Wells Speech Contest Leaves Student Body
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Jan. 2018 Wells Speech Contest Leaves Student Volume 18 Issue 3 Body “Interested” By Ben Kabakow On Thursday, Dec. 14, The speech delivered with personality.” Harvey School had a two hour delay due Mr. Seymour said the ideal speech to bad weather. When the school’s fac- winner is “a speaker I’d like to hold ulty and student body arrived at 10 a.m., up to the Harvey community as a they huddled into the Lasdon Theater to thoughtful and powerful orator.” watch the annual Wells Speech Contest, which featured six middle and nine The contest was hosted by upper school students competing to see Middle School English teacher Cris who would have the winning persuasive Alexander. Ms. Alexander started speech. the ceremony with a Mark Twain quotation: “There are two impor- The contestants were sixth- tant days in a person’s life: the day graders Taylor Bassi and Zachary Weis- that person is born and the day they blatt, seventh-graders Emma Galgano find out why.” and Marley Shyer, eighth-graders Jacob Hellinger and Wendy Lichtenberg, Although Mr. Seymour freshmen Isabelle Abramson and Joseph told The Pulse that there was no DiGrandi, sophomores BB Jaffee and theme to the contest, the speeches Mandy Ward, juniors Parker Berke, were filled with social and political Featured Brooke Dodderidge, and Elizabeth issues ranging from advancements 2017 Upper School Speech Contest winner Jared Mahony, and seniors Jared Peraglia and in technology to feminism. Peraglia. Photo courtesy of Gabe Palacio. in this issue: Nikkita Johnson. Senior Jared Peraglia won passions for artwork and literature, and The three judges for this year’s the contest with his speech “Be Inter- he asked them to send him a link to contest were: Noelle Maoriello, a social ested,” in which he urged the audience their work. The two audience members studies and global history teacher at members to take interest in the lives of were surprised by Peraglia’s request, but l Current Events John Jay High School, Tahra Millan, the other members of the Harvey commu- they happily obliged, while leaving the VP/CMO of Caramoor Center for Mu- nity. footnote, “Thanks for being interested.” sic and the Arts and an adjunct professor l News from at Columbia University, and Joe Garrity, Peraglia talked about being Peraglia told The Pulse, “Truly, The Harv a member of the board of directors at “stumped” when he was thinking of I didn’t know what to write about. I Saint Michael’s College, who formerly speech ideas until he thought back to the started to think about what I would’ve l Reviews served as Chief Operating and Chief Fi- time when he went on a Performing Arts wanted a senior to have told me when I nancial Officer of 4Kids Entertainment. Department trip to see the play “Petie” was an underclassman. We all lead such in New York City. busy lives at Harvey. It’s important for Chair of Harvey’s English De- us to slow down sometimes and look partment Jeff Seymour said he looks for, Sitting next to two Harvey around at the people traveling with us.” “an interesting, surprisingly developed students, Peraglia learned about their Wells Speech Contest: cont. on back cover. Ready for Success on the Slopes By Morgan Chapman In the Winter Term 2017, The Was it difficult to get the ski opportunity for those students who want Harvey School started a new ski team team approved by the school? Breiten- to ski, no matter how much experi- under the leadership of captains Alex bach stated, “It was pretty hard. It defi- ence they have. When The Pulse asked Breitenbach and Sebastian Wallach, nitely took a lot of asking and countless Wallach about the ski team, he stated, “I along with science teacher Mr. Simon talks back and forth with Mr. Kennedy think it will be a great experience for the Leibovic as advisor. Both captains love and Mr. Lazzaro. From coordinating with students at Harvey if they join. It will be skiing and succeeded in establishing teachers, arranging transportation, and another winter sport option for The Har- finding a place to train, it was a lot of Ready for Success: cont. on inside cover. vey School. There is a varsity team that, work.” will compete against other teams in the HVAL and FAA, and there is also a club After Breitenbach team that skis for fun with no competi- met with Mr. Kennedy, they tion. came to the conclusion that the ski team would be a great On Dec. 6, The Pulse inter- addition. viewed captain Alex Breitenbach, eager to find out more details about the ski The ski team has 12 team. According to Breitenbach, “The members, and seven of them idea came to me in the early fall. I was are doing varsity skiing. deciding whether I wanted to play ice The students participating hockey for a third year or if I wanted understand how big the com- to do something else. For a long time, I mitment is, because on most always had a slight interest in having a days, they will not be getting ski team at Harvey, and I thought, that’s home until after 5 p.m. The Harvey School a really cool idea. What if we could get a 260 Jay Street whole group of people who want to race? Breitenbach and I used to race a lot when I was younger Wallach are more than happy Katonah, NY 10536 but wanted to do it competitively at a to lead the ski team because The 2018 Harvey School Ski Team. varsity level.” it is enjoyable and a great Photo courtesy of Sebastian Wallach Page 2 OP/ED A Night You Can Never Take Back What is hazing? The Merriam Webster definition states that hazing is “the practice of playing unpleasant tricks on someone or forcing someone to do unpleasant things.” Hazing is common among most fraternities, but there comes a point where hazing turns criminal. In no situation is it acceptable to physically beat a person to the point of death. Forcing a person to consume deadly amounts of alcohol is not a The recipe for a good time; it’s a jail sentence. A line needs to be drawn between punishment and initiation. Pulse Staff Rick Rojas of The New York Times reported, “Four men initially charged with murder in the hazing death of a Baruch College freshman pleaded guilty to reduced charge. The four were involved in a fraternity initiation in which the au- thorities said the 18-year-old student who died, Chun Hsien Deng, fell unconscious and the other fraternity members delayed seeking medical aid.” Aside from this tragedy at Baruch, there have been several other cases of horrific hazing, at even Ivy League schools. According to Janet Reitman of Rolling Stone Magazine, around half of the student body at Dartmouth takes part in Greek life, Morgan Chapman which consists of 17 fraternities, 11 sororities, and three coed houses. In Reitman’s article, Andrew Lohse, a student of Dart- mouth College, spoke out in disapproval of Dartmouth’s storied Greek system for encouraging a culture of “pervasive hazing, Harrison Fontaine substance abuse and sexual assault,” as well as an “intoxicating nihilism” that dominates campus social life. Daniel Patrick Galgano Lohse goes on by saying, “One of the things I’ve learned at Dartmouth – one thing that sets a psychological prece- Ben Kabakow dent for many Dartmouth men – is that good people can do awful things to one another for absolutely no reason.” He conclud- ed with, “Fraternity life is at the core of the college’s human and cultural dysfunctions.” Julia Mallon Matthew Mutkoski An unnamed freshman from the University of Delaware stated, “Although no one wants to undergo hazing, rush week just isn’t the same without it.” He went on by saying, “I feel the upperclassmen don’t respect us because we didn’t expe- Sean Puente rience what they had to.” Will Shelden It is understood why some upperclassmen feel this way. Making it through a week of hell strengthens the bond between fraternity brothers, but at the same time, Greek life shouldn’t just be about making it through a week of near-death Jacob Sklar experiences. How do we separate hazing from initiation? The problem in these fraternities is not the people, it’s the things these people do when exposed to excess amounts of drugs and alcohol. The lifestyle is all about constant partying, and it is a struggle for many to know when enough is enough. Faculty Advisors Instead of eliminating Greek life as a whole, fraternities need to understand and learn the dangers and consequences Lesley Boltz of their actions. Drinking is bound to happen on a college campus regardless of whether it is in a fraternity or not, but colleges Virginia Holmes need to understand this and learn to moderate it. Drinking needs to be controlled, not taken away so it can be done in secret. In conclusion, none of these students being sent away to prison are ruthless killers. They are regular people who made a mistake, but the problem is there is no way to make up for it once the damage is done. Colleges need to intervene and deal with these problems before they arise, but in a way that does not take away all aspects of Greek life. Trying to totally eliminate alcohol and Greek life will only make the problem worse. Respectfully, Matthew Mutkoski Ready for the Slopes, cont. from cover. based on the idea of having fun and just getting people up on the mountain to ski.” On the other hand, the ski team could face some problems this season because this is the team’s first year together.