1. The Scarsdale InquirerFounded in 1901
VOluMe 92, nuMber 42 Friday, OctOber 17, 2014 One dOllar
Editor’s
Notebook
Inside
To Your Health
a special section inside
Opinions/Letters .............6-7
Scarsdale Schools ............... 8
Edgemont-Hartsdale........... 10
Lifestyles......................... 12
Arts & Entertainment....15-17
Sports........................18-23
Classifieds..................23-24
Real Estate .................24-28
Fenimore closing
the Scarsdale Water department will
close Fenimore road to traffic Monday,
Oct. 20, and tuesday, Oct. 21, from
9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. to locate and mea-
sure a 24-inch water main for the place-
ment of a line stop that will be installed
in four to six weeks. the installation is
needed to temporarily cut off the water
flow so a critical valve at Fox Meadow
and Fenimore roads can be replaced.
Fenimore road will be closed from
Fox Meadow to Oak Way.
Candidates forum
a candidates forum sponsored by
league of Women Voters of Scarsdale
will be held thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30
p.m., in the Scott room at the Scarsdale
library. Scheduled to participate are
eliot engel for the 16th congressional
district; andrea Stewart-cousins, 35th
State Senate district; and amy Paulin,
88th assembly district. after they
speak, there will be a question-and-an-
swer period. Judicial candidates rachel
hahn, arlene Katz and anne Minihan
will be introduced.
the forum will be videotaped. For
more information, contact Jennifer
constantin, jconstantin@optonline.net,
or deb Morel, moreldeb@gmail.com.
SFD fire fair
a fire fair at Station 3, 56 crossway,
is planned for Saturday, Oct. 18, from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine.
the fair will include a simulated
house with a smoke machine for kids to
crawl through; apparatus, fire and extin-
guisher demonstrations; fire prevention
videos; fire safety checklist completion
prizes; food and hands-on activities for
children.
By JASON CHIREVAS
For village officials and residents alike, the just
completed revaluation of Scarsdale properties was
a stressful, arduous process. in his recent state of
the village address, Mayor bob Steves called the
process painful, but necessary.
it’s going to happen again, possibly as soon as
2016.
but, as the board of trustees’ Finance committee
discussed at an Oct. 14 meeting with experts and
the public, the next village revaluation — whether
it happens within the next couple years or at a time
further out — will be less difficult.
the just completed revaluation, the first in more
than 40 years, achieved its goal of assessing all
Scarsdale properties at 100 percent of their market
value. the data collected should provide a more ac-
curate picture of what properties in the village are
actually worth, thus reducing grievances in the long
run and leaving the village less subject to the equal-
ization rate the state provides to calculate property
taxes for communities assessed at less than 100 per-
cent of market value.
John Wolham, regional director for the new york
State department of taxation and Finance, told the
Finance committee the village is more in control
of its own property tax destiny following the full
revaluation.
“you’ve taken local control of the equalization
process,” he said.
as a way to encourage continued accurate valua-
tion, the state provides a financial incentive to com-
munities willing to reassess their property every
four years — with a property inventory every six
years — to qualify for aid of roughly $5 a parcel.
For Scarsdale, that equates to about $25,000.
according to village manager al gatta, the just
finished reval cost the village more than $1 million.
although the financial incentive may not be com-
pelling in terms of state aid — and the village is
under no legal obligation to ever revaluate again —
there are other reasons to conduct another revalua-
tion in the village sooner rather than later.
John ryan, of the Massachusetts based appraisal
consulting firm J.F. ryan and associates inc., told
the Finance committee, now that all the heavy lift-
ing has been done, Scarsdale is in a good position
to start regular revaluations, which will help keep
property valuation consistent and grievances down
as well as prevent the state’s equalization rate from
being much of a factor in village affairs.
“the inventory you have now is a good base to
start with. is it perfect? no, it’s never going to be
perfect. could it be better? it can always be better,”
ryan said.
the revaluation the village completed this year
was done using an automated sales comparison
methodology in which, after data about a given
house is collected by an assessor, five comparable
Two weeks, one life: Exchangees make new friends across cultures
LOLA DELGADO PHOTO
Students from Madrid, Spain, taking a day off from classes at SHS, pose before a statue of George Washington in lower Manhattan.
“In a matter of
days, they were
communicating
via a mixture
of English and
Spanish.”
— host Parent
nan Berke
By VALERIE ABRAHAMS
T
he halls of Scarsdale high School re-
sembled a mini-united nations this
fall, as dozens of international students
arrived from china in September and
from Spain and France in October.
Staying with the families of their
Scarsdale peers, the students learned
firsthand about american culture, family life and
schools through exchange programs coordinated by
the World languages department. each Scarsdale
host student in turn will stay with the visiting stu-
dent’s family either in Spain or France for two weeks
next February, or in china next april.
“the highlight of the program is the connection
between the kids as they form friendships and expe-
rience each other’s cultures,” said department chair-
man Sylvie corten. “and the families enjoy having a
foreign guest as well.”
arriving at JFK Oct. 5, 20 ninth- to 12th-graders
from Madrid greeted Scarsdale juniors and seniors
with big smiles and hugs. Many Scarsdale kids
brought handmade posters or gifts to welcome their
visitors, and later, the host families traded gifts with
their visiting students: a yankees hat or an “i love
ny” t-shirt in exchange for olive oils, almond bark,
or a photo book from Spain.
nan berke of nelson road said her son, Steven,
a junior, and his peer, Sebastian gonzalez-Valencia,
became fast friends: “in a matter of days, they were
communicating via a mixture of english and Spanish,
sharing their interests and socializing with Steven’s
friends,” she said. “When Steven travels to Madrid,
it’s nice to know that Sebastian will be looking for-
ward to seeing him again, and vice versa.”
Senior robert lee, who came to Scarsdale from
Memphis last year, said hosting alvaro Fustero, 16,
Finance
committee
talks next
revaluation
By JASON CHIREVAS
the Scarsdale Village board of trust-
ees ended the frustrating odyssey of
84-year-old Montrose road resident
Seymour Wald Oct. 14 when it unani-
mously granted his house a certificate
of appropriateness, paving the way for
Wald to sell his house to a developer who
will demolish it and build a new one.
a certificate of appropriateness is an
assurance any building slated to be de-
molished in the village is not of signifi-
cant historical value, either by architec-
ture or event, and its demolition will not
adversely affect the surrounding neigh-
borhood on that basis.
Wald, who is currently paying for two
homes, had a deal to sell his house at 22
Montrose road, where he’s lived for 44
years, to roaring brook builders inc., a
hartsdale developer, when he appeared
before the committee for historic Pres-
ervation May 20 to obtain the certificate
needed to complete the sale. although
neither Wald nor roaring brook thought
the house at 22 Montrose was of any
historic significance, the committee de-
nied the application by a 5-1 vote, say-
ing the house, a stucco colonial revival,
“is a significant example of an important
building style or period.”
in order to appeal the committee’s de-
cision, Wald’s next stop, with attorney
Joshua grauer of White Plains-based
cuddy & Feder in tow, was the Scars-
dale board of architectural review,
before which he appeared July 28. Only
five bar members were present that
night — four regular members and an
alternate — which meant Wald’s ap-
plication would need to be approved by
four members, the majority of the overall
seven-member board, to receive the cer-
tificate of appropriateness.
bar chairman Jack Scott Miller gave
Wald the chance to back out of his ap-
pearance before the board to wait for
the full membership to convene. grauer
thought the evidence suggested getting
the certificate would be “a shoo-in.”
the bar voted 3-2 to grant the certifi-
cate, one vote short of the required four
yes votes and, thus, a default denial. be-
fore she cast her no vote, board member
Mera Faddoul, who also lives in greena-
cres, said Wald’s house represented “the
face of the neighborhood,” which was
enough for her to find it historically sig-
nificant.
the last line of recourse for Wald was
the board of trustees, before which he,
his daughter, grauer and the developer
appeared Sept. 22 at a special meeting.
grauer refuted the findings of the previ-
JCC of Mid-Westchester
hosts 7th symposium
on college admissions
By JOHN GILPIN
For the seventh year in a row, par-
ents of local high school students, and
some of those students themselves,
packed the 200-seat auditorium at the
Jcc of Mid-Westchester Oct. 6 to hear
about the college admissions process.
Six admissions representatives talked
for almost two hours about everything
from grade point averages to athlet-
ics. the free event was moderated by
betsy Woolf, of Woolf college con-
sulting, and sponsored by the Jcc
and bbyO, a group promoting Jewish
teen interests. the panel discussion
was open to the community.
the panelists this year were thom-
as gaube, director of recruitment at
binghamton university; domenick
rozzi, assistant dean and admission
analyst at Franklin & Marshall col-
lege; Jim bock, vice president and
dean of admissions at Swarthmore
college; lonnie Morrison, direc-
tor of metropolitan admissions pro-
grams at Syracuse university; ann
Fleming brown, director of admis-
sions at union college; and daniel
Follmer, director of college admission
at the university of chicago. amy
Smith, the senior associate director at
Vanderbilt university, was not present
at the night’s panel due to a personal
matter.
to start off the event, Woolf asked
the panelists to give the audience a
brief overview of new programs or
facilities offered at their institutions,
and then launched into a series of
questions, the first about the middle
50 percent of applicants who apply to
colleges.
brown said all students from public
high schools nationwide get put into
the same pot at union during the ad-
missions process.
“it’s about 400 different high
schools, and all the gPas are put into
the mix. because of this, look where
you are … in the mix, above it, or be-
low it. if you are below the 50 percent,
you better be bringing something else
to the table that the school will benefit
from,” she said.
brown suggested families use
naviance, the software that tracks
students based on standardized test
scores and gPas for each high school,
to find out where they stand relative to
other applicants. naviance also shows
students who were admitted, denied
or deferred at individual colleges
Trustees green-light 22 Montrose demolition
Questions — and answers — about applying to college
Continued on page 11
LINDA LEAVITT PHOTO
22 Montrose Road
SCARSDALE INQUIRER/JIM MACLEAN
Daniel Follmer of the University of Chicago responds to a question at the
JCC’s program on college admissions. With him are Ann Fleming Brown,
Union College; Lonnie Morrison, Syracuse University; Jim Bock, Swarth-
more; Domenick Rozzi, Franklin & Marshall and Thomas Gaube, Bing-
hamton University.
Continued on page 11
Continued on page 23
Continued on page 9
Nuevos Amigos

2. Friday, October 17, 2014/The Scarsdale Inquirer/Page 23
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and universities in the United States.
Brown said if a student’s scores fall
below the scores of those on Naviance
who were admitted to a particular col-
lege, that student “will need a special
talent” to be admitted to that school.
She also said, “All colleges want
to increase their average SAT scores
because that information is published
publicly.”
Woolf asked the panelists what ex-
tracurriculars would help a student get
into college. Follmer of Chicago said,
“Every parent wants to know what
specifically their child can do extra-
curricularly to get into college, and
the truth is that no answer exists.”
He said it was important to “iden-
tify the things you like to do outside
of school and pursue those interests. It
doesn’t matter if it’s 12 things or one
thing, as long as you love doing it, we
will love hearing you talk about it.”
Bock said Swarthmore cares less
about what a student does than why he
does it. “Why are you doing these ex-
tra activities? Be able to explain why
you do them and how it would ben-
efit your life, or show us how it could
possibly benefit the school.” Bock
also said female students should look
at all-women colleges since with no
men their chances to get in increase.
He also said men should look at col-
leges that have recently changed from
all women to coed because most have
25 percent men and 75 percent wom-
en and the colleges will be looking to
get that number to 50/50.
Gaube said, “A well-rounded child
shows balance in his or her life. Re-
member, high school should also be
fun, not just filled with academics.
It’s good to show that you can balance
school with an outside activity.”
However, Morrison of Syracuse
said that sometimes even a well-
rounded student might not get into a
college.
“It isn’t just about having a well-
rounded student, but how that one
student can make the student body as
a whole more well rounded, so some-
thing that student can bring to the table
that other students might not have,” he
said. “The institution has needs, and
right now there is a great interest in
female STEM students. Syracuse has
a new food science and food studies
major,” and will be looking for inter-
ested students, he said.
Woolf asked if the panelists’
schools limited admittance based on
region, and all panelists said no.
Brown reminded parents that when
a school says interviews are strongly
recommended, it means a student
needs to interview. “And are option-
al essays optional? No, they are not
optional. Some schools track dem-
onstrated interest. There are simple
things you should be doing to build
your relationship,” with the school,
she said.
Brown said students should “be
kind to others. When they tell you
what schools they are applying to,
don’t tell them those are your safety
schools. Try not to diminish their
thoughts. Listen with kindness instead
of pushing your classmate out of the
way.” Brown also said later in the
evening that parents, too, should be
on their best behavior and remember
their manners when walking onto the
college campuses and into the admis-
sions offices.
Woolf asked the panelists if a stu-
dent with ADHD should disclose the
information to the college during the
admissions process.
Bock said, “Legally, there is no dif-
ference, however we will ask ques-
tions about anything unusual like a
drop in grades during the year.”
Brown said, “The student should
be the author. Don’t send in the psych
report or write us yourself, have the
student tell us, and have them say it in
the right way, not as a little side note
during an interview but put it on your
application.” Brown also suggested
that, if a student chooses to disclose
his disability during the admissions
process, he should be consistent. She
cautioned against having the disclo-
sure come in a recommendation from
a dean but not also from the student.
Woolf wanted to hear from the pan-
elists about early action.
Gaube said Binghamton doesn’t
have early decision but does have
early action, which is not binding like
ED. “A smaller percentage of people
are accepted during the early action
process, but the rest are deferred to
regular decision,” he said. “This is
where we are more selective with the
acceptance process, and regular deci-
sion is where we look for the bulk of
our incoming freshman class.”
Bock said Swarthmore’s ED pro-
cess “shows us that you’ve really done
your homework about our school, that
you’ve come for a tour, info session
and interview, and that you really
want to be here.” He also said it is
the student’s responsibility to conduct
research to figure out which schools
have which application processes.
Woolf asked how athletes should go
about applying.
Morrison of Syracuse said, “If a
student has to ask me how to get into
a Division 1 school, they probably
aren’t getting in.” The reason for this
is because most kids who are going
Division 1 have known for years and
have been playing all star camps for
years, and are recruited to the colleges
early on in their high school career.
Bock said there are no athletic schol-
arships for Division 3 schools like
Swarthmore, but that on the plus side it
is not as strict as Division 1, and a stu-
dent can be part of an a cappella group,
for instance, or on the debate team, and
even play two different sports.
Woolf asked panelists how impor-
tant senior year is to the process.
“Extremely important,” said
Follmer. “I get to review the tran-
scripts and get to send warnings when
grades look like they are slipping in
senior year. I also get to check to see
if you have dropped any classes to
make your schedule easier on your-
self.”
Woolf said she was going to ask the
ultimate question: Is it better to take
a lower level class and get a higher
grade, or a higher level class and get a
lower grade?
Brown said jokingly, “Are you re-
ally going there? You know what I’m
going to say. It’s better to take an hon-
ors or AP course and get an A.” She
also said teacher recommendations
are very helpful, meaning if a teacher
tells a student to drop down a level or
move up a level, the student should
take that advice.
“Try to find a balance at night
that isn’t three hours of studying but
also isn’t 10 minutes. Find the right
amount of work to challenge you,”
Brown said.
“We expect to see rigor in all areas
all the way through,” said Bock about
Swarthmore’s expectations. “We want
students from this area because of the
quality of the education. We wish we
could take all of you.” He said, “This
country isn’t like others, where you
take one exam to get into school and
pick what to do for the rest of your
life. There are 3,000 institutions of
higher learning here. You are all go-
ing to be fine.”
Woolf asked about GPA scaling
with weighting or nonweighting, and
Follmer said, “This is not something
I would lose a ton of sleep trying to
figure out.” He said each school cal-
culates GPA differently.
“How do electives play a role in the
application process?” Woolf wanted
to know.
Rozzi of Franklin & Marshall said,
“These electives help to further create
the picture of you as a person. They
tell us a story. If you excel at a given
elective and are very interested in it, it
helps as well.”
Woolf asked each school to discuss
what standardized scores they accept,
or if scores are not required. Gaube
said Binghamton prefers a student to
take both the SAT and the ACT, and
that “one may open a door you didn’t
know it would open.”
Brown said, “For ‘test optional’
schools, ask how many people didn’t
submit test scores the previous year;
the numbers may surprise you. One
time I asked, and was told that only 5
percent of students did not submit test
scores at a test optional school. Also,
these tests do not reflect the quality of
your character,” she said.
Follmer said he agrees with the tests
not being a reflection on the quality
of one’s character. “The tests are less
important than you think they are, but
more important than we say they are,”
he said.
Panelists said to check the school’s
websites for particulars regarding test
requirements.
“Are any topics off limits for the es-
say?” Woolf asked the panelists.
“Yes, for example, I hate school, I
hate your school, anything about your
love life, or being in the bathroom or
shower. There is a common applica-
tion essay question about where are
you most content, and you should
see what some people write about the
bathroom,” Follmer said.
“Colleges are like really insecure
middle school students. We really,
really want to know that you like us.
Show us your interest. At U Chicago
there are supplemental essays about
our school, and these are as impor-
tant, maybe more important, than the
main essay.”
Woolf turned to the audience for
a few questions, and a parent asked,
“Have there ever been any questions
from a student at the end of an in-
terview that have really blown you
away?”
Rozzi said the only question that
blew him away was from a student
who excelled academically who knew
she would be accepted to more com-
petitive colleges. She felt a strong
connection to F & M and wanted to
attend. Her question was how to con-
vince her parents to let her go to F &
M instead of the other schools.
Follmer said it is very important to
ask questions at the end of interviews,
and that it shows a student did his
homework on the college.
Brown suggested students take
notes when visiting colleges to refer
to these notes later and use them to
help formulate a return question for
the end of the interview with that
school.
Morrison said, “I can tell you what
really disappoints me at the end of an
interview, when I ask if the student
has any questions for me and he or
she responds with no.”
Betsy Woolf is a college admissions
consultant and a magna cum laude
graduate of New York University.
She has a J.D. from Hofstra Univer-
sity School of Law and a certificate
in college counseling from UCLA.
The JCC’s Academic Center offers
programs for high school students
including SAT and ACT prep, college
interview coaching, speed reading,
and organization and time manage-
ment classes. In addition to the JCC,
the event was also sponsored by the
Westchester chapter of BBYO, the
leading pluralistic teen movement as-
piring to involve more Jewish teens in
more meaningful Jewish experiences.
John Gilpin is a junior at Scarsdale
High School.
Continued from page 1
Admissions officers answer questions about applying to college
“We want students from this area because
of the quality of the education.
We wish we could take all of you.”
—Jim Bock, dean of admissions, Swarthmore College
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