October 2015 Issue by The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

CHRONICLE THE HARVARD-WESTLAKE

Los Angeles • Volume XXX • Issue II • Oct. 7, 2015 • hwchronicle.com

New policy to combat truancy By SHARON CHOW AND COLE FELDMAN

Football takes 3-2 record into league play

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

BREAKAWAY SPEED: Philip Thompson ’16 bounces outside during the Wolverines’ 35-21 loss to Taft Sept. 18. Thompson, a lacrosse committ to Princeton, has taken over running back duties for the football team this year. The squad plays La Salle at 7:30 p.m. on Homecoming Oct. 24. After dropping its home opener, the team is 3-2 as it heads into regular season league play.

Deans warn parents, students about drawbacks of overshooting in early application process By JONATHAN SEYMOUR

schools of appropriate selectivity during the early decision Upper school deans Beth period to have the best chance Slattery and Kyle Graham of securing an acceptance gave a presentation to seniors when the chances of successand their parents entitled “The ful admission are highest. “When a student at HarOpportunity Cost of Aiming thinks, ‘I’ll Too High in the Early Applica- vard-Westlake tion Process” at Senior College just take a shot and apply Night Sept. 15. The talk was Restrictive Early Action to one of nine special interest Stanford because you never sessions available at the event, know, right?’ – [he] thinks the and it addressed the possible process is a lottery,” Graham cons of applying early to un- said. “It’s not a lottery. It’s not a meritocracy. realistically It’s a game with challenging rules and playschools. [The process] is ers and incen“It was kind not a lottery. It’s not a tives – just like of depressing,” Jonah Ullenmeritocracy. It’s a game chess.” Slattery dorff ’16 said. with rules and players and Graham “The whole and incentives–just like explained their idea was that message using students need chess.” an example of to be realistic. —Kyle Graham a student overEarly decision is very imporupper school dean reaching during the early tant and stuadmissions dents need to take advantage of it and ap- period by applying to Stanply to the types of schools that ford and thereby ruining his they have at least a chance of chances of getting in to Washington University in St. Louis getting in to.” In the speech, Slattery and in the process. “The opportunity cost in Graham laid out what they called GPA bands and said this instance is the offer of adthat all students ﬁt into one mission from a school you like of these bands based on their a lot that you might be giving grade point averages. They ex- up because you applied early plained that students in dif- to a highly selective school at ferent bands should apply to which you were not competi-

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tive,” Slattery said. “The exam- An early decision application ple we used was the unhooked to a given college will make an student at a 4.0 GPA who ap- already competitive student at plies early to Stanford instead that college more likely to be of Washington. admitted. An early decision “That student is almost application will not make a certain to be denied early at non-competitive student more Stanford early and runs the likely to be admitted. It doesn’t risk of not being admitted work that way.” regular decision to WashingAccording to Cairns, deans ton because of the large vol- have been giving the same ume of strong students in the advice for years about thinkregular pool at Washington,” ing rationally about the early Slattery said. “Had that stu- applications period and usdent applied early to Washing- ing it strategically to increase ton instead of Stanford, he or the chance of admissions at she would have had a schools where stuvery good shot of getdents are already ting in, but by taking competitive. This a shot at Stanford, year, they are just they may have been emphasizing it more giving up acceptance strongly. to Washington.” “Increasingly, we According to upsee students who per school dean Vanshoot too high for na Cairns, contrary their early decision ’ to the message of this school,” Cairns said. Vanna Cairns presentation, many “Despite what we say, Harvard-Westlake families see the “you-never-know” philosothe early period as a chance to phy prevails. We are seen as aim high and are overly opti- the dream-crushers. This scemistic about their chances at nario plays itself out year afthese very selective schools. ter year in the ofﬁces of nine “Our families see an early deans. This year, thanks to decision application as a ‘dis- Mr. Graham’s and Ms. Slatcount coupon’ on the selectiv- tery’s data analysis and candid ity of a given college, and it explanations, we are hoping to is,” Cairns said. “But the ten- avoid these disappointments.” dency among our families is to The idea of ‘opportunity assume that this discount is • Continued on page A2 much greater than it really is.

A new policy that holds students accountable if they miss more than 20 periods of any single class will take effect this year. Twenty periods is equivalent to about 15 percent of a class that meets four times per cycle. Upper school dean Beth Slattery announced the new system during a faculty meeting Sept. 29. “The policy now is that students who miss 20 or more of any regularly scheduled class in the year may be denied credit, and they will have a meeting with their dean, the Head of Upper School, their parents and themselves to talk about it,” Slattery said. Students who lose credit can sometimes make up work over the summer, but it depends on each circumstance, said Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas, who was present at the faculty meeting. “Last year we had a fair number of kids who we really felt were abusing the system,” Slattery said. “Some of it also was that we had kids who decided to go, for example, on March of the Living, and they missed 10 days. That’s ﬁne and was a very good reason, but prior to that they had already missed ﬁfteen or twenty days of school. It felt as though that maybe that person hadn’t earned that right to go and miss 10 days of school. The policy in place would allow us to preemptively say to a student ‘if you want to have the privilege to go on this special trip, you actually need to go to class.’” At the beginning of the • Continued on page A6

INSIDE

NATHANSON S

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: Students explain their encounters with ghosts and other supernatural or paranormal beings.

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A2 NEWS

THE CHRONICLE

OCT. 7, 2015

Neighbors file reports for missing lawn signs By SAMMI HANDLER

Save Coldwater Canyon! members and local residents have replaced signs protesting the school’s proposed parking garage after they were reportedly stolen in June, the latest incident in a string of alleged thefts, neighbors said. Some residents on Coldwater Canyon, Halkirk Street, Dickens Street, Greenleaf Street and Alcove Avenue found that their signs were missing the morning of June 8. “Somewhere between 50 and 100 [were reportedly stolen],” said Sarah Boyd, who is a member of the Board of Directors of Save Coldwater Canyon!. “We found some of them in a garbage can on Ventura [Boulevard].” SCC is a advocacy organization residents founded after the school proposed building a parking lot and bridge over Coldwater Canyon Avenue because they are concerned

about “ensuring the safety, quality of life and enjoyment of the Canyon’s hillside residents,” according to SCC’s website. Lawn signs displaying messages such as “Stop Harvard-Westlake’s Destruction of Coldwater Canyon!” and “Harvard-Westlake, lower your carbon footprint,” are one method the organization uses to communicate some neighbors’ grievances. Out of 100 houses on Dickens, Coldwater, Halkirk and Alcove, 52 had signs displayed on Sept. 29. When residents began putting up signs in July 2014, some reported them stolen, and neighbors also reported a signiﬁcant number of signs stolen at least one time after that, Boyd said. “The assumption is always [that] it’s the Harvard-Westlake community, but we can’t always prove that,” Boyd said. A Harvard-Westlake parent may have carried out the ﬁrst occurrence of thefts last year,

NOA SCHWARTZ/CHRONICLE

A SIGN OF DISAPPROVAL: Signs on Coldwater Canyon display messages opposing the school’s building a parking garage. Some students have reportedly stolen signs on multiple occasions. and was photographed taking signs and putting them in the trunk of his car, Boyd said. Odessa Chiklis ’17 said that a friend’s mother had picked her and some friends up from a Friday football game and then pulled over onto Halkirk. “She [said something like] ‘these signs are so rude and absurd’ and took the sign from the lawn and stuffed it in the tiny car we were in and took it home,” Chiklis said. “I think it’s unnecessary and kind of rude [to steal signs]. However, it was very funny at the time.”

Deans emphasize the strategic use of Early Decision applications this year • continued from A1 cost,’ a term that refers to what a student gives up by shooting too high, originated in Graham’s graduate research at New York University on the economics of higher education. Having majored in economics in college, he focused his research on the ﬁnancial incentives motivating college behavior. “Essentially, I’ve always been fascinated by how colleges actually make their decisions, and I look at the college admissions process through the lens of an economist,” Graham said. “When I switched from the college admissions side of the desk at NYU and Hamilton to college counseling, I wanted to explain to my students that the college ad-

mission process is not a lottery. Colleges have very real ﬁnancial incentives motivating their behavior and, in many ways, much of the college admissions process is fairly predictable when you know how it works.” Graham said that the purpose of his and Slattery’s presentation is to mitigate the stress associated with the college process and to help students optimize their choices. “Ms. Slattery did a great job giving historical perspective of students from HW and how they’ve fared in selective admission pools,” Graham said. Graham and Slattery presented the information to faculty Sept. 29 to help them better understand the pressures of college applications given

In the issue

News

the increasing level of competitiveness. “Every several years, we present the college admissions landscape to our faculty,” Cairns said. “They ﬁnd it interesting. And perhaps it helps them to better understand what our seniors are facing in the process. Also, many of our faculty are parents themselves. We see this as valuable information and we want to share all we know with our colleagues.” Though the deans are further emphasizing the value of using the early admissions process strategically this year, they want students to know that they are only giving advice and are not changing or creating any new rules or restrictions about applications. “We only want to provide as

After the second incident, residents ﬁled police reports. Some ﬁled reports again in June. “This has happened numerous times, but the most egregious occurrence was the day after HW graduation when every single sign in my neighborhood along Halkirk Street, Alcove Avenue, Goodland Place and Goodland Avenue were taken in one fell swoop along with every single sign along Coldwater,” Halkirk resident Nancy Mehigian said. “That same night a plastic bag of vomit was left in front of my

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much information as possible so families can make good decisions,” Slattery said. “Even though this information can be difﬁcult to hear, we got a lot of really positive feedback from families who said they appreciated receiving the statistics so they could decide what made sense in their circumstances.” Though the deans put a lot of research into their presentation and made it as factual and unbiased as possible, Ullendorff thinks that the general ambition of HarvardWestlake students prevent students from actually limiting their college ambitions and

NATHANSON’S

changing their decisions. “I think the one college that I wanted to apply early decision to ﬁt into my GPA band, so it reinforced my choice,” Ullendorff said. “I can imagine though that it changed the decisions of a lot of people, but I was more realistic to begin with. I think that a bunch of people after the speech will consider changing their decisions, but the Harvard-Westlake culture says to shoot for the stars, so I think that a lot of people will remain optimistic. People should change their decisions, but I don’t think they will.”

Arts & Entertainment

STUNT-STRUCK: Ari Loeb ’93, who performed in the Broadway show “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark,” is choreographing stunts for West Side Story. B1

Features

earned semiﬁnalist status from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation based on their 2015 PSAT scores. A4

INSIDE THE INTERNET: Social websites such as Reddit and 4chan have changed the way we think about online culture. Students share their experiences of checking the “front page of the internet” during classes and at home. C3

PAVING THE WAY: The La Femme club begins a project where members take pictures of people on campus holding signs explaining why they are feminists. A7

Sports

Opinion

tion of the college process, have students regressed to unproductive squabbles in the same way as brothers ﬁght? A10

• Continued on page A3

We only want to provide as much information as possible so families can make good decisions. Even though this information can be difficult to hear, we get a lot of really positive feedback .” —Beth Slattery upper school dean

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: 31 seniors

CORRUPT COMPETITION: In anticipa-

neighbor’s house, and another neighbor called me at 4:30 a.m. to say she saw someone in my driveway...I’m not accusing anyone, just reporting facts.” Following the latest incident, residents have considered installing security cameras, according to Boyd. Some students said that the Sunday after graduation they took some signs from neighbors’ houses as they were items on last year’s senior scavenger hunt, which is

GRAPHIC DESIGNED BY CARMEN LEVINE AND ESHANIKA CHAUDHARY

LIVING BETTER: Four students talk about their struggles with mental illess, stigmas and side effects to medication. Continued on C4

THE CHRONICLE, the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School, is published eight times per year and distributed free on both the upper and middle school campuses. There are 727 students at the Middle School and 869 students at the Upper School. Subscriptions may be purchased for $20 a year for delivery by mail. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters

SET FOR SUCCESS: After a 12-4 start, the girls’ volleyball team is ﬂying high, and the players are looking to continue a fast start as they dive deeper into Mission League play. D1

to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at kloeb1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

Oct. 7, 2015

hwchronicle.com/news

News A3

Speaker to focus on well-being By Anthony Weinraub

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF JEANNE HUYBRECHTS

STAND UP: Middle School attendance coordinator Brenda Simon, Kate von Mende ’18, Izzy Reiff ’18 and Jacqueline Ayestas ’18 hold a sign explaining why they stand with Malala Yousafzai, a female rights activist who was shot by a member of the Taliban.

Students participate in feminist discussion forum By Tiffany Kim

Female students participated in the Girls Build LA Challenge by attending a forum Sept. 29 to address challenges young women face. The event premiered the film ‘He Named Me Malala,’ which depicts the story of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakastani activist for female education and female rights. In 2012, the Taliban stopped her school

bus from going home, and a Taliban member shot her for being resistant. Since then, she has advocated for women’s education. “The movie itself was extremely motivating and influential, but the sheer sight of 7,000 girls dedicated to feminism and equality for both genders and all races in the same theater was the most motivational and most important part of the event, ” Megan

Cohen ’17 said. The Girls Build LA Challenge is designed to encourage middle and high school girls to find ways to solve genderrelated problems in their community and to support them in obstacles they face as girls. It stresses three areas: Education, Life Skills & Leadership and Health & Wellness. Following the screening, students watched a message from Michelle Obama that

congratulated the girls who attended the event for rallying for an important cause. “It was really exciting to see [the story] culminate in one phenomenal movie that feminists like me were very passionate to see,” Phoebe Sanders ’17 said. “Seeing everyone else my age rally around to support [Malala] really made me think about what we can do as a community to affect a greater cause.”

Eighth graders may apply to study in China for next year By Eugenia Ko

Middle school students who are currently enrolled in Chinese courses or speak Chinese will have a chance to apply to an international school in China for their freshman year. Head of School Jeanne

Huybrechts has been working with the Chinese International School in Hangzhou, China, to offer students a rigorous academic program that allows them to both immerse themselves in the Chinese language and culture and prepare for sophomore year at HarvardWestlake.

“Last June, I visited both CIS campuses and was wholly impressed with the facilities, faculty and program- and was charmed by the energetic bilingual students I met,” she said. Hangzhou Chinese International School Director Richard Pratt will visit the Middle

Neighbors suspect theft for missing signs • Continued from page A2

not school sanctioned. “There’s probably still some crumpled up in the back of my friend’s car,” Christina* ’17 said. Students preferred to remain anonymous since some neighbors filed police reports after the incident. Christina said that she and some friends took signs from Halkirk and Coldwater residents. “We went from HarvardWestlake to the Palisades, and we had like 10 signs in the back of the car,” she said. “We threw some of them out the window onto PCH and others we kept. It was fully kind of like an ‘up yours’ to the neighbors, but at the same time it was also an adrenaline rush. It was just fun. It was stupid fun.” The school does not condone students taking signs for any reason, and President Rick Commons said that he “really wants to be a good neighbor.” “We can’t be involved in [stealing signs],” Commons said. “I know that for all of us

the signs are disconcerting. For some of us they probably seem unfair and the abundance of them sometimes can seem ridiculous, and so it can seem that it’s responding in kind to remove the signs, but in fact it’s a crime to remove something that someone has placed in their yard. We respect the neighbors’ property and we respect that they put up signs.” Greenleaf Street resident Kathleen Nielsen said that one morning in early June all of the signs on her street were gone. “One might say I did not see who committed this act, but at about midnight on the night in question, I heard a car pull up and young, excited voices in the front of my house,” she said. “I could definitely draw a strong inference that the perpetrators were HW students who had the misguided notion that people affected by the HW project should not be allowed to express opinions in opposition. I urge all members of the community to leave the signs alone.”

Some students feel that the lawn signs are an overreaction from the neighbors. “Honestly, if the worst thing that’s happening in your life is that a school that you’ve voluntarily moved next to is trying to build a parking garage so that students don’t have to park in front of your houses, then you have a very good life,” Christina said. Other students think that taking signs does more harm than good to the school. “It’s inappropriate given the positive relationship we are working on fostering with our neighbors,” Head Prefect Hunter Brookman ’16 said. “We need to do our best not to interfere with our neighbors’ property, regardless of whether we agree with the signs or not. The school definitely needs to continue working on our relationship with our neighbors, and stealing their signs is not helping move us in the right direction.” Similarly, not all neighbors are opposed to the school’s project. Some have posted responses to SCC members’

School on Wednesday Oct. 21 to meet Chinese teachers and any seventh and eighth grade students interested in applying. The Hangzhou school will admit a limited number of freshmen from schools around the U.S. beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.

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The first speaker in the Harvard-Westlake Parents’ Association speaker series, focusing on students’ social and emotional well-being, will address the school at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21. The discussion will feature six speakers, four of whom work at Harvard-Westlake. The speakers are Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Kavita Ajmere, counselor Luba Bek, dean Kate Benton, chaplain J. Young and Harvard-Westlake parents Ramani Durvasula (Maya Hinkin ’18) and Henry Kimmel (Nathaniel ’17). “I was asked to participate in July, and I agreed right away. I consider it an honor to be invited,” Benton said. In the past, the speaker series has featured speeches on a variety of topics, ranging from drug use at parties to a discussion with an AcademyAward winning screenwriter. “[Harvard-Westlake Parents’ Association President] Patty Dickman (Jessica ’17) suggested the topic as a way to let parents know about all of the support systems available within Harvard-Westlake and to create greater awareness for them,” Harvard-Westlake Parent Association VicePresident Nancy Kaleel said in an email. The next speaker, Michael Thompson, will discuss his book, “The Pressured Child,” on Nov. 10. Two more speakers are planned for February and March.

We respect the neighbors’ property, and we respect that they put up signs. I urge all members of the community to leave the signs alone.” —Rick Commons President

posts on the app Nextdoor, in which users set up private social networks for their neighborhoods. While some residents’ posts condemn the project, others have said the school “works really hard at being a good neighbor.” Some choose to remain indifferent. “I’m not ‘for’ or ‘against’ the garage and related development,” Studio City resident Joel Tantalo posted on Nextdoor. “I frankly don’t care one way or the other. I just don’t automatically oppose development because it will result in some degree of inconvenience or because it may conflict with my personal aesthetic preferences.” As the Chronicle reported in April, some neighbors are more concerned about students parking in front of their houses and speeding. Last year, Commons said

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that he planned to meet with residents and local organizations during the summer to improve the school’s relationship with those in Studio City, but he did not meet with SCC since he does not want to possibly interfere with the legal process, Commons said. The school is in the process of preparing their case for the city on why the project is necessary to accommodate big events, including graduation, and to improve safety on Coldwater Canyon, Commons said. Meanwhile, SCC is making the case on why the project would be harmful to Studio City. “We hope that the city will give us permission to go ahead with this project, and once that is done I hope to hear directly from Save Coldwater Canyon,” Commons said. *Names have been changed

A4 News

The Chronicle

Lawyer speaks to journalists

Oct. 7, 2015

By Kitty Luo

Attorney and Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center Frank Lomonte visited a sophomore journalism class Sept. 30 to advocate for student press rights and to spread awareness for issues regarding First Amendment rights. “It was really such a surprise, and it’s really prestigious that the national spokesperson for student press rights in the country would be able to drop by and talk to 20 young sophomore journalists on the spur of the moment without any advanced planning,” Upper School Communications Department Head Melissa Wantz said. Lomonte’s organization exists to offer free legal assistance to student journalists who are having troubles regarding their First Amendment rights. SPLC helps set up volunteer lawyers and attorneys with students all around the country who face difficulties regarding censorship, prior review issues and any other cases in which students feel that school administrators or school boards are acting illegally. Student journalists in California have greater publication rights than those from any other state. With few restrictions, the state education code gives high school students, including those in private school, the right to decide what to publish. The SPLC hopes to raise awareness among young journalists about states that don’t offer the same freedom. “It is important for everyone to know that a lot of states don’t have those same rights,” Wantz said. “Journalists in Idaho could want to run something in their school paper that the principal or head of school doesn’t want, and they would have no right to run it. A sense of inequity and unfairness can come across from one state to the next.” Wantz hopes that over time Harvard-Westlake journalists will help to increase awareness of these issues and reach out to students in Los Angeles.

CLAUDIA WONG/CHRONICLE

LAW AND ORDER: Loyola Law School professor and Criminal Law and Advocacy teacher Laurie Levenson introduces her guest speaker Obie Anthony, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years, to a class Sept. 24. He spoke about his exoneration process.

Guest speakers visit criminal law classes

By Emory Kim

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman and wrongfully imprisoned former inmate Obie Anthony spoke to Criminal Law and Advocacy students in the Kutler Center on Sep. 22 and Sep. 24, respectively. Silverman, who is also a

Laura Campbell Sharon Chow Alexander Hsing

By Kate Schrage

Brandon Lim ’16 released a new app called HW Lost and Found on Sept. 24 to create an efficient way for students to report lost items and have them returned. “I came up with the idea last year when I lost a bunch of things in a one-week span,” Lim said. “I thought, ‘Something needs to be done about this.’” The app is available for students, faculty and staff at both the Middle and Upper School. Lim aims to create a more centralized and efficient method of getting lost items back to their

Alex Kihiczak

Arjun Mahajan

Eugenia Ko

Daniel Mosch

Jonathan Seymour Nicholas Steele

Paula Lahera

Benjamin Most

Christopher Lee

Henry Muhlheim

Sam (Jaebok) Lee

Jon Nelson

Genevieve Thomas Dietrich Tribull

Lucas Perez

Miles Van Tongeren

Leena Lim

Hannah Rasekhi

Simone Woronoff

Sacha Lin

Joss Saltzman

Andrew Wu

Sean Jung Nathan Lee Elliot Kang

years in prison, his exoneration and his life after his illegitimate sentence. “Just to meet such a person and understand his life is a special kind of education,” said former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson (Dani ‘17, Havi ‘08, Solly ‘06), Loyola Law School professor and the teacher of the course.

Anthony was proven innocent by Project for the Innocent, a team formed and directed by Levenson at Loyola Law School. “We wanted the students to really see the real world,” Levenson said. “Our goal was to get them out of the books and actually see how the criminal justice system operates.”

Student releases HW Lost and Found app

National Merit Semifinalists Zachary Belateche

homicide prosecutor, spoke about her experiences with the class. She discussed details on murder cases she has prosecuted, including the reasons for these crimes and how they were proven guilty. Anthony, a man who was incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, described his 17

Cole Kawana Hannah Kelson

GRAPHIC BY LAYLA MOGHAVEM

owners, which depends on the growth of its user count. “Once a lot of faculty have it, and once a couple hundred students have it, I think it will be very effective. Right now it’s pretty small scale,” Lim said. The app includes a leaderboard featuring the students who have obtained the most points, which can be collected by logging on daily and helping to search for lost items. Top users will receive gift cards at the end of the year. “I hope [Lost and Found] has that same lasting power [as iHW and the ID app] and can really make a difference at our school,” Lim said.

SCREENSHOTS PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF BRANDON LIM

CATCH AND RELEASE: The app displays a login page, where students can use their school emails to create an account. Users can post descriptions of items they lost or found at school.

Seniors earn top PSAT 2015 scores, named National Merit Semifinalists By Jonathan Seymour

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Sept. 9 the names of 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists across the country, including 31 students from HarvardWestlake. The semifinalists are students whose 2015 PSAT scores comprise their respective states’ top one percent. California’s selective index, which is the state-specific cutoff minimum PSAT score needed to achieve semifinalist status, is back up to 223, as it was in 2014, after dropping to 222 last year. California’s 2016 index tied

with Massachusetts for the second highest cutoff score under international students, the District of Columbia and New Jersey, which all had cutoff scores of 225. The number of HarvardWestlake semifinalists is an increase from last year’s total of 25 students, but is lower than 2014’s record 54 semifinalists. “We are pleased that the number increased from last year’s 25 [students] even as it appears that the California cutoff, at 223, is the highest it’s ever been,” Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo said. “Compared with other years, it’s a very solid showing. [It’s]

not the highest and not the lowest. But [it is] very impressive given the very high bar this year.” The 16,000 semifinalists have the opportunity to apply for 7,400 National Merit Scholarships by submitting an application by Oct. 7. The application includes a personal essay as well as their academic transcripts, a letter of recommendation from their deans and a confirmation that they plan to attend college in the fall of 2016. Additionally, for a semifinalist to qualify to become a National Merit Finalist, the semifinalist must score well on the SAT.

Oct. 7, 2015

hwchronicle.com/news

News A5

Debaters start season with wins By Sabrina

Brito

Cameron Cohen ’16 won first place overall at the Greenhill Fall Classic in Dallas Sept. 19-21 a week after he and Nick Steele ’16 closed out the Loyola Invitational as co-champions. This was the first time a Harvard-Westlake debater won the Greenill event, a tournament attended by most top debaters in the country. Evan Engel ’17 won eleventh place speaker, Steele won fourth place speaker and Cohen took second place. The World Schools team, consisting of Liz Yount ’17, Alec Winshel ’16 and Aidan Luscinski ’17 placed second at the Greenhill Fall Classic. Winshel also received the third place speaker award in the World Schools division. Lauren Morganbesser ’19 made it to octafinals in the varsity division at the Holy Cross tournament. Connor Engel ’17, who was a finalist in the tournament’s round robin, was undefeated in preliminary rounds and made it to semi-finals. Evan Engel made it to finals and received his first-ever bid, one of the two required to go to the the most prestigious tournament of the year, the Tournament of Champions, in the spring of 2016. Both Steele and Cohen have already qualified to go to the Tournament of Champions.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MIKE BIETZ

co-captain Nick Steele ’16 were co-champions of the tournament. Liz Yount ’17 (right) speaks during a World Schools debate at the Greenhill Fall Classic as teammates Aidan Luscinski ’17 and Alec Winshel ’16 listen. The team took second place at the tournament.

They received their first required bids at the Loyola tournament by reaching the semifinals and then their second bids at the Greenhill tournament after reaching the octafinals. “It feels super awesome to start the season strong with big wins and to be qualified to the national championship early and we’re really looking forward to what we can do with the rest of the season,” Cohen said.

Record number of girls enroll in robotics By Benjamin Most

The upper school robotics course has nine girls and four boys this year, with three times as many girls enrolled as last year. Robotics has historically had more boys than girls, robotics teacher Antonio Nassar said. Previously a club, robotics became an official class last year, though extracurricular club meetings continued as well. Last year, boys greatly outnumbered girls with three girls and 13 boys enrolled in the class. Nassar said that he does

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MIKE BIETZ

IT’S DEBATABLE: Debate team co-captain Cameron Cohen ’16 (left) presents an argument at the Loyola Tournament Sept. 12. Cohen and

not know if robotics will attract girls and boys in the same proportion as this year in the future, but he said that he hopes that the trend of more girls joining the class and the club will continue. “In the past, it seemed to be literally a boys’ club,” Nassar said. “But as time went on, as soon as there were one or two girls, more of them began to join. I don’t know if there is just a spike or this will be on average, but it’s really remarkable.” Robotics co-captain Paula Lahera ’16 said that she thinks an increase of girls in

Indu Pandey ’18 cleared to elimination rounds at the Yale University Invitational Tournament on Sept. 18-20. After enduring a three-step intensive application process, Yount and eight other high school students from across the country were named to the 2015-2016 USA Debate team. “I’m super excited to get to know [my teammates] better and learn their different approaches towards debate, since every part of the country

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has a different style,” Yount said. “We’re also coming from different backgrounds; some of us do Lincoln-Douglas and others do Policy or Public Form, so combining all of our different skill sets should make for a really diverse and skilled group of people.” Yount trained with Team USA last week in preparation for the Holy Cross Navy and Old Gold Debate and Speech Exhibition in Louisiana Friday through Sunday.

As people stop thinking that STEM is something for boys only, more girls will continue to get involved in classes and careers like robotics and engineering.” —Paula Lahera Robotics co-captain

the club will help the team’s performance in their numerous competitions taking place this year. “Girls and boys sometimes have a different approach to problem solving and management, and it is good to have different perspectives in the club,” Lahera said. Other science courses have not reflected this trend. Studies in Scientific Research, for

nathanson’s

example, has only male students. Even so, Lahera said she believes girls will continue to join other science courses and pursue careers in STEM in the future. “As people stop thinking that STEM is something for boys only, more girls will continue to get involved in classes and careers like robotics and engineering,” Lahera said.

School honors family at Wang Hall reception By Claire Dennis

The school honored Shirley and Walter Wang (Walter Jr. ’13, Chantalle ’17, Matthew ’18) for their lead donation to fund the Wang Hall renovation at the Middle School Sept. 5. President Rick Commons, the Wang family and former President Tom Hudnut, whom the Wang family dedicated the building to, officially opened Wang Hall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Shirley Wang detailed many reasons for her family’s decision to dedicate Wang Hall to Hudnut.

“[Hudnut] went to all of Harvard-Westlake’s cultural organization meetings, which showed me that he really cared and understood how much this would mean to people,” she said. “He was interested in people’s history, in both their opportunities and challenges. I saw the depth and sincerity in his relationships.” Walter Wang spoke of his father’s appreciation for education, and how it affected his decision to donate. “[My father] grew up dirt poor with no shoes on his feet and only a sixth grade education,” Wang said. “Yet he knew

the importance of education and what it can do for a person, for his or her entire family, and thus for society as a whole. He went on to build the top medical schools, nursing schools, engineering schools and trade schools in Taiwan to help educate and empower ordinary people like himself.” Walter Wang also said that he believes the future of the school is bright. “Harvard-Westlake is molding a future for our students, and by extension, our society and our world,” he said. “Harvard-Westlake is known for training the best and bright-

est. [Harvard-Westlake] graduates become our society’s doctors, lawyers, actors, politicians, entrepreneurs. They not only make the news, they make a difference.” Student Ambassadors led tours of the new building. A formal dinner followed the tours and speeches on the Sprague Athletic field in front of Wang Hall. Among the 370 guests, 65 teachers, coaches and administrators, 26 students and a number of alums attended. Nora Rothman ’09 provided entertainment during dinner with a trio of musicians.

The Harvard-Westlake World Schools Debate Team competed in the same tournament, and Yount received third-place speaker as a member of Team USA. “Her placement on the USA Worlds Schools Debate team not only continues the tradition of having a Harvard Westlake member on the team, but more importantly is a signifier of her hard work,” upper school debate coach Shania Hunt said.

Physics teacher writes book By Connor Reese

Upper school science teacher Antonio Nassar co-authored a research book entitled “Quantum Measurement in Bohmian Mechanics.” Nassar wrote the book with professor Salvador Merte-Artes from the Spanish Institute of Technology, what Nassar calls “the center for theoretical research in Europe.” Nassar has over 60 published academic articles, and his knowledge and research from those papers helped him write the book. It focuses on Bohmian Mechanics, an interpretation of quantum theory. He said Springer Publishing approached him and Merte-Artes to write the book. “It’s very rewarding to have a publisher like Springer contact me,” Nassar said. “It gives me a lot of pride.” Although there is not a specific release date for the book yet, Nassar believes it will be out within the next year after extensive editing. He plans to expand on his current research and possibly write an additional book. “There are a lot of things that can still be done [in this field],” Nassar said. “You can’t cover everything using one approach.”

The Chronicle

A6 News

inbrief

Oct. 7, 2015

BLACC holds Justin Carr workshop

BLACC will host this year’s first Justin Carr ’14 Dare to Dream Workshop Oct. 10 at the Frank D. Parent Elementary School in Inglewood. Students can receive three hours of community service for helping younger students with art projects and other crafts. Carr’s parents have organized this event to fulfill Justin’s dream of bringing the arts to children in public schools that no longer offer art classes due to deficits in the LAUSD budget. The program was founded in his memory. —Kami Durairaj

JSA to participate in USC conference

The Junior State of America club will participate in their first conference Oct. 11 at the University of Southern California. The theme of the debate will be “Legislating Liberty” and will focus on civil rights law and the First Amendment. The event will feature a guest speaker from the Los Angeles Board of Education, formal debates on topics relating to the theme, informal conversation style debates called Thought Talks and workshops on debate skills. JSA will also release the new Junior State of America app for schedules and event information. —Indu Pandey

Amnesty International Club joins conference Students in the Amnesty International Club will discuss human rights issues with influential speakers at the Western Regional Conference Nov. 20-22. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel by the Los Angeles International Airport. It is the first time that club members will be going to the event, which will feature discussions about issues such as police brutality, criminal justice and women and immigrants’ rights. The speakers will be announced on the Western Regional Conference website. —Brittany Hong

Harvard-Westlake partners with HYPE Helping Young People Excel (HYPE) will hold a “friendraiser” on Oct. 15 to celebrate successes from the past year and honor supporters. Harvard-Westlake has partnered with the organization, which helps send talented, low-income students to independent schools in the Los Angeles area, for six years. Sara Hernandez, a Los Angeles Unified School District middle school teacher, founded HYPE to change the life trajectories of her students. Students receive intense programming to help in admission to college preparatory schools, as well as financing their education and progressing through high school and life. —Maddy Daum

SAMMI HANDLER/CHRONICLE

Students sign up for clubs during Activities Fair

12 HOURS MADE EASY: Lola Clark ’17 and Emma Wasserman ’16 give Michael Edwards ’16 information about their student organization Community Council, which helps students meet the 12-hour community service requirement. Prefect Council hosted the Activities Fair Sept. 21, where students roamed the quad and signed up for clubs and activities.

Deans set standards for class attendance

• Continued from page A1

year, the deans participated in a professional development day with Michael Thompson, a clinical psychologist and educational consultant. They met with the hope of combating the problem of extensive absenteeism. “We talked about this problem about how do you manage kids who are not coming to school and, in some cases, kids who can do very well in school despite that they aren’t there all the time,” Slattery said. “But what we realized is that it’s not just what they get from being in class, but it’s also what they give to other kids. He said that if [a student] actually values class, then [the

school] has to have some kind bunch of days, and in that of standard to hold people to, case, the meeting would just so the education means some- be to check in. We’re looking to really crack down on people thing.” Although the allowed num- who have a casual relationship with atber of days to tendance, and be missed is so that’s the standard, there [The school] has primary idea.” are exceptions to have some kind of No school to the rule of receiving credstandard to hold people trips or activities are being it. to, so the education changed to ac“The things means something.” commodate that aren’t this new atten[punishable], —Beth Slattery dance policy. like school-re“What we quired things upper school dean are hoping to such as field do is to actutrips and early excuse times, wouldn’t be an ally change our notification abuse of attending class,” Slat- system so that we will [receive tery said. “Maybe somebody emails] when kids miss five got mono and missed a whole and then ten days of school,”

“

Slattery said. “We don’t get a daily report of that [now], so we wanted to have a mechanism for knowing and be able to say, ‘Listen, you’ve already missed ten days, and I know you are intending to go to Cuba. We need to talk about that. We need to manage this better.’” The decision to implement this process has been generally supported by the faculty. “It struck me as being fair and reasonable,” President Rick Commons said. “It [seems] flexible and leaves room for students who had legitimate reasons to be absent but creates penalties and incentives for students who seem to be abusing the flexibility of the school.”

Seniors participate in annual ring ceremony By Danielle Spitz

The Class of 2016 joined together on Ted Slavin Field Sunday evening to receive rings or pins in the annual Senior Ring Ceremony. “We gather today with purpose for a celebration that takes on symbolic significance. The tokens that we will be giv-

en represent wholeness and commitment,” senior prefect Adam Yaron ’16 said to open the ceremony. Each student’s name was called by Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts to receive hir or her ring or pin, and students proceeded to shake the hands of Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas and Presi-

dent Rick Commons. “Getting my ring was a bittersweet moment for me,” Alivia Platt ’16 said. “It’s exciting to finally be a senior, but the Ring Ceremony was just a reminder that in a couple of months we’ll be graduating and that we should make the most of our limited time here.” Commons concluded the

ceremony. “The world you are entering indeed will ask you to pursue excellence for yourself,” Commons said. “It will also ask you to apply that excellence to purposes beyond yourself, to apply your success to what the world needs. It’s a tall order; we believe you have what it takes.”

Student Alumni Association returns after a year By Noa Schwartz

Director of Alumni Relations Susan Beeson has revived the Student Alumni Association after its year on hiatus. The association took last year off to regroup and reorga-

nize so it could fulfill its role on campus to be the best of its ability, Beeson said. The purpose of the association is to allow students to have an opportunity to support the alumni relations and advancement efforts of the school.

The jobs of members include giving special tours to VIP alumni, participating in student phonathons for Annual Giving, recruiting peers to participate in alumni reunion days and helping to brand the association to the student community.

“We hope to bring alumni speakers to Student Alumni Association meetings monthly,” Beeson said. “We are also gearing up for an awesome student-led phonathon in February, and of course our reunion days in May.” It will meet in a month.

School to run outreach booth at city street fair By Nicole Kim Harvard-Westlake will have a booth at the annual Sherman Oaks Street Fair on Oct. 18 for the first time as part of an ongoing outreach effort to the community From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., thousands of local Studio

City members are expected to celebrate the fair’s 25th year and show support for local businesses. Harvard-Westlake’s booth will offer information about the upcoming Homecoming activities, the fall musical and other ways that the school is involved with the community,

such as the River Greenway project to clean up litter along the Los Angeles River. Fairgoers will also have an opportunity to sign up for the community newsletter provided by the school and pick up support cards for the school’s proposed building of a parking structure and bridge

on Coldwater Canyon. “I think the outreach booth will be a great success. We’re proud to be part of this community effort and to participate in a day of fun for families,” Director of Community and Public Affairs Stacy Marble said. The fair will feature dance.

Oct. 7, 2015

hwchronicle.com/news

Students lose parking passes

inbrief

Cafeteria sells new Preciado sandwich

Several times a week since 2009, Attendance Coordinator Gabriel Preciado has requested the same sandwich from the school sandwich bar. But recently, Preciado has been receiving questions and compliments about it from people including Upper School dean Kyle Graham. Now anyone can order “The Preciado” by name. His order consists of a selection of his favorite ingredients: toasted French baguette, mayonnaise, mustard, Provolone cheese, avocado, bacon, roast beef, lettuce and tomato. — Sofia Guillen

By Sammi Handler

Security guards revoked parking passes from about 20 students who were driving in the center left turn lane on Coldwater Canyon for more than 200 feet Sept. 17. Drivers can legally drive in center lanes for no more than 200 feet, according to the California DMV Handbook. “The issue is safety,” Head of Security Jim Crawford said. “Our students pass faculty, neighbors and all the time up the center. It’s only a matter of time until someone gets hurt. A LAPD motor officer wrote 22 tickets in one hour, and a bunch were for students. I’m going to alternate regular LAPD patrol and security spot checks to ensure we follow the rules. Your deans are responsible for issuing punishments. If it continues, they will get caught.” The punishments varied between students and deans, since deans individually decided for how long each student’s pass would be revoked, dean Beth Slattery said. Some were revoked for a few days, while the maximum was one week. Juniors and seniors driving in the center lane had their passes taken in the morning from security guards, who gave them to the deans, Crawford said. Last March, the school had reported an increase in students driving in the center lane and urged teachers and security guards to report students to Assistant to the Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken. Some students did not know it was illegal to drive in the center lane for too long and feel that they have to if they do not want to be late to class somedays. “I have done it when traffic doesn’t move, and I’m going to be late,” Eden Fincher ’17 said. If students are repeatedly caught driving in the center lane for more than 200 feet, their dean may revoke their parking pass for the rest of the school year, deans said. Also, if drivers drive for more than the legal limit, they will be at the risk of receiving a driving ticket for $234.

News A7

Community Council to partner with Club 21

ALL PHOTOS PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ELIZABETH EDEL

GIRL POWER: Josh Musicant ’17 (top left), Alivia Platt ’16 (top right) and President Rick Commons (bottom), hold signs explaining why they are feminists as part of the La Femme club project.

La Femme club focuses on project to promote feminism By Alexa Zuriff

The La Femme club created a new project called Feminists of Harvard-Westlake this year. “It’s a way for the student body to de-stigmatize the feminist movement and open everyone’s mind to feminism,” Elizabeth Edel ’16 said about the project. La Femme focuses on

holding discussions on gender equality at the school. Edel, Kamala Durairaj ’17, Kelly Riopelle ’16, Ryan Finley ’16, Shelby Weiss ’16, Tiana Coles ’16, Alitzen Villanueva ’17 and Sohni Kaur ’17 serve as leaders for the club. “We just want to give people more opportunities to speak up and discuss in a healthy and positive way,” Weiss said

about the club’s mission. At the end of last year, the leaders got together to discuss ideas for the new school year and brainstorm potential guest speakers. Edel later came up with a spin-off of Humans of New York. She plans to go around campus to take pictures and will post the photos on the club’s Facebook page.

Journalism programs earn national distinctions

Jin Nam ’16 were Gold Circle By Hannah Cho recipients for their “In Harm’s Staff members of the Way” feature page design. Henry Vogel ’16 won two Chronicle received nine Gold Circles, one in the sports Gold Circles from the page tabloid format Columbia Scholastic and another in single Press Association in sports photograph. six categories. The Big Pim Otero ’16 and Red sports magazine Jonathan Seymour received Gold Circles ’16 received a Gold in four categories. Circle for their feature Vivian Lin ’16, package “Have You Mady Madison ’17 and Met Molly?” Sacha Lin ’16 each Sharon Chow ’16 won a Gold Circle in ’ also won an award in art/illustration: hand Vivian Lin ’16 the same category for drawn. Teresa Suh ’17 won an her feature package “Changing award for her photograph Faces.” in the single spot news The Chronicle is also photograph category. a finalist for the National Jacob Goodman ’15 and Su Pacemaker, the highest nathanson s

journalism award given by or more pages category, and the National Scholastic Press about half of them will win Association. Pacemakers. Vivian Lin ’16, the creative Additionally, the 2014director of the Chronicle, 2015 edition of the is among ten other Spectrum received finalists in the NSPA’s the George H. Design of the Year Gallup Award from Contest for her “Fear Quill and Scroll, an Factor” illustration, international honorary published in April. society for high school Winners will journalists. be announced at For the last two the National High years that Spectrum School Journalism ’ has entered, it won Convention in Steve Chae the top honor. Orlando on Nov. 14, “It is nice that where some staff members will we have been successful both be in attendance. The 2014-2015 Chronicle times, but it is a very high is among 11 newspapers to bar to set early on,” Spectrum be a finalist in the tabloid 17 adviser Steve Chae said. nathanson s

Community Council will partner with Club 21 to recruit volunteers for the Together is Better Walkathon Oct. 17 at Central Park in Pasadena. Volunteers will help with registration and set up a variety of carnival-type booths, then participate in the event. Club 21 provides education, support and advocacy for children with Down syndrome. The organization hopes to have 100 teams and raise $150,000 this year, according to Club 21’s website. The money raised will contribute towards providing programs and services for individuals with Down syndrome and their families. Community Council plans to reach out to interested students. —Nicole Kim

Peer Support leaders, trainees bond on retreat

Fifty-one Peer Support leaders and trainees traveled to Camp Hilltop in Malibu Sept. 11-13 for their annual retreat. “I think the goal of retreat was to foster bonding so that we can create the best environment for Peer Support possible,” Jack Hogan ’17 said. The students played games and trust building activities at the camp. Groups of trainees and leaders will lead the discussions for this upcoming year. “We created a level of trust and friendship that will allow peer support to be extremely successful,” Moghavem said. —Connor Reese

Website ranks school number one in California 101usa.com named Harvard-Westlake the Best High School in California on Thursday in a ranking of the top 14 institutes in the state. The article praised HarvardWestlake for its eight-to-one student-teacher ratio despite a body of approximately 1,600 students. “Such lists make me wonder about the meaning of ‘the best school,’” Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas said. “A school is ‘the best’ if its values, goals, commitments and norms of behavior are right for its students.” —Sabrina De Brito

A8 News

The Chronicle

Oct. 7, 2015

Student leaves to develop app By Jean Sanders

CARMEN LEVINE/CHRONICLE

Parents visit classes at Back to School Day at Upper School CRASH COURSE: Physics teacher Yanni Vourgourakis engages with parents on Back to School Day Sept. 26 at the Upper School. Parents were invited to attend 15-minute versions of the classes their students take. During free periods, parents could talk with teachers, athletic directors and administration on the quad, meet with deans, or buy books from the library’s book sale. Refreshments were served on the quad. Students also volunteered to help with registration and directing parents.

Football players to help holiday organization By Ethan Knight

Members of the football program at both the Middle and Upper School will volunteer for the Holidays from the Heart Program during the fall and winter of this year. The Holidays from the Heart Program provides aid during the holiday season for families with chronically ill

children receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The players receive a wish list from a family assigned by the hospital. Then each player is responsible for buying, wrapping and delivering a portion of the gifts that is on his indiviudal list to the family that he was partnered with. The players will receive the

wish lists in late October and meet with the families shortly before Christmas to give them their new holiday gifts. Each member of the team can receive up to seven community service hours for his work that will go towards his 12-hour school requirement for the year. The players said that they are excited to give back to the

community through their volunteerism with the organization. “I think it is a very good cause, and it helps out a lot of kids who are in need,” football player Ben Cooper ’16 said. “It is a great way for the football team to get together to help out kids and families who are less fortunate [in terms of health].”

Daniel Singer ’17 left school in September to take a gap year to work on his new social networking app Bond, which will be released in the app store in October. “Bond connects you to the people you should know,” Singer said. “If you’re at a bar, club, musical festival or party, and you’re being social, we can see everyone who’s there, and we can introduce you to someone interesting like a good friend would.” Singer has been working on Bond with University of Southern California senior Shane Mileham since November of the previous year. His decision to take time off high school was motivated by his desire to achieve his business goals while the techology industry continues to expand. “Funding is super cheap because there’s not a very high demand for it, so it’s easy to make a bigger profit,” Singer said. Singer’s previous business ventures include YouTell and Backchat, social networking apps that he ran with the support of both a team of coders and his parents, who have supported his technology startups since he began them in eighth grade. Singer wrote an article for medium.com regarding his choice to take a gap year. “At this point, I’m ready to try things on my own, without classes, syllabi and pop quizzes by immersing myself in topics that interest me, like product and design,” Singer wrote. Singer plans to return as a junior the following year and graduate with the Class of 2018.

Students to attend Homecoming Formal By Danielle Spitz

Like last year, students and their parents are required to Upper school students are sign a pledge online promising invited to attend the third an- not to engage in illicit activities nual Homecoming Formal in order to purchase a ticket. dance in Taper Gymnasium In addition, upper school on Oct. 10 hosted by Prefect students must fill out a form Council. The dance will be from specifying the number of tick7 to 11 p.m., and the doors will ets they wish to purchase and close at 8 p.m. until the end of whether they will be bringing the dance. Semi-formal an out of school guest attire and limos are to the dance. allowed. By signing the The dance this form, students agree year will now include to take responsibility a DJ, food, photo for their guest’s bebooth and games. The havior if they are not outdoor area will be a Harvard-Westlake expanded from past student. years to include more The first two seating and added ’ Homecoming Formal market lights strung Grace Pan ’16 dances in previous from a canopy, Head years both took place Prefect Grace Pan ’16 said. in September, but the timing of A foosball table and added the dance changes every year. lounge space will be available “The dance depends on inside to provide more options when the date of the Homefor students not on the dance coming game is. This year, floor. since seniors are allotted the “We’re changing up the de- PSAT weekend to visit colleges, cor to keep things fresh this we had to push the dance anyear,” Pan said. other week earlier,” Pan said.

TIFFANY KIM/CHRONICLE

VERDICT IS IN: Alec Winshel ’16, coach Alan Croll, Megan Cohen ’17 and Sebastian Grande ’16 (left to right) judge potential team members during try-outs, role-playing prosecutors for People v. Hayes.

New members join Mock Trial club By Tiffany Kim

nathanson s

The Mock Trial captains added nine new members to this year’s team, tri-captain Alec Winshel ’16 said in an email to club members Oct 1. Students who signed up for the Mock Trial Club tried out Sept. 28-30. Each student spent 10 minutes for his or her tryout which determined each students’ positions on the team.

“I am extremely optimistic about this season,” team tri-captain Megan Cohen ’17 said. “The team’s success rests upon the students, no matter which role they play, and I believe we are going to have a hard-working, devoted group this year that can lead us to another victory.” During their audition, they role-played the prosecutor for People v. Hayes, the trial of a student accused of the homi-

cide of a police officer. The new team will meet three days a week from 3-5 p.m. October and November to prepare for this year’s Los Angeles County Tournament. “I think Mock Trial will be a really unique experience that could further develop my interest in law,” Ravi Durairaj ’17 said. Last year, the school’s Mock Trial team won the Los Angeles County Tournament.

C HRONICLE the harvard-westlake

Editors In Chief: Eugenia Ko, Henry Vogel Managing Editors: Angela Chon, Benjamin Most, Jonathan Seymour Executive Editors: Sacha Lin, Kelly Riopelle

Opinion The Chronicle • Sept. 1, 2015

Los Angeles • Volume XXV • Issue 2 • Oct. 7, 2015 • hwchronicle.com

editorial

Presentations Editors: Su Jin Nam, Pim Otero Ads

and

Business Manager: Kelly Loeb

Assistant Ads and Business Manager: Oliver Richards News Managing Editor: Cole Feldman News Section Heads: Sammi Handler, Layla Moghavem, Jesse Nadel News Copy Editor: Jackson Novick News Assistants: Gabi Berchtold, Maddy Daum, Claire Dennis, Brittany Hong, Emory Kim, Indu Pandey, Noa Schwartz, Danielle Spitz Opinion Managing Editor: Jonah Ullendorff Opinion Copy Editor: Lexi Bowers Opinion Section Heads: Hananh Cho, Kami Durairaj Opinion Assistants: Ayanna Frey, Claire Keller, Jiwon Park, Anthony Weinraub, Matthew Yam Features Managing Editor: Sharon Chow Features Section Heads: Sabrina de Brito, Carmen Levine, Liz Yount Features Assistants: Josette Abugov, Nicole Kim, Sophie Levy, Kitty Luo, Jadene Meyer, Tarin North, Alena Rubin, Kate Schrage, Alexa Zuriff A&E Section Heads: Lauren Kim, Tiffany Kim, Katie Plotkin A&E Assistants: Jacqueline Ayestas, Ellis Becker, Isabelle Eshraghi, Sarah Lee, Caty Szeto Health & Fitness Section Heads: Eshanika Chaudhary, Sophie Cohen, Claudia Wong Health & Fitness Assistants: Sofia Guillen, Kristen Kuwada Sports Managing Editor: Bennett Gross Sports Section Heads: Juliana Berger, Zac Harleston, Jake Liker, Dario Madyoon, Carina Marx, Rian Ratnavale Sports Assistants: Eli Adler, Oliver Akhtarzad, Andrew Ahn, Jordan Bedikian, Elly Eun Seo Choi, Ethan Knight, Sam McCabe, Aaron Park, Adam Yu Sports Photography: Cameron Stine Photography Assistants: Emory Kim, Kitty Luo, Jadene Meyer, Lara Mikhail, Alexa ZuriFtff Creative Director: Vivian Lin Cartoonist: Mady Madison Webmasters: Carmen Levine, Cameron Stine, Bryant Wu Online Section Heads: Joe Levin, Emily Rahhal, Oliver Richards, Jean Sanders, Bryant Wu Web Assistants: Eli Adler, Claire Keller, Matthew Yam Multimedia and Podcast Managers: Joe Levin, Connor Reese Social Media Manager: Kelly Loeb Adviser: Melissa Wantz The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published eight times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at kloeb1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

MADY MADISON/CHRONICLE

Don’t Lose Sight of the Meaning

It’s that time of year again. Students have adjusted to classes, reconnected with friends and mastered their schedules. Late September through early October comes around, and students gather on the quad to watch grandiose Homecoming Formal proposals of students being serenaded as spectators hold out their phones, ready to broadcast the already public “asks” on various forms of social media. But this year more than ever, it seems as though we’ve lost sight of the meaning of Homecoming and instead place more emphasis on who gets the biggest asks or who even gets asked to the dance at all. Public asks seem to emphasize the expectation that a girl or boy has to say yes and only add to “Homecoming stress” for both sides. We need to remember to respect the fact that everyone has the right to say no, and public asks should not be used to pressure them into accepting a proposal. A “no” isn’t the end of the world and could be for a variety of reasons. At the same time, we need to recognize the courage it takes for someone to buy flowers and put themselves in the vulnerable position of asking a date to the dance. Yes, a proposal is a fun and creative way to find a possible date to the formal. Through these opportunities we are pushed to think outside the box when we come up with ideas like conducting an orchestra or riding on a scooter in a suit to let that one special person know we would like to take them out to the dance. It’s genuine asks like these, along with the simple and private proposals, that keep us grounded to the simplicity of a school dance. At the

same time, proposals aren’t the most important part of Homecoming, but we see that students often get caught up in the unnecessary stress of taking everything so seriously. So what if an ask is small and personal or public and executed in front of the entire campus? Furthermore, so what if we don’t get asked by that dream date or if we don’t get asked at all? It’s not about the superficial details of formal, but rather the memorable experience we make at Homecoming that makes the event special. Beneath all the drama of proposals, dates and possible rejections still lies the true purpose of Homecoming Formal: to unite the community in a lighthearted and school-spirited event, away from the often stressful environment of academia at Harvard-Westlake. Homecoming Formal provides a time for the students to come together in a unique way and socialize with people who aren’t in their classes or whom they perhaps typically wouldn’t see during the school day. An ask to Homecoming should not be taken as a declaration of love or a marriage proposal but simply as an invitation to spend time as active members of the school community. While we stress out about what to wear and who we’re going with, if we’re going with a date at all, we forget the meaning of having and starting school traditions and the impact events like these can have on the school dynamic. So instead of fretting about little things, let’s just remember to have a great and safe experience at an event we are privileged to have in the first place.

A10 Opinion

The Chronicle

Oct. 7, 2015

Pocket Man By Benjamin Most

or the past few years, I have worn cargo shorts to school almost every day. Sometimes, during the winter months, I wear cargo pants. I love my cargo shorts. They have enough pockets to hold my phone, any necessary identification and other assorted items I might need. They fit loosely around my waist, but not loosely enough to sag. Early in my cargo short days, however — around the fall equinox of 2012 — I discovered an unfortunate truth: others were unable to recognize the efficiency and elegance of my choice of attire. Friends would mock me for my clothing. They would tell me how cargo shorts are out of style, how they look dumb and how I should be wearing jeans or regular shorts like other people. I was ridiculed, mocked and criticized for my cargo shorts. Taylor Swift was right. Haters gonna hate. It’s their nature. But that doesn’t mean they get to me. Pioneers throughout history must have dealt with similar criticisms. At first, scientists rejected Galileo’s claim that the universe is heliocentric. Darwin was rebuked by the intellectual community for his ideas of evolution. Many believed that when Steve Wozniak first developed his personal computer, the idea would never take off. So, too, must I support my cargo shorts, despite the criticism and the misunderstanding they cause. Without cargo shorts, I would have to worry about my phone falling out of my pockets. The only other safe options for mobile storage are fanny packs and utility belts, both of which are fairly awkward. Cargo shorts have all the comforts of regular shorts and are vastly more effective. It’s impossible to look at

someone wearing cargo shorts and not think, “Wow. He really has his act together.” Cargo shorts are at once sophisticated and rugged. Their sleek appearance screams class, but their pockets suggest the hard-working American spirit that built this nation. When I wear my cargo shorts, I don’t worry about what others think of me. I’m the man. Give me something to carry, and I will put it in my pockets. With cargo shorts, I am like a Ford pick-up truck with a Ferrari exterior. I can lift the weight of the world, and I can do it with style. Slipping on my cargo shorts, I feel a change come over me. When the smoothness of the fabric presses against my skin, the rising sun illuminating my bedroom, I know. I know I can handle whatever the world will throw at me. I know I will weather the storms that may strike, the hurdles that may block my path and the nonbelievers that may try to shake my faith. I am a pit bull loose from his chain. I am a monster unleashed. Cargo shorts are liberating. They allow easy leg movement, but their storage capacity is unprecedented. I refuse to live with the shackles of regular shorts. No, the cargo shorts life is the life I seek. Others may have their jeans, their pocketless pants and their athletic shorts. They live as if in Plato’s cave, unable to see the world outside, knowing only the shadows on the walls. I have seen beyond the cave. I have seen the light of the sun. Just as astronomers eventually came to understand the heliocentric universe, just as biologists recognized the truth of evolution, just as consumers adopted the personal computer, society must learn to accept cargo shorts. This bird has been caged for far too long. It’s time to fly.

MADY MADISON/CHRONICLE

Consumed by Competition By Cole Feldman

hen I heard my name being called for the “Van Patten” courtesy award at kindergarten graduation, I started beaming. My face was red, and I was on top of the world, not because of the award itself, but because I knew I could hold it over my twin brother Jack later that night. What I did not realize was that it would cause Jack to run off the stage crying. He later told me that it did not matter what he received, but rather what I did. Although this seemed childish, and it probably was because we were six, it strikes the same chord as today. Parallel to asking for each other’s college information, we were consumed only by how we compared. One of the first questions posed in my AP Language: Utopias and Dystopias class this year was “when is competition in our society beneficial and when is it detrimental?” After a bit of debate and weighing the pros and cons of competition in what seemed to be an endless number of scenarios, my class was still unable to reach any general consensus.

A Wider Scope of the World By Sharon Chow

wo summers ago, I went to my mother’s home country, Cambodia. To be honest, I didn’t really have any expectations going into the country. Everything I knew about Cambodia was either history relayed from my mother talking about her experiences or a brief mention in a history book about the Vietnam War. A lot of people don’t realize that after the American troops left Vietnam, a man name Pol Pot and his followers — the Khmer Rouge — were able to oust the leader and create a communist society. They began to systematically kill all of those who would seem a threat to their new society. My

grandfather, a watchmaker, was supposed to be killed twice; they just got the name wrong. I learned all this only when I went to Cambodia. The Cambodian refugee crisis that resulted from the communist takeover was little known to the United States at the time. The American troops left Vietnam, and there was relative “peace” in the country, so everything was seemingly stable in southwest Asia. There was no huge initiative to help the tens of thousands of Cambodians fleeing the country in search of a better life during that time. In fact, no aid was able to go through the border to Cambodia, and the Thai government could

not and did not want to accommodate the thousands of fleeing refugees. At this point, it doesn’t seem coincidental how history seems to repeat itself because this same problem is happening right now with the European migrant crisis. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, the number of “forcibly displaced people” reached 59.5 million people by the end of 2014, a 40 percent increase from 2011. The death toll of refugees attempting to reach Europe by sea in August was around 2,000, according to the International Organization of Migration. Maybe I’m just ignorant

Although I did not come out of the class with the ability to make a perfect society, a déjà vu washed over me. The type of problem that I had faced as a child manifested in the remarks between students about college. I started to actively notice students constantly competing as they snidely undercut one another. I heard phrases such as “Oh you want to go to Stanford? That school is so hard to get into,” as if stating facts would compel the other person to not apply. Likewise, I was guilty of such fervent competition, leading to much pain. I was no saint with Jack, and at the mature age of three, I used to push him out of his painting station and scribble over his work, leaving him on the ground as any child worthy of the “Van Patten” award would. This action, however cruel, is fundamentally tied to the jealous mentality of high schoolers in the college process today. In my young mind, I did not care to better my own scribbles, but only to be able to present a better work than my brother. There should be no shame

in saying where you are going to apply just because it is not one of the top schools. I don’t mean to preach what the deans say on a regular basis, but I feel strongly that the application process should be something everyone is proud of. The process is a culmination of all our triumphs and all of our failures (and no one else’s). The application and supplemental essays themselves are shades of your personality. Directing the bundle of thoughts and emotions and goals away from where you want them to go because of competition in the moment does not serve anybody’s future. I have lived out the struggles of the college process in every way against my brother over the years, leading me to form my own conclusion: to compete about the past is useless; to do so is to lose time that could have been spent bettering the future. So the next time you are posed with the question of “where do you want to apply early?” just tell the uncompromising truth and be proud of it.

The migration crisis needs to be addressed within our community to raise awareness about refugees struggling to find asylum.

when it comes to current events, but it’s almost the end of 2015, and we are just starting to hear about this migration crisis in the news. Why did it take so long for this news to travel? Living in the United States, it seems as though the problems of countries across the ocean will never affect us or that we have no power to take action. However, in this day and age of global connection, the goings-on across the world will affect us one way or another, so why not take notice? There is no need for the United States and Europe to fail to acknowledge certain issues just because they do not involve them.

Harvard-Westlake has taken some action to educate the school community about this crisis with programs like Human Rights Watch. However, I think we can do more. Let’s start a conversation. Let’s talk about the current immigration laws in Europe and the United States and look back at previous actions taken by the respective governments. Let’s have a wider scope of the world in the classroom. As someone whose parents are both refugees who found asylum in the United States, I can only ask that we broaden our view of history and current events. Maybe this time, we can prevent history from repeating itself.

OCT. 7, 2015

HWCHRONICLE.COM/OPINION

quadtalk The Chronicle asked:

Swimming Without Floaties By Rian Ratnavale

vividly remember my dad trying to teach me to swim when I was 5 years old without much success. Although I could hold my breath for a long time, I wouldn’t get anywhere when I tried to swim without floaties. I cried to my dad, telling him “I could never swim without help” because I wasn’t confident in my arms being strong enough to pull me across our backyard pool. This year, I planned to take another plunge into the water and go somewhere that I have never been before: Homecoming Formal. In my sophomore year, I was too scared to go. Admittedly, I was terrified at the prospect of taking a girl to homecoming. What would I wear? Would a girl actually have fun with me or just fake it to pass face? Would I look stupid on the dance floor? Would anyone even say yes to me? While I really wanted to go to formal, I couldn’t overcome my insecurities, and I stayed at home. After seeing all of my friends having a ton of fun at formal last year, I immediately regretted not going, and I promised them that I was definitely going to go to next year’s dance, have fun and not worry about what other people thought about me. Before I knew it, I got an email from Prefect Council, auspiciously titled “Save the Date,” and within a day of that, I already had my ideal Homecoming Formal laid out: which friend I wanted to take, how I would ask her, you name it. I could already imagine myself happy, and having a good time at the dance. I do realize that success doesn’t always come on the first try or on the first ask. Just like how my dad wasn’t able to teach me to swim the

very first time, my first try at going to formal ended in disappointment, and another night at home for me this upcoming Saturday. My ask didn’t work out, and after that it was hard for me to find another person to go with. Still, I don’t regret anything. Although I’d be lying if I said it won’t hurt me when I see and hear pictures and stories of my friends living it up on Saturday, I’m glad that at the very least I tried my best to go the way I wanted to, and for one moment, I wasn’t scared about whether anyone was judging me or not. I’m going to try again next year, and I know it won’t end in the same disappointment, because I won’t let it. As students, as friends, as people, we have to have confidence. Yes, there are going to be risks; she’s not always going to say yes, and he’s not always going to serenade you with a big bouquet of red flowers or ask you to the dance with a big, elaborate proposal. Still, we have to be confident that we can bounce back from disappointments like these, otherwise we won’t be able to enjoy the opportunities we get at HarvardWestlake. It’s better to try with confidence and fail than to not ask at all because at least by trying we are giving ourselves hope for that next dance. Looking back, I guess I put too much stock into going to formal this year, but I’m happy that I got to mature from this experience. In terms of next year, I think I’m almost there. I have jumped into the water, and now, floaties are useless to me; I’m confident enough to stay afloat without them. It is time for me to swim.

“Do you think that the lead up to Homecoming Formal has been too stressful on students trying to find a date?” “I think people make too big of a deal of Homecoming, and a lot of people are more interested in how they ask rather than who they ask. Also, I think girls just want to be asked and get stressed out if they don’t get asked.”

—Nicole Bahar ’18 HANNAH CHO/CHRONICLE

“Yes, I feel like it makes a rift between girls who get asked and girls who feel like they don’t get asked, and I think that’s kind of unfair and ridiculous.”

—Casey Giolito ‘17 TERESA SUH/CHRONICLE TERESA SUH/CHRONICLE

373 students weighed in on the Oct. 4 Chronicle poll:

“Are you planning to attend homecoming formal?”

No 131

was eating lunch this summer in Ozh Purga, a village of fewer people than there are students at Harvard-Westlake, in Udmurtia, Russia, an unknown province to most Russians. Katarina*, a twenty-something-year-old student, turned to me and asked in broken English, “Is there something bad about the [N-Word]?” To Katarina, that word is a synonymous, not derogatory, word for a black person. According to Katarina, there are Americans, Russians, Asians and [N-Words]. In the two weeks I spent in Udmurtia, living with a Russian family, I did not see one person of color. That’s not a criticism of Udmurtia. I’m not trying to diversify an obscure Russian province into an idealistic American melting pot. But why, in a region of the world so isolated from black culture, is the N-word used ca-

sually? Katarina didn’t know how to say rain in English, but she knew how to say the N-word. A recent Los Angeles Times article pinpointed hip-hop as the most inﬂuential genre. Artists such as Jay-Z and Kanye West have not only impacted the music industry more than The Beatles but have revolutionized societal impressions of black culture. This inﬂuence is international. My host brother’s favorite rappers are Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. From the rap Andrei* listens to, he’s also retained an idea of what it means to be black in America. During my trip, he showed me a “funny” video about what Russians think of black Americans. In the video, several Russian guys—pretending to be black—stood on a dilapidated street. They were wearing baggy pants and Air Jordans.

“Are you stressed in any way about homecoming?”

No Yes

145

240

The N-word By Josie Abugov

OPINION A11

Yes 228

The use of the N-Word in foreign countries is disturbing. Racial stigmas about black culture in rural areas where there is limited exposure to diversity are solely based on stereotypical black representation in social media.

In only a few minutes, I heard the words “Compton” and “[N-word]” amidst gunshots echoing in the background. Think about it. As insulting as the video was, there are no black people in Udmurtia. Actually zero. Where else would Andrei derive his interpretations of black culture but through hip-hop and the media? The African slave trade and the civil rights movement aren’t highlighted in Andrei’s school, but he knows about Kanye and Kendrick. Through their music, those artists project imagery. Only the rappers aren’t glorifying poverty or police brutality or the fact that there are more black men incarcerated in 2015 than were slaves in 1850. They’re voicing their anger through music that encompasses a racial injustice. Unfortunately, that message is lost in translation. Without the backdrop

of American history, Andrei merely sees foreign-looking men speaking in the rhythm of a familiar beat. This is the opposite of the music’s intentions. Rappers use the N-word to voice injustice about what was stolen from their predecessors. But without the adequate context, rap music perpetuates a stereotype that the artists are trying to abandon. The issue is not their intentions but the consequences that ensue, both domestically and internationally, when these intentions are not valued. I’m not against rap music; I listen to rap all the time. I’m in love with Drake as much as the next girl, but hip-hop is inﬂuential. With such an inﬂuence, there are repercussions. The problem is a lack of cultural understanding solvable by education. Knowledge leads to empathy, and right

now, we need global empathy more than ever. Andrei, Katarina and the Russians I met in Udmurtia aren’t as lucky as I am. They live in homes without a shower and in a place where homosexuality is illegal. The video Andrei showed me was only funny to him because he thinks it projects the truth. That doesn’t make me angry; that makes me terribly sad. My response to Katarina was immediate. I told her that there was something wrong with the N-word because there’s something wrong with oppression. There’s something wrong with the fact that it’s 2015 and we need the hashtag BlackLivesMatter. *Names have been changed. Editors Note: As policy, the Chronicle avoids repeating racial slurs, obscenities and offensive language.

exposure

A12

Oct. 7, 2015

Students ring in senior year

In accordance with an 82-year-old tradition, seniors were presented with rings and wreaths at the annual Senior Ring Ceremony, which is held to commemorate the process of becoming a senior at Harvard-Westlake.

DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE

SURPRISE VISIT: Audrey King ’16 gets a surprise visit from her younger brother as she walks down the steps to receive her senior ring from Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas during the annual Senior Ring Ceremony Sept. 26. Seniors were all greeted by President Rick Commons and Barzdukas.

DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE

THE PREFECT SPEECH: In a speech, senior prefect Helene Miles ’16 talked about her semester abroad and led an activity where the seniors passed a long pulse by holding and squeezing hands.

DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE

LORD OF THE RINGS: Seniors gather together in front of friends and family at Ted Slavin Field for the annual Senior Ring Ceremony. Students were presented with a ring or pin.

DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE

SHAKE IT: Caitlin Neapole ’16 shakes hands with

Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas.

DANIELLE SPITZ/CHRONICLE

HAND IN HAND: Seniors hold hands for an activity during senior prefect Helene Miles’ ’16 speech. They sent a pulse down the rows by squeezing each other’s hands without speaking.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Chronicle • October 7, 2015

Her Last Song

Elizabeth Edel ’16 will play the lead role Maria in “West Side Story.” The musical will be Edel’s sixth and final at HarvardWestlake, and she hopes to make it her best one yet.

sically outside of school and formances alongside sings opera, she considers Ma- Adam Yaron ’16, who Elizabeth Edel ’16 will star ria to be a perfect role for her plays Tony. “It’s really crazy to as Maria in the Upper School because “West Side Story” is t h i n k production of “West Side Sto- often considered more of that this ry” in November. is our “She’s great,” co-director an opera than last-ever Michele Speares said. “I think a musical. I’m never happier Not only musical she’s amazing. I think she has than when I’m stressed together, one of the strongest voices, is the music because of a musical.” and our and she can sing. The score is c h a l l e n g i n g , relationcrazy, complicated and chal- but Edel must —Elizabeth Edel ’16 ship in it is so lenging. She can sing it with- also build up close that it her stamina out batting an eye.” just fosIt was bittersweet for her- and work on when she heard that “West matching her acting skills to ters this feeling of ‘it’s our last, but it’s going to be our best’ Side Story” would be the fall her singing skills. However, Edel said she is and a lot of general excitement musical this year. She had going into it,” Edel said. dreamed of playing Maria ever up for the challenge. Edel said she is excited be“I’m never happier than since she watched the movie. when I’m cause the group of performers “ S h e ’ s stressed be- is more diverse than ever and amazing,” cocause of a will include many ﬁrst-time director Ted musical,” Edel performers, including four Walch said. She’s amazing. baseball players. said. “She’s got a Coming into rehearsals, The musikind of feisty She’s got a kind of feisty cal also means she was concerned that some energy that energy that I like for the a lot to her this of the new performers wouldn’t I like for the year because it be as excited. character of Maria.” character of Edel said she has been is her last one Maria.” —Ted Walch at Harvard- pleasantly surprised by the This year, enthusiasm and dedication in her sixth co-director Westlake. “For me, they have all shown. and ﬁnal mu“[Musicals] don’t get all the especially just sical at Harvard-Westlake, her dream will because the future is super recognition that some sports uncertain and unclear, it is teams get, and that’s totally come true. “I never thought that I possible that this is my last understandable,” Edel said. would have the opportunity musical ever,” Edel said. “It “But with this new cast, it’s to be Maria,” Edel said. “I was makes me put a lot of pressure all coming together because super familiar with the part on myself because, obviously, [the athletes] see how much before, and it is super exciting if it’s my last, I want it to be it means to us, and it has become something that means to have this role because it’s my best.” The performance is also so much to them as well.” been a dream of mine for a reBefore every performance, special to Edel because it ally long time.” Because Edel trains clas- will be her last of many per- Edel separates herself from

By KATIE PLOTKIN

“

the cast and takes time to get into the mentality of her character. She does this so she can grow and progress authentically throughout the performance. “It’s just amazing to think that something you have done may have changed somebody’s thoughts or made them feel something,” Edel said. “As a performer, my goal every time I perform is to make my audience leave with some sort of new perspective or having felt something different or having been affected in some way by the words or the music or the performances in the show, and that’s what’s most rewarding.” Edel hopes that her family, including her sister, who has never seen one of her school musicals before, will be able to attend the musical. Her sister has lived outside of California since Edel began at Harvard-Westlake and plans to take time off of work and ﬂy in from New York to watch her performance. In the future, Edel hopes to continue what she has been doing throughout high school. She also hopes to attend a college that allows her to double major in vocal music and something in the liberal arts or sciences.

PHOTO BY KATIE PLOTKIN

B2 Arts & Entertainment

The Chronicle

‘West Side Story’ Cast List The Jets Tony Riff Action A-Rab Baby John Snowboy Big Deal Diesel Gee-Tar Anybodys Velma Graziella Jet Girls

Oct. 7, 2015 Students will perform ‘West Side Story’ in Rugby Auditorium Nov. 8-10.

The Sharks

Adam Yaron ’16 McCabe Slye ‘16 Casey Giolito ’17 Ari Yaron ’18 Russell Davis ’17 Eli Timoner ’18 Henry Platt ’17 Gabe Jenkinson ’16 Brandon Lim ’16 Carmen Levine ’17 Lily Beckinsale-Sheen ’17 Tiana Coles ’16 Maddy Harbert ’17 Lauralee Harper ’16 Emma Kofman ’16 Jenny Lange ’17 Genevieve Thomas ’16 Jessica Wolf ’16

Bernardo Chino Pepe Indio Luis Anxious Juano Toro Moose Maria Anita Rosalia Consuelo Shark Girls

Carlos Guanche ’16 Ryan Ruiz ’16 Michael Kellman ’16 Jared Gentile ’16 Paul Giacomazzi ’16 Erick Gredonia ’17 Jonah Goldman ’16 Adam Hirschhorn ’16 Andreas Werner ’16 Elizabeth Edel ’16 Kayla Darini ’16 Maya Hinkin ’18 Charlotte Weinman ’18 Anya Andrews ’17 Ava Gordon ’16 Aurora Huiza ’17 Natalie Kroh ’18 Natalie Musicant ’17 Laurel Rand-Lewis ’16 Cate Wolfen ’17

The Adults Doc Schran Krupke Glad Hand Somewhere Girl

James Hansen ’16 Jake Suddleson ’16 Ben Pimstone ’18 Henry Zumbrunnen ’16 Elizabeth Gaba ’17

Description “WEST SIDE STORY tells a Romeo-and-Juliet story of gang warfare in New York,” co-director Christopher Moore said. “The dancing is high energy and very athletic. But everything about WEST SIDE STORY demands the best. The music is extremely demanding for singers and instrumentalists alike. The show is a true workout for all the cast – dancers, singers, musicians, and crew -- male and female alike.”

SOURCE: TED WALCH GRAPHIC BY TIFFANY KIM

Film festival holds renaming contest By Jesse Nadel

Film festival organizers are holding a contest to rename the festival to improve branding. The contest will close Friday when the faculty and student leaders of the festival begin to determine the name that they believe best rebrands the event. “Many people both in and out of the school thought the festival was only for HarvardWestlake films, but clearly we

ELLIS BECKER/CHRONICLE

BRAIN GAMES: Justyn Chang ’18 and Henry Zumbrunnen ’16

work on writing exercises for a playwrights workshop after school.

Alum hosts playwrights workshops after school By Ellis Becker Alex Lewin ’94 hosted afternoon playwriting workshops for students Sept. 24-26. The Perry S. Goldman Playwriting Workshop taught students playwriting skills as a part of preparing for the Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival. Later in the year, the festival will feature student-written plays, and one of the goals of the workshop was to help students prepare to submit plays for that purpose. “My main goal for this workshop is just to jog these student’s creativity, and get them to understand that they can actually write a play. It’s not a foreign language,” Lewin said. “Through these workshops, I also want to help students shut off the part of their mind that makes them calcu-

late, and allow them to just create.” Lewin has been writing plays since he was a student at Harvard-Westlake, and has completed eight full-length plays, including “The Envelope” and “The Near East.” He has also written five one-act plays and two screenplays. Some of his work has been performed in theaters such as the La Jolla Playhouse and the Alliance Theatre. Besides writing, Lewin has taught four similar workshops and spoken at multiple seminars throughout his career. “I actually wrote my very first play here at HarvardWestlake, and my teacher Ted Walch was a huge contributor to my decision to become a playwright,” Lewin said, “It really is an honor and privilege to be able to teach here.”

are so much more than that,” festival director Tiana Coles ’16 said. “By having a different name, we’re hoping to open ourselves up to the community, allowing the festival itself and the people involved to be a part of something so much larger than just another high school film festival.” The film festival committee made a decision to include students in the renaming process, dubbed the “(Re) Name Game,” in order promote

the festival and get students involved during the early stages of the planning process, Coles said. The winner of the contest will receive a $100 cash prize. He or she will receive a free dinner before the festival at the Hollywood Arclight Theaters, where the event is held, and a copy of the night’s program autographed by the guest speaker. Ideas can be emailed to filmfestival@hw.com.

Get Lit Players slam poetry group performs for sophomores during class meeting

By Adam Yu

The Get Lit Players, a slam poetry team in Los Angeles, performed during sophomore class meeting Sept. 28. The Get Lit players hoped to spark student interest in slam poetry. They also wanted to recruit new members for the HarvardWestlake slam poetry team. Additionally, students who are interested in pursuing slam poetry outside of school can audition to become a Get Lit Player.

Hannah Dains ’16, one of the Get Lit Players, opened the assembly with one of her slam poems. Students can audition to become a Get Lit Player Oct. 10 at the Get Lit headquarters while auditions for the Harvard-Westlake slam poetry team are in November. No prior experience is necessary to audition. “I myself had only been doing slam for three months before I auditioned,” Dains said. “When I was a sophomore, I auditioned for the school slam

team, and we performed at the Classic Slam, which is hosted by Get Lit. The founder of Get Lit asked me to audition to be a Get Lit player.” As a result of the slam poetry performance, some sophomores are considering slam poetry as an extracurricular activity. “I thought it was awesome,” Chase Rosenblatt ’18. “Potentially, I would like to join the team. I didn’t know what it was before, and I would definitely think of it as an option now.”

Student films receive CINE Golden Eagle Awards By Sarah Lee

A suite of films made after the 2014 Rwanda trip and a film made during the 2014 Righteous Conversations Project received special recognition in the 2015 CINE Golden Eagle Awards. The Rwanda suite won in the Youth Documentary Short category, and the Righteous Conversations Project film was a finalist. Recipients of these honors were announced Sept. 8.

The Rwanda suite consisted of three films. They were “Reweaving: Rwanda After Rape,” written, directed and edited by Katherine Calvert ’15; “The Rhythm of Healing,” directed and written by Imani Cook-Gist ’15 and edited by Danielle Stolz ’15; and “Cut the Tall Trees: The Killing Power of Words,” directed by Noah Bennet ’15 and Max Cho ’15, edited by Cho and written by Bennet. The other film made during the Righteous Conversations

Project was titled “Curt Lowens: A Life of Changes,” directed by Justin Binder, August Blum, Robert Carslon, Levi Glaser, George Khabbaz, Kayla Mossanen and Tammy Shine. It told the story of a man’s life during the Holocaust. “All those films are about social issues, genocide and Holocaust awareness, so I think it distinguishes us as a school that cares about larger issues, that cares about history,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said.

OCT. 7, 2015

HWCHRONICLE.COM/A&E

Jazz Combo Results Advanced Jazz Combo:

Nick Steele ’16 - Piano and Band Leader Ethan Blaser ’17 - Bass Connor Reese ’17 - Tenor Jarod Bacon ’17 - Trombone Oliver Friedman ’17 - Trumpet Noah Moghavem ’17 - Guitar Ryan O’Donnell ’18 – Drums

Jazz Explorers:

Miles Van Tongeren ’16 - Piano and Band Leader Rachel Porter ’16 - Bass Jeremy Samuels ’16 - Trombone Roland Montgomery ’16 - Guitar Vincent Le ’17 - Alto Ben Ramirez ’18 - Drums

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT B3

Students selected for jazz bands By CATY SZETO The group of students selected to play on Jazz Explorers and Advanced Jazz Combo, two sub-ensembles of the Harvard Westlake Jazz Band, has been revealed. Jazz Program director Shawn Costantino announced the results for the 2015-2016 Jazz Explorers and Advanced Jazz Combo auditions. Out of the 24 students enrolled in Jazz Band, seven were selected to play on the Advanced Jazz Combo. Six were selected for the Jazz Explorers. For every level of the Harvard-Westlake jazz program, there is one class with two smaller combos formed in

combos are anything but each class. The Advanced Jazz Combo easy,” Costantino said. The audition consisted of and Jazz Explorers combo are random pieces of jazz reperthe two most competitive. Auditions each year are toire. These pieces open only to those were handed out to enrolled in the Jazz students, who then Band class. wrote essays on the Jazz Band class music and played the is the highest level pieces that they were jazz class at Harvardgiven. Westlake for expeThe audition is rienced to advanced not required for every players. student in Jazz Band. In addition to ’ However, each performances for the year almost all stuJazz Band class, Jazz Shawn dents audition for the Explorers and AdCostantino smaller combos. vanced Jazz Combo Only around half are acperform at additional events cepted for the two sub-ensemthroughout the year. “Auditions for these two bles combined. NATHANSON S

Students submit projects to youth film festival

International Family Film Festival Youth Fest! Films

By GABI BERCHTOLD

Movie

Style

Deep End

Drama

The International Family Film Festival will showcase several films from HarvardWestlake students in its annual IFFF Youth Festival! The film festival will take place Nov. 7 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. The purpose of the IFFF Youth Festival! is to allow students to network with both their peers and professionals, which will allow them to screen their films in front of a live audience. Students enter pieces into competition in several categories of short films including

drama, documentary, mixed media, comedy, comic book and educational. Films submitted by Harvard-Westlake students include "Deep End" by HW Summer Film in the drama category and "Curt Lowens: A Life of Changes" by the Righteous Conversations Project in the mixed media category. Other ﬁlms submitted include "Embargo on Love" by Lauren Rothman ’17, "Love and Music" by Ryan Finley ’16, Sophia Dienstag ’17 and Sarah McAllister ’15, "Hands" by Katie Ehrlich and "Rhythm of Healing" by Imani Cook-Gist ’15 and Danielle Stolz ’15.

A cappella group to host open auditions for group By KATIE PLOTKIN An a cappella group formed by Elizabeth Gaba ’17 and Henry Platt ’17 will hold open auditions in November. “A capella is such a unique, fun, and cool way for students to get involved in music and have fun with friends while doing something they enjoy and wouldn’t otherwise pursue

because of their crazy schedules,” Platt said. The group will sing exclusively contemporary and pop music. Gaba hopes students write their own arrangements. “A cappella has become such a prominent part of my life.” Gaba said. “I really wanted to share that with the Harvard-Westlake community.”

Embargo on Love (Cuba) Love and Music (Cuba)

Documentary

Rhythm of Healing (Rwanda)

Hands Mixed Media

Curt Lowens: A Life of Changes

“

Choirs to convene for mini-retreat

After going to A Capella Academy, I knew that a cappella had the potential to be something huge for Harvard-Westlake.” —Elizabeth Gaba ’17

By JACQUELINE AYESTAS NATHANSON’S

Gaba had the idea to start the club after being the coleader of the a cappella group at the Middle School. She also attended the A Cappella Academy for two

summers in a row. “After going to A Cappella Academy, I knew that a cappella had the potential to be something huge for HarvardWestlake,” Gaba said.

Musicians to perform in Fall Instrumental Concert By TIFFANY KIM Wind Ensemble, Camerata Strings and Symphony will be playing in the Fall Instrumental Concert Friday Nov. 20. Two harpists, Myria Chen ’18 and Claire Dennis ’18, will be performing.

“It’s very cool [that we have two harpists this year],” upper school orchestra director Mark Hilt said. “I had a harpist the last time four years ago.” Seventy-seven students from all three sections will be performing in the ﬁrst concert of the school year.

“We’ve been working really hard, and I’m excited to see it all come together,” Margaret Renton ’17 said. The concert will feature pieces such as “Csardas” by Victorio Monti. Others include “Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte” by

Maurice Ravel. The concert will be held in Rugby Auditorium. It will be a non-ticketed event. “I am so excited. Every year, I feel that the Symphony is very strong,” Hilt said, “This year is really amazing.”

The middle and upper school choirs will convene for a mini-retreat at the middle school campus on Oct. 10 to perform pieces that they have been practicing. The purpose of the retreat is for every member involved in choir at Harvard-Westlake to get to know one another and bond over their love of music and singing. Rachel Grode ’19 is one of the singers that will participate in the retreat. "It is really going to be awesome experience getting to enjoy and listen to each choir’s pieces because you do not get to do that very often when you are on separate campuses,” Grode said.

B4 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Alumnus returns to teach stage combat By TIFFANY KIM

Ari Loeb ’98 is choreographing the fight scenes in the school musical “West Side Story” and serving as assistant to director Michele Spears. “I’m really inspired by the students here and by just the facility of Harvard-Westlake itself,” Loeb said. “I love to teach. I love to try to give back, and I’m just really grateful for everything in my life that’s brought me this far.” Loeb has been teaching students stage combat since rehearsals began in September. “There’s not a single stitch of [improvisation] in it. Every punch is totally choreographed, and everybody knows what’s happening around them,” Loeb said. The students who play gang members in the musical rehearse the fight scenes almost every day in the dance studio. “I’m very excited for it,” Adam Hirschhorn ’16 said. “We’ve already had some rehearsals, and he certainly knows his craft. It is super fun to do these mock fight scenes. He teaches us the methods of how to make it look realistic while also making sure it’s safe. He also teaches us types of punches and kicks and helps us make it look cool.” Loeb works as a professional stuntman. “The punch could be okay, but the reaction has to be perfect, and that will get the audi-

ence to believe these kids are actually hurting each other, when really they’re being perfectly safe,” Loeb said. He learned about the new musical while talking to performing arts teacher Ted Walch over the phone and decided to help out. “For me, it’s cool to come back to Harvard-Westlake and be able to contribute to education and know that I actually am contributing to education and not just going through the motions and punching in and punching out,” Loeb said. Loeb has performed in the Broadway show “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” in the past. “I’m trained in cinematic ﬁghting,” Loeb said. “It’s all about looking good from where the camera is.” Loeb offered to volunteer because the show has special meaning for him. In 1997, as a junior, he played Action in “West Side Story.” He was in Advanced Dance as a student at HarvardWestlake, so he performed in dance showcases and school musicals. “This play obviously has sentimental value to me,” Loeb said. “It’s also really beautiful and moving, and I love to see the students experience this at a young age.” He said he felt like he had an advantage being a male dancer since the dance was a female-dominated ﬁeld. As a result, he had more opportunities to play roles in dance concerts and plays he

THE CHRONICLE

OCT. 7, 2015

TIFFANY KIM/CHRONICLE

FIGHT ON: Ari Loeb ’98 teaches actors in the school musical “West Side Story” how to act out the ﬁght scenes. Loeb, trained as a professional stuntman, was motivated to help with the musical because when he was in high school, he played Action in “West Side Story”. wanted. “I love [the students],” Loeb said. “Their energy and their

dedication and the way they absorb information is very inspiring. It’s cool to know that

once words leave your mouth, they actually live on in another place and in other people.”

Gaulke to discuss Vietnam trip tomorrow

Chi Minh City, where the students will visit the ReunificaVisual Arts Department tion Palace. The “American Head Cheri Gaulke, Emmy War” officially ended at the Award-winning journalist Jeff Palace when tank number 843 Maclyntyre and middle school of the North Vietnamese Army visual arts teacher Joe Medina busted through the gates of will lead 20 students on the the former residence of the Vietnam Digital Storytelling president of the Republic of Vietnam. trip Jan. 15-24. Students will also visit Interested students can learn more at a meeting to- the War Remnants Museum, morrow at 3 p.m. in Feldman- which houses symbols from the war and afterwards travel Horn. The trip offers the oppor- to the underground Cu Chi tunity to gain cultural aware- Tunnels, which held 10,000 ness and interact one-on-one refugees during the war. After visiting Saigon, stuwith living historians. Peace dents will be imWorks Travel leader mersed in VietnamAlethea Tyner Paradis ese culture via a will help to immerse home-stay in Mestudents in Vietnamkong. The last day of ese culture. the trip will be spent In addition, stuat the Mekong Delta dents will acquire High School for a culskills in video and tural exchange with photography producthe high school stution, as well as redents there. search and interview ’ So far, 14 stuexperience by creatCheri Gaulke dents have regising personalized digitered for the trip, tal stories. This year, the trip will em- which costs $5,570. Deposits phasize photography in addi- and financial aid applications are due Oct. 15. If more than tion to video, Gaulke said. Those who attend will 20 students are interested, learn about the causes and Gaulke is willing to plan an consequences of one of Amer- additional trip during spring ica’s most controversial wars, break. “I’m always very excited for Gaulke said. Previous Digital Storytell- our students to expand their ing trips to Laos, Rwanda, consciousness about who they Cuba and Cambodia culmi- are in the world,” Gaulke said. nated in award-winning stu- “I think it’s a very profound transformation that I see in dent videos. The trip will begin in Ho our students.” By SOPHIE COHEN

NATHANSON S

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FEATURES The Chronicle • Oct. 7, 2015

Their American Horror Story It’s not only on Halloween that ghosts seem to appear. One student shares her experiences with the supernatural. Another discusses her belief that psychic forces are at work.

By TIFFANY KIM Mary* ’17 had just come home from a sleepover. It was daytime, and she wanted to take a shower. While in the shower, she heard the words “Welcome home Mary” and felt as if someone was in front of her, waving his or her hands in her face. “Your mind doesn’t talk to you that way,” Mary said. “All of a sudden, I was having an anxiety attack, and I felt something. The feeling as if someone had placed almost like a jacket over the back of my head. I kept seeing in my peripheral vision, [black ﬂashes].” This experience was not new for Mary. She frequently feels as if someone is standing right behind her. She can feel whoever it is touching her, but she cannot see anyone. “I don’t want to believe that there are certain supernatu-

ral forces acting in this world that we can’t see,” Mary said. “Unfortunately, the situations I have been in force me to believe otherwise.” She attributes these paranormal events partially to where she lives. Mary believes that the previous members of her house took part in a branch of satanic worship or cult. Following her suspicions, she and her parents have procured droves of unusual objects buried deep in her backyard such as various gardening tools and have rooted out dark-colored stains under her carpets while refurbishing. “It’s deﬁnitely me,” Mary said. “The house just contributes to it.” Mary’s earliest and most frightening memory dates back to when she was just ﬁve years old, alone upstairs wandering her hallways.

In front of her were two doors, one to her room and the other to her parents’ room. She took several steps before she slowed her pace. And then all at once, her feet froze. Her eyes wandered left, then right. She turned her head, creeping it over her shoulder, because she had felt as if she was being followed. “I remember, all of a sudden, it was like I was being watched,” Mary said. “I remember looking up, and in the doorway of my room, there was a blurred human shape that actually walked from my room out into the hallway.” She screamed, loud enough to signal to her parents. They came rushing up the stairs to her aid. “Literally within a second, my day went from being normal to being one of the scariest moments in my entire life,” Mary said.

For Mary, there is nowhere in her house she feels secure. Unfortunately, she isn’t able to relocate for ﬁnancial reasons. “There are times when I would think, ‘Someone commit me to a mental hospital. I am losing my mind,’” Mary said. “I still think that sometimes.” While growing up in the house, Mary developed manic anxiety attacks that make her forget past memories. She also often hears whispers and murmurs that are not her own. Like bugs, the voices fester in her head and swarm in her ears, but she states that they are not coming from her imagination. “It’s the idea that you have thoughts that are very clearly not your thoughts,” Mary said. “You would never speak to yourself in the third person, for example.” • Continued on page C2

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CLAUDIA WONG AND VIVIAN LIN

C2 FEATURES

THE CHRONICLE

OCT. 7, 2015

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN LIN

trouble for only a period of three months before she began to Additionally, at night, Mary have supernatural experiences hears more strange noises like again, even to this day. Mary bethe sound of metal on metal, lieves that not only is her house clanking and banging together haunted, but that she also has constantly. They ring against a gift that may contribute to her room walls and prevent these incidents since she has her from getting a good night’s seen ghosts outside her house before. Every time Mary visits sleep. Some nights, she wakes up Fort Sumpter, a base in South and finds red scratch marks Carolina for the Civil War, for painted all over her arms and example, she sees dead soldiers legs, yet she has no recollection scattered everywhere she turns. “You could just tell of where she got them. there are so many dead Once, she even had her soldiers there that bed covers jerked off of don’t know they died,” her. she said. Most nights, she Mary does not feels as if someone is think her beliefs make standing over her bed, her superstitious, but breathing over her has a strong opinion of face and observing her people who are. sleep. Although many ’ “I think people put people would blame Phoebe Sanders a lot of legitimacy in these occurrences on ’17 superstitions because gravity or other natuthey don’t want to acral forces, Mary is confident that they are paranormal. cept responsibility for either “I knew it wasn’t air condi- their actions or their state of tion, gravity or whatever when I mental incapacity,” Mary said. would literally see things, when “I also think people put legitithere would be too many isolat- macy in superstitions for fun ed coincidences to not contrib- because they want to find some ute to an overarching theme,” sort of purpose outside of the mundane world they live in, so Mary said. Mary and her family have they use superstitions as a sort tried to dispel these evil forces of escapism. It makes no sense out of her home. She under- to me as someone who has acstands her house was anointed tually encountered scary [ocwith oil and blessed in the past. currences]. Why would someone Her family has brought in want to invent their own scary religious people to ward off instances? It makes no sense to spirits in her house. Mary has me.” She suspects most people also turned to religion to help her cope with her situation and do not believe in ghosts because they are just as scared as she is. identifies as a religious person. “[Ghosts] feed off fear,” Mary “I was never religious until these things happened to me said. “I know for a fact they feed because I literally saw no expla- off of fear.” Mary thinks that people are nation,” she said. “After doing research, I can assign no other afraid that there is some greatexplanation to what’s been hap- er force acting in this world that pening. I almost have no choice can hold them accountable for but to be religious and hold their actions or impose external these certain opinions so as to harm on them. Although Phoebe Sanders add some sort of explanation.” Unfortunately, these solu- ’17 does not believe in ghosts tions were only temporary. Mary like Mary, she still believes said that she stopped having there are supernatural psychic • Continued from page C1

NATHANSON S

nothing for her. forces at work. “If I don’t do it 40 times, if “I think that’s because everyone is always looking for an- I do it 20 times, I think it’ll go swers, and we can’t find enough horribly,” Sanders said. “It’s like so, in a perfect world, if some- a placebo effect.” Sanders also attributes bad one, a psychic, could tell potential happenings, that could luck to crows. “I cannot stand to see a provide some level of relief,” crow when I’m walking if it’s Sanders said. Sanders once met with a in front of me,” Sander said. “I psychic when she was with her turn around. I don’t know why friends in San Diego. They were I get so scared so much. I get all crowded around a small plas- an omen from them, like they’re bad luck.” tic table with As for Mary, tarot cards and she is only able a red umbrella for shade. The There’s nothing to manage her current circumpsychic slowly anyone in this world can stances by putturned over five say that would ever con- ting mind over cards and talked about Sander’s vince me to not believe matter. However, Mary holds future for severin ghosts. Absolutely the opinion that al minutes. Even she still has though Sanders nothing.” some control did not believe in —Mary* ’17 over what hapevery detail, she pens to her. did expect that “The thought some of the psychic’s predictions would come that there are forces in this world at work that I cannot true. “I think maybe though that see, have no control over and while some find it comforting have no idea what their motivathat their futures could be fore- tion or purpose is is terrifying,” told, some find it unsettling be- she said. “You have to get to cause it’s kind of pigeon-holing the point where you know that nothing that whatever it is in my you to a future,” Sanders said. Sanders collects henna and house can do can hurt me unother objects that relate to the less I give it the power to scare me or intimidate me to make me idea of good and bad karma. “I believe in karma also,” fearful for my safety.” Counselor and faculty adviSanders said. “I believe it’s part of why everybody should be good sor Luba Bek said she is unable to one another. Obviously, you to judge someone’s situation want to be nice to one anoth- without seeing the person indier and make sure everybody’s vidually. Although about one in three okay, but I definitely believe in karma. I think in that way, it students believe in the paranormal and about one in 10 stumakes me a better person.” Occasionally, Sanders feels dents said in an Oct. 4 Chronicle that she must go through ritu- poll they have had paranormal als in order to predict whether events, Mary does not expect anyone to attest to her personal or not she will do well. “I’m more for rituals,” Sand- experiences. “There’s nothing anyone in ers said. “I knock on wood, blow eyelashes for good luck and this world can say that would I have a cracked mirror in my ever convince me to not believe in ghosts,” Mary said. “Absocar. I won’t look at it.” Before Sanders does dives lutely nothing.” during swim practices, she *Names have been changed. must jump 40 times. It’s all or

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OCT. 7, 2015

HWCHRONICLE.COM/FEATURES

FEATURES C3

Caught in the Web ^

By BENJAMIN MOST

4998

t the beginning of every people or fictional characters math class, Xavier* ’16 would win in a fight. opens up his laptop to Some of reddit’s most take notes – at least, until he popular content comes in becomes bored or does not the form of memes, which feel the need to pay attention are words, images and videos any longer. that have become ingrained Then he opens up his web in internet culture. browser and types in a familThese memes include iar web address: reddit.com, Success Kid, an image of a the self-proclaimed “front young boy pumping his fist; page of the internet.” Bad Luck Brian, an image of Reddit is one of several a teenage boy with text dewebsites that provide us- scribing his misfortunes; and er-based content especial- Philosoraptor, a drawing of a ly popular among teenagers pensive velociraptor overlaid and young adults. with humorous philosophical According to a Chronicle questions. poll taken on Oct. 4, about Dmitri does not often seek 20 percent of students check memes on reddit, but he said reddit regularly, out of the that he does like Mr. Skeltal, 374 students polled. a humorous meme The poll recountabout a skeleton ed that about 13 playing the trumpet. percent of students He usually goes occasionally use on reddit for enterreddit while in class. tainment, but also The site averages visits tech advice 169 million different subreddits when he visitors and 7.55 bilneeds help. lion page views every “It’s interesting,” ’ month. he said. “I guess it’s Oliver Reddit allows uskind of a way to kill Friedman ’17 ers to vote on posts, time. But also, if I and popular content can earn have technical problems, I’d a spot near the top of the web- much rather find a thread on site. Posts include text-based reddit discussing it than go to stories, images and links to some sketchy Yahoo Answers other websites. or something. So I use it for Users can also comment legitimate purposes too. And on posts and participate in I subscribe to some educadiscussions or answer ques- tional subreddits.” tions. Ronaldo* ’16 used to visDmitri* ’16 visits reddit it reddit at school frequently, occasionally in his comput- but he said he has decreased er science class, but he said his reddit usage significantly that he usually avoids it while in the past few months. at school. His internet browsing “I browse reddit when I’m never hurt his school pereating breakfast or when I get formance, but he can underhome,” he said. stand how it might get in the Dmitri often visits subred- way of homework, he said. dits – subsections of the main “It doesn’t cause problems website catering to more for most people unless you specific audiences–such as lose control,” Ronaldo said. AskReddit, a subreddit where Much of Ronaldo’s interusers post questions and net browsing now takes place others offer answers, and while he uses the restroom, WhoWouldWin, where users he said. comment on which of two Oliver Friedman ’17 first NATHANSON S

The popularity of websites with user-based content such as reddit and 4chan is growing among teenagers. They check subreddits daily to stay up-to-date on trends, sometimes even during class.

heard about reddit from his friends, and he now often visits the website. “I read reddit every day religiously,” he said. Friedman says that he never browses reddit during class, but he often sees his friends doing so. He has mixed feelings about memes, he said. “I ﬁnd some memes really funny and others pretty stupid,” Friedman said. “They all become unfunny after about a week, but some of them are absolutely hilarious during that time.” While reddit is one of the most popular community-based websites, 4chan, another website featuring user commentary and images, is a close competitor. 4chan is divided into different boards where users can post content, much like how reddit is divided into subreddits. Steve* ’16, who uses both reddit and 4chan, ﬁrst heard about reddit when a friend recommended it to him. While on reddit, he learned about 4chan, which he now visits frequently as well. 4chan targets a similar audience to reddit. According to statistics released by the website, 70 percent of its users are male, and most are between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. 4chan has 22 million different visitors and 680 million page impressions every month. Because users can post anonymously on 4chan and not on reddit, 4chan’s content tends to be more controversial and sometimes involves gore and bullying. However, the anonymity of 4chan also allows users to share humorous stories that they might be embarrassed to share on reddit. “For something you can browse anywhere, reddit is better,” Steve said. “If you’re

in your own home, definitely popular content from 4chan 4chan, if no one’s watching is reposted. especially.” “I sometimes go on parts Jack Graham ’16 prefers of 4chan, but not the popular reddit to 4chan because the parts,” Edmund said. “Like I community is better, he said. go on the cooking board.” “I heard about reddit in Edmund especially enjoys eighth grade, and now I visit “greentext stories,” humorit at least once a day,” Gra- ous stories posted on 4chan ham said. “I get most of the and named after the green news I keep up with from text color in which they aplinks posted there.” pear. Graham first visited In addition to the 4chan 4chan three or four years ago subreddit, Edmund suband heard the community scribes to several subredwas rude and malicious. dits involving video games, He agrees with that opin- including subreddits for the ion and rarely visits 4chan Binding of Isaac, Team Foranymore. tress 2 and Civilization, three He is also interested in of his favorite games. memes, he said. He also frequents PC Mas“Most people think me- ter Race, a satirical subredmes are exdit where clusively an users poke image with I visit [reddit.com] fun at conImpact font sole gamers at least once a day. I captions,” and praise PC get most of the news I Graham said. gaming. “That is not “I go on keep up with from links the case. Mereddit when posted there.” mes are very I’m bored, esdiverse.” —Jack Graham ’16 pecially when RickrollI’m at school ing, the pracand can’t play tice of unexpectedly sending video games without killing someone a link to a video my [laptop] battery,” Edmund of Rick Astley singing “Nev- said. er Gonna Give You Up,” is a He also browses AskRednon-image meme that began dit. on 4chan in 2007. Graham “I really like the rice said that sending a video of thread,” Edmund said. “The WWE wrestler John Cena is a one where the guy is like, more modern version of Rick- ‘What food is good with rice?’ rolling. and people said things that “Memes mostly come would taste terrible with rice, from places like 4chan, and and he just eats food with many 4chan memes never rice and posted reviews of it.” leave the site,” Graham said. Edmund doesn’t remem“[Popular image meme] Pepe ber when he first heard about the Frog had been on 4chan reddit, but he feels it has for a long time before it was become so mainstream that picked up by other websites. almost everyone now knows If you come across anything about it. that you think might be a “Reddit is everywhere meme, you can usually find now,” Edmund said. “You an explanation of its origin on hear about people on reddit, knowyourmeme.com.” you see people on reddit, and Edmund* ’16 mainly vis- eventually you go on reddit.” its reddit, but he often reads the 4chan subreddit, where *Names have been changed

“

REDDIT LOGO CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA.ORG

top 5 comments re: student reddit usage* ^ Chronicle_reader 2015 points 10 hours ago What percentage of Harvard-Westlake students have actually ever gone on reddit while they’re in class? ^

^ the_Chronicle 6879 points 10 hours ago In a poll of 372 students, 13 percent said they use reddit in class. ^

^ Chronicle_reader 80 points 9 hours ago Well then what percentage of students check reddit regularly? ^

^ the_Chronicle 1234 points 8 hours ago 20 percent said they check it regularly. ^

*INFORMATION GATHERED FROM OCT. 4 CHRONICLE POLL ANSWERED BY 372 PEOPLE

7, 2015

HWCHRONICLE.COM/FEATURES

While being shown to have no effect on the development of adolescent brains, there are some risks associated with taking antidepressants. Like all medications, they can cause dry mouth, sleepiness and headaches, but there are certain side effects specific to SSRIs. They can cause nausea, increases in anxiety and restlessness and sleep depravation. Some antidepressants can even cause sedation, which causes difficulties in operating heavy machinery. An example of some of these side effects can be seen in Christina’s* ’17 experiences antidepressants for five years. She started off on sertraline, marketed under the brand name Zoloft, and had to switch to citalopram, marketed under Celexa. After two years, Zoloft almost completely deprived her of basic human surviv-

al skills. She couldn’t eat or sleep and could barely move. After switching to Celexa, she did not encounter any more issues. Psychiatrist at Duke University Doris Iarovici wrote for the New York Times wellness blog that university students are taking more antidepressants now than ever and for longer periods of time. “Antidepressants are an excellent treatment for depression and anxiety,” Iarovici wrote. “I’ve seen them improve and sometimes save many young lives. But a growing number of young adults are taking psychiatric medicines for longer and longer periods, at the very age when they are also consolidating their identities, making plans for the future and navigating adult relationships.” Iarovici wonders if adolescents are being too fragile and do not want to cope with the

FEATURES C5

conventional hardships of life. She wrote that we as a society “need a greater focus on building resilience in emerging adults.” She believes that there is not enough knowledge on the effects of medication to be prescribing antidepressants so often. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that the rate of antidepressant use in the United States increased by 400 percent from 19881994 to 2005-2008. “I take [antidepressants] because I honestly can’t function without them,” Ingman said. “It’s not about dependence or having medication as a crutch. It’s about giving me the willpower to take care of myself. Antidepressants helped me live again.” Katie* ’17 took Prozac for about eight weeks to treat bulimia nervosa. She was in denial that she needed them and

only took them after she had to go to residential care for her condition. “It took a week or two, but they eventually helped give me enough motivation, energy and clear-mindedness to focus on recovering,” Katie said. When Katie tells certain people about her struggle, she said she notices they treat her as if she is more fragile than she actually feels. While she was in treatment, though, she met people who had been completely shunned by members of their family for needing treatment at all. “Taking medicine doesn’t make us weak, and we’re just as capable as neurotypical people,” Katie said. “So many of us endure a school like Harvard-Westlake with mental illness while still getting good grades.” *Names have been changed

GRAPHIC BY CARMEN LEVINE

THE CHRONICLE

C4 FEATURES

Happiness in a Bottle Students who take antidepressants combat the stresses of school, life and work, but must also combat the stigmas that come with it.

BY CARINA MARX Thomas* ’16 realized he needed to take antidepressants when he tried to kill himself February of last year. He started to take a ﬂuoxetine substitute for Prozac, which is designed to treat all types of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Prozac, like all other common antidepressants, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that relays information between cells and the brain. SSRIs increase the ﬂow of serotonin to the brain, which is thought to help relieve the symptoms of depression. Thomas is diagnosed with chronic depression, or dysthymia, which is diagnosed after two full years of mild, but still considerable symptoms.

He has seen a major difference with the introduction of medication and can now ﬁnd the strength to get out of bed and live his life. He has tried to get off medication multiple times, but the result was the same every time. “The few times that I’ve tried stopping, I pretty much immediately stopped caring about living,” Thomas said. Stephen Burton, an Adjunct Professor in Psychopharmacology at Antioch University Los Angeles who practiced as a psychiatrist in the UK for 30 years before he retired from medical practice in 2010, said that it is recommended to taper off an antidepressant. “It is important to discuss stopping them with a doctor who will look at the person’s history of depression and frequency of episodes, and if the risk of recurrent depression

is low, they may recommend stopping the antidepressant,” Burton said. “They will often recommend that the antidepressant is tapered off slowly, to avoid a ‘rebound’ of symptoms like anxiety.” Leila ’16 is prescribed three medications for three different but interrelated conditions. She is taking escitalopram, commonly marketed as Lexapro, for clinical anxiety; bupropion, commonly marketed as Wellbutrin, for major depression disorder; and alprazolam, commonly marketed as Xanax, for major anxiety attacks. Wellbutrin is considered an atypical antidepressant because it is not an SSRI. It is largely considered a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor. NDRIs do the same thing to norepinephrine and dopa-

mine as SSRIs do to Serotonin. One out of 20 adolescents in the United States have been diagnosed with major depression disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Eleven percent of Americans over 12 years old take antidepressants, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Despite these numbers, knowledge of depression and treatment options for children and adolescents is limited in comparison to knowledge of adult treatment, as shown by the recent studies on paroxetine, commonly marketed as Paxil. The Food and Drug Administration recently retested the drug for children and found that suicidal thoughts or attempts were actually more frequent in the group taking Paxil than while on the placebo.

OCT. 7

C6 Features

The Chronicle

Oct. 7, 2015

“...some place where I could be of benefit to world health.” Matthew Waxman ’92 volunteered to treat Ebola patients in Sierra Leone earlier this year and spent three months in the Ebola-ridden country. He was quarantined for 21 days when he returned to the United States.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MATTHEW WAXMAN

By Su Jin Nam Every day, in a “sacred and very deliberate ritual,” Matthew Waxman ’92 put on a mask, then a hood and two layers of gloves that were duct-taped closed in order to prevent any fluids from getting inside. He then placed a heavy apron over his chest, and finally, a plastic face shield was fitted over his face. By the time he was dressed, he was already drenched in sweat. Waxman, an associate professor of emergency medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, volunteered as a doctor in an Ebola treatment center in Lunsar, Sierra Leone, from December to February, during the height of the Ebola epidemic. He spent three months in the Ebola-ridden country and was quarantined for 21 days upon his arrival in the United States. “The heat made it impossible for us to stay in the treatment tent for too long,” Waxman said. “So we had to move quickly. We didn’t want to dilly dally and waste precious time.” Once the suit was on, someone would use a dry erase marker to write the name of the doctor or nurse and the time he or she entered the tent on his or her suit. This process helped to keep track of the number of minutes the individual had been in the treatment center. The doctors always entered the tent in pairs and attended to a certain number of patients that they had planned to attend to beforehand. They ran IV drips and tried as best as they could to entertain the sick children. “There wasn’t really much we could do for the sickest patients,” Waxman said. “All

we could do was to make sure that they were comfortable. Ebola is an emotionally trying disease to deal with. Only 62 percent of the patients that came into our ward survived. No child under the age of five survived. It was very difficult to come to terms with the deaths at first.” Waxman said the place where he worked in Sierra Leone looked like Guantanamo. He said that the treatment center was ringed in barbed wire and that there were huge shipping containers. Waxman and his colleagues worked in tents set up by the United Nations and slept in a guesthouse “in town.” Everyone was required to dunk their shoes into bleach then change into scrubs and rubber boots when they entered the medical tent. “We actually spent only a very small portion of our shift in the treatment tent,” Waxman said. “This is because our time in the suits was limited due to the heat.” In the medical tent, doctors reviewed the patients’ records from the previous shift and planned out the course of action for the next 12 hours. They then made rounds of non-Ebola patients, began to work on paperwork and ordered medications for the following shift of doctors to administer to the patients. Doctors encountered Ebola patients as they stood behind a fence that surrounded their treatment center. From there, the patients were questioned on their physical state and their symptoms. When the doctors donned the suits, their main focus was on the patients who could not walk. Due to the shortage of nurses, Waxman said that ev-

in the U.S. because we have eryone had to do everything. “Working in that treatment a public health system. Howcenter was the most difficult ever, I do think that the Ebola task of my medical career be- scare that went through the cause I had to do tasks that I United States definitely raised wasn’t used to doing as a doc- some questions about how we tor in the U.S.,” he said. “In one would deal with a large-scale instance, I remember holding infectious disease emergency. a meal tray in one hand [and] Part of my job before I went to trying to move the patient with Sierra Leone was actually to the other while I was covered prepare Los Angeles County for Ebola.” in Ebola blood and vomit.” After graduating from HarWaxman said that he was anxious the first time he en- vard-Westlake in 1992, Waxtered the treatment tent, but man attended University of the doctor who trained him California, Berkeley, and mato work in the treatment cen- jored in philosophy. He went ter had given him some words to Central America for almost of wisdom that he remembers a year, where he discovered his passion for medicine. Latvery clearly. “I asked him, ‘Is it okay to er he attended Albany Medical be anxious?’” Waxman said. College and did his residen“And he responded with, ‘The cy in internal and emergency definition of courage is doing medicine at UCLA. He joined the faculty at something you know is right even if you know you’re afraid.’ UCLA after graduation and now trains Those words residents in have really emergency stuck with In one instance, I medicine. He me.” W a x remember holding a meal also works at Olive View – man believes tray in one hand [and] UCLA Medithat the Ebtrying to move the patient cal Center. ola scare in Waxman America was with the other while earned a deblown far out covered in Ebola blood gree in tropiof proportion cal medicine but also beand vomit.” and hygiene lieves that it —Matthew Waxman ’92 in Lima, raised necPeru, and is essary and involved in appropriate teaching emergency medicine questions. “I think that [the scare] in Bangkok every year and was not based on science and teaches trauma management evidence,” Waxman said. “My skills to medics in areas of opinion is that for every Ameri- conflict. Waxman hopes to return can with Ebola, 5,000 Africans died. I think it’s important for to Sierra Leone later this year Americans to understand that to work in the Ebola treatment the lack of a public health sys- center again. “My first inclination when I tem in Africa is what made Ebola an epidemic. There could got back to my house in Silver not have been, in my opinion, Lake was to go back to Sierra a large-scale Ebola epidemic Leone,” he said.

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OCT. 7, 2015

HWCHRONICLE.COM/FEATURES

FEATURES C7

The Long Way Home For students who live far away, the daily commute to school is a struggle. To avoid hours on the road, some students choose to move, with or without their families.

By SAMMI HANDLER When Haden Modisett ’16 leaves school for the day, he has a choice between driving for an hour and 15 minutes to his family’s house in Manhattan Beach or walking 10 minutes to his apartment on Coldwater Canyon. He always chooses the 10-minute walk, the same amount of time it takes for students parking in the Upper St. Michael’s lot to get from their cars to class. Modisett and his family first decided to get an apartment last year when he transferred to the school because he did not have his license yet and would have had to wake up early to catch the bus. To solve the problem, his family decided to rent an apartment closer to campus. Modisett lives there during the school week. Although his parents lived there at first to help him settle in and get accustomed to the building, they now visit less frequently. “It’s nice to be independent sometimes because it pushes me to work harder,” Modisett said. “Sometimes it does the opposite. It was pretty nice for the track meets when the bus dropped me off late at [the school] and for the SAT. I could never get any sleep for the SAT, so at least this way I get more.” Modisett said that there are some drawbacks to mostly living alone in the apartment. “A lot of times I forget to even remember to buy food or even order it, usually during track season or especially on a track season day with Peer Support,” he said. “Sometimes it can get lonely, but usually I get enough homework that it doesn’t factor in that much.” Some students who live far from school find that the most reasonable solution for them is to switch schools and shorten their commute. Isabella Tappin, a junior at

Viewpoint, left Harvard-West- when two plus hours of each lake after last year, citing day is taken up by a commute.” She said that it is ideal her hour and 45 minute commute from Malibu as a for students to live at home “huge factor” in her decision. with a parent or guardian. “Students who do not go The resulting lack of sleep and struggle to have enough home to that are missing some time in the day for work re- component of their high school Cuseo said. ally took a huge toll on me,” experience,” Kevin Wesel ’17 and his Tappin said. “I realized the family chose to move costs of going to a to Brentwood from school so far away Manhattan Beach with such a huge two years ago, partly workload outweighed to be closer to school. the benefits, and I’m “The commute to glad I realized that.” school from ManhatTappin first quit tan Beach wasn’t too tennis to get more bad in the mornings, sleep and have more but the traffic in the time for schoolwork. ’ evenings, especially if Later, her famiKevin Wesel ’17 I had an after-school ly considered rentactivity, was really ing a house near campus but ultimately de- bad and I’d often be on the cided against it, she said. road for more than an hour,” “As an alternate solution, Wesel said. “I wasn’t able to my parents hired a driver productively work during that to pick me up in the morn- time, and it would also give me ings and afternoons to short- a headache, so I wouldn’t be as en the commute and give me productive when I got home.” However, some stumore time for homework,” Tappin said. “I did get more dents do not think moving sleep, but it was really ex- is the best option for them. Shannyn Schack ’16 said pensive, and, honestly, I felt strange being chauffeured to that she and her family decided school in a big black SUV.” not to move from their Malibu Head of Upper School Au- home to be closer to campus. “I’ve thought about it, but I drius Barzdukas said that the school would prefer stu- would miss Malibu too much,” dents to live at home with a Schack said. “I think my only parent or guardian because problem with the commute it is not a boarding school. is that I have to spend so Upper school dean Sha- much time on the road when ron Cuseo also added that I could be doing homework or when a student lives more something. I use the time on than an hour from campus, the bus to do any reading or the school asks if the fami- watch a show or something.” Both Wesel and Modisett ly plans to move closer and offers to help them find a ultimately decided when they school closer to their home. came to Harvard-Westlake “In my experience, neither that the education would be solution is great, the long com- worth finding ways to deal mute, nor living without a par- with the commute, they said. “Harvard-Westlake had ent closer to the school,” Cuseo said. “Occasionally living a good reputation, more far away has worked, but typi- people, great academics, a cally only when homework can much, much better admitbe done effectively during the tance rate for colleges and commute. Otherwise it’s just better sports [than my previasking too much of a student ous school],” Modisett said. NATHANSON S

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANNA GONG

C8 FEATURES

THE CHRONICLE

OCT. 7, 2015

Many students prefer to make their own Halloween costumes from scratch rather than rely on store-bought alternatives. ou’s ’16 costumes, she comwhen she was younger. “My mom never made cos- bines her sewing skills with tumes when she was young, other artistic skills from her Last year, Dumbledore but I think it all started when classes at Harvard-Westlake. walked into English teach- my mom helped me make a Her most memorable costume er Amber Caron’s first peri- sheet ghost costume when I was when she was Vincent Van od class rocking a cotton ball was in first grade,” Schapiro Gogh’s Starry Night, which she beard. It was Halloween 2014, said. “From there, it just real- managed to put together in and Rasa Barzdukas ’17 was ly kicked off because my mom five hours. “I used a canvas material, didn’t really support dressed as the famous and I painted Van Gogh’s Starbuying costumes.” mentor from HarSchapiro usually ry Night on it. I made a simry Potter as part of a plans her costumes ple dress, and I painted on it, group costume. six months in ad- and then I put some kind of a Barzdukas hot vance; however, this sheer, shimmery fabric on top glued cotton balls to year she is still de- so it would look like Starry a cut-up old white bating whether she Night,” de Montesquiou said. T-shirt and tied the Some students put a twist should be Velma sleeves around her from Scooby-Doo or on homemade Halloween. head to form a make’ Instead of homemade cosa loofah. shift, one-of-a-kind Since coming to tumes, Daniel Lesh ’18 and Mady beard. Harvard-Westlake in Jonathan Damico ’18 build a Schapiro ’16 The entire process seventh grade, she Haunted House in Lesh’s gatook about five to ten has been Lady Gaga, a balleri- rage. minutes, she estimates. The franchise, called Scare “It’s fun having a silly cos- na, a mermaid and a rainbow tume because you and your chicken, but she said her fa- Sensations, has an annual friends can look back and vorite costume was her ninth turnout of about 600 people laugh about it afterwards,” grade Mermaid Man costume, per year despite only being open on the which she made Barzdukas said. night of HalentireOf 388 students polled by almost loween. the Chronicle on Oct 4, 72 per- ly from scratch, It’s fun having Hallowcent said they would dress up even dyeing her een can be a silly costume for Halloween this year, and shirt orange in a creative the student body is getting her backyard. Jubecause you and your outlet for the creative with a wide range of liana Simon ’16 friends can look back 51 percent dressed up as her costumes. of students While some plan to go for sidekick, Barnaand laugh about it who make comical costumes like Barzdu- cle Boy, from the afterwards.” their own kas, others are already work- Nickelodeon carcostumes, ing on eye-catching home- toon SpongeBob —Rasa Barzdukas ‘17 as well as for Squarepants. made costumes. the 71 perMady Schapiro ’16 has Simon has also been doing just that with what made her own costumes in the cent of students who throw she describes as her “stand- past, and her favorite was the something together with whatout” costumes. Schapiro has Spongebob costume as well. ever they have. But, in the words of designed and made her own She said that it was the most costumes from scratch since involved costume she had ever Barzdukas, the most important thing is to have a “happy kindergarten, although she done, but also the most fun. For Isabella de Montesqui- Halloween!” had the help of her mother

By ESHANIKA CHAUDHARY AND SOPHIE COHEN

NATHANSON S

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Sew me the numbers The Chronicle polled 388 students on Oct. 3 about their Halloween activities and costumes in school.

51 percent 77 percent 79 percent 86 percent make their dress up for do an activity have been own costumes Halloween at out of school to a haunted from scratch school on Halloween house SOURCE: CHRONICLE POLL OF 338 STUDENTS ON OCT. 3

GRAPHIC BY JEAN SANDERS

Sports The Chronicle • Oct. 7, 2015

CAITLIN NEAPOLE/CHRONICLE

NO SOUP FOR YOU: Goalie Sam Krutonog ’18 saves a shot in the boys’ water polo game Oct. 4 against Huntington Beach High School. Entering the season with two consecutive CIF Championships, the undefeated Wolverines trounced the Oilers 18-5.

Soak city

The boys’ water polo team has left its competition in the dust and remains undefeated as it prepares to take on rival Mater Dei. By Jake Liker Despite a tandem of relative inexperience and tough opponents early on in the season, the Wolverines have emerged from their first seven games of the season unscathed. Among those tough opponents are Huntington Beach and Mater Dei, ranked 5th and 2nd in the CIF-Southern Section Division I poll, respectively. In a rematch of last year’s CIF championship game against Mater Dei, the Wolverines beat the Monarchs 12-3 to win an early season tournament in Santa Barbara. “[In] the game against Mater Dei, we played pretty well and they didn’t play that well,” Davis Wachtell ’16 said. “I don’t think we’re going to

have a game that’s going to be like that against them again. I think it’ll be closer next time we play them.” The Wolverines have had the upper hand against the Monarchs as of late, winning all of their last six meetings. The win also crowned the Wolverines champions of the Santa Barbara tournament for the second year in a row; the Wolverines defeated Mater Dei 10-8 last year in the tournament’s championship game. But despite continued recent success against their rivals, Head of Aquatics Brian Flacks does not want to use Mater Dei games as benchmarks. “One of the things that’s very important, and we talk about this in practice all the

Girls’ Volleyball

time, is everyone wants to keep holding us to this Mater Dei standard: if we beat Mater Dei we’re doing a really good job,” Flacks said. “It’s really important that we get away from ‘us and Mater Dei’ because one, there’s lots of really good teams and, two, we have a standard that we hold ourselves to that’s different than us beating Mater Dei. Our goal has never been to beat Mater Dei.” Even so, beating Mater Dei has been and continues to be a necessity if the Wolverines want to achieve their true goals. “Our biggest goal is to win CIF, and that also comes with winning the league championship,” Wachtell said. “Another one of our goals is to have an

undefeated season.” After extending their winning streak to 44 games, the Wolverines’ early results suggest that another CIF championship, and even perhaps another undefeated season, is not out of reach. They also started strong towards their league play aspirations, routing Alemany 24-1 in their Mission League opener. “We obviously take league very importantly here and one of our main goals is winning the Mission League championship, so it’s always nice to start league play 1-0 with a win,” Flacks said. “Now we’re really getting into the heart of our season and we’re excited.” The next team to face the • Continued on page D6

Team attributes success to its chemistry By Dario Madyoon and Rian Ratnavale

DARIO MADYOON/CHRONICLE

GOOD TOUCH: Josie Treadwell ’16 sets the ball up for a spike in the girls’ volleyball team’s Sept. 29 3-0 win over Notre Dame.

The girls’ volleyball team is looking to maintain and improve upon its fast start as it jumps into Mission League play this season. After successful runs at tournaments in the preseason as well as a home win against Santa Barbara, the Wolverines sit at 12-4 overall and already have two Mission League wins, matching last year’s total. Although the Wolverines emphasize that their approach has not changed from previous years, they believe that senior leadership and greater focus in practice have been factors in their increased success. “Throughout the season, we have been setting individual goals and team values be-

fore practice,” Josie Treadwell ’16 said. “These standards of behavior have really focused our energy into a common vision we can all work to achieve, contributing to our success so far this season.” At the beginning of the season, many players showed a desire to improve from last year, especially in Mission League games. So far, they’re succeeding in that regard; the team easily defeated rival Notre Dame on the road in three sets, came back to beat Marlborough in their Mission League home opener. “What is amazing about this team is no matter the atmosphere or situation we can come together and stay calm,” Zoe Baxter ’16 said. Members of the volleyball squad believe that the experi-

ence they gained by playing in competitive tournaments, such as the Molten Classic, has greatly benefited their performance. “We have played in very competitive tournaments and have had the opportunity to play the best teams in the state and in the country,” Baxter said. “Challenging hard teams in tournaments has shown us how good we can be, but also how much harder we have to work if we want to come out on top of our league.” Despite the culture of hardwork in the program, what will propel this squad to reach even greater heights is the tight-knit environment it has. The Wolverines play their homecoming match against St. Lucy’s Oct. 24 in Taper Gymnasium.

D2 SPORTS

THE CHRONICLE

Game to watch

OCT. 7, 2015

Football

OCTOBER 24

Field Hockey vs. Glendora Ted Slavin Field

In its ﬁnal regular season game, the team hopes to notch a win against Glendora to gain momentum heading into the playoffs. When the two teams matched up earlier in the season, the defeated the Wolverines in a 2-1 overtime thriller.

KEY PLAYER Emma Wasserman ’16 After leading the team in goals scored during both her freshman and sophomore seasons, she decided to take last season off. She returned to the ﬁeld Sept. 29 against Glendora. For the last month of the season, Wasserman will look to replicate the dominant play of her sophomore year.

& Figures Facts

53 12 18 33 Tackles by Mike Mapes '16 this season

Wins by girls' volleyball

Goals per game scored by the boys' water polo team

Number of overall games won by varsity teams so far this season

Junior Varsity Girls' Golf Next Match:

Oct. 13 @ Encino Golf Course

Field Hockey Next Game: Oct. 8 @ Harvard-Westlake

Girls' Tennis Next Match: Oct. 8 @ Calabasas

Girls' Volleyball Next Game: Oct. 8 @ Harvard-Westlake

Boys' Water Polo Next Game: Oct. 26 @ Harvard-Westlake

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

HOT PURSUIT: Josh Lyons ’17 (left) kicks an extra point against Westchester Sept. 25. The Wolverines defeated the Comets 49-26. Sultan Daniels ’19 (right) runs down the Taft running back in the squad's 35-21 loss Sept. 18. The team is 3-2 entering league play.

Squad above .500 halfway through year By BENNETT GROSS

rushing with 188 yards and two touchdowns. “I try as hard as I can to After an opening night loss to Loyola, the Wolverines won be a leader on the team and three of their next four games make the underclassmen heading into Angelus League understand that I am doing play. The squad has an overall everything I can to improve both myself and the team as record of 3-2. “After the Loyola loss, I a whole,” Rothman said. “We think that it woke a lot of need everybody all in as we the younger guys up to what head into league play.” The Wolverines’ receiving varsity football is like,” captain Mike Mapes ’16 said. “We core is headed by the trio of really focused hard in practice Alex Barnum ’16, Cameron and prepped very well for the Jones ’18 and Nick O’Brien ’17, who all have at Jefferson game, and least 138 yards and since then, we have an average of 12 just figured it out.” or more yards per The squad easily reception. handled Jefferson Phil Thompson and Granada Hills in ’16 and Thomas back-to-back weeks, Glover ’18 have but was stopped anchored the team in in its tracks in its the backfield. Their first road game at different styles of Taft. However, the ’ Wolverines turned Mike Mapes ’16 running, Thompson’s power and Glover’s it around, hanging agility, have made on to win against the Wolverines' Westchester in their final stopping ground game a tough task Angelus League tune up. Despite not scoring for their opponents thus far. against archrival Loyola and Glover has rushed for 448 losing quarterback Marshal yards and is averaging 11.2 Cohen ’16 for the season due yards per carry. As a four-year varsity to injury, the Wolverines have put up at least 35 points in starter, Mapes has embraced every game since then. Noah his role as the "quarterback" Rothman ’16, who took over of the defense, leading the for Cohen, has completed team with 53 tackles. Mapes is helped on the more than half of his passes, end by fellow and has thrown for 524 yards defensive and six touchdowns in three captain Eric Bradley ’16, who is second on the team with 25 starts this season. Not only is Rothman the tackles. Not only is Thompson an team’s leading passer, but he is second on the team in imposing force while carrying NATHANSON S

CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE

CARRIED AWAY: Garnett March ’19 shakes off a defender while taking the ball down the ﬁeld against Granada Sept. 11. the ball, but on the defensive line, he has four sacks and two forced fumbles on the season. “Our defense has played pretty well this year, it has been an overall team effort from them so far,” Captain Nick Richmond ’16 said. “Everyone in our league got

better, which means that we need to step up even more. The goal is to win every league game. So we just have to ﬁght.” The Wolverines will begin their quest for a perfect Angelus League record on Friday at St. Paul High School at 7:30 p.m.

Cross Country

Team experiences early season success

By JULIANA BERGER

All four cross country teams have had early successes this season, with the girls’ team placing fourth and the boys’ team seventh at the Palos Verdes Invitation Oct. 3. Previously, the girls’ teams placed ﬁrst and boys’ team second in the Mission League cluster Sept. 22. “That was the ﬁrst opportunity to run against the other teams in our league, and so there’s a feeling of pressure, a feeling of urgency,” Cross

Country Program Head Jonas Koolsbergen said. “And we just came through on that day in such a special way: all four teams, all four levels, both genders, just a top to bottom fantastic day.” The commitment levels of the team this year have been higher than usual, especially among the varsity members, which has led to a stronger team bond, according to Koolsbergen. “Cross country is always a team effort because one person can only do so much,”

Koolsbergen said. “Just in the way the sport is formatted and the way the sport is scored, you need to be 5, 6 or 7 runners deep. And that is really what we’re aspiring to do and hopefully what we are and what we will exhibit in our biggest competitions come November.” Casey Crosson ’17 said she feels that the team has grown very close this season, especially after attending training camp in Big Bear this summer. “We bond over the hard

work we do, and we are so supportive of each other,” Crosson said. “We spend a ton of time together and are there for each other on the bad days and the good days.” Koolsbergen expected this to be a strong team, but is surprised by how quickly the squad is producing results usually seen at the end of the season. “We deﬁnitely thought that excellent performances were in the realm of possibility, but it’s a matter of going out and doing it,” Koolsbergen said.

hwchronicle.com/sports

Oct. 7, 2015

Sports D3

inbrief

Field Hockey

Junior creates new Girls’ Lacrosse club

CARINA MARX/CHRONICLE

EMILY RAHHAL/CHRONICLE

STICK IT: Midfielder Claire Quinn ’16 (Left) drives the ball down the field against Edison on Sept. 8. Mia Reilly ’18 (Top) jabs at the ball against Edison. The Wolverines lost 0-4. Phaedra Robinson ’17 (Bottom) runs for the ball against Huntington Beach Sept. 16.

Young squad struggles in early season play By Carina Marx and Emily Rahhal

Coming off a 10-0 win against Louisville Sept. 24 and an overall record of 4-6-1, the field hockey team is working to clean up its game with a predominantly young team. Though the game against Louisville was an easy victory, the squad often struggles to maintain leads, field hockey program head Erin Creznic said. The team struggled to maintain its lead during its last matchup with Glendora, the team it will face again on Homecoming. The squad lost in overtime, even though it had carried a lead through most of the game. It was the first time most of the players had ever

young squad. The forward been in a varsity overtime. “Half of our team is soph- was the squad’s top-scorer in omores. We just have to go her freshman and sophomore through the growing pains,” years, but managed the team Creznic said. “We are just go- during her junior year due to workload ing to concerns. make a lot h e of young Half of our team is sopho- field“ Thockmistakes.” mores. We just have to go ey commuCreznthrough the growing pains.” nity has alic said been she is op—Erin Creznic ways friendly timistic Field Hockey Program Head and welabout the coming,” second Wasserman half of the season. After seeing what the said. “The hard part for me is young team’s weaknesses getting back in shape and reand strengths were, she now learning basic skills.” The new addition of an old knows what it needs to work star player could be a little difon to become better. Rejoining the team, Emma ficult initially for the girls who Wasserman ’16 has added have never played on varsity a level of experience to the until this year, Creznic said,

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but she knows they care about the team succeeding and will be happy to have her. To prepare for the Homecoming matchup against Glendora, the girls will be working on their offense, including tipping skills, which means making sure that a shot towards the goal will actually make it in. They’ve also been working on situations where the defenders are outnumbered by the opposition. Creznic said that the addition of fans and added pressure will drive the team to do better. “It’s going to be our last home game before playoffs start,” Creznic said. “So I think they’re going to be fired up, and I think we will be ready.”

Girls’ Volleyball

Four girls commit to play volleyball at the college level By Jordan Bedikien and Rian Ratnavale

play and I can’t wait to see how far we all go.” For the players, it’s not Girls’ volleyball players Zoe easy to narrow down and Baxter ’16, Josie Treadwell choose one place to go for col’16, Kaira Muraoka-Robert- lege; they have to make a deson ’16 and Genny Thomas cision not only based on the ’16 have committed to play college itself, but they also have to devolleyball cide which at Washathletic proington UniAfter playing with gram is the versity in best fit for St. Louis, these girls for almost all of them. Davidson my volleyball career, I can “WherCollege, ever I went, Wesleyan undoubtedly say that they I just wantUniversity ed to love deserve this.” and Johns it,” Baxter Hopkins —Kaira Muraoka- said. “The University. “I’m reRoberston ’16 moment I stepped on ally lookthe [Washing forward to playing as a Wildcat next ington University of St. Louis] year” Treadwell said. “I’m ex- campus I knew it was where tremely proud of everyone I wanted to be. For me, it’s that’s committed to play col- the perfect balance between legiate volleyball. They have strong academics and athletreached such a high level of ics, and I could not be more

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excited.” Even though many players devote countless hours to school teams, club teams, and practice, only a fraction of them go on to play at the collegiate level. The players realize that college recruitment doesn’t always end perfectly, and are happy to be in the position that they are in. “The college recruitment process is a long and grueling process and sometimes it doesn’t even work out for the prospective student,” Muraoka-Robertson said. “After playing with these girls for almost all of my volleyball career, I can undoubtedly say that they deserve this. It’s an incredible experience and [we] feel so lucky to be in this situation.” The seniors have led the team to a 12-4 record this season and are 2-0 in Mission League. The team will play St. Lucy’s at Homecoming Oct. 4.

A new club is bringing girls’ lacrosse to campus. Isobel Phillips ’17, Kate von Mende ’18, Sofia Guillen ’18 and Brigid Cawley ’18 are the leaders of the new club. Phillips says the initial challenge to bringing the sport to Harvard-Westlake is the lack of knowledge about girls’ lacrosse, but English teacher Mahshid Feiz has accepted the challenge as the club sponsor and is willing to learn about the sport alongside all the other members. Phillips hopes to educate girls at Harvard-Westlake about lacrosse and to someday have it become an official spring sport. —Zach Swartz

Kaplan commits to Northwestern baseball Senior outfielder Leo Kaplan ’16 has committed to Northwestern University to play college baseball. In 29 games last season, Kaplan hit .345. Kaplan has earned recognition from Northwestern from his performance at the Area Code Games in August. “I feel like Northwestern has a great balance of academic rigor and high level baseball,” Kaplan said. “I felt like Northwestern was the best fit for me.” Kaplan said he feels ready to play at the next level because of the strength of the Harvard-Westlake baseball program. —Zac Harleston

Thompson commits to Dartmouth for Rowing Jenna Thompson ’16 committed to the Dartmouth rowing team after her official visit to the university on Sep. 27. Last year, Thompson and the rest of the Marina Aquatic Center team placed ninth in nationals and first in the state of California. Thompson was also voted Most Inspirational by her teammates and given a leadership position. “I chose Dartmouth because I loved the atmosphere of the school,” Thompson said. “I love the quaint location and opportunities it provides to its students.” —Oliver Akhtarzad

Simon commits to play tennis at Brown

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HWATHLETICS

SPIKE: Kaira MuraokaRoberston ’16 spikes the ball against Marlborough Oct. 1. She will play at Wesleyan in the fall.

Senior tennis player Juliana Simon ’16 has committed to Brown University to take part in its tennis program. Going into her senior season, Simon is already excited for the opportunity awaiting her at Brown. “It feels great and really rewarding to commit to Brown,” Simon said. “I feel very fortunate that I get to be a part of the tennis team next year at a school that I love.” Simon’s past achievements include her being ranked in the top 50 in the nation and in the top 10 in Southern California for her age group. —Adam Yu

the chronicle

D4 SportS

oct.

COMING HOME Last Year's Results Football vs. Westchester: 49-9 win Field Hockey vs. Glendora: 5-0 win Volleyball vs.Oaks Christian: 1-3 loss

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

RUNNING AND GUNNING: Phil Thompson '16 and Sultan Daniels '19 (top) celebrate after forcing Taft to punt the ball in the ﬁrst quarter of the game. The squad was defeated by the Toreadors 35-21. Wide receiver Zac Harleston '17 (bottom) prepares to run a route in the Wolverines' 44-23 win against Jefferson High School.

WHO: La Salle WHEN: 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Ted Slavin Field FOOTBALL The football team will play La Salle at Homecoming on Oct. 24. So far, the team is 3-2, with wins against Jefferson, Granada Hills and Westchester and losses to Loyola and Taft. At last year’s Homecoming, the Wolverines defeated Westchester 49-9. The last time the team played La Salle, it won 39-3 and hopes to beat that score this year. This season, the Wolverines are winning by 25.0 points per game, but their average losing margin is 24.0 PPG.

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

7, 2015

hwchronicle.com/sports

Sports D5

EMILY RAHHAL/CHRONICLE

WHO: Glendora

WHEN: 4:30 p.m. WHERE: Ted Slavin Field FIELD HOCKEY

EMILY RAHHAL/CHRONICLE

DRIBBLING TO GLORY: Claire Quinn '16 (left) looks to pass the ball to a teammate. Juliana Berger '17 (right) blocks a pass from Huntington Beach on Sept. 16.

The field hockey team will be playing Glendora High at Homecoming for its last regular-season game. As of press time, the Wolverines are 4-6-1. Glendora beat the Wolverines 2-1 in overtime earlier this season. The game marked the return of Emma Wasserman ’16, who was the leading scorer in her freshman and sophomore seasons but managed the team last year to focus on academics.

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WHO: St. Lucy's

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Taper Gymnasium VOLLEYBALL The girls’ volleyball team has kicked off its season with a 12-4 record including a victory in each of its first two league matches against Notre Dame and Marlborough. The squad will be going for its second victory against St. Lucy’s at Homecoming after previously defeating them in two sets Sept. 19.

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GET SERVED: Courtney Nunley '17 (left) spikes the ball against Marlborough, and Genny Thomas '16 (right) serves. The Wolverines beat the Mustangs 3-1.

D6 Sports

Athletic meetings held weekly

The Chronicle

Oct. 7, 2015

Boys’ Water Polo

By Eli Adler

The Athletic Department has introduced a new weekly department-wide meeting. The new Monday Morning Huddle marks the first time that the athletic program heads have decided to meet weekly. Prior to the introduction of these meetings, the program heads met only three times a year. “With increased frequency, our hope is that we will be able to discuss topics with more depth,” Head of Athletics Terry Barnum. According to Barnum, these meetings are an opportunity for the department heads to discuss coaching in general and coaching-related topics such as athlete development, the hiring of assistant coaches, and working with other programs. In helping to guide the various programs as they work and interact with student and faculty alike, the department has also introduced a set of agreements between all the coaches, known as the Coaching Covenants, which are being worked on at the Huddles. These covenants have not before been introduced at the school and are still currently being developed. The introduction of the Huddle and the Coaching Covenants have been well-received by the various program heads. “Developing a strong sense of what our core beliefs are as a department will only help us excel even more,” Track-andField Program Head Jonas Koolsbergen said.

CAITLIN NEAPOLE/CHRONICLE

CONNOR REESE/CHRONICLE

WINDING UP: Felix Brozyna-Vilim ’16 scores one of his four goals (left) in a win against Dana Hills on Sept. 16 last season and looks to pass (right) to a scoring position in an 18-5 victory against Huntington Beach on Oct. 3. Brozyna-Vilim had two goals in the game.

Squad still undefeated • Continued from page D1

Wolverines is Huntington Beach High School. The Wolverines had already defeated the Oilers once before this season in an 11-7 victory in the semifinal of the Santa Barbara tournament. The Copses Family Pool hosted the teams’ second meeting of the season on Saturday. Those in attendance saw Ben Hallock ’16 score five goals in the first half of a game that ended 18-5 in favor of the home side. While experienced players like Hallock are considered to be particularly

strong, other younger players are also gaining recognition. “One of the names you’ll [start to] see more and more often is Felix Brozyna-Vilim ’17, who is our starting center defender right now,” Flacks said. “I think [he] has come along to be, in a lot of ways, one of the top players in the United States, adding so much depth to particularly our center position but also adding depth to our lineup.” Brozyna-Vilim scored two of the Wolverine’s 18 goals this past weekend, and, in what could be seen as a testament to the team’s depth, was one of seven different Wolverines to

“

We train year round consistently, so I think that’s played a really big part in our success early in the season.” —Brian Flacks ’06 Head of Aquatics nathanson’s

score. (Hallock, Brozyna-Vilim, Henriksson ’17, Rosenfeld ’17, Wachtell, Froomer ’16, and Maloney ’18 all scored) Yet despite all of this, Flacks says there is still room for improvement. “A lot of credit goes to the boys,” Flacks said. “We train year round consistently so I think that’s played a really big

part in our success early in the season. We want to maintain this level of excellence and grow on it still, so we’re definitely not satisfied with where are and we want to keep improving. I think there are clearly areas of the game that we want to continue improving on, and we’re not that close to the finished product.”

Girls’ Tennis

New coach demands hard work in practice, focuses on league playoffs

The team has been practicwe can do even better than this ing hard, according to Gadalov, meeting, too.” They responded positively who notes the team’s growth. “We’re all constantly imGirls’ tennis has started off from this loss with a win in proving durMission the 2015-2016 season with a their ing prac4-1 record and a 2-0 record in League opener tices with against Maryleague play. the help of The Wolverines won their mount with a I feel that we’ve our amazvictory season opener against San- 15-3 been able to caputure ing coachta Monica High School by a and a 13-5 victhose wins because of es,” Gadalov score of 13-5. They followed tory against rival said. “Overthat with another victory, this Notre Dame. our hard work during all, every“I feel that time against Palos Verdes and practices.” body has with a 15-3 victory, only los- we’ve been able been playing three games. They then to capture those — Jennifer Gadalov ’19 ing really contiuned their winning streak wins because of well during against Marymount with a our hard work 15-3 win and against a league during practices,” Jennifer practices and matches, and we match against Notre Dame Gadalov ’19 said. “All of us are hope to continue this streak.” The team maintains high giving our full effort in practicHigh School with a 13-5 win. es and it seems to be hopes for the results of rest of Their single loss their season. paying off.” came in an away “Our goal hasn’t changed,” The coaching staff match against Penand players have Gadalov said. “We still want to insula High School also worked together go far and win the championon Sept. 24, in which quite well, according ships.” they lost the match The team heads into their to juinor standout 13-5. next league game against MarlMoustafa. “I think we were “Our team is much borough Oct. 6 at the Los Anall very happy with more close-knit than geles Tennis Club looking to how we competed ’ in previous years, keep their strong start alive. against Peninsula,” Jenna There are three more Misand we have more Jenna Moustafa ’17 Moustafa ’17 experienced players sion League matches, against said. “We supported starting on the team, Louisville, Marlborough and each other a lot and had a lot of close matches. We which will help out in match- Marymount. If they qualify, were also able to do a lot better es,” Moustafa said. “All the Mission League playoffs begin than we did last year. Hopeful- coaches are really enthusiastic Nov. 2, with the finals later that week on Nov. 5. ly the next time we play them about working with us.”

By Joe Levin Connor Reese

and

“

nathanson s

EMILY RAHHAL/CHRONICLE

RAQUETEER: Amanda Chan ’19 rips a backhand in the Wolverines’ 13-5 victory over Notre Dame at Los Angeles Valley College.

hWchrOnicle.cOM/SpOrtS

Oct. 7, 2015

SpOrtS D7

Girls’ Golf

Wolverines stay strong, prepare to play deep into CIF postseason By eLLY CHoi

BrYanT WU

very copnsistent for our squad. Carolyn Hong ‘17 is also startThe girls’ golf team has con- ing to play very well. Finally, tinued their strong season, and Claire Dennis ‘18 is pushing as of press time, are 3-1. This her way into the varsity rotarecord includes a win of 214- tion.” The Wolverines also fin227 against Notre Dame High School, a 216-255 win against ished in first place during their Mid-Season C h a m i Tournament nade High at Balboa School, and Park Golf a 219-273 C o u r s e .In win against I have full confidence this tournaMarymount that we will finish strong. ment, Baker High School. shot even Notre Dame As long as we keep playing with a score was the how we’ve been playing, of 38 and only school team captain we’ll have only positives in to beat the Song went team last our future.” four over par, year. The team’s sin—Emma Kateman ‘17 shooting 42. “I have gle loss was full confito Alemany dence that our team will have by a two-stroke margin. According to Girls’ Golf a very strong finish to the seaProgram Head Marge Cham- son,” said Emma Kateman ’17. berlain, several players have “As long as we keep playing have improved greatly since how we’ve been playing, we’ll last year and are starting to have only positives in our fuplay well as they near the post- ture matches.” For Baker, the goal is to season. “Josie Baker ’18 is start- beat the record that she set ing to play very well,” Cham- last year. “My main goals for the rest berlain said. “Lauren Song ’16 and Vivian Lin ’16 are starting of the season are to make it to fire off some birdies and are to the individual CIF Finals, and

“

K-12

BENNETT GROSS/CHRONICLE

GREENER PASTURES: Emma Kateman ’17 attempts to sink a putt on the third hole in their match against Marymount on Sep. 3. Kateman has been playing golf since fourth grade. which is one step further than I made it last year, and for our team to win the Mission League,” Baker said. “We came in second last year, and this time I think that we have have a good enough team to finish in first place this year.” Chamberlain is also optimistic for the team’s perfor-

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to CIF and do very well.” The team will play Marlborough Oct. 5 at Wilson-Harding Golf Course, Flintridge Sacred Heart at Chevy Chase Golf Course Oct. 6 and Louisville Oct. 13 at Encino Golf Course before starting its CIF season Oct. 19 at River Ridge Golf Course.

mance in the remainder of the current season and in the post-season. “We have some really good momentum coming up after our win against Notre Dame,” Chamberlain said. “This team has the potential to win Mission League. I also think that if we play well, we can advance

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D8 SPORTS

Q&A

THE CHRONICLE

OCT. 7, 2015

BEN HALLOCK Boys’ Water Polo By DARIO MADYOON How did you start playing water polo, and when did you know it was your sport? I started playing water polo when I was nine; I think it was fourth grade. I was previously super interested in travel sports: basketball and baseball. But my parents wanted me to take a season off of the regular sports and try something new. So I traded off regular sports with water polo until sixth grade, when I realized I had a real talent for water polo and that it was something that could take me pretty far and something I could play in college. How do you prepare before every game? Any rituals? What’s on the playlist? Before games I try to be as relaxed as possible. If I feel a little unfocused, I like to listen to music to kind of block out everything. I usually just talk to my teammates and not do anything abnormal that I wouldn’t do at practice. If I did listen to music, which I do sometimes, it would probably be loud rap. Some Kanye, some Drake, just a mixture of rap. What’s the most memorable moment of your Wolverine career so far? Without a doubt it has to be winning our second straight championship last year. There’s nothing more special than going undefeated for the ﬁrst time in school history with a senior class last year that was really close with each other. Our coach was a player at Harvard-Westlake and he always preached to us how hard and special it was to get to those championship games. Very few people get to say that they’re a national champion in their sport, so I guess it was a personal goal to experience that, and when we actually won it was incredible. There are no words to describe the feeling. What’s it been like transitioning from being a freshman on the team to becoming the captain and more of a leader on the ﬂoor? When I was a freshman, we had a very young team; we didn’t have any seniors and we started two freshman and four sophomores, so I wouldn’t say it was the most classic freshman experience. But now when you’re a senior everyone looks towards you and when things aren’t going well you have to be the calming factor on a team that’s very young and has a lot of inexperienced players. I wouldn’t say it’s a lot of pressure but you have to be a much more assertive and vocal leader. What will you try to do differently in your senior year than in years past? This year we have an extraordinarily close team, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team with so many best friends. While everyone is extremely close friends with each other, I think it’s hard when you have friends on the team to hold them accountable. I think it’s something that we’ve done a good job of so far, but we need to continue in practice. Even though they’re your best friends, you still need to hold them to a high standard in the pool.

Stats 2 44 126

CIF-SS titles Consecutive wins Team goals this season

CAITLIN NEAPOLE/CHRONICLE