Issue 6 2015 3

theOctagon

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Sacramento Country Day School

www.scdsoctagon.com

VOL. XXXVIII, NO. 6

Orchestra, band head down to Forum Festival

March 17, 2015

Blast from the Past In celebration of Country Day’s 50th anniversary, a past editor-in-chief of The Octagon is being featured in each issue.

By Marigot Fackenthal Reporter The band and orchestra will travel to Anaheim, April 16-18, to compete in California’s Forum Festival judges’ invitational.

This opportunity isn’t given to just any musical group. The Forum Festival starts at a regional level, where jazz bands, concert bands, full orchestras (strings, winds and brasses), string orchestras and choirs compete for ratings of gold, silver and bronze.

Last year, the string orchestra and jazz band earned gold, qualifying them for this year’s statewide competition in Anaheim.

“It’s very . . . Disney. They go all out - costumes, characters, everything.”

—Felecia Keys, teacher But the jazz band and the string orchestra aren’t the only ones going; the concert band is also tagging along - as part of the jazz band.

“We wanted to bring more students along, so I’m teaching (the concert band) jazz,” band director Bob Ratcliff said. “My jazz band is already smaller than most other bands, so adding in the concert band doesn’t cause any numerical issues.”

Ratcliff is transposing the jazz scores into arrangements better suited for concert band instruments.

“I don’t want the music to sound compensated,” he said. “I want it to sound like we meant for those flutes to be in there; we intended for that bassoon, that violin...”

Junior Anthony Swaminathan usually plays the clarinet in the concert band but will be playing the bassoon in Anaheim. He said that the combination of bands will work for the competition.

“I don’t think everyone is really cut out for jazz, but it’s fine,” Swaminathan said. “The real motivation is so that everyone can go to the festival.”

According to Ratcliff, bringing in unconventional instruments could pose problems with the judging. Because the judges are accustomed to listening for certain sounds, they will not be able to apply their usual grading system to SCDS’s unusual band.

“While some judges may view the unconventional instruments as ‘cool,” Ratcliff said, “other judges may be completely against the way I’m organizing my band.”

Although the music program qualifies for the judges’ invitational every year, the last time they participated was two years ago.

Orchestra teacher Felecia Keys explained: “We like this competition, but we try to limit the cost by going to Anaheim every other year.”

Two years ago, the school won consistent medals across all performing groups, earning them first place in the sweepstakes award out of approximately 40 other schools.

The competition itself isn’t the only thing to look forward to.

See Music festivals, page 10

Art teacher Andy Cunningham examines one of the two paintings used in the Mock Trial competition to give tips to coach Ilja Cvetich and attorney Emma Belliveau. (Photo by Grace Stumpfer )

Double jeopardy

Mock Trial places fourth in county

By Annya Dahmani

round, competing for third place.

And for the second year in a row, the team lost to Kaleo.

The attorneys attributed the loss to Country Day or the second year in a row, the Mock Trial team placed fourth of 20 competitors in the coming across as more aggressive than the opposing team. county.

“Kaleo’s team is very sweet and nice, so it’s hard to The Cavs defeated St. Francis High School, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter be harsh with them,” junior attorney Emma Brown High School, Sheldon High School and Laguna said.

“Last year (Country Day) girl attorneys were harsh, Creek High School.

Their most decisive victory was against Laguna so it made (us) look really mean, so we had to be nicer this year. But we aren’t Creek, when they received 57 percent as good when we are more of the points from the trial.

During the first four rounds of “Things we learned from calm.”

Although Belliveau said competition (the results of which de- (scrimmages with) Mt. Tatermine the top eight teams for quar- malpais High, Shasta High that the team did fine this year, team members say terfinals), Country Day was 4-1, losing to only Elk Grove High School’s gold and others helped our scores there is room for improvement. in the competition.” team.

“Given that we had a new Since SCDS was ranked in the top —Wayne Strumpfer, coach coach (Strumpfer), I’d say eight after the first four rounds, they we did pretty well,” Belliprogressed to the quarterfinals, defeatveau said. “We had a lot of talent on our team. If we ing Sheldon High School.

“I thought our best performance was in the quar- spent more time capitalizing on (the talent on our terfinals against Sheldon,” coach Wayne Strumpfer team) and the judges knew how much time we spent said. “Everything seemed to click, and our attorneys on it, we could have done a lot better.”

Both Cvetich and Belliveau said that the team were very active and in the moment. Our witnesses would have made it further in the competition if hit their marks consistently.”

After defeating Sheldon in quarterfinals, the team they’d worked more on objections.

“We had to improve our objections and arguing was defeated by Elk Grove’s blue team (which evenwith objections,” Cvetich said. tually placed first in the county) in semifinals.

Belliveau said the team needed to improve on not This was the closest trial the team had, receiving 49.2 percent of the points, for a final score of 310-320. thinking they were going to get overruled by the judge or that the other team might have a reDespite the loss, junior Emma Bel- “I think our biggest weakness sponse to their objections.

Also the team could have improved on being liveau, an attorney, is with making and respondmore in the moment and being confident, she said that the semiadded. ing to objections.” final round was the Strumpfer agrees. team’s strongest.

—Strumpfer “I think our biggest weakness is with making “I think (our and responding to objections,” he said. “That strongest trial was) will be a focus of ours next year.” when we went against Elk Grove in the semifinal Although lacking in objections and in-the-moround because (senior George Cvetich) was on fire, ment responses, the team’s witnesses and presentaand he objected a lot and would argue them so well. tion skills were assets.

The judges really liked that,” Belliveau said.

“Our witnesses (juniors Akilan Murugesan and As Elk Grove has placed in the top two in the Max Schmitz and sophomores Shriya Nadgauda, county for many years, their reputation aids them in Zane Jakobs, Jaelan Trapp and Arvind Krishnan) did a competition. good job,” Belliveau said. “They knew their stuff and “Elk Grove has been so good for so long,” Strump- could put on a character without being over the top.” fer said. “They have a certain confidence about them Strumpfer agrees with Belliveau. “Our team had and a certain edge with veteran scoring judges. We very good witnesses, solid cross-examination skills, hope to change that in the years to come.”

Because they had lost in semifinals, Country Day went up against Kaleo Home School in a consolation See Mock Trial, page 10

Reporter

F

Laura Murphy was editor-inchief from 2005-06 in her senior year and was also a Lifer. Murphy attended Wellesley College, where she majored in psychology and economics. She is now a banker in New York City for M&T Bank and works in structured asset finance on commercial real estate transactions.

Q: Have you kept in touch with any other alumni?

A: I’m terrible at keeping in touch with people, so I generally just see people at the alumni event during the holidays. The world is a small place, though. Last year I was sitting in a restaurant here in New York celebrating a friend’s birthday and I see someone squinting at me from across the room, and it was Meredith Bennett-Smith, who was co-editor-in-chief with me!

Q: Were there any big issues or exciting changes on campus when you were a student?

A: Mr. (Stephen) Repsher became the school headmaster my first year on The Octagon. The arguments between the neighbors and the school were a major topic of discussion. They were really upset about us parking on the streets. They got a little crazy.

When I was in second grade, a neighbor called in a bomb threat, so we had to stand in the field for a few hours while the police searched the school.

Q: What was the biggest lesson you learned from being editor-in-chief?

A: I learned a lot about leadership. Once I had the job, it was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I was a good writer and good at editing and thought that would naturally transition into being a good editor-in-chief. But being a good leader is more difficult than that.

—Sonja Hansen For more of the interview, visit scdsoctagon.com.

2 Feature

February 17, 2015

The Octagon

The crowd was huge and vocal at the boys’ first regional title game against the California School for the Deaf, March 11. (Photo by Adam Ketchum)

(Left) Senior Micaela Bennett-Smith searches for a teammate in the game against Cristo Rey, Feb. 3. Even with practically no crowd, the Cavs won 22-13. (Right) Junior Julia Owaidat and freshman Annya Dahmani cheer for the boys at the regional title game, March 11. (Photos by Adam Ketchum)

Inadvertent favoritism in two gender sports

Later scheduling of games makes boys seem more important

By Emma Williams Editor-in-Chief

A

fter sinking a basket, senior Micaela Bennett-Smith would have loved to hear a roar of enthusiasm from the Country Day supporters in the stands.

But all she heard were the taunts coming from the Victory Christian School fans behind her.

Even though the girls were in the playoffs on Feb. 20, the Country Day stands were almost empty - there were just a few parents and a couple of students. “(And) one of the students was on Octagon and was only there to report on the game,” Bennett-Smith said.

“The other team had crowds of people with signs. I mean, we made it to the playoffs - but no one came!”

The game was at Victory Christian, just a 10-minute drive from school, and it was a Friday night. So why the low attendance?

According to Bennett-Smith, the sparse bleachers are common at girls’ basketball games.

While sexism in sports isn’t an original concept (WNBA, anyone?), Bennett-Smith attributes the lack of spectators to the timing of the games as well.

At Country Day (and almost every other school in the country), girls play before boys.

For home games, the girls play closer to dinner time, at 6 p.m., while the boys usually start around 7:30.

“Pretty much every league that I know has the girls play first,” said athletic director Matt Vargo, who is also the coach of the girls’ team.

“Part of it is probably just that that’s the way it’s always been.”

At Occidental College, however, this isn’t the way it’s always been.

According to Micaela’s brother Morgan, ’13, now a sophomore at Occidental, the girls’ basketball team doesn’t always play before the boys’ team.

Instead it alternates - one year the girls get the coveted 7 p.m. slot, and the boys play at 5 p.m. The next year the schedule flip-flops.

This year, the boys have the later slot, which is much easier for students to attend. “(Lots of) classes are definitely still happening at 5,” Morgan said. “And 5:30 is (a common) dinner time. The (cafeteria) actually stops making food at 7. “(7 p.m.) is a perfect time to just finish class and dinner and go to watch a game.”

Bennett-Smith said she thinks the permanent girls-first schedule at Country Day also makes the team seem less important.

“It’s like the girls are always a warm-up for the boys,” she said.

And statistics seem to support her assessment. A Feb. 3 Octagon poll revealed that 59 percent of the 110 students polled have attended a boys’ basketball game. But only 43 percent have been to a girls’ game.

And, according to Bennett-Smith, this number is probably inflated since some students may have said they attended a girls’ game even though they came for only the second half.

“No one comes to our games until maybe halftime to get a good seat for the boys’ game,” Bennett-Smith said.

Junior Julia Owaidat, who has been on the team since her freshman year, agrees that the games’ timing affects attendance.

“When I was a freshman, I thought (playing first) was good because a lot of people could come to the game and then go home and do homework,” Owaidat said. “But now I (realize that) lots of people would rather go home and do their stuff, then go to the game.”

Owaidat said she also thinks that many

students don’t actually watch the games they the team all four years of high school. “My attend. sophomore year, we had great players, but I “A lot of high schoolers go to the game but still remember we didn’t have anyone at our then just hang out outside,” she said. “But for games.” me, as a player, if I don’t hear them screamVargo does admit that earlier game times ing, then it doesn’t count.” can cause problems for working adults.

Bennett-Smith said she understands why “Having games after parents get off of work more students are interested in attending the does increase your fan base,” he said. boys’ games this year - they’ve won their diAt Occidental, Morgan doesn’t think rovision for the first time ever. But she also re- tating times necessarily increases attendance members girls’ game at girls’ games. But he attendance being a said that attendance problem before this “I mean, we made it to playoffs - but at boys’ games is defiyear. nitely lower when the no one came!”

Vargo, however, play first.

—Micaela Bennett-Smith, senior boys thinks the attenLike Vargo, Morgan dance does depend said he thinks that atmore on the number of wins rather than the tendance often depends on the team’s skill. scheduling of the games.

“The girls don’t get nearly as many (spec“I honestly think that the time isn’t the tators) as the boys,” Morgan said. “But (this problem,” he said. “I think this was an excep- year) the boys were good, and the girls were tional year for our boys, and wins and losses straight garbage.” definitely have an impact (on attendance).”

Nonetheless, Morgan said he does think In fact, Vargo said he thinks having the that sports sexism and the timing of the girls’ and boys’ games back to back increases games could affect attendance. attendance at the girls’ games.

“I’m not sure whether people weren’t going “People have come into the gym before the to the girls’ games because (the team was) bad girls’ game ends (for the next game),” Vargo or because (the games) were at 5 or because it said. “Back to back, I think both teams ben- was girls’ basketball,” he said. efit.”

Morgan, who played basketball while at Vargo pointed out that the girls had “a lot Country Day, remembers the game schedulof fans” when Mary-Clare Bosco, ’13, was on ing as being “slanted towards the boys.” the team. Bosco was named Most Valuable “Always having the boys at a later time isn’t Player on the girls’ varsity and in the Sacra- really fair,” he said. “People really don’t want mento Metropolitan Athletic League during to sit through two games. They’re either goher senior year. ing to go to one or the other.”

“If teams are more successful, they’re going Morgan said the best solution would be to to get more fans,” Vargo said. have the games scheduled like Occidental’s But Bennett-Smith remembers the atten- soccer games - girls play at home when boys dance that year differently. play away and vice versa. “(Low attendance) has always (been a prob“The girls would be in the prime-time spot; lem), even when the girls were better than the then the boys would be in the prime-time boys,” said Bennett-Smith, who has been on spot,” he said.

Sophomore constructs indoor coed soccer team by herself

By Adam Dean Reporter Without the guidance of a coach or any practices, sophomore Natalie Brown has a competitive recreational indoor soccer team on her hands.

Brown, who has been playing soccer recreationally since she was 5 and competitively since she was 8, got the idea to create the team from her brother, who played on a similar indoor team in high school.

The coed recreational team has 10 Country Day students and two Sacramento Waldorf students.

But more are encouraged to join, Brown said.

“I would love to have more players,” Brown said.

“It would really help when some people aren’t able

to show up.”

There are eight games in the seven-week season, which ends April 19. The team plays at the indoor soccer arena ISA 2000 (4670 Aldona Ln., No. 7).

Brown’s father Kevin is the required adult supervisor, but is not coaching.

On the ISA 2000 website, Brown put $100 down to reserve a spot in the upcoming spring league. In the first week of February, she officially registered her team when she paid an additional $450.

Each other member of the team is paying $40.

Brown plans to make up her deficit by having a bake sale later in the spring at school.

To form the Cavaliers, Brown recruited by sending out emails to Country Day’s boys’ and

girls’ soccer teams. She was able to get nine players from the soccer teams to play. Brown also recruited some of her friends at Waldorf.

The team won its first game (11-4) on Feb. 22 against That Team after a tough start.

They were caught off guard at the beginning, Brown said. They weren’t able to warm up before their first game because they didn’t arrive early enough.

“At first everyone was thrown out there,” Brown said. “After five minutes we got into a rhythm of passing and started to play well.”

The Cavaliers lost their second game against SWC, 9-5, on March 1.

See Soccer, page 4

Senior Keegan Crain looks up to pass to sophomore Natalie Brown. (Photo used with permission by Crain)

March 17, 2015

The Octagon

This he remembers

News

3

So much has changed on campus since first-grader Jay Johnson enrolled in 1965

By Manson Tung Page Editor

N

ot many people have watched the school grow like Jay Johnson, eighth-grade class of ’73. Johnson was a first-grader when he began attending Country Day in 1965.

He now plays piano for the music department. All three of his children - Jamie, ’10, Charlie, ’14 and eighth-grader Heidi - attend or attended the school.

As a soon-to-be Lifer, I’ve watched the campus grow immensely. In my time, the entire lower school was torn down and replaced with a two-story structure. A new high-school science center was built, and two middle-school classrooms were torn down and replaced. In the high school, I’ve watched a new quad go up, as well as a massive library refurbishment.

That’s why I took a walk with Johnson around campus last month - I wanted to know what Country Day was like before all of the buildings I take for granted.

“You know, I’ve never thought about how the old campus fits on the current property,” Johnson said, while trying to match an early Medallion yearbook photograph with the current layout of the campus.

It wasn’t easy.

When Country Day first plopped its portable classrooms down at 2636 Latham Drive, the surrounding area was barley fields.

“There was just nothing around,” Johnson said. “You could see the river from our classrooms.”

In fact, when the school moved to its current location, the Below, eighth graders Pete Hillman, Ken Lambert, Pete Odum, Debbie Rust, Chris Miles and Grant Carlson in the 1966-67 Medallion. (Photo used by permission of Jay Johnson) At right, Jay Johnson stands at the very same spot. (Photo by Kevin Huang)

Howe Avenue Bridge had yet to be built.

Some of Johnson’s fondest memories took place on the back field, when the surrounding area was still untouched by developers.

“The teachers would tell the kids to scramble up the power towers. ‘Come on! Climb a little higher. It’ll make for a great picture.’ They don’t let you do that now!” Johnson said with a chuckle.

While walking past the art room, Johnson stopped to look up.

“I think this is where the pool was,” he said, his voice wavering slightly.

“The what?” I asked, thinking of all the laps I could have been swimming in my 12 years at the school.

“Not that kind of pool,” Johnson said while taking another look at his old Medallion photo to make sure the location was correct.

“There was a vernal pool, a seasonal pond, here,” he said.

“Thank goodness we filled it in when we did because today the government would never let you fill it in! But then we would have had waterfront classrooms.”

As we continue to walk down the back field, I realize we are approaching the location of an early photo. Only there were mounds of dirt piled 10 feet high and a lone home in the background of the ’60s-era shot.

According to Johnson, early-era Country Day construction involved moving mounds of dirt further to the eastern edge of the property near the current gym location.

As housing developments came in, massive cement pipes were moved to the back field, becoming play equip-

In the school’s early days, teachers encouraged students to scramble up the power lines for an impressive photograph. (Photo used by permission of Jay Johnson)

ment for the students.

Johnson said that the pipes were fascinating to adults and children alike, and pictures of playing children and seated adults are plentiful in early Medallions.

The original buildings, including the portable library, sit on what is currently the second-grade area of the lower school.

Almost nothing remains of that earlier time, with the buildings long since torn down and the trees and land plowed over and subdivided for homes.

Perhaps the only place on the campus that has stayed roughly the same in the 50-year history of the school is the L-shaped bank of middle-school classrooms. Sitting at the See 50 years, page 10

4 Sports

March 17, 2015

The Octagon

New lacrosse coach focuses on basics, not plays After discovering the sport in college, coach vows to spread his passion

By Zoë Bowlus Page Editor

A

aron Couchot has a lot on his hands.

He’s a husband, a father, a claims supervisor and a lacrosse coach for an Elk Grove youth club team.

And now he has one more role to add to the list: he’s the new SCDS lacrosse coach.

That means that Couchot is committed to lacrosse at least six days a week.

“It’s very difficult right now. I’m super busy,” he said.

And so are the boys.

On the team, students are involved in schoolwork, orchestra, band, the school newspaper, other sports and more.

Couchot said he knows he’s not just dealing with “meathead jocks.”

“These are scholars,” he said.

But because of these commitments, Couchot has yet to see all his players at one practice.

“It makes me a little nervous,” he said.

However, Couchot said it’s refreshing to see the boys’ enthusiasm for lacrosse and for their other interests.

“It’s neat to interact with them. It kind of brings me back to when I was in high school,” he said.

But when Couchot was in high school, he wasn’t playing lacrosse.

In fact, considering how many years he has been coaching youth lacrosse, it might come as a surprise that he didn’t start playing the sport until his college years. But it’s true.

Born in Ohio, Couchot lived in Colorado, Texas and Louisiana before his family settled in Bakersfield for his high-school years.

Youth lacrosse just wasn’t around in any of those places.

He played soccer, basketball and baseball and sailed before playing tennis competitively in high school.

Once in college at the University of the Pacific, Couchot found he didn’t have an athletic outlet. The spring of his freshman year, he saw some guys playing lacrosse and had a college friend who played, so he decided to check it out.

“I really did fall in love with it,” he said. “I always wanted that physical contact type of sport.”

He had never played organized contact football because he moved around so much, he said. “(Lacrosse) takes on the physicality from football that I was always craving and the technical aspect from tennis that I was familiar with,” Couchot said.

When he graduated with a social sciences major, he left with great memories of his time playing lacrosse.

But he was disappointed he hadn’t had the opportunity to play longer.

Where was lacrosse when he was growing up? It had been in his life for only a short window of time.

So Couchot made a promise to himself that if he ever got the opportunity to coach and spread the game lacrosse at the youth level, he would do just that.

And he’s kept it. He’s been coaching for nine years. He started as an assistant coach on an under-15 club team and has since become the first high-school coach for that program and coached under-11 and under-13 teams. He currently coaches the Elk Grove Gladiators, an under-15 club team.

Now, Couchot is further fulfilling his promise with this new role at Country Day. Couchot is taking over the position left vacant by former

Soccer: New game gives seniors chance to play again, equality-based rules (Continued from page 2) Multiple players were absent from the game and left the team without any subs, Brown said.

The team had its third game, on March 8, cancelled.

The fourth game was on March 15, but results were not available at press time.

The games allow the players to get more experience and stay in shape during the girls’ soccer season.

Coach Aaron Couchot releases the lacrosse team from practice (top). Senior Chris Liston goes in for a ground ball while senior Alex Bushberg tries to check him (right). (Photos by Elena Lipman)

coach Brooke Wells, who is now head of high school.

Senior Dominic Stephen said the two coaches have different philosophies.

Wells said his coaching philosophy involves high-scoring, aggressive games. He likes players to run and shoot on offense and double team the player with the ball on defense.

In contrast, Stephen said, Couchot’s focus is on the basics. “(Couchot) emphasizes movement, so we do a lot of running, and all the drills involve nonstop motion and circles,” Stephen said.

Because of this difference, Couchot and the boys are still getting used to each other.

Senior Christopher Liston said it’s “weird” for the players who have played under both Wells and Couchot.

Take practice style, for example. The majority of practice with Couchot is spent working on ball handling, catching and passing, senior Alex Bushberg said, whereas Wells spent more time on live play. Drills in circular formation are also new.

At a late-February practice, Couchot breaks the boys into two groups. They form circles and pass to each other in that formation, switching the throwing hand and the direction at Couchot’s instruction.

The circles have some of the boys confused.

“You guys are going the wrong way,” Couchot tells one group. “Keep moving your feet.”

See Lacrosse, page 11 “Since we’re not playing for a league, it’s fine to just go out and have fun playing with classmates,” sophomore Elizabeth Brownridge said.

Seniors Keegan Crain and Erik Morfin joined so they could play with each other one last time before going to college, Crain said.

“Everyone works really well together on the field,” Crain said. “And we have some really great players.”

This is sophomore Catherine Ryan’s first time playing on a indoor soccer team. However, Ryan has played outdoor soccer since she was in sixth grade.

“I really like indoor soccer because it has less players. So you get more time on the ball,” Ryan said.

Indoor soccer is very different from outdoor soccer. Its games are 45 minutes long rather than 90, and there are six players on the field instead of 11.

The rules also call for two girls to be on the field at all times for each team. This prevents teams from not using girls in

games. Also, a goal scored by a girl is worth two points, not one.

“It’s a good rule,” Morfin said. “It’s coed. Girls should be on the field at all times.”

Brown plans to make the team a school club when she finds the time. She talked to Brooke Wells, head of high school, to find a potential adviser, and he recommended assistant technology director Michael Cvetich, ’05.

Cvetich played soccer when he attended Country Day and in his first year of college. Cvetich said he might be interested once he learns the duties of the position.

In the meantime four games remain for the Cavaliers to play as a team.

“I like that I get to play with people that I get to play with in fall soccer,” freshman Theo Kaufman said.

“We play well together because we know each other’s tendencies.”

Sports Boosters’ Athletes of the Month Considered one of the leaders of the team, sophomore Natalie Brown has scored seven goals over each of the four games the Cavs have played.

Freshman Miles Edwards is 1-0 as a pitcher. Also a leader in terms of hitting, he’s been a main contributor to the team’s first two victories with a .833 batting average, six RBIs and four runs.

Athletes of the Month are chosen by the athletic department on behalf of the Sports Boosters.

March 17, 2015

The Octagon

Spring Sports 2015

Sports

5

At left, junior Ben Felix tees off against Forest Lake. (Photo by Jake Sands) Above, senior Erik Morfin recovers from a steal against Victory Christian; the Cavs won 11-6. (Photo by Adam Ketchum) Below, junior Brad Petchauer sinks a putt while junior Jake Sands watches. (Photo by Amelia Fineberg) At right, freshman Evann Rudek steals a ball in a 7-1 victory over the Waldorf Waves.

(Photo by Gracie Strumpfer)

Above, junior Colby Conner serves against San Juan High. SCDS lost the March 10 match, 2-3. (Photo by Patricia Jacobsen) At left, seniors Michael Wong and Alex Bushberg guard seniors Maxwell Shukuya and Chris Liston in a drill, as junior Brad Petchauer protects the goal. (Photo by Elena Lipman) At bottom left, junior Johann Dias returns a ball during the March 5 match against Golden Sierra, which the Cavs won, 7-2. (Photo by Petchauer) At bottom right, senior Lauren Larrabee midstroke at a meet. (Photo used by permission of Larrabee)

6

Centerpoint

The$Octagon$

March$17,$2015

7

She didn’t have a choice

W

hen Emma Sulkowicz, an art student at Columbia University in New York City, began carrying a 50-pound mattress around the university’s campus at the beginning of the school year, she kickstarted a movement of solidarity on college campuses nationwide.

The project, “Carry That Weight,” is Sulkowicz’s response to the sex ual assault she experienced her sophomore year and the university’s failure

months to appear before a panel that would determine whether her rapist was Talamantes said that a lot of his friends didn’t feel safe walking the

still carries from the trauma of the event and her assaulter’s simultaneous a really good job of making the grounds The project has garnered national attention and become iconic Weight” demonstra tions at multiple However, Co lumbia freshman Garrett Kaighn, ’14, says that the scandal has hardly

By Amelia Fineberg

“Having the school make these rulings has been really so, as her friend, it’s re ally hard to watch her go through this,” Mar

“They( said( her( offender( didn’t( know( she( was(drunk.(The(fact(is(that(she(was(inebriated(to(the(point(where(she(was(throwing( up(and(blacking(out.(” —Connor*Martin,*‘14

Kaighn saw a few protests, but those have mostly died down, he

He cited instances in which he The friend would, at intervals, lie down on the ground because she had been “partying pretty hard,” and people would stop to ask her if she was okay, refusing

ing the community informed, Talamantes said, with live updates disseminated by email every time something happens, as well as programs, such as one that

dition of a required seminar on consent, to be attended before spring

But Columbia senior Parul Guliani, ’11, said that while she wasn’t personally involved, she knows people who were involved in the move When he rushed at the beginning of the spring semester, he made a point

“I’ve seen a lot of frustration toward the administrative policies,” Guliani noted that when she was a freshman, the same year that Sulkowicz and her assaulter were freshmen, the program about sex

fact is that she was inebriated to the point where she was throwing up

was very lighthearted, had minimal student participation and gave out free condoms with funny names on them, so no one took it very Guliani said she had heard the program had undergone chang Guliani stressed that she had not been following the story, “The whole story was never quite clear “I would never side with a rapist, and

friends before that and had hooked up before, and they went up to her room

of a woman who said she had been raped by members of a fra

“I(would(never(side(with(a(rapist,(and(I(want(to( believe((Sulkowicz)(is(telling(the(truth,(but(it(was( really(shaky.(They(were(friends(before(that(and( had(hooked(up(before,(and(they(went(up(to(her( room(consensually.”( —Garrett*Kaighn,*‘14

“I feel like people had a really

when Rolling Stone magazine published an article relating the story of “Jackie” and her thwarted attempts

College Rape Statistics

Multiple news me dia, including The Wash ington Post, have since condemned the article as being “fraught from the beginning with gaps in basic reporting,” as major errors in key details, also failed to interview any of the men Jackie said were responsible, pro viding what The Washington Post criticized as “half a story, told from a

half north of New York City, freshman Connor Martin, ’14, has been much One of his friends, a freshman

Most people believed the article in the beginning, Talamantes said, but

rienced a similar trauma to Sul

“Currently, the consensus ranges from ‘Something traumatic must have

printed in Boilerplate Mag der of the semester when the news broke, but according to Talamantes, it wasn’t a huge deal because it was only a few weeks from the end of the semes scribes her “incessant panic attacks, vomiting constant ly, and crying, screaming and hyperventilating for seemingly endless amounts of time” after a sober friend had sex with her while she

“It was reactionary from the school, just to make it look like they were

25%

of women report rape or attempted rape

72 - 81%

of women are intoxicated when raped

11%

of women report rape to the police

64%

of male offenders were using drugs and/ or alcohol

To make things worse, the Rolling Stone situation followed the kidnap ping and murder of a student named Hannah Graham, which added to the

organization One in Four

6

Centerpoint

The$Octagon$

March$17,$2015

7

She didn’t have a choice

W

hen Emma Sulkowicz, an art student at Columbia University in New York City, began carrying a 50-pound mattress around the university’s campus at the beginning of the school year, she kickstarted a movement of solidarity on college campuses nationwide.

The project, “Carry That Weight,” is Sulkowicz’s response to the sex ual assault she experienced her sophomore year and the university’s failure

months to appear before a panel that would determine whether her rapist was Talamantes said that a lot of his friends didn’t feel safe walking the

still carries from the trauma of the event and her assaulter’s simultaneous a really good job of making the grounds The project has garnered national attention and become iconic Weight” demonstra tions at multiple However, Co lumbia freshman Garrett Kaighn, ’14, says that the scandal has hardly

By Amelia Fineberg

“Having the school make these rulings has been really so, as her friend, it’s re ally hard to watch her go through this,” Mar

“They( said( her( offender( didn’t( know( she( was(drunk.(The(fact(is(that(she(was(inebriated(to(the(point(where(she(was(throwing( up(and(blacking(out.(” —Connor*Martin,*‘14

Kaighn saw a few protests, but those have mostly died down, he

He cited instances in which he The friend would, at intervals, lie down on the ground because she had been “partying pretty hard,” and people would stop to ask her if she was okay, refusing

ing the community informed, Talamantes said, with live updates disseminated by email every time something happens, as well as programs, such as one that

dition of a required seminar on consent, to be attended before spring

But Columbia senior Parul Guliani, ’11, said that while she wasn’t personally involved, she knows people who were involved in the move When he rushed at the beginning of the spring semester, he made a point

“I’ve seen a lot of frustration toward the administrative policies,” Guliani noted that when she was a freshman, the same year that Sulkowicz and her assaulter were freshmen, the program about sex

fact is that she was inebriated to the point where she was throwing up

was very lighthearted, had minimal student participation and gave out free condoms with funny names on them, so no one took it very Guliani said she had heard the program had undergone chang Guliani stressed that she had not been following the story, “The whole story was never quite clear “I would never side with a rapist, and

friends before that and had hooked up before, and they went up to her room

of a woman who said she had been raped by members of a fra

“I(would(never(side(with(a(rapist,(and(I(want(to( believe((Sulkowicz)(is(telling(the(truth,(but(it(was( really(shaky.(They(were(friends(before(that(and( had(hooked(up(before,(and(they(went(up(to(her( room(consensually.”( —Garrett*Kaighn,*‘14

“I feel like people had a really

when Rolling Stone magazine published an article relating the story of “Jackie” and her thwarted attempts

College Rape Statistics

Multiple news me dia, including The Wash ington Post, have since condemned the article as being “fraught from the beginning with gaps in basic reporting,” as major errors in key details, also failed to interview any of the men Jackie said were responsible, pro viding what The Washington Post criticized as “half a story, told from a

half north of New York City, freshman Connor Martin, ’14, has been much One of his friends, a freshman

Most people believed the article in the beginning, Talamantes said, but

rienced a similar trauma to Sul

“Currently, the consensus ranges from ‘Something traumatic must have

printed in Boilerplate Mag der of the semester when the news broke, but according to Talamantes, it wasn’t a huge deal because it was only a few weeks from the end of the semes scribes her “incessant panic attacks, vomiting constant ly, and crying, screaming and hyperventilating for seemingly endless amounts of time” after a sober friend had sex with her while she

“It was reactionary from the school, just to make it look like they were

25%

of women report rape or attempted rape

72 - 81%

of women are intoxicated when raped

11%

of women report rape to the police

64%

of male offenders were using drugs and/ or alcohol

To make things worse, the Rolling Stone situation followed the kidnap ping and murder of a student named Hannah Graham, which added to the

organization One in Four

8 Editorial

The Octagon

March 17, 2015

“Ladies First” by Jake Sands

My Angle

By Grant Miner

1 column that will change the way you view listicles

EDITORIAL: When you make the girls play first, you leave them dead last

M

uch like having a football team named the Washington Redskins, the issue of always having the girls play first is one of those things that no one really thinks about until someone points it out. But come to think of it, there isn’t really any moral high ground to keeping the schedule the way it is besides the resistant inertia that always comes with reform.

Unlike the incredibly divisive (and still yet unresolved) issue of the Redskins, there isn’t a conceivable downside to giving the game schedules a rework.

If you’ve read the story on p. 2, you’ll know that a lot of the girls feel that the current modus operandi results in much less support for them.

Reality reflects that opinion. Yes, it’s true that the boys’ team is more exciting to watch because of how well they’re doing, but even when we had girls like Mary-Clare Bosco,‘13 - who absolutely crushed it on the court and currently plays for Pomona - there weren’t a lot of people who came out to support them.

More than we have now, but not that much more.

We’re not saying that nobody comes to girls’ games because of some sexist conspiracy - that’s simply not true. But the reality is that the team that plays early doesn’t have as many spectators. Their game time often conflicts with the schedules of busy parents, and many students who are staying for the games skip the

the Editor-in-Chief Emma Williams Online Editor-in-Chief Aishwarya Nadgauda Business Manager Zoë Bowlus Feature Editor Aishwarya Nadgauda Opinion Editor Grant Miner Sports Editor Zoë Bowlus Copy Editor Amelia Fineberg Social Media Editor Maxwell Shukuya Photographers Erin Reddy Adam Ketchum Jake Sands Kevin Huang Elena Lipman

first one to go out to dinner. That’s just the way it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

What is wrong is permanently giving that sub-par slot to the girls. Everyone would agree that being a Cavalier doesn’t require a Y chromosome, so let’s not act like it does.

The solution that Occidental College chose was to have the teams switch off, which we think is a pretty great idea. Rather than making one team shoulder the burden of low attendance and morale, they could take turns.

It works out well for all. Parents who couldn’t come to see their daughters play now can, and the decision to go grab a bite to eat no longer earns you a black mark on your political correctness card.

Of course, Homecoming would be an issue, but that could be decided by a simple coin toss.

The only real hurdle would be that every other school would have to go along with the change. We don’t know the specifics of league administration, but we’re guessing that this would not be a simple process. Not only that but we might have to deal with athletic directors whose reasoning behind not switching is more unsavory than “we just never really thought about it before.”

But it’s worth a try. The girls are our friends, and it’s a shame that we leave them with empty bleachers.

Octagon Page Editors Grant Miner Aishwarya Nadgauda Maxwell Shukuya Emma Williams Madison Judd Manson Tung Elena Lipman Reporters Anna Wiley Adam Dean Marigot Fackenthal Elena Lipman Ulises Barajas Annya Dahmani Katia Dahmani Sonja Hansen Graphic Artists Anna Wiley Jake Sands Adviser Patricia Fels

The Octagon is published eight times a year by high-school journalism students of Sacramento Country Day School, 2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento, California 95864. Phone: (916) 4818811, ext. 347.

The online Octagon (www.scdsoctagon.com) is updated daily.

Orchids

&

Onions

With any news medium, there is a lucrative niche wherein shoddy journalism (I’m looking at you, Rupert Murdoch) thrives. Luckily, the best that Star Magazine can do is appeal to your need for gossip while you’re in the check-out line.

Unfortunately, the latest form of content-free journalism is not confined to a small rack next to the Junior Mints. Rather, it is a ubiquitous member of the infosphere. The apex predator, if you will.

I speak, of course, of the listicle.

It’s a portmanteau of the words “list” and “article.”

You know the ones. “7 Reasons Why Ron Weasley is the Best Best Friend Ever.” “27 Things You’re Only Afraid Of If You Live In New York” (both from Buzzfeed).

It’s ingenious, really. Not only will you get people who live in New York to give you scads of page views so they can revel in their trademarked pretension, but people who want to be in on the joke will click too.

Not that that’s intrinsically bad. All’s fair in love and ad-revenue generation.

What bothers me is that the articles are pointless.

Not in the way that playing video games or watching a good movie is “pointless,” because there is still content there.

There is just nothing much in that particular listicle - or any listicle, for that matter. Really, it should be named “27 Things You’re Only Afraid Of If You Live In Any Major Metropolitan Area.”

Let’s take a look, shall we?

“10. Rent.”

Wait, really? You think that rent is something that you have to live in New York to be scared of? Not only will you find terrible rent prices in every city in the world, but it applies to more rural areas as well. Hell, even feudal serfs used to wring their hands over rent.

It was pretty much all they had between them and the chopping block.

Bedbugs, scaffolding, identity theft. None of it’s even remotely exclusive.

Not only will the content be essentially valueless, but what little there is will be endlessly recycled. As it turns out, what New Yorkers are afraid of is what pretty much everyone else is afraid of, too.

Additionally, the reporting on Buzzfeed and sites like it is sketchy at best. If you’re lucky enough to find a listicle with some words placed under the oversized pictures, the writing will almost always be editorializations. If not, then it’s most likely been copied and pasted straight out of another, more well-written article.

The result is that a bunch of people are essentially reading nothing and then going on to the next bit of nothing that happens to catch their eye.

Perhaps it’s an intrinsic quality of our generation that we have to look for the most superficial entertainment possible. But if you ask me, that’s just sad.

O

rchids to. . . orchestra and the chamber groups for playing music in the library in celebration of Music in Our School Month! It was a great way to spend lunch.

O

nions to. . . freshmen for not keeping their quad clean. All the lower and middle schoolers can see it, so frosh need to set a better example for them.

O

rchids to. . . students who brought shoes to support the Dyer-Kelly shoe drive.

Your thoughtfulness goes a long way towards helping the children.

nions to. . . teachers giving tests in the last week of the quarter. With five tests in a week, who’s surprised there are so many absences?

O

March 17, 2015

Opinion

The Octagon

Find your groove with these alt albums

9

Guitars or synthesizers?

( ( Wub wub. ) )

Dead Man’s Bones

I won the 2014 Air Guitar Olympics.

The careers of movie-stars-turned-musicians don't often go well. This, apparently, is not true for Ryan Gosling, who, along with indie darling Zach Shields (not to mention the children's choir of the Silverlake Music Conservatory), makes up the creepy concept album Dead Man's Bones. Not only do Gosling and Shields do all the instrumental parts themselves, but they've limited themselves to a maximum of three takes per song.

The result is a sort of "black folk" that sounds very dark and genuine , if a little kitschy .

— Grant Miner

Unce unce.

How do you feel about beats?

Do you like rap?

Ooh, I love 'Fargo'!

Really gloomy or black comedy?

I never forgot about Dre.

Gloomy.

Cilvia Demo

How's the mood?

Sunny.

I don't give gifts much.

As far as first records go, Isaiah Rashad's is a pretty good one. I would have been happy if it were just an EP version of Rashad's Soundcloud tracks, but instead Rashad exceeds expectations by giving us his life story to the tune of excellently produced melodies, solid beats and great verses. In light of Rashad's flow and mellow beats, I think the best course of action would be to follow his own prescription for listening to the album and "vibe out to it."

— Grant Miner Cilvia Demo

I only shop at HotTopic.

6 Feet beneath the moon

Funky?

The lanky, pallid-skinned, south-Londoner King Krule (Archy Marshall) has a musical style - influenced by jazz, punk and hip hop - that is beyond distinctive.

Each song on Moon is full of beautiful electric guitar. It's clean and jazzed-up with major seventh chords.

In "Out Getting Ribs," the guitar, which transitions from a lo-fi to hi-fi recording effect, is intricately arpeggiated (each note in the chord played individually).

Lyrically and vocally, Marshall is also a marvel.

His romanticized, always dark bars from songs like "Baby Blue" are full of longing sorrow .

If you're cold, wet and alone, put on some Krule.

He'll fit the mood.

— Maxwell Shukuya

No Reason EP Charlie Yin, better known as Giraffage (pronounced juh-raf-ij), produces some really chilledout electronic tracks .

"Tell Me," my favorite track, begins with a strong beat intermingled with an electronically affected female "oh."

The song really impresses at its climax (around 2:50) when Yin's synths go wild with pitch blend.

The "Wyaaaa Wyaaaaaaas" are ear cand y.

There's just something about how complex yet relaxing Yin's songs are that separates him from similar artists.

— Maxwell Shukuya

Is that a real question?

Ambivalence Avenue

Down to funk.

Motown's still in Detroit.

Salad Days

In the Shower Peter Sagar (aka HOMESHAKE) writes funky tunes that are identifiably reminiscent of Mac DeMarco - andorf good reason.

Sagar was DeMarco's tour guitarist, and the influence is obvious. The same low-key vibes and jazz chords are there, but Sagar's new album takes on its own identity .

My favorite track from the album, "Making a Fool of You," really sets the tone for the album with its distinctive funk-inspired "wah, wah, wah" sound.

Without the DeMarco charisma, Sagar's left with a dif ferent sound - heavy-e yed funk.

— Maxwell Shukuya

Mac DeMarco is the eccentric's version of an early-2000s Justin Bieber .

The guitar work, which is fed through a treble-high tinny effect, is identifiably jazz-influenced.

DeMarco also tinkers with synths on the album. "Chamber Of Reflection," is filled with these groovy synth chord prog ressions.

And some of his guitar solos, especially at the end of "Goodbye Weekend," are bound to get stuck in our y head.

DeMarco is musical crack without the bad side effects. You'll eventually get addicted.

— Maxwell Shukuya

Primarily known for his light, electronica-meets-folk sound, Bibio (Stephen Wilkinson) surprised his listeners when he released Ambivalence Avenue. His original style was still there, but now there were beats thumping away in the background - some, like in "Jealous of Roses," are downright funky. However, Bibio hasn't gone sideways on us. Short digressions into his usual folksiness come often and are quite welcome after such a radical change .

— Grant Miner

Only in my salad.

Are you okay with music that sounds like a monkey got into a recording studio?

Well, now I'm interested.

Gliss Riffer

Dan Deacon, who originally cut his teeth on zany, noisy electronic music, has been evolving towards a more orchestral and large-scale sound with each new album. Gliss Riffer is his attempt to return to the tone of his earlier work.

While the magic isn't all there, his old sound is still alive and well in tracks like "Feel the Lightning" and "Sheathed Wings," where his loops are multilayered and driving, making them both tunes you won't want to miss . ­— Grant Miner

10 Remainder

50 years: Long-time teacher remembers shenanigans that shut down student lounge (Continued from page 3) crook of the L-shape is the high-school and middle-school art room.

Amy Wells, ’98, remembers having dances in the art room.

“It was the largest room at the time, because we didn’t have the MP room,” Wells said.

While the art room has remained unchanged in use, the current middle-school office was a lounge for high schoolers back in the ‘70’s History teacher Daniel Neukom remembers the student lounge well. “The ‘70’s were a more experimental time,” Neukom said. “The society was just so open.

“Students could smoke cigarettes in the room if they had parental permission, and although they were supposed to keep the door open, things got…a bit rambunctious.”

Neukom said that after a student fell, cracked a window and dented a wall, the school put the kibosh on the lounge.

While the L-shaped building hasn’t changed, the small saplings in the barren, dirt-filled quad of the ‘70s have grown into massive oaks and evergreens.

During Johnson’s time, the school had an open-campus system where students could walk on and off as they pleased.

“I was too young when I first came, but it didn’t seem that big a deal,” Johnson said. “All schools were like this, and where were you going to walk to? The barley fields?”

Johnson also recalls walking across the newly completed Guy West Bridge at Sacramento State University. “When they built that bridge, it was the coolest thing to happen for so long,” Johnson said.

As Johnson and I tried to reconcile 50-year-old pictures with current-day trees and a few landmarks, I realized just how futile the process was. Most of the things in the pictures don’t exist anymore: the open spaces, the classrooms, the sewer pipes, the pond.

How much of what is around us now will still be here in 50 years?

March 17, 2015

The Octagon

Music festivals: Poor scheduling means band, orchestra won’t compete in Golden Empire (Continued from page 1) After performing on the morning of the second day, the schools will visit Disneyland. There, they will roam the park as the judges determine the performance scores. The awards ceremony will be held later that evening.

“It’s very...Disney,” Keys said, in reference to the awards ceremony. “They go all out - costumes, characters, everything. They put on quite the show.”

Keys said she has high hopes for this year’s musical group.

“The competition varies from year to year, but we always go for gold,” she said. “My strings have some work to do, but they’re sounding great.”

Forum Festival isn’t the only competition in which Country Day performs.

In past years the orchestra, band, chamber groups and soloists have participated in Golden Empire, a series of festivals sponsored by the California Music Educators Association (CMEA).

CMEA sponsors nine such festival series across the state, each within a designated district. Golden Empire is the name of the series held in the Capital District, which includes Sacramento and several surrounding counties.

Similar to Forum Festival participants, Golden Empire participants are given ratings of gold, silver or bronze.

Earning gold qualifies the group for the statewide CMEA competition, which

includes gold-winning from all nine divisions.

participants

However, the dates for this year’s Golden Empire festivals conflict with other school events. One day is during AP exam week, one conflicts with the Anaheim trip and the third is during spring break. Many schools jumped for the spring break slot. SCDS initially registered for that date as well, but was then informed that it was full. Several other schools faced the same problem.

CMEA, having realized its mistake, has scheduled an “overflow” competition in Wheatland on the first day of spring break, March 21. SCDS’s chamberists and soloists are currently signed up to perform there.

Mock Trial: Awards are numerous at end of season (Continued from page 1) excellent opening statements and closing arguments,” he said. “We also excelled in the pre-trial argument. We received many compliments from the scoring judges in these areas.”

Country Day spoke loudly, clearly and confidently, according to Cvetich.

One of the major changes the team made this year was scrimmaging a lot more schools.

“These scrimmages helped us because we got to practice the actual trials a lot,” junior attorney Emma Brown said.

“This was really helpful because we just do the same trial over and over again and sometimes we would switch roles.”

Teams like Rio and Elk Grove have an advantage because

they practice four to five times a week and scrimmage the best teams around the state, according to Strumpfer.

“This year, we did more of that, and I felt it made a difference,” Strumpfer said.

“Things we learned from Mt. Tamalpais High School, Shasta High School and others helped our scores in the competition.”

Following the consolation round, the team attended an award ceremony, where Country Day received awards in a wide range of categories.

Cvetich and Belliveau both won attorney awards. Murugesan, who played the defendant, won a witness award. Seniors Aishwarya Nadgauda and Grant Miner both won pre-trial awards. Krishnan won a bailiff award.

March 17, 2015

11

Community

The Octagon

K.J. Park, ’11, (third from left) poses in the center of Muenster, Germany, with a street accordion musician and friends. Park participated in a German language-immersion program while taking a year off from college. This photo was taken for the program’s new brochure. (Photo used with permission by Park)

Mind the gap (year) Alumni gain independence, focus in their time off

By Aishwarya Nadgauda

Day,” Taylor said. There were no grades, tests or homework assignments.

But the transition was not an easy one. Taylor had to push herself to be more social, adjust to a difficult living situation o be a student at Country Day is to have the general outline of your education already planned - four and learn to use French with the sometimes unfriendly nayears of high school to be immediately followed by tives.

“Going to Paris was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Tayfour consecutive years of college. lor said. “I had to be so independent, and I was so far away As it has been, so it shall be. from home in a country where I didn’t know their language.”

But some students have challenged that model.

When she initially arrived, Taylor was staying with a host, Lauren Taylor, ’11, K.J. Park, ’11, and Nick Samson, ’12, all who was a psychologist. Taylor’s host saw her patients at the decided to take a year off during college.

When Taylor finished her sophomore year at Occidental house for four to five hours a day, during which time Taylor College, she realized she wasn’t looking forward to returning had to leave or stay and not make any noises. So she left her host and moved into a very small studio apartment. in the fall.

Another big hurdle for Taylor was using the metro, Paris’s She decided she wanted to transfer, but by that time all the deadlines to do so had passed. Resolving to apply to other underground railroad system, because she didn’t speak French well. colleges the following fall, Taylor decided to take a gap year.

At Occidental she had planned to do a study-abroad pro“Where I was initially staying was a 40-minute walk from gram. Now that she was transferring, those plans were can- my school, and I walked back and forth every single day beceled. cause I was so daunted by the metro,” Taylor So for the first part of her year off, said.

Taylor went to Paris for a language-im- “The whole time you’re But once she found an app in English that mersion program. growing up, and especially told her where she needed to go, she started She got the idea to do a language imthe metro. And within a month she when you get to high school, using mersion program from Park. could manage it without any help.

“But the people in the metro were mean,” After having her admission to UC San it’s push, push, push.”

Diego rescinded the summer before she —Lauren Taylor, ’11 Taylor said. “They were really impatient with the fact that I wasn’t a fluent French was going to start college, Park went to speaker.”

Germany for a similar program.

Taylor found that after spending this time abroad, the tranPark studied at the Kapito Language School and traveled around Europe. She noticed that taking time off of school was sition to the East Coast when she transferred to Boston College was quite easy. And her studies abroad allowed her to test much more common in the places she visited.

“A lot of people that I met in Germany graduate and then out of a year and a half of French.

After returning to Sacramento in December, Taylor strugtravel,” Park said. “ My host brother worked for three months gled to find an internship to occupy her remaining time off. and then traveled to South America.”

But she ended up doing small jobs that required work with As she was studying, Park became a lot more aware of everything that was going on in the world around her. “I actually graphic design and discovered that she really enjoyed it.

“The whole time you’re growing up, and especially when had time to read the newspaper,” she said with a smile. you get to high school, it’s push, push, push,” she said. “A lot of Taylor also found the time off beneficial. For three months, 23 hours a week, Taylor attended a school in Paris, Accord times you don’t realize what you want to be working towards.”

Taking the time off allowed Taylor to return to school with Ecole de Langues, where she studied only the French lanmore of a sense of what she wanted to do. guage.

While studying at Occidental, since she was an English maBut for Taylor the classes were the easiest part. “The classes weren’t hard in the way you would think of a class at Country jor, her professors pushed her to go to graduate school for

Online Editor-in-Chief

T

Thank you to our sponsors for keeping us in the black The Barajas Family The Bowlus Family The Williams Family The Judd Family The Tung Family The Dahmani Family Docendo Discimus The Nadgauda Family The Fineberg-Chiu Family

Lauren Taylor, ’11, (right) spent three months in Paris in a language-immersion program after her sophomore year of college. Here, she stands with her mother, Cynthia Edwards, by the Pont Alexandre III near the Grand Palais. (Photo used with permission by Taylor)

English.

But during her year off, Taylor realized that she didn’t want to do that.

“I’m not thinking of going into academic English,” Taylor said. “English is a good base for me to do whatever I end up pursuing.”

While Taylor changed her career aspirations during her year off, Samson is using his to further expose himself to his field of study.

Samson is a computer-science major at Cornell University.

The summer after his junior year he applied for internships to get some industry experience.

He found one at Intel as a system validation engineer, but the post lasts a full year, beginning in February.

Samson decided that the industry experience, coupled with the fact that the internship would boost his applications for graduate school, made it worthwhile for him to take a year off.

“I have more or less an average GPA,” Samson said. “To get into a higher-end graduate school, they want a higher GPA. I’m trying to bolster my chances with the internship.”

While Taylor struggled to adjust in Paris, Samson has found the transition quite seamless. He is living in Hillsboro, Oregon, by himself, a mere seven-minute drive from where he works.

As soon as he arrived, he was put right to work on an Intel server chip. “On the third day they gave me this document with about 1500 pages,” Samson said. “I’m working with people who have a lot more experience than me, so I have a lot to learn.”

According to Samson, most of the people he is working with are 23-24 years old.

“Aside from not being able to go to beer Tuesday, it’s not really a problem,” he said.

Lacrosse: Team members differ on team’s preparation with new coach (Continued from page 4) “Not fast, but you have to keep moving.”

Couchot said there are basic theories and fundamentals of lacrosse; they include playing solidly on defense and playing with movement on offense, he said.

Bushberg said he thinks it’s good Couchot has made the basics one of the focuses of practice because passing and catching were a weakness for the team last year.

Despite the different coaching philosophies, Stephen said the team has handled the transition well.

However, Liston disagrees. “We (were) doing one thing, and now we’re doing something else,” he said.

Despite practicing live action after warming up and doing drills, the team has yet to go over specific plays.

“That’s been worrying us a little bit,” Stephen said.

After running drills, the players ask Couchot if they’re going to cover plays.

For that to happen, Couchot says, they need more players on the field at practice.

But practice must go on. “You ready to do some live play?” Couchot asks the boys.

The boys get positioned and start playing at Couchot’s whistle.

A player misses a catch. “That’s all right,” Couchot tells him. “That’s why we’re out here.”

Because SCDS didn’t have enough players due to illness and other commitments, some Bella Vista members played with the Cavs in the scrimmage on March 9. Despite the lack of players, the boys won 6-3.

Couchot said he was encouraged by the scrimmage results against a larger, more experienced team.

He said he was also impressed with the ball movement on offense and the few goals that the team allowed on defense.

“I think Couchot is doing a great job,” Bushberg said. “He’s obviously passionate about the sport.”

12 Feature

The Octagon

March 17, 2015

Icebreakers on steroids Testing the 36-question love potion A

tions with a friend, and surprisingly, they do even- went to the doctor’s and they said, ‘Oh, you have tually fall in love. cancer.’”

And while one case doesn’t prove the 36 quesFirst dates are usually nothing more than glotions’ effectiveness, there’s evidence from Aron’s rified small talk, but Aron’s questions got right actual study that does. to the point.

Six months after one of Aron’s studies, two By the end, I knew a four-minute version of participants were married to each other.

Mary Claire’s life story. I also knew she liked saPart of me, the skeptic, wanted to prove it all vory breakfast food, and that she was working on wrong. But at the same time, I wanted it to be a 5-by-5-foot art piece. possible - the 36-question love poIt was like an icetion.

“As a kid, I was a pretty late breaker on steroids.

Fast forward a few weeks, and bloomer, so I told her the We didn’t waste time through a mutual friend, I’ve found talking about the Staring into anyone’s eyes - I don’t care wheth- a willing participant, a sophomore stories of my Pull-Up Dia- weather.

All of it was interestpers and late-night bladder er it’s your best friend or your soulmate - for from Christian Brothers.

Before meeting, I knew four control issues.” ing and relatable. Take more than a minute is extremely weird. question 12 as an exThere’s this inherent urge to glance away, and, things. Her name was Mary Claire, she was over six feet tall, she had ample: If you could wake on one level, I felt naked. up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, This pretty girl was analyzing my face’s details red hair and she liked art.

Other than that, I was in the dark. what would it be? to the last freckle. At least, that’s how it felt.

On the day we met, I wasn’t sure whether I “Okay, you know X-Men?” she said. “You know So half the time I didn’t know what to do with my face. I wore an uncomfortably big grin, occa- should treat it like a date or more like some kind Jennifer Lawrence, the blue person?

“I’d want her (shapeshifting) ability.” sionally letting out a chuckle, as I played with my of a psychological experiment.

“Should I buy her drink for her, or is it not On the other hand, Aron’s questions occasionempty coffee cup.

More than that, staring feels taboo and just that kind of thing? Would she be okay with me ally forced us to compliment each other multiple recording her? What if it’s really awkward?” times, and these more personal prompts began plain abnormal.

These thoughts (and more) ran through my to rub me the wrong way.

But by now you’ve probably realized that this head, as I sat down across from Tell your partner what you like about them; be very wasn’t a normal date. honest this time, saying things that you might not say to What Mary Claire “‘I don’t think I’ve ever made this stranger.

But it really wasn’t that bad. Of someone you’ve just met. and I were doing was far “I feel like if I say something, you’ll be like, more scientific and a lot eye contact for more than course, I was super smooth, but I had other things going for me.

‘That was really weird,’” she said.

30 seconds.’” more unorthodox.

She arrived early, she bought “You have nice hands. Is that weird to say? I alI got the idea from the —Mary Claire her own drink, and when asked if ready told you you’re cute, so you have nice hair.”

New York Times in one I could record our conversation, When it was my turn, I said, “I think you’re of their weekly “Modern she was completely agreeable. attractive and cute too, and I probably wouldn’t Love” columns.

And even in terms of awkwardness, after five tell someone that randomly.”

Scrolling through my Facebook feed, the click minutes of talking to Mary, I began to feel comI’d love to say that enumerating these complibait immediately caught my eyes. ments was easy, but we both seemed to qualify The headline read, “To Fall in Love With Any- fortable.

The questions, which gradually increase in in- each one with “I don’t want to be weird, but. . .” one, Do This.” It was around Valentine’s Day, so timacy, create a sense of security, even though in So you’re probably wondering if these quesI had to read more.

Mandy Len Catron, a writing professor at the retrospect, we were both divulging a lot of per- tions - some fun and some extremely personal led to the ever-elusive feeling of love.

University of British Columbia and that week’s sonal information for a first date.

When asked what my most embarrassing story The short answer is no. contributor, begins the column with, “More than After our two-hour question and answer, I 20 years ago, the psychologist Arthur Aron suc- was, I didn’t hold back.

As a kid, I was a pretty late bloomer, so I told wasn’t in love with Mary Claire. ceeded in making two strangers fall in love in his her the stories of my Pull-Up Diapers and lateBut after all those questions, while I stared laboratory.” into her eyes, she definitely wasn’t the mysteriTo make a long story short, Aron’s study in- night bladder control issues.

Then the questions got even more personal. ous, red-haired stranger anymore. volved 36 questions that supposedly jumpstart What is your most terrible memory?

I wanted to see her again, and I did - on a intimacy. “(My friend’s) leg got really big,” she said. “She picnic date the following Sunday.

Over drinks, Catron goes through the quesfter two hours of bizarrely intimate questioning, we’d reached the dreaded final prompt - number 36. Stare into each other’s eyes for four minutes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made eye contact for more than 30 seconds,” she said.

“Ahhh, I can’t even!”

And I couldn’t even, either.

By Maxwell Shukuya

The Potion A selection of questions from Arthur Aron’s study, The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness, that are designed to foster intimacy.

Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing?

Why? Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... “