The Chronicle Harvard-Westlake School • North Hollywood, CA • Volume XVIII • Issue 8 • May 27, 2009 • chronicle.hw.com
An inside look at the creatures that inhabit the science department’s rooms.
Lucas Casso ’09 discusses his time as pitcher. alex edel/chronicle
Athletes of the year
Animal love
Q&A
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Te’Rhon O’Neal and Maddie Lenard are athletes of the year.
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Candice navi/chronicle
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Oreman to present valedictory at graduation By Ellina Chulpaeff
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COLOR ME PURPLE: Sal Greenberger ’09 gets an impromptu face painting from a student at Broadway Elemen-
tary School in Venice May 16. The Community Council, in its inaugural year at the Upper School, put on the event.
Council ups event count at year’s end By Hana Al-Henaid Although the deadline for community service completion is 3 p.m. today, the Community Council will sponsor a senior-only beach cleanup event on Saturday because 92 seniors had yet to complete their service requirement as of last Friday, according to the list the Community Council posted outside of their office in Chalmers. The Community Council was formed and implemented this school year, and despite the seniors who have yet to take advantage of the events they offer, has been successful in engaging the school in service, Community Council member Andrew Berman ’10 said. “We started this year as a new group and with a new structure — and that took some getting used to,”
Berman said. “It took time to plan events, especially with the issue of liability forms, but in the last two weeks, for example, we had about six or seven events. We want to continue with that success and just get better and better.” For seniors, the school’s policy for incomplete community service is withholding the delinquent senior’s diploma for graduation on June 5, according to an e-mail sent from Assistant to Head of Upper School Michelle Bracken. The e-mail was sent to all seniors who had not submitted their service requirement as of last Friday. A similar e-mail was sent to the parents of the delinquent seniors but it was sent from Head of Upper School Harry Salamandra. In an effort to prevent withholding any diplomas, the Community Council decided to allow the partici-
pants of the Saturday service event to receive their diplomas on time, according to Community Council member Marni Barta ’09. In addition, for seniors who have not completed their service requirement or who miss the final deadline, the Community Council has decided to allow seniors to plan their own hands-on projects in groups of four beyond today’s deadline. The approval and completion of these events will also allow the seniors to graduate and receive their diploma on June 5, with the rest of the graduating class, Barta said. “In the future, I think more seniors will do their community service by the deadline if the administration decides to set the precedent [to withhold diplomas],” Berman said. “It depends if they will hold them to it.”
News
features
B Section
Surviving
Holding on
Carrying on
Stephen Fishbach ’97 captures second place on the CBS show “Survivor.”
Students maintain relationships with people out of school.
Recapping the odyssey of the class of 2009. Plus, the matriculation list.
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The Od ys s e y
by the
as told
class
by the
of 2009
chronic
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Sing in me, and throu Muse, gh me tell of that the story class in all ways skilled the wand of contending, erers, harr after they ied for on the prouplundered the six years on end, stron d heigh t of Harv ghold ard-West lake. ILLUSTRA TION
BY MARNI
BARTA
Josh Oreman ’09 will present the Commencement speech as valedictorian at the Commencement ceremony on June 5. Oreman was announced as valedictorian at the Cum Laude assembly on May 18. The faculty was given a list of students with the top ranked grade point averages. From that group, the faculty elected Oreman valedictorian. “Josh Oreman has distinguished himself in so many ways that he was very easily selected,” Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said. Oreman was informed he would be valedictorian several weeks before the assembly, but was unable to attend the Cum Laude assembly due to a National Physics Olympiad training camp in Maryland. In addition to competing in the Olympiad, Oreman also does Mock Trial, Moot Court at Duke University and is a member of the Science Bowl and robotics teams. “Josh has been so highly recognized. He’s very good with words so he’ll present a good speech,” Huybrechts said. Oreman has started working on his speech and approximates it to be five minutes long. He will receive a congratulatory certificate and plaque in addition to his name engraved on a permanent trophy like all past valedictorians.
Junior to film on Korean island By Cathi Choi This summer, Austin Park ’09 will try to understand the stories of octopus fisherman Kim Sung-do and his wife Kim Shin-yeol, and capture them on film. Sung-do and Shin-yeol are the only two permanent residents of Dokdo, a series of islets between Korea and Japan. Park won the Junior Summer Fellowship award with his proposal to tell their story through a film documentary. Dokdo is defined by two main islets, which are two large rocks. Sung-do and Shin-yeol live on these rocks, caught in a territorial dispute between the two countries. The territory technically belongs to Korea, and Sung-do and Shin-yeol are fervent Korean patriots who believe in Korea’s territorial claim. In order to gain access to the island, Park had to take many meetings with Korean government officials. When Park found out that Dokdo only had two residents, Park was immediately intrigued by the island’s story. “I want to observe this life because it’s fascinating that these two people could live there,” Park said. “They’re completely isolated, miles from any other people and they’ve been living like this for 40 years. There’s something there I don’t think the world has seen, really.” see FELLOWSHIP, A7