Does the “o” below have a familiar pattern? Find out on p. 2
5VU 7YVÄ [ 6YNHUPaH[PVU < : 76:;(., 7(0+ :HJYHTLU[V *( 7LYTP[ 5V
THEOctag
n
VOL. XXXV, NO. 8
May 29, 2012
WWW.SCDSOCTAGON.ORG
Teacher Bruce Baird discusses Malcolm X with his junior US History class. Teacher Ron Bell talks about the Great Depression and the New Deal in junior English. Next year both Baird and Bell will step out of their subjects, teaching computer science and classical music electives. (Photos by Will Wright and Kelsi Thomas)
New classes thrown into the mix ADDITIONS INCLUDE CLASSICAL MUSIC, COMP SCI, SKETCH COMEDY
By Ryan Ho
Page Editor
P
laying computer games while your teacher is teaching is probably not a smart move. But as long as you’re enrolled in next year’s new elective—Inventing Computer Games—feel free
POINTS
OF
INTEREST SAT CHANGES Due to the recent Long Island SAT cheating scandals, the College Board has changed the SAT registration procedures. Next year, test-takers must submit photos to the College Board website. Photos must be government approved or issued by a school. This photo will be on the student’s registration form, which must be brought along with an ID to compare to the form. A third copy will be sent to schools with test scores. —Grant Miner NEW POSITIONS Editors-in-chief of next year’s Octagon staff will be juniors Madeleine Wright, Yanni Dahmani and Jeffrey Caves. Junior Natalie Polan will be editor-inchief of The Medallion. The editorial board for the school’s literary magazine, The Glass Knife, will be announced in the fall. —Mollie Berg
to play away. Inventing Computer Games is only one of several new classes that appeared on students’ elective selection forms. Others are Screenplay Writing, Sketch Comedy, Music Appreciation and World Literature. Inventing Computer Games immediately caught the attention of junior Kevin Wang.
A lover of technology, Wang was pleasantly surprised. “Finally, a computer language class!” he said. And his amazement only grew when he found out that the class is taught by history teacher Bruce Baird, who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
Student Council changes officer selection process By Jeffrey Caves
Page Editor
S
tudent Council elections are usually little more than popularity contests, at least in the eyes of adviser Patricia Dias. And to remedy this problem, SCDS is implementing a radical solution: not putting student IVK` VMÄ JLYZ \W MVY LSLJ[PVU H[ HSS 5L_[ `LHY»Z :[\KLU[ *V\UJPS VMÄ JLYZ MVY [OL whole of the student body have been selected by Dias and the current seniors on Student Council rather than by the student body. (WWSPJHU[Z MVY [OL VMÄ JLY WVZP[PVUZ ^LYL
nominated by the senior Student Council members and were interviewed by Dias. Next year’s positions will be Brandon Mysicka as president, Natalie Polan as vice president, Maddy Mahla as secretary, and Clement Goetzeler as treasurer. “They’re dedicated and they have done a great job this year and I think that alone will make every single event better,” said Dias. Class representatives for individual grades will remain elected and in addition to the traditional roles of president and treasurer, each class will also gain a vice president, a secretary
“I thought that Tom (Wroten, director of technology) was teaching it,” Wang said. Baird has had experience working with computer programming ever since high school, though not recently. He said that while some students are caSee Classes, page 5
“
I hope to better our school by trying to make special occasions more fun for the student body.” Junior Brandon Mysicka, president
“
I like how we’re expanding Student Council because it represents a bigger majority of the school.” Junior Natalie Polan, vice president
“
I want to get everyone on the ZHTL WHNL ZV ^L JHU HSS LMÄ ciently run the events and make them fun for everyone.” Sophomore Maddy Mahla, secretary
“
Next year I want to help raise more money for Student Council. I want to make (it) more active than it was this year.”
See Council, page 5
Junior Clement Goetzeler, treasurer
Waste Connections move sends two families packing By Zach Lemos
Copy Editor
L
ike Dorothy and Toto, the Whitney and Jackman families have been unwillingly swept up in the cyclone of the corporate Waste Connections move and sent to the Land of Oz (or, as it’s more commonly known, The Woodlands, Texas). The two families won’t return to the school in September as a result
of Waste Connections, Inc. moving its corporate headquarters out of California. Fourth grader Kelsey Jackman, seventh grader Jack Whitney, sophomore Margaret Whitney and junior Cooper Jackman will all be moving, along with their parents’ employer, to the Houston suburb this summer. Waste Connections was founded in 1997 and has rapidly grown into the area’s largest publicly trad-
ed company, according to a Sacramento Bee article. Its move, said vice president of Ä UHUJL HUK TV[OLY 4HY` (UUL Whitney, was “inevitable” with the company’s growth. When Waste Connections was founded, it was primarily focused on the West Coast. Now, however, the company has operations in 30 states and is “better served by being more centrally located (i.e. in Texas),” Whitney said.
Additionally, “California doesn’t go out of its way to make itself attractive to companies, whereas on the other hand, Texas does, especially in tax rates,” Whitney said. “California is just not a very business-friendly state.” In the largest sense, the difference in taxes boils down to varying recruitment opportunities. Where California has a 10 perSee Connections, page 5