SPORTS The Greylock Echo See Page 6 Mt. Greylock RHS Williamstown, Mass. February 3, 2014 FIRE CURTAIN RULED UNSUITABLE FOR USE 1 in 650: By KELSEY HEBERT fective for proper safety precautions until An Interview the asbestos was removed and the curtain replaced. A fire curtain is used in theatres as a with Mercer precautionary safety measure in case of an on-stage fire. If a fire were to occur, the curtain would drop and hopefully contain Greenwald the fire to one area, allowing the audience members and performers to get out of the By EMILY KAEGI building safely. “The curtain can no longer perform its life safety function of separat- ing the stage from the audience in the event of a fire,” said Card in a January 16 email to the Echo, “I deemed this to be a hazard- ous condition and have directed the school not to use the stage for theatrical purposes until this condition is corrected.” Since the curtain is no longer safe, all theatrical performances must happen else- where. The auditorium may be used for musical concerts, lectures, class meetings Photo courtesy of Aaron Ziemer and other presentations because of the low-risk fire hazard. However, theatrical The Greylock auditorium has been closed to theater productions until the fire curtain is productions are at a high risk for fire be- replaced. cause of the many lights used and highly Editors’ Note: In the course of writing auditorium not up to code and unusable for flammable costumes and props. Since the this story, answers to questions asked by future theatrical productions. school also doesn’t have an overhead sprin- the Echo circulated at a school committee Asbestos, a material that the Common- kler system, the safety risk for performers meeting and were picked up by other local wealth of Massachusetts considers hazard- and audience members is too great to hold news outlets. As this is an ongoing story, ous and toxic, is prevalent throughout the performances. look to the Echo for further information in entire auditorium fire curtain. Tests of the “The basic fire prevention and contain- Photo courtesy of Aaron Ziemer future issues. curtain revealed that an extremely hazard- ment strategy for theaters is to do the fol- ous amount of the friable and carcinogenic lowing: limit combustibles, provide good Many students at Mt. Greylock are in- Just before winter break, building com- material was present, prompting the Mas- ventilation especially in difficult to access volved in a variety of activities. Some missioner Michael Card deemed the as- sachusetts Department of Environmental students seem like they are involved with bestos-filled fire curtain in Mt. Greylock’s Protection (DEP) to order the curtain inef- Continued on Page 2. everything. Freshman Mercer Greenwald is one such student that is very involved in many activities. Mercer is a member of stu- dent council, athlete on the alpine ski team FIELD TRIP PRAC- LARGE BLEACHERS DECOMISSIONED and a key component of the Orchestra. TICES CHANGED Mercer however takes her passion’s out- By MATTHEW KLEINER side of Mt. Greylock’s walls. Many people By MIRANDA DILS Any student that has attended a Mt. decommissioned this past month. recommended Mercer as a candidate for 1 in 650 so this month we decided to learn This past semester, students embarked Greylock pep rally has probably been sur- “Those bleachers have always been dif- prised by the contrast between the small ficult to open and close,” MacDonald said, about her musical passion and interest in on many field trips to locations beyond the studying German. walls of Mt. Greylock. These trips tested tightly packed side bleachers for seventh “the brackets under the seats do not slide through tenth graders and the massive smoothly, so every time we open them, the the possibility of grouping several together Echo: What instruments do you play? on one day and reevaluated the balance be- half-filled back bleachers for juniors and possibility of an accident increases.” She seniors. Fans attending Mt. Greylock home also made clear that the bleachers have Mercer: I play viola. I am the only one in tween academic time and off-campus en- the orchestra. I also play bass clarinet and deavors. basketball games have also probably been been decommissioned, not condemned by struck by the size of the bleachers in the the building inspector. “It’s a semantics is- clarinet, but viola is my main instrument. Teachers saw a revised procedure in re- Echo: Where did you learn how to play? questing a field trip. Principal Mary Mac- back, some games crowded, other games sue, but if the bleachers were ‘condemned’, less. Principal Mary MacDonald reports that would mean they would have to be re- Mercer: I started in 2nd grade with Ms. Donald said, “The procedure for request- Sanger at Williamstown Elementary ing and arranging [a field trip] has been that these large bleachers had been a source moved,” she points out. “As it is, there is of worry for a long time before they were School. At the end of seventh grade I arranged to limit conflicts and encourage Continued on Page 2. switched to Jimmy Bergin. This year, I’m more advanced notice to faculty.” Field starting to study with Al Ling who is the trips are now referred to as “Field Stud- principal violist in the Berkshire Sympho- ies,” and the new request form includes STUDENTS ASSEMBLE 3D PRINTER ny. spaces for departure time, return time and By OLIVIA GRAVEL Echo: I’ve heard that you play with differ- a teacher checklist. ent groups besides the Mt. Greylock Or- As a way of testing a new scheduling One month ago, Mt. Greylock received chestra, could you tell us about that? idea, on one occasion, more than one field its first 3D printer. The printer can print up Mercer: I play with the Empire State Youth study left the Greylock campus at a time. to about 10 centimeters in plastic or wood. Orchestra in Schenectady, NY. Schuyler On December 10, anatomy and biology When digital media instructor, Richard and Taylor Forhaltz-Burbank play as well students made the trek to Hartford, CT to Scullin, received a grant from the Na- and Harrison Dilthey played in the past. visit the “Bodies Revealed” exhibit at the tional Writing Project, he talked to fresh- Echo: How did you discover this group? Connecticut Science Center; two Advanced man Ethan Roach about his interest in 3D Mercer: Well it’s really the only good or- Placement Chemistry classes went to Wil- printing and their conversation convinced chestra around here besides BYSO and liams College for a science lab; and stained Scullin to do further research on the costs places in Boston which are 3 hours away. glass classes traveled to 413 Glassworks in and benefits of a 3D printer. An unassem- Harrison did it and then Schuyler and Tay- Cheshire, MA to look at glass artist Brit- bled 3D printer was ordered and arrived lor did it. tany Gabel’s work. Other field trips also at Mt. Greylock ready to be put together Echo: How often do you play there? happened during that week. by a group of freshmen students including Mercer: We practice on Tuesdays. It’s in MacDonald said the bundling of trips Ethan Roach, Tim and Dan Schiek, Darrien Schenectady so I leave at 5 to be there for was an experiment to try to minimize the Smith and Darren Bonneville. 6:30 and practice ends around 10 and then impact on other classes. Although this may Instead of two axis, X and Y, on a regu- it’s an hour and a half to get home. seem counterintuitive, as a large percent- lar printer, the 3D printer has three axis, X, Echo: Does this group perform at con- age of students were out of the building, Y and Z. They are controlled by a micro- certs? MacDonald said, “It’s hard for a teacher to controller that produces plastic to build a Mercer: Last year, when I was in the sec- keep the momentum of instruction if [the layered object. You can scan an object with ond to top orchestra, we had 4 concerts, 5 teacher] is missing sections of his class.” a smartphone, import it into the program with Play-a-thon. This year we have a lot. This way, the impact on classes may be on a computer and print a copy of that ob- Echo: Do you play at any famous venues? limited to one day, rather than many. Photo courtesy of Harrison Dilthey ject. You could print anything from shoes Continued on Page 2. The printer as it continues to be assembled. Continued on Page 2. Continued on Page 2. DEAR EVI... THE GUERILLA POET REVEALED! 18 IN AMERICA Sam Swoap interviews the man behind the art. Evi Mahon suggests how Emily Kaegi writes about to deal with senioritis and See Page 5. the journey that turned a lonely Valentine’s Day. alum Dylan Dethier into PIZZA! an author. See Page 5. Our restaurant reviewers take on the frozen foods aisle. See Page 8 See Page 5. The Greylock Echo February 3, 2014 Page 2 NEWS 1 in 650: Mercer Greenwald Continued from Page 1. Mercer: Yeah! We’ve played at Troy Music named Tamara. She’s really really good. hall. This year we are also playing at Car- It’s so cool because wherever you go you negie Hall in New York City. Every four hear classical music. years the group goes on tour, so we play at Echo: So are you trying to become fluent some famous places around the world.
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