the Standard issue 1 12-13

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CULTURE Batman: A review and analysis of a superhero’s epic trilogy. Page 19

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THE STANDARD

October 2012 | Volume XXXVIII, Issue I

The American School in London | 1 Waverley Place | London NW8 0NP U.K.

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For this article, The Standard interviewed two members of the High School student body in an attempt to shed light on the seriousness of depression at ASL. The editorial decision was made to keep the names of these students anonymous. Those students whose identities remain anonymous are represented by aliases that will be used on pages 12-13.

“I just remember sitting on the floor and crying on my mom’s lap, and the window was open because I was going to jump.”

Fares CHehabi Editor-In-Chief | Clayton Marsh Lead Features Editor Photo by Jessica Haghani

W

hile many students are currently enjoying their high school experience, they tend to forget that there’s an opposite side to the scale.

A poll conducted by The Standard in April 2012 found that approximately four percent of the High School student body selfidentify themselves with clinical depression. The figure, Counselor Liane Thakur says, is not abnormal. “In terms of depression, we’re probably on par with any other private day school and on par with teens in general,” she said. However, more than 27 percent of students think that clinical depression is a serious issue at ASL. The topic of depression and suicide was added to the High School Health curriculum last year in an attempt to educate students on the ACT (acknowledge, care,

and treatment) method of suicide prevention. “If we can start working with kids sooner rather than later when they’re feeling badly, then that does help,” Thakur said.

Health Teacher Joy Marchese was glad to play up the depth of the school’s support system for discontented students. “I think that the school has a very good support system in place and each division of the school has a health counselor. That’s amazing,” she said. “Most schools do not have that.”

Principal Paul Richards highlighted the fine line between stress and depression.

“One of the most important things is to separate stress from depression, because they’re actually quite different,” he said. “If you think about depression as a condition, the culture at a place like ASL can either make it better or worse, and you could ar-

gue that the stress culture makes it worse.

It’s not that [stress] causes depression, it exacerbates it.”

Nonetheless, Richards is adamant that a change in mindset for stressed students can make the world of difference. “We can’t create a stress-free school, that’s impossible,” he said. “But we can try to empower kids to realize there is a lot more that they can control than they think. Once you make the student more assertive and more active in their own life, it makes a big difference with stress.” A subcommittee involving both administrators and faculty that discuss methods to decrease students’ stress meets once a cycle.

According to the poll, students’ happiness takes a big dip in junior year. On a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the hap-

piest), juniors’ average happiness rates remarkably low at 6.39, while every other grade’s averages rate above 7. Thakur is, however, already thinking about the issue.

“We could do some work with the juniors on stress reduction and positive thinking at the very beginning of the year when they’re beginning to pick up on and think about [academic] pressures,” she said.

The poll suggests that depression is hard to keep in the dark: Over 60 percent of students know someone that is or has been diagnosed with clinical depression.

Marchese stressed that clinical depression is the easiest mental to disorder to treat, despite its commonness. “Although it can be common, it is the easiest mental illness to treat,” she said. “And that’s the important thing to know.”

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News

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I OCTOBER 2012

Diversity lands on school radar The administration’s new approach to attract a more diverse range of students underway

NEWS | briefs BUILDING STUDY UNDERWAY The Board of Trustees is currently conducting a study to determine the feasibility of moving forward on two building projects.

Last June, Westminster Council granted the school two permits. The first allows for the construction of an arts building at the corner of Waverley Place and Grove End Road.

The second permit is for the construction of a 25-meter pool, a fitness room and a dance studio-built below the playground. Both permits allow for the beginning of construction in a five-year window that began in July.

ALTERNATIVES TO RETURN Fears that Alternatives are being canceled all together can be assuaged. They will return next year.

The two reasons for not having alternatives this year are that the school wants to make the trips support the schools’ mission statement, and the second reason is the administration felt that March alternatives would place too much pressure on the calendar.

Students can participate in other trips, such as music tour, athletic and global trips.

TUNISIA IN TROUBLE Three girls take a break from playing at the ASL camp this summer. This photo was the main page of schoolnet at the beginning of school. Neither the girl on the left nor the right attend the school. Photo from of asl.org

Thomas Risinger News Editor

During the first week of school, the entire student body gathered together in the main gym to listen to Head of School Coreen Hester’s address. As the students listened, Hester listed off various facts that indicated that the school is diverse. Students at the school speak over 30 languages, and demographically we all come from a range of 50 countries stretching from Senegal to Venezuela.

The concept of the school’s diversity has been a running joke among High School students for many years. It was joked about in student council elections, most recently by Owen Rees (’13).

“The school is obviously not a very diverse place, but it is important to make it into one,” Sky Swanson (’14) said. Students also enjoy mocking the inaccurate depiction of the school’s student body that is portrayed by the school’s website. Students from minority backgrounds, particularly the African American background, have been known to be heavily featured. Even the administration has noticed this trend. “Currently, there is a photo of two black girls [on the website] who attended our summer camp. They don’t go here,” Hester said.

The issue of a lack of diversity in the school environment does not only pertain to ASL, it is a much wider issue that stretches all across the United States. According to data published on 19 September of this year by the Department of Education, 43 percent of Latinos and 38 percent of blacks attend schools that are less than 10 percent white. Not only that, but blacks and latinos are twice as likely to be attending schools with a majority of poor children.

In a recent New York Times article on the issue, one of the authors of the aforementioned report and co-director of The Civil Rights Project

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(an organization run through University of California Los Angeles) Gary Orfield said, “Extreme segregation is becoming more common.”

The lack of diversity at ASL is not a new or clear-cut issue. The school is diverse in the sense of having many different countries represented in the student population, but the overwhelming majority of students are relatively wealthy, fully physically abled, and do not come from gay or lesbian parents (although there are no statistics kept by the school on anything but socioeconomic diversity). In the past few years there have been signs that what diversity the school has is slipping away. For example, the English as an Additional Language program has been shrinking. “Fewer students come from second language homes than did two years ago,” Hester said.

Two years ago, this issue of diversity began to be addressed. In the 2010 Strategic Plan adopted by the Board of Trustees, the third objective is to

“The school is obviously not a very diverse place.”

Sky Swanson (‘13)

increase the diversity of the school community, with respect to the student body, as well as the faculty, staff and administration. This plan has generated a new Diversity Statement that incorporates everything from socio-economic and racial diversity to physical disabilities into the school’s definition of diversity. The statement was sent to the entire school community on September 3 with a new Admission Policy although the policy, “only has slightly different wording [from the previous policy], there is no real difference,” Dean of Admissions Jodi Warren said.

Also, “Not a whole lot of response has been generated by the statement, but that was expected.”

Hester said. This may change, however, when the next stage of the school’s diversity plan comes into effect. This is the outreach program that is designed to reach the objectives set by the diversity goal of the 2010 Strategic Plan, it will be initiated later this year.

The outreach program can be in some ways described as an advertising or marketing campaign for the school. As in any such campaign there is a target audience, schoolchildren of London, and more specifically children who are not the current, typical ASL student. “The perception by others of our school is that we are mostly well-to-do Americans,” Hester said. The goal of the program is to attract new students in the London area who would either not have considered ASL or would not otherwise know of it and who would do well at the school. The exact methods of the program have already been designed.

Never before has the school had an outreach program. With high enrollment figures, outreach was not a priority. Now it is, as a result of the diversity work done by the Board of Trustees and senior administrators. “The [fact that we have never had an outreach program] is odd because it is something that most [US independent] schools do. We are just going to fling a large net out and see what comes back,” Hester said.

The final objective of the program is not to necessarily to change who the school lets inm but instead to change the pool of applicants.

“The end goal of the program is to broaden the pool of applicants, and to create a community where all groups feel welcome,” Warren said.

For now though Hester doesn’t fully agree with the students. Regarding recent change in diversity at the school Hester said, “We are not as diverse of a community as we’d like to be.”

The American Cooperative School in Tunis was looted and torched in a series of riots on September 14. After a clash with police in the United States Embassy, protesters climbed the walls of the school.

The faculty and students were warned to leave the school prior to the attack. 700 computers were stolen and the building was burnt. No one was injured, but members of the staff fended off rioters with baseball bats.

The school is looking for donations and reparations from the Tunisian government.

CLOSED CAMPUS EXTENDED More than 10 sophomore students were caught violating the closed campus rule on September 26 by Dean of Students Joe Chodl and Social Studies Teacher and class of 2015 Dean Meg Bailey.

The Sophomore class was under closed campus until the end of October Break but due to the large scale violation the entire grade will not recieve open campus for lunch, conference time, or free periods until one week after the original date for the end of their closed campus.

CHARITY WALK COMPLETED On September 23, many members of the school community, including Head of School Coreen Hester, spent their Saturday morning completing the Bridges to Peace 10 kilometer walk to raise money for the nonprofit organization Seeds of Peace.

This is the second annual walk and this year the walk was completed by participants all over the globe. In total, the walk raised £85,000 for the charity.

The money will go to creating programs and activities for teenagers in various conflict zones in the Middle East and South Asia.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

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New benchmark set for financial aid SVENA BHASIN COPY EDITOR With a tuition of £23,550 for each High School and Middle School student, socio-economic diversity is a long-term challenge for ASL. The Strategic Plan, written in 2010, outlines the school’s objectives regarding diversity. Under the third objective, desired outcomes include to “provide sufficient financial aid to broaden the potential for great socio-economic diversity at the school.”

When they wrote it in 2010, the Board of Trustees hoped to increase “our funding of financial aid to 8 percent of gross tuition revenue.” Two years later, the amount of financial aid remains to be 7.2 percent of tui-

tion revenue.

The Diversity Statement, put forward by the Board of Trustees and published on the school website this fall, includes socio-economic level in their definition of diversity.

Chair of the Board of Trustees Lori Fields and Dean of Admissions Jodi Warren both said that diversity is important for excellence, in reference to the Strategic Plan. “The reason for having financial aid is to have socio-economic diversity, and diversity of all kinds is important for excellence. We want our students to be in a school that will somewhat reflect the experiences in the real world,” said Warren.

The financial aid program currently holds a budget of £1.1

million for 47 families at ASL, a total of 69 students.The full ;exfor Lower School students, not including extracurricular trips which offer the option to apply for financial aid to all students.

“We want our students to be in a school that will somewhat reflect the experiences in the real world.”

Jodi Warren, Dean of Admissions

ASL is a part of an organisation titled the National Association of Independent Schools,

Flash

or NAIS, based in the USA. The organisation runs a service called Student & School Services (SSS).

Applicants for financial aid input their financial information like income, taxes, and debt onto the online form. The service then evaluates that information through a formula and sends an estimate of the amount that the family can contribute to their child’s education to the school’s financial aid committee.

The financial aid committee adds a cost of living factor and decides on the amount that will be allocated to the family for the child’s tuition fee. “It’s a very objective and confidential process,” said Warren. “No one in the school, except for

this administrative committee, knows who is getting financial aid.”

In the past couple of years, the budget of £1.1 million ha not been quite enough. “ We’ve actually had a financial aid wait pool, so we’ve been having more people apply than we’ve had money available,” said Warren. ASL still has a long way to go before it meets the goal of increasing financial aid funding to the full 8 percent of tuition revenue. The process by which to do this has already been determined, and has been showing steady progress each year. “That’s a decision that the Board [of Trustees] has to make; ultimately the board approves the schools operating budget,” Warren said.

Calendar change After long discussions on how to fix the semester problem, the administration has finally decided to move forward the end of the semester Gabriel Ruimy Staff Writer

David Hockney: The artist David Hockney sent the above original iPad drawing to the Class of 2020. The class had visited an exhibit of Hockney’s work and had decided to paint the annual fourth grade mural in his style. A parent saw the mural and sent a picture of it to the manager of a Chicago gallery which Hockney is connected with. The manager of the gallery, Paul Grey, sent the photo to Hockney. “He was very moved [by the mural],” Lower School Art Teacher Mary Jordan said. After recieving the photo he drew the above picture of his garden and sent it to the school. The photo arrived on September 14. Graphic by david hockney

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As of this year, the fall semester will be ending on December 20 for the High School and Middle School. After elongated discussions on how to fix the problem of uneven semesters and awkwardly-spaced quarters, teachers, faculty, and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction Roberto d’Erizans, have decided that the end of the semster will be moved so that it precede s winter break, which will begin on December 21.

Principal Paul Richards said that the change has been made to stop the stress caused by impendng exams over the December break. “Bottom line… it’s a smoother transition from one semester to the other,” he said.

Though this change has been intended to benefit both teachers and students, there are differing opinions on the topic.

One very enthusiastic student, André Purits ('15) said, “That’s good. So good – it’s excellent!

We don’t have to worry about tests while we enjoy our holidays.” And though that view seems to be the popular one, there are some students that find the change to be an unwelcome one; Sayer Devlin ('16) disagreed with the move. “There is

less time to study for the challenging tests,” he said.

This change in schedule will not only have a considerable impact in the timing of midterm tests, but also first semester electives. Ishan Guha (‘13) said that this will just elongate his second semester classes, which is not a big change, but that it could mean an extra workload for those taking one semester classes in the fall. “they [the students taking one semester classes] will have to work harder in the first semester to cover the same amount of material,” he said.

Though the student body is somewhat divided on this issue, teachers and faculty all appear to agree that the change will be beneficial to the school.

They concur with d’Erizans who said that the switch was meant to make the midterms easier, because, despite students having less time to study, there is no break in between the lessons and the testing. He explained that the change will be beneficial to teachers as well; the semesters will now be more evenly balanced and will not provide as large a rush as the one that has been felt by both students and teachers of previous years during the end of the first semester.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

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Students lead election education effort Paul Ryan

Staff Writer Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s stressful campaigns for the U.S. presidency are nearing their collective end. On November 6, both candidates will discover their fates, and they have the world as their audience, including the ASL community.

Young Democrats Club Co-Presidents Deirdre Ely (’13) and India Patel (’13) and Young Republicans Club President Alex Ericksen (’13) are

“Voting and elections are how we preserve our freedom, and everyone should have vested interest in that.”

Deirdre Ely (’13)

spearheading the effort to educate and involve ASL students in the current US presidential election.

Ely believes that every student should take note of the political event, due to its role in preserving freedom. “Our goal is very simple - to educate the student body about the election and help them to become motivated to take part in their politi-

cal process,” she said. “It shouldn’t matter how old you are, what country you are from, or to what political creed you adhere. Voting and elections are how we preserve our freedom, and everyone should have a vested interest in that.”

In order to inform and prepare the High School community for the elections, the Young Democrats Club has been presenting one theme a week since October 1 and will end the initiative on November 6. In a bid to cover all aspects of the election, themes include ‘Evolution of Party Politics’, ‘Foreign Policy of Candidates’, and ‘Economic Policies.’

Videos of various debates will be broadcasted on high school plasma screens. There will be an electionsthemed quiz bowl on October 16.

Also, a debate in the commons will take place in coordination with the Debate Club. The candidates’s economic policies will also be explored in Economics and AP Statistics classes.

On October 11, former presidential candidate John McCain will speak at ASL. All High School and eighth grade students are invited to attend.

The Young Democrats Club’s work this year will not come to an end following the conclusion of the elections, though. Patel said that throughout the year, the club plans on facilitating and discussing “on-

Senator John McCain will speak at ASL on October 11. The former presidential candidate will reflect on his 2008 election campaign and discuss the current election. Photo by flickr/neon tommy going debates both in the US and abroad.” International politics will also be covered by the club.

In several meetings with Dean of Students Joe Chodl, Director of Academic Advising and College Coun-

seling Patty Strohm, and select student leaders, Ely, Patel and Ericksen discussed facilitating the process.

Chodl praised the trio for their dedication in what has been a student initiative. “The kudos should be given

to Alex, India and Deirdre because they’ve really taken the initiative here and they’re running with it,” he said.

“In a perfect world, students would run everything and we would be the secondary people facilitating.”

Dismissal of QK Headteacher mired in obscurity Hamish stephenson ONLINE EDITOR Jo Shuter, step-mother of Seventh Grade Aide Sean Ross, has given her all to Quintin Kynaston since her appointment in 2001. “She lives and breathes QK [Quintin Kynaston] and I think it’s very difficult for her not to be involved at the school,” Ross said in regards to Shuter. Shuter was recently suspended from her position by the school’s governors for misuse of funds.

Ross was taken aback by the decision. “It’s obviously been a huge shock for Jo, whose life’s work over the last decade or so has been improving QK, and in turn that has affected all the immediate family,” he said. “It’s been really difficult to take in because we’ve all been involved in the school and we’ve all supported her and her vision of improving QK.” Chris Sale, one of the DeputyHeads at QK, who has worked closely with Shuter for the whole time she has been at the school, has taken over as acting head.

“On receipt of serious allegations

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relating to the management of the school, governors took immediate action to initiate an investigation and are now referring the matter to the police. In order to facilitate this investigation and ensure that pupils’ education is not compromised during this process, we have now also taken the decision to suspend the Headteacher,” Patrick Lees, Chair of Governors at the school, told the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

Shuter, who was awarded the title Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010, is largely credited with hugely improving QK and recently spoke out against Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove for the way in which GCSE testing was modified this year. The changes resulted in a 14 percent decrease in English GCSE pass rates at QK. “I think that what she said was absolutely right and that she was outspoken and I’m sure there might be some sort of connection [ between her comments and her suspension],” Ross said.

Middle School General Pro-

gram and After School Program Assistant Muktar Ali, who also mentors the High School Robotics Team, was a student at QK who started around the same time that Shuter took over as head teacher and spent seven years at the school. He only had good things to say about Shuter and the school. “It’s clear to see how the school has changed for the better,” he said. “While I was there, there were a lot of changes. The facilities were always brought up to scratch. [Shuter] did a great job.”

Ali had strong opinions on the situation. “For her to do something stupid like that [misusing funds], there’s something definitely wrong in the allegations. Where she has brought the school, why would she jeopardise that for what they’re claiming she has done,” he said.

The suspension has come as a shock to many students and teachers at the school as well as the parents, Ross said. “Generally everyone was shocked and rocked by the allegations but people have been very supportive. The students ask about her every day.

Ex-pupils are communicating asking what’s going on. Parents have been supportive; they know she takes the time to get to know their kids. You know they want her to come back,” he said.

Ross has spent many years devoting time to improving the relationship between ASL and QK, which is something he says may not be possible anymore. “As the ASL community knows, I’ve always been strongly involved with

“It’s obviously been a huge shock for Jo, whose life’s work over the last decade or so has been improving QK.” Sean Ross, Seventh Grade Aide

QK. I’m not yet sure whether I can continue that same relationship that I had, but my intentions are to maintain the community partnership that ASL and QK have as

I would like to support QK even though we’re going through this process,” he said.

It is evident that although there is a lot still to be uncovered the damage has already been done.

Ross bemoaned the lack of clarity regarding Shuter’s situation. “One of the things that makes it so difficult is that you’re never really 100 percent clear on what’s happening. Allegations have been made, investigations are in process,” he said. “We don’t know how long its going to take, we don’t know the extent of the damage it might be making and it’s just a very stressful period.”

Ali expressed his disappointment over the QK’s governors apparent lack of support for Shuter. “I think that QK’s governors should have supported her more,” he said. “I don’t know whether, even if everything is cleared, she’s going to come back because it’s almost like the ultimate betrayal by your close colleagues. Hopefully everything will blow away and everyone will see that nothing wrong has happened.”

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Opinions

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I October 2012

THE STANDARD FARES CHEHABI Editor-in-Chief ANNA YOUNG Deputy Editor-in-Chief THOMAS RISINGER News Editor PATRICK COLLINS Opinions Editor CLAYTON MARSH Lead Features Editor MINA OMAR Features Editor IAN SCOVILLE Features Editor MATT BENTLEY Culture Editor SHAHID MAHDI Culture Editor Patrick Mayr Sports Editor JESSICA HAGHANI Photo Editor EMILY MARK Photo Editor HAMISH STEPHENSON Online Editor TYLER ZSCHACH Online Editor SVENA BHASIN Copy Editor STAFF WRITERS Nicole Adams, Alec Ashley, Zack Ashley, Tanya Bhalla, Nikolai Birch, Claudia Costa, Sayer Devlin, Laura Galligan, James Geelan, Kate Kennedy, Annabel Kronfeld, Dana Landman, Zack Longboy, Lorenzo Maglione, James Malin, Maddy Philip, Tamara Rasamny, Gabriel Ruimy, Paul Ryan, Darish Yazdapanah, Charlotte Young Andrew Plonka Adviser

Illustration by Daniela al-saleh

Forgetting to remember The administration persistently tries to propound a certain motif or “theme” for the coming year. On September 11, Jean Kilbourne, a venerated expert on interpreting media and women in advertising, paid a visit to the school and delivered a lecture on these topics. Amidst a slideshow of risqué and often demeaning advertising, Kilbourne’s presentation was credible and contained many valid points. It served to reinforce the discussion of gender equity that has been pervasive in assemblies, classes and hallway chatter.

What The Standard editorial board finds perplexing is that the gravitas of this date, 11 years ago, was not remembered. Last year, all members of our community have held a minute of silence at 8:46 a.m. in remembrance of the tenth anniversary of the day that has rocked socio-political agendas worldwide. This time, there was no function, no announcement, not even a notifier with regards to the catastrophe that lingers in living memory. Whilst schools across the world were grieving the unspeakable horrors that Tuesday morning, our students were listening to an orator attempt to diagnose a problem that has no obvious solution.

It is not a question of school identity. Although our name dons the title of “American,” compassion and respect was shown worldwide. An institution or organization doesn’t

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have to be “American” to participate. Tragedy knows no flag or anthem; it transcends all cultures and nationalities.

What is shocking is that school-officiated talk of 9/11 was dismissed under the parameters that we are an American school overseas. Principal Paul Richards has announced that, as always, a minute of silence shall be held on November 11 to mark Remembrance Day. That being said, a mute minute should be added for 9/11 in addition, not in lieu.

It was announced that the themes of gender equity and how we construe media will segue on through the year. Not only is it a debacle with a very murky solution, but a conversation with legs. It is timeless and perennial; it can be brought up whenever and wherever. September 11 is one of 365 days.

In the aftermath of the attacks, The New Yorker published an issue dedicated to the thoughts and reflections on the day.

One contributor, Aharon Appelfeld, wrote that he dreaded waking up the next morning, as he’d find “the unwanted memory waiting...the flood of what can’t be undone.”

It is a sentiment we all shared, however young we were.

The memory of the day may be “unwanted,” but it is a memory we ought to give at least one minute to reflect upon. It’s the least we can do.

MISSION STATEMENT The Standard staff and adviser are dedicated to creating an open forum that strives to promote productive dialogue among the student body, and witin the greater school cumminity, by publishing exemplary student news media according to the strictest standards of journalistic integrity in writing, editing, coverage and production.

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 O-329, or to the_standard@asl.org. These must adhere to 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 with the word “Editorial” written above it and presented in the same location issue-to-issue represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. They are unsigned.

COLUMNS 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.

ENGAGEMENT WITH READERSHIP The Standard encourages all readers to submit their thoughts through letters to the editor, guest columns and story ideas.

Contact the appropriate section editor(s) for submissions.

ONLINE VIEWING The Standard can be viewed online at standard.asl.org.The Standard can also be viewed in PDF format on the high school page of the ASL website, www.asl.org.

Printed by Mortons Print Limited, 01507 523456

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Opinions

Forcing equity Patrick Collins

patrick_collins@asl.org

“

The perceived inequity between genders comes down to a simple lack of effort.

Photo by Jessica Haghani

Jean Kilbourne – Every part of Jean Kilbourne’s presence in the School Center annoyed me, except when she walked out. I have no issue with someone being a feminist, but I do have an issue when feminists look upon those who don’t share their beliefs as uneducated pigs. That, in short, is why I have an issue with Kilbourne. Her anti-advertising message annoyed me on two levels. Kilbourne doesn’t seem to understand that the purpose of advertising is to present ideals to consumers, or at least she didn’t make it apparent that she does. No consumer wants to see an average looking, overweight individual presenting the product they are about to purchase. Or at least no one except Kilbourne and her feminist army. It will be a depressing day if Kilbourne gets her way, and walking down a street, my eyes are met with billboards and magazines covered in the ugly, uninspiring bodies of the average. The day we place the average on advertising, is the day we stop striving for an improvement. I am not saying that all advertising presents a healthy and attainable ideal, but a good majority that I am exposed to does (just look at those beautiful men and women in Calvin Klein and Victoria’s Secret ads.) Secondly, as a male, I was somewhat offended at Kilbourne’s notion that men face no pressure in the media and advertising.

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Women have problems. This is a fairly obvious statement, mainly because all people, men and women, experience some form of intolerance and injustice, but for whatever reason, we seem to be constantly focused on female issues. What makes women so special that for over a year now the school has been continually preaching about the inequity females face in society? I am tired of hearing about it. I am tired of learning about the injustices women face in advertising. I am tired of listening to women talk about their lack of a voice in society. I am tired of rolling my eyes as women complain about every little difference they face in their lives in comparison to men. The time for discussion and education is over, now is the time to make a decision; either put your collective heads down as feminists and get through your problems or pursue an actual change at ASL. Personally, I would choose the former. If you do decide to pursue actual changes in the school to create a more balanced field between genders, you wouldn’t be making changes at all. This is because there is already equity between genders at ASL. The male population does not have any sort of upper hand simply because they are males. Everything that a male can do, a female has the ability to do as well. The perceived inequity at ASL therefore comes, not from the fact that females aren’t allowed to do certain things, but from the fact that females don’t do these things.

There are no rules forcing females out of

higher level math and science classes and into higher level art and social studies classes.

Females choose which classes they do and do not participate in. Class discussions are not male-only activities, as some gender equity advocates think. Females make their own choices about whether or not they wish to participate in them. This equity between genders is constant, not only in the classroom, but in athletics and social environments as well. In all cases, women are given the same opportunities as men.

Therefore, the perceived inequity between genders comes down to a simple lack of effort. I am not saying that all women (or men for that matter) do not try, for that would be a grotesquely broad and ignorant statement.

Instead, I am saying that in areas in which there are perceived gender inequities at ASL, one of the genders is applying itself more than the other. If both males and females applied themselves equally in all aspects of school, there would be no perceived inequity.

The idea of inequity only arises because it appears as though there is not a fair balance between the opportunities for males and females. With balanced application, this appearance wouldn’t occur.

However, I do not wish for there to be balanced application. Not only would it be almost impossible for it to occur without forcing both genders to participate in areas they otherwise wouldn’t participate in, but it would be completely unnatural. Speaking

Opinions Editor Patrick Collins, and Editor-in-Chief Fares Chehabi break down recent key investments.

Seeing the waxed bodies of the super tan male models used in most advertising, what is to say that I don’t struggle with the fact that my pale Irish body isn’t good enough until I jump into a tanning bed and get a good waxing. Truthfully, I am too proud of my chest hair to do so, but some of my fellow males maybe be feeling the pressure. Yet Kilbourne ignored men’s problems completely. (Sexist much?) Between the mandatory viewing of Killing Us Softly IV and Jean Kilbourne’s hour long presentation, I have had enough political messages shoved down my throat this semester. Unless of course Dr. Richards is planning on holding hour long, mandatory Mad Men viewing parties. I am all for a good dose of Don Draper. - PC Cubbies - There has been no greater addition to the school since a slurpee machine graced the cafeteria with its presence for one beautiful year.

Simply put, the cubbies are amazing. Representing 50 percent of what was brilliant about kindergarten, the cubbies add a youthful touch in the otherwise uptight High School. They allow a sense of trust, promoting a certain air of freedom. Cubbies are more than just a place to dump a bag; they are a symbol of hope, a sign of better to come. When John Stark said, “Live free or die,” this is surely the path to freedom

in complete generality, men and women are suited to excel in both common and different areas. Men have areas that they will naturally be better at and women have areas that they will naturally be better at. For example, it is proven that, in general, men are better at leading people, while women are better at managing people. Men also have the ability to physically exert themselves at a higher and longer level than women, while women have a stronger immune system than men. There will always be outliers in each gender that apply themselves and excel in areas that the rest of their gender doesn’t apply and excel in. These outliers will allow specific areas to not be solely for one gender, but the natural differences between males and females will allow for these specific areas to be dominated by a gender.

If you are unhappy about a gender imbalance in a certain area, don’t complain about it, don’t attempt to force nature into creating complete equality between all genders in all areas, instead become the outlier and apply yourself in that area. Constant complaining only adds to the perception of inequity that comes from inaction. So please, stop it. Apply yourself, but remember, complete equality will never naturally occur because males and females are different. We are different in anatomy and we are different in certain ability. Males will dominate certain areas. Females will dominate certain areas. It is not due to inequity. It is due to nature.

Photo by Emily Mark

he was talking about. Sources also say nap time may be just around the corner. - PC

stand a sudden obsession with looking terrible. Look good damnit. - PC

Hipsters - Few things manage to disgust me more than the backwards thinking people that are hipsters. In short, hipsters make an attempt to ruin everything they can get their hands on, while seemingly attempting to look terrible.

Think of hipsters like Star Wars space slugs, they will go after everything and anything, and once they get a grip, it’s game over. In ruining items, they also hold an ridiculous ability to make awesome things look awful.

Just ask lumberjacks, who must still bitter about hipsters ruining flannel. By attempting to revive older fashion in order to “be different”, hipsters seem to fail to realize that when everybody is being different by doing the same thing, they are all the same. Thus a never ending cycle ensues, in which hipsters move from fashion trend to fashion trend, destroying everything in their path. Some of the hipster’s most devastating destructions include most items seen in the movie White Men Can’t Jump, any sort of Native American getup, and the handlebar mustache. I hope the ghost of Geronimo teams up with the ghost bare-knuckle brawler great John L. Sullivan to really give it to some hipsters. I don’t under-

The Standard Tunes - What a pleasure it has been to be in the journalism lab recently. Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, and Rihanna. Bangers, bangers, bangers. Last year, the journalism lab was a stellar place to be if you were in need of some good tunes. I’m relieved to say that this year is no different. The staff has really stepped it up. Shahid Mahdi (’13) has upped his game especially – he’s mixing in some classic Santana with the weird stuff he finds on blogs, like that remix that’s a remix of a remix of a remix. Still a tune. What we need now is to get some decent surround sound installed in the room so we can really serenade our surrounding classrooms. That way, Math Teacher Julie Bevad’s class next door can hear everything we play louder and in even better quality. “Call Me Maybe” on repeat during a math test is just swell, apparently. DJ T8 may finally have some competition. - FC Post Scriptum: Party at Ryan’s.

9/28/12 6:45 PM

THE STANDARD | October 2012

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Page 7

Opinionsddd

A Paralympic turning point Nikolai Birch

nikolai_birch@asl.org

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In the future, we will see a lot more of disabled athletes in the Olympics, and once it is accepted, athletes with disabilities may take over, like Pistorius was so close to doing this summer.

In its spiritual home of London, the Paralympics have flourished like never before.

Originally called the Stoke Mandeville Games, the idea of handicapped athletes began at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England in the 1940s and was the brainchild of Ludwig Guttman. The “Father of Sport for People with Disabilities” was a great proponent of the use of sport to improve the quality of life for veterans injured in World War II. The first wheelchair games coincided with the Olympics in London in 1948, and three Olympics later in Rome, the Games became a normal feature of every Olympics. Just 72 years after its creation, in the birthplace of the first event, regarding both the number of athletes and the number of people watching, the Paralympics became the second largest sporting event in the world.

With the help of Channel 4’s spectacular coverage, the Paralympics became more of a main feature this year, as opposed to the afterthought to the Olympics as it has been in the past. The “Meet the Superhumans” campaign was superb, and the commercial featuring Team GB’s Paralympic stars and Public Enemy’s song “Harder than You Think” was beyond inspiring. The advertisement was influential enough to boost Spotify’s streams of the song by 3,000 percent from the time the commercial first aired. Also, the advertisements for the Paralympics with the “Thanks for the Warm-Up” themes were very clever and well thought-out, placing the Paralympics on the same level of importance as the Olympics.

Another key feature of the Paralympic spirit was the man known as the “Blade Runner,” South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, who won his

heat in the 400 meter at the Olympics. Pistorius lost both legs as an infant, and uses two carbon-fibre “blades” to run. Pistorius was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, and also the first to advance to the semifinals, before missing the qualifying mark for the men’s 400 meter final by a quarter of a second. Due to role models like Pistorius, we will definitely see the two sporting events integrate into one, or at least see more Paralympic sports become incorporated into the Olympics. In the future, we will see a lot more of disabled athletes in the Olympics, and once it is accepted, athletes with disabilities may take over, like Pistorius was close to doing this summer.

ASL’s students were able to witness the effect first hand, and several, including myself, attended the Games. The atmosphere was electric and didn’t seem at all different from the Olympics, with both the number of people and the attitude towards more serious competition, matching those of the Olympics. The support from the home crowd and from those who came from all over the world to see their

The Paralympic logo, representing “Spirit in motion.”

Photo courtesy Of http://www.paralympic.org/

athletes perform on the largest stage made the games an incredible environment to be a part of.

“We want to change public attitudes towards disability, celebrate the excellence of Paralympic sport and enshrine from the very outset, that the two Games are an integrated whole,” said Lord Sebastian Coe, the British Olympic Association Chairman on his goals for this summer’s Paralympic games. Lord Coe’s goals were fairly reasonable, as this summer’s games not only had the most athletes ever to compete in the Paralympics (4,280), but also had the most countries ever (166) to send athletes to the games. In the first threeweek ticket window, the games sold over one million tickets, smashing the previous record, and sold over two and a half million tickets over all, making almost £10 million more than expected.

The incredible jump that the Paralympics took this past summer was beyond any possible expectations, and changed the future of the games to an incredible extent. The next Olympics will be in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and will have to go above and beyond to improve on what Lord Coe and the London 2012 Paralympic Committee did here this summer. The games sprung into the public eye on the backs of some global stars like Pistorius, but held its own with awe-inspiring performances from under-appreciated athletes all over the world.

The advancement of the Paralympics this year allowed the event to make an unbelievable amount of progress, and it should be considered one of the greatest sporting events in the past decade.

Learning from the Olympics Patrick Collins

patrick_collins@asl.org

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If all athletes were able to feel this large sense of community support behind them, I have no doubt that it would result in a higher amount of quality athletic performances.

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For 17 days, the world watched as the City of London seemed to outdo itself again and again as each Olympic day seamlessly rolled into the next. Athletes from every corner of the world excelled in 26 different sports, as a jubilant international crowd focused in on the activities occurring in London. London 2012 was a joyous occasion, bringing together people from all walks of life through their common love of sport, and there is no reason ASL can’t follow a similar model, on a micro scale, and bring together the entire community in common support of sport.

Sport is a magical tool. It can simultaneously create joy and sadness that is so easily felt by not only those participating, but also by anyone viewing it. Entire countries can get behind and the feel the emotions of 15 athletes playing in a game. Therefore, there is no reason why the ASL community shouldn’t vastly increase its support of sporting events at the school. Doing so would benefit both the athletic teams and the community.

Drawing in more supporters for all sports would generate an air of excitement usually only reserved for one or two Friday night basketball games each year. After playing in front of some of these genuinely excited crowds, I can say that no other outside source has increased my performance to a greater extent.

If all athletes were able to feel this large sense of community support behind them, I have no doubt that it would result in a higher amount of quality athletic performances.

Empty stands will be a thing of the past if ASL piggybacks on the Olympics’ success.

Photo by abby jacoba

Common support of a sporting event can bring together the community like nothing else. A high school student and a kindergartener have very few things that they can connect upon, but sport is one of them. Bringing excitement into sporting events can allow members of the community that would otherwise never positively interact to do so. In a school that is constantly looking for ways to bring itself together as a community, I see no reason why ASL wouldn’t follow Great Britain’s lead, and jump on the opportunity to support its athletes.

The athletics programs and the administration hold a joint responsibility in creating this excitement and support behind sports.

Teams need to give community members a reason as to why they should spend their time watching athletes compete. Raising the level of athletic performance should always be the goal of teams, but its importance needs to

be stressed if teams wish to gain more community support. Fans in the community will only watch a team if they are given something interesting to watch, so sports teams need to generate excitement with quality levels of athletic performance. The administration should also do everything they can do to facilitate a raise in athletic performance, as it would greatly benefit not only the athlete but the community as a whole. A larger amount of support to athletics needs to be given by the administration. More and more, athletics seems to be forgotten as just another activity students participate in after school, instead of being seen for what it really is, an essential part to so many students’ school lives. Athletics should be placed onto the same level of importance as music and art are, as it provides the same amount of learning potential that both music and art provides, while drawing similar, if not higher, interest levels.

As Great Britain excelled to their greatest Olympic performance in 100 years, the people of Great Britain came together around them.

In an almost spontaneous eruption, the entire country became sports fans, becoming more and more excited with each day. Such a reaction shows the special quality of sport to bring together groups of people usually separated and some even conflicted. At ASL, if the same interest is shown in support of sport, athletic achievement is sure to increase, but more importantly, community presence will explode into a togetherness never experienced before.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Opinions

Breaking down the Olympic opening ceremony

Photo by flickr / maykal

Two students compare their views on this summer’s Olympic opening ceremony, entitled the Isles of Wonder Shahid Mahdi

shahid_mahdi@asl.org Danny Boyle, the director of masterful films including Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Trainspotting (1996), had immense pressure to, in the space of approximately a year, weave together an opening ceremony which over two billion eyes would scrutinize.

In mid-April, details were disclosed regarding the layout and progression of the ceremony. International media mocked and ridiculed what was believed to be a rural, agrarian sequence. What the papers, self-deprecating British public, and even the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) didn’t know was that it would be one of the most splendiferous nights in modern Olympic history.

When staging an event with the magnitude of Olympics, it’s inevitable that comparisons will arise with past opening ceremonies, especially that of Beijing. Hailed as a daunting yet dazzling spectacle, Beijing’s opening ceremony drew upon the themes of unity and grandeur; this induction was by all means unparalleled. Meticulous planning and hordes of skillful volunteers were required. How would London, with a fraction of the population and the enthusiasm, possibly hope to match the raw ferocity of an emerging superpower’s intricate rendition of the greatest show on Earth?

Well, it didn’t. Boyle opted to celebrate Britain’s history and amenities rather than rely on manpower and intimidation. Images of the “Pandemonium” sequence, in which five enormous, sparkling Olympic rings constructed with the relentlessness of the Industrial Revolution, were splashed across websites, newspapers, feeds and desktops

worldwide. Rowan Atkinson, who’s known as Mr. Bean in over 245 countries, James Bond and the Queen made lighthearted cameos. The National Health Service, a uniquely British gem, was emblematized into a dance troupe.

Suffragettes, military representatives, chimney sweepers, business magnates, Paul McCartney, The Sex Pistols and even the EastEnders theme squeezed in. In digging for national treasures, Boyle left no stone unturned.

Perhaps the beauty of the opening ceremony lies not within its organizational qualities but in its audacity. After all, London was in decline. Bickering politicians, financial uncertainty, socio-economic frustration, unemployment, transport strikes and miserly weather were eating away at London’s status as the most revered city on the planet. The Olympics themselves were often viewed as a taxpayer’s burden rather than a gift.

The opening ceremony was a volley back; it was an antidote to cure London’s societal ills.

As with international sporting events, crowds would huddle around televisions and cheer on Britain’s finest athletes. But now, it was their city, their home and in some cases their neighborhood, performing for the world. It restored the faith in not only Britain but also in the historic ideal of being British, eccentrically so at times.

Months before London’s doors opened to the world, Boyle revealed that the theme to the ceremony would be known as “Isles of Wonder.” Unlike Boyle intended, the “wonder” may not have only been in the content of the ceremony, but also in its role as a bulwark for Britain against naysayers and cynics – most of whom, of course, would be British anyway.

Kareem Asfari

kareem_asfari@asl.org At various points, I truly enjoyed the ceremony, and it was an engaging spectacle. Britain never could have competed with the sheer immensity of the Beijing opening ceremony, and Danny Boyle rightfully opted to go in another direction. He did focus on all of Britain’s “amenities,” and shied away from competing with the scale of Beijing opening ceremony, which could be considered breathtaking on merit of its gargantuan size and slick organization alone.

When I first heard Danny Boyle would be overseeing the opening ceremony of the games I was excited, and thought the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games had made the right decision. Boyle’s first, and arguably his most important film Trainspotting, resonated profoundly with critics and audiences alike due to how different it was.

The film, which follows protagonist Ewan McGregor as he sleepwalks through his life of squalor in Edinburgh with his heroin addict friends, was considered to be one of the most important British films of the generation and captured the sentiment of dissatisfaction that coursed through the veins of Generation X, whose members had now grown up and were disillusioned with life in the nineties.

It was with an air of expectation that I tuned into the games’ opening this year.

Alas, though I was amused, I was left sorely disappointed. Boyle didn’t seem at all interested in pushing the envelope and delivered a repackaged version of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, adjusted slightly to

fit in to the games. The Telegraph called the Diamond Jubilee “nostalgic, naff [lacking in taste], moving and quintessentially British.” There was no need for yet another reminder of just how quaint Britain’s past was.

It seemed Boyle was pandering to the expectations of those ignorant foreigners who think that Britain, and London in particular, is a land of posh town houses, plummy accents, butlers, tea and biscuits and a monarchy that is deeply intertwined with the very fabric of society.

Make no mistake, I adore Britain. I’ve lived in Britain my whole life, and appreciate every aspect of its history. I just thought this was Britain’s chance to impress on the world stage. This should have been the presentation of a new twenty-first century nation, whose best days are yet to come.

Instead, this was an endearing love letter to the Britain of yore. I would have liked to have seen a strong case made for the uniqueness of the Britain of today, for the vibrancy of modern-day London.

Instead, as an emissary for our generation, we were given Dizzee Rascal. The world, and most certainly Britain, will look back on these games fondly, as it should.

But a word to future ceremony-coordinators: The present is fleeting and precious.

Celebrate it while you have the chance.

People will pay homage to phone boxes and the Beatles for hundreds of years, as they should. Though perhaps, just this once, Danny Boyle should have been a little braver. Plus, there was no David Bowie at either ceremony, which I’m still bitter about.

Defining the Council Julian Nebreda

julian_nebreda@asl.org

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How lucky we are to go to a school where our benefits far outnumber our issues.

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The Student Council group for 2012-2013 is officially together. You’ll recognize the five representatives from each grade on your email list or on the board outside Dean of Students Joe Chodl’s office. But what does it mean for them to be Student Council representatives?

Every year we have to face up to this question in a different way. Unlike most other groups in the school, the Student Council really shifts each year, and though there are responsibilities we always hold, now is the time of year when we decide how this Student Council group will be different from others past.

It’s easy to be pessimistic. It’s easy to think, without knowing much, that the role of Student Council in ASL is a sideline one. It’s easy to say that we aren’t decisive and that student voice at ASL is taken by administration with a grain of salt. It’s harder to put in an effort. It’s harder to sit down and have a genuine conversation about the real issues our community

faces. It’s harder to talk to us frankly about what ASL needs for the future and then work to achieve it. It’s wrong to think that student input and work isn’t taken seriously in the school when the exact opposite is the truth.

The school is inviting and waiting for students to be leaders in ASL, but still it is wrong for us to expect it to be easy.

We need to really be aware of is how great a school ASL is, and how lucky we are to go to a school where our benefits far outnumber our issues. Where, because of our size, there is a genuine closeness between students and the administration. Where kids might believe that we don’t face serious issues. This is the kind of environment we want to maintain and facilitate beyond anything. However, we also need to realize that our community isn’t perfect.

Take our relationship with QK for example. A school that is literally down the block,

but whose students and ours are mutually responsible of holding serious stereotypes about one another. We held one joint barbecue, organized with Student Councils from both schools, last year with students from QK, which was a great success. We seek to have even more events with them this coming year.

Simply bringing students from both schools together to meet really can make a difference.

This is just one example of real impact student organization can have in ASL. In reality, Student Council’s role at ASL is limited only by our own ambition and the ambition of the student body. We are not interested in doing activities, or work that students don’t care for. So please, talk to the faces you see posted outside Chodl’s office.

Make them know what you think and what you want. Help them understand the great responsibility it is to be a Student Council representative.

9/28/12 6:46 PM

Features

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I OCTOBER 2012

Test time.

Nervous?

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Young and Photo Editor Jessica Haghani explore the problem of test anxiety at ASL

photo by jessica haghani

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H

I have to learn information as if it is planted into my brain like a language.

Anonymous

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A lot of kids are just overwhelmed with their schedule.

Kelley Reid, middle school counselor

Features 9.indd 9

”

e had been preparing for his stoichiometry test for three weeks. He’d done problems every night, learned the formulas thoroughly and met with his teacher. He didn’t feel the need to study the two nights before the test; he felt like he could ace it. When he arrived at the test, his classmates were arguing over formulas. He got confused.

For the first 15 minutes, he stared at his blank sheet of paper.

He was sweating.

“And then you start thinking about how you’re not going to do well on the test, and you don’t think about what’s on the test,” he said. “And then you’re basically screwed.”

He, who will remain anonymous in this article, suffers from anxiety, which is an emotional and psychological issue that arises from a number of daily pressures. “The kids I am dealing with especially are growing up, and the influence of hormones on your system going through puberty in itself is disconcerting and can produce anxiety,” Middle School Counselor Kelley Reid said. “On top of that they have school work, relationships with friends and [girlfriends and boyfriends] as well as parental issues and pressures. A lot of kids are just overwhelmed with their schedule. The amount of things they do in addition to their basic schoolwork with music, drama and sports is high level stuff.”

Reid said that the high standards account for much of the stress that causes cases of anxiety. “They want to do well and they are invested in their education,” he said. “Sometimes, though, students lose perspective and they see a particular test as being maybe more important than it really is in the grand scheme of things. ”

The student has been practicing his test-taking strategies with the Specific Learning Differences (SLD) department, and realizes he needs to study far in advance for the slew of assessments that comes with being a junior. He has learned how to curb second-guessing when taking a test and now knows how to stay calm using the skills he has acquired over the years. He has been studying for the SAT for two years to make sure that he knows the information and techniques instinctively. “It isn’t really prepping that I have to do for the SAT. I just have to prep more and have the information planted in my head,” he said.

“The only way to counteract my anxiety is to just be as prepared as I possibly can. I have to learn information as if it is planted into my brain like a language.

So, when the test comes, I don’t even have the ability to forget it because it’s just something that I know,” he said. “Anxiety then can’t do anything for you because you know your information just as well as speaking.”

High School Counselor Liane Thakur explained the symptoms of test anxiety. “Usually what’ll happen is that you’ll be hearing different voices – your own words – telling you something negative. ‘I can’t do this, this is too hard, I’m not prepared.’ So a lot of it is self-doubt talk, which then produces some of these physical signs and then you interpret these signs as being anxious, which can start a really vicious cycle.”

Reid said that learning how to deal with anxiety takes time.

“You train your mind to stay focused on one thing at a time and not worry about other aspects of what is going on,” he said.

Thakur has designed a program for High School students

that lasts for six weeks, working to help them deal with testing anxiety. “It’s just a twice-a-week meeting, working on some stress reduction skills, learning how to take tests in a better way,” she said. “We look at their study skills because sometimes the anxiety comes from not preparing in the right way.”

Thakur teaches the students she works with methods and strategies to cope with anxiety and has them apply these strategies to less stressful situations as practice for their tests. “If kids start feeling a low level of anxiety around test taking, that’s a great time to start working on it,” she said. “What you can do is start doing some visualization and deep breathing exercises, applying it to doing homework and on quizzes.”

Students are welcome in Thakur’s office anytime to receive guidance and help in their battle with anxiety.

“I think that some students try to power through it,” she said.

“They just call themselves bad test takers and don’t realize that there are things that they could do.”

Despite the work he does and the strategies he uses, sometimes this student does not get the score on a test that he was hoping for, and ends up with a lower grade than his peers. “I’m known in my friends group to be quite the uneducated kid but it is sort of a type of encouragement – just a harder version of it. It’s annoying, but it makes you work harder because you don’t want to be known as that kid who is stupid.”

“Teachers just think of it as a lack of effort. [Teachers] believe that if you are not doing well in a class it is just because you are lazy, and that isn’t the case for me; it just means I have to work harder,” he said.

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You don’t want to be known as that kid who is stupid.

Anonymous

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They just call themselves bad test takers and don’t realize there are things that they could do.

Liane thakur, high school counselor

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Features

The difficulties of being new Features Editor Mina Omar explores the difficulties associated with being a new student at ASL Student ambassador Lena Youness (’14), sees both the good and the bad in the student ambassador program. “It works well at the beginning of the school year, but slowly diminishes as the months go by,” said Youness.

“Even though I’m one of the ambassadors and I enjoy helping out new students, the last close friend I made was when I was a freshman.”

Youness has been attending ASL since the seventh grade and sees a large difference in the way new students are received in Middle School as compared to how they are received in the High School. “In High School students

Mina Omar

Features Editor

C

aroline Brown (’14), a new junior at ASL, will not forget her first day of school any time soon. The hallways were crowded and the concept of miniclasses seemed strange. “I was in the wrong classroom for 10 minutes before I realized that I had messed up,” said Brown. “It took me another 10 [minutes] to get to where I was supposed to be and let’s just say I got a couple of weird looks when I finally walked in.”

Returning to school after two months of summer is difficult for almost all students. But for new students, having to come to a school that is completely foreign can be distressing. Being new comes with a variety of challenges; there are the unfamiliar routes to remember, the academic standards to set for yourself and the wide range of new people to try and meet. None of these things are easy to accomplish, but at a school like ASL, the latter, meeting new people, becomes even more difficult.

As an international school, ASL admits approximately 60 people into the High School each year. This year it admitted 66 new students, leaving us with a High School population that is made up of 13 percent new students.

This year, the freshman class has a total of 20 new students, the sophomore class has 17, the junior class has 20 and the senior class has 9.

New students sit at the same table as returning students during lunch. Photo by Jessica Haghani Brown, who had previously lived in Connecticut for all her life has never been new before this year and feels like the experience did not quite meet her expectations. “The friend groups seem very tight and close-knit,” she said. “My closest friends are other new students.”

Brown as well as many other new students feel that they would have an easier time meeting people who have attended ASL before if the number of new students wasn’t as vast. “I think I would strive to talk to more people if there were less new kids,” said new junior Daniela Al-Saleh (’14).

Students who have been new in previous years agree that it can

300 words

be hard for new kids to settle in.

Sajel Swartz (’14) was a new student two years ago and said that the large number of new students in each grade makes it difficult to branch out. “ASL doesn’t see new kids as a novelty,” Swartz said. “I think it’s fair to say that ASL students aren’t as welcoming as we’re made out to be.”

Counselor Liane Thakur believes that the large number of new students does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. “Their large number allows them to make friends most easily with each other, but it doesn’t impact their ability to make friends with returning students,” she said.

Thakur feels that the returning

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Sajel Swartz (‘14)

have already discovered the kind of people they like and have divided themselves into groups; people aren’t thrown together like they were in Middle School,” she said.

Three weeks after her first day at ASL, Brown has said that she feels more comfortable walking through school and finds the concept of approaching new people less scary “I still don’t know as many people as I’d like to,” she said. “But at least I understand my schedule and am able to get to my classes on time.”

Francisco Cardenas-Pena Tyler Zschach

Francisco Cardenas-Pena has been at ASL since 2005.

students may be “in charge” of whether or not a new student becomes friends with their groups.

“They have to be the ones to open their group to a student or two,” she said.

The High School provides a student ambassador program for all new students in the hopes that it will help them integrate into the school community. Student ambassadors are chosen based on certain qualities that they possess. These traits include, honesty, empathy, respect and optimism. Their role is to ensure that new students feel comfortable and welcomed at the beginning of the year by offering to take them to classes or out to lunch.

“I think it’s fair to say that ASL students aren’t as welcoming as we’re made out to be.”

-12 Technology Support Specialist Francisco Cardenas-Pena felt that he had to move from the small town of Sozamoso, Columbia to London for his family. He and his two brothers possess an inseparable bond. A bond so tight that he and his other brother felt obligated to move to London to be close to his brother who fell in love and decided to move here. The middle of three brothers, Cardenas-Pena has always used his family as a crucial motivator that drives his work ethic.

Employed at ASL since 2005, it

is that sense of family has driven his ethic, where his job is defined by helping other people. Cardenas-Pena works to “alleviate the problems” that arise throughout the school, working with faculty, and students with queries regarding technology. Cardenas-Pena cites the very safe atmosphere of the school, and the unique perspective of the students here as his favorite parts of the school. In the last seven years, there have been several overhauls of technological systems of note, and Cardenas-Pena is happy to be here to help the community navigate through the technological age.

However, Cardenas-Pena does not let life at ASL define him. He

is a fan of “mind-bogglers,” such as puzzles and other mental exercises to keep him sharp, despite what he claims to be his advanced age. Occasionally, he can be found swimming, or participating in other means of exercise; however, his work and relaxation tendencies have superseded the lion’s share of his time.

Cardenas-Pena possesses a sense of satisfaction stemming from his strong family values, and it has transferred to his work. Even a decade down the road, he hopes to still be at ASL working with students and faculty. His passion for technology and the school allows him to cherish the opportunity to work at ASL everyday.

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Pushing yourself to the limits

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to protect the men and women

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s Thomas Risinger News Editor

Ian scoville

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ndrew Price (’11) doesn’t fear death, he doesn’t mind giving up his freedom for a greater cause, and he has wanted to learn how to kill in defense of his country since he was young. That is why Price has signed the next eight years of his life away to the United States Marine Corps.

In Price’s senior year, while most of his friends were worrying about college applications, he was preparing himself to serve his country.

Unlike most ASL families, Price descends from a military tradition. His father is a career air force officer, and his uncles and grandparents have all served. “I felt like I was in a privileged position and had the obligation to serve in some way, and none of my family has been in the Marines,” Price said.

Internships and summer school hold no appeal for Price. “I can’t see myself in front of a desk all day,” Price said.

Instead, he prefers to challenge himself both physically and mentally to his breaking point. He encountered this challenge and more at Of-

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ficer Candidate School (OCS) every day for six weeks during the summer of 2012.

The challenges placed in front of Price were constant and strenuous.

“They wear you down, every day is different, and every day is hard,” Price said. Physically, nothing was harder than the stamina course: consisting of the obstacle course, then a mile-and-a-half run through water, mud, and other obstacles, all while

“I’m not afraid of dying, you can die as a Marine serving your country, or you can die falling off your couch. You’re going to die.”

Andrew Price (’11)

in combat boots and carrying a rifle and webbing. Three times Price ran this course, once through a lightning storm.

Mentally, constant memorization and the pressures of leadership were always present, and always weighing on the mind. Price said, “I was get-

ting only four hours of sleep a night.

The human body can do whatever it wants, eight hours [of sleep] is a myth,” Price said.

When Price graduates college he will be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

He will undergo further training to determine how he will serve. Price wants to serve in the infantry. “They are the guys who go down and kill the enemy; it’s very hard but I will try [to become an infantry officer],” Price said. If he cannot be in the infantry, he hopes to serve in the artillery.

In the past 11 years, 2,114 American service personnel have lost their lives in Afghanistan alone. This does not concern Price. “I’m not afraid of dying, you can die as a Marine serving your country, or you can die falling off your couch. You’re going to die,” Price said.

Instead of fearing death, Price is afraid of failing the men under his command. “I’m afraid I couldn’t do it.

I will be in charge, if we fail their lives are in my hands,” he said.

Supporting Price through this challenging time are his family and friends. Price said, “My family is very proud of me, and my friends here in Texas have all supported me throughout the process. I mean, it’s Texas.

They love the military.”

Andrew Price (’11) participated in Officer Candidate School during the summer of 2012. During this period he faced numerous physical challenges. Photos courtesy of Andrew Price

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

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All alone

Note: Statistics from April 2012 out of 345 high school students.

Our high school population is made up of 3.77 percent of self-identified clinically depressed students.

3.77%

Inside the lives of two depressed students

fares chehabi editor-in-chief | Clayton Marsh lead features editor photo by hamish stephenson

5/154 girls rated their happiness at a 1 out of 10. Zero boys did the same.

“True depression is losing the will to live.”

Stephanie had come to a point in her life where life didn’t seem worth living. She had overdosed on Advil. Cut herself. Binge drunk.

She had resorted to self-harm during her more dire times. Getting out of bed had become impossible and her best days were spent simply in her room, all alone.

Home was the only place she felt comfortable to truly be herself, free from the constant pressures of everyday life. “Waking up in the morning was the worst part of the day. It’s still almost impossible to drag myself out of bed.

I had no energy to do anything, and nothing seemed to matter anymore,” Stephanie said.

Stephanie’s depression had no definitive starting point. It wasn’t something that developed overnight, but rather a battle she is still fighting to overcome. Even as a child, Stephanie had trouble facing the prospect of going to school. “Growing up, I was so confused and upset and angry. Not until eighth grade did I realize that I had an actual issue,” she said.

Her illness stemmed from a complete lack of self-esteem. “I’ve never been comfortable with myself, and I’ve always felt inadequate, ugly and socially awkward,” she said. “At my lowest point, it was as if I wouldn’t care if I suddenly died.”

The prospect of suicide was a very real thought for Stephanie. She inflicted self-harm upon herself, overdosing on Advil and cutting herself during her most perilous times. “I have definitely thought about suicide. Depression is when you don’t care about living, but I don’t think I have the guts or courage to actually kill myself,” she said.

Stephanie also attempted to soothe her pain through the consumption of alcohol. “I have a bit of a drinking problem as a result of the need to escape from reality, which is another form of self-harm.” She has experimented with a variety of antidepressants in an attempt to improve her mood, none of which had any real effect. Some have even made her feel worse.

Stephanie believes her experience at ASL has only made her depression worse. In fact, she believes getting away from the pressures she faced at school is the sole reason for an improvement in her general mood and outlook.

“Everyone at ASL is skinny, rich, entitled, happy and judgmental. I think if I was at a public school in the states, surrounded by

more mediocre and relaxed people, I would be better off,” she said. “Your worth is basically measured by the amount of interest boys show in you.”

Stephanie didn’t approach the school regarding her depression until she began missing large amounts of classesWW. She felt embarrassed with herself and the way she felt. “The stigma around depression made it very hard to talk to people about,” she said. However, Stephanie believes her teachers were extremely supportive, having developed meaningful friendships with some of them along the way. At one point, Stephanie’s schedule was readjusted so she would have no more than two classes a day in an effort to make her life at school more manageable. “I think they do as much as they can. In my experience, I received a lot of support from the administration, who ensured that all my teachers understood exactly what I was really going through,” she said.

Stephanie also believes her illness has had had a very negative impact on her family. She thinks all the fighting between her parents and herself was just a cycle, a cycle that at times, seemed endless.The occasional “up” occurred every so often, but Stephanie’s life was dominated by “downs,” often leaving her with a feeling of hopelessness.

“I’ve made some changes in my life, but things haven’t really improved. I generally still feel the same way, and years of therapy never did anything for me. It was just me ranting about how horrible everything was,” she said. While Stephanie hasn’t recovered from her depression, she has worked on her outlook of life and changed the way she interacts with people. “I’m definitely a better person now. My experience has helped me mature in a lot of ways, even as hard as it has been to deal with at times.”

Stephanie knows that she is not alone.

She believes that every person on this planet goes through a period of depression at some point in their life. “True depression is losing the will to live. I still feel completely inadequate and horrible about myself, but I still have hope. Being patient and knowing things will change is important.” Stephanie doesn’t see herself suddenly recovering, but knows that improvement is on its way. Light is very much at the end of her dark tunnel.

Our current senior class rated their overall happiness at 6.39 out of 10, the lowest of any grade.

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6.39

“The word ‘numb’ is a perfect word to describe how I felt.”

Kate found herself sitting on the floor, sobbing heavily into her mother’s lap. The window was wide open, dangerously so. At the time, the idea of ending her own life was a very real possibility. Indeed, her flirtation with committing suicide was recurring, and disturbing and morose on each occasion.

These instances happened during her freshman year, when she took time away from school to recuperate from the draining disease.

During her darkest days, when she was absent from school, tutors visited Kate at home in an attempt to help her catch up on missed schoolwork. Otherwise, her time spent away from school was anything but active. “I wouldn’t do anything,” she said.

“The word ‘numb’ is a perfect word to describe how I felt. I would lay in bed all day and I’d barely talk to my closest friends. Each day felt like a minute. Time passed, and I’d be lying in my bed for half an hour thinking it was five minutes. I was just really dull and emotionless.”

When Kate did finally return to school, it was partially out of fear for being held back a year. “I was still very ill when I came back to school, but I couldn’t miss any more days,” she said. Yet, she also knew that was coming back to stronger, healthier surroundings than before. “I think it was a matter that more people knew and that more people could help me, like my friends. Going back and knowing I had a stronger support system was more comfortable.” Still, so as not be overwhelmed with school work, she was given a readjusted schedule that did not include all of her classes previously.

Counselor Liane Thakur was instrumental, Kate said, in her bid to recover. “I thought that especially Mrs. Thakur was really helpful in the sense that she was always there for me and her door was always open,” she said. “And even now when I’m having a tough time, she knows what’s going on and she knows my story.”

Kate’s downward spiral into depression was not solely down to one factor. For starters, it ran in the family. “Well, it is a very genetic disease,” she said. “My grandfather had post-war depression and I know my aunt had depression, so it was kind of in the family.”

In addition to genetic reasons, she also

feels that the social environment at ASL seemed anything but welcoming as a new student. Arriving at the school in the eighth grade, she did not feel comfortable from the beginning. “I think that ASL really lacked a sense of welcoming or kindness,” she said. “I think that’s due to the fact that students move so often. So, in a subconscious sense, students might not want to get attached and they put up this barrier where they don’t let others in.”

Such a barrier was by no means helpful in Kate’s attempt to make friends; she said it took around six months for her to make a friend in the eighth grade.

Depression has, however, stuck around for Kate. “I still have thoughts about [depression], but I just know how to react and how to really be proactive about it,” she said. “There are always still moments of doubt. I am still sick, I still have those days, but I feel now that I have so much more confidence, that I’ve overcome so much, that I really feel that I could help some other people. It is liberating to be comfortable in your own skin.” Kate currently attends therapy sessions once a week and is still taking medication.

One of the most difficult parts of Kate’s recovery was accepting the fact that she had depression. “I think one of my really hard things to overcome was acceptance, that I had this disease and saying the words: ‘I have depression’,” she said. “I think I really had to overcome some milestones in saying that.” Indeed, her acceptance has resulted in her turning for the better, in the long run. “I’m never quite myself, but I have had the experience to really relate to other people and in a sense I’m almost thankful that I had such a reality check. It really helps me put in perspective how to approach things.”

Kate does – after enduring such a traumatic period in her life that involved “six to eight psychiatrists” – have words of advice for those going through a similar situation in their lives: “I think that no matter how low or lonely you feel right now, there are people who love you and people who are looking out for you. Fate put you in this world for a reason, and it’s not your choice to take yourself out of it. At my lowest points, I never thought I’d be sitting at school and learning and laughing with my friends. With dedication, you can really pursue anything.”

Disclaimer: The person in the photograph is unrelated to the content of this article.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Features

Changing an industry Lunch with The Standard : Jean Kilbourne, the campaigner for media literacy, tells Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Young about her life and what pushes her to raise awareness about advertising

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tall woman with a distinctively shiny brunette bob, Jean Kilbourne has a strong, measured voice, with a sense of humor to match.

She uses this to get her points across without alienating her audience. Many men are accepting of her lectures – they still “appreciate the humor,” she said.

Kilbourne takes pictures with some of the students who attended her girlsonly lunch meeting before grabbing a cup of grapes and sitting down for a one-on-one interview. Munching on one of the grapes (she offers me one first), she begins by talking about how she got interested in advertising.

Kilbourne was working putting ads into a medical journal in 1968 when she saw the ad that, as she described in the beginning of her book, Can’t Buy My Love, “changed my life.”

The ad was for birth control pills; the slogan argued that a woman’s mind works in weekdays. It showed a picture of a woman’s head with a box for each day of the week in it. Inside the boxes were household items like a laundry basket, an iron and a vacuum cleaner.

“It was obviously a long time ago, but nobody was looking at things and saying, ‘Something’s really wrong here,’” Kilbourne says, her eyes widening as she describes the ad.

Kilbourne tells me about her youth, from her college years at Wellesley College to her modelling career in New York City, London and Paris. “After I graduated from Wellesley, I had to go to secretarial school to get a job,” she says.

“Choices for women were really limited in those days, but the modelling didn’t feel good to me.”

“You cannot do it alone.

You need support, and in an ideal world, society supports you, rather than make your life difficult.”

Jean Kilbourne “I felt like I was being objectified at first, but there wasn’t really a word for that at that point,” she says. “I also felt that it was superficial – it had nothing to do with my mind or who I was, so that was alienating, too. I think that had a lot to do with making me conscious of those issues. I started talking about the image of women as [a way of ] making amends.”

Kilbourne worked as a high school English teacher for a few years after her modelling career ended. The teachers at her school noticed that she was teaching something different, and had her lecturing at the school and at other local schools soon after that.

“If anybody told me that I was go-

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Illustration by Andrew bai

ing to have a career as a public speaker I’d have said, ‘Not likely,’” she chuckled to the group of girls at lunch. “The first time I went to a really large group, as I was driving there, I seriously considered driving off a road. Not to kill myself, but just to be incapacitated so I could call and say, ‘Sorry, can’t make it.’ The other thing I considered, which you could do in those days, was to call in and report a bomb scare. It wasn’t a good thing to do but it would’ve gotten me off the hook.”

After years of practice speaking in front of schools, conferences, the Members of Parliament in England and the Today Show’s and the Oprah Winfrey Show’s respective 20 million viewers, she has gotten used to public speaking.

“My brother said to me, ‘Relax, Jean.

The worst that can happen to you is that you’ll disgrace yourself in front of 20 million people,’” she told the group.

“It amazes me now because I can get up in front of 3,000 people and my heart doesn’t even skip a beat.”

The reason Kilbourne got into speaking about advertising in the first place is to get others speaking about it. “The truth is that this stuff causes all of us an enormous amount of pain, and yet we tend to keep them to ourselves,” she says in my interview, biting into another

Timeline 1966 Attends Wellesley College Late 1960s Kilbourne becomes a model, helping her to learn about the ad industry 1968 Kilbourne sees ad that “changes my life” 1970s Kilbourne begins raising awareness for media literacy

grape. “So if we can start to talk about how all of these kinds of images make us feel and demystify them in that way, that’s a very important thing to do.”

Kilbourne also told the group about how her own daughter, Claudia, suffered from the advertising she was exposed to.

“She hit adolescence and her self esteem just crashed. And one of the things that made me realize is that even though it’s incredibly important what parents do – and I felt that we had a good, solid relationship – that even so, you’re raising your child in a cultural environment, and I thought that I was playing off all of these constant negative cultural messages,” she said. “You cannot do it alone.

You need support, and in an ideal world, society supports you, rather than make your life difficult.”

Kilbourne’s experience with her daughter highlighted the importance of the message she was sending about advertising. As she travelled to an increasing number of college campuses to lecture about the topic, she noticed the amount of advertisements for alcohol and tobacco. “They [alcohol and tobacco companies] were hiring people on campus and there was very little discussion about the downside of this, and I began looking at the alcohol ads and the tobacco ads,” she said.

She mentioned several times throughout the day – with the High School, with the female students and with me – that she started smoking when she was 13.

“There were TV ads for tobacco all over the place. There were 50 percent of Americans smoking,” she shared with the girls. “It was totally normalized, and the tobacco industry had done everything in its power to suppress all the health information so that we didn’t get the health information, so there wasn’t a wise choice.”

As she started to pick up more information about alcohol and tobacco, Kilbourne added Advertising Alcohol: Calling the Shots and Pack of Lies: The Advertising of Tobacco to her series, s about women in the advertising industry.

Kilbourne’s favorite sign of success, though, isn’t the multiple awards she’s gotten for her books and movies. An allgirl rock band in Canada named themselves Kilbourne in her honor. It was the only thing her daughter, who was 16 at the time, was impressed by, she confides with a laugh.

Kilbourne tells me about the conversation she had with an older male magazine publisher who talked to her after she gave a presentation on women to him. “You know how you brace yourself for anything possible he was going to say? I was sort of doing this,” she says.

“And he came up to me, and he just said, ‘You’ve just changed a lifetime’s thinking in one hour.’”

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

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Roles get reversed

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Editor-in-Chief Fares Chehabi looks into the inner workings of Professional Development Day

ore than 100 teachers will walk into a school bereft of students and make their way into the main gym for a day of learning. This will be the scene on October 5 and November 27 when ASL teachers will temporarily become students as they attempt to make the most of Professional Development Day, a day that, for most students, is nothing more than a day off school.

“The goal [of professional development days] is to ensure that we take time to develop the craft and expertise of teachers, ensure that we’re following best practices and take time to reflect on our practice in general,” said Director of Curriculum and Instruction Roberto d’Erizans, who plans the days with all three principals.

However, d’Erizans feels that two days is not enough for professional development throughout the year. “I’d like to see more PD days,” he said. “Teachers need more time to reflect. ASL can a be a very busy place and can feel like a marathon during the year. Sometimes you have to take a step back, but it’s always a struggle because you have to try to maximize instructional time too.”

Every professional development day is different, d’Erizans said. Formats in the past have included guest speakers and workshops, including courses that focus on technology, a concept that d’Erizans feels is much easier for students to learn than teachers.

The upcoming professional de-

velopment day, on October 5, will mainly focus on a discussion of all-school values and will include time for curriculum planning.

“This year, we’re giving a lot of teachers time to plan and work in teams,” d’Erizans said. “Ask any teacher the hardest thing they want to fit in the day: it’s planning.

They really want to make sure your class is based on the best instructional methods and includes specific goals around the unit that they’re teaching.”

“ASL can feel like a marathon during the year. Sometimes you have to take a step back.”

Roberto d’Erizans, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Teachers’ feedback following the conclusion of a professional development day does not go unnoticed and plays a part in the planning of the days, too. “Often, we do a survey or exit card,” d’Erizans said. “We try to listen to make sure that the time is used effectively. Consistently, a lot of teachers have asked for time for planning, and October 5 is the answer to that.”

More so, the days also allow time for teachers to build rapport with each other and establish a greater camaraderie, even between High School and Lower School

teachers. “We often have events that are for everybody, so having the chance to sit next to a crossdivisional teacher and learn more from each other that way amplifies the effect of a professional development day,” d’Erizans said.

English Department Head Meghan Tally is a big fan of professional development days. “I particularly value time spent with other teachers, within and across departments, considering specific artifacts from the classroom, and I love getting glimpses of what my colleagues are exploring,” she said. “It’s particularly edifying to enter someone else’s classroom as a student, to experience things from that perspective.”

Science Department Head Bill Kenney has a similar opinion. “I think professional development days can be quite useful and insightful provided they have a clear goal and are well-planned,” he said. “I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with teachers across the divisions that some [professional development] days have afforded me in the past.”

Meanwhile, d’Erizans stressed that he will always continue to teach, in addition to planning the professional development days, as “it allows me to see what we plan in context.” On the day of the interview, he mentioned having talked to Social Studies teachers, Principals and the Director of Curriculum at Jakarta International School. Just another day at work, then.

Photo by Emily Mark

Roberto d’Erizans in his office. Photo by Emily Mark

Discovering the Board of Trustees Mina omar

features editor

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esponsible for many of the changes that have been implemented at ASL or will be, the Board of Trustees is an indispensable part of our school community. Made up of 26 members, who are all invested in the well-being of the school, the Board of Trustees’ main purpose is to safeguard ASL. “We serve as the governing oversight body for the school,” Chair of the Board of Trustees Lori Fields said.

The Chair of the Board of Trustees is elected by members of the Board and is expected to serve a two-year term. Fields has served as Chair for two terms and is starting her third.

The board meets seven times a year and uses its meetings as a place to evaluate the progress of

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our school as a whole. There are seven committees that make up the Board, each of which deals with separate matters.

The seven committees are: Administration and Finances, Advancement, Building and Grounds, Diversity and Admissions, Investment, Trustee Affairs and and an Executive Committee. As hair, it is Fields’ responsibility to oversee each of these committees.

The Board of Trustees has five core responsibilities. They are in charge of hiring and working closely with the head of school.

“The Head is the only employee of the board,” said Fields. “He or she hires the rest of the staff.”

This year’s Head of School Coreen Hester works with the Board and ensures that their plans are implemented. “The Board is essential because they are the ones that make certain that the school stays

organized,” said Hester.

Board members are also in charge of managing the school’s finances, which includes fundraising when necessary, setting tuition and managing salary increases for employees.

Board of Trustees is responsible for...

1. Hiring and supporting the head of school 2. Managing finances 3. Overseeing physical space at ASL 4. Strategic planning 5. Safeguarding the mission statement

The Board oversees the physical space at ASL by making sure that is being well-maintained and will transition well into the future.

At the start of each school year the Board meets and decides their plan for the upcoming year. “We consult different parts of the community and decide the goals for the coming school year,” Fields said. “The Head of School and her team are the ones who implement the plans.”

The last and perhaps most important duty of the Board is to safeguard the mission of the school. “We need to make sure that the school is doing what it promises,” Fields said. “One of the ways we do this is by making sure that the faculty is well compensated.”

All work done by the Board is done in conjunction with the senior administration team which includes Head of School Coreen

Hester, High School Principal Paul Richards, Middle School Principal Cathy Funk, Lower School Principal Julie Ryan, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Roberto d’Erizans, Director of Finances and Operations Christopher Almond, Director of Operations and Technology James Heynderickx, and Director of Advancement William Vaughan. “They’re the educators,” Fields said. “They know the students best and they know how to make things work well for them.”

Fields believes that one of the Board’s greatest achievements last year was creating the Diversity Statement and adopting it for the first time at ASL. This year, the Board hopes to continue promoting diversity and continue working with the Westminster council regarding the construction of a pool and a new arts center at ASL.

9/28/12 6:48 PM

Culture

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I OCTOBER 2012

Students start satirical show

Svena Bhasin Copy Editor

Matthew Bentley (’13), Asher Bohmer (’13), Christopher D’Angelo (’13) and Alessandro Joabar (’13) sit around the table, animatedly discussing the latest controversy at ASL. The four seniors speak with undeniable passion; their ideas flow seamlessly. As the executive producers of the Journalistic Integrity Network (JIN), the school’s newest student organization, a satirical television program, they are planning their upcoming episodes.

Last April, when many students in their junior year were studying for upcoming exams, former Media Services Technician Reinhardt Sosin approached these students for a school television project.

“Reinhardt had been trying to do something like this for a long time, and he approached me and Alex to see what we wanted to do with it,” said Bentley.

Inspired by publications like The Onion and The Slanderd, the seniors decided to do a satirical news show. “It’s taking the structure of real stories and injecting

The Journalistic Integrity Network’s title card and shots of the anchors from the pilot episode. Photos Courtesy of Chris D’Angelo satire and sarcasm into them,” explained D’Angelo.

“One of the things that makes The Slanderd funny is that it pushes the boundary. Let’s see what we can get away with,” Bentley said.

The group filmed a pilot episode at the end of last year in order to work out the smaller details.

On the Tuesday of the last week of school, while other students were enjoying the day off after a grueling week of final exams, Bentley, Joabar, D’Angelo and Bohmer met

with Head of School Coreen Hester at 8:00 a.m. with a five-minute pilot episode and a 25-page proposal. “If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be sitting here today,” D’Angelo said.

Each of the producers presides over different parts of the production process; Bohmer oversees the script-writing process as Head Writer, Joabar organizes advertising, market and general organization as Head of Logistics, D’Angelo directs the technicalities of pro-

duction as Technical Producer, and Bentley is in charge of the presentation and on-screen elements as the Creative Director.

Despite the wealth of experience on the table, “One of the big things we are trying to do is get as much of the community involved as possible,” Bohmer said. The producers are looking for a range of talent, from video editors to publicists.

“For the JIN, you can love music, you can love filming, graphic design, acting, or writing,” D’Angelo

said. “Whatever your passion is, we want it, and there’s going to be something that we can do with it,” Bentley said. Students interested should contact jin@asl.org This year the four producers, along with their advisor, English Teacher Stephan Potchatek, want to develop the program further, in hopes that it will continue past their graduation. “We put in the work and we’ve done all the groundwork and the foundations so that this has the potential to be really spectacular,” said Bohmer.

They also hope to improve the quality and professionalism of their episodes. “We have spent hours and weeks and months, planning how we are going to reach that level of professionalism. I think that we’re ready to put it into play,” said D’Angelo.

The Journalistic Integrity Network aired on September 28, and was distributed both online and for viewing on the plasma screens in the High School. “The most entertaining thing for us is seeing other people enjoy what we do, and seeing them enjoy what they do,” D’Angelo said.

‘Art of Change’ captivates audience Matt Bentley Culture Editor

The Hayward Gallery is a strange building. Constructed in a brutalist style, it is a big ugly piece of concrete, cut at weird angles. After walking in a small, unceremonious door – nothing like the grandeur of the Tate Modern’s airplane hangar-like entrance, or the Victoria and Albert museum’s chandelier. Instead a small room leads to a slightly larger room with a ramp. Inside, the “Art of Change: New Directions from China,” a series of contemporary and performance pieces catches the eye in the strangest of ways.

The first piece you see is a graveyard of large blocks of concrete, cast from stones thrown in Chinese protests and rebellions.

Next is a set of exercise equipment connected to remote controls, allowing the observer to have the equipment exercise for them. An odd room which contains a woman lying fast asleep in a sleeping bag. A series of silk worms spinning their cocoons, the sounds of them eating their leaves. This odd experience leaves the observer perplexed, and stands out as one of the only worthwhile contemporary art show I have ever seen.

Pieces ranged from a man pulling the Neo move from The Matrix

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for half an hour at a time, to a large white box from which objects randomly are thrown into the air. I stayed and saw a woman emerge from the box who told me that there were some twenty objects in this box, and they could choose to throw whichever they wanted. A column of fat taken from a year’s worth of liposuctions stands at 20 feet tall, trying to mimic a roman column. Large glass cases full of grotesquely large bugs adorn walls.

Not every piece was worth viewing, though some left me offended and angry. There is a running clip of dogs being coaxed to fight and put on treadmills, constantly running at each other, barking like mad. These just made me uncomfortable and sad for the poor dogs, but, that was the intention of the piece.

There were two pieces that really stuck out to me. One was a wall covered in wet paint. That was it.

When you touched the wall, you were marked with white. The second was a ping pong table that had large indents throughout it. My brother and I played on that for twenty minutes alone, the longest time I have ever spent in front of one work of art.

Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei was very critical of this exhibit. He said that it was not political enough

and did not accuratley encompass Chinese contemporary art. While this may be true, for the first time ever, I was not annoyed with a contemporary art exhibit. Ai Wei Wei is correct, it was not political. Instead, it was an enjoyable viewing experience.

Leaving this odd concrete monstrosity, I felt, for the first time, satisfied by a contemporary art exhibit. I am always skeptical of contemporary art, but this one opened my eyes. It is well worth a visit.

Pieces in the Art of Change Gallery by Xu Shen and Wang Jianwei.

Art of Change combined performance art with installations to create an interesting mix of pieces. The show closes on December 7. Photos by Andrew Bentley

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Cultureddd

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Culture

What else?

With three big budget superhero movies that were released this past summer, it begs the question, just how much are they making? Culture Editors Matthew Bentley and Shahid Mahdi look at what else could have been bought with the proceeds of these films

2.888 times the Book of Mormon Gross at a cost of $1.14 billion.

121.95 Olympic Opening Ceremonies at a cost of $27 Million each.

0.045 of Google’s currently held assets at a cost of $72 billion.

Avengers Gross: $1,510,821,842 The Dark Knight Rises Gross: $ 1,058,857,870 Amazing Spiderman Gross: $748,605,830

Total Gross: $3,292,765,918

1,881,580,525 Tall Cups of Starbuck Coffee at a cost of $1.75 each.

7317257.596 Minted Olympic Medals at a cost of $450 each 329.27 British Gold Medals at an approximate cost of $10 million each.

3 NFL Franchises at an approxiamate cost of $1 billion each.

Photos of the Olympics and olympic medals from london2012.co.uk. Google logo from Google.com Book of Mormon Photo from bookofmormonbroadway.com Photo of the apollo Space ship from flikr/nasa. Jets Logo from newyorkjets.com. Colts logo from colts.com Saints logo from neworleanssaints.com. Photo of Itunes and starbucks

by Emily mark Graphic by Josh Frydman

Culture Page 18 new.indd 18

3,326,180 Songs on iTunes, or every song on the iTunes Store 118 times at a cost of $0.99 each. Total songs on the iTunes store approximatley 28 million songs.

0.019 of the Apollo Space Program at an adjusted cost of $170 Billion.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Page 19

Cultureddd Warning: This article contains major spoilers about the Dark Knight Trilogy.

The trilogy the industry deserves right now Starting with Batman Begins in 2005, and ending this year with The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy has kept audiences glued to their seats. Editor-in-Chief Fares Chehabi looks at the quality, impact and future of this quintessential superhero series Bruce Wayne, with tears of guilt and shock, manages to hear his father’s last words: “Bruce... don’t be afraid.” And so English director Christopher Nolan begins a legacy, as Bruce (Christian Bale) endeavours to embody his father’s dedication to changing his home, Gotham City, for the better, underneath the valiant guise of Batman.

Prior to the Wayne family’s fateful exit from the theater, Bruce had, whilst playing with close friend Rachel Dawes, fallen into a well. Trapped in its dark confines, bats flew around the poor boy, surrounding him in screeches and terror, before his father rescued him and reminded him: “And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” In a bid to overcome his fear of bats, Bruce turns it into his symbol, understanding that he must become more than a man to act as the savior of his city.

The Dark Knight Trilogy’s most distinctive elements as a superhero movie are its realism and darkness. There are no superpowers in this trilogy - Batman’s only advantage over a mere townsman is his relationship with Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who runs the Wayne Enterprise’s Applied Sciences division and mask that soon becomes iconic to the citizens of Gotham City.

It should be noted that sentimentality does not go missing in The Dark Knight Trilogy, both Fox and Bruce’s butler, the warmhearted Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), are happy to play father figures to Bruce and remind him that his actions could have dire consequences, which only adds to the film’s realism.

In Batman Begins (2005), Nolan introduces Bruce in a Bhutanese prison, where Bruce encounters Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), the leader of the League of Shadows, a long-established organization whose aim is to destroy cities overridden with corruption so that they can rebuild again. After training Bruce in the combative art of theatricality and deception, Ghul reveals that the League of Shadows was behind the falls of Rome and London years ago, and that Gotham City is next

on the list. Bruce escapes the training center and is escorted back to Gotham by Pennyworth, only to have to save his city as the caped crusader, Batman, when Ghul returns with the plan to spread a fear-inducing serum throughout Gotham. Throughout the movie, Wayne makes a rule to himself: do not kill. At the end of the climactic fight, Batman tells Ghul, “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you,” before leaving him to die.

Rotten Tomatoes.

Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard), daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, disguises herself as Miranda Tate, a wealthy business associate of Bruce, in a bid to complete her late father’s mission and destroy Gotham. In the process, she employs the physically-imposing excommunicated member of the League of Shadows Bane (Tom Hardy). Bruce, made aware that his city is in trouble, attempts to return as the savior with

more severe,” and makes Bruce watch Gotham’s demise from his prison cell.

Flashbacks from Batman Begins find their way into the film in an effort to bring everything around in a 360-degree style – prior to finally climbing out of the pit and returning to save Gotham, Bruce remembers his father saying, “And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

After Talia al Ghul dies, Bat-

EPIC tales whose themes are “FEAR, CHAOS and PAIN” Nolan has set the BENCHMARK For ALL superhero films

By telling three

Three years later, Nolan returned to Gotham to direct The Dark Knight, introducing Heath Ledger as the mercurial, menacing Joker, a villain who is captured at the film’s end. There is no happy ending for the hero, either, as Batman goes into hiding after taking the blame for the murder of lawyer Harvey Dent. The film was incredibly well-received. According to review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it was the trilogy’s most lauded by critics with a 92 percent approval rate. The film became the 13th highest-grossing of all time and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, with Heath Ledger winning Best Supporting Actor, and the film winning Best Sound Editing.

It took another four years for Nolan to finish the trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises and mark the return of the League of Shadows. Nolan had simply believed that a trilogy’s third movie was rarely ever the best. The movie was the blockbuster hit of the summer, raking in more than $1 billion and garnering critical acclaim, with an 87 percent rating on

the help of robber Selina Kyle’s alter ego Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), only for Bane to literally break his back and lock him in a pit far, far away from any sort of civilization, though he does grant Bruce access to both a doctor and a television showing a live feed of the situation in Gotham. Bane, who had earlier gained access to a nuclear bomb and is planning on using it to drive the citizens of Gotham into pure dread.

When asked why he did not just kill him, Bane responds “ Yo u r punishment must b e

man attaches the nuclear bomb, only seconds from detonation, to his plane, nicknamed “The Bat”.

He proceeds to fly over the nearest body of water and out of harm’s way for the citizens of Gotham, who watch in awe as the bomb detonates, killing Batman. A great feeling of both sadness and appreciation dawns over Gotham as several tributes are paid to Batman, before Nolan brings forth quite possibly the best ending the trilogy could have hoped for. Alfred Pennyworth, who had faced enough trauma and strain caring for Bruce, finds Bruce happily alive in the company of Selina Kyle in a scenic cafe in Florence, as it is revealed that Bruce exited The Bat after turning on the auto-pilot.

The film concludes with rookie cop John Blake (Joseph GordonLevitt) entering the batcave alone and watching as Batman’s suit rises from the ground, signifying that Batman was merely a symbol – anybody can be a hero.

And by telling three epic tales, whose themes are respectively and accurately described as “fear, chaos, and pain,” Nolan has set the benchmark for all superhero films to come. It should be noted that the trilogy’s average rating on Rotten Toma-

toes is an impressive 88.7 percent.

That said, there are those who have been picky with The Dark Knight Rises, pointing out several plot holes, though such comments were expected – one’s expectations can only be high after having witnessed the brilliance of its predecessor, The Dark Knight. Personally, I’ve grown used to a certain faltering authenticity in cinema and such plot holes would have to be severe to detract from a powerful narrative. The Dark Knight Rises’ flaws in this area by no means took away from the film’s quality as a whole.

It is unclear what will happen to the future of the Batman franchise after Nolan produced a trilogy that was so well done. Following the success of superhero ensemble film Marvel’s The Avengers last summer, Warner Bros. Studios announced on June 6 that a Justice League film is in development.

Christian Bale has already expressed doubt in returning to play Batman once more.

And if a director were to pick up the Batman franchise again, it would have to take a vastly different tone to Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy to garner any sort of appropriate attention. And vastly different might not mean as good. There are all sorts of directions that the franchise could go – it could move to a more cartoonishly dark tone, like Tim Burton’s take on the superhero in the 1990s. Or, Batman could revert to a more classical, detective-like type of crimestopper – similarly to the cheesy 1960s television series.

As the latest Batman franchise comes to a close, Nolan’s involvement with DC super heroes will not. Next up on Nolan’s plate is next summer’s reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel, in which he has taken on a “Godfather” producer role. One can only hope that he has passed on some sound advice to director Zack Snyder, who will aim to emulate the success of Batman Begins in telling a tale that describes the beginnings of one the world’s best known superheroes.

A full version of this article can be found at standard. asl.org

Photo from thedarkknightrises.com

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Culture

Olympic experiences: What did you see?

Numerous students and faculty members were lucky enough to enjoy the Olympics in their backyard.

Cultures Editor Shahid Mahdi asked a few which memories will linger in their minds the longest... venue maps from www. http://www.london2012.com/ spectators/venues/. photo of abbie dillon courtesy of katie dillon.

eliza moyle (‘15) swimming aquatics centre

Hearing the crowds roar as my heroes Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Alicia Coutts came out from the locker rooms was simply amazing. Being a swimmer myself, I was ecstatic to be attending a variety of Olympic swimming events and was even more excited to see some of the greatest swimmers in the world compete in my events.

michael lee (‘13) men’s basketball 02 arena

I saw the men’s quarter and semi-finals at the O2. it was inspiring watching Argentina take on the machine that is the U.S. basketball team. I’ll always remember the look of exhaustion of Luis Scola’s face after losing such a hard-fought game.

Spread across 2.5 kilometers, the Olympic Park boasts 9 venues, a megastore, vendors, restaurants, and on-site art.

Michael Carpenter (‘14) athletics, olympic stadium

The 02 Arena hosted basketball and gymnastics.

bianca jones, athletics office venue organizer, locog

The opportunity rose as I had participated in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as a volunteer, and I had reunited with some of my colleagues in London back when I moved here. I had a 12-15 hour work day, every day, for six weeks, and was given an all-access pass to the Olympic Park. Our jobs were to make sure everything went smoothly and was communicated clearly [to the public]. My highlight of the Games was definitely watching Oscar Pistorius win the 400m final. I was also able to take pictures with the Canada team!

I remember very clearly the tense excitement that could be felt steadily mounting as each lap endedsignalling the beginning of yet another gruelling 400 meters. Would Mo Farah win Britain their third gold of the evening? Thanks to Ennis and Rutherford’s victories, the atmosphere was already charged, and a victory from Mo Farah would bring the house down. However, none of that mattered to me. During the race, my focus never deviated from my cousin, Galen Rupp. Every time he passed us in the bleachers I cheered with all I could muster. I knew that he had it in him to medal. I knew that his parents (my aunt and uncle) knew. And of course, he knew too. The stage was set, and thanks to Farah (Galen’s training partner), Galen had someone whom he could constantly aim to best. More than anything, though, I just wanted all the effort he put into training to finally pay off. Galen not only ran the race, but ran it like a true champion. A medal well deserved.

aquatics centre

It really was an inspiring and thrilling experience that I feel so privileged to have attended.

It was really well organized...I thoroughly enjoyed all the events I saw. Seeing so many fans from so many nations was awesome.

A purpose built beach volleyball arena was constructed at Horse Guard’s Parade.

nabil mahmud (‘13) women’s beach volleyball

alex pabarcius (‘14) modern penthathlon (equestrian)

horse guard’s parade

greenwich park

This stage of the modern pentathlon is very intense.. It was nerve-wracking to anticipate which jumpers would make it over, that too in complete silence. You would find yourself getting attached to certain riders, silently cheering for them.

People would be jumping on horses they had never ridden before and competing on them.

The Greenwich Park Equestrian Venue.

Culture Page 20.indd 20

Abbie dillon(‘16) diving

I saw the U.S. take on China in the semi-finsls. The organisation of it all was great. Besides the event itself, the official dance team and the MCs did their best to make it a lively party. Plus, it was a 5 minute walk from my house - I’ve never been so close to an Olympic venue, and I doubt I ever will be in the future. An allround great time.

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

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Sportsddd

ASL parent performs in Olympic opening ceremony Katie Dilion Staff Writer

After signing up for email alerts from the Olympics, ASL parent Diane Bell was given the opportunity to perform in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games. She went to her first audition not knowing what to expect. At the audition, she and hundreds of others were instructed to find their way to various spots along a grid on the floor, while being watched by the group of choreographers who assessed their coordination and ability to multitask. After a second audition she found out that she had been awarded a spot to perform as a dancer in the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Practice started in mid-April at a converted movie studio in Three Mills Studio, which can accommodate 200 people. “It was like a giant aerobics class,” she said.

After a month of practicing at the movie studio, the dancers moved to the parking lot of the Ford Plant in Dagenham. This location could hold between 600 and 1,000 people.

On June 21, practice was held in the Olympic stadium itself.

“When we got to the stadium that was so exciting because it was still under construction,” she said.

Even up until dress rehearsals, Bell said that they were still making little changes to the routine, but she was never concerned about being able to perform the dance.

Despite devoting hours to practicing, parts of the opening ceremony had not been divulged to her. “I had seen parts of the industrial revolution bit but I hadn’t seen the big towers come out until I saw it on screens when I walked in,” she said. Also, she had only seen a helicopter during practices, but didn’t know that the Queen herself would be performing in the ceremony.

Kenneth Branagh and Rowan Atkinson’s performances were also a surprise for her.

Bell and thousands of other performers travelled to the Olympic Park and got ready for their performance on July 27. Hair and makeup took several hours, and while they waited to go to the stadium. “We just took pictures of each other. It was all like, ‘Ok let me get a picture with the 80s people, and then with the Freddies [Freddy Mercury],’” she said.

Eventually it was time, and

they started their 30 minute walk to the stadium. “As we approached the stadium, the Industrial Revolution people were just coming out, and they were on a high because they had just finished their performance,” she said.

Right before she was about to perform, she and the other people in her section gathered together by entryways to enter the stadium, similar to a run-on in a football game. While waiting, all they could see was bright dazzling lights, and could only hear the deafening music and cheering from the stadium. “You’re anticipating your music, and you’re not doing your programmed routine yet so you’re just so excited,” she said about waiting to go on to perform.

During her performance, Bell described how the lights, the noise and the continuous practicing meant that she wasn’t nervous about performing in front of such a huge crowd - something which she had never done before.

She said that she only had fifteen minutes to perform, so she really had to soak up the electric atmosphere in the Stadium.

“It was just an absolute natural high, I think I was buzzing for about a week.”

Diane Bell in costume moments before her big performance in the Olympic Stadium. Photo courtesy of Diane Bell

Ned Thomas pursues Level Two coaching badge Patrick Mayr Sports Editor

Like many of his high school friends and colleagues , Ned Thomas (’13) loves football.

Whether he’s playing in the park with friends or attending a Queens Park Rangers (QPR) game at Loftus Road Stadium, he cannot get enough of what he calls “the greatest sport in the world.”

Yet unlike many of his peers, Thomas has developed a passion for a side of the game not normally attributed to high school students: the coaching side of the sport. After completing his Football Association (FA) Level One badge last year, Thomas has decided to further his coaching education by Level Two badge.

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“I have a burning passion for football and after playing, I still wanted to be involved in the sport,” explained Thomas.

“A couple of my friends had also taken the Level One badge and encouraged me to do it.”

Now in the midst of the Level Two course, the difference this time around is that in addition to taking a class, Thomas will also need to acquire sufficient firsthand experience from close interaction with coaches. He is currently shadowing the varsity boys football coach Akay Mustafa during training sessions, and travels with the team for home and away games. Apart from Thomas’s involvement with the varsity squad, he is also serving as an assistant to the coach of the boys Grade 8

team, Jimmy Markham.

“By observing both coaches I learn a lot of important aspects such as what training methods to use or how to motivate players,”

“Good managers are very charismatic, which they need to be to garner the respect of their players.”

Ned Thomas ‘13

Thomas said. “Each coach also has his distinct style so it’s nice to get familiar with different approaches.”

Thomas hopes to be exposed to as many different ideas as possible, as he strives to create a personal coaching identity.

“Many of the best managers and coaches in the game today served as understudies to great predecessors. Learning the details of coaching is very much down to observing more senior people at first.”

Thomas has also recently applied for a coaching position at his favorite team, QPR, and although he acknowledges that his chances of receiving a post are slim, he maintains that one has to be bold to succeed in the coaching business.

“Good managers are very charismatic, which they need to be to garner the respect of their play-

ers,” he said. “They also need to make quick decisions under pressure which takes a lot of courage.”

Moving forwards, Thomas intends to display some of that courage as he attempts to fulfill his dream of coaching a professional football team. He plans on taking a similar route as one of his heroes, the former Chelsea and current Real Madrid manager José Mourinho.

“I plan on taking psychology at university like Mourinho, because the knowledge will help me get the best out of players and instill a winning mentality within them. After that, I’ll look for a job either here in England or in America and see what happens.”

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Sports

THE STANDARD | October 2012

He shoots He scores

Elwing verbally commits to GW soccer After successfully completing an early read to George Washington University, Nils Elwing (‘13) decided to commit to the Division I school. With the recruitment process nearing an end, Sports Editor Patrick Mayr chatted with Elwing about his experience

L

Elwing in the traditional colors of the GW Colonials.

Photo by Jessica Haghani

Elwing in action against Frankfurt Int. School and sporting the traditional GW colors. TOP Photo Courtesy of Colin Bridgewater BOTTOM Photo by jessica Haghani

22 .indd 22

ess than a month into his senior year, Nils Elwing (’13), unlike the rest of his peers who are battling the college process, can enjoy a more stressfree environment and focus on his one true passion: Soccer.

Although not yet officially accepted to George Washington University (GW) to play soccer, Elwing successfully underwent an early read. While his transcripts have been approved by the university, Elwing still has to go through the motion of officially sending in his application.

After much thought and discussion with his family, Elwing decided to commit to GW. “In the end it was an easy decision,” said Elwing who cannot hide the joy of having his future almost set while his peers still have to combat the intensities of school.

Yet the path to recruitment by a Division I sports school has proven to be anything else but easy, with Elwing describing it as an “extremely competitive and humbling experience.”

The process officially began for Elwing during the summer of his junior year. He attended several recruitment camps across the country and his physical and

intelligent play caught the eye of numerous coaches. GW did not express any interest originally, but after Elwing visited his older sister Caroline Elwing (’09) in Washington D.C. the same summer, he started getting into contact with the head coach via email.

“Initially there wasn’t much interest from their part as they had never seen me play,” Elwing explained, “so throughout my junior year I sent them, along with several other universities, match videos and highlights of my games.”

Junior year was spent balancing a rigorous schedule of ASL soccer and club-level soccer in addition to schoolwork. Interest in Elwing was rising and he caught the eye of several prestigious schools including the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).

“The interest from UPenn gradually rose throughout the year and at one point they asked for my transcripts which indicated a serious interest.”

However, Elwing stressed the importance of remaining focused, as he knew that inquiries and various levels of interest were a long way off from a substantive offer.

He also mentioned that he was not going to grow disillusioned at even the slightest hint of interest in contrast to ex-Arsenal soccer players Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor.

The toughest period for Elwing was last summer, which he recalls as one of the “most frantic periods of [his] life.” Constantly on the road participating in different camps and competing in tournaments, Elwing was determined to further convince coaches of his ability. Although UPenn’s pursuit of Elwing gradually dissipated, interest from GW along with Bates University and Boston University was bolstered, and he paid a visit to D.C. once more.

It was then that he had his first serious face-to-face talk with the head coach. A fellow Brit himself, the coach left an immediate impression on Elwing and set out his playing philosophy and ambitions for the coming years.

“Already from the outset the coach’s ideas resonated well with me,” Elwing explained. “He told me of his desire to play a grounded type of football and that he doesn’t care about a player’s age but his quality. They won the Atlantic-10 conference last year but narrowly missed out on the NCAA tournament in a penalty shootout.

Also most of the players on the team are very young, so it’s a team going places.”

As a passionate Arsenal supporter, Elwing’s love for the beautiful game is not hard to trace, but he claimed that his decision was equally influenced by the fact that Washington D.C. is the only state in America with a Nando’s.

“When I visited GW I went out with a couple of the British players from the team and ate at Nando’s. All the people on the team seem really nice and although team chemistry and ambition are very important, nothing beats a good Nando’s meal,” Elwing said.

“[GW] won the Atlantic-10 conference last year but narrowly missed out on the NCAA tournament in a penalty shootout.”

Nils Elwing (‘13)

Either way, Elwing is over the moon about approaching the finish line of scoring a long soughtafter goal of his and one day soon debuting for a college team.

Asked if he would maybe consider a professional career in the Major League Soccer (MLS) after college, Elwing responded, “If the opportunity would arise, I would jump on it, but I’m going in with realistic expectations. I just want to enjoy college and after we’ll see where life takes me.”

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THE STANDARD | October 2012

Page 23

Sportsddd

TRUE FAN With Pittsburgh Steelers fan Sterling Foster How did you become a Pittsburgh Steelers supporter?

Because I am from Texas, I have always loved football, but I cannot stand the Dallas Cowboys. I became a Steelers fan because every member of my family except my mom is a Cowboy fan. My mother is a die hard Steeler fan so she influenced me to love them. Steelers and the Cowboys are rivals, but Steelers are obviously better.

Steelers would win another Super Bowl if they were to have RG3. He completely dominates the field.

Even though Ben Roethlisberger is a great player, in my opinion the Steelers would win another Super Bowl if they were to have RG3.

Who is your favorite player and why?

My favorite player by far is Troy Polamalu. He is a beast! It is fun to watch him play because he has so much energy and amazing defensive abilities. Plus, he has pretty nice hair.

What is your best memory as a Steelers supporter?

My favorite memory of the Steelers was being able to go to watch them play in two Super Bowls. My family and I went to Tampa to see them play against the Arizona Cardinals in 2009. The game was so exciting because the Steelers had an amazing comeback in the last quarter and managed to win their sixth Super Bowl (one more than the Dallas Cowboys).

What do you think of Big Ben’s off the field activity?

It’s awful. I can’t really tell why a guy like Big Ben would act like the way he has. I know nothing was proven but the fact that those events were even talked about puts him in a really negative light. He thinks because of his position he can do what he wants its just wrong. It also gives the team a really bad reputation, like I know a lot of people that dont like the Steelers just because of him.

Photo by Emily Mark

Although she was born and raised in Texas, Sterling Foster (‘13) dislikes the Dallas Cowboys and is instead a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Sports Editor Patrick Mayr sat down with Foster to discuss her memories as a fan, goals for the season, and Big Ben’s off-field issues What is your worst memory as a Steelers supporter?

My worst memory was watching them lose against the Green Bay Packers in the Cowboy stadium at 2011 Super Bowl. I was hoping the Steelers would win their seventh Su-

per Bowl in the brand new Cowboy stadium, but I was so disappointed when they lost.

If there is any player that you could add to the team, who would it be?

If I could add any player on the Steelers team it would definitely be RG3 [Robert Griffen III]. He is amazing. Just last year I visited my brother at Baylor University and got to watch RG3 play against University of Texas Longhorns.

What do you think are realistic goals for this season?

The Steelers and the Cowboys finally play each other on December 16. My one big wish is that the Steelers beat the Cowboys on their home territory! All I can ask from my team is to play well during each game. So far they have had a fairly good start and absolutely destroyed the Jets! I just hope my team continues to stay focused and does well throughout the season.

October 2012 Sunday

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Premiership: Chelsea vs. Manchester United

B = boys G = girls

NFL: St. Louis Rams vs New England Patriots

TOPPICKS 23 .indd 23

V B + G Soccer @ Cobham JV B Vball @ Cobham

V+JV B Soccer vs. TASIS V+JV G Soccer @ TASIS

MLB: World Series Game 1

V + JV G Hockey @ BSP V+JV G Vball vs. Cairo

V + JV G Hockey @ BSP V+JV G Vball vs. Cairo

V B Soccer vs. St. Johns V Rugby vs. Cardinal

V + JV Rugby vs. ZIS

V + JV Rugby vs. ZIS

V B Soccer vs Hillingdon V G Soccer @ Hillingdon V + JV G Vball @ Hillingdon

Soccer @ Hillingdon (Oct. 31) Both the boys and the girls teams play their last crucial game before the ISST Tournament.

Rugby vs. ZIS (Oct. 27) The varsity and junior varsity teams play their first match of the season against an international school.

NFL in London (Oct. 29) The St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots clash heads at Wembley Stadium in what is sure to be a fixating encounter.

9/28/12 6:56 PM

Sports

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I OCTOBER 2012

Dariush Yazdanpanah (’15) Position: Striker 1st Year On Team

Photos courtesy of Colin Bridgewater and by Jessica Haghani

Akay’s Analysis: -Plays as a target man -Brings others into the game -Very hardworking -Goalscorer, scored three goals in three games to start season

Henry LeMaire (’14) Position: Left Wing 1st Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Very creative -Great shot -Unique problem-solving football brain

Spencer Lake (’13) Position: Right Wing 2nd Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Lightning quick -Fantastic strength -Brilliant shot

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Fernando Llorente

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Samir Nasri

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Gareth Bale Nico Albanese (’14) Position: Center Midfield 3rd Year On Team

Alfie Astor (’13) Position: Center Midfield 3rd Year On Team

Akay’s Analysis: -Number 10/front of the midfield trio -Best shot on the team -New position for him this year

Akay’s Analysis: -Co-captain, leader -The passer/playmaker of the midfield trio -Great eye for a pass

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Xabi Alonso

The Line-Up

Nils Elwing (’13) Position: Holding Midfield 3rd Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Co-captain, leader -The tackler of the midfield trio -A great balance of technique/strength

Opening match varsity boys soccer starting XI Clayton Marsh | Lead Features Editor

With input from Head Coach Akay Mustafa

Akay’s Professional Comparison: Roy Keane

Duncan Gans (’13) Position: Left Back 2nd Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Physically strong and quick and technically improving -Starting to contribute attackingly -Playing left back as a right-footed player Akay’s Professional Comparison: Glen Johnson

Substitutes Cameron Pott (’15): Center back. Quick and strong, reads the game well, passing improving. Pro comparison: Nemanja Vidic.

Alex von Daehne (’15): Center midfield. Best passing range on the team, great vision and longball, big strides. Pro comparison: Steven Gerrard.

Aaron Kelly-Penso (’14): Attacker. Very creative, excellent shot, unpredictable. Pro comparison: Mario Gotze.

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Jake Fallin (’14) Position: Center Back 1st Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Ridiculously quick -Pace and power -Unbelievable work ethic Akay’s Professional Comparison: Thiago Silva

Will Muoio (’14) Position: Goalkeeper 3rd Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Fantastic sgility -Shot stopper -Very jovial, good fun to have around

Henry Kremer (’15) Position: Right Back 1st Year On Team

Will Conway (’14) Position: Center Back 3rd Year On Team Akay’s Analysis: -Real hunger to win -Leader on and off the pitch -Loves to carry the ball and beat people from the back Akay’s Professional Comparison: Mats Hummels

Akay’s Analysis: -Technically very strong -Offers a lot going forward as a wingback -Learning the position defensively but improving with each game Akay’s Professional Comparison: Bacary Sagna

Quick Hits Coach’s ISST Expectations: 1st Style: High pressing game trying to win the ball in the opposition half. Trying to maintain possession but also to want to attack and penetrate defense.

Formation: Foundation of a 4-3-3 but other possibilities as well.

Akay’s Professional Comparison: David De Gea

9/28/12 6:55 PM