C HRONICLE the harvard-westlake
Los Angeles • Volume 23 • Issue 4 • Nov. 13, 2013 • hwchronicle.com
93 percent of seniors apply early to colleges By Sarah Novicoff
SCOTT NUSSBAUM/CHRONICLE
It’s ‘Hairspray!’
SHOWTIME: Students performed in the musical ‘Hairspray!’, which addresses issues such as civil rights on television, in Rugby Auditorium Nov. 8-10. For more photos see page A16. For video coverage go to hwchronicle.com/video/hairspray-behind-the-scenes.
Parking Improvement Plan faces opposition from neighbors at public council meeting By Julia Aizuss
Studio City residents already aggrieved by construction on Coldwater Canyon Avenue for the past two years expressed frustration with the Harvard-Westlake administration for ignoring the opinions of the community at a Studio City Neighborhood Council special board meeting about the school’s proposed Parking Improvement Plan Nov. 7.
Most members of the SCNC board seemed skeptical about the plan, but slightly more people spoke in favor of the plan than against it at the meeting at the CBS Studio Center. Vice President John Amato debuted the plan, which includes a 750-spot, three-level parking structure for students, faculty, staff, parents and visitors with a rooftop practice field and a pedestrian bridge across Coldwater to
campus, last year. The project would also move the campus entrance 37 feet south and add two traffic lanes in both directions in front of the school. During the time available for public comment, in which people were allotted one minute each to speak, 24 people who opposed the plan voiced a range of environmental concerns and worries about noise pollution, objected to subjecting Coldwater Canyon to another two years of con-
struction and said the school consistently ignored the opinions of its neighbors and Studio City residents. Susan Jacobs, a member of nonprofit corporation Save Coldwater Canyon!, said that when she tells fellow Studio City residents about the parking plan, she typically receives one of two responses: either “utter amazement” at the absurdity of the proposal, or • Continued on page A10
‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero tells students to trust consciences
By Marcella Park
The hotel manager who sheltered more than 1,200 refugees during the Rwandan Genocide spoke at an allschool assembly Nov. 7 about his experiences and the importance of following one’s conscience instead of the majority. Paul Rusesabagina started speaking about the 1994 clash between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups after a trailer for the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda,” in which he was
INSIDE FULL HOUSE: Students showcased poetry or musical talents in the lounge at the first Coffee House of the year Nov. 11.
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played by actor Don Cheadle, was shown. Rusesabagina described arriving home on the day mass killing began to find neighbors and friends crowded into his house to hide from the violence. When the Rwandan government sent an army escort to take Rusesabagina to the Hôtel des Mille Collines, where he worked, he was faced with the task of bringing all of the people in his house with him to be protected. So Rusesabagina told the escort that he would
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REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE: Efforts to conserve natural resources include spreading awareness, adjusting lifestyles and community service.
need to bring his family. “The family used to be six people and maybe two housemaids and a watchman. But that time, that day, it was plus 26 more,” he told his audience. He packed the people into cars “like potatoes.” As they drove, Rusesabagina said they saw dead bodies littering the streets, some without heads, some with stomachs split open. “Listen, you traitor, you are lucky. We won’t kill you today,” he remembered the soldiers telling him. “But take this gun
STANDING UP: Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’08 recently left the Miami Dolphins, revealing incidents of bullying in professional athletics.
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and kill all these cockroaches in disguise.” “They were dehumanizing people before killing them,” Rusesabagina said. The soldiers were from the Rwandan army, and wanted to kill the Tutsis Rusesabagina was trying to protect. He pointed to a baby one of the Tutsi women was holding, saying, “Are we sure that who we are fighting today is the baby? We can find other solutions.” • Continued on page A9
In what may be the highest percentage yet, 93.4 percent of the senior class applied to colleges early decision, early action or both this year, upper school dean Beth Slattery said. That number is a five percent increase from last year and a 21 percent increase since fall 2009. “Most people, for one reason or another, want to hear something back sooner rather than later, and that’s become a trend,” Slattery said. “It’s the highest since I’ve been here— nine years—so I assume it’s the highest ever, since the number of schools offering early programs has only increased.” The number of students choosing to apply early decision, meaning that they must attend the college if accepted in mid-December, has remained stable, though it has hovered around 50 percent for the past few years, Slattery said. This year, 49.3 percent of the class chose to apply early decision. “It’s been part of a steady trend over the past few years,” upper school dean Pete Silberman said. “I think it’s in part because students believe that their best chance at a reach school is to apply early decision. While early decision generally gives you a modest boost over applying regular, I still see a number of students throwing a ‘hail Mary’ pass on a reach school early decision when they might have been better off going after something in the 50-50 range. It’s all about perceived advantage.” The top 10 schools that students applied to this year were similar to last year’s top 10, but this year’s list includes more early decision schools, such as University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Cornell University. “I chose to apply early decision to a school in New York based on a higher chance of ac• Continued on page A11
ONtheWEB “ORDINARY MAN”: Paul Rusesabagina spoke to students and faculty during an all-school assembly Nov. 7. Watch a video of his full speech at hwchronicle.com/ hotelrwanda