August 2010

Glassmaker

Vandals smashed in chemistry teacher Krista McClain’s car windows in the lot behind the Starbucks at Coldwater and Alcove. Her personal belongings and her school-issued laptop were taken.

Visual Arts teacher John Luebtow ‘s glass sculptures are on exhibit at a museum in Washington and in front of the Napa City Hall.

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Harvard-Westlake School Los Angeles, CA Volume XX Issue I chronicle.hw.com

School bypasses Honor Board in math case

By Jordan Freisleben

chloe lister/chronicle

chloe lister/chronicle

chloe lister/chronicle

kicking off senior year: Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra urges seniors to be role models (top left). Seniors Gaby Cohen, Kelly Ohriner, and Natalie Kram serve themselves food catered by Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill (top right). Seniors reconnect in the quad before the start of their senior year.

INdepth

CIF reprimands, poor fan conduct lead to broad sportsmanship review

By Austin Block In response to CIF citations for fan and athlete misconduct last year, the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Review Committee recently developed a list of ideas to improve ethics in athletics.

The committee presented these ideas, still in an early draft proposal form, to the Faculty Advisory Committee, the Prefect Council, and the Sports Council in the weeks before the first day of school.

All three of the consulted groups have offered feedback.

The committee will also consult with the Student Athletic Advisory Council at its first meeting in early September.

No new rules have been instituted. The ideas remain only ideas and may or may not be implemented.

“This is not something that a committee is doing [unilaterally],” committee chair Dietrich Schuhl stressed. “We’re trying to make this a community effort.”

The first citation occurred in early March, when the boys’ soccer team and its coach were cited by CIF at the CIF final in Downey. Team members had to write CIF an apology and the soccer team was barred by the athletic department from participating in overnight tournaments this season. Later in the same month, fans at the girls’ basketball state championship game were cited for poor conduct.

The committee was created shortly thereafter.

“This [poor behavior at athletic events] is not the common thing but it’s not the uncommon thing either,” Schuhl said. “Citations and the notification from CIF came because the main officials for CIF were there and were like ‘wow, this is unacceptable.’

If the main CIF officials had come to all of our other basketball games they would have said ‘wow, this is unacceptable’ for many of our basketball games, and soccer games, and football and whatever.”

The committee submitted 21 points in its initial draft, dividing them into four categories: ideas for the administration, for students, for parents, and for athletes and coaches.

“These are ideas that we’ve gathered from talk-

ing to schools in our area, talking to various groups around campus, looking at the NCAA guidelines, the CIF guidelines for sportsmanship,” Schuhl said.

After presenting the ideas to FAC and the Sports Council, Schuhl asked each member of both groups to rank the 21 provisions in terms of priority. Schuhl will compile this data and determine which points are considered most important. He said the committee will then bring the results back to FAC and “see which ones we administratively think we can do best and fastest.”

The committee report said that the administration should publicly announce its commitment to sportsmanship to all coaches and faculty and remind the faculty that “adults are responsible for immediately correcting inappropriate behavior by students at all school events.”

It also suggested the administration recognize incidences of good sportsmanship. It hopes to support positive, enthusiastic fan behavior by establishing a School Pep Band, integrating the Fanatics and cheerleaders, and instituting a “‘Back to School’ Pep-Rally/Tailgate” for the first home football game of the year. Another point opened the possibility of a reorganization of the Fanatics that would add student-elected positions and faculty advisers for the fan group.

“I think in a lot of ways we can make it a lot more fun,” Schuhl said. “Let’s help these guys, but let’s do it constructively.”

The second section of the report provides ideas for athletes and coaches. It mentions that all students and coaches could complete a short online sportsmanship program. It suggested that athletes and students could make a sportsmanship pledge at the beginning of the year, and that coaches and team captains let parents and athletes know in writing the team’s sportsmanship expectations. Other ideas include asking coaches to “make time for their team to cheer on another [Harvard-Westlake] team” and to videotape games to “review and respond to acts both positive and negative sportsmanship with their athletes.” The committee also brought up the possee sportsmanship, A8

Students who confessed to knowingly cheating by studying from previous years’ tests in last year’s Introduction to Calculus Honors classes cannot receive college recommendations from their calculus teachers and must complete four hours of community service.

The administration bypassed the Honor Board and directly asked members of the class to confess after two informants told them that some students had possession of old tests similar to the ones used last year.

All Introduction to Calculus Honors students were handed a note upon leaving their final exam in June to meet in Ahmanson Lecture Hall. The students were confronted by Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra, Chaplain Father Young and math teachers Kevin Weis and Jeff Snapp.

At the meeting, students signed their names in one of three boxes to indicate whether they were involved in the cheating, uninvolved but aware of the cheating or completely unaware of the cheating.

“The Honor Board had no way of knowing which kids, if any, were related to this so that’s why it didn’t become an Honor Board case,” Head Prefect Melanie Borinstein ’11 said.

“Typically, this kind of thing would be an Honor Board case if we knew ‘this person did this’ or something,” Salamandra said. “In this situation, we didn’t have names.”

Head Prefect Chris Holthouse ’11 said that, had the incident been treated as an Honor Board case, the consequences would have been significantly different.

“It’s precedent for these things. You know cheating on a test is considered a major Honor Code infraction, and you know, in comparison, what they got was relatively light, so I think it would have been different,” Holthouse said.

“I don’t what the outcome would’ve been, but the Board has always been very thoughtful and it’s nice to have student input into the situation. When you don’t have the Honor Board, you don’t get that,” Salamandra said.

A student in Introduction to Calculus Honors who wished to remain anonymous said that the punishment given to students was not just.

“The fact that they cheated is disrespectful,” the student said. “It’s not harsh enough. It’s a major Honor Code violation.” see cheating, A8

INSIDE World View:

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President Thomas Hudnut and Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts attended an international educators’ conference in China.

creative streak:

Hannah Rosenberg ’11 will enroll at Harvard-Westlake and Otis this school year to pursue her passion for design.

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ding coun juniotry team rs Cam won i Chapleagu

Gir ls’ T en

C4AUG. 31, 2010 Gir ls’ G olf

By

Ashley khakshouri/chronicle

A2 preview

The Chronicle Tuesday, Aug. 31 2010 Volume XX Issue I

jordan freisleben/Chronicle

Julery: (From far right) Rebecca Katz ’15 sells a bracelet with friends Alexis McCarthy ’14 and Danielle Brody ’15 to Jason Park ’14 by the Encino Menchies at her

news

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Jewels for Jules fundraiser last Saturday. Proceeds from Jewels for Jules will go to the Julia Siegler Memorial Fund. Siegler ’14 was fatally struck by a car in February.

Forty-seven upper school students failed to do their community service.

Science teacher Chris Dartt won the Kogan Award for Innovation.

Scott Becker ’05 donated $500,000 to Harvard-Westlake. saj Sri-kumar/Chronicle

of f

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features+a&e saj Sri-kumar/Chronicle

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Students fast for Ramadan while playing varsity sports.

Jordan Freisleben ’11 documented earthquake-ravaged L’Aquila.

By Eli Haims

Students attended performing arts programs over the summer.

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judd liebman/Chronicle

ontheweb Spotlight: Ben Sprung-Keyser ’11 is the first junior in 20 years to win first place in the National Forensics League tournament.

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Varsity football moves back into the Mission League.

Six varsity track runners went to the first-ever Nike Track Nationals.

Q&A with athletes Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12.

chronicle.hw.com

video sade tavangarian/Chronicle

podcastsvideosphotosblogspodcastsvideos

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Saj Sri-Kumar

The Munger Science Center sustained minor injuries in a traffic accident last Thursday.

A truck belonging to JR Lighting, Inc. was dropping off lighting equipment for the Senior Parent-Faculty Barbeque, which was happening later that evening.

On its way out, the truck’s driver reversed away from the quad area when the cargo lift struck the side of the building’s face, scraping and denting the concrete and paint.

Maintenance staff member David Reyes, who was surveying the damage after the accident, estimated that the total repair cost would amount to $500 and that it would take about two days to fix.

It was not immediately apparent who would have to pay for the damage.

new beginnings There are three additions to the school family with the births of Parker, son of science teacher John and Major Gifts Officer Casey Kim, Valerie, daughter of Director for Alumni Relations Susan Beeson ’96, and Leo, son of Middle School visual arts teacher Katie Palmer and her husband, new upper school visual arts teacher Dylan Palmer.

Aug. 31, 2010

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Chronicle

Laptop, personal items stolen from science teacher’s car

By Lara Sokoloff and Rebecca Nussbaum A laptop and other items were stolen from a faculty member’s car Thursday morning in the lot behind Starbucks at Ventura and Alcove.

Science teacher Krista McClain parked her car in the lot behind Starbucks.

When she returned minutes later, she found her backseat driver’s side window shattered and her school computer, keys, global positioning system and other personal items missing, she said.

Head of Computer Services Dave Ruben does not think the computer theft poses any threat to the school or the student body.

“Realistically, unless someone has her password, there is nothing at risk on her computer. Chances are, that’s not the reason it was stolen,” Ruben said.

Head of Security Jim Crawford and Sergeant Aaron Ponce of the Los Angeles Police Department North Hollywood Station confirmed that the computer was most likely stolen for resale purposes, not for the information it contains.

Crawford said his only concern was that the name of the school appears when the computer is turned on.

“If you get someone who has half a brain and has the keys, they can match the school up with the keys,” he said.

However, security is looking into rekeying the small area Mc-

Clain’s keys had access to, Crawford said.

It is very likely that the theft was related to the Coldwater break-ins last spring, he said.

All recent break-ins are a result of items clearly visible to passersby. Students are advised to stow all valuable electronics, including GPS, iPods, and laptops, in the trunk, or to not leave them in the car at all, Ponce said.

Furthermore, storing personal information in your GPS, such as home or office addresses, could lead a burglar directly to your whereabouts, increasing the chances of a second crime, Crawford said.

Security’s primary concern is students’ safety on campus, Crawford said; however, they are now taking measures to set up security cameras on Coldwater Canyon due to the multiple off-campus thefts.

Security had planned on keeping a closer eye on Coldwater Canyon even before McClain’s incident, Crawford said.

A car break in can be compled successfully in under 15 seconds; thieves take the items that they touch, thus rarely leaving fingerprints, Ponce said. Therefore, neither the police department nor campus security has identified any possible suspects.

“If we can find a suspect that is attacking the school area, it would probably clear a lot of burglaries through that one person,” Crawford said. “We are doing what we can to get this rectified as quickly as we can.”

Admission yield jumps seven percent

By Daniel Rothberg The school’s yield jumped from 77 percent to 84 percent this year, making it the highest yield since 2003, Associate Director of Admission and Enrollment Management Davin Bergquist said. As a result of the high yield, no students were accepted off the wait list this year, he said. In the past three years, the yield for students entering in the fall has ranged from 77 percent to 79 percent.

“We always hope for a specific number, both at the Middle School and Upper School,” Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said. “You would like it to be a science, but it’s really an art. The fact of the matter is, one never knows how many kids are going to accept our offer.”

While the percentage of applicants that accepted Harvard-Westlake’s invitation to enroll in the 2010-2011 school year increased significantly, the total number of incoming students increased only slightly from last year, Bergquist said.

In order to determine the appropriate

“

When SOME OTHER SCHOOLS ARE SUFFERING FROM DROPS IN ENROLLMENT, PEOPLE SEEM TO WANT TO COME TO SCHOOL HERE.”

—Jeanne Huybrechts Head of School

eli haims/chronicle

Bronze wolverine: Artist John Kobald puts the finishing touches on the middle school wolverine statue he sculpted. A second one was installed at the Upper School.

Statues of wolverine added to upper, middle campuses

By Rebecca Nussbaum Two identical bronze wolverine sculptures were unveiled at the Upper and Middle Schools at the opening ceremonies this morning.

The school installed them on Friday outside of Ahmanson Lecture Hall at the Upper School and next to the flagpole at the Middle School.

President Thomas C. Hudnut hopes students will touch the statues for good luck before a big game or test.

“It can become a talisman of sorts,” he said.

Additionally, Hudnut imagines that stu-

School Yield In 2010 the number of accepted students who came in the fall increased by 7 percent.

2006

82%

2007

79%

2008

78%

2009

77%

2010

84% Graphic by Maddy Baxter source: Davin Bergquist

number of acceptances to send out, the Admissions Office uses a formula that considers several factors, including historic yields, grade level and gender, Bergquist said.

In addition, a buffer is factored into the formula to avoid over-admittance.

“We applied the formula and it came out on the high side,” Huybrechts said. “It’s not really huge but it’s a few more students than normal.”

Huybrechts, Gregory and Bergquist all believe that this year’s high yield is indicative of the extent to which students are attracted to attend Harvard-Westlake for the unique experience that it provides.

“When some other schools are suffering from drops in enrollment, people seem to want to come to school here,” Huybrechts said. “It is probably a statistical blip…but the fact is, our yields are the envy of most other independent schools.”

dents may treat the statue as a meeting place on campus.

The bronze sculptures were funded by Alan Casden (Aaron ’99), Hudnut said.

The idea for the mascot statues was born last summer, and trustee Charles Munger recommended John Kobald for the job, Hudnut said, because he sculpts animals in their natural habitats.

According to his website, the Colorado based sculptor begins his statues with a frame made of steel and Styrofoam. The base is then covered with layers of clay, latex rubber, plaster, wax, and bronze. The piece is heated and glazed, and it is finished after it is sealed and waxed.

School to punish Coldwater speeders

By Megan Kawasaki Effective this year, students caught speeding along the middle lane of Coldwater Canyon Avenue or performing other illegal driving maneuvers in the morning could have their parking privileges revoked.

More police vehicles will be stationed along Coldwater Canyon Avenue and will cite those who speed through the center lane or side streets, Head of Security Jim Crawford said.

All members of the school community are also encouraged to notify the school if they see any reckless driving.

Teachers, students, and faculty members should understand that speeding and other illegal maneuvers are unsafe since by doing so, they not only endanger themselves but somebody else, Harry Salamandra, Head of Upper School, said.

Hazardous student driving has repeatedly caused trouble for faculty and staff, and the potential for accident-related injury is significant, said Rob Levin, Chief Financial Officer, said.

The policy was implemented due to constant complaints about students racing up Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

“Students who steam down the center lane prior to the turn pocket run the risk of striking vehicles whose drivers have duly waited to reach the pocket prior to turning [into the school],” Levin said.

While speeding and other dan-

gerous maneuvers such as illegal u-turns are concerning issues, the school is mainly trying to encourage safe driving habits among all members of the community.

“Don’t compromise yours or others’ safety to get [to school],” Salamandra said.

Even if people are performing these driving habits in order to get to school on time, it is still unsafe.

“There are ways to deal with running late, and it’s not the end of the world if you’re stuck once in a while. How much time are you really saving by doing one of these maneuvers?” Salamandra said.

Students, especially those who have requested parking privileges, should recognize the risk of accidents and drive in a safer manner, Levin said.

Any students who drive recklessly can be subjected to an expensive speeding ticket or possibly be barred from parking if poor driving habits continue. If they do not consistently drive well, they could be asked to stop driving to school.

These punishments will have an impact on the driving habits of students, Upper School Attendance Coordinator Gabe Preciado said.Individual meetings will also be set up between students and deans where safe driving practices will be discussed.

“We’re always looking to better our community and better our processes here at the school and move in a direction where we’re improving every year instead of staying with the status quo,” Salamandra said.

A4 News

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

Greco receives faculty award for dedication

Prefect Planning

By Chanah Haddad

Jamie temko

Serious stuff: Junior Prefect Katie Price ’12, (from left) Director of Student Affairs Jordan Church and Junior Prefect David Olodort ’12 participate in a planning meeting to prepare the agenda for the coming school year during their retreat earlier this month.

Marty Greco was presented with the Carolyn and Marion Hays award by Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts at the annual back to school faculty meeting last Wednesday.

Greco is the director of personnel. She has been a part of the Harvard-Westlake community since December 1991.

Greco said she was extremely touched when nathanson ’s/chronicle she won the award.

Marty Greco “I was very emotional. I cried.” Greco says with a laugh. “I got home and immediately called my son and just cried. It was a huge surprise.”

Marion Hays was a teacher, dorm head and assistant headmaster at Harvard School from 1944 until 1970.

This award is made in memory of him and his wife, “Babe”, who was also a significant part of school life, and is endowed by their sons, who are alumni of the school.

The Hays Award is presented annually to a member of the faculty who embodies “loyal and dedicated service to the school; friendliness, good humor and encouragement; patience and thoughtful consideration for all members of the school community.”

“I don’t believe there’s a single person in this room who hasn’t been touched by her kindness and aided by her helpfulness,” Huybrechts said during the presentation. “When she’s not putting out our fires she’s thinking about the big picture, how best to protect and support the school’s greatest asset: its employees.”

Middle school student scores 5 on AP Caluculus BC exam

By Ally White

and

Rachel Schwartz

Fourteen-year-old Aaron Anderson ’14 received a five on the Advanced Placement Calculus BC exam May 5.

Anderson prepared for the exam by taking a Calculus BC course through Johns Hopkins online Center for Talented Youth as an independent study course during eighth grade mentored by former math teacher Rod Huston and math teacher Dan Reeves ’94.

Anderson said that he had not shown much promise in math when he was young because memorizing multiplication tables did not interest him.

But once his grandfather began to teach him basic algebra in second and third grade, it became clear that math was a strong suit for him.

Anderson’s father then bought him a set of algebra CD-ROMs to teach him math. By fourth grade, Anderson had completed algebra I and II, and by the end of sixth grade, Anderson had gone through geometry, trigonometry, and Calculus AB, all outside

Installations and additions E made to Upper School campus

“

I TEND TO THINK MATHEMATICALLY. I JUST LIKE FINDING THINGS OUT AND MATH IS AN EFFICIENT WAY TO DO SO.” —Aaron Anderson ‘14

of school.

This past summer, he started linear algebra and will be continuing with it and multivariable calculus as independent study, which he said “should get me through the end of ninth grade.”

“I tend to think mathematically. I just like finding things out and math is an efficient way to do so,” Anderson said.

The security fence is meant to make it more difficult for people to enter the campus undetected.

This summer, several improvements and additions were made around the school. A security fence and cameras were installed, Ahmanson became a multi-media center, the campus is in the middle of a complete computer backbone re-wiring, a trophy case was installed on the third floor of Chalmers, new computers were installed in Weiler Hall and the Kutler Center entered the design phase.

A

Improvements to Ahmanson include new speakers and a new projector.

C

The computer backbone re-wiring by Dave Ruben and his crew required a haz-mat chamber to contain asbestos.

F B

A trophy case was added to the third floor of Chalmers for math trophies and awards.

D

Mudd Library will be renovated in order to serve as the permanent home to the Kutler Center and a bridge to Seaver is being designed to physically and symbolically link two different departments.

Thirteen computers were added to Weiler for use by the Chronicle and Vox staffs.

photos by Alex Gura and eli haims Graphic by eli haims

Aug. 31, 2010

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Chronicle

Foreign outlook: Hudnut watches as Headmaster of Winchester College Dr. Ralph D. Townsend, Principal of High School Affiiliated to Fudan University Fangxian Zheng, and Principal of Beijing No. 80 High School Shulin Tian sign an agreement (left), and he sits on international board of high school educators (right).

Hudnut, Huybrechts discuss high school education at Chinese conference

By Alice Phillips

President Thomas Hudnut and Head of Upper School Jeanne Huybrechts traveled to Beijing and Shanghai, China this summer as Harvard-Westlake joined the World’s Leading School Association as the first school from the United States.

Six schools from the English-speaking world were invited to the conference alongside seven Chinese public magnet high schools. Eton College, which was the first English-speaking school in WLSA, nominated Harvard-Westlake.

The aim of the conference was for principals from all schools to exchange ideas and engage in discourse about the different educational systems around the world, Hudnut said.

“One of the best things I got out of the experience was getting to know some headmasters from other English-speaking schools,” Huybrechts said.

Students fail to perform community service

By Chloe Lister Forty seven upper school students had yet to complete their community service requirement upon the last day of 20092010 school year, Assistant to the Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken said.

Eight of these students were seniors.

The eight received diplomas at graduation but “[Head of Upper School Harry] Salamandra called them the week after school was out and told them that they would not get graduation status, which meant their transcript wouldn’t get sent to their school until we received their community service,” Bracken said.

All other upper school students who had not completed the requirement received an e-mail from Salamandra outlining the conditions under which they would have to complete their make up hours.

These students had to perform 12 hours of community service, three times the normal requirement, “in a bona fide manner” that “must directly help an undeserved population and/or the environment.”

Thirty-five had completed the requirement by last Friday.

Four upper school students waited until yesterday to turn in their community service forms. Until they did, they were not able to pick up their books or access their schedule.

“If they were eligible for Honor Roll they became ineligible,” Bracken said.

The current community service system is instituted and run by Community Council, which is composed of 12 students who plan events to assist the rest of the school in reaching out to their community.

This year’s Community Council leaders are Patrick Edwards ’11 and Catherine Wang ’11.

The requirement currently consists of one four hour project with at least three other people from the school community.

Although there was such a large number

“If our students ever wanted to do some sort of collaborative exercise with students in China I now have some friends who are Chinese school administrators.”

The Chinese system is exam-driven, meaning principals must tailor their curricula to one test that determines a high school student’s eligibility for and placement in college.

Hudnut said that teaching to a placement test inhibits schools from promoting the creativity, critical thinking and individual initiative that is valued at schools such as Harvard-Westlake.

“I think all of us visitors sensed the frustrations that the principals have with their system that mandates the preparation of students for one particular test and the straight-jacket that that really puts on the educators,” Hudnut said. “The Chinese system stresses one-size fits all conformity that is at odds with human potential.”

Community Service As a result of not completing the community service requirement, 47 students could not pick up their books or receive their schedule.

47

upper school students had not completed their requirement on June 10

15

current 9th graders

8

graduates

4

students had not completed the requirement as of August 27. graphic by maddy baxter and Rebecca nussbaum

of people who waited to complete their service, Community Council members maintained a positive view of their system.

“I definitely think that we did a good job,” Edwards said. “We definitely put enough projects out there for people to do their community service. There were a lot of projects that people worked really hard on at the beginning of the year that not as many people went to, but overall we had a great ending to last year.”

Director of Student Affairs Jordan Church, who oversees Community Council, agreed with Edwards’s sentiment that the rate of community service completion rapidly increased at the end of last year.

“The Community Council knows that teenagers are prone to procrastination,” Church said. “Therefore, the council plans several events toward the end of the year to help these students out.”

jeanne huybrechts

Although WLSA is a fledgling organization, Hudnut said that a Chinese delegation plans to visit Harvard-Westlake when they come to the United States in October.

“What we would like to see come out of this is an identified topic or research project that teams of students from schools in various parts of the world could work on, then they would come together at the end of the school year in a culminating exercise,” Hudnut said.

Huybrechts also spent time in Singapore prior to the WLSA conference.

Attendance at summer progam hits record high

By Auistin Lee With an increase of around 10 percent from last year, the Harvard-Westlake Summer Program had the highest class enrollment in its history this summer.

A total of 740 students attended this year, according to Director of Summer Programs Jim Patterson, and they participated in programs from the Gold Medal Sports Camp to SAT preparation classes and coming from both Harvard-Westlake and other schools in the area.

The total class enrollment was 971.5, compared to the 700 students and 880.5 enrollments of last year, with the .5’s coming from half enrollments in a sports camp and the Conservatory.

The 10 percent growth of this year is actually one of the smallest growth rates of the past few years for the program, with numbers usually ranging from above 10 percent up to 15 percent.

This constant growth for the past few years is a result of an expansion of courses offered by the program, according to Patterson.

Among the classes added was a second session to the college essay writing class, allowing students to get a head start on what gives “a lot of pressure” to students, Patterson said. Other new classes were Screen Writing, Advanced Film, Figure Drawing, Oil Painting, Digital Arts and Graphics Design and Digital Photography.

Alongside the expansion of courses, the summer school has been changed so that most of the programs are offered over the

“

the three areas which we are strong at in the school year are the areas which i’d like the summer program to be strong at,” —Jim Patterson, Director of Summer Program

same time period, which has added a “vibrance which [the program] did not have six to seven years ago,” Patterson said.

This growth of the program started in 2006 with the addition of the Gold Medal Sports Camp, said Patterson, which caused an increase in the enrollment of the sports program from around 300 to 500 attendees.

Following this expansion of the athletics program, the arts, from performing to visual arts, experienced a burst of expansion, spearheaded by the expansion of the film camp, and followed by expansion in the performing arts, with the Conservatory, and the other visual and fine arts.

In the coming years, Patterson hopes to expand in the the third and final remaining field of the summer programs, academics, which he feels is the area in which the program is lacking.

“The three areas which we are strong at in the school year are the areas which I’d like the summer program to be strong at,” said Patterson.

A6 News

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

inbrief School to issue parking stickers for campus lots Holographic parking stickers will be issued to students, parents and faculty members to identify their cars when parked in the school’s lots, Head of Security Jim Crawford said.

The new permits, which will be affixed to windshields of the cars, will allow campus security personnel to recognize authorized cars from a greater distance and in many light conditions.

Families will be sent a few stickers for the cars that will be driven to school most often.

Crawford said that cars driven to school only on occasion will not need a sticker if parked in an assigned student parking spot.

—Saj Sri-Kumar

Student sells jewelry in memory of classmate Rebecca Katz ’15 hosted a jewelry sale for charity to honor the memory of Julia Siegler ’14 who died on Feb. 26, when she was hit by a car while crossing Sunset Boulevard. Katz planned the event Jewels for Jules to spread her story and to raise money for Siegler’s favorite charities.

On Aug. 28, Katz set up the sale on the corner of Ventura Blvd and Dixie Canyon Ave, where friends and passersby came to buy her handmade jewelry. She made about 90 pieces, with some contributions from April Rosner ’10.

The proceeds from Jewels for Jules are going to Harvard-Westlake and University Synagogue. Siegler’s parents chose them because “those were the places where Julia spent most of her time,” Katz said.

—Ingrid Chang

Saj Sri-Kumar/chronicle

Showing the program: Dartt displays his computerized planner. Several upper school faculty members have been using the computer program, which automatically creates a schedule for the entire school year with minimal human input.

Dartt honored for computer program

By Saj Sri-Kumar

Upper school science teacher Chris Dartt received the Kogan Family Award for Innovation in Teaching for his work designing a computerized planning calendar for upper school faculty.

The program was the product of four years of work. He initially created a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for himself so that he could manually input his lecture schedule. Over the years, he programmed the spreadsheet to do more and more things automatically.

Dartt estimated that he spent three months working on the program over the course of the four years.

Most recently, Dartt added the ability to export the program to Microsoft Outlook, allowing teachers to read their schedule on their smartphones.

Dartt was initially approached by upper school science department head Larry Axelrod, who asked Dartt if he could use the program. Dartt later distributed it to the entire upper school science department and later the entire upper school faculty.

Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said that since he re-

Middle school PE to group all seventh and eighth graders

By Saj Sri-Kumar

Armstrong leaves post in Middle School PE Middle school physical education teacher Adia Armstrong has left Harvard-Westlake for Tampa Bay, Fla. Her husband was offered the position of head director of a sport performance facility, according to Middle School Athletic Director Darlene Bible.

“I will miss her great nature.

She was always upbeat and willing to help others,” Bible said.

—Michael Aaronson

Rockenbach to teach at Wildwood School Leslie Rockenbach left the Upper School History Department this summer to pursue a teaching job at Wildwood School.

Rockenbach taught World and Europe II, United States History, and Choices and Challenges.

—Chanah Haddad

Alumni create Wolverine blend tea The Prohibition Wolverine Tea had its inaugural taste test on July 28 in Los Angeles. Alumni gathered to sip the collection of different spices, fruits and juices aptly named the “Possunt Quia Posse Videntur Blend.”

A venue on Hollywood and Highland, h.wood, housed the tea tasting for roughly 30 alumni. H.wood is owned and operated in part by Sameer Gupta ’99 and John Terzian ’98, the former being the tea chef who created the drink.

Courtney Quinn ’01 coordinated this event as organizer of the alumni happy hours, which happen a few times each year.

—Evan Brown

leased it to the faculty, “scores of us have been using [Dartt’s planner].”

The Kogan Award was endowed by Mark and Elizabeth Kogan (Ben ’11, Eli ’13) to foster innovation and acknowledge the most interesting teaching initiatives.

When announcing that Dartt had won at the faculty meeting last week, Huybrechts acknowledged all of Dartt’s technological innovations, saying that he “uses technology in extraordinarily creative ways to enhance classroom teaching.”

Dartt was the first recipient of the cash award since it was endowed.

However, upper school science teacher Karen Huchinson and middle school math teacher Darin Beigie both won the award when it was created last year, before it was endowed by the Kogan family.

Last spring, department chairs submitted nominations for the award to Huybrechts, who selected Dartt. Huybrechts said that she planned on having the Faculty Academic Committee vote on the recipient next year instead of choosing the recipient herself.

Dartt said that he did not find out that he had won until he was presented with the award and that it came as a surprise.

Courtesy of Jon Wimbish

Mission Accomplished: Wimbish and Oxelson smile after completing the Mud Run at Camp Pendleton.

Two upper school deans compete in ‘Mud Run’ at Camp Pendleton

By Megan Ward Upper School Deans Jon Wimbish and Cahn Oxelson took their marks on the starting line on June 5 alongside 6,000 other enthusiastic competitors.

The pair waited in anticipation for the 10 kilometer “mud run,” including six-foot climbing walls, a deep and murky lake, giant pipes to crawl through, and, from which the event gets its name, a 100-yard mud pit which engulfs runners in mud up to their necks.

Wimbish and Oxelson started from Camp Pendleton, a Marine Base in Oceanside, Calif.

The Mud Run is a triannual charity event put on at Camp Pendleton and supports “quality of life programs for Marines and their families,” according to the Camp Pendleton website.

“I like being active and exercising so for me a 10K race isn’t as fun as running a 10K race which has variants in challenges other than the mental challenge

just to keep running,” Wimbush said.

Wimbish approached Oxelson about running this year.

“I had never heard about the run before [Wimbish] came and told me about it.

He knew I had run a couple marathons before and knew that I liked to run,” said Oxelson, “He also knows that I am a competitive person and that I would be a good person to have on the team,” said Oxelson.

“When you are doing something really difficult sometimes it’s helpful to remember why you are doing it,” Oxelson said. “There were a couple points during the race where I thought, ‘Wow, I would really like to walk right now.’ But you start thinking about the families and the money you’re raising to support them and it gives you an extra kind of kick and push to continue.”

Wimbish and Oxelson said they have plans to form a team of Harvard-Westlake students in the future.

Middle school physical education will continue to be sorted into groups based on factors such as athletic performance and cooperation, continuing a system started last year with seventh grade students.

Students participate initially in an “assessment phase,” during the first semester, Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said. Students take seven core classes where they are taught by different coaches.

At the end of the first semester, the coaches meet to discuss the students individually and sort them into three groups according to a number of factors, including athletic ability, cooperation and willingness to try harder. Middle School Physical Education Department Head Kimberly Hieatt said that while the coaches weighed each of the factors equally, they had trouble combating the perception that the groups were sorted solely based on athletic ability.

The system was started last year for the seventh grade alone. Hieatt said that it is being expanded to apply to both seventh and eighth grades this year. She said it is unlikely that it would ever be expanded to ninth grade or the Upper School physical education classes because those classes are too small to separate into groups.

The new system makes it easier for the shyer student to thrive, Hieatt said. She said that the coaches observed that when they were placed into the groups, they were more assertive and participated more.

While the system is supported by most of the physical

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Audrius Barzdukas

nathanson ’s/chronicle

Kimberly Hieatt

education faculty, it has some critics, Hieatt said. Some of the faculty believes that the system “pigeonholes” the students into the set groups and restricts their ability to choose the physical education classes they take, as the system functioned previously. Hieatt said that last year there were some students that felt like they were not placed in the group that they belonged in. Hieatt said that there were some students that, while athletically talented, were unable to cooperate with the coach and their peers and were not placed in the top group as a result.

“They have to share and have other leadership qualities,” Hieatt said.

However, there were only “about a dozen” students who had problems with their group assignments, Hieatt said. Students who complained were told why they were not placed higher and were told that they were eligible to move up if they improved in those areas.

Hieatt said that the program was overall “quite successful” but said in the future the physical education department may revert to the old system where students choose their classes based on interest if the department finds flaws with the new system.

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

School says use of old tests is cheating from cheating, A1 Another student in the class who wished to remain anonymous said that the cheating incident should not be considered a major infraction.

“I don’t think that’s a horrible thing,” the student said.

“It’s their own fault if they don’t change the tests from year to year. They gave them back to the students, so it was like free information. It was never specifically told to them that they couldn’t use them.”

Students should have come forward once they noticed similarities between the tests, Borinstein said.

“I think that there’s a difference between looking at your sibling’s test and the point where it becomes something wrong is when you get the class that day, you take the test, you see the question and say ‘It’s identical to the one I had at home,’” she said.

“The thing you’re supposed to do is tell your teacher ‘I looked at the test from last year, I thought this was fair game, I thought you changed the test, but this is identical.’ But because they continued to use the test and see that it was the same thing, that’s when it became a problem,” Borinstein said.

Salamandra said that if there’s free information available to all students, they should be allowed to use it.

“Me, personally, I feel if that there’s information out there and students have nathanson ’s/chronicle it and it’s available to everybody, it’s fair.

J. Young I wouldn’t want a situation, personally, if only a few of the kids had it and others didn’t,” he said.

“But if there’s information that’s available and it’s open to everybody, yeah, that is fair game in that respect, I would think,” Salamandra said.

Clearing the conscience of the students was a priority for Young and Salamandra as opposed to giving a harsher punishment, Holthouse said. nathanson ’s/chronicle “What they felt was more of a realistic Harry option and something that would benefit Salamandra the students more would be to come clean,

“

Youv’e got to give people some credit for coming forward and admitting that they do something.”

—Harry Salamandra Head of Upper School

get the weight off their shoulders, they thought that they’d have a better time achieving that, without the strictest of punishments,” Holthouse said.

Salamandra said that the fact that students came clean of their violation should be given consideration.

“You’ve got to give people some credit for coming forward and admitting that they do something, too,” he said.

“If you do something and we don’t know that you did it, or we just hear from someone that you did it, and you walked in this door and said ‘I gotta tell you something, let’s close the door’ and you admit to me that you did, I have to give you credit for that,” Salamandra said. “I think it’s important, because if I say ‘thank you very much’ and I give you the same punishment you would have gotten if you wouldn’t have walked in the door and I tracked you down, I’m concerned that we would be sending a message to you that it’s probably better just to shut your mouth next time.”

While the tests were handed back by the Introduction to Calculus Honors teachers in previous years, Young said the math department is not at fault for returning the tests without changing them from year to year.

“That’s the version of the old argument if you leave your keys in the ignition and the car is stolen, it’s your fault,” he said. “I have more of a Pollyanna kind of view when it comes to our community. I would love to work and live in a community where we are able to do things like that and still have the trust of students to not violate that. I think the mere fact that they handed the tests back puts them in the position that ‘it’s their own fault’ kind of thing – I don’t agree with that.”

Departments add many new courses

By Eli Haims In the past four years, numerous new classes have been added to the curriculum, ranging from Advanced Placement Chinese to Studies in Scientific Research.

The foreign language department has added AP Chinese, Directed Studies in Greek, Directed Studies in Italian, French Literature Honors and Latin Literature Honors.

The two honors literature courses were created to replace AP French Literature and AP Latin Literature, which

were canceled by the College Board due to a lack of interest. Simona Ghirlanda, who designed and teaches French Literature Honors, was appalled when the class was cut, but believes that the new class has been a huge success.

The history department added Directed Studies in Historical Research to their course listing last year. The class will be larger this year than last year, but it will still remain smaller than most other classes. It will be taught in a seminar style.

The math department has replaced AP Computer Science AB with Honors

Advancement Changes Advancement Officers take on new roles for the coming year.

Jill Shaw

nathanson ’s

Director of Communications Shaw coordinates communication for the school with direction from the President, the Head of School and the Chief Advancement Officer.

Susan Leher Beeson ’96

nathanson ’s

Director of Alumni Relations Beeson’s responsibilities entail focusing on increasing the school’s visibility with alumni through programming and affinity groups.

Greg O’Leary

nathanson ’s

Director of Alumni Giving O’Leary is tasked with continuing to build alumni support and to create a structure similar to the Parents’ Association Annual Giving program.

Michael Bornstein ’97

nathanson ’s

Major Gifts Officer Bornstein is temporarily replacing Casey Kim who departed the office on maternity leave in June. Bornstein works with major donors.

Graphic by Eli Haims, Rebecca Nussbaum, Lara Sokoloff and Saj sri-kumar

Computer Science: Design and Data Structures. AP Computer Science was also cut by the College Board due to a lack of enrollment.

Meteorology, Studies in Scientific Research and Geology Honors have been added to the list of courses offered by the science department. Larry Axelrod, the Upper School Science Department Head, said that SSR, which used to be a directed studies course, and Geology Honors have been the most successful.

“The enrollment was quite high and the classes are very successful and popular,” he said.

Summer Science Program names asteroid for Kutler

By Eli Haims A group of students and faculty from the Summer Science Program named an asteroid after Brendan Kutler ’10, who was o attend the program in 2009.

Kutler was a senior when he died in his sleep in December 2009.

After learning of Kutler’s death, Davis came up with the idea to name an asteroid after him.

“With the passion that the kids have for asteroids, I thought it would be appropriate to name one after him,” Davis said.

Davis contacted one of his colleagues who discovered an asteroid, and asked him if the asteroid could be named after Kutler.

Kutler’s classmates at SSP were then contacted to write a formal citation for the asteroid, which includes the name and number of the asteroid and a brief summary of Kutler.

The summary describes him as having “lifted fellow Summer Science Program alumni with his brilliance and selflessness, upbeat attitude throughout their asteroid orbit determina-

tion project.”

The citation was then submitted to and approved by the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature.

The program, which was started in 1959 in response to the launch of Sputnik, is a highly intensive six week program that focuses on math and science for 72 rising high school seniors.

SSP is an independent nonprofit corporation, with ties to New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, California Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It is held on the campus of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, N.M., and at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

By the end of the program, teams of three students write a research paper predicting the orbit of an asteroid around the sun. The students take approximately six hours of classes a day in order to learn the mechanics they need to predict the orbit, according to Donald Davis, the Academic Director of SSP in 2009.

News A7

inbrief

Change in e-mail system to protect student privacy In order to protect the privacy of students and update the school’s software, a new e-mail system has been implemented, Director of Computer Services Dave Ruben said. All student e-mail addresses have changed except for the senior class’s (in order to avoid confusion when contacting colleges).

Instead of the lastname.firstname.year@hwstudents.com style email, they now read firstInitial. lastname.#@hwemail.com.

The number differentiates students with the same first initial and last name.

—Maddy Baxter

Adviser chooses VOX editors for 2010-2011 Gaby Cohen ’11 and Ali Nadel ’11 were appointed editors-in-chief of the 2011 VOX, while Justin Cohen ’11 was appointed chief executive editor by yearbook advisor Jennifer Bladen.

The editors-in-chief manage the staff, while the Chief Executive Editor ensures that the yearbook staff meets their deadline.

“Gaby is a natural leader. Everyone seems to do whatever she says,” Bladen said. “Ali and Justin have incredible yearbook knowledge about the process.”

—Nick Pritzker

Two students to debate in tournament at Vassar Two students from the debate team will go to Vassar College to participate in a four day round robin debate this weekend. Schools throughout the country are invited to bring two students to attend.

Upper school debate team coach Mike Bietz chose Brendan Gallagher ’13 and Adam Bennett ’12, to participate. The topic of the tournament is: States ought not possess nuclear weapons.

—Megan Ward

Graduates’ research to be printed in science journal The American Journal of Physics will feature a research paper in its October issue written by two students in the Studies for Scientific Research class.

The paper, entitled “New experimental method of visualizing the electric field due to surface charges on circuit elements,” was submitted in April 2009 by Rebecca Jacobs ’09 and Alex de Salazar ’09 with the support of science teacher Dr. Antonio Nassar.

“Harvard Westlake is the only high school in the nation, perhaps in the world, published in the American Journal of Physics,” Nassar said.

—David Lim

Santiago leaves school to ski in Boulder, Colo.

Narciso Santiago of computer services completed his 11th and final year of service at HarvardWestlake this past June. Santiago said he moved to Boulder, Colo., to try something different.

“I have some family out here, plus I miss having some proper winters,” Santiago said. “I grew up in the Midwest and I really miss the snow.”

Santiago will take advantage of the cold weather with a season pass to ski in Vail, Colorado.

—Elana Zeltser

A8 News

The

Chronicle

Recent graduate donates $500,000

By Vivien Mao

After selling his company to Google for about $70 million, Scott Becker ’05 donated $500,000 to Harvard-Westlake.

The money will go towards the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program and support for faculty, although the details are still being figured out.

“This is truly an extraordinary gift from a young alum. This is the largest commitment made by a 23 year old alum of Harvard-Westlake,” Chief Advancement Officer Ed Hu said.

Becker founded Invite Media, a company which sells online advertising space to businesses, in his sophomore year of college at the University of Pennsylvania with three friends.

He had always been interested in computer technology.

For example, his senior project at Harvard-Westlake was to create a social networking site called “Friendzee” that would rival MySpace.

Some of his past projects include “Charlie’s Travels,” a blog for Charlie Melvoin who travelled around the world, the Madison Radiology Web Appointment System, which created a program for patients to schedule appointments online; and “Web Crawler,” which can analyze Social Networking Applications. He even launched a DVD rental site.

At Penn, he created a social networking site specifically for the students; the site reached 2500 members within two months of creation.

He then launched a multilingual so-

cial networking application for college students living in Europe and South America.

Always loyal to his school, Becker helped enhance life at college by creating a Penn food cart ordering website as well as an online used textbook marketplace.

He also set up a searching interface for two classes, Dr. Lyle Ungar’s Medline Database class and Dr. Susan Davidson’s Principles of Information Systems classes.

He graduated in 2008 with a major in Computational Biology and was a candidate for a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Engineering.

It was at Harvard-Westlake that he met the many teacher who would become a large supporting factor in his future career.

“It’s inspiring how much energy my [Harvard Westlake] teachers had toward teaching. Most of my college professors didn’t compare,” Becker said, as quoted from Harvard-Westlake Online.

Though he has sold his company, Becker still plans to continue working with subjects he is passionate about, including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. He hopes that his donation to Harvard Westlake can further research and education for the future.

“I see this as more than a way to show my appreciation for Harvard-Westlake; I see it as an investment in our future. I know H-W students are going to be building the best products, technologies, films, companies, treatments, books, and disease cures. My gift will help bring these great things to life sooner,” Becker said.

Aug. 31, 2010

courtesy of Sam Wasson

nationally known: Author Sam Wasson’s ’99 recently published book “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.” was placed on the New York Times bestseller list.

Alumnus’ book places on national bestseller list

By Vivien Mao “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.”, by Sam Wasson ’99 reached 13 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover non-fiction books on Aug 13. The book is about the making of the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” starring Audrey Hepburn. “[Being on the bestsellers list] was a total shock. I started screaming and laughing at once. I was in my room and my editor called me screaming into the phone and I could barely understand what she was saying, but I knew it had to be something good,” Wasson said.

Wasson’s previous book, “A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Ed-

wards”, addresses the work of director Blake Edwards, who directed “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” along with many others, such as “The Pink Panther” series, “Days of Wine and Roses”, “The Party” and “Micki and Maude.”

During his research for “A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards,” Wasson decided to write “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.” “When it came time for the next project, writing on ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ itself was the next step. I was amazed when I was doing research on Blake Edwards at the makings of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

“Fifth Avenue took me about a year of research and writing and rewriting,” Wasson said.

Sportsmanship committee issues ethics draft proposal from sportsmanship, A1

Wolverines Eat Pizza From Mama’s and Papa’s !!!

sibility of a Captains Committee to improve student leadership and sportsmanship.

Athletic Director Terry Elledge said he believes poor fan behavior is a much bigger issue than poor sportsmanship.

“It’s the behavior of the people that are watching the games [that is the problem] no matter what you’re talking about,” Elledge said. “I hear people out of line at softball games, I hear people out of line at soccer games, I hear people out of line at baseball games, so I think that is the bigger issue in my opinion.”

The committee finished the draft with five last points, four for students and one for parents.

It highlights the need to announce “sportsmanship expectations” to the student body at the beginning of the year and suggests that a student reiterate these expectations before all home games. It says the Fanatics could, in conjunction with the student body, write a “Fan Code of Behavior” to be posted around our athletic facilities. It also hopes to inform parents of sportsmanship issues and set up standards for parental behavior at games as well.

“This is not a final decision. We are consulting the Prefect Council, Student Athletic Advisory, Sports Council, faculty and all that,” Schuhl said. “The best thing we can do at this point is to say that this is a discussion and this is something we’re working on and you

are going to hear about it throughout the year.”

Head Prefect Melanie Borinstein ’11 said the Prefect Council completely supports the general goals and intentions of the committee but has mixed feelings about the specific suggestions.

“I think we found certain things that we think would be more effective or realistic in it. There’s a wide range of what we agree and disagree with and I think that’s why we’re glad they came to us to talk about it because we are the students’ representatives,” Borinstein said. “I think that we’re just going to give our input and they can do what they want with that.

We have a wide range of feelings toward it… None of the proposals are bad there just are ones that are maybe more effective and more likely to be liked by the student body.”

Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas expressed his support for the committee and its draft proposal as well.

“I think that virtually every school in the country would love to have our fan support and our sportsmanship,” Barzdukas said. “This is just an opportunity for us to just take a look and see what we can improve.”

“When you look at Harvard-Westlake, you think of Harvard-Westlake as being at the top,” Elledge said. “I don’t feel we’ve been at the top there [sportsmanship and fan behavior] for a while and I think we should be, we can be, we ought to be. Everybody looks to us for our athletic success, our academic success, why shouldn’t they look to us for a model for behavior?”

the

Chronicle

3700 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles, CA 91604

Editors-in-Chief: Alice Phillips, Daniel Rothberg Managing Editors: Austin Block, Jordan Freisleben Executive Editor: Catherine Wang

pinion o Harvard-Westlake School Volume XX Issue I Aug. 31, 2010

Presentations Editors: Ingrid Chang, Mary Rose Fissinger Executive Sports Editor: Alex Leichenger Business and Ads Manager: David Burton Copy Editors: Jordan McSpadden, Susan Wang News Managing Editors: Matthew Lee, Emily Khaykin Section Heads: Rebecca Nussbaum, Lara Sokoloff, Sajjan Sri-Kumar Infographic Editors: Maddy Baxter, Eli Haims Assistants: Wendy Chen, Carrie Davidson, Molly Harrower, Camille Shooshani, Megan Ward Opinion Managing Editors: Noelle Lyons, Jean Park Section Heads: Alex Gura, Chanah Haddad, Anabel Passarow, Shana Saleh Assistants: Rachel Schwartz, Michael Sugerman Features Managing Editors: Joyce Kim, Olivia Kwitny, Sade Tavangarian Features Section Heads: Allison Hamburger, Chloe Lister Infographics: Megan Kawasaki Features Assistants: Caitie Benell, Mariel Brunman, Jamie Chang, Gabrielle Franchina, David Lim, Michael Rothberg, Elana Zeltser Science & Health Editors: Claire Hong, Nika Madyoon Centerspread Editors: Camille de Ry, Arielle Maxner Arts & Entertainment Editors Jessica Barzilay, Justine Goode Arts & Entertainment Assistants: Maggie Bunzel, Bo Lee, Aaron Lyons Photography Assistant: Cherish Moezian Sports Managing Editors: Alec Caso, Kelly Ohriner Section Heads: David Kolin, Austin Lee, Julius Pak, Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Assistants: Michael Aronson, Charlton Azuoma, Nicole Gould, Luke Holthouse, Daniel Kim, Robbie Loeb, Shawn Ma, Micah Sperling, Ally White Chronicle Online Managing Editor: Vivien Mao News Update Editors: Evan Brown, Hank Gerba, Sanjana Kucheria Opinion Update Editor: Victor Yoon Feature Update Editors: Julius Pak, Nick Pritzker A&E Update Editors: Tiffany Liao, Meagan Wang Sports Update Editors: David Gobel, Judd Liebman Mulitmedia Editors: Ashley Khakshouri, Chelsea Khakshouri Blogs Editor: Abbie Neufeld Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published nine times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the senior members of the Editorial Board. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager David Burton at (818) 481-2087. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

GRAPHIC BY INGRID CHANG

Stand by the Honor Board

I

n the past few years, the administration has steadily reduced the influence of the Honor Board through policy changes and their handling of several recent Honor Code violations. The administration’s readiness to bypass the board

undermines its purpose and comes at a serious detriment to the student body.

Two years ago, the administration reduced the Honor Board’s influence by implementing a policy allowing teachers to handle “minor” first-time Honor Code violations without consulting the Honor Board.

Whether intentional or not, this policy has been attributed to decreasing the board’s docket. Both former Head Prefect Reid Lidow and Father J. Young told The Chronicle in April that they believe this policy accounted for a considerable drop in Honor Board cases last year.

More recently, at the end of the last school year, the administration sidestepped the Honor Board again, after discovering that several students had knowingly cheated on Introduction to Calculus Honors tests by using exams from the previous year. This transgression clearly falls under the purview of the Honor Board, yet the group was not notified. Those who confessed to cheating are not allowed to receive college recommendations from their Introduction to Calculus Honors teacher and were required to complete four hours of community service.

While the administration has the right to bypass the Honor Board, doing so seriously undermines the reasoning behind having a board. One of the main justifications for having a board is to be judged by peers,

who can better understand a fellow student’s situation.

Allowing violations to be handled by teachers or administrators negates the purpose of having an Honor Board in the first place.

Moreover, the Upper School Parent/Student Handbook states that the Honor Board is meant to offer “a measure of consistency and coherency of outcomes when dealing with instances of dishonorable behavior.” When the Honor Board is not consulted, this “measure of consistency and coherency of outcomes” disappears. The cheating in Introduction to Calculus Honors was an obvious Honor Code violation and, according to precedent, the students involved received an extremely light sentence. Head Prefect Chris Holthouse ’11 even admitted that the ramifications for those involved would have been considerably harsher had the incident been handled as an Honor Board case.

The administration’s argument that this case could not have possibly gone before the Honor Board due to the fact that they had no way of knowing who was involved in the incident, is perfectly valid. Yet, that is no reason to leave out the Honor Board out of the entire process. Going forward, the administration should, to the best of its ability, move to include the Honor Board.

If they continue to slowly circumvent the Honor Board, they run the risk of undermining the principles on which the board is based.

The responsibility is ours

H

arvard-Westlake is littered with committees. And as if there weren’t already enough committees to keep track of on the upper school campus before this year, we can now add the sportsmanship review committee

to that list.

The sportsmanship committee’s proposals to change the culture of conduct at sporting events are likely to draw the ire of at least a few students.

This committee is part of a trend of increased faculty involvement in student affairs to combat what is perceived as a sagging culture of student conduct.

Another example of the trend is the policy against using cell phones in buildings, which was put into place last year.

While the general reaction of the student body cannot be judged at this early stage in the year, it is hardly a reach to assume that many of the school’s proposals, like the sportsmanship proposal, will not exactly be greeted with open arms by students.

Students may disapprove of the specifics of the faculty’s decisions, but no matter how valid our arguments are, they fail to address the more important point. If the reforms of the faculty and administration so often prompt moaning and groaning from the majority of the student body, why do we students force them into action in the first place?

Rather than criticizing the faculty and administration for their decisions, we should take matters into our own hands and preempt the need for intervention. As the new school year begins, we should make a vow to take responsibility instead of playing the

blame game.

Besides, righting most of our day-to-day wrongs should not even be difficult. Let’s start with the most easily improvable daily transgression on campus: cleaning up trash (or the lack thereof). Maybe we could just each dump our lunch garbage into the bins.

It is the same easy fix with the cell phone problem.

To resist the temptation of answering a friend’s text message, simply turn off your phone prior to an assembly or put it in your backpack before class.

Last but certainly not least, there is the issue of conduct at athletic competitions. We can be passionate when cheering on our friends and classmates. Even a degree of rowdiness should be acceptable at times.

But once we cross the line and shout overly insensitive comments, we only make matters worse for ourselves. By default, we put matters in the hands of those with whom we so often disagree. And when the faculty and administration need to get involved, it means they have lost a degree of faith in us students to do the right things on our own and carry ourselves in the proper manner.

In the end, the actions of the faculty and administration are always more drastic than what students are comfortable with. Yet drastic changes could be prevented simply by doing the little things first.

Aug. 31, 2010

Chronicle

The

A10 Opinion

Taking a hand

Chloe Lister

A

“

But Most of us have gotten so caught up that we forget the kind of people we have at our disposal.”

s the last minutes of my sophomore year ticked away, I was preoccupied with thoughts of sunshine and freedom from any sort of schoolwork.

While my friends hopped onto planes with destinations like Paris or Beijing, I would stay at home to return for my second year as a counselor at a day camp.

They seemed sweet enough at first; but I learned firsthand how terrible 13 seven to nine-year-olds could be, pigtails and all.

At the beginning of every day, the senior counselors would retreat for 20 to 30 minutes to their attendance meeting, when junior counselors have full reign of the group to play games and get everyone excited for the day.

This period quickly became my favorite part of camp; the more confident I was, the more fun we had, and that was the time when I really felt like I bonded with them.

One day, my senior counselor had her evaluation with the camp director. That meant that I’d have an additional hour with the group, when I didn’t have anything planned. My group started off strong, but one by one, the children trickled out of whatever game we were playing to sit off to the side and whine about how bored they were. They could only throw dodgeballs or chant “cut the pie” for so long.

Once there were more girls sitting out than those playing, no amount of “hey, listen up” could get them to focus.

By chance, one counselor happened to walk by, and, despite my own reluctance, I asked for his help. Within seconds he had all my girls enraptured by his instructions for a game usually only played by the oldest groups; he “wasn’t sure” if they’d be mature enough to handle it.

All 13 of them were up, laughing and shrieking with delight at all the fun they were having.

I learned something that I can carry with me during junior year: that I don’t have to do everything alone. At school it’s encouraged to be independent, which is a good thing when it comes to preparing for our lives ahead of us.

But most of us have gotten so caught up that we forget the people we have at our disposal.

Just like I was able to reach out to someone with more experience with children than me, we have experts in countless fields to guide us. With the start of the school year comes all the tired clichés about starting fresh, but they’ve only become clichés by being such enduring truths. I hope that we all will be able to go out of our comfort zones this year and remember that we can always ask for help.

CHANAH HADDAD AND ANABEL PASAROW/CHRONICLE

Oh brother!

I

Noelle Lyons

see him at home. I drive him to school.

And when I walk through the quad with my friends, he’s there. Having a younger sibling on the same campus is a big change compared to our previous seven mile separation from the Upper School to the Middle School.

Our two year age difference has always kept us at a relatively close, but not too close, distance from each other. Only one out of my five years at Harvard Westlake so far have I ever been on the same campus with Aaron, and this 2010-2011 school year is going to be the second.

The first time was when I was in ninth grade and he was in seventh. I was just starting my freshman year, and he was the cute new seventh grader everyone fawned over. My friends already knew him, because to them he was my little brother and the resemblance was undeniable. Except for the age and height difference, it was easy to spot one of us in a crowd.

We took the same bus to the Middle School, but sat at complete opposite ends with our friends from our own grades.

Everything changed when he was still at the Middle School in eighth grade and I was at the Upper School in 10th grade. Instead we were now dropped off at the bus stop by

our mother and quickly went our separate ways. It was only after school when the bus dropped us back off at our original spots that we saw each other again. This had been our daily routine for the past two years.

Yet, once again I will be seeing him during the eight hour school day now that I’m a senior and he is a sophomore. Nevertheless, he’s still the little brother everyone compared me to before.

However, now that I have my license and a parking spot at the school, I can drive both Aaron and me to where we need to be every morning.

Instead of talking to our friends on the way to school like we usually did on the bus, it’s only Aaron and me sitting in the car making conversation. I can give him advice on homework and classes I’ve already taken, as well as teachers I’ve previously had. And even when we don’t have much to say, there is still music blasting from the radio to fill the silence.

When we finally arrive at school and go to class, there will still be those moments in the hallway where I can see him out of the corner of my eye and give him a wave. Now knowing there is someone related to me on the same school campus gives me a sense of awareness I didn’t know I had.

Enjoying the unexpected M

illions of songs have been written about the joyous days of summer.

Come the start of June, commercials, stores, or perhaps even your own iPods constantly blare the occasionally sub-par instrumentals but entirely fitting vocals of songs like Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and Nat King Cole’s “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer.”

However, these songs harken back to the summers of old, at least for the majority of my peers and me. Summer is no longer about relaxing and unwinding after a grueling nine months of all-nighters, double period calculus tests, impossibly long layout weekends, and hours upon hours of unrelenting cross country and track practices ( I may still be a little jaded from junior year…). Now, the summer months are stuffed full of jobs, internships,

Mary Rose Fissinger fall sports practices, summer classes, far-away programs and camps. The knowledge that college applications are not only made up of grades and extracurriculars during the academic school year, but also your activities during the summer leads to not-sorelaxing vacations for many students.

I believe that my summers have become much more memorable and fulfilling ever since I started filling them with structured activities. For example, this year my summer consisted of early morning cross country practices four times a week and a four week stint teaching sixth through eighth graders math at my elementary school, a gig I would not have traded for the world and one that may even have impact on my future goals.

The plain truth of the matter is that most people end up really enjoying what they fill their summers with.

I don’t want to suggest that, were it not for college applications, students would be entirely unproductive all summer.

But let’s face it: Harvard-Westlake is a pretty demanding place. So it’s natural that when summer rolls around, we want to revel in the leisure of waking up later than 6:30 each morning and not having to constantly go over the checklist in our minds of assignments and when they’re due.

Most of us still get a week or so of these luxuries. But then it’s more early mornings, responsibilities, and long days. I, for one, can’t complain.

Doing nothing all summer can get boring; it’s nice to be productive. And nothing says productive quite like running nine miles at seven in the morning, especially when it’s followed by explaining the concept of sales tax to a seventh grader.

I had spent the entire month trying to get the kids excited about math, which turned out to be quite the challenge since practically 100 percent of the students were there only by decree of their parents.

They’d enjoyed the casual, fun atmosphere of the class but drudged through the actual work. On that final Wednesday, after several examples of factoring polynomials, one of the girls in the front row lit up. “Wow,” she said. “I get it! That’s really cool.”

I was very pleased that she finally understood what I meant when I said “math is cool.”

If you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, “Wow, this girl is a huge nerd,” you are entirely correct. The fact that I was able to communicate some of my love for learning to one of my students was by far the most rewarding moment of my summer.

Aug. 31, 2010

Letters

The

Acting like champions

I jordan freisleben/CHRONICLE

editors: alice Phillips ’11 and Daniel Rothberg ’11 take a break from layout.

We’ll keep you posted

Twitter. RSS readers. iPhone applications. Facebook news feeds.

This is how we consume information in the 21st century. Gone are the days of breaking news being delivered to your doorstep each morning by the newspaper boy.

Even as a high school newspaper, we must evolve with the times. As dailies across the country have become more and more obsolete, so it follows that a monthly high school paper would have been left behind long ago.

So our point?

The Chronicle needs to keep up.

Starting now, not only will our website serve as a modern means to access our coverage but it will serve as a dayto-day conduit for the latest news at and around Harvard-Westlake.

Thanks to Web Manager Lillian Contreras’ tireless efforts, we are launching two blogs, “the quad” and “GO BIG RED,” to efficiently deliver the latest in campus and sports coverage, respectively.

Instead of having to navigate the full Chronicle website on a smartphone screen, you can load a continuously updated web page (conveniently linked from our website’s home page) for your Harvard-Westlake news.

But our emphasis on instant news doesn’t mean we will sacrifice accuracy or news judgment just to get blog post or an article on the web.

We are still The Chronicle, with all of the adjectives that bears, we are just The (faster, better, more timely) Chronicle.

—Alice Phillips ’11 and Daniel Rothberg Editors-in- Chief

n both scholarly endeavors and in athletics, Harvard-WestlakeWolverines have distinguished themselves in local and national contests, competing honorably and with grace. In just the last few years, Harvard-Westlake has been home to International Science Olympiad medalists, nationally recognized debaters, and state championship athletic teams. A few weeks ago, the California Interscholastic Federation recognized the top 10 girls’ athletics programs in Southern California. Citing State and Southern-Section championships in girls’ basketball, cross country, soccer, and track and field, CIF placed our girls’ athletics program at the top of the list, awarding it the CIF Commissioner’s Cup for 2010. There are Harvard-Westlake students who have earned the right to call themselves champions, and their outstanding achievements and stellar reputations reflect on the school and make us all look good.

All champions are winners, but not all winners are champions. There’s a big difference between being a winner and being a champion. You can’t become a champion by earning the highest score on an exam or by winning a single game – or even by winning many games.

And champions can quickly lose their status: Think of the “champion” who wins and then acts like a fool!

Winning is merely an outcome – at its most basic, one of two outcomes in any competition: win or lose. Becoming and being a champion is not an outcome; it is a process, a way of acting, a way of behaving. True champions are relentlessly positive and gracious always. True champions respond to a challenge with dignity. They rise

T

he first day of school can be both daunting and exciting. Sophomores will experience the endless flights of stairs, juniors will stop trying to carry all their books at once, and seniors will come to grips with the fact that the Common Application just did not get finished this summer. Nevertheless, we are all excited to meet new teachers, reconnect with friends, and share summer experiences.

Walking around campus and comparing first-day stories makes us all realize the abundance of classes and opportunities here at Harvard-Westlake. The curriculum guide doesn’t quite do justice to that one teacher that can change the way you feel about a subject, or that one club in which you find your passion. From the day we set foot on this campus, we are told to immerse ourselves and get involved in all that this place has to offer. No one doubts the presence of these opportunities; what’s missing is the time to take advantage of them all.

In a perfect world, we could take all the electives we wanted to, play the sport we left behind at the Middle School, and fight for a spot in the musical this fall.

However, at a school with such academic pressure, this is not a reality. We all benefit from Harvard-Westlake’s academic standard, but it often leaves us with little time to try new things.

In this type of environment, it is too easy to categorize one self as the drama kid, the baseball player, the history buff, or the Head Prefect. We get stuck on tracks, focusing on fewer and fewer interests.

The Prefect Council understands that sweeping change to life at school is not a realistic option. What it does believe, however, is that a number of small, incre-

The Chronicle evaluates recent campus developments.

A C-

above the fray, don’t involve themselves with the pettiness that can accompany longstanding rivalries. Aware of their strengths and their weaknesses, champions display confidence and humility don hagopian/chronicle in equal measure.

Harvard-Westlake is commonly regarded as a “school of champions,” and so it was disappointing when, last year, the California Interscholastic Federation (the same CIF that just awarded us the Commissioner’s Cup) cited our school for unsportsmanlike conduct during two of our competitions. Some of our fans – students and athletes – behaved poorly at those games, and while it would be easy enough to marginalize the incidents (only two competitions among hundreds that took place last year), we will instead seize upon this as a teaching opportunity.

This year, in class meetings and faculty meetings, we will decide for ourselves what good sportsmanship means at Harvard-Westlake and recommit to supporting our scholar-athletes in the most positive way possible.

Our students’ achievements have given us the right to call ourselves champions: Harvard-Westlake Champions. We all benefit from that reputation and have the responsibility to maintain it. To BE a champion means to live the life of a champion, to act like a champion – at athletic competitions and in our everyday interactions with each other. Our motto for this year, then, is Act Like Champions.

— Jeanne Huybretchs, Head of School

Taking smaller steps for change

makinggrades The Kutler Center will be built to connect the library and Seaver.

Opinion A11

Chronicle

B+

Locker selection was online this year.

F

Sophomore and Junior e-mails and passwords were changed during the summer.

School starting before Labor Day.

mental changes can really make a difference. If even a small portion of our stress is relieved, we would hope that the student body would have more freedom to explore, and to experience something different that this school has to offer.

As Head Prefects, we promise to do everything in our power to make this hope a reality. Let’s make the most of our time here, and best of luck for the year to come.

— Melanie Borinstein ’11 and Chris Holthouse ’11, Head Prefects

Chloe lister/Chronicle

student leaders: Head Prefects Melanie Borinstein ’11 and Chris Holthouse ’11 hope that the 2010-2011 school year brings more freedom for students.

wolverinecontest

Our new statues depict a real wolverine in nature.

Don’t we also need a sportier, perhaps less life-like mascot?

Calling all artists: Don’t you think it’s time that Harvard-Westlake had a proper logo to appear on clothing and other merchandise? Submit an original piece of artwork depicting your idea of what our Wolverine mascot should look like to chronicle@hw.com or to Weiler 108.

All entries are due by Sept. 30. Winners will be announced before Homecoming. *All submitted artwork will be property of Harvard-Westlake

exposure

Aug. 31, 2010

filling in the pieces Jim Doughan Middle School

A12

Nine new teachers join our campus this fall. From pottery teacher to biology teacher, each one helps to fill in the blanks on our campus.

Pentti Monkkonen Middle School

Acting and drama workshop

Pottery teacher

Fun fact: has worked with the LA Comedy troupe The Groundlings

Fun fact: taking over for Katie Palmer while she is on maternity leave. Preparing for his exhibition in Basel, Switzerland

Susannah Gordon Middle School 8th grade Integrated Science II and 9th grade biology

Celia Goedde Upper School

Fun fact: came back to teaching after a stint as a science writer because she “missed working with the kids”

US History and The World and Europe II Fun fact: loves opera music Alex Krikorian Middle School

Stephanie Portal Middle School

7th grade science and 8th grade debate teacher

French and Library and Technology teacher Fun fact: attended La Sorbonne in Paris, majoring in French literature

Fun fact: Looks to create a club dedicated to dinosaurs

Isaac Laskin ’98 Middle School 7th grade geography and culture, 9th grade The World and Europe I Fun fact: has already finished his lesson plans Florence Pi Middle School

Dylan Palmer Upper School

7th grade Integrated Science class and 9th grade biology

Introduction to Ceramics, 3-D Art, and Glass

Fun fact: was tracked down and offered a job this summer while she was in South Africa

Fun fact: has done a project involving a football post at the Upper School

graphic by Ingrid Chang and Mary Rose Fissinger

all photos Nathanson’s/Chronicle

Eatures F the

Chronicle Volume XX Issue I Aug. 31, 2010

Besides sunning on the beach and sightseeing in museums and ancient ruins, summer globetrotting took students to farflung places to attend expos and sporting contests.

B6-B7

Shanghai Los Angeles

Barcelona

Johannesburg

B2 Features

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

The Hijra

Muslim students who observe Ramadan have to fast while playing varsity sports.

balancing act

By Sade Tavangarian

“I don’t get treated differently, the coaches are aware so I do take breaks every now and then, but it’s pretty much the same.”

Fateh also participated in Hell Week, which also overlapped with the Ramadan calendar this year.

“It [Ramadan] was truly a whole new meaning when it came around this year because the calendar goes back every year depending on the moon. This year it went back 11 days and hell week made it a lot harder to fast, which is why my coaches decided it was not best for me to sleep over during Hell Week so I can get rested, eat at 4 a.m. , and get ready for practice,” said Fateh.

“The coaches have been really supportive about my situation. It is also helpful because my best friend Adel has basketball training so we hang out a lot during this time. It is easier when you have someone else in the same situation as you. My family also fasts with me.”

Aside from playing football, Fateh prays five times a day.

“It is good that you fast but you also have to pray. When you pray more it helps purify people and allows you to do better deeds.”

Kamal also fasts during basketball training.

The point of Ramadan for him is to learn about patience and humility.

—Adel Kamal ‘11 “I try to make a point that it shouldn’t be a handicap. They understand that and naturally they give lenience towards what I do. They don’t give up on me,” Kamal said.

He has been fasting every year since he was seven and finds it easier now because his entire family joins him.

“It’s part of your religion. It’s not optional unless you are sick and it shows dedication,” Kamal said.

He fasts for 30 days from sunrise which is about about 4:307:45 a.m. until sunset at 7:45 p.m. During the day you must reframe from food and drink, pray, avoid profanity, and stay on the right path,” said Kamal.

Kamal believes fasting helps him in basketball training because in comparison to when he is fasting, the season feels so much easier.

“Once you fast you can’t do anything about it. You have to fight through it. It is the time to bring goodness for yourself and focus on your religion and drain out distractions,” Kamal said.

“People think it’s a grueling experience, but its not that bad. You try to keep your mind off it. I think of it as missing lunch,” Kamal said.

I

t’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the football team is practicing during their second “two a day.”

As the team breaks for water after practicing a play, something appears to be wrong in the picture. All the players run to take a water break while one player watches his teammates quench their thirst in the hot summer sun. In fact, he can’t eat or drink any substance from sunrise to sunset because he’s fasting for Ramadan. Shortly the break ends, and as the football players begin their new play, his teammates look at him in awe.

Noor Fateh ’11 and Adel Kamal ’11 are both devout Muslims who celebrate Ramadan and happen to have varsity sport practices during their time of fasting.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic C a l e n d a r, —Noor Fateh ‘11 also called Hijra, and is a 30 day period during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Fasting includes refraining from eating, drinking, and sexual relations.

Ramadan began on Aug. 11 and ends Sept. 9, clashing with Fateh’s intensive football training and Hell Week and Kamal’s basketball training.

Fateh’s typical morning schedule includes waking up at 4 a.m. to eat a big breakfast his mom prepares. He eats and drinks, and prays, and becoming fully hydrated to start an early morning practice.

“It’s been over 100 degrees on the field and I can’t have any liquid so the trainers help me out by giving me a lot of wet towels to cool down. The trainers understand my situation and are a big help,” Fateh said.

“I thought I would get lightheaded or quit, but I’ve been keeping up and I’m staying strong so far. It’s a good feeling you went the whole day without eating or drinking because you’ve held it throughout the day,” he said.

Fateh set a goal to push himself this year and practice Ramadan the full 30 days. He started to fast around the age of 10, but due to his intense sports schedule it has been tough to follow through. However, Fateh said, “now I realize it’s important that I do this because it is an important time of the year for Muslims.”

“Last year when I fasted during Ramadan I struggled. I did it for two weeks then I gave in. The point of Ramadan is to teach patience and I thought it was important for that I could fast the full 30 days this year to teach me what I had strayed away of last year,” said Fateh.

“

It’s been over 100 degrees on the field and I can’t have any liquid.”

“

Once you fast you can’t do anything about it. You have to fight through it”

Ramadan:

the breakdown This year Ramadan began on Aug. 11 and will end on Sept. 9.

<<

Ramadan, also called Hijra, is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar.

<<

Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan or the end of the lunar period. Eid ulFitr means the Festival of Breaking the Fast.

Most Muslims fast for 30 days. Fasting includes refraining from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.

Iftari, a big evening meal with extra sweet and savoury foods, but still a balanced diet, is served after the sunset prayer.

<<

Food is donated to the poor. Everyone puts on their best outfits. Communal prayers are held during Eid ul-Fitr.

<<

<<

Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality.

Praying is a vital component and Muslims have to offer more prayer than usual.

Infographic by Sade Tavangarian Source: Ramadan awareness campaign

Aug. 31, 2010

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shaky grounds: A memorial to a victim of the earthquake in l’Aquila lays in front of rubble (at top). Freisleben ’11 conducts an interview with a victim’s advocate (at right). The now vacant quarter of l’Aquila once housed 20,000 residents (below). A tower is under construction after damages from the quake (above). An Italian flag hangs over a hole in the wall of a building with the phrase “Jemo ’nnanzi” meaning “We keep moving forward” (center).

Jordan Freisleben/chronicle

Remembering

a forgotten town

By Camille

de

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Winner of the Junior Summer Fellowship award, Jordan Freisleben ’11, left L’Aquila, Italy in June with the devastation of an earthquake pulling at her heart’s strings.

More than a year and a half after a 6.3 Richter scale earthquake hit the small town of l’Aquila in the region of Abruzzo, Freisleben found it still in shambles, filled with rubble, debris and with little to no building efforts made since the earthquake.

Tens of thousands were still left homeless and the majority of the city was closed off, Freisleben said.

Every year the school rewards one student a grant to travel to a destination of his or her liking to explore a topic of choice.

Freisleben, who was interviewing residents to create an investigative report on the aftermath of the quake, stayed in a small hotel in l’Aquila.

She was the only tourist staying in the 50 room hotel. The others were displaced residents whose stay was subsidized by the government. Arriving with her camera, laptop and suitcases, Freisleben barely had enough space in the tiny little room for herself and her stuff, she said.

“Can you imagine the displaced residents living there? With a family? It was heartbreaking,” Freisleben said.

The historic center of the town was demolished. Only one street remains open. The heart of the center, the main plaza in the historic part of the town is partially closed off, Freisleben said.

Freisleben interviewed several Italians who were affected by the earthquake. Some were left without a home and living in small pensiones, which are small hotels. Her subjects varied from local officials to university students.

Junior Summer Fellowship winner Jordan Freisleben ’11 found no signs of recovery in a central Italian village more than a year after a catastrophic earthquake.

One of Freisleben’s subjects was a journalist who was a student when the earthquake hit.

She was left with no personal belongings; she was forced to leave everything behind, running out of her home at 3 a.m. wearing pajamas.

Freisleben interviewed a 17-year-old student whose house was demolished in the earthquake.

No one has made an effort to help give him a home, and Freisleben met him while he was protesting local officials by himself.

Another compelling interview was with another young Italian subject who is a victim’s advocate.

This organization is against the government’s lack of help and action in Abruzzo; they take in displaced residents in order to advocate on behalf of the people to work towards getting people housing instead of waiting around for the government who has neglected to help. Dissatisfaction among the people of l’Aquila is universal, Freisleben said.

Freisleben explained that the government’s lack of response in l’Aquila is due to the lack of initiative to rebuild the city. With little tourism and no historic structures that receive money from tourism, l’Aquila is not a priority in the government’s eyes, she said.

“Italy is not a third world country, so you would think the disaster could be handled in a smaller amount of time,” Freisleben said.

Compared to other parts of Italy, Abruzzo is regarded as one of the poorer regions of Italy simply because it doesn’t garner tourism. One of Freisleben’s interviews revealed that Italians do not believe that they can count on other countries for aid when their own country will not help victims and rebuilding.

People were living in tents for months after the earthquake and there was inefficiency in housing.

“The main question became to find a united effective way to overcome the aftermath,” Freisleben said.

If this were Florence, the situation wouldn’t be like this – l’Aquila isn’t known at the international level, people pushed it aside, said one of her interviewees.

“Even Italians say, ‘Where is l’Aquila?’ because they forgot it ever happened,” Freisleben said.

Freisleben said many residents suffered from post traumatic stress disorder because of the devastation.

“Older and middle aged people have worked their entire lives and lost everything with no way to recover it,” she said, “They feel anger and frustration as they continue to be ignored by the media. A year and a half has gone by and the region continues to look as it did on the day of the earthquake. People aren’t sleeping, some are sleeping fully clothed with fear they’ll have to get up and evacuate.”

Leaving the small town, Freisleben said she felt a lot of guilt. She said she had acheived her goals; however, leaving a town in shambles with crushed buildings, crushed schools, no culture, no economy, to return to a beautiful school, an undamaged home, a personal room, left her upset.

“People have lost everything – their home and families – I’m coming back to my family and my home without any problems,” Freisleben said.

What she called the most culturally enriching experience in her life left her wanting more. Freisleben wants to go back to Italy as soon as possible. With arguably no money to rebuild, Aquilani say it’s a political problem that plagues l’Aquila.

Freisleben plans to advocate political awareness and continue her efforts to help the devastated town that touched her heart forever.

Aug. 31, 2010

Features B5

The

Chronicle

High Stakes

By Catherine Wang

Meet Zoe*, one of five seniors ready to share her tale of the college admissions process to Chronicle readers in the next eight issues.

Zoe has wanted to go to New York University since she was seven. She will apply to the university’s Tisch School of Arts. She has a clear career path in mind – one she will pursue regardless of the school she ends up attending.

She has attended summer programs related to this career for the past two summers, and she hopes her passion will be evident to NYU. When asked what draws her to NYU, she replied: “the location. There are lots of resources available, and I can be inspired by a lot of individuals.”

If Zoe is not accepted to NYU in the early pool, she will apply to a number of urban schools that have strong arts programs, including University of Southern California, Chapman University, Emerson University and Loyola Marymount University.

During the summer, Zoe began working on her college essay. Tisch School requires supplementary materials, including a portfolio, so she will be busy compiling her work over the next two months.

“Of course I’m really nervous [about the college admissions process], but I think everyone is. I just want to know where I am going to go, so I’m excited about that.”

Carter:

the Brain

As of now, Aiden* does not want to apply to any school early.

“There really isn’t a school that stands out to me as a best choice,” he said. “I want to have more time to think about it. I don’t want to be tied down to any school.”

Aiden’s academic interests include history and science, but his academic interests have not particularly affected his college search.

“I’m looking at the school on a whole,” he said.

He is interested in attending a large school “comfortably” close to a city. Location in the country is not a major factor to him. Schools he is interested in applying to include University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Northwestern Univer-

Alexis:

the Athlete Madison*, who describes herself as very “chill and relaxed” about the college admissions process, knows what type of school she wants to attend: small, diverse, strong in performing arts, and on the East Coast.

Right now, she plans on applying to Wesleyan University early decision. Her intended major is a popular one at the school.

“Everyone there has a great appreciation for the arts,” she said. Madison visited Wesleyan early in the summer and loved its rural location.

“But I mean, it’s only an hour and a

Chapter 1: Five superhero seniors begin their missions to conquer the college admissions process, ready to battle the evil forces along the way.

Carter, who wants to major in applied math or physics, will apply early to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, and University of Chicago, none of which are restrictive. The three schools all have strong math and science departments, and MIT and CalTech both have better acceptance rates for early application, he said.

There are schools he will apply to regular decision that he wouldn’t consider “safeties,” such as Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.

Unlike Harvard and Princeton, Stanford does offer early application, but Carter does not like that it is restrictive.

Zoe: the Artist

“I guess I’m weird in the sense that I don’t care about a lot of factors,” he said.

“The Jumbo Tour during spring break taught me that I could be happy at a school in any location or any size.”

Carter has yet to decide what safety schools he will apply to if he does not get into any of the three schools.

Asked about his thoughts on the college process, Carter replied: “I guess there’s this abstract entity looming over all of us that’s the college we want to apply to. We’ve never talked to this entity, we don’t know its desires or its intents, but we’re required to appease this entity.”

sity, and Duke University. University of Pennsylvania has caught his eye as well, but he considers it as a “reach” school.

Aiden has a hand in many extra-curricular activities. He is a school club president, athlete, and a member of numerous school and non-school related organizations, including Model United Nations and Student Ambassadors. He has also held several volunteer jobs. But what Aiden hopes will set him apart as an applicant most is his ethnicity and socioeconomic background.

Over the summer, Aiden began filling in the Common Application and brainstorming essay topics.

“I’m just trying to find a topic that will get across who I am in one essay,” he said.

Alexis*, a high-level athlete, is being recruited by several Division I colleges.

For her, what matters in a school is its athletics; she hopes to attend a school with a strong athletic program. She is also interested in studying sports medicine.

“I want the school to really care about athletics, and that people are unified,” she said.

Over the summer, Alexis sent e-mails and films of her playing her sport to various coaches.

“Recently, coaches began being able to call us, so we’ve been talking,” she said.

half away from the city,” she said.

As for safety schools, Madison is thinking about Syracuse University and Boston University, both of which have strong performing arts programs. She also has “connections” at both schools.

“I would love to go to either of them,” she said. “I’m going to try really hard to get into the schools I want to go to, but I know I’ll be happy wherever I go.”

Madison is looking forward to the college admissions journey ahead of her.

“Everything is meant to be. I honestly believe that,” she said. “Where you end up – you have to embrace it.”

Aiden: All-around

Alexis is in contact with Emory University, Saint Mary’s College of California, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Alexis’s application process will differ greatly from that of most applicants. She has already taken unofficial visits to five schools, and in the fall she will take several official visits, meaning the school pays for the trip. She has already confirmed her trip to St. Mary’s and UMBC. “It’s stressful, but exciting,” Alexis said.

“Hopefully, I’ll have signed a letter of intent in November and will be committed somewhere.”

Madison: the Performer

* names have been changed ILLUSTRATIONS BY MELISSA GERTLER

B6 Features

The

Chron

Worldwide spectator Courtesy of Jonathan Chu

Better City, Better life: Jonathan Chu ’12 visits the World Expo in Shanghai.

Cultures commune in China

By Justine

goode

As a visitor to the Shanghai World Expo, Tiffany Liao ’12 was able to experience a global expedition over the course of few short days, and without leaving a site two square miles in size. During her visit, she sampled Peruvian purple corn juice, got a henna tattoo from Qatar, watched Tibetan monks dance, and even encountered a giant robot baby from Spain.

The theme of the exposition is “Better City – Better Life”, and has an official theme song sung by Jackie Chan. Shanghai beat out cities in South Korea, Russia, Mexico and Poland to become the site of the 54th World Expo.

With pavilions representing 192 countries and a projected 100 million visitors in total, the Shanghai World Expo bears the distinction of being both the most expensive and largest World’s Fair in history.

Liao said that the most popular pavilions included

China and Saudi Arabia, the latter of which had a 12-hour wait time for those in line. Less popular with the crowds was the United States pavilion, which featured a video montage of Americans attempting to correctly pronounce the Mandarin greeting “ni hao”.

Elaine Tang ’12, had the opportunity to volunteer at the Expo through a program sponsored by two Chinese universities. “All of the architecture was really cool, especially Saudi Arabia’s ‘moon boat’,” she said.

Relics of past fairs can still be seen all over the world, including the Space Needle (Seattle 1962), Disney’s “it’s a small world” ride (New York 1964), and the Eiffel Tower (Paris 1889).

Jonathan Chu ’12 preferred the UK pavilion, or “Seed Cathedral”, a building with 60,000 spikes jutting out of it from all angles. “Although it wasn’t the largest, the inside was spectacular,” said Chu.

Courtesy of elLA Marks

victorious: Hunter Stanley ’13 (left) and Jake Feiler ’13 (right) celebrate.

Joining Spain’s victory celebration

By Caitie Benell Fireworks exploded in the streets as people ran through with flags held high, singing songs and celebrating all night long. A parade in Madrid, and parties all week long brought Spain to life just because of one victory.

Many Harvard-Westlake students were in Spain during the Spanish National soccer team’s exciting success at the World Cup. Some were a part of the Oxbridge summer program and others on vacation.

“The real celebration lasted all night and Spain was crazy for at least another week,” Hunter Stanley ’13 said.

Spain’s celebrations became so extreme that students enrolled in the Oxbridge program had to stay inside their residence for the night. Because of all the excitement and people out in the streets, the administrators of Oxbridge didn’t want any of

their students to get injured or lost. However, just below their windows, they heard singing, honking horns and screaming.

“Me and my friends opened up our windows and started cheering with random people driving down the street,” Mikaila Mitchell ’13 said. The students were able to resume their normal activities the next day, but parties still raged on for the entire week.

“It just seemed like the whole city was excited and that even though the people weren’t all one, the city just felt more alive.” Jake Feiler ’13 said.

Before Spain emerged as champions, people dressed up in jerseys and wore Spain’s colors to watch the game, which had been all anyone could talk about.

“Spain celebrated for at least a week, but even after that there were posters and Spanish flags up all over the city congratulating them,” Jake Feiler ’13 said.

Features B7

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Summer travels center on sporting and entertainment spectacles all around the globe.

Comic-Con attracts many fans

By Olivia Kwitny From programming and anime to the Independent Film Festival and games, the comic convention in San Diego, California lured over 13,000 fans, including comic creators, celebrities, gaming pros, and many Harvard-Westlake students.

Students were excited to meet actors from their favorite shows. Timmy Weston ’11 said, “It was really cool to get to meet Vinnie Jones and Summer Glau.”

The show’s guest lineup comprised some of the world’s most talented creators in the world of comics, ranging from the most in vogue to the international and allied branches of the industry.

Some of the celebrities who attended the event were Angelina Jolie, Bruce Willis, and Tina Fey. “It was huge,” said Brian Harwitt ’11. “It took me 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other.”

Some of the booths in what some call “Hollywood’s Geek

Week” included the ever-popular “Star Wars” booth, featuring characters from “The Clone Wars,” a Thor-themed one that had a larger than life throne of Odin and for TVgoers the ABC TV show “No Ordinary Family,” displaying a prop car with hydraulics underneath, so fans could get a picture of themselves lifting a sedan.

“I really enjoyed the Vinyl Toy Booths, like Kidrobot, Munky King, Mega 64, and Super 7,” Justin Bretter ’11 said.

“Being able to see the different TV show panels was awesome. Especially, my favorite TV show, “Psych”. One of the main characters in it even tap danced,” said Harwitt ’11.

Alongside Comic-Con’s eclectic variety of booths and panels, the expo also featured an eclectic art show, where drawings, paintings, jewelry, and sculpture are present. It contains works of both amateurs and professionals.

“It’s the perfect place for a teenage guy — video games, art, TV shows, comic, movies. I didn’t even know where to begin when I got there,” Weston said.

Courtesy of Hannah Lichtenstein

waka waka: Hannah Lichtenstein ’13 sits and watches a Netherlands game in South Africa.

Witnessing World Cup firsthand

By Michael Rothberg

The roar of passionate soccer fans shouting and cheering echoed violently throughout the stadium on a chilly day in Johannesburg, South Africa. On the field, the opposing teams scrambled for control of the ball. Ty Gilhuly ’13 was watching the game intently, when suddenly one of the players took a wild shot towards the corner of the goal and scored. Instantly, all 50,000 people stood up and the entire stadium erupted into pandemonium.

From June 11 to July 11, several HarvardWestlake students visited South Africa to attend the 2010 World Cup. Hannah Lichtenstein ’13, an avid soccer fan, attended both the 2006 and 2010 tournaments.

“It was amazing. Even though everybody was

rooting for different teams, there was a positive energy in the stadium,” she said.

After 23 exhausting hours of travelling, Gilhuly arrived in South Africa. He attended six games, his favorite being Brazil versus the Ivory Coast.

“I have never seen anything like it. The fans were ecstatic and the players were phenomenal,” Gilhuly said. Coincidentally, Gilhuly ran into his soccer coach, Freddy Arroyo at one of the games.

“Being in the stadiums during these games was electrifying! The atmosphere and euphoria from fans was amazing, especially with people blowing their Vuvuzelas [noisemakers] nonstop,” Arroyo said.

“The World Cup was a great success and we were all lucky to witness it,” Gilhuly said.

gRAPHIC bY jOYCE kIM AND oLIVIA kWITNY

B8 Features

The

Making models

By Claire Hong

M

Aug. 31, 2010

Chronicle

elissa Gertler ’11 spent hours building a cardboard chair, only to have it crushed by her class instructor.

As part of the architecture program she attended at the University of Southern California, Gertler was required to make a chair with only cardboard that could withstand 150 pounds. To determine whether her chair passed the test, the instructors nathanson ’s/chronicle sat on it, trying to break it.

Melissa Gertler’11 “Mine only somewhat survived,” Gertler said.

Gertler was one of three seniors involved in architecture projects this summer.

She spent two weeks in the program, working 11 hours a day: nine for architecture and two for drawing.

During the program, Gertler went on two field trips with her class, where she visited renowned buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Bradbury Building, the Getty Center and LACMA. Gertler said she wanted to try out architecture because “in the middle of junior year, I realized that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study in college.” Gertler said that she had always been interested in art and so decided to sign up for the summer

Working in the architecture field during the summer gave three seniors a different perspective of the possible career option.

COURTESY OF BEN KOGAN

program at USC. Although she plans to keep her options open, the program convinced Gertler to apply to most colleges to major in architecture.

Ben Kogan ’11 learned about Chicago’s architectural history as an intern this summer at the Chicago-based firm, 4240 Architecture.

His internship lasted for four weeks, during which he worked 10 hours every week day. His first few days were spent making small nathanson ’s/chronicle changes to building blueprints in AutoCAD, software created for Ben Kogan ’11 3-D design.

The majority of his time was spent working on a scaled architectural model. He was responsible for creating parts of the model, such as the walls and windows, based on a set of drawings.

Kogan’s interest in applied sciences, design and visual arts persuaded him to look into architecture, which incorporated all three subjects. His trip to Chicago spurred on his interest in architecture.

“My experience this summer has given me a new appreciation for buildings,” he said.

Although he is still undecided in his career choice, he said architecture will be an option.

Looking back at his experiences, Kogan believes his favorite moment was when he asked one of the architects what interested him in the field.

“His hands became animated as he talked,” Kogan said. “He seemed to be shaping the air into buildings with his fingers at the same time he was explaining how architecture is the transformation of ideas into concrete, tangible forms.”

Luna Ikuta’s ’11 love of art led her to explore architecture. She nathanson ’s/chronicle attended the Otis College of Art and Design’s Summer of Art pro- Luna Ikuta ’11 gram, specializing in architecture.

“I wanted to try it because I love art and I’m good at math, so I thought architecture could be a good fit for me,” she said.

The program was held in July and classes were seven hours a day. The program featured both architecture and drawing classes.

“It was my first time taking drawing lessons, and I ended up really getting into it,” she said.

In her architecture class, Ikuta created floor plans and sketched elevation plans based on her building designs. She also built models of her building.

Three projects that were assigned to her were to build a kiosk, a beach club and a skyscraper.

Ikuta said she loved the program and that it will definitely influence where she wants to attend college.

“It was great to discover something that I never knew I loved,” she said.

Trying out military life

By Mary Rose Fissinger At 4:30 a.m., Rachel Katz ’11 woke up to a piercing horn blowing outside. However, she was not alarmed in the slightest. She had been awakened in a similar manner every day for a week now and knew what to expect. As she rose, dressed in the appropriate uniform, made her bed, and arranged herself in the stance mandatory for morning inspections, the yelling started.

“Cadet candidates, have you conducted hygiene, are your shirts tucked in, hospital corners made? I’m coming in whether you’re prepared or not!”

Moments later, a sergeant entered through the door, and conducted a thorough inspection of Katz’s uniform, stance and room. Once she passed the inspection, her day could officially begin.

Katz was one of three seniors who spent the summer at a military academy. Though not your traditional summer vacation, Katz found her one week stay at West Point, also known as the United States Military Academy, to be an amazing and enlightening experience.

“There was a part of it I absolutely embraced,” she said, “and I enjoyed the challenge. It was incredible.”

Katz has been interested in applying to West Point for college for some time now. The application process began in December of her junior year, and differs greatly from the average application. There are “rounds of elimination,” as she referred to them, and, after a few rounds, the remaining applicants (roughly 10 percent of the original pool, she said) are invited to the summer program where “you live the life of a cadet for a week,” she said.

Mitchel Oei ’11 and Catherine Wang ’11 had a similar experience this summer, each spending a week at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Oei learned of the program through a friend, and Wang was drawn to it through a brochure the Academy had sent her.

“There was an astronaut on the cover, and I want to be an astronaut,” she said, laughing.

Katz, Oei and Wang all had similarly structured days. Early wake up calls, meals, classes, study hall, exercising, and the occasional field trip or speaker.

“There is no down time whatsoever,” Wang remarked.

However, that did not seem to bother any of them.

“It kind of seems intense, but overall it was a really enjoyable experience, and the programs

“

before, i didn’t even know anything about the armed forces, let alone the navy.”

—Catherine Wang ’11

were really interesting,” Oei said.

His classes were mostly math or science related, including an ocean engineering class in which he learned how to build structures in the water.

For his oceanography class, he recalled, one day his class went out to the Chesapeake Bay on a patrol boat and took water samples to analyze.

After their experiences, both Oei and Wang are planning on applying to the Naval Academy.

While Oei had considered this as a possibility before, it was a completely new idea for Wang.

“Before, I didn’t even know anything about the armed forces, let alone the Navy,” she said.

To be admitted to the Naval Academy, a student must show aptitude and promise in the three areas of the Academy’s triple mission: mental, moral, and physical. In addition to submitting grades, test scores, and essays, prospective students must pass a physical exam of two parts.

Wang’s decision to apply is a testament to how fully the summer program affected her. She had applied for the summer program simply to broaden her horizons.

“I thought I’d never have the opportunity again, and I wanted to see how these people live,” she said.

Katz’s experience at West Point also helped to broaden her horizons, but with different consequences. Despite her positive experience this summer, she is now unsure if West Point is the right college for her.

“I’m more conflicted… Some truths were brought to light that I had deluded myself into obscuring from view,” she said.

She now must decide between West Point Academy and a small liberal arts college, the other setting she knows she would enjoy for the next four years.

“I know whether I end up there or at a liberal arts college, something in me won’t be satiated,” she said.

COURTESY OF RACHEL KATZ

Attention: Rachel Katz ’11 (left) stands with her squad and sergeant during her stay at West Point over the summer.

Keeping military time

Rachel Katz’s ’11 schedule at West Point

0430 0445 0500 0615 0730

Reveille

The wake-up call is played on horns.

Room check

Sergeants inspect the cadet candidates’ rooms and uniforms.

Physical training

Cadet candidates complete obstacle courses and run.

Breakfast Formation

Roll call is taken and the cadets salute and stand in units.

0800

Morning seminars

1200 1300

Lunch

1630

Afternoon seminars Military training

Cadet candidates practice throwing grenades and shooting.

1800 2000

Dinner

2100

Intramural sports

2345

Taps

0030

Lights out

Study hall

Trumpets sound to end the day.

SOURCE: RACHEL KATZ GRAPHIC BY ALLISON HAMBURGER AND CLAIRE HONG

Aug. 31, 2010

A&E B9

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photos Courtesy of Christopher Moore

JAZZ HANDS: Ariana Lanz ‘13 rehearses for a class performance.

Stage fright: Students from all grades who participated in the Summer Intensive Acting Workshop gathered

Taking the stage

By Jessica Barzilay

and

Luke Holthouse

Standing in front of 24 of his peers, Noah Ross ‘12 leaned in to give his friend Daniele Wieder ‘12 a kiss. Summer romance? No. Summer Intensive Acting Workshop? Yes. Twenty-six Harvard-Westlake students participated in the Summer Intensive Acting Workshop, a three-week program held in Rugby Theatre in addition to the Dance Studio, Drama Lab, and several classrooms in Rugby. The main directors of the program were Chris Moore, Upper School Performing Arts teacher, Rees Pugh, Upper School Performing Arts Department Head, and Daniel Faltus, Director of the upcoming Upper School musical, Pippin.

for a group picture after three weeks of experimenting in and learning about all different forms of performance art.

26 take a final curtain call for the Summer Intensive Acting Workshop.

A total of 28 students and 31 instructors, directors, and teachers were a part of the program.

From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Monday through Friday, students participated in over 20 different workshops practicing theater skills such as stage combat and wordless communication. The program featured two evening theater field trips. Students saw “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” a comedy about an Irish terrorist trying to avenge the death of his cat, and “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the story of a man living a scandalous double life.

The students also put on two productions over the course of the three weeks, putting their new skills to work.. The first of performance on July 9 presented 13 different scenes or short plays , and the second on

July 10 showcased the 20 different workshops.

For some students, one of the highlights of the program was the opportunity to branch out socially in a way that only the intensi-ve acting workshop would allow.

“One of my favorite parts was spending a lot of time with people I wouldn’t normally hang out with,” Olivia Schiavelli ’12 said.

Other students enjoyed experimenting with different forms of performance art. For example, Daniele Wieder ’12 dabbled in styles she had never before tried, such as the Fosse style of dance.

“I got to figure out things I really like in theater and even the things I didn’t like as much I got an appreciation for,” she said.

Music fills hills at Idyllwild Arts

By Alex Gura

Courtesy of Starr Wayne

Orchestrating Art: Laurel J. Wayne ‘13, May Peterson ‘13, Emma Peterson ‘11, Leah Shapiro ‘13, Anna Wittenberg ‘13, Lizzie Pratt ‘11, Meghan Hartman ‘12 and Jake Chapman ‘12 (from left) studied at camp.

Campers call Interlochen ‘life-changing’

By Nika Madyoon It started as a shaving cream fight. One thing led to another, and paint was being flung every which way. Everyone was bathed in color, running back and forth and screaming at the top of their lungs. It turns out students do more than practice music at band camp. It seems that no matter who you ask, a summer at Interlochen Center for the Arts in northern Michigan is described as the best summer of one’s life.

Many memories like this one, recounted by Lizzy Pratt ’11, were made this summer at Interlochen in northern Michigan.

The world-renowned camp, which attracted students from 49 states and 46 countries this year, provided an unforgettable experience for the 11 Harvard-Westlake students who attended.

The camp is known for its high caliber and intensity and also for its ability to make artists of every field better at and more passionate about their skill.

Middle School Performing Arts teacher Starr Wayne, who spent six summers at Interlochen as a student and accompanied students there this year, regards the institution very highly.

“In the world of classical music, it is the premier educational summer program in the country for middle and high school students.

The level of every art—music, dance, theater, creative writing, film, and visual arts — is unbelievably high,” she said.

She enjoyed this summer especially because she was able to see her students soak in the experience.

Upper School Performing Arts teacher Shawn Costantino attended Interlochen as a student the summer before his senior year of high school.

“To me, Interlochen was one of the most life changing opportunities I’ve ever had. I was around great musicians, many of whom were better than me and I gained a large exposure to college recruiters that until that time had never heard of me,” he said.

According to the Interlochen website, “Each summer, 2,500 students come to Interlochen to train intensively with renowned instructors, producing more than 400 presentations in music, theatre, dance, visual arts, creative writing and motion picture arts.”

Pratt has been spending her summers at Interlochen since sixth grade, almost always focusing on playing the bassoon, although she did try a creative writing program one summer.

Meghan Hartman ’12 also had only good things to say about her summer at Interlochen. The three summers she has spent there have dramatically improved her

technique and ability in playing the cello.

“The teachers are absolutely incredible and so accomplished and really help develop my technique and tone,” Hartman said.

Interlochen always kept Hartman busy and on track. Hartman explained that playing music with others was a one-of-a-kind experience that allowed for the development of strong bonds between friends.

“You really do develop a close bond between people because you’re playing music together and sharing your emotions and thoughts while playing. It’s really unique to communicate via music,” she said.

This artistic means of communication was particularly useful when it came to associating with the international campers who didn’t speak English very well. said Hartman. She joked that her only complaint was the excess of mosquitos and bugs at the camp.

“The things you learn about your passion for arts and music are beyond anything I can explain verbally. It is truly one of the most amazing and special places on earth,” Costantino said.

It’s no wonder that Pratt saw an auditorium filled with bawling students once the final concert, Les Preludes, came to a close.

“None of us wanted to leave,” she said.

From performing in Broadway musicals to playing Baroque classics, upper school students participated in a variety of musical and theatrical subjects at Idyllwild Summer Arts Camp. This year, nearly a dozen students from Harvard-Westlake attended Idyllwild where Rodger Guerrero, Upper School Vocal Director, was one of the seven conductors for the Idyllwild High School Choir.

Students including Sophia Penske ‘13 and Eric Slotsve ’11 said their skills were dramatically improved after attending Idyllwild.

“Spending the two weeks singing with Chapman University students helped me with pretty much everything about singing,” said Slotsve. “I picked up techniques that they were teaching and my sight singing skill went up quite a bit.”

Slotsve first learned of the camp in an e-mail from Nina Burtchaell, Head of the Middle School choir, during the summer between freshman and sophomore year.

“Since I loved being in Madrigals that year, I looked into it and it seemed like a really neat thing to try out” Slotsve said.

Slotsve ended up joining the high school choir program at Idyllwild and has been attending for the past two summers.

For Penske, it was the content that drew her to the program.

“We would dance in the morning until 12, have lunch, sing until five, have dinner, and then sing for another hour,” Penske said of her daily schedule.

She said the final show, which included selections from a compilation of musical numbers, such as “Shrek the Musical” and “The Lion King”, was her favorite part of the camp.

For many, though, the Idyllwild experience was primarily about the people.

“You get to bond with kids around your age from all over the country, and out of the country, on the basis of a love for music,” Slotsve said.

One of the best things about this year’s choir, according to him, was its small size. Though usually made up of about 150 kids, this year the choir included around 100 choir students, and fewer college students this year.

For Hannah Schoen ’12, it was the attitude of the kids that shone.

“All the kids gave their best and were so into it,” she said, “even the ones that weren’t as talented had something to contribute.”

B10 A&E

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

LIVE

from the Oak Room

Hank Adelmann ’11 and Jordan Bryan ’11 perform a live show with their jazz group in Pacific Palisades.

By Joyce Kim

[Shawn] Costantino who has given us the experience of playing at local restaurants like Drummer Jordan Bryan ’11 and bassist Vitello’s and Vibrato as part of our school Hank Adelmann ’11 performed in their first combos over the past few years.” jazz show at the Oak Room in the Pacific Bryan credits landing the job to a comPalisades last Wednesday. bination of his mother’s promotional skills “Without a doubt, it was the best experi- and owner of the Oak Room Jansen Lashence of my summer and recent life,” Bryan ley-Haynes’ generosity. Bryan had sent in a said. recording of the group, and Lashley-Haynes Bryan and Adelmann were joined by pia- offered them the date. nists Isaac Wilson and Micah Gordon, both “These kids rock. We actually had the students at Windward School. best night in nine months,” Lashley-Haynes “Everybody in the past couple of months said. has really stepped it up to a new level. Jordan, When it came to choosing a set list, the Micah, and Isaac are musicians were already some of the best mufamiliar with a number sicians I know, which of widely known songs, These kids Rock. made playing live mostly from a collecWe actually Had the tion of jazz songs called music with them exhilarating,” Adelmann the Real Book. ThereBest night in Nine said. fore, one rehearsal was The first gig was sufficient for their two Months.” such a success they a half hour show.

—Jansen Lashely-Haynes, and“Basically have been rehired to Real owner of the Oak Room Book tunes make up play at the Oak Room the third Wednesday the bread and butof every month. ter of a jazz set because one really only has “Due entirely to our wonderful supporters, the right to call themselves a jazz musician the Oak Room reported the best Wednesday if they know a fair amount of these songs,” night business they have had in six months, Bryan said. so I believe that is a huge part of our getting Most of the songs performed were by jazz rehired,” Bryan said. “Going into the school musician Miles Davis. year, we obviously don’t expect those kind of “We played a lot of jazz standards, some numbers on a consistent basis, but it was a with twists, we all love these tunes and have great start and we’re going to try to keep a all played them many times before,” Adelsteady flow of people coming into the restau- mann said. rant in the coming months.”

In preparation for future shows, “we’re Although the show was not affiliated with looking forward to expanding our set list the Harvard-Westlake Music department, and exploring more complex arrangements Bryan said, “I have to give a lot of credit to in future shows,” Bryan said.

“

joyce kim/chronicle

Rehearsal: Jordan Bryan ‘11 and Hank Adelmann ‘11 prepare for their performance at the Oak Room in the Pacific Palisades.

‘Pippin’ auditions to start Thursday

By Emily Khaykin

courtesy of cyndy winter

native beats: Margalit Oved sings and drums for attentive dancers at the Summer Dance Intensive.

Dance Magazine covers summer workshops taught by internationally acclaimed performer

By Jessica Barzilay Internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer and singer Margalit Oved performed a collection of her ethnic dances at the Summer Dance Intensive July 27, as a reporter from Dance Magazine looked on. The magazine contacted performing arts teacher Cyndy Winter in order to catch a glimpse of Oved, Winter’s former teacher, at work.

Oved led workshops at Winter’s yearly summer course, a program she has been running for several years and one that features a multitude of other elite guest artists.

Winter works all year to recruit a variety of “the most talented and interesting dance artists” for the Summer Dance Intensive, she said. This year’s program represented styles as diverse as Yemenite, African, Urban Latin, salsa, capoeira, modern and contemporary, each taught by different guest specialists.

“I believe that the more styles and philosophies of dance young dancers are exposed to the better. Opening their eyes to new ways of moving and thinking

about dance, dance artists, and the world is important to their growth as performers and choreographers,” Winter said.

Oved first dabbled in the field of Israeli folk dance, before touring the world as the Inbal Theater Company of Israel’s prima ballerina. After dancing in such venues for 15 years, Oved began what would become a 22 year career as a lecturer for modern and ethnic dances at the University of California, Los Angeles. She both taught students in the classroom and choreographed pieces for the university’s dance company.

Later on in her career, Oved appeared in films as a guest dancer before debuting her one-woman show, a four-part experience comprising of dance, theater, and music. Following the overwhelmingly positive press response to this show, she founded the Margalit Oved Dance Theater Company, the enterprise responsible for first introducing her to Winter.

Winter toured internationally as the lead dancer at Oved’s company for many years. Even after her stint with the company Winter continued to dance with Oved, whose career as an artis-

tic director and artist took her all over the world, from Israel to Europe to the United States.

A writer from Dance Magazine approached Winter and requested permission to observe Oved at work teaching the students at the Intensive. Oved shared a selection of her ethnic dances from her time with the Inbal Theater Company, as well as performing pieces on the drum as she sang.

She also recited a portion of her acclaimed ballad “Through the Gate of Eden.” Oved’s son, Barak Marshall, whose company performs around the globe, taught the afternoon session as well.

“She is really inspiring and she has her completely own style,” Fredel Romano ’11 said of Oved’s lessons and performances.

The reporter was impressed with the students and the Intensive, and she expressed interest in returning. The article featuring Oved will likely run in the October issue of Dance Magazine, a publication circulated throughout the dance world since 1927.

“She is a great treasure and I am so happy that my students are able to experience her both as artist and as teacher,” Winter said.

Auditions for the fall musical, “Pippin,” will begin Thursday in the choral room and dance studio. Audition materials are available on the Performing Arts Department website at www.academics.hw.com/uspa.

The show will go up in Rugby Auditorium the first weekend in November.

The musical “Pippin” centers on a young man who is at a crossroads in life. A recent graduate of the University of Padua, the young man, Pippin, forgoes future academic study in order to go on a journey to find, as Pippin says, “something fulfilling” to do with his life.

Yet, Pippin is actually Prince Pippin, the son of Charlemagne. Although the musical does not actually take place in ninth century Rome, the time period serves as a metaphor that continues throughout the production, the ordeals and choices that Pippin undergoes in his journey could apply to any time period.

The story is told in a theatrical sense, with a group of players, or actors, and a narrator following the main characters throughout the musical. “‘Pippin’ has long been on our list [of musicals] over the years,” said Performing Arts teacher Ted Walch, who is also co-director for “Pippin,” “After much discussion with other members of the Performing Arts department, especially co-director Michele Spears, we decided to do it.”

The show’s music and lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz, and the book was written by Roger O. Hirson. This year Daniel Faltus will serve as music director for “Pippin,” having also been music director last year for “City of Angels.” Faltus is both a well-known pianist having played at the Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, and Lincoln Center’s New York City Opera, among other places, and experienced vocal coach and an actor.

“I love the show,” Kathryn Gallagher ’11 said, who is planning to audition for the roles of either Catherine or Fastrada, “It’s different, and although I definitely enjoy more contemporary shows, as I was listening to the music more and more, I think it was a really great choice.”

“I think it is best summarized this way,” Walch said, “when you’re young and green, the world looks easy and ripe for exploring; as you actually face that world, you find that it’s not as easy and breezy as you thought. When all is said and done, all you have is you.”

Aug. 31, 2010

A&E B11

The

Chronicle

Sculptor makes waves with linear glass pieces

By Ingrid Chang

Visual Arts teacher John Luebtow describes art as a lifelong philosophy; he has been working on his Linear Form Series for 35 years.

One of his pieces from the series was chosen to be displayed in front of City Hall in Napa, California as a part of a government-funded program to promote public art.

Another series of his called Ode to Friedrich Froebel was displayed this summer at the Museo Gallery in Langley, Washington.

Luebtow’s piece from the Linear Form Series was chosen to be one of 10 in the public art program. The 12-foot tall sculpture was made from a steel I-beam and bent glass that he shaped in a 1400 degree kiln.

The piece is a part of a series in which he explores the concept of how “line defines form and form defines line,” Luebtow said.

“I started with drawings from the female

nude. There is a contour line, and I made sculptures that deal with that shape,” said Luebtow. “The other parts of the forms create lines too, so I would take that line idea and make sculptures looking like that by bending glass.”

About a dozen of Luebtow’s pieces from his Friedrich Froebel series were on display at an invitational exhibition for glass artists at the Museo Gallery. They are all glass sculptures that he made over the course of the last three years.

The series is an ode to Friedrich Froebel, the man who is credited with inventing kindergarten and changing childhood education as well as influencing abstract art with his breakdown of basic shapes and color.

Luebtow’s work in the Museo Gallery was on display for the month of July. His sculpture in Napa is being exhibited from July 2010 to July 2011.

john luebtow

glasswork: One of Luebtow’s many sculptures was chosen to be displayed in front of City Hall in Napa, California until July 2011.

Popp prepares for collaborative show

By Nick Pritzker

nika madyoon/chronicle

Visual Arts teacher Nancy Popp will exhibit one of her art installations at Cal Poly Pomona on Nov. 9.

Her art will be exhibited at the W. Keith and Janet Kellog University Art Gallery, which exhibits art from students at the university and art from communities in the greater Los Angeles area and surrounding Pomona.

She was invited to exhibit her art by the curator of the gallery, John O’Brien, who taught her when she was getting her bachelor’s degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

“It’s actually really nice to get invited by someone who already knows

my work,” she said.

The art show is called “Crisscrossing” and will feature artists who create collaborated exhibits. Popp said she knows most of the people who have exhibits in the show because they are friends, former teachers, and former classmates.

“It is really exciting to work with people who you admire, respect, and care about,” she said.

Popp is collaborating with her friend and colleague of seven years, Denise Spampinato, who Popp says is “super brilliant.” Popp said that she was especially excited to work with Spampinato because they “approach the same subjects from really different

perspectives.”

Popp and Spampinato have been working on their exhibit since March.

Popp said that they both work with urban space, or “the space of the city” to make their art.

“I hope to use the gallery in the same way that I would use the city,” she said.

They are building a large installation with multiple parts. Popp wants to cut out text from photo paper with a laser cutter, she said.

“It should be text that is meaningful and binds our work together,” Popp said.

They have been reading philosophy to find text that binds them together.

Teacher completes same assignment as students

By Jordan McSpadden During the Summer Film Camp, Upper School Visual Arts Department Head Cheri Gaulke decided to do the same exercises that she assigned her film students, so she wrote a screenplay for a short film titled “Knowing Poppo.”

“I think it’s important that teachers do what they ask their students to do and this was me doing that. As an artist I don’t usually make narrative films. I work more experimentally, so this was a new experience for my own work,” Gaulke said.

Gaulke said the film is “about a teenage girl that goes to stay with her grandfather after her grandmother passes away. The

grandfather is deeply depressed and the girl must use her wits to bring him out of his depression.”

“Knowing Poppo” was inspired by Gaulke’s recent family events, revolving around the unexpected death of her mother-in-law.

The short film was shot in 13-1/2 hours at Gaulke’s father-in-law’s house. Gaulke plans to enter her film into many film festivals.

During the film camp, Gaulke and John Glouchevitch ’06 produced four student films from screenplays that were written in their program.

In addition to these four films, she imagines that more students’ films will be produced in classes this upcoming

school year.

Gaulke’s partner, Sue Maberry and her daughter, Marka Maberry-Gaulke ’12 were the producers of the short film. Her other daughter, Xochi Maberry-Gaulke ’12 co-starred alongside professional actor Ray Guth.

Gaulke also hired Joe Sill, a young cinematographer whom she first met two years ago when he attended Irvine High School and his music video was chosen for the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival.

Sill now studies film at Chapman University.

“John is an amazing screenwriter, teacher and facilitated a number of amazing scripts this summer,” Gaulke said. nika madyoon/chronicle

PIANO LESSONS FROM JUILLIARD GRADUATE Few other activities engage the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual abilities to the degree that piano can. Studies have consistently shown the unparalleled educational value of piano lessons.

I earned a Masters in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School and was awarded a Piano Fellowship in recognition of my teaching abilities. While in New York City, I taught 15 students from the SAR Academy as well as in several local music conservatories.

I’ve performed as piano soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and have toured as a collaborative pianist with many world class soloists including violinists Cho Liang Lin, Kurt Nikkonen and cellist Daniel Gaisford.

My composition, “Wizard of Oz Fantasy,” has been performed around the world, on radio and has inspired videos on YouTube. You can view them by typing in my name William Hirtz on YouTube. I also am active as a composer of film scores and a songwriter.

I teach in my home and also travel to the student’s home if desired.

Please call for references.

William Hirtz 14045 Milbank Street

Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 Phone – 818-981-4164 Email – w.hirtz@att.net

Chronicle

The

B12 Features

Aug. 31, 2010

Brushstrokes: Three of Rosenberg’s preliminary sketches for her fashion designs.

doubling up

A passion for fashion leads a senior to divide her time between the Coldwater campus and Otis College of Art and Design.

By Ashley Khakshouri

H

annah Rosenberg ’11 decided to pursue her passion for the arts by enrolling in both Harvard-Westlake and Otis College of Art and Design this year.

Rosenberg said she was always interested in art and realized that she wanted to work in the fashion industry in the ninth grade.

“As its own form of art, it really just seemed to fit, and has turned out to really be one of my true passions in life,” Rosenberg said.

She spent the past two years working as a design assistant for Katy Rodriguez, business owner and designer. Now Rosenberg is in charge of the public relations as well as online resources.

Rodriguez co-owns the bi-costal vintage boutique Resurrection where Rosenberg also handles the public relations and website. She does everything from running downtown to pick up fabric to helping with production and business details of the company, she said. She also helps stylists with the pulls for editorial or red carpet looks, photographs the vintage couture for Resurrection, and designs the collection with Rodriguez twice a year.

After realizing her portfolio was nowhere near the level it needed to be for the schools she was interested in, Rosenberg thought it would be best to enroll in an arts school as well as Harvard-Westlake so she could build a competitive body of work, she said.

“I decided sometime last year that dual enrollment at an art school would be a good idea. I was looking at Art Center College of Design as well in Pasadena but Otis just had the easiest program to work with and it’s such

Ashley Khakshouri/chronicle

Sew it up: Hannah Rosenberg ’11 alters a dress of her original design (from top); sitting on her floor, Rosenberg displays figure drawing pieces from her portfolio; Rosenberg works at her sewing machine on a new garment. a great art school.”

Rosenberg initially suggested the idea to her dean, who then convinced the school to allow it.

“I have spent years at Harvard-Westlake preparing for a future which doesn’t suit me and I have no intention of following along with, so it made much more sense to start focusing on my real interests,” Rosenberg said.

Despite her unconventional decision, her family is supportive, as are her friends who enjoy the perks of having a friend in the fashion business, she said.

At Harvard-Westlake, she will be taking classes for four periods. Rosenberg has night classes at Otis three nights a week from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with open studio until 1 p.m.

During night classes at Otis, Rosenberg will take observation drawing, figure drawing, oil painting, and textile design.

Rosenberg hopes to gain access to studios, so she can have the oppotunity to create some solid bodies of work for her portfolio as well as having access to the studios so she can finally have the time and the opportunity to create a sizeable portfolio.

Her goal for the future is to attend Central St. Martins in London, one of the world’s top design schools, and to later start her own brand or work for a design house, she said.

Rosenberg’s style is still evolving but she mostly tends to design high-end women’s wear. However, she said she doesn’t have a set target group of customer’s yet. Her inspiration changes with everything she designs, she said.

“For each collection, I make an image board as inspiration,” Rosenberg said. “It helps to clarify the process and it shows how my inspirations are translated into the garments themselves.”

ports S

International star Christina Higgins ’11 competed in Singapore for the United States Youth Olympic volleyball team in August.

the Chronicle Volume XX Issue I Aug. 31, 2010

C3

New senior to join varsity basketball team Shooting guard Danilo Dragovic grew up in Serbia and attended San Marcos High School last year.

By Charlton Azuoma

“We really have to understand every play and know all of our reads to make up for our size.”

The Wolverines qualified for the Mission League after placing third in the Del Rey League last year behind Cathedral and Serra. They played in the Del Rey League for the past four years after moving down from the Mission League before the 2006-2007 season. In the final two years of their previous stint in the Mission League, the Wolverines won only one out of ten league games.

“We are in a new and improved Catholic league, and they are usually the biggest and toughest around,” Eumont said. “In order to win in the Mission League, the team will have to play close to perfect,” Eumont said. The team opens Mission League play Sept. 10 versus Fairfax.

“We have a new mission… to win in the Mission League,” Eumont said. “We can’t make mistakes: we must catch all passes, run through the right hole, make the proper tackle and play hard until the whistle blows.” see FOOTBALL, C7

see DRAGOVIC, C7

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Football prepares for return to tough Mission League The varsity football team will face many more challenges this year, including playing in a new league and filling the spots of numerous key players that graduated last year. The seniors that led the team last year have left big cleats for the new starters to fill, Head Coach Vic Eumont said.

Because the team lost a lot of top players, it will be difficult for them to reach the level that the 2009 team did Eumont said, but he said he expects his team to do just that.

“We have potential, but we’re far from being as good as we were last year at this stage,” Eumont said.

In addition to the losses of many seniors, injuries have crippled both the offense and the defense, especially a torn ACL suffered by defensive back Nicky Firestone ’11. Starting the season in a more difficult league, the Mission League, could expose potential weaknesses even more.

“We’re not the biggest team or the strongest team,” starting quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 said.

CIF honors girls’ athletic program Last year’s program was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup for best girls’ program in the Southern Section.

By Abbie Neufeld CIF Souther Section named the Wolverine girls’ sports program the best in Southern California with the award of the 2009-2010 Commissioners Cup. HarvardWestlake has previously received the title twice.

Harvard-Westlake finished with 18 points, six points ahead of both runners-up, Chadwick

Austin Block

A little over a year after moving to the United States from Serbia, Danilo Dragovic ’11, younger brother of UCLA basketball standout Nikola Dragovic, will be joining the class of 2011.

Danilo Dragovic attended a specialized economic high school in Serbia for two years and was playing for a small privately owned basketball club in Belgrade before transferring to San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara for his junior year.

“The reason why I didn’t come straight to Harvard-Westlake is because I learned too late about the school,” he said. “My brother and family were already working with Santa Barbara and San Marcos, but it [Harvard-Westlake] definitely seemed like a great option for my last year of high school.”

Though always eager to come to the United States, Dragovic admitted that it was a little difficult at first because he wasn’t used to American culture.

“I struggled the first two months because, you know, the people, the system, and the language were all different… I just tried to study hard until I got used to it… It’s hard to be without your parents for so long,” he said.

Dragovic was born in Montenegro. He moved to Serbia at age 10, though the region that encompasses both nations was at the time unified as a single country: Serbia and Montenegro.

He said that there are a lot of similarities between California and Belgrade, Serbia.

He spent his first year stateside living with a host family but was unable to play varsity basketball for his school because of CIF transfer restrictions. He had to play JV basketball instead.

The Dragovic family is not only a basketball-loving family, but it’s also an education-oriented family. Dragovic is a talented basketball player, but Los Angeles Times sportswriter Eric Sondheimer also described him as a student with “outstanding academics.”

Dragovic was very impressed by the balance of strong academics and a competitive athletic program at Harvard-Westlake. “[Harvard-Westlake] is a great program,” Dragovic said. “Harvard-Weslake has amazing academic and basketball achievements and that is what made me interested in the school. To have [the] opportunity to play basketball and get a good education are two [of the] most important things in my career.”

After hearing about Harvard-Westlake from his brother, he decided to transfer. In late June, the 6’5” Dragovic played in a tournament with the basketball team in Fairfax. He then toured the school with Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas.

a cut above: Defenders chase quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 in an August practice. Heltzer will lead the Wolverines as they rejoin the Mission League after a four year stint in the Del Rey League.

By Judd Liebman

and

and St. Margaret’s. Points are awarded based on the number of championships and other final appearances.

Five points were awarded for each of the three Southern Section championships won in cross country, basketball, and soccer and another three points were awarded for track and field’s runner up finish.

Basketball and cross country went on to win state championships as well.

Athletic director Terry Barnum said this award is the result of hard work over the past years.

“This speaks to the commitment and dedication of our coaches and athletes,” Barnum said.

He also said he thinks this

award suggests a very bright future for girls’ athletics at Harvard-Westlake.

Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas agreed about the program’s bright future.

“You can count on HarvardWestlake being among them in the near and long term,” he said.

He said he believes key changes in the Middle School coaching program were a big part of this successful year.

“Every championship team benefited from veteran leadership that had received great coaching as seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh graders. We succeeded this past year because hard work over the long-term always pays off.”

INSIDE Phenom Kicker:

The starting kicker for the Wolverines, Will Oliver ’11, is the 16th best senior at his position in the nation.

He also plays soccer, lacrosse and ice hockey competitively.

C6

Alec Caso/chronicle

runners’ world:

Amy Weissenbach ’12 and Cami Chapus ’12 describe the feeling of being state champions, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and discuss the upcoming season and their friendship.

C8

PHotos Reprinted With Permission of Kimberly Britts

C2 Sports

Aug. 31, 2010

The

Chronicle

& Figures

School-wide change or simple rules?

Facts

By Shawn Ma

Harvard-Westlake’s rank on calhisports.com’s list of the best Division IV athletic programs for the past year. State titles in girls’ cross country and basketball along with a strong boys’ basketball season helped Harvard-Westlake capture its third California School of the Year selection.

1 10

The combined number of countries that fencer Emma Peterson ’11, and water polo player Ashley Grossman ’11, have travelled to for competitions in the past year, including Brazil, Russia, Cuba, and Sweden.

The speed at which Lucas Giolito’s fastball was gunned at while pitching at the Area Code Tournament in Long Beach. Giolito was pitching major league speed before he even got his driver’s license.

96

This Month in Wolverine History

W

hen I picture an athletic event, I picture us versus them. One team versus another. Not only do I picture two teams clashing, I picture two student bodies clashing. For the duration of the game, everyone is out for blood; both the fans and the athletes will do anything to win. There is a sea of the Harvard-Westlake red, black, and white joined together either cheering or heckling the other team. On the other side, the other school’s fans are unified against us. Us versus them. The Wolverines against the rivals. It doesn’t matter who the other team is, all that matters is that we win.

A proposal from the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Review Committee says this picture “creates a contrarian environment.” The committee is right: this environment is contrarian. But what is an athletic event supposed to be? Do they expect a Loyola basketball game to be anything but a “contrarian environment?”

The purpose of the committee is to improve the disrespectful behavior of all students and the school’s reputation. But the fact that students get so riled up about games shows that, if anything, our school community is being strengthened by the rowdy games because they pull the students together behind a team for one cause: winning.

California Interscholastic Federation cited HarvardWestlake twice last year; once for bad fan behavior and once for poor player and coach behavior. These incidents spurred the administration to rethink the environment at athletic events and to ultimately decide that the unruly behavior or conduct at sporting events needed to be

Judd Liebman controlled.

I agree with the intention of the committee. Behavior at some games did get out of control last year and needed to be reined in. The reputation of the school is at stake, and people do judge us for our actions continuously. However, a drastic change is not what we need. The unwavering support of our teams needs to be commended; there is no need to implement many drastic changes into our community.

Each and every student knows how to act respectfully.

Every single person at this school knows what sportsmanship is and what sportsmanlike conduct is; however, this committee is definitely a necessity.

Making sure that our school is viewed in a way that reflects well upon us should be a priority; however, this task needs to be done in the right way. The committee proposes many small but important changes to be made to the athletic event environment. A lot of these changes are necessary and will be effective in improving the fan and athletes’ behavior during sporting events. Proposed changes that will be useful include having faculty attend all games in order to regulate fan behavior as well as hosting a student tailgate to give students a venue to positively support our teams without slandering the rivals.

Although the committee proposes many good changes, some changes go too far and will not be effective because they will become the joke of the fans. The committee proposes that each athlete and coach complete an online sportsmanship program in order to better their sportsmanship knowledge. In theory this program will be beneficial, but realistically, this would give

more work to already stressed and sleep-deprived studentathletes.

The idea and intent of the committee is phenomenal; the specifics are not so good.

Some of the proposed changes will not only be ineffective, but will be annoying as well.

The tediousness of some of the suggested actions will lead to students viewing the committee as more of a burden than an effective way to change fan behavior.

Here’s what the committee needs to do: there need to be rules posted on the field and in Taper Gym. Before each game, Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas, needs to get up in front of the crowd, remind the fans of the code of conduct, and give the Fanatics and parents fair warning that if they act inappropriately they will be ejected. Students need to be warned that they will be punished and the rules will be enforced. Another way the committee can quell the rowdiness is to encourage faculty to sit close to the Fanatics in the stands. These adults will have the ability to rein in the fans before they get out of control.

Everyone knows how to act with propriety; however, whether consciously or unconsciously, we all choose to stray from our morals and act impetuously. These teachers will help prevent a stampede of citations and a flurry of ejections.

While we all know right from wrong, we sometimes get caught up in the moment and lose focus on the big picture: keeping our heads when no one else can. The overall message of the committee will be just as effective as it is important. However, the committee needs to be careful in choosing the correct resolutions to implement.

gameof themonth

football

Reprinted with Permission of darlene bible

AGE is just a Number: Dara Torres ’85 dives in to swim the anchor leg of the medley relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She led her team to a silver in this competition in addition to winning two silvers individually, becoming the oldest Olympic swimming medalist of all time at 41.

August 2008

By Micah Sperling Dara Torres ’85 became the first American ever to swim in five Olympics, winning three silver medals in Beijing, and tied with Jenny Thompson for most medals ever won by a female swimmer (12).

At 41, she is the oldest swimmer ever on the US team. Eight years earlier, in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, at the age of 33, she had already become the oldest American swimmer to ever win a gold medal.

Torres swam at Harvard-Westlake for Darlene Bible, Torres set CIF swimming records that stand to this day and competed in her Olympics while still a junior.

when Friday, Sept. 3 where Venice High 13000 Venice Blvd.

Los Angeles

VS. The Wolverines will get an indicator of their readiness for the challenging Mission League when they face a talented Venice team in their season opener. Venice is coming off a 10-2 season, better than the Wolverines’ 7-4 mark from last year.

If the Wolverines can pull out a win, it will be a big momentum boost for the rest of the year. It should be interesting to see how quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 performs without his top three receivers from last season, and how the defense plays minus Nicky Firestone ’11 (torn ACL).

Aug. 31, 2010

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Higgins helps United States win silver medal

Volleyball star Christina Higgins ’11 represented the United States Youth Olympic team in Singapore.

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn

Reprinted with Permission of Kimberly britts

Blazing Ahead: Amy Weissenbach ’12 sprints ahead of her competition at the Nike track Nationals.

Weissenbach won the 800 meter event at the tournament. She was one of eight Wolverines who competed.

Girls’ track places 10th at Nike track nationals

By Julius Pak Ranked second in California and fourth in the nation, the girls’ track and field team placed 10th at the inaugural Nike Track Nationals on Saturday, July 3 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

Qualifying for the Nike Track Nationals was different than most meets, as the teams themselves rather than individuals, qualified. The girls’ track and field team was selected as one of the top 12 girls’ track and field programs in the country to compete in the Nike Track Nationals in Eugene, Oregon.

This system “allows us to be competitive with large schools,” said distance coach Tim Sharpe. “It keeps it fair, and allows us to focus on the team.”

The Wolverine track team took eight female students to the Nike Track Nationals.

Amy Weissenbach ’12 won the 800m event.

“I was incredibly excited and overwhelmed, especially because Hayward is a place with so much history. To run a victory lap around a track where so many track legends had run before me was a dream come true,” Weissenbach said.

Cami Chapus ’12 and Sydney Haydel ’10 both came in second place in the mile and shot put, respectively. Lauren Hansson ’11 placed fourth in the 400m event. Zaakirah Daniels ’10 took fourth place

in the 100m hurdles event. In the high jump event, Chelsea Edwards ’11 came in ninth place. Kei Goldberg ’12 competed in the pole vault event but did not place.

Hilary King competed in two events: long jump and the 100m. She took ninth place in the former event, and sixth place in the latter. “[The record] was not representative of how good we are, but we are still proud of them all,” Sharpe said.

“As a whole, I think we did really well,” Weissenbach said. “I know that there were a few girls who were disappointed with how they performed, but that was only because they had had such a spectacular season up until then, so anything but spectacular seemed mediocre. That’s part of the reason our team does so well: we aren’t satisfied with anything less than our personal best.”

“It was an amazing experience,” Sharpe said.

“The kids were treated like professional athletes.

The way it worked, it was really a quality, a professional event.”

Nike gave the athletes free uniforms, shoes and food. “It felt like we were running as professionals,” Chapus said. “My race was on the last race of the night, so they let everyone on the track to watch and cheer us on.”

This summer, while students vacationed to the ordinary places such as Hawaii, New York, and Europe, Christina Higgins ’11 took a 17-hour flight to Singapore to participate in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games for volleyball.

Higigns has been trying out for the national team since ninth grade, but she always ended up as an alternate or on the second roster.

“It’s a dream come true for me to represent my country internationally,” Higgins told the Los Angeles Daily News. “My dreams have always been to play in the Olympics and this is just a precursor to that. Hopefully it will open more paths for me in the future.”

The National Youth Olympic volleyball team was chosen from players across the country and Higgins was one of 12 players chosen to represent the United States.

“I was very excited when I found out because youth all around the country try out, and to be chosen out of so many girls felt amazing because this was a once in a life time opportunity,” Higgins said.

They only had a month to form the team because the original team was the wrong age group. Due to this, the team had a short amount of time to create chemistry between the players, which is a necessity for a successful volleyball team.

Nevertheless, Higgins said she made friends with her Olympic teammates quickly.

Higgins was in Singapore from Aug. 11- 27.

“I love it [in Singapore],” she said. “It is extremely clean and modern; it reminds me a lot of home. The Singaporeans were so happy to host the first youth Olympic games, so they were all very nice.”

At the Olympics, the team made it to the gold medal round but lost to Belgium 3-1 in close games.

“I was upset about the loss and yes a gold medal would have been nice but I am so proud of my team for coming together and winning a silver medal,” Higgins said.

Higgins said Belgium had an advantage over the United States because the Belgian played together for a very long time so “they had a lot of chemistry on and off the court.”

She said the United States had its very first practice in Singapore. The United States defeated Japan in the semifinals.

“I don’t think we were as focused in the finals as we were when we played them earlier in the tournament,” Higgins said.

Higgins, who committed to UC Berkeley early in her junior year, has been getting a lot of press due to being on the Olympic team.

“This is definitely the highest point in my career,” she told the Daily News.

Boys water polo team plays with Italian host team in Imperia, Italy

By Daniel Kim During the summer, Head Water Polo Coach Robert Lynn and the boys’ varsity water polo team packed their bags and went to Italy to gain a new perspective on water polo.

The teams left for Italy on Aug. 5 and spent two weeks there. They engaged in vigorous training and spent around five to seven hours in the pool every day playing and working with their Italian host team, Imperia.

Unlike in America, water polo is considered one of the top sports in Italy.

Members of the varsity water polo teams continually trained and practiced to advance their understanding of the game while also bonding with their teammates.

“They’re ahead of the game and that’s why we went there,” Coach Lynn said. “In Italy, water polo is work for them, not fun.”

Now the boys’ team seems more focused during practice and weight training, both the coach and weight trainers said.

“That rhythm we were in was what we wanted. It was the whole reason for going there as well as competing with the Italian team there to help us gain some experience,” Lynn said.

Imperia’s players were around the same age as those on Wolverine water polo team but there were some older professional players that played on the team as well.

“There’s a mountain of work that needs to be done with [the boys’ team] and we’re on the base of the mountain walking up,” Lynn said.

“If you really want to play this sport at a high level, you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice and change and work.”

Though teams like Newport and Loyola may worry the boys’ team, the coach has a positive outlook on the new season with the new team.

“We aren’t going to cower down. We’re going to fight, and by fight I mean outwork, out-understand, and be disciplined and protect each other,” Lynn said.

The new younger boys’ varsity water polo team has a lot of work ahead of it if it plans to make it as far as the team made it last year.

Coach Lynn plans on keeping the team training consistently and maintaining the same attitude that they brought back from Italy.

“Our approach is that we are going to be fearless,” Lynn said. “We’re ready to work hard and we’ll face any challenges that will come our way.

Reprinted with Permission of Ryan Gould

polo play: Water polo players Tobey Casillas ’11, Griffin Morgan ’13, Brian Graziano ’12 and Tyler Greeno ’12 take a break from the game and spend some time together on an Italian beach.

Fall Varsity Previews

Cross Country

By Julius Pak Returning from top finishes in the state, the girls’ and boys’ cross country teams are preparing to defend their top titles.

“Our success from last year gives us confidence to know that we can compete on the highest levels in our sport. This is a big positive going into our season,” program head Jonas Koolsbergen said. “Our expectations are really the same. The team needs to become as excellent as it is capable of the best team we can be with this mix of athletes this year.

Last year is done. It was great, but now we have to embrace a new set of challenges.”

Many members of the girls’ team from last season will return this year to defend their state title. Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12, both coming off an excellent year of running, will lead the girls’ team.

“It is not a stretch to say that we have two of the better runners in the state [for girls],” Head Coach Tim Sharpe said.

Chapus placed first at state last season and second at the Nike Track Nationals in the 1 mile event. Weissenbach placed fourth at the state meet last year and won her 800m event at the Nike Track Nationals.

“Amy and Cami train hard and do everything right. That’s why they’re our team leaders,” said Sharpe said.

Fifth in the state last year, the boys’ team is “quite a strong, well-balanced cross-country team,” Sharpe said. The top runners on the boys’ side are David Abergel ’11 and Kevin On ’11.

“We have a good core group of seniors. It’s their last shot,” Sharpe said.

With championships in both cross country and track, this past year “has easily been the best year of running in the school’s history,” Sharpe said. “We have a very strong program, and very talented kids.”

However, Sharpe has other goals for the team besides trophies and medals.

David Abergel ’11 has been the fastest on the boys’ cross country team since his sophomore year, and last year he led the team to a fifth place finish in state, the best boys’ finish in school history. Now he is the leader of a veteran team hungry to match the even greater success of the girls’ team.

David Abergel ’11

Before there was the ChapusWeissenbach dynamic duo, there was the Chapus-Nikki Goren ’12 duo. Injuries hurt Goren’s performance slightly as a sophomore, but girls’ cross country will be more formidable this year if she regains her freshman form.

Nikki Goren ’12

photos by mary rose fissinger and alex leichenger

mary rose fissinger/chronicle

Title defense: The girls’ cross country team won league and state titles last year. They will be returning most of their runners this year, including juniors Cami Chapus and Amy Weissenbach, to defend their titles.

Girls’ Tennis

By David Kolin

When Amanda Aizuss ’13 was a freshman last year, golf coach Linda Giacolli was already calling her one of the best Wolverine golfers she had ever seen. If Aizuss continues to blossom, she will form a dynamic trio alongside established stars Melanie Borinstein ’11 and Emily Firestein ’11.

Nathanson ’s/chronicle

Amanda Aizuss ’13

Girls’ Golf In its first match since finishing second at league prelims last season, the girls’ varsity golf team will play Alemany today at El Cariso Golf Course. The team finished 8-2 last year, losing only to Notre Dame.

Their second league match will be on Tuesday Sept. 7 against Flintridge Sacred Heart.

The team lost several senior players, but Melanie Borinstein ’11 is confident that “the team hasn’t died out.”

At tryouts Aug. 26, there were five returning players and several

While m seniors.

Runners to Watch

“What team doesn’t hope to become a state champion? But what we’re focused on is ‘are we doing the right kind of work? Are we getting better every year?’” Sharpe said. “As a program, we have a bunch of people who are exceptional. You’re out there pushing yourself, testing your body and mind. It is tremendous for these kids. It’s a noble pursuit. As a coach, all I can hope for is that the team character becomes that when no one is looking, are we focused? Are we trying our hardest? If we do that, we will be successful.”

The team’s first meet will be the Seaside Invitational in Ventura on Friday, Sept. 10.

Their first of three league meets is at Crescenta Valley Park on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Player to Watch

By Chelsea Khakshouri

Chron

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sophomores and freshmen interested in playing..

“We have a lot of new sophomores that haven’t had as much experience but are really talented and can bring something new to the team,” Borinstein said.

Last year the team placed second in the league, losing to Notre Dame.

“I’m looking forward to beating them this year,” Amanda Aizuss ’13 said. “But our team needs to improve on putting. It’s the most important part of the game because it’s where you score so hopefully everyone has been working on it this summer.”

Last year, the girls’ tennis team won the Mission League with a 10-0 record.

Last season, the team played defeated Westlake and Woodbridge High School last year in playoffs, but lost to Campbell Hall in the quarterfinals of CIF 4-14. This year Campbell Hall will be tough competition, player Alanna Klein ’11 said.

Two starters and five alternates on the team graduated last year. The team lost its first doubles team but didn’t lose any starting singles players.

“We lost a lot of people last year, but the players we still have are all really strong, and a few of the incoming students are really good,” Klein said.

In order to prepare for the fall tennis season, some players attended an optional camp held by Coach Chris Simp-

son.

For training, the girls stretch, participate in live ball drills with the coaches and practice match play with each other.

This year, the girls will practice at new facilities at Valley College. The courts should be completed by the middle of October. Until then, the team will play at Studio City Golf and Tennis.

Tryouts for the team were held last week for three hours each day on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Practice officially started yesterday.

The Wolverines have a Sept. 14 scrimmage against Beverly Hills High School.

Their first match is an away game Sept.

18 against Palos Verdes High School at Palos Verdes High School and their first league match is Tuesday Oct. 5 against Notre Dame at the Braemar Country Club.

Player to Watch Savannah de Montesquiou ’13 was the girls’ tennis team’s number one singles player last season as a freshman. Additionally, she advanced to the semifinals in league individuals for girls’ singles, but was defeated by a player from Chaminade. There is no reason to believe that de Montesquiou will not be the team’s number one player again this fall.

Nathanson ’s/chronicle

Savannah de Montesquiou ’13

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many of these teams won league and state titles last year, most relied on their Now the new teams must prove themselves in the coming year.

Girls’ Volleyball

By Austin Lee Following a year dominated by the senior class’ offensive skill, the varsity girls’ volleyball team is aiming to play at the top of its game and to get a championship banner on the wall, Head Coach Adam Black said.

The team’s first game will be a home scrimmage against Thousand Oaks on Sept. 7.

Last year, the varsity volleyball team got to the second round of the CIF playoffs and earned a league record of 10-0 and an overall record of 20-9, but the team relied heavily on seniors such as Meg Norton ’10, leaving a rather large hole for this year’s varsity team members to fill.

However, the team is keeping its focus on this coming season rather than looking back on last year and is working to achieve the best that they can, Black said.

“It’s just a natural process,” Black said. “We’re trying really hard to focus on ourselves and not worry too much about last year.”

Black sees this year’s team as a very cohesive group, with players with varying strengths that complement each other on the court.

“I think everyone has different strengths that work well,” Black said.

Boys’ Water Polo

“We have people that can attack the ball but they aren’t going to attack very well if we don’t have people that can pass very well.”

The team is hoping to make sure everyone is working at the top of their performance in order to achieve their goal of getting to and winning the CIF Championship which eluded them last year.

“There was a good group last year and there’s a good group this year as well,” Black said. “We’re going to keep on going forward.”

Player to Watch Christina Higgins ’11 will assume the role of Meg Norton ’10 as volleyball’s superstar player.

After competing for the silvermedal winning United States Youth O l y m p i c Team in Singapore over the summer, the 6’2” Higgins is more than ready to Nathanson ’s/chronicle dominate the Mission Christina Higgins ’11 League.

By Alec Caso

Coming off a season that ended in 10-5 loss in CIF quarterfinals to New Harbor High School , the boys’ water polo team will open this season against La Cañada Sept. 21.

The Wolverines will play their first league game against Crespi Oct. 5 at home.

The team will play school rival Loyola twice but will play one fewer league game in total. The team will also be playing two new teams, Cathedral and Ventura, outside of league this season.

Last year’s team ended last season with a 6-2 league record and a 14-10 overall record. Both of the team’s league losses were to Loyola.

The team won five of its eight home games. Only one of the three

losses at home was a league game.

“Last year, the team was nervous when playing at home and they seemed to play tougher games in away games, so that needs to be changed,” Lynn said.

The team spent some time practicing over the summer in Italy.

The team hoped that by going to an environment where water polo is a more recognized and played sport they could better their game and team tactics, Lynn said.

After losing many key seniors from last year’s team, Lynn knows the team will need even more training before and during the season.

“We are going to be fearless,” he said. “But we’re not going to be ignorant to the fact that we have a lot of work to do. We’re ready to work hard and we’ll face any challenges that will come our way.”

Daniel kim/chronicle

working the ball: Brian Graziano ’12 prepares to pass during a practice. He and other juniors will step up to replace last year’s seniors.

Player to Watch

Daniel kim/chronicle

FIGHTING TO WIN: Milena Popovic ’11 and Lucy Tilton ’12 reach for the ball during a practice. The team went undefeated in league last year.

Nathanson ’s/chronicle

Henry McNamara ’13

A freshman on varsity last season, Henry McNamara ’13 watched his older brother James ’10 and several other seniors lead the water polo team in its first year under coach Robert Lynn. With those seniors gone, he is now the standout on a young team that needs to show progress in Lynn’s second year on the job.

Girls’ Field Hockey

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Now that the summer and training season are officially over, the varsity field hockey team has set high goals for its upcoming season.

Head Coach Erin Creznic said that even though they lost a lot of seniors, they still have a senior heavy class that “is a stronger class than last year’s seniors.”

There are a few new additions to the coach staff including alumna Katie Wong ’05, who was coached by Creznic, and Sarah Owen, who played for the field hockey team at Miami University of Ohio.

During the summer, players mostly trained on their own or attended field hockey camps, but they all came together again in

August for tryouts and practices.

The team participated in what Chelsea Edwards ’12 called a “hazing” process, where the upperclassmen initiated the lower classmen by going out to Roscoes and Venice Beach.

Although the players and Creznic disagree on what the team bonding session was called, Creznic said they all agree that “team bonding is just as important as practice. With a girl sport, if they aren’t getting along off the field they’re generally not getting along on the field,” Creznic said.

For the final week of the summer, the team prepared for its upcoming trip to St. Louis to compete in a tournament against 40 teams from across the country “There is better competition in St. Louis, and it’s a great time for

our team to gel and start playing together before we hit our games that count,” Creznic said.

The starting goalie Adrianna Crovo ’11 was chosen to be one of two goalies from across the country to play for the national team, which has never happened in the schools history for field hockey.

She will represent the United States in Argentina, among other places around the world.

The team’s toughest competition is Glendora, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor.

“Of course we want to win it all, but first start with league and then we’ll go to playoffs and hopefully do well there,” Creznic said.

The team’s opening scrimmage is against Newport Harbor on Sept. 7. The first league match is against Glendora on Sept. 28.

Player to Watch

courtesy of erin creznic

Adrianna Crovo ‘11

Dominant in goal all season long, Adrianna Crovo ’11 was one of the main reasons field hockey advanced to CIF playoffs in a season that was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

One of two goalies chosen for the United National Team, Crovo will be the leader of a tight-knit group of returning players that hopes to surprise everyone once again in the fall.

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Kicking’s a habit One of the top senior kickers in the nation, Will Oliver ’11 has various big-name colleges in hot pursuit of his football talents.

By Alec Caso

B

Alec Caso/Chronicle

well-rounded: Four-sport athlete Will Oliver ’11 is an elite kicker being pursued by the University of Virginia and other Division I programs.

eing the 16th ranked senior football kicker in the country can be daunting, but for Will Oliver ’11 it is just part of life. When Oliver began kicking in ninth grade, it was simply a fun adventure into something new. By the time he was done with the season, he knew he had found his passion.

Oliver has always been a multi-sport athlete; soccer, ice hockey, tennis, and lacrosse are all sports he has spent serious time playing. But it was not until his coach, after noticing his remarkably strong soccer leg, asked him to kick for the ninth grade team that football became his priority.

Unlike many athletes who fear injury in “off-season” sports, Oliver continues to play as a varsity starter for the school’s soccer and lacrosse teams. He also continues to play ice hockey outside of the HarvardWestlake athletic program.

Oliver is committed to not giving up his other passions for his chances in football.

He doesn’t want to fall into the trap that he feels so many athletes fall into, the trap of becoming a one sport athlete to save themselves for the sport that they want to take into college.

“I don’t want to give up my other passions because I’m good at football. You can still play other sports,” Oliver said.

He became a starting varsity kicker in his junior year. He made six out of eight field goal attempts at distances of 46-51 yards, professional level distances. By comparison, Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding, who tied for the most made field goals in the NFL last season, also had six out of eight field goals from 40-49 yards.

Oliver’s range has extended past 50 yards as he has made at least two field goals at that distance in games. Oliver was also the starting kicker for kickoffs; 46 out of his 58

kickoffs were touchbacks.

He spent much of this past summer improving his game, visiting colleges, and keeping in touch with coaches across the country. He went to kicking camps at University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, and Cal State. All of these camps were geared towards the top kickers in the nation. Camps ranged in size from three to four kickers at Virginia to around 100 kickers at USC. While most of the time that Oliver spent at each camp was dedicated to kicking instruction, it also offered a perfect opportunity to meet top coaches and get into the recruiting process. The coaches at Virginia told Oliver that he was their number one choice at the camp.

“It offered me an opportunity to work with coaches at each school. This also helped get an idea of what other coaches were looking for,” Oliver siad.

He has been offered a preferred walkon spot on the Virginia team. Oliver is also talking with coaches from Michigan and Washington; however, they have made no offers. The Virginia team has 25 scholarship spots and five preferred walk-on spots. Most kickers are offered spots as preferred walkons as schools will hold their scholarships for other positions.

An inspiration for Oliver has been Head Football Coach Vic Eumont. Eumont has demanded that players seriously commit to the program by stressing attendance and hard work, Oliver said.

“It’s not like other sports where you can make a good excuse and skip practice. They don’t want to hear your excuses, you’re expected to go. It’s been really good for me, especially as a kicker,” Oliver said.

Oliver hopes to take his career in kicking all the way to the NFL, but he is committed to getting a good college education.

Wilson chooses Stanford over St. Louis Cardinals

By Austin Lee Baseball player Austin Wilson ’10 passed on offers from the St. Louis Cardinals in favor of going to Stanford University.

Wilson, a four-year varsity outfielder for the Wolverines, was drafted in the 12th round by the Cardinals in the Major League Baseball draft on June 8 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Having committed to Stanford earlier in the year, Wilson fell from being a possible first round pick in the draft to being a 12th round pick due to concerns that arose about his signability after he committed to Stanford.

“It was kind of hurtful to see my name called relatively late in the draft because I was a projected first round pick, but letting teams know I was going to school came with the effect of me getting drafted later,” Wilson said.

Wilson plans to go professional after his junior year, but hopes to meet many new people and “win a college world series” in the meantime.

“I’m very happy with my decision,” Wilson said. “There is essentially no price tag on any college experience and Stanford is an exceptional institution with a very talented baseball team.”

Wilson and the Cardinals had an Aug. 16 deadline to agree to a contract.

Reprinted with Permission of the deTroit News

The Show: Brennan Boesch ’03 has slumped since his outstanding first two months as a big leaguer, but he remains Detroit’s starting rightfielder.

Boesch contends for MLB Rookie of the Year award

By Alex Leichenger Despite his recent struggles, Brennan Boesch ’03 remains a front-runner for the American League Rookie of the Year award, which will be announced after the postseason.

Boesch was named the American League Rookie of the Month in both May and June after being called up from Triple-A Toledo by the Detroit Tigers in late April. Boesch, a rightfielder who bats and hits left-handed, hit .345 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 28 May games and .337 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs in 27 June games.

Though he was a standout outfielder at the University of California, Berkeley and the Tigers’ third round draft pick in 2006, Boesch’s torrid start still

came as a surprise to many baseball experts.

Boesch did not make the 34-man AL roster for the All-Star game July 13, but at that point many experts believed he was worthy of a roster spot.

Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci even wrote that Boesch should have been a starter in the AL outfield.

Boesch began to fade badly after the All-Star break, seeing his batting average fall from .342 before the break to .270 as of Aug. 28.

He had a home run drought that started in early June and did not end until an Aug. 6 home game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Boesch was a member of the Wolverines’ 2003 state championship runner-up team.

Aug. 31, 2010

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Football begins season on Friday from FOOTBALL, C1

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Practice makes perfect: Head Coach Vic Eumont said there is little margin for error as the Wolverines move back to the Mission League, where they struggled in previous years.

New basketball player expected to start at guard from DRAGOVIC, C1 “He’s a super respectful, super polite person, and it was very refreshing walking around campus with him,” Barzdukas said. “I’m excited to see a kid that excited.

“To see him in Blaise Eitner’s classroom, with the lizard and stuff … seeing the sculpture area, seeing the dark room … he was super fired up, super excited, like ‘wow, I get to go to a place like this.’”

“I have a lot of interest[s] for the future, but right now I am focusing to get a feeling [of] what could be the right thing to choose for my college degree,” Dragovic said. “I like track and field. I actually did it last year. It is interesting but I am not sure if [I] would want to do it this year.

“I love arts besides sports, like painting, drawing and writing sometimes, so maybe I will continue doing some of those activities.”

Dragovic said he had no problems fitting in with players on the team because he is already familiar with a few of them including Zena Edosomwan ’12 and Damiene Cain ’11 from club basketball.

“I already know some of the people

on wthe team because I’ve played with some of them before… It’s a great opportunity to play with all of those guys …I think they’re all really great guys,” Dragovic said.

After only a few games with his new team, his teammates already enjoy playing with him.

“He’s a great teammate and a phenomenal passer. His basketball IQ is very high,” teammate Josh Hearlihy ’12 said.

The team was in need of perimeter shooters like Dragovic; the majority of its scoring last year came from post players Cain and Erik Swoope ’10. Cain will be back this year, but Swoope is gone. “[Dragovic] is a great outside shooter and a perfect piece to the puzzle that is our team,” Jordan Butler ’11 said.

“He’s a funny kid. He has a great personality. I think we’re going to really do well this year [with him] and we could win league again.”

Dragovic is eager to join the Harvard-Westlake community.

“I’m totally excited for many reasons,” Dragovic said. “I will get a chance to meet new people, learn new things and hopefully our basketball team will have a lot of success.”

In order to meet these requirements, Eumont had his team scrimmage constantly over the summer. In addition to the practice games, the team played in two tournaments over the summer, including one at UCLA. The Wolverines faced Venice High twice during the UCLA tournament, splitting the two game series. The team will meet Venice High School again on Friday in the season opener.

“Venice is well-coached and they have great athletes… that’s a bad combination,” Eumont said.

Heltzer and Eumont agreed that leaving everything on the field is the most important goal for the team.

“One of our mottos this year is YAC which stands for yards after catch,” Heltzer said. “Obviously you want to catch the ball first, but after that, bursting up the field picking up extra yards will be super important.”

Individually, Heltzer has been working rigorously on his running game. Adding a strong run game to his arsenal of throwing skills will open up passing lanes because defenses will be timid to drop into full pass coverage if he is a threat on the run. This addition of a running game is a part of a full offensive transformation. Last year’s three leading receivers all graduated.

Offensive Coordinator Dave Levy has been helping Heltzer improve his mobility so he is more unpredictable to defenses. “[Heltzer] understands that a quarterback can win with his arms, but if he can also win with his feet if he has both weapons, they can’t afford to play him deep or rush him every time,” Levy said.

quicktakes

summer sports news

Cross Country goes on retreat to Big Bear The cross country team ended their summer and began their fall season at Big Bear. The team’s retreat to Big Bear debuted in the summer of 2007 and continued the next summer, but was cancelled last year.

Most runners on the team attended this year’s weeklong training session, which doubled as a way for the team to meet.

For most of the athletes, their reason to go to Big Bear was not to train hard and prepare for the season, but to spend time with their teammates and enjoy their last week of summer.

Head Coach Tim Sharpe, assistant coach Terri Bricker and Chef d’Equipe Geoff Bird accompanied the team on its weeklong retreat.

—Meagan Wang

Several Wolverines compete in Maccabi Games Each year, young Jews with various athletic abilities participate in the Maccabi games. The games are held in three or four different cities across the United States.

Several Harvard-Westlake students participated in the games, including Laurel Aberle ’13, Sam Sachs ’14,

Brian Ginsburg ’14, JJ Spitz ’15, Myles Pindus ’15, and Michael Vokulich ’14.

This year, the games took place in Denver, Baltimore, Omaha, and Richmond, allowing athletes from all across the country to participate at the location nearest to them.

—Michael Aronson

Senior trains and races in Santa Barbara triathalon Alanna Klein ’11 trained every day to prepare for the sprint course of last Sunday’s Santa Barbara Triathlon.

Klein first heard about the event from George Sandler ‘11, who has competeted in three triathlons.

Klein got a personal trainer to help her prepare for the event.

“It was a really great experience. It was challenging yet fun at the same time. I used to hate working out but the doing the triathlon has in a sense motivated me to exercise as much as I can. I will definately do more triathlons in the future,” Klein said.

—David Kolin

NBA stars head to Hamilton Gym to work out

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NBA stars Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and O.J. Mayo held a morning workout in Hamilton Gym in July.

The idea was first presented to the Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas

by Jason Glushon’03, a former Wolverine baseball standout who currently works as a sports management associate.

After a quick warm-up, the players went through a series of pull-up jump shots, ball handling and conditioning

drills. The team concluded the session with several impressive dunking drills.

All three players were invited to the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas this summer, but only Rose survived the cuts to make the final roster.

Several other NBA players have worked out at the upper school in past summers, including Baron Davis and Tony Parker.

—Shawn Ma

Standout freshman joins basketball team The boys’ basketball team will be gaining 6-foot-7 freshman, Derek Newton ’14. He attended Sierra Canyon Middle School.

With his performances at the CaliforniaPreps.com/Slam showcase,

Newton demonstrated his ability on the court. Following 26 points in his first game, Newton scored 28 points and 10 rebounds for his team in the second game.

—David Kolin and Evan Brown

C8 Sports

The

Chronicle

Going the distance... with state champions

Aug. 31, 2010

Amy Weissenbach and Cami Chapus In addition to being the top two runners on last year’s cross country state championship team, Cami Chapus and Amy Weissenbach both have the distinction of winning individual state championships. Chapus won the cross country state title, and Weissenbach claimed the 800 meter state title during track season.

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn and Abbie Neufeld

Q A

Is there any competition between the two of you?

Chapus:

Amy and I have become such great friends, especially through the amazing experiences. When it’s race time we both are able to push each other and help each other. Not only us two, but we work together to push the rest of them team as well.

Q A

Weissenbach:

Q A Q A

Weissenbach: It is incredibly exciting. It was so frustrating to sit injured through almost all of my freshman track season, so it feels amazing to have come back and had such an absolutely perfect year.

What are you looking forward to accomplishing this season?

Weissenbach:

I’m hoping to drop my times from cross country significantly, take part in another team cross country state championship, and do some damage to my 1600 PR. I think that our track team needs to win CIF this year after we missed out last season by three points.

I’d also like to drop my 800 time a bit more, and hopefully win another state championship.

Chapus:

An important strength to me is mental toughness. Track and cross country take a lot of will power and desire to run well and do the work. One of my weaknesses is time management. My day is basically based around when I run and get my workout in.

Weissenbach:

It’s so great to have such an amazing runner as a training buddy. Cami and I definitely push each other both at practice and in races, and I think it has helped us both run much faster.

How does it feel to be the second track and field state champion in school history?

What are some of your strengths and weaknesses as a runner?

I think that my main strength is that I have a solid kick, which is mostly due to sprint work with Coach [Quincy] Watts. I also really hate losing, which helps in a race. And I think that a weak area right now for me is long distance strategy.

Q A Q A

What’s the difference between winning a team championship and an individual one?

Chapus: Individual championships are a more personal achievement.

An individual championship is something that you are proud of for yourself and that you earned. Team championships bring a whole different glory that is shared by everyone. Winning both last year was an honor individually and as a team.

Are you playing soccer this year? Which one do you like better, soccer or track?

Weissenbach: I love soccer. I have been playing since I was 4. Just this year I’ve decided to take a break and focus on running.

Alex leichenger/chronicle reprinted with permission of kimberley britts

Daniel Kim/chronicle