Tower The Masters School 49 Clinton Avenue Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522
VOLUME 71, NUMBER 1
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
tower.mastersny.org
Former journalist aids teachers in college process Steinberg focused on how to write an effective recommendation in the second half of the presentation. He compared faculty recommendations to
Wen-Xuan ni Editor-in-Chief This year, the school invited author and New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg to be “Admissions Scholar in Residence.” A resident of Westchester and a friend of a Masters family, he will share his expertise on the college process in collabora-
teacher Sharon Linsker said, “He talked about having a strong lead to grab the reader’s attention, and emphasizing certain details to help colleges understand the student’s academic and personal strengths.” Two years ago, Steinberg left The New York Times and
Steinberg has focused on education for almost 25 years. In his book The Gatekeepers, published in 2003, he shadowed a Wesleyan University admisfor over eight months to provide an inside look of the college admission process. Steinberg shared his insights with the faculty on Aug. sentation, he touched on topics such as taking rigorous courses versus earning high grades, the impact of alumni interviews and crafting of students’ application essays. To answer a frequently asked question about whether highly selective colleges favor a B in rigorous courses or an A in
WEN-XUAN NI/TOWER
FORMER NEW YORK TIMES journalist Jacques Steinburgh converses with college counselor Kathy Woods and Head of School Matt Ives. Steinburgh has been reporting on education news for more than 25 years. lower level courses, Steinberg the meeting via Skype) said that it is impossible to provide a general answer — but that the most competitive colleges like to see students do as well as they can in challenging courses. Longtime AP and senior seminar English teacher, Caroline Dumaine said, “It takes foresight for students to tell whether they will be
able to do well – a kind of foresight that may be unrealistic or even impossible.” She said she encourages students to follow their passion, though colof courses so much that many students, especially those feeling pressured, will decide to take that into consideration. In terms of application essays, Dumaine agrees with Steinberg that essays should
sound like the student’s own voice and should not be heavily edited by others. Dumaine said that she did not read her son’s essay until well after he was admitted to Brown University. When she did read it, she said she found a spelling error. Dumaine suggested that the presence of that error might have helped convince the Brown truly the work of a 17-year-old.
that works with entire cities to help every public school graduate to have access to a college education. Its offerings include scholarships, Steinberg said, “I was very intrigued by the opportunity to help build this organization, As an “Admissions Scholar in Residence,” Steinberg will periodically come to work the prospective college students throughout the year.
NYSAIS follow-up: Health Center hours extend naomi nivar Staff Writer To follow up on the 2011 and to better serve the needs of students, the school has hired a health coordinator and is extending health center hours until 8 p.m. Monday through The new health coordinator, Meredith Pope, will be on campus from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and available on-call overnight as an Emergency Medical Tech-
times. In previous years, health center was open from 7:45 am until 4 p.m. Monday through tended by four hours on weekdays. Pope decided to take the position of Health Coordinator because the nontraditional shifts work well with her busy schedule. “The hours I have allow me to go back to Physician Assistant School,” Pope said. In addition to taking classes, Pope is also teaching athletic training classes both at Mercy College and Dominican College.
have access to health care at all
school. She said, “The Masters School, as an establishment, is very supportive of continuing professional development.” Pope thinks it’s a great idea that she will now be on campus for several hours a day so that she becomes a familiar face and also connects better with both students and health center faculty. Her position was created because administration felt there was a need for a health coordinator to maintain communication between health center staff and dorm parents. Others on campus are also pleased to learn that the health center will be open longer. Jeff
Carnevale, a dorm parent in great to have health personnel on campus in case a boarder gets sick around study hall or hurt during practice.” Junior and boarder, Ali Ince, also added that she feels having a health coordinator will make the community safer. Pope is making a smooth transition into the Masters community and is already making a difference. Ginny Deckleman, Coordinator of Upper School attendance, said, “She is a fantastic addition to our faculty because she has helped me with medical forms.”
NAOMI NIVAR/TOWER
NEW HEALTH COORDINATOR Meredith Pope will be on duty from 3-8 in the afternoon. Longer health center hours benefits boarders and day students staying late after school who need medical attention.
INSIDE THE ISSUE NEW SCHOOL YEAR EXPECTATIONS
M.A.A.C. OPENING DELAYED
BETTER PRESEASON SCHEDULING
With a new start, students and faculty are all expecting changes and encounters.
Questions raised about who will get to use the M.A.A.C.
Improved schedule makes the blood, sweat and tears worth it.
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OP-ED
TOWER/SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
OpiniOn Tower 2014-2015
Editor-in-ChiEf AbigAil CostigAn sofiA linden Wen-XuAn ni
staff WritEr
Ariel Censor rAjAn Cutting nAomi nivAr YiYi ouYAng jAke regele rAChel sAunders
faCulty advisor mAtt broWne ellen CoWheY
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. To send Letters to the Editor, email TowerEditors@MastersNY.org. For more information about Letters to the Editor, see the comic below. Published approximately six 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.
EDITORIAL
Diversity theme in context: As the school focuses on acceptance, the world retains its past predjudice
O
ur
diversity-themed
coincides with recent acts of race-driven violence. Goals for this year include making the school more open and accepting to all people, and celebrating the diversity among students and faculty. This surge of acceptance will hopefully work to counteract the racial adversity that’s recently been plaguing the news. Police brutality is the bitter aftertaste of a history of violence. American history started with the genocide of the native peoples, followed by cruel acts such as slavery, leading to further societal racism. These violent acts of the past have been echoed by recent stints of police brutality, such as events in Ferguson, MO where African American teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white policeman despite being unarmed and, according to some news sources, raising his arms to indicate being unarmed. Later, in Staten Island NY, a similar event ocstrangled a black man, Eric Garner, to death in a chokehold while Garner was saying repeatedly “I can’t breathe.” Race should not matter, but
in the criminal justice system inequalities based on race are a sad reality. Perhaps students are not being shot without cause by policemen, but students have certainly faced issues such as being stopped and frisked based purely on the color of their skin. The primary job of the police is to make people feel safe and protected, but when they become the ones striking fear amongst innocent citizens, there’s a systematic problem. Throughout American history minorities have been unfairly accused of crime. According to U.S. census bureau: State and Country Quick Facts, the percentage of black people in the United States is 13.2 and the percentage of Hispanics is 17.1. Yet the combined 30 percent of these two minorities compromise 58 percent of inmates says the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), black and white Americans are equally likely to use illegal drugs, with variations between between use and punishment is purely based on race.
Yes, there are issues of race across the country, but they also exist in New York, Westchester, and even in our school. Having students of every race and many ethnicities who travel and commute from various parts of the world and country, it is inevitable that students at our school will face racial issues in their lifetime. We should feel jarred and angered by events in Ferguson and Staten Island, where police have been overtly violent and shown signs of blatant racism. However, we shouldn’t be complacent with just being angry. We should take this anger and use it to generate change. We are young. We are the next generation and we have a choice. We have the power to continue these cycles of disparity. Or, we can throw out the old seeds of hate and sow a new garden of love. When any group is treated as “other” or “less than,” it demeans everyone in the society where that injustice is occurring. Students should take the opportunity to engage deeply in the diversity dialogue this year and leave this community and change the world for the better.
Athletics convey gender inequality regarding dress code Ariel Censor Staff Writer On an average day in a sports practice, any student that passes by can generally see a male student exercising shirtless or in a tank-top. Nearby, female athletes can be seen sweating in a shirt with sleeves and shorts that
requirement. When someone is exercising, they normally think about dressing for comfort. Because it’s already hot outside and exercising causes one to heat up, it makes sense that student athletes don’t want to wear a lot of clothing while working out. However, while male stu-
dents go shirtless, coaches often hold female students to much more conservative standards, in some cases, not even allowing them to wear tank-tops. For girls, this not only is unfair, but extremely uncomfortable. Different coaches have different standards for how their female athletes dress for practice, some more lib-
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eral than others. However, in almost all cases, girls aren’t allowed to dress as freely as boys. For example, in the weight room, girls aren’t even allowed to wear tanktops while boys sometimes aren’t wearing a shirt at all. These arbitrary restrictions enforced by some coaches on the way girls dress for practice are only detrimental
to the girls. If there are to be standards on what is worn to practices, they should be parallel for both genders. Otherwise, there should be very liberal guidelines. It’s much better to have loose rules and trust students to be able to determine what is appropriate and what’s not than to have unfair ones that only target one gender.
Correction In “Athletics convey gender equality regarding dress code,” we wrote that girls aren’t allowed to wear tank tops while boys are free to go shirtless. In fact, in the weight room, the required athletic attire for all students includes a shirt with sleeves, shorts or sweat pants, and an athletic shoe.
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FEATURES AND ARTS
TOWER/SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
Questions arise regarding the M.A.A.C. Jake Regele Staff Writer The new Masters Athletics and Arts Center is nearing completion with an expected ribbon cutting on May 15th and a possible opening date much earlier, causing many questions to surface. What hours will it be open? How will it be staffed? While most of these questions are without answers ,a few have been decided. One main Question asked by the Master’s community that has come to light regarding public use of the M.A.A.C.. Many of Masters’ facilities are open to the public such as the
track, or open to teams and tournaments such as the gym. Although the topic is still being discussed, the M.A.A.C.’s pool will most likely be open to swim teams, and even has a door to lock visiting teams out of the main building. “We want to get in the building and see how we use it before making it public,” says Tim Kane, Associate Head of School for Institutional Advancement. Students have mixed opinions on the public use of the M.A.A.C.’s pool. “I think it would be OK for swim teams to use the pool, so long as it is not open to the general public,” said Alice Kinsley, a returning member of the class of 2017. Other stu-
dents are not as accepting. “It could become a huge liability issue,” said junior Sophia Patterson. Another concern that has aroused questions is about the cafe. Kane explained that while it will not be open to the public, the cafe will be usable by parents of students as well as parents from visiting teams. Kane went on to say that the cafe will be cash and credit only for at least the system is very likely to be present in the following years. There will also be an emphasis on alumni in the M.A.A.C. “I’d love it to be a place for alumni to come back to and use,” said Kane.
JAKE REGELE/TOWER
THE ATHLETICS AND ART Building (M.A.A.C) is still undergoing construction while plans for its future uses and publicity are being made. The M.A.A.C will connect to Strayer Hall, which is also undergoing renovation to accomodate the new addition to the campus.
What are you looking forward to this year? Compiled By Naomi NivaR PHOTO BY NAOMI NIVAR, RAJAN CUTTING, WEN-XUAN NI AND ELLEN COWHEY
Emma Friedman Freshman
“I’m looking forward to the opportunities that masters has to try new things.”
Fatomata Konteh Sophomore
“I’m looking forward to challenging myself.”
Ella Hogan Freshman
“I am really looking forward to meeting new people and having a bigger grade.”
Gavin Koepke Junior
“I am really looking forward to chilling with my bros in the dorm.”
Annie Canning
Royal Peoples
“I’m looking forward to being an upperclassmen. The sense of leadership increses in areas like sports and clubs.”
“I’m looing forward to see how all the sports teams perform this year.”
Junior
Mark Whitley Senior
“I’m looking forward to prom.”
Adam Gimple
College counselor
“Getting to know my new sophomores, helping my juniors figure out what their colege interests are, and assisting my seniors in determining their paths for next year!!!”
Senior
History teacher
“I’m looking forward to being with you guys, it’s invigorating, energizing... I’m looking forward to just being with the kids.”
Tom Wethington Honors algebra II teacher Dean of residential life
“I am really looking forward to interacting with students in new settings.”
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SPORTS
TOWER/SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
SportS
Debating and comparing the effectiveness of preseason Rajan Cutting Staff Writer abigail Costigan Editor-in-Chief As the summer comes to an end, over 180 students arrive at school a week early to participate in preseason in order to prepare for their upcoming seasons. Students around campus feel differently about preseason and its effectiveness. Junior Varsity Boy’s Soccer player Khoi Tran feels as if preseason is too long. He said, “I would much rather have one long practice a day than having two shorter ones.” On the other hand Sophomore Boy’s Junior Varsity Soccar player Daniel Roma thinks preseason is too short. He said, “If we had a longer preseason we would be in better shape and would have more time
to prepare for a competitive season, which would put us in a better spot.” Freshmen Diego Medina doesn’t feel he has another time to showcase his preseason I was really nervous because everything was so new to me. If there was more time I could show the coaches more,” he said. Junior Girls Varsity player Laura Silva thinks Varsity and JV should split sooner. “The two teams playing body. Varsity players lose rhytmn playing with less talented and experienced players, but JV players also Athletic Director Kevin Versen believes our preseason is standard. He said, “Our system is pretty basic and will change according to popular demand from players as well as coaches.” Even so, changes have
SOFIA LINDEN/TOWER
GIRLS VARSITY SOCCER WARMS up during afternoon preseason practice. The JV and Varsity player practice on the same feild, and are not seperated in the beginning, but students and faculty have been debating the effectiveness of this system. been made from previous years. The break between morning and afternoon practices has been shortened. Last year, morning
Dorm Olympic Snapshots ONE BOARDER FROM EACH dorm battle it out in the final round of ninja. Anais Mazic took home the gold for Ford Dorm (not pictured). From left to right, Madeline Watkins’15 from Cole, Shermon Goldbrum’16 from Thompson, Shelly Wang’18 from McCormack, Allen Miyazawa’16 from Strong.
practices were held from 8:30-10:30, and afternoon practices were from 3:305:30, leaving a six hour break between practices.
Athletics and coaching links Masters to Mercy College RaChel saundeRs Staff Writer
When three coaching spots opened up at Masters, Kevin Versen, Athletic Director, contacted nearby colleges to try and possibly students who could also coach. Mercy College is 0.8 miles down the road from Masters, making it a great outELLEN COWHEY/TOWER
NANCY GORMLEY
THE WHOLE BOARDING COMMUNITY participates in a nail-biting game of ninja. The boarder olympics are a fun way to promote friendly competition at the start of the new year.
hours long, with practices starting from 9:00-11:00 and afternoon practices starting from 3:00-5:00.
coaches. So far a total of three coaches at Masters have been recruited from Mercy: Jillian Maricondo (Girl’s lacrosse), Hernando Santamaria (Girl’s soccer) and Mallorie Hopkins (Girl’s volleyball). “It’s right down the street, so it’s a good avenue to [recruit coaches],” Versen said, “I’m not seeing those connections with other colleges in the area. Mercy was just the easy connection right off the bat.” Mallorie Hopkins is a senior at Mercy College; coaching at a high school. “You [high school athletes] learn to bond on a different level … because
you’re not getting this teaching from an adult who is like twenty, thirty years older than you,” said Hopkins. She said that student coaches closer in age to athletes can better relate to them socially and academically. of this relationship are not one way, “I think [coaching at masters] is coaches] because right now the coaches get extra jobs and its more coaching they can actually take and put into the students here,” said Hopkins. Like many other college teams, Mercy is following a trend of early morning practices, freeing up the coaches for the afternoon. This allows Masters to take advantage of their free time and offer opportunities for Mercy coaches and students to get involved with the school. “They’re also bringing in a lot of knowledge of the game and the sport,” said Versen, “I think the kids are learning a lot from them, and I hope, they’re noticing it.”