The ReMarker | February 2014 by St. Mark's School of Texas

R THE REMARKER

Shawn Robinett, cafeteria worker “I love St. Mark’s. That’s my family. I like it over there. They got good food, the St. Mark’s family. They help me out.” Addendum, 1B-4B

ST. MARK'S SCHOOL OF TEXAS DALLAS, TEXAS 75230 FRIDAY, FEB. 7, 2014 VOLUME 60, ISSUE 4

ALUMNI NETWORK | INSIDE Care packages for alums, perks associated with graduation • pages 12, 13

HOMELAND (From left to right) Communications Coordinator David Carden goes through his photographs on his computer, decides which will appear on outlets such as the main website and Pride magazine. Alumni Coordinator Lexie Parker watches as senior Sam Khoshbin and others participate in the Student Alumni Association, which organizes care packages and messages for graduated Marksmen, allowing them to stay better connected to their alma mater. Director of Alumni Relations Jim Bob Womack leads the office in developing connections with past Marksmen. Assistant Headmaster David Dini reconnects with members of the community at a recent alumni event.

After years of focused work and a complete cultural change in the community, the school’s alumni network has become among the strongest in the country.

The place they call home

enior Bradley Mankoff has been at 10600 Preston Road for 11 years, 21 weeks and five days. In just 105 days, he will walk across that 30-foot stage at the 2014 commencement ceremony and begin a new chapter of his life. However, if you ask him about leaving St. Mark’s, Mankoff’s face turns serious and he becomes contemplative. “I’m going to miss the community because it will take so long to find another community of the same strength in my life,” he said. “I may find it in college and I may not find it until I have a family of my own.” That wasn’t always the case for seniors about to end their journey here.

Veteran teachers recall a time when, after graduating, Marksmen rarely came back to their alma mater. Alumni events, so well-attended today, were non-existent. Homecoming failed to lure even those from honored classes. But today, events as singular as an alumni lunch bring overflow crowds of more than 200 hungry alumni who fill room 114 of Nearburg Hall, feast on a fajita lunch, reconnect and hear from old friends, classmates and faculty. This cultural shift didn’t just happen. It was the intended purpose of many years of work, connections and reunions all designed to ensure that Marksmen from five, 15 and 50 years back don’t forget the place they came from — the place hundreds of them still call home. Continued, pages 12-13

▶ by Dylan Clark, editor-in-chief, and Will Clark, staff writer | photos by Andrew Gatherer, head photographer, and courtesy Development Office

Committee on Academic Programs ponders course additions, scheduling changes By Noah Koecher staff writer ew options of course selection, including the addition of “Shakespeare’s Plays” and “Contemporary Drama” are being added alongside possible changes to time scheduling after Scott Gonzalez, chair of the Committee on Academic Programs (CAP), met with department chairs and division heads Jan. 13 to talk about school policy, set educational standards and find the optimal system of school scheduling. Meeting on the second Monday of each month, the CAP looks at trends in education and seeks to refine the school and its future

INSIDE

of growth — beginning with the daily schedule of a student and building upwards. “The major topics that we are looking at, of course,” said Gonzalez, who is also the school’s dean of campus and provost, “is going to be the schedule, which will not be determined until later this spring, and how we are going to be augmenting the daily schedule. We also are going to be talking

NEWS

Why do teachers teach what they teach and how did they get here? p. 4

Scott Gonzalez Chair of Committee on Academic Programs

LIFE

about electronic texts and in what courses might we want to go towards electronic textbooks. Those are really the major issues.” Among other options, Gonzalez believes that cross-curricular lessons — the combination of multiple subjects into one class — the addition of technology and computer skills classes and major class time changes have the potential to greatly enhance the effectiveness of the schedule. “Instead of meeting five days, maybe we meet four days out of a five day cycle, or maybe nine days out of a ten day cycle,” Gonzalez said. “And one of those days would be a longer day, and the other days would

Darwin Yang is an international chess grandmaster as a junior p. 10

COMMENTARY

A plea to stop using derogatory language in any context p. 16

be normal. And then you just drop a day, so that another discipline has the opportunity to take those longer periods as well.” In addition to time alterations, the CAP focuses on new possibilities for course selection and placement, specifically in the realm of AP courses. “If you decide not to take the AP course junior year in English,” Gonzalez said, “or if you’re not strong enough in our estimation to take that course, you have to take a standard 11th grade English course, and then you have to select what we call complimentary courses — but they’re not really electives.”

SPORTS

Once the coach’s son, Greg Guiler is now the coach’s boss p. 21

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Language Department Chair Nancy Marmion teaches conjugations to her Intermediate Spanish B students. p. 4

THINGS TO DO IN THE WEEKS AHEAD

he email hit my inbox seven years ago. Hey Ryan, I know your birthday’s coming up and I wanted to get you something. How about you go onto Amazon and send me the link to a book you want to read? Love, Kathie Thompson I replied without thinking. I couldn’t have spent more than three minutes scrolling through the young adult literature charts until I settled on a book with a blue and green cover that caught my eye. It was called Deadline — a book about an 18 year old boy who is diagnosed with cancer and given one year to live but refuses to share his diagnosis with his parents. The story seemed interesting enough to me, so I copied the URL, sent it on to Kathie, a long-time family friend, and went back to playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3.

RYAN O’MEARA

A couple of weeks later, Kathie came over to my house for my birthday dinner. The obvious weakness in her step and the do-rag on her bald head made me wish the tissue paper bag she had brought would disappear. What for those two weeks had been a secret between Kathie and me would soon be shared with my whole family. I kept playing the scene out inside my head, searching for words. I’d open the package, and inevitably someone would ask me what the book was about. After thinking about it for the first hour of the party, I came up with the best answer I could: Uh, uh, uh, I don’t know. I think it’s about a kid wh-wh-who is sick. Because Kathie had her own deadline. What started as breast cancer had spread throughout her entire body. The best fighter I’d ever met wasn’t going to be able to fight for much longer. ix years ago, almost one year after I asked for that stupid book, she passed away. I brought that book to Goodwill years ago, unable to deal with the grief and anger that swelled up every time I thought about the fact that I had the nerve to ask a dying woman for a lighthearted book about a teenager who made a cavalier decision to skip out on his cancer treatment. She fought as hard as she could. He just wanted to have fun. That guilt is the reason I’ve held on to whatever pieces of her that I can. I still can’t bring myself to get rid of the 2006 Dallas Cowboys media guide that sits untouched on the top shelf of my bookshelf. It was another gift from her. I still have a blue and white Cowboys hat that was too small for me even when she gave it to me when I was a fifth-grader. I never had the heart to tell anyone it was too tight. I still have the book I read sitting in the pew before her funeral started — Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. I had a lot of homework that night and I tried to rationalize that she would have wanted me to read as I waited. But mostly I read because I didn’t want to think. I watched a friend, who months before I swore would be my confirmation sponsor, succumb to the disease she had been fighting for longer than I could remember. Years later, those two books sit next to each other on the shelf above my desk. Unopened, but not forgotten.

PRUTEXAS.COM PHOTO

THE SHOW The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo opened January 13.

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Today

This Week

Next Week

> The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo continues, ending tomorrow at 11 p.m. The show features livestock exhibitions and an indoor rodeo. People from all over the country come to Fort Worth to attend this festive event.

> The Habitat for Humanity project continues building a house for the Hill family at 1731 McBroom Street in Dallas. They will be working on the siding and roofing. > ACT tests will be administered on campus Saturday. Students should bring sharpened pencils, erasers, calculators and a snack.

> Holy Communion in the Chapel will be offered 7:30 a.m., Wednesday. Chaplain Michael Dangelo will perform the service, which is conducted weekly. > School will not be held Friday or the following Monday because of the Winter Weekend.

A QUICK LOOK AT NEWS AROUND CAMPUS

• The Robotics Team will compete in the Botball Regional Tournament in Norman, OK, March 8. The team is preparing for the contest, which has introduced a new 3-D mapping unit and is based on the theme of assisted therapy this year. “We have got a solid core, primarily juniors leading the way in coding and a couple of seniors,” Robotics Team advisor Doug Rummel said. The team usually finishes in the top five, and the members hope to qualify for the national competition by performing well at the regional tournament. • Led by junior Brody Ladd and science instructor Lukas Rahlson, the Upper School Wilderness Program is now offering camping trips for students who have already experienced the Pecos trip with the goal of exposing the Upper School to more expedition opportunities. “We are taking a trip either in March or April,” Rahlson said, “and the point of that is to try to include upper schoolers in the Wilderness Program past the Pecos trip.” . •The Green Library added the National Geographic Virtual Library to its collection of databases Jan. 27. The archives contain National Geographic features from 1888 to the present including over 187,000 pages and 160,000 images with notable issues, two of whichHiram Bingham’s discovery of Machu Picchu in 1911 and Robert Ballard’s discovery of the Titanic wreck in 1985. The Virtual Library will serve as part of the Green Library’s collection of online resources, which also includes over 30 other databases such as ProQuest and the World Book Encyclopedia. Director of Libraries Tinsley Silcox encourages students and faculty to check out the service and ask the library staff for any assistance. • Best selling author Gus Lee will return to campus late March to discuss ethics and leadership with students and members of the community. Lee, who has acted as a mentor to students for seven years, wrote China Boy, an autobiographical novel about his childhood. Lee visits the school three times a year to discuss ethics and how to approach difficult situations. He also served as the commencement speaker for the Class of 2012. “One thing that’s unique about him is that he does bring the big picture, the big ideas to the table,” Assistant Head of Upper School John Perryman said, “but he also brings a lot of just practical skills in how to communicate effectively with other people in moments of crisis, vulnerability, difficuly decision-making that he has a lot of experience in as a lawyer, as a jag attorney, as a CEO. I think ultimately that difficult communication component might be the most valuable thing he can supply to our community.”

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

Crowded bookshelf, empty heart

upcoming

“There are many peaks and valleys — and a lot more valleys than peaks — but I think that’s entrepreneurship Page 5 at its heart.”

SHAKESPEARE Fourth graders Hayden Stager and Rana Thakkar perform their production of Shakespeare’s life, honoring his greatest works.

ARNO GOETZ PHOTO

NEWS AROUND CAMPUS

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 | PAGE 2

HARI MARI FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT JEREMY STEWART '97

SPANISH ART Sophomores Bill Dannenmaier and Mahir Karim admire a Pablo Picasso painting on the annual Spanish B trip to the Meadows Museum.

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

WHY DO TEACHERS TEACH? Foreign

HOW IT’S DONE Lower School art instructor Suzuko Davis works with third grader Johnathan McSween on a drawing project during an art class in January.

• Members of the orchestra, band and choir traveled to San Marcos Jan. 29 to perform in the all-state performances. The students auditioned for places on the all-state ensembles by submitting recordings of themselves performing a standardized piece for judging similar to the technically challenging ones they will play in San Marcos. Results were not available at press time. — Newsfeed stories reported by Abhi Thummala, Vik Pattabi, Akshay Malhotra, William Caldwell and Roby Mize

overheard

COMMENTS MADE BY FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS AROUND CAMPUS

‘I wish I had a chauffeur because then I would totally knit on the way to school.’ — Math instructor Amy Pool to her precalculus class

‘It’s not just Hockaday girls. It’s like all the girls.’ — sophomore Drew Taylor on the Junior Symphony Ball

‘Do you all get your canines filed or leave them sharp?’ — sophomore Chance Cooley during a basketball team meeting

‘They were trying to sell me Obamacare. They obviously had the wrong number.’ — Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Master Teacher Bruce Westrate on a telemarketing call for Obamacare

‘So what’s next after Grandmaster, Darwin? Über Grandmaster? Nirvana?’ — Latin instructor David Cox to Darwin Yang

‘Why spend all your time reading Moby Dick, when you can just play the game Moby Dick online?’ — senior Matt Mahowald

6 Paul DiVincenzo

The spirit of progress

7 Parents’ Association Auction

THE REMARKER | 3 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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5 Hari Mari

4 Courses

NEWS

The Science Department looks ahead to a new era in education with more student-driven programs, community involvement and a new building with modern laboratories, equipment and classrooms.

ore than half a century ago, TIME magazine lauded 10600 Preston Road as “the best-equipped day school in the country.” Impressive, rare facilities such as the planetarium and greenhouse distinguished the 40-acre campus from other nationally recognized high schools while the at-the-time brand new science quadrangle featured fully stocked laboratories and an impressive lecture hall. But even now, despite the building’s standing as the oldest structure on campus, the science facilities still host advanced courses and nationally competitive physics, robotics and engineering teams. With the announcement of plans to modernize the school’s science quadrangle alongside the birth of student-driven science initiatives including the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) conference and International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) biology team, many community members, including AP biology teacher Mark Adame, look to the future, to a new era in the school’s science education. “It’s hard to describe just how excited we are here,” Adame said of the science faculty. “There’s so much potential to radically change what we teach here in terms of lab experiments and preparation.” For Adame, new biology facilities could both foster a passion for science in students and help the school develop relationships with local research universities such as The University of Texas at Dallas or SMU. “I think we really have a responsibility

to reach out to these institutions and show them that we’re extremely serious in terms of our science education,” he said. “With some of the new facilities we’ll hopefully be getting, we could conduct college level research here on campus, and that would be incredible.” Adame sponsors the school’s first iGEM team. Led by biology club president senior Halbert Bai, the 15 man team, which is the first of its kind in Texas, hopes to enter a project in the MIT-sponsored competition this summer after researching biotechnology at a UT Southwestern radiation oncology lab. According to Bai, these sorts of initiatives are what distinguish the Science Department at 10600 Preston Road. “This team is really a ground-breaker for us,” he said. “The support we’ve received from the administration and faculty is amazing. We can do so much more not only in terms of learning, but also preparing for this type of research at a college level for those interested.” And that’s also the goal of Assistant Headmaster David Dini, who’s leading the administration’s push for new facilities. Dini also spearheaded the Centennial Challenge which provided the funding for Centennial Hall and the Hoffman Center, both completed in 2008. The administration is consulting with Jeff Blanchard of the Blanchard Group, an architecture firm based in Richmond, VA. Blanchard assisted with the planning of both Centennial Hall and the Hoffman Center and updated the campus master plan

in 2005. “Plans have not been finalized for a new building,” Dini said. “However, some of the key elements that will be important to the future of our science facilities have been carefully considered including the addition of new labs, the construction of a new planetarium and observatory, the addition of a new lecture hall as well as flexible “maker spaces” and gathering and study areas for the students.” The team is considering the opinions of students as well as faculty — last September, a student panel discussed their vision for the AP BIOLOGY INSTRUCTOR MARK ADAME

There’s so much potential to radically change what we teach here in terms of lab experiments and preparation. building with architects, who also extensively interviewed the science faculty and plan to return to campus again later this year. “I’m really glad the administration is taking students’ opinion into account as well,” student panelist and senior Dylan Altschuler said. “Education ultimately has both sides and one of those is that of the students.” However, as of now, the administration’s team is still at a very early stage in the planning process. “As with any major project, there are a number of important considerations to take

into account,” Dini said. “It is a large team effort that involves members of the faculty, administrators, trustees, architects and other outside professionals. As the scope, timing and costs of the project become more concrete, we will formalize plans for the funding and construction of any new facilities.” But areas such as the planetarium will likely remain for future Marksman scientists due to the unique roles they fill. “It is vitally important that the school maintain features like the planetarium and the observatory in the new spaces to ensure that St. Mark’s facilities are at the forefront of science education,” Dini said. According to Adame, the unique opportunities provided by the planetarium or the STEM conference are what takes science education to a higher level on campus. “Those sorts of opportunities are what this is all about,” Adame said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to do even more with what he have, because everything from the clubs to the curriculum is really driven by you guys and for you guys.” Dini agrees, adding that although there is always room for improvement, science education here is still top notch. “The strength of our science curriculum and the quality of our teachers prepare marksmen exceedingly well for college, and, more important, for life,” he said. “At the same time, we are constantly striving to improve and considering ways that our programs and facilities can better serve our students.”

THE SPIRIT OF PROGRESS story by Vikram Pattabi, news editor | illustration by Abhi Thummala, staff writer and Zuyva Sevilla, graphics director

The beginning | Science Department’s push for excellence began in 1961 with Eugene McDermott and Cecil H. Green

The First 100 Years

IN ATTENDANCE Marksmen listen to a lecture and take notes in the newly constructed Science Lecture Hall all in the early 1960s.

enefactors Eugene McDermott and Cecil H. Green, working with headmaster Tom Hartmann, embraced the vision of state-ofthe-art science education on campus during the late 1950s. They saw the plan as an opportunity to both satisfy the school’s growing demand for space with its growing student body and to catapult 10600 Preston Road onto the national stage as a school with a reputation for excellence. This relationship with McDermott and Green, whose names adorn the building’s side, was integral to the development of a modern science program here according to Assistant Headmaster David Dini.

“Our historic ties to the founders of Texas Instruments contributed greatly to the strength of our programs and facilities over time,” he said. McDermott and Green promised to completely finance the project and also worked closely with the mathematics department due to the close relation between the two fields. “Due to the generosity of the Greens and McDermotts the school will have a mathematics and science facility second to none,” Hartmann told the school board, as recounted in the book St. Mark’s: The First 100 Years. The joint decision to include a planetarium and observatory among the facilities’ many features reflected the decade’s pursuit

of space. Three months before the building opened in the fall of 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged America to reach for the stars when he proclaimed, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” The goal was fulfilled when, in a November 1961 Dallas Morning News headline, the newspaper proclaimed “Space Age Entered by St. Mark’s.” And since then, that pursuit for excellence has been ever-present in the science building honoring the legacy of McDermott and Green.

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THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

NEWS T E A C H I N G

Why do teachers teach?

THE CLASSROOM Victor White Master Teacher David Brown brings his AP English class of juniors outside on a sunny day to give them time out of the classroom and in the sunny weather of the quad.

They don’t do it for the money. They don’t do it for prestige. So what makes instructors here keep coming back to 10600 Preston Road day in, day out — year in, year out? What led to your becoming a teacher? Dr. Martin Stegemoeller, Brachman Master Teacher, English 10 and 11, literary and philosophy — I took my first philosophy class when I was a junior in college studying abroad, and it was the best class and the best professor I ever had. The kind of care I found for people in the books from the class and the professor was really transformative in my life. I never chose to be a teacher, but once I had that class and I switched my major from econ and math to philosophy and literature, it just flowed. From undergrad, I went to grad school, and I taught classes, and it was just the way to keep reading and thinking. I didn’t really Do you have a story that exemplifies why you teach? Nancy Marmion Foreign Language Department Chair, AP Spanish, Intermediate Spanish A — There are so many. I don’t know if I could tell you a particular story right now. One example is a student of mine who really, really struggled with Spanish as a middle-schooler. This was back when we started Spanish in seventh grade at St. Mark’s, so he took seventh and eighth grade Spanish, and in the ninth grade he started over because he wasn’t a very strong student. Well, that young man ended up in AP What motivates you to teach every morning? Stegemoeller — I’m not the biggest fan of grading massive stacks of papers. There are obviously negative parts to the job. The relationship with the kids, peers and parents is what drives me to teach so it doesn’t get old because the kids are approaching it for the first time and if your motivation is to care for them and then you get to know them and potentially make lifetime friendships. That’s what it’s about. Marmion — Part of it is my love for the language and the culture, and I like sharing that

DEDICATED Immersed in teaching, (top to bottom) Joe Millet, Nancy Marmion, Martin Stegemoeller, Bruce Westrate, Jacque Gavin and David Brown (above) are some student favorites because of the obvious passion they show for their respective subjects and students.

What does a student gain from your class if he doesn’t intend to pursue a career in the subject? David Brown, Victor White Master Teacher, junior AP English, English 10 — Hardly anyone follows an English career in my class. Whether he goes into English or not, he should gain a few very important things. Number one, my class prepares him for college. Most students come back and say

ever go, ‘I want to be a teacher’ I just wanted to stay in that space. Joe Milliet Thomas B. Walker III Mathematics Department Chair, Algebra II, Calculus — The original plan was to teach for a short period of time then go to medical school. I had graduated from college at age 20. My undergraduate majors were biology and chemistry. So, rather than rush on to med school at such an early age, I said I’ll teach for a couple years, bank some money and then go to med school at 22. I got a teaching certificate when I was in college, so it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. I knew I would enjoy teaching, but I didn’t think I was going to do it for the rest of my life until I started.

Dr. Bruce Westrate, Marcus Master Teacher, Modern World History, Multicultural Malaise — It’s been my passion since I was a boy. I was a farmer. But I went to grad school first. So, I was on the farm, raising my family, writing a book and finishing up my degree. And at the end of the process, I was pretty much happy living this Jeffersonian existence in the country, and I did some teaching at Indiana University. That was enough for me until the death of my folks. Because my staying on the farm had a great deal to do with them, my father was an old farmer, and I just couldn’t, in good conscience, leave him. But after I thought there were maybe some other things I should explore. That’s essentially what led me here.

Spanish and ended up being a Spanish major in college. It’s stories like that that are really exciting, and you say, “Gosh, I connected with that student.” Seeing kids get to the point that they can read literature, that they can understand news broadcasts, that they can watch movies in Spanish without the subtitles and things like that. It’s really rewarding. Westrate — Let’s understand that I enjoy teaching. I enjoy seeing, on the rare occasion, when a light goes off and a student’s eyes when they actually get something. When students are inspired by the story of famous people and their impact on the

course of events. This is really what it is; it’s story telling, isn’t it? It’s story telling toward some approximation of truth, as we come to know truth, not that there’s only one truth available. Describing things, sometimes complex and very nuanced things, in a way that students can comprehend it is really the sweet spot that I’m trying to hit. The nice thing about teaching here is that the students are of such caliber that I don’t have to teach down to them at all. In other words, I can teach students here the same way I would’ve taught at a college.

with people. And I like seeing the progress in my students. It’s really exciting to see a student who starts off knowing absolutely no Spanish at all, and by the end of the year, can communicate at a certain level. At St. Mark’s I’m not teaching true beginners right now. But it’s good to see what they can do at the end of AP Spanish, how proficiently they can communicate. It’s really exciting but it’s so important in today’s world to understand other cultures. So that’s part of it too. Jacque Gavin , Fine Arts Department Chair, Drama 5/6, Drama 6, Improv 8 — I just love

my job. I love doing drama. What other job do you get to come and pass things on? I love doing it. Drama is a team art. Even if you’re going solo, you still got to have an audience. So it’s a team art, so it’s fun being part of a team or being the coach of the team. It’s fun and it’s interesting and I think everybody needs a little drama in their life. I know that very few people will go professionally, but some have. But everybody is going to have to get up, everybody, I can guarantee, will have to stand up in front of an audience and deliver something sometime.

they’re way ahead of their peers when it comes to writing in college. Number two, his skill as a writer will help him in almost any profession. Number three, he should gain a love of reading that makes him a lifelong reader. The last thing is that English helps prepare the boys for life by instilling in them a need to question and examine things closely. Arriving at decisions through discussion and thorough analysis tends to improve our lives.

Milliet — When you think about mathematics, we are presented with a set of facts, so we have to lead people through a set of steps that are supported by arguments. Math majors have the highest GPA in law school. It doesn’t matter whether or not my students go into a career of math and science. I think logical problem solving applies to almost any situation.

WHY DO TEACHERS TEACH? story by Philip Montgomery and Abhi Thumala, staff writers | photos by Andrew Gatherer, head photographer, and Tim O‘Meara, staff photographer

Math team clinches first, looks to keep momentum as season goes on By Akshay Malholtra staff writer he Math Team clinched first place in the overall sweepstakes at the Metroplex Math Competition Jan. 18 at Hockaday. The Metroplex Competition is a local contest with a group of private school math teams competing. Every year, one of the participating

schools hosts the contest. The team was missing a number of important members, including it’s captains: senior Alexander Munoz, junior Raymond Guo and senior Victor Zhou. Eighth grader Kevin Feng won the Geometry Open and Algebra II Closed, and his classmate Jesse Zhong won the Algebra I Open.

Other members also placed in the top three in the other categories. Though the team got second place to Cistercian in the team round, the captains are happy with the performance. “We did well at the Metroplex competition, especially considering that we were missing all three of our captains,” Zhou said.

The team also hopes to do well at the upcoming Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) Feb. 22 at Harvard. Their goal is to place in the top 35, a performance slightly better than they’ve done in the past serveral years. “In the past two years that we have gone, we have gotten 41st and

39th,” Zhou said. “Placing in the top 40 is a big deal.” The team has worked at HMMT practices every Tuesday since the beginning of the year to prepare for the contest. “I think this team is really good, and we definitely compare to all the past teams we have sent,” Zhou said.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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NEWS H A R I

M A R I

For the feet, from the heart Jeremy Stewart ’97 was just shopping one day when he found an industry ripe with opportunity and a chance to help others.

FLOPS WITH CLASS After graduating from 10600 Preston Road in 1997, Stewart became an enterprenuer, cofounding Margate Home Films in Indonesia and producing critically acclaimed documentaries for three years. Upon returning to America, he noticed an opportunity to improve the quality of flip-flops and founded Hari Mari, a company heavily invested in various charity programs and one of the sponsors of McDonald’s Week 2013.

hen Jeremy Stewart ’97 walked into St. Bernard Sports on West Lovers Lane in 2009, he was just looking for a pair of decent flip-flops. Something fresh, colorful and with some pop. He had just returned from more than three years in Indonesia after cofounding Margate Home Films, an advertising and film firm based at the Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia. Living mostly in Jakarta, Stewart filmed and helped produce a number of critically acclaimed films and documentaries. But, deciding it was time to raise a family in the States, he and his wife Lila sold the company and returned to Dallas in the fall of 2009. Over the span of just a few years, many things in America had changed, especially Dallas, but apparently not the flip-flops. They were, as Stewart noted as he browsed the shelves in St. Bernard, unchanged in design and colors. Intrigued, he surveyed some 200 people between the ages of 18 and 30 and found many complaints about the discomfort between the first and second toes on flip-flops. Stewart studied the flip-flop market and found that the $20 billion industry is dominated by Californian and Brazilian companies but ripe with opportunity. The product of all his observations, focus-groups and planning is one of Texas’s only flip-flop companies, boasting a diverse selection of colors, fresh and simple design and a patented toe piece made of memory foam. They named it Hari Mari, “Hari” meaning “sun” or “day” in Indonesian and “Mari” meaning “sea” in Latin, a nod to his

experiences in Indonesia and with its people. “People in Texas love flip-flops, but what we were seeing in terms of marketing and advertising by other companies were surfers or beach volleyball players or any other beach aesthetic sport you can think of,” he said. “But that doesn’t really resonate with people, not me at least and especially by people in Texas in general. I can’t tell you too many people that know a lot of surfers or beach volleyball players. What we really care about is wearing good flip-flops, and so we saw an angle not only to make better flip-flops with color and comfort and to help people in the back end, but also to make a flip-flop that is distinctly Texan and not from the coast.” In addition to the name, Stewart was influenced by Indonesia in another, more tangible way. Especially when filming Hungry Is the Tiger (2008), a full-length documentary about hunger and malnutrition in Southeast Asia, Stewart witnessed much of the suffering and hardships the less privileged endured, inspiring him and his wife, who actively volunteered in orphanages in Jakarta, to help children in the U.S. “Being allowed into so many families and lives impacted by a lack of food or access to it was both an honor and also very grounding,” he said. “Making that film was one of several experiences while in Indonesia that prompted us to ask ourselves when starting Hari Mari, ‘Could we do more than make flip-flops?’ It’s also among the many reasons we said, ‘Absolutely,’ and started our Flops Fighting Cancer initiative that sees

JEREMY STEWART ’97

For me, specifically, being able to have lived through and received the kind of education St. Mark’s offers is really unique. three dollars from every pair of flops purchased to support kids and families battling cancer.” Indeed, for every purchase, Hari Mari donates three dollars—six in July and August, Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month—directly to Cook’s Children’s or Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas to help support patients with pediatric cancer, the number one cause of death among American children. In addition to humanitarian services, Hari Mari has pledged to help preserve the environment while also helping those in need with its Zero Landfill initiative. People who mail their old pairs of flip-flops — Hari Mari or not —to Hari Mari instead of throwing them out will receive a 15 percent discount in their next purchase. After receiving the shoes, the company refurbishes and donates them to charity. tewart attributes much of his success to the discipline and training St. Mark’s offered him. Its rigorous curriculum and wide variety of opportunities to learn and meet new people, Stewart said, equipped him with experience and skill sets crucial in entrepreneurship.

“There is an unprecedented amount of preparation that goes into St. Mark’s and receiving an education there,” he said. “I think it’s something you won’t realize fully right now, but you really begin to appreciate it after you leave ,when that goes into college and your first job after college. It prepares you to think ahead, and I think it really helps by bringing a lot of diverse people together. For me, specifically, being able to have lived through and received the kind of education St. Mark’s offers is really unique.” According to a recent statistic, 20 percent more people in the millennial generation want to go into business alone than in previous generations. With his own business firmly established and set to launch its third line, “Lakes,” which will feature leather soles in brown, gray or light gray, next week, Stewart encourages students and future start-ups to “focus on execution and being ready to deal with the surprises along the way.” “Any honest business owner will tell you it’s a grind day in and day out,” he said. “It’s really about dealing with challenges and unexpected problems every single day. Sometimes it can be wearying but that’s what makes small business owners and entrepreneurs unique. A lot of people might find that almost like beating yourself up every day, something that we, oddly enough, really enjoy. Part of this is not just about being able to deal with the valleys really well but also celebrating the peaks in the end. There are many peaks and valleys and a lot more valleys than peaks, but I think that’s entrepreneurship at its heart.”

FOR THE FEET, FROM THE HEART story by Alex Kim, news editor | photo by Andrew Gatherer, head photographer

Debate team looks to continue success

By Matthew Placide staff writer Led by experienced debaters with poise and confidence, the debate team looks to make this season a success. Commitment, the number one quality needed for a successful debater, is what Timothy Mahoney, coach for the past 11 years, looks for. “I will consider this season a success if the debaters commit to and implement the process we have created to prepare for tournaments,” Mahoney said. Furthermore, Mahoney looks to his most experienced debaters, senior Johnathan Kim, senior Nikhil Jain, senior Charlie Marshall and junior Aakash Pattabi to lead the pack of younger debaters through the long season. Certain characteristics are required to be as successful as these four have been, and Mahoney hopes they will pass them down to the lower classmen. “[Characteristics needed to be a good

debater are] the ability to be a good listener, a committed researcher and a critical thinker,” Mahoney said. Moreover, these attributes will prove critical when facing against some of the team’s biggest rivals. The debate team will travel across America to debate against some of their most challenging opponents in California, Michigan and Indiana. “[Our biggest rivals are] Glen Brook South (IL), Westminster (GA), Bishop Guertin (NH) and Whitney Young (IL),” Mahoney said. Other schools from Maryland to Arizona are circled on the team’s calendar. Although the debate team does not track their overall squad win percentage, they are still looking to make this season a success through the leadership of experienced debaters, dedication to research and determination to compete to their utmost potential.

CAP meeting plans for future Continued from page one And while course selection is important to the CAP, Gonzalez stresses the interactions of a brick-and-mortar, well-sized class that will continue to support 10600 Preston Road for years to come. Moreover, he expresses his wishes and goals for a group of students who learn to go into the world and shape it into a greater place for everyone using the preparation they received in school. “I think that in the big picture,” Gonzalez said, “what we want is well- rounded young men who will go into the world and change the world for the better. That means that you will give your time, and talents, and knowledge and vocation to do the best that you can for this world. Not only in vocation, but in giving of yourself

to community service — to support those who are less fortunate than we and make this a better world. Really, that’s my dream.” More complementary courses are being added every year to supplement the English selection, and new additions for next year include “Shakespeare’s Plays” and “Contemporary Drama,” with three more courses being approved or denied during the February CAP meeting — adding potential to further expand the course selection. “[Our course offerings] are pretty basic if you look at them,” Gonzalez said. “If you were to go to other institutions, even within the city, and look at the course offerings that they have, they have smaller classes sometimes, or larger classes.”

Page 6

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

NEWS P A U L

After years spent working in healthcare in New York, new Chief Technology Officer Paul DiVincenzo is here to change the way Marksmen learn about computers.

D I V I N C E N Z O

THE FUTURE IS NOW

NEW GUY ON THE BLOCK After joining the faculty this fall, DiVincenzo has already met with members of the Board to propose changes.

think everyone in this country should learn to program a computer. Everyone should learn a computer language because it teaches you how to think. That quotation from Steve Jobs sums up the way new Chief Technology Officer Paul DiVincenzo thinks about computer science education. DiVincenzo has been interested in computers and computer language since childhood, and he is well aware of the benefits a computer science education can bring in job opportunities and general learning. “I heard the quotation first 20 years ago,” he said. “But the quotation didn’t really hit home until I applied for the job at St. Mark’s. I now know that when I taught myself to program, it was also teaching me. Coding was teaching me how to think. It was teaching me logic. It was teaching me syntax. It was teaching me flow.” For all these reasons, DiVincenzo, who is originally from western New York, is passionate about reforming the computer science program at 10600 Preston Road. In a meeting Jan. 16, DiVincenzo presented his plans to the education subcommittee of the Board of Trustees. DiVincenzo took over a newly created position after Director of Computer Services John Stutsman retired. DiVincenzo plans to introduce computer science as early as first grade, explore

the implementation of e-books, emphasize learning code in second through eighth grade and bring back the AP computer science class in the Upper School while focusing on preparing for what colleges expect from a computer science perspective. “The Chicago public schools are only now making computer science a required subject from kindergarten to twelfth grade,” DiVincenzo said. “Why wasn’t this commitment made two decades ago? It tells you that computer science as a subject in schools across the country is significantly lacking.” At St. Mark’s, computer science was offered as an elective for a long time. But because of a lack of interest, the class was cancelled. DiVincenzo — who worked for a health care provider in New York City for 17 years — does not think this happened because of a lack of interest in science and technology. He says computer science has simply developed a reputation as an elective rather than a core subject. “It’s important because many jobs are beginning to require computer science,” DiVincenzo said. “Because the vast majority of jobs in computer science are not in software — they’re in banking, they’re in healthcare, they’re in everything.” DiVincenzo has already started introducing basic programming concepts to first

graders. “We used a basic program and introduced concepts they could understand — move left, move right, rotate,” he said. “I would like to incorporate a once a week class that will give them something — introducing the concepts as young as possible. It’s like learning a language — the earlier you are introduced, the easier it is to learn.”

THE PLANS • First graders will receive a oncea-week introduction to computer science concepts. • Middle schoolers will now learn more code and programming. • The AP computer science course will be brought back for Upper School students. For the Middle School, computer education has long focused on things like word processing and making slideshows. But DiVincenzo wants to revise the program from second through eighth grade. “We’re looking to spend less time on Word and PowerPoint and spend more time on advanced programming and code,”

he said. “They will serve a wonderful purpose from a student’s perspective.” Finally, DiVincenzo would like to restore the computer science offering in the Upper School. He believes this is important so that we do not begin to see a gap in what colleges expect our students to know in programming and what they are taught here. “I have talked to the College Counseling Department and am learning what is expected from a computer science perspective at the schools you guys are applying to,” DiVincenzo said. DiVincenzo doesn’t think there is a gap in the knowledge yet, but he says there could be if we don’t change what we’re doing. He wants to implement his ideas as soon as possible. “I don’t want to copy someone else’s curriculum,” he said. “I want to understand where our students are going and what their colleges are looking for.” DiVincenzo understands many people are not naturally interested in computers. Yet even when choosing a field that is not associated with programming, computer science is becoming more and more vital. “Many people are choosing a job and thinking that they will never have to worry about anything with a computer except for word processing,” he said. “But that is becoming less and less true.”

THE FUTURE IS NOW story by Aidan Dewar, managing editor | photos by Riley Graham, Marksmen head photographer

Coat drive, run by eighth graders, raises 150 coats for charity

Better teen driving, bigger discounts. RILEY GRAHAM PHOTO

By PJ Voorheis staff writer THE COAT DRIVE, WHICH ran from Jan. 12-17, collected approximately 150 coats. Run by the newly appointed eighth grade community service board, the drive was a success. “For this drive, we had no goal for a number of coats,” Correa said. “Our only goal was to get the eighth graders involved to prepare for them to join the community service board next year.” Sophomore Will Diamond, who helped the eighth graders run the drive, said that the event went very well. Diamond has been a member of the Upper School community service board since his freshman year. “The eighth graders all did a great job running the event,” Diamond said. “We were able to collect around 150 coats. We’re looking forward to when the eighth graders enter the Upper School and become an important part of our community service program for the

Richard Ramirez, Agent 9400 N Central Expressway Dallas, TX 75231 Bus: 214-320-3000 www.richardramirezdallas.com DOING OUR PART The residents of Austin Street Homeless Shelter (above) will be one of the three organizations who receive the coats collected during the drive. The eighth grade community service board was able to collect over 150 coats.

future.” After the drive is finished, the coats will be sent to multiple places around Dallas. The coat drive is an annual event and the organizations are always excited to get new coats for the winter season. “After all the coats are counted, they will be sent to three places,”

Correa said. “[The coats] will be sent to a thrift store, Austin Street Shelter and Genesis Women Shelter.” The coats will be given to homeless people in the Dallas area who are staying at these shelters. Next year, this year’s seventh graders will take the reins and lead the drive.

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THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 7

NEWS P A R E N T S ’

A S S O C I A T I O N

A U C T I O N

Holtberg’s final auction The 2014 Parents’ Association Auction will be a chance to honor retiring Headmaster Arnie Holtberg and commemorate his more than two decades of service to the school.

he trademark bow tie in the logo says it all. It’s a symbol familiar to everyone in the community, a symbol that may lose meaning with a new generation of Marksmen, but one that will always command the respect of those who knew the man that wore it. Instead of incorporating a theme like the social media motif of last year’s iCelebrate event, the Parents’ Association has elected to transform this year’s annual auction into a celebration of Eugene McDermott Headmaster Arnie Holtberg’s more than two decade career. “He has been such a partner with the Parents’ Association throughout the years,” Parents’ Association President Connie O’Neil said. “It’s a wonderful event and a time where all the current and former parents can come together in one venue to thank him for his leadership and all that he’s done for our boys. It seemed like a great opportunity.” Specially designed silk bow ties are already being sold online, a sales choice

made in honor of Holtberg’s iconic fashion statement. “We are selling Vineyard Vines bow ties, one that’s royal blue and one that’s pink, to commemorate Arnie,” O’Neil said. “Vineyard Vines designed them specifically for us. They have tiny St. Mark’s lions [on them] with the lion wearing the bow tie.” The fundraising events will include the main dinner and live auction Feb. 22, the already considerable sales of bow ties, an online silent auction that will start a week before the tribute dinner and an assortment of gift baskets arranged by the different classes. The auctioned gift baskets will all have themes related to the life of their honoree. “One of them is on retirement, one of

them is on his favorite books, one of them is baseball and one of them is Princeton,” O’Neil said, “so you kind of get the idea that each class thought creatively about honoring him and carefully gathered items related to that.” unds raised by the various auctions will go toward a $1 million dollar pledge that the Parents’ Association has made in support of the Endowed Fellowship Program. The program gives young college graduates like faculty fellow Emmett Gilles a chance to spend two years teaching here, allowing them start a career in education. “The money will go to educate and groom teachers so that they can become skilled educators like Arnie,” event chair Patti O’Meara said. With only one chance to pay tribute and say goodbye to Holtberg, the Parents’ Association has taken steps to make the night a memorable one. After cocktails in

the Great Hall, a dinner will be held in the Thomas O. Hicks gymnasium that will be prepared much differently than any auction meal before it. “We’re real excited because we have celebrity chefs coming,” O’Neil said. “It’s going to be a seated dinner and it’s going to be catered by members of the Epicurean World Master Chef U.S. Competition Cooking Team and they have won awards in the 2012 World Culinary Olympics.” Items for the live auction are yet to be determined, but previous items have included private concerts and outings with celebrities like Ben Stiller. Along with the dinner, a farewell video will be shown to attending parents, faculty and alumni in the gym. “I’m looking forward to a wonderful night where we can recognize and celebrate all that Arnie Holtberg has done for this community,” O’Meara said. “This is a night for the parents to say thank you.”

PARENTS’ AUCTION story by Jacob Chernick, staff writer | logo courtesy Patti O’Meara, auction chair

Ray W. Gilbert, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist (Ret.)

Private Tutoring and Academic Coaching for Students of all Ages

Polly S. Gilbert, M.Ed, M.L.S.

For over 20 years, TLC has provided academic coaching and tutoring for students from Akiba Academy, Bishop Lynch, Christ the King, The Episcopal School of Dallas,

Library Consultant/Tutor Yavneh Academy and Good Shepherd Episcopal School of Dallas, 2008-Present Director of Libraries St. Mark’s School of Texas, 1985-2008 Coordinator SMU Summer Talented and Gifted Program, Four summers, 1988-1991 English Teacher, Head Librarian J. J. Pearce High School, 1975-1985 National Championship Academic Decathlon Coach, 1984 and 1985

Fairhill, Good Shepherd Episcopal, Greenhill, Highland Park Schools, Hockaday, Jesuit, J.J. Pearce High School, and other Richardson Schools, John Paul II, Levine Academy, Parish Episcopal School, Plano Schools, Prince of Peace, Shelton, SMU, St. Mark’s, Trinity Christian Academy, Urusline Academy, UTD, and Yavneh Academy. Courses and Services • Algebra • Biology • Calculus • Chemistry • Chinese • College Admissions Counseling • College Essay Guidance • Computer Programming • Economics • English • Geometry • German • Government • Hebrew • Grammar • History/Social Studies

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ISEE, SAT, and ACT Test Preperation Japanese Latin Math Organization Physics Reading Research Paper Strategies Social Skills Spanish Speech Statistics Study Skills Teacher Pleasing Skills Time Management Skills Writing

TLC Faculty:

We have 26 dedicated professionals, including four retired St. Mark’s teachers, who teach with skill and “tender loving care.” They specialize in teaching bright students who have learning differences, ADHD, emotional difficulties, or particular challenges with study skills, organization, or specific subjects. Our teachers also coordinate correspondence courses for credit through the University of Texas and Texas Tech University. They work with students during the day at various schools, and afternoons, evenings, and weekends at the TLC office. The group also offers summer enrichment courses. Call the office for information and available schedules.

Please call 972-680-9279 for more information.

BALD Drama instructor

Rod Blaydes has earned campus-wide acclaim for shaving his head. The reaso? To help his friend, and recently diagnosed cancer patient, to find strength. p. 11

LIFE AROUND CAMPUS THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEB. 7, 2014 | PAGE 8

Roland Baumann

ou already know him: the kid with the accent. But there’s more to junior Roland Baumann than the way he talks. Staff writer Richard Jiang had a chance to sit down with the former Brit to talk about his famous accent, his transition into St. Mark’s and his many artistic pursuits outside of the classroom.

Something that stands out to people the moment you speak is your accent. What comments do you get about it? It varies from, “It’s wrong, you need to learn it the right way” or “That’s cool, can you teach me?” and everything in between.

CREATIVE COMM

ONS

What kind of music do you listen to? I listen to anything I consider good. That could be rap, rock, punk, slow, jazz, funk or electro. Some of my favorite bands that I listened to when I Franz Ferdinan d was small in England were West Life, Take That and Franz Ferdinand. I’ve heard that you created your own language. What’s the story behind that? I came up with my own alphabet first since I used to do my own personal studies. I would write in my own weird handwriting which turned out to become its own alphabet and from that alphabet, I made up my own language to go with it. To make sure people wouldn’t decode it, it has different vowels, different ways of spelling words, its own grammar and own math system.

ON CREATIVE COMM

What made you come to St. Mark’s your junior year and what do you like most about it? I only had ten people in my grade. I also wanted more opportunities because a lot of people don’t even know my old school was compared to everyone knowing what St. Mark’s is. I just thought it could take me more places. I love the fact that the teachers know so well how to act with the kids since we’re an all guys school and all the teachers know how to deal with us and act appropriately. Everyone works together, and there’s school spirit, which I didn’t have before. You seem to be a very multicultural person. My family is already so multicultural because my mom is Lebanese and her parents are Egyptian and that influenced me a lot. My grandmother from my mom’s side spoke eight languages and my mom speaks six languages.

DMA The Dallas Museum of Art continues its Hopper Exhibit, which displays the works of American realist painter Edward Hopper.

sketchbook

Today

Weekend

> The St. Mark’s/Hockaday musical Anything Goes makes its debut in the Hoblitzelle Auditorium at Hockaday, 7:30 p.m. The romantic story of Wall Street broker Billy Crocker stars junior Kyle Weinstein in the lead role and is directed by Hockaday Dance Instructor Beth Wortley.

>The Upper School musical continues its production Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. at Hockaday’s Hoblitzelle Auditorium. > The Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Cultural Awareness Series starts today and continues through Sunday. > The choir will participate in an Evensong Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Chapel.

Next Week > The Animals Inside Out exhibit continues at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science until Feb. 17. > Nasher XChange: 10 Years, 10 Artists, 10 Sites celebrates the tenth anniversary of the museum until Feb. 16. > The Dallas Museum of Art’s Hopper Drawings exhibit will continue until Feb. 16.

A ROUNDUP OF STUDENTS’ ARTISTIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• After a full day that included many knowledge-enriching class visits and an hour-long discussion during an Upper School Assembly, the annual Literary Festival came to a close Jan. 10. This year’s visitors were screenwriter Evan Daugherty ’00, songwriter Jill Sobule, poet, professor and teenage fiction writer Ron Koertge, journalist Jim Holt and journalist Lev Grossman. The winners of the student writing contests were Michael Perkins in nonfiction, Gopal Raman in poetry and Cole Gerthoffer in fiction. Applications for next year’s vice chairmanship will be accepted in April. • The annual St. Mark’s Gift Drive raised a record total of 3,304 gifts for children in need across the Dallas area. Despite a slow start due to severe weather, the student body, faculty and parents rallied, shattering the goal of 2,014 gifts by more than a thousand. The gifts are distributed to multiple charities around Dallas, mostly the Jubilee Center, David’s Place and the Salvation Army. “This year’s Gift Drive was a great example of what the St. Mark’s community can accomplish when we set our minds to something,” Community Service Board Co-Chair Ben Wilson said. “Everyone at St. Mark’s pitched in to make sure that the less fortunate members of the Dallas community had a happy holiday season.” •The cast of the winter musical “Anything Goes” had its final dress rehearsal last night. The performances are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8 and 2 p.m. Feb. 9 in Esther Hoblitzelle Auditorium. The story circles around a Wall Street broker who falls in love with a girl he sees on a cruise ship and his mission to win her heart. Junior Kyle Weinstein plays the lead role of Billy Crocker. “We’ve got a really great cast and everyone has worked really well together,” Weinstein said. • Photography and industrial arts students are collaborating to make a pinhole camera for the photography students to work with; the industrial art students will construct the pinhole, the small aperture that will let in light to develop photographic film within the lens-less camera, while the photography students use the camera in order to capture long exposure shots. The camera is set to be finished during the spring and it will be used throughout the year. Sketchbook stories by Zachary Naidu, Phillip Montgomery, Cameron Clark and Anvit Reddy.

artist IN action

ANDREW GATHERER PHOTO

SAM KHOSHBIN PHOTO

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION, MUSEUMSYNDICATE.COM

with

“

LITERARY FESTIVAL Journalist and existentialist philosopher Jim Holt expresses his opinion about a challenging question during the Literary Festival Panel in Dechard Hall Jan. 10.

ANDREW GATHERER PHOTO

Hangin’ out

THINGS TO DO IN THE WEEKS AHEAD

It was a very pleasant surprise. Not expected, but we’re just delighted that people are responding so Page 9 well to the movie.”

WRAPPING UP Student Council President Charlie Golden formally delivers the Gift Drive presents, which totaled a record 3,304 gifts, to the Dallas chapter of the Salvation Army at this year’s Christmas Party Dec. 20.

SAM KHOSHBIN PHOTO

upcoming

DOUG MANKOFF '79 ON HIS FILM'S SIX OSCAR NOMINATIONS

PLAYING THEIR PARTS Mastering their lines the night before the show opened to the public, senior Andrew Hatfield and Hockaday seniors Channing Tucker and Avery Haugen practice their roles in last weekend’s play The Miracle Worker, which tells the story of Helen Keller.

SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON ONE OF ST. MARK’S MANY FINE ART STUDENTS

THE ARTIST Arno Goetz THE ART Photo WHAT On the left is a photo of a gorilla that Goetz entered into the Dallas Zoo Photo Contest. Goetz won the grand prize of a $500 camera. On the right is a photo of a flower with its petals frozen.

HIS WORDS “I like the connection that the viewer has with Madge [the gorilla] because of the emotion in her eyes. For the flower photo, I like the contrast between the dead petals and the green stem.”

LIFE

11 Rod Blaydes

10 Darwin Yang

14 Cafeteria Staff

Doug

there for them. I think this movie really struck a chord with the older audience, and we’re fine with that. That’s a market we would love to tap into. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, for example, tapped into that audience really well.” On the film’s unique story: “Nebraska is about a young man who has to deal with his aging, slightly delusional father after his father feels like he’s won a million dollars and wants to go collect the prize. It’s a road trip movie. Will Forte plays the man and Bruce Dern plays the father, and it’s a way that we get to know and he gets to know this man who’s been very elusive to him all through his life.”

On the high-caliber, non-A-list cast: “Alexander Payne, who can cast almost anybody he wants in his movies, chose actors who are not really well known on the screen. Bruce Dern is well known as a supporting actor but hasn’t been in a movie in many years. Will Forte is not really well known at all, certainly not as a leading man. June Squib, also not well known. Stacy Keats we haven’t seen in quite a long time. Bob Odenkirk, best known lately for his television and not a screen actor that people really recognize. The advantage, though, is when you’re Alexander Payne, and you’re going to get the movie made because you’re Alexander Payne and because it’s a good screenplay, you can cast who you think is best for the role, as opposed to who you think is going to make the studio or distributors feel most comfortable with from a profit point of view.”

n Nebraska’s six Oscar nominations: “It was a very pleasant surprise. Not expected, but we’re just delighted that people are responding so well to the movie.” On why the older audience has responded so well to the film: “There is an under-served market for the older audience. They love to go to movies, and there’s not a lot out

THE REMARKER | 9 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Over the past decade, Doug Mankoff ’81 has been making a name for himself in Hollywood, producing thoughtprovoking films like Tsotsi and The Joneses. His latest film, Nebraska, was nominated for six Academy Awards.

Mankoff on...

THE MEN OF NEBRASKA: Bruce Dern (left) scoweled his way to a Best Actor nomination. Bob Odenkirk (right) and Will Forte (far right), fill out the supporting cast. Doug Mankoff ’81 (above) executive produced the film.

15 Oscars

On the benefits of casting unrecognizable actors: “One of the disadvantages of casting movie stars in your movie is that it can take the audience out of the moment. It makes you realize you’re watching a movie. ‘Oh that’s so-and-so,’ you may think. There is an argument that just having really good, strong actors in a movie makes it more likely that you will be transported into that world.” On what drew him to Nebraska: “I’ve always been drawn to films that are redemptive and where we see our hero become more human and perhaps more kind. There’s a lot of that in this movie and there’s a triumphant feeling at the end, and I think that means a lot to audiences. It speaks to something in all of us. We do care about what the world thinks about us, and sometimes

we care more about that many other things, even how much money we have. And we can all relate to that feeling. And I like that the film asks that question. ‘How would you weigh money versus what people thought of you?’” On how he became involved with the film: “Paramount had a problem. They had this very important filmmaker, Alexander Payne, who they like a lot and want to keep happy, attached to a script and wanted to make the film in black and white and wants to make it with an unknown cast. That’s a problem for Paramount because that means the film doesn’t necessarily qualify for its foreign output deals and it starts to make their risk analysts uncomfortable. So our role was to step in and to help give Paramount the confidence to green-light the film by taking on a lot of the financial burden. Paramount and other studios are not used to handing off their films to foreign sales agents to sell the foreign rights, but in this case that’s what they decided to do. Our partner Film Nation and we, the Blue Lake fund, which I run, put up the money for those territories. That was our role in the film. Giving them the confidence to say yes. Other than that, really, when you work with someone like Alexander Payne, it’s all him.” On the black-and-white cinematography: “The cinematographer (Phedon Papamichael, ASC) was nominated for an Oscar, so clearly some people thought it was beautiful, maybe because of or maybe in spite of it being black and white. It certainly makes it distinctive. I don’t know what people would’ve thought about the movie if it was in color, I’m very curious. Who knows? Maybe twice as many people would’ve seen if it were in color. But it is part of the vision of the director. He always saw this movie in black and white. That was a very important issue for him. And it meant making the movie at a lower budget, which he was willing to do.” On the future of his career and the Blue Lake Fund: “I am always looking for good stories. We want to keep telling good stories on the big screen and on the television screen, which is a new focus for us. We are just excited to be in this business where you get to exchange ideas with interesting people and hope to, every now and then, get a story out there that excites audiences.” On his love of stories: “My love of stories started at St. Mark’s. I remember digging very deeply into Oliver Twist in Dr. Freeman’s English class, may she rest in peace. I really learned not to just love the language, but to love story. I love to read and I love to talk about story and we did that at St. Mark’s in a wonderful way and I think that’s where a lot of this started.” On what makes St. Mark’s special: “You don’t do anything half-way at St. Mark’s. You work hard in your studies, in your sports, in your extra curricular activities. People take themselves and what they’re doing very seriously, and I think that’s essential to prepare us for the world.” For more coverage of this year’s Academy Awards, please turn to page 15.

DOUG MANKOFF ON... compiled by Cole Gerthoffer, life editor | photos used with permission of Echo Lake Entertainment

Doug Mankoff is getting a lot of attention from the Academy Here are two other alumni who’ve caught its eye.

NOMINATIONS Best Supporting Actor for JFK (1991) Best Actor for In the Valley of Elah (2007) Best Supporting Actor for Lincoln (2012)

NOMINATION Best Original Screenplay with Wes Anderson for The Royal Tenebaums (2001)

Jones has been nominated four times and won once for his impressive acting talents. His most recent nomination was for playing Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.

ST. MARK’S PHOTO

WINS Best Supporting Actor for The Fugitive (1993)

CREATIVE COMMONS

OWEN WILSON

ST. MARK’S PHOTO

TOMMY LEE JONES ‘64

CREATIVE COMMONS

Oscar-nominated Marksmen through the years...

Wilson was nominated for his stellar script for Tenenbaums, in which he also starred as the drug-addicted Eli Cash. Wilson’s starred in seven of Anderson’s films, but hasn’t co-written one since Tenenbaums. Wilson’s next Anderson collaboration, The Grand Budapest Hotel, opens March 8.

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THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

LIFE D A R W I N

Y A N G

Chess king H

e sat shaking by the table at the Bay Area International tournament in San José, CA, the chessboard lying out in front of him and the seconds ticking away on his clock. Each move would grant him 30 more seconds.

Thirty-four moves. Three and a half hours. Then his opponent put his hand out to call it a game. And it was over. Junior Darwin Yang had won his final match. He would now be an international grandmaster in chess—the youngest in the Americas. “I was just hopeful,” he said. “My opponent [Israeli grandmaster Victor Mikhalevski], he’s a pretty strong player. He’s been a grandmaster since before I was even born. I just went in hoping that I had a chance. My previous nine years, that’s all the motivation I need. All that struggle, all those hours I’d put in, that’s the drive I had during the game.” Ten minutes later, Yang, overflowing with emotion, picked up the phone to call his dad. “At first he thought that I had lost or something, that I had failed,” he said. “Then once I told him, he just started shouting and it was just crazy. He went crazy. I don’t think he was expecting me to win. I was actually crying.” Since the age of eight, when Yang started playing chess, his goal was always to become a grandmaster. Pushing through struggles and enjoying the triumphs, Yang truly felt the full power of his final step. “My dad, he told me that when he tried to go to sleep the next few days, he just couldn’t. He just kept thinking about all

these nine years. He stayed with me during all the moments of great success, of great failure—he’d seen everything. And he’d been everywhere with me. He just couldn’t stop thinking about this nine year journey.” Dujiu Yang, Darwin Yang’s father shared the same enthusiasm with his son. He too, was crying on the phone. “You know I was so excited,” Dujiu Yang said. “I was so happy and because you know after nine years of hard working, finally he reached that point he wanted to be.” In order to become a grandmaster, Darwin Yang had to win three grandmaster norms—performances by high-leveled chess players, typically consisting of nine games. He must have a performance rating of 2600 for the tournament, not only drawing other grandmasters, but beating them. “My rating is about 2480,” Darwin Yang said. “I am technically a grandmaster-elect. So once my rating gets 10 or 15 points, then I will be a grandmaster. I can go to a few tournaments locally and get those points.” But success hasn’t always come easily to Darwin Yang. Having completed his second grandmaster norm one and a half years ago, he expected to have become a grandmaster by now. “When you work hard every single day and if you don’t see results, it can get really frustrating,” he said. “But you just keep

After nine years of perseverance, practice and dedication to his craft, junior Darwin Yang has finally achieved the unthinkable—international grandmaster.

working and working because you know that one day you’ll get back in form and your hard work will show and will let you win the games. It will reward you.” Last year in New York, Darwin Yang suffered an especially painful loss. His success in the first six games could not carry over to the seventh, as he gave up a winning position to one of the two strongest grandmasters in the tournament. “My motivation took a pretty big hit after that tournament,” he said. “I was starting to almost have doubts over whether I would ever be able to make it [to grandmaster]. It had already been a year since my previous norm and I hadn’t done well.” nd this past Thanksgiving, still on his quest to complete his final norm, Darwin Yang could not finish. At a tournament in St. Louis, he simply had a bad showing. “They played well, and I played foolishly,” he said. On the drive home with his father, Darwin Yang discussed the tournament, chess, and ultimately his own future. He almost gave up. But Dujiu Yang would hear none of it. When Darwin Yang was younger, his father used to criticize his son for losing, but over the years, Dujiu Yang has learned to appreciate his son’s hunger for success. “I try to create a comfortable environment for him,” Dujiu Yang said. “I encouraged him a lot and then he and I are basically like friends. Not like a father and son.” Ultimately, Yang, with his father’s encouragement, decided to “work [his] behind off ” to make his final push.

JUNIOR DARWIN YANG

I was starting to almost have doubts over whether I would ever be able to make it [to grandmaster]. It had already been a year since my previous norm and I hadn’t done well.

“I put in the work and I trusted myself,” Darwin Yang said. “My father was working with me. He really wanted me to do well. I got everything finished. In the games I employed these new things. My results increased sharply.” In the end, Darwin Yang rode this wave of success into his most recent win at San José. And the grandmaster-elect—who has travelled to foreign countries including Georgia, Turkey and Vietnam—can finally take a breather to focus more on school, debate and the Latin Club. Even then, his passion for chess will always remain with him. “Chess is a wonderful game,” he said, “a struggle between two minds. Same pieces. Same settings. Everything’s the same. We don’t have to fight each other physically or anything. It’s just the struggle of two wills, two ways of thought. Creativity is unlimited in chess. Anything can happen and you can come up with the most brilliant moves. The game itself is beautiful.”

CHESS KING story by Shourya Kumar, deputy opinion editor, additional reporting by Roby Mize and Akshay Malhotra, staff writers | photo by Mason Smith, staff photographer

School’s eighth Habitat for Humanity to serve Hill family; work well under way By P.J. Voorheis staff writer n the past six years, St. Mark’s has completed seven homes for Habitat for Humanity. This year, the school’s eighth house will be dedicated to the Hill family. “Our goal is to have the house finished and dedicated on March 22,” Community Service Director Jorge Correa said. “Every week we have at least 30 people working on the house all together to complete it.” When the home is finished, eight-year-old Decorian, six-year-old Remedy and mother Mary Hill will be moving into

ANDREW GATHERER PHOTO

FOR A CAUSE (Above) Members of the soccer team construct one of the house’s walls. Juniors Jack Dayton (far left), Chris Carter (second from left), Hilario Vargas (second from right), and Ben Willer (far right) work in unison. (Right) Senior Ali Ahmed hammers a nail into the roof.

their new home. Currently, the Hill family is living in a cold, outdated home from 1967, and they are all extremely happy to move into the new home. Decorian said that he is going to love having his own backyard so that he can practice football. Remedy, who said she is the “ruler of the house,” plays running back on her brother’s football team. She said that she will love having her own room and will also love all of the extra space they have outside. The Hills are all extremely excited and grateful to be moving into their new house.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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LIFE R O D

B L A Y D E S

Breaking bald The recently-shaved head of drama instructor Rod Blaydes has caught the eye of many students, who ask a common question: Why did he do it?

us.”

Production of the fall play, The Philadelphia Story, was in full swing when Blaydes and his wife heard the news. “She came over to the house with her husband, Sterling, and we all had a little cry together,” Blaydes said. “And Marty said, ‘Well, I want you to come to my hair party’ and I said, ‘What’s a hair party?’ She told me it was when the girls get together and they donate their hair to make wigs for people who go into chemotherapy.” For hair to be used in a wig, it must be at least ten inches long. Blaydes’s hair was nowhere near the minimum, so his wife volunteered to donate in his place. “My wife said, ‘Oh I’ll be there. I’ll do it!’ and I said, ‘Well, I’ll do it too!’” Blaydes said. “They said they didn’t need my hair, and I said, ‘Well, that’s okay. If you’re going to have to go through it and have a shaved head, then I’ll go through it, too.’” Blaydes was intent on supporting his friend. “I’ll be there for everything,” Blaydes said. Blaydes also assisted the Wolf ’s throughout the treatment by helping them with things like taking care of their Great Dane and taking food to their house. “She started chemo in the beginning or middle of October,” Blaydes said. “And it was a trial.”

Wolf began her chemotherapy with what’s been nicknamed a “chemo cocktail” a mixture of multiple chemotherapy drugs to combat the cancer. “That was really hard on her,” Blaydes said. “She was on that for weeks and she was sick all the time in that first chemo run.” It was at this time that Blaydes made the final decision to shave his hair. “I couldn’t go to the hair party because of rehearsal,” Blaydes said. “And I could’ve said, ‘Well, if I didn’t go to the hair party, I don’t have to do it,’ but I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that at all.” Blaydes and his wife decided to go to the barber to finally get things done. “I told the barber what I wanted, and he said, ‘Are you sure this is how you want it? Is this for a reason?’” Blaydes said. “And I told him the story and he said, ‘Okay, good. I’m going to do this for free. And you tell her to come here and I’ll take care of her for free until she gets out of chemo.’” fter going to the barber, Blaydes went to Target and bought a brown hat to avoid getting sunburned. “So I got that hat and wore it to school the next day and everybody went, ‘Walter White! Walter White!’” Blaydes said. “They kept telling me, ‘Get the goatee and mustache! You’ll look exactly like him!’ Even the other teachers said things, like [Victor F. White Master Teacher] Mr. [David] Brown.”

After dressing up as the iconic T.V. character for Halloween, people pressured Blaydes to actually grow a beard much like Walter White’s. “Eventually I broke down,” Blaydes said. “But yes, the beard is simply because of Breaking Bad. I still haven’t really watched it yet.” But Blaydes makes sure to remember why he shaved his head in the first place. “I think about Marty and make sure I get back to what I did it for,” Blaydes said. “We talk to the Wolfs almost every day. She’s progressing very well now. She’s going to come through, I really believe it.” Blaydes still stands by his promise. “I said, ‘If you want me there, I’ll be there. I’ll do anything you need.’” USED WITH PERMISSION OF ROD BLAYDES

FAMILIAR FRIENDS Drama instructor Rod Blaydes hangs out with his friend and cancer patient Marty Wolf, both proudly sporting their bald heads; the friends met through their love of Nascar.

BREAKING BALD story by Avery Powell, staff writer | photos by Arno Goetz, staff photographer

Students now binge-watch their favorite Netflix shows By Avery Powell staff writer nstead of the traditional once a week routine, students are now choosing to consume their favorite TV shows in large chunks at a time - binge watching thanks to popular streaming websites like Netflix. Popular thrillers like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead are frequently binge watched because of their common cliffhangers and almost addictive storytelling. “I watched Breaking Bad non-stop over the summer,” sophomore Nico Sanchez said. “I remember watching four or five episodes in a single day.” Others, like How I Met Your Mother, and the Netflix-produced revival of Arrested Development, lend themselves to the new format with their easyto-digest styles of lighthearted humor. “The last thing I binge-watched was Arrested Development,” senior Harrison Perkins said. “My brother and I challenged ourselves and watched

NETFLIX ZUYVA SEVILLA GRAPHIC

e’s the guy who looks just like Walter White of Breaking Bad fame. Fedora? Check. Goatee and mustache? Check. Bald head? Check. For a lot of men, the bald head wouldn’t really have been a choice. But for drama instructor Rod Blaydes, it was. After learning that one of his best friends, Marty Wolf, would lose her hair from chemotherapy treatments, Blaydes agreed to shave his head in support. “Marty learned she had breast cancer in about the middle of August, and it moved very rapidly,” Blaydes said. “They found a spot on the left side and they decided to operate the next day.” The doctors conducted one more test to make sure they had located all of the cancer before operating, but they noticed something on the right side. “They quickly went in and did a biopsy and delayed surgery a couple of days until they came back,” Blaydes said. “She ended up having a double mastectomy because it came back positive.” According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 232,340 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2013. “She had to wait for the surgery to heal before she went into chemo,” Blaydes said. “And that was mid-September when she told

READY TO GIVE Upon hearing the news that his friend, Marty Wolf, was diagnosed with breast cancer, drama instructor Rod Blaydes vowed to shave his head — and donate his hair — for the purpose of creating wigs. He fulfilled his promise.

all 15 episodes of the fourth season the day it was released. It was brutal.” Other students stream online, but still prefer a more traditional way of viewing their favorite shows. “I don’t really like watching a show in a super short amount of time,” sophomore Tim Skapek said. “If I have enough time I might watch more than one episode, but I really only watch one at a time.” In a recent Netflix poll of 1,500 streamers, 61 percent of people who stream at least once a week say they watch more than two episodes in a single sitting.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

ALUMNI N

COVER STORY | Continued from page one

‘Before I worked there, my impression of the Development Office was people trying to get back together, relive their high school days, go back and see their old friends, but I didn’t know how much people cared about St. Mark’s once they graduated.’ — STEPHEN RAMBIN ‘13, DEVELOPMENT OFFICE INTERN, SUMMER 2013

s Assista master D sat at his reading ReMarke section a spendin at Hocka started t “Listen to this,” he said, read part about a Hockaday junior retedious lab, unprompted, and lau the commentary by Max Marsha Ross Crawford ’12. Dini was reading the pie to Michael Levy ’68, found as Monthly, on behalf o who was looking to w Austin this summer contacted the Dev Office in an effor touch with som journalism th got in contac Levy, who w to schedule to-face mee Marshall. “I wal the meetin he [Micha has all the and the aw see front an is the Distin Alumnus Aw Marshall said very proud M Levy had give Marshall 15 utes of his time, b two ended up spea two hours, and Levy to read some of what M had written as a member ReMarker from 2010-2012 — example of the many types of c tions the Development Office fac year-round. “This kind of thing happens day,” Dini explained. “We get call alums looking to meet a Marksm new city for an internship or care or just a friendly face, and we’re a help them out. This is the type of [Director of Alumni Relations] Ji Womack ’98 and everyone in thi helps out with all the time.” Thanks to Dini and the entir opment team, the school’s alumn is among the strongest in the cou have made a concerted effort to r to alumni, to let them know that always welcome back and to let t what’s going on when they aren’t They don’t just ask for money. Th a connection to St. Mark’s. Twenty years ago, that wasn’ In 1994, Dini, then director ternal Affairs, was presenting the guished Alumnus Award to Levy

Graduatio

THE PLACE THEY CALL

> St. Mark’s School of Texas A An app connected to LinkedIn t “securely network and connect around the world.”

> Alumni cafeteria lunches Alumni are always welcome to to reconnect with teachers and

> The magazine Get mailed the alumni magazin all that is happening on and off

In 2002-2003, 30 percent of alumni participated in the St. Mark’s fund. Last year, that number was 56 percent — an increase of 86 percent from the previous year. So how did that happen? Editor-in-chief Dylan Clark and staff writer Will Clark explore.

THE PLACE THEY CALL HOME graphic by Zuyva Sevilla, graphics director | photo courtesy Development Office

> Alumni Weekend and Home Come back on campus in the sp weekend with alumni of all age panels and visit with favortite

> Connections and networking Call the Development Office if a new city and need career adv want a friendly face to meet fo

> Alumni clubs St. Mark’s clubs are already fun the Bay Area and are formalizin major metroplexes like Austin, ington D.C.

Page 12, 13

NETWORK

ant HeadDavid Dini s desk the 2012 ker special about ng a day aday, he to laugh. ding a -doing a ughing at all ’12 and

ece to send der of Texof Marshall, work in r. He had velopment rt to get in meone in here. Dini ct with was happy e a faceeting with

lk in [to ng] and ael Levy] ese awards ward you nd center nguished Award,” d. “He’s a Marksman.” agreed to 5 minbut the aking for y wanted Marshall r of the — just one conneccilitates

s every ls from man in a eer advice able to f work that Jim Bob is office

met with silence from the audience. He was faced with an alumni base that loved the school and a school that hadn’t done a great job of cultivating that love. “One of the things that I found when I came to St. Mark’s was just tremendous latent potential and affinity for the school,” Dini said. “I met so many alumni that just said ‘I had the best experience at St. Mark’s, I loved my experience at St. Mark’s, but I don’t really feel connected.’” To combat that apathy, Dini felt he needed to change the culture of the Alumni Program, which primarily contacted alumni to ask for money. Still, he acknowledges the importance of a strong financial backing from alumni. “It’s about promoting meaningful connections between our school and our graduates as well as facilitating connections among our graduates,” Dini said. “There ought to be this wide range of experiences and opportunities and connections. Financial support is one of them, and it’s a very important one that we don’t apologize for because that’s part of the engine behind the success of the school.” oby Mize, Jr. ’83, father of sophomore Roby Mize III, was chairman of the Alumni Fund in 2005 and 2006 and served on the Alumni Board from 2005 until 2011. He can relate to the relative lack of involvement by former alumni. “When I graduated from St. Mark’s… the first real contact I had with the [Development Office] was probably well after I graduated from college,” he said. “They probably sent correspondence to my house, but that was back in the days of snail mail. But now they make a much bigger effort to connect immediately and sort of win the hearts and minds of the alums right out of the gate. They’ve gotten very proactive.” He explains how at the time, the school did not foster relationships throughout the entire alumni network. “Back then, you connected with your buddies when you got back in town, you connected with them on the telephone from time to time,” Mize said. “Your universe of folks you stayed connected with might have been a handful.” Dini, hired in 1994, worked hard with Headmaster Arnie Holtberg throughout the ’90s and into the new millennium to

re Develni network untry. They reach out t they’re them know t here. They ask for

n’t the case. of Exe Distiny and was

PAST CONNECTIONS Alumni Relations Director Jim Bob Womack ’98 speaks with Sam Yonack ‘13 and Matt Genecov ‘13 at a barbecue dinner in Austin in the fall.

on perks

Alumni Mobile that allows alumni to t with St. Mark’s alumni

o the Great Hall for a lunch d friends.

ne to stay up to date with ff campus.

ecoming pring of each year for a es, particiapte in alumni teachers.

g you’re looking to move to vice or are just visiting and or lunch.

nctioning in New York and ng across the country in , Los Angeles and Wash-

start down the path that lead to unprecedented alumni involvement. “It’s been a long-term goal and objective that both Mr. Holtberg and I share and others before us shared,” Dini said. “I think that maybe one of the differences was that the school was in a position and we were ready to focus on investing the time and energy and resources to engage our graduates, our alumni, in meaningful ways — which meant really investing in them and really investing in building those relationships with them.” When Womack was hired in 2006, he made an effort to continue that success. “My goal was to build upon the success we were already having,” he said. “The program was moving in an amazing direction. When I got here, to be fair, the direction of the program was really strong. I came in and the sense was, ‘OK, let’s ramp this thing up.’ And since I’ve been here it’s been really great in that we’ve built the team.” According to Dini, an important factor in that process — one that has led to the youngest 15 classes contributing the majority of alumni giving — is the involvement of students and young alumni in the effort. “Of the metaphors we’ve used to describe the transition between student and alumnus, which used to be a very stark one, the illustration that I’ve always found most apt is a dissolution of the line between student and alum,” Dini said. “So it’s just a slow transition. It’s almost the kind of experience where you go from student to alumnus without knowing it. It’s almost a blurred line.” Two of the ways that line is blurred are through the interns at the Development Office and the Marksmen in the Student Alumni Association. Before Marshall made his connection with Levy, he got a taste of the alumni world when he worked as an intern for three months. “The fact that I interned at the Development Office has allowed me to meet a lot more cool alumni,” Marshall said. “The St. Mark’s alumni network is not just networking, it’s helping family. It’s not an idea of social climbing or some hollow favor. It’s a deeper sense of gratitude.” Stephen Rambin ’13 also worked in the Development Office over the summer and found that the connections made there are deeper than just donations. “Before I worked there, my impression of the Development Office was people trying to get back together, relive their high school days, go back and see their old friends, but I didn’t know how much people cared about St. Mark’s once they graduated,” Rambin said. “It is a really unique community, and it is really just special to a lot of people because it made them the men they are today.” he bond among alumni is both professional and personal, a critical advantage in the business world, says Roby Mize. “If you bump into somebody someday and they went to St. Mark’s, you immedi-

ately have a connection, a shared experience,” Mize said. “Rightly or wrongly you’re going to attach some value to that person. They went to St. Mark’s, they experienced what I experienced. He’s got to be pretty smart and hardworking because that’s what it takes to get through St. Mark’s. It’s a brand. It’s a crème de la crème brand.” The success of past Marksmen has opened countless doors for young alumni hoping to realize their dreams. “St. Mark’s alums are everywhere,” Marshall said. “I can’t think of a world they are not on the top of. Every industry. When you get out of school, you have all these people that are going to open doors for you, and not just in a networking sense but in a mentorship sense.” ichael Merrill ‘72 is a leader in the San Francisco alumni group who has directly benefitted from his days as a Marksman. He runs Michael Merrill Design Studio, an interior design firm and one day received a call from Dylan Parker ‘88, who works at BSA Architects. Parker had a contract for Merrill — to lead the conceptual design of 400 houses being built for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. “This 100 percent would not have happened if we were not both Marksmen,” Merrill said. “I get a significant amount of business each year straight from working with the alumni group in San Francisco.” Another beneficiary of the St. Mark’s brand, Marshall used his connection with the famed rock musician Steve Miller, who attended the school from 1950 until 1960, to help accelerate his music career. The legend continues to mentor the young alum. “Steve [Miller], I talk to him all the time,” Marshall said. “That is 100 percent because of St. Mark’s. It really doesn’t have that much to do with me and it has everything to do with 10600 Preston Road.” Miller performed with Marshall at the 2006 Centennial Celebration, and since then there has been a determined effort to have quality alumni events year round. It’s no coincidence that the huge increase in alumni events corresponds to the development of one of the best alumni participation percentages, 56 percent last year, in the country. The remarkable alumni participation percentage is only one of the noticeable areas of improvement in the last couple decades. “These alumni are helping young alumni because they got helped when they were young,” Marshall said. “It’s really one of the coolest things St. Mark’s does and the Development Office really needs to be applauded for it because they’ve really grown that network.” Not only are the alumni being connected, but frequently, older alums will also take younger alums under their wing. “It’s pretty spectacular both how broad the network is as far as all the different industries and how deep people are willing to

go to help you,” Marshall said. “They want to mentor you and grow you.” The interns in the Development Office form many of these connections over the summer. One of their main jobs is to call alumni who have not donated in a long time and to convince them that their donation is meaningful and helpful. “I think people on the other line like to hear a person instead of stats or some sort of argument,” Marshall said. “I just talked about how much St. Mark’s had changed my life and why I was spending my last summer in Dallas before college working at St. Mark’s. Like who would decide to stay at their school an extra summer? That sounds ridiculous.” ambin can also relate to the impact that he and other interns have had on the expanding alumni network. “You really explain to them how you’ve benefited from their money and that you’ve taken advantage of it as a student through all the opportunities St. Mark’s offers,” Rambin said. “The most important thing is to show them that the money is well-spent, and that their donations are appreciated.” After leaving St. Mark’s, Marshall has found that one of the most special things about the alumni world is the desire of the older alums to pass on the St. Mark’s tradition. “The word brotherhood gets thrown around a lot,” Marshall said. “That’s a real thing. In a lot of the business world, there’s a definite difference between connec-

“People have found jobs, they’ve gotten career advice, I’d say they’ve found friend groups they didn’t know they had. They’ve even used [the app] to find a place to live if they’re in a new city.” - Jim Bob Womack on the St. Mark’s School of Texas Alumni Mobile

tions and friendships. But I think there’s an inherent friendship between any two Marksmen when they see each other.” The brotherhood has certainly been real for Marshall, who has experienced firsthand the wisdom alumni have to offer. “That’s what Steve Miller did for me and Michael Levy’s doing the same thing,” Marshall said. “They realize that they were handed a lot of opportunities while they were at St. Mark’s and now that they’re at this place of influence, of success, they can share that success with young alumni. It’s something they’re really willing to do.” Thanks to the dedication of the older alumni, the opportunities for young alumni are boundless. “It goes so far beyond money,” Marshall said. “It’s an all-in investment of the self.”

CARE PACKAGES Alumni in college get goodies, snacks during exams

n assortment of bags is flipped over and emptied, spilling their contents across the table. Pencils, highlighters, erasers, gum packets and teabags all appear. Even T-shirts and baseball caps drop in front of the assembled students. A stack of nine-by-twelve manila envelopes are set in the center of the pile. Sheets of address labels are set out nearby. Everyday objects and commodities fill the room in Nearburg Hall. Then, as the clock strikes 3:10 p.m., Student Alumni Association Co-presidents Yima Asom and Aidan Dewar set more than 75 pairs of hands to work bagging packages with ordered supplies. And as college exams in spring approach, hundreds of care packages will be shipped out across the country, landing on the doorsteps of alumni when they need the support and care most. “I hope it puts a smile to their faces,” Asom said. “We try to send

one right before exam time, which can be and usually is a strenuous time for most college students. We want them to know that we haven’t forgotten about them and that we wish them the best.” As they prepare to take exams near the end of the academic year, alumni in college graciously accept the supplementary items from 10600 Preston Road and often express their gratitude through letters and emails that find their way back onto campus. “We have received many notes from college-age alumni,” Alumni Coordinator Lexie Parker said, “expressing their appreciation for the gifts and for the reminder of how special St. Mark’s is to them. It is a great way to show our college-age alumni that they are a part of the St. Mark’s community and missed back home.” And while care packages are a big part of what the Student Alumni Association seeks to do, Asom

feels that its greatest goal is to strengthen the growing network of alumni through whatever projects and means available. “Our main goal is bridging the gap in communication between alumni and current students,” Asom said. “We’ve taken steps in order to do so. For example, earlier in the year, we held a panel discussion during which current college alumni came to speak to us about their respective experiences.” urthermore, by being a member of the club or simply by listening in on panels during Alumni Weekend, students of the present can interact with students of the past to develop stronger ties to St. Mark’s and its influence even after they, too, leave for college. “Students have the unique opportunity to interact with alumni and develop important leadership and networking skills that will serve them throughout their lives,” Parker said. “By hearing from young

alumni and seeing a glimpse of life beyond 10600, students can then set goals for their current Marksman experience as they prepare for college, internships and career paths.” And through care packages, personal letters and other anecdotes of student-alumni connections, Marksmen can be certain that, as they too leave campus and head into the world, they will join the thousands of alumni who will never forget their roots. “We hope that we develop awareness among students on the importance of staying connected to St. Mark’s after graduation,” Parker said. “As a member of one of the strongest alumni associations in the country, you are part of a special group of 4,000 men who continue to distinguish themselves as extraordinary professionals and leaders in their communities.” — Noah Koecher, staff writer

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THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

LIFE C A F E T E R I A

I P H O N E

Luck of the draw Senior Class honors cafeteria workers with raffle tickets, prizes won during McDonald’s Week

uring the McDonald’s Week raffle on Grandparent’s Day, senior Harrison Perkins was among the first to claim a prize. He quickly got up, retrieved the winning and went back to his seat. Just a couple minutes later, he heard his name again. He got up, retrieved prize number two and went back. Perkins had barely sat down, again, when his name got called for a third time. Same drill. By the time he’d found his seat, after his third prize-collection, Perkins took a moment to look over his winnings. In one hand, he held two coupons: one for ten free pizzas, another for free haircuts. In the other hand, he held a new, packaged iPhone 5S. But the prizes weren’t his to keep. Perkins, senior class president, and Senior Class Sponsor J.T. Sutcliffe had bought 100 dollars worth of raffle tickets to split equally among the cafeteria, maintenance and

security staffs. Defying the odds, each staff won a prize. “Ms. Sutcliffe and I came up with the idea one day,” Perkins said. “We were talking about how we wanted to contribute to McDonald’s Week and we decided that’d be by buying raffle tickets for the maintenance, security and cafeteria staffs. During the Grandparent’s Day raffle, I went up and claimed the prizes.” Perkins and Sutcliffe kept the buying of the tickets a secret so as to not raise any hopes over the raffle; each of the three winning tickets belonged to one of the staffs. “When we informed the staffs that they’d won, they were surprised and really, really happy,” Perkins said. “The cafeteria staff especially, with the iPhone – they were so excited about it. I talked to [Security Chief] Mr. [Dale] Hackbarth and [Physical Plant Director] Mr. [Mark] Webb and they said their staffs were going to love the gifts they got.” To determine who would receive the iPhone, Director of Food Services Sally Stephens and the staff organized another raffle. “We didn’t even know that the Senior Class had bought raffle tickets until a couple of the boys came down and said

that they had bought raffle tickets for the cafeteria and that we had won an iPhone,” Stephens said. “We then had our own drawing in the cafeteria, where I put everybody’s name in a hat and then randomly chose, and it was [cafeteria staff member] Rosa [Cuervas] who won. Everybody was screaming, everybody was so happy.” Cuervas reacted ecstatically to her winning, as did the other cafeteria members, and deeply thanked the senior class for their generosity. “I was so happy because I didn’t think I’d win,” Cuervas said. “When the lady with the piece of paper said, hesitantly, ‘Rosa,’ I went crazy. I would like to thank the seniors for their donation, specifically for the telephone, and I urge them to keep doing such wonderful things for the school.” lthough Sutcliffe was a driving force behind the idea, she attributes the Senior Class — and more broadly, the generosity of the school community — for the donation. “The seniors have proven themselves to be a group that watches out and cares for each other, but they also go beyond that,” she said. “They realize what all of our staffs are doing for us. We’re so busy around here sometimes that we don’t stop and think about all the people that are part of this community, but this group thinks about all the members of the community and appreciates all of them.” The cafeteria staff and Stephens are grateful for all the things the Senior Class

SENIOR CLASS SPONSOR J.T. SUTCLIFFE

We’re so busy around here sometimes that we don’t stop and think about all the people that are part of this community, but this group thinks about all the members of the community and appreciates all of them. — and more broadly, all students – have done for them in the past. “The students, as a whole, are so generous to the staff,” Stephens said. “I’m continually impressed by that. I think that students have bought raffle tickets for us in the past, too. The Senior Class gives us shirts; even this year, at the end of McDonald’s Week, the juniors came over and gave us all leftover shirts.” The magic of the raffle donations, however, lies in both the generosity of the donors, the proactivity of the senior class and the luck of the draw. “When this happened, it was a gift to us as well as to the staffs,” Sutcliffe said. “We were able to reach all three groups, when we thought that one might get lucky enough. The whole thing was just fabulous. Sometimes, when you’re trying to do something good, someone’s watching your back.”

LUCK OF THE DRAW story by Cyrus Ganji, life editor | graphic by Purujit Chatterjee, staff artist and Zuyva Sevilla, graphics director

Annual cell phone drive, led by Green Club, to benefit Eco-Phones company By Roby Mize staff writer he 12th annual cell phone drive began Jan. 15 to benefit the Green Club led by Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut. The phones can be in any condition and of any make or model. “For this drive, students should just bring in the phones and accessory wires like headphones and chargers,” Northcut said. “The big waste electronics, like computers

and stuff, we have a drive for in April.” The phones will go to the local company Eco-Phones, where they will serve a variety of purposes. The new phones will be reprogrammed and given to a homeless shelter. “They will get reprogrammed so basically all they can do is call 911,” Northcut said. “They give them to the homeless, so that they will have a phone that they can use in case of emergencies. The phones that are not in working order get taken and shipped off to different companies that take them apart

for all the raw materials so that they can recycle and reuse them.” The recycled phones not only benefit the environment and assist the homeless, but also fight groups which are notorious for human-rights abuse. “Several of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of cell phones, such as coltan, are only obtained from unstable areas, which comes from the Congo,” Northcut said. “Buying coltan supports groups which engage in horrific human-rights abuses. So,

the more we can reuse the coltan, the less we have to buy from questionable sources.” The phones should be erased before they are turned in if their owners feel there is sensitive information on them. However, Eco-Phones will erase the phones for donors. “My goal for the drive is to break 100, which is what we usually do,” Northcut said. “Last year we got about 120.” The funds raised from this drive are given to the Green Club so that they can be further involved in helping the environment.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 15

LIFE A C A D E M Y

A W A R D S

Gravitational pull? Groundbreaking ‘Gravity’ among three

n an outstanding year of film, Marksmen more than ever before have been taking in movies. Here are some favorites of movie enthusiasts from the past year that you might see on Oscar night.

Woody Allen’s newest film, Blue Jasmine, proves not only that the 78 year old writer-director still has more than a few films left in him but also that his best works may still be ahead of him. The film, though funny at times, remains brutally honest as Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) struggles to come to terms with her existence relative to her former husband Hal (Alec Baldwin), revealed through interwinding flashbacks throughout the film. I enjoyed the general atmosphere of the film as well as the superb acting by Blanchett and the rest of the cast. I am a fan of most Woody Allen films, and this one was a great example of his range from Parker McWatters incredulous comedy (Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love) to deadly serious films (Match Point). This film was a perfect mix of the two even though it was obviously heavier on drama and was much better than the large crowd pleasing, tailored to win Oscars movies like Gravity, 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle (not to say that those movies, epsecially 12 Years a Slave, were not great). Overall, Blue Jasmine was a great film that showed Allen’s range as well as catered to both the general populous and to Allen fans like me.

Jennifer Gilbert, film studies instructor

question the value of his bohemian lifestyle. Along the way, director Paolo Sorrentino throws in these incredibly powerful, surreal touches of fantasy. Words can’t really do it justice. Suffice it to say that the movie does an outstanding job bringing classic themes home to the viewer in an entirely new way.

Tinsley Silcox, choirmaster

Best Picture is a tough category this year, but there are three films with a real shot: 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle and Gravity. I think the Academy might split for the second year in a row and give Best Picture to one film, best director to another. I’m going with

ZUYVA SEVILLA GRAPHIC

Parker McWatters, freshman

American Hustle as Best Film and Steve McQueen as Best Director. American Hustle is just Tinsley Silcox a lot of fun. From comb-overs to the ‘science’ oven it has just the right mix of 70s camp and raw emotion. 12 Years A Slave has a very strong cast, and director Steve McQueen directed from a script he helped write. The film is overpowering and somewhat difficult to watch — but it should be, as it depicts the worst of our failings as humans and as a country. Emotional.

William Sydney, junior

Reid Stein, senior

in with the laughs. It was just a brilliant movie, one of the best I’ve ever seen. My favorite scene was when Jennifer Lawrence is singing “Live and Let Die,” and her son is just sitting in the corner watching her. The acting was amazing. Jennifer Lawrence was perfect for that Aidan Maurstad role and Christian Bale was also amazing. He looked completely different and gained 50 pounds for the movie and he had to do that ridiculous comb-over and was so dedicated to the role it just looked really good.

David Brown, English instructor

For the same reasons and then some, I lean toward Chiwetel Ejiofor for Best Actor. But Matthew Luke Jacobs, sixth McConaughey’s more nuanced grader rendering was more often moving. I think my favorite The subtlest blink of his eyes as films of the year were he shifted his sightlineallowed Nebraska and Her. The for glimpses into the mind of his reason I like Nebraska character that so much is because of ultimately wins its perfect direction, me over. I go with and while at first I the surprising didn’t really enjoy the Matthew black-and-white McConaughey. and thought it was Michael a gimmick, as the Fassbender was film progressed I David Brown brilliant as Best realized it helped Supporting Actor. To play with the somber that role with such abandon, atmosphere and was someone so evil, with not a shred an interesting of anything admirable to grab feature hold of for a second, and to do it not very so well, takes acting chops hard present in to understand. But I probably most lean toward Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer’s Club. As a straight man, he portrays the IN THE RUNNING The nine films feminine side nominated for Best Picture are American Hustle, Captain Phillips, better than Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, anyone I’ve Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a seen, except Slave, and The Wolf of Wall Street. maybe Eric Stonestreet. And he elicited deep empathy for a character who had much to his discredit.

Cole Gerthoffer, life editor

This is a dicey award and the Golden Globes avoided it in an interesting way, putting The Wind Rises in the foreign film category in which it lost. On one hand, Frozen was one of my favorite movies of the year. Utterly endearing, nostalgiac Reid Stein

modern films. The acting was also fantastic, and so were the writing and characters—it was just a nearperfect movie. I liked Her so much because Joaquin Phoenix gave a great performance, although I find it kind of strange how the best movie Scarlet Johannsen’s been in is one where you don’t see her, which is pretty ironic. I really liked the film because of its sophisticated take on human relationships and what it Luke Jacobs means to love and all that — I thought it was a really great movie as well. I know he wasn’t nominated, but Spike Jonze’s direction in Her was also really fantastic.

Aidan Maurstad, sophomore

While I don’t think that it’s going to win, my favorite movie this year was American Hustle. Everything about it was amazing: the directing, the acting, the writing. And while the movie was hilarious, it still managed to mix some sadness and poignancy

2013 was a mighty fine year for cinematography. Of the films nominated, I haven’t seen Prisoners or The Grandmaster, but I’ve heard Grandmaster is pretty excellent and Prisoners was shot by Roger Deakins so I’m sure it’s great. Of the ones I’ve seen, Nebraska’s photography is stark yet warm and a brilliant example of Cole Gerthoffer why black and white images have such power. When it comes down to Inside Llewyn Davis and Her (which isn’t nominated, but should be), those are some of my favorite films in years and that’s thanks in no small part to their cinematography. Very rarely do you see a film where each shot sticks with you for its strength and beauty. While both films have a sensitive, muted color scheme, Her sticks out for its haunting slow-motion close-ups, like when water drips off Joaquin’s face. Inside Llewyn Davis is full of sad, beautiful images of people (and cats) walking through a big, cold world. Again, Her isn’t nominated, so I’d love if Davis won.

• Here’s a look at the reviews team’s picks for the main categories in this year’s Oscars:

CATEGORY | Our Prediction BEST PICTURE American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street BEST ACTOR Christian Bale (American Hustle) Bruce Dern (Nebraska) Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) BEST ACTRESS Amy Adams (American Hustle) Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) Sandra Bullock (Gravity) Judi Dench (Philomena) Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) June Squibb (Nebraska) BEST DIRECTOR American Hustle (David O. Russell) Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón) Nebraska (Alexander Payne) 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen) The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese) BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd) Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki) Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins) BEST ORIGINAL SCORE John Williams (The Book Thief) Steven Price (Gravity) William Butler, Owen Pallett (Her) Alexandre Desplat (Philomena) Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks) BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell) Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen) Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack) Her (Spike Jonze) Nebraska (Bob Nelson)

Gravity

I always like to keep track of the foreign film race for a breath of fresh air. This year, La Grande Bellezza really blew me away with its blend of whimsy, melancholy and William Sydney Italian. It’s a fascinating portrait of an aging journalist who’s starting to

and beautiful, it’s my favorite Disney film in a very long time. On the other hand is The Wind Rises. My favorite animated director of all time, Hayao Miyazaki, has put out his last full length film with The Wind Rises in Japan, and though I have not seen the movie, giving the award to him would be a huge honor and something that hasn’t been done since 2003 with Spirited Away.

• 86th Academy Awards • March 2, 6 p.m. central on ABC • Hosted by Ellen DeGeneres

Lupita Nyong’o

I really liked 12 Years a Slave. I thought the performances were great, I thought the cinematography was really pretty and the story was really intense. I think Michael Fassenbender in 12 Years a Slave was just really good. Very sadistic, very crazy — it was a good performance. I Jennifer Gilbert hope that’s not what he’s really like. I was looking at the directors, and it was kind of like the same-old, same-old guys, but I hope Steve McQueen wins. For me, a Best Picture has to win Best Director and Best Screenplay in order to be a real, true Best Picture. I don’t understand how you can be a Best Picture without having the best direction and the best screenplay and at least some acting nominations.

films in tightest Oscar race in years

The Oscar rundown

McConaughey

A N N U A L

Jared Leto

8 6 T H

OSCAR REVIEWS compiled by Nabeel Muscatwalla, reviews specialist and Davis Marsh, staff writer | photos from public domain, found on Creative Commons, headshots by Alden James and Nabeel Muscatwalla

OPINION

16 Hurtful words

17 Talking heads

18 Target practice

THE REMARKER | 16 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

EDITORIALS

e have all heard those words. Retard. Gay. A whole gamut of racial slurs. While we understand that these remarks are generally said jokingly and without malicious intent, we should remember that these words, when meant to offend, have been deemed unacceptable in modern society. They do, in fact, hurt. In other words, we must never use them on campus. As students, we cannot allow the school community to fall behind the increasingly accepting, tolerant society outside the school walls. In light of this issue’s special section on a developmentally disabled staff member, we must continue to keep up with the rest of the world, modifying our language to create a respectful, accepting atmosphere. Derogatory phrases, especially profane ones, have the potential to drag this community away from progress and into societal stagnancy. We cannot allow this to happen. We have compiled a list of three steps that students can take to avoid this stagnancy and to ensure that we fully integrate and accept every last community member. We hope all Marksmen consider these issues and take caution before using derogatory remarks: • Marksmen who use derogatory phrases are ill-prepared for the responses they may receive in college and the society that awaits them beyond, so we must create these social consequences here in our community. College-bound Marksmen must be prepared for the increasingly tolerant, mature culture that they will likely find when they leave this community. We urge students who do not appreciate slurs to speak up and voice their opinions. By telling fellow students that we consider their conduct inappropriate and immature, we make them aware of the social consequences to derogatory language. This will lead Marksmen to

develop subconscious filters that weed out derogatory language before they use it — and before it can do any harm. • Traditionally, students who feel hurt by slurs and jokes have been pressured to develop a “thick skin.” This is wrong. If we attempt to make these students less sensitive, we not only fail to integrate them into the community but also try to transform their identities to better suit our own tastes. For example, we should not try to make a student with a mentally challenged family member accustomed to the unacceptable misuse of the word “retard.” We urge community members to respect others’ sensitivities and to avoid injurious phrases, especially around people who may be hurt. The community must allow each person to feel comfortable in his own skin. • Equally concerning is the negative impact that hurtful language has on younger Marksmen who share the campus with us. By not watching our language, we skew children’s development and destroy their understanding of respectful societal conduct. By exposing younger Marksmen to slurs early in their development, we risk influencing them to use derogatory language even more than older students do. This doesn’t just keep the community stagnant in a state of intolerance; it also drags the community backward into a state of greater intolerance for years to come. For this reason, we must especially take caution with our language around younger students. We hope these suggestions will lead to a culture that better accepts community members from all backgrounds. We must continue to mold the atmosphere at this institution into a haven of acceptance. We control the fate of this institution’s social culture and must ensure that it continues to provide a safe place where all its students, faculty and staff can feel valued for decades to come.

LIBRARY Misuse of media center,

abuse of personnel is an embarrassment

arksmen are generally respectful of their surroundings. They can leave their backpacks all around campus because they know that they won’t be taken. For the most part, they keep the cafeteria clean. And if a faculty member asks them to pick something up or to quiet down, they listen. There is one glaring exception to this behavior, however, and it takes place in the library. Some students are loud; they don’t respect the materials of the library; and worst of all, they are blatantly disrespectful to the library staff. This behavior is an embarrassment to the community, and we strongly urge the student body to change its behavior in the following ways. • Students looking purely to socialize should not go to the library during their free periods and lunch periods. While we think it’s great that our students so naturally gravitate toward our library, we believe the library should be a place purely of study and quiet relaxation. Students looking to relax with friends should utilize the cafeteria, the commons and the centennial

lounge — places specifically designated for student congregating. • Students studying together in the library should keep their collaborative work to a low volume. We certainly see the value of working together on certain homework assignments and projects. However, when this collaboration is a major distraction to those attempting to read or study by themselves, a change needs to be made. • Students need to be much more respectful to the library staff. Our librarians work hard to keep the library running smoothly. When students so overtly disregard their requests to quiet down, they not only prevent the library from being a quiet atmosphere but also make the student body look bad. When Director of LIbrary and Information ServicesTinsley Silcox came to the school a few years ago and revamped the library, he gave it the potential to be a perfect place for studying. So far, we have let him and the library staff down with our behavior. It’s time for us to live up to expectations. It’s time to make a change.

ZUYVA SEVILLA ARTWORK

We must stop using derogatory terms

ALUMNI PANELS AND EVENTS, COLLEGE HOSTS

Young alumni can give back in many ways

s illustrated in this issue’s cover story, the school’s alumni network is large, vast and powerful. Current students are reaping the benefits of the Marksmen that came before them, and, as statistics show, young alumni are eager to give back to the school. But as each senior class transitions out of this institution and goes their separate ways — to college and beyond — we feel it is important to point out that college-aged alumni can help the school in more ways than just financial donations. They can do several other things to support the school soon after graduating. • Serving on alumni panels. Several forums exist for college-aged alumni to share their experiences and discuss how the school has prepared them. From giving advice to students through the Student Alumni Association to providing feedback to faculty at a luncheon over winter break, young alumni can use their experiences to improve the student experience here. • Welcoming students on college

visits. Upperclassmen on college visits can benefit greatly from the help of a former Marksman attending that college. Keeping in communication with the College Counseling office will allow young alumni to know when students are visiting so that they can answer any questions students may have and provide information and perspective that standard tours can’t. • Attending alumni events. Dinners, luncheons and other events are held several times throughout the year in different cities with a significant St. Mark’s presence. Going to these events provides a great opportunity to maintain connections to former classmates as well as to the school. Our alumni network is among the most impressive in the country, and supporting the school through these ways allows young alumni to tap into that network. For young former Marksmen, the amount given is not important. What matters is that Marksmen always stay connected.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 17

OPINION

heads TALKING

here’s no denying the importance of rudimentary financial skills to success later in life. But do they really need to be given the same weight as English, history or physics? No matter how you cut it, a finance class would take time away from students’ more intellectual pursuits. The side of business that actually calls for high-level reasoning already has a class: AP Economics. Asking faculty members to give us advice on future budget-balancing and tax-paying is an affront to their dignity; they’re here to share years of accumulated wisdom, not to Junior teach home ec. William Sydney There’ll be plenty of time to parse the gritty details of money management in college. For now, St. Mark’s should focus on honing the analytical skills students will need in any field, including and especially business. Finance is essentially knowledge-based, like horticulture and tying a bow tie, so all of the basics can be found online. High school is best suited to thought-based learning, like proofs and essays, that you actually need an experienced teacher to work through with you in a classroom environment. Figuring out how to save cash on Quicken when we could be exploring Dostoyevsky or biological processes is nothing but a waste of time.

Should the school provide education to help students understand and become familiar with the financial world? We asked junior William Sydney and senior Riley Graham for their opinions.

Financial education

early every student who passes through St. Mark’s leaves lacking essential knowledge of elementary financial concepts. That the knowledge of tasks such as filling out a tax return or writing a check is so sparse among our students is discouraging. With proper schooling in the financial realm, we could potentially eliminate our student body’s lack of a sense of value by encouraging students to keep track of how much money they spend. Only then would we move on to educating students about such topics as the Senior Riley power of investing. Graham Additionally, awareness of current events as they pertain to financial literacy is critical. There exists a wealth of information online regarding the subject, but we cannot trust our students to explore this themselves. Our understanding of events like the subprime mortgage crisis should extend beyond what a US History or Economics class teaches us. The addition of a program to combat our financial illiteracy would likely please parents and universities alike. A seminar format would suit such a program well, and if that setting attracted strong interest, a class on the subject could emerge. Our potential for knowledge in this valuable field should, at the least, be explored.

Our brothers’ little ears are listening

VISHAL GOKANI

pper schoolers have often asked me about my opposition to the use of profanity and derogatory phrases around middle and lower schoolers. With a fifth grader nearby, I recently heard an upper schooler jokingly unleash a stream of profane slurs in a place where negative influences can run rampant: the lunch line. He either didn’t check or didn’t mind if little ears were listening. The tiny Middle School boy heard the tall Upper School man using racial slurs and hurtful remarks, and he no longer felt qualms about using the same de-

Idolized upper schoolers who use derogatory phrases eradicate children’s moral codes, which parents, teachers and Upper School role models have painstakingly built.

rogatory phrases himself. I later heard the fifth grader using those phrases around a dozen of his friends, one of whom he insulted. The upper schooler unknowingly harmed the fifth grader’s understanding of appropriate social conduct and corrupted the development of an additional dozen students. In the eyes of younger Marksmen, this community is a kind of paradise where they can grow, and we upper schoolers are idolized as its demigods. I realize older students like the one in the lunch line generally use derogatory language without harmful intent. But intentions don’t matter. What matters is that we avoid hurting our brothers by corrupting younger Marksmen, prematurely exposing them and making them accustomed to this language. Idolized upper schoolers who

use derogatory phrases eradicate children’s moral codes, which parents, teachers and Upper School role models have painstakingly built. By setting a negative example, the joking student in the lunch line undermined positive behaviors that took the fifth grader years to develop. Upper schoolers’ use of derogatory phrases throws a wrench in children’s development, which hurtles off track, hurting the kids’ ability to judge socially acceptable language. Since children believe they should grow up just like us, we “demigods” have the power to destroy the purity in their lives. I had my own experiences with negative influences that led to the corruption of the goodwill and purity of childhood. I’ve told my story in chapel: when I was in Middle School, negative influences

Bedtime stories | Cartoon Zuyva Sevilla

Huh....

Well, time for bed....

from unaware older students led some of my classmates to deride ethnicities and cultures. As a sensitive kid, I struggled to find a cultural identity in the midst of ethnic bullying. While groups like Telos and the Leadership and Ethics Council aim to provide positive role models, older students’ negative influences can make a group of good-hearted children corrupt, disrespectful and even cruel. We cannot promote this skewed development by prematurely corrupting younger students with negative influences. Unlike most high school students, we upper schoolers have the responsibility to set a positive example to the little ears that pick up our every word. In particular, fifth graders fresh out of Lower School have joined older students on the main campus but have not yet been exposed to derogatory

language or profanity. This community serves as a kind of nursery, a cocoon where boys can grow, a safe place that negative influences cannot invade, a childhood paradise that promotes mental, physical and spiritual development. Since I have greatly benefited from this ideal environment, I now try to protect it. As exemplified by the Path to Manhood statue, Upper School men should show boys adult qualities such as compassion, virtues that define adulthood. Negative Upper School influences threaten to unravel this mission, a vision of the school. We can’t allow them do so. Along with parents and teachers, we hold the future of our younger brothers in our hands. They’re counting on us. • See editorial, “We must stop using derogatory terms,” page 16.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 18

OPINION

Those pesky mosquitos

DYLAN

CLARK

have always been the kid asking questions. It started in pre-kindergarten, when I made my mom take me to the ESD Lower School chaplain so I could ask, “Why are there mosquitos?” Father Harmuth had no answer for that one, which is honestly pretty disappointing. They don’t make much sense. I get that spiders eat them and everything, but what purpose do mosquitos serve? They just spread disease and make Texas summers worse than they already are. But I didn’t give up. In a third grade parent-teacher conference at another school, my teacher, who called me Jack 60 percent of the time, told my mom two things. First, she diagnosed me with a handwriting ‘disease’ — which was silly because I’m left handed and she just didn’t like how some pencil marks would smear across the page as my hand moved. It’s a struggle to be lefty. Second, and more importantly, she said

I raised my hand too much to ask questions. Apparently, I was intimidating the other students by trying to participate in the institution designed as a place to ask questions: school. No middling third grade teacher could stop my questions though. I only picked up the pace. I asked about baseball, kangaroos and how trees got so tall. I asked if pizza was good for me and what if all desserts became main meals. I asked why grandparents have to die and how I could live forever. I got answers for some, ‘I don’t know’s for others, and I got questions asked back at me for a few (How do you know narwhals aren’t real?). My questions eventually grew from a child’s to a young man’s. I asked why the Watsons did go to Birmingham. I asked why MLK fought for peace and

Malcolm X advocated retaliation. I asked why Barry Bonds gets to have the home run record when Hank Aaron never took steroids. This school has provided a platform for even more. hy do colleges send out 30-page paper packets advocating how ‘green’ they are? How does Sisyphus roll his rock to the peak of a mountain each and every day, only to have it fall back down? What is the ‘Path to Manhood’ and does it come with a map? I realize that some questions might never be answered. What can we do to help our nation’s veterans who go through indescribable anguish after war? How can someone wake up every morning and challenge himself to be his truly best self? It’s pretty hard not to have some bad days.

How does anyone answer the question ‘Who am I?’ It seems that English teachers can ask it ad infinitum but does anyone really know? I think these are the questions it takes a lifetime to answer. I’m sure Dr. Ploegstra up in Michigan would have a few answers. I know that the maintenance staff and food service staff have figured out how to devote themselves to the community that they’re a part of. It seems Johnny Hunter, Dwight Phillips and Greg Guiler are well on their ways to figuring out how to present their best selves every day. And I’m almost positive that Mr. Holtberg has figured out how to give all of himself to something he truly believes in. But with a handful of answers in my back pocket, a few half-answers that I’m working on finishing and a enough unanswered questions to fill the Mariana Trench, one thing really bothers me. Why in the world are there mosquitos?

target

p r a c t i c e The New Headmaster | On point eadmaster Arthur Ruff ’23 rapidly scaled the promotion ladder when he rose from third grade student directly to headmaster Jan. 21. Donning a black bow tie and taking over the headmaster’s office, Arthur treated the student body to the greatest lunch of the year, complete with pizza, chicken fingers and Indian food. Still, he couldn’t figure out why they switched the salad and sandwich bars.

The cold | Too cold t’s been a weird winter. The temperatures even dipped to the ages of some of our older Marksmen. We checked with NOAA and are pretty sure it’s never been that cold in Texas... like ever. Ice patches have been popping up like clingy old friends that everyone thought moved to California and sweatpants (however against the rules) have been a much needed commodity to keep us Marksmen’s grey-shorts-clad calves from freezing in the deadly cold.

SHOURYA KUMAR PHOTO

ANDREW GATHERER PHOTO

Lit Fest | Enlightening

he annual Literary Festival provided students with a taste of writers’ worlds, while the classy library reception after school transported us into an 18th century writer’s guild, complete with silver sterling ornaments and live orchestral music. We thank the library staff, the musicians and the student and faculty chairs for the well-planned event.

College Applications | Off-target

ollege deferrals: Who came up with this vague ambiguity? Just give us a “yes” or a “no.” Scrap the intolerable “maybe,” which gives deferred seniors a speck of hope that they rekindle until March and April, when regular decisions arrive. A black-or-white answer is all we ask.

REMARKER STUDENT NEWSPAPER

editor-in-chief creative director issues editor managing editor senior content editor business manager opinion editor graphics director head photographer special projects editor

Dylan Clark Sam Khoshbin Ryan O’Meara Aidan Dewar Charlie Golden John Caldwell Vishal Gokani Zuyva Sevilla Andrew Gatherer Alexander Munoz

deputy opinion editor Shourya Kumar news editors Alex Kim Vikram Pattabi life editors Cyrus Ganji Cole Gerthoffer sports editors Matthew Conley Teddy Edwards

campus coordinator Ford Robinson reviews specialist Nabeel Muscatwalla copy editor William Sydney staff artists Purujit Chatterjee, Joon Park staff photographers Halbert Bai, Harrison Chen, Arno Goetz, Riley

Graham, Alden James, Graham Kirstein, Cameron Lam, Adam Marchant, Tim O’Meara, Connor Olson, Nico Sanchez, Mason Smith, Corbin Walp staff writers Nick Buckenham, Jacob Chernick, Tabish Dayani, Will Forbes, Richard Jiang, Bradford Beck, William

Caldwell, Cameron Clark, Will Clark, Andrew Hatfield, Kevin He, Noah Koecher, Akshay Malhotra, Davis Marsh, Roby Mize, Philip Montgomery, Zachary Naidu, Matthew Placide, Avery Powell, Anvit Reddy, Philip Smart, Abhi Thummala, P.J. Voorheis staff assistants

Rish Basu, Aiden Blinn, Daniel Cope, John Crawford, Corday Cruz, James Hancock, Easton Honaker, Nolan Jenevein, Shaheer Khan, Case Lowry, Aidan Maurstad, Crawford McCrary, Rohil Rai, Gopal Raman, Ethan Shah. adviser Ray Westbrook

student newspaper of st. mark’s school of texas • dallas, texas 75230 • 214.346.8000 • www.smtexas.org/remarker Coverage. The ReMarker covers

topics, issues, events and opinions of relevance and interest to the St. Mark’s School of Texas community. Letters. Send submissions to the editor at 10600 Preston Road, Dallas, 75230 or via email at remarker@ smtexas.org. Letters should be brief and signed, although the writer may request anonymity. Letters may be rejected if libelous or obscene material

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will be presented in each issue in the form of editorials, which are clearly labeled and appear on the Opinion pages. Columns. Personal opinion is expressed through by-lined columns, which appear throughout the publication. Advertising. Contact the business staff

at 214.346.8145. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Inclusion of an advertisement in these pages is not an indication of an endorsement by The ReMarker, any of its staff members or St. Mark’s School of Texas. Distribution. Press run is 3,800 copies. Copies are provided free of charge to students, faculty and staff at various distribution sites on campus and at our sister school, The Hockaday

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Senior wrestler Zach Papin forces an opponent to the ground in a tournament in Morris G. Spencer Gymnasium Jan 10. The team faced Mckinney Christian, Grand Prairie and Fort Worth Country Day. p. 23

SPORTS AROUND CAMPUS

“I expect to be competitive this year.As competitive as St. Mark’s has been in the Page 22 last several years.”

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 | PAGE 19

upcoming

never knew Colin, but after reading about him in the news, I knew he was a great kid. So why did he suffer the consequences of speeding? He was a smart kid at a great school. He had a serious devotion to his religion. Everyone at school liked him. What made him deserve this when I only got a red light? It’s something I’ll never know the answer to, but something that still haunts me to this day. Every day I pass that intersection at Northwest Highway and Shady Brook, and every day I think of him. I think of me. My ridiculous thinking that I was somehow invincible. And still today, so many of my classmates think the exact same way. We all do things without thinking of the consequences, and, more often than not, someone else has suffered them before. I’m not writing this to tell everyone to stop taking risks. But I learned my lesson that night. And that is one thing I’ll never do again.

Today

Weekend

Next Week

> In one of their final counter games, varsity soccer travels to Oklahoma City Casady and plays at 5 p.m.

> Varsity basketball travels to Holland Hall at 1 p.m. Saturday hoping to end their season on a positive note before the SPC tournament.

> Finishing their season, junior varsity basketball plays the Home School Athletic Association in Hicks Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. The Lions lost to Home School in an earlier tournament game.

> In their last regular season game, varsity soccer also travels to Oklahoma tomorrow to play Holland Hall at 1 p.m.

> SPC tournaments begin for all sports next weekend. Varsity basketball, soccer and wrestling will travel to Houston for competition. Meanwhile, varsity swimming heads to Shenandoah, TX to compete at the Conroe ISD Natatorium. >Spring sports preseason continues in preperation for tryouts in two weeks.

A ROUNDUP OF THE LATEST IN ATHLETICS ON AND OFF CAMPUS

• Junior varsity basketball is off to a solid start, going 11-6 this season. Currently, the team is on a three-game win streak after defeating the Trinity Valley School, THESA and Fort Worth Country Day. Led by leading scorer, sophomore Niegel Stevens, the team is undefeated in SPC conference play. “We have high hopes for this year,” sophomore Bradford Beck said. “The team has really come to together over the course of the season.” • Michael Boughton will join the varsity baseball staff as an assistant coach this upcoming spring. Current assistant coach Sam Carpenter, a member of the staff for more than 20 years, referred head varsity coach John Hunter to Boughton. His past baseball experience includes playing in the minor leagues and coaching for a Los Angeles Dodgers minor league team. “What a skill set he [Boughton] brings,” Hunter said. “Former outfielder, hitting guru, he’s very encouraging and an excellent fit here. I think the guys are really looking forward to working with him.”

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

About my vocabulary quiz the next day. About my dog I’d be putting down later that week. And then it hit me. Two years ago, there was another kid who was in the same place. Driving a BMW down Northwest Highway at insane speeds, coming home late at night, a junior in high school. Yet we had our differences. I had just been cut from the basketball team. Over. He was just having fun, coming home from swimming. I was angry. He was happy. I hit a red light. He hit a Volvo. He made the news. He never went home. 16 years. Over. Colin Stone, a Cistercian student who died in a car accident two years ago, suffered so much for his actions, but I suffered nothing.

tip-off

SPORTING EVENTS IN THE DAYS AHEAD

DODGING THE DEFENSE Looking for an opening, sophomore Parker Dixon is one of the six sophomores on the varsity basketball team. He helped the team win 69-54 in the counter game against Fort Worth Country Day Jan. 24.

•Stanford junior wide receiver Ty Montgomery ’11 was named a consensus first-team All-American for the 2013 season. This is Montgomery’s first selection as an All-American. Montgomery led the nation with a 31.2 yards/game kickoff return average and tied second nationally with two kickoffs returned for touchdowns. Recently Montgomery announced he will return to Stanford for his senior year and final season of eligibility. • After starting the season with three straight wins, the junior varsity soccer team has tallied six more games in the win column while adding three ties and just one loss since the time of print. Head coach Craig Congdon’s team has racked up 33 goals while letting in only 15 goals throughout the season. This powerful offense and shut down defense has led them to their stellar record of 9-1-3.

GRAHAM KIRSTEIN PHOTO

MATTHEW CONLEY

SHAKE AND BAKE Stopping the ball on a dime, junior defender Sam Dockery makes a move against Fort Worth Country Day. The Lions would go on to lose the home game 0-1.

FANCY FOOTWORK Dribbling the ball up the field, seventh grader Rhys Arana looks to shoot in a 5-0 home win against Prestonwood Christian Jan. 10. Arana has six shot attempts this season.

• With a 12-0 record, the eigth grade soccer team hopes to accomplish its goal of an undefeated season going into the last month of their season. One of the squad’s most impressive wins came against ESD, where the Lions won 4-1 in a Jan. 24 home game at Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium. Seventh grade soccer has had a successful season as well with only two losses on the season. When the Lions traveled to Oakridge Jan. 14, the team came out with a 10-1 win. Mateo Guevara leads the team with 32 goals and five hat tricks. • Freshman basketball has a 6-7 record going into its final games of February. Leading scorer Rish Basu hopes to bring the team back up to a winning record with a game against Home School Athletic Association today. “I hope we can pull out a win,” Basu said. “It would be nice for the team to come together and finish the season well.” — Tip-off stories reported by Cameron Clark, Philip Montgomery, Zach Naidu, Will Forbes and Philip Smart

young guns

KICKING AND SWIMMING Doing his best Michael Phelps impression, sophomore swimmer Eric Li swims his way to help his team to a 122-48 victory over Bishop Lynch Jan. 10. Li recently broke the 100 meter breaststroke school record.

YOUNG VARSITY ATHLETES WITH STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

ALDEN JAMES PHOTOS

weaved through the late rush-hour traffic on Northwest Highway just trying to blow off steam. Fifth gear—65 miles per hour. Sixth gear—80 miles per hour. Accidents seemed like something that happened to other people. Couldn’t happen to me. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do at the time. I hadn’t been so furious ever before. I crossed Central Expressway heading east, and that’s when I finally hit a red light—at the intersection with Shady Brook. I slammed on the brakes, cursing to myself about what had just happened. About getting cut from the basketball team an hour before—something I had worked at for four years.

ALDEN JEAMS PHOTO

Consequences are right in front of us

“

VARSITY LACROSSE COACH FRANCIS DONALD '03

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

HOLDING THEM DOWN

Jalen Lynch

To go along with a 6-2, 235 pound frame, sophomore center Jalen Lynch intimidates foes with his old-school afro. He is a routine starter in the lineup, and he posted 12 points in a win over Red Oak High School.

Jake Vaughn

Only a freshman, this varsity soccer defender has certified himself as a starter. He has helped solidify the Lion’s defense that shut out Greenhill in a counter game Jan. 28.

SPORTS

21 Greg Guiler

22 Community Service

24 Swimming

23 Winter Sports

THE REMARKER | 20 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Making it count THE GRIND Constantly thinking about every meal, senior Zach Papin (above) keeps a strict diet to stay in the correct class for every wrestling tournament. Wrestlers Blake Spangler, Zach Papin and Nick Brodsky (right) take on opponents at the Lone Star Pools Invitational Dec. 14.

DISPROVING PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF ‘CUTTING WEIGHT,’ COACH JUSTIN TURNER HAS HIS WRESTLERS EATING SMARTER. THE RESULT? A LEANER, MEANER WRESTLING MACHINE.

In college, he played football at 200 pounds. When wrestling season came around, he dropped down to 163 as quickly as possible. By any means possible. Twelve miles a day. A dehydrating sweat suit. Anything to drop the pounds or, in wrestling terms, make weight. Justin Turner did everything possible to maintain his desired weight during wrestling season at Oklahoma State University. Now, as varsity wrestling coach, Turner is making sure no one has to do what he did. No more starving. No more dehydrating.

it g n i k a

o go along with his smart eating, Papin has learned tricks to stay healthy while also making weight. “[My brother and I] have learned to focus on when in the week to eat different foods,” Papin said. “Early in the week, Sunday, Monday, you want to focus on filling yourself up with low calorie foods like salads, vegetables and fruits so you don’t get hungry and start snacking while also keeping your calories low so you start to burn off extra fat.” As the week progresses, calorie count is not as important as how much the food actually weighs. “On Fridays,” Papin said, “I’ll have nothing but power

‘ELMO’

Portion control

Working out

Fast food

bars and although they’re about 250-300 calories a piece, which is about the same as a normal meal, they only weigh two or three ounces.” Even with all of his tricks, experience, and new regulations meant to keep wrestlers safe, Papin can still occasionally feel the effect of dieting. “You can always feel it when you don’t cut weight right,” Papin admitted. “You drain yourself of energy during the week and then you go and try to compete at a high level. You got to really work on taking care of your body, taking your ice baths, making sure to stay hydrated earlier in the week so you’re not losing it during practice and after weigh-ins you try to get as much nutrition in you as possible.” Dieting is an important part of wrestling, but both Papin and Turner believe that most spectators have a stereotypical view of weight management in modern wrestling. “There’s kinda the preconceived notion that all wrestlers do is just starve themselves,” Papin said. “Sometimes yeah, we’re a little hungrier than others, but we know what we are doing and we try to stay as healthy as possible about it.”

“Eat Less More Often” is an acronym Turner uses to set up the basic diet of his wrestlers. Instead of eating three large meals a day, Turner wants his wrestlers to eat five small meals a day to speed up their metabolisms.

Turner has a basic rule for the size of his wrestlers’ meals: no larger than the size of their fists. Any meal larger than that is too much. When weigh-in is coming up, Papin worries more about food weight than calorie count.

Wrestlers are encouraged to work out often and well. Junior Jake Holder works out two to three times per day, spending his mornings at his local YMCA and wrestling in the afternoons. He focuses on light lifting and cardio.

Wrestlers are not allowed to eat any fast-food or dessert during the season. Home cooked meals are strongly encouraged for every meal simply to avoid preservatives and extra fats from fast-food restaurants.

The results USED WITH PERMISSION, JAKE HOLDER

Dieting & preparation The Turner Plan

on meals. “Its about what you eat, when,” Papin said. “On more of a daily basis, you want to focus on, before your workouts, eating a lot of carbs to get more energy into you, that way you can get the most out of your workouts. After your practices, when your body is all beat up and worn out, that’s when you eat your protein, your lean meats, your fish, chicken, turkey—all those of food to help rebuild your muscles.”

MAKING IT COUNT story by Teddy Edwards and Matthew Conley, sports editors | photos by Matthew Conley, sports editor, Conner Olson, staff photographer

count

Now, Turner is making sure his wrestlers here are safe. “To be honest, at St. Marks we don’t cut a lot of weight,” Turner said. “We do some management of weight, but truthfully we don’t have a single kid on our team that is cutting large amounts of weight.” In addition to keeping wrestlers from having to cut weight, Turner’s wrestling program follows strict guidelines from the National Wrestling Coaches Federation (NWCF). “We have tests that evaluate body weight percentage, hydration analysis and other factors that tell us how much weight a kid can lose and how fast he can lose it,” Turner said. Because of the National Wrestling Coaches Federation rules, wrestlers cannot lose more than 1.5 percent of their body weight per week and cannot go below seven percent body fat during the season. These new regulations keep wrestlers safe and put an end to yo-yo dieting, where wrestlers would lose tens of pounds on weigh-in day only to gorge themselves the day after to regain the weight. For senior captain Zach Papin, dieting during wrestling season is more about eating smart than cutting back

Junior Jake Holder uses Turner’s system and has safely lost 22 pounds during the season. He is now at the lowest weight class he can wrestle at (126 lbs) safely, according to the National Wrestling Coaches Federation.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 21

SPORTS T H E

G U I L E R S

Role reversal An odd twist of fate has made Greg Guiler his father’s new boss

ay or night. Rain or shine. They were always playing ball. Growing up in Canal Winchester, Ohio, Greg Guiler learned the game of basketball through the guidance of his father Scott Guiler. No matter if they were in their basement during the frigid Ohio winters, or out on their patio-turned basketball court during the blistering summers, Scott relentlessly taught Greg the game they both loved. Whether it concerned the arc on Greg’s shot or the fluidity of his dribbling, Scott never failed to hone his son’s blossoming skills. Greg the student. Scott the coach. From the time Greg could first hold a ball up until he graduated from Cedarville University. That’s the way it was for so long. Which is why their newest arrangement is a bit strange. Greg the boss. Scott the assistant. That’s the way it is now. As the basketball season passes the halfway mark, varsity basketball coach Greg Guiler and new JV coach Scott Guiler have come to appreciate their journey to this point. The fact that Scott, rather than Greg, is now taking orders has made for quite a unique story of the relationship between the father and son. The coaching duo sat down for an interview with ReMarker staff writer William Caldwell.

Scott: I remember when we started out, we took a regular size basket and put it on a backboard that was about two foot by two foot and we had it in the basement, and our rafters were only about 7 feet high. And we would come down every night and we would play on this little basket. It was about five foot. With a regular size ball, regular size basket. Just a space about twice the size of this office. We’d play about every night. And then I’d take that basket out in the spring and put it on this little patio on a pole and we’d play there. Greg: I’d grow a little taller each summer. Scott: Yup, Greg would get a little bigger each summer. And then I built a full court in the backyard, a small full court, but it was two baskets, you could shoot threes at each end we played out there till midnight. Greg: Aw, it felt like the big time. Scott coached Greg in hundreds of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) games, traveling across the country with his son, teaching him new things every step of the way and helping shape him into the man he is today: Greg: I always remember my immaturity as an eighth grader. We had a scrimmage that didn’t mean much and Dad said, “I’m happy to ref the game.” I had my aunt in from out of town, and I was just in one those kind of whiney moods, and every time I drove to the basket I was getting fouled. Not to brag, but I was probably the best player on the team, and he wasn’t going to give me a single call. I remember just being furious with him. The whole entire event he wouldn’t call a single thing.” Afterwards, Greg was fuming. HEAD COACH GREG GUILER

He didn’t embarrass me or anything, but he endured my immaturity. I didn’t know how to react.

Greg: “He (Scott) was like, “Hey, it’s a scrimmage Greg, you know I don’t want to look like I’m favoring you, just hang in there.” I was like, “No! We’re playing one on one right now.” We went over to the auxiliary gym and played one on one and I’m just being this immature brat. We get in there playing one-on-one and I’m trying to run into him and throwing the ball up and I remember him being so patient and being like, “Hey, you’re just going to have to grow up a little bit.” He didn’t embarrass me or anything, but he endured my immaturity. For some reason that was one of those strange interactions that I’ll never forget. Scott: That’s wild. I do not remember that at all. Eventually Greg made it to high school and got a new coach. But that didn’t keep Scott from staying involved. Greg: You reach that certain age where it’s like, ‘Just get off my back.’ So when I started high school I was fortunate enough to be a starter as a freshman. And the first game you know, I had a really good game and was averaging about 20 a game after maybe eight games, something like that, and he would be hollering little things from the stands. I finally said, “Hey, this has to stop.” Scott: You didn’t say this until the summer of your junior year. Greg: Was it that late? Scott: Yeah. Greg: Really? I thought it was midway through freshman year. Scott: No. And I would never say anything selfish like a lot of parents tended to do. I would say, “More arch,” “Follow through,” “Move your feet,” something along that line. And the summer of his junior year, he said, “Dad I love your coaching. You can tell me anything you want before the game, anything you want after the game, but I don’t want to hear your voice during the game.” It wasn’t too long before Scott was burned. Scott: “About the first game of the

GETTING IN THE GAME Head JV coach Scott Guiler (center, rear) is flanked by senior John Webb and assistant coach Ryan Parker as the trio listen to head basketball coach Greg Guiler direct his players. The timeout was taken during the third quarter of the Lions’ 69-54 win over Fort Worth Country Day Jan. 17.

season I was sitting there between two little old ladies in the bleachers only about fifteen feet from the court and he’s taking the ball out of bounds and I said some fundamental thing like “More arch”. Going into the season he said, “Now dad if I hear you say anything you owe me $5. Is that fair?” and I said, “Yeah, that’s fair.” And so I said some little fundamental advice, and he was taking the ball out of bounds and the ref hadn’t handed him the ball yet, and he turns around and he does this to me (flashes five fingers). And I’m sitting there between two little old ladies with my wife Carol just a few seats down. I thought he was kind of waving to me and I thought, “Boy, that’s really unusual for Greg to even acknowledge me.” And these little old ladies thought it was cute. Then about 60 seconds later, I realized he gave me the $5 sign. I owed him $5. So that was the last time I said something to him during a game in his senior year. It was a good thing you know. Even after Greg grew up, basketball remained an integral part of their lives. Greg: I remember when we first moved to Dallas nine years ago, he came to town to visit. I think maybe he had just turned 60, and we had these two ex-college basketball players who walked in the gym and they were both real good. And he’s always one who is like, “Hey let’s play some two-on-two,” and I’m like, “Dad you don’t know what you are getting yourself into I’ve played with these two guys before.” And we start the game and he hit seven consecutive threes and we beat them. They were like “Okay, we are going to need to do this again.” And they were out there competing that second time around. They knuckled down. I’m sure they probably beat us the second time, I don’t remember. I just remember the first time those guys kind of being wide-eyed like “Woah, I can’t believe this old man just made us look this bad.” It has been a long journey for Greg and Scott, and an odd one to say the least. While the sport they love has brought them together once again, this time fate

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Demonstrating a post defense principle, varsity coach Greg Guiler (left) and his father, JV coach Scott Guiler, have been working together to better the school’s basketball program. This unusual coaching situation has enabled the younger Guiler to use methods taught by his dad more than two decades ago.

has turned the tide, with Greg being the lead dog. However, despite the role reversal, Scott is still making a contribution to Greg’s program as the JV coach. “He’s just got a good understanding of how to work with guys on an individual basis,” Greg Guiler said. “He sees the little details that I sometimes take for granted. He’s been real good with some of the JV guys in that regard, and even varsity guys when we practice together. It’s been good.”

ROLE REVERSAL story by Zachary Naidu, William Caldwell and Anvit Reddy, staff writers | photos by Alden James, staff photographer

Page 22

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

SPORTS S O C C E R

H A B I T A T

F O R

H U M A N I T Y

Carrying on the tradition Soccer kicks off Habitat for Humanity build yet again tradition, the varsity soccer team continues to jumpstart the Habitat for Humanity project for the Community Service Board. Varsity soccer head coach Corindo Martin began the tradition with former Community Service Department head Jenne Laube. “Ms. Laube and I started the tradition,” Martin said. “She and I were close, and we were looking for ways to get our student body involved in giving of themselves outside the St. Mark’s community. Along with Sr. Correa, we identified three events where our soccer team could do a great deal of good: Hunt 4 Soccer Clinics, Special Olympics, and Habitat for Humanity.” Martin continues with the tradition because he enjoys the positive energy that radiates at the scene. “The Community Service Department has benefited because Habitat for Humanity can count on a good-sized work force that will do a good job TOOLS IN HAND For the fifth year in a row, soccer players donated a Saturday on the weekend when the project kicks off,” Martin volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity construction site. Senior varsity said. “I like to think of it as positive inertia to start the soccer captain Jacob Wilner works with his father, Dr. Matthew Wilner, during project.” the first day’s build. ommunity Service Department head Jorge Correa has carried on the tradition. riday night. “It has worked great in the past,” Correa Getting ready for their game against Trinity Valley. said. “The coach, Mr. Martin, and his players are very reliThey slide their jerseys on, put their socks on and able.” slip their shin guards in. They lace up their cleats and jog Along with starting the project, senior captain Jacob out to warm up for their first counter-match of the season. Wilner also just simply enjoys the task. After defeating the Trojans 5-1, the varsity soccer team “I think it’s helpful to really get a great start on the projclimbs back in the bus and begins a one-hour ride back to ect.” Wilner said. “All the guys really enjoy it.” 10600 Preston Road. Along with being together, Wilner also thinks it offers a After a short night’s sleep, the soccer team members team bonding experience. wakes up and gets ready for a full day of work at the Habitat “It’s usually after a Friday night game, so it’s always fun for Humanity site, initiating the whole house-building process. Going into their fifth year of the community service to talk about that and have some team bonding for a good

cause,” Wilner said. Correa believes that having the soccer team there also helps the other volunteers on the site on the same starting day. “I believe it is a great example for the other volunteers,” Correa said. “It helps others understand that a successful team of students may also work together for a completely different goal.” Wilner also thinks that having the soccer team there helps the other volunteers. “I think it helps in the sense that they see a group of guys that enjoys it and works on it every year so it encourages them to help and come out more,” Wilner said. Correa would love to continue this tradition for as long as possible and to get other teams involved as well. “Actually, now we have a couple of requests from two other school teams to be the main group of volunteers in the next Saturdays,” Correa said. “The soccer team led the way, others are following their good example, and both the Community Service program and the Habitat project are benefiting from their initiative.” Martin truly knows how much of an impact this makes on others. “We do this for many reasons, some obvious and others not so much so,” Martin said. “In the beginning it was easy to sell to the players because we participate in lieu of training that day and because it was a great way to get community service hours during a time of year that is incredibly hectic. I think as a team and as individuals we are the ones who benefit from the experience, it is rather cathartic.” Martin understands that as well as making themselves better, the team is making others around them better as well. “All of the important principles that are the core of team sports are reaffirmed in this endeavor,” Martin said. “Doing good for others and making those around you better.”

CARRYING ON THE TRADITION story by William Caldwell, staff writer| photos by Riley Graham, head photographer

New lacrosse coach Donald looks to continue past teams’ success By Andrew Hatfield staff writer t is 2003, and the lacrosse team has just lost a heart-breaker to ESD by one goal. Senior Francis Donald walks of the off the field, head bowed, drenched in sweat, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, and already missing the team he would be leaving behind: never again would he take the field as a member of the Lions lacrosse team. But now, Donald is back in a way he never could have imagined in 2003: as the head coach. Donald was asked to take the Varsity Lacrosse coaching job by former head coach Byron Lawson and Headmaster Arnie Holtberg. “I was living in Rochester, New

ARNO GOETZ PHOTO

New head lacrosse coach and admissions officer Francis Donald.

York and I wanted to get back to a big city feel and get back to where it feels comfortable,” Donald said. “I came back here originally not to work for St. Mark’s. It just so happened that they needed a coach and I said yes immediately.” Over the past few years, the lacrosse team has been extremely successful, winning a State championship last year, so the new coach knows expectations are high. “I expect to be competitive this year,” Donald said. “As competitive as St. Mark’s has been in the last several years.” Despite past success, Donald still has some changes he would like to make to the program, especially strengthening the younger side of the program. “I want to make the program more inclusive, top to bottom, First grade through 12th grade,” he said. “I want to

try and get as many kids playing lacrosse as possible to really strengthen the base of the program so we can have competitive varsity teams moving forward.” Among these changes is the addition of a junior varsity team. “We are implementing a JV program this year,” Donald said, “which we haven’t had in a while and which I think will do a lot to keep kids interested even if they are not at the varsity level but they still want to continue to play.” Senior captain Kellam Hall agrees that brining back a junior varsity team is a good idea. “The idea of bringing back our JV program is great,” Hall said. “Great programs are built in the younger stages, and bringing back our JV team is pivotal to our success as a program.” Faculty members Kurt Tholking, Lukas Rahlson and Andrew Farrar will all be assisting the new coach this year. While he is looking for more coaches outside of the community, Donald is happy with the people he has. “The knowledge base of lacrosse on campus is great,” he said. “I think there are a couple of guys off-campus that we could potentially get but I think we are in a good spot right now.” Donald is also happy to see how much the sport he loves has grown on campus. “The greatest part about coming back here is to see how much lacrosse has grown,” said Donald. Now, Donald looks to spread his passion for lacrosse not only to the team but also throughout the entire community. “My goal is to really build the program and really promote the sport to everybody on campus,” Donald said. “Really bring it in and make it more of a community-based program.”

NEW TECHNOLOGY HELPING ATHLETES

Weight room upgrades equipment By Matthew Placide staff writer ountless individual tackles can be credited to it. Quicker starts on the track are made possible by it. Better reaction results on the basketball court come from it. But, it’s not a coach. Or a supplement. It’s really just a place – the place all these athletes congregate to better their physical performance. It’s the weight room. Athletic director Mark Sullivan agrees that the weight room – with its countless bench, squat and dead-lift stations – plays a big role in an athlete’s success. “I think the weight room is huge,” Sullivan said. “I think that almost every coach would tell you that the better you can develop lean muscle mass, the more successes you’re going to see on the field.” After years of use, equipment dete-

riorates, so new equipment is installed constantly to better the muscle-building process for student athletes while keeping the room safe. “We’ve added quite a bit and just in this last week you’ve seen a lot of new stuff [go] up there.” Sullivan said. “We’ve added more multiple purpose racks and stations and in doing that we’ve increased our ability to bench and our ability to squat.” With new technology comes new responsibility, which is why students are now only allowed to use the weight room while there is supervision by a coach or other verified supervisor. “I think [the weight room] has been a huge part to the success here and I think it could be an even bigger part if we had the time,” Sullivan said. “But given how our schedule is, I think we maximize what we have and the time allotments that we have probably better than anybody in the conference as reflected by our successes.”

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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SPORTS W I N T E R

S P O R T S

ALDEN JAMES PHOTOS

Powerhouse Winter sports work to dominate SPC competition

LASER FOCUS Chasing the ball late in a game, junior Ben Wilner is a key factor as the Lions progress through counter season and into SPC play.

DRIVING Striding past a Fort Worth Country Day defender, sophomore Jalen Lynch has been a key contributor for the Lions.

Soccer looks to fill leadership gaps after captain Jacob Wilner suffers season-ending hip injury By Ford Robinson campus coordinator ith senior leader and varsity soccer captain Jacob Wilner sidelined with a season ending hip injury, the Lions, twotime defending champions, have searched for leadership both on and off the field. “Since I cannot be a leader on the field during the games, I must still be a moral and mental leader from the sidelines by giving players pointers, encouraging them, and helping them understand the game,” Wilner said. Corindo Martin, varsity soccer head coach, strayed from his normal routine by naming only one captain this year. “Since we only have one captain, and now he’s out, you can tell that our leadership has become a sort of leadership by committee,” Martin said. “We don’t really have that one person that everyone looks up to.” Leadership by committee can be both a good and a bad thing for the Lions looking ahead to the end of the season, according to the coach. “It’s bad in that when Jacob is in there, we are much more patient and calm,” Martin said. “The good part is a lot of people are having to step up their games. I’m really pleased with some of the juniors—Jack Fojtasek, Ben Wilner, and Hilario Vargas—who have really stepped up and led by example.”

While many players are stepping up into more of a leadership role, it’s nearly impossible to replace the four-year varsity player. “Jacob brought to our team an experienced, skilled, calming presence in the middle of the field,” Martin said. “He was tall enough that he could win a lot of balls in the air, but he was also skilled enough to collect those balls and make smart decisions.” Without him, Martin looks to find the right combination of players in the middle of the field to combat Wilner’s injury. He argues that the team should go back to the basics, working on their team tactics, time of possession, and getting in the right place at the right time. “I’ve been real pleased with the progressed we’ve made, now we just have to capitalize on our scoring chances because we have not been doing that,” Martin said. Wilner agrees with Martin that scoring chance capitalization will be an important aspect in the team’s quest for making division one. “The most important thing we need to do is play with passion,” Wilner said. “In the past three years, we have had so much success through counter season and SPC because everyone has been willing to sacrifice themselves for the team and wanted to win so badly that we displayed more heart than a lot of teams.”

STARE DOWN Senior Zach Papin dodges his opponent at a home tournament.

Detailed goal setting leads basketball to 5-1 start in SPC counter play including a 66-64 win over rival ESD By Bradford Beck and Anvit Reddy staff writers hey were 6-6 going into counter season. A talented team that had lost to some tough competition. Head coach Greg Guiler knew something had to change. His team had to get back to basics. One by one, as a team, they set goals for each game. From having fewer turnovers to protecting the paint, the players knew exactly what they had to do to win. These goals combined to make an ultimate goal for the varsity basketball team—one that did not have to be said. To win an SPC championship. “I think that there have to be some things that you kind of have to have mapped out for yourself,” Guiler said. “That’s what a good team or a good corporation or any individual or group trying to achieve at a high level does. That’s just standard practice. You’ve got to have goals in mind and hold yourself accountable.” Ever since Guiler helped his team map out these goals, the varsity squad is 5-1 in conference play at press time, including Feb. 1 66-64 win against ESD. Along with the goals the players listed, the team’s versatility and depth has allowed them to gain the upper hand against their SPC competition. “I think one of our biggest strengths is our depth,” Guiler said. “We have a lot of

guys who contribute in major situations. Another strength is that we have a lot of guys who are versatile. We have several guys who can play out on the perimeter or in the post. That makes us very tough to guard and really allows us to matchup well with other teams.” “One of the main reasons that this year’s varsity team has so much more depth than previous teams is because of the strength of the sophomore class. Although the underclassmen struggled to adjust at first, the sophomores were able to quickly adapt to the SPC competition because of their willingness to listen to coaches and upperclassmen.” “Anybody playing for coach Guiler for the first time is going to have a huge learning curve in order to get on the same page as everyone else,” captain Luke Williams said. “But I think that all of the sophomores have been both open and responsive to constructive criticism.” Guiler acknowledges that in order to win the SPC title, they must go back to the basic goals the team set before the counter season. “We want an SPC title,” Guiler said. “That’s ultimately what we’re hoping for and we think that it could be a reality. I think if we take care of the more microscopic goals along the way then we’ll be a better team and more equipped to win tough tournament games.”

After disappointment last year, Turner’s wrestlers look to rebound By Bradford Beck staff writer can do this. One more move. One more takedown, escape or reversal. He lunged forward and in an instant he had won the match. He had done it again. Senior captain Zach Papin had won yet another tournament, making it his third this year. After 12 years of wrestling and 161 career wins in high school, Papin is one of the most experienced wrestlers on the team, and he is using his experience to help lead the team along with seniors Nick Brodsky and Winston Brewer. “I’ve got to become more of a leader, help nurture some of the guys who are new to the sport, help bring them up so when we [the seniors] graduate, they can be the next leaders,” Papin said. “I think as a team, we are definitely a lot younger, This is more of a rebuilding year; we’re trying to get some of the younger, less experienced guys caught up to pace.” The team has relied on the younger wrestlers to contribute due to their limited number of wrestlers. “My favorite part of the season would be seeing some of the younger guys on the team develop because they came in pretty new to the sport,” Papin said. “They’ve gotten a lot better, all of them have gotten a lot better. It’s good to see them grow. It’s good to see that for the future of the team. Papin sees the potential in the team and believes

that the program has a bright future. “I think we’re going to have a pretty good team in a few years, it’s just we have a lot of young guys,” Papin said. “We only have one sophomore I think in the whole team right now, a couple juniors, and three or four seniors. So, we’re definitely struggling to get some of the older guys out, but once middle school comes up and the freshmen come up, it’s going to be a strong program. Similarly to last season, filling all the weight classes has proved to be a challenge for the program. The team has 11 out of 14 weight classes filled which means that they forfeit at least three matches in every tournament which they compete. Despite the team’s lack in numbers, Turner believes that the team has the potential to outperform their opponents and beat teams with more wrestlers. “If we wrestle well, we can score as many points with less guys, as some teams can with 14,” Coach Justin Turner said. As always, the team has its eyes on the SPC championship, but a championship is not the only goal for Turner. “The season’s success can’t really be pinned down to one thing, one trophy or one tournament,” Turner said. “It’s successful if all the guys on the team get better and reach the levels that their abilities dictate throughout the course of the year. For some guys, it might be placing in national prep, for other guys it might just be winning a match on the JV. That’s sort of where I base our success off of.”

Lion pride

St. Mark’s School of Texas 10600 Preston Road Dallas, Texas, 75230

THE REMARKER

TIM O’MEARA PHOTO

WHITEOUT Dressed to the neck in white, Lions’ fans cheer out over the basketball court as the varsity players take on the Episcopal School of Dallas Eagles Jan. 31. The Lions built a 12-point halftime lead and held on to beat the Eagles 66-64.

PAGE 24

THE BACK SPORTS PAGE THE REMARKER | FRIDAY FEB 7, 2014

hearts of

CHAMPIONS

As varsity swimmers approach SPC, they hold their heads high — confident of the skills they’ve amassed. Skills obtained from weeks of training, competition and pure determination.

hese swimmers have a reputation to uphold. But it’s not all about the title. For the swimmers, the season has never looked better and they can walk into the championship confident enough to take on their rivals, all due to the team’s dedication. “It is truly an amazing team,” head swimming coach Mihai Oprea said, “I have been here for 18 years and have coached a lot of teams but truly this team as a whole, from the first guy to the 48th guy— because we have 48 guys—they are the hardest workers, they are the most self-disciplined, self-motivated.” Among the frontrunners is sophomore Eric Li, who not only swam anchor on a 200-meter relay, breaking the school record with sophomore Kevin Wu, senior captain Jack Pigott and sophomore Kevin Kim, but also broke the individual 100-meter breaststroke record. “At the moment,” Li said, “we weren’t exactly sure [we broke it] because during the swim I wasn’t aware of breaking the record. After we touched the wall, I realized that we broke the record and we were excited.” For Wu, superb leadership is to credit for superb performance. “The team is better than it was last year,” Wu said. “We have great captains, and everyone is getting involved.” There is no resentment or jealousy among the ranks. “It’s great, it’s great,” Oprea said. “Our team is probably one of the few teams that freshmen

and sophomores are pretty much equal with seniors and that is encouraged and supported. It’s a pretty friendly team and the guys really work together very well and support each other.” Oprea is encouraged by the number of underclassmen on the squad. “As a coach, it’s great to see that we have ten sophomores on record-breaking teams,” he said. “So that’s great for them and that’s great for the team, but everyone’s really happy about it and supportive. There’s no like ‘how come it’s not the SOPHOMORE seniors.’ There is nothing like ERIC LI that.” I just want to finish it Even with all young talent, for my team [as anchor], bring it home and the veteran players are still a ensure a win. strong force on the team. “I think the older guys are really happy that the team can do so well,” Li said, “so, even though some of the younger guys are really fast, I think for the team as a whole it’s better. The older guys aren’t slow, they’re fast too. They contribute to the team just as much as we [underclassmen] do.” For Oprea, the season is no longer about winning a title, but about the connections made within teammates and the dedication that his swimmers have put into the team. “For a coach,” said Oprea, “you can’t dream to have anything more than that. I think they are just an amazing team, an amazing group of guys and it doesn’t matter what were going to get at SPC. Win or not, I think these guys are awesome. Just a pleasure to have them.”

Breaking the surface

3 4

HEAD COACH MIHAI OPREA I think they are just an amazing team, an amazing group of guys and it doesn’t matter what we’re going to get at SPC. Win or not, I think these guys are awesome.

SOPHOMORE KEVIN WU I just want to help out the team. That means being there to improve the relay, but also being there to help the newer guys swim, to help them be more confident and learn the tricks of swimming. Just helping the team in general to improve is what I want to accomplish.

So far, the swimmers have broken two records, and with the team determined, more records might be on the horizon.

Event 200 Free Relay

Time

Swimmers

Last record

89.02 seconds

Jack Pigott Kevin Wu Kevin Kim Eric Li

90.87 seconds 1992

100 Breast

59.02 seconds

Eric Li

59.50 seconds 1987

HEARTS OF CHAMPIONS story by Zuyva Sevilla, graphics director and Philip Smart, staff writer, additional reporting by Bradford Beck, staff writer | photos by Zuyva Sevilla, graphics director, Matthew Conley, sports editor, Alden James, staff photographer and Sam Khoshbin, creative director

RECORD BREAKERS Swimmers sophomore Kevin Wu (1), sophomore Phillip Montgomery (2, 5), junior Cyrus Ganji (6), senior Phillip Osborn (3) and senior captains Ben Wilson (4) and Jack Mallick (7) work on their swim techniques at practices run by head coach Mihai Oprea and assistant coaches Dirk Ebel and Gica Deac. Senior captain Jack Pigott (8) and junior Vignesh Babu (9) compete in their respective events at the Ralph B. Rogers Natatorium.

A A D D E N D U M

shawn DO YOU

KNOW

SAM KHOSHBIN PHOTO

PASSED BY Amid the hustle and bustle of the daily cafeteria line, many students walk past Shawn Robinett without even noticing him.

born developmentally disabled. abandoned by his mother. left hundreds of miles from the only home he knew. living in a group home. facing challenges none of us could imagine, shawn robinett found a home at 10600 preston road. a story of resilience.

is tall, slim figure was slightly slouched as he stared at the older lady. But something was different about him. He hadn’t put on the smile that usually lit up his face and warmed the hearts of others. What’s wrong? she asked. Nothing, he said. But, cafeteria worker May Sykes knew something was wrong. What’s wrong, Shawn? she asked again. My momma left me. Hesitantly, Shawn Robinett repeated those poignant words one more time. My momma left me. Sykes paused. It took her a minute to know what to say. Gently, she responded. If she hadn’t left you, I never would have met you. So is it okay? Pausing briefly, Robinett said okay. And he never mentioned it again. Story continues, next page

a remarker special section | feb. 7, 2014

SHAWN R

Here to stay Getting here was not easy. There were many challenges along the way — twice as many obstacles, but Shawn Robinett has found a place he loves here — a place he can call home. Continued from page one By all accounts, Shawn Robinett shouldn’t be here. Born developmentally disabled, Robinett was left in Dallas by his mother. Since then, she has slowly attempted to reconnect with her son. Last summer, she asked him to come visit her in New Mexico. When Sykes found out that he was planning on going by himself she was scared. Every morning, Robinett rides two buses and a train to school, making what’s normally a ten minute car trip down Royal Lane a nearly two-hour excursion. Although he has learned that route to school, travelling all the way to New Mexico would be totally different. Immediately, Sykes called the group home where Robinett has lived for the last decade. She was told that if his mother wanted him to come, they had to send him. Sykes worried that if Robinett and his mother got into an argument, he would leave and become disoriented in an unfamiliar state. In the past, his mother told him to “shut up,” badly upsetting him and causing him to run away and become disoriented. “They might not have gotten into an argument, but to me, I couldn’t take that chance,” Sykes said. “So, I asked him, ‘Do you want to go to your momma, or do you want to come to work with this momma?’ He said, ‘I want to come to work with you,’ so I said ‘okay,’ and he never mentioned it again.” Ten years ago, Robinett and his younger brother were taken to Dallas by their mother who now lives in New Mexico. Robinett moved into a group home a few miles from 10600 Preston Road, while his younger brother moved into a different one in Rowlett. In that time, Robinett worked a variety of jobs. “There’s a lot of them,” he said. “I can’t remember that far back in my past, my history. I worked in a hospital, grocery stores and Gatti

Town. They all shut down.” Nearly three years ago, Kristin Mullen, mother of junior Connor, eighth grader Walker and Cameron ‘07, was thinking of ways to give back to the community. Immediately, she remembered an organization, Launchability, she had recently become involved with. The organization works with developmentally disabled people of all ages to improve their lives. One of the organization’s programs, supported employment, places people in appropriate jobs and provides training throughout the job transition process. “I felt like I could be a conduit to introduce that program to St. Mark’s,” Mullen said. “I chatted with [Headmaster] Arnie Holtberg about it after a lacrosse game. He was immediately intrigued and interested and he told me they would work on it. Within a couple of days, [Director of Finance and Administration] Suzanne Townsend contacted me and asked me if I could facilitate a meeting with the executive director of Launchability who runs the program.” hortly after that, Robinett came to visit the school and was introduced to the entire cafeteria staff. Director of Food Services Sally Stephens was immediately impressed with his potential. “He’s very friendly, and I had the impression that he would work out fine,” Stephens said. “I wondered how he would fit in since he’s very different from the rest of the staff, and I was a little bit concerned about how the staff would react to him and how he might react to the staff, but that was never a problem at all with him.” Robinett joined the staff as a part-time worker because of Medicaid regulations that prevent him from having more than $2,000 in his bank account and keeping his benefits that pay for his group home. Immediately, he developed a connection with longtime cafeteria worker May Sykes. “This was going to be a new employee, and he was working parttime, and they introduced him to each one of us, so we got to shake his hand,” Sykes said. “They said his name was Shawn, and I said, ‘I have a son named Shawn!’ And he said

‘You do?’ And I said ‘Yes.’ And we looked in each other’s eyes, and we were already in love.” Soon after they first met, Shawn started to call Sykes “Momma.” “Let’s talk about Momma May,” he said. “Momma May is a nice lady. I’ve been knowing her years and years. I like Momma May.” Although Robinett has worked at the school for nearly three years, nobody was ever given a formal medical diagnosis when he was hired. “I don’t want to know his background because I don’t want to know if he’s been hurt real badly,” Sykes said, “I don’t want to know that part.” For Headmaster Arnie Holtberg, that background is irrelevant. “He came with very good recommendations, and we knew he could discharge his responsibilities,” he said. “It was that simple. It was that simple, that there ought not be any prejudice in such matters.” Townsend would like to go through the process again since Shawn has become such an important member of the cafeteria staff family. “He’s just a wonderful man, and we would love to have another employee,” Townsend said. “I’ve talked with [Director of the Physical Plant] Mark Webb, and at some point we need to make a place and time to talk with the executive director at Launchability again to see if we can place another employee here because it’s been such a great experience.” Last year, Sykes threw a surprise party for Robinett’s 40th birthday with the cafeteria staff, faculty and staff members and even Holtberg in attendance. For Robinett, Holtberg’s presence was key. “Miss May threw it for me,” Robinett said. “I was in shock. The headmaster came that one time. Mr. Holtberg came. It was fun. I had a lot of gifts. A lot of people came in there. The headmaster came, too, Mr. Holtberg. He gave me a handshake. I still got a picture of him in my room.” The party showed Holtberg that Robinett had been not only accepted, but loved by the community. “There were a lot of guests,” Holtberg said, “and the folks who were there were very, very generous

TIM O’MEARA PHOTO

RYAN O’MEARA PHOTO

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

TREASURED Headmaster Arnie Holtberg was one of the biggest proponents of bringing Shawn Robinett to the school through an arrangement with Launchability, an organization which helps children and adults with developmental disabilities achieve their maximum potential and lead fulfilling lives within their communities. One of Robinett’s prized possessions is a photo with Holtberg at a 40th birthday party cafeteria staff members threw for Robinett. HERE TO STAY story by Ryan O’Meara, issues editor and Cameron Clark, staff writer

Page 2B,3B

ROBINETT

He came with very good recommendations and we knew he could discharge his responsibilities. It was that simple — that there ought not be any prejudice in such matters. — HEADMASTER ARNIE HOLTBERG

“I just remember that everybody was so happy for him and enjoying so much his happiness and excitement,” she said. “It was just really an extraordinary scene. I thought it was so extraordinary, but nobody there seemed to think it was anything other than well, of course, this is what you do. It was just really neat.”

•••

efore that party, Robinett developed a connection with chaplain Rev. Michael Dangelo when Dangelo gave him a ride to former cafeteria staff member Maxine Cantley’s funeral in September 2012. “He can’t exactly articulate the deep and abiding existential truths that we all learn the way that we learn them,” Dangelo said, “but he does it in his own way, and his way is very true, and really sort of pure in a way. It doesn’t have all of the affectation we put around it. It’s just that he missed his friend [Maxine], and that’s how he put it.” Later, he gave a picture of himself to Dangelo because “friends give each other pictures.” Shawn’s relationship with Sykes has grown as he became a brotherly figure to her children. Her daughter, Ann Hamilton, mailroom supervisor, has seen him as a brother for a long time. “He acts just like a brother,” she said. “He’s just like my other brothers: they call me all the time, they tell me about all of their issues or what they’re happy about that day, so he falls right off into the line with my biological brothers.” No matter where they are, Robinett always makes sure to tell Sykes that he loves her, just like a mother and son would do. “He wants to hug me, he wants to call me momma and he tells me he loves me 20 times in ten minutes,” she said. “I have to say I love him back, and if he tells me that in front of anyone, I tell him I love him back because I don’t want them to think I’m ashamed of him.” With all of the support they have given and continue to give him, Robinett quickly developed a strong compassion for every member of the Sykes family. When Sykes’s mother was in the hospital to have surgery, he found his own way to support her. “He called me before the lunch

line started, at the hospital,” Sykes said, “and then he called me when he got home. Then he talked to my momma and told her he was going to pray for her. He’s a good guy, he’s one in a million.” Robinett’s care for others extends beyond that one family. Every Sunday, Robinett and those who live with him are taken to First Baptist Church downtown. And every Sunday, he remains outside the main sanctuary to avoid experiencing the physical pain he feels during a loud, crowded service. Regardless, religion is still an important part of Robinett’s life. A cross hangs in his bedroom above his bed near his handmade Dallas Cowboys pennant and a list of his favorite websites that he wrote on red construction paper. “He tells the ladies when they’re sick, ‘I’m going to pray for you,’” Sykes said, “and when they get well, he says, ‘See, my prayers worked!’” Because for Shawn Robinett, success isn’t defined by money or possessions. It’s about what he does on a daily basis at 10600 Preston Road — where he plans on working for the rest of his life. “I love St. Mark’s,” he said. “That’s my family. I like it over there. They got good food, the St. Mark’s family. They help me out.”

IT’S NOT JUST A HOUSE

Shawn’s life in a group home By Cameron Clark staff writer

he “please knock first” signs are taped to the doors that line the narrow hallway. Pictures of the smiling men hang all over the main living area, many of them showing off their achievements in Special Olympics competitions. Although there are restrictions and rules, the group home environment still gives the men much freedom in a place that feels just like a regular home. According to Director of Food Services Sally Stephens, Robinett sticks to a fairly regular schedule during weekdays. “Everybody has a job at night,” she said. “They have some sort of clean-up or cooking or cleaning the dishes, and then they shower and they go to bed. He gets up at about four o’clock, and he rides an exercise bike for an hour before he gets here, so they have them on a schedule of doing those same things every day.” According to Becky Adams, who has worked with Robinett through an organization called Ability Connection Texas that administers his particular group home, the home he stays in cannot give him total freedom. “It’s called an intermediate care facility hoping that one day he will be able to go out and live in the community,” Adams said. “But with him having a disability, there’s always going to need to be supervision. Once they’re in the intermediate care facility, they’re pretty much going to be there the rest of their lives.” Although life in the house is regulated, Shawn has sustained a very happy and confident life. For example, residents of his particular home are required to spend at least five hours outside of the house each day. For Robinett, that means coming to 10600 Preston Road from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on each school day. Over the weekends and during the summer, residents participate in activities ranging from bowling to playing basketball at Bachman Lake. Although transportation is difficult for many group home residents, Robinett has memorized his lengthy public-transportation journey to school. “Shawn gets on the big bus and even changes buses to get to St. Mark’s,” Adams said. “He’s very proud of the fact that he is that independent. I am too.”

TIM O’MEARA PHOTO

in terms of the kinds of presents they gave to Shawn, and it just was a very wonderfully spirited event. It’s clear that Shawn has been embraced by the St. Mark’s School of Texas personnel.” Mullen, who worked to bring Robinett to 10600 Preston Road, felt gratified when she saw how many people attended the party.

THE HOUSE For the last decade, Robinett has lived here in this group home a few miles from 10600 Preston Road. Although his activities are highly structured, Robinett has gained the independence necessary to come alone to school each day, where he works as a member of the food services team.

THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Page 4B

SHAWN ROBINETT

SAM KHOSHBIN PHOTO

MORE THAN JUST COLLEAGUES Robinett has fully immersed himself into the St. Mark’s community. His success at work is due to his work ethic and the unflagging assistance of members of the cafeteria staff [left]: including Carmelina Canales, Sally Stephens, Edelmira Webb and Howard Stewart. May Sykes and Robinett [below] have also become quite close over his three years of work. Robinett hugs Sykes everyday when he arrives and before he leaves and calls her when he gets home safely. This relationship is why Robinett calls Sykes, “Momma.”

From staff to family Director of Food Services Sally Stephens > Everybody took to him right away, and at least 50 percent of the staff doesn’t speak English very well, and he doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, but everybody managed to find a way to interact with him. Cafeteria worker May Sykes > He used to not let anybody but me fix his plate, but now when I’m not here, the other ladies fix his plate. They help him out, and he helps them out. He’ll go over and ask if they need him to do something. When he first came, he wouldn’t volunteer. I don’t think he was real comfortable with everybody. I told him if he needs something then he is to ask them. When I’m doing something, ask them. If you need their help, go and ask them. He started doing that. I think he just needed to be accepted, and everyone in here accepted him. Cafeteria worker Carmelina Canales > When he started he was scared. I think everyone is scared when they start a new job, but now he is OK. He is happy. Sykes > He knows he’s protected, and that was one of the things that drew me to him. He was a loner. I think that’s what drew me to him. I could see that in him. He was okay sitting by himself, and I said no you can’t sit by yourself. The people in the cafeteria are your family. He would go sit at another table. I said the people in the cafeteria are your family, you have to come over and sit with them. Cafeteria Worker Edelmira Webb > I love Shawn, he comes in here and gives me a hug everyday. ‘I love you,’ he says. I have one son, and he and Shawn play games together. He’s a good boy, a sweetheart. Canales > He used to try to do things by himself, but now he asks for help, and we are there. Cafeteria Worker Howard Stewart > Love him. He’s a lovable guy. He just has a little trouble understanding, but once you explain it to him, he’s got it. Stephens > He does have an excellent memory for numbers, and if you give him your phone number, you will get phone calls. Sykes > He can do any job. He helps Howard plate up the meat, food, vegetables or anything he needs. He helps over in the salad department. He knows the dish area. He can take out trash, boxes. When he first came, I didn’t want him to go out and push the button to mash the boxes. But I saw him doing it, so I said, “fine.” Canales > I try to help him in every way he needs. When he does something bad, I just say, “It’s OK, don’t worry,” and then I can help him. Stephens > Whatever he does, he takes great pride in. He wants you to come and look at it and tell him if it’s done well. Stewart > Everybody knows his condition and where he has been, but he is now in a position where he can get job training. Stephens > He doesn’t like to [miss school]. He much prefers to come here, so he’s never happy when we don’t have school. Webb > He’s a really sweet boy. Everyday he comes up to me and says he’s praying for me and my husband, and that’s really nice, and I say thank you. Stewart > Treat him the same. Treat him like you would treat anyone else here, and in order to be a good, connected family we need everyone cooperating and working together. I always tell everybody, “Get lunch. Make lunch. Get the boys fed, and we move on from there.” FROM STAFF TO FAMILY story by Sam Khoshbin, creative director, additional reporting by Philip Smart, staff writer

RYAN O’MEARA PHOTO

Shawn Robinett didn’t have a family growing up, but the developmentally disabled man has found his home here at St. Mark’s, where members of the cafeteria staff have made him their own. From inviting him over for holidays, to making him food, to simply talking with him on the phone, they have brought Robinett into their lives and given him love and hope. It’s more than just words, but here are a few things they had to say about him: HOWARD STEWART

Treat him the same. Treat him like you would treat anyone else here, and in order to be a good, connected family we need everyone cooperating and working together. SHAWN ROBINETT

In his own words Favorite movie: Mamma Mia. I love Mamma Mia. I got the DVD of it. Favorite sports team: Dallas Cowboys. I got a hat signed by the Dallas Cowboys last year. All the Dallas Cowboys: Romo, Witten. My cousin gave it to me. Favorite food in the cafeteria: The hamburgers and French fries. Jobs in the cafeteria: I do the salad bar in Lucy’s, ice in two machines, I put two in Howard’s and that’s it. The trays and glasses, too. A lot of times! Special Olympics sports of choice: I’m a good bowler. We compete. We have different teams. Bed time: 8:30 p.m. On his job: I like it over there. I’m a good dishwasher. On his watch: I love my watch! On what he wants to do: I want to do track for the St. Mark’s family. I’m gonna try it out and see if I can do it for Momma May because you know Momma May.