Standard Issue 6 11-12

FEATURES Army: Two students embrace their national responsibilities and are set to join the army. Page 10 standard.asl.org

Seniors Class of 2012: The Senior Supplement will be available after the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, June 13.

THE STANDARD

May-June 2012 | Volume XXXVII, Issue VI

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

Students steal from cafeteria

Kumah Returns

A beloved coach’s recovery from illness Story on page 22

Thomas Risinger News Editor

On Tuesday, April 24, two seniors were caught stealing from the cafeteria. “They were observed taking food from the cafeteria, and just walking away without paying for it by members of the school community, who then came and proceeded to report the incident,” Dean of Students Joe Chodl said.

Both students were confronted by the administration. They professed their guilt regarding this particular incident, and also admitted that they had been stealing from the cafeteria previously.

“Suspension is a pretty big deal, and it of course has some outside-of-school ramifications.”

Joe Chodl, Dean of Students

This incident led to both seniors being suspended from school for three days. Due to the school’s full disclosure policy, both of the seniors’ colleges were notified of the incident and their subsequent suspension.

“Suspension is a pretty big deal, and it of course has some outside-of-school ramifications,” Chodl said.

Although this sort of incident has occurred in the past, the school does not believe that there is currently an issue of theft among the student population. “I don’t think that there is a thievery problem at the school, there are just some random items that are occasionally stolen.” Chodl said.

This view, however, is not entirely in line with student opinion. In a random poll of 88 students conducted by The Standard, it was found that 42 percent of students had either participated in, or witnessed recent thievery from the cafeteria.

The incident and the subject of theft was discussed at grade level meetings.

Due to the recent attention that has been brought to the issue, Chodl believes that theft in the school will be reduced, as both the staff and the student body have become more aware of its occurrence.

Photo by Jessica Haghani

The Great Ascent One family’s emotional climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro Story on page 8

Photo by Julie skattum

(Please recycle after reading)

News

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE VI MAY-JUNE 2012

IB program to be partially implemented

NEWS | briefs

of the IB is part of a process of broadening and refining the school’s mission statement and vision. “We need to look at everything we do,” he said. It was decided that the school needed to take a “hard look at the IB” in order to “get closer to our mission.”

The study group of 12 teachers and administrators, which recently completed a sixmonth process conducting interviews with leaders at secondary schools and universities, recently filed an official report that advises against the addition of the IB in its entirety.

Some of their concerns included difficulties

BATTLE OF THE TALENT

WALKER THOMPSON COPY EDITOR EMERITUS

As per a resolution from an exploratory committee led by Science Teacher Karen Bonthrone and Principal Paul Richards, and pending further administrative action, aspects of the International Baccalaureate (IB) may be implemented at ASL beginning in fall of 2013.

The IB is a two-year diploma program that many British schools are also beginning to offer in place of traditional A-level courses.

Students are required to take a total of six subjects each year, three as Higher Level courses and three as Standard Level courses.

Students must fulfill a requirement called Creativity, Action, Service (CAS), which includes art, athletics and community service.

There is also a 4000-word extended essay and a Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course that covers basic epistemology.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Roberto d’Erizans, who was a member of the exploratory study group, said that investigation into adding the IB program to the school’s curriculum, which began this year, was prompted by the fact that ASL is the only international school in London not to offer the IB alongside, or instead of, AP courses.

“We want to offer a thorough program,” d’Erizans said.

“We need to be asking questions like, ‘What kind of program do we want to offer to students?’,” d’Erizans said, explaining that the investigation has been “a way to self-reflect on our own curriculum.”

Richards echoed these sentiments, and explained that the decision to offer aspects

PHOTO FROM FLIKR/ ICT.ALJABRSCHOOL

in the distribution workloads among high school teachers and a fear that differentiation between IB and AP students could lead to academic elitism. D’Erizans also criticized the program for being “highly prescriptive” and having a requirement of external assessment, similar to the AP.

However, in the same document, the committee have indeed recommended that ASL start using certain parts of the IB like CAS and TOK as “starting [or] guiding benchmarks.” The addition of Foundations in Grade 9 and an effort to “revamp” Grade 10 Health classes represent the first of these efforts to integrate aspects of the IB into the school’s curriculum.

Bonthrone said that she was interested in the CAS component of the IB, “especially ‘Service’.” Richards explained that he selected Bonthrone as a co-leader of the investigation because she is “the most experienced IB teacher in the school,” and can thus understand the “jargon” of the IB. Bonthrone has extensive experience teaching in the English system and in international schools, including one where the IB and the AP programs were taught in the same classroom.

Bonthrone was thus instrumental in facilitating dialogue with other international schools that offer the IB, especially those with a dual AP-IB program. She most recently travelled to The American School of Paris, where she said that her experience allowed her to have a “stronger conversation” about the IB. She also said that her knowledge of the IB meant she could help other less experienced members of the exploratory panel.

After the decision goes to d’Erizans and Head of School Coreen Hester for deliberation, the program will be developed and explored by department heads throughout next year from October through February, with any changes becoming effective in September 2013. However, no further action will be taken by the committee before the end of this year.

FLASH

On Saturday, June 9 at 5:30 p.m. the Spring Music Festival will be held in the Farmer Family Gym. Tickets will cost £5, and there will be 12 bands performing with 15 different charities will be represented.

Along with performances by both students and faculty, there will be a barbeque and the charities that are represented will set up tables with baked goods and merchandise for sale. The profits made from tickets sales will be donated to three charities, which will be chosen by students.

SENIOR SPEAKERS The Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Class Speaker of the Class of 2012 were announced at the Senior Lunch on May 22.

This year’s Valedictorian is Laksh Bhasin (’12). The Salutatorian is Jack Holtze (’12).

They will give their speeches on June 15 at the commencment ceremony of the class of 2012. The Class Speaker for this year is Jake Spies (’12). Both the Valedictorian and Salutitorian were chosen by the faculty based on their grades and classes. The Class Speaker was voted on by the Class of 2012.

GENDER EQUITY MEETINGS As a result of increasing attention on gender inequity, teachers and students have been coming together to collect and analyze data community surveys about gender issues. This year, ASL joined the Independent School Gender Project, a program which allows schools to process, interpret, and compare data. Data from the survey will be published next year. “Raising awareness and having conversations is the first step. We can now use this data to take action,” English Department Head Meghan Tally said.

STUDENT PUBLISHED Mohammad Adnan (’15) wrote a fictional letter from Pakistan to India, and decided to email it to the International Herald Tribune, with the hope that it would be published. The Herald Tribune informed him that it will be printed as a piece of creative writing in the month of May. “I wanted my letter to be published to show that there is animosity between the two countries and how this is a problem,” Adnan said.

JUBILEE WEEKEND

MELODIOUS: On May 29, the ASL Band, Orchestra and Choir all jointly performed a song composed by Jordan Plotner (‘12).

PHOTO BY SUSAN PLOTNER

The weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee takes place from June 2 to June 5, marking the 60th year of the Queen’s reign. There will be celebratory activities throughout the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth countries, these celebrations include the Epsom Derby, The Big Jubilee Lunch, The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, the a BBC Concert taking place at Buckingham Palace and the lighting of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons.

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Page 3

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Newsddd

Math Teacher Joyce Anderson retires Svena bhasin staff writer

After teaching for 40 years, including 32 at ASL, Math Teacher Joyce Anderson will be retiring after this school year. Anderson plans to stay in London after retiring, “My first plan is to do nothing, I want to be able to enjoy London more than I normally can when I’m working. There are all sorts of things that open up to you when you have time,” she said.

Anderson has always felt an affinity for teaching. Growing up as the eldest child, Anderson would create tests for her younger siblings. “I used to take carbon paper and make them little math and spelling tests and they would spend the whole afternoon actually doing [them].” “There was something about my nature that I thought it was fun to do that,” she said.

Anderson’s desire to become a teacher increased in high school, when she realized the importance of teaching. “I really felt that it was such an important job, and I was seeing [teachers] who were doing it and who were really not a credit to it,” she said. “I thought I could do better than that, and I think that’s what motivated me to pursue [teaching].

Of course it turns out to be harder than you think.”

At her first job, Anderson found teaching to be a challenge. “I had been 21 [years

Anderson has taught at ASL for 32 years of her 40-year teaching career.

Photo by Emily Mark

old] for two weeks, and I had a job replacing a teacher on maternity leave,” she said. After sitting in on classes for a week, it was her

turn to take charge of a class. “When I walked in the room all hell broke loose because I had no experience managing a classroom of stu-

dents, [the other teacher] made it look effortless,” Anderson said.

Anderson came to ASL in 1979 as a math teacher after teaching at a public school in Guilford, Connecticut. “I actually had six one-year jobs because they didn’t really have a math job, but every year they had one teacher who was either taking a leave or a sabbatical,” she said. When Anderson finally received a full-time job, she was teaching computer classes. “Computers were really different then, because the last time I taught computers was just before the Internet came, around 1995,” she said. After a sabbatical, Anderson returned as a permanent fixture in the math department.

“There’s a big learning curve in the first few years, so if you really want to do it, then persevere.” A love for math has carried Anderson through her years as a teacher. “To teach math, you have to really love it… and I do,” she said.

As for next year, Anderson is looking forward to “traveling and spending time with my husband,” although she will miss ASL. “I’ll miss the actual classroom time… the interaction with the students, and I’ll miss my colleagues as well.”

She will not be totally absent from the hallways, however. “I might come back and do some substituting if the math teachers need a substitute. It would be fun to teach again. It might be boring for my students, but it’s not boring for me,” she said.

Message to the people Student Council President Julian Nebreda (’13) describes his goals and ideas for the coming school year Looking forward to a new year, Student Council is bringing about some changes to confront what we see as our biggest issue and responsibility.

Furthering student voice can sound like a vague goal to strive for. I’d like to think that everyone in the High School who has an opinion, idea or complaint that could really help us, or we could help with, would tell us.

However, this isn’t really the case. In this way, it is not only our job to listen and respond to student voice, but also to seek it out actively and help it grow.

With these goals in mind, Student Council has taken on a few new responsibilities, some big and some small, to test out new avenues for student voice in the coming year.

A few new and easy things are our email service (hsstuco@asl.org), set up to encourage direct back-and-forth between Student Council and students, and our new survey. The survey, which has come out in the past weeks, will serve as an avenue to assess our work as a council throughout the year as well as our role as a body within the High School.

Our biggest development towards creating a more open High School is a new program called the “Student Voice Forum.” This forum is basically a completely open panel for complaints, comments and simple catch-up between

all those who are interested and the student body. These meetings will happen each Tuesday at Conference Time when we do not have a High School assembly.

The panel consists of a smaller group of Student Council members from each grade, as well as a presiding officer, tea and muffins. The first meeting occurred on Wednesday, May 30.

Open for discussion in these meetings is everything from getting English mustard for the cafeteria to changes in the school calendar. Even if students do not have anything particular to say, these meetings will also serve for us to inform the student body of everything we’ve been working on as a council.

This forum will, I hope, pave the way for a more open relationship between the student body and the Student Council, and eventually between the student body and the administration.

Julian Nebreda (’13) Now, all of these plans sound very nice, but the truth is that they aren’t worth much if students themselves don’t play their part.

Of course, we don’t expect people to simply have everything they want to say at hand. In the future, we might have themed meetings on general subjects, such as the school calendar or Code of Conduct, simply to spark discussions.

Nebreda addresses the student body at an (Student Council can be reached at hsstuco@asl.org) assembly. Photo by Emily Mark

“In this way, it is not only our job to listen and respond to student voice, but also to seek it out actively and help it grow.”

Opinions

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE VI MAY-JUNE 2012

THE STANDARD

EDITORIAL

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 CONOR FINN Sports Editor JESSICA HAGHANI Photo Editor EMILY MARK Photo Editor HAMISH STEPHENSON Online Editor TYLER ZSCHACH Online Editor STAFF WRITERS Alec Ashley, Svena Bhasin, Alex Calvert, Camille Coric, Kasey Craig, Katie Dillon, Henry Kremer, Alessandro Maglione, Andre Maman, Patrick Mayr, Stefan Nealis, Benjamin Spar SHANNON MILLER Adviser EDITORS EMERITI: Ian Robertson Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Peter Hughes Deputy Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Evan Reilly Lead News Editor Emeritus Amrita Miglani Features Editor Emeritus Will Rosenthal Lead Features Editor Emeritus Emma Conway Culture Editor Emeritus Alex Morris Lead Sports Editor Emeritus Katie Lee Photo Editor Emeritus Sophia Jennings Online Editor Emeritus Walker Thompson Copy Editor Emeritus

Louder!

Drawing BY Andrew Bai

Analyzing the Student Council’s work this year Up until a few days ago, The Standard was going to publish an editorial that was highly critical of the Student Council. We were going to point out the fact that The Student Council has accomplished nothing but a few failed social events. Then, Student Council President Julian Nebreda (’13) gave a speech detailing the many things that The Student Council had worked on quite a bit. We were surprised.

The Student Council deserves commendation for much of the work they have done this year. They have sat on a number of committees, including catering and tech, and are currently trying to facilitate the switch from Athena to Haiku. Most importantly, we believe is the Student Council’s success at moving midterms to the week before winter break. This is the first big, helpful thing that the Student Council can say they did after listening to the student body. Thank you, Student Council.

Stick to that kind of change. We acknowledge that you work hard as a group, and we believe that you should focus most of your time and effort into changes like the movement of midterms, noticeable and important changes for the student body, and away from social activities like the Soph and Frosh fair or the failed Lock In. You can be successful as a group, and you need to continue with these successes.

But, why did we have to wait until now to find out? Why did The Standard, a specifically well informed group of people, find

MISSION STATEMENT The Standard staff and adviser are dedicated to publishing an exemplary student newspaper and website according to the strictest standards of journalistic integrity in writing, editing, coverage and production. We are an open forum that strives to promote productive dialogue among the student body, and within the greater school community.

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; scan the QR code for a direct link.The Standard can also be viewed in PDF format on the high school page of the ASL website, www.asl.org.

out about this in the last week of school? Clearly, the communication between the Student Body and the Student Council has to improve. In order for the student body to properly give feedback and help you represent us, we need to know what is going on.

The editorial board recognizes that all meetings are open to the public and that minutes are published. This being said, we question how many people attend the meetings or read the minutes.

We believe that the Student Council should communicate more often and openly through full high school meetings so we are aware of what you are doing.

The Student Council gets a lot of criticism for not presenting itself as a serious organization. Many of the ads that they post and videos that they make are self parodying comedy. When this is all we observe from the Student Council, it leads the Student body to believe that that is all the Student Council does. Yet, when Nebreda gave his speech, there was an air of seriousness.

People were able to, for the first time in a number of years, take the Student Council very seriously. Not that it was a humorless and dry speech, but it was a serious speech. We, as a board, believe that by reinforcing your image as a serious organization, you can keep the silly bits.

We want three things out of you next year, the Student Council: Communicate better, focus on real improvements for the student body, and present yourselves more seriously.

Printed by Mortons Print Limited, 01507 523456

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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The National Deception Society Patrick Collins

patrick_collins@asl.org

Why the NHS must change what it does and the standards it holds itself to

“

For an organization whose self-proclaimed purpose is to give back to the school academically, the NHS is failing miserably.

O

ut of the many organizations present in the ASL community, on the surface, none appears to match the prestigious level to which the National Honor Society (NHS) holds itself. Each of its members is said to lead the school with the Four Pillars of NHS in mind: Character, service, leadership and academics. According to NHS President Gabriel Rocha (’12), the purpose of NHS’s presence at ASL is to give back to the school through the Four Pillars. However, under the surface, it is clear that NHS members do not give back to the school as fully as they are supposed to, but rather do just enough to make it appear they are doing so, and thus reap the benefits that being a member of the NHS provides.

Social Studies Teacher and NHS adviser Sana Shafqat estimated that, between the Middle School and High School (the areas that the NHS targets for academic help), 15 students were tutored for an extended period of time during this entire year. Along with their tutoring service, NHS also offers “dropin sessions” twice a week, during which High School students can receive academic help and advice. According to Shafqat, this year, approximately 10 students attended these “sessions.” As an organization whose selfproclaimed purpose is to give back to the school academically, the NHS is failing miserably and has only managed to provide academic service to 3 percent of the entire Middle School and High School student bodies.

In order to fulfill their mission statement

and actually give back to the school through the Four Pillars, the NHS must greatly increase the number of students and community members which it serves. To do so, the NHS must make itself more visible and available inside the community by consistently reminding students, community leaders and parents exactly how they can provide help. It must also become one of the first places students look for academic help, and provide an accessible and easy way in which students can consistently reach out to them. Teachers can aid throughout this process by acting as a segway between the organization and individual students who need extra help or attention.

Although this year the NHS has helped and served more members of the community academically, through both their tutoring and their “drop-in sessions,” than most other groups and students have, their own mission should require them to serve the school and the community on a much larger scale than they currently do. The standards at which the NHS at ASL holds itself to don’t allow their own goals as an organization to be reached.

These same standards also cause the level of prestige they receive to be greatly exaggerated.

Through the name “National Honor Society” and the highly regarded organization to which it is linked, members of the organization at ASL are able to maintain the image that they are using their own exceptional skills to truly help the community, even when

they are not doing so. Rocha is aware of this false image. “A big problem is that people come into the Society [NHS] and don’t know what it is, but know that is looks good for college apps,” Rocha said. Members join not to give back to their own community and to follow the mission of the NHS, but rather to help themselves, and ultimately cause a great deal of deception in what they are truly doing.

It should be a privilege to be part of the NHS, an internationally recognized organization, at ASL, and members should be required to actually follow through with the NHS’s mission. According to Shafqat, there is an expectation within the NHS that all members provide service to the community. However, there are no firm requirements. There are requirements when a student applies to enter the NHS, but once inside members can say they are part of the NHS, without significantly impacting the community.

This should change. Members should be held to strict standards of service inside the community once part of the NHS, and should be removed if they are not meeting the requirements. Doing this would boost the activity of the NHS, which would then allow ASL to greatly benefit from the service coming from the community’s top students. More so, the NHS would find a clear and beneficial purpose inside ASL, and members could be truthful when they say that they are part of a society that gives back to ASL by expressing the qualities of exceptional character, service, leadership and academic skills.

Progress Report Class of 2013

bieber

Lock-In

1

2

4

5 6.

Opinions Editor Patrick Collins and Lead Features Editor Clayton Marsh give ASL its Summer Progress Report.

1.

2.

homefield advantage

JUSTIN BIEBER: (A-) With the release of his song ‘Boyfriend’, Justin Bieber proved he is everything music needs right now. Although he will never reach the level of legends like Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly and Usher, his transition into quasi-R&B love songs must be applauded. No longer do I only look at him as an object of desire that I’d love to cuddle up with, but I now I can finally see him as a musical talent after this banger he produced.

Patrick Collins WEATHER: (B+) Nothing gets me going like a sky filled with sunshine and crisp oxygen flowing through my nasal cavity. After weeks of depressing, gray skies in London, the weather has finally perked up. Just ask Summer Carter ( ’12) and will tell you THIS is SummerTimeFinne.

Clayton Marsh

3.

home field advantage: (D) Even when hosting an ISST, the student body’s presence as fans is lacking.

While kids attend basketball games to witness ASL King Aboudi Qattan (’12) pop a few hoop baskets for the basketball squad, long gone are the days when the bleachers were louder than the cheerleaders. I miss the days when chants of “Get out of London!” filled the main gym.

What ever happened to bullying the other team?

Clayton Marsh

4.

The Class of 2013: (F) Everything I have witnessed thus far from the Class of 2013 has given me the motivation to fail them on their high school experience. Maybe if we set the expectations this low for them, they may do something well. Unless they turn things around, I am getting ready for my first of two senior years, as an upcoming junior. Patrick Collins

5.

LOCK-IN: (Incomplete) Maybe this wasn’t StuCo’s finest moment. You’ll get ‘em next time though!

Patrick Collins

3 6

Watching The Throne: (Genius can’t be measured) If you are one of the poor souls who managed to miss the single most genius act in music today, shame on you. I can guarentee whatever you were doing instead of attending the performances pales in comparision. The two and a half hours of utter brilliance from Jay-Z and Kanye West roughly equated to Christmas Day, your first kiss, Aslan from Narnia and Isaac Newton all mixed into one.

Their 40 song set list included hits from past and present, that completely solidified the two rappers as living legends. Jay cried, Kanye confessed his love, and I was close to doing the same out of sheer happiness, as together The Throne made the o2 Arena heaven for five straight nights.

Now thats Gucci my... friend. Patrick Collins

Photo 1 www.justinbiebermusic.com. Photo 2 by Emily Mark.. Photo 3 by KT Lee. photo 4 By Kabir Sadarangani.

Photo 5 From StuCo. Photo 6 By patrick Collins.

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THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Opinions

Why SFDB transparency is still an important issue Peter Hughes peter_hughes@asl.org

How publishing punishments will benefit both the students and the school

“

The next step requires a more formal documentation of cases that can always be accessible to any student.

Walker thompson

walker_thompson@asl.org

ASL offers many phenomenal opportunities, but there are areas in the curriculum that could be stronger

“

I was delighted to find that ASL could provide me with new academic frontiers.

W

hen Dean of Students Joe Chodl spoke to the senior class regarding a recent case brought before the Student-Faculty Disciplinary Board (SFDB), it was a breath of fresh air.

During this year, the first that the Board has publically announced case results, members have spoken to grade levels on several occasions. This is an important step, as students need to be informed about disciplinary policies in their high school and the potential punishments that they may face. The fact that SFDB acknowledged this cannot be underappreciated; it is a great landmark in moving towards a healthier school.

While this is a step in the right direction, it is only a step. The new initiative is limited in the transparency that it actually provides the average student to the process. The next step requires a more formal documentation of cases that can always be

accessible to any student.

If you sit down and speak to a member of SFDB about the organization’s manner of dealing with cases, there are two words that will come up again and again: “Individuals” and “precedent.” The former word is largely representative of the Board’s founding premise: To deal with specific situations and specific people. It is also what makes transparency such a difficult task, as details that provide insight to a case could also jeopardize the privacy of the student involved.

The Board has already found a way around this obstacle by releasing comprehensive, yet anonymous, verbal explanations of violations. So why not publish these announcements in order to make the second word, “precedent,” clearer to the average student? When making decisions, the Board looks back to previous cases to get a clearer sense of what punishments are

suitable in certain situations. The community would greatly benefit from access to that same archived information to which the Board is privy. Announcing SFDB decisions to the school is great, but it has the potential to confuse as much as enlighten.

How can we ascertain what is going on if SDFB only publishes a few disparate, isolated case results? Only when one sees a collection of several cases and the resulting punishments does it truly become clear how the community deals with disciplinary issues.

The published results would be no different than the announcements currently being made. The text would include descriptions of the offence with necessary background information, while still protecting the privacy of the student – a balance that has already been reached by SFDB. Going forward, transparency still needs to be a priority for SFDB.

‘Parting is such sweet sorrow’ W hen Associate Dean of Admissions Jean Hughes showed me ASL’s course catalogue back in April 2011, a smile spread across my face. I had nearly exhausted the curriculum at St. Luke’s, my former school, and I was delighted to find that ASL could provide me with new academic frontiers.

Advanced French Literature and Vector Calculus, for example, are both a step beyond what St. Luke’s was able to offer me, and have consistently helped me to develop intellectually and academically this year. My writing and knowledge of the French language have greatly improved thanks to the former, and in the latter I have studied highly nuanced topics like vector analysis and differential geometry, while also learning to use Mathematica, a piece of software that is ubiquitous in academia.

ASL also fosters an especially rich intellectual climate. Much of the student population is very academically driven, and there are many school-sponsored clubs devoted to helping students learn and succeed across the board. Advanced post-AP courses like Advanced French Literature and Vector Calculus attract a surprising amount of interest: From prior experience, I expected both of the aforementioned classes to be, at most, half their actual size of nine. The large number of brilliant and motivated students who want to take these courses is definitely an asset for ASL. One of the other things that Hughes showed me was the school’s selection of journalism courses. I had written intermittently for a school newspaper during my freshman and sophomore years, but only as an extracurricular activity. Thus, I had no idea what to expect from ASL’s journalism program when I began the course in September.

I can now say that it was the best academic decision I have made in high school. I have enjoyed working for The Standard, and I am

now even considering journalism as a career.

Thus, I believe that the journalism program is one of the best parts of the school’s academic life.

In spite of my article calling for more official attention for a full-fledged Classics department, I still believe the Directed Independent Study in Language Program (DISLP) to be marvellous. One-on-one instruction is something that only a small school like ASL can accomplish, and it adds a great deal of diversity to the school’s language offerings. Latin Tutor Judith Rice and I have had a unique interaction this year, and the program has challenged me to adapt to an independent learning style that I know will be useful to me later on.

That does not mean that it has been a universally positive experience. One of the most discouraging incidents came on the very first day of school, when I discovered that my placement in AP Physics C was probably a mistake. This surprised me given that I had departmental recommendation from my former school, and more than enough maths to understand the material.

I did begin the year taking AP Physics C, but found that it was too much and moved down to AP Physics B. Nonetheless, I realized that this complication was due entirely to the assumption of prior knowledge of physics on which AP Physics C is taught at ASL, and not the difficulty of the course. I am glad that the school is trying to fix this problem, as it is vexing for students like myself who have taken enough math to handle the AP Physics C material.

In addition, I have mixed feelings about certain parts of the English program. Electives for juniors and seniors are excellent in that they diversify and open up the curriculum. However, the lack of differentiation between standard, advanced and AP courses is unfortunate, for it mixes motivated and unmotivated students and can thus hinder the former group.

The amount of standardization in the English curriculum is an even larger shortcoming. The rubrics, the Harkness tracking charts, the department-wide requirement of annotations – all of these things discourage independent thinking and engender uniformity. My conviction is that the English program could be made stronger if the Department were willing to take steps away from rigidity.

Some of the same academic clubs that I praised also suffer from a lack of openness and liberality. Consider Writers’ Seminar: Although it is a highly intellectual club, one must submit an application to join. Such policies come across as unfortunately hierarchical. This is something that I believe will be different at Westminster, my new school, where student organizations like the John Locke Society, which brings in famous speakers, have open meetings and can be joined by anyone.

Furthermore, I do not agree with the emphasis on “well-roundedness” that is embedded in ASL’s graduation requirements.

While Westminster and top-flight British universities like Oxford and Cambridge favor specialization and depth of knowledge, ASL promotes educational breadth through the sheer variety of courses that students must take. These requirements can compel students to pursue avenues in their studies in which they are less interested, which detracts from the joy of learning.

Ultimately, this is a matter of personal preference: There is also a lot to be said for enticing students to develop a variety of interests and talents. However, I would not be leaving next year if I did not think I would be more content with Westminster’s highly intellectual and liberal culture, and the specialization that is inherent in the British system. No place is perfect, and Westminster will have its flaws as well, but it just seems more right for me than ASL.

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Opinionsddd

Ideas to Live By WALKER THOMPSON

walker_thompson@asl.org

A reflection upon the School of Life’s secular sermons

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Living and attending school in London, students at ASL have unprecedented access to the hive of interaction and generation of ideas that is the city.

“To thine own self be true,” reads the inscription above the stage at Conway Hall, a small auditorium in the City of London, where, on one Sunday each month, the School of Life holds its regular “secular sermons” – lectures on a wide variety of topics that are aimed at helping you find your place in the modern world.

These oxymoronic “sermons” are consistently insightful and pertinent. They are more than simple lectures: They are carefully designed experiences that put you through a process of questioning and introspection.

In a mock-religious spirit that is cultivated throughout the organization by thinker and founder Alain de Botton, the audience always stands for “hymns,” often led by very singular individuals or groups, at the beginning and end of each “sermon.” These have included a portrayal of a traditional English ballad with stylized shadow puppets, and a haunting chant by a female anarchist choir.

The similarities between the congregation at Conway Hall and a church congregation are deliberate and important to de Botton’s own philosophy, which he laid out in a January 22 lecture around the time of the publication of his book, “Religion for Atheists.” As in church, a lone preacher stands in front of the audience, giving his or her sermon – although it is, of course, an intellectual, not a priest, who is to be found at the pulpit. The building itself even resembles a place of worship, with its balcony and pew-like benches that wrap around the sides of the room.

However, the parallels with religion end there. Unlike an ordinary system of beliefs, the School of Life does not endorse one principal doctrine or dogma, but rather a number of beautifully disjointed proposals for ways of living. It gives suggestions – not orders – and provides many of the same comforts as religion – such as strong community, thoughtfulness, and thoroughness

of learning – without the admonitory “Thou shalt nots” and requirement of spirituality.

It also diverges from any implausible ideology, such as Scientology, that proclaims selfbetterment. It is thus both non-New Age and extremely progressive.

In this way, the School of Life’s motto, “Ideas to Live By,” holds true. The secular sermons contain many lessons that I think students, including myself, can readily apply to life both at ASL and in the world at large.

Baroness Susan Greenfield, an Oxford professor and neuroscientist, gave a lecture on December 11, 2011 about mindfulness and storytelling in a time when the line between “knowledge” and “information” is being blurred. One of the issues that she addressed was the way in which we are constantly bombarded by information through the Internet, and how storytelling and narrative structure can provide the keys to extracting meaning from information and putting things into perspective.

At a school like ASL where technology moulds our daily lives so dramatically, it is important that we recognize this difference.

If we always take information at face value, we will understand neither the intellectual value of what we learn nor the repercussions of our actions. One of the ways we can avoid this is to become attached to characters in books and immersed in their stories. In short, even as our increasing dependence on technology means that we are constantly ambushed by raw, contextless data, there is still a place for thoughtfulness, and storytelling provides the keys to get there.

A more recent Sunday sermon, delivered on April 29 by Wired magazine writer Jonah Lehrer, was about genius. Essentially, Lehrer discussed how we can all access some degree of genius and by learning how to think effectively and thus generate what he termed “moments of insight.”

One of his most perspicacious remarks was about the difference between cities and corporations. While corporations are intensely micromanaged, with employees constantly being told what to do and what not to do, cities, he argued, are lively, unregulated hubs of random encounters. The serendipity that results from this fact, he said, can engender moments of inspiration and genius, especially at the most unexpected moments.

One of the messages that I took from this part of Lehrer’s discourse was that we really need to get out more. Living and attending school in London, students at ASL have unprecedented access to the hive of interaction and generation of ideas that is the city. We need to expose ourselves to city life in order to truly take advantages of this vibrant network of chance encounters of inspiration.

I find that teachers will sometimes even instruct students to “keep writing” or “keep their pens moving”, under the illusion that these exhortations will encourage thought through “focus.” In fact, Lehrer argued the opposite: he said that intense focus can actually smother inspiration and creative insight. Determination and single-mindedness, which he grouped under an umbrella term called “grit,” do pay off, but only if you let yourself look up from your paper or the computer screen and get distracted at times.

“Daydreaming productively,” he called it.

So let your mind wander. Take a short walk down the street in the rain and feel the pulse of the city. Look out at your garden through a back window. Listen to the air conditioner turn on while you are taking a test, or the rain pattering on the roof during class.

Ideally, the few minutes that you spend every day doing things like this will not only help you to think and work better, but will also relieve some of your stress and leave your thoughts clearer and your mind less clouded afterwards.

Explaining the website block Mariam mathew

mariam_mathew@asl.org

The High School Technology Coordinator justifies the recent website blocks

“

It had nothing to do with a lack of trust in our students at ASL. In fact, we have a great deal of trust in and respect for our students.

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to recent articles in The Standard titled “Tech Department Blocks Websites” and “A breach of trust.” The two articles address the recently implemented use of a filtering system at ASL, which is a departure from what we had previously. I appreciate the right of students to question this decision; however, certain information was not covered in the article.

The decision to use the filtering device was not taken lightly. Most importantly, it had nothing to do with a lack of trust in our students at ASL. In fact, we have a great deal of trust in and respect for our students.

However, situations change and organizations are held to higher expectations over time. It is a legal requirement that we properly monitor our network and show due diligence in understanding what is going on with our network in order to prevent harm.

If people wish to unblock particular sites that may be inappropriately categorized, we can do that. So far, we haven’t had very

An example of the graphic shown when access is attempted to a blocked website. many requests for this. Here are the specific changes: Adult and pornography: This is different than Nudity (which is not blocked) and Questionable (College Humor, which is not blocked).

Gambling: This block has been slightly modified to allow access to simple lottery numbers sites.

Phishing, Malware, Spyware and Scam sites: These are blocked primarily to prevent phishing scams and spyware sites from infecting computers via our network.

At such a low level of filtering, we really are blocking at the lowest common denom-

inator. We are endeavoring to leave Internet access at ASL as wide as possible within the parameters of our legal obligations.

The Standard’s opinion article compares our decision to block these sites to the SOPA bill. However, the SOPA bill intended to block access to particular sites for anyone, anywhere in the United States. At school we are blocking sites deemed inappropriate by our community in an educational setting.

Being part of an institution has different implications than home usage, and trying to find a balance is difficult but important.

I am in absolute agreement that we need to debate these issues vigorously.

Features

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE VI MAY-JUNE 2012

Skattum family climbs Kilimanjaro Clayton Marsh LEAD FEATURES EDITOR

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fter 42 hours of hiking, 90 liters of water, 60 bowls of soup, more than $500,000 raised and donated to two different Myeloma institutes and just a year and a half after being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a type of cancer where plasma cells are found in the bone marrow, ASL parent Dag Skattum, father of Lars (’12), Erik (’15) and Nils (’17), climbed to the 19,340 foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in April 2012 with his three sons and wife, Julie.

After his original diagnosis, Dag visited multiple specialists in the UK and the US and spoke with a multitude of people, culminating in a three month stay in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he came away with a revised diagnosis, an innocuous treatment regime and an even more positive outlook for an active and healthy life. Multiple Myeloma has long been considered an incurable disease, but advances made at the The Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy in Little Rock have led to a cure in subsets of patients.

Dag viewed climbing Kilimanjaro as a personal challenge for himself, but also as an opportunity to give back to all the people who had helped him with overcoming his disease. The money was raised through fundraising from friends, family and work associates, and will be donated to Myeloma UK and The Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy in Little Rock, two organizations with which Dag has worked extensively, and two of the leading Multiple Myeloma specialists in the world. “I am incredibly touched by the support,” he said.

As Dag was approaching the age of 50 Julie suggested a birthday party. Dag had other ideas. “I asked them to join me on Kilimanjaro. I wanted to do a fundraiser for cancer research, and at the time, they really couldn’t say no to me,” Dag said.

Dag and his family embarked on the climb in April, during the rainy season in Tanzania.

Terrain and temperatures fluctuated throughout their journey as they hiked through sun, rain and even snow. They hiked through dense,

tropical forests and lunar-like, rocky landscapes with little vegetation. Trying to acclimatize to the new conditions was a challenge, as was sleeping at night and eating at a high altitude. “Our guide was essentially forcing us to drink water and eat some food, as altitude really takes away your appetite,” Dag said. “It wasn’t a dramatic technical climb, but it’s a long haul, and the lack of sleep and oxygen made it a challenge.”

Setting off on their journey, the Skattums were joined by their main guide, Dismass, who has reached the summit more than 200 times, and a crew of trekkers who were responsible for carrying all necessary supplies during their hike. With more than 40 kilograms on their backs, these trekkers would clean up camp, pass the Skattums on their way up the mountain and set up a new camp before the Skattums had even arrived. The Skattums slept in tents every night and their altitude fluctuated between around 8,000 feet to the eventual peak of 19,340 feet.

When climbing up to the summit in the middle of the night, each member of the family was equipped with a headlight to see their path. “Some people think they make you hike in the middle of the night so you can’t see just how steep it actually is. I think it’s more about being able to arrive at sunrise,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to have clear skies at the summit, and with the moon on one side, and the sun on the other, it really was a beautiful sight,” Dag said.

Dag believes his diagnosis of cancer hasn’t affected him at all. “I’m in great shape. I don’t feel any day-to-day effects, and the whole point of this was to give back because I’ve gotten such amazing support and help,” he said.

Sitting on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the view didn’t matter much to Dag. “It was about having an experience on the mountain as a family for eight days that would be totally different from anything we have ever done before,” he said. It has been quite a journey since being diagnosed in December 2010, and now, it was from cancer to Kilimanjaro. “This might sound trite, but I enjoy life even more then I did before.”

300 words

Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet high and has only 21 percent the amount of oxygen in the atmospere at the summit compared to sea level.

Dag was accompanied by his wife, three sons, a main guide and a group of trekkers who were responsible for carrying their supplies. Photos BY Julie Skattum

Ahmed Ahmadi Tyler Zschach ONLINE EDITOR

W

photo by Jessica haghani

hen Ahmed Ahmadi moved from Morocco to the United Kingdom 31 years ago, he worked as a butcher and travelled through parts of Scotland and England working for different restaurants and businesses to pay the bills.

Ahmadi soon turned in the reins of the butchery profession, and accepted a job offer at ASL, where he would be working as an outside porter with the transportation office, more than 20 years ago. “I decided to switch careers and take this job,” Ahmadi said. One of the longest members of ASL’s staff, Ahmadi has worked under the leadership of four transportation department heads and four heads of school, including one interim, and said that he has loved working at the school every moment since he started here. A father of six,

five girls and one boy, with one child as old as 38, Ahmadi, together with his wife Fatiha, has settled into his lifestyle as part of the ASL community.

Ahmadi cited the parents, his colleagues and his enthusiasm for working with children as the reasons that keep him coming to work everyday. “I like working with the kids, helping them be safe while in the bus, and answering questions that people have,” Ahmadi said.

“I love it when I am on the playground and I get to play with the kids, they are jumping on your back and everything, it is great.” Ahmadi wants to work at ASL until he retires.

Ahmadi is as enthusastic about exercising as he is about his profession and the ASL community. “In my free time, I exercise a lot,” Ahmadi said. He also has a passion for swimming, noting it as one of his highlights of each of his weeks. “I take swimming lessons once a week, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

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THE STANDARD | May 2012

seen within the country. Sood’s school, The American School in Abuja, was constantly under the threat of an attack. “Sometimes it would shut down for weeks and we would have no idea when we would be able to go back,” he said.

“Even though this state of danger was a part of my everyday life, it never stopped being scary.” This constant disarray in his academic life was one of the reasons Sood decided to leave Nigeria without his mother to move to London.

The decision to move to London was made when Al Qaeda bombed Sood’s mother’s UN office. The entire building was blown to bits and 52 of his mother’s colleagues died. Fortunately, Sood’s mother missed the incident entirely as she was out of the country at the time of its occurrence. She came back only to see that her personal

lonely sometimes, Sood has found that some of the skills he picked up while moving so much as a child have really come in handy.

“I’ve met so many people in my life that now it’s easy for me to approach someone I’ve never met before and start up a conversation,” he said. He has many friends in Victoria Hall, the apartment building he lives in, even though he is the only high school student staying there. “I sometimes just leave my door open so that people can come in,” he said.

Sood believes that loneliness is a small price to pay for the amount of growth he has experienced while living by himself. The time alone has really given him a chance to learn about himself and reflect on past experiences. Looking back now, he realizes that the experiences he has had are a gift rather than a punishment and that in the long run they have made him a better person.

“As cheesy as it sounds, I feel like I’ve really connected myself,” he said. He realizes that the mistakes he’s made while living alone and while moving around have helped him prepare himself for what life will be like when he has to truly support himself in the future.

After a year of living in London, Sood is excited to visit his mother and puppy in Nigeria this summer. For him, living alone has really put into perspective the importance of family. Although he dislikes Nigeria as a permanent home, Sood thinks that it will be tolerable during a two-week visit.

He is extremely excited about the prospect of returning back to ASL next year and finishing his high school career in a stable environment even if it means another year apart from his mother. “It was a hard decision to make, but I think we both agreed that it was the right one,” he said.

Features

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ine countries in 17 years.

Shikhar Sood (’13) has not stayed in the same country for longer than three years since he was six years old. He lives a life where the word “home” means something fleeting and the ability to take moving countries as the start of new experience is an important attribute. Home is supposed to be a place with family, friends and memories, but finding all these in one place has been a challenge for Sood. In the past 17 years, he has moved from New Delhi to Ghana to Zambia to Ethiopia to Nigeria to Egypt to Kenya to Tanzania and, finally, to London.

His mother’s job as a United Nations (UN) Ambassador has forced the family to move countries every one or two years; however, relocations have lasted as short as six months, leading to an ever-changing life. “I have gotten used to living out of suitcases,” Sood said.

As a child, Sood remembers the constant changes in location as being extremely hard on him.

Friends and acquaintances alike considered him lucky for getting the opportunity to travel around the world, but he resented being the odd one out amongst his friends, constantly having to pack his bags and go. “It was always ‘hi’ and then ‘bye’,” he said.

Sood often felt isolated and friendless when arriving at new schools during his earlier moves, and the prospect of making friends he would lose in a few months was disheartening. Over time, Sood has learned to live in the moment and take new experiences as they come. “I’ve learned how to make temporary friends,” he said.

Although Sood and his mother are originally from New Delhi, he considers his home to be Ethiopia.

He stayed in Ethiopia for three

All around the world In just 17 years, Shikar Sood (‘13) has lived in nine countries, ranging from India to Ghana.

Features Editor Mina Omar takes a look at his life and the advantages and challenges that have come with it so far

photo by emily mark

years and believes it is the friendliest place he has ever lived. It is also the only place where he has friends with whom he has kept in contact following his departure.

“We still Skype and Facebook all the time,” he said. Along with the friendly atmosphere he found, Sood liked the greenery and isolation in Ethiopia, although along with it came a state of boredom at times. “There were no malls,” he said. “There was a cinema, but it was constantly under threat so we didn’t go there that often.”

Threats of violence against civilians may intimidate most people, but Sood has faced a number of them while living in his most recent and least favorite country, Nigeria. Nigeria is a country that has a prominent Al Qaeda presence that make it their mission to target the Western influences

office was one of the ones that was hit worst. “She came back from visiting the site in tears,” he said.

“I think that was when we decided it was time for me to go.”

Now, Sood lives alone in London while his mother continues to work in Nigeria. “Living alone is every teenager’s dream,” he said. “But it’s a lot harder than it seems.” During the first few months of his newfound independence, Sood took advantage of being his own parent. He stayed out late, didn’t clean up after himself and ordered take out for every meal. Soon, he realized that this was really not the way to live and began to organize his life. “I was forced to discipline myself. Now I have a different day assigned for all the chores I have to do,” he said.

Although living alone may get

Student shines as club leader

Fares Chehabi EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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club president’s success can be measured in two ways: Their ability to raise funds and their ability to raise awareness.

Pink Ribbon Club President Alexia Willems (’13) has certainly succeeded in the former, raising more than £1,000 for her club this school year, the first in the club’s existence. “I just think it’s a really good cause,” Willems said. “Plus, [cancer] can happen to anyone, boys and girls.

It’s a big issue to be a part of.” Her passion for the club, which consists entirely of female members, comes from a personal side too, as her aunt is a breast cancer survivor.

The club’s money was not

made overnight, however. Over the course of the year, fundraising events have included a bake sale, a “penny wars” competition, a gingerbread-house-based competition and a gingerbread house workshop for Middle School students.

The club also received all of the proceeds made from ticket sales for the student-led production of The Shining musical. Additionally, a tshirt drive is currently underway to garner additional funds.

This is not to say that the club has neglected their need to raise awareness. Willems hopes to shoot a “dance-a-thon” documentary soon, in which Willems and other club members would be dancing around London to raise breast cancer awareness. The video would

also include insight from various oncologists. She hopes to showthe docu-mentary at school sometime next year.

Willems admits that she was not entirely aware of the disease’s frequency prior to creating the club.

“Before my aunt got breast cancer, I was in this mindset that it was just not going to happen to me or anyone in my family,” she said. “But then when [my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer], I realized that it could happen to anyone.”

And now that she’s really gotten going, Willems is showing no signs of slowing down. On May 28, she participated in the Race For Life marathon in a bid to raise additional funds. In fact, Pink Ribbon Club Moderator and Math Teacher

Lucie Eckersall labelled Willems as “amazing, driven and so generous with her time and her effort.”

However, this amount of dedication for the cause does not solely come from Willems. The club’s impressive work is the result of a collaborative team effort as well. “I think we’re probably not the biggest club, but the one with the most dedicated members who want to make a difference,” Willems said.

Willems is currently undecided as to which charity will receive the entirety of the funds raised come the end of the year. The candidates include the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Photo from flickr/ SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

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THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Features

Serving Your Country Israeli citizens Adam Koren (’14) and Maya Lavie (’13) will have different experiences following high school than their friends. When they finish, Koren and Lavie will return to Israel, where they will join the army, Koren for three years and Lavie for two.

Deputy Editor-In-Chief Anna Young investigates

Koren has lived a very international life. His mother is Colombian and his father is Israeli, but he holds five passports and has not lived in Israel since the three years he spent there when he was younger. Despite this, he feels that he has always had a strong connection to his Israeli heritage and believes that military service will strengthen this feeling. “Going to the army will make me feel more connected to Israel and more a part of Israel,” he said.

For the Koren family, military conscription is a contested subject. “My dad and my dad’s side have all gone to the army, and my dad has influenced me to go there,” he said. “But also, my mom is really against going to the army.”

His family, however, is the driving force behind his determination to participate in training. “To me, it means protecting my family, ” he said. “My family, in my life, is my top priority, and I’ll go through extreme means in order to save them or to protect them in any way possible.”

Koren’s feeling of motivation and his pending service has shaped the way he looks at his own life. “I feel that the army will make me more brave, will make me more aware of life, more conscious of life, more grateful about life,” he said. He feels that it will make him strive to get the best out of his experiences as well.

“I definitely think that through the military service, your mind gets open and you are grateful for the little things, like your friends, the food you eat, the bed that you’re in, the shelter that you’re in, the house, the family members around you,” he said.

However, Koren feels set apart from his peers because of his military service and the sense of responsibility it has instilled in him. “People don’t understand the feeling of doing anything possible to protect your family or to fight for something that you love or to fight for something that you’d like to protect, like your country, your country’s safety, national security, as well as family members and their lives and children,” he said.

Though Koren embraces this responsibility, grappling with the situations that come with military service has been a struggle. “It is very scary to know that at any moment in time if I do join the military I could be asked to go in the front line and fight for my country,” he said. “But it is something that I have to do in order to save my family, to protect my family, to protect my country.”

He believes that this experience will be an enriching one. “This type of experience is one that you can’t get anywhere else,” he said. “You can’t get the experience of fighting next to brothers, sleeping with brothers, training and running with brothers – brothers in arms – for the same reason and fighting for the same reason.”

For Lavie, military service is also a family affair. Her whole family has served in the Israeli army, and her joining is a continuation of that tradition. “It’s part of life, but they’re proud of me for continuing the tradition and enrolling,” she said. “It isn’t really a choice at this point.” Lavie is moving back to Israel at the end of this school year and will go from her high school there straight to the army.

Like Koren, she too feels that service will add to her connection to Israel. “I know the experience will be amazing, to be able to connect with my homeland as well as so many other Israelis, all of whom are there for the same reasons as me,” she said. “Being part of the army will also unite me with a community of people that are all there for the same reason, supporting the same cause.”

However, service hasn’t changed her plans for the future. As she had already planned to go to college in Israel, she is not alone in her delayed entry into college.

“Going to the army does, however, give me two more years to develop as a person which will definitely make it easier for me to decide on my plans for the future,” she said.

She has gotten many different reactions when she tells people that she is going to join the military after high school. When she was younger, her peers viewed her conscription as “pretty cool” because it was so far off. But as she has become older and her service has gotten more realistic, reactions have tended to be more extreme.

Although Lavie will, most likely, go into intelligence during her time in the army, many people misunderstand what her conscription means, “probably because they think that going to the army means going to war.” She often encounters people who do not understand why she is joining the army, as well. “I’ve even been asked if there’s a chance I could die,” she said. ‘Be careful’ is usually the end of the conversation.”

Lavie, moreover, feels a sense of nationalism and responsibility that comes with her service in the military. “Being in the Israeli army means I am part of something – something much bigger than I’ve ever been part of before,” she said. “It’s very hard to explain, but I feel as though it’s my duty to serve my country.”

photos by emily mark Photo from flikr.com/ siltor Graphic by Zack Nathan

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Life at 1,500 miles per hour Lunch with The Standard: Major General Thomas Bergeson, the highest ranking US military officer currently assigned to the UK, tells News Editor Thomas Risinger about his experiences in the United States Air Force

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s I leave Bond Street tube station, I am slightly apprehensive that I will be unable to locate the United States Embassy in time for my 3:30 p.m. interview with Major General Thomas Bergeson, the highest ranking US military officer currently assigned to the UK. As I soon find out, however, the US Embassy is anything but inconspicuous: A five story building with airtight security, and a rather gaudy statue of an eagle on the roof. Upon arrival I am hurried into security. To my great dismay, my entire bag, and all electronic items (including the voice recorder with which I had hoped to record the forthcoming interview) are confiscated. I am then issued a large red security pass stating “ACCOMPANIED VISITOR” and told to wait in the Lobby.

Once I am inside the embassy, the air of impenetrable security is gone. It is as if I am in the office of any sizable company. The general atmosphere is relaxed. The guards are no longer rigid, but casually chatting together about the the final matches of the English Premiership. This impression continues as I am escorted up to the fourth floor by an elderly lady. Soon we pass through a set of double doors that are marked with the imposing seal of the US Department of Defence.

General Bergeson’s office appears at first glance to be like that of any executive. It is a large corner office with a bookshelf, television, and pictures on the walls. On closer inspection, however, this is anything but a normal office. The bookshelf is filled with titles such as “A History of Air Warfare.” The television is marked on the right hand side with a bright red sticker stating, “classified SECRET by the United States Government.” Most noticeable of all are the pictures on the wall, not of family, but of F15s, F22s and most striking of all, a geographical map of Iran pinned behind the door. “We’re pretty interested in that place; they have got some great carpets,” General Bergeson jokes, to break the somewhat awkward air after my inquiry.

General Bergeson is an Officer of the United States Air Force. He arrived in London with his family two years ago, to serve as Defence Attaché

“It ended up being myself

versus two ‘enemy’ aircrafts and all of my missiles were malfunctioning...”

Major General Thomas Bergeson at the embassy. His posting in the UK is but one step in a military career that has taken him across the globe.

General Bergeson can only be described as a man who is in love with what he does. By the way that he jumps up to shake my hand and eagerly exclaims how wonderful it is that we share a name, it is clear that he is anything but a typical burned out, middle-aged man. His excitement and enthusiasm bubble to the surface as he proceeds to give me a tour of the embassy. From the basement bar, to the Office of the US Ambassador, he is always full of life.

As we return to General Bergeson’s office, we get down to business. It quickly becomes appar-

drawing By Andrew Bai

ent that his current job involves working with his counterparts in the British government on defence-related issues, as well as building relationships with important military personnel, politicians and other people who live in or visit the UK. However, his current posting is far from the highlight of his career.

General Bergeson joined the the US Air Force in the early 1980s when he attended the United States Air Force Academy in Palm Springs, Colorado. His desire to fly came from an event while growing up. “One day I went to an air fair in my home state of Wisconsin and saw the Thunderbirds [the Air Force’s trick flying squadron] and I thought ‘Damn, I want to do that,’” General Bergeson said.

The Air Force Academy was the first step in the dream, and anything but an easy step. “It was a beautiful place, but we all hated it,” General Bergeson said with a reminiscent smile. With roughly a 33 percent attrition rate, the Academy proved to be too much for many, but General Bergeson stuck through, graduated, and went on to pilot training.

This was where General Bergeson truly found his calling. He is a modest man, but it is easy to tell that he was an incredible fighter pilot. He describes one incident at his first operational squadron in Okinawa, Japan where he was participating in a training drill. “It ended up being myself versus two ‘enemy’ aircrafts and all of my missiles were malfunctioning so I had to resort to my machine gun, which I was under orders not to use, but I ‘killed’ both of them before they got me.” This incident earned him the callsign “Guns,” which he still uses to this day.

From here his career only went up. Within seven years of graduating from the Air Force Academy, he was selected for the Fighter Weapons School, which is a six month course that is

Major General Thomas Bergeson joined the United States Air Force in the early 1980s.

Since then, his military career has taken him around the globe.

He earned the nickname “Guns” after shooting down two enemy aircrafts during a training drilll in Okinawa, Japan.

the Air Force’s version of the school Tom Cruise attended in the famous movie “Top Gun.” “It is basically the PhD of fighter training, and is an absolutely incredible experience,” General Bergeson explained. He graduated as the honor man of his class (in other words he was “Top Gun.”) Within a few years he was back at the Fighter Weapons School, but this time as an instructor. “This for me was the highlight of my flying career, and would be for anyone. Flying itself is a hell of a lot of fun, and flying there is one of the most incredible things,” General Bergeson said.

By this time, General Bergeson’s career was flying – literally. He became the first Commander of a squadron of F22s, and flew combat missions in the Middle East throughout the 1990s and until 2008. “We were shot at by anti-aircraft fire, and surface to air missiles in Iraq, but I have never been shot down,” General Bergeson said, tapping the wooden conference table.

It is clear by this point in the interview that General Bergeson loves his thrills, whether they are free fall skydiving or taking a fighter jet to the farthest limits of its speed. His fastest flying speed clocked in at 1500 miles per hour. To give some perspective, that is over three times faster than as a commercial airliner and almost twice the speed of sound at sea level. “Up high you don’t really realize how fast you’re going. Real speed is when you’re doing 500 miles per hour through the mountains,” General Bergeson said with a gleeful look.

However, fast jets, skydiving, and dogfights aren’t the only reasons that General Bergeson has dedicated his life to the service of his country.

With a serious expression on his face, it becomes clear that for General Bergeson, service is a way of life. “The reason I stayed [in the military] was that I felt that what I was doing had meaning, that I was part of, and working for, something that was bigger and more important than myself,” Bergerson explained. “Not only that, but the sense of camaraderie is second to none. In a fighter squadron you develop an unbreakable trust with your squad. I love the people I work with.” It sounds like a recruiting commercial, but it is obvious from the look of intensity on his face that he means every word.

The interview is winding to an end, and although he hasn’t mentioned it, I am sure that General Bergeson has many items that need attending to. When I had arrived, a Marine Lieutenant Colonel (he shook my hand with a grip that felt like steel) was talking to General Bergeson about a dinner, and as I left another military officer arrived with gifts for the Egyptian Defence Attaché for another upcoming dinner. It is clear why General Bergeson describes his job as being about building relationships, and consultation with his counterparts in both the British government and others. “I end up eating an enormous amount of finger food,” General Bergeson said with a slight chuckle to himself.

Unfortunately, it is on a sad note that the interview ends. General Bergeson, who has for the past hour been expressing his great love of flying, tells how he hasn’t flown for almost two years, and his upcoming post at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. won’t alllow him to fly at all. As General Bergeson explained, “Someone has to make sure that this place gets run, but I hope I will get back in the air. I really can’t wait.”

Culture

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE VI MAY-JUNE 2012

A long journey down ‘Narrow Lanes’ Jordan Plotner (’12) composed a 39-part piece of music for the ASL band, choir and orchestra.

Culture Editor Matt Bentley explores how this dream became a reality Jordan Plotner sits across the table from me. He leans back slightly, smiling. He has spent hundreds of hours working on his music.

Whether it is playing or writing, Plotner has worked to perfect his craft. Most recently, he has composed a piece of music for the High School Band, Choir and Orchestra entitled “Narrow Lanes.”

“I started composing this piece in December,” Plotner said. He began the piece as a small arrangement for a jazz ensemble. After performing this for a large audience, he was approached by a college professor who had worked in publishing companies and who told Plotner that he thought it should be adapted for the full band. He told Plotner that if he would arrange it this way, the professor would get it published.

Plotner then set about arranging it for a total of 39 instruments, many of which he can not play. He worked with Band Teacher David Papenhagen before Music Tour in order to achieve this. Papenhagen mentored Plotner and edited the piece of music all the way through.

Plotner originally started writing music at age 13, “but it was

really just lyrics and chords,” he said. When he was 13, he got a microphone for Chanukah so he could record his own music. He has recorded somewhere around 50 songs and some more complex arrangements, eventually adding different string and wind instruments. He spent most of his time composing for smaller groups.

“I’ve really had no formal training,” Plotner said. Recently, he attended a composing program in New York and “learned a lot.”

“There are a lot of elements from different pieces of music, I don’t like boundaries,” Plotner said as he chuckled. While it started as jazz, it became more of a jazz harmony, with an influence from 12 tone music and dissonance.

“I really wanted there to be strong percussion,” Plotner said. “I used the suspended cymbals often to achieve that ‘shiver’ moment, when you hear it and your spine tingles.”

Plotner is trying to emulate Hans Zimmer in his use of percussion. “I use a driving percussion and low register deep instruments to create the sense of power,” he said.

Philippe Holodny’s (‘13) mascot for Jambalaya, Kenny.

Illustration by Phillipe Holodny

The 2011-2012 Cover of Jambalaya. Cover graphic by Zack Nathan.

Plotner has spent the year in the percussion section in order to get to know it better. “I know the bass, but I don’t know about everything,” he said. He believes that his biggest challenge was knowing the different ranges of the instruments. “It was the hardest for brass, because [the ranges] are different between a professional band and an ASL band.”

When I ask him about the about the rehearsal process with the band, he laughed. “It sounded very different with the full band,” Plotner explained. Plotner talked about imagining the sound in your heard, and how, “It’s really different with actual instruments playing actual notes.” Soon, Papenhagen decided to split the band into a smaller group in order to create a better balance with the orchestra and the choir. “It was really slow at first, but it sounded like I thought it would,” Plotner said.

Plotner plans to continue studying music in college, and said that he wants to be in film composition.

“I like that the composer’s job is to add more emotion, add more color to the screen. They can never let the audience get bored,” he said.

Plotner composed a piece entitled “Narrow Lanes” performed by the High School Band, Choir and Orchestra at the Spring Music Concert.

PhotoS by Jessica Haghani

Jambalaya Review This year’s edition of Jambalaya, designed and created by members of all grades of the High School, was among the best in years, says Online Editor Tyler Zschach Over the course of the year, the Jambalaya staff have managed to turn around a literary-arts magazine into one of the most respected publications in the school, with leadership that has been nothing short of fantastic in pushing for contributions and interesting content for their literary magazine. Katie Lee’s (’12) repeated announcements in assemblies has become a mainstay in the ASL community and will be sorely missed when Lee graduates.

Jambalaya features rich content created by students, including short stories, poetry, and photo collaborations. The staff members, who would congregate for work sessions on Saturday mornings, found themselves dealing with an enormous surplus of content.

“It was the first time Jambalaya has seen over 100 submissions,” Lee said.

Public relations schemes like the “Jam Trade,” in which students would exchange a submission for a baked treat, popularized Jambalaya immensely.

This year’s edition is proof that Jambalaya has excelled at presenting new and unusual topics to the community. Several photo collages manage to catch your eye as soon as you turn the high-quality booklet.

This is in contrast to Jambalaya’s predecessors, all of which have been in an A4 format. The simplistic yet elegant nature of the literary magazine is breathtaking. The High School community was captivated upon its release.

Jon Preddy’s (’12) piece about Stephen Hawking, titled “A Stephen Hawking Treadmill Experience,” was possibly some of the most compelling literature I have read by a student during my tenure at ASL. His description and sentence structure are to be admired, and deserves to be highlighted individually as one of the brightest in a group of stars.

Other works, such as “Secret Garden,” an anonymously submitted piece detailing a garden with an exquisite rhyme scheme, and “Throwing Rocks,” written by Julian Nebreda (’13), which featured brilliant

writing in concise sentences, are also highlights of the publication.

However, Jambalaya is not without its flaws. One piece in particular is laced with grammatical errors that detract unnecessarily from its professionalism.

Nevertheless, Jambalaya has taken leaps and bounds in improving the publication that will surely have a lasting impact on the school. The work is truly commendable, and it has raised my expectations for Jambalaya in the future.

Rating: 9/10 Editorial Staff: Katie Lee, Sophia Jennings, Dana Elmasry and India Patel

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Cultureddd Musical Review

Tyler Zschach online editor

The collaboration between “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and “Avenue Q” composer Robert Lopez is loaded with obscenities, humorously insulting and blasphemous, but the musical comedy definitely warrants the amount of hype surrounding it. “The Book of Mormon” tells the tale of two inexperienced but courageous educators. The modern play drops the two glowing missionaries into the unfamiliar land of modern, 21st century Uganda, where they spread their faith and undergo lifechanging experiences.

These two missionaries, played

by Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, must confront a warlord with one eye and an unprintable name, a unique group of villagers ripe with AIDS who have their own feelings towards God, which they express in a short, unprintable, phrase, blaming him for what has happened in their life, in addition to random locals screaming phrases periodically such as, “I have maggots in my scrotum.”

These seemingly atrocious dis-

plays only help to bring on the miracle that “The Book of Mormon” has brought on us. Broadway has not seen a play with such character in likely over a decade, with the seats remaining filled from the day the play has released, and shows no signs of changing soon. With the incredible, precise, and deliberate choreography done by Casey Nicholaw, and the play being directed by Nicholaw and Parker, “The Book of Mormon” managed to hit all of the right notes at exactly the right time. Each number is clever, and genuinely riveting.

Parker and Stone have been well reputed for approaching nothing as untouchable, including but not limited to most major world religions, homosexuality, and most social taboos. They also have collaborated to make several movie musicals themselves, most notably South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The duo fittingly combines with Lopez, who used teaching songs for younger children and adapted them into urban life, and Nicholaw, who has worked on highly successful shows such as “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Spamalot.” The group of four utilized their great synergy to cre-

ate a musical with clever lyrics and witty displays to target multiple audiences.

However it should be noted that the play is incredibly sacrilegious. The teachings of the Mormon Church are frequently raised and ridiculed, and church creators Joseph Smith and Brigham Young appear in storybook segments, in addition to Jesus. Though when put into a comedy, it is seen as mostly nonsensical. The play attempts to highlight that, viewed from a certain angle, all major religions are in some capacity absurd, but the underlying meaning is that the absurdity is what makes them great.

The relationship between Elder Price (Rannels), a perfect human being, and Elder Cunningham (Gad), a slob prone to breakdowns, have a stereotypical relationship to anyone that has watched comedies before.

In addition, Gad’s personality type, a Jack Black who is actually funny, also lacks a bit of freshness.

“The Book of Mormon” gives you the ability to witness one of the best musical comedies to ever grace the world, even if it is only a couple of hours long.

The Book Of Mormon has won nine Tony awards since it started in 2011.

photos from Bookofmormonbroadway.com

The Book of Mormon: Sidesplittingly sacrilegious

What else? For £74 million Edward Munch’s painting The Scream was recently bought for a record £74 million.

Culture Editors Shahid Mahdi and Matt Bentley look at what could’ve been bought for the same price Edvard Munch’s The Scream 30 Bugatti Veyrons

10.7% of the Hoover Dam

3,870,967 shares of Facebook, 0.12% of the company

92% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Real Madrid

0.0007% of the European GDP

PHOTO OF THE SCREAM FROm WWW.EDVARD-MUNCH.COM

185,000,000 apples as priced by the cafeteria

Photo of hoover dam from flikr/DHP1110. Photo of Facebook from Facebook.com. Photo of Apples from flikr/mrs.photo. Photo of EU FLAG FROM FLIKR.ROBDEMAN. PHOTO OF BUGATTI FROM MCTCAMPUS

Page 14

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Culture

‘Papa’s Epilogue’ Sarah Fletcher (’13) won the prestigious Christopher Tower Poetry award this year, for a poem titled ‘Papa’s Epilogue’. Staff Writer Katie Dillon explores the story of the award-winning poem, from inspiration to ‘poetic surgery’ to winning first place When Sarah Fletcher (’13) decided to send one of her poems to the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition,she was nervous about submitting something to such a prestigious contest. “I knew how big the competition was, and really wanted to submit my best and have it be perfect so I’d have a chance at winning,” she said.

Fletcher knew that the theme for this year’s competition was voyages, and originally started writing various pieces that “ended up sounding forced.” Finally, she managed to settle on one of her older poems, that had not been written for the competition, but instead about Ernest Hemingway.

Fletcher chose her piece because, when she first read some of his work, she found that he was sexist and annoying, and that he stood for a sense of masculinity that she disliked. However, after studying more of his work, she began to enjoy and eventually love his writing. “I think I was able to channel my anger [toward Hemingway] in a good way, and now, he is actually one of my favorite writers,” she said. It was through this anger that Fletcher wrote her award-winning

“I remember gasping out loud when the second-place winner had been announced, and it wasn’t me...”

Sarah Fletcher (‘13)

poem, Papa’s Epilogue.

Once Fletcher had finally settled on the poem that she would submit, she performed “poetic surgery” on it. She began by “cutting out words, adding some in, taking out entire stanzas,” and then had various English teachers, including Miles Dunmore, read over her piece.

In February, after religiously editing and revising her poem, she finally sent it in to be judged. Between the time that she sent it in, and the time when she heard back from the competition, Fletcher was in a perpetual state of nervousness.

One day in March, while in Spanish class, Fletcher got a call from an unknown number. Once she got home, and listened to it, she “nearly screamed when I found out who

Photo from Flikr/usnationalarchives

it was from.” Realizing that she, and five others, had been selected to be prize winners, Fletcher was amazed. However, the time leading up to the ceremony were also a time of anxiety for Fletcher. “Though I was incredibly excited, I spent the next month obsessing over what place I was in,” she said.

After almost a month of waiting, Fletcher, her family, and Dunmore all travelled to Oxford, where the announcement of the winners was being held. “Christ Church, one of Oxford’s oldest colleges, was

done up beautifully and the crowd there was certainly respectable,” she said. She met many people at the college, including famous poets and the Mayor of Oxford.

Fletcher hopes to study at Oxford in the future.

All the time she spent waiting led her to over analyze her situation, and come to the conclusion that she had most certainly come last out of the six that had been selected for awards. “My nerves were ridiculous, I was almost shaking,” she said. The most difficult part

was being a prizewinner, but not knowing what place she had come in.

When the judges started announcing the winners, Fletcher was “almost paralyzed with excitement.” After each name was called, Fletcher would mentally prepare herself to hear her name called next. “I remember gasping out loud when the second-place winner had been announced, and it wasn’t me. I think I acted maturely when winning, despite the fact [that] my inner child was freaking out,”

she said. As the first-place winner, she had to read her poem out to the judges, poets and audience.

Fletcher knew this was her time to shine, and “did it slowly, relishing every word.”

Following the announcement of her winning the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition, Fletcher was asked how she would spend the £3,000 winnings, but for her, the money didn’t matter. “The opportunities that winning first [prize] will give me in the literary industry are invaluable,” she said.

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Cultureddd

Haters gonna hate:

From Justin Bieber to Damien Hirst

Photo Editor Emeritus Katie Lee reviews the Damien Hirst exhibit, and what it says about art and one of the contemporary art world’s most renowned and venerated talents The moment Justin Bieber’s new hit “Boyfriend” started blasting in The Standard’s offices, I knew people were going to be addicted to his words: “If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go.” There was going to be an exponential increase of this unknown “illness”: the notorious Bieber fever.

Obviously Bieber is no Beethoven. The non-Beliebers can agree that his work has everything that’s wrong with the Top 40 music scene today: Commercial, shallow lyrics, and very little contribution from the artists themselves.

You might be wondering what Justin Bieber has to do with this review, but I consider Damien Hirst to be the Justin Bieber of the art world. When word was out that Hirst was showing at the Tate Modern, the crowd was divided. While some were excited to see a clean cut cow in a tank, others asked, “What has art become?”

Here are some reasons given by the so called Hirst-Haters: 1) Hirst is the epitome of having “money in [his] hands that [he’d] really like to blow.”

A lot of the pieces he calls “art” are, in essence, billions of dollars plastered to a wall. Or a skull, engraved with 8671 diamonds, which sold for £50 million. “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” a 14 meter long tiger shark pickled in formaldehyde, sold for £5 million. Hirst held his net value at £215 million in 2010, making him Britain’s richest living artist.

Controversy was sparked when Hirst defied the general rule of thumb: Contemporary art goes through dealers, old art goes through auctions. As an artist of the era, he was meant to contact a dealer to sell his work. However, in 2008, Hirst decided to hold a personal auction at the Sotheby’s, which set another re-

cord beyond simple criticism: He managed to sell every single piece in his entire collection, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,” raising an unprecedented £111 million.

2) Hirst is rarely involved in the making of his own pieces.

To be fair, this is true of a plethora of artists today. The Hirst-Haters, however, are willing to look over this fact. But this brings them to their third point...

3) Then what has Hirst done? Whip out a design to put a shark in a tank?

Back when “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” was first made, it was considered a great contribution to the Young British Artists movement, as a fresh insight and expansion of the definition of art. However, his work is excused as “conceptual,” critics disapprove of his continual making of works that show little to no trace of efforts towards significant progress.

Hirst is now, by many, considered worthless.

4) Hirst is shallow.

It’s like when Bieber sings about “sitting by the fire and eating fondue.” Hirst explores

a handful of themes in his works - death, the futility of life, and the life cycle. This is exemplified in his collage of butterfly wings, representing freedom, an eery death, along with ecstatic beauty through the carefully composed color coordination. In some, they mimic gothic stained glass windows. His approach to the matter comes through what the butterfly in its existence brings upon the table rather than his actual contribution.

To some, his work is nothing more than an emulation of the butterfly-collectors in the good-old Victorian days.

There are two big interpretations that may define Damien Hirst. Either he’s an artistic genius who knows the right buttons to press in order to hit his audience.

Or he’s making ridiculous pieces on purpose, to criticize the public for using art not as itself, but marks of social status.

I think it’s a mixture of both. He does know how to excite the crowd, whether it’s by putting flies in a box with a cow’s head and a zapper, or lining pills against a massive mirror to create a color of a season. By throwing the same, recreated pieces back into the viewer’s face, the same pieces that once had been considered a “contribution” to the art society, he mocks the crowd who stare at the intestines of a cow cut in half in disgust, but also awe.

I walked into the exhibition with very low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised that I had fun. Whatever the criticisms are, and how ridiculous the things he calls “art” are, the Hirst exhibit is a space of gruesome fun. The room of living butterflies, the massive circular canvas of plastered flies, or the holes of a box that make the viewer bend and look inside, only to find a tissue on the ground, may be considered “shallow,” but it goes with exactly what Hirst wants to convey: The cycle of life, death and beauty (and money) intertwined within unexpectedness.

Even though I may not like the concept of Justin Bieber, his face on 7-year-olds’ backpacks, bookmarks and pencils, I don’t have a big problem with “Boyfriend”. And although it’s important to note that Hirst and his work do hold flaws, it would be a shame to lose the opportunity to simply look beyond it and simply enjoy the space he has created. The show is on until September 9. Don’t wait until September, though.

Damien Hirst Exhibition: TATE Modern April 4–September 9 Admission: ££14 Open late on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, until 10 p.m.

Bankside, London SE1 9TG Featuring: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

PHOTOS FROM WWW.DAMIENHIRST.COM

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THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Sports

A first of many marathons Culture Editor Shahid Mahdi reflects on his relationship with running in light of his first marathon experience My fascination with running bizarrely originates from an ill-fated encounter with a golf-cart. In July 2008, I was riding in the rear passenger seat with a friend and was being driven at dizzying speeds through uneven terrain. Instantaneously, I found my 13-year-old self lying face down with a girl on top of me, two other passengers on top of her, and the steel rod that supports the cart’s roof underneath my left arm. I staggered up, and soon discovered I had broken the radius and ulna in my forearm.

With cautiousness and care, I received metal implants and was able to proceed with everyday life. However, confines were placed on my physical activity. As a humongous soccer aficionado, I was crestfallen to learn that contact sports were ruled out. I was thus confined to either a sedentary, lazy lifestyle, or what my doctor defined as a “boring yet simple athletic pastime.”

One morning in August, fed up with slothfully dazing about, I decided to head out for a brief, refreshing run.

It was not an enjoyable experience.

Running and I did eventually work out a rapport, though. Rather than a supplement to extracurriculars, it became a supplement to my life, a time when I could simply reflect, or do the opposite - clear my mind of the daunting workloads with which my classes burdened me. As I discovered the innards of London, my love for the city expanded. As I galloped along the Thames and weaved through foliage of parks across the city, I found London to be all the more glorious with each adventure. I marveled at landmarks,

roamed through tranquil neighborhoods, and was alarmed by drastic socio-economic alterations between swanky Mayfair townhouses and downtrodden housing projects in Lambeth. Day or night, I began to keep a portfolio of running photos taken on my phone, and shared them digitally. I came to the conclusion that, in order to become one with the city, you’ve got to run in it.

I was drowsily reading through the Evening Standard on the bus home when I spotted an advertisement from Spinal Research, a pioneering charity that raises funds for spinal cord repair. They required runners for the London Marathon, and owned guaranteed spots in the race. After an exchange of emails and formal registration, I had signed up for the Virgin London Marathon 2012. The gravitas of it all wasn’t apparent at the time.

I didn’t elevate my training significantly to adjust to the gruelling 26.2 mile distance that the marathon consisted of; it remained 15-20 kilometers every other day. I consulted English Teacher Jon Ingram on many occasions, and his sage advice was instrumental in my preparation.

Alas, the morning of April 22 did indeed arrive, and the next thing I knew I was brimming with adrenaline at the starting line. It was only then I realized that I would be running for the next four to six hours.

The crowd shuffled forth, and amid some confusion, the herd of runners began to assume the rhythm they would continue for the enormous distance. As I progressed, slowly but surely, the carnival atmosphere came to life. Concert set-

Mahdi upon finishing the marathon. He has been running since breaking his forearm in 2008. Photo Courtesy of Shahid Mahdi ups, singers, and bands all popped up. Throughout the race, members of the crowd, strangers you were unlikely to ever meet again, chanted your name and handed you assortments of sweets. Showerheads would rinse us as we sped under bridges, through alleyways and up hills. Water and Lucozade bottles were handed out frequently, and since we were only encouraged to take quick sips, heaps of half-drunk

bottles were to be found on every street corner.

In retrospect, the entire experience seems quite surreal and quick to me. There was an overwhelming sense of community, with countless runners encouraging each other to carry on. I didn’t feel like taking a break or walking, as it was a disruption of the effort. I whizzed by ambulances, and runners in immeasurable pain. You just had to keep your

head down and keep going, finish for them. Thanks to the trackers placed on every runner’s shoes, my friends were able to track me online, and regular photo updates I posted during the race wove a narrative.

In popular culture it always seems as if crossing the finish line would be a cinematic moment of euphoria. I wasn’t breathless or completely exhausted, but everything beneath my thighs was numb, torn from the unexpected toll the body was taking. I don’t know how, but I found an almost supernatural impulse to conjure up the energy to sprint right at the end. Finally, people would no longer ask “You’re running a marathon?!”; they would say, “You ran a marathon?!”

The next week was one of hobbling, stairs becoming synonyms for absolute agony. After all, a 26.2 mile trudge is not something for which your body is ever truly ready. From miles 21 onward, what I thought would be constant-yetbearable pain evolved into a test of true grit. As corny as it may come across as, the mounds of support and praise from everyone at ASL alleviated the pain, and propelled me to the very last of the banners.

The nine-time marathon champion Grete Waitz is famous for vowing, after her first marathon, “never to do that again.” Having run a marathon, one may think that I can take a hiatus from running and relax.

But, the mystical power of running within me is too strong. This journey is a signal that, between running and me, this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.

The benefits of a varsity opportunity Patrick Collins

patrick_collins@asl.org

Playing varsity sports is advantageous to Middle School students

“

I was challenged more than I had ever been and failed more times than I ever had before, yet this allowed me to improve.

As an athlete, I was always taught to capitalize on every chance I got, be it a ball thrown down the middle of the strike zone in baseball or an opponent throwing a lazy pass that is easy to intercept in rugby. So when the former varsity baseball coach Sean Dettman believed I had the talent to play for his team as a Grade 8 student, I seized the opportunity.

In doing so, Dettman presented me with one of the greatest sporting and learning experiences I have ever had.

Being part of a varsity program as an eighth grader, I was able to fully apply myself as a baseball player and as an athlete. I was challenged more than I had ever been and failed more times than I ever had before, yet this allowed me to improve. My skill level improved every day and I was able to reach levels of potential that would have been impossible in a middle

school setting.

Experiencing a high school environment on a daily basis introduced me to a positive culture and mentality that I was able to apply outside of athletics and in the classroom.

The same intensity that pushed me to perform better on the field also pushed me to perform better academically. I was able to feed off of the work ethics of teammates that I observed. My transition into high school the next year was smooth, because I had already been exposed and eased into many of the things that shock incoming freshmen.

As a competitor, I always wish to compete at the highest level possible, and if athletes have the skill level to compete at the varsity level, the highest level of sport available at ASL, they should be given the opportunity, regardless of their age or grade

level. Being placed in challenging positions, failing and learning from failure is the best way to ultimately succeed, as one is able to reflect upon their mistakes and better themselves from it.

Talented athletes who have the ability to play at the high school level are wasting their opportunities at the middle school level because they aren’t being challenged and are not put in situations where they can fail.

Thus they are unable to develop and improve their skills. With the most talented athletes able to rise to the top, ASL would be able to nurture its most skilled athletes and raise the bar for sport at the school.

Allowing middle school athletes, who have the talent to compete at the high school level, to play on high school teams not only betters the teams by adding more talent to

their rosters, but also allows the athletes to fully apply and develop their skills. The varsity teams benefit from the addition of skilled athletes because it increases the overall level of the team, as well as creating healthy competition for places inside the squads, forcing the team as a whole to improve. These younger athletes are placed in a position where they are no longer the most skilled on their team, and so they are pushed to improve.

Without this opportunity, athletes are wasting their potential to improve and putting their development of skill at risk. Giving middle school athletes with a high school skill level places on high school teams will allow the individual to improve and get a more refined skill set at a younger age and help ASL athletics reach a new level of excellence.

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

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Sportsddd

TRUE FAN

with Jamaican track team supporter Duncan Gans (’13) Why do you support the Jamaican Track Team?

don’t really know much about the sport, but keep an eye out for her.

I support the Jamaican Track Team because my mother is Jamaican and it is always so much fun to watch them run. In Jamaica, track is the most important sport, so the passion and commitment you see from the Jamaican athletes is always the best during the Olympics.

Everyone always hears about the track team, but in what other disciplines does Jamaica excel?

What makes Jamaica’s track team better than all the rest?

Jamaican track is the best in the world because, unlike in other countries, track is the most popular sport. When you go to the park in London you see kids playing football, but in Jamaica you actually do find kids running and improving their sprint times. We are the best because our country loves it and so we raise the best sprinters through our youth system.

Is the Jamaican track team just a one man show comprising of Usain Bolt, or are there other athletes one should look out for this summer?

Bolt is the star of the show but Jamaica still has Asafa Powell, the former world number one, and Yohan Blake who just ran a 19.26 second 200 meter and is also the second fastest 100 meter runner in the world now. So there is plenty to look out for in the Jamaican

photo by jessica haghani

During this summer’s Olympic Games, Duncan Gans (‘13) will be supporting the Jamaican track team due to his Jamacian heritage. A track and field athlete himself, Gans sat down with Staff Writer Patrick Mayr to disuss what to expect from Jamaica’s Olympic Team this summer. team. In particular, the men’s 4x100 meter race because the Jamaican team currently holds the record for the fastest time of 37.04 seconds from 2008 and it will be interesting to see if they can beat that time.

Were you surprised by Usain Bolt’s sudden breakthrough and domination?

I wasn’t really surprised. Even before the Beijing Olympics Usain Bolt had been setting records and

raising eyebrows on the Jamaican track scene. He was always expected to be the best and it is only recently that he is achieving it. I was hoping that this year he would run the 400 meters at the Olympics, but despite qualifying, he has decided not to run it until after 2012. I believe that there is still a lot to come from Usain Bolt and that in the future he may branch out to different events; he has even hinted at trying long jump in a meet.

In what events do you think the team will be especially strong this year to a degree that not everyone will be expecting?

I think that this year the women’s 400 meters will be the one to watch because three Jamaican runners qualified and they all have a chance at winning. We normally dominate at the shorter distances so it is exciting to see Jamaicans running in different races than normal. Also, apparently our equestrian rider isn’t bad. I

At the Olympics the only other competitions in which we are participating are swimming, football, taekwondo and horseback riding. Track is definitely our main sport; however, our football team is doing quite well at the moment. We are playing very well in the Caribbean Cup, and we are the favorites to win it. Track receives the most government backing and support, and we are the best at it, so it is no surprise that our best Olympic athletes are on the track team.

How much of a problem do you think performance-enhancing drugs are in the sport of track at the current moment?

Use of performance enhancing drugs still happens in track, but I think that generally the organizations judging the meets tend to find out who is “juicing” or not.

For example, Dwain Chambers had his 100 meter and 200 meter times taken away from him a few years ago because he was caught using steroids. But the fact that he was caught suggests that it would be difficult for an athlete to use steroids and get away with it.

Mustafa named varsity boys soccer coach Last season’s JJV coach Akay Mustafa is taking over for coaches Patros and Johnston for the 2012 season Anna young

Deputy Editor-in-chief

ben spar

staff writer Administrative Assistant and Attendance Officer Akay Mustafa has been announced as the varsity boys soccer coach for next year.

He will be assisted by another coach who is yet to be named.

Mustafa, who is the former JJV boys soccer coach, will replace current varsity coaches Andy Patros and Michael Johnston. The Athletic Department has not disclosed the reasons for this change, and neither an assistant nor co-coach for Mustafa has

been announced.

Mustafa will bring his experience from coaching the team that represented the London Turkish Football Federation, which beat the national Turkish Cypriot team in November. He recieved his official coaching license at the beginning of the year.

Mustafa and his co-coach will work before the preseason starts to put “systems in place to get the best out of each individual,” he said.

The replacement of coaches for next year reflects the transition the team will be making next year. With 11 senior players leaving the team and only a possible

eight returning players, the 2012 season will be spent focusing on rebuilding and forging new bonds between new and return-

“With ISSTs at our home fields, I expect everyone to be even more motivated to get a top three finish.”

Will Conway (’14)

ing players. However, returning players, such as midfielder Nils Elwing (’13), who has been on the

team for three years, does not think that this change will negatively affect their performance in competition. “We are losing a lot of players next year, and although it is a transition year for us, we are looking to do very well,” Elwing said.

The home-field ISST adds additional pressure to the team next season. As the hosts of the boys soccer ISST, the group will be expected to place well in their pool and avoid relegation from their division.

Returning players think, though, that this pressure will be a positive motivation for all members of the team to work harder to

prepare for the ISST. “I am looking forward to what should hopefully be a successful season with Akay,” returning player Will Conway (’14) said. “With ISSTs at our home-fields, I expect everyone to be even more motivated to get a top three finish.”

Mustafa believes that being close to home will benefit the players because they will be able to live in a normal environment off the pitch. “Ultimately it’s the same sized pitch...but it alleviates pressures for the players,” he said.

He thinks that having ISSTs close to ASL will also allow the team to connect more with the ASL community during the tournament.

Page 18

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THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Sports

Three weeks of misery Following his recovery from an infection, Johnny Kumah, who has worked with many High School students, returned to the youth club in Maida Vale to coach the sport he loves the most, football. Sports Editor Conor Finn sat down with Kumah to discuss his recovery from illness and investigated the coach’s impact on several High School students In late April, Johnny Kumah switched the youth club in Maida Vale where he coaches soccer, for the University College London Hospital (UCLH) walk-in hospital clinic in Euston, London where he would remain for the following three weeks.

Kumah, the beloved soccer coach of many Lower and Middle School students, had contracted an infection that was rarer than winning the lottery. Guy’s Hospital in Southwark had previously told Kumah that his wisdom teeth needed to be removed, but never followed up with him regarding a date or timeframe.

“It’s funny but my main concern the whole time was... getting back with the kids.”

Johnny Kumah

From top to bottom: Kumah watching a warm-up; Kumah joins the kids are in a discussion; Kumah looks on during a drill. photos by jessica haghani

“My jaw became huge,” Kumah said. Kumah’s wisdom teeth were not removed, so an abscess –a buildup of fluid– had formed in his jaw. “The abscess was infected and then it got further infected,” Kumah said.

“It was the second infection that was potentially life-threatening. It attacked all my organs, from my kidneys to, almost, my heart.”

For a large part of Kumah’s stay at UCLH hospital, the doctors were still trying to establish what disease he had. “First they thought it was HIV, then they thought it was sickle cell, then diabetes,” he said. During the tests, Kumah could not speak, as he needed to have a tracheostomy in order to be able to breathe. “The tests were very painful,” he said.

The miserable, frustrating time Kumah spent in the hospital began to take a toll on him. “It’s funny but my main concern the whole time was getting back [to the youth club], getting back with the kids,” he said.

Kumah wanted to get back to doing what he loves to do and left the hospital at the end of April after four operations and “21 days of pure misery.”

As the news of Kumah’s illness began to reverberate around the High School and the greater school community, several parents of students who had been coached by Kumah, as well as the students themselves, began to offer Kumah their support. “The support from ASL was brilliant,” Kumah said. “I was receiving food hampers to my home, to [the youth club], and I was even visited at the hospital. They made me feel like more than a coach, like I was an important member of the community, and that made a big difference.”

More than a hundred “get well soon” notes and signatures from ASL students were sent to Kumah at UCLH and the food baskets made it easier for him to gain back

the weight that he had lost in hospital.

“I was shocked when I heard what had happened to Johnny,” Lars Skattum (’12) said. After seeing Kumah shortly after the coach’s return from hospital, Skattum said that it was strange to see him in such a frail state but was reassured by the contagious smile and sense of humor for which he will always remember Kumah. “He is always smiling. I had so much fun when I played in his program,” Skattum said.

Nico Albanese (’14) has known Kumah for eight years and says he could not have imagined Kumah anything less than 100 percent fit. “He was always in such great shape and in such high spirits that I couldn’t believe it when I heard he was sick,” Albanese said.

“Johnny’s passion and enthusiasm is what made him so much fun. He wanted to play just as much as we did.”

Harley Williamson (’14), a varsity soccer player, has memories similar to Albanese’s.

“After school soccer with Johnny was incredibly fun,” she said. “Johnny helped me to forget that I was one of only two girls in the program and taught me the basics of soccer.”

Kumah believes that his sessions are so well-received by the kids because he bases everything on fun and enjoyment. “We disguise a lot of drills in fun games. I think that is important for younger kids: Having a smile on your face while you play and while you improve,” Kumah said.

Kumah is just starting to do some of the things that he could do before his abscess became infected. A fitness guru, he is beginning to ease back into his intense fitness regime. “I’m still very tired and weak but slowly it’s getting a bit better,” Kumah said.

“I don’t like to dwell on how unlucky it was to get the infection, though. I just don’t see the point.”

The disease’s mark on Kumah is a bandage covering the now-healing hole, which doctors made in his neck when his trachea closed. There are also a few stitches in his neck that he will soon have removed. “I don’t really understand the whole ‘you could easily have died’ thing,” Kumah said.

“I’m alive and happy to be so.”

Kumah reiterated how glad he is to be back in the youth club coaching soccer.

“This place isn’t the best facility,” Kumah said, “But the kids love it and that’s all that matters.” Kumah’s lessons take place in a high-ceiling, carpeted room that is somewhat larger than a tennis court. The facility is also used for tennis and fitness sessions.

Several children that Kumah has coached are currently in the youth programs of some of the best professional clubs in England, including Noah Abrams (’16), who is in Tottenham Hotspur’s youth academy. “If a child can put into practice the things you’ve taught them or you see a child improve, it’s a great feeling to know that you had a part to play in that,” Kumah said.

THE STANDARD | May-June 2012

Page 19

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Sportsddd

A newfound strength A regular in the school gym, Mustafa Ahmed’s (’13) commitment to fitness has blossomed after a setback thomas Risinger NEWS EDITOR On any given day, the odds of walking into the gym and seeing Mustafa Ahmed (’13) are very high. Whether he is running or lifting weights, he is almost always there. However, this was not always the case.

Two years ago at the end of Ahmed’s freshman year, he dropped out of school due to an illness. Over the next year Ahmed would spend the majority of his time isolated in his home, with little contact with the outside world. “I didn’t see anyone, and I didn’t want to see anyone,” Ahmed said. Along with his illness, Ahmed describes himself as basically having been an insomniac, only sleeping two or three hours a night.

At the beginning of Ahmed’s illness, he began to gain weight, and by the summer after his freshman year Ahmed weighed in at 232 pounds. “I didn’t want to be fat, it wasn’t that I minded what others thought of me, I cared about what I thought about myself,” he said. “I had to go buy

bigger clothes, and that was really embarrassing for me, so I felt something needed to be done.”

Ahmed also felt the need to accomplish something, and to excel at it. “One day I got up and said, ‘I am running.’” Ahmed describes his first efforts as “just slogging away on the treadmill for 30 minutes.” However, Ahmed’s gym was soon closed down and he was forced into running laps of Regents Park.

“I didn’t see anyone, and I didn’t want to see anyone.”

Mustafa Ahmed (’13)

Ahmed kept at it every day for three months and realized he had lost 45 pounds. This though, was not enough. “I wanted more,” Ahmed said. He started to run 10 kilometers every day, and soon found a new gym and began to add weight lifting into his training program.

By the end of the summer prior to Ahmed’s junior year, he had recovered from his illness and was down to 172 pounds, 60 pounds less than where he had been a year before.

With the start of the new school year, Ahmed began to work out in the school gym. Ahmed described his training up to that point as “solo” and said that he felt alone in the gym. At the school, however, Ahmed found a sense of community with the other people in the gym.

Prior to working out at the school, Ahmed drew his motivation from the progress that he was witnessing in himself. “To me, seeing that I can do something that a month or two months ago I could not is what keeps me going.

I see progress as inspirational,” Ahmed said For the time being, though, sports teams are out of the question. Ahmed played rugby during his freshman year, but since then he has not engaged in a sport neither inside nor outside of ASL. “Due to being ill and out of school for about a year, I am still making up all of my graduation requirements, and that takes up a huge portion of my time,” Ahmed said.

For now, Ahmed will be sticking to his routine, running and lifting weights six days a week, which adds up to 11 hours in total.

photo by jessica haghani

ahmed’s typical gym session • Four sets of 12 pull-ups • 200 pushups in sets of 30-40

• Four sets of 10 deadlifts

• Four sets of 8-12 weighted squats

• Three sets of 15 tricep dips

• Three sets of 8-12 power cleans

• Five kilometers of running

Sports as a lifestyle Six years. 18 seasons. 22 coaches. 11 ISSTs. 16 medals. 22,274.08 miles travelled for competition. 1,274 hours practiced. Unwavering Alex Morris commitment. No regrets. alexandra_morris@asl.org I’m not really sure why I started playing sports. No one in my family was particularly The rewards of taking sporty, and to be honest I probably liked the more than the idea of kicking a ball advantage of athletic uniforms around a field. Now, I can’t think of my life opportunities without it. If I’m not playing, I’m watching, talking, reading or thinking about sports. I had to become the sports editor. I wanted to go to a college where I could run. I need a job that can satisfy my fanaticism.

I know my level of obsession is unusual for my gender, and I’ve yet to find another girl quite as committed as I am. But for me, no matter what people think, sport shapes my life, and that’s the way I always want it to be.

I came to ASL from a very competitive sporting environment. As a third grader, I practiced three times a week on a soccer team that had to make cuts. The first time I played at Wormwood Scrubs, a weekend league frequented by many younger ASL students, I scored seven goals in one game. I was pretty disappointed at the level of competition, even as a 10 year old. If you had told me then what an impact ASL sports would have on my I’ve seen how sport has life, I probably would have rolled my eyes.

Despite the lowered level of competition, I changed my life, and I want never thought about giving it up. I will never others to experience it too. question the hours I’ve put into each team

“

at ASL. For me, every minute, every bead of sweat, every bruise, was worth it.

I’ve become the person I am because of sport. I know it sounds cheesy, I know you hear that from so many athletes, but I really doubt I would have the same character without playing sports. You develop a work ethic, a competitive drive, that makes you want to succeed not only on the court or the field, but in all areas of life. But most importantly, you learn what it means to be loyal and committed. I almost quit the girls varsity basketball team this year for various reasons, but I knew that wouldn’t be fair on my teammates or my coaches; they needed me and I needed them.

That group of girls turned into a family for me, the closest team I’ve ever been on. In 20 years I might not be able to tell you what place we finished at the ISST, but I’ll always remember the two coaches and 10 girls crying in the locker-room because we knew we had something special that was almost over.

It kills me inside to watch the number of girls trying out for sports slowly shrinking over the years. It’s also sad to watch upperclassmen quit a sport just because they’ve ticked off a box on their college application, or simply can’t be bothered anymore. The motivation should always be there. If not to win, to always try to make yourself better.

Part of this pain is because of my strong desire to build strong teams and create competition for starting spots, but it’s not that I look down on them for not playing. I’ve seen how

sport has changed my life, and I want others to experience it too. The sense of camaraderie you get among teammates is something that I believe doesn’t exist anywhere else. The highs are so much sweeter, and you get through the lows together. “You’ll never walk alone,” my fellow Liverpool fans and I sing before every game, no matter what we’ve been through (which is unfortunately a lot).

This column has been an empty Word document since the beginning of the year. I never really wanted to accept the fact that my time was nearly over. I had drafted various introductions, thanking people, but in the end, it just sounded like a half-hearted speech you would give at sports awards. The people who need thanking know who they are, and two simple words will not repay the hard-work and belief they placed in me. I owe them an eternity of gratitude.

There’s an anonymous quote that’s never far from my mind. “Play every practice or game like it’s your last because it very well could be. When you finally reach the day that you can’t play and can only watch, then you will know how much you love something that you once took for granted.” I know I’ve been that kid complaining about the bus ride to Canons Park, the rain and the long hours, but underneath that shallow layer of frustration is a passion that I will never let die. So, ASL athletes: Seize the day, and never regret what might have been. I certainly won’t.

Sports

THE STANDARD VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE VI MAY-JUNE 2012

The line-up: ISST baseball team Spring season review

ISST Review: After a 7-8 record in the regular season, the team hoped to show their true potential in the ISST. Despite playing very hard, the team couldn’t catch a break at the tournament and finished in fifth place out of six teams. Coach Terry Gladis thanked the seniors for their tremendous leadership and heart shown during the tournament. During the ISST, two Grade 8 students showed why they are the future of ASL baseball. Dexter Bohn (’16) and Lane Bryson (’16) were instrumental in the team’s successes.

The Coaching Staff Head Coach Terry Gladis

Erik Niemi

Head Coach

Assistant Coach

Gladis is an intense coach who puts the emphasis on discipline and hard work. In 14 years, Gladis has won 6 medals at ISSTs. His only gold medal was from the 2006 season. Gladis played baseball at the high school, college and independent league levels.

Niemi came into his role as assistant coach three years ago. With little previous competitive baseball experience, Niemi has learned much of what he knows from Gladis. Niemi helps with the organization of the team and complements the head coach well.

Photos by Susan plotner and jessica haghani

The Batting Order Zach Ezickson (’12)

1

Captain, Center Field

John Raucci (’13)

2

Jordan Plotner (’12)

Patrick Collins (’14)

3

4

Pitcher, Shortstop

Captain, FIrst Base

Left Field

Zach is a huge player for the team. He’s fast, he has a fluid swing and he is a great fielder. Gladis expects Ezickson to catch almost anything hit into the centerfield area and to get on base practically every time he steps up to the plate. As a captain, Zach is a leader on the team and should have an explosive ISST performance.

John is a first-year player on the team.

John looks like a natural baseball player and is beginning to play more and more like one.

He’s fast and has good instincts. His home run in Brussels has been the highlight of his season. Gladis thinks John will play very well in this year’s ISST and has the potential to dominate next season’s competition.

Jordan is a great hitter. He has become a lot stronger at the plate, which has has improved his ability to hit the ball hard and drive in runs. As a captain, Jordan uses his solid fielding ability and experience to lead on the field.

He’s a very important player for the squad going into ISSTs.

Patrick is an extremely talented baseball player. He is the team’s number one pitcher and swings the biggest bat on the team. He hit two home runs in Brussels and is relied on for his stellar pitching ability. This season, Patrick has grown into a leadership role on the team. He may very well be the best player at the ISST this year.

Peter hughes (‘12)

Stefan nealis (‘12)

Cameron McClure (’15)

Matt Payne (’15)

5

Captain, Third Base, Pitcher

Peter is a very well rounded player and is very important to the team. He is a good third baseman, he is the team’s number two pitcher and he is a great power hitter. Peter’s pitching ability is key to the team’s success.

He is also an exceptional leader in his role as captain.

Ben Spar (’14)

9

Catcher

7

6

This is Stefan’s first year playing baseball at ASL. He had played baseball in the past but this season he has taken his game to a whole new level. Stefan is one of those players that Gladis can see getting better every day. He has a fantastic work ethic and is rapidly improving as a hitter and fielder.

Ben is a quiet leader on the team who specializes in doing all the little things right. He is a good catcher who has earned the trust of his teammates and boasts a high baseball IQ. Coach Gladis highly values the 9-spot in the lineup to build momentum before the top of the order and Spar has his place here due to his ability to hit for a high average.

8

Utility Player, Pitcher

Right Field

McClure is the utility player on the team.

He is a versatile fielder and is effective at numerous positions. He is also a good batter who often makes solid contact. Additionally, McClure is a pitcher to look out for in the future.

On the Bench

Second Base

Payne’s hard work and baseball IQ are his biggest assets. He has on of the best baseball knowledges of anyone on the team and despite his small stature, he has the ability to make a solid connection with the ball.

When the team needs a sacrifice or squeeze bunt, Payne is often the player they turn to.

Viraj Nanda (’13)

chris saltzgaber (’15)

Ryan rangaiah (‘15)

This is Nanda’s first ever year playing baseball after playing years of cricket.

He is a naturally talented player who works hard for the team.

Saltzgaber’s arm is his best attribute. He can throw very effectively from the outfield and has an improving swing.

Rangaiah is a fundamentally sound player.

His mastery of the basics and communication skills make his play valuable to the team.