An anonymous junior girl described “a system using a code of pencil taps to exchange answers on a multiple choice test.” Another anonymous junior boy admitted to “studying off of tests from prior years. Students from many grades pass down their tests, which can be particularly useful when teachers don’t change the tests from year to year.”
This exchange of material is not limited to exams. An anonymous junior girl conceded that, “siblings and friends sometimes share their papers and hand them in again with very few changes or use them as guides to write their own papers.” Other students have plagiarized using Wikipedia and other websites such as SparkNotes that offer free analysis on quotes, poems, novels, myths, and short stories.

Though cheating culture does have its place in SHS, there are also others who believe it
is limited. “I have seen a very low rate of cheating in Scarsdale. Scarsdale students, by and large, have a lot of integrity,” said math teacher John Waters. “I think this comes from the parents, who stress that education is important and at the same time stress that integrity is just as important,” he explained.
The relatively low amount of cheating may also be attributed to teachers who take certain steps to ensure that there is minimal cheating in their classes. “If I have two 513 classes I make sure that I do back-to-back testing so that one class does not give the other the answers. The one chance that students have to share answers is when one class is leaving the room and the other is entering, so I go outside and
make sure that the first class leaves immediately,” said science teacher Nelson DaSilva.
Teachers also try to distance the students as much as possible during an exam. “I seat the students in alternate rows when the class is small enough. When it isn’t small enough, I separate the desks as much as possible,“ said Beals.
Some teachers have also found that if students believe that they are issued slightly different tests, then they will be much less likely to cheat. “If for the first test of the year you switch the order of the questions or just print the tests
in different colors, then students automatically assume for the rest of the year that everybody has a different test,” explained science teacher Steven Boyar.

Waters employed a similar strategy in which he changed the multiple-choice answers on a test, and as a result discovered students who had attempted to cheat. “I had a student in my afternoon class put down all the correct letter answers for the morning exam. Unfortunately, since it was a different test, all of his answers on the multiple-choice were wrong and he got a zero on that page and did very poorly on the test. While I couldn’t accuse him of cheating, I think the circumstantial evidence was pretty strong,” he explained. Waters believes that using this preventive strategy is essential because otherwise, students will be rewarded for their deviant behavior by getting answers right if both tests are the same.

According to school policy, “the first time there is an incident of cheating, the teacher notifies the student’s counselor and then the teacher has the latitude to make a decision about what to do with the student in terms of consequences,” explained Assistant Principal Christopher Renino. The second time a student cheats, the incident is reported to the Academic Integrity Committee, which consists of Renino, Dean Andrea O’Gorman, English teacher Stephen Mounkhall, art teacher Dina Hofstetter, and LRC teacher Eric Rauschenbach. “The committee holds a formal hearing with a student who has cheated and the student’s dean,” said Renino, “They collect all the facts from the student and student’s teacher and then the committee takes all of that into consideration and recommends a consequence to the principal.”
After the third infraction, the same process occurs, but the superintendent is notified. In most instances, the consequences determined by the Academic Integrity Committee are individualized.
An anonymous sophomore boy believes that this system is too severe. “It isn’t fair to have such permanent and threatening consequences. People make mistakes and there should be a little more leeway, especially for the first time,” he said.
However, many feel that the severity of the system is useful in the long run. “There was a SHS graduate at a prestigious college and it was the week of graduation. Her relatives had all come to see her. However, when she turned in her research project the school
discovered that she had cheated and she was not able to graduate. It was humiliating
for her,” recounted Boyar. “I think that if she had gotten in trouble for cheating in high
school, where it would not have affected her future so much, then she probably would not have taken the risk of cheating in college because she would understand the consequences,” he said.
An anonymous sophomore boy who was punished for cheating recalled, “the consequences I had to deal with definitely stopped me from cheating again. I saw that it wasn’t worth it at all and I learned an important lesson.”

It is ultimately the responsibility of the student to realize that cheating is not the answer when it comes to academic stress or struggles. “A student is going to do what a student is going to do,” English teacher Natalie Farina added. “If we talk about it enough, try to give them a good example, and give them experiences that make it harder for them to cheat, it will hopefully discourage them to do it.” However, it is up to the student to modify his or her behavior. “There are always a few people who cheat. The people that do that undermine the achievements of those who work honestly,” Capelin said. Michael Sturman ’12 believes that cheating harms the cheater as well. “In short term they might do well on the test but they’re never going to actually understand the material,” he said. □

By Caroline Pitofsky and Ben Rosenbaum

Additional Reporting by Michelle Teicher

Herbert Krosney ’55 is the author of five books and a documentary filmmaker who has worked for a variety of television channels including the BBC, PBS, CBC (Canada), and ZDF (Germany). Over the course of his career, he has created “long-form” documentaries for major networks including The Russian Connection, The Secrets of Samarra, The Islamic Bomb, and a book that was turned into a documentary for National Geographic, called The Lost Gospel: The Quest for Judas Iscariot.

Krosney became interested in filmmaking when he was a college student at Harvard University, but, at that time, he was more interested in drama and fiction.  After writing a failed first novel, he switched to non-fiction. “I became convinced that reality was more amazing and dramatic and creative than anything that I could invent in my mind.”  When he graduated from college, he soon obtained a job as a reporter at the Albany-Times Union in Albany, New York.  He subsequently entered the army, and when he came out, he “tried to break into the world of filmmaking in New York, which at the time was almost all documentary or educational or reality-based, unlike the West Coast.”  After several years, Krosney obtained a job as a researcher at CBS, quickly became an associate producer, and then a producer.

Krosney has won several awards for his filmmaking, including an Emmy for best investigative documentary, the Alfred B. Sloan Award for outstanding documentary, and the Royal Television Society Award for best investigative documentary.  Krosney notes, however, that, “awards really aren’t that meaningful to people in the profession, except as they help provide a basis for the financing of the next project.  I never really paid too much attention to them.”

What Krosney does find meaningful, however, is when his work affects the world in a positive way.  He cites several examples of accomplishing this.   His film The Russian Connection “exposed terrorist training in the USSR,” he noted. The Islamic Bomb, a documentary, “significantly slowed Pakistan’s efforts to get an atomic bomb,” but, unfortunately, as Krosney acknowledges, “didn’t stop the Pakistanis in the long run.”

Krosney has also enjoyed making historical documentaries.  His book The Lost Gospel: The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot was first a New York Times bestseller that was published in approximately 20 languages and was also a bestseller abroad.  With National Geographic, he made a documentary based on the book.  Krosney noted that this “was a massive undertaking by National Geographic” and is still shown on that network today.

As a student at SHS, Krosney was not involved in filmmaking.  He was captain of the tennis team and participated in Varsity basketball.  Although Krosney attended SHS over 50 years ago, he still has a few favorite memories.  He particularly enjoyed school assemblies, and “there were a few girls in my class who were great, and anytime I was close to one of them was a favorite memory,” he recalled.

While at college, Krosney majored in English and French literature, which he regards as a “mistake.” He now concludes that he should have majored in subjects that would have later helped him in his career, like history or economics, which “tell a lot about the world and aren’t necessarily boring or dry, notwithstanding their reputations.”

Krosney asserts that he has attained his success in the documentary filmmaking industry by “being inquisitive about the world,” but he warns aspiring documentary filmmakers of the difficulties in the field. “It’s a tough industry. You have to be lucky to make it pay. It’s not as romantic as it seems from the outside,” he said. “Don’t do it unless you’re a bit nuts, like me.  Choose something easier.”

By Jonathan Faust

Etienne Desbois’12, and Daniel Cohen’12 are the managers of the Varsity Girls Swim team. During swim meets, “we have to keep track of our team. We keep score of the swimmers’ times, record which lane the swimmer is in, make sure we have all the names on the other teams, and we also help set up the lanes and tfhe flags,” said Desbois. “New for this year, we have to submit all of the data we collect online on a centralized database…. We also make baked goods for the team to eat on the bus ride after the meet.”

Emmy Hirsch’13 managed the Varsity Field Hockey team this fall.  Hirsh noted that her position required her “to be devoted to [her] team and coaches,” performing a variety of tasks.  “I had to manage the book by recording fouls, goals, long hits, and corners. I had to make ice bags and carry the medical equipment. I had to fill out paperwork for the coach, for sectionals, for the yearbook, and I made a brochure for the ‘Pink’ (breast-cancer awareness) game. I also had to do the coffee runs and the doughnut runs,” she recounted.

Like the team’s athletes, managers have to attend their team’s games and, depending on the sport, practices as well. “The Girls Swim team has a few swim meets a week that last three to four hours,” said Desbois. “As far as practices, the coach doesn’t make us attend as practices are just to make sure the swimmers are ready for their meet,” continued Desbois. Other coaches require managers to be at every practice.  Hirsch had to attend all field hockey practices and games. “My schedule had to change…. I tutor so there were times I had to cancel if the games went late or were rescheduled. As well, if I made plans, being manager came first,” she explained.

Despite their constant involvement in the sport, managers do not need specific qualifications to manage a team. “There are no official qualifications needed, but I was on the Boys Swim team and usually a member of the swim team manages the other team,” said Desbois. “I had to have an interview with the coaches,” said Hirsch.

Managers choose to manage a team for different reasons. “I find it interesting to time and keep score of a sport that I participate in,” said Desbois. Other managers joined “to be part of a team. The team had a great group of girls and one of my best friends was on the team and encouraged me to become manager,” said Hirsch.

By spending so much time with the team, managers build relationships with the team and coaches. “I like to think I had a good relationship with the coach of the Girls Swim team (Barney Foltman),” said Desbois. “I loved it. I loved being part of a team, I loved being with my team, and I also loved working with the coaches,” said Hirsch.

For a team’s players, managers play a key role in Raider sports. According to Becky Schwartz’13, a member of the Field Hockey team, Hirsch “is just as much part of the team as any of the athletes.” □

by Heath Hartman

Eugene OʼNeill, Tennessee Williams, and David Mamet are literary laureates, perhaps the most revered of American playwrights.  Scarsdaleʼs own Dan OʼBrien, a successful playwright and poet who graduated from SHS in 1992, aspires to join this list. OʼBrien, with a Masters in Fine Arts from Brown University, has had his plays produced off-Broadway and at theaters across the country, and has won the Osborn Award presented by the American Theatre Critics and the Mark Twain Comedy Writing Award. With such accolades under his belt, OʼBrien is currently working on his next productions including The Three Christs of Ypsilanti and The Body of an American, and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Princeton University, and University of the South.

OʼBrienʼs SHS experience had a profound impact on his current literary career. OʼBrien notes, “My favorite class was English. It was the place I got to be most creative, in the way I wanted to be creative, occasionally getting to write stories and poems.” In particular, certain books and poems that OʼBrien read during his English classes inspired him to write his own work involving similar themes of family and relationships. OʼBrien explains, “Joyceʼs Portrait of the Artist, Faulknerʼs Sound and the Fury were difficult and beautiful books that told the truth. Anne Sextonʼs poetry especially told me what I had to do with my life. These haunting depictions of suburban trauma, sadly, reminded me of my familyʼs secrets and dysfunction, and the concept that art could somehow make pain into something beautiful, at least meaningful and artful.” These books and poems were, according to OʼBrien, his “life-changing realization at SHS.”

By Callie Gilbert

Many SHS students turn to SparkNotes as a tool for homework assignments at one time or another. Few are aware, however, that not so long ago, the creator of SparkNotes was also an SHS student.  Max Krohn ’95 graduated from SHS, went on to Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude and went on to obtain a doctorate in computer science from MIT.  Krohn’s roommate Sam Yagan, another classmate, Chris Coyne, and Krohn created SparkNotes in 1999.

Originally, SparkNotes was created as part of a website called TheSpark.com that Coyne had envisioned as an online dating service. Krohn and Yagan joined Coyne to work on the website. Krohn joined as the computer programmer and Yagan joined as the business head.

Once Krohn and his friends realized that the user base of TheSpark.com was largely comprised of high school and college students, they tried to think of academic applications that would get users to return to the website more often. Krohn came up with the idea of creating online literature study guides.  He and his friends called the study guides SparkNotes.

What is Krohn’s response to teachers who urge their students not to use SparkNotes?  “In a nutshell: don’t use SparkNotes.” In retrospect, he has some regrets about developing SparkNotes “since I love reading, and I love literature, and I learned so much from my English teachers at Scarsdale High School,” including Seth Evans and Paul Sheehey, who are still on the faculty.

Nonetheless, Krohn believes that SparkNotes can be a valuable tool in certain instances.  “I often use SparkNotes to better understand plays that I’ve seen, but haven’t read.  I recently read SparkNotes to get me through some tedious portions of War & Peace that I otherwise didn’t have the patience for.  I wanted to be sure I could skip a few chapters without missing anything.  When you’re writing bigger papers in college and beyond, sometimes you do need to get a quick summary of a book and don’t have the time to read it.  It seems totally fair to use SparkNotes as background reading in such a context,” he explained.

By early summer of 1999, TheSpark.com/Sparknotes had gained a considerable following and the website obtained investors.  Because the investors had taken a huge risk to invest in the venture, they managed to “get the better of [the group]” when it came to deal terms, according to Krohn. “Boy, did we have a lot to learn,” he commented.

By the fall of 1999, the business had almost gone bankrupt and by February of 2000, Krohn and his friends sold it to “a now-defunct… online arm of the dELiA*s dress company.”  Soon, that company was also struggling financially, and it sold TheSpark.com and SparkNotes to Barnes & Noble, where Krohn stayed for about a year.  Notwithstanding his expertise in online dating, he met his wife while working there.

In 2003, Krohn, Yagan, Coyne, and another friend, Christian Rudder, joined up again to start another business.  This one, they decided, would only be a dating website. They wanted this website to be similar to their original dating applications on TheSpark.com in that it would be free and based on personality quizzes. They called this dating website OkCupid.

OkCupid struggled to become profitable for seven years due, in part, to the “Great Recession,” said Krohn. However, in 2010, the advertisement markets rebounded and OkCupid “became very profitable almost overnight,” noted Krohn.

By the end of 2010, Krohn and his friends sold OkCupid to Match.com for $50 million. “We think OkCupid is a great business, with a strong future, andMatch.com agreed with us,” Krohn said.

Krohn notes that, demographically, OkCupid is great for college students and recent grads because it serves a younger population than most other dating sites.  As for safety concerns, Krohn noted that “[t]he same safety issues apply whenever people are getting to know each other, regardless of whether they meet through OkCupid, Facebook, a party, a bar, a supermarket, or a coffee shop.”

In addition to his advice about the websites that he helped to found, Krohn urges high school students who are looking to meet someone to “be honest.”  He also offers the following academic advice to students as they head for college: “Study computer science in college!  It’s a great field, with tons of applications.”

By Jonathan Faust

It is Tuesday afternoon during testing week. Mindlessly walking the halls, exhausted from all-nighters and days filled with exams, you overhear some students in the hall whispering. “It keeps me focused all night,” one says. You’re curious about what this solution could be. Coffee? Red Bull? You catch another snippet as you pass the group, “It’s from her doctor. It has to be safe.”

Adderall, a prescribed amphetamine, has enjoyed greater use at SHS among students with ADHD and even among those who take it without a prescription. “A whole new group of drug abusers, those who typically would reject marijuana and other illegal drugs, can unfortunately emerge because Adderall is perceived to actually help,” explained health teacher Candiss Cowan. Students claim that Adderall, and other ADHD and ADD medication, can “help someone stay focused, give euphoric highs, and even make them lose weight. Yet I cannot stress [enough] that the risks of taking these types of medicine without a prescription will always do more damage than good,” Cowan continued.

Medications for ADD and ADHD are a relatively recent addition to the average home medicine cabinet. In the 1990s, doctors became more comfortable identifying ADD and prescriptions were issued to match the demand. “More than 20 years ago, it was a lot less common for students to be diagnosed with ADD and ADHD and the medicine, Adderall, for example, didn’t exist,” said health teacher Jessica Levenberg.

The shift from mere use to abuse of these amphetamines is particularly found on college campuses, where the rates of consumption are currently highest. In a study of students at 119 American college campuses published in the journal Addiction, it was found that up to 25% of those enrolled at very competitive universities had used the drug as a study aid. In many colleges it is considered easier to score 30 mg of Adderall than a can of beer, and its prevalence as a study aid may only be matched by caffeine. Yet, high schools have now become nearly as conducive to the misuse of ADHD medication as college campuses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Adderall sales in the United States have soared 3,100 percent since 2002. The CDC estimates that one in five high school students have abused such prescription drugs.“It is the trickle down effect, students see what college students are doing and they mimic their behavior,” said Cowan.

There is a long process in order to be diagnosed with ADHD. “I had to go through psychiatric tests, blood tests, and even heart-rate tracking, which allowed the doctors to give me a dosage that would be healthy and not lethal,” said Melinda ’13.

Yet the large spike in diagnoses of disorders like ADD and ADHD has caused some hesitation within the community. “Scarsdale is about a lot of really great things. But, one thing that Scarsdale does struggle with is that silent pressure for success. In general, our society is inclined to look for quick-fix solutions; taking medication appeals to such a desire,” said school psychologist Jennifer Walker. Still, she noted, “many students need this medication and are rightfully diagnosed.”

The lines between simply being distracted or disinterested and being chronically attention deficient and hyperactive may have been blurred. The school administration believes that “it isn’t within the school’s purview or right to determine if you should or shouldn’t be taking the drug, that is up to the physician,” said co-principal Fred Goldberg. Yet, “when the drug is being taken by someone for whom it was not prescribed, or by the person for whom it was prescribed but was not used in the prescribed dosage…. the school needs to step in,” he continued.

Steroid for the Brain

While most drug users may turn to substances in an act of rebellion, to achieve a high, or even to become more social, the abuse of ADHD medication usually does not fall into any of these categories. “Some people do take these pills [illegally] to feel a rush and a high. Because it is an amphetamine, it is in the same family as speed,” said Walker. But because of its many forms, including time-release capsules and even patches designed to circumvent the ability to get high, most students who abuse ADD and ADHD medication seek out its rumored ability to increase one’s IQ. “In fact, ADHD medications do not make you smarter, or allow you to cram more, instead they can keep you awake for hours, and you can crash if [the drugs are] not tailored for your needs,” said Walker. Another reason for the drug’s popularity is the belief that “it can be used almost like a dieting pill. Because it is a stimulant, it will have the side effect of curbing hunger,” said Sarah Powell, an intern for Walker. “Yet, it will not help you lose weight in a sustainable way,” she added.

Much like a steroid, the results of taking ADHD medication can be positive and necessary when taken under medical supervision and in the proper dosage, yet when students self-medicate, there is a potential for lethal harm. “Adderall when taken incorrectly can cause paranoia, insomnia, overheating, increased blood pressure, and even heart attacks if there are undiscovered heart conditions,” said Cowan. Students who believed they are hindered by not taking this “super-pill” are mistaken, as it “ does not give students with ADHD an advantage, instead it is correcting a disadvantage that a student has. The reason why it is safe for students with ADHD to take is that their body is slowly introduced to the medicine until they reach their correct strength. Students taking it illegally lend themselves to risks by not having an introductory period for the body to respond in a healthy way,” Cowan continued.

Abuse at SHS

The statistics concerning ADHD medication indicate rampant abuse, and unfortunately, SHS is not an exception to the trend. Unknown to many faculty and administrators, where students with ADHD feel pressured daily to hand over their medications.

One student, Kelly ’14, has no problem with people knowing about her disorder. “I have ADD and ADHD and I take Concerta…. ADD and ADHD are so common these days that I’m not embarrassed or anything of it and I don’t care if anyone knows,” she said. But, she felt uncomfortable when a friend made an inappropriate request. “The only thing that annoys me is when people try to take advantage of the fact that I take medication for it. For example, one day while doing my homework, I got an IM [instant message] from [Joe] asking if it was true that I had ADD. I simply answered, yes, and then Joe asked me what medication I took for it…. He needed something to help him with the long week of tests and essays he had coming his way. Obviously I told him that either way that I wasn’t going to give him my prescribed medication, but I also mentioned how dangerous it is to take other people’s medication,” she continued.

Despite the fact that it is illegal to share drugs, Kelly also shared her fears concerning his health. “I know I shouldn’t be the person to tell someone what they can and can’t do, but it’s frustrating to see people abusing drugs that people like myself actually need. Not to mention the fact that people are completely ignoring everything we have learned in health. This person was willing to pay me for something that potentially could hurt their body, just to get their work done more efficiently,” she said

Another similar situation occurred with a student who did not directly take ADHD medication, but another student still hoped that she could supply him with the pills. “[Bob] instant messaged me on Facebook a week or two ago and asked if I had Adderall or other ADD medication. Apparently though, he was asking a bunch of other kids. I told him I didn’t have any, which isn’t exactly true, both my siblings have ADD and are medicated but I would never give [their medication] away,” said Daisy ’12. “I’ve heard though that he wanted it to decrease his appetite. I do know that weight loss is a side effect…. Yet, I do know it’s very common with students who need to cram before a test or a paper to help them get everything done,” she said.

Although events like these two incidents are not uncommon, the administration has difficulty identifying the abuse. “Though I have had to use disciplinary action for students [using] alcohol and drugs on campus, have I dealt directly with this drug? No,” said Goldberg, but he added, “would I be surprised if it was occurring? Also no.”

A different student on ADHD medication, Melinda ’13, shared that she did not experience students asking her for it because she “does not feel the need to voice that she is on medication.” Another student, concurring with Melinda, felt that the pressures are not that large at SHS. “I never experienced someone asking for me to give it to them. People for the most part respect boundaries,” said Bailey ’14. Despite these hopeful accounts of respect, “many students have come into my office asking me to give them advice to stop the pleas for their medication and to give them strength to overcome these pressures,” said Cowan.

A Solution

The school has initiated a multilateral effort to stop all forms of drug abuse, including the abuse of prescription drugs, through education and strict school policies. In terms of limiting access, “one of the best actions a parent can take is not allow students to walk around with $50 in their pocket, that makes no sense and just increases their access to harmful products,” said Walker. If students were caught dealing or accepting ADHD medication, the administration plans would take strong action to stop the abuse. “While it does not say so explicitly in the listing of school rules in the handbook, it would seem to me that it is against the law to distribute drugs and that would therefore violate our school policy and there would be some disciplinary action,” said Goldberg. But he noted that discipline is not going to be sufficient, “and more significantly, it is a real opportunity for both the person selling and the person buying to have an intervention with parents and counselors because ultimately the disciplinary components of the school are going to be secondary.” Despite the different approaches to stopping the harm, these methods are all united by a single theme: “The health of our students would always come first and the school will work hard to make sure they do not get hurt,” Goldberg concluded. □

By Larry Milstein

For Glenn Kramon ’71, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a journalist is the opportunity to effect positive social change.  Kramon, who began working for The New York Times in 1987 and is an assistant managing editor, has overseen major reporting projects at The Times for more than a decade.  Over the course of his career and under his leadership, reporters have won, among other awards, 8 Pulitzer Prizes, been finalists 22 times, and won 10 George Polk awards for courageous journalism.

Kramon’s long-term reporting projects have been on a variety of topics, but his proudest professional accomplishment was the effect of a reporting project that he conceived and edited on the automobile industry. “In early 1997, when my daughter was four and in the child seat in our car, I noticed, in the rear-view mirror, a big SUV and wondered what would happen to her if it hit us,” Kramon said.  “Over the next few years [the Times] revealed the dangers of SUVs, not only to people in cars, but also to people in SUVs.” As a result, the automobile industry redesigned its sport utility vehicles.  “Thousands of lives have been saved, and the air is cleaner, though there is still a long way to go,” Kramon noted.

Kramon’s interest in journalism began when he was 12-years old.  “I produced a newspaper for my family about our cat,” he recalled.  While at SHS, Kramon was involved with sports, rather than journalism, but in college he worked as a reporter for the Stanford Daily.  His first assignment was “covering the trial of 300 anti-war protestors who were arrested in 1972.”  Not only were the assignments interesting, but Kramon also considered it to be a social activity.  “The college newspaper was an exciting way to learn about the college and make friends without getting drunk,” he said.

After graduating from college, Kramon went on to become a journalist for the Kansas City Star in 1975, and then for the San Francisco Examiner, before joining the Times.  At the Examiner, Kramon was not only a reporter, but he was also a business editor and a Sunday news editor. Kramon particularly enjoys being an editor “because rather than working on only one story, as a reporter does, I get to work with talented reporters… on many stories at once, on subjects from business to science to sports.”

Kramon offers the following advice for students who are interested in entering the field of journalism.  “Learn how to write simply and clearly; learn how to ask questions and be comfortable talking with people; and be curious about everything.” Kramon had several experiences at SHS that helped him to acquire these skills. “I remember I had two English teachers, Franklin Myers and Ernest Painter, who challenged me to think clearly and write clearly. They weren’t involved in journalism, but a really a good part of journalism is just writing simply and clearly and with power,” he said.  Also, Kramon fondly remembers the lessons of his American history teacher Eric Rothschild ’54, who Kramon believes contributed to his intellectual development.  Rothschild, working with another teacher, “would force us to stand up and debate, and it was scary. You had to do the reading, you had to know your material because not only were they going to make you debate with somebody else, but then they would get involved in the debate and start asking you questions.  That was the most wonderful preparation for life because they made it tough for you, because they knew you would be stronger for it,” he concluded.

In addition to helpful preparation for the field of journalism at SHS, part of Kramon’s success can probably be attributed to the pleasure he derives from his work. “It’s the most enjoyable field in the world. You get to meet all kinds of interesting people. It’s like being a management consultant: you take up a new subject and you have to learn a lot about it and become an expert on it. You’re working with a lot of other people who are very smart, and I like working with people, and I like exploring ideas.”

By Jonathan Faust

Don’t Be a Worry Wart

As each milestone passes, whether it is the release of SAT scores, early application deadlines, or the submission of first quarter grades, the amount of control we have over college admissions decreases. To the senior class of 2012, I propose this: we spend less time actively worrying about college admissions. Instead, we should appreciate the last few months of high school.

by Michael Lu

This was the first major tournament that SHS attended. “We won the game against Ursuline,” said co-captain Madeleine Minke’13. “Then we lost the second game to Pleasantville even though we caught the snitch, and the last game against Chittenden was really close.”

Alyson Favilla ’ 12 carrying a quaffle in a game against Ursuline High School (photo courtesy Julia Wells’13)

Trinity High School from Manhattan won the high school division in which the Scarheads participated. Middlebury College, where “Muggle Quidditch” was founded, won the college tournament for the second year in a row.

As Quidditch is not yet recognized as a sport by the athletics department, the captains had to arrange practices as well as transportation to Randall’s Island by themselves. “We organize practices three times a week… then we had to register as a team with the International Quidditch Association, which cost about $100, and some of our parents drove us [to the tournament] because we didn’t get buses,” explained Minke. For practices, the team even “had to make our own scoring posts, which are hula hoops attached to poles,” said Christine Rooney’13.

Nonetheless, playing was “absolutely fantastic,” said Kathryn Evans’13. The team enjoyed the experience, despite the fact that they did not bring home a trophy. “It was really exciting to be there,” said Ellen Corrini’12. “Obviously, we wanted to win, but we also wanted to just try our best and have fun playing.”

Contrary to the preconceptions that Quidditch  is a leisurely pastime, rather than a full-fledged sport, SHS team members assert that it actually requires great athleticism. “It involves a lot of tackling, running, sprinting, and hand-eye coordination, and a lot of snitches were played by college and professional wrestlers,” explained Chen Shen’12. As a result, some players suffered injuries during the tournament.

The Harry Potter culture makes Quidditch appeal to a particular population.  “It’s a sport with a community attached,” said Evans. “The atmosphere of the tournament was really fantastic because it was all these people with a common interest coming together to celebrate Harry Potter and the culture associated with it.” Many spectators wore bow ties and brought canes to the tournament, while players had jerseys sporting symbols like “π” and “<3”.

For some, the vibe of the tournament heightened its appeal. “Everyone accepted the fact that you’re cool enough to play Quidditch and that you can do something not many people know about, and it wasn’t like school where people are judging you for wearing Quidditch outfits,” said Rooney. Minke concurred. “[The World Cup] was a very different experience from a lot of other events because you get a lot of very passionate people from different places doing this not because they have to… but because they love Quidditch and they’re willing to take public ridicule for doing it,” she said.

Many of the players recognize that Quidditch players are often stereotyped as bookworms. “We enjoy it enough not to care what other people say,” said Corrini.

The Scarsdale Scarheads prepare to play at the fifth annual Quidditch World Cup at Icahn Stadium (photo courtesy Christine Rooney).

Benepe summed up the spirit of the tournament during his opening statement. “If you have ever experienced anyone judging you negatively for playing a game, a game that you love, a game that means something real to you, a game that gives meaning to your life and gave you friends, that gave you a family, that gave you a team… I want you to yell, as loud as you can and as long as you can, the name of our game!” The crowds passionately roared a single word: “Quidditch.” □

by Victoria Chi

Additional Reporting by Ben Rosenbaum