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: octagon@saccds.org, 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