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 IX May 25, 2011
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 Infographics: Maddy Baxter, Eli Haims Assistants: Wendy Chen, Carrie Davidson, David Lim, Keane Muraoka-Robertson, Ana Scuric, Camille Shooshani, Megan Ward Opinion Managing Editors: Noelle Lyons, Jean Park Section Heads: Chanah Haddad, Molly Harrower, Anabel Pasarow, 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, Leslie Dinkin, Gabrielle Franchina, 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 Molezion 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, Allana Rivera, 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 A&E Update Editors: Tiffany Liao, Meagan Wang Sports Update Editors: David Gobel, Judd Liebman Multimedia 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 seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@ hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon, North Hollywood, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager David Burton at (626) 319-0575. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
Rachel Schwartz and Jean Park/CHRONICLE
Support unfashionable action
H
arvard-Westlake is so supportive of student endeavors. It wants us to succeed to the best of our abilities. It wants us to make a difference in our community. It is so committed to supporting us, it is willing to subsidize a charity fashion show run by teenagers.
Maybe it’ll fund an imported car expo next year, too. But don’t worry. All of the proceeds (less the cost of setting up the show, providing electricity to the exhibits and cleaning up the trash) will go to charity. No brainer, right? Not so much. Fashion for Action had a table at the clubs fair, as did tens of other clubs. But are those tens of other clubs reaping the same benefits as Fashion for Action? Maybe none of the other clubs have asked. Maybe none of the other clubs would take advantage of those benefits. But, maybe, just maybe, some of the other clubs would like to. We have nothing (NOTHING) against raising money for charity. Absolutely nothing. But when HarvardWestlake subsidizes countless overtime hours worth of set-up, countless kilowatts worth of electricity, and countless hours worth of lost opportunity (such as the volleyball practices or physical education classes that would otherwise take place in Taper), a high level of scrutiny ought to be applied. Why is Harvard-Westlake is willing to put on Fashion for Action, a student-run fashion show, at significant cost to the school yet will not shell
out enough to enable other student-run charitable organizations to raise money via ID charges at bake sales in the quad? While the offices and processes involved in setting up for Fashion for Action and in processing ID card charges are undeniably different, it is odd. Shouldn’t the school fully support all student efforts to be charitable? Fundamentally, the Genocide Awareness and Activism bake sale wants to accomplish the same thing that Fashion for Action wants to accomplish: supporting charity (or at least, their proceeds go to the same ends). While it is inevitable that selling expensive donated duds will rake in more money than homemade cookies, a high school should not support fashionable charity by providing a gymnasium while it supports epicurious charity by providing a folding table. By providing the venue, manpower, parking, security and electricity to a fashion show, Harvard-Westlake has unnecessarily lent a stamp of approval in an era when ritzy events have been frowned upon as excessive. This is a school, not a national NGO. Let’s not leap for flash when substance can be achieved elsewhere.
Seniors, use your free time
A
t this time of year, we, the members of the senior class, get bored. Our APs have ended, our schedules are empty and our brains go to mush. We come to school when we feel like it and have nothing to do but sit in the quad. So that’s exactly what we do.
We sit and sit and sit and sit until we’re sick of sitting. Then we sit some more. Instead of just sitting some more, we should do something meaningful with this time. The transition period between high school and college is a really important time in all of our lives, and the school should encourage seniors to take some time to reflect, to take a step back from their own lives and to think about what they value and what they want out of life. That reflection could come in the form of an openended senior capstone project, like those students do at Brentwood and Wildwood, for which students could do almost anything they want. It could come in the form of a sincere, thoughtful written reflection, possibly similar to the junior year personal essay. If teachers were willing, the school could even offer small, fun free-form discussion seminars. Teachers and students could come up with initial topics of discussion, but there would be no limits to how the conversations would flow. The sole goal of the seminars would be to allow teachers and students to talk, to connect and to think. We must make it clear that we do not endorse forcing an incredibly time-consuming project on any senior. We do deserve a break. This is the end of six years of hard work, and it is not only nice but important to, for once, be able to spend time with friends, catch up on sleep and let all of our stresses fade
away. That’s why these projects should be optional and open-ended. Seniors should be able to put as much or as little time into them as they choose. Some will get really into it. Others won’t even participate at all. And that’s OK. But the school does have a responsibility to encourage some healthy reflection. And even if students aren’t interested in doing something intellectual, maybe the school could promote communal activities, things that bring the senior class together. While planning should remain in the hands of students, the school should facilitate the organization of senior dodgeball tournaments, community service trips, and other fun activities. There are only about two weeks left in the HarvardWestlake experience for the current senior class, so it’s too late for us to adopt most of these ideas. But it’s not too late for us to embrace the spirit of those ideas. In the next two weeks, class of 2011, do some exploring and do some thinking. Do something new or interesting or thoughtprovoking. Go audit a class you were always interested in but never had the chance to take. Think about what matters to you. Think about what doesn’t matter to you. Maybe even write a bit. And on the last day of classes, come to the quad to celebrate the final moments of your high school career. We and the rest of the senior class will be there. You should be too.