Issue VI by The Standard

PAGE 5

PAGE 12-13

PAGE 16-17

PAGE 20-21

Course selection Netflixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thirteen Reasons Why process

Legacy of Coreen Hester

A growing fashion industry

Introducing recruited athletes

Examining the course selection process and how Math Department Head Neil Basu and Vice Principal Karen Bonthrone construct schedules.

After ten years, Head of School Coreen Hester is set to depart. Hester reflects on her time at the school and the legacy she leaves behind.

Exploring the expanding fashion industry, how students use fashion as a means of expression and implications of reselling rare items on the business.

Meet 8 of the recruited athletes of the class of 2017, talking about their recruitment process, how they chose their school and their hopes for collegiate athletics.

PAGE 3

the Standard

The Standard addresses the Netflix drama Thirteen Reasons Why and the mental health counselling resources the school provides.

News 2-4 | Opinions 5-8 | Features 9-14 | Culture 15-18 | Sports 19-24

Determining the double standard Prude. Womanizer. Man-whore. Based on the casual use of these terms amongst both boys and girls, examining their origins and connotations within the school.

Olivia Abrams | Media Editor Ananya Prakash | Managing Editor: Print

May/June 2017 | Volume 42, Issue 6 The American School in London | One Waverley Place | London NW8 0NP U.K. | standard.asl.org

News Page 2

•••

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

UK snap election Course planning

More U.K.-based Alternatives offered

MADDIE SAYRE ONLINE EDITOR The 2017-2018 school year brings an increase numver of U.K. Alternatives. In order to accommodate scheduling and passport issues, six Alternatives out of the 23 available will now be in the U.K.. These trips range from creative writing in Scotland to adventurous games in Northern Ireland. Last year, Alternatives ran 26-29 of September, however next year the trips will run from October 9 -12, before October break. In mid October activities, are limitd due to the colder climate including whitewater rafting in Slovenia and hiking on fjords in Norway. As a result of last year’s Alternatives, such as Extreme Norway and Iceland: Fire & Ice will not run next year due “It had to do with our entire schedule. If you look at our fall break, it just so happens that it’s pushed back later. We were just doing [Alternatives] in line with the school’s schedule,” Director of Student Life James Perry said. If a student has problems with their passport and cannot leave the country, their Alternative can easily be changed to one in the U.K. “Every once in awhile there are passport issues and we get kids who don’t realize it, but their passports have expired at the last minute, or maybe their family’s status has changed in the U.K. because of work and all of a sudden they can’t travel outside of the country,” Perry said. This is also the reason why students

needed to choose at least one U.K. trip on their Alternative selection. “In those cases, we have to put them on a non-passport trip, which means a U.K. trip, and we wanted to know what they were interested in,” Perry said. Last fall, World Languages and Cultures Teacher Whitney Nuchereno led the Alternative Banksy in Bristol. Although Nuchereno felt that her trip was a success, she has decided to head a new Alternative based in the Basque country. Nuchereno feels that offering more Alternatives in the U.K. is beneficial to students that have not had the oppertunity to explore the country they live in. “I feel that a lot of students don’t travel around the U.K. that much,” she said. “I think that is the beauty of the U.K. trips, that you get to go somewhere that you probably wouldn’t go or spend time doing something meaningful there.” Nuchereno feels students will be more attracted to an Alternative outside of England. “I felt like we really had to sell our trip last year for Bristol, and this year, the destination and the theme sold itself. We chose a more open-ended trip. We could play around and see what we wanted to do in [the Basque Country], and that attracted more people that way. Banksy was a very specific Alternative and to the kids it didn’t seem like an ideal destination,” Nuchereno said. Diego Martinez (’20) was on Nuchereno’s last fall, but wished he was able to soak up the sun instead. “I didn’t get to see anything

Students of the Banksy in Bristol Alternative admire the designated graffiti area. PHOTO FROM LYDIA CONDON new, I just stayed in England. I didn’t get to have fun in the sun or anything. I definitely would have wanted to go somewhere outside the U.K.,” he said. Although Martinez’s next Alternative is also in the U.K., he looks forward to it because his friends will be joining him. “My Alternative next year is another U.K. one, it’s iSpy Manchester,” he said. Maddie Kolaja (’18) is looking forward to spending time with fellow students in her next Alternative: Escape to the Lake District. Kolaja believes that although she lives in London, her ideal family vacation is usually outside of the U.K.. “My family and I are less likely to vacation in the country somewhere as we are to go to a city [outside of the U.K.],” she said.

As Kolaja is a rising senior, she appreciates the fact that she is able to spend her last Alternative in England. “I like the idea of being able to experience more of England, especially as I’m graduating,” she said. Kolaja also believes that as a freshman and sophomore she spent more time admiring the new and exciting cities she was visiting rather than utilizing that time to foster relationships amongst peers. “I’ve gone to different cities before in freshman and sophomore year [for Alternatives] and I felt like I didn’t really get to bond with my peers as much,” she said. “What I really want from my Alternative is to get to know people from different grades and people who I might not usually hang out with.”

Social Justice Council holds open sexism forum ALEXANDRA GERS LEAD FEATURES EDITOR When SJC Co-President Amanda Welch (’18) was elected, she sat down with Director of Student Life James Perry and Principal Jack Phillips to discuss the current issues facing the High School and its students. “[The administration] mentioned to us that it would be really cool if we could discuss the issues going on at a nonadministration level,” she said. “We also had voices from our council that wanted to open up more discussions to the community.” As a result, Welch and her co-president Ananya Prakash (’19), along with the rest of the council, decided to create their first open forum discussion on the topic of sexism. The SJC organized such a forum on sexism with approximately 90 members of the community participating on May 26. The event took place in the math pod classrooms, where students and teachers split into groups. Sheets of paper were given to each group with questions such as, “Are there double standards between boys and girls?” and, “In class, how do the stere-

otypical expectations of boys and girls play out?” given to prompt discussion. Talia Vasaturo-Kolodner (’19) attended the forum as she believes that sexism needed to be discussed given the recent issue pertaining to the varsity rugby team. She believes that her group was productive and “everyone contributed something helpful and something that was a good discussion topic.” Welch believes this conversation is never really held on a greater community scale and hopes that participants were able “to connect with either faculty or students they’ve never spoken to.” Similar to Welch, Murad Jah (’18) believes that sexism is a prevalent issue within the community “that needs to be solved,” and attended the discussion in the hopes of offering his opinion on the topic. Jah felt that the forum was extremely beneficial and desired to hear the perspectives of teachers and what they thought should be done about the issue. As a faculty member, Athletics Director John Farmer attended the forum to gain a different perspective. “It’s easy for me, somebody who works at the school, to feel like I’ve got my finger on the pulse when, in fact, I don’t necessarily at all. It’s good to

Students and teachers engage in conversation about the effects and prevelance PHOTO BY SOURNA DANESHVAR JR. of sexism at ASL. hear directly from the students, ” he said. Vasaturo-Kolodner feels that the SJC organized the discussion productively so that their presence was not strongly felt and participants felt open to discuss without other imposing beliefs. Vasaturo-Kolodner similarly believes that the students at ASL are “lucky to be in a school where we can talk about [sexism] and willing to try and change things.” Believing that the conversations held

were “enlightening,” Farmer hopes conversations such as these continue to happen. “It’s essential that this conversation continues in more forums like this for people to express themselves and be heard,” he said. Agreeing with Farmer, Vasaturo-Kolodner hopes the SJC continues to do more of these open-style forums. In the 2017-2018 school year, the SJC plans to hold more discussions on a variety of social issues.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 3

•••

Solving the schedule puzzle An insight into how the administrationdevelops course schedules each year ISABELLE LHUILIER NEWS EDITOR

rom Spring Break untill September, Assistant Principal Karen Bonthrone and Math Department Head Neil Basu work to craft the class schedule s for the upcoming year. To begin, Basu and Bonthrone collect the data of available courses and each students choices. Course decisions, in terms of what classes will be offered, are finalized in December and conveyed to the rest of the community through meetings with the teachers, parents and students. Once the students’ course selections are confirmed by the grade level deans, the process of creating the schedule begins. The process is not a simple task, requiring countless hours of work. “It’s a very long process,” Bonthrone said. “I’ve seen us here until midnight just working on [the schedule] so that teachers have great schedules and all the students have great schedules too.” Basu and Bonthrone decide on the final schedule around May. Department heads then review it and comment on any changes they believe should be made. Basu and Bonthrone aim to confirm the schedule before summer vacation so rising juniors and seniors are able to view their preliminary schedule before they leave.

Blue

Y201

O305 d3

alculu s BC

e hin

“

We build a new schedule every year that’s custom made for the requests of the students that year Neil Basu Math Department Head Every year Basu and Bonthrone craft a completely new High School schedule in terms of which courses are offered and in which periods they occur. If more students sign up for a certain course, more periods of that class will run in place of other classes with less interest. “We build a new schedule every year that’s custom made for the requests of the students that year,” Basu said. When starting the scheduling process Basu and Bonthrone first look at the classes with the most constraints, such as those requiring the most space in the school and teacher availability. Courses such as Physical Education and Performing Arts are the

A rio

Perio

AP C

Ecolo

Gym

III

IV rench

ist

d5 Perio

ert Conc sics Band y h P AP

most difficult to schedule as they require facilities used by all levels of the school. “We can’t, as a high school, just place 9th grade PE in [any] period as there is a knock-on effect to the rest of the school,” Bonthrone said. In order to create the actual schedule Basu and Bonthrone use a program called the scheduler module, which is part of the Veracross database. This program allows them to display and make changes to the master schedule as well as each student’s individual schedule. This program is particularly useful as it generates a schedule in minutes. “I’ve done scheduling in multiple schools and [in] most of the other programs it often takes over night,” Bonthrone said. “This does a run in two to three minutes. It’s the most powerful scheduling program I’ve ever used.” Having the ability to generate new schedules rapidly allows Basu and Bonthrone to try new ways of arranging the schedules multiple times in order to craft an ideal schedule. The scheduler module pulls data from Veracross regarding student course selections, teacher and classroom availability and develops the practical schedule based on that data. “[The scheduler module] helps us work through the possibilities and identify where conflicts would occur,” Basu said. After they are generated, Basu and Bonthrone then go through each students proposed scedule to ensure it is balanced. “The computer can help us, but it doesn’t think

about the human interest and interactions,” Bonthrone said. In addition to students, Basu and Bonthrone also take teacher schedules into account. “We want to make sure teachers have a schedule that makes it so they will be their best,” Basu said. “We don’t want a teacher to teach four classes on one day and have one day that’s free.” If Basu and Bonthrone see an issue with a student’s schedule they will either rearrange the individual’s schedule or make changes to the overall schedule. Once any change is made, Bonthrone and Basu must run the program again to see if it has resulted in any new conflicts. “Every time we tweak the schedule, we need to know if more students or less students are getting their top choices,” Bonthrone said. “It’s like a Rubik’s cube or a giant Sudoku puzzle where you have students on one [end], teachers on the other and facilities on the other and all of these moving blocks have to be worked out.” Although Basu and Bonthrone aim to give every student their ideal schedule it is sometimes impossible to give a student a certain class. Even after the schedule is handed out in May, Basu and Bonthrone work on it until September to reduce as many conflicts as possible. Although his job can be difficult, Basu views the challenge as a “puzzle”. “I like this idea that we are trying to customize it based on student interest and student availability and teacher interests and teacher availability,” he said.“That’s a cool puzzle to try and solve.”

News

In brief National crew regatta On May 27 and 28 the National Schools Regatta took place at Dorney Lake. The regatta culminated three season for the Crew Team with several individuals winning honours. The regatta hosted crews and schools from all over the country. Notable individaul honors include Tyler Skow (’17) advancing to the finals of the Under 18 boys single, winning silver. Grace Bake (’17) and Sarah Brunsberg (’17) won the gold medal for Under 18 women’s double. This achievement means that Brunsberg and Bake are Great Britain National Champions.

Annual film festival On Wednesday, May 31 the 12th annual ASL Film festival was hosted in the school center. The festival celebrated the combined work of the Advanced Acting for Television, Film, Video and Animation and Literature and Film classes who collaborated to produce seven 10-minute films. These students wrote, directed, acted in and produced the films. The festival commenced with a reception at 6:15 p.m. and the films were shown at 7 p.m. The films received special recognition by guest judges, writer and director Jon Spira and ASL alumnus, Jon Schey ‘10.

Middle East Night The Middle East Club hosted Middle East Night in the commons on Thursday, 25 May. The event took place from 6:30 p.m. and was attended by about 50 people. The tickets sold raised £275.00 for the charity Requiem for Aleppo, which helps with the refugee crisis. Speakers included Composer David Cazalet and Former Administrator of Urban Development and Environment Affairs of Egypt, Laila Iskandar. The evening also featured native arabic food and student speakers talking about their notion of home.

TEAMGlobal TEAMGlobal a U.K. educational charity is holding its annual Members’ Day on Monday, June 26. As the school holds an institution membership in TEAMGlobal, all students can participate. However there will be a charge of £25 per person for the tea. Two sessions will be held. One in the morning at a venue in central London with several distinguished speakers who will discuss international relations. In the afternoon Baroness Lynne Featherstone will host a tea at the house of Lords discussing issues which interest her.

Page 4

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

News

U.K. holds snap general election

Theresa May has called for a general election in the wake of the Brexit vote, hoping to gain more control of Parliament CAMERON CAMPILI | LEAD NEWS EDITOR

Conservative

Leader: Theresa May

Symbol

45% Percentage voting for Labour STATISTICS AND PHOTOS FROM HTTP://POSITIVEMONEY.ORG/ HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/ HTTP://WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK/

pril 18, Prime Minister Theresa May called for unity not only within the country but specifically within Westminster. May’s plea lead her to announce that a U.K. general election would be held on June 8. This declaration commenced a U.K. snap general election where May hopes to increase the Conservative majority in parliament. Six main parties campaigning during this election are the Conservative Party, Labour Party, U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), Scottish National Party (SNP), Liberal Democrat and the Green Party. May, Jeremy Corbyn, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon, Tim Farron, and co-heads Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, are leading the respective parties. Social Studies Teacher Duncan Pringle believes that the election was a strategic move for the Conservative Party. “There is a piece of me that [believes] it was inevitable because the [Conservatives] have such a lead in the opinion polls, so politically it would be a bit foolish not to do it, despite the fact that May promised she wouldn’t do that. There was an inevitability to the election,” Pringle said. The Conservatives, led by May, are currently leading the June 1 Telegraph poll by about 10 points. However, Labour is gaining fast. All this suggests that this election is a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservatives, Corbyn vs. May, with May looking like the probable victor. Pringle draws connections to Margret Thatcher’s decisive victory in 1983 stating that “[May] will probably come back in with a very significant majority and move ahead as if she has a popular mandate to do whatever she wants to do or whatever they want to do.” However, probable does not mean definitive. World Language and Culture Teacher Nina DeSimone believes the a Conservative victory isn’t necessarily set in stone. “I was just reading this one article where they said this is the closest to a sure thing they’ve seen in politics in a while. I don’t think there are any sure things in politics, nobody predicted the conservatives would win the way they did in the last election,” she said. Skepticism surrounding a Conservative landslide victory has begun to rise to an even greater extent as Labour surges up [the Telegraphs] offical poll. Leo Artus (’17) has noticed this trend and also believes that there is a possibility May loses. “I think if [May] really messed up there could be a chance of Corbyn winning, but what I will say is that it’s hers to lose,” he said. “Labour is doing better than I thought they would

MICHAELA TOWFIGHI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PRINT and recent polls have actually shown them definitely getting closer.” Despite engagment in both U.S. and U.K. politics, Pringle believes that there is a greater emphasis on U.S. politics at ASL. “There is much more talk about U.S. politics than U.K., but that is just the makeup of the faculty being mostly American and there is an inevitability about that,” he said. “It doesn’t mean people are not interested in the election, it just means their focus is on events going on in the U.S. rather than in the U.K. In reality U.K. politics has more impact on our everyday lives than U.S. politics does and it is true for [students] and adults in the building.” DeSimone has also noticed this trend, but believes that as a result of the school’s diversity the indulgence in U.S. politics rather than U.K. is an inevitability. “For sure there are times where I wish we would talk a little bit more about where we are living and the culture that we are living in, but I do understand that we are an American school, but we have quite a diverse group here with a lot of dual citizens,” she said.

Labour

Leader: Jeremy Corbyn

“

It’s possible. I think if [May] really messed up there could be a chance of Corbyn winning, but what I will say is that it’s hers to lose Leo Artus (’17) Understanding U.K. politics was a struggle at first for DeSimone, but now that she has the opportunity to vote she is more invested in this U.K. election than any other she has experienced. “I’ve been in the country long enough, but this is the first time I have ever really been involved in U.K. politics when someone hasn’t been elected explicitly by the public and that’s my fault for not being as involved. I wasn’t a voting citizen at the time but now that I am I’m for sure a lot more engaged in U.K. politics,” she said. This is the first election Artus has been able to vote and with it brings a new perspective on the election as a whole. “I feel an obligation to vote. I want to vote because I care and obviously I don’t live in the marginal seat so it doesn’t actually matter how I vote really but I am still going to. I know the party I am going to vote for is not going to win the national election, but I am going to vote because I want to and because I get to,” he said.

Symbol

33% Percentage voting for Conservatives

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Opinions Page 5

•••

French Election Limited Access to New Facilities

Editorial

CARTOON BY GABY IWEGBUE

13 Reasons Why, a Netflix original television series inspired by the book of the same name by Jay Asher, has taken the world by storm. Telling the story of Hannah Baker, a girl who has committed suicide and left tapes that place the blame on her classmates, the show explicitly addresses themes of suicide, sexual assault and bullying. After only a short period of time, it became the most watched series on Netflix. Our school was not exempt from this trend. In response to the hit TV show, High School Counselor Stephanie Oliver and Grade 7/8 Counselor Kelley Reid sent a letter to students and parents regarding the show and the issues it raises. Oliver expressed concerns that the show romanticizes suicide, displays graphic scenes that could prompt someone suicidal to take their life and fails to effectively represent the competency of most counseling professionals. This Editorial Board acknowledges the great effort the ASL counselling team has made in making their services well known. A significant

flaw in the show is it’s implication that adults, specifically school counsellors, don’t have the ability to help a student in trouble. The school is fortunate to have many skilled professionals at their disposal. Despite the plethora of resources and outlets, we as an Editorial Board believe the outreach and productivity of the counselling team is not at its full potential, therefore limiting the connection between students and counselors. The main systemic and societal problem with the counselling teams lies in the stigmatization of the nature of speaking to a counsellor. Despite assumptions or beliefs, conversations with the counselling team does not denote mental health issues. Counselors are simply another form of support, and another point of connection between students and adults within the building. A relationship with this team is more beneficial than not, and students should not hesitate to cultivate. A key reason for this stigma-

OLIVIA ABRAMS Print and Online Media Editor SOPHIE ASHLEY Opinions Editor CAMERON CAMPILI Lead News Editor SOURNA DANESHVAR JR. Editor-in-Chief: Online MARTHA DUFF Features Editor ALEXANDRA GERS Lead Features Editor CHRISTINA LEONARD Manging Editor: Online PHAEDRA LETROU Culture Editor ISABELLE LHUILIER News Editor JONATHAN NOVAK Sports Editor MADDIE SAYRE Online Editor JONATHAN SHEVES Sports Editor MICHAELA TOWFIGHI Editor-in-Chief: Print JOHN TOWFIGHI Features Editor ANANYA PRAKASH Managing Editor: Print QUINN WHITMAN Culture Editor STEPHANIE BRENDSEL Photo/Online Editor Emeritus MARTHA COLLINS Deputy Editor-in-Chief Emeritus ANKIT MEHRA Online Director Emeritus TYLER SKOW Editor-in-Chief Emeritus SHANNON MILLER Adviser CARTOONIST Gaby Iwegbue

tization lies in the unfamiliarity between the student body and the counseling team. There is natural hesitation in discussing personal situations and issues upon first interaction with someone. In order for most students to feel comfortable revealing their thoughts, a level of comfort is needed. Building that rapport originates from seeing counselors more regularly and more genuinely, starting conversations and becoming acquainted. Our Editorial Board believes in order to foster these relationships, Oliver and the counselling team should reach out to students at the beginning of each year. For students who are interested, a short conversation with a member of the counselling team would provide them the opportunity to talk without putting themselves too far out of their comfort zones. Knowing that someone will always be there for them will be the biggest strength of this, as people would be able to feel more comfortable speaking up and out when something is affecting them. As a board, we recognize the

Standard

STAFF WRITERS Maya Ariburnu, Anastasia Ruimy, Houdah Daniels, Michael Flaherty, Rohan Haarmann, Naz Ozturk, Jonathan Philips, Lorenzo Rasetta, Ethan Snizek, Imogen Weiss, Amaan Zafar STAFF WRITERS EMERITUS William Brummette STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Eliza Blakemore, Jordan Koski, Celine Sawiris MISSION STATEMENT The Standard staff and adviser are dedicated to creating a collaborative, open forum that cultivates productive dialogue within the School community by publishing exemplary student news media according to the strictest standards of journalistic integrity. CONTENT The Standard covers news related, but not limited, to the School community. Issues-driven coverage that aims to explore ideas, themes, concepts, trends and recent developments beyond the campus that are relevant to members of the community are also included. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send submissions to the journalism lab, room Y-201, or to the_standard@asl.org. These must adhere to

Advisory program was created to help foster such relationships between students and adults in the building. Yet the curriculum and group nature of advisories can limit the genuine connection between advisor and student. As a result, advisors should take time more frequently to check in one on one with their students to further the relationship. Through the consistency of a two year advisory, and therefore a two year relationship with a teacher in the High School, a strong relationship between advisor and student should be the product of the program at the culmination of these two years. Beyond the relationship between advisor and student, student to student relationships also prove to a strong point of connection within the High School. The Peer Leadership program is designed to fulfill this role, yet we believe their outreach and connection is limited. Through visits to Grade 9 advisories, Peer Leaders succeed in presenting themselves as a point of contact

the same set of ethical guidelines that all staff content is held to, and will only be published at the discretion of the editorial board and the adviser. The Standard retains the right to edit letters for length and AP/Standard style. All letters must be signed in order to be considered for publication. EDITORIALS Articles published without a byline and presented in the same location issue-to-issue represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. They are unsigned. COMMENTARIES Articles with a byline and a photo of the author in the Opinions section of the newspaper are opinions articles. They represent the view of the writer only, and not necessarily the staff of the newspaper or any other individual or group in the community. CORRECTIONS POLICY Readers reserve the right to call attention to an error in print or online stories. Any queries regarding potential corrections can be emailed to the_standard@asl.org or be reported to Y-201. The corrected version will appear online with a note indicating that the article has been updated since it originally appeared. If the article originally appeared in print, a note about the

for the freshmen class. However for the rest of the High School student body, this outreach is insufficient. Peer Leaders need to be identifiable to their peers and strong student leaders within our high school. Not only should they be known and trusted, but also accessible to all. The lack of familiarity between our students and the Peer Leaders limits the potential impact of the program, and is an area for improvement in regards to student to student relationships and leadership. As a whole, our school exceeds in the quantity of resources available for students. Yet in many cases, these resources are overlooked, and potentially undermined. A lack of familiarity and comfort between students and these groups lies at the heart of the problem, a simple area to address and fix for the upcoming school year. As a board, we hope with an increased connection and relationship between students and the counselling team, both the benefits and student use of these resources would increase.

correction will also be printed in the following issue. ENGAGEMENT WITH READERSHIP The Standard encourages all readers to submit their thoughts through letters to the editor, guest columns, online comments and story ideas. Contact the appropriate section editor(s) for submissions. Distribution Press run is 800 copies. Copies are provided free of charge to students, faculty and staff in The American School in London; current enrollment 1,350. Printed by Mortons Print Limited, 01507 523456 ONLINE VIEWING The Standard can be viewed online at standard.asl.org. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ TheStandardASL Follow us on Twitter: @TheStandardASL Follow us on Instagram: @TheStandardASL Follow us on Snapchat: thestandardasl

Page 6

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

Opinions

French election results reveal underlying issues SOPHIE ASHLEY

sophie_ashley@asl.org

“

Although we live in what seems to be a more accepting world, where the mindless hatred of a person based solely on their faith should be nonexistent, this election drove home how much further we have to go.

I followed the French election with an interest that bordered on anxiety. Although I don’t have any direct ties to France, Le Pen’s openly anti-Semitic viewpoints made this election personal. The fear I felt as a Jew only built as polls predicted at least a third of the French public voting for a candidate who supported the ban of clothing with any Jewish or Muslim symbols and putting a halt on the provision of pork-free meals in schools. As someone who has always been relatively free to express my faith, especially in school, this encroached on rights I’ve always taken for granted. On May 7, Emmanuel Macron was elected president, and I felt like I could breathe again. Le Pen’s loss was not only a victory for French Jews, but for the entire Jewish population worldwide. This election was a war against faith-hate just as much as it was a war between two political parties. Although we live in what seems

to be a more accepting world, where the mindless hatred of a person based on their faith should be nonexistent, this election drove home how much further we have to go. On the night of the election, Macron’s campaign office was vandalized with anti-Semitic epithets written in bright red marker, only one of multiple anti-Semitic attacks against him throughout his campaign. I am sure not all of Le Pen’s supporters were actively anti-Semitic, yet, the fact that they voted for her shows that people are willing to look past a candidate’s openly hateful views solely because they agreed with other points they make. This links directly to the support U.S. President Donald Trump showed Le Pen throughout her candidacy. Although Trump is openly pro-Israel, he labelled Le Pen the “strongest [candidate] on borders”. If our own president is willing to look past a candidate’s blatant faith hate, how can we expect others to act differently?

This is why I can find only a small amount of comfort in Macron’s win; Le Pen still managed to gain the support of over a third of French voters. This was the highest percentage ever seen for the Nationalist Front party, a right-wing populist political party founded by Le Pen’s father, a known holocaust denier. If someone so full of hate for the Jewish people can continue to steadily gain votes, what is there to say that one day they won’t win? In a study done by the European Union in 2013, 74 percent of the French Jews surveyed avoided openly identifying themselves as Jewish. In the country with the largest Jewish population in all of Europe, we should expect the French Jewish population living there to be more open about their faith. However, the opposite is represented. The rate of Jewish emigration from France has skyrocketed in the last 5 years. according to the Jewish Agency handling Jewish emigration, or

Progress Report ECON PROJECT

DRAKE

SEAN SPICER

aliyah, in the months following an attack on a kosher supermarket in France last year, nearly 8,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. In a country where anti-Semitism seems to be an increasingly significant issue, the result of this election seems to hide a larger problem. Of course we can take a moment to celebrate this victory. But we need to acknowledge the distance we have to go before we’ve won, and attempt to find ways to combat close calls like this in the future. There will always be racist, extreme populists. There will always be people who vote or formulate opinions solely based on the promises, realistic or not, that the candidate makes. But it is our responsibility as the next generation to educate ourselves. Don’t allow political candidates the opportunity to marginalize a specific group of the population. We have seen the hatred of a faith tear up the world once. Don’t allow it to happen again.

PHOTO 1 BY JONATHAN NOVAK, PHOTO 2 BY ANANYA PRAKASH, PHOTO 3 BY SOPHIE ASHLEY, PHOTOS 4 AND 5 FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS, PHOTO 4 FROM FLICKR, PHOTO 6 FROM FLICKR

FIDGET SPINNERS

6 4

Spinners: (D) Seeing tutorials on Instagram was 4. The Editorial Board of 1. Fidget enough. Quinn Whitman The Standard gives 2. Econ Projects: (C) Raise your hand if you feel personally 5. victimized. Sophie Ashley the school its (A+) RIP. You’ll always be the journo room. last report of the 3. Y-201: 6. Sourna Daneshvar school year.

2017 NBA Finals: (B-) Eh... Again? Cavs in six, I guess. Cameron Campili

Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer Impression: (A-) It would be even funnier if it weren’t so true. Thanks for the comedic relief. Alexandra Gers Drake’s Billboard Performance: (A) He can’t take a knee ‘cause he’s wearing all-white. Jonathan Shcves

Post Scriptum: Hello Jo(h)n(ny)

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 7

•••

Opinions

Putting blind trust in majorities MAYA ARIBURNU

maya_ariburnu@asl.org

“

While I’m not suggesting that we don’t respect the will of the majority, we have to accept that it is not infallible.

In the last year alone, there have been two highly contentious referenda, both Britain’s vote on whether to remain a part of the EU and Turkey’s vote on replacing a parliamentary system with a presidential system. Based on the close outcomes and backlash from both results, it is clear that we should question whether a straight 50/50 vote is effective and even in the public interest. While I’m not suggesting that we don’t respect the will of the majority, we have to accept that it is not infallible. A question put to a referendum is usually highly complex and we must accept that a significant proportion of the population simply won’t understand the underlying issues. In the U.K., polls revealed that those who graduated from university were more likely to vote to “Remain” while those with their GCSE’s as their highest level of education are more likely to vote to ‘Leave’. It is also concerning that the regions in Turkey where the 51% voted ‘yes’ for giving the president increased power accounted for only 15% of where academic

books are sold. This lack of education comes at a price for entire populations. Government has a responsibility to protect people. Therefore, we need to have a system whereby the people who want change need to get more than 50% in order to take account for the fact that many people voting will not understand the issues. In any referendum, both sides will have parties with vested interests who will seek to persuade others to believe in their point of view. On such an important issue that is taken to the public, we need to account for the fact that one side may be far better at marketing and persuading people to their point of view. We need to require that those demanding change get significantly more than 50 percent of the vote to ensure that they don’t simply win because of a more effective marketing campaign. For example, in the British referendum the Vote Leave campaign was far more effective at getting their message across to the people than the Remain campaign, meaning

that some people who voted to leave, voted to leave not because of the core issues but due to what was effectively powerful advertising. Decision making is rarely made purely on the intrinsic factors of the issue but, rather, is influenced by many external factors such as the society’s current culture, the technologies that they have available to them and the economic climate. The regions of the UK that were most in favor of Britain leaving the EU were those that had suffered greatest during the most recent recession. When a large change takes place in government, it does not just affect those who voted for the issue but all the future generations who will have to live with the consequences of the decision. We hope that the future generations won’t live during a recession or under the consequences of a recession. By increasing the percentage of the vote needed to win, you are protecting those future generations from significant political change that might be the result of a temporary issue.

Furthermore, those external factors that influence a vote won’t be big issues such as culture and economic climate. They can also be small things like how well the person slept the night before or whether they had breakfast, really trivial issues that do affect how we feel on a day-to-day basis. As such, we need to account for a margin of error, when conducting a vote on what is such an important issue. If we ran three votes, they would not all have the same outcome. If we ran the vote 10, 20, 30 times, perhaps we could be more confident in the average of those votes, but simply holding a vote once and taking the outcome as correct even if it was exceptionally close does not effectively take the will of the majority and is very risky. It does not account for small margin of error. If holding the vote several times as though one were conducting a scientific experiment is impractical, then we need to protect the status quo by allowing for a margin of error and requiring those who want change to get much more than 50%.

Students deserve more trust CAMERON CAMPILI cameron_campili@asl.org

“

We are constantly pampered and, unfortunately, the absurd amount of rules and regulations highlights this.

After being denied access to most if not all of the school’s athletic facilities, I have come to realize that ASL is, in fact, a K-12 school. Although this system brings with it a surplus of benefits, it has also created some drawbacks, which I only began to notice recently. High School students are treated like lower schoolers. We are constantly pampered and, unfortunately, the absurd amount of rules and regulations highlights this. As of a few weeks ago a rule was set in place which means that students using either the blue gym or the Farmer gym to play basketball or any other sport after school now need teacher supervision. Although it sounds quite trivial, this rule discourages students from using athletic facilities after school. Teachers are very busy and it’s extremely hard to find one who is willing to watch students

for up to three hours after school. As a result, Director of Student Life James Perry has had to repeatedly come down to the gym to supervise us. Not only does the rule discourage students from using the facilities productively, but it also takes away precious time from teachers who don’t want and shouldn’t have to supervise us. The rule was implemented to ensure that the school would not be held liable for any injuries that occurred after school. Although this is a sound reason for enacting the rule, why is, after several complaints and attempts to reform the rule, that nothing can be done? The fact that a bunch of high school students, some of whom are legally adults, cannot play basketball after school without supervision of a teacher is not only absurd, but a great example of how ASL babies High School students.

The fitness center provides students with a great outlet to escape from a stressful day, however, it is only open before school, during lunch, and after school. Although I understand there are classes that usually use the fitness center during class time, why can’t a student quietly join in? In years past, students were able to use the fitness center during their free periods which was very popular amongst teachers and students alike. However it’s not only the use of facilities that demonstrates this acute lack of trust, but also the ridiculous forms one has to fill out for anything they do. An advisory is not even allowed to go to Chipotle without filling out paperwork asking if they can swim 50 meters or not. Also, when someone leaves for ISSTs they have to fill out a form signed by all their teachers with what the homework is usually followed by

at least four “see haiku” messages. Does the school not trust that we can productively make up two days of work? It seems to me that everything one does in the high school is scrutinized. Where’s the trust? Unfortunately, for me and other high school students, as one progresses through the ages the amount of trust they place in us hasn’t changed since grade five. ASL has become a tiger mom for High School students. I understand the legal aspects involved with why most if not all of these rules are in place. However, some form of paperwork needs to be distributed to all students interested in utilizing the facitlies without teacher supervision. This paperwork would allow us to take repsonsibilty for ourselves, giving studens the ability to partake in after school athletics without teacher supervision.

Page 8

•••

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Opinions Breaking the binary

MALE FEMALE OTHER

An exploration into the meaning of the man and woman gender binary as well as the reactions to the ways people in the community express their gender Ananya Prakash | Features Editor

Quinn Whitman | Features Editor

hen Math Teacher Deb Luheshi reflects on what gender meant during her childhood, she believes that it was solely between a man or woman gender binary. “When I grew up in the United States, it was a very Judeo-Christian society and growing up I didn't have [an] understanding [of other genders]. My knowledge growing up was that it was purely binary,” she said. Luheshi, who identifies as female, believes that these ideas of a gender binary always withstood in American culture. “My understanding of the U.S., is that it has been pretty binary because of the religious roots of the United States,” she said. Skylar* (’18) identifies as agender (they/them pronouns). Agender means the lack of identifying with any gender. They agree with Luheshi and believe that although mostly gender binaries stem from European origins, other parts of the world were historically more open to other genders. For example, “Native Americans had this term [two-] spirit, and a lot of different pacific islands had a lot of different terms for people who don’t fit within a binary,” Skylar said. Much like Skylar, World Languages and Cultures Teacher Mario Rojas, who identifies as male, does not believe that people identifying outside of the gender binary is a new phenomenon. He has seen examples of people not identifying with the binary in many cultures throughout history. Rojas believes that people expressing themselves outside of the confinements of gender binarism “is a pre-European social construct that was there,” Rojas said. “We’ve seen examples of it all throughout history, and I think it’s maybe been repressed.” Furthermore, Skylar believes that these historical ideas of gender have been in place over many years and have indoctrinated gender roles and created the male and female stere-

otypes. “If you look at ads from the ’40s, they were extremely sexist… in the ’40s women were [motherly] and much more at home. Now women are more sex icons,” Skylar said. They believe that these media messages help to reinforce stereotypes and a binaristic society. Similarly, Rojas also grew up in an environment that portrayed strict gender binary norms and roles. “I think for a long time we thought that the physical was what defined us and that there was no real way around it,” Rojas said. Luheshi believes the conversations she has had surrounding the expansion of gender have taken place in the while the concept of gender has expanded globally. “The conversations I have had about gender have only really happened in the past six years,” she said. Similarly to Luheshi, Rojas has also seen an increase in awareness surrounding the growing definition of gender. “I think we’ve come a long way since I’ve started teaching,” Rojas said. Despite this, Rojas believes that the rising number of students identifying with different genders is “not necessarily because there are more people” identifying with genders outside of the binary as compared to previous years. Instead, he believes that as people are relatively more accepting of it now, more students feel safe to come out. He has noticed that a greater number of students have come out as not identifying with the gender binary. “I’ve seen more and more students feel more comfortable enough to be who they are,” he said. Currently, Skylar also believes that there are dramatic changes being made to what gender means in society and the different stereotypical roles of the binary genders. “This generation is definitely trying to break the mould more,” Skylar said.

ATMOSPHERE SURROUNDING GENDER

mogen Hare (’18) believes that her conservative, Russian Orthodox background has shaped her perspective on gender. Hare strongly believes that the man and woman binary is the prime expression of what gender is in society today. “I have grown up in a very conservative family, very religious orthodox and I have always been taught there are two genders: female and male,” she said. “I was born female and I would call myself female.” Similarly to Hare, Jose Francisco Lecaros (’20) who identifies as male, believes that there are only two genders. “I think there were only meant to be two. I won’t discriminate against people who choose to be a different gender, I won’t judge people based on it,” he said. Lecaros attributes this perspective to a conservative upbringing. “I grew up in a really Catholic environment… I still have that belief in the fundamental, more conservative ideals.” Furthermore, Lecaros believes that there isn’t much of a difference between sex and gender in today’s society. “[Sex and gender] seem like the same thing to me,” he said. “I

think that people are what they are meant to be.” Despite this, Lecaros accepts that “if they want to change genders, then they should.” In contrast Co-President of the Gender Equity Club Sierra Prasad, who identifies as female, believes that there is no limit to how many genders there can be. “Often society is quite binary and there is a belief that there are only two genders but that is a misconception,” Pras-

upset when some of her fellow students refuse to understand how her religious beliefs play into her perspective. “It does really frustrate me when people don’t understand that I have religious beliefs. Personally, I don’t think [other perspectives of gender are] something I can connect to. I am an open-minded person but people aren’t willing to understand [my perspective],” she said. Due to the mixed opinions of gender, Skylar doesn’t always feel

that people who identify outside of the binary have received. Skylar also cites the practice of writing pronouns on a name card in English class as something that they are uncomfortable with. “It’s good if it’s optional, because it does normalize asking people pronouns, but the problem is, you’re either forced to lie or out yourself,” they said. Skylar believes that students who don’t want to out themselves to their peers are pressured in an

pronouns. A lot of people don’t believe that there is anything out of the gender binary,” they said. When Skylar reveals their gender identity to their peers, they have felt their gender identity to be ignored by other people. “So when you tell them, ‘Hi, I would like to be addressed by these gender neutral pronouns,’ they’ll tell you either ‘no, that’s too hard for me to change,’ or ‘no it’s not grammatically correct.’ Similarly, Blair (’20)* who identifies as non-binary (they/ them pronouns) sometimes finds it difficult to come out, especially to adults who have been raised with the idea of a gender binary. “It is very difficult to tell an adult what they learned when they were younger is incorrect,” Blair said. Even amongst students, Blair believes that there are misconceptions as to what being non-binary is and the recognition of students who are not cisgender, when gender identity corresponds with birth sex. “There are always people who will be uneducated on the topic and won’t believe in [being non-binary],” they said. “It is kind of strange because it is not about them and won’t affect them.”

“I THINK THERE WERE ONLY MEANT TO BE TWO [GENDERS]. I WON’T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO BE A DIFFERENT GENDER.” JOSE FRANCISCO LECAROS (‘20) ON HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS INFLUENCING HIS CONCEPT OF GENDER ad said. “The great thing about the LGBTQ+ [community] and gender is that there are so many different ways to identify yourself.” Especially in the past few years, Prasad has seen a rise in conversation about gender. “We are at a point that we are at a gender revolution, social justice revolution, people are becoming a lot more aware of these issues,” Prasad said. Even though there is a growing awareness of gender, Hare feels

To the Editor: I believe the article “Breaking the Binary” from Issue 5 of The Standard, was from a place of goodness where SUPPORTING STUDENTS A you aimed to create a discussion surrounding gender at ASL and how it is portrayed, but from that attempt you have perpetuated negative ideology surrounding the non-binary and gender non-conforming communities here at ASL. Several of my friends identify outside of male and female. One of them has admitted to me that they are the anonymous source Skylar in your article. They attended a GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance) meeting with me and brought up concerns they had about the article. They believed that ASL as a community was not being accepting and the way your article was composed was harmful to the non binary and gender nonconforming communities. It is important to clarify that The Standard has covered gender before and done it in a positive light that brought awareness and understanding from it. I believe the way this specific article is composed, wounds the LGBTQIA+ (I use the full acronym as to include the “A” which may stand for allies, asexual, aromantic, or in this case agender) Community but

BY ONS TRATI ASH ILLUS MAN YA PRAK WHIT ANAN QUINN AND

GENDER IN THE PAST

comfortable expressing that they are agender at ASL. “I feel like [ASL] tries to be accepting but it fails in the worst of ways,” Skylar said. There are times when Skylar feels their gender is trivialized. One instance was when a student “jokingly put in that they were some kind of air force defense weapon,” when answering what their gender was on a survey. Skylar believes that this view reinforces the ignorance

uncomfortable situation due to the lack of understanding of gender. “You end up for a year, or a semester depending on what grade you’re in, you end up with a name card, with a name that might not be yours and with pronouns that might not be yours,” they said. As a result, coming out as anything beyond the binary is not something that Skylar thinks is easy at ASL. “A lot of people are really rude when you tell them your

“

The way your article was composed was harmful to the nonbinary and gender non-conforming communities.

“A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE REALLY RUDE WHEN YOU TELL THEM YOUR PRONOUNS. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE THAT THERE IS ANYTHING OUT OF THE GENDER BINARY.” SKYLAR* (‘18)

s a teacher, Rojas believes that it is not only his job to give his students an education, but also support students that might be struggling with their gender identity and learn different gender labels. “That’s part of my responsibility now as a teacher working with young people,” Rojas said. “I want to be an ally, so it’s my responsibility to learn more about the different genders that are out there.” Although Rojas teaches a language that often has to use gender pronouns, he makes an effort to “try to pick the gender neutral words when I have the option,” in order to make his room a safer place for students of different genders. However, Rojas believes that there needs to be “more dialogue with students and teachers,” through panels and discussion platforms to allow for an exchange of ideas. The first step Luheshi thinks is crucial in creating a more accepting environment at ASL is also an increase in discussion surrounding gender and what it means to not fit into a man/woman gender. While Luheshi has had conversations “about the fluidity of gender” with her colleagues, and believes that the gender binary notion is changing, for the most part many still tend

to view gender as a binary. “I think most people at ASL think in the binary,” Luheshi said. Skylar agrees and further encourages that the topic of gender be taught in greater depth in Health classes, as well as the creation of more non-binary awareness days. They believe that this would create a more understanding atmosphere that would allow students to come out. Despite this, Blair acknowledges that not all students are in an environment, particularly at home, where they can come out as not cisgender. “I think that you can certainly be a lot happier if you are out of the closet, but you should never feel like you aren’t valid for not coming out,” Blair said. Skylar recognizes that although there are students who are still exploring and coming to terms with their gender identity and they shouldn’t feel the pressure to immediately label themselves. “If you don’t know what your gender identity is by this point in life, that’s totally cool,” Skylar said. “You have so much time in front of you. I mean so much time to just figure out who you are so don’t be stressed about it.”

*To protect the privacy of certain students, names have been changed in this article

Letter to the Editor specifically those who don’t identify within male and female. I believe the first mistake was that you did not diversify your counter argument. A counter argument is imperative to any article to give it some perspective, but a varied counter argument is what is most important. In the article, both Imogen Hare (’18) and Jose Lecaros (’20) proclaim themselves to be of the Christian faith. The only counter argument provided is religious; it would have a stronger point to see it from a different religion or even an atheist/ agnostic point of view. I understand it may have been hard to find different perspectives, or ones that were willing to put their opinions out so publicly, but covering a different perspective might help others understand where they are coming from. My next grievances stem from Lecaros’ quote featured on the centerfold of the paper. The top portion of the article, with two graphics and Skylar’s quote, is in favor of non binary but still with presents a bias by placing the quote in the center as opposed to equal to Skylar’s quote. His quote implies that there are only two genders and it is a “choice” to be a different one. You chose to feature a quote that is against the

thing you are covering on the centerfold where your eyes are naturally drawn and if just skimming through, would most likely be the only thing you take away from the article, while the first hand quotes was set to the side. It would be better if both of these quotes were presented equally as opposed to one seeming to have a more important role in the story. The second stems from the fact that you do not address that being nonbinary or gender non-conforming is not in fact a “choice”. In the article titled “He, She, Me” in the May/ June 2016 issue of The Standard the writers describe gender [dysphoria] and how it is a medical term. That medical analysis was not needed in this article, but an explanation of the emotions and feelings of those people and how they would have helped the layperson understand more completely. Lecaros is entitled to his opinion on it being a choice but to not address the issues facing the very people you write about is less than optimal. As someone who identifies within the LGBTQIA+ community I believe that the article was meant to have a positive impact on the community but within the execution, it dropped the ball on covering one of the most

important topics that continually affects students on a day-to-day basis. Rather than coming off as supportive toward the people the article covers, it instead feels that the majority is given power marginalizing those who do not conform to just male and female. Through conversations with agender and other non-conforming people certain concerns have brought up repeatedly relating to the article and how they have felt because of it. They felt that the majority was marginalizing them and not accepting them as who they are. While I am not placing the blame on any specific person, I know that this article may have done more harm than good, and in fact, has pushed people, such as my friend, Skylar, further into the closet in fear of the reactions from ASL as a community. Sara Short (’20)

Editor’s Note: Our intentions were to bring attention to this topic and show the multiple perspectives that the ASL community has on gender. We apologize for any of the negative effects that this article had on the non-binary and gender non-conforming communities.

Concert Band needs more space ABBY BALL (’17) abby_ball@asl.org

“

While these solutions have made a difference, they are temporary. They have allowed the band to function, but not to thrive.

Every period 8, band students descend to Bottom Yellow, filling Y-101 to the brim. In five minutes, 85 students find their instruments and their seats. We take the shape of a U, filling what was once two classrooms. Peering beyond heads and around pillars, we strain to fix our eyes on Band Teacher David Papenhagen. With a swish of his hands, we play, and the air temperature begins to rise. Tightly packed rows of kids with instruments on their laps provide little room for personal space. Over the last four years, the Concert Band has grown from 65 to 85 members. 100 percent of the brass players have re-enrolled in Concert Band for the 2017-2018 school year and the current grade 8 band is 94 members, with many planning to continue. These statistics are impressive. The growth in the number of students who wish to pursue an instrument is something for which our music directors can be proud. Yet, if you asked any faculty or student member of the Concert Band, you would soon learn that while these statistics are exciting, they are also stressful. The band does not have the resources to expand. Each year, as the band grows, we

return from summer vacation to find the room rearranged: some more chairs squeezed in, a few more music stands to be shared, instrument configurations altered. It always comes together and seems to fit; we must pride our band directors on their geometry and creativity. Squeezing a larger enrollment into the same amount of square footage year after year, however, does not come without cost, which ultimately degrades the overall band experience. With more students and instruments comes more heat, something that diminishes the efficiency of rehearsal and often leaves students counting down the minutes until class ends. Though it seems rather obvious, more instruments also means more noise. And when such loud instruments are gathered in a small space, it is damaging to our ears. Acoustic specialists who’ve analyzed the various music rooms concluded as much, stating that though no students were in danger, the band directors who are responsible for four different bands were at risk of damaging their hearing. And so the concert band can no longer rehearse as a single body as often and must be divided into smaller ensembles.

Music Tour is a hefty production. Transporting a third of the entire high school abroad is no easy feat. Hotels, venues and transportation… the list of accommodations is long, and finding those that can support such a large number of students is near impossible. As the band increases in size, Music Tour becomes less and less about the music and more about logistics. Based on this, it is clear why an influx of newly christened freshmen to the concert band is scary. It is not guaranteed that our band can support them. But, of course, I must acknowledge the efforts put forth by the administration to help alleviate our struggles. Last summer a classroom wall was knocked down to provide the band more space during rehearsals, and acoustic curtains were hung in the various music rooms to provide a safer environment for loud instruments. While these solutions have made a difference, they are temporary. They have allowed the band to function, but not to thrive. So what can be done? The most immediate issue is the space. This can be remedied through enrollment policy changes: the holding of audi-

tions to enter band, the division of the band into two, or auditions within the band to attend Music Tour. The result, however, could be a more competitive environment in the music department. Students who wish to start learning an instrument in high school may not be granted the opportunity to do so. What good is a teaching band if it seeks to only teach the best, and denies beginners the opportunity of becoming the best? Another alternative is a move. That is, the concert band finds a larger space that can sustain growth for a long time coming. I will not lie and say it wasn’t disappointing to watch a new art building being built, knowing that the band would not be included in its space. But now the situation is more dire, the administration should reconsider their designs and allow us space there. Despite the conditions the band must endure, our directors work tirelessly to make the class a fun and productive one. In fact, it is still one of my favorite parts of the day. Even with the effort they make, the growth pattern within the band is not sustainable. The department requires additional resources to allow the band to reach its full potential.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Features Page 9

•••

Stigmatization Semester Abroad

Get out and grow

Science Teacher David Partridge details the appeal of gardening, and how he finds a connection with nature John Towfighi | Features Editor

mongst the sandy shores and towering cliffs of Devon, England lies Schumacher College, where Science Teacher David Partridge called home during his sabbatical in 2011. It was at Schumacher, while taking a course on Holistic Science, that Partridge was introduced to a new kind of everyday life, where people did all chores and work in collaboration. Detailing what was first “unusual” to Partridge, the environment of Schumacher was of its own kind. Each student worked together in cooking, cleaning and gardening, allowing Partridge to immerse himself in a lifestyle that differed from his standard routines, and experience first hand how gardening can help achieve a strengthened sense of community. With that, Partridge also got what he described as his “first taste of a serious vegetable garden,” solidifying his admiration for the activity. Building on his budding love for gardening, Partridge’s time at Schumacher resonated with him upon his return to ASL. As one of the teachers forefronting the Grade 9 advisory gardening project this year, Partridge has been able to incorporate his hobby into everyday life at ASL. What began as an idea that’s “been kicking around for a couple of years,” Partridge, among other teachers, were able to make the thought of a garden a reality when the

campus, and he maintains a large garden at his countryside home in Suffolk. Originally a “bed-and -breakfast” style guest house, Partridge is currently working on turning what was a large car park into a garden for him and his wife Julie to work on. “We’re converting [the car park] into a mixed vegetable, herb, and flower garden in the French style, it’s called a Potager garden,” he said. A two-hour drive from London, Partridge often visits his Suffolk home on weekends, tending to his crops and relishing in the peaceful countryside. “It’s a great way to get outside and enjoy nature of sorts,” he said. Partridge has also interwoven his love for cooking into gardening, and believes that a good way to get started with gardening is by growing something you would enjoy to eat. This connection between two of his favorite hobbies is where Partridge finds the appeal, and it allows him to maintain a sense of connection with the Earth. “There’s something special about cooking your own vegetables...[and] you can’t connect to the Earth much better than by eating something that’s growing in it,” he said. Gardening organically, time is what ultimately determines Partridge’s routines as he works around his crops’ growing seasons. He noted that it is important to ensure that the soil is healthy

Partridge was one of the main teachers in charge of caring for the Waverley Garden, giving him the space to show and teach students the basics of the hobby he’s passionate about. PHOTO BY JORDAN KOSKI squash in his vegetable garden. Coupled with the act of actually getting out and laboring over a personal plot, which Partridge considers “rewarding in itself,” gardening is a way for him to be in touch with the Earth and the environment around him in a more meaningful way. “It’s a way of connecting yourself with the living world around you,” Partridge said. “Some people do that

“[Gardening is] a way of connecting yourself with the living world around you.” SCIENCE TEACHER DAVID PARTRIDGE remodelling of the playground came with the New Frontiers project. “There was the suggestion that we could put in a long, narrow garden between the two playgrounds,” he said. Partridge’s involvement in gardening extends beyond ASL’s

with compost and that the plants stay well watered and well weeded to maintain a thriving plot. With endless possibilities of plants to grow, Partridge said that this year in particular he is specializing in strawberries and blackberries, as well as lettuce, tomatoes and

by hiking, some people do that by bird-watching, others like to actually get in there and actively grow things.” Alongside finding a personal understanding of the world, Partridge considers aesthetic an important part of gardening, and he expressed

an appreciation for the creative side of things. “Just like some people like to paint, or draw, or sculpt, you can also garden to produce something beautiful,” he said. For Partridge, gardening fits nicely with his lifestyle, and his time spent working out in the garden is often accompanied by his wife. “It’s a very nice way of sharing [activities outside] with my wife, because we both enjoy it actually,” he said. While Partridge sees eye-to-eye with the activity that is gardening, he respects that it is not for everyone, and was not taken back by the lack of support from Grade 9 students to maintain the gardening project. “Gardening isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, nor is basketball, nor is sewing - everyone’s got their thing that they like. But we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to have a go at it.” It was this idea of giving students an opportunity that was the main drive behind this year’s Grade 9 gardening project, and while Partridge recognizes that

they did not “think through 120 kids all working on this thing at one time,” there are still plans for certain advisories to finish off the year gardening. “About four of the advisories, I think, are going to be joining me in the next two to three weeks to tidy that up and plant a few more things,” he said. Whether at Schumacher, his Suffolk home or ASL, gardening is a major aspect of Partridge’s life, and one that he encourages others to try taking up as well. Despite possible preconceived notions of it being hard to produce satisfying results, Partridge urges others to not shy away from the hobby, and instead seek out opportunities such as the Grade 9 project from this year. With a project of his own taking shape, and summer approaching, Partridge will have time to continuing crafting his own skills, and sees no end to the lengths he’ll go. “Like any activity, the more experience you have, the more skill you have, the more successful you’ll be,” he said.

Page 10

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

Features

The enduring influence Examining the usage of derogatory terms in our culture and

Y T S A N

SE LOO

Y S EA

Olivia Abrams | Media Editor

The culture

hroughout her time in university, English Teacher Alissa Mears saw and experienced the culture of slut shaming. Defined by the Oxford dictionary as, “The action or fact of stigmatizing a woman for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative,” there were times when Mears noticed that people had created preconceived notions of girls, solely based on their sexual history. “I know many, many women who have dealt with, who have been confronted...with really negative feedback for their choices in sexual partners,” Mears said. Former Social Just Council co-president Maya Matejcek (’17) believes that along with the stigmatization of a woman’s sexual activity, there is also judgement in what women wear and how they behave. “I’ve been catcalled since I was 12 years old. I think every single girl has left their house wearing sweatpants or sweaty coming from practice or

HOOKER

CHEAP WHORE

SLUT K

SKAN

TRAMP SLEEPS AROUND

E LOOS Y EAS

HOO K

PRUDE

TRAMP

CHEAP

WHORE

SILHOUETTES FROM PIXABAY

Y S EA

ASKING FOR IT

K N A SK

S LOO

B*TCH S Y T S NA H LUT OOKER T SLU B*TCH

ditional instances when Matejcek was stopped by strangers who commented on what she was wearing, especially at night. “If I’m wearing a short skirt, it shouldn’t mean that I wanted someone to approach me,” Matejcek said. “I think women dress mostly for themselves and I think you should be able to wear whatever you want and still be treated as a human being, not just a sex object.” Mears believes that this stigmatization predominantly stems from the historic unequal balance of power between men and women. “I think sex is being used as a power tool for men, generally speaking. I think because of that, women who are empowered to be sexual are often times stigmatized, ridiculed and pointed at because there is a certain level of power that they are showing in claiming their own sexuality,” Mears said. With women taking ownership of their own bodies, Mears recognizes that it can result in men feeling “a sense of threat,” which comes with any switch in power, further promoting the culture of shaming women who are more sexually active. Matejcek agrees and recognizes how the strict gender roles that were pervasive in the past contribute to today’s gender dynamic. “I think that it can go all the way back in history to when women were property of men... you essentially become part of your husband,” Matejcek said. She has also seen this in the modern day with the objectification of women. “Women are seen as not having their own needs and

has a negative impact on girls, he believes the impact it has on boys should also be acknowledged. “A lot of times we forget that it is not just a problem that affects one gender, and is not something that just girls have to go through,” El-Kattan said. “It still exists for guys and is something that should be taken seriously.” El-Kattan notices that the issue of men being stigmatized for their sexual activity is less vocalized when the topic comes up during discussions. “Shaming girls is taken as a serious issue and people take it seriously. For guys it is joked about,” he said. “The phrase ‘man-whore’ is thrown about and everyone laughs about it in casual conversations.” However El-Kattan is also aware of a double standard, he has seen boys being celebrated for what they do with girls sexually, and a more negative societal reaction when girls do the same. He feels that there is no way to satisfy both men and women in society as “we don’t really find a middle ground,” he said. “If a girl doesn’t do something she is called a ‘prude’ and if she does she is called a ‘slut.’” Viola* (’18) has regularly seen this dynamic amongst students at ASL. “Boys who have had a lot of relationships with girls are praised or high-fived like it is an achievement or something to be proud of and congratulated, whereas girls are judged and looked down upon by both girls and boys,” she said. The occurrence of girls judging other girls for their behavior is something that

“Women who are empowered to be sexual are often times stigmatized, ridiculed and pointed at.”

in pajamas in the grocery store and somebody thinks that... it’s their place to say something about your appearance when you didn’t ask,” Matejcek said. There have been ad-

ENGLISH TEACHER ALISSA MEARS emotions, and are valued much more as someone’s property than as themselves,” she said.

Double standards

lthough Zizo El-Kattan (’18) recognizes that the culture of judging a person for their alleged promiscuity is an issue that

Matejcek has seen frequently at ASL. “If someone’s wearing a really short skirt, it’s very common for another girl to make a comment like ‘oh god, what is she wearing?’” she said. “You can attribute that to young people being immature and rude, but I think that in scenarios like this, where that comment could be made by

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 11

•••

Features

of stigmatization school, and their effects and repercussions PLAYER STUD

Ananya Prakash | Managing Editor: Print

nglish Teacher Miles Dunmore has seen the stigma around a woman’s promiscuity apparent in literature. In texts that are read in the High School, such as Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl, Dunmore has seen the issue come up in discussion. “In Shakespeare class, we see potential shaming in the way Ophelia is circled

WOMANIZER

BRO ILLER YK M D A L ACH BAD O BOY MAN WH OR MANLY E

“I think women are both expected to be on display, but also criticized for that display.” Viola concurs and considers that changing the values that children are brought up with to be one of the first steps towards decreasing the stigma around people who are judged for being sexually proactive. “We should be teaching both boys and girls that all human beings should be respected equally rather than blaming,” she said.

“A lot of times we forget that it is not just a problem that affects one gender... It still exists for guys and is something that should be taken seriously.” ZIZO EL-KATTAN (’18) women who are dressed super sexually, they’re in the background,” she said. Matajcek has also noticed the disparateness between men and women’s clothing in music videos, TV and the media. Mears similarly believes that the openness and the greater access to information that comes with the increasing use of media presents certain ideals that are unattainable and detrimental to people’s self-esteem and ability to be their true selves. “I love the ownership of one’s own body and I am fully for however much of that body you want to reveal or conceal from others, I think that’s completely your choice. But I don’t know if the images that we are presented with again and again really give that choice,” Mears said. Through the media, Mears believes that the double standards are further exemplified. “I think for whatever reason, women’s bodies are still on display more than men’s bodies and therefore they’re objectified in ways that men are not,” Mears said.

STUD

BRO O H C A M PLAYER STRONG

Along with encouraging respect, Dunmore believes a communal response is essential in analyzing the occurrence of shaming people for their decisions as well as creating eventual equality. “By opening [the topic] up, and then by examining it and then realizing where the power relations are, you can close down the oppression, and you can begin the process of people being able to reclaim their own lives and control of the narrative,” Dunmore said.

STUD

LY N A M

MACHO

BRO

around by her brother Laertes and her father Polonius, who seek to define the situation in terms of Ophelia’s relationship to Hamlet,” Dunmore said. “Ophelia’s endeavor is to construct a counter narrative, but as a woman, her language is given less value by [her] male listeners.” Adding to this, in texts such as Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary , Dunmore has seen female characters be silenced and controlled. “As soon as women step outside the behaviors prescribed for them by men, they are going to be taken into account, whether or not they are ultimately slut shamed or whether their lives actually end,” he said. Dunmore has often seen the struggle women have in literature to define themselves when their narratives are controlled by the ideals and perspectives of men. “Slut shaming is when one group seizes control of the narrative and offers its definition of the narrative,” Dunmore said.

LADIES MAN

‘ONE OF THE GUYS’ MAN WHORE

In literature and media

“Slut shaming is the telling of a story with the intent to wound, with a further intent of controlling behavior.” Along with its presence in literature, Viola feels that the sexualization of women in the media is a large contributor to the casualty of slut-shaming. “[Women] are used to sell objects, they are used to make something seem appealing, and when that is so commonly used in the media it translates to young impressionable minds that then think it is ok for girls to be used,” she said. “It turns into ‘oh, she’s dressed in a certain way or has a certain body type so she is asking for it’.” Matejcek agrees and has frequently seen women’s bodies sexualized in the media, much more than men. “If you look at music videos or movies... it’s always the

E R O H W MAN

10 other boys in a much more aggressive, predatory way, it’s important that girls support girls.”

STRONG Y O B D BA WOMANIZER

*To protect the privacy of certain students, names have been changed in this article

PLAYER

COOL

Hester hea W

orking at one of world’s most prestigious schools, in one of her favorite cities, Head of School Coreen Hester thought it was a dream come true. A mere 10 minutes away from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, that dream was working at the Hamlin School for Girls as Head of School. Every morning for 10 years, Hester would watch the sunrise atop the bay in the city that raised her. Those mornings, she would sip coffee from a white mug with orange and black bold face type she had collected as a High School Principal in London. At the time, Hester considered the school in London her old workplace. What she didn’t realize at the time was that it would be her next one, too. Hester first worked at ASL as a High School Principal from 1995-1997. She left in part to avoid working when her son was in high school. While she doesn’t regret that decision, she “always felt I had not stayed long enough the first time.” Three years after her second arrival at ASL as the Head of School, the Board of Trustees tasked Hester with reshaping the identity of the school. Alongside the typical operations of a Head of School, Hester facilitated the rewriting of the mission statement and launching a £30 million capital campaign, added responsibilities even she found ambitious. “The board is brave. The school is brave,” Hester said. The mission statement, one of her earlier projects, served also as a “community-building exercise.” It allowed Hester to involve all three divisions of the school, a rarity before her time. In addition, Hester introduced allschool assemblies to the annual calendar and consolidated a cohesive K-12 curriculum. “As students have stayed here longer we’ve had to rationalize the curriculum. So that’s been one of the biggest jobs and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of actually,” she said.

The New Frontiers campaign, composed primarily of a construction projection and increasing financial aid, constituted the largest job during the second half of her decade-long tenure. Hester and the Board set out to reach a percentage of financial aid students at 8 percent in the 2010 Strategic Plan, a memorandum outlining the school’s long-term goals. In 2015 the school surpassed that target, reaching 9.4 percent and has since established a new target of 12 percent. Total applications for financial aid students has increased from 95 in the 2013/14

“Heading a school is a restaurant, and mak served well every night what you’ve got on the that you shou

Clockwise from above: Coreen Hester at the Head of School’s desk in One Waverley Place; Hester with a group of high school students during her time as Principal from 1995-1997; as a part of the 2010 Strategic Plan, established by Hester and the Board of Trustees, Hester reconstructed the school’s mission statement; on May 5, 2017, a surprise farewell assembly was held for Hester in the Family Farmer Gym where all three divisions of the school had special presentations for her based on the legacy she’ll leave; Hester on the steps of Waverley Place steps after announcing her plans to retire to the Board of Trustees on January 27, 2016. CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: PHOTO BY OLIVIA ABRAMS, PHOTO FROM STANDARD ARCHIVES, PHOTO BY MICHAELA TOWFIGHI, PHOTO BY QUINN WHITMAN, AND PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

Head of School school year to 141 applications for the 2016/17 school year. The progress with financial aid Hester hopes will continue after she retires. In what Hester terms as “one of the biggest crises on the horizons,” Hester hopes to continue to expand financial aid services, and allow for more students to attend ASL with this assistance. Aside from the progress with financial aid, as a farmer’s daughter, purchasing new property always excited Hester. Expanding the campus to 47 and 49 Grove End Road, along with the additions of a new Community Arts Building and Fitness and Aquatics Center marks a new chapter in the school’s 66-year history. Some of Hester’s less visible accomplishments over the years include broadening the school’s brand and reputation. “When I first came I was surprised to find out that in America we were considered the school of choice if you were coming to London, but if you were living in London

ads home or if you were a long-term American living in London, you thought that you only send your child to ASL if he or she have learning differences,” Hester said. To combat the isolated purpose the school continued to develop, Hester and the admissions office invited interested families to open houses. “We had to show people and convince people that American pedagogy was actually something that all nationalities, including British, could value,” she said. Reflecting on the past decade, Hester has few grievances. “It’s not perfect.

relationship in this school is the relationship between a teacher and a student. Recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty is one of the very most important responsibilities of this job,” Hester said. It’s a task that’s become increasingly difficult with the decreasing value of the pound. Though teachers don’t expect inordinate salaries, comfort and safety remains a priority. The cost of living, specifically in central London, meant in recent years some teachers Hester wished to hire withdrew themselves from the position “because they are afraid to come live in London.” Hester leaves with an uncertain European Union after Brexit, influencing the school’s demographic. “Already we’ve gone up from 20 to 25 percent non-American at the school,” which leads Hester to wonder “what are the economic or political factors? What kind of families are going to be interested in the school? I have no doubt the school will remain full. There will be demand for the school. The question is who’s coming to the school and how should the program reflect that?” The fundamental, American educational philosophy of the school Hester believes is integral. Yet, should the international identity of the school continue to increase, Hester believes the International Baccalaureate (IB) program may suit the school best, as opposed to the Advanced Placement (AP) American system. “The underpinnings of American education– I think that is the backbone but who comes? What will be the percentage of people of color? What will be the percentage of different nationalities and languages? How does the school fit into American public and private education and American education? Where is this school? I think it’s going to change,” Hester said. June 29 will mark Hester’s last day at ASL. Afterwards, she will return to California.

a little bit like owning king sure that dinner is t. Some people don’t like menu and others think uld change it.”

l Coreen Hester Heading a school is a little bit like owning a restaurant, and making sure that dinner is served well every night and some people don’t like what you’ve got on the menu and others think that you should change it,” she said. If anything Hester believes she “would have moved faster on some of the initiatives.” Throughout the years Hester attended hundreds of community events. Visible at nearly every concert and school play of all ages, Hester was found at 1 Waverley Place more evenings than not. However, she admits that as a widow and with two adult children, some aspects of the job challenge her. “There is no one else on this campus that does my job so there is an element of loneliness, but it is a responsibility that you must decide is sufficiently important to do the job,” she said. In her mission to provide an “outstanding American education” Hester prioritized the appointment of faculty members. “I do think the most important

Sourna Daneshvar Jr. | Editor-in-Chief: Online Michaela Towfighi | Editor-in-Chief: Print

Page 14

•••

Features

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

A change in scenery

Students reflect upon their experiences at semester abroad programs

fter attending ASL for 10 years, Mariam Sousou (’18) spent her first semester of junior year abroad at the Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont. She decided to apply after seeing her brother Farid Sousou (’17) spend a semester at the school in the spring of 2016. “I have been at ASL my whole life and I wanted to try something new and get out of the city. I needed to have a new experience and widen my horizons [before I left] for college,” she said. Mariam felt she learned new study and life skills through farming and chores such as cleaning. “I learned how to manage my time wisely and how to adapt to my environment,” she said. Mariam explains how at the Mountain School, “I missed my family and my friends because I was so far away and disconnected from them.” However, her transition back to ASL was easier than expected as her teachers welcomed her back and helped her to catch up with classes. Similar to Mariam and Farid, Nils Skattum (’17) decided to take his second semester sophomore year abroad, in Hilton Head, South Carolina to pursue his passion for tennis. “I’ve been at ASL since kindergarten, so I wanted a change. Also, I have been playing tennis for a while and visited this tennis academy where the coaches there said, ‘We would love you to come here and train,’ and I thought this was the perfect opportunity

Amaan Zafar | Staff Writer

to take time off and try something new,” he said. Additionally, after 12 years at ASL, and with the hopes of becoming fluent in Spanish, Gabi Janssen (’18) is currently spending her junior year abroad in Zaragoza, Spain, at the School Year Abroad School (SYA). Janssen decided to move to Spain specifically to focus on her Spanish and meet new people that she would not meet at ASL. “I kept making these friends who lived in other countries and had great experiences which I couldn’t relate to, but [the experiences] seemed amazing,” she said. Alongside meeting new people, she wanted to continue to challenge herself by living in a Spanish speaking country. “My

I have definitely changed as a person from being [in Spain], but I have kept in touch with my friends from ASL. Gabi Janssen (‘18)

dad and his side of the family are from Chile, where they speak Spanish,” she said. As a result of studying in a completely new environment, Janssen was able to take courses which are specific to her spanish school. “I am taking a class about the contemporary history of Spain through the lens of its cinema,” she said. “In the class, we

watch movies to help teach about the modern history of Spain. We learn about the history of that time period, and then we watch and analyze a movie made in Spain during that time that reflects what was going on. It’s a really cool and unique way to learn, and now I have a really Mariam Sousou (‘18) participates in an environmental science PHOTO CREDIT TO MARIAM SOUSOU solid knowledge class in Vermont. of Spain’s history, and that helps me understand the country good friends. I was a bit hesitant to come that I’m living in a bit better,” she said. back and dive right back into the culture of When she returns, Janssen feels she will ASL. Although, it was never an issue for me be lacking in certain areas because of the because I was only gone for seven months,” differences in curriculum and the lack of he said. extracurricular rigor. “I know I am definitely Although Janssen is currently still in going to be behind in some areas on curricu- Spain, she believes the transition process lum, specifically math, because the courses back to ASL will be challenging but smooth. in Spain aren’t as rigorous as ASL,” she said. “It will definitely be stressful as ASL is more Skattum felt that his transition back to stressful when looking at academics. I have ASL was better than expected. “The transi- definitely changed as a person from betion was not particularly difficult because I ing here, but I have kept in touch with my have been here a long time and I have some friends from ASL,” she said.

Comparing summer internships

Exploring student’s choices between WorkX and paid summer jobs

uring the summer, over 80 high school students will participate in a WorkX internship in or around London. With placements ranging from filmmaking to investment banking, there is a vast spectrum of opportunities for students. However, there are many students who chose to not engage in a Work Experience (WorkX) this summer, and instead decided to find their own paying job. Rather than applying for an internship like many of her peers, Lulu Rajguru (’19) is employed as a camp counselor in the U.S. “I couldn’t do WorkX because I was leaving [London] for the summer, and I was just more interested in being a counselor,” Rajguru said. She says she was eager to earn money this summer, but believes WorkX is still an important oppurtunity. “I think that [WorkX is] useful as it provides great experience for the students, and I would still do one [in the future],” Rajguru said. Contrasting Rajguru, Kathryn Rickert (’19) will spend her summer interning through the WorkX program at Women for Women International. The non-profit hu-

Martha Duff | Features Editor

manitarian organization, which provides support to women survivors of war, was of genuine interest to Rickert. “I chose to apply for ones that I am really interested in, that I do actually see myself going further in in the future,” she said.

131 applications for 2017 WorkX 128 applications for 2016 WorkX

84 companies offering placements in 2017 Although Rickert strongly believes that WorkX is beneficial to one’s academic and social life, she stresses how paying jobs are equally as worthwhile. “If I had the time and was given the opportunity, I would have liked to try a working job, because it

is a very different experience than just an internship, and I would actually be earning my own money for once,” Rickert said. Similar to Rajguru who believes her job as a camp counselor this summer will provide her with important life lessons and social skills, Rickert explains how she “would like to try both at some point before [she ends] high school.” In agreement with Rickert, Karthik Balasubramanian (’18) is a strong advocate for the benefits of the WorkX program. Last summer, Balasubramanian interned through WorkX at Jefferies, an investment banking institution. “It was one of the most amazing experiences I have had. I made great friends and learned a lot about banking,” Balasubramanian said. In regards to applying for a paying job, Balasubramanian explains that “if I had the choice, seeing paying jobs, I may have looked at that as well. I would have tried to do both, but I would not have given up WorkX.” Balasubramanian sees other academic benefits in the WorkX program too, as he believes his internship this summer at the

Imperial College will aid him with his future at a British university. “I would have definitely [participated in] a WorkX [this year], especially because my WorkX is at a college that I am very interested in, and very well renowned, so I get a lot of credit on that side.” As a new student to ASL this year, Cameron VanDyke (’18) decided to apply for a WorkX opportunity after hearing positive comments from her peers. VanDyke will work at McGuireWoods law firm this summer, and believes it will give her a good idea on whether she would like to venture into this business. VanDyke also believes the experience students have at these internships “can help you decide what you would like to major in in college, so it really is helpful.” She explains her academic interest should widen after her internship this summer, and her social skills and ability to interact with others in work environment will increase dramatically. “I think that if you have the opportunity [to do WorkX], then you should definitely take it,” VanDyke said.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Culture Page 15

•••

Reselling Female Lead

Anabelle Pinkston is en pointe Dancing since the age of 3, Anabelle Pinkston (’19) describes the lifestyle of a committed dancer Phaedra Letrou | Culture Editor

s a ballerina, contemporary, hip-hop and jazz dancer, Anabelle Pinkston’s (’19) passion for dance started when she was just 3 years old. “I always loved ballet, I loved going to the ballet and I grew up watching the older students in my studio, it was really inspiring,” Pinkston said. Pinkston describes this inspiration as what pushed her to work hard and strive to be the best. Until she was 12 years old, she “always thought that [dance] would be something [she] would do professionally.” Pinkston now dances recreationally, but continues to enjoy high intensity training while surrounding herself with skilled dancers. She attends ballet, jazz and contemporary dance classes six days a week. She chooses to emphasize on improving her ballet skills. She said, “[ballet] is my biggest

strength because of the intensive training I had when I was younger.” Her love for ballet grew because of her skills and the confidence she felt while dancing. “I was [strong] at ballet, and I think when you’re technically stronger in something, you’re more confident in it,” she said.

“

I always loved ballet, I loved going to the ballet and I grew up watching the older students in my studio, it was really inspiring Anabelle Pinkston (’19)

Pinkston currently attends classes at the West London School of Dance, a school which primar-

ily focuses on students w h o are working to e n ter the professional dance world. “There’s a lot of pressure because these people are training to be professionals,” she said. Although Pinkston enjoys being in a high pressure environment, she found it difficult to decide whether she wanted to consider dance as a career option. Pinkston is now 16 years old and is deciding how seriously she wants to commit to dance. “The age for joining a company is 16 in the U.K. and that’s why it’s an issue for me, because... I still want to get the intensive training, so it’s a difficult decision,” she said. Striving for academic success while also maintaining her passion for dance caused Pinkston to learn how to balance her commitments. “I’m happy that I’ve had [dance]

because it’s taught me how to manage my time properly... It’s kind of become [natural] for me just because I know that I don’t have that much time,” she said. Pinkston learned that in order to be a successful dancer, she would have to prioritize it over her other activities. “I used to do soccer and track, but if you want to be fully committed to dance then you have to fully invest in that,” she said. Despite her confidence in herself to become a professional, she does not want to give up other aspects of her life to focus on dance. “Although I could have a chance of making it as a professional ballerina, it’s such a hard thing to do and unless you’re the very best you’re not going get

into a big company,” she said. “It’s such a hard profession physically [and] mentally as well.” Pinkston is also hesitant about committing herself fully to dance as she is also interested in other career paths. “If I had to decide right now..., I would completely put off every other profession that I could have, every other opportunity [to become a ballerina],” she said. Given Pinkston’s passion to dance at a high level, but not pursue it professionally leaves her isolated in the dance world. “You don’t really have anyone who’s really intense about it but not on the professional realm,” she said. Despite this, she is eager to continue dancing and even hopes to pursue a minor in dance when she attends university.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANABELLE PINKSTON

Page 16

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

Culture

Revolutionizing the fashion industry A look into fashion as a method of self expression, as well as the rising trend of resales and their impact on the fashion market

Phaedra Letrou | Culture Editor

Interests in fashion

t’s a Friday night and Kian Tadjbakhsh (’18) is refreshing his Facebook page, awaiting the next buyer of his most recent and unique pieces. Tadjbakhsh is an active member of “The Basement,” one of many Facebook groups, comprised of over 64,000 buyers and sellers across the U.K. for coveted fashion items. Tadjbakhsh’s initial interest in fashion cultivated through his prior passion for skateboarding. “I used to skateboard and wear brand tee’s of the skateboarders,” he said. “I always used to be into those cool graphic t-shirts and then it expanded from there,” he said. Similar to Tadjbakhsh, Ghalia

Quinn Whitman | Culture Editor

Bseisu (’18) was recently introduced to the world of fashion as a result of the new styles of her friends. Since then, Bseisu has found fashion inspiration from social media accounts and groups. Bseisu often looks to buy products from other resellers but has yet to become involved in reselling herself. “I became involved in a lot of Facebook chats that revolved around designers for sought after clothing like Bape and Supreme,” she said. Bseisu believes that because of this, her style has become one of her own. “I started to express my identity through my style,” she said. A key part of Bseisu’s style is looking for pieces that suit her body shape. “I look for pieces that are flattering for me... I really like the designs of streetwear, because [they] can be altered in any way you look at it,” she said. “I hope that other people understand that fashion is

an expression of who you are, your identity and how you feel,” she said. Much of Tadjbakhsh’s inspiration initially came from his friends and popular style icons, he feels it is important to retain a sense of individuality. “I admire [my friends] style, but I don’t necessarily dress like them,” he said. Tadjbakhsh also sources his growing passion to his family and friends. “My mom used to dress quite well and... I started to pay [more] attention to how people I looked up to dressed,” he said. Bseisu believes that her desire to break the gender barrier for these brands is something she hopes other women will feel inspired to do as well. “There aren’t a lot of girls who [are] represented [in] those [fashion] groups, so I wanted to be one of those girls who wore different clothing and I wanted to make sure there were other women,” she said.

LOGOS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS AND RESPECTIVE WEBSITES

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 17

•••

Culture Resales N

ick Anderson (’19) became interested in the resale market for rare clothes and shoes when he wanted to expand his range of clothing. He has used reselling and the hype surrounding popular items to explore his tastes in fashion. Hype is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as something which is advertized a lot to gain attention from consumers. Reselling involves buying a product and subsequently selling it to another consumer in order to gain other rare items or a large profit. This usually happens when the item is rare or vintage and there is only a limited supply. Anderson is an active reseller and explained that he became involved as “it was an easy way of [making money]” and he had a strong interest in fashion. Anderson meets many of his customers through Facebook, thus he has built his social media

place kind of get ripped off,” he said. Anderson similarly believes that as a result of new styles and high demand of limited clothing, resales have become commonplace within the market of rare items. “Reselling is a product of the fashion business because there’s so much low [stock] obviously there are people that are going to resell. I think it’s just a fact of the market,” he said. Ezra* (’20) an avid seller of shoes and clothing, says he often “resells [clothes or shoes] for around twice the [original] amount.” Ezra was always interested in obtaining “extremely rare and coveted pieces of clothing and shoes.” Due to the high demand and low supply for some pieces Ezra is interested in, he and his friends created an online application. This application allows him to buy a number of a pieces from websites where he would typically be restricted to buy one. This means he can have a greater supply of products which he can later sell for a higher price. The application is only available to him and a small

clothes as a way to buy more clothes and as a way to prove to my parents that, ‘Oh, I make my own money, so I get to spend it how I want’,” he said. “I’ll buy a piece of clothing, like high fashion or some hyped up item or something, and I’ll wear it for a certain time period and when I get bored of it, I’ll sell it.” Tadjbakhsh only sells clothing after he has worn them. He has an issue with people solely selling clothing because of the financial aspect and views that as degrading to the fashion industry.

Impact on the fashion market D

espite the monetary benefits of reselling, Allen has growing concerns surrounding the influence of resale culture in the fashion industry. “It’s taken away from a lot of the reasons why people were originally attracted to fashion and I think [it’s]

now gone from individual style to submerging trends,” he said. Allen also stressed his concern about how fashion is moving from design and beauty to materialistic values. “I think there is such an emphasis now on the monetary value of clothes that wasn’t there before, and that goes past the emotional or the artistic design behind them, to a huge extent,” he said. Allen views the desire to buy items that are rare or popular as negatively impacting the industry. “It kind of defeats the purpose of [what] streetwear was all about in the first place... [people bought] it because they wanted to be different,” he said. Concerned with the resale culture altering people’s styles and motives in the industry, Allen believes that “things that were important to people in the past are now just trends that people try and capitalize on.” Anderson shares similar concerns, believing that companies, such as Supreme, are altering their image to increase profit such as the upcoming collaboration of Supreme

and Louis Vuitton, where two completely different brands are coming together to create one product. “They’re making a box logo t-shirt, it literally says Supreme with a different design,” he said. Anderson mentioned that on average Supreme’s famous T-shirts are worth around £46, but when collaborating with Louis Vuitton, they will be sold for approximately £400. Regardless of the hype that could be surrounding an item of clothing, Bseisu believes that in fashion it is essential to stay true to yourself. “Don’t wear pieces just because they are sought after. Make it your own. Don’t just copy what everyone else is doing. [Wear] something that you feel com fortable and confident in and that is what will make you stand out.”

*Editor’s Note: To protect the privacy of certain students, names have been changed in this article To read about the socio-economic aspects of fashion, see Staff Writer Naz Ozturk’s piece on standard.asl.org.

“FASHION IS AN EXPRESSION OF WHO YOU ARE, YOUR IDENTITY AND HOW YOU FEEL.” GHALIA BSEISU (‘18) profile around his style. Alex Allen (’18) echoes Anderson, in that he believes clothing in high demand helps to fuel the resale market. “In the reselling game [it’s] never to do with the quality of the material, or the design of what’s actually being sold. It’s solely to do with hype.” Allen explains that he has been motivated to sell his pieces purely for the financial aspect. “I’ve sold pieces that I didn’t necessarily want to sell in the past just to make some money,” he said. Allen explains that “people are willing to pay what they’re willing to pay... it’s a mutual trade.” Due to the unreasonably high prices of the fashion industry, Allen believes that his personal style has been affected due to the rising prices of some of the pieces he is interested in. “People that have a lot of money... end up buying [resold products]. People that would have been able to afford it in the first

group of his friends so that he retains as much of a monopoly as possible on the products. Ezra often sells his products on a shoe resale website called “Stock X.” According to Ezra, the website helps facilitate resales. Potential sellers are required to send the product to the company, where it will be assessed for quality and distributed to the potential buyer. “Stock X” also has experience points which allows other customers to check the reliability of the seller. “It’ll tell you how much you’ve sold, what your customers say about you,” he said. Ezra explains that this makes the experience more transparent and allows for a sense of trust to be built between the buyer and the seller. Similar to Allen and Ezra, Tadjbakhsh became involved in the resale process, selling some of his rare clothing items he was no longer interested in. “I started reselling

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANANYA PRAKASH AND QUINN WHITMAN

Page 18

Culture

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

The importance of a female lead Commentary

s a young woman, when watching TV it’s hard not to notice what’s wrong with most popular TV shows’ protagonists– they’re mostly men. The Good Wife, Supergirl, Veep, How to Get Away with Murder, Scandal and Broad City are just a few of the popular shows which include a female lead. They allow young women, such as myself, to see themselves represented on TV and in their worlds. A recent study from the Center for Women in Television and Film revealed that the number of female protagonists in a TV show reached an all time high in 2016. Despite this, women only make up about 29% of leading roles. The most important aspect of the previously mentioned shows is their lack of conformity to the status quo. It’s refreshing to see shows in which women are no longer defined by the men in their lives, but rather by their professional gains and relationships with other women. Broad City is a comedic show about two women, Abbi and Ilana, who live in New York City. The program is not about Abbi and Ilana’s careers, but rather about their friendship. It highlights the comedic genre’s ability to uplift, empower and support women through the various predicaments shown in the show. Both Abbi and Ilana lean on each other in times of distress, and while they frequently use satire and sarcasm as a coping mechanism, they also tackle social justice issues such as gender inequality, the pay gap, religion and race through frequent discussion. Comparatively, shows such as How to Get Away with Murder, Veep and The Good Wife feature women in leadership roles and show young girls they have the capacity to be anything they desire to be, whether it be a lawyer, Secretary of State or the President of the United States. I feel inspired seeing women of every race and socio-economic background achieving things once deemed impossible for women, even if it is fictional. The women in these shows are unapologetically determined and persevering in their careers, representing the true lengths women must go to achieve these positions in a typically “male-driven” world. According to a study from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, “61 percent [of women tested] said female role models in film and TV have been influential in their lives and 58 percent said that women have been inspired to be more ambitious or assertive.”

Examining how watching women in powerful television roles impact students lives Alexandra Gers | Lead Features Editor

CARTOON BY GABRIELLE IWEGBUE

Similarly, the study also brought to light an extremely consequential issue: If young girls don’t see other women as CEOs, engineers and mathematicians on TV, how are they expected to want to participate in those professions? By highlighting the option of these professions in the glamorized world of television and film, it begins to facilitate conversation amongst young girls about the possibility of pursuing these occupations. While there are some examples of female-led films surrounding these themes, such as Hidden Figures, their message is drowned by the fact that men more frequently portray these roles. Although there are romantic aspects ingrained into the plot lines

of these female protagonist shows, they mostly serve as purely plot and drama devices, rather than the show’s focus. Often times the women in these shows are commanding of their relationships, romantic or platonic. However, occasionally I feel that the romantic plotline interferes with the show’s ability to represent a woman’s ability to achieve her goals without the help of a man. For example, in Scandal, much of the protagonist’s drama surrounds her affair with the President, a trope that feels worn out and removed from a lot of the positive and empowering aspects of the character, Olivia Pope. In a completely separate genre from drama and comedy, shows such as Supergirl and Buffy the

Vampire Slayer feature women as the heroine, and no longer the damsel in distress. When Supergirl first came out in October 2015, it contrasted the shows that were currently flooding my screen, such as Arrow, The Flash and Marvel’s Daredevil. Supergirl revives and provides a liberation to the previously maledominated genre. However, as well as being a TV show which exemplifies women’s strength, Supergirl is also an example of production studios such as Marvel and DC Comics oversexualizing women, specifically in the way they dress. This causes me to question why a woman needs to be sexualized in order to save the world, and what the significance of this style of dressing is and whether or not the

decision is purely to benefit male viewers. However, a study shown in The Atlantic stated men also benefit from seeing women in leading and commanding roles, “Males who watched sexually violent shows with submissive female characters reported more negative attitudes about women... This effect did not occur for men who watched shows with powerful women.” While the impacts on both men and women have been outlined, I feel that having female role models, despite them being fictional, who are determined, intelligent, hardworking and unapologetically women, allows me to perceive myself in a similar manner and hopefully inspire others to feel the same.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 19

•••

Sports

Swinging to success

Mark Haghani’s (’18) uncommon golfing beginnings and his hopes for the future as he prepares himself for a career across the pond Jonathan Sheves | Sports Editor

ot growing up as an avid golfer, Mark Haghani (’18) was caught by surprise when his sudden love for the game transcended into his ability. Haghani accredits his golfing beginnings to his father’s cousin, who introduced him to the sport at what many would consider a late age, at 11. “My dad’s cousin in the summer visited us and took me to a driving range,” he said. “I got addicted to it 30 minutes after I started. The next day he bought me a set of clubs, and I came back to London and joined a golfing club.” Even though Haghani made the varsity golf team in his first attempt and led them to ISST gold as a freshman, it wasn’t until the following summer that Haghani really believed golf could play a pivotal role in his future. “I thought [winning ISSTs] was a one off thing. I then won the Wyoming State championship in the summer. I was in between [soccer] and golf, but that’s what swayed me into golf,” he said. Teammate Chris Fletcher (’17) believes that Haghani’s skill was present from his inagural season, and has seen his ability develop year by year. “It’s unfair to say [Haghani] had a lack of experience as he was one of the most experienced players as a freshman. He was under par for the majority of his second round [during the tournament], and actually won ISST gold as a freshman,” Fletcher said. From his freshman year, Ha-

Mark Haghani (’18) attempts to chip onto the green during an American Junior Golf Association tournament. Haghani finished with a gold medal at ISSTs as both a freshman and a sophomore, and looks to play golf at a collegiate level. PHOTO COURTESY MARK HAGHANI able with the club in my hand,” he said. Haghani’s triumph in The Wyoming State Championship resulted in his appearance in another tournament, which, follow-

the road for about two months. I learned how to be smarter with my decision making. Golf is definitely a mental game, and that’s what I focused on.” Fletcher, who similarly to Ha-

With regards to preparation, Haghani feels as if golf differs from other sports, as setting the groundwork before a match is optimal for his success. “I always focus on clearing my mind before hitting a shot,” he said.

With collegiate aspirations in mind, Haghani has been communicating with colleges since the latter years of middle school. However, he does admit that he has been “turned off ” by the process of recruitment. “I really don’t like the process so much because you have to show off and try and sell yourself. I’m incredibly attracted to the idea of playing in college, but don’t like the process of it,” he said. “I have matured through these conversations with coaches, though.” Varsity golf was unable to win ISSTs this year, falling just short of three consecutive championships. Haghani admits that it wasn’t the result that the team was looking for. “While a silver medal doesn’t look that bad, first place is all we want,” he said. “Second doesn’t really get you anywhere, and we are going to work extremely hard to get back on top. All we can do is give our best, as golf has a huge degree of randomness to it.” Despite the team’s medal finish, Haghani was not content with his performance, but believes that off days are all part of the sport. “Personally it didn’t go well at all. The day [before ISSTs], I played incredibly well at my home course. However, at Pine Ridge [the 2017 ISST course], I didn’t play well. That is how golf works; it is random,” he said. “My full swing let me down on both days, especially my approach shots. My driving is usually my strength, but having that as my weakness didn’t help me mentally.” Although the culmination of Haghani’s junior year didn’t necessarily

“I got addicted to [golf] thirty minutes after I started.” MARK HAGHANI (’18) ghani’s daily routine has been completely dominated by his requirements to maintain fitness and high skill levels on the course. “At night and in the morning I go through a stretching routine. I try to be playing once a week when [soccer] season is going, and then five times a week in the winter. From April, I play every day. I try to get comfort-

ing the culmination of the tour, has led him to realize how much of an impact it made on his game. “I learned so much from it,” he said. “I had no experience with golf before, and all these guys that have played since age 6 and have been playing in these tournaments forever. I learned how to travel and play, as we were on

ghani has been on the varsity golf team since , believes that Haghani is a pivotal member of the team. “He’s a very confident player, bounces back after a bad hole. He’s got a very good short game, you can trust him to make a clutch putt and that’s exactly what he did,” he said. “[Haghani] is absolutely vital. He’s our number one.”

“If you look at the top 100 players, their technique is very similar - they can all hit the ball 300 yards. Mentally, however, it’s who can play under pressure [that’s the best].” Haghani, who is also a member of the varsity soccer team, believes that the sport is very “impulsive, ” and that soccer players often “don’t have time to think about what they’re doing.”

go as planned, he looks forward to a busy summer in order to get prepared for the college recruitment season. “I’m trying to sort out a few technique issues with my swing,” he said. “As the summer approaches I’m upping my practice, trying to play each day. I have a few more tournaments before the summer, so I’m hoping to respond positively to [ISSTs].”

Page 20

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

•••

Sports

Introducing eight of ASL’s

Athletes share insights into their recruitment and decision Jonathan Novak

D Costello (’17) will be a part of the Trinity College in Connecticut swim team at the start of term next year. Costello has been swimming competitively since he was 9 but only when he attended the annual recruitment meeting his sophomore year did he realize that he could be able to swim in college. “I wasn’t really thinking about it until 10th grade and then in 10th grade I realized that at a point I could use swimming to help me get into a better school than I might be able to,” Costello said. “At that point I put more effort into swimming and the recruitment process than I would have.” Unlike other sports where you need to be seen in order to quantify one’s ability, swimming is simply judged by one’s times. Despite this, Costello still struggled with talking to the coach due to being based internationally. Athletes who are recruited for Division III or Division I Ivy League don’t sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) however the coach will support their application through the admissions process meaning they will get into the school. Costello recieved support as Division III. Costello decided to only try to get recruited for Division III rather than Division I due to how strenuous the Division I swimming schedule would be. “Division III would be more fun because I find it’s less rigorous because … [at] Division I schools it’s basically when you’re not at school you’re training. That’s not what I wanted,” Costello said.

livia Halsted (’17) will be swimming at Tufts University for the Division III swim team. Getting recruited for swimming was always in her mind but Halsted cared mostly about academics when considering which college to go to. Although Halsted did not want to go to a Division I school, if she did, she would have gone and swum club instead. “It wasn’t a giant thing for me,” Halsted said. Academics played an important role in Halsted’s acceptance to Tufts University. “I had to have good grades. I had to have a good ACT score. I had to have a good application. [Swimming] was just an aid, but I still had to do well in school,” she said. One of the difficulties with the recruitment process for Halsted was being based internationally. This made the process of meeting with coaches more challenging. Halsted hasn’t been doing anything specifically to prepare for collegiate level swimming but is continuing her training to get to the level she is at now. She feels she is prepared for collegiate level swimming. “I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 9, and I swim 6 to 7 times a week. I do land training, and I swim quite often, so I think I’m pretty ready,” she said. To get recruited was a great feeling for Halsted and coincidentally she heard she received a spot on the team while she was at swimming practice. “I was still a little nervous whether or not I was going to get in,” she said “I was actually at swimming when I heard, it was really exciting.”

osey Troyer (’17) will be rowing at the U.S. Naval Academy starting on June 29, at the start of term. Troyer started contacting coaches with times and scores on the ergometer (ERG) his junior year and got attention from the Naval Academy. He attended the Naval Academy’s crew camp over the summer where he met the coaches who were able to see him row in person. “I just kept in contact with them ever since and then they helped me with the admissions process, got me in, and I’m going to be starting on their team,” Troyer said. The Naval Academy wasn’t the only school Troyer received offers from. He also received offers from Wesleyan University and Williams College, however he decided to go to the Naval Academy due to his family connection to the Navy and his desire to serve. “My father is in the Navy. I’ve been around the Navy my whole life and I’ve alway felt this need to serve,” he said. “The United States Naval Academy is a great institution. I’m going to get as good of an education as anywhere else. I’ll graduate with a bachelors [degree] and it’s all free. It’s an amazing school in an amazing setting.” Similar to the other athletes, Troyer’s academics played a major role in his recruitment. “It was a big part of the amount of support coaches could give me,” Troyer said. Leading up to college, Troyer will be training for nationals and other regattas, which is how he will prepare for crew at the Naval Academy. “It’s going to be an intense program for a few weeks and then I will set off to college,” he said.

yan Nealis (’17) will be running cross country and track at Bates College next year. Bates College is a Division III program that competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Being recruited was a great feeling for Nealis and he is excited for what’s coming. “It felt really, really nice [to get recruited] because athletics is just such a large part of my high school career and ... I have an opportunity to continue that in college,” Nealis said. One of the deciding factors that made Nealis choose Bates College over other programs was the fact that Bates provides the right balance between athletics and other university experiences. “I wanted a school where athletics would compliment my experience there, not dictate my experience,” he said. “When I went to Bates that’s what their program was telling me; that when you come here you will be committed to our running team, but running is not going to be your sole experience.” A challenge for Nealis was the fact that he was getting recruited internationally, which made logistics harder but was also a “blessing in disguise” for him. “We are only tapping into such a small part of our potential, but other kids in America are already at their maximum capacity and we’re running similar times. Yet, we haven’t even hit close to that capacity,” Nealis said. Currently Nealis runs around 35 miles a week for training however at Bates he will be running around 7580 miles a week. “I think it’s going to be a lot of miles and I think I’m ready for it,” he said.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 21

•••

Sports

newly recruited athletes

process, along with their plans for the future in university | Sports Editor

arah Brunsberg (’17) will be rowing at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) after participating in crew for four years at ASL. Brunsberg didn’t consider recruitment until the summer of her sophomore year. She started rowing scores on the ergometers (ERGs) that were a lot better than the previous year. “I was pulling scores that were a lot better than I thought I was capable of and scores that were college recruiting standards,” she said. “I knew that if I worked hard I could become a lot better.” After her sophomore year, Brunsberg struggled with school and dealt with multiple small illnesses. “I didn’t quite improve as much as I wanted to right away especially since I was kind of stressed in school and maybe not physically healthy as I could have been, but overall it went OK,” she said. However, she was able to continue rowing and by the time she made her decision to go to UPenn she was relieved of a lot of stress. After committing, Brunsberg has been able to focus more on crew and preparing for collegiate athletics. “It’s been a good year because I haven’t been super stressed about school so I’m able to train a lot. I have more free time, I’ve been getting more sleep,” she said. “I’m just going to keep training so when I show up on campus I’ll be fit.” Brunsberg is currently preparing to trial for the U.S. Junior National Rowing Team and, if she qualifies for it, she will train with them all summer leading up to the start of the term.

yler Skow (’17) will be rowing at Princeton University next year in Division I. Skow started his recruitment process in the spring of his sophomore year. After winning the Single Sculls Nationals for England in his sophmore year, former college counsellor John Reilly contacted the Princeton University heavyweight crew coach, whom he had a connection to. Eventually, Skow made the decision to be a lightweight rower. From that point on he talked with many different coaches and chose to attend Princeton University. Skow’s main struggle was not about receiving an offer but rather choosing which offer would be best for him. After going on many official visits he had a difficult decision to make between his top schools. In the end, his decision came down to the quality of academics available at Princeton University. “I’m not going to be a professional rower, that’s not really a thing. You can’t really make a living off of that so much,” he said. “I decided to choose Princeton because for what I want to study, it has the best programs,” he said. While at Princeton, Skow will have a to balance school work and crew practice. “It will be just about taking advantage of resources,” Skow said. “It’s definitely manageable because people do it every year.” Over the summer Skow will be trialing for the Great Britain Junior National Rowing Team. If he makes the team he will be training throughout the summer and competing throughout August prior to going to Princeton.

am Rooney (’17) will be a member of the fencing team at Yale University at the start of the term in September. Rooney’s journey to recruitment started in December of his junior year. He started to email coaches from different schools and most showed interest. At first Columbia University was the more likely option for him and Yale was on hold. He also was in contact with the New York University coach. An important milestone in his recruitment process was qualifying for Fencing World Championships. “What really mattered for me was World Championships last year. Qualifying for World Championships would put me at a level where I could compete for recruitment spots,” Rooney said. Unlike the other recruited athletes, Rooney applied early to Columbia University. He wasn’t offered an official recruiting spot, although he was put on a shortlist for recommendations. Rooney quickly went to his other possible recruitment options and contacted the coaches. “In December, I got my deferral and as a result straight away I emailed the Yale coach and I said ‘here are my grades’,” he said. Rooney said that his freshman year grades weren’t strong however, the Yale coach told him that if he continued an upward trend in his grades he would be able to get a recruitment spot. “Once I sent him my updated grades [the Yale coach] said ‘yep, I’m ready to recruit you’,” Rooney said.

aegan Kopfler (’17) will be a part of the preseason soccer team at Middlebury College at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. Kopfler started her attempt to play collegiate soccer the summer of her sophomore year when she attended a Middlebury soccer camp. In the camp she got exposure to the recruiting coach. At that point she was focused on being recruited in order to play in college. The preseason team is a team which contains more players than are allowed on the official Middlebury women’s soccer team. Even those who received support from the coach are on the preseason team and all have a chance of being cut. “I am on the same page as all the other people who were pushed through. We all have to tryout and were on the same level,” Kopfler said. After being in contact with the coach, she attended her final clinic in the summer prior to her senior year. The coach told her that her application wouldn’t be supported by him, but if she got in by herself she would have a spot on the preseason team. Kopfler has a differing mindset going into the start of preseason. “I know its going to be really hard,” Kopfler said. “It’s hard because you want to prepare for the worst but if you do that then you’re going to be less confident [in tryouts]. I’ll be happy at the school whether I play or not, but I do want to make the team so I’m going in trying to be ... ready to make it.”

PHOTOS BY OLIVIA ABRAMS AND ANANYA PRAKASH

Page 22

•••

Sports

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Making the right call:

London Sports umpires describe their experiences officiating baseball and softball games, and the skills needed for the position John Towfighi | Features Editor

s the days grow warmer and spring transitions into summer, a group of baseball-avid families gather out at Wormwood Scrubs park each weekend, coming together to form the London Sports Baseball League. Heavily involved with the American community and ASL in general, London Sports has been offering sporting leagues for players aged 6 to 14 years old for the past three decades. While there are many baseball leagues all over London, there is something special about London Sports in the fact that there are no adult officials, and all working umpires are local teenagers. Compromised of ex-players, who’ve exceeded the age limit to play, and teens enticed by the lure of a paying job, the group

and with a bit of guidance from the commissioners, she watches over and directs the umpires. “As the head umpire you have to actually make sure that all the fields are getting set up and everything is going out on time,” she said. “You’re the first person that people look to.” In regards to the actual umpiring of the games, Adult Head of Umpiring Rob Bruce oversees all of the work, and is the main adult responsible for the group. Bruce has the responsibility of teaching the rules, and wanders between games, making sure it all runs smoothly. While the technical side of baseball or softball can present its challenges, Bruce believes that it is not just the rules that the umpires are having to deal with. “Being

“You have to deal with people in emotional situations. You’re dealing with conflict, you’re having to resolve problems between people, and you’re having to be in charge.” Rob Bruce, Adult Head of Umpiring of umpires are responsible for the setup and takedown of the fields, as well as officiating the games they are assigned to. Anna Costello’s (’19) role is more crucial than the rest of the student officials, serving as Head Umpire for London Sports. Costello played in the league until she reached the age limit, and noted that her desire to stay affiliated with the league was partly due to the fun of being involved with the London Sports community. “If a kid makes a really good play, both teams will cheer for them. That’s one of the reasons I actually still do this is because I really like the community. We have tons of food, it’s fun to play, [and] fun to watch,” she said. At 8 a.m. on Saturdays, the umpres congregate at Wormwood Scrubs, hauling carts and fences out onto the open plot of land, before proceeding to set up and arrange up to 10 full baseball fields, multiple T-ball fields, stands, food carts and whatever else needs to be operating for that day of sports. The process is headed by Costello,

an umpire is incredibly difficult. I think adults sometimes forget that,” Bruce said. “You have to deal with people in emotional situations. You’re dealing with conflict, you’re having to resolve problems between people, and you’re having to be in charge.” In a baseball game, there are two types of umpires: the base official who covers first through third base, and the plate official who is situated at home plate, calling the strikes and balls of each at bat. For Anna Heinrich (’20), coaches disagreeing with her call is where she is put to the test. “You’ll have two adult coaches yelling at you because they disagree with your call, and to confidently yet respectfully shut down an adult and remind them that you are the one in charge can be a difficult thing to do, especially if you’re new to umpiring or aren’t very confident,” she said. This ability to confront adults, and take the role as the dominant figure is one of the main benefits that comes from working as

Jess Woodhams (’20) watches over home plate duirng a London Sports baseball game. Every weekend, the High School students umpire games at Wormwood Scrubs, setting up and taking apart all equiptment for the day’s events including nets, plates and gear for the teams taking part. Anna Costello (’19) takes responsibility for this organization as Head Umpire. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA COSTELLO an umpire. “They’re learning to be assertive, to explain what they saw, what happened, and to take control of the situation,” Bruce said. Heinrich values the responsibility that comes with a paying job, and admits that it is helping her mature into a more responsible person. “It teaches you to take initiative and work towards something that you want,” Heinrich said. “You are the one who is taking control and doing something not because of your parents or your teachers -

you want to do it.” Over the past few years, the group of umpires has continued to grow, developing into a more proffesional program and bringing a variety of people together. “I think kids realize they’re getting paid, and it’s – other than allowance – one of the few sources of income they might have. I think they enjoy being out and doing something with their friends, with sports, and that sense of community, so I think all those things kind of add to it,” Bruce said.

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Page 23

•••

ASL’s student umpires

Sports

Hoping to become a professional baseball umpire, Jacob Skor (’19) reveals his beginnings as an official and his hopes for the future Sourna Daneshvar Jr. | Editor in Chief: Online

s amateurs, aspiring baseball players travel from city to city throughout the sweltering summer months in busses hoping for a chance to make it to the Major League Baseball (MLB). There, they may receive some fortune and fame. Aspiring umpires undergo a process just as unrewarding, for little fortune and no fame, only infamy. Prospective umpires must attend an MLBsponsored camp with 100 umpires. From there only one or two are selected to officiate the minor leagues. Amateur umpires face the same summer heat, moving from city to city and often working another job to make enough money to make ends meet. If they’re lucky, after 10-15 years in the minor leagues, they may get called up to the professional league. It’s an unforgiving process, but one Jacob Skor (’19) is strongly considering as his future profession. Raised in Connecticut, Skor started playing t-ball in kindergarten. He continued

cation as a professional baseball or softball umpire. However, Skor attended a course in Coventry to further his understanding of baseball rules, positioning and umpiring. Additionally, Skor possesses a certificate from the British Association of Softball Umpires (BASU) after attending a weekend intensive course, culminating in a final exam on the rules. A sport Skor labels his second in understanding of the rules, well behind baseball, Skor tied for the highest grade. The other umpire has spent two decades across the U.K. softball circuit and needed to renew his qualification. Skor also attended the National Talent Camp for baseball and softball players, coaches and umpires the winter of his freshman year. Nominated as a baseball umpire, the prodigious Skor, as one of the youngest attendees won the Young Officials award. Winning the award in front of the com-

“He’s very well liked in the basball community because he knows the rules exceptionally well.” Gerry Perez, President of The British Baseball Federation to learn the game by playing, progressing into little league and watching his boyhood team, the New York Yankees. Eventually Skor realized that his skills and physical deficincies would not allow him to reach the levels he wanted to as a player. Given his knowledge of the game and devotion, Skor turned to umpiring. Skor officiates five leagues, ranging from youth baseball to adult softball. The games occur as close as Primrose Hill and as far as Slough, in Berkshire. Skor frequently spends entire weekends umpiring, alongside weekday evenings. The baseball season, as far as his umpiring is concerned, starts in the spring and extends until early June, returning in the early fall months at the start of school. It’s not solely his devotion to the craft that constitutes professional umpiring as a real possibility, but his level of talent, too. Due to his age, Skor can’t receive an official qualifi-

missioner’s of the U.K.’s leading baseball and softball leagues allowed Skor to build a network of people who wanted his services for games of all kinds. “That is actually what propelled my career,” Skor said. “It’s really what made me see that if you work hard there’s a path you could take.” Expanding his workload after the camp, the President of the British Baseball Federation (National Governing Body of Baseball in the U.K.) Gerry Perez provides Skor with numerous youth games to officiate. “He’s very well liked in the baseball community because he knows the rules exceptionally well,” Perez said. An unknowing coach nominated Skor this year as a softball official for the youth camp, but the camp does not permit repeat attendees. Once Skor earns his adult qualifications and “considering how many games he has behind the plate, how much good reference he gets,

how he improves his skillset” Perez believes that Skor could expand his umpiring repetoire to the international circuit. Until then, he settles for domestic games, yet, despite his age, officiates some of the most important ones here. Over the summer he called the Great Britain Championships for Little League to determine which youth team would represent the nation in the European qualifiers, who would play in the American Little League tournament broadcasted by ESPN. As an umpire, Skor remains diplomatic and communicative. With enough experience both as an official and student of the game Skor has a response prepared for every situation he may encounter. “You’ve got to believe in yourself,” Skor said. “I know that 9 times out of 10 or more than that even the call I make will be right. I know the rules and that’s one of the most important things,” Skor said. Given his diminutive stature and age, some coaches and players attempted to intimidate Skor earlier in his career. That problem he no longer faces based on his confidence, which stems from an intimate understanding of the rules. “You have to be confident in your decision. I’ve been told in training your decision may be wrong, but if you’re confident no one’s going to argue,” Skor said. When selecting Skor for games, Perez never views his height or age as a detractor. “People treat him equally as an adult because of his knowledge being so superior to other people in the same position as him. He’s not a tall kid, but he carries himself like a 6’, 7’’ umpire,” Perez said. At the end of the year Skor and his family will move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin leaving the network and roots he planted as a umpire across U.K. leagues. While he knows building a similar reputation will be a struggle in the U.S., especially given the greater number of prospective officials, the increased opportunities of leagues and games excites him. After finishing high school Skor will decide whether he follows the path of an MLB official, and attend the MLB sponsored camp or wait until he finishes college. Regardless of when he does it, Skor remains adamant that he will do it, despite the infentesimal odds of earning a living as an umpire. “It’s always worth a shot,” he said. “I love baseball so I’d still love to be involved as best I can.”

PHOTO BY SOURNA DANESHVAR JR.

Page 24

Sports

•••

THE STANDARD | May/June 2017

Recruited athletes Mark Haghani (’18) profile

Varsity athletics competed in 2017 Spring ISSTs from May 22 to May 24. Varsity baseball and varsity tennis both retained their ISST championships, while varsity golf and varsity track finished with silver and bronze medals, respectively. Varsity softball finished fifth in their tournament.

TOP LEFT PHOTO BY JONATHAN SHEVES, OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY JOHN FARMER