Tower Issue #6 2013-2014 by Tower

Tower The Masters School

VOLUME 70, NUMBER 6

49 Clinton Avenue Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014

tower.mastersny.org

Planning team discusses plans to Admissions office incorporate next year’s “Diversity” theme lowers acceptance rate to burst 2017 bubble Rachel Saunders News Editor

As Head of the Upper School Matt Ives began to introduce the new theme for the 2014-2015 school year at moring meeting, slouching students lifted their sleepy heads up from their palms. Then it was announced: “2014 to 2015’s theme will be ‘diversity’.” Through this year’s water theme, students and faculty have been made aware of the impact of water—when it is present as well as when it is missing. However, diversity is not something people can hold in their hands. It can be related to what people see when they look at students, or what people learn when they talk to those students.

Due to the broad nature of the theme, the school cannot cover all the topics under the umbrella of “diversity”, but Dean of Students Jessica Nuñez believes that students will become more educated and aware that Masters is a uniquely diverse-rich environment. Nuñez said, “I’ve said this before, and I’ve said it through our strategic planning process and I continue to say that as an independent school we’re actually quite diverse, but I don’t think we do enough with the diversity that we have.” Freshman Masters Interested In Sharing and Helping (MISH) representative and member of the theme commitee, Lazerena Lazerova, said, “Working with different clubs like international club or GSA would be a great way for MISH to incorporate the theme next year. Something pos-

itive to come out of ‘diversity’ will be directing students attention towards the true diversity of our community, as well as bringing clubs, such as international club, to the community’s focus.” With the broadness of diversity, students and faculty will have room to explore what this new theme really means. The idea of diversity is in itself diverse, which can uniquely show the theme in a way no single, direct topic can. “Over the summer I’m definitely going to take into consideration what I can do to help the theme next year and try to plan for different opportunities, whether they’re forums, conversations, lunchtime talks about diversity, speakers we could bring in or movies we could show. There are lots of ways we could do it,” Nuñez said.

An estimated 15 students will join the class of 2017 next year. Holton added, “They will graduate at roughly 130 students, which will be the largest class in the As 108 seniors prepare to grad- school’s history.” uate on June 7, the school will welThe Admission Office and adcome a freshman class of approxi- ministration are trying to hold mately 110 students. steady the number of students in The incoming freshman class the Upper School and normalize has a nearly even female to male the student population over the ratio, keeping in line with that of next four years. previous years. Additionally, the “If we went back to 450 students boarding to day ratio will not vary in the Upper School—from the 475 significantly, according to Keith we currently have—we’d have to Holton, Director of Admission and make next year’s freshman class Financial Aid. around 90 students, which we can“We might have just a few less not do. So, what we are trying to boarding students do is gradualthis coming year so ly slow down that we won’t need the train over to have any trithe next three ples,” Holton said. There are plans to blow out the years, so that The adminisback part to the theatre and we return to a tration looks formake a second level. That’s one student body of ward to hanging of the top priorities after the 450 students,” up the flags of MAAC is finished. Holton said. Austria, Brazil, The unexSweden, Denmark - Keith Holton pected increase and Chile in the in students has theatre, as interbrought to the national students forefront issues from these counof space, or lack tries head toward Dobbs Ferry thereof. come fall. After the exceptionally Holton said, “There are plans high yield this past year, which re- to blow out the back part of the sulted in a freshman class of 127 theater and make a second level. students, the school was conserva- That’s one of the top priorities aftive in their admissions process. ter the MAAC is finished.” “The freshman class is the bubHolton and the Admissiosn Ofble and as such, the acceptance rate fice are pleased with this year’s rethis year was lower than that of sults. previous years—around 50%--and “The school is in a great place the yield very high—around 70%,” right now. We want to see how the Holton said. “Those we accepted next few years go, and after the are quality students. The Class of bubble that is the 9th grade moves 2018 will be extremely strong.” on, we will reevaluate,” he said.

Lucy Price Deputy Editor

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SANG BAES/TOWER

DIVERSITY HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED as the new school theme for next year. Faculty and students have begun to generate ideas in order to prepare for activities and speakers that will greet the students in the fall.

Father and CBS co-anchor speaks at graduation ‘14 Teerin Julsawad Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Commencement season has arrived and in less than a week, the graduating Class of 2014 will roam through Masters Hall one last time as they gather to parade down the steps that will lead them to the outside world. This year’s commencement speaker, Anthony Mason, television journalist for CBS News and father of Olivia Mason ’14 and Nick Mason ’18, will offer the seniors one last piece of advice as they bid farewell. Mason’s daughter Olivia nominated him for the position to speak at commencement back in October. A

few weeks later, the Class of 2014 officially elected Mason among two candidates. “I don’t know how my name got thrown into the hat. I certainly didn’t campaign for it,” Mason joked. While the selection process at some other schools has no student involvement, the seniors were able to nominate and vote upon a potential commence speaker. However, the school does require the nominee to be acquainted with at least one member of the graduating class. Last year, writer and creator of the Fresh Prince of BelAir Andy Borowitz spoke. Eight years ago, actor Alec Baldwin gave the commencement speech. Mason is currently the CBS News’ Senior Business Correspondent and

co-anchor of the morning television show CBS This Morning: Saturday. Anthony has garnered seven Emmy Awards and worked in over 30 countries as a correspondent for CBS News. Although Mason has had his fair share of experience being in front of a television audience, he admits that public speaking can be more intimidating. He said, “Speaking to a camera, I look into a lens that is supposedly connected to five million people, but it’s a lot more imposing speaking to a live audience, especially when it’s to your daughter’s graduation class.” What does the occasion of graduation really indicate? Mason said, “There are very few mileposts in your

life that are so clearly marked. Everything stops. The band plays. Everybody makes a note of where you are. And everything you do from this point on in your life is kind of measured from where you are now. It’s just a really interesting moment.” He continued, “And you will look at yourself ten years from now 25 years from and compare of yourself where you were and who you thought you were. And a lot of things changes, but a lot also stays in the same. And that’s kind of what I want to talk about.” According to Mason, the fact that the commencement speech is for his daughter’s graduating class is the icing on the cake. “It would be an honor to speak at any commencement, but

INSIDE THE ISSUE DRESS CODE PUT BLAME ON GIRLS

THE CLASS OF 2014 HEADS INTO THE ‘REAL WORLD’

GOLF TEAM FINISHES STRONG

Modest and respectful dress is one thing, but being told to stop distracting boys is another issue.

What are the seniors doing when they graduate? Going global, staying national or taking gap years?

Improving as indiviuals and as a team, the golf team is confident with the way they ended the season.

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PAGES 4&5

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to speak to her class is really cool. It’s very exciting, and because it’s important to her, to put all that together is really special,” he said. “If you told me 40 years ago, when I graduated, that I would ever speak at commencement, I would have thought ‘no way’.” On whether or not he would take up an opportunity to speak at his son’s graduation in four years, Mason said, “Absolutely. I mean, why not? Of all the things I did in my life, being at my daughter’s graduation is the coolest thing. You’re so proud of your kid and to have an important role in that ceremony, you can’t ask anymore of that.” Finally, he said, “I hope I will not disappoint. I feel the enormous pressure that Olivia has put upon me!”

TOWER/MAY 30, 2014

op-ed

Opinion Tower 2013-2014

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Teerin Julsawad

Editors-in-Chief Abigail Costigan Sofia Linden Wen-Xuan Ni Deputy Editor Lucy Price

News Editor

Rachel Saunders

Opinion Editor Rajan Cutting

Features and Arts Editor Sang Bae

Assisting Features and Arts Editor YiYi Ouyang

EDITORIAL

We can treasure one more kind of diversity: The creative approaches to learning we use here everyday While the embrace of diversity has always been widely celebrated, the creative freedom given by the school should also be appreciated more. In many ways, the school has applauded creative education, including allowing each teacher to select texts according to curriculum and students’ needs. Many classes already embrace creative projects in their curricula to different degrees. Freshman year ends with City Project, which requires students to visit sites related to their topics and interview some experts in the area. City Project also includes a museum exhibition which honors student works with a broader range of audience beyond their teachers. World Religion assigns students to interview friends and

relatives with religious belief. This assignment allows students to form their own conclusions about the effect of religion in the context of the own communities. The use of the round-table simulation in the study of history allows students to be in character and draw personal relationships with past historical events. Student-driven publications in English seminars, such as Before 19, capture observations of our lives in formal literature genres and create a wider authentic audience when published. Many language and science classes bring students out on field trips to practice their skills and knowledge. Math teachers also incorporate final projects or real-life applications into their curricula. The freedom of self-exploration

allowed in any form of arts goes without saying. These creative projects grant student-initiated learning. Students gain a vivid image of their subject through conducting real-life interviews instead of reading dry textbook summaries. Through personal explorations, they also recognize patterns and anomalies and generate their own conclusions. Valuable critical thinking skills are greatly employed when students learn to compare their observations with what is provided in published works. Many classes could brainstorm together to adopt more creative learning processes. By taking responsibility for our education, we can explore the world through our own eyes, ears, hearts and minds.

Sports Editors Tyler Jarecki Tony Rosenberg

Managing Editor Ariel Censor

Copy Editor Ariel Censor

Web Content Manager Gabby Davies

Advertising Manager Gabby Davies

Staff Artist YiYi OuYang

Distribution Manager Marianna Zapata

Board Manager Wei Wang

Columnists

Henry DuBeau Mary Jac Heuman Angaelica LaPasta Lucy Price Benjamin Sibley

Staff Photographers Bob Cornigans Sam Miller Ken Verral

Contributing Photographers Wei Ni Paige Titus

Faculty Adviser Ellen Cowhey

SANG BAE (left), TEERIN JULSAWAD (center) AND LUCY PRICE (right) are this year’s graduating staff. They served as the Features and Arts Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor, respectively. Bae and Julsawad will be attending New York University, and Price will head to Brown University. This year, Tower will lose three senior staff members, Lucy Price, Sang Bae and Teerin Julsawad. Each has brought their own unique gifts to the editing table. Lucy Price, with her more conservative political view has challenged us to expand our vision on issues. She’s helped fine tune and fact check many a story and served as a sounding board for the editorial board. Sang Bae, in his third year of journalism, has refined his own

Distribution Process Tower is hand-delivered on the day of publication to the Upper School. 500 copies are printed, and one is put in each faculty member’s mailbox. In addition, a copy is sent to each of our advertisers.

Scholastic Press Affiliations and Letter Policy Tower is an award-winning member of the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), Journalism Education Association (JEA) and Quill and Scroll. E-mail TowerEditors@ MastersNY.org to send Letters to the Editor. See the subsequent page for information regarding letters to the editor. Published approximately eight times a year, Tower, the student newspaper of The Masters School, is a public forum, with its Editorial Board making all decisions concerning content. Unsigned editorials express views of the majority of the Editorial Board.

writing voice and considerably expanded his illustrating abilities. He’s moved into a whole new realm of picture-taking, becoming Tower’s official one-man paparazzi machine. His initiative on staff has served as a model for the rest of the staff. This year’s editor-in-chief, Teerin Julsawad, flew solo. Going it alone did not mean he lowered his standards or expected less of himself or anyone else on staff. To the contrary, he imported our website,

tower.mastersny.org, to a new, improved platform. He signed up seven weekly bloggers so the website could stay fresh. He pumped up our Facebook presence. He recruited Lucy, a second-semester senior to work with our staff as deputy editor. And as if that wasn’t enough, he completely redesigned Tower’s layout, expanding our publication from a tabloid format to a broadsheet and he took creative risks with setting type against broad buffers of white space.

His compassionate management style allowed each of our budding staff members opportunities to expand their repertoire of skills in a supportive environment. And most of all, he made us smile, made us laugh. Tower thanks Sang, Lucy and Teerin for all their dedicated service. We’ll miss them dearly. Ellen Cowhey Faculty Adviser

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Educating children becomes harder after Head Start programs end Dear Tower Editors, Many readers have seen the column in Tower (Issue #4) dated Feb. 18th, 2014 regarding the Head Start program and why many studies have shown that it may be ineffective. I read this article with interest, because I was about to begin my senior project at Head Start in White Plains. After interning there for several months and researching the program extensively, I now have very mixed feelings about the success of the program. Head Start is not only a preschool from 8am-2pm, but it also provides the children and their families with emotional, social, nutritional and psychological support to prepare the children for

kindergarten. Head Start facilities have therapists, educational specialists, language specialists, and many other resources to help these children excel to the same level as their wealthier peers. I agree with the previous article in that economically Head Start may be a failure. While this program has outstanding goals, the results of the program are mixed. This is a hard fact to come to terms with when the program costs American taxpayers $8 billion a year. Yes, that is billion with a B. While this might sound like an outrageous amount of money (and in my opinion, it is) I have now seen first hand what Head Start can do for these children and their families.

The kids are learning about letters, numbers, nutrition, social skills and many other skills to prepare them for kindergarten. The parents are guided on how they can help their children, but from what I have observed, the parents are not able to educate or advocate for their children, especially once the resources Head Start provides, end. The children are starting out in circumstances that are not setting them up for success later on. Many of the parents are undocumented (living in bad conditions, hiding from the police), with little education, little income and more children than they can take care of. This is a devastating combination. Head Start may not be helping as much as we would like but that

does not mean the program doesn’t have great potential. I don’t think however, that the single program alone can break the cycle of poverty to prepare these children to be productive members of society. So instead of paying 8 billion dollars for a this single program, I believe the program should either be cut entirely to save the 8 billion dollars, or expanded on so that we are paying more to get more. Having better educated teachers and implementing many of the same programs in the public elementary schools that the children will later attend, will help increase Head Start’s long term results. Sincerely, Juliet Day ‘14

TOWER/MAY 30, 2014

op-ed

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Re: Musical groups organize for Great Gig in the Sky Dear Tower Editors, The Tower article ‘Musical Groups Organize for annual Great Gig in the Sky’ in the May 2 issue suggested that a choice was made by the organizers to only allow ‘established groups’ into this year’s Great Gig. This suggestion is incorrect. With Rumours, Great Gig had over 75 students along with 10 faculty members participate in various aspects of the production from music and design, to dance, video, tech, post production, etc. More than in any past year. Musically, at the beginning of the year, participation was opened to the entire community, as it has in previous years. The majority

of music students who expressed interest in contributing arrived at these early meetings as members of existing groups at Masters and indicated that they wanted these groups to participate. Very few individual musicians expressed interest in being involved on their own this year in the production, and those that did, as in years past, were given a place in Rumours. Is this different then the experience of Dark Side? To some extent, yes. Is this a changing trend? Perhaps. In Great Gig’s first iteration very few students knew what Great Gig would be. At the time, very few members could get their entire group on board to ‘do one more thing’ outside of the bounds of classes, co-cur-

ricula’s, and club meetings and so joined on their own. With the success, general fun, inclusiveness, and sense of community within the project over the past two years, preexisting groups this year came out en masse to contribute to the Great Collaboration. Groups ranging from Glee Club to Dohters to Dobbs 16 to Jazz and Swing band happen to be comprised of the majority of performing musicians who were willing to participate in this genre. And so, it is understandable that from the outside it could appear that ‘only established groups were allowed to participate’. However, this was not the case and was certainly not a policy. Our policy has been that we work with whoever would like to be involved.

Great Gig welcomes one and all regardless of ability, area of interest, or talent. We only ask that you contribute, collaborate, commit and have fun. So, if you’re at all interested and would like to be involved in any way, shape, or form, please join us next year. Signed, “ Your Artistic Shepherds” of Great Gig in the Sky: Jeff Carnevale, Designer and Technical Director Janie Wallace, Stage Director and Choreographer Gilles Pugatch, Music Director and Sound Designer Vince Galgano, Mutli-media Designer and Director #synergy

Dress code enforcement prioritizes respect for boys Ariel Censor Managing Editor/Copy Editor A girl, wearing shorts to school on a particularly hot spring day, is told to cover up by one of her teachers, who tell her she is distracting her male classmates. She changes into a spare pair of pants, feeling embarrassed. The problem with this situation is not that the teacher told the student to change, but the justification for doing so. Although the dress code is is necessary, and put into place to keep our school environment respectful, the way it is enforced is in relation to boys,

rather than in respect to our whole community. The dress code vaguely states in the first paragraph: “…this code endeavors to establish a clear, common standard of neatness and avoid ambiguities of style and fashion which could distract students and faculty from more important aspects of their relationships. The school allows a range of styles as long as the clothing worn does not detract from our educational mission.” Although it does not mention distraction in any sort of sexual way, it can easily be interpreted as such, causing teachers to unfairly

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COLUMN: AS I SEE IT..

The path to peace may demand military action Lucy Price I do not believe that peace is always the answer. While I wish peace talks could solve the complex issues of the world, I am a realist who knows that that is not always the case. In April, Boko Haram, a terrorist organization in Nigeria whose full name translates as “Western education is sin,” broke into an all-girls secondary school and abducted 276 girls in the middle of the night. Some escaped, but the majority, according to Boko Haram assertions, have been forced to convert to Islam (many of those abducted are Christian) and to marry members of the terrorist organization. In contrast, our recent Nigerian guest speaker shared stories of girls who had escaped who reported being raped many times a day. Boko Haram’s stated reason for the kidnappings? That Islam permits slavery, and that girls should not be educated but instead married off. The kidnapping of innocent schoolgirls epitomizes much of what Boko Haram believes in: subjugating women and not allowing any form of western education. This atrocious act is no aberration in regions where radical Islamic organizations rule. Following the kidnapping, many took to Twitter to bring attention to the harrowing situation. Michelle Obama posted a photo (below) in

dress code those who may be more sexually “distracting” than others. As a general trend, girls who are more developed get dress-coded far

which she held a piece of paper with the words “#bringbackourgirls,” a hashtag that has been trending for weeks now. While I appreciate our First Lady and those like her who utilize twitter as a vehicle for social change, I also know that Boko Haram is not at all intimidated by Michele Obama. As I see it, America has a responsibility to take action in Nigeria and bring back these girls. It appears that the Obama administration believes that accommodating Islamist radicals, and refraining from all provocative action, will help promote world peace and prevent world war. But I disagree. Radical Islam, as opposed to the mainstream, peaceful majority, is dangerous and threatens democracy. Their doctrine is one that supports violent war against infidels, oppresses women, loathes western education, believes in child slavery and quells all voices of opposition. Boko Haram’s desire, above all else, is to eradicate western democracy and western society. Peace is not plausible when one is negotiating with someone who wants to destroy a whole society. Boko Haram does not want peace. They want sharia law to dictate all world matters. This is why peace is not the answer in this case. We must take immediate action, even if that includes sending troops.

According to the dress code, girls have to change their behavior because boys apparently have no control over theirs.

more than those who are not, although they may be wearing the exact same type of clothing. This goes against the “common” standards the code promises. Not

exposed to an environment where the rules aren’t catering to them, which is more similar to real life conditions? Teachers, I encourage you to be conscious of whom you dress code and why you’re doing it. Specifically, be mindful of whether you are dress coding every girl who is breaking the code or just those who, because of the nature of their body, are more“sexually distracting” while doing so. Most importantly: no matter what you do, never tell a girl you are dress coding her because she is “distracting boys”. Use the dress code as a way to promote respect within the community, not to make girls to feel ashamed of their bodies.

AP courses praise performance Rajan Cutting Opinion Editor As the year ends, students consider the possibility of Advanced Placement (AP) courses for next year. To gain admittance to one of these accelerated courses, there is a selective process. I disagree with the process and strongly believe every student who wants to should be able to take an AP. If a student is passionate about a subject and wants to take a deeper dive into its material, they deserve to be given that opportunity. Department Chairs are hesitant

about whether or not to place students in APs because they are concerned the students won’t perform well in the class or on the test, which could be detrimental to the student. This is flawed logic. I struggle in regular chemistry, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have been placed in regular chemistry. The same should apply for APs. Placement shouldn’t rely on performance. Even if a student isn’t performing well it won’t matter, because it was an independent decision in the class. I’m bad at chemistry, but it was my decision. Inspired by the show Breaking Bad, I wanted to take chemistry. I didn’t take it with the expectation of exceeding. I knew

it wouldn’t be easy, but it was my choice. Many private schools across the country, including Fieldston, an independent city school, have dropped APs from their curricula. Some schools do this because they believe the strict curriculum of APs restricts the freedom teachers have in the classrooms, while others do so because they believe all of their courses are advanced. By departments not allowing every student to take an AP, it makes it seem like a select class only for the elite “smart kids”. It takes the compassion out of classes and only praises success, which makes students think of AP courses as just things to put on a college application.

congratulations to our new

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF!

Wei Ni

THE WHITE HOUSE

only is this not a fair way to enforce any rule, but it makes more developed girls feel self-conscious about their bodies. Justifying the dress code as a way to avoid sidetracking boys from learning also makes it seem as if boys are not capable of self-control. According to the dress code, girls have to change their behavior because boys apparently have no control over theirs. However, even if boys really can’t control their behavior in a learning environment where girls aren’t wearing conservative clothing all the time, shouldn’t they be

Abigail Costigan/Tower

TEERIN JULSAWAD/TOWER

The editors-in-chief for Tower’s 2014-2015 are juniors Wen-Xuan Ni, Abigail Costigan and Sofia Linden. Ni has spent the semester exploring the city in project-based learning with CITYTerm. In contrast, Costigan and Linden have been building snow igloos and learning to lead multi-day hikes through the Rocky Mountains in their semester away with High Mountain Institute (HMI). Each editor brings three years of journalism experience as well as her broadened educational perspective from a semester away.

FEATURES and arts

TOWER/MAY 30, 2014

FEATURES and arts

Julia Borges - Colby College Santiago Rozas - Bates College Sophie Gardephe - Bates College Bennettz Saltzman - Bates College Samuel Cabrera - McGill University Stefan Luiggi- McGill University

Lidija Nikolic - University of Washington

Sydney LaSala - University of Wisconsin–Madison

Pixel West - Bennington College Morgan Nakatani - Middlebury College Christina Guarin - Green Mountain College

Ross Lilienfield - University of Michigan Gio Kim - University of Michigan Ronnell Canada - Case Western Reserve University Henry DuBeau - Oberlin College Julia Butterfield - Oberlin College

Acacia Hoisington - Dartmouth College Sophie d’Orchimont - Dartmouth College

Judy Chen - Boston University Joey Wang - Boston University Emily Rosenthal - Boston University Jackie Lee - Boston University Jena Goldman - Northeastern University Connor Linehan - Northeastern University Mary Jac Heuman - Northeastern University Henry Slate - Boston College Jonathan Eatroff - Tufts University Casey Chon - Hampshire College Gillian Goodman - Williams College Ella Chao - Wellesley College Cristein Weiss - Brandeis University Linkon Duong - University of Massachusetts Amherst Lucy Price - Brown University Sorawee Porncharoewase - Brown University Park Udahemuka - University of Rhode Island Niall Higgins - Trinity College Luke Davoren - Wesleyan University Evi Robinson - Connecticut College

Hillary Tse - Carnegie Mellon University Mark Saba - Penn State University Samantha Lee - Penn State University Gianna Masini - Drexel University Ben Finkelstein - Franklin & Marshall College Leroy Isiah Hayden - Northampton Community College Eric Acosta - University of Pittsburgh Sam Miller - Susquehanna University Deniz Bengi - Lafayette College Katie Regele - Johns Hopkins University Jun Hyuk Choi - Johns Hopkins University William Stanton - Johns Hopkins University Evi Robinson - Connecticut College Stephanie Sherman - Loyola University Maryland Hayley Ann Kohn - Fairfield University Maria Dubon - Washington College

Christina Schwartz - New York University Chuck Ihekwaba - New York University Teerin Julsawad - New York University Anthony Cao - New York University Sang Bae - New York University William Dufault - New York University Olivia Cao - Barnard College Elijah Jackson - Bard College Isabel Grieder - Hamilton College Zach Oscar - Hamilton College Richard Detwiler - Hamilton College Olivia Lifflander - Cornell University Susie Plotkin - Cornell University Patrick Wang - Cornell University Elijah Jackson - Bard College Hannah Mitamura - Vassar College David DeMatteo - Sarah Lawrence College Lorenzo Luongo - Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts Claudia Lamberty - Skidmore College Henry Jaffe - Skidmore College Jac Catarina - Hobart and William Smith College Nick Flammia - Fashion Institute of Technology

Payton Fu - University of Richmond Naya Williams - University of Virginia’s College at Wise

Emma Cunningham - Wake Forest University

Sophie Lieber - University of Southern California Alex George - University of California–Berkeley Sabrina Stanich - Pitzer College Theresa Phoenix - Santa Clara University Cassie Majersky - University of San Francisco Wanyi (Wendy) Liu - University of Califoria–San Diego

Ray Emanuel - University of South Carolina

Melanie Peterson - Belmont University

Eleanor McGuirk - Wheaton College

Tianyou Xu - Emory University Leigh Grier - Savannah College of Art and Design Bobby Sacher - Savannah College of Art and Design Peter Yergeau - Gettysburg College

Jazmine Figueroa - University of Kansas Ashley Hart - University of Tampa Lauren Reiner - University of Miami

Jacinto Lemarroy-Pipper - Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Yuri Harada - Sophia University Olivia Mason - University of St. Andrews

Macy Sorgenstein - George Washington University Catherine Sufiyarova - George Washington University Tomoshige Tachikawa - George Washington University Millie Ho - George Washington University

FEATURES and arts

TOWER/MAY 30, 2014

FEATURES and arts

Julia Borges - Colby College Santiago Rozas - Bates College Sophie Gardephe - Bates College Bennettz Saltzman - Bates College Samuel Cabrera - McGill University Stefan Luiggi- McGill University

Lidija Nikolic - University of Washington

Sydney LaSala - University of Wisconsin–Madison

Pixel West - Bennington College Morgan Nakatani - Middlebury College Christina Guarin - Green Mountain College

Ross Lilienfield - University of Michigan Gio Kim - University of Michigan Ronnell Canada - Case Western Reserve University Henry DuBeau - Oberlin College Julia Butterfield - Oberlin College

Acacia Hoisington - Dartmouth College Sophie d’Orchimont - Dartmouth College

Payton Fu - University of Richmond Naya Williams - University of Virginia’s College at Wise

Emma Cunningham - Wake Forest University

Ray Emanuel - University of South Carolina

Melanie Peterson - Belmont University

Eleanor McGuirk - Wheaton College

Tianyou Xu - Emory University Leigh Grier - Savannah College of Art and Design Bobby Sacher - Savannah College of Art and Design Peter Yergeau - Gettysburg College

Jazmine Figueroa - University of Kansas Ashley Hart - University of Tampa Lauren Reiner - University of Miami

Jacinto Lemarroy-Pipper - Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Yuri Harada - Sophia University Olivia Mason - University of St. Andrews

Macy Sorgenstein - George Washington University Catherine Sufiyarova - George Washington University Tomoshige Tachikawa - George Washington University Millie Ho - George Washington University

FEATURES AND ARTS

TOWER/mAy 30, 2014

Students give up summer vacation for rigorous programs Rachel saunDeRs News Editor

run for the doors, soaking up all of the work-free summer air. Although this is a nice thought, it is not always the reality. Most coaches, teachers or parents expect students to show up prepared and

SANG BAE/TOWER

Gap years offer alternative from college fare Gabby Davies Advertising/Web Content Manager

Gap years: the unspoken option. While the year off from school is not seen as a big deal in some countries, to most Americans, the break isn’t even considered a choice after students have graduated from high school. Director of College Counseling Kathleen Woods believes that a gap year is not harmful to the college process overall.“Many colleges don’t have a problem with a student being accepted, asking for a year off and then doing in the following year as a freshman,” Woods said. “But, you have to state your case, talk to them about what it is you’re going to do.” Though gap years are less well known in America, more students are taking gap years every year.

However, it’s still a small amount of people compared to how many Europeans take the trip. Senior Maria Dubon is taking a gap year because she believes it will motivate her to do well in her upcoming college years. “I want to take a gap year mainly because I don’t feel like I’ve gone through enough experiences to motivate me enough to do as well as I want to in school,” Dubon said. “I plan to do a lot of community service in Guatemala and do a lot of social rights in the United States. I feel like I need to go through a life changing experience so I can mind enough motivation to make me do well at school.” The concept of a gap year developed in Great Britain in 1960’s and has been a popular choice for students from there ever since. In 2012, 2.5 million British students went on a gap year where as only 40,000 American students chose to take the year off.

The year break is also a lot cheaper in Europe, as European students have a less structured gap year compared to the American gap year. According to The New York Times, an American gap year costs around as much a year of college tuition. Izzy Zeitz-Moskin ‘10 took a gap year before going to Carleton College. “I would recommend taking a gap year, but not to everyone and it really depends on what you decide to do with your time,” Zeitz-Moskin said. “I think it made me gain a very different perspective, which felt somewhat lege, but it also was a very useful one which has helped me throughout my college experience.” Dubon believes that the gap year process but also learning about yourself. “I think the year provides a lot wants to do in life,” Dubon said.

September. The preparation can take up a huge chunk of the summer, leaving little room for other activities, or for just resting. So instead of rolling out of bed at noon, alarm clocks are being set for early workouts and classes. Sophomore Hannah Weiss took Algebra II classes last summer, which were to help her get back into the “Algebra rhythm” after learning geometry freshman year. “It consumed a lot of my life because it was really hard to do a chapter every day, which is basically what we do in a month at school,” Weiss said. “So, I felt like I was doing homework and preparing for the tests all the time, especially because I was there for three hours and the classes were only an hour and a half or two hours.” Additionally, vigorous sports practices begin right from where the team left off at the end of last season. Mikelle Sacco, head coach of the varsity volleyball team, expects athletes to work on their skills over the summer and greatly encourages attending a volleyball camp. Sacco also posts an eight week training schedule on the school’s online page for the volleyball players to complete prior to pre-season in August. Sophomore and varsity volleyball player Stefanie Weichert, who will be attending Gulf Coast High School in Naples, Florida next fall, said that her new school offers rigorous summer training programs for students who will be trying

out for varsity teams. “There will be 29 people trying out for 12 positions, and 9 are returning players, so my chances of making the team are slim. If I don’t do the program, I would say I probably have no chance of making the volleyball team,” Weichert said. Some students who hope to take honors or AP classes also prepare, studying up over the summer at classes, programs or with tutors. For AP Studio Art, Cheryl Hajjar, who teaches the class, strongly suggests that students get a head start because of the 24 required pieces, which are to be completed by the end of the school year. Hajjar said, “If you have an opportunity where you can study with someone or someones who can offer you other perspectives for doing things, or who can expose you to experiences that you haven’t had before, you should absolutely consider that, but would I require it? No.” “You shouldn’t do a class if you want to be in AP physics or AP calculus, then you’re doing it because you have to be in that class not because you actually like the courses. You should do it because you like that class,” Weiss said. Additionally, SAT and ACT preparatory classes are popular among sophomores and juniors in order to make the upcoming year easier to handle. Sophomore Emily Barshay will be taking SAT and ACT classes; however she does not see these classes as her priority. thing I’m doing this summer, or by far the most prominent, it’s something I’m doing on the side,” she said. Barshay will be attending a program at Sarah Lawrence College for writing over the summer as well. Because she will be commuting versus being a resident, Barshay will have more time on her hands to use productively, but only somewhat for studying so she can still soak up the summer sun.

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New eBook library system replaces old books Tony RosenbeRG Sports Editor The school sacrificed a little over 7,000 books due to the establishment of a new conference room in the back of the library. Members of the school faculty have come up with an alternative way to replace those lost books. By the beginning of the 20142015 school year, students can access the “eBook” electronic library system. Librarian Judy Murphy, a full supporter of this new establishment, believes it will sufficiently compensate for the thousands of books lost to the recent construction. “We reduced so many books in the library to make room for the new conference room, so we felt we needed to augment the selection of books,” Murphy said. The system aims to replace all lost books and more. “The ‘eBook’ system will have over 7,500 books for students to use freely,” Pereira said. “It (eBooks) is multidisciplinary. There is not one specific genre that all the books can be classified by.” This will allow for students to be more open and interested in learning different, unique topics all under the common category of “high school education.”

Robert Rooney, Director of Business and Finance, was a supporter of this new establishment from the very beginning. “Blending it (eBooks) into the curriculum was a pretty difficult process,” Rooney said. Once a student downloads a book through “eBooks,” he or she may hold onto the book for a given amount of time. “Students can hold onto books for 12 weeks. Multiple students can read the same book at the same time,” Murphy said. Another convenient asset that eBooks has to offer is page numbers and annotating. “The books have page numbers and the students can annotate the books online,” Murphy said. When the school is ready to introduce this new electronic library system to students, Pereira will make a directions sheet that explains how students can download this new system on their devices. “Students first have to download the app, Bluefire, on their devices so that they can successfully download these books electronically later on. This app is free on all devices,” said Murphy. If a student wishes to read a book through “eBook” on his or her computer, he only has to log onto “ebooks.com.” The school has already completed instating the “eBook” system, as the “eBooks” icon is already installed on all of the school’s desk-

TONY ROSENBERG/TOWER

WHAT ONCE CONTAINED thousands of books now holds an entire conference room and more space. Fortunately, 7,500 books will eventually digitize into the new eBook electronic library system by next year. tops (library, computer lab, etc.). “It (eBooks) is ready to launch now. We have the software installed on all school computers,” Pereira said. As many students are not familiar with the system and unclear with how Masters installed this

program, Pereira is planning to spread the word. “We will most likely have an announcement at Morning Meeting to let the school know about this new electronic library system,” Pereira said.

The books accessible to students at school will increase immensely; therefore, they will have more resources to use for their research projects, making it easier to prove their points and develop a more fluid angle.

TOWER/MAY 30, 2014

SPORTS

Girls’ JV tennis team scores successful season ing her teammates during matches. Freshman Tess Higgins said, “We might not all know each and every player on the team very well, but we still support and cheer on our teammates during matches.” Higgins has played doubles throughout the course of the season. As his first year as coach, Randy Linsay has been work-

to the doubles players more Jamie Clay about strategy, and in particular about shot selection and Contributing Writer court coverage,” Linsay said. He feels that even though With spring sports finprogress can be made ished this season and comthroughout the course of the petitive games and school season, the best time to work matches completed, the JV on your game is the offseagirls’ tennis team believes son. they have fought strong He said, “Although throughout the core of this you practice and improve season. throughout the playing seaWith a comson, the offbined 16 players, spring in the there are seven summer and freshmen, eight winter are sophomores and great times to one junior. develop your Although you practice and improve Since the begame.” throughout the playing season, the ginning of the Linsay said season, the juthat he has off-spring in the summer and winter are nior varsity team seen big imgreat times to develop your game has won various provements singles and doufrom the - Randy Linsay bles matches, but players on has had a hard the team, and time winning as knows that a team. it is need“I have won ed to propel matches playing the team to a singles, but it has not been ing hard to help the play- winning record. enough to put us in the lead ers improve and eventually While players continue to most times,” Haley Good- move up to the varsity level, experience match play and man, a freshman that plays but had a hard time finding improve their games, the #1 singles and had a winning the spark that could push main goal of playing on a record in that position said. the team to a winning record competitive sports team is Because of her skill and until about the middle of the to win, and a coach’s job is ability to play with more season. to help the players win these advanced players, Goodman Coaching kids at the Hast- matches. practiced with the boys JV ings Tennis club for 20 years, Linsay said, “When playteam as well as the girls’ Linsay knows that improve- ers and teams don’t win varsity team, in addition to ment comes with lots of prac- matches, it reflects on the playing with her own team. tice. coach, and means that were Although she does not al“I noticed that everything not doing our jobs as menways practice with her fel- started to click as soon as we tors, no matter how much low teammates, that does had gotten more practice in. were trying to help the playnot stop her from encourag- I especially started talking ers improve.”

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COLUMN: SIBLEY ON SPORTS

The Sterling spectacle reveals a Silver lining Ben Sibley

The new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is perhaps the most promising thing about today’s NBA. A 52-year-old Duke graduate and ex-lawyer, Silver is extremely intelligent, highly motivated and uncommonly open to change. He will no doubt lead the NBA with the utmost integrity and continue the improvement of the league. In his first year as commissioner, Adam Silver faced the most shocking incident surrounding the NBA in recent memory. In late April, an audio tape was leaked to TMZ in which the owner of the Los-Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, spoke horribly racist words to his girlfriend. In the tape, Sterling says, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” He also requests that his girlfriend “not to bring them [black people] to my games.” Immediately, a firestorm of controversy surrounded the NBA and what had been an exciting playoff round, was now smothered in a cloud of anger and disbelief. With both fan and player protests bound to occur, Silver decisively acted and saved the NBA from both bad publicity and the plague of Donald Sterling. A mere three days after the quotes became public, Silver acted and it was swift, decisive and firm. In his press conference he stated that, “We stand together in condemning Sterling’s views. They simply have no place in the NBA,”. His actions echoed his words; Silver banned Sterling for life, fined him the maximum allowed amount, 2.5 million dollars and with enough votes, is mandating that Sterling sell the team. Silver’s actions quickly drew major support from all angles. Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul said, “We appreciate the strong leadership from Commissioner Silver and he has our full support.” Hall of Famer Magic Johnson tweeted,

“Commissioner Silver showed great leadership in banning LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life.” ESPN also Basketball Commentator Bill Simons tweeted in support of Silver: “Kudos to Adam Silver— that was such an important moment for the NBA (and for him, too) and he handled it spectacularly”. The way Silver dealt with this near catastrophe expresses perfectly his potential for greatness. Silver has many ideas for the future of the NBA, including revamping the playoff format, instituting harsher drug testing and changing the current draft formula. Whatever Silver decides to pursue next, he has already demonstrated that he is perfectly capable of accomplishing it successfully.

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tower/MAY 30, 2014

SPORTS

Varsity golf competes in NYSAIS tournament Jackson Myers-Brown Contributing Writer This year, the boys’ varsity golf team, made up of seniors Bennett Saltzman and Ben Finkelstein, juniors Erin Kopf and Gene Yang and sophomores Tony Rosenberg and Hudson Lifflander, were all required to ride the bus to games together, a rule that Bhavin Patel, coach of the team and system administrator at the Technology Department, installed to reinforce the importance of team bonding. The bus rule was only one of the small but essential changes that Patel made in his inaugural year of being head coach of the varsity team. This season, despite cancellations and postponements due to weather, has had the team winning three

games in a row in between some critBennett Saltzman, co-captain ical losses to talented schools. One of of the team, has been on the team the more recent games, on May 12, since his sophomore year. “We had the team winning against King wanted to play by the rules, have a Low Heywood-Thomas School for the second time this season, bouncing back from two previous tough losses. The team ended the It was a special team, with great people regular season with an on it. One of the best teams I’ve ever even five hundred rebeen on. cord of five wins and five losses. The last match of the year for the team was the New - Bennett Saltzman York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) tournament at the Hampshire Country Club in Mamaroneck, New York ton of fun and play well and we acon May 21. The golf squad compet- complished all those goals. We had a ed against some of the best private good record and stellar scoring,” he schools across the New York State. said in regard to the regular season.

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Softball: The new “it” team Jack Murray Contributing Writer For a long time, the basketball team has been the pride and glory of the school, although the softball team might be catching up. Although their record is 5-6, this is “one of the greatest seasons in Masters softball history,” according to freshman Nina Hylton, who is a pitcher on the team. This year, the team even made the playoffs. Not only has the team played well, but any observer could see that they are also a very spirited team. Whenever anyone scores they are always cheering. Hylton said, “It’s not just team spirit, it’s the chemistry of the players that makes the team as enthusiastic as it is. It might be different with a different array of players, we are lucky we have the team we have now.” When anybody is at bat they are cheering her on, hoping for a run. Hylton added, “The team gets along perfectly, there is not one girl on the team who is left behind or ridiculed by teammates.” Senior captain Maria Dubon agreed, “Never have I played with a group of girls this close and supportive.” Their record hasn’t shown their potential, but they have a lot of skill. They have been playing many teams with girls that are going to college to play softball. Dubon said, “The one thing that keeps us going is

“I wanted to have a good season and be consistent in my scoring average, which I accomplished,” Saltzman said. His game plan for the tournament was “to play well”. Patel, who considers golf to be a passion of his, is not new to golf at Masters. Last season, he acted as junior varsity coach and assistant coach to the varsity team. Patel seemed excited about his role as the coach and also was happy with the improvements the team had made to excel this season. Patel has been pleased with the growing consistency of his team and believes that it is because of the practice his golfers put in during the off-season. In re-

gards to continuing the development of the golf program, Patel said, “It’s really up to them.” He’s seen major improvement in his team. Finishing with five hundred or better for the regular season was, and will always be, a goal of Patel’s. Playing with sophomore Tony Rosenberg in a two-man tournament on May 18 at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, NJ against the best prep schools in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the two representatives for Masters finished better than average. They competed with 32 teams, while finishing in the top 15. Saltzman was excited about ending his last year on the team with all his goals accomplished. “It was a special team, with great people on it. One of the best teams I’ve ever been on,” he said.

Tennis team looks to rally essential to how you perform. On the other hand, Coach Carl Owen Lieber McDonald said, “Tennis is a team Contributing Writer of individuals. You can’t compare it to any other team.” Beyond the team dynamics, the With the spring sports season in style of play is an integral part of full swing, the familiar thwack of tennis. The new and ongoing style racket on ball can be heard during is the baseline game. It is a combithe late afternoon on the school nation of consistency and trying to campus. overpower your opponent. Junior Despite a losing record to this Will Turett said, “I try to play agpoint, the players on the boys’ gressively and push my opponent varsity team back with deep believe they shots. I usually have strong stay on the baseteam chemline unless they istry. While hit it short.” each playWith the addiTennis is a team of individuals. er must face tion of a few solid You can’t compare it to any their oppoplayers this year, other team. nent on their team leaders feel own, the team that their suc- Carl McDonald supported cess rate can each other only go up in the from the sidecoming years. lines. Richards-Corke Tennis is said, “Receiving known as an these stronger individual sport where one player players is a good sign for the tenbattles against another, but ac- nis program.” Richards-Corke is cording to its players, this team is anticipating significant contribua single unit when it comes to tak- tion from these new teammates in ing on the competition. Sophomore the years to come. Khyle Richards-Corke said, “It’s McDonald agreed, “There true that we play individually, has been definite improvement but we are still a team like any la- throughout the year and a change crosse or basketball team.” When in attitude for the team.” it comes to tennis, having supporters and people that cheer you on is

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PAIGE TITUS/TOWER

SENIOR ASHLEY HART (left) AND JUNIOR REBECCA VIA (right) playing in the infield in a game against Holy Child. Although the girls lost this game, the girls ended their season with 5 wins and 5 losses. our chemistry.” The players believe that the softball team has taken a huge step up from previous seasons and proved to other teams they are not here to mess around. With Alex

Sheridan as a new coach, the team has really changed for the better. With practice, the team believes they have the chance to end up winning it all.

Boys’ lacrosse focuses on future development Dane Wasik Contributing Writer The boys’ varsity lacrosse team has a 4-9 record this season, already better than last year, when the team ended their season with only two wins under their belt. So what changed to spark this improvement? Senior Henry Slate has been playing lacrosse at Masters for six years. Slate said that he works hard to be a role-model for the underclassmen. “I try to lead by example and motivate them to try harder by going all out myself,” Slate said. Slate hopes that the increased number of underclassmen will lead to them sharing leadership roles. “We should have a larger and more experienced group of upperclassmen to fill those roles down the line.” The coach of the lacrosse team, Richard Podlovits, believes the large number of freshman on the team is both a blessing and a curse. “The weakest aspect of our team is our youth: young guys who haven’t played at this pace before;

varsity lacrosse is a physical game. Yet this is also the strongest point of our team. The underclassmen are energetic and happy to be here, which ultimately leads to success,” Podlovits said. Podlovits attributes last year’s weak season to a lack of depth on the roster, with only 14 players on the team. It has greatly increased to 24 varsity lacrosse players this year. Podlovits emphasizes the importance of leadership on the team. “Leadership comes with players stepping up to the responsibility. We need those guys to be leaders,” Podlovits said. Although many underclassmen are new to the team this year, according to the players, they are very passionate about the sport. Freshman Owen Lieber, who has scored four goals this season, said, “Lacrosse is my favorite sport and I’m trying to contribute all I can to the team.” Lieber has great confidence that the lacrosse team is improving. “Having this many freshman on a team can only help. Sooner or later, we’re going to start beating these teams that we’ve been losing to for years.”

BOB CORNIGANS /TOWER

FRESHMAN THOMAS DAVOREN CLEARS the ball during a game against Columbia Preparatory School. The team went to win the game with a score of 14-9.