flourish in that situation. Many ended up being bad fits, Eumont said, and blamed it on him. He experiences none of the same problems now.

“We don’t promise anybody anything other than we’re going to coach him hard, and it’s his job to come out and work,” he said.

Eumont’s desire for a more stable situation can also be attributed to an unexpected personal upheaval he faced just five over years ago, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

The entire first floor of Jesuit was flooded, including Eumont’s office. The coach’s home was also flooded, destroying almost all of his belongings.

With Jesuit closed and his home uninhabitable, Eumont and his wife, Phyllis, temporarily moved into their daughter’s home in Los Angeles.

He began to search for volunteer coaching opportunities in the area, leading him to get in touch with Harvard-Westlake head coach Jonathan Himmebauch.

“I volunteered to come here because I didn’t want to sit around my daughter’s house and think about [Hurricane Katrina],” Eumont said. “I just wanted to coach, so I was able to come here, and I coached actually at the Middle School and did some scouting for varsity.”

When Jesuit reopened, Eumont returned to Louisiana intent on starting the 2006 season.

“I had three pairs of shorts, three coaching shirts

and a pair of tennis shoes, and I was planning on going back to work,” he said.

However, Eumont was soon met by yet another surprise. Himmebauch called to inform him that he had taken a job on the San Diego State coaching staff.

So it was back to California again for Eumont, only this time as the New Head coach of the Wolverines.

“When Harvard-Westlake called, Phyllis and I felt this was a great opportunity to be a part of a great school and be near our daughters and grandsons,” Eumont said. “It was too good to pass up.”

And his latest coaching job is far from a kickback tour of the Southern California beaches. In fact, Eumont may get just as much of a workout at these practices as the players on his team. He is never timid about raising his voice at a player, but he said his philosophy is to treat players equally and “coach them up” rather than break them down.

“There is no such thing as working 110 percent, but if you can get someone to work 90 percent, that’s one heck of a player,” Eumont said.

There are challenges ahead for Wolverine football in the Mission League, but after facing tumult in his personal life and adjustment to a new city and new football culture, Eumont has embraced his latest job.

“I’m very happy here and I think this a great place and a great opportunity to just coach and enjoy coaching,” he said. “I hope to die on a sideline.”

Wolverine Hall of Fame to induct 3 at Homecoming halftime ceremony

By Micah Sperling Three athletes from the Class of ’04 will be inducted into the Wolverine Hall of Fame at halftime during the Homecoming varsity football game.

Basketball player Bryce Taylor ’04, cross country and track runner Lindsay Flacks ’04 and softball player Shelley Madick ’04 all stars at Harvard-Westlake who went on to successful college careers afterwards.

Taylor, a three-time CIF Di-

vision III Player of the Year and two-time Mission League MVP, averaged 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game as a senior and 28.6 points as a junior while leading the team to three straight CIF titles.

In Taylor’s junior season, he broke Jason Collins’ single-season scoring record with 1,003 points.

He also set a school record by scoring 54 points in a game.

Flacks was a Foot Locker national Championship finalist as a junior and was a two-time CIF

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cross-country individual champion. She also won the California 3,200-meter championship in her senior year and four consecutive Mission League 3,200-meter titles.

She was named Los Angeles Times Cross Country Athlete of the Year once and LA Daily News Athlete of the Year three times.

Madick pitched for HarvardWestlake for three seasons after transferring from Calabasas High School, throwing a no-hitter in the CIF playoffs as a sophomore.

C4 Sports

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Photos by roger on

Sprinting ahead: Varsity runner Cami Chapus (left) ’12 finishes her race at a cluster league meet at Crescenta Valley Park, left. The girls’ team won this meet

and is the highest ranked team in the Mission League. Kevin On (right) ’11 runs at the Bell-Jeff invitational at Griffith Park, right. On ran the 2.8 mile race in 15:20.

Girls’ cross country team wins league meet, boys take 4th

By Julius Pak Led by second and third place finishes by Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12, the girls’ cross country team won the final Mission League cluster match. Chapus finished the three-mile course at Crescenta Valley Park with a time of 19:30. Weissenbach finished one second behind. The boys’ team placed fourth at the meet.

ESPN’s “Rise” Magazine ranked Chapus and Weissenbach as two of the fastest female runners in the state in Division IV. Chapus was ranked first in the state and Weissenbach was ranked third.

“Defending champion Camille Chapus of HarvardWestlake has opened with a win at Seaside and a third place finish in the Woodbridge sweepstakes race,” wrote Mike Kennedy, special correspondent for Rise, “Teammate Amy Weissenbach looks to make it a one-two finish for the Wolverines. In the spring, the two ranked in the top five in the nation in the 800 with Weissenbach winning at State 2:07.52 to 2:07.73.”

“I’m glad, though I’m not really thinking about my ranking at the moment,” Weissenbach said. “It’s still early in the season. Everyone is running on differ-

ent courses and progressing differently, so it’s hard to accurately compare oneself with the rest of the state. We can’t predict who is going to show up to state with what times, or who our real individual competition is going to be. For that reason, I’m only concerned now with training: building mileage and continuing to drop [personal records] on each course so that I am well-prepared for the postseason.”

Meanwhile, the girls’ team has maintained its first place ranking in the CIF Southern Section Division IV. The boys’ team dropped to seventh place from the top position but rose to fifth place by the end of the month.

The Los Angeles Daily News ranked the girls’ team as the fourth best cross country program in all divisions of the CIF Southern Section, beating out many Division I teams.

Both of the teams competed at the 43rd annual Staub/Barnes Invitational on Oct. 2 at Crescenta Valley Park. Competing in Division II, Kevin On ’11 placed third in the race, finishing just half a second behind second place and less than five seconds behind the first place runner from Saugus.

Following On were Charlie Stigler ’11, Judd Liebman ’12, Will Tobias ’12, Ben Saunders ’11, David

Manahan ’14, and Austin Lewis ’11. The boys’ team placed fifth out of 11 teams that placed.

Despite the absence of Chapus, Weissenbach, and Nikki Goren ’12 from the race, the girls’ team was still able to place fifth out of 14. Lauren Hansson ’11 led the team with a 13th place finish. Caitlin Yee ’13 followed close behind with Monica Nimmagadda ’14, Yasmin Moreno ’13, Elle Wilson’ 13, and Lily Einstein ’11 following.

Chapus and Weissenbach finished first and second in their division at the Bellarmine-Jefferson Invitational at Griffith Park on Sept. 25 in 102 degree weather. Their performances were not enough for the team to defeat Northwood High School.

Although the Wolverines took the top two spots, Northwood’s top five runners took third to seventh place, leaving the rest of the girls’ team in ninth, 11th, and 12th place, and the Northwood team won by 10 points.

The boys’ team had to compete against a Loyola team bent on breaking the Bellarmine-Jefferson Invitational all-time record. On placed fifth in a race where Loyola had four runners in the top 10, including their first and second places wins.

The team’s next meet will be the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Oct. 22. The Mission League Finals will be held on Nov. 3 at Crescenta Valley Park, the teams’ home course where the girls’ team will be looking for a repeat of last year’s victory.

“I think that [all our goals] are achievable; all that is needed is the continued hard work and effort from each member of our team,” Weissenbach said. “Together, we are stronger than ever this year.”

Field hockey goes into Homecoming with undefeated league record

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Faceoff: Courtney Hazy ’11 (left) fights for control of the ball.

The team defeated Chaminade 3-0 to preserve its undefeated record in league. The team will play Bonita at Homecoming Oct. 23.

After defeating one of their biggest competitors in their league, Glendora, with a final score of 3-0, the field hockey team managed to keep its position as number one in their league.

Goalie Adrianna Crovo ’11 is out for the entire season due to her recent hip surgery.

Although her recovery time has been shortened, she will probably not be able to play this season.

Starter Kristen Lee ’12, out with ankle injuries, may be back for Friday’s game against Archbishop, Head Coach Erin Creznic said.

In its most recent game last Thursday, the team managed a win against Chaminade, leaving it with an overall record of 8-1 and a league record of 3-0. The Wolverines defeated several teams, including Louisvillle and Bishop Montgomery, by margins of nine or higher.

“Our team has a lot of good strikers and attackers so if the team doesn’t have a good defense we usually take advantage,” Creznic said.

Captain Sahar Bardi ’11 led the team to victory, scoring two goals.

“The way we played today [in the Chaminade game] was not up to the showing we had on Monday [in the Glendora game], but we will take away from this game the positives and learn from the negatives and just stay focused,” Bardi said.

The team has already defeated everyone in their league except Bonita, who they will play on Homecoming.

The team will eventually play everyone in their league a second time and they will definitely make playoffs, Creznic said. She hopes to remain in the number one spot when league playoffs start.

At playoffs is where the team meets their toughest competition including Huntington and Newport, who they played earlier in the season, resulting in their one loss.

Although the team was tired in their last game due to the tough competition they had on Friday, Creznic said they have all week to practice in preparation for the Archbishop game. The team didn’t play Archbishop last year, but they lost against them the previous year. She hopes the team will win.

“They typically are a really good team,” Creznic said.

Oct. 14, 2010

Sports C5

The

Chronicle

Water polo 6-2 despite forfeiting Crespi game

By Alec Caso

David Gobel/chronicle

david Gobel/chronicle

Taking a shot: Kayj Shannon ’11 sets up for a shot during a game against Mater Dei. The Wolverines won the home game 5-0.

After winning the first three games of pre-league play, the varsity boys’ water polo team had its first loss to Foothill 7-9, where a Harvard-Westlake coach was cited with a red card.

“The official issued a red card to Pavle Filipovic, our assistant coach, for questioning a call,” Athletic Director Audrius Barzdukas said.

The team has an overall record of 6-2 and has played two league games.

It had to forfeit its first league game against Crespi because Pavle Filipovic, who had been red-carded at the previous Foothill game, attended the Crespi game. Filipovic wasn’t actually coaching, but CIF rules state that players and coaches who have been cited may not be at the facility for the next game.

The team won its second league game against Alemany 13-6.

“I think everything has been straightened out. I think our coaching staff has a better understanding of the intent and letter of the CIF rules,” Barzdukas said.

“We took the game suspension, but the rule says you cannot be at the facility. Our assistant coach came to help not to coach but to run the clocks and support the team. We didn’t want any confusion so we asked Crespi if they would take the forfeit,” Head Coach Robert Lynn said.

This past weekend the team participated in the Acalanes S & R cup at

the William Woollet Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine. The team lost its first game against Acalanes and then won the next three games against Corona Del Mar, Jesuit and Bellermine.

“We’ve done pretty well; we need to work on a couple things, but we are already a much stronger team,” player Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 said.

The team won against Mater Dei in the team’s third game of pre-league play by forfeit after Mater Dei attempted to play a player who had been cited for misconduct in a previous game. Last season, the team lost to Mater Dei 5-9 in pre-league play. When a team forfeits, the record automatically becomes 5-0. That was the case for HarvardWestlake in the game against Crespi.

The Wolverines won 21-4 but were forced to forfeit due to the coach’s infraction.

In the Mater Dei game, Mater Dei played with a player who had been ejected in the previous game for brutality. When a player is cited with a misconduct penalty he is forced to sit out the next game. While the final score of the Mater Dei game was 12-6 the Harvard-Westlake team won by default.

“It was exciting that we won but we still have stuff to work on,” Kayj Shannon ’11 said.

This past Tuesday the team played its third league game against Loyola at Loyola. The team will have its next home game Thursday against Ventura High School at 4:30 p.m.

Volleyball wins 12 of 13 games from VOLLEYBALL, A1 -ting better,” opposite hitter Christina Higgins ’11 said.

“We have a target on our back now after the Durango Tournament… but we don’t look at statistics or rankings, we just focus on what’s ahead,” defensive libero Anne Cohen ’11 said.

The players practiced at school during the whole summer. They also participated in two tournaments to prepare for the season.

Black is glad the Wolverines have been recognized for their success.

“I thought it was a really nice thing to happen for us. I was pleased that the team’s performance warranted such a nice recognition,” Head Coach Adam Black said.

“It feels really good because we’ve worked really hard and our coaches have been training us really well. I guess it’s just re-

ally nice to see that all our hard work has earned us something good,” Higgins said.

“I think it takes a lot of practices, a lot of hard quality work both mentally and physically, and cohesion,” Coach Black said.

The team is stacked with senior talent this year as three seniors on the team have already committed to play for colleges.

Higgins has committed to the University of California, Berkeley, Anne Cohen to Johns Hopkins University, and Danielle Salka to Yale University.

“Talent is always nice to have, but what makes it special is who the individuals are that form the team. We have wonderful people on the team and in the program who work really hard and are a lot of fun to be around,” Coach Black said.

The team has to work even harder maintain its #1 status now that ACL injury has side-

lined starting setter Danielle Salka ’11 and a shoulder injury has kept Milena Popovic ’11 off the court.

Salka’s injury will sideline her for a minimum of 6 months Popovic will be returning to play in four weeks.

“We’re starting from scratch, we lost some really key players so we’re trying to focus on filling in those roles,” Cohen said.

The team will play at this year’s Homecoming against #43 Dos Pueblos High School who has an overall record of 8-2-0.

“The only thing to do is to move forward and work best with what we have. Losing them was a huge loss, but our team has come together and we take each game point by point,” setter and captain Kellie Barnum ’11 said.

“We’re going to go even harder now and hopefully we’ll come out on top,” middle hitter Amanda Hall ’11 said.

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Hard Hitter: Jamie Temko ’11 serves the ball during the game against Bishop Montgomery on Sept. 9.

Girls’ golf looks to defeat Notre College Bound Dame during CIF playoffs Girls’ volleyball: Anne Cohen ’11 Johns Hopkins

Girls’ water polo: Camille Hooks ’11 Princeton Boys’ water polo: Kayj Shannon ’11 Princeton Girls’ volleyball: Ashley Grossman ’11 Stanford For full stories please visit

chronicle.hw.com

By Chelsea Khakshouri Experience makes all the difference for the girls’ varsity golf team as Melanie Bornstein ’11 and Emily Firestein ’11 deliver some of their best results of four years on the varsity team, Head Coach Linda Giaciolli said. The co-captains have repeatedly delivered strong scores, leading the team to a 10-2 record.

The team will play Notre Dame for the third time at the league preliminaries at Wilson Harding Golf Course on Monday that is where the final team standings for the 2010 season will be decided.

Amanda Aizuss ’13 and Jes-

sica Wibawa ’13 have proved their consistency, scoring close behind their captains. Kallista Kusumanegara ’13 also continues to show steady improvement at each match.

The team had its first loss in their fourth match against undefeated Notre Dame, its main competitor and the top ranked team in the Mission League.

The month was at Woodley Lakes Golf Course.

Their second loss was against Notre Dame in their 10th match of the season at Encino Balboa Golf Course. The team reduced the margin of its loss, losing by only 17 shots. The final score was 221-234.

On Oct. 7, the team had an easy win against Louisville High School. It was its final home match at the Encino Golf Course.

“The entire team is evolving personally and game-wise. It’s so interesting to watch the growth of each of them,” Giaciolli said.

The team’s last game before the preliminaries resulted in a win on Friday, Oct. 8 against Chaminade at the Malibu Country Club.

“The season has been going great, and we are all really looking forward to the playoffs and CIF,” Madeline Abrahams ’13 said.

C6 Sports

Oct. 14, 2010

The

Chronicle

Girls’ tennis wins first league match

By David Kolin

David Kolin/chronicle

Refining Strokes: Luna Ikuna ’11 volleys during practice. The team will play Flintridge Sacred Heart today at Fremont Park. It will be their third league match.

Starting out its season with a 2-2 overall record and a league record of 1-0, the girls’ tennis team won its first league match of the season 14-4 against Notre Dame High School.

This year, the coaches are emphasizing effective communication between doubles partners, and dependable, reliable strokes, captain Alanna Klein ’11 said.

The doubles teams and singles players warm-up separately so they can practice their unique sets of skills.

The team’s losses were due to the girls’ lack of match experience, player Taylor Coon ’12 said.

They are still working on perfecting their team line up. The girls are frequently changing their positions.

“A lot of our players are able to rotate to different positions,” Coon said.

The team’s ability to rotate its players easily is also one of their strengths. Unlike some schools that have a few strong players, the team has strong players throughout their lineup, Coon said.

“It’s easier to win in doubles than to sweep in singles,” Coon said.

The team’s closest match was against Santa Barbara. They lost 8-10 at Sept 22 Studio City Golf and Tennis.

This year the girls began the season early because school started Aug. 31. They were able to practice together two weeks before they began playing matches. Their pre-season scrimmage was played on Sept. 14.

Last year, the team began playing matches the same week that school started. The girls had little time to practice as a team, and as a result, their first matches were tougher, Coon said.

The extra time has allowed the team to start the season more prepared than it was last year.

Two of the starting players, captains Nicole Hung ’10 and Izzy Heller ’10, were the first doubles team last year, and they frequently won all of their matches. The team is beginning to recover from their departure.

Savannah de Montesquiou ’13, the team’s top player, is ranked 159th nationally and 38th in California according to tennisrecruiting.net. She has played as the team’s number one singles player since she was a freshman.

JVRoundup

Football

After five games this season, the JV football team stands at 1-4 following their bye week.

The squad is coming off a twogame losing streak. They lost to Sylmar 36-14 and Alemany 66-6.

“We can still save our season if we can take these last league games,” lineman Jake Feiler ’13 said.

The JV team has five games left in its 10 game season.

Three of the five are league games against Chaminade, Cathedral and St. Francis.

“We’re not happy about the loss to Alemany and we have to regain our confidence against Chaminade to finish off our season strong,” Feiler said.

—Michael Aronson

Field hockey

New goalie Mazelle Etessami ’14 is one of JV field hockey’s new key players. She is replacing Sam Gasmer ’13, who was moved up to varsity.

The team has a 5-2 overall record and is 1-1 in league. It has also played three unrecorded scrimmages. On Oct. 7, they defeated Chaminade 2-0. They also played a tournament at Marina High School on Oct. 9.

“JV field hockey has been doing well,” Varsity Coach Erin Creznic said. “They’ve won most of their games and when they lost it was only by about one point.”

—Cherish Molezion and Micah Sperling

Girls’ tennis

The JV girls’ tennis team turned in five straight victories this season, improving to an overall record of 5-0 and a league record of 2-0.

The team beat Santa Monica 17-1 on Sept. 21 in its second game of the season.

“We all played really well,” Jordan Gavens ’12 said.

The team went on to narrowly beat Peninsula 10-8 on Sept. 23, earning their third

win of the season.

“We defeated our main rival, so I feel like the rest of our season should be fairly easy.”

Melanie Chan ’12 said.

The team shut out Notre Dame 18-0 in their first league match on Oct. 5.

“I expect our team to be pretty successful,” Gavens said. “We work really hard at practice on both tennis skills and conditioning so I think the hard work will pay off.”

—Robbie Loeb

Boys’ water polo

After beating Alemany 14-1, the JV water polo team played Tuesday against Loyola. Scores were not available at press time. Coach Pavle Filipovic gives the team a busy practice schedule.

The team has practice every day. It spends the majority of the time with varsity, but does some specific tactics on its own at the end.

Although Filipovic puts an emphasis on the boys getting physically stronger, he also focuses on their knowledge of the game.

“Since last year, the team has gotten stronger and bigger and is working harder in the weight room,” Filipovic said. “I want these guys to put their minds completely into the game of water polo and start to understand more complex water polo strategies and plays.”

Warren Snyder ’14, a new addition to the team, proved himself to be a clutch playe.

Filipovic said he “immediately made an impact to this team,” and called him “one of the key players.”

—Nicole Gould

Girls’ volleyball

After going undefeated at the Westlake Tournament, the JV volleyball team matched that performance at the Brea Olinda tournament on Oct. 2, posting a 6-0 record and walk-

ing away with the first place trophy.

The team’s undefeated run at the tournament came after a 2-0 win against Bishop Montgomery on Sept. 28 and a 2-0 loss at Marymount on Sept. 30.

“Every team will always face some ups and downs, so the Marymount game just showed that we had to work much harder,” starting setter and team captain Bea DyBuncio ’13 said.

As of press time, results from the team’s game against Louisville were not available and the team’s record was 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league.

The team will visit Flintridge Sacred Heart today before hosting league games against Alemany on Tuesday Oct. 19 and Notre Dame on Thursday Oct. 21.

“These are must win games because our goal for the season is to be undefeated league champions,” Dybuncio said.

The team will play Dos Pueblos during Homecoming.

—Luke Holthouse

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Team player: Griffin Morgan ’13 passes to a teammate during the Mater Dei game. The game was their first loss of the season.

Cross country

Running a hilly 2.9 mile course in 100 degree heat, the JV girls’ cross country team finished third of 13 teams and the JV boys’ cross country team finished third out of eight teams in the Bell-Jeff Invitational.

Monica Nimmagadda ’14, who ran 22:21, led the girls.

Alex Leichenger ’11 and Xavi Villalta ’11, who finished in 20:07 and 20:33, respectively, were the top finishers for the boys’ team.

At the Oct. 2 Staub/Barnes Invitational, the boys placed eighth out of 13 teams and the girls did not run a complete squad.

Villalta finished with a time of 19:48.18 and Leichenger finished in 19:53.15.

— Micah Sperling and Ally White

daniel Kim/chronicle

Hot on her tail: Sarah Shelby ’13 takes the ball down the field during a game against Chaminade. The final score was 2-0.

Athletes participate in bone density study

By Daniel Kim Athletes on the boys’ water polo and boys’ cross country teams have been invited to participate in a study run by the University of California, Los Angeles Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Division of Sports Medicine regarding the bone mineral density of student athletes.

The Composite Surgery Department started this study the first week of October and plans on finishing around mid May. Athletes interested in the study were asked to contact the UCLA Medical Center orthopedic office and set up a onehour appointment on a weekend between Oct. 15 and Nov. 6.

Conducted by Aurelia Nattiv, M.D., and Michelle Barrack, M.D., the study compares different aspects of a male student athlete’s routine and medical history.

The study hopes to shed some new light on the relationship between different variables that may affect athlete’s bone strength.It also hopes to evaluate the relationship between bone densities of current and former competitive athletes.

Harvard-Westlake is the only school that has committed to this study as of now.

The records and information collected on each athlete will be kept confidential and the results of the study will be released as a group according to the application the athletes had to fill out.

“This will be very beneficial for cross country. We’re all very excited to be part of the study,” runner Ben Saunders ’11 said.

One of the factors that the study focuses on is the diet of a student-athlete. The research addresses this factor because it

Sports C7

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Oct. 14, 2010

is one of the variables independent of the amount of physical activity one does in a sport. This will help the researchers understand if diet or some other factor has a bigger influence on bone strength.

“I definitely think that what you eat affects bone density. I believe the saying “you are what you eat,” runner Kevin On ’11 said.

The study also focuses on ethnicity, history of osteoporosis or bone injury and hormones as factors that may influence bone strength.

“I feel it is important to make the distinction because youth athletes are still growing and athletics have a different effect on them,” On said.

Athlete participation is voluntary and, at any time, an athlete can stop his participation.

The members of the research team have already done different studies on bone strength and injury of UCLA and NCAA competitors. Now they are focusing on male student-athletes that are involved in competitive high school sports.

Athletes lie on a table and a scanner xrays their lower back and the entire body as well. This way, the researchers can get a specific area to study and also obtain a cumulative scan to study as well.

Athletes will be given their x-rays and the results of the scans. These athletes can compare these results with later scan results. Their doctors can keep these records to better diagnose the physical state of the athlete at different times.

“We are interested in assessing these variables to work toward better understanding the factors that affect the development of bone strength and the risk of sustaining an injury,” Barrack said.

Athlete bone density study The boys’ cross country and water polo teams are participating in a study conducted by UCLA Medical Center that will determine the bone density of high school athletes.

The study focuses on male student athletes involved in high school competitive sports.

>> >>

Harvard-Westlake is the first high school participating in this study.

The results of the study will help determine what exerciserelated activities promote bone strength in teenage boys.

>>

The effects of diet, hormones, ethnicity, and other factors on bone density will be investigated.

>>

Source: Michelle Barrack, M.D. Graphic by Austin Lee and Mary Rose Fissinger

printed With Permission of May Peterson

Tactics: May Peterson ’13 lunges at her opponent in the Lady of Lake Épée Challenge tournament Oct. 2. She placed 13th in the tournament.

Sophomore fencer competes in Switzerland

By Leslie Dinkin May Peterson ’13 began fencing when she was seven years old. Now she has participated in countless fencing tournaments worldwide.

This year alone, she competed in over 10 tournaments including one most recently in Switzerland on Oct. 2. Peterson placed 13th in a two-day under-16 tournament, a European cadet circuit event called Lady of the Lake Épée Challenge. The Swiss tournament had over 90 participants. “[The tournament] was very exciting because there were a lot of interesting people from Italy, Switzerland and Israel. It was fascinating to meet people all over the world interested in the same sport as I am,” Peterson said.

“Placing 13th felt extremely good because it was the best I’ve done internationally.”

For Peterson, fencing isn’t just lim-

ited to competing. To prepare for upcoming competitions, Peterson practices five days a week.

After school and on the weekends with her older sister Emma Peterson ’11 at the Los Angeles International Fencing Center, the largest fencing club in the state.

Her coach, Nana Demirchian, works with Peterson for about 15 hours a week. Peterson said that her sport takes dedication but that she loves it.

“I like that fencing is strategic, not just physical. During a bout I have to think a lot about what the other person is planning to do before I attack,” she said. “It is worth it when all the hard work pays off and when I play well. When I am in the middle of a bout, I get an exciting rush, I don’t get from anywhere else.”

Her next tournament, a North American Cup event, takes place Saturday in Cincinnati.

The

C8 Sports

Reigning over Homecoming

By Alec Caso

Q A Q A Q A Q A

and

Austin Lee

Oct. 14, 2010

Chronicle

Volleyball and football are the two biggest draws at the biggest day of the year for Wolverine athletics. Max Heltzer ’11 and Christina Higgins ’11 lead those teams into battle.

What are you doing as a team and individually to prepare for Homecoming?

Q A Q A Q A

Higgins: We are working hard every day in practice and we are going to start watching video on the other team to just start knowing what to do against them and knowing how to practice.

Will this game set a pace for the rest of the season?

Higgins: No. The Durango tournament and our other preseason games have really set the tone for the season.

[Dos Pueblos] is not in our division, but they are still a pretty good team. Some of the teams in our league are pretty good this year. We just have to be ready to play and compete at our hardest level with whichever team we play.

How do you expect to perform as a team in the Homecoming game?

Higgins: Well we never say we expect to win the match. We don’t know how each team is going to play that day.

We are going to go in confident and we are going to try to perform like we do in practice, but we haven’t done anything really special to prepare for homecoming.

Does Dos Pueblos pose a serious threat to the team?

Higgins: They are pretty good. They have been really good in previous years but they have lost a lot of seniors. I think we are pretty confident.

Christina Higgins ’11

Max Heltzer ’11

Q A

What are you doing to prepare as a team and individually for homecoming?

Heltzer: First and foremost, our main focus right now is our next game, which is against Chaminade. Once we get past Chaminade, we will prepare as we always do.

Coaches will come up with a game plan for both our offense and defense that best matches up against Cathedral. We will work extra hard in practice as a team, and individually, I will spend extra time with my receivers and spend a lot of time watching film on Cathedral’s defense.

Is there any apprehension among the team going into the event?

Heltzer: No, it’s actually the opposite of that. Everybody is always excited for Homecoming, as it’s the single largest school-community event of the year. The entire team, particularly the seniors, always looks forward to Homecoming.

How has the plethora of injured seniors affected the team and will it affect the team going into this game?

Heltzer: All of the injuries, specifically to key players on defense, such as Nicky Firestone ’11 and Kody Greenbaum ’11, and Ethan Neale ’11 on offense, have made it difficult on us as a team. However, a lot of the younger guys have stepped up, and done a great job.

Coach Eumont has really helped the younger guys prepare and step into bigger roles. We’re hopeful of getting Nicky Firestone back for Homecoming. It would really be a big boost to our defense, and our team overall. However, if we don’t get him back, the younger guys have improved every week, continue to get better, and I’m sure they will do a great job for us. On the offensive side of the ball, Ethan Neale is coming back, and he’s a key offensive weapon that we have missed the last couple of weeks.

Will this game set a pace for the rest of the season?

Heltzer: If the outcome is successful and we play well as a team, both offensively and defensively, and if I perform well, then it should have a positive effect and build confidence going forward.