Issue 17

Record The Horace Mann

JANUARY 17TH 2019 || VOLUME 117, ISSUE 17

HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

Civic Engagement Club and classes react to US-Iran tensions Adam Frommer Staff Writer The Horace Mann Civic Engagement Club (HMCEC) held a communal event to process the recent developments between the U.S. and Iran. The discussion had low attendance— besides the club’s presidents and advisor, only two students took part.

In an invite email sent to the high school, HMCEC presidents explained why they thought it was necessary to create a space to discuss the recent issues. “We understand that this news can be very disturbing, frightening, and confusing, so we feel that we need to open up a communal space to process and discuss everything from specific politics seen today (e.g. sanctions) to the very real possibility of war,” Co-President of HMCEC Sofia Del Gatto (12) wrote in the email.

Ryan Rosenthal (11) attended the event on Monday during I period and was not surprised that so few students attended. Many students have other prior commitments including clubs, he said.

Alexa Turteltaub (9) was among the majority of students who did not attend, although she did consider going. “I chose not to go because politics is really delicate,” she said. Many of her friends discussed attending, but they felt that it was intimidating to tackle a subject that can be controversial, she said. “That scares people.”

The controversial nature of the topic also deterred Jared Contant (9) from going, but he also did not attend because conflict with Iran does not influence his daily life as a New Yorker and as a student, he said.

Students at the school have very little spirit of social justice, Del Gatto said. “That is because we really like to talk and intellectualize about political issues, but there is no real communal spirit of concern for humans that makes us act together.” Students do not often consider joining protestors on the streets or have a sense of real civic engagement, she said.

Aside from discussing the recent events in Iran, attendees also talked about the history of why the conflict escalated and the possible future ramifications of the decision to kill Qasem Soleimani.

Rosenthal said that his takeaway

from the event was the importance of breaking out of the “bubble of Horace Mann” and of being constantly interested in global news. “The world we live in is the only one we have got, so we really need to understand what is going on with our country and be engaged.”

While Rosenthal said that the school itself cannot necessarily be politically active, clubs should organize students to attend protests and help students be more aware of how they can be involved, he said.

Del Gatto and co-President Micheye Trumpet Jones (12) currently lead the club, which, last year, comprised of mostly seniors who have since graduated, Del Gatto said. Attendance has been low, but the club’s main focuses are both to discuss important events and to plan ways to stand up politically, she said.

The HMSEC event was not the only way in which students have engaged with the Iranian conflict at the school.

Leyli Granmayeh (11) discussed an article in her Religion in History class that pointed out the inconsistencies in American foreign policy, she said.

The article said that while sometimes the U.S. acts as a “global policeman,” oftentimes the country tries to evade conflicts. “The article was saying that we flip-flop a lot,” she said. The class was able to discuss whether they agreed with the opinions of the article. While conversations like these do not always directly relate to topics in religious history, they serve as a learning experience, she said.

Additionally, Devin Hirsch (11) said that in his section of The Global Cold War class, the class spent an entire period last Friday on Iran and compared the conflict to aspects of the Cold War. Specifically, the class compared the Iran conflict with the Non-Aligned Movement.

History Department Chair and teacher of history elective Global Cold War Dr. Daniel Link sometimes returns back to current events topics weeks after initial discussions, he said.

“Part of our culture today is that news moves so quickly… there are often developments with stories that we have discussed in the past that we have to reconsider.”

Sometimes current events can relate to class material in religious history, Granmayeh said. “That is really helpful

because when you actually discuss current events and how religions are currently playing out, it can be a lot easier to conceptualize them,” she said.

Hirsch said that the class discussion was generally very liberal. Most students were against President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani and it might have been uncomfortable for a supporter of Trump’s actions. “I could see why they wouldn’t say anything,” he said.

In Turteltaub’s Atlantic World History class, the discussion was broader. “I said primarily that it is really hard to form an opinion on the situation because there is so much information that is being withheld,” she said. Other students in Turteltaub’s class said that the issue is gaining more press simply because of President Trump’s global image. Turteltaub appreciated the fact that she is able to discuss current events in class, she said.

“The reason we learn history is to tie it to modern life—history repeats itself a lot.” Looking at the news through a historical lens allows for a deeper dive into history, she said.

Having not discussed the Iran conflict in any of his classes, Contant thought that conversation could have gotten too political between teachers and students.

“We definitely should be talking more about this,” Hirsch said. “A lot of kids do not really have enough time to cover politics. When I was younger, if I had the chance, I would read the news and stay up to date, but now the time is really on the bus to read news articles briefly.”

While Del Gatto appreciated the class discussions around Iran, part of the HMCEC’s mission is to push people to contemplate news in a nonintellectual way. “Try to actually feel the immensity of a lot of these issues,” she said. “At Horace Mann, we have debates in history, and I think that is important. But [it is] not where I want the club to be.”

As a history teacher, part of Link’s mission is to help students understand what is going on in the world.

“Developmentally, where high school students are, they are starting to make sense of the wider world,” he said.

“How do we make sense of the fact that it was looking like, last week, Iran and the United States might go to war?

Why is that?”

Kiara Royer/Features Editor

RECORD.HORACEMANN.ORG

Courtesy of Erin Zhao

UP ON TOP Robotics teams pose for a photo after weekend wins.

FTC teams take home first and third place Inspire awards and advance to Super Qualifiers Abby Beckler Staff Writer FTC Robotics teams 9681 and 7890 both came out of the First Tech competition with victories, qualifying them for the next round of competition on the path to Worlds.

The meet last weekend was the teams’ second qualifying match, which they had to win in order to continue their season. The teams competed in five qualifier matches against 25 other teams that day, who were split into two different alliances.

“I think this meet went a lot better than any of us were expecting because it was our last chance to qualify and we were really stressed out that we might not qualify,” Akira Eisenbeiss (12), a member of 7890, said. “While we’re all really happy we won, I think being able to move on and continue our season was really what was super exciting about this competition.”

The goal of the First Tech Challenge competition was to get the higher score for their alliance by locating and moving various “stones” and “skystones” from the loading zone to the building zone in order to build the highest skyscraper.

The first period of the match was a 30-second Autonomous Period in which robots had to operate using only pre-programmed instructions.

The goal of this period was to move a foundation block into a building zone, which would later be the foundation for the tower they would build during the DriverControlled Period.

“The autonomous was a little different because their field was different from ours—we had set ours up a little bit wrong—but eventually we worked through it,” Erin Jaen (12), a captain of 9681, said.

After the autonomous period was the Driver-Controlled Period, during which the robots had to pick up “stones,” which were yellow bricks, and move them onto the foundation which the robot had moved earlier in order to build a tower. The higher the tower, the more points per team.

“Our robot was able to stack three stones high, and so we were one of the few teams that were stacking a lot that day,” Abigail Morse (11), a member of 9681, said.

“To be honest, the start of it was

a little shaky: we just hadn’t had enough driver practice, but we had a really good mechanisms and that showed in the final round,” Jaen said. “We got to a point where we could stack three blocks high, which was really impressive.”

The tower could also be finished with a capstone, a special brick worth an extra five bonus points if placed on top of the tower.

“Throughout our five preliminary matches, we only got the capstone on once, and then during the semifinal matches, we capped it five out of the six times we played which was pretty amazing,” Morse said.

At the end of the day, it was the Inspire Award which allowed them both to advance to the next level of competition.

“In FTC, there’s a lot of awards: you can get an award for winning the final match, design, your engineering notebook, and software. Inspire is given to teams which do well in all aspects of those awards and do well on the field,” Erin Zhao (11), a member of 7890, said.

7890 won the First Place Inspire award because of their excellent design, mechanisms, and engineering notebook, a written record of their design process, build process, and software along with a description of the team and records of their progress.

“The notebook is basically a log of all our design processes, so we can see where we made mistakes and what we can work on throughout the season,” Jaen said.

The two teams used this competition as a learning experience and have begun to alter their robots in time for their next competition in Pennsylvania this upcoming weekend.

“One main thing that we want to do is during our autonomous, we want to make sure that our current hook is able to pull the foundation efficiently,” Anthony White (11), a member of 7890, said. “During competitions in the past, we realized that it wasn’t as consistent as we wanted, specifically because of how we were latching on, so we’re fixing that.”

The teams now are eligible to compete in the Super Qualifiers, which will take them one step closer to New York City First Championships and soon enough, Worlds.

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OPINIONS

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THE RECORD OPINIONS JANUARY 17TH, 2019

The need for a more transparent administration

Adam Frommer

Gossip runs rampant in Anatevka, the Shtetl in which Fiddler on the Roof (the musical) takes place. In the hilarious and show-stopping number “The Rumor,” Yente, the town gossip, brings gut-wrenching news to the village. She sings to Rifka: “Well, I just heard that Perchik’s been arrested, in Kiev.” The news makes its rounds. Rifka excitedly Editor-in-Chief reports it to Shaindel, who explains to Julia Robbins Mirala, who then tells Mendel, who noManaging Editor tifies Avram: “Golde’s been arrested and Mayanka Dhingra Hodel’s gone to Kiev, Motel studies dancing, and Tevye’s acting strange, ShprinIssues Editor Jude Herwitz tze has the measles, and Bielke has the mumps.” Each character misinterprets the Features previous statement until the final story is Nelson Gaillard completely untruthful. Why? Because in Gabby Kepnes Kiara Royer Anatevka, there is no absolute form of communication—no official word to exNews plain what happened. Everything needs to Amelia Feiner travel by word of mouth.

Madison Li Sam Keimweiss At the school, we have a form of comSimon Yang munication. As faulty and detested as FirstClass is, administrators and faculOpinions ty have the means to communicate with Victor Dimitrov Abigail Salzhauer the student body. But when I saw Fiddler a few months ago, I felt a moment of Lions’ Den Darius McCullough déja vu. During the events before winter break, plenty of ‘Yente’s—myself includMark Fernandez Ranya Sareen Andrew Cassino

A&E Nishtha Sharma Eliza Poster Eddie Jin Middle Division Ben Wang Isabella Zhang

ed—spread gossip, untrue gossip. What happened. With whom. Why. It was all speculation.

I never received an email from the school. Nothing. I believe that the parents were sent an email that I have not seen.

If only the school could offer some clarity about what happened. Even a limited explanation would be better than silence.

During the day when the school unexpectedly closed because of security concerns, students at Riverdale received a detailed email about the suspicious man on campus before students at Horace Mann did. The email from the headmaster of Riverdale circulated between students until Dr. Kelly sent an email to us later that day.

A student at a neighboring private high school tragically took his own life last week, and the parents received an email detailing the support systems available at the school for those who need it. The students, on the other hand, received nothing. But the target audience for the email should ultimately have been the students at the school—not the parents. Some students likely needed to talk about their thoughts and grieving process, but they never got the email telling them how to find support.

This week, I met with Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly to discuss my concerns and to understand why we don’t receive information. I learned that the school thinks very critically about sending news to the student body during these events. Kelly mentioned that there are legal reasons for not telling students when teachers are fired, and, in the case of the unexpected school closure, Riverdale’s early email actually sent incorrect information to their students. I appreciate the fact that there are often reasons to withhold information, but students are never informed of them. Therefore, I assume that the school is trying to keep students out of the loop.

Felix Brenner/Staff Artist

Too often when the school makes a decision, the students are the last to know about it. And, no matter what the school’s intentions are, rumors still spread. I hear about news through a game of “broken telephone,” where students tell students who tell students about what they think may have happened.

Often more consequential than rumors or the lack of information spread is the message that the lack of communication sends to the student body: a sign of distrust in the students from the administration. Students discuss this disconnect between the administration and the student body, and this phenomenon of confidentiality and mystery simply furthers the divide. If I get home from a day of hearing rumors, and I have to ask my mother what happened at the school that I just left, there is a serious problem. It makes me feel infantilized by a place that has otherwise treated me with such respect.

I cannot understand why the school keeps us in the dark. One reason I could think of is to give parents the power to re-

lay information on a tough subject matter to their children in the way that they see fit. To that, I would say that the information is spurting through the halls anyway.

Certain parents tell their kids the news, and others do not. The parents who do relay the news often do not know the people or context associated with the news, so they deliver different messages.

I believe that the school has a responsibility as an institution to keep their students in the loop. I understand that students cannot know everything. But we can at least get the same message that is sent to our parents. Or anything at all. Because when we are told nothing, when the school acts as if nothing happened, when information becomes hushed, students feel alienated and, through little fault of their own, end up spreading misinformation. And if the school’s reservations are about confidence in the maturity of the student body, I would say that we are able to handle the truth. Administrators, you can trust us.

Using religion to further the climate conversation

was an Augustinian friar Even in the secular community, using in the 1800s, and he con- arguments outside of science has been ducted his experiments at helpful for climate change advocacy. GreDesign Editors his monastery. Clearly, re- ta Thunberg isn’t making the pure-science Euwan Kim ligious people are not au- “save the polar bears” plea now because Reena Ye tomatically unable to use it’s not an effective motivator; instead, the Chris Ha reason and facts. But if we risk of humanity ending Art Directors believe that science and has shown Annabelle Chan religion are at war, then to be Gabrielle Fischberg we, of course, bea Katya Arutyunyan lieve “our side,” Photography science, alGriffin Smith ways wins.

Ahaan Palla Our suJake Shapiro Margalit Patry-Martin periority Faculty Adviser complex David Berenson comes As reports on the acceleration and from the risks of human-caused climate change belief that science Staff Writers multiply and activism and awareness in- is purely rational; if Izzy Abbott, Adrian crease, American activists continue to scientific theories Arnaboldi, Abby Beckler, Bradley Bennett, Sam become frustrated by unmoving climate were determined Chiang, Sogona Cisse, Jack change denialism in some white religious e x p e r i m e n t a l lSarah Crovitz, Adam Frommer, y, Sun/Staff Artist Andie Goldmacher, Julia Christian communities. According to the how could they Goldberg, Andie Goldmacher, Alison Isko, Avi Pew Research Center, in 2015, only 28% be anything but Kapadia, Marina Kazarian, of white evangelicals believed climate factual?

HowevJohn Mauro, Yesh Nikam, Henry Owens, Oliver change was human-caused. To secular er, science doesn’t Steinman, Emily Shi, Sampeople, we seem to be at an impasse, since happen in a vacuum, uel Singer, Natalie Sweet, Sasha Snyder, Vivien religious Christians don’t find climate sci- and scientists are inSweet, Joshua Underberg, ence-backed arguments convincing. As fluenced by the larger Talia Winiarsky, Chloe Choi, Emma Colacino, a secular Jew concerned about climate society. Most recently, Yin Fei, Lucas Glickman, Alison Isko/Contributing Artist change, I completely understand that in 2019 a decision-makClaire Goldberg, Liliana Greyf, Lauren Ho, Walker feeling.

However, the issue is not rooted ing computer software in McCarthy, Maya Nornberg, in religious Christians, but rather in our the US was revealed to assign Morgan Smith, Patrick Steinbaug, Katya Tolunsky, refusal to acknowledge their perspectives lower medical risk scores to black Nathan Zelizer when making arguments.

Staff Photographers patients than white patients with the v e r y Julia Isko, Daniel Lee, One of the key reasons for our stub- same disease. This was not a calculation compelling arAva Merker, Kelly Troop, Halley Robbins, Sophie bornness is the idea that religion and sci- error; the implicit bias of the program’s gument. We can similarly pair scientific Gordon, Amanda Wein, makers affected how the program worked. proof of climate change with religious Maxwell Shopkorn, Emma ence are inherently in conflict. There have Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas been, and still are, many religious people If we can lower ourselves from a delusion- motivators (once we internalize that sciGlickman, Lauren Ho who were scientists. Gregor Mendel, who al platform of pure rationalism, then we ence and religion can go together). ReliStaff Artists Wilder Harwood, Sarah established the rules of heredity that be- can start to engage with religious climate gion has historically been a major motivaSun, Rachel Zhu came the foundation of modern genetics, skeptics as equals and make progress. tor; why not use it?

There are currently two major arguments in the growing Christian environmentalist movement for combating climate change. First, humans’ dominion over the earth, as told in Genesis, has been interpreted as stewardship, making humans responsible for taking care of what God gave them. Statistics on carbon emissions alone aren’t moving, but a stewardship perspective can compel people to act against irresponsible use of the earth’s resources. Second, connecting the charity aspect of Christianity to the disproportionate harm poor people will suffer from the effects of climate change can encourage people to help those in need by joining efforts against rising temperatures. In fact, religious organizations would be uniquely helpful in mitigating some inevitable effects of climate change; as natural disasters threaten to break apart communities, religion can help keep the social fabric intact in ways the scientific community cannot.

The best way to convince a religious Christian to combat climate change may be to connect them to someone with a similar background.

If someone feels uncomfortable and threatened by secular liberals, then it will be completely unproductive for a secular liberal to argue with them. Instead, point them in the direction of religious Christian climate scientists or pastors leading their own environmentalist movements.

If we stop treating religious Christians as obstacles in fighting the climate crisis, we can make actual progress on climate drawdown while acknowledging our differences.

HORACE MANN NEWS JANUARY 17TH, 2019

Fighting fires with fundraising: students aid Australia Marina Kazarian Staff Writer A bake sale held yesterday was the school’s first fundraising event to help alleviate the disastrous impact of the Australia wildfires. The wildfires, which have been burning for months, have killed over half a billion animals and over two dozen humans, and destroyed thousands of square miles of land and over 1,300 homes, according to CNN. The Australian Prime Minister is allotting $347 million to help rebuild communities harmed by the fires this year alone.

Joining forces with the Community Council and GreenHM, Student Body Presidents Isha Agarwal (12) and Roey Nornberg (12) have spearheaded efforts to raise both awareness and money for the cause.

They are planning several fundraising events such as hosting bake sales at swim meets and basketball games.

“We’re thinking of making this

more than one week and actually Agarwal said. running it over the course of a month Lara Hersch (11) has several family until we get our desired goal in terms members who live in Australia, and, of the money,” Nornberg said. even though their homes are not The initial fundraising goal is to damaged by the fires due to their raise at least a thousand location, everyone there dollars, but Agarwal said is impacted in some she hopes to raise way, she said. For a few thousand instance, her family dollars “to try friend’s house was and truly make destroyed, and, as an impact.” a result, he helped Ye s t e r d a y ’s start a fundraising bake sale raised campaign that has $613.75. raised thousands Gabrielle Fischberg/Art Director The money will go of dollars to help to the Australian Red rebuild.

Cross, whose mission is “I was recently there over “to empower vulnerable people, winter break, and, everywhere I making them safer and more resilient went, there was a haze created by the through the delivery of services and fires,” Hersch said. “Everybody I’ve the promotion of humanitarian asked who has lived there their entire laws and values,” according to their lives has told me that they’ve never website. “It has a wide variety of experienced fires like this before.” services they use for immediate relief, Nornberg said that the events and they are a trustworthy donation in Australia are a global issue center to help victims of Australia,” and constitute part of a recent

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chain of climate change-driven environmental catastrophes.

The focus of GreenHM is very closely tied to this cause as well, co-president of GreenHM Paul Wang (12) said. “Although they are important, at the end of the day, personal sacrifices alone are not going to solve our climate crisis,” he said. “I think the best way we can solve climate change is to elect the right people and hold corporations and legislators accountable.”

Climate change and sustainability were fundamental principles of the Student Body Presidents’ campaign platform, Agarwal said, and remain an important and pressing issue.

“When the fires struck, we knew that as a school community it was important that we tried to help the thousands of people who are being affected by this disastrous event,” she said. “Raising money was the best and quickest way we thought to help out, due to the scary and urgent nature of the events.”

Student Showcase: a look at three performances from Tuesday Izzy Abbot Staff Writer Annie Wallach (11) and Eden Plepler (11) performed “Thank You for the Music,” from the movie-musical Mamma Mia with music by the 80s band ABBA. Their song choice was based off of a shared love for Mamma Mia and a desire to “give the school some exposure to ABBA,” Wallach said.

“People are often turned off by musical theatre and we wanted to choose a song that everyone could enjoy,” Plepler said.

Despite having been in numerous

Louise Kim

Gabrielle Fischberg/Art Director

HMTC productions together, this was the first time Plepler and Wallach performed a duet, Plepler said.

“I was completely terrified about performing in front of school, even though I had always watched other people go up during assemblies,” Wallach said. “But I always wanted to duet with Eden and this was a great opportunity to get over the fear of doing it.”

Plepler, who is playing the role of Hope Cladwell in the school’s upcoming production of Urinetown: The Musical, had also wanted to duet with Wallach

Louise Kim (9) shared an original poem entitled “Roaring 20s: A Medley of Lights” that featured a “juxtaposition of imagery from the 1920s and some things that are going on in the 2020s like immigration, climate change, and police brutality,” Kim said.

Kim wanted to “celebrate the start of this new decade with a

Spencer Kahn (12), one of three students enrolled in theater teacher Haila VanHentenryck’s Acting for the Camera class, shared a monologue titled “It Just Doesn’t Matter” from the movie Meatballs.

In collaboration with Jordan Rathus’ Filmmaking II class, Kahn and his classmates, Dylan Chin (12) and Wilder Harwood (12), each chose a monologue from a movie they liked that the Filmmaking II students then filmed and directed, Kahn said. The Filmmaking II students had total agency over lighting, physical direction, and camera

and was pleased that Bartels was able to help them find the right time to perform together, she said.

Wallach and Plepler have both been in school choir ensembles led by N-12 Music Program Coordinator Timothy Ho throughout high school, but they feel that participating in the assembly allows them and other students to share talents that others may not always see, Wallach said.

“I hope other people are unafraid to do that they love and not worry about fitting a specific mold or being embarrassed,” Plepler said.

poem that acknowledged the complexity of the situation of our world now,” she said. In light of all we have endured in the past decade, Kim aimed to end the poem on a message of hope that we can “be the light we wish to find at this time.”

Kim, who enjoys sharing her poetry with her peers and teachers, wishes that there

movement, Kahn also said.

“People were talking about it after the assembly– it even came up in a class discussion,” Ari Salsberg (11) said.

The audience laughed amusedly as Kahn repeated the phrase “it just doesn’t matter” with increasing enthusiasm, Salsberg said.

Kahn began acting at a young age, and when other teenagers in a standup show in 2013 sparked his interest in comedy, he decided to give it a try.

By practicing on his own and taking classes in stand-up, Kahn was able to develop his comedy into what it is today

were more opportunities for students to share their work with more of the school, she said.

“Because of the size of the Upper Division, we are not able to see people’s talents too often,” Kim said. “It is important to celebrate our strengths and differences and encourage other classmates

Annie Wallach and Eden Plepler Courtesy of Annie Wallach

MUSICAL MINDS Wallach (11) and Pepler (11) check out the Broadway scene.

with their hobbies or talents in these assemblies.”

Kim is an avid poet, and hopes that she can continue to share her work and be inspired by the world around her, she said.

“It is such a joy to hear people react positively to the poem knowing that my message is conveyed well,” she said.

and is glad to share his work with the rest of the school, he said.

Though there was a small screening of the three films for a group of around 15 students and faculty before winter break, Kahn is glad that more people could see the fruits of their labor in the assembly, he said. “[The assembly] was a great way to showcase what we work on in this class,” Kahn said. A fan of student showcases with live performances, Kahn also believes pre-recorded films like the ones from his class provide a more “professional viewing experience.”

Spencer Kahn

Courtesy of Spencer Kahn

COMEDIC TIMING Kahn (12) gets some stand-up experience

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THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 17TH, 2019

The Captivating Tragedy of Walter White Talia Winiarsky Staff Writer Most chemistry teachers do not keep a gun and hundreds of thousands of dollars in their lab-coat pockets. But in Breaking Bad, timid, meek chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) becomes a machine-gun slinging murderer, standing in his white briefs in the middle of a rural New Mexico highway, within the first episode.

At the beginning of the first season, which aired in 2008, when you think Walt’s life cannot get any worse, it does. His family in the suburbs of Albuquerque struggles to pay bills on his salary, his overbearing wife (Anna Gunn) is pregnant, and his teenage son is battling cerebral palsy (RJ Mitte III).

Walt works two jobs, as a chemistry teacher and washing cars, and his bosses and even students bully him. After he collapses at the car wash, Walt learns that he has terminal cancer-- he has never smoked.

Thus begins the plot of the show: Walt teams up with his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), and transforms an old RV into his methamphetamine lab to make money to sustain his family after his death.

From then on, the plot accelerates. It’s not the kind of show to watch while mindlessly doing your homework or scrolling through your phone. You need to pay attention to every detail, every character, even if they might not seem meaningful at the time. They will reappear, seasons later, just when you’ve forgotten them.

The 62 hour-long episodes are packed with action, and rarely an episode goes by without violence or excessive drug use. There are many gruesome murders, and as the show progresses, Walt becomes more capable of violence and of taking someone else’s life without being fazed. He is able to return home to his family in his drab, neutral-colored wardrobe, and easily put on a facade that he did not just murder a man.

But perhaps the best element of the show is Walt’s transformation from protagonist to antihero. As creator Vince Gilligan put it, the show aimed to turn “Mr. Chips into Scarface.”

In the first episode, Walt gives a prescient lecture about the study of chemistry. “It’s solution and dissolution, just over and over and over. It is growth, then decay, then transformation!” Just like the molecules he studies, Walt is always changing.

There comes a point where your allegiances switch, and you are no longer hoping that things will work out for Walt; for me, it was the end of the third season, when Walt decides to make a trade: kill an innocent man so that his own life would be spared. His partner in crime, Jesse, advises him against it, pleading for Walt to turn himself into the Drug Enforcement Administration instead and enter into a Witness Protection program. But by the end of the episode, the innocent man lays peacefully in a puddle of his blood, tea kettle still whistling and his music playing.

If you look up the show’s synopsis, it may make the show seem like a suspense or thriller. But when you watch the plot, you understand that the show is a tragedy more than any other genre. A good man turns bad.

In the fourth season, when his wife, Skyler, tells him, “You are not some hardened criminal, Walt.

You are in over your head,” he angrily spits out, “You clearly don’t know who you’re talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger.”

One simple mistake causes Walt’s reversal: he chooses to cook meth in the first episode. At that point, he isn’t expecting to end the episode as a murderer. One decision causes a spiral of events that lasts five seasons.

And yet, even after I saw the first episode, somehow, I was not outraged at him. I justified my support for Walt by thinking that the other man deserved his death, since he tried to kill Walt. Besides, the only reason Walt cooks drugs is because he wants to provide for his wife and disabled son. But there comes a point when the viewer continues to grasp for a justification but cannot find any.

Walt seems unexceptional: he lives in a modest house, despite having millions of dollars, drives an old car, often with a broken windshield. Yet he represents what ordinary people, under the right circumstances, are capable of. And that, even more so than the stabbings and gunshots, is the scariest part of all.

Courtesy of AMCF

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A Presidency in Portraits Emily Lombardo Studio Arts Technician

One of the greatest moments in art in the 2010s happened on February 12, 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald unveiled their portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama. News outlets and social media was ablaze with these stunning portraits of the first Black President and First Lady, painted by the Black artists, the first to be included in this national collection. Both Wiley and Sherald are known for their unique styles of portraiture which they bring to these works. However, during the process of creating these massive paintings the artists formed relationships with the Obamas which allowed the work to resonate their individual personalities. Sherald and the First Lady said they formed a “sisterhood” and Sherald says the opportunity to create the portrait was a major turning point in her creative process. Wiley brings his lavish lush realism to this work but allows the President to be seen as a man of the people. He is seated, collar unbuttoned, arms folded with a generous warmth flowing from his eyes to the viewer. These works are a celebration of the life and spirit the Obamas brought to the White House 2009 to 2017.

Designs of the Decade Liliana Greyf Staff Writer

You can tell a lot about a person from the way they dress: you can look at someone and be impressed with their unique style, or you can immediately tell they watch Emma Chamberlain on YouTube, Eliza Bender (12) said.

In the last decade, the fashion world has gone from oversized sweaters, to expensive streetwear, to thrifted vintage cardigans, constantly creating a high demand for new and improved styles.

The 2010s have been filled with a mix of both retro and completely modern clothing pieces, all of which supply the demand for contemporary and interesting wardrobes.

The two biggest trends of the decade were seemingly contrasting: vintage, retro, 1970s style, and the more contemporary athleisure image of so-called ‘hypebeast’ brands, Emmi Zeitler (10) said.

Zeitler believes that the rise in vintage fashion is due to the admiration of popular figures of the time and their representation in the media, in shows like, ‘That 70s Show.’ “People are starting to realize that old clothing and style was unique and cool, and can be brought back again,” she said.

People turned to thrift stores looking for clothes that no one else would have, Tomoko Hida (10) said. Most retro clothing can be found in these stores, which have become more widely recognized as interest, rather than necessity, in the last decade. “I think a lot of the appeal of retro fashion is that it feels authentic. There’s an authenticity that’s prevalent when you know that these clothes have been worn before,” Bender said.

On the other hand, many prefer a world of large logos and expensive hoodies, which is generally referred to as streetwear or athleisure, Leonora Gogos (12) said. “Wearing sweatpants and hoodies as acceptable everyday clothes, or even making them designer, was a big trend of the last few years.”

While thrifted clothes are cheaper, streetwear is more expensive.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

These clothes are often distressed, or even made to look tattered when they are new, Gogos said. These brands, such as Supreme or Off White are definitely unique to the last decade. There has never been such a dramatic uptick in expensive athletic clothing.

From the music industry, the rise of hip hop culture caused athleisure to become popularized, Hida said. “Designers work with record labels, bringing in clothing from companies that want to be featured. Large logos became prevalent because companies wanted their brands to be noticed, whether it be in a music video or in street photography.”

These brands are more expensive, even though the clothes they produce aren’t actually better quality, James Thomas (10) said. “It’s not about the material, it’s about the name of the brand. If you wear it, you’re deemed cool.”

Although these styles seem to contrast one another, they can coincide and even complement one another, Gogos said. Streetwear brands can sometimes call back to vintage clothing. They use images or phrases that evoke historical imagery.

“For different trends to coexist is not highly unusual. Both [vintage and streetwear clothing] have a sense of not having to be bought straight off the runway. They promote finding ways to look cool without buying haute couture, or what the runway gives you,” Gogos said.

In the early 2010s, most fashion was dictated by popular brands.

“I think that brands definitely have power in promoting whatever people buy. If the brand has enough of a reputation, then people will follow what they put out,” Gogos said.

However, more recently, the well-liked clothing staples have been decided by social media influencers and beauty bloggers, Zeitler said. Emma Chamberlain, a YouTuber, created her own fanbase, a lot of whom are heavily influenced by her outfits. Similarly, the Kardashian Family, with hundreds of millions of followers, are able to start their own trends simply by posting pictures in certain accessories. People that have access to the media are able to influ-

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ence the choices of the buyers, and fast fashion companies simply mass produce them.

Fast fashion, a term which is used to describe the mass production of inexpensive yet trendy clothes that will soon be out of style, was coined in the 1990s by the New York Times. This past decade, however, fast fashion has grown to be widely recognized and utilized by major clothing brands.

The creation of clothes in such a widespread and quick manner has a huge impact on the environment. “While people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000, they only kept the clothes for half as long,” an article published by Business Insider stated. A lot of this clothing is ultimately thrown out, wasting the materials it was made from and continuing to pollute the ecosystem.

Fast fashion further harms the climate, as well as the lives of many people producing the clothing. Some fast fashion leads to human rights violations, as some large companies that make all their clothing overseas use unsafe conditions for workers, as well as unsustainable or unfair pay.

“Fast fashion industries are beginning to be boycotted. People are shaming each other for buying from not sustainable brands.

With the continued trend of minimalist and unique clothing, these brands are being beat out by thrift stores and smaller boutiques,” Hida said.

Fortunately, by the end of this decade, people have begun to treat sustainable fashion as its own trend, working to better the fashion industry. Because people want unique clothing, they are refusing to buy from companies that produce large amounts of trend-setting clothing.

Hopefully, this decade will see further growth in sustainable fashion.

HORACE MANN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 17TH2019

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A contemporary take on the teenage love story Vivien Sweet Staff Writer “Maybe okay will be our always.”

Along with a multitude of One Direction fanfiction writers and diehard Arctic Monkey fans, I must have pored over that line a hundred times over the course of middle school. The quote, from John Green’s New York Times Bestseller The Fault in Our Stars, encapsulates the essence of American adolescent angst through a teenage romance filled with brash irony and social commentary, making it an instant bedside table classic. As a rising middle schooler who was beginning to grow out of the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series, I instantly fell in love with what I now consider to be the best Young Adult novel of the decade.

Green’s novel follows the love story of protagonists and slightly snobby intellectuals Hazel and Gus, both of whom have cancer. In a whirlwind of a relationship that whisks the duo from a cancer support group in the basement of a church all the way to Amsterdam, Green sucks the reader in with witty banter, a persistently cynical best friend, and simple but deep metaphors. (A cigarette can’t kill you if you don’t light it, right?)

A lot of the novel’s success was derived from its fresh take on teenage romance in an age where Twilight was the most sophisticated literature on the topic. Up until The Fault in Our Stars was released in 2012, perhaps the only writer whose work remotely resembled Green’s was Jerry Spinnelli—if you gave the beloved Stargirl author a profane lexicon and an army of misunderstood-romantic male protagonists.

In reality, though, the idea of a fatal love story was hardly unique; tales such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights are living testaments to the genre. But what Gus and Hazel have that their romantic predecessors lack is crucial to their relatability to a generation of socially-educated young women: cell phones, modern teenage vernacular, and an acute sense of self-awareness in a society that frowns upon noticeable physical disabilities.

The cultural impact that The Fault in Our Stars had on the 2010s can clearly be measured by the swell of tragedy-based romance novels that followed it. Whether the female lead was subject to abject poverty and abuse (Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park), in a coma (Gayle Forman’s If I Stay), or tricked into believing that she has severe combined immunodeficiency (Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything), there was always a lovable male hero to accompany them.

None, however, pulled off the sympathetic male charm as eloquently as Green did with Gus. Gus had, without a doubt, won the understanding-boyfriend-of-the-decade-award; he could even talk about sex while veering on the feminist side. For girls and boys alike who were tired of the knight-inshining-armor relationship narrative, Gus brought a new realm of grand romantic gestures to the table.

What other boyfriend would call his girlfriend “sexy” after she quotes Wallace Steven’s poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” or fly with her to Amsterdam just to meet the author of her dreams?

All things considered, “The Fault in Our Stars” is unquestionably a teenage love story for the ages.

Through the lens of Gus and Hazel’s battle against cancer and ultimately the world, Green showed a generation of budding activists that a relationship can be more than just roses and first kisses.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Hamilton Blew Us All Away

st the 10s

Julia Goldberg Staff Writer

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Courtesy of Flikr

Lady Bird Grows Up Eliza Poster A&E Editor

Any student who confronts the college process knows the dread of sitting down with parents to have the inevitable “where do you want to go to school?” talk, but few of us would imagine hurling ourselves out of a moving car in order to avoid our mother’s condemnation. Yet when Lady Bird McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) does just this, it’s relatable. Despite her proclivity for the flamboyant and often extreme, Lady Bird’s story is underscored by emotions familiar to anyone navigating the turbulent waters of adolescence: the highs and lows; the confusion, elation, and longing.

Filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s 2017 directorial debut puts a contemporary twist on the traditional coming-of-age story. Taking place in a post 9/11 America and centering around characters coping with issues of identity which past films about teenagers have largely neglected and the influence of new technology. Kyle Scheible’s (Timothée Chalamet) commendation of Lady Bird for dodging her surveillance by the government by not having a cell phone seems especially relevant.

What Lady Bird does best is give a somewhat accurate glimpse into what coming-of-age truly is— most people don’t turn their backs on childhood and suddenly have everything figured out, Lady Bird certainly doesn’t. So it’s appropriate that the film ends in her recognizing the potential, even the likelihood, of struggle in the future and a simultaneous emergence of gratitude for the people from her past.

Talk less, smile more, Aaron Burr said—and that’s exactly what throngs of theatergoers have been doing upon entering the doors of Richard Rogers Theater since Alexander Hamilton’s Broadway debut on August 5th, 2015.

The story of the first Treasury Secretary and other founding fathers has long been a prominent aspect of the curriculum of our school, among others nationwide. But Hamilton takes an approach to American history unlike any other; it marries form with content and innovative performance with narrative. It brings 18th century figures into the modern world, taking faces from bills and transforming them into individuals with distinct personalities holding their own passions and flaws.

In hopes of elevating the historical storyline, which is indisputably one of immigrants, Director Lin-Manuel Miranda cast all major roles, with the exclusion of King George III, as people of color. In fact, Miranda said, the diversity of the cast was essentially predestined.

After receiving the 2018 Rosetta LeNoire Award for inclusive casting from the Actors’ Equity Association, he asked, “If it had been an all-white cast, wouldn’t you think I messed up?”

However, the impact of the makeup of the cast extends beyond the musical itself. It has shifted the ways in which non-Caucasian actors view their career paths, said Christine Toy Johnson, Actors’ Equity Association national equal employment opportunity chair. To acknowledge Miranda’s success, the Association has granted Hamilton numerous awards, including the Rosetta award and a 2015-2016 award for Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway.

Hamilton also broke new theatrical ground on Broadway with its form. Its use of modern genres of music, such as rap, R&B, and hip-hop, drive the musical; the fast-paced lyrics match the spirited mood. Its modern style has also allowed a new generation to see musical theater as accessible, and, with a little luck, attendees of Hamilton who were not previously interested in musical theater will be more open to the experience.

As a result of a multitude of bold choices contained within Hamilton, the show was incredibly well-received: it was granted a record-breaking 16 Tony nominations in 2016, and eventually won 11 awards, including Best Musical and Best Lead Actor (clinched by Leslie Odom Jr.). It also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and grossed more than $4 million in one week, the first Broadway show ever to do so. Hamilton represents a dramatic shift in what musical theater is understood to be; it was not just a musical about a revolution; it was a revolutionary musical.

Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, Iconic Album.

Rish Sinha Arts Contributor In 2012, Kendrick Lamar released his second studio album, Good Kid m.A.A.d City, an hour-long concept album about the pressures that come with poverty which force an ordinary child to turn to crime, drugs, and a life of general apathy. While many critics prefer his following album, To Pimp a Butterfly, Good Kid m.A.A.d City’s narrative is significantly more cohesive, its lowest points are significantly better than those on To Pimp a Butterfly, and above all, unlike To Pimp a Butterfly, each individual song which appears on Good Kid m.A.A.d City is listenable outside of the context of the album.

The vocal interludes on the album not only provide links between songs but also serve as appropriate outros to each track. Songs like Money Trees, Poetic Justice, m.A.A.d city, and Swimming Pools (Drank) have maintained their popularity at the time of the album’s release to the extent that the album is, as of the beginning of 2020, still 93rd on Billboard’s top 200 albums.

Despite the album’s focus on the experience of a teen from a low-income neighborhood, its themes of succumbing to peer pressure, groupthink and substance abuse are applicable to individuals in all situations.

The album also seamlessly changes tone and pace to emulate different situations. For example, in m.A.A.d City, the instrumentals contain shorter drum hits and have a faster tempo, however, in the previous song, good kid, the instrumental is slower and more melody-heavy. Additionally, the album combines elements of rap from both the East and the West Coast and perfectly synthesizes them into one of the greatest concept albums of all time.

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THE RECORD MIDDLE DIVISION JANUARY 17TH, 2019

NBA player Etan Thomas and Emerald Garner analyze activism

SOCIAL ACTIVISM Thomas and Garner talk about life experiences and activism with the MD. Yesh Nikam and Oliver Steinman Staff Writers Nine year NBA veteran Etan Thomas spoke alongside Emerald Garner, daughter of Eric Garner, at the Middle Division (MD) Assembly this Thursday. The two discussed issues regarding race, activism, and politics for the first half of the assembly and then opened it up to a Q&A for the middle schoolers.

Thomas spent nine seasons in the league with the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Atlanta Hawks.

During this span, Thomas played with stars such as Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, just to name a few. Since retiring, Thomas has focused on using his voice as an athlete to spread his opinion on issues that he is passionate about and encourage other athletes to use their own platforms to spread their beliefs, he said.

Currently, Thomas travels around the country promoting his ideas about athletes in activism. Recently, he has spoken to students at Harvard and Columbia, as well as the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

As a former basketball player, Thomas advocates for athletes to use their power to fight for justice. “I encourage athletes to use their voices because they have such a big platform. There is so much power in the athlete voice,” he said. “When people disagree with athletes they want to shut down their voices.”

Both Garner and Thomas are heavily involved in activism; they have been involved in protests regarding gun violence and police brutality. “Many of these marches are beautiful to see because it was constructed by people your age,” Thomas told the audience.

In 2018, Thomas published his fourth book, “We Matter, Athletes in Activism,” with 50 interviews from “athletes, activists, media personalities, scholars, and the family of victims of police brutality,” his website states.

Thomas explained to the Middle Division that he was influenced by Muhammed Ali, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Bill Russell, when he himself was in middle school. “These figures inspired me to take action and make my voice heard,” Thomas told the audience. Garner discussed the controversy involving her father and how it affected her: On July 17th, 2014, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo attempted to arrest Eric Garner for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island and placed him in an illegal chokehold which resulted in his death and sparked protest nationwide.

Garner stated that when she found out her father was killed she was devastated and confused. She did not understand why so many people were mourning over her father when it seemed to her that she was the only person in the world who knew her father on a personal level. She eventually came to the conclusion that she could use the incident as a way to amplify her voice and promote justice. Garner explained how the incident gave her the opportunity to hear other people’s stories and how those stories encouraged her to speak out more.

Garner said that before her father’s death she had heard people who died unjustly but had never really felt the need to fight for them. “But as his child, I felt a responsibility to stand up for him and it made me think about what I can do,” she said.

Throughout the assembly, both Garner and Thomas emphasized the importance of hearing and interacting with young people, which is why they chose to make the second half of the assembly a Q&A, where the middle schoolers had the opportunity to ask Garner and Thomas questions.

The questions covered a variety of topics: Thomas’s time as an

NBA athlete to activism and social justice.

One middle schooler asked whether it was okay to support multiple causes. Thomas responded by mentioning his own work is not limited to one cause: “I was very against the invasion of Iraq and I didn’t see the connection to why we were going into Iraq. I took a strong stance against the war and it was a very unpopular stance,” he said.

Another student asked if Garner and Thomas were part of any larger organizations. Both Garner and Thomas explained that they were not directly involved in any organizations, but that making alliances with organizations that promoted causes synonymous with their beliefs played an essential role in spreading their common causes.

Karam Malhotra (8) thought that attending the assembly

was a valuable experience because it was very enlightening to hear somebody who experienced wrong, stand up for a cause. “I really enjoyed hearing what they shared with us and their perspectives on activism,” he said.

Thomas hoped that the main take away from the assembly, from his and Garner’s experiences, is that anyone can voice their opinion, no matter what the cause is. Thomas believes “all causes are important.” Thomas also said that the younger generation has the privilege of social media as a space to voice their own opinions. Thomas encouraged the middle schoolers to reach out to people on social media who are invested in the same causes and work with them to get their ideas trending.

Answers to last week’s crossword

HORACE MANN LIONS’ DEN JANUARY 17TH, 2019

Jousting ‘til the end: girls fencing dominates Marymount Henry Owens & Bradley Bennett Staff Writers

This Monday, the Girls Varsity Fencing team dominated the Marymount School, winning all three weapons with a combined score of 23-4. This was another victory in what has been a mixed season for the team, with foil going 6-1, sabre 2-4, and epee 4-3.

Three different weapons constitute the divisions of the fencing team: sabre, epee, and foil. Each division plays simultaneously on three separate strips and plays the opposing team in a best-of-nine series of bouts, and the team that wins at least five of those nine wins the overall event.

The sabre team won by a final score of 7-2. Out of the seven total wins for the Lions, Abby Beckler (11) won three bouts, Lauren Ho (10) won two, and Samantha Tsai (11) and Esha Patel (10) each won one.

Patel said her bout was “relatively easy because [her opponent] used the same tactic multiple rounds in a row.” Even after her opponent changed strategy after a timeout, Patel remained focused and reacted well to her opponent.

“I think the sabre team did well because the sophomores really improved the past few weeks and I could really see a difference,” Tsai, captain of the sabre team, said. “Everyone was very aggressive in their bouts, which was nice to see because that’s what we’ve been working on in practice recently.”

The epee team also performed well, winning seven out of their nine bouts. Unlike sabre and foil, which have very specific areas where fencers are supposed to hit, in epee, any part of the body is fair game. Due to this, players have to be more cautious, and bouts typically last longer, Erin Zhao (11) said.

Juliette Shang (10) lost two of her epee matches by a very

narrow margin in priority, which is the fencing equivalent of overtime; in order to break a tie, players have one minute to get a touch or else the winner is decided randomly. In one of her priority rounds, Shang and her opponent hit each other simultaneously four times before the clock ran out and the bout defaulted to her opponent who had been given priority by chance.

Shang received advice from Varsity Girls Fencing Coach Julio Benjamin during her bout, she said.

“He can be very intense, so I think that’s kind of when the pressure is on,” Shang said. “He is very invested in the team.

If he tells me what my strategy is, I really think about that and don’t look at the scoreboard.”

The foil team had an especially strong performance, winning all nine bouts. Helena Yang (11) and Madison Wu (10) started strong without losing a single touch in the first two bouts. Captain Rachel Zhu (11) also competed very well without losing any of her bouts. Foil tends to be a much more offensive and direct style because there is a limited target area, so all three players were able to win their bouts in very little time.

The level of competition was lower than at other tournaments, Zhu said, but that didn’t mean that the team did not put in maximum effort. “The most important thing to focus on when fencing newer, more inexperienced opponents is to keep movements simple, and not overthink things,” she said.

The team uses a different strategy to play inexperienced teams, Ho said. “It makes it a lot easier for us to figure out what we’re going to do and allows us to also try out different techniques that we’ve been working on at practice. We can play around more with what we do, which betters us for future matches.”

The meet was not a challenging one, Zhu said. “Marymount

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is a relatively weak team in terms of extracurricular fencing. We have more members of our team who fence outside of school and have a lot more experience.”

All members of the foil team, including Zhu, Xu, and Yang, fence outside of school, giving them an advantage over most of their opponents.

One issue that the team has had this season is getting adjusted to the slippery conditions at the Hazen Gymnasium at the Lower School.

“It is very easy to slip on this floor and it’s really hard to gain traction,” Richard Ha (12) said.

“We fence on this floor every day in practice, so we’re very used to it,” Patel said. “It’s almost like a home-field advantage at this point.”

The meet was originally scheduled to be against Riverdale, but there was a last minute switch to Marymount, who only has a girls’ team.

“Many of us were disappointed because we were looking forward to getting in a bit of revenge against Riverdale because last time none of the boy’s teams won, other than foil,” Cohen said. “The sabre and the epee team were both looking to score some victories against Riverdale for the first time in a while.”

Although they weren’t able to compete, most of the boys stayed behind to cheer on their teammates.

“Overall, we were expected to win this meet, but we still had some great individual performances, and the team fenced well as a whole,” Patel said.

“We had a really fun time and the meet was a great team bonding experience,” Zhu said.

Amanda Wein/Staff Photographer

EPOCH OF ÉPEE Girls varsity fencers from the school face off in a match against the Marymount school.

4-0: Table Tennis remains undefeated Yesh Nikam & Emma Colacino Staff Writers On Monday, The Varsity Table Tennis team beat the Browning School 4-1 in the multipurpose room to extend their undefeated season to 4-0. This was their second match against Browning, after emerging victorious in their opening match of the season.

The team has practiced diligently four times a week for the last month and a half, perfecting their skills by playing challenge matches and drills, Captain Robert Werdiger (12) said. “The practices are intense and everyone shows high energy in order to better prepare us for our matches.”

A typical practice begins with rallying between teammates, and later in the practice teammates are able to challenge each other. “Some people may want to challenge each other for positions, which they can totally do,” Aneesh Bafna (12) said.

Their practice paid off, as they were the better team Monday afternoon. Long rallies repeatedly went the school’s way and many times the Browning players struggled with the team’s pinpoint accuracy and consistency.

The highlight of the competition was Werdiger’s match at first singles. Up a set and 10-3, he seemed in complete control. However, he proceeded to lose 9 straight points and Werdiger found the match tied at one set a piece.

However, he did not back down. Down 3-1

in the third set, he refocused, playing more consistent cross court shots and using his powerful strokes to move his opponent across the table.

The fourth set featured long back-and-forth rallies, with both players playing their best, but ultimately, Werdiger came out on top in a tough four-set battle.

Julien Harcourt (9), playing the same opponent that he beat in straight sets (3-0) in December, was involved in a much tougher affair on Monday. Up two sets to one, Harcourt lost the fourth set after his opponent raised his level, leading to a deciding fifth set. Despite being down, Harcourt did not let the pressure get to him. Using his ferocious forehand, and aided by some costly errors from his opponent, he ultimately prevailed in a tight five set battle.

Werdiger praised Harcourt’s performance all season, especially during Monday’s game. “He has been solid for us all year. He is a really good player and especially as a freshman playing singles, he has shown great maturity and match toughness” he said.

The team has excellent camaraderie, good leadership, and is supportive, Table Tennis Coach Caroline Surhoff said.

At third singles, Bafna defeated his opponent in four sets while Leo Hess (10) and Avi Kumar (10), playing first doubles, beat their opponents in three easy sets. Jiyon Chaterjee (9) and Jiya Chaterjee (9) fell in a tightly contested five set match, the only match the HM lost.

In their first season as a full varsity team, the

table tennis team has been accomplishing impressive feats and hope to bring home a league title. Werdiger founded the team last year with the help of Director of Athletics Robert Annunziata, and the two worked to form a private school league. As a club varsity team last year, the team practiced only three times a week and competed against Fieldston, Leman, and Kew Forest. This year, Browning was added to the league.

Werdiger is optimistic about the growth of the sport and hopes to see more “Ivy League schools” join the league in years to come. Surhoff agreed with the statement, mentioning that she hopes to have more schools provide Table Tennis teams, especially those in the Ivy League.

“In our second year we’ve already made great strides. We were forced to make cuts at tryouts and were happy to have experienced players compete. In the future, I expect the HM community to pay more attention to our standing and for plenty of kids to tryout in the years to come,” he said.

The team’s improvement since last season is due to the participation of more skilled players, as well as greater team publicity, Bafna said.

Another strength of the team is their doubles play, which is not a typical skill that table tennis players have. The formats of matches are three singles and two doubles. “Usually people don’t have doubles experience in table tennis, so it was good to have talented players who could adapt to doubles more easily,” Bafna said. “Doubles players have played with different partners without

a hitch. We have a lot of depth on the team this year,” Surhoff said. At second doubles, the partner pairs have differed for every match because we have so much depth.

Founding the team was one of the highlights of Werdiger’s high school experience, and he expects the team to gain more popularity.

Werdiger was especially thankful for their coach. “Coach Surhoff shows great enthusiasm towards learning and teaching the mechanics of the game, and she finds a good balance between practice intensity and fun. She will certainly help the program develop.”

The increasing popularity of the team will hopefully improve the strength of the team. “For the foreseeable future, the team is going to get better as more people try out as they observe our success and the fun involved in the game,” said Bafna (12).

The team hopes to make it to the finals of their league, which consist of 4 other teams. Each team plays each other twice, and after all the matches have been played, the team with the best record advances to the semi-finals and ultimately the finals, said Bafna (12).

Going forward in the season, the team looks to improve in creating strategic plans to use in their competitions. “We are working on knowing one’s strengths, playing to our opponents’ weaknesses, and mixing up shots,” said Surhoff.

Abigail Beckler/Contributing Artist

Lions’ Den Record Sports

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JANUARY 17TH, 2019

Emily Shi Staff Writer

Sea of Swimmers: School hosts Varsity Swimming Invitational Jackson Feigin/Staff Photographer

The Boys and Girls Varsity Swim teams hosted 16 teams from around New York City for the school’s Varsity Swimming Invitational, the largest, longest, and only weekend meet of the season, placing second and fifth place respectively.

The Lions excelled at the invitational meet despite it not affecting their standing in the Ivy School Preparatory League, Ari Salsberg (11) said. “It was good practice for us, competing against other schools that we normally don’t get to compete against.”

Going into the meet, the Lions didn’t have any particular expectations since many good schools outside of the meet were signed up to go, but the team exceeded their original goals, Eli Scher (11) said.

Even though the team didn’t place first in any of the events, they were usually able to win meets due to earning points for placing second, third, or fourth, Salsberg said.

Standout individual performances at the meet for the boys team included Eddie Jin (12), who placed third in the Boys 200 Yard IM, an event where one swims 50 yards of each stroke, and Boys 100 Yard Freestyle Captain Donny Howard (12) achieved a personal record (PR time) after swimming the Boys 50 yard Freestyle in under 24 seconds for the first time.

For the girls team, Harmony Li (10), who placed fourth in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle and Girls 500 Yard Freestyle and Emma Chan (9) placed fourth in the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke.

Since the school often puts their best sprinters into the 50 Yard Freestyle event, the result was especially exciting. “You’re kind of putting everything on the line in that one event, A 50 Free time is something that everyone knows about themselves and relate to no matter what event you might specialize in,” Scher said. “When Donny got his really great time we all understood what that meant for him.”

Salsberg achieved a PR time in both the 100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke event, dropping two and four seconds respectively and placing 5th overall in both events, he said. Salsberg is on track to being a part of the “golden dozen,” or a name for the 12 fastest times at the school, for his butterfly stroke.

At each practice, the team splits up swimmers into lanes based on the events that they compete in order to target specific techniques for them to improve at meets. In addition, the boys and girls teams have been participating on dryland, training sessions in the Simon Family Fitness Center, once a week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays respectively.

Sometimes for dual meets, the coaches will cater practice against specific schools and their swim strategies, but since this meet invited a lot more schools that the Lions don’t normally compete against, they focused on maintaining the technical rigor of their regular practices after coming back from the break, Scher said.

Many swimmers at the meet succeeded in swimming new

FOCUSED Abigail Salzhauer (12) races to the finish line. events for the first time and dropping their times to receive PRs. In addition, multiple swimmers returned to swim with this meet after having suffered injuries.

Salsberg said that since members of the team swim thousands of yards each day, the rigorous training can take a physical toll on one’s body and joints. “Lucky for us, our coaches are very supportive of us and know how to balance pushing us to our limits while making sure we stay healthy,” he said. “But when injuries arise as they inevitably will, they work to tailor specific workouts so we can continue to swim and come back in better shape than when we got hurt.

For example, Jonathon Mong (11) came back after not being able to swim for a month and received PRs in the 50 Freestyle event.

Isha Krishnamurthy (9) particularly enjoyed the meet due to the support of the crowds, parents, and teammates, which multiplied since this meet welcomed 16 teams rather than two, the norm.

Due to the longer meet time and time between events, Ahaana Shrivastava (11) said that swimmers had more of an opportunity than usual to interact with other members of the team in less of a rushed manner. “We really just got a chance to talk to other people [that we wouldn’t normally talk to] and experienced more of a club team meet would be like as opposed to just a school dual meet.”

“I also think like having downtime with the team was really

important just to bond and just chill out with everyone,” McKayla Widener (12) said. “So everyone had time to get in their game mentally” Aquatics Director and Coach of the girls team Thatcher Woodley said that he considered the performance at the invitational one of the best of this year. Woodley partially attributes the success to the time to rest in between events, which helps prepare swimmers for their races, he said.

“With one other school, it’s kind of more intense and competitive because there’s really just one school to compete against,” Vincent Li (10) said. “But, if there’s a bunch of different schools, then it doesn’t really matter whether you do well against individual school because I think people just tend to see more about whether they personally did well or not.”

Since the meet was one of the longest some members of the team had ever been at, reaching around seven hours, it could have been difficult for everyone to maintain their energy the entire time, Shrivastava said.

However, the team was able to push through to support each other. “As a team, we want to be the loudest team on the deck and the most supportive team on the deck, and I think we really did that this week.”

Looking ahead towards the rest of the season, the Lions have two more dual meets against Hackley and Fieldston before the Ivy League and New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) champion events in a month.

Coach SPOTLIGHT: Gregg Quilty

John Mauro & Vishatrie Keetha Staff and Contributing Writers

Throughout nearly fifty years of wrestling experience, Coach Gregg Quilty has amassed a wealth of knowledge with which he passionately instructs the Varsity Wrestling Team.

Quilty was first exposed to wrestling by his older brother, Jeff. After Jeff began wrestling in high school, he would often come home and teach third grade Quilty various moves, he said. When he was old enough to join a middle school wrestling team, Quilty came in with knowledge and practice that put him at a higher level than his peers. “[Jeff] was training to be a wrestling coach, and he was teaching me all this stuff when I was in seventh grade,” Quilty said. “I had a lot of advanced techniques, and I was actually teaching my teammates. I was almost like an assistant coach when I was in middle school already.”

Because he’d been instructing people from a young age, Quilty feels as though he never had a hard transition from wrestling to coaching. From helping out his peers in middle school to working as a camp counselor,

teaching has always been an important part of his relationship with wrestling, he said.

Although Quilty has been xinvolved in other sports, such as hockey and soccer, wrestling has always been special to him. “I think the difference between the other sports was that feeling of individual accomplishment,” he said. “It was just you out there, so you had to take the blame for everything when you lost, but when you won, all the credit was yours.” “[Wrestling] is humbling because you always know that there are people out there who can beat you,” Quilty said. “[You can] never get cocky about it because there’s always another level that’s better than you.”

After coaching at other high schools, Quilty was hired at the school by Director of Athletics Robert Annunziata, who coached Quilty when he was a student wrestler at Manhattan College. Quilty had contacted Annunziata to schedule a game between the school and Iona Prep, where he had been working for seven years. By the end of that call, Quilty was offered a job coaching wrestling, soccer, and lacrosse.

Liam Futterman (11) believes that Quilty stands out among other coaches at the school

because of the level of trust he places in his wrestlers. “He’s never been the coach to make you do anything you don’t want to do. He trains athletes who put in what they want to get back.”

“The wrestlers that go through the program know what’s expected of them,” Quilty said.

“I get a lot of respect from them, and it’s mutual respect. They understand what it takes and they’re all proud to be here.”

Quilty has had a record breaking career at the school over the past 27 years. His accomplishments as a coach include winning the Ivy League championship 13 consecutive years, 107 consecutive dual meet victories against private schools, and over 400 career victories.

These and many other accomplishments led to Quilty being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame last year.

However, what Quilty is most proud of is not all his achievements, but rather how he is able to transform the people on his team.

One of his favorite moments is the annual end of season team dinner when the seniors give speeches. “They talk about what wrestling means to them. Almost all of them say, “It’s changed my life,” Quilty said. “When I hear

them say that, it’s so much more valuable to me than winning any championship. It just really inspires me to keep doing it every year.”

As a coach, Quilty is beloved by his students because of his unique teaching styles and mental motivation. “Quilty helps us not only technically, but he also strengthens our mindset when it comes to wrestling and performing,” Elias Romero (10) said.

Quilty is a great motivational speaker who gives many speeches before and after matches, win or lose, James Thomas (10) said. “He’s always shouting and encouraging us throughout the match from the side.”

Despite the fact that there are so many members on the team, Quilty makes every interaction personal, Romero said. “He does a great job of making you feel like he’s really invested in you.”

Lauren Kim/Staff Artist