television history
Hank Gerba ’12 worked at the LOST memorobilia auction.
best in state
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ESPN’s Rise Magazine ranks both boys and girls cross country teams as #1 in Division 4.
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Harvard-Westlake School Los Angeles, CA Volume XX Issue II chronicle.hw.com
Friends remember Bose-Pyne for smile By Alice Phillips
photos by cami de ry
in memorium: Justine Goode ’12 signs the giant chess piece in the quad after the memorial service Monday, left. Bedebatra Pain and Shonali Bose conclude the ceremony, top right. A commemorative photo of Ishan Bose-Pyne ’12 playing poker is displayed in East Chalmers, bottom right.
A sea of students dressed in white filled East Chalmers for the memorial service for Ishan Bose-Pyne ’12 Monday afternoon. Bose-Pyne was in the bathroom in his home Sept. 2 when he reportedly ran out, his shirt in flames. He was treated at the LAC-USC burn unit for third degree burns over more than half of his body before he died Sept. 13 of an infection, a complication from the third degree burns. “He was born in 1994 with the Northridge quake,” father Bedebrata Pain said at the funeral at Hollywood Forever cemetery Sept. 16. “On Sept. 13, he created an earthquake of his own in our lives.” “This is a kid who lived life to the fullest,” mother Shonali Bose said at Bose-Pyne’s funeral service last Thursday. “Ishan has left at the peak of his life with excitement and happiness.” At the memorial service Monday, speakers remembered BosePyne for his “curiosity of mind,” “beaming grin” and ubiquitous brown leather jacket. His friends spoke volumes about his ability to light up a room with his “contagious laughter” even when they were down after tough test or a bad day. Student musicians played Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to commence the memorial service. Bose, Pain, teachers and friends spoke in pairs in between sets from members of the jazz program. The Jazz Explorers, accompanied by four singers, ended the memorial with James Taylor’s “Shower the people you love with love,” in honor of Bose-Pyne’s passion for music. The chapel at Hollywood Forever cemetery overflowed with family, friends and members of the Harvard-Westlake community to commemorate Bose-Pyne’s “zest for life,” Pain said. “If he was into something, wild horses wouldn’t hold him back,” Pain said. “I would spend hours with him, chatting about stuff. Our drives to school and evening sessions. Our Sundays when we would go to IHOP and talk about politics, physics, philosophy, chemistry and history.” “Coming to school for Ishan was like letting a kid go in a candy store,” Upper School Dean Tamar Adegbile said. Bose-Pyne’s teachers remembered his passion for learning and ability to energize a classroom. He “gave 3,000 percent to anything,” his father said, including Chess Club, the fencing team, the jazz program and the Science Bowl team at HarvardWestlake, where he transferred as a sophomore from North Hollywood High School Gifted Magnet.
INdepth
Murder suspect sightings in vicinity lead to increased security measures By Daniel Rothberg
A helicopter circled the upper school campus late Friday afternoon as Los Angeles Police Department officers conducted a seven-hour manhunt on motorbikes, ATVs, horseback, and on foot for a parolee suspected in the slaying of a Valley Village woman in July. According to the Los Angeles Times website, Omar Armando Loera was charged with murder, burglary, arson and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the homicide. Faculty and staff were notified of the search shortly after school on Friday. The LAPD searched Fryman Park and Wilacre Park and the trails leading down from the Tree People site to south of the upper school campus before calling off the search at 5:30 p.m. Canyon residents were advised to stay indoors and lock their doors and windows. Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said during the search that the LAPD told Head of Security Jim Crawford that “the school was not in any immediate danger.” The school did close the gates to the Hamilton and St. Michael’s parking lot as well as the lower gate around 4 p.m. to restrict access to campus, Crawford said.
According to the Los Angeles Times website, a man matching the description of the 34-year old suspect was seen near Mulholland Drive and Coldwater Canyon Friday morning. It was not confirmed that the individual that policed searched for was Loera, Detective Commanding Officer of the LAPD’s North Hollywood Detective Division Alan Hamilton said on Monday. While police are not certain as to whether Loera is still in the vacinity, they consider him to be “armed and dangerous,” Hamilton said. “We want to get him off the street before harms someone else,” Hamilton said. “It is the priority in North Hollywood.” Robbie Loeb ’12, who lives in the canyon, turned on the alarm and locked all of the doors at his home after the LAPD left a message on his home phone with information about the situation and a description of the suspect at about 2:45 p.m. Additionally, an e-mail alert from the LAPD was being sent to neighbors, Loeb said. “There are tons of ways to get in and out of that park and lots of heavily wooded areas he could hide in,” Loeb said. see suspect, A8
see bose-pyne, A11
INSIDE for julia:
Three sophomores organized the “Slow Down for Julia” campaign that was initiated at a news conference last Thursday.
A3 biodiverse campus:
Harvard-Westlake makes a conscious effort to plant a variety of species to complement the science curriculum. There are over 1,500 species on the upper school campus.
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A2 preview
The Chronicle Tuesday, Sept. 22 2010 Volume XX Issue II
chloe lister/Chronicle
So many choices: Stephen Rosen ’11 stands on a table (at left) while promoting Peer Support at Activities Fair on Monday while other students huddle in the
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quad to check out all of the different options. More than 40 different school clubs and activities presented at tables in the quad at the fair during break Monday.
History teacher Dror Yaron held a lecture series on the history of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. The security team prepares for the worst in case emergency strikes. Tuition has nearly tripled in the last 27 years.
Visual arts teacher Arthur Tobias is an expert on Civil War firearms.
Darlene bible
team spirit: Athletic Director Darlene Bible (middle right) and Upper School Dean Vanna Cairns (bottom left) were cheerleaders at Venice High School.
Jackson Foster ’11 built a treehouse in his backyard. Actress Marilu Henner spoke to the Middle School cast of “Grease.”
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ontheweb Spotlight: Volleyball champion Christina Higgins ’11 talks about her commitment to Boston College and her love of the sport.
Charlie Andrews ’13 is a nationally-ranked rock climber. thletes are being recruited by colleges around the country. Q&A with water polo players Henry McNamara ’13, Bradley Schine ’12, and Alex Zwaneveld ’12.
chronicle.hw.com
video
podcastsvideosphotosblogspodcastsvideos
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of f
beat By Marissa Brunman and Michael Sugerman
Returning to Venice High School for the first varsity football game of the season Sept. 3 brought back memories for Upper School Dean Vanna Cairns and Athletic Director Darlene Bible. Cairns and Bible, both Venice High School cheerleaders from 1970 to 1972, this time divided their support between Harvard Westlake and Venice. “We were 15 again; for the first half we sat on the Venice High side, and that is sort of hallowed ground for us,” Cairns explained. “Through Facebook I’ve found and been able to keep in touch with many of my classmates from Venice, though I am definitely a Wolverine,” Bible said. “One of our players had gotten hurt, and the Venice High cheerleaders were doing what Darlene and I remember doing. Whenever a player was on the ground, whether it was your player or the other team’s player, you always stopped, stood, and held up your hand in a peace sign,” Cairns said.
Sept. 22, 2010
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City, county join students’ safety drive By Jordan Freisleben
and
Judd Liebman
A “Slow Down for Julia” initiative to call attention to unsafe driving was launched last Thursday at a news conference at the corner of Cliffwood and Sunset in West Los Angeles, where Julia Siegler ’14 was struck and killed by two vehicles last February. “Slow Down for Julia” was created by Jake Feiler ’13, Eli Kogan ’13 and Max Theony ’13, all of whom were on the school bus and witnessed the accident. “All three of us knew Julia,” Kogan said. “We had been going on the bus with her the past year, so we knew her pretty well, and it was kind of the impact of seeing the accident that affected us a lot more than most, so we definitely wanted to get involved and help the family and help everyone we could.” Shortly after she died, the three sophomores started selling purple wristbands for $3 each that say “Slow Down for Julia.” The wristbands were sold at the middle school bookstore. “By the first day we had already made over $2,000. We started using that money towards the corner, and we used it to paint the bench at the corner purple and then I went separately and spray painted so it said ‘Slow Down for Julia,’” Kogan said. “We used the money and a lot of the donation money that parents and students donated so we could cut down the eucalyptus tree that blocks the driver’s view of the corner, which was why she was hit.” Julia’s mother, Jody Cukier Siegler, got involved with the project shortly after. “One day, I was at the corner with a few people and Jody came down and we talked to her about how we wanted to help and prevent this from ever happening again,” Kogan said. “From that point on, we just became really close with Jody and we’ve been with her since.” “The three guys completely embraced the role of teen leadership and activism, and I didn’t even know them,” Siegler said. “The great thing was that it was not the usual suspects – not her best friends or class leaders, but civilians organizing themselves.” When some of their proposed safety measures, such as repairing the sidewalk on Sunset and cutting down the tree, required city permission, Councilman Bill Rosendahl got involved in the project. Rosendahl is councilman for District 11, where Siegler was killed. “The law at bus stops and school bus stops is that you can’t go around and that it’ll be a $300 ticket,
Courtesy of Jon Fairbanks
slow down for julia: Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan (left) joined City Councilman Bill Rosendahl (center) and sophomores Eli Kogan ’13, Jake Feiler ’13 and Max Theony ’13 at a news conference last Thursday to kick off a traffic safety awareness drive in West Los Angeles in memory of Julia Siegler ’14. and we will enforce that,” Rosendahl said. “A lot of people don’t know that’s the law here in L.A. But the message of awareness and safety so that Julia didn’t have to die in vain was very clearly present in it all.” Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky also attended the news conference. “They launched this initiative to coincide with the beginning of the school year to have kids and drivers to be extremely careful around school buses where kids are embarking and disembarking,” Yaroslavsky’s press deputy Joel Bellman said. “We’re out there participating to increase public awareness and sensitivity about the issue to change driving habits and to be more attentive to safety issues. There were no laws broken in this tragic event, so it’s not a matter of changing laws; it’s a matter of being more sensitive and considerate,” Bellman said. Rosendahl said he had been proactive in the safety of drivers and pedestrians since Siegler died, holding two community meetings to discuss what could be done. “There was a lot of genuine interest. We met the three boys and just to look into these kids’ eyes and hear them speak, you know that it’s the first tragedy that they experienced. Hopefully it will be the last
Technical director leaves for new job at CalArts By David Lim Middle school performing arts teacher Grant Gorrell is leaving this week for a new position as assistant technical director at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. He has worked at the Middle School for six years as technical director and also taught the Stagecraft and Advanced Stagecraft classes to eighth and ninth graders. Gorrell helped produce plays, musicals, concerts and assemblies. As the only theater technician at the middle school, he was responsible for managing all the technical aspects during performances and rehearsals including lighting, sound and special effects, as well as creating recordings of shows. Gorrell also helped set up new facilities in Bing Performing Arts Center during the summer of 2008. He worked to fine-tune the equipment in the main auditorium, black-box theater and dance studio. Gorrell said he considered his most important role to be that of a teacher. “I try to instill a sense of responsibility in the work that [my students] do and teach them to have the confidence in themselves to troubleshoot problems effectively and manage the unexpected,” he said. “[Gorrell] has always been first and foremost a fantastic teacher. If you have ever seen a middle school production, you know that amazing lights and sound can really bring the ‘wow’ factor to a performance,” Jacob Swanson ’11, a former student of Gorrell, said. “Through his very hands-on
teaching style, he has given the most unusual of suspects a passion for theater.” The highlight of his career here was the production of the play, “The Curse of Ravensdurn,” Gorell said. “I did have the honor of directing the last play nathanson ’s/chronicle ever to be performed in Grant Gorell the Great Hall, and the time that I spent working with the cast and crew of ‘The Curse of Ravensdurn’ will always have a special place in my heart,” Gorrell said. Until a replacement can be found for his position, Gorrell will serve in his current capacity for a few more events. “I have really enjoyed every single performance we have put together during my time here, and I’ve had the good fortune throughout the years to work with a number of truly exceptional students who have proven time and again to be absolutely essential to the success of our shows,” Gorrell said. “I will miss helping put together all of the wonderful productions we have lined up for this year, I will miss all of my colleagues and friends, I will really miss the dodgeball tournament in the spring, but most of all I will miss all of my students, past and present, as they were the best part of each and every day here.” “I think the school will find itself hard pressed to find anyone that is as competent, loyal, and hardworking as he was,” former student Ben Vigman ’13 said.
they will experience,” he said. Feiler, Kogan and Theony had flyers printed by Greg Foster (Jackson ’11, Lucas ’13) that were handed out by over 30 officers of the Los Angeles Police Department West Traffic Division at Sunset Boulevard intersections Thursday morning. The same flyers were also handed out to parents at the Middle School during carpool. “The emphasis and focus was to acknowledge and applaud an age group that is often blamed,” Siegler said of the three organizers. “The courage of that age group amazed me and drove me to hold it together.” Rosendahl said that he’s trying to take as many preventative measures as possible to avoid any other tragedies. “Hopefully this will be the beginning of people following the law and respecting the law and the more publicity we get on the dangers of crosswalks and school busses. I can’t bring the young lady back but I can certainly attempt to do whatever I can so that this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “It’s still a blur to stand in the place where Julia left us,” Siegler said. “The message was that they wanted to do something so no other mother had to be in the street with her dead child.”
National
Merit Semifinalists 28 seniors were chosen as National Merit Semifinalists based on their PSAT/NMSQT scores for the 2009-2010 school year. These students are part of the 16,000 out of 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT exam.
Chase Basich Austin Block Jordan Bryan Ben Dreier Mary Rose Fissinger Hanna Huang Alexander Jaffe Rachel Katz Benjamin Kogan Matthew Lee Sophia Lee Sue Lee Jenny Lin Shawn Ma
Jasmine McAllister Advai Pathak Jack Petok Alexander Scharch Joshua Schwartz Jacob Sonnenberg Jeffrey Sperling Ben Sprung-Keyser Charles Stigler Ben-Han Sung Jackson Usher Catherine Wang Adam Wolf Colette Woo
Source: National Merit Scholarship Corporation Graphic by Emily Khaykin
A4 News
Sept. 22, 2010
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Chronicle
Parents hear Yaron discuss Middle East By Jordan Freisleben
austin block/chronicle
American foreign policy in the Middle East since the 19th century was the crux of a two-part lecture series given by history teacher Dror Yaron for parents completed on Monday. The series of lectures started as a fundraiser organized by the Parents Association, the proceeds of which benefitted financial aid. Admission to the lectures was, for the most part, done via online auction. The first part of Yaron’s lecture was held on Monday Sept. 13. In the first part of the series, Yaron focused primarily on the broad history of the United States and the Middle East starting with the Barbary Wars between the U.S. and Muslim North Africans in the 19th century. The second part, held this past Monday, traced more recent involvement in the Middle East. “[It’s] a historical narrative of the U.S. involvement in the dynamics of the region from Franklin Roosevelt all the way to George Bush’s administration, and then peeking into the Obama administration and how it’s handling the Middle East discussing the issues that confront US policy today,” Yaron said. Yaron said that he also highlighted the complexity and problems that plague the Middle East. Yaron had another lecture last November that traced the making of the modern Middle East. “Last year, it was looking at the secret agreements between the French and the British during World War I –the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations, and mandates – in the Middle East, taking it from a European perspective and how that has shaped the modern nation,” he said. For this year’s series, Yaron thought having the United State’s involvement as a focal point would be of greater interest to parents.
ambassador gathering: Director of Admission Elizabeth Gregory welcomes student ambassadors to the annual meeting.
Ambassadors learn new online system By Austin Block
Allison hamburger/chronicle
Lecture Time: History teacher Dror Yaron greets parents prior to his lecture covering Amreican foreign policy in the Middle East. “I thought because it’s a vital interest region for the U.S.,” he said. “I would say it’s just proportionally important for the American foreign policy security and economic security in the world today. I think that [policies in the Middle East are] the greatest challenges, regardless of which party dominates in Congress.” “My first lecture fell on Sept. 13 which was two days after 9/11 and that’s nine years since the event,” he said. “I think Americans wanted the government to take a role in shaping and being shaped and trying to redefine the region in its own likeness and for the benefit of the Middle Easterners. I think the U.S. often gets a bad rep in terms of engendering many of the present day conflicts and creating many unnecessary problems for the people [in the Middle East], and I wanted to somehow put that into a broader, more subtle context.”
Almost half of students ask for schedule changes By Jessica Barzilay Before any other students had seen their schedules, Gabe Benjamin ’11 knew his was a problem. Benjamin’s dean, Cahn Oxelson, notified him that due to an irreconcilable conflict, he would have to adjust his course load. Benjamin’s situation was unusual, because the issue could not be resolved, but the resulting adjustment to his schedule was far from unusual. Half the students in the upper school have requested schedule changes. Since the schedules were mailed out in late August, an estimated 50 percent of students have requested changes in some capacity, Upper School Dean Beth Slattery said. In her experience, seniors call for the most adjustments, followed by juniors, then sophomores, but the reasons for the majority are fairly standard: appeals for lunch breaks or certain frees. “Asking for a ‘perfect schedule’ with classes exactly where you want them and requesting teachers in each subject is not reasonable,” Slattery said. However, as in the case of Jason Mohr ’11, most students are successful in creating an improved schedule for the year. When his schedule arrived at the end of summer vacation, Mohr reevaluated his decision to take six academic classes. Dropping AP Art History, Mohr was able to rearrange his schedule in order to secure a block in the middle of the day. “Before I was taking too many AP classes, but I am very happy with how it turned out, and now I have a dedicated lunch period,” he said. In recent years, the deans have
worked to create a uniform system of addressing appeals for modifications. Along with their schedule, the students receive a scheduling card in early August. The deans work to honor reasonable requests that meet the Aug. 20 deadline, and those who turn in late requests have reduced odds of success. “If students are judicious about what they ask for and meet the scheduling card deadline, they are very likely to get some version of what they asked for,” Slattery said. Charlotte Gordon ’12, one of Slattery’s advisees, hadn’t given much consideration to her schedule when she received it in the mail over the summer. It wasn’t until she attended class on her first day that she realized the sequence of her classes presented an issue. “I know that in the morning, I’m usually a little more tired, so I wanted to switch first period English III Honors with third period normal Precalculus,” Gordon said. With the help of her dean, Gordon was able to successfully switch her two courses while still keeping the same teachers. “Ms. Slattery was extremely helpful in modifying my schedule this year and last year when I had a few adjustments too,” she said. Although changes in the first week are more difficult for the deans to accommodate, the circumstances are different when difficulties arise that are not technical. Many students recognize they have signed up for a course load that is too demanding or have enrolled in the wrong level, in which case they move
Assistant Director of Admission Melanie León, head of the Student Ambassador program, unveiled the new ambassador section of the Harvard-Westlake website at the annual ambassador training session on Sept. 16. All event sign-ups are now online. Some ambassadors unfamiliar with the Middle School arrived early to take a student-led tour of the campus. The official training session then began around 6 p.m. Director of Admissions Elizabeth Gregory introduced Student Ambassador Co-Chair David Burton ’11, who emphasized the importance of being friendly and welcoming representatives of the school. He also notified the assembled ambassadors who the other co-chairs are. The other upper school co-chair is Emily Firestein ’11. The four middle school co-chairs are Lucy Putnam ’14, Liam Stevens ’14, Hana Chop ’14, and Davey Hartmeier ’14. León showed the ambassadors how to use the new website. After the general meeting, students were split up into small groups and faculty involved in the student ambassador program discussed the ambassadors’ procedure. Students traded advice on how to answer difficult or awkward questions and experienced ambassadors gave the group advice.
Deadlines for schedule changes With so many students requesting schedule changes, the deans and the Faculty Academic Committee have standardized the procedure.
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Students must turn in their schedule conlflict cards by Aug. 20. For classes that last just one semester, students have four weeks from the start of school, or until Tuesday, Sept. 28 to drop the class. If a student is dropping a class entirely, they must do so by Nov. 5, a week after first quarter ends. Source: Beth Slattery graphic by matthew Lee
down to a lower level or drop a class entirely. Those who wish to remove a course from their schedule altogether must do so by Nov. 5, or if it is a semester long course, they are given until Sept. 28. This year, Jasmine McAllister ’11, took advantage of the grace period to figure out how to best balance her course load. After a little over a week of school, McAllister decided to substitute AP Statistics for her French Literature Honors class, a choice she said she does not regret at all. The ability to switch classes after the first week of classes allowed McAllister to arrange for a workload that was more manageable, she said. The input of faculty members is relatively limited, but teachers are usually allowed a say in which periods they prefer to teach. Instructors are also consulted when class size becomes an issue. “We try very hard to maintain class sizes and gender balance, so if a change would make a class too small or too large, we would not honor that
request,” Slattery said. In very few instances can a scheduling conflict not be settled, but such was the case with Benjamin’s predicament. His AP Physics C and Video Art III classes both fell first period, making it necessary for him to drop one, since his course load did not allow for either class later in the day. Working with Visual Arts Head Cheri Gaulke and Oxelson, he decided to remain enrolled in the science course and take the Video Art III sixth period as a directed study. The school is still qualifying the particulars of this arrangement technically, so Benjamin does not yet know if he will receive credit for the course. However, given the circumstances, Benjamin is satisfied with the results, he said. Benjamin’s unlikely situation aside, Slattery said that the vast majority of requests are honored if students adhere to the school’s procedure. “We work very hard to make sure that we accommodate reasonable scheduling requests. Just follow the process,” she said.
Sept. 22, 2010
The
School continues focus on sportsmanship By Austin Block A teacher ejected two students from the Sept. 16 girls’ volleyball game against Redondo Union in the most recent manifestation of the school’s new emphasis on eliminating unsportsmanlike conduct. Though the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Review Committee was not involved in the ejections, it is moving closer to finalizing its draft proposal to improve sportsmanship and fan behavior. The committee recently met with coaches, the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and the Character Education Committee to discuss the draft proposal. The consulted groups ranked the proposals in order of importance. Schuhl said the committee, which has also worked with the Prefect Council, the Faculty Academic Committee, and the Sports Council on the proposal, will bring a streamlined document back to FAC at its next meeting with the suggestions “that the community thinks are going to be most effective.” Once the committee has approved this document, these suggestions will start to be implemented. “Then the ball will get rolling,” Schuhl said. “You’ll probably start to see more aspects of what we’re trying to do.” The committee also hopes to get two faculty members to attend each home game this year, though there will be no rule requiring faculty attendance. “We’re going to ask members of the Sports Council, groups of coaches, the Character Education Committee, administrators to make sure there are at least two of us at every single home
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game in the gym and on the field here with the intent of engaging students, parents, and whatever about the conversations we need to about behavior,” Schuhl said. Schuhl said SAAC will take charge of informing students about sportsmanship expectations in conjunction with the Prefect Council. “We’re looking to have them work with the Prefect Council to come up with a variety of things, first to get what they would like to present to students as to what expectations are and how … to behave at games and then take that out to the dean meetings,” Schuhl said. “So rather than my committee going to every dean meeting and saying ‘here’s what the expectations are,’ the students are going to kind of devise them, develop them, put together the program and give it out to the student body.” A section has been added to the document with suggestions for teachers. The committee has already received a lot of support from the Athletic Department, the administration, and the Prefect Council. “I think there’s just a general awareness of this being an issue that’s slowly permeating out,” Schuhl said. “I think as important as any action that comes out of the committee’s work is the fact that the committee has brought appropriate fan behavior and sportsmanship into the community’s conversation,” Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said. “It’s at the point now where we’re just about ready to sort of finalize the document and then provide the specific actions that we want teachers and students and administrators and everybody to do,” he said.
By The Numbers
Fewer Harvard-Westlake students scored 4s and 5s in the 2010 AP exams than in 2009.
Foreign Language 48% Scored a 5 5% More than last year 30% Scored a 4 7% Fewer than last year English 29% Scored a 5 4% Fewer than last year 37% Scored a 4 5% Fewer than last year Social Science 34% Scored a 5 2% Fewer than last year 29% Scored a 4 6% Fewer than last year Math 51% Scored a 5 15% Fewer than last year 28% Scored a 4 12% More than last year Science 45% Scored a 5 7% Fewer than last year 30% Scored a 4 No Change since last year Source: Upper School Deans Office Graphic by eli haims and Michael Rothberg
Steering committee encourages suggestions from faculty, students By Lara Sokoloff
Wolverines Eat Pizza From Mama’s and Papa’s !!!
Student and faculty suggestions will be incorporated into the school’s self-evaluation for accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges/California Association for Independent Schools, said history teacher and accreditation leader John Corsello said. Every six years, Harvard-Westlake must go through an accreditation, a year long process that entails submitting a 12 chapter review to WASC/ CAIS. Most private schools apply for accreditation, Corsello said. “If you are an independent school, you want to have the seal of approval from the California Association of Independent Schools,” he said. Twelve committees were formed in the spring in preparation for accreditation. The committees encompassed all aspects of the school, including its faculty and staff, academic and extracurricular programming, finances, buildings, and the school community as a whole. The programming committee is one of the largest, containing department heads from all Middle School and Upper School departments, including arts, athletics, and academics, Corsello said. The committees produced writings that followed a specific format laid out by WASC. The writings were then submitted to Coresllo in June and compiled into a cohesive report. The final chapter of the report is known as the action plan, a summary of the study’s findings. In the action plan, the school identifies five areas that it sees need improvement and explains how it plans to go about bettering them. This year’s areas are exploration of new ideas in curriculum and teaching, diversity, increasing engagement with the broader community, financial sustainability, and technology. The action plan is written and compiled by the steering committee, led by Head of the Middle School Ronnie Cazeau, Head of the Upper School Harry Salamandra, and Head of Athletics
Audrius Barzdukas. The committee is composed of the heads of the 12 individual committees; the entire steering committee numbers around 20 people. nathanson ’s/chronicle For the first John Corsello time in the school’s history, the steering committee has enlisted the help of the entire faculty and student body to determine how the school will try to further develop these areas. Over the summer, the steering committee met to try to begin forming the action plan. “They agreed that it would benefit the overall report if it contained input from the entire school community,” Corsello said. Barzdukas came up with the idea to hold a competition. The deadline to submit ideas was last Friday, and the committee will meet throughout this week in order to form a rough idea of what the action plan will entail. Winners whose ideas are chosen will receive $100, a “John Corsello thinks I have a good idea!” t-shirt, and a WASC/CAIS decoder ring, Assistant to the Head of the Upper School Michelle Bracken said. The action plan is due at the end of September, and the entire report will be compiled and edited throughout the month of October to be sent out to WASC/CAIS in November, Corsello said. The final part of the accreditation process is a visit from a committee of educators from all over the country who will travel to Harvard-Westlake, having read the school’s self-evaluation, and give us their own report of our school. The committee then decides whether or not the school receive an accreditation. “It’s a big to-do,” Corsello said. “We have a nice rough draft and put a big dent into it this summer. We’re going to get it done on time.”
A6 News
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inbrief Whooping Cough Miller to present display at Santa Monica gallery Middle school art teacher Robin Miller will display her work in an art show at the Hanger Galleries in Santa Monica beginning Friday. The show is titled “Urban Nature” and will be on display through Oct. 2. “‘Urban Nature’ is a milestone for me as an artist who works full time as an art teacher. While artmaking is quite naturally one of the sources of inspiration for what I do with my students in the classroom, it is very difficult to discipline myself to make the effort to produce it,” she said. —Keane Muraoka-Robertson
Students to continue textbook drive this year After organizing an end-ofschool textbook drive last year, Austin Lewis ’11 and Emilia Louy ’11 plan to continue the textbook drive this year. Many of the books collected last year were sold to the bookstore to be re-sold this year, and others were kept for student use in the library. The remaining books will be donated to a library chosen by Head of School Harry Salamandra, Lewis said. “This year we have more time to think things over, plan a little more ahead, and hopefully something good can happen,” Lewis said. —Alex Leichenger
Attendance posted only online this school year Starting this year, attendance records are posted solely online at hw.com/students under the “U.S. Attendance” tab. Head of Upper School Attendance Gabriel Preciado has been wanting to transition to online attendance for a while, he said. Online attendance is more up-to-date, and saves a lot of paper. It is also more convenient, as students can see their absences and tardies in one place, he said. —Arielle Maxner
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
threatens to spread
The common cold...or whooping cough? The first stage and most contagious stage of whooping cough looks nearly identical to the common cold. However, there are numerous differences, making it far more virulent.
By Saj Sri-Kumar As you walk down the hallway of Chalmers on your way to your math class, you might hear a student cough many times in succession. At first it appears as if it’s just another student with a cold, but when he coughs so much that he is struggling to fill his lungs with air and takes deep inhalations, it becomes clear that it is something more serious: pertussis, better known as whooping cough. Pertussis, a highly contagious disease that is occasionally fatal, has infected seven times more people in California since June 1 than the same time period last year, resulting in the most cases in 52 years. As a result, the California Department of Public Health has declared a statewide epidemic. While often associated with infants, teenagers and adults are at a greater risk than before for two main reasons. First, many vaccinations that people may have gotten as young children have worn off and the protection that they afforded has weakened, pediatrician Cara Natterson ’88 said. Second, many adults and teenagers will go to work or school despite being sick to avoid having to make up work. Natterson said that this causes the disease to spread to peers, and she suggested that anyone who feels sick should see a doctor. “When people cough into their hand and then touch a doorknob or a desk, they leave bacteria on the surface; the next person to come along and touch the same can easily pick it up. We all touch our eyes, noses, and mouths throughout the day, often unknowingly. When we do this, we expose our bodies to bacteria and viruses that we have come into contact with in the environment,” Natterson said. “This is why hand washing is so important. If you eat a sandwich without washing your hands, you are ingesting all of the things you have touched in your community. If you wash with soap and water, then the germs from your surroundings don’t get into your body,” she said. Additionally, not every student has necessarily been vaccinated against the disease, even as a child. Harvard-Westlake’s Director of Sports Medicine Sandee Teruya said that while the school strongly recommends students receive the vaccination, it is not required. The school has announced that as a result of the pandemic, it will be offering the “TDAP” vaccine to all faculty at the annual Health and Wellness fairs, as part of the school’s health insurance for faculty. That vaccine will include protection to tetanus and diphtheria in addition to pertussis. There are three distinct phases of symptoms that one experiences once infected. The first is similar to the common cold in many respects, and consists of the same symptoms. This stage is also when the disease is most contagious. The second phase, also know as the “paroxysmal” phase, is characterized by periodic spurts of coughing, often followed by a deep inhalation. Natterson said that the deep inhalation often sounds like a
Whooping Cough Results from a bacterial infection Lasts around 100 days Can be fatal to infants
Common Cold Caused by a viral infection Typically lasts one week Rarely, if ever, fatal
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Source: Cara Natterson ’88 Graphic by Lara Sokoloff, Rebecca Nussbaum, Wendy Chen
We all touch our eyes, noses, and mouths through the day, often unkowingly. When we do this, we expose our bodies to bacteria.
“whoop,” giving the disease its popular name. The final phase is a gradual recovery, during which the cough slowly subsides.If one is diagnosed with pertussis, the disease can be treated using antibiotics. However, a recurring problem is that many people do not think they have pertussis and spread it to others. Additionally, many doctors do not think to test for it initially, Natterson said. “My advice is to have the doctor check you by listening to your lungs and doing a quick physical exam—this is always better than running to a lab and just getting a lab test. When you feel sick, and certainly when you have significant cough, an exam by a doctor is always a good idea,” Natterson said.
Sophomore burns hand in chem lab
Delegation of Chinese teachers to observe school A delegation of Chinese teachers will be visiting the Middle School on Oct. 6. The trip was organized by Jack Jia, the CEO of the European Union Education Foundation. The delegation will meet with Chinese teachers Binbin Wei and Xiaomei Mu and Assistant Head of Middle School Paul Mastin. Jia said that he hoped to learn the “secret of [Harvard-Westlake’s] success,” in addition to how Harvard-Westlake helps students to develop and what “students bring with them after their graduation.” —Eli Haims
Prefects create Honor Code video for juniors The Prefect Council is making a video about the Honor Code to be shown at a junior class meeting in October. Prefects Sam Wolk ’13, David Olodort ’12 and Jamie Temko ’11 are working on the video in coordination with Nick Lieberman ’11. They will meet next week to discuss the details. They plan to make two videos about decision making. The videos targert juniors because they “still have two years left in high school, and it would be most relevant to them,” prefect Brooke Levin ’12 explained. —Molly Harrower
—Cara Natterson ’88
By Michael Rothberg
Reprinted with permission of Jordan elist ’13
Helping out: Jordan Elist ’13 shows off bottles that volunteers collected through his organization, “Save a Bottle, Save a Life.”
KABC honors sophomore for non-profit organization By Allison Hamburger Jordan Elist ’13 was featured as a KABC Cool Kid for his nonprofit organization “Save a Bottle, Save a Life” on Aug. 26. The organization, which he founded last year, donates food to the Jewish Family Services Food Bank bought with money raised from recycling bottles and cans. Elist has collected about $3,000 so far, which translates to about to 5,500 pounds of donated food. Elist hands out bags to about 75 houses every week. The residents collect recyclables and return the bags to Elist. He then uses the money earned from the recycling center to buy food for the food bank. Elist said he would like to include the school
in the future to expand the organization. “I’m planning on giving a bag to every student at the school to collect their own bottles and cans. Then maybe at the end of the week they can recycle it themselves and get some community service hours,” Elist said. Elist is hoping to incorporate bigger companies, especially ones involved in the food or bottling industries, he said. He was interviewed by ABC Eyewitness News’s Danny Romero as a part of the weekly “Cool Kids” segment, which features kids involved in bettering their community. Elist said he was surprised to find out about the segment, but enjoyed the process.
On his first day in chemistry class, Anthony Thompson ’13 burned his hand after volunteering for a combustion demonstration. The experiment involved pouring methanol into a water bottle and then dropping a match in, creating an explosive reaction that releases a flame upward. When Thompson first attempted this, the match blew out before he reached the bottle. He performed the experiment again, but as soon as he dropped the match in the bottle, a burst of methane gas exploded upward and burned his hand. “Protocol was followed. His hand was treated in the classroom and he was then seen by the athletic trainers in a follow up examination after class,” science teacher Stephanie Quan said. Trainer Milo Sini wrapped Thompson’s hand and his mother drove him to St. Joseph’s Hospital. Thompson’s hand is now almost fully healed except for minor scarring. “It was an interesting first day of school, but I look forward to the rest of the year,” Thompson said.
Sept. 22, 2010
News A7
The
Chronicle
inbrief Two seniors win first place at debate in Texas
Tatiana Ettensberger/vox
Readers’ nation: The middle school student body poses for a picture that will be sent to “Nation” author Terry Pratchett.
Author phones in to ‘Nation’ discussion By Rebecca Nussbaum
Author Terry Pratchett phoned in to the Middle School’s special assembly on Monday so students and staff members who read his novel could discuss the book “Nation” with him, Head of Middle School Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau said. English teacher Amanda Angle spearheaded the All Community Read program, where students, faculty and parents were encouraged to read “Nation” this summer in order to unite the community and give everyone a “common language,” Cazeau said. “The object was to get people talking about books and about reading and whether they liked the book or not, and people are talking about it,” librarian Maxine Lucas said, who, along with Middle School Communications Department Head Jen Bladen helped Angle. “It doesn’t seem to be as widespread as I would have liked, but in the first year of anything, sometimes you have to adjust your expectations a little bit,” Lucas said. Choosing a book that was captivating and relatable to stu-
dents from 11 to 16 years old was challenging, Cazeau said. Angle, Lucas and Bladen read many young fiction novels before settling on “Nation.” Cazeau has received mixed feedback on their choice. “People either loved it or hated it,” she said. Angle made many phone calls to Pratchett’s publishing company to ensure that students would have the opportunity to ask the British author their questions despite the fact that he lives in England. After reading and approving the book over spring break, Cazeau informed students and parents of the reading project in May, giving everyone who wanted to participate sufficient time to read. “We wanted it to be something that the entire community could refer to,” Cazeau said. Although student participation was lower than expected, middle school faculty plan to continue the All Community Read and “tweak” the activities for next year’s program, Lucas said. The next book has not yet been chosen.
Joe-Wong ’08 wins award at Princeton
Prices go up on cafeteria entrees, dairy By Saj Sri-Kumar
By Daniel Kim Carlee Joe-Wong ’08 won the George B. Legacy award at Princeton University, which is awarded to a senior. JoeWong is beginning her senior year after only two years at Princeton. “I should be going into my junior year at Princeton, but I used AP credits to effectively skip sophomore year and graduate in three years. So I’m going into my senior year right now, and last year counted as my junior year,” Joe-Wong said. The George B. Legacy award is presented to a member of the senior class for his or her accomplishments in the junior year. Joe-Wong shares this award with Vishal Chanani, another senior at Princeton. “I just got an email randomly saying that I was selected as the winner,” Joe-Wong said. “I felt really happy and honored. I was not expecting this kind of recognition.”
Clarista Joe-Wong
skipping a grade: Carlee JoeWong won a senior award at Princeton after attending two years at the university. Math teacher Kevin Weis heard about Joe-Wong’s achievement and congratulated her as soon as he could. Joe-Wong took three classes with Weiss: Advanced Seminar, Directed Studies, and an Independent Study on abstract algebra. “It was my great pleasure and honor to teach Carlee in three classes,” Weis said. “I certainly knew that Carlee was an exceptionally gifted student when I was teaching her. Honestly I think this is only the beginning of the amazing things we are going to see from Carlee.” Her sister, Claresta, valedictorian of the Class of 2010, is currently a freshman at Princeton.
Prices for some items in the cafeteria have increased by since last school year. Cafeteria Manager Nipa Boonyamas said that prices were raised three to five percent, mainly on dairy items and entrees. For example, the price of a large entrée increased from $5.95 to $6.50. Before this increase, Boonyamas said that prices had not changed for the previous two school years. Despite the fact that the cafeteria is owned by an independent contractor, Health Choice Catering, the school must approve all price changes, Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin said. Head of Campus Operations JD DeMatte said that he received the list of changes from Boonyamas over the summer and said that he “felt that nothing was outof-line.” The price increases came as a result of increased food costs from the cafeteria’s suppliers and increases in the cost of living, Boonyamas said.
Stock market club to compete at investing By Eli Haims After receiving questions about the stock market and investing in his AP Economics classes, math teacher Kent Nealis decided to start a club devoted to the stock market with Brenden Gallaher ’11. After going to a summer program at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Gallaher became interested in investing. “I got interested all of a sudden and Mr. Nealis proposed the idea and I thought it would be perfect,” Gallaher said. Nealis doesn’t think he will be able to teach students all he wants to during the Monday activities period, so he plans to meet after school. He hopes to enter the club into competitions, where they would compete against other schools
to see who could make the most profitable portfolio, in addition to the students gaining a better understanding of the concepts. He also said that they will compare how well a portfolio of stocks that they research does compared to a portfolio of randomly chosen stocks. Gallaher hopes that the club will help students “be more aware of their options and their financial aid. It will help them figure out all the different ways they can invest, pitfalls and the potential benefits.” “It should be pretty challenging because this is not the typical economic environment, starting a stock marking club at the end of a recession … but that’s the real world,” Nealis said. Nealis says that students who are not taking AP Economics will not have any problems understanding the topics that he teaches, but people in economics will
Ben Sprung-Keyser ’11 and Jake Sonnenberg ’11 shared first place in an invitation only debate round robin at Greenhill High School in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 16 and 17. Michelle Choi ’12 then joined them for a Greenhill Fall Classic Tournament on Sept. 18 and 19, where SprungKeyser made it to the octafinals, and Sonnenberg made it to the semifinals. Both the tournament and the round robin debated the topic “States ought not possess nuclear weapons” in the Lincoln-Douglas debate format. —Elana Zeltser
Teacher writes articles on surfing, Johnny Cash
English teacher Chris Rutherford published two articles in the Encyclopedia of American Counterculture, one on the late singer Johnny Cash and the other on surfing. While in graduate school, Rutherford saw a notice from the encyclopedia asking for articles and submitted his. In lieu of payment for his articles, Rutherford accepted a copy of the three volume encyclopedia, which sits on his desk at the Middle School. —Eli Haims
Harry Potter screening to be held on Nov. 16 An advance screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is being sponsored by the Harvard-Westlake Entertainment network and the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Association. The screening will take place on Nov. 16, while the movie is released to theaters Nov. 19. Before the screening, guests are invited to a tour of the Warner Bros. Museum, which houses props, costumes, and sets from the Harry Potter Movies. All proceeds from ticket sales with benefit financial aid. —Chloe Lister
School to raise money for Gap Year Fellowship The school will host third annual fundraiser for the Michael Brownstein Gap Year Fellowship will be held on Oct. 16. The fellowship provides money for a graduating senior to take a gap year between their senior year of high school and freshman year of college. The fundraiser, at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, will include dancing and an auction. Gavin Cook ’10 is this year’s recipient of the Fellowship. —Carrie Davidson
Students, publications nominated by NSPA
nathanson ’s/chronicle
Graham Gallaher ’11
nathanson ’s/chronicle
Kent Nealis
see connections between the two. Gallaher hopes to invite speakers come to teach students in addition to participating competitions. “It depends on how big the club gets, everyone from investment bankers to foreign exchange. Anyone who can talk about their specific fields better than I can,” Gallaher said.
Newspapers from both the Upper School and Middle School have been nominated as finalists for the the National Scholastic Press Associations’ National Pacemaker. The Chronicle has won the award four times, and it is the first nomination for The Spectrum. Two sophomores, Sophia Penske ’13 and Samantha Gasmer ’13, were also chosen as finalists for the Design of the Year Award for a page in the Tenth Muse. The winners will be announced at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Kansas City, Missouri on Nov. 14. —Megan Kawasaki
A8 News
Sept. 22, 2010
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Chronicle
Leaders, trainees bond on Peer Support retreat By Maddy Baxter
Printed with permission of hallie brookman
no hands: Hallie Brookman ’12 swings on the ropes course. Students were encouraged to take the leap of faith in order to bond with their group members.
Peer Support trainees and leaders bonded over the ropes course and other activities at the retreat on the weekend of Sept. 10-12. The retreat was at Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu and it was a chance for the students to get to know each other and make new friends. The students left directly after school on Friday and returned on Sunday morning. The retreat was organized by Counselor and Humanities teacher Luba Bek, and Psychologist Sheila Siegel. There were 55 juniors and seniors at the camp. Students were divided into random groups of people whom they did not know well. The first night was spent playing getting to know you games and ice breakers. On Saturday, the leaders and trainees were divided into random groups and they played trust games and did arts and crafts. After that, they did the ropes course. “People were afraid of heights and we were all there supporting them.
LAPD conducts manhunt near school from Suspect, A1 Cross-country runners, who had left the campus on their daily training run on Friday, were called back to campus by athletic department staff. Advisers of other after school activities were alerted. Students working after school on The Chronicle were told by security to move their cars from the student parking places and nearby streets to faculty parking adjacent to Weiler Hall, where they were working. Hamilton said on Monday that the detectives had received about 75 tips from the public since Loera was charged in the July 24 murder of Cheree Osmanhodzic. One tip came from Justin Cohen ’11 after he saw an individual that resembled Loera near the school’s north entrance when he was leaving school on Thursday. Cohen said that he notified the police after looking up Loera’s picture on the internet when he arrived home about 20 minutes after the sighting. “The first officer said she would broadcast it out to units in the area,” Cohen said. “About an hour after that, I got a sergeant from LAPD and she was on Coldwater looking for him. She called to interview me about what I had seen.” Cohen had first seen a photo of Loera earlier that day. Crawford had sent out a crime bulletin earlier in the week alerting faculty and staff to the fact that Loera had been seen in the neighborhood near school. Crawford said that if someone sees the suspect or anyone resembling him off campus, they should immediately call 911. “If you see him, be a good witness,” Crawford
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If you see him, be a good witness. Don’t try to do anything yourself.”
Head wrestling Coach Gary Bairos performed his self-written and directed one-character drama “Jimmy Gamble” Sept. 16 at the Lounge Theatre 2 in Hollywood. The 70-minute show follows the life of Jimmy Gamble, a compulsive horseplayer, determined to fulfill his grandmother’s legacy to strike it rich and move to California. Bairos’ critically acclaimed show evolved from a three-minute monologue he wrote in honor of his grandmother shortly after she died. She had been close to Bairos and took him to racetracks. Bairos, an NCAA All-American wrestler and two time Pac-10 champion who graduated from Arizona
Searching for the suspect The LAPD started its search for the murder suspect in the area highlighted below. They are focused on the trails leading from Tree People, Wilacre Park, and Fryman Canyon Park.
—Jim Crawford Head of Security
said. “Don’t try to do anything yourself. Get a good clothing description [and] a good idea where he’s walking and what he’s wearing.” This is the first year that Crawford has sent out crime alerts to faculty and staff. nathanson ’s/chronicle “If things come up that Justin Cohen ’11 I feel there is a need that our faculty and staff needs to know about, I’m going to tell them,” Crawford said. “If it is something more urgent…it will be sent out school-wide.” “At all times, students should be aware of their surroundings and cognizant of the fact that there are often criminal suspects in the area,” Hamilton said. As of last Friday, police were offering a $50,000 award for information leading to Loera’s arrest. Information can be reported to detectives at the LAPD North Hollywood Station at (818) 6234016.
Coach performs critically acclaimed one-man show By Catherine Wang
We worked together as a group to get across the rope course and face our fears,” Hallie Brookman ’12 said. In the night, there was a campfire with all of the students on the retreat. Everyone was given a bracelet and they went around the fire saying what they were going to think of whenever they looked at the bracelet. Many people said that they would think of the new friends that they had made. “You could go up to anyone and be yourself. Everyone connected through everything that we had done,” Brookman said. All of the students got really close and gained a new trust in all of these people that they had not necessarily ever met before, Brookman said. “My favorite part was getting to know new people,” Haleh Kanani ’12 said. After dinner on the last night, the groups were announced. The four Peer Support coordinators, Anna Romanoff ’11, Jarred Green ’11, Ben Krause ’11, and Beanie Feldstein ’11, decided who would be in each group. The groups usually consist of two junior trainees and two senior leaders.
State University, is no stranger to performing. He has won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his on-stage work, and has also acted in several films. Bairos performs “Jimmy Gamble” multiple times a year in clubs around Los Angeles and in a Chicago theatre festival. He wrote a screenplay based on the plot of “Jimmy Gamble” and hopes to turn it into a feature film. About 70 percent of the wrestling team watches his shows each time they are performed in Los Angeles, Stephen Ring ’12 said. “I’ve seen it four times,” Ring said. “He changes it up a little each time – it’s cool.”
HW
Graphic by Maddy Baxter
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William Hirtz 14045 Milbank Street
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 Phone – 818-981-4164 Email – w.hirtz@att.net
Sept. 22, 2010
News A9
The
Chronicle
Security ready for all eventualities By Alice Phillips
In the event of Armageddon, Harvard-Westlake is prepared. At least, that’s what Head of Security Jim Crawford hopes. The CJL team that Crawford heads prepares for every possibility, even ones that seem less than likely to occur on campus. If an airplane were to crash on campus or into one of the buildings, the security team would be prepared. If a dirty bomb were to go off on campus, the security team would be prepared. If the largest earthquake in 100 years strikes Southern California, the security team would be prepared. “We implement a lot of the crisis responses used by our local law enforcement and medical agencies, a little from the disaster response plans set forth by the state, and then we add and adjust to accommodate to our school and our students and staff,” Crawford said. “We do not practice every scenario as a school, but we operate the same under our crisis plan, which applies for many types of crises.” The team prepares for a campus emergency by doing everything from timing how long it takes to run to the far reaches of campus to practicing shutting off the gas and electrical mainlines to going to live fire ranges for weapons training, Crawford said. Last Saturday afternoon, the security team held an emergency staging in the quad to practice shooting with blanks. “We do training all the time on both campuses at night and on holidays,” Director of Campus Operations Jim De Matte said. “We do drills shooting blank rounds and aero soft guns. We take it quite seriously.” In class meetings and staged scenarios, the team taught students and teachers how to respond if a gunman were on campus in a system known as A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) response training. Students tackled members of Crawford’s security team posing as gunmen and terrorists, built forts from classroom desks and threw tennis balls at school employees all in the name of emergency preparedness. “The most important training that we do is the A.L.I.C.E. training,” De Matte said. “That gives you kind of a mindset and a fighting edge if somebody comes on campus and tries to hurt all of us. Ask your friends at other schools: Do you have A.L.I.C.E. training? It’s in the back of your head. You will react. Look at all the other schools. We’re way ready.” The newly installed lockdown alarms, which can be heard up to one mile from campus, are only the latest in a series of efforts to improve the campus’ preparedness for a gunman. In the past, a lockdown was signaled by three consecutive rings of the traditional fire alarm, followed by a pause then repeated. De Matte said that students and teachers had
Alice Phillips/chronicle
iN THE BUNKERS: Jim Crawford handles the emergency supplies stored in the retired shipping containers. The bunkers store loaded backpacks (right), shovels, hardhats, (top left), stretchers, and ropes (bottom left). difficulty distinguishing between a fire alarm and a lockdown alarm, leading to potentially dangerous confusion. After a delay receiving the lockdown alarms due to factory backorder, the security team plans to hold two full lockdown drills on campus in addition to the two fire drills that are required by the California Education Code. The first fire drill of the year was conducted Sept. 13 on both campuses. At least one of the lockdown drills (when students barricade themselves in classrooms) will include some element of the A.L.I.C.E. training, where the security team may act as shooters in order to prepare students for classroom infiltration, Crawford said. Security is also planning to stage a nuclear or biohazard drill sometime this year to practice containing students and teachers where they are and sealing them in rooms, De Matte said. Emergency plans for the Middle School are similar to those of the Upper School, Crawford said. The Middle School is required to conduct more fire
What’s in the lockdown kits? Every classroom has two lockdown kits which double as toilets and house emergency supplies.
duct tape
cat litter can be emptied inside the make-shift toilet in case it is needed
bag of latex gloves
tarp
bag of sanitizing wipes
plastic bags toilet tissue photos and graphic by Rebecca nussbaum
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we do training all the time on both campuses at night and on the holidays.”
—Head of Security Jim Crawford
drills annually due to the age range under California Education Code and the security team scaled back training in the case of an on-campus shooter because of the younger student ages. A video about the Columbine shooting that was shown to the Upper School students in class meetings was not shown at the Middle School. “For the younger kids, we decide to be a little bit mellower,” De Matte said. “They get a version of the A.L.I.C.E. training. You’ve got to remember they’re very young over there. Running around and shooting blanks in the hallway might be a little much for them.” The security team has placed two lockdown toilets (white buckets storing the necessary supplies) in each classroom in case students and teachers are forced to stay there for extended periods of time. If students and teachers are on campus but not locked down in classrooms, Crawford’s team has bathroom facilities stored in the emergency bunkers that they can set up for each gender along with privacy shelters. The Upper School’s emergency bunkers, which are really retired shipping containers with added security, are tucked away between the north side of Zanuck swim stadium and the southwest corner of the track adjacent to Coldwater Canyon. The Middle School’s two bunkers are identical to Upper School’s. “Our bunkers have supplies for 2,000 people for three days… and then some,” Crawford said. The water-tight bunkers are so well supplied that when the Red Cross came to give suggestions about any other supplies the school should have in the bunkers, the representative told Crawford that he has never seen a bunker as well-supplied on a high school campus. That includes not only basic necessities such as fresh water supplies, non-perishable food and blankets but also board games, search and rescue kits and a Geiger counter. In the event of a prolonged stay, students and teachers can plan on doing some cooking. The instant meals provided are individual doit-yourself packages to occupy people after an emergency, at least for a time. “I’d like it to be like the Beverly Hilton,” he said.
Rising Costs Tuition increases faster than inflation By Saj Sri-Kumar
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ncreases in tuition costs at the school over the past two decades have outpaced both inflation and the rate of increase of family incomes. Tuition increases are largely a result of added administrative costs including added costs that have been steadily growing as a result of the merger of Harvard and Westlake schools. The rise in administrative costs is largely a result of the hiring of additional of personnel, not a rise in salaries. The merger created a school with diminished efficiency, Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin said. The decreased efficiency, due to the need to hire more people, has gradually increased the school’s costs. Levin said that the number of staff members required to run a larger school does not increase proportionately to the added number of students. As more students are added, more administrative positions are needed. For example, there was a headmaster at Harvard and one at Westlake, but today, the merged school has a head at each campus and a Head of School as
well as a President for the entire school. These added positions have added to the school’s costs. Many departments have had to be greatly expanded as a result of the merger, as well. Before the merger, Harvard School had an excellent instrumental music department, Levin said. Families expected the same caliber of classes at both campuses, he said, requiring the school to hire additional music teachers, doubling the expenditure in that category. In addition, the athletic program has been greatly expanded. Whereas most sports were coached by teachers who received no added salary, Levin said that the school has hired many dedicated coaches in order to make athletic teams more competitive. The school now employs close to 100 outside coaches. Levin said that the decrease in efficiency is in many ways a good thing with its effect on students. In the less efficient system that accompanies a larger school, there are many more opportunities for students to take advantage of, such as the aforementioned instrumental music program, but the large staff ensures
Recession pressures strain financial aid budget By Jean Park
The past few years have altered the financial aid budget for the 2010-2011 school year. The recent recession has caused many families to experience financial reversals, such as job losses or other monetary emergencies, which left them unable to afford the school’s tuition, Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin said. “We encouraged those families to apply for aid. The application and review process established what portion they could cover and HarvardWestlake financial aid then covered the rest,” Levin said. The past couple of years, however, have demonstrated the need for more funding for such emergencies in the financial aid budget. The school typically accounted for 10 to 12 emergencies a year and often were confronted by fewer, but during the 2008-2009 school year, the school was confronted by almost 30 family emergencies. Last year, there were roughly 40. “The 2008-2009 burst, prompted by the fall 2008 market and economic collapse, caught us by surprise and led to a financial aid budget overage,” Levin said. “We did what we had to do for Harvard-Westlake students and accepted the resulting financial pain.” Although the recession affected the school and the families and students connected to the school community, Director of Financial Aid Geoffrey Bird noted that the school tried hard not to compromise financial aid by working with families to come up with a package that was best suited for each family’s circumstances. “Financial aid packages are tailored to parents’ maximum capacity to pay. Hence, it would make no
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
The
A10 News
sense to reduce them; there is no point in asking a family to pay more than it is able,” Levin explained. The process of financial aid starts with the nathanson ’s/chronicle school’s utilizaGeoffrey Bird tion of the Parents’ Financial Statement, which is processed through the National Association of Independent Schools. The school works with parents when they apply and submit tax documents to show their income and assets. “It’s a very sophisticated formula with many factors…we take a lot of things into consideration to help people more,” Bird said. Although there was a slight reduction in the number of new students requiring financial aid admitted by the school in the Spring of 2009, most of the emergency provisions for the existing students came from “amazing budget sensitivity by faculty and staff, roughly $1 million in voluntary savings, and extraordinary Harvard-Westlake community generosity: $6,175,000 annual giving and $300,000 HWPA Annual Event support,” Levin said. The school was able to build provisions for 40 emergencies into the 2010-2011 budget and was able to once again accept a normal number of students requiring financial aid last spring. Bird and Levin both stressed the fact that Harvard-Westlake has a very family-like community. “We try to be there for our families if and when things go wrong [because] they depend on it,” Levin said.
The price of education goes up in the midst of the recession Increasing School Fees Tuition has nearly tripled since the 1984-1985 school year. All figures have been adjusted for inflation.
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personal attention for each individual student. Inefficiency is represented by lower studentto-teacher ratios, Levin said. “We now have 15 deans that work with students. That high a number allows students to have more personal interaction,” he said. Levin said that other factors have caused the school to hire additional staff. In the past 20 years, technology has improved extremely rapidly and the school has gone from a part-time computer manager who worked with a few computers to a full computer services staff that now has to manage “a computer for every teacher and one for roughly every two students,” Levin said. Outside forces have also affected the school. Due to increased concerns about safety, the school has enlarged the security staff from a single person to a full security team that has a much larger presence on campus. In addition, the school has had to hire staff to follow stricter regulatory requirements and the increased prevalence of lawsuits. The rising tuition costs that have resulted have the potential to hamper the ability for lower-income families to afford the school. Tuition for the current school year is $29,200, an increase of 196 percent (83 percent when adjusted for inflation) over the tuition for the first postmerger school year, 1991-1992. This has forced more students to need financial aid. As admission to the school is not need-blind and aid is available to only a certain percentage of students, the school may be forced to reject some qualified applicants due to their inability to pay. “It’s a problem,” Levin said. In response to the increased difficulty that families face paying the tuition, the Board of Trustees increased the quota of enrolled students that receive aid from 12 percent to 17 percent, which was phased in starting with admissions for students entering school in 2006. A similar trend of tuition increasing faster than inflation and incomes has happened across the board in education, not just with private secondary schools but also in colleges and universities. According to a report in The Economist, tuition at public colleges has increased by a factor of 15 for in-state students and 24 for out-of-state students in the past 40 years. In the same time period, private college tuition has increased by a factor of more than 13. However, household incomes have only increased by a factor of 6.5 in the past 40 years.
Source: Rob Levin Graphic by saj sri-kumar
We try to be there for our families if and when things go wrong.”
—Rob Levin Chief Financial Officer
Tuition at other private high schools in the Los Angeles area has also increased at a similar rate to HarvardWestlake’s. As the school has undergone a huge expansion while most other schools have not, Levin said that the school “[feels] good if our costs haven’t exceeded other schools.” Levin attributed the ability of the school to avoid increases higher than those of other schools to a few different factors. First, he credited Annual Giving. He said that families who are able to donate in addition to standard tuition regularly do so, allowing the school to defray some of its costs. Second, Levin said that the school has followed unconventional but extremely successful fiscal policies that nathanson ’s/chronicle may not be feasible Rob Levin for most smaller schools. He credited the school’s decision to self-insure on a range of fields, from health insurance benefits for faculty and staff to workers compensation insurance. He explained that the school only purchases insurance when it is exceptionally well-priced or the school cannot afford the worst-case scenario. In most cases, the school acts as its own insurance company and disburses claims directly out of the school budget. As a result, Levin said that the school has saved an estimated $10 million, mainly from avoiding the purchase of insurance in many cases. Going forward, Levin said that he expects tuition to grow at a slower pace, although there were other factors that made him unable to guarantee that it would not grow as fast as it had in the past. He said that a number of factors, such as the enlargement of the school and the increased technology costs, would no longer apply. Levin said that the school is not planning on any further enlargement of the student body or the further installation of more computers on a large scale. However, Levin said that the school would continue its effort to keep the student-to-faculty ratio low, which may necessitate higher costs in the future.
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Ishan Bose Pyne
News A11
1994 - 2010
“I have been very inquisitive all my life. I have always had a love of learning. I would question many things varying from why there is sometimes dew in the morning, or how an airplane flies, or even more ethical questions such as why wars are fought and why different people are given different opportunities for success in their lives.” —Ishan Bose-Pyne
Printed With permission of Micah Sperling
Memories
Friends and teachers recall their fondest memories of Ishan. They remember him as an eternally happy kid and a loyal friend with an infectious smile.
H
ere goes. My most fond memory of Ishan was one day when I walked by the combo rehearsal, and it looked like a zoo in the room. The guitar player was blasting out a rock tune, the bass player was eating Doritos, the drummer was texting his girlfriend, the second guitar player was trying to organize everyone, and through all of that, I heard the most pretty classical piano sonata. Something by Mozart. It was Ishan. He decided to tune everyone else out and just play. He always just loved to play. He was a great guy and I will miss him.
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—Shawn Costantino Jazz teacher
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or days I didn’t know what to feel or think or believe, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him or staring at his Facebook page. It was only at his funeral, on Sept. 16, when his mother gave her entire speech without shedding a single tear that I began to achieve anything remotely close to understanding. Not that I understood why something this horrible could happen to someone like Ishan—I still don’t understand that and I never will. But when his mother said that Ishan wouldn’t have wanted us to cry, that he would have wanted us to be out celebrating who he was and the joy he brought us during his brief
Reprinted with permission of Shonali Bose
stint on this Earth…well, that really spoke to me. Judging from what I’ve heard from the other people who were there, I’m FAR from the only one. So, Ishan, if you’re reading this, I’m studying worms/jellyfish/plant anatomy for you, not for anyone else, and though you may be gone, you will never be forgotten, not by me or anyone who knew you well enough to be affected by this tragic event; in other words, anyone who spoke to you, ever. Have fun with that giant chessboard in the sky!
t was always a privilege to have his warm and hilarious presence during Chess club, filling the room with sounds of laughter and banging clocks. Ishan’s favorite chess opening move was known as the Dragon, a symbol of his fierce competitive spirit. Ishan’s weapon was feared throughout chess club and he quickly amassed a following of people who were eager to learn from him. By the end of the year, Ishan had taught many people this powerful strategy. Even in rated chess tournaments, where the directors are adamant about keeping quiet, Ishan always seemed to be followed by laughter. It was obvious that Ishan’s presence always evoked laughter and joy, no matter where he was. Overall, it is clear that Ishan was one of the brightest and most unique people we have ever known. His presence will surely be missed and the halls of Seaver will be forever empty without the sounds of Ishan’s laughter. —Rishi Bagrodia ’12, Adit Gadh ’12, Cheston Gunawan ’12 and Garrett Ishida ’12
—Dani Bork ’12 North Hollywood High School
Bose-Pyne‘lived life to the fullest’ from Bose-Pyne, A1 Bose-Pyne’s mastery of chess was noticed immediately by all who dared to play with him, but his friends said that even though Bose-Pyne won nearly every game with sharp concentration, his “goofy” personality was never far away. Matt Heartney ’12 said that Bose-Pyne was always several moves ahead during one of their chess games and easily bested Heartney. “I couldn’t stay mad for long because when I looked up from the board Ishan was belting out a full body laugh,” Heartney said. Bose-Pyne’s passion for academics was evident to all of his teachers, including his Choices and Challenges teacher President Thomas Hudnut. Hudnut said that “resident in this one boy” were all of the qualities teachers admire in their students, including curiosity of mind and a fervent interest in learning. “He had not just a twinkle in his eye,” Hudnut said. “He had a real sparkle.” School Psychologist Luba Bek, who team taught
Bose-Pyne’s Choices and Challenges classes with Hudnut, said Bose-Pyne fit in from the first day, even as a new sophomore. “Peer pressure wasn’t for him,” Bek said. “He knew who he was and who he valued and what choices you needed to make in life.” “A good teacher is supposed to keep track of all the new kids at Harvard-Westlake,” Bose-Pyne’s Honors Chemistry teacher Chris Dartt said. “Mrs. Adegbile called and asked if Ishan was fitting in and I thought, ‘This lady’s crazy. She’s got the wrong name.’” Bose-Pyne’s effusive smile permeated throughout the memories of Bose-Pyne from family, friends and teachers alike. “Even the days that were nothing special, Ishan was always there, laughing,” Colin Campbell ’12 said. “He did what he did simply because he loved to do it.” While Bose-Pyne was reading Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” last year, English teacher Ariana Kelly had her students act out various scenes. When it came time to act out a scene between Olivia and Viola, the class insisted that Bose-Pyne play Olivia.
Printed with permission of Micah Sperling
After initially resisting the request to play a Shakespearean female, Bose-Pyne gave in. “He did it with gusto because he knew it would make us laugh,” Kelly said. “He knew it would make us happy. I was consciously thankful every day last year that he was a member of my English class.” Another student in the class video-taped the scene in question and it was played at the memorial service in Chalmers. “There are some people in this world that are such evolved souls,” Bose said. “Ishan was one of them. We can’t have them on this earth for long.” “He’s thrilled right now,” Bose said at the memorial service. “He’s like, ‘This has been the most kickass service.’”
the
Chronicle
3700 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles, CA 91604
Editors-in-Chief: Alice Phillips, Daniel Rothberg Managing Editors: Austin Block, Jordan Freisleben Executive Editor: Catherine Wang
pinion o Harvard-Westlake School Volume XX Issue II Sept. 22, 2010
Presentations Editors: Ingrid Chang, Mary Rose Fissinger Executive Sports Editor: Alex Leichenger Business and Ads Manager: David Burton Copy Editors: Jordan McSpadden, Susan Wang News Managing Editors: Matthew Lee, Emily Khaykin Section Heads: Rebecca Nussbaum, Lara Sokoloff, Saj Sri-Kumar Infographic Editors: Maddy Baxter, Eli Haims Assistants: Wendy Chen, Carrie Davidson, Molly Harrower, Ana Scuric, Camille Shooshani, Megan Ward Opinion Managing Editors: Noelle Lyons, Jean Park Section Heads: Alex Gura, Chanah Haddad, Anabel Pasarow, Shana Saleh Assistants: Rachel Schwartz, Michael Sugerman Features Managing Editors: Joyce Kim, Olivia Kwitny, Sade Tavangarian Features Section Heads: Allison Hamburger, Chloe Lister Infographics: Megan Kawasaki Features Assistants: Caitie Benell, Mariel Brunman, Jamie Chang, Leslie Dinkin, Gabrielle Franchina, David Lim, Michael Rothberg, Elana Zeltser Science & Health Editors: Claire Hong, Nika Madyoon Centerspread Editors: Cami de Ry, Arielle Maxner Arts & Entertainment Editors Jessica Barzilay, Justine Goode Arts & Entertainment Assistants: Maggie Bunzel, Bo Lee, Aaron Lyons Photography Assistant: Cherish Molezion Sports Managing Editors: Alec Caso, Kelly Ohriner Section Heads: David Kolin, Austin Lee, Julius Pak, Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Assistants: Michael Aronson, Charlton Azuoma, Nicole Gould, Luke Holthouse, Daniel Kim, Robbie Loeb, Shawn Ma, Allana Rivera, Micah Sperling, Ally White Chronicle Online Managing Editor: Vivien Mao News Update Editors: Evan Brown, Hank Gerba, Sanjana Kucheria Opinion Update Editor: Victor Yoon Features Update Editors: Julius Pak, Nick Pritzker A&E Update Editors: Tiffany Liao, Meagan Wang Sports Update Editors: David Gobel, Judd Liebman Multimedia Editors: Ashley Khakshouri, Chelsea Khakshouri Blogs Editor: Abbie Neufeld Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published nine times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager David Burton at (626) 319-0575. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
PHOTO BY MICAH SPERLING/ GRAPHIC BY INGRID CHANG
The missing pieces Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
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he loss of three students in a matter of months has shaken our community. Brendan Kutler, Julia Siegler and Ishan Bose-Pyne each excelled in their own areas of interest and contributed greatly to our school. Their radiant attitudes were contagious and epitomized the Harvard-Westlake spirit. When they left us, we were all diminished. Our grief was and still is neither rational nor measurable. It is emotional and unpredictable. Yet, however unique and personal our experience with grief seems, when our wounds were most raw we didn’t run towards solitude. We stood together to support each other. It speaks to the remarkable strength of our community that students and teachers were able to enter the healing process together and regain a measure of strength. We saw it not just as a tragedy for those who knew them best, but as a tragedy for the school as a whole. Together, we donned two hats for Brendan and wore purple for Julia
— Alfred Lord Tennyson and white for Ishan. Students signed a giant chess piece in memory of Ishan’s love of chess. And so we work together, as a school, to mend the holes. Ishan Bose-Pyne came to HarvardWestlake as a sophomore. He immediately felt comfortable, his family said, in a community he embraced and that quickly embraced him. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. His friends and teachers have attributed his immediate acceptance to both the community’s openness and Ishan’s desire to immerse himself in school life. It is students like Ishan that make Harvard-Westlake more than the sum of its parts. They help shape the student body into a unified group of people capable of praising one another when they succeed, comforting one another when they fail, and supporting one another in the face of tragedy. We cry together, mourn together and celebrate together. We learn together, remember together and, in the end, we heal together.
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Don’t force it
Student Ambassador
Peer tutor
AP World History
Join a new club Reconnect with old teachers
Chapel services
A13 Opinion
Take a risk
Stay positive
Talk to new people
Abbie Neufeld
A When people are forced to do something, they usually don’t look at the benefits behind it.
t a recent practice, my water polo team was completing a pyramid style swim set. Since it was one of the first practices of the year, after finishing the beginning of the set, our coach said we could move on or choose to finish the swim set. Not being the biggest fan of swimming I would have moved on. However, after one person on my team decided to complete the set, so did everyone else. At the beginning of practice, no one was too happy about the impending set, however once our coach gave us the option of stopping, no one wanted to quit. Everyone thought that finishing it would be of benefit to themselves, and they were right. When people are forced to do something, they usually don’t look at the benefits behind it, however when given an option, people are more likely to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. As we progress through school, we are given more opportunities to make decisions for ourselves. However, those opportunities are often given too late, only in the upper echelons of high school. This year in English class, someone asked if we had to take notes in our book. Our teacher said that, no we did not have to, but that it might be helpful. This is the first time since middle school when I have not had to annotate my English reading. Before I would mindlessly fill the margins of my book with scribbles of notes that didn’t mean too much. It was just to fulfill assignments and make sure my book didn’t look too empty. However when I had the option to take notes, I felt like I could take fewer notes that were actually of more value to me. It is nice that as a junior I am given more options to decide whether something is beneficial to me or not. However, I think we should be given more opportunities to do this. After all, high school is but a preparation for the “real world.” Accordingly, I think we should have more choices to make. For example, when we are forced to take news quizzes, people look at reading the news as a chore. If people see life as a series of school assignments, they will not be able to make informed decisions when the time comes.
INGRID CHANG/CHRONICLE
Expanding horizons Austin Block
I
have one year left of high school, and I have resolved to make the most of it. I’m going to do everything. I’m ready to try anything. I’m determined to strengthen my friendships as much as possible. I’m trying to be warm in my interactions with everyone. I’m making the effort to meet new people. So many opportunities wait for us in our community. It seems like a shame to ignore them. Until fairly recently, I was afraid to try new things. When I was little, I insisted that my parents bring garbanzo beans and other delectable oddities from home whenever we went out for dinner. But something has changed as I’ve matured. I now know that change is for the better. Though I’ve been slowly expanding my personal horizons since I was about 10, my drive to explore and appreciate everything in sight didn’t really start to develop until late last year. Throughout May and June, I was dogged by an aching sadness. All of the seniors I loved were leaving. All of my favorite classes were winding down, and I became aware that each tight knit group would soon be permanently disbanded. I wasn’t ready for it. School was over (dare I say it?) far too quickly. With summer came regret, and I found
Dealing with loss
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p until nine months ago, I didn’t understand what people meant when they referred to the five stages of grief. Sure, I had heard about the journey from denial to acceptance, but having never really experienced the feeling myself, I had no idea what it was really like. Last December, Brendan Kutler ’10 died in his sleep while on vacation with his family in Hawaii. I’ve known him for longer than I can remember; our families met when our older sisters were in the same grade in elementary school. I’ll never forget the time when I heard the news. At first, the feeling of shock was overwhelm-
myself wishing I had appreciated each school day more, wishing I had taken a step back from the craziness of junior year once in a while to notice how great life was. I promised myself I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I would discover just how many fun activities and meaningful experiences I could cram into my schedule before leaving for college. I’m thrilled to say that my experimentation has worked out wonderfully so far. I joined the student ambassador program and ended up reconnecting with a middle school teacher at the opening session. I applied to be a peer tutor. I’m Jewish, but I plan to attend one of Father J. Young’s Tuesday morning chapel services out of sheer curiosity. I sometimes sit in on Drew Maddock’s AP World History class just for fun. It’s only the fourth week of school, and I’ve already met a bunch of new people. So why not give my method a try? Take a risk. Join a new club. Start a conversation with an acquaintance. Pick a different kind of sandwich from the cafeteria refrigerator. Focus on the positive. You’d be surprised how big of a difference a small change in outlook can make. Life is suddenly so much more fun, so much more meaningful. I laugh more and smile more, and even if I don’t sleep more, I know I’m going to graduate regret-free.
I’m still waiting for that feeling of closure that always seems to accompany the end of every tragedy on television.
Saj Sri- Kumar ing. My mom told me over the phone and I couldn’t believe the words she was saying. I had seen him just a few weeks earlier, and I couldn’t fathom the fact that I would never see him again. It took a while to register in my head what had happened. It was a tough few weeks after that. I spent some time considering what had happened but found little solace. There was no one to blame, no outlet for what I was feeling. I couldn’t comprehend why this had happened, or what, if anything, I should learn from his passing. Tragedy struck again last week when Ishan Bose-Pyne ’12 died of burns sustained in a freak ac-
cident a week earlier. It didn’t get any easier the second time. Despite only knowing him for a year, I got to know him well when we were both on the Science Bowl team, and we became good friends. Although I had been through the same thing once before, I was just as unprepared for the feelings as the first time. Once again, there was no one to blame. I wanted to be able to take my anger out on someone, as I had seen all of the friends of victims do on “Law & Order.” Both times, it was hard to avoid taking my anger out on others. I heard some complaining about how other people around school didn’t look sad enough. Others felt that they were
too upset for how little they had known Brendan or Ishan and that they should have spent more time consoling those who knew them best. However, both times I came away with the realization that everyone grieves in their own way. Some will go about their day crying and others will be able to keep their minds off the matter so well that they appear as if nothing was wrong. It’s been hard to move on. I’m still waiting for that feeling of closure that always seems to accompany the end of every tragedy on television. There’s always an ending, even if it’s bittersweet or sad, that serves to close off a movie. I’m still waiting for that closure.
A14 Opinion
The
Chronicle
Sept. 22, 2010
Coexisting safely Alice Phillips If all of the culpable parties take a step in the right direction ...we mitigate those chances.
S
ophomores walk to the bus. Juniors trek to St. Michael’s. Seniors drive off campus at the HarvardWestlake light. All of these tasks must be accomplished simultaneously, yet none of these tasks can be peacefully accomplished at the same time at least not in the current parking lot environment. It’s the pedestrian versus the driver. The 100 pound human versus the 1,000 pound motor vehicle. It’s oil versus water. Harvard-Westlake is all too familiar with that reality. Councilman Bill Rosendahl held a press conference last Thursday at Cliffwood and Sunset, where Julia Siegler ’14 was killed by a car last February, to encourage driver awareness and pedestrian safety. That morning, motorcycle officers distributed flyers to motorists stopped at intersections on Sunset. But despite the tremendous efforts of Siegler’s family, friends and busmates to make sure that what happened to Siegler last February won’t befall another pedestrian, the upper school parking lots remain unaccommodating to man and machine’s coexistence. The very school that suffered the most and the very school whose individuals have taken action has done so seemingly little as a whole to improve pedestrians’ safety. To get to the bus, sophomore pedestrians have to walk into the right-hand turn lane while more than 100 senior motorists exit the senior lot in no mood to slow down for errant pedestrians in their right-hand turn lane. Even if the sophomores do stay close to the Taper spots and cross the traffic lanes at the crosswalk, there is no way to get past the hedge and fence without entering a traffic lane. The solution? Cut back the hedge. Put a door in the fence. Extend the sidewalk all the way to the first Taper parking place. To get to the St. Michael’s lot, junior pedestrians have to walk around a blind curve through the most trafficked lane of the senior lot (between the slanted spots and the
hedge) while over 100 senior motorists exit the lot in no mood to slow down and/or come to a full stop for a texting pedestrian in their path. Even if the juniors do hug the hedge, the lane isn’t wide enough to comfortably accommodate a pack of juniors and a compact car side by side. The solution? Cut back or remove the hedge. Build a sidewalk with a fence to separate the traffic flow from the pedestrian flow. But clearly, the senior motorists in no mood to slow down will have to get over their imminent need to leave school property and at least tap their feet on the brake. No matter what time your dentist appointment is or how much history reading you have, pedestrians have the right-ofway. Period. End of conversation. Going so fast that you leave skid marks in your tracks is, simply put, reckless endagerment. One of the cars that killed Julia Siegler was driven by a student. A student. He left his house that morning intending to go to school, maybe grab a snack with
friends and do what teenagers do. He didn’t intend to hurt anyone. He wasn’t speeding. He did not break any law. But what happened happened and there’s no way to change it. He left his house thinking the same things all of the reckless Harvard-Westlake student drivers think when they leave their houses. There is nothing distinguishing him from any of the students who drive to Harvard-Westlake each day. Don’t be deceived by how distant or unexpected Julia Siegler’s accident may have seemed. Don’t assume that it could never happen to you. Anything could happen to anybody, even if drivers take precautions and the school improves pedestrian walkways. But if changes are made, we mitigate those chances. If all of the culpable parties take a step in the right direction, as Rosendahl urged last Thursday, we mitigate those chances. Cut back a hedge. Put in a door. Slow down for Julia.
Embracing my family heritage
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ast week, a few of my friends were over at my house when my parents and I suddenly launched into a vitriolic argument in Farsi. My friends just looked at me with blank faces. Even though I’m currently fluent in Farsi, this wasn’t always the case. I grew up speaking Farsi until I was six but lost the language by assimilating into American culture in elementary school. I came into school knowing a few sentences in English, but over the first six years of my life I wasn’t exposed to any sort of English language. I walked in to my pre-K class with a thick accent and didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I remember trying so hard to conform to my elementary school classmates’ trends. I ditched Mansour songs for Britney Spears and threw away all my Persian dolls in exchange for brand new Barbies. I went
Sadé Tavangarian through the stage where I stripped myself of all my Persian-ness. Slowly, I lost my ability to speak, read, and write in my native language and for years I was so ashamed of being Persian that I told people I was of European descent. My parents assumed this was just a silly phase. Little did they know they were watching the last inch of Persian culture disappear from their daughter. I considered myself to be totally ‘Americanized’ until my entire concept of embracing my native culture shifted on a trip to Iran. I was 11 and visiting my many relatives in Tehran and Northern Iran. As my great aunt and uncle came to greet me, I didn’t know a word they were saying. Throughout the entire evening, everyone spoke in Farsi and I kept listening to my relatives engage in different conversations and laugh at different jokes. It
was torture not being able to communicate with anyone during the trip and it was even worse sitting and knowing that I used to be fluent in the language. After I returned home, I begged my parents to enroll me in Farsi school and over the past seven years I have mastered my native language. To cut to the moral of the story, I am a perfect example of a first generation American. I don’t share a lot of commonalities with most of my friends; my life generally tends to revolve around my culture and my family. The issue I faced that I’m sure many other first generation kids experience is the struggle of embracing one’s culture. When I was in elementary school and newly exposed to the American culture, I immediately dove in and was hooked on changing my true identity to fit in with all of my classmates.
At such a young age, being different wasn’t exactly the most favorable trait. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that I absolutely love being a first generation kid. I have a lot of responsibility to promote and preserve my heritage in America and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I am a member of the Farhang Foundation (Farhang means culture in Farsi), which is an Iranian-American culture preservation organization. I think it is important for all first generation kids to understand that the future of your culture is in your hands. There is obviously nothing wrong with conforming to the American culture. That’s completely expected of everyone. However, don’t hesitate to keep connecting to something that defines your past. It will be worthwhile.
exposure
Sept. 22, 2010
‘put a ring on it’
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All together now: Senior Prefect Christine Kanoff recites a poem she wrote (1), the rings are lined up in alphabetical order (2), President Tom Hudnut shakes Henry Braun’s hand(3), Rachel Hall walks to her seat (4), Chamber Singers and Bel Canto seniors sing “African Processional” (5), Mariana Bagneris smiles at family as she walks in (6), Senior Prefect Adam Wolf discusses the importance of the Honor Code (7), classmates line up in front of Munger before the procession (8).
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Seniors kicked off their final year of high school Sunday on Ted Slavin Field in front of family and friends as they received their class rings. By Cami
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Seniors reminisced about their high school experiences at Ring Ceremony on Sunday. With smiles stretched across their faces, students walked down the Ted Slavin field and sat on the bleachers in anticipation of receiving their senior rings. Austin Lewis ’11 introduced the ceremony greeting everyone with the school’s ancient Latin phrase, “Possunt quia posse videntur.” Chamber Singers sang “African Processional” and students from the class of 2011 sang “You Are the Music in Me.” Christine Kanoff ’11 recited a narrative poem about the roots and new traditions her class has left as their legacy. She described her class to as leaves of a plant, leaving their unique marks and although going along with traditions, making their own ones as well. “It is in our hands to make new traditions before we make our parting ways,” Kanoff said. Adolf Wolf ’11 described the school’s crest. The community is above the lion with the crown, representative of the impressive student body, Wolf said. “The administration has shown that they like us and they’ll put a ring on it,” Wolf said. Jamie Temko ’11 told her classmates to cherish each moment of their final year rather than to take them for granted. Remembering the lives of Brendan Kutler ’10, Julia Siegler ’14, and Ishan Bose-Pryne ’12, Temko urged the student body to let their legacies to inspire them to make their own mark on the school. Walking down the stairs of the bleachers, the students received their rings from Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra, and Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts read each name. “We will indeed put a ring on it,” Huybrechts said. President Tom Hudnut concluded the ceremony with what he called “the local equivalent of a papal blessing.” Representing the new leaders on campus, the senior class stood as the audience applauded.
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Eatures F the
Chronicle Volume XX Issue II Sept. 22, 2010
clocking in From pastry chef to movie theater attendant to karate teacher, students with part-time jobs clock in after school and on the weekends.
photos by leslie dinkin & joyce kim/chronicle Graphic by Ingrid Chang, Mary Rose FissInger & cami de ry
B2 Features
The
Managing Life with
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
Diabetes
By Mary Rose Fissinger
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alfway through first period math, in the midst of a lecture on axis symmetry and circles, Liza Wohlberg ’13 takes a short break from listening to her teacher and pulls out her blood glucose monitoring meter and slyly pricks her finger under the desk. Seeing that her blood sugar is at a healthy level, she silently puts her meter away and goes back to taking notes, her brief break having gone entirely undetected. Wohlberg has become accustomed to fitting in short insulin checks during her school days. She was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes when she was seven years old, and monitoring her blood sugar has become habitual, if not instinctual. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body does not create enough insulin. “Insulin is produced in the pancreas, and its purpose is to facilitate the transport of glucose into the cells of the body. Without insulin, cells would not have access to the glucose and therefore would not be able to function,” Diabetes Nurse Specialist at UCLA Medical Center Rose Healy said. In Type I Diabetes, the beta cells of the pancreas have stopped producing insulin, so insulin must be constantly pumped into the body to keep the blood sugar at a healthy level. “I test my blood sugar eight to ten times a day,” Wohlberg said. “I check before every meal, two hours after a meal, and before exercise. If my blood sugar is too high, I compensate by giving myself extra insulin via my insulin pump. If my blood sugar is too low, I eat or drink something, usually a protein bar or a juice box.” When Wohlberg was seven, her mother took her to the doctor after noticing that she had been overeating and drinking, losing weight, and displaying disinterest towards things that usually made her happy. She was diagnosed with diabetes and stayed in the hospital for three nights getting her blood sugar back under control. Kenny Lopez ’13 displayed similar symptoms at the age of eight, when his parents became concerned that he was drinking a lot of water, rapidly losing weight, and going to the bathroom very frequently. He too was diagnosed with Type I diabetes.
Sitting in the classroom or exercising on the field, Liza Wohlberg ’13 and Kenny Lopez ’13 take steps to maintain a healthy lifestyle in their active lives.
Lopez, like Wohlberg, must frequently monitor his blood glucose level, and he too has an insulin pump. “I also have to take pills twice a day because my body is becoming more and more insulin resistant as I grow older,” Lopez said. Both Lopez and Wohlberg have become very accustomed to this lifestyle, and say that it does not affect their day to day lives in any extreme way, though they do have to pay closer attention to what they eat and be careful of how they feel when they are exercising. “I count carbohydrates in order to know how much insulin to take per meal. I eat a pretty balanced diet, which I hope I would do anyway, but diabetes definitely makes me aware of what my meals are composed of and it’s important to get the right amount of protein in relation to sugar for me,” Wohlberg said. “The only thing I am limited on is my sugar intake, but I never ate much anyways, so it’s fine,” Lopez said. Both bring lunches from home, but on days when they don’t, they are able to find plenty of options in the cafeteria. “My favorite thing to get is sushi,” Wohlberg said. Diabetes affects Wohlberg’s life when she exercises more than at any other time. She is a ballet dancer, and she has to be careful of when she can wear her insulin pump and when she cannot. “Longer classes give me more of an issue. For example, if I take a two hour class, my strategy is usually to keep my pump on for the first twenty or so minutes, take it off for the bulk of class because heavy exercise will cause my blood sugar to drop and compensate for the lack of insulin, and then I’ll test my blood sugar and put it back on for the end of class, maybe the last 20 minutes,” Wohlberg said. She keeps a snack with her at all times, in case she feels her blood sugar decreasing, and she makes sure to drink plenty of water so that if her blood sugar is too high, the sugar is flushed out more quickly. Lopez also has learned to pay close attention to how he feels when exercising. “I do track and field, and I always have to be aware of how I feel, because exercise brings my BG [blood glucose] lower, so I can actually pass out if I go too low,” Lopez said.
Did you know... ...that 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population—have diabetes? ...that about one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents under the age of 20 has type 1 diabetes? ...that 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older each year? ...Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2006?
Source: American diabetes association
Diabetes: the breakdown Juvenile Onset (type I)
Adult Onset (type II)
Cause
The pancreas, the organ that secretes insulin, is destroyed by autoantibodies
Primarily a complicated medical condition called insulin resistance. However, in the early stages there is plenty of insulin
Prevalence
Occurs in about 10-15 percent of all the diabetics in the country
About 90 percent of diabetics fall into this category
Common Age
Occurs typically before the age of 20
Usually diagnosed after the age of 35
Treatment
They need insulin, either injected or through an insulin pump
Diet and exercise, oral medications; sometimes they may need insulin
Source Steven Edelman, M.D. infographic by allison hamburger, olivia kwitny and sade tavangarian
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Features B3 CLUE: The cylinder of a gun is where Dr. Arthur Tobias finds traits that distinguish the real from the fakes.
Gun Man Ceramicist Dr. Arthur Tobias may be the world’s foremost expert on Civil War firearms. By Alex Gura
T
hough Dr. Arthur Tobias may be known as a master potter, a superb teacher, or even a great sketcher, he may be one of the preeminent scholars on a very different topic. With three articles on fraudulent engravings, 12 articles on restoration and a book soon to be finished, Tobias could very well be a leading researcher on Civil War firearms. “The magazine publisher that publishes my work said to me ‘Well, you’re probably the world expert on this,’” Tobias said, “It’s one of those things that nobody had ever really bothered to look at very closely.” Tobias started truly delving into this obscure field when he was examining a private collection of antique firearms and comparing it to the collection of a local museum of Western art. “I had photos of a fake [revolver] next to the one that the museum had,” Tobias said, “And the engraving on the fake looked just like the one from the museum and I said, ‘Wait a minute. Either they’re both real, or they’re both fake.” Tobias’ article on the forgery, which he published two years ago, released an avalanche of information about frauds in the firearm collecting industry. “Basically the antique and art business is full of forgery,” Tobias said. “Turned out lots of people in the collectors’ world know about this but they just don’t talk about it.” After writing that breakthrough article, Tobias started to get dozens of letters asking him to confirm the authenticity of old firearms. “I had people who would write me letters and send pictures of their stuff, and go ‘This looks like what you said is phony in your article,’” he said. “Sort of like ‘Please tell me it’s not so,’ and I’d look at it and I’d say ‘Sorry, but you’re right. That’s one of the phony ones.’” Becoming such a prominent scholar on the topic took a lot of research, as not much was written about it. He had to use roundabout ways to gather information on the production and engraving of the weapons, which was very close to the way money was produced in the 19th century. So close, in fact, that Tobias joined a numismatics society, a group for people who
graphic by allison hamburger
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The magazine publisher that publishes my work said to me ‘Well, you’re probably the world expert on this.’”
—Dr. Arthur Tobias
collect antique currencies, and got lots of information from there. “You’d find expert books on Colt stuff and they’d say ‘Here’s how it’s done’, and they would be completely wrong,” Tobias said, “They would describe the process one way when it was really another.” The topic of Tobias’s expertise, more specifically, is the process of creating Colt revolvers, which were heavily used during the American Civil War and are prized items by collectors interested in American military history. Their rarity and importance causes them to be of high demand and allows them to be sold for incredibly high prices, with the rarest example selling for more than $850,000 at auction. “If you ever buy a historic piece,” Tobias said, “Buy it because you like it. There’s really no way to tell if it’s real or not.” Though the forgeries have spread throughout nearly every area of collection, both private and professional, Tobias figured out that they were all started by a single man born in Indiana. “Not too far away from where I was born,” Tobias said, with a chuckle. “The guy who did this engraving forgery [from the museum] made old guns out of new stuff and sold them for big bucks,” Tobias said. “Once I published the first article I got e-mails and letters saying ‘I know who did it.’ And they all said the same guy.” Tobias is planning to write a book on the subject, but not very soon. “I’ll wait until [my son] William ’12 leaves for college,” he said, “Then I’ll have more time to work on it.”
Top Gunner: Dr. Arthur Tobias owns two real Colt revolvers used in the Civil War. He has written several articles about firearms, and plans to write a book in the future.
allison hamburger/chronicle
View from the
By Ingrid Chang
A
fter returning from a semester at High Mountain Institute in Colorado, Jackson Foster ’11 decided to combine two of his passions, architecture and the environment, to make what seemed like a childhood project into something much more complex. Foster who has taken architecture classes at Harvard-Westlake since 10th grade, used his skills to design and build a 20-foot tall tree house in his backyard. Foster developed the idea while he was in Colorado. He had to take transition classes at High Mountain Institute, which were focused on adjusting to going back home after living outside constantly. For his classmates who lived in more forested areas, the transition was much easier, but he came up with an idea to help him bridge the gap between living in Colorado and Los Angeles. “I wanted to think of a concept of how I can manage to stay with the LA lifestyle of living indoors while also living outside,” Foster said. After spending a semester at High Mountain Institute he realized that he preferred living outside to inside. The treehouse’s wooden walls are left unpainted in order to show the natural grain. During the building process he made sure to never nail into the tree; he built completely around it. Foster built the tree house last December over a span of four months, with help from his uncle who is a general contractor. Foster drew the layout and his uncle helped him with some of the building. Foster has been building small projects since childhood but the tree house is the first architectural project he has completed. “This step of building took it to the next level,” Foster said. “It gave me the confidence to take on bigger projects.” “I knew how to represent a structure on paper so that people could build it,” Foster said, “I just wasn’t familiar with the building process, but now I am.” He took Directed Study classes with
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set designer Alex Kolmanovsky in 10th and 11th grade and is taking an independent study with him this year. “I couldn’t have done this without that class,” Foster said. “I had all the written plans and I made a model which I presented to my uncle. I definitely needed both of them.” Foster built an extremely architecturally sound structure; it is supported by chains that loop over the top of the tree, which splits into a Y-shape. “The only way for the chains to fall is if the tree is split in half, which won’t happen, so it’s really sturdy,” Foster said. For his Independent Study, Foster is currently designing an actual familysized house, and he is designing it to be 100 percent off the grid, using only alternative energy sources. Foster thinks he wants to pursue architecture in college and as a career, and plans on designing environmentally based buildings only, he said. “My passion for [the environment] is just as big as it is for designing and art.” Although the structure has been finished for months, the tree house is still undergoing changes. “I’m always adding things on the inside so it’s still in the works,” Foster said. “It’s funny when I tell people that I built a tree house at age 16 or 17 because it’s usually a little kid thing, but it was definitely spiritually important to me when I came back home,” he said. The inside is decorated with things from his childhood. The first thing you see when you walk in is Foster’s High Mountain Institute graduation certificate and a picture of his class. Sandwiched in the middle is a picture of him in his football uniform from seventh grade. The tree house is filled with old pictures and “random stuff that trigger little memories that I like,” Foster said. Among these are a plush ram’s head, his old skateboard, and banners from his summer camp. The pictures and mementos remind Foster of both where he’s been and his recent experience at High Mountain Institue. The tree house is a fusion of the two.
the great outdoors: Foster ’11 stands on the steps of his tree house (right). The treehouse is supported by chains. Nothing was nailed to the tree to preseve its structure (top left). Flags from Foster’s summer camp fill his treehouse with memories (bottom left).
photos by Ingrid chang/chronicle Graphic by cami de ry
Sept. 22, 2010
Features B5
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Photo Illustration by sade tavangarian
‘Lost’
&Found
By Eli Haims
Photos by hank gerba
invaluable treasures: Hank Gerba ’12 (top) wears his “Lost” jumpsuit. The Dharma and detergent props sold for $750 a set. The auction staff looks down the infamous hatch from the show. The prop of the nuclear bomb (bottom) called “Jughead” from the end of season was sold for $2,250.
An average of 10 million people watched each episode in the final season of the hit ABC show “Lost,” but only a handful had the opportunity to work at the “Lost” auction; one of these was Hank Gerba ’12. The auction, which raised money for ABC by selling more than 1000 items related to the show, was held at Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport. After seeing an episode at a friend’s house, Gerba’s confusion over the plot got the better of him and he watched the first five seasons on the internet before the sixth started. After hearing about the auction, Gerba’s father put him in contact with someone that he knew at ABC, who then connected him with someone working for the auction. “To be involved in an event that is a hallmark of the conclusion of the greatest television saga ever conceived is the envy of all Losties,” Jack Petok ’11, a fan of the show said. Gerba’s job started on Aug 19, the day before the two day event started. “[The event organizers] ordered at least six times that amount of water they needed, so they had me unpacking it and putting the bottles in a side room,” he said. The bottles had the logos of the Dharma Initiative and Oceanic Airlines on them, two important in the show. On the opening day, Gerba went to the auction as a guest, but because he had worked the day before, didn’t have to pay the $42 entrance fee, a number significant to the show. He admits that after a few hours the auction got boring to watch, but was interested in displays that had scenes from the show set up around the hanger. Some of his favorites included Sawyer’s beach setup and a piece of Oceanic Flight 815, the plane that crashed stranding all
Dean gives up New York state of mind By David Kolin While she was living in New York, Upper School Dean Tamar Adegbile used her car horn all the time, but she no longer uses it. “When the light changes here, people don’t move automatically,” Adegbile said. “In New York, people step on the gas as soon as the light changes, and if you don’t, someone will honk at you.” Since coming to Los Angeles, Adegbile said that she has become more patient. She moved to Los Angeles in order to enjoy the more temperate climate, and she came to Harvard-Westlake in 2003. Harvard-Westlake’s reputation and the opportunity to be a dean and college counselor made this school appealing, Adegbile said. In addition to being a dean, Adegbile said she also has an unusual talent; she has a surprisingly good “celebrity sense.” She is able to spot celebrities even when they are not in close proximity to her.
“I am not particularly star-struck, but I just happen to always notice people,” Adegbile said. Among the famous people that Adegbile has spotted are singer Mark McGrath and actor Harry Hamlin. Adegbile spotted McGrath while he was driving in a convertible in the opposite direction. McGrath is currently the lead singer of the band Sugar Ray and has been co-host of the television series “Extra.” She recognized Hamlin when he was driving in the car in front of her. Hamlin is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 movie “Clash of the Titans.” Before coming to Harvard-Westlake, Adegbile worked at Columbia University in college admissions for five years and then worked at Riverdale Country School in New York for three years. Adegbile’s baby is due at the end of October. While Adegbile is on maternity leave for three months, her advisees will be split among the other deans.
Props and costumes from the TV series were auctioned off this summer. For one fan, it was a summer job.
of the characters on an island in the show, that people could take pictures in. The next day, Gerba got to the hanger at 7 a.m, two hours before the auction opened. His job consisted of taking pictures of people in front of the scenes from the show and talking to people about the show. Many of the items that were going to be auctioned off later in the day were kept under glass cases for people to see, and one of his responsibilities was to make sure people didn’t take anything. The actual auction started around 1 p.m, with people bidding in person, by phone and online from approximately 40 countries, Gerba said. A few of the most expensive items were the Dharma Volkswagen van and jeep, which sold for $47,500 and $20,000, respectively, and a script for the pilot episode signed by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindolof, the co-creators, for $15,000. Everything ran smoothly until about 11 p.m. “The auction software wasn’t working. It was 11 at night and people were getting bored. We didn’t want people to leave because a lot of the high-priced stuff was at the end. So John [the MC] gets on stage and says ‘We’re going to show you a clip from the DVD while we think of some trivia’ hoping the software would be up by the end of the clip. I had met John before, but I could tell they were having a rough time so I ran up to the stage. They didn’t have any [trivia] and the clip was about to end. It just so happened that I had been quizzing people on trivia all day so I had like five questions. I ran up to John and introduced myself and told him my trivia. He got on stage and told the trivia and the crisis was averted,” Gerba said, and then, jokingly, “I saved the day. That was fun.” “It was cool to go, literally from one day to the next, from a fan to someone representing the the show,” Gerba said.
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Paychecks lure students into the labor force for the first time in jobs ranging from parking attendant to karate teacher.
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Chloe Lister/chronicle
—Anabel Pasarow
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As soon as summer began, Jean Park ’11 started her search for a job. Park decided to apply online to many amusement parks, figuring that they liked to hire a full time staff for the summer. “I didn’t actually think they’d respond because last summer no one responded to a lot of the online applications. Surprisingly though, I got a call from the operations manager at Universal Studios and she asked me how old I was. When she found out I was a minor, she told me I didn’t really have a chance at getting this job. However, two weeks later, I got a call from her again and she asked me to go to the Operations Building on Universal Citywalk. I was interviewed and then hired on the same day. The next week, I began training,” Park said. Park worked as a parking attendant at Universal Studios. Everyday, she would “clock in”, and get her radio and flashlight if she was working a nightshift. Then she would call for “dispatch” over the radio and find out where her first position was for the day. “As a parking attendant, I would greet guests and then direct them toward the tollbooths or the parking structures. We had to memorize lots of general information about the park if guests had any questions. Generally, your first position is where you are for at least 3 hours of your shift. The Dispatcher would decide when to replace you or let you have your break over the radio. My favorite part was probably meeting new people. All the parking attendants knew each other and the environment was very laid back and fun,” said Park. Park is still at Universal Studios part-timeworking night shifts during the week. She is currently in training to work at the tollbooths.
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With a satisfied smile, Vivien Mao ’12 fondly recalls the time when Chloe Lister ’12, Shana Saleh ’12, and Graydon Feinstein ’12 visited her at work; she had to remain professional despite her tendency to laugh with her friends, treating them as ordinary customers instead. The most rewarding part, she said with pride, was being complimented on the quality of the food that they purchased. Mao has been working at Freshii, a health food store on San Vicente Boulevard, for four weeks now and has thoroughly enjoyed it in spite of the exhausting toll it takes. Mao works on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for a total of 26 hours per week. Though she worked as a paid intern in the summer, this is the first paying job she has had during the school year, and she says that the two are very different. Mao prepares salads, bowls, wraps and soups, in addition to working as a cashier. Despite how strenuous the combination of work and school is, Mao says that working has improved her time efficiency skills. “It is gratifying to come home after hours of work, or when a customer really thanks you, or when you get your paycheck. It is satisfying, exhausting, crazy, and fun,” Mao said. Although she gets along very well with her co-workers and boss, Mao never expected that juggling a full school schedule and work would be as challenging as it has been thus far. Still, Mao says that she loves her work, even though she sacrifices a lot of her time working late hours. Mao had been looking for a job for a while, and when an opportunity at Freshii presented itself, she took it with determination wanting to help pay for all that her family has given her. “It’s definitely not enough to make up for the cost it has been to raise me, but I try my best to help out,” Mao said.
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h dis es a . r a p i unt pre ss mi ’11 estara er s p n r o ith ars at a dw te re P rking i in u r g p Re Ma ile wo t: wh r k Y a to c oo ed arn e l cULINAR he i ch wh om fr on
>> Health nut: Vivien Mao ’12 is a cashier at Freshii, a food stop on San Vicente Boulevard.
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Parking pro versal Studios: Holl
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ef ’s assistant
on Sunday morning and Maguire Parsons ’11 me after a long, eventful day – at work. As an stry chef at Campanile Restaurant on La Brea, ks 10 hours each Saturday prepping and plating
During a lull in business, Matthew Lee ’11 and a co-worker debate about the best way to bag popcorn. They have narrowed it down to two ways since the bags get stuck together: the wrist flick or the corner to corner method. The wrist flick looks suave, but sometimes causes the bag to rip, so Lee needs the exact motion of the wrist flick perfected before he can use it. This is just one of the many aspects that Lee enjoys in working at the Aero Theatre three to four times a week. Lee, like a growing number of students, is a part-time employee during school. During the summer, Lee searched for a job in various places around Los Angeles, but was only called back by the Aero Theater, which told him to come back at the end of August when they would have a job for him. Every work day, Lee has a range of jobs at work including ringing up tickets and food, controlling the projectors and making sure that the theater looks clean. “I get [to the theater at 6 p.m.] when I work. At six, it’s just the employees getting ready for the night. I go up and check the candy stock and if there’s not enough, I have to run upstairs and get more. I check the ice in the ice box and I also do the marquee, which is the hardest part. I also ring people up at the cash register and work at the ticket booth,” said Lee. Lee works Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and the weekends. Though Lee still has plenty of homework, he realizes now that he is much more time efficient on days when he has work because he knows that there is a limited amount of time to finish everything. “When I go home I am in super focused mode and I know I have to do all my homework. On days when I don’t have work, it takes me seven hours to do my homework because I don’t have that sense of urgency,” Lee said. “Pretty much everyone comes to the movie 15 minutes before it starts which starts a really long line and means you have to go into robot mode. But sometimes you make mistakes with the robot mode, but you just have to deal with it,” Lee said. Stuffed full of funny stories from the beginning of his job, Lee is never shy to share his tales. He has seen good times and great benefits, but also experienced the small irritations that come with working at customer service. “The first time I picked up the phone I said “‘Hi, this is the Aero Theater’ and the guy said ‘Hi, Aero Theater,’ so now I just say “Hi, this is Matt at the Aero Theater,” Lee said.
ornia cuisine with Italian influences,” Parsons
d working there this summer after he asked the then assistant manager and sommelier, or arge of wine, for a job. During the summer he dnesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but when school ut it down to just Saturdays. the time commitment is still large, and somes it difficult to manage all his school work as well. I can’t do that much work on Saturday, and Sunsleep for a long time, and I’ve got a lot of other n,” Parsons said. worth it,” he says, “It’s a free culinary education e food.” o the restaurant at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and e hours prepping food. He prepares things like cream and panna cotta, which is an Italian desy mixing cream, sugar, milk, and gelatin and topberries, caramel or chocolate sauce. goes into service, which he describes as “when the tions come in to be served.” his time, Parsons plates the food, as well as doing rep if not enough food was prepared before. Preps making designs on the plates with the food and y making it look nice, Parsons said. is favorite part is finishing a long line of tickets. sist of food orders that Parsons must plate and service. tisfying,” he remarks. e opened in 1989 and has since had a reputaary excellence, Parsons said. It was the recipient s Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurant 01 and 2008. has sparked a culinary interest in Parsons. d a lot, but I never really cooked before. etty much every day,” he said. ked if he has any interest in areer in the restaurant remarked, “I could see ng a restaurant.”
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ofessional: Jean Park ’11 works in the Unilywood parking lot directing cars to their spots.
Although Rachel Katz ’11 is still a senior in high school, she works between four and 10 hours a week after school at Karate Families, a Shotokan karate dojo in Tarzana. Katz has worked at Karate Families since January 2010. Katz heard about the job through one of her Senseis that owns the studio. She plans to keep her job until she heads off for college next September. At Karate Families, Katz instructs children ages three to 14 in the art of Shotokan karate. Shotokan karate is a martial art form created by Gichin Funakoshi in Okinawa Japan. “Mostly I constantly pump Purell to avoid getting sick after sparring with a bunch of squirmy tots,” Katz said. Among the different activities Katz does with the kids, she said her favorite thing about teaching karate is seeing a student improving and really understanding a technique or kata (combination form). Katz said her least favorite thing about teaching karate is when the children test her limits. “I’m dreadfully impatient, so when a kid is testing my limits for the sake of, well, testing my limits, I get frustrated, which makes it harder to teach,” she said. Katz has been a black belt for seven years. “I felt indebted to my Sensais who taught me karate from the ground up, and I wanted to share the same thing with other kids,” she said. “It’s also a great way for me to ‘master the basics,’” Katz said. “I’m always understanding old techniques in new ways because teaching has forced me to. My knowledge of why I’m doing what I’m doing has become a lot more thorough through explanation.” —Jordan McSpadden
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—Vivien Mao
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Film Buff: Matt Lee ’11 changes the movies displayed on the marquee of the Aero Theater, his place of work since August.
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
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B8 Features
High Stakes
By Catherine Wang
The five superhero seniors are busy tackling applications and the start of senior year. Alexis: the Athlete Alexis’* college list has not changed – she is still being recruited by Emory University, Saint Mary’s College of California, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has however, selected a top choice: St. Mary’s. Alexis has not gone on any official recruiting trips to any school yet, as she is waiting for a convenient time to go. “Not just for me but also for [the schools] as well because they are very busy during [this] season,” she said.
Aiden: All-Around “It still has a new car smell,” Aiden* says of his college application process. “I haven’t done much really other than the basic info on the Common Application, he said. Aiden has difficulty picturing himself at any one particular school at the moment, so he does not think he will apply anywhere early. He still plans on applying to University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Duke University, and has his eye on the University of Pennsylvania, what he considers a “challenge” school. As for his senior year classes, Aiden is enjoying himself, saying his classes are “easy” compared to last year. He is upbeat about his final year in high school. “I’m having a smooth ride this year,” he said. “Smooth sailing.”
illustration by melissa gertler
Carter: the Brain
Zoe: the Artist
Carter* is still planning on going full throttle and applying to three schools Early Action: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and University of Chicago. He has been writing rough drafts of application essays, but he is still coming up with new essay ideas, he said. CalTech and Chicago use the Common Application, while MIT has its own application. Regarding the emphasis he puts on each application, Carter said he gives 100 percent of his effort on all three. “I don’t want to sacrifice one for the other,” he said. A science and math oriented student, Carter is not sure whether he will submit a science supplement with his application yet.
Zoe* has decided that in addition to applying to New York University Early Decision, she will apply to Emerson University Early Action. She has been working on both of the schools’ applications and plans on starting the University of Southern California application next. She has started a draft of the Common Application essay. “Finishing my early applications before October would be ideal,” she said. “But I’m kind of a procrastinator, so I’ll probably get it done in October. Basically, I just want to get it done three weeks before the Nov. 1 deadline.” Zoe called the process of compiling her art portfolio “crazy,” and said she still has a lot of work to do on them. “I’m sort of numb with senior year and pressure and applications,” she said. However, she does find senior year to be more enjoyable than junior year. “All the classes I’m taking are ones I want to take,” she said. “None of them are filling requirements or for college.
Madison: the Performer In the past weeks, Madison* finalized her decision to apply to Wesleyan College Early Decision, and she has been working on her application. With two different performing arts shows approaching as well as a commitment to a major student club, she has “a lot going on.” “I have a lot on my plate,” she said. “I have to do a lot of time management now and give up social time. But I do it all because I love to.” As of now, Madison plans on submitting a performing arts resume with the Common Application, but Wesleyan does not have a performing arts supplement. “I’m excited for [the college process] to be started and for it be over with too,” she said.
* names have been changed
Chronicle
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Sept. 22, 2010
Shifting gears
A&E B9
An interest in off-road racing inspired Ben Greif ’12 to design a car for himself. By Victor Yoon
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printed with permission of Ben Greif
Mechanics: Ben Greif ’12 stands with Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers, who created the first Rally Fighter. Greif plans to make a similar car this spring, with the help of his brother and father working as assistants.
en Greif ’12 is neither a mechanic nor a professional driver, but that isn’t going to stop him from building and racing in his own car. He plans to work with the company Local Motors to build his own Rally Fighter, a hybrid street car with off-road rally capabilities. Greif first learned of the Rally Fighter while reading the May 2010 issue of the magazine, Popular Science. He was drawn by its uniqueness and its ability to perform as both a high performance off-road vehicle and a road-legal “everyday” vehicle. “I was just in awe when I first saw the double page image of the car, but I thought my parents would never go for it,” he said. He researched the car and proposed the idea of getting the Rally Fighter to his parents, who eventually came around to it. He had already expressed an interest in racing to his parents, and they found off-road racing to be a safer alternative to track racing. “Well, I was already obsessed and even though I thought that it seemed absurd at first, once my arguments were laid out my parents saw that it really wasn’t that crazy,” he said. “You see, the other option was that I wait until I’m 18 and spend 40 grand on the fastest street car I can get,” Greif said. Greif plans to build the car around May 2011, but planning begins much earlier. In May, he will go to Arizona, where Local Motors’ closest microfactory is. He will be aided by the instruction of a Local Motors supervisor and two assistants,
most likely his father and his brother, Nick Grief ’07, who will be physically involved in the building of his car, Greif said. Although they will have a pre-built chassis, and some of the very special or difficult work will be done by Local Motors’ workers, he and his assistants will be responsible for building the rest of the car, from putting in the engine and brakes to the seats and seatbelts. “All the work that can in good reason be done by the buyer is done by the buyer so that the car can be registered as a custom vehicle. This is so that Local Motors doesn’t have to put the Rally Fighter through expensive crash testing.,” Grief said. “It’s extremely expensive to do crash testing and other safety tests, especially for a car with a limited production of only 2,000 units that’s coming from a fairly small company,.” Not only does Greif plan to build the car himself, but he plans to also pay for the car himself. With money he received as Bar Mitzvah gifts and the money he made from working at Bristol Farms grocery store over the summer, he will be able to pay for about 80 percent of the car. His parents will lend him the rest, and he will pay them back without interest over the next few years, in an arrangment they worked druing the planning process. He has already put in a reservation to buy the car. “Although reserving the car just puts one on hold for a not very committing $100 deposit that’s refundable, I was still grateful because it showed that my parents were willing to consider it,” he said.
Teachers exhibit artwork at Marlborough School By Catherine Wang Several Visual Arts Department faculty members have their work on exhibit at the first Faculty Art Show held in the recently opened Seaver Art Gallery at Marlborough School. The Faculty Art Show Opening Reception was held Monday, and the exhibit will be open until Oct. 15. The show features artwork – paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, multimedia, interactive art work, and video art - submitted by over 40 visual arts faculty from 15 Los Angeles-area independent schools. “Joshua Deu, from the Marlborough Art Department, invited all of us to participate in the show about a month ago,” Visual Arts teacher Kevin O’Malley said. “[Marlborough] was looking to fill [its new gallery] with a nice local, “blockbuster” show.” O’Malley, who teaches Photography and Drawing & Painting III, is showing two photo-realist paintings. Every member of the Middle School Visual Arts Department submitted work to the exhibit, Middle School Visual Arts Department Head Brenda Anderson said.
In addition to O’Malley, nine other Upper School Visual Arts teachers contributed their work to the exhibit. Video art teacher Cheri Gaulke is showing a book and a short documentary video about her wedding. John Luebtow, a 3-D art teacher, contributed three glass pieces. Allan Sasaki, school archivist and Photography teacher, is showing a photograph and a hand-made book. Dylan Palmer and Arthur Tobias, both ceramics teachers, are showing ceramic pieces. Nancy Popp, a video art teacher, is showing a series of photos documenting some of her performance art. Drawing and Painting teacher Marianne Hall also contributed her work. The Faculty Art Show was inspired by the annual Student Invitational Art Show, an exhibit hosted by Marlborough for over 25 years that features artwork from local independent schools. Each year, Harvard-Westlake sends about six pieces to the student show, O’Malley said. Chelsea McMahon ’10 and Gracie Warwick ’10 submitted photographs last year.
mariel brunman/chronicle
art school: Visual Arts Head Cheri Gaulke displayed her “Marriage Matters” collection, in addition to the film entitled “Our Wedding.”
Auditions begin for Scene Monkeys By Michael Aronson Scene Monkeys, the upper school improvisation troupe, will hold a workshop Friday before auditions Oct. 1 and callback auditions Oct. 8 after school in the Drama Lab. The group will be playing improv games that focus on storytelling, character development, and ensemble work, Michele Spears said. She is in charge of the program this year. Auditions are open to everyone and no improv experience is required to join the Scene Monkeys. “The workshop is not required but is highly recommended,” said Spears. The Scene Monkeys is a student founded improv group that started in 2002 and has ranged from having 12-17 participants per year. The majority of their events take place in the spring, both in and out of school. “We will be performing at the Playwrights Festival on April 14, 15, and 16, at the Hollywood Improv Theater on May 8, and the main shows will be here at Harvard-Westlake on May 20,” Spears said. Jordan Elist ’13 is interested in the program and will be auditioning Oct 1. Elist was inspired when he saw an improv show known as “the Groundlings” which in the past has included actors Will Ferrell, Kathy Griffin, and Harvard alumni Jon Lovitz. “I have always wanted to be a better improviser, and making funny situations out of random audience suggestions seems like an interesting skill to me. I hope I can make it,” Elist said.
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
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B10 A&E
Setting the stage By Emily Khaykin Bright lights glittered along the Las Vegas strip as a recently-hired group of architects entered the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, greeted by the tunes and whistles of the slot machines on the casino floor. The group walked towards the hotel’s back lot on the opposite side of the building. Exiting the hotel, the architects finally saw the 33-acre empty lot, which they would spend the next year transforming into the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park. “I was part of the group in charge of designing the Haunted Mine rollercoaster theme ride,” recalled Alex Kolmanovsky, the set designer for HarvardWestlake’s theatrical productions. “Basically, the story we came up with was surrounding a couple of poor miners who got lost in a cave-in when the mine exploded. “On a stage, you can at least take measurements, like the length and width of the stage,” Kolmanovsky said. “But in that back lot, there was absolutely nothing for us to go on. We had to imagine all that we were going to do in our heads.” Originally from the Soviet Union, Kolmanovsky moved to Los Angeles in 1977, after refusing to join the Red Army. “I was basically kicked out of Russia,” he said. When Kolmanovsky arrived in the United States, the first thing he did was join the U.S. Army. “I just wanted to stick it to [the Russian government],” Kolmanovsky said. “But the real reason I joined the army was just so that I could get money for college.” After three years serving in the military, Kolmanovsky used the money he received to attend University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied architecture. After graduating, Kolmanovsky attended the California Institute of the Arts from which he received his Master’s degree in Fine Arts. “After college, I was ambitious and wanted to find
Alex Kolmanovsky has designed the theatrical sets since 1997
the most complex project I could,” Kolmanovsky said. “So I ended up going to Seoul, Korea to design a theme ride for the 1993 World Expo. “It was a ride that was supposed to convey the past, present and future of communications in Korea,” he said. “It was very ambiguous, which was why it was interesting to design.” Since his first project, Kolmanovsky has helped design various theme rides including Disneyland’s “Alien Encounter” and “E.T. Adventure” at Universal Studios. He also spent a great deal of his time in Las Vegas. Besides designing the “Haunted Mine” and “Treasury Island” rides for the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park, he also designed the casino for the hotel New York, New York, among many other projects. Kolmanovsky was one of the designers for the observation deck at the (former) World Trade Center. “Within a group of people designing a building or a ride, you’ve got three types of people: the architects like me who think up what the building as a whole will look like, the technical people, like the construction engineers who figure out the physics of it all, and then you have the people who do the interior design, who create the look and feel of the inside,” Kolmanovsky said. “For big projects, it’s a group effort.” Despite his architectural achievements, however, Kolmanovsky likes designing for the stage the best. “A good set will put the story of the play in motion and will keep the show going,” Kolmanovsky said. “The director of a show is like a psychologist, while the set designer for a show is a sociologist.” “For ‘City of Angels’ last year, the story nominally takes place in Los Angeles,” he said, “but my job was to figure out how to make the audience realize that the set represents the city, while still giving them the job of interpreting the scenery. That’s where the big Hollywood sign came from.” Kolmanovsky came to Harvard-Westlake in 1997
Printed with permission from Alex Kolmanovsky
Viking adventure: Alex Kolmanovsky stands on the set of the aquatic attraction “Viking Adventure” in Wakayama, Japan. and has built all the theatrical sets for the school’s productions since. “I think if I were to ever get another project, I’d like to design a house or an estate,” Kolmanovsky said. “It takes time to learn everything,” he said,” and I believe that after designing projects in so many different fields, that might be a really interesting change.”
Rehearsals start for musical ‘Pippin’ Leading Player.......Max Sheldon ’11 Pippin.................. Ben Platt ’11 Charles................ Hank Doughan ’12 Lewis...................Nick Lieberman ’11 Fastrada...............Kathryn Gallagher ’11 Berthe................. Beanie Feldstein ’11 Catherine............. Bella Hicks ’12 Theo....................Lucas Foster ’13
Bo Lee/chronicle
Rehearsal: Danielle Wieder ’12, Hannah Zipperman ’12, Jasilyn Marine ’13 and Catherine Haber ’12 rehearse dance moves for the upcoming musical ‘Pippin.’
Co-directors Michele Spears, Ted Walch Music Director Daniel Faltus Dancing Players Catherine Haber ’12 Rebecca Hutman ’12 Jasilyn Marine ’13 Mikaila Mitchell ’13 Danielle Wieder ’12 Hannah Zipperman ’12 Singing Sextet Lexi Fadel ’13 Danielle Strassman ’11
Rehearsals for ‘Pippin’ started Sept. 12 and the show is due to open on Nov. 4
the ‘Pippin’ cast
Megan Ward ’13 Danielle Wieder ’12 Jessica Yorkin ’11 Elana Zeltser ’13 Players Cory Batchler ’13 Stephen Carr ’12 Jacob Chapman ’12 Autumn Chiklis ’12 Laura Edwards ’13 Solange Etessami ’13 Lexi Fadel ’13 Samantha Frischling ’13 Matthew Goldhaber ’11 Nick Healy ’13
Arianna Lanz ’13 Josh Lappen ’13 Halle Levitt ’12 Deborah Malamud ’13 Rebecca Moretti ’13 Sophia Penske ’13 Jack Petok ’11 Danny Roth ’12 Sam Sobel ’11 Danielle Strassman ’11 Danielle Strom ’11 Megan Ward ’13 Kelsey Woo ’11 Jessica Yorkin ’11 Elana Zeltser ’13
Actress speaks to ‘Grease’ cast By Allison Hamburger Actress Marilu Henner (Joey Lieberman ’14, Nick Lieberman ’11), who was the first Marty in “Grease” when it debuted in Chicago in 1971, told the middle school cast of “Grease” Monday what it was like being in the original production of the show. When Henner was a high school student in Chicago, she was approached by Jim Jacobs, her friend from community theater. He told her that he had written a script about people he went to high school with and that she reminded him of one of the characters. Henner and several other people read scenes from the script for several weeks, mainly as a workshop. The show then was performed at the University of Chicago. “Grease” soon went to Off-Broadway and Broadway. Henner was the only member of the original cast who was asked to continue to the Broadway show, but she decided to attend University of Chicago instead. She contacted drama teacher Kate
Benton when she discovered that the Middle School chose “Grease” as the fall musical, offering to speak to the cast to give them more insight about life as a 1950s teenager. “The reason ‘Grease’ has endured for so many years is because it is about real high school kids,” Henner said. She hopes the cast members will find themselves in the distinct personalities of the characters. “I’d love to share any and all knowledge of the show because it’s been a part of my life for a very long time,” she said. The production of “Grease” will be directed by drama teacher Jim Doughan, with Musical Director Christopher Wong. Choir director Nina Burtchaell is the Vocal Director, and dance teacher Carrie Green will choreograph. “Hopefully the students will be inspired to create their characters based in reality and gain a better understanding of the energy and style that is required of each cast member to perform in this kind of musical,” said Benton.
Henry Hahn/vox
Broadway star: Actress Marilu Henner speaks to the cast of the musical ‘Grease’ at the middle school
‘Grease’ cast list Angel Girls Aiyana White, Claire Nordstrom, Genny Thomas Other Pink Ladies Aiyana White, Claire Nordstrom, Sarah Wimer, Hannah Kofman, Tara Joshi Other T-Birds Dylan Schfrin, Will Hariton, Brian Adler, Adam Hirschhorn, Zach Birnholz Students, Cheerleaders Covi Brannan, Genny Thomas, Marialexa Natsis, Emma Kofman, Shelby Weiss, Josie Shaughnessy, Olivia Rosenbloom, Ari Berman, Elizabeth Edel, Kennedy Corrin, Sophia Sunkin
Miss Lynch......... Angie Haney Patty................. Kelly Crosson Eugene..............Noah Bennett Jan................... Arden Williams Marty.................Molly Chapman Rizzo.................Camelia Somers Doody................Adam Yaron Roger................ Justin Carr Kenickie.............Alex Haney Sonny................Greg Lehrhoff Frenchy............. Emma Pasarow Sandy................Beatrice Fingerhut Danny................Alex Thal Vince Fontaine....Daniel Palumbo Johnny Casino.... Eric Greenberg Cha-Cha............ Sophia Oman Teen Angel.........Joss Saltzman Dance Captain.... Kelly Crosson
A&E B11
Chronicle
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Sept. 22, 2010
All photos reprinted with permission of Cheri Gaulke
In the Moment: Scenes taken from “A Gum’s Life” (left), “Cause of Death,” made by Lizzie Barcay
’07 (center), and “Transatlantique,” made by Lucas Foster ’13. (right), three of four films sent to Spain for the
International Debut By Alex Gura For the first time in school history, four student films will be screened at an international film festival. The Barcelona International TV Festival requested three films be sent to the festival, all of which will be screened from Nov. 16-18. One of the films sent, titled “Never Again” by Jessica Lee ’08, has been entered into a competition with dozens of others from across the globe for a UNICEF prize. These prizes are given by the United Nations to films that reinforce ethical and humanitarian values; such films as Public Service Announcements or those made to raise awareness for social issues. In past years, films from Hong Kong, Uruguay, Holland, Romania, Lebanon, Iraq and several other countries have been submitted to the competition at the festival. “I am hoping that this festival will lead to international recognition of our video program,” said Visual Arts Head Cheri Gaulke. “My big hope is that it leads to other international film festivals for our program.” The festival contacted Gaulke and requested the films in late summer, much to her surprise. “Before this, I didn’t even know the festival existed,” Gaulke said. “Our films are so good and we have such a reputation that we are being asked by international festivals to send films.” Lee’s film, “Never Again”, which Gaulke said is one of her favorites, is a Public Service Announcement film that raises awareness for genocide in Darfur. “Making good PSAs is hard, and good ones are rare,” Gaulke said. “I don’t want to put down other PSAs, but they just aren’t as good as this.” The film, made in 2007, starts out with stark images of past genocides and death tolls listed next to them. It transitions between stills from the Holocaust, and Rwandan, Cambodian and Serbian geno-
Barcelona International Television Festival, along with “Never Again,” a film directed by Jessica Lee ’08.
Four student-created films were sent to Spain for the Barcelona International TV Festival in late November.
cides until it reaches a picture from the genocide in Darfur, with large red letters stating 150,000 people killed “so far.” Another film in the same category, “Cause of Death,” by Lizzie Barcay ’07, is also a Public Service Announcement, spreading awareness of the dangers of teen suicide. Filmed entirely in the Upper School quad, the short shows various students standing in front of the camera with different causes of death painted on their palms, with the final shot displaying a girl with a blood smeared hand, representing suicide. The shot afterwards explains that suicide takes more teenage lives than all other causes combined. Debuting at the 2005 Harvard-Westlake Film Festival, it won the Best Directing and Best Overall Film awards that year. A third film, “Transatlantique,” by Lucas Foster ’13, was also requested specifically by the Children’s Television Film Festival. “Transatlantique,” a film about a brother and sister separated by a divorce, concerns their day together when one comes back from France to America to visit. “I think the film was chosen for the festival because it’s an example of teenagers dedicating their time to execute a project,” said Foster. “Content-wise, it’s alternative in the way that the French language is integrated into the film, and I believe that the characters are ones that most would connect to.” Gaulke also asked if she could send in a fourth film, “A Gum’s Life,” about a day in the life of a pack of chewing gum. It was one of the first animations produced at the summer film program. “I thought about what people at the festival would be interested in,” said Gaulke. “I saw lots of animations, so I decided to send in one.” One challenge in sending the films to Spain was that every film would have to be subtitled in Spanish. For the task, Gaulke recruited Spanish teachers Joaquin Fernandez-Castro and Margot Riemer. However, Gaulke found that subtitling wasn’t as easy
“
I am hoping that this festival will lead to international recognition of our video program.”
—Cheri Gaulke Upper School Visual Arts Department Head
as she thought. “If you were going to translate the song ‘Rain in Spain’ from My Fair Lady into Spanish, it wouldn’t work, or rhyme, or make sense. You have to manipulate the words,” said Gaulke. “[Subtitling] was a slower process than I thought. It took me about six hours to do the translation of an eight-minute movie,” Fernandez-Castro explained. “A ‘literal’ translation is never a good translation. The best translation is the one that captures the ‘spirit’ of what is being said in one language and culture into a different language and culture.” Gaulke said that Fernandez-Castro’s expertise is further increased by his roots. “Since Joaquin is a Spaniard, it makes him especially helpful,” said Gaulke. “He knows idioms and phrases from Spain and used by Spaniards that allow the films to have more fluid subtitles,” she said. Even before the Barcelona festival has started, more invitations have already come; for instance, The New York International Children’s Festival has recently requested that the visual arts department send in films to screen. “Regardless of winning an award or not,” Fernandez-Castro said, “it will show the artistic talent of our students internationally. But I hope for the best.”
4 alums act, direct, light new play By Mary Rose Fissinger
all photos re printed with permission of Adam Howard ’93
ACTING OUT: Howard ’93 (left) and Isaac Laskin ’98 (right) stare at an attractive customer from in a restaurant (top). Isaac Laskin ’98 (left) and Adam Howard ’93 (right) deal with complications (bottom).
An alumni-directed play opening Friday night and running through October stars two alumni who are now faculty. A fourth is handling the lighting. Upper school English teacher Adam Howard ’93, middle school history teacher Isaac Laskin ’98, and alums Dan Fishbach ’94 and Will Adashek ’01 are working together on Nicky Silver’s “The Maiden’s Prayer.” “Essentially, the play examines the inter-relationships of five complex individuals — siblings, life-long friends, spouses, new friends, ex-lovers — all in search of ideal love. The main action ranges from quirky comedy to varying losses that exist on a pretty epic scale,” Howard said. Howard has acted with Fishbach in several shows at HarvardWestlake (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Hair” and “Gypsy”) and
at Kenyon College, where they both were undergrads. After college, Fishbach decided to switch his attention to directing. “I tried briefly to make it as an actor, with minor success. I realized that my interest and arguably my talent was directing,” Fishbach said. Fishbach directed Howard in “Private Eyes,” at the end of last summer. “We enjoyed working together and decided to collaborate on another production,” Howard said. “When I heard that Adam and Dan were putting up a play, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it,” Laskin said. Fishbach directed Laskin in a one-act play as a part of Ted Walch’s Summer Intensive Acting Workshop in 1999. Laskin was involved in performing arts when he was a student at Harvard-Westlake. “The first show I ever did was called ‘The Diviners,’” which they
are actually doing again this year at the middle school, when I was in ninth grade. Once I moved on to the Upper School I kept at it, doing six shows in my three years there. I was exceptionally lucky to have gotten to work with Ted Walch, who remains to this day the finest acting teacher I have ever had,” Laskin said. Laskin has returned to the campus recently – this time as a history teacher. He is filling in for Rosemary Van Vlijmen, teaching seventh and ninth grade history. “It’s very cool to get to experience Harvard-Westlake from a teacher’s perspective. It has made me appreciate just how hard my teachers worked... how dedicated they were to my educational experience,” Laskin said. Along with actors Howard and Laskin and director Fishbach, Adashek is the lighting designer. He was involved in the technical aspects of shows in high school.
in full
Chronicle
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B12 Features
bloom jessica barzilay/chronicle
Leslie dinkin/chronicle
JUSTINE GOODE/chronicle
Sept. 22, 2010
The upper school campus is home to more than 1,500 species of plants, creating a vibrant and lush landscape. By Jessica Barzilay
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ven the walk from class to class can be educational at HarvardWestlake. With a campus full of greenery and biodiversity, students leave the classroom to see the ecological and biological phenomena taught in their lessons as they exist in nature. Creating and maintaining the plant life on campus is full of challenges, but it is also a real world example of science in action. Felipe Anguiano, Upper School Plant Manager, can attest to the complexities of balancing the many factors that his job entails. “There are a lot of different considerations when we are talking about landscaping,” Anguiano said. Chief among those considerations is safety, he said, and potential danger is the most frequent reason for changing the upper school landscape. The school commissions tree trimmings three times a year, in order to secure against the risks posed by the pairing of overgrown branches and California earthquakes. A man referred to as the “Tree Doctor” from Cali Scott Tree Company comes to evaluate the campus foliage several times throughout the year. “It’s only for safety or access, or else we don’t touch the trees; we just prune them and keep them alive,” Anguiano said. For instance, when a pipe burst under the cafeteria, the school had to remove a tree in order to repair the pipe. Aesthetics also play a role in the decisions made regarding vegetation. Flower beds near Seaver and Rugby are rotated seasonally to display the most vibrant species in bloom, but this system of rotation serves a dual purpose; by cycling in different plants, the landscapers ensure that the nutrients in the soil never get depleted. An outside contractor, CBR Landscaping, does most of the physical plant maintenance on campus. The company, which has been working with the school for 30 years, sends two men to work eight hours a day, five days a week. They
trim, water and tend the vegetation, as well as monitor the growth of weeds. The weeds on campus are just one of the many examples of living science that students of AP Environmental Science and AP Biology learn about. In APES, students investigate the biodiversity of insects in soil samples from around school. Tara Kheradyar, who teaches APES, also works to give students an appreciation of the process of the growth and cultivation of plants. “Our focus is mainly on how plants deplete nutrients in soils, and how this problem is remedied by different agricultural practices,” Kheradyar said. The students are currently growing green beans, a type of legume that restores the nutrients to the soil, as they study the benefits of the diverse flora around campus, Kheradyar said. The school provides the ideal environment for biodiversity tests since there are at least 1,500 different types of trees, Anguiano said. A project begun several years ago placed between 50 and 100 plaques around campus to identify the species of selected trees. Another consideration for landscapers is the desert climate and the need to conserve water, Anguino said. In compliance with a local ordinance, Anguiano and the maintenance team have retrofitted the valves so that the sprinklers run only twice a week for no more than 15 minutes at a time. In addition to teaching ecological concepts in AP Biology, science teacher Blaise Eitner also cares for specimens of plants used as teaching tools by the science department. Originally trained as a botanist, Eitner takes notice of the flora at Harvard-Westlake and encourages students to do the same. “I am impressed by the job that the staff does maintaining the landscaping and plants around campus. I think the students largely (and understandably) take it for granted, but I really appreciate the beauty of both of our campuses,” Eitner said.
jessica barzilay/chronicle
growth spurt: AP Biology teacher Blaise Eitner, who was originally trained as a botanist, waters a dracena plant that the science teachers use as a teaching tool (top left). Flower beds near Seaver and Rugby are rotated seasonally to ensure that the soil is never depleted of vital nutrients. (top right and middle left). Juan Jaramillo, an employee for CBR Landscaping, helps keep the campus’ landscape balanced (above). These vivid flowers, situated in front of Munger Science Center (at right), are some of the many plants around the campus that the gardeners care for.
JUSTINE GOODE/chronicle
ports S
Recruiting season Several Wolverines, including junior baseball pitcher Lucas Giolito, commit to colleges or identify their top choices.
the Chronicle Volume XX Issue II Sept. 22, 2010
C5
School offers lacrosse job to candidate
By Alex Leichenger
Alex Leichenger/chronicle
Alex Leichenger/chronicle
With the varsity lacrosse head coach position still vacant, the Athletic Department has made an offer to a candidate, but the two sides had not agreed to terms as of Monday night. The candidate was offered the position Monday, and the coach was considering the offer when The Chronicle went to press that night. Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said he hopes an agreement will be reached with the coach by Friday. “We want closure, and they want closure,” Barzdukas said. “It’s just a matter of getting to that point.” Although Barzdukas declined to provide the candidate’s name or specific details about him, he said that the candidate currently holds a coaching position at another school, which is part of the reason he will need to time to consider the offer with his family. The job became open when former head coach Mark Haddad left in late May. Since then, the athletic department has interviewed a wide range of candidates, with the search eventually coming down to two people. “[The final two candidates] are both extremely qualified, they’ve demonstrated leadership in terms of running other coaching staffs, they have deep knowledge of lacrosse...and they’re a good cultural fit for HarvardWestlake,” Barzdukas said. Barzdukas said the school was fortunate that many coaches from the East Coast, traditionally the strongest lacrosse region in the nation, have started to look for jobs on the West Coast. “There’s almost a California gold rush going on,” he said.
Reprinted with permission of Roger on
Speed Racers: Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12 pursue a Louisville runner in a meet Sept. 16 at Crescenta Valley Park (top). Yasmin Moreno ’13 and Kevin On ’11 run in the same meet (bottom).
INdepth
Injuries sideline Cross country teams open season with top ranks in state three key athletes By David Gobel
By Julius Pak Cami Chapus ’12 finished third in her division, and fourth overall, with a time of 16:59, at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic last Saturday. Chapus was faster than all the runners from Great Oak High School, the top-ranked girls’ cross country program in Division I. Although the cross country teams normally compete in Division IV, both of the teams competed at higher levels at Woodbridge. The boys’ team competed at the “varsity rated” division, the second-highest tier; the girls’ team competed at the “sweepstakes” division, the category with the fastest schools in the state. The girls’ team placed 11th out of the 28 teams that competed in the “Sweepstakes” division. They also placed 25th overall of the 171 schools that competed, defeating many Division II and III teams, including the top-ranked Division II team Redondo Union High School. Amy Weissenbach ’12 placed eighth individually and ninth overall with a time of 17:06. Lauren Hansson ’11, a star sprinter for the track team, finished fourth for the Wolverines and 106th overall in her first cross country race. The boys’ team placed 26th out of 27 schools, and placed 77th overall of the 185 boys’ teams. Individually, Kevn On ’11 finished 10th in his division, and the 53rd fastest time out of the entire invitational, with a time of 15:14. The meet, hosted at Estancia High School due to construction at the usual Woodbridge High School venue, pitted some of the top cross country programs in the state. “Because it’s one of the largest single-day events in the nation, [the Woodbridge Invitational] is one of the most exciting meets. It’s extra fun because it’s very exciting to run at night,” Weissenbach said. The girls’ cross country team won its first league meet on Thursday, Sept. 16, defeating five other cross country programs to win. Despite having no runners in the top three plac-
es, as well as finishing at least a full minute after the fastest runner, the girls’ team took half of the top 10 finishes, ending with 36 points, and defeating top challengers Flintridge Sacred Heart and Notre Dame Academy. Weissenbach led the team with a fourth place finish, with a time of 21:09 for the three mile run. Nikki Goren ’12 placed sixth with a time of 21:27. CIF champion Chapus followed Goren with a time of 21:41. Sophomores Yasmin Moreno ’13 and Caitlin Yee ’13 finished in ninth and tenth places with times of 21:51 and 22:04, respectively. The boys’ team finished fifth out of seven in the league match, losing to Loyola. Kevin On ’11 finished fourth. This meet, held at Crescenta Valley Park, was a new modification to the league. Instead of competing in a multitude of races against other schools individually, the cross country teams of the Mission League will compete in two league “cluster meets” where all the teams will compete at once. “The plan is that this will result in fewer races before the post-season and more exciting competition,” Chef d’Equipe Geoff Bird said. Earlier this month, ESPN RISE magazine ranked Harvard-Westlake’s cross country program at the top of Division IV for both the boys’ and girls’ teams, despite the loss of top boys’ runner David Abergel ’11 to mononucleosis and nagging injuries to Ben Saunders ’11 and Charlie Stiger ’11. The entire team also competed at the Seaside Invitational at the San Buenaventura State Beach on Sept. 10. The meet was divided into eight divisions, one for each grade and gender. Because of the minimum of five runners needed for each team, only three teams placed. All the teams, except for the 9th grade teams were comprised of both JV and varsity runners. Chapus and Weissenbach placed first and second in the 1 grade girls’ division, and second and fourth overall for girls, respectively, yet their team did not place due to a lack of runners. The next cross country match is the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park next Saturday.
For Nick Firestone ’11, the most defining moment of his football season so far has not come on the gridiron. It has not come in practice or in a football game, but in a basketball playoff game last season, where he tore his ACL. “[The injury] was during the basketball playoffs last year, I drove left then came down and just felt my knee pop,” said Firestone. Football isn’t the only team this year that has been affected by injuries; both field hockey and boys’ crosscountry have also lost key players. Adrianna Crovo ’11 is on the sidelines in field hockey after tearing her hip cartilage. Crovo is a talented goalie who blanked see INJURIES, C7
INSIDE Rock the rock:
Charlie Andrews ‘13 finished 19th in an international rock climbing tournament.
C3
reprinted with permission of Charlie Andrews
The new generation:
Three younger brothers work to fill in the gaps left behind their recently graduated siblings.
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Alec Caso/chronicle
C2 Sports
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Facts
& Figures
1 3 10 22 75 By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
The number of goals replacement field hockey goalie Sam Gasmer ’13, for Adrianna Crovo’11, allowed during four games at the Gateway Classic field hockey tournament in St. Louis.
alec caso/chronicle
R-e-s-p-e-c-t: The cheerleaders perform their debut halftime dance of the year to the Black Eyed Peas’ hit song, Rock That Body, at football’s game against Leuzinger Sept. 16.
Cheerleaders deserve more respect
Touchdowns wide receiver Lewis Dix ’11 scored in football’s 42-8 win over Leuzinger Sept. 16, a career high.
Out of 16 players above 6’5” on the varsity boys’ basketball team, including Zena Edosomwan ’12, who is 6’8”.
The number of kills by Christina Higgins ’11 in volleyball’s win over Redondo Union Sept. 16.
The average number of miles Aaron de Toledo ’12 runs in a week for cross country training.
This Month in Wolverine History
I
Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
t’s Friday night and at the football game the Wolverines are down by six and its fourth and goal. Suddenly from below you hear “Go, Fight, Win!” Your eyes travel to the track and you see the red and black pompoms flashing in the air. You hear the cheerleaders’ chants, which you once thought were pointless, but as your hopes are rallied, you begin to think otherwise. Cheerleading isn’t just pompoms, short skirts and toe touches. It’s leading the fans to believe in a team and guide them to victory. So why don’t our fellow Wolverines let us, as cheerleaders, lead? In past years it has been true that our cheerleaders haven’t been the idealized squad you see on television. However, this year the team is taking motions to improve the overall view of the team. For the first time in years, there were tryouts with actual cuts. No longer could just anyone be on the cheerleading squad; girls had to work for a spot on the team.
No, we don’t run two miles before practice, and yes, we do take over 30 minutes to get changed before we go out on the field. What you don’t see are the nine hour practices we had this summer with intense dance choreographers whose brightest achievements include dancing on stage with Diddy or being the runner up of “So You Think You Can Dance.” We may not spend hours in the weight room with trainers, but we do spend hours on the field learning how to throw people in the air, which is both difficult and dangerous. I admit that the stunts we do may seem easy but there is a lot of work and skill that goes in to executing them properly. Most people believe that it shouldn’t be difficult to throw someone up in the air, but with all the noise and excitement it’s extremely difficult to concentrate on the job at hand. Every person involved in the stunt must be focused in order for the flyer to get back on the ground safely. It is such an incredibly nerve-racking experi-
ence for the flyer to be thrown up in the air because despite her fears, she has to keep a reassuring smile on her face. As a cheerleader, I acknowledge that we all need to improve individually in order for our team to better represent our school at home and away games. This includes getting better knowledge of the sport we are cheering for and knowing the right times to cheer. We can’t complete our goals as cheerleaders without the support of our peers, so the next time you start a chant during one of our cheers, think about how disrespectful it would be for someone to walk out in the middle of the court or the field during a game. The cheerleaders as a whole want to improve, so our peers should support us in our steps toward becoming the team we want to be and one you would like to support. We should no longer be criticized by our classmates, but supported by them, becuase we are as much as a sport as any other at the school, and we deserve respect.
gameof themonth
Volleyball when Thursday, Sept. 30 where Marymount
harvard sentinel ‘87
team talk: In his 20 years at Harvard-Westlake, Rich Corso was named CIF Coach of the Year four times.
September 1992 By Micah Sperling Former Wolverine water polo coach Rich Corso was named Head Coach of the United States water polo team following the Barcelona Olympics. Corso took over a small Harvard water polo program in 1986 and turned it into a national powerhouse, as Harvard-Westlake water polo won 40 league championships, two CIF championships and seven CIF silver medals by the time he left for the University of California Berkeley in 2005. He was CIF Coach of the Year four times and California Coach of the Year in 1992. Under Corso’s coaching, 82 water polo athletes were named to All-America teams. Corso coached the U.S. olympic team in 1996 and led it to within a goal of the podium. The team lost to Spain, the eventual Olympic champion.
10643 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles
VS.
The Wolverines reach a pivotal game in their season as they take on the rival Marymount Sailors at home next week. The Wolverines have a huge challenge ahead of them: the Sailors have won the CIF Southern Section Championship six out of the last eight years. Christina Higgins ’11 will need to have just as strong a performance as she did against Redondo Union, when she killed 22 of her 55 attacks. The Sailors beat volleyball powerhouse Mira Costa High School earlier thisww season.
Sept. 22, 2010
Sports C3
The
Chronicle
Girls’ tennis loses first match of season
By David Kolin The girls’ tennis team lost to Palos Verdes last Thursday in its first game of the season, 13-5. “It was our first match of the season, so we were experimenting with positions,” co-captain and singles player Melissa Gertler ’11 said. Kristina Park ’13, who played singles last season, tried out the doubles position during the Palos Verdes match and won two out of three of her matches. The loss was due to the reorganization of the players’ positions and the skill of the opposing team’s singles players, Gertler said. “People who had close matches could have, had they been more experienced, pulled ahead,” Gertler said. “There were a few close matches but they could’ve gone either way. I believe that as the season progresses, matches like that will go in our favor.” Only one freshman, Sophie Gunter ’14, made the varsity team this year. She will probably play second singles this season behind Savannah de Montesquieu ’13, who played number one singles for the team last year. The other co-captains, Alanna Klein ’11 and Katherine Belgrad ’11, did not play in the match because they were both injured. They will both be back for today’s home match against Santa
Barbara. To start practices, the team stretches to minimize injuries. To warm-up, they do ball drills and play mini tennis. For the remainder of the practice, they either drill or play matches against each other. Singles players drill by practicing hitting within margins at certain places on the court. Doubles players must recognize the valuable asset that the doubles alleys provide, Gertler said. They also try to avoid hitting to the net player in order to prevent the other team from winning an easy point. “We look better now than we did last year,” Head Coach Chris Simpson said. “We’re ahead of the game by about a week or two as far as fitness, team identification, and skill level. That doesn’t mean we don’t have injuries. The nature is that we have injuries, and we do.” The biggest match of the season will be tomorrow’s home match against Peninsula, Gertler said. The match will be played at Studio City Golf and Tennis. The team played a scrimmage against Beverly Hills, but the game was not scored. “We should win [every league match] 16-2 and above,” Simpson said. “I’m just saying this realistically from looking at the players.”
Austin Block/chronicle
first match: Doubles player Luna Ikuta ’11 hits a forehand during the team’s scrimmage against Beverly Hills. The Wolverines play rival Peninsula tomorrow.
Rock climber places 19th in international competition By Bo Lee
Courtesy of Charlie Andrews
SPEED CLIMBER: Charlie Andrews ’13 on his way to a 19thplace finish in the Sports Climbing World Youth Championships.
Rock climber Charlie Andrews ’13 finished 19th in the Male Youth A Speed event while representing the United States at the International Federation of Sports Climbing World Youth Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sept. 10. Andrews missed qualifying for the finals in this event by 0.3 seconds. “It’s the highest level of competition that a minor can reach,” Andrews said. There were 430 competitors in the tournament. Thirty-nine different countries took their best youth rock climbers to compete in the World Youth Championships, Andrews said. “I was fortunate enough to qualify for the U.S. team this year, having placed second at nationals,” he said. Andrews is ranked second
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in speed climbing, third in bouldering, and 10th in sport climbing on the U.S.A. Climbing national rankings list after competing at the Youth National Championships in Atlanta in July. “Over the summer, I spent hundreds of hours training to qualify and then to compete in the World Youth Championships. I took two separate trips to Atlanta, Georgia, where I received coaching from the U.S. team coach and climbed in Stone Summit, the best indoor climbing facility in the U.S.,” he said. Though an initial injury nearly prevented him from participating in competition, Andrews received clearance from his physical therapist who said that competing wouldn’t risk another injury. “I sustained an over-use injury to my rotator cuff, which took me out for four weeks from late July to early
August,” Andrews said. “The four weeks I spent recovering did not fully heal it, so I was technically walking on thin ice by competing. Now, I need to take six to eight weeks off as recovery before I can begin preparation for the next season.” Andrews has made the national team annually for the last six years one of the top four best climbers in at least one of the disciplines of rock climbers for his age in the nation each year. “There’s always a lot to gain from competing internationally, especially for the mental aspects of climbing and competing,” Andrews said. This year is the third time that Andrews has been able to compete on an international level. He first competed internationally in a Continental Boys’ Youth Championship in Mexico City in 2004.
C4 Sports
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Alec Caso/chronicle
Daniel Kim/chronicle
Taking charge: Quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 stiff-arms a Fairfax defender after a 14 point surge by the Lions in the second half of the team’s 14-14 tie (left).
Free safety Charlie Porter ’12 returns an interception in the game against Leuzinger. The Wolverines won the game 42-8 on Sept. 16 at Ted Slavin Field (right).
Football defeats Leuzinger, prepares to face Sylmar By Judd Liebman Varsity football heads into Friday’s home game against Sylmar coming off their 42-8 conquest of the Leuzinger Olympians last Thursday night. It was the first victory of the season after a 14-14 tie with Fairfax High. The team currently has a record of 1-11; the game against Fairfax ended in a tie because there is no overtime in non-league games. Head Coach Vic Eumont stressed the importance of the team’s first game because it showed the progress of the team since the beginning of summer training. The Wolverines watched film from their first game against Venice High, a 47-16 loss, to evaluate their improvement. “You never know how everything is going to work and how the injuries are going to work, but we’re a resilient team, and we adapt, and our kids like that kind of challenge,” Eumont said.
The first win was paramount to veteran starting quarterback Max Heltzer ’11, he said. Heltzer said his goals for the preseason games were to execute better and not make any mistakes. In that aspect, Heltzer said, he has succeeded in improving his game, Heltzer has yet to throw an interception and said he is making better decisions with passes. “The first two games, I think, we had some jitters, and we had to get those out. But I think now that we’ve got our first win under our belt, when we played well and executed well, we should carry that into next week,” he said. Helping his offense execute is Offensive Coordinator Dave Levy’s main focus for the start of the season, he said. Making consistent drives down the field rather than relying on big plays was Eumont’s main focus in the preseason, Eumont said. “We’ve been spotty. We haven’t run the ball as well as we’d like to and I think as well as we should. We’ve
been effective throwing the ball. We’d like to be a little more versatile in doing that, but we’re up to par so far,” Levy said. Part of the reason the offense is not as consistent as Levy would like is because the team is both plagued by injuries and full of underclassmen, he said. “We’re young and we’re thin. It’s not an excuse, it’s a reason, but we’d like to think we’re improving and we just got to keep working at it every day because that’s what it is, making progress,” Levy said. “We’ve had a lot of young guys step up and for the most part they’ve done a good job. We’ve lost a lot of veteran experience but everyone’s doing a good job on the line,” offensive and defensive lineman Richard Weisman Jr. ’11 said. Making up for the injuries that are keeping players Nicky Firestone ’11, Wade Clement ’12, and Ethan Neale ’11 on the sidelines, has been challenging for the Wolverines, Eumont said. The amount of injuries has worried Eumont, he said, but he said the team has always come out stronger in the past. For now, Eumont said that he and his team need to focus on improving every day by working on fundamentals and studying film. “We’ve progressively gotten better, and I’ve seen us do a better job blocking on our field routes and along the line. We just get progressively better every game,” starting wide receiver Lewis Dix ’11 said.
Volleyball wins first two games
Girls’golf defeats Marymount By Chelsea Khakshouri
By Charlton Azuoma After going 10-0 in league play last year, the girls’ volleyball team beat Santa Barbara in its first game of the season by a score of 3-0, and defeated Redondo Union in its first home game. The Wolverines currently have a 2-0 record. Their playoff run last season ended in the second round of the CIF Playoffs after a tough game against Long Beach Polytechnic where they lost 3-0. The team participated in Tournament of Champions at Oxnard High and the Queens Court Tournament in Anaheim. “We have been working very hard… getting better and becoming a team. The tournament went very well. We got to see some good teams and see how we have progressed,” Head Coach Adam Black said. The team is determined to stay focused this year and to approach every game with the same mentality. “Every match is big for us, they constantly test our focus and discipline,” Black said. “Everyone has been pitching in on going in the right direction.” The team has been focusing on
Alec Caso/chronicle
Sky high: Junior Olympian Christina Higgins ’11 spikes the ball over two Redondo Union High School players. The Wolverines won 3-2. strengthening certain points in its play over the summer, but the players do admit that they have things they need to work on. “We have a really good senior class this year. Our blocking has definitely gotten better and so has our back-row passing,” libero Anne Cohen ’11 said. “What really hurts us is that we kind of lose focus towards the middle of the game like what happened on Thursday… we let them come back,” opposite hitter Christina Higgins ‘11 said. The team is stacked with collegebound talent this year as three players on the team have committed to playing for colleges: Christina Higgins (University of California at Berkeley), Danielle Salka (Yale),
and Anne Cohen (Johns Hopkins University). The team is very experienced this year. All the players have played together before. “The group’s been together for a long time so we really trust each other. We play for each other and for the team, instead of ourselves,” libero Katie Price ’11 said. Their first home game was against a strong Redondo Union team. After a solid start to the game, the team was leading 2-0. Redondo Union fought back and managed to force the game to five sets. “We started off really strong, but then we kind of let up a bit… the last game was like 15-13, and everyone was like battling… it was really fun,” middle hitter Tiana Woolridge ’11 said.
Starting the season with a 4-1 record, the girls’ varsity golf team has begun practicing with two girls at a time rather than the whole team, Head Coach Linda Giaciolli said. Giaciolli believes the practice arrangement will provide more quality time to engage and instruct the players. Practices are held at both the Encino and Balboa Golf Courses. The team started out strong with three consecutive wins, followed by a loss to top rival Notre Dame. The team then beat Marymount High School 217-260 at Rancho Park Golf Course, one of the toughest public courses in the area. “The regular season before playoffs comprises 12 9-hole matches against teams in the Mission League. As the season progresses the competition tends to heat up simply because the girls have been able to play more in competitive situations,” Giaciolli said. Melanie Bornstein ’11 and Emily Firestein ’11 co-captain an eight player team comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores. Besides “seasoned players” Bornstein and Firestein, Amanda Aizuss ’13 and Jessica Wibawa ’13 have both made golf “a cornerstone in their lives”, Giaciolli said. “As a freshman, I mainly am just looking up to the more experienced golfers, since competitive golf is new to me,” Madeline Abrahams ’14 said. “I think we have a great chance at finishing really well this season, but we need to work on our short game.” “I’m looking forward to improving as a team, and bonding as the season goes on,” Bornstein said.
Sports C5
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The
Sept. 22, 2010
Player Recruits
Major universities pursue five standout seniors and one junior to compete for their Division I varsity teams.
Lucas Giolito ’12: UCLA Lucas Giolito ’12, the fourth highestw junior baseball prospect in the nation according to perfectgame.org, committed to UCLA after two years of visiting colleges and contacting coaches. Although he visited many PAC-10 schools, Giolito knew that UCLA was his school of choice after only his second visit. Giolito was in contact with various schools since the summer after his freshman year and he took his first unofficial visit to the UCLA campus in the summer of 2009. Going to UCLA was Giolito’s childhood dream. Growing up near UCLA’s Jackie Robinson baseball stadium, he said that he always pictured himself in a blue and gold uniform. During Giolito’s first tour of the school, he met with Head Coach John Savage to get a glimpse of the program. During his second visit to the school he decided that UCLA was too good a fit to pass up.
“After visiting many schools within the PAC-10 and then seeing UCLA for a second time this summer, I felt like it was the perfect fit,” Giolito said. Giolito feels that he is compatible with UCLA for several reasons. His motives to commit include the high quality baseball facilities and the coaching staff. However Giolito’s decision was not entirely based on baseball. He maintains a GPA well above 3.0 and said he put a lot of thought into the academic excellence of UCLA. “The quality of the school, the diversity and support of the student body, and tradition of academic excellence were all really important to me,” Giolito said. The main reason Giolito committed is because he hopes to play in the major leagues and he believes developing as a pitcher at UCLA gives him the best chance to do so, he said.
“My ultimate goal is to pitch in the major leagues, but there is a ton of work ahead of me to eventually get in that situation,” he said. “I believe [Savage] can make me better, and I trust him with my future development as a baseball player.” The fact that UCLA was the runner-up in the College World Series last year was the cherry on top for Giolito. The UCLA coaching staff ’s experience at the highest level influenced Giolito’s decision. For now, Giolito has to focus on schoolwork and continuing his development as a pitcher, he said. “Not only do I get to do what I love at the next level, but I also am able to do it at a place that feels absolutely perfect for me. Right now I just have to focus on my schoolwork and [on] becoming a better pitcher,” he said. —Judd Liebman
Sam Horn ’11: Penn
Dani Salka ’11: Yale Volleyball player Danielle Salka ’11 has verbally committed to play volleyball for Yale next year. Salka chose Yale for volleyball over options from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard after having toured Yale and liked the atmosphere. “There’s really no rational reason I chose Yale,” Salka said. “It was more of a gut reaction. It’s the place I think I’ll fit in best.” Salka said she owes a lot of her success to HarvardWestlake’s volleyball program; she said playing for Head Coach Adam Black has really helped
her game. “Harvard-Westlake has prepared me for the intensity of college because we compete at a very high level,” Salka said. Salka chose Yale after watching the Bulldogs play. “All the girls are so nice. I’m really excited,” Salka said. “We’re going to have a great team next year.” Although Salka has verbally committed, she must still be accepted through the normal application process. —Charlton Azuoma and Micah Sperling Daniel Kim/chronicle
Alex Markes ’11: Brown
Austin Block/chronicle
One of the 15 schools he visited on Harvard-Westlake’s spring college tour, Brown University stuck out to Alex Markes ’11. “I went to the school on the Jumbo Tour, and I liked it when I went there,” Markes said. After visiting Brown, Markes e-mailed the head coach, Patrick Laughlin, to introduce himself and express his interest in the school. By exchanging e-mails with Laughlin, Markes learned that Brown was thin at his position, right defender, after losing two seniors at the position. Markes, who has been a varsity player in all three years of his Upper School career, was
James David Abke jamesdavidabke.com
Winding up: Lucas Giolito ’12 prepares to let the ball fly during a varsity game during last year’s season.
the primary defensive stopper for boys’ soccer in its run to CIF Finals last winter. Laughlin watched Markes play in summer tournaments in San Diego and Florida. Impressed by his performance, Laughlin offered him a spot on the team. Markes committed to Brown in August. Markes’ admission to Brown is not assured yet, since he must be accepted through a formal application (he is applying Early Decision). Being on the list “does not automatically get you into the school, but it does weigh very heavily,” Markes said. —Alex Leichenger
Emma Peterson ’11: Harvard Fencer Emma Peterson ’11 verbally Angeles International Fencing Center committed to fence for Harvard in West Los Angeles, the largest fencing University next year earlier club in California. Her coach is this month. She has been Gago Demirchian, the National talking with the school’s coach Épée Champion of Armenia, throughout the summer. and an assistant coach on the Peterson competes in Épée, US Fencing Team. one of the three fencing styles, Meanwhile, Peterson is traveling to competitions waiting for her likely letter around the country and from Harvard, which will the world. She is one of the essentially guarantee her top fencers in America, admission to the school. Her Nathanson ’s/chronicle competing in the Senior fencing coach told her it should Emma Peterson ’11 arrive around Sept. 30. Women division. She practices around eighteen hours a week at the Los —Catherine Wang
Baseball’s star pitcher Sam Horn ’11 has been recruited to play for the University of Pennsylvania next year. After being contacted by the head coach during the summer, Horn decided that out of all the schools that were trying to recruit him, Penn was the best fit for him. Horn has played baseball since he was four years old. After joining the varsity baseball team as a pitcher in his sophomore year, he started looking at colleges. Since he looked mainly at California schools such as Berkeley and Stanford at first, he was surprised to be recruited by Penn, which he had not even been considering. “I wasn’t even going to apply originally. I didn’t think I could get into an Ivy League, but after the coach kind of contacted me, it kind of ended up being the right place for me,” Horn said. Many other colleges have tried to recruit Horn, including Georgetown and Columbia, but Penn first approached
him at a showcase at Stanford during the summer. There, the coaches watched him play and decided to recruit him. Horn is very excited to start his freshman year at Penn next year. “I had to turn down a lot of offers to go there but I’m really excited about going there. I mean, it’s Penn,” Horn said. Despite Horn’s recruitment, he still must be accepted through the normal application process. —Vivien Mao
Austin Block/chronicle
Adrianna Crovo ’11: Michigan Nationally ranked field hockey goalie, Adrianna Crovo ’11, will continue to be a Wolverine with new colors, at the University of Michigan. Shortly after finding out about her hip injury that would cause her to be out for a couple of months due to surgery, Crovo committed to the University of Michigan. Crovo had many colleges to choose from; Columbia, S t a n f o r d , Dartmouth, and Brown tried to recruit her. The field hockey recruiting process is
long and Crovo began it as a sophomore, but she didn’t narrow down her choices until junior year. The final decision came down to Michigan and a couple other schools. She changed her mind a lot but “everything about [Michigan] seemed perfect” said Crovo. Michigan, being a Big Ten team school, was “a dream come true,” Crovo said. “Everything just clicked.” The University of Michigan has both a good field hockey program and a good academic program, which is exactly what Crovo was looking for. “It’s just one of those things, when you walk on campus. I fell in love.”
Reprinted with permission of denise Mitchell
—Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
C6 Sports
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
Field hockey wins pool at St. Louis tournament By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn
Justin cohen/Vox
Battle for control: Sahar Bardi ’11 clashes with a Marina player. The team begins regular season play on Sept. 28 against Glendora.
Football
After making the switch to the Mission League, the JV football team will start its season with three league games and its opener against Alemany on Sept. 30. The team will then follow up with a two home games against Chaminade on Oct. 16 and Cathedral on Oct. 20. “We are really looking forward to the season and we want to make the guys learn our system and prepare them for varsity. This means learning what it takes to commit to our program,” Head Coach Scott Wood said. The team will feature freshmen Sam Sachs ’14 and Quinn Luscinski ’14 as well as sophomores Jake Feiler ’13, David Krause ’13 and Matt Edelstein ’13. “Our goal for this season is to follow our motto of working harder. I’m really confident in our team’s ability to succeed this season. As far as games to watch, Chaminade has young talent and will be a challenge but I am confident in our ability to succeed,” defensive tackle Krause said. —Michael Aronson
Field hockey
The JV field hockey team has started the season with a record of two wins and one loss. The team started its season with two unscored scrimmages, against Newport Harbor and LAFHA Day School. The JV team’s first season match was a 3-1 victory over Marina High School. The day after, the team traveled to Huntington Beach, where it endured its first loss of the season, losing 2-0 to Huntington Beach High School. On Thursday Sept. 16, the team played Edison High School, winning 1-0. The JV team played a home match against Fountain Valley High School yesterday, with results unavailable as of press time. Its next match is scheduled for tomorrow at Westminster HighSchool, with its first league game on Thursday, Sept. 28 against Glendora High School. —Nick Edel
Girls’ tennis
The varsity girls’ field hockey team has started off its season with an overall record of 2-1 before its second home game of the year scheduled for Tuesday against Fountain Valley High School. In its first home game of the season, the field hockey team won 3-1 against Marina High School without any of its regular starters. Courtney Hazy ’11 made all the goals for the team with a “hat trick” meaning she scored three goals. “We were definitely stronger than this team, it was good preparation for our game against Huntington Beach,” player Rachel Hall ’11 said. At the team’s second game of the season against Huntington Beach—one of its biggest competitors—the team played got off to a slow start, but played well, Head Coach Erin Creznic said. “Huntington plays a much faster paced game and the team hasn’t had competition that played at that pace, resulting in a 2-0 loss. It was just a really frustrating game,” Chelsea Edwards ’11 said. In its game against Edison High School, the team “played beautifully” on the astro turf, which is the ideal surface for field hockey, Creznic said. The team won the
game in the second half,during which it scored its only two goals and won the game 2-0. Adrianna Crovo ’11, a nationally ranked goalie, had hip surgery last Wednesday due to a tear in her cartilage. “I haven’t been out a month yet and I only plan on being out for another month.” Crovo said. Kristen Lee ’12 is also out for three to seven weeks with a high sprain. “For me, it’s just so frustrating to not be able to be with the team and having to watch from the sidelines,” Lee said. They are both very essential players, Creznic said, but other players are stepping up their game, especially replacement goalie Samantha Gasmer ’13. Over Labor Day weekend, the team competed in the Gateway Classic field hockey tournament in St Louis, playing against teams from Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin. The girls field hockey team ended in one of the highest pools of the tournament, playing four games, and tying only once. “The trip was not only really good bonding time but they played some really good teams,” Creznic said. The team’s next game is an away game against Westminster High School at Westminster tomorrow.
JVRoundup
The JV girls’ tennis team started off the season with a 17-1 win against Palos Verdes Highschool on Sept. 16. The team played Santa Monica High School yesterday, which results are unavailable as of press time. Last year’s JV team finished its season with a record of 14-1. The JV tennis team lost to Penninsula High School 14-4. The team will play Peninsula tomorrow at South Bay Tennis Center, and its first league match will be against Notre Dame on Oct. 5 at Los Angeles Valley College. “We had a really strong match last week, so I think in this match, we’ll play even stronger,” Aneri Amin ’12 said. The team will play 15 games in total, with nine home games at either Studio City Golf & Tennis Club or Los Angeles Valley College. —Robbie Loeb
Boys’ water polo
After winning the AgouraHigh School Tournament, the JV water polo team played its first non-league game against La Cañada yesterday; results were not available as of press time. “It’s essentially the same team from last year and almost all sophomores. It’s nice to play with the same guys year after year,” Alan Vucetic ’13 said. The JV water polo team practices throughout the school week before and after school. In addition to pool practices, players lift weights twice a week. Though JV Head Coach Pavle Filipovic has coached at Harvard-Westlake for only two years, he has already formed a great connection with the team, Vucetic said. “Pavle is a great coach because he constantly pushes us to improve and takes our mistakes as chances to teach us, not to yell at us,” Vucetic said. The team’s next game is a home game against Mater Dei High School on Sept. 28. —Nicole Gould
Girls’ volleyball
After tying in its first match with Dos Pueblos High School, the JV girls’ volleyball team went on to win its next six matches in straight sets and beat Dos Pueblos in the championship game of the Westlake Tournament. The Wolverines finished in first place at the tournament for the second year in a row. “It was so much fun. We all had so much energy and we really came together as a team,” starting setter and team captain Bea DyBuncio ’13 said. “Even though it was a long day it was so worth it at the end.” The Wolverines beat Santa Barbara High School Sept. 14 with a score of 2-0 and beat Redondo Union High School 2-1 last Sept. 16. “Based on how the season has gone, we have a very high chance of winning league.” Hirsch said. The Wolverines play a home game against Bishop Montgomery High School on Sept. 28 and will play an away league game against Notre Dame High School on Oct 5. —Luke Holthouse
Cross country
The Sept. 10 Seaside Invitational was a meet for beginners to experience competition for the first time and for more seasoned runners to get back into the swing of things. The runners competed by age group. At the first league meet of the season, the boys’ team took fifth place and the girls took second. David Manahan ’14 led the team, finishing in 19 minutes and 32 seconds. Elle Wilson ’13 was third overall, finishing her race in 22 minutes and 35 seconds, qualifying to compete with the varsity team on Saturday. “I’m proud to be part of a team that has won so many CIFs and I hope we can continue that tradition this year,” first year runner Emily Plotkin ’13 said. The team’s next competition is the Bell-Jeff Invitational Friday at Griffith Park. —Alyssa White
Alex Leichenger/chronicle
matching strides: Three freshman JV cross country runners race at a meet at Crescenta Valley Park.
daniel kim/chronicle
fight to the finish: Madeline Lear ’13 and Brenda Flores ’13 compete for the ball during practice.
Sports C7
Sept. 22, 2010
The
Chronicle
reprinted with permission of roger on
Alec Caso/chronicle
Injured Leaders: Nick Firestone ’11, out of football with an ACL injury, gives advice to the other defensive players on the varsity football team. Firestone, a defensive back, hopes to return to the team in as little as a month (left).
Injuries of key players cripple 3 fall teams from INJURIES, C1 opposing teams nine times last season in the team 15 games. Boys’ cross country has lost talented runner David Abergel ’11, who won the Mt. SAC invitational race last year, one of the most important races of the season, to mononucleosis. Firestone’s injury, in terms of time not being able to play, has been very serious. The ACL, one of the four ligaments in the knee, can be a huge problem for athletes if severely torn. In the case of Firestone, doctors have estimated about a six to nine month recovery time from the initial injury in March. Firestone is optimistic about the injury and hopes that he will be able to play in about a month. “I definitely hope to finish the season playing with the team. I went to the doctor [recently] and he told me that maybe in about a month I would be able to play,” Firestone said. Although he is not able to play on the field, Firestone still tries to help the team out. “I’m trying to help the younger guys out on what to do. I’m trying to give them pointers. Since I’m a senior, I’m trying to give them what I’ve learned throughout my career,” Firestone said. However, the football team is hurt by the loss of Firestone, as he not only provides experience on the
Reprinted with permission of denise mitchell
David Abergel ‘11, out with mononucleosis, joins other runners in a group photo for the Woodbrige Invitational (top-right). Adriana Crovo ‘11 moves to defend the goal in a tournament last season (bottom-right). She is now unable to play due to an injury.
defensive side, but he is also one of the more talented players on the team and was very effective in special teams. Cameron Komisar ’12 is currently the only starting varsity defensive back after the loss of Firestone, and has also replaced Firestone on special teams. Komisar said that he will be very happy when Firestone returns, but is now trying to be a bigger presence on defense now that Firestone is gone. “Without Firestone we have inexperienced defensive backs, Cameron [Komisar] is the only cornerback that played there in 2009. Firestone is a
“
Firestone is a human highlight reel; we cannot replace him. we will be a better team when he returns. —Vic Eumont Varsity Football Coach
human highlight reel; we cannot replace him, [and] we will be a better team when he returns,” football coach Vic Eumont said. “I have just tried to become more of a leader on the defense,” Komisar said. “He was a general on the field during the games so I have tried to step up to that role.” Crovo’s injury, because of the timing, will cause her to miss the whole field hockey season. The cause of her injury a genetic overgrowth in her pelvis and left femur, which caused her to tear the cartilage, or labrum, in her hip. “Basically by the time I was 50 it probably would’ve torn, but due to the amount of field hockey I had
played in the last couple years it unfortunately tore now,” Crovo said. “[However], the tear was such that I can keep playing lots of field hockey at high levels with no risk of re-injuring it.” This injury has not stopped Crovo from being a vocal leader on the team. She still goes to all the games and as many practices as she can. Crovo even went to St. Louis with the team for a tournament, assisting anyway she could. “I love [field hockey] so much that I really want to help share my passion and knowledge of the game with those around me,” Crovo said. “This sport has done so much for me in that I’ve had a lot of success due to hard work. I’ve been blessed with incredible opportunities and coaches throughout my career; I want so badly for my team to get the same gratitude from the sport that I do.” The field hockey team is still trying to keep a positive attitude even with the injuries that have plagued the team. “I think we will still have a fantastic season,” said varsity field hockey coach Erin Creznic said. “Injuries are part of any sport and fortunately, we have a versatile team that can step in for each other when one of our starters is injured.” However, the team has had to make adjustments this season with Crovo’s loss. “We have had to occasionally take some of our stronger mids and put them back on defense,” Creznic said. The boys’ cross-country team has not had its best runner, David Abergel, since the beginning of the season. Abergel however happens to be suffering from a completely different problem than Crovo or Firestone. “I’ve had mono for five weeks, and I recently talked to the doctor and he said I’ll feel the effects for two months, but I’ll be back to running in a few days,” said Abergel. “[However], I won’t be back to where I was before until about the end of this season.” -Additional reporting by Noelle Lyons
Do wristbands improve performance? By Shawn Ma Professional athletes from basketball players to surfers wear them. They’re a growing trend for college and high school athletes, and even nonathletes. And yet when you try to explain exactly what is it, you usually get a disbelieving laugh in response. It’s the Power Balance Performance Technology. The Power Balance comes in either wristband or pendant form. Both feature two holograms, which are “designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body,” according to powerbalance.com. Based on concepts in some Eastern philosophies, Power Balance tries to optimize the body’s natural energy flow by treating the Mylar hologram with energy waves with a specific frequency. Through the resonances, Power Balance
claims to increase strength, flexibility and balance. While the concept of the hologram may seem laughable, star pro athletes such as the Boston Celtics’ Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Angels’ Scott Kazmir have given testimonial supporting the Power Band. Countless other athletes, including Olympic gold-medalist volleyball player Todd Rogers, basketball World Champions Lamar Odom and Derrick Rose, and the Detriot Lions’ Matthew Stafford, to name a few, all wear Power Balance during their games. Similarly, at the Elite 24, a gathering of elite high school basketball players, almost all of the participants wore two Power Balance wristbands. A select few who hoped to increase the Power Balance’s effect wore six wristbands. “One of my favorite baseball players [Braves’ Martin Pra-
do] wears one, and I thought I’d give it a try,” baseball player Wesley Peacock ‘11 said. Peacock was convinced by the various Power Balance tests and has been wearing the wristband ever since. Lewis Dix ’11, a standout receiver on the Wolverine’s football team, is also a strong proponent of Power Balance. “It works tremendously well! Many people think it doesn’t work but once you try it out you’re definitely going to love the results. I wear it mainly to improve my balance while playing football,” Dix said. “It helps me to not stumble on my routes and to stay on my feet when people try to tackle me.” Another wearer of Power Balance, Henry Braun ’11, has other reasons for using the wristbands. “It does work in making me look really cool,” Braun said. “It may also have a positive effect on attracting the ladies.”
Daniel Kim/chronicle Daniel kim/chronicle
Balance booster?: Many athletes believe that Power Balance wristbands improve their play in sports.
What
Power Balance Claims
Used by professional athletes, including 1Shaquille O’Neal and Lamar Odom
2Increases strength, flexibility and balance 3Optimizes the body’s natural energy flow
graphic by micah Sperling and robbie Loeb source: powerbalance.com
C8 Sports
The
Remember the names By Alec Caso
Q A
Sept. 22, 2010
Chronicle
Alec Zwaneveld Do you feel any pressure to try and fill the roles of your siblings?
Zwaneveld:
Our siblings are the ones that got us where we are today. A lot of the time they were the ones that drove us around and made this training process possible. So no, it’s just something we have to do.
Last season, Henry McNamara ’13, Alec Zwaneveld ’12 and Bradley Schine ’12 played second fiddle on varsity water polo to their older brothers James, Brendan and Jake. This time, the three underclassmen will be front and center driving Head Coach Robert Lynn’s second season.
Bradley Schine
Henry McNamara
Q A
McNamara:
I don’t feel any pressure to fill his role, but I would like to do so.
Zwaneveld:
During the Harvard-Westlake season we will have two to three games a week with practice every day besides game days. The club commitment is what makes this a year round sport. Outside of high school, there are tournaments almost every weekend, with practices every other day during the week. If you were to ask any water polo player “How do you do it?”, almost every single one would reply, “you just do it.”
Q A
Has Coach Lynn expected you three to take leadership roles even though you are underclassmen?
Schine:
I think Coach Lynn wants everyone to take a leadership role regardless of what year he is because that is the only way we can be successful.
As our brothers, they were great teachers; as our leaders they were great teammates. We would love nothing more than to lead this team by their example.
James definitely helped me improve a lot this last year. Being able to start on the same team with him as a freshman was really a great experience.
My brother and I played different roles on the team last year so I don’t see myself filling in his role.
Q A
Zwaneveld:
McNamara:
Schine:
Water polo is a year-round commitment. How much time during the year do you spend playing and how do you manage to make such a big commitment?
Did you learn any lessons from your brothers about playing water polo or stepping into leadership roles for the team?
Schine:
The best thing my brother taught me was probably work ethic. Last year we never missed a practice and he always pushed me.
Q A
What are each of your goals as players by the time you graduate from Harvard-Westlake?
Zwaneveld:
We all want to be at the top of our age group playing at a level that will give us a gateway to the collegiate level.
McNamara:
My goal is to win a CIF Division I championship.
Schine:
My goal is simple, to win CIF.
Q A
What are your expectations for the team this year?
McNamara:
Even though we are a young team, I expect us to do really well this year. We seem to gel together pretty well. Photos by Alec Caso/chronicle