April 2015 Issue

CHRONICLE the harvard-westlake

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Los Angeles • Volume 24 • Issue 7 • April 29, 2015 • hwchronicle.com

School moves to improve relations with neighborhood

By Benjamin Most

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JACOB GOODMAN

At a Stallmate

By Liz Yount Replacement of the sign on the boys’ single-stalled restroom on the first floor of Mudd Library with an all-gender sign to accommodate transgender or gender non-conforming students is creating backlash from some students.

The single-person restroom that locks was previously one of the two men’s restrooms in the Mudd Library. Since the sign has been replaced, there is now one female, one male and one all-gender restroom in the building.

The sign says “All-Gender Restroom” and features a picture of a toilet. Another sign next to the door has male and female icons and the handicap symbol. The Gender-Sexuality Awareness Club, formerly known as the Gay-Straight Alliance, used a Prefect Council

The conversion of a single-stall men’s bathroom in Mudd Library into an all-gender bathroom by the GSA club has met resistance from some students.

grant to replace the sign.

According to a Chronicle poll of 446 students, 33 percent disapprove of the conversion.

“I think it’s kind of awkward that we have to share a bathroom, and in order to avoid awkwardness, it displaces the boys, whereas usually we could just go there without encountering a girl as we’re leaving the restroom,” said Gregory* ’17, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of sounding prejudiced against the LGBTQIA community.

“They are the minority and it makes it awkward for 90 percent of people to appease 10 percent of the school.”

He said that sharing a restroom space with the opposite gender or people who identify differently makes him feel uncomfortable. Although it is no longer designated as a men’s restroom, male students can still use

it because all-gender is in- thinks that the restrooms tended to be inclusive to ev- would be necessary in places eryone. where there is high risk of “You should go to the emotional or physical traubathroom that belongs to ma. the gender that you were There are currently born with two other because it is a l l - ge n d e r convenient, restrooms [Transgender and it really on campus, students] are the can’t botha student er you that minority, and it makes it and faculty much, and if in awkward for 90 percent restroom it does, you Weiler Hall, of people to appease 10 and a faculneed to reorganize your ty restroom percent of the school.” p r i o r i t i e s ,” on the third Anai Finnie of —Gregory* ’17 floor ’15 said. “Your Chalmers emotions are Hall, which not so fragile that you need have never been opposed. a separate bathroom to proUpper School Dean tect them.”

Tamar Adegbile used allFinnie also said that she gender restrooms when she thinks the all-gender rest- was at Vassar College and rooms are not necessary at said that she doesn’t see Harvard-Westlake because why male students would this is an open environment be uncomfortable using the where people will not be restroom. judgmental. However, she • Continued on page A3

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Administration bans anonymous polling app

By Layla Moghavem

Due to complaints of bullying, the administration blocked the location-based, anonymous polling app What’s Goodly from the school WiFi network April 16. Students have still been able to access the app by disconnecting their devices from the Wi-Fi and using cellular data instead.

Assistant to the Head of the Upper School Michelle Bracken said she had asked Computer Services to contact the app’s creators, one of whom is a Harvard-Westlake alumnus, to request a block on the campus’ location so students would not be able to access the app in any way at school. Head of Computer Ser-

vices Dave Ruben confirmed April 27 he had done so. The block would be similar to Yik Yak’s “GeoFence” that was placed on campus after complaints of bullying on the app were made last May. “Yik Yak was a learning curve for us,” Bracken said.

“When What’s Goodly came up, we were able to go to that knowledge that we learned from Yik Yak and say, ‘We can just shut it down now [on the Wi-Fi] and do more research later.’”

Users of What’s Goodly select their gender and create an anonymous user name and after downloading the app, and can then view, create, like, vote or comment on polls others in the immediate area

have made. A poll consists of a question with up to four answer choices for which nearby users can vote. Some polls are only for girls or boys to answer. Users must vote for a poll in order to see its results.

“What’s Goodly is anonymous, and that anonymity makes you feel like you can say whatever you want,” Bracken said. “With Facebook, people usually know who you are, and there’s this kind of self-monitoring that I see happen. With What’s Goodly, there is no way to get to the source, and the people making these mean comments don’t have to take any responsibility for it.”

The app is intended for the use of adults only and, according to its terms and con-

ditions, users under the age of 18 must have their parent or guardian’s consent to use it.

However, students under 18 are using What’s Goodly, students said.

What’s Goodly cofounder Chris Sebastian ’13 said that the app was originally created to promote open dialogue and discussions on university campuses. Still, the app’s team has noticed some misuse of the app and are working to limit that.

“Cyberbullying and inappropriate content has no place on What’s Goodly,” he said.

“We are currently working on a variety of product features that make it difficult for this • Continued on page A7

President Rick Commons is taking steps to increase communications and improve the school’s relationship with neighbors.

Commons plans to meet with local residents and organizations over the next few months to discuss how Harvard-Westlake can be a better member of the community.

The administration also hired Stacy Marble, the former chief deputy of Los Angeles Council member Tom LaBonge, to fill the newly created position of Director of Community and Public Affairs.

Many neighbors publicly share their disapproval of the school’s proposed parking garage by displaying anti-garage signs outside their homes.

“There are the signs outside the school that say, ‘We don’t like your project,’” Commons said. “I think in some ways they’re also saying, ‘We don’t think you’re as good a neighbor as you should be.’ I’m trying to sit down with people and see how we can be a better neighbor.”

Commons announced his initiative to better the school’s relationship with the community in a letter sent to neighbors.

“My calendar is now full — about half a dozen now, but we’re hoping to get about 20 or so meetings with neighbors from now to through the summertime and to ask them how we can be a more effective part of this community,” Commons said.

Marble has taken over the production of a monthly newsletter that tells residents about arts and athletic events and any construction or improvements taking place on campus and provides contact information for them to communicate their concerns. She also plans to launch a monthly newsletter to circulate more broadly.

She has met with community members such as the president of the Studio City • Continued on page A2

INSIDE

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SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

ENTER STAGE RIGHT: Students performed 12 one-act plays in Rugby Auditorium in the annual Playwrights’ Festival.

A2 News

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

School seeks to improve relationship with community • Continued from page A1

Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Studio City Residents Association to discuss Harvard-Westlake’s role in the neighborhood. She also helped set up the Harvard-Westlake booth at the CicLAvia biking event.

Vice President John Amato, the main spokesperson for the school on the parking garage project, said that the purpose of hiring the director of community and public affairs is not to deal with complaints about issues such as the parking garage but to promote friendly interaction between the school and the surrounding community.

“The position in terms of public relations is way beyond that issue,” Amato said. “It’s for the future, it’s something we sorely needed, and we’re going to do it.”

Neighbors are by no means united in sentiments against the parking garage, and their frustrations also go beyond it.

After seeing students park in front of her house every weekday morning, watching them speed in their cars and even finding a condom on her lawn that she presumes a student left behind after a night of debauchery, Amy*, a Halkirk Street resident and neighbor of the school for seven years, doesn’t know what to do.

She says that when she speaks to students, she feels that they don’t listen to her or don’t care. When she needs a space in front of her house for

a visiting guest, she often cannot find one. When she places traffic cones to save a parking space, the cones that security guard Sanders Jackson gave her after one of her several phone calls to the school, the students move the cones to make space for their own cars.

“On a day-to-day basis, it is sheer hell because the students take up the whole street, and they’re really inconsiderate,” Amy said. “I can’t have a single guest over. They just jam their cars in. It’s gotten a lot worse over the past two years to the point where the quality of life around here has sort of deteriorated.”

Amy supports the parking garage that would allow students to park across the street from the upper school campus and likely prevent them from parking on residential streets such as Halkirk.

“There is a lot of pressure in our neighborhood to be anti-garage,” Amy said. “But not having it is also really not working.”

Many residents say they have heard stories of or personally witnessed students littering or drinking alcohol, and assumed these students attend Harvard-Westlake.

Sarah*, a Halkirk resident, said that, in her almost 30 years living nearby the school, she has rarely seen students drinking alcohol, but littering is fairly common.

One of the most common complaints from neighbors of the school is that students park outside their houses.

“Students usually park on Halkirk, but when residents need to use Halkirk for their own cars, they park around here,” Goodland Place resident Jamie* said. “I don’t think it’s fair that students have to walk across a very busy road with no sidewalks, and I think the parking garage will actually help with traffic flow. We don’t have sidewalks in these neighborhoods, so a lot of people end up having to dodge traffic.”

While some share Jamie’s view, many strongly oppose the garage. Anti-garage activists visited houses in the area and supplied neighbors of the school with signs displaying messages such as “Stop Harvard-Westlake’s Destruction of Coldwater Canyon!”

Goodland Avenue resident Todd* believes that the parking garage is unnecessary.

“Blacktop your existing field, take care of the existing overflow cars, and don’t bother me about your 750 cars,” Todd said.

Goodland Avenue resident Patricia Bercsi supports the parking garage, and when she sometimes asks students not to park in front of her house, she says they are always polite and respectful. She used to use the track frequently, and hearing school football games reminds her of her college days.

However, at neighborhood events, Bercsi said the parking garage is a controversial topic.

“When we go to social events, there are always the pros and cons being spat out,” Bercsi said. “But you know

Class tests driving reactions

By Benjamin Most

Science teacher Walt Werner’s Anatomy and Physiology class determined by experimentation that texting and talking on the phone while driving can increase reaction times by more than 50 percent.

Students worked in groups of two in the lab. One student held a button attached to a

light behind his or her back, and the second had a foot pedal.

When the first student pressed the button and activated the light, the second pressed the pedal to turn it off, and they measured the time between the activation of the light and the pressing of the pedal.

Students first tested their reaction time with no distrac-

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF STACY MARBLE

SEEDS OF CHANGE: A neighbor, left, browses Environmental Club’s booth at the Studio City Green Living Fair, where Brendan Wixen ’15 and Sampson Treankle ’16 are handing out plants. what? Change is good.”

In the neighborhood, some of the school’s most adamant supporters are its current students and alumni.

Kate Chilton (Andrew ’17) said her family bought a home on Dickens Street so Andrew could walk to school. She supports the parking garage and has no problem with students parking in front of her house.

“I think the neighbors have to be a little more open-minded,” Chilton said.

Ben Greene ’14 grew up on Goodland Avenue, and at first, he and his family never considered that he might attend Harvard-Westlake.

“We thought it wasn’t going to be a school for us, and we only went to look at it because it was our neighborhood school,” Ben’s mother, Judith, said.

Even before looking at the school, Ben and his family felt they had a friendly relationship with it.

“Before Benjamin was in school, they were rehearsing ‘Les Miserables,’” Judith said.

“We really felt like we were being serenaded. It was great.”

Although the Greenes witnessed student drinking one night several years before Ben

tions.

Then the groups performed the same experiment while texting, and again while having a conversation over the phone.

“They calculated the time it takes for the information to go from the eye to the brain and the brain to the hand or the foot, and then they subtracted that from the total time,” Werner said. “About 95

percent of the reaction time is taking place in the brain.”

“I felt it was interesting to bring numbers and evidence that reinforce something that I have only been taught to be true,” Sahar Tirmizi ’16 said.

Most groups calculated that a car moving at 65 miles per hour would take 100 to 150 feet more to stop with a driver using a cell phone than a driver with no distractions,

Werner said.

“For the class averages, talking on the phone increased the reaction time by approximately 30 percent, and texting increased it by over 50 percent,” Paul Anderson ’16 said.

“The times were still very small, generally under one second, but while driving at high speeds, every millisecond could mean the difference between life and death.”

CORRECTIONS:

The column, “Your rape joke isn’t funny” in the March 18, 2015 issue, contained language and ideas similar to a slam poem titled “Rape Joke” without appropriately citing it as a source.

The Chronicle hereby retracts the column and apologizes for the oversight.

B6 SHARON CHOW/CHRONICLE

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*Names have been changed.

Walt Werner’s Anatomy and Physiology class worked to simulate students’ abilities to stop a car while distracted.

Previews COSMETIC CONCEALMENT: Some students get plastic surgery done to alter their appearance, often to look less ethnic.

began attending HarvardWestlake, they have never seen it since then.

The Greenes soon found that others in the neighborhood, however, did not share their appreciation for the school. After finding out that Ben had chosen to attend Harvard-Westlake, one neighbor crossed the street to avoid him every time the neighbor saw him, Ben said.

Neighbors also complained to the Greenes about parking issues.

“It’s funny hearing the neighbors talk,” Ben said.

“They complain about the kids parking in front of their houses, and then they complain about the parking garage where the kids will park.”

Judith feels that neighbors blame Harvard-Westlake for the actions of any students in the neighborhood, regardless of whether or not they attend the school.

“I think Harvard-Westlake gets a bad rap for anything a kid does,” Judith said. “Any kid in his car smoking, making out with his girlfriend, drinking, they say it’s a Harvard-Westlake kid. It’s a nice scapegoat.”

HEY BATTER BATTER: Centerfielder Jake Suddleson ’16 gets a hit against Loyola High School. The Wolverines went on to beat the Cubs 4-3.

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HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE

A MESSAGE FROM ABOVE: Mayor Eric Garcetti ’88 urges students to help the city and to “be the angels of the City of Angels,” as this year’s Brown Family Speaker.

TYLER GRAHAM/CHRONICLE

The Chronicle, the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School, is published eight times per year and distributed free on both the upper and middle school campuses. There are 727 students at the Middle School and 866 students at the Upper School. Subscriptions may be purchased for $20 a year for delivery by mail.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial

A story on Page A8 in the Feb. 13, 2015 issue described Ethics and Culture: Gender Studies in Science, Philosophy and History as a new class. It has been offered before and will be offered again next year. Teacher Malina Mamigonian was incompletely quoted as saying the class would “ground students in an understanding of how to talk about gender.” The sentence should have ended with the words, “without relativizing values.”

The Chronicle regrets the errors.

Board. Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at 818-487-6511. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/news

News A3

Prefects to initiate break talks on quad

By Jesse Nadel

Following an upper school assembly speech by anti-sexist activist Jackson Katz, the Prefect Council met with about a dozen students last Thursday to discuss his message to test a plan to host talks on pertinent topics on the quad during Monday breaks.

“I thought the test discussion was very productive, and I was really happy with what happened,” Senior Prefect Jensen McRae ’15 said. “It was very organic. We talked less about the content of the speech and the speaker than I anticipated, but it was fine because people had great suggestions for how to proceed with our idea about these discussions in the future.”

Future talks would focus on multiple topics, depending on what is relevant. The idea for these conversations started several weeks ago, but Katz’s speech catalyzed the plan.

“It was something we started talking about in the wake of a lot of Facebook posts [about gender] or apps that were making people have very un-

productive conversations, and we were trying to think of ways to keep those conversations going but not behind a computer screen,” McRae said.

Katz encouraged students to shift the rhetoric of gender violence from being only a women’s issue during the April 20 assembly.

“Historically, people have seen sexual assault and gender violence issues as women’s issues that some good men help out with. I argue that these are men’s issues first and foremost,” Katz said.

Katz, who has a Ph.D. in culture studies from UCLA and cofounded the Mentors In Violence Prevention, specified that categorizing this violence as solely a problem for women gives men an excuse not to listen.

“Instead of remaining silent, we have to speak out to make it clear that we do not accept abusive behaviors,” Katz said.

Decreasing gender violence is helpful to men, specifically male children of abusive families and victims of male-tomale assault, he said. Solving these problems necessitates a

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

SPEAKING UP: Anti-sexist activist Jackson Katz tells students that gender issues are men’s issues too.

Prefect Council talked about his speech as a trial run for a new program to host discussions on the quad. change in the way we see masculinity and violence, he added.

“We have to raise the bar about what it means to be a good guy in the United States, if it just means ‘I am not a rapist,’” Katz said.

Katz also showed a video he made titled “Up the Ante” depicting the relationship between men and violent acts in the media and how it shapes the perception of masculinity. Katz also visited multiple Choices and Challenges classes, a Peer Support Trainee class and a faculty Q and A session.

“I really enjoyed hearing

Relabeled restroom faces opposition • Continued from page A1

Upper school Dean Adam Howard ’93 also agrees that an all-gender restroom on campus is beneficial for giving students a peek at what their college life could be like if they have coed dorms. Many restaurants also have them.

“It’s something new to me, so with all change, you’re really questioning of it at the beginning,” Quentin Mckenzie ’17 said. “When I use a multiplegender bathroom at a restaurant, I don’t know the person so I don’t really care, but these are people who I go to school with, so it’s more personal and weird.”

GSA president Netanya Perluss ’15 said that she thinks the idea that the all-gender restroom inconveniences male students is self-centered because there is already a large number of male restrooms on campus.

“If you do feel uncomfortable using it, you don’t have to because no one is forcing you to use that restroom,” Perluss said. “I think that’s an intol-

erant view to have, but also they’re not in control of the bathrooms since we had the administration’s full support.”

Kelly Morrison ’16 said that she supports the all-gender restroom, but the lack of discussion surrounding its implementation was a lost opportunity to start a conversation.

Perluss, however, said that the GSA still plans to make a formal announcement in the future and encourages students with questions to attend GSA meetings.

“A student contacted me saying they felt more comfortable and safe at school using this restroom, and even if it’s just one person for whom it made a difference, that enough is reason that we did it,” Perluss said.

Single-stall, all-gender restrooms are becoming an issue nationally.

West Hollywood passed a law that took effect on Jan. 15 mandating that “all single-stall restrooms in businesses and public places … be gender-neutral,” according to the City of West Hollywood website. The

law does not affect multiplestall restrooms and requires that all single-stall restroom signs have non gender-binary images.The Obama administration also installed the first all-gender restroom in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building inside the White House complex, CNN reported April 9. The sign says “Inclusive Restroom” and features the transgender symbol.

Backlash against all-gender restrooms is not exclusive to the student body. In California, a proposed ballot measure called the Personal Privacy Protection Act would require people to “use facilities in accordance with their biological sex, rather than their gender identity” in government-owned buildings, according to the website for Privacy for All, the group proposing the measure.

The measure would permit people who felt threatened or uncomfortable by a transgender person in a governmentowned restroom to sue that individual or governmental agency for up to $4,000.

Upper school Dean Beth

Cum Laude Inductees 57 seniors, listed below, in the top 20 percent of the class GPA range will be inducted into the National Cum Laude society in a ceremony May 19.

Noah Bennett Ari Berman Covi Brannan Danielle Brody Perren Carrillo Peter Cha Albert Choi Raymond Chung Annelise Colvin Bradley Comisar Aaron Drooks Aaron Esagoff Sara Evall Koji Everard Shingo Everard

Lucas Gelfen Jacob Gold Benjamin Goldstein Jonathan Heckerman Katherine Hohl Enya Huang Diana Kim Jonathan Klein Grace Kotick Bryanna Lee James Lennon Alexandra Liao Amanda McAdams James McCabe Clara McCarthy

Amelia Miller Paige Moelis Rahul Natarajan Scott Nussbaum Jason Oberman Andrew Park Marcella Park Jack Price Nadia Rahman Sriram Rao Joshua Rubin Jake Saferstein Milan Severino Aaron Shih Jonathan Sington

Jamie Skaggs Theodore Sokoloff Elizabeth Sondheimer Riley Spain Erina Szeto Xenia Viragh Talia Wazana Benjamin Weisman Bennet Weissenbach David Weitz Brendan Wixen Jacob Woronoff SOURCE: CUM LAUDE SOCIETY GRAPHIC BY EUGENIA KO

his insights in a more personal environment because we were given the opportunity to ask questions and have a discussion about how our community responds to the topics addressed in the assembly,” Peer Support trainee Alexa Ranger ’16 said.

Students had mixed reactions to Katz’s presentation. During and after Katz’s speech, students published anonymous polls on the app What’s Goodly that called Katz a “feminazi,” a term he discussed in his speech.

“I think that people who were getting defensive and

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who didn’t walk away with a take-home message just didn’t listen,” Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Kavita Ajmere said.

Other students supported the messages that Katz presented to the school.

“I thought Jackson Katz was addressing an issue that is important in life at HarvardWestlake, and we should be making sure we treat everyone as equally as possible,” Kevin Wesel ’17 said. “I thought that although sometimes he could repeat himself, all of his messages were important to hear.”

I like the idea that we are going in a direction where we are being supportive, and I would hope that we would be a school and a society that would move closer to being inclusive.”

—Beth Slattery upper school dean

Slattery said that the all-gender restroom is not the first instance in which the school has reached out to support the transgender and genderqueer community, but this is the first instance in which students have expressed opposition.

During her second year as an administrator, a student came out to her as transgender and asked to wear a black robe to graduation instead of a white robe, which is traditionally for females. She also said that multiple students have either made this same request, asked to be called by different pronouns and/or came out as transgender after graduation.

“If we had done [the allgender restroom] and not explained the rationale behind it, then I think that less people would be upset about it,” Slat-

nathanson’s

tery said. “I imagine that if it was ensuring there is an equal number of restrooms for women and men instead of focusing on a particular disenfranchised group, people wouldn’t be up in arms.”

Slattery said she has experience with transgender teenagers in both her professional and personal life and thinks they are a real presence in the community. Harvard-Westlake has been extremely supportive of all students who have come out and asked for help, she said.

“Sometimes progress is uncomfortable because people aren’t used to it,” Slattery said.

“I like the idea that we are going in a direction where we are being supportive, and I would hope that we would be a school and a society that would move closer to being inclusive.”

Students elect 2015-2016 Prefect Council members

By Eugenia Ko

Prefect Council announced the results of the 2015-2016 prefect elections in an e-mail April 23. The senior prefects are Helene Miles, Jordan Strom, Shelby Weiss and Adam Yaron. The junior prefects are Lexi Block, Charlie Noxon, Matt Thomas and Cate Wolfen.

Hunter Brookman and Grace Pan were elected as head prefects before spring break.

Yaron was elected as a male senior prefect in the first round, but students voted in a runoff election between Wil-

liam Ruppenthal and Strom.

Siddarth Kucheria, Brandon Lim, Kelly Morrison, Brendan Sanderson, Dietrich Tribull and Nina Woythaler also ran for senior prefect.

Miles is the only senior prefect new to the council.

“I look forward to getting to know a group of students I don’t really know too well, and also getting started on some ideas I have for next year,” she said.

Serena Davis, James Kanoff, Emma Kateman, Jordan Khorsandi, Alyson Lo, William Park, Kevin Wesel and Nick Witham all ran for junior prefect.

A4 News

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

Debaters place in top 30

By Katie Perrin

WILLIAM PARK/CHRONICLE

Students, faculty read ‘Moby-Dick’ at marathon SHIPS AHOY: James Hansen ’16 reads a chapter of “Moby-Dick” at the annual “Moby-Dick” Big Read event in the library April 24-25. Those who attended could also solve a jigsaw puzzle depicting Queequeg, a character in the novel, or fill in coloring pages while listening.

Community wears denim to raise awareness

By Eugenia Ko

Students, faculty and staff were asked to wear jeans for Denim Day today in order to raise awareness about rape and sexual assault. Trishta Dordi ’15 brought Denim Day to the school during her freshman year and has organized it ever since.

Dordi, Assistant to Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken and volunteers also organized activist Jackson Katz’s visit and a discussion session April 27. Students were able to submit anonymous questions prior to the discussion about gender issues.

Denim Day began in retali-

ation to a verdict of the Ital- cording to denimdayinfo.org. ian Supreme Court in 1997, The campaign stresses that in which the court declared a there is no excuse for rape, convicted rapincluding the ist innocent tightness of because the one’s jeans.

[Sexual abuse] tight jeans of Dordi said the victim inshe had alis really psychologically dicated that he ways known debilitating. I think had not raped she wanted to but engaged do something people should really in consensual for the comrealize it does happen to sex. munity involvDenim Day ing women’s people our age.” is part of a narights because —Trishta Dordi ’15 of the history tional sexual violence preof sexual abuse vention and education cam- of the women in her family. paign to “support survivors, Middle school psychologist Suand educate yourself and oth- san Ko encouraged Dordi to ers about sexual assault,” ac- lead the organization in ninth

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grade. “[Sexual abuse] is really psychologically debilitating, is what it is,” Dordi said. “I think people should really realize it does happen to people our age.

There are girls in our school who it’s happened to who feel very uncomfortable about talking about it because it’s hard to talk about those things at our age.”

Dordi and volunteers posted pieces of denim around school decorated with messages such as “ask first” and “no means no.” Students could also purchase Denim Day T-shirts April 24, with proceeds going to three women’s shelters near school.

Faculty, staff re-elect Schuhl to 2nd term

By Angela Chon

Science teacher Dietrich Schuhl will begin a second term as Dean of Faculty and Staff next year. Schuhl was first elected by upper school faculty and staff in 2013 for the two-year term and was re-elected this year in a race against Spanish teacher Joaquin Fernandez-Castro.

The maintenance staff was able to vote in the election for

the first time this year.

Faculty and staff voted anonymously April 24-26 through a Google drive system that Dean Kyle Graham created. Because most maintenance staff do not have access to Internet on campus, they voted through paper ballots.

This was the first year in which candidates presented platforms representing the issues that they felt must be

addressed by the community.

The position of Dean of Faculty and Staff has the responsibility of overseeing budgets, including the faculty and staff fund and joint campus activities, according to the Harvard-Westlake Faculty and Staff handbook.

The duties also entail voting on the Faculty Academic Committee and serving on the FAC Curriculum Development Subcommittee as well as

Concerns arise on trip to Death Valley

By Sammi Handler

Concerns that some students were using illegal substances marred the March 1416 geology trip to Death Valley, geology teacher and trip chaperone Wendy Van Norden said.

Van Norden noticed that “some students were acting unusually lethargic,” but she originally assumed it was due to Death Valley’s heat. Van Norden told some of the lethargic students to stay on the bus with the driver while the rest of the group went on a two-hour hike.

“We were worried when one student who did take the hike was staggering,” she said.

“The student had ignored my directions to take water. I got the student to drink from my spare water bottle, but that seemed to have little effect.

We were getting worried, especially when the students

who did not take the hike were still lethargic. I cut the field trip short and we returned to Furnace Creek. We were completely convinced that some kind of drug was involved when one student started to act in a totally irrational manner in Furnace Creek.”

Van Norden urged students to tell her if they were using any substances. If medical attention was needed, the nearest hospital was 100 miles away in Lone Pine.

“I told students that we believed that they had taken some kind of drug,” Van Norden said. “I tried to impart to them how dangerous this was, and I pleaded with them to tell me what they took so that I could inform the doctors if they needed medical help. I was met with only silence.”

No students needed medical assistance. By the time chaperones were convinced

drugs were involved, “the first students were clearly on the mend,” Van Norden said.

Trip chaperones did not search students’ belongings for illegal substances.

“It seemed unlikely that we would find anything, if there was anything left to be found,” Van Norden said. “It would be difficult to identify ingestible marijuana substances and difficult to find anything as small as pills that could be easily disguised as over-the-counter medication.”

Due to the remoteness of Death Valley, the chaperones could not alert school administration about their concerns until their return, so the trip carried on as scheduled the next day.

“I am sure that students enjoyed the rest of the trip, but we were all affected by the incident,” Van Norden said. “I am terribly disappointed in the

one additional all-school committee.

Fernandez-Castro said that he still hopes that the administration and Schuhl will take into consideration some of the issues he raised in his platform.

“We need a new vision, clearly stated measurable goals and a well-articulated plan at improving educational excellence in our school,” Fernandez-Castro said.

“

Debate co-captains Cameron Cohen ’16 and Nick Steele ’16 finished in the top 30 of 88 competitors at the 2015 annual Tournament of Champions held at the University of Kentucky April 25-27. The national championship attracts top high school debaters and is considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country.

Cohen and Steele finished within the top 10 of juniors, with four wins and three losses each.

“We had a really great time competing against some of the top debaters in the country, so I’m thankful for the support of our teammates and coaches, and we’re all looking forward to next year,” Cohen said.

The debate team had success competing across the nation in late March and earlier this month, with novice debaters closing out the First and Second Year National Championships and varsity and junior varsity debaters competing at the National Debate Coach Association Championships.

Cohen, Steele and Connor Engel ’17 were named octofinalists in the National Debate Coach Association Championships, which took place from April 11 to 13 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Kevin Wesel ’17 finished as a doublefinalist. Jesse Nadel ’17, Indu Pandey ’17, Evan Engel ’17 and William Park ’17 finished in the preliminary rounds.

First-year debaters closed out the First and Second Year National Championships at Woodward Academy held March 20 to 22. Wolverines traveled to Atlanta to compete against top schools in the Lincoln-Douglas division. Liz Yount ’17, Evan Engel, Vishan Chaudhary ’19 and Pandey closed out the tournament and were named co-champions.

Nick Platt ’18 was a quarterfinalist.

Yount won first place speaker, Evan Engel won first place speaker and Pandey won fourth place speaker.

I sincerely hope that all of the students involved are able to learn from the incident and will get the help that they need in order to move forward towards a healthier life.”

—Wendy Van Norden science teacher

students who were involved.

They recklessly endangered their lives without any consideration of the consequences.”

Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas said that the bus returned from Death Valley the evening of March 16, and he was notified of the issue the next morning. Barzdukas would not comment on disciplinary actions as a result of an investigation into the allegations. The students involved also declined to comment.

“What you want to do is reassure the school and the community that we do have

nathanson’s

standards of behavior, and that we uphold those standards,” Barzdukas said.

Deans asked some students who went on the trip questions about possible substance use, students on the trip said.

There may be changes to protocols regarding future geology trips, although it is too soon to tell, Van Norden said.

“I sincerely hope that all of the students involved are able to learn from the incident and will get the help that they need in order to move forward towards a healthier life,” she said.

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/news

News A5

Mayor Garcetti ’88 encourages students to volunteer to help city

By Joe Levin and Jesse Nadel

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ’88 urged students as the Brown Family Speaker at an assembly March 23 to help the city and “be the angels of the City of Angels.”

“In many ways you are on the most beautiful island there is: Harvard-Westlake, but it is not isolated, and you must swim to shore every single day,” Garcetti said.

He encouraged students to volunteer for local organizations such as nonprofit tutoring program Bridge to a Brighter Future, and he shared stories of how his time volunteering in high school gave him the skills to run the city, specifically citing his work at Tree People and on Skid Row. “Whether you want to end veterans’ homelessness or help other high school students graduate and attain a higher education, you will find meaningful opportunities everywhere,” he said.

Garcetti cited poverty as a primary area of concern in Los Angeles.

“We ask at some schools, ‘how long do you expect to

live?’ and the students, they raise their hands and say ‘25, 26,’” he said. “Today, we are in a position to change that.”

Garcetti discussed how his education at Harvard School and the teachers he had affected the person he has become.

Former mayor Tom Bradley spoke at the school when Garcetti was a student, and Garcetti said the speech inspired him to get into politics.

“I remember sitting down with my friends and feeling something,” he said. “Feeling a connection not with just the campus, but with the city, that we weren’t an island here on this campus. And I felt a sense of responsibility.”

Garcetti shared other memories from his time at Harvard School and thanked his former teachers and a group of his classmates that attended the assembly.

“Without question I would not be mayor today of the largest city in the largest state of the greatest nation on the face of the Earth if it wasn’t for what I learned on this campus,” Garcetti said.

Garcetti also touted his policies and progress on issues such as reducing homeless

New Faces

HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE

CITY OF ANGELS: Garcetti shared memories of his years at Harvard School during the Brown Family Speaker assembly March 23. He urged students serve the community and explore the city. veterans and restoring the Los Angeles River.

President Rick Commons introduced the mayor by focusing on his accomplishments before and during his time as

Two new staff members joined the school this spring, filling the positions of director of public affairs and business manager.

School hires new business manager

By Bryant Wu

Brian Bouchey was hired April 6 as the school’s new business manager.

“My core functions are to assist with the school’s accounting and finance function, while supporting the needs of the faculty and administrative staff,” Bouchey said.

Bouchey’s main job is to oversee and improve the school’s various major accounting systems, such as student financial needs and teacher payrolls.

Bouchey was previously a senior accounting manager

mayor.

He read from a letter of recommendation that Dean Vanna Cairns wrote about Garcetti when he was a student.

at Anschutz Entertainment still CFO, the truth is that, Group, a sports presenting over the past several years, company.

AEG owns or I have invested ever more is affiliated with time in my Business several major sports of Life class, HW arenas, including Scramble, HW Inc., the Staples Center, HW Venture, and the Colosseum at alumni relations,” Caesar’s Palace and CFO Rob Levin said.

BBVA Compass “This has required Center in Austin, the present business Texas. manager, David Weil Bouchey was ’93, to shoulder an nathanson’s hired to help ease ever-heavier burden Brian Bouchey the pressure in of CFO duties. And, the business office, this has, in turn, left as the position of financial him needing to replace both controller has been vacant our financial controller and for the past 18 months. himself.”

“Although, in title, I am Members of the business

office expressed their excitement over Bouchey’s hiring.

“Our office staff works as a team in hiring, and we all came away extremely enthused about Brian,” Levin said. “He brings expertise, passion and proper priorities along with openness, warmth, positivity, humanity and great team spirit.”

Bouchey himself is also excited with his future at the school.

“I hope to be able to significantly contribute to the success of Harvard-Westlake in the years to come,” Bouchey said.

New director of public affairs to reach out to neighbors

By Sammi Handler

started her new position at the school March 16.

Stacy Marble has been “This was a great named the director opportunity for me of community and to still work with public affairs, a new community and be position created to part of Los Angeles “make sure that civic life, and I’m Harvard-Westlake representing such is engaged with a fine institution,” the social fabric of Marble said.

Studio City,” she On her first day, said.

Marble forwarded Marble grew up an email to the nathanson’s in the San Fernando school’s neighbors Stacy Marble Valley and attended from President Rick Grant High Commons describing School. She graduated from the school’s Community Northwestern University and Involvement Initiative. worked for 14 years for Los “We will identify Angeles City Council member opportunities to serve as a Tom LaBonge, who served resource — academic, athletic, his last term this year. She cultural, and otherwise —

to our friends, neighbors and greater Los Angeles,” Commons said in the email.

As part of the Community Involvement Initiative, Marble is planning a dinner in July for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games for 100 athletes, 100 coaches and 100 community members, because Studio City is considered a host town for the event, she said.

As a host town, Studio City hosts events, athletes and coaches for the Special Olympics.

“I’m very excited and honored to get to plan such an important event for the community,” Marble said.

“I’m very proud of HarvardWestlake for stepping up to

host that.”

Marble wants to host a Community Emergency Response Team Event where neighbors could receive emergency preparedness training.

Marble said she wants to make the campus more open to neighbors by planning events and hosting community organizations.

“From neighbors I have met with in this short period of time, the most common response is that HarvardWestlake should have created this position long ago,” Marble said. “There was a demonstrated need for it, and I’m happy to be here now for the school and for the community.”

After his speech, students asked Garcetti questions about his policies and role models as well as the possibility of an NFL team coming to Los Angeles.

16 teachers receive grant to visit Korea

By Jackson Novick

Sixteen members of the faculty were granted fellowships to take a trip to Korea this summer, from June 11-23.

The trip, funded by the Gunter Gross Global initiative and Gyu Si and Min Sun Suh (Andy ’18), will include travel to Seoul and Jeju Island.

“As educators, we recognize the importance of having a ‘global perspective’ — an appreciation for the increased interdependence that continues to emerge from globalization — but we seldom have opportunities to broaden and enrich our global perspective through authentic cultural experiences,” wrote Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts wrote in an email to faculty and staff.

“This trip will help faculty become acquainted with Korean culture and history,” said Jim Patterson, director of Kutler Center and summer programs.

Faculty members attending will be Anamaria Ayala, Stephen Chae, Emily Feigenson, Karen Fukushima, Celia Goedde, Katherine HolmesChuba, Larry Klein, Suzanne Lee, Ken Neisser, Kyong Pak, Rose-Ellen Racanelli, Geoff Robertson, Shoshanna Thomas, Ian Ulmer, Dror Yaron and George Gaskin.

“I tell my students every year that the period comprising their working lives may well be known as the Asian Century, and that they would be wise to learn as much about the peoples and cultures of that continent as they can before they enter the wider world,” Neisser said.

A6 News

The Chronicle

inbrief

April 29, 2015

Society of Global Affairs hosts speakers

The Walt Disney Co. COO Tom (Cole ’16), Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (Grace ’15, Audrey ’17) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Eliseo ’16), Academy-Award winning director of “Birdman,” are some of the speakers attending the Society of Global Affairs TED Talks-style panel May 17 in Ahmanson Lecture Hall.

The event is open to all people who are affiliated with Harvard-Westlake.

After each speaker, there will be a section of time devoted to questions.

The club is led by Interdisciplinary Studies Department Head Larry Klein.

There is a selection process to choose members each year.

“Personally, I’m excited about Inarritu,” Grace Pan ’16 said. “‘Birdman’ was also incredibly complex and abstract.

I’m looking forward to listening to the man behind the story, and understanding how that process works.”

—Connor Reese

Velvet Daisies creates Mother’s Day project The Velvet Daisies club is working on its mason jar project to get ready for Mother’s Day May 10.

Members have been handcrafting paper flowers to fill painted mason jars with since February, when they completed their Valentine’s Day project.

The finished jars will be given to mothers at the Children’s Institute, Inc. “Justine Chen ’16 and I have created projects in the past for children at the Institute, but we wanted to do something special for the moms,” club leader Angela Chon ’16 said.”

—Claudia Wong

Prom to be held at Millennium Biltmore Prom will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles May 16. The event will be open to members of the senior class and invited guests, who don’t have to be Harvard-Westlake students.

Tickets are being sold on the quad until today for $115.

If students do not pay by then, then they must send a check to the school as their school accounts will be closed.

—Carmen Levine

Students encourage teachers to conserve AP Environmental Science students encouraged teachers to turn off classroom lights and not use technology April 22 to celebrate Earth Day. “This reinforces a purpose beyond ourselves as taking care of our Earth is a task that is much bigger than what one individual can achieve,” upper school science teacher Florence Pi said.

Pi hopes that it will be an annual tradition and expressed gratitude for her AP Environmental Science class that came up with the idea.

“I hope that constructive conversations will arise because of it.” Pi said.

—Bryant Wu

TERESA SUH/CHRONICLE

Students donate blood to the American Red Cross

GIVE A LITTLE: Jessica Dickman ’17 donates blood to the American Red Cross blood drive held in Chalmers East and West April 24. The American Red Cross, Harvard-Westlake and the Harvard-Westlake Parents’ Association sponsored the event. There was also an informational booth about organ donation that allowed students to sign up to be future organ donors.

Business Insider ranks school 3rd smartest

By Benjamin Most

An article on business and technology news website Business Insider named HarvardWestlake the third-smartest high school in the nation March 25. The ranking was based on data from Niche, a website that reviews and ranks schools, colleges and cities.

The article has been read more than 3.6 million times

and was featured on websites such as Yahoo! News and the Daily Reader.

“Throughout their years at Harvard-Westlake, students can participate in a number of special programs, including spending a year abroad or studying at The Mountain School, where students live and work on a rural farm in Vermont for their junior year,” the article said. “Academics

still stand first and foremost, however, and last year 15 percent of graduates matriculated into Ivy League schools.”

Among the factors considered in the ranking were average SAT and ACT scores, four-year matriculation rate and student-teacher ratio.

“Using any logical criteria, Harvard-Westlake should be listed among leading secondary schools in the United

States, so I’m happy we appear on the recent Business Insider list,” President Rick Commons said. “That said, I think these kinds of rankings — whether of high schools or colleges— tend to rely on imperfect and misleading data. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a ranking of schools based on the percentage of teachers students find to be inspiring every day?”

Students, administrators attend assault panel

By Carmen Levine

More than half of sexual assaults on college campuses happen to freshmen, five students and four administrators learned at a panel discussion organized by Beth Friedman (Oliver ’17) April 22.

The discussion, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, featured specialists in collegiate sexual assault, including attorney and author Susan Estrich, Atlantic contributing editor Caitlin Flanagan (Patrick Hudnut ’16), author Hanna Rosin, best-selling author Liz Seccuro and two-time Emmy winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Ziering (Ava Kofman ’10, Hannah Kofman ’14 and Emma Kofman ’16),

who recently released “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about rape culture on college campuses.

The panel was hosted by InHer Circle, an organization that specializes in conversations about issues that women and girls face.

Counselor and humanities teacher Luba Bek invited five female students who have shown an interest in these issues to attend with her, as well as Upper School Deans Beth Slattery and Sharon Cuseo and Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts.

Slattery said that the panelists changed her perception on the issues of sexual assault and rape. Previously, Slattery thought that instances of ag-

gression happened because of miscommunication about consent, but learned through the panel that much of the violence was deliberate.

Slattery was also shocked to learn that 54 percent of assaults happen to college freshmen.

She also learned that by the time these students become seniors, assault is no longer as big an issue.

“It made me think a lot about what we could do here to get, in particular, our senior girls ready to go off to college,” she said.

Among the five students who attended was Head Prefect Sarah Winshel ’15.

She said that the panel opened her eyes to the preva-

lence of the issue of sexual assault and rape on college campuses.

Winshel was also deeply affected by “The Hunting Ground” clips shown at the panel, especially one segment about a female Harvard student’s experience with rape.

“To hear someone’s story is so powerful, Winshel said. “It drove home all of the facts and information I had been hearing.”

She hopes to share the entire documentary with the community on Senior Transition Day. “The film was so well done it felt like it reached everyone in the room,” Winshel said. “It felt like something I wanted everyone to see.”

Club members pitch product idea at summit

By Angela Chon

The NextGenVest club learned about marketing skills from two guest speakers at the Spring 2015 NGV Global Summit in downtown Los Angeles April 19.

NGV is a global organization that teaches young adults how to manage their money to be better prepared for the future.

The guest speakers included co-founder of Yang Ventures Vivy Chao and head creative and marketing at BuddyTruk, CJ Johnson.

“We grew to about 15 schools now, and there were around 50 people there,” NGV regional director Max Cho ’15 said. “What we did was get guest speakers to talk to us about how to market yourself as brands.”

Students separated into groups to develop their own products and presented their business pitches to the group.

The product with the most votes will be created by the NGV company.

The product pitch that won was a money box product created by Lauren Weetman

’16, Mei Mei Tercek ’16 and David Seo ’16.

The money box is a longterm subscription that helps students manage their money before, during and after college.

It provides information such as financial aid availability, housing options and credit score information.

“We had a lot of new members come, too, and they were really impressed by the guest speakers,” Cho said.

The organization elected Weetman one of two new Los Angeles regional directors.

“The conference was really good,” Weetman said. “It was very interactive as we were doing product pitches and product development, and I think it was a really good learning experience as to how NGV is run from the bottom up.”

Weetman is hoping to expand NGV to more public schools.

So far, only Beverly Hills High School and Granada Hills Charter High School are part of the NGV organization.

“I think it’s really important that it’s not just a private school thing,” Weetman said.

April 29, 2015

The Chronicle

Spring Breakers

News A7

Middle and upper school students traveled abroad during Spring Break as part of language, cultural and science programs.

10 students scuba dive in Caribbean

By Danielle Kaye

Scuba diving, snorkeling and sailing highlighted the spring break Caribbean trip March 28 to April 10, chaperoned by science teachers Florence Pi and Narae Park.

All 10 students on the trip became scuba diving certified.

Participants sailed to the islands of St. Martin, St. Bar-

thelemy, St. Christopher and Saba. Broadreach organization provided a boat, captain and diving instructor.

Collin Shannon ’17 said his favorite part was a dive through a shipwreck off the island of St. Christopher.

“It was great to spend my spring break doing things that I wouldn’t be able to do at home,” Shannon said.

Participants bonded and

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF FLORENCE PI

UNDER THE SEA: Emily Maynes ’16 checks Sydney Tsutsui’s ’17 gear before scuba diving during the two-week trip. learned teamwork skills.

“Our kids are really smart, so it was nice to offer

them an opportunity to enjoy learning and ask questions,” Pi said.

Students to present art from trip to Cuba

inbrief

Middle School hosts EdTech conference

More than 300 teachers from around the country attended the EdTech Team Los Angeles Summit featuring Google for Education that was held at the Middle School April 9 and 10.

Seventeen members of the faculty participated in this event. They were able to select which workshops and speeches to attend as well as collaborate with other educators and share ideas for incorporating more technology at school.

—Kami Durairaj

Students volunteer at textile service event

with Cuban children that began during the Digital Storytelling trip to Cuba in January headed by visual arts teacher Cheri Gaulke was completed over the spring break trip.

Children in Cuba were given disposable cameras to take pictures of their homes.

Students exchanged pictures with the kids to learn more about Cuban culture.

Students will volunteer for a Latin-American Parents’ Association event May 9 to teach elementary and middle school girls to work with electronic textiles, or electronics integrated into clothing.

Participants will learn to create e-textiles by creating electrical circuits and making the garments. Volunteers will have the opportunity to create their own e-textile and to earn community service hours by helping participating families with their textiles.

—Emily Rahhal

Spanish students supplement learning in Spain

Seventh graders visit Washington D.C.

By Juliana Berger

Student art work from the Cuba spring break trip will be featured at Bergamot Station starting May 16.

The trip, led by Upper School Visual Arts teacher Alyssa Sherwood and Middle School Visual Arts teacher Joe Medina, ran from March 28 to April 5.

Students interviewed Cu-

By Carina Marx

Spanish students from eighth to 12th grade participated in the Aula Toledo and Escuela Montalbán educational programs while in

bans to better understand the life and culture of the people.

Sherwood said the goal was to respect the people and gain a sense of who they are culturally.

“You see a lot of people who have to really work and struggle for what they have,” Phaedra Robinson ’17 said.

Students spent time in both rural Cuba and in Ha-

Spain during spring break.

They were paired up into groups of three or four to do activities such as treasure hunts and taking selfies with local monuments during the school day.

vana, staying with some host families, and practicing their Spanish.

“I asked [one woman we interviewed] what her happiest moment was and she said ‘the day I graduated because me and my peers, it was a happy day and we had accomplished something,’” Robinson said. “It’s very humbling.”

A photography project

They boarded in pairs with host families.

“It was an outside learning experience,” Isobel Phillips ’17 said. “There wasn’t really an average day, because each day we were doing

completely different things.”

The 23 students and two advisers on the trip visited Madrid, Toledo, Cordova, Sevilla, Granada and Torremolinos from May 26 to April 12.

Students on college tour protest Notre Dame

By Sharon Chow and Pim Otero

The Bison college tour was scheduled to visit the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, April 1 in the midst of a national controversy over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The law, signed into action March 26, less than a week before the college tour was to visit the campus, allowed any individual or corporation to cite its religious beliefs as a defense when sued by a private party.

By extension, critics of the law argued that it facilitated widespread discrimination against members of the LG-

BTQIA community as businesses or services could now legally refuse to serve samesex couples.

After the law was brought to the attention of the deans, President Rick Commons, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts, Associate Head of School Audrius Barzdukas, Head of External Relations Ed Hu and all the dean spring college tour chaperones discussed whether or not to take students to the university at all. However, a decision was made to poll students on the Bison Tour the day before visiting Notre Dame to either proceed with the tour without any changes or to tour

Notre Dame but make no purchases in Indiana. Students were also given the option to remain on the bus.

Out of 41 students, seven refused to take the campus tour and stayed on the bus, including Laurel Rand-Lewis ’16, Katie Speare ’16, Truth Cole ’16, Jonah Carloss ’16, Isadore Frankel ’16, Taylor Ingman ’16 and Daniel Mosch ’16. The rest of the students and faculty on the tour decided to proceed with touring Notre Dame and attended a meal hosted by the university.

“I have gay parents so I felt pretty passionate about [the issue] and was disappointed and

disgusted that so many people voted to do nothing,” Cole said.

Others, however, did not share the same thoughts.

“I didn’t think me not going to Notre Dame would have changed anything, so I would have not changed my vote either way,” Lucas Perez ’16 said.

In response to the national criticism, an ordinance was passed April 2 by the Indiana State Legislature to ensure that businesses are unable to refuse services based on “race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or United States military service.”

School blocks What’s Goodly app on Wi-Fi

• Continued from page A1

type of content to proliferate and are eager to work with users, schools and other parties to make sure the app experience is as enjoyable and stressfree as possible.”

Many of the polls posted have included students’ and faculty members’ names, despite What’s Goodly’s ban on posting names. The app’s moderators delete any question containing a name and suspend the poll’s creator from the app, though they don’t catch every infraction. In response, students have been using code names and initials to

identify others. drugs or alcohol. Using “ra“The no-name ban isn’t cially or ethnically offensive really working because peo- language” and discussing ilple are using these legal activity are unnicknames, and evauthorized, according erybody knows what to What’s Goodly’s they stand for,” Naoterms and conditions. mi Barlava ’17, who Users are responsihas the app, said. “I ble for the legality of think what’s being their posts. posted on the app is “There’s a kind of disgusting, offensive line you draw where and so hurtful to so you say ‘kids are kids,’ nathanson’s many people. People Naomi Barlava ’17 and the comments on are just using it to What’s Goodly went laugh at the expense of other way over the line,” Bracken people, and it’s not okay.” said. “You should be able to A large number of the come to school and not worry posts contain profanity, racial about how someone’s going to stereotypes and references to rate how your butt looks in a

pair of shorts. There were kids who were so upset they didn’t want to leave the bathroom.”

Students mentioned on the app said they want the school to discourage its use.

“It’s frustrating having your life be voted on,” said Marina Weidmann ’17, who saw several polls about her personal life on What’s Goodly. “When you’re talked about publicly like that, you don’t want to read anything more on it. I think the school needs to put this down and maybe just talk to everybody about how it’s not okay to publicly comment and vote on other people’s lives like that.”

For the first time, the Harvard-Westlake middle school sponsored a trip to Washington D.C. Thirty one students traveled with middle school history teachers Matthew Cutler, Lilas Lane and George Gaskin as chaperones.

The middle school history department created this trip to complement the new seventh grade class this year entitled American History and Government.

“We wanted the students to marvel at and to be inspired by visiting the nation’s capital and seeing up close many of the things they’re learning about in class,” Gaskin said.

The trip took place during the first week of spring break from March 28 to April 2.

“I think the trip was a great success, and I intend to make this an annual event for seventh graders,” Gaskin said.

—Jonah Ullendorff

LASA program begins accepting applications The Los Angeles Service Academy is accepting applications for students to participate in the 2015-2016 season.

History teachers Francine Werner and Katherine Holmes-Chuba encouraged sophomores to take advantage of this opportunity to see the their city in a new light.

Participants meet throughout the school year at Los Angeles institutions, such as water treatment plants and City Hall, learning about the city.

There is a four-day summer intensive program in August to kick off the program.

Applications were due Monday.

“The program allows one to see Los Angeles in an entirely new way,” Holmes-Chuba said.

—Sabrina de Brito

The Chronicle

A8 News

April 29, 2015

Genocide survivor discusses life story

Students to work with City Council

By Kami Durairaj

By Danielle Kaye

Cambodian genocide survivor Arn Chorn-Pond spoke about the power of music and shared his life story with students April 13.

As a child, Chorn-Pond was forced to play music at the Khmer Rouge death camp, and is one of only 60 children to survive the camp.

He was later adopted by an American man and attended school in New Hampshire.

“I had a hard time in school. Kids called me names,” Chorn-Pond said. “They didn’t know better. They didn’t know where I was from, and it hurt.”

Students attended ChornPond’s presentation in Feldman-Horn 107 during activities period.

He also visited an AP World History class and a jazz class and joined students and

SHARON CHOW/CHRONICLE

SURVIVAL SKILLS: Cambodian genocide survivor Arn Chorn-Pond shared his experiences during the Cambodian genocide with students April 13 in Feldman-Horn room 107. He was forced to play music at the Khmer Rouge death camp and is one of only 60 children to survive the camp. teachers from Francis Parker School, Pasadena Polytechnic and the Peace and Justice Academy for lunch in Feldman-Horn Gallery.

Chorn-Pond was hosted

by Visual Arts Department Chair Cheri Gaulke, who will be leading a group of students to Cambodia during summer break to learn about and document the effects of the geno-

cide 36 years after its end.

Gaulke will chaperone the tour along with along with cinematographer Jeff MacIntyre and director of Friendship Tours World Travel Alethea Tyner Paradis.

“Arn is perhaps the most well-known survivor of the genocide,” Gaulke said. “He not only has a compelling story, he created Cambodia Living Arts

to preserve the arts, which were almost lost when artists, musicians and performers were targeted and murdered.”

Registration for the HW! Go’s Digital Storytelling Adventure trip to Cambodia is open on the Friendship Tours World Travel Website.

Students will be required to create a digital storytelling project upon their return.

English teacher resigns to found boys’ school

By Oliver Richards

Head of Middle School English Department Jennifer Dohr will leave HarvardWestlake in June to found a new middle and high school, Beacon School for Boys.

“I am working to open the doors of Beacon full time,” Dohr said. “I am tremendously grateful to Harvard-Westlake for 20 incredible years. It’s been quite a ride. The interest in Beacon is just really taking off so it has become apparent to me very quickly that it just wouldn’t be fair to either institution to try to split myself in half.”

Dohr is founding the school with Oona Hanson, a teacher in the middle school English department until 2003, who

Teacher to program for startups

By Liz Yount Computer Science teacher Jason Fieldman ’98 is leaving after two years of teaching to resume his previous career as a professional programmer for startups.

Fieldman has taught Design and Data Structures Honors, Advanced Topics in Computer Science Honors and Precalculus: Trigonometry and Functions.

He was originally invited back to school by his eighth grade teacher, Mathematics and Library and Technology teacher Jessica Kaufman, to speak as a guest in middle school programming classes.

Fieldman was later asked to teach as a substitute at the Upper School and was eventually offered a position as a full-

has earned a master’s degree in education with a focus on single-sex education.

Dohr and Hanson hope to open the doors of Beacon in fall 2016. This summer they will search for a campus that is within 15 miles from Sunset Boulevard and the 405 freeway.

They also hope to attract a diverse student body.

“No matter where our final site ends up being, we will provide a transportation system to make it accessible to as many boys as possible so that the school looks like Los Angeles and not what whatever neighborhood it happens to be located in,” Hanson said.

Dohr and Hanson realized that there are many all-girls’ schools without religious affili-

“

ations in Los Angeles.

However, there are no allboys’ schools without religious ties.

“Los Angeles has three thriving all-girls schools without religious affiliations, and families on almost a daily basis ask those schools, why isn’t there an equivalent school for their son?” Hanson said. “It’s a model common around the country. It’s just not something that we have in Los Angeles currently.”

Hanson said that it is important for parents and children to have options when they are choosing a school.

She said that now there isn’t an option for an all boys’ school that doesn’t have religious ties.

Dohr and Hanson will use

One really positive thing that I have gained from teaching here is that my students are really good programmers, and I would for sure want to work with some of my students once they’re out of college.”

—Jason Fieldman ’98

time teacher.

“My path through life requires that I go back to programming,” Fieldman said.

He has worked on designing apps for various startups since 2002 and on IOS development since 2008.

Marko Fejzo ’15, who had Fieldman as a teacher for two years, said he is certain that Fieldman will be very successful in his pursuits as a professional programmer.

“I’m confident that Mr. Fieldman is going to do well in the future because he has a lot of startup experience,” Fejzo said. “He’s a really chill guy, and he’s just a fun person to be with.”

Students have greatly impacted Fieldman’s two years at

research on how boys learn and how to best cater to that learning in the developmental planning of Beacon.

They hope to create a facility in which boys can really thrive.

“At Beacon we know how boys learn best,” Dohr said.

“We are committed to evidence-based, best practices.”

Head of Middle School Jon Wimbish said that a replacement for Dohr has not yet been named, however he expressed sadness over the fact that she is leaving.

“It is sadly true that Ms. Dohr will be leaving the English Department next year,” Wimbish said. “She is embarking on a rather exciting new adventure in education.”

The Los Angeles Mayor’s Youth Council selected four sophomores as new members of the group.

Eshanika Chaudhary ’17, Chasia Jefferies ’17, Lauren Kim ’17 and Nathaniel Wall ’17 will become council representatives for the West Valley area.

They will learn about city issues and meet with elected officials to make recommendations to the Los Angeles City Council.

Students received an email from the history department informing them of this opportunity, and they sent in applications to the mayor’s office.

“I participate on the debate team and I thought participating on the Youth Council might be a good way to implement some of the ideas that we debate about,” Jefferies said.

During the 2015-2016 school year, the council will function as the voice of Los Angeles teens, advocating for issues they feel are important to youth.

The Youth Council’s mission statement reads, “as active participants…we are empowered to be positive agents of change in the community by giving voice and representation to youth-related issues.”

They will meet monthly to discuss transportation, education and public safety, among other topics.

At their next meeting, they will plan how they will make their mark.

Representatives also attend quarterly meetings with the entire Youth Council.

“I think it’s really important for people of our age to be involved in our community and to have a say in what goes on,” Kim said. “I think this is a great opportunity for me to be able to do that.”

Watson to teach writing, English classes in Boston

By Teresa Suh nathanson’s

school, he said.

Fieldman hopes to bring his students into his professional world in the future.

“One really positive thing that I have gained from teaching here is that my students are really good programmers, and I would for sure want to work with some of my students once they’re out of college,” Fieldman said.

His students are both sad and excited about his departure.

“I’m really sad that he’s leaving because he really tried his hardest to help everyone in any way possible,” Brian Adler ’15 said. “That being said, I’m really excited for all the things he’s going to accomplish in the future.”

English teacher Sasha Watson will be moving to Massachusetts to be closer to her family. She has been at Harvard-Westlake for four years.

Watson gave birth to a son last summer, and she has set her priorities to be closer to her family.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here, and I’m sorry to leave,” Watson said. “The students at Harvard-Westlake are wonderful to work with.”

Watson has taught English II and AP Language and Composition, and also helped to create the Harvard-Westlake Poetry Festival, “Wider than the Sky.” “When we first got Ms. Watson, it was a bit of a transition [because] we were getting a new teacher in the middle of the year,” Marina Weidmann ’17 said. “But she made the

adjustment really easy for me, and my classmates and I like her a lot.”

Watson will be teaching English classes to sophomore students at the Commonwealth School in Boston starting this Fall.

In addition, she will also teach a fiction writing class and a short story reading and writing class.

“She is a really good teacher and she makes classes very interesting and straightforward,” Weidmann said.

Watson is “looking forward to working with students in Boston,” she said.

“She really made the analysis of our reading interesting, and I think it is very evident her passion for teaching and for English in general,” Weidmann said. “It’s really sad that she’s leaving Harvard-Westlake, but I hope that she does well at her new school.”

Opinion

C HRONICLE the harvard-westlake

The Chronicle • April 29, 2015

Los Angeles • Volume XXIIII • Issue 6 • April 29, 2015 • hwchronicle.com

Editors in Chief: Zoe Dutton, Scott Nussbaum Managing Editors: Elijah Akhtarzad, Jessica Spitz Executive Editors: Marcella Park Presentations Editors: Leily Arzy, Jacob Goodman

editorial

News Managing Editors: Enya Huang, Jake Saferstein News Section Heads: Angela Chon, Cole Feldman, Eugenia Ko News Assistants: Sammi Handler, Alyson Lo, Layla Moghavem, Jackson Novick, Jesse Nadel, Oliver Richards, Teresa Suh, Izzy Wiesenthal, Claudia Wong Opinion Managing Editors: Haley Finkelstein, Sophie Kupiec-Weglinski Opinion Section Heads: Kelly Riopelle, Jonah Ullendorff Opinion Assistants: Carmen Levine, Mady Madison, Katie Perrin Features Managing Editors: Carly Berger, Aimee Misaki Features Section Heads: Sacha Lin, Benjamin Most, Su Jin Nam Features Assistants: Eshanika Chaudery, Lola Clark, Kami Duraijaj, Sabrina deBrito, Danielle Kaye, Lauren Kim, Jean Sanders, Phoebe Sanders, Liz Yount A&E Section Heads: Sharon Chow, Pim Otero A&E Assistants: Nico Brown, Hannah Cho, Sophie Cohen, Tiffany Kim, Katie Plotkin Sports Managing Editors: Tyler Graham, Audrey Wilson Sports Section Heads: Bennett Gross, Jonathan Seymour, Henry Vogel Senior Sports Writers: Mila Barzdukas, Cole Jacobson Sports Assistants: Aleksei Aguero, Juliana Berger, Zac Harleston, Joe Levin, Jacob Liker, Dario Madyoon, Carina Marx, William Park, Emily Rahhal, Rian Ratnavale, Connor Reese, Griffin Richter, Nick Settelmayer, Cameron Stine, Bryant Wu Art Director: Vivian Lin Multimedia and Online: Nikta Mansouri, David Woldenberg Photography and Multimedia: Caitlin Neapole, Lexi Bowers, Kelly Loeb Photography and Multimedia Assistants: Eshanika Chaudery, Kami Duraijaj, Tiffany Kim, Joe Levin, Phoebe Sanders Ads and Business Manager: Kelly Loeb Advisers: Jenny Hontz, Kathleen Neumeyer The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published eight times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board.

Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604.

Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Kelly Loeb at 818-8255059. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

MADY MADISON/CHRONICLE

A

A necessary conversation

yearlong campus dialogue on gender issues culminated with a presentation by anti-sexist activist Jackson Katz last week.

Katz urged male students to recognize sexism and gender violence as a universal problem, rather than simply view them as women’s issues. And while his words drew approval from many, some students’ reactions have caused us to reflect.

We applaud the administration for responding to students’ call for action in a year that has included school-wide discussion on issues ranging from sexual assault to the treatment of female athletes.

As long as we have been at the Upper School, we cannot recall a speaker who has sparked such widespread and meaningful debate. Regardless of stance, discourse was unavoidable, both with teachers in the classroom and peers on the quad. It was heartening to see such an important issue get the attention it deserves from the administration as well as the student body.

However, not all conversation was productive. Behaviors Katz specifically condemned, such as calling advocates for women’s rights “feminazis,” soon appeared on the anonymous poll app What’s Goodly and in conversations on the quad. But this was only an extreme version of a sentiment felt by many. Plenty of students—particularly boys—believed that Katz’s presentation was overblown and accusatory. After all, most men aren’t rapists. According to a Chronicle poll of 458 students, 24 percent

did not like Katz’s presentation. And while a portion of these responses may have been based on innocuous reasons like speaking style, it’s safe to assume that the majority probably based their dislike on the actual content.

In this day and age, and particularly in a well-educated community like HarvardWestlake, few people are outright bigots.

This leaves prejudice to manifest in subtler and more insidious ways that are as harmful as they are difficult to address. It’s moments that are so small, you’re not sure they’re worth mentioning: when someone says a boy is playing “like a girl,” or makes a rape joke or decides a girl is “bossy” instead of “a leader.” But strung together, these individual instances form a mindset that holds women (and by extension, the rest of society) back, and is ultimately reflected in statistics measuring gaps in everything from wages to presence in government to abuse.

It can be challenging to acknowledge privilege, no matter its form: racial, socioeconomic and, yes, gender. Rather than becoming automatically defensive and defaulting to the “Not All Men” mentality, students need to enter discussions with a more open mind and work together so that we can make progress as a community.

Even in a relatively accepting environment like Harvard-Westlake, we still have a long way to go when it comes to treating the topic of gender inequality appropriately.

A10 Opinion

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

Fostering community

By Kelly Riopelle

W

hile the lipstick “vandalism” incident last month may have disappeared from most people’s minds, I can’t help but remember the conversations it sparked during both my seventh period Chronicle class and on the quad days after. Although people felt torn about the topic, from feeling like it created more unnecessary work for the maintenance staff, or taking issue with the wording of the message, I noticed one thing in common. Harvard-Westlake should work harder to create an environment where discussions about body image, or other important topics can exist. While these topics do not pertain directly to school, they are still important to teenagers. Harvard-Westlake should work to create more programs and initiatives that can turn our school into more of a community.

Last year, the student workload survey results seemed to come as a surprise to many. As a student, I can tell you that I was not surprised in the slightest. I hear people complaining on the quad, in the cafeteria, in the classroom, in the library, from Weiler to Seaver. Many students aren’t happy. While some might say that it’s just because we are “teenagers” or that we bring it on ourselves by choosing to take rigorous classes, I firmly disagree.

I am taking a fairly heavy course load this year, but I know that if I were to drop all of my APs and honors for the sake of a more balanced life, people would treat me like a second-class citizen or say something along the lines of “I thought you were smart.” Furthermore, I know students at other schools that are equally as rigorous who are happy, because of the additional support the school provides its students, whether in classes akin to our Peer Support, advocacy programs, which foster inter-grade relationships, or a more effective

testing schedule for various classes.

While I know it’s unrealistic to expect the administration to limit the number of APs and honors you can take, or to eliminate APs all together like another Los Angeles-area private school, I think the school can work to create a more supportive environment in other ways.

School should be a place where students can not only receive any academic support they need but also a venue where students can talk about other issues, like body image positivity, feminism, politics or anything else they are passionate or even just thinking about. While CiviTalks tried (and failed) to accomplish this feat, I hope the administration is working on other ways to make Harvard-Westlake a more humane place.

I think that a common mandatory lunch period is a step in the right direction, despite the challenges it creates in forming schedules.

While I’m sure that it will take a while to work out the kinks, ultimately the administration has shown us that improving student quality of life has finally become a priority. Likewise, First and Third Wednesdays assemblies seem to be another way the school is working to create a more integrated community of students, teachers and faculty. I think the school should also create more events that could get students together on the weekends or after school, whether they be community service events, or the Moby Dick 24-hour read-a-thon.

It’s events like these that help to remind us that HarvardWestlake is more than just a place that spits out Ivy League commits. It is where we have spent and will spend the majority of our teenage years and hopefully, with some work, it can start to feel more like a community, a place where we can even enjoy coming to and take pride in being a part of.

ILLUSTRATION BY MADY MADISON

You code like a girl

By Carmen Levine

W

henever I tell people that I plan to pursue a career in technology, I always meet the same response: “Wow. You don’t seem like that kind of person.”

Most people, when presented with the idea of a tech junkie, think of two kinds of people: a Silicon-Valley dweller with the latest iPhone in hand or a dorky programmer glued to the screen of his chunky PC. But no one ever thinks of a woman. This is because the computer science and engineering industries are not very welcoming to women, so few women seek positions in the field. Some women in technology have been leaving their positions because of the misogynistic treatment they have received from male coworkers.

I encountered the sexism in computer science and engineering first hand last summer. I participated in a collaborative internship between Harvard-Westlake and UCLA’s Smart Energy Research Center, along with another five students (three boys and two other girls).

Excited to begin my work, I attended the information session where the interns received their assignments and mentors, who were currently graduate students working with SMERC. I was surprised

to find that the male interns had received individual mentors who were paired based on the interests they had expressed in their application, while the female interns were grouped together and put under the authority of two researchers. When asked, we all expressed a desire to code or participate in an engineering project. A week later we were emailed that we would be writing a 120-page report to help us learn “how to work with deadlines” and to “develop teamwork skills.” When given this assignment, male interns were already coding alongside their mentors.

So why was it that we were not treated equally? The female interns were just as qualified to do the work the male interns were doing. The internship coordinator said that the assignments were not based on gender, but on other circumstances such as availability of mentors.

“I was not thinking in a sexist way, but in a way to make [the female interns] more comfortable,” the coordinator said. “I wanted each of [the interns] in the lab working on projects, but that’s not the way it ended up working out.”

Though his intentions were not based on gender, the experience I had was similar

to what women in technology face daily. These scientists are equally as qualified as their male counterparts but are in a constant struggle to prove that they belong in this industry, even though they are currently a minority. Especially in the video game industry, women are shut out from opportunities open to men with equal qualifications.

Even big tech companies have this problem. Only 17 percent of Google’s technology employees are women, whereas 48 percent of the non-technology employees are female, according to the demographics on Google’s website. Facebook only has a 15 percent female technology workforce, according to its website.

It seems that this all-male regime cannot be broken, but several people are already trying to break down this gender barrier. Many organizations, such as Girls Who Code, are giving young women the opportunity to nurture a love for technology early on. This is what women must understand: You don’t have to have a Y chromosome to major in computer science or engineering. I encourage all girls and women to learn how to code in order to be a part of the revolution in this industry.

Technology is the future.

Let’s talk about feminism (the right way)

By Eugenia Ko

A

part of me really wants to shrink behind Emma Watson and let her do the talking.

Although the actress’ speech at the U.N. conference in January introducing the HeForShe campaign, a solidarity movement for gender equality, was the most inclusive feminist message I have heard yet, even she was not immune from the sexist social media backlash that often follows a discussion of feminism.

But in light of recent conversations, including those sparked by Jackson Katz’s assembly speech last week about gender violence, I’m going to ignore my reservations and share how I’ve always felt about feminism.

Yeah, I get it. We’re talking a lot about feminism.

People have talked about it for a long time before any of

us (as my U.S. history reading of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” tells me.)

We’re talking more about it here too — in the Chronicle, with Katz last week, and very commonly on social media forums like Facebook and What’s Goodly.

The more we talk about it the better. But what no one has said is that a lot of the conversations, especially those conducted on social media, need to change.

Social media is surely an outlet for the feminism discussion, given that most of us spend a tremendous amount of time scrolling, liking posts, and creating an online identity of who we are and what we believe. For many girls (and hopefully for more boys, as time goes on), feminism has and will become a crucial part of their identities.

It is often not what we want to say about feminism but how we say it on social media that detracts from the conversation. I say “we” because we all do it — girls, boys, everyone in between — we are all at fault.

The hardly revolutionary concept at the core of feminism, that women should be treated as equals to men, is one that we in this community can all surely agree upon.

Our common belief system and values that we uphold stress that we do so.

On a basic level, there are a lot of ideological errors that hinder conversation. It’s clear that feminism has taken on the negative connotation of man-hating or female domination. Girls who post stories on social media about sexist treatment think they have to include disclaimers separating

them from feminists in order to be heard. Many boys in comment sections think these same stories blame them, that they are not benefited by or affiliated with feminism because they are not girls, nor are they the kind of men mentioned in these stories.

All of these perceptions can only be reversed through productive discussion. But the same values of basic respect and kindness that require us to believe that men and women should be treated equally are often lost in our conversation on social media. In the process, the basic idea, the indisputable concept of feminism as fundamental equal rights for women and men, is tainted by the misconstrued conversation and twisted words.

Because many of us contribute to this misinterpreta-

tion, whether by throwing around the term “feminazi” when a girl says something slightly more radical, or saying “I’m not a feminist because I love men,” it is up to us to correct the conversation, both in what we say and how we say it.

We can’t discuss feminism while berating each other, cursing and contradicting ourselves. The way we treat each other has everything to do with feminism. If we treat each other the way we do on Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms in our discussion about feminism, we will never be able to get beyond the hate.

We have a real shot at making a difference in how feminism is perceived. When this article is posted on social media, I hope we can take that shot the right way.

hwchronicle.com/opinion

April 29, 2015

Opinion A11

quadtalk

The Chronicle asked:

“What was your overall opinion of assembly speaker Jackson Katz?”

458 students weighed in on the Chronicle poll:

I did not like his presentation

110

“Very radical. He’s a brilliant guy, and you can obviously tell he knows what he’s talking about. I think the biggest problem people had with it was it felt like he was picking at little tiny things that really didn’t seem to matter, but it’s easy to see how they could really change some things in the future.”

—Nicholas Abouzeid ’15 SOPHIE KUPIEC-WEGLINSKI/CHRONICLE

I liked his presentation

“I liked him. I thought he had an interesting perspective on feminism. Like you don’t see a whole lot of guys who are that passionate for a topic like that, especially nowadays.

348

— Phaedra Robinson ‘17 SOPHIE KUPIEC-WEGLINSKI/CHRONICLE

“Do you think his conversation impacted the school environment or conversation?”

“It’s unfortunate to say this, but I don’t think so. I think it just made girls a little more adamant about feminism and the guys a little more annoyed with it, which angers me a lot.”

457 students weighed in on the Chronicle poll:

—Shannyn Schack ‘16 SOPHIE KUPIEC-WEGLINSKI/CHRONICLE

SOPHIE KUPIEC-WEGLINSKI/CHRONICLE

I definitely think that his presentation has brought feminism more into the foreground at Harvard-Westlake. In Chamber Singers we were singing a song that had lyrics about women. It was a song about a woman being beautiful, and we were questioning whether that was objectifying women or not. I think that’s the kind of conversation that has been inspired by his presentation.

No 145

Yes 312

—Michael Edwards ’16

Please lay off the college questions

By Enya Huang

A

while ago I walked into the bookstore to buy “Flatland” for my Philosophy in Art and Science class. The novel is about a two-dimensional world in which everyone appears to be a line or a point, with only shadowing to imply a person’s shape. Suddenly I was bombarded by questions from two sophomores regarding college: “Where are you going?

Did you get in early? Did you apply for financial aid? How much money did you get?

What’s your GPA? What got you in anyway?” And more.

The fact that these curious students had no idea that they were potentially being offensive only contributed to their directness, and the interrogation was so overwhelming that I ducked out of the bookstore to catch my breath. This incident brings to mind a few issues.

First, many seniors aren’t sure where they’re going to college. It’s true that with only a few days left until

May 1, they should be pretty certain about their academic futures, but with multiple offers, financial aid and waiting lists, the decision is indubitably a complicated and nervewracking one. It’s good to be subtle with this topic and, when asking, proceed with caution. All in all, sensitivity is encouraged.

Second, the point about a senior going to college is that the student found a nurturing and stimulating environment to prepare him, her or them for the rest of his, her or their life. Congratulations should precede any prying questions, regardless of your opinions of the college in question. The senior survived one of the most arduous high schools in the country and found a school lucky enough to receive him, her or them, and that in itself is worth applauding.

But these points only address the manifestations of the problem, not the issue itself. The focus of these con-

versations regarding college is misguided. Like in “Flatland,” individuals are seen merely as points and lines instead of their full shape.

The focus should not be on the statistics of a student’s college admissions process, which are merely a shadow of who these people are. The focus should be on how they got to where they are.

It’s understandable that, with its reputation, people see Harvard-Westlake as a path to a great college. But it is not simply a means to an end. We interact daily with some of the most profound faculty and student minds in the world. Our classrooms foster conversations that enlighten our views of the world and human understanding; our lunch tables allow us to enjoy the richness of being around others’ talents and personalities. The school is a place to grow into developed individuals prepared to take on the world.

It’s true that most Har-

vard-Westlake students go straight from high school to college, but we are not an assembly line for college admissions. We are more than points and lines in the two-dimensional plane of “where did you get in?” We are people. College is not the end goal but a step toward who we aim to be as individuals. High school is part of the learning curve as well.

Of course the pressure to attend a good college is understandable, but it is not the most important part of Harvard-Westlake. We attend a school with resources such as nationally acclaimed sports teams and classes that outsiders are lucky to find anywhere, let alone in high school. Many of these classes are unweighted, but why does that matter? I’m taking my philosophy seminar class because the teachers are amazing and the subject fascinating. Those are all of the reasons I need, because when else will I get the op-

portunity?

Fine, taking such classes or using such resources may not help your GPA. But what seems counterintuitive is that reevaluating one’s classes may help in the college process. Admissions officers can tell when a student is loading up on classes versus when a student is pursuing a passion, which is more interesting.

Since our school has so many outlets for student interests, colleges may even find it strange if someone writes about a hobby that he, she or they could have pursued in school but isn’t on the transcript.

So take a step back from the admittedly overwhelming pressure of college, and examine the choices you’re making in high school. Take advantage of the opportunities we have to find things that we love. Who knows?

Your new passion could help get you into some of those colleges you’re hoping for.

Just think about it.

exposure

A12

April 29, 2015

One-Act Wonders

More than 100 students participated in the annual Playwrights’ Festival, in which 12 one-act plays, written and performed by students, were showcased in Rugby Auditorium April 24-26.

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

IT’S A MATCH: Cosima Elwes ’15, left, Trishta Dordi ’15 and Gabe Jenkinson’15 sit on a table on a set of the Quad and discuss the dating app Tinder in the play “Never Swipe Right” by Jessica Dickman ’17.

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

THE BROMANCE: Chris Darden ’16, left, engages in a water gun standoff with Jared Gentile’ 16 in the satirical, Shakespeare-inspired play “Bromeo and Julius,” written in verse by Sabrina Batchler ’15. The play will also be performed by a professional company at the Blank Theatre in Hollywood in June.

SUJIN NAM/CHRONICLE

RUGRATS: Henry Platt ’17, left, Henry Zumbrunnen ’16 and Phoebe Sanders ’17 play with shaving cream during an arts and crafts scene in a preschool class in the play “The Exceptional Childhood Center” written by Dylan Schifrin ’16.

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

GRADUATION: Liam Hyde ’17 recites the closing monologue during graduation in the play “In Passing,” by Sydney Concoff ’15 and Covi Brannan ’15.

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

CALL ME MAYBE: Carlos Guanche ’16 scribbles his phone number on a piece of paper to give to his crush Quincy, played by Sydney Concoff ’15, in the play “Text” by Laurel Rand-Lewis ’16.

Features The Chronicle • April 29, 2015

Fear Factor 19 million people in America are diagnosed with phobias. Three students, one with trypophobia, one with agoraphobia and one with claustrophobia, talk about their experiences in dealing with their fears while at school.

•See page B12

ILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN LIN

B2 Features

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

Have you met Molly?

Use of the psychoactive drug Molly has been on the rise nationwide, and it’s popular at music festivals such as Coachella. However, this drug is not always what it seems. Most pills marketed as Molly contain other harmful compounds.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SACHA LIN AND PIM OTERO

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/features

By Jonathan Seymour

of three neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine and norepiockets brimming with pills nephrine.” and powders, a man pedLarge amounts of serotonin dled his goods to the crowd influence mood, appetite and around him as they listened to sleep and also trigger the rethe latest hits at Ultra Music lease of the hormones oxytocin Festival in Miami earlier this and vasopressin, which affect year. love, trust, sexual arousal and Gerard* ’17 and a friend both social experience. However, the decided to take a chance, buy brain experiences a serotonin some of the drug colloquially redeficit after using MDMA, causferred to as Molly, and use it. ing the user to experience con“It was a really euphoric fusion, depression, erratic sleep feeling,” Gerard said. “You feel and anxiety. like there is no other moment Side effects may include dein your entire life when you will hydration, anxiety, agitation and feel better.” depression. MDMA also interGerard and his friend are feres with the body’s ability to part of the surging group of regulate internal temperature, high school students in the meaning users can possibly conUnited States experimenting tract temperature-related conwith Molly, commonly accepted ditions. as the successor to Ecstasy, the Another side effect of popular party drug of the 1990s.

MDMA is that its users do not Molly is a synthetic psychoacfeel fatigue. Dr. Timothy Hayes, tive drug that contains the hala psychiatrist who specializes lucinogen MDMA. in addiction In 2014, Moniat Providence toring the Future, Saint John’s a long-term study Health CenThe bottom line by the University of ter in Santa is that you don’t know Michigan, reported Monica, has that 5.6 percent of seen multiple what you’re getting. It’s high school seniors where very hard for the testers cases and 1.4 percent of partygoers useighth graders said of chemicals to keep up ing MDMA that they had tried danced for with the developers.”

MDMA. Overall, 1.5 hours, grew percent of people ehydrated —Dr. Timothy Hayes dand ages 12 to 17 and got hyperPsychiatrist thermic, which 12.8 percent of people ages 18 to 25 had can have fatal tried Molly. This is results. an increase from 5.4 percent One of the other dangers of of seniors and a decrease from Molly is the possibility of ingest2.8 percent of eighth graders in ing contaminated or adulterat2005. ed product. Rusty Payne of the In a poll of 433 students, 4.2 Drug Enforcement Administrapercent of Harvard-Westlake tion told Reuters in 2013 that 80 students said they have tried to 90 percent of the drugs marMolly. keted as Molly actually turn out The drug’s popularity may to be something completely difbe attributed in part to its ferent. newfound ubiquity in popular “The bottom line is that you culture, including mentions in don’t know what you’re getting,” songs by recording artists MiHayes said. “It’s very hard for ley Cyrus, Madonna and Kanye the testers of chemicals to keep West. up with the developers. It’s a cat As the popularity of the drug and mouse game. The develophas increased, so have the daners are constantly trying to keep gerous results. Government data one step ahead of the testers.” indicates that emergency room Gerard and his friend tried visits by people under the influto test their newly-bought pills ence of Molly increased 123 perto make sure they weren’t concent from 2005 to 2009. taminated, using three different In February, 12 students drug testing kits bought on the partying at Wesleyan Univerinternet. The websites for these sity were hospitalized after uskits claim that they are able to ing Molly and drinking alcohol. determine the drugs’ contents Two students were in critical and potencies. condition and were airlifted to However, none of these overHartford Hospital, while two the-counter tests, even when all others were in serious condition, used in tandem with each other, and the rest were treated at are as accurate as lab tests.

Middlesex Hospital and released “Nothing is reliable,” Hayes days later. All 12 students evensaid. “You need liquid and gas tually recovered. chromatography [to truly deterAccording to the National mine a pill’s contents].”

Institute on Drug Abuse, Molly Because a full lab test is re“produces feelings of increased quired to determine drug ingreenergy, euphoria, emotional dients, it is hard to tell what is warmth and empathy toward actually in pills and powders sold others, and distortions in senas Molly, making it very easy for sory and time perception. It people to sell cheap, common, acts by increasing the activity unmarked pills and crystallized

P

“

It’s a Trip

4.2% of 433 students polled by the Chronicle have tried Molly.

Features B3

powders, which can easily be poterwards, once I got back to the tentially harmful and even fatal. hotel, as well as the next mornFor example, methylone is a ing, were both really uncomfortsynthetic stimulant with more able. I got depressed, so it kind harmful effects than MDMA of just triggered [my depression] that is commonly found in testand made me really sad for a ed samples of Molly, according couple of hours.” to the DEA. Armando wants to try Moon There have been many recent Rocks again, but he wants to incases of so-called “bad batches” crease his dosage. of Molly. Police investigated the “I want to do more because it possibility that the Wesleyan was a little bit underwhelming,” students who were hospitalized Armando said. “I think it’s OK had ingested a contaminated to do [MDMA], as long as you batch of the drug. do it periodically, in the right In a letter to the student situations, and not constantly.” body, University President MiThe clubbing culture associchael S. Roth described Molly ated with Molly can add to its [as having] “extremely dangerpotential danger as well. ous effects,” according to CNN. “The early signs of intoxicaFour Wesleyan students tion going over toward overdose were arrested soon after the of MDMA, of Molly, [are] goincident, NBC reported. They ing to be high heart rate, high were charged with a variety of respiratory rate and high blood crimes including possession of pressure,” Dr. Meika Roberson a controlled substance, illegally of Mount Sinai Hospital in New obtaining or supplying drugs, York said, according to drugfree. sale of a hallucinogen, possesorg. “So if you’re in a club scene, sion of a regulated substance, you’re not feeling any of that.” and possession of a controlled Bronson* ’15 has tried Molly substance with intent to sell. three times and is willing to do Possession of MDMA is illeit again if the opportunity presgal in most countries, including ents itself. He first tried it in the United States, but that and China. the dangers associated with it Bronson was going clubbing aren’t stopping college and high with his friends, and he obtained school and even some middle Molly from a dealer in China school students from trying it. who shared a mutual friend with “Molly is like a once-in-ahim in Los Angeles. lifetime thing,” Gerard said.

“Things are pretty ‘sus’ in Known as a synthesized “deChina, but we were going clubsigner drug,” Molly is mainly bing, and we just decided to hit “cooked” in Chinese drug labs it,” Bronson said. and then distributed to EuroUpon reflection, Bronson, pean and American marketwho was working through perplaces, according to Payne. Besonal issues at the time that he cause of its euphoric effects, like first tried Molly, believes it was its predecessor Ecstasy, Molly is a revelatory experience for him. extremely popular in the musi“The first time I took it, I cal and party scenes. Many stuwas able to see so much more dents use Molly at various music about myself and my issues festivals and concerts. and what was driving different Armando* ’16 tried Molly things,” Bronson said. “I underfor the first time while attendstood peer pressure and how ing Weekmuch social conforend One of mity can influence the Coachyour behavior. It was I understand the ella Valley a huge revelation for Music and me the second time. I potential dangers of Arts Festieven quit smoking for Molly. However, I still val earlier a little bit.” this month.

Bronson believes plan to use it again in Before he MDMA can have real, the future.” drove to the constructive uses if festival, he given the chance.

—Armando* ’16 bought two “It was great,” doses for Bronson said. “Really, $200, totalreally great. It’s hard ing .2 grams of Moon Rocks, to explain if you haven’t taken it, which are a very pure form of but you’re much more open, and crystallized MDMA even more you have no real inhibitions, and concentrated than Molly. you can really connect with peo“I took one dose 30 minutes ple more easily. So, in that way, before a concert,” Armando said.

I guess it really is a social drug.”

“I was definitely dancing around Armando is also willing to and doing weird things, but I overlook the risks. was not really feeling anything.”

“I understand the potential The concert ended, and Ardangers of Molly,” Armando mando went to the next concert, said. “However, I still plan to use where he still wasn’t feeling it again in the future because anything. It took two hours for the most dangerous aspect of the MDMA to kick in. doing it is receiving laced Mol“I was just dancing and havly, and I would only buy it from ing a ton of fun and being really someone I trust.” social and just happy,” Armando said. “But then the cool down af*Names have been changed

“

Despite the trend of using Molly at social events, its consumption rate remains relatively low. However, the health risks of consumption are high.

1.5% of people ages 12 to 17 have tried Molly, according to national statistics.

12.8% of people ages 18 to 25 have tried Molly according to national statistics.

80-90% of drugs marketed as Molly actually turn out to be something different according to the DEA.

SOURCE: SURVEYMONKEY POLL AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND DEA GRAPHIC BY SACHA LIN AND PIM OTERO

B4 Features

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

Gifted Teachers

Many teachers receive presents from students, ranging from books to gift cards to home-baked bread. Gift-giving is central to the culture of some students.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BENJAMIN MOST

By Jacob Goodman

he could finesse it more and not have it be offensive pper School Dean to the family.”

Sharon Cuseo found Performing Arts teacha gift from a stuer Ted Walch said he has dent sitting on her desk. never been made uncomIt was a beautiful textile fortable by the gifts he has with an intricate pattern received. made from gorgeous ma“The most extravaterials. Cuseo wrapped it gant gifts I have received around herself like a shawl are from people for whom and walked around with extravagance is not only it draped over her outfit. possible but in some ways Several days later, when appropriate,” Walch said. she talked to the student “I do know some other who had given her the gift, teachers that have reshe learned that the shawl ceived gifts in excess of was actually a rug. $1,000, and they have felt The rug is one of many uncomfortable, but I have gifts that Cuseo has renever received such a gift. ceived as an upper school I have received gift cards dean. Students regularly up to $300. But given the give Christmas gifts as student, and my experiwell as end-of-the-year ence with that student, presents to their deans that seemed fair, and I did and teachers. not feel uncomfortable.”

“You learn to be graSometimes the timing cious and just accept of a gift can make a differgifts,” former dean and ence. current Head of External “I was always uncomRelations Ed Hu said. “I fortable with gifts at certhink the vast majority of tain times of year,” Hu the gifts I receive are nice, said. “There are certain thoughtful gifts, whether gifts, where after somethey’re books or pens or one would get into college gift certifiand were recates because ally happy people know and would I enjoy gogive a gift My concern is for of ing to certain thanks, the kids who don’t give r e s t au r a n ts that were or reading gifts. When they see gifts really nice, books.” but there being given to teachers, are times in Many students give which gifts do they feel, ‘Oh, I standard are given at should do something’?” odd gifts such as times. baked goods —Ted Walch They are beor books. ing in their performing arts teacher way thoughtH o w e v e r, s t u d e n ts ful, but it have also might just be been known to give more oddly timed where you’re costly gifts such as expenin the middle of the college sive gift cards or handbags. process, and it may just “When I first got here, seem a little bit more out I didn’t realize this was of line.” something that happens,” Harvard-Westlake does Cuseo said. “I returned not have a gift-giving polsomething that I felt reicy. The administration ally uncomfortable with. I has discussed having one, did it through the Head of but it would be tricky to School because he thought implement because of of-

U

“

fense it may cause to famition or a little grade boost, lies with certain cultural especially if [they have a backgrounds where giftborderline grade],” Goodgiving is standard practice, man said. “If my teacher Hu said. had just told me ‘Your “To set a gift giving grade is almost to an A-,’ if policy at the school could I had a B+, then I probably offend the heritage and would try to do whatever culture of people,” Hu said.

I could to make them like “That’s what would make me more.” some hesitant of just havFirst year Upper School ing a blanket policy for the Dean Jamie Chan said that school. In a place where she did not know what to you’re trying to be expect in terms of diverse and inclugifts coming into sive, it’s tricky terthe school year. ritory to tread.”

She had heard A policy on stories of extravagift giving could be gant student gifts beneficial to kids from other faculty who may feel presmembers but did sure to give gifts, not receive any Walch said. that made her unnathanson’s “My concern is comfortable. for the kids who “I didn’t feel like Ed Hu don’t give gifts,” any of mine were Walch said. “When they ridiculous,” Chan said. see gifts being given to “Which was nice because teachers, do they feel, ‘Oh, I would feel bad if someI should do something,’ and thing was a lot of money. then decide to do someEach family’s capacity of thing later? I understand giving might be different. that they come from a nice For some a loaf of bread place from all sorts of peomight be their way of sayple, and I think it would ing thank you, and I love be wrong to have a policy food so that’s great, and about it. It’s well enough some might love giving realone to just leave things ally lavish gifts, and that’s as they are. But I’m always what they feel comfortable just a little bit uncomfortwith.” able for the kid who isn’t However extravagant giving a present.” certain gifts might be, the Many kids do not feel majority of them are very pressured to give gifts, particular and heartfelt, however.

Cuseo said.

“I feel like for teachers “I know that students, who spoke to me throughparticularly with teachers, out the year or made an get really thoughtful, and impact on me somehow, they want to find the perI’ll give them gifts out of fect thing that expresses appreciation, but I don’t what they mean to them, feel pressured by other and that’s so nice,” Cuseo people who give all their said. teachers gifts because it They can end up being seems excessive,” Bridget somewhat unusual, howevHartman ’15 said. er thoughtful the student Student-to-teacher gift might think they’re being. giving isn’t always moti“Once I got a razor,” Hu vated by a personal consaid. “That was just odd. nection, Kate Goodman ’15 I had no idea why somesaid. body would get me a razor.

“I think some kids do Maybe they were trying to it for a little more attensend me a message.”

B5 Features

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

Turning a Blind Eye Although the Honor Code prohibits providing unauthorized aid, cheating occurs without consequences because witnesses choose not to report their fellow students’ wrongdoings, and even when they do, sometimes nothing is done.

By Eugenia Ko Stacey ’16* “didn’t want to be a snitch.”

In her eighth period class, the statement on the wall reads, “I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.” Stacey looks up at the clock to see two minutes left for the quiz when she feels the heat of a gaze from her right. Eyes dart over her paper — number one, a, two, a, three, c.

Her classmate circles a, a, c on his quiz.

The teacher calls time, Stacey and her classmate lock eyes, but both sign the obligatory honor pledge with no hesitation, affirming the originality of their work with each word.

The honor code hangs in plain view of students throughout the campus, yet the exchange of unauthorized aid is ever-present in many classrooms. In a Chronicle poll of 442 students, 23 percent said they have cheated on homework, essays, quizzes or tests. Additionally, 71 believe that cheating is common among students at HarvardWestlake.

Stacey said she didn’t realize her classmate was copying her answers the first time he did. Because she was not actively sharing her answers with him, she did not think she was breaching the honor code.

“It’s so widespread that [the school] can’t possibly get every single case,” she said.

“I know it’s wrong, but it’s little things here and there that I don’t care enough to tell. While it can be annoying when students succeed after cheating, I think eventually it will catch up to them.”

Some students who have reported incidents of cheating to their teachers said the cheating continued.

Nadine* ’16 and multiple other students in her world languages class witnessed a classmate cheating on more than one assessment and decided to tell their teacher. After tests were collected, the student would change his answers after referring to the textbook while the teacher was out of the room.

“It was so obvious and frequent. Everyone saw him doing it,” she said.

However, Nadine said her teacher scolded her and her classmates for questioning the “honor” of a student that the teacher considered honest.

The cheating persisted.

Robby* ’17 also told his teacher about a student who repeatedly looked at his and other students’ answers.

Though the teacher thanked him for reporting it, Robby said he observed the student continuing to cheat on future tests and quizzes.

In another class, Nadine said her teacher often warned stu-

dents during a quiz “to keep has never brought a student their eyes on their own paper.” before the Honor Board for “Everyone in the class al- copying answers from another ways knows who he’s referring student, Weis said he would to,” she said. report a violation if it became Nadine and Robby both obvious to him that a student said they did not know if the was cheating. cases were taken to the Honor Pan said the Honor Board Board. aims to follow up with stuJunior prefect Grace Pan dents and teachers even after ’16 said cheating cases are rulings to prevent further vioonly reviewed by the Honor lations of the Honor Code. If a Board if they are reported by student is brought in front of a teacher. On a first offense, all the board a second time, the teachers have the freedom to stakes are higher, and conseconfront the student on their quences are more severe. own, though the Honor Board She said the board has reis always a viable option. ceived significantly fewer casEven when reported, the es this school year, though this Honor Board only accepts does not indicate a decrease cases after a commitin cheating but more tee reviews numerous likely a choice by the factors, such as if the teachers to handle case has substantial cases themselves. evidence and an obviShe believes ous violator. cheating occurs as The teacher is part of the “Harvardonly required to alert Westlake culture” in the board on a second which many students offense. feel pressured to be Although stuthe best that they can nathanson’s dents are free to and believe cheating Kevin Weis approach prefects will maximize their about classmates they have results. witnessed cheating, the board “In the end, it’s a very always works through an ad- broad goal for [Prefect Counministrator or teacher. cil] to decrease that type of Math teacher Kevin Weis competitive culture, and insaid he sometimes sees stu- herently those problems will dents’ eyes wandering during be solved,” she said. “We are quizzes. Because he is not sure discussing tangible ways that if a student intends to cheat we can make the small things or is prone to looking around go away, but it’s a work in subconsciously, he sends out progress.” warnings or moves the student

to a different desk. Though he *Names have been changed.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SU JIN NAM

The Chronicle April 29, 20

B6 Features

Changing

The use of plastic surgery to “ features has become incre recent years among various by teenagers wantin

By Angela Chon

said. Although she didn’t achieve the full, idealized “Western beauWhen Katie* ’14 was in high ty,” the surgery helped her gain school, she used to use a glue strip confidence, she said. She defines on her eyelid to create a tempo- “Western beauty” as having sharp rary crease and to boost her self- features, defined cheekbones, a confidence. Without the artificial defined nose, blond hair and large, double eyelid, she felt “ugly” and blue eyes. believed that people judged her According to the Amerifor having smaller eyes. Finally, can Society of Plastic Surgeons, before she left for college, Katie teenagers who get plastic surgot an upper eyelid blepharoplas- gery typically want to conform to ty, more commonly known as the their peers’ version of the idealdouble eyelid surgery. ized beauty, while adults often get Blepharoplasty is an opera- operations to stand out from the tion that removes and repositions norm. Although plastic surgery excess tissue and reinforces the can “reverse the social withdrawcorresponding muscle and tendon al” that teens experience when tissue in the area from the eye- they look different, it has limitabrow to the upper cheek. The goal tions that teens need to recognize of this procedure is to create the before their operations, such as eyelid crease above the lashes that the physical risks, its website said. some people, particularly Asians, There’s a general guideline for lack. determining if a patient is both From 2005 to 2013, the num- mentally and physically ready for ber of cosmetic surgeries per- an operation, Lee said. formed on Asian-Americans has “For women, physically, they increased 126 percent, 84 percent mature at age 14,” Lee said. “And in Hispanics and 56 percent in for men, age 16. But the emotional African Americans, according to state, it’s age 16. Less than that, the American Society of Plastic their body image is still undergoSurgeons. In total, the number of ing changes, like how they perracial minorities receiving plastic ceive themselves, so 16 is kind of surgeries has doubled in the past like a preferred cutoff as a rule of decade. thumb.”

Dr. Charles Lee, a plastic surHowever, in Asia, it’s acceptgeon certified by the American able to get the double eyelid surBoard of Plastic Surgery at the gery as early as 14, Lee said.

Enhance Medical Center in Bev“From the doctor’s side, I have erly Hills, said that the most com- to think about if there are any mon operations are the double potential complications and if the eyelid surgery for Asians and rhi- patient has the maturity to get noplasty, or nasal surgery, for His- through any potential setbacks,” panics and African-Americans.

Lee said. “The results are never During Katie’s double eyelid going to be 100 percent predictprocedure, the surgeon “sewed a able, and you have to have a little line into my [eyelid] and so it’s tolerance for error. We call that not super invasive or anything,” realistic expectations.” she said. “It was first suggested by Katie understood the limitamy mom, and she actually got it tions of plastic surgery and the herself when she risks her surgery was pretty young, posed but also I think when she enjoyed the selfPersonally for got out of college, esteem boost that so it didn’t seem even the artificial me, I felt like people like a big deal to double eyelid from viewed me a certain me.” the glue strip proAlthough Kavided. way because I had tie’s operation “And I can acsmaller eyes .... I felt like I tually put on eyewas not invasive, Lee said that at liner that people was meaner in a way.” his clinic, the curcan actually see,” —Katie* ’14 Katie said. “I guess rent trend is that adults get less what I think of it invasive surgeries while “in the as is sort of like you get one proceyounger population, the trend is dure, and it’s like putting on pertoward more aggressive surger- manent makeup.” ies” that change facial features Jensen McRae ’15, a student more drastically. who said that she had had “seriDespite her minor operation, ous issues” with her “stereotypithe effect was far deeper for Ka- cally African” features, has not tie. gotten plastic surgery and said “it “Personally for me, I felt like deeply saddens me when people people viewed me a certain way use plastic surgery for purely cosbecause I had smaller eyes,” Katie metic reasons. said. “What I mean is that I felt “I think everyone has the right like I was meaner in a way with to make whatever changes they smaller eyes because it looked want to their own bodies,” McRae like I was staring at people, and it said. “[But] I would hope that might be good that I got this pro- people can ultimately find beauty cedure done.” in their natural forms, and it is There was definitely an eth- especially saddening when people nic motivation for her decision to feel the need to conform to Euroget the cosmetic procedure, Katie centric standards of beauty and

“

will go M never surger “I with m some which cally A thick I feel trying and c that m Af said s hersel doesn dergo this “W “T eyes,” I look appro less fr On hand, her b proce in the 2013 d cal re about the ti medic for pla “M were into m were and w Ho about decide idea o “T in my by cos mean ger ey looked ences, before Li would less e chang appea her et “T ty sta Lily s get su or Hi way t Weste Al has h chang wante said o Cauca very A Ho would eratio of thi not op he sai At where are w ern id Katie

ril

29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B7

ing Faces

surgery to “Westernize” facial ome increasing popular in ng various ethnic groups and ers wanting to fit in.

chieve beaur gain efines sharp nes, a large,

merigeons, surrm to idealen get m the urgery drawwhen mitaognize ch as e said. ne for both dy for

they “And tional that, dergoperind of ule of

cceptd sur-

I have e any if the to get acks,” never edictlittle l that

mitad the urgery also selft that tificial from p pro-

an acn eyepeople see,” guess of it procen per-

udent “seriotypis not aid “it people y cos-

right they McRae that beauty d it is people Euroy and

will go to such lengths to do it.” timate decision to get the surgery.

McRae said that she could “When I was at Harvardnever see herself getting plastic Westlake, it felt like the Asians surgery to look less ethnic. were excluded because I felt like “I have [had] serious issues there were specific groups that with my skin color, body type and were based on race,” Katie said. some of the facial features I have, “So I felt like it might have imwhich are considered stereotypi- pacted me, but I don’t ever really cally African, [like] my somewhat regret it.” thick lips,” McRae said. “However, Lily agrees that not all the ethI feel like my life has improved by nic students want to be “lumped” trying to increase my confidence with all the other ethnic students. and comfort in the very things “Plastic surgery can be a way that make me different.” for some of those students to stand After her procedure, Katie out,” Lily said. “We as a communisaid she’s more comfortable with ty need to recognize the fact that herself and her appearance and we are biased towards those that doesn’t feel like she needs to un- fit into our beauty standards.” dergo more surgeries to achieve Teenagers are always conthis “Western beauty.” cerned about fitting in with their “The main thing with my peers, Middle School Psychologist eyes,” she said, “was that I felt like Susan Ko said.

I looked sort of un“When you approachable and think about develless friendly.” oping your identiIn attending On the other ty, you’re thinking Harvard-Westlake and hand, Lily* got about who you are her blepharoplasty as a person, how just living in the U.S. procedure done other people view ... I feel an immense in the summer of you and that could 2013 due to a medibe about your … amount of pressure to cal reason. Lee said physical appeardislike my features and, ance,” Ko said. about 15 percent of the time, there is a or, try to change them.” “I would imagine medical necessity that because it is —Jensen McRae ’15 this time when for plastic surgery.

“My eyelashes you’re so conwere too short and were poking sumed with trying to understand into my eyes,” Lily said. “They who you are and how you fit into were constantly getting irritated the world [plastic surgery] could and watery.” be part of it.”

However, after much thought McRae has also felt pressure about getting the procedure, Lily to dislike her stereotypically Afridecided that she “really liked the can features. idea of having bigger eyes.”

“To be totally blunt, Harvard“The thought of it was planted Westlake is mostly white,” McRae in my head more by necessity than said. “And as a result, the student by cosmetic reason,” Lily said. “I body is composed largely of people mean, I guess wanting to have big- with typically European features. ger eyes and liking the way they In attending Harvard-Westlake looked came from cultural influ- and just living in the U.S. in genences, but I didn’t dislike my eyes eral, I feel an immense amount before.” of pressure to dislike my features Lily understands why people and, or, try to change them.” would get plastic surgery to look The motivation for getting less ethnic, but points out that plastic surgery is complicated, Lee changing an aspect of someone’s said. appearance doesn’t change his or “There is some Western influher ethnicity. ence,” Lee said. “But I don’t think “They just aspire to the beau- that’s the primary driver.” ty standards of another culture,” There have been efforts both Lily said. “There are people who inside Harvard-Westlake and out get surgery to look more Asian to promote more “diverse body or Hispanic. It isn’t just a one- positivity,” McRae said. way thing. Not everyone idealizes Although Katie emphasized Western beauty standards.” that she was comfortable with the Although infrequent, Lee procedure because her mother has had patients that wanted to had previously gotten it, she had change their racial identity and her operation done before college wanted to look more ethnic. Lee “so people don’t know that somesaid one 19-year-old patient “was thing changed about me.”

Caucasian and she wanted to look There is still stigma attached very Asian,” Lee said. to plastic surgery.

However, Lee thought that she “I tell people that I’m pretty would not be happy about her op- close with, because they won’t eration in the future and because judge me for it,” Katie said. “But I of this unrealistic goal, Lee did feel like when you meet people for not operate on the young woman, the first time and you tell them, he said. then I definitely feel like they will Attending Harvard-Westlake, judge you even if they don’t want where a majority of the students to — a little bit goes into how they are white and adhere to the West- perceive you.” ern idea of beauty, also influenced Katie’s self-perception and her ul- *Names have been changed.

“

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHARON CHOW

B8 Features

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

A

Cu

Above

Eitan Sneider ’17 taught himself to throw knives and practices on a daily basis. He finds that knife throwing helps him relieve stress.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BENJAMIN MOST

By Hannah Cho

believes that it helps with stress relief, and while he arefully selecting a spends most of his alone screwdriver, Eitan time throwing knives, ocSneider ’17 tosses it casionally he throws with in his hand and prepares his cousin, Daniel Sneider to launch it forward to ’16, and his friend, Alex hit the wooden board that Valdez ’17, whom he taught spans his garage wall. Afknife throwing. ter perfectly landing a “He loves to throw couple of smaller, sharp knives,” Valdez said. “Evhardware tools, he picks ery time I go to his house, up a large machete from he’ll always want to go to the assortment of knives, the knife room. He would then targets and swings just pick up a new sharp his arm back as he uses object and throw it on the his whole body to stick the wall, and it would stick machete. magically.”

For the Although past four knife throwyears, Sneiing has been My dad got me der has been his main expracticing tracurricular into knife throwing, knife throwhobby and but I am completely ing in the passion since garage of his he was 12 self-taught. He showed home. When years old, he me his method, and I his father started arcreated my own.” was receivchery seven ing instrucmonths ago.

—Eitan Sneider ’17 Like tion for knife with throwing as a knife throwhobby, Sneiing, Sneider der would watch carefully became interested in arfrom the sides. When he chery through his father. became interested, he took For his 16th birthday, the initiative to learn by Sneider received a bow himself. customized to his dimen“My dad got me into sions as a gift. knife throwing, but I am “I was somewhat incompletely self-taught,” terested in archery, and Sneider said. “He showed I had it as an idea, but I me his method, and I crehad never actually told my ated my own. I don’t have parents, so how they knew a coach, but I learn from that I wanted that, I don’t mistakes and go adjustknow, but they went and ing.” got that, and I appreciate On a daily basis, Sneiit a lot,” Sneider said. der practices knife throwNevertheless, Sneider ing for one to two hours. He feels as if he has a deep-

C

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er connection with knife Sneider’s interest in soccer throwing than archery. again.

“When you stick an This year, when Sneider arrow in a bull’s eye, it tried out for the JV soccer feels good, but for some team, he originally did not reason, knife throwing, make the team. Neverthewhen you stick less, believing he it, you almost feel deserved another the satisfaction chance, Sneider throughout your constantly talked entire body,” Sneito the coaches der said. “When to train with the you miss, you feel team. almost as if it’s “Once we connected to you, started the soccer which is strange team, the coaches because you aren’t didn’t really see nathanson’s actually connect- Eitan Sneider ’17 much in him, but ed to the target he kept on trybut it feels as if ing, and finally the you were.” coaches agreed. He started In addition to knife in the Loyola JV game,” throwing and archery, Valdez said.

Sneider recently joined Sneider believes his life the JV soccer team. Even is interesting because his though he started soccer pastimes are out of the when he was four years ordinary, especially knife old playing for AYSO, throwing. While he hopes he stopped to never have in seventh to use his grade. throwHe loves to throw knife “I stopped ing skills, he knives. Every time I go to believes that because the level was too if he does, his house, he’ll always low, and I it is a more want to go to the knife guess a lot traditional of it was laway of selfroom.” ziness and defense. See—Alex Valdez ’17 ing no use in not wanting it enough,” showcasing Sneider said. his skill, he “Up until this year, I nevdoes not believe in going to er really wanted it that competitions. much,” Sneider said.

“I’ve mastered feelHowever, one of his faing the knife, which is the vorite video games, Fifa 15, most important part, and a simulated soccer game for me the satisfaction is where players can build not to beat someone else’s their own teams and comrecord but beating my pete, started to bring out own,” Sneider said.

“

B9 Features

The Chronicle

highstakes

April 29, 2015

The Brain: Etha n Madison an d: Bryce Term The All Aroun

The Artist: Au tumn Witz

ist

-G ni Cook te: Ima le h t A e Th

SACHA LIN/CHRONICLE

The Big Reveal

By Sacha Lin

The All-Around: Bryce Terman ’15, Tufts University Bryce Terman ’15 heard back from a few colleges before being accepted into Tufts University, where he applied Early Decision II. Terman said that Tufts University had always been one of his top schools, but it was not until the time around the due date for regular applications that he felt ready to apply early decision.

“I was thinking that Tufts was really one of my first choices, and I would be really ecstatic to go there, so why not do it?” Terman said.

Terman is looking forward to taking classes in biology and economics as well as participating in more extracurricular activities.

“Besides the fact that it’s a great school with great academics, it has both very good arts and athletics,” Terman said. “It has great opportunities for me, both in the arts and my other extracurricu-

The four seniors hear back from their respective colleges and decide where to spend the next four years.

lars, so I have a chance to explore.”

The Artist: Autumn Witz ’15, Syracuse University After 13 auditions, Autumn Witz ’15 was accepted into the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University in New York, where she will study acting.

“It was the perfect school for me,” Witz said. “It was the only school I hadn’t visited that I applied to, but when I went a couple of weeks ago, I knew this was my school.”

Witz had not been accepted into any other conservatories before she found out that she got into Syracuse University.

“I know a lot of my classmates who were auditioning for schools, we were all very much in limbo, and we didn’t know where we were getting into,” Witz said. “Luckily, all of us got in somewhere, but I had a lot of breakdowns and a lot of insecurities.”

Witz did not receive a scholarship, but she thinks that money will not be an is-

JJ Spitz, will you make headlines and go to prom with me?

From Andrew Fischmann

sue because she can apply for financial aid next year.

“Luckily, I have a college fund,” Witz said. “At least we can get by the first year, maybe even the second year. It’ll be fine.”

The Athlete: Imani CookGist ’15, Oberlin College Imani Cook-Gist ’15 looks forward to the opportunity to devote more of her time to activities other than track at Oberlin College, a Division III school.

“As much as I initially wanted to go to a Division I school and focus on track, I also realized that I wanted to focus equally on other aspects of life,” Cook-Gist said. “I enjoy dancing. I wanted to delve into photography or singing more.”

She said that track will most likely be less of a time commitment than it is now.

Cook-Gist was admitted into Oberlin College Early Decision and visited the campus in November.

“The whole vibe there is so warm,” Cook-Gist said. “The

people were all so welcoming and so nice.”

The Brain: Ethan Madison ’15, University of Michigan Ethan Madison ’15 decided to attend University of Michigan because of its strong academic program and active campus life.

“I think it would be the most fun out of all the schools I applied to,” Madison said.

“School spirit is a big part of it. I’m a college football fan, so they’ll hopefully have a good football team there.”

When he visited the campus, Madison particularly noticed how friendly and happy the students were.

“I think I am actually pretty happy that I didn’t get into some of the other schools because then I probably wouldn’t have gone to visit Michigan and I wouldn’t have thought of it,” Madison said. “I’m really happy that I’m going there, as weird as that sounds.”

Madison said he will probably major in computer science.

Arts&Entertainment The Chronicle • April 29, 2015

Seniors film on set of movie, ‘Tangerine’

By Emily Rahhal

Select film students taped behind-the-scenes footage including interviews with the actors in the Sundance Institute’s film “Tangerine” April 1.

The footage was filmed in one 10-hour day by Max Cho ’15, Dora Palmer ’15 and Henry Quilici ’15.

The film is about transgender prostitutes and will premiere in theaters this year.

It was first shown at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Jeremy Gordon, supervising sound editor for the film, asked Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke to select students to shoot the behind-the-scenes segment to go along with the film.

Since the film has already been produced, the students filmed interviews with the actors and crew.

The director of the film Sean Baker looked to the students to be the camera directors, Palmer said.

“We had a lot of say in how everything got shot,” Palmer said. “We were working with professionals who gave us a lot of experience.”

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DANIELLE STOLZ

FRACTAL FOOD: Danielle Stolz’s In-N-Out-inspired watercolor, “I’ll Take It To Go,” received a Scholastic Art & Writing Silver Medal.

Student receives national recognition for work

By Lauren Kim

Danielle Stolz ’15 received a Silver Medal in the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her watercolor titled “I’ll Take It To Go.” The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented

by the The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit organization that identifies and honors “students with exceptional artistic and literary talent,” according to its website.

“I was really honored and excited,” Stolz said. “This piece

means a lot to me because it was a turning point in my painting style. After finishing ‘I’ll Take It To Go,’ I have not been able to stop painting in tiny colorful fractals.”

Stolz has been widely recognized for her works in previous years, which include her

Video classes visit alumnus on comedy set

By Eshanika Chaudhary

Students in Video Art I, II and III classes attended a studio shoot for Jason Reitman’s ’95 Hulu comedy “Casual” April 23 at Tamarack Studios in Sun Valley.

Reitman invited students to his set to see how different departments, such as costume design, editing and produc-

tion design, come together when producing a show for a website, Upper School Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said.

“You don’t usually get to see all those different pieces of a film being made in one place, and that’s why [Reitman] thought it would be especially illuminating for the students,” Gaulke said.

Blank Theatre to perform 2 student plays

By Jean Sanders

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF CHERI GAULKE

COMEDY CENTRAL: Jason Reitman ’95, right, speaks with students at Tamarack Studios about his Hulu TV comedy “Casual.”

5 films to be screened in Archer, SoCal festivals

By Sophie Cohen

One student film was accepted into the fourth annual Archer Film Festival, and five student films were accepted to the 2015 SoCal Student Film Festival.

The Archer Film Festival will take place at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the AMC Westfield Century City.

The event will feature a gala film screening with an address from a keynote speaker. Among the films being screened tonight will be “Reweaving: Rwanda After Rape,” which was written and directed by Katherine Calvert ’15.

Calvert’s mini-documentary was a product of the digital storytelling trip to Rwanda.

Her film explores how rape has been used as a tool of fear and intimidation for thousands of years, but has only been considered an official weapon of war since the 1990s.

Since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped, according to the

Women Under Seige Project, women have been working to heal themselves and have assumed significant leadership roles in the country. Women now account for 60 percent of representatives in the Rwandan congress, Upper School Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said.

“I feel honored whenever my film gets any recognition,” Calvert said. “I was just so moved by the story and wanted to tell it to the best of my ability so whenever I see that there will be an opportunity for it to be seen, I am touched.”

Another film that will be featured is a product of the Harvard-Westlake summer program where students learned about domestic violence and made public service announcements.

The film, produced by nonHarvard-Westlake students called “Curt Lowens: A Life of Changes,” is the story of a Holocaust survivor who joined the resistance movement against the Nazis in World War II at age 17.

video documentary “Wings of Peace,” for which she earned a Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a finalist award from the National YoungArts Foundation and a semifinalist award for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

Harvard-Westlake Video Art I, II and III students will attend an industry panel on April 30 at Archer School.

Panel topics include breaking into the business, women in film and the future of television.

The panel allows students, teachers and filmmakers to learn from cinematic veterans.

The 2015 SoCal Film Festival on May 2 at 4 p.m. at Arnold O. Beckman High School in Irvine will screen “Reweaving: Rwanda after Rape” and “Curt Lowens: A Life of Changes.”

The festival will feature films such as “Cut the Tall Trees: The Killing Power of Words,” “The Monster Within” and “Trauma You Don’t See.” “Cut the Tall Trees: The Killing Power of Words,” written and produced by Max Cho ’15 and Noah Bennett’ 15 was also filmed during the digital storytelling trip to Rwanda.

Based on the bloody conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis, the film features foot-

age of Paul Rusesabagina, whose story was told by the movie “Hotel Rwanda” and explores how words can foment violence.

“Monster Within” was produced during the HarvardWestlake Summer Film Program, and filmmakers Angela Chon ’16 and Dora Schoenberg ’16 worked in collaboration with non-Harvard-Westlake students on this film. Based on a Native American story, “Monster’s Within” is an animated film focusing on how every person has two sides that are in constant conflict; one that is nurturing and one that is violent.

“Trauma” was created by Su Jin Nam ’16, William Park ’17 and Erin Lee ’18 along with students from other schools.

The film focuses on the emotional and physiological toll domestic violence can have on children. The film features an illustration of a student spaced out and suggests that they may be dealing with the physiological effects of domestic violence.

The Blank Theatre selected five plays written by students as semifinalists for their Young Playwrights Festival.

Sabrina Batchler ’15 and Dylan Schifrin’s ’16 plays were chosen as two of the 12 plays to be professionally produced by the theater in June.

Among the 45 semifinalists were Batchler with her play “Bromeo and Julius,” Hannah Dains ‘16 with two of her plays, “Followers of Osiris” and “Five Card Stud,” Schifrin with his play “The Exceptional Childhood Center,” Chloe Shi ’16 with her play “Who Am I This Time?” and Marianne Verrone ’15 with her play “Beautiful Nails.”

“I always encourage the students to be proud of their work and to submit their plays to countless festivals and competitions around the country,” theater department head Christopher Moore said. “It is wonderful to hear about one of the plays we have produced as part of the HW Playwrights Festival winning an award or being given another production.”

For their 30th annual Young Playwrights Festival, the Blank Theatre received around 300 submissions.

Students wrote the oneact plays with help from both a professional volunteer and Moore.

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B11

Students to present Cuba projects in Ahmanson Lecture Hall

By Jesse Nadel Students who attended the semester-break trip to Cuba will present their digital storytelling projects in Ahmanson Lecture Hall at 7 p.m. May 20.

The participants will display their various media projects, including blogs, photo presentations and videos.

“We encourage everyone to come because it will be a very interesting evening of learning about Cuba and celebrating the accomplishment of these students,” Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke said.

“The process for the students of transforming their experience into digital stories is something that needs to be celebrated.”

SU JIN NAM/CHRONICLE

SING IT LOUD: The Wolverine Chorus sings for the Clovis North High School choirs under the direction of Roger Guerrero.

Choral program competes at Heritage Festival

By Alyson Lo The entire upper school choral program performed in a private concert for the University of Southern California choir director and competed at the Heritage Festival Competition from April 8-12.

At the Heritage Festival, a combined choir with members from Wolverine chorus, Bel Canto and Chamber singers won three first-place Gold Awards in the Men’s, Women’s and Concert Choir categories.

The choir program also won best overall choral ensem-

ble and the Choral Program Sweepstakes trophy.

Before the Harvard-Westlake choral program headed out to their Golden State Choral Tour, the upper school program performed for USC choir director Jo-Michael Scheibe.

The choir was originally scheduled to perform at the SCVA Chamber Choir Festival March 24. However, the festival was cancelled because not enough high school choirs signed up, so the upper school choral program ended up performing in the Festival Clinic Concert. The concert was held

in Rugby Auditorium and was only for the Harvard-Westlake upper school choral program.

During the performance, Scheibe gave comments about each choir on stage and provided written comments about the Harvard-Westlake choral program.

“His most impactful comment of the night came at the end: ‘I cannot envision there being a finer overall high school choral program in the state of California,’” performing arts teacher Rodger Guerrero said.

Harvard-Westlake is invit-

ed to participate in the Heritage Festival Competitions every year. Although all singers from the Wolverine Chorus were qualified to participate in the Golden State Choral Tour, there were only enough slots for 39 singers this year.

By combining the Bel Canto, Wolverine Chorus and Chamber Singers chorus the singers created a new choir specifically for the tour.

“Both of our groups did really well, especially considering we were kind of a mixed group that was thrown together,” Brendan Rose ’17 said.

Symphony, Jazz Band, Chamber Singers hold auditions

By Katie Plotkin Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors auditioned for Symphony, Jazz Band and Chamber Singers in March and April.

The results for Symphony will be announced today.

Symphony auditions required students to sight-read,

play a piece that they had been working on with their teacher and perform some scales.

“I have some plans to try to build up more of an ensemble feel, more of a team,” orchestra conductor Mark Hilt said.

“I have been trying to tighten up the requirements to get into Symphony to really make it like varsity basketball

or varsity something so it is really the best players at this level, while filling in what I need to have,” Hilt said. “This year, I have great players pretty much top to bottom.”

Chamber Singers auditions were held last week in which they had to sight-read and sing scales among other things. The results were re-

leased Monday.

Jazz Band results were posted April 20, and students who auditioned had to perform a solo piece and play “Perhaps”

by Charlie Parker, except for drummers. The drummers instead played “Work Song” by Cannonball Adderly Erus.

All results are avalible on hwchronicle.com.

Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Camerata Strings to perform with alumna

By Hannah Cho In the final concert of the year, the Upper School Symphony, Wind Ensemble and Camerata Strings were scheduled to play a wide array of pieces April 28.

The concert, which had not taken place at press time, was expected to feature two

chamber pieces played by two groups within Symphony, including a percussion quartet that performed Blue Light

by Eric Peel and an ensemble that played the first movement of the Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major by Dvorak.

“The [Dvorak Piano Quintet] is a chamber music piece that is challenging, beautiful

and very exciting,” Performing Arts teacher Mark Hilt said.

Camerata Strings and Wind Ensemble each had three pieces.

Wind ensemble was expected to play “terrific music from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and other very cool stuff,” Hilt said.

Symphony was expected

to perform four movements of “The Return of Ulysses” for the second time since its premiere in 1949. In addition, the orchestra put on “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev with narration from actress Sarah Martin ’06.

“She’s a hilarious girl, has a great voice, and is a fun storyteller,” Hilt said.

Dancers choreograph their own dances for showcase

By Tiffany Kim The Upper School Dance Performance will showcase Advanced Dance students Wednesday following a performance by Art of Dance students Tuesday night.

Students choreographed their own dances.

“The dancers are very talented,” Performing Arts teacher Cynthia Winter said.

“We are so proud of them and look forward to watching them perform.”

Carnegie Hall selects freshman cellist for performance

By Angela Chon Samantha Yoon ’18 was selected by the American Protégé International Concerto Competition to perform cello at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City Dec. 19.

Instrumentalists, vocalists and traditional folk and jazz groups worldwide submitted videos and/or audio recordings for the audition.

Yoon had previously been selected and performed at Carnegie Hall when she was in sixth grade.

Yoon has been playing for nine years and played the Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, opus 107 by Dmitri Shostakovich for her audition in the category of students aged 13-18.

“I wanted to audition again because it was such an honor to play the first time,” Yoon said. “I would love to play as many times as possible. After I qualified, I was extremely happy, [and] I was so excited to have the opportunity to play at such a historic hall again.”

B12 Features

The Chronicle

April 29, 2015

‘I couldn’t stay in there...I would have blacked out.’

By Su Jin Nam

I

n one of her AP Biology lectures last year, the teacher showed a photo of a beehive.

Even though it was merely a picture on the screen, Jill* ’15 remembers breaking out in a cold sweat and choking on her breath. She tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths but eventually asked to go to the bathroom and stepped outside of the classroom for a few minutes.

“I couldn’t stay in there,” Jill said. “If I had stayed in that classroom with that picture on the board for any longer, I think I would have blacked out.”

Jill has trypophobia, a pathological fear of holes, and feels sick whenever she so much as thinks about an object such as a beehive. She is clinically diagnosed as having a phobia and sees a therapist to help lessen the effect that the phobia has on her life.

“I don’t really know where my phobia stems from,” Jill said. “I read online once that trypophobia is one of those odd phobias that doesn’t necessarily come about from a terrifying experience with something. Holes are just something ingrained into the person’s mind as dangerous.”

Phobias often develop as a result of bad experiences that happened in the past, family therapist Lori Sunkin M.A., (Michael ’19 and Sophia ’14) said.

“For example, if you were trapped in an elevator then you may develop a fear of elevators,” Sunkin said. “Or, if you were bitten by a dog as a young child, you may now be afraid of dogs. The best advice would be to talk to a professional who is experienced with these issues. Often times a cognitive behavioral therapist can be the most helpful.”

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 19 million Americans have specific phobias, and women are twice as likely to be affected as men. The association’s website states that an everyday anxiety is not a phowas a good idea to zip somebia and that an example of an one inside of a duffel bag and everyday anxiety is “worrying I volunteered,” Luna said. “I about taking off in an airplane don’t remember exactly what during a lightning storm.” An happened, but I ended up beexample of a phobia is, “turn- ing stuck in that bag for at ing down a big promotion be- least 10 minutes. I distinctly cause it involves air travel.” It remember thinking that I also states that various meth- was going to die. Now that I’m ods, such as therapy, medica- older, I know that I probably tion, meditation and acupunc- wasn’t going to die from being ture, can be used to treat or zipped up into a duffel bag, but lessen the effects of specific I still feel the fear from that phobias. The ability to com- experience whenever I’m in a pletely overcome phobias de- small space.” pends on the Luna says person rethat when she ceiving treatgoes to her therment. sessions, her I distinctly remem- apy Luna* ’15 therapist asks has claustrober thinking that I was her to imagphobia, fear going to die. I still feel the ine a small and of having no enclosed space fear from that experience and has her talk way to escape, usually whenever I’m in a small about how the when in tight image makes her space.” and enclosed feel. spaces.

Un“I go see my —Luna* ’15 like Jill, Luna therapist maybe says that she has not encoun- once every two weeks,” Luna tered any circumstance in said. “My phobia isn’t an imschool that has triggered her mediate problem and it doesn’t phobia. She is also clinically affect my life on a daily basis. diagnosed as having a phobia, But I never know when a situand believes that her claustro- ation will arise where my phophobia stems from one of her bia will be triggered, so I have most terrifying experiences as a therapist to minimize the a child while playing with her damage for that future point friends in preschool. in time.”

“Being little, we thought it Luna has never encoun-

“

tered anyone at HarvardWestlake who has singled her out for her phobia.

“Claustrophobia is a widely-known phobia, so people seem to recognize it as a legitimate fear,” Luna said.

“However, I think people with less common phobias have a harder time getting people to understand and accept the fact that they have this unreasonable fear of something that seems perfectly safe or relatively harmless. People who don’t have phobias don’t understand the extent of the fear. Sometimes the person with the phobia doesn’t either.

It’s not really something that can be explained. It just is. All we can hope is that our peers will understand.”

Jill has run into problems with her peers as a result of her trypophobia. She was unable to fully resolve those problems.

“I’ve actually gotten into a pretty severe argument with someone because they thought that I was just trying to attract attention and that I was exaggerating my symptoms for pity,” Jill said. “He thought that I was just overreacting and didn’t actually believe me when I said that I felt like fainting whenever I saw something with holes.”

case, he considers crowds to be dangerous. He believes that his phobia stems from an experience where he was separated from his mother as a young child in a crowded shopping mall.

“My phobia is a bit difficult to deal within a school environment,” Tim said. “High school in general is very crowd oriented, but because I have an aversion to crowds, I can’t participate in as many school functions as I would like to.”

He says that rather than dealing with the symptoms of his phobia, he makes excuses to his friends about not attending athletic events.

“The only reason I can attend a normal high school is because my agoraphobia isn’t that bad,” Tim said. “Truthfully, it was a bit easier to deal with at the middle school than at the upper school, maybe because crowd mentality and crowd-based activities don’t really exist there. I’m also physically close to the people around me during upper school assemblies, while at the middle school, everyone had their own separate seat.”

Tim’s agoraphobia is mild, with symptoms that are relatively weak and easily disguised, but he still goes to see a therapist at least once every week.

“My phobia is easily triggered, and I can’t really avoid it, so I have to take a lot of extra measures to try and suppress the symptoms,” Tim said. “But I’m proud to say that it’s gotten to the point where I could be experiencing the symptoms of my phobia while sitting right next to someone, and that person wouldn’t notice. The symptoms of my agoraphobia were never really that bad compared to other peoples’ symptoms, so in that way, I’m thankful. I started out in an easier place than most other people that are affected by a phobia.”

All three students interILLUSTRATION BY VIVIAN LIN viewed believe that a stigma exists about phobias.

“There’s sort of a stigma on steroids against having a phoJill says that she is no lon- bia,” Jill said. “You’re judged ger friends with the person because you have a phobia in she got into an argument with the first place. And then on over her phobia because he re- top of that, you have to go to fused to understand her condi- a therapist to help treat the tion and mocked her in front symptoms of that phobia, for of their mutual friends for her which there is also a stigma. I end up not talking about [my “holey fear,” as he called it.

“I’m scared to tell people phobia] because I don’t want to about my phobia now,” Jill said. have to explain. And because I can’t trust all “If someone of the people I considered around me to my friend was I end up not talking not judge me for so unreceptive, other about [my phobia] be- my condition.”

Luna believes people that cause I don’t want to have that if students I know and trust could to explain. And because I were more eduon the do exactly can’t trust all of the people cated subject of phothe same. It around me to not judge bias, the stigma makes me around having extremely me for my condition.” one could disapselective when mak—Jill* ’15 pear.

“Most people ing friends just dismiss phoand limits me from having a lot of really close bias because they see them as just another plain old fear,” friends.”

Whenever the school has Luna said. “If they could unassemblies in Taper gymna- derstand that phobias are irsium, Tim* ’17 always enters rational fears that are conlate, sits near the front where suming and petrifying, there people are the most spaced would be no stigma. Everyone out, and is one of the first to is going to encounter at least leave. Tim has a mild form of one person in his or her life agoraphobia, an anxiety disor- who has a phobia, so it makes der in which the sufferer fears sense to be educated on the or avoids what they consider subject.” to be dangerous or uncomfort* Names have been changed. able environments. In Tim’s

“

Sports The Chronicle • April 29, 2015

Boys’ Tennis

Squad dominates league play

By Henry Vogel

TYLER GRAHAM/CHRONICLE

COLE JACOBSON/CHRONICLE

TYLER GRAHAM/CHRONICLE

SANDLOT BOYS: Outfielders Paul Giacomazzi ’16, Jake Suddleson ’16 and Jackson Grayson ’15, left, rejoice after the varsity baseball team’s 4-3 home win over Loyola. Grayson, top right, rounds the bases after his home run tied the score at three apiece in the sixth inning, and second baseman Chase Aldridge ’15, bottom right, takes off to steal second base in the same game.

Baseball stays alive for Mission League title

By Mila Barzdukas and Tyler Graham With just six games remaining for the Wolverines this season, the baseball squad is making its final push for a Mission League title. The team currently holds an 18-3 overall record, with all three losses coming in league and by one run.

One of the team’s three losses came to rival Loyola.

The Wolverines lost the first game of the series 5-4, with Loyola winning on a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Just days after suffering the heartbreaking loss, the squad crushed Loyola’s dreams of a sweep with a 4-3 comeback win.

The Wolverines were powered by the bats of Chase Aldridge ’15, who went two for two, and Jackson Grayson ’15, who went three for three. Grayson’s biggest hit of the night was a laser over the left-center field wall in

Lacrosse

the sixth inning.

“It felt unbelievable,” Grayson said. “I didn’t really expect it to happen. The fact that I could contribute that much to that win in that big of a game was an unbelievable feeling.”

Despite splitting several league series over the past couple months, the Wolverines have managed to go 13-0 in non-league games. Second baseman Aldridge believes their non-league record is a testament to the strength of the Mission League.

“I think the Mission League is the toughest league in the country,” Aldridge said. “It’s high-level competition, and teams know us well.

In the fall and winter we play all these other teams from outside league so we get practice with that. But in league it’s a little different. It’s a lot of pressure because you only have 12 games. There are 20 games outside of league.”

The squad is still consid-

COLE JACOBSON/CHRONICLE

’16 and McCabe Slye ’16 combining for the milestone.

If the Wolverines go undefeated throughout the remainder of their schedule, they have a strong chance of winning the Mission League.

Their strong out-of-league record would help them get a top seed heading into CIF playoffs.

A team that stands in the squad’s way of attaining the Mission League title is Alemany, currently first in the Mission League. The Wolverines open up their next league series with Alemany May 5.

“We feel really good heading into our series with Alemany,” Grayson said. “We’re very confident, especially after getting through Crespi with our first league sweep and being able to bounce back against Loyola. We’re excited for the challenge of Alemany, and we’re excited to go play them and hopefully get some wins.”

Wolverines demolish Celts 23-13

By Cole Jacobson

PULL UP: Midfielder Joe Woody ’15 winds up for a shot in the lacrosse team’s 16-12 home win over 2014 finalist Oak Park.

ered to be tough competition. As of press time, MaxPreps ranks them seventh in the nation and fourth in the state. They are also ranked seventh in the CIF Southern Section poll.

A championship performance at the Louisville Slugger Select Classic Tournament in Atlanta definitely was a contributor to the squad’s boost in national rankings. The team went 5-0 to win the title, beating teams from Kentucky, Illinois and Florida.

Shortstop Ezra Steinberg ’15 and first baseman John Thomas ’16 were named coMVPs of the tournament. Of the 44 players selected to the all-tournament team, 12 of them were Wolverines.

In both Atlanta and in league play the pitching staff has been solid. The squad pitched their second nohitter of the season April 25 against Serra, with Matt Beyer ’15, Paul Giacomazzi

Coming off a huge 23-13 rivalry win at Crespi on April 25, the varsity lacrosse team is hitting its stride as playoffs approach, clinching second place in the Mission League with the pivotal win over the Celts. On a three-game winning streak, the team holds a 10-5 overall and a 5-2 mark in league play heading into Thursday’s matchup with Loyola. Results of Tuesday night’s game vs. Corona Del Mar were not available as of press time.

“I honestly was not expecting a win like that, so it shows how good we can be when we’re playing good team ball,” said Roman Holthouse ’15, who led the team with nine goals in the win. “We still we have a lot to

work on, but that was an awesome win for us.”

After a 4-1 start to the season carried the Wolverines to as high as third place in the MaxLaxLA coaches’ poll, the team was marred by attrition during a tough 1-3 homestand in late March. Last year’s coMission League Player of the Year Holthouse missed three games, leading a list of absences for the Wolverines that also included fellow attackmen Paul Rodriguez ’18 (leg), Jared Goldman ’18 (back) and Tommy Park ’18 (ankle).

“We were struggling to get a flow on offense and defense,” said Andrew Corlin ’15, fifth on the team with 19 goals “There was no continuity.”

“It sucked not being able to play, especially because two of

those losses were by one goal,” said Holthouse, who has 49 goals in 11 games. “It definitely hurt to have to watch from the sideline, and I’ve been trying to make up for that time.”

In Holthouse’s first game back, he returned with a vengeance to lead the team with four goals, as the Wolverines got back on track with a huge non-league road win. Despite missing Head Coach Alex Weber, Harvard-Westlake topped Thousand Oaks 12-10 on March 26 for its first win over a top 10 team all season.

“Coming up to that game we weren’t playing very well,” said midfielder Joe Woody ‘15, third on the team with 22 goals. “We fought hard in that • Continued on page C2

A first place singles finish and quarterfinal doubles finish at the Ojai Tournament Saturday suggest the boys’ tennis team is peaking with the endof-league play and CIF Playoffs around the corner.

Michael Genender ’15 won six singles matches in three days before finally defeating Corona Del Mar’s Bjorn Hoffman ’16 6-2, 6-4 in the finals.

He was down 1-4 in the second set but won five consecutive games to clinch the championship.

Genender, who will play tennis at Stanford University next year, was the runner-up in Ojai last year, and winning this tournament was one of his big goals at the beginning of the season, Head Coach Chris Simpson said.

“I was so much more relaxed coming in,” Genender told the Los Angeles Daily News. “I treated it like just another match and wasn’t as concerned with the result.

Last year I put too much focus on the result. I was playing well and relaxed, real loose. I could be free.”

Genender has not lost a match this entire season, and the semifinals was the first time he dropped a set when Los Alamitos’ Riley Smith ’16 took him to three sets.

Genender’s dominance was on full effect all tournament long, dropping only 10 games through his first four matches against a field of top-ranked junior players.

The doubles team of Adam Sraberg ’17 and Jaird Meyer ’15 lost in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-2 to No. 2 seed Ivan Thamma ’17 and Keegan Smith ’17 of Point Loma High School.

Both Sraberg and Meyer usually play singles for the Wolverines, but they play doubles together for certain tournaments.

“The Ojai Tournament is one of the most prestigious tournaments in junior tennis,” • Continued on page C3

INSIDE

C4-5

COLE JACOBSON/CHRONICLE

BIG SHOES TO FILL:

With the help of returning guard Ali Iken ’17, new basketball coach David Rebibo has ambitions to rebuild the program into one of the state’s elite.

C2 Sports

The Chronicle

Facts &

April 29, 2015

Track & Field

Figures

8

Long jump seasonal best for Courtney Corrin '16

5

Consecutive wins for the boys' tennis team.

20'8 League wins for the boys' baseball team.

The margin of victory for the boys' swim team's victory over Chaminade.

EMILY RAHHAL/CHRONICLE

FLYING BY THE COMPETITION: Sarah Conway '18, left, and Casey Crosson '17 lead four Notre Dame runners in the mile. Nina Milligan '16, far right, competes in the 100-meter hurdles against Notre Dame. The girls' track team barely beat the Knights 62-60 April 23.

Girls still unbeaten, boys fall to Notre Dame

By Jonathan Seymour

144

Game to watch APRIL 30

Lacrosse at Loyola Loyola High School

The Cubs have clinched first place in the Mission League, and the Wolverines are assured of second place, but the rivalry matchup still matters. In the first matchup, Harvard-Westlake led 9-7 at the half, but allowed six straight fourth-quarter goals in a 16-10 loss. Loyola is the top-ranked team in Los Angeles, while the Wolverines are ranked fifth.

KEY PLAYER

Roman Holthouse '15 After the team went 1-2 during Holthouse's threegame absence in March, the 2014 co-Mission League Player of the Year has dominated since returning to action. The senior has 49 goals, including nine in a victory over Crespi in a rematch of the Wolverines' 2014 playoff loss to the Celts.

Junior Varsity Boys' Baseball (12-6) Last Game:

W (5-1) vs. Crespi

Boys' Lacrosse (7-8) Last Game: L (5-6) at Crespi

Girls' Swim (3-4) Last Game: L (108-30) vs. Flintridge Sacred Heart

Girls’ Track (2-2) Last Meet: L (77-39) vs. Notre Dame

Going into the final league dual meet of the season at home against Alemany on Thursday, the girls’ track team boasts a 4-0 dual meet league record, while the boys maintain a 3-2 record.

The girls’ undefeated record means that regardless of Thursday’s outcome, they have taken first place in the Mission League for the fourth year in a row.

“Being undefeated this season makes me feel really proud to be part of such a special program,” Danielle Spitz ’18 said. “I think the team’s success is a reflection of how hard we have worked this season. When Coach [Jonas Koolsbergen] needs us to step up, everybody is willing to do whatever it takes to help out the team.”

Because the Wolverine and Warrior boys both have 3-2 records, whoever wins Thursday’s meet will clinch third place in the league.

“We will approach the

Alemany meet just like every other: training not only our endurance and speed but also the technical aspects of our specific events,” Phillip Smith ’15 said. “As a whole, I think we've performed very well this year, despite injuries and the losses of some key guys.”

Both the boys and the girls have winning records despite having lost multiple players to injury. Francesca Walker ’16, Lexi Scher ’17, Mila Barzdukas ’15 and Imani Cook-Gist ’15 have all missed significant action for the girls.

For the boys, Jack Stovitz ’16, Smith and Gabriel Jenkinson ’16 have also lost playing time.

“As a whole, I think injuries and dedication were serious issues,” Jenkinson said. “A lot of key members were injured this year, and we had a few members quit mid-season.”

The girls are coming off of a 62-60 victory over the Knights last Thursday. The Knights could have won the meet in the 4x100-meter relay, worth five points, but were disqualified because of a

handoff violation.

“Going undefeated thus far is extra special because at this point we’ve gone undefeated my entire high school career,” Alexandria Florent ’15 said.

“Even though we’ve already won league, I’m hoping that we can go into the Alemany meet with the same mindset that we go into every other meet with, so we can finish what we started.”

While the girls only narrowly defeated Notre Dame, the boys were clobbered, losing 100-27.

“Despite a rather hefty loss to Notre Dame, the team is feeling good and is looking forward to Alemany,” Mason Rodriguez ’18 said. “We did our best against the teams that beat us and, as a result, we’ve reconciled our losses. Looking back, I really couldn’t think of anything that the team as a whole could have done better.”

Even in a blowout loss, the Wolverines did have a few individual victories.

Alex Barnum ’16 won the 200-meter, and Stovitz won

the 3,200-meter.

Adam Knapp-Wachsner ’15 was also victorious in the long jump. Notre Dame won an impressive 12 of the 15 scored events.

After Thursday’s meet, the Wolverines move into Mission League Preliminaries and Finals the following week.

“Since we are so far into the season, rest is the biggest thing,” Branden Kim ’15 said.

“Letting our bodies recover is crucial so that we are able to compete to the best of our ability. Even though we lost a few key members of the team, we have been training hard.”

Later in May, qualified individuals from both teams will compete in CIF Preliminaries in order to qualify for CIF Finals, where the girls’ team will strive to defend their 2014 CIF Southern Section Division III championship.

“Everyone has worked really hard this season, and it’s amazing to see that all of the hard work has paid off,” Lauren Jones ’16 said.

Wolverines win three straight as playoffs approach • Continued from page C1

game to get momentum going into the break.”

Although Weber also missed two games after Spring Break, the Wolverines opened April with a recordbreaking performance. Phillip Thompson '16 broke the alltime varsity scoring record with 10 goals in one game, and the team scored its largest margin of victory in more than a decade in a 26-6 demolition of Chaminade.

“I thought it was a really good team effort," said Thompson, second on the team with 42 goals. "Everyone opened things up for me to get to the cage. It was a product of a great week of practice.”

According to LaxRecords. com, only one boys’ lacrosse team in the nation (Kamiak High School in Washington, with 33) has topped HarvardWestlake’s single-game output of 26 goals this season.

“It’s always fun to break records,” said defender Andrew Park ’15, currently second on the team with 59 ground balls. “We were able to execute our schemes and plays properly for an entire game for maybe the first time all year, so that was a really big accomplishment for us.”

Assistant Coach Peter Swander served as the interim head for three games, and the team dominated in his time.

The squad went 3-0, including two victories over top 10 teams in the L.A. County.

“It’s tough to come in and be the head coach of a team for a few games, but he did a great job for us,” Woody said.

Even after falling to Orange County powerhouse St. Margaret's, the squad has been picking up steam near the end of the regular season.

The team made a statement by defeating Oak Park, a 2014 divisional finalist, in Swander’s last game as the coach.

Holthouse scored seven goals in the 16-12 win.

“The win over Oak Park was big,” Holthouse said. “To dominate from the start was huge for us, because we hadn’t done that against a good team.”

Following these two big wins, the team went into Crespi with momentum, and took a huge win to clinch second place in the Mission League. Holthouse scored at least seven goals for the third time since Spring Break, as the Wolverines got avenged a 2014 playoff defeat with a dominant 10-goal win.

“It feels awesome. I’ve always known that we were a much better team, and we’d just never played to our potential,” the elder Park said.

“Today, we were around 80 percent of our potential, and you saw what happened. We’re picking up steam and we’re going to get after it.”

The results of Tuesday’s noticeable difference in ball matchup against unbeaten movement.”

Corona Del Mar — currently As of press time, the team the top-ranked team west has climbed back up to fifth of the Mississippi River in the MaxLaxLA coaches’

by LaxPower.com — were poll, but the Wolverines see unavailable as of press time, potential for even bigger but players understand that things in the postseason. facing competition of that “Coaches tell us every day caliber can only help bolster that rankings don’t matter,” the team’s playoff chances.

Corlin said. “When we won the “It’ll let us see how good we L.A. title [2013], we were the are,” Woody said. “It’s an ego sixth seed. We’re just excited check. We beat Chaminade to get into the playoffs.” by 20 but there are teams “I’m looking to win it all, that can beat us, so it serves and I think we really can,” a purpose to keep us focused.”

Woody said. “We’ve seen that In retrospect, players we can play with anyone.” view the rough For now, the patch in March as a team’s focus will blessing in disguise. remain on Thursday’s The Wolverines matchup at Loyola, found flaws that the top-ranked team were masked by in the coaches’ poll. their strong early Even though the record, and became teams are locked into mentally stronger their league spots, by overcoming the players made their adversity of missing sentiments clear: this nathanson’s key offensive talent. rivalry still matters.

Roman Since then, “We’re hungry Holthouse ’15 Holthouse, Goldman and ready for a good and the younger Park have game against them,” Woody returned, while Rodriguez is said. “It’s hard to beat a team questionable for the playoffs. twice, and it’s hard to lose to a “With everyone starting to team twice.” come back, we’ll get hot at the “It’s always fun to play right time,” Woody said.

Loyola,” Park added. “We’re all “Obviously having Roman looking forward to it and we’re would’ve been helpful early really amped. W e’re a better on, but not having him helped team than when we played us find a different identity,” them last.

Corlin added. “When he came “I think if we go hard, the back, there was just such a sky’s the limit."

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/sports

inbrief

Boys' Tennis

Team ready for CIF run

Boys' swimming wins academic award

The boys’ swimming and diving team won the Academic Team Champions award given out by the CIF-Southern Section each year for schools with fewer than 1499 Students.

The award recognizes academic performances for sports teams in the CIF-SS and is given to the top schools in each sport, separated by school size, that have the highest cumulative GPA. The boys swimming and diving team finished with a combined 3.77 GPA, first among all boys swimming and diving teams in the CIF-SS. “I’m so proud of the work our team put in in the classroom,” Brendan Rose ’17 said. “It’s important that we all keep a balance academically and while swimming too.”

— Rian Ratnavale

• Continued from page C1

Sraberg said. "I was really fortunate to be able to represent Harvard-Westlake, and I thought that I performed very well.”

Each school at the Ojai Tournament can send one singles player and one doubles team, three players in total.

Because both the singles player and doubles team from Harvard-Westlake did so well, the Wolverines finished with the most total points of any school. As a result, HarvardWestlake was presented with the Griggs Cup. “It was an honor to represent the school, and it was rewarding to be presented with the Griggs Cup by tennis legend Stan Smith,” Sraberg said.

The Wolverines were 11-1 overall and 8-0 in league as of press time. They played their penultimate game Tuesday against Chaminade and will finish up their league season tomorrow against Notre Dame.

Simpson has been coaching at Harvard-Westlake for 15 years and has not lost a single Mission League match since then.

Assuming the Wolverines can win their last two games of the league season, Simpson will be 178-0 and capture his 15th consecutive Mission League Championship.

The only loss of the year was a non-league match against Beverly Hills. The result was a massive upset, but Harvard-Westlake was missing its top six players,

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ADAM SRABERG

CIF BOUND: Players Jaird Meyer ’15, Adam Sraberg ’17 and Michael Genender ’15, left to right, competed in the Ojai Tournament for the top players from each school. Meyer and Sraberg lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles tounament, and Genender took first in the singles tournament.

Simpson said. had our full squad.”

This will affect the The biggest competition seeding for CIF playoffs, for the Wolverines in CIF will possibly giving the team a be University High School in tougher draw Irvine and because Beverly San Marino Hills is seeded High School.

I treated [Ojai] higher.

Last year, like just another match “Hopefully University the CIF will and wasn't as concerned beat Harvardget the seeding in with the result. Last year Westlake right by the the finals of I put too much focus on time the final CIF playoffs four comes out,” and the the result.”

Simpson said. semifinals of —Michael Genender '15 state playoffs.

“Winning [Ojai] should help This year, because if you however, the look at the three of our guys Wolverines already defeated that played here, they weren’t Uni in a non-league match. It even playing against Beverly was Uni’s first regular season Hills. So you have to think loss since 2007, when Harvardthat we would beat them if we Westlake was the last team to

“

beat University before its run started.

Since starting 15 years ago, Simpson has won CIF in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

In addition to team CIF Playoffs, there is also an individual CIF tournament that Genender won last year. The Mission League Prelims May 4 and May 5 will determine which two players from the Mission League qualify for the tournament.

Genender is undecided on whether or not he will play in the singles tournament, however, because he has already won it, and he would have to play matches on the Friday of graduation and the following Saturday, Simpson said.

Water Polo

Rich Corso named to Water Polo Hall of Fame

By Nick Settelmayer and Rian Ratnavale

Former Harvard-Westlake Head Water Polo coach Rich Corso was voted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame on April 9, and his induction ceremony will be May 30 in Costa Mesa, near USA Water Polo’s Headquarters in Huntington Beach.

During Corso’s 20-year tenure at Harvard-Westlake, his teams won two CIF championships, were runners up seven times, and finished in the semifinals five times. Corso coached the 1992-96 USA Men’s National Team, leading them to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and to a gold medal in the 1995 PanAmerican Games. Before that, Corso coached the Canadian Men’s National Team to a gold medal in the 1991 PanAmerican Games, and coached the USA National Junior Team from 1984 to 1988.

Corso left HarvardWestlake in 2005 to coach women’s water polo at the University of California, Berkeley.

“I’m still in shock to be quite honest,” Corso said. “I guess it hasn’t hit yet, and, and it’s probably because I’m in the middle of a championship

Sports C3

season at Berkeley, but you know the reason why I believe that this honor has come to me is because the great mentors that I’ve had.”

Cal Berkeley, which hadn’t even been in the NCAA Playoffs before his arrival, has made the postseason each year since 2010. As of press time, Cal is ranked fourth in the nation, and has a win over first-ranked Stanford University, a far cry from the team he inherited when he went to Cal. “When I was at Harvard, it took a few years to change the culture,” Corso said. “It took two or three years to change the culture as far as sports/ academics, and then at Cal, it took six years. But once you get those kids who are committed to academic excellence, and becoming great players and playing on great teams, it’s the same.”

As a coach who has worked at schools that offer both rigorous curriculums and rigorous athletic programs, Corso understands how much work it takes to balance academics and athletics.

Still, Corso believes that the best players should be able to handle that.

“You know that we [Harvard-Westlake] were

going to train hard and try important thing to Corso is his and play the best people in love for the game. the country every year,” Corso “If you don’t consider said. “But at the same time, yourself a teacher, then they had to balance that with you’re not going to be a good their studies. It wasn’t a secret coach,” Corso said. “So every after my second year, that if day I used to look forward to you’re going to be on the water practice, it was the best part polo team, that this is what it of the day. It was a part of the takes.” day, where it was a great break Whether or not the team from academics, because this that Corso coaches is the thing about each year is elite Harvard-Westlake, or not, he goes into everybody is serious. each season wanting When you go to one his players to have class, when you go to the same mindset your French class, to always push everyone is serious. themselves beyond When you go to your their limits, he said. math class, everyone “The biggest thing is serious. Nobody calbears.com that I was always is taking it easy, but Rick Corso trying to accomplish everyday at practice I at Harvard was to enjoyed.” get kids to overachieve, and Corso said when he our goal every year was to started at Harvard-Westlake work harder and be smarter in 1985, the program needed than anybody that we played improvement. against,” Corso said. “I think “Winning our first CIF it’s just balance, you know? championship for the school Kids that came out and played was really gratifying, because polo knew what they were when I got there, they were getting themselves into.” really, really bad,” Corso said.

Even after changing the “They had a program but we culture of two programs and were one of the worst teams in working his way into the USA California. So having a bunch Water Polo Hall of Fame, of kids coming together, and Corso is still amazed at his they had never won anything accomplishments. before, that was just so However, the most exciting.”

Girls’ water polo star commits to play Sophia Gonzalez ’16 committed to UC Berkeley for women’s water polo.

“I had expressed my interest to the coach, Rich Corso, a long time ago and he helped a great deal so when I was accepted it was clear I would go to Berkeley,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez is ready and excited to begin water polo at Berkeley.

“I’m very excited for next year to compete to get the chance to play at one of the top schools in the country,” Gonzalez said.

— Connor Reese

Football coach hosts QB Combine Varsity football head coach Scot Ruggles has begun hosting a football clinic at the upper school called the QB Combine.

The camp includes players as young as 7 years old and also players in high school.

Despite its name, the camp is open to players of all positions from schools across the city.

— Henry Vogel

SAAC names athletes of the month

Swimmer Bryanna Lee ’15 and baseball player Cameron Deere ’16 won the Student Athletic Advisory Council March Athlete of the Month.

Lee recently committed to Williams College.

Deere has led the Wolverines to a 18-3 overall record (as of press time). Lee, a captain of the swim team, has a 58.04 second 100 meter butterfly time and did well at multiple meets, including second place at the Palm Springs Invitational April 18 at Palm Springs High School.

“It's been great,” Bryanna Lee ’15 said, “The coaches have really been supportive and helped me this season. I've also met some great people on the team, and I think overall there's a great dynamic between everyone especially with the girls.”

— William Park

The Chronicle April 2

C4 Sports

Change of Pace With the legendary achievements of longtime head coach Greg Hilliard in the past, new coach David Rebibo enters Taper Gymnasium with a plan to take the Wolverines back to the top.

By Cole Jacobson

N

ew varsity boys’ basketball Prior to working at USF, Rebibo Head Coach David Rebibo built his reputation with a dominant has already begun working six-year stretch coaching at his alma out with his 2015-16 mater, El Camino Real High School prospective basketball players and of the CIF Los Angeles City Section. plans to return the program to In his first season with the program prominence after the retirement of 30- (2007-08), the team went 9-20 overall year Head Coach Greg Hilliard. and 0-10 in West Valley League play, “I want to build a program from the but Rebibo slowly built the program ground up,” Rebibo said. “We just hope into a perennial contender. to create our own identity and build off In his fifth season with the what he has done.”

Conquistadors, his squad won the L.A On March 27, only 31 days after the City Section Division II title game — 2015 varsity team was eliminated in a the first section title in school history.

91-82 CIF-SS Division 4AA quarterfinal In 2012-13, the Conquistadors reached loss to Mission Prep, Head of Athletics the City Section Division I title Terry Barnum game and California announced that the Open Division state school had chosen tournament with a Whichever guys Rebibo as Hilliard’s team that produced replacement.

Rebibo eventual NCAA fall in line and jump on introduced himself to Division I players board will benefit, from the Evan the returning players Wardlow weight room to the track in a meeting April 15 ’14 (Santa Clara), and has begun team Michael Thomas ’13 to the basketball court to offseason workouts in (Hawaii), Maleke individual skill sessions." the time since.

Haynes '14 (Pacific) Rebibo was an Julian Richardson —David Rebibo and assistant coach at ’14 (Niagara). head coach the University of San “I’ve done it in Francisco, a member high school before and of the West Coast been successful, and Conference in NCAA’s Division I, I have some good experience at the for the past two seasons. In Rebibo’s college level as well,” Rebibo said. “All I first year with the program, the can do is come prepared, organized and Dons finished 21-12 overall and 13-5 ready to go.” in conference play, advancing to the However, competing at the top level National Invitational Tournament in the Mission League will be a whole for the first time since 2005 before new experience for Rebibo. While the dropping a 71-63 first round matchup West Valley League has certainly been to Louisiana State University. respectable in recent years — rated However, the allure of Harvard- as the 45th best out of 227 basketball Westlake was too tempting for Rebibo, leagues in California by CalPreps. who cited the school’s academic renown com during the 2014-15 season — the as a crucial component of his decision Mission League (ranked fourth on to leave the Bay Area. the same CalPreps list) consistently “The main thing was the includes the state’s elite programs. opportunity to coach at one of the finest Three different Mission League high schools in the country,” Rebibo teams have won state titles in their said. “It’s an unbelievable academic respective enrollment divisions in the institution, and even bigger than that, past four seasons (Alemany in 2012, it’s an unbelievable community.”

Chaminade in 2014 and Crespi in

“

2015), and that number doesn’t even competition, he insists on staying pure account for Loyola, which was ranked with his players, working to improve as highly as second in all of California kids within the program as opposed in 2014 before the dismissal of Arizona- to recruiting established players from bound point guard Parker Jackson- nearby schools.

Cartwright ’14.

“The big key to building any type of “Obviously the Mission League is winner is hard work, and doing all the unbelievable, consistently one of the little things right consistently,” Rebibo best leagues in California,” Rebibo said. said. “There’s no formula to find talent.

“There’s such a competitive nature in The players have to target our school, coaching — not to say that the West and they have to seize the opportunity Valley League and the City Section to get better. When that happens — weren’t good, there were great coaches and it’s been shown to happen before there as well — but night in and night based on our school’s history — the out, it’s going to be a dogfight to get sky’s the limit.” wins here.”

Players have already noticed a Consequently, being competitive change in style during Rebibo’s brief at such an elite level will be no easy time in charge, appreciating the new task for the Wolverines. Last season, coach’s intensity and passion in leading Harvard-Westlake finished 14-14 the basketball program. overall and 4-8 in Mission League play, “Coach Hilliard had a more laidincluding a 1-9 overall record in games back style, expecting us to do the right decided by single digits, and Rebibo has thing,” said Iken, who averaged 13.5 already begun working to ensure that points per game in 2014-15. “Coach the 2016 season fares better.

Rebibo is more active in pushing us. He “We’ve been in the weight room, makes sure that we are doing the right and it’s going great,” Rebibo said, things and working hard.”

“Guys have been in there starting The team will be losing three their testing ... There’s been consistent starters to graduation in Alex Copeland effort to get organized and work, so our ’15, Noah Gains ’15 and Spencer program can get better.”

Perryman ’15. Perryman finished his “He seems like a very good coach,” senior season shooting 38 percent from said Ali Iken ’17, who finished second three-point range, Gains was the first in the Mission League with 76 three- Wolverine to hit double-digit rebounds pointers during his per game (finishing sophomore season. “I at 10.8) in three like the way he’s pushing years and the CIF-SS Coach Rebibo is us and expecting us to Division 4AA first team work hard, not only on selection Copeland more active in pushing the court but also in the led the entire Mission us. He makes sure that we League in scoring at weight room. He’s very are doing the right things 25.4 points per game serious about winning, and I can’t wait until during his senior year. and working hard." next season.”

Still, even with Having already —Ali Iken '17 these players leading vastly improved the El the way, there was Camino Real program a plethora of young in his six years there, Rebibo has talent in the program during the experience in taking a program to the 2014-15 season. Four of the top seven top, and is ready to instill his values on players in the varsity rotation were the Harvard-Westlake squad. Despite sophomores in Iken, Carter Begel ’17 the presence of the rigorous league (who averaged 7.2 points per game as

“

29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/sports

Sports C5

Who's the new guy?

Two State Playoff appearances with El Camino Real One City Section Division II CIF Championship Coached in 2014 National Invitational Tournament 109-72 in six seasons with El Camino Real

KATIE PERRIN/CHRONICLE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SCOTT NUSSBAUM

a sophomore), Ray Mueller ’17 (2.7 rebounds per game) and Aaron Glazer ’17 (4.7 points per game).

Furthermore, the team was hit hard by a crew of injured underclassmen.

Wolfgang Novogratz ’16 dominated with averages of 18.1 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 4.3 assists per game, but only was able to play nine games in 2014-15 due to a stress fracture in his foot. Parsa Shoa ’16 scored eight points in 21 total minutes during his junior season, before also missing the remainder of the year due to a back injury. Guards Liam Hyde ’17 and Alex Sington ’17, who impressed at the lower levels during their freshman seasons, were unable to play at all during the 2014-15 season.

While acknowledging the presence of these players, Rebibo made sure to stress that playing time on his first Harvard-Westlake team won’t be distributed based on reputation.

“Time will tell what their impacts will be, since we have standards that we’ll set for what we need and what we think is important for working hard within our basketball program,” Rebibo said. “Whichever guys fall in line and jump on board will benefit, from the weight room to the track to the basketball court to individual skill sessions.”

Nevertheless, with the roster overhaul created by graduating three starters, any contributions from the formerly injured players will be vastly appreciated.

“Those guys are all very talented and will be able to contribute, so we just need them to come back when they are ready,” Iken said. “Wolfgang and Parsa would have helped us a lot last year, and now with Alex, Noah and Spencer gone, they will be able to help us fill those voids.”

With the team still in the very early stages of their offseason training program, the uncertainty regarding player personnel is understandable.

Even though players and coaches don’t

know how this year’s lineup will turn out, the team’s youth last year was undeniable, which bodes well for the Wolverines’ chances in 2015-16.

“It’s hard to say what we will be like, since I haven’t seen the team much yet,” Rebibo said. “At the end of the day, the team was a few games under .500 in league and .500 overall last season, but we’re all going to be a year older. It was a young team last year, and a year of maturity makes a big difference. I think we’re going to compete and play hard, and try to do all the little things to make up for factors like age and height.”

“I believe teams that play the hardest, and play together, will have the best chance to win,” Rebibo said.

Iken agreed with his new coach’s optimism: “We are capable of a lot of things; we just need to keep working hard and pushing ourselves,” he said.

“If we get a little more size, I don’t see why we can’t compete with elite teams like [defending league champion] Alemany.”

Ultimately, the 617 wins, 13 Mission League titles, nine CIF Southern Section divisional titles, and two state championships from Hilliard’s esteemed 30-year career are in the past.

The Wolverines’ basketball program is ready to move on.

“We want to play fast, we want to play hard and we want to play together,” Rebibo said. “My expectation is what we’ll learn to do these things and compete every night, and the scoreboard will take care of itself.”

In the long run, Rebibo has ambitions to take the Wolverines back to the top.

“Our goal, first off, is to become the best team we can be every season,” Rebibo said. “After that, we’re going to look to compete for a Mission League title, and then compete for an Open Division title.”

Additional reporting by Griffin Richter

Player Perspectives Players weigh in with their opinions of the new coach.

"I'm really excited to start working with Coach Rebibo and see the new tactics he implements for our team."

— Parsa Shoa '16 nathanson’s

"I like the way he's pushing us and expecting us to work hard, not only on the court but also in the weight room. He's very serious about winning, and I can't wait until next season."

— Ali Iken '17 nathanson’s

"I believe that Coach Rebibo will continue Hilliard's elite legacy at our school. His passionate work ethic will help us get back to the state's top tier and dominate high school basketball."

— David Seo '16 nathanson’s

"We've only had a couple of pactices with Coach Rebibo so far, but already I can tell it is going to be a great season. We are going to improve both as a team and individually."

— Carter Begel '17 nathanson’s

C6 Sports

April 29, 2015

The Chronicle

Boys’ Volleyball

Wolverines heat up, poised to clinch league playoff spot

By Jake Liker

HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE

POISED TO KILL: Brad Comisar ’15 sets up teammate Nico Lubkeman ’15 for a kill in the first game of a clean sweep against Crespi. The squad is 10-6-1 overall and 6-4 in the Mission League.

that don’t play a lot, there’s been a lot of improvement The boys’ volleyball team with everybody, so it’s been made it to the semifinals in nice to see that.” the Sylmar Varsity InvitationOne person that is playal Saturday before losing to ing a lot is Colin Shannon ’17. the eventual champion West- Despite being a sophomore, lake High School.

Shannon has the second-most Last Thursday night’s kills on the squad as of press victory over St. Francis in time with 81, trailing only straight sets gave the Wolver- Hudson Ling ‘15 in that catines their sixth victory of their egory, with 106. last eight Mission “I think as a team League contests. The we have improved team’s current perour ability to play at formance is a far cry the net,” Shannon from how they startsaid. “This is our hited league play: backting, blocking, but to-back home losses also just scramble against Notre Dame plays where the ball and Alemany, each in is close to the net.” five sets.

At 6-4 in league Head Coach Adam play, the Wolverines nathanson’s Black credited allare currently tied Colin around improvement for third place with Shannon ’17 for the turnaround.

Notre Dame. There “The guys have done a re- is still room for even more imally good job improving their provement for the Wolverines, game overall this season,” as they are trailing Loyola Black said. “They worked re- and Alemany in the Mission ally hard at refining their League standings. skills, and they worked really “The game for us is ‘serve hard implementing them in and pass’ and we always want the games so they can have to be good at that,” Black said. some success ... From the peo- We want to make sure that ple that play a lot to the people we’re just playing up to our

standards, which we’ve been doing a much better job of. If we can continue to play up to those standards, we’re going to do some good things in every match that we play.”

The Wolverines were coming off consecutive wins in straight sets before getting a semifinal appearance in the Sylmar Tournament April 25.

Results of Tuesday’s game vs.

Chaminade were not available as of press time, but the Eagles were winless in Mission League play entering the competition.

The Wolverines will play their next and final game of the regular season Monday at Loyola.

The Cubs are 19-1 this season, undefeated in Mission League play and ranked second in the U.S. by MaxPreps.

In the meantime, Black is focusing on standards rather than standings.

“We don’t necessarily set a goal on where we want to finish, but how we want to play each and every match,” Black said. “If we meet those standards, then we’re going to be successful no matter what the scoreboard says.”

Softball

Team struggles in Mission League

By Carina Marx and Juliana Berger The softball team remains positive despite a 2-9-1 overall record and an 0-3 league record before Tuesday’s game against Notre Dame. The results were unavailable as of press time. The squad has had to adjust after getting seven new players.

“I think sometimes when we lose a game or have a bad practice we forget that, for all the new transitions we’ve had to undergo this year, we’re still doing pretty well,” centerfielder Marina Weidmann ’17 said. “So far we haven’t had the best season, but we always

pick ourselves back up and focus on doing better in the future rather than dwelling on the past.”

Most of the new additions joined mid-season because they had been on the girls’ basketball team and the seasons overlapped.

Starting pitcher Hailey de la Vara ’17 missed two games with an injury, so the team has been forced to use some other players on the mound, including left fielder Stephanie de Soto ’17, second baseman Teeana Cotangco ’15 and third baseman Ashley Waco ’18.

“I was really nervous, because that’s a really important spot to play, but it was fun to

Boys’ Golf

get to do something different,” de Soto said.

Softball Program Head Claire Rietmann-Grout is still waiting for confirmation of de la Vara’s condition and when she will be able to play again.

“It was horrible watching from the sidelines and watching my team and not being able to do anything about it,” de la Vara said.

“We haven’t really had any dip in morale from what I can see,” Rietmann-Grout said. “They are still trying their best, still showing up to practice every day, and I’m impressed with that. I know it’s not fun to lose but we’re looking for effort.”

COLE JACOBSON/CHRONICLE

PITCH PERFECT: Hailey de la Vara ’17 pitches during the softball team’s win over Sierra Canyon High School April 25.

Squad dominates as finals approach

By Bennett Gross

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ADRIAN BERGER

PHOTO FINISH: Jeff Aronson ’15, Brandon Kewalramani ’17 and Adrian Berger ’15 came in second at the Oak Park Invitational March 16. The boys’ golf team is 9-3 overall and 7-3 in league play.

Adrian Berger ’15, Jeff Aronson ’15 and Brandon Kewalramani ’17 have led the boys’ golf team by each shooting under par in almost every match this spring.

The squad is 9-3 overall this year and 7-3 in the Mission League.

After beginning the 2015 season with a 12-man rotation of players, boys’ golf Head Coach Tony Kewalramani has cut his roster to just nine men.

Coach Kewalramani placed Dylan Wan ’18, Chase Rosenblatt ’18 and Kyle Corman ’15 on the JV team, and the three golfers will not play any more varsity matches, and will therefore not qualify for CIF. “The varsity rotation demands consistent play, it works by giving a very heavy weighting to each and every score a player shoots,” Daniel Furman

’16 said. “Players have had to overcome adversity when having bad day and subsequently sitting the next match, but this has only strengthened our ability and selected players that will help us into the postseason.”

As a trio in the Oak Park Invitational on March 16 at North Ranch Country Club, Berger, Aronson and Kewalramani came in second place as a team.

Berger came in second place in the individual portion of the tournament by shooting one-under-par.

This week, the squad has three Mission League matchups.

The Wolverines faced Loyola Tuesday, with the results unavailable as of press time.

Then the team will face the St. Francis Knights in backto-back days Wednesday and

Thursday.

“This season has been tough so far with three losses, but a win against Loyola would give us a lot of to make a deep CIF run,” Aronson said. “We are starting to build a consistent lineup, which is crucial as we head into the Loyola match and the playoffs.”

As the team heads into the Mission League tournament and the CIF championships, the squad is looking to put its early season struggles behind, and focus on the future.

The Wolverines have come together as a team, and are starting to improve their play as a team.

“My expectations are for us to collectively play to our best abilities, and wherever this will take us will be a success,” Furman said. “I have extremely high expectations, and I am confident that we will not fall short.”

April 29, 2015

hwchronicle.com/sports

Swimming

Sports C7

Team competes at Rose Bowl

By Joe Levin and Rian Ratnavale

CAMERON STINE/CHRONICLE

HEAD FIRST: Will Burford ’16 competes in the backstroke race during the swim team’s March 12 loss to Notre Dame High School.

team broke the previous school record, which was made last year, in the 400-meter freeAfter multiple swimmers style relay at the Palm Springs set individual records over the Invitational.

“Breaking that record in course of the season, the boys’ swimming team finished the the 400 was huge for us,” Bautista said. “The 200 regular season with a should be easier, 3-4 record, while the since it isn’t as far. girls’ swimming team That should be a finished 4-3. good goal for us goBoth teams traving into Mission eled to Pasadena’s Rose League Finals.”

Bowl Aquatic Center Some swimmers, for the Mission League like co-captain John Finals on Monday and Chu ’15 have already Tuesday. Results were qualified for CIF not known as of press nathanson’s competition. time.

Camille In the April 23 The girls’ 200-meOswald ’17 competition against ter freestyle relay team Loyola, Chu swam is focused on breaking the school record in that the 100-meter freestyle in event, said relay team member 46.33 seconds, a time that automatically qualifies for CIF Haunani Bautista ’17.

Earlier in the year, the championships.

The rest of the team didn’t fare nearly as well against Loyola and Sacred Heart on Thursday, as both the boys and the girls lost their meets.

“We did a lot of good things this year,” Oswald said. “But there’s still opportunity for us to grow as a team and as individuals. Hopefully, [at Mission League finals] we can show that.”

Earlier in the season, head coach Jon Carroll announced his resignation following this season as head of the swimming and diving program.

He will become a seventh grade dean in the fall after two years leading the swim program.

“He’s going to be so missed,” freestyle swimmer Camille Oswald ’17 said. “He is the best, and I’m going to miss him a lot next year.”

Senior football player wins with Team USA in Italy

By Cole Jacobson

After a strong senior season for the Harvard-Westlake football program, including a second-team Angelus League selection, linebacker/defensive end Alec Dominick ’15 was selected by American Football Worldwide to join their U19 team to compete against Italy.

The teams played one game in Milan, Italy, on April 1 and won 73-7.

“I decided to play in this game because I wanted to represent my country and play a football game overseas,” Dominick said before the game. “I don’t think I will ever have the

opportunity to do something like this again.”

The American squad — entirely composed of high school seniors from around the nation — took control early in the goodwill matchup, overwhelming the Italian squad with a dominant offensive output.

Italy did not join the International Federation of American Football until 2002, so the nation’s lack of experience hurt them against the powerhouse American squad.

“It was a privilege to show them how American football was really played,” said Dominick, who had a key block on a pick-six by Waupaca (Wis-

consin) High School’s Andrew Schuler-Jones ’15, which made the score 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. “The Italians weren’t bitter at all afterwards, they were very appreciative of simply playing us and learning the game better,” Dominick said.

The American players had never met until flying to Rome during the week of the game, and only had four practices together.

However, this didn’t prevent the USA team from dominating, as the squad took a 42-0 halftime lead on the way to a blowout victory. Dominick had two sacks in the win, in

addition to his block leading to the pick-six.

“It was interesting to play football in a different country, and to know that we were international ambassadors for the game was very cool,” Dominick said. “It was a very fun experience, and I know it’s something I won’t be able to do again.”

Dominick, who had 58 tackles in his senior season at Harvard-Westlake while helping the team to its 7-3 regular season record and CIF-SS Southeast Division playoff appearance, will continue his football career at Washington University in St. Louis.

HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE

BRICK WALL: Alec Dominick ’15 charges to make a tackle in the football team’s victory over the Taft High Toreadors Sept. 19.

The Chronicle

C8 Sports

April 29, 2015

Swat Team

Q&A with Brad Comisar ’15 HENRY VOGEL/CHRONICLE

SERVE IT UP: Brad Comisar ’15 serves in the first game of the volleyball team’s sweep of Crespi on March 21. The team is 10-6-1 overall and 6-4 in Mission League play.

By Dario Madyoon

When did you start playing volleyball and when did you know it would be your sport?

I started playing volleyball in the seventh grade, and I actually didn’t play indoor volleyball. I was strictly a beach volleyball player until one of my P.E. coaches at my elementary school told me I should sign up for club volleyball, so I did, and I played for Pacific Palisades Volleyball Club. When I started playing club, I found a lot of guys who had the same interests as me, and many of the guys on my first club team are some of my best friends today, so that’s when I knew I would keep playing.

What has it been like transitioning from a freshman on the team to the captain now?

NATHANSON’S

318 59.4 2

Assists in 2015 Career Win Percentage CIF Playoff Appearances

It’s definitely more fun to be a senior than to be a freshman on varsity, especially being captain this year, you have a lot of power and say in team decisions. For example, Coach [Adam] Black would come up to me before games and ask me what I thought of certain lineups or strategies. It was very fulfilling when I was named captain as a junior because as a freshman, I was always looked down upon and I feel like my skills were overlooked. But I feel this year I’ve been playing my best volleyball yet.

What goes through your mind when you’re on the court?

I think about how to manipulate the opposing team’s defense to put our offense in the best situation possible.

I’m always trying to figure out how to spread our hitters out in order to give them the best chance in one-on-one situations.

Do you have any rituals that you do or any music that you listen to before your games?

My pre-game ritual usually consists of peppering [bump, set, spike] with Scott Nussbaum ’15 and setting back and forth to warm up. Right before the game I touch both antennae [on the net] before I start for good luck. It’s something that I’ve been doing ever since I started playing volleyball. As for music, I don’t really listen to music before the game, I try to keep my head clear.

What effect has playing multiple positions had on your game?

I’ve played libero, setter and outside when I was younger for club. So knowing every position is something really important, especially being the captain, because I can help out other players who might be struggling and may need some advice from someone they can look up to on the team. Playing all of these different positions has also let me understand the game a lot better and has helped me improve as a setter since I know the responsibilities of my teammates.

What is the hardest part about being a setter?

The hardest part of setting is trusting that my hitters will run whatever play I tell them. We run a very fast offense so if I hesitate at all, the play won’t work. But this year it’s not as much of a problem since Hudson Ling ’15, Scott Nussbaum and I have been playing together for four years, and have already developed that trust to a level where I don’t have to worry about it as much anymore.