91̽��

A spring tradition, students and faculty gathered over tea for the Bisbee Prize presentations on Thursday afternoon. The 11 winners, selected by their teachers for outstanding research on their U.S. History papers, gave brief introductions to their work and answered questions from faculty and their peers. Topics ranged from the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in 1969 to the eugenics movement in America in the early 20th century.

Sophie Clivio (II) researched the failure of Civil Rights movement leaders to address sexual assault or rape of women of color. “What I found most interesting is that within the Black Panther movement, very important and powerful black male leaders were assaulting black women who were the heart and soul of the movement. Their treatment was similar to how female slaves were treated, and it wasn’t until the feminist movement in the 1970s that sexual assault against black women was finally given attention.”

George Wilde (I) looked at how processed food products became an accepted part of daily American diet, leading to today’s high obesity rates. “The part of my research that was the most sobering was the mindset of people who worked in the food industry. They were basically bribing the U.S. government with cash and other favors. I learned money gets what it wants and that was pretty freaky to me.”

This spring, four students represented 91̽�� for the first time in the National Economics Challenge, after winning their division in the statewide competition.

Class II students Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Dhruv Jain, Quincy Hughes and Jeffrey Cao were invited to the Massachusetts statehouse on May 15 to be recognized as state champions. The first 91̽�� students to compete in the challenge, they also placed 16th out of 35 teams in the semi-finals of the David Ricardo Division in the national challenge. Their entry, held online in April, was the result of their independent research into forming a student economics club at 91̽��.

An acclaimed artist and filmmaker, Tze Chun began making movies as a 91̽�� student. He went on to major in film studies at Columbia University. Tze’s debut feature film, Children of Invention, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be one of the most-awarded and best-reviewed films of the year. It won 17 film festival awards, including eight Grand Jury or Best Narrative Feature prizes. Children of Invention was based on Tze’s short film Windowbreaker, which was selected for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and for which Tze was named one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”

Last week, Class I students began their long-awaited “Senior Project”—a 91̽�� tradition dating back to the 1960s. Senior Projects have evolved over the decades, but the premise remains the same: For one month, students can choose to swap class time for a full-time commitment to a personal passion and a project of their own design. The projects that seniors undertake today fit within four categories: scholarly or academic; community engagement; internship; and the arts.

A revenue-neutral reduction in carbon emissions is within reach for the United States, former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis told students recently. He says that achieving it, however, will require politicians who deny mankind’s effects on the climate to change their tune.

“There are people who say that humans aren’t responsible for changes in the climate, but that is contradicted by the research and opinions of 97 percent of climate scientists,” Mr. Inglis said. “Frankly, we’d better hope that climate change is human-caused. If it’s human-caused, we can do something about it. If it’s not, we’re hosed.”

The Pritzker Science Center opened its doors to the public on Friday, April 28, as students in advanced courses presented their projects in biology, physics, chemistry and environmental science in the annual Science Symposium.

“It’s a really great opportunity for the students to show how their years of study have come together in these culminating projects,” says science department chair Julie Seplaki. “It’s a chance for them to articulate their process and results. And it’s a lot of fun.”

The student-run Independent School Sustainability Coalition (ISSC) held its first one-day conference at 91̽�� to discuss sustainability issues and exchange ideas and initiatives. The coalition was the idea of Ariane DesRosiers (III), who was inspired by the online literary publication The Tavern, a collaborative effort among independent school students. Pierce Wilson (III), Patrick Huang (II) Max Hui (II) and Jennifer Chen (III) also played roles in forming the ISSC, which is made up of 21 schools from all over New England. Seven schools attended the conference.

For the first time, the Robotics Team competed in a national championship, traveling to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for the CREATE U.S. Open of Robotics, one of the largest robotics tournaments in the world. Chris Hales, a math and computer programming faculty member, accompanied six students from the team and said it was a great experience. 91̽��’s team came in 70th out of 250.

Senior team co-heads Anne Bailey and Isabel Basow said one of the biggest surprises was the team spirit and enthusiasm displayed by all the attendees. “I expected it to be very serious. You work on your robot, compete and just get it done,” says Isabel.

“But everyone was really into it,” says Anne. “They decorated their areas, hung state flags. There were “spirit bots,” robots that were just for fun and would high-five you or throw candy as you walk by.”