Volume 120, Issue 13

The Record

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Life of the AI Mind: ChatGPT raises academic dishonesty concerns

Salsberg and Sammy Matays Staff Writers

“English papers are dead.” When Dean of Faculty Dr. Andrew Fippinger received this text alongside a link to the ChatGPT website from his cousin, he was intrigued. “I started typing in essay prompts, and I was simultaneously blown away by what it could do — but also relieved that it cannot do the key things that I am asking students to do,” Fippinger said.

ChatGPT, an opensource artificial intelligence (AI) that generates an swers to inputted prompts, was released on November 30, 2022. The program was created by Open AI, a company led by Sam Al tman and funded by Microsoft, which has invested over $3 bil lion in the technology since 2019, according to The New York Times.

When ChatGPT receives questions, it analyzes the specific wording of the question to generate a response that mirrors common human writing styles, all in a matter of seconds. The platform pulls information from a variety of sources, including ones that publish unfiltered content like Reddit, Director of Technology Adam Kenner said. “It is essential to understand the likelihood of inaccurate or false content and the obvious consequences of dishonesty while appreciating that there is massive future potential for positive uses of AI platforms like Chat GPT.”

Given its advanced capabilities, the site has raised concerns that students

may use it to generate work and submit it as their own. Even though Chat GPT may not be considered traditional plagiarism, students who submit work written by the AI are still cheating, Dean of Students Michael Dalo said.

“The work that students are turning in needs to be their original work,” he said. “The chatbot throws a wrench in things because students could see it as a tool that could be used just like any other tool like a dictionary or a thesaurus.”

According to a Record poll with 175 responses, 97% have not used ChatGPT to complete school assignments and 3% — 6 students — have. Of the 169 students who have not used ChatGPT yet, 14% said they might for future assignments.

Patricia* used the platform for one of her English essays. “First, I put in the entire prompt, but I didn’t get the answer that I wanted,” she said. She edited her prompts to make them more specific, then pieced together the answers to build a cohesive essay. Even though she wants to make the most of her education, she will probably use the platform again due to its accessibility, she said.

Malcolm Furman (12) briefly explored ChatGPT by asking it to answer random questions, but does not intend to utilize the platform in the future. “On a moral level, I think it is wrong, and cheating, to have this program do my work,” Furman said. “On a personal level, I go to an institution like Horace Mann to receive a well-rounded liberal education, and relying on an AI platform to do my work prevents me from learning how to write, critically think, and foster the life of the mind.”

“At HM, I think the number of students who use [Chat GPT] will definitely be lower than other schools, but I think people will still use it,” Dasha Dolgonos (11) said. The combination of students feeling academically driven and being aware of the harsh consequences of cheating will drive many not to utilize the technology, she said.

While the school has yet to officially address the platform and its possible misuses, administrators and faculty members will meet soon to discuss implementing a clarifying statement about the usage of AI in the Honor Code, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly wrote.

When ChatGPT was first released, Head of Upper Division (UD) Dr. Jessica Levenstein was taken aback by the technology’s extensive capabilities, she said. At the same time, she does not think that the writing produced meets the school’s expectations for students. For now, it seems as though the technology is more harmful to students than it is to teachers, she said. “If students submit something dishonestly and they get away with it, as far as I’m concerned, that’s too bad for them,” she said. “That means they are not learning how to write.”

Each department is considering how Chat GPT might affect their subjects and how they will approach students who misuse the platform.

As responding to essay prompts, writing poems, and analyzing text play a prominent role in the English curriculum, the depart ment has much to consider as a result of ChatGPT. It can be misused as one of many tools to cheat on English assign ments, English Depart ment Chair Vernon Wilson said. “We have Cliff’s Notes, Spark Notes, No Fear Shake speare, and Grammarly, and all these things have ex isted for a long time, so they

can be misused. This is just another step,” he said. “I think it’s a real acceleration.”

Levenstein expects English teachers to revise their assignments to prevent AI usage, she said. “Tailoring your prompts to be highly spe cific and to require knowledge and information that’s been imparted in the classroom, and not just in a text somewhere, will be some thing that cer tainly English and history teachers might choose to adopt.”

The English department has looked into ChatGPT and its capabilities regarding English class assignments by inputting essay prompts and questions for journal entries and asking it to write creative pieces, Wilson said. “From

specific instructions such as integrating quotations and citing the page number. Although the essay responses formulated by the bot were both polished and organized, the essay lacked analysis. “In terms of English, for the moment, I’m personally not hugely worried because the things that I’m really looking for in an essay are things that it cannot yet do. I would’ve given this essay a C plus,” he said.

Similar to the English department, the history department also has to consider how their discipline will be affected by the technology, History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link said. “I would be worried about an assessment that was really generalized, but we tend not to give those types of assessments,” he said. It is still essential that history teachers continue to assess students’ at-home writing compared to their in-class writing to establish whether the student is getting help from technology like ChatGPT, he said.

ment encountered issues with online translators during the

different types of assessments, World Language Department

Parliamentary Debate Team wins first tournament in three years

Ava Lipsky Staff Writer

The school’s Parliamentary Debate Team won first place at the New York Parliamentary Debate League (NYPDL) January Parliamentary Debate tournament last weekend — after defeating itself. Out of the 51 teams that competed at Stuyvesant High School, both the finalist teams were from Horace Mann — with Sophie Rukin (11) and her partner beating Asha Tandon (10) and Zoe Manges (9) in the finals.

HM is currently ranked 6th in the National Parliamentary Debate

League (NPDL). While the NPDL only has rankings organized by school and partnership, Rukin has more points than the top ranked team. Though the rankings have yet to be updated, her point score would make her the number one parliamentary debater in the nation, in addition to first in the NYPDL.

In Parliamentary Debate, debaters receive their topic 15 minutes before the round begins. They use that time to prepare a case without doing any external research. As such, it is important to have background knowledge on a wide variety of topics.

Rukin reads the New York Times

almost every day to keep up with current events that might arise in a debate, she said. She also reads her debate friend’s matter file, a source of condensed information and debate cases about politics, philosophy, and other potential topics.

At Stuyvesant, every team debated a variety of motions with themes ranging from “Space, the final frontier” to “Marriage.” Debaters are given three new topics each round and go through a coin toss procedure to determine which motion and side they will debate.

ed to assigning

Rena

PARLI PARLAY Parlimentary Debate Team poses after big win.

Courtesy of Sophie Rukin

Aydan Ergin/Staff Artist

The NYPDL is completely run by high school students. “It prioritizes fun and interesting motions rather than only doing news and international relations motions, which many tournaments do,” Tandon said.

One motion — Rukin’s favorite —- discussed the promotion of queer theology, tying into ideas that gender variance and queer desire have always been present in human history. “This topic makes you think about intersectionality and evaluate the relationship between queerness and religion,” she

said. “When you debate multi-layered topics like this one, people start to think with nuance, and that is super important not only to debate but life.”

The final motion was challenging for both partnerships. “This House Prefers a world with Vulcan Stoic Philosophy as the dominant narrative” asked the debaters to contemplate whether humans should worry about things beyond the power of their will. “This means that you ignore all emotion and prefer hyper rationality, which was an interesting round because the cases of both sides overlapped a lot,” Manges said.

The motion was inspired by Spock from the popular series “Star Trek” and brought up questions on how emotions impact decision making, how sadness can motivate, and how humans believe they are rational when they are not, Tandon said. “Interesting pop culture and philosophy topics in the motions is one of the reasons I love debating in the NYPDL.”

Even though they eventually made it to finals, the team was not very confident in their quarters or semis rounds since they were up against some of the best in the league in very close rounds, Tandon said. “We debat-

ed some amazing debaters throughout the tournament,” she said. “I feel really lucky we managed to win.”

Rukin was immensely proud of the team’s successes at the tournament, especially the younger debaters like Tandon and Manges. She works really hard to help coach younger debaters and runs practice rounds to train them. “It is really rewarding seeing the kids you care so much about and work so hard to succeed,” she said. “I hope they are proud of themselves because I am ridiculously proud of them.”

Debate feels different to Rukin this year after meeting role models during

Hug the UGG or “Ugh” the UGG?

UGGs complete my sole

quintessentially American things (football, the hamburger, democracy), the UGG has not let its origin stop it from gaining entry into American culture. Today, the UGG can be seen gracing the feet of everyone from Bella Hadid to your Horace Mann classmates — and for good reason.

of customization and adaptability where it can accompany you on literally, all walks of life.

the summer who changed her outlook on the activity, she said. “It’s not about winning or rankings or doing it for college — it’s about learning to think critically, be persuasive, and use your voice.”

Through her ranking and win, Rukin hopes to be a role model for other female debaters. “There is lots of sexism [in the debate community], which can be hard to watch as a young girl.” She wants to show girls that they can succeed and be just as good as male debaters. “Don’t let men tell you that you aren’t as good or make you feel inferior.”

UGGs offend my algorithm

Since the advent of cowboys, boots have always represented Americana. Whether it’s their durability, versatility, or just general feel of rugged individualism, there’s something so American about a nice pair of boots. While I’m all for cowboy boots, I propose a new shoe to permanently join the ranks of American style: the UGG boot.

The classic UGG boot — a wash of earthy colors, thick suede, the hint of sheepskin peeking up at the top — has cemented itself in American culture since the early 2000s and more importantly, stood its ground (literally). Founded in 1978, the UGG debuted as a staple of Australian surfers who used the insulated shoe to shield themselves on chilly beach days. But, like most

One could commend the brand’s ability to shift with the times and rebrand itself through collabs and new designs; this article is not about that. The heart and genius of UGG lie in its very DNA: specifically, the long variation of the classic UGG boot or the Classic Tall 2 Boot which hits the leg a few inches below the knee. Paired with black leggings and a pumpkin spiced latte, the long UGG (affectionately referred to as the Lugg) rose to modern prominence as a key facet of the “basic white girl” or “Christian girl autumn” persona. And although the brand has attempted to separate itself from this typecasting — through mutilating its long UGG into short micro UGGS and furry slippers – I believe it is time to celebrate the Lugg in all its glory.

First of all, if anything, the Lugg is versatile. Rolled up or down, the Lugg can transform from lanky to stout in mere seconds, making the boot suitable for a New York snowstorm or a California heatwave. Where its contemporaries — the rigid Doc Marten or lackluster Air Force One — can only be worn in one way, the Lugg invites a level

Secondly, the Lugg is comfy. Anyone who has had the privilege of stepping into an UGG can describe the fuzzy feeling as the Lugg envelopes your feet. Unlike the micro UGG, which exposes the ankle to cold winter days, or the ultra tall UGG, which suffocates your leg, the Lugg creates the perfect ratio of sheepskin to leg, forming a utopic fit poised to be beloved by any foot. Third, and most obviously, the Lugg exudes an immeasurable amount of — for lack of a better word — drip. Tucked over or under jeans, paired with a long skirt, juxtaposed with a pair of shorts, the Lugg forms the perfect accent to any fit. Though its name implies otherwise, the UGG is the opposite of ugg-ly. It is, in fact, the principle of high fashion (as recognized by designer collaborations with Telfar and Molly Goddard).

Finally, the Lugg is universal. Sure, it’s primarily worn by women. But I believe that everyone deserves happiness — and where better to find it than the sole of a Lugg. Afterall, if UGGs can warm your feet, they can surely warm your heart.

ChatGPT

Ugg boots, which are made from sheepskin, have been criticized for a number of reasons related to their environmental impact.

One of the main issues is the material used to make the boots. Uggs are typically made from sheepskin, which is the skin of a sheep with the wool still attached. This material is a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries, but some animal welfare groups have raised concerns about the treatment of the sheep that are used to make the boots. For example, PETA has claimed that some Australian sheep farms that supply sheepskin to the ugg boot industry use cruel practices, such as live-shearing, which can cause sheep to be injured or killed.

Another environmental concern is the process used to tan the sheepskin.

Staff

Staff Writers Ariella Frommer, Ava Lipsky, Clara Stevanovic, Erica Jiang, Etta Singer, Hanzhang Swen, Harper Rosenberg, Isabella Ciriello, Jorge Orvananos, Joshua Shuster, Kate Beckler, Lucy Peck, Maeve Goldman, Mira Bansal, Naomi Yaeger, Neeva Patel, Samantha Matays, Sofia Kim, Sophia Paley, Sophie Rukin, Spencer Kolker, Audrey O’Mary, Brody Grossman, Emily Wang, Jacqueline Shih, James Zaidman, Malachai Abbott, Nikita Pande, Oliver Konopko, Rena Salsberg

Staff Photographers Nicole Au, Jorge Orvañanos, Trish Tran, Aanya Gupta, Jiwan Kim, James Zaidman, Emily Wang, David Aaron, Harper Rosenberg, Evan Contant

Staff Artists Sam Stern, Dylan Leftt, Sammi Strasser, Kristy Xie, Addy Steinberg, Ishaan Iyengar, Sophie Li, Serena Bai, Kayden Hansong, Aashna Hari, Karla Moreira, Isabelle Kim, Christain Connor, Sam Gordon, Dani Brooks, Aimee Yang

Many traditional methods used to tan leather and sheepskin involve the use of toxic chemicals, such as chromium and formaldehyde, which can be harmful to both workers and the environment.The process also requires significant amounts of energy and water, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and water scarcity.

In addition to these direct environmental impacts, the production of Uggs and other fashion items is often associated with unsustainable land use practices and deforestation. The raising of sheep, and the growing of crops such as cotton and soybeans for animal feed, can lead to the loss of natural habitats and biodiversity, as well as the displacement of local communities.

There are also concerns about the low wages and poor working conditions of workers in the countries where Ugg boots are manufactured, which is considered unethical from a labor rights perspective.

Also, Ugg boots are not biodegradable, so when they eventually wear out, they will end up in landfills where they will take a very long time to decompose, which can be seen as environmentally harmful.

Overall, Ugg boots are made with materials obtained in questionable ways and production often have poor labor and environmental standards which are the main reasons why they are considered environmentally and ethically unethical.

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Maeve Goldman

Chair Maria del Pilar Valencia said. They changed the types of assessments they assigned to primarily in-class ones.

Language teachers are also aware of their students’ writing styles, so if one were to use outside technology, they would notice the difference, she said.

Even though ChatGPT can generate responses to basic scientific content, it cannot comprehend and complete difficult problems in problem sets for physics and higher-level science classes. Science teacher George Epstein sees students using ChatGPT to cheat on projects that require extensive research, he said. “Something that’s long-formed, like essay writing, that requires pulling data from the internet and combining it into a coherent essay, is what ChatGPT does.”

ChatGPT also struggles with complex math questions, so technology is not a large concern for the math department, math teacher Charles Worrall said. However, if the math depart-

ment wants to execute a broader array of math assessments in the future, it may limit their options, he said.

“The most important thing teachers can do right now is to remind students of why we are at school and what we are doing at school,” Link said. Students need to learn how to write for themselves to prepare them for college and their professional lives when they’ll need to write effectively.

Teachers need to emphasize the value of the work students are doing, their education, and what they can gain from completing work on their own without the help of AI, Wilson said. “It is about talking with students very openly and honestly about what is the learning endeavor that we’re engaged in as a class, teachers, and students together.”

Although ChatGPT has negative implications, Fippinger sees a world where the platform is appropriately incorporated into the curriculum. “As we adapt to it, I don’t think it’ll just be a matter of figuring out how to write tests or essays

that circumvent the AI,” he said. “It’ll also be a matter of figuring out if there are ways in certain disciplines that it might be incorporated usefully.”

Instead of focusing solely on the negative implications of this new AI, the school should embrace the positives and supplement the bot’s capabilities into teaching, Wilson said. For example, because the bot’s responses are generally vague, asking students to enhance the bot’s responses would be a great way to teach students how to strengthen their analytical writing skills.

ChatGPT has the potential to be an educational tool in the classroom if used properly, Kelly wrote. “We should run at the possibilities AI has to offer, not away from them. At a school like ours, I’m confident we’ll work to bal ance the integrity issue with the seem ingly infinite number of possibilities that technology offers for us to think about and make good of.

HM student or ChatGPT?

We asked English, history, and science teachers to give us a prompt that they have used or is similar to one they might use in a real assessment. One of the responses is written by a sophomore at the school, the other by ChatGPT. Can you guess which is which? (See pg. 7 for answers)

ENGLISH

To what extent is The Great Gatsby a critique less of any individual character in the novel than of the cultural zeitgeist itself? Answer in 150 words.

#1: Although each character in The Great Gatsby has their biases and weaknesses, overall, the characters are merely a representation of the cultural zeitgeist of the Roaring 20s: flamboyant and outgoing, yet unfair. For example, Tom Buchanan buys his wife a several-hundred-thousand dollar necklace due to his extravagance, yet he secretly has an affair with another married woman at the same time. He also often shows his bigotry, supporting white replacement theories, and abuses his wife and mistress, both emotionally and physically. However, these were the sad realities of the time in which the novel is set, causing Tom to not just represent himself but also a larger group of people during the time period, chiefly white heterosexual males. A similar case appears with Nick, who spends a large portion of the book grappling with his sexual orientation, but cannot admit any of his feelings and is forced to resort to euphemisms due to the homophobia at the time, representing the silenced, but existent LGBTQ population.

SCIENCE

Students weigh in - Pro/Con ChatGPT?

Responses from Record poll.

Pro

- It does it for me, so why not use it?

- It’s so easy and accessible.

- It’s much easier, less work, and sounds better than I do.

Con

- The responses output by ChatGPT are coherent and seemingly from an intelligent human, yet they often include inaccuracies and plain, robotic language that will not warrant an especially good grade when submitted.

- I pride myself on the work I do for school and I don’t really see the point if I’m not even somewhat thinking about it. Letting an AI write for you feel like there’s no reason to be in school at all.

- Machines aint built as good as me.

#2: Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is often seen as a critique of the cultural zeitgeist of the 1920s. The novel portrays the excesses of the era, such as the excessive wealth, mate- rialism, and su- perficiality that characterized the upper class society. The characters in the novel, particularly Jay Gatsby, represent the decadence and moral decay of the era. Gatsby’s obsession with wealth and status, and his willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve them, exemplifies the values of the time. Furthermore, the novel also critiques the societal norms and expectations of the time, particularly the rigid class distinctions and the lack of moral compass among the wealthy. The characters in the novel are portrayed as shallow, selfish, and morally bankrupt, and the novel’s portrayal of their actions and behaviors serves as a commentary on the cultural zeitgeist of the era. The novel expoTheses the excesses and moral decay of the era, and serves as a reminder of the dangers of valuing material wealth and status over genuine human connection and morality.

The cells of an ant and a horse are, on average, the same small size; a horse just has more of them. In 150 words, give two distinct advantages of small cell size.

#1: Small cell size can have several advantages in living organisms. One advantage is that small cells have a greater surface area to volume ratio, which means that they have more surface area relative to the amount of cytoplasm inside them. This is important for processes such as transport of materials and gasses across the cell membrane, as it allows for more efficient exchange between the cell and its environment. Another advantage of small cell size is that smaller cells are able to divide and multiply more quickly. Because they have less cytoplasm to divide, it takes less time and energy for a cell to divide, leading to faster growth and reproduction of cells. This is especially important for organisms that need to repair or replace damaged tissue quickly or for organisms that reproduce rapidly, like cancer cells. It is also worth noting that small cells allow for more efficient diffusion of molecules across the cell membrane which also enables more efficient functioning of metabolic reactions that takes place in the cell.

HISTORY

#2: Ants and horses have a considerable size difference, yet the size of their cells are typically about the same: small. This is because small cells are preferable in organisms for a variety of reasons. A cluster of small cells has more surface area than a single large cell. More surface area allows for cellular diffusion to happen at a faster rate. Oxygen and nutrients have an increased amount of space to travel in, while carbon dioxide has more space to travel out. In addition, cellular functions are better controlled and executed within small cells. The nucleus directs cell activity by sending signals to organelles inside the cell, as well as to other cells in the body. With a smaller cell, these signals have to travel a shorter distance to reach their destinations, making the whole process more efficient. Over time, organisms best suited for survival tend to live and reproduce, passing on their favorable traits. Thus, these two factors and precedent of survival demonstrate that a smaller cell size benefits organisms like ants and horses.

Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam and why did it lose the war? Write an answer in 150 words.

#1: With amplifying fears of communism and communism spreading throughout Europe and Asia, the United States supported the French after their loss to the Vietminh, and constructed a divide in Vietnam; creating South Vietnam in an attempt to limit the spread of communism. With this advancing fear of communism and communist rule, the US soon offered direct aid to the newly constructed colony, an involvement that would later increase as tensions rose. In its defeat, the US demonstrated an inability to win the Vietnam War. Not only did they lack of proper motive and proper tactics for war contribute to this defeat, but the lack of transparency between the US government and the people, as well as the growing rejection of the war by the American people, contributed as well, while the strong zeal of the Vietnamese and the extent they were willing to fight strengthened their chance of victory in the end.

#2: The United States became involved in Vietnam in the 1950s because they wanted to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The US believed that if Vietnam became communist, other countries in the region would also become communist. They provided support to the South Vietnamese government and military to fight against the communist North Vietnamese. However, the war was not going well for the US and South Vietnam, and the US gradually increased the number of troops sent to fight in the war. The US ultimately lost the war because they were not able to defeat the North Vietnamese and their allies, the Viet Cong. Additionally, the US faced strong opposition from the American public, who were against the war and the high number of American casualties. The US also struggled to win the support of the South Vietnamese people, who were not fully committed to the war effort.

Sophia Liu/Art Director

Memories of MoMo: A tribute to Maurice Campbell ‘21

On December 20th of this academic year, we said goodbye to one of the world’s true superheroes, Maurice Anthony Campbell, II, also known as Moe, after a four and a half year battle with cancer. As we all know, Maurice loved to help others, even when he was struggling most. I’ll never forget the day I was nudging him during his freshman year at Penn to hear that he was OK, and he responded with “everyone is great.” When I pushed back, and reminded him that the news shared is terrific but that I was asking about him, he responded with the name of a middle school student and a cell phone number noting that this student needed an iPad. Well, as the HMers in the audience know, I give away iPads like Chicklets. So, I called the number, and after a rather awkward conversation, including making arrangements for the student to have an iPad, I called Maurice, Jr. and shared my astonishment that the student I’d just hung up with didn’t go to Horace Mann School. With that chuckle and, I’m sure, huge smile, Maurice responded with his classic ‘OK...’ but the kid still needs an iPad! Apparently, Maurice. had introduced me to the sibling of someone he met at Penn. Nothing stopped Maurice from getting help for someone in need.

-

Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with MoMo a few days before he left us, and when I began to tear up, he immediately responded with “No, Don’t cry Dr. S!!!” and was adamant that I stay positive. But over my four years of getting to know him, I realize that’s him, despite everything he had to overcome and go through, he did it with a strong sense of positivity and grace. I was always astonished how determined MoMo was to keep up with his work and not be treated differently than his peers, despite the health risks that made his life outside of school so vastly different than all of his classmates. Throughout his marathon of treatments, he kept showing up, day after day, ready to learn and participate. MoMo would set up regular appointments with me after his treatments to catch up on what he missed and I was always impressed with his initiative to learn the material independently so that when he came to me he would just ask a few clarifying questions before he would say “I got this, I am good” and in the next breath would say “So, what did you do this weekend?!” . Our period long meetings turned into us doing 5 minutes of math and 35 minutes of chatting about life. We talked a lot about our love of food and favorite Westchester restaurants, my kids, his hockey and friends, and our families. It was clear to me that MoMo understood his life was different from his friends but he never wanted people to feel sorry for him. In fact, he wanted to be treated like any other student, and during his time at HM he worked hard to maintain relationships with his peers and participated in student life as much as he could along with his hockey team outside of school. When I went to visit him, his HM diploma was proudly displayed above his bed, and hockey memorabilia surrounded his room. Despite his exhaustion, he managed to ask me about HM life, my kids, and if I still ride my peloton, which made me laugh inside. If you know MoMo well, you know that his facial expressions can say a thousand words. In the middle of my visit, after some moments of silence had passed, he asked, “What did they tell you?”, and when I asked him to clarify he said, “Did they tell you how long I have left?”. After assuring him that I didn’t have that answer, he immediately responded with “Don’t lie to me!!!”. Now although the conversation was very heavy and sad, in that moment, it made me see the life in MoMo. I could just see him saying that to me with a little side eye and sly smile to match the little snarky tone that came with it. That was MoMo. If he had an opinion on something, you could hear it in his tone, and just see it on his face. I will forever miss our real talk conversations, our hugs, and most of all, the “I love yous” that we always said to each other before would say our goodbyes.

I am forever grateful to have become close friends with Momo on the music trip to Hawaii. Our senses of humor were so similar which made for uncontrollable laughter throughout the entire week. We laughed at the silliest things, like how the grilled cheese sandwich was written as “sammich” on a menu. He ended up asking me to prom by writing “want to share a grilled cheese sammich at prom?” It was never what we were talking about exactly, but the way that we felt so aligned in our collective energy. When we were together, I felt so at peace and full of love and joy.

- Kate Bown ‘21

Dean of the Class of ‘26 Dr. Shalini Sudarsanan

Winter Art Show allows student artists to shine

Neeva Patel Staff Writer

A bright red shirt and strawberry stand out against the cheerful young boy, printed atop layered auras of azure, teal, mauve, and muted yellow. “Bhai at Isle d’Orleans” by Saanvi Sherchan (11) is a monotype print that pays homage to the artist’s younger brother. A student in Printmaking I, Sherchan used a reference photo she took while strawberry picking with her brother last summer. “I was inspired by Impressionist artists like Monet who use a lot of short strokes and bright colors,” she said. Unlike Monet’s distinct dashes, the strokes in Sherchan’s piece melted into each other to form animated gradients. Laying down ink was tricky — too thick and the printing press could squash the pigment out and ruin the linework. Sherchan tried to put the ink in thin layers, but the final feathered quality was still not as crisp as Sherchan wanted — something to improve on next time.

A dark, ominous charcoal forest with mangled tree roots and decaying fruits spans the surface of this work, creating a haunting sense of death and mystery. As the viewer’s eyes scan the piece from left to right, darkness recedes into a wash of gray. Olivia Coward (10), a student in Drawing and Painting 3, wanted to draw rotting fruit ever since her teacher introduced the idea of memento mori, artistic symbols of the inevitability of death. “I wanted to expand on that concept and reinvent it because a lot of people accept it without truly understanding what it means,” she said. Look closer: while the decaying fruit itself signifies death, Coward also added the roots as active agents to drag the fruit into the earth. When she needed a fresh pair of eyes on the piece, peers and teachers weighed in and she returned to the drawing board with their opinions until the piece came to life — or, well, death.

Ana Aguilar’s (12) black-and-white portrait features a striking pose and a bold red lip fit for a magazine cover. Amira Dossani (12) completed this piece in Photography 3 last year for her assignment on fashion photography.

“I wanted to do a fashion shoot that displayed a strong, girl boss, woman,” she said. To do this, Dossani dressed her model in bold and striking colors like black, white, and red. The raw shoot took her around an hour and a half total; editing and choosing which images to use took multiple class periods. “My favorite part of this specific piece is the model’s body language — she looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world and at the same time, like she rules the world,” Dossani said. “She’s confident in both herself and what she’s wearing.”

Patriotic red and blue color outline the smiling Queen Elizabeth in this print by Christine Tao (11). Around the time Tao was assigned the first project of making a print of a famous person in her Printmaking 1 class, the Queen passed away. Tao had also just completed a unit in her art history class on artistic depictions of the Queen, so she decided to make her own print of her. The Queen was easy to draw since she has a very recognizable face, so all viewers would instantly know it’s her. Tao created an ombré of the colors of Great Britain’s flag for the background to give the piece more dimension.

At first, it was hard for Tao to master the ombré since the paint dried too quickly to blend. But after consulting her teacher for advice, she got the hang of the printing process.

A cocked rifle protrudes from the corner of the page, almost angled from a first-person POV. From its muzzle, a vine heavy with flowers arcs down.

This black and white drawing by Caroline Willer-Burchardi (11) features meticulous shading and deep contours, accentuating the muscles of the hands, the architecture of the gun, and the seven petals of each flower. The Colorado Springs shooting had just occurred, in which a gunman killed five people at an LGBTQ nightclub — each of the wilted flowers represents one of the victims. In deciding the drawing’s composition, Willer-Burchardi wanted viewers to move their eyes in a bullet-like path as they scanned from left to right. Two of Lee’s suggestions brought the piece off the page: a muscle twitch in the hands and a glint on the gun.

Featuring a royal blue top, cartoon cat, and various brand slogans, this colossal milk carton turns heads in the Fisher gallery. The piece was hand sculpted and painted by Gisella Fischberg (11) for her Sculpture 1 assignment to create a large structure of anything. Fischberg settled on a milk carton because it has a specific shape that she could both recreate and riff on as she scaled it up. Her concept was inspired by old fashioned milk cartons that students would drink from at school in the 1950s. “I liked how those car tons had different designs based on the country or company they were from because I wanted to customize my own carton however I wanted,” she said. The building and painting took two months to complete, one of Fischberg’s longest projects. Building the structure was the easy part; painting was more fun for her, but it was difficult to create designs on such a large scale.

All photos courtesy of Barry Mason

Saanvi Sherchan (11)

Olivia Coward (10)

Amira Dossani (12)

Christine Tao (11)

Caroline Willer-Burchardi (11)

Gisella Fischberg (11)

Inside the costume shop, where every day is a dress rehersal

Erica Jiang Staff Writer

A treasure trove of wigs, Fosse gloves, and jumpsuits, the costume shop in the basement of Tillinghast supplies the school’s productions with seemingly endless clothes and props. From finding a sword for an English-class Shakespeare rendition or fitting countless students for a play, any student or teacher can use the shop’s resources, theater teacher Haila VanHentenryck said.

Open the double doors to room B06 and you’ll be greeted by a large, antique chandelier that hangs from the ceiling, broken shoes and prop birds dangling from each branch. On the left side of the shop, racks of clothing line up next to and on top of each other, leaving just a few feet of room, if any, to navigate the aisles. The racks are labeled according to the type of clothing and by size, ranging from Victorian-era pants to wedding dresses.

On one of the large walls, shelves of plastic boxes stack on top of each other until they reach the ceiling. They are labeled with “religious specialties,” “collars,” “suspenders,” “overalls,” and more. There are also shelves of extra fabric and sewing tools that the costume designers use to alter existing costumes.

Walk to the other side of the shop and you’ll find yourself face to face with mountains of props that have graced the stage for musicals, plays, and other projects. Crystal balls, stuffed animals, fake money — if you need it, chances are you can find it somewhere in the depths of these shelves, with the help of an alphabetical index that fills an entire binder.

The past permeates the costume shop’s every nook and cranny. A lot of the costumes date back as far as the 1940s, and possibly even earlier, theater teacher Benjamin Posner said. “Sometimes, you’ll put something on and see a receipt or candy wrapper from a long time ago, so it’s like a little bit of a time capsule.”

Wearing a gray 1960s inspired suit, Jah’si Eyre (11) played the role of an ancestor in “The Addams Family,” last year’s musical production. “It feels different,” he said. “I normally don’t wear clothes from that time obviously, so it’s interesting to step into the fashion of that time period.” That outfit was his favorite costume he’s worn in a show so far, he said. “All the clothes are really comfortable – they don’t feel like they could be from that long ago.”

The majority of clothing in the costume shop is acquired through donations; some were bought for specific shows and kept, VanHentenryck said. On rare occasions, the school will

rent costumes from places like the Theatre De velopment Fund (TDF) Costume Collection, a non-profit organization that rents costumes to schools or other productions. “These pieces are for very specific needs — for example, in ‘The Little Shop of Hor rors,’ there’s a giant plant puppet that a lot of schools rent because it’s very specific and is a lot of work to build.”

For the musical “Brigadoon!” the department rented costumes because it called for specific Scottish costumes that the shop did not have, Manager of the Department of Theatre and Dance Studies Jonathan Nye said. “We rent only when necessary,” he said. For buying costumes, along with donations from the community, shop gets some items from Materials for the Arts, a non-profit organization that the school is a member of, Nye said.

Periodically, the department audits the inventory and removes redundant or worn out pieces to make room for new ones, Posner said. “When we get rid of costumes, we try to donate them to places like Materials for the Arts because we know other schools are going to be going there and pulling pieces,” he said. In fact, when Posner was a public school teacher, he used to go to that organization.

To manage inventory and design for shows, the school used to employ two costume designers from outside of school. One was an alumni parent who worked in the shop for several years, Nye said. “One would take the lead as the designer for one show and then they would switch off for the next show. But after COVID, we began to hire people to do specific shows.”

Most recently, Sophie Costanza ‘08 has stepped in to help with costuming for “James and the Giant Peach” and “The Good Doctor.” Even though the school is now hiring on a show by show basis, all the designers have a relationship with the school, whether that means that they are an alum or a friend of a teacher, Posner said.

The process of getting fitted for a show starts with the costume designers getting an actor’s measurements — wingspan, inseam, height, the

find something else.”

Along with the hired costume designers, occasionally interested students help pull items, make alterations, and organize the inventory, Nye said. That said, costuming is a more personal and sensitive job so the school relies more on the outside professional. “People feel a lot of different ways about the clothes they wear, their bodies, and their identity expression, so it’s best if there is an adult professional who is responsible for making all of our actors feel comfortable,” VanHentenryck said.

Devan Joseph (11) helped out with the costume design for “The Good Doctor.” Joseph took both the Intro to Design and Technical Theatre class and the Applied Design and Technical Theatre class, where she learned about researching plots and rendering drawings for designs.”

Picking out an outfit begins with considering the time period, color pallet, and personality of the character, Joseph said. “You need to consider what the audience will think.” Joseph likes spending time in the shop because of the absurd amount of clothing and props, she said. “It’s like thrifting — there’s just something unexplainable about it because you get to see pieces of clothing from so many different eras.”

Props to the props: Stories behind the objects that bring HMTC shows to life

Charles Ampah Contributing Writer

Giant Hershey Kiss - “Canceled,” One Act Play

Festival last year. He and his co-star Joaquin Ramirez Villareal ‘22 leaned in for the big moment… until Aponte turned around, reaching into his bag to pull out a comically large Hershey’s Kiss. However, the iconic dessert and hilarious moment almost did not make it into the show. “At one rehearsal soon before opening night, I came across the hall, and it had looked like someone had taken a big bite out of it, and tried to hide it,” Assistant Stage Manager Gael Singer (10) said. Luckily, $12.19 and one emergency Amazon order later, an even larger Hershey Kiss arrived just in time for the show.

Brown Journal - “The Good Doctor”

“The Writer” stood in unison when the lights rose for this year’s fall production, “The Good Doctor.” Each had one possession with them: a six-inch tall brown journal. Throughout the show, they sat in a semi-circle around the stage and jotted things down in the books, as though they were penning the play as it unfolded, Siddhant Jain (10) said. In reality, the pages were filled with doodles and other messages. “You’re sitting there for one and a half hours, and need a way to kill time,” Jain said. The notebooks were not assigned to any individual; actors were given a random one before stepping on stage and rotated after each show. By the final curtain call, each notebook became a time-capsule for the hours that the actors spent both on and off the stage.

BETWEEN THE RACKS Costume shop houses clothes and trinkets galore.

Amira Dossani/Art Director

Eliana Son/Staff Photographer

Barry Mason

Tableware - “The Dining Room”

As the time period shifted from scene to scene, the fancy plates and utensils in the 2021 Fall production “The Dining Room” acted as a constant reminder of the play’s central theme: the resilience of tradition and bonds in spite of changing times and circumstances. “The play called for plates and other tableware that appeared as if they were passed down through generations. So I looked through our properties stock to find something that looked like

Winter Gear - “Almost Maine”

You can almost feel the icy chill from the outfits in the 2018 Middle Division production, “Almost Maine.” Since the play was a series of short stories taking place on a winter Friday evening, the actors wore bulky winter gear on the stage of the well heated Gross Theatre. Bailey Hecht (12) recalled her role as Glory, where she donned a red knitted beanie, a winter parka, snow pants and fuzzy gloves. “I really liked my costume, but I had some issues with the mittens in a scene where I had to kiss my hand,” Hecht said. The thick, wintery costumes allowed each scene to re tain the tight-knit vibe of the small town of Maine.“Our exaggerated costumes set it up really well, because the set was fairly bare and did very little to tell you where it was taking

Bird Puppets - “The Addams Family”

Lightweight, fuzzy, and neon yellow, a flock of birds made a surprise appearance during “Pulled,” one of the numbers of last year’s spring musical “The Addams Family.” Piloted by Willa Davis (12) and Sylvie Seo (12) via a thin wire attached to a plastic rod, the squishy tennis ball-shaped avians took flight for Liv Dwyer ‘22, who played Wednesday. The representation “somehow root,” highher heightened emotional state in the song as she rips the head off of one of them. As puppeteers, Davis and Seo also animated rats, an octopus, and a bed-crawling monster, amongst other creatures.

Too much merch? School merch and where it comes from

Ariella Frommer Staff Writer

“All of the sudden, I saw hats popping out of the air next to the ice cream truck. And then, all the kids started fighting for the hats, but I won the fight and got myself a hat,” Rizaa Fazal (11) said. “I feel complete, like I saved 20 dollars.” Many students have accumulated a collection of school merchandise over their years at the school, whether given for free or purchased from the school store.

School store Associate Deborah Coleman, who started working at the school in 2008, is in charge of designing and ordering all mer chandise and school supplies, apart from athletics clothing. In the school store, you can buy anything from a t-shirt to an umbrella to a water bottle, all emblazoned with the school’s name and logo.

Coleman buys the merchandise from various vendors, such as Parkview Sports, ES Sports, and League, she said. Parkview Sports, a clothing vendor on Broadway, has a faster production time than the oth

ers, though other vendors provide higher quality items.

If Coleman needs an item quickly, she orders from Parkview. The school has been working with Parkview since before Coleman joined the school, she said. “We can call them two days before we need something for an event and they will have it ready for us.”

The vendors send Coleman various layouts, she said. “Then, I pick what I think will look nice or the salesperson will recommend what they think works.” The one guideline Coleman has is that she is not supposed to use the word “Lions” on merchandise because the term

school store, she said. “We don’t mark the merchandise up by that much because you kids are already paying a lot of tuition, so we don’t want to be price gouging,” she said, “The League vendor tells me I’m undercharging you guys.”

For example, Coleman buys each pair of pajama pants for $24 and sells them for $32, making a 25% profit. In comparison, most colleges who buy from the same manufac turer upcharge customers by 100% of what they bought the item for, Coleman said. At the store, sweat pants cost $35, sweatshirts cost $45 on average, and pajama pants cost $32.

transactions, Coleman generates a monthly report that she then sends to the Business Office, she said. The report includes products sold, profits, and the amount individuals spent. Homecoming is the most active day of the school year — this year’s sales were almost $10,000, and the total school store sales in October were $13,198. Compared

Giving out free merch won’t help with school spirit, Sophie Li (11) said. “The reason we don’t have school spirit is because we are more academically focused. I don’t think more merch will change this academic focus.” Li has never bought merch, she said. “I am obviously proud to go here, but I do not need merch to validate that.”

The school’s excess merch can get wasteful. Saanvi Sherchan (11) noticed an unusual amount of leftover t-shirts after the Buzzell game last year, she said. “They were giving out shirts on campus, but there were so many extra that they took them to the actual game, but no one was taking them.”

to December, when school was in session for 12 days, they made

The school sells more merchandise than they need to, Maya Glickman

the tipping point of the problem of consumerism culture.”

Brianna

Wells/Staff

Lions’ Den

Varsity Squash Teams start season strong

Madeleine Offit Contributing Writer

The Boys Varsity Squash team defeated Dalton 7-0 this Monday. The Boys and the Girls Varsity team competed against Hackley on Wednesday; the Boys team lost 3-4 and the Girls team lost 0-7. The Boys’ Dalton victory continues the Lions’ 5-1 season, but the Girl’s loss drops their record to 0-2.

The boys team began the season very motivated, as it was their first season in three years that has not been hampered by Covid in some way, team member Marcus Lee (12) said. At the beginning of the season, the team set their hopes high, aiming to win all of their games, win the Ivy League, and win the state championship (NYSAIS), he said.

The team went into the season knowing they would have the strongest team in at least two years, Captain William Bramwell (12) said. In fact, Varsity Squash Head Coach Ron Beller was able to rest their top two players and still win 7-0 against Dalton. “We have a very strong team, and we think we can win the whole thing.”

Leading up to the Dalton and Hackley matches this week, both teams prepared in practice through challenge matches every three weeks, Girls Varsity Squash Coach Olufemi Salako said.

Challenge matches are when players of a similar ranking will match up in practice and play against each other. Out of ten total players on the team, seven earn the opportunity to play in Ivy League matches –– “the ranking of these seven players is determined by skill level,” Lee said. These challenge matches can move someone on the team up or down in the team rankings — in order to play above your ranking you must beat the player in front of you in a challenge match. Everyone on the team wants to see who comes out on top, creating a competitive, yet exciting atmosphere. “We’re always excited to play,” Lee said.

A specific moment from the Dalton match that stood out to Beller was when a normally-reserved player stepped into the starting lineup and won his match in his first ever start for the team. “It was just a greuling, grueling match,” Beller said. Nevertheless, the team was extremely successful. “We have a beautiful facility at Sarah Lawrence and we were just happy to be there.”

The girls team didn’t have high expectations going into their Hackley match, since Hackley has a reputation of being the best in the league. “They’re really good at squash,” Leichter said. “We aren’t thrilled with the results but we tried our best.”

Looking ahead, the team is optimistic and is dedicated to improving its record. In fact,

on Friday after their match against Riverdale, the team plans to have a group dinner on Friday which will help it bond, Leichter said.

The Boys team also has some fun team traditions. They often celebrate big wins like their win at Dalton by grabbing donuts after matches. Other team bonding experiences and traditions include team dinners before late matches and fun squash-related team trips, Bramwell said. Sometime in the upcoming week, the team plans to watch the big squash tournament at Grand Central Station together, Bramwell said.

“Everyone is very supportive of each other

and it just creates a fun time,” Lee said. On most other teams, after a player is finished with their match, they leave and go home. The squash team, on the other hand, stay at meets even after their game has finished to support their teammates, Bramwell said.

The team feels prepared for future matches, and when looking ahead to NYSAIS, it is confident, Beller said. “If we control each match and play match by match, I think the right results will come with time.”

Fencing Teams beat Rye Country Day, prepare for ISFL

Anoushka Parakh Contributing Writer

The Boys and Girls Varsity Fencing Teams defeated Rye Country Day School with an overall score of 4-2 on Tuesday. The next day, Girls Varsity Fencing also defeated Marymount 2-1.

There are three different types of weapons in fencing: foil, saber, and épée, each of which demand unique techniques and skills, Arman Azmi (12) said. Each weapon has three to four players per gender, he said.

During the match, there are a total of nine rounds, also referred to as bouts, per weapon, Coach Alejandra Teran-Eligio said. Usually, three team members from each weapon will fence three times each, she said.

After each game, the players gain a better understanding of their opponents’ weaknesses and strengths, and apply their knowledge to the next person they fence, Sylvie Seo (12) said. Seo is always working on new strategies to catch her opponent off guard, such as improving her speed, she said.

The team’s two primary goals for

the season are to improve overall and to win, Harry Cottrell (12) said. “We really do have a shot at being first this year and winning [the championship].”

The team is very connected and has a lot of team spirit, Teran-Eligio said. The players always help each other and cheer for each other during matches, she said.

The team continues practicing for their next match right after their previous one, consisting of simple exercises, running laps, stretching, and practicing fencing with different people on the team every day, Seo said. The coaches also pull players aside to work on individual skills that they can improve upon from the previous game, she said.

Starting in November, the fencing team begins preparing for their matches, and improving their technique, Teran-Eligio said. “Fencing is about two things: technique and strategy.”After each player feels comfortable with their technique, the coaches start working to improve the player’s actions, Teran-Eligio said. “Fencing is very personal, meaning that what I tell one player to improve on, I cannot tell another the same.”

Since the return from winter break, the team has been doing a lot of drills to get back into the groove of

things, Cottrell said. “Practices help train the body to make decisions that it is not actually fast enough to make,” he said.

When it comes to matches, the players always are trying out new techniques to find out what works best against their opponent, Cottrell said. “Fencing is based on the individual, as everyone has their own style. You have to figure out how to beat them in the three minutes you have, which makes it pretty intense,” he said.

Fencing requires concentration and focus to get into the other person’s head and win, Azmi said. When it comes to strategy in fencing, it depends on the other person as an opponent –– in that way, you change a lot when you fence, so you don’t generally go in with a set strategy.

During the match against Rye Country Day School, the Girls and Boys Fencing Teams had to take turns competing as there was a shortage of referees, Seo said. After the game, the three coaches, one for each weapon, had discussions with their team to explain what they did wrong and how to fix it, Cottrell said.

Teran-Eligio asks her épée team three things after every match: What they did, what their opponent did, and what they can improve upon.

“If you know what you are doing, you are able to change and improve something. If you know what the other person is doing, you are able to take another instruction and improve.”

There are many new members of the fencing team this year, Teran-Eligio said. One of her primary goals as a coach is to make sure they have great technique. “It doesn’t matter if you are the stronger person, or if you are the bigger person, if you are not smart in the game, you will never win,” she said.

Overall, Teran-Eligio believes that confidence is key to good fencing, she said. “If you do not believe you will win, you will not win,” she said.

Coming up at the end of the season is the Independent School Fencing League (ISFL) Individual and Team Tournaments, Cottrell said. Qualification for the tournament is based on each player’s overall winloss record, he said.

The team has good prospects for the ISFL, Azmi said. “We came really close to winning last year, and this year, we hope to win.

It is the tournament that matters the most, and we want to get as much practice in as we can,” Azmi said.

SMILE! Boys Varsity Squash poses after a big win.

EN GARDE! The Lions go for the touch.

Courtesy of Marcus Lee

James Moore/Staff Photographer