The
runswick Chronicle
The Brunswick Students News Source
What’s Inside
May 2008
Iraq War Hits 5 Year Milestone By Will Seaton, Co-Editor -In-Chief
t was a chilly Wednesday morning, April 30, 2008. The students of Brunswick and GA were in for a rude awakening. A hilarious senior prank was completed by 7:00 AM: the seniors closed GA. The rumors flew around Maher Avenue: the path to GA had been rendered impassable by the seniors, and getting to GA would be “impossible” that morning. At first, most Brunswick students just believed that the seniors had parked ten or fifteen cars at strategic points around GA, blocking the path, the doors into and out of Massey Theater, the front and side doors of the GA Upper School, and the stairs down to the turf. These rumors were dead wrong. In a masterstroke of planning and teamwork brilliance, the combined senior classes did far more than find new parking spaces for a mere ten
An Anniversary To Remember By Will Seaton – Page 1 (Continued on Page 5) Senior Prank! By Scott Matthews – Page 1 (Continued on Page 6) Brunswick’s Rowing Cult By Turner Smith – Page 1 (Continued on Page 3)
Brunswick Spring Concert By Spencer Dahl – Page 3 Dance Corps’ Spring Show By Will Seaton – Page 4 Brunswick School TV By Michael Marx – Page 5 5 Things to Think About By Gus Ruchman – Page 6 President-Elect Interview By Scott Matthews – Page 7
Artist’s Spotlight Susannah Benjamin By Will Seaton – Page 8 moe. Album Review By JP Hare – Page 10
Seniors Solve Parking Problem By Scott Matthews, Co-Editor -In-Chief
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Around Brunswick
Sterotypes in Mathmatics By Nish Gurnani – Page 2
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hile most of us were relaxing on our spring break and enjoying our welldeserved time off, a date passed largely unnoticed. March 17 marked the 5-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, a war whose end is still not in sight. Brought into the war by President George W. Bush in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction Saddam
Hussein was supposed to have in his possessions, the United States and its allies became embroiled in a war that no one thought would last as long as it has done. In fact, no one was sure entirely what would happen at all. After going in, it became apparent that the United States had no plan of operation beyond the removal of Hussein. Continued on Page 5 Continued on Page 6
Brunswick’s Rowing Cult
By Turner Smith Staff Writer
owing, more colloquially referred to as “crew,” is a sport that has grown rapidly in our school’s community ever since its induction with the creation of the Brunswick School Boat Club (BSBC) in 1998. To some extent, the reaction to crew can be broken into two sections: those who love it (usually rowers themselves) and those who hate it, or to put it less critically, don’t “get it.” While there are indeed many
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Despite what people may think about the legitimacy of rowing as a sport, no one can doubt or question the backbreaking and punishing labor a rower must endure both on the water and on the erg machine. Picture yourself in the middle of an erg test: lactic acid is burning in your thighs and an extremely unpleasant sensation surges throughout your entire body. Feelings of doubt, poise, panic, anticipation, fear, and excitement, all bundled into one emotion, creep into
Many people also seem to believe that while rowing may be hard physically, it requires absolutely no athleticism, hand-eye coordination, or precision. The truth is that pure bruteforce will move a boat, but will not alone win races. The sport requires perfect synchronization between the members of a boat, as well as a series of steps during the stroke which, if not carried out correctly, can lead to the failure of a solid crew, despite physical strength. Another component of the
people who have a certain level of respect for the grueling suffering experienced by rowers and the arduous commitment necessary towards success in the sport, there are always those individuals who continue to claim, “Crew isn’t a sport,” reduce one’s participation to simply a vehicle to “get into college,” or ask the worst of the worst: “Why do you row? There’s no point.” Crew is a test of both physical and mental strength, a sport that requires athletes in top condition who also possess strong minds with determination and perseverance.
your mind as you squint the beads of sweat out of your eyes and steel yourself for the oncoming agony. As the meter countdown hits zero, you release the handle and chain in complete exhaustion, letting it clang against the front of the erg as you fall to the ground, the world spinning before your eyes. Just ask the squash players. They are quite familiar with the thumping beats of Daft Punk and Benny Benassi or the smell of sweat and vomit permeating the erginfested hall outside the squash courts.
Hank Schless
Sports Wick Sports: A Mid-Season Review By Dan Cassidy – Page 7 NBA Playoffs: Way too Long By Charlie Gerdts – Page 10
Student Editorials Columbia Scholastic Press By Gus Ruchman – Page 9 Should Hillary Drop Out? By Oliver Sall – Page 11 Congress Holds Steroid Hearings By Scott Matthews – Page 12
common misunderstanding about rowing is the belief that rowers are somewhat self-confident and arrogant. Walt Whitman, one of the great American poets, wrote of taking pride in what one does in his poem “I Hear America Singing” (1860): “Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else… Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.” In this work, Whitman celebrates the idea of ownership and pride in Continued on Page 3