V
T he Pembroke Hi l l School
T he Volume XXIII
Clothesline Sale: New and Improved
The Clothesline sale is all about selling old or used items for cheaper prices. This is an annual Pembroke Hill tradition. It serves as the main fundraiser for the Parents Association and provides a large part of its operating budget. This year, Clothesline’s co-chairs are Jennifer Bailey and Anne!e Ernst. Over the years, Clothesline has generated nearly three million dollars with over one million of that since 1996. Profits from the sale provide money for faculty professional development, financial aid, and funding for capital projects. The 2006 sale ne!ed $99,000 alone. This year’s sale has some new twists. The most notable change is the layout. Usually, Clothesline takes place with the furniture in Hall Student Center and clothing in Phillips Gym. This year, for improved efficiency and quality, this part of the sale is being trimmed down to fit into one gym. The new floor plan was created to increase the manageability of the sale and reduce the chaos that it occasionally causes. Because of the smaller size, Clothesline is also being more selective about what items will actually be sold. This selective approach means overall be!er quality for the sale in general, though it does sacrifice quantity. Anne!e Ernst, one of the event chairs, commented on the positive effects the Clothesline Sale has had on Pembroke Hill. Without a doubt, it is an annual event that helps to build new relationships not only within the school, but in the Kansas City area as well. For instance, parents and students do an outstanding amount of volunteer work every year to make the sale such a huge success. Furthermore, due to the generous donations of virtually new items like clothing and furniture made by Pembroke Hill families, the sale is a great facility for less affluent families in Kansas City to purchase such items for much less than retail value. When Mrs. Ernst was asked whether she was planning any more changes for the future, she responded that this year would be the test for the logistical changes. Depending on the success of this year’s Clothesline, more modifications might be instituted for next year. On the whole, everyone is expecting the sale to be a success!
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Teacher of the Month This issue’s teacher of the month, Mrs. Lester, talks about her experiences before and while working at Pembroke. Axel Shum Tech Editor
What did you do during your Spring Break? I went skiing with my son and some of his buddies in Breckenridge. What is your favorite work of literature? A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving. It is the story that the movie Simon Birch is based on, and it’s a great character study and examination of faith in life. It’s also a story of the ‘50s and ‘60s in America. My favorite movie series is Lord of the Rings. Watching those movies was the only time I have preferred the movies to the books. I could watch them straight through. I’m also planning my summer around the publicatin of the final Harry Po!er book. My family still reads the books together out loud. How did you arrive at Pembroke? I was teaching in San Jose, California in ‘83 when I decided to move back to Kansas City, which is my hometown. What’s something that most people don’t know about you? I am one of nine kids. I have three brothers who are doctors, three brothers who are lawyers, and three siblings who are educators. I have three teenage kids: Maggie, Mike, and Mary. They each a!end or a!ended different high schools.
Photo by Lilly Stitt
Anna Austenfeld Staff Writer
oice
How did you begin teaching? I’ve always been a pre!y natural teacher. I started my career at Regis High School in Denver, Colorado back in 1976 and one of my students eventually became a writer for the newspaper there. On Christmas Eve, in 1998, a package arrived at my door here in KC. He had wri!en a piece on the newly published book, Tuesdays with Morrie. In the piece he said everyone should take a moment and thank a teacher who had had a profound effect on their life. I was very grateful for the acknowledgement, and I think he was kind to remember me. Tell me about the best paper or essay that a student of yours has wri!en. I really have seen a lot of excellent work from students, and I love reading high school papers. I once had a student, who was a classical pianist and worked with William Faulkner’s work. He learned somewhere that Faulkner liked to write while listening to Mozart. He wrote a really fascinating paper on how Faulkner’s prose reflected Mozart’s rhythm. It was one of the few works that I have ever submi!ed to a national competition. One student wrote a really terrific paper for my African American literature class on the evidence of racism in the upper class white world. Some of the evidence he discussed was truly terrible, and it had a terrific influence on the class.
Mrs. Lester in the Commons.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? I love teaching here; it has been a really supportive community. I took time off when I had my kids, but this community was always incredibly supportive in allowing me to reenter the workplace. I’ve actually retired twice. On a fun note, my newspaper staff at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, CA pulled off a hoax that made the news up and down the coast in Silicon Valley. I guess it was 1982-83, and Silicon Valley was starting to dominate, especially in San Jose. They put out the paper with the headline “IBM Buys Bellarmine.“ No one at school knew anything. News organizations started calling, the school president was calling, and I was in the dark. It was funny later.
The Odd Couple is coming! Greta Shum Staff Writer
“I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they’ve come up with so far.” This quote is from Neil Simon, author of The Odd Couple, in which Simon illustrates a compilation of life’s problems collected into one phrase: mismatched personalities. Felix Ungar, a neurotic, neat-freak news writer, is thrown out by his wife, and moves in with Oscar Madison, a slovenly sportswriter. A#er proving to be quite a hit on Broadway in 1965, the play became a successful movie and television show. Derivative works followed as well as Simon’s female version in which Felix is Florence and Oscar is Olive. Simon incorporates the feminine temper and type of action into this version. This year, the Pembroke Hill spring play will consist of both the male and female versions. The ba!le of the thespian sexes has begun! “There’s a friendly sense
of responsibility for their version, which is what I like to see, you know that passion,” comments Mr. Hill. There are many reasons this play was chosen. “There’s a lot of importance to exposing the students to the classics,” continues Mr. Hill. That is not to say that students do not study the classics in the classroom. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The reason for doing the especially respected plays is to supplement the academics by presenting an experience that will a!ach the students (those who are in it and who see it) to the literature more than notes, homework, and tests will. Furthermore, it is unique because there will be two different plays, creating a more interesting approach to the work. Seeing two different ways the plot can be conveyed is a wonderful idea, but a lot of hard work. Rebecca Achtenberg, the stage manager for the girls’ production, spoke enthusiastically about how much she has learned,
simply by doing this job. Ailea Stites is stage manager for the boys’ version. A great new a!ribute is the number of “new” people who will be bringing the characters to life. “When we have auditions, I try to keep an open mind and decide who presents the best that day,” says Mr. Hill. He noted especially Brooke Van Lear, playing Florence. “She was just on, and very strong at auditions.” Others bring to the table relatively “new” talent, even though we’ve seen some of them in the musical. Playing Olive will be Cathy Schroeder, Felix will be Brennan Caldwell, and Jordan White will be Oscar. Once again, one of the greatest American playwrights, Neil Simon, is brought to the table. The first performance will be Thursday, May 3rd, consisting of the girls’ version; Friday, the male version. Saturday a#ernoon, the male version; and Saturday night, the female version. Come and enjoy life a li!le with a comedy!
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Freedom With Responsibilty With the possibility of uniforms creeping into Pembroke, Junior E m m a E i s e m a n n e x p r e s s e s h e r o p i n i o n a b o u t t h e c o n t r o v e r s y. Emma Eisemann Staff Writer
Freedom with Responsibility--the mo!o at the very core of our school. For those of us who have gone here since our elementary school days, this phrase has been engrained into our minds. We were taught to make our decisions and solve our problems in the classroom and among friends by always thinking of this adage. If we as students are relentlessly asked to respect this message, shouldn’t the parents and administrators have to as well? In making any decision for or concerning the student body of Pembroke Hill, both the Parent’s Association and the administration need to keep Freedom with Responsibility in mind. (Hey…it’s the Golden Rule, another one of those rules we were taught as youngsters.) The most recent argument, one which I think needs to particularly pay a!ention to our school’s mo!o, is the debate over uniforms. During the past school year, the Parents Association created a special group of concerned parents, both for and against uniforms, to conduct surveys of the Pembroke Hill community. At the end of their study, this commi!ee will present its findings to the administration who can then chose to do with the information what they please. At this point, no decisions about if there will be
a uniform, what that potential uniform would look like, and who would wear the uniform have been made. The only definite statements concerning the actual look of the uniform is that it would remain casual, i.e., no blazers, no ties, and, most importantly, no plaid skirts. We have all taken the survey, students, parents, faculty, and alumni alike. “How many times a week do you argue with your parents over what you wear to school?” “How o#en are you distracted by the clothes your classmates wear?” The real question needs to be, “What have we, as students, done to provoke this onslaught of prouniform rhetoric?” The “concerned parents” (those who are pro-plaid) have two major grievances with our current mode of dress. First of all, they feel that our current dress code is not strongly enforced. Plus, they feel in general that we just don’t look good when we go to school. Some of the apparent laxness in the dress code I think can be a!ributed to the ambiguous rules in our current dress code that indefinitely call for “students to be neat, clean, well-groomed, and appropriately dressed when a!ending school” (Upper School Handbook pg. 18). While unclearly defined in that specific sentence, there could simply be a revision of the current dress code to merely be more specific in order for it
to be more easily enforced. For example, would I not be allowed to stay at school if I hadn’t showered? Under the well-groomed “clause” of the current dress code, that specific area of enforcement is murky. It would be beneficial to clean up our dress code’s wording to avoid further confusion in this ma!er. In regards to the proplaider’s other concern, at the risk of sounding like an ageist, you sound like my grandfather. Don’t me wrong, I love my grandfather dearly, but I hate being told I look “schlumpy” (there’s a good Yiddish word) when I wear jeans and a sweatshirt to school. Our current dress code states that we should wear clothes that create “an atmosphere that is conducive to learning” (18), and sometimes conducive learning for me is best done in comfortable clothes. In regards to appropriateness of clothing, I feel that is an issue that is dealt with primarily in the middle school. For the most part, in lower school, the parents control the child’s wardrobe. Children may dress themselves, which in my brother’s case, can lead to some interesting combinations, but the level of appropriateness is under control. In the Upper School, which has, by far, the most relaxed dress policy, we have learned the level of decorum expected of us at the very latest by our sophomore year, and where did we learn this valuable life lesson? Continued on page 8
What’s Your Favorite YouTube Video? Aisha Tidwell Freshman
“Unforgivable”
Lucas Sells
Andrew Black Junior
“Tornado Kick by Trent Sterneck”
Rebecca Gilmore
Junior
Junior
“Unforgivable”
“God Ink”
Photos by Lilly Stitt
a Photopoll:
Giving Back in a FUNKY way Caitlin Snavely Editor-in-Chief
One should commend the former Editor-inChief of The Voice, Katie Enna, for collaborating with thirty-four former Kansas City residents (some of whom are Pembroke Hill alumni) to create the non-profit organization known as FUNKY (Flatland Urban Network by K.C. Yankees). This organization is in the process of raising money for the UMKC Breast Center, and it is hosting its first benefit on May 12th. All donations will help provide newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with the funds to receive breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which as Dr. William P. Smith at the University of Kansas Hospital explains, “helps to detect and be!er treat breast cancer by augmenting the doctor’s ability to study and see the patient’s tumor volume.” Today, breast MRIs accurately and painlessly allow physicians to determine the exact amount of cancer in each of their patients; that is to say, doctors are able to decide whether a lumpectomy will suffice over a more drastic mastectomy procedure. Dr. Smith states, “ In [my] twenty-five years of breast work, I have never encountered a technology with such potential.” Currently, FUNKY has sold close to 100 tickets for its benefit, and as Katie notes, “If numbers hold true, for every fi#een tickets we sell, we save a life.” If you want to donate to this worthwhile organization, a!end the benefit, or learn more about it, please contact Dr. William P. Smith at wsmith2@kumc.edu.
Five Reasons Why School Uniforms are a GOOD THING 1. Neatness Experience has shown that students who are required to maintain a neat appearance, and to coordinate their wardrobe within established bounds, are more likely to carry over these habits to the performance of their schoolwork. 2. Economy Comparisons show that the average clothing cost per child in schools with prescribed wardrobes is less than in schools without such a program. Some comparisons report clothing costs to be up to 80% less with a prescribed wardrobe. Durability, reusability and the year-to-year consistency also increase the economy. 3. Improved self image and school unity An attractive school wardrobe promotes school spirit, improves students’ self-images, and creates school unity. Students, who at first are often reluctant to adopt a uniformed wardrobe, soon become it’s biggest proponent as they develop a healthy pride in their school and a sense of belonging. Just as athletic teams’ uniforms promote unity and spirit, so does a school wardrobe. Greater attention is given to who they are instead of what they wear. 4. Improved behavior Teachers and principals report that discipline problems are reduced in schools that implement a prescribed wardrobe program. Appropriate clothing sets the tone for a proper work attitude in the classroom, reducing behavior problems and improving performance. Children seem more attentive and respectful with fewer distractions caused by the attention to clothing. 5. Improved expression of individuality A prescribed wardrobe removes the external coding that fashionable labels give to some children and serves to externally equalize all students. This provides an impetus for students to find more productive outlets for expressions of individualism such as wit, intelligence, and creativity. Information from: http://www.neatuniforms.ca/why-uniforms.php
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The Truth About Uniforms Anna Zahner Contributer
I wore one of two outfits to school every day for five years. Not by choice, of course. I a!ended a school where every day each child wore a white polo with a simple collar, clear bu!ons, and no logo (that’s right—no Lacoste or Polo). Guys had to wear navy slacks made out of polyester with a navy, brown, red, or black belt made out of either cloth or leather. Girls could choose between wearing the same types of slacks and belts as the boys or plaid jumpers over red, forest green, navy, or black leggings or shorts. Everyone had to wear socks at all times, even with sandals. There were more rules, but I can sense your a!ention wandering, so I’ll sum it up for you: we had uniforms, and they were boring and uncomfortable. Lately many people have been lauding the benefits
of uniforms, so I’ll clear up some common misconceptions about them. MYTH #1: Uniforms prevent social conflict and cliques by eliminating differences in dress. When everyone dresses the same, students are judged only by their personalities and characters because distinctions of dress between different social or economic classes do not exist. R E A L I T Y: Hogwash! Though everyone dressed the same, everyone still knew which kids were rich or cool. Students still ostracized and bullied people who were different. Also, if you think Pembroke has a problem with cliques, you should have seen my classmates at my old school. I have yet to encounter another group that was so deeply divided as they were.
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MYTH #2: Uniforms promote appropriate conduct among students. REALITY: Balderdash! Uniforms just make students resent rules more than they would normally. Even I, and I am not a particularly rebellious person, hated the uniforms so
MYTH #3: Uniforms keep girls from dressing provocatively. REALITY: I’ll admit that this was partly true, but some girls still found ways to be less modest by wearing white polo shirts that were nearly transparent, stapling their skirts to make them shorter, wearing clothes that were too small, etc. However strict a dress code is, determined students will find ways to break or get around it. MYTH #4: Uniforms create a be!er learning environment and help students do be!er in school by freeing students from the burden of choosing what to wear each day. REALITY: Actually, the uniforms created an environment of, well,
Uniforms created an environment of, well, uniformity. Kids were so afraid to be different...” much that on Fridays when I a!ended special classes at a public school, as soon as I le# my old school I would remove my belt, pop my collar, and do anything else I could think of to flaunt my freedom from my old school’s dress code rules. (It might sound lame, but I felt like a real rebel at the time.)
uniformity. Kids were so afraid to be different that they suppressed their talents in academics, music, art, etc. in order to fit in. Also, much time and energy that could have been used for learning was put into checking that everyone was dressed in accordance with the rules. Furthermore, if you think that choosing your wardrobe each day is a burden and if you spend so much time fre!ing about your clothes that it inhibits your studying, you need more help than uniforms can offer. In short, in my experience uniforms did not break down social boundaries, promote respect for rules, prevent girls from dressing inappropriately, or help students do be!er academically, so Pembroke does not need them. Yes, some students do occasionally break the dress code, but why punish everyone for the indecorum of the minority?
The Power of Giving Back Freshman Rima Abhyankar shares her experience with “Voluntourism” by helping young children learn English in India.
Normally, my trips to India include the ever-long meeting of relatives and endless trips to shopping plazas for clothes, food, and random items that are not available in the United States. Every time I go there, I am always awestruck by the clash between the rich upper-class and the impoverished beggars on the street. However, over this past spring break, I received more than the special pampered treatment we receive from grandparents, uncles, and aunts; I was able to see how the world is outside the society we live in today. Now, one may ask how did I do this? The answer is “Voluntourism.” A combination of both volunteering and tourism, it is something nearly anybody can do when traveling abroad. For example, during my past trip to India, I collected
books from my friends and teachers at Pembroke Hill to donate to a rural school in a village on the outskirts of Bombay. This rural school, known as the P.N.Godse School, and filled with 511 students, had only ten classrooms, ten teachers, and one computer, which had a virus. Every morning, school started at 10:30 to fit with the schedules of the many students who had jobs to do, such as fetching water from the town well for their families. Although I only took two paper grocery bags filled with books, the school treated them as if they were a gi# from heaven. Places in the world where there is less availability of things we find easily here have more value for every item that is received. O#entimes we find ourselves complaining when we do not receive something that we want; in other places of the world, the only gi# that is received
Photo by Rima Abhyankar
Rima Abhyankar Staff writer
Abhyankar is in a village school founded by her great grandmother.
is the gi# of life. The Kamla Metha School for the Blind was another school I had the opportunity to visit. I found it extremely impressive how much the blind girls could do; everywhere from kni!ing to doing complex arithmetic, the school prepared the girls for their lives ahead. However, since the school takes in homeless blind girls who are o#en impoverished, the school runs only on donations. It is at places like these that can be helped by tourists who travel abroad. I learned that even the smallest amount of help can make the biggest difference. Another example
about “Voluntourism” that takes place every year at Pembroke Hill School is Mr. Longhofer’s trip to the Amazon in Peru. Every year, students who go on these trips will bring school supplies, clothes, and toiletries for the village people in the Amazon Jungle. Along with this, they have the benefit of experiencing life in the Amazon and even meeting some of the people who live there. Vo l u n t e e r i n g abroad proved to be a very rewarding experience. The feeling of helping somebody outside of our community cannot be matched. I believe that “Voluntourism” will be able to bring the world
closer together. Along with the rewarding feeling of helping others, volunteering abroad also allows one not only to tour and sightsee in the area, but also to have a glimpse of what life is like in different areas of the world. The fact of the ma!er is that wherever in the world you go, there are always going to be people who are in need. It is up to us, as more privileged individuals, to help others who are in more need than we are. I believe that we are too o#en inside our own box, and it is necessary for us to step outside this box to experience the realities of the world we do not see on a daily basis.
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Sex, Drugs, & Alcohol
A Little Background Info WHO RESPONDED Percentage:
Grade: Freshmen
(103) 94%
Sophmores
(85)
79%
Juniors
(96)
87%
Seniors
(69)
76%
Other 22%
Atheist 9% Agnostic 11% Religion
Protestant 26%
Jewish 12%
Catholic 20%
Let’s Talk About Sex
Where do YOU draw the line...? (or Have.)
Disclaimer: These results were collected during Upper School advisory on April 6, 2007. We note that the survey was not performed in a controlled environment, as such, some of the results may not be 100% accurate or represent the entire high school student body. Nevertheless, we feel that publishing the results of the Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol Survey was appropriate as they reflect issues that concern teenagers in this day and age.
Sex, Drugs, &Alcohol
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Drug Experimentation
Hitting the Bottle: Pembroke and Alcohol How Often Do You Drink Alcohol?
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Sports
a photo collage
Photos by Lilly Stitt
LAX:: LAX
Sports
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A Gator-Like Exodus? (Minus the Two National Championships)
O
h my God. It just became official. Kansas f o r w a r d and 2006 Honorable Mention AllAmerican Julian Wright, my non-sexual man-crush (I swear…) of the last two-plus years, has decided to forgo his final two seasons with my beloved Jayhawks to enter the NBA dra". With other potential defections to the NBA, such as two- time 1st Team All Big XII sophomore swingman Brandon Rush and promising freshman forward Darrell Arthur, the basketball program at the University of Kansas is in a state of disarray. In a ma#er of two short weeks, the Jayhawks could go from the unanimous pre-season #1 in 2007-2008 to falling out of the pre-season rankings altogether. That hasn’t happened since…oh, that’s right, the ‘05-‘06 season. If both Rush and Arthur join Wright in the first round of the NBA, which has at least a fi"ypercent chance of happening, then the Jayhawks will lose three potential starters. These three players just happen to also be potential All Big XII players, the two front runners for conference Player of the Year (Wright and Rush), in all likelihood two Pre-Season 1st or 2nd Team All Americans (Wright and Rush), as well as two potential National Players of the Year. Ouch. I mean, that’s a big ouch. The Jayhwaks haven’t taken such a hit since…oh, that’s right, the ’05-’06 season. There is one somewhat noticeable difference, however,
between the situation now and the situation then. Back then, Kansas lost four players to graduation (Simien, Miles, Langford, Lee), not the NBA, and the ‘Hawks lost just one underclassman to a transfer (Giddens…a positive, we got Rush). Furthermore, the Jayhawks brought in one of the top recruiting classes in recent school memory. That class consisted of high school All-Americans Rush, Wright, Mario Chalmers, and transfer Rodrick Stewart. That same class produced two surefire first round picks and one more possible first rounder. On the other hand, this year’s recruiting class of McDonald’s All-American center Cole Aldrich and G Tyrel Reed, while not bad by any stretch (Aldrich was fairly good in the Burger Game, and Reed is unheralded but good…really good…) is not the kind that will propel a team to unexpected heights. Though the Jayhawks of ’07’08 would admi#edly return much more talent than the team of ’05-’06, an inside game of would-be senior role players Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun doesn’t inspire much confidence. While a three PG lineup of would-be senior Russell Robinson, Chalmers, and rising sophomore Sherron Collins (KU’s best player during the Big XII season) is surely talented offensively and defensively, all are under 6’2’’ and would have trouble rebounding or guarding say, a Kevin Durant type (Rush’s man when we played the ‘Horns). Oh, I just now remembered. Collins (whose first child passed away shortly before the season began) is a father again. Word is that he
A Day in the Life
Photo by http://media.lawrence.com
Jack Winter Staff Writer
BOBBY BOLLIER Amelia Wells and Emily Cuddy Executive Editor and Assistant Editor
WARNING: the following interview could potentially result in severe guilt tripping. Admi#edly, very few students in the Upper School are synonymous with a single word; however, junior Bobby Bollier should definitely be included in this select group. For, when one thinks of Bobby, he or she thinks of a swimmer. Not only did he begin swimming competitively when many of us were still wearing our “floaties,” but he also spends nearly as much time in the pool as other people do on Facebook. Impressive? I think so. However, enough metaphors, here’s what Bobby had to say about being an uber-competitive swimmer.
With sophomore Julian Wright heading early to the NBA draft, what will become of the Jayhawks?
wants to be closer to home to take care of the new baby. Home for Sherron is in Chicago. The University of Kansas isn’t located in Chicago. Uh-oh. BIG uh-oh. If Collins transfers, our third guard would be…Brady Morningstar? Yes, sophomore walk-on Brady Morningstar. Enough said. While I am obviously erring on the side of the pessimistic, it is very possible that Rush and Arthur will join Wright in the dra". Though
the Collins situation is less likely, it too is a possibility. If Brandon, Darrell, and Sherron all join Julian Wright and leave the Jayhawks, 57% of this year’s team’s points, 51% of this year’s team’s rebounds and (in my opinion) four of the five best players on what would have been the best team in the country will all have gone. I hate to say this -and I stress hate -- but all of this really makes me miss Roy Williams.
When did you start swimming? It all began in the womb… well, maybe not. I started swimming competitively when I was seven, but I enjoyed going to the pool to play much earlier than that. I joined my year-round team, the Kansas City Blazers, when I was nine. What are your greatest recent accomplishments? I’d say they would include my performances at Spring Nationals, which took place in Long Island a few weeks ago. I placed third and fourth in the 200m and 100m bu#erfly, respectively. In both races, I qualified for the National Junior Team, which has been my goal for a long time. It’s nowhere close to the Olympic Team, but it’s definitely a step in that direction. What is a typical day like for you? Well, I wake up at exactly 4:33 am (I have it timed to the minute), have a practice from 5:00-6:45 am, and then get ready for school. A"er school, I have another longer practice: 4:00-7:00 or 7:30, depending on the day. It’s a tough schedule and doesn’t leave much time for anything during the week. The only weekend practice runs Saturday morning from 5:30-10:00 am. In essence, swimming is like a part-time job to complement my full-time academic career. Where do you hope your swimming takes you? Let’s face it. I am NOT going to make the Olympics in 2008. 2012 is a stretch, too, but that’s something I’m still shooting for. In the meantime, I would like to do well in NCAA swimming. Nevertheless, I still have absolutely no idea where I’m going to go to college.
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Voices
College Commotion The college drama is coming to a close as descisions have been made!
Amelia Wells Executive Editor
the fact that colleges build classes as they see fit, and also that a rejection of an applicant does not entail their rejection as a person. Students at Pembroke are under a great deal of pressure to succeed in the college process. Whether that pressure has come from our parents, ourselves, or both depends entirely on
disappointed seniors. Shaw It’s finally over: all talks about a young man who the waiting that seniors have applied to and was rejected endured and seem to have by his top choice, Stanford, become accustomed to has in the 1970s. He went on ended, and we now know to to a!end a less renowned which colleges we’ve gained but academically strong acceptance. Universities across university. A$er completing the country were bombarded undergraduate school he this year by an exorbitant received his doctorate from amount of applications, which MIT and he recently joined has had noticeable effects the faculty of the Stanford on the number of University School of accepted, waitlisted, Medicine. Who is and rejected Society all too o!en associates this man, you may students. Some have ask? He’s none a successful life with the ‘brand gained admission to other than Andrew name’ universities in this country. “ the schools of their Fine, a co-winner of dreams while others the 2006 Nobel Prize have been bi!erly in physiology or disappointed, as evidenced the individual, but in many medicine. by students’ reluctance to be cases society has greatly I hope that my fellow interviewed about the college contributed to the pressure seniors understand that a process. Upon hearing that as well. Society all too o$en letdown in the outcome of many of my peers were associates a successful life with the college process will have waitlisted and/or rejected the “brand name” universities much less of a negative effect from their top choice schools, in this country, when in fact a than they think. In the long I wondered if any application huge part of success depends run, the integrity of your effort the opportunities as people will have greater equation whose ultimate upon answer is acceptance truly of which college students bearing on success than will Richard any acceptance or rejection exists. But based on the results take advantage. at Pembroke this year, I’ve since Shaw, dean of admission from an undergraduate school. concluded that such a profile and financial aid at Stanford I’m proud of all of us and have does not exist. Although there University, recently wrote complete confidence that we’ll have been disappointments, in an article for the Los Angeles have the tools to find the paths the end we are forced to accept Times that should comfort to fulfillment.
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Yearning for YouTube? Shajiah Jaffri Staff Writer
Prior to Spring Break, students may have discovered that websites such as YouTube and Facebook were available on the school’s computers, and a$er break, the websites were blocked. While some were surprised, others were upset, and a fair amount of students were unaware that this occurrence had even taken place. A$er talking to Ms. Bloemer and Ms. Williams, I was able to understand
the logistics of what had happened. The school has a firewall that keeps other people from accessing our computers and servers, and that also closes off certain websites. The websites available at school are mostly educational or used for similar purposes. Before spring break, this firewall was down because of a glitch in the system, and students once again had access to websites that were previously closed. The error in the system took a whole day of break to fix, and once it was the firewall was restored. Good-bye YouTube.
Some students were upset with the school because they thought it had given them a privilege for a brief amount of time, but then it was quickly taken it away. The reality of the situation is that these websites were never supposed to be available in the first place. These websites were not taken away; it was a mistake that they were initially available. In my opinion, I could care less if Facebook, YouTube, or Gaia Online were blocked at school. I have access to them at home with more privacy than I would get at school.
Freedom with Responsibilty Continued from Page 2: Why in Middle School of course. I will admit to having made more than a few dress code violations in my middle school years but there is no be!er time in life to make mistakes then when you are young. In addition to these fundamental complaints, the concerned parents had a myriad of other possible positive effects of uniforms to support their proposal. 1. Uniforms would make it less stressful for teenage girls. – In my opinion, while deciding what to wear each day can sometimes be a dilemma, the adding of uniforms would not make my life any less stressful. Less homework, maybe. Uniforms, no. 2. Uniforms would be!er hide differences in financial status. Clothes could be a potential issue here. However, unless we all start driving the same cars and going on the same vacations, uniforms won’t really change much.
3. Uniforms will be!er highlight the talent of individuals, both in the classroom and out, because school will not be focused on looks. It seems to me that uniforms are way more conforming that freeing. In my experience at Pembroke, people are judged for being the person they are, not for what they wear. Ultimately, the final decision is up to the administration once the parent commi!ee finishes its study and presents its findings to the staff here. Although the verdict may not be determined or implemented until a later date, probably once my class has already graduated, I hope that all parties involved seriously consider the radical change this would be within our community. I think that the student body as a whole has responsibly handled the way we dress, which is why I also strongly argue that we continue to have the same freedom with our dress, not less.
The Voice Editors-in-Chief: Caitlin Snavely Executive Editor: Amelia Wells Associate Editors: Emily Cuddy, Rebecca Gilmore, and Brooke Vi!or Tech Editor: Axel Shum Chief Photo Editors: Alex Curry and Lilly Sti! Business Managers: Jordan Payne and Homayon Ghassemi Staff: Rima Abhyankar, Anna Austenfeld, Emma Eisemann, Caroline Hodge, Jessica Jackson, Shajiah Jaffri, Greta Shum, Emily Smith, Maura Sunkel, and Jack Winter Contributors: Anna Zahner Faculty Advisor: Sara Eshelbrenner Assistant Faculty Advisor: Lauren Rosenfield The Voice is the official high school newspaper of the Pembroke Hill School. 5121 State Line Road. Kansas City, Missouri, 64112. The paper is an open forum distributed to students, faculty, parents, alumni, and other members of the Pembroke Hill community nine times a year. Reader response is welcome in the form of le!ers to the editors.
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The Voice
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