Page 6 June 13, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Entertainment
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Reviewed by Desiree De La Cruz-Miller,
Library Assistant, El Segundo Public Library
In my most recent read, I decided to see
what all of the hullabaloo was about concerning
the book We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It
is a novel widely accepted by the middle and
high school levels as a must-read, but for avid
book readers beyond the high school level, it
has very mixed reviews. I may be far from my
high school years, but I am still young at heart
-- which makes books like these enjoyable and
easy to read for me.
The setting of the story takes place on
Beechwood Island, a fictitious island just off
of Martha’s Vineyard. This island is owned
by the family patriarch, Harris Sinclair, and
his recently deceased wife Tipper. The island
boasts four homes -- one for each of the three
daughters and a house for Harris and his wife.
Also on the island is a boathouse and staff
building. Although this family enjoys a life
of luxury, the recent death of their mother
causes the daughters to fear what will happen
once their father passes. Greed becomes one
of the major issues throughout the book. The
daughters turn against one another, fighting
over who will inherit the estate. Greed gets
the better of them and it affects their children.
Harris often holds the inheritance over his
daughter’s heads and threatens them and his
grandchildren if they don’t act as he wishes.
The narrator of this story is a young, extreme
teenage girl named Cadence. Every summer Cadence,
the eldest granddaughter, travels with her
mother to the family island to reunite with her
grandparents, aunts and cousins -- also known as
the Liars. Inseparable on the island, they spend
their time together making memories and strengthening
their bond. Together the Liars decide
they have had enough of the arguing and manipulation
they have endured from the adults
in their family and take matters into their own
hands. Things do not go as planned and there
are repercussions. Cadence has little recollection
as to what happened at the end of summer 15.
She is only aware that she now suffers from
constant migraine headaches. This leads her to
believe that she suffered some kind of trauma
or head injury. She questions her family, but
no one is willing to give her the answers. Cadence
searches out the truth and little by little,
the tragic memory of summer returns to her.
We Were Liars is such a poetic story. Lockhart
hooks the reader with the mystery behind
Cadence’s memory loss and does not fail when
all is revealed. I highly recommend this book
for teens and adults who enjoy a story of young
love with a good jolt at the end. You can find
this book in the Teen Zone of our library. For
help locating it, please visit our Teen/Adult
Reference Desk for guidance. •
Check It Out
Film Review
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Desiree De La Cruz-Miller
The Test & the Art of Thinking:
The (In)Significance of the SAT
Staff Writer for Cinemacy
A test that determines whether a high
school student’s college dream is attainable
or out of reach should be the best
indicator of academic achievement, right?
But what if that’s not the case, and this lifechanging
exam doesn’t actually represent true
ability or potential for success in a specific
college setting?
In the new documentary The Test & the
Art of Thinking, director Michael Arlen
Davis paints a vivid picture of how the
SAT has been used more as a gatekeeper
for elite universities than as an avenue for
college applicants. Yet even with the widespread
dissatisfaction of this tool, it doesn’t
appear that things will be changing any
time soon.
Through interviews with SAT tutors,
college admissions board members and
students themselves, The Test & the Art of
Thinking asks the question of what really
constitutes intelligence. By today’s standards,
we know that cognitive intelligence is
only one predictor of a student’s ability. However
kinesthetic, artistic, emotional, and even
musical intelligence – all extremely relevant
to future success – go relatively unmeasured.
The consistent word used to describe SAT
questions seems to be “irrelevant” and even
SAT tutors themselves go on record to say
that they teach students how to outsmart the
test’s trick questions rather than prepare them
to reflect and summarize what they have
actually learned.
The Test & the Art of Thinking is an
85-minute overview that thoroughly delves
into the origin and evolution of this 3-4-hour
exam that has now become a billion-dollar
industry of tutors, coaches and prep courses.
This raises the additional question of financial
means being tied to test scores. Sadly, the
film is another reminder that our country’s
educational system has many broken parts and
we need to agree on how we can prioritize
learning in order to make the necessary and
positive changes. Hopefully, this will start with
finding more appropriate ways for schools
to both measure and value a child’s ability
to think, reason and create.
Not rated. 85 minutes. Available to stream
on Vimeo. •
The Test & the Art of Thinking. Courtesy of Abramorama
June 16
HAPPY
Father’s
DAY
From all of us at Herald Publications
City Council from front page
In setting future budget assumptions, Lillio
proposed to use a 5 percent staff vacancy
rate for 2019/20 instead of the previous 12-
15 percent. With 29 current vacancies plus a
“whole slew of retirements in the pipeline” in
a climate where there are “more job openings
than job seekers” that make it a “challenging
environment to hire,” Lillio felt it a safe move
to lower the vacancy rate to free up more dollars
($2.3 million) to help balance the budget.
Lillio went on to note that future projections
indicate sales tax revenues will remain flat and
transient occupancy tax revenues will stay at
current levels. With that in mind, ideas to close
the deficit gap include imposing new fees,
taxes (a business license tax ballot measure
is one idea on the drawing board) and lease
agreements to bolster revenues; and operating
more leanly on the expenditure side.
Despite worries about future fiscal health,
Lillio emphasized that El Segundo is in good
shape compared to many other municipalities.
“Most cities already have structural deficits,” he
said -- and have stopped funding for equipment
replacement and reduced head count, among
other moves.
Council decisions to attack the incessantly
growing pension liability have paid dividends,
with $6 million saved in future interest costs.
Actions included prepayments, setting up and
funding a pension trust, and revamping union
contracts so employees pay a larger portion
of their CalPERS. Lillio also reported that
the City’s OPEB trust (medical retiree longterm
liability) is 38 percent funded, which he
deemed as “excellent” since most cities are
below 20 percent in that regard.
Even with the aforementioned proactive
steps, growing pension costs continue to be the
main culprit in wreaking havoc on the City’s
budget. Soon enough, public safety personnel
annual pension expenditures will equal those of
salaries. On the bright side, these numbers will
begin dropping in 2030/31 and will become
much more manageable. By the time 2045 rolls
around, “it will be a cakewalk” for whoever
runs the City, Lillio quipped.
But while prepayments and CalPERS recently
beating its discount rate will result in slightly
lower pension costs than previously estimated
for the next few years, Boyles cautioned that
the City faces a structural deficit even without
a recession. With revenues uncertain and expenditures
always rising, he proposed a cap of
80 percent of the general fund or $80 million
for salaries/benefits.
The Council will hear more details on the
upcoming budget during a special workshop
set for tomorrow (June 14) at City Hall starting
at 8 a.m. •