Seniors receive their class rings in annual ceremony.
C hronicle Coverage on A7
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Harvard-Westlake School • North Hollywood, CA • Volume XIX • Issue 2 • Oct. 15, 2009 • chronicle.hw.com
Habitat chapter sets world record By Jessica Barzilay
field of dreams: Construction began Monday on Franklin Field, the off-campus park at which the baseball team plays. An excavator digs in the infield (clockwise from top). A worker cuts into a light pole. A skid loader operates on the field.
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$750,000 Franklin Field upgrade begins this week By Michelle Nosratian
Construction will begin this week on a $750,000 renovation of Franklin Field in Encino, where the school has a long-term lease to play its baseball games. Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said that Harvard-Westlake baseball has been playing at Franklin Field for approximately the past 30 years, which has caused the playing surface to become less level. Head Baseball Coach Matt LaCour lists new fencing, a new playing surface, new outfield configurations and new dugouts as among the biggest anticipated changes. “The field is disproportional, the grass was dead, there were holes in the outfield, the sprinklers were broken, the drainage system didn’t work, and they had to repaint the grass multiple times,” said Lucas Giolito ’12, a varsity pitcher. “The field will be less dangerous, more spectator-friendly, and there will be an unobstructed view of the entire field.” Barzdukas said that the players themselves were the inspiration behind the Franklin Field renovation project, which the school’s board of trustees and administration approved more than a year ago. “[The players] kept talking with the coaches about the quality of the fields for away games,” he said. “And, thus, was born the idea.” Since Franklin sits on federal land, the school has had to work closely with the Army Corp of Engineers managing agency. Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin said that
in addition to the board-approved budget of $700,000, an extra $50,000 for a new scoreboard and related structural and electrical work is on hold pending funding. The baseball community at Harvard-Westlake has rallied to support the cause, Barzdukas said. Levin agreed that a significant amount of money has been raised to help fund the project. “Fundraising results have been heartening, especially in light of the economic environment,” Levin said. “Gifts and pledges to date total about $575,000 and confidence is high that the remaining $175,000 will be raised prior to the field’s opening next spring. We are all very excited about this project, as it will give Harvard-Westlake baseball a facility whose quality matches that of its players coaches and program.” LaCour and the baseball team said that they are enthusiastic about the upcoming changes in their home field. “We couldn’t be more excited about the renovation of Franklin Field and look forward to February when we can begin using the new field,” LaCour said. “Franklin Field will be a facility that is on par with every other Harvard-Westlake facility,” Barzdukas said. “We are committed to giving our students every opportunity and necessary resource to succeed and Franklin Field will soon be added to that list.” The baseball team will practice in another venue until the construction is slated to end this spring by their season’s start.
A team of Harvard-Westlake students helped surpass a world record by breaking ground on 24 houses in two minutes at the Habitat for Humanity “The American Dream” 5K Walk last Saturday, which was documented by the Guinness Book of World Records. The Harvard-Westlake chapter also received a $5,000 donation from the Southern California Gas Company for being the leading Fundraising Youth United Chapter. The combined total of money raised under Harvard-Westlake’s name is enough to fund half of the construction of a home. Representative groups from other local high schools and universities and the casts of “Melrose Place” and “90210” began the construction to improve local substandard living conditions alongside the Harvard-Westlake volunteers, while Jimmy Kimmel served as master of ceremonies. The walk marked the first official event of the Harvard-Westlake chapter of the international Habitat organization. Participants met at 9 a.m. in Pacoima, walked to the construction site and broke ground, then returned at 1 p.m. for a short awards ceremony hosted by the organization and a performance by YouTube performer Justin Lanning. The purpose of the walk was to simultaneously gain a broader base of younger participants for the organization and to offer the newly instated Harvard-Westlake chapter a chance to get to know each other on site. “It’s a fun day and a great way for the new chapter to gain camaraderie,” Jason Mohr ’11 said. The Harvard-Westlake group participating in the walk included the chapter’s supervisor, history teacher Leslie Rockenbach, executive team, and volunteers. The executive group consists of Mohr, Melanie Borinstein ’11, Jordan Gavens ’12, Gabi Kuhn ’12, and team captain Cami de Ry ‘12. “The walk is a way for kids to construct on site and also to be a part of something greater,” Mohr said. The Harvard-Westlake chapter is planning another event Oct. 31, in which Harvard-Westlake volunteers are invited to visit a completed Habitat site and partake in holiday activities with the 62 children who live there.
AND THE NOMINEES ARE:
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Seniors who were named National Merit Semifinalists
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Rank among independent schools in California for semifinalists
Seniors receiving Letters of Commendation
source: NATIONAL MERIT CORPORATION
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School has its own ideas about health care.
Qinru Zhou turned in his baton for the teacher’s podium.
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A6 s w e Eric Swoope ’10 in the Fanatic Fest dunk contest.
Coach Dave Levy brings college and pro experience to Slavin.
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BLOG: After visiting her at college, Jordan Freisleben ‘11 blogs about how college has transformed her sister.
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Courtesy of cheryl ikegami
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PHOTO: View photos of Fanatic Fest, from ’80s Day to Homecoming.
Jason Maccabee ’10 dances in the quad on ’80s day.
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VIDEO: Hear what students and faculty have to say about the Columbine video in our first Talk of the Town video.
podcastsvideosphotos blogs
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Something smells funny in the men’s bathrooms. Translucent green screens have replaced the familiar blue urinal cakes in a cleaning crew initiative to freshen up the odor of lavatories across campus. The scented screens were installed to relieve the duties of the crew, which confronted a declining aroma between the nightly cleanings of the bathrooms. Cleaning crew manager Robert Garcia had a simple explanation for the problem’s source. “Sometimes boys miss the target,” he said. Garcia settled on a “cucumber mango” scent — which he said is among the most popular flavors in production — because it had a good balance of mildness and zip.
Cheryl Ikegami ’11 performs traditional Japanese dance.
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“We wanted one that released a scent that was more neutral, but still refreshing and not very floral,” Garcia said. “The last thing you want to do is walk into a guys’ restroom and have it smelling floral; it’s just not right.” Male students and teachers are still coming to grips with the fragrant washrooms. “The screens smell like Jolly Ranchers,” Ernest Wolfe ’10 said. “They take away the candy in the cafeteria and put it in the bathroom?” In its search, the cleaning crew tried different flavors, including citrus, herbal mint, and mango, which despite being pleasing to the nostrils “did not sound manly enough.” “It’s too bad the girls don’t have urinals,” Garcia said. “[Mango] was probably a scent that would go great in there.”
Water polo players chant before a game.
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Oct. 15, 2009
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4 to debate for U.S. in Korea, Qatar By Matthew Lee
David Burton/chronicle
Sandbox fun: Camden McRae ’12 (left) and Patrick Edwards ’11 play in a sandbox with a little boy as part of the KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now) Community Council event. Four students went to Elysian Park last Sunday for three hours to play and exercise with children with mental and physical disabilities, from the ages of 3 to 13. Before playing with the kids, volunteers set up activities for the day, and they cleaned up after the event.
School ranks second in Merit semifinalists By Allegra Tepper
Forty-two seniors qualified as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists based on their PSAT/ NMSQT scores, placing HarvardWestlake second among independent schools in California, according to information from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Harvard-Westlake has significantly more semifinalists this year than any other independent school in the Los Angeles area, and ranks eighth among all high schools in California. Schools with as many or more semifinalists than Harvard-Westlake include Troy High School in Fullerton, Palo Alto High School and Mission San Jose High School. Harker School, located in San Jose, is the only independent school in California with more semifinalists, at 50 students. Of the 42 recipients at HarvardWestlake, 23 are male and 19 are female. This leaves Harvard-Westlake with more female recipients than all independent girls’ schools in the Los Angeles area combined, a fact that Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts pointed out in her address to their parents on Sept. 22. The number of students receiv-
ing semifinalist status increased by seven from last year’s 35, which upper school dean Vanna Cairns called “a significant drop [for Harvard-Westlake].” This year’s figure sits just below Harvard-Westlake’s average of 44.4 semifinalists over the last 10 years. Semifinalists are determined based on PSAT scores from October of students’ junior year. The top test-takers in a given state are named semifinalists, while Letters of Commendation are given out based on a national index. The California qualifying score for the 2009 test administration was 218 out of 240 for semifinalists. Of the 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, 15,000 students will qualify as finalists after an application process. Students are required to fill out applications which include personal and demographic information, a personal essay and a letter of recommendation from the student’s dean. Only 8,200 finalists will receive scholarships, which can amount to up to $2,500 per student. Seventy-two seniors received Letters of Commendation based on their scores on the PSAT/NMSQT.
Four students will represent the United States at international debate tournaments in Korea and Qatar. Juniors Jake Sonnenberg ’11 and Ben Sprung-Keyser ’11 will be competing in Korea in November as well as competing in Qatar in February. Miranda Van Iderstine ’13 and Luke Holthouse ’13 will be competing in Qatar in November with the two juniors. The World Schools Debating Championship will host these tournaments, featuring competitors under the age of 19 from various nations around the world. Harvard-Westlake is the only school that has four students who will be competing for the U.S. World Schools Debate team. Sonnenberg said that the U.S. international team has performed poorly in past years but hopes that he and Sprung-Keyser can contribute to changing this losing record. “We’re hoping to do better than debaters on the U.S. team who have competed in the past,” Sonnenberg said. Hundreds of students around the United States tried out for a spot on the national team. Sonnenberg and Sprung-Keyser were among the top five debaters. Holthouse and Van Iderstine were selected to the Demonstration team, which consists of younger students. The two are part of the Demonstration Team, a squad of the U.S. international team consisting of ninth and tenth graders.Holthouse said that he and Van Iderstine tried out for a spot on the U.S. team in June at ClaremontMc- Kenna College. “It worked out pretty well,” Holthouse said. “It was nice because the tryouts for the team were during the first week of summer, so I had time to do all the necessary research and preparation.” The World Schools Debating Championship is held in different countries every year, and all debates take place in English. Holthouse and Van Iderstine will leave for Qatar Oct. 29 and will stay there for 10 days. Holthouse said that he expects the competition in Qatar to be a learning experience for him because he has never competed internationally. “The Qatar debate is going to be a learning experience,” Holthouse said. “We’re going to learn how it feels to compete on the international level.” These competitions are not affiliated with the school debate team, but Sonnenberg said that all four will all continue to debate with the school team. John Meany and Kate Schuster, teachers at ClaremontMcKenna College, are the directors of the U.S. national team and will work with the students to prepare for the tournaments.
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Holthouse
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Sonnenberg
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Sprung-Keyser
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Van Iderstine
National Merit Scholar Semifinalists 42 seniors qualified as semifinalists based on their PSAT/NMSQT scores Sam Adams
Ester Khachatryan
Samuel Roth
Rohun Bansal
Jamie Kim
Timothy Schorr
Matthew Calvert
Ava Kofman
Peter Schwartz
Katherine Casey
Spencer Koo
Lauren Seo
Jennifer Chan
Brendan Kutler
Matthew Share
Justin Chen
Neha Nimmagadda
Max Simchowitz
Monica Chen
Michelle Nosratian
AJ Sugarman
Gavin Cook
Susan Nussbaum
Allegra Tepper
Joseph Girton
Cindy Ok
Andrew Wang
Spencer Gisser
Yujin Park
Jeffrey Wibawa
Spencer Gordon
Elijah Petzold
Jacob Witten
Jonathan Hsu
Alexander Popof
Susanna Wolk
Claresta Joe-Wong
Joseph Rafidi
Claudine Yee
Claire Kao
Michael Raynis
Max Zipperman
Source: National merit Scholarship Corporation graphic by Michelle Nosratian and nicki resnikoff
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Refugee, filmmaker to speak on genocide
By Jordan Freisleben
Michelle Yousefzadeh/chronicle
chloe lister/chronicle
plan it out: Darfur Awareness Activism and Training Club presidents Alex Glancy ’10 and Jake Gutman ’10 discuss Genocide Awareness Week (top). Club members advertise at Activities Fair.
Senior invents college tour iPhone application By Candice Navi
Ian Cinnamon ’10 has helped create an iPhone application that gives users virtual tours of colleges. The application, uTourX, currently has tours of Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Yale. For each college, iPhone owners can click on over 100 different points of interest and read information about each, written by college students. In adddition, an “Augmented Reality,” feature allows students who physically visit the college campuses to point their iPhone’s camera at certain points of interest on a map of the college, which will prompt uTourX to show information about these locations. Cinnamon helped create uTourX through the company oSnapplications, which he co-founded over the summer along with Yale sophomore Max Ulenhuth and and his brother Kasey Ulenhuth, a high school student in Kentucky. Cinnamon said these tours allow prospective students to get an uncensored tour of the school. Normal college tours, Cinnamon said, “sort of blend together.” uTourX’s tours, Cinnamon said, will be different because the students who wrote the information “wrote what they wanted to hear when they were applying to those colleges.” “The tours are written by students at the school so the information is current and up to date,” he said. uTourX currently sells for $9.99, including the four tours. Cinnamon said that oSnapplications plans to release a second version of uTourX by the end of this year, which would allow anyone to upload or purchase a tour of any college. These additional tours would be priced based on the number of
points of interests included, with oSnapplications and the tour’s creator sharing the profits. Cinnamon said he expects these additiondon hagopian/chronicle al tours to cost Ian Cinnamon ’10 between $1 and $5. Cinnamon met Max Ulenhuth over the summer at MIT. Cinnamon was participating in a science research program for high school students, a program that Ulenhuth attended two years ago. Ulenhuth returned this year and befriended Cinnamon. After the program ended, Ulenhuth came up with the idea for uTourX and called Cinnamon to ask for help. Cinnamon and both Ulenhuths spent two months developing uTourX. uTourX has been featured in the Yale Daily News. Demo videos are available on YouTube, which explain how to use the “Augmented Reality” feature available as part of the application. Along with demo videos are screenshots from the application and more detailed descriptions of the tours. As of Monday, uTourX had not been officially approved by Apple, but Cinnamon said he expected approval on Tuesday. Besides Cinnamon’s most recent endeavor, he also madeseveral other iPhone applications, including Car Finder and Emergency Distress Beacon. The Car Finder application allows users to locate his or her car by saving the position of the user while next to the car. “Emergency Distress Beacon saved the lives of four people in Florida who were out in the Atlantic fishing when their radio died and their boat started taking in water,” Cinnamon said.
A Sudanese refugee and a documentarian will speak during Genocide Awareness Week next month. The Darfur Awareness Activism and Training Club organized Genocide Awareness Week, which will take place from Nov. 9 to 13, to spread consciousness about the inhumanity of genocide, DAATC co-president Jake Gutman ’10 said. Sudanese refugee Elizabeth Kuch, who will speak at class meetings, is one of the “lost boys and girls,” a group of Sudanese children whose parents were killed during the Sudanese Civil War and who eventually made their way across the desert into refugee camps in Chad. The other speaker is filmmaker Paul Freedman (Christopher ’12), who will discuss the current genocide in Sudan at an all-school assembly Nov. 12. Freedman is the director of the HBO documentary “Sand and Sorrow,” a film that focuses on the genocide that has been taking place in Darfur for the past several years. The week will also focus on other past genocides, Gutman said. “We’re hoping not only to get the awareness out about what’s going on now in Darfur, but also past genocides that might not be as well-documented or [well-known],” Gutman said. “There have been so many that people, especially our age, just don’t know about.” During Genocide Awareness Week, posters containing informa-
tion regarding past genocides will be put on display around campus, and some history teachers will incorporate the issue of genocide into their classes, Gutman said. “We’ve talked to a few history teachers about using that week to discuss genocide and the Americans’ political response in AP U.S. History and AP Government,” Gutman said. Genocide Awareness Week will also include a bake sale and the selling of T-shirts on Nov. 13 to raise money for a Jewish World Watch project which provides solar cookers for Sudanese refugees. The project also funds the donation of aluminum sheets that women in refugee camps can use to heat water and cook food so that they do not have to leave camp to collect firewood. “A lot of people don’t even know [the refugees] exist, what happened, why did it happen, how many people were killed, what were the implications,” Gutman said. “We vowed after World War II and after the Holocaust to stop it, yet time after time again it happens and there’s no one there to stand up and say ‘no.’” “We wanted to get to the fact that it’s just not about Darfur,” Gutman said. “Unfortunately that’s what’s going on right now, but people neglect to realize that genocides have been going on forever and they haven’t been recognized. While our name is the Darfur Awareness Activism and Training Club, we also want to be a genocide awareness club and speak about other things, not just Darfur.”
Sophomores see Colmbine reenactment at assembly By Julius Pak
“What should you do when a school shooting occurs on campus?” That was the question posed to sophomores during their assembly Oct. 2 by the security team about A.L.I.C.E. A.L.I.C.E. is the new program designed to inform students on what to do and what not to do when a school shooting occurs. The assembly began with a clip of a reenactment of the Columbine massacre, the 1999 shooting at a high school in Colorado , where two students killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves. The reenactment presented what the students at Columbine did in their standard lockdown. The teacher ordered the students to hide under tables and chairs. The problems of standard lockdown procedure were quickly shown as the two shooters found themselves in a room of submissive and scared sitting ducks. Students endured several minutes of the two shooters terrorizing the students under the table by yelling, screaming, and laughing at them. In the clip, the two shooters also shot students and rapidly fired their guns. Some sophomores were visibly shocked at the violent film. At least three sophomores left Rugby Auditorium. Multiple others were crying, gasping, covering their eyes, and ducking under chairs. Others described the clip as “scary” and “disturbing.” The overall response to the film was so negative that Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra had the tape shut off before it ended. The head of campus security, Jim Crawford, then demonstrated with Mark Geiger, another security guard, how to react when a shooting occurs. Four sophomore volunteers went onto the stage and were shown how to take down a gunman simply by latching on to his limbs. Students then saw a tape of four different reactions to four different situations if a gunman enters a classroom, as acted by
the prefects. The campus security team announced that the sophomores would practice the techniques learned in the assembly over the next few weeks in a special classroom set up for the demonstration.
Prefects ask school not to show video By Jordan Friesleben and Spencer Gisser
The video shown at a sophomore assembly Oct. 2 was too disturbing to show to juniors and seniors, prefects told Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts Monday. Huybrechts said she would ask school psychologists Sheila Siegel and Luba Bek to evaluate whether the video should be shown at all or to have it pared down to a clip that specifically conveys the message of school security, prefects said. However, Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra was under the impression that both Bek and Siegel had seen and approved the video before it was shown to faculty and subsequently, the sophomore class. Huybrechts met with head prefect Reid Lidow ’10 and sophomore prefects Evan Brown ’12 and Max Lubkeman ’12. She told them she thought the video unnecessary, believing that students “get [the message] without having to be scared,” she said. The faculty was just as disturbed as the sophomores, according to Huybrechts. It is still not decided whether the video will be shown during the meetings within the next two weeks. The video was first shown to the sophomores as the first section of a two-part security training program. The second part of the training program will be “hands on,” security guard Mark Geiger said. The sophomores will be trained in groups of up to 15 people until the first week of December. They will be placed in a locked classroom and go over how to respond to an attacker. Geiger said that the training video shown to the sophomores will not be changed unless instructed by the administration.
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Fanatic Fest week ends in pep rally By Jessica Barzilay
Candice navi/chronicle
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Footloose: Students dance in the quad during Wednesday break on ’80s Day. Fanatic Fest week also included Colors Day, Sports Day, and a spirit assembly on Red Alert Day.
Illness causes increase in student absences By Emily Khaykin and Alex Leichenger
Nearly 20 percent of the upper school student body was absent last Friday. Some were absent because of recruiting trips or other commitments, but a significant number of the students called in sick with the flu. There is no evidence of a Swine Flu epidemic, but an outbreak of respiratory problems and other flulike symptoms kept over 100 students home from each day from last Thursday to this Monday, including 165 on Friday. “There are definitely more [absent] people than usual,” Attendance Coordinator Gabriel Preciado said. Preciado keeps track of the attendance numbers every year, looking at the percent increase per year in absences due to illness. “I think that parents are being more proactive this year than others in taking care of [the flu], keeping their kids at home,” Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra said in response to the recorded increase in overall absence numbers for the year. The extra precautions being taken by parents could be due to fear of the H1N1 virus, also known as Swine flu, Salamandra said. According to flu.gov, a government website which provides people with information on “what to do about the flu,” five to 20 percent of people in the United States, on average, contract the flu every year. According to an e-mail sent to parents, one middle school student was ill with H1N1. Since the emergence of the H1N1 strain, the school has been taking
precautionary measures to try to prevent the spread of illness. Hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed throughout both campuses. Director of Sports Medicine Sandee Teruya created a poll in the trainers’ office late last month asking students which brand of hand sanitizer, Germstar or Purell, should be put in all of the bathrooms. Since then, Purell has been installed in all of the campus bathrooms. Teruya spends her time keeping up to date on the latest information about the flu, the potential availability of inoculations from the Centers for Disease Control and any other information that Harvard-Westlake parents in the medical field provide. Every fall, the school places an order to the CDC, asking for vaccines to provide to the faculty, and as of this year, students. “I ask them how the vaccine is getting to the school, when the school will be receiving it, and general information on how to keep students safe and healthy,” Teruya said. The inoculations are part of the school’s “Health Fair,” a morninglong event during the fall, where the school offers all faculty members the chance to get health screens and the yearly flu vaccine. “For as long as I can remember we’ve been supplying inoculations to the faculty in the fall,” Salamandra, said. “People are afraid that they’ll fall behind,” Salamandra said. “And honestly, the faculty is just as bad as the students when it comes to taking care of themselves when they’re sick.”
This year’s Fanatic Fest featured a dodgeball battle beween the varsity football and varsity water polo teams, and an ‘80s Day that had students dancing to cult classic “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins in the quad. The purpose of the Fanatic Fest, which took place Monday, Sept. 28 through Friday, Oct. 2, was to increase the student body’s involvement in Harvard-Westlake athletics, according to Head Fanatic Eli Moghavem ’10. “We wanted to make it better than any of the Fests in the past,” Moghavem said. The Fanatic Fest culminated with an all-school pep rally in Taper Gymnasium on Friday, wich opened with a performance by the cheerleaders. In the annual slam dunk contest, Eric Swoope ’10 triumphed, defeating Zena Edosomwan ’12 and Nate Bulluck ’10 by getting the loudest round of applause. The dodgeball game between representatives from the football and water polo teams was a new addition to the spirit assembly. The football squad took an early lead and went on to beat the waterpolo team. After another dance number by the cheerleaders, a second dodgeball game began. This time, the Prefect Council and volunteers were pitted against the former middle school intramural dodgeball champions, the Monstars. The Monstars quickly eliminated all of the opposition except Senior Prefect Jennie Porter ’10. Porter then managed to take down every Monstar except for Austin Kelly ’10, but Kelly managed to catch one of Porter’s throws, giving the Monstars the victory over the Prefect Council. Each day of the Fanatic Fest was devoted to a different theme. On Tuesday, Colors Day, each grade was encouraged to wear a certain color. On Wednesday, ’80’s Day, students donned 1980s attire. Thursday was Sports Day when students sported athletic apparel. On Friday, the day of the spirit assembly, students were asked to wear red for Red Alert day. Moghavem views the week-long Fanatic Fest as a success, and hopes it helps turnout at sporting events throughout the 2009-2010 school year. “There was a huge turnout at the Homecoming game [the next day], which we think the Fest helped a lot,” Moghavem said.
Protectyourself Total absences have increased this year. To prevent becoming one of the many sick students around campus, here are some suggestions:
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Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth to prevent the spread of germs. Avoid close contact with people who are are coughing or sneezing because influenza is primarily spread through person-to-person contact.
If you get sick, stay home from school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. source: www.uclahealth.org graphic by Michelle Yousefzadeh
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Advanced Photography students go to MOCA
Advanced Photography I classes traveled to the Robert Frank exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Oct. 5 to take photos for a class project. In the past, photography classes have gone to the J. Paul Getty Museum for inspiration. However, this year, The Robert Frank exhibition at MOCA is the only exhibition currently containing the full set of 83 prints from Frank’s revolutionary photography book, “The Americas.” “It was important for the students to note the order and coherence of the collection, for the 83 prints were a small part of a larger collection acquired over two years,” photography teacher Nancy Popp said. -Lara Sokoloff
Film Festival holds design contest for icon
Harvard Westlake’s 2010 Film Festival held a contest to design the icon that will to be used to represent the festival. Students, faculty and staff had to submit their icons by Oct. 9. The winning icon will be featured on the festival’s website, Facebook, Twitter and posters. The March 19 festival will be hosted by directors Jake Gutman ’10 and Romina D’Alessandro ’10 and faculty advisors Cheri Gaulke and Ted Walch. “Romina, Mr. Walch, Ms. Gaulke and I will be meeting in the coming weeks to choose a winner which may be a combination of multiple submissions that we feel represent the festival,” Gutman said. — Chelsea Khakshouri
Students walk to fight against HIV, AIDS Students will step forward for a cause on Sunday, Oct. 25th in the annual AIDS Walk in West Hollywood. The walk will benefit 19 coalitions that fund HIV and AIDS research. Each year, the Los Angeles AIDS walk receives millions of dollars and has tens of thousands of walkers. The 10-mile circuit will begin and end in West Hollywood Park, at the corner of Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd. -Melanie Chan
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sign ups: Jenny Padilla ’10, Chelsea McMahon ’10, Gina Goldberg ’10 and Ryder Moody ’10 cheer students on to sign up for “Operation Gratitude.”
Community Council hosts service fair By Sade Tavangarian
The Community Council held the Community Service Fair on Monday Oct. 5 in the quad during break, with more than 15 communal projects to the sign up for. The purpose of the fair was to get students to sign up and get involved by fulfilling their community service for the 20092010 school year, Community Council member Gaby Cohen ’11 said. Some of the organizations at the fair included “Send A Smile” which sends cards to sick children in hospitals in Los Angeles and “Tree People” which plants trees in local parks and along city streets, on school campuses and in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles. Others included “Habitat for Humanity,” which builds new homes for unfortunate families around the world. Also featured at the fair was a booth for the organization
“Heal the Bay,” which is a beach cleanup project to stop waste from polluting oceans. There was also “Pet Orphans” which helps stray animals find homes, and “Operation Gratitude,” which sends care packages to the army. At the fair, students signed up for community service events or to support an organization. “The Community Service Fair is the kickoff for a new school year filled with amazing opportunities and community service events,” Cohen said. “It’s a great way to show the students what they can do to fulfill their community service requirement doing something they enjoy.” Community Council member Berni Barta ’10, started an organization called “Kid Flicks,” which collects videos and DVDs to donate to hospitals. Although it was not featured at the fair, students can expect to see drop boxes for videos around campus soon.
7th graders design computer games By Camille
de
Ry
Marko Fezjo ’15 and Ethan Gruman ’15 are designing personalized computer games. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Jude’s hospital and other charities. Fezjo and Gruman are taking games such as Brick Breaker, Platform, Planet Defender and Ship Shooter and making it possible for individual gamers to customize them. Gamers will be asked for personal information such as their name, school, pet peeve, favorite and least favorite foods, favorite sports and favorite music, and these elements will be factored into the graphics, sounds and scenarios in each game. “Marko and his mom thought of this idea a long time ago, but we never really
started it until a few months ago,” Gruman said. “We’ve had other ideas like this before, but we really never carried them through.” The two seventh graders have named their enterprise Duckamation Games. They began programming the games last month, using the programming software Multimedia Fusion, and they hope to start an website soon to advertise and sell their games. “It occurred to us that we could ask other people for ideas and then we thought we could personalize the game and make it into a business,” Gruman said. Gruman and Fezjo will start small by offering limited amounts of games. When the demand for their games goes up, they plan to hire some help and start broadening the choices of the games, Gruman said.
don hagopian/chronicle
Ethan Gruman ‘15
don hagopian/chronicle
Marko Fezjo ‘15
They plan to sell their games for $8 to $15. Each game’s price will vary, depending on how many different levels it has and how much time and programming went into it. Some levels will cost an additional $0.50 to $2.50. Multiplayer games will also be available.
Hella Epic donates skateboards By Anna Etra
Hella Epic, a skateboard charity, gave out skateboards at the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica on Sept 20. After a safety demonstration by President and CEO of Hella Epic Adam Rubin ’10 and Vice President Casper Stockwell ’10, the nine Hella Epic members distributed 30 skateboards and the Boys and Girls Club provided safety gear. Hella Epic is a California registered charity whose aim is to give skateboards to underprivileged children in order to keep them away from drugs and gangs, Rubin said. For their most recent event, Hella Epic collaborated with the Virginia Avenue Project and the Police Activities League. According to their website, The Virginia Avenue Project is an after-school program that teaches performing arts and provides tutoring in order to help kids discover their full potential. All three organizations selected 10 kids, based on their economic profiles, to receive the skateboards. Each child’s family makes less than $30,000 a year. In addition to the 30 boards, the Boys and
Girls club has six rentable skateboards for the kids to use. Hella Epic was born from a conversation about skateboard lingo in Northern and Southern California. Rubin and Stockwell believed their name would symbolically represent their charity’s goal of bringing communities together. For all their work distributing skateboards in East Los Angeles, Mexico and Santa Monica, the Virginia Avenue Project awarded Hella Epic with its Original Charity Award. The award was given at a gala last Thursday at the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica, in front of 300 people. At the gala, Hella Epic auctioned off two of their celebrity-designed skateboards. Some of the celebrities who have designed skateboards for Hella Epic include Emma Roberts, Randy Newman, the cast of MadMen and Alex Pettyfer. Each skateboard is designed in collaboration with the Hella Epic graphic designer Riley Mate ’10. The remainder of the skateboards will be sold on Ebay. In order to add to the $12,000 Hella Epic has already raised, plans to sell t-shirts in the quad.
Photos courtesy of casper stockwell
ollie: Jared Drooks ’10 and Casper Stockwell ’10 skateboard with a girl from the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica.
Oct. 15, 2009
The
C hronicle
News A7
chronicle.hw.com
inbrief
Gay-Straight Alliance returns to Upper School
Vivien Mao/chronicle
Seniors celebrate at Ring Ceremony By Vivien Mao
and
H-W Green holds first meeting of school year H-W Green plans to hold its first meeting of the year next week, H-W Green Chair for the Upper School and math teacher Kent Palmer said. H-W Green is “well into planning initiatives and activities for this year,” Middle School Chair and dance teacher Carrie Green said. Changes already implemented include adding filtered water to water fountains, decreasing paper copies of the Daily Bulletin and ending the sale of water bottles in the cafeteria. —Hana Al-Henaid
Lara Sokoloff
The beginning of the end came for all seniors when they stepped onto Ted Slavin Field at Ring Ceremony on Sept. 13. Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts read off the names of all the seniors as they shook hands with Hudnut and were presented with their senior class rings by Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra. Senior Prefect Sylvia Gintowt-Gindick spoke first, welcoming all to share in the experience of their final year in high school. Aarti Rao talked about Ring Ceremony and its purpose. Senior Prefect Chase Morgan spoke on the meaning of the Harvard-Westlake crest, making his audience think and laugh all at once. Then, Senior Prefect Jake Gutman started by saying, “Well that will be hard to follow,” then discussing the journey the class has taken together. Finally, President Tomas C. Hudnut came to the podium. Looking behind him at the seniors, he began his speech on the importance of preserving tradition as well as proving oneself. He concluded by congratulating the senior class on a six years well spent, he concluded to a round of applause. “[Ring Ceremony] is a link to the past,” Andrew Wang ’10 said. “It’s something that so many classes have done for so many years. It’s a ceremony that connects all graduating classes.” “I didn’t really feel like senior year had started until ring ceremony,” Christine Byun ’10 said. “It kicked off the senior year,” Eli Moghavem ’10 said. “It made us seniors and united us as a senior class.” Jenna Hamburger ’10 and Talia Seehoff ’10 thought it was great to be a part of something that has been a tradition at Harvard-Westlake for so long.
Upper School dissolves Crisis and Support team
Vivien Mao/chronicle
Rings all around: President Thomas C. Hudnut speaks to the senior class (above). Nick Chuba ’10 receives his ring from Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra.
Student radio station to begin broadcasting By Austin Block
KIIS FM, Star 98.7, KROQ and Jack FM are familiar names to music loving students who listen to the radio. If a group of middle school students continue in the direction they are moving, the name In-House Radio could join that group. These students are working to create a middle school radio station that could broadcast a variety of programs, including talk shows, game shows and student music. The station also hopes to broadcast music by “bands jumping for any debut,” Chief of Public Relations Daniel Palumbo ’14 said. “We are currently planning on a podcast format, which will be available from iTunes and other providers, but ... it is still too soon to tell,” Palumbo said. The faculty advisors for the station are English teacher Jordan Ethe and science teachers David Fromme and Colby Genrich. “The idea came from the childhood aspiration of one of our sponsors, Mr.
After the absence of one last year, a Gay-Straight Alliance has been brought back to the Upper School campus this year. “We are working to get students involved in political equality campaigns in California,” said Ava Kofman ’10, one of the club’s leaders. “The club will promote a more open community and work to educate people on anti-hate crime legislation.” Along with Kofman, Simon Hunegs ’10 is running the GSA and dean Tamar Adegbile is the faculty sponsor. The club plans to meet Mondays during break. “[Gay marriage rights] are probably going to be on the ballot some time in the future and we want people to understand what the issues are,” Hunegs said. During the summer, both Hunegs and Kofman worked at Equality California, an organization that runs campaigns aimed at acquiring equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. — Daniel Rothberg
Ethe, yet grew to be an actual project only with the overwhelming enthusiasm and support of the student body,” Palumbo said. “I’ve always loved music and the platonic idea of a radio station,” Ethe said. The students have created an executive board, of which Sam Wolk ’13 is president. “Aside from our weekly meeting, the executive board works every day to run the organization and get the ball rolling,” Palumbo said. “All of our members have brought the same respect and determination to the station that they would bring to any other class,” he said. Palumbo said they hope to begin broadcasting by December, or possibly even earlier, but they don’t yet know for sure. “Everyone works to fulfill their duty and produce material for all to enjoy, and we are confident we shall do just that,” Palumbo said. “Aside from the three faculty sponsors, it is entirely student-run,” Palumbo said. “From the everyday upkeep to
The Crisis and Support Team program has been dissolved as of this summer. The decision was made after discussions between Assistant to Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken, Rabbi Emily Feigenson, school psychologist Dr. Sheila Siegel and Chaplain Father J. Young, all of whom are past CaST coordinators. CaST was a student group meant to support the community in a time of crisis or distress. In the case of a crisis in the future, the Peer Support trainees and leaders will be instructed on how to deal with the situation. —Allison Hamburger
Chronicle seniors win Ryan White award
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Sam Wolk ’13
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Daniel Palumbo ’14
the financial work to the actual broadcasting, all of it is done by dedicated students.” Ethe said what he likes most about the project is “the initial level of excitement and the promise of continued commitment.” “We aim to produce high-caliber material that will appeal to both the student body and the faculty, and judging from feedback I have received, everyone is very excited about the station,” Palumbo said. The student group meets once per week.
Lauren Seo ’10 and Jamie Kim ’10 won Honorable Mention in the Ryan White Awards for their story titled “Pressed for Time,” in the November 2008 Chronicle. The award is dedicated to White, a hemophiliac teenager who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion and died in 1990. It gives cash prizes to students writing for their school newspaper who demonstrate an excellence in medical writing. The $50 award will be presented Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. at the National Scholastic Press Association convention. The piece written about students who are entitled to extra time to finish a test or quiz, appeared in the November 2008 issue in the Features section of The Chronicle. —Judd Liebman
A8 News
The
C hronicle
Seniors win nominations for national scholarships Deans choose seven seniors to vie for three prestigious scholarships at southern universities.
By Nicki Resnikoff
Brendan Kutler ’10 received the school’s nomination for the MoreheadCain scholarship; Hana Al-Henaid ’10 and Christine Byun ’10 received the nominations for the Jefferson scholarship, while Austin Park ’10, Ilica Mahajan ’10, Ava Kofman ’10, Jacob Witten ’10 and Al-Henaid are the school’s nominees for the Robertson scholarship. Scholarship nominees are selected by deans, and other faculty depending on the scholarship, based completely on accomplishments, and not whether a student has shown an interest in a particular school. “The schools don’t want us to consider what schools the students are looking at,” Dean Sharon Cuseo said. “They want to be able to educate the nominees about the school.” The Morehead-Cain scholarship is awarded by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Jefferson scholarship is awarded by the University of Virginia, and the Robertson
“
I literally dropped what i was carrying when i heard the news.” —Brendan Kutler ‘10 don hagopian/chronicle
scholarship is awarded for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Kutler was informed of his nomination by Head of Upper School Jeanne Huybrechts near the end of the last school year. “I really didn’t know what to expect going into that meeting, and the fact that I was nominated came as a complete surprise,” Kutler said. “I literally dropped what I was carrying when I heard the news.” The Morehead-Cain scholarship, modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship, covers tuition, books, room and board, a laptop computer, and Discovery Fund Grants. Additionally, each summer, scholars participate in summer enrichment programs designed for scholars to receive “hands-on experience” in Outdoor Leadership, Public Service, International Research and Private Enterprise, according to the Morehead-Cain Scholarship website. “I don’t consider myself the kind of student that usually gets these prestigious awards,” Kutler said. “There are literally hundreds of qualified students at Harvard-Westlake, so being nominated was a huge honor.” The Morehead-Cain scholarship is awarded solely on the basis of merit. Specific characteristics which must be demonstrated to receive the award are moral force of character, scholarship, leadership, and physical vigor. Kutler has played varsity tennis for the past three years, and led the team in doubles last year. Although Kutler did not initially intend to apply to UNC, he researched the school after receiving the nomination and now considers UNC a definite option for college, he said. High school seniors from across the United States, Great Britain, and Canada are eligible for the scholarship. From the three nations, only 150
applicants make it to finals weekend, and 60 applicants remain as the newest class of Morehead-Cain scholars, according to their website. In October, 40 to 50 of the out-ofstate nominees will join about 70 North Carolina finalists to interview with the Central Selection Committee in Chapel Hill before the selection committee offers the scholarship to approximately 60 candidates. The school’s Morehead-Cain scholarship nominee is chosen at a meeting at which deans, athletic directors, and heads of school are present. Recent alumni winners of the Morehead-Cain scholarship include Spencer Rascoff ’93, Valerie Alter ’98, Shonu Ghandhi ’99, Philip Song ’01, Samuel Kang ’02 and Zach Goren ’03. Last week Al-Henaid and Byun were told about their nominations by their deans Rose-Ellen Racanelli and Vanna Cairns, respectively. “I was speechless,” Al-Henaid said. “All I could say was ‘Thank you.’ I didn’t really believe her when she first said it. I knew the Jefferson Scholarship was prestigious and extremely competitive, so I was humbled that my dean thought I could compete for it. I never really considered myself someone who would be selected as a nominee.” “I feel honored to be the nominee from Harvard-Westlake and that the deans see in me the potential to be a Jefferson Scholar,” Byun said. The Jefferson Scholarship has been in place since 1981 and covers tuition, room and board, fees, books, supplies and personal expenses. Prior to finding out about her nomination, Al-Henaid had briefly looked into applying to UVA. “I have a good friend who is currently a senior there, and we’ve spoken about how all the amazing things he’s been able to do there,” she said. “After learning even more about it, I would be happy to go there, whether or not I get the scholarship.” Byun, on the other hand, was neither planning to apply to UVA, nor had she ever heard of the Jefferson Scholarship. In fact, she was already applying early decision to another school. “Problem is,” she said, “since any early binding applications automatically preclude a nomination from continuing in the running for the scholarship, I’m now debating withdrawing an early decision agreement to another school in order to pursue the scholarship.” The Jefferson scholarship, like the Morehead-Cain scholarship, is based solely on merit, and is given to can-
“
I was humbled that my dean thought i could compete for it.” —Hana Al-Henaid ‘10 don hagopian/chronicle
didates, who according the Jefferson Scholars Foundation’s website, have “undergone a rigorous selection process.” Al-Henaid is an Editor-in-Chief of The Chronicle and Byun plays the flute in orchestra. “It’s a pretty competitive scholarship,” said Byun. “Only 24 kids in the world demonstrating leadership in
Oct. 15, 2009
chronicle.hw.com
Scholarship details Morehead-Cain
Four-year scholarship to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plus a Discovery Fund to be used for educational opportunities Scholars must have a moral force of character, large appetite for learning, physical vigor and leadership
Robertson Four-year scholarship to Duke or UNC at Chapel Hill along with three summers of “generous funding” Scholars are high achieving students with sustained leadership, ability and curiosity to thrive
Jefferson Four-year scholarship to the University of Virginia and the option of a foreign study experience Scholars are committed to being leaders passionate about improving the community Sources: www.jeffersonscholars.org, moreheadcain.org, and robertsonscholarship.org graphic by nicki resnikoff and Michelle Yousefzadeh
their communities get chosen to receive the scholarship.” About 100 candidates who were made regional nominees are chosen in the Jefferson Scholars Selection Weekend at the UVA campus. During this weekend, candidates attend lectures by university presidents, take exams, and have personal interviews. After this weekend, the selection committee chooses which of the per-
“
I didn’t know if it was a big thing, or how I should feel.“ —Ilica Mahajan ‘10
don hagopian/chronicle
spective scholars will actually receive the scholarship. As of now, both of the school’s nominees are interested in pursuing the process to winning the scholarship. “I’m doing supplemental applications that are specific to the scholarship now,” Al-Henaid said. “I’ve done a lot of research into it. It’s a really great opportunity and I’d be more than lucky if I was actually awarded it.” Challenge Discovery, an outdoors weekend to promote trust and ties between scholars, a two week long Institute for Leadership and Citizenship, a five week Travel Study the summer before junior year, and an Alumni Internship Program the summer before the last year of school, are all also part of the Jefferson Scholars Program. “The scholarship would offer me the support of a thorough enrichment program dedicated to help Jefferson Scholars grow, which is part of the reason I want to pursue this scholarship,” Byun said. The nominees are chosen by deans. Hannah Moody ’07, won the Jefferson scholarship and is currently at UVA. The Robertson Scholars Program was created in 2000 and provides recipients of the scholarship with funds to cover full tuition and fees at UNC or Duke, as well as up to two semesters of studying abroad and three summers. In September, the nominees received a letter informing them about the scholarship from the Robertson Scholars Program. The deans chose the nominees earlier because the scholarship is lessknown than many other scholarships
and they wanted to give nominees a longer time to learn about it. “We’re really trying to encourage people to look at it,” Cuseo said. “It’s a really great scholarship; at UNC, not only do they cover costs, students get a living stipend. You can actually make money just by going to college.” Mahajan, who is the captain of the school Science Bowl team, initially viewed the letter as just another piece of mail from colleges to perspective students. “I wasn’t really sure what it was,” she said. “I didn’t know if it was a big thing, or how I should feel.” Mahajan had been considering applying to Duke, but she is still not sure whether she will apply to the university and for the scholarship. In addition to being nominated for the Jefferson scholarship, Al-Henaid was also nominated for the Robertson scholarship. “I am surprised I was nominated for one, let alone two,” she said. Robertson scholars work with a program staff member to create a portfolio that reflects on their experience at the school as well as participating in opportunities for personal development. During the week before the fall semester begins, there is a five-day leadership retreat in Bryson City, NC to promote bonding between the incoming scholars. Community between scholars at different schools is reinforced by monthly dinners which all scholars of the same year attend, taking cross-campus courses, and a semester long campusswitch.
“
I feel honored to be the nominee for HarvardWestlake.“ —Christine Byun ‘10 don hagopian/chronicle
The Robertson Scholars Program, is not only a merit-based scholarship, but also a “comprehensive, long-term investment in [the] scholars’ futures,” according to the program’s official website. Although the school has never sent a student to Duke or UNC as part of the Robertson scholar, Sean Kesluk ’09 was named a finalist in the program last year.
Oct. 15, 2009
The
C hronicle
Sophomore recovers after breaking back By Emily Wallach
“I wiggled my fingers and toes to make sure I wasn’t paralyzed,” Wesley Friedman ’12 recalled. “I was told not to move. To put it nicely, I was alright, but it hurt.” After he was stabilized on a stretcher and the paramedics cut his backpack off, Friedman was airlifted to the nearest clinic where he was then taken by ambulance, with an IV in tow, to the biggest trauma center on the South Island of New Zealand. It was there that Friedman’s injury was verified; he had a broken back, including five broken vertebrae in his spine. He was injured during a somersault he took heliskiing on an icy run while on a month-long summer program to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. Friedman was hospitalized on the South Island of New Zealand for a week after his Aug. 3 accident. At one point, he lay flat on his back for two days until a back brace was molded. “My older brother stayed by my side in the hospital everyday. [The accident] was the day after his birthday. I feel bad that this was his birthday present,” Friedman said, laughing. Almost two months after his accident, Friedman said he is “just lucky to be alive and walking.” However, as he is still unable to sit up for long periods of time, he is taking his classes at home, with the assistance of tutors, his teachers and his classmates. “Generally, I try to do two tutors a
day, everyday, even on the weekends,” Friedman said. “My tutors teach me whatever is going on in class. On my own I do homework, but I really have to manage my time since I can only sit up for so long.” Tests and quizzes are administered by his tutors and then sent to his school teachers for grading. Notes are gathered for Friedman by different students and collected in a folder in the deans’ office, he said. “History is most dependent on the [students’] notes,” he said. Moodle has also been a key aspect in keeping him up-to-date with class notes in math, Spanish and chemistry. For the first week of school, Friedman tried sitting in on his classes through a web cam system. A school intern would go to his classes with a computer and turn the camera to the front of the class so that Friedman could see the teacher and the board from his home computer, he explained. But the video lectures ended after the first week. “The video clarity wasn’t great,” Friedman said. “And I couldn’t see anything on the board or understand the lecturing.” For Friedman, the hardest parts of his situation are being home alone and not seeing his friends. “I don’t get to see my friends very often,” he said. “But talking to my friends keeps me going. Without them, I don’t know what I would do.” Friedman plans to return to school
News A9
chronicle.hw.com
Candice navi/chronicle
coming home: Wesley Friedman ’11 attended Homecoming, even though be broke his back over the summer while skiing. Friedman will not attend school for the rest of the semester, but he plans to return to class sometime after semester break. for second semester around January or February, but he will continue to be in a brace for another two or three months before beginning to wean himself off the support of the brace, he said. “Everything that people take for granted, for example, getting out of
bed, is a big thing for me,” he said. Friedman is happy just to be able to walk. “Without my brace, my back would be totally misaligned, but it’s just a small price to pay [to wear the brace],” he said. “I’m lucky.”
Middle school offers year long 7th grade visual arts class By Kelly Ohriner and Catherine Wang
Michelle Yousefzadeh/chronicle
Dig it: Nataie Kram ’11 sets up the table of pink shirts and baked goods for the Dig Pink sale.
Volleyball team raises money for cancer research By Michelle Yousefzadeh
The varsity girls’ volleyball team sold pink shirts and baked goods on Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8 to raise for the Dig Pink event. The team encouraged students to wear their Dig Pink shirts to the team’s game on Oct. 20 to spread awareness of breast cancer. “We wanted to sell t-shirts not just to raise money, but also because we thought the dynamic during the game if all of the fans were dressed in pink would be a very inspirational and moving experience,” team member Jamie Temko ’11 said.
“It is a clear way to show our community coming together, dressed the same way, to fight this disease.” Dig Pink is a National Breast Cancer awareness event being promoted nationwide. College and high school volleyball teams host Dig Pink matches during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to show their support. Head Coach Adam Black’s mother is a breast cancer survivor and so are some of the players’ parents. At the Oct. 20 game, the coaches will be wearing the pink shirts and the girls will wear them during warm up.
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A new visual arts class for seventh graders was added to the curriculum this year. The class encourages seventh graders to become more aware of the art-related opportunities existing at school by letting them experience art through various media such as painting, drawing, animation, photography and clay, visual arts teacher Robin Miller said. “The class gives the students a taste of everything,” Miller said. Miller, the class’s lone teacher, hopes that the class will help students learn which medium of art that they like best. “Hopefully, if a student takes this class and likes animation, he’ll start taking animation classes in the years after,” Miller said. In addition to allowing students to explore new types of art, Miller hopes that students will learn more about the artistic process, which she tells her students, is like the process of writing an essay.
The class has been on the minds of Visual Arts Department Head Brenda Anderson and photography teacher Andrew LauGel for quite a while. “I’ve been at Harvard-Westlake for seven years, and they were already talking about it when I came to the school,” Miller said. Miller, primarily an animation teacher, wrote the class’s curriculum with Anderson and pottery teacher Katherine Palmer. Though none of the upper school visual arts faculty contributed to the writing of the curriculum, the curriculum was designed with upper school classes in mind. “At the Middle School, we definitely try to lay a good foundation for the Upper School,” Miller said. To help students better interpret art, Miller asks them to keep a sketchbook and use it as a “Visual Notebook.” She hopes taking note of the aesthetics around them will heighten students’ awareness of art. “For example, if a student goes to Malibu for dinner, they could take a picture of
the ocean as they drive there and then take notes about the interior decorations inside the restaurant,” Miller said. “These are like visual notes they can review later.” A unique aspect of the curriculum is the field trips that the students will go on. Miller plans on taking her students to local art museums, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum and the Getty Villa. Additionally, she hopes to take her students to the Los Angeles Zoo. The classroom used for Foundations for Visual Arts was designed specifically for this class. “It’s still a work in progress,” Miller said. The classroom is definitely “larger” and “lighter” she said, but she hopes to get more storage space in the near future. Currently the class has two sections, one with 12 students and another with 11. Miller hopes to have more students next year, since the class was not heavily publicized to the incoming students last year.
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A10 News
The
C hronicle
Former teachers hold class for alums By Sammy Roth
Two weeks ago, former history teacher David Coombs returned to the Middle School to teach two classes. For 40 years, Coombs had taught teenagers on that campus, but on this day, his students were adults. In an event organized by the Office of Advancement, Coombs and six other current and former teachers taught classes for alumni and parents of alumni. The event, which took place on the morning of Homecoming, also included a wine-and-cheese reception and tours of the new middle school campus. “It was wonderful seeing so many people, some people I haven’t seen for 30 years,” Coombs said. “It was very exciting.” Coombs gave two lectures on the 1066 Norman conquest of England, a topic he covered many times in his 40 years at Westlake and then HarvardWestlake. Former English teacher Joannie Parker, who spent over 20 years at Westlake and Harvard-Westlake, taught a class on Women Poets. Visual Arts teachers Marianne Hall and Kevin O’Malley taught two photography classes, alongside Director of Admission Elizabeth Gregory, who started out as a photography teacher at Westlake. Science teacher John Feulner taught one astronomy class and former English teacher Bob Archer taught one poetry class and one class about the importance of teaching literature. Senior Advancement Officer Jim Pattison said the teachers were chosen based on a survey sent to a group of alumni, and that the idea for the event
chronicle.hw.com
Oct. 15, 2009
Take my hand
“
Alumni have very fond memories of their teachers.”
—Jim Pattison Senior Advancement Officer
came from two sources, one of which was an alumni brainstorming session. “One of the comments made was that alumni have very fond memories of their teachers, and that anything where they could see/meet their teachers would be well-received,” Pattison said. “There have been parents who have always commented that they would have loved to take a class their son/ daughter took while at school,” he said. Another goal in having the event was to give alumni and parents of alumni the chance to see the new middle school campus, Pattison said. Arul Thangavel ’99 was glad for this opportunity. “It’s utterly amazing,” Thangavel said. “It’s nicer than where I went to college.” Many of the alumni at the event hailed from the class of 1999, which had its 10-year reunion later that night. None of the teachers who took part in the event had ever taught on the new middle school campus. Parker said that coming back to teach on a foreign campus made little difference to her. “It’s very beautiful here, but the dynamic was the same as always,” Parker said. “The students were wonderfully responsive, and it was the same pleasure I’ve always had here.”
Sadé Tavangarian/chronicle
Walking the line: Eli Petzold ’10 and another Peer Suppor leader support each other to get through the wire bridge during the Peer Support retreat to Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu.
Alice Phillips/chronicle
phonathon: During dinner, new volunteers learned the process of calling families for Annual Giving from Director of Annual Giving Alan Ball.
Parent volunteers train for Annual Giving calls By Alice Phillips
Approximately 40 parents attended an Annual Giving volunteer training dinner in the lobby of the Bing Auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 8. Most of the volunteers are new to the school, but some had only recently chosen to get involved with Annual Giving several years after their children began at Harvard-Westlake. Led by Director of Annual Giving Alan Ball and Parent Chairs Alison and Geoff Edelstein (Daniel ’11 and Matt ’13), the parents learned the process of calling families, establishing relationships with potential donors and keeping track of donors’ history with Annual Giving. “The call is a vehicle to start stewarding the family,” Ball said. He added that the volunteers’ duty is not only to call families about donations, but to keep in mind all of the various factors that go into a decision to donate and to build relationships beyond the first phone call. “This is Los Angeles,” Geoff Edelstein said. “It’s very hard to build com-
munity. Our involvement in Annual Giving has made Los Angeles much smaller.” Both he and his wife emphasized to the new volunteers that they will be calling families with whom their children share classes or whose children participate in similar extracurricular activities as their children. The volunteers gathered in the Bing lobby for refreshments in the early evening, then sat down to the “working dinner.” During dinner, they learned the process of being assigned to an Annual Giving call team, the process of tracking donations and observing donation patterns and all of the mechanics of placing a donation. “Play around with the website. See what it feels like to click on the $50,000 button and the $25,000 button,” Ball joked. Alison Edelstein emphasized the importance of Annual Giving to the Harvard-Westlake community. “We are 12 percent of the budget,” she said. “Annual Giving is part of every single thing your child does all day.”
Oct. 15, 2009 The C hronicle chronicle.hw.com The issue of health care reform has sparked great debate both nationally and within the community.
School self-insures employee coverage By Hana Al-Henaid and Michelle Nosratian
Located on the side of a small hill across from Seaver is the house where the headmaster of Harvard School used to live. The house has since been converted into the business and financial aid offices, where personnel deal with issues such as employee health insurance on a daily basis. Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin’s rather bright, spacious office is in what used to be the headmaster’s living room. He sits upright in his chair as he discusses the school’s unique approach to employee health care. “Only buy insurance if it’s mispriced or if you can’t afford not to,” Levin advised. Those 13 words summarize the school’s $3.2 million insurance policy: a finely-tuned balance of primary self-insurance and secondary reinsurance for more than 300 employees. “To put it another way, it’s just a hugely high deductible.” The school’s health care policy covers $350,000 deductible per person, roughly $3 million overall, Levin said. “After that, insurance kicks in.” The school’s reinsurance is provided by Blue Cross, which is also the school’s Preferred Provider Organization, so the school encourages its employees to go to doctors who work with Blue Cross. “When our people go to Blue Cross Organizations, we save a lot of money. In turn, we give incentives for people to do that so people here save a lot of money,” Levin said. “We pay 90 percent, the teacher pays 10 percent. School wins, the teacher wins, the doctor loses.” The policy between the school and Blue Cross is fairly unique to Harvard-Westlake. “Blue Cross wanted to sell us a policy,” Levin said. “We told them we want your doctors but we don’t want them as our insurance company; we just want your network and your pricing. They did not like this. Apparently, it had never been done in California. We got our self-insured plan with Blue Cross’s PPO: we just pay them a fee to have access to their network.” Over the past 17 years, self-insurance has saved the school millions of dollars in insurance company premiums, Levin said. “A few years ago, we were at $2.6 million [spent on health insurance]. Now the insurance company would say, ‘things are going up at 15 percent a year, nationally and of course we have to make a profit,’ and our premium the next year would have been $3 million,” he said. However, within the next two years, the amount the school was spending on health care insurance was closer to $1.5 million than $3 million, and because the school is self-insured, it pocketed the savings.
“
As a selfinsured institution, we write our own plans. We set our percentages.”
—Rob Levin Chief Financial Officer
News A11
Classes discuss health care issue By Sammy Roth
don hagopian/chronicle
Rob Levin
The school is also a firm believer in conservative budgets, according to Levin. For example, when the school’s health insurance cost was $1.6 million in 2007, the school’s anticipated budget was $2.7 million. Despite the $1 million variance, the school maintained the $2.7 million budget insurance for the following year. “We still budget at around $2.8 million because we figure good luck doesn’t last forever,” Levin said. “That’s why when the whole world imploded this past year; you weren’t reading about layoffs at Harvard-Westlake.” “If you go to blue cross they say ‘we have 7 different plans, choose from the crummy one to the good one for your teachers,’” Levin said. “As a selfinsured institution, we write our own plans. We set our percentages.” Ever since President Barack Obama announced his plans for health care reform, it has been at the forefront of national politics. The debates between which approach is the right approach for the United States to take in regards to health care maintain a ubiquitous presence on cable news networks, talk radio, and newspapers. However, the Harvard-Westlake business office has other ideas. “We don’t know what Obama-care is going to be because it’s going to be compromise-care, congressional care. As it becomes clearer and we have to react then we will,” Levin said. “The worst being that we will have to join some federal plan and ours will get disbanded and we’ll get less care for more money.” Levin is pretty confident about Harvard-Westlake’s system of self-insurance. “We have good years, we have bad years but on average we are way ahead of the game,” Levin said. “Given the realities in this country and our system of health care, is what we have decidedly better than average? Yes. Are we able to tailor it the way we want? Yes. So we’re getting a better plan and saving money.”
The ongoing national debate over health insurance reform made its way onto campus this month, with students in history and Spanish classes discussing the complex, often divisive issue. The six seniors in history teacher Laurence Klein’s Directed Studies in Historical Research class wrote a don hagopian/chronicle group paper comparing President Barack Obama’s attempts to reform the David Waterhouse health insurance system to former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s failed 1993 attempt to get universal health care legislation passed. DSHR student A.J. Sugarman ’10 said that since the Obama administration has not written its own health care bill, research for the paper was somewhat difficult. “The hard part is defining what don hagopian/chronicle Obama’s plan is,” Sugarman said. “He’s AJ Sugarman’10 kind of just endorsed general principles.” Fellow DSHR student Myles Teasley ’10 said that the group chose to focus on the bill crafted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) because they decided it is the bill with the best chance of passing. “Our group decided Baucus’ [bill] would, ultimately, have the best chance for a variety of reasons, one of them being that it was projected to come well within Obama’s, ‘Won’t raise a dime of your taxes’ pledge,” Teasley said. Sugarman said there was disagreement among class members about the merits of Obama’s health insurance reform ideas, and that they ultimately “shied away” from predicting whether an effective insurance reform plan would be passed and implemented. “I felt like we not only became essentially experts on Clinton’s 1993 plan, but also became well-versed in the current health care issues swirling around Congress while boosting our ability and capacity to research and distinguish good sources from bad sources,” Teasley said. One of Spanish teacher Javier Zaragoza’s Spanish V classes discussed the health insurance debate, after Eve Bilger ’10 brought it up in a current events presentation. “Eve wanted to bring out the issue that Obama is having difficulties convincing America that his health plan should be supported at a time when financial instability and crisis may not be in the best interest of the country,” Zaragoza said. “The reasons for not supporting the plan came out.” History teacher David Waterhouse spent time talking about health insurance reform during one of his AP United States Government and Politics lessons. “I found that the seniors knew very little about it,” Waterhouse said. “So I explained the basic aspects of reform that are generally agreed up on, as well as the sources of conflict on the issue.” Klein, too, discussed the health insurance debate during his AP United States Government and Politics class. Jake Lasker ’10, one of two self-identified Republicans in that class, said he benefited from being surrounded by students with whom he disagrees about the best way to reform the health insurance system. “In general I’m in the minority in such discussions, but I don’t really mind it and I actually like hearing new viewpoints,” Lasker said. “I really enjoyed the discussion and I learned a lot.”
Health insurance a requirement for enrollment By Ellina Chulpaeff
Harvard-Westlake requires all students to carry health care insurance, regardless of financial circumstances or preference. Students are not allowed to attend school uninsured and are asked to purchase insurance before enrolling, said Assistant to the Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken, who handles registration materials. Updated healthcare insurance information is requested in the yearly registration package to ensure that students are still covered. Although Harvard-Westlake is selfinsured for student accidents that occur on or off campus when students are involved in school activities, the school is the secondary payer. Thus, the student’s personal insurance pays first, Head of Personnel Marty Greco said. “We consider this a parental responsibility, not ours,” Director of Financial Aid Geoff Bird said. “Problems do arise, though; parents can lose a job and lose their coverage.” If a student on financial aid were to be accepted and not have healthcare
coverage, or if a parent was to lose their job and as a result, healthcare coverage, the financial aid office would treat the family’s unique situation on a case-by-case basis, Bird said. “When we accept a student on financial aid here, we feel an obligation to do whatever is reasonable to help that student succeed,” Bird said. “‘Financial Aid’ in many schools means help with tuition, period. Here at H-W it is expanded to cover other required expenses and some other costs that help students and families cope with the real cost of education, not the tip of the iceberg.” Bird believes this situation to be very rare, although it has happened before. However, because the school believes that healthcare coverage is the responsibility of the family, and not the school, Harvard-Westlake prefers to increase student’s tuition grant rather than getting involved in the actual purchase of insurance. Harvard-Westlake recommends two types of healthcare insurances to families that cannot withstand the financial burden of high monthly premiums. Anthem Blue Cross has a plan
that requires monthly payments that are relatively low. However, this policy has higher deductibles, the amount families are obligated to pay the insurance company before the insurance pays for services. Healthy Families is another relatively inexpensive option that initiated InsureKidsNow, a program designed to provide healthcare insurance to low income families with government money. Healthy Families has a sliding scale and families with different net incomes pay different monthly deductibles, with some as low as $4 per child. A family of four earning less than $44,500 a year can generally qualify for free insurance provided that the children are under 19 years old, live in California, do not qualify for Medi-Cal, and meet citizenship requirements and immigration laws may qualify for this plan. “This year many parents are changing positions or losing jobs and end up without coverage for a certain period of time,” Bracken said. According to www.cobrainsurance. com, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires most employers with group
health plans to offer employees the opportunity to continue to be insured temporarily after job termination. don hagopian/chronicle For many, however, the monthly rates Michelle Bracken COBRA requires beneficiaries to pay can be expensive, as former employees must now cover the amount their former employers paid for their insurance in addition to the rate they paid every month. This causes some families to opt to stay uninsured between jobs, Bracken said. Still, some families do not wish to have health insurance because they prefer to use homeopathic remedies for illnesses. In the past, there have been students who go to the doctor and have all their medical procedures done in other countries, Bracken said. Thus, they feel that they do not need to be insured here. Still, Bracken says that the school recommends lower premium insurances to those students. “Students need to be insured in case anything ever happens,” Bracken said.
opinion
A12 Opinion
Harvard-Westlake School
Volume XIX
Issue 2
Oct. 15, 2009
The
C hronicle
3700 Coldwater Canyon, North Hollywood, CA 91604 Editors in Chief: Sam Adams, Hana Al-Henaid Managing Editors: Sammy Roth, Allegra Tepper Executive Editor: Michelle Nosratian Presentations Editor: Candice Navi Multimedia Editor: Jamie Kim Business Manager: Neha Nimmagadda Ads Manager: David Burton Assistants: Jordan Gavens, Victor Yoon Chief Copy Editor: Ellina Chulpaeff Copy Editors: Spencer Gisser, Ester Khachatryan, Catherine Wang
What you can’t see can hurt you...
VIVIEN MAO/CHRONICLE
Let us prepare for the worst
O
n April 16, 2007, 32 students were killed in the Virginia Tech massacre. The shooter, a senior at the school, entered first a dorm, killing two people. He then went into a series of random classrooms and shot more than 174 rounds, overall killing 30 people and injuring another 17.
This could happen anywhere. It happened at Columbine High School in 1999. Two students entered the library, killed 12 students and one teacher, and injured many more. It is hard to imagine what this experience would be like. Yes, the chances of this happening are slim, but what would we do if it did happen? The A.L.I.C.E training is supposed to teach us to fight back against armed gunmen, something which sounds extremely dangerous and against our better judgment. As part of the presentation shown to faculty, Prefect Council, Peer Support leaders, the sophomore class and The Chronicle editors, the security guards have shown a reenactment video of the Columbine shooting. There is no doubt that the video is disturbing. Shown in black and white, through a security camera, the high-pitched screams from the students and the taunting voices of the shooters reverberate in the watcher’s ears for a long time after the video is over. Several students during the sophomore assembly cried or walked out of the room. Despite all of this, the video is an excellent way to make sure that every student really understands the gravity of the situation and how defenseless the students were during lockdown at Columbine. The fact is, shooting could happen, and we would have no idea what to do. The school plan in the past has been
to go into lockdown: all students would cower under desks, turn out the lights and lock the doors. After watching the Columbine video, no one would want to sit there complacently. The video makes it clear that going into lockdown puts all the power in the hands of the gunman. In some cases, lockdown may be the best way to deal with situations, but the video shows that if a gunman were to come onto campus for the sole purpose of shooting students, lockdown would not be effective or helpful in any way. Showing the video to the sophomore class right after the pep rally on the last day of Fanatic Fest was definitely a mistake. The administration should have realized that this video is too disturbing to show to 250 pumped up sophomores, who were given no warning about what they were going to see. Had the students been forewarned about the subject of the video, they would not have been quite so shocked, and maybe would have understood the significance of the video. After seeing the video ourselves, we feel more prepared for a similar scenario. In effect, just five minutes of our time could help save our lives. This is real life. The video is awful, shocking and disturbing, but so is the situation, and it could happen. It could happen at school, at home, in the grocery store—anywhere—and we need to be prepared.
Fanatical about Fanatic Fest
W
e have always struggled with school spirit. The attendance at football games is sometimes pitiful and a lot of times it is easier to track down your peers at Starbucks than it is at a Fanatic Fest break. Yet this year, in the spirit of community, the Prefect Council, the head Fanatics and the Social Comittee worked together to create a memorable Fanatic Fest. Maybe it was the combination of intensity building throughout Spirit Week and an incredible showing of talent by our football team on Saturday night, but the moment we crowded around our team to celebrate this upset victory, we were, for once, one completely unified community. This moment wasn’t created randomly, but rather the product of hard work. The Prefects worked throughout the week with the Fanatics, each group reminding us about the theme days with nightly e-mails. Yes, the theme days got off to a rough start, but by the break of ’80s day, the usually school spirit challenged Upper School community had turned into a crowd of students dancing to “Footloose” in the quad. Between the Prefects and Social Committee members handing out scrunchies next to the Diddy Reese cookies, and the Fanatics’ energy, it seemed as though this year’s Fanatic Fest was actually turning into an Upper School bonding opportunity.
Though the break ran well into classes, disturbing some faculty members, the very idea that HarvardWestlake students were all actually involved in a community activity was nothing short of revolutionary. While the Prefect Council apologized for the inconvenience caused by the music running late, their part in adding to the school’s sense of community is commendable, not regrettable. The last day of the Spirit Week included a dunk contest with music blaring in the background, and the crowd went wild when Upper School Dean Canh Oxelson jumped onto the dodgeball court. This year’s Fanatic Fest succeeded in what many Fanatic Fests before had failed to do. The efforts of at least three different student organizations saw to the successful unification of the Upper School campus and that’s something to be admired.
News Managing Editors: Nicki Resnikoff, Michelle Yousefzadeh Section Heads: Emily Khaykin, Alice Phillips, Daniel Rothberg Assistants: Jessica Barzilay, Maddy Baxter, Hank Gerba, Sanjana Kucheria, Marissa Lepor, Rebecca Nussbaum, Hunter Price, Lara Sokoloff, Saj Sri-Kumar Opinion Managing Editors: Anna Etra, Erin Moy Section Heads: Kelly Ohriner, Jean Park Assistants: Eli Haims, Vivien Mao, Anabel Pasarow, Nick Pritzker, Shana Tavangarian Features and Arts & Entertainment Managing Editors: Drew Lash, Lauren Seo Features Section Heads: Jordan Freisleben, Olivia Kwitny, Mary Rose Fissinger, Emily Wallach Features Assistants: Evan Brown, Melanie Chan, Lauren Choi, Camille de Ry, Allison Hamburger, Claire Hong, Megan Kawasaki, Chelsea Khakshouri, Ryan Lash, Lauren Li, Lauren O’Neil Arts & Entertainment Section Heads: Ingrid Chang, Matthew Lee, Sade Tavangarian Arts & Entertainment Assistants: Justine Goode, Noelle Lyons Sports Managing Editors: Jack Davis, Alex Edel Sports Writer: Jonah Rosenbaum Photo Coordinator: Alec Caso Section Heads: Austin Block, Ashley Khakshouri, Alex Leichenger Assistants: Sofia Davila, David Gobel, David Kolin, Tiffany Liao, Judd Liebman, Austin Lee, Julius Pak, Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Photography: Chloe Lister, Nika Madyoon Web Designer: Jake Staahl Adviser: 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 senior members of the Editorial Board. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager Neha Nimmagada at (818) 481-2087. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
Oct. 15, 2009
The
C hronicle
Opinion A13
chronicle.hw.com
Sam
Adams
Get on the boat
“
THE DRIVE TO RUN FASTER OR SCORE HIGHER... DOES NOT NEED TO COME AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR pEERS. THIS IS NOT A ZERO sUM GAME.”
A
couple of weeks ago, a rumor spread that The Chronicle was writing an incendiary story about the Fanatics and their sportsmanship or lack thereof. Several people came up to me asking whether it was true, whether we were actually out to get the Head Fanatics in trouble with the administration. For the record, at no point was that the case, and we here at The Chronicle do not consider ourselves in the business of blindsiding students. Last year I wrote a piece in these very pages fretting about the lack of unity in the rising (now current) senior class. The scene was set for a very divided year, with participation in student government elections at a record low and groups of students growing more distinct and distant from each other. Flash back to Homecoming 2009. There, were the requisite carnival rides, Japanese sodas and floods of seventh graders that mark every year’s festivities. The fans stood in solidarity with the water polo team during a heartbreaking loss in the final few minutes. After an upset victory over Alemany, we celebrated with our football team—literally, when a sea of students in red Fanatics shirts descended upon Ted Slavin Field as time expired. It was a moment documented elsewhere in this issue, but the electricity of it was one of those rare times when I found myself most proud to be a member of this class and this school. In that crowd, though, no one was wearing the black and red robes of the prefecture. No one was worrying about the Community Council event they had to plan, or the weekend workload to support their six-AP schedule. It didn’t matter where you sit in the quad, where you are applying early or just how many extracurriculars you’ve managed to cram into your life. The only identifying characteristic of the mass was school pride and a sense of togetherness, not just among the individual classes but of the school as a whole. In the first week of my English class last year, our teacher made us board a metaphoric boat, a sort-of Mayflower on the journey through American literature that we would be taking as a group.
VIVIEN MAO/CHRONICLE
It seemed like nothing more than a silly symbolic gesture at the time, but it’s something that has stuck with me in the year or so since it happened. Though I’m sure there is now a new, younger crew on the S.S. Ms. Wheelock Period 5, I have realized that all of us here are—pardon the cliché—all in the same boat. Sometimes we get too caught up in our own lives, too absorbed in what we do to stop and rush the field every once in a while, to remember that at the end of the day we are all going through the unique experience, for better or worse, that is Harvard-Westlake. In my five years at the two campuses of this school, I’ve noticed that people start to get defensive about what they do here, and are often quick to disparage other activities. The inherent competitiveness and ambition of the students that Harvard-Westlake attracts could be partly responsible. But the drive to run faster or score higher or otherwise improve ourselves in what we do does not need to come at the expense of our peers. This is not a zero-sum game. Just as The Chronicle isn’t out to attack the Fanatics, so too should we students refrain from rashly denouncing other activities. Maybe the student section at games could be more receptive to the chants started by the cheerleaders. Maybe someone who trashes the idea of Peer Support could try it out for a
Hold your tongue
I
n today’s world, everything seems to be worth a comment. A bad day warrants an immediate posting of the details to everyone on fmylife.com. A surprising occurrence or even something as mundane as walking the dog prompts an immediate status update on Facebook. Those who need more detail in their two cents of the day, can take their qualms to the blogosphere or to chat rooms. One of the benefits of the Internet age is that it empowers everyone with an increased voice. So if you are against deploying more troops in Afghanistan, you are welcome to let us know. If you just want to explain how awesome it is to watch the paint dry on walls, once again, feel free to share. Even if your views are short of lifechanging, publishing them is an active practice of your First Amendment rights. But along with expanded rights comes expanded responsibilities, and freedom of speech is no exception. All the opinion is fine and well, but only if
it is expressed in the proper forum. This past Sept., egregious violations of this rule established what is most likely the only connection between a certain 62-year-old congressman from South Carolina, and a certain 32-yearold rapper from Chicago. The congressman gained infamy by interjecting a nationally televised speech by President Obama to shout, “You lie!” The rapper went even further out of line days later at the MTV Video Music Awards. After Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video, the offender climbed onstage, grabbed the microphone from Swift during her acceptance speech, and capped off his antics by publicly humiliating her and declaring that Beyoncé deserved to win the award. Meet Joe Wilson and Kanye West, the first high-profile examples of a hot new trend: opinionitis. Opinionitis can be defined as the impulsive expression of one’s opinion in a poor situation, resulting from the lack of awareness of his or her setting. As our arguments become increasingly virtual, we are all prone
meeting. Maybe we could participate in an event sponsored by Community Council, not because we need to get our community service requirement out of the way but because some of our fellow students spent a lot of time putting it all together. The Chronicle may have, in the past, criticized student groups, but we make it a point to not bash for bashing’s sake. Sure, it is unsportsmanlike when students chant mean things from the stands at sports games. And yeah, it’s a bit rude at volleyball games to shout the names of boys with whom opposing team-members have been amorously involved. It makes us seem boorish, and the administration is right to do what it can to halt that kind of behavior. But from where I’m standing, in the student section, I’d rather see us take out that competitive energy on someone deserving — in this case, anybody who has the audacity to challenge us in sports. When it comes down to it, we’re all in it together. We’re all under the same banner, and we’ll all walk across the same platform at graduation. So let’s try to cut the internal bashing. In the grand scheme of things, none of it is really consequential. As long as we beat Loyola, that is.
Alex
Leichenger to the opinionitis bug flaring up inside of us. When a thought springs to our minds in the solitude of our homes and computer screens, there is nothing to hold us back from transmitting that thought to the rest of the world instantly. The only restrictions are self-imposed. When we have strong opinions, what is going to hold us back from letting them be known? Especially on the Internet, our comments are usually spur-of-themoment whims. However, as we get used to this pattern of unrestricted thought, our judgment in formal situations can be blurred. I’m assuming that our cases of opinionitis have never reached the point where we have vandalized the celebratory acceptance speech of an award-winning singer or challenged the President of the United States’ truthfulness. Nonetheless, it is a problem we all deal with in smaller doses. Sometimes we don’t realize how speaking out can interrupt or embarrass another
person. In hindsight, it is easy to realize how thoughtless our actions were. But in the heat of the moment, when the reflexes of our tongues are faster than those of our brains, it is equally easy to cross the line. Wilson and West crossed that line, and hopefully they learned their lessons. One little pause and a little more patience can go a long way. If Wilson sincerely felt that President Obama was lying in his speech, he could have waited one more day before raising the issue in the House of Representatives. If West really thought Beyoncé deserved to win that award, he could have waited another couple of hours before sharing such sentiments with us on his blog. And to all of those reading this column, if there comes a time when you feel you have a spectacular idea that just has to be shared, take a deep breath and consider your surroundings before spouting it out. You are entitled to your two cents, but make sure you aren’t cutting the line at the register first.
A14 Opinion
The
C hronicle
Oct. 15, 2009
chronicle.hw.com
Erin
Moy
Defend yourself
“ her murder was also something that could happen to any one of us.”
I
honestly thought my mother was overly paranoid when, last winter break, I was forced to take private self defense classes with my sister. At this point I had already been supplied with Mace on my keychain, the knowledge that alleys and nights don’t mix, and the idea that if shady characters are walking down a street, I should cross immediately. Though those multiple two hour sessions seemed completely unreasonable to me at the time, I must admit (however hesitantly) that my mother may have been right. The recent murder of a 17-year-old Oakwood student named Lily Burke was one of those news stories that struck incredibly close to home for me. Maybe it was the similarity in the age or the close proximity, but no one could ignore the obvious tragedy in the story. Here was a 17-year-old girl who was, just like anyone of us here at 3700 Coldwater Canyon, intelligent with an incredibly bright future ahead of her. Her murder was a random act of violence, an unfortunate accident—whatever idiomatic expression that is commonly used in these types of circumstances; her murder was also something that could happen to any one of us. Now I’m not saying that we should turn into complete shut-ins with paranoia issues, but I do wish that we had more tools with which to protect ourselves. At Marlborough, students are required to take a class called Emergency Preparedness and Water Safety as a graduation requirement and for a P.E. Credit, giving their young women tools to protect themselves. Though the class isn’t specifically geared towards self-defense, the idea of being prepared for anything is always a smart idea. Taking a self-defense class was not, by any means, one of the highlights of my life. I may not remember all the moves I learned or the statistics about (but not limited to) date rape, murder and attacks, but I do remember some of it. I remember that studies have shown that getting in the car with your attacker significantly lowers your chance of survival, that using your fingernails is surprisingly effective, that screaming is actually productive and that most women are attacked by people they know, not strangers. What I learned in my self-defense classes was much more than poorly executed self-defense moves; I learned the importance of a general self defense education which included facts that I would otherwise never learn. Preparing ourselves against attackers is only one preventative measure. Ultimately, there is no 100-percent guarantee that we will be able to successfully fend one off, but we should all take advantage of the opportunity to become stronger, more able individuals.
That awkward moment
H
ave you ever been on the phone with someone when you suddenly notice an uncomfortable moment of silence? Or talking about someone when you realize they are standing right behind you? If you have, I think you have yourself a case of Awkward Syndrome. No worries, I’m sure we all have been diagnosed at least once in the past week, since it is a very common disease for high school students. Coming from the girl who is the epitome of awkward, I had to address these situations because I, literally, deal with them daily. I wouldn’t exactly call myself socially adept; it took me about 2 1/2 years to say some of my first words at HarvardWestlake. I always fail to say the right thing at the right time and never know how to move on.
VIVIEN MAO/CHRONICLE
Relax, seriously
R
aise your hand if you are stressed out. It doesn’t matter where you are sitting, or who you are with. Put it up. Right now. I’m not kidding. If your hand at this point still remains affixed to the table, then you are probably part of a very small minority. Our school is a breeding ground for copious amounts of worry due to its “fill up your schedule with impressive classes and dignified extracurriculars” student culture and the constant shadow of college that dogs us in our junior, senior, and sometimes even sophomore years. It’s truly amazing how worked up we get over grades, SAT scores, APs, and other school-related obligations. It’s only October and many of us are already feeling completely overwhelmed. Let me make this clear: I am not exempt from this hysteria. A few weeks ago, during the second weekend after school started, I was worried about a paragraph I had to complete for English. I sent my teacher an e-mail with a question. He answered promptly. I sent him another e-mail, and once again he faithfully answered. I shot him yet another e-mail, explaining why my paragraph was exceedingly long and then I was graced with a message of infinite wisdom: “RELAX!” my teacher typed with a large font. I didn’t send him another e-mail. That message was reinforced recently in
If you think about it, the word awkward is such a broad term in itself; it can range from describing uncomfortable or difficult situations to describing embarrassment. My idea of a nightmare come true is meeting people for the first time. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m utterly jealous of people who have no apprehension introducing themselves, but, I personally think introductions in general have “Warning: Awkward Moment Approaching” written all over them. It’s just so complicated. You don’t want to come off as too friendly, but then again you don’t want to come off as distant. I know from experience that most people either try to search for common friends or exchange compliments. That’s just the talking part; I haven’t even touched on the body language. Do you handshake, hug, or place your hands by your
Austin
Block my ethics class when we studied Epictetus, an ancient follower of stoicism. One of his main points: Don’t worry about things outside of your control. It will only cause you grief. We should instead focus our attentions on improving ourselves. Maybe we should take these 2000-plus-year-old words to heart. If he were to walk around our school, he would advise students to stop obsessing over tests already taken, worrying about applications already submitted, and complaining about loaded schedules or upcoming graded assignments. “Hakuna Matata,” the “Lion King’s” beloved Timon and Pumba would advise. Here’s an idea for how to calm down, and I really don’t mean to be preachy, cliché, or a suck-up: Take a moment to appreciate all the amazing things we do have. Make a list, mental or physical. Count them on your fingers. Draw pictures. It all comes down to putting it in perspective. Now, I understand that’s easier said than done when you get home from athletic practice at 6:30 without having eaten, practiced your instrument, or started on homework, and you have two tests and a quiz the next day which you haven’t begun studying for. But, as our buddy Epictetus would say, the way we approach life and its various problems makes all the difference in the world. All it takes is a bit of attitude adjustment.
Sade
Tavangarian side? I still can’t exactly answer my questions, but I think over time I’ll get more comfortable and it will fall into place. Another situation most kids our age deal with is awkward situations with the opposite sex. For example, when a girl is texting with her crush, we all gather around and try to find the perfect replies. When the guy writes back with a typical conversation ender like, “K Cool” suddenly the girl’s high hopes fall. All of her friends are silent because if she writes anything back it could potentially be very awkward. As much as I want to provide a cure, I cannot. All I can say from past experiences is to hold your head up high and just laugh it off. The worst thing you can do to treat an uncomfortable situation is to say, “Well, that was awkward.” As much as the thought is pounding in your head, saying it aloud just makes it
much worse, and more directly points out the awkward moment. I would recommend to make up some brilliant excuse for an emergency exit, but then again how does that help with anything? As much as we feel like hiding under our covers, not running away from these situations can stop them from happening again. It’s all a trial and error process for us and as long as we get something out of it, maybe these awkward times are worth it. We all are in this together. We just have to embrace those awkward Mondays’, those comments made during the worst times, those texts that end up getting sent to the wrong person, and those weird conversations. They’re an essential part of our high school lives, whether we like them or not; people don’t call it the “awkward stage” for nothing.
Oct. 15, 2009
The
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quadtalk What do you think of the video presentation of the Columbine attack?
“It was unnecessary. It made you think it happens far more often than it really does.”
—Tess Winebaum ‘12
Opinion A15
chronicle.hw.com
makinggrades
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The Chronicle evaluates recent campus developments
Head Prefect Jennie Porter ‘10 taking on the Monstars dodgeball team
The development of the underground soda market exclusively for teachers
Anonymous tweets by @2010GossipGirl
“It’s better to be scared during a video than during an actual shooting when kids need to react fast.”
bynumbers
The Chronicle polled 378 students on the Columbine video and Fanatic Fest. Here’s how they weighed in.
—Jake Schine ‘10
Columbine Video “It was necessary to give us a sense of what we’re dealing with; it made it real.” —Eliza Kellman ‘12
Do you think that a video of a Columbine reeanactment is too graphic to show during class meetings at the Upper School Campus?
Armed attacker education is necessary and a video is not too extreme. There should be education on armed attackers in a less extreme manner. A video reenactment of Columbine is too violent to show at school. We don’t need to be educated on armed attackers.
“the reality is that we do face the potential threat of an armed attacker. While the video may be extreme, extreme measures call for extreme precautions.” —Jonathan Etra ‘11
B F
Removing the cafeteria cash register TV screens
Did the collaboration of student organizations make Fanatic Fest more effective in fostering school unity?
229
85 37 27
156 113
94 15
Fanatic Fest
The collaboration of student organizations was effective. The collaboration had nothing to do with Fanatic Fest’s effectiveness. Fanatic Fest didn’t bring the school together. Fanatic Fest is never effective in unifying the upper school community.
Results based on an online poll e-mailed to Harvard-Westlake upper school students through http://www.surveymonkey.com.
Asixteen
Oct. 15, 2009
Candice Navi/Chronicle
Chloe lister/Chronicle
wolverines
Homecoming 2009: a day filled with athletic feats, food, fun and carnival rides culminating with the fans storming the field.
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Candice Navi/Chronicle
wolverines in the back: The ferris wheel (1) was part of the carnival sponsored by the Parents Association at Homecoming on Oct. 3. Cheerleaders (2) danced to “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas during halftime, while the Chamber Singers (3) performed the National Anthem before the football game. The Fanatics (4) hopped the fence of Ted Slavin Field after the victory. Wide receiver Jackson Ligouri ’10 (5) prepares for the next play midgame. Frolickers (6) play on the Wreck Ball and Fanatics cheer at the fence (7) during the last minutes of the game.
features The
Harvard-Westlake School
Chronicle
Volume XIX
Issue 2
Oct. 15, 2009
Joyce Kim/Chronicle
Diver explores marine world, undersea history By Daniel Rothberg
Photos Courtesy of Alexander Jaffe
Underwater World: Alexander Jaffe ‘11 dives with his friend. Sea life photographed by Jaffe during his trips to Catalina Island and Belize (From bottom): Squirrelfish, Spiny lobster, Garibaldi, Hawksbill Turtle.
Fish Tale
With his scuba certification in hand, Alexander Jaffe ’11 embarked on an unforgettable journey to the British Virgin Islands in the summer of 2008. There, Jaffe plunged into the ocean depths, prepared to undertake a wreck dive that would soon become one of his favorite dives. Although this ranks first on the list of Jaffe’s favorite dives, fast currents made it more difficult to dive down. However, once underwater, Jaffe could see the ruins of the R.M.S Rhone, an old British cargo ship that sank in 1867. “We got to swim through portions of the wreck and there were big sea turtles and all sorts of fish,” Jaffe said. “It is a great thing to dive because there is so much history in it also.” In 2004, Jaffe went on a retreat to the Catalina Island Marine Institute with his sixth grade class. During the retreat, Jaffe got a chance to observe ocean environments both actively by snorkeling and mentally by attending miniclasses. Though he did not know it at the time, this retreat would serve as a catalyst, jump-starting his interest in marine biology. Inspired by the retreat, Jaffe became an avid scuba diver, earning his scuba certification just a few years later. To further broaden his understanding of the ocean ecosystem, Jaffe spent the last summer interning for an evolutionary biologist at UCLA. This biologist specializes in determining the evolutionary history of tropical reef fish, focusing on eels. At the lab, Jaffe helped compile the evolutionary tree. Additionally, Jaffe helped do work with DNA from many different species of eel. “It’s nice to know what you see down there,” Jaffe said. “But as you [scuba dive] more and more, naturally you start to learn more about the environment and the animals.” When he is not out diving, Jaffe works at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, where he helps teach visitors about the animals while they peruse the exhibits. Recently, Jaffe helped found a scuba diving club that hopes to set up a couple of dive trips where students can either get certified or go diving. “It should be a really great opportunity for the HarvardWestlake community as a whole to learn more about and experience this great sport,” Jaffe said.
Fishing trip leads to discovery of new species
By Alice Phillips
Science teacher Blaise Eitner was fishing off of the San Diego coast for rockfish specimens on a research vessel when the captain of the boat decided he wanted to fish with the scientists. He came down and stood next to Eitner, getting ready to throw in his short rod and dinky hooks. Eitner told him he wouldn’t catch anything with it because it would not reach the bottom, but nevertheless the captain cast his line. Suddenly, the line pulled taut and the captain reeled it in. When he pulled it out of the water, there was a bright red rockfish on the end of the line. Eitner immediately recognized that the rockfish the captain had caught was not indigenous to Southern California waters and was a species he had never studied before. He photographed it before the red and white speckled fish could discolor, took a DNA sample, and froze the rockfish for preservational purposes.
Although he had to document the fish and write reports in several scientific journals in order to validate the discovery, Eitner was sure that this was a new species of rockfish. “I had to undergo the long, laborious task of making sure this wasn’t already known to science,” Eitner said. “I had to make sure it wasn’t a stray rockfish from somewhere else.” The Sebastes Moseri, Eitner’s red rockfish with white speckles, was the first rockfish to have DNA data included in the description of the species. At the time, Eitner was working for the National Marine Fishery Service lab and was in search of a university career, replete with both research opportunities in the Marine Biology field. However, Eitner came to Harvard-Westlake through his wife, then girlfriend, middle school science teacher Tara Eitner, and began substituting the Marine Biology classes rather frequently
Photo courtesy of Blaise Eitner
due to the teacher’s declining health. At the same time, he started getting university offers. “I went from rags to riches, in that not only did I have one offer [from Cal State University at Long Beach] but I had this extra thing from Harvard-Westlake,” Eitner said. Eventually, Eitner abandoned the possibility of a university career and took the offer to teach high school students about his childhood passion, marine biology. “I wasn’t dealing very well with the pressures of research,” Eitner said. “I was pretty much consumed by it. I wouldn’t be thinking about the moment. I think I’m a better father and husband as a result [of not taking a university offer]. “I’m more of a people person. Research is a pretty lonely job,” he said. Eitner’s marine biologist past remains with him even now in his Munger 106 classroom, where he can be found feeding, cleaning, and maintaining all of the fish and fishtanks.
B2 Features
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Oct. 15, 2009
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Young Stars InStyle New to modeling, Lily Collins ’07 and Mavis Spencer ’09 are featured in InStyle magazine’s young Hollywood issue.
By Catherine Wang When Lily Collins ’07 walked onto a plane from New York four years ago, all she could think about was getting home. Little did she know how life-changing that plane ride would be. Collins met renowned fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger on the plane. He put Collins in his fashion show the very next night. “After that flight, it all seemed to go so fast,” Collins said. Hilfiger helped Collins set up a meeting with a modeling agency and set her on her “journey” to where we she is now. Collins and Mavis Spencer ’09 were featured in InStyle magazine’s September issue section “Star Track: The Next Generation,” which features up and coming starlets who also have parents that are established in the entertainment industry. Spencer is the daughter of Academy Award-nominated actress Alfre Woodard and screenwriter and director Roderick Spencer. Though Spencer was profiled for her modeling career, she hardly considers herself a model. “I’ve done a few shoots but nothing to make me consider myself a model,” Spencer said. “I’m an equestrian.” One of the top female horseback riders in the country, Spencer’s first experience modeling was for an equestrian magazine, the “Show Circuit.” Soon after, she was photographed for a spread in Teen Vogue magazine. Two years later, she compiled a professional portfolio but did not model again until this year. Weeks before her high school graduation, Spencer was offered the InStyle modeling job by her mother’s agent. She sent her portfolio to the magazine and was given the job. Spencer flew home from a horse show in Canada for a day to be photographed. “I felt very honored to be chosen. I’m sure there are a lot of girls out there who would have loved an opportunity like that,” Spencer said. Spencer said it was “strange” seeing her pictures in a well-known magazine. She tried telling as few people as possible about the shoot, but already, many friends have told her that they had seen her in the magazine. “I was a little uncomfortable with it at first,” Spencer said. “[Wearing] those clothes with that much makeup on... It isn’t really me.” Regarding her future, Spencer is keeping her options as open as possible. She is currently deferring from Columbia University and is working for rider Kent Farrington in New York. As for modeling, Spencer is unsure about a career in the field, but will attempt to model in the future if it is convenient. “It’s not a priority though,” Spencer said. Like Spencer, modeling has become less of a priority in Collin’s life as well. Collins, the daughter of pop legend Phil Collins and Beverly Hills commissioner Jill Tavelman Collins, is an on-camera correspondent for Nickelodeon and a budding actress. “I have always loved fashion, meeting people, and traveling, but [modeling] was not something I grew up wanting to pursue,” she said. Collins calls modeling a “privilege,” but she has recently shifted her focus from modeling to acting. Collins cites her modeling experience as an advantage for acting. “It really helps to know my angles and how to feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera,” Collins said. “I find that being aware of the positive and negative space in a photograph is very similar to
knowing how to utilize my space on a set and in a scene.” Collins has had her current job, hosting Nickelodeon’s show “Hollywood Hang,” for two years. The show is an entertainment news program specifically for children and teenagers. Collins goes to the sets of Nickelodeon shows and interviews the shows’ stars, allowing viewers to see a more “personal side” of the actors. “It’s such a fun job because I love meeting new people, laughing, asking questions, and having fun,” Collins said. In addition to her current job, Collins has been busy auditioning for various acting roles. After what she calls a “long process,” she finally landed roles in the films “The Blind Side” and “Priest” as well as a guest role on the television series “90210.” Collins was ecstatic when she was cast in “The Blind Side.” “I couldn’t believe that I was finally getting my chance to dive in and do what I love,” she said. In “The Blind Side,” which will be released in theaters later this year, Collins stars alongside Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates. “This story, in which I play Sandra’s young Southern teenage daughter, will make you cry, laugh and feel good,” Collins said. Collins is currently shooting “Priest,” a movie based on the Tokyo pop comic book series of the same name. “I get to do my own stunts and work with some incredibly talented actors,” Collins said. “I am learning so much throughout the entire process.” Collins, an avid reader of InStyle magazine, was “absolutely honored” and “incredibly proud” to be —Lily Collins featured in it. “I loved the edgy and chic clothes and location they used for the shoot as well as hanging out with the other girls,” Collins said. With such a busy acting schedule, it has been difficult for Collins to continue her studies at the University of Southern California. Last semester, Collins had to fly home in the middle of filming “The Blind Side” in Atlanta to take her finals. “When I wasn’t filming, I would be in my trailer studying and writing papers,” Collins said. “There was definitely never a dull moment.” Collins had planned to return to USC this semester, but decided to defer at the last minute when she was cast in “Priest.” “I was beyond thrilled that I was going to be part of this incredible project, but it was just too much to do with a full schedule at school,” Collins said. “I wanted to be able to fully dedicate myself to this film and be immersed in the story.” Collins plans on returning to school next semester but has accepted the fact that a new job may come along the way and completely change her plans. She has “loved every minute” of her new acting career and hopes to continue with it, even if she must take time off from school. “I know that I will go back one day and finish,” Collins said. “I’ve just accepted that it may take me longer to finish.”
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I couldn’t believe I was finally getting my chance to dive in and do what i love.”
‘07
Model Behavior: Although Collins ’07 and Spencer ’09 don’t aspire to model in the future, the two pose for the September 2009 Issue of InStyle magazine. The spread, entitled “Star Track: The Next Generation,” features emerging stars who have parents with prominent careers in Hollywood. Both girls were excited and honored to be in the spotlight.
INSTYLE PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LILY COLLINS AND MAVIS SPENCER
Oct. 15, 2009
The
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chronicle.hw.com
Features B3
graphic courtesy of qinru zhou
YOUNG MELODY: At the age of 25, Zhou conducted China’s most prestigious orchestra, the Beijing Orchestra, at the Beijing Opera House.
cool
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composed
By Catherine Wang
A
s the lights of the Beijing Opera House dim, the audience can make out the back of a dark silhouette at center stage. As the stage lights up, the Beijing Orchestra and its conductor become visible. With a single flick of the conductor’s hand, all of the musicians take up their instruments and begin to play, creating the music and melodies of the night. Tonight is not just any other night, though—it is National Day, China’s own 4th of July. The orchestra is not only playing in front of the packed theatre, but on national television. Song after song the musicians play, until their performance comes ends and they set down their instruments, letting out a sigh of triumph. As thunderous applause echoes through the theatre, the beaming musicians stand up to bow. In the midst of this frenzy, the conductor turns around to face the audience. His smile shines brighter than even the most vibrant stage lights. At the tender age of 25, Qinru Zhou had conducted his country’s most prestigious orchestra at the country’s most important celebration, poised to become one of the top figures in China’s musical world. A smile crosses Zhou’s face as memories of this unforgettable night nearly 40 years ago resurface. Dr. Zhou, as his students fondly call him, is now the head Chinese teacher. He teaches Chinese III, Chinese III Honors, Chinese IV Honors, and Advanced Placement Chinese. Sitting in his classroom, Seaver 101, Zhou is almost hidden behind a pile of papers on his desk, using a free period to catch up on grading. Pushing aside the papers, he offers his time to tell his story. He leans back in his chair and his brow furrows slightly, as if he is trying to remember specific details. He sighs, and then tells his story. Zhou’s love for music began in elementary school. He sang in the choir and dabbled with various instruments in the school’s orchestra. When he was 9, Zhou taught himself to playy piano, since children at the time had no access to lessons. Zhou found old copies of Beyer’s piano books. Whenever he had time, he snuck into his school’s music room, transforming the notes on the pages into harmonic melodies on the piano. For the next few years, Zhou kindled his
Former conductor of the Beijing Opera Dr. Qinru Zhou has intertwined his love of music with his passion for teaching Chinese.
musical interest by composing pieces of his own. The first sign of Zhou’s future music career was when he published a composition at age 11. Zhou graduated from high school during China’s Cultural Revolution, a time when all colleges and universities were closed. He became a conductor and composer-in-residence at the Beijing Opera. Zhou credits much of his musical learning and development to nine years there. “I was only 19 when I entered,” Zhou said. “I worked with the best musicians in China. I really miss them.” While there, Zhou conducted the Beijing Orchestra on National Day and also composed many pieces that have been played worldwide. Zhou returned to school the first year colleges re-opened after the Cultural Revolution ended, becoming a college freshman at the Beijing Music Conservatory when he was nearly 30. After five years of strict training, Zhou became a music theory and composition professor there. Though Zhou’s fulfilling musical career had established him as a prominent musician, he longed for more: Zhou wanted to see the world. “China was isolated at the time. We could only see Western world through the media. I wanted to see it for myself,” he said. “I wanted to learn about Western music, but I also wanted to learn about Western culture.” Zhou was offered a scholarship to study music at the University of California, Los Angeles. Leaving his young family behind, Zhou arrived in Los Angeles during summer 1986 with $30 in his pocket. UCLA was very welcoming to him, but he still felt like a stranger in a new land. “Thanksgiving and Christmas were hard,” Zhou said. “Everyone went home, but I stayed at school.” Zhou liked California’s sunny weather, but he missed Beijing’s snow and rain. “I was always happy when it rained,” he said. Zhou’s son and wife joined him one year later, and he began adjusting to the American culture and developed a deep appreciation for it. Zhou became a TA for Asian Studies Professor Perry Link, and developed his first inclination for teaching. During his time at UCLA, Zhou developed a close relationship with Elaine Caris, an elderly handicapped woman, through a UCLA sponsored program that matched foreign students with volunteer families. Caris helped Zhou learn English and invited
him to parties. She introduced him to her friends, many of whom were intellectuals and musicians. Zhou helped Caris by driving her to doctor’s appointments. “I always had Hanukah with them and went to their kids’ birthday parties,” Zhou said. Zhou graduated from UCLA with an M.B.A. and Ph.D in Music Composition and Etymology. After graduating, Zhou received a phone call from Head of the Upper School Harry Salamandra regarding a job opening at Harvard-Westlake. “I didn’t know what Harvard-Westlake was,” Zhou said, “but my son told me: ‘That high school is better than college!’” Zhou accepted the teaching offer at HarvardWestlake rather than return to China after studying, which he had originally planned to do. “My family was here, so I couldn’t leave,” he said. Zhou travels to China every year, so he does not miss it too much, he said. Zhou says he decided to switch from his musical career to a teaching career because he wanted to help break down the “cultural barriers” between the East and West. “Easterners and Westerners can’t really understand each other because of the cultural, language and political barriers,” Zhou said. Zhou has been at Harvard-Westlake for 12 years. Under Zhou’s guidance, the Chinese program has expanded from a single class of 12 students to classes offered in every grade. Teaching has not completely halted Zhou’s musical endeavors, as he still lectures and writes on music theory and recently founded the music journal “Music in China. Zhou plans on resuming composing after retiring from teaching. Before then, he will continue intertwining his musical training with his teaching profession. “Dr. Zhou always relates Chinese to music by drawing similarities between sentence structure and musical phrase structure,” Chinese student Nicole Hung ’10 said. As Zhou took his bow after he conducted the Beijing Orchestra on National Day looking out into his future, the future he envisioned for himself then no doubt contrasts sharply with his current life, but Zhou does not regret leaving his music career for teaching. “I love Harvard-Westlake,” he said with a smile, just as his tenth grade Chinese III class filed into his classroom. Zhou stood to greet his students, signaling that his story has finished.
B4 Features
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Oct. 15, 2009
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GAVIN COOK, HARPER WAYNE AND PATRICK HENTSCHEL
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Gavin Cook ’10 (right) interacts with a panda at a reserve in China. Patrick Hentschel ’10 (left) poses in Beijing
Culture
SHOCK By Jordan Freisleben
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Lauren Seo
As he unbuckles his seatbelt, Gavin Cook ’10 reaches for his wallet. Looking up, he is slightly surprised to see his mother get out of the driver’s seat, instead of the taxi driver waiting for him to pay. With a slight smile, he realizes he’s not in China anymore. Expecting to pay for transportation is one of the many habits Cook has carried over from his year abroad in Beijing. He is among the three seniors that have had to adjust from the lifestyle they developed last year while participating in the School Year Abroad Program. Like Cook, Harper Wayne ’10 has been experiencing subconscious slips back into her French lifestyle ever since she got back from her program in Rennes. “I still order my food in French in restaurants,” Wayne —Dr. Sheila Siegel said. “[It’s strange] School Psychologist that I’m walking around and everyone’s speaking English.” For SYA students, readjusting is a process that could potentially last for a couple of months, according to school psychologist Sheila Siegel, whose own son (Matthew ’91) spent several months of his junior year of high school in Argentina. Returning to Los Angeles requires the three seniors to readapt in both the academic and social aspects of their former lifestyle. “[In France], they give you a lot less work, because [the school] feels like you should profit and not be cooped up all day doing work—so in that respect it was hard coming back to HarvardWestlake,” Wayne said. Patrick Hentschel ’10 notes that his Chinese peers were exceptionally intense about their schoolwork. He thinks that most of this stress is due to the national university entrance exams every high school Chinese student must take. “A strong focus on studies is something I think is just engrained in their culture,” he said. Cook believes the workload and competitive environment of China’s school system are com-
You have to work your way back into a family... You have to work back into the closeness.”
with two friends from his School Year Abroad program. Harper Wayne ’10 (top left) meets her host fawmily in the northern French town of Rennes.
Living abroad involved taxi fares, foreign food and no curfew. Coming home takes adjusting. parable to those of Harvard-Westlake. “I thought they were all going to be a bunch of study robots,” he said. “But I went on a five day immersion program in a Chinese classroom and I realized they weren’t as intense as I thought they were.” Upon returning to Los Angeles, Wayne found the dynamics her friendships at home were different than how she remembered them. “All of my friends are exactly the same, and I’ve changed while I was there,” she said. “I’m more mature than I was—they’re the same as they were when I left.” Wayne also encountered difficulties reintegrating into her family life after a year spent with a laidback host family. “I just fight with [my family] a lot more because they have this twisted idea that I should have a curfew and rules, which is just unrealistic—[in France], I had nothing,” she said. “They just wanted me to use good judgment and to be safe, and they trusted me to know that I would do that, so that was the only rule.” Siegel agrees that spending a year on one’s own away from family takes a toll on the household dynamics. “You have to work your way back into a family—if you’ve lived away, you’re a different person, you’ve had a whole different life with completely different life experiences that your family and old friends aren’t a part of,” she said. “You have to work back into the closeness.” Cook’s experience in China with a dysfunctional host family made him miss the environment of his actual family. “Living with them made me really appreciate my family on a seminal level,” Cook said. While he doesn’t plan on taking another year of school abroad in China, Cook plans on returning this summer to the place he calls a “second home”. “It makes me confident that I could live in a different place,and feel at home in a different part of the world,” he said. “I feel like more of a citizen of the world.” In Wayne’s case, she feels more attached to France than she does to the United States. “I didn’t feel like I was coming home, I felt like I was leaving home,” she said. “I made a home there and my friends that I made were my family. I’m homesick for France; never once when I was there did I get homesick for America.”
Oct. 15, 2009
The
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Protection crosses gender borders
By Allegra Tepper
Marcia,* 17, isn’t sexually active and doesn’t plan to be for a while. She’s seen her friends come in to school, bandaged after receiving a Gardasil shot, which has gained notoriety as one of the more painful in the cabinet. “I see no reason to put myself through that kind of pain if I don’t have to,” Marcia said. As a matter of fact, she can and she should. Gardasil, a vaccine made by Merck & Co., is a shot series that helps protect girls from cervical cancer and genital warts. According to a survey of 75 upper school female students campus, 70 percent of Harvard-Westlake females have received the Gardasil vaccine. Until recently, that percent efficacy was the only relevant Gardasil has in demographic. The Food women and men and Drug Administration will be approving Gardasil for males percent of aged 9 to 26 in the next cancer is HPV two weeks, said Robin driven Farias-Eisner (Gina ’03, Anna ’05, Joe ’06, Anthony ’09, Nicolena ’13) Chief of Gynecology HPV strains can be and Gynecologic Oncolprevented by Gardasil ogy at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. The vaccine, which percent of includes three shots adults in the administered over the United States course of six months, have had some prevents human papillomavirus, or HPV. Acform of HPV cording to the Centers for Disease Control, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and approximately 80 percent percent of women will of adults in the United develop long-lasting States have had some infections that put form of the virus. Since its FDA approvthem at risk for cancer al for women ages 9-26, Gardasil has been margraphic by lauren seo keted heavily to women sources: centers for disease con-
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Trivial knowledge By Sammy Roth
Three seniors crowd around a computer in Munger Tech Center. Jeff Kim ’10 types rapidly, and Gina Goldberg ’10 says, “Sleepy, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, Doc—what’s the seventh dwarf?” Goldberg, Kim and Jay Bhatia ’10 are playing the “Seven Dwarfs,” quiz on Sporcle.com. The popular website boasts more than 2,000 trivia quizzes in topics ranging from geography, to television, to sports, to religion. The site’s founder, Seattle resident Matt Ramme, 33, said that Sporcle is especially popular on high school and college campuses. On each quiz, users must type the answers within the time limit. Afterwards, they can see statistics comparing their score to everyone else’s scores. “[That day] in Munger Tech, we learned that [Kim] knew all of the ‘Sex and the City’ girls, first and last name,” Goldberg said. “It’s fun when everyone can contribute random information that would probably be completely useless otherwise.” But Sporcle also has an educa-
Features B5
chronicle.hw.com
The imminent approval of Gardasil for men would protect more individuals from Human Papilloma Virus.
with the “One Less” campaign. Alex Glancy ’10 believes the campaign has been effective. “I feel very proud to be a woman when I think about it,” Glancy said. “It’s like a feminist thing; no guys allowed.” Well, not anymore. With the new approval, Merck will now need to broaden its target demographic. “Men are the ones that give it to women,” said Andrea Stein, a gynecologist who administers the vaccine at her Santa Monica practice. Stein suggested that all male teenagers talk to their pediatrician or internist about the vaccine. Before making the obvious conclusion that the male Y chromosome is impervious to cervical cancer, males should know that the vaccine prevents HPVs 16 and 18, two strains that cause significant percentages of anal and penile cancers. Studies published by the National Cancer Institute show that efficacy in males is the same as that for females, both at 98 percent, FariasEisner said. In addition to strains 16 and 18, Gardasil prevents strains 6 and 11, which aren’t included in any other vaccines of its kind. HPV has upwards of 130 different strains, and while Gardasil prevents four of the most dangerous, there are still 25 to 30 others that fall into that category. “It doesn’t give you permission to say that I am not going to get HPV by any stretch of the imagination,” Stein said. Aliana,* now 17, had already been sexually active with her boyfriend for nearly eight months when she arrived at her pediatrician’s office for a physical. She was 15 and having sex on a regular basis, ranging from “tri-weekly to bi-daily.” Upon learning this, Aliana’s pediatrician was adamant that she get the Gardasil vaccine. Thinking that the shots were intended to be administered before one was sexually active, Aliana thought the ship had sailed. But Stein said that girls like Aliana should absolutely still head in to their pediatrician or gynecologist for the vaccination. Since both Aliana and her boyfriend were previously virgins and monogamous at the time, neither one was at risk of having HPV or transmitting it to their partner. However, in the case that an individual is sexually active with multiple partners and has potentially gotten the virus, it is still important to have
tional use, history teacher Nini Halkett said. Halkett, who teaches AP Geography, said that certain quizzes could be useful for geography students, such as the quiz on which countries have the highest HIV infection rates. “I can see where it might be useful as not really in-depth research, but you might be able to find research information on there,” Halkett said. Jacob Gindi ’10, a regular Sporcle visitor, repeatedly played the “U.S. Capitals,” quiz to study for an actual United States History quiz last year. “It’s better than multiple choice because you actually have to know the things,” Gindi said. “You have to type them out.” Gindi told his U.S. History teacher, Greg Gonzalez, that Sporcle was a useful study tool, and Gonzalez passed on the information to the rest of Gindi’s class. Gonzalez has been a Sporcle aficionado ever since. He said he mostly takes sports quizzes, but that he has seen useful history quizzes, such as the, “World War I Battles,” quiz. The site’s four most popular quizzes are all related to history or geography. Each of these quizzes— “U.S. States,” “U.S. Presidents,” “Countries of Europe” and “Countries of the World”—has more than 1 million plays. Julius Pak ’12 discovered Sporcle when a friend bet him that he could not beat the “Countries of the World” quiz.
an examination and get the vaccine, Stein said. “While around 80 percent of sexually active men and women have had a strain of HPV, it’s unlikely that they’ve had all four that Gardasil prevents,” Stein said. “Your body has built up antibodies once the virus has cleared, but it is important to protect yourself against the other strains.” Young adults like Marcia who are not sexually active and don’t plan to be for a while still ought to consider the vaccine, regardless of the pain, Stein said. “Someone who is technically a virgin can still get HPV from receiving oral sex,” Stein said. “It’s a very individualized thing, and there are cases for which it doesn’t make sense to get the shots, but for the majority of people, it’s important.” While the FDA has approved the vaccine only for individuals between the ages of 9 and 26, Stein recommends Gardasil to her patients 26 and older who are sexually active with more than one partner. “I am also strongly backing the use of the vaccine in females older than 26,” Farias-Eisner said. “The request has been put in for women between the ages of 26 to 45, and that will follow approval for males, within the next 18 months.” The vaccine is a preventative measure, especially for young women as they get older and are at a higher risk for cancer. HPV that isn’t cleared can linger and turn abnormal cell cancerous over time. According to the CDC, cervical cancer is the most common cancerous result of HPV, but the virus can also lead to cancers of the genital region in both sexes. About 10 percent of infected women will develop long-lasting infections that put them at risk for cervical cancer, according to the CDC. Due to the incidence in developing countries, cervical cancer is the second most common cause of fatality among young women after trauma, FariasEisner said. Genital warts are a sign of HPV, and Stein recommended that both males and females use a mirror to periodically check for abnormalities. Even after receiving the vaccine, Stein’s mantra for her patients remains the same: “Condoms, condoms, condoms.” “There are still 25 other strains of HPV that are dangerous, and the vaccine does not prevent any other STDs,” Stein said. “This is no substitute for contraception.” *Names changed upon request
Pak won the bet on his second try, taking just eight minutes to type the names of all 195 countries, including little known nations such as Nauru, Mauritius and Burkina Faso. “It’s not straight memorization,” Pak said. “You’re given the map so you kind of have an idea which [countries] you’re missing.” Dr. Laurie Post (Natalie ’10), a clinical psychologist, said that part of Sporcle’s appeal probably lies in the informal nature of its quizzes and the different types of quizzes from which users can choose. “[Sporcle] allows people to test their knowledge in an environment where they have choice of the material and immediate gratification, and that is very satisfying,” Post said. “And in addition, it allows each person to control the level of difficulty in how much they want to challenge themselves.” Sporcle began in 2007 as a sports predictions website. But Ramme said he was inspired to turn Sporcle into a trivia game site while trying to memorize all 50 United States. He had tried using flashcards, but found that method to be “slow and painful.” “So I went looking for something online that could do a little better,” he said. “But finding none, I made one myself.” Ramme called Sporcle a combination of education and entertainment. “You’re coming away with more than you started with,” he said. “You feel good about the time you
“
It’s fun when everyone can contribute random information that would probably be completely useless otherwise.”
—Gina Goldberg ‘10
wasted/spent.” “It’s fun,” Halkett said. “If it interests students in the material, then it has value.” But while Sporcle is good for memorizing useful information, it cannot replace more thorough learning, Halkett said. “If your goal is to be able to recite to your friends the ten largest countries, then [Sporcle’s] great,” she said. “But one of the things that we want to do at our school is encourage more analysis and critical thinking, and Sporcle isn’t going to help you with that.” Gonzalez agreed that Sporcle’s educational uses are limited, but said that Sporcle is still a relatively good way for students to spend time. “As opposed to being on ‘MySpaceBook’ or some other social networking site, I’d say it’s pretty good,” he said.
B6 Features
Oct. 15, 2009 The
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The bright blu call to hang g helicopter pilo jet pilot traine
No fear of flying
By Spencer Gisser
Robert Levin, the school’s current Chief Financial Officer, did not sleep the night before jumping off a 3,200 foot cliff. Levin suffers from acrophobia, the fear of heights. At one point, Levin had to be helped down a five foot ladder because his acrophobia, fear of heights made it almost impossible for Levin to descend on his own. He launched his hang glider early in the morning to avoid turbulence from thermals, columns of rising hot air. Hang gliding at Glacier Point in Yosemite requires the advanced H-4 license. When Levin’s glider was picked up into the air, he “burst into tears,” he said. Levin yelled “I beat you! I beat you!” a cry carried by natural rock formations to a crowd numbering in the hundreds that had gathered to watch, Levin said. The flight at Glacier Point was “a rite of passage” for Levin to triumph over his fear, he said. To this day, a picture of a hang glider at Glacier Point resides on Levin’s office wall. Despite his acrophobia, Levin has pursued aviation because “the things that scare us are the things that fascinate us,” Levin said. That is why Levin has flown hang gliders and small airplanes and has skydived. The prospect of skydiving was “terrifying,” Levin said, “but the reality was that I immediately went for a second jump.” When he graduated from high school, Levin was 16 years old. Levin took a gap year to get a pilot’s license for a “Cessna-type deal” of a small airplane, he said. Levin has suffered some injuries from aviation, such as the time when Levin flew at Owens Valley, which has “some of the strongest air in the world,” he said. While landing after a flight at Owens Valley that took him to over 15,000 feet, Levin’s hang glider crashed outside of Big Pine. Levin was brought “face-first” into the ground, pushing his glasses against his face and ripping some skin from Levin’s nose. A portable smoke signal that Levin brought with him was activated upon the crash. A passing motorist drove over to n vi le Levin in the belief that Levin was on fire. cou ert b o rtesy of R One year after the accident, Levin took what he remembers as his “best flight” up in the starting at Owens Valley, he said. clouds: CFO Reflecting on his experiences, Levin urged Robert Levin, students not to “die with your best dreams poised on the still inside you” because “the one thing that edge of a cliff, nobody can take away is memories and braces himself accomplishments,” Levin said. to hang glide “Also,” Levin said, “don’t die.” into the sky.
Teaching others to By Sam Adams
Jeff Snapp is 800 hours away from his dream. When the math teacher started taking helicopter flying lessons two years ago, it was just to learn a new skill. So he got his private license. Then another one. A third. And as of early September, he’s a fully licensed instructor and looking to moonlight as a flying teacher, with choppers as his retirement plan. “I got, as they call it, bit by the bug,” Snapp said. “It’s just so fun. I decided that [flying] would be something fun to do like in 20 years when I stop slinging calculus.” Snapp aspires to fly helicopter tours once he retires from teaching. Maybe he’ll fly tours to the volcanoes of Hawaii, he said, or the glaciers in Alaska. Or maybe he’ll move to Las Vegas and show people the Strip and the Grand Canyon from above. “My flight instructor lives in Vegas and goes to the Grand Canyon five times a day,” he said. “He’s a little bored with it by now, but I figure if I start doing that when I’m 60, life could be worse.” The only hurdle left for Snapp is the minimum time requirement: in order to get the Airline Transport
Pilot Certificate, the h certification and the one h lead tours, Snapp needs u hours in the cockpit. Snapp has 200 right n to pay for all of them. No to put his teaching license find a student to mentor, r all the while. Since the flight instr is hard to break into, h his own for someone who to fly on nights and wee someone he knows who to fly helicopters so that friends to Mammoth on example of a potential stu “Some people just something new and di said. He knows because that him to flight in the first like to help others try it t Though the road retirement job seems d believes that he will be ab it, one step at a time. “It’s exciting,” Snapp s like, ‘will I ever get there years, but also looking at a lot, but it’ll happen.”
going up: Math teacher Jeff Snapp takes Dean Cahn Oxelson and Jeanne Huybrechts up for a trip in a helicopter to Catalina Island.
hronicle
Features B7
chronicle.hw.com
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By Jean Park
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Sedona, Arizona is known for its rocky, yet beautiful landscape. The cliffs cast a jagged shadow across the “Red Rocks” and many plateaus. While trail hikers and passing drivers must look up towards the top of the rocks, Courtney Hazy ’11 flies her Cesna 172 over canyons and mountaintops, overlooking all of Sedona. Contrasting the calm and scenic land outside, the inside of Hazy’s small propeller plane is noisy and chaotic. “I was freaking out. The landing strip was on a plateau and I had to land with turbulent winds that were rocking the plane back and forth. The tower told me to make a smooth u-turn, which was difficult to pull off, and because the strip was very narrow, I had to make sure the plane was perfectly aligned,” recalled Hazy. She explained that her body movements determine the plane’s movements as well, which made her anxious. A nervous and airsick Hazy kept focus and with a little help from her flight instructor, she landed safely onto the plateau. Hazy began taking flight lessons at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as a 14 year old because her father and siblings encouraged her to try. Currently holding a student license, she hopes to move up to the highest rank and receive the private license, which allows pilots to fly anyone at anytime. Hazy’s father, who began flying at 15, was always passionate about planes and has been flying for 53 years.
“The classes are a week long in the summer time and we would fly for an entire day. We’d also stop at different places in Arizona to get lunch,” explained Hazy. Although flying as a hobby, is only a hobby, Hazy is a very devoted learner. She is only allowed to fly as far as Arizona and Utah, however, Hazy remembered a time when she and her father flew to Bora Bora in Tahiti, which is the farthest she has ever flown. “A couple of years ago, when I first took off, I felt like everything was still new to me. I had to get full power and hit a certain speed before I got to the end of the runway. The throttle, which is the accelerator, got the plane to speed up very fast and even though I was scared at first, it was thrilling. When the plane lifted off the ground into the air, I was surprised, but also worried about changing the speeds,” said Hazy. As an experienced pilot, Hazy will continue to advance into higher ranks, as she continues with more lessons and practice. Hazy explains that she is always a little intimidated because she is aware that a slight mistake can be severely damaging, but she claims that “it is worth it because it’s very fun and you get a feeling of freedom.” Hazy hopes that she can someday fly her friends out for vacation in the future. As for holding a career as a pilot, Hazy laughed and said, “I’ll always fly just for the joy of it, not for making money.”
Winging toward Air Force By Eli Haims
d Head of School
reaching new heights: Courtney Hazy ’11 (right) calls to the control tower during a flight over Arizona’s “Red Rocks” with her flying instructor.
ey
ha zy
ue skies gliders, ots and ees.
At 15, Hank Gerba ’12 is counting down the days until he gets his permit – not to drive, but as a student pilot. Gerba started taking flying lessons this summer at the Santa Monica Airport. He has already taken two lessons in a Cessna 152, and plans to take one every other month. One of Gerba’s flights took him over Point Dume in Malibu, then to Simi Valley to perform a touch-and-go landing, which is where they “land and take off without stopping so we can practice landing.” Gerba says that landing is the most difficult part of flying because it “requires a lot of skill to stay stable. It takes a lot of coordination.” Gerba has had a love for flying from a young age, playing flight simulators with his father, George, since he was 4 years old. Today, Gerba’s favorite simulator is IL2, and his favorite plane to fly in the
game is the Sturmovik, a Russian World War II all-purpose warplane. Gerba says that the simulator is “exactly like flying except for the wind.” Not only does Gerba want to earn his pilot’s license, but he also has high hopes to someday be a pilot in the United States Air Force. He hopes to go to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but says getting accepted is “like [getting accepted to] West Point, almost impossible to get in.” Once in the Air Force, Gerba would like to fly the A-10 attack plane, which he says is a far cry from the Cessna that he currently flies. Gerba also plans to join the Civil Air Patrol, which is, as he says, “like the Boy Scouts but for flying.” This group is a federally supported group affiliated with the Air Force. He says that being a member of the CAP is strongly recommended for going to the Air Force Academy and will help his chances of getting in.
courtesy of Hank gerba
flying solo: Hank Gerba ’12 sits in the cockpit preparing to take off.
B8 Features
The
High Stakes
C hronicle chronicle.hw.com
Oct. 15, 2009
Clue two: Three seniors fill out early admission contracts. By Allegra Tepper
With the October 1 Early Application Contract deadline behind them, the senior class has successfully conquered its first obstacle, or so one can only hope. As Annabelle puts it, “Anyone who has ever told us that senior year is the best year of our life was lying to us. In fact, it’s the biggest lie I have ever heard. But we’ll be fine...hopefully.” Annabelle* Despite spurts of pessimism and long work nights, Annabelle is trying to plow through. Currently on her agenda: getting interviews under her belt. After the Senior College Night last week, during which Annabelle attended a lecture on interview techniques, she feels confident about her interview at University of Southern California this week, a school her dean says is a likely admit. USC still ranks among her top three choices, along with Stanford and Columbia. While USC does not offer an Early Action or Early Decision program, Annabelle is abstaining from any early programs for her other top choices. “Everything besides those three are just second choices,” Annabelle said. “I am going to get everything out at the same time, get it all back, lay all my options out on the table and see what’s best for me at this moment in time, or that moment in time.” Annabelle has responded to questionnaires from schools including Columbia, Georgetown and Yale, as well as sent in her stats to several other schools. She has heard from a Cornell coach monthly since late last year, a school she calls a “serious consideration.” Since she is on a spring sports team, Annabelle is not expecting recruits and is putting more emphasis on her ethnic minority and academic merit. Annabelle recently discussed dropping an AP course with her dean, but was advised that her workload is appropriate and that she has few options this far. “I thought five AP classes is the norm, but apparently it’s not and I’m doing too much,” Annabelle said. “It’s a little challenging... no, it’s a lot challenging.”
graphic by joyce kim
Taylor* For Taylor, while her senior year courses have demanded far more work than she had expected, it is the essays that are currently her biggest obstacle. Without any essays under her belt, Taylor is taking respite in the fact that she will not be applying early anywhere, buying her a bit more time than the majority of her peers. Taylor’s highest priority now is completing the music supplement to her application. “The CD is due Dec. 1, which is so much sooner than I thought it would be,” Taylor said. Oberlin is still one of the major contenders for Taylor, who will be applying to the College as well as the Conservatory, but Williams is her first choice. “My mom really wants me to get a bachelor’s degree as opposed to just being at a conservatory,” Taylor said. “I really love Williams, but I don’t have a beautiful chance of getting in there.” After a visit at Thornton, the music school at University of Southern California, Taylor was surprised that she fell in love with the school. Contrasted with the small liberal arts colleges she is considering, like Bennington, she expected a “big and cold” environment. Instead, she found what she would call a “sweet” one, and she feels confident in her chances of getting into USC, if not specifically Thornton. “It seems like the safe choice,” Taylor said. “As much as I love Williams, it scares me. It’s a different way of life than I am used to, and USC is familiar.”
Shawn* Last week, Shawn made the official commitment to apply Early Decision to the University of Pennsylvania, as well as to the rolling admissions schools of University of Michigan and University of WisconsinMadison. “I am pretty sure I am going to get into Wisconsin, and I’d be happy to go there,” Shawn said. Despite being in the same position as Taylor with his essays and under a shorter time constraint, Shawn said he isn’t worried at all. Last month, Shawn ranked New York University among his top four choices, but as of October, he is no longer applying due to the lack of collegiate atmosphere. He has received letters from coaches at Pomona College and Soka University of America but doesn’t think his athletics are going to be playing a role in his application. Still, he hopes that he will be able to find a team that will accept him as a walk-on. “My dean and I met at the beginning of the year, and she is just excited that I am applying to a lot of UCs,” Shawn said. “My list was packed with reaches before and I needed these safeties.” While the three students have little overlap in the collegiate aspirations, one thing is uniform across the board. As Shawn puts it, “I’m working harder this year than all three years combined.” *names have been changed
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Oct. 15, 2009
The
C hronicle
Features B9
arts&entertainment
Photos by Mary Rose Fissinger/Chronicle
Role Playing: Teachers Adam Howard and Michele Spears practice their acting and improvisation skills by displaying various emotions. They
are both currently involved in productions outside of school. Spears can be seen in “Sondheim Unscripted,” while Howard stars in “Private Eyes.”
The roles they play
Outside of the classroom, English teacher Adam Howard ’93 and acting teacher Michele Spears spend their time on the stage. By Mary Rose Fissinger
A
dam Howard ’93 walks into his seventh period Creative Writing class with circles under his eyes and gripping his coffee mug decorated with drawings of famous authors. At 1:10 p.m., he is still showing signs of sleep deprivation, but it is not from pulling an all-nighter grading papers. “You’ll get your poems back on Monday, after tech week,” Howard assures his students. He is referring to the final week of rehearsals before the opening night of the play he is starring in, “Private Eyes.” For the last few weeks, he has been working nonstop. Four to five days a week he followed up his long day of teaching with a three-hour rehearsal, and he still had to fit in time to make lesson plans and grade papers. “You have to become more disciplined with time,” Howard said with a smile. His two professions, actor and teacher, were born out of each other. When he was getting his Master of Fine Arts at Texas University, part of the curriculum involved teaching drama classes. This struck a chord, and in 2003 he returned to the middle school to teach acting. After three years, he moved to the Upper School as an English teacher, after his appreciation for literature grew through his experience in drama and in life. Having double majored at Kenyon in Theater and English, the switch was not too drastic. Howard also uses his theater background in his teaching. “I’ve always loved storytelling, and I think I bring that to the classroom,” Howard said. Howard is not the only one whose professional life is a fusion of acting and teaching. Michele Spears, who teaches The Actor and The Stage, spends her mornings going to auditions, her afternoons teaching and directing the annual musical, and her nights rehearsing for the upcoming production put on by her improvisation troupe, Impro Theater. She’s been involved with Impro since 1992, after spending a year with a different improvisation troupe, LA Connection, which she joined soon after moving to Los Angeles from New York. Impro Theater puts on entire plays of improvisation in the style of great authors such as Tennessee Williams, Shakespeare, and even Jane Austen. This style of improv is called long-form improvisation. Their current production, which opened on October 9, is entitled “Sondheim Unscripted.” Because it is all improvisation, the show will be completely different on any given night. The closing night of this play will not bring much rest to Spears, however. The improvisation company meets every Monday to do acting drills and keep their skills sharp.
Not that Spears has to worry about too much time away from acting; she continues to go on auditions, and she is director of the Scene Monkeys as well as the fall musical “City of Angels.” In addition, she directs and choreographs for a musical theater guild in Los Angeles, the Academy for New Musical Theater. The members of this guild work on writing and choreographing new musicals. “I direct for them and help new musicals find their life,” Spears said. You could say the same about her students. A group of students that Spears directed as Scene Monkeys went on to start their own improvisation group, One Night Stand, after they graduated in 2003. The group is still in existence and has a show opening soon in New York. Teaching, however, serves more as a blessing than an extra burden for Spears. “I get to work with students for whom it’s still so exciting and fresh,” Spears said. “This is why I love what I do. It’s a nice balance to the whole game of Hollywood.” It also means she has her entire summer to focus on acting. In addition, she is a “3/5” teacher, meaning she only has two classes and is not usually on campus until about 6th period, and, if a rehearsal or audition still conflicts, the department is really understanding, she said. Other teachers take over her classes if she can’t make them; and they are all very supportive. However, she admits, “it makes for long days.” Both Spears and Howard know how much teachers can inspire and help careers. Howard has been acting ever since elementary school, but really came to love it when he was an eleventh grader at HarvardWestlake, and Ted Walch came in as the head of theater. Walch cast Howard as Demetrius in the school production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” “And then I just got the bug,” Howard said. Walch proved helpful to Spears as well. When she first moved to Los Angeles, she enrolled in an acting class he taught. He had seen a movie she had choreographed, and he asked her to choreograph that year’s musical at Harvard-Westlake. After that, she helped out with the musical every year until two years ago, when she was given the job of teaching The Actor and The Stage. Neither Howard nor Spears would give up either aspect of their professional life. Sometimes these two sides of them collide when their students show up at their shows. “I love to see students [at my shows],” Howard said, although he admits that he doesn’t feel like the school is the right place to market his performances. Students in the audience or not, he lives for acting. “Nothing beats the rush and the jitters of the night at the theater,” Howard said.
B10 Features
The
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Nov. 11, 2009
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Photo courtesy of Kameron Lucas
In the Spotlight: Autumn Chiklis ’12 had a role on “The Shield”. Kameron Lucas ’12, who has landed roles on commercials and television shows, on the set of “Cold Case”. Morgan St. Jean ’12 sings, dances, and acts in theater productions.
Three sophomores get an early start on theatrical careers. “I’m going to start auditioning again in the spring for some summer movies and hopefully all will go well, but at the moment, I’m fine just living my life at Harvard-Westlake,” Chiklis said. —Vivien Mao Morgan St. Jean When Morgan St. Jean ’12 was 9 years old, she sang for the Pope. “It was probably the most memorable and incredible experience of my life,” St. Jean said. Since then, she has devoted much of her time to improving her skills as an entertainer. St. Jean developed an interest in singing at a young age. “In second grade, I auditioned for my school choir and I was the youngest to make it. My director told me he wanted me to work privately with him and be the featured soloist of the group,” St. Jean said. She has been excelling in different aspects of music and theatre since then. Along with her voice lessons, St. Jean also has guitar, dance and acting lessons. She has also been cast in several choral and dance performances as well as, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and “Guys and Dolls.” St. Jean spent three weeks of her summer at a performing arts camp in New York, where she had an opening solo in “Hair.” St. Jean also attended an intensive camp affiliated with “Acting for the Camera,” and her scene was chosen for a showing on parents’ night. “Singing was my first real passion and it comes a lot more easily to me, but acting is like a new challenge,” St. Jean said. —Nika Madyoon
Chloe Lister/Chronicle
Setting the Scene: Members of the middle school cast perform “Auntie Mame”.
The Bing Performing Arts Center was a transformed place this past weekend. An expertly replicated upper crust New York apartment sat atop the stage, complete with ornately decorated walls, furniture, and a staircase leading to an upstairs bedroom. In the center of all this, Megan Ward ’13 declared to the audience that “life is a banquet, and most sons of bitches are starving to death.” Ward played Auntie Mame, an eccentric woman thrilled to be left in charge of her deceased brother’s only child, in the middle school play of the same title. Throughout this production, audience members were brought from this apartment to places ranging from a Macy’s department store to an icy mountain precipice to an old-fashioned ranch in the south. “I think this is the first time we’ve really utilized the facilities
in the Bing,” Michael Sugerman ’13 said. “Romeo and Juliet last year didn’t need all the sound effects and set changes, but this time we’re using a lot more technology.” The set was one of the largest and most complicated ever constructed for a school production, director Foster Solomon said. The set, designed by set designer Alex Kolmanovsky and built by him and Director of Campus Operations James DeMatte over a five-week period, depicted numerous locations, including an Egyptian pyramid, the Matterhorn, and the Macy Department Store ice rink. Kolmansksy said his inspiration for the intricate design was a doll house. “It’s the largest set we’ve built with walls flying in from the ceiling and two levels,” Solomon said. “I felt like I was actually there,” Taylor Nunley ’12 said.
2 5 9 12
Fall Orchestra Concert St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church 7 p.m.
Winter Jazz Concert
DEC.
By Chloe Lister and Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
December Performing Arts Events
Rugby Theater 7 pm-10:30 p.m.
Dance Showcase Chalmers Dance Studio 7 p.m.
Winter Choral Concert
DEC.
New York to North Faring for ‘Auntie Mame’
DEC.
Autumn Chiklis Autumn Chiklis ’12, like many others, wishes to enter show business. Unlike some others her career began when she was only five years old. She starred in her first play, “Hello Dolly,” in which she played Irene. By the time the play was over, her mind was already set on acting. “I remember getting really excited during the first performance, and when it was all over I took my bow and decided I was going to do that for a living,” Chiklis said with a smile. She acted in plays every chance she had until she landed her first job on TV as an extra in a show called “Daddio.”
The show starred her father, Michael Chiklis, famous for roles like The Thing from “The Fantastic Four” and being the star of the TV drama “The Shield”. Chiklis also got her first real TV job in “The Shield,” in which she played a small role. Throughout the seasons, her role gradually grew, until she finished shooting in November 2007. Because of her father’s presence in show business, Chiklis’s legitimacy as an actress is constantly questioned and doubted by critics, she said. Faced with accusations of having an unfair advantage, Chiklis has simply had to learn how to shake it off. She says that there is no easy way into show business. At the most, her father could get her an audition, not a role. The hard work had to be put in by her. “A lot of the time it seems there’s more bad than good... but you come to realize that it’s the other way around,” she said. Chiklis has considered the commitment and difficulties that come with becoming a star. “My attitude is that as long as I’m loving my work and being myself, I have nothing to worry about. I know that’s kind of Hallmark cheesy, but it really is true,” she said. Chiklis makes it clear that acting is what she wants to do. “Acting is my favorite thing to do in the world,” Chiklis said, “I’d much rather be an actress who works in little theater productions outside of town and love what I do than be something else and hate going to work in the morning.” Chiklis says that she will focus on being a student rather than an actress for now.
DEC.
Kameron Lucas Kameron Lucas ’12 has been a professional actor since the age of five. “I told my mom that I wanted to be an actor, so she called an agency, we went to an audition and got an agent the very same day,” Lucas said. He has appeared on hit television shows like “iCarly”, “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”, “Cold Case” and nationwide commercials for Kids Bop, Frosted Flakes, Gatorade, Nike and Coca-Cola. “I enjoy making people laugh and being in front of the camera,” Lucas said. His favorite job was getting to act on the television show “Cold Case”. “I used to watch the show all the time with my mom and one day my agent called. I went to the “Cold Case” audition and they let me know I got the part the very same day.” As of now, Lucas thinks that he will want to pursue his acting career as an adult. “It’s something I love to do and I would be happy doing this for a long time.” —Sofia Davila
Santa Monica First Presbyterian Church 7:30 p.m.
Graphic by Matthew Lee and Candice Navi
Oct. 15, 2009
The
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Features B11
arts&entertainment
AW K WA R D ENCOUNTER: In Russell Brown’s new movie, “The Blue Tooth Virgin,” starring Austin Park and Bryce Johnson, a friend has to face the situation of giving bad feedback to his friend.
Festival calls film on filmmakers ‘smart and engaging’ By Sam Adams “Everybody’s a critic,” proclaims the poster for Russell Brown’s ’94 latest film. “The Blue Tooth Virgin” deals with the awkward situation of having to give bad feedback about the work of a friend. In the film which Brown wrote, produced and directed, a fissure forms between two men when one doesn’t like the script the other wrote. Luckily for Brown, though, he hasn’t had to hear much bad feedback in his own final product. The reviews for “Virgin,” which has been screening in Los Angeles and New York, have been generally positive. Not that Brown gives much thought to the critics. “It’s always nice to hear good things about your work,” Brown said. “But you can’t let it get to you, to why you’re doing what you do.” Brown drew from his own experience in Hollywood during the film’s creation. He has been working in the entertainment industry for the 10 years since graduating from the University of Southern California’s film program. He worked for producer Laura Zisken, “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, and directed several short films before making the transition into feature films. Brown believes that the dilemma of giving criticism to someone close is a universal one. The film forces its pro-
Photos Courtesy of RusselL Brown
tagonists to address their own self-perceptions and come to grips with their own shortcomings, Brown said. “Virgin” is his second feature film. His first, “Race You to the Bottom” in 2007, told the story of a romantic road trip to Napa between a woman and a bisexual man, both of whom have boyfriends. The film was, Brown said, a humorous exploration of sexual identity. “Thematically, both films kind of deal with characters who are facing harsh realities, realities about themselves,” Brown said. “They confront sides of their personalities that they don’t want to admit they have, and the stories put them in situations that make them debate something they don’t want to admit about themselves.” The actual shooting of “Virgin” was a hurried run between locations that took just over a week after extensive rehearsals. “From a production standpoint, this new movie is actually smaller than my old one,” Brown said. “We shot the film in eight days. My first one was shot in 20 days, so the production schedule was much, much shorter.” “Virgin” premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in June, where the film won the festival’s New American Cinema Special Jury Prize. It also earned praise from the festival, which declared the film “smart, engaging and surprisingly philosophical.”
Photos Courtesy of RusselL Brown
Triple threat: Russell Brown ’94 wrote, produced and directed his second film, “The Blue Tooth Virgin.”
‘Humanizing antiheroes’
By Jessica Barzilay
This summer, Jason Reitman ’95 went back to high school. Standing on the threshold of the “Jennifer’s Body” set, Reitman entered a high school environment completely opposite to that of his Harvard-Westlake experience. However, in the case of “Jennifer’s Body”, starring Megan Fox as a boy-eating demon, Reitman got the opportunity to view high school from the producer’s chair. After finshing his work on “Jennifer’s Body,” he began production on “Up in the Air,” the story of a man who sets out to acquire 10 million frequent flyer miles as he travels around the country laying off corporate employees. The film stars George Clooney, and both Reitman and the film have received positive buzz ever since its debut at the Toronto Film Festival. Reitman himself adapted the movie from the novel of the same name by Walter Kirn, a long-term project for Daniel Lundberg/VOX Reitman. He completed “Thank You for BACK TO SCHOOL: Jason Smoking” and “Juno” in the time it Reitman ‘96 views high school took him to perfect the “Up in the from the producer’s chair.
Air” script. From the first page and all throughout the rest of the novel, Reitman said “the book spoke to me on many levels.” Not only did Reitman, who does no small amount of traveling in his line of work, relate to the premise, but he also believes the plotline inspires some intriguing questions to ponder. “Everyone wonders if life would be better if they could just get away,” Reitman said. The story follows a character that elicits a mixed response of pity and resentment as he lays off workers all over the country. “I like humanizing antiheroes,” Reitman said. The success that Reitman had after the release of “Juno,” the 2007 blockbuster, holds a different place in his heart than the critical praise he is receiving for “Up in the Air.” While the “Juno” phenomenon was a total surprise, Reitman said, making a higher-profile movie starring George Clooney was accompanied by certain expectations. “The skill set I acquired from Harvard-Westlake gave me the audacity to believe I could actually accomplish something and the sheer will to do it,”
Reitman said. Reitman attributes a lot of his character to his high school experience. When in high school, he discovered who he is as a person, and returns to the school frequently in the hope that he can help other future filmmakers find their true selves as well, he said. Reitman has been involved with the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival for the past few years in various forms as a speaker, judge and general supporter. He encourages aspiring filmmakers to take advantage of the film festival system to try out new techniques and find their footing, he said. As a student at the Upper School, Reitman began making films with a public service announcement on AIDS that was later featured on television. In the upcoming months, Reitman will be working on a project with Jenny Lumet entitled “Labor Day,” which will be his third feature film adapted from a novel. Reitman has no definite plans for his future, as his objective was to get to the point that he is at now. “The goal was to make personal films with great actors that tell stories from the heart,” he said.
B10 Features
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Nov. 11, 2009
arts&entertainment
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“I’m going to start auditioning again in the spring for some summer movies and hopefully all will go well, but at the moment, I’m fine just living my life at Harvard-Westlake,” Chiklis said. —Vivien Mao Morgan St. Jean When Morgan St. Jean ’12 was 9 years old, she sang for the Pope. “It was probably the most memorable and incredible experience of my life,” St. Jean said. Since then, she has devoted much of her time to improving her skills as an entertainer. St. Jean developed an interest in singing at a young age. “In second grade, I auditioned for my school choir and I was the youngest to make it. My director told me he wanted me to work privately with him and be the featured soloist of the group,” St. Jean said. She has been excelling in different aspects of music and theatre since then. Along with her voice lessons, St. Jean also has guitar, dance and acting lessons. She has also been cast in several choral and dance performances as well as, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and “Guys and Dolls.” St. Jean spent three weeks of her summer at a performing arts camp in New York, where she had an opening solo in “Hair.” St. Jean also attended an intensive camp affiliated with “Acting for the Camera,” and her scene was chosen for a showing on parents’ night. “Singing was my first real passion and it comes a lot more easily to me, but acting is like a new challenge,” St. Jean said. —Nika Madyoon
2 5 9 12
Fall Orchestra Concert St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church 7 p.m.
Winter Jazz Concert
DEC.
DEC.
Rugby Theater 7 pm-10:30 p.m.
Dance Showcase Chalmers Dance Studio 7 p.m.
Winter Choral Concert
DEC.
The Bing Performing Arts Center was a transformed place this past weekend. An expertly replicated upper crust New York apartment sat atop the stage, complete with ornately decorated walls, furniture, and a staircase leading to an upstairs bedroom. In the center of all this, Megan Ward ’13 declared to the audience that “life is a banquet, and most sons of bitches are starving to death.” Ward played Auntie Mame, an eccentric woman thrilled to be left in charge of her deceased brother’s only child, in the middle school play of the same title. Throughout this production, audience members were brought from this apartment to places ranging from a Macy’s department store to an icy mountain precipice to an old-fashioned ranch in the south. “I think this is the first time we’ve really utilized the facilities
in the Bing,” Michael Sugerman ’13 said. “Romeo and Juliet last year didn’t need all the sound effects and set changes, but this time we’re using a lot more technology.” The set was one of the largest and most complicated ever constructed for a school production, director Foster Solomon said. The set, designed by set designer Alex Kolmanovsky and built by him and Director of Campus Operations James DeMatte over a five-week period, depicted numerous locations, including an Egyptian pyramid, the Matterhorn, and the Macy Department Store ice rink. Kolmansksy said his inspiration for the intricate design was a doll house. “It’s the largest set we’ve built with walls flying in from the ceiling and two levels,” Solomon said. “I felt like I was actually there,” Taylor Nunley ’12 said.
December Performing Arts Events
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The show starred her father, Michael Chiklis, famous for roles like The Thing from “The Fantastic Four” and being the star of the TV drama “The Shield”. Chiklis also got her first real TV job in “The Shield,” in which she played a small role. Throughout the seasons, her role gradually grew, until she finished shooting in November 2007. Because of her father’s presence in show business, Chiklis’s legitimacy as an actress is constantly questioned and doubted by critics, she said. Faced with accusations of having an unfair advantage, Chiklis has simply had to learn how to shake it off. She says that there is no easy way into show business. At the most, her father could get her an audition, not a role. The hard work had to be put in by her. “A lot of the time it seems there’s more bad than good... but you come to realize that it’s the other way around,” she said. Chiklis has considered the commitment and difficulties that come with becoming a star. “My attitude is that as long as I’m loving my work and being myself, I have nothing to worry about. I know that’s kind of Hallmark cheesy, but it really is true,” she said. Chiklis makes it clear that acting is what she wants to do. “Acting is my favorite thing to do in the world,” Chiklis said, “I’d much rather be an actress who works in little theater productions outside of town and love what I do than be something else and hate going to work in the morning.” Chiklis says that she will focus on being a student rather than an actress for now.
By Chloe Lister and Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
Setting the Scene: Members of the middle school cast perform “Auntie Mame”.
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Three sophomores get an early start on theatrical careers.
New York to North Faring for ‘Auntie Mame’
Chloe Lister/Chronicle
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Autumn Chiklis Autumn Chiklis ’12, like many others, wishes to enter show business. Unlike some others her career began when she was only five years old. She starred in her first play, “Hello Dolly,” in which she played Irene. By the time the play was over, her mind was already set on acting. “I remember getting really excited during the first performance, and when it was all over I took my bow and decided I was going to do that for a living,” Chiklis said with a smile. She acted in plays every chance she had until she landed her first job on TV as an extra in a show called “Daddio.”
M
Kameron Lucas Kameron Lucas ’12 has been a professional actor since the age of five. “I told my mom that I wanted to be an actor, so she called an agency, we went to an audition and got an agent the very same day,” Lucas said. He has appeared on hit television shows like “iCarly”, “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”, “Cold Case” and nationwide commercials for Kids Bop, Frosted Flakes, Gatorade, Nike and Coca-Cola. “I enjoy making people laugh and being in front of the camera,” Lucas said. His favorite job was getting to act on the television show “Cold Case”. “I used to watch the show all the time with my mom and one day my agent called. I went to the “Cold Case” audition and they let me know I got the part the very same day.” As of now, Lucas thinks that he will want to pursue his acting career as an adult. “It’s something I love to do and I would be happy doing this for a long time.” —Sofia Davila
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Photo courtesy of Kameron Lucas
In the Spotlight: Autumn Chiklis ’12 had a role on “The Shield”. Kameron Lucas ’12, who has landed roles on commercials and television shows, on the set of “Cold Case”. Morgan St. Jean ’12 sings, dances, and acts in theater productions.
Santa Monica First Presbyterian Church 7:30 p.m.
Graphic by Matthew Lee and Candice Navi
sports The
Harvard-Westlake School
Chronicle
Volume XIX
Issue 2 Oct. 15, 2009
photos by CANdice Navi/ Chronicle
VICTORY: The defense celebrates after a 4th and 1 stop in the third quarter (above). Max Heltzer ‘11 steps up in the pocket before throwing it deep to Jackson Li-
gouri ’10. The final score is depicted. Fans get ready to storm the field in the waning moments of the fourth quarter while singing chants of “Olé” and “Overrated.”
Wolverines upset high-ranked Alemany 24-20
The Warriors stepped onto Ted Slavin Field as the 24th-ranked football team in the state with plans to win at Harvard-Westlake Homecoming. The underdog Wolverines, however, had other ideas. By Austin Block
It was all or nothing for Alemany. Score a touchdown and silence the raucous crowd or go home empty-handed. On their last drive, with under a minute left, Alemany was dangerously close to scoring the game winning touchdown. “Wake up,” Head Coach Vic Eumont yelled after an Alemany player escaped being tackled behind the line of scrimmage and ran for a gain. “[Alemany] tried to hand us the game last year and we didn’t take it,” Eumont said, referring to the Wolverines 17-10 loss at Alemany last year. “We gave it back to them.” Alemany quarterback Vernon Adams tossed the potential game winning touchdown pass toward the endzone and cornerback Mattie Calvert ’10 intercepted it at the five yard line, sealing a 2420 upset for the Wolverines. An “overrated” chant began, followed by the soccer style “olé” cheer. Fans counted down the final seconds. Players exuberantly sprinted down the field, and the crowd stampeded onto the field after their beloved players. Many in the crowd of athletes and students held up a single finger in the air: the Wolverines were number one. “That’s senior year Homecoming,” Malcolm-Meeks ’10 yelled, while raising his helmet in triumph. “I know this is cliché but I couldn’t be happier,” receiver Jackson Liguori ’10 said. “We were tougher tonight.” It started with a four yard run by Jamais Jones
’12. It was followed by a 12-yard pass to Liguori from quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 for a first down. Next came a one-yard gain by Jones and a 10yard reception by Liguori for another first down. Then after two more plays, the Wolverines quickly grabbed momentum and heavy favorite Alemany’s attention as Heltzer connected with Liguori for a 55yard touchdown pass, eliciting a “Harvard-Westlake” chant from the large crowd and firing up the team. The extra point was converted, and just like that, the varsity football team had grabbed a 7-0 lead on their first drive at Homecoming on Saturday, Oct 3. The excitement did not last long. Alemany allleague running back Malcolm Marable ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the next play, as the Wolverines suddenly gave up their first six points of the season. Alemany succeeded on the extra point, and the game was jettisoned back to square one, a tie game. “Don’t have to worry about a shutout,” Eumont growled at some players sitting on the bench. In the second quarter, the Wolverines managed to block an Alemany field goal attempt and Brian Hentschel ’10, drilled a 49-yard field goal, giving the Wolverines a slim 10-7 lead and reinvigorating the team and fans. Once again, Alemany scored a touchdown on a long Marable run, and the visitors took a 14-10 lead into halftime. In their first drive of the second half, Heltzer found Liguori again, this time for a 64-yard catch and run touchdown, giving the Wolverines a 17-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, with the team starting at their
own six-yard line after being pinned by an Alemany punt, Heltzer ran for 17 yards to give his team some breathing room. A couple of plays later, his short pass to Meeks turned into a 73-yard touchdown play that stretched their lead to 24-14. Alemany responded with their own touchdown on a long reception, but a Wolverine blocked extra point kept the score 24-20 and prevented Alemany from being able to tie the game with a field goal. Calvert intercepted an Alemany pass on the last drive of the game, igniting the celebration. Halfway through the season, the Wolverines are 4-1, having shutout Lynwood (24-0) and Rosemead (42-0), lost to Chaminade 24-17 and won by default over Franklin when the Los Angeles Unified School District made the school forfeit due to poor air quality.
Inside: C3
More Homecoming coverage
C4
Water polo recap
C8
Q&A with Tiffany Yang ’10
C2 Sports
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chronicle.hw.com
Oct. 15, 2009
Offensive coordinator brings pro, college experience to Wolverines
By Austin Block
On Jan. 10, 1982, varsity football offensive coordinator Dave Levy wore what he called “NASA moon gear” to work. He was not an astronaut before coming to coach the Harvard-Westlake team, but rather a coach of the San Diego Chargers during the legendary Freezer Bowl in Cincinnati, one of the coldest National Football League games ever played. According to an article on espn.com, the temperature was minus nine degrees with a wind chill of minus 59 degrees, though Wikipedia notes that the way wind chill is measured has been changed since then. “We took any precaution you can take: ski creams with the masks and the plastic glove, and then the scuba glove, but you can only wear so many socks and you can only get one set of long underwear under a football uniform very comfortably,” Levy said. “You saw a lot of ice in guys’ eyebrows, and a mustache or any hair was iced up.” A week earlier, the team had played in Miami, where the temperature was in the 80’s. “NASA had special clothing for cold weather on the moon and so we got some of it. It worked fine for coaches,” Levy said. “I was not cold but… if you faced the wind it pressed that suit against your skin. You knew it was cold; we had a couple of frostbites, toes, nose, a couple of fingers, but nothing severe.” This game was one of many in a diverse coaching career highlighted by four college football national championships, two CIF championships, the only XFL championship ever played, pro and college football success, and countless successful athletes. Levy, 76, can be found on the field during practices and games, wearing his customary gray sweatpants, or sitting at a desk in the boys’ locker room watching film or strategizing. During football season, he works from 8 a.m. to 6 or 6:30 p.m. every weekday. “It’s amazing how for other coaches [players] may just fool around and act like high school students act, but when they’re with him, the demeanor changes, and it’s because of the respect they have for him and for the way he teaches,” Head Football Coach Vic Eu-
“
“It’s amazing how for other coaches [players] may just fool around and act like high school students act, but when they’re with him, the demeanor changes.” —Vic Eumont Varsity Football Coach
mont said. Levy began coaching in 1956, student teaching while earning his degree at Long Beach State. He spent 20 years working at USC as an assistant coach on the freshman (only for one year) and varsity teams and as an assistant athletic director. He later was an assistant coach for nine years for the San Diego Chargers in the eighties, for the Detroit Lions for another eight years, and for the Amsterdam NFL Europe team, the Calgary Stampedes of the Canadian Football League, at Estancia High School in Orange County, and for one year with the LA Xtreme, a member of the now defunct XFL. He joined the Wolverines four years ago after being asked by former Head Coach Jonathan Himmebauch, a former player of his at USC. Levy joined the Trojans in 1960 after his Long Beach Poly team won the CIF championship two years in a row, and he held various coaching positions under longtime Head Coach John McKay. The team won national championships in 1962, 1967, 1972, and 1974 and had what he termed “a lot of other good seasons.” He was widely expected to become head coach when McKay left in 1975, but a friend, who he says is still a friend of his, was given the job instead. He then made the transition to assistant athletic director, and was unsure if he would ever return to coaching. During his tenure at USC, he worked with OJ Simpson, Ron Yary, Willie Brown and Mike Garrett. Later, in the NFL, he coached such superstars as Barry Sanders, Charlie Joiner
Austin Block/chronicle
Still Coaching: Quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 consults with offensive coordinator Dave Levy during the team’s game against Alemany. Levy coached at USC and for the San Diego Chargers, the Detroit Lions and other teams. and Dan Fouts. Levy said he knew Simpson personally, and had lunch with him as recently as the mid 1990s. “[Simpson’s murder trial] was very disappointing and shocking because he was great. He had no problem in school academically,” Levy said. “He was fun to coach. He was a great competitive athlete, and a great pro football player. Life is strange... he was a delightful guy.” Levy said what he enjoyed most about coaching was the people he worked with. “If you didn’t like the people you
coached, then I don’t see why you would do it,” Levy said. “Winning in and of itself to me is–I hate to say– not important, but other than to keep you employed, to me, it’s the people involved in it.” Levy maintains connections with many people from USC, and said that he is taking his coaching career year by year. “He is a great teacher, he is a great educator, and he has a great knowledge of the game of football,” Eumont said. “He brings a maturity and football knowledge to our program that a school like this needs,” Eumont said.
Hall of Fame inducts 10 new members during Homecoming By Jack Davis
Candice navi/chronicle
Hall Worthy: Baseball player Jason Glushon ’03 and track athlete Matt Lachman ’03 don their medals during teh Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Ten athletes from the class of 2003 were inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame during halftime of the Homecoming football game on Oct. 3. Hall of Fame inductees included baseball players Brennan Boesch, Jason Glushon and Josh Satin, water polo players Juan Delgadillo, soccer players Ali Fisher and Gina Farias-Eisner, track and field athletes Katie DeWitt, Matt Lachman and John Ludden, and girls’ volleyball standout Alex Dunphy. All members of the newly inducted class except for FariasEisner were present, whose mother Terry Farias-Eisner accepted the medal for her. Delgadillo continued his water polo careers at the University of Southern California. Fisher and Farias-Eisner both continued their soccer careers at Stanford. DeWitt and Lachman continued their track careers at Yale, while Ludden continued his discuss-hammer career at University of California, Berkeley. Dunphy finished her volleyball days at Southern Cal.
Boesch, Glushon and Satin all played professionally in the minor leagues this season, with Boesch and Satin reaching Double-A and High-A respectively. Boesch, who did not attend college, hit .275 with 28 home runs, 93 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases in 527 at-bats for the Erie Sea Wolves, the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Satin, a Berkeley grad as well, spent the majority of his season with the New York Mets low-A affiliate the Savannah Sand Gnats before being called up to the Mets highA affiliate, the Port St.Lucie Mets, in the final week of the season.In his first atbat with St. Lucie Satin hit a home run en route to hitting .364 with five runs batted in in seven games and 22 at-bats at Port St. Lucie. “It was awesome to be inducted,” Satin said. “Just to be able to come back to Harvard-Westlake, see some old friends and coaches while receiving a great honor in front of a huge crowd made it special.” Keeping with tradition, Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas awarded each inductee with gold medals.
Oct. 15, 2009
The
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Sports C3
Homecoming draws thousands to campus By Alex Leichenger
AllegrA Tepper/chronicle
In the zone: Russell Madison ’10, Jake Shine ’10, Alec Zwaneveld ’12, Bradley Shine ’12 and the rest of the boys’ water polo team prepare to face Long Beach Wilson. The Wolverines lost 9-7 in Head Coach Robert Lynn’s Homecoming debut.
Austin block/chronicle
Supporting the Home Team: The cheer squad and large crowd watch the varsity football game. The Wolverines won the game against Alemany 24-20.
Middle School expands athletes’ strength program By Alex Leichenger
The middle school strength and conditioning program has been expanded after the construction of a new weight room as part of last year’s campus renovation. The school hired Michael Tromello to fill the new position of Middle School Strength and Conditioning Head Coach last year and added Lindsey Benson to the staff last month. Strength and Conditioning Head of Program Greg Bishop oversees the coaching and operations at the Middle School. Tromello said he is in charge of formulating workout plans for all the athletes at the Middle School. Additionally, he teaches fitness classes to seventh graders, in which he gives “an intro to the weight room, nutrition, and body well being.” Fitness, which used to be a required Physical Education course for eighth graders, is now required for seventh grade students. “It is really imperative in this class that I spend the time to really go over basic movement patterns needed to lift weights as eighth graders,” Tromello said. The focus of the middle school program centers on technique as opposed to pure strength, Bishop said. Through the training, middle school athletes will gain “increased neuromuscular coordination” that will ease the transition towards making “strength gains” by weightlifting. “The eighth graders are on a plan which introduces them to very basic movements,” he said. “Beginning in the ninth grade, the students begin to use weight while performing some of the
exercises, but still relatively light with an emphasis on technique.” The staff pays close attention to each athlete’s medical background and physical maturation when designing workouts. “We take a conservative and pedagogical approach at the middle school, which along with excellent supervision decreases the risk of injury,” Bishop said. “There exists a very large variation in the biological maturation in children, so certain exercises may be taught differently and/or at different times due to the needs or limitations of certain student-athletes.” One challenge in preventing injuries and overtraining is balancing the workload of each athlete with school and club sports workouts, he said. Unlike at the upper school, athletic teams do not have time slots for workouts. Instead, students train during their free periods with the supervision of both coaches. The weight room is available to all middle school students, as are Tromello and Benson. Tromello said he trains an average of 100 athletes each day. “The increased teaching time that we now get to spend with the studentathletes of Harvard-Westlake should allow us to concentrate on the performance side of training at the upper school,” Bishop said. “The goals of the upper school programs are to reduce the likelihood of injury and increase performance on the playing field. All of these goals take time and a progression; now we get to spend five to six years with our student-athletes teaching them the proper way to train for sports.”
In a Homecoming that saw two varsity teams win in blowouts and football topple the football team ranked 24th in the city by the Los Angeles Times, the best part of the day was seeing “how consistently hard the kids played at every level,” Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said. The Oct. 3 event showcased the varsity field hockey, volleyball, water polo, and football teams from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Although booths did not open until 3 p.m., Homecoming sports started bright and early at 9 a.m. with two middle school football games on Ted Slavin Field. Volleyball commenced at 12:30 in Taper Gymnasium with wins over Notre Dame by both the freshman and JV teams. Meanwhile, JV field hockey shut out Newport Harbor. Varsity field hockey routed Chaminade 10-0 and varsity volleyball swept three straight games from Notre Dame as booths and activities opened on the north side of campus. But water polo fell short of avenging last year’s close loss to Long Beach Wilson in new coach Robert Lynn’s debut Homecoming. The teams were locked in a 6-6 stalemate through three quarters, until Wilson seized control with consecutive goals in the fourth to send the Wolverines to a 10-7 defeat. Big plays on both sides of the ball vaulted the underdog Wolverines to a 24-20 victory over Alemany. “We went through that loss and we took a big hit but the football win was a [huge] turnaround for all the Fanatics,” Head Fanatic Eli Moghavem ’10 said. “It changed our mood completely. We played one of the toughest teams in the state and ended up showing more heart on the field, thanks to our boys.” Quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 threw three touchdown passes in the first home start of his varsity career, connecting twice with Jackson Ligouri ’10 on deep passes over the middle and once with Malcolm-Caldwell Meeks ’10 for another long score.
The Wolverine defense intercepted three Alemany passes in or near the red zone, including two by Nicky Firestone ’11 and the game-clinching pick by Mattie Calvert ’10 with under a minute to play. Fans stormed the field as soon as the clock ran out. Earlier in the week, the athletic department had been criticized in an latimes.com blog for scheduling a tough opponent, when “Homecoming games are supposed to be fun for the home team.” “It turned out to be the smartest decision we ever made,” Barzdukas said. “It turned out we were geniuses.” With the carnival backdrop and an enhanced fan base of students, parents, teachers, and alumni, Homecoming is a unique day for all athletes. “There is no doubt playing under the lights, in front of our own crowd provided more energy and had us pumped up just that much more,” Heltzer said. “There are a lot of other teams that do not get to [play at Homecoming], so just being able to play means a lot to us,” field hockey goalie Adrianna Crovo ’11 said. For seniors, it is one of their last chances to shine on the big stage in high school athletics. “My first two Homecoming games we lost, and last year’s the fans left after the first quarter because it was a blowout,” football defensive lineman Conor O’Toole ’10 said. “This Homecoming was awesome in every way. The stands were packed and we upset a great team. The mood after the game was amazing. Everyone was really excited and pumped about the win. Our celebration in the locker room was crazy.” Ten former athletes from the class of 2003 were inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony. “We had 5,000 people come to our school that day [according to Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts],” Barzdukas said, “and I think our students, our kids, rose to the occasion.”
Austin Block/chronicle
Down, Set, Hike: Erica Sunkin ’10 gets ready to snap the ball in a powder puff football game, as Sylvia Gindick ’10, Emma Gilhuly ’10, and Kristen Lee ’12 line up for the play.
Girls play football in Friday afternoon powder puff game By Austin Block
Nine girls got the chance to throw a spiral, sprint for a touchdown, or reel in a pass on Ted Slavin Field after school in the annual Powder Puff football game on Friday, Oct 2. Greg Comanor ’10 and Andrew Goldberg ’10 organized the event through Facebook, and the two of them along with a few other football players helped facilitate the informal game. The game was two-hand touch and played on half of the field. The football players sometimes played quarterback and strategized with and coached their teams.
“There were only a few people but it was really fun because the people that did it really, really had fun,” Comanor said. “I was sore for days,” player Cindy Ok ’10 said. “It wasn’t as amazing as we thought because it was not as many people as the football team wanted but it was funny,” Catie Yagher ’10 said. “It was hilarious because we all fell and tried to tackle each other and it didn’t work out.” She said her favorite part was “probably practicing….before and trying to teach Dani Wright ’10 how to catch a football.”
C4 Sports
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Water polo defeats Crespi, Notre Dame
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Oct. 15, 2009
chronicle.hw.com
By Alec Caso
The CIF finals are the next big goal for the Varsity Boys’ Water Polo team. With a league record of 2-0 and an overall record of 7-5, the team is looking forward to its upcoming game against Loyola, which is its main competition for winning CIF. With new Head Coach Robert Lynn, the team is undefeated in league and has hopes of reaching CIF. Coach Lynn has also stopped weight lifting in an attempt to stem shoulder injuries that are common in water polo. “It’s always hard with a new coach, but he is doing a really good job of working with the team,” said Jake Schine ’12. Last weekend the team participated in the S and R Cup in Irvine. Placing 5th, the team beat Sacred Heart and Los Alamitos but lost to Mira Monte. Last year at the same tournament the team lost two games and won two. In league the team has played two games and is currently undefeated. Their first league game was against Crespi and the team won 22-4 at home. They played their second game at home against Notre Dame and won 13-2. The team, however, has lost four games outside of its league. The team lost its first two games against Corona del Mar and JSerra High, but continued on to beat La Canada and Foothill. It then lost to both Long Beach Wilson and Mater Dei. The team lost to Long Beach Wilson at the Homecoming game 7-10. Head Coach Robert Lynn had coached the Long Beach team until this year when he started coaching at Harvard-Westlake. When questioned on what the team was doing to prepare for their game against Loyola, Schine responded, “I can’t tell you.” In an attempt to prepare for their upcoming game
Allegra Tepper/chronicle
Winding Up: Henry McNamara ’13 shoots during the Homecoming match against Long Beach Wilson on Oct. 3. The team lost the game 10-7 and has an overall record of 4-4 for the season so far. against Loyola the team has been practicing every morning. The team has had a rivalry with Loyola and the game today at Loyola High will be a challenge. “It should be a good match up and a great game,” Russell Madison ’10 said. The team lost all three times that they played Loyola last year both in league and out of league. However they beat all of their other league opponents last year each time they played them. The team then ended their season in the first round of CIF when they lost to Dos Pueblos 6-7. “We are focusing on our two games against Loyola and CIF,” said Schine ’12.
Besides Loyola, Alemany is the only other league team that the boys have not played against. The team will also get a chance to play against Loyola at home on Nov. 3 and on Nov. 5 will play Alemany in the last home game of the season Nov. 20. They will also play in the NoCal tournament in San Jose from Oct. 29 through Oct. 31. CIF playoffs will start after their final game against Alemany on Nov. 5. Last year the team lost in the first round of CIF against Dos Pueblos 6-7. The Wolverines last year had an overall record of 17-11 and a league record of 6-2.
Girls’ tennis beats rival Chaminade during win streak By Ashley Khakshouri
Erin Moy/chronicle
Waiting for the Serve: Doubles pair Nicole Hung ’10 (front) and Izzy Heller ’10 get ready to return against Chaminade.
After losing their opening match against Peninsula, the girls’ varsity tennis team has rebounded with four straight victories, including a 10-8 league win against Chaminade. Last year, the Wolverines tied with Chaminade for the Mission League Championship. The squad hopes to be the sole league winner this year. “Chaminade was the biggest match of the season and at this point in the season we feel more prepared than we did last year since we have a team with a lot of depth and talent,” Alanna Klein ’11 said. Following the match against Chaminade, the team defeated Louisville 153, a victory aided by some of the team’s younger players. The varsity squad has a freshman and two sophomores, Savannah de Montesquiou ’13 Kei Goldberg and Taylor Coon ’12. “I think we will win league as long as we continue playing like we have
the past couple of weeks,” captain Nicole Hung ’10 said. “I’m really proud of how people have stepped up in terms of their level of play. Also players now realize their roles on the team and are embracing them more. I think we are just getting more experience and that is what’s making the big difference.” “Everyone is mentally and physically prepared for the season and we’re excited to hold our title as mission league champions,” Klein said. “This puts us in a good position to win the title this season, “said Head Coach Chris Simpson. The team will play another match against Chaminade on Oct. 22 and start individual league playoffs on Nov. 6. “This year, we’re definitely going to win Mission League,” co-captain Marissa Rosenthal ’10 said. “Our doubles teams are solid and strong, and our singles are constantly improving with each match. This year we have focused on out strengths, and we have been very successful.”
Field hockey maintains undefeated record in league
Athletic Department chooses 12 new SAAC officers
Undefeated in league play and 7-1-1 overall, the girls’ field hockey team has surrendered only three goals the entire season. The Wolverines notched a 10-0 Homecoming win over Chaminade. “For a group of primarily first year varsity players we have really banded together as a team and developed as a whole, which has led to a lot of success,” goalie Adrianna Crovo ’11 said. Head Coach Erin Creznic echoed that sentiment. “I think a lot of people, [including] members of our team, thought this might be a rebuilding year after losing so many talented seniors in last year’s class,” Creznic said. “But our current
The 12 newly appointed members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council met for the first time to discuss the upcoming year on Oct. 5. For the first time, students were appointed by the faculty sponsors to council member positions. Four athletes from each grade were appointed to serve for the year. These students will be responsible for student-athlete advocacy, athletic team support, and recommendations to the athletic department. In an e-mail sent on Oct. 2, the student-athlete representatives were announced. Officers include sophomores Kristen Lee, Lauren Li, Katie Price,
By Alex Leichenger
seniors are an amazing group on and off the field and for many years, they have been the quiet, unsung heroes who just get the job done.” The team’s lone blemish so far came in a 1-0 loss at Huntington Beach. “Our . . . loss at Huntington was a very tight game,” Creznic said. “However, we allowed the grass to slow down our game, and we took too long to adjust to the field conditions and the way in which Huntington plays as a team.” “We are a team founded on athleticism and talent, which makes it easy for us to make adjustments during the games that play up our strengths while exposing our opponents’ weaknesses,” Crovo said. The team will play their next league match against Bonita Oct. 16.
By Vivien Mao
and Matthew Wolfen, juniors David Abergel, Chelsea Edwards, Joshua Kang, and Tiana Woolridge, and seniors Bridget Golob, Caroline Hartig, Elijah Lowenstein, and Alex Silverman. The faculty members in charge are athletic directors Terence Barnum, Terry Elledge, Darlene Bible, and Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas. “We are here to make sure that student-athletes have a balance between academics and athletics,” Wolfen said. In order to be chosen to be a representative for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, students had to be in good academic standing and on a sports team at Harvard-Westlake. “We’re here to help [student athletes] out,” Woolridge said.
Oct. 15, 2009
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Girls’ volleyball defeats four league opponents By Jonah Rosenbaum
After beating Louisville 3-0, the girls’ volleyball team improved to 4-0 in Mission League play and 11-6 overall. The team has won seven straight matches after dropping three in a row earlier in the season. The team has only dropped one game in its four league contests and has swept its last three opponents. “We all played really well and we learned from some of the mistakes we made earlier in the year. Everyone contributed and did their job against a good team,” Kellie Barnum ’11 said. “We are working really hard as a group, and the improvement is really evident,” Barnum said. “We have some more tough games that we need to play well in to prepare for playoffs. It really helped us that we played such talented teams to start the year because now we are really prepared for some really tough league play, and hopefully a deep playoff run.” Senior outside hitter Meg Norton ’10 agreed with Barnum’s assessment. “We have really come together as a team, and it has translated to our games, especially since Mission League started. We just have to continue this level of play the rest of the way, and ride the momentum into playoffs,” Norton said. Among the teams that the Wolverines faced off against were Archbishop Mitty and Marymount, two teams that are widely
considered among the best in the country. The Archbishop Mitty match was close throughout, with the Wolverines taking the first game before dropping the final two, coming just four points shy of a win. “We played really well and competed against a team that is as good as any we are going to play, and I think that will give us a lot of confidence moving forward,” Barnum said. The team’s next match is on Oct. 20 against Flintridge Sacred Heart, who is undefeated in Mission League play and tied with the Wolverines for first in league standings. “The Flintridge game is huge not just because it determines who is first in Mission League, but also because it gives the winner a lot of momentum going forward,” Barnum said. Despite the league implications of the Sacred Heart, Head Coach Adam Black said that all of the remaining games have equal significance. “All of our games are really important to us at this point,” Black said. “We are improving noticeably with each win or loss. We played some really tough teams early on, but now we are pushing really hard in league and playing really well. The idea is to maintain consistency over time, which hopefully translates into consistency in the playoffs. We want to go into the playoffs playing the best volleyball that we can in pursuit of a championship.” After the Sacred Heart game, the team has three league games, and then closes out the regular season with a two day tourament.
Boys’ Water Polo
Alex Leichenger/chronicle
Poised to serve: Caroline Hartig ’10 serves during the team’s Oct. 3 3-0 Homecomign win against Notre Dame.
JVRoundup
Going into today’s game, the JV boys’ water polo team has not lost a game all season. The team has an overall record of 8-0 and a league record of 2-0. The JV team has won half of its games with a 10 or more point difference. The team has routed Crespi and Notre Dame 19-1 and 18-0 respectively. However, the team has also been hard-pressed against teams such as LB Wilson and Mater Dei, where the team only won by one point. The new head coach, Robert Lynn, has introduced some new stretches that help players minimize injury. “Lynn’s new shoulder workouts and stretching regimen before practice has really reduced shoulder strains and cramps,” player Mitch Oei ’11 said.
Cross Country Allegra Tepper/chronicle
Poised to serve: David Feinerman ’12 faces a Long Beach Wilson player at Homecoming on Oct 3. The Wolverines won 7-6.
—David Kolin
Nikki Goren ’12 placed first in the JV girls race at the cross country team’s latest tournament on Oct. 3 at the Staub/Barnes Invitational at Crescenta Valley Park. The girls’ team also placed first, and the boys came in second. This is the biggest cross country team ever. The team practices five times a week on the Harvard-Westlake track and off campus locations. “Although we have really hard practices, they help a lot. They’re hard, but they definitely help at the races,” said Danni Xia ’12. “It gives me a time to relax, work hard, and get inspired all at the same time- and it’s fun,” said Xavi Villalta ’11. “Cross country is a perfect blend between a team sport and an individual sport. In the races, each team member runs alone, but we all have a common goal to well and place high overall,” said cross country runner Austin Lewis ’11. Yesterday’s race against Alemany and Crespi at Pierce College took place after press time.
—Sofía Dávila and Julius Pak
Girls’ Tennis
David Kolin/chronicle
eye on the Ball: Rebecca Nussbaum ’12 controls the ball during practice. The team has a 7-0 record with three games left.
After an 18-0 victory over Louisville on Oct. 8, the JV girls’ tennis team has a 5-1 overall record and a 1-0 league record. The match against Louisville was the team’s first league victory. With a match against Notre Dame on Oct. 29, JV Head Coach Christian Carere has the team training Monday through Thursday. The team’s biggest strength is that all the players are strong and they all work together, player Aneri Amin ’12 said. “We really work together as a team and it has really paid off,” player Nikki Volpert ’12 said.
—Judd Liebman
Field Hockey
The Orange County Tournament on Oct. 10 brought a third place win for the JV Field Hockey team. Since there was a back draw, the team lost the first game, then won four games, and then lost a final one. The team is undefeated with a league record of 1-0. It played Bonita High School on Sept. 29 and won by a score of 7-0. The team has also won seven non-league games. In the season’s games so far, they have not given up a single goal. Its next game will be a rematch against Bonita tomorrow. The team will face Glendora twice in the upcoming weeks. “Our team’s got a really good dynamic,” said Jessica Gold ’12, “We work really well together and have a lot of fun.”
—Allison Hamburger
Football
Starting off the season with a three-game winning streak, the JV football team is now 3-2, with losses to Alemany and Chaminade. The first game of the season was forfeited by Franklin due to air quality, counting as a Harvard-Westlake win. After the forfeit, the team got a close win against Lynwood, winning 28-22. Then, on Sept. 24, the team won 38-6 against Rosemead. However, following the two victories came two losses, losing 50-14 against Alemany and 40-9 against Chaminade. The JV team plays Serra Oct. 22.
—David Gobel
Girls’ Volleyball
The JV girls’ volleyball team will go into its next home game against Flintridge on Oct. 20 with a winning streak of four games, which bumped its overall record to 6-3 and its league record to 4-0. In addition, the team won first place at the Westlake tournament. All four victories during the win streak were league games and 2-0 in score. “They’re doing really well. They’ve really stepped it up considering the level of competition in the league,” Coach Shari Sakomoto said. “They’re really good at games and practices.” The wins have added fuel to hopes that the team will match last year’s success, when the team went undefeated in league tournaments. The team has six games and one tournament left in the season. “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. We’re going to take this game by game,” Sakamoto said. —Austin Lee and Julius Pak
C6 Sports
The
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Oct. 15, 2009
chronicle.hw.com
Two juniors compete in Malibu sprint triathlon By Alex Edel
George Sandler ’11 and Michael Williams ’11 both competed in the Malibu sprint triathlon, which consists of a 0.5 mile swim, an 18 mile bike ride, and a 4 mile run. After Sandler’s father competed in a triathlon this summer, Sandler decided that it might be fun to compete in one himself and asked his friend, Williams, to compete with him. Although both boys play other sports, Sandler plays lacrosse and Williams plays soccer, neither had ever competed in a triathlon before. “I like it because it’s different. It’s way more than swimming, biking, and running; it requires a lot of strategy and planning.” Sandler said. Both boys found the swimming section the hardest part. “By far the hardest part of triathalon for me is the swimming, simply because it is so crowded; it feels like everybody is kicking and hitting you when it starts,” Williams said. “The cold ocean water isn’t really a plus either. I have also never been much of a swimmer; I’ve always stuck to land sports.” Sandler began his training last August, and worked on improving all three aspects of the race. “I was already pretty into cycling so that helped with the running and endurance, but I did no swimming at all so I had a swim coach to help me out
with that,” Sandler said. Williams completed the triathlon in 2 hours, 1 minute, 18 seconds, and Sandler finished with a time of 2 hours, 7.4 seconds. “I think it was a pretty hard course because of the currents in the ocean and the rolling hills in the biking course,” Williams said. This year was the triathlon’s 23rd running, and the race’s sponsor, Nautica, said a large percentage of the Zuma Beach community came out to watch. Over 4000 athletes participated, and the money earned goes to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. This year the event brought in more than $950,000. The money goes to “curing and preventing childhood cancers. The Pediatric Cancer Research Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles provides groundbreaking treatments and therapies for children with some of the most serious and life-threatening pediatric cancers,” the event’s website said. Several celebrities participated in this year’s festivities including actors Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey and Felicity Huffman. “I think my favorite part of the triathlon I ran was the nerves you could feel in the air before the start of the race,” Williams said. “Everybody is anxious with nervous excitement and it’s a really cool atmosphere; I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Williams said.
Courtesy of George Sandler
Triathalong: George Sandler ’11 and Michael Williams ’11 smile after finishing the Malibu Triathlon this past summer.
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Ahad’s Dynamics Education Center is now offering tutoring to help you prepare for the SAT I & SAT II Exams Jamie Kim/chronicle
smooth stroke: Captain Tiffany Yang ’10 putts at Weddington Golf and Tennis. The team has a 5-2 record, with their only two losses coming to rival Notre Dame.
Girls’ golf wins 5 of 7, falls twice to rival Notre Dame By Alex Leichenger
League rival Notre Dame spoiled the girls’ golf team’s chance for a second straight undefeated season by beating the Wolverines in two matches. The Wolverines have won decidedly in each of their other five matches. The team opened its season with a sizable win over Alemany Sept. 14, posting a combined score of 207. A 229 score against Notre Dame the next day left them 10 strokes shy of moving to 2-0. “The loss to Notre Dame was really disappointing because we were undefeated last year and we had hoped for the same this year,” Melanie Borinstein ’11 said. “I think a few of us had a bad day and the combination of that didn’t work out in our favor.” Captain Tiffany Yang ’10, who called
the loss a “slap in the face,” attributed it to a lack of focus, a weakness the team has since worked to rectify. After the defeat, the squad bounced back with four consecutive victories. But Notre Dame dealt them a 222239 setback Oct. 8, their most recent match as of press time. Often saddled with a thin roster in the past, the team has had the luxury of increased depth this year. Replacement players have been used at several matches due to players’ injuries and scheduling conflicts. The Wolverines’ first four matches took place away from Encino/Balboa Golf Course, their home course. “I think it’s frustrating to start off a season at unfamiliar places where we aren’t comfortable but we adapted well and are now ready to do a great job at our home course,” Borinstein said.
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Oct. 15, 2009
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One last stand chronicle.hw.com
Sports C7
Norton prepares for senior year
Meg Norton ’10 started her varsity career with a State Championship and MVP Award. She hopes to
finish even stronger. By Jonah Rosenbaum
T
wo years ago, when she was just a sophomore, senior outside hitter Meg Norton was a part of the girls’ volleyball team’s state championship run. The banner that hangs in Taper gymnasium commemorating this feat has the name of every member of the team, but only Norton still has a chance to raise another. In less than a year, she’ll be trying to beat Trojans and Huskies just down Coldwater Canyon, with the UCLA Bruins. Norton does not hesitate when asked what she wants to do to fill the time. “The last two years we’ve come up short, but this year we have the talent, experience and determination to win state,” Norton said. Though she did not have a leadership role on the team from two years ago, Norton says the lessons gained from that run are helping her be a better player this year. “I was forced to take more of a backseat role because it was my first year on varsity and I was the youngest member,” Norton said. “Having the experience of being on varsity two years prior to this season has prepared me to become more of a leader on and off the court.” Head Coach Adam Black has witnessed Norton’s transformation to a senior leader firsthand, and says her contributions to this year’s team, both as a player and leader are invaluable. “Her role on this team is to be a leader and play well,” Black said. “She is good volleyball player who knows the game and can play it at a high level. That alone is a big contribution to the team. As a leader, Meg has began to take on the role of holding teammates accountable which is going to help us in the long run.” Norton’s volleyball season does not end when Harvard-Westlake plays its’ last game. She has played on the same club team for nine years, and between the two team commitments, Norton trains almost nonstop. “I started playing club volleyball in the third grade because I loved the competition that came from the games,” Norton said. “It is incredibly fast paced and exciting to play at such a high level. During school season, we practice every week day. When school season is over I practice with my club team, on top of working out with a personal trainer and a personal skills coach.” Black believes the extra time Norton puts in gets her ready for the Harvard-Westlake season. “Meg’s passing has improved a lot since her first year as a varsity player,” Black said. “I think playing volleyball throughout the year has been a positive influence on her game as it is with everyone who plays club and devotes extra time to get better.” In her time at Harvard-Westlake, Norton has also
Courtesy of Meg Norton
Heads up: Meg Norton spikes a ball during a game against Santa Barbara. Norton verbally committed to UCLA during her junior season, yet remains focused to return to the State Championship. beocme a leader for her teammates. “Meg is a leader on the court both verbally and emotionally,” teammate Kellie Barnum ’11 said. Though Norton had already been subjected to quality coaching and a high level of competition prior to arriving at Harvard-Westlake, she credits the school and her three years on varsity with greatly improving her ability. “My individual game has improved tremendously since being at H-W,” Norton said. “Since we practice every day for four months, I am able to correct bad habits by repetition,” Norton said. Norton’s improvements did not go unnoticed, as she was persistently recruited by a number of schools and likely would still be rifling through piles of letters had she not ended the speculation by committing to
Returning injured runners boost cross country team By Jonah Rosenbaum
David Abergel ’11 finished first and Amy Weissenbach ’12, placed second, to lead the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams to third and fifth place finishes respectively at the Staub invitational on October 3. “The whole team ran really well,” said Chris Vanderschans ’10 who was sidelined with an injury. David ran one of his best races of the year, and Aaron De Toledo ’12 showed how much he has improved. “He was on the cusp of scoring (only the top five runner’s scores count) going into the season, and he gave us some much needed depth with some of our injuries,” Vanderschans said. Abergel said the team has per-
formed well in its last two races, and pointed to the upcoming Mt. Sac Invitational, which takes place on October 23, as one of the team’s key remaining races. “It’s where CIF is going to be run, so we are hoping to see a good performance on the course to get us ready,” Abergel said. The girls’ team is currently ranked second in their division, and fourth statewide. Despite their high ranking, Varsity runner Bridget Golob ’10 said the team will be bolstered by the return of several key runners from injury. “Two of our fastest runners, Nikki Goren ’12 and Caitlin Yee ’13 are coming back, and that should make us even stronger,” Golob said.
UCLA her sophomore year. “I chose UCLA because I wanted a combination of rigorous academics and competitive volleyball. UCLA can offer me both of these. The Los Angeles weather doesn’t hurt either,” Norton said. Black said he wouldn’t be surprised if Norton finds some playing time early on. “Meg is a fighter,” Black said. “I think she will do fine at UCLA fighting for a starting spot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on the court at some point in time during her freshman year. She just needs to get used to playing with and against people who are just as good or better.” Norton has a simple goal for her time at UCLA.
“I want to win a national championship,” Norton said.
C8 Sports
backtalk with By Alex Edel
October
Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A
The
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Oct. 15, 2009
chronicle.hw.com
Tiffany Yang
Senior Girls’ Golf Captain
How long have you been playing golf ?
I have been playing since I was eight years old, I’ve been playing competitively since ninth grade, and I take lessons once a week. I play competitions and tournaments for CJT, the California Junior Tour, or the SCPGA which is the Southern California PGA (laughs).
I know golf is a really individual sport, but what do you do to be a leader? Well, before matches, we have pep talks with each other, and I try to give them pointers on how to try to help each other putt, because we play two at a time, along with two other players [from the opposing team]. I say help each other out with the stroke counts or with club management, and help each other with the putting techniques. What’s the hardest part of playing golf competitively for you?
It’s mainly a mental game so you have to try to beat yourself, everytime, so it’s just getting focused, dedicating and concentrating on the whole game.
Who’s your biggest competitor this season?
Notre Dame. We’ve lost both games against them, and the next time we’ll be seeing them in the preliminaries league. Hopefully we’ll beat them then.
What are your team goals for the season?
Since we’re not undefeated, try to get as many players to the finals, and make the cut to the preliminaries, and make team CIF individuals like we did last year.
What’s your favorite part of beign a golf player? It’s not very physical. In other sports you have to run around a lot but here it’s a mental game. So I don’t have to sweat myself out, try to get focused into the game, all I need to do is calm down, get my mind into it and it will be fine. And I like the moments where you hit a really good shot, and you feel satisfied with it.
Ashley Khakshouri/chronicle
mark your calendar
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Boys’ Waterpolo Girls’ Volleyball vs. Loyola
Thursday at 3 p.m. Loyola High School
“They’re seeded number one right now and if we beat them it will be a big statement.” —Henry McNamara ‘13
vs. Flintridge SH
Girls’ Tennis vs. Chaminade
Thursday at 4 p.m. Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Zanuck Swim Stadium Studio City Golf and Tennis
“It’s going to be an exciting game because... it’s Dig Pink. Sacred Heart is usually one of the better teams in our league.” —Milena Popovic ’11
“We had to split first place with them last year, so they are our toughest competition.”
—Marissa Rosenthal ’10
Football
Field Hockey
Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Ted Slavin Field
Saturday at 2 p.m. Glendora High School
vs. Serra
vs. Glendora
“Serra is one of the best “They’re our biggest teams in the state so beating competition in our league, them would be huge for the especially with their very, entire football program ” very good goalie.” —Kristen Lee ’12 —Jordan Tolson ‘10