The Insight | February 2015

Edition III

February 2015

Friends Seminary

Friends Responds to Recent Racial Tensions

By MAX TEIRSTEIN ’17 On August 9, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. On December 3rd, a grand jury failed to indict Officer Palenteo, another white NYPD police officer who used the illicit chokehold and killed Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six and grandfather of three. On November 22, a 12-year-old African-American boy named Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun and shot dead on sight by Officer Timothy Loehmann.

These three deaths, along with that of Trayvon Martin in 2012, have caused national unrest. There have been protests nationwide, and riots in Ferguson, where Michael Brown was killed. They have also resulted in a push for the end of modern racism that has taken many forms, including racial profiling, microaggression, and police brutality.

Friends Seminary responded to these recent events by hosting a Meeting for Worship, providing several “Black Lives Matter” workshops during the recent Day of Concern, and organizing a group to join

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Derrick Gay, a leading educational and diversity consultant, opens the Day of Concern with a discussion of identity in the Meetinghouse.

Community Addresses Identity, Privilege and Power During Day of Concern

By SAM ZIEVE-COHEN ’15 In the spring of 2014, Leitzel Schoen, Dean of Co-Curricular Programs, Jason Craige Harris, History Teacher and Director of the Academic Center, and Cynthia Chalker, Director of Diversity, gathered a group of students to discuss what they believed was a novel proposal: a day of discussion and learning for high school students and teachers. “When we first started talking about and conceiving this day, I, as a new person at Friends, didn’t even know that a day like this existed. In the spring we went to an Upper School faculty meeting and presented why we thought this day was important and asked them to give up a day of their classes for it. The faculty were quiet and then they said ‘yeah, sure, that sounds like

The NRA and The War Over Guns p.5

Day of Concern.” Schoen said, adding, “we didn’t even realize the day existed.”

Years earlier the Day of Concern was an annual event run by the Senior class in which lecturers were invited to talk to about topics important to the community.

While this tradition had ended long before Schoen, Harris, and Chalker began working at the school, they were bringing back something beloved by many former and current community members.

After choosing a day in January to hold the event, the group canvassed the views of about 20 students and began a process of choosing topics and speakers. Adorning the wall of their planning space with ideas written on post-its, the student-faculty team spent months pooling

Inside Recycling: Is It Worth It? p.7

Can Resilience Be Taught? p.8

What is The Purpose of Art?

p.10

their collective connections and resources.

Schoen, Harris, and Chalker estimate that around 50 invitations were sent to organizations and speakers. The group settled on a list of twenty-three workshops, composed of current faculty and outside speakers.

These speakers came from diverse backgrounds and included alumni and faculty. “It was important for us when we were thinking about who we could ask to find people who were experts and could talk about the issues in the third-person but also could offer personal perspective,” remarked Harris. “Having students hear from individuals who were not just educators, but also spend their daily lives

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Teacher New Year’s Resolutions Backpage

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News

Continued from Community Addresses Identity, Privilege and Power During Day of Concern working on these issues was powerful. The reaction was positive. Students remarked it was amazing to hear these personal experiences from the leaders who were facilitating the workshops.”

The topic for this year’s renewed Day of Concern, “Identity, Privilege, and Power,” was chosen in response to various important contemporary societal issues. Commencing with the Plenary Workshop, led by educational consultant Derrick Gay, students and faculty were asked to consider their identity and were confronted with questions about their place in the world.

Following Gay’s presentation, students participated in sessions by leaders representing a diverse range of subjects associated with the central theme of identity and privilege.

Participating student and faculty members each chose three lectures to attend before rejoining for a communal silent meeting to end the day. Topics included issues like solitary confinement, equality, education, journalism, and environmental sustainability.

The group of Day of Concern planners hoped to fulfill three primary goals: furthering participants’ understanding of identity, privilege, and power; enhancing participants’ interest in the topics; and, bringing together the community to reflect on the issues communally after attending the sessions.

“As Diversity Director, I frequently hear from the faculty that they are unsure how to respond to things that are happening in the news or in the community. They hear the pain that students express in response to issues like food scarcity or profiling of students because of race or gender,” said Chalker. “It was important for teachers to talk about how we think about police brutality or how we think about the criminal justice system.”

As for the future of the tradition, the leaders expressed a desire to continue Day of Concern. The considerable work that goes into the planning such an event might make it hard to hold it every year, but organizers spoke of alternating school years between Day of Concern and Service Day. “Part of what I think this day was able to do was enrich the conversations that were already happening on campus, but also deepen the kinds of conversation that could happen within the classroom,” says Harris. “For me, to be able to have a day of discussion outside of the classroom, enriches the curricular experience.”

Transgender (His) Stories: Learning About Gender Identity. Alex Myers discussed his own experience as openly transgender and the history of others, most notably Deborah Samson. Samson, born a woman, cut her hair, practiced marching, prayed for strength, and deceived the military to enlist as a man.

Social Change Through Revolution: The Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity. History Teacher Stefan Stawnychy and his father Petro recounted the steps leading up to the revolution in Ukraine. Ukrainians themselves, the speakers explained the justifications for civil disobedience on the behalf of the Ukrainian people to bring down the corrupted government.

Black Lives Matter: An Interactive Dialogue. Darnell Moore analyzed issues of lingering white supremacy, everyday forms of oppression, and recent “blue on black” (police) violence.

Quaker Action Against Torture: Solitary Confinement Abuses. Five Mualimm-ak, having spent 12 years in prison (and five in solitary confinement), debated with students the ineffectiveness of isolation. In this image, Mualimm-ak recounts the physical experience of solitary confinement.

Mass Incarceration: The Caging of America. Stephen Chinlund an alumnus of the class of ‘51, is a pastor and has been working in prisons for over 50 years. Chinlund wrote a book “Prison Transformations,” in which he discusses the parallels between monastic life and prison, the unexpected spiritual benefits of long-term incarceration, and the need for women priests. In his lecture at Friends, he discussed the remnants of “Jim Crow” laws in America and recent legislation to overcome it.

Nature Deficit Disorder. Patricia Wood discusses the difficulties in motivating the younger generations to protect nature when they haven’t experienced it themselves.

February 2015

News

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Continued from Friends Responds to Recent Racial Tensions

Hunger in America and The No Kid Hungry Campaign. Workshop by Josh Wachs ‘89.

Hip Hop: Rhythm, Rhymes, Social Change. Workshop by Reggie Ossé.

Green Map System Application to Energy Generation and Waste Reduction.

Workshop by Wendy E. Brawer.

Poetry and Possibility. Workshop by Joshua Bennett.

Journalism, a Tool for Social Change – Then & Now. Workshop by Jill Abramson.

Facing Global Challenges: Clean Water, Education and AIDS. Workshop by Marna Herrity and Kevin Cooney

the march in Washington, D.C. where the families of Brown, Garner, and Rice spoke, as well as civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton.

Much of the student body felt that Friends took the right approach to these recent events.

“I think the school went out of its way to not only inform students about the events in Ferguson and Staten Island but to encourage them to take action and stand up for what they believe is right and just,” said Tessa DeFranco ’17.

However, some students say the school hasn’t quite lived up to their expectations with its response. “The school acts very quickly with many issues, but failed to do so with these events,” said Sierra Hubbard-Salk ’18.

“Friends addressed the events in Ferguson and Staten Island,” said Sahana Mehta ’16. “Though this is a step in the right direction, it is a bit disappointing that I feel that this is some sort of feat for our community and its advocacy for justice. I find that we spend too much time in reflection and not enough time in action,” she added.

Mehta also expressed concern over the possibility that this conversation about race will be overshadowed by different matters.

“France being on the news instead of racial injustice in the U.S. does not mean that this issue has gone away, or been resolved—it just means that we have been distracted by other issues.”

Still, many who attended the events were struck by what they experienced and saw. “The energy, enthusiasm, and passion of every person marching completely struck and amazed me. People were relentless, bold, and brave in a way that I have never seen before,” says Lily Weisberg ’17. “I was also surprised that despite all the anger within the protests, there was so much kindness between strangers.”

Despite the actions of the school, some students felt that our own community has still not understood the gravity of the issue.

“People in our school make ‘ironic’ and ‘cutting edge’ jokes about race, claiming that it’s commentary and not veiled racism,” reflects junior Anya Bernstein.

The Millions March in NYC.

Friends students and faculty join the protests.

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The NRA and The War Over Guns

By ISABEL CLEMENTS ’17 “Self-defense is a fundamental right,” argues the National Rifle Association.

Not only the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the group affirms, but every state in the U.S., protects the right to bear arms for self-defense. However, the debate on gun control is complex and lacks obvious answers.

An NRA advertisement that advocates for armed security in schools.

So far gun bans, although widely supported, have proved ineffective in averting crime, according to CDC

statistics. Soon after being signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons ban expired, and has since then failed to gain enough support for renewal.The “assault weapons” included in the ban, according to a comprehensive Congressional Research Service report on guns and gun control legislation, have only been used in a mere two percent of firearm-related crime.

Lastly, violent crime actually tends to diminish when more people legally carry guns. Since the early 1990s, right-to-carry-arms laws have been growing in popularity in the U.S.. Though the two may not be related, simultaneously, violent crime rates have receded.

Nonetheless, according to the Center for Disease Control, U.S. children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gunshot than similarly-aged persons in 25 other high-income countries combined.

Statistics show that nearly eight American children are shot and killed every day.

Apparently, finding a firearm to do the job is hardly difficult: Most gun massacres involve a legal firearms. According to “A Guide to Mass Shootings in America”, published by leading independent news organization Mother Jones, about threequarters of the guns used in the more than 70 mass-shootings in the US since 1985 through 2014 were obtained legally.

Many popular arguments of those who support and oppose gun control are

highly questionable. Based upon a study in Washington state, gun control supporters claim a gun at home is “43 times more likely” to be used to kill a family member than a criminal. The NRA denies this statement, arguing that “the ratio undercounts defensive gun uses by counting only instances in which criminals were killed,” (leaving out situations where criminals have been injured or scared away by the firearm). Though the statistic is ambiguous, as injury to or instillation of fear in a criminal could prevent death to a family member, it is, in its wording, correct. Also, statistics speak to the fact that gun owners, contrary to common opinion, are not a unified group. Though the NRA loudly opposes background checks, eighty-five percent of U.S. households, and 74% of NRA supporting households, support background checks according to the Washington Post. Many people, however, who support the “right to carry”, have distanced themselves from The National Rifle Association.

The group is extremely exclusive and cutthroat, careful to weed out supporters who disagree with any of their radically conservative policies. After the NRA was unsympathetic following the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, President George H. Bush publicly renounced his NRA membership. After the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, Senator Joe Manchin, lifelong member of the

NRA, advocated on behalf of expanded background checks. In response to this, the NRA aired an ad targeting Manchin, apparently to show that he’d pay a price for his apostasy in the overwhelmingly conservative state of West Virginia. The NRA has also been criticized for misrepresenting a police survey, in which they claimed that “80% of police say background checks will have no effect” on violent crime. The survey cited in these ads says nothing of the sort.

Despite the evolving landscape after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, no progress in either direction of the gun control debate is certain. Outbreaks of gun-related legislation and renewed national attention on the topic have not been enough to change federal gun laws. Though the National Rifle Association continues to be the most powerful entity in the American war over guns, it has for the most part lost its monopoly on the debate. Groups to the right of the NRA are growing while a resurgence of the gun control movement is challenges the existing situation. On both sides, non-profit organizations battle fiercely, all aiming to adjust the country’s politics and win over the American people. The future of gun control may ultimately boil down to which side will end up spending the most money and time on their argument.

News

February 2015

Private

&

Public

Study Shows Why Public Schools May Outperform Private

By NAHID MAHMUD ’17 With the 2014-2015 year concluding its first half and the second semester already in motion, student life at Friends has resumed the familiar routine of making deli runs in between classes, falling asleep in meeting, and pulling all-nighters writing papers for English. However, before we were concerned with whether or not we would be able to get to the fourth floor of the Humanities building in time from the fifth floor of the Annex, many students were determining which schools they would apply to and where they would spend the next four years of their life.

The high school admissions process is one of the most important and consequently nerve-racking parts of a student’s academic career. From application essays and entrance exams to applicant interviews and school tours, selecting a single high school amid an array of options was a decision many of us had to make. For many, this decision involved looking at both public and private schools and what each had to offer. For others, there was really no decision to be made at all.

Regardless, we all ended up at Friends, but does that mean private schools are inherently better than public schools because of their name? Hopefully, we can clear some things up surrounding the debate between private and public school education and maybe provide some useful insight for this year’s new freshman and even long-time lifers.

For years, the widespread notion that private schools generally offer better education than public schools has been the mainstream way of thinking throughout the media and in family households. The belief that public schools are overly-complex, underfunded, and frequently affected by government and political shortfalls, as a result of larger and broader state agendas, has made private schools and their relatively more specialized programs much more appealing.

In terms of assessments, private school students seem to be getting higher test scores than those in public schools. According to the 8th grade NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) report from the National Center for Education Statistics, “The average private school mean reading score was 18.1 points higher than the average public school mean reading score.”

Likewise, “The average private school mean mathematics score was 12.3 points higher than the average public school mean mathematics score.” Similar differences in results appeared between private and public school testing scores for reading and math in the 4th grade. However, Christopher A. Lubienski, co-author of The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools who (along with his wife) sat down with The Atlantic, suggests that controlling demographic factors that play a substantial role in influencing these test scores completely tips the scale in favor of

public schools. He claims that the question is not whether scores tend to be higher for private school students, but rather “is that because they’re from affluent families… or is that because the schools are doing better?” Lubienski’s claim falls in line with an editorial article in the Opinion Pages of the New York Times in 2006, which stated, “Perceived advantages melted away when researchers [of the National Assessment of Educational Progress] took into account

Sarah and Christopher Lubienski and their coauthored book: Public School Advantage.

variables like race, gender, and parents’ education and income.” After studying multiple data sets, Lubienski noticed this “public school effect.” His theories are also supported by researchers at the Educational Testing Service, in Notre Dame, and in Stanford who came to similar conclusions.

Even though raw scores might be higher for private school students, they are not representative of entire demographics, which may, as result, diminish the credibility of such comparisons.

5 Lubienski goes on to describe that the reason why public school test results seem to be so much lower than those of private school students is because of “socio-economic polarization” or the negative effect poorperforming students from poor backgrounds have on the national average. His wife and co-author Sarah Theule Lubienski adds that, regardless, “NAEP data over the past couple of decades have shown remarkable improvement in [public school students’] scores due to public schools “implementing new forms of instruction and improving student achievement”. When asked why she thinks public schools are more open to such reform and private schools are not, Lubienski replied that private school teachers “are not held accountable to the same kind of state curriculum standards and tests” which is why public school teachers with an “[educated] understanding of current educational reforms” are “more effective at educating students [based] on the state standards.” However, it is important to mention that whether or not a school surpasses or falls short of the state’s standards varies with the school. Similarly, many private schools boast much stronger and more rigorous curricula and testing than those implemented in public schools, most notably, institutions like Trinity and Dalton.

Trinity

Dalton

Grades don’t seem to be the only differentiating factor between public and private schools however. According to Lubienski, other reasons like “reputation, convenience, safety, and value systems” influence the decision to attend a private school over any public institution. He also claims the “constant chorus of public schools are failing” told by the media and reform organizations lead people to assume private school is ultimately a better decision. Nevertheless, it is safe to say both public and private schools share strengths and weakness and that both are improving regardless of how they might be generally portrayed to students as one being better than the other.

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Celebrating 35 Years of Experiential Education at Friends

By SABRINA EDELMAN ’16

Backpacking

Kayaking

Skiing

In 1979, Friends Seminary introduced a new, progressive program to its curriculum: Experiential Education. The Experiential Education program, or Ex Ed, was started by Ted Rockwell, who was head of the Middle School at the time. Inspired by the Outward Bound movement, where he worked as an instructor, Rockwell developed a plan for a 5th and 6th grade rock climbing trip for his masters thesis while he was at Friends.

His plans quickly became a reality, and the trips expanded into the current program.

Ex Ed aims to provide new experiences for students in a non-traditional setting by focusing primarily on “learning by doing”.

Today, the Ex Ed program is taught primarily in the 4th and 10th grades.

There is no longer a 5th and 6th grade rock climbing trip, but the core values have always remained the same. In the sophomore year, students spend one semester learning about various aspects of the outdoors, including camping methods.

The 4th grade class is a relatively new addition to the curriculum, and one of the things that Ex Ed faculty Jack Phelan and Deanna Yurchuk are most excited to see is how the students who have had Ex Ed in the 4th grade will use that knowledge in the 10th grade.

During each semester, 10th grade students are able to choose from several trips such as backpacking, winter camping, and kayaking. While these trips are challenging, the experiences are designed so that the average student and absolute beginner can enjoy them.

However, Yurchuk shares, “Part of the Ex Ed experience is to be challenged and everyone should hopefully get to experience something new.”

Lila Margulies, the Upper and Middle School Counselor and graduate of Friends Seminary, participated in Ex Ed as a student. Her experiences in the program reflect its stated goals. Like students today, she took Ex Ed in 10th grade, where she went winter camping. During her trip, it was exceptionally cold, and she and eight of her fellow campers ended

up piling into one tent and sleeping like sardines. Throughout the night, they sang songs and encouraged each other.

Despite the miserable conditions, the trip became a powerful bonding experience for everyone who participated and an interesting story to share. Margulies continued her Ex Ed experience by taking the wilderness elective in 12th grade, which allowed her to go on many more trips outdoors. Margulies felt that Ex Ed helped her to “take risks and do things she did not think she was capable of doing.”

According to her, these lessons are incredibly useful and can be applied out of the wilderness context.

The program has changed a lot over its 35 years. One of the most noticeable changes is that the wilderness electives have gone from having to turn students away to barely having enough students to fill the class. This change is directly related to students becoming more and more committed to various obligations.

Thus, Ex Ed is mostly only experienced in the 10th grade, despite the wonderful lessons it teaches.

In addition, due to an influx of enrollment 14 years ago, skiing and kayaking trips were added to accommodate more students. Phelan adds that these activities “lend themselves well because students are very independent in each activity, but are still able to work together.” The Ex Ed program shifted in a good direction by the addition of these two trips, as the focus narrowed in on activities that students could participate in independently but still be able to rely on classmates for support.

In terms of the next 35 years, there are very vague plans due to the naturally adaptive nature of the program. However, one major development that Yurchuk and Phelan have been looking into is the possibility of having a Friends Seminary lodge or yurt that would serve as a base of operations for many trips. Even as the program changes, Ex Ed will continue to be a place for students to learn about and experience the outdoors.

Why We Need Frat Feminism ─ Op-Ed ─

By ABIGAIL PANITZ ’15 Feminism and fraternities may seem like oil and water at first glance. But when we put away the media and everyday stereotypes about the two, they are a potentially successful pair. Frat Feminism is supporting the idea of being in a fraternity while simultaneously being a feminist.

Both ideologies must come together to make college life and life beyond the campus more open and egalitarian.

It’s not necessary for everyone to be a frat feminist--in fact it’s unlikely that most people will be frat feminists. But it’s necessary to give people the option to become one. In my opinion, all fraternity brothers should receive a proper education on the tenets of feminism. We’ve seen a trend in fraternities becoming more aware with sexual assault and risk management courses. Fraternity members need education on feminism more than other college students because they are the least likely to receive it. Ross Wantland’s study in the NWSA Journal, “Feminist Frat Boys?” stated, “Because of their reactions to (and avoidance of) feminist education, these men are rarely the target of women’s studies educational practices”. To advance the feminist agenda, we must educate fraternity members because they are the most likely to commit sexual assault on campus. If fraternity members are aware of feminist tenets, especially the frequently ignored idea that it is never the woman’s fault, then they will become less likely to assault others. As Wantland describes when speaking to fraternity members at Johns Hopkins University about assault, “They cared about sexual violence; they just did not understand what is was, how it happened, or what their role was in ending it.” This dangerous trend arises from ignorance: ignorance is best resolved by means of education.

Feminism needs a push to become popular. While it’s well-known, it could use more good publicity, especially

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February 2015

Op-Eds

Recycling: Is It Worth It?

Different fraternities across the U.S.

Continued from Why We Need corporations. We must spread feminism Frat Feminism everywhere, even to communities by men. Fraternities, believe it or not, are a smart venue for the advocation of women’s rights. By embracing feminism, fraternities have the opportunity to better their reputations and extend their lifespans; with fraternities becoming co-ed and some colleges abolishing fraternities altogether and switching to the college system, Greek life is in somewhat of a dangerous position. Using fraternities work in the feminists’ favor as well.

Fraternity members are in ideal positions to spread the ideology: “...given their positions within their masculine sub-culture, fraternity men--especially the individual house leaders--possess the greatest potential for creating change among their peers.” This makes sense in looking at the statistics from the New Jersey Institute of Technology that 76% of all Congressmen and Senators, 85% of the Fortune 500 executives, and 40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices since 1910 belong(ed) to a fraternity. Fraternities are a powerful network on and off-campus: they can unite people under common values like brotherhood and charity, and feminism is a good addition to these ideals.

So why do we need frat feminism?

It’s about integrating a common-sense principle of equality into every environment. Fraternities are not exempt, nor are schools, sports teams, stores, or

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where we fear there may be pushback.

Fraternities, whether we like it or not, are here to stay. Even if the system of fraternities collapses, the fraternity mentality will still exist. We will still see “total frat boys” walking down the street, and we need to associate, not isolate, ourselves from them. Especially in the case of the Friends community, an inclusionist environment where fraternity culture is not popular, we need to remember that even if we are anti-fraternity, fraternity members are people, too. It’s fine to be anti-fraternity, but it’s not acceptable to immediately disdain anyone in a fraternity as an ignorant partier. By stereotyping fraternity brothers in a negative light, hypocrisy is fostered, and the negative cycle of exclusion continues. Sure, fraternity brothers are only 2% of the population, but even a miniscule minority of the population should be subjected to learning about feminism, and we should encourage, not exclude, them from doing so. It is not only mandatory that we allow anyone, including frat boys, to be feminists; it’s also helpful to encourage them to do so!

We can advocate for fraternity reform and advocate for feminism at the same time; if the two ideologies work together, both will benefit.

─ Op-Ed ─

By RACHEL HODES ’17 It’s about five minutes before class starts, and I’m walking down the hall towards my locker. In my hand is a plastic bottle, left over from lunch. Thoughtlessly, I throw it into the recycling bin. As long as it stays out of the landfill, I’ve done my part, right?

It’s human nature to take things at face value. If you’re told that all you have to do is recycle to save humanity from impending doom, doing so might seem an easy and effective way to do your part. Of course, it’s not so simple. Recycling is portrayed to the public as our saving grace. While we are destroying our planet by carelessly using materials, the way we currently recycle those materials doesn’t provide an adequate solution to our wastefulness. So what are we doing wrong?

Recycling programs will be successful only when companies are willing to pay enough for recycled goods so the costs of building recycling plants, transporting materials, and labor are covered. Even though the Environmental Protection Act allows the government to provide financial aid to private recycling services, there’s still no incentive to form a private recycling company if it isn’t profitable. Something people think about even less is what happens after the materials are recycled. I always assumed that companies would willingly purchase recycled materials, but this is not the case. When something is recycled, it is mixed in with lower-quality

The disposal bins in the main lobby.

materials and therefore degrades in quality.

According to Vincent Breslin, author for McGraw Hills’s Assess-Science, a recycled material such as aluminum is also more expensive compared to virgin materials.

Companies are unlikely to purchase a lower quality yet more expensive product.

Companies are also dissuaded from buying recycled goods when market prices for those materials decrease. Masses of recycled materials are therefore left in warehouses and due to the great cost of storing these goods, they are usually sent to landfills. This is a complete waste of the government’s money on salvaging goods that were destined for the landfill anyway. The expense of recycling programs and companies’ unwillingness to purchase inferior materials are two reasons why the government loses money on recycling. According to author Harvey Black of the Environmental Health Perspectives Journal, our local governments receive 2.45

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Op-Eds

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Can Resilience Be Taught?

Continued from Recycling: Is It Worth It? million for every 3 million they spend on recycling programs. The cost of the recycling in New York prevents private recycling enterprises from flourishing, dissuades companies from buying recycled goods, and prevents consumers from purchasing recycled goods.

If we were able to maintain the quality of recycled goods and run these programs in a cost effective way, we could recycle more of our valuable resources.

Not only is recycling cost-inefficient, it is also a source of numerous environmental drawbacks. Originally, drop-off recycling facilities were most common until the now more popular curbside recycling was introduced. Many trucks have to come and collect the recyclables, which are located all throughout neighborhoods. Powering this transportation increases the program’s use of energy. As a whole, transporting recyclables, reprocessing materials and building facilities cause our recycling program to use excess amounts of energy.

Our society obliviously creates more waste by spending our money to recycle our garbage into products that companies detest purchasing. As if this weren’t enough, recycled products contain chemicals that harm us and contaminate the environment.

According to the American Chemical Society, recycled papers carry higher levels of the toxin bisphenol S, which is up to nineteen times more absorbable through the skin than BPA, a dangerous chemical. Our recycling programs are harming us as well as the environment.

It’s necessary for us to take responsibility for our actions. We have fabricated a society where it is deemed appropriate to over-consume, although this habit is what will destroy our planet. It’s easy to feel that we’re being responsible by purchasing more prepackaged goods if we recycle them. American state surveys inform us that the amount we recycle has increased greatly since the program was established in 1989. Percent of waste recycled in 1989 was 8%, but it’s grown to 28.6% in 2006.

This is portrayed as a positive development.

However, those who find solace in these statistics fail to take into account our greatly increasing consumption rates. Putting more pre-packaged goods into our wasteful and expensive recycling programs fools us into thinking that we are saving our planet when really, we are destroying it.

─ Op-Ed ─

by ISA SKIBELI ’18

Pictures of recycling facilities.

You could say that we are addicted to superficiality. The costly, inefficient garbage dump that is our recycling program gives us a false sense of security. We’re satisfied with this but it’s obviously not good enough. In order to improve the way our society approaches recycling, we can begin locally. Last year, a “short lived” Green Team was established at Friends. It initially garnered some appeal but was disbanded because of the school’s failure in the recycling challenges. Loss of interest was a huge factor in determining the outcome of the Green Team. Initiatives to protect the environment can easily go unnoticed in this school. In order to do our part, we must constantly think of ways to be a more environmentally friendly school community.

Friends students should reconsider the three fundamental principles of the recycling initiative: reduce, reuse, and recycle. We can do simple things each day to ensure that we reduce, such as forgoing a plastic bag at the deli or bringing a metal water bottle to school.

The community can easily reuse as well. We should give away old school supplies and clothing instead of throwing them away. This provides a major domino effect, as those who receive these clothes and books will most likely reduce their consumption rates. In light of highly superior options, recycling should be our last resort. Even if recycling becomes inexpensive and more energy efficient, we can’t allow ourselves to be content. We need to continuously improve our recycling programs and begin to take responsibility for our actions to ensure that earth will stay beautiful for many generations to come.

High school is tough. So is life. It is inevitable that every student, no matter how intelligent or hardworking, will face challenges. There is not one individual who can say that he or she has not come across something, or many things in their career and education that have seemed almost impossible to overcome.

Every person has the capacity to follow their dreams and do what they love, but what I think sets apart those who succeed from those who do not accomplish their goals is resilience. In order to get what you want out of life, you have to be prepared to fail. It takes great strength and determination to bounce back from defeat, but people who never lose faith in themselves and their abilities and have the courage to try again, end up triumphant. Sydney Finkelstein the Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business described resilience as “the secret sauce that separates the highest achievers from the mass of people who are perfectly capable, but not exceptional. If doctors could prescribe resilience, we’d all want it.”

“I have not failed.

I’ve just found 10,000 ways that

won’t work.”

- Thomas Edison

Most people, when trying to achieve something, whether that be setting up a company, creating an invention, or making an investment, do not get it right the first time. Some people don’t get it right after the third time. As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

How, then, can one find his/her inner resilience and fortitude and channel it towards success? Many schools believe that having resilience is an extremely important tool that can be used and

applied throughout a person’s life, and some educational institutions have begun to wonder: can resilience be taught?

In February of 2012, the principal of Wimbledon High School, Heather Hanbury, in South West London, planned a “failure week” for her students. Hanbury said that the purpose of “failure week” at Wimbledon is to show students that “it is completely acceptable and completely normal not to succeed at times in life.”

Wimbledon high school.

Heather Hanbury and students.

The students attending Wimbledon High School participated in a series of talks, discussions, workshops, projects and activities all having to do with the importance of resilience, and aimed to teach students that failing is an essential part of success. Students were taught that the most important thing is not to merely fail, but to learn from your failure. Your failure will teach you what you have done wrong, so that you can try again. As Samuel Smiles put it, “We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”

In the 1990s, Martin Seligman, a psychologist working at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that teaching children resilience lessened the chance of them becoming anxious or depressed.

Continued on next page

February 2015 Continued from Can Resilience Be Taught?

Seligman set up the Penn State Resilience Programme, designed to teach elementary and middle school students resilience through learning how to combat negative thoughts, avoid procrastination and amplify productivity, problem-solve and be resourceful, stand up for your ideas and act with confidence. These important skills are imparted to students through a number of different activities, including acting out skits, reading and writing pieces or stories, and drawing. The Penn State Resilience Program has been extremely successful, and the source of over thirteen scientific studies, helping 2,000 children.

Wellington College teaches resilience.

Wellington College, an independent boarding school in Crowthorne, England, has been teaching its middle and high school students resilience for eight years. Ian Morris, the head of welfare at Wellington said that students “really enjoy the lessons, and the benefits are real and significant, including them being able to accept and manage difficult emotions, knowing how to calm themselves when things get tough, learning to appreciate what empathy and kindness mean in everyday life and how to learn from challenge and stress.”

“I’ve seen the multiple positive effects that the teaching of resilience skills has had on the hundreds of children I’ve taught and I agree that well-being should be a timetabled subject for every child,” Morris added.

Many people accept their defeats and believe that because their endeavors did not go the way that they had hoped the first time, they can never triumph. It takes resilient people with courage and persistence to pick themselves up and convince themselves that they can succeed, if they try hard enough, enough times.

Risk taking is another factor in resilience. Many high school students, growing

Op-Eds up and learning in a pressurized environment where results are emphasized, can make students cautious of taking risks.

However, what people need to understand is that by taking risks and putting yourself and your ideas out there, you are setting yourself up for success. Maybe the risk you take or the thing you write about does not work out, and, although it is a tricky thing to do, you can not let the downside of risk dishearten you. You will not be able to do something truly spectacular with your life if you play it safe and you follow what everyone else is doing. When you think of the most successful people in the world, your immediate thoughts go to the great things they achieved, not of all the ways that they failed before they were successful.

Lila Marguiles, guidance counselor of grades 7-12 said that resilience is the “capacity to persevere through stress or hard times or situations. It is having the ability to get over and get through something bad that is happening.

Resilience is an important part of emotional survival,” she said.

“Everyone has stress, everyone has failures, everyone has hard things that happen in their lives and studies are showing that people are successful if they have grit and resilience, more so than if they have raw talent or skills,” added Marguiles.

“Friends definately tests people’s resilience, on the basis of it being a challenging school,” said Marguiles. “Students who graduate from Friends have to have enough resilience to get through this program,” saying that the resilience of students is tested everyday “in subtle and supplemental ways.”

“My job at Friends is as a support person. Part of what I do is help students tap into their own resilience, and show them that they have the ability to get through tough times,” she said.

Marguiles later added, “Resilience is also about being aware of what you are feeling. Attending a Quaker school and having meeting gives students a chance to pause and think. The silence helps students to slow down and process their thoughts, which I think helps them build up more strength.”

“I believe that it is helpful to remind people how to access their resilience, because during stressful times, people can forget, and rely on others in a way

9

How do students react to stress or hard times?

that can be unhelpful. Using other people as crutches can prevent someone from learning how to support themselves. For adults, either parents or educators, it can be hard to the right balance between jumping in and rescuing somebody and helping them help themselves. If a student is struggling, it does not help them for the school to jump in and say, ‘its okay you don’t have to do that, or, we’ll fix that for you.’ Instead it is better to help them through hard times in other ways, and let them know they have people to ask for help,” Marguiles said.

Wendy Wilderotter, head of Upper School, describes how Experiential Education at Friends can foster the resilience of students.

“Ex Ed is about giving students challenges, for some kids, the challenge might sleeping in a tent for the night, for others it might be hiking several miles. On very small levels, students are being taught to experience and overcome a challenge, however big or small it might be. And, in the end, they succeed, and they do it.”

When asked if she believed resilience is something some people have more of than others, or if it can be taught, Margulies said, “It’s a combination. Some people are born with a certain temperament and have an innate ability to get through things more easily than other people. However, I do think that being in an environment where you are reminded that you have resilience is helpful--like having parents who are very supportive, but also let you deal with your own problems. People need to fail in order to realize that they are going to be okay afterwards. If the parents, teachers or adults in a child’s life are constantly jumping in and saving them, then it is difficult for children to

realize that they can face problems alone.

Being left to your own devices shows you that you have the ability to get through things.”

When Wendy Wilderotter, head of the Upper school, was asked the same question she replied, “Resilience comes from the experience of meeting a challenge. You can not give a student experiences, that is something they need to have on their own. But you can discuss the importance of resilience with students, or present it as an intellectual exercise, such as reading stories about people who have overcome things.”

“The difficult part is when you have a challenge you are nervous about, and you don’t make it. Part of having those experiences is failure--not meeting your goals or the expectations you have for yourself. But over time, you realize that the world does not come to an end when you have setbacks. Sometimes you realize that when you fail, you have to take a different course of action, and through that secondary course of action you actually find something bigger and more important.”

Wilderotter also spoke of how the resilience of parents can serve as a model for children. “When parents talk to their kids about struggles that they have had in their lives, kids are able see how their parents have come back and moved on, which allows students to gain strength from their parents,” she said.

Wilderotter discussed resilience using the example of a student who was devastated because, after practicing for weeks, did not get the lead role in the school play.

“What happens then is that people try to

Continued on next page

Op-Eds

10 Continued from Can Resilience Be Taught? protect the child from their own feelings and facing the failure, by telling them they don’t have to be in the play. Instead, if the child were encouraged to stay with the play in a different role, the student may discover many things that can come from that, such as learning a new skill in the character they have to play. Resilience comes from facing disappointment. If we always protect kids from disappointment, the dissapointment when they finally have to face it, whether that be in their college

or their first job, is devastating, because they never learned the skills they need to cope with challenges.”

“In your life and in the long term, you learn how to deal with setbacks. What seems so huge when you are in high school you will be able to look back on and remember how it hurt, but you will also remember that you overcame your challenges, and that different doors and opportunities opened up for you, even if you did not get the thing you first wanted.

Resilience is so important in one’s life because you will always face disappointment, and you need to learn how to go

on when something devastating happens.

Resilience is really about being on your own telling yourself that you can do it, and that you can manage. You will be able to overcome setbacks because you tell yourself that your failures does not define you. Resilience is internal confidence which you get overcoming obstacles,” Wilderotter said.

“People who have faced disappointment as young kids and learned it through school, the ones who have struggled and had great determination, who have met setbacks and gone forward--there is inner strength and resilience in those people,”

What is The Purpose of

─ Op-Ed ─

By RICHARD OMAR PAYNE ’18 The Insight asked people to to answer the question: What is the purpose of Art? Chris Krow, Math teacher, and Tiffany Aguilar, ’18: to express beauty.

Jada Jameson, ’17: to make people feel something and understand where the artist is coming from.

Wiggens King, Math teacher: It gives you a medium to express your ideas on different aspects of life. Like how Katy Perry talks about her boyfriends through her art Jesse Pasca, Art teacher: I don’t think there’s one purpose. I think for a society, art acts as a witness. It reveals the invisible in the world. I think artists tell stories. And

they often will reveal narratives to point out that which we have otherwise missed.

Beauty, hope, and reaching for something we aren’t is fundamental to art-making. I also see another side to art-making which is more material-based. What can I do with these materials? What can I make? And this pursuit reveals the extraordinary in human beings. Like when you see a musician walking down the street and you know he is capable of making great music. It’s the same thing with a visual artist. Maybe this is too cerebral. Very simply, I think the purpose of art is to change how we see the world. It attunes us to beauty. Beyond that, art is a powerful tool for us to gain insight into the lives of others, the natural world, and the world that can possibly be.

Kelly Grimmett, Librarian: Art can mean a lot of things to many people. It can be aesthetically pleasing. Beautiful. But I like art that has a message: not all art needs to have a message but when I feel that I’m moved in some way or my thought or existence is changed because of the piece, that to me is art.

Jason Harris, History teacher: I think the purpose of art is to reflect on the beauty of the world. And I think artists have an opportunity to reflect on and elevate for the consideration of others the inherent beauty that’s a part of all the world’s landscape. I think that art, when done ethically enlarges our human capacity for love, our human capacity to create more beauty. I think it enlarges our imagination, it enlarges our capacity for compassion and for care, for

said Wilderotter.

Resilience is not always some magical or elusive character trait that some have and others don’t. It is a frame of mind and a way of looking at challenges. And the good news is, there are ways to teach it.

Resilience helps us in challenging times to achieve our goals. If teaching resilience can aid students in entering life confident that they can succeed, then I believe it is something everyone should learn.

empathy, the ability to relate to others, the ability to imaginatively put ourselves in the shoes of others. And to attune ourselves to other stories and suffering so that we can make sure that their stories are heard.

I think that art helps us to see things anew, afresh. Sometimes we get complacent and as a result become complicit in all kinds of injustices. And injustices rooted in not seeing, nor hearing, not listening I should say, not attuning, not attending to. And I think that art has the capacity to awaken our consciousness and to help us to resist being anesthetized, being put to sleep by forces of injustice. Art helps us stay awake, and if we are sleeping it wakes us up. And it invites us into a new perspective. A fresh look at our current situation, never stopping there, because art attunes us to the now. It helps us to see what is. But it attunes us to the then, which means that it helps us to see what could be.

Triton Mobley, Visual Arts teacher: It doesn’t have a purpose honestly. Art is transcendent (it goes beyond everything, time, race religion) because it lacks importance. No one needs it. It is not a resource that anyone needs. Human existence, civilization, any way you want to frame it, it is not a prerequisite for life. The reason why we have it because in every way it embellishes all the things we need for life. Love, natural resources, communication, family, friendships, memory. Art is pointless and has no purpose, art education on the other hand does. The purpose of art education is about communication. At its core it is about communication. Art is self-serving.

It is a reflection of the creator. It speaks to the creator, then it speaks to an audience.

February 2015

Sports

11

Eastern and Western Conferences Face off in The 2014-2015 Season

By MESSIAH MCCALL ’18 The NBA season has started off with the Western Conference once again dominating the Eastern Conference. With a winning percentage against the Western conference being a mere 36.79%, the Eastern conference is already the much more inferior conference.

With Eastern Conference teams selecting the first four picks of the 2014 draft and the move of Kevin Love and Pau Gasol onto new teams in the East, the conference was expected to produce much better results.

The biggest disappointment has been the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were expected by many to be the best team in the East, with Lebron James’ claim that he came home to bring Cleveland a championship.

Unfortunately, this team has been “fragile”, according to James, not unlike most of the other teams in the Eastern Conference.

Although the Eastern Conference as a whole has been struggling, the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Washington Wizards have been playing as or above what was expected. Teams like the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, have been playing on a level that can only be described as horrible.

The 76ers lost their first seventeen games and there was speculation that the top-ranked college team, the Kentucky Wildcats, could beat them. The Knicks, even with the addition of Derek Fisher as head coach and coaching legend Phil Jackson as team president, have been the same disaster they were last year.

Although it seems like a wave of bad luck has hit the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference has had its struggles as well. Many Western teams have fallen victim to the injury bug, several of which quickly disappear from the playoff picture. The second-best team in the conference last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder, has struggled to reclaim the success of 2014 after several injuries to reigning MVP Kevin Durant. The Lakers had hope for a resurgence this year after the return of Kobe Bryant from injury and the arrival of Julius Randle, but each of those players is now out for the season and the Lakers are doomed. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded away All-Star Kevin Love, are certainly feeling the negative effects of his departure.

While there has been some problems with both conferences, there have been some very

Eastern Conference

vs Western Conference

applaudable performances from teams who have been doing everything right this season.

On the West, the Golden State Warriors have been showing some of their best results as a team, especially with a first time coach, showing their skill as the number one team with their memorable 16 game win streak.

Damian Lillard and Lamarcus Aldridge have also been working wonders with the Portland trailblazers as the number two team in the league trailblazing through opponents. The Houston Rockets and the L.A. Clippers have been performing at their expected levels, but the Rockets may be knocked out of orbit until Dwight Howard returns back from injury. The Dallas Mavericks played above their expectations, and are now expected to be a very formidable team with the recent addition of assist leader Rajon Rondo. Lastly, the Memphis Grizzlies have been performing above their expectations as well with Marc Gasol putting on a remarkable performance for his team.

In the East, only four teams are worth talking about, the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Washington Wizards. The Raptors have played slightly above their expectations as the number one team in the East, but it is not surprising since their team is well balanced and well coached.

The Atlanta Hawks were at the 8th spot in the playoffs last year, but now they made their presence known as the number two team in the East. The Chicago Bulls were being questioned all summer on how good they would be, and they have been performing exceptionally. With Derrick Rose back, the signing of Pau Gasol, and the incredible performance from Jimmy Butler, and defense player of the year Joakim Noah they are honoring their glory as a tough NBA team nearly every year since the Jordan Era. Lastly for the East, the Wizards have been putting on a magic show with John Wall, Paul Pierce, Bradley Beal, and Marcin Gortat playing great on a consistent level, becoming a threat for their opponents.

Moreover, the big four in the East may be strong enough to represent their conference well and defeat the forever-tough Western Conference, but the Western Conference as of now will continue to give most of the Eastern Conference teams a run for their money.

Sports

12

Featured Athletes Declan Smith

Santiago Niño

- JV Boys Basketball -

- Varsity Swimming -

Nickname: D-smith Pre-game ritual: Get really quiet and get a few shots up Post game celebration: Shouting in locker room Favorite athlete: Dustin Pedroia Favorite food: Chicken roll Go to trash talk line: I don't trash talk Favorite saying: Pain is temporary Pet peeve: Missing layup

Nickname: The Columbian Torpedo Pre-match ritual: A chant/hype session with teammates Favorite athlete: James Rodriguez Favorite food: A good hamburger Go to dance move: The Cabbage Patch Go to trash talk line: I don’t have one Favorite saying: Whatever floats your boat Pet peeve: Hangnails

Anna Lee

Jevaughni Pegues

- Varsity Girls Basketball -

- Varsity Boys Basketball -

Post game celebration: Team freestyle competition Favorite athlete: Natalie Benderly Favorite food: Sushi Favorite dance move: Head bob Go to trash talk line: Screw you

Nickname: Buckets Pre-game ritual: Swinging Post game celebration: Poppin’ bottles (of juice) Favorite athlete: Kobe Bryant Go to dance move: The Yeet Favorite food: Shrimp Go to trash talk line: You can’t guard me, its too easy Favorite saying: Get buckets Pet peeve: People who don’t let the game come to them

Coming on: Featuring:

Ballet Hispanico

Arts and Culture

February 2015

13

Let Me Tell You About Homestuck Why Andrew Hussie’s brilliant webcomic is the best possible thing to consume your weekend, or perhaps your entire life

By NICHOLAS MARKUS ’16 For almost 6 years, one man has been continually creating one of the lengthiest webcomics on the internet. That man is Andrew Hussie, and his magnum opus is called Homestuck.

Described by PBS Idea Channel’s Mike Rugnetta as “The Ulysses of the Internet,” Homestuck is a webcomic about a boy named John and his friends who play a videogame called SBURB. The game summons a bunch of meteors to destroy Earth and transports them to a fantastical land known as The Medium.

The webcomic begins with silly antics as they try to figure out how to play the game while titularly stuck at home, and the story slowly takes them beyond the furthest stars.

During the comic, the protagonists encounter monsters, ghosts, aliens, demon aliens, their own clones (who are babies), the destruction of the universe, and

The first scene from Homestuck.

leprechauns that can travel in time. But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself...

For those who don’t know, a webcomic is any form of comic published on the internet. The nature of webcomics ranges between epic fantasy adventures like Homestuck to much more lighthearted comedy strips (similar to what one might find in a newspaper comic section, except, you know, funny).

All of these webcomics share two common features (besides existing on the internet). One, Most webcomic sites will present you with the most recent comic and provide a button to go back to the very first one. Two, they all use speech bubbles. This is important because it shows how these comics are designed to be almost exactly like physical comics you might find in a store or newspaper. Homestuck is different.

What differentiates Homestuck from all other webcomics is that it relies on the internet as a way to tell one large overarching narrative. Unlike other webcomics which could essentially be printed as a regular comic and experienced in the same way, Homestuck could only ever exist on the internet. Instead of static panels, Homestuck often utilizes GIF animation, chat dialogs in place of speech bubbles, full on animated movies, and even small games over the course of its crazy story of time shenanigans, omnipotent dogs, internet trolls who are literally trolls, planets made of lava, carapacian mobsters, lesbian vampires, and the very origin of the universe itself (along with its demise). All in all, Homestuck is most definitely worth checking out.

One Caveat however, Homestuck is long, very long, over 7000 pages long and it isn’t even finished. If you go to mspaintadventures.com at this very moment and start clicking through the blue hypertext links which carry you through the story you will quickly find yourself thinking “The heck, where’s the time travel and leprechauns. This isn’t what I expected at all!” Trust me, while the mundanity of the first act is not the world’s most thrilling experience, what lies beyond that is one of the most interesting, exciting, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful stories you will ever read.

Arts and Culture

14

Food Around Friends

By JACKSON WALD ’18 As the new schedule for next year has recently been released, one of the many new features is a common lunch period for everyone in the Upper School. While the cafeteria is always a good option, it may be crowded, and you may need to go somewhere new to eat. Here are some of the best options of where to eat around Friends, a few of which may not know about.

238 East 14th Street

Baohaus

Baohaus is a tiny, dark restaurant which might not even seem like a restaurant first. However, the food is incredible.

It is run by Eddie Huang, an esteemed chef who has had a cooking show on YouTube under the channel, VICE and also was originally trained to be a lawyer at Columbia. They offer a variety of modern Taiwanese-Japanese fusion meals, ranging from different kinds of “Baos,” (which are steamed, filled buns) to Rice Bowls.

The one dish I highly recommend is the Birdhaus Bao, which is a bun with Fried Chicken that has been braised for 24 hours, with seasoning and aioli, for only $3.55.

Also, the Taro fries are incredibly tasty.

Mariella Pizza

180 3rd Avenue

Although Mariella’s is less than a block away from Friends, and very well known, some items on the menu are too tasty not to mention. Although the price of Mariellas is steep, both the Sicilian and the Grandma slices are worth trying.

If specialty pizzas are not for you, the regular slice is just as good.

Vanessa’s Dumpling

220 East14th Street

The last 14th street restaurant on the list, Vanessas is a very affordable and satisfying option to get dumplings, steamed buns, or fried scallion pancakes. One of my favorite options on the menu is the handmade pork and chive dumplings.

They give you four dumplings for the slim price of $1.59. The service is also very fast, so even if it is crowded, you will not have to wait for long. Another option worth ordering is their hot and sour soup.

Jack’s Sliders and Sushi

171 3rd Avenue

One of the closer and more interesting restaurants is Jack’s Sliders and Sushi which has very good prices, tons of variety and delicious entrees. For the sliders, I highly recommend the Crunchy Curry Slider, which is a beef burger with grilled onions and is topped with Jack’s special curry sauce. Also, the regular American burger is very good as well. They also have special lunch deals, with cheaper options and a salad or soup. On the sushi side, I recommend both the spicy tuna and the philadelphia roll.

The Nugget Spot

230 East 14th Street

Another restaurant on 14th Street is the Nugget Spot, which specializes on its chicken nuggets. They serve a variety of nuggets, such as cheese, pretzel, coconut, and cereal nuggets. And if those are not for you, the classic Southern Belle nuggets are crispy and crunchy. They also serve lunch specials, including one for 10 dollars that contains chicken nuggets, with the choice of fries, biscuit, or cole slaw, and a fountain drink. The desserts here are also incredible, such as the deep fried, pretzel coated, chocolate chip cookie dough balls.

99 3rd Avenue

Ngam

According to Kira Felsenfeld ’15, food savant and amateur critic, Ngam is her favorite Friends area establishment because it is the “most accessible to people with food-related concerns (for those who are gluten free: zucchini pad thai). They take a while to serve, but it is worth it because of their creative take on Thai food. I would recommend the satay sandwich (between two pieces of challah bread, talk about a mix of cultures!!). Its a great place to share portions and try some wonderful and interesting new flavors.”

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February 2015

Cipher

Teacher New Year’s Resolutions

By RACHEL HODES ‘18

By EITAN DARWISH ’17

Chris Krow

As amazing as our teachers are, they aspire to be even better. This New Year’s they look forward on 2015 with their own New Years Resolutions:

Noel Capozzalo I resolve to...

• Cultivate my online persona.

15

I am 95% confident that I resolve to...

• Use the word "conversation" less.

• Be more patient with students who fix their coffee in front of the coffee.

• Be less funny (it distracts from my teaching of math, which isn't naturally funny) • Assign homework that only takes 30 minutes instead of "5 hours."

• Make another friend at school.

• Stop saying "I used to be good at this" before I demonstrate anything at track practice.

• Trust people with beards.

• Pretend to be Scandinavian.

Jennifer Gentle This year I resolve to...

• Play the banjo.

A story about this resolution: I've been saying for a few years now that maybe one day I'll pick up the banjo, but why not now? When I was in Louisville during winter break, I rented one and my friend gave me a few lessons. I learned a riff from "Cripple Creek" and it's so much fun. I love contra dancing partly because of the music, and maybe one day I'll play banjo in the house band!

Chris Doire

Jamie Lieberman

This year I resolve to...

• Bake more bread and braise more meats.

• Crack more lame jokes in the classroom.

• Attend to that thing I've been putting off, but it's time, no denying it.

This year I resolve to...

• Put in place a much-needed revision of the 9th grade world history final exam, replacing the multiple choice section with a performance art component on the rise and fall of ancient civilizations.

This is a basic substitution cipher, where letters of the cipher text are substituted for specific letters in the plain text. Those who solve it can send the solution to:

insight@friendsseminary.org The first three to email us will have their names featured in the next edition. Good luck!

“ncgdu gmrfk mrydul, xgp'bb oydt mrnm xgp'kf dgm mrf oyklm hfklgd srg snl fqfk egdoplft ndt okyurmfdft ndt fqfd lyeafdft ix rpcnd ifrnqygk. xgp'kf ix dg cfndl nbgdf gd mrnm legkf, xgp'bb if fveymft ndt lmycpbnmft mg adgs. cndx, cndx cfd rnqf iffd wplm nl mkgpibft cgknbbx ndt lhykympnbbx nl xgp nkf kyurm dgs. rnhhybx, lgcf go mrfc afhm kfegktl go mrfyk mkgpibfl. xgp'bb bfnkd okgc mrfc—yo xgp sndm mg. wplm nl lgcftnx, yo xgp rnqf lgcfmrydu mg goofk, lgcfgdf sybb bfnkd lgcfmrydu okgc xgp. ym'l n ifnpmyopb kfeyhkgenb nkkndufcfdm. ndt ym ykd'm ftpenmygd. ym’l rylmgkx. ym’l hgfmkx.”

–w.t. lnbydufk, mrf enmerfk yd mrf kxf

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16

The 25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee

April: 17th,18th, & 19th • At the Vineyard Theater

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If you have a community event, reach out to us at insight@friendsseminary.org to have it featured in The Insight.

WRITERS Max Teirstein ’17 Samuel Zieve-Cohen ’15 Isabel Clements ’17 Nahid Mahmud ’17 Sabrina Edelman ’16 Abigail Panitz ’15 Rachel Hodes ’17 Isa Skibeli ’18 Richard Omar Payne ’18 Messiah McCall ’18 Nicholas Markus ’16 Jackson Wald ’18 Eitan Darwish ’17

CHIEF EDITORS Maghnus Mareneck ’15 Samuel Zieve-Cohen ’15

ADVISORS John Galayda Deanna Yurchuk

DESIGNERS & ARTISTS David Perry ’15 Lia DeFranco’15