CHRONICLE the harvard-westlake
Los Angeles • Volume XXV • Issue V • Feb. 10, 2016 • hwchronicle.com
School files new report for garage By Benjamin Most
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
Girls’ soccer extends winning streak to 6 games
EYE ON THE BALL: Courtney Corrin ’16 dribbles past an Alemany defender en route to a 4-0 win. The Wolverines have scored 30 goals and let in three during their current six-game winning streak. They will take on Flintridge Sacred Heart Wednesday at Occidental College and Westlake High School Saturday. CIF playoffs begin Feb. 16. Their record is 14-4-3.
School takes steps towards ‘diverse community’ By Henry Vogel
with the impression that we’re unaware of concerns that are The administration has out there,” President Rick changed the teacher hiring Commons said. The Diversity Task Force’s and promotion process, created a Diversity Task Force and mission is to research the best increased the school’s finan- practices at other independent schools in the cial aid budnation, a job get to follow that entails visthrough with We’re not perfect its to schools its goal of crein Los Angeles, ating a more by any stretch, but I the Bay Area, “diverse and definitely can see that Washington, inclusive comD.C. and New we’ve been making munity,” better York. reflecting the some positive strides.” The group opening phrase of the mission —Chris Jones also submits reports and statement adupper school dean recommendaopted in 2014. tions to the “There are things that the school is actu- school’s Senior Administraally doing that people are un- tion and Planning Committee aware of, and there are chal- Board. Commons appointed upper lenges and problems that I think we need to acknowledge school dean Chris Jones, midas well and not leave people dle school psychologist Susan
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Ko and director of financial aid tended the Campbell Hall InMelanie León to run the group. clusion Institute in June, 14 “It’s not just about di- went to the People of Color versity,” Jones said. “I think Conference in December and building up a critical mass of more faculty members will go diverse students and faculty is to the Pollyanna Conference at obviously something we need Dalton School in March. Students have also attendto do, but even more than ed conferences on that it’s the idea of diversity. Six went to inclusion. Culturally the Student Diversity people can be coming Leadership Conferfrom a lot of different ence in December, 20 backgrounds. So how attended the Empowdo you make sure the erment and Engagecommunity responds ment Coalition Conand makes everyone ference for African feel as comfortable as American Boys in Nopossible? We’ve spent ’ vember, and 20 went a lot of time seeing Chris Jones to the Empowerment how peer institutions and Engagement Coaddress it all.” In addition to the task alition Conference for African force, faculty members have American Girls in April. Additionally, the school attended conferences about diversification since the mis- has hosted its own events on sion statement was rewritten. • Continued on page A8 Four faculty members atnathanson s
Author urges character to factor in college process
By Sammi Handler Jesse Nadel
and
Family psychologist Richard Weissbourd, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the lead author of a new report calling for less competition and pressure surrounding college admissions, visited the school Feb. 3 to discuss the moral development of teenagers. He urged faculty and parents to foster an ethics-centric student body, but was met with skepticism from faculty members towards the end of the presentation, when he
contended that a student’s moral character could become a defining factor of his or her admission into a university. “When you think about it, when kids do something wrong or when you do something wrong, when you violate a principle, it’s almost always not because you didn’t know the value of the principle, but it’s because you were probably overcome with some feeling that you couldn’t manage. Envy. Greed. Lust. Pride,” Weissbourd said in an afternoon presentation to faculty at Saperstein Theatre. “These are the emotions that are the en-
gines of our moral life and the emotions that can cause us to transgress. So a big part of moral development is helping kids manage these feelings.” Weissbourd directs the Making Caring Common Project, a national effort to help schools and parents raise more caring, responsible children who are committed to social justice. He said schools should widen their notions of achievement to include ethics, not just academics and athletics. “One thing I worry about in schools and in homes is the standard of metrics of success
in childhood — that the metrics of success are you either do well academically or you do well athletically,” Weissbourd said. “And if you don’t do well academically you feel shame. And if you don’t do well athletically you can feel shame. There are so many kids who are not going to be stars academically or stars athletically or very popular, and they’re wonderful kids. Right? They’re feisty and funny and sociable and kind.” He encouraged the faculty to help students develop their • Continued on page A5
The school compiled a revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) Feb. 4 for the proposed Upper School parking garage construction project after reviewing documents at the request of City Council Member Paul Krekorian. Krekorian, who represents Studio City and North Hollywood residents, requested that Harvard-Westlake submit a new geotechnical and soils report and get a third-party review of the traffic study. The project, recently renamed the Parking, Safety and Athletic Improvement Plan, was proposed in 2013. The school aims to construct a parking garage on unused land it owns across the street from the Upper School campus and build an athletic field on top of the structure. The parking garage would increase student safety by providing a pedestrian bridge from the garage to the campus so students would not have to cross Coldwater Canyon Drive. Currently, many students park in nearby neighborhoods and walk up and down the busy thoroughfare. Earlier versions of both the geotechnical and soils report and the traffic study were included in the initial DEIR, which was released for public comment in late 2014. “During this process, many community members and organizations submitted comments on the project, which shed light on critical shortcomings in the DEIR,” Krekorian wrote in an email to local residents. “Based on the comments, as well as my own review of the project, I have asked the Director of the Los • Continued on page A2
INSIDE
C2 HIT AND RUN: Many accidents in the school parking lot result in hit and run incidents where no one confesses.
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A2 NEWS
THE CHRONICLE
Student receives grant for DNA preservation research
By MADDY DAUM
survive for such a long period of time in rough conditions, Alexandra So ’19 has re- that means their DNA must ceived the Cognito Research also survive. There must be Award from the Johns Hop- a way for the sea monkeys to preserve their kins Center for DNA, so I used Talented Youth this assumpfor her retion to look for I think that if search in prea method to do serving biologiI am successful with so.” cal specimens. this technology, I can So was se“I rememfrom bered an interreach out to many poor lected more than 250 esting article populations...” student apabout the life of the sea mon—Alexandra So ’19 plicants by a CTY judging keys and how panel based on they can surthe innovation vive for a long period of time in adverse envi- and creativity of her proposal. ronments,” So said. “I thought Recipients of the grant will if these sea monkeys could submit a final report on their
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results at the end of the year detailing the progress of their research. “I was exposed to this opportunity through my involvement with a CTY camp last year,” So said. “I decided to write up a proposal which I believe has practical values and can potentially help a large population in [developing] countries. As an officer in Red Cross, I think that if I am successful with this technique, I can reach out to many poor populations for humanitarian reasons as well.” The STEM grant is given to middle and high school students and provides them with $599 and a mentor from Johns Hopkins University to
FEB. 10, 2016
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I am hoping I can use these opportunities to learn how to do research. I believe science and technology are the most powerful means to change and are key components for development.” —Alexandra So ’19
NATHANSON’S
guide them in their research. The grant will allow So to continue experimenting to achieve an inexpensive method of preserving biological specimens for DNA analysis using sucrose. “I want to make a difference in how DNA and other biomolecules can be stored and analyzed,” So said. “Many new cancer treatments are now based on the biology of cancer and knowing the complete DNA and biomolecular profile of various cancers will make a huge difference in how
patients are treated.” So and other recipients will use the fund to purchase equipment, rent lab space and to complete the experiments and report their results. “This is only a very early step, I am hoping I can use these opportunities to learn how to do research and to learn the tools needed to successfully carry out a project,” So said. “I believe science and technology are the most powerful means to change and are key components for development.”
tested the previous DEIR because they said the construction project would destroy wildlife habitat and create additional traffic. Some said that the garage was not necessary. Amato said that revising the DEIR has not “gotten in the way of plans.”
“Harvard-Westlake did a substantial amount of additional work, but it is well worth it to ensure that our neighbors and the community that travels Coldwater Canyon understand that the project is safe and will not generate any new trips,” Amato said.
School revises parking environmental report • Continued from page A1
Angeles Department of City Planning to update and recirculate the DEIR.” The school’s revised report contains additional research that confirms the accuracy of the initial reports, which stated that the project would be structurally sound and would not generate significant additional traffic, Vice President John Amato said. The report has three new documents: a site plan with geologic cross-section images, a sheet with data on Coldwater Canyon traffic and a comment letter from the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations explaining concerns about the urbanization and development of a rural patch of land with existing wildlife. To prepare the new geotechnical and soils report, the school enlisted help from a geotechnical firm and a hillside geologist, Amato said. “Harvard-Westlake retained one of the most preeminent geotechnical firms to prepare a new geotechnical re-
port,” Amato said. “In addition, Harvard-Westlake retained one of the leading hillside geologists to conduct a review of the report. The City’s Department of Building and Safety has thoroughly reviewed and approved this report.” In order to substantiate the results of the original traffic report, which had stated that the project would not significantly increase traffic, the school contacted a traffic engineering firm, Amato said. “Harvard-Westlake retained a reputable traffic engineering firm to review the original report, and they concluded that the original traffic report was accurate and that both its methodology and conclusion were correct,” Amato said. “[Once completed], the project will not generate any new vehicular trips whatsoever.” The community has 45 days to comment on the report after its re-release. After this period, Harvard-Westlake will be able to respond to comments, and the Department of City Planning will create a fi-
GRAPHIC BY ELLIS BECKER AND ALEXA ZURIFF
nal Environmental Impact Report for the project. Citizens can offer input on the new DEIR through February and early March by calling Krekorian’s planning and land use director Karo Torossian at (213) 473-7002. Some local residents pro-
In the issue
Arts & Entertainment
GUITAR HERO: Nick Locke-Henderson
’18 taught himself to play guitar at only eight years old and is still playing today. B2
News
Features
HACK THE CODE: Fifty students created video games, pursued design and coded for a total of 36 hours under ten mentors from technology companies Jan. 16 -17. A6
FEELING INVISIBLE: Asexual students
feel unrepresented by the LGBTQ+ community and unaccepted by classmates. C4
TROUT EGGS: The Environmental Club
is raising trout eggs to be released into local waterways as part of a project to fight recent trout depopulation. A8
Opinion
IMPROVING ADMISSIONS?: Jonah Ullendorff ’16 discusses the recently released Harvard Graduate School of Educuation report, which outlines how to improve the college admissions process. A10
Sports
SIGNING
B1
DAY: Twenty-seven seniors committed to play their sport in college on National Signing Day Feb. 3. D4
LAUREN KIM/CHRONICLE
TRIP OF A LIFETIME: Students visited Vietnam and created digital media projects based on aspects of Vietnamese culture. Seventeen students attended the HW Go! Vietnam Digital Storytelling trip. They toured three cities during the nine-day trip. Continued on B1
THE CHRONICLE, the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School, is published eight times per year and distributed free on both the upper and middle school campuses. There are 727 students at the Middle School and 869 students at the Upper School. Subscriptions may be purchased for $20 a year for delivery by mail. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters
THINK PINK: The girls’ basketball team won two ways during their “Think Pink” night, with a 74-24 win over Marlborough and promotion of Breast Cancer awareness, in a poweful night. D6
to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at kloeb1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
FEB. 10, 2016
HWCHRONICLE.COM/NEWS
NEWS A3
Sorkin to speak at Westflix By MADDY DAUM
TERESA SUH/CHRONICLE
A STORM OF SOUNDS: World-renowned composer Thomas Adès (left) speaks to students as part of the Brown Family Speaker series. He (top) then plays a passage from his opera “The Tempest.” He (bottom) later talks about a clip from his opera.
Composer shares opera-writing experiences
By LIZ YOUNT
World-renowned composer, pianist and conductor Thomas Adès showed clips from his opera “The Tempest” and shared his experiences with international composition as the Brown Family Speaker this year. Adès began composing at 19 after winning second place at a national piano competition in England. In 1995, his opera “Powder Her Face” brought him international recognition, and in 2013, he won a Grammy for his opera adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” which he wrote in 2004. Considered the most skilled and admired classical music artist of his generation, Adès is the only person to have ever won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for largescale composition three different times. President Rick Commons introduced Adès and the Brown Family Speaker series, an endowment by Linda and Adam Brown (Russel ’94, David ’96) established in 2001 to bring “people of international consequence” to the school. Adès said composers have a unique perspective during
the opera, different than that of the director or actors. He chose to adapt “The Tempest” into an opera because it is the most musical of Shakespeare’s plays and also his favorite, he said. “An opera is the tracing of an emotional journey from the beginning to the end through music,” Adès said. “The play is about air. What is music if not air we control to create an emotional experience.” He showed the audience video clips from a live production of the “The Tempest” and played two segments from piano compositions. Adès said a challenge during his creative process was reducing Shakespeare’s language in order to create a more concise message during the opera. “I don’t think the brain would take in everything that was happening, so we had to reduce or simplify what was being said,” Adès said. “I didn’t want it to be a tourism of past language. I wanted it to be as alive today as it was then. I wanted to have harmony.” As both composer and conductor of his operas, conveying his original message to his musicians is a “balance be-
Seniors react to new English program By CLAIRE DENNIS
The English curriculum for seniors has been expanded this year, a change students say they appreciate. Students can choose from seven courses to satisfy their English requirement. The revamped program allows them to select from one of the three AP Literature courses, three AP Language courses or a Shakespeare course. Under the prior program, options for seniors were limited to either AP Literature or Language. “I appreciate having options in English this year. I think everyone has their own different interests, and the English department did a good job of ca-
tering to the diversity of interests in the senior class,” said Jaebok Lee ’16, who is taking AP Literature: Good Grief. Each class under AP Literature and AP Language has a unique reading list. All of the AP Literature classes read Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” whereas the Language classes do not share any of the same books. The AP Literature courses focus on fiction and poetry, and the AP Language courses focus on non-fiction works. Madeline Schapiro ’16, who is taking AP Literature: Same House Different Worlds believes that the options are beneficial. “A class where you are reading ‘Hamlet’ and Jane Austen might not interest the
tween precision and freedom.” was classical music.” Shakespeare student and Regardless of his instructions, it is always important actor Carlos Guanche ’16 to give the orchestra room to said Adès was charismatic interpret the music and con- and quick to laugh when he tribute to the piece in any way spoke to the class about his work interpreting Shakethey see fit, he said. “At the beginning, every- speare’s plays. “He made good points thing is distant, and everything is a knot,” Adès said of about how there has to be a creating a cohesive story. “At point of dramatic tension [in an opera] that either breaks the end, the knot is untied.” or is made, During first so I think and second I’m going to period, Adès His intellectual look for those spoke to the examination really m o m e n t s Shakespeare in my own class and spoke to the school haracters,” Symphony. message of empowering cGuanche said. English and students.” After the Shakespeare assembly, teacher Joc—Audrius Barzdukas Head of Upelyn Medawar School said she was Head of Upper School per Audrius Barexcited for her zdukas said students to hear about Adès’ passion for Adès’ message of hard work adapting Shakespeare into an and freedom was enlightening and applied to everyday opera. “Seeing how someone can life as a Harvard-Westlake take language and put it to student. “His intellectual examinamusic and translate the story into something else was fan- tion of emotion really spoke tastic,” Medawar said. “I loved to the school message of emhis more personal reflections powering students and giving about the thrill of conducting them the tools to explore the and his statement about how important aspects of their the first language in Vienna own lives,” Barzdukas said.
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Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (Roxy ’19) will be the guest speaker at Westflix Film Festival March 18 at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. The festival is open to the public, and tickets will be sold at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Sorkin will be the first screenwriter to speak at the festival since it was created in 2004 by Elizabeth Yale ’04. Speakers in the past years have include Tom Hanks, Katherine Bigelow and Alejandro González Iñárritu. “Experts in the film industry can supply students with words of inspiration for young filmmakers and reflect on their own career path and how it developed from an early interest in high school,” Upper School Visual Arts Head Cheri Gaulke said. Sorkin won the Golden Globe award for best screenplay for “Steve Jobs” and “The Social Network” along with dozens of other nominations in the past 20 years. “I think that most film students are excited to hear about how he transferred his love of film into a career,” said Jenna Thompson ’16, one of the five film festival directors. “Getting a guideline or blueprint of how someone else did it so successfully is something that would aid aspiring filmmakers because it seems like such an unattainable goal.” Sorkin is also a screenwriter, producer and playwright. Some of his most renowned works include “Moneyball” and “West Wing.” “I think [Sorkin] will provide us with really valuable insight into what writing for featured-length film is like because it is a different process when you have to condense the content for short films,” said Shannyn Schack ’16, another festival director.
Percent of seniors enrolled in each English course IMAGINED SOCIETIES: UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS SAME HOUSE, DIFFERENT WORLDS
OUTSIDERS AND ALIENS WRITING A LIFE
GOOD GRIEF
LANGUAGE OF PROTEST SHAKESPEARE
GRAPHIC DESIGN BY: ANTHONY WEINRAUB ’18 AND INDU PANDEY ’18 SOURCE: CELSO CARDENAS
same person who would prefer to read excerpts of the Bible or readings from Marx,” Schapiro said. Haden Modisett ’16, a student in AP Language: The Language of Protest, agrees. “[My class] allows me to hone in on what I like to read and focus on what I want to
write,” Modisett said. Other students also enjoy the recurring themes. “It is nice to have a common theme throughout each of the different books,” said Grace Pan ’16. “[The theme] gives us more of a sense of uniformity and allows us to develop a deeper understanding.”
The English department does not intend to change the program for next year. “We are excited to keep moving forward with this program,” English teacher Jocelyn Medawar said. “[It] has proven to be successful, so we’ll be continuing with it.”
A4 News
The Chronicle
Professor to discuss race politics
Feb. 10, 2016
By Kami Durairaj
Dr. Ange-Marie Hancock, Associate Professor of Political Science and Gender Studies at University of Southern California’s Dornsife College will speak at this year’s Black History Month assembly Feb. 29 in Taper Gym. She is known for her work on intersectionality, the study of the impact of intersections of race, gender, class and sexuality on politics and public policy. Hancock has authored several books on intersectionality, political engagement and social justice such as “The Politics of Disgust and the Public Identity of the ‘Welfare Queen’” and “Solidarity Politics for Millennials: A Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics.” She is also the founder and executive director of the Research Institute for the Study of Intersectionality and Social Transformation or RISIST, a program that provides diversity training for organizations. At the assembly she will discuss her experience and research into diversity’s effect on politics. Hancock received her bachelor’s degree from New York University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked for the National Basketball Association, and created the business model for the Women’s National Basketball Association. Hancock has taught classes at Yale University, Penn State University and the University of San Francisco including African American Studies, Political Science and Women’s Studies. Additionally, she is a nonprofit consultant on diversity in philanthropy and the Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.
TERESA SUH/CHRONICLE
WAFL Truck serves waffles on quad
LEGGO MY EGGO: Ali Iken ’17 and Carter Begel ’17 eat waffles from the WAFL truck on the quad Jan. 29. Prefect council surveyed students for their food truck preference out of four options. The truck served three types of waffles for $6 each.
Teachers to visit Israel amidst political strife
By Sammi Handler
Faculty members will have the opportunity to travel to Israel June 13-27 despite political conflict in the Middle East as part of an Immersion Faculty Fellowship. The program is sponsored by the school’s Gunter Gross Global Fund. One of the trip organizers, history teacher Dror Yaron, said he is not worried about the security risks, but that they are prepared to make any necessary changes to the itinerary, which currently includes an excursion to Bethlehem in the West Bank, a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. Yaron plans to take tripgoers to the Golan Heights,
which looks out onto Syria. He said he would not be surprised if they will see smoke in the distance from the civil war right next door to Israel. “The press makes it seem much more dangerous,” Yaron said. “Once you’re there you really do feel secure. There’s crime here, as well, and here there’s non-political crime. There it’s political, but the murder rate is pretty low. The political crime, if I may be cynical, that may be part of the experience. I think that obviously if there’s a major outbreak of conflict and tension that we would have to alter, if not reconsider, some plans.” Yaron also added that teachers from all disciplines will be able to develop a more profound appreciation for the
complexity of the Israeli-Arab is made up of up to 35, 40 and Israeli-Palestinian rela- percent Jewish population of tions that they can incorporate various sorts, and so to reinto lesson plans to enlighten ally appreciate the student students. While he said that body here and aspects of it, I the material lends itself more think teachers being exposed to the humanto those things ities teachwill really find ers, science it very enriching teachers can to interact in a I think teachers benefit from new profound being exposed to seeing Israel’s way with their those things will really unique landstudents,” Yaron scapes such find it very enriching said. as the Ramon As of press to interact in a new Crater, and time, Interdisprofound way with their ciplinary Studfaculty memstudents. ” bers in genies Department eral can come Head Larry Klein —Dror Yaron said that they to a better understandhad not yet deing of students, many of whom cided how many teachers will are Jewish. travel to Israel. Yaron said they “Let’s not forget this school currently have funding for ten.
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School hosts public debate tournament By Sabrina de Brito Kami Durairaj
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The upper school debate team hosted a public debate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan. 18 in Rugby Auditorium. Members of Team USA, the national debate team, argued about whether or not identity politics threatened the future of the Civil Rights Movement in a modified World Schools debate format. Judges ruled in favor of the proposition team which argued that identity politics would fracture political groups to the point where there was no political majority left to affect change, according to team member Liz Yount ’17. “Being able to articulate a very complex and very timely topic in front of a panel of judges who are experts in the field, who are able to give us constructive criticism, not only helped me to understand identity politics both in a mac-
ro and micro sense but also helped me to become a better debater in the way in which I speak about issues that are very sensitive in society,” Yount said. Members of the upper school debate team said they hope to host more forums in the future which reach out to other debate communities across the country. Addtionally, Indu Pandey ’18 qualified for the Tournament of Champions at the Barkley Forum debate tournament at Emory University Jan. 29-31. She is the first sophomore to receive the two required bids in the past two years. “We were actually just hanging out in a restaurant and our head coach found out that Nick [Steele ’16] would be walking over me, so I would get my bid without having to debate,” Pandey said. “Honestly, I was pretty afraid that I wouldn’t [get a bid] because
LIZ YOUNT/CHRONICLE
FIRE AWAY: Indu Pandey ’18 debates against Crossroads student Noah Simon arguing for the ban of handguns. This debate was part of the Round Robin competition, preceding the tournament. it’s near the end of the year and getting bids to the TOC as a sophomore is really hard to begin with. I thought I would have to go to Berkeley to get
my bid. And I actually found out I was going to the [Emory] forum a few days before.” Also at the same tournament Nick Steele ’16 finished
second overall, and Cameron Cohen ’16 advanced to quarter finals, earning his sixth bid to the TOC this year and the school’s 20th bid this season.
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/news
News A5
Panel to discuss diversity By Claudia Wong
DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE
A SPIKE IN SUCCESS: Spike Jonze, middle, and Eric Zumbrunnen (Henry ’16), right, speak of the making their film “Her” at Cinema Sunday. Cinema studies teacher Ted Walch, left, hosted a question and answer session after a screening of the film.
Director Spike Jonze speaks about film ‘Her’
By Danielle Spitz
Writer and director Spike Jonze and editor Eric Zumbrunnen (Henry ’16) spoke about the thought process behind making their 2013 film “Her” after a screening of the movie at this year’s second Cinema Sunday Jan. 17 hosted by performing arts and cinema studies teacher Ted Walch. Jonze spoke about what inspired him to make the film, for which he won the Oscar and Golden Globe for
Best Original Screenplay in 2014. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson. “I was thinking a lot about relationships and how sometimes two people are together at a moment in time and then you grow apart,” Jonze said. “As much as I was making a science-fiction film, I was always trying to make a relationship movie. I wasn’t really trying to make a movie about technology as much as I was making a movie about relationships and our desire
for intimacy, our need for intimacy, and yet our fears inside ourselves that prevent intimacy.” Zumbrunnen discussed the editing process for all of the projects the two have worked on together. “The combined time we’ve spent editing together probably adds up to years,” Zumbrunnen said. Walch invited students, parents and faculty to watch the award-winning film in Ahmanson Lecture Hall followed by a question and
Deans dispute practicality of character-based college process 428 students, a plurality of 40 percent said they value their morality, not only by focusing character over happiness and more on community service, achievement, but also believe but also by everyday actions their teachers prioritize stusuch as picking up trash in dents’ academic or athletic the hallways and cafeteria. He achievement before both hapcalled on administrators and piness and character. teachers to create a process The MCC’s “Turning the to map which students they Tide” report outlines how the have a strong relationship competitive nature of the colwith and create new ones with lege process induces stress those who are not well con- and lends advantages to more nected. privileged students. Many faculty members Weissbourd told faculagreed that the school could ty members that students create more of a moral com- should focus more on community. munity service, and schools “The biggest thing should put less emthat I took away from phasis on Advanced it was obviously a foPlacement courses cus on character edand standardized ucation,” Cuseo said. testing. He said “Looking at our comthese tests tend to munity, he gave us give an edge to more some tools to look at privileged students, the experiences of our who have more opstudents that could be tions to take AP ’ very helpful. I would classes and can afSharon Cuseo especially like to see ford tutors for the us carry out his relaSAT and ACT. tionship mapping activity.” Released in January, the Weissbourd described a report has garnered praise survey he conducted that and criticism, Weissbourd asked students, parents and said. A recent New York Times teachers whether they most opinion piece entitled “Revalue achievement, happi- thinking College Admissions,” ness or character. Of 10,000 for example, stated the report students from 33 differ- could have a tangible impact ent schools, most prioritize on making college admissions achievement and happiness more equal in terms of soabove caring and also think cio-economic status. their parents and teachers The deans expressed value student achievement doubt that college admissions the most. officers will follow through. In a Chronicle survey of Recent Harvard-Westlake col-
• Continued from page A1
nathanson s
answer session with Jonze and Zumbrunnen. “The most interesting part was getting to hear the little tricks and behind-the-scenes secrets of being a filmmaker,” Nicole Bahar ’18 said. Walch said the event went “brilliantly” and was pleased with the turnout. “[Jonze] is an extremely articulate man, and he’s as eloquent with his words as he is with his visuals and his filmmaking,” Walch said. “The film has a lot of heart, and he has a lot of heart.”
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The Parents’ Association will be holding a Diversity Matters panel March 4 at the middle school campus at 7 p.m. The panelists will include teachers, parents and administrators representing different forms of diversity, including athletics, financial aid, gender and religion. Upper school dean Chris Jones will be moderating the panel. The main goal of the panel is to hear feedback from parents. “It’s supposed to accomplish two things,” Jones said. “One is to celebrate what we have done already to this point, what the good points are, and the other is going to be looking for ways that we can become better in the community. Especially one to the caliber of HarvardWestlake, we want to be great at everything that we do, and there’s always ways we can improve.” The Diversity Matters panel was also held last year. Diversity means not only having different groups of students, but also being more inclusive, Jones said. “To hear how other people are processing their children’s experiences, I think is going to be really neat,” Jones said.
I think that people sometimes misunderstand how the college admissions process works, not how they have been told it works. If you look at the data, Harvard has no outliers.” —Kyle Graham Upper School Dean
lege admissions data shows colleges denied early acceptance to those who did not hit a certain testing or grade point average threshold. “There is an idealistic nature to what he’s say- on numbers of AP’s or GPA is ing, which is that the way to often they don’t have enough change culture and increase capacity to assess students caring is for college admis- individually, and that means sions offices to place greater we have to figure out an applivalue on these things,” Cuseo cation process that is easier to said. “That all sounds great, assess students multi-dimenexcept that there is a harsh sionally, so they don’t have to reality to what the admissions look so much at things like GPA,” Weissbourd said. officers are up against.” Upper school dean Kyle Cuseo was included in the 2003 college admissions book Graham said that while colleges might say they “The Gatekeepers: support this change, Inside the Admishe doubts they sions Process of a will implement the Premier College.” changes to the extent “In reality, colcalled for. leges still have to He said that in care about their seone aspect of the lectivity, their avercollege admissions age SAT scores, their game, elite colleges yields and their US ’ might try to increase News and World ReDarlene Bible the number of apport ranking,” Cuseo plicants through the said. “Until those things start to reflect the promotion of character rather characteristics he is talking than test scores, giving them about, it is unlikely that any more unqualified applicants substantive changes will be and thus decreasing their acceptance rates. made.” A smaller acceptance rate In response to data that suggests certain colleges re- makes universities appear quire students to meet spe- even more elite. “I think that people somecific testing and GPA criteria, Weissbourd said that it is a times misunderstand how “real problem” of the admis- the college admissions process works, not how they sions process. “One issue with schools have been told it works,” Grathat are just making judge- ham said. “If you look at the ments about students based data, Harvard has no outliers. nathanson s
nathanson’s
There are never kids who just happen to get into Harvard because they are a good kid. That’s not how it works.” Other faculty said that even if it may not be possible for colleges to make this change, it would help the quality of the institutions if they did. “I don’t know how realistic it is, but I feel like anytime someone starts working towards [character being a factor in college admissions], it is a step in the right direction,” faculty head of the Character and Community Committee Darlene Bible said. “Colleges need people who are caring and thoughtful on their campuses, and maybe less of the terrible things we hear about happening at college [like sexual harassment] will happen.” While Weissbourd said he thinks moral growth should be prioritized in high school, he recognized that academic rigor and character improvement are not necessarily mutually exclusive. “I just think you can have a very rigorous, demanding, meaningful education and be very ethical, and you can cultivate both those things,” Weissbourd said. “They’re not incompatible. They’re not inconsistent at all.”
A6 News
The Chronicle
inbrief
Feb. 10, 2016
Seniors named Presidential Scholars
Seven seniors were named candidates for the 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholars program. The program honors high school seniors for either academic abilities, artistic talent or accomplishments in career or technological education to encourage educational excellence. Students who score high on the SAT or ACT exams are automatically considered. Semifinalists will be announced in April and finalists in May. Recipients are invited to attend a recognition ceremony sponsored in the White House, where each will be awarded with a Presidential Scholar Medallion. Sean Jung ’16, Nathan Lee ’16, Adam Hirschhorn ’16, Joss Saltzman ’16, Benjamin Most ’16, Zachary Belateche ’16 and Joshua Friedman ’16 have been nominated this year. —Layla Moghavem
Christian Club holds annual fundraiser The Christian Club held its second annual fundraiser Jan. 24, where members met and welcomed this year’s speaker, CEO of AdRM Technology Consulting Janice Chung ’74 (Caitlin ’20). “[The speeech] was quite eye-opening,” John Chung ’16 said. Members sang Christian music and watched a documentary of Christian doctors. —Angela Chon
Social Committee sells Valentine’s grams
Social Committee members began selling Valentine’s Day grams on Tuesday, and sales will continue through Thursday on the quad from fifth to eighth period. Each $1 gram will be delivered to lockers on Friday with a lollipop and optional personalized message. On Friday, the committee will sell Valentine’s Day Krispy Kreme donuts for $2 on the quad from third to eighth period. “I think Valentine grams are a really good idea,” Tali Perluss ’18 said. “I think they really bring the Harvard-Westlake community together as a whole.” —Emory Kim
School uses Amazon to fund financial aid Amazon customers can now use AmazonSmile to donate 0.5 percent of their purchase to the Financial Aid office. AmazonSmile allows customers to donate to a charity of their choice on eligible purchases from Amazon. Those interested can sign into their Amazon accounts at the AmazonSmile webpage and select “Harvard-Westlake School.” AmazonSmile periodically increases the donation rate for special charity events. —Indu Pandey
Project Girl to Girl partakes in Mar Vista trip
NICOLE KIM/CHRONICLE
PROJECT GIRL TO GIRL: Batia Blank ’18, a club member of Project Girl to Girl, teaches a group of girls at Mar Vista Elementary about the physics behind a Newton’s Cradle. The club held its first workshop Feb. 5 and aims to close the gender gap in STEM fields through science experiments with elementary school girls in the Los Angeles area.
Guest to deliver speech at Junior Night By Jonathan Seymour
All Harvard-Westlake parents are invited to hear author Julie Lythcott-Haims speak at Junior Parent Night Feb. 16 at the upper school. The deans decided to open the presentation to the entire parent community because of how important they believe Lythcott-Haims’s message is. “All parents were invited to this event due to the popularity of Ms. Lythcott-Haims and her book,” Upper School Dean Adam Howard said. “While the evening is kick-starting the junior college process for parents, it still seemed to be a terrific opportunity for our entire parent community.” Former lawyer, Stanford
professor and Stanford Dean of Freshmen, Lythcott-Haims published her book “How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success” last year. “Having worked closely with a population similar to ours, her experiences and wisdom seem particularly relevant,” Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo said. “[Upper School Dean Beth] Slattery and I heard her speak earlier this year and were very impressed with her insights and couldn’t wait to invite her to Harvard-Westlake.” Lythcott-Haims will discuss observations of parents and students that she worked with during her time at Stan-
ford and reflect on ways the college application process has changed over the past few years. Part of her goal is to try to convince parents that more top-tier colleges exist than just the most well-known ones, reducing some of the pressure parents and students feel as they prepare for the application process, Cuseo said. “Our community continues to focus on character, and the deans also try to emphasize that our students should own more of their high school experience, from the classroom through the college process,” Howard said. “This is just one opportunity for our community to think about how our students can be more resilient
and develop their own unique path to success.” The Deans hope LythcottHaims’s speech will empower parents to resist the very understandable urge to control every aspect of their children’s college process, even if they have good intentions, Cuseo said. “At the end of the day, I think we’re also talking about how we can support our students to be happier, and as a byproduct, bring more empathy and ownership to the greater community,” Howard said. After the presentation, the junior parents will split up into their children’s dean groups so that the deans can formally introduce the college process.
Students donate to book drive By Kate Schrage
DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE
HELPFUL HACKERS: Emily Wesel ’19 and her group members present their completed project at the HW Hackathon in front of other groups and mentors in the library at the upper school.
Students take part in first Hackathon By Claire Keller
Computer science students worked for 36 hours at Hack H-W Jan. 16-17, learning about technological entrepreneurship while competing in the school’s first hackathon. Shelley Jain ’16 and Justin Rose ’17 brought the hackathon to the upper school, allowing 50 students to work with 10 mentors from technology companies and the California Institute of Technology. Students formed teams of
up to four hackers and spent the night pursuing whatever hardware or software programs they wanted. Mentors watched over students as they designed and created video games, programmed gadgets and learned new computer science languages. The weekend concluded with an awards ceremony, with 3D printers going to the first-place team Smart Buzz, consisting of Paula Lahera ’16, Tony Ma ’17 and Johnny Berman ’17.
Members of the team Class were given Pebble Time Smartwatches as the second place prizes. And in third place, Gravity received quad-copters. “After attending Pennapps, the largest student-run hackathon in the country, organized by students at UPenn, I realized how valuable and enlightening an experience this opportunity could be for Harvard-Westlake students,” Jain said. “My goal was to show them that in 36 hours they could build something cool.”
Eitan Sneider ’17 held a book drive on campus for Access Books Feb. 1-5. Access Books is an organization that focuses on providing books to students at inner-city elementary schools. The book drive collected gently-used children’s books to be delivered to Woodcrest Elementary, where volunteers worked to set up a library on Saturday. “It’s part of a bigger picture of addressing literacy as a whole,” Sneider said. “I’m working with an organization I started called Generation of Change.” Donation boxes were stationed in the library and deans’ lounge, and the drive was held at multiple high schools in Los Angeles. “It was something easy to do to make a difference, and logistically it was pretty simple to establish ourselves as an organization that just wants to make a change,” Sneider said.
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/news
News A7
inbrief
JSA hosts one-day conference
Roses sold for cast members in the play
Students purchased roses for cast members in the play, “The Madwoman of Chaillot.” Social Commitee announced the rose sale during the First and Third Wednesday assembly last week, and roses were for sale all week on the quad. Roses were sold for $3 apiece, in bundles of four for $10 or eight for $20. Students could use their ID cards on purchases of $10 or more. “The Madwoman of Chaillot” had showings Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Social Commitee has also sold roses for past plays. — Aaron Park
By Hannah Cho
The Junior State of America Club held its Equality and Economy Conference on the third floor of Chalmers Jan. 31. The conference included four blocks where students debated topics such as wage ratios, the rights of small business owners, food stamps and other social issues. There were also games, Thought Talks, which are conversation-styled debates, and workshops on JSA speech and debate. “We did a novice debate for students who had never won an award for speaking at JSA, and we also did workshops on how to speak well,” JSA Club Vice President Eleanor Halloran ’18 said. Unlike most conferences, the Equality and Economy Conference lasted one day and was suited for beginners who wanted to try out JSA. “The best place for novices to get a feel for JSA is at oneday conferences like the one
HANNAH CHO/CHRONICLE
FUTURE LEADERS: Eleanor Halloran ’18 (second from left) and fellow Junior State of America members choose which political topics they will discuss during games at the January conference. we held,” JSA Club President Lauren Kim ’17 said. The JSA Southern California State organization holds three different conferences each year lasting for either two or three days. However, because JSA is a student-led organization, individual chapters can hold
one-day conferences. “Harvard-Westlake has always been a relatively small chapter, and organizing this one-day event was a great way to establish ourselves in the JSA community,” Kim said. About 50 students from all over Southern California
attended. History Department Head Katherine HolmesChuba chaperoned the event. “This felt a little more intimate because it was at Harvard-Westlake and it was run by us,” Halloran said. “It was nice to see people out of the big events.”
Union for Conservation of Nature, told the students about his experience conducting research in a region of Papua New Guinea never before visited by humans due to its harsh topography. In order to reach the area, Sneider had to repel from a helicopter into the forest to complete his research, he said. Once in the forest, Sneider cleared an area and constructed a research facility that was then used to study the un-
known animals and plants of the region. Sneider also discussed other explorations he took part in, including one where he discovered an unknown species of fish. “My fascination throughout all my life has been exploration,” Sneider said. “I’ve been going on expeditions since the mid-70s. My fascination is really with the ecological wellbeing of the planet and species’ survival.”
Sneider’s talk was required for all AP Environmental Science students, but all students were invited to attend. Students said that they both learned from and enjoyed Sneider’s presentation “It brought a whole new perspective to me because Dr. Sneider presented his personal stories of being an environmental scientist to us,” Phoebe Sanders ’17 said. “It was really astounding because his work was incredibly dangerous.”
Environmentalist discusses research trips
By Jesse Nadel
Environmental scientist and businessman Richard Sneider (Nicole ’09, Alán ’12, Eitan ’17) shared his experiences building a research facility in an isolated region of Papua New Guinea with students in Ahmanson Lecture Hall during activities period Feb. 1. Sneider, who is Chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group for the International
Ethics team wins regional competition
By Kami Durairaj
ated by their coaches, English teachers Charles Berezin and Ethics Bowl team members Malina Mamigonian. Cameron Cabo ’16, Nathan “I think that our coaches Lee ’16 and Kathleen Edmis- were really helpful, and they ton ’17 won first place at the definitely outlined exactly National High School Ethics what we needed to do to win,” Bowl regional qualifying com- Edmiston said. petition Jan. 30. Both coaches were imStudents prepared pressed with the to debate the ethical critical agility and dilemmas of 15 difcoherent arguments ferent cases by doing presented by stuthe recommended redents. search and discuss“Frankly, I am ing all pertinent moralways ambivalent al issues relating to about competitions,” a situation. ParticiBerezin said. “I think pants competed in addressing the ethi’ rounds where they presented an ethical Charles Berezin cal questions and understanding ethiargument, answered cal categories is what is most questions from judges and revaluable to me.” sponded to their opponents. They also believe that parThey were asked to evaluate the moral permissibility of ticipating in ethics competispecific cases, and their per- tions is invaluable because it formance was then evaluated forces students to think with purpose. on a scored rubric. The team is eligible to Team members credit their success to the extensive prep- compete in the National High aration, thorough discussions School Ethics Bowl due to and practice rounds moder- their win at regionals. nathanson s
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF CAROLYN HONG
MODEL STUDENTS: Students attend an assembly where they listened to Harvard University speakers before the competition.
Model UN competes in Harvard conference By Anthony Weinraub
Members of the Model United Nations Club attended a conference hosted by Harvard University Jan. 30 and 31 at the Sheraton Boston and the Hynes Convention Center. Nine students went on the trip, which was chaperoned by upper school deans Jamie Chan and Celso Cardenas. Only students with substantial experience in Model UN could attend.
Committees included the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Eight students represented Denmark, and Jaebok Lee ’16 participated in a crisis committee and represented the Minister of Petroleum in the Iranian cabinet. “Crisis committees are my favorite part of [Model UN],” Lee said. “Crisis committees interact with the world as we debate. It’s realistic, fastpaced and challenging.”
Math Club tutors middle school team The Math Club hosted a competitive circle Jan. 30. The competitive circle is a community service opportunity in which all members can volunteer to facilitate and teach free mathematics workshops for local underprivileged students. In additon to being an enjoyable activity for sutdents interested in math, competitive circles also serve as a preparation course for the American Math Competitions. “I think it went very well,” volunteer Eli Goldin ’17 said. “We had a large amount of dedicated middle schoolers who were engaged and motivated towards mathematics. There will for sure be more in the future this year and probably next year as well.” —Noa Schwartz
Students design logo for new Festival The Community and Character Committee is accepting logo submissions for the upcoming first ever Festival of the Spring. Logos must be designed and created by students, and submitted by Wednesday to Athletic Director Darlene Bible, the head of the Community and Character Committee. The Festival of the Spring will take place March 24 and games will include capture the flag, dodge ball and sudoku. Community and Character Committee will choose the logo contest winner, who will receive a Starbucks giftcard. —Ellis Becker
Prefect Council to host Academic Fair
Prefect Council will host the annual Academic Fair Feb. 17. The event will showcase the classes offered next year. Each course will have a table for students to visit to learn about the focus and theme. After the fair, students will have the opportunity to sign up online for the courses they wish to take next year. “I’m not sure what courses I want to take, so I think that the Academic Fair is a good opportunity to see the classes that are offered,” Denise Navarro ’18 said. —Anthony Weinraub
A8 News
The Chronicle
Feb. 10, 2016
AMC
draws low
turnout
By Elly Choi
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ANNA GONG
Student holds charity concert for Red Cross CADENCE FOR A CAUSE: After organizing a concert at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica for the Red Cross, Anna Gong ’18 and other musicians hold up their Red Cross certificates. In addition to the school musicians, Gong’s mother, Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Bing Wang and fellow Philharmonic musician Ingrid Hutman played a duet. The students played pieces by Felix Mendelssohn, Marcel Tournier and Franz Joseph Haydn in groups of two or more.
Commons enlists Diversity Task Force
• Continued from page A1
diversity. Faculty and staff attended four meetings for the Brown Bag Sessions titled “The ‘How’ of Diversity and Inclusion: What does the application look like?” The school also hosted the annual event Student Voices in January 2015. In March, the Parent Association will sponsor a panel titled
“Diversity Matters.” “There is such interest from students and faculty so it was nice to see that the administration was willing to put money behind those efforts,” Jones said. The school raised its financial aid budget in order to increase the number of students receiving financial aid from the current 17 percent to 21 percent by 2020. To diversify the hiring
procedure, administrators attended the Carney Sandoe Diversity Fair and the New England Minority Network (NEMNET) Diversity Fair. It also began working with the NEMNET to start a Los Angeles-based diversity fair and to develop an exclusive relationship with them so that they will provide HarvardWestlake with potential candidates for positions, Commons said in an e-mail.
“We’re not perfect by any stretch, but I definitely can see that in the last couple years we’ve been making some positive strides for sure,” Jones said. “If nothing else, just to have that part of our ideal stated so prevalently and early in the mission statement is significant. When you put it out there front and center, it holds you accountable.”
Students took the American Math Competition exam Feb. 2 during first and second period in the Chalmers lounge. This year, 53 students in total took the AMC 10 and 12. Last year, 98 students took the test. “This is a bit lower than in previous years but there is some natural variation, so I’m not sure it is significant,” math teacher and AMC proctor Kevin Weis said. Juniors and seniors were required to take the AMC 12, while sophomores could choose between the AMC 10 or 12. The test consists of 25 questions, to be completed in 75 minutes. Each question correctly answered receives six points, unanswered questions receive 1.5 points and incorrect answers are given no points. Scores will be sent out a few weeks later, and students who received 100 points on the AMC 12 or 120 points on the AMC 10 will move on to the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Students who do well on the AIME are invited to the United States of America Mathematical Competition. “The AMCs are always an exciting opportunity to check out some cool math problems,” Sean Jung ’16 said. “While some people might be pressured to do well, it’s really just for fun. Since it’s an optional test, if you ask anyone taking it at H-W they would definitely agree it’s simply fun.”
Alum speaks about real estate company By Nicole Kim
The Student Alumni Association held an event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City Jan. 27 for students and faculty. Spencer Rascoff ’93 spoke to students about running Zillow, an online real estate database company founded in 2006. After graduating from Harvard-Westlake, Rascoff earned his A.B. degree at Harvard University. He then went on to work as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and Allen & Company. He was recognized in Forbes magazine as one of America’s 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under in 2012 and 2013, and received the Ernst & Young’s National Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Services Award. Prior to leading Zillow, Rascoff served as the vice president of lodging for Expedia, an online travel company. By the age of 24, he cofounded Hotwire.com, which he sold for $663 million in 2003 to the American media and Internet company InterActiveCorp. Since joining
Zillow as an employee in 2005, he had taken up multiple roles including chief operating officer. In 2010, he was appointed as its CEO and has developed it into one of the two largest online real estate listing companies, according to an article in Forbes magazine. Rascoff has also written a book titled, “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate,” which includes tips on selling, purchasing and renting houses, and discusses the current trends in the housing market. SAA plans on holding another event March 1 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel featuring the alumni speaker Kevin Demoff ’95. Demoff, the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Rams, will discuss his role in spearheading the team’s move from St. Louis to its hometown after 21 years. Demoff manages all of the Los Angeles Rams’ business operations, such as marketing and sales, strategy for player signings and community relations.He is expecting to partner with either the Chargers or Raiders football team in Inglewood.
SAMMI HANDLER/CHRONICLE
NO TROUT ABOUT IT: Science teacher Nadine Eisenkolb places trout eggs in an aquarium as part of the Environmental Club’s efforts to combat the recent decrease in the California trout population.
Club combats trout depopulation By Benjamin Most
The Environmental Club acquired trout eggs through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Classroom Aquarium Education Program. The club will release the trout into California waterways after the eggs hatch later this year. In the past 150 years, severe trout depopulation has occurred in California due to overharvesting, urban development and pollution, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Classroom Aquarium Education Program, also known as Trout in the Classroom, combats this depopulation by sending trout eggs to participating elementary, middle and high schools across the state. Students can watch the eggs hatch and observe the trout develop, and once the trout have grown, they are usually released in a local stream or river. The school has participated in the program in the past and already had supplies such as a 55-gallon aquarium,
co-president of the club, Ben Goldsmith ’16 said. Goldsmith oversaw the project with science teacher Nadine Eisenkolb. “The tank required significant cleaning, and the chilling unit was no longer operational,” Goldsmith said. “The filtration unit required significant repair as well. Some of the pipes broke and flooded part of the room once.” Despite these setbacks, the eggs are now safely in their aquarium, and the Environmental Club will decide on a date to release the trout in about a month, Eisenkolb said.
C HRONICLE the harvard-westlake
Los Angeles • Volume XXV • Issue 5 • Feb. 10, 2016 • hwchronicle.com
Editors In Chief: Eugenia Ko, Henry Vogel Managing Editors: Angela Chon, Benjamin Most, Jonathan Seymour Executive Editors: Sacha Lin, Kelly Riopelle
Opinion The Chronicle • Feb. 10, 2016
editorial
Presentations Editors: Su Jin Nam, Pim Otero Ads
and
Business Manager: Kelly Loeb
Assistant Ads and Business Manager: Oliver Richards News Managing Editor: Cole Feldman News Section Heads: Sammi Handler, Layla Moghavem, Jesse Nadel, Teresa Suh News Copy Editor: Jackson Novick News Assistants: Gabi Berchtold, Maddy Daum, Claire Dennis, Brittany Hong, Emory Kim, Indu Pandey, Noa Schwartz, Wilder Short, Danielle Spitz Opinion Managing Editor: Jonah Ullendorff Opinion Copy Editor: Lexi Bowers Opinion Section Heads: Hananh Cho, Kami Durairaj Opinion Assistants: Brittany Hong Claire Keller, Jiwon Park, Anthony Weinraub, Matthew Yam Features Managing Editor: Sharon Chow Features Section Heads: Sabrina de Brito, Jean Sanders, Liz Yount Features Assistants: Josette Abugov, Nicole Kim, Kitty Luo, Jadene Meyer, Alena Rubin, Kate Schrage, Alexa Zuriff A&E Section Heads: Lauren Kim, Tiffany Kim, Katie Plotkin A&E Assistants: Jacqueline Ayestas, Ellis Becker, Isabelle Eshraghi, Sarah Lee, Caty Szeto Health & Fitness Section Heads: Eshanika Chaudhary, Sophie Cohen, Claudia Wong Health & Fitness Assistants: Sofia Guillen, Kristen Kuwada Sports Managing Editor: Bennett Gross Sports Section Heads: Juliana Berger, Zac Harleston, Jake Liker, Dario Madyoon, Carina Marx, Rian Ratnavale Sports Assistants: Eli Adler, Oliver Akhtarzad, Andrew Ahn, Jordan Bedikian, Elly Eun Seo Choi, Ethan Knight, Sam McCabe, Aaron Park, Adam Yu Sports Photography: Cameron Stine Photohraphy: Pavan Tauh Creative Director: Vivian Lin Cartoonist: Mady Madison Chief Digital Editor: Benjamin Most Digital Editors: Ellis Becker, Sabrina de Brito, Isabelee Eshraghi, Sammi Handler, Brittany Hong, Nicole Kim, Kitty Luo, Bryant Wu Online Reader Engagement: Lauren Kim, Jake Liker, Teresa Suh, Anthony Weinraub Adviser: Melissa Wantz The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published eight times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at kloeb1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
NICOLE KIM /CHRONICLE
Great speaker, not the right audience
W
ith the new tradition of First and Third Wednesdays, increased efforts by the Fanatics to bolster attendance at athletic events, the introduction of Cinema Sundays and our upcoming Festival to Spring, our school has worked hard, and pretty successfully thus far, to try to unite our largely diverse student body and create a greater sense of community. Though all-school events may be infrequent, we’ve appreciated the work to try to create an inclusive environment and the administration’s increased effort to bring in interesting speakers to help expand our perspectives and increase our worldview. However, while this past annual Brown Family Assembly certainly exposed many students to a new form of art and a subject that many knew little to nothing about previously (opera and musical composition), it also left many students on the outside, unable to relate to and connect with such a specific topic. Thomas Adès, world-renowned composer, pianist and conductor, spoke about and shared clips from his opera “The Tempest,” an adaption of Shakespeare’s original play. He also spoke to the Symphony and Shakespeare classes at the beginning of the day about his musical experiences. These elective classes that contain students with specific interests in music or Shakespeare were an appropriate audience for our guest speaker. However, the general student body may not have been able to feel the same level of appreciation. Last year, our annual Brown Family Assembly speaker was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ’88, who urged students to get involved in improving the city and shared a
few of his memories as a student. His speech was more relatable to the school community, and his impact had a wider reach among the students. Additionally, as an alumni of HarvardWestlake, he could also relate to the student body in a way many other potential speakers would not have been able to. Personal anecdotes about faculty and staff still present at the Upper School added a touch that kept students engaged in his message. While we are thankful for an opportunity to learn about Adès’ experience in adapting Shakespeare into opera and his foray into composing music, two subjects that are not typically a part of the average student’s experience at Harvard-Westlake, we want to encourage future all-school events to incorporate a broader spectrum of students’ interests and passions. Yes, a select number of students could relate on a personal level and asked for advice on how to keep composition content fresh and where to get inspiration while composing. But this could have been done in a more intimate setting, and an opportunity for an all-school assembly that inspires more students and faculty members could have been taken. On the other hand, we are thankful that the school provides an outlet for exposure to unfamiliar territories. We highly doubt that students at most other high schools will be able to say that on a Monday morning they got an opportunity to see an award-winning composer and conductor talk about his creative process. We only wish that perhaps in the future, a speaker of such impressive caliber can have more universal appeal to the Harvard-Westlake population.
A10 Opinion
The Chronicle
Feb. 10, 2016
The other war for equality By Danielle Spitz
W
hen I learn about war in history class, I am taught about the brave men who serve their country and risk their lives for the freedom of others. When I read stories about military activity in the news, I see pictures of men in head-to-toe uniform with stone-cold faces that embody the courage of a soldier. What I do not learn about are women serving in battle, nor do I see photos of women in an upright salute position. Women have been essential members of the U.S. military ever since they started serving as nurses at the end of World War I. In 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act granted women permanent status in the military. Since then, it has been a slow fight for equality with men in terms of rank and status, but another milestone was reached Dec. 3 when Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women. The military barely made the deadline set by the Obama administration three years ago to integrate women into all combat jobs by January of this year. Now women who continually risk their lives for the safety of the people of the United States can receive the recognition they deserve, and women all across the country can rejoice in this monumental step towards gender equality. It is a women’s right to serve her country if that is what she wishes, the same way that it is with men. This decision was made because the leaders of our country strive to create the strongest military possible, and it is now acknowledged that the recruitment of women for combat jobs is essential because bravery is not limited to one gender. As a young woman in
today’s society, I am constantly reminded that physical strength is a masculine trait that cannot be expected from women. When a woman does show signs of muscularity, she is often made to feel out of the ordinary. With this stigma that is so prevalent in everyday life, it is no coincidence that I often feel discouraged in my individual pursuits because I automatically assume that I will never be able to reach the same level of success as my male peers. What this revolutionary opportunity for women all across the nation has proved to me is that my resilience will not go unnoticed. It is because of women who have decided not to give up on their goals, no matter how often they were said to be irrational and unrealistic, that I can now look forward to success rather than view it as some obscure and unattainable fantasy. While this decision is being celebrated by men and women alike all around the country, there are still those who argue that integration is unrealistic considering the serious physical discipline that serving in combat requires. However, it is clear that women are not receiving special privileges, nor are they exempt from any of the qualifications pertaining to men applying for these positions. The same standards will be held for women as they are for men, and no woman will be hired simply for her gender. The true significance of this decision is that women are now allowed to practice their civil right as people to hold positions based on ability—not gender, race, sexuality or any other facet that is part of who they are. I will continue to join the fight for gender equality, especially knowing that advances like this will only increase in number.
NICOLE KIM /CHRONICLE
You cannot just ‘correct’ the college admissions process By Jonah Ullendorff
T
here is now a general consensus that teens are selfish human beings. A psychological study from October 2013 reported in the Wall Street Journal states that empathy only begins to develop in girls at the age of 13 and in boys at the age of 15. That means that we students have only just begun to understand the plight of others. For the most part, I agree. Teenagers are pretty selfish, and instinctively I think we need to be. Back before advanced civilizations existed, many of us didn’t live to be adults. We had to take more than we needed. To help others might have led to our own demise. It was the survival of the meanest. The egocentrism of teenagers, as my fellow seniors know, shows itself during the college process, as students compete for limited space in their top choice colleges. Noticing this crisis, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education released a report in January stressing the importance of a more humane college process, one that puts less stress on students to be gods among men with perfect GPAs, multi-million dollar businesses and music skills even Beethoven would be jealous of. The report said that there are three main characteristics
To the class of 2016 By Eugenia Ko
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he Friday that first semester ended I anticipated the festivities and none-too-rare screams of “SENIOR SEASON,” but the crippling realization that in less than six months I will leave the life I’ve known for the past six years crept up on me faster than every term paper and essay I’ve ever written. After high school, my best friend will move to Scotland, a rough 3,000 miles away. Friends I’ve known for a decade and friends I’ve made this year will be on the other side of the country; at best, my co-editor since freshman year will be states away. The thought of traversing awkward orientations, his-
tory exams and treasured late night talks without them is a foreign idea I don’t want to entertain. But while I know my best friends will be just a FaceTime away, I am leaving all of you, too. Maybe we took a selfie at some house party in October, or we gripped hands hurtling down the Goliath ride together during the eighth grade Six Flags trip. Maybe I fell off your trampoline at your pool party in seventh grade, or you are that one person who’s been in my math class every year. Whether our friendship has faded, or we’ve never really liked each other much, the fact that six years of memories, however small, is ending,
colleges should look for when evaluating a student. The student must help others beyond his or her own class and race, and colleges must redefine achievement, leveling the playing field for all economic backgrounds. Many admissions offices including Harvard have endorsed this report. Honestly though, when I look at the report, I really fail to see how this can possibly change anything. For example, the Washington Post reports that Yale University has added an essay question that asks the applicant to “reflect on engagement with and contribution to their family, community and/or the public good.” Yale also will support any changes in the extra-curricular section of the Common App that makes it more flexible for students to list their activities. This seems a little comical. How will an extra essay question and support for more flexibility change a way of life so ingrained in the American culture, a culture that CNBC reports spends about 400 million dollars a year making sure students’ Common Apps are the best they can be? New admissions’ practices put upon us by colleges won’t change much. Any change has to come from ourselves. And honestly, I think this internal
change has actually already begun in the sense that we now realize there are more than just a few colleges out there that will lead to success. I don’t like the concept of participation trophies where everyone wins, but when it comes to colleges, that might actually be closer to the truth than you think. There are a lot of great schools, and the college you go to does not guarantee success, nor does it guarantee failure. The way to tone down the intensity of the application process is not through lengthy reports and new essay questions; rather, people need to actually realize that their “safety school” will not ruin or even hurt their chances of success. When my grandpa was a professor at the University of California, Irvine, medical school, which at the time was not considered a top-notch medical school, he would always open up the year with the words, “Ladies and Gentleman, for many of you this medical school might not have been your top choice, but I can assure you that all the tools you need for success in medicine are here. Whether you fail to complete your residency or discover the cure for cancer is not decided by this school, but is ultimately decided by you.”
While the start of second semester may mean relaxation and looking to the future, it also marks the beginning of the last months seniors will ever have together as the Class of 2016.
feels a lot like I’m ending a relationship I’ll never get back. While my revelation may have come because part of me is looking for an excuse to be able to celebrate Valentine’s Day, it can only really be explained by the scary yet somewhat endearing realization that, dare I say it, I have come to love all of you, love having a community and love who I have become because of it. While it obviously hasn’t been perfect, for all the breakups, rumors, tears and tribulations, six years has created a support system I can always count on, a system that will accept me, flaws and all. I won’t ever again simulta-
neously argue and laugh with Henry and my staff during hours-long layouts, or look forward to Mr. Guerrero’s lame but nonetheless lovable jokes in choir. I won’t ever have “Sushi Day” with my sixth-period lunch crew, or blast old Hannah Montana on the quad with Yoko. My beloved spot in the left back row of Taper’s bleachers will be filled by some other senior and her friends at future basketball games, and somewhere down the line there will be some other girl telling her classmates how much she loves them via a Chronicle article. This year is filled with too many ends, but all of these small moments
will always live on in memory. It’s a painful truth that we will be leaving Harvard-Westlake, Class of 2016, a harsh reality I have long been denying. And although eventually we will move on and become the Class of 2020, make new life-long bonds and inevitably change, I am forever thankful for the way each and every one of you has shaped me, for the good and the bad. For the few months we have left together before college, I will revel daily in being a part of the healthiest, most committed relationship I will probably have for a while, because I know it’s soon coming to an end, and I won’t ever get it back.
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/opinion
quadtalk The Chronicle asked:
In response to #OscarSoWhite By Josie Abugov
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t the dinner table a few weeks ago, my mom told me about a little known director named Colin Trevorrow, his only film experience a low-budget movie in the Sundance Film Festival. Steven Spielberg noticed his work, being reminded of himself as he met the young Trevorrow. Spielberg took him under his wing, and a few years later, Treverrow directed “Jurassic World.” But would Spielberg have seen himself in and mentored a young female or a young black director? Sometimes I wonder how much race and gender play into luck and being in the right place at the right time. For the 2016 Academy Awards, no actors of color have been nominated for an Oscar. Ninety-four percent of voters are white, and 76 percent are male. The lack of diversity in the nominations is not an insult against minority groups or women, but a reflection of the gender and ethnic gap in the film industry. I believe that our favorite movies speak to who we are and what we think about ourselves. The feeling of connection and empathy towards film is moving and powerful, but it’s easier to relate to someone with goals and experiences similar to our own. The average Academy Award voter is a 63-year-old white male. It’s no surprise that their cinematic taste differs from that of another age group, race, or gender. The problem isn’t that old white men don’t like the same movies as a young black kid, but that it’s a generally narrow audience that votes for the Academy Awards. It’s easier said than done, but the clearest remedy for the situation is diversity. This means more casting opportunities for people of color, but not opportunities where racial adversity is the primary
plot line. And please, no more of the ‘sassy black friend’ in every sitcom. The fact is that a diverse environment makes for an interesting environment. I’ve heard people say they ‘wish they were black,’ so getting into college would be easier. But, while it may feel like schools and institutions are simply filling a quota or blindly abiding by affirmative action, when people come together from different cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds, we learn much more and much better from each other. My mom is black and my dad is a Canadian Jew. I’ve had a bat mitzvah and a first communion. I celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Easter, Passover, and Yom Kippur. I’ve had Christmas in Santa Monica and in Victorville. I’ve had News Year’s Eve along Central Park West and in Crenshaw. And for this, I am grateful. I’m grateful for being taught to keep an open mind, and I’m lucky to have the diversity in my life that gives me balance. Film is the perfect setting for creativity, innovation and diversity. It’s a shame that many great films this year and in the past may have been overlooked because of a cultural disconnect. But at the same time, there’s nothing wrong or illegitimate about Trevorrow’s success. He earned it, as did all of the actors, directors and screenwriters recognized for their work this year. I don’t think the diversity problem in the film industry will be solved quickly. I don’t even think this problem has a simple solution. But talking doesn’t hurt. I’m not content with the situation, but it’s a good thing that it made the news. It’s a good thing that people are questioning what’s given and that we recognize there should be a change.
“What did you think about the recent assembly?” “I thought that [Thomas Adès] was very interesting because I got to see a different side of his art, and [the plays] of Shakespeare. I thought there was a cool correlation in how he expressed himself and I’d love to see more of these types of speakers.” MATTHEW YAM/CHRONICLE
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he past year was a rollercoaster of a year — the type of rollercoaster that has a life-changing up and a life-changing down, with a few loop-the-loops thrown in just to shake things up. In March 2015, I learned that my two year-long journey through the HarvardWestlake application process had paid off; all in the form of a crimson acceptance. I remember my mom happily relaying the news to my dad and me, as I lay next to him in bed. 2015 was also the year I lost my dad to cancer. In early June 2015, my mom took me aside and informed me there was nothing else we could do to fight my dad’s cancer. This was after two years of radiation, surgeries and chemotherapy. If you don’t know what seeing someone go through chemo-
therapy is like, just imagine muscles turning to mush, vomiting almost every meal, a voice weakening to a whisper. It was incredibly traumatizing at first, but after the umpteenth round of chemo, I had grown accustomed to watching my dad suffer. When my mom explained that my dad was transitioning to home hospice care, my fear of losing him increased tenfold. I entered my room and cried for a day. Knowing that he would be leaving us soon forced a plethora of questions into my mind. What should I be doing? What questions can I ask? Should I be asking questions? What if he passes before I get my questions answered? The most difficult question of all was how I should go about spending the rest of the time I had with my
— Karla Alas ’16
“The speaker on Monday was interesting, however not the right person to have at a Harvard-Westlake student event. Students couldn’t really connect with someone having to do with opera, especially because most of them don’t even know what opera is.”
— Asher Low ’17 MATTHEW YAM/CHRONICLE
KAMI DURAIRAJ /CHRONICLE
Being up when down By Wilder Short
Opinion A11
Death can open our eyes to the unpredictability of life and remind us to be appreciative of things we often overlook, but it should not take a tragedy to realize how special our time here is.
dad. Am I supposed to do the things I normally do, knowing he is lying down in bed, inching closer and closer to death? Looking back, I still do not have the answers and probably never will fully understand the concept of making the most out of a moment, but I can tell you, it made me realize something that is important for all people. It shouldn’t take a traumatic event to force us to understand how special our time here is. I had always imagined walking across my high school stage on graduation day, seeing my parents’ smiling faces and sharing in their joy. Losing a parent was something I never considered. Yes, the fact that I shared 15 years with the most important man in my life really is a blessing, but it
wasn’t long enough. And the years he spent with cancer? Even more important to me, he showed me that you should never give up fighting. He continued to enjoy life, believing that he shouldn’t sit on the sidelines while cancer ate away at him. My dad was one of the best huggers in the world, even when he barely had the energy to speak. I will always remember lying next to him in bed, feeling comfortable just being near him. I realize that, looking back, sometimes the best things aren’t always the easiest. Spending that extra bit of time with my dad created new memories for me, some of which I think of often. It was certainly far more difficult to be around my terminally ill dad than it was to go downstairs and turn on the Xbox, but moments with
my dad taught me what it means to really be alive. My Xbox is still downstairs, but I can never go and create new memories with my dad. What I’m trying to say is this: I wish more people really understood how precious life is. Really think about it, because it shouldn’t take a tragic event to wake you up and make you smell the roses. Take a look at this past week and remember five special experiences you had that didn’t involve Starbucks, Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook. Or hey, maybe that’s your thing. But whether it’s being thankful for having the privilege of being a part of a beautiful family or being thankful for your Starbucks, take a moment to be thankful for all your moments.
A12
The Madwoman
exposure
Feb. 10, 2016
Students performed Feb. 5-7 in the 1943 play “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” updated with a twist for the modern stage. In this comedy, commoners sabotage the scheming of rich oil prospectors.
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RAGS TO RICHES: Lily Beckinsale-Sheen ’17, the “Hobo,” pretends that she is rich in a fake trial.
PAVAN TAUH/CHRONICLE
LEAN ON ME: Natalie Musicant ’17 (The Madwoman/Countess Aurelia) stops Ari Yaron ’18
(Pierre) from committing suicide, reminding him to be grateful of everything life has to offer.
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PLAYING FOR TIPS: Dylan Schiffrin ’16 and Shelby Weiss ’16 entertain the rest of the commoners (Natalie Musi-
cant ’16, Odessa Chikliss ’17, Tarin North ’18 and Charlotte Weinman ’18) with their performance with the accordion.
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ON A DRAMATIC NOTE: Talia Lefkowitz ’17
performs an aside as Mademoiselle Gabrielle.
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POWER OF MUSIC: Aurora Huiza ’17 dances to accordion music played by Shelby Weiss ’17 and Dylan Schiffrin ’16.
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BUT FIRST: Celebrity Impersonator Charlotte Weinman ’18 uses a selfie stick to take a selfie with cast members (left to right) James Hansen ’16, Natalie Musicant ’17, Shelby Weiss ’16, Odessa Chiklis ’17, William Ruppenthal ’16, Tarin North ’18, Aurora Huiza ’17 and Lily Beckinsale-Sheen ’17.
Arts & Entertainment The Chronicle • Feb. 10, 2016
Learning through the Lens Students on the Digital Storytelling Adventures trip traveled to Vietnam for 10 days, using photography and video to document the culture and history of the nation. They visited museums and temples in Saigon and spent three days at a homestay with villagers in the Mekong River Delta. • Continued on page B4
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CAM AND HIS CAM: Cameron Welther ’17 photographs an infant at a Buddhist orphanage just outside of Saigon. Welther and 15 other students handed out toys and played with the children there. The orphanage was one of the many sites in Vietnam that the students who were on the Digital Storytelling Adventure trip visited.
The Chronicle
B2 A&E
Feb. 10, 2016
Students view HW Go! films By Sophie Cohen
Student films produced during the summer HW Go! Cambodia Digital Storytelling Adventure were screened yesterday in Ahmanson Lecture Hall. Filmmakers visited the cities of Battamberg, Phnom Penh and Siem Riep and primarily studied the 1975 genocide, but also learned about other aspects of the Cambodian culture by interacting with the native people and visiting historic temples and landmarks. Each of the 16 students created a film reflecting the Cambodian history and culture. Students captured the footage for the films during the summer trip and finished editing them on Jan. 29. “It is exciting to see the students transform the experience they saw and learned into their own projects in which they connect issues to their own lives,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said. One of the films is about human trafficking, the second largest industry in Cambodia. It was produced by Maya Hinkin ’18, Tarin North ’18, Nicole Kim ’18 and William Park ’17. In the film, “Daughters of Cambodia,” the filmmakers compare their lives as American teenagers to the lives of Cambodian girls. “A large part of my experience in Cambodia was when I got to see the red light district,” Park said. “It gave me a longing to change the world outside of just my society. In ‘Daughters of Cambodia,’ people will actually see that these women are real characters, and it will strike an empathy in them that does not exist without seeing the film.”
Singers to perform in solo concert
By Caty Szeto
Several students will play as soloists at the upcoming middle school Chamber Music and Solo Concert. The concert will be held in Saperstein Theater at the middle school campus Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m. It will feature six student instrumentalists on the piano, violin, clarinet and double bass. Each year, the Middle School Symphony puts on the concert, which features both chamber pieces and orchestral pieces. In addition, a small number of students are featured as soloists. Out of 20 students who auditioned this year, the Middle School Symphony Director Emily Reola selected Peter Sykes ’19, Benjamin Beckman ’19, Megan Chang ’19, Jenny Yoon ’19, Ryan S. Kim ’19 and Yujung Park ’19 to perform solos at the concert.
JOSIE ABUGOV/CHRONICLE
GUITAR HERO: Self-taught guitarist Nick Locke-Henderson ’18 plays during a free period at school. He received his first guitar from his parents at the age of eight, in celebration of the anniversary of his adoption. Henderson continues to enjoy playing.
Sophomore tunes into his passion for guitar By Josie Abugov
Nick Locke-Henderson ’18 was in third grade when he realized music was something he wanted to pursue. He wanted to play guitar, and he wanted to be good. “[Music is] a way to let go and to not focus on school or any other obligations,” Locke-Henderson said. “I feel really at peace with myself. Not worried about anything.” Aided only by YouTube tutorials and his own ear, Henderson has never received formal musical training and relies instead on self-instruction. He was eight years old when his parents gave him his first guitar. After begging for a guitar for months, his parents told him there was a surprise waiting for him during the celebration commemorating the anniversary of his adoption. “I walked out, and it was
a red Fender guitar, one of ginning Music Theory. the mini child guitars, and “[Locke-Henderson] is exa little amp that I still have,” tremely musical, with excellent Locke-Henderson said. “At instincts and a strong ear,” first I didn’t know what to do performing arts teacher Mark with it. Playing the notes was Hilt said. “He is eager to learn really fun, but I had no idea and passionately interested in music. What I’ve what I was doing.” After a few found with all students who study mumonths of familiarity with the instrument, sic is that the intelleche was already learntual study is merely ing Guns n’ Roses’ putting a framework and a language in songs and forming a band with a friend. place for what they themselves already “It was a lot of listening and trial and sense and can hear. ’ error, seeing how Some private instruNick Lockmental teachers help things are oriented Henderson ’18 their students with on the guitar,” said Henderson. “The biggest ob- that, but [Locke-Henderson] stacle was getting over the first has never had private instruchump of learning the theory, tion.” the notes and the finger placeBetween his dedication to baseball and to academics, ment.” Last year, he decided to Henderson said there is little pursue music in school and time for leisurely guitar pracenrolled in the middle school tice. course Music Technology. Even so, he said he strives He is currently taking Be- to make his music a weekend nathanson s
priority, whether that means playing at home, with friends or in the park on a warm afternoon. “I’ve connected with [Locke-Henderson] when we’re both going through emotional times, and we’ve really bonded through music,” Evan Keare ’18 said. “The feeling that comes out is so intense, so emotional that I really think he goes to another place when he’s playing music. He has such a passion for it, it’s like a relationship, and he feels it so deeply.” Guitar is his outlet, Locke-Henderson said. From the beginning of his journey, guitar has represented a place where he said he could create an unguided lesson plan to direct his musical learning. “I still have that first guitar,” Locke-Henderson said. “It sounds terrible, and I haven’t touched it in years. But I just look at it, and there are so many memories attached.”
Documentary to feature Advanced Dance I class By Sabrina De Brito
Documentary filmmaker Martha Wheelock will be filming Advanced Dance I students with a professional crew this week to include in her latest film, a biopic on the life and influence of womens’ suffragist Inez Milholland in the early 20th century. As a young adult, Milholland assumed a key role in the National Women’s Party and led countless pro-suffrage parades and marches. She believed women’s votes could help rid society of its civil service fallacies, such as poverty and child mortality. A
dedicated fighter for women’s rights and a role model for women of the early 1900s, she is not widely known, Wheelock said. Milholland spent her last days traveling through America, giving 50 speeches in 24 days as part of a National Women’s Party rally tour. She collapsed midway through her Los Angeles address. Milholland’s collapse is one of the scenes the dancers will be depicting. “Milholland faints, almost dies on the podium from the exhaustion and illnesses she was sustaining. Instead of giving up, [despite her sickness],
she went ahead and tried to deliver her speech,” Wheelock said. “This is a very dramatic scene, but it only is a minute. An actress could not really fall as beautifully as a dancer.” Milholland passed away a few days after the incident at age 30, after having devoted the majority of her life to women’s movements. “I wanted to use young women, who represent the future, to show that Inez’s spirit goes on in us today, whether we know this or not,” Wheelock said. “The message is that we are all activists when we see an injustice, an inequality. Those women knew it was
wrong, unequal, undemocratic for women not to have the vote. Thousands worked for the vote, and I wanted to involve [the dancers] in the story.” Martha Wheelock taught English, ethics and gender studies at Harvard-Westlake from 1998 to 2011. She retired from teaching to focus on women’s history film making and has produced movies about the suffrage movement and other topics. “It’s definitely an experience that’s going to bring us closer together, so I’m really pumped for that,” dancer Anneliese Breidsprecher ’18 said.
FEB. 10, 2016
HWCHRONICLE.COM/A&E
Films selected for SCREEN Film Festival By JADENE MEYER
Two student films have been selected for the 2016 SCREEN Film Festival at Aero Theater in Santa Monica Feb. 26. “Astro, Naught” by Katie Speare ’16 and Sacha Lin ’16 and “Quote, Unquote” by Noa Schwartz ’18 and Nicole Bahar ’18 will be featured. “Quote, Unquote” was inspired by a screenplay written at the Harvard-Westlake Screenplay Camp. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. At this time, students will be able to
hear from a panel of representatives from college film programs in California. After the panel, there will be an opportunity for student filmmakers to network with other finalists. Students also will be able to walk and have their pictures taken on the red carpet before the 7:30 p.m. screenings. “I loved making the film because it was such a cool experience, and it was great working with my peers to create something amazing,” Bahar said. “I am so excited about the festival and just so grateful that we were accepted.”
Los Angeles Museum to screen student projects By SOPHIE COHEN AND ALEXA ZURIFF
The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust’s Righteous Conversations Project will screen 15 student-made public service announcements at their annual screening and gifting ceremony at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Ahmanson Theater at 7 p.m. The Righteous Conversations Project unites students and Holocaust survivors to fight social injustice through media workshops and community events. Students from a wide range of schools, such as Harvard-Westlake, Milken, Sequoia, Viewpoint, Lincoln Middle School, John Adams Middle School and Immaculate Heart, produced the films.
Student filmmakers applied lessons of intolerance in the past to contemporary issues in their films. “We have public service announcements about censorship, homophobia and water usage,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said. Two of the 15 films are Holocaust-related, where in making the film, students interviewed a survivor and distilled his or her story in a short animation. Holocaust survivors, along with representatives from non-profit organizations, will be at the screening. After the public service announcements are made, these films will be gifted to non-profit organizations. They will be used in the organizations’ own work.
A&E B3
Scholastic Awards
Photography Gold Key Arianna Shooshani ’18 Naomi Barlava ’17 Gabi Berchtold ’18 Natalie Choi ’18 Maddy Daum ’18 Oceania Eshraghi ’18 Karina Guo ’18 Abbie Howell ’18 Nicole Kim ’18 Sakura Price ’18 Mason Rodriguez ’18
Silver Key Ellis Becker ’18 Megan Cohen ’17 Arianna Shooshani ’18 Oceania Eshraghi ’18 (2) Jadene Meyer ’18 Chloe Mueller ’18 Joyce Shin ’18 Honorable Mention Naomi Barlava ’17 Natalie Choi ’18 Daniel Eghbal ’16 Eden Fincher ’17 Haley Hicks ’17 Pria Pant ’18 Dora Schoenberg ’16 Emma Spencer ’18 Kate Von Mende ’18 Mixed Media Silver Key Cameron Cabo ’16 Silver Key Oceania Eshraghi ’18
Painting Gold Key Brigid Cawley ’18 Haley Levin ’20 Sophie Levy ’18 (2)
Honorable Mention Tiffany Kim ’17 Sophie Levy ’18 Francesca Walker ’16 Comic Gold Key Anna Gong ’18 Honorable Mention Nicole Kim ’18 Drawing and Illustration Silver Key Anna Gong ’18 Honorable Mention Anna Gong ’18 Ceramics & Glass Gold Key Emma Kofman ’16 Silver Key Emma Kofman ’16 (2) Madeline Schapiro (2) Art Portfolio Gold Key Vivian Lin ’16 Honorable Mention Vivian Lin ’16 (8) Film & Animation Silver Key Lauren Rothman ’17
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The Chronicle
B4 A&E
Students journey to V ietnam
Feb. 10, 2016
By Jean Sanders
When Kinly McCaffery ’18 saw a wall filled with photos of bombing victims of the Vietnam War at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, she realized that any one of those victims could easily have been her mother. McCaffery’s mom immigrated from Vietnam to the United States with her family when she was only nine years old to escape the violence of the war. In September, when McCaffery learned that the next HW Go! Digital Storytelling Adventure would visit Vietnam, she knew she wanted to go to learn more about her mother’s story. “I learned to appreciate my parents more, especially my mom, because now I have a much better idea of how hard life was when she was a child,” McCaffery said. McCaffery was one of the 16 students who went on the trip. The goal was for each student to choose an aspect of Vietnamese culture or history and create a digital media project on their chosen topic. “Our trips are about not just traveling to a place, but digesting the information they learn there and sharing it with others and in that way paying it forward,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said. “Students become contributors to society and histo-
LAUREN KIM/CHRONICLE
LENDING A HELPING SHOULDER: James Kanoff ’17 leans on Chance Washburn ’18 in order to capture a picture of the sunset in Vietnam. Students traveled there for over a week to work on digital media projects independently and in groups. ry by reflecting upon their trip through a digital media project.” Students explored topics including communism, freedom of speech, local food, the role of women in the war, propaganda during the war and religion. “I chose to focus on freedom of speech because I wanted to be able to give a voice to the people of Vietnam,” Chance Washburn ’18 said. “Through filming, I learned just how constricting the government is.” Some students chose to do a photo project rather than a documentary.
“Although it was harder to represent the lives of the people we met through still photos, I’m really glad I chose that as my project because I was able to capture so many amazing moments,” Cameron Welther ’17 said. Students spent four days in Saigon. While they were there, they all visited the War Remnants museum, the Cu Chi tunnels, the Then, Now & War Museum and the Reunification Palace. “My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels,” Nina Milligan ’16 said. “In a time of crisis, the people of this town were so resource-
ful and resilient. Even though they were going against a wellequipped and trained army, they stood their ground and came out victorious.” They also spent three days in the Mekong Delta, where they lived with local villagers. “We rode canoes paddled by Vietnamese countrywomen in blue shirts and the renowned Vietnamese cone-shaped sun hat,” McCaffery said. “We also rode through a tiny slither of a river while enjoying the green reeds and sun surrounding us in the warm weather.” Students also spent time on the trip reviewing footage, discussing the stories that
they were each telling and making sure that each person got the interviews they needed, Gaulke said. The trip changed many students’ perspectives, not just about Vietnam but about their own lives. “I realized that many, many people in Vietnam work so much harder than we do,” McCaffery said. “Being a Harvard-Westlake student is nothing compared to being a rice patty farmer in the blazing hot sun in the heart of dry season. Everyone in Vietnam, whether a farmer or street vendor, works for every piece of change they can get.”
Musicians to perform in Pasadena By Kitty Luo
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SCENES FROM CHAILLOT: Jared Gentile ’16 (left in tan) demands that Natalie Musicant ’17 (left) allow Ari Yaron ’18 (left in stripes) to leave the cafe that Musicant owns. Lily Beckinsale-Sheen ’17 (right), playing the role of the hobo, laments the state of the world.
Actors present winter play ‘The Madwoman of Chaillot’ By Katie Plotkin Twenty-four actors performed in the winter play, “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” Feb. 5, 6 and 7. The show focuses on the story of Madame Aurelia, played by Natalie Musicant ’17, who attempts to work with her friends to rid the world of evil. “The whole cast clicked on
opening night,” said Talia Lefkowitz ’17, who played Mademoiselle Gabrielle. “We were so ready for an audience, and we were all playing off of each other so well. It felt so good to finally have someone see the play.” The play was adapted by performing arts department chair and director Rees Pugh, and it was originally written in 1943 by Jean Giraudoux, a
French dramatist. It was performed in 1945 for the first time. “I wanted to choose [a play that was] unusual and abstract and call upon myself and the cast to think and work outside of our artistic comfort zones,” Pugh said. The cast of this play was about half the size of the 49-member cast of the fall musical, “West Side Story.”
“It’s more of an ensemble show,” stage manager Jona Yadidi ’16 said. “Everyone is dependent on each other and can’t tell the story without one another. One can’t exist without the other.” Auditions for the play started Nov. 10 right after the fall musical had finished. “It’s been long and hard, but it’s been worth it,” Yadidi said.
Chamber Singers will perform at the upcoming American Choral Directors Association Western Division Conference in Pasadena Feb. 26-27. The conference will include exhibits, concerts and educational clinics at the First United Methodist Church. The association selected the Chamber Singers as one of five high school choirs nationally. The ensemble spent three years recording and rehearsing in order to qualify for the chance to perform. “I’m really excited to be able to sing at the highest level for a high school choir,” singer Michael Gavin ’18 said. “The idea is very cool that I will sing with Chamber Singers in front of over a thousand choral directors from across the nation.” The ACDA is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to advance music education as well as choral music. ACDA offers seven division conferences every even-numbered year during February and March at the state, division and national levels.
B4 A&E
The Chronicle
Students journey to V ietnam
Feb. 10, 2016
By Jean Sanders
When Kinly McCaffery ’18 saw a wall filled with photos of bombing victims of the Vietnam War at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, she realized that any one of those victims could easily have been her mother. McCaffery’s mom immigrated from Vietnam to the United States with her family when she was only nine years old to escape the violence of the war. In September, when McCaffery learned that the next HW Go! Digital Storytelling Adventure would visit Vietnam, she knew she wanted to go to learn more about her mother’s story. “I learned to appreciate my parents more, especially my mom, because now I have a much better idea of how hard life was when she was a child,” McCaffery said. McCaffery was one of the 16 students who went on the trip. The goal was for each student to choose an aspect of Vietnamese culture or history and create a digital media project on their chosen topic. “Our trips are about not just traveling to a place, but digesting the information they learn there and sharing it with others and in that way paying it forward,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said. “Students become contributors to society and histo-
LAUREN KIM/CHRONICLE
LENDING A HELPING SHOULDER: James Kanoff ’17 leans on Chance Washburn ’18 in order to capture a picture of the sunset in Vietnam. Students traveled there for over a week to work on digital media projects independently and in groups. ry by reflecting upon their trip through a digital media project.” Students explored topics including communism, freedom of speech, local food, the role of women in the war, propaganda during the war and religion. “I chose to focus on freedom of speech because I wanted to be able to give a voice to the people of Vietnam,” Chance Washburn ’18 said. “Through filming, I learned just how constricting the government is.” Some students chose to do a photo project rather than a documentary.
“Although it was harder to represent the lives of the people we met through still photos, I’m really glad I chose that as my project because I was able to capture so many amazing moments,” Cameron Welther ’17 said. Students spent four days in Saigon. While they were there, they all visited the War Remnants museum, the Cu Chi tunnels, the Then, Now & War Museum and the Reunification Palace. “My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels,” Nina Milligan ’16 said. “In a time of crisis, the people of this town were so resource-
ful and resilient. Even though they were going against a wellequipped and trained army, they stood their ground and came out victorious.” They also spent three days in the Mekong Delta, where they lived with local villagers. “We rode canoes paddled by Vietnamese countrywomen in blue shirts and the renowned Vietnamese cone-shaped sun hat,” McCaffery said. “We also rode through a tiny slither of a river while enjoying the green reeds and sun surrounding us in the warm weather.” Students also spent time on the trip reviewing footage, discussing the stories that
they were each telling and making sure that each person got the interviews they needed, Gaulke said. The trip changed many students’ perspectives, not just about Vietnam but about their own lives. “I realized that many, many people in Vietnam work so much harder than we do,” McCaffery said. “Being a Harvard-Westlake student is nothing compared to being a rice patty farmer in the blazing hot sun in the heart of dry season. Everyone in Vietnam, whether a farmer or street vendor, works for every piece of change they can get.”
Musicians to perform in Pasadena By Kitty Luo
PAVAN TAUH/CHRONICLE
PAVAN TAUH/CHRONICLE
SCENES FROM CHAILLOT: Jared Gentile ’16 (left in tan) demands that Natalie Musicant ’17 (left) allow Ari Yaron ’18 (left in stripes) to leave the cafe that Musicant owns. Lily Beckinsale-Sheen ’17 (right), playing the role of the hobo, laments the state of the world.
Actors present winter play ‘The Madwoman of Chaillot’ By Katie Plotkin Twenty-four actors performed in the winter play, “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” Feb. 5, 6 and 7. The show focuses on the story of Madame Aurelia, played by Natalie Musicant ’17, who attempts to work with her friends to rid the world of evil. “The whole cast clicked on
opening night,” said Talia Lefkowitz ’17, who played Mademoiselle Constance. “We were so ready for an audience, and we were all playing off of each other so well. It felt so good to finally have someone see the play.” The play was adapted by performing arts department chair and director Rees Pugh, and it was originally written in 1943 by Jean Giraudoux, a
French dramatist. It was performed in 1945 for the first time. “I wanted to choose [a play that was] unusual and abstract and call upon myself and the cast to think and work outside of our artistic comfort zones,” Pugh said. The cast of this play was about half the size of the 49-member cast of the fall musical, “West Side Story.”
“It’s more of an ensemble show,” stage manager Jona Yadidi ’16 said. “Everyone is dependent on each other and can’t tell the story without one another. One can’t exist without the other.” Auditions for the play started Nov. 10 right after the fall musical had finished. “It’s been long and hard, but it’s been worth it,” Yadidi said.
Chamber Singers will perform at the upcoming American Choral Directors Association Western Division Conference in Pasadena Feb. 26-27. The conference will include exhibits, concerts and educational clinics at the First United Methodist Church. The association selected the Chamber Singers as one of five high school choirs nationally. The ensemble spent three years recording and rehearsing in order to qualify for the chance to perform. “I’m really excited to be able to sing at the highest level for a high school choir,” singer Michael Gavin ’18 said. “The idea is very cool that I will sing with Chamber Singers in front of over a thousand choral directors from across the nation.” The ACDA is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to advance music education as well as choral music. ACDA offers seven division conferences every even-numbered year during February and March at the state, division and national levels.
C8 FEATURES
THE CHRONICLE
FEB. 10, 2016
Family, Food and Tradition
BY SACHA LIN
When it comes time for the adults to give the children ike millions of others hong bao, Zhao makes sure to across the country, Anna receive the red envelopes with Gong ’18 and her family money inside politely with had the television on for hours two hands. Her father used to last weekend, but Chinese op- make her bow and show her era performers, lion dancers gratitude to her elders before and dragon dancers in color- being handed the hong bao, ful costumes filled the screen but not anymore. “We just got too old,” Zhao instead of men in football gear said. and sports commentators. At midnight, there are Every year, festivities in China are broadcast on the joyful exclamations and the eve of Chinese New Year. Also sounds of glasses clinking. When Zhao was youngknown as the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year is one of er, her parents would take the most important Chinese her out, going from temple to festivals of the year, marking temple to pray to the different the new year in the tradition- Buddhist gods and light incense. al Chinese calendar. “Of course I was The new year always too young, so I did falls between Jan. 21 not really know what and Feb. 20 on the it meant,” Zhao said. day of the new moon. “I just did the moThis year, the new tions.” moon was Monday. Zhao said she Keeping the telewould always eat vision open to the stinky tofu with her Chinese channels is ’ family and look for only one of many trathe free packaged red Sara ditions that Gong and candies somewhere Zhao ’16 other students have. around the temple For those who celebrate, Chinese New Year is a with her brother. “And then there was a gong time to honor and gather with family and welcome a prosper- that we hit sometimes,” she said. ous year to come. At her house, her famiAt the house of a family friend, Sara Zhao ’16 plays ly puts a cutout of the upgames with friends while the side-down Chinese character youngest of the children run fu on the front door and hangs around, the mothers gossip a lantern over the light as decand the fathers drink, becom- oration. “[My parents] told me that ing more and more disoriented fu is supposed to mean fortune as time passes. “All the lights in the house for your family,” Zhao said. The same upside-down are on,” Zhao said. “If the house has a surround sound Chinese character in red is on system, then usually Chinese the door at the Gong household next to fake firecrackers music will be blaring.” Zhao always celebrates put up by Gong’s grandparChinese New Year at a party ents. “The myth goes that there with family and friends, some years as a host and other years was a monster that was terrorizing villagers, and the color as a guest. “The party usually starts red scared him off, and also at six, and beforehand all the the sound of firecrackers,” moms come in around four to Gong said. When Gong attended third make dumplings and prepare the food,” Zhao said. “Some- grade at a British-Chinese times if my mom is in a good school in Shanghai, she set off mood, she puts coins, like firecrackers from midnight unpennies or dimes, in some of til two in the morning. “That was my most tradithe dumplings. Some people bring Chinese food from tional, ethnic Chinese experience of new year,” Gong said. restaurants.”
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NATHANSON S
“It sounded like shootouts ev- ingots and puts it all in a red metal basket. All the money is erywhere.” Festivities for the New Year burned while the whole famiin China go on for a week, ly watches. When the fire dies out, his grandmother begins to Gong said. “Everyone goes on break,” speak. “Now all of our ancestors Gong said. “For migrant workers, we learned, it was the only in heaven will have money to time of year they had to go spend and be prosperous for back to their families, so it was the next year,” she says in Cantonese. a really big deal.” For Elizabeth Rao ’16, These days, Gong celebrates Chinese New Year with Chinese New Year means a a family meal and Skype ses- lot of eating. The entire night sion with her relatives in Chi- or day before the New Year is spent making dumplings filled na. “Everyone gathers, and we with pork and Chinese leek or talk about what we’ve done fennel. Only a fraction of the over the past year,” Gong said. dumplings are eaten the eve of the new moon, “It is really however, and meaningful none are usualsince it is a kind of conEvery generation ly eaten the next day. nection to before me has lived “On the actuwhere I am solely in China, so I al night of Chifrom. Every generation really enjoy connecting nese New Year, we are obligatbefore me has back to my parents’ ed to eat fish, lived solely in China, so country whenever I can.” chicken, pork, and beef, which I really en—Anna Gong ’18 are the four big joy connectmeats,” Rao ing back to said. “We are my parent’s also supposed to eat nian gao, country whenever I can.” For the meal, her father sticky rice cakes.” When her family eats the and grandparents prepare an assortment of Chinese food fish, they always make sure like stir-fried vegetables, tofu to leave some left over, so they strips with pickled vegetables never eat the tail or the head. “We can use it to make and fried chicken wings. They are not foods traditionally eat- porridge or some sort of soup en on Chinese New Year, but the next day,” Rao said. “It is symbolic, so we always have to family favorites. “It is not too special, but make sure that on New Year’s it feels good when everyone Day, we have this huge forin the family is there and you tune, eat all this food and still have your favorite foods in have leftover food or fortune.” The fish is always steamed. front of you,” Gong said. Before the New Year, Gong The pork is usually braised and her family clean the pork belly. The chicken dish house, which makes up anoth- is sometimes a curry or noodle soup, and the beef changes er of their traditions. “We clean out the house every year. For Grace Pan ’16, who before the New Year so that we welcome the good spirits and spends Chinese New Year eatsweep out the bad ones,” Gong ing dinner with her family and said. “It’s mostly just sweeping calling relatives in China, it and vacuuming and mopping.” is a time for her to remember William Chow ’17 celebrat- where she came from. “For my family anyways, it ed Chinese New Year a week early this year and paid re- is the only kind of hallmark of spects to his ancestors with Chinese culture, so it is nice to have that,” Pan said. “I like prayer and incense. Most years, his grand- that it is a kind of cultural remother takes out a tray of membrance.” ghost money and fake gold
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FEATURES The Chronicle • Feb. 10, 2016
Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards For students who celebrate, Chinese New Year is a time to honor and gather with family and welcome a prosperous year to come. • See page C8
C2 Features
The Chronicle
Feb. 10, 2016
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN LIN
Well-Wishers of the Web By Eshanika Chaudhary and Sophie Cohen
The account has 415 friends and has been up and running for the past two When Dharan Kumar ’16 months. It is the successor to was lying in his hospital bed the previous account of the the day after open heart sur- same name, which had 647 gery, the last thing he expect- friends but has been inactive ed to see was an anonymous since February of 2015. Although social media has compliment on his Facebook wall wishing him a speedy re- received negative attention for being a platcovery. form for bully“I was very ing, the recent surprised,” KuI have had a lot rise of anonmar said. “It was of people, one person in ymous stuliterally the day after open heart particular, thank me for dent-led Facebook accounts surgery, and I having posted what I such as HW was in a lot of Compliments posted on depression.” pain. I saw the and informal post and saw —Lily Beckinsdale- course and that I had a lot of Sheen ’17 g r a d e - l e v support. It actuel Facebook ally made me feel groups has a lot better because I was in an awful mood allowed students to use social at the time. I really liked it, media in a more positive and and I’m very thankful to who- encouraging manner. And although fake Instaever wrote it.” grams, commonly known as While he still doesn’t know who wrote the compliment, it “finstas,” have been and conwas posted to his wall courte- tinue to be seen as a “safe” sy of the anonymous HW Com- space to make fun of people pliments Facebook account. due to the selective and priThe account is run by a Har- vate nature of the accounts, vard-Westlake student who they also serve as a therapeuacts as a “middleman” by de- tic outlet for students to talk livering compliments to other about experiences and emotions that they would otherstudents via the account. Students submit com- wise keep bottled up inside. While finstas began as pliments anonymously to a friend of their choice through a light-hearted and were origGoogle form, which thanks the inally intended for sharing submitter upon pressing sub- memes with friends, they latmit with a message that reads er evolved into a social me“thanks for taking some time dia platform where teens feel out of your day to brighten up comfortable enough to share their experiences with depressomeone else’s!”
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Through anonymous Facebook accounts, private fake Instagrams and class Facebook groups, some students use social media to convey positive messages.
sion, anxiety, eating disorders, stress, suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues. “A lot of the media focuses on cyberbullying and the negative aspects of social media, but I don’t think there is enough focus on the community that social media creates,” said Michelle Carlson, the executive director of TeenLine, a confidential crisis hotline for teens. “Many people might not be really social in school or in their lives, yet they have that sort of support through social media that they would not have otherwise.” Carlson also added that it is important for teens to be open with personal issues that they are bottling up inside and that it is often easier for teens to share personal experiences online. This is because of the sense of anonymity that comes with being behind a screen. Many finsta owners agree with Carlson. “To be honest, [my finsta] is a very good source of therapy because even if no one really reads the post or cares about it, it’s just good to get [everything] out and complain, which is very needed,” Carolyn Hong ’17 said. In addition to sharing their experiences with old friends, people also develop new and genuine friendships over common experiences discovered by following each others’ finstas. Due to the tight-knit nature of the accounts, students said it is easier to bond with other finsta owners because
they can relate to each other a community because it’s a on a more personal level, hav- place where you can commuing seen one another at their nicate with them outside of the best and worst times. classroom.” “I have had a lot of peoCarlson said that while ple, one person in particular, social media is vulnerable to thank me for having posted misuse, such as being a tool what I posted about depres- for cyber-bullying, it can help sion [on my finsta],” Lily Beck- build a stronger community if insale-Sheen ’17 said. “The users keep in mind that there finsta community has grown are real people just like them a lot. I didn’t even know there on the other side of the screen. was a finsta communi“I think social ty when I started, and media is a really now I have met some positive way of comof my favorite people municating with on finsta, so it is nice people you might to know that there are not connect with on more people that I can a daily basis, and feel comfortable with at it’s good for spreadschool.” ing a message to a Class and grade-levbig audience like the ’ el Facebook groups are Black Lives Matter Courtney another way for stumovement,” CourtNunley ’17 dents to bond outside ney Nunley ’17 said. the classroom. “I definitely think it Grade groups are common- can be used negatively, but it’s ly used for alerting students not negative in its nature.” about upcoming events and In an age of filtered reality opportunities at school. where photos are often heavily Pages for specific classes edited and captions are creatare mostly used for sharing ed only with the help of many, study guides, homework help finstas and anonymous Faceand asking for clarification on book accounts provide somenightly assignments. thing different and real. “I believe that if I benefit That was the case for Jilfrom [a study guide, e-mail lian Sanders ’17, who recently from a teacher or homework received an anonymous comexplanation], then others pliment about her personality should have the opportunity describing her as “sweet.” to do the same because I know “I think that it was realthat my classmates would do ly nice, especially because the same for me,” Sophie Tip- whoever submitted the compl ’17 said. “Class groups on pliment didn’t have to, like it social media definitely make wasn’t necessary. it was someyour class more than just a thing that they just wanted to group of students, but rather do,” Jillian Sanders ’17 said. nathanson s
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/features
Features C3
! PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ESHANIKA CHAUDHARY
Racing from Responsibility By Jean Sanders When Naomi Barlava ’17 walked out of her eighth period class to her usual parking spot in the junior lot, she found a large crack in her rear bumper. “I knew I hadn’t gotten in a car accident,” Barlava said. “The only explanation was that someone had hit my car in the parking lot without telling me.” Since no one took responsibility for the accident, Barlava was forced to pay for the damage with her parents’ insurance, causing their monthly deductibles to increase significantly. Barlava is not the only student to be affected by an accident in the lot. In a Chronicle poll of 429 students Feb. 6, 15 percent of students said that they had been hit by a car in the school lot, and of that number 75 percent of them had to pay for the damage themselves because they didn’t know who did it. Furthermore, 71 percent of students believe that the school should take further security measures to find the culprits of accidents. The school’s current system for investigating accidents that take place in the lot involves treating the accident as if it occurred outside of school.
However, students are encouraged to report accidents if they are caused by another student. “Our lot is small, and the spots are difficult at times to navigate,” Head of Security Jim Crawford said. “Students who acknowledged their inexperience to me at the beginning of the year, I tried to accommodate in more easily accessible spots. The parking situation will change in the future, and in the meantime I would suggest that inexperienced drivers should practice [parking] outside of school.” Crawford also said that the school is considering adding security cameras because people not affiliated with the school use the parking lot and could be responsible for some accidents. Some think the school should take immediate action to ensure that those who cause damage to cars are caught and held financially responsible. “I know that the school isn’t held responsible for anything that happens in the parking lot, but I do think there should be security cameras or something so that people are held more responsible for their actions when driving,” Barlava said. Other students believe that as long as others are honest
Accidents in the school parking lot are not uncommon, but the party responsible often fails to come forward, leaving students to pay for the damage themselves. and come forward for any accidents they cause, the school doesn’t need to take any more steps to investigate accidents. When another student hit her car, Alivia Platt ’16 was immediately informed via e-mail by the person responsible, who is paying for the damage. “I was hit once before, and the school’s current system of checking the cars around mine for damage that indicated that they had hit me worked, and the person who hit me was held responsible,” Platt said. “I think that if the school trusts students to come forward for accidents they cause, students will step up and be honorable. In life, you’re not always going to get caught for the bad things you do, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take responsibility for them. This is just practice for the real world.” Currently, the school assumes that students will admit fault in an accident. “If an accident does occur and the owner can not be found, students should leave a note with what occurred and contact information or contact a security guard and give their information and space number to them,” Crawford said. Others think that it’s simply not in the nature of a high school student to come forward in admitting something
they’ve done wrong, especially when they know there could be financial consequences. “I don’t think that there’s any motivation other than common decency for a person to come forward if they’re responsible for hitting a parked car,” Lauren Genender ’17 said. “Students are afraid of the possible consequences from both their parents and school and may just want to drive away and try to forget it happened.” Platt and Barlava are not the only students to be affected by accidents in the school parking lot. Many of the accidents caused in the lot are due to the lack of space for parking and maneuvering, which the school is planning to solve with additional parking in the parking structure it hopes to build. “I think that the person who did this to my car is disrespectful in not taking responsibility for their actions, especially since they had to have noticed that they hit my car,” Barlava said. “Although it may be embarrassing or hard to come forward and admit that they hit me, it’s the right thing to do to leave a note and pay for an accident they caused. How would they feel if someone did this to them?”
THE CHRONICLE
C4 FEATURES
FEB. 1
Still on the
Spectrum Although asexuality is included by the LGBTQ+ organization, many asexual students feel that the community, including members of LGBTQ+, do not regard asexuality as a legitimate sexual preference.
BY SU JIN NAM
be asexual, aromantic, neither or both asexual and aromanAmber* ’16 has always felt tic, according to the website. Amber identifies as a biroas though she was missing out on the “normal sexual discov- mantic asexual, meaning that eries” that her friends talked she is not attracted to any about in their conversations. gender sexually but is romanWhenever her friends fawned tically attracted to males and over a “hot new celebrity,” she females. She said that although her pretended to do so as well but never felt the kind of attraction sexual orientation has not prevented her from getting into that her friends described. It was only after she saw relationships, it is frequently an article on asexuality last the cause of her getting out of year that she felt she had a them. “I was dating a guy for way to perfecta couple of ly describe the months belack of sexual I told him attraction she I’ve never had fore I identified as felt toward peothe courage to tell a biromantic ple of all genders. even my best friends asexual,” Amsaid. “At Planned at Harvard-Westlake ber first he seemed Parenthood deto be acceptof my sexual fines asexualing, but after ity as “having orientation.” a few months no desire for sex with a part—Claret* ’17 passed and our relationship ner.” progressed to However, identifying as asexual does the point where we would have not preclude a person from been ready to have sex, he befrequently masturbating and came very aloof and difficult to having sex with their romantic talk to. He stopped talking to me one day, and a week after partners. In addition, their sexual that we broke up.” Amber suspects that the orientation is often separate from their romantic orienta- reason for his sudden detachment was because he found tion. According to the Universi- it difficult to be with someone ty of North Carolina student who was not sexually attracted affairs website, “sexual identi- to him. “Other than the lack of ties and romantic orientations sexual attraction on my part, are not linked.” Therefore a person could I think our relationship was
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fine,” Amber said. “People are very dependent on the feeling of being needed, so I think that he couldn’t handle the idea that I was not sexually attracted to him. I guess having an asexual partner was a blow to his self-esteem.” Ceil* ’17, who identifies as asexual, feels as though there is a lack of acceptance on campus of asexuality as a legitimate sexual orientation. He has encountered many instances in which the people he chooses to tell think that he is joking or that such a sexuality is impossible. “I’ve received so much doubt from others as to the validity of my sexual orientation,” Ceil said. “While other sexualities are readily accepted by the students and teachers here, asexuality seems to be the exception.” Ceil has received incredulous comments from most of the people he has told. “It’s funny because they actually try to tell me that I’m wrong about my sexuality,” Ceil said. “One person told me, ‘It’s probably just because you haven’t found the right person yet.’ This person is known among our friends for being very accepting and understanding, so I felt comfortable telling him. I was very disappointed and hurt by his response.” Because of the comments he receives, Ceil said that he has begun to severely limit
how open he is about his sexuality. “At first, I was okay with telling people about my sexuality, or lack of one,” Ceil said. “But when I started to be more open about it, more people started to tell me that it was impossible to not be sexually attracted to someone. It’s disheartening, especially because some of the people that reject me are part of the LGBTQ community themselves. I know that the community at large is beginning to recognize asexuality as a legitimate sexuality, but I don’t feel like that attempt at understanding has influenced our school community yet.” Tamar Springer, a Los Angeles based psychotherapist, believes that asexuality is under recognized in general. This causes asexual high school students to be reluctant in revealing their sexuality. “It is likely that high school students have not ever heard the term or become familiar with what this is and how this manifests in asexual individuals,” Springer said. “Asexual high school students may be reluctant to be open about their sexuality in that it is not altogether common, and feeling ‘different’ in any way is a source of stress for high school students. So yes, they are less likely to be open or speak about their orientation.” Some asexual students at Harvard-Westlake have a pos-
itive experience when interacting with their peers. Ruby* ’18, who identifies as a panromantic asexual, meaning that she is not attracted to any gender sexually but is romantically attracted to all sexes, feels safe coming out to her friends. “I feel that at Harvard-Westlake, most of the community would be accepting of the LGBT+ community, since going around on campus, I don’t usually hear too many homophobic or transphobic slurs or discrimination,” Ruby said. “When I do, it’s usually only because the majority of the community isn’t aware that there are, in fact, many LGBT people on campus. So, I feel that asexuality is welcome on campus, but not completely accepted. Personally, I feel comfortable coming out to anyone who asks, but if the subject of my sexuality doesn’t come up, I don’t feel the need to put it out there.” She also feels that the groups on campus to support LGBTQ+ students are safe spaces for students of any sexuality. “We actually have really excellent and welcoming groups at Harvard-Westlake for queer students,” Ruby said. “GSA, for example, has incredibly supportive faculty and students running it, and I think that the goal of creating safe spaces for LGBT+ students on campus has definitely been met.
10, 2015
HWCHRONICLE.COM/FEATURES
FEATURES C5
SOURCE: THE TREVOR PROJECT GRAPHIC BY ALENA RUBIN AND CATY SZETO
ILLUSTRATION BY ANNA GONG
Whenever she shows up to category.” She understands that bea club for queer students, she always feels ten times more ing open about one’s sexuality comfortable being herself than is difficult. “Coming out as anything usual, Ruby said. She can actually feel that being asexual is other than the norm while in completely normal, Ruby said. high school is always going Sue W. Goldstein is a to be hard because of peer American Association of Sex- pressure,” Goldstein said. “As uality Educators, Counselors each generation becomes more and Therapists certified sexu- aware and more educated around different sexual orienality educator. Goldstein believes that it tations and sexual identities, I is only natural for high school think there will be less stigma students to be skeptical about about being ‘different,’ which is how anyasexuality as a thing othsexual orientaer than tion, and she straight and asserts that it While other sex- sexual is should be acso often cepted as legitualities are readily ac- still perceived. imate. cepted by the students No matter “I don’t think asexualiand teachers here, what sexuorientaty has been acasexuality seems to be al tion or lack cepted as a lethe exception.” thereof, you gitimate sexual are who you orientation by —Ceil* ’17 are, you are most adults, what you let alone high make of school stuyourself, you are what you do, dents,” Goldstein said. “If someone has no feel- you are your values and your ings of sexuality and they friends and your accomplishwere fine like that, then they ments, and none of that should are asexual and that is fine,” change no matter whether you Goldstein said. “Is it a sexual are sexually attracted to girls orientation? As each individ- or boys or both or neither.” Goldstein believes that ual has a right to their own self expression, self image, self there is no significant differbeing, whatever you want to ence in accepting asexuality call it, then in essence a lack as a sexuality versus acceptof a specific sexual orientation ing homosexuality as a sexumust be considered a sexual ality. “When my son came out as orientation for lack of a better
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gay, someone asked my how I felt about him,” Goldstein said. “I said he was the same boy after he told me as before, so why would my feelings about him change? It should be the same for someone who is asexual—they are the same person no matter what.” Claret* ’18 agrees with Cecil in that while she believes the Harvard-Westlake community is accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, asexual students are an exception. “I’ve never had the courage to tell even my best friends at Harvard-Westlake of my sexual orientation,” Claret said. “When I ‘tested the waters’ and made a comment about asexuality to my friends, they seemed to completely dismiss the topic altogether. It makes me sad, especially because part of the reason I chose to come to Harvard-Westlake was because of its acceptance of the LGBTQ community. But I try to find happiness in seeing others who are part of the community being accepted for who they are.” Claret says that she was discriminated against at her old school for being asexual. which is part of the reason she hasn’t to come out to her friends. “At my previous school, I was badly bullied for coming out as asexual,” Claret said. “Both girls and boys would throw condoms at me during the lunch break or make kiss-
“We’ve had discussions ing faces at me. One time, I opened my backpack, only to this year in Project 10 and find that someone had poured GSA about asexuality, atlube all over my books. Every- tempting to raise awareness in one was scared to be friends general and talking to asexual with me because they were students about how to make scared that they would receive them feel more comfortable,” the same treatment just for Coral said. “Recently, we’ve associating with me. I don’t actually also been planning a blame them. If I were them, GSA meeting focused on asexI wouldn’t have wanted to be ual and aromantic students about the lack of awareness friends with me either.” Garnet* ’16, who identi- on campus, as there are a lot fies as heterosexual, said he of misconceptions even within the LGBTQ+ feels guilty community.” for someG o l d thing he said stein urges to an asexual friend at his I still feel terri- students to all old school. ble about one instance accept sexualities, “It was before I realized where I laughed in the and she enstuhow sexuality face of a friend who had courages dents to be really is on a the courage to tell me aware of their spectrum,” words. StuGarnet said. that he was asexual.” dents can be “But I still feel terrible —Garnet* ’16 hurtful without realizing about one into the other stance where person. I laughed in “We hurt the face of a friend who had the courage to others so easily with words tell me that he was asexual. we say without thinking,” I joked about how not feeling Goldstein said. “It shouldn’t sexually attracted to someone matter what sexual orientawas impossible. I even went tion anyone is except within a as far as to say that he just couple who are dating, so lets respect all people and allow needed to date more.” Coral* ’16, who is a stu- them the opportunity to live dent leader of the Gay Straight their lives as they are. “Sexual Alliance club, said that the orientation is not a choice but club is making efforts to in- a biologic predetermination.” crease the acceptance of asex*Names have been changed. ual students.
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C6 FEATURES
THE CHRONICLE
FEB. 10,, 2016
Under Pressure
An increased rate of sexual activity among teens comes with a variety of other issues. Some students feel pressure from media and peers to have sex before they are ready, while others say they have experienced a double standard regarding sexual activity for guys and girls.
BY LIZ YOUNT
Graham said he believes people talk openly about sex, and The lights in the movie the- that contributes to a pressure ater dimmed as Jack Graham to have sex. He also said high ’16 sat with an empty seat school students feel pressured beside him, waiting for a girl to have sex because there is a he met on Tinder to arrive for “common misconception that their date. The girl rushed in sex is the ultimate experihalfway through the movie and ence of life,” which excessively glamorizes the experience. sat down next to Graham. Katie Speare ’16 agrees and After sitting in tense silence for the final duration of the said the sexualization of womfilm, the pair wandered back en in media pushes sex to the to the parking lot, forced some forefront of every teenager’s small talk and drove nervously mind. Although she autonomously decided to have sex for to a secluded location. “The idea was just to get to the first time with her longknow her,” Graham, 19, said. term boyfriend, Speare said she has friends who were pres“Then she ransured into sex. domly asked if In the past, I had condoms. men have called The difference I didn’t have her a prude, any, so I drove is for men, you’re lesbian and ugly to CVS as fast ostracized if you don’t to her face and as I could, and I to their friends have enough sex, and bought the first package that women are ostracized if after she rejected their offers I saw. It was they have too much.” for sex. This a spur of the moment deci—Haden Modisett ’16 kind of criticism pressures sion. I wasn’t women to have expecting it to sex to avoid being mocked, she happen.” A few days later, Graham said. Her parents were initially texted the girl, asking to see her again. She told him to cautious when Speare, 17, told come over because she was them about her experiences, but she said they reached an home alone. “We were in her bed when understanding after speaking her aunt came home,” Graham openly about the topic. “My parents understand said. “The girl panicked and threw my shoes and pants at that I’m safe, aware and not me and told me to climb out being taken advantage of,” her window, so that’s what I Speare said. “I really appredid. I ended up leaving out this ciate how they respect my girl’s window, and I never talk- choices and what I do with my body.” ed to her again.” Taylor Ingman ’16 said she Sixty-one percent of minors will have sexual intercourse by believes pressure to have sex the time they are 18 years old, exists at Harvard-Westlake, according to the 2014 Gut- but she did not feel coerced tmacher Institute fact sheet into her first experience with on sexual health. Although 63 her previous boyfriend. “It was definitely very stepercent of teenagers said they would prefer to wait before hav- reotypical in the sense that it ing sex, 49.3 percent of high brought us closer together, but school seniors have had sex, only because it was something and one in three males also that neither of us had experireported feeling pressured. enced before,” Ingman, 18, said.
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Ingman said she has personally experienced slut shaming, the act of negatively judging a woman for promiscuous or sexually provocative behavior or for having multiple sexual partners. Over the summer, she was on a date with a boy from outside of school when she ran into a group of boys from her grade, one with whom she’d had previous sexual relations. She said the group of boys followed her and her date, mocking them loudly and shining a phone flashlight on them as they got into her car. “As we were walking away, the guy I used to see yelled after my date, ‘Don’t forget she domed me first,’ ” Ingman said, using a slang term for oral sex. Often times, females are expected to fill a more conservative role in society, which adds more pressure to decide when to have sex for the first time, she said. “In media, guys talk about becoming a man when they first have sex, so it’s stuff like that that makes guys feel like they need to have sex to prove their masculinity,” Ingman said. She also said her life did not change after her first experience. “[My first time] was something that I speculated about for several months beforehand,” Ingman said. “After it happened I thought, ‘ This is ridiculous. I’m still myself.’ ” Haden Modisett ’16 said men face unique negative repercussions when they don’t have sex because the media creates a “hook-up culture” through dating apps such as Tinder, which contributes to a widespread pressure. “There’s a weird dichotomy for men, since there’s a lot of pressure to have sex at an early age,” Modisett, who has not had sex, said. “The difference is for men, you’re ostracized
if you don’t have enough sex, from jealously, not malice. and women are ostracized if “I’ve been let down by my they have too much.” [romantic] encounters several School psychologist Luba times,” Stovitz said, who has Bek said more students are not had sex. “I’ve had some having sex now than when she successes, and I’ve had some joined Harvard-Westlake in not-so-successes.” 1991. Although Stovitz doesn’t She said the “social clock believe slut shaming affects theory” determines when cer- Harvard-Westlake to a contain milestones occur in peo- cerning degree, both Genny ple’s lives, and all aspects of Thomas ’16 and Kent Sheridan the social clock are now ticking ’17 have personally experifaster. enced a double standard in the “How fast a girl develops community. physiologically is enhanced by “I’ve refused to keep being media,” Bek said. “Girls are friends with people who have starting to menstruate earli- pressured other people into er. The pressure is both from sex,” Sheridan said. “If a man within and external.” has a lot of sex, people conShe said some sider him a player. If people feel obligata girl has the same ed to have sex with history, they call her someone else if they a slut or a whore.” know the person likes Thomas said men them, or they won’t are at no risk of pregfeel like they have nancy and will always reached a high school have more power in milestone. sexual situations be“In 2004, somecause they can es’ body made an apcape the consequencLuba Bek pointment for coues more easily. ples counseling, “I don’t think and I thought it was a joke,” boys understand that they’re Bek said. “They were juniors, scary,” Thomas said. “They they’d been together for a have a power they could powhile, and they were discuss- tentially inflict on someone. I ing [sex] here. Nobody comes don’t think I could hurt a guy to any counselor to ask about the way a guy could hurt me.” those things now.” While Sheridan, 17, and She said humans are bio- Thomas, 18, acknowledge the psychosocial human beings, pressures and double stanmeaning people make deci- dards surrounding sex, they sions in the context of social both said feeling comfortable surroundings, not strictly bio- around someone who cares inmedical aspects of life. dicates if one is ready to have “Some girls think that a sex. guy with whom they’ve had sex Before attempting anywill never tell people about it,” thing, they said, both parties Bek said. “They’re wrong be- should assure that the other cause every single guys tells, feels safe, as that will make the and they talk about it.” experience better overall. Despite increasing rates of “People shouldn’t be presteen sexual activity, Jack Sto- sured to rush their first time,” vitz ’16 said he does not believe Sheridan said. “I feel like there there exists a pressure to have is something special about sex, but sex is something peo- that first time, and that’s ple brag about. He also believes something cool that I’m glad I slut shaming stems primarily didn’t miss out on.” NATHANSON S
FEB. 10, 2016
HWCHRONICLE.COM/FEATURES
Adderall or Nothing BY SHARON CHOW
they’re on the go. They start one task and their mind wanFacing the pressure of ders off, and they sometimes schoolwork and outside ob- don’t finish what they start.” “Before I took Adderall, I ligations, Mary* ’17 turns to medication such at Ritalin, think I had the most trouble in Vyvanse and Adderall to keep math just because I couldn’t her focused and awake. She concentrate for the whole pestarted taking them regularly riod, so my mind would start this year when her schoolwork wandering around, and when and extracurricular activities I snapped out of that I’d have increased, claiming that it was no idea what the teacher was not possible to complete hours talking about,” Beth* ’16 said. of work without “some sort of “I’d just keep falling behind because math’s the kind of class outside aid.” “[I] do good work,” Mary where you constantly need to said. “I remember one night I be following because the conhad this really big math test cepts build on each other.” However, with the use of the next day among a couple of other things, and I don’t even medication, Beth saw a significant change remember in her foexactly evcus and her erything I did To take someone in terms of else’s prescribed medication schoolwork. “After I studying for because you think you’re got my prethat, but I got scription, close to 100 going to get a better grade I just feel percent on compromises the whole like I’m a the math test. learning process.” lot more I don’t really alert, like know why. It —Kavita Ajmere I can powjust kind of Psychologist er through happened.” class and According to Partnership for Drug-Free homework assignments withKids, high school students out breaking my concentrahave been using these stimu- tion,” Beth said. Some of the effects of Adlant medications illegally more frequently in recent years. derall and similar drugs, such However, these drugs, with a as the increased concentraprescription, are only meant tion, make them appealing to to be used to lessen the effects high school and college stuADHD, or attention deficit hy- dents who do not have preperactivity disorder, and nar- scriptions for attention disorders. colepsy. According to Partnership “[ADHD is diagnosed as] the lack of attention or lack of for Drug-Free Kids, the abuse focus from people who cannot of Adderall has increased from focus for more than 15 min- 5.4 percent among 12th gradutes or so,” said Dr. Stephanie ers in 2009 to 7.4 percent in Iem of Palomar Health Down- 2013. “I think students feel like town in Escondido. “[People with ADHD] always feel like sometimes [taking Adderall
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FEATURES C7
Some students take stimulant drugs such as Adderall to keep focused even though they are not medically diagnosed with an attention disorder.
is] a quick fix or that it’s going to help them study,” psychologist Kavita Ajmere said. “I think students do it for a variety of reasons. One might be because they think they are going to be able to concentrate better. [Another] might be because they will actually be able to stay up longer.” John* ’16 does not have ADHD, but takes his brother’s Adderall when he needs to finish a big project or has a test the next day. “When I was studying for an astronomy class last year, I took one, and I ended up spending four hours of stuff that wasn’t even going to be on the test,” John said. “I mean, I did very well on the test, but I spent an absurd amount of time on it.” Mary has had similar experiences when on Adderall and other stimulants. At times they stayed up for days to do work. “There’s this aspect of tunnel vision that comes with taking these types of medications,” Mary said. “It’s really helpful because it improves my memory, so if I have to memorize a bunch of stuff for a test the next day, I’ll take one.” Adderall is listed as a Control Substances Act Schedule II, which implies that it has a “high potential for abuse” and that it can lead to “severe psychological or physical dependence.” Other highly addictive substances such as cocaine, morphine, phencyclidine (PCP) and opium are classified within the same category. However, in a study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, when collegestudents were asked whether
their use of Adderall posed a Young said that the unfair health risk, only two percent advantage also comes from the thought their use was “very fact that in order to obtain Addangerous” versus the 81 per- derall, a student must be in cent who believed Adderall good financial standing to purwas “not dangerous at all” or chase the drug. only “slightly dangerous.” In addition they must be Despite this confidence, willing to commit a “quasi-illeAdderall is accompanied by se- gal” act. vere side effects if taken withHowever, Young believes out a prescription, such as that the repercussions of usloss of appetite, mood chang- ing Adderall illegally has a es, insomnia, increased heart “snowball” effect. rate and weight loss, accord“I would say that [being in ing to the same study. a high-pressure institution] is John and Mary attest not a legitimate excuse or reathat their focus is not always son [to take Adderall] because geared towards schoolwork the fact is, it just snowballs.” when on Adderall. Young said. “So then you end “Sometimes when you’re up in a college that’s too much trying to get something done, of a stretch for you, and then but then you go on the Inter- it just builds. It snowballs. All net, you’re going to be of a sudden, now really focused on the you’re in a college Internet,” Mary said. that you were only “You can’t stop going in because of the on everything on the Adderall, so you’ve Internet.” got to keep taking “One time I decidit, and then what’s ed I wanted to run, the next step? It’s a so I ran five miles,” slippery slope. [It’s ’ James Young John said. “Then for true to] say that kids some weird reason, I in a high-pressured realized that I had to institution are more do work. I just want to do one tempted to use something like thing as much as I can.” that, but it doesn’t mean that Not only does Adderall have it’s a good temptation.” negative side effects, but it can Ajmere agrees with Young. be seen as an honor code vio“My question really to the lation at school. student is, how do you define “A great analogy, I think, better?”Ajmere said. “What is would be a kid that’s getting better? Does getting A’s—is over-tutored or a kid that has that better, and at what cost enough cash on hand to real- does it come to? To take somely just get ridiculous hours of one else’s prescribed medicaexpensive, awesome tutoring, tion because you think you’re and that put them at an ad- going to get a better grade vantage,” Father James Young compromises the whole learnsaid. “So in this weird kind of ing process because they are world that we live in, I would focused on the outcome and say that, in a very technical not the process.” kind of way, I do think it is an unfair advantage.” *Names have been changed NATHANSON S
Focusing in The Chronicle polled 412 students on Feb. 6 to find out their experiences with stimulant drugs. 8.2 percent take Adderall as medication for ADHD or narcolepsy
9 percent have taken unprescribed Adderall to help them study
41.5 percent think that taking unprescribed Adderall as a study aid is a form of cheating PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JEAN SANDERS
Sports The Chronicle • Feb. 10, 2016
Boys’ Basketball
Boys’ Soccer
Playoffs still in sight for team By Jake Liker
CAMERON STINE/CHRONICLE
UP, UP AND AWAY: Cassius Stanley ’19 dunks the ball during the boys’ basketball team’s game against St. Francis Feb. 2. The Wolverines won 84-53, and their current record is 5-5 in league play. The team’s senior night is tonight, against the Chaminade Eagles.
Squad stretches record to 5-5 in Mission League play By Bennett Gross
After beating St. Francis 8453 on Friday night in front of a packed crowd for “Silent Night,” the Wolverines remain in the thick of the playoff race, currently holding an overall record of 17-7 and a Mission League record of 5-5, which puts them in a tie for third place with two league games remaining. Despite lofty expectations for the Wolverines entering league play, the squad began their Mission League slate with three consecutive losses to Crespi, Notre Dame and Alemany. However, after Head Coach David Rebibo tinkered with the starting lineup and rotation, Harvard-Westlake won four in a row over St. Francis, rival
Loyola, Chaminade and Crespi. What was most impressive about the winning streak was that three of the four games were on the road. “After every single game we are trying to learn from it and make ourselves better,” guard Ali Iken ’17 said. “I think that we are much better right now than we were earlier in the season. We are becoming more consistent and the players trust each other more. We can definitely make a deep playoff run if we keep improving like we have so far this year.” With the consistently high level of play of Cassius Stanley ’19, Wolfgang Novogratz ’16 and Iken, the Wolverines are trying to utilize as many weapons as possible to keep opponents
guessing who will be the primary scorer on any given night. The Wolverines have also been lifted by junior varsity call ups L Simpson ’19 and Jones, who have been spark plugs off the bench as the squad has battled through the rigorous Mission League. Along with Simpson and Jones, Henry Vogel ’16 and Aaron Glazer ’17 have aided the Wolverines off the bench and have continually played important minutes for the team towards the ends of games. For four Mission League games, the team was without starter Carter Begel ’17, who was hospitalized during the Wolverines’ 66-38 victory over St. Francis on Jan. 15 after falling on the back of his head and
losing consciousness. “After coming back from my injury, I wanted to come back and add as much as I could to this team,” Begel said. “We were starting to play as individuals and losing close games that I thought we could have won. I wanted to bring back the sense of calmness that we had during the preseason, and ultimately I wanted to have fun on the court with my teammates.” The Wolverines will close out their Mission League slate when they host Chaminade on Wednesday at 7 p.m. “Senior Night.” In the squad’s final regular season game of the year, Harvard-Westlake will travel to arch rival Loyola Fri. at 7 p.m., before beginning their CIF-SS 4AA playoff run Feb. 17.
It has been a frustrating season of Mission League play for the Wolverines boys’ soccer team. The campaign has been littered with games in which the Wolverines dominated play, but were unable to convert into wins after giving up last-gasp goals. “We need to keep working physically, in terms of keeping our strength up in the last five minutes, playing as if the last five minutes were like the first five minutes,” attacking midfielder Theo Velaise ’17 said. “It comes to a mental problem, when we think the game is over before the last whistle is blown, and that’s what we need to change.” Examples of this include the away match at Notre Dame, when the Knights earned a draw after scoring off of a corner kick in stoppage time. The squad lost 2-1 at home against Alemany despite being up 1-0 at halftime. In the reverse fixture, the Warriors won 1-0 after scoring a late goal. Boys Soccer Program Head Lucas Bongarra accepted full responsibility for the issue. “We’ve spoken about it, we’ve run training sessions. There’s nobody else to blame but me in terms of why the team is not able to close those final minutes,” Bongarra said. “We’ve lost so many points in the last plays and so it’s really hurt us. [We’ve been] a little bit unlucky too, I hate to talk abowut luck and refs and that stuff, those are two things I don’t like to discuss but, it’s really come down to that a lot — the last play, the last cross.” One of the more frustrating moments of the season came at Chaminade, when the Wolverines battled back from down 5-0 en route to a • Continued on page D2
Girls’ Soccer
Girls’ team continue to dominate league By Carina Marx and Emily Rahhal
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
FIRST TOUCH: Courtney Gazmarian ’16 dribbles the ball in a 4-0 victory at home against Alemany High School Jan.15.
The girls’ soccer team continues to dominate the Mission League with two shutout wins against Alemany and Marymount Jan. 15 and Jan. 20 respectively and a 4-1 win against Flintridge Sacred Heart Jan. 22. After three losses and one tie at the National Elite Prep Showcase in Texas, the squad returned to their league season with newfound skills and a new drive for more success, shown by their five-game win streak. “The National Elite Prep Showcase was a really great experience for our team,” forward Anya Andrews ’17 said.
“We went into that showcase having scored very few goals in our preseason and regular season ... I know that our score sheet from Texas doesn’t look like we did well, but each game we played smarter, harder, and frankly, better.” Notable players this season have included Paige Howard ’17, the leading scorer on the team, and Courtney Corrin ’16, who recently committed to USC for track, but will play soccer as well. Lindsay Avant ’17 has also rallied for the team and helped them immensely on the defensive end, making multiple notable saves from inside the goal. Throughout the season, the team has been able to improve their offensive game.
They will continue, though, to focus on work ethic and maintaining a positive attitude in practice and in games. “We struggled to score goals for a while,” head coach Richard Simms said. “We now have 28 [goals] in our last five games, which is incredible. We’ll continue to focus on our attitude and work ethic regardless of the specific topics.” The squad beat their arch rival Chaminade 4-2 on Feb. 3 after tying them on Jan. 13, giving the Eagles their first league loss. “We just had to stay confident and composed,” Katherine Hollis ’19 told Los Angeles Daily News. “It’s always pretty jarring when a team • Continued on page D7
D2 SPORTS
Game to watch
THE CHRONICLE
FEB. 10, 2016
Boys' Soccer
FEBRUARY 13
Girls' soccer vs. Westlake High School Westlake High School In their last regular season game, the Wolverines hope to end their season on a high note and gain momentum heading into the playoffs. Currently on a hot streak, they have scored 32 goals while allowing only three over their last five games. Led by star forward Paige Howard ’17, the Wolverines hope their offense will propel them to a victory.
KEY PLAYER Courtney Gazmarrian '16 As one of the team’s leading scorers, the Ohio State-bound Gazmarian hopes to finish her season strong. As one of the offensive players on the team this year, she has not only been dominant on the field but also has served as a mentor to her younger teammates.
& Figures Facts
Number of goals scored per game by boys' soccer in Mission League
8.6 Girls’ soccer national rankings
10
2.2
Goals scored per game by girls' water polo this season
ELLY CHOI/CHRONICLE
ELLY CHOI/CHRONICLE
UP IN THE AIR: Max Rolnick '16 (left) watches as Ethan Blaser '17 jumps to head the ball against a St. Francis defender. Theo Velaise '17 (right) attempts to win a contested ball against an oncoming defender in a 3-1 home fixture victory Feb. 6.
Playoff dreams still alive for Wolverines • Continued from page D1
6-5 loss, served with a side of controversy —the
Wolverines believe they scored six goals, one of which the referee did not see because the ball caromed off of one of the goal’s tires and out of the net. “The Chaminade game was really stressful because we didn’t play well,” Bongarra said. “We got scored on back to back to back within 20 minutes. It was a good message from the players to us that they were not just going to quit. The ball went in, it hit the tire, we have video of it, the referee didn’t call it. It was very, very frustrating.” One of the challenges that can come with deflating losses is getting the team to rebound and keep performing at its best, but Bongarra praised
his squad’s motivation and resiliency. After defeating St. Francis 3-1 on Friday, the Wolverines jumped to fourth place in the Mission League. They have won three matches, drawn twice and lost five times. All five losses were decided by a onegoal margin. The Wolverines are second in the Mission League in goals scored. Forward and team captain Max Rolnick ’16, who has led the team's attack, attributes the offensive success to the team’s increasingly cohesive play “I feel like as a team we finally started connecting, putting a few passes together,” Rolnick said. “There was a lot of disconnect at the beginning of the season but we just needed to put a few away, and once we started doing that we got
the confidence to score some Mission League play against Chaminade, followed by Loyola. more.” “Obviously our goal is to Bongarra believes that the make playoffs, and right now success starts in the midfield. that’s what we’re “I think [we looking for,” Rolnick succeed] when we said. find fluency between To make the our midfield and our playoffs, Bongarra attacking players in knows this team needs terms of transitioning, to take advantage of when we’re able to its opportunities. transition regularly “I think we need during the game and to capitalize on both feed our forwards a sides of the field,” he bunch of times, like ’ said. “Capitalize on instead of one every Max offense obviously to so often,” Bongarra Rolnick '16 score, and capitalize said. “So, Max is when we are able to much more effective when we feed him 10 times, defend and clear the ball and 15 times a half where we can make plays defensively and not generate more combinations give teams a second chance and whatnot. When we don’t by allowing corner kicks or find ways to get to him, that’s allowing one more throw-ins in the box. Really, it comes down when we struggle.” The Wolverines close out to that." NATHANSON S
poised for 17 Wolverines deep CIF playoff run Girls' Basketball
Points scored by basketball player Ali Iken ’17 to begin game against St. Francis
Junior Varsity Boys’ Basketball Next Game: Feb. 10 @ Harvard-Westlake
Girls’ Basketball Next Game:
Feb. 11 @ Marlborough
Boys’ Soccer Next Match: Feb. 10 @ Harvard-Westlake
Girls’ Soccer Next Match:
Feb. 10 @ FSHA
By DARIO MADYOON RIAN RATNAVALE
AND
Despite suffering a disappointing 53-37 loss at the hands of league rival Chaminade, the girls’ basketball team is poised to make a deep run in CIF-SS playoffs for the second straight year. While the defeat may have halted the team’s previous momentum, it may actually be a blessing in disguise, as players will look to gain motivation heading into the playoffs. “Although we didn't win the Chaminade game, we definitely learned a lot of things,” captain Lindsey Tse ’16 said. “We watched the film of the game as a team and know that we for sure need to work on offensive rebounding and just being confident in our offense and the shots that we take.” The squad currently boasts a record of 18-7 in the regular season and has been less successful in league play thus far, with a 3-3 record. “Jayla [Ruffus-Milner ’18] has been a huge factor to our team,” Tse said. "Her intensity on the court is infectious and
just makes you want to play harder.” Ruffus-Milner has been averaging 15 points and 7.1 rebounds per game so far this year, but perhaps the team’s greatest strength so far this year has been how close they are as a unit, keeping them in sync while on offense and defense. “A lot of teams don’t have the chemistry that we do,” Lauren Lapersearde ’17 said. “We know each other pretty well, so we know everyone’s tendencies, and play to everyone's strengths as much as possible.” However, the squad often has difficulties converting on offense, which is something they hope to improve upon heading into the playoffs. “Something we need to work on is when we make plays for each other, we need to score,” Lapersearde said. “Our defense is great. We play man all the time, because we are not a very big team, so our defense is pretty set.” The team will play its final game of the season against Marlborough Feb. 11 before starting its playoff journey Feb. 18.
PAVAN TAUH/CHRONICLE
FULL HEAD OF STEAM: Lindsey Tse '16 dribbles the ball on a fast break against the Hart Indians at Harvard-Westlake Dec. 8.
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/sports
Sports D3
inbrief
Girls’ water Polo
Football players chosen for CIF Team
Nick Richmond ’16 and Mike Mapes ’16 were named to the All-CIF Southern Division First Team last week. Richmond and Mapes were the two Wolverine representatives on the team along with members from St. Francis, Burbank, Crescenta Valley and Burroughs High School. Richmond was named as a lineman for offense, while Mapes was named as a linebacker for defense. Both recipients were team captains of the football team during the season. —Elly Choi
JULIANA BERGER/CHRONICLE
SPLISH SPLASH: Helene Miles ’16 shoots against the goalie during the Wolverines’ 18-0 victory over Marymount on Jan. 28. The team is 6-0 in Mission League play. The 18 goals is a season high for the Wolverines, who have scored 10 or more goals nine times.
Squad still undefeated in league play By Juliana Berger and Bryant Wu
The girls’ water polo team has continued its success this season, going undefeated in league play with a record of 6-0 and maintaining an overall record of 14-6. The return of Camille Oswald ’17 has increased the overall skill level of the team, as she has scored eight goals since her return. The squad has also been helped by an overall increase in skill as a result of constant team bonding, goalie Daily Hartmeier ’16 said. “I think that we’ve come so much closer as a team in terms of bonding from the beginning of the year,” she said. “It has really shown in the water.We’re definitely more comfortable playing with each other and communicating more. This has helped us win the Gold Division of the Bonita
tournament and remain unde- it shows how much we have improved from the beginning feated in league so far.” During that part of the- of the season and from last tournament, the team placed season,” she said. “Obviously first after winning consecu- improvement is a huge part tive victories over Palm Desert, of winning, so I hope that for Temescal, Marina-Bonita and future big games we can continue to improve and win.” Upland High School. Hartmeier credits their Over the course of the tournament, the Wolverines success in this tournament to scored a total of 47 goals and their hard work. “I think conceded only just our under32. The girls standing of the were proud of I think that we’ve sport has imthis accomproved a lot,” plishment, come so much closer said Hartmeier. for it showed as a team in terms “Obviously we how they have of bonding from the also train sugrown over the per hard everycourse of the beginning of the year.” day and over all year and how school breaks, they have become consis—Daily Hartmeier ’16 so that’s contributed to our tent winners, success. We Hannah Eliot also have had the opportunity said. “So far winning the Bonita to scrimmage and play really tournament in our division good teams, so we try to learn was my favorite part, because and see what makes them
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successful and use that to improve as players.” Eliot, one of the star players on the team, has committed to play at Brown University and believes that practicing as a unit has been greatly beneficial. “In focusing on playing together as a unit and thinking more about each piece of the game instead of our own individual spot, it allowed us to play more cohesively,” Eliot said. “I am so excited that I have the opportunity to play water polo in college,” Eliot said. “I want a balance between school and water polo, and Brown offers that.” Before they start their CIF run, the girls will play in the Mission League’s Irvine tournament, and one more league game vs. Palos Verdes on Feb. 12. They look to stay undefeated in league, a hallmark of their season so far, and ride a hot streak into the playoffs.
Former pitcher Fried holds gala for charity By Sam McCabe
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HW ATHLETICS
TO THE MAX: Max Fried ’12 pitches at O’Malley Family field in 2012. Fried was drafted by the Padres in the MLB Draft.
Max Fried ’12 hosted the second annual Baseball Fanfest and Gala for his charity Strikeout Crohn’s Disease Jan. 17 at the Harvard-Westlake Baseball Field and Sportsmen Lodge. The event included a spring training workout with baseball players such as former Wolverines Lucas Giolito ’12 and Jack Flaherty ’14. Attendees were able to witness the atmosphere of a real professional practice and meet the professional baseball players. The gala was held afterwards at the Sportsmen Lodge, where fans joined the players for a meal and a night of comedy. Crohn’s disease is an incurable illness that affects mostly young people. Approximately 20 percent of patients have a family member affected by the disease.
The pitcher’s nonprofit donates money toward the discovery of a cure and the improvement of the quality of life of children and adults with the disease. Fried, the founder of the nonprofit organization, is a left-handed pitcher whoplayed for Harvard-Westlake. During his high school career, he played alongside Giolito and Flaherty and made the All-Mission League team his senior year. Fried never won a CIF title. He was selected in 2012 by the Padres in the first round of the MLB draft. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Justin Upton and is now playing on their minor league team, but will be limited in innings due to a recent surgery on his elbow. “As a H-W pitcher myself, I look up to Fried,” J.P Maniscalco ’18 said. “I think he’s a good role model for everyone in the program.”
Giolito named top pitching prospect The Major League Baseball website named Washington Nationals minor leaguer and former Wolverine pitcher Lucas Giolito ’12 the top righthanded pitching prospect in baseball. Giolito was drafted 16th overall by the Washington Nationals in 2012, but was sidelined with a strained ulnar collateral ligament for the rest of the season and into the following season as well. Last year, Giolito posted a 3.15 ERA along with 131 strikeouts in 117.0 innings pitched while playing for the Potomac Nationals and the Harrisburg Senators. Both the nationals and the Senators are minor league affiliates of the Washington Nationals. —Adam Yu
S.A.A.C. names Athletes of the Month The Student Athletic Advisory Council named Henry Vogel ’16 and Paige Howard ’17 January’s Athletes of the Month. Vogel has taken on a larger role following an injury to starter Carter Begel ’17. He was inserted into the starting lineup and added hustle as well as clutch play. Howard, a University of Pennsylvania commit, has had another year of strong play and leads the team in goals with eight so far this season. —Zac Harleston
Boys’ basketball shows intro video before game The varsity boys’ basketball team played a Star Wars themed hype video behind one of the hoops before its home game against Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) Jan. 29. It featured highlights of players from this year’s squad as well as highlights from graduated players. “It helped create a great atmosphere and it really helped get the whole student section energized for the game” said Quintin Concoff ’18, a HW Fanatic. The Wolverines fell to Notre Dame 75-70 after a large comeback bid fell short in the final seconds of the game after a failed inbounding play. The team is 17-7 overall, and 5-5 in Mission League play. The boys host Chaminade Wednesday in their final home game. —Zach Swartz
the chronicle
D4 SportS
X Name
School
Sport
Cameron Deere
Brown University
Baseball
Paul Giacomazzi
Rhodes College
Baseball
Gabe Golob
United States Naval Academy
Baseball
Leo Kaplan
Northwestern University
Baseball
Jake Suddleson
Harvard University
Baseball
John Thomas
University of Southern California
Baseball
Lindsey Tse
Emory University
Basketball
Eric Bradley
Gettysburg College
Football
Marshall Cohen
Trinity University
Football
Noah Rothman
Colgate University
Football
Bray Caverly
Kenyon University
Golf
Phillip Thompson
Princeton University
Lacrosse
Quinn Frankel
Brown University
Soccer
Courtney Gazmarian
The Ohio State University
Soccer
Montana Reilly
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Soccer
Alec Hsing
University of Pennsylvania
Swimming
Juliana Simon
Brown University
Tennis
Courtney Corrin
University of Southern California
Track & Field
Nina Milligan
Lafayette College
Track & Field
Zoe Baxter
George Washington University
Volleyball
Kaira Muraoka-Robertson
Wesleyan University
Volleyball
Genny Thomas
Johns Hopkins University
Volleyball
Josie Treadwell
Davidson College
Volleyball
Hannah Eliot
Brown University
Water Polo
Duncan Froomer
UC Berkeley
Water Polo
Ben Hallock
Stanford University
Water Polo
Davis Watchtell
Princeton University
Water Polo
Feb. 1
10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/sports
Sports D5
Twenty-seven senior athletes committed on National Signing Day Feb. 3 to play college sports in the fall. Below is a list of who signed, the sports they play and what school they will be attending.
JOSIE TREADWELL
BEN HALLOCK
DARIO MADYOON/CHRONICLE
CONNOR REESE/CHRONICLE
QUINN FRANKEL
GABE GOLOB
LINDSEY TSE
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
RIAN RATNAVALE/CHRONICLE
HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE
DUNCAN FROOMER
COURTNEY GAZMARIAN
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
CONNOR REESE/CHRONICLE
D6 Sports
The Chronicle
Feb. 10, 2016
Wrestling
Captain wins Mission League championship
By Joe Levin Cameron Stine
class head to Masters, something Ruiz has never done. To get there, Ruiz is going back It’s the Mission League to the basics. “[I’m] focusing more on finals, and Ryan Ruiz ’16 is doing everything he can to conditioning and fixing up technique as opposed to hold down his learning new Bishop Amat things,” Ruiz opponent. He said. “I’m not leads 5-4. If he trying to build can hold down [I’m] focusing up strength his opponent for for these last more on conditioning just one minute, couple weeks. he will become and technique as I’m trying the 132-pound opposed to learning to get really weight class good at what Mission League new things.” I know so i Champion. make With every —Ryan Ruiz ’16 can it through passing second, part of those Ruiz gets more tired. The Bishop Amat wres- tough matches.” The rest of the team didn’t tler is inching his way off the share Ruiz’s success at league ground. Coach Patrick Cartmill finals, no one else having hollers at Ruiz not to give up, qualified for CIF. Calvin Kaleel ’18 and and hold his opponent down. Ruiz holds him down, and Russell Davis ’17 struggled a minute later, the ref blows against older, more experihis whistle. Ruiz gets up off enced wrestlers. “My weight class was rethe mat, clenches his fists and screams for joy. It was his ally good, and there were a lot fourth top-three league cham- of seniors, so I didn’t do very pionship finish in as many well,” Davis said. For Davis, the team’s lone years, which qualifies him for junior, the end of the season the CIF tournament. The tournament starts means he’ll have to shift his Feb. 20 this year, and the top focus to leadership. According to Davis, Ruiz is nine wrestlers in each weight the best example of a leader. and
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PAVAN TUH/CHRONICLE
THROW DOWN: Ryan Ruiz ’16 bears down on a Crespi opponent in the Wolverines’ 54-12 loss on Jan. 20. The loss was partly due to the fact that the team has only eight members. “He’s just putting in the work and getting positive results,” Davis said. “He brings a really good energy into the room, and he demonstrates how to win. He leads by example.” Not only is the wrestling team small in number, but most of its members are also
relatively young and inexperienced. Five of the eight participants are freshmen, and only a handful wrestled in middle school. “It was cool to see all of the freshman learning and getting the hang of wrestling and winning some matches,” Ruiz said. “We definitely grew from
the beginning of the year to now and got closer and better as wrestlers.” With his season over, Davis is following Ruiz’s leadership example to a tee. Just two days after his season ended in defeat, Davis was back in the weight room, grinding.
Girls’ Basketball
Team raises breast cancer awareness By Rian Ratnavale
as important as what we do all the time in our lives with helpAlthough the girls’ basket- ing others.” The event was hosted in ball team defeated Marlborough by 50 points on Jan. 26 conjunction with Live4Gen, an with a final score of 74-24, organization started by Jerica basketball was only the second Williams, a former high school most important thing to the basketball player at Mount program as the team hosted a Miguel High School. Williams was a teammate “Think Pink Night” of Genevieve Costello, to raise awareness another high school for breast cancer. basketball player and Both Harvardcollge player at UC DaWestlake and Marlvis who died of breast borough wore pink cancer. According to warmup T-shirts to its mission statement, promote the game. Live4Gen is “dedicated Students in the to raising breast canweek leading up to cer awareness and inthe game had the ’ creasing prevention in opportunity to honMellisa the community while or a friend or relaHearlihy honoring Costello, who tive who had battled lost her battle to breast breast cancer. These basketballs were cancer at age 26.” Today, Live4Gen continues hung in Taper Gym the night to raise breast cancer awareof the game. Before the game, Lori Levin- ness by organizing basketball son (Dani Mirell ’17) gave a games. For many players, the night speech to the fans and players carried extra significance. This in attendance. Levenson talked about win against Marlborough was a signal that the squad is ready how the disease had for the rest of its season personally affected and its post-season. people she is close to “There was a great and gave thanks to atmosphere all around everyone who helped because we were playspread awareness for ing for something breast cancer. greater than ourselves” “To our girls, Sydney Tsutsui ’17 to our parents, to said. “Not only did we our teachers, to our spread awareness, but friends, to our famit sparked the whole ily, thank you for all ’ team’s attitudes to go you do,” Levinson Sydney up against Notre Dame said. “Thank you for Tsutsui ’17 Academy and especialfighting for people, ly the Oaks Christian and just remember what we do on the court is not game.” nathanson s
RIAN RATNAVALE/CHRONICLE
nathanson s
RIAN RATNAVALE/CHRONICLE
PINK FOR A PURPOSE: Professor of Law Laurie Levenson (top) (Dani Mirell ’17) delivers a speech about breast cancer moments before tip-off. Lindsey Tse ’16 (bottom) drives towards the basket.
Feb. 10, 2016
hwchronicle.com/sports
Sports D7
Girls’ Soccer
Squad continues their strong season
served. Specifically, the freshmen scores after you go up 2-0. But have been impressing everyyou have to remember that one this season. Standout players include you’re still up and you want to build your lead. You can’t give Hollis and Annabelle Heisel ’19, both of whom scored in them any confidence.” The game also happened to the game against Chaminade be senior night for the team, and both members of club which put an added weight on teams outside of school. The extra time committhe girls’ shoulders to perform well and make their seniors ment has shown through on the field with their exceptional proud. “It was really exciting to footwork and communication skills. have all the The mix fans at our of the exgame,” forperienced ward BridgIt was really exciting younger playet Stokdyk to have all the fans at our ers and the ’18 said. “It committed helped set game. It helped set an older players an environenvironment for freshmen creates for ment for the an environfreshmen and for CIF.” ment of sucand for CIF, —Bridget Stokdyk ’18 cess that has when there are going to Forward proven to be unbeatable. be more peoThe team’s ple showing up. It’s good for them to learn next game is against Flintridge how to play under the pres- Sacred Heart High School, sure of a lot of people watch- which is its last game in league play. ing.” After that, the girls will A dual roster was implemented at the beginning of the take on Westlake High School season in order for the varsity Saturday before continuing and JV teams to have less of a into the CIF playoffs. Last year, the Wolverines divide and for the program to advanced past the first round be more integrated. The purpose of this was to of CIF after a 3-0 victory over make the communication on Valencia High School Feb. 14. But in the second round of the field smoother and to make CIF playoffs, Mater Dei broke it easier to cover absences. Depending on which team their hearts. After coming back they play and how many peo- from a 0-1 deficit, the Wolverple are present, players will be ines forced penalty kicks but chosen from both JV and var- lost 4-2. This year, the squad hopes sity rosters. This idea has given them they can implement the skills more depth this season than they learned at the National any season in the last 10 Elite Prep Showcase Tournament in Texas and show their years, Simms said. With this depth comes opponents that their 6-0-1 regreat success and a greater cord is an accurate represenbond, which Simms has ob- tation of their true skill. • Continued from page D1
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE
BEST FOOT FORWARD: Bridget Stokdyk ’18 (top) passes during the Wolverines’ 4-0 win over Alemany on Jan. 15. Courtney Corrin ’16 (bottom) dribbles past a Notre Dame player..
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D8 SPORTS
Q&A
THE CHRONICLE
FEB. 10, 2016
Max Rolnick Boys’ Soccer By DARIO MADYOON When and how did you start playing soccer? I started playing AYSO when I was about eight. It was just something my dad was really into. Even though my parents weren’t avid soccer fans, it was something that happened by accident. I just kind of fell into it from there. I figured out that I would really get serious about it when I was about 12. I was called up to play for an all-star team, and I realized I could actually have fun at a higher level with it. How has being a varsity player and team leader impacted you as a player? What has it taught you? It’s been a great experience for me. It’s been fun. Being captain, I knew I’d have a huge role to play on the team. There’s been pressure, and it’s been a long season, but it’s definitely helped me grow as a leader and help other players step up, and we’ve finally been getting the results we’ve wanted. How have you individually evolved as a player over the course of your high school career? I think being a freshman playing varsity against bigger, stronger guys that I had never played with before forced me to play quicker and smarter. I think the same is true for the freshmen on varsity now. I think it helps them become more complete players and step up their game. What do you do to prepare for your matches? Any pregame rituals? What’s on the playlist? I try to take a nap before every game, if possible. We do have a team playlist consisting of “No Type” by Rae Sremmurd and “Sun is Shining” by Axwell Ingrosso. These are team songs for the year, and they’ve actually been team songs for the last three years. As far as superstitions go, during games, say at kickoff, I do three quick jumps and three quick stutter steps. I also do it before every free kick I take. It just gets me loose and puts me in the right mindset. As a senior, what have you done/do you plan to do differently this year? I’ve definitely been much more involved tactically with the team in terms of deciding what type of formation to use. In my current role, I definitely have a more active voice on the team. I also have wanted to make it a point to make sure our leaders and our captains are more active in the community, which is why we do the First and Third Wednesdays honoring faculty. I have been feeling that I want to leave more of a legacy, because even if we don’t end up having a stellar season, I know the team will have great seasons ahead. So, I want to leave traditions that I believe will be carried on long after I’m gone. What has been your most memorable on-field moment? For me personally, it was definitely the Loyola game last year at home. I had always been a role player on the team up until then, and I really didn’t have much of a leadership position. I had one play where I kind of took the ball up the whole field and ripped one from 40 yards out and scored. That still is the highlight of my athletic career and that really gave me a lot more confidence going forward and helped me be a better leader.
Stats 15
Goals scored this season
1.8
Team’s average goals per game
+3
Goal differential in Mission League play
How would you characterize your squad’s season so far? I feel like it’s been up and down. It hasn’t been as successful so far as we’ve hoped. Right now we are competing to make the playoffs. I feel that we can still do that, and I feel like we can really make a run. But we definitely haven’t lived up to what we expected due to the injuries and other problems, but I feel like it’s been great and everyone’s had a great time. Are there any pro players you model your game after? It’s definitely changed over the years as I’ve adopted new positions and roles. But, at the moment, I feel like it’s definitely Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, because that’s the role I’ve been in so far this year.
ELLY CHOI/CHRONICLE