Page 22 • The ReMarker • December 8, 2017 • Commentary Staff editorials
WITH GROWING DISCONNECT, SISTER SCHOOL RELATIONSHIP NEEDS IMPROVEMENT What was once a tight-knit bond between sister and brother schools has become ever more strained in the last few years.
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embers of our community were disheartened to read a Nov. 3 column in the Fourcast, the Hockaday School’s student newspaper, which portrayed a horrific event in which a Hockaday student watched as boys burned the cover of one of her books, titled “We Should All Be Feminists.” Although the writer never mentions St. Mark’s by name, all students here who read the column thought the boys who were responsible for the deed were likely Marksmen. While we were disgusted to read the alleged actions of some of our peers, this is only one of a series of events that have made it clear: the relationship between our school and our sister school, Hockaday, has deteriorated significantly in recent months. The students of the two schools that share more than 100 years of history have experienced a growing tension in the last few years that can no longer go unspoken. Not only has the relationship between students become weaker, but also the infrastructure between the two schools has worsened. By decreasing the number of shared opportunities students from each school have to work with one another, the two schools have made it increasingly difficult to foster a strong relationship between students of the other school. Whereas there used to be one director of community service working with both schools, now each school has its own — and each community service board works independently, making it more difficult for students from the two schools to participate in the same community service opportunities.
While the thrice-yearly drama productions used to be jointly put on by the two schools, each school now produces its own production, each falling on the same date, making it difficult for students to support both productions. Students at one school also used to be able to take classes at the other school, such as a fine art or a foreign language, but when Hockaday changed its daily schedule, sharing classes between schools became impossible. In losing these opportunities and infrastructure to interact on a more regular basis, current students are unable to share the tight-knit bond that previous students enjoyed. In search of ways to improve the bond between our two schools, the editorial board had a conversation with a Hockaday student leader to gain some input from both sides. Here are some of the ways in which we can work towards a stronger bond between the two schools: • Community service: We would love to see the Community Service Boards from each school join together to think of a couple of projects that would be uniquely ours, not necessarily projects that a multitude of other schools or organizations would be part of. • Joint Coffeehouse: The fine arts boards of each school could also benefit from better communication and interaction, in which Coffeehouses could become a joint effort, instead of each board taking turns to run the program. • Student Council: A greater effort from both student councils would be beneficial to both schools, as more drives or other student council-run programs could be jointly completed. We believe the two schools could make a much
greater impact on our community if Hockaday participated in the Gift Drive or if we supported them in a charitable event of their choosing. • Drama productions: When long time drama instructor Rod Blaydes retired in 2015, the two drama programs began to stage their own productions, whereas in the past the productions were jointly produced. Previously, Blaydes worked at both schools and made sure shows were selected which had both male and female roles. • Sports: While we understand it is not as common for St. Mark’s students to support Hockaday athletics, we believe it would go a long way if we showed their athletics teams the same support they show ours at a variety of sporting events. • Joint clubs: Some clubs that exist in both schools could join together monthly to discuss what their counterparts are doing. Clubs such as Political Forum or Philosophy Club could greatly benefit from shared opinions and perspectives. Whether it’s opportunities in these areas or ones we have yet to discover, we encourage the student councils and administrations of both schools to make this a priority in the coming years and to hold each other accountable. We’d like to see students engaging in discussions about what can be done to strengthen the relationship. A concerted effort from members of each school community will bring the relationship back to what it should be, making the Hockaday-St. Mark’s community a fun, friendly and respectful community of athletes, artists and scholars. And everything in between.
‘No Shave November’ should return next year or the first time in four years, the school did not participate in No Shave November, a month-long fundraiser for testicular cancer where students buy wristbands so they don’t have to shave. Money raised is donated to the fight against testicular cancer. In the past, students have bought wristbands which allowed them not to shave for the month of November while also contributing to the fight against testicular cancer with the money raised from these wristbands. However, the decision was made to axe the program this fall because the school was not raising much money to contribute to the cause. Although it makes sense from an economical viewpoint to abolish this event, we believe we have forgotten the actual importance of the event: the
awareness of testicular cancer itself. Instead of looking for ways to raise more money for the effort, the school should look for more ways to raise awareness of this disease which is the most common cancer in males ages 20-39. Memorable assemblies, such as the one in November 2014 in which Elliot Chang-Tung ’10 spoke to Upper School students about his battle with testicular cancer, are a great way to inform students about the seriousness of this disease. Clearly, a personal account of someone fighting the disease can be a vivid reminder of why we should donate to and support this cause. In addition to being an important way to disperse knowledge of testicular cancer, No Shave November is one of the few leadership opportunities sophomores are offered. This takes away an
STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS. 10600 PRESTON ROAD DALLAS, TEXAS 75230 214.346.8000 EDITOR IN CHIEF KOBE ROSEMAN
MANAGING EDITORS DAVIS BAILEY ZACH GILSTRAP
EXECUTIVE PAGE EDITOR MIKE MAHOWALD
ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR ANDRE ARSENAULT
CREATIVE DIRECTORS NAFTAL MAUTIA RETT DAUGBJERG
HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER RILEY SANDERS
ISSUES EDITOR BLAKE DAUGHERTY
COMMUNICATIONS EDITOR ALEC DEWAR
COMMENTARY EDITORS JIMMY RODRIGUEZ SAM SUSSMAN
SENIOR WRITER REECE RABIN
RESEARCH DIRECTORS ZOHEB KHAN NICK MALVEZZI
COPY EDITORS
MICHAEL LUKOWICZ SAM SHANE
PHOTO COORDINATOR OWEN BERGER
FOCUS EDITORS CJ CRAWFORD DUNCAN KIRSTEIN
LIFE EDITORS
SAHIT DENDEKURI MARK TAO
LIFE WRITERS SAM AHMED SAM GOLDFARB ERIC HIRSCHBACH DYLAN LIU ALBERT LUO TIANMING XIE MATTHEW ZHANG
NEWS EDITORS KAMAL MAMDANI LYLE OCHS
NEWS WRITERS
ANDY CROWE MATEO GUEVARA ISHAN GUPTA JAMES ROGERS SID VATTAMREDDY CHRISTOPHER WANG WALLACE WHITE
SPORTS EDITORS PARKER DAVIS CONNOR PIERCE
SPORTS WRITERS
After a year without the popular month-long effort to raise testicular cancer awareness, Student Council and the administration should reinstate ‘No Shave November.’
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REMARKER
important opportunity for sophomores to hold leadership positions. Certainly, students loved being able to skip shaving for an entire month. In a school with many regulations about dress and cleanliness, students enjoyed having this one small freedom, even if it was just for a month. But the reasons for the event far exceed student comfort. Even though No Shave November might not have raised much money in the past, every dollar helps, and the awareness gained for testicular cancer is the true reward this event yields. Administrators and Student Council should reinstate No Shave November next year. Regardless of how much money is raised, the awareness frommonth-long event should be reason enough to merit continuation.
BREAKING NEWS REGARDING AMERICA’S GUN EPIDEMIC
COLIN CAMPBELL JOSH DANIELS NATHAN HAN JAHAZIEL LOPEZ AARON THORNE NICK WALSH
SPORTS MAGAZINE EDITOR WILL FORBES
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR ZACH LANDRY
REVIEWS SPECIALIST AUSTIN MONTGOMERY
ARTIST
MATTHEW COLEMAN
CARTOONISTS SAMMY SANCHEZ KANNAN SHARMA
BUSINESS MANAGER CARSON CROCKER
ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER PAXTON SCOTT
PHOTO EDITOR KYLE SMITH
PHOTOGRAPHERS MATEO DIAZ ADNAN KHAN CHRIS MCELHANEY RYAN MCCORD RYAN NORMAN KATHAN RAMNATH CHARLIE RUBARTH LEE SCHLOSSER ROHIT VEMURI
MIDDLE SCHOOL LIAISON HENRY PICCAGLI
ADVISER
RAY WESTBROOK
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