November Chronicle Issue 2014

CHRONICLE the harvard-westlake

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Los Angeles • Volume 24 • Issue 3 • Nov. 19, 2014 • hwchronicle.com

Community grieves for science teacher

By Zoe Dutton

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

Water polo team to face Corona del Mar in CIF Semifinals DEFENDING THE TITLE: Attacker Evan Rosenfeld ’17 raises his arm to block an Orange Lutheran player as goalie Anthony Ridgley ’15 prepares to defend the goal. The Wolverines defeated Orange Lutheran 22-8 in the CIF quarterfinals Nov. 15 and will face off against Corona del Mar Nov. 19 at William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine. For more coverage of the game against Orange Lutheran and the Semifinals, see page C4.

Toxic Turf ?

as Vice President John Amato and history teacher John CorStudents, teachers, friends sello. Brink served as a football and family will remember sci- coach, baseball coach and science teacher Jim Brink at a ence teacher. In 1985, he won memorial service this Thurs- the Garrett Hardin Award for day in St. Savior’s Chapel on early promise in teaching. the upper school campus.

He is survived by his wife Because the chapel is ex- Vivian and daughters, Marispected to fill, there will be a sa, 13, and Lacey, 19. live feed of the service shown “Jim was a big-hearted man on the screens in the plaza, who taught because he wanted in the Feldman-Horn Gal- to help young people recognize lery and in Feldman Horn 107. and achieve their full potenThose who cannot be present tial as students and members will be able to view it online. of the community,” Science Brink, 64, died as a result Department Chair Lawrence of a single-car accident Nov. Axelrod said. “Jim touched 12, and President many lives on many Rick Commons anlevels at Harvardnounced his death at Westlake, and we are an upper school asall richer for having sembly Nov. 13. known him.”

Brink had attendThe Science Deed a faculty developpartment hung a picment workshop and ture of Brink on their returned to his classoffice door, and sturoom to prepare for dents surrounded it nathanson’s classes the next day. with remembrances Jim Brink He apparently lost on Post-it notes. control of his car on his way “Mr. Brink truly cared home at about 7 p.m. about us students,” Imani “Our hearts go out to his Cook-Gist ’15 said. “I had a wife, children and family, in- tough time in chemistry, but cluding his brother-in-law, he never gave up on me.” our colleague, [Senior Alumni Cook-Gist recalled how, Officer] Harry Salamandra,” when she had difficulty graspCommons and Head of School ing the concept of ‘moles,’ Jeanne Huybrechts said in a Brink did a dance to illustrate letter to the community. “We the idea. are grateful for the goodness “It was so hilarious,” she and strength of the commu- said. “Just wiggle around and nity every day, but especially do an air guitar solo, and any at times like these.” kid who has had Mr. Brink as Brink had taught at the a teacher will instantly recogschool for more than 35 years. nize his mole dance.”

He graduated from Princeton Father J. Young will officiin 1972 and joined the faculty ate at the memorial service, at the Harvard School for and the interment will be priBoys in 1978, the same year vate.

Concerns that the rubber pellets in Ted Slavin Field could be carcinogenic have led the administration to look into the safety of the school’s artificial turf fields.

By Benjamin Most

for Scholastic Sports Science and Medicine discussed the Every time field hockey issue in a closed-door meetplayer Caitlin Neapole ’16 re- ing Oct. 22, and the board is moves her shoes after prac- in the process of consulting lotice, tiny pieces of ground-up cal doctors to gauge whether tires fall out. Field hockey the turf could harm students’ player Alexandra Grande ’16 health. is also intimately familiar with Artificial turf consists of the crumb rubber pellets that synthetic fibers coating a layer form the base of the school’s of crumb rubber pellets made artificial turf from used field. tires. This infill “I’ve gotcushions the We’ve consulted ten those in turf and gives my hair and it the feel of doctors to find out clothes and dirt. Some fear what they think, and even once in my that toxic maeye,” Grande terials in these we’ve decided to stay said. “It was rerubber pellets ahead of the research. ally painful.” could cause At this point, I think An invescancer. tigative report In a state[the concern] is mainly

by NBC News ment distribmedia-driven.” in October on uted to parents cancer clusstudents —David Skaggs and ters in young who expressed orthopedic surgeon concern, the soccer players prompted school said questions from that “currently parents. The school is review- there is no medical evidence ing the safety of the artifi- to demonstrate a link between cial turf on upper school and artificial turf and lymphoma.” middle school playing fields However, an analysis of safety and any threat that the crumb studies on artificial turf conrubber pellets may pose. ducted by NBC was inconcluThe Advisory Board of sive. Crumb rubber contains Harvard-Westlake’s Institute ingredients such as butadiene

“

INSIDE A4 COLE FELDMAN/CHRONICLE

JOSEPH SCUDERIO/CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

SHINY AND NEW: A worker cuts and installs new turf at Ted Slavin Field in 2011. Now, some parents are concerned the crumb rubber pellets, made from recycled tires, may cause cancer. and styrene, both listed as toxic substances by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Used tires also contain carbon black, labeled a potential human carcinogen by the CDC and the California Environmental Protection Agency.

In its statement, the school recommended that athletes “wash their hands after playing outside, especially before eating.”

In 2003, the grass of the upper school’s natural grass football field was replaced with

artificial turf made by turf FieldTurf for $1.5 million. The turf started to shed strips of plastic eight years later and was replaced in 2011.

Members of the Institute for Scholastic Sports Science and Medicine said that parents should not worry.

“We’ve consulted doctors to find out what they think, and we’ve decided to stay ahead of the research,” Institute member and orthopedic surgeon David Skaggs (Jamie ’15, Clay ’21) said. “At this • Continued on page A2

THE VOICE: Henry Platt ’17 sings “Everything” by Michael Bublé at the first coffee house of the year Nov. 17.

ONLINE NIKTA MANSOURI/CHRONICLE

COMPANY: Check out a behindthe-scenes look at the characters of the fall musical, “Company.”

A2 News

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

JOSEPH SCUDERIO/CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

JOSEPH SCUDERIO/CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

JOSEPH SCUDERIO/CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

School investigates field safety • Continued from page A1

point, I think it’s mainly media-driven.”

Daniel Hinerfeld, deputy director of communications for environmental group National Resources Defense Council, believes that the crumb rubber pellets pose a serious threat.

“Crumb rubber is essentially a form of toxic waste,” Hinerfeld said. “The automobile and truck tires are made up of a whole host of toxic materials.”

Hinerfeld said that turf companies use this rubber because they can get large numbers of recycled tires cheaply.

“California is faced with the significant challenge of diverting or safely managing more than 40 million reusable and waste tires generated each year,” according to the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery.

Schools around the country and even the New York City parks department have removed turf fields to avoid any potential threat of cancer, and Hinerfeld believes that, while there is no proof that crumb

rubber causes cancer, using artificial turf is not a risk worth taking for schools and parks.

“There is no proof that [crumb rubber] is healthy,” Hinerfeld said.

“However, there are plenty of good reasons to suspect that it isn’t because of what’s in it. To a large extent, this is a debate over the burden of proof. Suppose it’s true that there are actually cancer clusters associated with long-term play on crumb rubber, as we’re already seeing anecdotes about.”

One Seattle nurse featured in the NBC story saw four soccer goalies with cancer in one week.

Philip Landrigan, Dean for Global Health and Professor of Pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says that artificial turf is unnecessary.

“A much better solution is to build fields that are properly elevated, properly drained and that are planted with tough species of grass that don’t require pesticides, and that’s doable,” Landrigan told California television station KCET. The Institute for Scholastic Sports Science and Medicine

has spoken already to doctors at UCLA Medical School and Children’s Hospital LA to help them study the issue.

“Our school is fortunate to have a group that can make a recommendation to school leadership,” Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas said. “I think what’s important is listening to people who are investigating such matters.”

The school said in its statement that it would “continue to monitor developments,” and Barzdukas added that if the Institute concluded that the turf was dangerous, the school would take action at once.

“If we knew of any dangerous substance anywhere where a student would come in contact with it that exposed that student to unacceptable levels of risk, we would immediately do something about it,” Barzdukas said.

As the reasearch continues, some Harvard-Westlake parents still worry for their children’s safety.

“That’s really frightening,” said Suzanne Quilici, mother of soccer player Henry Quilici ’15. “I was always pro-grass.”

FIELD OF DREAMS: In 2011, the school redid the field for $1.5 million. Now, an NBC news report on the potential toxicity of the turf is raising safety concerns and prompting parent questions.

Structure of the Turf

Fiber: The grass-like green pieces made from polyethylene that players walk on, designed to reduce friction against skin.

Infill: The main “crumb rubber” cushioning made from used tires being investigated currently for toxicity.

Backing: Keeps the fiber in place, and prevents infill from leaking to the ground. Made from polypropylene fabric.

SOURCE: FIELD TURF GRAPHIC BY JAKE SAFERSTEIN

Previews

CORRECTIONS:

GLUTEN-FREE GLUTTONY: One student blogs healthy gluten-free recipes, such as this cheesecake.

Other students say goodbye to gluten in their diets, part of the big national health trend.

B12

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF KELLY MORRISON

DOUBLE JEOPARDY: Joss Saltzman ’16 travels to Kunming, China, for the seventh Chinese Bridge competition.

Saltzman and his partner finished fourth overall in the competition for non-native speakers of Chinese.

A8

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF TIANTIAN WANG

The Chronicle, the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School, is published nine times per year and distributed free on both the upper and middle school campuses. There are 727 students at the Middle School and 866 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

C5

AUDREY WILSON/CHRONICLE

RUN THIS TOWN: Henry Roskin ’16 runs at the Wayne Walker Invitational meet. Both the boys and girls cross country teams made CIF Finals.

In the Oct. 14 edition of the Chronicle, in the article “Administration, trustees rename Reynolds Hall” on page A5, the Chronicle incorrectly stated that Nathan Reynolds was former head of Harvard. Reynolds was the headmaster of Westlake.

In the same issue in the article “6 faculty members ride in CicLAvia cycling event” on page A8, the Chronicle misidentified Executive Assistant to the President Ann-Marie Whitman in the photograph.

The Chronicle identified her as librarian Edith Darling in the caption.

Board. Letters 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 818-487-6511. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/news

News A3

Neighbors protest construction

By Zoe Dutton

“NOT IN MY BACKYARD!!!” is a recurring phrase in a list of 70 comments on a recent Los Angeles Times article. The story is about the school’s proposed construction of a three-story parking garage and the opposition it has aroused in neighbors. It appeared in print on Nov. 4, and ABC7 ran a similar story during the same day as part of the 6 p.m. news.

The much-debated structure would feature a rooftop field and a pedestrian bridge over Coldwater Canyon Avenue. The school first announced the project in Jan. 2013, and neighbors almost immediately formed the group Save Coldwater Canyon! to fight it.

“Now neighbors who have previously stayed silent, and put up with noise and disturbances and irritations from the school community without complaining have said ‘enough is enough,’” SCC President Sarah Boyd said.

Tom Holland has lived in the hills above the school for 29 years and said that his frustration began with the construction of the Copses Pool five years ago. Like other residents, Holland complains of noise and light pollution from sports games. He says that the acoustics of the new pool particularly amplify the sounds. Other neighbors say the problem started in 2006, with the introduction of field lights.

The school imposes a schedule limiting hours for practices, field lights and

games to minimize inconvenience for neighbors.

President Rick Commons emphasized that the school is part of the neighborhood, and the administration wants to see everyone in the community satisfied with the final parking structure.

“It seems to me that neighbors who oppose our proposal often talk about the school not being a good neighbor,” Commons said. “I would like to eliminate all the extraneous and focus in on the very good question of whether this project can be good for the neighborhood, and we think it can.

I really believe it will improve things long-term.”

On a day-to-day level, Commons believes the proposal will eliminate pedestrian traffic on Coldwater and neighboring streets and increase safety. He also thinks it will promote traffic decongestion by preventing the back-up of students turning left into the school off Coldwater. In addition, Commons said that the structure would reduce street parking during school events.

Boyd countered that most neighbors don’t consider street parking an issue. She also believes construction will cause a host of other issues, including traffic congestion, environmental destruction and more noise disturbance from the additional field.

Project manager and school Vice-President John Amato said the school has already taken such concerns into account. He said the school has tried to speak with neighbors at public hearings,

but often found them unwilling to compromise.

“We have attempted to talk with them,” Amato said.

“Their starting point seems to be no project at all, so that makes it a little difficult to have meaningful negotiations or mediation.”

Many neighbors’ comments on the Los Angeles Times website asked why the school wanted to build a parking structure instead of taking measures to reduce the number of student drivers.

However, sophomores are already not allowed to drive to school, and many other students carpool or take the bus, which operate to every neighborhood where students live.

Regardless of neighborhood attitudes, Head of the Upper School Audrius Barzdukas, who lives adjacent to school, said students should remember they are part of a community.

“A lot of things have been said about us as a school recently,” Barzdukas told students during a 1st and 3rd Wednesdays assembly. “As a representative of the school community, please show that you’re more than that. Drive safely, pick up trash and treat the neighborhood with respect. ” Nancy Mehagian, a Halkirk Street resident for 28 years, says she will continue to oppose the parking structure.

“To take 12 cars off my street I have to suffer construction and poor air quality for three years, and then look at it all for another 20?” Mehagian said. “No, thank you.”

KELLY LOEB/CHRONICLE

GIFT WORTH GIVING: Nathan Yeh ’16 rests with a bandage on his arm after having his blood drawn. Donors were offered food and drinks including pizza, brownies, cookies and sandwiches.

Community donates blood at UCLA drive

By Kelly Loeb

Students and faculty members donated blood to the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center Nov. 14.

The event was the first of two blood drives this year on the upper school campus.

In order to donate, students had to be at least 16 years old.

Students 16 years of age were required to have a parental consent form signed prior to donating.

Students signed up for time slots throughout the week and donated in Chalmers all day Friday. Blood donated will supply The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Westwood and Santa Monica

facilities.

Before getting their blood drawn, donors were asked questions about their health and given some information about the donation. After getting their blood type tested, students were ready to give blood. Donors also received a variety of food and drinks including pizza, brownies, cookies, sandwiches and candy.

Donated blood is split into three components: whole blood, platelets and plasma, which go to three separate people and have the opportunity to save three lives.

“I donated blood because I thought it was a great opportunity and wanted to help others,” Yoko Everard ’16 said.

666 missed Percentage of senior class Top Ten classes marks applying early drops 1 University of Michigan (EA) year record 2 Tulane University (EA) 3 University of Chicago (EA) 89 percent of the senior class sent in early college applications.

By Marcella Park

decided not to apply anywhere early, Lynem-Wilson said. She In a drop back down from didn’t consider applying to last year’s record high of 93.4 any early action schools, even percent, the number of seniors though they are non-binding. submitting early college appliBoth her dean and her cations hit only 89 percent this parents agreed with her. “I’m fall, Upper School Dean Beth not ashamed to not be applySlattery said. ing early or anything,” Lynem“Last year might have been Wilson said. “It was not like, an anomaly,” Slattery said. “I ‘You didn’t apply early? What’s think it’s always from now on wrong with you?’” going to hover in the 85 to 95 Lynem-Wilson knew a few percent range, unless anything of her friends were opting out changes dramatically.” of the early round, too, and she This year’s numsaid it allowed her ber of early applimore time to work cants compared more on regular round apclosely to that of the plications. Now, she’s 2012-2013 school year, almost done with all which was 88 percent. of her submissions.

Though the percent“You have a better age of early applicants chance at least from dropped, the same 49 our school if you appercent of students ply regular,” Lynemnathanson’s applied to schools Wilson said. She said early decision as last Kristen Lynem- she thinks that while Wilson ’14 year. applying early pits “We do have some H a r v a r d -We s t l a ke recruited athletes who are not students against others from going through the early pro- the same school, the regular cess because that’s the way the applicant pools are less comschool wanted them to, but I petitive. also think there’s just kids deAs in recent years, the Uniciding to be more patient about versity of Michigan was the the process,” Slattery said. most popular school among “There’s no problem wait- early applicants by far. ing,” Kristen Lynem-Wilson ’15 Brown University ranked said. sixth most popular among Both of her top choice Harvard-Westlake seniors as schools took only early deci- its first time on the list this sion applications this round, year. and she couldn’t pick just one Case Western Reserve Uniof the two. So as soon as she versity also made a first-time heard she had the option, she appearance.

By Hannah Cho

4

University of Virginia (EA)

5

Southern Methodist University (EA/ED)

6

Brown University (ED)

7 8 9

Stanford University (EA) Harvard University (EA) Case Western University (EA/ED)

10 Northeastern University (EA/ED)

SOURCE: UPPER SCHOOL DEAN’S OFFICE GRAPHIC BY EUGENIA KO

More students missed classes because of illness during the week of Nov. 3 than any week so far this school year.

The absences began on Tuesday when many students either came in late or left early, Head of Attendance Gabriel Preciado said. For the rest of the week, many of the students just stayed home.

“Most of these absences were due to colds, bugs, some students have pneumonia, fevers, and some students have been missing for multiple days, but Tuesday was one of the peak days,” Preciado said.

That week, there were 666 classes missed due to illness, with about 168 students that did not attend school. However, Preciado predicted that the total classes missed for that week would be around 760 after the 160 unresolved absences are resolved. In addition, there were more field trips that week that added to the total number of classes missed for that week.

“I feel it, obviously because my workload spikes up, I get calls and students asking to leave campus,” Preciado said.

The week before, Oct. 27, there were around 520 classes missed. The high number of absences is more commonly seen in December to February, Preciado said.

The Chronicle

A4 News

Nov. 19, 2014

Languages department expands honors classes

By Angela Chon

The Upper School World Languages department will offer Spanish and French II Honors starting next school year to “better prepare students for three honors and for [the] AP program.”

Upper school students meeting the requirement of receiving a 93 percent or higher in French or Spanish 1 or 1B and permission of the instructor will be able to take these new courses.

“Offering a level two honors course will allow us to offer a deeper curriculum and proceed at a faster pace with those students who have stronger foreign language acquisition skills and who are able to handle that speed,” Upper School World Languages Department Head Margot Riemer said. “At the same time, we will be able to provide an appropriate pace and curriculum for those students for whom foreign language acquisition is more challenging.

We hope that all level two students will have a better experience in their courses.”

Students taking these courses will receive honors credit. Spanish II Honors students will use the “Descubre” 2nd Edition Level 2 textbook and French II Honors students will use the “Discovering French” 4th edition Level 2 textbook.

Teachers have not yet been assigned to teach these courses, but must meet the requirements of speaking Spanish or French “at a native or nearnative level” both course proposals said.

“We hope, that by providing this option for students, they will have a smoother and more developmentally-appropriate path through our Spanish program,” the proposal said.

COLE FELDMAN/CHRONICLE

Students Perform at First Coffee House of the Year

HIGH ENERGY: Paige Yoo ’17 sings a cover of “Badillac” by the band together PANGEA to a crowd of students in the lounge. The performances ranged from stand-up comdedy to slam poetry. Coffee and an assortment of food was served.

ISIR adds Abnormal Psych, Human Conflict

By Cole Feldman

Counselor and humanities teacher Luba Bek will teach The Interdisciplinary Stud- the Abnormal Psychology ies and Independent Research class next year along with the Department will offer two new Assistant to the Head of Upcourses next year, Abnormal per School Michelle Bracken.

Psychology and Human Con“It’s my baby. I created it,” flict: from IntolBek said. erance to GenoStudents cide. must take

I want to, and Last year, a Psychology as this might sound student enrolled a prerequisite in Projects in overly-ambitious, open for the new Interdisciplinclass. up potential career ary Studies It will be avenues.” and Research, addressing the taught by histostudy of hu—Dror Yaron man behavry teacher Larry Klein, came history teacher ioral disorders up with the idea and the methfor a class on ods in which human conflict. they are treated.

“The student wanted to “Abnormal psychology is design a curricular piece on always one of the most popular why humans do bad things to topics in Psychology,” Bek said. each other on a societal level,” “We don’t usually spend that Klein said. much time on it in the normal

“

English department to offer choices for AP

effort riffing off of a similar model that emphasizes depth The English department of reading, a thematic organiwill replace AP Literature and zation of texts focusing on relAP Language with six English evant questions and the idea electives for seniors next year. that the two courses of study “Students still will choose are equal in rigor but different first between AP Lit and AP in kind, one not lesser than Lang—distinct studies, the for- the other,” Weber said. mer focusing more on The department the language of chartried to create coursacter and experience es that would retain and the latter more coherence between on the language of arsenior English classes gument and persuawhile still offering sion,” Upper School variety.

English Department AP Literature Laurence Weber said. students can choose Nine English between Same House, nathanson’s teachers, all of whom Different Worlds, Laurence teach seniors, decided which explores reWeber on the six new eleclationships between tives after a two-year adults and children; internal review undergone by Outsiders and Aliens, a course each academic department. focusing on communities and They changed the senior Eng- people who do not fit into lish system after hearing from them; and Good Grief, which a committee of visiting teach- will cover hardship and sufers that older students seemed fering and the meaning behind less enthusiastic in English them. classes.

The AP Language choices “It was a true collaborative are The Language of Protest, a

psychology course because we have to give every topic equal amounts of time, but we are always drawn to people who have some atypical behavior.”

Other changes in the curriculum include expanding Middle Eastern Studies, a semester-long course to a fullyear class.

History teacher Dror Yaron has been teaching the elective for the past three years.

“The course largely gives a political history,” Yaron said.

“That is the main focus. If it is going to evolve into a true interdisciplinary course, which includes language studies, how economics works in the region, looking much more at the integration of religion and politics, lifestyle, and even culinary habits, then I need a full year.”

Yaron said that his main

Revamping the English Curriculum

By Benjamin Most

goal is to cultivate a deep awareness of a region that has such heavy influence in American foreign policy and in our student body.

“I want to, and this might sound overly-ambitious, open up potential career avenues for certain students who start getting a specialty in such a course,” Yaron said. “I also would say that just studying this region is not insular. It’s not just looking at the Middle East, but how it relates to different parts of the world such as Europe.”

All of the Kutler Center classes are available to 11th and 12th graders and will meet four times a cycle.

Klein said that The Art and Science of Fly Fishing, Surrealism and The Creative Process: From Inspiration to Fruition will not be offered next year.

Starting next year, the English department will offer six new electives that will fulfill the AP requirement.

The prerequisites for last year’s classes will carry over.

AP Literature Choices Same House, Different Worlds: A course that delves into the adultchild relationship.

Outsiders and Aliens: Students read about people that do not fit into the community.

Good Grief: A class that looks at great pain and suffering in literature.

AP Language Choices The Language of Protest: This course shows students how literature can be used against injustices.

Writing a Life: This course looks at literature that describes people’s lives.

Imagined Societies: Utopias and Dystopias: This class reads about perfect and imperfect societies.

SOURCE: LAURENCE WEBER GRAPHIC BY COLE FELDMAN

course on how individuals can use language to fight injustice; Writing a Life, in which students will read works of literature describing a person’s life; and Imagined Societies: Utopias and Dystopias, which will explore texts describing perfect societies and imperfect

societies with troubles that can be related to the world.

Two semesters in a class on Shakespeare will also fulfill senior English requirements.

Students who take an AP course will continue to take the appropriate AP examination at the end of their senior

year.

“The department considered how we could retain our particular strengths and the coherence and refinement that close professional collaboration enables while pushing out into several offerings,” Weber said.

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/news

News A5

Faculty, staff attend diversity workshop

By Liz Yount

LEXI BOWERS/CHRONICLE

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: Producer Ellie Wen ’05 discusses optimism with La Femme club members during break. Wen works as an independent producer and has produced and co-written the feature film, “White Frog” and co-produced “Senior Project.”

Producer tells La Femme club to accept challenges and move forward

By Lexi Bowers

Ellie Wen ’05 told La Femme club members at their meeting Nov. 17 to accept their challenges and to move on.

The Alumni Office recommended Wen to speak to students about optimism, the fifth goal in the La Femme club’s 11-goal system. One alumna is invited to speak each month.

“I don’t have any regrets. I like to think of everything as it happens for a reason, and because of that, it has made me stronger,” Wen said.

The La Femme club aims to foster self-empowerment in girls, though boys are encour-

“

aged to join the duced and coclub as well. written the This year’s feature film,

I don’t have any “White Frog” topics are aspiration, wealth, regrets. I like to think and co-proenergy, spirituthe feaof everything as it hap- duced ality, optimism, ture film titled pens for a reason, and “Senior Projmissions, experiences, because of that, it has ect.”Wen has natural state, made me stronger.” education, selfalso worked at awareness and Creative Art—Ellie Wen ists social circles.

Agency Wen gradand at CBS uated from Films.

Stanford University in 2009, “I encountered a lot of remajoring in drama and minor- jection, especially as an Asianing in sociology.

American in the entertainShe works as an indepen- ment industry, but I learned dent producer and has pro- that it has only made me

smarter,” Wen said.

Wen showed the trailer for “White Frog”, and then closed the meeting with some advice for students, especially AsianAmericans, interested in the entertainment field.

Wen said students should actively seek opportunities, especially for the many organizations out there that can help students interested in a similar career path.

“I thought her speech was very inspirational and a great help for all the aspiring students here that want a future career in the entertainment industry,” Neda Mazdisnian ’16 said.

Students to select courses for next school year online

By Sophie Kupiec-Weglinski

Green signup sheets for next year’s courses are a thing of the past, as students will be able to choose next year’s courses online. The change will save time and reduce human error, Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo said.

The program, which students will use in March through the Harvard-Westlake website, was programmed and coordinated by Senior Soft-

ware Engineer Aram Pendley.

Pendley programs for Didax, Harvard-Westlake’s student information application.

The course selection program allows teachers to choose the hardest course a specific student can sign up for in a subject.

In addition, the program regulates students schedules.

It can make sure that students’ have signed up for at least five core classes and no more than seven classes in total.

The program has been in development since last spring.

Twice a month during the summer, there were meetings where deans met to discuss what the program should look like and to make sure students could easily navigate it.

Teachers from all departments have also attended meetings where they learned how to choose the appropriate course selection for their students on the program.

Cuseo and math teacher

Deans set spring break college tour registration deadline, update itinerary

By Pim Otero

Juniors planning to participate in the spring break college tours must submit college tour preference forms and signed college tour rules

by Dec. 9. Both tours will take place during the first week of spring break and will provide an introduction to the college search process. Each trip costs $2,595.

Tours will leave school on March 23 and return April 3.

The Spider Tour will visit

Columbia University, Davidson College, Duke University, Elon University, Emory University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, New York University, University of Richmond, Gettysburg College and Vanderbilt University.

On the Bison Tour, students will travel to Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western

Reserve University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Kenyon College, University of Michigan, New York University, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, Oberlin College, The Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh.

Both tours will originate in New York, then split into two different directions, a change from the different starting and ending locations in previous years.

Beverly Feulner made sure all proper prerequisites for courses were uploaded into the program. In previous years, students needed approval to sign up for certain courses from the teachers that taught those classes. With online signups, all approval is given by students’ current teachers.

“I think it will allow us to spend more time on making sure that students make the right choices and less time on the logistics,” Cuseo said.

“

Educational consultant Derrick Gay led workshops on diversity at Faculty Professional Growth Day on Nov. 12. The day was interactive with lecture-based discussions, small group work and individual reflection.

The three main goals of the workshop were to demonstrate that not all identities are equally valued in society, share strategies for creating inclusive communities and increase awareness of ways that individuals can promote diversity.

“These new insights and heightened awareness will inform the ways in which individuals use words and interact with one another to cultivate an inclusive community,” Gay said in an email.

After a day of presentation and discussion, faculty broke up into their separate departments to discuss ways they could support diversity on a smaller scale.

“My favorite part of the day was eavesdropping on small group departmental discussions where faculty were deeply engaged in reflecting on ways in which they could enrich community,” Gay said.

Survey responses from faculty helped Gay to create points of discussion for workshops and to make the topic of diversity more accessible, he said.

“The first step is to reframe diversity from an identity that represents historically marginalized groups to a set of intentional community goals,” Gay said in an email. “[Students] will inherit a 21st century world where global perspective, the ability to effectively communicate across difference, is a nonnegotiable.”

Head Upper School Librarian Shannon Acedo thought that Gay’s lectures and workshops were wellreceived by faculty and staff.

“It was a really interesting experience,” Acedo said. “I valued it ...I thought that Derrick Gay was amazing. I found out a lot about myself and my colleagues, and I think that everyone had something to think about.”

[The only new college is] Gettysburg [College] on the Midwest tour, and part of that is that we now have two students there — two freshmen. So we thought it would be a nice thing to actually see them and add a new school.”

—Beth Slattery Upper School Dean

“[The only new college is] Gettysburg [College] on the Midwest tour, and part of that is that we now have two students there— two freshmen.

So we thought it would be a nice thing to actually see them

nathanson’s

and add a new school,” Dean Beth Slattery said.

Students will attend information sessions and a tour of the campus. Meetings with alumni will be scheduled whenever possible.

A6 News

The Chronicle

inbrief

Nov. 19, 2014

Update to iHW app fixes technical issues

An update to the HarvardWestlake electronic ID app for iPhones should fix issues with the app not working properly, Director of Computer Services Dave Ruben said.

For many iPhone users, the app shut down immediately after opening.

Students can download the updated versions of the app by logging onto the URL, www. hw.com/students/On-Campus-Technology and going to “Apps” on the left side of the screen to re-download the updated version of the app, Ruben said.

Students with Android phones were not affected.

—Lola Clark

Mathematics class changes course name

The Topics in Calculus and Statistics math class has changed its name to Calculus and Statistics. The new name was deemed simpler and more streamlined.

Upper School Mathematics Department Head Paula Evans shortened the name after meeting with mathematics department heads from other schools. She noticed that math class names in other schools were shorter and decided that Harvard-Westlake could streamline. The change will take effect next year.

—Sophie Kupiec-Weglinski

Class changes name to ‘Camerata Strings’ The Upper School Concert Strings course will be renamed “Camerata Strings” next school year to “clarify the progression that students are making as they are promoted to the upper school ensemble,” music teacher Mark Hilt said.

“Part of our review process is to make certain that the different classes lead, one to the next,” Hilt said. “We felt that having a class called Concert Strings at the [upper school] as well did not serve the progression of study that we are trying to strengthen.” “[Camerate Florentina] has acquired a musical connotation as ‘a group of friends involved in a common purpose,’” Hilt said.

—Angela Chon

TIFFANY KIM/CHRONICLE

THE DOCTOR IS IN: Robijn Bruinsma presents new findings on the underlying physcis of the HIV molecule in Ahmanson Lecture Hall during break Nov. 17. He explained the physics behind the fact that HIV, unlike other viruses, lives independently of human cells.

Physics professor presents on AIDS

By Tiffany Kim

UCLA Physics and Astronomy Professor Robijn Bruinsma lectured students Nov. 17 about the recent research from the physics community on the behavior of the AIDS virus.

Bruinsma described the behavior of the virus from its maturity stages to its fragility through a PowerPoint presen-

tation.

Bruinsma also discussed physical probes developed in recent decades such as Atomic Force Microscopy, Cryo-TEM Tomography and Optical Tweezers.

“The talk [was] an adaptation of a research seminar I recently gave at Cornell University,” Bruinsma said.

Bruinsma said that recent efforts of other biophysicists

to understand better how the AIDS virus works “have revolutionized biophysical research on viruses.”

Bruinsma has written three papers on the biophysics of retroviruses, the family to which HIV belongs,.

Bruinsma’s talk was based on his latest paper, which was published in the European Physical Journal last September.

“I thought it was really nice, and it gave me a different spin on how I see viruses,” Sylvie Sanders ’15 said. “It really does give me a new perspective and the knowledge he provided changed how I saw the viral vector.”

Science teacher Antonio Nassar set up the lecture, which was a follow up to his lecture on the mathematics behind viruses he did in 2009.

LA Times reporter stresses patience, dedication

By Emily Rahhal

Los Angeles Times reporter Kurt Streeter stressed the importance of patience and sensitivity in cultivating the trust of sources when he spoke to journalism students Nov. 13.

“Part of [being a journalist] is you are sort of like a social worker or a therapist,” Streeter said. You are really privy to people’s secrets.”

Every story should include complexity, conflict and a uniqueness or strangeness that makes the story intriguing, Streeter said.

Streeter referred to a pro“I was [thinking], ‘oh, I’ll file he wrote in 2013 that al- just check in with him every lowed readers few weeks,’ and to experience pretty soon I’m the stress of calling him evPart of [being being a lowery other day,” income student Streeter said. a journalist] is you are at UC Berkeley.

“That’s how sort of like a social The proyou come upon worker or a therapist. file followed these kinds of K a s h a w n stories.”

You are really privy to Campbell, a Streeter people’s secrets.” straight A stuis a news feadent in South writer at —Kurt Streeter ture Los Angeles the Los Angewho struggled les Times but during his freshman year at has written on a wide range UC Berkeley. of topics including sports and

“

Foreign Outlook changes name to Babel

NewSpace expert discusses new industry

Babel will be the new name of the world languages magazine, formerly known as Foreign Outlook. “‘Foreign’ had a negative connotation, especially now that we are not the foreign language department anymore,” Babel adviser and world language teacher Amandine Nelaton said. “We are the world languages department.”

“Foreign Outlook has been used for quite a few years, and we thought that the name did not do the magazine justice,” Babel editor Lucas Gelfen ’15 said.

Submissions for Babel are due Jan. 31. Students may submit creative writing, recipes, reviews or poems, along with an English translation.

—Juliana Berger

The CEO and co-founder of NewSpace Global Richard David, discussed the new and growing industry of NewSpace and its role in the future during break Nov. 10. NewSpace Global is an online publication analyzing the market of the “NewSpace” industry.

Essentially, NewSpace is the more than 800 private companies that use outer space to make profits.

Companies range from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, whose main goal is to lower costs of sending things into orbit by an order of magnitude, to Made In Space, which sent the first zero-gravity 3D printer into space.

NewSpace Global is an information provider and educa-

By Jake Saferstein

tor that tracks the NewSpace industry and analyzes the market, similar to the Wall Street Journal, but for space, David said.

David has spoken around the world at outlets including Atmel Corporation, FedEx, PayPal, the Swiss Embassy, Harvard Business School and Stanford University.

Among other points, David emphasized how different satellites are funded makes them have a different purpose and use.

He showed three of the same satellites onscreen but discussed how they really were different.

“This one is funded by NASA, this one is funded by a private company and this one is funded by the army,” David said. “They all look the same,

religion.

However, Streeter believes his forte is talking to people and finding dynamic characters to feature in long-form narrative stories.

“I thought it was really interesting and inspiring to hear his stories,” Sammi Handler ’17 said.

Streeter tries to find environments in which readers would never find themselves, and tries to transport readers there.

“It’s one of my goals to take readers to a place they’ve never been,” Streeter said.

DAVID WOLDENBERG/CHRONICLE

FAR OUT: Richard David speaks about the growing global industry of private computers developing products for space Nov. 10. but they really are very different, they have different futures and different purposes.”

David also focused on interacting with the audience, asking questions about both basic definitions, and making the audience members think about uses of a company being able to take pictures from

space.

“I found the speaker interesting because he presented a whole new world of possibilities both for business as well as exploration,” Benjamin Goldsmith ’16 said. “I also thought the questions he asked us were interesting and made me think differently about space.”

Nov. 19, 2014

The Chronicle

News A7

inbrief

Students participate in INP conference

COLE FELDMAN/CHRONICLE

Junior Classical League Visits Getty Villa RELICS OF THE PAST: Members of the Junior Classical League club participated in their first activity of the year at Getty Villa Nov. 8. Alexandra Liao ’15, Alexie Ladge ’15 and Dean Reiter ’20 admire a statue as they look for clues to complete a scavenger hunt. These items ranged from dice made out of ivory to statues of animals lining the walkways all throughout the museum.

Debate hosts first home tournament this year

By Katie Perrin

The debate program hosted the Lincoln-Douglas style Damus Hollywood Invitational the weekend of Nov. 8-9, the first competition on home terrain this year. Cameron Cohen ’16 propelled Harvard-Westlake to the quarterfinals and was granted a speaker award for his performance.

“I noticed that the varsity debaters were calmer since it

was home turf,” said Connor Engel ’17. “The novices were still unfamiliar with the campus so it didn’t change much for them. The tournament gave us a chance for our team to come together and help out.”

This month, the team also had great success at events in California and across the nation.

Nick Steele ’16 and Cohen ’16 qualified for the April

Tournament of Champions at the beginning of this month.

Cohen ’16 earned the qualification at the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational in Dallas, and Steele ’16 qualified for the Tournament of Champions at the Meadows School Tournament in Las Vegas.

At one of the premier national tournaments of the year at the Meadows School, Dario Madyoon ’17 advanced to elimination rounds for the first

time. Cohen ’16 and Steele ’16 were co-champions of the Voices Round Robin in San Jose, with Steele ’16 reaching the final rounds as well.

At the first league tournament of the year at Narbonne High School in Torrance, 14 debaters went 1-0 or 3-1.

“I think getting to know the novices better could help our team as a unit. Our success is individual,” Engel ’17 said.

Model UN delegates win at local conference

By Angela Chon and Layla Moghavem

Six members of the Model United Nations club won awards at a conference they attended Nov. 8-9 at UCLA. At the BruinMUN tournament, participants worked together as co-delegates in their discussions.

Jaebok Lee ’16 and Grace Pan ’16 won the best delegate award, the highest award available, for their work on the Novice Security Council.

Lauren Kim ’17 and Neda Mazdisnian ’16 received an honorable mention in the Novice United Nations Human Rights Council and Tiffany

Kim ’17 and Isobel Phillips ’17 the students and the time and won an honorable mention in effort they put in.” the Novice United Nations DeSixteen delegates will disvelopment Programme. cuss international politics at History teacher and their second conference this club adviser Celia year at the Los Angeles Goedde, who chapInvitational MUN held eroned the tournaat Mira Costa High ment, said she was School Dec. 6-7. pleased with the Ten novice and six students’ achieveadvanced delegates ments. will represent various “I thought the countries as dual or students did really single delegates in difwell,” Goedde said. ferent UN committees. nathanson’s “[Tournaments] are The novice conferJaebok Lee ’16 always a challengences will be held only ing environment, on Dec. 6 while adand because we have a smaller vanced conferences will last program than others, success both days. is really on the shoulders of “The purpose for nov-

ice members is to learn what Model UN is and to get used to its procedures,” Lee said. “For experienced members, it will be to exercise what they have learned and to solve world problems.”

Although there is no requirement to be an advanced delegate, club leaders encouraged students new to MUN to register as novice delegates.

“I am going to try novice and hopefully get a better understanding of how MUN works since the BruinMUN this year was my first [conference] and it wasn’t novice so it was hard for me to understand what was going on,” Leena Lim ’16 said.

Club to sell holiday cards to raise money for charity

By Izzy Wiesenthal

The Velvet Daisies Club will sell student-made holiday cards on the quad two weeks before winter break to raise money for the Children’s Institute Inc., a foundation helping underprivileged children.

A new club this year, Velvet Daisies, co-headed by Angela Chon ’16 and Justine Chen ’16, is a charity club aimed at creating a space where students can engage in arts and crafts while giving back to the community. The profit will be donated to the organization.

Before arts and crafts, Vel-

vet Daisies made jewelry for the underprivileged children at the institute.

They want to incorporate the club into the HarvardWestlake school and pushed the club to expand into arts and crafts. There are three projects planned for this year, including handmade cards for the winter, chocolate boxes for Valentine’s Day and mason jars for Mother’s Day. “I am looking forward to future projects, and I’m excited to see where Velvet Daisies will go in the future and how the club will expand,” Chen said.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF JUSTINE CHEN

HOUSE OF CARDS: Members of the Velvet Daisies club make holiday cards to be sold in December. Club members plan to sell the cards in order to raise money for the Children’s Institute Inc.

AP Human Geography and International Relations students participated in the face-to-face conference of the International Negotiations Project Saturday, Nov. 15.

The project was a monthlong online simulation of international relations, which concluded with an in-person conference at Whittier College.

Chaperoned by history teacher Nini Halkett, students represented India and Russia on four different committees: economics, security, human rights and environment.

“Overall I did enjoy the opportunity to practice the concepts we learned in class,” Jaebok Lee ’16 said.

—Angela Chon

Spring break Spain trip includes Granada Plans for a Spring Break trip to Spain led by Spanish teacher Javier Zaragoza, have been finalized. The group of students and two chaperones will leave March 26 and return April 12. The itinerary was hanged from last year’s trip.

After traveling to Toledo, the students will go to an institute in Granada for a week instead of Valencia, where they went last year. The students will spend the last three days of the trip at Costa del Sol near the beach.

—Sharon Chow

Team to participate in first Ethics Bowl

Seven members of the Ethics Bowl Club will attend the inaugural Southern California High School Ethics Bowl Dec. 6 at the University of Southern California.

The students will be accompanied by English teachers Malina Mamigonian and Charles Berezin.

In each round of the bowl, two teams will be given an everyday or historical situation, and discuss the moral implications of both sides.

The team that presents the strongest argument wins the round.

If the team is successful, the club will be able to participate in National High School Ethics Bowl April 10 at the University of North Carolina.

—Lauren Kim

Club teaches math techniques to students The Math Contest Club will be hosting an event Saturday, Nov. 22 where members will teach competitive math techniques to local middle school students.

The club has been participating in Math Madness, an online academic competition, organized by Interstellar to motivate students and help them improve their math abilities.

The team plays a cycle of rounds, regularly occurring at math club meetings.

Harvard-Westlake School defeated Westosha Central High School with almost a three-point lead in the first round but lost to Padua Academy in the second round.

—Asya Alekhina

The Chronicle

A8 News

Debate to expand summer program

Nov. 19, 2014

By Carmen Levine

Debaters from all over the country will have the opportunity to take part in a six-week summer program on both campuses.

During previous years, Harvard-Westlake ran a debate camp for students not yet in high school. Head Debate Coach Mike Bietz also worked with Victory Briefs, an independent summer debate program. However, at the end of last summer, Bietz sought to expand the summer debate program at Harvard-Westlake to include several debate and public speaking sessions.

The new program will be an intensive debate experience, with sessions beginning July 6.

These six weeks will be broken up into two-week sessions.

During one of these sessions, students can stay in UCLA dorms. Students are also given the opportunity to commute.

Instruction, however, will all take place in Harvard-Westlake upper and middle school classrooms and will be led by teachers recruited by Bietz.

Teachers will lecture in a classroom environment, helping students prepare for debates against their peers.

“It’s going to be a serious debate program where kids can really develop their debate skills,” Director of Summer Programs Jim Patterson said.

The program, like summer programs in previous years, will be open to all students, not only those currently attending Harvard-Westlake, and will expose students to three different styles of debate: Lincoln-Douglas, Parliamentary and World Schools Style.

Patterson hopes that with the use of long summer days, students will be able to immerse themselves in a subject that they wouldn’t have time to absorb with the short amount of time academic school periods provide.

“You lose something in terms of true engagement with a particular topic or activity when the time allotted is so short,” Patterson said. “In the summer, we’re able to really change that.”

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF TIANTIAN WANG

HOWDY FROM CHINA: Joss Saltzman ’16, third from left, poses at the end of a performance for the seventh Chinese Bridge competition in Kunming. Saltzman stayed in China from Oct. 16 to Nov. 2. The contest included speech, talent and televised game show portions.

Junior competes on Chinese television

By Carina Marx

Joss Saltzman ’16 competed in the seventh Chinese Bridge in Kunming from Oct. 16 to Nov. 2 and placed fourth overall in the final round.

The international contest designed for Chinese speakers of the world consisted of a speech, talent and televised game show portions.

“Because I taught Joss for two years, I feel very proud of

him,” Chinese teacher Tiantian Wang said. “He doesn’t have any background in China, so this proved that even American students have potential to excel in Chinese.”

The matchup started with an individual round consisting of participants from 76 different countries.

Saltzman gave a prepared speech with 30 seconds of personal introduction and then explained his friendship with

Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Saltzman performed an original song in Chinese about the power of music to unite people.

He placed third and advanced to the next round.

Saltzman was paired with another American contestant and briefly competed against two other pairings from North and South America. He won and advanced to the final round.

In the final round, the remaining participants played a trivia game based on Chinese cultural facts and traditions that was broadcasted live on national television. Saltzman and the other contestant he was paired with placed fourth overall.

“To be able to say that I’ve won a Chinese game show on live television is very bizarre, and it’s a cool, unique thing to have,” Saltzman said.

AP students have access to UCLA library

By Sabrina

de

Brito

Students in Advanced Placement have the option to check out books from and use the online databases of UCLA’s undergraduate library, Head Librarian Shannon Acedo said.

These students may receive a free library card from UCLA and use their texts and

online resources.

Students may take signed permission slips, found on the upper school library portal, to the Powell Library to receive a physical card.

This process may be especially useful for those compiling research reports.

“It’s wonderful because it augments our collection, so

that kids can get things at a higher level, at a college level, for their AP classes,” Acedo said.

This partnership has been in place for decades, though, many students aren’t aware of the benefits the program offers. “[The program] allows students to get a sense of what

will be expected of them next year when they are in college,” history teacher Katherine Holmes-Chuba said.

This collaboration between schools provides students with both exposure to a college library environment and exposure to works that cannot be found in most other local libraries.

Spitz ’15 takes 3rd at Jewish journalism convention

By Lauren Kim and Teresa Suh

A story from the September issue of the Chronicle, “Watching the News Unfold”

by Jessica Spitz ’15, won third place at Jewish Scholastic Press Association convention Nov. 1.

“I was really proud of this story because I think I was able to report on a very controversial topic without bias,” Spitz said. “On the Chronicle, we try to localize national and international stories, and it was interesting to make this

story relevant to Harvard“This well-written stoWestlake students.” ry could have appeared in The story dethe Jewish scribes the variJo u r n a l ,” ous views and the judges I was really experiences of wrote.

“It H a r v a r d -We s t does a good proud of this story lake students job of probecause I think I was and alumni, who viding convisited different able to report on a very text, sharing parts of Israel anecdotes, controversial topic this summer. and includwithout bias.”

Spitz’s story ing various focuses on the points of —Jessica Spitz ’15 view.” students’ reactions to the conBenjamin flict sparked by the deaths of Most ’16, Scott Nussbaum ’15, three Israeli teenagers in June. Nikta Mansouri ’15 and David

“

Woldenberg ’15 discussed multimedia journalism techniques at the convention, held Oct. 30, to most effectively reach an audience.

Chronicle advisers Jenny Hontz and Kathleen Neumeyer and Vox Populi adviser Jen Bladen also gave workshops.

“I really enjoyed presenting to these kids,” Woldenberg said. “It was really great to answer [the kids’] questions and [to know] we were helping them build a program.”

This is the second year that Harvard-Westlake has participated in the conference.

Chronicle website ranks first in NSPA competition

By Jesse Nadel

The Chronicle’s website was selected as first place publication website for a small school at the National Scholastic Press Association’s Best of Show Contest at the organization’s convention in Washington, D.C. Nov. 8.

“We have been concentrating on our website a lot in the past few years, so I am delighted to have the website acknowledged,” Chronicle coadviser Kathleen Neumeyer said The Chronicle’s October issue took fifth place for tabloid newspapers 17 pages or more, and the Spectrum took sec-

ond for best junior high news magazine.

Stone-cutters took third place for best literary magazine.

“It is always a lot of fun to be number one,” Neumeyer said. “Over the years, however, I have learned that it doesn’t really make very much difference where you place in the top 10 as long as you are in it.”

Tyler Graham ’15 won an honorable mention in Sports Story of the Year for last year’s Big Red article on Eric Swoope ’10, while Julia Aizuss ’14 won fifth place in the diversity category for her feature on gender binary neutrality.

Liz Yount ’17 won fourth place

in the junior high Picture of the Year contest for her water polo action shot.

Eight students from Chronicle, five from Vox and nine from The Spectrum attended the convention, visited workshops and explored Washington, D.C over the long weekend.

The publications staffers went sightseeing around the district, including a visit to the Capitol building, various monuments, and The Washington Post headquarters where they met with managing editor Kevin Merida.

“It was really fun getting to know everybody because even though Chronicle and

yearbook are both journalism at Harvard-Westlake, they are still very separate so it was fun getting to know a lot of the people on Chronicle, while still strengthening my friendships with kids on yearbook,” yearbook staff member Mikaela Wolfsdorf ’16 said.

“It was fun looking at other people’s yearbooks because it gave us a good idea of how strong our yearbook is and what we could improve on,” Wolfsdorf said.

Students attended a keynote address by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward, who covered the Watergate scandal in the 1970s.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF GWYNN POLLARD

MONUMENTAL: Marcella Park ’15, left, Vox Populi adviser Jen Bladen and Head of External Relations Ed Hu tour the Capitol Building on the trip.

C HRONICLE the harvard-westlake

Los Angeles • Volume 24 • Issue 3 • Nov. 19, 2014 • hwchronicle.com

Editors-in-Chief: Zoe Dutton, Scott Nussbaum Managing Editors: Elijah Akhtarzad, Jessica Spitz Executive Editor: Marcella Park Presentations Editors: Leily Arzy, Jacob Goodman

Opinion The Chronicle • Nov. 19, 2014

editorial

News Managing Editors: Enya Huang, Jake Saferstein News Section Heads: Angela Chon, Cole Feldman, Eugenia Ko News Assistants: Sammi Handler, Layla Moghavem, Jackson Novick, Jesse Nadel, Oliver Richards, Teresa Suh, Izzy Wiesenthal, Claudia Wong Opinion Managing Editors: Haley Finkelstein, Sophie Kupiec-Weglinski Opinion Section Heads: Kelly Riopelle, Jonah Ullendorff Opinion Assistants: Asya Alekhina, Carmen Levine, Mady Madison, Katie Perrin Features Managing Editors: Carly Berger, Aimee Misaki Features Section Heads: Sacha Lin, Benjamin Most, Su Jin Nam Features Assistants: Eshanika Chaudhary, Lola Clark, Kami Durairaj, Sabrina de Brito, Danielle Kaye, Lauren Kim, Jean Sanders, Phoebe Sanders, Liz Yount A&E Section Heads: Sharon Chow, Pim Otero A&E Assistants: Nico Brown, Hannah Cho, Sophie Cohen, Tiffany Kim, Katie Plotkin Sports Managing Editors: Tyler Graham, Audrey Wilson Sports Section Heads: Bennett Gross, Jonathan Seymour, Henry Vogel Senior Sports Writers: Mila Barzdukas, Cole Jacobson Sports Assistants: Aleksei Aguero, Juliana Berger, Zac Harleston, Joe Levin, Jacob Liker, Dario Madyoon, Carina Marx, William Park, Emily Rahhal, Rian Ratnavale, Connor Reese, Griffin Richter, Nick Settelmayer, Cameron Stine, Bryant Wu Art Director: Vivian Lin Multimedia and Online Editors: Nikta Mansouri, David Woldenberg Photography and Multimedia Staff: Caitlin Neapole, Lexi Bowers, Kelly Loeb Photography and Multimedia Assistants: Eshanika Chaudhary, Kami Duraijaj, Tiffany Kim, Joe Levin, Phoebe Sanders Ads and Business Manager: Kelly Loeb Advisers: Jenny Hontz, Kathleen Neumeyer 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 818-825-5059.

Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

KELLY RIOPELLE/CHRONICLE

Take time to remember

Rush to class. Rush through notes. Rush out.

Rush to practice, then rush home for work, then rush to bed. Repeat.

It seems like all we ever do at HarvardWestlake is rush through our days. Students run from one class to the next, clutching books between tight fingers and throwing a quick “thank you” over their shoulders to their teachers, who stay behind in the classrooms as the day goes on.

And as kids dart to and fro, teachers themselves run mental laps, jumping from class curricula to the tests sitting on their desks impatiently awaiting the colored pens of fate.

With everyone acting as hurried parts of a well-oiled learning machine, it can be hard for us to remember the well-sculpted words of the new mission statement. During times such as Jim Brink’s death, the underlying current of community that ties together the members of Harvard-Westlake becomes clear, and students and faculty find solace in each other as friends united through loss.

This sense of community grounds us and provides a broad comfort. But it should be expanded through all aspects of our lives. While tragedy brings us together and reminds us of how valuable the people in our lives are, the sentiment fades within a few months. That’s not to say that people don’t remember, because we do. But we forget to avoid taking our experience for granted.

In the daily grind, we should take some time to step back and enjoy the moment. The mission statement urges us to appreciate “the joyful pursuit of academic excellence, living and learning with integrity, and purpose beyond ourselves.”

If we focus on the English text for its poetic language instead of just viewing it as an assign-

ment to finish, or if we realize that the teacher’s lecture makes benzene molecules sound fascinating instead of just one more topic on the test, perhaps we can find the joy in the daily pursuit of knowledge. Of course grades and excellence are important, but teachers do more than disseminate their knowledge to us. They are having a conversation with us about how beautiful the world and its phenomena can be. But with our busy schedules, it sometimes slips our minds to embrace the joy in learning.

Each of us at Harvard-Westlake has a bigger purpose. Students often focus on getting good grades and attending a good college, but these are still relatively individual focuses.

We are all part of the Harvard-Westlake community, and what makes our school so amazing is how much people care about each other. But in the rush of our day, sometimes we forget to express our sentiments or to thank others for caring. Perhaps our bigger purpose as individuals is to show others how much they mean to us. Since we see our peers, teachers and faculty daily, we have plenty of opportunity to say we care.

Besides taking the time to thank our teachers and faculty for guiding us through life, we can also remember to appreciate those that support us on our journey: our families and our friends.

The stimulating warmth of a teacher, the guiding hand of a parent and the supportive shoulder of a friend come together to form our support systems. With how much unconditional love we receive from them on a daily basis, we can strive to demonstrate our gratitude for their presence in our lives just as often. A smile and a “hi,” like Jim Brink offered to everyone he saw, can do the trick.

A10 Opinion

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

Appreciate your teachers

By Jessica Spitz

T

he last issue of the Chronicle each year includes a senior supplement, and within the supplement, senior columns. Usually, the writers either reminisce about significant aspects of their high school careers, or they nervously speculate about the uncertain future.

When I found out about these columns at the end of my sophomore year, I knew immediately what I would write about when I was a senior myself: my teachers, and the profound impact that they have had on my life. I imagined publishing the piece and maybe, if I could get over the awkwardness of it, showing the article to the teachers who have been especially important to me.

I held onto this goal until last Thursday, when I learned that science teacher Jim Brink had died in a car accident.

Brink taught my chemistry class sophomore year, and he easily made the list of my favorite teachers at HarvardWestlake. Though I think (and hope) that Brink knew how beloved he was within our community, his passing prompted me to write my senior column a bit early.

Brink was one of the many teachers at Harvard-Westlake whose influence has shaped me as a person, and I think it’s so important that my teachers know how much I appreciate them right now, rather than when I graduate in June. So, without further ado, I present my ode to teachers: My teachers taught me how to be passionate. Watching my history teachers dive into detailed stories of the past and my English teachers stir up debate among my peers showed me how to channel my enthusiasm into compelling discussion.

My teachers taught me how to be resilient. Math has always been my biggest challenge academically; however, throughout all of my years at

Harvard-Westlake, my math teachers have pushed me to understand concepts that I wrote off as beyond my level of comprehension.

They have been there for me when my walk of shame landed me in their office after a bad test, and they have been there for me to offer a high five when the unit finally clicked.

My teachers taught me how to question the world around me. From learning how to balance a chemical equation, to the intricate process of cellular respiration, my science teachers have shown me how to explore my surroundings. And maybe I can even explore them in a foreign language, thanks to my French teachers.

My teachers taught me to advocate for what I believe in. I have learned to be brave enough to speak my mind.

Most importantly, my teachers have taught me how to treat others with kindness and respect, how to learn not only from my superiors, but also from my peers, how to think critically and how to approach the world with awareness and excitement.

They taught me how to love learning in all forms, which is the greatest gift I could have asked for while navigating the often treacherous waters of adolescence.

I could continue this list endlessly, and it is for that reason that I hope we will all take the time to show our teachers how much we appreciate them. Even a quick “thank you” at the end of class goes a long way.

I will conclude this ode with a thank you to every teacher I’ve had at HarvardWestlake. In one way or another, you helped mold me into who I am today.

Lastly, I offer a final thank you to Jim Brink, for exemplifying all of the best qualities a teacher could possibly have. I was so lucky to know you, and I learned so much more than chemistry during sixth period.

VIVIAN LIN/CHRONICLE

Growing up with Taylor Swift

By Carly Berger

O

ct. 27 marked the beginning of a new era in my life, the start of my transition away from Harvard-Westlake into, well, the real world. No, I didn’t submit my application to college or receive an acceptance letter, but something more significant happened: Taylor Swift’s album “1989” came out.

To be honest, at first I was a little underwhelmed by the album. I missed my girl Tay who wore cowboy boots, had long curly hair, and played the banjo in all of her songs.

She was replaced by a more fashionable Taylor Swift, who now wears crop tops and shorts, has shoulder-length hair, and wears her “classic” red lipstick. Needless to say, my country girl Tay is so passé.

At first, I couldn’t even listen to “1989,” so instead I listened to one of her old albums, my personal favorite, “Speak Now.” Flashbacks to my eighth-grade self appeared in my mind while listening to the album. This was the album that singlehandedly got me through my awkward stage at HarvardWestlake. I clearly remember listening to my favorite song on the album, Sparks Fly, while sitting alone on the bus to the middle school campus.

A lot has changed since I would sit alone, listening to

Not just cheap thrills

By Jonah Ullendorff

N

ames like Mike Meyers, Freddy Kruger, or Jason Voorhees need no introduction. They’re iconic figures of the oftenmisunderstood horror movie genre. Other movie genres just give you feelings you experience daily, but it is only horror movies that can give you that unique terror feel.

I’ve been sad, inspired or excited before, and it was all right I guess, but the feeling of sheer terror from a brutal murder was on another level.

Horror movies have had a unique effect on me since I was a little boy. As a kid of 7, I turned my TV to face the window outside, so when that scary girl from “The Ring” came out of it, she would fall out the window.

Within the horror genre, there are five sub-genres, each

offering its own uniqueness to the moviegoer. The first subgenre is known as “Disturbing and Gore” also dubbed “Torture Porn.” Perhaps the most popular example of this would be the movie “Saw,” telling a story of a killer who captures victims and makes them play brutal and violent games to fight for their freedom.

The next sub-genre is called “Psychological.” I think this one requires the most talent to create. Directors play into your fears, touching on emotion and guilt in order to play them against each others, confusing you. Is the villain evil? Or is he/she/ it justified in their murderous mindset? One example is “The Women in Black,” about a distraught mother who, furious over the death of her child, now focuses on making

Taylor for some reassurance that everything was going to be okay, that I would have more friends and be more confident — of course she was right.

After listening to the entire “Speak Now” album, I went back a little further into my Taylor Swift dossier, and I listened to her album “Fearless.” Memories of bat mitzvah parties from seventh grade appeared in my head, where I would belt out “Love Story” at the top of my lungs, or sing “You Belong With Me,” secretly hoping some seventh grade boy would realize I was singing to him. I guess I was just a little naïve at the time. I was confused about what a variable in PreAlgebra was, I was confused about who I should be friends with, and I was confused about the person I wanted to be overall.

Of course, “Red” was next.

I vividly remember the day that “Red” came out during my sophomore year. This was the toughest transition for me at Harvard-Westlake.

Juggling being on a team that I was not happy on and schoolwork that got drastically more difficult, I became pretty depressed.

When “Red” came out, it sort of grounded me. I heard a familiar Taylor, but something was different. She was

more grown up. She was no longer 15, but 22! She was my steady force when I was struggling with myself, and all the changes that quickly occurred. But she was changing as well. We were growing up, together.

After listening to all of Taylor’s albums, and reminiscing about my times at Harvard-Westlake while doing so, I finally succumbed and played “1989.” I was pleasantly surprised, and to be honest have not stopped listening to it.

When I think of 1989, I think of the album as the beginning of the end for me. It’s the beginning of a new era in my life—me growing up and going to college, but it is the end of my time at HarvardWestlake. I see myself as a happier person now. This is my era of confidence, of being who I want to be and not letting anyone change that.

Each Taylor Swift album has gotten me through a period of my time at Harvard-Westlake, and it seems fitting that 1989 will help me transition into a new era of my life outside of HarvardWestlake, just like Taylor is transitioning into her new era, and is leaving the banjo behind. Throughout my time at Harvard-Westlake, Taylor has been by my side, “Forever & Always.”

Horror movies don’t get much respect. But they are more than blood and gore. They often have more depth than meets the eye.

sure all those responsible feel her wrath.

The third sub-genre is often referred to as “Slasher Films.” These films are absolute kill fests. Normally these movies start off light toned before the characters stumble upon a sociopathic nightmare of a person or group of people.

“The Hills Have Eyes” perfectly exemplifies this genre.

It covers a family whose car breaks down in a desert near a former nuclear test site.

The family is subsequently forced to survive an onslaught of angry mutants who have been deformed due to nuclear radiation.

The fourth sub-genre was the beginning of horror. These are the classic “Monster” films. Although not necessarily scary in my opinion, these are good for the faint of heart

who would rather enjoy a nice thriller than be mentally scarred. It all started with “Wolf Man,” “Frankenstien,” and “Dracula.” Pioneers of their day, these cult classics are the forefathers of the modern “zombie” movement.

Finally, my personal favorite, is the sub-genre known as “Paranormal.” Movies fitting this genre would include “The Grudge,” “The Exorcist,” “The Ring,” and “Poltergeist.”

These types of movies drag you into the moment, putting you in a trance before abruptly snapping you out of it when you least expect it.

This produces sheer terror that one can only really get from these type of films.

To most, horror is often set-aside as second-class “B” movie genre. Yet, there is so much more to horror mov-

ies than meets the eye. It is a genre that can shift your mood instantly, simulating helplessness and panic in the sanctity of your home or theatre. This might be why it especially appeals to teenagers, as it is a way to test one’s emotional limits and come out more confident at the end.

Still not convinced? Horror movies have been reported to burn 100-200 calories throughout a whole sitting.

The quickening of the pulse and the surge of adrenaline you experience puts your body on alert, and you lose calories from it.

The true test of a good horror movie is in its ability to get you chasing shadows, thinking you see creatures long after the movie is over.

Speaking of creatures… what is that thing behind you?

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/opinion

Opinion A11 It was a privilege to have you as a teacher, mentor and friend, Mr. Brink. May you rest in peace.

— John Chung ’16

To share your memories of Brink, go to: hwchronicle.com/rememberingjimbrink

Thank you for all that you have done. You are truly an angel. God bless you.

— Sunaina Goel ’15 PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DAVID HO

I never shared with him how a small decision on his part set a young man on a path of self-confidence and an unshaking belief that everyone can contribute in a positive way if they want it bad enough, are willing to do the work, and put out the effort. One decision ...a lifetime of change and positive impact. Thank you Coach Brink.

— Brandon Watson ’92

Remembering Jim Brink ARCHIVES 1987

Jim, you will be missed. Our school has lost a great friend.

— John Corsello middle school history teacher

ARCHIVES 1979

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF JOHN CHUNG

ARCHIVES 1981

We all love you so much and care so much about you.

You were the funniest, most loving and caring teacher I’ve ever had. You will be missed. Thank you for an amazing three months.

Period three won’t be the same without you.

— Claire Chapus ’17

Students, faculty and alumni share memories of teacher and coach Jim Brink.

You were made to be a teacher because you had a gift to make everyone care about school ...I want to thank you for all that you did for me and especially believing in me because that is more than I could ever ask for.

— Ryan Finley ’16

Over the years, he has touched the lives of virtually all his students, including my own.

— Henry Prentice ’15

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF TRISHTA DORDI

Here’s to Mr. Brink — the only teacher who had hundreds to love, and loved them all just the same.

— Tiana Coles ’16

ARCHIVES 1986

A12

Two’s Company

exposure

Nov. 19, 2014

Students performed the fall musical “Company” in Rugby Auditorium Nov. 14, 15 and 16. The show follows Bobby (Adam Yaron ‘16) on his 35th birthday as he struggles with his fear of commitment and marriage.

ANGELA CHON/CHRONICLE

THREE’S THE CHARM: Adam Yaron ‘16 watches as Laurel Rand-Lewis ’16, Delilah Napier ’15 and Elizabeth Edel ’16 express their frustration with his character’s inability to commit as a boyfriend.

ANGELA CHON/CHRONICLE

GETTING MARRIED: Six of the couples reflect on what it takes to make a marriage successful, while singing “The Little Things.”

SHARON CHOW/CHRONICLE

ADVICE FROM ALL SIDES: From left, Elizabeth Gaba ‘17, Dora Palmer ‘15, Autumn Witz ’15, Morgan Brown ’15. Julia Safir ’15, Katherine Calvert ’15 and Cate Wolfen ’17 lament Bobby’s choice of women, as he and April, played by Delilah Napier ’15, embrace during “Poor Baby.”

ANGELA CHON/CHRONICLE

THE BIG FIGHT: Morgan Brown ’15 shows off her fighting skills with her character’s husband, played by Carlos Guanche ’16, as Adam Yaron ’16 runs away.

SHARON CHOW/CHRONICLE

BRIDEZILLA: Katherine Calvert ’15 freaks out about her character’s wedding minutes before the ceremony and contemplates calling it all off during “Not Getting Married Today.”

Features The Chronicle • Nov.19, 2014

n o t C r l

er d n U

o

17 percent of female students polled use birth control pills. While some use the pill for contraception, others use it to relieve period symptoms and to clear skin.

By Carly Berger Jane* hears her phone alarm ring while sitting with a friend at her house. She grabs it and reads the alert on the screen: “You know what this is,” then jets into the bathroom. She takes out the circular birth control pill dispenser from the cabinet as quietly as she can, pushes a pill from the dispenser and swallows it with a glass of water.

Although Jane has never had sex and went on the birth control pill to relieve symptoms of her menstrual period, she is not comfortable with people knowing that she is taking an oral contraceptive.

“My close friends know, but I feel like there is kind of a stigma about it, because a lot

of girls only get it because they are having sex,” Jane said. “I just feel like people will judge that, people who I don’t know.“ Even though the birth control pill was created more than 60 years ago, many students — some of whom take the pill for reasons that have nothing to do with preventing pregnancy — still fear a stigma surrounding the pill and the side effects that it may cause.

In a Chronicle poll collected this weekend, 17 percent of the 267 females polled take the birth control pill, and 56 percent are not comfortable with other people knowing they are on it.

“All of my friends know and my parents totally know,” Taylor* said. “I think everyone understands that I am taking

birth control because I have had a boyfriend forever, and I think they would expect me to,” Taylor said.

Seventy-one percent of the female students polled experienced mood swings on the pill, while 52 percent gained weight and 45 percent have gotten acne after using the pill.

Many say they take the birth control pill for the purpose of relieving period symptoms and clearing skin blemishes.

Shari* was told by her dermatologist that she should go on the pill in order to clear her bad acne, but when she went on it, she did not want anybody to know because she was afraid that people would assume she was having sex.

Before she went on the pill, Shari was worried about the various side effects that her friends had experienced.

“The pill basically tricks your body into thinking that it is making a certain amount of whatever hormone is in the pill, usually it is some combination of estrogen and progesterone,” pediatrician Cara Familian Natterson ’88 said.

“You essentially don’t cycle through a regular menstrual cycle because your body is at a very stable amount of hormone, so you don’t ovulate, or shed your uterine lining.”

Because the pill causes a woman not to ovulate, she cannot become pregnant.

• Continued on page B2 *Names have been changed

B2 Features

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

n the

Pill

• Continued from page B1 Natterson said the common side effects of the pill are weight gain and mood swings. However, she does not see these effects as often when prescribing newer versions of the pill, which contain lower doses of hormones.

The pill also has positive side effects, such as reducing period symptoms and clearing skin blemishes.

“A lot of adolescent acne is related to hormone swings, and if you are keeping the amount of hormones pretty steady, then your skin should respond by clearing up a little bit,” Natterson said.

Shelly* went on the pill five months ago to relieve her period sympoms, and since then has gained 10 pounds, which she finds very frustrating.

While Shelly does not want to stop taking the birth control pill, she does want to go on a lighter dose because of the drastic impact the prescription has had on her body.

“I don’t really see a need to stop it,” Shelly said. “I do still think it’s worth it for me to be on birth control, but honestly it is forcing me to eat healthier and work out more, because I have realized how much that has an impact on my body, and I now am more conscious about my weight.“ Milly’s* mother was afraid to let her go on the pill to relieve her period symptoms because of the risk of blood clots.

The American Heart Association published guidelines earlier this year recommending that women be screened for high blood pressure before being prescribed oral contraception because it can increase risk of blood clots and strokes.

Natterson said taking the drug creates a high risk of blood clots since it adds hormones to a woman’s body. Natterson said that there is an even greater

risk if the woman smokes.

“There is a higher risk of developing blood clots in patients who are predisposed to a genetic factor that causes an increase in the possibility of blood clots with combination hormonal birth control pills,” nurse practitioner Susan Steinrad said. “But nobody tests for those, and there are certain brands of birth control pills that are more contributory than others.”

Milly convinced her mother that she would be a “miserable person” if she did not take the pill.

Nevertheless, Milly has seen some major side effects while taking the oral contraception.

Milly accidentally skipped taking the pill one day, and because of that, she got her period for three consecutive weeks.

“I honestly have never been so miserable in my life,” Milly said.

“Your body doesn’t know exactly what is going on,” Steinrad said. “You’re suppressing, you’re not suppressing, you’re suppressing, you’re not suppressing, and you end up having other side effects, and the most common one is breakthrough bleeding, and that is bleeding at times that are not appropriate.”

Along with getting her period for three weeks, Milly also had a lot of breakthrough bleeding, and she became very moody, frequently crying while on the pill. Because of these side effects, Milly stopped taking the pill after three months.

Candy* refuses to go on the pill because she is afraid of the side effects of the pill, such as weight gain and mood swings.

“Even though I’m having sex, I am just using a condom,” Candy said. “I am so terrified of getting those side effects, and I have heard so many stories about my friends on the pill, so I refuse to go on it.”

Taylor has also had some side effects after taking the pill, but

they have not been as drastic.

She has seen her thighs get a little chubbier, and her breasts a little larger, but she says that the side effects are minor for her, and she would not stop taking the birth control pill because of them.

Taylor is, however, considering using a different method of birth control, the Intrauterine Device, or IUD. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the first choice for contraception should be a longer-term device, such as an IUD. The IUD prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. Depending on the device, some stop the menstrual cycle while others do not, Natterson said.

“The reason why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this is that people forget to take medicine, all the time, and that’s not just teenagers, it’s everyone, but teenagers in particular,” Natterson said.

Natterson prescribes different forms of birth control depending on the patient’s background.

“It really depends upon the kid and what they are coming in for and what their personality is like, what their concerns are,” Natterson said. “Are their parents involved in the choice?

That’s a big deal. It’s a complicated recommendation.”

Steinrad also says that IUDs are a little more difficult to insert in younger women who have not given birth, although it is possible to do. She also emphasizes that neither birth control pills nor IUDs protect against sexually transmitted diseases.

Some girls say that once they are on the pill, they are inconsistent with condom use.

“Now I’m on antibiotics and my doctor said they limit the pill so I’ve used a condom,” Taylor said. “But when I wasn’t on it sometimes, I didn’t use one.” *Names have been changed

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B3

HW SILCON VALLEY 2.0

From StartUp To Tech Hub If Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin’s dreams come to fruition, Los Angeles could be the next Silicon Valley.

SACHA LIN/CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY BENJAMIN MOST

By Benjamin Most

C

hief Financial Officer Rob Levin has a dream.

Fueled by the innovation of Harvard-Westlake alumni and students, and the resources that the school could supply, he envisions Los Angeles someday becoming a center of technology to rival the Silicon Valley during the boom when tech entrepreneurs founded Hewlett-Packard, Apple and other companies. The role that Stanford University played in the rise of the Silicon Valley could be played by Harvard-Westlake, he told faculty in a speech at the opening meeting at the beginning of the school year.

Levin was inspired by the StartUp Scramble this past summer, when in the course of a week, students created potential business ideas that they presented to a panel of alumni entrepreneurs.

The school could fund innovative independent projects by students, he said.

“What if we invested in our own people?” Levin said. “It helps the alumni, it helps the school.”

Levin pointed out that, although Harvard-Westlake has not always stood at the forefront of innovation, the school adopted key technologies in the early years of its development that persist today, including electronic music classes and the computerized student organization system, Didax.

Levin also cited HarvardWestlake’s professional facilities, funding and driven stu-

dent body as similar to those that helped Stanford become the hub around which Silicon Valley formed.

If Levin’s dream falls into place, key decisions could lead to a generation of graduates with programming abilities and a wealth of resources that could help make Los Angeles a second Silicon Valley, he said.

The newly created HW Tech Council may play a role in Levin’s plans.

Computer science teacher and independent app developer Jason Fieldman ’98 sees the Tech Council, of which he is a faculty adviser, as an opportunity for students to use technology and computer science projects to benefit the school.

Jonathan Burns ’14 and Henry Hahn ’14 created the Tech Council during the 20132014 school year to maintain the app iHW, which displays students’ daily schedules, and other student projects.

The council, which is entirely student-run and works on student-driven projects that impact Harvard-Westlake, now maintains iHW and the Info Center for iHW that is displayed on screens around campus. An app for seniors to use to check out when leaving campus, for all students to order sandwiches from the sandwich bar and for the HW Assassin game may appear in the future.

“The faculty advisers took it as a good opportunity for students to be able to persistently take over the student-created technology,” Fieldman said.

“You can make your own thing.

You can make HW Secret Santa, and if it’s good, you can

maintain it while you’re here, but then once you leave, you can give it to the Tech Council to take over and keep running.”

Seniors run the Tech Council and instruct juniors so that those juniors can run the council the following year.

“All students do crazy stuff on their own,” Fieldman said.

“They’re learning iPhone apps.

They make their own websites.

I’m here to help with all those things.”

Computer science classes have also grown rapidly in popularity recently.

Upper School Mathematics Department Head and computer science teacher Paula Evans has watched enrollment in computer science courses increase exponentially in the past few years.

Evans started teaching Design and Data Structures and Advanced Topics in Computer Science classes in 1999.

By the early 2000s, computer science classes usually had between five and 20 students every year. Only in the past few years has that number jumped to more than 50. Eighty-two students enrolled in AP Computer Science A last year, and this year 102 students take the course, more students than in any other AP class in the math department.

Evans attributes the increase in computer science interest to growing needs for programmers in the workforce.

As a result of increased class sizes, Evans and other teachers are encouraging students without prior experience with technology to try computer

science. The teachers are also trying to prepare students for the AP exam without making the course excessively difficult so that students without prior experience can feel comfortable in the course, Evans said.

Evans also attributes growing interest in computer science to Middle School computer science teacher Jessica Kaufman’s introductory programming classes.

“Anyone involved in computer science is teaching with a passion,” Evans said. “Every educator involved in computer science is doing it because they want to empower kids in the future. They care.”

Levin hopes to eventually unite the efforts of programs that work with computer science, including computer science classes, robotics teams and StartUp Scramble, in order to aid the growth of the HarvardWestlake computer science program, but he also emphasizes that students cannot be forced to work on projects together and that the union of computer science groups must occur naturally.

“The first thing is, if you have some sort of common vision that people are paddling towards, fleshing out that vision of where we’re going would be helpful,” he said.

For Levin, progress toward that vision, although it may be distant, began at StartUp Scramble and will take shape over the next few years. He warns that he cannot guarantee success, but, “unless you expect outrageous things, you will never achieve them.”

B4 Features

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

THE MAJOR

CHANGE

By Angela Chon

GRAPHIC BY VIVIAN LIN

Some college applicants declare majors that differ from their actual aspirations in hopes of standing out and boosting their chances of admission to college.

clared majors they think are “un-stereotypical” for their To set herself apart as the demographics as a way to help “American blonde girl who them in the college application wanted to study Chinese,” Ca- process. melia Somers ’14 focused her University of Notre Dame application to the University freshman Paul Suh ’14, who of Southern California on her wants to be a doctor, applied interest in the East Asian as a theology major because it Languages and Culture major was “different from the stethere. reotypical Asian kids who apWhen she applied to col- ply as medical majors or enleges, Somers knew gineering majors or that if she could build pre-med.” a “good story” that Although he was took advantage of the interested in relisix years she had spent gion, he switched studying Chinese, she into a pre-med sciwould have a better ence-business major chance of getting adas soon as he got to mitted. school.

At the time, howChris Han ’15 nathanson’s ever, Somers wasn’t has already submitRobert Lee ’14 convinced that she ted his early appliliked Chinese enough cations and is workto devote her college ing on finishing his experience to it and regular applications planned to switch to as an economics and a business major once philosophy major. she was in.

Although he’s “I went into it not also interested in knowing if I actually chemistry, he dewanted to stay in Chicided not to include nese,” Somers said. “I that part because nathanson’s just knew that it was he wanted to “deviChris Han ’15 something that would ate from the crowd” make me stand out of other Asian stuon paper. And I definitely do dents. think that it did help a lot, es“Truthfully, my dean has pecially for interviews, when always been making me avoid after reading the application, the sciences,” he said. they would see that I’m not Some students even choose Asian at all and they would be specific schools because the like, ‘Oh wow, you’re actually majors they are interested in very interested in this,’ so I as less popular at those schools think that was helpful.” and admissions therefore less Somers wasn’t the only one competitive. strategically choosing a major Currently a political sciuncommon to her demograph- ence and English double major, ic to gain an edge over other Robert Lee ’14 believes that applicants while planning to his avoidance of the profile of change directions upon accep- the “stereotypical Asian who tance. does math and science” helped Others have also used de- him get into Johns Hopkins

“

University.

“I put down I just knew ‘sociology,’ which that [Chinese] was Johns Hopkins is not known for,” something that would Lee said. “I mean, make me stand out on it has a terrific department, but paper.”

Hopkins is known — Camelia Somers ’14 to be a pre-med and engineernathanson’s ing school. That’s what the [repua Chinese-American or a Kotation] is. I think it certainly rean-American, by no means helped because Hopkins has a am I trying to be racist, but lot of nerdy math and science most of them are going to be kids.” in pre-med.”

Jay Park, a private college Although Park does not consultant for educational steer his clients to choose maconsulting group Admissions jors they have no interest in, he Masters, said students need to discourages them from choosfind ways to distinguish theming majors that are extremely selves. competitive. At the same time, “If you’re the odd man out, he tries to find things students then it’s going to be a breath of are passionate about. fresh air,” he said.

“If you’re going to choose College admissions officers something like geology as an are “kind of intrigued when Asian-American, that’s defisomeone [Asian] says they nitely unique,” Park said. “It’s want to study sociology or not often you see an Asian parEnglish,” Lee said. “That’s acent pushing for, ‘Yeah, you’re tually something my dean and going to be a geologist,’ But if I talked about. That’s kind of you don’t [have] that passion, an attractive thing being an you’re just choosing a random Asian interested in humanimajor, and that won’t work.” ties … I 100 percent believed it In his years of counseling, helped.” he’s seen a mixed bag of stuPark has been introducdents who switched majors as ing this strategy to his clients soon as they were accepted since he started private counand students who found true seling six years and 10,000 appassion for their selections plications ago. and stuck with them.

He describes the college Somers turned out to be admission scene as a “supply one member of the latter cateand demand” situation where gory. She decided not to switch choosing an overly poputo a business major once she lar major can make or break got to USC and plans to conchances of admissions. tinue studying Chinese.

“You can literally stroll “I didn’t think I was going into a geology program as opto [follow] through with it,” posed to a pre-med program, she said. “But [Chinese classwhere even putting that into es] are actually my favorite your application is going to be classes. I’m really, really hapdifficult,” Park said. “If you’re py that I am a Chinese major.”

Nov. 19, 2014

The

hwchronicle.com/features

RACE

Features B5

Many Asian students believe that they are held to higher academic standards during the college admissions process.

to College

By Sacha Lin

high-level colleges, they think whether it is detrimental to be “I think people don’t unthat the percentage of Asians Asian depends on the college. derstand that once you hit the During a September dean should be even higher based on “At Hamilton College, unspoken threshold, it doesn’t meeting to discuss college their test scores. where I first worked, a small matter that much how much prospects, Diana Kim ’15 was “I do think there is dis- liberal arts school, Asians above that threshold you are,” told that college admissions crimination in the sense that were underrepresented, so if Slattery said. “You break 740 officers would hold her grades I think they have a quota on an Asian student came into on all three sections. There’s and test scores to a higher Asians, and there are a ton of committee, we would actu- not a school in the counstandard because she is Asian. extremely qualified Asians,” ally act affirmatively,” Graham try that’s going to hold that “So right from the start, Yoshie* ’16 said. said. “So in that case, it would against you, and so the idea because I’m Asian, college adWhile Asian enrollment at help students tremendously. that someone might have a 740 missions officers would look at Ivy League colleges has leveled Then I went to NYU. Totally and think, ‘Oh I have to get an me in a different way, which off to about 15 to 20 percent of different story.”

800 because I’m Asian,’ I don’t I thought was not completely students in the last 10 years, Upper School Dean Beth think that’s true. I think that fair,” Kim said. it has increased to 40 per- Slattery questions whether a they shouldn’t feel like they Fearing that her cent in step with the bias against Asians should have perfect racial heritage would population increase even exists and thinks scores.” harm her chances of college-age Asians it could just be a misShe said it is imof admission to cerat the California In- conception of stuportant for students tain colleges, she had stitute of Technology, dents. She recalled to remember that doubts about markwhere admissions are a time when she had with holistic admising the box on her race neutral, ac- to review applicants sion, acceptance is college application cording to a graphic for USC from the Bay based on more than that would indicate published in 2012 on Area, most of whom grades and test scores. she was Asian. nytimes.com. were Asian. Their “Kids often think, nathanson’s nathanson’s “If my name This could be a test scores were high, if my grades and test weren’t Asian, I result of the fact that and almost four-fifths scores are better, I am Kyle Graham Beth Slattery wouldn’t have,” Kim many colleges seek to of the group of about more qualified,” Slatsaid. “But I thought I better construct racially diverse stu- 2,000 applicants wanted to tery said. “But the truth is, hocheck it because they would dent bodies. major in biological science or listic admission values grades know right away anyway.”

“No one is ever going to go engineering. and test scores more than it The belief that being Asian on record and say they have “Knowing that I could values other things, but it esmakes it less likely to get into a quota,” Graham said. “Do only recommend for admis- sentially takes everybody who highly selective colleges is one I think that a sophisticated sion a very small percentage, is qualified and makes them that many students share, but dean of admission would know you have to start teasing out somewhat equal.” it is unclear whether their what percentage was African ridiculous nuance,” Slattery Some students think that fears are founded.

American last year? Yes. Do said. “It had nothing to do admission for Asians might be A higher academic stan- they have a goal for what they with, from my perspective, a limited due to a lack of variety dard for Asians exists, Upper want it to be next year? Yes. student being Asian. All of a in extracurricular activities School Dean Kyle Graham I think with every population, sudden, someone who wants and choice of majors among said, because Asians have the they have a sense of where to be a creative writer seems Asians. highest average SAT scores they’d like to be, where they much more interesting than “I think Asians’ hobbies and are often compared to want to go, where they want someone who wants to be an can be pretty predictable, other Asian students. their average engineer. But and we probably have similar According to the SAT Per- SAT score to I can see why extracurriculars,” Kim said. centile Ranks for 2013 Col- go, what they those things “Play music, do community lege-Bound Seniors published want their get comingled service, get good grades. There I do think there by the College Board, an Asian yield to be. with ethnicity.” is a norm.” is discrimination in the student who received a 700 They don’t just If there is That Asians appear to face sense that I think they in all three sections was in hope for the a bias against discrimination could be more the 91st percentile for criti- best. They have have a quota on Asians, Asians, it is not the result of colleges wanting cal reading, 75th percentile to accomplish as conscious as their student population to and there are a ton of for math, and 89th percentile certain goals.” students be- cover a wide range of interests for writing compared to othS o m e lieve it to be, than it is of their goal to have extremely qualified ers of the same race. A white Asians have Slattery said. racial diversity, Slattery said.

Asians.” student with the same scores mixed feel“I don’t “There probably is some was in the 94th percentile for ings about the —Yoshie* ’16 think it’s overt bias about the activities that critical reading and math and possible bias discrimination, are probably unfairly stereothe 95th percentile for writing. against their but I do think typically Asian,” Slattery said.

“Think of kids as compet- demographic because they that admission officers need to “There’s probably some merit ing against their demographic think that admitting more be more mindful, and I’m not to that part of it, either in in the admissions process,” Asians could reduce the num- sure that all of them are be- picking particular majors or Graham said. ber of spots for underrepre- ing as thoughtful as they need doing particular activities. It’s Some students also think sented minorities. to be about the ways in which not specifically discriminathat the college admissions “They are discriminating those biases exist, but under tion as much as it is, ‘Oh we officers consciously limit the against Asians so that they the surface,” Slattery said. already have enough kids who number of Asians that they don’t discriminate against With test scores and do those things,’ but it’s not accept. Although Asians are other populations,” Tao* ’16 grades, Slattery thinks that no unrelated to race.” considered to be an overrep- said. higher standard for Asians exresented minority at many Graham also thinks that ists. *Names have been changed

“

SAT Percentile Ranks by Ethnic Group for 2013 College-Bound Seniors Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander

White Score

Critical Reading

800 700

750

Math

Writing

99

99+

99+

94

94

95

98

98

98

Critical Reading

Math

Writing

98

96

99

91

75

89

96

87

95

African American or Black

Critical Reading

Latino or Hispanic Critical Reading

Math

Writing

99+

99+

99+

99+

99

99

99

98

99+

99+

99+

99+

Math

Writing

99+

99+

99 98

99+ 99

SOURCE: THE COLLEGE BOARD GRAPHIC BY SACHA LIN

The Chronicle

B6 Features

Nov. 1

Dress Code Def iance Most students know that a dress code exists at the Upper School for the sake of everyone’s comfort, but many disregard its rules, saying they’re not enforced.

96%

of students have not encountered

enforcement of the dress code at the Upper School.

20%

By Aimee Misaki

A

of students say they do not

of students think faculty should not

have the authority to tell students if clothing is inappropriate.

SOURCE: CHRONICLE POLL OF 266 STUDENTS GRAPHIC BY SU JIN NAM

“

The School’s Rules Students should be appropriately, neatly, and fully attired. Those who, in the opinion of the faculty or administration, are not properly dressed, fully clothed, or properly groomed will be asked to change clothes, given school clothing to wear, or sent home. The school has sole discretion to determine if a student’s attire adheres to the dress code. The goal of the dress code is to create an environment in which all students, teachers, and staff feel comfortable; therefore, these guidelines should be taken

”

seriously. Students should keep in mind the following when dressing for school each morning: • Clothing should be clean and tidy.

• Footwear is required at all times.

• A skirt’s hem should fall below the fingertips when arms are hanging straight down by the wearer’s side.

• Stomachs, chests, and buttocks must be covered.

• Undergarments, with the exception of undershirts, should not show.

S

s she walks to asleep on a s ah* ’17 can al going to wear tries everything on, th shorts seem shorter remembered. She tak ment to ponder: Shoul wear the shorts, or s embrace comfort over and throw on some sw One thing that does her mind is whether e would violate the sch code.

“I don’t really con dress code at all while Sarah said. “I’m not anyway, what’s the poin The dress code say ate an environment in teachers, and staff feel students think its guid they are wrong.

The dress code als ing, visible bra straps, skirts with hems that e tips and clothing with of which can be spotte days of the school year “I think that the d followed because it’s n Hartmeier ’16 said. “S to not care if students have the mentality not Many students agr

know the dress code at all.

67%

and

• Hats and visors are not permitted in assemblies.

• Any clothing with offensive printing is not permitted.

• Excessively revealing shirts and shorts are prohibited.

• Halter and tube tops are not allowed.

• Overgarments should not appear to be undergarments.

SOURCE: HARVARD-WESTLAKE STUDENT HANDBOOK GRAPHIC BY LEILY ARZY

19, 2014

Su Jin Nam

hwchronicle.com/features

unaware of what the dress code specifically bans. oward her closet half “I definitely think that rules like having school morning, Sar- holes in your jeans or having ripped jeans lready see what she’s are not something known to anyone, esper. Once she cially because that’s what most peohough, her ple wear,” Audrey Kotick ‘17 said. than she Many students believe that the kes a modress code is enforced more strictly ld she still at the Middle School than at the should she Upper School. sex appeal “It’s a lot stricter at the Middle weat pants?

School about wearing ripped cloths not cross ing or clothing that shows more,” either item Isabelle Lesh ’15 said. “I think that nathanson’s hool dress at the Upper School, people are so Isabelle Lesh ’15 focused on work and doing other nsider the things, it doesn’t play as much of a I’m getting dressed,” major role.” going to get caught Teachers at the Upper School may speak nt?” directly to students they think are inapproys its goal is “to cre- priately dressed. They may also send them n which all students, to Assistant to the Head of Upper School l comfortable.” Many Michelle Bracken for school shirts or pants delines end there, but meant to cover inappropriate clothing.

Some female students complain that so bans ripped cloth- they feel uncomfortable with male teachhalter and tube tops, ers’ being able to tell them their clothing is end above the finger- distracting. offensive content, all “One time, a male teacher [at the Upper ed on the quad most School] told me that me showing my midr. riff was distracting and took away from the dress code isn’t really quality of the class,” Bailey* ’15 said. “The not enforced,” Daily way he was looking at me while he was tellSince teachers seem ing me that felt inappropriate and made me s abide by it, students feel extremely uncomfortable.” t to care either.”

According to the school’s dress code, ree and say they are faculty members have the authority to tell

Features B7

students when their clothing is inappropri- a certain type of attention.” ate. They may also send students home.

Other students disagree and believe the “An individual who dresses up too re- responsibility shouldn’t rest with the wearvealingly should recognize there will be re- er. actions towards the risque outfits,” Spanish “If you think you’re going to be distractteacher Javier Zaragoza said. “Whoever vi- ed, walk away or don’t look,” Lesh said. “I olated rules should be expecting repercus- don’t think that people should dress differsions.” ently because they’re worried that they’re “I have asked students to put on T- going to distract somebody. I think that shirts while playing on the field or jogging they should teach people not to be distractaround the track,” Head of Upper School ed.”

Audrius Barzdukas said. “Most of the time, Still, other female students say that the action consists of a request to girls should moderate their clotheither adjust or don clothing.” ing for a classroom environment.

Teachers often use their own “I notice how large boobs are discretion when it comes to enwithout them being shoved in my forcing the dress code. face and being made to say hello “When a student’s clothing to them,” Adria* ’15 said. “I have makes me feel uncomfortable, I boobs myself. I don’t need to see will say something only if I see a more.” continued pattern,” English and Some students also feel uneasy gender studies teacher Malina with the fashion choices of fellow nathanson’s Mamigonian said. “We all experimale students, particularly when ment and make mistakes, but a they involve tank tops or visible Malina habit, if you will, that is inapproboxers.

Mamigonian priate for school should be ad“Some guys think that sagdressed.” ging is cool, but quite honestly, it’s stupid,” Some students say they also feel un- Wayde* ’17 said. “A boxer sighting isn’t gocomfortable with some of their classmates’ ing to inspire awe in anyone.” clothing.

Regardless of what the dress code says, Jimmy* ’16 says he finds it difficult to Sarah intends to keep wearing her short focus when his female classmates wear pro- shorts without second thoughts. vocative outfits.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Sarah “I don’t think it’s completely my fault said. “Sure, it’s against the dress code, but that I get distracted easily by short cloth- everyone does it. If they punish me, they ing,” Jimmy said. “Personally, I think by have to punish everyone.” choosing to wear those kinds of clothes, you’re inviting and consciously agreeing to *Names have been changed

AIMEE MISAKI/ CHRONICLE

B8 Features

highstakes

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

ILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN LIN

Hitting ‘Submit’

By Carly Berger

The Athlete: Summer* chose to apply Early Decision to Oberlin College and hit send on the Common Application last week.

“It is not at all a Division I track school, or a sportsoriented school whatsoever, but they have been reaching toward me, and I really like the school, so I think that’s it,” Summer said.

Although her father subtly tells her that he wants her to attend a large Division 1 school, Summer still wants to go to a smaller liberal arts school.

“He doesn’t blatantly show his disapproval, but it’s like, he still wants me to go to a Division I school,” Summer said. “He is always like, ‘have you ever thought of so and so school, or this Division I school?’”

Regardless of how her father feels, Summer is very excited about applying to Oberlin and hearing their admission’s decision in mid-December.

“Honestly, I’ll be fine wherever I go as long as the people are warm and welcoming,” Summer said.

The hardest part of the application for Summer to complete was the supplement section.

“I struggled a lot with all of the supplements because find-

ing a topic to write about is such a struggle for me,” Summer said, “But I mean, I did it.”

The All-Around: Walter* submitted his four early action applications to Indiana University, the University of Michigan, Tulane University and the University of Wisconsin. He still is going to apply regular decision to Tufts University, Emory University and University of Southern California.

“I am pretty open-minded, but of course I really do like Michigan,” Walter said. “It’s a nice school, and a couple others for my regular decision list that I am pretty excited about.”

Walter does not have a first choice, and felt that he was not ready to apply Early Decision to any school because he could not commit.

Walter is thinking about playing football in college but says it would only be likely for him to do so if he went to a Division III school, like Tufts.

“I am not much taller or bigger, so I can’t really play Division I,” Walter said. “I am not going to get recruited or anything like that.”

Walter also found the hardest part of the application process to be deciding what topic to write about in his supplements.

“There are so many options

The students send in their applications for early acceptance to their top college choices and prepare for regular decision applications. to write about, and you have to pick which one best conveys you,” Walter said. “They don’t know your picture, they don’t know what you like, all they know is just these words on a page, so you get to try to show what best shows you, in the most effective way.”

Although the varsity football team lost in the first round of the playoffs, Walter was very happy with the season and really enjoyed being a senior on the team.

“The majority of the players on the varsity team are seniors, and it’s a fun experience because most of us have been playing together since seventh grade, so it is fun having that,” Walter said.

The Artist: Blair* has submitted 11 of the 13 applications to the colleges that she is interested in.

“It was extremely hard to apply to 13 different schools, and write all of their individual supplements,” Blair said.

Overall, Blair has had a hectic senior year, and has found this year much more challenging than her junior year. After taking no Advanced Placement courses last year, she is now taking two this year, which she believes is a “big leap.”

Along with adding more difficult courses to her schedule, Blair was also in the

school’s production of “Company.”

Blair found Rutgers University’s application the most difficult, but overall thought the college process was not as bad as she had imagined.

“At the beginning, the whole thing looked like, ‘how am I going to do this?’,” Blair said. “But now that I am through it, I realized that it wasn’t actually that bad.”

After submitting her applications, Blair is now practicing her college audition monologues, which must consist of one Shakespeare play and one contemporary play.

The monologues from each category must be contrasting; one must be a comedy and the other a tragedy. In total, Blair is preparing nine different monologues.

“You have to find a really unique monologue because you don’t want to perform the same monologue that everybody else does,” Blair said.

Blair so far has prepared Shakespeare monologues from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ ‘Twelfth Night,’ ‘Two Gentlemen in Verona,’ and ‘Richard III.’ Blair will begin auditioning in January.

The Brain: Seth* has found his senior year to be a lot more challenging than his junior year, yet

Breaking news

he says that he is doing much better in school. With five Advanced Placement courses on his plate, he says that he is very stressed.

Seth submitted two applications early. He applied Early Decision to Duke University and Early Action to the University of Michigan. Duke is Seth’s first choice because of his wonderful campus visit experience.

“It has a great campus, a great student atmosphere and great academics,” Seth said.

Seth plans to also apply to schools regular decision but has not finalized his choices.

He hopes to work with his dean to decide within the next couple of weeks.

“In the next two weeks I have to do my UCs and start working on regular decision applications,” Seth said.

Seth thought the hardest part of the application was trying to get his essay and supplements done just the way that he wanted them.

“Expressing what I wanted to say about myself was the most difficult part for me,” Seth said.

After submitting his early applications, Seth felt very relieved.

“I was very excited to not have to think about it anymore,” Seth said. *Names have been changed

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Arts&Entertainment The Chronicle • Nov 19, 2014

IN GOOD

COMPANY “A lot of people, even the ones who were cast, were worked up into states of paranoia and dread.”

By Jacob Goodman

S

even hours. That’s all.

After 17 hours of rehearsal per week for two months, that’s all you have to show what you’ve done: three performances totaling a little more than seven hours.

Auditions began for the musical “Company” two months ago, but for some it was even earlier. I rehearsed for two weeks for my initial audition: 16 bars from the song “Sorry Grateful” and two pages of dialogue from the opening scene between the characters Harry and Sarah. It’s not the prettiest process. You always think it’s great when you’re practicing alone or with some friends, but as soon as you’re in front of the directors, anxiety and doubt kick in.

This was my fourth musical at Harvard-Westlake, and I like to think I’ve established a good, sturdy relationship with the Performing Arts Department, but you can’t rely on that friendship as much as you’d like to. The directors cast to serve the show, not the students. And a lot of people, even the ones who were cast, were worked up into states of paranoia and dread.

When callbacks were posted, everybody had one day to learn all the scenes and songs for every part they were called back for. I was called back for three parts, so I had one night to familiarize myself with

three more scenes and one Stephen Sondheim does not more song. Some people had write easy music. I’ve never to learn as many as five new had any formal singing trainroles. ing, so learning an eight-part The callbacks are different. harmony is, and was, parYou’re not alone in front of ticularly hard. The musical the directors like your initial rehearsals are the soul of the audition. Everyone is show.

Sondheim’s crowded into the same music is full of purroom, and you get to pose, and he cares see what you’re up greatly about every against. Most of the note that he puts in time you are stunned a piece. For example, by what you see. Harin the final number vard-Westlake has an of the show, “Being abundance of talentAlive,” the melody ed kids who own the of the opening song nathanson’s stage when they’re “Company” and the Jacob up there, and after first act finale “MarGoodman ’14 the acting callbacks I ry Me a Little” are thought there was a played underneath good chance I wouldn’t be cast. the melody of that song, formAfter two days of call- ing the body for lead character, backs for 14 roles, which was Bobby’s, ultimate realization. expanded to 18 after the audiAfter all the music had tions, the cast list was posted been learned, staging began. on a Sunday night right after The play is rather metathe Senior Ring ceremony. I physical. Sondheim says the was cast as Larry, a 50-some- entirety of the show happens thing, fun-loving rich guy. within one instant in, Bobby’s Rehearsals began the next mind. So rather than interpret day. All 18 of us sat in a cir- the show literally, and set it in cle in the Drama Lab reading New York City, the show was through the entire script. In built around that idea. This led that first reading, nothing was to a minimal set. There were sung. Everybody read through no couches or bookshelves the songs as if they were lines or terraces. Just four white so that before we learned the benches and a piano, supplenotes, we had the emotions. mented with small necessary The first two weeks of re- props, all set against hanghearsal were all about the mu- ing curtains made of a semisic. The whole cast picks apart transparent material. Because each song note for note with everything was so minimal, our musical director Daniel the focus is placed even more Faltus, a pianist and musical heavily on the actors. director for the LA Opera.

The staging of the show

takes up around 60 percent of the rehearsal time. It’s here that you really learn about the people around you. You watch them develop their roles and become your friends. People really start to care about the show a lot more.

The musical is composed of vignettes with Bobby and married couples. Each scene was read through with directors, while everybody else continued to work on the music.

The second act opening number, “Side by Side by Side,” was the only dance number in the whole show. No dance auditions were held because the directors wanted actors who focused on character first and foremost. They wanted any dance in the show to be a natural extension of character. “Side by Side by Side” is 11 minutes long (only six minutes shy of the record for longest musical number). The staging of it took three days.

Once everything had been staged, blocked and memorized, the behind the scenes crew came in to do lighting and sound. There are dozens of lighting cues in the show, and each one has to line up with the actors’ placement on stage or a musical cue or a dialogue cue. We spent a full week just stepping through the show as lighting cues were corrected, created and adjusted.

The week after tech, we started dress rehearsals. Costumes, hair, makeup, microphones, everything is added

on. My character, Larry, was originally outfitted in a leather jacket, but that was quickly swapped out for a blazer when the directors and I thought that it didn’t match my interpretation of the character.

Our first audience came on the Thursday before opening night. Parents and teachers and students attended our invited dress rehearsal, which ran smoothly until the seconds before we were set to take our bows. The lights for the orchestra didn’t go up and we were left in dead silence for about 15 seconds, which is an eternity on stage.

Opening night is an affair.

Everybody is called two hours in advance. Last-minute fixes are made on top of putting on costumes, makeup, microphones and hair.

As much as you try to simulate the level that you will be performing at on opening night, you are never really prepared for the rush of adrenaline and nerves that come that night. I’ve been doing shows since I was in sixth grade, and it never gets easier.

Performing, for me, is permission to be foolish. It allows you to play out all those things that you shy away from in real life: rage, arrogance, over-thetop emotion. The two and half months during which a show exists are completely cathartic. It’s a long, emotional process and sometimes it seems silly that it all boils down to just seven hours.

SHARON CHOW/CHRONICLE

COME ON OVER FOR DINNER: From left to right, Elizabeth Edel ’16, William Hariton ’15, Katherine Calvert ’15 (front), Carlos Guanche ’16 (behind), James Hansen ’16, Adam Yaron ’16, Dora Palmer ’15, Julia Safir ’15, Jacob Goodman ’15 and Autumn Witz ’15 sing the opening number “Company.”

B10 Features

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

Senior releases first EP album on iTunes

By Jean Sanders

Elizabeth Goran ’15 released a five-song EP album on iTunes Sept. 26.

“Fight” is listed in the pop category, and its songs include “Undone,” “Make it Last,” “Fight,” “We Could Be” and “At the End of the Day.” Goran booked the studio months in advance and had two days to record all five songs, requiring her to record for 12 hours each day.

The EP took a month to mix, in which Goran met with an engineer who perfected the sound of each song. After the EP was mixed, it took three days to master.

“Seeing all the hard work culminate in such an amazing final product is truly incredible, and I’m so happy with the final product,” Goran said.

Goran attended the NYU Summer Songwriters workshop, a program for songwrit-

ers from around the world to attend classes aimed at improving songwriting skills.

There, she was mentored and taught by Grammy nominee Phil Gadston, singer-songwriter Maia Sharp and songwriter and producer Barry Eastmond, who listened to her songs and gave her constructive criticism.

Attendees at the workshop were given specific songwriting assignments that they collaborated to write. Goran wrote her song “Undone” at the workshop, which is featured on her EP. She wrote the song along with a college sophomore and a high school senior. Writers who attended the workshop learned songwriting, and also about various aspects of the music business. Professionals from performing rights organizations spoke to the attendees about copyright law and music licensing.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ELIZABETH GORAN

ALBUM COVER: Goran ’15 poses at the beach for her newly released an EP album “Fight” with five songs: “Undone,” “Make it Last,” “Fight,” “We Could Be” and “At the End of the Day.”

MS Winter Students to perform in annual holiday choral concert Concert to take place

By Pim Otero

By Dario Madyoon

The Winter Instrumental Music Concert Dec. 5 will be the first concert of the year for the Middle School Orchestra and one of the first performing arts productions of the year at the Middle School.

“It’s an exciting concert because we get to share with the audience and the students the progression of our program,” said Emily Reola, head of the Middle School Performing Arts Department.

The concert will feature six ensembles of different skill levels, ranging from Beginning Band and Beginning Strings, where students have only begun playing their instruments this September, all the way to the Middle School Orchestra, which includes the most talented musicians at the Middle School.

Jazz concert to feature other genres

Choral students may dedicate the annual holiday concert, “Gloria: Rejoice & Sing” to the memory of science teacher Jim Brink, who died Nov. 12. The concert will take place at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica Dec. 12. The men’s Wolverine Chorus, women’s Bel Canto, mixed-gender Chamber Singers and Jazz Singers will perform. The opening song, “Sing!

O Sing!” will be sung by all-female students, and the concert will close with the songs “Gloria” and “Peace, Peace,” sung by all choirs.

Guerrero began planning for the concert in June.

“We have to do so much shifting around, and we have so many various instruments accompanying some of the groups, so taking them on and off takes a lot of time,” performing arts teacher Rodger Guerrero said.

Throughout the concert, student instrumentalists will accompany the choirs. In the concert finale, ‘Gloria,’ additional professional instrumentalists from the University of Southern California will join the choirs. “[‘Gloria’ is] a great piece.

Ask the kids, they love it already,” Guerrero said. “It’s just very uplifting, very energetic, loud brass— you know, everybody loves loud brass. It’s just got a positive spin on it.”

Student documentary wins prizes and award at film festival in New York City

By Benjamin Most

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DORA PALMER

LESSONS IN LAUGHTER: A holocaust survivor laughs with Dora Palmer ’16 in her PSA, “Open the Door.”

By Mady Madison

The first jazz concert of the year Dec. 13 will showcase three jazz ensembles and a wide variety of music other than jazz.

“I’m excited to be able to perform with the whole ensemble in front of an audience for the first time this year,” Percussionist Sophia Dienstag ’17 said.

The three ensembles, Jazz Band, Studio Jazz and Jazz Ensemble, will each play around six pieces of different music styles.

These pieces will range from many different genres, featuring Latin Jazz, to pop music by artists like Radiohead and Michael Jackson to classics by artists such as Buddy Rich.

All choirs have been rehearsing since the beginning of the school year. After school rehearsals at the First Presbyterian Church will begin the week of the performance.

“The rehearsals help us improve not only our knowledge of the repertoire but our technique as singers and performers,” Kelly Morrison ’16 said. “In the concert, what we showcase is the technique we’ve cultivated through music.”

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DELILAH NAPIER

ON-SCREEN TEARS: An interviewee in Delilah Napier’s ’15 film “The Lingering War” cries as she speaks of her blind grandson.

“The film was written after interviewing [Holocaust Delilah Napier’s ’15 docu- survivor] David Lenga, who mentary called “The inspired me and the Lingering War” on rest of the group to the history of Laos make a PSA about during the Vietnam stepping forward War won the prize when you see somefor best documentary one getting bullied,” in the All American she said.

High School Film Palmer and her Festival and was a fiteam received comnalist for best overall puter software, a film. package of DVDs, nathanson’s Napier won a stickers and key Delilah Sony camera, a $500 chains.

Napier ’15 scholarship and copNapier is now ies of screenwriting working on a film program Final Draft adaptation of “Berand film editing pronice Bobs Her Hair,” gram Final Cut Pro. a short story by F. She will also travScott Fitzgerald, for el to San Diego to her Cinema Studwork on the set of a ies class along with documentary called Danielle Stolz ’15 and “Soldier’s Song.” film festival co-chair, Dora Palmer’s ’15 Marianne Veronne nathanson’s film “Open the Door,” ’15.

Dora a PSA on bullying she Palmer just rePalmer ’15 created two years ago cently completed a with four students from oth- psychological thriller about a er schools, won the award for schizophrenic high school stubest PSA. dent.

Vietnam Initiative Project video wins award in festival

By Katie Plotkin

The Vietnam Initiative Project’s video, “My Aunt Kim,” was named a Short Film Official Selection in the Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival Oct. 3-4.

The video also received the Audience Award at the Fifth Annual Awareness Festival Sept. 11-21. The Awareness Festival’s goal is to make as many people conscious of problems in the world by screening various types of

videos and spreading awareness across a wide audience.

The video is about Kiva, a non-profit that loans money to entrepreneurs in low-income countries. “[We submitted the video] to get the word out about micro-

finance and our project,” Vietnam Initiative Project founder Raymond Chung ’15 said.

Project members held a fundraiser called Aunt Kim’s Birthday Gift. Students gave several small loans through Kiva in her name.

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B11

2nd Cuba trip set for March

By Benjamin Most

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF RODGER GUERRERO

SINGING AWAY: Choral conductor Rodger Guerrero leads the Chamber Singers in a piece. The singers performed at a festival held at the Biola University Conservatory of Music in La Mirada. The choir was one of the nine high school choirs that participated in the festival.

Chamber Singers participate in festival

By Connor Reese and Oliver Richards

Chamber Singers performed in their first public appearance this year at a festival held at the Biola University Conservatory of Music in La Mirada.

“The festival at Biola was an amazing experience,” said Theodore Sokoloff ’15, who sang at the festival. “We were surrounded by so many talent-

ed choirs, and I learned a ton from listening from them.”

Nine high school choirs performed sets of music. Each school brought around 20 to 40 singers. The Biola University Chorale also performed at the festival.

“It was interesting to see the others perform and be able to learn from them, and hopefully we can improve with the feedback we got from our adjudicator as well as our critiques

of the other choirs,” Elizabeth Edel ’16 said.

Rene Clausen, an acclaimed choral composer of Concordia College in Minnesota, went to the festival to advise all of the choirs on how to improve.

Each team was able to be critiqued and given individualized pointers by Clausen. “[He] is one of the most renowned choral conductors in the world,” Choral conductor Rodger Guerrero said.

Guerrero was impressed with the performance and is excited for the upcoming winter concert.

He is also enthusiastic to return to the festival again next year to improve the Chamber Singers even more.

“The Chamber Singers performed very well,” Guerrero said. They were also extremely impressed by the other choirs and definitely want to return.”

Outreach Performers to sing for charity

By Sophie Cohen

The Harvard-Westlake Outreach Performers will perform for children at the Ronald McDonald House and for the elderly at the Sunrise at Playa Vista next month.

The 14 club members have been preparing every Sunday since September for these two performances.

Their performance will include a wide variety of traditional Christmas and holiday songs, theatrical readings and narrative poetry.

The show at the Sunrise at Playa Vista will be a more traditional Christmas show featuring classic Christmas carols and poetry by Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.

Meanwhile, the Children’s

Show at the Ronald McDonald House in Pasadena will be catered toward a young, contemporary audience.

“Our more classic holiday songs are accompanied by new favorites like ‘Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?’ from Disney’s ‘Frozen,’ Covi Brannan ’15 said.

These two performances give club members an opportu-

nity to share their talents and give back to the community.

After each performance, the club members will interact with the members of the audience.

“All the club members have been working very hard, and I am so excited with the progress they all have made,” Brannan said.

“December can’t come soon enough.”

Summer workshop film wins in festival

By Danielle Kaye

A film documenting the story of Holocaust survivor Curt Lowens, created by students in the Harvard-Westlake summer film program, placed first in the My Hero film festival student category.

The film is a product of the Righteous Conversations Project Digital Storytelling Workshop.

The program was offered at the upper school campus for the first time this summer.

Student filmmakers attended Milken Community High School, Aveson Global Leadership Academy, Windward School and AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School.

Lowens’ past was brought to life through animation inspired by StoryCorps and its recent film adaptations. Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke and visual arts teacher Alyssa Sherwood helped the

students throughout the process alongside professional filmmaker Cosmo Segurson, whose films have won various awards and first feature has attracted audiences watching on Netflix and Showtime.

“I think the main purpose [of the film] is to share a story of resistance and overcoming the challenges of the war,” Gaulke said.

The My Hero festival accepts various genres of films from filmmakers of all ages.

The Curt Lowens film is the first submission from the Righteous Conversations Project, and will be recognized during the My Hero awards ceremony Nov. 22.

Milken Community High School student Tammy Shine said the program as a whole was a unique and valuable experience.

“I think the compilation of all of our ideas is what made the video so special,” Shine said.

The administration approved a second trip called Media Arts Collaboration: Cuba, which will take place from March 28 to April 5, two months after the digital storytelling trip to Cuba in January.

Led by visual arts teachers Alyssa Sherwood and Joe Medina, students will communicate with Cuban children, document the trip and use social media to share photos with others.

The trip will be different from the January trip to Cuba led by Head of Upper School Visual Arts Cheri Gaulke.

The HW Go! Trip will focus more on “a global collaboration between students in Cuba and the U.S. using photography and social media,” Medina said.

The students will visit rural neighborhoods, explore a tobacco farm and go snorkeling. They will also experience Cuban art and music, and learn local cultures and traditions.

Dance class to perform showcase

By Sharon Chow

Advanced Dance I will perform its annual Outreach Dance Showcase Performance in the Dance Studio Dec. 10 at 9:30 a.m. for ARC, an organization for mentally challenged adults.

The dances in this annual outreach showcase were choreographed for ARC. “It is always a very special experience for our students and the audience,” upper school dance teacher Cynthia Winter said.

In addition, there will also be another performance for students and parents Dec. 10 at 4 p.m.

“It’ll be such a great experience,” said dancer Nina Kiley ’17.

Musicians prepare for fall concert

By Aleksei Aguero

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF CHERI GAULKE

A STORY COMES ALIVE: An attendee works at the Righteous Conversations Project Digital Storytelling Workshop, a summer program hosted at the Upper School. Participants created a film, which placed first in the My Hero film festival student category.

Wind Ensemble, Camerata Strings, and Symphony will headline the Fall Instrumental Concert on Friday, Nov. 21.

The concert will feature more than 100 students, and will additionally incorporate multiple performances from smaller ensembles including percussion and clarinet groups.

Students have been rehearsing all year, and are showcasing their final product for audiences at the Rugby Auditorium.

“It would be awesome to have a lot of people there to be able to listen and appreciate our hard work,” Symphony trumpet player Jed Kronenberg ‘17 said.

Tickets are not required.

B12 Features

The Chronicle

Nov. 19, 2014

Gluten-free eating has become more popular because people believe it helps them lose weight.

In reality, the absence of gluten can actually be harmful for teenagers.

By Jake Saferstein Actress Jennifer Lawrence calls it “the new cool eating disorder, the ‘basically I just don’t eat carbs.’” Yet, many students at Harvard-Westlake and across the country still eat gluten-free and say they feel much better because of it.

“Some people think it’s a fad, like Jennifer Lawrence,” said Tess Kemper ’15, who has been gluten-free since April 2013. “But for me it’s been life changing, and in the end I feel better.”

Kemper went gluten-free because she heard it was a big health trend and wanted to try it for herself.

“I felt like I sort of cleansed my body, I started watching what I was eating, I felt healthier, and I lost weight,” Kemper said. “It changed my whole lifestyle. I also started working out more and felt better about myself.”

And soon after, her friend Arin Schwimmer ’15 followed.

“After [Kemper] started, I tried it and felt a lot better,” Schwimmer said. “And also since we both were doing it, it’s sort of a bonding experience.”

The gluten-free diet trend started when a study from Peter Gibson, a professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, found that people without celiac disease who had stomach ailments lost their symptoms by not eating gluten.

While this was a small

study, and later Gibson himself found it to be inconclusive, people found a concrete “scapegoat” in gluten on which to blame their stomach problems. The gluten-free trend caught on, and started growing in popularity.

As a result, the cafeteria started posting signs indicating foods that are gluten-free.

“Both the national trend and requests made us put up the gluten-free signs,” cafeteria manager Nipa Sritanoothamakul said. “We saw more kids that needed it, and we actually had most of the [glutenfree] foods there before. We just wanted to make it clearer and easier.”

Nutritionists believe that skipping gluten should only be done by people who are legitimately sensitive to it, and have had a blood test or endoscope done by a doctor. Doctors say that there are negative effects to avoiding gluten.

“Gluten-free products, such as gluten free-breads and baked goods are usually lower in fiber, iron, folic acid and other B vitamins than wheat products, so a person’s diet can be lacking important nutrients if they choose to avoid gluten,” said founder of Helping Hand Nutrition Jana Greene Hand, who specializes in Pediatric, Teen and Adult Nutrition and also teaches at California State University, Los Angeles.

“Accidentally missing important nutrients can lead to nutritional deficiencies and other health problems.”

A ‘Foodie Fiasco’ Kelly Morrison ’16 has managed to profit from the gluten-free trend with her food blog, www.foodiefiasco. com.

Morrison went vegetarian in 2011 for moral reasons and also started her blog that year.

Quickly, however, she got a lot of demand not just for healthy vegetarian food, but also for paleo, vegan and of course, gluten-free recipes. And so, soon

after she started, she followed the trends and made her recipes paleo, vegan and gluten-free.

“Personally, I’m not gluten-free, and it’s important for the individual to decide what’s best for them, but in the healthy food-blogging world, it’s a popular request,” Morrison said.

Since 2011, Morrison has turned her love for cooking, photography and food into a business. Her blog

In addition to missing out on important vitamins, the lower carb diet can be harmful, especially to children.

“Sometimes people will go gluten-free as a way of eating low carb or avoiding carbs altogether in the hopes they will lose weight,” Hand said. “This can be dangerous for teenagers especially and can affect a young person’s growth pattern, normal development and metabolism.”

However, Kemper believes eating fewer carbs is one of the benefits of a gluten-free diet.

“It forces you to cut out everything bad for you, like cake, cookies and bread,” Kemper said. “There are no cheat days.

When I learned the hard way that soy sauce had gluten in it, my stomach hurt.”

While Hand does not encourage going gluten-free without a doctor’s opinion, she said that if people do go gluten free that, “it is important that you still include gluten-free whole grains, such as quinoa and brown rice, into your diet, as well as plenty of fruits, veggies, beans, nuts and lean proteins.”

Both Kemper and Schwimmer have few issues sticking to their diet whether at home, at school or abroad.

“At first it was harder to stay gluten-free. My first summer [I was gluten-free], [my family and I] went to Europe, and I didn’t have one piece of bread or any pasta or pizza in Italy,” Kemper said.

“Now, it is slightly harder eat-

ing out, since I always have to ask about it, but there’s always something.”

Schwimmer has been bringing lunch to school even before she went gluten-free, and Kemper often brings fruits and snacks, so it has been easy for them to stick to the diet. Schwimmer’s dad even followed her, going gluten-free, and Kemper’s family often tries to do it, though they never stick with it.

As far as taste goes, Kemper and Schwimmer are both happy with their diets. They can both still eat their favorite foods, fruit and frozen yogurt, and Schwimmer prefers the taste of corn-based flour to wheat-based flour.

Schwimmer prides herself on baking gluten-free sweets and seeing if tasters can notice a difference.

“I like to challenge myself like that, since some people see gluten-free foods as a turn off,” Schwimmer said. “So I bake sweets without telling people that they’re glutenfree, and after they try it I tell them as an added bonus it’s gluten-free.”

While many consider going gluten-free to be just a fad diet, Kemper and Schwimmer cannot imagine going back.

“If I was somewhere where I had to and couldn’t get necessary nutrients, it’d be stupid to continue it,” Schwimmer said. “But as long as it can be as convenient as it is now, I plan on eating gluten-free for life.”

Kelly Morrison ’16 founded her gluten-free, vegan food blog in 2011 and has gained six million visitors.

has just received its 6 millionth unique visitor, and gets around 575,000 page views a month. She employs 19 recipe testers, an eightperson executive team and just recently hired contributors.

Once Morrison decides on a recipe to turn paleo, vegan and gluten-free, either through requests or from her “baking bucket list,” she starts substituting ingredients in order to make them healthier.

Morrison then Morrison sends out a currently does recipe to her all pictures 19 recipe tesand recipes ters, who try herself, but to make the will soon be recipe and putting up send notes recipes from back to her deher recently scribing how hired contribnathanson’s the process utors.

Kelly and final prod“I’m just so Morrison ’16 uct turned out. glad I’ve been When the able to share recipe is finalized, Mor- my passion of cooking rison then photographs and photography and the food and posts it to grow it into a job,” Morher blog. rison said.

— Jake Saferstein

Sports The Chronicle • Nov. 19, 2014

Cross Country

Both squads qualify for CIF Finals

By Henry Vogel

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

BAND OF BROTHERS: Defensive standouts Olan Moon-White ’15 (left) and Zeph Williams ’15 share an emotional moment after a 42-14 loss to Crescenta Valley High School in the first round of CIF playoffs. The squad finished with a 7-4 overall record this sesaon.

Wolverines fall 42-14 in 1st round of playoffs

By Tyler Graham

Defensive end Olan MoonWhite ’15 set the school’s sinThe Wolverines’ sea- gle-season sack record with a son came to an end following a sack in the first half, finishing 42-14 loss to Crescenta Valley with 12 on the year. last Friday in the first round The Wolverines’ lone secof CIF Playoffs. The team fin- ond-half touchdown came on ished with an overall record a 91-yard kick return by runof 7-4 and a 3-2 record in the ning back Garrett Robinson Angelus League. The game ’15. Cohen threw two secondmarked the football half interceptions program’s first playthat led to two Cresoff appearance in two centa Valley touchyears. downs.

After a scoreless “I think we just first quarter, Cresshould’ve been a bit centa Valley scored more emotional,” first with three minRobinson said. “We utes left in the first were a little flat, eshalf on a trick-play pecially toward the nathanson’s “fumblerooski.”

Just end of the game, and two minutes later the this game is very nathanson’s Wolverines answered much determined by Garrett with their own touchmentality and emoRobinson ’15 down on a nine-yard tion.” pass from quarterback MarRobinson, who was votshal Cohen ’16 to Albert Choi ed October’s Athlete of the ’15. Seconds before the end of Month by the SAAC, was the the first half Crescenta Valley first Harvard-Westlake runscored on a touchdown pass to ning back to break the 1,000take a 14-7 lead heading into yard rushing mark for the seahalftime. son since 2008. Robinson ran

for 1,213 yards on 190 carries, with 16 rushing touchdowns, in the regular season.

“Rushing for over 1,000 yards was something I was looking to do last year, but because of my injury I wasn’t able to,” Robinson said. “I put in a lot of work in the offseason, and I’m glad to see that it all paid off. My linemen and receivers also did a great job blocking, so these yards are also theirs. I’m definitely glad to have put up those numbers this year.”

Cohen was the Wolverines’ second leading rusher on the season with 594 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Cohen also threw for 547 yards.

The loss against Crescenta Valley marked the last time this year’s senior class will ever put the pads on for Harvard-Westlake.

“My most treasured memories would definitely be all the times with the team just having fun and getting rowdy to music in the locker room and the chants after we won

games,” safety Desmond Butler ’15 said. “Any time spent with the team was incredibly enjoyable, I love every guy on the team like a brother and couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to end my high school career with.”

Butler finished the season with two interceptions and 55 tackles on the regular season. Another standout on the defensive side of the ball was defensive tackle Zeph Williams ’15, who led the Angelus League with 28.5 tackles for loss in the regular season.

Despite an early exit in the playoffs, the Wolverines enjoyed a stellar season.

“I thought we overall had a great season,” Butler said.

“There were a few games that we felt we should’ve won as a team, but we still greatly improved on last year’s record.

Obviously losing in the first round was tough, but I think we left the program better than we found it and hopefully the underclassmen will continue on.”

The girls’ and boys’ cross country teams qualified for the CIF Finals at the CIF Prelims last Saturday. The Finals are this Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

The girls’ finished third in their heat and were the seventh out of 16 teams to qualify for CIF Finals. The boys finished third as well and were the tenth out of the 16 boys’ teams to qualify for CIF Finals.

“We just executed our plans really well,” Jack Stovitz ’16 said. “The goal wasn’t to go that fast today, it was just to qualify without pushing too hard. I think we all did well, and a lot of us still ran really fast despite holding back some of our effort.”

The goal of prelims is not to go out and run the fastest time possible, but rather to qualify for the CIF Finals, Cross Country Program Head Jonas Koolsbergen said. Runners did their jobs and executed the game plan. For the girls, this meant running as a pack as they usually do.

After describing the event as a team effort, Koolsbergen pointed to Lochryn Howe ’17, who led the girls’ team, and Stovitz, who ran very well for the boys, as well as a couple of younger runners who scored for the Wolverines in their first-ever CIF playoff race.

The Prelims were also run at Mt. SAC. Both the girls’ and boys’ last meet there was the Mt. SAC Invitational, a nonMission League practice race known as one of the more difficult and competitive practice meets the team participates in. In the prelims, a lot of runners individually improved their times from that practice race. “[These improvements] give us confidence that we are doing the right things and that Finals, and hopefully beyond, should be fun,” Nicole Araya ’16.

• Continued on page C5

INSIDE

C2

HAND DOWN, MAN DOWN:

Parsa Shoa ’16 and the boys’ basketball team strive to improve on last year’s early playoff exit. Check out a preview of the boys’ basketball team and of all other winter sports.

C2 Sports

The Chronicle

Facts &

Figures

5

Number of top 10 finishers on the girls’ cross country team in Mission League Finals.

14 Number of wins Head Basketball Coach Greg Hilliard has heading into his last season.

Winter is Coming

By Cole Jacobson

L

Boys’ Basketball

Number of times the boys’ water polo team won while netting 20 or more goals.

603

1213

Garrett Robinson’s ’15 rushing total for the 2014 season, the most in the Angelus League.

Game to watch NOV. 19 Water Polo vs. Corona del Mar William Woollett Aquatics Center

The squad defends an overall record of 27-0 going into the CIF semifinals.

This is the second time the Wolverines will play CDM this year. The first was a 22-7 win.

The team defeated Irvine and Orange Lutheran in the first two rounds of CIF playoffs.

KEY PLAYER

Johnny Hooper ’15

GRANT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE

EYES ON THE TARGET: Alex Copeland '15 fends off Alemany defender Shacquille Dawkins '16 in a 76-73 home loss last season.

Copeland is entering his fourth season on the varsity team.

Last Season Record:

4-8

League

13-16 Overall

Girls' Basketball

Junior Varsity Cross Country Last Meet: Four scorers @ League Finals

Football (3-6-1) Last Game: L (40-14) @ St. Paul HS

Last Game:

MILA BARZDUKAS/CHRONICLE

OFFHAND DRIBBLE: Lindsey Tse '17 pushes the ball toward the basket on a fast break last season. The girls believe that they are a serious contender for the CIF Championship, despite injuries.

T (1-1) @ Bonita HS

Girls’ Tennis (6-5) Last Match: W (6-0) vs. Marymount HS

Girls’ Volleyball (11-7) Last Match: W (2-0) @ St. Lucy

Boys’ Water Polo (11-8) Last Game: W (7-5) vs. Agoura HS

osing three of its four leading scorers and three underclassmen transfers from last season’s CIF-SS Division 4AA quarterfinalist squad, the boys' basketball team still aims to return to prominence in Greg Hilliard’s final year as the head coach.

One holdover from the 2014 team is returning first-team Mission League selection and Yale commit Alex Copeland ’15. As the lone returning starter from a squad that saw double-digitper game scorers Derick Newton '14, Mike Sheng '14, and Bryan Polan '14 graduate, Copeland has been thrust into a leadership role, and is optimistic about the revamped roster.

“We had a really good summer, we shocked a lot of teams. We know that teams [like Chaminade and Alemany] are supposed to be some of the better teams in the area, and we definitely think that we can take them down,” he said.

The Wolverines welcomed guard Wolfgang Novogratz ’16 from Poly Prep (NY), the 34th ranked 2016 point guard nationwide by 247sports.com. Novogratz is recovering from a stress fracture in his foot, but is expected to be ready for the regular season.

The team has a notable lack of size on the roster, with no players listed as over 6’5’’ or 200 pounds. Noah Gains ’15 will slide into a key role in the post, but the whole team is expected to contribute defensively.

“I’ve learned that since I’m smaller than most of the guys I’ll play, I have to be scrappy … I’m not bigger or stronger, but I’m smarter, I have to work harder than them,” Gains said.

“Coach has been doing a lot of rebounding drills with us, even with the guards. Boxing out has been a big focus since we’re a smaller team,” guard Spencer Perryman ’15 said.

Because of uncertainty regarding the contributions of fall athletes Carter Begel ’17 and Ray Mueller ’17, Hilliard said that Copeland, Novogratz, and Gains are the only certain starters, but added that “people are going to be shocked at the outside shooting of Aaron Glazer ’17.”

“We’re going to be faster than what the other team has on the court, so it’ll be an advantage,” Gains added.

Around the Mission League, Cal-Hi-Sports’ preseason poll ranked Loyola 22nd in the state and Chaminade at 28th, and Alemany was ahead of both teams by placing eighth in the Los Angeles Times’ poll.

“We’ve been in the position before where teams have doubted us and we’ve surprised a lot of people,” Copeland said.

With the presence of the “Open Division,” which takes the top 16 teams in the CIF-SS away from their initial divisions, the Wolverines believe they can contend for a title.

“I’ve been on the team since I was a freshman, and I haven’t made it past the quarters," Copeland said. “Now, in my last year and Coach Hilliard’s last year, I want to break that trend.

Nobody on the team has a ring, and our goal is to get a ring."

By Henry Vogel

Hooper has been an anchor for the Wolverines' offense in the first two rounds and throughout the season, and he plans to finish the season undefeated in his final year as a Wolverine.

Field Hockey (5-2-2)

Nov. 19, 2014

Last Season Record:

6-4

League

17-13 Overall

A

fter a second round exit from the CIF Playoffs last year, the girls’ basketball team’s primary goal is to get to the CIF Finals.

“We definitely have the talent and depth to make it,” Lindsey Tse ’16 said. “If any team of my three years here were to make it [to the CIF Finals], it would be this team this year.”

The team lost two leaders from last year in Zoe Bohn ’14 and Glenne Carter ’14, but the girls were able to learn a lot from them and have grown as a team because of them, Tse said.

The acquisition of freshman twins Jayda and Jayla RuffusMilner ’18 will fill in the gaps in the roster opened by the departing seniors. Both bring more energy and athleticism to the squad, Ashlee Wong ’18 said.

“In addition to their athleticism, they also push all the players in practice to be more aggressive,” Wong said. “They always have positive attitudes.”

Jayda is still in the recovery process after tearing her ACL last year. It is unclear whether or not she will be back for the start of the season. Though her absence could potentially affect the team’s game plan and strategy, Wong believes they can find a way to succeed even if Jayda misses the first few games.

Jordan Brown ’16 is also coming off of a hip and back injury, but she is ready to play and will have a role on the team this season, Wong said.

Tse, who is entering her third season on the varsity team, and Teeana Cotangco ’15 are stepping up as the leaders on the team at this point. Both are guards, which means they will also be leading the team on the court by calling plays and bringing the ball up the floor.

Cotangco has three-point range and is a facilitator for the offense, distributing the ball to open shooters and helping others find a rhythm offensively. Tse is both an offensive and defensive leader for the team, focusing on slashing to the basket and locking down her matchup on defense. “[Tse] has a demeanor about her that gets people to listen to her and that’s very important on our team,” Wong said. “They both know the system very well.”

The team agrees that to reach the CIF Finals and potentially win, the girls’ defense needs to increase in intensity. This means more communication on the court and putting more pressure on the other team’s ball handlers. The squad does not have a lot of tall players, but ramping up the defense can compensate for the lack of size.

“When Jayda returns and our entire team is healthy, we expect to accomplish big things and even win CIF,” Jordan Brown ’16.

The team's first game this season is an away matchup against El Camino Real High School Nov. 25.

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/sports

Sports C3

As the fall sports seasons wrap up, these winter sports teams are gearing up for their seasons.

Though each team is dealing with injuries, all will attempt to contend for CIF titles.

Alum becomes NBA assistant coach

By Tyler Graham

H

ead Coach Lucas Bongarra has developed a new philosophy heading into his third season as head coach of the boys’ soccer team.

Last year Bongarra’s squad finished with a 7-83 record and missed out on a playoff berth. The team also navigated difficult off-field issues last year as Bongarra removed four players from the team.

“The players have a lot of power this year,” Bongarra said.

“We as coaches are here to help the players, but it is really the players’ team. We created a committee where four players have written the rules of the program, like getting to practice on time and wearing the right uniform to practice. What I want to do this year is really put the team in the players’ hands and let them create a good dynamic.”

Over the summer, the team lifted weights twice a week in preparation for the season. Much of the preseason training was done in the weight room rather than on the field, because many players play on club soccer teams outside of school.

The team is optimistic about the season and hopes to contend for a Mission League title.

“I think we have a pretty promising squad,” center defender Parker Converse ’15 said. “We’re pretty experienced, and I think if we can pull it all together we can make a good run and possibly win Mission League.”

Bongarra has a similar evaluation of the team.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to compete this season,” Bongarra said. “We have a really good group of players.

They are talented and have shown a lot of commitment. They are very excited about playing together. We are approaching the season with the hope to battle for first place in league.”

The team hopes to employ a possession-based attack and take advantage the center of the field, where Converse believes their strongest players are.

“We think we can dictate the game with possession,” Converse said. “I think some of our strongest players are up the spine: center defender, center midfielder and center forward.”

Along with Converse, Cole Fletcher '15, Matthew Glick '15, Jonathan Klein '15, Jon Nelson '16, Henry Quilici '15 and Max Rolnick '16 are returning starters.

The team's biggest question mark is in the goal, where Bongarra has yet to announce a starter. Last year's starting goalie, Ryan Shelly '15, has an injured knee and will not play on the team this year.

The squad opens their season with an away game against Calabasas High School Nov. 24.

The boys will play a total of six preseason games before their Mission League opener at home against Notre Dame High School Jan. 7.

Their final game will be against Loyola High School Feb. 11.

Boys’ Soccer

Former Wolverines basketball player Jarron Collins '97 has joined the NBA’s Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach.

Collins is in the Wolverines’ Athletics Hall of Fame after winning back-to-back state championships in 1996 and 1997.

After playing basketball at Stanford, the Utah Jazz drafted Collins with the 52nd pick in the 2001 NBA Draft.

Collins also played with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trailblazers in his 10-year playing career in the NBA. —Rian Ratnavale

Alum makes CIF All-Century team GRANT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE

THROUGH BALL: Matthew Glick '15 calls for the ball in a varsity match last year. Glick is among the returning seniors that will step up to become leaders on the squad this season.

Last Season Record:

4-5-3 League

7-8-3 Overall

H

Former Harvard School and UCLA water polo player Jim Toring '92 was named to the California Interscholastic Federation's Anniversary Fall All-Century Team last Wednesday.

Toring was the only Harvard-Westlake alumnus to be included in the register, which lists all of the last century's best Los Angeles high school athletes.

Toring was slated to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but was hit by a bus and killed in 1998 in Paris.

—Jackson Novick

Field hockey player to attend Georgetown

Maddie Oswald ’15 signed her letter of intent to play field hockey for Georgetown University.

Oswald led Harvard-Westlake’s field hockey program to three consecutive Sunset League titles, including an undefeated mark in league play this year.

“Harvard Westlake’s field hockey program has enabled me to grow as a person and as a player,” Oswald said.

—Jake Liker

By Jonathan Seymour ead coach Richard Simms explained to the girls’ soccer team Nov. 14 that their new goal is to work on their mobility so that they all have the ability to play almost every position.

“This is a big change in our coach’s philosophy from previous years,” Chloe Castaneda ’15 said. “It’s a more team-oriented view. I’m really excited hearing about this new style of play, and I’m definitely prepared to do all that I can to reach playoffs and make it as far in CIF as we can.”

After losing in the CIF Semifinals three years in a row, the girls’ soccer team has been preparing to go all the way to the finals this year.

“This season, in terms of preparation, we’ve done the usual: gym over the summer and practices that have just started up this week,” Castaneda ’15 said. “But our goals have really shifted this year.”

The team still has another two weeks, including Thanksgiving break, to prepare for its first match, a league game against El Camino Real High School Dec. 3. After that, the girls will play in a slew of nonleague games, including the Foothill High School Excalibur Tournament, which will be the three days after Christmas.

“Since it’s the beginning of the season, we are kind of doing the basics so that the team can learn to play together again and get used to each other,” Paige Howard ’17 said. “Since last year’s upset, everyone has been focused on getting back to playing at our best and working really hard. I hope we can do even better than last season because we always work so hard during the season, and I think it will really pay off this year.”

The girls’ second league game Jan. 14 will be against Chaminade, whose team defeated the Wolverines in the semifinals two years ago. Later in the season, the girls will have league games against Alemany, Notre Dame, Marymount and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.

Some of the younger members of the team will have to step up this season because team leader and veteran player Brianna Gazmarian '15 is out for the season with a torn ACL. “We have a lot of great new girls coming in so we’re working on gelling as a team and playing with each other,” Veronica Crow ’16. “We’re working really hard and loving every minute of it, and we can’t wait to start the season off on a great note. I’m very excited to be a part of the team. I think it’s going to be a great year.”

“Our motto this year is 'A team above all. Above all a team.'”

Courtney O'Brien '15 said. “The seniors this year have decided we want to have an extremely bonded and close-knit group so the season is extremely enjoyable and ending such an amazing season on a loss becomes out of the question.”

The team will conclude its league play against FSHA Feb. 11.

inbrief

Girls' Soccer

Jumper commits to Wake Forest

GRANT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE

UNDER CONTROL: Courtney O'Brien '15 navigates her way up the field in a varsity match last year. The team's first match this season is against El Camino Real High School Dec. 3.

Last Season Record:

9-0-1 League

20-2-2 Overall

Track and field athlete Alex Florent ’15 signed a letter of intent to attend Wake Forest University on Nov. 12.

She announced her decision to attend the college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina the day before she signed her letter.

Florent’s 5’10” mark was enough to finish runner-up in the high jump at the California State Championships for track and field.

—Jake Liker

Tennis player signs LOI to Stanford

The Los Angeles Daily News’ reigning All-Area Boys Tennis player of the Year Michael Genender ’15 signed a letter of intent to play tennis at Stanford. The Cardinal have 17 NCAA tennis titles, the second most successful college program in terms of championships (21-USC).

Genender has titles of his own; he won the CIF-SS singles title in June.

—Jake Liker

The Chronicle

C4 Sports

Nov. 19,

Boys' Water Polo

ALL PHOTOS BY BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

ROAD TO REPEAT: Johnny Hooper '15 (left) looks to pass in the quarterfinals against Orange Lutheran, as Henry Clarke '15 (top) shoots and Raphael Raede '15 (bottom) defends in the 22-8 win.

Wolverines to face Corona del Mar in Semifinals

By Mila Barzdukas

The Wolverines turn their attention to Corona del Mar today, which beat Long Beach Wilson 10-9 in the Quarterfinals. HarvardWestlake squared off against Corona del Mar earlier this season, beating them 22-7 in the S&R Tournament Finals.

“They’re well coached,” Head Coach Brian Flacks '06 said. “They play with a ton of energy and enthusiasm. It’s a great opportunity for us to get some quality experience.”

The CIF Semifinal match will be played at William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine tonight at 7 p.m.

While the pool is considered to be a neutral site for both teams, neutral is all

relative Flacks said.

Corona del Mar is located about nine miles from the site, while Harvard-Westlake is more than 50 miles away, so the Sea Kings are expected to have more fans at the game.

Flacks said the squad is looking at the match as a road game instead of a neutral game.

“A lot of teams are based in Orange County, near where the site is,” Flacks said.

“Obviously it’s not done like that on purpose, it’s just played there for the site itself. There are two 50-meter pools side by side. Hopefully we do a great job preparing these next two days in practice and we have a great showing.”

A playoff mentality has paid off for the Wolverines so

far this season, contributing to its 27-0 record and large point differentials in games. Just more than halfway through their playoff run, they walked away from a first-round win against wild card bid Irvine 23-2 Nov. 12 and a quarterfinal win against eighth ranked Orange Lutheran 22-8 Nov. 15.

“They have some young good players,” attacker Johnny Hooper ’15 said of the Orange Lutheran Lancers before the match. “Brian was saying they are us two years ago. They’ve gotten a couple good players, some young kids that are really talented.”

The match was the first time the Wolverines played Orange Lutheran this season.

“We won’t have a problem with OLu if we just stick with

the game plan and stay in our system,” Hooper said. “We’re not taking them lightly.”

Indeed, the Wolverines did not take the Lancers lightly. Despite a lot of physical roughhousing from the Lancers, the Wolverines jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead after the first quarter. A big key for the Wolverines was their ability to take advantage of their free shots on goal after getting fouled. By the end of the half, the score was 14-2.

A rooter bus was provided for fans of the Lancers, but despite playing in front of many supporters, they were unable to combat the Wolverines.

Throughout the game, the Lancers showed flashes of brilliance with strong offense and good goalkeeping.

However, they were unable to play as consistently as the Wolverines. Both squads were playing their benches by the fourth quarter.

The other side of the bracket contains two familiar foes for the Wolverines: sixthranked Huntington Beach and second-ranked Mater Dei. The winner of that game, which will be played before the Harvard-Westlake vs. Corona del Mar game, could meet the Wolverines in the finals.

However, the Wolverines are taking their season one game at a time and not focusing on potential upcoming competition.

“We don’t even talk about the championship game,” Flacks said. “We’re only thinking about [tonight]."

sportsFeature

Cyclist aims for 2016 Rio Games

By Jonathan Seymour

From ninth grade through the summer before her senior year, Jordan Ellison ’15 believed she was going to play softball in college. She had more than 10 colleges giving her offers to play at their schools. However, after watching cycling events on television during the 2012 London Olympics, she decided that she wanted to try cycling.

Since then, in the past nine months, with what most members of the cycling community consider to be lightning speed, Ellison has propelled herself onto the path to greatness, and her goal is to win the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She grew to like cycling so much that she quit softball.

“The story of how I got into cycling is pretty amazing,” Ellison said.

“The short version of it is that I saw it in the London Olympics, thought it looked fun, tried it one day,

and everything just blew up.”

Ellison’s cycling career was almost over before it started when she was forced off the road by a car on her ride to school and crashed into a streetlight pole last fall, but she recovered and began racing again in February. At a time trial in March, Ellison was noticed by Travis Smith, who would become her cycling coach.

Under Smith’s tutelage, in just five months of training and racing, Ellison was able to compete at the 2014 US Junior National Championships. At the end of June, she placed third in the 500 meter time trial, fourth in the flying 200 and in the match sprint, and seventh in the keirin, which is her favorite race.

The keirin is an eight-lap race with six riders. The first five and a half laps are paced behind a motor that gradually accelerates, and the last two and a half laps are a sprint.

“Training with world class riders for five months is the reason why I was able to quickly make a name for myself within the sport, not only on a local level, but on a national level,” Ellison said. “I think I have always had this natural athletic ability. Something that’s funny is that by the end of junior nationals this past summer, people, including USA Cycling officials, the official videographer at the track, and other coaches all knew me as ‘that softball player that has been racing for only five months.’”

Ellison said that the support of the community and her luck in finding the right people, including her coach, Smith, were the key reasons why she decided to quit softball, where she was a three year varsity player for cycling.

“One of the biggest things for me has been that the cycling community as a whole has been really supportive

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF JORDAN ELLISON

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: Jordan Ellison '15 turns the corner during one of her races. Ellison plans to go to the Olympics in 2016. and really welcoming to me because I have been so new to the sport,” Ellison said. “What I’ve enjoyed the most is training with and being mentored by members of the U.S. National Team, specifically Missy Erickson, who is the fastest [female cyclist] in the United States. I’ve also trained with members of the Trinidad and Tobago and Canada National Teams. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.”

To raise money for her transportation to and from races and her gear and training costs, Ellison has a gofundme. com page. On her page, she says that her three major goals

are to become the Junior and Collegiate National Champion in all sprint events, stand at the top of the podium at Junior World Championships and attend all National Track Calendar Races.

“For me, track cycling began as something I merely did on the side, [but] it has turned into something I am now pursuing to the highest level,” Ellison says on her page. “I never could have imagined that I would be the only junior female in the country dedicated solely to track sprinting that currently trains with former and future Olympians.”

, 2014

hwchronicle.com/sports

Sports C5

Girls' Tennis

Team competes in CIF Finals, captures 7th league title

By Audrey Wilson

After capturing the Mission League title for the seventh year in a row, the girls’ varsity tennis team is preparing for the CIF Individuals tournament after success in preliminary CIF matches.

Of the eight league matches this season, the squad fell only to Marlborough in a close 10-8 battle.

The Wolverines sent their top two singles players and doubles teams to compete in the first round of CIF playoffs.

While the CIF journey was cut short for the two singles players Sophie Cohen ’17 and Lara Mikhail ’18 in the first round, both doubles teams continued to the second round of CIF. Jenna Moustafa ’17 and Juliana Simon ’16 advanced

Cross Country

with an easy win.

Co-captain duo Arin Schwimmer ’15 and Paige Moelis ’15 won their match in an upset against Marlborough’s top doubles team last week.

“Arin and I started crying because we were so happy,” Moelis said. “We’ve seen our opponent every year, and we’ve never been able to defeat her and her partner, so it was a nice way to end our senior year.”

Head coach Chris Simpson strategically paired the team’s top singles player Moustafa with Simon to create a powerhouse doubles team with the squad’s top two players.

Schwimmer and Moelis were not expected to qualify.

“I think Jenna and I make a really strong team and work very well together,” Simon said. “We are both aggressive

SPEEDSTER: Nicole Araya '16 runs in the CIF Prelims, where she finished in 25th place.

MATCH UP: Jenna Moustafa '17 hits a forehand in a match against Santa Barbara Oct. 8. Moustafa and her new doubles partner Juliana Simon '16 will compete together at CIF Individuals Nov. 24. at the baseline and at net, so I think that allows us to feed off of each other's shots. We also have a lot of fun playing together, which is important.”

The two Harvard-Westlake doubles teams went head to

head in the second round of CIF. Moustafa and Simon won both sets 6-0, but both teams performed well enough to qualify for CIF Individuals.

“The past couple of years have been tough for me since

I have been injured,” Simon said. “So this season has given me a lot of confidence moving forward and into individuals.”

The Wolverines will play in CIF Individuals Nov. 24 in Claremont.

Teams head to CIF-SS Division IV Finals, strive to repeat previous year's success • Continued from page C1

AUDREY WILSON/CHRONICLE

AUDREY WILSON/CHRONICLE

In the regular season, the girls finished first in the Mission League and the boys finished third.

“The season went better than I think most people expected,” Lauren Jones ’16 said. “This year was one of the first years that we had all of the girls on the team running around the same times, and we never finished in the same order.”

This is the seventh consecutive year the girls have won the Mission League.

“The season has been great this year,” Araya said.

“We have put in a lot of hard work and we are finally able to reap the benefits now that we

are peaking and getting more Crosson trained over the rest.” summer and her times have Though the boys’ did not improved as a result. finish first, they She was one of still said that they the best runners on felt good about the the team and it was results. only her first year on “This is definitely varsity, Jones said. the strongest boys Araya pointed to team we have ever Ben Weissenbach ’15 had,” Stoviz said. as the strongest male “We are really runner. Though he has looking forward been recovering from nathanson’s to CIF Finals and an injury throughout Casey State and hoping we the entire season, he Crosson ’17 can do something still managed to work big.” his way back into Both Araya and Jones meets and assume a role on pointed to Casey Crosson ’17 as the boys CIF Finals bound a runner that individually had team, Araya said. a really great year. Crosson With CIF Finals around has consistently finished first the corner, the team has only for the girls' team this year. a few adjustments to make

Rowers race in national regatta

By Jonathan Seymour

you do for crowds and for cheering,” Thompson said.

Jenna Thompson ’16 and “It’s relatively solitary. It’s not Riley Spain ’15 were two a spectator sport, but at this of the eight rowers on the regatta, there were actually Marina Aquatic Center’s cheering spectators along the varsity boat that raced at the entire course, which was a 50th Anniversary Head of the nice change. [The cheering] Charles Regatta in was a really great Boston Oct. 19. The experience because it races took place on is so rare in our sport the Charles River to have people come near the campus of out and actually Harvard University. cheer for us.”

This was the first Thompson’s time a team from and Spain’s boat MAC was accepted competed in their age to this worldgroup’s head race, ’ renowned regatta, which is a specific Riley the largest two-day type of race in which Spain ’15 race in the world. boats start one at a More than 10,000 athletes time with 10-second gaps. in a variety of age and skill Head races are scored groups, including professional based on time. and college rowers, competed At the head race, in different races at the Head there were sharp turns, of the Charles event. bridges, abutments and the “Rowing isn’t a sport that omnipresent river banks. nathanson s

“The Head of the Charles is the biggest head race in America for any age group,” Thompson said.

The position in which a boat is set to start in a head race indicates the boat’s expected final place at the end of the race.

The MAC boat started the race 59th out of 85 boats, but Thompson and Spain were able to perform and finish in sixth place.

All of the rowers from MAC train six days per week for three hours each day. A typical practice involves a three-mile run followed by a two hour rowing circuit on the water. The rowers also lift weights twice per week.

“What I love about crew is that it’s such a team sport," Thompson said. "You have to be in sync with everyone all the time. You have to know what position they’re at at

before Saturday. The girls need to get out faster so they do not get stuck in the wrong place, Araya said.

Both the girls and the boys need to focus on their race plan and take advantage of the downhill segments since Mt. SAC is such a hilly course.

“It is going to be a very high-level race with many high-level teams in both races and so it is really going to be about coming to run and coming with a competitive attitude and executing our race strategy,” Koolsbergen said.

Sticking to the race plan will also include getting all five of the scoring girls into the top 20 finishers to secure a place at State Finals in Fresno.

“

[Rowing] is relatively solitary.

It’s not a spectator sport, but at this regatta, there were actually cheering spectators along the entire course, which was a nice change.”

—Jenna Thompson '16 nathanson’s

every point in the stroke.

With every team, the team is only as strong as its weakest link, but that’s especially true with rowing.”

Thompson’s goal for the future is for her boat to make it to nationals again.

“We made it last year,” Thompson said. “We did pretty well. We got ninth in the nation. We did that in the semifinals, so my goal is to make it to the finals of nationals.”

Because MAC can only qualify one boat for nationals, its goal as a program is to get every boat to medal at

regionals.

The Head of the Charles marked the end of the fall rowing season, so rowers are now in winter training, which Thompson called an intense buildup to spring racing season.

MAC’s next big race is Cal Cup, which will take place in February.

“In rowing, eight hearts have to become one in the boat,” Thompson said.

“That’s my favorite part about rowing: the teamwork is so tangible, and it’s a great feeling. That’s why I keep coming back.”

C6 Sports

Nov. 19, 2014

The Chronicle

Field Hockey

Squad upset in first round of playoffs

By Bennett Gross

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Maddie Oswald ’15 hits the ball past a defender on Ted Slavin Field during the girls’ field hockey team’s Oct. 27 loss to Marina High School in the first round of the playoffs.

After coming off a season where they only lost one game during the regular season and ended up winning the Los Angeles Field Hockey Association Championship, the Wolverines’ field hockey team came up short in their attempt to repeat as champions this season.

Harvard-Westlake went undefeated in Sunset League play, only allowing one goal in all eight league games. The squad did this without the help of their opening day goalie Daniela Grande ’16, who was out with back and leg injuries for most of the year.

“It was incredibly frustrating for me not being able to play throughout the season,” Grande said. “I tried to coach both my sister and the JV goalie, but it could not replace actually being on the field.”

However the team came up short in their attempt to go to the finals for a third straight season with a first round playoff loss to Marina High School.

The Wolverines lost 1-0 in their opening round game.

With Alex Grande ’16 starting in goal, as her sister Daniela Grande was out with various injuries, the defense was not the team’s problem.

Marina’s only score came on a breakaway wrist shot at the end of the first halfThe offense which had been on fire all season, went cold, and could not put one past the Marina goalie, causing the defeat.

With Maddie Oswald ’15, who is committed to Georgetown, leading the charge with the most goals on the squad, the team will look to rebound next year after the loss of five seniors and starting goalie Daniela Grande, who is currently ineligible to play next year, but is petitioning to the CIF to be able to play a fifth high school season.

“We didn’t end the season with the outcome that we were hoping for, but we improved a lot this year, and I am excited to see how we can continue to grow next season,” Caitlin Neapole ’16 said.

Wrestling

Adler ’17 to lead after Bracken’s ’14 departure

By Audrey Wilson Despite the loss of senior Jake Bracken ’14, the wrestling squad anticipates success from its younger athletes.

The team closed last season 1-3 in league play, an improvement over the previous year’s 0-4 record.

Bracken and Jake Adler ’17 were the only Harvard-Westlake wrestlers to continue on to compete in CIF after taking first and second in their weight classes at Mission League Finals. In the early rounds of CIF, Bracken came in third in the 132 pounds weight class, and Adler took fourth in the

126 pounds weight class. Both of their seasons came to an end at the Southern Section Masters Meet last year.

“I feel like now I’m a little more mature, and I won’t lose matches because someone was stronger than me or tougher,” Adler said.

Alex Lennon ’17, Josh Musicant ’17 and Russell Davis ’17 hold promise as the season approaches.

“I’m really looking forward to watching Alex Lennon who didn’t get to wrestle last year,” Adler said. “He could be the toughest kid on the team because when he gets out on the mat, he really fights for the

GRANT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE

SIDE CONTROL: Jake Adler ’17 holds his opponent in a leglock and pins him in Hamilton Gym during last year’s wrestling team’s Dec. 11 41-21 home loss against Bishop Amat Memorial High School. win.”

The team will start their season with the Newbury Park invitational Dec. 6 at Newbury Park High School.

“The team just needs to keep improving,” Adler said.

“We have a really small team this year because we lost a lot of guys, but we have some

good individuals that should do well.”

League play will begin Dec. 10 as the Wolverines take on Chaminade at home.

Girls’ Golf

Team performs in league play, repeats tenth place finish in CIF

By Cole Jacobson Led by a pair of first-team Mission League selections in freshmen Josie Baker ‘18 and Karina Guo ‘18, the varsity girls’ golf team managed to improve to a 7-1 regular season record and repeat its tenth-place finish from 2013 in the CIF Southern Section Northern Division.

The most intense moment of the season arguably came during the league’s Individual Finals, when the two stars tied for eighth place, the last eligible spot to advance to the Northern Division individual finals. A one-hole playoff was needed to decide the winner, where Baker advanced by shooting par to Guo’s bogey.

“Watching Josie and

Karina duel for the last spot was a treat,” Head Coach Marge Chamberlain said. “I have a feeling those two will be going back and forth for many years.”

“The adjustment from middle school to varsity was actually really easy,” Baker said. “I like competition, so it has made me a better player.”

Huge wins came in a victory over Oaks Christian, whose team defeated the Wolverines in 2013, and a triumph over new Mission League opponent Marlborough, whose team advanced past the Wolverines into the league’s second place spot.

The team’s lone regular season loss came to eventual league and Northern Division team Champion Sherman

Oaks Notre Dame.

“Our team had a great regular season,” Chamberlain said. “To take second to Notre Dame was not a huge disappointment when you consider how young our squad was in comparison.”

Still, the Wolverines weren’t content with their postseason result, finishing in tenth place in its division.

“Our team could have done a lot better, and we just didn’t play our best that day,” Baker said.

The squad will lose no players to graduation and has big plans for next season.

“We will continue to develop a mental approach that is not shaken by a bad shot we have a real shot at winning the league,” Chamberlain said.

COLE JACOBSON/CHRONICLE

DRIVE IT: Josie Baker ’18 drives the ball at Rancho Park during the girls’ golf team’s match against Marymount High School Sept. 4.

Nov. 19, 2014

hwchronicle.com/sports

Girls’ Volleyball

Girls’ Water Polo

Sole senior looks to lead young squad to victory

By Bennett Gross

JONATHAN SEYMOUR/CHRONICLE

SMASH IT: Rachel Savage ’15 leaps up to smash the ball over the net during the girls’ volleyball team’s 3-1 Senior Night victory in Taper Gymnasium against Marlborough High School Oct. 23.

Veteran squad fails to make playoffs

By Jonathan Seymour

With a 2-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the Mission League, the girls’ volleyball team did not make playoffs. The team’s last game was a nonleague 3-2 win over St. Lucy’s Priory High School.

Playoffs were in the squad’s grasp, but they needed a win against either Marymount Oct. 23 or Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Oct. 30.

However, they were unable to overcome either of the top two teams in the league, falling in four sets to Marymount and in three sets to FSHA. “I think that our team was a really cohesive unit where every player worked hard for both themselves and for each other,” setter Natalie Elattrache ’16 said. “I think that sometimes we had trouble closing out games after we fought really hard in the be-

Sports C7

ginning. Even though the season didn’t go as well as we all wanted it to, playing with this team was truly an honor.”

The girls also went 4-2 and took third place overall in the Redondo Union High School Tournament, a top tournament in Southern California, which took place over Halloween weekend. On the first day, the Wolverines were in a pool with Chino Hills, West Torrance, and Palos Verdes. They only lost to Chino Hills and placed second in the pool, advancing to the playoff bracket.

The next day, the team defeated Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly before falling to eventual champion and host Redondo.

The team tied for third over many teams that made playoffs, and outside hitter Rachel Savage ’15 and libero Mila Barzdukas ’15 were named to the all-tournament team.

“We had a tough season,

no doubt,” Savage said. “We got unlucky a lot, considering most of the games we lost were just by two points. I think getting third in that big tournament and getting such a close victory over St. Lucy’s even though we had been disqualified for playoffs was finally when everything clicked and we started to win those close games.”

The varsity squad has eight juniors, so the Wolverines will be very experienced in every position next year.

Next season, they must get second or better in the Mission League if they want to remain in the Mission League, which is re-categorized every two years with the Sunshine League. The top teams from the Sunshine league after two years will be moved up, and the bottom two teams from the Mission League will be moved down.

The girls’ water polo team’s lack of experience is going to be their greatest challenge this season, as they work to continue their dominance in the Mission League and seek redemption from last year’s short playoff run. Last season, the team went undefeated in Mission League play and had a 21-10 overall record. The Wolverines were eliminated in the quarterfinals of CIF playoffs with a loss to Upland High School.

With only one senior on the team, Sophia Gonzalez ’15, the team is relatively inexperienced, but they are combatting this by starting their training

earlier this year.

“As the only senior on the team, I have to make sure that everyone is contributing and just make sure that everything is in line,” Gonzalez said.

As this is only the team’s second year in Division III, the squad has had to make significant changes to be able to compete at a higher level. In the past, the Wolverines dominated Division IV, and were moved up two years ago, but have struggled in the postseason since the move.

“I am really looking forward to when I will get to coach the girls’ team again this year, once the boys’ season ends,” Head Coach Brian Flacks ’06 said.

GRANT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE

SLING IT: Hannah Eliot ’16 winds up to attempt a shot on goal during one of the girls’ water polo team’s home matches last year.

The Chronicle

C8 Sports

Nov. 19, 2014

SPARK PLUG

Q&A with Carter Begel ’17 BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

TUNNEL VISION: Varsity athlete Carter Begel ’17 returns a kick-off Oct. 24 against Cathedral. The Wolverines lost 35-28, and Begel led the Wolverines with six tackles.

By Dario Madyoon

Positions Begel has played this season

Free Safety

Rover Wide Receiver

Slot Receiver Tailback Halfback

SOURCE: COLE JACOBSON GRAPHIC BY MADY MADISON

4 8 4 3

Joe Levin

What made you decide to play football and stick with it?

Strong Safety Weak-Side Linebacker

and

Offensive positions Touchdowns

Defensive positions Forced Fumbles

NATHANSON’S

When I was younger, my dad put a football in my hands when I was about 3 years old and started tossing the football around with me.

He had me play with older kids at the park, and after the first touchdown that I scored, I was hooked on that feeling. He signed me up for flag football and then the rest is history.

Who do you model your game after?

My favorite player is [Kansas City Chiefs running back] De’Anthony Thomas. This year, I wouldn’t say that I play like him, but I try to. I’ve been moved around a lot: a little receiver, a little running back, a little kick returner. He’s a guy that does all those things, and I try to accomplish the success he’s had with doing those three things on the football field every single play.

What’s the most memorable moment of your career?

Probably beating Loyola my freshman year. I’ve never been a part of something like that, never had a feeling like that, and since then I’ve never had a feeling like that either. That’s what I chase when I play football. It’s the ultimate high. Our coach always says that you chase the ultimate high in football, and you fear the ultimate low. And beating your rival on your home turf, when you’re the 35-42 point underdog, there’s no other feeling like that.

You play offense and defense and special teams. Which do you focus on more during the game?

Well, defense definitely takes more focus throughout the game because you have to know what the other team is going to do before they do it and you have to dissect what they’re going to do next. So during the game, my focus is more on defense, rather than on offense, whenever I get the ball in my hands I just try to score a touchdown.

What is it like to be one of the youngest guys on the team?

Oh, it’s fun. There’s no real traditions of hazing or putting the younger guys down or anything like that, so it’s fun to hang out and be around the older guys and interact with them.

Why did you choose the number one?

A lot of great players have number one, and I hope to walk out of here as a great player and be seen as one of the best players to come through here, and that’s why I choose number one. Because, number one usually has a target on their back, and I want a target on my back because I want to be the best.

What goes through your mind when you’re on the field?

I’m the best player on the field.

That’s the only thing going through my mind. We’re the best team on the field, and nothing can stop us.