52 minute read
Math Olympiad
academics
Honors history elective observes childhood development, cont. from first page
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All parents of observed students were notified and gave consent prior to this exercise, and students were trained in observational best practices from the social sciencesFor instance, prior to observations, students learned not to ask questions that pushed personal boundaries or made any students uncomfortable.
Each student was then assigned a specific age group to create a parenting guide.
The groups used their observations and scientific literature from medicine, history, sociology, and many other fields of research to begin to formulate their own recommendations for the parents.
Sixth Former Arnav Sardesai was assigned to observe children from the ages of 1-2.
“I found it surprising that there were nearly no gender norms at that age,” Sardesai said. “There were dresses that the boys would put on without hesitation.”
Sardesai also observed that the role of daycare has changed and has a large impact on young children.
“A lot of the kids couldn’t talk, so I was mostly talking to the adults there, and they said that the expectations on them were higher now then they were fifteen years ago in terms of teaching their kids life skills,” Sardesai said. “I didn’t realize that daycare had such an effect on kids, as stuff that happens there is just as important as the stuff that happens at home.”
Sixth Former Ethan Chan visited both a
first and third-grade class.
“I was surprised by the difference in the responses of kids when asked simple questions about gender,” Chan said. “I asked the kids ‘Do you have any friends that are girls?’ and the responses were very different. The third graders said things like ‘eww’ and ‘gross’ and had to think about it for a while whereas the first graders just said ‘Yeah, my sister’ or something like that.”
Chan found that with the addition of technology, kids have had to mature faster.
“When I was their age, I wasn’t as mature, but now with the addition of technology in the classroom and social media, they have a wider worldview than I did,” Chan said. “I think third grade is about the age when they become less oblivious to what there is in the world and social norms begin to kick in.”
The project has evolved in its three years in the upper school curriculum.
“Things were a little disjointed during COVID in all of our classes,” Dr. Gurtler said. “The richness of in-class conversations was missing, which is often where I find leaps are made in these discussion-based classes.”
A main difference, especially after COVID, is that technology has become a larger part of our lives.
“I think our students are very savvy in understanding the role that technology has played in changing student knowledge of issues of gender and sexuality,” Dr. Gurtler said. “I think [students] have really good advice for thinking about how to build trust in relationships for families and communities to come to healthy and safe outcomes when it comes to hot-button issues.”
Dr. Gurtler has found that students enjoy talking about these issues, especially as mature Sixth Formers.
“There is this really cool launching moment at the cusp of adulthood where students can think of what they make of their growing-up experience at Haverford,” Dr. Gurtler said. “Girls tend to get longer training and formulate their own perspectives on these issues, and I hope that our boys can now be a deeper part of these conversations in society.”
COURTESY OF BILLY RAYER ‘24
Sixth Formers Aiden Bridell, Dylan Kao, Ethan Chan and Owen Yu in Sex, Science, and Culture “When I was their age, I wasn’t as mature, but now with the addition of technology in the classroom and social media, they have a wider worldview than I did.”
ETHAN CHAN ’23
Arsh Aggarwal ’24
It’s Friday morning, 7:45 a.m. A group of students cram into Mr. Fus’ classroom and look at their computers, pencils in hand, minds at work.
This is the Archimedes Association— also referred to as the Math Club. Throughout the fall and winter, students compete nearly every week to be seeded in one final competition: the Inter-Ac Math Olympiad.
On Friday, December 2, Archimedes Association’s leaders participated in the Inter-Ac Math Olympiad at The Shipley School. The competition had two rounds, the first round a team competition and the second an individual one.
Teams faced a set of six questions to answer in just 25 minutes, each covering a variety of topics, including geometry, number theory, and combinatorics. The team made it past the first round.
“Through the Philly math league, we competed with nearly all of the schools at the Olympiad, so we had a pretty good understanding of our ranking,” Fifth Former Justin Fan said. “We were truly the underdogs in the competition, and that made the void left by the Class of 2022 that much more painful.”
In the individual round, members of each team attempted the same set of questions, but they were prohibited from working together. After the 25 minutes were up, the judges tallied the top five scores from each team.
“After playing a team match against Baldwin, which we won 4-2, we had to face The George School just thirty minutes later,” Sixth Former Megh Tank said. “As an individual match, the top-five scores get counted while the others are scratched. George School was one of the best schools there, and we knew it was going to be a tough battle. Sadly, we lost 19-26.”
The George School went on to win the competition. And although the Fords mathletes were disappointed by their loss, some enjoyed stellar performances.
“Notable in the George School match was Colin Kelly, getting a perfect six-outof-six, and Jingyuan Chen, getting a close to perfect five-out-of-six,” Tank said. “After that, we entered the consolation matches where we faced against other teams that had also lost, and won two out of our three matches.” In the end, the team finished fifth in the competition. With the Olympiad in the books, the Archimedes Association looks towards the future.
“I’m excited about the rest of the year. With M3C and Purple Comet coming up, there are a lot of opportunities for us to achieve something big,” Fan said. “There will also be more leagues later in the year, so it’ll be great to start those up as the math team hibernates for the winter.”
Members of the Archimedes Association at the Math Olympiad at Shipley, December 2, 2022
COURTESY OF MR. JEREMY FUS
Students feeling overloaded with work between Thanksgiving and winter break
Luke Ganley ‘25
We all know that stress accompanies the holiday season, but how much of that seasonal stress is due to academics? How can the community work to minimize the stress put on students and faculty alike? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
During the limbo between our two holiday breaks—Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks—students may find themselves struggling to meet deadlines or to complete assignments. Many students argue that their teachers are at fault for giving them so much work, but, as History Department Chair Ms. Hannah Turlish said, “Teachers have to assess students… at the end of the unit or the end of something.”
And that is really the issue with this period of the year. In many classes, the time has come when a unit has ended and a test is needed.
History Teacher Dr. Bridget Gurtler said she tries to think students are not going to remember a topic after Winter Break, “if it requires kind of a detailed level of knowledge or facility with a particular a skill that we would have to work up to, that it’s maybe best to get it done prior to a long break rather than after it.”
So, many students feel overworked during this period. Of course, some assessments land in this period coincidentally, and teachers may need to complete assessments before a break so that they don’t lose precious class time re-teaching a difficult topic.
“I’ve honestly just been like dealing with it,” Fourth Former Cameron Ward said. “I haven’t been publicly complaining about it, I’ve just been dealing with it and if I’m stressed then I’m just stressed, and I’ll figure it out myself.”
This may explain why teachers do not think much of the stressful nature of this period. Because they are not hearing about the stress many of their students are experiencing, they assume that everything is fine.
So, how can students cope with the stress of academic life during this period?
“Try and book time for healthy eating and proper sleep. Sleep is really important,” Dr. Gurtler said.
Procrastination is a trap to avoid as the calendar year draws to a close.
“Putting things off is always the worst thing you can do,” Sixth Former Ivan Harlamov said. “You kind of face the consequences when you have three hours of homework to do in one night. [The work] just adds up really fast.”
MS. HANNAH TURLISH “I’ve honestly just been like dealing with it. I haven’t been publicly complaining about it, I’ve just been dealing with it and if I’m stressed then I’m just stressed, and I’ll figure it out myself.”
CAMERON WARD ’25
PIERCE LAVERAN ‘24
Students work during ASB In Ms. Lapenta’s room
The FIFA World Cup goes on, but so do classes
Talan Maury ‘25
The FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly one of the most significant sporting events in the world. Hundreds of millions of fans from around the globe are tuning in to watch the 2022 version of the prestigious soccer tournament, and Haverford students are no exception.
Teachers throughout the community have differing perspectives on allowing students to watch the games during class. While some students tune in regardless of their teachers’ opinions, several teachers around the school permit their classes to watch parts of World Cup games during class.
“I can respect each teacher’s entitlement: some teachers need to cover their material when there is a great matchup between two countries,” soccer coach and history teacher Mr. Kevin Tryon said. “I understand watching the World Cup during class times. For instance, when the USMNT [U.S. Men’s National Team] was playing, I allowed my students to watch.”
Mr. Tryon said that only two teachers in the entire school have seen more World Cups than he has. He views it as more of a “fantastic event” and “celebration” rather than simply a soccer match.
Other faculty members oppose watching World Cup games during class time, citing the tight schedule to cover the class curriculum.
“I have not let students [watch the soccer games] myself,” mathematics and economics teacher Dr. Mark Gottlieb said. “We have a schedule where we mostly meet every other day, so if you watch a World Cup game during class, you are missing a lot of important material. From a cultural perspective, however, I think it is fine in the right situation, but from an academic standpoint, it is unacceptable.”
Despite the teachers’ opinions, some students feel obligated to watch the World Cup matches due to their rarity and magnitude.
“I have been following soccer since I was five years old, and the World Cup only occurs once every four years,” Fourth Former Abdullah Kanchwala said. “Also, the team I root for has a really strong squad this year, so I think it is important to tune in and support my country regardless of the time the games occur.”
Although the FIFA World Cup is an important event to some, the decision is ultimately made by the teachers, and it is important for the students to abide by the faculty’s rules.
MR. KEVIN TRYON
PIERCE LAVERAN ‘24
The World Cup competes with ping pong in The Durham Community Room
neighborhood
Claes Oldenburg’s Clothespin next to City Hall
SCOTT BALDWIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Claes Oldenburg leaves mark on Philadelphia art
Milan varma ’25
Claes Oldenburg was a Swedishborn American sculptor who is widely known for his public art installations commonly depicting large replicas of everyday objects. His popular work includes Shuttlecocks in Kansas City, Clothespin in Philadelphia, Ice-cream Cone in Cologne, and Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. But Oldenburg was more than just a sculptor, and Barbara Rose’s visual-biography of the artist contains many of his plans and possible art installations—the work of a creative and ingenuitive visionary.
Oldenburg’s sculptures were part of a Pop Art movement in the mid-to-late twentieth century. In this period art began to shift from abstract paintings and depictions back to the material world, relating art to specific images.
Oldenburg’s work often disrupts the functionality of common objects—challenging our perceptions on common things or ideas in the world. Other artists from this movement include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns.
Oldenburg proposed many humorous designs, which seemed completely out of place and proportion, revolutionizing global art.
One of the many reasons he has grown to this level of international fame is that his sculptures are found all over the world, not just in Philadelphia.
These works include an Apple Core at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, a Bottle of Notes at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in Middlesbrough, England, and the ice cream cone at shopping mall Neumarkt Galerie in Germany. He also had a proposal to put a toilet bowl float in the Thames River in London with the intention of bringing attention to the pollution of the river.
“He didn’t just make a clothespin. His proposals are often more humorous and interesting,” Visual Arts Department Chair Mr. Christopher Fox said. “He proposed putting a giant block of concrete in a busy intersection in the city of Philadelphia, completely blocking the intersection. It was to be a war memorial. Instead of having a war memorial, in a tidy park out of the way so you don’t bump into it, here was this thing that was going to force people to pay attention to it.”
Many of Oldenburg’s proposals were more humorous and flashy, but he also has a serious side to his work.
Even though his proposal to build a giant block of concrete blocking the flow of traffic in a busy city was never funded nor successful, the idea that art should not be tucked away into tidy parks is an important one. Sometimes, to bring attention to something, it needs to be in people’s faces and out of proportion to demonstrate its meaning.
Oldenburg solved his size problem in another way.
Rather than scale his sculptures to the size of skyscrapers as his proposals suggested, he strategically placed his work in a way that it could seem as big as these buildings.
“The clothespin lines up with buildings behind it such that they appear to be the same scale. It is a way to make you look at something you have seen a million times before in a different way,” Mr. Fox said.
Claes Oldenburg’s work became icons for the city of Philadelphia, uniting art and humor in new ways through all of his work. But he was just one of the many impactful members of the art community in Philadelphia who changed the city with their work. One example of this is the LOVE sculpture, made by Robert Indiana, which “was meant to encompass conceptions of free love, the sexual revolution, and anti–war counterculture movements.”
Art is a window to look at life in a different way, and Claes Oldenburg conveys that through his creative form of art.
Not only did his proposed works put art in the face of people who were just living their everyday lives, it put those objects in a perspective which can be very moving for some. Oldenburg died on July 18, 2022 due to a fall and complications in his home, but will be remembered as an artist who challenged artistic and everyday routines for the better.
It is easy to get lost in the business of life, and gigantic clothespins or other inanimate objects are a much-needed break from the norm.
MR. CHRISTOPHER FOX
Art is a window to look at life in a different way, and Claes Oldenburg conveys that through his creative form of art. It is easy to get lost in the business of life, and gigantic clothespins or other inanimate objects are a much-needed break from the norm.
campus opinions
We should not have class during World Cup matches
Milan Varma ’25
Countries across the globe compete with each other in the massive soccer event The World Cup. To many, the games played are not mere sporting events. They hold many meanings: from a collection and demonstration of some of the most hardworking people on the planet, to a show of skill, sportsmanship, and perseverance. These elements all help transform these games from exciting to absolutely magical.
Taking place every four years, the FIFA World Cup is the biggest competition in the soccer world. It is also the only soccer tournament with worldwide participation, unlike the Copa America or Euros where only a few countries in a specific area are able to compete. 32 countries put up their best players and fight for the achievement of being the World Cup winners.
While there are many concerns surrounding the location of this year’s World Cup in Qatar, and the creation of their stadiums, the game remains the same. There have already been many shows of support for national teams by their loving fans, which goes to show how much the game is loved no matter the circumstances.
The camaraderie that develops when students enjoy World Cup matches together are bonds that can last forever. Haverford is a diverse school with students from varying cultures and nationalities.
The World Cup enables students from differing backgrounds to connect on a personal level in a setting outside of school or clubs. One of Haverford’s main virtues is community, so the school should prioritize watching the World Cup during the school day.
In addition, the World Cup may never be hosted again during the school year, when we are at this age and with our friends. Since this culmination of soccer talent is a quadrennial event, most Haverford students
PIERCE LAVERAN ‘24 Students in a science classroom watch the US beat Iran 1-0, November 29, 2022
may not have this opportunity again until their 20s or late teenage years. This makes all the difference to many students.
The World Cup games are a way to cherish and relish the moment now, rather than focus on the future, as we do so often in terms of sports and colleges. Without events like these to ground us in the present, we get lost in the flow of our work, and time flies by, often too fast.
Even though some students do not follow the sport of soccer, despite it being the most popular sport in the world, this completely changes when it comes to the World Cup.
The World Cup is not just a mere faceoff between countries from all around the world, to many students, especially high schoolers, there is more to it: in every pass, there is meaning; in every touch, there is a purpose.
In my eyes and in the opinion of many soccer fans around the world, these matches are the culmination of our heroes’ aspirations. It is the highest level of performance on the most well-known stage in the world.
Due to the sheer importance and timeliness of this event, students and teachers alike should have the ability to watch the World Cup games during school.
We only live once.
Language department should offer Greek
Grayson Morgan ’26
Latin, the rigorous and linear language of the Roman Empire that reigned for nearly one thousand years, is one of the three language credits offered for study at Haverford. Over the course of three trimesters in sixth grade, students meet three different languages: Latin, Spanish, and Mandarin. Students who commit to Latin as their language of choice may spend the next seven years studying not only essential vocabulary and grammar, but also religion, mythology, poetry, and history.
Why does Haverford offer the study of Latin as a core class, despite the fact that it is not spoken in its original form in any part of the world? This question is one that many students who do not take Latin, (and a few who do take Latin) have pondered.
“It’s been in the curriculum since school started. It’s the foundation of many languages and a good way to not only understand languages but also the English language and improve vocabulary, writing, speaking,” Head of the Global Languages Department Mr. Poolman said.
Mr. Poolman offers sound reasoning, as Latin has heavily influenced the Romance languages - French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian, to name a few. One’s ability to write and translate Latin invokes a part of the brain responsible for linear thinking and analytics, gaining advantages in learning computer programming, coding, algebra, and calculus.
Ancient Greek, arguably an even more relevant ancient language than Latin, is offered sometimes, if ever, to Sixth Formers. Why is this ancient language not given the same deference as Latin? According to Mr. Poolman, “Ancient Greek was the language [taught at Haverford] before Latin, and Latin is the root of many languages we speak today. Latin is much more common in the high school curriculum than Ancient Greek.”
Greek is not included in the curriculum because through schoolhistory… it just hasn’t been. Greek is just as methodical, analytical, and linear as Latin in its grammar construction, providing the ideal mental framework for endeavors in programming and some mathematics. A multitude of scientific and mathematical terms have Greek roots. Hamilton, Jefferson, and Adams— the founding fathers of America—all studied Ancient Greek and were influenced by Greek ideas. The United States Republic was all heavily influenced by Greek politics. To major in the classics in college, one doesn’t simply learn Latin, one typically learns Latin and Ancient Greek.
Although not spoken in its original form, to simply allow the proverbial “dead language” to actually die would be a huge loss to understanding the past and affecting the future of great thinkers. The works of legendary authors such as Homer, Plato, and Aristotle, would not be able to be read in their original forms any longer. Greek is intertwined with many topics in American culture, music, and literature.
It’s time Haverford offers Ancient Greek as a core curriculum language beginning in the sixth grade.
off-campus opinions
Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s monopoly
Ethan Lee ’24
Your favorite music artist has just announced a tour in the U.S. You see a date with “Philadelphia” written next to it. You then check your calendar and see that the show is in summer: perfect timing. You log onto Ticketmaster and see tickets are not on sale yet, and you will have to wait a week to purchase any.
One week later, you open Ticketmaster again and check the concert in your area. Instead of seeing the small blue dots that represent seats with the original price, you only see the purple-pink of resale tickets, ranging from an outrageous $100 for a nosebleed seat to almost $500+ for a seat anywhere close to the stage. And on top of the substantially marked-up tickets, there are fees: convenience fees, delivery fees, and venue fees that add another $30 to the total. Disappointment fills your stomach as you angrily curse out the scalpers that made tickets so expensive.
Buying tickets for sporting events, concerts, or even comedy shows was not always like this. In fact, it may have been even worse in the past prior to the creation of ticket-selling websites. As there was no centralized network to sell tickets, venues would sell tickets to vendors who would then distribute them to buyers. This led to a frenzy to buy tickets: prices varied greatly, some vendors sold out faster than others, and many people would leave the lines angry and aggrieved at their misfortune. Worst of all, scalpers would buy as many tickets as they could and would
Talan Maury ’26
If you thought the conversation at the Thanksgiving dinner table with your family got a little bit heated, or some controversial political topics arose, then you may know what the dinner at Mar-A-Lago felt like. Notable people on the guest list for the dinner on November 2, 2022 included former president Donald Trump, artist and rapper Kan“Ye” West, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Kanye West and Donald Trump have been friends for years, but they may not be after this disaster of a dinner. The setup of the century occurred that night when Milo Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor, reportedly set up the dinner between the three parties to “just make Trump’s life miserable.”
And, well, it did.
Donald Trump has received extreme backlash for being a part of a dinner consisting of these controversial people. Especially since Kanye West is under fire for the antisemitic comments he has and continues to make. Trump claimed he didn’t know Fuentes or anything about him, which is a smaller part of an effort by Trump’s campaign to help with damage control regarding the events of the meeting. But, Trump said he was “really impressed” by Fuentes. sell them in the ticket lines they just waited through.
Ticketmaster was originally a solution to these problems. The original creators made a system that could distribute tickets in one location, with standard prices and an equal opportunity for everybody with access to the internet to be able to see their favorite band. It was a gift from the heavens.
So what happened? Capitalism happened. As Ticketmaster grew, it acquired more and more of its competitors. In conjunction with this acquisition of companies, ticket prices began to rise. Soon, it became the largest ticket seller on the market and had almost no competition. That was until 2010, when Ticketmaster and Live Nation, another ticket-selling company, decided to merge, making them the undisputed kings of the ticket market. Now, Ticketmaster controls over 70% of the market, using exclusive deals for artists and venues to extend its iron hand around the entertainment industry.
In a capitalistic society, this kind of growth can only come from greed. Ticketmaster began to scheme ways to generate more revenue and began to use two different methods: reselling and fees.
Fees appeared to just be a modicum of cash, pocket change really. A small fee for the use of the website, another small fee for the venue of the concert. These “small” fees soon piled up. Originally, Ticketmaster had to keep these prices low if they did not want to be outcompeted. However, now that Ticket-
CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTING ’24 A student searches for Blink-182 tickets on Ticketmaster
master controls the majority of the market and has artists locked into using their system, they can pile as many fees on as they want with few consequences.
Ticket reselling is where the majority of Ticketmaster’s problems reside. The current system of Ticketmaster promotes scalping, and Ticketmaster even has had secret deals with scalpers to drive up prices. These marked-up prices make Ticketmaster more money, which is why they allow it. With the creation of bots that can move instantly, regular people like you and I have nearly no chance of buying original price tickets.
Ticketmaster is not the only one to blame here: artists also make money from the higher reselling of tickets. In fact, Live Nation has a history of letting artists mark up their prices from the get-go, essentially making themselves scalpers.
Ticketmaster has no competition. This means that they can do whatever they want and strongarm consumers into paying ridiculous prices to see live events. En masse, we have the power to force artists and Ticketmaster to sell tickets for reasonable prices. As consumers, we need to call on Congress to revert the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger in order to get fairly priced and equally accessible tickets again.
Trump’s meeting at Mar-A-Lago with Kanye West, Nick Fuentes, and Milo Yiannopoulos
During the dinner West reportedly expressed anger towards the former president for not paying the legal bills for those who were arrested on charges related the the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. West even went as far as to suggest that he and Trump become running mates in the 2024 election. This statement angered Trump, and, according to two participants of the dinner party, Trump made comments toward West’s exwife Kim Kardashian.
Notable people such as Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence and Trump’s former ambassador to Israel David Friedman have expressed discontent with regard to the event of that night as a whole. This all occurred mere weeks after Trump announced his plans to run in the 2024 election.
Who knew dinner plans could set Trump’s campaign off on the wrong foot?
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is an opportunity to unite around human rights
Ian Rosenzweig ’25
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s roughly month-long run, Haverford’s halls have been abuzz with discussion and debate surrounding the once-every-four-years soccer tournament. Excitement and expectation are almost palpable when matches are projected during class or on the big screen in the Durham Community Room. Yet, some of the talk surrounding the event is anything but positive. Concerns about host nation Qatar’s human rights abuses, especially against homosexual individuals, as well as poor labor conditions in the host nation, have gained significant media coverage and are hard to ignore.
Conversations on the national and international stages are no different from those at Haverford. Some projections estimate that 5 billion people—more than half the world’s population—will tune into World Cup action at some point. Many major media networks cover the athletic action daily while also updating viewers on statements from FIFA officials, international governments, and human rights groups. While our school community engages in the joys of such a significant international event, and some teachers even incorporate matches into class time, it is imperative that we also recognize the political impact that the 2022 FIFA World Cup has.
It is a school’s responsibility to prepare its students for the world around them.
Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s dangerous.
Preparation for the 2022 World Cup began in Qatar in 2010, as soon as the country received the rights to host the 2022 event. The nation constructed seven stadiums as well as other pieces of infrastructure such as hotels and airports. Amidst varying reports of poor working conditions, Qatar eventually confirmed that at least three work-related deaths had occurred in the stadium construction process, and officials later admitted to the deaths of at least 400 workers during the twelve-year preparation process.
Furthermore, human rights group Amnesty International reported “appalling living conditions,” “lies about salaries,” and also indicated that some employers have confiscated laborers’ passports, essentially trapping them in-nation. Amnesty International’s condemnation only refers to the abuse of workers on World Cup-related projects, but accounts have exposed countless abuses of migrant laborers in the general Qatari workforce. In 2021, The Guardian reported 6,500 total migrant deaths in the nation. Not all of these deaths are attributable to World Cup preparation, but the figure is still relevant. Considering that 90% of Qatar’s workforce is foreign, mainly from southeast Asia, the lack of workplace transparency is especially concerning.
While the U.S. State Department has reported meaningful improvements in Qatari labor conditions in recent years, and Qatari Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Hassan al-Thawadi, acknowledged the need for labor reform, the lack of clarity regarding casualties is a cause for alarm, especially in a country that claims to be improving its record for labor conditions.
In addition to the “appalling labor conditions,” Qatar’s human rights record is grim. Homosexuality is criminalized in the country even though the national constitution promises equality among citizens. Khalid Salman, Qatar’s FIFA World Cup ambassador, referred to homosexuality as “damage in the mind.”
The significant human rights abuses in Qatar as well as the human cost of 2022’s World Cup are glaring. Even if the employers of World Cup laborers and Qatari government policy were not the cause of many deaths, it is impossible to ignore the host nation’s discrimination against some of its citizens. What better time could there be to unite around human rights and inspire real change in the world?
Moreover, the blatant anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in Qatar is concerning to many World Cup athletes. Multiple soccer teams planned to wear rainbow armbands at their matches in support of the LGBTQ+ community, but FIFA threatened sanctions against players who do so.
While many teams have been adamant about their support for human rights in Qatar, The Washington Post reported that FIFA President Gianni Infantino “appeared to cast questions about the treatment of migrant workers and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people as attempts to sow division in the world” in remarks to the press. Infantino’s sentiment was, with good reason, criticized for its lack of support for marginalized individuals in Qatar, but his message actually strikes an important note: sport is meant to encourage unity and camaraderie, not cause divisiveness. Rather than oppose calls for change, FIFA should be rallying behind its own message of unity and creating channels for diplomacy — not standing against human rights in favor of active opposition to any change to a discriminatory status quo.
It is the international community’s responsibility to confront human rights abuses whenever and wherever they arise. Infantino’s apparent rejection of calls for change and condemnation of Qatar is a sign of his unwillingness to use his platform to do good in the world. Yet, many groups’ demands that Qatar be sanctioned or forced to change its laws strike a similarly hostile tone.
With the great unifying nature of athletics, the opportunity to make a change, and the world’s focus still on Qatar, there is a clear and prudent diplomatic path forward.
If human rights groups and national teams expressed a desire to improve the world through meaningful changes in Qatari policy, and FIFA and Qatar were open to criticism and amenable to discussion, real, lasting change could be made—rather than the creation of hostile relationships and unwillingness to confront issues civilly.
It is time to unite around human rights and make real change through the pre-existing camaraderie of the World Cup, not by using the World Cup as a platform to do lip service and make blanket statements of condemnation without actually taking action.
International government officials and Qatari authorities have the opportunity to use the environment of the World Cup to write policies and create protections for labor conditions in Qatar. FIFA can stand as a unifying partner in the fight against abusive conditions, and government officials can actively make reforms.
While the World Cup is undoubtedly an opportunity for international diplomacy, it is also an opportunity for Haverford to teach lessons about the fight for the human rights that we are so privileged to enjoy, as well as the potential of sports to inspire unity and change. The school’s Global Studies and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs have already capitalized on the World Cup to teach our community about diverse cultures and countries, but we can do more. Especially in the upper school, where matches are televised for students with free periods, Haverford can actively explain the situation surrounding human rights in Qatar and discuss the hard issues.
The appearance of soccer matches on screens in community spaces and in classrooms is a fun treat for our student body, but we would be remiss not to use this rare opportunity to confront matters of international importance and teach developing minds about the world in which we live and the people whom we share a responsibility to protect.“It is a school’s responsibility to prepare its students for the world around them. Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s dangerous.”
IAN ROSENZWEIG ’25
IAN ROSENZWEIG ’25
Mason Wiegand ’25
For the first time since 1989, Chinese citizens are waking up to the hypocrisy and oppressive government surveillance they face every day. Protests have broken out across large Chinese cities against the Zero COVID policy. That policy is one in which any COVID case can, and usually will, result in the total shut down of major metropolitan areas. This leaves people stranded in homes for months at a time. Food is supposed to be delivered to residents, but it sometimes doesn’t come at all.
The climax of this policy was on November 24, 2022, in Urumqi, China. A lockdown residential building filled with citizens caught fire. Yet families were unable to escape because of their lockdown conditions. Ten people were incinerated in the blaze. This included a three-year-old child.
The families in that building hadn’t been outside since August.
The Zero COVID policy extends away from isolation as well. Citizens of China are regularly tested and given a “green card” for being Covid negative. It is expected that one shows their green card in any public place they go. So, even if someone gets out of their lockdown home, they still can not enter any public place in China.
Events such as the apartment fires, green codes, and the current lockdown of 10.3 million citizens in Guangzhou are weighing down an already exhausted population. It is no surprise now that people are resisting for the first time in decades. Students on college campuses have been rebelling as hundreds of protests sweep across China calling for deposition of the Communist Party and the installation of free speech for the first time in generations. Universities such as Tsinghua University in Beijing have been the genesis point for many of these large student protests.
The Chinese government has allowed these objections, yet they have placed soldiers and police throughout cities to monitor the situation. As everything has begun to boil once again, it just as quickly has been fizzling out. Apple has disabled their airdrop system in China, the only non trackable system in iPhones for Chinese citizens. This undermines the ability to hold protests for citizens because organizers can be tracked and arrested. Often protestors are met by armed police before the protests even start.
These protests, however, are not in vain. China has chosen to relax policies. This marks one of the first times in communist China’s history that the voice of the people has affected governmental policy.
The collective voice of people has an uncontrollable effect and power. This skill can bring change in a way other than war. Increasingly, we choose to physically fight with each other when words are our most powerful sword.
That is certainly a lesson we at Haverford can learn from these protests in China and unequivocally a lesson we need to learn for the future.
Students in China protesting COVID laws are role models for us
MS. TAYLOR SMITH-KAN
Haverford student sits for portrait in China, summer 2017
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arts
Do you hear what I hear?
Liam French ’25
Cold December nights: the feeling of warmth, curled up beside the fireplace and reading a favorite book with a warm mug of hot chocolate. Chances are, the music playing in the background was made in the 50s and 60s. Some of the most important events in American history happened in this era, and the same goes for the music industry.
The birth of rock ’n’ roll shook the nation, and in 1961, Nat King Cole, a civil rights activist, recorded “The Christmas Song,” which would go on to become the third best performing Christmas song of all time on the Billboard charts. But the achievement was complete, as the sound of Christmas constantly evolves. The first recorded Christmas carol “Angels Hymn” dates back to 129 C.E. The Bishop of Rome proclaimed to the people “In the Holy Night of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, all shall solemnly sing the ‘Angel’s Hymn.’”
This little known carol was succeeded many years later in 1818, by “Stille Nacht,” otherwise known as “Silent Night.” The song “Silent Night” from A Christmas Together by The Muppets and John Denver tells the story of the song “Silent Night.”
Denver says, “On December 24th, 1818, the curate of a parish in Ovendorf, Austria, Joseph Moore, gave a poem that he had written to a friend of his, Franz Gruber, who was also the choirmaster and organist of that church. He asked Mr. Gruber if he would write music for his poem. Despite the organ being broken, he desperately wanted music to be a part of their Christmas Eve service. Mr Gruber composed the melody to the song ‘Stille Nacht.’”
“Silent Night” would go on to be the most influential carol of the modern era, and, in 2011, UNESCO declared the carol an “intangible cultural heritage.”
The next chronological classic “Christmas” song wasn’t actually meant to be a Christmas song at first. Written by James Lord Pierpont, and released on September 16, 1857 as “One-Horse Open Sleigh,” “Jingle Bells” was originally supposed to be a song about Thanksgiving, not Christmas. It was first recorded on an Edison Cylinder in 1889, and is believed to be the first Christmas record. The song was first performed in blackface by Johnny Pell at the Ordway Minstrel Hall of Massachusetts—to this day blackface is still a part of Christmas in the Netherlands portrayed by the character Zwarte Piet, Black Pete—Americans now shun this racist practice. Since then, a plaque in Bedford Massachusetts was erected to commemorate the birthplace of the song. Based on the historical sleigh races of the town, the song tells the story of a part of the Victorian era culture of the winter months. Since its release, this Victorian classic has been covered by many artists, most notably Frank Sinatra on his Christmas album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra. His hit “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” was produced in 1957, and Billboard ranks it in the top-50 Christmas songs of all time.
Sinatra’s peer Bing Crosby is credited with having the fifth best-performing Christmas song to date according to Billboard. First performed on Christmas Day in 1941, merely two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, “White Christmas” was ironically written by a Jewish immigrant to the United States. After its release, it would go on to sell 100 million copies, becoming not only the best-selling Christmas single, but the best selling single of all time. In 1942, The song would go on to win the Academy Award for best original song at the fifteenth Academy Awards. With the influence of “White Christmas” felt all over the world, American capitalist consumerism would slowly begin to take over Christmas. Songs slowly lost their old-timey charm and intimacy, slowly becoming less about what would bring people together and more about what would produce the most money.
The highest grossing song each holiday season is Mariah Carey’s smash Christmas hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Released in 1994, Carey has made around $60 million a year from this song alone. Billboard ranks the song as the number-one best-performing Christmas song to date, as the song consistently peaks within the top-five songs each year during the holiday season.
Another timeless hit, “Last Christmas” by Wham! has garnered a cult following in Britain by those who participate in the holiday social game “Whamageddon.” The rules are as follows: one, the objective is to last as long as possible without listening to “Last Christmas” by Wham!; two, the game starts on December 1 and ends December 24; three, only the original version of the song applies, so remixes and covers are fine to listen to; four, you are out of the game as soon as you recognize the song. Most people post on social media a picture of themselves, where they were and what they were doing with the hashtag #whamageddon. The game originally started in 2010 and has caught on nationwide in recent years. Infact, wadio stations will announce “We will be playing ‘Last Christmas,’ so change channels if you don’t want to hear it,” so as to not get backlash from angry listeners when the song plays.
With artists like Mariah Carey, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Wham! producing Christmas classics that are all 30 or more years old, surely another Christmas hit should be just around the corner. But with the state of pop music nowadays, much music is overproduced and just created for streams or to be made into the next TikTok trend. Some believe the overproduction of Christmas is what is killing the sound of Christmas and feel that modern Christmas music lacks its former sentimental value. Artists producing a new Christmas album every year doesn’t bring the family closer, but instead brings out the monotony and fake niceties within the holiday season. However, in recent years, artists such as Ariana Grande, Micheal Bublé, and Pentatonix have produced popular Christmas albums. Ariana Grande’s hit single “Santa Tell Me” peaked at number one in 2014. It was simple, everyone could relate to it, and it was fun. That’s what Christmas music is all about.
Micheal Buble’s Christmas album is iconic—a stand alone Christmas hit generator that accounts for more than half of his streams. More people associate him with Christmas music than his actual non-holiday music. Lastly, Pentatonix have revamped Christmas classics into charming and emotional a capella covers. They had two Holiday albums go number one on Billboard’s top 200 chart, and in 2015 their album That’s Christmas To Me went two-times platinum. Their sound can be heard anywhere on radio or where one would go Christmas shopping. They may not seem like much compared to classics such as 1982’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” performed by Bruce Springsteen, 1958’s “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” sung by Brenda Lee, or “Jingle Bell Rock” by Buddy Helms.
These new artists won’t “bring back Christmas music,” but they will guide it in its evolution. Their influence will lead the way for new artists with new songs to break through, generating holiday hits every Christmas, and letting us fill our holiday playlists with new tracks to listen to over winter break.
Michael Bublé performing in Cologne, Germany in 2012
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Students share sense of community as Les Misérables rehearsals approach
Harvey Pennington ’23 performs in Something Rotten! in last year’s play
Russell Yoh ’24
The theater program has officially begun the process for the 2023 musical, Les Misérables, one of the most well-known musicals of all time. The musical takes place after the French Revolution and follows a man named Jean Valjean, who is finally freed after being locked away for nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread. When on parole, he doesn’t get a job that he wants, so he breaks his parole and takes on a new identity as a successful mayor. However, a police officer named Javert knows of his escape and hunts him down.
The show has a special meaning for director Mr. Darren Hengst.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I grew up listening to this show and seeing this show, and I was lucky enough to be in this show. It’s just something that’s always been on the bucket list here at Haverford,” Mr. Hengst.
He also emphasized how much talent there is at the school now.
“Watching the talent we had last year in Something Rotten!, there were so many juniors and sophomores that were really talented, and obviously you need a boatload of talent for this one, and I thought finally we had enough talent across the board to cast it, so I pulled the trigger,” Mr. Hengst said.
Many students are looking forward to the show’s first rehearsals.
“I decided to audition for Les Misérables because I really enjoy theater, and the theater program at Haverford is really great, and Les Misérables is a great show,” Fourth Former Luke Ganley.
Les Misérables is no easy task to put on.
“This is an incredibly ambitious musical because it’s one of those musicals where there’s no dialogue, it’s just singing. I’m really excited to see how Mr. Hengst, the cast, and the crew all handle that and bring whatever vision Mr. Hengst has for the show to life,” said Fifth Former Sebastian Golderer.
Theater is an incredible part of the community, and many people inside and outside of the school clearly want to be a part of it, especially after the success of last year’s musical.
This year had almost ninety students sign up from around the area.
“I was amazed at all the new people who signed up. I can’t wait for them to get to experience Haverford theater,” Sixth Former Julian Caesar said.
Many who participate in these shows feel a sense of community that they find to be integral to their school experience.
“Doing the shows allows me to form close bonds with people, even those I share little in common with,” Caesar said. “Theater provides a brotherhood like no other extracurricular at Haverford does, and that’s what makes it so great and unique.”
Those working on the show outside of the cast also feel a sense of brotherhood.
“I love how much of a family we are. We all work together and help each other out,” Fifth Former Samuel Jiru said.
Many students say they feel fully comfortable to express themselves and explore their passions.
“I think it’s a really great community, and it also allows me to do something I really love, which is acting,” Fifth Former Sebastian Golderer said. “Being in this theater program allows me to do that, so I can improve and perfect my craft.”
Mr. Hengst sees the passion in the students as well.
“I think one thing we showed in Something Rotten last year was that we have a lot of dedicated students to this program, and I think that’s something that continues this year. I think it will be most exciting for the audience to come and see the genuine passion students have for performing here,” Mr. Hengst said.
While it is always exciting to get started on a new show, many Sixth Formers—who have been a part of the theater program for all of high school, and some even throughout middle school—find it bittersweet.
“I know that once we near the end of the show emotions will hit me like a truck, so I’m gonna try to enjoy everything about it until the very last moment,” Caesar said.
Sixth Former Thomas Pendergast said, “It’s sad to leave the Haverford theater department, and I will really miss Mr. Hengst, but it’s not going to be my last show ever, and I think I’ll be ready to move on from here.”
As the audition process comes to a close and the start of rehearsals quickly approaches, Mr. Hengst looks forward to seeing the show come together.
“When I was in high school, I remember sitting in the fourth row of the Forrest Theater and I saw the show, and it just changed my life to see what is possible on stage. I’m excited to bring the feeling that I had when I first saw the show to the students who are lucky enough to perform it,” Mr. Hengst said. “I’m excited to watch everyone fall in love with it the way I did when I was in high school.”
Performances will take place on March 10, 11, and 12.
MR. DARREN HENGST
JEFFREY YANG ‘22
sports
Winter track leaps over hurdles
The winter track team poses for a picture after a meet at Lehigh University on December 10, 2022
Christopher Schwarting ‘24
COURTESY OF WINTER TRACK TWITTER
As the winter chill sets in this December, most sports teams make their way indoors. Outside the field house, though, one cohort of athletes forges on through the cold for many of their practices: the Winter Track and Field team.
Preparation and training in winter track are dually important. While athletes must prepare for indoor track and field meets, they must also be prepared for the rigor of the subsequent season this spring.
Training combines targeted workouts with practice in teammates’ respective track and field events. For some athletes, this preparation began before the winter sports season started.
“In the past, I’ve done cross country to help me build endurance. This year, I went to the gym,” Fifth Former Anthony Carter said.
Regardless of prior preparation, training this season pushes athletes to not only excel in competition but also to better understand the mental side of the sport.
Competitors often switch between vastly different competitions.
“Training is harder mentally than it is physically,” Fifth Former Jey Brown said. “For me specifically, it’s always an interesting week because I’m going from shot put to long jump to hurdles and then a sprint day. I trust all our coaches though so it’s easier than it sounds.”
Heading the team this year is Coach James Hawkins, a veteran AAU and USATF coach of over 15 years who is returning for his second season with the Winter Track and Field Team. Alongside are the recently announced captains, Sixth Former Jaiden Shuchman and Fifth Former Andre Inniss.
Much of this work is already starting to pay off.
At the team’s first track meet of the season, several competitors placed in medal positions.
“We had a lot of medalists. Jey Brown won two medals—one for shotput and one for hurdles,” Carter said. “We had Andre and a couple other people win a medal for the 4x4 [relay], and [Fifth Former] James Gates placed for pole vaulting.”
And with this success, the team hopes to set its sights high for goals this season. Brown looks forward to the State Championship.
“We got a lot of guys who can qualify and who can probably bring some points. [It will be] the final exam of the season,” Brown said.
JEY BROWN ’24
JEY BROWN ’24
A look into the college recruiting process
Sam Pennington ’26
The Haverford community has many outstanding athletes who have committed to colleges recently. Every year, athletes from a wide variety of sports receive offers to play at the next level.
In 2020, the 28 college commits covered a wide spectrum of sports, including lacrosse (9), football (7), baseball (3), squash (3), water polo (2), soccer (2), swimming (1), and track (1).
Last year, athletes faced many post-pandemic challenges due to the limited number of spots on college rosters. Despite these challenges, they persevered and continued to outwork others.
Fifth Former Duke Lacrosse commit Ben McCarthy, ranked second in the Class of 2024 by NLF, believes that the opportunities he has been presented with at Haverford got him to where he is now.
“In ninth and tenth grade, I practiced and played against high competition, and [Coach Matt] Rosko’s strength program helped transform me physically,” McCarthy said.
All of these athletes demonstrate excellent time management skills by excelling in their sport and their academics.
“I have balanced my life by taking it one thing at a time. If I have to study, I study. If I have to practice, I practice. I think that finishing one task and then moving on to the next is better than trying to do both at the same time,” Sixth Former and Air Force Lacrosse commit Wells Flinn said. “This prevents me from worrying about other things, and it allows me to stay focused on the task at hand.”
Discipline is another key factor for suc-
cess.
“I’ve learned to balance school and sports pretty well, but my social life has been more difficult to manage. It has been hard to get good sleep and find time to do other things I enjoy,” McCarthy said. “When you work hard it pays off. Sometimes downtime has to be sacrificed.”
Fifth Former Michigan Lacrosse commit Jack Long shared what he considers the most challenging part of the recruiting process: keeping your mental health in check.
“A lot of the time you find yourself comparing yourself to others when it isn’t healthy for you,” Long said.
Sixth Former Cornell Football commit Matt Pante shared similar thoughts.
“The whole process of not knowing where you might end up is stressful, but when you have the support of your family, friends, and coaches, it makes the process easier,” Pante said.
The journey for all of these athletes has been far from easy.
“It’s an exhausting experience and road to ride on,” McCarthy said. “I would like to have more time to rest, sleep, watch TV, or even just spend time doing nothing, but I’ve found that being an athlete means sacrificing these things to give myself the best opportunities I can and to become the best version of myself.”
Flinn agrees that being a student-athlete is no easy task.
“It is not a fun process and being patient is key,” Flinn said. “I felt like I was always waiting, and it was hard at times to keep pushing on.”
“The biggest thing for me was getting my work done, so I could practice and train without stress. I also think that making any effort to get eight hours of sleep has made great improvements across the board,” Flinn said.
Pante also shared advice for succeeding through difficult times.
“It’s about nothing other than always giving 100%,” Pante said. “When aiming to play your sport in college, it takes all the early mornings and late nights to accomplish your goal but it’s worth it.”
Even though he had to sacrifice many aspects of his life to play three sports to the best of his ability, Flinn would not change anything about his experience.
“I am happy that I have played three sports every year. I think it has been great for me to not just be playing lacrosse. I would get burned out and would lose my joy for the sport,” Flinn said.
All of these athletes have put in much hard work throughout their years here, and it is paying off for them.
“The best part of the recruiting process is when it’s over and you finally commit to a school,” Pante said.
BEN MCCARTHY ’24
WELLS FLINN ’23
MATTHEW PANTE ’23
WELLS FLINN ’23
