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The ReMarker

Dallas, TX • Volume 67, Number 2 • October 29, 2020 •St. Mark’s School of Texas

The

right to a

voice Women consistently turn out to vote in stronger numbers than their male

counterparts — but it was only a century ago that their voices were unheard altogether. Page 3

For more on women at St. Mark’s: • Women are making their mark in the STEM fields. Page 9 • With a combined 94 years of employment at 10600 Preston Rd., Marietta Johnson and Mary Ann Livengood reflect on the many changes through the decades. Page 11 • It’s time to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Page 24 • The addition of a female trainer emphasizes the inclusiveness within the athletic world. Page 27

STORY Henry McElhaney, Toby Barrett ARTWORK Cooper Cole

Inside

The school of life

Adulting lessons from faculty, staff and alums on some of life’s most valuable skills. Page 6

Trials and errors

Examining the difficulties of mixing remote learning with an in-person experience. Page 16-17

‘Mr. St. Mark’s’

Remembering Tom Adams, legendary history instructor and baseball and basketball coach. Page 28

Essentials

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

Instagram: @remarkernewspaper

What's INSIDE How does the English Department choose what we read and why we read it? 20

Students’ views and stances on the candidates of one of the most divisive elections in history. 4-5

Two teachers, four languages: talks with multilingualists David Cox and Grace Anderson. 21

Adulting: Lessons from faculty, staff and alums on some of life’s most valuable skills. 6

Freshman Warner Harnett’s placing in the world-famous Chinese Bridge competition. 22

The necessity of keeping a 15-hour community service requirement in a pandemic. 7 Discoveries The experiences — some good, some bad — of women faculty working in STEM fields. 9 Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut’s tips on environmental consciousness. 10 10600 Looking back at the careers and journeys of the two longesttenured women at the school. 11 What’s changed and what’s stayed the same — one year after a tornado. 12-13 Campaigns, theology and the Peace Corps: the life and times of Chaplain Stephen Arbogast. 14

A conversation with John Williams ‘75 on commemorating the first school wilderness trip. 15

Bryan Boucher History instructor

There’s a big black market in Nutri-Grain bars Joe Milliet Suzanne and Patrick McGee Family Master Teaching Chair

I am a magic frog. While jumping across the room teaching calculus.

Enoch Ellis Junior

They make breakfast hotdogs. They’re called sausages.

Buzz: Reviews of upcoming gaming consoles, plus a critic’s look at the Travis Scott Burger. 23 Opinions Editorials: Why we should ratify the Equal Rights Amendment; more communication needed. 24 Around the Quad: Political views from around campus. Sinha: Future leaders right now. 25 Editorials: Shortcomings of a good schedule; attention to safety. Icazbalceta: The pigeon coop. 26 Sports The experiences of women, including new athletic trainer Natalie Bumpas, in pro sports. 27

Behind the Column Episode 2 airs today:

Comments overheard around campus.

Arpeggios, quarter-note staccatos, sixteenth notes

Issues After 100 years of women’s suffrage, a look back into the fight for women’s suffrage in the US. 3

Podcast: In-depth conversations concerning all sorts of topics Focal Point on Soundcloud

Say what?

PERSONAL COLUMN

Centerspread Examining the trials and errors of mixing remote learning with an in-person experience. 16-17

“Mr. St. Mark’s”: Remembering Tom Adams, legendary history instructor and varsity coach. 28 A Marksmen trio: Presidents of the Tampa Bay Rays and their road to the World Series. 29 Around campus: what’s the best game you’ve ever been to? Pou: The 35th percentile. 30

Issues The role of the Character and Leadership program in a Marksman education. 18

Is football worth it? The risks and rewards of a sport prone to concussions and injuries. 31

Culture Diving into the life of Tony Vintcent Fine Arts Department Chair Marion Glorioso. 19

Backpage “I want to make my own thing”: sophomore Akash Raghunthan’s quarantine beats. 32

Alumnus Acho to speak for local non-profit organization aiming to provide young by Jack Davis children with high-quality education and mmanuel Acho ’08, creator of the care. The organization works with childpodcast Uncomfortable Conversations care centers and eventually accredits them with a Black Man, will speak Nov. 10 as part through the National Association for the of Educational First Steps’ Munson Lecture Education of Young Children and the Series, a three-part event which impacts National Accreditation Commission of over 8,000 children and 100 independent Early Care and Education. early education centers in North Emmanuel “For the last 30 years, our Texas. Acho mission has been to create Acho will be one of three speakers, ’08 and support high-quality along with ABC News correspondent learning environments John Quiñones and psychologist Dr. that inspire and ignite the Wendy Mogel. minds of children ages zero “He really created a platform for people to five,” Allen said. “We’ve to have safe discussions about race.” done that in historically marginalized Executive Director of Education First Steps communities. We’ve done that in a way Vickie Allen said. “The only way we’re that really allows for them to bring the best going to get to a place where we reach version of themselves to the classroom. racial reconciliation is where we can have We complement that through coaching, honest conversations and people feel safe, mentoring and training. We prepare them honored, celebrated and appreciated. He for national accreditation through two really brings that to life.” accrediting bodies.” Educational First Steps is a non-profit

echerd is silent. Not because I’m about to play, but because I just stopped playing. I just stopped playing. Earlier that day, I’d played my baroque piece on the same keys in the same auditorium. I’d played it by memory, and I’d had an audience of Mrs. Hendricks and a few of her students. I should be prepared, but now my mind is blank. Completely blank.

Sheet music is daunting. Long pieces can be filled with hundreds of notes to learn, many of them being played at the same time with two hands. Factors like skill, talent and practice time affect how long it takes to learn an average page of sheet music — for me it usually takes about a month per page. But then there’s memory. Memorizing a piece requires putting the sheet music down. It’s a question I get all the time: “How do you remember all those notes?” The simple answer is that I don’t. Often times, I’ve played through the piece so many times with sheet music that I’ve gained the muscle memory to almost play it without thinking. When I play a piece by memory, I don’t have time to visualize each individual note and put it together with both hands at full speed. But sometimes muscle memory can fail you. My piano teacher asks her students to memorize their piece a month in advance so they can spend the last month solidifying their muscle memory before the performance. I memorized my piece a day Cristian in advance. Pereira So sure, when it’s a few Senior people watching, your brain Editor is relaxed, and the muscle memory flows, as it should. But if your muscle memory is still young, it has this weird habit of forgetting that it exists at the most important moments. There must’ve been at least 100 people there — students, parents, a few faculty members. I take a deep breath and start. It starts with an arpeggio in the right hand, and then the left hand comes in, playing a few quarter-note staccatos here and there, complementing the rapid sixteenth notes in the right hand. I start thinking about the audience, watching me with judging eyes. I remember I memorized the piece last minute, and the first time I played it by memory fully was this morning. My breathing gets heavier, my hands get sweaty, my heart starts beating — when I zone back in, my right hand has outrun my left hand. I freak out and stop playing. Silence. Okay — let’s just start over. Mistakes can be an opportunity to show resilience. Arpeggios, quarter-note staccatos, sixteenth notes. But it’s gotten to my head. I stop playing, this time even earlier than the last time. Arpeggios, quarter-note staccatos — nope. I stop playing a third time. My yell of frustration echoed from the walls. I pause this time. I take my hands off the piano and take a deep breath. Arpeggios, quarter-note staccatos, sixteenth notes. I make it to my original slip up spot, but this time I keep the audience out of my head — with regained confidence I make it to the finish: a crisp chord that I hold for two short beats. I expect a few claps, maybe out of pity. But I get a roar of applause. Nobody hates me more than I do. Nobody knows every mistake I’ve ever made as well as I do. Whenever I make a big mistake, I beat myself up brutally — I feel like everyone hates me, I lose self-confidence and my temperament becomes unpredictable. After my performance, all I saw was a miserable, unprepared failure of a performer. But everyone in the audience has failed before. Everyone in the audience has made mistakes that felt or still feel unforgivable, even though nobody else even remembers that it happened. When I finished that piece, they saw a high school student who just made it through a failure. And for that they applauded.

History

Right to vote, the right to have a voice

early representation of women in local government. “There was a special session of the legislature in 1918 which let women vote in the Democratic primary,” Harrigan said. “That effectively meant that women were voting in the general election, since Texas was, at that time, really a one party state, a Democratic state. So it’s interesting, before women were voting in the United States, women were making decisive votes in the Texas primary. That’s really important.” Even during a mass movement, women’s suffrage on a national scale struggled to get through federal legislature owing to the South’s staunch opposition to feminist ideals. You can’t underestimate how huge the changes were. Andrea Hamilton, History instructor

But finally, in 1920, the 19th Amendment passed and gave women the right to vote. “It was huge symbolically,” Hamilton said, “and there was a lot of worry among the men who hadn’t wanted to give women the vote that suddenly women were going to vote in this block and throw off politics. Other than a few issues, a lot of women tend to vote with their class, not as a block.” Dr. Joanne Green, political scientist and TCU Interim Chair of Women and Gender Studies, compounds on the symbolic value of the 19th Amendment. “The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in all elections was a significant step in allowing women all rights of citizenship,” Green said. “Others, like the right to a trial by one’s peers, the right to claim one’s wages and the right to be protected against discrimination based upon one’s sex took many more decades, but ensuring the right to vote was a significant step,” Aside from politics, however, women already had a significant role in society. “I’d also say that by the time women were getting the vote in 1920, you’ve already reached a point where women made up over half of the college population, and a lot of other societal changes had taken place that changed womens’ lives,” Hamilton said. To Hamilton, the women’s rights movement saw a decline after the passage of the 19th Amendment. “The reality was that women still couldn’t practice law in most states,” Hamilton said, “and schools still had quotas, and women still didn’t get custody of their children, and they still couldn’t hold a credit card in their own name, and so all those other issues were still there.”

The timeline July 19, 1848

The Seneca Falls Convention in New York meets to discuss women’s rights and marks the start of the women’s suffrage movement.

March 13, 1913

Women from Texas and around the country march on Washington, D.C., in the Woman Suffrage Procession.

July 27, 1918 Women possess the right to vote in the next Texas primary after Governor William Hobby passes new legislation.

After the suffrage movement, the National Women’s Party emerged, seen as another “radical” group of women. They continued to lobby to change women’s roles in the family and in society. “You get the Great Depression and the World Wars, and that consumed a lot of national energy, so it was relatively quiet,” Hamilton said. In the wake of the 1960s social movements, the women’s rights movement gained an additional wave of widespread popularity. “You got other kinds of cultural changes in the 60s, so more women protest and advocate for change,” Hamilton said. Yet there is still work to be done. Women fall behind in national averages in civic representation, Kay Bailey Hutchinson remains the only woman to serve in the United States Senate in Texas history and women are not equally dispersed throughout the House of Representatives. “Only 9 [Texan] women have served in the House, currently there are the most ever – 6 – 16.7% of the House delegation – below the national average of 23%,” Green said. “25% of the state legislature is female, as compared with the national average 29%, but the numbers are increasing and Texas women are a force with which to be reckoned.” Leader of the Hockaday chapter of the NewGen student advocacy group Premanshi Agarwalla ‘22 feels learning from the women’s suffrage movement provides a path toward a more equal future and a larger role in government for women. “The women obviously had opinions, but they weren’t represented in the democracy,” Agarwalla said. “Even though you say you’re a democracy, in order to be truly representative of the people, you have to be willing to listen to what they have to say. It’s not enough to only listen to who you want to listen to.” Now, Harrigan looks forward to a female-powered future, hoping that republican ideologies will be strengthened through equal representation and increasing numbers of women in government. “The idea that women are increasingly running for office means that we are going to have a more representative state, and a more representative country in the future,” Harrigan said. “Who knows if the women who are casting their votes are voting for a liberal candidate, a conservative candidate or somewhere in between, but they will be a part of the process, which can only obviously be for the good.” STORY Henry McElhaney, Toby Barrett GRAPHIC Morgan Chow

August 18, 1920

August 6, 1965

The 19th Amendment is ratified after being passed by Congress the previous year.

The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibits discriminatory processes in the voting system.

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

he American people’s right to vote, while in recent elections overlooked by the general populace, represents what it means to be an American. Through the ballot, the governed can express their consent with operations and representation on both local and federal levels. Yet, in the 2016 presidential election, 49.6% of eligible voters did not vote, according to the United States Election Project. With the 2020 presidential election upon us, we look back at one group’s 70-year-long fight for the vote. While so integral to government function and equal representation, the vote has not historically been guaranteed to all. This past August marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, the amendment that gave women the right to vote. To history instructor Andrea Hamilton, however, the 1848 Seneca Falls convention serves as the starting point for a sevendecade-long women’s suffrage movement. “Seneca Falls is the first convention where there was a formal declaration calling for women’s right to vote,” Hamilton said. “It was really connected with the abolitionist movement. People working for women’s suffrage believed that women would get the right to vote after the Civil War, when African Americans got the right to vote.” While female activists were first seen as radical, the Progressive Era’s widespread social activism led to a shift in public opinion in the early 20th century: women’s suffrage became a mass movement. “A lot of different groups who became interested in women getting the vote for a variety of reasons,” Hamilton said. “People working for labor reform wanted women to get the vote. People on different parts of the political spectrum who would vote really differently on other issues all agree that they want to fight for women to get the vote.” It crossed party lines. It crossed regional feuds. It united many parts of America, but the suffrage movement was still unpopular in the South. “The issue in the South was largely that they didn’t want Black women to get the right to vote,” Hamilton said. “You’ve got Southern segregationists and white Southern men who didn’t want any women to get the vote, because they saw it as giving Blacks more lobbying power, and they think they’ll attack segregation then.” For Texas women, however, representation in elections preceded the 19th Amendment owing to unique legislation. Tenured Texas Monthly journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Gates of the Alamo Stephen Harrigan maintains the significance of this

Issues

Today, women comprise more than half of voters in the United States. But it was just 100 years ago when they received the franchise to participate in the American electoral process.

Election

An in-depth policy comparison of presidential platforms along with student opinions. Pages 4-5

Life skills

Taking a look at valuable practical life skills for young adults. Page 6

Service

Why are students required to complete community service hours in a COVID-19 climate? Page 7

In brief VISITING SCHOLARS PROGRAM Dr. Katherine Magruder was named Head of the Visiting Scholars Program by Head of Upper School Colin Igoe Oct. 2. Magruder is exploring the option of inviting virtual guests. “We’re in the brainstorming phase,” said Magruder, who teaches sixth grade humanities. “Generally the way it works is the coordinator will start soliciting ideas from the community, and people will mention names they would like to be a part of the program. There’s a little bit of work that needs to be done there to figure out the logistics and feasibility.” The Visiting Scholars Program provides students with opportunities to hear from learned lecturers, artists and thinkers. Past guests have specialized in a variety of different fields, including poetry, literature and science. Last year, visitors included astronomer and astrophysicist David Shoemaker and journalist Bryan Mealer. VIRTUAL ADMISSIONS Due to the inability for interested families to visit campus, the Admission Office has organized virtual “Coffee Break Live”, which will be virtually hosted with over 150 families from across the nation in September. The goal is for on-campus events to return as soon as possible, but virtual events will continue to be included to better serve out-of-town families. NATIONAL MERIT Thirty-two seniors were named semifinalists for National Merit Scholarships by the National Merit Scholarship Program Sep. 9. The seniors are among only 16,000 semifinalists from across the country. After following the prerequisite guidelines, they will continue to the Finalist section of the NMSP, where over half are expected to receive one of 7,600 National Merit Scholarships. The students named include Alam Alidina, Michael Anderson, Jacob Bell, Beto Beveridge, Beau Exall, Jackson Fair, Jordan Gaines, Fritz Hesse, Matthew Ho, Anish Karthik, Mustafa Latif, Jamie Mahowald, Rishi Mohan, Sam Morgan, Cristian Pereira, Robert Pou, Antonio Quinones, Cooper Ribman, Siddhartha Sinha, Ned Tagtmeier, Sai Thirunagari, Varun Trivedi, Michael Vanesko, Vatsal Vemuri, Benny Wang, Mason Westkaemper, Drew Woodward, Max Wu, David Yang, Charlie Zhang, Han Zhang and Jerry Zhao.

GENERAL ELECTION

Competing for the

In just five days, polls will close and American citizens will have selected their next leader, either the Republican incumbent,

Donald J. Trump, or the Democratic nominee, former vice president Joseph R. Biden. With many issues sparking controversy across the nation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, unemployment, climate change, election interference, police brutality,

immigration, education, healthcare, social media and a Supreme Court justice nomination, much is at stake in this election. As the

contentious race nears its conclusion, upperclassmen state their viewpoints on some of the candidates’ policies. Here’s where members of the 10600 Preston Rd. community stand on various issues.

October 29, 2020

Issues

The ReMarker

Topic: Foreign Relations

Topic: Regulating Social Media

BIDEN > Pledged to bring back the “vast majority” of troops stationed in Afghanistan and focus on ISIS and Al-Qaeda, according to his foreign policy plan. > Said the US embassy “should not have been moved [to Jerusalem],” but he does not support reversing the decision. > “The real question is not how much we invest — it’s how we invest,” Biden’s campaign told The Washington Post during the primary. “We have to move away from investments in legacy systems that won’t be relevant for tomorrow’s wars, and we have to rethink the contributions we and our allies make to our collective security.”

BIDEN > Clashed with Facebook over its policies on political ads and manipulated videos. > Was the only Democratic presidential candidate who called for revoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a key internet law that largely exempts online platforms like Facebook and Twitter from legal liability for users’ posts. > Called for Facebook to fact-check politicians’ ads in the two weeks ahead of the presidential election.

TRUMP > The peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, mandated by a deal signed by the United States and the Taliban in February, are a key foreign policy objective for the Trump administration as it looks to withdraw additional U.S. troops from Afghanistan. > Trump announced a historic peace agreement between Israel and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in August. Although Trump’s Middle East peace proposal allows for Israeli annexation of portions of the West Bank, his peace agreement puts that possibility on hold. > Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordering the relocation of the US embassy to that city.

TRUMP > Has long accused the companies of censorship against conservatives. > Signed an executive order that seeks new regulatory oversight of tech firms’ content moderation decisions, and backed legislation to scrap or weaken Section 230 to prevent social media platforms from moderating content on the internet, like the fact-checking of his tweets. STUDENT OPINION “I think it’s interesting that both Trump and Biden agree

on weakening Section 230 of the Senior Communications Decency Act. Sam [Biden] is trying to hold social media Morgan firms more accountable for what users post. I think that strikes a contrast with how our system currently works. [For example], Springfield Armory wouldn’t get prosecuted if someone used one of their guns to commit a crime. But I do think it’s a good idea because oftentimes, a lot of bad things happen thanks to social media. If someone sees a post that incites him to do something, but it was a fake news post, I think the person who posted the fake news post should be held accountable, not Twitter. I think social media needs to do a better job in choosing what they regulate. It’s been a little partisan, honestly. The fight between Trump and social media, especially Twitter, has been somewhat petty. They’re slapping restrictions on him as disrespect to him or as a political point against him. But if something is directly linked to violence, and [the criminal says], ‘I saw this article,’ and it’s found out that Twitter kept it up, maybe they should be responsible in that case, although they can’t check millions and millions of posts a day. In a marginal situation, where it wasn’t reported or looked into, then I think Twitter or Instagram shouldn’t be held accountable for that.”

Junior STUDENT OPINION Henry “I’d say that Trump making Jerusalem Morgan the official capital of Israel wasn’t a good move because it totally destabilized things and was an unnecessary change, but Biden is right to oppose reversing that decision because it would just cause even more uncertainty, which is the last thing we need in the Middle East right now. Trump’s plan to raise military spending even more is definitely not an idea I support just because there are so many problems at home. At the same time, he wants to bring troops out of Afghanistan, and that is something I support because we don’t need to be involved in Afghanistan right now. Biden supports that, too, which is important because getting out of those unnecessary entanglements is really good, so both of them are right on that. I also have to give credit to Trump on his deal with the UAE. I think that was a really good step, and I’m willing to give him credit for that, even though I don’t support him.”

Topic: Climate Change BIDEN > Introduced a $2 trillion plan to fight climate change that pledges to eliminate carbon emissions from the electric sector by 2035, enforce stricter gas mileage standards, invest in weatherizing millions of homes and commercial buildings and upgrade transportation systems > Wants to end new oil, gas and coal permits in public water and on public land, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska TRUMP > Has dismissed the science behind climate change, reduced many Obama-era environmental restrictions, withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and heavily promoted fossil fuels > Opposed the Paris Agreement on the grounds that it would compromise U.S. sovereignty and cause many Americans to lose their jobs. > Opened much public land to oil and gas extraction, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Junior STUDENT OPINION Henry “During these trying times, I feel that Piccagli the last thing the country needs is to spend the massive amount of money that the Biden administration is proposing on efforts to slow climate change. This pandemic has put our thriving economy in a very tough position, putting more American jobs at risk with his plan to eliminate fossil fuels. While it’s a nice idea, it's not what the people of America need right now. With that being said, I feel that Trump’s stance on climate change is my biggest issue with his policies. He simply has not come out with a plan to combat the issue. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose Trump’s plan, simply because it prioritizes American jobs in a time when they have never been so important. If the circumstances were different, I have faith that Trump would place more emphasis on climate change, but unfortunately, they are not. I have always been a firm believer in the ideology that America should fix its domestic issues before attempting to solve the issues of the world.”

FACE OFF Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump (right) contend for the next four-year presidential term.

soul of the nation Where to VOTE

According to the Dallas County Elections website, here are Dallas County voting centers in the 75230 zip code for Election Day. Registered voters may vote anytime from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at these locations Nov. 3.

Unity Church of Dallas

6525 Forest Ln.

George B. Dealey Montessori Academy

6501 Royal Ln.

Arthur Kramer Elementary School

7131 Midbury Dr.

Hillcrest High School

9924 Hillcrest Rd.

Benjamin Franklin International Exploratory Academy

6920 Meadow Rd.

Preston Hollow United Methodist Church

6315 Walnut Hill Ln.

Churchill Recreation Center

6906 Churchill Way

Topic: COVID-19 Immigration

Topic: Healthcare BIDEN > Vowed to bolster Obamacare with a plan that costs $750 billion over 10 years and would be financed by increasing taxes on the wealthy (those making more than $400,000 a year) and on corporations, according to his campaign. > Plans to greatly expand Obamacare’s subsidies to make the private insurance policies available on the exchanges more affordable. > Will create a new “public option” similar to Medicare that people could buy into. > Those covered by employer-based health insurance plans could also choose the public plan if they prefer it.

Currently pushing to allow drug imports from countries such as Canada, and to tie the price of drugs in the US to their cost in other developed nations. In an effort to lower health care costs overall, the administration also issued a rule requiring hospitals to post the rates they negotiate privately with health insurers, starting in 2021.

STUDENT OPINION “While I do not wholly agree Junior with either stance on the issue, I Evan believe that Biden’s healthcare plan McGowan will end up making healthcare more accessible to a larger number of people. However, his plan would require a drastic increase in taxes. On the other hand, Trump has continuously utilized executive acts to undermine Obamacare and get around the obstacle of congressional approval. He has also focused more on repealing the previous healthcare plan than he has creating and instituting one of his own. I believe that Biden’s healthcare plan, while extremely expensive and impractical, is a better option to attempt to provide quality healthcare to all Americans.”

BIDEN > Claims Trump was banning immigrants to distract from his administration’s pandemic response. > Believes “immigrants help grow our economy and create jobs,” in reference to Trump’s decisions. > Commits to pausing deportations for 100 days after taking office, but his campaign did not comment on the coronavirus-related border rules. TRUMP > Dramatically reduced immigration and travel into the United States. > Argues that the steps he took were needed for health reasons and to protect jobs for U.S. workers. > Restricted the entry of many foreign workers and > immigrants seeking “green cards” for permanent residency. > Implemented a public health emergency policy permitting US officials to rapidly deport migrants caught at the USMexico border.

BIDEN > Resisted activist calls to “defund the police” and promises to invest $300 million in the Community Oriented Policing Services program, which offers grants for minority police officers and training them to develop less hostile relationships with communities. > Supports “funding for public schools, summer programs, and mental health and substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing — so that officers can focus on the job of policing,” as stated by Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates. TRUMP > Reacted to the nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death by threatening to deploy federal troops, notably in Portland in July. > Signed an executive order for police reform, which encouraged police to maintain the latest standards for use of force and banned chokeholds unless an officer’s life is in danger. > Democrats criticized the order for permitting certain exceptions to the chokehold ban and placing no restrictions on warrants that allow police to enter a suspect’s property without knocking. STUDENT OPINION Senior Leo Ohannessian “I think you can support aspects of both of them. The nation was really split when the George Floyd riots started. I would side more with Biden here. He’s giving more funding and separating funding from social things like schooling from funding for the police, and I think that his diversity actions into the police force are creating a better atmosphere altogether.”

STORY Austin Williams, Sai Thirunagari. Keshav Krishna ARTWORK Cooper Cole Editor’s Note: Candidates’ positions obtained from articles in Reuters, The Washington Post, CNN and The Wall Street Journal.

percent say they would vote for Biden

48.9 percent say they would vote for Trump

1.7

percent say they would vote for other

From a poll of 210 (out of 339 total) Middle School students:

61.9

percent say they would vote for Biden

32.4 percent say they would vote for Trump

5.7

percent say they would vote for other

From a poll of 86 (out of 102 total) seniors:

percent will be eligible to vote in this election

The ReMarker

Topic: Race and Criminal Justice

49.4

October 29, 2020

Senior STUDENT OPINION Buck “I would have to agree Elliott with Trump’s policy. With many Americans already out of jobs, it feels like letting in more immigrant workers is only exacerbating the problem.”

From a poll of 350 (out of 413 total) Upper School students:

Issues

TRUMP > Campaigned against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the runup to his presidency. While the Republican-controlled Congress failed to repeal the law, Trump has taken a number of executive actions to undermine it, including making it easier for Americans to access alternative policies that have fewer protections and benefits. > Promised to reduce drug prices and unveiled a blueprint to do so in 2018.

By the

numbers

REAL LIFE

Adulting lessons: practical life skills While Marksmen alumni are fully equipped for the intellectual and moral challenges of adulthood, some practical knowledge necessitated by independent living cannot be taught in school. Here’s a glance at some important pragmatic adulting skills. Eshelbrenner recalls a recent Alumni Board meeting in which secretary Christopher Broom ‘87 shared a story about his effort to help a younger Marksman. “Cole Linburg [‘03] was a private pilot for years and years who’d always wanted to fly commercial,” Eshelbrenner said. “Christopher works for American Airlines, and was able to work with Cole over a several month period, get him through the right channels, and help him in receiving his pilot’s wings through American just a couple of days ago.” Broom emphasized the sense of pride he felt in being able to make the connection for someone he feels very close with, although he may not have known them personally for a very long time. In an effort to make these connections easier, the alumni department has launched a brand new platform for alumni engagement: Marksmen Connect. “We’re super proud of the new website,” Eshelbrenner said. “It has an improved directory that is searchable by class year, college, industry, and even location. So, if you were thinking about moving to California and working in real estate, you could filter the search results and see all of the alumni in each California city in your field. These connections would be invaluable for one’s career.” The new platform can be found at www.marksmenconnect.com.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series on the practicalities of navigating the adult world. Part one appeared in our Sep. 25 issue. Navigating the healthcare system omething as simple as making a doctor’s appointment can appear daunting to a recent graduate who’s always had his parents as a crutch to lean on. Internal medicine doctor Prabha Mohan, mother of senior Rishi Mohan, had some advice. “Everyone should have a primary care doctor, even young people,” Mohan said. “Look for a doctor that has appointments available throughout the day for acute patients [patients who are suddenly sick]. It’s also helpful if they have longer hours, such as over the weekend, in case you need urgent medical attention.” Young adults’ first step is to choose between two brands of doctors: family practice doctors and internal medicine doctors. Family practice doctors care for minor illnesses and take patients all the way from toddlers to the elderly. Internal medicine doctors see only adults, but are more specialized in the kinds of sicknesses they can handle. “Your primary care doctor is the director of your healthcare,” Mohan said. “If you need more help than they can provide, they will direct you to a specialist. Never try to find specialists on your own—your doctor will always have the best advice.” Mohan also emphasized the importance of having a health insurance plan. Healthcare has become very expensive in the U.S., so one needs to be prepared for a possible injury or illness that could take a lot of money to mend. “Under the Affordable Care Act, a young adult can stay under their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26,” Mohan said. “Another great option is to look into your college or your job’s options. A lot of times they offer plans at a reasonable price with good coverage.” Finally, young people should always try to be proactive about their health by scheduling annual checkups and remembering their flu shots. “Make sure to have healthcare basics around the apartment or dormitory,” Mohan said. “Overthe-counter medications like Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Aleve will inevitably come in handy, first-aid supplies like bandages and Neosporin are useful, and every single young adult should have a thermometer.”

October 29, 2020

Issues

The ReMarker

Living comfortably and with company hile many colleges require that students live on campus their freshman year, the following years can offer many more opportunities in terms of living conditions. Cameron Clark ‘16 has been out of college for a few months now, after he and his classmates at Amherst College were sent home thanks to COVID-19. “I’m so thankful for having some college friends here,” Clark said. “Having company keeps me sane for sure. Luckily, some of them were working the same job that I was back in Chicago, so we moved in together.” While there are limited options as a college student with a short budget, living in an apartment is generally cheaper than staying in the dorm. Living off-campus gives greater privacy and independence, but also comes with the responsibilities of being an adult. Clark emphasized how renting an apartment with friends makes this transition significantly easier. “It’s really nice to be able to go through adjusting to the real world with your friends doing it by your side at the same time,” Clark said. “Getting to learn and grow with your friends is really cool.” Another major benefit of adding friends into

PICK AND CHOOSE As Marksmen leave the community and head out on their own, they are faced with practical challenges, such as housing, grocery shopping, networking, and self-care.

the equation is that rent becomes drastically less expensive when split between students. “I basically live in an apartment,” Clark said. “It’s a townhome with a couple units that my friends and I split the costs for. Part of my decision to move in with them was cost: it’s cheaper to live with roommates for sure. You can also get a bigger place, with a better rate per person.” Moving into a house is generally not something college students choose to do, but it can be accomplished if a large enough group of students decide to pool their money together. Clark attributes much of his practical learning to his parents and teachers. “St. Mark’s has a very special faculty and staff,” Clark said. “There were definitely instances that teachers went the extra mile to teach us stuff that would be useful in the future, and I’m super thankful for that.” Keeping in touch he alumni network has become incredibly expansive thanks to the efforts of the alumni division. Director of Alumni Relations Alex Eshelbrenner ‘04 sees great value in the ability to connect with Marksmen of all ages in all professions. “I think the brotherhood piece of the Marksman connection doesn’t change, it just becomes more expansive,” Eshelbrenner said. “You realize that the guys in your class are not the only people that you have this bond with, and it’s incredible to see how many guys are willing to pay it forward.” Eshelbrenner says it can be valuable to maintain relationships from both high school and college as one moves into the real world. In a new city, everything can seem daunting and unfamiliar, so having connections with people that share the high school experience makes the tough process of adaptation much easier.

Taking care of yourself s kids move away from home, self-care adds another layer to the complexities necessitated by adulthood and can become overwhelming in the face of the many requirements of independent living. For Beth and Stephen Fitzpatrick, parents of junior William Fitzpatrick, Villanova sophomore Sara Fitzpatrick, and TCU graduate Megan Fitzpatrick, self-care begins with being organized. “[Organization] can really calm your mind,” Beth said. “Also, taking one thing at a time. When you think about things too much, it can overload you with stress: in college, for example, when you’re trying to get through midterms, or if you’re older and you’re trying to find that job.” Stephen remembers Megan’s experience with stress in college and her mindset in a tough endof-term. “Megan just graduated from TCU,” Stephen said. “She had to do that during COVID-19. It was really about patience, and not giving up. Persistence is a good word for that. Be persistent, follow up with interviews, because it is a really tough time right now.” To clear your mind, Beth recommends continual exercise. “I think being physically fit and active is important, whether it’s just taking a walk around the block every day or doing something more intense,” Beth said. “Especially after everything that’s happened in the last six months or so, getting outside and moving around is even more important.” Beth and Stephen believe, however, that independent living and adulthood are not easy for young men and women to get the best of, and while they may encounter stress, the best thing to do is keep calm and move forward. “It’s not going to happen on day one,” Stephen said. “Keep plugging along.” STORY Austin Williams, Toby Barrett PHOTO Evan McGowan

Starting on your own

Here are some areas to prioritize as you begin living by yourself. Readily available and convenient primary care. After you establish where you are living, locate a doctor and make room in your schedule for regular medical appointments.

Affordable and comfortable housing. Choose a safe, congenial space that is close to your place of work, and consider moving in with friends.

Connections to friends, family and potential opportunities back home. Take time to check in on and maintain relationships with people who live far away.

Plentiful rest and relaxation. Put emphasis on the amount of sleep and exercise you get, and make sure to keep track of your mental health.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

DONATION STATION Seniors Will Chance, Owen Goldberg and Michael Anderson collect clothing donations for last year’s drive.

Fifteen hours

While COVID-19 continues to be a problem, community service remains as important and necessary as always.

The Community Service Board, Correa and Assistant Director of Community Service Isabel Cisneros are still watching how the pandemic progresses and how well Marksmen can serve before making their final decision. “It’s not ‘no matter what, you need 15 hours,’” Community Service Board Co-Chair Benny Wang said. “As of now, that’s in place, and we’re monitoring [the situation]. Whether or not the deadlines or number of hours are going to be changed isn’t set in stone right now.”

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In light of having fewer volunteer opportunities through the school, the Community Service Board is encouraging students to take this opportunity to begin personal projects to benefit the community. “Now that we’re still reaching out to a lot of the organizations, and they’re still reaching out to us, and a lot of them still aren’t even going on, we’re encouraging people to do their personal projects, whether that be in-person or online,” Wang said. Correa encourages students to serve their communities, but he understands that can only be determined by the students themselves. “In the end, this is very important, you decide

where you want to go,” Correa said. “You and your parents decide, according to your time, the distance from your home, what you think. We post the opportunities, but it’s up to you to decide if you want to go.” The Community Service Board is still working toward finding opportunities for students, whether virtual or in-person. “Some of the popular [opportunities] like Rays of Light have gone virtual,” Wang said. “A lot of the events are going to be either virtual or very changed. [The Board] will be contacting specific organizations and trying to figure out what they need, how they’re going about this and whether or not it would be safe for us to help out in any way they decide.” Even though community service events will be modified due to the pandemic, Wang has outlined some of the upcoming opportunities around campus. “Stay on the alert for the Food Drive and the Candy Drive,” Wang said. “Once again, those are probably going to be changed like the Clothing Drive, but, at its core, it’s still going to be the same.”

October 29, 2020

t’s the same as every other year. Fifteen required hours of community service. The number hasn’t changed, but other things have: there are fewer opportunities available to students through x2VOL, the website where students log their service hours and find projects and events. So why is there still a deadline in the midst of a global pandemic? For Community Service Director Jorge Correa, the answer is simple. The opportunities may have gone away, but the community’s needs haven’t. Fifteen community service hours will continue to be mandatory for Marksmen, according to Correa. After the first meeting with the Community Service Board, Correa decided, for now, students should aim to complete 10 hours by Jan. 22. “I don’t think it’s a good starting point for St. Mark’s,” Correa said. “I think that’s a good middle point or endpoint. Towards our deadline, we could say, ‘You know what... 80% of the school body doesn’t have their hours. I think we’re going to have to make a decision as to how those hours count.’ But I don’t think it’s good to start the year and say to not worry about the 15 hours.” While completing the hours is not a problem, Correa knows that the community needs even more help than it did before, especially in a situation like this one. “The reason is not Potential us,” Correa said. “It’s events not that the students aren’t capable of doing • Personal projects • Candy Drive: Nov. 2 - 6 this. The main reason is • Food Drive: Nov. 9 - 20 that there are still needs • Upcoming events on x2VOL in the community that haven’t gone away. They have increased. So many people have lost access to many things.” However, nothing is confirmed at the moment.

COUCH POTATOES

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Science

While STEM is still a male-dominated field, more women have found opportunities, so we met with science instructors Bonnie Flint and Cristina Macaraeg to learn about some of their experiences in the STEM world.

Biology instructor Bonnie Flint has always been interested in science “My main entrance into science was that from a very young age, I really was fascinated by animals,” said Flint. “In fourth grade, I heard the word ‘zoologist’ and after hearing that, I knew that was what I wanted to do.” Flint’s fascination with animals carried all the way through high school, and eventually, she decided to major in behavioral ecology. “I took a behavioral ecology class, or the first one that I took was an animal behavior class, by a professor who studied animal behavior,” Flint said. “At that time I was like, ‘This is it. This is my thing.’” In both undergraduate and graduate school and in college, Flint noticed that a large majority of the students were female, contradicting prevailing stereotypes about women in STEM fields. “It turns out that ecology is, at this point in time, mostly women,” Flint said. “In graduate school, the women in my departments outweighed the men probably like eight to one. There were way more women than there were men. Even at the level of the professors, there were definitely men professors in ecology, but there were just as many women.” Flint believes that ecology does not actually suffer from discrimination for your gender like some other STEM fields have.

Flint says that women experience a lot of resistance in is fieldwork though. “The only place where sometimes people will doubt you is in fieldwork,” Flint said. “If you’re needing to go out and camp alone somewhere or be in the field by yourself, you’re gonna have people, usually men, who are going to say ‘Are you sure you can do that? I don’t think that’s safe.’ But they would do it in a heartbeat.” Flint says that there were situations where people would doubt her just because she was a woman. This became very prevalent when Flint was doing fieldwork in Botswana. “A lot of times what would happen, especially in Botswana, is I would be out in the field by myself,” Flint said. “I had a truck that I was driving out there, and you would get a flat tire. And I don’t even know how many times I changed a flat tire on a truck by myself. When nobody’s around, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Bonnie Flint But then people say, Biology ‘You did that all by instructor yourself in the sand and mud?’‘Yes, I did. What other option did I have?’” Flint also mentioned that many times, people would refuse to accept her help. “In the rainy season [in Botswana], it would get really muddy, and you had to be very careful when you drove,” Flint said. “When you’re driving through that kind of stuff, you can’t be cocky about it. A lot of other people would get stuck, and I would drive up to them and ask them if they needed help getting out. If it was a man, without fail, he would deny my help. It was like I’m castrating him, which is very ridiculous. But he just didn’t want a woman to be the one to save him.” On the other hand, Chemistry Teacher Cristina Macaraeg has not experienced much resistance as a science teacher. “I’ve been interested in science since middle school, so it made sense to me to major in science,” Macaraeg said. “I originally was going to premed, but eventually I ended up majoring in

biophysical chemistry, which is a good mix of physical chemistry and biochemistry, plus lots of lab work. I really owe it to my professors and classmates for making it such an enjoyable experience.” While Macaraeg said her teachers were very supportive, she did notice a lack of female professors while she was in college at Dartmouth. “I had incredibly supportive professors and mentors at Dartmouth, and I felt like I had equal access and opportunity to pursue projects beyond the regular curriculum,” Macaraeg said. “It seemed as though the women in STEM at Dartmouth, whether they were professors or graduate students, made it a point to connect with us, so there was never a sense of being lost or overlooked. That said, there weren’t many women in tenured positions, and it was obvious that the ones there were working overtime to make sure we were stuck with it. ” Macaraeg believes she is incredibly lucky with her experiences as a STEM teacher or even in the STEM community. “As a high school science teacher, I haven’t faced particular hardships that are specific to being a woman in STEM,” Macaraeg said. “Within the STEM community, my colleagues have always been supportive. What’s interesting is the contrast between the STEM support I’ve received and the challenges I’ve faced in other male-dominated spaces – coaching and administration, for example.” Macaraeg believes that for women to have more impact in all communities, they must start with the top. “I think it will take a real shift in the mindset of many Americans to see women as capable leaders in STEM fields and beyond,” Macaraeg said. “The lack of women representation at the top, whether we are talking about elected officials in the United States, company CEOs or heads of school, plays into this idea that women are less-than, so until real progress gets made in these areas, it will likely remain the same.” STORY Ethan Borge, Cooper Ribman PHOTO Ekansh Tambe

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

hroughout school history, the science department has yielded students who have gone into succesful carrers in STEM. Now, students have dreams of starting the next tech giant, building the next great machine, solving the world’s greatest problem. They have success on their minds. But what what those Marksmen don’t consider, what they don’t have to consider, is whether their gender will eliminate learning or even professional opportunities. For years, however, that hypothetical has been a real issue for women. But Dr. Bonnie Flint and Cristina Macaraeg are proof that this trend is changing.

IN THE LAB As more women join the STEM world, biology instructor Bonnie Flint and chemistry instructor Cristina Macaraeg (pictured) are leading the charge toward a new era of science, technology, engineering and math.

Discoveries

Women in STEM

Environment Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut explores the damage meat consumption can do to the environment. Page 10

In brief GREEN MARK’S CLUB The Green Mark’s Club began its Lower School teaching program earlier this month. Last year, the program taught 2nd through 4th grade about water conservation, pollution and recycling. In late October, the club held a volunteering event at the Trinity River Audubon Center. More community service events will be planned throughout the year with organizations such as For the Love of the Lake. QUIZ BOWL The quiz bowl team placed first in the Texas Quiz Bowl Alliance jamboree on Sep. 26. The team that won consisted of juniors Miki Gosh and Han Zhang, and seniors Ned Tagtmeier, and Aayush Goodapaty, beating James E. Taylor High School in the finals 715-55. This qualified them for nationals. The C team consisting of freshman Vardhan Agnihotri, Ethan Bosita, Arnav Lahoti, and Sid Bidare also qualified for nationals by making it to quarterfinals in the tournament. ROBOTICS TEAM Since early September, the Robotics Team has met after school to prepare for the BEST Robotics competition in early November.. In previous years, the competition involved a large gathering of over thirty local schools, but due to health restrictions, this year’s competition will be conducted remotely by each participating school. Each team builds an obstacle field to compete on competition day, and a referee will come out to judge the completion of tasks compared to the other teams.

Environmetally friendly change to water fillers

ENVIRONMENT

Moving on from meat

As demand for vegetarian foods like tofu increases, Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut touts the environmental benefits of a vegetarian diet.

WATER WASTE According to the Wall Street Journal, it takes 1300 gallons of water to raise a cow to make a burger.

October 29, 2020

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ne thousand three hundred gallons of water. That’s the number of gallons it costs to make one fast-food quarter-pounder according to the Wall Street Journal — 1300 gallons. It takes 1300 gallons of water to grow the cow’s food, hydrate the cow and process its carcass, per burger. Just how bad is meat production for the environment? People who eat meat often overlook the environmental impacts of their eating habits. Since plants take significantly less resources to cultivate than poultry or cattle, a vegetarian diet can benefit the environment, even in ways that may not be visible at first. “The general rule of thumb, environmentally speaking, is: the lower on the food chain you can eat, the better it is for the environment,” Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut said. “People have to keep in mind the energy and resources that it takes to grow food for animals, and the energy and water that it takes to keep feeding the animals for months, as well as the pollution that comes from all of that.” Since the energy transfer when an animal consumes food is not 100% efficient, the energy consumption that comes from eating meat comes with many hidden costs. Pollution, water waste, and energy waste are just a few parts that make up the overall cost of eating meat. “The cost, environmentally, is mostly in all of that extra water usage, fertilizer and feed usage: everything that goes into the agriculture of growing the food for the animals,” Northcut said. “Monetarily and environmentally, being vegetarian is much better than eating meat.” In fact, most of the farmland in the United States is used to contribute to the feeding and upkeep of livestock, as opposed to being used for growing food for human consumption. “The majority of crop space in the United States is used to grow animal feed,” Northcut said. “If you converted all of that crop space to growing food that people could eat, you wouldn’t have a food shortage.” Northcut stresses that people don’t ned to be completely vegetarian in order to cut down on the environmental impact of their eating habits. Although it may seem difficult at first to stop eating meat, gradually cutting down on meat consumption is easier than it seems. “I get it when people have that reaction of ‘you want me to be vegetarian?’ Northcut said. “I’m not completely vegetarian myself, I do eat meat sometimes, but I eat red meat maybe only once a month. What I would say to people that have that question is, just cut down on your consumption. Cut down over time, and you’ll find over time that you don’t miss it as much as you thought you would.” In fact, for people who still want to eat meat, meat replacements like the Impossible

Burger are much more environmentally friendly. In addition, the taste is almost indistinguishable from regular meat. “The flavor in an Impossible Burger is almost the same [as a regular burger],” Northcut said. “I hardly ever get burgers, since 20 years ago, but when that Impossible Burger came out, I tried it, and I really liked it. Now, I probably eat an Impossible Burger maybe once a month. Comparison-wise, it’s made almost entirely of plant material, so it’s a lot better for the environment than a regular burger.” Because everything moves in such slow motion, people often don’t realize the impact [of their eating habits], since they get used to it as it happens. Dan Northcut, Director of Environmental Studies

For people who want to go vegetarian but worry about the blandness of a vegetarian diet, it’s important to note that the flavor of a meal often depends on the method used to prepare it. According to Northcut, a well-prepared vegetarian meal can taste just as good, if not better, than one with meat. “A big part of eating vegetarian is thinking about how to cook a meal with the spices and methods that can make it tasty,” Northcut said. “My wife’s vegetarian, so we eat vegetarian at home. Because she knows how to cook vegetarian meals really well, I don’t miss meat at home. I think people who don’t eat vegetarian should know that there are plenty of ways to make vegetarian food tasty and worthwhile.” Although cutting down on meat consumption is one major way to reduce the environmental impact of a person’s eating habits, Northcut points out that it’s not the only thing that environmentally-conscious consumers can do. “One of the best things you can do is to try and find foods that are grown locally, whether plant- or animal-based,” Northcut said. “The more local your food is, the better, because there’s less transportation cost and fuel cost.” In addition to the more immediate impacts of eating meat that people might think of, such as water waste or air pollution, the effects of eating meat extend even further beyond in places that are not apparent at first glance. “In terms of habitat for wildlife, whether it’s wild plants or wild animals that depend on those plants, the more land that we use to grow food for the animals that we consume, the less land there is for nature,” Northcut said. “That means we see less birds around, or less butterflies, since we’re using up their habitat. Because everything moves in such slow motion, people often don’t realize the impact, since they get used to it as it happens. By the time it’s done, no one’s noticed the difference from before, but big changes have happened.” STORY Jack Davis, Han Zhang GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

by Nikhil Dattatreya, Ethan Borge ver the summer, the school replaced many of the water fountains with water bottle fillers. While some of the benefits of these new water bottle fillers are clear, like reducing the spread of disease, some of the other benefits are less known, like reducing the amount of water wasted within the school. However, reducing the use of single-use water bottles has never been more needed, as recent studies by EPA show that less than ten percent of the plastic in the last 40 years has been recycled. Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut has always been a proponent of installing the water bottle fillers. “The water bottle fillers are great for reducing the amount of plastic waste our school produces,” Northcut said. “Not only are they great for reducing the amount of plastic, but also ended up reducing the amount of water wasted as well.” While it is unfortunate that it took a pandemic to promote these changes, it was a change that helps the school lower its total carbon footprint. “By installing them at the school, we are lowing our carbon footprint,” Northcut said. “It also has the added bonus of lowering water costs, encouraging people to stay hydrated, and lower the total amount of germs on or near the fountains.” Northcut has been keeping track of the water bottle count of in the new science building since it’s completion. “Ever since we moved into the new science building, I’ve been watching the numbers of bottles saved go up very quickly,” Northcut said. “In fact, last year, even with the school closing early, we still managed to get to 10,000 plastic water bottles saved. Northcut is also impressed by the number of water bottles that have been saved in the last few weeks in The Commons. “I’m honestly impressed that the water bottle filler next to the locker rooms has already reached three thousand water bottles saved within a few weeks,” Northcut said. “That really speaks to the number of reusable water bottles that kids have been using within the campus. Northcut believes that it is up to the younger generations to determine where the world is going and that St. Marks does an amazing job of teaching students about how to benefit the environment throughout our daily lives. “It’s up to the younger generations to make the changes that will stop the downward spiral of overuse of resources within the world,” Northcut said. “Even with small changes like water bottle fillers, we are slowly helping the world through our own community.”

By the

numbers

320 million tons of meat produced in 2013

billion animals killed each year for meat

kilograms of meat consumed per person in 2014 Credit: Our World in Data

Jeffrey S. Genecov, ‘77, DDS, MSD

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Dedicated

For math instructor Marietta Johnson and Lower School music teacher Mary Ann Livengood, the two longesttenured women at the school (Johnson 46, Livengood 48 years), educating young men has always been a passion.

n 1974, math instructor Marietta Johnson received a phone call that would change the course of her life. It may seem strange that Johnson ended up teaching math at the school for over 40 years after graduating from Stanford with a B.A. in sociology, but, through a series of fortunate events, Johnson found her passion. Years after leaving college, Johnson was busy caring for her four young children, one of whom started attending St. Mark’s in the fifth grade. Johnson had always enjoyed teaching, so when her cousin was overwhelmed with work tutoring Johnson’s child’s classmates, Johnson decided to take on a few students and tutor them. “I enjoy math a lot more than I did sociology,” Johnson said. “My cousin said, ‘you’re a natural with people. Just come on, take a student.’ I don’t have a math degree, I don’t have an education degree, but I felt like this was a gift from the Lord.” Johnson became a popular tutor for Middle School math students, such that, when the school’s current fifth-grade math teacher became pregnant, the teacher asked the school to allow her to leave. “She was a little bit past the age for having children, so it was such a big deal,” Johnson said. “She went to the school and said, ‘I really would like to enjoy this new life that has come to me,’ so the school called me because I was tutoring everybody else’s children.” This was an opportunity Johnson had been waiting for. In fact, she was thinking about an opportunity like this when the school came calling. “I was seeing my children were growing,” Johnson said, “and I thought ‘I’ve got to do something so that I can be with my own children after school, and I wanted to be free after school when they were free. I was tutoring everybody else’s children, so I had just said, ‘God, please just work something out.’ I can tell you the chair I was sitting in, where I was when I got that telephone call. ‘Would you consider coming and working at St. Mark’s for three periods a day?’” Sitting in her yellow bedroom chair that fateful evening, listening to the school official offer her the job, Johnson couldn’t believe her luck. It would allow her to teach during the day and see her children after school, the time she had been tutoring instead. “I was so excited. It didn’t take me long to talk it over with my husband and say yes,” Johnson said. “I didn’t even have an interview. I guess they knew me from tutoring, but I was just so excited.” Johnson, a Hockaday alumna, joined the expanding number of female faculty members here. “By the time I came in, there were some female faculty, and the school was opening up to more female faculty,” Johnson said. “I never felt discriminated against as a woman. It has been a very smooth transition [for more women being incorporated into the faculty].” The head of the Math Department at the time, Bill McNab, had taught Johnson at Hockaday for four years, so he welcomed her with open arms. “He was a visionary of math education and made a huge difference in the state of

Texas,” Johnson said. “And he went from Hockaday to St. Mark’s and was a mentor to me when I first started.” Johnson has seen the school aflame. She’s seen the school change its colors from purple and gold to blue and gold. She’s seen the Foxworth family bring a lion cub to football games. She’s seen the school tear down their cafeteria building and eat outside for an entire school year. Johnson has become one of the longesttenured members of the school’s community. “St. Mark’s has been a huge part of my life, and I’m dedicated to the school and its values,” Johnson said. “Are we perfect? No. But we have that spirit of always wanting to get better and not rest on our laurels.” Lower School music teacher Mary Ann Livengood — known as Mary Ann Sharp at the time — heard about a job opportunity at the school in 1972, right after her graduation from SMU. “It was April of my senior year,” Livengood said, “and we were all sitting around the green room. If you’ve ever watched that old show called Home Improvement, the mother on that show, Patricia Richardson, was sitting in the green room, and we were all sitting having coffee. And she said, ‘I just heard about an opening for a music job at this private school in town.’” That private school was at 10600 Preston Rd., and with her prior connections, Livengood secured an interview and the job in short order. “Knowing [former choirmaster] Jim Livengood was at St. Mark’s and having seen him around SMU throughout the years,” Livengood said, “I called him that evening. He told me there were 12 candidates and they were deciding the next day. He asked me to come by in the morning and bring my resume. I met him the next morning. I had interviews and tours of the campus, and three days later, I had the job.” Having lived near campus and attended John J. Pershing Elementary School, a mere 0.8 miles away while she was growing up, the school wasn’t a foreign place to Livengood, but a job at the school wasn’t always in the cards. “I lived on Desco Drive right off Preston. We would drive by St. Mark’s all the time, and I looked at it out the car window. I knew it was a private boys school, but never in my wildest thoughts did I think I would be teaching there. I wasn’t worried about the all-boys [aspect] at all. In fact, I thought that sounded wonderful.” From picking up mail to getting a cup of coffee, Livengood says the atmosphere was uncomfortable at first, especially as a young female teacher, but she credits her colleagues — namely Jim Livengood — with comforting her on campus. “The collegial atmosphere — the comments — made me feel very uncomfortable as a young female teacher,” Livengood said. “If I walked into the lounge to get a cup of coffee, I knew I was being looked at a lot. So that was awkward for me, but Mr. Livengood was very helpful. Often I would have to call him and say ‘Come with me because I don’t feel comfortable checking the mail.’”

But in general, Livengood says she didn’t feel mistreated as a woman on campus. Even if her paycheck was lower than her male counterparts, she didn’t teach for the money. “With the administration and the Fine Arts department,” Livengood said, “I certainly was not being suppressed. I probably was, as far as pay scale, but I never checked on that. I did this because I loved it. Not because of how I was getting paid.” As Jim continued to help Livengood acclimate — walking with her to the mailroom, grabbing a cup of coffee together, jointly teaching classes — the two started dating and eventually married. “I started feeling comfortable when Jim and I got married,” Livengood said. “We began dating in 1972, married in 1977 and worked together here at school for 33 years, I sang in his church choirs throughout the Metroplex, and we raised two beautiful girls.” The two worked together in nearly everything pertaining to the choir, with one teaching the young choristers and the other accompanying on the organ. “I was always very active with the choir,” Livengood said. “Being a professional pianist and vocalist and a lifelong member of choirs, it was natural that I leaned toward the choral department. Training the young singers and then working with them all the way through to graduation was the best part of my job. Mr. Livengood and I were a great team.” Jim passed away in 2004, leaving Livengood with a void. In the three years after Jim’s death, Livengood says she didn’t feel like she was making progress in the grieving process, driving her to a sudden resignation in February 2008. “It was just a real struggle,” Livengood said, “and I resigned. In May, I went into [former Headmaster Arnie Holtberg]’s office. We were just talking. I was thanking him for being such a supportive headmaster and he looked at me and said, ‘Well, it’s not too late if you want to change your mind.’ I looked at him and went, ‘That’s not fair. It was so hard for me to decide to leave.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’ve got two days,’ so I went home and talked to my girls and decided to stay. I’ve never regretted that decision.” Reflecting on her time at 10600 Preston Rd. — her job interview, her time with the choir and her husband, her near resignation — Livengood keeps coming back to something she heard during her first year on the job. “On that Friday morning interview, I met with the head of the Lower School and had a really nice conversation with her,” Livengood said. “After I got the job, she actually told me that something she noticed or felt about me was that I would stay around for a while. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’s really funny. What karma did I give off?’ I guess it was just a right fit. It’s so nice to have a place for 49 years that I’ve wanted to come to every day. I can honestly say it’s never really felt like a job.” STORY Robert Pou, Henry McElhaney, Sid Sinha PHOTOS Courtesy Marietta Johnson, Mary Ann Livengood

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

VETERANS With 94 years of experience combined, Johnson (far left) and Livengood (left) have seen the school evolve from the 70s to the present.

10600

‘It’s never felt like a job’

Tornado

Checking in one year later on those hit hard by the tornado. Pages 12-13

Well-travelled The journey that brought Rev. Stephen Arbogast to 10600 Preston Rd. Page 14

Wilderness

John Williams ’75 organizes a return to Big Bend, the original “Pecos.” Page 15

Ethos

Examining character and leadership education in the Middle School. Page 18

In brief

COMMUNITY SERVICE Community service drives will continue to be held so long as they comply with health guidelines for everyone involved. Drives like the Candy Drive, Toy Drive and Food Drive may not happen in their traditional manner due to the risks associated with passing items from one person to another. However, the school is working together with organizations to ensure these drives are held in a safe manner. All changes will be communicated to the school community once it is certain that safety regulations will be met. SENIOR BUDDIES The Senior Buddies Program had its first meeting virtually Oct. 13. Senior Class sponsors Joe Millett and Amy Pool worked with a select group of seniors to decide buddy matches based on factors such as the seniors’ tenure. This year is the first time the number of seniors is exactly the same as the number of first through third graders, so every Lower School buddy has a senior buddy. COOKING CLUB While involvement in Elevated Cooking Club is typically in-person, the group has been able to function well virtually, having weekly meetings. The club is using its time away from school to grow its presence online, using social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to create instructional recipe videos. This year, the club plans to host charity sales, an appreciation dinner for the administration, club potlucks, and cooking contests.

Gender ratio of faculty and staff

Female Male

TORNADO

One year later

Oct. 20, 2019 is a date that will live forever in the history of Dallas. That night, an EF3 tornado hit the city and left carnage in its path. While the damage to the campus was the most visible to all students, the tornado’s impact was far, far greater. Houses were demolished and businesses wrecked. An entire community had to bond together and rebuild itself. One year after the storm, much progress has been made, but much is still yet to come. Below are the accounts of how a business, a family and a school have reconstructed after these devastating events.

‘St. Mark’s Strong’ emerged as the slogan for the past year, ever since the tornado hit the heart of our campus. One year has passed, and practically everything has changed, whether visible or not.

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School is recovering from upwards of $30 million in damages The tornado caused upwards of $30 million worth of damage to campus, including damage to roofing, the destruction of Hicks Gymnasium, loss of trees, light poles and much more. “The scope is really wide,” Associate Headmaster John Ashton said. “Most of the roofs have been repaired. On Orchid Lane, all those holly trees are planted now all along the fence line there.” With the destruction of Hicks Gymnasium and the tennis courts, administrators are taking this as a chance to reevaluate other portions of the athletics center, such as the natatorium. “With Hicks Gym in a blank slate, if you will, certainly conversations have begun about ‘would we do a new pool and start new as part of an athletic center?’” Ashton said. “[And it would still be a] competition gym space like we had before for volleyball, basketball and physical education classes.” Ashton estimates it should take two years before its completion. “You always give and take,” Ashton said. “Maybe it could be earlier. Maybe it can be a mid-year opening. Maybe because things fell in place more quickly. Maybe it’s right for two years. I would imagine 18 to 24 months of effort, for sure.” Throughout the past year, the school has been working through the damages that hit campus — a feat that could not have been possible without teamwork on campus. “Since Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, we’ve been in a constant state of problem solving and triage,” Ashton said. “Congratulations to the team effort it requires to be sitting here today, third week on campus. That didn’t just happen. It happens because of the work of so many people.” Ashton commended many different people and different teams for their non-stop work “We’re a team-oriented place,” Ashton said. “Mark Webb and the whole facilities team have just worked tirelessly to get the campus up and running.” He also highlighted Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Townsend’s work in ensuring that the insurance claims were handled properly. “Ms. Townsend, our CFO, has had the responsibility for weekly management of the insurance process with other partners that we’ve had,” Ashton said, “but she has really been managing weekly the assessments, the claim, the insurance navigating, the insurance proposals and then continuing that. Ashton acknowledged throughout the disasters hitting campus, the community has persevered through it all. “We’ve been through a lot together, but at the end of the day, it’s made us stronger, and we’ve really seen the strength of this community just come out in full, which is terrific.” STORY Jack Davis, Axel Icazbalceta, Will Pechersky PHOTOS Lars Ochs, Courtesy Genender family

DOORS CLOSED As a result of severe property damage, certain businesses in the Preston Royal Shopping Center decided to close their doors for good. One such business was Gazeebo Burger, a popular restaurant destination in the community. The Gazeebo Burger Plano location at 6009 W Parker Rd remains open.

$2 billion. That’s the dollar amount of the destruction caused. The Preston Hollow Central Market was one business that incurred significant structural damage.

Central Market expects return to business next spring Several businesses were left with great structural damage and a need to reconstruct. The Central Market on the southeast corner of the Preston Royal shopping center was one such store “The ceiling had a significant hole in the middle, primarily around our grocery and wine department,” Mabrie Jackson, director of public affairs at Central Market and H-E-B grocery stores, said. “There were numerous windows that were broken in front, the doors were blown out because the storm made a direct hit to the store. There was major damage to the back of the store. Our [employees’] cars that were on the side of the building and in the front were all damaged. And there was a lot of tree debris, like everybody experienced around the neighborhood.” Though there was much damage to the structure, the store will be able to rebuild and retain some of its key familiar architecture. The destruction also allowed Central Market to remap its floor plan for the benefit of customers. “The mid-century architectural design that is so well known with that store – the beautiful curvature of the ceiling – will all be intact,” Jackson said. “It will have a much more open feel to the store than it did before. The reconstruction is allowing us to reconfigure the flow a little bit and make it more inviting for our customers.” Some stores in the Preston Royal Shopping Center decided to permanently close. While Central Market laments such losses in the center, the closures gave them some extra space to expand their store. “We have a really great partnership with Regency, who is the landlord for that center,” Jackson said. “We’ve been working closely with them to help make sure that the tenants that were there before [remain]. We want to have a vibrant center. We look forward to seeing our neighbors back in the center.” For Central Market, the decision to keep its Preston Royal location was never up in the air. “That particular corner has been a major part of people’s lives if you’re a longtime Dallasite,” Jackson said. “We have a very loyal customer base. We can’t imagine not serving them, so it was never a question for us if we were coming back.” With the new additions to the store, the Preston Royal Central Market will open later than it would have if they had only rebuilt the previous location, but they anticipate a good reopening next year. “Our intent was to come back as fast as we could and we were hoping to come back before the holidays this year,” Jackson said, “but when the extra spaces became available, we decided it was best to finish the complete construction of the new space. so as to not open and then have to have construction again. We anticipate it to be April or May when we open up next year.”

Homes were destroyed, years of precious memories were lost, and families were left to find their own way in the new, terrifying aftermath of tornado destruction.

Family returns to their old home with a new face For the Genender family, senior Jack, sophomore George and parents Paul and Wendy, roof damage and broken glass made up the initial destruction to their home after the Oct. 20, 2019 tornado. However, the rain that came soon after caused most of the damage. “For us, it wasn’t even our stuff that was so damaged, necessarily,” Wendy Genender said. “It was the stuff that makes the house look pretty, like sheetrock and paint and floors. That was really the extent of it. It really wasn’t our furniture and clothing, different than other families.” After the tornado, the Genender family needed to find a new place to live for the time being. With the help of one of George’s classmates, sophomore Sal Hussain, they found a house to rent near the school within a couple days. “I was here doing something, and Sal was over here,” Paul Genender said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, Sal, what’s going on? What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’ve got my drone up, and I’m taking pictures of people’s roofs to see if they’re damaged so I can help people and let them know if they’re damaged,’” Paul Genender said. “Where are y’all going to move?” Hussain said. “We need to find a place,” Paul Genender said. “My parents have a house on Waggoner that they might be trying to rent to a St. Mark’s family,” Hussain replied. “Sal, give me your mom’s cell phone number. I’m going to text her, but please call her and tell her not to rent that house to anyone until we talk,” Paul Genender said. Although their house has been repaired over the last year, lasting differences in the neighborhood still remain. “The house looks different because our backyard is missing a huge tree,” Paul Genender said. “Our front yard is missing the tree that was a signature of the house. Inside the house, everything’s newer and nicer and fresher and all that. But the biggest difference is the look of our street. All the houses that were going to be scraped have been scraped and a couple more.” Through the eight-month period away from their home, Paul Genender has gained a new perspective on the true value of the family’s belongings. “Things don’t matter,” Paul Genender said. “We still have a lot of stuff in storage, and occasionally it might stress me out that I don’t know where something is or maybe it’s in storage, but you really realize how little stuff you really need.” Wendy Genender found the unforgettable chapter in their lives as an opportunity for bonding. “It’s shared experience,” Wendy Genender said. “It’s a big deal in each of our lives in similar ways and in very different ways. You can’t help but feel connected because of that shared experience.”

TORNADO

Looking back

One year since the destructive events of Oct. 20, the community has to rebuild itself bit by bit, both physically and emotionally. The most visible improvement since that time has been the reconstruction of campus. Three examples that stand out are tennis courts, Decherd Performance Hall and the Chapel. PHOTOS Lars Ochs, Jerry Zhao, Axel Icazbalceta, Dave Carden / Development Office

OPEN AIR Its roof blown off, Decherd Performance Hall was one of the buildings that suffered severe strucutral damage from the tornado. The destruction caused issues in the production of that year’s fall drama production, the musical 1776.

UNDER REPAIR Hard at work, construction workers repair the chapel’s roof and brick facade, which suffered structural damages in the storm.

ONE YEAR LATER Once covered with debris and downed trees, the tennis courts have been cleared and currently serve as storage for various equipment.

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STAND TALL With the bell tower rebricked and the roof replaced, the chapel – now whole again – once again mightily overlooks the campus.

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ANNIVERSARY On the one year anniversary of the tornado’s touchdown, a whole-school virtual assembly was held to mark the occassion. Headmaster David Dini speaks in the Chapel to a camera live-streaming the event.

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BRAND NEW Much to their surprise, students and faculty returned to a refurbished Dechered Performance Hall without the familiar wood paneling. The memorable orange chairs, however, remained in use.

AROUND THE WORLD

From Goldman to chaplain Before arriving at 10600 Preston Road, Rev. Stephen Arbogast worked in politics, religion, business and academia in various jobs located in cities and countries across America, Europe and Africa.

e was a political campaigner as a teenager and became a Jesuit after college. He’s led a training program at Goldman Sachs and volunteered for the Peace Corps at Benin. He’s been a teaching assistant at Yale and taught history classes at independent schools. As a teenager, Rev. Stephen Arbogast had no idea his career would take him across the United States and over the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and Africa before ultimately culminating as the chaplain at 10600 Preston Road. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you don’t know what the future’s going to bring,” Arbogast said. “You really have to be open to whatever is going to come up. Be flexible because you never know when an opportunity is going to come. I think that’s the cool thing about life. If you’re in the right place at the right time, and you’re ready, you can take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.”

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After growing up in Lewisburg, PA, Arbogast explored his interest in politics when he was a sophomore in college. “I ran Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign over four counties,” Arbogast said. “I beat a state rep. I beat a mayor of one of the towns. I won over some business guy and was the youngest elected delegate at any national political convention. I was just barely, by a couple of days, old enough to meet the requirement. You had to be 18 by a certain day, so when I was 17, I started running the campaign and ran my own campaign for Carter at the time.” In college, even though his whole family is Protestant, Arbogast decided to become Roman Catholic with the intent to join a religious community. He joined the Society of Jesus because Jesuit ideology appealed to him, especially the Jesuits’ historical emphasis on education. “They basically built high schools and colleges all over Europe and educated the most powerful young men of Catholic Europe at the time,” Arbogast said. “I was very impressed with their effort to build an international school system, and even today, the Jesuit system is probably the biggest and most sophisticated of all the school networks in the world. And I was really impressed by the guys I met.” Liberation theology, a religious Places he’s movement from the 1960s that lived emphasizes aiding • Pennsylvania (numerous the most marginal places) • Baltimore, MD people in society • New York City, NY through political and • Boston, MA civic affairs, inspired • New Canaan and New him to become Haven, CT Roman Catholic. • Paris, France • Avignon, France “[In liberation • München, Germany theology], your • Blaubeuren, Germany character is defined • République du Bénin by how you treat the • Grahamstown, South Africa • Ibadan, Nigeria people that need the • Washington, D.C. most help,” Arbogast • Dallas, TX said. “If you want to

serve God in the best way, you need to do whatever you can to help them. If you want to help the largest number of people, if you can convince someone who has a lot of power to do something, you can have a huge impact upon society.” After being a Jesuit for six years, Arbogast decided to leave the Catholic Church because he wanted to move on to try something new. “I was exhausted and burnt AFRICA TO AMERICA Rev. Stephen Arbogast and a few travellers (top) stop out and wanted nothing to do to rest as they head toward the Plateau du Djado in Niger. Arbogast (above left) reads the gospel at the weekly All-School Chapel Service at the National Cathedral with the only three things I School in Washington, D.C. Friends (above right) visit him at the National knew about: education, social University of Benin, where he taught about the cultures of global corporations. service and religious work,” Arbogast said. “A friend of a friend got me a job at Goldman Arbogast said. “But when I went back to school later, Sachs. It proved to be more interesting than I I didn’t do any of that. I took what I wanted to and expected it to be, and I ended up being there for 12 knew what I wanted to get out of things.” years.” In another two years at Harvard University, he When Arbogast arrived in New York City, earned a Master in Theology and wrote his thesis on Goldman Sachs was trying to initiate a training African business and professional ethics, enjoying program for its managers as the company was the university’s unique community. preparing to expand globally. Arbogast’s skills in managing and communicating between different I never, never in my wildest dreams groups of employees allowed him to provide would have imagined being here. I was born in Dallas, but my family’s not from valuable assistance to the training program. here. I was here for two years as a child, “I stayed there as we were building this but I’m not connected to Dallas in any management training program — arguably, at the way. It’s a little ironic to me to think that time, people said it was the best in the world of its after all these years, I’ve come back. type,” Arbogast said. “I did that for about six years Rev. Stephen Arbogast, Chaplain until there was an economic crash, and we laid off my trainees. And then I moved to Boston to be “In one room, you had the world’s expert of this, essentially the chief inside guy responsible for a lot that and the other thing,” Arbogast said. “It’s just so of the internal functions.” cool to be in a place where you’ve got extraordinarily After a nine-month vacation in France, Arbogast smart, hardworking, talented people who can put took two two-year terms with the Peace Corps and you in contact with anybody. In that respect, it was lived in the Republic of Benin in Africa. Staying in like the Jesuits and Goldman Sachs — if you wanted Benin for four years allowed Arbogast to immerse to know anything or wanted to meet anyone in the himself in the local culture, being more than just a world, you basically had to ask one other person. visitor. In his first two years in Benin, he assisted Anybody was willing to give you half an hour of his farming cooperatives practice modern management or her time.” techniques, and during his second two years, After studying at Harvard, Arbogast taught Arbogast taught at the National Economics Institute at various independent schools, including Groton through the Fulbright Program. School, Trinity School and National Cathedral “When I lived in the country, there were about School, before finally coming to 10600 Preston Road 60,000 people in the province I was in, and there may in July 2015. have been 200 people that were literate,” Arbogast “I remember when I was in middle school, said. “It challenged me because it made me think sitting in front of the courthouse with my three that what I assumed to be fundamental to the human buddies, and we were imagining what life was experience wasn’t. But once you’re there, it’s just going to be like,” Arbogast said. “We imagined that like a fish in water. It really made me think about the between middle school and high school, there were world very, very differently.” huge changes, and then after college, you got a job, After his time in Benin, he spent two years at bought a house, got married — basically, nothing Yale University teaching graduate students and happened from the age of 21 until 65, when you getting a Master in Divinity, which allowed him to retire. Well, we had no clue what life was like. That’s be ordained. He was glad to return to pursuing a the cool thing about life — you never know what’s graduate education. going to come around the corner.” “When you’re younger and you go to school, you don’t necessarily know why you’re going to STORY Sai Thirunagari, Myles Lowenberg school, and you’re taking courses that are required,” PHOTOS Courtesy Stephen Arbogast

McDonald’s Week charity event postponed to March due to COVID-19 health concerns by Morgan Chow cDonald’s Week, a Junior Class charity event benefiting the Austin Street Center, has been moved to March 1-4 after a decision was made by the administration with respect to the health risks related to COVID-19. Junior Class sponsors GayMarie Vaughan and Bryan Boucher said this choice was made to give enough time for safety guidelines to be met before reopening McDonald’s to the school. McDonald’s Week raises money for the Austin Street Center, which provides shelter and basic needs to homeless men and women every year. But according to Vaughan, there are still concerns with distancing and spacing, leading to the delay of the

fundraising event. Fortunately, a new organization was created to figure out exactly what to do. “We don’t know, even in March, what the capacity will be,” Vaughan said. “But we have a new committee this year called the Health and Safety Committee. Those guys will work with the administration, McDonald’s and [school nurse Julie Doerge], in terms of city regulation, to make sure what to do at McDonald’s or how to handle food distribution here [on campus].” The co-chairs — juniors Sal Abassi, Alex Nadalini and Ashvin Nair — have already decided on a theme and are in the process of creating a video. But there are some things they have yet to figure out, especially with

finding patrons. “They’re already working on the video and we have a theme,” Vaughan said. “I know our sponsorship team is trying to get sponsors to sign on. It’s harder because a lot of PrestonRoyal is gone, so we don’t have access to as many potential sponsors. So, we’ve expanded the range a little bit. Fortunately, people know Austin Street and St. Mark’s and are willing to jump on board, but I think that’s been a lot more challenging now than before.” Even with these difficulties, Vaughan knows how important McDonald’s Week is to Austin Street Shelter and believes things will have to be adjustable in order for the event to even take place.

“It’s just another opportunity for us to exhibit flexibility,” Vaughan said. “These last few years have really called us to put our words into action. I think it’s easier to be flexible particularly with this because it’s so important to the people at Austin Street, and, particularly in this pandemic where they’re seeing the need for food and need for donations go up. We really don’t want to let them down when they really need our help.” Vaughan is glad the delay is happening so McDonald’s Week can still provide for Austin Street Shelter. “If it had to be in November, we wouldn’t be able to have it,” Vaughan said, “so postponing is definitely a win, especially for Austin Street.”

WILDERNESS

Annual Pecos trip plans to return in August

Back again Fifty years after being a part of the first wilderness school experience, John Williams ‘75 hopes to reunite with his former classmates to go back to this same spot that provided an unforgettable experience for the members of the class. Will Pechersky: Can you give me a basic overview of what you’re trying to organize? John Williams ‘75: Yeah. When I was a freshman at St. Mark’s in 1971, the school had organized the first wilderness trip to Big Bend ever. Prior to that, there was a tradition called Freshman Day, which was one day on campus where the new freshmen and the upperclassmen would have water balloon fights, spray shaving cream, chase each other around campus and silly activities like that. That was the rite of passage to Upper School. A lot of people didn’t particularly care for it; they thought it was a bit juvenile and silly. And so the idea was, ‘Let’s have a true experience that the incoming freshmen will have, that will be

WP: What do you think can be said about the sense of brotherhood at St. Mark’s, given your continued relationship

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WP: What do you hope to gain from this experience with your former classmates? Are you more hoping to recreate some of those same memories? JW: Yes, I think that’s part of it. I think also, as the years go by, I am constantly reminded of my days at St. Mark’s. Some of my instructors and teachers and activities and things I did and how that impacted me or led me through my different studies and careers in life. I was at St. Mark’s for five years, eighth grade through 12th grade. It was a tremendous experience, and I think most of my classmates feel the same way. And to be able to talk and interact with somebody that you knew pretty well, when they were ages 14 through 18, and now they’re 64 and 65, it’s not common that you have a group like that. Some of the stuff you can do on social media, but a lot of it is done better in person. I would really like to be able to spend that kind of quality time with my fellow classmates.

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WP: Was there anything specific that gave you the idea to try and organize something like this? JW: I think that just reconnecting with the class five years ago, our 40th reunion, made me realize how close we were and how we were able to hear about old people, talk to somebody you hadn’t seen in 20 or 30 years, and pick up where you left off. I went to college, I went to medical

school, I went to graduate school, I was in the military for 22 years. The friends that I made at St. Mark’s, I think, are some of the people I’m closest to because we shared common experiences growing up. We played sports together, we did extracurricular activities, I was on The ReMarker. And some of those shared experiences, I think, make you much closer than perhaps maybe a college roommate or somebody you knew in medical school or the military. 50 years is a milestone for anything. I’m just thankful to be alive at this point, because not everybody in our class is, and I think there’s a window of opportunity where you can do something like this that involves physical activity that is closing, and 50 years seems to be an appropriate milestone to commemorate it.

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Headmaster David Dini explains why the Wilderness Program is such an integral part of the school’s education. I think there are a variety of aspects of the wilderness program that we believe are really valuable and important. That’s why we start in the Middle school and build up to the Pecos in ninth grade. A lot of it has to do with building stronger deeper relationships with classmates and being out of the routine of being in school, and, for some boys who perhaps might not have been involved in the outdoor activities, if they weren’t in Scouts or other things where you camp or hike, then it provides an opportunity to be outside and actually sleep under the stars and and have an experience that might otherwise not have been a part of their life. It’s also, I think, an opportunity to learn important skills, including teamwork and working collaboratively with your neighbor and many of the things we talk about on campus all the time.

their rite of passage for Upper School.’ And so that’s how the trip started. WP: Do you know how similar this trip will be to the original trip? JW: We spent about five days backpacking in the interior of the Big Bend National Park and about another four or five days on the River. The backpacking trip was pretty physically demanding. I’m an outdoorsman. I hunt, I camp, I backpack, I’ve looked at the trails in the mountains we climbed, and a lot of what we did, I don’t think it may necessarily be suitable for some of the people who haven’t done that sort of thing for a long time. What we’re trying to do is to retrace some of our steps, and perhaps some of the easier hikes where we can maximize the number of people who could attend. What we’re planning on doing, is a brief hike, set up in a base camp, then for those who are so inclined, some additional day hikes on top of that, maybe climb a couple of mountains we’ve climbed before and then after that transition to a float trip on the river, which is physically demanding, but not like carrying a 40 or 50 pound backpack.

by Jonathan Yin lthough previously delayed by the pandemic, Pecos trips are planned to continue in August with minimal changes for both the incoming and current Freshman Class. “It’s early in the year, so we’re doing gear inventory, looking at our routes, looking at our menus, making tweaks here and there,” Wilderness Program ON THE Director Mark Sullivan PATH Members said. “We have started a of the Class dialogue with the Forest of ‘75 as Service about making sure freshmen that they will allow us to hike along a trail during do what we need to do to the newlydo.” created trip. The wilderness program operates under a permit with all these classmates this system from the United many years later? States Forest Service, JW: I think we had some typically allocating enough common values instilled in hours for one class’s trip to us at St. Mark’s in terms of the Pecos a year. working hard, fairplay, pretty “We’re currently workcliche, simple stuff, that I ing with the Forest Service think pretty much everybody to expand those permit followed through in their hours to allow us to take lives. Certainly, we don’t all both this year’s ninth grade think the same, we’re not all class as well as last year’s in the same political party or ninth grade class on their support the same presidential Pecos trip,” Sullivan said. candidate, but I think we’re “The big emphasis right able to get past that sort of now is just making sure thing and be able to interrelate we can even operate in the to each other. wilderness area based on permitting guidelines, as WP: What do you think is well as safety guidelines.” the most beneficial aspect of Despite these issues, the wilderness program for Sullivan maintains that students? each class will be able JW: I think being able to be to have its own trip, if with somebody for 24/7 for conditions with the current several days. When you’re in pandemic allow. school with another person “We’re going to keep for six or seven hours, you the trips separated, so this can get along with them, but year’s freshmen and the sometimes when you’re with rising freshmen will have a somebody 24/7, they can really trip unique to their class,” get on your nerves, and you Sullivan said. “Years and probably really get on their years ago, when I first nerves as well. I can remember started the Pecos, which people getting into arguments was 35 years ago, we over silly things, and I think if would do multiple trips you’re able to be in a situation in one summer. We have where you’re with somebody a pretty good relationship for 10 days, 24/7, and you with [the Forest Service] can come out of that and because we have been still be good friends, you’ve there for so many years, accomplished a lot, because I so we’re confident we’re think you’ve, seen that person going to get what we need at their best and at their worst, to get done.” and that’s not something that While nothing has we we typically see in other changed directly as a result experiences. of the virus, Sullivan and I think about people his team are constantly who were on the trip, now looking for ways to imsuccessful attorneys, NFL prove the trip. football team owners, space “We are changing scientists, and I can think back how we acclimate to the to, ‘Hey, I remember the first elevation, which really time I met you, I really didn’t has nothing to do with the like you, and you didn’t like pandemic,” Sullivan said. me, but when we finished at St. “But those are changes Mark’s, we were pretty good that, quite frankly, nobody friends.’ When you’re a young would ever really know kid in high school, there’s we made except those who not that many opportunities go on it all the time. They for that, and I think that was aren’t going to change the unique in that regard. dynamic of the trip in any way.” STORY Will Pechersky, At the moment, howevJonathan Yin er, nothing is set in stone. PHOTO Courtesy John “We can only just sit Williams ‘75 and wait like everybody else and watch the situaContact tion and make our decisions in a timely fashion Info based on those,” Sullivan email: johnmwmd@msn.com said. “At this point in time, phone: 719-651-6944 we have to think like we’re going.”

Back on schedule While many students and faculty chose to return to campus Sept. 8, others opted to remain at home for the forseeable future. And although the administration and faculty have meticulously adapted the campus and curriculum, there have been some setbacks along the way. What are these issues, and how can we solve them?

TUNING IN Virtual students have varying levels of participation in their classes: Some directly involve and incorporate online individuals with creative flair, while others leave students as mere spectators in the classroom, isolated from their normal learning environment.

hile the return to campus has been largely successful, there have been mixed results in the experiences of students who have opted to learn virtually. For Anna Lambert –– a Brookhaven College computer science instructor and mother of four, including seventhgrader Lola Lambert and senior Isabella Lambert at Hockaday, sophomore Oliver Lambert at St. Mark's and Dominic Lambert '17 at Vanderbilt University –– remote education provided unexpected benefits in her children's learning. After months of deliberation over the summer, the Lamberts decided to keep all three of their school-age kids are home. "We did want to hear their input," Anna said, "and we definitely thought it was a difficult decision for Isabella and Lola, because it's Lola's first year [at Hockaday], and she hasn't even been on campus at her new school. So we knew that was going to be difficult. And Isabella, being in her senior year –– that's a big deal to not go to school your senior year." As for Oliver, though, his mother noticed that he seemed to do better online than in-person because of a reduced commute, reduced pressure, and reduced distractions. "It could take an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening," Anna said, "and from the time they leave to the time they're back at the house, that could be three hours extra to do homework or to relax or sleep." Remote learning has also provided a chance for more reserved students like Oliver to learn in a secure

environment, separated from socially overwhelming circumstances. "Being comfortable at home, I've noticed that he opens up a lot more," Anna said. "Something about the setting –– he's speaking up a lot more than he used to. He's not intimidated by the classroom. I can hear him sometimes if he's close by, and I think, 'Is that the same Oliver?' He's so much more confident." But the Lamberts have also noticed great differences in the remote learning systems between St. Mark's and Hockaday. For instance, whereas Hockaday records each class for both remote and in-person students to watch back later, St. Mark's does not. "At least for St. Marks," Anna said, "it's been a little bit more difficult now than it was when everybody was online. It seemed like the teachers were really focused when everyone was virtual, and they really wanted to make sure it worked for everybody. But it's much harder now to focus on two sets of students, especially when one is much smaller than the other." Senior Max Palys, along with eighth grader Lucas Palys, have also opted to stay home for the foreseeable future on account of his internship at Georgetown’s Global Health Center for Science and Security before COVID-19 hit, where he analyzed both infectious diseases and how governments handle them. “The person who is my boss [Dr. Rebecca Katt] is on [Vice President Mike] Pence's Coronavirus Task Force,” Palys said. “She definitely knows what's going on, and I trust her, and she was pulling her hair out when she

realized that people were going back to school. She was like, 'This is not what we should be doing.' That was her expert opinion. As schools opened up, case numbers spiked, something Palys and many others quickly noticed. Combined with the fact that Palys’s father and stepbrother have preexisting conditions, the choice to stay home was clear. “I didn't want to contribute to the spread of an outbreak, especially when there's vulnerable members in the community, such as older teachers or Max Palys my parents,” Palys said. “We need to act in a Senior way that is safe for the whole community. Just because I necessarily might not be susceptible to the virus, that doesn't mean that the people around me are the same way.” And while Palys acknowledges the incredible efforts that faculty and staff have taken to enable a return to campus, there have been several consistent, systematic issues for virtual students that Palys urges the administration to address. “Take my econ class. Econ is very graph based, and there's a lot of times that my teacher wants to draw things on the board, but I can't see them,” Palys said. “In my math class, Mr. Milliet will constantly change the camera, because he has different cameras set up, and he'll change from the PDF to the whiteboard camera to whatever else he needs to do. And he will always wait and make sure that I'm hooked up and that I can see what the students in the classroom are seeing. But if you asked me who's in my calculus class, I could maybe tell you like three kids and

From textbooks to tablets to tripods: Creative changes across every classroom

ollowing a short transition period, students and faculty resumed oncampus classes on Sept. 8. While every classroom has seen the familiar addition of a tripod camera and daily Teams checkins, all classes have been individually affected by this format and have adapted in their own, unique ways. Sophomore Sharang Vyas decided to stay home for the first quarter of the school year, attending his Acting 1 class with Tony Vintcent Fine Arts Department Chair Marion Glorioso-Kirby through an Ipad which serves as his “body” as he practices his monologue for upcoming fall production of Spoon River Anthology. Despite being a movement-based class, Drama has had a surprising level of interaction for him. “It's much slower from my side, a lot more watching than participating in most classes,” Vyas said, “but some teachers

are doing a good job keeping us involved in everything. They've definitely done a good job on accommodating us. In Drama there's a lot of interaction in comparison to some other classes where we just watch the class go on. Mrs. Glorioso has done a really good job with including online people in pretty much everything.” Classes that rely largely on conversation and communication also struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy. Senior Max Palys, alongside three other students in English instructor Geoffery Stanbury’s AP English Literature and Composition class, struggled in his first few English discussions, as the Teams software used to host discussions was insufficient to handle multiple people speaking at once or quieter voices. “But it has improved with time in English,” Palys said, “because a few other kids in our English class and I had

a conversation with Mr. Stanbury about what we could do better. Now we have the chat bar up on the screen, and we wave when we want to speak, which is unorthodox and strange but definitely gets the job done better.” And while STEM classes are mostly lecture based, even they have been subject to changes. Founders Master Teaching Chair Doug Rummel has changed from lecturing at the front of the class with the whiteboard to leading his lessons in the back room on his tablet to account for the social distancing policies. “On top of that, all of our labs are virtual now,” Rummel said. “For the motion labs, we're using Logger Pro. And the idea is, they take out their cameras, and we just capture the motion. So basically, if you get a cell phone, you effectively can do a large number of the labs. You can pretty much gather all that

data you used to collect with the sensors.” Director of Libraries and Information Services and Upper School Choir Director Tinsley Silcox has has adapted by moving rehearsals outside. The efficacy of a choir specifically mandates, possibly more than any other pursuit, that a group of people be together in a shared space, so when COVID-19 threatened that normalcy, part of the power of that group was lost. "Singing is normal," Silcox said. "It's comforting. How many people could stand up and give a testimony to their religious faith, or stand up and talk about romantic love or loving their parents or loss? It's hard. But if you take 20 people, and you put them in a room and you have music and you express these emotions through music together, it becomes a transformative experience. It's why I've devoted my life to it. Without it, it feels incomplete. A little hollow."

that's it.” While the administration took extensive preparatory measures over the summer to train and acclimate teachers to this new environment, the sheer number of technical difficulties and struggles on a daily basis indicates that further assistance is required for teachers to adequately support virtual students. “I don't place any blame whatsoever on my teachers. It's quite the opposite,” Palys said. “I speak so highly of all of my teachers and the strides that they've taken to ensure that the remote experience is good. And I am so thankful for all of them because, frankly, I feel like they picked up the slack the administration left us. The administration did not really give, as far as I'm concerned, very many rules or guidelines for teachers to address kids who are remote outside of 'Here's a webcam, and here's a mic. Have fun,'”

John Ashton Associate Headmaster

David Dini Headmaster

We heard your questions regarding the new mixed-learning system on campus — from tech difficulties to lunchroom shenanigans — and let Headmaster David Dini and Associate Headmaster John Ashton respond to each of them directly.

Inconsistency in changes “The most consistent thing that you’ve heard is the filter through which we are making the decision, which is [that we want] the safest environment we can create for you guys, all faculty and staff, every adult and our kitchen colleagues, on campus. Everything we think through goes through that filter: ‘Is that an essential thing to do, or is that a risk worth taking?’ We keep looking at every week and every day for how we can maximize the programs in ways that we have not yet been able to realize fully and fold those things back in [the curriculum].”

Limitations of online learning “I can understand that at times it [virtual learning] is probably frustrating and less satisfying experience than if you were on campus. To suggest that everybody is going to be thrilled and happy with all the scenarios is unrealistic. And believe me, we spent pretty much every waking hour all summer trying to prepare for every possible scenario. But that was one of the things we were clear about from the very beginning [and was] why we asked every family to contact the division head where we very explicitly laid out what those expectations would be. Yes, we want to satisfy every experience to the greatest extent possible, but there are also limits, and what might work in one setting is going to be different in another.”

Maintaining social distancing “We’re learning new things about the virus on a weekly basis, not because our best minds in the world aren’t thinking about this enough. but it speaks to complexities of this new virus. There will always be an element of chase with ways to mitigate it while we’re still learning about it. But human nature is human nature. There’s not a single system yet to be communicated or described or created yet that will solve it. We’re unconsciously drawn to each other. So it’s a constant reminder, both from us to you and from you to us, always saying, ‘Hey guys, remember let’s spread out again.” That’s gonna be something we’ll just always have to do.

Health and safety concerns “We went to significant lengths, in some cases beyond national standards, so that we felt like anything we could possibly do, we were going to explore doing. At the same time, we wanted to be mindful of the social and emotional impact, and so from our very first faculty meetings, we had Dr. Gabby and Nurse Julie side by side in every one of those sessions. We also have a Medical Advisory Committee, which has everything from neurologists to internal medicine [doctors] to pediatricians to psychiatrists and even the head epidemiologist for Dallas County Health Department. So we’re constantly seeking that feedback and guidance, and our goal has been to try to filter down the risk profile the best we could.”

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

Your questions, their answers

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Perspectives

can spell disaster. “But when you look at it, the standards they came up with to mitigate risk that is like the Honor Code,” Rummel said. “If you feel like the Honor Code is a core principle of the institution that if people don't obey our code, if there is blatant, out in the open cheating, it starts to corrode that institutional value and then over time people no longer feel like it has a ring to it. It undermines what we stand for. My fear about a lot of things going on here this fall is not so much about the fact that we're going to change our safety protocols, but there's going to be more of that social corrosion. Two guys out of 100 breaking the rules, it'll make a difference in the health of the community.” Despite his wife Kerrin’s autoimmune condition which makes her especially at risk to COVID-19, Rummel has returned to campus to resume teaching in-person. To minimize any possible safety concerns, they have decided to split their house in two as a safety precaution for the While having to teach students that are remote was already tricky enough, foreseeable future. some teachers who have chosen to stay home out of safety concerns have “She'll cook me dinners, and I make my own lunches and breakfasts,” needed to respond to a complicated dynamic after the first two weeks of Rummel said. “Got another coffee machine, almost like it's like a dorm school: a remote teacher in a class with inroom. I've got a microwave and a fridge and person students. For Victor F. White Master boxes of cereal and snacks. And we do a lot of It may seem like a pain, but what Teaching Chair David Brown, the procedure yelling across the house at times, but we do it comes down to is not just you, but FaceTime every night as well. And if I get sick, of his English 10 and English 12 classes keep needing to be tweaked as the year progresses. she's not going to come over to take care of me. your grandmother, or the guy you’re “After the first two weeks of the year, it's I'm on my own. It's just me. So she said, 'I'm sitting next to in history, or the gal been more difficult for me now that students not letting you be alone like that.' So we got an that’s bagging groceries, or the guy are on-campus and I am off, because we are Echo Show, the video conference one, as well.” who’s driving the buses, or even more on different footing,” Brown said. “The sound But the biggest risk to school being forced is worse, because they all have their laptops to close is faculty falling ill. If too many importantly the cleaning crew at open; there are problems with feedback; there teachers are unable to remain on campus –– night. They put themselves at risk to are lost connections that I didn't experience either out of safety concerns or because they feed their families, and I would like to tested positive –– then no one will be able to when everyone was remote. So technically it seemed more consistent when everybody was supervise classes in person. think that we’d care about that. remote.” “I'm living 15 days worth of risk Doug Rummel, Founders Master Teaching Chair Hybrid learning complicates every [compared to a student] every day at St. element of an English class in a way that doesn’t affect other academic Mark's,” Rummel said, “and for people that are over 70 it's like 40 days of areas, and in a class that includes a breadth of different methods of risk. So for me it's not that bad, but you can't have this institution if you learning –– reading and writing, discussions and conferences –– Brown have X number of faculty not coming into the classroom. I felt like we finds himself missing out on several key activities. could do this safely by keeping a parallel life with my wife for the year. “How do you manage academic integrity for students who are But you're going to have teachers go down and get sick, and when the at home?” Brown said. “Some compromises have happened, because flu comes, you've got even more people out. The mathematics show us students at home have more readily available temptations to compromise that it's going to be worse in November and December, certainly. So any their integrity.” institution that wants to stay afloat is going to have to figure out how to Because of these temptations, Brown has done away with weekly keep everybody safe, because once it starts, it's exponential.” vocabulary and reading quizzes to remove the opportunity for academic To guarantee that the school may operate safely, Rummel urges dishonesty. So until the day he can be in person again, these restrictions everyone to consider how they can improve the systems already in place to and missed opportunities will continue. further reduce any possible spread to prepare for the likely uptick in cases “I'm waiting for a vaccine, of course; I'm also waiting for medical in the following months. experts and authorities to convincingly announce that the threat is so “In a corporation, when you've got equipment on the assembly line diminished that returning to such large groups is safe, even for those and you're trying to figure out how to make the product better,” Rummel who've been at risk. There's sort of a hush-hush about things: protecting said, “you're always looking back: 'Okay, what was it that worked this people's identities, in regards to how accurate numbers are. It's a tough week? What can we improve?’ And the problem is we're on the rails now. call to make, and I'm doing the best I can to maintain my professional We're not going back and doing quality control and figuring out if we're responsibilities while protecting my family.” doing okay, and part of it is metric gathering. You got to have the data But with a vaccine not likely to arrive until the next calender year, because contract tracing has absolutely no validity if you don't know minimizing all possible spread is both the community and our country’s where anybody's sitting at lunch. That's our biggest risk. We're all six feet greatest responsibility, which brings into question whether or not we apart, but we're not always staying that way all the time.” should be on campus at all. Founders Master Teaching Chair Doug STORY Jamie Mahowald, Luke Piazza Rummel emphasizes the necessity of each and every member of the PHOTO ILLUSTRATION Jerry Zhao community adhering to these guidelines, as even the smallest difference

MIDDLE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Making the leap As middle schoolers make the journey from the fifth grade to the Upper School, teachers and administrators come together to help them along their way.

n the first day of fifth grade, brand-new middle schoolers realize they’re not in Lower School anymore. Teachers don’t walk them to classes, their grades matter moreand punishment for misbehavior means detention — not five minutes fewer of recess. But, in just four short years, these new fifth graders will have to be both mentally and behaviorally equipped to handle the rigors of an upper school known for its ability to prepare students academically — but what about ethically?

October 29, 2020

The ReMarker

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thing. In any given one, there’s a bill introduced in Middle School assembly, then class meeting, and then it’ll be talked about in advisory maybe twice. There might be [Upper School] Telos speakers who would come down and talk to present the materials.” Administrators and faculty members work together to select lessons and concepts for creating Leadership Loops and organizing the leadership curriculum. The school’s Character and Leadership Handbook plays a central Enter Middle School Character and Leadership. role in planning out the curriculum. Created to expand the range of topics that students “The scope and sequence of our learn about and to introduce important leadershipCharacter and Leadership program is related vocabulary, the program prepares students codified in our C&L Handbook, which for their high school curriculum, including the was created by the school a number of ethics-intensive English 10 course. years ago,” Clayman said. “Each year, But Middle School Character and Leadership the Middle School identifies certain wasn’t always as involved as it is now. For the last habits, skills, or concepts that we would few years, Head of Middle School Dean Clayman like to focus upon, and then we explore and Assistant Head of Middle School Jason Lange these ideas with the boys. The handbook have been evolving the program, incorporating identifies and defines core concepts and new techniques and strategies to increase the beliefs about our leadership program as emphasis on character development in the Middle well as introducing skills, structures and School. vocabulary.” Instrumental to this evolution is the work of Despite the teaching difficulties Malcolm K. and Minda Brachman Master Teaching created by COVID-19, teachers and Chair Martin Stegemoeller. An English teacher with administrators are still making sure to a PhD in philosophy, Stegemoeller incorporated teach middle schoolers key leadership ethics into his English classes — especially those concepts. One important focus for this in the English 10 course. Recently, however, he’s year is the concept of thriving. PATH TO MANHOOD The Path to Manhood statue in the quad showcases both been working on introducing more of these ideas to “This year, the focus for Middle middle schoolers. School loops is thriving,” Stegemoeller the overarching goal and the cyclical nature of the Character and Leadership program. “The idea was that English 10 is great, but said. “The boys are just education per year. it’s one class,” Stegemoeller said. “What about like, ‘Grades, grades, grades,’ and “Complementing the Leadership Loop Dean when you’re in the fifth grade? The idea is to we’re like, ‘Well, are you actually Clayman structure are individual lessons that are created by Head of keep adding to what the kids are getting so learning anything?’ Are you better humanities teachers,” Clayman said. “Typically, we Middle that, by the time they get to the tenth grade, at doing something at the end than School do three of them in a year, and they are common they’ve actually already digested a lot of you were at the beginning? Do you to each grade level. In addition, many teachers vocabulary and can hit the ground running.” actually enjoy doing what you’re discover or have a desire to create additional The core structure of the Middle School’s doing?” supporting instructional events that are also added Character and Leadership program is the to the Path to Manhood Portfolio.” Leadership Loop. Character and Leadership education in the The benefits of these programs are intended Leadership Loops Middle School encompasses much more than to transcend school life. Stegemoeller believes that 2019-2020 are taught primarily the Leadership Loops taught during meeting internalizing the concept of thriving and embracing during the students’ periods. Humanities teachers and their classes are character the leadership program in general can set a student meeting periods particularly important for teaching these subjects. education up for later life success. where the same “We see a very natural connection between all “If you have a life filled with competence, agenda topics are revisited academic departments and the work of Character relatedness and autonomy,” Stegemoeller said, • Goals & habits: Sep. 25 - 30 multiple times. and Leadership education,” Clayman said. “For “you’re likely to really enjoy your life, and you’re • Gratitude: Nov. 13 - 18 “It’s called example, humanities teachers create lessons that also going to ultimately be successful.” • Growth mindset: Jan. 8 - 13 a loop because connect concepts of character and leadership to • Conference Prep: Feb. 26 you circle back,” their curriculum.” March 2 STORY Will Spencer, Cristian Pereira Stegemoeller said. Humanities teachers in particular are asked • Timeline: April 29 - May 3 PHOTOS Patrick Flanagan “It’s not a one-time to engage in three activities related to character

Senior Klyde Warren meets with President Donald Trump by Will Spencer enior Klyde Warren met with President Donald Trump in late June at a fundraiser dinner held in Warren’s home for Trump’s campaign. The fundraiser was held at the Warren residence because of the political history of Warren’s father, Kelcy Warren. Kelcy, who donated $103,000 to Trump’s 2016 campaign and has since been supportive of his presidency. “[Kelcy] works in oil and gas,” Klyde said. “He owns a company called Energy Transfer Partners.” Klyde was amazed at the security precautions made to prepare for Trump’s arrival. “We had dinner on an outside patio that had been converted into a tent,” Klyde said. “There were Secret Service surrounding the area for a week prior to the event, and we were told that our phones would be monitored and to keep the information private. There were dogs walking down the street, sniffing underneath cars and searching for bombs. There were armored cars outside of our house, and the President came through in a bulletproof limousine. I was unable to tell even my closest friends and

EATING OUT Senior Klyde Warren chats with United States President Donald Trump at Warren’s home. The family has close connections with the President.

family members until after it had taken place. It was pretty nerveracking.” To reduce the likelihood of the President contracting COVID-19, the attendants of the event, including Klyde and his family, were required to take tests for the virus beforehand. By Oct. 2 — more than three months after the event — Trump would be infected with the virus. “The one thing that was on my mind was whether or not I would be able to pass the COVID-19 test,” Klyde said. “They had my dad and

I lined up in our kitchen. We both got swabbed, and we were informed that if either of us tested positive, the whole dinner would be called off, and the President would have to fly back to DC.” Along with the other attendants of the fundraiser, Klyde got a chance to personally speak with Trump. “I remember just standing next to the President, and he eventually addressed me,” Klyde said. “He was super kind to me and made me feel really welcome. He started engaging me in conversation. He asked me

where I went to school and what I’d like to do in the future. It was a pretty surreal experience to talk to one of the most influential people in the world.” Upon arrival, the attendants of the event — including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson — gathered on the patio. When Trump appeared, the event began. “The President arrived about an hour after we’d already congregated,” Klyde said. “He was escorted by Secret Service to the photo area, and people lined up and took photos with him. After the photos, we were escorted to the dinner table. He gave a speech and then sat down for dinner.” After arriving, Trump spoke with the attendants individually. Then, he addressed the attendants and gave a speech before sitting down for dinner. Klyde observed that the President was behaving differently than his impression of him from the news. “His speech definitely had a lot of humor to it,” Klyde said. “He was really engaging with the audience, and I think that, since he was able to have the cameras off, he was able to really unleash his true character and personality.”

Drama

arion Glorioso is going to be an actress. After college, she’ll do some drama work to qualify for an actor’s union, then she’s going onto the big stage. This was her vision 16 years ago when she graduated from college. In those 16 years, she’s done one thing: teach. And how pivotal these 16 years of her life have been. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater, Fine Arts Department Chair Marion Glorioso joined the school as a Lower School drama instructor in 2004. Her plan was to build the “equity” necessary to later become a union actor and perform as a professional actress. “Jacque Gavin, who was the [Fine Arts] department chair, knew me because she was dear friends with my aunt,” Glorioso said. “So Jacque had seen my work and seen me run different children’s theater camps. When the Lower School drama position opened up, she contacted my aunt and asked, ‘Would Marion be interested in doing this?’ Of course, my aunt called me and said, ‘I think you should apply for this job. It’s an amazing school. It’s in Dallas. You can work at the Theater Center. You can work at Theater Three. There are all these great theaters in Dallas.’” Hoping to continue working as an actress while teaching, Glorioso applied and got the job. However, even after she had the qualifications necessary to move on with her career as a union actress, she decided to stay and teach at the school. “I was surrounded by people in the Fine Arts Department who were extremely passionate about what they were doing, and I had students that were eager and willing to do whatever it was that I asked of them,” Glorioso said. “So I asked myself the question, ‘Am I going to be any more fulfilled in my artistic endeavors? Am I going to be any happier if it’s just me out there performing and doing gig work, going from one show to the next? Or am I satisfied here at St. Mark’s?’” As a young woman at an early stage of her professional career, Glorioso needed to make some decisions regarding her future. Being a teacher at the school played a vital role in the decisions leading up to her current place in life. “There was some shift for me where I was asking ‘What is my goal now? What is my dream now?’” Glorioso said. “I think St. Mark’s helped to shape some of that. I fell in love with the St. Mark’s Lower School students, and there was just so much care that they gave to what we were doing on stage that I really started thinking about having kids and if I wanted to be a mom. I think being around some of the St. Mark’s boys helped me to see that there was that part of my life that I really wanted to explore.” Former drama instructor Rod Blaydes invited Glorioso to work on the Upper School drama productions. This transition opened up the scope of her teaching to include Upper School students as she also took on other work outside of teaching. “I made the decision around that time to

go get my master’s [degree] at [Southern Methodist University],” Glorioso said. “I started working on my master’s and BRIGHT LIGHTS Glorioso has taught in both the Lower School drama classroom directing here. In about and the Black Box Theater, ranging from students in Lower, Middle and Upper School. Through this, her role has changed to the Fine Arts Department Chair. 2015, [former drama Being the Fine Arts Department head instructor] Rod Blaydes entails a lot of new work, including overseeing decided he was going to retire, so I started all travel occuring for debate tournaments, film working solely with the Upper School and festivals and other events. teaching some Middle School classes. Then “I look at all scheduling and staffing we hired somebody to take over in the Lower for the department — how many sections of School, so I became the Upper School drama certain subjects we’re going to have, if there teacher and director.” is additional curriculum we want to add,” Glorioso said. “For example, this year as Over the course of her career, Glorioso has we went through the new daily schedule, it directed a variety of plays, each one leaving her changed the way that we offered some of our with unique memories. fine arts classes in Middle School. I oversee the “One of the first shows that I directed was development of the curriculum for any new a show called ‘The Physicist,’” Glorioso said. courses and oversee the implementation of “It was a relatively small cast of people, and I existing curriculum in current courses.” became really close to those guys during that time. There’ve been a lot of funny stories over the years – there’ve been a lot of challenging stories over the years. Every show makes a mark.” After the tornado prevented students from coming to campus last October, Glorioso had to make adjustments to her plans to be able to produce the fall play, “1776.” And then when the COVID-19 pandemic forced students off campus again in March, Glorioso was forced to call off the spring play.

I’ve got three children of my own, so I also look at all of the boys that I teach and know that they are someone’s son and to care for the boys that I teach as their mothers would care for them. Marion Glorioso, Fine Arts Department Chair

“I was devastated when it became obvious that we were not coming back on to campus last spring,” Glorioso said. “There was a group of senior boys, some of whom I’ve worked with since they were in Lower School. Theo Katsulos [’20], Will Mallick [’20], Thomas Loose [’20] and William Gonzales [’20] — these boys that I have known since they were in first grade. We were set to do this show, and when I realized it was not going to happen, having to tell them that the show is canceled — and they had already been rehearsing for several weeks — that was really hard and disappointing. I’m sad that they did not get to have that final theater experience, and I’m sad I didn’t get to have it with them.” After Gavin decided to step down from her role as the Fine Arts Department head, Glorioso took the job. “It’s a lot of work,” Glorioso said. “In a normal year, you spend a lot of evenings attending concerts and performances. The fine arts program is grades one through 12. There are 15 faculty members that produce a lot of theater, produce a lot of concerts. We produce recitals and have Evensong and things with the choir. So it’s a very big department.”

As the only female department head in the Upper School, Glorioso strives to give a strong representation of female leadership to the solely-male student body. “When you’re a female teacher at St. Mark’s, you’re the only woman in the classroom,” Glorioso said. “So there’s a great deal of responsibility that comes with that. I want to represent the kind of woman that I am, which is somebody who is creative, positive and nurturing, and I am also somebody that knows what I want and sets high expectations. Learning to do that in a way that doesn’t demand attention, but earns the respect of one’s attention, I think that is my approach.” Glorioso feels a responsibility to portray her role in a realistic fashion to the students. “I also know that as a woman on campus, I represent what a professional female in a leadership role looks like to our students,” Glorioso said. “One day, you guys will have women around you on a day-to-day basis, colleagues, bosses, wives, children, women, and I want to help you learn how to communicate in those relationships, navigate the female point of view and be sensitive to sexual inequality.” Looking ahead, Glorioso has a variety of ideas for the direction of her Department. One main goal is cross-divisional collaboration between classes in the Fine Arts Department and with other departments. “While I love the autonomy that we have within our programs,” Glorioso said, “I’m looking for opportunities for things to be crossdivisional within the Fine Arts Department as well as outside of the department. Art and science are so interrelated and so integrated. When we look at the art of filmmaking, so much of that is storytelling and artistic and the visual perspective, but it’s also all of the engineering and the science that goes into [computer-generated imagery], that goes into stop motion. I’d love to see St. Mark’s go into the 21st century of combining some of these tools that we have at our fingertips with the Makerspace or with the planetarium.” STORY Will Pechersky, Axel Icazbalceta PHOTO Owen Simon

Words from colleagues Former Lower School art instructor Alice Oltrogge: “She stepped into her job as the drama teacher as though she had been doing it for years. It was apparent that she knew her subject and was very able to make it exciting for her students. One thing that struck me immediately was how eager she was to learn teaching techniques. She applied – with great success – every tip that was given to her by her St. Mark’s colleagues.”

Former drama instructor Jacque Gavin: “Mrs. Glorioso has always been a supportive colleague, an innovative teacher, and a ‘We can do that’ kind of person. That attitude and spirit has been invaluable over the years, never more so than in the strange times we have experienced in the past year. From the tornado through COVID-19, she hasn’t lost her positive attitude or her ability to make lemonade out of lemons.”

Arnold E. Holtberg Master Teaching Chair Scott Hunt: “What has been impressive to see over the years is how Marion has gone from Lower School teacher to Upper School teacher, advisor and now, department chair. Through that, she’s gained tremendous perspective of how our department works and what all of the various programs do at each division.”

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

Joining the community with future plans of becoming a professional actress, Glorioso chose a different career path when she fell in love with teaching instead.

Culture

Teaching in the arts

Literature

The decision-making that goes into the books students read. Page 20

Language

Looking into teachers capable of teaching more than one language. Page 21

Competition Preparing for an international student competition. Page 22

In brief

LITERARY FESTIVAL The 14th Literary Festival will be held virtually Jan. 14-15 this upcoming year, the first time the studentlead and student-organized event will have ever been held online. Founded by Jake McAuley ‘08 in 2007, the Festival showcases a variety of writers, from authors to poets, who attend Marksmen English classes and a panel discussion with the entire Upper School to discuss their passion for writing and judge a writing competition. Guests for the Festival have not yet been chosen, and the contest deadline for submissions, which include poetry, fiction and nonfiction, is tomorrow. Leaders for the Festival include Victor F. White Master Teaching Chair in English David Brown, Director of the Literary Festival junior Henry Schechter, and Co-Chairs junior Alex Geng and junior Ekansh Tambe. Notable former guests include Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, bestselling author of “This Boy’s Life” and “Old School” Tobias Wolff, and Vietnam War marine veteran and author of “Matterhorn” Karl Marlantes. DEBATE TOURNAMENT Austin Dunbar and Akul Mittal, as well as Noah Cathey and Ahsan Tahirkheli, were named cochampions of the rookie division alongside another MBA team at the Marist Debate Tournament. Seven teams won at least four of their five debates and ended the first round with winning records, and five of those moved onto the elimination round. Overall, 40 students competed. The tournament took place Sept. 25-26. STUDENT BOOK Freshman Arnav Lahoti published a selfwritten fiction book entitled “Vishnu Reborn” August 16. The book is available both digitally and in paperback on Amazon.com. “Vishnu Reborn” takes place in the modern day, with the gods and villains of Hindu stories coming to life and influencing the book’s narrative. The book follows the journey of Gopal, a boy who embarks on a quest to save the world from evil after learning that the god Vishnu is residing in his body.

ENGLISH BOOKS

To read or not to read

With no district-mandated reading curriculum, English instructors select books for each class. But from Shakespeare to short stories, how are these selections made?

BOOKED Each year, the English Department conducts a thorough review of its reading curriculum. Book by book, all teachers in the department add and subtract text until they reach final decision. But in a world with myriad poems, novels and short stories among other forms of writing, what tips the scales in favor of one piece of literature over another?

October 29, 2020

Culture

The ReMarker

very August, Marksmen open up a big, cardboard box. And it’s filled. With books. In half the box, one math textbook, one history text, one foreign language workbook. An ample supply of books to get a student started in his classes. Except for English. Stacked in the other half of the box are five, seven, ten novels — more paperback than hardback — all incorporated into the English curriculum for that year. But how does that stack of novels — as Marksmen carefully pick each one out, laying them out on their beds — end up in the box? What is it about those books that make the cut? Why aren’t different books — new or old — added to the annual edition of “the box”? How does the English Department choose the books Marksmen read?

According to English Department Chair Michael Morris, there’s a number of steps to take and criteria to meet before a book is integrated into a curriculum, namely “grade-level discussion [and] department chair approval.” However, Morris says teachers in his department have “considerable liberty” in selecting novels for their individual Michael Morris classes as long as English they “augment Department core, common chair texts.” That being said, the department and teachers are open to student input. “Teachers value student feedback,” Morris said, “We want to offer texts that are meaningful and compelling. Our focus is appreciating versus just liking.” In this effort to have students appreciate their English works, Morris expects the new schedule implemented this year to afford opportunities — such as new courses featuring new books. “The new schedule reduces the

number of class meetings and thus the number of possible reading assignments,” Morris said, “but we compensate in class. Senior semester courses will introduce many new texts.” As for earlier courses in a Marksman’s studies, Morris says books are tailored to age groups and course objectives, but the department has specific goals with the origins of its texts. “We tend to focus on Western literature,” Morris said, “but we do look to other cultures for diversity. [The department leans] toward classics, but there’s a strong interest in multicultural, diverse texts — at least one required for each grade level — nonfiction and contemporary work.” Former English teacher Curtis Smith, who retired in May 2020, has fond memories of novels he taught during his time at the school, particularly the “diverse texts” Morris has mandated across the department. Smith remembers a course early in his career featuring novels all over the world, including the Caribbean, Egypt and Afghanistan. “They were all with the attempt to have a strong sense of place and a strong sense of what it means to live in a different culture,” Smith said. “The literature books came from all over in this particular class. I thoroughly enjoyed things like that.” However, in his latter years, Smith says he found himself teaching novels from an exclusive selection of locations. “If you put a map in front of you,” Smith said, “and I gave you some pins — little pushpins — and I asked you to put where your stories have been from, they’re either going to be North American or European. Those pins I’ve theoretically asked you to put are mainly in just one quadrant of the world, the northwest. So if you call yourself an educated man, it’s hard to say that if you haven’t read some histories and literature from other places.” Although Smith acknowledges the

importance of American and English writers, he says there was more emphasis on international texts earlier in his tenure. “You can’t ignore American writers or English writers,” he said, “but it’s a question of what to include. There was a real push for [the multicultural idea] in the 90s, but it came and went.” To remain with our heads in the sand, just reading traditional works, is not going to lead us to a better place of understanding for more people. Curtis Smith, former English teacher

This multicultural idea Smith alluded to transcends the inclusion of international texts, though. Smith says there can be more diversity within American and English novels as well. “How do you not read Shakespeare?” asked Smith. “How do you not read Faulkner? How do you not read Steinbeck? But the argument being made more often is that there are more contributors to the American culture besides white males. Women are coming to the forefront. Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans. There are plenty, especially now.” Summer protests on his mind, Smith said Americans — not just Marksmen — should look to books as a way to unify. Through a more diverse palette of texts, Smith believes people will better understand each other, improving themselves and the world. “It’s not just a St. Mark’s problem,” Smith said. “It’s an American problem. We need to read more about the contributions of other people. This summer in particular, with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, we have to understand our divided nation. We have to reach out and tamp down our fear. One way is to choose the right books.” STORY Siddhartha Sinha, Eric Yoo PHOTO Evan Lai

Favorites

We caught up with some English teachers, asking them what their favorite pieces to teach are. From novels to plays to essays, here’s what they said. Trustee Master Teaching Chair in Humanities Lynne Schwartz Crime and Punishment “It’s a Russian novel, and not many students have read Russian writing. It is a great opportunity to introduce students to one of the great writers that they haven’t gotten to know before. The book generates great discussion and deep thinking in the classroom.” English teacher Geoffrey Stanbury A Midsummer Night’s Dream “I love teaching this because of the endless depths to which you can plumb each play for jokes, meaning and the depth of character. I also love doing the performance based reading, getting my students up on their feet and figuring out how scenes should look when staged.” Malcom K. and Minda Brachman Master Teaching Chair Martin Stegemoeller “Compensation” “[Emerson’s essay] meant a lot to me because it taught me that I have one life to create something worthy of my existence. My life will be meaningful if I do the caring, skillful, creative work, but it won’t be meaningful if I don’t.”

Senior, sophomore team up and earn two selections in national high school film festival by Myles Lowenberg enior Sarbik Saha and sophomore Sal Hussain collaborated on “Paradise” and “My Greatest Critic,” both of which received selections for the 2020 All-American High School Film Festival. “Paradise” features the imagination of a boy trying to escape, and “My Greatest Critic” is about an intimidating piano concert with a twist. Saha wrote the screenplays, while Hussain did the camerawork and editing. “Sal was in our film class last year, and I wrote a couple screenplays and wanted him to shoot them,” Saha said. “I would work with how

the actors wanted to act in terms of emotional appeal and relating it to the story, while Sal focused on where they were placed.” Saha knew there was potential in his work with Hussain when he made “My Greatest Critic.” “After ‘Paradise,’ I was not satisfied,” Saha said. “Sal and I both agreed that we could do a lot better, so when I was writing the screenplay for the next one, I knew this had to be a really good story, especially with what Sal could do with his camera.” To film the piano concert, the pivotal scene in “My Greatest Critic,” during the current pandemic, Saha and Hussain went to a recital hall.

But the most challenging location to set up may have been a house where much of the film took place. “We went to this empty house, and there was no furniture or anything,” Saha said. “I brought all my furniture, and you could see it turn into an actual set.” The process of editing the films was key for Hussain. “I’d say [my most memorable experience was] sitting down and editing and watching it all come together because when you’re on set, you have this idea, but you realize when you’re editing, things change really quickly,” Hussain said. “It’s about adapting and sacrificing for

what could be.” Each film presented its own challenges when he made them. “Every film has its own unique process,” Hussain said. “The hardest part is understanding the story and figuring out how I’m going to get this point across.” Overall, Hussain thought the films were fine, but he is now looking towards the future. “[The films] could have been better,” Hussain said. “That’s part of the process, it’s only my second short film. Hopefully I can only go up from there. I try to always hold myself to a reachable, but higher standard, so I’m not complacent.”

LANGUAGES

Global speakers

Having learned and taught two distince foreign languages, Latin instructor David Cox talks about his experience with Latin and Greek, and Chinese instructor Grace Anderson about her experience with Chinese and Spanish. Axel Icazbalceta: Where did you learn Spanish and Chinese? Grace Anderson: I learned Spanish in secondary school when I was an eighth grader, and I just continued to learn throughout high school and in college. Chinese was a little more weird because my parents spoke Chinese to me and I spoke it as a toddler, but once I started attending school, I spoke English to them. Even though they sent me to Chinese school on Saturdays, I didn’t really learn much Chinese then. I was interested in learning in high school but my school didn’t offer Chinese classes, so I really started learning in college and just continued to learn Chinese from there. I actually majored in both Spanish and Chinese.

Since December 2018, junior Owen Simon has dedicated himself to photography both on and off campus. Simon created his account — @owensimonphoto – where he posts the favorite photos he has taken. Here are his favorites.

Jamie Mahowald: Where did you first learn Latin and Greek? David Cox: Actually, I began learning French first, in fourth grade. I began learning Latin in high school in ninth grade, and I had a really great high school teacher who passed away just recently. She was a big influence on the trajectory of my life. In college, I was thinking I’d be an engineer, but it only took me one calculus course to realize this wasn’t what I wanted to do. In the meantime, I decided because I had liked Latin in high school, I took a course my freshman year and they welcomed me with open arms. I didn’t have to take Greek, but I ended up going for an honors major in Classics, and that did require taking Greek. JM: How is your approach to teaching Latin different from teaching Greek? DC: Greek, like Latin, has declensions and conjugations, but instead of four principal parts,

One of my favorite posts was a set of photos that I took the day after the tornado. One of the most heart wrenching photos in the set was on the tennis court. You can see Hicks Gym destroyed, and posing for the photo is Tristan Doan. Not only is he holding a volleyball, but he is also wearing his SPC volleyball championship shirt. It was both ironic and painful to see, because he was wearing a championship shirt while standing on top of all these tattered SPC banners. This photo wasn’t one of my best taken photos of all time in terms of composition, but it certainly means a lot to me.

JM: What places have you taught at in the past? DC: My first teaching gig was at Philips Andover just north of Boston, but that was just an internship – more like indentured servitude because I was paid almost nothing. David Cox The payment is that I got Latin the honor of teaching instructor at Andover, and then I taught for six years at a school called Middlesex in Concord, Massachusetts. Both of these are boarding schools, so there’s a fundamental difference. You’re living with the students. You can develop a closer relationship with the students, but at the same time, it can also be kind of smothering. JM: How has the way you’ve taught Greek and Latin changed over time through these schools? DC: In both Latin and Greek, it’s hard to find good textbooks. I’ve learned how to compensate for the bad points by developing my own material that supplements what the textbook lacks. I also built up a pretty broad knowledge of both the Greeks and above all, the Romans. My philosophy about teaching is that the teacher has to try to be the best student in the class, to model the joy of learning – which I still very much believe in – and also to stay on top of current scholarship. STORY Axel Icazbalceta, Jamie Mahowald GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

Another meaningful photo I posted was something I took at the BLM protest. My experience going down there was really powerful and there was such a vibrant atmosphere. This picture was taken at a time during a moment of silence. This one woman was riding her bike and she had a mask on. She was wearing sunglasses and the rainbow jumpsuit. This created a really cool picture. Also, she was still standing while everyone else was on the ground. This was a fully candid shot and I think it created a really powerful image. You can see the Main St. sign, which is a cool aspect of the image that shows that the picture was taken in the heart of downtown Dallas.

This photo was really cool and I was able to use a lot of editing skills. For example, I edited a frame around my brother Jonah, who is posing. Also, I added a paint stripe over his face which was a really cool aspect of the photo. Currently, I am writing a piece about this picture to submit to a New York Times competition. I am paralleling the stripe on his face to the anonymity of people wearing a mask because it is hard to tell who the person is in a mask so I think it is a fitting photo for modern times. The photo was also partly inspired by the cover of the movie Parasite, where the man has a black bar over his eyes. In general, this is just a super unique photo and I like it a lot.

21 The ReMarker

INTERVIEW Shreyan Daulat

AI: So you’ve taught both Spanish and Chinese in the past, but you only teach Chinese at the school. Is there any reason why? Any plans to teach both in the future? GA: This was what the position was and where the need is. I knew when we transitioned to this new school that we needed a full-time Chinese teacher to come on. It just depends on the needs of the Spanish department or the Chinese department. We’ll just see what will happen.

verbs have as many as seven. There’s a lot of repetition. As the Romans said, repetitio est mater scienti – repetition is the mother of knowledge. They learn by just repeating, and if you can inject some fun and energy into that, that helps. But my individual approach is really not very different. I think it would be if I were teaching French, simply because it’s a spoken language.

Culture

AI: What are some differences and similarities in how you teach the two languages?

GA: The way I think about it, Chinese pinyin is similar to Spanish. In terms of reading and writing, Spanish and pinyin are similar, but Chinese has another layer of characters. Chinese typically just takes longer to teach because of its very unique writing system. My focus for students is ‘Are you able to communicate?’ so I’m not too concerned if the grammar is incorrect as long as I can still understand them, and with time, I know they will be able to communicate better and more accurately.

October 29, 2020

AI: Spanish and Chinese come from completely different language branches and are so different in many ways, but have you discovered any similarities as you studied the two languages? GA: The really cool thing about knowing other languages is that you can see similarities despite them being so different. My first year of teaching, Grace Anderson I was telling my Spanish Chinese immersion student the instructor difference between the two words “to know” – knowing a person versus knowing information. In Spanish, that’s ‘él conoce’ for ‘he knows a person’ versus ‘él sabe’ for ‘he knows information’. I was trying to explain that in Chinese, we have the same thing – ‘他认识’ for ‘he knows someone’ versus ‘他知道’ for ‘he knows something in his head’. But in English, we just have that one word: ‘knows’ . It’s just really cool when I learn different languages and I can make those connections that otherwise wouldn’t come.

WORLDWIDE According to Ethnologue, there are nearly 538 million Spanish speakers and over 1.1 billion Mandarin speakers in the world. 21 countries have Spanish as their official language, while only 3 recognize Mandarin as an official language. On the other hand, no country lists Latin as an official language, and modern Greek is distinct from the ancient Greek taught at the school.

Bridging the gap Freshman Warner Hartnett worked hard to rise above 146 contestants in the annual Chinese Bridge Competition.

October 29, 2020

Culture

The ReMarker

he binder sits on Chinese instructor Janet Lin’s desk. It’s thick — the spine is five inches, and the edges open even wider than that. In it are over a thousand sheets of paper, each covered with Chinese words or phrases. But the binder represents just one of the three challenges — Chinese language proficiency, Chinese cultural knowledge and a talent show with Chinese elements — freshman Warner Harnett has to face in the worldwide Chinese Bridge competition. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, that competition has changed significantly. “Before, we’d have the test, we’d have the speech, and the performance,” Harnett said. “Everything would be in-person and on a stage in front of the judges. And then along with the judges there’d be the audience, but obviously we can’t do that right now. Instead, we’re using the Chinese Bridge club app to submit everything. It’s all online.” That will prove especially difficult in the final part of the competition, where contestants are expected to travel virtually across China, putting their Chinese to practice by interacting with middle and high-school students. Even Lin, who’s had experience guiding previous students through the process, is encountering new challenges. “The coordination between our school and the China-based committee and judges is a lot of work,” Lin said. “With the difference in time zones, I will usually receive over a dozen emails overnight, and then I’ll have to communicate those to Warner in the morning.” Hartnett is confident that he’ll be able to stay on top of things and give it his all. “I pretty much know what’s what’s going on at the competition since I’ve been doing this for a couple years,” Hartnett said. “Because COVID messed up a lot of stuff, they only gave us about two weeks to prepare for this competition, which was not great.” There’s a lot of work ahead. The

100 contestants have been narrowed to 30, with Hartnett being in that select group. Next, it will be narrowed to 15. After that there’s a semi-final and final round. To be in the top 15, Harnett has had to make a lot of progress. “I have submitted the performance, which for me is Chinese drumming, and the speech already, and I’ve just finished the test,” Hartnett said. “Now, all that’s left is an actual performance on Zoom where I perform a speech.” For Harnett, the competition is just one more step in a passion for Chinese that he developed in Middle School. “It all began when I started taking Chinese,” Hartnett said. “My first Chinese lesson was in fifth grade with Chiang Laoshi, and I was pretty interested by it. I wanted to be that one kid who could speak perfect Chinese, so my middle school Chinese teacher told me about the competition.” Hartnett’s first time wasn’t easy. “For my first competition, I was incredibly nervous going on stage,” Hartnett said. “I did Tai Chi, and I added dubstep music to it. But it turned out to definitely be a fun experience and I ended up getting third place.” Lin feels that this experience demonstrates some of the qualities that have helped Harnett become a successful student and competitor. “He’s very positive and determined to do everything he can to win,” Lin said. “And he’s passionate about the Chinese language and culture. He’s visited China before and fell in love with the country.” Still, Harnett couldn’t help feeling out of place. “It’s mainly a college and high school competition,” Harnett said. “I was the only middle schooler in the competition at the time, so that

Headliners

From album drops to movie releases and everything in between, here’s what’s on tap in the coming weeks. Movies

Triggered

Albums

Nov 6

AC/DC, POWER UP Nov 13

The Croods: A Nov 25 New Age

BTS, BE (Deluxe Edition)

Half Brothers

Dec 4

Free Guy

Dec 11

Joan of Arc, Tim Dec 4 Melina Theo Bobby Osees, Partner Rotate

Nov 20

Dec 11

Competing Harnett performed a Tai Chi dance to dubstep music as his first perfomance. He has since moved on to playing the drums in his competitions.

was a lot of pressure.” Hartnett credits his progression and growing confidence in the language and the competition to his teachers. “Lin Laoshi as well as Chiang Laoshi helped me with everything,” Hartnett said. “They guided me through the competition in the first place.” And being a competitor didn’t stop Hartnett from meeting new people. “There were some pretty interesting people there,” Hartnett said. “I made a lot of new friends. This competition has a lot of traveling around, and you get to meet a lot of new people, so that’s pretty cool.” For Lin, those interactions

represent one of the most important aspects of the program. “This is a way for students to enjoy language beyond the classroom,” Lin said. “And Warner will make friends from different countries and hopefully they’ll still connect after the contest is over.” But the most important lessons Warner has learned aren’t about Chinese at all. “Do your best,” Hartnett said. “Don’t get intimidated. Don’t be afraid and prepare. Work hard, and then you’ll do well. I’m sure I’ll take something new away from this next competition too.” STORY Alam Aladina, Ian Dalrymple PHOTOS Courtesy Janet Lin

FOOD REVIEW

Celebrity meals sweep the nation: Travis Scott, Charli D’Amelio and more

NEW TECH

Next gen: Xbox Series X vs. PS5

After seven long years, Microsoft and Sony finally release the official successors of the Xbox One and Playstation 4. Previews Trevor Crosnoe

Releasing: Nov. 10

Price: $499/299

Verdict Which console has the edge?

and other buttons have new symbols as well. The DualSense will feature much more advanced haptic feedback than that of the Dualshock. The controller’s vibrations will be able to provide a variety of tactile sensations to the user. Lastly, the DualSense comes with a built-in microphone, so users are able to communicate online without a headset. The PS5’s main launch title is Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There is a surprising lack of launch titles for the PS5, with many PlayStation exclusives, like God of War: Ragnarok, coming in 2021. The PS5 also has a digital version, the PS5 Digital Edition, at a price of $399. The Digital Edition is almost exactly the same as the standard PS5, except it doesn’t feature a Blu-ray disc drive. Both consoles will support backwards compatibility with games bought in the PlayStation store, meaning all PS4 games will be available digitally on the PS5.

The Xbox Series X and the PS5 are quite similar, but the Xbox does have an advantage in terms of computing power. Xbox’s more advanced CPU and GPU will allow the Series X to achieve 4K resolution at 120 fps more frequently than the PS5. While these stats may seem irrelevant, no console has ever achieved above 60 fps before, only PCs, so the fact that both of these consoles are capable is a testament to the advancement of technology at Microsoft and Sony. One thing that disappointed me about both consoles is the lack of significant launch titles. Don’t get me wrong, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, and SpiderMan: Miles Morales are all highly anticipated games, but both Xbox and PlayStation dropped the ball in terms of fan favorites. Additionally, COVID-19 has caused delays in the

PS5 & PS5 Digital Edition Releasing: Nov. 12

Price: $499/399

making of games like Halo: Infinite and Cyberpunk 2077, two titles that fans were hoping would launch at the same time as the Series X and PS 5. If you’re new to video games or uncomfortable investing $500 in a gaming platform, I would strongly recommend either the Xbox Series S or the PS5 Digital Edition. Both of these consoles are virtually the same as their non-digital counterparts, and both will provide an unbelievably smooth and seamless gaming experience. However, if you’re someone who is passionate about video games or who owns a large number of physical copies, the Series X and PS5 are the better options. Remember that the Xbox Series S and PS5 Digital Edition have no disc slot, so all the physical games you own will be rendered obsolete if you purchase these consoles.

The ReMarker

The long-awaited PS5 will be released on Nov. 12 for $499. The console’s last generation, the PS4 Pro, was released in 2016. The PS5 will have an eight-core processor running at 3.5 GHz. The computing power of its GPU amounts to 10.28 teraflops. Most of the PS5’s games will run with 4K resolution at a speed of 60 frames per second, but in certain situations it could reach 8K and 120 fps. The PS5 is a vastly different machine from its predecessor. Almost all aspects of the PS4 have been reworked, including the controller. The PS4’s controller, known as the DualShock 4, has been replaced with the DualSense. The difference between these two controllers cannot be understated. The DualSense, with a price of $69.99, doesn’t look like a normal Playstation controller. It’s the first to have a two-tone color scheme, and its bigger than the DualShock series. The share button has been renamed the “Create” button,

23 Buzz

Another celebrity item, “The Charli,” was released by Dunkin Donuts Sept. 2. The drink, a cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel, is named after TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, a frequent Dunkin Donuts customer. Like the J. Balvin meal, this is not a brand-new item – it is modeled on how D’Amelio orders her cold brew. The three pumps of caramel made the beverage a little too sugary for my liking, and I found it hard to finish. Eventually, the consequences of such a sweet drink caught up to me, and I felt myself going through what felt like a sugar high. Ultimately, these meals have all been successful endeavors thanks to the promotions done on social media. McDonald’s catchy line “cactus jack sent me” is now something I commonly see when looking at social media, which shows just how popular the meal became. While J. Balvin’s meal hasn’t necessarily been as popular, it is still relatively well known. For Dunkin Donuts, there is no social media influencer who would have been better for their promotion than Charli D’Amelio. The sixteen-year-old has a following of over 90 million followers, and the number continues to climb every day. Every time she posts about “The Charli,” millions of people view it, which makes for a great promotion. After seeing the success of these celebrity meals, I would not be surprised to see more fast food chains employ a similar tactic in the near future.

Xbox Series X & Xbox Series S

is introducing Quick Resume with the Series X, which will allow users to switch between multiple games and pick up exactly where they left off. In addition, the Xbox Series X will also have Smart Delivery, meaning any games purchased on the Xbox One will be free after upgrading to the Series X. The Series X will also support all Xbox One controllers. Among the Series X’s most anticipated launch titles are Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Destiny 2: Beyond Light. The Series X won’t be the only console out on Nov. 10 though. Microsoft will also release the Xbox Series S, a smaller version of the Series X, for $299. The Series S is all digital, meaning there is no physical disc drive and games can only be purchased through the console’s Microsoft Store. The Series S will offer 1440p resolution at 120 fps, significantly less than that of the Series X but also at a much lower price.

October 29, 2020

by Rajan Joshi actus Jack sent me.” I say these four words that have been used thousands of times by customers at McDonald’s, and without having to say anything else, the lady in the drive thru added one Travis Scott meal to my order. The meal, a Quarter Pounder with cheese, lettuce and bacon, with medium fries and barbecue sauce, did not disappoint either. I’m not the biggest fan of McDonald’s burgers—I usually opt for a chicken sandwich—but I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. While a lot of the hype for this meal was in its name and promotions, the burger itself was still solid. The promotion of the Travis Scott meal was undoubtedly successful, as the meal was purchased so many times that some of the restaurants throughout the country temporarily sold out and had to scramble to resupply. Though the meal was originally planned to be available in-store for the entire month of September, the overwhelming demand forced the restaurant chain to limit the ordering of the meal to only from their app. Continuing the trend, McDonald’s released the J. Balvin meal: a big mac, medium fries, and a McFlurry. The company clearly put less thought into this deal as it is far less personalized than Travis Scott’s. After seeing the potential of celebrity collaborations, they must have rushed to launch their second combo. Even though this meal clearly lacks the amount of detail that the Travis Scott meal had, it will still likely boost earnings. When I tried this one, there were definitely no surprises, as it was just a normal Big Mac. The McFlurry and fries tasted great as usual, and the Big Mac was no different than usual.

Microsoft will release the newest generation of Xbox, the Xbox Series X, on Nov. 10 for $499. The console comes three years after the release of the previous model, the Xbox One X, which launched in 2017. The Series X’s CPU is an eight-core processor that runs at 3.8 GHz. Its GPU will have 12 teraflops of computing power, putting the Series X on the level of a high-end gaming PC. The new console will come with one terabyte of storage, matching that of the Xbox One X. However, the Series X will have a custom hard drive that will provide much shorter loading times than its predecessor. These factors will allow the Series X to support 4K resolution at 120 frames per second, and 8K at 60 fps. The Series X will feature backwards compatibility with all past Xbox games, meaning the console will support games from previous generations. Microsoft

Opinions

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

Election

Students with different political outlooks give their take on what's at stake in the presidential election. Page 25

Staying Safe The Editorial Board urges Marksmen to stay committed to safety on campus. Page 26

Pigeons

Axel Icazbalceta reflects on the trials and tribulations of owning and caring for pigeons. Page 26

short & SWEET

EDITORIAL

Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

Seventy seven years after it was first introduced in Congress, the Equal Rights Amendment, which seeks to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sex, remains in limbo. Here's why it should be the 28th Amendment.

GOOD TROUBLE A diverse coalition of women demonstrate in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Photo Creative Commons

Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

bove is the text of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). It’s remained virtually unchanged since it was written 77 years ago by lawyer and activist Alice Paul. She recognized then that while the 19th Amendment guaranteed women the ability to vote, it didn’t protect them from genderbased discrimination. Today, according to a 2016 poll by the ERA Coalition, such an amendment would be supported by 94 percent of Americans. So why hasn’t it been ratified? By 1982, the ERA was passed by the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority and ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states (including Texas). Ever since, it’s remained at a standstill, because while it’s been reintroduced in every session of Congress and three more states have since ratified it, five states have also taken the legally murky step of withdrawing their ratification, leaving the ERA’s future in question. Nevertheless, we believe these challenges can and should be overcome with bipartisan action at both the federal and state level. The ERA is worth fighting for because it exemplifies why Constitutional amendments were created in the first place: to

prevent the nation, in the words of Justice Joseph Story, from “by the pressure of its inequalities bring[ing] on a revolution.” There is, however, one common counterargument to the ERA: that it’s unnecessary, that legal precedent has already established that gender-based discrimination is illegal. But the Constitution contains no explicit language that protects people from discrimination on the basis of sex, so any precedent is vulnerable to being overruled. And that’s not just our opinion — no less than Justice Antonin Scalia has said that the Constitution “doesn’t forbid” discrimination on the basis of sex. More importantly, under current precedent racial and religious discrimination are held to a higher level of judicial review under the 14th Amendment (“strict scrutiny”) than gender discrimination (“intermediate scrutiny”). In other words, while any discrimination is incredibly difficult for the government to justify, a government policy that discriminates by gender would be easier to justify as Constitutional than one that discriminates by race or religion. It’s evident, then, that ratifying the ERA would result in more than just symbolic posturing—it would mean real legal protections for those facing discrimination on the basis of sex. And the country should do so as quickly as possible: surely there would be no better way to honor the legacy of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg than by cementing in the Constitution the protections that she fought so hard to uphold.

Our hot takes on the month's less consequential issues– in 280 characters or less. SAGE's food has been good overall, but inconsistent. The churros: fantastic. The meatloaf, not so much. And the pizza ran the gamut – we saw every shade of mozzarella from white to well-burnt brown.

Five things to know

• 38 states, just over two-thirds of the country, are needed to ratify the ERA • 35 states ratified the amendment before the original Mar. 1979 deadline • 5 states, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee and South Dakota, subsequently rescinded their ratifications. • 3 states, Nevada, Illinois and Virginia, have since ratified the amendment • A new amendment will need to be re-ratified by Congress

Political discussion should be encouraged in relevant classes. Full stop. That's especially true in the run-up to an election, because it'll make for better-informed voters and a less polarized atmosphere. This year's Senior Class is the biggest yet and that means less available parking. Right now there's enough space given a little leakage into the junior lot. But, as classes grow across the Upper School, we hope to see a more permanent solution. And remember to go vote on or before Nov. 3. For more details, head to vote.org.

GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

From the 1970s till now, you've had legislation which has outlawed discrimination against women under the 14th amendment. But that amendment wasn't designed specifically around gender. It was part of the civil rights legislation, and it's been expansively viewed to enforce some kind of equality between genders. But the right to that equality is nowhere in the Constitution, unless you're interpreting due process. – History instructor Andrea Hamilton

the profs WEIGH IN

Amendments can be expanded or contracted by courts to mean all sorts of different things. Especially now in this era, the whole issue of gender now is kind of up in the air – everybody's arguing over what gender is, whether someone can identify as a particular gender, who can participate in certain sports – throw all of that into an Equal Rights Amendment and it's thrown into a cocked hat. You've got confusion rather than clarification. – History instructor Bruce Westrate

EDITORIAL

Miscommunication between students, administrators Communication is central to the new normal created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The school has had to communicate with the community to notify students and their families about safety protocols, scheduling changes and, most recently, information about COVID-19 cases on campus. At the beginning of the school year, it was evident that the school decided to prioritize informing parents of Marksmen over students themselves. While we understand that parents are often a more reliable and consistent recipient of critical information, this should not prevent the administration from directly informing at least the Upper School student body as well. When on-campus COVID-19 testing was first made available before the start of the school year, for example, students never directly received information from the administration on whether testing would be offered, much less when and where it would occur. As a result, only 43% of

polled students knew that there was testing in the first place. Similarly, students are not directly informed when a member of the community tests positive for COVID-19. Instead, parents are notified by email, while students are relegated to either checking the inconspicuous Covid Cases Community Update page or relying on their parents or even other students. When considering the school’s emphasis on education that nurtures independent young men, over 90% of polled students agreed that students should not be kept out of the loop on this valuable information, especially given the fact that the students are the ones who are on campus and, like faculty and staff, may actually catch the virus. While we greatly appreciate the consistency with which the administration communicates with the parents in the school community, we hope that the school will extend their effort to the students as well.

POINT-COUNTERPOINT Republican? Democrat? Differing viewpoints, philosophies highlight contentious presidential campaign.

Junior Shane Sweet: "The government is the organ for change..."

The most important issues in this election are Coronavirus and our response to it, because we are still dealing with spikes in cases; economic recovery, because the economy is down really bad and many people are out of work; immigration, because that is a very negative effect on American jobs; and the Supreme Court, because there is a strong movement to erode our norms by packing the court. CARTOON Cooper Cole

I’m a moderate Democrat who is going to support Biden. I disagree with many of Trump’s decisions and dislike his conduct as president. Biden will be a welcome return to some sort of political normalcy. The election will decide the fates of both parties either resulting in a return to a more bipartisan time or a lurch further to political extremes and partisanship. This election covers a massive amount of issues including the economy and the wealth gap, COVID19, international relations, Healthcare, racial equality, abortion rights, and political extremism. We need to work to respond to COVID-19 and help Americans recover financially from the damaged economy and the growing wealth gap. We also have chaos and violence from domestic extremist groups and a police system that needs reform. And arguments over health care, abortion rights, environmental regulations, and gun control are still prevalent. The US should be more involved with foreign affairs and that we should stabilize our trade agreements with allies. I think [the Trump Presidency] will be seen as a departure from America political tradition and a huge shift for the Republican Party.

I’ve been thinking about what my response should have been. All I could manage at the time was an off-guard, “I’m just like… you know… another friend you can hang out with.” And to think my baggy-shirted, bowl-cut, first grade self made it all the way to senior year, to think I’m in a position where a first grader is asking me what a senior does is crazy. I’m still wondering how anybody let me get this far. Truthfully, I don’t know what a senior buddy — or a senior in general — is supposed to do. I was half-expecting a manual or some insert in my directory. None so far, for those of you wondering. Two months in, it’s been blue shirts, a senior year yard sign and more college essays than I could’ve ever imagined. But I think I figured out at least part of my answer. As a senior buddy, yeah, it is my job to be another friend for my little buddy to hang out with. But as an upper schooler, as a young American, as a young adult inthis world, it’s also my job to start growing up, taking action and becoming the leader I’ve been trained to be. It’s my job to be the most supportive big brother, the most fun senior buddy, the most approachable peer I can be. It’s my job to take an interest in my future — the world’s future — and immerse myself in conversation, in others’ opinions and in my own beliefs. And eventually, it’ll be my job to vote — missing this year’s date by days is a bummer by the way. Catch me at the midterms in a couple of years, though. But regardless of whether I can vote, regardless of the action I’ve taken in years past, regardless of how much I’ve actually been plugged in, the fact of the matter is that I have more power than I thought. We, the young, up-and-coming generation, have more power than we thought. It’s just a matter of putting it to use. It’s time for us to assume responsibility, take charge and be the leaders — be the change — like generations before us. And if it sounds a little early for this, sure, maybe I am jumping the gun. But it’s our future anyway. Might as well have a little input. And I know it’s easier said — or written — than done. We’re going to fail at taking the lead occasionally. That’s just part of the deal. But instead of taking your bumps and bruises and feeling rotten about them — like those disgusting apples — be a green grape. They’re better anyway.

Sid Sinha Managing Editor

25 Opinions

Other than working with other countries to fight climate change, America should largely remove itself from the global sphere and focus on its own issues. We should bring all our troops back from the Middle East ASAP.

"This election covers a massive amount of issues..."

met my little buddy for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Granted, it wasn’t exactly how I had dreamt of our first meeting, but for a 30-minute virtual faceto-face, I think we got along pretty well. He had some tough questions for me — favorite color, favorite food, you know, the real hard hitters. And like any journalist, I flipped his questions on him. From experience, there are some interviews you never forget because of how hard it was to get answers or any conversation. This was not one of them. Open book is an understatement, I’m happy to say. Right off the bat, he likes basketball — already a great guy by my calculations. He has a collection of stuffed animals — specifically “piggies” (one to sleep with and two more as backups). And he likes green grapes. Not those disgusting red ones. They get bruised and taste like rotten apples. My mom says I’m a picky eater. I don’t even know what a picky eater is. A few more tough questions. How old are you? What grade are you in? As a green grape consumer, he’ll catch on to the whole senior part of it eventually. But then he squeaked a question I didn’t have a simple answer to. A question I couldn’t flip: What exactly is a senior buddy? I had a lot of things planned for our first meeting. Getting stumped by my first grade buddy was not one of them.

October 29, 2020

My political ideology is really about putting America and its citizens first. I believe the government is the organ for change, and that the state should provide for its people via social programs like universal healthcare and social security and things of that nature. I also think that we need to protect American workers by trying to stop harmful effects to jobs, such as robots and low skill immigrants as well as awful trade deals, to protect American workers. And I believe America should do all it can to fight climate change and protect the environment.

Senior Beto Beveridge:

Be the future leaders of right now.

EDITORIAL

Upper School needs later lunch, return of flex period

ith about two months to acclimate to the new schedule under students’ belts, Marksmen have not only embraced but also enjoyed the benefits of the eight-day cycle. However, a few issues — namely an early lunch for Upper Schoolers and the current lack of a flex period — remain that we’d like to see addressed in the near future. Although removing the flex period has allowed for an earlier release from athletics, the reduction from 80 minutes to a mere 15 minutes between sixth period and athletics has significantly disrupted normal operations. In previous years, the

45-minute gap before sports allowed clubs to hold meetings, created time for athletes to seek treatment before practice and given students ample time to get their clothes and change before practices. Currently, clubs and organizations are forced to meet late in the evening or early in the morning, and athletes cannot visit teachers’ afternoon office hours. We understand there are currently concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus around campus, but the lack of flex time is hurting both academics and athletics. With classes starting 30 minutes later and lunch remaining at the same time as in previous years, Upper

Schoolers now eat lunch two and a half hours after classes begin. We acknowledge that it is impossible to shift the schedule mid-year, but shifting the lunch window from 11:10-12:55 to 11:45-1:30 would benefit students in general. We urge the administration to consider pushing back lunch in future years. The new schedule offers students more flexibility, less homework and more sleep, but as is understandable with most new things, there are a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out. We see the lack of flex time and the early lunch as two of those wrinkles and urge administrators to consider changes to both in the future.

Students must adhere to safety guidelines during sports, lunch

October 29, 2020

Opinions

The ReMarker

s we head into our third month of in-person learning, health, safety and social distancing are paramount to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Although students are following safety protocols well in the classroom, Marksmen continue taking irresponsible risks during lunchtime and sports with their lack of social distancing. Sports are now playing games with other schools, increasing the potential for close contact exposure to COVID-19-positive athletes outside our community. We understand sports’ importance to Marksmen’s physical and mental wellbeing, but we stress that sports should not jeopardize our ability to remain on campus. Maintaining six feet of distance from others during lunchtime and off campus is extremely important to mitigate

a potential outbreak, especially because the school is already taking a calculated risk with sports. However, we commend administrators for starting COVID-19 testing for Upper School sports teams and canceling Middle School sports to limit close contact between students. The administration has repeatedly reminded us, most notably in Upper School assemblies, to make sure to answer the SchoolPass questions every morning before stepping onto campus. As of Oct. 19, only 79% of students are doing so — 89% of freshmen, 82% of sophomores, 76% of juniors and 71% of seniors. Seniors must set the example for the rest of the school. Completing SchoolPass in a timely manner is especially crucial given that a whole Lions sports team will have to quarantine for two weeks if even one member of the team

tests positive. According to School Nurse Julie Doerge, thorough contact tracing for a COVID-19-positive community member can take up to five hours to complete, meaning that a person may unknowingly infect others during the delay if the appropriate information to conduct the contact tracing isn’t available in a timely manner. We stress that sports, although important to Upper School Marksmen’s wellbeing, pose a threat to safety on campus, so we encourage the school to frequently conduct testing for athletes and keep up with the latest research and health policies. We urge Marksmen to take responsibility for our community’s health and safety by maintaining appropriate social distance in all of their activities, washing their hands and wearing masks.

Troubles in the coop

think I may be the only person at the school who has a pigeon coop at his house. It wasn’t my idea to keep pigeons as pets. My dad used to have a lot of pigeons in a coop on the roof of his childhood home in Guadalajara, Mexico. He’s always loved animals, and Guadalajara was a hub for pigeon racing, so it was only natural for him to have some birds of his own. After living in apartments for my entire life, my family finally moved into our current home in Garland. Since we weren’t at the mercy of neighbors way too close for comfort or a naggy, intrusive management office, my dad could finally have as many pets as he wanted – within the limits of Garland legal code, of course. So after a year and a half in our new home, my dad brought us our first pair of pigeons. Since then, we’ve bought or bred our avian population up to over two dozen birds. They’ve had numerous homes. First they lived in our garage, in dog kennels and then tall, wooden cage structures we built from scratch. Then we built an actual pigeon coop. Our first attempt was — how do I say it? — functional. It wasn’t a great work of modern architecture, but it worked to house the birds well. Ultimately, it proved too small for the number of pigeons we were planning on having, especially after a few years of breeding. So we built

a new pigeon coop, which basically looks like a shed with mesh covering some of the walls. It now houses over two-dozen bundles of avian joy. And it looks damn nice. But it hasn’t all been fun and joy. We’ve had lots of baby birds die and only three pigeons have lived to adolescence. Two of those had a mother who was killed by a hawk when she was flying around the neighborhood. We don’t let our pigeons out to fly anymore. Then, about two months ago, one of our adult pigeons started acting weird. She wasn’t eating, she stayed in small dark crevices and she acted weirdly cagey. Then she started vomiting up a clear liquid, and my dad or I would have to massage her chest to get it all out. The same thing happened to another pigeon a few days later. We tried treating them with apple cider vinegar, a panacea for pigeon ailments. Sadly, though, both died. Then another pigeon got sick. This time, a baby. I was in the coop, feeding the pigeons and replacing their water when I noticed that one of our younger pigeons was also acting pretty cagey. A lot like the ones who died a few days before… Oh no. I immediately went to coax the bird into my hands so I could get the vomit out. Panicked, I got out of the coop, yelling at our dog to get away, and desperately tried to massage the

clear liquid out of his crop (a pigeon’s stomach) and onto the backyard grass. But I was too late. After about 15 seconds, the pigeon became rigid. He was dead. I sat there with the dead bird in my hands for three minutes. Maybe five. Then I got up and walked over to the place where I decided to bury him. I set him down, then went to get the shovel. I dug him a grave, carefully placed him in it, covered him with the dug-up dirt and marked it with a small wooden stake. The pigeon’s grave next to my house remains visible Axel to this day, and Icazbalceta I intend for it 10600/ Culture to remain that editor way. My family remains optimistic about our future with the pigeons, in spite of all the setbacks. It’s important to realize that life is never a constant trek upwards, even when doing things we love. A young pigeon dying in my hands hit me hard. But it didn’t make me stop taking care of the living ones. It didn’t make me stop helping my dad build the new pigeon coop. It didn’t make me stop enjoying the pigeons’ company. Don’t let bad experiences ruin something you love for you. A dead baby pigeon in my hands couldn’t ruin being with the rest of our birds for me.

The ReMarker student newspaper of ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS 10600 PRESTON ROAD DALLAS, TEXAS 75230 214.346.8000 Editorial Board editor in chief ROBERT POU assignments editor SAI THIRUNAGARI brand editor COOPER RIBMAN endzone editor WILLIAM ANIOL executive page editor JACK DAVIS head photographer COLLIN KATZ managing editors JAMIE MAHOWALD HENRY MCELHANEY SID SINHA opinions editor ALAM ALIDINA perspectives editor LUKE PIAZZA senior editor CRISTIAN PEREIRA

Section Editors 10600, culture AXEL ICAZBALCETA WILL PECHERSKY discoveries ETHAN BORGE deputy endzone SEMAJ MUSCO deputy focus ERIC YOO HAN ZHANG issues TOBY BARRETT AUSTIN WILLIAMS reviews specialist TREVOR CROSNOE sports LUKE NAYFA PETER ORSAK

Creative graphics director JONATHAN YIN artist COOPER COLE

Advertising business manager IAN MIZE

Writers

MORGAN CHOW, IAN DALRYMPLE, NIKHIL DATTATREYA, SHREYAN DAULAT, GRANT JACKSON, RAJAN JOSHI, ARJUN KHATTI, KESHAV KRISHNA, MYLES LOWENBERG, MATTHEW REED, WILL SPENCER, DILLON WYATT, DARREN XI

Photographers

BLAKE BROOM, ABE ECHT, PATRICK FLANAGAN, LUIS GARCIA, EVAN LAI, EVAN MCGOWAN, HAYWARD METCALF, LARS OCHS, SKY PARK, HENRY PICCAGILI, DANIEL SANCHEZ, OWEN SIMON, EKANSH TAMBE, LUKE VOORHEIS, JERRY ZHAO

Adviser

RAY WESTBROOK

Headmaster DAVID W. DINI

audience The ReMarker is intended for the students, faculty, staff and alumni community of St. Mark’s School of Texas. Press run is 4,000 copies, with more than 2,600 of those mailed out to alumni around the world, courtesy of the school’s offices of External Affairs, Development and Alumni divisions. opinions and editorials Editorials represent the viewpoints of the newspaper’s Editorial Board and are not necessarily those of the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty or staff. All personal opinion columns, bylined with the writer’s name and photo, represent the views of that writer only and not necessarily those of The ReMarker, Board of Trustees, administration, faculty or staff. online viewing www.smtexas.org/remarker. reader involvement The ReMarker encourages reader input through guest columns and story ideas. Contact the appropriate editor for suggestions. letters to the editor Letters to the editor are welcome and encouraged. They must be typed, signed and not exceed 300 words. E-mail submissions are not accepted. advertising Contact the business staff at 214.346.8145. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Inclusion of an ad does not represent an endorsement by the school’s administration, faculty, or staff or ReMarker staff members. membership The ReMarker maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, New York City, NY; National Scholastic Press Association, Minneapolis, MN; and the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Austin.

Women’s sports

Much work still remains

For years, women have made tremendous strides towards equality in the world of sports. But, today, women are still fighting for equal opportunities on the playing field and in the training room

he first professional women’s basketball game was played in 1997. The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was established in 1985. The first female NFL coach entered the league only five years ago. The list could go on, but within each sport, the story is the same: women haven’t been dealt a fair hand in establishing themselves in the male-dominated industry of sports. Women’s sports have increasingly gained recognition as athletes like soccer player Megan Rapinoe, tennis player Naomi Osaka, and track star Allyson Felix have used their platform to fight for equality within sports, male sports remain in the spotlight. Although female athletes have struggled to attain equal opportunities to succeed, women are finding themselves more and more vital within the sports world. At 10600 Preston Rd., women like Natalie Bumpas, the newly hired athletic trainer who serves as the only female member of the Athletic Department, are establishing themselves in an overall maledominated industry at an all-boys school. Bumpas was hired this fall to help fellow Athletic Trainers Matt Hjertstedt and Doc Browning. After many years of education and as a trainer, Bumpas hopes to improve the safety and wellbeing of our Natalie athletes. Bumpas Born and raised in Athletic Indianapolis, Bumpas trainer graduated from Indiana University and pursued a career in health and administration. After realizing this path wasn’t fitting for her, she returned to IU for a degree in athletic training. She used her degree to join the Athletic Department at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC for a year before attending the University of Iowa for her masters in sports administration. At Iowa, she spent two years as an athletic trainer for the baseball team. With all of this schooling under her belt, she was ready to move on to a bigger stage. “I interned for the New York Mets for a season, so I was down in Florida for six months — March through August,” Bumpas said. “Then, I got my first job in Division I athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. While I was in Omaha, I worked with volleyball, softball, swimming, baseball and a lot of different sports. We had a pretty small staff, so we all pitched in where people needed our help. Then, I was in Chicago at Northwestern [University] for seven and a half years working with their baseball team, and now I’m here.” With many years of experience and education, one would think a trainer like Bumpas would have many opportunities to work wherever she pleases. But, for many women, this is not the case. “In Division I athletics or professional athletics, you definitely don’t get the consideration that a male athletic trainer would,” Bumpas said. “A male athletic trainer can really get any job anywhere with anybody, and it’s not that way for a female. The females have to work harder, they have to prove

themselves, and it is a much tougher road for a female to get a job in this male-dominated world.” Middle School assistant cross country coach Cristina Macaraeg, like Bumpas, feels she hasn’t always received the same recognition or platform as her male colleagues. “When I was coaching varsity track in Los Angeles, it was a little more challenging to be heard, especially because I had so many other coaches working alongside me for the different events,” Macaraeg said. “It was just difficult to be recognized.” Former Middle School track coach Michele Santosuosso, who now spends her free time coaching her two young sons in football and basketball, has also experienced struggles because of her gender. “The only aspect that’s been different in both football and basketball for my kids is with the other male coaches,” Santosuosso said. “Since I was the only female coach, I would get yelled at or they wouldn’t shake my hand at the end of the game. At first I found it insulting, but now I just find it funny, especially if my team beats their team.” Bumpas feels she must act with more precaution because she’s at an all-boys school. “It’s a little bit different, but I’ve been working with all boys for many years now,” Bumpas said. “There were only four females at the [New York] Mets, and as we got further into the season, it was just me. I was the only one because everybody else left for their affiliate. It is different in the considerations that I have to have, but it shouldn’t be any different for you all.” Middle School water polo coach Janis Oprea says because she’s spent her whole life surrounded by men, coaching at an all-boys school is no different than coaching co-ed teams. “I grew up with guys, so this is just natural for me,” Oprea said. “I didn’t have any sisters, so I’ve been playing sports with guys my whole life. Women sports didn’t pick up until I was a junior in high school, so then I joined the girls teams. Us girls who were athletic had no choice but to just play pick-up games with guys our whole lives because we had no other options for sports.” Oprea, who grew up in Michigan, spent her childhood playing any and every sport, which inspired her to start coaching. Despite not having any opportunities to join girl sports teams as a kid, she found a way to stay active with her friends in the neighborhood. “We were like The Sandlot movie,” Oprea said. “We all just played sports. There were no girls sports, even in my school, so I was always running around with my three brothers and all the kids in the neighborhood playing real football, real basketball and real baseball since I could probably walk. ” For female athletes like Bumpas, Macaraeg, Oprea and Santosuosso, the pay gap battled over in the WNBA and for the Women’s National Soccer Team demonstrates a disconnect between how we value the achievements of women versus men. “It doesn’t make sense to me that there is such an imbalance there, especially with the

example of the women’s soccer team and what they have accomplished,” Macaraeg said. “It might be that their endorsement deals aren’t as big, but as far as success on the field, they’ve proven themselves more than capable of what the men have done and have achieved more. So it doesn’t make sense that their pay is so much less.” While female athletes don’t receive the same recognition and respect as male athletes, Bumpas says they put in equal amounts of work. By the “Especially if you’ve numbers ever worked at any college, there’s no difference between the women’s schedule and the men’s,” Bumpas said. % of all sports “They’re doing the same media covers amount of lifting, the same female sports amount of training, the same amount of practicing and all the same things that male athletes are doing. It’s not billion viewers during 2019 like it’s easier to be a female Women’s athlete. It’s not like it’s World Cup harder to be a male athlete. It’s a very equal playing field as far as how hard they’re % difference working.” between NBA Oprea believes although and WNBA men and women put in rookie salaries equal amounts of work Sources: Cheryl Cooky, Adelphi when it comes to sports, the University physiological advantages men have are the reason sports are so maledominated. “Men are better at sports,” Oprea said. “I was at a disadvantage playing with all the guys. They were stronger, and most of them were faster. It helped me get better, but there’s no way I am equal athletically. That’s just biology.” While Bumpas has been treated differently as a trainer in the past, she says the environment here is very supportive of her despite her gender. “When you are an experienced and strong female, sometimes that is difficult for people,” Bumpas said. “Everyone here has welcomed me with open arms, and I think they definitely have been really open to my ideas and some ways that I can improve things around here with all the experience that I’ve had.” Bumpas hopes one day male and female sports are respected equally, and female athletes are appreciated beyond their gender. “I just hope that someday there isn’t a need to do an article about women in sports,” Bumpas said. “I hope someday it’s just about sports. I know it’s been a rough road for a lot of other female athletic trainers because I’ve known female athletic trainers that have goals of working in the NFL or working in the MLB. I hope that the female teams can achieve their goals, achieve the equal pay and accomplish the goals that they want to accomplish. It’s been really inspiring to see some of the stories and see the progress that has been made.”

3.2

1.12 95

STORY Peter Orsak, Luke Nayfa PHOTOS Evan McGowan, courtesy Michele Santosuosso

The ReMarker • October 29, 2020

TAPING UP Newly hired athletic trainer Natalie Bumpas tapes Junior Henry Piccagli’s wrist before he heads out to football practice.

Sports

SOLO As the only female head football coach in her son’s flag football league, Santosuosso is out to prove herself.

Tom Adams Remembering the late history instructor and legendary coach, Tom Adams. Page 28

Rays trio

Three alums blazing a trail in professional baseball. Page 29

Best games

Looking back on the greatest sports games in school history. Page 30

In brief

CHAMP TO COACH Former national chess champion turned coach freshman Harry Wang is currently training several of his elementary and middle school students from various schools in Plano and Allen. Along with participating in loads of tournaments, Wang’s main goal is for his students to improve their chess rating, a number that determines a player’s skill. While he normally rents out a local learning center to tutor his students, Wang is forced to teach online in accordance with safety guidelines. In the future, Wang plans on giving free lessons to underprivileged kids, as well as donating the money earned from these lessons to support various causes. IVY CANCELED Due to concerns regarding COVID-19, the Ivy League announced July 8 to cancel all fall sports this year. The decision was made due to the lack of confidence that a safe environment could be maintained for all athletes. The Ivy League will, however, allow small group workouts and individual practices for these collegiate athletes. Current alumni athletes Yale football player Anthony Andrews ’20, Dartmouth football player Paxton Scott ’20, Dartmouth football player Carr Urschel ’20, University of Pennsylvania basketball player Andrew Laczkowski ’20 and Yale football player Seun Omonije ’18 will not be able to participate in their respective sports this year because of this cancellation. SCRIMMAGE Returning varsity basketball players played various scrimmages against local schools throughout this fall. Coached by former varsity basketball captain and University of Pennsylvania basketball player Andrew Laczkowski ‘20, the team beat Duncanville High School, the defending 6A state champions, 64-62. The team also beat Highland Park High School for the third year in a row 59-49, however, they took a tough loss to the two-time 5A state champions Lancaster 54-60. Taking on some of the best competition in Texas, the players are grateful to be the preseason number one ranked team in the state and the number 23rd ranked team nationally via MaxPreps last April.

IN THE DIAMOND Former head varsity baseball coach Tom Adams enjoys a teaching moment with a Lion baseball player (left) and announces his team’s starting lineup to the crowd (right) on Arthur P. Ruff field.

TOM ADAMS

Mr. St. Mark’s

The community reflects on the lasting legacy of longtime master teacher and coach Tom Adams, who passed away over the summer.

October 29, 2020

Sports

The ReMarker

r. Adams. Coach Adams. And whom some may call “Mr. St. Mark’s.” A master teacher in history who encouraged the love of learning. A legendary and almost obsessive coach who amassed 21 SPC titles –– 15 baseball and six basketball. Throughout his 47 years at 10600 Preston Rd., former head coach and history instructor Tom Adams, who passed away June 13, mentored countless students and instilled in them values of sportsmanship, determination and humility. His commitment to excellence and his genuine care for others created an unmatched lasting legacy and the story of an icon that will be told to future generations of Marksmen.

Tom Adams’ legacy Associate Athletic Director Joshua Friesen: “For coach Adams to not only be a great teacher, and to be head coach of three sports for most of his career, football, basketball, and baseball, it is just special that he is able to invest that much time and energy into our boys. You just don’t see that anymore––an academic teacher coaching three sports.” JF: “Coach Adams was incredibly intelligent, very thorough, caring, patient, and a great teacher of sports to young men. He left an impact on many of his athletes and students as a mentor and a person who encouraged the love of learning in the classroom and the love competition on the playing field.” Headmaster David Dini: “He represented the very best of St. Mark’s. A true renaissance man. Scholarathlete focused on caring for others and committed to excellence in everything he did. He was a brilliant and incredibly inspiring teacher and coach. He was warm and generous and demanding. Mr. Adams was

obsessive about academics.” B.A. Cullum ’99: “Tom Adams was a St. Mark’s icon. His impact, over decades and across generations, on those he taught continues to be immeasurable. From teaching in the classroom to coaching out on the baseball field or basketball court, he inspired his students with passion, humor and a commitment to excellence. Tom’s impersonation of sportscaster Les Keiter at the annual homecoming pep rally remains one of my favorite St. Mark’s memories. No one would miss it. Students, faculty and staff would pack into the gym to hear Tom, as Les, describe the outlandish accomplishments of the senior football players before introducing each one. His ability to amplify our pride in St. Mark’s was unparalleled.” Former third grade instructor Frank Jordan: “I talked to him several times the week before he passed away. His health had really gone downhill, and it got to the point where I would read him sports stories because he was such a sports fanatic.”

Tom Adams stories Richard Rohan ’78: “I recall the many 2-on-2 basketball games played against Mr. Adams in an otherwise empty Morris Spencer gymnasium, and typically in the evenings, weekends or late afternoons. Our special rules were designed to keep the gentle giant from backing too close into the lane. And the games got quite heated. But they were always a blast, and indelibly etched into my memory. I was most flattered when Mr. Adams asked me to go out for varsity basketball before my senior year, even though the request was qualified with the admonition that it would primarily be for practice purposes, as opposed to game-time

minutes… One-of-a-kind is an apt description [for Adams].” DD: “When Davis Hall was still here, he and I shared a wall between our offices. We had a vent that came into both of our offices, so I could hear everything that he said. He had a photographic memory. He was the world record holder for the fastest talking human. He came here right out of Princeton.” FJ: “The last time he came in my room, he thought his favorite team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, would beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, and he told my class that if Ohio State won, he’d be back, but if Iowa won, they’d never hear from him again. Iowa ended up beating Ohio State and he never came back in the class.” JF: “Coach Adams had these old Nike Shark shoes. He hadn’t bought a new pair of shoes for 20 years. These shoes had seen way better days. He would break a shoelace occasionally, and he would take his shoe off, and throw it to me and say ‘tie the laces together for me.’ He would keep pitching with one shoe on until I could get that shoelace re-tied, and then he would just keep going. He never missed a beat.” FJ: “He would come in my room during class and talk about how great his favorite teams were, and I would always introduce him [to my students] and say how legendary of a teacher he was at St. Mark’s.” JF: “Coach Adams worked at St. Mark’s for so long and started at a young age. I myself started here at age 22. I would often talk to Coach Adams about being a lifer, a guy who starts at a place and potentially finishes there. Coach Adams would always mentor me and told me that if you are in a place where you are happy and a good fit, stick with it.” STORY William Aniol, Shreyan Daulat PHOTOS Courtesy Development Office

Senior Knobel Hunt commits to the SMU Men’s Soccer program by William Aniol, Dillon Wyatt enior Knobel Hunt has committed to play Division I collegiate soccer at Southern Methodist University (SMU), continuing the legacy his father, Clark Hunt ’83, who left there 33 years prior. Although Knobel was unable to officially visit SMU owing to COVID-19 restrictions, various factors––including the school’s proximity to home and close family ties––led to his decision to go ahead and commit to the program. “[My official visit] would’ve taken place over this summer,” Knobel said. “I was hoping to get it in at the end of September, but the NCAA extended the cancellation all the way until Jan. 1. Because I had been on campus for the SMU ID camp, it is so close [to home], I have been to football games, my Dad went there and my sisters are there right now, I felt comfortable enough that I wasn’t making a leap to go ahead and make my commitment.” Although Clark enjoyed a decorated career with the SMU Men’s

Soccer program, having been a senior captain and two-time Academic AllAmerican, Knobel is more focused on cementing his spot on the team and making a name for himself, regardless of his father’s accomplishments. “Playing college soccer has been a dream of mine since I have been a little kid,” Knobel said. “Even though I am following in [Clark’s] footsteps at SMU, which I know he is extremely proud of me for and honored that I can honor him in that way, I’m also here to make my own legacy and work hard. Nothing in this life is given to you. His time on the team is not going to award me any playing time, and I’m prepared to go in and work my hardest to have a playing spot on the team.” Clark preached to Knobel the importance of having an open mind throughout the recruiting process, even if Knobel knew all along that SMU was the university he wanted to attend. “I encouraged Knobel to look at a variety of universities across the

country, so he would have a broad understanding of the academic offerings, campus environments and soccer programs that might be available to him,” Clark said. “I also suggested that he start the process early, which proved to be very beneficial, as the pandemic significantly restricted the recruiting

PONY UP Senior Knobel Hunt is taking his talents to nearby SMU. The Mustangs finished the 2019 season 18-2-1 and ranked third in the country.

process and campus visits over the last eight months.” While Clark and his wife, Tavia, did not pressure Knobel into committing to Clark’s alma mater, the two are excited to see Knobel play collegiate soccer nearby. “Knobel earned this opportunity through perseverance and hard work, and he understands that success at the collegiate level will require him to continue to work hard,” Clark said. “I believe he has a very high ceiling as a player, and we are so proud to see him charting his own path.” Knobel understands that while he’s now committed, he cannot afford to slack off over the coming months prior to his arrival at SMU. “I think every day I step on the field is an opportunity for me to demonstrate to everyone else why I deserve the roster spot I’m committing to at SMU,” Knobel said. “The mindset becomes that this is the next step in my soccer journey, and I’m here to prove to everyone why I deserve to play at the next level.”

JOINING FORCES Three alums, Matthew Silverman ‘94, Barry Newell ‘05 and Brian Auld ‘94 (right) stand inside the Tampa Bay Rays’ indoor stadium after all coming together within the Rays’ front office in 2017. BREAKING TACKLES Barry Newell ‘05 (below) escapes the opposing tackle to run for the first down. After his time as a Lion, Newell played football at Princeton University.

Editor’s note: The original story was written prior to the Tampa Bay Rays advancing to the World Series. As of Oct. 25, the Rays trail the LA Dodgers 2-3 in the series.

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Upcoming GAMES

Cowboys,” Newell said. “People have now started to run sports organizations like large corporations. They started thinking about numbers, analytics and culture, things that the big companies have always thought about. When Matt, Brian, Stu and Andrew [Cader] were with the Rays, they were at the forefront of that and thinking about doing things differently than a lot of people did before.” While Silverman and Auld have been with the franchise for over a decade, a younger Marksmen, Newell, joined the team three years ago. “After my freshman year in college, I worked in the development office filing papers, so I got to know [Headmaster] David Dini really well up on the second floor of Nearburg,” Newell said. “I was looking to get into sports,’ and he asked if I’d reached out to all these Marksmen. He said, ‘There are these two really smart guys at the Rays. I don’t know them very well, but you should reach out to them.’” Newell, alongside both Silverman and Auld, had a successful athletic career himself, playing football, basketball and baseball on campus, which inspired him to pursue a career in sports. Of his many achievements, he won three SPC championships, two in football and one in basketball. Not only was he a member of these historic squads, but he was also the football team MVP and went on to play at Princeton University. “I was a three-sport athlete my entire time at St. Mark’s and was able to play [football] in college,” Newell said. “I did investment banking for a while, and I was just like, ‘I’m not enjoying this.’ I had a friend sit me down at one point who said, ‘Why are you doing a job you hate? Why don’t you go work in sports?’ I was like, ‘That’s a pipe dream. Nobody actually gets to work into sports.’ They told me to look into it, so I went back to business school, and now I’m here.” For Newell, 10600 Preston Rd. was vital in making connections and setting himself up for success. “I tell people in no uncertain terms that going to St. Mark’s was the biggest pivot point and biggest benefit that I’ve ever had,” Newell said. “I went to a really good college, a really good business school and had some really good experiences after, but I think getting that trajectory and having the people here that care about you so much is unmatched.” Silverman hopes in this time of uncertainty baseball can bring us all together.

Football Oct. 30 vs. ESD (no spectators; stream available) Nov. 6 @ Greenhill (two parents allowed per athlete) Home games will be streamed at: https://events.locallive.tv/school/st-marks-tx Volleyball Nov. 3 vs. FWCD (no spectators; stream available) Nov. 5 vs. Greenhill (no spectators; stream available) Games are streamed on the St. Mark’s Athletics Youtube Page Cross country Oct. 31 @ Athletic Performance Ranch Nov. 7 @ Athletic Performance Ranch

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamt about working in sports,” Silverman said. “I love how sports can bring together a community. There’s a bond and connection that unites fans. It’s one of the few things that cuts across the divisions we see in today’s society.” After placing first in the American League, Auld, Silverman, Newell and the Rays hope to pull together a deep playoff run. “We all want to win a World Series. I mean it’s half the reason you get into this,” Auld said. “I always remind everyone every staff meeting that it can’t just be about wins and losses. We’ve got to do a lot of great work in the community, or what’s the point of any of this. But when you win the World Series, and your players show up in hospitals, it’s a lot cooler for the sick kids than when your last place team does.” STORY Peter Orsak, SeMaj Musco PHOTOS Courtesy Barry Newell, Abe Echt FOR IT ALL Inside the brand new Globe Life Field in Arlington, center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (below) and the Tampa Bay Rays take on the LA Dodgers in the World Series.

29 The ReMarker

With the Tampa Bay Rays entering the World Series, a trio of alums takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers using their unprecedented strategies in the old-fashioned world of pro sports.

Sports

All coming out of 10600 Preston Road, the trio of Marksmen joined forces in the MLB with the Tampa Bay Rays. Spearheading this squad is Silverman ‘94, president of Baseball Operations, and Auld ‘95, team president. Teaming up with them is VP of Business Operations and Analytics Barry Newell ‘05 who joined the team in 2017. Although at the time Silverman and Auld were still getting their feet wet in the business world, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, also known as Stu, had the confidence to give them control over the franchise. “Our owner, Stu, was happy to turn the team over to, at the time, a couple of 27, 28-year-old kids who had zero experience, watch us lose 100 games two years in a row and trust us when we said we were about to turn the corner here,” Auld said. “Most people lose their jobs before that even happens.” Not only did Sternberg feel confident enough to hand over the keys to the franchise, but he allowed them to be creative By the pioneers in the game of baseball. numbers “Stu appreciated us in a way that gave us the confidence to try a bunch of stuff that other general managers would never even think Rays’ seed in about doing. So when we started the AL pitching with our relief pitchers to start the game in what is now called the ‘Opener’ strategy, everybody thought it was insane.” Last Rays’ As pioneers of an oldWorld Series fashioned industry, the Tampa Bay appearance Rays are the only team with two presidents, Silverman and Auld. “When Brian was coming Pitchers to out of business school, a lot of record a save sports teams were run like small this season family businesses like the [Dallas]

Pioneers of baseball

October 29, 2020

oming out of high school, Matthew Silverman and Brian Auld had no idea what was in store for them. After years of walking through these very halls, the two were ready to move on to bigger things. They went to college, went to business school, but just like anybody else, they could have never predicted what was soon to come. While working at Goldman Sachs with his bud Stu, Matt was offered an opportunity to run an entire Major League Baseball franchise with no real experience. Although this was daunting at the time, Matt knew exactly who to call: his good pal from high school, Brian. He knew if he was going to take on this challenge, there was no one better to accompany him than a fellow Marksman. Now, as they finish up their 15th year working together, Brian and Matt have the opportunity to return to the World Series and bring home their very first title.

ALUMS MAKING STRIDES

BIG STAGE Inside of American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars, the 2019 Lions basketball team takes on nationally ranked Prolific Prep in front of a crowd of Marksmen.

CHAMPS While hoisting their state championship trophy, the 2013 Lions’ lacrosse team celebrates their 8-7 win over the ESD Eagles.

LOOKING BACK

Witnessing history

With many sports in question this year, we reminisce on some of the best games in school history. 1997 Wind propels Lions to victory n Frank Jordan’s 51 years at 10600 Preston Rd, the 1997 SPC football championship stood out as the single best athletic event he ever attended. In this game, the Lions squared off against arguably the best private school team in the state at that time, the Dallas Christian Chargers. “It was the year 1997. Dallas Christian had gone undefeated in the year 1996 and they were considered the number one private school football team in the state of Texas,” Jordan said. “They had three players on their team who ended up playing pro ball.” Many Lions players were nervous for this matchup, and when the game finally began, the Chargers picked up right where they left off a season ago. Losing 14-0 at the end of the half, the Lions were determined to score before heading to the locker room. “St. Mark’s didn’t get their first first down until the second quarter, but right before halftime, St. Mark’s scored to make it 14-7,” Jordan said. After this moment, the team was filled with confidence that carried over into the third and fourth quarter; the Lions came out in the second half and dominated the Chargers for the rest of the game. After trailing 14 points to begin the game, the Lions stunned the defending state champs and went on to be the only team to beat Dallas Christian in 1997.

October 29, 2020

Sports

The ReMarker

2013 State champions over rival ESD n 2013, the Texas High School Lacrosse League State Tournament consisted of four Dallas area teams as the top four teams in Texas: Jesuit, ESD, Highland Park and St. Mark’s; however, in the regular season leading up to the tournament, the Lions experienced many ups and downs. What made this season particularly unique was the vast improvement the team had as the season progressed. In the first match versus ESD, the Eagles beat the Lions at home and stormed the field moments after the final buzzer went off. This moment sparked the Lions’ grit and determination for the remainder of the season. Almost a month after that game versus ESD, the two teams rematched for a second time in the SPC championship. From the moment the game began, the

Thirty-fifth percentile by Robert Pou ’m 5’8” and 145 pounds as a senior. In the 35th percentile in height and weight for boys my age, I am small. This isn’t particularly problematic except for the fact that my favorite sport is football. I’ve been playing since middle school, but at that age everyone is small. Or at least the differences in size aren’t quite as pronounced. What I lacked in size, I made up for with speed and toughness. But, after playing my freshman year as a running back and safety, I was sick of being small, constantly outmatched and physically battered. So I quit, rationalizing it as “retiring” to soften the blow to my ego. Looking back, I made a

Lions proved to be a completely new team and crushed the Eagles 16-7. As the regular season CONFERENCE CROWN After a win over the Kinkaid School in the 2020 SPC Championship, the came to an end, Lions celebrated their first championship in seven years. the Lions were set however, Prolific Prep prevailed and came out to square off versus ESD for the third and final time in the biggest game of victorious 57-44 by the end of the game. The loss was disappointing, but Guiler believes the year, the State Championship. After going down this SPC championship winning team needed an 7-4 heading into the fourth quarter, the Lions made a experience like this to instill confidence for the late push to tie the game and force overtime. On the remainder of the season. team’s second possession of overtime, the legend of “I realized that our program had gotten to Evan Chang-Tung ‘13 was born. a place where our players had surpassed my “We were down 7-4 going into the fourth period expectations, and I knew I needed to change my and came back to tie the game at 7 and then Evan goals and expectations for the program,” Guiler said. Chang-Tung hit the game-winner in overtime to win the state championship,” Browning said. 2020 Sophomore leads Lions to victory Winning 8-7, this marked the first and only state oing into the 2020 SPC Championship champion lacrosse team in school history. tournament, the soccer team had an uphill battle to climb if they wanted to win. To make matters 2019 Guiler coaches versus top ranked team worse, Billy Lockhart ‘20, the starting goalie, was ast year, the Lions varsity basketball squad had thrown out of the semi-final game with a red card. the opportunity to go head to head against the With a veteran senior goalie ejected, all hope fourth ranked high school basketball program in the seemed lost for the Lions, but then, sophomore Stefan country, Prolific Prep Academy hailing from Napa Moren0 stepped up and made three crucial penalty Valley, CA. kick saves. Led by captains Andrew Laczkowski ‘20 and “For a little sophomore to go in and save the Harrison Ingram ‘21, the Lions were invited to game for the Lions was huge,” Milliet said. “Everyone participate in the annual Thanksgiving Hoopfest was playing so great and for him to be the goalie and hosted at the American Airlines Center, which help win the game [3-2 against the Casady School] included teams from across the nation. was awesome.” In front of several thousand fans, the Lions In the championship game, the Lions continued kept the game close and even had the lead mid-way to fight without their starting goalie and were able through the third quarter. According to head coach to get a victory in the end over Kinkaid School 3-1 Greg Guiler, Harrison Ingram was the MVP of the thanks to contributions from the whole team. entire event which featured top ranked players from “We had multiple guys come in and play across the country. amazing for us in that championship game,” Milliet “I thought he played incredible basketball,” said. “The energy everyone brought to the game was Guiler said. “Harrison was making plays off the electric and it was so great to see them win.” dribble and really put us in a position to compete going into the second half.” STORY Luke Nayfa, Rajan Joshi After making two three-point shots to start the PHOTOS VisualsbyDre, Courtesy Jan Forester third quarter, the Lions took an eight-point lead;

purely emotional decision: fearful I wouldn’t get bigger, doubtful of whether I could contribute, and upset that I hadn’t lived up to my own expectations. When the next football season rolled around, I didn’t suit up. Instead, I found myself in afterschool P.E., and each Friday night, I stood in the bleachers while my former teammates played on the turf under the lights and took part in the great tradition that is Texas high school football. When one of my good friends snagged an interception in his very first varsity game playing my position, I felt a pang of jealousy. That could’ve been me. Following every minute detail of college and NFL football, one of my greatest passions, made me

even more upset. I realized I missed the game. And since I knew college football probably wasn’t in my future, I only had two years left to play organized tackle football. So the next year, my junior year, I rejoined the team. But not because I thought my size would no longer be an issue. In fact, it still is an issue. In my mind, my size limits what I can accomplish, which is difficult for me since I am extremely competitive, but physical limitations have forced me to rely on my intellect, to study film more than anyone else, to diagnose offensive schemes faster and to react quicker than my opponents. So, while missing that year is a mistake I truly regret, only by missing it do I now know how much I value playing football.

I learned that when you may not have the obvious traits you need, you can find other ways to perform at a high level. I’ve realized Robert that excelling at Pou Editor something isn’t in the only goal. Chief Just being on the team and contributing as I can may be sufficient. So now each day out on that field I soak in every drill, every snap, every touchdown. No longer do I hold myself to a standard that’s not realistic for me. No longer do I let the 35th percentile affect me. Just being in the game is a win, and if you don’t play, you can’t win.

FOOTBALL BEGINS At the Lions’ second intersquad scrimmage, the offense and defense line up against each other in the Norma and Lamar Hunt Stadium on Oct. 23. PUTTING ON A SHOW Cheering on the Lions, the cheerleaders take the field and perform during halftime of the scrimmage.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Man down

my career. While there are steps that have been taken to minimize the number of injuries here, it is almost impossible to completely eradicate injuries in a highcontact sport like football. “There are a lot of ankle injuries, and that has a lot to do with stability,” Dilworth said. “There isn’t much we can do to build the ankles up. An ankle sprain can come just from landing in the wrong position, so it’s pretty unpreventable.”

by Arjun Khatti n anticipation for the upcoming 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, strength and conditioning coach Kevin Dilworth is preparing professional sprinters Alya Alghamdi and Amaka Oguegbunamn for their 100 meter and 200 meter events. Alghamdi, from Saudi Arabia, and Ogoegbunam, from Nigeria, originally met Dilworth through other coaches who knew him from his professional track days. Ogoegbunam competed in the 2016 Olympic Games, but Alghamdi is fairly new to international competition. Alghamdi holds the record for the fastest 60 meter sprint in Saudia Arabia, but she now has a larger focus on competing in the United States. “She [Alghamdi] had been training here in Dallas, but she never got the right fit. So when I took her on, I told her what I require as far as being an elite athlete and shooting to be the

second woman to ever compete for her country,” Dilworth said. “America has trials where 50 people will compete and only three make it. But in her country, she was already getting picked, so I had to give her the goal of aiming for [international] records in her 60 meter and 100 meter sprints.” Both athletes got in touch with Dilworth about a year ago, but Alghamdi was the first to start working out with him. In addition to preparing Alghamdi for her future competition, Dilworth focused on improving himself as well. He set a goal for himself to run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash by next year. He believes this goal has added an emphasis on the importance of training his own body while also training his athletes’ bodies. “Being an ex-athlete myself, it’s important to give her that drive,” Dilworth said. “Sometimes you just have to step in there with her, so these workouts are helping her and

helping me. When it was just us two training, I had to step in the drills and be that substitute. But now, she’s training with other athletes, which will help her out even more.” Back in March, just as Dilworth’s athletes started to acclimate with their training routine, the Olympic committee decided to postpone the event until 2021 due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19. This sudden change of plans caused a major shift in the athletes’ schedules. “It threw training off but in a good way because they had just started with me,” Dilworth said. “Sometimes you don’t get awesome results until the second year. Your body has to transition from where you came from. So, this cancellation worked out perfect for us because they got a full year of my training up under their belt, and now they know exactly what I’m looking for [heading into next summer].”

STORY Rajan Joshi, SeMaj Musco PHOTOS Evan McGowan

Making a difference Go Lions!

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Dilworth training athletes for 2021 Olympic competition

Hosler understands that one of the risks of such a high-contact sport was sustaining an injury; however, the genuine joy felt while playing as a teenager made the sport worth it in the end. “I definitely would [choose to play],” Hosler said. “I understand the risks of the game, but at the same time, you’re only a kid once. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to realize that those were the best days when I was a kid and I was able to compete for my team, so I would absolutely do it again, just for those memories.” Lissemore also maintains that the opportunities afforded to him by the sport have been well worth the risks. “I have sustained injuries during my 24 years of playing football, but would not change my choice to play,” Lissemore said. “I had the opportunity to live out my childhood dream and knew that there were risks when I stepped on the field. Football has provided so many positive things in my life and the benefits of my athletic career have far outweighed the perceived negatives.” Even after the injuries, Neuhoff believes the rewards and benefits of the sport outweigh the potential risks that randomly occur. “Where I’m at right now, I would definitely want them to play,” Neuhoff said. “I had so much fun playing it and it’s just such a good team sport. When I think about football, I don’t really think about my injuries, I think of the thrill of winning and playing with my teammates. I’d let my kids play, I’d just tell them to be cautious about where they put their head.”

Sports

From an athlete’s perspective, injuries are one of the most difficult challenges that come with playing sports. Calvin Hosler ‘18 and Colin Neuhoff ‘20 both have dealt with injuries, specifically in their time as football players. “I tore my ACL, Meniscus and MCL all at the same time,” Hosler said. “That’s everything except the PCL in the knee. On top of that, during practice, someone’s shoulder pad went through my face mask and sliced my cheek open and broke my nose. I had to get surgery for all of that. I also dislocated my shoulder freshman year, and that became a recurring injury throughout high school.” Neuhoff has also dealt with his share of injuries. “Junior year in the last game of the year, I got a knee stuck in my rib cage and I got tackled into it,” Neuhoff said. “That lacerated my spleen. It was a grade five laceration, and then I had to go to the ICU for two days and then the normal hospital for another two days. I couldn’t do any contact at all for another three months after that.” In addition to this laceration, Neuhoff has also dealt with concussions in his time on the gridiron. “Senior year Homecoming I basically got speared in the head by three people, and that knocked me unconscious,” Neuhoff said. “I didn’t move for about 30 or 40 seconds. I came back after that, but I don’t remember much even from after I regained consciousness. I had to go to the ER again,

but it turned out to not be that bad of a concussion because when you get knocked out, your brain actually is able to heal better. I was back home that night, but I definitely felt pretty woozy.”

October 29, 2020

owboys quarterback Dak Prescott won’t play for the rest of the season after suffering a right ankle compound fracture and dislocation. Just two years ago, Washington quarterback Alex Smith suffered a gruesome leg injury which many thought he wouldn’t recover from. Former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was knocked out during a football game four years ago and many believe that this hit derailed his career. Injuries like these bring up the question: How can players have fun and compete for championships while still staying safe? Strength and conditioning coach Kevin Dilworth has worked with the football team in many aspects to mitigate injuries across the program. Since joining the school, Dilworth has seen significant improvement with the number of injuries within the team. “When I came here, the concussion numbers were really high,” Dilworth said. “But now we have a concussion protocol that we do in the weight room, which consists of a lot of shrugs and neck workouts. Now, there aren’t many preventable injuries because guys are staying in the weight room as they should.” Athletic Director Sean Lissemore, who played in the NFL, has also seen improvements in injury prevention from his time as an athlete to his current position. “As a former player, I’ve been very pleased to see new rules being enforced that help to eliminate some dangerous scenarios that could potentially result in unnecessary injuries,” Lissemore said. “There have also been many new advancements in football equipment and technology as well as numerous other added safety measures and restrictions that have been put in place to help protect football players in both practices and games. Educating coaches, training staff and players on how to mitigate unnecessary risks on the field is incredibly important, and it’s been great to see a more scientific approach to player safety throughout

Safety precautions for football have improved over the years, but injuries are an inevitable part of the game. Now, former players ask themselves if it was worth the risk.

VIRTUOSO Although Raghunathan has never had formal piano training, his years spent practicing violin have given him a solid foundation in music theory.

ReMarker ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS 10600 PRESTON RD. DALLAS, TX 75230

MUSIC PRODUCTION

Modern-day Mozart

Over quarantine, while most of his peers were playing video games or binge watching the latest TV shows, sophomore Akash Raghunathan was pursuing a completely different passion.

October 29, 2020

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32 MIX MASTER Adjusting volume sliders, Raghunathan adds a baseline to his newest track.

Jonathan Yin: What exactly are you doing when you say you’re making songs? Akash Raghunathan: I make pop music, like, mainly stuff that you’d hear in like 2015 – Bruno Mars, that kind of stuff. JY: I don’t think there’s anyone else I know that does this kind of stuff. How did you get into such a unique hobby? AR: I was listening to a lot of music during quarantine, and I was like, ‘I want to make my own thing.’ So I just messed around with some software, and eventually, I happened to make something that sounded pretty good. I’ve spent a lot of time on that, especially during quarantine. I would have never done this if it weren’t for the coronavirus. JY: What’s your favorite genre of music? Does it inspire the songs that you make? AR: Definitely throwback pop. My favorite song is Jealous by Labrinth, but nobody I’ve talked to so far knows anything about what that is. My favorite artist is by far Bruno Mars. He’s for sure a big inspiration for the music I make. JY: Can you walk us through how you come up with a song? AR: If I get a new tune in my head, I have a MIDI piano that connects to my music software, and I put the tune in with the piano. I don’t play piano, but I know enough to use it. Then I can change up the sounds and add a bass and drums and then some other instruments, like guitar or whatever else sounds nice. I’ve been playing violin for a long time, so I have a pretty good musical background to work off of. JY: What’s your favorite song that you’ve made so far? AR: Well, they’re not really done yet, so I

haven’t really named them. I still need to write the lyrics and get a singer before they’re really done. I think they’re all pretty good, though. JY: How much of a time commitment is making these songs? I don’t know too much about how much work it takes to produce something like that. AR: Since school started, I haven’t had much time to focus on making it a real thing, but now, since I’m kind of used to school, I’m looking to make it something bigger. Most of the work I did was over quarantine, when I had a lot more free time. JY: How far have you come since you started making your songs? AR: I think I’ve come a pretty long way. My songs are technically not complete, because I don’t have someone who could sing, but I have around three or four that I think sound pretty nice. If I can get a singer, I think we could definitely put them out for people to listen to. I haven’t released anything to the public yet, but I’m working on that at the moment.

be listened to with headphones or speakers or in your car or whatever, but what I have hasn’t been mixed yet. Now, I just have to find someone who can sing. JY: Do you have any specific goals that you’d like to achieve? AR: Not really. I feel like it’s just the beginning, like I can move forward and really make something out of this. Right now, there are so many possibilities as to where I could take this, which is kind of cool. I’m really looking forward to seeing how far I can go with this. STORY Jonathan Yin PHOTOS Ekansh Tambe

COOL CAT Hands on the keyboard, Raghunathan tries out some new chords to find inspiration for his next song.

JY: What’s the next step for you? AR: I just got in contact with a music producer, and he’s been mentoring me for a bit now. We’re starting to mix my tracks, which is the technology part. Most things that you listen to are mixed in a way that

can