volume 52, Issue 5 February 5, 2014
Walt whitman High school
7100 whittier boulevard
Bethesda, maryland 20817
theblackandwhite.net
photo by ABBY CUTLER
Top colleges see more apps from class of 2014 as acceptance rates plummet
The male cast of “Lord of the Flies” rehearses a scene for their upcoming performance the weekend of Feb. 28. Director Christopher Gerken plans on using acrobatics and staged fights in the production, in addition to a lagoon and waterfall on stage. “We are not just doing a show,” Gerken said.
Gerken casts dual all-male, all-female versions of ‘Lord of the Flies’
by Emma Anderson If you see Whitman Drama’s production of “Lord of the Flies” on Thursday, and love it so much that you decide to go back for an encore on Friday, things will look very different. This year’s winter play has two casts—one of only girls and one of only boys. While director Christopher Gerken originally envisioned a genderless cast where the actors would just “play parts” and ignore gender, he soon realized it wasn’t feasible. “The girls work so much harder to try to be boyish and not girlish,” Gerken said. “I think that comes naturally to them. There is not enough time to get [the girls] ready as actors to make the audience believe they are not.” To solve this problem, Gerken created the separate girls cast, putting girls in traditional male roles. Now, the usual four-hour rehearsal turns into an eight-hour rehearsal, as Gerken dedicates two separate times for each cast to practice. Senior Ryan Savage, who will play Jack, likes the idea of a split cast. “This show draws on savage instinct, masculinity, testosterone-driven rage and jealousy, and other traits that are very different when played by a boy,” Savage said. “So while the girls were playing their parts well, sometimes even better than some of the boys, what they were bringing to their characters emotionally was very different than what the boys were bringing. It would have been a challenge to bend the two different emotional energies.” Gerken chose “Lord of the Flies” after seeing a production of The Tempest at Syntetic Theatre in Arlington. The small theatre does not do many prop and costume changes. Gerken was inspired by their performance style and set, which he thought translated well to “Lord of the Flies.” “It is probably one of the most terrifying pieces of literature ever, if it’s done well,” Gerken said. “I want it to be psychologically terrifying. I want this to be a year of epic performances.”
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The split cast idea surprised the prospective girls cast more than the boys, and they were hesitant at first, Gerken said. “They were afraid people were going to draw comparisons between the two,” Gerken said. “It is going to be different, and yes people are going to compare them, but not because of talent. They are going to compare them on interpretation.” While the staging is similar in both versions of the show, the actors’ delivery of the lines and the meaning behind their words seems to be the biggest distinction, along with how both sexes react in situations, Gerken said. “The girl cast is fierce. It is kind of like ‘Mean Girls’ on an island,” Gerken said. “The boys, while more traditional, are extremely intelligent. We have sat and dissected the psychology of the script, subtext on subtext.” Most of the cast members read and analyzed “Lord of the Flies” in their sophomore English classes. The experience and familiarity with the plot makes the production stronger and inspires discussions about the deep implied meaning of the text, Gerken said. The girls cast has changed the names of the characters to make them more plausible. In the girls cast, Rachel and Jackie have replaced Ralph and Jack, adding another dimension to the show. “The girls have the element of surprise because no one who is coming is going to know what to expect,” said junior Carolyn McGill, who plays Helen, the female equivalent of Henry. “That’s a huge opportunity for us.” The casts have only four weeks to rehearse before opening Feb. 28. Though they experienced set backs after snow days, Gerken is not holding back. With modern dance, drama, cirque techniques, acrobatics, and a fight coordinator, Gerken is pulling out all the stops. “We are not just doing a show,” Gerken said. “We have a real lagoon on stage with a waterfall. The actors are going to be wet. It’s epic.”
by Ben Titlebaum For five weeks, until the last day of January, 70 Whitman students were down in the dumps after being either deferred or rejected by the University of Michigan. This disappointment was even more perplexing given that many were seemingly overqualified; the list included students who were admitted early decision to Cornell and Vanderbilt, at least two National Merit semifinalists, and several students with GPAs above 3.9. Why were so many students not admitted? To put it plainly, it’s getting harder to get into college. Last school year, nearly half of 90 early action applicants were accepted into the University of Michigan. This December, out of 102 applicants—more than a fifth of the senior class—less than one third were accepted in the first round of decisions in late December. Michigan is only one of several schools flooded with an unprecedented increase in applications. Whitman students applied in dramatically bigger numbers to schools ranging from the Ivy League to large state schools. The biggest jump was in applications to the nation’s most prestigious colleges, where schools including Penn, Columbia and UCLA saw roughly twice as many applications from Whitman students this year as they did last year, according to data collected by career information coordinator Janice Marmor and compiled on Naviance. College counselors have noticed the trend. “Because kids are aware of the increasing competition in admissions at some schools, it makes sense that they would apply to more colleges to increase their chances of being admitted to schools where they really want to go,” said local college counselor Bruce Vinik. Counselors and college admissions experts cite many factors for this growing competition, including an easier application process, shrinking acceptance rates at many schools, grade inflation and more highly qualified students. The streamlined application process Since the Common App went online in 1999, students have been able to apply to many colleges with just one form. The number of member schools has also increased by more than 150 percent, from 191 to 517 schools, now serving over 1 million applicants, the Common App website reports. “I applied to 12 colleges,” senior Beatriz Atsavapranee said. “I found that the Common Application really simplified the college application process since I could use one essay for many schools and I only had to enter my personal information once.” Some colleges experienced massive increases in applicants right after adopting the Common App. Columbia’s applications worldwide grew by 32 percent in the year after the university adopted it in 2011, while Brown’s increased 21 percent after it began using the Common App in 2008. Last year, Columbia accepted roughly 2,300 out of 33,000 applicants, while Brown accepted roughly 2,600 out of 29,000 applicants. But the number of Whitman students applying to prestigious colleges has also skyrocketed after years of using the Common App. This year, 52 students applied to Tufts compared to 29 last year. Twenty-three students applied to Amherst, a record high after 11 applicants last year. And 35 students applied to Johns Hopkins, up from 23 last year. Whitman students also applied more to schools that don’t use the Common App, including Georgetown, whose applicant pool grew from 24 to 33 this year; and UCLA and UC Berkeley, which both doubled (from 15 to 31 and 11 to 20 respectively). continued on page
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