September Issue 2009

The Review

FIRST CLASS U.S. Postage PAID Houston, TX Permit No. 9081

The Official Student Newspaper of St. John’s School Vol. 61, Issue 2

September 2009

|| 2401 Claremont Lane; Houston, TX 77019 ||

Back to sitting in the small desks Walker Fair, Cara Henderson return to the classroom as students

By ROBERT McNIEL Anyone taking Chinese I or French I this year was treated to quite a shock the first day of school when they realized that SJS teachers would be taking the courses along with them.

Walker Fair, director of technical theater, is auditing Chinese I with Jing Gea, while Cara Henderson, Foreign Language Department Chair, is auditing French I with Shelley Stein.

Auditing a class simply means taking a course without receiving credit or a grade, but that does not mean that these parttime students do not try just as hard as everyone else.

“Fang Lao Shi takes this class very seriously. I do think that he studies hard and I can see the sincerity with which he is trying to learn this language,” Ms. Gea said.

Fang Lao Shi is Mr. Fair’s Chinese name- Fang means Fair and Lao Shi is a Chinese term of respect used for a teacher.

While Mr. Fair may be addressed like a teacher in his Chinese class, in Ms. Henderson’s French class, she is addressed by her first name just like everyone else.

“Two of my classmates are also my students in Spanish V this year, so they go from calling me Cara in first period to Señora Henderson in sixth and eighth periods,” Ms. Henderson said.

HANNAH DEGNER | The Review

Ms. Henderson listens with her first period French I class.

Mr. Fair is no stranger to languages. He speaks French and a little bit of Spanish, which is exactly why he said learning Chinese was so alluring to him.

“I’ve always been interested in the Chinese language and culture, just because it’s all so different from the romantic languages and cultures to which I am accustomed,” Mr. Fair said.

Ms. Henderson, on the other hand, was already familiar with

French, and wanted to use this year as a refresher.

“Ever since middle school, I had taken both French and Spanish, but once I got to college, I just kind of let the French go. Now that so many years have passed, I decided that I really wanted to be able to speak French again,” Ms. Henderson said.

“Going from teaching to sitting behind a desk is almost like going back in time,” said

HANNAH DEGNER | The Review

Mr. Fair sits attentively in his desk during Chinese I. Mr. Fair.

Ms. Henderson and Mr. Fair have not had to study for a test, do homework, or raise their hands to speak with regularity since their days in college, and getting back into that routine was tough, although both are enjoying their classes.

“I love getting to have a different kind of relationship with students,” Ms. Henderson said.

She also said, “I think it’s neat

getting to have a more casual relationship with the four students in my class, getting to know them in different ways than I would know them as their teacher.”

Mr. Fair’s Chinese I class is not as small as Ms. Henderson’s French class, but he is still getting to know his classmates, See AUDITING on p. 5

Middle School recovers from swine flu outbreak

By SAM DUNN The SJS Middle School recently endured a major flu scare.

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the Middle School had 42 students out with the flu, 28 of them in the sixth grade class.

Prior to Labor Day weekend, the class of 2016 spent the week at Mo Ranch where the disease spread amongst the students.

On Wed, Sept. 2 at Mo Ranch, a sixth grade student was pulled out of activities with flu-like symptoms. He was taken into town to test for the flu and an email was sent out to the parents.

“The test for flu was negative, but he was running a 102degree fever, so he spent the night separate from the other students in the infirmary along with [history teacher Gordon]

Index News...........................2 Features.....................4 Sports........................7 Photo Spread...........10 Beyond SJS...............12 Opinions...................14 A&E.........................17

Center,” Head of Middle School Eric Lombardi said.

The following morning a teacher returning to Houston brought the sick student home to his family to prevent the disease from spreading. However, that afternoon two girls were individually presented with flu symptoms and fevers of 102 degrees.

Their parents were notified and one was picked up that night. The other girl spent the night in the infirmary with life science teacher Patty Carr and was picked up by her mother the next morning.

On Sept. 4, another email was sent to Middle School parents telling them to watch their kids over the weekend for symptoms. “We heard reports start-

Meet our New Columnist Read staff writerturned-columnist Sarah Koslov’s debut piece in our Features section. page 5

ing Friday night and Saturday of students getting the flu, and

by Monday we knew of 14 sick students,” Dean of Middle School Megan Henry said. On Sept. 8, 24 students were out sick and every student on Bus A of the Mo Ranch trip was either sick or had been sick over the weekend.

“Labor Day weekend helped people know if they were sick.

Parents were really taking it [seriously] and making kids stay home for any symptoms,” Mr. Lombardi said. “The “fever-free for 24 hours” rule was really stressed by the parents.”

Even so, some students began displaying symptoms at school and were sent home.

Although the number of sick children was high early in the

week, students quickly regained their health. By Friday only three students were sick from the sixth grade class and the numbers in 7th and 8th grade were only slightly higher. However, the sixth grade lost 24 percent of the class for a few days.

“The sixth grade teachers met and made sure all class information was updated online and they delayed some assignments to counteract missing so many students,” Mr. Lombardi said. “We all put as much work as possible online and emailed families to inform them where they could get materials. We also slowed down that week to accommodate the sick kids,” Dean Henry added.

Currently the Middle School

has only a few students missing. Because most of the students out were sixth graders, no sports games were cancelled. “Unlike last year, we’ve been brought to a different reality that the flu’s not as bad.

People are calmer about it, and that’s been a good thing,” Mr. Lombardi said. “I just worried about whether it hits the faculty. Luckily, no teacher was sick during this time, but we could easily lose half the staff.”

In order to be prepared for a scenario where several teachers get sick, Mr. Lombardi has tripled the substitute teacher list. However, it appears that for now the worst is over and teachers and students can resume their daily activities.

Boys and their Video Games Staff writer Joshua Dickerson explains the male fascination with video games. page 15

Politics Quiz Test your knowledge of political leaders and current events with our quiz. page 16

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news The Review

September 2009

School enacts changes due to Hurricane Ike

By JESSICA ALLEN Over a year after Hurricane Ike sent students home for two weeks, the SJS community is forced to contemplate the possibility of another hurricane or tropical storm disturbing the new school year. Determined to be prepared, SJS has worked to improve its reaction to any future weather disasters.

On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall over Galveston, Tex., as a Category Two hurricane. Described by the National Hurriance Center as “the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States,” Ike ravaged the upper Texas coast, including Houston.

Although SJS was luckier than many other schools, it was still hit hard by the hurricane, which left about $350,000 worth of damage. The most damage occurred in the Winston Building by the mini-quad area and the cafeteria. Since that area is of lower elevation than the rest of the school, the cafeteria was filled with two to three feet of water.

The storm affected other areas to a lesser degree. Several trees blew over, and one fell through a window of the Middle School Library. A few gutters blew off and there was minor roof damage throughout SJS, but for the most part SJS remained intact.

SJS also went without power for two weeks, preventing the students from returning to their classrooms. Greg Swan, Director of Finance and Operations, said that had the power come on earlier, the maintenance

staff could have begun cleaning SJS sooner, allowing classes to begin.

Now, armed with a little more experience, SJS is taking steps to ensure that they are prepared for another Realizing that the below-grade areas of the Winston building are SJS’s weak spot, the administration

area, by putting in new drains and making sure that the old ones were functional. The new drains should keep water out of the area.

Mr. Swan said that his hope for any other possible hurricanes or tropical storms would be for SJS to restore power more quickly, allowing the students

when SJS’s power was restored.

Mr. Swan also added that if SJS were able to obtain generators, the administration’s primary focus would be to provide power for the Upper School, perhaps before the Lower and Middle Schools, simply because some Upper School courses have stricter curricula and less

Clay Nickens | The Review

Water in the cafeteria is something the Administration would like to avoid next hurricane. is taking pains to make certain to return sooner. leeway for missed time. that area does not flood again.

“We did learn last year that In addition to water manageAlthough the building con- we have some families who ment and power, the administains pumps that remove water are part of our community that tration also hopes to improve from the mini-quad and caf- have access to some big genera- its communication system dureteria areas, these pumps have tors,” he said. “So I think we ing a possible future hurricane. no source of power in case the would look to at least attempt Communication during such electricity goes out. SJS will to get the upper school func- an event is a tricky business, as install generators to provide tioning on a generator faster, if the usual system of contacting power for the pumps in case of it’s safe for people to come in.” people through home phones is an outage.

Last year, one family had ac- difficult during power outages.

SJS also improved the drain- cess to generators that were on Last year, SJS communicated to age system around the Winston their way to SJS from Mississippi the community mostly through

its websites and through a cell phone calling system that can make calls to every family. The administration communicated mainly with their cell phones, a system Mr. Swan considered effective.

Jeff Ritter, Director of Technology, said that SJS is exploring SMS texting as a possible way of communicating during a hurricane or tropical storm.

“In the wake of Ike, FEMA and Homeland Security take over the cell towers for emergency voice communication,” Mr. Ritter said. “That meant [...] our voice calls had trouble getting through to families. SMS text messaging is not affected by this and would be a more reliable way to communicate if voice was having problems.”

Mr. Ritter also said that SJS was investigating getting a generator to ensure that its basic communication modes were available in the wake of a hurricane. However, the idea is only being discussed at this point.

In the midst of the current hurricane season, SJS continues to prepare for and anticipate another “Ike.” Despite all the urgency to get students back into classrooms as quickly as possible, Mr. Swan maintains that the administration will not lose sight of what is really important in times of crisis.

“Really, the main thing we try to do is make sure that if something is coming, we prepare SJS as much as possible,” he said.

“The safety of the students and faculty is SJS’s foremost concern.”

Headmaster search yields semifinalists

By POOJA SALHOTRA On Sept. 1, the Headmaster Search Committee selected a group of qualified semi-finalists for the headmaster position out of 33 applicants.

Since last winter the Headmaster Search Committee looked for an interim headmaster for the 2009-2010 school year, and finally, a new headmaster.

When former Headmaster John Allman first announced that he would be leaving SJS, Bob Graham, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, selected Suzanne Nimocks and John Moody (‘67) as co-chairs of the search committee.

For both Ms. Nimocks and Mr. Moody, this was the first time conducting a search at SJS. Therefore, they spent a lot of time interviewing people from other schools around the country that had just conducted searches in order to find out the best way to proceed with the search.

After much deliberation and research, the co-chairs chose Jim Wickenden, the chairman of Wickenden Associates INC., an organization that leads headaster searches across the country, to head the search for the interim and permanent headmaster. Wickenden also led the search for John Allman eleven years ago, so he understood the expectations of SJS.

JENNY LEWIS| The Review

A new headmaster will occupy this office next year.

Wickenden conducted a broad outreach search, contacting over 150 possible candidates from around the country. Ms. Nimocks said that Mr. Wickenden tried to convince the best candidates to apply for the position from March to August.

The application for the headmaster’s position consisted of a résumé, a statement of the individual’s philosophy of education, references and a writing sample. The committee based their decision for the semi-finalists on this application along with each applicant’s teaching background and educational

skills. Their communication skills and the quality of the institution they have been at in the past also played a role in the decision.

In addition to evaluating the application, the board was looking for certain qualities in order to choose the semi-finalists. “We would like a terrific educator, a great leader, and a person who understands what it takes to run a school like St. Johns. We are also looking for vision into the next twenty years of education,” Nimocks said.

The committee has decided

to not disclose any information about the semi-finalists. “We have to treat this portion of the process with extreme care to make sure that we don’t violate any confidences,” Nimocks said.

Although the number of semifinalists is concealed, Nimocks said she believes that there are enough that three finalists will come out of the semi-finalist interviews.

The semi-finalists will be interviewed throughout September and the finalists will be interviewed during October.

To make the final decision, the

Headmaster Search Committee will seek broad input from members of the SJS community, including administrators, faculty, parents, and students.

The finalists will visit SJS during October. During this twoday process, the committee will try to find the best fit for SJS. The committee will also make more reference checks for the finalists. They will be able to contact many people in the candidate’s community because they will have to make their position as finalists public.

Ideally, the committee hopes to make an offer for the headmaster position during November. Ms. Nimocks said that she believes the new headmaster will get a chance to visit SJS before he or she starts on July 1.

To make the shift to SJS as smooth as possible, a transition committee will be formed, which will include representations from the Board, staff, faculty, alumni and parents.

The committee will be in charge of helping the new headmaster acclimatize to the school both professionally and personally. They will make sure the headmaster knows where to go to deal with particular issues.

“We will do everything to make sure the family is comfortable in our community,” Nimocks said.

news

September 2009

Back to school: teachers aim for advanced degrees

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By AVERY HINRICHS Several SJS teachers are going back to school to train for and obtain advanced degrees.

SJS chemistry teacher Sarwat Jafry and English teacher Angela Flowers, are students once again. After years teaching, both have decided to become students again and obtain their advanced degrees. Spanish I and II teacher Isabella Maldonado is also in school, completing her Master’s degree online, and English teacher Carol Munn attended classes this past summer to improve her teaching and writing skills.

“It’s not difficult to transition between the two because as a teacher you always have some semblance of being a student because you are always trying to improve your craft as a teacher,” Ms. Maldonado said.

Ms. Jafry, who is entering her seventh year at SJS, has begun attending Monday, Tuesday and weekend night classes at the University of Houston, working towards her Educational Doctorate in Professional Leadership. Her husband Adil and her daughter Shez (’17) support her, as well as her “slightly confused” son, Shehryar (‘21), who said, “Mommy, you’re too old to [go to school].” The program has given her sympathy towards her students as she realizes how much she values getting her assignments in advance and her professor’s organizational skills.

Ms. Flowers is working towards a Master’s degree in Education at Columbia University. Ms. Flowers attended the Independent School Leadership program last summer and has course work in Houston until 2011.

Ms. Flowers said she is enthusiastic about the program, which history teacher Ted Curry and former Assistant Headmaster Mark Reed previously attended. Ms. Flowers is taking five classes: Education Finance, Group Dynamics Psychology, School Privatization, Research and Statistics, and the Philosophy of Education. She will complete the program in 2011.

Ms. Maldonado, new to SJS this year, attended Johns Hopkins University where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree before she moved to Long Island, New York to attend

the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, working to get her Master’s of Arts in Liberal Studies. Ms. Maldonado then came to SJS and is currently taking her classes online.

Ms. Jafry, Ms. Munn, and Ms. Flowers all went back to school, but each experienced it in different ways.

While Ms. Flowers said she sits “obnoxiously close” to the front of her 47-student class with her laptop ready for notes, Ms. Jafry sits in the middle of her 23 classmates, a good old-fashioned pencil and notepad in hand; Ms. Munn sits in the front with both—ready for any task.

Ms. Maldonado does not sit in a classroom, but she is still able to interact with her classmates online to get their help and chat about their homework and personal techniques.

While each student possesses different study techniques—each enjoys the experience.

“It is time consuming, more so because when you are in a traditional class you can just say what is on your mind, but to actually type it out takes a bit longer,” Ms. Maldonado said.

Ms. Munn, an English III teacher, has been teaching at SJS for two years. Throughout July and August, Ms. Munn attended The Southhampton Writers Conference at Stony Brook University (SUNY), where Ms. Madonado also studies.

Although she is not pursuing a degree, Ms. Munn earned six graduate credit hours and improved her writing and teaching techniques. At Stonybrook, Ms. Munn was selected to be one of eight students in a Poetry workshop with Paula Brancato, in addition to her poetry manuscript being selected by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins as one of ten students in his poetry writing workshop.

“I also experienced both inspiring and boring teachers and studied their techniques in order to improve my own teaching at SJS. Finally, I relearned how important simple kindness, encouragement, and attention to student needs can be in teaching and in understanding. I want to remember how important those elements are every day with my students,” Ms. Munn said.

POOJA SALHOTRA | The Review

Ms. Jafry helps a Chemistry I student with a problem.

BOBBIE RICHARDSON | The Review

ERICA REED | The Review

Ms. Maldonado studies online.

Ms. Flowers studies her coursework.

Spirit Pride and Morale Committee learns lessons in Dallas

By ROBERT MCNIEL Last year the Board of Trustees drafted a new strategic plan.

One of the key provisions was to address a supposed lack of school spirit among SJS students.

“The strategic plan included a directive that called for the spirit, pride, and morale of the upper school to be enhanced, and we are continuing to enhance it through the formation of the Spirit, Pride, and Morale Committee,” Upper School Dean Dan Alig said.

This new committee is lead by Dean Alig and history teacher Ted Curry, and is comprised of enthusiastic Upper School Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors involved in all facets of life here at SJS. The “SPaMers,” as committee members like to call themselves, have been charged with the task of analyzing the spirit, pride, and morale of the SJS community.

While this evaluation has not yet begun, committee members have come up with definitions of spirit, pride, and morale as they apply to SJS. These definitions will help with the evalua-

tion process.

While the long-term goal of their efforts is the improvement of school spirit, that does not mean that the current state of spirit here at SJS is in bad shape.

“It should be noted that while the committee does intend to make some changes, this does not mean that anything is ‘wrong’ with spirit, pride, or morale at St. John’s. Rather, we want to make these qualities the best they can be, even though they don’t necessarily need to be improved,” Ben Marek (‘10) said.

The committee’s first action this year was a trip to Greenhill School, a fellow member of the SPC in Attison, a small town north of Dallas.

“At Greenhill we were all assigned to a student from their school to see how they kept up the spirit,” Maddox Lamme (‘12) said, “I went with two other SJS students, Scott Wise (‘11) and Lindsey Collie (‘12), to a Greenhill sophomore’s classes.

Our ‘buddy’ introduced us to important people around the school, such as the extremely

enthusiastic mascot, and was able to give us a taste of what it was like to be a Greenhill student. It was a really fun experience, and I am so glad that I was able to be a part of it,” she said.

From observing the ways in which spirit, pride, and morale come into play in the lives of students at a similar SPC school, the committee is going to be able to make judgments on how to improve spirit, pride, and morale here at SJS. “The main thing that the Greenhill visit was supposed to accomplish was giving the committee some ideas about what works well, in terms of school spirit, in other places,” Mr. Curry said.

Certain attributes, such as the intense academic environment that SJS is well known for, often make increasing school spirit difficult. “The laid-back vibe that I received from Greenhill certainly helps in fostering their school morale,” Dean Alig said.

With this in mind, the Spirit, Pride, and Morale Committee is going to spend the next year meeting once every one or two

months, discussing the current state of spirit affairs at SJS, and deciding how to improve them.

“After teaching here for 13 years, I’ve found that when things being to pile up, papers, tests, college applications for seniors, pressure tends to make you see things differently, and I

think that has a negative effect on spirit,” Mr. Curry said, “I think that what you see in September is not necessarily what you’re going to see in February or April. My sense is right now things are OK, but we’re only a month into school.”

CLAY NICKENS | The Review

SJS students show off their spirit at a football game.

features

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The Review

September 2009

BOBBIE RICHARDSON | The Review

Matthew Duhon (‘11), Patrick Wu (‘11) and Ada Pornjaded (‘11) sit around a picnic table during lunch.

By MEGAN RECH Due to its rigorous academics and overwhelming workload, the SJS Upper School is a daunting place for anyone.

But for Ada Porjaded (‘11), Gyungmin Yu (‘13), Matthew Duhon (‘11) and Patrick Wu (‘11) it presented an entirely different set of challenges.

Pornjaded, from Thailand, said she never expected to find herself at SJS at all. “I thought that I would come to the United States when I was a freshman in college,” she said. “I didn’t think that I would pass the [foreign exchange student] test, so it was quite a surprise for me. I didn’t intend to come.”

Yu, originally from South Korea, had always known that she wanted to study in the United States but had little knowledge of SJS before she arrived. The Jhin family arranged for Yu to come to SJS earlier this year.

Duhon, who attended SJS in Class One, said he never anticipated returning to SJS after spending the last few years in Holland. He was informed that his family was coming back to Houston about a week before the move.

Wu attended a public high school in Pearland for his freshman and sophomore years. Although his parents had always known that SJS was prestigious, he said he did not consider attending SJS until after taking a chemistry course with teacher Sarwat Jafry over the summer.

After seeing the quality of work and teaching at SJS, Wu decided he would try and make the transistion.

Just as attendance at SJS was somewhat serendipitous for the four students, each student’s experience at SJS has also been out of the ordinary.

Pornjaded’s school in Thailand and SJS offer contrasts in educational systems.

She noted that while SJS offers specific courses such as calculus or chemistry, her school in Thailand only offered general courses like math and science.

“I didn’t know what to choose when I came to SJS,” she said. “There were so many choices!”

Even the school system was new for Pornjaded. In Thailand, students remained in the same classroom with the same group of students while the teachers rotate to different rooms. Now, she is adapting to walking to different buildings without getting lost or being late and seeing new faces and new friends in and between every class.

Walking through New Hallways The school system was new for Yu said. as well, as she said that she has had to The most significant change for Yu and adjust to shorter school days. In Korea, Pornjaded, however, has been taking Yu attended school for 10 hours a day, classes in English. Both Yu and Pornjadfrom 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. She even ate ed learned English as second language. dinner at school and had a three-hour Though Pornjaded practiced her speakstudy hall immediately afterward. ing skills with her teachers who were Not only is the school system differ- native English speakers, she said that ent, but school she still spoke sports teams to her friends In Korea, Yu attended school in Thai. are new for Yu as well since for 10 hours a day, from 8 a.m.

Despite their her Korean preparation, school had no until 6 p.m. She even ate dinner the language teams to join. barrier has She said that at school and had a three-hour made learning she is enjoying more difficult. study hall afterward. playing volleyYu said that ball for the first the classes at time.

SJS are more challenging than those in Other changes for Yu include carry- Korea mainly because they are taught ing most of her books in her backpack in English. Pornjaded echoed the sentiinstead of storing them in her locker ment when describing her history class and riding to school in a car rather than and its reliance on English. walking.

“American History is the hardest class For Yu and Pornjaded, while high for me,” Pornjaded said. “It uses evschool starts in 9th grade in the Unit- erything–writing, listening and taking ed States, it would have started in 10th notes. There are words like ‘Plymouth’ grade in Korea and Thailand. If Yu or ‘pilgrim’ or ‘colonies’ that I do not were still studying in Korea, she would know because they are specific to just technically still be in middle school, she history,” she said.

Pornjaded said that she was impressed and relieved by the willingness of her friends and teachers to understand any problems with studying that she may experience.

Just as Pornjaded and Yu have had to adjust to schools being taught in a different language, Duhon also had to get used to a change in the primary language his classmates speak.

After his dad’s job transfer sent the family to Holland, Duhon enrolled in the American School of The Hague.

Though his classes were still in English, he was surrounded by people who spoke Dutch. The student body was diverse, and Duhon said that Holland is much more “international” than America, citing the number of friends he knew who hailed from different countries.

Furthermore, Duhon only took four classes a day in Holland and attended a new set of four different classes the next day. Duhon also said that while he enjoys more freedom on the SJS campus, the classes are harder at SJS than in Holland.

Wu said that he was surprised by lack of supervision during free periods, and while he does not believe the classes are necessarily harder, he notices that they move at a faster pace.

“At my old school, I didn’t have to study,” Wu said. “It was just ‘go with the flow.’”

Despite the increase in difficulty, Wu said that he likes both the challenge of the classes and the flexibility of the schedule. In Pearland, he had to take seven courses per day without free periods.

The Upper School’s hour-long lunch is also time that Wu enjoys off, he said.

But there is something else different about the SJS mealtime for Pornjaded.

In Thailand, Pornjaded was used to eating rice at every meal with soups or meat. In the United States, she has been introduced to a variety of foods like tortillas and quesadillas. However, one new food stands out to her the most.

“There is one food that I am quite interested in: s’mores. Can I have some more s’mores? I love it!” she said.

One experience shared by all the new students is seeking new friends while leaving old ones behind. “At first, I felt so lonely. It’s so hard to talk with the others. Everyone else is shouting and laughing, and it’s hard to me for step in,” Pornjaded said. “But…[people] are so friendly. I’m excited for the school year.”

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features

September 2009

d nhinge ...but only slightly

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Sarah Koslov muses on Mac & Cheese, Woodstock and other things By SARAH KOSLOV

The revelation came as a surprise one cloudy Sunday afternoon in August, when I found myself craving macaroni & cheese. I am relatively certain the last time I had the dish was in the Camp Champions dining hall before my age had hit double digits.

Somewhat confused, but in the mood to indulge my whim, I considered two potential courses of action. Instead of flipping through myriad cookbooks on display in my kitchen, I elected the surefire approach of picking a box off a shelf. I ventured into Target to buy what promised to be some delicious mac & cheese which, as an added bonus, happened to be Spider-Man themed. In retrospect, pursuing any sort of eatable in which powdered neon substances are key ingredients seems questionable in judgment, but who am I to doubt the genius of Kraft? I was headed to the check-out when something caught my eye—an aisle display dedicated to the Woodstock Music Festival. There was a variety of rectangular household products ranging from posters to beach towels branded with the iconic white bird, guitar, and famous bill: 3 days of Peace & Music.

Woodstock, the model for all subsequent music festivals and pinnacle of success for American counter cultur-

ists, has become an idealized and al- an early leave. Nostalgia is comforting; most mythical event to our generation. people can helplessly dwell on the goldIn fact, for $12.99 you can dry off after en years and omit or blur fragments that a dip in the pool while simultaneously soil the fantasy. flaunting your appreciation for rock ‘n’ Perhaps I am reading too much into all roll. For many, the spirit of 1960’s youth of this. Maybe the superficial element of rebellion has been reduced to some marketing-glorified American legacies is strung-out, chill dudes grooving to “Age motivated purely by fiscal interests. Perof Aquarius.” Hippies are now a clichéd haps teens today acknowledge the strugcostume for seven-year-olds on Hallow- gle, triumph, and complexity of said era een, and even Barbie dolls can beyond the stereotypical long-haired be proud owners of Volkdruggies as portrayed in Taking swagen Beetles.

Woodstock. Perhaps I tooThis begs the quesquickly assume that a full tion—When did examination of this pemainstream society riod has been truncated decide to not only by commercialism. embrace, but also The creators of the capitalize on a movevideo game sensation ment once deemed Rock Band most recentthe debasement of ly introduced a Beatles conventional Ameriedition which hit shelves can culture? Forty on 9/9/09. Now kids, teens, years later, stores and adults in basements and as generic as Target apartment flats alike can click promote merchandise some colorful, strategically lomarketing Woodstock cated buttons on a mock-guitar as an event to remem- Photo courtesy of Amazon.com to recreate their own rendition ber, but what aspect of that culture truly of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” resonates in today’s society? In a world Commercialism irrefutably expands where people can market and profit from accessibility, but does increased exponostalgia, what exactly do we stand for sure contribute to an appreciation for here and now? the spirit ingrained within these lyrics?

Glorification of the past appears The seamlessness between politics, culthroughout the pages of American lit- ture, art and music that characterized erature—even a cynic like Hunter the young voice 40 years ago is snagged Thompson couldn’t resist wishfully and frayed somewhere between Simon reminiscing on a time come and gone. and Garfunkel’s “America” and Miley The direction of our future was bleak Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.” enough in 2005 to convince him to take I do not yearn to relive a past genera-

AUDITING from page 1 including Candace Ting (‘12). “I like having Mr. Fair as my partner. He is pretty good at Chinese, and it’s cool getting to know a teacher like I would a student,” Ting said.

Mr. Fair’s only motive for learning Chinese was a strong desire and interest in the language, but Ms. Henderson had an ulterior motive.

“In my role as the Foreign Language Department Chair, I’m in charge of staffing, and often times we need a teacher to teach just one particular class, such as French I, which is often difficult to find. And so I think it would be nice to have the ability ultimately to be able to teach French, so that we would, as a department, have that flexibility,” Ms. Henderson said.

Ms. Henderson said that wants to take French one year at a time. She doesn’t know what level she will eventually get to, but she is trying not to think about it so that, “I don’t freak myself out too much,” she said.

Mr. Fair, on the other hand, knows exactly what level he wants to reach. “I just want to be able to communicate in most normal situations with a native speaker, Mr. Fair said, “I am not sure what level I will have to get to in order to accomplish this, but I am definitely on the right track so far.”

While neither Mr. Fair nor Ms. Henderson receives special treatment in their classes, there have been a few cases in which their status as SJS teachers has helped them out.

“One morning Fang Lao Shi called me and told me that he had a flat tire, so he would not be able to make it to class... This hap-

pened to be on a day when we were having a quiz, so all of the students, just joking of course, were saying things like ‘Ms. Gea you have to make him take that quiz!’” Ms. Gea said.

Mr. Fair’s predicament was a one-time occurance, but every Monday and Friday Ms. Henderson has to leave her French class five minutes early so she can make it to the middle school where she teaches a second period class. “Ms. Stein takes this as an opportunity to make sure that everyone in her course is still comfortable with having a teacher in the class,” Ms. Henderson said.

Adults typically have a much more difficult time learning a foreign language than children, but Mr. Fair and Ms. Henderson must be the exceptions that prove the rule because both teachers report that they are exceeding all expectations in their respective classes. “While he may not be the best in the class, Fang Lao Shi is one of the best...

He is doing much better than I had expected when I first found out there was going to be an adult in my class,” Ms. Gea said.

“I never thought that I would be doing anything like this, but now that I am, I honestly could not imagine not being in Chinese,” Mr. Fair said.

More than anything, Fang Lao Shi and Cara just want to be treated like the other students in their classes. They may be teachers, but for 45 minutes every day during first period, they are just like everyone else.

tion or intend to demand homage for a glorified movement—I merely note its omnipresence in our culture. But before I am branded as a traitor to our generation, I must emphasize that am not criticizing the presence, fun, or entertainment value of Disney Channel Original Movies or Bret Michael’s high standards in his endless search for love on VH1.

But when I think about the 40th anniversary commemorative merchandise of Woodstock and the release of a Beatles Rock Band, it all seems a lot like my little box of processed Mac & Cheese—it’s not the real thing. The integrity of the product is compromised in exchange for convenience. It is convenient to glorify the past, and it is convenient to pour powdered cheese into a pot of quickly cooked noodles. But we are left with something so over-processed it could never fool a person who knows the difference between an imitation and authentic material. Kraft appeased my craving for Mac & Cheese, but I was not fully satisfied. We may eat Rock Band up, but what are we swallowing, what’s the nutritional value?

Perhaps the Pittsburg band Dr. Dog is right in saying “there’s no reason or rhyme/that can keep up with the time/ so run along now/ run along now.” Rock Band is fun, Woodstock shirts are trendy and Kraft-boxed Mac & Cheese tastes fine—there’s no great crime in enjoying them. And “while living is easy with eyes closed,” I hope we also see merit in starting from scratch, grating the cheese ourselves and seeing what the real deal is all about.

6

September 2009

features

Coach by Day Chef by Night

Photo courtesy of Eddie Cumbo

Coach Cumbo cooks at the stove in his restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Eddie Cumbo

Coach Cumbo’s restaurant, Cumbo’s Cajun Hut

By IMAN CHARANIA Though the struggle to get through one job a day may be overwhelming for most, SJS coach Eddie Cumbo is enjoying having not one but two jobs. In addition to coaching football, Coach Cumbo is also the chef of his own Cajun restaurant, Cumbo’s Cajun Hut. Even though coaching and cooking may seem like a strange combination, Coach Cumbo says it was natural for that to happen because he is passionate about both.

He does not know how the two managed to mesh, but they did.

While Coach Cumbo has been cooking for 20 years, the restaurant has only been open for seven months.

The restaurant was successful from the start, and Cumbo was almost overwhelmed by the crowd on the first day. Coach Cumbo said that the vast number of people that came on the first day of business was so unexpected that there was not enough food to feed everyone.

Although Coach Cumbo’s restaurant is primarily a Cajun restaurant, he cooks many types of food outside of the restaurant as well, such as soul food and southern food.

Cumbo’s Cajun Hut strives for good cooking and a fun atmosphere. The idea came to Coach Cumbo and his wife, Reba Cumbo, when they were holding a gathering for family and friends. The food was praised so much that Ms. Cumbo thought up the idea to start a restaurant and sell the food.

Coach Cumbo drew on his Louisianan roots for the restaurant even though he is a native Houstonian. All of his close family is from Louisiana, so many Cajun recipes were brought over to Houston.

Two of the biggest influences on the restaurant are Coach Cumbo’s grandmother and his wife, both whom have gave their own recipes to the restaurant.

Coach Cumbo’s grandmother was the first to encourage Coach Cumbo to begin cooking.

Coach Cumbo attributes much of the driving force behind the restaurant to Ms. Cumbo. Not only did she encourage him to open a restaurant, Ms. Cumbo also works hard to perfect the spices that go into the food he cooks. The seasoning is a closely guarded secret that works on all occasions, Coach Cumbo said.

Coach Cumbo first started cooking when he played basketball and traveled when he was younger. He would be in a hotel or apartment and only eat fast food. One day he said he decided to go to the grocery

Cumbo’s Cajun Hut Open Mon-Fri 5pm-11pm 5309 Sonora St, Houston, TX 77020 (713) 678-7160 store and bought some food staples. He then proceeded to call his grandmother and she coached the coach through the process of cooking different types of foods.

When Coach Cumbo was a child he spent time with his grandmother and mother in the kitchen and handing his grandmother things on shelves that were too high up for her to reach.

Most of the inspiration for his recipes came from either his wife or his grandmother. Some recipes, like the fried chicken,have not been tinkered with at all and are straight from the original ones, Coach Cumbo said. Coach Cumbo’s favorite dish on the menu is the Cumbo po’boy that is made with crawfish, shrimp and fish.

There is even a recipe, designed by his children, named Cumbo’s Gumbo. It is a seafood gumbo that consists of crab meat, crawfish, oysters, okra, and spices.

One of Coach Cumbo’s favorite dessert dishes is the peach cobbler that his wife makes, and the sweet potato pie recipe that he inherited from his grandmother.

Coach Cumbo’s signature dish that is always ordered for potlucks and big events is the Cajun chicken pasta.

When Coach Cumbo’s family got together they would hold big meals with all the family’s favorite foods. This led to the love of good food and cooking that prompted the opening of the restaurant. Coach Cumbo’s family has been eating his cooking ever since he learned how to cook.

Coach Cumbo depends on the support of the SJS community, his friends and his family. “Everyone thinks the food is great and they’re very supportive,” he said.

“We’d definitely like to thank St. Johns for supporting us too.”

Around mid-spring last year, after much encouragement from SJS parents, Coach Cumbo approached SJS about serving his food at the concession stand. The menu started small, but the list of food available from Coach Cumbo’s restaurant now includes a variety of po’boys, shrimp tacos and chicken tacos.

Owning a restaurant comes with many tribulations.

Coach Cumbo said, “My favorite part about [cooking] is being in the kitchen and getting to prepare the food…you bring it out and the people taste it and you get to hear the compliments and they will smile.”

Interacting with the customers and other people is another one of Coach Cumbo’s favorite things about owning a restaurant.

Coach Cumbo said that the restaurant came at the right time in his life: “Sometimes you just have to be patient, and everything has its timing, you know, so I think this is a great time for this to happen, and I think this is great timing, a great idea, great people as well.”

September 2009

sports

7

The Review

Walt Baker: Freshman Phenom

By BRADEN DOYLE

CLAY NICKENS | The Review

Walt Baker (’13) is the first freshman to make the varsity football team since Head Coach Steve Gleaves started at SJS, ending a ninteen year stretch of freshman-less varsity football teams.

While many factors contributed to the coaches’ decision to place Baker on the varsity team, his size was the main reason.

Baker stands at 6’1” and weighs 235 pounds. That makes him the second tallest and the heaviest player on the varsity football team. He adds size to a team that has lacked it for years.

The Maverick varsity football team has run the veer offense since Gleves began his tenure at SJS. It involves option running plays and effective blocking. This offense is supposed to reduce the need for large lineman, but Coach Gleaves says it is a luxury to have someone that big.

Baker’s maturity and toughness were also critical in deciding to place him on the varsity football team.

Coach Gleaves said that if he had not thought that Baker had the maturity to play with upperclassmen, he would not have brought him up. Gleaves attributes his maturity to the fact that Walt has an older brother, John (’11), and that Walt interacts well with him and his friends.

Baker has also had to adjust to the different speed and physicality of varsity football, but says he has not had any trouble making the transition so far.

“I think it is going to be a whole lot different for me from the eighth grade, where I was getting triple teamed every single play. Now someone will actually

be going against me one on one.”

Although Baker was penciled in to start on the offensive line from day one, so far he has only gone in on defense.

When asked about playing primarily defense so far, he said “I thought that was a whole lot of fun.”

This optimistic attitude should help Baker throughout the season and in spite of the many obstacles to come.

He has lost playing time due to injuries and illnesses that have slowed him down. Baker strained his hamstring in preseason workouts, and just when it seemed he was ready to return, he became ill and could not participate in practices.

Baker first injured his hamstring during a lacrosse tournament over the summer, but he said he reinjured it at the beginning of two-a-days.

“It has been very frustrating, especially the hamstring injury, because I thought it was over,” he said.

Baker has not seen much field action due to these setbacks, but the team is already working him into the game. He played the majority of the Greenhill game on defense and Coach Gleaves thinks he will start on offense by the end of the year. “I’m one hundred percent right now,” Baker said.

So far, the Mavericks are undefeated with a record of 4-0, quadrupling thier win total from last year. They play the St. Mark’s Lions Friday at Skip Lee Field, kicking off at 7 p.m.

After a non-conference week, the Mavericks will square off against the Episcopal Knights on Oct. 9 at Simmons Field.

Walt Baker (‘13) is happy about being the only freshman on varsity football.

Catherine Franklin commits to Northwestern

By CAROLINE GIBSON

Catherine Franklin (‘10) has made the most important decision in her sports career so far.

Franklin recently committed to play Division I field hockey at Northwestern University next fall.

Unlike other seniors, Franklin is free from the stressful college application process because of her commitment to Northwestern.

She said she is apprehensive about juggling her college courses, social life and field hockey practices next year, but she is certain she has the time management skills to handle it.

“Playing field hockey and attending a school like SJS has made me learn to organize my time,” Franklin said. “Field hockey always came second to academics when considering schools,” she said, also saying that she is exceedingly happy with the combination of excellent academics and athletics found at Northwestern.

According to Franklin, coming from the south, where the caliber of high school field hockey is lower than on the East coast, getting noticed by college coaches requires a significant amount of time investment.

Since she was in seventh grade, Franklin has been attending rigorous out-ofschool field hockey practices set up by the Futures Pipeline, a national field hockey organization that supplies players with opportunities to play in front of college coaches and forge the connections needed to break into the collegiate athletic scene.

Each year a select team from each region in the U.S. sends a team to Na-

tionals, a tournament held in Virginia nior year when she was contacted by ing list with her to Northwestern UniBeach, VA. Franklin has had the honor Carla Tagliente, the assistant coach at versity and Franklin was offered a spot of attending Nationals for the last three Michigan State University. on the field hockey team. Last summer, years.

Michigan State University has been a while at Northwestern, Franklin walked Franklin’s out of school hockey com- strong presence in Division I field hock- her résumé over to the admissions ofmitment also paid off on the SJS hockey ey the last couple of years, and Franklin fice, and the rest is history. field. The select teams she played for in- was honored to be considered for the Though it took hours of hard work clude a collegiate style of play that var- program. as well as sacrificing her summers to ies greatly from high school field hockey However, the head coach at the uni- camps, Sundays to Futures, Thanksgivbecause it is played on turf rather than versity, Stacy Fuchs, was offered the ing break to the California Field Hockey grass, which requires a higher skill level head coach position at Northwestern Festival and always missing final exams for a faster game, making high school last year, and when Fuchs took the of- for Nationals to achieve her goal, Frankfield hockey easier for Franklin. fer, she brought her assistant coach lin says that the friends she has made This year is Franklin’s fourth year on Tagliente with her. and experiences she has had were worth the varsity field hockey team; she helped Tagliente, in turn, brought her recruit- every minute. lead the team to win SPC last year and intends to do so again this year as field hockey captain.

Going to Futures practices and tournaments was just one of the ways Franklin attempted to make an impression in the national field hockey scene.

She attended field hockey camps across the country to improve her hockey skills, wrote emails and sent videos to about fifty college coaches beginning her sophomore year, telling the coaches which tournaments she would be attending. “You really have to market yourself,” Franklin said of the recruiting process.

All of Franklin’s hard JENNY LEWIS | The Review work finally paid off ju- Catherine Franklin (‘10) has committed to Northwestern University to play field hockey.

8

September 2009

sports

Volleyball teams reach to meet high expectations

By HENRY MORRIS

Boys “There is not a banner in the gym for boys volleyball. Our goal should be to put a banner up there,” said Head Coach Eric Lombardi.

The SJS boys volleyball team started their competitive year with a preseason tournament the weekend of Sept. 11. The team won their first five games, making it to the semifinals where they were defeated by Greenhill.

Trinity Valley eventually won the tournament, but recently the Mavericks defeated the Trojans in a regular season match.

Captains this year are Tim Lin (’10) and Reed Landrum (’10), and the 2009 Mavericks will be unusually deep, since last year’s team featured only three seniors. The team has had time to develop, which is one of the reasons Lin feels they have a good chance to win SPC. “We have the potential to be the best team,” said Lombardi, when asked about his expectations for the upcoming season.

The team will play an average of one game a week and around three tournaments (not counting SPC) this year. The matches will usually be played during football games on Friday night and on Saturday mornings.

Two assistant coaches have been added to the staff, whereas last year Lombardi ran the coaching outfit by himself.

Rob Amason, a nine-year coach for a select girls volleyball team, the Texas Tornadoes, and Sarah Howard (’04), a Loyola graduate and expert setter, will stroll the sidelines along with Lombardi.

The new coaches bring a more technical approach to practice. For example, Howard works with the setters using video analysis to enhance their form.

According to Lin, the arrival of the coaches has brought about a more expansive conditioning program, and as a result, the players are in optimal shape.

When asked to describe his team in one word, Lin said simply, “ready.”

Girls The varsity girls volleyball team is young. They have four starting underclassmen, a rarity for a high school team. Head Coach James Fuller; however, said he has no doubts about the capability of his squad.

“We’re younger this year, but we still have a dynamic amount of talent on the team,” he said. Fuller also said that the team would not worry about wins and losses until later in the season, when the SPC counter games begin.

Captains are Mary Ashleigh Boles (’10) and Lindsay Paterson (’10). Although the team lost five seniors from last year, Boles said she still thinks that they are a top contender in their division.

“We have so much potential,” Boles said. “What we do with that potential is up to us.” Fortunately for the Mavericks, the captains said both Kinkaid and Episcopal are sporting young teams this year as well.

The girls varsity volleyball team plays two matches a week and will have an even balance of home and away games. The fact that the team has players from every grade starting should show an increase in fan support.

The Mavericks have recently been recovering from a series of illnesses. Five players have been sick, and as a result, the Mavericks have lost their last two games, despite a strong effort against St. Pius X on Sept. 10. So far, the team is 9-6.

Although the focus of this year’s team seems solely directed on SPC, the road to the end of the season will provide a picture of how they will fare against their division rivals.

HANNAH DEGNER | The Review

Boys volleyball player Max Lee (‘11) attempts to block a spike hit by teammate Anthony Foster (‘11).

sports

September 2009

XC ‘09

9

Girls looking good as year wears on; Gamble wins meet

By ANDREW VOGELEY

Meredith Gamble (‘10) races to the finish line to claim her gold.

Meredith Gamble (’10) has guaranteed a successful season this year for the Maverick varsity girls cross country team. “We are winning SPC this year�

Gamble, one of the co-captains of the team, said. Gamble placed first overall in the Mavericks most recent meet, the Lamar Invitational, with the team finishing in third.

Mackenzie Hicks (’10) said, “We are definitely looking to improve over our 4th place finish last year. Winning SPC is definitely our goal.�

The team has been one of the more successful SJS teams of recent years with their last SPC title coming in 2003 which topped off a streak of four straight SPC championships.

Although the traditional team rivalries like Kinkaid and Episcopal still matter, Head Coach Rachel Skinner said, “Individual rivalries between schools develop as the season progresses.�

This adds another layer to what is shaping up to be a close race

for the SPC title.

The cross country team walks (or in this case, runs) to the beat of their own drum. They attended an overnight retreat the weekend of Sept. 12. They stayed at a ranch, allowing the team to bond and gain confidence as a group.

Cross country is one of the few SJS teams that practices in the morning before school starts. Although early, the team is able to beat the notorious Houston heat and humidity in the afternoon. “I love practicing in the morning because it frees up your afternoons,�

Hicks said.

Even on Wednesdays, when they have practice in the afternoon, the team still manages to have fun. Every Wednesday after one of their afternoon practices, the team has ice baths in which they eat popsicles. “To non-runners it may seem weird, but it is really helpful,�

Gamble said.

Despite injuries, Boys Cross-Country coming into form

By ANDREW VOGELEY After losing their top runner, Carlos Falcon (’09), to graduation, the varsity boys cross country team is looking to return to old form after a fourth place finish at SPC last year.

Expectations are still high despite the loss of Falcon. “Team-wise, we would like to be top four, hopefully even top three [in SPC],� Coach Mercado said.

The team has been bitten by the injury bug, and co-captain Henry Chapman (’10) is still recovering from an injury he suffered during the 2008-2009 soccer season. Ethan Gaitz (’13) was also injured recently, although his prognosis seems to be improving.

Morale throughout the team remains high despite the loss of Falcon. “We are doing better running as a group. We have fewer individu-

als on the team,� Parker Schiffer (’11) said. “We have a lot of experience this year. The juniors this year have been to SPC since their freshman year,� Chapman said.

The freshmen have already made an impact of the team with a large group coming out and participating. Some upperclassmen said it remains to be seen how these new members will respond to the rigors of high school cross country. “I think we’ve done pretty well in whipping them into shape, not literally whipping though,�

Co-Captain Varun Sablok (’10) said.

Besides running in the morning, the team has a few other traditions. “We do a lot of barefoot running; you run more naturally that way,�

Coach Mercado said.

There has been a

changing of the guard, so to say, when it comes to the dominant teams in SPC. St. Andrew’s looks to repeat after leading last year en route to their schools first ever SPC championship.

Recently, SJS finished 11th place out of 43 teams at the Greenhill six-mile relay and 14th place out of 26 teams at the Lamar invitational.

The team will be running in the Brenham Hillacious Invitational on Sept. 29, as well as hosting the annual St. John’s Ramble on Oct. 17.

The two meets should serve as ample preparation for the teams two biggest events of the year: the South Zone meet hosted by St. Andrew’s of Austin and the SPC Championship meet to be held at Greenhill in Dallas.

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10

September 2009

fringe benefits

New Y New Pri

Photos by Jenny Lewis (‘1

photo spread

September 2009

Year, ivileges

10) and Clay Nickens (‘10)

11

12

beyondSJS The Review

September 2009

Leapin’ to Lausanne: Kathleen McClure follows her passion for ballet all the way to Switzerland

By ALLEGRA FRADKIN Going to school 10 hours a day (six days a week, 11 months a year), having the chores and responsibilities of an adult and living with perpetual pain and soreness does not sound like the life of an average 17-year-old, but Kathleen McClure (’10) said she would not have it any other way.

In September, McClure began a twoyear dance program at Ecole-Atlier Rudra Béjart in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“If I could sum up the school in one word, it would be ‘intense,’” McClure said. The official school day lasts from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, but most students arrive early and leave late. There are no academic classes, just dance, which takes up every day but Monday.

McClure attends three dance classes before her 2:15 PM lunch (at which point she said everyone in class is starved), followed by two more dance classes.

The Rudra training program is extremely competitive, accepting approximately 10 girls and 10 boys between the ages of 16 and 20 each year. The application process typically involves sending in dance pictures, a résumé and, if the school invites you to the “finals,” performing a prepared solo in front of a panel. For students like McClure who live far away, the school accepts dance videos.

As if the application process was not stressful enough, there is no guarantee that everyone will be allowed to remain; a few people are usually dropped at mid-year and then again at the end of the first year.

Rudra is the official training program of the Béjart Ballet Company, which, like McClure’s school, was founded by renowned choreographer Maurice Béjart.

“When the company isn’t touring, we work in the same building with them and share the same cafeteria, studios and locker rooms. It’s incredible; the Bejart Ballet is one of the most well-respected neoclassical ballet companies in the world. They have such an amazing energy,” McClure said.

Along with dance, McClure’s classes sometimes involve percussion, martial arts and singing.

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

The founder of McClure’s school, Maurice Béjart “The classes are all interrelated in different ways, but it’s basically about discipline and the creation of the dancer as an artist. It’s about learning to communicate and not just perform,” McClure said. “The classes are really intense emotionally because it’s an active learning environment and you are really held

sent 16 different countries, from Peru to Mauritius to Japan. McClure said, despite thier differences, she and her classmates all have a lot in common.

“Everyone is really serious and passionate about being here. It’s a good environment to work in because everyone is striving toward the same goal. When you’re in pain, there is somebody next to you in pain too. When you’re sweating, everyone is sweating with you.

Even though it’s difficult, you’re never alone,” she said. McClure is one of two students from the United States.

Even McClure’s teachers span the globe, representing Russia, Switzerland, France and the Dominican Republic.

The Rudra program includes touring and traveling. McClure is unsure of this year’s destinations, but in years past, they have included Belgium, India and Paris.

McClure said her impressions of Lusanne and Switzerland thus far have been positive. She described the city as a laid-back university town. It lies on Lac Leman, or Lake Geneva, and is surrounded by mountains. She said the people are friendly and the streets are generally exceedingly clean and crimefree. McClure said her only complaint is the cost of living A tall latte or frappuccino from Starbucks is 7.10 Swiss Francs (approximately $6.90), almost double the price of what it costs in the United States.

Aside from pricy frappuccinos, McClure said she is enjoying getting acclimated with her new lifestyle. She said she has learned to be independent, by living in an apartment and doing her own grocery shopping. She and her Photo courtesy of Jenny Lewis roommate from France share responsibilities like cooking and cleaning. McKathleen McClure (‘10) strikes a pose on the Quad Clure said she has gradually gotten used accountable for the things you do. You strong. are not allowed to be passive and just sit McClure cited a quote from Maurice to this newfound self-sufficiency, doing her own laundry and going to the back and listen to instruction; you’re ex- Béjart: “Rudra represents a moral post office, waking herself up in the pected to be constantly reaching, grow- and intellectual way of life… morning and taking the bus to ing, and evolving.” a form of existence in relaget everywhere.

Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart is uncon- tion to the modern world Although she acknowlventional compared to similar dance where a young dancer edged that her decision to programs, probably because of its in- takes on a social role move to Switzerland was novative founder. Béjart is considered a in the universe. In an in no way conventional, European cultural icon for bringing bal- age of permissiveMcClure said she does let into mainstream culture. ness and relaxation not regret her choice.

“Béjart’s pieces were theatrical, pas- it is important to “It’s really hard work, sionate and moving, not stuffy and old- have human beings but it’s incredible,” she fashioned,” McClure said. “They were who, without besaid.

“I’m so glad I have about people and humanity, not fairy ing aggressive, have this opportunity. I’m so princesses or nutcrackers.” a real desire to conhappy here. It’s definitely Béjart revolutionized the way people front life’s struggle.” the right thing for me in viewed ballet. His choreography was McClure seems my life right now.” unconventional, even juxtaposing works prepared to struggle “Sometimes I wake up in of Mozart with the musical stylings of for her art; after Rudra, the morning and think, ‘Wait, Queen—that’s Queen as in “We Will she plans to join a EuroI live in Switzerland now? When Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” pean ballet company, deferBéjart is often attributed with popular- ring college for as long Photo courtesy of shantala-anil. did that happen?’” she said.

Last year McClure underizing ballet in Europe during the 20th as possible, until her __sulekha.com went procedures for Pagetcentury, as his work was able to capti- body wears out and she Schroetter Syndrome, a type of Thoracic vate such a wide variety of audiences is forced to retire from dancing, which “Most European ballet companies are usually happens in a dancer’s late 30s. Outlet Syndrome, but she refused to algovernment-funded, and more ‘regu- McClure said she plans to return to SJS low it to affect her dance career.

“I have one less rib on one side, so I’ll lar’ types of people go to performances, for a few days in May to graduate. not just elitists or artsy types. Basically, McClure said SJS has prepared her well never be completely normal. I’m also he brought dance to the regular Joe. His for her new life in Switzerland. Laus- missing a couple of muscles and ligaphilosophy was that of art for the sake anne is in the French-speaking region of ments from my neck, so muscularly it’s of touching individual people and creat- the country. McClure had already com- a little weird. It’s nothing huge, just ing cultural change, not art for the sake pleted French Literature AP before she something to deal with when I’m dancof art, or escapism in entertainment,” left, so she already had some experience ing. Every dancer has a set of issues she has to cope with in her body because no McClure said. with the language.

As for the name of Béjart’s legacy, “The only difficult thing is that a lot of one is completely perfect and symmetri“Ecole” means “school,” “Atelier” means students here are native French speak- cal,” McClure said. “I know it prob“workshop” and “Rudra” is the Hindu ers, and in regular conversation it’s ably seems crazy running off to Switzergod of war, chaos and storm, an ear- really difficult to follow the slang. In land to dance all day, but I really feel ly form of the god Shiva—the god of school you only learn to be grammati- like I had to seize the opportunity when it came,” McClure said. “Sometimes you struggle. Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart is cally correct,” McClure said. designed to keep its students constant- Language barriers may impede some just have to take a chance and follow ly struggling to keep going and to stay of McClure’s classmates, as they repre- where your life takes you.”

beyondSJS

13

September 2009

One Year Later: Exchange students reflect on their year at SJS and re-adjusting to life back home Laura Raedts: Back in Brussels

By STEPHANIE GUO

two weeks of July, with her friends, she helped cook for a Girl Scout camp. Afterwards she spent two weeks with her

“I realize that they (and my family) didn’t make me feel that I’d been away for a year…everything went back like before.”

Photo courtesy of Laura Raedts

Pinto and Raedts in Trammel with friend Susan Frost (‘10) Laura Raedts, who spent her senior year at SJS, reflects on her time in Houston while looking forward to starting college in her home country of Bel-

gium.

Raedts returned home on July 1 and spent her first two weeks catching up with friends and family. During the last

family in Italy and then a week in Tunisia with four friends.

She is back in Brussels now, preparing for college. Her classes began on Sept 15 and she is studying to be a physiotherapist.

“It’s going to be so different,” Raedts said. “Classes with hundreds of people, different schedule every day, new friends, new classes, new teachers, new life, while keeping in touch with old friends and still living at home.”

For Raedts, everything from the language to the sidewalks to the food was different from what she was used to in Brussels.

“Brussels is so different from Houston

and SJS,” Raedts said. “Brussels is smaller and colder than Houston, and everything is close to my house. Everybody takes the bus and it’s not weird at all.”

“I liked Houston and SJS,” Raedts said.

“Of course I am missing people but very often it’s hard to keep in touch because of the time change and the different way our lives takes. But I’ll be happy to hear from people at SJS that I knew.”

Adjusting back to her native environment ran fairly smoothly. Her family and friends made her feel comfortable transitioning back home, but she did have some difficulty.

“Sometimes I forget some words but it doesn’t really matter,” Raedts said. “I think that I did well in my re-adjusting to my old house. But I have to say that these days I miss some stuff and people I met.”

Raedts does try to keep in touch with friends from Houston, but it is challenging because of the time change. She has not seen any of them since July 1.

Raedts would love to visit Houston, but after an exhausting summer filled with flying all over the world, says that, “that’s it for traveling for a few months.”

Daniela Torres Pinto: Returning to Rancagua __At home in Chile, Daniela Torres Pinto pines for the food and friends she enjoyed while she was an exchange student at SJS. Pinto was supposed to return home on July 1, but her flight was delayed in Dallas for some time. She said that almost immediately upon leaving, she had began to miss Houston, but when she saw her family she felt much better.

“I was getting my suitcases when I saw my family,” Pinto said. “I was so excited.

I tried to hurry and I ran to hug them. It was really funny because I was wearing short pants and when I arrived in Chile it was very cold. I looked stupid.”

After a nice long nap, her family and friends hosted a welcome home party for her and she said that it was very nice.

“While I was in the US, I missed my family and friends, of course, but I always tried to enjoy the most over there.

“I was so excited, so I ran [to my friends] and hugged them,” Pinto said.

“It was really funny because I was wearing shorts, and when I arrived in Chile it was very cold.”

I didn’t miss the cold, but when I try to remember I didn’t miss a lot of things

the United States.

There are several aspects of Houston that Pinto does miss.

“I miss Swirll, Chipotle, and Thai food the most,” Pinto said. “I miss the weath-

“I miss Swirll, Chipotle, and Thai food the most,” Pinto said. “I miss the weather too, but I don’t really miss school.”

Photo courtesy of Laura Raedts

Raedts and Pinto enjoy a Dynamo game in Houston. because everything was new for me so I the public transportation and it’s very was excited for everything.” safe.”

Her school, coincidentally named St. There are other differences between John’s School, started two weeks after Houston and Chile; for example the she arrived. driving laws and the drinking laws are “I like Rancagua because it is a small different. In Chile the driving age and town so you know everything about it, driving age are both 18. especially you know a lot of people,” Chile also does not have a curfew.

Pinto said. “You don’t need a car to go However, Pinto said that the public wherever you want; you can walk or use schools in Chile are much worse than in

er too, but I don’t really miss school.”

When she returned home, she found the transition from speaking English to speaking Spanish quite smooth.

“Sometimes someone said something in English and I thought in English very quickly,” Raedts said. “I had more trouble in the US because I forgot a lot of words.”

“I want to come back to the US,” Pinto said. “I want to visit my [host] family because I really miss them. I hope I can go, but now I have a lot of homework, and I am preparing for the PSU. That is the test to go to college. Also, I wish I can I go to Belgium or Spain because I met some people from there.”

Pinto said she still keeps in touch with her friends from Houston because all of them are a special reminder of her year in the U.S.

opinions

14

Editorial

“Spirit” Committee should be more transparent

Presumably created because of a growing concern over the lack of school spirit, the Spirit, Pride and Morale Committee has only just come to many students attention after their Accompaniment of athletes to various sporting events at Greenhill.

The Spirit, Pride and Morale Committee consists of students in three grades of the Upper School and was created in order to confront the growing concern of an absence of school spirit (see story on page 15).

The Editorial Board questions why, even though the committee was created during the previous school year, students are only now learning of its existence.

The committee is meant to serve the purpose of enhancing school spirit, but the Editorial Board asks why the creation and activities of the committee have not been publicized more. The committee was only widely noticed when the members had to leave class early to travel to the Greenhill School.

The Editorial Board feels that the committee’s effectiveness would greatly increase if all students were able to provide their input and suggestions on how best to raise school morale.

To do this, students first need to be informed of

the committee. In addition, no freshmen are involved in the community. The Editorial Board suggests that freshman be allowed to apply for and join the committee during the second semester after spending one semester at SJS. The selection process was never brought to the attention of the student body. The Editorial Board questions how the committee can benefit the students if they were unable to decide who would best represent their needs on the committee.

Admittedly, school spirit is an issue that should be addressed, but the Editorial Board believes that this issue would be better handled with a more public approach.

The Spirit, Pride and Morale committee is a potentially beneficial group, but this potential has been hindered by the secrecy with which the committe has operated. The Editorial Board does not question the reasoning behind the committee’s creation, but rather the methods by which it endeavors to accomplish its goals.

Although the Editorial Board endorses the continuation of the committee, it also suggests a more inclusive approach that would better allow students to input their ideas on improving school morale.

Corrections: August 2009

In the new teacher profiles, a picture of Ms. Isabella Maldonado was mistakenly placed above Ms. Jaclyn Alford’s profile.

In the odds&ends section, John Ytterberg’s name was mispelled as “John Ytterburg.”

A photo of William Jewett (‘10) was mistakenly attributed to Count Olaf.

The Review sincerely regrets these errors, and apologizes to the subjects and readers.

The Review

September 2009

The Review

The Official Student Newspaper of St. John’s School 2009-2010 Editor-in-Chief: Liliana Varman (‘10) Managing Editor: Stuart Dickerson (‘10) Business Manager: Christy Lee (‘11) News Editor Arvind Mohan (‘10)

Features Editor Melissa Yuan (‘11)

Opinions Editor Blake Wulfe (‘10)

beyondSJS Editor Mariam Matin (‘11)

Arts&Entertainment Editor Sports Editor Joe Martinez (‘11) Hudson Duncan (‘10) Copy Editor Bhagwat Kumar (‘11)

Staff Writers

Photo Editor Jenny Lewis (‘10) Clay Nickens (‘10)

Jessica Allen (‘11), Iman Charania (‘13), Veronica Chu (‘12), Joshua Dickerson (‘13), Ariana Dickey (‘12), Braden Doyle (‘13), Samuel Dunn (‘10), Allegra Fradkin (‘11), Zach Gaitz (‘10), , Caroline Gibson (‘11), Ben Grotta (‘11), Stephanie Guo (‘13), Avery Hinrichs (‘12), Sarah Koslov (‘10), Robert McNiel (‘12), Henry Morris (‘11), Sheila Newar (‘10), Andrew Perry (‘11), Megan Rech (‘11), Pooja Salhotra (‘12), Andrew Vogeley (‘13) Circulation Manager Meagan Longoria (‘10) Advertising Manager Allie DeLuca (‘11)

Photographers Hannah Degner (‘11), Erica Reed (‘12), Bobbie Richardson (‘11), Sarah Windham (‘12)

Illustrator Caroline Clutterbuck (‘11) Business Staff Morgan Allen (‘11), Lindsey Collie (‘11), Spencer Lepow (‘13), Annabel Massey (‘11)

Advisor Kyle Parrish (‘01) David Nathan

As the student newspaper of St. John’s School, The Review provides a forum for student writing and opinion. The opinions (signed) and staff editorials (unsigned) contained herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Headmaster or Board of Trustees of St. John’s School. Staff editorials represent the opinion of the paper. Letters to the editor and guest columns are encouraged but are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, accuracy and good taste. The Review reserves the right not to print letters received. Either e-mail letters and guest columns to review@sjs.org; give them to Liliana Varman, Stuart Dickerson, Kyle Parrish, David Nathan or Blake Wulfe in the office of The Review (Q-210); or mail to Editor-in-Chief, The Review, St. John’s School, 2401 Claremont Lane, Houston, TX 77019.

Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, Happy September! That was the phrase I began my letter with last month, and it was a phrase I contemplated beginning my letter with this month (good thing I didn’t, huh?), except for one thing: this September hasn’t been all that happy. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that this month can accurately be summed up with the song title “Wake Me up When September Ends”.

I’m honestly not trying to turn this letter into a rant, but I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this month has been difficult.

It’s probably too early in the year to muse about my overall high school experience (after all, they say the best is yet to come), but I’m going to jump the gun and say this: If there’s one thing we lack here at SJS,

it’s a sense of perspective. I know this is a broad generalization to make, but it’s one that, over the years, has consistently proven to be true.

I feel that, somewhere between stressing out about an upcoming paper or test and aspiring for an SAT score over 2300, students fail to realize the triviality of some issues we deem important.

That’s not to say I don’t buy in to this culture—I’ll be the first to admit that I worry as much as the next person, but if there’s one thing I do regret about the past three-and nearly-a-quarter years, it’s having this somewhat skewed perspective of high school life.

Thankfully, it’s not too late for anyone, myself included, to take a step back, alter his or her mindset and realize that high school isn’t as big a deal

as society, ourselves and the media (oops) play it out to be.

If you long for the days when you can live on your own, read about Kathleen McClure’s adventures studying ballet in Switzerland in our Beyond SJS section, or learn about Coach Cumbo’s restaurant on page 8.

And finally, if you got my extremely sly Beatles reference to “Happiness is a Warm Gun” a few paragraphs up, be sure to check out our reviews of “Beatles Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero 5” on page 19 of our Arts & Entertainment section. Have a great month, and, once again, thanks for reading.

-Liliana Varman Editor-in-Chief

Letter Policy Letters to the editors and guest columns are welcome but are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, accuracy and good taste. The Review reserves the right not to print le tters recieved, and all letters must be typed and signed. Give letters, guest columns and classified advertisements to Liliana Varman, Stuart Dickerson, Kyle Parrish or David Nathan in the office of The Review (Q-210).

opinions

September 2009

Spirit: Defined

15

Zach Gaitz examines the role school of spirit

By ZACH GAITZ Fans cheering on SJS athletic teams, students attending a musical made possible by the hard work of peers, Maverick Spirit Club organizing a pep-up rally: all are widely accepted examples of school spirit, but what does the term actually entail?

We regularly fall into the habit of gauging the level of school spirit purely by the number of fans at football games, which is a statistic often based more upon the advertising of upperclassmen and the social scene it provides than upon the actual enthusiasm of students and the SJS community.

But if the size of our football fan base does not accurately demonstrate our level of school spirit, then what does? Perhaps student attendance of school events other than football games is a more accurate measure.

Fans attend many events purely in the name of providing true support, demonstrating student enthusiasm extremely well. Artistic productions, lesser-advertised sporting events and ISP productions are excellent examples of student support, interest and enthusiasm manifested in attendance.

Logically you might argue that school spirit is measured by the attendance of those productions. But no, it is not meant to be, for the spirit of the school is not the sum of its audience.

There is something deeper

Illustration by CAROLINE CLUTTERBUCK about school spirit that fans with total number of attendees. alone do not encompass.

This enthusiasm, as well as atInstead, spirit may be better tendence, gives form to school measured by the somewhat un- spirit. quantifiable acts of enthusiasm With a general definition of seen throughout school. While school spirit established, let’s there are no “Go Mavs,” or move on to the obligations of “SJS sports rule” statements in individual students. Many stuthe hallway, there are discus- dents argue that they have nevsions of Friday football games, er missed a game, theater probeastly volleyball spikes, mag- duction, recital or ceremony. nificent performances, along Others admit they have never

actually attended a sporting event, choral concert, musical or art show.

Again, it is questionable whether attendance is the only factor in the fulfillment of a student’s spirit “requirement.”

Attendance is crucial, yet the quality of student support for a team, interest in a musical or appreciation of art is more important than just showing up.

Perhaps five enthusiastic fans are better than 20 disinterested ones. This is not an assertion who fans with ulterior motives who come to games are necessarily bad or undeserving of the title, rather it is an argument that interested and focused fans are the ones that define a fan base.

Considering these thoughts, it is imperative for the state of school spirit for students to actually attend school-sponsored events, for students should be cognizant of the impact their attendance has on performers and athletes.

An example of fan support in one specific occasion was the spring 2009 Boys lacrosse double-overtime win against Episcopal. Scoring the game winner, Captain Patrick Wilkey (‘09), attributed the overtime win to the St. John’s fan base.

“We won that game because we could hear our fans cheering for us. It boosted our confidence and gave us the support to pull through an exciting

win,” Wilkey said.

In the Arts, the attendance of family and friends may have a similar effect. For example, cellist Henry Chapman (‘10) experiences nerves prior to performances. To cope, “I look into the audience and see my friends and family, it boosts my confidence before I play,” he said.

Athletes gain confidence when their peers are yelling obnoxious remarks and chanting their name from the sidelines. Performers take more pride in their work when they see their friends are present and interested.

SJS students who are involved in drama, athletics, music, and other events perform better and have greater success if they have their peers right there with them.

I do not mean to imply that every student must attend a SJS soccer match, basketball game or Johnnycake performance.

But these accounts of school spirit do reinforce a need for support and enthusiasm at SJS events.

School spirit may not have a clear-cut definition, but what is certain is that each student has a responsibility to do their best to support the school. Give up the social scene, or even the TV, and actually appreciate the SJS events. You might just realize we are actually winning.

The Joy of Video Games

By JOSHUA DICKERSON

Every night, hoards of people around the world hustle through or put off work and head to their consoles. All these people share two general traits.

First, they enjoy video games and just about everything about them. Second, they tend to be male.

Whence does this trend arise? Is the Y chromosome programmed to promote the expenditure of hours in front of a screen? Generally, boys play video games because they are fun, distracting, or violent.

In contrast, most girls would reveal they do not have a clue as to what drives boys to the hobby.

A primary cause of this misunderstanding is no doubt the pent-up aggression generally associated with males. For whatever reason, men seem to build up a large amount of aggression that can easily be cured through virtual destruction and desecration. Video games serve as a form of distraction.

For instance, look at Call of Duty 4: this game, which was

awarded Game of the Year, is based upon the premise that the gamer is part of the British SAS and the U.S. Marines. You must kill your way through missions, shooting down terrorists, all in the name of (you guessed it) world peace.

Also take the ever popular Grand Theft Auto series. In essence, the object of the series is to kill and rob your way through the game with the goal of becoming increasingly powerful.

Both of these titles sold over

JENNY LEWIS| The Review

13 million copies, with the Grand Theft Auto series selling over 70 million copies.

Games like these hold an undeniable appeal. Relieving anger via virtual bullets is better than punching the wall or attacking a younger sibling.

Video games also provide a staunch, competitive outlet that is arguably as effective as in sports or academics. The desire for competition instilled in boys has led to the creation of online gaming, an alternate to the “campaign” modes. Online, gamers compete against both their friends and strangers alike to determine who truly games the best.

The addictive nature of many video games is based upon their ability to instill in players both the need to improve and the need to win. This desire manifests itself in the form of video game tournaments and competitions.

Even within SJS, Senior boys spend unruly amounts of time playing competitive games with the primary goal being to win a spot in the next round just to play again.

Video game competitiveness is much less violent when expressed through a video game than through a Hulk Hoganstyle fight. Afterwards, there may be general smack talk exchanged, but these harmless phrases are far better than a broken rib.

Finally, video games have a major fan base in those just seeking an escape to something they could never be. Always wanted to be an NFL star? Try Madden. Think you can win a four-person free-for-all between Kirby, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and Mario? Try Super Smash Bros. Never understood why you couldn’t be a member of the horde, riding an undead horse, killing mammoths underwater in the Northrend Gorge? Pick up a copy of World of Warcraft.

In the video game world, the possibilities are endless and the freedoms are unimaginable.

Video games allow you to run speeds double that of cars and jump higher than planes. Zombie killing, plane flying, business robbing: acts that are all possible in game. Boys’ more aggressive nature draws them to the controller over the book.

Boys like video games because of their compulsively aggressive and competitive nature, which pushes them not only to play once or on occasion, but quite consistently. The added freedom of games allows players to do whatever they want.

These games grant the player the ability to escape a world of worry, realistic consequences, homework and limits, leaving only the imagination and a serious desire to retire victorious.

16

September 2009

opinions

Class of 2010 appreciates Senior Tea

S

enior Tea is by far my favorite Senior privilege. What’s better than a buffet of your favorite snacks at the end of a long, hard school day?

Ever since freshman year, I have waited for the day that I could walk across the quad and enjoy the food that Senior parents so graciously buy and set up for the Senior class.

Senior Tea is not just an excuse for Seniors to stuff our faces; it is also a time when we can bond with classmates. By the time Senior year rolls around, the majority of our credits are fulfilled, and we have greater freedom in our class choices. As a result, many friends become disconnected due to a lack of common classes. However, Senior Tea is a guarantee that students will see old friends at least once a day.

In addition, Senior Tea allows students an opportunity to catch up with Teachers that they have not seen since freshman year. It is nice to see Teachers in a casual environment outside of the classroom, as long as it is within the school limits. Senior Tea is also offered to the SJS maintenance, business, admissions, college counseling staffs and others that help maintain

Political Quiz Test what you know!

A casual discussion in Q210 prompted certain members of the Editorial Board to investigate how much knowledge of the political arena the average SJS student has.

While a number of students impressed, an equal number crashed and burned in a metaphorical heap of smoldering ashes. So, test yourself! Try to answer every question correctly. But, before you scoff at the apparent ease, you should know, they get harder as you go.

Illustrations by CAROLINE CLUTTERBUCK

1

2

Who is the current vice president? a Hillary Clinton b Joe Biden c Nancy Pelosi d Aaron Burr Who is the current prime minister of the United Kingdom? a Margaret Thatcher b Tony Blair c John Cleese d Gordon Brown

3

Who is the current Secretary of the Treasury for the United States? a Henry Paulson b Alexander Hamilton c Timothy Geithner d Harry Reid

4

What is the basic claim of the Birther movement? a A requirement of American citizenship should be that one was born in the US.

b

Although the national government may not prevent abortions, it should strip individuals who have one of their citizenship.

c

Where one was born, not one’s current state of residence, should determine the tax rates and rights given to one.

d

President Obama was born outside of the United States and therefore cannot be president.

5

Grading Scale

Who is the current Chairman (Number Correct) 0- Political Dunce of the Texas Democratic Party?

1- Tricky Dick 2- Wobbly Warren a Kay Bailey Hutchinson 3- Cool Cal b Bill White 4- Honest Abe 5- Clay Nickens c Boyd Richie Answers: d Dennis Speight

1.b, 2.d, 3.c, 4.d, 5.c

By Sheila Newar

the school’s community, a small reward for the people that work towards helping make SJS what it is.

I also enjoy imagining the perspective of younger SJS students. Underclassmen walking around the quad look at Seniors with wide eyes full of jealousy. Occasionally, if they are lucky, students will be offered food by generous Seniors. Typically this is the case for siblings or underclassmen athletes on varsity. It is all about the connections. But beware freshmen: anyone trying to enter the quad during Senior Tea will suffer the consequences.

Even though Seniors are usually considered to have little amounts of work, we actually have a lot to do. In addition to tests, papers, quizzes, and homework in every subject we also have college applications to complete, recommendation letters to fill out, résumé to make, and multiple essays to write.

Many students are leaders: Team captains, club presidents, student publication editors. Seniors are as busy as ever. As a result it’s hard getting up for school in the morning when all of these obligations are pressing down on us, but when we think of Senior Tea eighth period it does make us want to go to school. Having something to look forward to in the day is crucial for students, and, for me, that thing is Senior Tea. Aside from being a great way for students to relax after a long day, Senior Tea is also an important school tradition that should be honored for what it is – delicious.

17

a&e The Review

September 2009

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb POOJA SALHOLTRA | The Review

Savannah Ezelle (‘13), Charles Davis (‘11) and Kate Clarke (‘11) look on as Damien Kemfack (‘12) receives instructions from Ms. Sanford.

Johnnycake’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” tackles adaptation difficulties

By ARIANA DICKEY and JOE MARTINEZ

This year’s fall play, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has encountered several unforeseen difficulties during the adaptation process, ranging from how to shorten the length as well as a few casting issues.

Beth Sanford, Director of the SJS production of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” chose the literary classic because “it’s a story everyone knows and loves,” assistant director Daniella Covarrubias (’11) said.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is an American classic by Harper Lee that has garnered much literary praise for its story of Scout Finch, a southern girl forced to witness the straining effects of racial inequality.

The novel was also produced into a highly successful film, with Gregory Peck winning the Academy Award for Best Actor due to his portrayal of Atticus Finch, Scout’s father and defense attorney for Tom Robinson, a blacked man accused of rape.

However, “To Kill a Mockingbird” will be a difficult play to produce for SJS because of its length as well as the fact that its leading characters are children.

The outcome of choosing a play with many young characters is that the cast features a larger number of underclassmen than in previous years.

“Ms. Sanford really wanted to make this play as realistic and close to the story as possible, and to do so, a large number of freshmen were cast for ‘To

Kill a Mockingbird,’ ” assistant director Nicole Kreutter (’11) said.

“On the one hand, the leading parts belong to children. The whole first act is in the hands of those children. That will be my task, to bring the actors of those parts up to professional behavior so you believe them on stage,” Ms. Sanford said regarding the underage cast members.

In addition to casting according to age, Sanford also cast according to ethnicity. Damien Kemfack (’12), who will be playing the role of Tom Robinson, was one student who was asked to audition for the play, and believes the role will provide an opportunity for him to “grow closer to his culture.”

Transferring the story of “To Kill a Mockingbird” between the mediums of a novel and a play creates problems concerning length.

When working with the classics, the director wants to reestablish the strong foundation of the source material; however in doing so the director runs the risk of creating a play too long for the audience to appreciate.

The current copy of the script runs 71 pages back and front, and each page can be expected to take up a minute and a half of time. The excessive length would surpass the 55 minute maximum Ms. Sanford places on the first act, yet trimming from the play requires some consideration.

“There’s no scene I could remove at all, but there are some scenes I could trim,

scenes where I could cut out some harshness and reality.” Ms. Sanford said.

However the director has to worry about cutting out too much of the play, as removing even the more unsettling aspects begins to detract from the meaning of the novel.

POOJA SALHOLTRA | The Review “Those little charKemfack and Clarke rehearse with Ms. Sanford. acters are dealing with [the harshness] beliefs; she wants the audience to decide in the play, and we are seeing it through for themselves who is the representative their eyes, all that ill-mannered behav- of truth, Atticus Finch, or the prosecutior that goes on everyday in everybody’s ing attorney, Mr. Gilmer. life all over the world,” Ms. Sanford “I would approach [the courtroom said. scene] with total realism and let the Ms. Sanford also expects the play to words and scenes stand for themselves,” be controversial due to the lingering ef- Ms. Sanford said. fects of racism on society.

Aside from the difficulties of the play, “There are still certain people that Ms. Sanford said she believes everyhave not made up their mind that black one has had fun making it so far and and white are equal. This is the kind of is pleased with her casting decisions. play that riles people up because they Through this play, Ms. Sanford said she are on one side of that fence or the oth- hopes to convey to the play’s audience er. It goes into their souls, and whatever the message that everybody should be their souls have decided about this issue given justice based on equality and not is what comes out.” skin color.

Ms. Sanford has also left the more “Color has no place in the criteria for crucial aspects of the play such as the fair judgment,” Ms. Sanford said. courtroom scene open to interpretation because the impact of such parts will vary with a given person’s ideological

18

September 2009

a&e

With the founders gone,

MavTV is moving on

By VERONICA CHU

Filling in the gap left by founders Gabi Chennisi (’09) and Bubba Fish (’09), new producers Ariana Dickey (’12) and Sarah Windham (’12) have taken on leading roles in MavTV this year.

Although both said they are optimistic about the future of MavTV and their ability to lead the staff of the SJS variety show, they expressed some concern over problems resulting from Chennisi and Fish’s absence.

Fish founded MavTV during his sophomore year and later asked Chennisi to join. Until their departure, MavTV used Fish and Chennisi’s personal cameras to film scenes for the show.

Without Fish and Chennisi’s equipment this year, MavTV was forced to purchase a new camera, and they are currently attempting to raise enough money to buy a second one.

Windham and Dickey have thought of a few ideas to raise money. “We’ll possibly resell last year’s DVD so that people who didn’t get one but want one now can buy one,” Windham said. “But we’re not making the Kinkaid video this year because we’re not seniors, so that source of revenue is unavailable,” she added.

Some students have expressed interest in borrowing MavTV’s equipment to produce their own Kinkaid video. “We might let them do it, but we’d have to charge them a little of the profits,” Windham said, adding “Either way, MavTV’s not making the Kinkaid video this year.”

Dickey and Windham’s status as underclassmen presents another difficulty that they must acknowledge. Besides limiting the output of MavTV, it also prompts a change in the

CLAY NICKENS | The Review

Ariana Dickey (’12) and Sarah Windham (’12) prepare to take over MavTV leadership roles vacated by Gabi Chennisi (’09) and Bubba Fish (’09).

“Having MavTV’s work publicly accessible online like that would also diminish its high quality, limited edition feel. You don’t see The Review posting their articles online.”

-Sarah Windham (‘12)

dynamics of the group.

“Last year, Bubba and Gabi were seniors and most everyone else was either a freshman or a sophomore,” Windham said. “So there was a greater sense of command in the organization, with Bubba and Gabi as the leaders.”

This year, MavTV has adjusted accordingly to accommodate leaders who are sophomores.

“Having the heads of MavTV be in the same grade as me is definitely different,” profiles editor Skylar Inman (’12) said.

“It’s not as much of a hierarchy anymore, which is both good and bad.”

Since its founding, MavTV has expanded to include four sections, each with three members or more. While the group

now has more people to help produce the videos, Dickey and Windham have had to change the way they work to accommodate more people.

“Last year the staff was smaller and therefore more personal,” Windham said. “We would go to each other’s houses on the weekend and spend the whole day editing. Now, we’re not as close to everyone on the staff because it’s so much larger. We

separated by section.”

“It’s a lot more professional than it used to be,” added sports editor Jacqueline Wang (’12). “That’s good, but I miss the times when I could just call people and ask to go to their houses and edit. We all have to be more organized now.”

Dickey and Windham, however, have been preparing for their jobs as heads of MavTV since last year. “For each new episode, Ariana and I stepped up a bit in terms of individual work,” Windham said.

“We basically did the last episode of the year by ourselves, with Bubba and Gabi letting us have more free reign.

They made the final edits, but Ariana and I had a chance to make most of the episode by

“Because we had a chance to practice making an episode on our own, we feel confident that we’ll be able to handle things on our own this year.”

-Sarah Windham (‘12)

do most of our editing at school

ourselves. Because we had a

chance to practice making an episode on our own, we feel confident that we’ll be able to handle things on our own this year even though we won’t have anyone to smooth out our mistakes,” Windham said.

Working with Fish and Chennisi last year, Dickey and

“I miss the times when I could just call people and ask to go to their houses and edit. We all have to be more organized now.”

-Jacqueline Wang (‘12)

Windham accommodated the producers’ preferences and opinions. This year, however, they aspire to expand the scope of MavTV. “Bubba and Gabi started from scratch,” Windham said.

“While they had to decide what material they wanted to

cover and how to go about doing it, the present members of MavTV are working off a template. Its parts are interchangeable, though, and we’re looking to add more pieces to the puzzle by including more students and teachers so that they have MavTV as a way to remember their high school experience.”

The members of MavTV are also looking to establish the organization so that it’s on the same level as other SJS publications, namely the yearbook and the newspaper. “I don’t know how other people view MavTV because I’m in it, but I feel like it’s not taken as a major publication because of the informal way we distribute our product,” Inman said.

MavTV has thought of alternative methods to display its videos, but none have been successful so far. “We considered putting them on the website,” Wang said. “It didn’t work out so well. The videos would take a long time to upload, and we would have to use Mr. Ritter’s computer, without which he cannot work for the day that it would take to get all the stuff online.”

Dickey and Windham are reluctant to post the videos on media sharing sites like YouTube because they would be losing potential profit. “Having MavTV’s work publicly accessible online like that would also diminish its high quality, limited edition feel,” said Windham.

“You don’t see The Review posting their articles online,” Windham said.

Regardless of the issues they face in distributing MavTV videos both accessibly and profitably, Dickey and Windham assert that the videos themselves will be excellent and infused with true dedication. “Through my time working for MavTV, I’ve discovered that I love producing video,” Windham said.

“Bubba went on to study film in college, and although he’s not around every day, he’s definitely still available to share some cool new tricks that he’s learned.”

“I myself will probably go into film once I graduate,” she added. “My experience has really opened my eyes.”

Although they face monetary problems, a large number of staffers to manage and the general troubles that come with leadership, Dickey and Windham are confident that they will help MavTV have a successful year.

“We might not be a longestablished organization, but we’re not going to let that hinder us,” Inman said. “We’re going to get ourselves some street cred.”

a&e

19

September 2009

Battle of the “Rock Bands”

By BEN GROTTA

Guitar Hero 5

Beatles Rock Band

The major differences in Guitar Hero 5 update. The characters look more recome in the additions of many smaller alistic and the crowds don’t fade into changes and new game modes, making themselves. The create-a-player is more the game stand out among its competi- in depth and allows a large assortment tors. of customizable features allowing for Although the previous installridiculous creations. The new crements in this franchise ate-a-player also lets the gamer featureslarge amounts import their avatar as their of classic and hard character. rock, Guitar The Guitar Hero Hero 5 features Studio also received more indie an improvement rock and over Guitar Hero a greater World Tour. The variety studio allows overall. the player to Among mix together the new different prefaces recorded to the samples to franmake a song. chise In Guitar a r e Hero 5 the Coldsamples play, themselves Kings feature more o f variety even Leon, though the a n d system is still Arctic hard to use.

Monkeys.

The game One of also introduces the most two new face-off prominent modes, Do-or-Die additions to and Momentum. In the game is the Momentum each playparty-play mode. er starts off on medium CLAY NICKENS| The Review This allows a much difficulty and moves up or quicker and easier way to down depending upon how enjoy songs with a large group. they play. In Do-or-Die a player is The game chooses random songs, much knocked out for a period of time if they like an iPod on shuffle, and lets players miss a certain number of notes in a secsub in and out and change difficulties at tion of a song. any time.

Guitar Hero 5 features a few major Another new feature is the ability to improvements along with many subtler play any assortment of instruments. ones to improve upon a series that was Now four people can play any instru- in need of a new direction. Guitar Hero ment at the same time, including vocals. 5 comes off as the best of the franchise The career mode has also received a and a sure buy for the first-time rock star makeover. Instead of picking a certain as well as the veteran. instrument and difficulty, the entire process in streamlined into a whole. Each venue has its own specific challenge as the entire process is now centered on gaining stars. This new career mode is more flexible and allows the player to change instrument and difficulty at any time.

The graphics have also received an

Whereas the emphasis in Guitar The feature adds a new challenge for Hero 5 and earlier music games is veteran gamers.

Another marked change is in the placed on the music and how it plays, Beatles Rock Band emphasizes the sto- backgrounds shown while playing the songs. Instead of the usual images of ry mode. the crowd or band members, Beatles contains 45 songs Beatles uses new, song in total and promises specific, backgrounds. there are many more The backgrounds to come in the form are very trippy of downloadable and psychedelic; content (DLC). while rockOne of their ing out, the most popular player will albums, Abprobably bey Road, feel like is also feathey are tured in on Lucy the DLC. in the Sky Howevwith Dier, many amonds of their w h e n m o s t viewing popular them. songs These such as b a c k “Strawgrounds berry especially Fields come to Forever,” the fore“All my front durLoving,” ing “I Am “ P e n n y the Walrus” Lane,” “She (If you reLoves You” member the and “Help” are scene in Across absent.

With the Universe, you many of their most Hannah Degner|The Review know what I am talkpopular songs missing, ing about). The large, the game loses some of its looming apparitions take the appeal.

The most prominent part of the game gamer’s attention and make it difficult is the story mode. The story mode fol- to focus on the game itself.

Beatles is a game more tailored to lows the band’s progression from the beginning with “Twist and Shout” at the casual Beatles fan than it is to the the Cavern Club to the end, a rooftop heavy gamer. The game truly shines in its well-polished story mode and in concert at Abbey Road Studios.

The songs themselves are crafted for its decorative artwork and graphics; beginners to the franchise and are eas- however, for the serious gamer, the ily perfectible on expert mode. They game is truly held back by its lack of are made even easier by the addition of difficulty. a no-fail mode.

The Beatles are not known for their complex guitar pieces and are more famous for their vocals, something that doesn’t result in difficult play.

An important new feature is the ability to harmonize the vocals. This means that up to three people can play the part of vocalist at the same time.

Score: 9.25/10

Rating: 7.5/10

odds&ends Thumbs Thumbs down up No hurricane... yet Nurse Jones’ workload Senior tea makes its debut Planet Zebes 4-0 baby Gossip table covered by photos

Word for Word

Staffers of the issue

“Boys, where is testosterone made?”

“The liver?”

– Ms. Angus and Clayton Lewis (‘13) “Ann, what’s the temperature of your mixture?”

“None-of-your-business degrees Celcius.”

– Julie Timte (‘10) and Ann Hewitt (‘10) “My English thesis is literally, ‘Sometimes women in literature can speak French.’”

– Charlie Caplan (‘11), on his English paper for Dr. Bellows.

Robert McNeil (‘12)

sixty seconds with Sterling Burdine (‘12) JENNY LEWIS| The Review

name sterling burdine grade 10 relationship status maybe sjs has the best music and theater department in the city sport to play ballroom dancing sport to watch choral conerts olympic sport swimming professional sports team the kings singers music the soundtrack of “curtains” the musical movie star trek: nemesis tv show star trek: voyager book a brief history of time radio station 88.7... when they’re playing music! restaurant starbucks comfort food coffee breakfast food soft-boiled eggs Facebook or MySpace? facebook color khaki, white and powdered blue dream date kate clarke hero mr. bonasso sing in the shower? every time when i grow up i want to live on the moon favorite spot on the sjs campus the practice room motto “from your diaphragm” do you read the review? of course

Jessica Allen (‘11)

Robert McNeil, in his first year on The Review, has taken on a number of challenges that many rookies would be wary to attempt: in addition to his two articles appearing in this issue, Robert has also been an integral member on the business staff, leading the team in ad sales. The editorial board recognizes his outstanding work ethic and achievement and looks forward to having him on staff.

Jessica Allen, now in her 3rd year on staff, has once again returned to great form this issue. Her work in this issue’s “School enacts changes due to Hurrican Ike” article went above and beyond all expectations from the editorial board. We appreciate her continued brilliance and expect more of the same in the future.

Photo of the issue

JENNY LEWIS| The Review

Kanye West continues his dismissal of Taylor Swift’s accomplishments in the SJS cafeteria above the warming drawer.