Vandals break into cars on Coldwater. Page A6
The
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Harvard-Westlake School • North Hollywood, CA • Volume XIX • Issue 7 • April 28, 2010 • chronicle.hw.com
‘2 Hats Award’ to honor Kutler By Sam Adams
photos by candice navi/chronicle
champions day: Chamber Singers stand behind President Thomas C. Hudnut at Champions Day last Wednesday in the student lounge (top). Basketball players Amanda Horowitz ’10 and Nicole Nesbit ’10 walk in to a shower of confetti (above). Nick Treuer ’10 won the CIF wrestling championship in the 152-pound division (far left). Leah Merkle ’10 and Doni Hunter-Salustio ’10 are part of the CIF-winning girls’ soccer team (right). For more coverage, see Section C and our editorial, A12.
New department will foster interdisciplinary study, research By Hana Al-Henaid
An Interdisciplinary Studies Program will be created as a new department to support independent research and interdisciplinary study, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said. “[The department will] be the clearinghouse for the development and awarding of all on- and off-campus academic research opportunities and summer internships for students,” Huybrechts said. Interdisciplinary courses will be offered to promote “study in the areas of intersection between disciplines, giving students opportunities to integrate and elaborate knowledge from varied fields,” Huybrechts said. The program, which will begin during the next few years, is specifically intended to dedicate an entire department to independent study and to continue the tradition of offering independent and directed study. Suggestions for interdisciplinary studies have included American Studies, which would incorporate History and English, Bioethics, which would incorporate Biology and Philosophy, and a course on Leadership, which would include History, Lit-
erature, Philosophy and Psychology. Huybrechts cites Lawrenceville School and Riverdale Country School in New Jersey as “two excellent schools that have especially interesting interdisciplinary studies programs.” However, she added, Harvard-Westlake’s program will be uniquely its own. The next step is the appointment of a department chair, who Huybrechts hopes to announce by the end of this school year. Huybrechts has asked current department chairs to nominate candidates. Specifically, Huybrechts is looking for “teachers who might be interested in leading and managing a new department with this kind of focus and mission.” The chair would visit programs at other schools next year and shepherd the development of a curriculum. Although the school is currently seeking funding to initiate the program and endow its future, the administration expects it to be supported financially through a combination of tuition, endowment and Annual Giving. Responses to the program have ranged from enthusiastic endorsement to healthy skepticism, Huybrechts said. “Which is all good,” she said.
One member of the Class of 2010 will receive the first “Two Hats Award” in memory of Brendan Kutler ’10 at the awards assembly June 1, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts announced to the faculty last week. The award will honor a senior who reflected Kutler’s values, with a main criterion being nathanson ’s/chronicle that the senior pursues interdisciplinBrendan ary studies. The award’s name comes Kutler ’10 from Kutler’s interest in multiple fields of study, and from his trademark two baseball cap look. The student who wins should “love learning, which is a lot of kids at this school,” Huybrechts said. “They tried lots of different things, they took academic risks.” A committee comprising deans, teachers and the Kutler family will select the winner from a pool of 22 nominations made by the faculty before last Friday’s deadline. “Brendan wouldn’t be the young man he was if he hadn’t had the opportunity to be at Harvard-Westlake,” his mother, Sara Kutler, said. “He was a quiet behind-thescenes person who pursued knowledge for its own sake, not just for grades or awards,” and the new award is meant to honor someone who shares those values and might not otherwise receive recognition, she said. The award will come with an accompanying grant of undetermined size, which will likely come from the outpouring of donations in Brendan’s name that followed his sudden death during winter break, in addition to a contribution from his family. The grant is meant to encourage the winner to pursue studies or a summer internship without having to worry about money. In future years, the award will likely go to a junior, Upper School Dean Beth Slattery said, so that the student can bring the summer experience back to the school and potentially take classes related to that field of study.
Latest Rugby burglars target tech equipment By Emily Khaykin
A security guard surprised a man and a woman attempting to steal thousands of dollars worth of sound and light equipment from Rugby Auditorium earlier this month. The suspects jumped off the stage and fled with some equipment. Upper school security is investigating the theft, the second from Rugby Auditorium this year. The first, which took place over winter break, resulted in the loss of an estimated $30,000 worth of sound and lighting equipment. At approximately 4:30 a.m. on April 12, security guard Mark Geiger was making his rounds through the campus when he heard sounds coming from Rugby. Geiger entered through the back door of Rugby, frightening the two suspects. Security was unable to find the two after an exhausting search of the campus, Head of Security Jim Crawford said. The suspects managed to take eight wireless microphone body packs, priced at about $1,000 to $1,500 apiece. “They had stacked up various piles of equipment around the auditorium and looked like they were setting up to take them,” Performing Arts teacher Andrew Villaverde said. “But since they were interrupted, they were only able to take the smaller items they could carry.” Security does not know how they got into Rugby. “The gates to the school were locked, but there are many other ways to get into the school, like through the wash down by the north end of campus,” Geiger said. Villaverde said the suspects could have walked in the main doors due to the age of some of the doors in Rugby. “Several of these doors are really old,” Villaverde said. “Sometimes all you have to do to open them is yank hard enough.” Geiger said that the school has talked about replacing some of the doors, but nothing has been confirmed yet. “There used to be cameras in Rugby,” Geiger said. “But most of the time it was just too dark to see anything on the tape so they were taken out.” Geiger believes that the suspects were homeless. He recounted descriptions of them to the authorities.