February newspaper.indd

February 2014 Vol. 5 No. 4
2014-2015 Tuition to Rise
raise tuition to accomplish the goals listed
Staff Writer
above. The board’s concern is less about
Rowland Hall’s tuition is being raised the school’s “day-to-day operations” than
nearly seven and a half percent for the up- about “the big questions.” Mr. Sparrow
coming school year, about two times the
normal adjustment. Raising tuition has
become an annual occurrence at Rowland
Hall, with an average raise of just over
three percent each year. School headmaster Alan Sparrow reports in an email to all
school parents that the higher tuition is
the result of a painstaking review of the
school budget by the Board of Trustees,
and that the new amount will help the
school to do the following things:
• Maintain faculty pay at or above
the level for Utah’s public school
teachers.
• Pay the new Director of Curriculum and Instruction, who will help Next year’s higher tuition will go to fund
to ensure that students receive the multiple schoolwide improvements. –
best educational experience in the Photo by Ben Smith
Intermountain West.
further explained that these “big ques• Maintain the school’s technology tions” are concerns like, “What does our
program and infrastructure. (They salary structure look like? What should
recently spent $190,000 to upgrade we spend big money on?” The board
the school’s Wi-Fi.)
meets every year to list these objectives
• Fully replenish the school’s con- and decide what it will require to fund
tingency fund to make sure it’s in these projects.
a strong financial position in the
Of course, the administration hopes
future.
that the increased tuition won’t be too
In an interview, Mr. Sparrow gave much of a financial burden for our famisome insight into how the decision to raise lies. Michelle Rasich, the director of finantuition was made. The board of trustees is cial aid, is available to discuss financial-aid
“responsible for the future of the school. opportunities and help make it possible
Their job is to make sure RH is an excel- for families to keep their kids enrolled at
lent school for their grandchildren.” Look- Rowland Hall.
ing at the long-range financial health of
the school, the board saw no choice but to
Ben Essex
Gazette Staff
IN THESE PAGES
The February Issue
Editor-in-Chief
News
Hour of Code. Eggs. Chinese New Year.
Claire Wang
2
Sports
Duel in the Pool.
3
Features
MLK Speaker. New Zealand Exchange.
3
Staff Writers
Chris Diehl
Ben Essex
Sam Galvez
Cynthia Grissom
Georgia Larsen
New Detention Policy
Cynthia Grissom
Staff Writer
Going to detention may now mean carrying a broom with you. As you may know, at
morning meeting on January 9 Mr. Hoglund
announced that students serving detention
will now be required to help clean up the
lunchroom while serving their detention. The
new policy has now been in effect for three
weeks.
This change does not mean that students
don’t write the essay anymore. After students
in detention have finished their reflective essay, they are brought to the lunchroom to help
do various cleaning jobs such as pushing in
chairs, picking up any large garbage, and wiping down the tables. They’re even supposed
to help with a little bit of sorting the recycling.
The original idea was floated in faculty
meeting, and it was well received, so the administration decided to try it out. Mr. Hoglund
said, “It was at a time when we were having
some problems with cleanliness anyway, so
it seemed like a good idea and a good marriage between the two.” Most students were
surprised by the change but found it easy to
accept. Many students would agree with Rachel Nelson, who said, “It helps keeps the
school clean, and there are not many people
who want to clean the lunchroom, so I think it
discourages detention-worthy behavior.”
However, since the new addition to the
program, the number of detentions has not
gone down. In response to the effect the program has had on detentions Mr. Hoglund said,
“I think it’s still too early to see if those lines
have been crossed, but I’m hearing more folks
say ‘oh I don’t want to go to detention because
I don’t want to clean,’ so I think it’s going to
have a little more deterrent effect.” For the
sake of our school and for the students, we
can only hope that this new protocol will help
keep the school clean while decreasing the
number of detentions.
Matthew O’Brien
Cade VanOrman
Kiana Webster
Guest Writer
Maddy Livingstone
Advisers
Laura Johnson
Ben Smith
More features.
Olympics. Winter Break. Women in STEM.
4–5
Opinion
Recycling. 2013 in Music.
7
Fun
4
Overheard in the Hallway.
12
Hazel Burnett gets a broom to prepare for serving her detention. – Photo by Cynthia Grissom
News
2
February 5, 2014
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Rowland Hall Gazette
Rowland Hall Tries Out the Hour of Code
According to Smith, students should be exposed to computer programming because it “helps in every possible way. I think it helps
With technology in the world rapidly and exponentially ad- with every other class you take. The critical thinking that goes into
vancing, schools are looking to expand their curricula with rele- computer programming is important to everybody.” He claims that
vant classes. At Rowland Hall, courses
some students’ disinterest is due to
such as robotics, computer design, and
“a stigma attached to computer scigraphic design have already entered
ence even though it’s a fascinating
the system.
and brilliant thing to do and a great
In early December of last year,
way to make money.”
computer and graphic design teacher
As Smith said, the goal of the
Ben Smith decided to bring the Hour
Hour of Code was to expose stuof Code to the Upper School. Accorddents to and get students interested
ing to Smith, the goal of the Hour of
in computer coding. One student
Code was “to get as many teachers,
explained that she participated in
schools, and students in the country
“two hours of [computer programto spend at least one hour with their
ming]” and “played computer
students coding, with the idea that if
games that taught code.” Regardstudents of all types get exposed to
ing the success of the Hour of Code,
coding and see that it applies to all difthe student says she “had never referent situations, more students will
ally looked into coding before the
get interested and want to start coding
Hour of Code. It really piqued my
Claire Wang pretends to be a robot in the coding simulation. interest.” Overall, students seem to
or writing computer programs.”
Smith shared prospective plans – Photo by Ben Essex
have reacted positively to Rowland
for next year, including adding “a reHall’s first annual Hour of Code,
quired technology class into the curriculum.” He explained that and more computer science classes and interest in computers are
“Rowland Hall is looking to at least make it to the cutting edge likely to appear in the coming year. Since the goal was to inspire
of technology with full-time faculty and full-time offerings for interest in coding, the Hour of Code can definitely be considered a
computer science, all the way through to AP Computer Science, success.
possibly including an app-building class or something like that.”
Ben Essex
Staff Writer
In Health, Raising Eggbert Is No Yolk
Chris Diehl
Staff Writer
You might have seen a few students carrying eggs around a few weeks ago. This
is because each student in the junior health
class was required to take care of an egg for
a week. However, there were some rules.
First, the “baby” could not be left alone
during school hours. Second, the baby was
allowed in a carrying case but could not be
covered completely and needed to be able
to be removed with two fingers. Third, if
the baby got broken, then the student had
to write a paper on child funerals and the
costs of having one. Last, kidnappings
were fair game, and ransom money would
have to be paid in order to recover the kidnapped child. This all seems a little ridiculous, so why was this an assignment?
Fitting the assignment name (“Hatching Eggbert Is No Yolk”), caring for an egg
is supposed to represent the difficulty of
taking care of a child. As the health students are juniors in high school, the assignment tries to show the difficulties of being
a teen parent. The Rowland Hall health
department, consisting of Lauren Carpenter, decided to bring back this assignment.
Previously, the Middle School took over the
assignment from Ms. Carpenter, prompting her to stop doing it. It has been a few
years since the Middle School ran it, so Ms.
EGG continues on page 5
Our Chinese New Year Celebration
Claire Wang
Editor-in-Chief
This year, the Student
Council, in coordination with
the Mandarin classes, celebrated Chinese New Year at
Rowland Hall. The holiday
commemorates the new year
on the lunar calendar, which
on this year fell on January 31
and marked the beginning of
the year of the horse. The hallways of the high school were
decorated with red lanterns,
and students received red envelopes filled with Chinese
candy.
Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally consist of
fireworks, gift giving, and
fun with family. The color red
also plays a prominent role in
decorations. The tradition of
loud celebrations comes from
a myth that stated that in the
ancient times, a beast with the
head of a lion and the body of
a bull called Nian (the word
for “year” in Chinese) would
attack Chinese villages every
year during the wintertime.
After several years, the villagers discovered that Nian
was afraid of fire, noise, and
the color red. That year, they
decided that near the end of
winter, they would light fires,
make noise, and hang up
red banners in front of their
houses. When Nian came
down from the mountain, he
was frightened away. The villagers repeated the tradition
every year, and thus the Chi-
and pig. Traditional stories say that the origin
for the sequence of animals came about due to a
race among the animals.
The reason why the cat
does not appear in the
calendar is because the
rat promised the cat that
he would wake her up
the morning of the race
Some beautiful Chinese New Year dec- but tricked her and left
orations that adorn halls of Rowland alone instead (which is
the reason why cats and
Hall. – Photo by Claire Wang
rats hate each other).
nese New Year celebrations The rat rode on the back of
emerged.
the ox as he swam across the
Chinese New Year marks river, but right as the ox was
the beginning of a new cycle of about to reach the finish line,
the Chinese zodiac. The zodi- the rat jumped off of his back
ac animals are the rat, ox, tiger, and therefore was the first to
rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, arrive.
sheep, monkey, rooster, dog,
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Sports/Features
Rowland Hall Gazette
Duel in the Pool Celebrates Its 3rd Year
meet. Ally said that “the duel team pulled ahead and won.
Staff Writer
in the pool is like a halftime What the winning team said
Duel in the pool is a swim- show for the swim team.” is that Josh Nkoy won it for
ming event where the school When it was time, all the them because of how fast he
sports teams battle each teams lined up on both sides swam. The coach of the swim
other in a swimming relay. of the pool. All the athletes team actually asked him if he
The third annual duel in the
wanted to join
pool took place at the Steinthe team. I had
er Aquatic Center at 4:00 on
a chance to inThursday, January 23. The
terview
Josh
two swim-team captains, Ally
about his amazMoore and Lachlan Murphy,
ing
perfororganized this event. Four
mance. He said
teams participated: girls’ soc“the duel in the
cer, boys’ soccer, cross counpool was an
try, and volleyball. The athamazing experiletes who participated in the
ence and I can’t
event were Stephanie Nolan,
believe that we
Jessie Barker (she had to fill in
won. I wish we
for Adrienne Parkinson), Ka- Eli Oftedal (representing cross-country) dives had more sports
tie White, and Mariah Papac into the pool. – Photo by Cade VanOrman
teams particifor girls’ soccer. For the boys’
pate in the event
soccer team, it was Josh Nkoy, who participated wore their because it was so fun. I would
Ted Janes, Adam Mannelin, team jerseys. Each participant definitely do it again next
and Sam Oliver. The cross- had to swim just one length of year.” Josh then said, “most
country team consisted of the pool. The event took only people may think it’s just a
Emily Sundquist, Ryan Wes- 5 minutes, but it was definite- worthless event, but it’s a battermann, Eli Oftedal, and Ni- ly worth it.
tle for bragging rights, a battle
kita Abraham. The volleyball
Stephanie Nolan, repre- that lets me say, ‘the boy’s socteam had Harper Coleman- senting the girls’ soccer team, cer team is more versatile and
Houghton, Liza Badenhau- said that “duel in the pool well-rounded than any other
sen, Kaitlyn Jenkins, and Em- was more fun than I thought team in the school.’” The duel
ily Ward. This year’s duel in it would be. I wouldn’t do in the pool was fun for all of
the pool was successful, and it next year, but the school the students who participatwe will probably do it again should definitely do it. I had ed in the event even though
next year.
a great time.” At the end of there weren’t many teams
Before and after the big the event, the boys’ soccer who swam in the relay.
duel, the swim team had their
Cade VanOrman
3
February 5, 2014
Max Green
Kiana Webster
Staff Writer
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American
was to fall heir.”
In celebration of the man who
delivered these words at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Rowland
Hall students gathered in the Larimer Center on January 17 to reexamine the meaning of Dr. King’s
idea in today’s society. Max Green,
a University of Utah graduate and
the Assistant Community Programs
Manager at Equality Utah, gave our
school an informative and thoughtprovoking address urging us to
participate and do something right
this very minute in our own lives
to bring about social and political
change.
Mr. Green’s speech began with a
brief introduction, followed by his
touching and honest coming-out
story. He moved on to insist that LGBTQ rights are today’s equivalent of
the Civil Rights movement, and that
they require the same amount of involvement and effort from ordinary
citizens to make a difference. His
explanation of today’s local public policies and state of affairs was
particularly informative to students
GREEN continues on page 5
Kiwi Go Again: New Zealand Exchange
Sam Galvez
Staff Writer
Kiwis! Kiwis everywhere: in the halls, the classrooms, in the cafeteria, all over the school. Except there are not that many; there are
just five. Have you met them? Their names are Alex, Maddy, Jeff,
Breanna, and Brae, all straight from sweet New Zealand. This year is
the 5th year that Rowland Hall has run the New Zealand Exchange
Program, giving great opportunities to both Kiwis and Utahns to
meet each other and share each other’s cultures.
Meet the Kiwis:
Jeffrey Wise:
Q: What’s your name, and what do you like to do?
A: I am Jeff. I say it “JYIUF,” but Americans say it “JEHFF.” I like
to swim and ski.
Q: What do you like most about Utah?
A: The ski resorts here in Utah are great; I loved the powder. I
think America is great. The food is, you know, supersized. American super large drinks are the size of my head! I like the scenery
in southern Utah—almost competes with New Zealand. We met a
crazy conspiracy theorist at Zion. He said that Bigfoot is a multidimensional being and that the government has sent children back in
time.
Q: What is your favorite American food?
A: I liked In-n-Out: the burgers are scrumptious, but the chips
(fries) aren’t that great.
Q: What do you like about Salt Lake City?
A: I like how Salt Lake City is laid out in a grid system. I think
the pollution is terrible, unlike New Zealand where the air smells
like grass, kiwis, and cows.
Q: What did you enjoy most about Rowland Hall?
Kiwis and their hosts: Jeff Wise, Tyler Macintyre, Maddy Livingstone, Nicole Wozniak, Alex Benefield, Maddy Lee, Henry Gilbert,
Brae Epps, Marley Griffiths, and Breanna McPherson. – Photo by
Sam Galvez
A: I enjoyed Winter’s. I liked how we went in a group and had
dinner before the dance. We don’t do that in New Zealand, not that
I know of. The schooling at Rowland Hall is more intense than St.
Peter’s, as in more work.
Overall, my trip to America was awesome.
Brae Epps:
Q: What’s your name, and what do you like to do?
A: I am Brae Epps. I like to snowboard, and I’m really into reading steampunk books, which is a genre that includes steam-power
machinery in a Victorian era.
Q: What do you like most about Utah?
KIWI continues on page 4
Features
4
February 5, 2014
Rowland Hall Gazette
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Olympics What We Did Over Winter Break
Sam Galvez
Matt O’Brien
Staff Writer
The 2014 Winter Olympics
are coming up in Sochi, Russia, where many new and returning athletes will compete
for the U.S. The U.S. won a
record-setting 37 medals in
the 2010 Vancouver Olympic
games. Here are some American athletes to look for in the
upcoming Olympics.
One of the most famous U.S.
winter Olympians is Shaun
White. He has won back-toback golds in snowboard halfpipe, his first in 2006. Michael
O’Brien is a big fan, saying,
“Shaun White, who I like to
refer to as the ‘Perfect 100,’ is
hands down my favorite athlete, not just my favorite winter
sports athlete, but my favorite athlete in general. He has
unique tricks and silky smooth
style, unmatched by any snowboarder or skier in the world.
I could go on and on about
Shaun, but I don’t want to take
up all of your time.” Shaun is
also referred to as “the Flying
Tomato” because of his flaming red locks.
Another well-known U.S.
winter Olympian is downhill skier Lindsey Vonn. Last
Olympics, Vonn earned a gold
in downhill. She has also won
the World Cup four times in
her skiing career. In late 2013,
she crashed during training
and partially tore her right
ACL. She has since returned to
skiing and plans to compete in
the Olympics.
One of the new events, ski
slopestyle, consists of rails and
jumps while going down a ski
hill. The skiers are judged on
style, originality, variety, and
difficulty. One of the frontrunners for the event is 19-year-old
Nick Goepper. Goepper just
won gold in slopestyle at the X
games. Beating out opponents
by more than two points, Nick
Goepper is one to watch at the
Olympics.
Women’s ski jumping is
another new event in the 2014
Olympics. Among the frontrunners to win gold is Park City
native Sarah Hendrickson. In
2012, Hendrickson crushed the
competition in the inaugural
women’s ski jumping World
Cup, all before turning 18. She
is poised to become a big leader
in the new and growing sport.
Keep your eyes on these
athletes as they head to Russia
and strive for gold this month.
Staff Writer
In December, the streets were filled with snow,
the weather was about seven degrees Fahrenheit,
the second trimester of school had just begun
with an overload of homework, and it was clear
that people could not wait for winter break, but
what exactly did Rowland Hall students do for
the two weeks of winter break?
Even with the diversity of students with
different traditions, it is surprising how many
amazing things students did during the break.
Some have interesting traditions like riding the
Utah train tracks to nowhere with their families,
as Eliza Kitchens does. Jules Parke, a sophomore
Rowmarker, told me that last year (2013) was her
first Christmas outside of Alaska, where she used
to live. She also described that as a holiday tradition, she eats crab on New Year’s Eve with her
family: “Me and my family go to church on the
24th, and then get back and open only one present, and then on the 25th we open all presents.
We always go skiing on Christmas day.”
While Jules Park spent her first Christmas
in Utah, Rustin Armknecht and Amelia Merrill
spent their break on a tourist adventure in New
York City. Rustin briefly explained that both of
their families decided to go to New York City
to take Amelia for her 16th birthday. Rustin and
KIWI continued from page 3
A: While I was here in Utah, I tried some skiing and I found out that I really enjoy it, since the
last time I skied was when I was 5 years old.
Q: What was your favorite experience here in
Utah?
A: I liked Winter’s. Just before the dance we
went to a restaurant with a bunch of people, and
the coolest waiter gave us some crayons and said
that we could draw on the paper tablecloth. It
was awesome! I like that in Salt Lake City everybody knows each other. It’s like the perfect mix
between a city and a town, like a big town.
Alex Benefield:
Q: What’s your name, and what do you like
to do?
A: My name is Alex, I’m 15, and I like to swim
and play netball, which is a New Zealand sport
like basketball but without a backboard. I like to
shop, and America has better shops than New
Zealand. In school I take graphic design.
Q: What did you enjoy most about Rowland
Hall?
A: I love Rowland Hall because during my
free periods I can just sit inside of my locker. I
liked Winter’s; it was quite formal. In New Zealand we never dress formal for dances.
Q: What did you enjoy most about American
food?
A: I love the food in America. The pizza is
much better.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Salt Lake
City?
A: I like the slang. You guys don’t pronounce
the t’s, like in “mountain.” Also, there is no farmland here in Salt Lake, where in New Zealand
almost everything is farmland. There are more
sheep than people in New Zealand.
Breanna McPherson:
Q: What’s your name, and what do you like
Amelia Merrill and Rustin Armknecht have a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity’s. –Photo courtesy of Rustin Armknecht
Amelia “did almost anything you could think
of in New York City.” They “went to the Empire
State building, Times Square, 5th Avenue, lots of
restaurants and had a frozen hot chocolate.” Who
would have thought a frozen hot chocolate even
existed? As for Christmas, Rustin explained that
her mom made an “Oyster pie” from the South.
In conclusion, Rowland Hall students participated in a wide variety of traditions and activities over the winter break. What’s better than to
end a year with a fantastic and relaxing break?
Every break allows a new adventure to begin.
to do?
A: My name is Breanna, I’m 14, and I heavily dance five times a week. I do ballet and contemporary. I do school musicals. Last year we did
Cats, in which I played the role of Electra.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about Utah?
A: I’ve enjoyed the shopping in America. I like
how at Rowland Hall everybody is friendly and
they have big lockers. I’ve enjoyed fine dining. I
have enjoyed Park City a lot. It was my second
time touching snow. I skied quite a lot at Park
City Resort. I met Elijah Wood while spending
time at Sundance.
I want to say thank you to the host families.
Madeleine Livingstone:
Q: What’s your name, and what do you like
to do?
A: My name is Maddy, and I like fashion design. At St. Peter’s we have an elective in fashion design where we design garments. I also play
touch, which is like rugby but with no contact.
Q: What do you like about Rowland Hall?
A: I like that at Rowland Hall everybody is
focused on their career and their schoolwork. I
enjoyed the friends I have made; everybody is so
friendly.
Q: What is your favorite food in United States?
A: I enjoyed the different foods like Mexican
food. The pizza slices are much bigger.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about Utah?
A: Shopping is so good here; it’s so cheap in
comparison to New Zealand. The snow is amazing here, and I have enjoyed snowboarding here.
Q: What places did you visit in Utah?
A: I have been to the Olympic Park in Park
City, to the Capitol, and to This is the Place. Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time here. Thank you, Nicole,
for being a great host.
Aren’t they fantastic? We will miss them for
sure.
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Features
Rowland Hall Gazette
Women in STEM Fields
Chris Diehl
Staff Writer
There is a very large and ever increasing gap in the number of
men and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
math) professions in the United States. According to the New York
Times, women in the U.S. received 37 percent of computer science
degrees in 1985. However, in 2010 women received only 18 percent.
As society strives for more gender equality, it does not make sense
that women are achieving even less than they were thirty years ago.
Now that this gap in STEM fields has been identified, people are
trying to solve it. The common interpretation is that STEM fields
have traditionally been dominated by males and it is hard for women to break in. But this explanation is insufficient, as more women
received computer science degrees in 1985 than now.
Mrs. Garland, one of the new math teachers, has witnessed the
discrepancy firsthand. She said, “Before entering the workforce after
college, I thought this income discrepancy and career division was
mainly a byproduct of gender inequality from the past.” However,
working as one of the few female engineers at Microsoft showed her
a large problem with STEM jobs. Mrs. Garland found the hours to
be too inflexible for a mother. These hours led her to then become
a teacher. Mrs. Garland feels that “fields dominated by women are
more realistic about work demands, but hopefully all professions,
including those in STEM fields, will adjust their expectations to
better entice talented girls to join their ranks.” The problem now is
not necessarily pre-existing gender inequality; rather, traditionally
“male” fields don’t have the flexibility that traditionally “female”
fields do. If these fields can become more flexible for working mothers, it could greatly reduce the gender gap.
The majority of Rowland Hall students I interviewed believe that
the gap comes from pre-existing stereotypes. Junior Jenna Reed believes STEM jobs have “traditionally been a male area and women
just haven’t caught up yet.” Ross Cooper thinks that “women probably feel they will be persecuted in a patriarchal field.” Kelsey Oliver said, “My opinion is that society (referring to both men and women)
hasn’t experienced women choosing the same professions as men
in the past, so both genders are extremely unfamiliar with adapting
to this zeitgeist of our generation.” This is the common Rowland
Hall opinion. This cannot be the answer, however. If it’s simply old
“stereotypes” and “traditions,” why is the gap getting worse? There
must be another explanation.
Even if we can’t point to a clear cause, we can work to fix the gap.
This school must work to break down gender barriers to encourage
more girls to go into STEM fields. It’s important to encourage girls
to become interested in STEM fields at an early age. For example,
GoldieBlox, a startup toy company, is trying to change the stereotypes about “girl” toys. The toys that they produce aren’t your traditional Barbies. These toys are meant to inspire girls to be interested
in science. Still, if girls don’t want to pursue degrees in STEM fields
based on deeper stereotypes, then the problem is larger than a toy
company can solve. Gender stereotypes have to be broken down;
schools can help break down stereotypes both for this generation
and for future ones.
Claire Wang does all sorts of science and math stuff. – Photo by
Chris Diehl
5
February 5, 2014
GREEN continued from page 3
who may not have otherwise been politically informed or interested.
Overall, he taught us that local politics have an impact on
greater politics throughout the country. After all, as Green
said, a local election was once won by a mere couple of votes.
Those votes could have been anyone’s. Thank you to Mr. Max
Green for bringing an interesting and unique perspective to
the school and urging students to stop and really think about
what’s going on around them, as well as the impact these decisions can and will have on society.
Max Green connects with Upper School students through humor during his encouraging Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech.
– Photo by Stephanie Orfanakis
taking on larger responsibiliCarpenter brought it back ties, and making smart and
into the Upper School. When sexually healthy decisions can
asked her opinion of how the prevent this.
project went this term, Ms.
Below is a list of the “punCarpenter said it was “worth- niest” egg names.
while to bring it back.” Ms.
Carpenter thinks that the as- Kaitlyn Jenkins – Eggbert
signment shows that “taking Megan Chandramouli – Alegcare of something is a big re- gxander
sponsibility and that there is Kiana Webster – Eggward Almuch more going into having len Poached
a kid then you realize.”
Chris Diehl – Nicolas CageAlthough teen pregnancy Free
is not a large issue at Rowland Hall, nationally it is. According to findyouthinfo.gov,
teen pregnancy is the reason
behind one-third of female
dropouts from high school. In
addition, teenage pregnancy
costs the U.S. taxpayers somewhere near $11- to $20 billion
a year. Teen mothers have a
higher rate of dropping out
of high school. According to
Buzzle.com, eighty-five percent of teen families require
welfare at some point. This
money is taken away from
many other needed places
such as schools.
The effect of the assign- Nicolas Cage-Free smiles
ment was obvious when talk- atop his carrier. – Photo by
ing to students. Hannah Nich- Chris Diehl
ols called the egg a “hassle
and a burden.” Lauren Rasich
learned “how much time you
need to put into taking care of
something, even if it is just an
egg.” The lesson learned was
that now is not the time for
EGG continued from page 2
Opinion
6
February 5, 2014
Rowland Hall Gazette
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Outside Perspective on Rowland Hall
Maddy Livingstone
Guest Writer
My time at Rowland Hall has been a
memorable one. I have met some new
great friends that I hope to keep in contact
with and will miss dearly.
The first morning I woke up in Park
City, Utah, after flying in the night before
from San Fran, I immediately looked outside my window and saw part of Utah in
front of my eyes.
It was just like I
thought it would
be … beautiful. I
had been standing still, motionless for a good
amount of time,
lost in the breathtaking
view
around me. The
mountain ranges
hugging the inside of Park City,
the highway full
of cars and busy
people, the houses in the far distances showing a spacious
township, the shops shining with light.
Just from the view I knew I would be in
for a treat!
When the first day of school came I
was buzzing with excitement. I knew it
would be a lot different from St. Peter’s,
and it was! I instantly noticed that all the
lockers and classes were in one big building, whereas in New Zealand we have a
block with six classrooms for each subject
in an area around the school. The classes
at Rowland Hall are of a smaller size, and
the number of people and staff is much
smaller than at St. Peter’s.
I was taken to the main reception to go
talk to Mr. Hoglund (“Ry-Ho”). After that,
the former New Zealand exchanges introduced themselves.
After the first week of Rowland Hall,
I had been given homework to complete,
but I didn’t really mind as I enjoyed taking
different classes from the ones I take at St
Peter’s. I liked learning the ways you guys
get taught at Rowland Hall, where I find
the classes are full with more lectures and
then writing the notes on the board. With
all the teachers I have had in my years
at school, I have never come across such
happy, enthusiastic, funny teachers. The
teachers I have
had at Rowland
Hall are so passionate
about
what they teach.
It makes you look
forward to going
to class and learning. You’re having
fun while learning
at the same time.
Teachers such as
Dr. Taylor (English) and Dr. Halloran (American
history) can always put a smile
on your face and make you laugh. I have
never seen a teacher so expressive when
lecturing to a class as Dr. Halloran; the way
she educates you about American history
is just so powerful.
Lastly, this trip has been
an experience that I never
want to end. This is because the people around
me have made me feel like
Utah is my home for the
time being. This place you
guys call home is a place I
would one day like to visit
again. Finally, I would like
to point out something that
I have noticed all through
my time here. It is that you
Americans are very friend-
February Newspaper Crossword
Across
4. It’s NOT Bigfoot.
7. The first name of the artist who made
“Wrecking Ball.”
8. You should NEVER buy plastic bottles of
this polar liquid
9. how long people coded for
10. the egg named for the famous actor who
stole the Declaration of Independence
Down
1. This year is the Year of the ____ in Chinese
New Year
2. The color of the cup in the challenge
3. the “E” in STEM
5. Where the 2014 Olympics are
6. It’s going to increase next year at our school
Opinion
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Rowland Hall Gazette
7
February 5, 2014
Why Recycling Is the Least You Could Do
Claire Wang
Editor-in-Chief
It seems like every year, someone goes up on stage at morning meeting and makes an announcement about recycling protocol.
Plastic goes in the plastic bins, paper goes in paper (unless it has
grease on it, like pizza boxes), cans go in the can bins. It all seems
fairly straightforward, and yet we as a school somehow seem able
to ignore these common-sense and easy practices and still waste an
incredible amount of material every day.
Now, Rowland Hall is definitely a good model for sustainability.
The fact that we provide recycling options at all is a step up from
many other facilities in Utah (and really in the U.S. and the world
as a whole), and the school administration pays close attention to
the environmental effects of our policies. However, these top-down
approaches to sustainability only work if the constituents (the students) are willing to comply with them and utilize them.
We make it very, very easy for you to recycle – every single
trashcan is flanked by recycling bins that are clearly labeled. Inconvenience could not possibly be used as an excuse for not being
sustainable. The only possible justification for inaction would be
apathy, and this excuse—if you could even call it an excuse—is indefensible and selfish.
Let’s talk about disposable plastic water bottles, which are sold
in our cafeteria. Not only are these incredibly cost inefficient (the
cafeteria gives you cups that you can fill with free water instead
of the $2 you’d have to pay otherwise). Bottled water, on average,
costs over 1,000 times as much as tap water. 30 billion disposable
plastic water bottles are consumed every year in the U.S. Each water bottle takes three times as much water to manufacture as it will
hold, and it takes 17 billion barrels of oil each year to make the millions of bottles we use bottles (because—surprise!—plastic is derived from oil).
The label “disposable” is a bit disingenuous because once plastic
is out there, it is nearly impossible to make it go away. The technolo-
gy is so comparatively new and plastic is
so incredibly durable
that we cannot study
the timespan of decomposition because
literally none of the
plastic we have produced has decomposed yet. Plastic
doesn’t biodegrade;
it merely breaks into
smaller and smaller
Lucius Bynum makes the right decision and
pieces. These tiny
recycles. – Photo by Claire Wang
pieces of plastic end
up everywhere from
the ocean (every square mile of the ocean has over 46,000 plastic
fragments floating in it) and end up inside the animals that we eat.
Chemicals from plastic leach into the water (including the water
that is inside those plastic bottles), the soil (which produces food
that we eat), and our meat, which means that as more of the products we consume are plastic-based, we will become less healthy. Effects include things such as altered hormone production, increased
rates of birth defects, and reduced fertility. Beyond impacting humans, hundreds of species of animals accidentally ingest plastic
pieces, causing irreparable harm to animal health. Some more sad
statistics? 80% of water bottles go to the landfill – they are not recycled. The national rate of recycling for PET plastic (the softer plastic
that water bottles are made of) is only 23%.
The problem of plastic disposal is very easily resolved. You have
two options: cut down on the amount of plastic materials you purchase or recycle the products that you do. Ideally, do both. It is not
difficult to cut consumption. The thing that is difficult, however, is
cleaning up the damage that you would cause otherwise.
The Year of the Overhyped: 2013’s Popular Music
Georgia Larsen
Staff Writer
The end of 2013 marks the end of a
weird year for music. This past summer had
some huge hits that will never be forgotten,
like Miley’s comeback and the disgusting
“Blurred Lines.” Yet these are somehow in
the top songs of 2013. The songs aren’t particularly uplifting or original; they just managed to be released at the right time and
have mildly catchy choruses. My question
is, do you really believe these are the top
songs of 2013?
The third most popular song of 2013
is the ever popular summer anthem “Get
Lucky” by Daft Punk. After three years, the
electronic duo artistically named Daft Punk
made a comeback with arguably their most
popular song yet. Mainly due to the convenient release date right before summer, this
song became one of the biggest songs of the
summer and of the year. With fun party lyrics such as “she’s up all night for good fun,
I’m up all night to get lucky,” it reminds
people of happy times and the summer.
I admit, if you only listen to it a couple of
times it’s okay, but by the end of June the
song became unbearable, as radio stations
seemed to play it on an endless loop.
The second most popular song of 2013
was the disgusting “Blurred Lines” by the
old-as-heck Robin Thicke. Robin Thicke was
famous ten years ago and somehow made
a comeback with a demeaning song ex-
ploiting women and their rights. This song ics were inappropriate and the music video
somehow made it into the top charts, and I too risqué to be acceptable.
honestly have no idea how. The song is literFinally, according to MTV, the top song
ally about date rape. Rape is not something of 2013 is “Royals” by Lorde. The seventeenyear-old became a worldwide star with her
innovative lyrics and new ideas about the
pop music industry. Junior Anna Reganis
agreed with the idea of this being the most
popular song, but said that “the song is now
way too overplayed and I can’t stand it.”
When the song first became popular, I admit, it wasn’t bad, but since the song is still
playing on the radio, it is getting unbearable. On the other end of the spectrum, Candice Nkoy stated that she loves “Royals.”
Meanwhile, junior Jenna Reed claimed that
Sophomore Brooke Tilson meets world-wide she had never heard the song, even as it’s
pop star and regular chart-topper, Justin becoming so overplayed that people groan
when it comes on the radio. Still, in its heyBieber. – Photo courtesy of Brooke Tilson
day, “Royals” was a catchy song.
to be taken lightly, or praised in a song; rape
Some close runner-ups for the top
is not okay, and the lyrics of “Blurred Lines” three songs of 2013 were “We Can’t Stop”
basically tell listeners that it’s okay. Even and “Wrecking Ball” by the infamous Miley
the music video is inappropriate, with top- Cyrus, “Can’t Hold Us” by the most famous
less women walking around subject to ha- white rapper Macklemore, and “Roar” by
rassment. As senior Smyth Sutter-Robinson Katy Perry. I interviewed students on what
explained, the song “is terrible and rapey they thought the best album of 2013 was,
and really misogynistic.” Still, people seem and I got all different responses. Sophomore
to think this is a catchy song. Senior Nikita Sophie Cox liked Vampire Weekend’s new
Abraham stated that “the song was catchy, album, while junior Michael O’Brien was a
but the lyrics were not okay.” Yes, Robin fan of Kanye West’s new album. Other faThicke, Pharrell, and T.I. made a hit, but I’m vorites were Justin Timberlake, The 1975,
not surprised that it did not win one award The Neighbourhood, and “Bangerz” by the
at any music award show this year. The lyr- unforgettable Miley Cyrus.
8
February 5, 2014
Overheard
Rowland Hall Gazette
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