Friends Seminary
Edition 1
November 2016
Campus Redevelopment Continues By ZARA SCHREIBER ’17
Friends Seminary defeated Long Island Lutheran by a score of 2-0 on November 6, 2016 at Manhattanville College to win the School’s first ever NYSAIS State Championship in soccer. The state title was the culmination of an incredible season in which the Boys won their fourth straight regular season conference title, as well as their third consecutive conference tournament championship. Warren Salandy, who captured his 201st career victory as head coach, said that solid defending by Jason Pitagorsky, Lucas Pryor, Declan Smith and Simon Love kept Long
Island at bay. Will Cohen, Eli Eshaghpour and Martin Wilkinson combined well in the midfield to neutralize their skillful players. In transition, the trio were able to creatively and skillfully knit passes together to control the possessional play. The front three of Jay Hickey, Yeshe Jurgaitis and Rio Hope-Gund were dynamic and kept Long Island’s defense on their toes all game. Rio pounced on a defensive blunder, out ran his defenders and slotted home a well placed strike to open the scoring with about 10 minutes left to play in the first half.
Inside
A second half injury to Friends’ stalwart center back Lucas Pryor resulted in a tactical shift with Rio being shifted to the center back position. Lucas later reentered the game as a forward. With 13 minutes to go in the match, Lucas picked up the ball outside the 18 yard box, dribbled pass his defender and perfectly placed his strike in the lower corner of the net. Goalkeeper Kofi Hope-Gund was unthreatened for most of the game, but pulled off a spectacular save to preserve the shutout. See page 11 for more on fall sports.
WELCOME TO THE INSIGHT!
BOYS’ SOCCER TEAM GOES TO TOBAGO
A LETTER FROM OUR SERVICE CLERKS
VISITING SCHOLAR ARTHUR LARRABEE
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While students were away enjoying their summer vacations, a construction crew has been hard at work, utilizing the empty buildings to make progress on the campus redevelopment project. Students will remember the scaffolding erected in the middle of the courtyard, an area which for the summer took a break from being a hangout spot to function as the staging area for the construction. The erection of that scaffolding marked the beginning of construction, which continued throughout the summer. Although the renovations will not be completely finished until 2019, progress was made over the summer, and students can see a few changes already. The gym received a makeover, with a new paint job, scoreboard, and speakers. Most notably, a climbing wall was installed on the northern wall, which will be used by both the PE department and the Experiential Education department. A divider curtain is also being installed, doubling the room’s capacity for PE classes as well as indoor recess. The library has also undergone some modifications; some of the stacks were removed to make space for more comfortable furniture in a hope to facilitate a more casual atmosphere in which to study. A new IDF room was built in a corner of the MacBook Lab, which will be visible to students. The relocation will result in more space and energy efficient system. Due to the decrease in size of the MacBook Lab to accommodate the servers, room 409 has been transformed into the new computer science classroom. All of the Hunter Hall classrooms have been repainted and have received a new energy-efficient lighting system. Perhaps less notable but still important, the school has been entirely rewired and a new Wifi
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Welcome to The Insight! Welcome back! This past summer, Friends students have gone around the world, created award-winning films, and expanded their horizons. Many students have also been working diligently on this edition of The Insight since the beginning of the summer. The Insight is a compilation of opinions on and coverage of current events in world news and at school, and as such is a platform for empowering students to bring about change in the world and in the community. The violence and tragedy of the summer is at the forefront of the minds of Friends students as the year begins. It is the duty of The Insight to provide students with the space to express their shock and outrage at the horrific events of the summer, including the Orlando attack, the shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, and the earthquake in Italy. This is a time for our community to bind together and work to enact real change in the world, and The Insight will work to provide an outlet for students to have their voices heard and to hear those of others. It is also important that we appreciate the hard work and countless hours donated to the cause of renovating the school. We have come back to buildings that are shaped differently, classrooms located in different places, and a schedule organized in a different configuration. As we navigate the renovations, The Insight is the place for students to react to this new environment. We’d like to invite everyone to participate in the newspaper. For it to be successful, it must be a community effort. Whether it be an article, a letter to the editors, an advertisement for a club, a solution to the cipher, or an idea for something you’d like to read, we welcome all contributions. If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, don’t hesitate to reach out. Happy writing!
Continued from “Renovation Continues at Friends” system has been put into place to improve speed and reliability. Over the summer workers transported and installed 140 tons of steel atop Hunter Hall, to be used for the structure of the two new floors. To do this, they had to remove the enclosed play roof and set up a crane on East 16th Street. They have been conducting concrete pours for the new floors and are working on the installation of stairs to those floors. Workers also focused on safety, installing various protections, structural reinforcements, new sprinklers, and removing traces of asbestos. They have been waterproofing and fireproofing all columns. Despite efforts to keep disruption to a minimum, some Friends students have expressed displeasure with the construction. Aleyna Ndaw ’18 says “it’s an inconvenience and also super distracting when there are people walking on the scaffolding,” which is placed directly outside of many classrooms. Jada Jameson ’17 concurs “I would have preferred if my last year at Friends was not tarnished by the sounds that come along with the construction.” She does, however, believe “having more space would bring a better sense of unity to the community.” Throughout the coming school year, the new play roof enclosure will be constructed, and mechanicals, HVAC, and lighting, among other things, will be worked upon. Phase I of construction, the Hunter Hall Redevelopment, is scheduled to be completed in May 2017.
Rutherford Receives a Makeover!
You can pick up copies of The Insight from the stands located in the main lobby, the annex lobby, and the gallery. Contact us at: insight@friendsseminary.org
The new logo features Rutherford, a Great Horned Owl, with a distinctive word mark above an outstretched wingspan. Rutherford’s look evokes a sense of energy, action, perseverance and pride, which represents the top-notch, competitive nature of 30+ athletic teams at Friends. Rutherford landed at Friends in 2002 (we're not sure how old that makes Rutherford in "owl years") and has been embraced since.
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November 2016
Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team Travels to Tobago By DECLAN SMITH ’17 Four hours after leaving JFK, we hit the dark Tobagonian tarmac. Cheers filled our ears as fellow passengers applauded the landing and old ladies thanked god. While taxiing, the flight attendant welcomed the Friends Seminary soccer team to Tobago over the PA system, prompting us to join the cheering. After deplaning into the humid night, we proceeded to customs, and found we were the only non-citizens there. Vancouver Whitecaps and Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Richard Goddard greeted us outside of the airport. Richard, who happens to be Coach Warren Salandy’s first cousin, was to take us to straight our hotel, but we were delayed as Warren and Sherwin O’Neil were too busy saying hello to people they knew around the airport. Eventually we arrived at the Coco Reef Resort in Crown Point and had our first team dinner at the hotel restaurant overlooking the beach. The next morning we took a bus to our first training session, and prepared for our first match against Warren and Sherwin’s old club team, St. Clair’s Coaching School, on a field where Sherwin and Warren used to play. After training, we stopped in town to get some “doubles,” Tobagonian street food, and some coconut water straight from the fruit. Then a two-tiered, glassbottom boat called Cool Runnings took us out to the Buccoo Reef, where we did some snorkeling. After snorkeling, we boated to the Nylon Pool, an area where the water is only a few feet high, but if we had walked far enough we would have ended up walking off a cliff into thousands of feet of deep ocean. We played in the shallow water, flipping off the front of the boat, chicken fighting, and taking group pictures with locals. Our final stop was a seven-minute ride away. The boat pulled up to the bank of an inlet and while we were all watching, one of the crew climbed up on the railing of the top level of the boat and quickly back flipped off. After our awe had wore off, we followed his lead and started jumping from the top of the boat. People did front flips, back flips, attempted-flip-but-faceplants, cannonballs, and dives before we headed back to the hotel. We got back to the beach 10 minutes before game time, so needless to say, we were late. But we warmed up quickly, lined up, and walked out with the referees. We shook hands with the opponents and gave them our old Friends home jerseys. We played a good game under the lights and won 3-1. Day Two started with a clinic. We were
scheduled to have training in the morning then distribute cleats and other gear in the afternoon, but we decided to change our plans and drive over to Bishop’s High School, Warren and Sherwin’s alma mater and one of the top academic schools on the island. There we met students from a few different schools in the area. Sherwin led the fitness work and Warren led the ball skills work while the team helped out. After the clinic, we heard from the President of the Tobago Soccer Federation and from Tobago’s Division Assistant Secretary of Sport and Youth Affairs, Mr. Jomo Pitt. As ambassadors for the Kleats for Kids organization, we distributed cleats, balls, keeper gear, and jerseys to the kids and the school, and played some one-touch with students in the courtyard. Later that night, we played a game against Bishop High School’s varsity soccer team. We gave them our old Friends away jerseys and after dominating the first hour with a 3-0 lead, we ended up with a 3-3 tie. On our penultimate day, we took a bus over to lead a clinic with kids from the St. Clair’s Coaching School at the high school with the most championships in Tobago. Before the session, Friends soccer players were honored to meet Bertille St. Clair, Warren and Sherwin’s coach and the fountainhead for all the lessons Friends soccer players learn. Inspired, we left the school for a daylong tour of the island. After a hike, we arrived at the beautiful Argyle Waterfall. The 20-foot deep pool below allowed us endless entertainment as we jumped, flipped, and dove into the water from various points up the falls. We even held a diving contest judged by Kofi Hope-Gund ’17 and Jay Hickey ’17. Our third stop of the day was the town of Charlotteville. After a drive with stops at spectacular view points, we hit the beach with our normal antics. We were ready for a rest on the long drive back and were rewarded with beautiful sunset views over the island and the ocean beyond it. Our final day in Tobago commenced with a morning training session at the soccer field near Warren and Sherwin’s childhood homes and a visit to Salandy Street and Warren’s home. Before our final game that night, we spent one last afternoon swimming, kayaking, and snorkeling around the hotel beach. We headed back to the goat-lined field for our final game against the Tobago U17 Select Team. The team had at least three
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Halloween Frights at Friends
Continued from “Varsity Boy’s Soccer Team Travels to Tobago” members in the selection pool to play on the Trinidad and Tobago Youth National Team, a team on which both Warren and Sherwin played. Thanks to a newspaper announcement there was a crowd of 20 to 30 people, including Mr. Pitt and Sherwin’s mother and brother. The game was the toughest of the trip, but we managed to come out with a final score of Friends 2, Select Team 1. In our final post-game huddle, an emotional Warren profusely thanked Sherwin, who was moving to coach at a new school, for being a part of this special trip and for all of his service to Friends as a coach, teacher, and friend over the past years. On our final morning, Dave, Warren, and Lucas Pryor ’17 were interviewed on the local news before coming back for one last meal at Coco Reef. Eventually, we picked up our bags, walked seven minutes over to the airport, and said good-bye to Sherwin and Warren’s beautiful homeland. We will never forget this experience of paying tribute to our coaches’ home through soccer, service, and cultural immersion.
By COCO GRUSON ’20
After the amazing team b o n d i n g e x p e r i e n c e , t h e Va r s i t y Soccer team won the ACIS regular season title, the ACIS c h a m p i o n s h i p, a n d t h e N Y S A I S tournament, thus winning the treble. They are the first team to be seeded number one, the first team to make it to the finals of the tournament, and the first to win a state championship for Fr i e n d s .
Halloween is celebrated in many unique ways around the world, as well as in the Friends Seminary community. At Friends, there is a pizza party for the grade who has the largest number of kids in costume. There was also a great lower school Halloween party run by the Parents’ Association with help from high school students. All in all, Halloween at Friends is a day for people to dress up and be whoever they want to be, but more importantly to just have fun! Halloween as we know it is the product of an evolution that started more than 2000 years ago. The origins of Halloween can be traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, where the Celts that lived in what is today’s Ireland marked the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of their new year with a festival to honor the spirits of death. The festival included bonfires, storytelling and costumes. Over time, the celebration took on religious and superstitious elements, being celebrated as the eve of the All Saints’ day. The holiday came to the Americas with European immigrants and was adapted over time to what is today: a secular community celebration centered around children’s entertainment. This year, there were many elaborate costumes worn by the students. The freshmen won the pizza party because out of all the classes, they had the highest percentage of students in costume. One student rocked a dinosaur costume, not to mention The Donald, an Arthur, and plenty of rabbits. The lower school party was a success, with lots of upper school volunteers helping out the PA. One of the volunteers, Joey Healey ’20 said, “I really enjoyed being around the lower schoolers during Halloween and I felt very good about myself knowing I did something good for the community.” Halloween at Friends is closely tied to our value of community, as it brings the school together in celebration for the day.
See the BackPage for some awesome student costumes!
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November 2016
A Letter from Our Service Clerks the future. We also welcome suggestions on how to make the service committee a more open and effective body to service the community. We urge everyone to contact us about improvements, questions, and requests. As the clerks, we are here to communicate the student’s service concerns and desires to faculty. We hope this will be a revolutionary year in service at Friends! Thanks, Rachel Wolchok ’17 and Olivia Berke ’17
Photo by Claire Brennan
As the new service clerks for the 2016 to 2017 school year, we discuss how to make the service committee a more accessible, effective, and efficient part of the Friends Seminary community. We have reviewed the way service has been conducted in past years and identified some of the weaknesses of the committee. We feel that there has been a strong emphasis on completing service primarily to fulfill the requirements instead of volunteering to contribute to a cause and assist others. Keeping this in mind, we plan to hold more events and get feedback from the community about what events they enjoy and find meaningful. In addition, we would like to communicate that forming relationships with organizations as underclassmen is beneficial, both on a personal level and for the organization. We believe it is important to find some organizations whose missions you feel passionate about and to continue to volunteer with them throughout your high school career. We value student input for events they would like to see orchestrated, as well as their thoughts on how to improve events in
Members of the service committee at the end of a meeting.
For questions about service, reach out to the clerks at: 17wolchok@friendsseminary.org or 17berke@friendsseminary.org
The New Face of Sustainable Agriculture By TESSA DeFRANCO ’17 The first thing you see when you drive through the visitors’ gate is a vibrant field and a small enclosure. Sometimes, you may be lucky enough to see baby goats in the pen, but the animals are often rotated to different areas of the land to minimize depletion of the soil. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a nonprofit farm that works towards developing and encouraging sustainable agriculture. It began as a place for the Rockefeller children to experience the outdoors and as a bridge between farmers and the public. In 2003, the Rockefeller family donated the 80-acre property Stone Barns, transforming the previous dairy-farm into a sustainably run, agricultural gold mine. The following year, the founders of the organization welcomed Blue Hill chef Dan Barber to join their operation. Blue Hill is a farm-to-table restaurant in lower Manhattan. It was created by Dan Barber as an experimental outlet aimed at showcasing local food. They opened up their second establishment on the Stone Barns property just 30 miles north of New York City. The dining experience in either location is centered around seasonality, with the menu items only available at
certain times of the year. The menu at each restaurant is changed daily based on what was harvested that week, or even that morning. Steaks made of carrot and bowls made of eggplant perfectly exemplify the creativity that goes into planning every course, each day. This summer, I had the pleasure to work for Stone Barns Center. I was employed as part of the Farm Camp team and spent four extraordinary weeks outside. I learned about the process of sustainable agriculture,
following the path of a plant from seed to compost. The farmers not only aim at minimizing as much waste and depletion of the land as possible, but strive to create new, innovative crops to satisfy and advance the individuality and explorative nature of its main consumer, Blue Hill. The beauty of daily interactions with the land and animals and the novelty of the Stone Barns Center cyclical method of agriculture made the four hour commute and the exhaustion of being a camp
counselor feel effortless.
To learn about sustainability at Friends, you can contact the SEED leaders at: 17axxin@friendsseminary.org or 18wootton@friendsseminary.org
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How to Excel at Your Internship
The MTA Monopoly By NAHID MAHMUD ’17
By JACKSON WALD ’18 #1: Have Initiative #2: Find Something to Do #3: Act Like a Professional #4: Have Fun
Photo from the movie The Internship
I was lucky enough to obtain an internship working for Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on Capitol Hill. I went into this experience completely blind and unaware of what I was getting myself into. I had no one to coach me or tell me what to expect beforehand. Throughout the course of my internship, I learned valuable tips and garnered important advice that helped me have a smooth and successful time there, the most valuable being: 1. Have Initiative One of the first things that I learned is that you always want to be the first intern to raise your hand. No task is too small whether it is getting coffee or running a package to Fedex - people take notice if you are consistently engaged. Also, once you are given a task, try to overdeliver. Do the task to the best of your ability. Lastly, if you are working in a group with multiple interns, attempt to take the lead. Not only does it build respect amongst the other interns, but you also get to do more work with employees who are higher up. 2. Find Something to Do This tip is especially useful if you are working at a desk for your internship.You might have nothing to do for most of your time. There are projects from time to time,
but the real substantive work can be scarce. Instead of sitting and waiting, go around the office and ask for work, or ask if anyone needs any help. Not only will people learn to go directly to you when they actually have work for interns, but you have a better chance of getting the bigger and more important projects. 3. Act like a Professional Acting like you belong is another key element that is often overlooked. Getting to work early, dressing nicely, and being clean and energetic go a long way. You wouldn’t believe how many interns go to work smelly and looking like they just left a frat house. Also, be kind and considerate to your coworkers and your bosses, even if they are giving you a hard time. Finally, keep in touch with everyone you worked with, whether it be by email or simply Linked-In. 4. Have Fun The last and probably the most important tip is to have fun. Although it may sound corny, working at a job can be interesting and thought provoking. It’s all what you make of it!
Those of us paying rent in Manhattan can tell you that living in New York City is expensive. But high prices are not only limited to real estate in the Big Apple. From overpriced cab rides to overvalued museum tickets, nothing comes cheap. And yet some of these same people will tell you how convenient the MTA is. After all, for just two dollars and 75 cents, you can get a subway or bus ride to anywhere in the city and a lot of schools provide free metrocards for students’ morning and evening commutes. But should the MTA be our only option when it comes to masstransit travel? Is being the sole provider of a community as large as New York City healthy for the economy and its customers? Is such a company allowed to create mass profits just because it is the only one providing a specific service? And finally, is that service being so highly integrated into our society justified? In the past nine years, the MTA has increased tolls and fares five times. According to a local Eyewitness News report, the base price of a single subway or bus ride will jump to three dollars next year in accordance with the 2017 preliminary budget and four year financial plan recently released by the MTA. While a 25 cent fare hike for a metrocard may not seem much, the fact that yet another price increase is slated for 2019 begs the question as to why the MTA is raising tolls so frequently, considering how the standard price of a metrocard has already increased by 25 cents last year and that a base metrocard itself now costs a dollar alone. According to the MTA, the money is necessary to deal with the agency’s sizeable deficit of around 15 billion dollars which materialized due to the weak economy and unstable real estate market that plagued the city during the 2010 financial crisis when tax revenue
fell 20% short of the projected value. Borrowed money from issuing bonds due to diminishing governmental aid from both state and city also contributed heavily to the debt, leading to higher fare prices, laid-off workers, and worsening subway and bus maintenance. And yet, with such a budget gap, the MTA’s newly proposed financial plan aims to spend over a billion dollars towards increasing transit services, enhancing security, and investing in new capital projects. But even with new Select Service Bus Routes in Queens or the additional 21 million dollars in enhancements to basic subway and bus services, the MTA is restricted by its overwhelming deficit; one that the government has failed to fix at the expense of the consumers. With minimal state and city aid, the MTA can do little to fully serve the New York City community, and the fact that laws exist to mandate the MTA’s role today as absolutely vital to society shows how unrelenting the government is to release its grasp on such a huge money-making machine, even though it cannot handle the responsibilities that come with it. In order to provide consumers with more options and keep the MTA from having a monopoly over mass-transit in New York City, new subway and bus systems should be privatized to incite competition. In major cities like Stockholm, Copenhagen, and London, the cost of bus operations dropped by more than 20%, 25%, and 51% respectively by the turn of the century due to the introduction of new bus competition. If you need a more local example, just take a look at Uber and how a small private company has managed to raise 12 billion dollars with a 62.5 billion dollar valuation and grow to compete with the TLC by serving millions of customers daily. By combining several private companies with exclusive transit services into one mass-transit unit, the MTA has squandered competition in New York City for the sake of profit and its negative repercussions on customer service can be recognized by any commuter on a day-to-day basis. Introducing deregulated transit systems based on competitive contracting would create more economic autonomy by providing better services at lower prices without the involvement of the political bureaucracy that seems to plague many state-run organizations today.
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November 2016
Russian Paralympics Not So Enhanced by Performance Enhancing Drugs By ILANA LEHRMAN ’19 In the beginning of August, a question arose about Russia giving performance enhancing drugs to their athletes qualified to compete in the Olympic games as well as the Paralympic games. After some investigating by the International Paralympic Committee, it is now clear that Russian athletes’ drug use was in fact overseen by the government under the eyes of President Vladimir Putin. While the Russian Olympic team was allowed to compete, the International Paralympic Committee took stronger actions against this violation. The “decision [of banning Russia from the 2016 Paralympic Games] underlines our strong belief that doping has absolutely no place in Paralympic sport,” explains International Paralympic Committee’s president, Sir Philip Craven. This decision was publicized on August 7 and approved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on August
23, officially banning all Russian participants from this year’s Paralympics. Nadezhda Andreeva, a Russian rowing and canoe sprinter, shared her reaction, a common one amongst the other banned athletes. “Because of our health conditions, a lot of us aren’t even able to take muscle pills,” she said. “For us [sports] it is life. Without sports we won’t get anywhere. We need to train and strive for life.” Paralympics History Active between 1944 and 1946, the spinal injuries center at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Great Britain was founded and managed by spinal injuries specialist Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish expatriate German doctor. He was asked by the British government to establish such a centre for war veterans and civilians fighting in the battles during World War II. Dr. Guttmann
strongly believed in athletics as a method for rehabilitation, as it built physical strength and encouraged self respect, both of which ran low among these severely injured patients. With plenty of strong willpower and perseverance, Dr. Guttmann founded the Stoke Mandeville games in 1948 for war veterans. It then became known as the Paralympic Games beginning at the Rome Olympic Games held in 1960, and opened to all those disabled wishing to participate. However, at this year's Paralympics, not all wishing to participate will be boarding a Rio bound plane and hoping to win gold. For as long as the Paralympics have taken place, there has never been a known case of enhancement drugs, until it was discovered that 35 positive drug tests had been covered up by the Russian sports ministry since 2011. It was also revealed that 19 positive samples from Russian competitors were switched out for negative ones during the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi. More than half of the athletes involved in drug use medaled in the 2008 and 2012 games, meaning the entire system of winnings was dishonest and fraudulent. The focus of the guilt has been primarily placed on the Russian government rather than the athletes. Sir Philip Craven, a former wheelchair basketball player, has strongly expressed his disapproval and even revulsion towards the Russian government, with their “medals over moral mentality.” When asked about the innocent athletes being affected by his decision, he responded, “The Russian government has catastrophically failed its Para-athletes.” Both political figures and athletes continue to oppose the ban of their entire team:. The majority of the athletes had no involvement in drug use and are suffering along as collateral damage from the actions of the several athletes who were actually guilty for illegal drug use. Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko claimed that the International Paralympic Committee’s decision was based upon politics rather than the actual law, while the athletes themselves emphasized their uninvolvement and missed opportunities to show their passion for their sports. Ani Palyan, swimmer, shares her reactions. “I’ve never tested positive for doping,” Palyan said. “Let us compete at the Paralympics, we’ve done nothing wrong. We do not deserve such treatment.” Another athlete, Nina Ryabova, a swimmer, is staying optimistic and believes that justice will prevail, allowing her to live the dream she has trained for for the past four years.
CLUBS DAY 5 CLUBS A Cappella Computer Science Club (2nd Semester) Debate Friends for Friends (2nd Semester) FSGSA (Friends Seminary Gender Sexuality Alliance) Math Club (1st Semester) Middle East Club Mindfulness in Music Pottery Wheel and Ceramics Club Programming Club (1st Semester) RAAD (Raising Awareness, Advocating Diversity) SEED (Sustainable Environmental Education and Development) The Insight (Student Newspaper) Theory of Everything
DAY 8 CLUBS
ROTATION A Art Club Card Games Club Children’s Hardship Awareness Initiative Drama Club Femenists at Friends French Food, Movies, and Culture Human Rights Club Sports at Friends Writers’ Block
ROTATION B Art Historians at Friends Knit Witts Intro to Psych Philosophy Society Photography Club Public Speaking Sport Analytics at Friends Stock Investing Vegetarians Society
OUT OF SCHOOL CLUBS Friends Outdoors Club Cinematics Society Head Start Kids Helping Kids Model United Nations Ski and Snowboard Club SPIRIT! The Magpie (Lit Mag)
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A Letter to the Editors Dear Editors, We have all heard about the concerns surrounding pollution, but I only actually came face to face with the problem this past summer. This July, when I stepped off of the airplane in Beijing, I was in awe at the size of the airport, the amount of people, and most shockingly, the amount of surgical face masks everyone was wearing. Is the air here that bad? I thought to myself, as I continued making my way to the exit of the airport. After spending nearly two weeks there, my answer to that question was a resounding yes. Beijing’s current smog problem is due to the high levels of PM 2.5 (a type of small particle of thick dust) in the air. Such high PM levels can cause respiratory problems and even cancer, according to the New York State department of health. The high levels of pollution are also caused by the amount of coal China uses to produce energy. The dense population requires a lot of energy, the production of which heavily pollutes the air. Smog has been a concern for China for years now. According to an article in a UPenn Journal, Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China at the time, spoke about the pollution issue in his State of the Union Address in
2007. However, the situation still worsened and it was not until 2013 that the government announced a $277 billion spending limit to clean up the air. They did not officially starting taking action until 2015, once their plans were approved. Thankfully, efforts are being made to fix this issue, but the pollution in Beijing made me think a lot about our environment. Here at Friends Seminary, are we doing our job in helping to improve the environment? Does recycling one homework assignment, scrap paper, or plastic water bottle really make such a big difference? Recycling one sheet of paper will not change much. But if everyone does, then that saves paper, which saves trees, which can eventually improve air quality in New York City. But could we do more? Do we as students have solution-oriented ideas? Should we use The Insight to highlight more environmental issues that greatly impact our lives? I encourage our student body to respond to this letter. Hopefully as a community we can continue to contribute and do our part too.
Seniors Visit Prospect Park The class of 2017 took a day off of school to enjoy time together in Prospect Park. They participated in team-building exercises, discussed their goals, and created a leadership plan for the school year. Photos by Lily Weisberg ’17.
Sincerely, Daphne Darwish ’19
Friends Alumni Safe after Attack in Nice By RACHEL HODES ’17
Friends alumni Hudson McLane, Michael Brittenham, and Nick White avoided harm when during this past Bastille Day, a truck driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove into the crowds on Promenade Des Anglais. Eighty-six people died, including ten children, and 307 people were injured. The driver was shot and killed by police while still inside the truck. The next morning, the promenade was reopened. People searched for lost loved ones and placed flowers, stuffed animals, and French flags on the promenade. Many wrote angry messages on stones in blue marker, and placed them where Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been killed. The events of last year leave many people wondering: who was the man who was behind this horrific attack? Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a recently licensed delivery truck driver. He had been married to Hajer Khalfallah and had three children but was in the process of divorce. He had been physically abusive towards Khalfallah and her children. His father has stated that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was
depressed, drank alcohol, and used drugs. He had a criminal history that including armed violence. Claims have been made that LahouaiejBouhlel was a “soldier of the Islamic state;” however, this statement is unfounded. Although the French prosecutor has stated that the attack “bore the hallmarks of Jihadist Terrorist,” he had no record of being linked with Jihadist terrorism. Due to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January of 2015 and the three consecutive Paris attacks in November of 2015, France had been under a heightened state of security. After the Nice attacks, President Francois Hollande extended this state of emergency. Directly after the Nice attacks, Facebook set up a Safety Check which allowed people in the area to mark themselves as safe and allowed Facebook users to check on others who may have been effected. The three Friends Seminary students in the area all marked themselves safe.
THE
Student Lens
Featuring the work of Matteo Boria ’17 This photo was taken by Matteo Boria ’17, leader of photography club. If you would like to feature your own work in future editions, contact insight@friendsseminary.org.
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November 2016
‘WEINER’ Review BY LILY WEISBERG ’17
“Has anyone ever told you it’s hard to get you to talk about your feelings?” Josh Kriegman blurts out to Anthony Weiner from behind the camera. Kriegman has otherwise been a fly on the wall documentarian. Weiner’s response is interesting for two reasons: 1) He’s quick, dry, and funny. 2) He doesn’t answer the question. The film starts off as a comeback story. It follows Weiner as he tries to rebuild his political career. This is his second chance. After his first s scandal broke in 2011, the Congressman resigned from the House of Representatives and stayed mostly out of the public eye until 2013, when he ran for mayor of New York The film starts off following Weiner and his campaign efforts, and happens to still be with him when the second batch of photos and texts are uncovered, opening up questions about Weiner’s honesty, ability to hold office, and job as a husband. It’s far too easy to forget that the people in this movie are real. Weiner is so funny and ironic that he is almost playing a character. “Why are they filming you?” asks a woman on the street early in the film. “I can’t… I don’t know. Most of the time I don’t know why they’re filming me,” Weiner quips, stopped at a red light on his Citibike. “Are you somebody I’m supposed know?” “Believe me, no,” says the mayoral hopeful. At times it seems Weiner is playing himself for the sake of the film. However, as the movie unfolds and the tension builds, he proves to be the same, oddly unaffected person, even under pressure. The first time Weiner sees his wife, Huma Abedin, after the second scandal breaks, he does
not apologize. The two go into campaign mode, working to put a new “spin” on the scandal. His press conference is in 20 minutes. Would they say these texts were from before or after he resigned from the House? Would he say these were before or after he told People magazine he was “a new man”? They work on his statement. Abedin never asks for the answer to any of these questions. Weiner’s sarcasm and humor engages the audience in the spectacle of Weiner, but only Abedin’s sad, silent stares at her husband remind you of the personal tragedy behind this disaster. Even when he finally does lose it, screaming and shouting on the Lawrence O’Donnell show, the audience doesn’t really feel bad for Weiner, or even like this scandal matters all that much for him. He does not seem particularly affected by his 4.9% loss to De Blasio’s 40% sweep. Nor does he seem particularly upset that Abedin is not around to support him. He knows what not to ask of her. It is odd to see a woman of Abedin’s political stature so silenced. This silence makes her presence in the film all the more haunting. Weiner does not apologize. Abedin does not chastise. Abedin pledges her support and withdraws from the public eye. The magic of Weiner is the filmmaker himself. Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg directed the film, but Kriegman, a former chief of staff for Weiner in the House, did most of the filming. As a result of his past relationship with Weiner, Kriegman was allowed such a shocking and intimate level of access into Weiner’s life that it feels as if the movie is a scripted reality show. The camera stays with Weiner and Abedin after
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Visiting Scholar Arthur Larrabee
Quaker luminary Arthur Larrabee, Friends Seminary’s 2016-2017 Visiting Scholar, led a series of stimulating classroom discussions, insightful clerking workshops and passionate lectures throughout the week of October 23. In the classroom, he was interviewed by Grade 4 students about what it means to be a Quaker, commented on the nature of civil discourse in this election season with Grade 7, and discussed Quakerism’s connection to social justice with Grade 12 history students. Between class visits, Arthur hosted four clerking workshops for faculty, staff and students. He also lead a discussion with new Friends parents about Quakerism. In his public lecture, “Illuminating the Quaker Heart of a Friends School,” held in the Meetinghouse on October 27, Arthur shared stories from his life and connected them to the essential elements of a Quaker school. He said, “A Quaker school will help to lay the foundation for a moral and ethical life, and
help its students cultivate an appreciation for the spiritual dimensions of life.” He added, “It is the experience of Quakers that when we open ourselves up to it, spirit can deepen and enrich our lives, lead us to desirable outcomes, make us better human beings, and make the world a better place.” Friends is grateful to Arthur for his generosity of spirit and his thoughtful engagement with our community. In his introduction of Arthur before the lecture, Academic Dean Will Hopkins said of Arthur, “Through continued sharing of wisdom, his work as a Quaker leader has helped many school communities become better versions of themselves.” Friends Seminary is fortunate to count ourselves among those communities touched by Arthur’s wisdom as we continue to “prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be.”
10 the entire campaign team has been kicked out. We see fights, tension, silence, and the realities of marriage in a way that allows the film to transcend its status as a political documentary. The other, somewhat unanswered, conflict in the the film is that of Weiner’s character. . When the second scandal breaks, the audience is left wondering, as Lawrence O’Donnell bluntly asks in the film, “What is wrong with you?” Few politicians have the opportunity to rebuild their careers following sex scandals, but Weiner was lucky enough to keep his life together and lead in the polls of the NYC mayoral race. But he jeopardized it again! (And as we now know, as of August 29th, 2016, AGAIN!) Weiner proves himself to be narcissistic in the film—though not entirely. He seems to fight quite honestly for the people of New York, advocating for the middle class, housing in the Bronx,
bettering the educational system, and so on. In stark contrast, the audience sees Weiner watching videos of himself over and over again - patting himself on the back for his abrupt and obnoxious behavior, and even using his these past outbursts to inspire and motivate himself. In a more meta sense, the movie itself is a symbol of Weiner’s mindset. He lets Kriegman film his most intimate and personal moments. Abedin never seems to fully consent, but rather ignores the camera, whereas Weiner plays off of it. He lets the camera stay when he makes everyone else go. Weiner wants to see himself. He wants to see the full picture of who he is just as badly as he wants the film to tell the full story of who he is.
Friends Welcomes Nurse Theresa D’Amico By MAX TEIRSTEIN ’17 Photo by Morgan Rosenkranz ’17
Continued from “‘WEINER’ Review”
This September, Friends opened its doors to some 800 students, faculty, and staff. Among them is Theresa D’Amico, the new school nurse. Nurse D’amico has a Master’s Degree in Nursing in the field of Women’s Gender Related Health from the University of Pennsylvania and has experience working in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as Delaware County Technical School. In a recent interview with The Insight, Nurse D’Amico said that she chose Nursing in Women’s Gender Related Health because “this particular area of health care often involves very personal and sensitive health care issues for an individual, couple or family.” D’Amico also shared her excitement and concerns about becoming a part of the Friends community. She chose school nursing because it allows her to meet “amazing students every day and watch them grow into mature young adolescents and adults.” She elaborated, “I love the community aspect of school nursing and having the opportunity to work with children and families.” However, it is daunting to be the only on-site nurse for the entire school. According to D’Amico, “Working as a solo school nurse for a K-12 school can certainly pose challenges such as: volume of students; acquainting oneself with a large student body population, families, and staff; communication across multiple divisions; and balancing being a kind, compassionate nurse while maintaining and enforcing school health policies.” Nurse D’Amico also shared her outof-school passions and hobbies. She is
an athlete, mentioning running and Soul Cycle as some of her favorite activities. If you see her in the halls, be sure to strike up a conversation with her about sports! Nurse D’Amico is an avid sports fan and a proud supporter of the Nittany Lions, the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, and the Temple Owls. As it begins to get cold outside, we are fortunate to have Nurse D’Amico onsite to help us with all our flu and cold related needs. She even offered students some health tips for the coming year like: “eating a healthy breakfast each morning, staying well hydrated, having a weekly exercise routine, frequent handwashing, adequate sleep, staying on top of your schoolwork, and having a positive outlook.” We are very excited that Nurse D’Amico has joined us, and she seems equally excited to be here. “After only a few days on the Friends campus, I quickly realized that I had stumbled upon a beautiful, uplifting, and positive community of students, families, and staff,” she said. Welcome, Nurse D’Amico!
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November 2016
Fall Sports Recap
Freshman Families Help the Community on 9/11
Team: W-L-T Boys’ Varsity Soccer: 15-2
By JAMES BURGE ’20
Girls’ Varsity Soccer: 2-11 Boys’ Junior-Varsity Soccer: 4-7-1 Girls’ Volleyball: 2-11
Cipher By RACHEL HODES ’18
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 either the solution or the deciphered text to insight@ friendsseminary.org.
Cross Country:
•Girls’ Team placed 2nd in ACIS league
•Lily Weisberg ’17 and Isa Skibeli ’18 both named as ACIS All-Stars and AAIS All-Stars •Mali Axinn ’17 earned a medal at the Bowdoin Park Cross Country Classic by finishing 25th out of hundreds •Christian Noll ’18 and Terry Lu ’19 were named ACIS All-Stars •Christian Noll ’18 finished 21st at the NYSAIS citywide championships in a field of 150 Varsity competitors
Photo by Nishanth Gopinathan
On September 11, a large group of ninth graders and parents went to work on the Urban Farm on Governor’s Island for a day of painting, gardening, and building. Led by Leitzel Schoen and Claire Brennan, we departed on yellow school buses for the ferry terminal. From the ferry, we had an inspiring view of the Freedom Tower on our way to Governor’s Island. Governor’s Island is a public park that used to be a Coast Guard station. It is full of playgrounds, bike paths, food trucks, and art exhibits. It is also home to Urban Farm, the center of New York City’s composting. They also have many chickens and goats. We divided into three work crews: painters, carpenters, and gardeners. Some of us sanded, painted, and swept doorways. Others weeded, planted seedlings, and sifted compost in the Urban Farm garden. The last group assembled picnic benches and tables for the farm. After a few hours of work, the farm staff taught us about their mission to make New York City an environmentally healthy city through turning food scraps into nutritious compost for their farm. Volunteer Spencer Choice ’20 summed up his day by saying “I enjoyed the feeling of repainting the doors knowing that it would help others and doing it with all of my friends only made the experience better.” Governor’s Island is closed to the public for the season, but Urban Farm will be functioning all season. It will reopen to visitors in the spring.
Tdfi’z pvzef Vo - Dna Gnu Inv - sfuwfz Dfcwfz Inv kmna, Nu onvedt tn S ynvlz mnt -
Xfycvof Inv octvuctfz Osedt Cmz S dcz mn jnuf Fifo Gnu onuzsz fhyfllfmyf Co Qcuczsof Fjsli Zsyksmonm
Congrats to Ben Zenker for being the first to solve the previous cipher! The first three to email us with the solution will have their names printed in the next edition. Good luck!
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Backpage
Dress to Impress: Halloween 2016
SUDOKU
Photos by Morgan Rosenkranz ’17
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8 4 1 9 4 2
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2016 & 2017
Writers Alex Weremchuk ’20
James Burge ’20
Amnon Scharia ’20
Lily Weisberg ’17
Ben Lanzi ’19
Luca DeFranco ’20
Ben Wertheim ’19
Martin Wilkinson ’19
Camilo Durr ’18
Max Khadem ’20
Coco Gruson ’20
Michael McCusker ’20
Cordelia Foster ’20
Morgan Carmen ’17
Maeve Woollen ’18
Daphne Darwish ’19
Nahid Mahmud ’17
Morgan Rosenkranz ’17
Denis Seidaliev ’19
Nate Weisberg ’19
Gus Bahl ’19
Olivia Alcabes ’17
Ilana Lehrman ’19
Rachel Hodes ’17
Advisors
Isabel Clements ’17
Tessa DeFranco ’17
John Galayda
Jackson Wald ’18
Wilton Bompey ’20
Deanna Yurchuk
Chief Editors Max Teirstein ’17 Zara Schreiber ’17
Designers
Zara Schreiber ’17