The Index: December 2011

The IndexVolume LXXIII, No. 4 December 2011 Haverford, Pennsylvania

Eutxia Swzein Dokei

Also Inside the Issue...

Presidential letter, pg. 2

The Ping Pong Tables, pg. 5

Compendio’s Picks, pg. 7

Eating with Sam, pg. 8

Hallowell Lecturer, pg. 9

Patel on the Eagles, pg. 12

Mac vs. PC, pg. 13

And much more...

Dr. Cox speaks outJames Shecter ‘13

The tirade of Sandy Hingston

Wi-Fi Network Sees Improvement

Grayson Sessa ‘13

Has Student Council Lived Up to Its Word?

How do students feel about the Student Council this year? Read articles about the Student Coun-cil’s lounge and Facebook pages on Page 3.

Winter Season Is HereThe Fords’ athletes have just come off an amazingly successful fall season, beating EA by a whopping score of 4-1. Now, check out the Winter sports articles begin-ning on Page 9.

Tax Reform? Fords Speak OutFourth Former Jonathan Paras and Fifth Former Grayson Sessa debate the merits of raising and lower-ing taxes. Check out their opinions and sharp rebuttals starting on Page 15 for a dose of politics.

QR Codes Are Here!Scan these codes with a smartphone to view supplementary information about a topic. The one to the left gives more background information on QR Codes. The Index recommends the app QR-Reader for iPhone users and Barcode Scanner for Android users. Search for the next QR Code on Page 6.

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper School-ers from November 30 to December 2.

Poll by James Shecter

James Shecter (JS): What do you think were your best accomplishments during your tenure at Haverford?

Dr. Joseph Cox (JC): I think the absolute best [accomplishment] was the whole renovation of the teachers’ salary scale and evaluation system. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the packet that we did. It was actually the lead article of the Independent School magazine back in the fall of 2003. When I first got here, there were all different ways to do salaries and benefits. And, essentially, a lot of independent schools’ methods are individual negotiation with the headmaster, so they’re all over the place: there’s no transparency, there’s no rhyme or reason to it… So we came up with a system used to consult different categories, and it’s actually become the model for a lot of other schools. In fact, Penn Charter and Malvern just adopted our system wholeheartedly. The Board [of Trustees] expected some accountability. And so we’ve got a very good evaluation system of our teachers - it’s the way to have the right conversation about education. The Board, most importantly, is committed to paying the teachers the best in the area and committed to having the best teachers, and I think we’re delivering on that. If it’s broke in

the classroom, it’s broke. Our teachers do a great job. [And] it’s not my accomplishment, it’s a big committee: the teachers have to buy into it and the administration has to keep it going, but we’re [now] having the right kinds

of conversations. I’m now working on a budget process, so people can see what their career looks like. Essentially I start with the teacher’s salary and I work from there, so that

everything’s where it should be. Obviously, the second thing would be improving facilities that needed improvement. But that’s secondary to the quality of the teachers.

JS: What do you think was the biggest disappointment or something with which you could have done more during your time here?

JC: Well… You know, it’s tough in a school where we don’t have a big endowment. If you’ve got a big endowment,

it grows, and it makes money that you can use for programs. The way we operate now is we’re essentially endowment neutral - there isn’t really extra money to do extra things. We’ve got all kinds

of potential, though. You can take anything in our strategic vision: global education, and if you had money to do certain things, you could do a lot more, and that’s a little frustrating. Although, during my tenure, we raised over $100 million on three separate campaigns: a campaign that resulted in the building of the Gym, a campaign, though it was sort of quiet, that resulted in the building of the Lower School, and the campaign that just finished – the $60 million campaign that built [the Upper School]. And, at the same time, [raised money goes to] scholarships and what we’re going to do this afternoon [at the Thanksgiving Assembly], honoring teachers. Even though we have an alumni base with huge potential, you always, even in the face of probably having raised more money than any other school in this area...[pause] I just wish somehow we could have done even more. I’ll leave the school with not a very big endowment. After I leave, I may end up working with development. I’ve put things in place that I know are going to make our financial situation even better. Roxbury Latin [an all-boys private school in Boston] has a $160,000 per student compared to our $37,000 per student. And our reputation is good… excellent. Our brand is way up there, but we don’t have the financial underpinnings that some schools have.

Continued on Page 4

It is pretty clear that Ms. Sandy Hingston is no fan of Haverford. But this revelation should come as no surprise; the bulk of the online content of the Philadelphia Magazine is a collection of unsubstantiated opinion pieces directed at unfortunate targets. Some of the magazine’s previous work includes “Haverford School’s Prized, Chinese Hoops Recruit,” which refers to Fifth Former Tao Xu as a “possession”; “The 4 Most Annoying White People in Philadelphia,” the ~200 word work of an angry author taking unfounded “shots” at random public figures, and “Main Line Mothers Are Raising Bratty, Spoiled-Rotten Daughters,” which is supposed to answer a reader’s question about teaching children to be grounded but instead bashes the Main Line

throughout most of the article. So, Head of Upper School Mr. Matthew Green, Tao, and Director of Admissions and basketball coach Mr. Henry Fairfax are hardly alone: rather, they are just the newest target of a writer who calls herself a journalist. Ms. Hingston’s flailing article hits Haverford from a variety of disturbing angles. An Inquirer news piece, dutifully researched with interviews with Haverford administrators, is her first target. She condemns the reporter as having been deluded by Mr. Green’s “bull.” She brushes aside Mr. Green’s claims of hoping to create a more diverse school with nothing more than an accusation that he is a hypocritical liar. No, she provides nothing other than an attack on Mr. Green’s...

Continued on Page 14

Jake Pechet ‘15

The Wi-Fi network is an invaluable asset that does not receive the attention it deserves at Haverford. Some say the only time it draws recognition is when it is not working well, which can lead to frustration. Students only see the finished product, but does anyone truly know what has gone into creating a school-wide Wi-Fi connection? The Haverford Wi-Fi network was first installed in 1998 in the old Wilson Hall building. It was funded by a government grant intended to erect a collaborative workspace for science and math teachers. It served the purpose of connecting students and teachers in different rooms on the same floor, but even then, the network was not bug-free. Ms. Megan Connolly, director of technology, refers to the old network as “being on the ‘bleeding-

edge,’” but now, she says, “We’ve made vast improvements.” Throughout the network’s thirteen-year history at Haverford, Ms. Connolly explains, “We have added wireless networks to different buildings. We would expand it more in the Upper School, and then we went to the Middle School, and we would put it in different spots in the Lower School, depending upon which teachers had laptops.” Obviously, the network has developed dynamically since its institution, and the expansion shows no signs of slowing. The most notable upgrade occurred in 2008, when the new Upper School was built. The technology department, along with aid from outside consultant Computer Systems Resource Inc., installed wireless access points throughout the building, enabling a completely wireless connection.

Continued on Page 5

Sixth Former Sam Henderson and Fifth Former Drew Field playing Squash.

Photo by William Ye

Dr. Cox speaking at the 9/11 Rememberance Assembly.Photo by Ms. Dawn Blake

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper School-ers from November 30 to December 2.


Dear Student Body, We have successfully made it through more than three months of school. We are doing well. The support for fellow students has seemed to be greater this year than last. I went to see 12 Angry Men and was happy to see many other classmates despite the fact that it was a school night. This year’s EA Day will always remain a special day for me as I hope it will for all of you. Not only did we go to their school and beat them, but we beat them handily in both athletics and school spirit. Half of their fan section walked out of the water polo game overwhelmed by our cheers. At this point I can only hope that we continue the year as strongly as we started it. Mr. Green reminded us of the importance of not becoming sloppy, and I support him entirely. We must remain a strong community in all aspects. Of course this includes going to cheer on one another; however, it also goes much deeper than that. We must remember that every negative action we make reflects on all of Haverford. We can’t fall into the trap of seeing the midpoint of the year and coasting from there. Let’s remember that we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. There will be a back-to-school dance right after winter break, the Third and Fourth Formers are having a newly structured winter formal in February, and there are plenty of new opportunities coming up to support other students. For those who were not at Open Mic Night, make sure you get out to support Haverford students involved in the arts. Let’s make sure we go to as many winter sporting events and other extracurricular activities as possible while remaining diligent in our studies and commitment to Haverford.

Your President,Peter Rogers

Page 2 The Index December 2011

Letter from the President

Letter from the Editors

The Index2011-2012 Staff

Tadas Antanavicius, Editor-in-Chief Grayson Sessa, Editor-in-Chief Erich Prince, Head of Photography Peter Thompson, News and Features Editor James Shecter, Sports Editor Amar Patel, Arts & Entertainment Editor Fisher Pressman, Opinions Editor Jonathan Smith, Outdex Editor Keenan Mosimann, Visual Editor Fitz Tepper, Website Manager Mr. Thomas Stambaugh, Faculty Advisor

The Index is a student-run publication of the Haverford School that does more than bring news: it provides the diverse perspectives of the Haverford student body. It is an outlet for student writers to take stands on issues they deem important. It chronicles the daily struggles and accomplishments of the Haverford community. The Index also provides a forum for discussion of pertinent issues, such as student culture, academic policy, and Haverford’s place in world affairs. The Index presents new ideas and aspires to influence constructive change.

All opinions and viewpoints expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The Index or the school. The Index is designed and produced digitally. Photographs may be retouched. Submissions and letters to the editors regarding any and all articles are welcomed at [email protected].

The Index, a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, is composed on Apple OSX, using Adobe InDesign CS3. Its surveys are conducted via SurveyMonkey as they are advertised on Facebook to only current Haverford students. School Publications Company of Neptune, N.J., prints 200-400 copies of each issue, and its editorial staff distributes them in the Upper School on the day of release. The Index serves the needs of a total school population of 1091 community members, consisting of 975 students and 116 faculty members.

Contact The Index:450 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA [email protected]://www.haverfordindex.com/610.642.3020 x. 1222

Volume LXXIII, No. 4 - December 15, 2011

Photo by Elias EconomouPhoto by Index Staff

The “Toys for Tots” collection box.Photo by Index Staff

Congratulations to all of Haver-ford’s athletes for winning EA Day and keeping the sweater!

-The Index Staff

The Haverford-EA sweater after EA Day 2011.Photo by Mr. Jim Roese

As you get into the holiday spirit and prepare to head off to Winter Break, please consider donating an un-wrapped toy to the Service Board’s project “Toys for Tots.” They will all go to impover-ished children in the area.

-The Index Staff

Dear Reader, There are certain moments in the school year when it may feel all right to let your guard down - to skip an assignment here or there, spend fewer minutes studying for an imminent test, or daydream during class. This period right before Winter Break but just after Thanksgiving Break is definitely one of those times. Fight the urge to “slack off” and make sure you work at your normal standards whether it be in academics, arts, athletics, or extracurriculars. Your Winter Break will be all the more relaxing when you have no last-minute grade drops or other worries flitting through your mind. Plus, avoid making the already-strenuous early January any worse. But we do hope that towards the end of these awkward three weeks you get a chance to relax a little bit - and read The Index. This issue we have returning columns (“Compendio’s Netflix Picks”; “Eating with Sam Goes South of the Border...To Conshohocken”) that are sure to interest you. Other journalists take on more serious topics including the state of the promised student lounge and what is happening on the Facebook group pages for each Form. The Index also recognizes outstanding students in the arts and athletics, Sixth Formers Kelly Mao and Matt Luminais, respectively. As always, we hope that you take the time to check out The Index’s website, www.haverfordindex.com, which has exclusive online content. Please use the comment feature to discuss articles of interest. The Index’s other technological foray is the use of “QR Codes.” Download a scanner app (available on iPhones and Androids) to follow links built into the paper to movie trailers, song, and much more. Lastly, consider writing for The Index. Ask either of us for the dates of the next writers’ meeting. We hope that you are excited to seal your name in the annals of Haverford, be it with a controversial opinion or informative news piece.

Have a great Winter Break,Grayson Sessa ‘13 and Tadas Antanavicius ‘12

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper Schoolers from November 30 to

December 2.Poll by James Shecter

Community Service

News & Features

A stampede...Of Robots

Chris Compendio ‘12


The Haverford School successfully hosted its first VEX Robotics event, the “Haverford Stampede,” on November 19th in the school’s dining hall. The event brought in 21 teams from southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including six Haverford Upper School groups and two Middle School groups. Collectively, these eight sub-teams are one large team known as “Team 169: The Cavalry.” The Middle/Upper School side of the dining hall functioned as the Pit, where the teams would work on their robots, while the Lower School side had two fields for matches, along with seats for spectators. Volunteers sold food and drinks throughout the day. Haverford’s Robotics team received plenty of support from parents, faculty members, and students that stopped by to watch the events. One of these students, Sixth Former Dean Feinman, thought that watching the event was interesting, yet initially “overwhelming.” However, he enjoyed “[watching the team] program and control the robots and seeing which of the other teams’ designs worked and didn’t work.” Haverford enjoyed success in the tournament, winning three trophies that day. One was awarded for 169B, consisting of Sixth Former Kelly Mao, Fourth Former Haram Lee, and Baldwin School student Ting Fang for being one of three tournament champions. 169D, consisting of Fifth Former Josh White, Fourth Former Shane Veno, and Third Formers

Tim Delaney and Mason Hall, won an award for Programming Skills. Lastly, Haverford’s faculty mentor Mrs. Megan Connolly was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award for her contributions to VEX. In the rankings, four Haverford teams were in the top half while the other four teams were in the bottom half. Even though all eight teams participated in the finals, members of The Cavalry believe that there is room for improvement regarding the team’s performance. “I would say [the competition]

went well, but we definitely have stuff to improve on for the next competition,” White stated. Fifth Former Evan Kuritzkes added, “We are right now where we were in January last year. I believe that most people during this competition found out how to fix their robots, and those who thought their robots were perfect found out how to make them better.” By participating in last year’s VEX World Championship and hosting an event, Haverford has shown just how far the school has risen in prominence in the VEX Community. Event participants considered Haverford to be a good venue for the competition, opening the door for more possible VEX events at the school. And with eight moving robots after only two months into the season, Haverford is in a good position with plenty of time for improvement.

So, where is the student lounge?

Haverford students are desperate for a student lounge. Despite being brought up last spring, there is still no student lounge to be found. There are many issues regarding gathering spaces at Haverford, and there need to be places where students can socialize or study without disruption. When this reporter spoke to Peter Rogers about the stalled process, the main impediment

is money. The majority of the student budget was spent on EA Day shirts and has yet to be replaced. The current budget of approximately $900 is well below what is required to fund the project. A back-to-school dance after winter break and a winter formal for underclassmen is projected to raise at least $5,000, and, if both go successfully, the final amount could even be a few thousand dollars higher. Further, if finances are in order, couches and other amenities for the lounge will be purchased around late February or early March, thus bringing the long-awaited student lounge to fruition. Unfortunately, money is not the only issue. While the community room has been designated to be the space for the lounge, that

space is needed for many other events, and therefore everything in the lounge would have to be portable. Headmaster Dr. Joseph Cox has approved the community room for this space, but many faculty members are skeptical about this decision. It is believed that having a separate student lounge would ruin the feeling of community that Haverford has. Another concern is the lack of faculty supervision in the space. Lastly, those against the student lounge articulate that a good space already exists: the

library.

However, the majority of students who enter the library with the intent to do work are forced to leave after realizing that it often turns into a music-sharing and talkative area despite the rules on volume and loud talking. Subsequently, the librarians have to kick out those who are being obnoxious, a job that they do not enjoy doing. If all goes according to plan, a student lounge will be created this March, and it will supply a separate area for students to socialize at Haverford. Students will need to remember, however, that with more freedom comes more responsibility. The lounge is an opportunity to gain the trust of the faculty, relax during school, socialize, and more. In order to maintain the privilege, students must respect it.

Will Schwartz ‘12

Student council: On FacebookWill Tackett ‘14

Recently, the Student Council Facebook pages for each Form, especially those of the Fourth and Fifth Forms, have been a source of controversy. The enormous amount of feedback that came with their introduction was a surprise to the Student Council leaders. “I did not expect nearly as much page activity as there is,” said Fourth Form President Terry Rossi. But some of this activity has been negative: students often criticize the Student Council (even targeting specific members), insult others, and engage in heated debates, to name a few. For example, on the Fourth Form’s page, there was a large amount of activity leading up to the events of Spirit Week. Some students, in an effort to earn more points in the Spirit Week competition, tried to take over the athletic competitions and essentially discourage less athletic students from participating on these teams. When the Student Council tried to put an end to this discouragement, a verbal altercation occurred. But what happened during Spirit Week is just one particular occurrence. Outbursts like that are uncommon. Most of the what you could call “negative” activity is simply joking around, which might be expected from teenage boys. The reaction to the negative activity and the pages in general has been varied among students. Some students think it is actually amusing while others think the otherwise good page is ruined by a few bad apples. Still others find it bothersome. Fourth Former Ryan Hughes complained, “It gives me way too many notifications.” About his

Form’s page, Fourth Former Albert Ciardi felt that, “It has potential, but nothing [about it] is constructive at the moment.” So a question arises: “Are these Facebook pages causing more harm than good?” “No,” says Rossi, “Primarily because it does what I

want it to in that the whole goal is to spread announcements and receive feedback.” The page accomplishes this goal, at least in the Fourth Form’s case, with many students providing constructive feedback and suggestions, only a few of which are jokes.

But what about those of other Forms? Each Form has one. The situation with all of them seems to be similar: functioning, but with a smattering of jokes and maliciousness. The exception is the Sixth Form’s which, according to an anonymous Sixth Former, functions quite well and without any buffoonery. Of course, these are nothing more than Facebook pages, so the argument could be made that it is not really a big deal. However, it does have some extensions, particularly how students treat people online. Is it acceptable for a Haverford student to insult another student while using the anonymity of the Internet to shield himself? No, it is not, but thankfully it does not happen very often. But, because of their lack of administrative supervision, the Student Council pages offer an environment in which mistreatment can occur. The faculty advisor to the Student Council, Mr. Mark Fifer, has not seen the page; no teachers have. Does this kind of freedom promote negative activity? Rossi feels it does; however, he says that “It is naive to think that kids won’t be malicious to each other, and I try to delete as much of [the negativity] as I can.” This freedom granted to students does come with its advantages. “I feel like all the activity would be severely curtailed if we had a lot of teachers and administration on the page,” Rossi continued. Essentially, students would be much more reserved and cut back on all the feedback they gave: good, bad, and joking. But there is malevolence and joking in poor humor on the pages. This behavior could send a bad message about Haverford students, but is it bad enough to take away some freedom of speech? Rossi had this to say: “I would say there is a kind of negative message, but ultimately, the page is a success in my eyes.”

Screenshot of a Student Council Facebook Page.Photo by Will Tackett

The empty room where the Lounge would be.Photo by Index Staff

Fourth Formers Jonathan Paras and William Ye along with Sixth Former Tadas Antanavicius work on their robot for the competition.

Photo by Chris Compendio

News & Features Dr. Cox, Continued from page 1


JS: Now, the big question that I’m sure a lot of people are wondering: why now?

JC: I was in the army for 30 years; this will be 15 years… [They’re both] pretty demanding jobs. I turned 65, and it just seemed right. There are two things I’m working on now, and I’ve got more than two things that are my

goals for the year, but one’s leadership and [the other is] improving the faculty leader category. [I want to] integrate them further into the leadership of the school. So those are two worthwhile things that I can do this year and next year. It just felt right.

JS: What do you want to do after this? Work in Development like you said?

JC: Well if [Development will] have me… [But] I want to stay out of the hair of the new head. Also, [I want] more time to write. My biggest goal is not to do anything – they always say you should try not to do anything after you retire for some period of time. I want to try that for a little while and see what happens. I think there will be opportunities and I’ll probably stay in some form of education… [to] maintain my interest there. I would hope to be a little bit more systematic about working out and writing poetry and maybe fishing and traveling.

JS: Are you a golf guy too, or…?

JC: No, I might try to learn how to play golf… never had the time to play golf.

JS: What should the Board of Trustees focus on when they search for a new head?

JC: [They need to find] somebody who really understands, supports, and encourages boys and young men. They’ve got to get somebody who really likes being around students…

JS: Putting up with us all the time?

JC: [laughs] No… Somebody’s got to really enjoy [the job] and see the potential in students and develop that potential. The best advice I

got when I was coming in was from [Athletic Director and Lacrosse Coach] John Nostrant, who said, “You know what this school needs is somebody to pat kids on the back.” And essentially that’s the easiest thing to do, and if you’ve got somebody that can do that... [but] that’s a long way from making sure everything else is going to fall into place. You want to set

up systems so that kids can succeed and you want to make sure that when they succeed they grow from it, so… Pretty simple. [laughs]

JS: Going back to what you said about the Army and West Point… did those experiences there help you at all with what you do here?

JC: I think my whole experience in the army helped me. Obviously West Point was good because I was in a classroom, and, I think, if you don’t look at a school from the classroom out, if you don’t see it as a teacher sees it, you’re missing a lot. Earl Ball, who was the head at Penn Charter,

teaches at Penn, and teaches future school

heads and some of the people [who work]...in admissions or different things like that. If you ask him, “Can you be a good school head without being a teacher?” he’ll be very frank and say, “No.” I don’t think that’s entirely true, but it definitely helps a lot. Back when I first got here I did teach. We had a teacher go down, and I took over the AP English class. If you don’t understand what the teachers are going through, you can’t administer the rest of it. That helped; the West Point part helped. But then, you know, I was a battalion commander in the 101st Airborne division, and essentially I controlled a group of 660 soldiers – that’s kind of like a school. I had a budget and I had

all the morale things, and I had missions. That was probably the best preparation. I had to worry about them getting fed, I had to worry about where they slept, the barracks… That probably translated better than anything else from the army experience.

JS: Taking a step back from academics and shifting to athletics, these past two years, to my memory, have been the best of Haverford athletics so far…

JC: Past three! We’ve won the Heyward Cup the past three years! [laughs]

JS: So past three years… Do you think Haverford’s going to lose its academic reputation since we’re doing so well in sports, or do you think we’re just going to gain that athletic reputation that we never entirely had?

JC: Well, we had it at times, and the alumni remind me of that, but I go back to Mr. Fox’s all A’s. I’m not going to, and I’ve said this in other forums… I don’t think you apologize for excellence. Let’s be excellent in academics, let’s be excellent in the arts, and let’s be excellent in athletics. Let’s try to be the best we can in everything, but we’ve got to try to do it the right way. [Fifth Former] Matt

Galambos is probably one of the best athletes to ever go through here, and once a coach from Pitt [Univ. of Pittsburgh] walked in and was looking for Matt. I checked where he was, we went down, and he was in his art class, and he was painting. I was thinking to myself, “How cool is that!” You’ve got somebody who’s a good student, and we walked down and saw he’s a good painter. To be able to do that and not get some knuckle-dragger out of some remedial whatever class [laughs]… to have a well-rounded student who is practicing his art and can present himself in an articulate and intelligent way… that’s what we want. I had an experience when I was standing [at a football game] with some folks from a school who we’ve beaten now for four or five years who used to beat us all the time. There were three people: one said to me, “It’s good that you can take this kind of kid,” implying that we were changing the standards for football players. At that time one of our players scored a touchdown, and I said, “That’s not really true because he’s got 650 board scores, and he’s deciding between an Ivy-League school and another very good school.” I left it at that. I think people are going to project whatever they want to project on someone else’s success. The perfect example is [last year’s] lacrosse team, which everyone thought was a scholarship-fueled, recruited team. Of course, half of those kids had been with us since lower school… So it was done the right way, and it all came together: good chemistry, good coaching, good facilities – and it worked. Now there’s a danger to getting carried away with that. Success, as we know from Penn State, can create all kinds of blind spots, and we don’t want any of those blind spots in any way. Because of the support system, I think we’re as strong academically as we’ve ever been. [Our] college list is very, very good. And last year I think over one-fifth of our kids were national merit scholars. That’s pretty strong academics. Now, it’s going to be a wider street: you’ll have guys who are good at math but not good at something else, so we need to be open to strengths and weaknesses, and we’ll try to address them all.

JS: Of the three ‘factions’ of people you have to deal with – parents, students, and faculty…

JC: Four… and alumni.

JS: Alumni… we’ll count them as students. Which [faction] gives you the most trouble?

JC: [laughs] What a loaded question…Obviously parents have so much invested in their kids…Parents and anybody at the school have the same goal: they want what’s best for their kids. There are two articles: one is Wendy Mogel, The Blessing of a B-, and the other is Dan Kindlon, Too Much of a Good Thing – Raising Children with Character in

an Indulgent Age. The slings and arrows of growing up and getting a B- and not making a team and so on and so forth… I think kids can understand [those things] better than parents. Parents have a tough time accepting that, and parents are always – and I’m guilty of it as a parent – going to over-qualify their kids in their minds because, you know, we love our kids. The people you love; you put them on pedestals. That’s the toughest thing, the psychological [aspect], I think. But, if it’s approached in the right way it’s not really a problem. I think you can do the best for every boy if people talk and work out the details. Some people are never going to be happy, but that’s nature of life too.

JS: What faculty member has had the biggest impact on you?

JC: Whew… that’s tough. There are so many really good teachers and role models and people who do fantastic things in the classroom. When I start naming names, the people I leave out…their feelings are going to be hurt. But, when you look at someone like Mr. [William] Palmer in the Lower School who has this exuberance and this enthusiasm…[His class is] hands

on and kids just love science; it’s their

most favorite thing in the world. I then look at the Middle School teachers who really have callings: I look at a math teacher like Nick Romero and an English teacher like Delia Turner. They’re really dedicated and unique and committed to kids and, you know, if you go down the whole list in the middle school they’re all like that. You go to the Upper School, and, of course, you have your legends. But I’ll tell you the person who I think in many ways has been a very powerful force for lots of good things has been Chris Fox. [He] has really held the arts banner up, but he

was also very, very much involved in the things that we did to get the teachers on board [with the new system]. He was the faculty rep on the Board at the time we did all the teacher pays and benefits. He could articulate the high expectations to

his colleagues and to the

Board in a way that made them see that they were worth what they were going to [be paid]. Now you’ve got real characters like Tom Trocano and Sara Adkins and all the other department chairs who have really brought the standards up. Currently, Joe Sweeney and the things he’s doing in math… he’s going to change education. So those kinds of teachers and leaders and thinkers are a pretty amazing group, but every teacher who comes in and gives us their best is an inspiration. You can walk around the Upper School, Middle School, and Lower School, and each in their own way is doing a great job, and it’s a different job – I’m not sure too many Upper School teachers could go down and spend a day in Kindergarten and survive. [laughs]

Continued on the next page

Dr. Cox and EA’s Headmaster after EA Day 2011.Photo by Mr. Jim Roese

Dr. Cox presenting Mr. Matthew Cloran with an award at the Thanks-giving Assembly.

Photo by Ms. Dawn Blake

Dr. Cox speaking at the Opening Assembly.Photo by Ms. Linda Walters

Dr. Cox and Adam Taliaferro after the Honor Day Assembly.Photo by Ms. Dawn Blake


News & Features Continued from the previous page

JS: What faculty members’ departures have had the biggest impact on you?

JC: There was a group of stalwarts that were in the English department like Bob Peck, Ed Hallowell… And somebody like Dr. Brownlow who was a legend in his own mind - he’s larger than life in his own imagination and created that kind of aura about him…It’s tough [to name specific people]. But I think we’ve evolved in a healthy way. There was a teacher when I first got here who had his Ph.D. from Duke and he was really a great colleague – he was the faculty rep on the board. I lost him to public school…I lost him to Havertown High School, because the pay difference was so great. That was something that really started this whole discussion [about teachers’ pay]. And the Board got it because they saw this really great teacher depart. I don’t think we are losing people for those reasons anymore, which is good.

JS: Have you and the Board ever discussed the possibility of making Haverford coed?

JC: It comes up every time we do strategic thinking. There are a couple of things that come up before we ask ourselves, “are we going to be a single sex school?…”Are we going to move?”; “Are we going be here?”…Things that all the other schools have done or discussed are on the table. But [the Board has] reaffirmed the single sex nature of the school. We’re going to be the best school for boys we can be. Discussion in popular education circles has become a more relevant topic, and it’s helped us. I think you’ve got

people now who are more aware of how boys and girls learn differently and can see the

value of this knowledge. My flip answer to that has always been, “We can’t be coed: we

don’t have enough bathrooms.” And that may not be a good thing to say [laughs] too often in public because it sounds sexist, but [laughs] it’s a fact of life. To be coed and to do all the things you do to be equal to the boys and the girls in the school really is a huge shift in distribution of facilities and faculty and so on. I think we’ve got a long-standing world reputation as a premier boys school, and we’re in good company. Collegiate, Roxbury Latin, et cetera.

JS: So do you think Haverford deserves the reputation that it has now locally and on the national stage as a boys’ school?

JC: Yes - I think we’re very, very

intentional about trying to do the best things to teach boys. In Lower School, there’s a [gender] gap in language arts and small motor skills, and we focus on reading and language arts. Middle School [we focus on] organization: boys are probably a little less organized and less prone to follow rules, so there’s that sense in there. And in Upper School, we encourage empathy and the kind of collaboration, trust, and working together that’s going to be the difference in moving forward with your business.

JS: What do you want your legacy at Haverford to be?

JC: I would just hope that we continue to try really to be the best school for boys that we can be… Haverford is a place where all kinds of boys can feel comfortable, and we’re not known as a jock school or sort of a tough academic school. Although we want high academic standards, and we want to be good in everything, I just hope we go forward and we continue to support kids when they need support and continue to strive for excellence. The ideal is to have the best boys, no matter their social and economic background. It would be wonderful to be in a position, some day, to just be absolutely need-blind, to be absolutely sure of your admissions process in accepting the best possible boys from the greater Philadelphia area, then that wonderful raw material and turning it into the kind of men who are going to make a difference and be leaders of character. So, if we continue to be a place that’s known for producing leaders of character, that would be my predecessors’ legacy and I hope my legacy… That make sense?

Before that, routers had been placed in certain areas but were never prevalent enough to support a network throughout all of Wilson Hall. Still today, additions have been made in areas around Football Coach Michael Murphy’s office in the gym. But the real emphasis has always been on speed. As Ms. Connolly aptly puts it, “If you have to wait three seconds for a page to load, it’s like, ‘What’s going on? Why is this so slow?’” Haverford has made continuous efforts to keep up with the ever-changing technology and increasingly high expectations of fast Internet. When the technology department first noticed an influx of students who brought in

personal computers last year, they decided it was best to create a network to support them. Instead of adding an entirely independent

network, they instead separated some of the main Wi-Fi network to create what is now known as “Haverford Guest.” However, they received numerous complaints citing a slow

connection and were spurred to make a change for the coming fall. Not only were alterations applied to Haverford Guest but to the main Wi-Fi network as well. The bandwidth was increased two times and went from one Comcast line to two, and a one gigabyte line

running from Wilson Hall to Palmer House was upgraded to a ten gigabyte line. The largest change for students was the growth of the guest network from three megabytes to ten as engineers again

segmented the network. Yet, all of this means nothing if it is not noticed by the people using it. Third Former Connor Atkins notes, “I use the Wi-Fi network every day, and I think it’s been faster than last year, but it’s not excellent yet.” Atkins’ observations are good news

for the tech department, whose current aspirations include a ten gigabyte connection throughout the school.

The mystery of the missing ping-pong tables has vexed Haverford students since school began on September 7. Many students have been asking the same questions: “Where did they go?” and “Why were they taken away?” Well, the cat is out of the bag. According to Art Department Chair Mr. Christopher Fox, the ping-pong tables were taken away due to “damage being done to [the tables] by students.” Mr. Fox, who owns the ping-pong tables, says that making the repairs is arduous, and he wishes that students would “respect them more” than they have in the past. The ping-pong tables were a source of fun during students’ free periods last year, evidenced by the excitement and frolic that could be heard coming from the community room. As Sixth Former Chris Compendio asserted, “[The ping pong tables] relieved pressure” from study centers such as the library, the Big Room, and the pods. Compendio says that those places are more crowded this year, and it has hurt his and others’ ability to study in a quiet, settled location. Even though many students may have been in the dark about the vandalism, Fifth Former Michael Maggio claims that he saw this happening many times.

Maggio states, “There were always kids, not naming names, who would sit on the tables

as well as jump on them. Certain boys, especially after they lost a point, would bang the tables or lay on them, severely damaging them.” Other students have backed up Maggio’s claims, saying that boys would overreact after every point, thus accumulating wear and tear at a rapid pace on the tables and paddles. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. According to Mr. Fox, all of the parts needed to repair the tables are in his possession. He says that he “enjoyed being able to play ping-pong with the boys” but that it was too hard to

maintain them at their current state. Mr. Fox has consistently stated that if boys respect his property just as they respect their own, it will be his pleasure to put them back out. With this mentality in mind he has given the student body a date of release: “The ping-pong tables will be back out by Winter Break, and that is a promise.” However, that promise is a two-way street. Just as Mr. Fox has promised to repair

the tables, the student body must promise to treat them with the utmost respect and care.

What’s up with ping pong?

The missing Ping Pong tables.Photo by Index Staff

The pieces of the tables broken by students jumping on them.

Photo by Index Staff

The Wi-fi network is not working for Fifth Former Niticon Davis.Photo by Index Staff

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper Schoolers from November 30 to December 2.Poll by James Shecter

Dr. Cox and his wife at EA Day 2011.Photo by Mr. Tim Stay

Manav Khandelwal ‘15

Wi-Fi, Continued from Page 1

News & FeaturesPage 6 The Index December 2011

Haverford’s Western FrontGreg Boyek ‘14

“Tear Down this wall”: Mr. Gorbachev visits Lafayette College

Tadas Antanavicius ‘12

On October 19, 2011, former leader of the Soviet Union and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev spoke at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The Index had the opportunity to attend and report on the speech. Born in 1931 to a peasant immigrant family, Mikhail Gorbachev did not take long to ascend through the ranks of the USSR. After spending his teens as a casual laborer and later attending Moscow State University, he grew active in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, Gorbachev made a name for himself within the party as he took on more leadership roles. In 1985, at the relatively young age of 54, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the CPSU and was therefore the leader of the USSR. Gorbachev began to recount events from this point in his life and on during the speech. These events, he noted, were “perhaps the most important decisions of the 20th century.” These decisions began with the issue of nuclear war. Gorbachev recalled the wise words of Albert Einstein; “We need a new way of thinking, because mankind has been deprived of its immortality,” referring to the advent of the nuclear bomb. Gorbachev and the USSR had to figure out a way to balance their own interests with the interests of mankind. “We had to make a decision, a commitment, to normalize relations with the United States,” he stated. And indeed they did need to act “because of the enormous amounts of money that [they] were spending on the arms race, while life in [their] country for ordinary people was still difficult.”

The next step was to start talking with the U.S. Gorbachev and then-president Ronald Reagan began talks at the Geneva Summit in 1985. They came to an agreement, stating, “A

nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought…[and] our two nations will not seek military superiority.” While Gorbachev is satisfied with the progress being made towards a nuke-free world today, he is less pleased with the U.S.’s military initiative. He notes, “Seventy-five percent of the world’s military expenditures are

made in the United States of America.”

He laments that the U.S. is unable to come to terms with the rest of the world and instead spends so much money on defense. After seemingly resolving things with the U.S., Gorbachev took to reforming the USSR over the next several years. Among his reforms were the well-known perestroika – restructuring of the political and economic systems – and glasnost – more freedoms for the Soviet people. “We were

facing a situation that required us to propose something bold, something dramatic [to make life better for our people]…We also decided that, in effect, we would change the entire system and build a system for a free country, a system of political democracy.” At about the halfway point of his address, Gorbachev shifted the focus to a more modern perspective. Concerning Russia, he noted, “[It] is a country that is in the process of transition…This democratic transition is only halfway down the road, perhaps a little more.” Most notably, Gorbachev spoke on his ideal of a “new world order.” He claims that

Pope John Paul II said it best: “We need a new world order, one that is more stable, more humane, and more just.” However, he feels that most of the events of the past fifteen years have not been leading in that direction. “After the disappearance of the Soviet Union…some people in [the US]…began to push the idea of creating a new empire,” he explains.

Gorbachev seeks a new world order rooted in trust and collaboration, not a group of competing nations

which have nothing but mistrust for each other. In this ideal world, everyone would work together to solve pressing issues like poverty, energy, and environmental pollution. Of the modern U.S., he notes, “It looks like you need the military-industrial sector, the defense sector, for your economy to prosper. If that is

so, that is a sick economy.” What must be done, then? Gorbachev claims that if this “sick economy” were to be done away

with, the brainpower behind all things military could then be turned towards critical global issues. “Those who think about the future, those who want to build prerequisites for the future, to build the tools for democracy and freedom, to build a society at the center of which is the human being, where poverty is abolished – those people will ultimately win, I am sure.” And Gorbachev believes that the recent worldwide series of protests is a sign that change is coming. “I understand the causes… People are speaking out and saying, ‘Why do you leaders want to decide everything at the expense of the people?’… I welcome this approach. I welcome democratic protest.” To Gorbachev, these protests that range from wars in the Arab world to the Occupy Wall Street movement, “are a sign that under very difficult circumstances, the movement toward a new world order is emerging…The people want change. It means that they are not happy with the kind of world order that exists now.” Will the efforts of Mikhail Gorbachev and the protestors around the world succeed in pushing through a new world order, complete with its ideals of trust, collaboration, and an end to major modern problems? It seems a lofty goal, or perhaps impossible ideal, but the rest of the story has yet to be told.

The situation looks bleak. Russia has taken up an aggressive stance against Germany and seems poised to assist Austria against its former ally Turkey. Germany and England are prepared to crush France and devour Russia next. Frantic negotiations are taking place between Russia and Turkey, but, with the looming threat of a German-English alliance, war seems inevitable.No, World War III is not beginning. These are the negotiations among students playing the board game Diplomacy. Diplomacy, first released in 1959, is a strategy-based board game with superficial similarities to games such as Risk. Unlike many other board games it contains no element of chance as it lacks both dice and cards. Also, movement takes place simultaneously after all players have handed in secret orders. Diplomacy’s simple nature yet extremely complex strategies and intense negotiations have dubbed it “geographic chess.”

The faculty advisor for Haverford Diplomacy Society, Mr. Dacque Tirado, set up the Society in 2008, the first year he taught at Haverford, having previously advised the Diplomacy Society at his old school.

According to Mr. Tirado, before the Diplomacy Society, history teacher Mr. Kevin Tryon had a few Diplomacy boards in his room, but there was no structured “society.” Mr. Tirado began the Diplomacy Society at Haverford as a “select group; it wasn’t a club … originally it was supposed to be a group who were passionate about politics, geography, and world

affairs. I really wanted it to be an enthusiastic group, so we didn’t open it up as a full club.” The interest in Diplomacy has grown substantially since its formation. “It got really popular last winter,”

says Mr. Tirado. A quick check of the Society’s Facebook page reveals that nearly fifty students are now involved in the Diplomacy Society. Its rapid growth is based on word of mouth

among the participants. Players can often be found discussing the game

and conducting negotiations throughout the day. Many become genuinely immersed in the game. Fourth Former Matt Larson, who recently joined the Society, explains, “I never realized how addictive Diplomacy was until I began playing it.” Mr. Tirado was first introduced to Diplomacy by his history teacher. He

immediately “fell in love with the game for the strategy and the friendships that [he] made with the players; but also the idea that, to [him], Diplomacy mirrors life.” The game

was a favorite of President Kennedy and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Diplomacy offers a very simple depiction of combat compared to other war games and instead focuses on strategic objectives. The decision-making skills learned from

Diplomacy can be applied, as Mr. Tirado explains, “not only to international diplomacy, [but to] business, [and] world affairs” as well. The Diplomacy Society is happy to have more members that are “passionate about politics [and] geography” says Mr. Tirado. Diplomacy is a timeless game that is enjoyable for anyone with an interest in world politics, geography, or history, and anyone who is willing to commit to turning in orders daily.

Fifth Formers Scott Jaster and Fisher Pressman play Diplomacy.Photo by Index Staff

The Diplomacy game board in an online form.Photo from Wikipedia

Gorbachev visits with former President Ronald Reagan.Photo from Wikipedia

Gorbachev speaks at Lafayette College.Photo from Lafayette College

Mikhail Gorbachev.Photo from Lafayette College


Arts & Entertainment

Netflix made a splash in the movie industry when it introduced its “Watch Instantly” streaming option. Movie and television enthusiasts had never seen anything like it before, and it allowed us to watch our favorite movies and television shows while opening the door to ones we have never seen before. But Netflix has been struggling recently from competing services, such as Redbox, Hulu, Amazon, and others, and its recent price increase resulted in a loss of subscribers. However, I still believe that Netflix instant streaming is worth having, and I would like to share with you five of my favorite films or shows that are available for streaming.

Memento This 2001 psychological thriller is one of Christopher Nolan’s (director of Inception and The Dark Knight) first films and is about a man suffering from a memory condition as he searches for the person who killed his wife. Rather than using mind-bending special effects or large-scale action sequences like his recent films, Nolan uses a unique narrative technique. The film shows two different sequences of the story: one starting at the chronological beginning of the story and the other starting at the end of the story with the latter sequence having its scenes in reverse order. The movie switches between these two sequences until they both meet in the middle of the story, which serves as the end of the movie. I cannot talk too much about the film without spoiling the plot, but just know that this is a very creative and unique film. It is great to watch the plot unfold, and, like Inception, when the movie ends, you will probably find yourself thinking about the ending. If you enjoyed any of Christopher Nolan’s previous films or just want to watch a very unique film, consider watching Memento. Quote: “Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.”Rotten Tomatoes percentage: 92

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters This 2007 documentary about two men competing to win the world record of the highest “Donkey Kong” score might sound like the dumbest and most boring film. Yet somehow, director Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) made this story an entertaining watch. These are not two people playing video games in their garage all day; rather, they are two interesting and very different human beings. This film perfectly captures the personalities of these two men and the people around them, and I guarantee that by the middle of the film you will care for one of them and hate the other. The documentary is very well edited and even funny at times. It provides a good look at the early days of video gaming, and it will open your eyes to the world of competitive gaming that you probably have never seen before. But the film also contains a number of subtle “character” moments that will stick in your mind. It is a compelling look into human behavior as well as video game history and culture. I strongly recommend watching this whenever you have two hours of spare time. Quote: “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs. I play video games, which I think is a far superior addiction to any of those other ones.” Rotten Tomatoes percentage: 97

Airplane! This 1980 comedy is not for everyone. Starring Leslie Nielson, the film is a comedic remake of a 1957 disaster movie Zero Hour, and it follows the story of an ex-fighter pilot attempting to land a commercial plane after the crew becomes incapacitated from food poisoning. It is undeniably funnier than recent parody movies such as Meet the Spartans and Vampires Suck, but it has a very hit-or-miss nature to its humor. The writers attempt to throw as many jokes and visual gags as possible to the audience, but, in my experience, for every time I rolled my eyes at a joke that fell flat, there were at least five jokes afterwards that had me rolling in laughter. While the movie is predictable and silly, there are loads of quotable lines and memorable sight gags. This movie proves that good timing is much funnier than pop culture references. Those who are dissatisfied by parody movies of recent days may still want to give this movie a shot.Quote: “You’d better tell the Captain we’ve got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.” “A hospital? What is it?”“It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.”Rotten Tomatoes percentage: 98

Lost This TV show is known to some as having an overly complicated storyline, but do not let this stigma prevent you from watching what I believe is one of the best TV dramas in recent history. A misconception about Lost is that it is plot-driven rather than character-driven, but, having watched the entire series, I believe the opposite to be true. Lost is about the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, which crashed onto an island under strange circumstances. What I love about this show is the diverse, unique, and relatable cast of characters. You will have your favorites - and least favorites. And then there are those countless tense and shocking dramatic moments and emotional character-based moments as well. The world of Lost is very interesting, with a deep and intriguing mythology. The production value is also something to be admired, featuring the best direction, set design, and musical score that I have seen in any show. Each episode usually focuses on one character, featuring flashbacks which give us a glimpse of the character’s life before the crash. As the series progressed, other unique narrative devices were used. I wish other shows with ensemble casts would use a similar technique. Do not let the false notion that Lost is a complicated mess of a show scare you away. This is a really good one.Number of seasons: 6Quote: “I’ve looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful.”

Parks and Recreation Ron Swanson. Jean-Ralphio. Li’l Sebastian. If those terms mean nothing to you, then you are missing out on what I believe to be one of the best comedies currently on air. Filmed in the same mockumentary style as The Office, this sitcom about the Department of Parks and Recreation in the fictional city of Pawnee had a rough start as the characters and story devices were very similar to those of The Office. However, with its second season, the writers began to gain a greater grip on these characters, and the show began to differentiate itself from The Office in terms of character personalities and its style of humor. Rather than a cheap imitator, it’s become its own entity. You will quickly fall in love with the characters, none who are unlikable, in my opinion, and every single episode is full of quotable lines. The inhabitants of Pawnee are a colorful group, and though their antics may be silly sometimes, they are never absurd enough to be off-putting. The second season is a good place to start, though you may want to watch the first as it still provides a good introduction to the characters, despite its flaws. Parks has proven to be more consistent in quality compared to other comedies currently on the air, and there are no signs of slowing down. Anyone who loves comedy shows or just humor in general should give this show a chance.Number of seasons: 4 (ongoing)Quote: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don’t teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He’s a grown man. Fishing’s not that hard.”

On my “to watch” list:Breaking BadArrested DevelopmentThe Walking DeadLet Me InConan O’Brien Can’t StopThe GraduateDo the Right Thing

Chris Compendio ‘12

Compendio’s Netflix picks


Arts & Entertainment

T.I. – “Pyro” – In his best effort since returning from prison, T.I. finally delivers a track that highlights his unique sound and skill. While he has jumped on many popular tracks in recent months to let everyone know he is back, this song is his first real statement. Until this track, most of T.I.’s post-prison efforts have sounded forced and disinterested. From his forthcoming album Trouble Man, “Pyro” is a definite party song. While the track does not have any deep or significant message, the song does what it is intended to do…make you dance. T.I. describes the song as “A straight party record, it’s nostalgic of those crazy nights…” It is full of that quintessential T.I. swagger fans love and boasts a confidence they have waited for him to regain. If this song is any indicator, then Trouble Man will most assuredly get T.I. back to that “King of the South” status.

Eating with Sam goes south of the border...To Conshohocken

Sam Bloch ‘13

You don’t have to fly to Mexico to get good Mexican food anymore. Now, you can simply head to Conshohocken and stop in at El Limon. El Limon is located right on Fayette Street in Conshohocken, just a ten-minute drive from Haverford. It is the best cheap, authentic Mexican restaurant around. El Limon does it all. They make authentic burritos, tacos, sopes, and quesadillas, as well as numerous other Mexican delights. The authenticity of the cuisine should not be questioned; don’t be surprised if your server speaks very little English. It is this authenticity that separates El Limon from Chipotle. Every true Mexican meal must start with chips and salsa and guacamole. All three of these things are impressive at El Limon. The chips are thick, crunchy, and flavorful. Often Mexican restaurants over-salt their chips, but El Limon does not. The salsa is fresh and tasty. The salsa is surprisingly spicy but not to the point where it is painful to eat. The guacamole is really good. It is fresher and creamier than most guacamoles that I have had. It also packs

a little punch in the spice department. The burritos at El Limon are spectacular. I have had both the carne (steak) burrito and the carnitas (pork) burrito. The burrito is huge.

The steamed flour tortilla is packed with rice, vegetables, sauces, and meat. The burrito is then smothered in a bit of a sweeter bean sauce, as well as chili sauce and mole sauce. The meat may just be the best part of this Mexican

masterpiece. Both the steak and pork are cooked, so that they are juicy, and they are seasoned with the perfect amount of spice. Together, all of the elements of the burrito form one of the best tasting things I have ever had. El Limon offers much more than just burritos. Its tacos are also among the best. I have sampled the chicken, pork, and steak tacos. You cannot go wrong with getting any of these. The tacos are small discs that have rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsas, and meat. However, the true gem of the taco is none of these things. In what I think is a revolutionary idea, the taco is on not one but two tortilla discs. This prevents leakage and enhances the taco-eating experience greatly. The double wrap truly separates El

Limon from any other taco I have eaten. If you choose to get the tacos, I would recommend ordering three to four of them because they are so small. At El Limon, I was introduced to a new Mexican dish, the sope. The sope is similar to a taco, but it is served on a thick, spongy piece of fried dough. It is topped with your choice of meat and is covered with beans, lettuce, cheese, and salsas. The dough that it is placed on makes it taste very different than a taco. The sope is also quite small like the taco, so you can order more than one. The quesadilla may be the simplest Mexican dish, and it is also one of the most popular. The quesadilla at El Limon is good, but it is nothing special.

The food is just one of the many things that makes this small taqueria so good. The price point is really good for what it is. A meal at El Limon costs around $10, and for that price you get a lot of food. So, El Limon is definitely a restaurant that you should check out if you have not already. Fourth Former Noah Cutler, who introduced me to El Limon, and Fifth Formers James Tarte, Max Freundlich, Niticon Davis, and Henri Mattila have all sampled the fare at El Limon, and they have all come away impressed by the quality of the food. Head down to Conshohocken and grab some of the best Mexican food you can find outside of Mexico.

Florence and The Machine – “Take Care” (Drake Cover) – One of the best perks of being a music nerd is being able to quiz friends on the “sample game.” Knowing who originally came up with a song is a great way to show just how much you know about music. This song is one of the trickier ones to follow in terms of its “music nerd” progression: Florence and the gang cover the Drake song of the same name, which actually reinterprets the late Gil Scott-Heron singing “I’ll Take Care of You,” which was originally sung by legendary bluesman Bobby “Blue” Bland. Got it? This song’s circuitous journey, in yet another form, has struck a chord with a number of people. While the Drake version is a bit melancholy (doesn’t it seem like almost all of his songs are?), Florence’s version is less mournful and more soulful thanks to the accompanying band, and it works without losing the feel of the original. Apparently Drake is one of Florence’s favorite artists and it shows: she stays true to the song while adding her own flair. Florence has been on a tear of late, and this song is further evidence of just how talented she is as it seems that no song is outside of her comfort zone.

Kendrick Lamar – “Rigamortus (remix)” ft. Busta Rhymes – The 24-year old Compton native is a burgeoning star of hip-hop. His flow is simultaneously insightful and melodic. He can switch from the rapid-fire braggadocio of this song to laid back and reflective. “Rigamortus,” from his most recent and acclaimed release, Section.80, gets the remix treatment with an added verse from noted “get as many syllables in a line as you can” rapper Busta Rhymes. While some believe that Busta may have lost a step or two, he does add a little more life to the frenetic and infectious beat. That being said, Lamar needs no help with this song. He rips through this beat with punchline after punchline all while keeping pace with a beat that would give most rappers fits. Many would agree that Lamar’s skill on this track shows up those of the rap veteran, Busta Rhymes. This song is a great intro to a rapper that will be making some major waves sooner rather than later.

Mr. Luqman Kolade

What is Mr. Kolade listening to?

Bloch enjoying his Mexican meal.Photo by Henri Mattila Bloch’s meal.

Photo by Henri Mattila

In the fall of his Third Form year, Kelly Mao decided to take 2-D Foundation, a beginner level art class taught by Mr. Chris Fox. “I needed an art credit,” stated Mao, “So

I thought, why not just get it done freshman year?” Little did he know, this decision would come to be one of the best he ever made while at Haverford. After a successful Third Form year, Mao decided to try a different art form: multimedia. He expressed interest in that as well; however, he found himself back in 2-D Portfolio with Mr. Fox come Fifth Form year. He used this time to sharpen his skills, which ranged from observing the way light reflects onto an object to mastering his depth perception with a pencil and, most importantly, falling head-over-heels into the abyss of oil paint possibilities.

Mao picked up oil painting with ease. After just a few small-scale studies, he began his first major work. The painting impressed everyone that walked by. For his first time using oil on a large canvas, Mao had exceeded the wildest of expectations.

Inspired by his voracious attitude for video games, Mao modeled this painting after a castle in Final Fantasy. “Ever since taking up art I’ve enjoyed painting things from video games,” says Mao. In particular, the buildings are what fascinate him most. He has no definitive reason for enjoying this aspect of his favorite games; however, that is of no concern to him. And that is how it should be because Mao’s talents at doing what he loves are remarkable. Although it may not appear so, this painting began with a mixture of brown paint and turpentine (the equivalent of water when using

watercolors). Mao outlined the castle roughly and then wiped away paint from the bright areas while adding more paint to the dark spots, thus creating the various gradients of shade. Next, he began to add color. During the weeks leading up to winter break, Mao worked

tirelessly during and after school. When break arrived he took his work home with him and nearly finished it. He finished his project after only four weeks of work, in the first week of the new year. While currently participating in Mr. Fox’s Senior Thesis course, Mao looks back on his first experiences using oil with a laugh. He

never would have found his love for art if he had not taken the chance and signed up for it Third Form year. To those vacillating between art and anything else, Mao says, “Do art.” He exudes true passion while at work in the studio and encourages others to try to experience the same love for the craft.

A Peaceful Easy Feeling

By Charles Mueller

The day, motley dusk with a chilled breezeMy sight, flurry atop the barren brushBeautiful it is here within the trees,The sounds are true, immersed in the hush.

In sitting here, companion at my heel,I savor my unbound mind wandering.Marvelous is the peaceful aura that I feelAs I lie among the scenery, simply pondering.

The withered bench I rest upon makes a creakAs the wind from far brushes my chilled face.This soothing stroke brings a blush to my cheek;I am blessed, for this is the word of grace.

It is about time for me to depart,But before I do, there is one last word.This here, the passionate feeling from the heart,This peaceful easy feeling, like nothing stirred.

Arts & Entertainment Page 9 The Index December 2011

Cowboy poet coming to HaverfordCharles Mueller ‘12

The past fourteen years, the Haverford community has been blessed by the presence of Mr. Edward R. Hallowell Literary Lecture. Each year, a literary icon presents his or her works during the Hallowell Lecture and pleasantly surprises both students and alumni alike. In the past, Haverford has had the privilege to bring in talented writers such as Richard Wilbur, Robert Morgan, and Mary Gordon. The lecture series allows students to discover a variety of writing styles, ranging from prose to poetry. This year’s speaker for the Hallowell Lecture will surely captivate the hearts and souls of the Haverford audience. The speaker this year is a Cowboy poet and songwriter. Originally from Wisconsin, Mr. Paul Zarzyski now calls Montana his home. While attending the University of Montana in the mid 70’s, Mr. Zarzyski was mentored under influential poets such as Richard Hugo and John Haines. Mr. Zarzyski then earned a Masters in Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Montana. To this day, Mr. Zarzyski has made his living passionately writing poems, performing his works, and instructing writing workshops. He is certainly an acclaimed writer especially in the western states, but what many do not know is that he is a rodeo man. One of Mr. Zarzyski’s greatest passions aside from poetry is his time spent riding. For many years during his youth, Mr. Zarzyski was a competitor in the rodeo, riding bareback broncos for sport. He began participating in

rodeos shortly after college and continued to ride well into his late thirties. He continued to ride bareback broncos throughout his forties on the senior circuit. Today Mr. Zarzyski

attributes much of his inspiration for his poems to his rodeo years. Mr. Zarzyski’s works are highly accomplished and praised amongst the community. He was awarded the Western Heritage Award from The National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1997 for his book titled All This Way

for the Short Ride. In 2004 Mr. Zarzyski was awarded the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for his poems found in his book Wolf Tracks on the Welcome Mat. His most recent award was dedicated in 2005. Mr. Zarzyski was the recipient of the Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature, making him one of the most renowned poets in Montana. He has also produced multiple albums such as his latest in 2007, Brace of Spoken Words, with names such as Ian Tyson, Tom Russell, and Betsy Hagar. In November of 2008, Mr. Zarzyski collaborated with musician Wylie Gustafson and John Carter Cash in Nashville, where they recorded the CD Hang-n-Rattle! This fall, fifty-two students from Montana, Haverford, Agnes Irwin, and Episcopal Academy were selected to participate in The Big Timber Arts

Roundup in Montana. Those who participated in the creative writing workshop were lucky enough to have Mr. Zarzyski as their mentor. All gave their full attention as each poem gave insight into the fascinating life of the rodeo poet. Sixth Former and workshop participant, Jack Meehan states, “His works are original and bold. He wants to share his experiences with you, but he doesn’t mind shaking your world up a little bit; I find it incredibly entertaining.” Jack further exclaimed, “His works incorporate

a definite showmanship. Each poem is powerful when you read it, but when he reads it to you, the experience is tripled.” As other members of the Montana workshop would agree, Mr. Zarzyski has an incredible delivery that draws in the audience in pure admiration. The audience plays a large

role in Mr. Zarzyski’s poems, for they are often asked to

partake in his readings. Sixth Former Payton Cuddy recalls, “The audience was very engaged and listened attentively to his humor and personality as he delivered each poem. When the audience was asked to participate in a chant, the students were more than happy to do what Zarzyski asked of them.” Cuddy’s view of reciting poetry changed dramatically as he

announced, “His [recitations made] me appreciate poetry read out loud.” The poet uses his incredible writing style to draw in audiences, and he heightens the students’ desires to read and write their own works. English teacher Ms. Rebecca Davis commented, “He does a lot of different kinds of writing, mixing serious poems with entertaining poems. Throughout all of his writings, he demonstrates obvious vibrant attention to the meanings and sounds of words, and you can hear his passion about each word whether he reads aloud or when a reader is solely reading his works.” Ms. Davis further reveals, “I have known Paul for ten years, and I have watched him work his magic on students of all sorts, even the timid writers who would seem to collapse in fear at the thought of reading out loud.” Lastly Ms. Davis remarks, “He allows everyone to express who they are through his inspiration, attention, and care for other people working in the same art.” It is clear that Mr. Paul Zarzyski is highly praised by the community and will be warmly welcomed on January 11 and 12. Without a doubt, this year’s Hallowell Lecturer will captivate the audience with his grace and humor.

Artist of the issue: Kelly MaoPeter Thompson ‘13

Mao painting his “Final Fantasy” masterpiece.Photo by Graham Gaddes

Another one of Mao’s paintings.Photo by Graham Gaddes

Zarzyski in a rodeo.Photo credit: paulzarzyski.com

Zarzyski.Photo credit: Bangtail Press

The front cover of one of Zarsyski’s books.Photo credit: paulzarzyski.com

Poetry Corner

As fall sports wind down, the excitement of a new season is sure to give everyone something to look forward to. Swimming, winter track, wrestling, crew, winter workouts, and basketball are in the spotlight as students leave a great fall season behind. The basketball team has been on the minds of all of us lately for one big reason: Tao Xu. The 6’ 11” center has sparked extreme anticipation for basketball season to begin. Haverford will also see how its team will play under a new coaching staff headed by Henry Fairfax. Coach Fairfax brings with him many new ideas, including a push towards a renewed work ethic that is necessary for a winning team. His coaching

philosophy, supplemented by a great set of basketball players, are sure to bring a good season. The season started off quickly with a game against McDonough after Thanksgiving. While the team played well in the game, which had no recorded score, it was clear they still had some work to do. Still, the team has been noticeably working well together and is in great shape from the off-season workouts that Coach Fairfax held. Additionally, Sixth Form team leaders Rashaan Hollman and Zach Thomas look to give Haverford threats from all sides of the courts. The team this year has a variety of age groups, which allow for a sense of camaraderie between the upper- and underclassmen. Key players include Fifth Former Tao Xu (although he is recovering from a broken back), Thomas, Hollman, Fifth Former Sema’j Reed, Fifth Former Darren Watson, and Sixth Former Eric Close. Also, look out for breakout seasons from Shaun Alston and Sam Foremen, two Third Formers who ultimately plan to make an impact on opposing squads. The team’s schedule has been set, creating notable games and tournaments, including the Don McBride

Invitational, a home opener against New Beginnings, and, as always, EA. These games will surely put the boys to the test and make them prove that the team is more than just hype. So far in the season, the basketball team has had a taste of success, winning against The Phelps School 78-50. Unfortunately, the Fords then hit a setback in a 59-46 loss to Shipley. Coach Fairfax brings a list to every practice stating what needs to be done and what he is looking for from each team member. The list includes listening to directions, being “coachable,” knowing their boundaries, exceeding all limits, and, perhaps most importantly, excelling in what each does best. These methods bring something new to the Haverford basketball community and create work ethic that is essential to a team with

very high expectations. The list allows for no loopholes, shortcuts, or any easy way out, which gives the boys two options: work harder or do not work. Coach Fairfax claims that he is never

nervous or, for that matter, never feels any pressure because when it comes down to it, he says, the games will be easy if the boys put the work into practice. Coach Fairfax and his coaching staff realize that despite the NBA lockout controversy, they need to make sure that students can be excited about a new season. One way in which they did this is in the basketball meeting: Coach Fairfax showed a galvanizing, motivating video. It taught the team that ultimately work ethic and never giving up will create a win, and the boys should take everything seriously. The last time Haverford took the Inter-Ac championship was 1999, when the star

guard was Coach Fairfax himself. Winning the title

is important, but the most significant aspect that the coaching staff would want the boys to have is to leave knowing that basketball is parallel to life, and playing is for fun and enjoyment but also for improvement in everyday life. The team has a lot to prove but is willing to do anything for its community: to work, to listen, to uphold themselves, and ultimately to win a championship.

Sports Squash squads

race for excellence


Josh Collins ‘13

Haverford Squash, always a juggernaut in the Inter-Ac as well as on the national scene, is looking to continue its dominance in what is shaping up to be one of the best years in recent memory. The Varsity squad, coached by Andrew Poolman, is looking very strong this year. Sixth Form Captains B.G. Lemmon, Sam Henderson, and Coach Poolman all believe that the team has a legitimate chance to topple rival Episcopal Academy, who has been the National Champion for the last two years. Henderson, when questioned about the team’s chances against EA, responded with confidence “We can definitely compete with them.” Coach Poolman agrees. In the opening meeting, Mr. Poolman challenged both the JV and Varsity squads to go undefeated this year. “Our goal should be both undefeated Varsity and undefeated JV,” Poolman proudly declared. The fact that EA and CHA are both national powers, placing within the top 20 mostly every year is daunting. The fact that they are both in the Inter-Ac is even more so. Playing these talented teams multiple times per year is a rigorous schedule and a testament to the expectations that both the captains and coach have laid down for the team. Haverford’s Varsity program has always been strong, but this year, with rivals EA and CHA graduating key members, the proverbial ball is in the Ford’s court. The Varsity team is strong up and down the ladder, with Captain Lemmon playing number one, and a bubble of great players in the Fourth Form including numbers two and three Ian Rothweiler and Sean Kenny as well as number six Thomas Walker and number seven Dylan Henderson. Captain Henderson, playing number eight, Fifth Former Jason Shein at five, Third Former Jay Losty at three, and Fifth Former Drew Field round out the top nine at the start of season. A team of players this talented, all active on the individual tournament scene, is exceedingly rare, and the Fords look to capitalize on such a powerful group of players by taking down their rivals this year. While CHA was able to defeat the Fords last year, this year, the Fords look to seek revenge by

beating one of their main Inter-Ac rivals. EA will provide the biggest challenge for the Varsity squad, but regardless of the outcome, expect the two seasonal matches against EA to be heated and hard fought. The Varsity squad also looks to improve upon its disappointing MASA finish last year and its 6th place at the national high school tournament at Yale. With

EA and CHA as well as New England and powerhouses Brunswick and Lawrenceville, respectively, not to mention the second place finisher Taft looking to take this year’s crown, the Varsity squad has a long, hard, but very manageable road ahead of them should they make a run at the national championship.

Not only is Haverford’s Varsity looking to take both the Inter-Ac and national scene by storm, but Haverford’s immense depth of talent also makes for an impressively strong JV squad. At most schools, there is a concentration of talent at the top of the Varsity, which slowly wanes towards the bottom of the Varsity and into the JV. This is not so with Haverford’s program. JV Coaches Mr. Sam Walters and Ms. Rebecca Smedley are very excited for the upcoming season. Of this year’s team, Mr. Walters said, “It’s amazing how different the team is from just two years ago. There are players who were mid-level JV this time two years ago that are not even on the team now.” While Coach Walters did say that the JV might have been slightly stronger off the bat last year, he is

hopeful as the squad has “a lot of time to improve” and thinks it can become even better than last year’s dominating team. This is high praise since last year’s JV team was undefeated, toppling rivals

CHA’s and EA’s

JV teams 9-0 in three of the four meetings. That the JV coaches believe that this year’s team has the potential to be even better is astounding, and the JV squad has high hopes for its chances in the 2nd team division at Nationals. Last year’s team played well but still lost three out of its four matches since less competitive schools play their Varsity teams in 2nd division, creating a rough road for JV teams that decide to enter. Overall, this year’s squash program looks exceedingly strong, with both the Varsity and JV poised to take out division rivals and make runs at national championships. Fan support is very much appreciated and could potentially be the deciding factor in the grudge matches against rivals EA and CHA.

New Coach and players: basketball primed for success

Logan Atkins ‘15

Sixth Former Sam Henderson and Fifth Former Peter Thompson practicing.Photo by William Ye

Sixth Former Sam Henderson and Fifth Formers Drew Field and Peter Thompson practic-ing.

Photo by William Ye

Third Former Shawn Alston making a free throw attempt.Photo by Index Staff

Fifth Former Tao Xu making a pass.Photo by Index Staff

Running in the coldMatt Larson ‘14

Manav Khandelwal ‘15

Making waves: fords’ swimming


Sports

The Haverford School’s swimming and diving program has been synonymous with the word “success” over the last decade, and this season does not seem like it will be any sort of aberration. This newest version of Fords Aquatics is loaded with both experienced, talented upperclassmen and speedy underclassmen ready to shine. Coming off a stellar 6-2 season and a seventh place finish at Easterns in 2010-2011, the Fords are ready to make a statement in the league once again. The team’s head coach, Mr. Sean Hansen, has a positive outlook on the upcoming season. He remarked, “I think we have the potential to be competitive in every Inter-Ac meet and have the ability to break every existing school and pool record.” This is certainly true, especially with the addition of Fifth Former Jimmy Jameson, who came from New Trier High School in Chicago. Jameson impressed coaches in Chicago with

his amazing speed and fish-like ability in the water. He has already earned high praise from his new coach. Coach Hansen has lauded Jameson’s effort, saying, “Jimmy is the one swimmer that will make waves around the league and has already motivated some other kids on our team this year with his training tenacity and focus. He is a determined kid and makes those swimmers around him better.” Still, he may not even have to make those around him better, due to their already impressive talents. Sixth Formers Andrew Helber, Connor O’Prey, Matt Luminais, and Max Whitehead were all anchors on the team last season and look to continue their outstanding performance. Helber and O’Prey each had sensational Easterns performances with Helber placing an impressive sixth in the 100 backstroke and O’Prey finishing seventh in both the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly. Fellow Sixth Formers Jimmy Ryan and Kevin Zipf also had commendable Easterns performances, along with Fourth Former Daniel McGrath. Ryan placed 15th in the 50

freestyle, and Zipf placed 24th in the 100 backstroke and 32nd in the 500 freestyle. McGrath, a freshman at that time, came in 24th in the 50 free and looks to surpass that great performance in the years to come. All of this year’s Sixth Form captains, Helber, Zipf, and O’Prey, look forward to the younger members of the team. Helber stated, “I’m really excited this year about two underclassmen swimmers. Dan McGrath will be an integral part of all our meets this year and Chet Bickhart has been training very well and should put up some fast times for us.” Zipf added, “I’m also looking forward to Dan McGrath, Chet Bickhart, and Alex Zhang, as well as Luke Ryan and Ben Nelligan, because they add some great depth to the team.” The diving team, coached by Mr. Justin Gaudreau, is also looking up. Sixth Former Jimmy Orsini, the perennial star of this team, finished an incredible sixth last year at Easterns, among nearly 30 of the top divers in the area. The diving team certainly hopes to continue its success and pull its weight in dual

meets this season. Achieving perfection will be an uphill battle: the two closest meets against Malvern and Germantown Academy will be challenges this tenacious team relishes, so an undefeated season is clearly still an achievable goal in their minds. However, while victory is always an important part of any sport, Fords’ swimmers bond through long hours of repetitive practices and brutal training when most teams are resting. According to Captain Zipf, “Being a part of the swim team has completely shaped who I am today, and one of the best things about being on the team is the people you meet and the bonds you form. Everyone knows that the swimmers are a close group of friends, but we are one of the closest because of the support we give each other throughout the season.” While the stat sheet may say otherwise, swimming truly is a team sport like any other, and this team has the necessary element, chemistry. But winning certainly would not hurt.

Athlete of the issue: matt LuminaisHenry Scales ‘13

While everyone is caught up in the frenzy of lacrosse players committing to prominent colleges, other less recognized sports, such as swimming, may be overlooked. Sixth Form swimmer Matt Luminais has been a swimming star since he was four, when he started his competitive career with the Upper Main Line

YMCA. Since then he has won a great number of competitions, many on the national level. He did not achieve this excellence by skill alone: he has spent countless hours practicing. At this point in his career he swims 20 hours a week, consisting of nine in-pool sessions; he also does three out-of-pool lifting sessions. When asked if he enjoys putting this much time into swimming he responded, “I enjoy it as much as I can; it is a lot of work.”

Because Matt is a Sixth Former, he has been doing all of this swimming work while also completing his college admissions process. He said, “The key to keeping up and balancing work is time management.” Because the process is so tough in today’s world, every student is looking for an edge that makes him or her stand out. Luckily for Matt, he has his swimming record. Although he is a good student, swimming has definitely

played a role in the process. Matt said, “Swimming was without a doubt a contributor to my success in college admittance.” He has been recruited by Brown and is committed to become part of their 2016 class. Although he does not know in which events he will swim for Brown, one thing is for sure: after all of the lifelong work he has put into swimming, it will continue to be a big part of his life.

Despite the fact that last year was considered a “rebuilding” year for Haverford Winter Track, the 2011-2012 team has all the ingredients a solid, win-filled season. Led by coaches Mr. Jay Wright, Mr. Brian Skelly, and Dr. William Ehrhart, the team is attempting to build off of a good core of players who perform at a high level. Coach Skelly has said, “The winter track team is off to a great start,” adding that the coaches are “optimistic about the upcoming season.” To have a successful team, there must be good leaders. Luckily, so far the Sixth Formers have been “solid and dependable,” according to Coach Skelly. Since the Sixth Formers “tend to set the tone for the season,” this is undoubtedly a good component of the team.

However, Sixth Formers are not the only important members of the team: to be successful, the team must have committed, hardworking underclassmen to lay the foundation for future seasons. Coach Skelly remarked that the first thing the team must do this year is “fairly simple: work hard.” If all of the athletes in winter track “commit to the success of the team,” the easier it will be for the coaches to select runners for particular events. Coach Wright has said that “full commitment” is expected out of every

player every day at practice. A typical winter track practice begins with warm-up laps, followed by stretches, and then more running. The sessions can be longer and harder on a workout day (especially when the team is at Haverford College’s indoor track on Tuesdays) and more relaxed, slower-paced runs on non-workout days. If athletes compete in events other than running, they will practice these as well. Currently, during runs, the team is split into five

groups, each varying based on skill and pace. While the coaches “don’t [teach] effort but technique,” Coach Wright assured the players that “[they] will all get better.” This year’s track team has a few goals in mind when they compete in meets. The main aspirations include being able to go the state meet at Penn State and compete in as many events as possible. This would allow all of the winter track athletes to compete in each and every meet, ensuring that each athlete competes in an event that caters to his unique skillset. Although they acknowledge that the schedule is very difficult, Coach Skelly and Coach Wright are still confident in the team’s ability to handle adversity. Noting that Haverford “will be successful,” Skelly said, “A positive is that we have young guys who are prepared and willing to lead this year.”

Sixth Former Connor O’Prey on the blocks.Photo by Corey Fader

Sixth Formers Geoff Bocobo, Jimmy Orsini, and Brendan Purcell

Photo by Michael Zivik

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper Schoolers from November 30 to December 2.Poll by James Shecter

Going into the season, both the Philadelphia Eagles and their always-loyal fans thought that this could finally be the year that the team brought home the Lombardi Trophy. Over the summer, the Eagles first picked up free agent Nnamdi Asomugha, who is now their starting cornerback. They also renewed Michael Vick’s contract, giving him $100 million for six years. Although the Eagles attempted to resolve contract negotiations with wide receiver DeSean Jackson, they have still not reached a settlement.. The Philadelphia Eagles also acquired rookie punter Chas Henry and rookie kicker Alex Henery to fill the spot of long-time veteran David Akers. Then, in the middle of August, the team showed its true ability in its first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Eagles beat the Ravens 13-6, with the only touchdown coming from a three-yard pass from quarterback Michael Vick to tight end Brent Celek. Eventually rebounding from their next game, which was a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Eagles finished preseason on a two-game winning streak, defeating the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets by a score of 24-14. Thus, with an impressive 3-1 preseason record, the Philadelphia Eagles seemed to be living up to their lofty expectations. The team carried the momentum forward into the regular season and steam rolled over the Saint Louis Rams 31-13. However, the Rams succeeded in pointing out a crucial flaw in the Eagles defense, the run game, when the St. Louis running back Steven Jackson ran 47 yards for their only touchdown. That, as well as other flaws, crippled the Eagles and caused the lackluster team to lose four straight games. The Philadelphia Eagles began each game strongly, but slowly lost momentum as the game progressed and lost their lead in the fourth quarter each and every time. Nevertheless, the resilient Birds

bounced back to beat the Redskins and Cowboys, both contenders in the NFC East division. Despite both wins, the Eagles again suffered in two consecutive losses against the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, playing sub-par in both instances. They then upset the New York Giants in the Meadowlands, after punter Steve Weatherford punted to Jackson, who almost returned the ball for a touchdown, causing the Philly fans to reminisce and recall the Miracle at the New Meadowlands last season. However, Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense were too explosive for Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo and the Eagles’ defense, which gave up a stunning 38 points as the Patriots crushed the Eagles in a pitiful game, causing many fans to question their loyalty to the team which promised so much yet delivered so little. Because of their embarrassing current season record of 4-7, a place in the playoff bracket seems to be slipping out of the grasp of Coach Andy Reid and his Philadelphia Eagles, who need a Miracle at the Linc to save their season. Unfortunately, the Eagles were to suffer

back-to-back losses, losing in their Thursday night game in Seattle. This loss can only be attributed to a lackluster performance from a team plagued with critical injuries. With their backs against the wall, the Eagles managed to push forward and overcome the Miami Dolphins, due to an impressive defensive display and the return of an explosive first half offense, led by Quarterback Michael Vick. “I don’t think anyone can place their finger on one sole problem,” admits Fifth Former Geoff Bocobo, commenting on the humiliating

season of the Philadelphia Eagles. Bocobo’s main complaints condemn Reid and the fourth quarter doldrums as the culprits of the Eagles’ downfall. He, in addition to many other fans, agrees that a fresh head coach would bring a welcomed end to the Reid Dynasty, which has lasted for thirteen seasons. He wonders how can a team filled with so many stars can play so poorly. Bocobo also acknowledges that the losses in the Eagles’ 1-5 home record are due in part to the fourth quarter. Sixth Former Tadas Antanavicius points out that maybe Michael Vick, the starting Eagles quarterback, is to blame for their numerous losses. He argues, “[Vick] has no rushing touchdowns and has begun to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, whether through fumbles or interceptions, and he just can’t stay healthy.” Vick certainly has not been performing at the level he performed last season, in which he was a contender against Tom Brady to be the best quarterback in the National Football League. Lastly, Fourth Former Brian Rodriguez thinks

that Castillo and the Eagles’ defense are the Achilles’ heel of the Philadelphia Eagles: “The defense didn’t have the opponent’s offensive playmaker covered. Nnamdi Asomugha should have covered [Arizona Cardinals wide receiver]

Larry Fitzgerald and [New England

Patriots wide receiver] Wes Welker.” Whether any of these problems is the cause for the Eagles’ lackluster performance is uncertain, but it is certain that the Philadelphia Eagles have a great deal of work to do if they are to be taken seriously next season.

Wrestling looks toward great year

Dean Feinman ‘12


Sports Austin Merritt ‘13

This year’s 2011-2012 Haverford Hockey season is looking promising. The team has already had four games and has exploded out of the gate by blowing out both AI Dupont, the reigning Delaware State champions, and Delco Christian twice. The squad also looked very strong in a nail-biting, yet ultimately disappointing, 3-2 loss against Ridley. With this start, the team is expected to improve over last year’s performance. Sixth Form offensive specialist Chris Vattima, attributes this change to upperclass leadership. Vattima asserted,“We have five or six [Sixth Formers] that are really passionate about the game and want to see their team do well.” This leadership has helped change the tone of Haverford Ice Hockey, which has become a much more serious sport. The Sixth Formers along with Coach Tom Clark decided to take a more stringent approach to the season. When asked about this years coaching, Vattima said, “Coach Clark told us that last year would never happen again because he wont tolerate anything less than success. Commitment to the team is his number-one priority, and he expects the same from all of his players.”

Starting goaltender Fourth Former Noah Cutler piggybacked on his statement, adding, “Although we may have seemed better on paper, our commitment level seems to be much higher this year.” The commitment level and Coach Clark’s new philosophy seem to have paid off so far

and have been implemented nicely. Sixth Form speed-skater Toby Blumberg remarked, “The team seems to be motivated to work hard in practices, [and it possesses a] desire to improve [on its] weaknesses and work as a team both offensively and defensively.” Blumberg

continued by saying, “With this teamwork and motivation, we’ll be able to take it to the games in an effort to play at the top of our level and be dominant in our league.” It seems as though the Ice Hockey team has undergone a transformation similar to that of the Flyers. With these changes, the team expects success Cutler said, “I think that this year will prove to the Haverford community that hockey is just as relevant a sport as basketball, squash, or any other school-organized sport.” Hopefully, Cutler is correct in his prediction as Haverford’s league play will begin shortly. In hope of these winning results, the hockey team strongly encourages students and faculty to come out and support them in their games.

Hockey: as motivated as ever

This year’s Haverford wrestling season is a mix of melancholy and excitement. All of the wrestlers are anxiously awaiting the return of Head Coach Bruce Kennett, who is out for the time being for health reasons. In the meantime, Coach James Griffin has courageously taken on the challenge of rearing the team, who are wholly grateful for his involvement. When asked about his role as head coach pro tempore, Coach Griffin quickly told this reporter that he is still just the assistant coach and that his “ultimate goal as a coach doesn’t change, and that is training champions.” When asked about his expectations for this year Griffin responded with confidence, “We’re going to have a great season. This year we expect to have at least six wrestlers place at prep-states, as a team to come in the top five, and to come in the top ten at nationals.” The wrestlers share Coach Griffin’s optimism. Sixth Form captain Ronald Tassoni wanted it to be noted that “the team’s looking good.” Fellow Sixth Form captain Christopher DiBello added to Tassoni’s comment, saying, “We have a large incoming Third Form squad and solid Fourth and Fifth form group of guys as well. Coach Griffin is pushing us hard, but

it’s good for the team, and it’s all going to pay off come states and nationals.” Fifth Former Ben Grobman has a similar opinion: “I’m excited: I think we could have a great season

as a team.” Much is expected from the upperclassmen this year in terms of leadership. The team has eight Sixth Formers: Tassoni, DiBello, Dean Feinman, Zach Rego, Rémi Yang, Dylan Anderson, Zach Trauger, and Nick Alexander. The eight Fifth Formers

are: Vince Bellwoar, Dante Clemente, Alex Dawejko, Connor Fairman, Ben Grobman, Jake Mullin, Sam Turner, Alex Ware, and Alanmichael Wiedmer. Also, an exciting and notable addition to the team this year is Third

Former L.J. Barlow, who has competed on the Junior Olympic National Team this summer. Needless to say, the team has high expectations for Barlow. The season kicked off on December 3rd with the St. Benedict Tournament where the team placed third and the New Hope Solebury Tournament where the team came in second. Other big home matches include the Malvern Friars on January 6th, the Buckley Duals on January 21st, and the Episcopalian Church Mice on January 24th. In the words of DiBello, “We expect nothing less than to compete for the Inter-Ac Title.”

What happened to the “dream team”?Amar Patel ‘13

Andy Reid is having one of his worst years as Head Coach of the Eagles, who are now 5-8.Photo credit: Getty Images

L.J. Barlow (Form III) on his way to a first place finish at the New Hope Solebury tournament.

Photo by Mr. Louis DiBello

Survey Monkey poll of 100 Upper Schoolers from November 30 to December 2.


The Fords race down the ice.Photo by Mr. Bill Miller


Opinions “Macs are superior” “PC’s have always

been better”Tadas Antanavicius ‘12

Jonathan Paras ‘14

The Mac versus PC debate has been raging on ever since Microsoft followed Apple into the world of computers in 1985. Since its inception, Windows has led the market and currently holds about 80% of the U.S. operating system market to Mac OS X’s 10%. For a Haverford student trying to decide which computer to purchase next, the choice may seem obvious: why challenge what the vast majority of the population seems to have accepted? Yet, that assumption could not be further from the truth. While only 10% of computer users in the U.S. use Macs, the percentage at Haverford gives Macs a majority. Students are making the decision to go with Macs for a multitude of reasons, creating a growing ratio of Mac to PC users. The most obvious distinction between Apple’s Macs and Microsoft’s PCs is their price. The cheapest Mac laptop costs $999 and the cheapest desktop comes in at $1,199. On the other hand, the cheapest PC laptop could be had for around $250 and a desktop for about $200. Of course, these cheap PCs are significantly inferior to the “cheap” Macs in every aspect, but they are computers. Those who cannot afford spending $1,000 on a computer will invariably choose the cheap PCs, regardless of whether a Mac provides better value or not. The average American’s inability to afford a Mac is perhaps the biggest reason for the disparity in market share, but there are psychological factors involved as well. PCs happened to catch on quicker than Macs in their early stages, and thus everyone grew accustomed to using PCs. People are naturally averse to change and remain stubbornly convinced that what they have been doing for years is the right way to do it. Even if they spend a few minutes on a Mac, they will not have any familiarity with the different interface and will instantly dismiss it as inferior. Similarly, some corporations may not consider the change to be economically viable considering that their IT staff and workers are all accustomed to working with PCs for maximum efficiency. But for the typical Haverford student who has the ability to choose which computer to buy for $1,000 or more (or perhaps save money and opt for a cheaper, lower-end PC), most of these reasons for market share disparity are irrelevant. The Mac’s high price to some is irrelevant – the fairer concern is that it appears a Mac with the same specifications as a PC can cost hundreds of dollars extra, despite the only difference on their list of specifications being “Mac OS X Lion” and “Windows 7 Professional.” Contrary to popular belief, this difference is not a “~$500 premium for Mac OS X.” Macs cost more than a run-of-the-mill PC – like Dell or Toshiba – because they are of higher quality. A fairer comparison might require the PC to be made by a higher quality manufacturer like Sony. Equivalent Sony and Apple laptops see the difference in price cut to zero, sometimes even favoring the Mac depending on the level of laptops being compared. Comparing Apple to Sony is like comparing Mercedes to BMW, while comparing Apple to Dell is like comparing Mercedes to Honda. Why bother with the higher quality manufacturer? The answer is, for the same reason you buy real gold and not faux gold. It does not break as easily, it shines brighter, and it retains value over time. For computers, that means Apple/Sony computers are more reliable in the long term, less likely to experience problems in the short term, will remain in good condition over the years, and will overall create a better experience for the consumer. One of the aspects of Macs that makes them great is the emphasis on the small details. Some of the things that never get mentioned but are noticeable to frequent users include: the keyboard’s greater ease of use than any

on a PC, magnets in all the right places never leave a user struggling to insert a cable, the excessively long power cord eliminates the frequent challenge of sitting near an outlet, the plethora of one-click buttons for all system actions (volume, playback, brightness, other functions), and much, much more. PC proponents may claim that you can modify, search for, or buy components that enable you to do all of this, but they all come

standard with a Mac. This is representative of a recurring theme among Macs: you may not realize how useful those little magnets would be until they are already there – Apple knows what you would like before you know you want it. The aesthetic elegance of Macs - inside and out - is often dismissed as superficial, but it really does make a difference in how one uses a computer. Would you rather be looking at the sloppy, incoherent writing of a 5th grader’s essay, or would you rather enjoy reading through a well thought-out, structured, Haverford Upper School student’s thesis paper? While it is subjective and the opposite may be true to some, Macs are often considered to be more like the latter. For a student who has many tasks on his plate each and every night, the efficient computing provided by Macs is unmatched by PCs. “Mission Control” (known as “Spaces” in pre-Lion versions of Mac OS X) provides multiple desktops and work areas to place apps and programs as you are working on them. Combine this with Mac “gestures” (certain movements on the trackpad that initiate certain actions), and flipping from one job to another, working on several things at once, or even doing simple tasks becomes significantly more efficient than PCs’ form of organization – a cluttered, often confusing mess of windows that can merely be minimized and restored. The aspect of efficiency alone has made my personal switch from PC to Mac worth every penny. In the end, it is literally impossible to go wrong with a Mac. If you eventually decide that you liked Windows more than OS X (or you want to run some Windows-only programs or games), you can always purchase a copy of Windows and have it run on your Mac. There are programs built into Macs that handle this: you can either run a Windows Virtual Machine, which would allow you to use smaller programs and Windows-only things right out of a program, or you can dual-boot Windows. This would mean you choose to run either OS X or Windows as your computer is starting up, and would allow you to use your Mac as a PC. You cannot run OS X on a PC due to OS X’s defined nature – it is designed and authorized to run only on Macs. All of this means that compatibility issues are indirectly favorable to Macs: Macs can run Windows and Mac applications while PCs can only run Windows applications. The downsides to Macs are limited, and it appears that they provide the most value of any computer. So, if $1,000 is not too much for you to spend on a computer, the choice should be Mac.

Computers are devices that have become a part of the Haverford student’s everyday life. Whether it is for taking notes, doing homework, or doing other productive

activities, students do not leave home without one. Everyone faces a very important decision when it comes to buying one of these important machines. The age-old question:

Mac or PC? Let us begin with PCs. The PC has been around for a while, and it has had time to grow and change. Take two users, the first one a PC user, the second a Mac. As of now the PC is one of the most customizable computers on the market. As opposed to Mac which requires specialized experts, users at home can upgrade their PCs with anything from extra RAM to graphics card improvements. PC users can even build their own PCs from scratch, and swap nearly every part within their computer all the way from the motherboard, down to the lowly power unit. This type of customizability is unparalleled when compared to Mac. This sounds nice on paper, but what really happens for the average user? First, when our Haverford School PC user purchased his laptop, for the purpose of this argument, he went for a $760 HP Pavilion with a 15” screen. The Haverford School Mac user bought a 15” Mac Pro which has comparable performance. The Mac costs over $1,700. The HP user gets better hard-drive performance as well as more RAM than the Mac user. He also gets a computer whose software compatibility is unequaled as almost all software developed on the market is Windows compatible. Even if the PC underperformed when compared to its Mac counterpart, the PC user would have saved enough money to purchase the upgrades and install them himself and still have spent less money than on the Mac. Alternatively, due to the sheer amount of firms that produce PCs, the student would have a very wide variety or choices to

suite his needs. This small note should be stressed because the needs of each student may different, and, by having so many PC producing companies, the Haverford student would be able to purchase a machine that suits him. Eventually, though, these two users take their computers home and attempt to set them up with their Internet service providers. The Mac user runs the risk of not being able to connect to their ISP or simply having trouble with connection because of compatibility issues. The PC should have no problems at all. One may ask as to why the big ISP’s do not pay much attention to Mac. It is simply because PCs have cornered the market with over 95% of computer sales being PC. As the story continues, they both theoretically happen to come with hardware problems, such as a faulty RAM card. Due to the overabundance of common parts, it is possible for the PC user to repair his own computer cheaply, but, due to expertise requirements, it is almost definite that the Mac user would need to take his computer to get serviced. As an added kick, the PC-using student, having purchased an HP PC, has the HP support assistant, a maintenance program that can extend the longevity of his computer. It can monitor his computer temperature, detect sluggish performance, correct said sluggish performance, recommend hardware upgrades based upon user needs, create file backup disks, and even contact HP for the user if more support is needed. This all, once

again, exemplifies the benefits of the multi-firm PC platform. Such competition amongst PCs produce good prices and such desirable features. Now, it is true that some people prefer the Mac OS to Windows when it comes to organizing things, but one cannot argue with the greater amount of control one has over the Windows operating system. Due to Apple’s insistence on pushing for 64-bit only software, their backwards compatibility begins to falter while those who have been on the Windows platform have the ability to still get 32-bit editions of their choice operating system which will be compatible with legacy hardware. When it comes down to it, PCs are better machines because they are definitely more cost effective, allow a much larger scale of upgrade options, are more compatible with software written in this day and age, and also allow one plenty of choices when it comes to purchasing said machine. One simply has to look around to notice that the majority of businesses, firms, and even The Haverford School, predominantly use PCs. Macs on the hand are severely limited in choice, do not feature such broad ranges of upgrades, have compatibility issues with many different types of software, and are slowly losing their backwards compatibility. Couple this with their total lack of cost effectiveness due to their steep starting price, and one realizes that funds can simply be better spent elsewhere. In closure, while Macs may be stylish and have interfaces that are pleasant to the eye, they simply do not perform at the same level as their PC counterpart.

Fourth Former RJ Meiers on his PC.Photo by Index Staff

Antanavicius and Sixth Former Jon Smith on a Mac.Photo by Index Staff

One would think that in an age when America’s schools are failing, school administrators and teachers would not try to stifle the flow of information to students – yet that is exactly what is happening at numerous schools. It is no secret that when nearly any person or event is “Googled,” one of the very first links is to Wikipedia. And it is about time that schools began to accept Wikipedia’s ubiquity. The problem is that many teachers refuse to let Wikipedia be used in tests and projects that they assign. The most extreme policies may completely ban Wikipedia from use in research. What other things are banned from use in schools? Pornography and internet games. What else are students forbidden from in research papers? Plagiarism. Do schools really intend to tell students that Wikipedia is on the same level as banned sites and criminal practices? It just does not make sense. More moderate teachers may “offer” students the option of using Wikipedia only to view the extensive list of references at the bottom of every page, so that students can then use those sources and cite facts from them directly. Anyone who has ever spent a minute on Wikipedia knows that all articles are meticulously cited. Each and every sentence has a footnote attached to it. So, for some reason, teachers trust the sources associated with those footnotes, but not the cited facts coming from those sources. Is it that hosting accurate facts on Wikipedia irreversibly taints them? Once again, it just does not make sense. The joy of Wikipedia is that it is completely free and available to people all over the world. The idea is so pioneering and the product so useful that the encyclopedia can be sustained purely by donations. The Wikimedia Foundation, the charity that runs Wikipedia,

fundraises until they reach the amount needed to cover the operating expenses: in 2011, that number was $16 million. As Wikimedia is proud to announce, this immense sum corresponds to an average of $22 each from then half-a-million people living in over 140 countries. If Wikipedia was the inaccurate trash

that some teachers would have one think, how could it possibly raise the fortune needed to operate it? When schools set policies banning the use of Wikipedia, it relegates the more-than-a-decade-old site to the ranks of a tabloid. Many teachers may complain of factual inaccuracies riddling the page. This argument is fundamentally flawed. Anyone who has ever been on the “History” tab of a Wikipedia article knows that a discussion among hundreds – if not thousands – of contributors is occurring behind the scenes. These people, volunteering their own time, debate issues

that may seem unimportant to most – proper punctuation and capitalization – as well as more substantive topics. The latter really are fruitful as anyone who has ever seen a banner above an article can attest. After considerable discussion, the volunteers can post a notice, alerting readers of potential bias or

inaccuracies. There are even banners warning that the page’s perspective is too narrow, only covering current events. When something as insignificant as this last example is cause for alarm for the volunteers, their extreme dedication cannot be questioned. Anecdotally, there are stories of people putting up fake facts on Wikipedia, and the inaccuracies being deleted within half-an-hour. Teachers who know this but continue to condemn Wikipedia are being downright disrespectful to those who dedicate their time to police the site and contribute their knowledge.

Why is it that some are so distrustful of the average contributor on Wikipedia? Is that some teachers, entrenched so deeply in the academic elite, refuse to believe that an average person with a normal job could contribute knowledge? That the lack of Ph.D. automatically discredits someone? This mindset, even if subconscious,

is narrow-minded and rude. They ought to realize that an average internet user is not necessarily out to disrupt the web. There is no reason not to believe that the contributors are either genuinely knowledgeable or did research before posting, especially considering the widespread and dedicated support Wikipedia has all over the world. Maybe a more benign explanation for teachers’ bans is that Wikipedia is “too easy to use” and fails to teach students how to do “old-fashioned” research. If this is the case, then teachers should ask students not to use any internet sources, not just Wikipedia. Or, more teachers could begin to set limits on how many internet sources can be used. But no teachers should single out Wikipedia. Doing so unfairly raises the value of random sites (which, without the network of contributors, are even more likely to be inaccurate), and, at the same time, it unjustifiably devalues the immense work that countless souls have put into Wikipedia. Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris explains, “I don’t think there will be

anything else that I do in my life as important as what I do now for Wikipedia. We’re not

just building an encyclopedia, we’re working to make people free. When we have access to free knowledge, we are better people. We understand the world is bigger than us, and we become infected with tolerance and understanding.” As Wikipedia approaches its twelfth anniversary, it is about time that schools began accepting the tried-and-true source as a legitimate way to conduct research – if not for the ease of the students, then for a show of thanks for the effort that made the millions of pages what they are today.


Opinions The victimized database

Grayson Sessa ‘13

Continued from the Front Cover

character as the basis for her complaints against the Inquirer article. Attempting to capitalize on some sort of anti-corporate mentality, she boldly asserts that the idea to bring Tao to Haverford was entirely based on an offer by a sports management firm. While she recognizes that Mr. Fairfax was Director of Admissions as well as the new basketball coach, she refused to believe that Haverford would have its own – academic – standards for admission. Obviously, it suited her agenda better to paint Tao as a one-dimensional sports figure. As his friends will tell you (and as they did in the comment section), Tao is anything but that; he puts in extra effort to master English and succeed in his studies. In fact, considering he is recovering from a broken back and has already had to miss a few basketball practices, Tao is hardly here to simply play the sport. Ms. Hingston’s assertion that Tao is nothing more than a basketball player and “sports writer” Mike Bertha’s belief that Tao is nothing more than a “possession” is really, more than anything else, degrading to a foreign exchange student hoping to succeed in America. Think: he was met by a flurry of nasty opinion pieces by people who had never interviewed nor even met him. Maybe Ms. Hingston should look at herself and ask, “Who really is the problem here: Mr. Green or my writing?” Mr. Green and Haverford students have been nothing sort of inviting towards Tao; it is a shame the same cannot be expected from the writers of Philadelphia Magazine’s blog.. The article, which would be better suited in a tabloid, closes off with a collection of unfounded and unrelated sentences. Only at this point in the article does Ms. Hingston

include her first mention of a literary purpose beyond degrading Tao and the Haverford administration: she calls on the school to stop choosing foreign exchange students on the basis of athletic prowess. In fact, she bemoans the lack of a “four-foot-eight Chinese

physics prodigy” at Haverford. This point in particular should let anyone familiar with Haverford realize that this muckraker of a journalist collected no research for this article whatsoever. If she had done her due diligence, how could she not know about Shaoran Sun? Likuan Wang? These Haverford students came to the school for their academics, not sports. Hingston alludes to this policy of choosing foreign exchange students based on athletic prowess – it just does not exist. One could argue that what Ms. Hingston really wanted to express (as one commenter offered) was that private high schools should

not get into the game of athletic recruitment. While this may be a valid point, Hingston’s argument is still missing two important things: first, that Tao was not an athletic recruit according to trusted school sources, and second, that other private schools could

be accused of the same. Many would say that Episcopal Academy by bringing in a Spanish student for the purpose of playing on the water polo team is exactly what Ms. Hingston appears to condemn. Yet, there is no mention of Episcopal in her article. If nothing else, this short-sightedness and bias should be reason enough to dismiss this article. Haverford students have already questioned, “How did this article get published?” Maybe the secret is that Ms. Hingston, with her bitter invective, somehow has managed to become a senior editor at Philadelphia Magazine. The article ends flatly: confusingly accusing

Mr. Green of violating Haverford’s Honor Code. Maybe Ms. Hingston does not, but at Haverford students consider infraction significant: comparing a baseless accusation of hypocrisy to an Honor Code offense is nothing short of disrespectful. But, let us give

Ms. Hingston some credit, it is about as nifty a phrase as the unsubstantiated headline: “The Haverford School’s ‘A’ for Hypocrisy.” It is important to stress that there is one upside: Ms. Hingston has brought the Haverford community together. Past faculty, parents, students from all Forms, and alumni came together to show support for Haverford. The best part? It all rang more true than the vicious words that Hingston put on the internet. Nearly all of the comments had literary merit, with a blend of the scathing and the civil. Beau Collins ’11 declared, “If I could divine a point in your meandering soapbox piece, I would probably be insulted.” A relative of a Haverford graduate and a faculty member two decades ago posted, “Ms. Hingston has chosen to tilt at windmills, which I suppose gets attention and also hypes the author’s profile.” Maybe the most impressive response, that of Fifth Former Chaney Jones, beautifully stated “Sandy

Hingston shows such bias, fabrication, and lack [of] research, that for a moment I thought I was reading an article published by Jayson Blair.” Unlike Ms. Hingston’s article which was made up entirely of these one-line zingers, all three of these posters discussed the factual inaccuracies in and narrow perspective of the article as well as including a few sarcastic literary tricks. If no one else, Haverford English teachers ought to rejoice. Maybe the newfound genius writers of Haverford could give “the journalist” some tips. That is, if she is willing to engage in discussion with “kids” who are “too cute,” as she called the Haverford commenters.

Fifth Former Josh Pau on Wikipedia.Photo by Index Staff

Sandy Hingston’s column.Photo by Index Staff

Sessa: “Taxes must be cut”

Capitalism. It is touted as the best economic system possible. Its rapid growth is unparalleled when compared to other systems. Though what happens when this growth is unchecked? What happens when taxes are cut so low and government is shrunk so that this system goes unchecked? Uncontrollably explosive growth that bubbles then bursts. While taxes are not the entire answer, they are a significant part of this issue. Raising taxes does not damage the economy as some believe. For example, the ‘60s economic prosperity that America achieved had almost no equal on the global scale. If taxes are so damaging then how could America have achieved that when its highest tax bracket

called for 91 percent of a citizen’s taxable income over $400,000? Compare that to our current 33 percent of taxable income over $357,000. Taxes do not damage economic growth, they provide the government with revenue and check back unhealthy growth. In more recent history, the 2008 recession should have never happened; those tax cuts were made, weren’t they? They most certainly created growth, a large amount of negative growth. The rich do not drive the economy. To continue this metaphor, they may build the motor but it is the middle class that drives the economy. If, for example, a man creates a company that sells toys, how many other rich people are going to buy the same toy? It is most likely that the average consumer would

drive the profits of said company. So in this theoretical world, the tax raises are made. Rich Americans would actually invest more. Why? Well, think, if hiring people, investing money into businesses, and even starting new business all yield tax breaks, then it motivates those with money to do so. This in turn creates the platform

for the middle class to drive the economy. To quote Warren Buffett, “While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.” Buffett even calculated that he paid only 17.4 percent of this income to the government, which is a smaller percentage than all of the workers within his office.This goes to show that economic prosperity is linked to fair tax rates. It does not have to be as excessively high as it was in the sixties but when

there is a difference bigger than 50 percentage points, there is a problem.


Opinions

Politicians all too often fail to see both of the issues at play when setting tax policy. The obvious one is economics: will the change spur the economy? The other one, the moral aspect, is rarely acknowledged. Despite the reluctance of politicians on the left to accept it, both of these topics favor a less progressive tax code, i.e. one that is closer to a flat tax that treats all people equally. Cutting taxes quite clearly favors economic growth. As business consultant and writer Mike Moffatt argues, productivity is forever tied to tax rates: as the tax burden increases, productivity falls; should taxes be cut,

productivity rises. Obviously, people are more motivated to work when they can reap the fruits of their labors. In the current system, one may work three hours but only be paid for two: the other hour’s products goes straight to the government, which hardly motivates laborers. With this logic in mind, the pathway to a higher GDP is through lower taxes. This conclusion is supported by the effects of the Ronald Reagan tax cuts and the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton tax increases. The Reagan era saw a higher growth in real GDP and ushered in 4,000,000 more jobs than Bush and Clinton did. Reagan oversaw a growth in median family income for three years whereas his counterparts caused three declines (House.

gov). A frequent mantra of the left is that the government ought to raise taxes, or at least not cut them, in order to preserve government income. But that is factually flawed: the Laffer Curve is a model depicting how a lower tax rate can often bring in greater government revenue because a higher tax rate damages productivity such that there is less income to tax. Consequently, raising taxes cannot be justified by a need for greater government revenue. In fact, federal revenue increased by 11% more after the Reagan tax cuts than it did under the Bush and Clinton tax increases (House.gov). Milton Friedman said that “The world runs

on individuals pursuing their self-interests.” Yet, right now the federal government spends over half of its income redistributing the wealth of Americans. Americans are not given the privilege of choosing to donate to charities; rather, the government mandates it by stealing the income. Americans cannot direct where their money goes; rather, the government chooses for them, possibly giving it to people whose values do not line up with those earning the dollars. Americans are not working for themselves: they are working for the government. And that is immoral.

Blaming the Bush tax cuts for the 2008 recession would be silly when regulation like Dodd-Frank and banking practices were at the core of the issue. My opponent makes a flawed metaphor: he says that the richest Americans would invest more under a higher tax rate. That is nonsense. First, he bases that entire claim off the assumption that tax breaks for certain actions would be included. Even he recognizes

that less money collected as tax (i.e. a tax break or cut) is directly linked to more investment and a healthier economy. Yet, my opponent’s system of tax breaks, as opposed to permanent tax cuts, is actually far inferior. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney says that “economic uncertainty,” the worry that government policies may change at any given moment, is deepening the recession by convincing businesses not to spend money. When a tax cut is made permanent, not only will wealthier

Americans be encouraged to spend and invest, but there is no need to worry that this policy may be short-lived. And, as for Warren Buffett, the rate inequality is due to a difference between the capital gains tax rate, which covers Buffett since he receives most income from investments, and the income tax rate. If Buffett’s actual issue is paying less than his employees, I am sure many politicians would be happy to spur growth by reducing the income tax to 20%, which is the highest long-term capital gains bracket.

My opponent uses the example of Ronald Reagan to show how well tax decreases work. This is a flawed example. When President Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Act in 1981 and slashed taxes, the White House scene became nightmarish. Reagan cut taxes and refused to believe that the government did not need the 143 billion in lost revenue. With the projected deficit to tick upwards towards six percent by 1983, Reagen asked for almost

a third of what he cut back. He covered up the idea of raising taxes and instead spouted about how he was simply “closing loopholes”. This led to the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act being passed in 1982. My opponent has one more flaw in his argument: to say that the government is stealing money from the people is a complete gambit, and a failure at that. If my opponent believes that he can answer the subjective question of the role of the government in peoples lives for everyone then he ought to run for the presidency.

Even if Reagan had retracted some of the tax cuts - my opponent recognizes this - during the Reagan presidency there was still a net tax cut in the income tax. In fact, because of his tax cut legislation in 1981 and 1986, the top income tax rate was reduced to 28% from 70% (CNN). My opponent has tried to dilute the

economic benefits of the Reagan era by saying there were no significant tax cuts, but this was – certainly – a significant cut. My opponent has also obscured the truth by arguing that the government will not have enough money to operate when tax cuts are passed. From 1981, the inception of the Reagan tax cuts, to 1989, the end of Reagan’s presidency, income tax revenues

for the government rose 54% (Heritage Foundation). 54%. My opponent refuses to recognize that the government brought in more money because of these tax cuts. The same trend happened in the 1920’s when income tax brackets were reduced from over 70% to less than 25%. Despite this massive reduction, federal revenues rose 61% (Heritage Foundation). Tax cuts are not only more fair

for the people but also more profitable for the government. I would like to close with a quotation from Friedman that sums up current tax policy: “We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes non-work.” When productivity is not rewarded but instead scorned, society is in dire straits.

My opponent attempts to find flaws with my metaphor. He says that people want their money and yet making money is another way to do this. If taxes are high it helps to incentivize creating companies, hiring people, and investing because one pays the least taxes

on investment income. Evidence proves, job creation was at 18 percent in the year 1980 and yet with all the spending cuts it has followed a downward trend. In present day the US has reached a 29 year low at a mere 13 percent. Therefore the metaphor stands, the rich create the engine but the middle class drives the economy. If the middle class are annihilated in a low tax environment then disparity widens

sharply. My opponent also argues that tax cuts improve the wealth that the government takes in but how much can a government continue to cut and cut until it can no longer provide itself? This trend of cutting spending cannot always yield a higher profit for the government. My opponent also has a convoluted idea of economic prosperity and job growth. They are two different things. Take Texas for example.

The government slashed taxes there but only for the upper echelon. They did create jobs but over half of these jobs are close to minimum wage pay with zero benefits. This does not improve economic prosperity, it simply widened the wealth disparity gap, which in itself creates instability.

Political Throwdown: Should Taxes Be Cut?

Grayson Sessa ‘13

Paras: “Tax system is fine”Jonathan Paras ‘14

Sessa and Paras discussing politics.Photo by Index Staff

Grayson Sessa ‘13


Grayson Sessa ‘13


The Outdex

The iPhone 4S has revolutionized communication. Now, people can get in touch with their friends by simply talking into their phones and having Siri text them. Imagine that, being able to get in touch with your friends by talking into a phone. In order to make sure not one single person gets offended this holiday season, the government has passed a new bill creating Ramuhanukwanzmas?. This holiday will offend nobody. In case you were wondering, the question mark is not a typo - that’s there for the agnostics. The Haverford School Library has created their own Twitter to provide updates on the year to students. Follow them @byebyeseeyoumonday.

With Dr. Cox’s announced retirement, the race is on to find a successor. Faculty competitions to pick the new headmaster are about to be held which include kickboxing, competitive spelunking, and a swimsuit competition. Mr. Fifer is said to be the front runner.

As the winter breaks draws near, prepare to relax and enjoy the soothing time off with no midterms to worry about. Instead, just remember you’ll be returning to cumulative tests in each class during a double period, with no class time to review! The Prom Committee has announced that students will have to work 108 hours at the Tree Sale in order to get 50% off on a Prom ticket.Here is a list of things easier to get accomplished than obtaining a free Haverford Prom ticket:• Kicking insurgents out of Afghanistan• Stealing nuclear weapons from Russia• Getting a haircut for Will Hatcher Andy Reid is the missing link between man and walrus. The long-awaited student lounge has just been completed and is now open for students in the Community Room! The economy in Greece is thriving.

The Outdex is The Index’s humor page and is neither true nor intended to offend anyone. Please email [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

Eagles re-sign Reid to 5 year $100 million contract.

In The News...


Visit www.haverfordindex.com to discuss articles, send submissions, catch up on

articles you missed, and much more.

The Philadelphia Eagles front office has announced the $100,000,000 deal that took place Monday evening which will keep long-time head coach Andy Reid in the city of Brotherly Love for another five years. The deal, structured similarly to the one star quarterback Michael Vick signed earlier, has $47 million guaranteed. When asked about why Reid receive such a hefty salary, team executive Joe Banner responded with this reasoning, “Nobody knows how to waste timeouts like Andy, and I mean it. Look at all the top coaches in the NFL, they don’t even come close to the man’s genius. The only coach who might be in his league is Jason Garrett. Now that’s a rising star as far as the use of timeouts are concerned. Bottom line is this, if we want to throw 40 times a game, and give McCoy around eight carries a game, Andy is our guy. Who else but him had the genius to convert our offensive line coach into our head defensive coordinator? The man is just a wealth of knowledge and ideas.” We won’t comment on Banner’s remarks but if Reid continues on the track he’s going, it is only a matter of time until Philadelphia wins a Super Bowl.

The North Atlantic Walrus (Odobenus Rosmarus) in its natural habitat. It appears to be in thought over what its next meal will be.

Celebrating Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Human Rights Day, Boxing Day, Letter Writing Day, and ev-

ery other holiday possible in December

Documents

The Index: December 2011