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Transcript of Octagon Feburary 2013
February 19, 2013VOL. XXXVI, NO. 5
THEOctagonF a c u l t y m e m b e r s use hormone to drop pounds fast.
PAGE 6: PAGE 7:
The spring play, “Moving Bodies,” stays true to its title. Not only does it have a lot of bodies, it
time, that is.And while some directors
might see this as problematic, Country Day’s own, Brian Frishman, chose the play for this very reason.
The play, which he describes as a “dramedy,” tells the story of famous and quirky American physicist Richard Feynman by carrying the viewer through his various life stages.
It starts when he is an ado
concludes when Feynman is
And, as the title hints, there are two actors in the main role. Seniors Jacob Frankel and Jackson Dulla will play the younger and older Feyn
man, respectively.Frankel’s role spans Feynman’s
work in developing the atomic bomb, as well as his meeting and
line Greenbaum, played by senior
Elise DeCarli plays Feynman’s next
In the second act, Dulla’s portrayal of the physicist deals with his
ing at Caltech University.Despite the heavy historical and
Feynman’s character adds comedy to the play.
but it has a lot of humor,” Frishman said.
man’s personality.”And Feynman’s personality was
certainly “complex,” according to Frankel.
In Feynman’s New York Times obituary, writer James Gleick wrote, “Dr. Feynman was a curious character. He was never content with what he knew or what other people knew. He taught him
pick locks, draw nudes,
the bongos and decipher Mayan hieroglyphics.”
He also won the
for his contributions to quantum electro
dynamics and is associated with the atomic bomb and the investi
New play dramatizes life, work of quirky physicist
The combination of too few eighth graders and a lot of graduating seniors is raising
next year.
ment contracts, and now all the school can do is wait.Lonna Bloedau, director of admission, said con
tracts have been sent to students at Sutter Middle School, Golden Hills School and even the Barstow School in Kansas City, Mo.
A drop in students enrolled in the high school seems inevitable.
it’s going to be a double challenge,” Daniel Neukom,
In June the high school will be graduating their
to replace the seniors.The loss of the class of 2009 was cushioned by the
incoming class: this year’s seniors. That won’t happen next year.
By Madeleine WrightEditor-in-Chief
SCDSOCTAGON.COM
Reversing his prior decision, chemistry teacher Alan
his Advanced Topics class after all and opening it to any interested sophomores.
The class has been meeting every Friday since Feb. 1
extra material not covered in sophomore chemistry.
But unlike the past two years, Beamer isn’t teaching
this year he also teaches Honors Geometry .
Instead, two of Beamer’s teaching assistants, seniors Taylor Oeschger and Imani Ritchards, are instructing it to relieve Beamer’s workload.
Now instead of setting up labs, Oeschger and Ritchards spend elective periods planning lectures and writing assignments for the class.
They rehearse their lectures with Beamer, and he supervises their teaching, but they “still have creative control,” Oeschger said.
Beamer is pleased the class is back on, as the sophomore chemistry class as a whole is lagging behind.
“We really need to move
don’t start out behind next year,” he said.
And sophomores are show
taking Advanced Topics, more than in prior years.
“Because the class has been slowed down so much, more people are getting bored and feel like they can handle more,” Oeschger said.
Other sophomores may be attracted by the grade
vanced Topics are graded on
they face additional problems on homework and tests.
Unlike prior years, Advanced Topics is open to anyone who wants to try it.
“If students start getting C’s and D’s on their tests consistently, I’ll suggest to them to concentrate on the basic material,” Beamer said.
“But that’s by no means
always make the decision.”Beamer introduced Ad
nal, giving interested students additional materials to learn and including the information
exam.
Advanced Topics now open to all sophomoresBy Garrett KaighnCopy Editor
See Play, page 3
Small 8th grade could mean small high school
Student Council
changes again
Student Council, with twice as many students as last year, is overflowing with some enthusiastic—and some not-so-enthusiastic—members.Consequently, Patricia
Dias, adviser, plans for yet another change. The group has 25 mem-
bers (in comparison to the 12 they had last year). Dias originally changed the
number of class representa-
she felt that members were spread too thin. But she and other mem-
bers have found that there are just too many now. Senior Brandon Mysicka,
student body president, said -
one’s attention at meetings. “There are a lot of people
standing around doing noth-ing, while the same people are volunteering to do things over and over again,” Mysic-ka said. “I think some of the people
need to ask themselves ‘Why am I doing this?’ ” junior Maddy Mahla, student body secretary, said. Dias plans to solve the
problem by having three representatives per grade,
a total of 16 Student Council members in 2013-14. In addition, she is consid-
ering altering the officers’ titles because “people have become obsessed with titles like ‘president,’” Dias said. “No one can tell by the title
‘vice president’ that the job involves being in charge of the dances,” Dias said.
—Aishwarya Nadgauda
ofPoints
Interest
The Mock Trial team com-peted in the first of four rounds of the annual Gordon D. Schaber Mock Trial Com-petition, Feb. 14.The team has placed in
the top four in the county since 2008.But this year Mock Trial
has only one upperclass-man, junior Sydney Jack-son, and is composed pri-marily of freshmen.“I feel like they’re throwing
me into the deep end of a pool and I don’t know how to swim,” said freshman Emma Belliveau, who is both an at-torney and a witness.The team will compete
in the second round of the competition on Wednesday, Feb. 20.
—Garrett Kaighn
Mock Trial competes
By Yanni DahmaniEditor-in-Chief
See Enrollment, page 3
Seniors Jackson Dulla and Elise DeCarli laugh at the script of “Moving Bodies,” based on the life of eccentric physicist Richard Feynman. (Photo by Kelsi Thomas)
55%average retention rate from eighth to ninth grade at SCDS.
Eighth grade enrollment, 2003-13 Teenage Trends
On Jan. 31, junior Sabrina Edelen came to school wearing a hat. Her long, dark hair extended from underneath and gently rested on her
shoulders. No one paid particular attention to Edelen as she walked to and from her classes, her hair waving behind her.
But the next day Edelen had everyone’s eyes on her when she arrived. She walked on campus with nothing covering her
While having colorful hair drew curious eyes from the students, Edelen was used to it. After all, she has been dyeing her hair since seventh grade.
Edelen was originally a brunette, but didn’t like how plain her hair was.
and gradually moved onto other colors such as lavender, blue, blond and purple.
Through the 11 times that she’s dyed
consuming and expensive process.Dyes can be used directly over dull col
vibrant shades, Edelen said.For her blue hair, Edelen had to bleach
it twice, use a toner to get the yellow hues out of the hair color and then apply the
four hours at a salon. The process takes even longer if one wants
to dye from a dark to light color.Hair must be bleached over several weeks or
Edelen learned the hard way.To avoid repeating her mistake, Edelen usu
ally goes to a salon to ensure proper treatment, though a visit
“If you do it yourself, it can cost as little
However, for Edelen the cost and the time are well worth it. Dyeing her hair changes it up and makes her stand out, she said.
“It makes me feel more complete about my
Edelen said the social networking site Tumblr has served as an inspiration for her to “be
Freshman Marisa Ortiz also uses Tumblr.
quoise tips. Both girls follow hair blogs on the site and
often borrow ideas from them.
social costs.At her former school, Ortiz said she was iso
Edelen had a similar experience.“Some will like it, but some people really
While she tends to just ignore those people, the animosity she attracted had gotten to a point where she was purposely dyeing her hair
to defend herself and retaliate against insults.“If someone doesn’t like me because my hair
is purple, then I don’t want to be their friend anyway because that’s a very shallow way to
In fact, freshman Hunter Edelen, Sabrina’s brother, was intimidated by what his sister went through and didn’t dare dye his hair un
til he came to Country Day.
Still, Sabrina has had thoughts about dyeing her hair less frequently.
“I don’t
Edelen said she had been approached by teachers commenting on her hair.
Although they never asked her outright to not dye her hair, “I get the feeling that they
“I don’t want to upset the school; I don’t want to get to the point where they want me
Brooke Wells, assistant head of high school, said Country Day does not have a dress code when it comes to either hairstyle or hair color.
“I do not recall a single disciplinary discussion
Rio Americano High School also has no rules about hair dyeing, but those rules are different at some local Catholic high schools.
“Dyeing, bleaching or tinting hair to an unnatural color or having severely contrasting
cis High School’s student handbook.Jesuit High School does not permit unusu
ally dyed hair either, and students in violation of this rule may be suspended until the hair has
Senior Marisa Kindsvater recalled causing a slight problem at Country Day
dyed her hair in second grade.
“My mom told me that when I was little and dyed my hair, the school was worried about it, which is when they enacted the ‘No
she said.But neither
the middle nor the lower school currently has any rules about students dyeing their hair.
Kindsvater said no teachers had ever stopped her from dyeing her hair, either.
A natural brunette, Kindsvater now has purple hair and has experimented with black, auburn, orange, blond, red, pink and blue.
She thinks dyeing her hair signals people
Edelen agrees.“It makes you very approachable and gives
Edelen said.Both Kindsvater and Edelen plan to change
up their hair color even more when they go to college.
2Feature The Octagon February 19, 2013
Students reveal their inner colorsBy Ryan Ho
Page Editor
schools gathered for the Sacramento Regional Quiz Bowl at Rio Americano High School,
The race to answer the question began. Students rapidly
ished. The sooner they answered,
the more points they got.Among them were seniors
Carter Brown, Nick Fesler, Ja
Since Country Day’s team was pulled together at the last minute, they were at a disadvantage compared to other schools.
“Every other team had a coach and had been training
The SCDS team, on the other hand, had been formed
competition. Despite their lack of prepa
ration, Country Day placed
Brown came in second place as an individual.
event. “It was like Jeopardy, but
The questions covered a wide range, including math, science and pop culture.
“We were asked a series of questions about Mum
asked about Euler’s constant
Brown said. The Country Day team fell
short in the literature section, he added.
Brown said he hopes to get more people involved and have some actual practices to increase their chances of doing better in the upcoming Quiz Bowl in March.
Four seniors place !fth at last-minute Quiz Bowl
Faculty, sta! remember jazz icon Brubeck
At Stagg High School in Stockton, thousands of kids gather outside.
Dave Brubeck, American jazz pi
of the high schoolers. For students, the concert was just an op
portunity to get out of class, said Julie Nelson, director of communications, who was a Stagg High senior at the time. The highlight of her day was picnicking in the grass with her friends.
cert, one that Nelson barely remembers. Brubeck was just beginning his career as a musician by touring high schools and colleges.
is still played on the radio.
Brubeck died on Dec. 5 in Norwalk,
“Brubeck was one of the greatest. I mean,
sions, including a festival in Seattle.
jazz festival in Pittsburgh.
band was opening, he did not see or talk to Brubeck.
Brubeck revolutionized
there was a group of jazz musicians playing music with the intention that it would solely be listened to. Thus it became viewed as more like classical music.
This is where the distinction between modern jazz and traditional jazz began. Modern jazz then diverged into East Coast jazz and West Coast jazz.
“Brubeck was the king of West Coast
posed to employees, Brubeck was the leader
Dan Ahlstrom, SCDS orchestra director
educational impact. Brubeck started a scholarship fund for
cians at the University of
Ahlstrom hopes to be able to make a similar impact through teaching
music. He has played in the symphony at Bru
beck’s concerts. The most memorable part of these con
certs, Ahlstrom said, was when Brubeck would bring out a couple of kids to play a duet with him.
“With Brubeck it was always about oth
By Aishwarya Nadgauda
Reporter
“(Hair dyeing) makes me feel more
complete about myself. Some will
like it, but some people really frown
upon it.”
—Sabrina Edelen, junior
Senior Marisa Kindsvater, junior Sabrina Edelen and freshman Marisa (Photo by Kelsi Thomas)
of women
dye their
hair in
some
form
(Pho-tos courtesy of Nelson)
By Aishwarya
Nadgauda
Reporter
“Brubeck was one of the greatest.
I mean, he is an American icon.”
—Bob Ratcliff, band director
75%the number
of hair dye
colors Splat
Hair Color
offers
16is the most
popular
bright-
colored
dye sold
by Ulta on
Arden Way
Red
gation of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It was Feynman who demonstrated what caused the shuttle to explode by dunking a piece of O ring seal in ice water. Both Dulla and Frankel were cast by Frishman beforehand, he said.
not just their personalities, to play the part,” Frishman said.He does envision problems, however.Due to the complex storyline, many locations are needed
for the set. Frishman will use black curtains to divide the
college setting, a neutral space and the Feynman home.
“Everyone wants the perfect play for the last play of their senior year,” Dulla said.
The play, written by Arthur Giron, will open Thursday, March 14.
NewsThe Octagon February 19, 2013 3
Mixed feelings caused by new !nals setup
Therefore, the high school could be at its lowest enrollment in 10 years, Neukom said.
Over the past nine years, the average retention rate for eighth graders has been 55 percent. If this trend holds true, only 15 students will stay.
And if the retention rate were to drop even
“We’re planning for this situation, but it hasn’t all fallen into place yet because we don’t know the numbers,” said Sue Nellis, head of high school. “People will have to make some choices.”
According to Nellis, this year some teachers
Other teachers, like Neukom, never re
had before numbers went down.“When the ninth grade went from three
cent contract,” Neukom said. Glimmers of hope have come in the form
of prospective parents who have been touring campus since school started in August.
“The annual High School Forum, held on
said.Subsequently, in the last two weeks the
high school hosted two Preview Days for parents to sit in on classes, Bloedau said.
But, Neukom pointed out that no matter how admissions turn out next year, in the
doesn’t really matter.“Next year will be an oddity,” Neukom said.
“The school anticipates full classes in the middle school in the years following, so I’m pretty
And if next year’s admissions happen to drastically decline, the majority of teachers
“We’re going to do the best we can to keep teachers fully employed,” she said.
Istudents were seated at rented tables in the gym. The desks were scrapped due to concerns for the remodeled
classrooms. Previously, students carried the desks
from classrooms to the gym. “People would always hit the doors, so the
of high school.
the school used its own chairs.
had a preference said they preferred tables.“There was more space to work and we
didn’t have to move the desks,” sophomore Jaspreet Gill said.
Junior Maya Kuppermann appreciated
“If we had desks, I wouldn’t have been able to spread my notes and wouldn’t have
permann said. And the extra space gave students more
space for vocabulary sheets and dictionaries, Latin teacher Jane Batarseh said.
Tables also allowed teachers to reach students more easily, Batarseh said.
However, some said that the proximity of their fellow classmates distracted them.
“People shake and tap their pens and make annoying noises,” sophomore Clare Fina said.
“And I already have issues with focusing,
so it didn’t help.” Fina hopes that the school will revert
dents said that the tables were distracting. Nellis said that the change shouldn’t
make it harder to focus because people will be distracting regardless.
“If someone had really complained, we would’ve moved them, so I assumed it wasn’t a big problem,” Nellis said.
“No matter what, there will be noise that is going to bother people. I don’t think it had to do with the new seating arrangements,” Kuppermann said.
But Kuppermann raised other issues with the tables.
Other students sat close to her. She could easily talk to them and cheat if she wanted to, she said.
But in an Octagon poll nearly 11 percent
someone cheat. Batarseh disagrees with the notion that
tables made cheating easier. She hopes that
“More room made it logistically easier to take the test,” she said.
Chemistry teacher Alan Beamer acknowledged the problems of the new system, but
one’s grade.
Enrollment: admissions o!ce hopeful
We thank
Lisa Wible Wright
The Myers Family
Lee Tait
The Williams Family
The Martin Family
The Kong Family
Sutcliffe LLP
The Nadgauda Family
By Maxwell ShukuyaReporter
Play: A-bomb, shuttle disasters and free love— seniors portray Feynman
23
12
28
Number of students who found sitting
at tables to be distracting
Number of students who say they saw
someone cheat at their table
Both the number of students who preferred desks and the number who preferred
tables
116 high-school students polled
Tonight at 7 p.m. the girls’ basketball
per game.
game.
ning streak.
tian.
4Sports The Octagon February 19, 2013
Senior girl joins baseball team
Fthe baseball team
sons.
baseball.
to baseball.
season. “Now on the base
most important skills the
pitching.
Ethan Ham.
sion.
eight.
more people at practice.
weaknesses.
Baseball
Girls’ SoccerThe girls’ soccer season
the team’s greatest challenge.
to the team.
Walter agrees that “nothing
season with a practice match
The team has been prac
Golf
Girls’ basketball faces Lodi in historic playo! gameTennis
season will be against the For
Senior Donald Hutchinson shoots at the goal after being picked by sophomore
Chris Liston during lacrosse practice. (Photo by Madeleine Wright)
By Skovran CunninghamPage Editor
Freshmen Zoe Dym and Elinor Hilton lift medicine balls in a core exercise
base. (Photos by Madeleine Wright)
Lacrosse
Track
Freshman Emily Berke blocks a shot in
the last regular season game against Faith
Christian, Feb. 8. (Photo by Darby Bosco)
“Every game I play could be my last, so I am going to do everything I can to win.”
–Mary-Clare Bosco, senior
Onions to. . . those
students who pile
their duffle bags every-
where. It’s really annoying
when we have to maneu-
ver around them just to
get to our lockers or the
library.
Orchids to. . . yet
another success-
ful Passport Lunch. We
loved the fun and new
“countries.” Thanks to
all who contributed in
bringing the food and
drinks!
The Octagon is published eight times a year by high-school journalism students of Sacramento Country Day School, 2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento, Calif. 95864. Phone: (916) 481-8811, ext. 347. Email: [email protected], Web address: http://www.scdsoctagon.com.
The OctagonEditors-In-Chief
Jeffrey CavesYanni Dahmani
Madeleine WrightCopy Editor
Garrett KaighnBusiness Manager
Jeffrey CavesNews Editor
Yanni DahmaniEditorial Editor
Ryan HoCommunity Editor
Darby BoscoCenterpoint Editor
Madeleine WrightFeature Editors
Connor MartinKamira Patel
Opinion Editor
Emma WilliamsSports Editors
Micaela Bennett-Smith
Morgan Bennett-SmithSkovran Cunningham
Online Editor
David MyersPhoto Editors
Kelsi ThomasWill WrightReporters
Annie BellZoe Bowlus
Emma BrownElise DeCarliEric Hilton
Madison JuddGrant Miner
Aishwarya NadgaudaMax ShukuyaManson Tung
Foreign Correspondent
Margaret WhitneyCartoonist
Shewetha PrasadAdviser
Patricia Fels
My Angle
ByJeffreyCaves
There is a TV in my dad’s office at home, a mas-
sive, midlife-crisis-sized TV that looks shock-
ingly out of place in that tiny room.
But why isn’t it downstairs? Why, when we
have a four-foot-wide brand-new flat-screen upstairs, do
we continue to watch TV on a ancient 2001 model?
Because between the four remotes, three cable boxes
and a hearty mess of cords that seem to go nowhere,
not one person in my family has any idea how to work
the new one.
We are not technologically handicapped—okay I am,
but my Apple-addicted father certainly is not.
And yet this TV with its thousands of functions and
possibilities is enough to confound us all.
Yes, it can stream from the Internet. Yes, one of its
remotes has a keyboard. But trying to turn it on? That’s
just absurd.
And so it was with a familiar feeling of exasperation
that I met college counselor Jane Bauman’s urgent an-
nouncement a few weeks ago.
It seems that the Common Application, in its infinite
wisdom, had made itself just a little more complicated.
You see, in past years teachers simply uploaded their
recommendations and students checked one box that al-
lowed colleges to see them.
But now some colleges have added an additional op-
tion—they choose to have each student reselect which
recommendations they want a school to be able to see.
Now I love having more options, yet in order to give
a few people options, our entire senior class could have
submitted the applications with no knowledge that col-
leges could not see their recommendations.
In fact, a student applying to Haverford was without
recommendations in the middle of January because of
this very problem, and another had five schools and en-
countered the same problem with every one.
Didn’t this occur to someone somewhere?
Didn’t one Common App staffer just step back and
say, “Wait, guys, in order to give .01 percent of people
something minimally useful, aren’t we confusing the re-
maining few million?”
It would seem the answer is no.
To be honest, I understand it from the Common App
perspective.
The Common App is beholden to the colleges that
use it, and it has been a hard fight to get those colleges
to give up their independent applications.
And I can understand that colleges that want only
one or two recommendations want the option to avoid
seeing the dozens that some students send.
But lest we forget, without students this whole pro-
cess doesn’t work so well.
And if those students cannot navigate the Byzantine
labyrinth of the applications process to begin with, how
can colleges get the qualified applicants they need?
Common App needs to keep it simpler
Orchids to. . . World
Cultures Day. We
l ike the continuation
of focusing on a single
country. The educa-
tional aspect of the
assembly was different
but fascinating.
Onions to. . . people
who don’t pick up
trash after themselves
in the garden. The gar-
den has become such
a nice, beautiful place.
Let’s try to keep it that
way.
The last issue of the Octagon featured an edito-rial (“Students must become more informed, involved in school’s emergency plan,” Jan. 22) saying that, in light of the Newtown,
Conn. shooting, the school should hold regular lock-down drills and students should be more involved in the safety plan.
three years.Additionally, the faculty has discussed the issue
school safety concerns in general.While we commend the school for being proactive
in initiating safety training, the lockdown drill wasn’t totally a success.
Few seemed to take the drill seriously—news of it was leaked to students beforehand, many didn’t fol-low the procedure and some ignored the drill entirely.
One science class continued taking a test, and an-other ignored the announcement to clean up a lab. And in other classes teachers locked the doors but al-lowed students to remain at their desks in plain sight.
What they were supposed to do was lock the doors, turn off the lights and have students hide under desks, out of the line of sight from the windows.
Such an indifferent, nonchalant attitude defeats the purpose of the drill.
exactly what to do in a lockdown and are not com-fortable with the procedure—that’s exactly what the school agreed needs to change.
And if teachers continue class as if nothing is hap-pening, students won’t learn the procedure.
Drills take a few minutes of class every few months,
We understand that the probability of a shooter or other violent stranger appearing on campus is very low—almost nonexistent.
to practice lockdowns—just occasionally—so that students know the procedure.
The lockdown was certainly far from a failure. Is-sues with the loudspeaker not reaching every part of the campus, telephone announcements not being loud enough and teachers not understanding how to properly lock their doors from the inside were all rec-ognized and resolved.
And unlike some classes, those in the library fol-
But all students and teachers should take the drills seriously. That means having students stop what they’re doing, turning off the lights and locking the doors.
And, yes, that even means taking cover underneath the desks.
Onions
Orchids&
EDITORIAL: Students, teachers should take drills seriously—or be caught unprepared
5EditorialThe Octagon February 19, 2013
“Attention.����������� ������������������ This����������� ������������������ is����������� ������������������ a����������� ������������������ lockdown.����������� ������������������ Please����������� ������������������ head����������� ������������������ to����������� ������������������ the����������� ������������������ nearest����������� ������������������ classroom.”
By JeffreyCaves
Grail found
at Devine
Gelateria
By Emma WilliamsPage Editor
6Opinion The Octagon February 19, 2013
(Photo by Alan Williams)(Photo by Emma Williams)
The first luxurious bite
melts on the tongue.
The second brings a
taste of fig, nuanced
and exotic and so sweet it danc-
es on the fine line between per-
fection and cloying sweetness.
The third doesn’t bring any-
thing new to the table, but by
this time it doesn’t matter—all
you are doing is trying to have
another bite like the first.
And another. And another.
And maybe a few dozen more,
just to make sure you don’t
miss that last tiny drop at the
bottom of the infuriatingly
rounded cup.
Gelato. Like most other Ital-
ian food words, the word alone
makes it sound delicious long
before you know what it is.
What is it? Nobody seems to
know for sure.
Half the cookbooks define
it as ice cream with extra eggs,
others with no eggs at all.
Some say that sugar syrup
instead of grains is where that
texture comes from; others say
it is cornstarch.
The only consensus seems to
be that it is thick, sugary, proba-
bly Sicilian and damn tasty.
I have made gelato before,
many times—it is difficult.
Startlingly difficult, in fact.
Sure, you can make some-
thing ice-cream-like and slap
an Italian label on it (works for
most commercial brands).
But replicating that intrigu-
ing texture—meltingly soft but
almost taffy-like, not icy but
not quite the pure monotone
creaminess of American ice
creams—has always eluded me.
It is rare to find a perfect ge-
lato in a store, rarer and more
arduous still to create it at
home.
Now that is not to say that
you cannot make gelato at
home—anyone with an ice
cream machine and a decent
recipe can do it.
And I am not denying that
this homemade gelato can be
good—in fact it can be excep-
tional.
But I have never replicat-
ed the perfect consistency of
a great restaurant gelato, nor
have I been able to find it in our
humble city.
And yet there is a glimmer of
light at the end of this sugary
tunnel.
I found it in a sleek, mod-
ern storefront that housed one
of the most exquisite collec-
tions of gelato I have ever en-
countered: roasted almond,
blood-orange strawberry, salt-
ed caramel, mascarpone—all
made fresh in the shop daily.
Devine Gelateria, (19th St.
and Capitol Ave. in Midtown)
offers me the rare opportunity
to relinquish my search for the
Holy Grail of desserts without
regret, for here I have found
what I have so long searched
for.
Cooking in the Cave
BACON
“Some might say that bacon can only be so good. But this bacon was perfect.”
B
At Bacon and Butter
or
AND
BUTTER
“There are other dishes like oatmeal
or mushroom polenta, though they aren’t nearly as tasty as the rest of the ba-con-obsessed menu.”
7Community The Octagon February 19, 2013
“Eight days until I can have a cheese stick,” receptionist Erica Wilson says as she bites into
her second of six apples for the day.
“I want that cheese stick,” she pleads, only partly joking. On the
day diet, she has hit
of not losing weight because the body has entered “starvation mode” and begun to
The remedy for hitting a plateau? According to the diet plan that Wilson and three other faculty members are on, eat six apples or one steak that entire day.
But Wilson is determined. So
and lost 20 of the 60 pounds she wants to in total.
Prompted by society’s obsession with the “lose weight quick!” diet, fads such as the Atkins, Dukan and South Beach diets come by storm and often leave a whirlwind of disappointment in their wake.
So perhaps the now widely popular Hu
will follow the same trajectory.However, so far this diet has worked for
the faculty. PE teacher Michelle Myers ended the diet in March of 2012 and has kept
In 1954, Dr. A. T. W. Simeons published “Pounds & Inches: A New Approach to Obesity,” an article promoting the use of HGC for weight loss.
In the article, Simeons concluded that patients on this diet burn fat instead of lean
Now the plan has resurfaced. After learning about the diet from Myers, three other faculty members have tried the diet.
Myers began the diet in January of 2012. “I had a medical condition that was caus
ing edema and bloating of the stomach,” Myers said.
“After having surgery to remove those, I thought all would go back to normal and my hormones would start to mellow out.”
To her surprise, the weight didn’t come
gist suggested the diet, Myers researched the product for approximately a year and read Simeons’s book.
with clinical research,” Myers said.“There are lots of HCG diets out there,
so you have to be a very educated consumer. I checked the FDA website and the one I chose to use was not listed on their banned site,” Myers said.
eat healthily and work out regularly.Myers has proven to be a sort of coach,
nutritionist and personal cheerleader for others as well. Sue Nellis, head of high
a n d
culty of maintaining the program.
“Just getting through school every day is a lot,” Nellis said. “It’s a challenge, but the nice thing about having a quick weight loss program is that it keeps you going because you can really see the results.”
after developing knee problems she could not continue with her exercise regimen.
Because the diet is restrictive in diet and lifestyle, Nellis plans to return to her previous exercise routine once her knee heals.
Art teacher Patricia Kelly spent 57 days on the diet last fall. She has maintained a
ent variations of the plan, faculty members follow the plan set by www.officialhcgdietplan.com.
The HCG drops are sold in liquid
come with a diet guide and recipe.
The diet consists of three phases. According to the web
eating as per usual while taking the drops.
ories per day and other lifestyle restrictions
Consuming so few calories per day seems absurd to nutritionists, who often advise that women eat approximately 2,000 calories per day.
In his book, Simeons explains how a per
1 pound furnishes the body with more than 2000 Calories,” Simeons wrote.
In essence, Simeons states that
while on HCG the body will turn to fat deposits to burn
for energy when a person doesn’t consume enough to sustain everyday functions.
The most controversial part of the diet is the HCG
itself.HCG has been proven and
infertility, as it induces ovulation.
doses administered in the plan have
According to the FDA’s website, the
available in injection form and require a doctor’s prescription.
The types of drops being sold, however, are not prescribed by doctors and are taken
In December of 2011, the FDA published a consumer report stating the dangers of the product. In the report, the FDA mentioned the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States: a document that lists active substances that may be included in homeopathic drug products.
According to the report, HCG is not on this list and cannot be legally sold as a homeopathic medication for any purpose.
The FDA states that the VLCD is what is causing the weight loss, rather than the HCG and warns those using HCG for weight loss to “stop using it, throw it out,
and stop following the dieting instructions.”
In addition, the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission
seven letters to companies warning them that they are selling illegal homeopathic HCG
have not been approved by the FDA,
and that make unsupported claims.“There is no substantial evidence HCG
increases weight loss beyond that resulting from the recommended caloric restriction,” states the website.
When asked about the controversy, Myers said, “Hundreds of things aren’t approved by the FDA. Just because it isn’t
doesn’t work.”However, she cautions anyone thinking
“Any time people pursue something you have to do your research and ask an author
Girls’ Basketball Team Brandon Mysicka
- -
Teachers experiment with controversial dietBy Annie BellReporter
Although the Human Chorionic
become popular among some of the faculty, chemistry teacher
Beamer started dieting when his doctor
Beamer has lost over 60 pounds by a strict combination of calorie counting, healthy foods, intense workouts and the elimination of carbohydrates and sugars from his diet.
his plan exercising on the treadmill for half an hour each day.
However, the second week, Beamer ad
out two hours a day six days per week and
The third week, Beamer continued with his second week workout but added one hour of weights three days a week.
In addition to exercise, Beamer restricted himself to eating 1200 calories a day, aiming to burn 1800 calories through exercise.
Knowing that his body would go into “starvation mode” and begin to conserve fat, he increased his daily caloric intake
By increasing his caloric intake Beamer
“I just didn’t want to get to the point where I had to depend on medicine or chemicals to keep me going,” he said.
Beamer has surpassed his original weight goal of 165 pounds and says his next goal is
Chemistry teacher diets his own way
(Photo by Kelsi Thomas)
–Sue Nellis, head of high schoool
A new face on the front lines
wasn’t
do
should
ByJeffrey Caves
8 Feature The Octagon February 19, 2013