MOSAIC Forum Focuses on C
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keep calm and carry on www.phillipian.net Veritas Super Omnia Vol. CXXXVII, No. 27 January 16, 2015 Phillips Academy Mundra Appointed Assistant Dean of Students Cluster for the past two By ANNIE LEE years, as well as Director of the Niswarth Program Rajesh Mundra, Dean and Assistant Dean of the of Pine Knoll Cluster and Office of Community and Instructor in Biology, will Multicultural Develop- assume the role of As- ment (CAMD). Mundra sistant Dean of Students also served as a House starting in the 2016-2017 Counselor in Rockwell, the school year. Mundra will largest Junior boys’ dorm, leave his current position for 11 years. as Cluster Dean, but he As Assistant Dean of will continue to teach biol- Students, Mundra will ogy courses. continue to work with the “It is an exciting op- other Cluster Deans, as portunity to use my Clus- well as the student support ter Dean experience as offices and Jennifer El- well as other experiences liott, Dean of Abbot Clus- I have had to contribute ter, who will become Dean to student support pro- of Students next year. gramming,” said Mundra, “I look forward to “With many ideas being working with [Elliott] on discussed related to the many short-and long-term Strategic Plan and [Rebec- projects including de- ca M. Sykes Wellness Cen- veloping frameworks for ter] and other areas of the our residential program, school, I want to help vari- reviewing our housing ous initiatives integrate process, developing com- L. XUAN/ THE PHILLIPIAN into the Dean of Students munity building programs Terrence Xiao ’16, Jack Vogel ’16 and Arzu Singh ’16 put the new phone baskets to good use. office work.” with students and other After starting his An- projects that will meet dover career as a Teach- the emerging needs of our Disability and Accessiblity at Andover: ing Fellow in Biology in community,” said Mundra. 1991, Mundra has served as Dean of Pine Knoll Continued on A6, Column 4 Cognitive Disabilities the best way for them, and as tests or having teachers classroom with homework By PRANAV TADIKONDA I think I just fall under that deliberately wait a few sec- assignments, said Davison. category,” he said. onds before calling on some- They are expected to manage Danny Shleifer ’15 has At- Forty-six Andover stu- one in class. The maximum their time appropriately such Turn to A3 for a tention Deficit Hyperactiv- dents diagnosed with cog- amount of extra time a teach- that they can turn in daily ity Disorder (ADHD), but he nitive disabilities, such as er is permitted to issue for in- assignments, as well as long- does not consider it a cogni- ADHD and dyslexia, cur- class assessments is one-and- term papers, on time. Commentary Spread on tive disability. rently receive assistance a-half times more than what “If someone were dis- “Andover has been pretty from Andover, said Patricia is normally allowed. abled in a lot of other ways, helpful about ADHD and Davison, Coordinator of Stu- “One of the most funda- this would be a really tough “Diversability.” tried its best to support me, dent Disabilities. mental principles behind my school for them to manage. but at the end of the day, a big “There aren’t too many work is making sure that I If somebody was a quadriple- part of what a good school positions beyond Andover am giving people equal ac- gic, for example, we would does is help kids with differ- where you will need to have cess to the playing field. I am not discriminate against ent learning styles learn in rapid, instant, thoughtful and not trying to advantage stu- them, but you’d have to think spot-on answers. Andover dents with cognitive disabili- about how feasible and prac- sometimes works at such an ties and hopefully, I’m not tical it would be to have them unrelenting pace that some- disadvantaging them. The going around campus on an one with a slightly slower lens through which we look icy day in January,” said Da- James Towne ’15 Qualifies for processing speed — not less at each student is equity and vison. intelligent — might need ac- whether or not we’re making “If you do the math... do- Debate World Championships commodations,” said Davi- the playing field equal,” said ing everything 50 percent son. Davison. slower is about the slowest Andover provides accom- Students with cogni- someone could go and still Hosted in Hong Kong modations such as extra time tive disabilities do not re- on timed assignments such ceive extra time outside the Continued on A4, Column 1 United States alongside learn to organize your By ALICE BALLARD- other top debaters from thoughts and persuade ROSSITER across the country. someone based on logic “It feels great. [Quali- and the way you sound to MOSAIC Forum Focuses on James Towne ’15 fying] is something I’ve convince them of some- will pit his debate skills been striving for, espe- thing,” said Towne. against internationally- cially… to end [my Senior Towne joined the Controversial Cheerios Ad acclaimed speakers in year] with a bang,” said Philomathean Society his the World Individual De- Towne. Junior year. He became By SKYLAR-BREE TAKYI cism in countless racist friends with or have bating & Public Speaking Towne and his part- interested in debate after and hateful online mes- never met a black per- Championship in Hong ner, Tejasv Arya ’15, also attending debate camp in As part of the celebra- sages, provided a basis for son. And so I feel like Kong this April. took first place in Ad- sixth grade. tion of Andover’s second students to reflect on rea- the commercial of a re- Towne qualified for vanced Pair in the Hotch- At the Champion- annual Mixed-Heritage sons why so many people ally well-known brand the tournament by win- kiss tournament, and An- ship, Towne will face off Awareness Week, stu- had been affronted by the like Cheerios really shook ning third place in Ad- dover’s team placed third against students from dents gathered in Under- appearance of a mixed- those people in that ma- vanced Speaker at The overall. They competed in countries such as Austra- wood Room on Sunday to race family on television jority,” said Ashley Scott Hotchkiss School Parlia- three rounds of debate in lia, Botswana, Canada, view a controversial 2013 during Sunday’s forum. ’16, who participated in mentary Extemporaneous which they were given ten Cyprus, England, Ger- Cheerios commercial The forum was held the event. Debate Competition last minutes for each round to many, Hong Kong, India, which featured a fam- by MOSAIC, a campus af- Students considered Sunday. The first member prepare speeches on the Israel, Lithuania, Paki- ily consisting of a white finity group for students how reactions to the vid- of the Philomathean Soci- given resolution. stan, South Africa, South mother, black father and who identify as mixed eo would have differed ety to qualify for the pres- “I believe in the power Korea and Zimbabwe. mixed-race daughter. heritage, biracial, multi- if the mother were black tigious tournament this of persuasion. It’s really The commercial, which cultural or multiethnic. and the father white, year, he will represent the powerful how you can was met with sharp criti- “One thing that I as well as the history of learned at [David] Can- black men being stereo- ton’s talk [in December] typed as predatory to- Gupta ’05 and Seldin ’05 Selected for was that a large major- ity of white people aren’t Continued on A6, Column 3 “Forbes” 30 Under 30 List ers, movers and makers” ta, Founder and General Gupta cites influences STAFF REPORT under 30 years old in 20 Partner, now leads a team from Andover, especially Andover alumni different fields, including of nine associates to in- time spent at the Robert Krishna Gupta ’05 and sports, finance, music and vest in early-stage com- S. Peabody Museum of Abigail Seldin ’05 graced healthcare, according to panies that specialize in Archaeology, on his work the pages of “Forbes” the magazine’s website. innovative science and as a venture capitalist. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 technology. “I think a lot of the list this January. They Krishna Gupta ’05 “I just wanted to build fundamentals that I’ve were among the ranks of a foundation of interest- learned at Andover con- entrepreneurs and celeb- Instead of interning ing businesses. I stum- tinue to apply. My inter- rities such as Blake Live- for a big venture capital bled onto the idea in the est has always been to ly, actress and founder firm while studying for sense that there was a build something that will of Preserve, and Mike his undergraduate de- clear need in the market. stand the test of time and Kreiger, co-founder of In- gree at Massachusetts Large venture firms were will be around when I’m stagram. Institute of Technology really betting instead of gone,” said Gupta. Forbes recognized (MIT), Krishna Gupta ’05 building, and the angel “I’m a big fan of his- Gupta, 27, and Seldin, 26, started his own venture investors, who are indi- tory and archeology,” he for their work in venture capital firm, Romulus viduals investing in com- continued. “It’s always capital and education, Capital, from his dorm panies, were just kind of great to look at artifacts J.MORELAND/ THE PHILLIPIAN respectively. The 30 Un- room in 2008. doing it as a hobby or not der 30 list is comprised of Romulus Capital has adding specific values,” Students watch the recent controversial Cheerios 600 young “game-chang- since expanded, and Gup- said Gupta.