Tower Issue #1 2017-2018

Tower The Masters School

49 Clinton Avenue Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522

VOLUME 74, NUMBER 1

Editorial For years, unspoken rules have been a part of the Masters experience. Most important: the right of seniors to control the DSL. Without earned rights of seniority, being a senior loses its signifigance. Seniors don’t want to be feared, they just want the same respect they showed their upperclassmen. See page 3.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2017

tower.mastersny.org

Admissions looks for “powers for good” Masters

looks skyward

HEnry WiLLiams Tower Staff For the past few years, Masters has been growing and changing. In addition to the well-publicized creation of new facilities and programs, the school has had a declining acceptance rate. According to the Admissions Department, for the Upper School the current acceptance rate is 35 percent. “The number of applications we receive has gone up for the last five or six years,” Associate Director of Admissions Tim Custer said. “As a school, we’re able to be more selective because we have more applicants.” The likely sources for this increase are diverse, according to Custer, and might include the school’s new engineering curriculum, prominent new programs like the national-champion squash team, and new facilities like the Fonseca Center. The reasons applicants choose Masters are just as varied, but admissions has seen some patterns. “Parents tell us they like the school because they feel our values align with their values,” Andrea Fischer, the Director of Admissions for the Upper School, said. Another thing Masters has is the large and active Gold Key program. “Other schools do have student tours, but when applicants and parents tour [at Masters], they’re seeing one of our students front and center, and they get a chance to envision themselves as a student,” Fischer said. Masters also retains a large inter-

Emma Luis Tower Staff

GEORGE WEED/ TOWER

BEHIND THE PIE CHART are packets that are sent out each spring by the admissions department to accepted students. national base of applicants. “Every region is represented,” Fischer said. In addition, the Admissions Department goes out on the road to present the school. Despite outreach, “A lot of applicants come from word of mouth,” Custer said. Admission to Masters takes into account a variety of factors: written statements, recommendations, interviews, grades, test scores and more. “Our process is not drastically different from other schools,” Custer said, “but we do perhaps focus more on character. We hope to bring

in good people.” Believing in being a “power for good in the world” is also an aspect of getting in. “Our mission statement is right behind the front desk, and we talk about it in interviews,” Custer said. “It drives selection more than at other schools.” Test scores, while important, are often overemphasized and misunderstood by anxious applicants according to Fischer. Tests like the Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT) are taken almost exclusively by students who are already looking to apply to

selective schools. As a result, students who expect to land in the top percentiles end up closer to the middle, largely due to the pool of test takers. In addition, scores for Masters applicants don’t need to meet rigid requirements. “Other schools have hard cutoffs for scores, Masters doesn’t,” Fischer said. As Masters shifts its academic environment with policies like switching to letter grades, the school’s focus in admissions may also shift. “It’ll be interesting to see how changes in academic philosophy will change admissions,” Fischer said.

David Oks running for Mayor of Ardsley micHaEL FitzgEraLd Editor-in-Chief Masters junior and 16-year-old David Oks is currently campaigning to be mayor of the Village of Ardsley. Oks will be running against Nancy Kaboolian, who served as deputy mayor under the retiring current mayor, Peter Porcino. Oks said he made the decision to run for mayor in early August, and will be running as an independent; Kaboolian is running as a Democrat. If elected, Oks’ goals are to be fiscally moderate and socially liberal, to commit Ardsley to the Paris Climate Agreement, and to turn Ardsley into a sanctuary city for immigrants. Additionally, Oks stated, “I would like to reduce the rate of growth in village taxes, and the people of Ardsley agree with me.” The position of Mayor of Ardsley has a two-year term, and Oks stated that he would likely take a gap year after graduating in order to fulfill his mayoral duties if he did in fact win. Oks

HENRY WILLIAMS/TOWER

SENIOR ANDERSON LIN AND junior Elijah Emery modify yard signs to reflect the campaign’s new write-in status. has assembled a campaign staff made up of current Masters students, as well as a few Masters alums. At the beginning of his campaign, Oks received a list of all Ardsley voters from the West-

chester Board of Elections, which has enabled him to meet various citizens of Ardsley. Oks’ campaign has generated media attention, so much so that he was

interviewed by The New York Times regarding his campaign. However, Oks discovered that New York State Law has a provision preventing people under the age of 18 from assuming local office if they are elected, meaning Oks would be unable to serve if elected. That being said, Oks claims the same provisions forbid non-residents from serving in local government, even though there is a non-resident currently serving as a member of Ardsley’s government. Additionally, many towns in New York have received carve-outs, which are exemptions from these provisions. Given this, Oks is confident he can overcome this legal challenge if it occurs. Oks’ campaign hit somewhat of a setback when his name was removed from the ballot do to a challenge of his petition signatures. The man who filed the suit claiming the signatures on the petition was invalid is Kaboolian’s husband. However, this has not stopped Oks from continuing his campaign, and he is pursuing election via write-in. Election Day will be Nov. 7.

With the installation of a weather station atop Morris Hall, Masters became a part of the world’s largest weather network. Joining the likes of Hastings High School, The NY School for the Deaf, companies like Con Edison and 12,000 others, the station is accessible to the public and provides a hyperlocal weather forecast, right on campus. The brand new weather station was installed in late August, and sits at the apex of Morris Hall, featuring a 360 degree view that includes Estherwood Mansion and the Hudson River. The project was spearheaded by Director of Innovation, Engineering and Computer Science John Chiodo, who came across Earth Networks in Oct. 2016. Having a direct connection with Weather Underground, the weather network provided by The Weather Channel, Earth Networks is a weather-analyzing company that has a community of 12,000 neighborhood level weather sensors. These stations are able to collect and analyze 27 different atmospheric conditions. Among the conditions are temperature, lightning detection, rainfall totals and wind speed. “This station can do just about anything. There’s obviously the academia side of it, but there’s also use for it in the Maintenance Department, as well as the Athletics Department,” Chiodo said. According to Chiodo, the station will be implemented in several different academic courses, such as

Continued on page 6

CHARLIE LOIGMAN/TOWER

MASTERS’ NEW WEATHER STATION standing atop Morris Hall was gifted to the school via a corporate grant program for $20 K.

Letter grades draw mixed responses from students and faculty VincEnt aLban Tower Staff For a student, the difference between a 93 and a 95 on a report card can sometimes alter how that student feels about how they are doing academically. When using the number grades system, students are encouraged to keep their grades private and not to become competitive and stress over small number differences, but it is natural that students compare their grades with one another. The College Counseling Office and Administration teamed up over the past few of months to shift the school’s grading system to letter grades instead of percent grades according to Head of the Upper School Matthew Ives and Head of the College Counseling Office Adam Gimple, who both had prominent roles in the decision. Both these departments said they came to agreement to

make this decision, aligning the Middle School and Upper School at Masters as well as attempting to help students focus on the value of their learning, not just the grades. Ives said, “I think my main interest in changing it, after teaching for 20 years, is that there really is not much of a difference between an 83 and 85 or an 86.” Another main reason for the change is that when Masters sends students transcripts to colleges across the nation, grades are converted to a 4.0 scale which only goes up to a 95 in terms of a number grade. Gimple said “The Counseling Office sent out a survey to a list of the colleges Masters students most commonly apply to, and with about 70 responses, almost all the schools said they convert a student’s transcript grades to the 4.0 scale so therefore, the “A+” range is not that necessary in terms of grades because it cannot be reflected on that scale.”

Darren Wood, a 10th grade and 12th grade English teacher, said, “The letter grade system is more rational and fair because number grades made really marginal distinctions, like between an 87 and an 88 feel really significant. It made the number of comparisons that students could make between themselves and others students a lot more significant and available.” Senior Stephen Boe supports the change. “The new grading system will definitely help in terms of stress over grades. A major contributor to that is competitiveness which will be reduced because the letter grades will provide for a wider range so there will be less nitpicking over small number increments,” Boe said. Jacob Vietorisz, a junior and an advocate for the “A+” range, said, “This system underrepresents students who shoot for an “A+” in class because a student who has a 97 should receive more of a reward than a student with a 93.”

What percentage of students are opposed to the letter grade change?

Letter Grades Scale No "A+" A: 93% - 100% A-: 90% -92%

Number Grades Scale

57%

Opposed to the change

43%

A+: 97% - 100% A: 93% - 96% A-: 90% - 92%

Agree with the change

VINCENT ALBAN/TIMOTHY MATHAS/CHARLIE LOIGMAN/TOWER

THE LETTER GRADE CHANGE has brought mixed responses, according to a Tower survey. The survey was filled out by 100 randomly selected students (about 20% of UpperSchool students).

2

NEWS

TOWER/OCTOBER 6, 2017

Masters outlines new plan for campus New policy leads to loss of frees logan toporoff Tower Staff

Since Head of School Laura Danforth had become a part of the Masters community, her excitement about long term plans and various campus improvements have been proposed. As years have gone by, these plans have developed into what is now The Master Plan. This is a plan concerning many different ways the campus could thrive with new resources, buildings and developments. As Danforth explains, The Master Plan begins with Phase One, a plan that includes the current most urgent campus needs. The goal of this plan is to provide for the desires of our community and the future communities at The Masters School. Within Phase One there are three specific goals. First, it demands work on Strayer Hall. The building is expected to have total renovations, including a third floor to hold our new library. Next, the campus roadways would need to be reworked. This would make the campus a more pedestrian-friendly place, without a roadway in the center splitting the middle school from the upper school. In addition, this would put the campus on a large loop road, interconnecting all of our current roads and dead ends. This would also displace the softball field on Evans Field, which would need to be rebuilt closer to Park Cottage. Eventually, in addition to the reworking of the roadways, new pathways may be added within the campus’ woods. “We want to engage with our woods in a more healthy way,” Associate Head of School Tim Kane said. These pathways would provide new trails for runners, places for photo classes and open space for environmental classes, Kane added.

Morgan Brettschneider Tower Staff

PHOTO COURTESY OF “THE MASTER PLAN”

THE MASTER PLAN WAS created to fufilll the desires of our community and future communities here at school. The final part of the first phase is to take down the current library in order to build many much-needed new classrooms and completely renovate the theater to add about 100 new seats. The theater lobby would also be pushed out to create a better flow surrounding the theater. Additionally, if Phase One’s financial resources allow it, the phase would also include smaller implements such as adding heat and air conditioning to the art studio. The second phase of the plan is the total renovation of the Mann Dining Hall. Danforth said she hopes adding classrooms for clubs to use, student centers for students to relax in and a balcony for the community to enjoy will make the dining hall the campus center that it can be. Overall, how realistic this plan is depends on money and fundraising, Danforth added. The phases of this plan cannot begin until the school raises the amount of money needed to construct the var-

ious buildings and renovations, as well as completes the permitting process with the town. “Our first goal was to get a plan in place and raise money. Once we have the money we start making the changes,” Danforth said. She also added that, “With special initiatives like the Master Plan and building projects like the Fonseca Center, we ask alumni and parents for their financial support. In the case of the Master Plan, a group of donors provided the funds to pay the architects and planners.” This year is being used solely for the purpose of raising this money in order to begin Phase One some time in the summer of 2018 and finishing in the summer of 2019. “We hope to be successful enough to begin working on Strayer by next summer,” Kane said.

Continued on page 6

It’s 7:20 A.M. when the student finally wakes up. Her alarm didn’t go off and she leaps out of bed and rushes to be ready, as she typically departs for school around now. Through the panic and chaos the student leaps into the car, hoping to make it into Morning Meeting on time. Slipping into the theater at 8:10, the student is marked absent and now has a Saturday detention. A few mishaps later and the student has study halls for a week just from being late to Morn-

“

It’s something you can’t control, same thing with a train being late or a bus being late. It shouldn’t be something we get punished for.” - ADEN KHURANA

ing Meeting four times. The policy on lateness has changed to include a harsher punishment that holds students who are frequently late to Morning Meeting accountable. The policy previously stated that if students were late four times to Morning Meeting, arriving after 8 a.m., they would have Friday night detention. Now, arriving after 8:10, results in being marked absent, before 8:10 is just late. Arriving after

8:10 one time results in a Saturday morning detention for upperclassmen. If a student accumulates four lates, they enter study hall for a week. Underclassmen are already in study hall so the consequence remains a Friday night detention. If there is a valid excuse for lateness, students will not be held responsible. Lateness because of traffic, however , will not be tolerated. Head of the Upper School Matthew Ives said, “If you’re a student who lives far away, you need to leave a little bit earlier.” Yet, there is some leeway regarding the traffic. “Usually if there is a big problem like an accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge or the Saw Mill River Parkway or for some reason the Ardsley Bridge is shut down, then tons of people are late and we know it,” Ives said. The new policy has its challenges. For example, students cannot always predict the traffic. Junior Aden Khurana said, “It’s something you can’t control, same thing with a train being late or a bus being late. It shouldn’t be something we get punished for.” He and his two sisters live in Somers, a 40-minute drive away. This change was put in place to ensure the presence of all students at Morning Meeting. Peter Newcomb, the Dean of Students , said, “It’s one of the very few times that we get to live a part of our mission. It says , we gather together, an important idea that’s sometimes undervalued.”

PHOTO COURTSEY OF U..S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD

HURRICANE HARVEY HAS LEFT Texas devastated with heavy flooding and loss of power. The Masters community is doing its part through fundraisers to provide support.

Hurricane Harvey hits hard, hammers Houston cedar Berrol Young Tower Staff On Aug. 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston, Texas causing 70 deaths and many more injuries. Harvey, a Category 4 storm, reached speeds of 130 miles per hour, which did not surpass the speeds of Hurricane Katrina in 2006 which reached 174 miles per hour. However, the storm was catastrophic and continued to linger in areas of southern Texas days after it first made landfall. Harvey left 40-52 inches of rain in southwest Texas and southern Louisiana. The storm broke all-time continental tropical rain records and gave Texas two of its wettest days in the state’s recorded history. Harvey has also broken records when it comes to cost. Estimated to cost $180 billion in damages, Harvey will be the costliest hurricane in American history, surpassing Katrina’s cost of just over $100 billion in damages. Brock Long, the administrator of FEMA, estimated that 30,000 people will need shelter and another 450,000 may qualify for federal assistance. There are many organizations that are currently working towards assisting those in need, including the Greater Houston Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Houston and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. An-

other philanthropic opportunity came from the website GoFundMe, which provided a page for people to donate online to specific people and smaller organizations. This is a big contrast from disaster relief in years past, which relied mostly on big organizations to help communities affected. Masters has also started to play a role in the recovery of the greater Houston area through MISH activities and projects. MISH raised over $700 through jeans day, giving the money to the Team Rubicon Global Response, a veteran-led natural disaster response team with over 50,000 volunteers. Unfortunately, the hurricane season did not end with Harvey as three other hurricanes, Irma, Jose and Maria, devastated many islands in the Caribbean. Islands like Puerto Rico were left with major infrastructure issues and without power. MISH has also responded to this with a bake sale. The bake sale raised over $500 and the remaining food was donated to the Sharing Community, an organization that helps distribute food, clothes, and toiletries to the homeless of Westchester. “Although we can't stop these terrible events from occurring, we as a community can come together and help the people affected by these disasters,” senior MISH Representative Heather Smith said.

OP-ED

TOWER/OCTOBER 6, 2017

3

OpiniOn

EDITORIAL

Reclaiming the Day Student Lounge When this year’s senior class began as freshmen, it became obvious quite early that on top of the many rules of the student handbook, there were certain unspoken rules within the school’s ecosystem. The senior steps, for example, were stringently patrolled by seniors, and only the graduating class was allowed to use them regularly. Though there was little real reason behind this restriction, it was something that most students respected dutifully, as they would any other school regulation. Another rule existed, unquestioned by all underclassmen at the time: You did not step foot inside of the Day Student Lounge (DSL) without explicit permission from a senior. Failure to comply would result in a harsh verbal chastising from a very unforgiving upperclassman. Times have changed, and many argue for the better. Restricted access to the senior steps has since been removed from the ever shortening list of unspoken rules, and so too, it seems, has senior privilege over the DSL.

For underclassmen this may be reason to celebrate, and rightfully so. The DSL is a great place to spend free time chatting with friends, playing X-Box or even taking a nap. For many seniors, however, who have patiently awaited the unspoken rights to the symbolic alcove, the deterioration of that privilege is causing discontent. As the school attempts to promote a more inclusive self-image, student-enforced traditions, such as senior rights to the DSL, become invalidated. Though it may be done in good spirit, with the intention of unifying the community, official regulation over the DSL has only divided the student body. Now, seniors who were chewed out for even thinking about entering the space as freshmen, watch as underclassmen make use of the space without hesitation. When the rights to a space or a set of steps can no longer be defended, younger students are less likely to respect it as an earned right. With fewer and fewer quintessen-

tially “senior” things at Masters, being the leaders of the school loses some of its magic. Though some criticize the idea of holding on to a “senior lounge,” saying that it weakens the connection between grades, it is arguably the removal of such a space that degrades those relationships. Not only does getting rid of this senior privilege increase negative sentiment towards underclassmen from seniors, but it also serves to diminish younger students’ sense of respect towards upperclassmen. While some may mistakenly interpret this want for respect as a desire to be feared, no senior wishes for underclassmen to fear them. Instead, older students simply wish to be looked upon with the same sense of respect with which they looked, and still look, upon their elders. Fully restricting the DSL from all non-seniors has never been the goal of those seniors who frequent the space. Instead, many seniors simply wish that underclassmen be invited in, or at least ask, before using the

space. Especially when senior students bring in expensive electronics such as X-Boxes or TV sets, it can be upsetting to find them being used, and in some cases misused, by younger students who have not asked permission. A senior lounge is not only something that exists at other prep schools such as Hackley and Poly Prep, but is something that had existed at Masters for many years (see smoking editorial pg. 4). The tradition of a senior space revolves around the small class sizes at Masters. Because a given senior class has spent up to four years with one another in the Upper School, there exists a basic sense of unity between all members of that class. As Masters looks to bridge the gaps that exist between grades, not only does that sense of unity begin to degrade, but Masters loses a piece of its tradition. Most students look forward to the privileges that come with being a senior, however, many of those perks have been phased out.

Afghanistan policy seeks lasting solutions James minzesheimer Tower Staff At a Morning Meeting early in September, a speaker from the Next Generation Politics Club noted that we are a part of Generation Z. Being a part of Generation Z entails that while growing up, there has always been a global conflict. One of the conflicts that the United States engaged in is with Afghanistan. America has had troops in Afghanistan ranging from around 5,000 in 2002 up to the staggering 90,000 in 2010 reported by the United States Department of Defense. For years the United States has been trying to shield these numbers from the public. But the Pentagon recently released to the public there are around 11,000 American troops currently in Afghanistan. Before this release Defense Department officials claimed that there were only 8,400 troops in Afghanistan as a part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission to provide further training, advice and assistance for the Afghan security forces and institutions. President Donald Trump’s views of troops in Afghanistan have varied significantly over the years. In early 2013, he tweeted “Let’s get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghans we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA.” However, Trump’s administration’s actions do not reflect the previous sentiment. President Trump has

recently come out and said the the United States will “win” this war. Further echoing this recently in speech on Afghanistan, in Arlington, Virginia, he said, “From now on, victory will have a clear definition, attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan.” The reason that both the Obama administration and the Trump administration have had difficulty removing troops is that there are strong opposing groups existing in the war-torn country. The Taliban controls up to anywhere from 30-40% of the country. If America were to withdraw troops, the Taliban could gain majority control of the country. So the solution becomes more complicated. The war has drained the United States from an economic standpoint. The course the Trump administration is taking makes sense economically, until Trump contradicts himself by saying that he wants to “win” the war, which begs the question is the United States building the Nation of Afghanistan or looking out for its own interests? If the US has already spent so much money in this war, doesn’t it make the most sense to create an Afghanistan that can sustain itself? The United States should take its time withdrawing troops slowly from Afghanistan, Creating a legitimate government with an army and new infrastructure that is functioning. Even if the economic cost is high, it is better to solve the problem so that future administrations won’t have to deal with the same issue.

JUSTIN FREEMAN/U.S. AIRFORCE SOCEITY

SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN LIVE away from the comforts of their normal lives to serve many roles. Pictured is Technical Sergeant Brent Spotts.

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faCulTy adviSerS MAtt browne ellen cowheY For this issue of Tower, all staff members were given equal responsibility. While in the process of determining staff roles, we wanted to give all members of Tower the opportunity to demonstrate their all-around proficiency as a journalist. online Media

Ending DACA is a mistake DaviD Oks Tower Staff President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that they would be ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that shields young undocumented immigrants from being deported and lets them work in the U.S. Trump’s decision to end the program is a short-sighted move and a crucial error. Former President Barack Obama issued DACA five years ago. He did so in response to concerns about undocumented immigrants who had entered the country as children, many of whom have never known another country. The program invites “Dreamers,” as they’re often called, to declare themselves to the government; in return, if they meet certain criteria, they are allowed a license to drive, authorization to work and freedom from the possibility of deportation. Sessions, a leading immigration hawk and the gleeful messenger who delivered the news of DACA’s rescinding, called it “inconsistent with the Constitution’s separation of powers.” But DACA has been upheld several times, and the legal authority for implementing it is, according to an open letter by 100 constitutional law professors, “crystal clear.” So Trump’s decision was political, not constitutional, and it should thus be

analyzed with that lens. Let’s consider the arguments for ending DACA. Some say that DACA lets criminals into the country. An article in Breitbart argued for DACA’s rescinding by noting that “the number of [beneficiaries] who are convicted criminals…remains staggering.” But the truth is that Dreamers have “lower incarceration rates than native-born Americans of the same age and education level,” according to a study by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Nor are Dreamers job-thieves. That’s a claim based on a grave misunderstanding of economics called the “lump of labor fallacy”: the idea that there’s a fixed amount of work available to be distributed. In reality, more people entering the workforce expands the economy, creating more jobs. Dreamers also don’t “waste government money.” DACA beneficiaries are cut off from federal benefits. Though some states allow benefits to go to Dreamers, the real cost lies in ending DACA. According to the Center for American Progress, ending DACA would reduce GDP by $433.4 billion over ten years, with a heavy impact on government revenues, since Dreamers pay taxes. Yet no matter the strength of arguments against ending DACA, one suspects its most fervent opponents won’t be swayed. But Trump and others should do the math and reconsider his choice: ending DACA is a mistake.

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diSTribuTion ProCeSS

Tower is hand-delivered on the day of publication to the Upper School. 650 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, leTTerS and ediTorial PoliCy Tower is the winner of the Pacemaker Award for Overall Excellence, an award-winning member of the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), Journalism Education Association (JEA) and Quill and Scroll. We encourage Letters to the Editor, which can be submitted to the following email address: TowerEditors@MastersNY.org. Published approximately five times a year, Tower, the student newspaper of The Masters School, is a public forum, with its Editorial Board making all decisions concerning content. Commentaries and opinion columns are the expressed opinion of the author and not of Tower and its Editorial Board or its advisers. Furthermore, the opinions conveyed are not those of The Masters School, faculty, or staff. Unsigned editorials express views of the majority of the Editorial Board.

4

FEATURES AND ARTS

eliJah emery Tower Staff

Juniors deliver equipment to Nigerian athletes Tower Staff

Masters’ mission statement calls for its students to be “powers for good in the world.” This May, two juniors, Dylan Canell and Kachikwu “Kach” Ugochukwu, took those words to heart and set out to give sports equipment to athletes in Ugochukwu’s homeland of Nigeria. They quickly raised more than $4,000, and Ugochukwu personally delivered the equipment they purchased to athletes in need this summer. Ugochukwu, a highly-skilled varsity basketball and soccer player, was born in Abuja, Nigeria and joined Masters as a freshman. He was inspired to raise money for equipment when he saw images of former teammates. “I saw a photo of teammates back in Nigeria—their shoes were ruined and their clothes were no good,” Ugochukwu said. According to Canell, the idea of

the endeavor was brought to life one evening after a soccer practice during which Ugochukwu told him about the lack of appropriate equipment in Nigeria. “It just got me to realize that there are a lot of people who don’t have what we have,” Canell said. They decided to start the project, and chose to name it the “Kady Foundation,” with “Kady” standing for the first two letters of “Kach” and “Dylan,” respectively. Though they did not file as a formal foundation, they soon established a GoFundMe page with help from senior Stephen Boe. “I just think it’s a great cause,” Boe said. “If he’s doing something that’s in the spirit of helping as many people as possible, I want to assist.” The fundraising webpage spread like wildfire on social media. They soon had to increase their goal from $2,000 to $7,000 after it was met too quickly. To date, they’ve raised a total of $4,400, much of which was donated by Masters students and parents.

They used this money to buy close to 40 pairs of cleats. In returning to Abuja to distribute the equipment, Ugochukwu received help from Zion Episcopal Church in Dobbs Ferry, which he attends, in implementing the project. In a statement to the leadership of the church, Ugochukwu discussed his time in Nigeria and appealed for help from the church. “We were more than happy to help him with the project,” said Reverend Mary Grambsch, the priest-in-charge of Zion Episcopal. With help from the church, Ugochukwu traveled to Nigeria to distribute the equipment personally, while Canell stayed in the U.S. “The athletes were so happy to receive the shoes,” he said, “It was wonderful.” Canell and Ugochukwu plan to expand their project this year. Canell plans to file formally as a nonprofit. Ugochukwu wants to repeat the project in the future: “I want to do it again and again, every year,” he said.

Dance, drama and music find one home

JACOB STRIER/TOWER

THE DEPARTMENT OF PERFORMING ARTS, a merger of the drama/dance and music departments, was proposed by Head of School Laura Danforth. With the new department, “we can really work as a team,” said drama teacher Jessica Bogart.

JacOb strier Tower Staff The previously divided performing arts departments have been recently united into a single Department of Performing Arts (DoPA). A single performing arts department is the norm at many schools, and improves collaboration and communication. The idea for a joint department was proposed by Head of School Laura Danforth, according to DoPa chair Jennifer Carnevale.

“It would be as if you had different departments for geometry and algebra, as opposed to having a math department,” Carnevale said on the incoherence of the pre-DoPa system. Jessica Bogart, a drama teacher, echoed Carnevale’s logic for the merger. “If you are on stage doing a musical piece, you are acting; it’s all connected,” she said. Bogart, whose office was formerly located in the Green Room, described her old workspace as secluded. “It’s really interesting for the faculty to see each other every day, so naturally you start to share plans you have

for curriculum,” Bogart said. The new department is already gearing up to make changes in the fabric of performing arts at Masters. According to Carnevale, the DoPA faculty members’ individual classes could improve from having each other guest-teach a class or session. Carnevale said that Dobbs 16, the school’s most prominent a cappella group, will benefit from learning about a new sound system from Amanda Labonte, a DoPA faculty member with a background in sound engineering. Music teacher and private lesson coordinator Curt Ebersole said that improved scheduling will enhance efficiency. With a single schedule, it will be easier to book locations for different classes and prevent spaces from becoming “overwrought,” according to Carnevale.. As with every transition, some changes had to be made. Carnevale said that her increased responsibilities as DoPA chair have forced her to give up teaching an eighth grade class, as well as advising Dohters, a campus singing group. In addition, Phoenix, the honorary drama society at Masters, has seen its funding cut from $2,000 to $500 per year, according to senior Laine Phillips, the group’s co-president. Bogart views the collaborative spirit among the DoPA faculty as one of the advantages of a combined department. “The performing arts will not compete with one another, for space, for students, for time. We can really work as a team,” she said.

Tower, 1972: “smoke-filled room” An unsigned editorial reprinted from an issue of Tower from November, 1972: One of the major Senior privileges is the use of the Senior Room, which is now being heartily enjoyed by about half of the class and a large number of underclassmen. Most of the rest of the class prefers not to enter. The reason for this is that the Senior Room has now been made a smoking area. The first major act of the class of 1973 was to bulldoze a rule [banning] smoking over the protesting cries of students who envisioned billowing grey clouds, burnt carpets, overturned ashtrays, and forced refuge somewhere else. The action of the class seems out of character. The class of 1973 obviously prides itself on its enlightened and liberal spirit. Most members claim

to support unselfishness and minority rights; but when faced with an actual right to enact those beliefs, they forget them. To allow smoking in the Senior Room was an unfair act which infringes on the liberties of non-smokers. It has made calling the room a “Senior privilege” a farce, because it can now only be used by those foolish enough to smoke. If smoking were something that could hurt only the smoker, this editorial would never have been written; and those who wished would be free to contract lung cancer in peace. However, the Surgeon General’s report of 1972 has made it abundantly clear that this is not the case. It is now known that only two packs smoked in a ten by twelve by fourteen-foot room can raise the carbon monoxide count to fifty parts per million....

When a Senior who does not wish to endure this smoke complains, she is told that she does not have to enter; and moreover, how dare she object, since it was a democratic decision. One wonders if they would have so fervently supported the democratic decision which brought Hitler to power. Furthermore, non smokers do have to enter, for class meetings. Admittedly no one may smoke during the meeting, but the lack of ventilation keeps the room smoke-filled. For half an hour each week, the majority of the Seniors claim the right to inflict a serious health hazard and an extreme discomfort on the rest of the class. This majority does not regard the grievances of the minority as worthy of serious thought. Certainly this is a sad commentary on the fairness of the class of 1973.

On the morning of Sept. 19th, Masters students, teachers and administrators observed the first of the year’s Matters of Spirit talks. This one, by a Maasai chief, Nickson, centered on the animals found within the natural reserves on his community’s borders. After his talk, he returned to a World Religions class taught by Brian Cheney to answer students’ questions. “The kids got to ask a lot of good follow up questions. He was very patient with answering all of our questions and explained a lot of good supplementary knowledge,” Cheney said. “He was a good sport about taking a lot of complicated questions for close to two hours.” Sophomore Zia Foxhall, also in the class, said, “It was a pretty cool experience, especially to get an understanding of the lives of a tribe in Africa. Many of the questions were about how he became a chief and what his duties were

in his community.” In addition, Nickson blessed the class. “He had us kneel and did a chant in his native language and blessed our class.” Cheney explained how the chief’s visit had come about. Cheney explained that the man who introduced the chief, Alex Schechter, is actually a Masters alumnus. “He has a connection with the chief, and thought he would be a great Matters of Spirit speaker.” Cheney said. Cheney said the biggest challenge was making sure that the dates available for Matters of Spirit lined up with dates that Chief Nickson would be in town. But it worked out in the end. Cheney described his understanding some of the chief’s roles back at home. “From discussing it with Nickson, he’s actually in charge of a large region.” Within this region, home to approximately 10,000 Maasai, Chief Nickson helps organize and implement policies passed by the Kenyan government, or advocate against those policies if he feels they are bad for his people. The example Nickson provided to Cheney was of a policy he disagreed with: the building

Thai scholars ‘Top-Ing’ the charts COURTESY OF KACHIKWU UGOCHUKWU

Torino takes reins of MISH and residential life SARAH FABER/TOWER

THE TWO THAI SCHOLARS, Ing (left) and Top, are repeating their senior year at Masters, funded by the Thai government. They eventually plan to earn PhDs.

sarah Faber Tower Staff

JACOB STRIER/TOWER

DENA TORINO IS NEW at Masters, and is responsible for both MISH and residential living. “I’ve been really impressed,” said Dean of Students Peter Newcomb.

Tower Staff Dena Torino, the new Community Service Coordinator and Director of Residential Life, brings extensive experience to the role. In previous positions at the Taft School and Cushing Academy, she handled a variety of responsibilities that involved student government, boarding life and community service. Torino underwent a rigorous review to get her position. According to Dean of Students Peter Newcomb, the school received over 85 resumes for the position from a national pool of candidates. “I’ve been really impressed with her organization and her thoughtfulness,” Newcomb said. “She’s got great interpersonal skills.” In addition to her boarding responsibilities, Torino was charged with heading MISH, Masters’ community service program, after the departure of the group’s longtime coordinator, Amy Atlee, at the end of last year. Torino’s openness to new ideas will prove helpful as she adjusts to the role. While she doesn’t plan to overhaul MISH in the near future, she plans on observing the existing program and adjusting it as she sees fit. She does, however, want to expand student involvement in MISH to provide more students with com-

munity service opportunities. MISH participation, especially in its co-curricular, declined after the implementation of the Athletic Credit Requirement (ACR). For instance, in the past, a non-athletic student who might have split their co-curricular time between MISH and study halls might instead spend five days a week participating in team sports. Newcomb also expressed a desire for increased student involvement in MISH. “That would be the big thing I’d like to see,” he said. “More engagement with the MISH co-curricular.” Torino noted that class community service projects, such as the benefit concert organized by the class of 2019 last year, are a good way for Masters students to turn their suggestions into tangible results. “Student ideas and student-driven initiatives are some of the best things that I’ve participated in,” she said. Dr. Robert Fish, a history teacher and director of Strong dorm, believes in the importance of a new perspective. “It’s always healthy for someone who’s been a different institution to look at what we’re doing with fresh eyes,” he said. Though Fish does not think the current boarding situation warrants any immediate adjustments, he is open to her input in the future. “And after giving a little bit of time to understand our culture,” he said, her new perspective will be welcomed.

of a railroad through a nearby wildlife refuge. He also issues certificates–birth, death,–in addition to vetting potential travelers and missionaries. “He’s the liaison between the Kenyan government and the Maasai people, or 10,000 of them,” Cheney said. Cheney described some of what the chief advocates for, too. “Another role as chief is to meet with the other chiefs and navigate what is a very tricky line between holding firm to traditions, but also re-examining traditions that need to be changed.” he said. Cheney provided several examples: “He’s doing a lot of advocacy for the education of women, he’s doing a lot of advocacy for getting rid of female genital mutilation. He’s looking at core human rights-issues that have impacted his community and he’s working both with the government and with other chiefs to make sure that the things that need to be changed are changed,” he said. In addition, to his other responsibilities, the ELLEN COWHEY/TOWER chief founded a school to educate young MAASAI CHIEF, NICKSON, TEACHES Masters students about his unique position girls. in Kenya, where he bridges the gap between his people and the government.

Freshman environmental science course takes root at Masters sarah Faber Tower Staff

JUNIOR KACHIKWU UGOCHUKWU HELPS athletes in his hometown of Abuja, Nigeria by delivering equipment. After being inspired by images of former teammates in Nigeria, he distributed dozens of shoes with help from fellow junior Dylan Canell.

JacOb strier

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Maasai chief stresses conservation and women’s rights

Features & arts DaviD Oks

FEATURES AND ARTS

TOWER/OCTOBER 6, 2017

While some students worry about what they want to be when they grow up or how they will find a job, two students at Masters, Wasu “Top” Piriyakulukij and Kamin “Ing” Palkawong, don’t have to. Top and Ing are part of a scholarship program funded by the Thai government, which selects students every year and pays for their education through to a PhD. The program starts with a second senior year of high school, which takes place in the U.S. after their graduation in Thailand. From there, the scholars apply to some of the best colleges in the country, following their specific career plan. The scholars then go on to complete an undergraduate degree, a grad-

uate degree and often a PhD. Once they have finished with their education, the participants in the program must return to Thailand and work for the government -- two years of work for every one year of paid education -- according to the website for Thailand’s Office of the Civil Service Commission. “We got a scholarship to study from the government, to get a PhD,” explained Top. “So they sent us here so we can adapt ourselves to the environment here. The scholarship will pay for everything; for the tuition, the living expenses and everything we may need.” After Top and Ing graduate from Masters, Ing hopes to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering; Top is working towards one in computer science. “For me, I have to be a teacher in the university,” said Ing, while Top said that he could work in any public organization, including a public university.

Masters moves to sustainable heating eliJah emery Tower Staff This summer, as students and teachers alike returned home for rest and relaxation, some staff remained at school to oversee the continuing switch to natural gas. According to Ed Biddle, Chief Financial Officer at Masters, the first part of the project, completed in the summer of 2016, was to switch out the previous boiler, powered by # 6 fuel oil. A new pair of boilers, able to burn either #2 fuel oil or natural gas. The second chapter began last summer, when Con-Edison connected a natural gas line under Clinton Avenue to the boilers. During the summer of 2018, Masters will reline the chimney. This new lining will allow the boilers to begin burning natural gas. The shift away from Masters’ old systems was pressed by legal necessity when Westchester County passed a law phasing out #6 fuel oil. “The fifteen largest ships that burn #6 fuel oil emit more sulfur than all the cars in the world.” Biddle said. “Number six was being fazed out in Westchester County anyway, so by the

end of 2018 we wouldn’t have been able to use it,” Craig Dunne, Manager of Building Construction, Mechanics and Outdoor Maintenance said. “We had to clean out the oiler tank, and bring in new boiler guns that can burn oil or gas.” The new boiler system began to burn #2 fuel oil during the summer of 2016. #2 oil is much cleaner for the environment, with .5% the particulates of #6. However, it is more expensive than #6 fuel. Though the $100,000 boiler and the rest of the $800,000 natural gas switch were a large initial cost, those costs will be offset somewhat when the school begins to burn gas. “A breakeven analysis was done, and we believe a substantial savings could be achieved—at least $100,000 per annum based on the cost of natural gas service over #2 fuel oil,” Biddle explained . Natural gas is also better for the environment. “It burns cleaner,” said Biddle, though he acknowledged that fracking— which provides of American natural gas—presented some other environmental challenges. Dunne said: “Starting in the 2018 school year, we’ll be running full gas, which is more cost-effective, environmentally better, cleaner, quicker on the heating, and better energy.”

For many years, biology has been a staple of the freshman experience at Masters. This year, however, the science department has decided to revise the curriculum, and will be offering a new course called Environmental Problem Solving and Applications (abbreviated EPA) to all 9th graders. From this year forward, all freshman will take EPA instead of biology, but will have the chance to take biology later in high school. “Part of the reason for the switch is we felt that biology would be a better course for upperclassmen. Biology has quite a bit of content in it, and it just seemed like it was a lot of content for our 9th graders to deal with,” said Frank Greally, Chair of

the Science Department. “We looked at different versions; conceptual physics, integrated science, and in the end we figured the EPA course would be the best fit for our mission statement and our students.” The new course will expose freshmen to skills needed for future science courses such as measuring, problem solving techniques, and critical reading. As the name implies, EPA will cover a range of environmental science and current problems in the field, such as global warming and climate change. “So far we’ve been taking a look around our campus, and trying to be better at using the skills of observation and collection of data. Also, we’ll be working to study in depth about the weather and the environment and climate change, and what the relationship is or is not between cli-

mate change and extreme weather events,” explained EPA teacher William Roberts. When the current 9th graders are upperclassmen, they will have the option to take Biology and AP Biology. Right now, the science department is playing with ideas, but there is a possibility that Biology will be offered as a semester course in a few years. The current environmental science course will be phased out, but current freshmen will have the opportunity to take AP Environmental. As of now, the transition has been running smoothly and efficiently, according to Mr Greally. Though it will take a few years to fully shift from Biology to EPA, it seems as though the change will benefit Masters students for years to come.

SARAH FABER/TOWER

FRESHMAN AT WORK IN the brand new Environmental Problem Solving and Applications course. The new course is replacing Biology as a freshman class, and covers a range of environmental topics.

GeOrGe WeeD Editor-in-Chief